Right, fingers crossed
And now… part 2... With proof reading this time.
TV Meme day 2: A show you wish more people were watching.
QI
Well, I can understand if more Americans haven’t even heard of it, but around
here you’d think there’d be more. Another game show with arbitrary scoring and
no prizes. Stephen Fry (if you don’t know who he is, I suggest you find out)
hosts, asking questions somehow connected to the topic of the week, which always
starts with the letter of the season. The seasons are lettered and not numbered.
Season H should be on the way soon. Alan Davies (‘Jonathon Creek’ etc) is always
one of the players, and three guests join them. Points are taken off for wrong
answers, but even more points are taken off for predictable answers. In the even
of a predictable answer it is then proved predictable with a prepared graphic of
the answer appearing on screen, accompanied by wailing sirens to tell the
contestant ‘That was so predictable we knew you’d say it!’ Most of the show is
spent discussing the answers… well, I SAY discussing, but it would be more
accurately described as ‘telling rude stories and mocking each other’, which
makes for a very funny, very crude, yet surprisingly intelligent evening’s entertainment.
I wish more people were watching it, so I could talk about it without people
thinking I'm talking bollocks about some show they've never heard of.
And for those who’d like to know, ‘QI’ stands for ‘Quite Interesting’.
Movie Meme day 2: The most underrated movie
In The Bleak Midwinter (also known as “A Midwinter’s Tale” in the US)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBS92ui_h74&feature=related
Kenneth Branagh is well known for directing himself in Shakespeare adaptations,
so this one’s a bit of an odd duck. For a start… he’s not in it. Branagh
elected to limit himself to writing and directing. For years Branagh had wanted
to direct a large scale production of ‘Hamlet’, which he did not long after (with
many of the same cast).
This movie revolves around a similar ambition.
Joe (Michael Moloney) is a struggling actor in desperate need of work, money, a
sense of achievement and something else. His vision is to direct and star in a production of Hamlet,
done for virtually no money… and, worse still, performed
over Christmas when every audience wants light hearted comedy.
His miniscule budget leaves him with a cast of crazy eccentrics (and not enough
of them, so they take on a number of roles).
“Joe I notice you’ve got me playing to characters who appear on stage at the
same time… are you planning something with mirrors?”
The only venue is a church in Joe’s home village… the awful church nobody goes to.
And they have almost no time to put it together.
I love this movie for so many reasons. For a start almost nobody knows it, despite
the fact that most of the cast are very well known actors such as Richard Briers,
Celia Imrie, Jennifer Saunders, Joan Collins and Julia Sawalha (she’ll be
mentioned in later entries. Trust me, we’re not done with her). Next, it’s funny.
The funniest Hamlet you’ll ever find. Thirdly, Branagh took the high road by not making a big deal
of the famous soliloquy. A brief mention on sign in the early
part of the film is the only mention of the words ‘to be or not to be’. And all
the characters have more depth than just being weirdo eccentrics. Just look at how
the relationship between Henry and Terry develops. The film is lifted further by
some beautiful photography and being shot entirely in black and white. Music is
kept to a minimum with nothing more than a few snatches heard by the characters,
one massively appropriate Noel Coward song in the early parts, and a traditional
Christmas carol over the end credits. If only it was on DVD, but the VHS is still
obtainable somehow… could be on you tube as well, but I couldn’t be bothered
looking right now.
During my days at uni I had great fun showing this to the actors I knew. They
reacted to most of it in ways that told me how close to the bone it is.
I could go on much longer about how underrated this movie is, but I’ll stop here
with the opening monologue, delivered direct to camera by Joe.
“It was late November, I think, and I was thinking about the whole Christmas
thing: the birth of Christ, the Wizard of Oz, family murders, and quite frankly,
I was depressed. I'd always wanted to live my life like in an old movie, sort of a
fairytale, you know. Mind you, I suppose, if you think that most fairytales turn
out to be nightmare and a lot of old movies are crap, then that's what I did. You
now the way doctors say that nervous breakdowns can happen very fast and
dramatically, sort of a big bang, or there are the other kind which happen very
slowly over a period of time. Well I was thirty-three years old, and this one had
started when I was seven months and had just started to get a grip.”
TV Meme day 2: A show you wish more people were watching.
QI
Well, I can understand if more Americans haven’t even heard of it, but around
here you’d think there’d be more. Another game show with arbitrary scoring and
no prizes. Stephen Fry (if you don’t know who he is, I suggest you find out)
hosts, asking questions somehow connected to the topic of the week, which always
starts with the letter of the season. The seasons are lettered and not numbered.
Season H should be on the way soon. Alan Davies (‘Jonathon Creek’ etc) is always
one of the players, and three guests join them. Points are taken off for wrong
answers, but even more points are taken off for predictable answers. In the even
of a predictable answer it is then proved predictable with a prepared graphic of
the answer appearing on screen, accompanied by wailing sirens to tell the
contestant ‘That was so predictable we knew you’d say it!’ Most of the show is
spent discussing the answers… well, I SAY discussing, but it would be more
accurately described as ‘telling rude stories and mocking each other’, which
makes for a very funny, very crude, yet surprisingly intelligent evening’s entertainment.
I wish more people were watching it, so I could talk about it without people
thinking I'm talking bollocks about some show they've never heard of.
And for those who’d like to know, ‘QI’ stands for ‘Quite Interesting’.
Movie Meme day 2: The most underrated movie
In The Bleak Midwinter (also known as “A Midwinter’s Tale” in the US)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBS92ui_h74&feature=related
Kenneth Branagh is well known for directing himself in Shakespeare adaptations,
so this one’s a bit of an odd duck. For a start… he’s not in it. Branagh
elected to limit himself to writing and directing. For years Branagh had wanted
to direct a large scale production of ‘Hamlet’, which he did not long after (with
many of the same cast).
This movie revolves around a similar ambition.
Joe (Michael Moloney) is a struggling actor in desperate need of work, money, a
sense of achievement and something else. His vision is to direct and star in a production of Hamlet,
done for virtually no money… and, worse still, performed
over Christmas when every audience wants light hearted comedy.
His miniscule budget leaves him with a cast of crazy eccentrics (and not enough
of them, so they take on a number of roles).
“Joe I notice you’ve got me playing to characters who appear on stage at the
same time… are you planning something with mirrors?”
The only venue is a church in Joe’s home village… the awful church nobody goes to.
And they have almost no time to put it together.
I love this movie for so many reasons. For a start almost nobody knows it, despite
the fact that most of the cast are very well known actors such as Richard Briers,
Celia Imrie, Jennifer Saunders, Joan Collins and Julia Sawalha (she’ll be
mentioned in later entries. Trust me, we’re not done with her). Next, it’s funny.
The funniest Hamlet you’ll ever find. Thirdly, Branagh took the high road by not making a big deal
of the famous soliloquy. A brief mention on sign in the early
part of the film is the only mention of the words ‘to be or not to be’. And all
the characters have more depth than just being weirdo eccentrics. Just look at how
the relationship between Henry and Terry develops. The film is lifted further by
some beautiful photography and being shot entirely in black and white. Music is
kept to a minimum with nothing more than a few snatches heard by the characters,
one massively appropriate Noel Coward song in the early parts, and a traditional
Christmas carol over the end credits. If only it was on DVD, but the VHS is still
obtainable somehow… could be on you tube as well, but I couldn’t be bothered
looking right now.
During my days at uni I had great fun showing this to the actors I knew. They
reacted to most of it in ways that told me how close to the bone it is.
I could go on much longer about how underrated this movie is, but I’ll stop here
with the opening monologue, delivered direct to camera by Joe.
“It was late November, I think, and I was thinking about the whole Christmas
thing: the birth of Christ, the Wizard of Oz, family murders, and quite frankly,
I was depressed. I'd always wanted to live my life like in an old movie, sort of a
fairytale, you know. Mind you, I suppose, if you think that most fairytales turn
out to be nightmare and a lot of old movies are crap, then that's what I did. You
now the way doctors say that nervous breakdowns can happen very fast and
dramatically, sort of a big bang, or there are the other kind which happen very
slowly over a period of time. Well I was thirty-three years old, and this one had
started when I was seven months and had just started to get a grip.”