Monthly Archives: February 2011

Perry Mason S1 E23 – The Case of the One-Eyed Witness

And now after that little Oscar frenzy, back to what this blog should be about – quick reviews of things. You’ll be getting used to the idea that I really like vintage 50s and 60s TV dramas, and here’s further … Continue reading

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Oscars night 2011 – in the rear view mirror

So the Oscars came, and the Oscars went, and the most surprising thing was perhaps how efficient but airless it was: it got the job done, but it was a mainly joyless affair with the two young actor hosts notable … Continue reading

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Oscars night 2011 – roll on up, place your bets

So it’s Oscar night over in Hollywood, and I think that makes it mandatory for every review-inclined blog to troop out at least one post on the subject of who will win, no matter how ill-informed. Since I haven’t seen … Continue reading

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True Grit (2010) – a bleak sunset in the West

I’m a relative newcomer to Westerns, having mainly scoffed at them until I was dragged along to a digital showing of a remastered The Searchers at the BFI by a friend five years ago. Since then I’ve got to know … Continue reading

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At the Mountains of Madness – BBC Radio 4 Extra/ Spokenworld Audio

I’d better start off with a potentially sacrilegious confession: I’m not a fan of HP Lovecraft’s writing. To me, it comes across as wildly overblown purple prose that has aged really badly since it was originally written in the 1930s, … Continue reading

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Hawaii Five-O – all pumped up and nowhere to go

Although I was too young to be interested in the original series of Hawaii Five-O, like everyone else the iconic theme and title sequence are seared into my memory and I was keen to see what they would do to … Continue reading

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The Killing (Forbrydelsen) – S1 E9+10

There was a moment at the end of episode 8 of this series where I suddenly started to fear that the surface of this perfect gem of a show had started to crack. It was when the show all-but-repeated the … Continue reading

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Tate Modern – Photographic Typologies

If it hadn’t been for the recommendation of a friend via Twitter, I would have been completely unaware of this exhibition of photographs on the fifth floor of the Tate Modern – the museum doesn’t seem too interested in promoting … Continue reading

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Tate Modern – Gabriel Orozco

Thanks to a wonderful Christmas gift of a Tate membership, I’m able to visit exhibitions that would not normally be ‘my sort of thing’ that I would choose to spend money on, and it’s a wonderful liberation to be able … Continue reading

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The Killing (Forbrydelsen) – S1 E5+6

A couple of years ago, BBC4 had an unexpected hit on its hands when it screened four episodes of the Swedish TV detective series Wallander as part of a “support package” for the launch of the British version on BBC1 … Continue reading

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Outcasts S1 E2 – outlook improves

I was, let’s be honest, not entirely complimentary about the BBC’s new science fiction drama series Outcasts after seeing the first episode on Monday, which seemed confusing, laden with unintelligible exposition, and poorly written, directed and played by almost all … Continue reading

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Blasphemy – by Douglas Preston

Douglas Preston is one of those authors who writes adventure/thriller fiction, but with a central idea drawn from science to make it feel a bit bigger and more important than just the usual Jack Reacher-type shoot-up. This sub-genre of fiction … Continue reading

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The Avengers S2 E1 – Mr Teddy Bear

(I wrote a longer piece about The Avengers on my main blog that you might like to read first. This is a short review of the most recent episode I’ve viewed from the Season 2 DVD boxset.) The first episode … Continue reading

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Coming soon

If you’ve happened upon this site, welcome! I’m just moving in and hope to be with you shortly, and say more about what I’m doing with this space. Thanks for your interest, and please do check back soon.

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