If you were to look at Schitt’s Creek‘s premise in isolation, you might be tempted to wonder if we haven’t been down this folksy, poorly-bitumenised road before. That’s hardly a crime of course since most TV shows owes some debt of gratitude, large or small, to their broadcast antecedents, Continue Reading
TV
The John Lewis Christmas ad 2017 is here! And so the festive season begins …
Year after gloriously festive year, the Christmas ads of UK department store John Lewis are that one rare exception to featuring commercial ads on this blog. That’s largely because the ads, while obviously selling something, are far more creative than your usual “Hey we have Christmas stuff! Come and Continue Reading
Star Trek Discovery: “Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum” (S1, E8 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND ALIENS TOO DAMN PEACE-LOVING FOR THEIR OWN GOOD … AND PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE ELSE’S Grab your tie dyed T-shirts! Get used to eating tofu and mung beans! Make love not war and slap a peace sign and some rainbows on a Volkswagen Beetle – it’s Continue Reading
Jane Goodall and her love affair with Africa (documentary)
I have long had a fascination with the natural world. It’s hard to say where it started exactly – the books of Gerald Durrell? The documentaries of David Attenborough? – but one thing is for sure, the magazines of the National Geographic Society, which my parents subscribed to for Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: To every letter of the alphabet, a pop culture icon
Now if you’re anything like me (way older than school age), it’s highly likely you haven’t been asked to recite your ABCs or sing the Alphabet Song for quite some time. Which is a pity because two artists, Tom Whalen and Dave Perillo, who recently exhibited their work at Continue Reading
Godless: “‘Tis a fearful thing, to love what death can touch”
SNAPSHOT Set in the 1880s American West, Godless follows notorious criminal Frank Griffin (Daniels) and his gang of outlaws on a mission of revenge against Roy Goode (O’Connell), a prodigal son type who betrayed his former brotherhood. While on the run, Roy seeks refuge at the ranch of hardened, Continue Reading
Star Trek Discovery: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” (S1, E7 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND THE SAME OLD TIME SPAN AGAIN AND AGAIN … Let’s do the time loop again! OK, it’s not the time warp, and Dr. Frank n Furter is nowhere to be seen, but it is a staple of science fiction storytelling and happily, Star Trek: Discovery, Continue Reading
Fire it up! Go behind the scenes of Stargate: Origins
SNAPSHOT Origins will actually be a prequel to the original film, focusing on a younger version of the character Catherine Langford (first played by Viveca Lindfors). In the franchise’s mythology, Langford’s father initially discovered the Stargate, with Origins following the adventures that lead her to becoming the Stargate expert Continue Reading
Beware of The Walking Gingerbread! They will eat ALL your cookies #SesameStreet
One of the great, inestimable joys in life is when Sesame Street parodies a show you love. Their brilliantly-realised parodies are a joy on just about every level – they capture the look and feel of the target show while making merry with its premise, its characters and plots Continue Reading
Star Trek Discovery: “Lethe” (S1, E6 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND A CANDY-COATED NEBULA THAT MAKES YOU THINK OF “LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS” … NO, REALLY … Imagine being so intimately connected with someone that you can feel their pain and distress over vast distances of space. Such is the bond though that exists Continue Reading