I’m in the process of selling my house and everything I own, the hundreds of 
meaningless possessions, including my DVD collection of circa 500 titles. The number of items I own which actually have any emotional attachment are very few and of all my DVD’s I have narrowed it down to ten which I have the desire to watch numerous times again for various nostalgic reasons rather than them being films I like based purely on quality, hence there being no foreign language films. These are the shortlisted films, with a reason, in no particular order.
Category Archives: Television
Having been aware of a book since my early teens, being generally aware of its
content and its themes and its necessity as a read distracted me from ever reading it. After reading it for the first time in my mid twenties I can but question if the impact it so deservedly had is lost on the liberated, postmodern society of today.
After watching both of these films in the space of a few days there seemed some definite links for compare and contrast. Neither amazed me but both were worth my time and consideration.
As a standard working to middle class person I find it hard to associate with the ‘hotel living’ celebrity lifestyle in Somewhere and couldn’t help myself seeing it as a pretentious rip off of Californication, which, with a little more humour and less lingering shots it would undoubtedly be. However, I do realise that due to Coppola’s upbringing this is probably what she believes everyday life to be like…. Read More »
Although, when asked, one wouldn’t describe oneself as especially patriotic, this series of interlinking documentaries was both interesting and inspiring. The quality of down the line programming is that which has seldom been seen outside of the BBC but with Genius of Britain Channel 4 definitely proved itself as a force to be reckoned with.
The cast of respected modern day Brits was balanced well, particularly with the use of Stephen Hawking as an anchor. Read More »
Masterchef vs Great British Menu Firstly, this article must begin with me accepting that watching food programmes is a guilty pleasure of mine, put pretty pictures of food or houses on screen and i’ll watch any old trash, like most of the British public. There is nothing better than sitting down with your packet bought tortellini in hand allowing yourself to imagine that you’re really eating the culinary masterpieces displayed in front of your face instead of the sub-standard pre-prepared rubbish out of your freezer because you couldn’t bare to face a supermarket after a long day at work. Read More » |
The past few instalments from the franchise of Louis Theroux have been somewhat off the mark, his tact has become more judgemental and opinionated and the subjects seem a little obvious. I wonder if this is a
personal affliction I have with the programmes as I grew up loving his Weird Weekends series, even going to the lengths of reading the book. Now I am older and a little wiser perhaps the subjects I then found fascinating are actually a little too cliché.
With so much focus on America this judgemental angle results in the show becoming almost a fun poking at the USA and its society, pointing out how the British system is the correct and right way. Louis could be seen as doing the job of Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore but from a questionable angle which doesn’t involve his own culture. Read More »
It’s great to see that the mainstream audience is now showing enough interest in internet studies to warrant a BBC documentary series explaining the origins and implications of the world wide web.
The opening episode presents us with a well rounded selection of anecdotes and case studies leading up to where the mainstream internet is today. This is enhanced by a host of internet entrepreneurs and researchers voicing their comments at the appropriate moments to give the stories more depth. An example of these experts are Mark Zuckerberg – founder of facebook, Al Gore – Vice President and Stephen Fry. Now I like Stephen Fry as much as the next person but why next to other experts doesn’t he have a title, even ‘journalist’ would suffice but instead he is left as an eternally indefinable character.
The reports on Tim Berners-Lee were particularly interesting, especially the fact that he has never earned a penny directly as the creator of the World Wide Web when he could be an exceedingly rich man if he had chosen this route. This was cleverly juxtaposed with the back story of Bill Gates and how he began charging for software. Truth be told he came across as immoral and greedy.
The ending question was one of weather the internet was truly democratic or simply a new business model. Although the latter may be true a new form of ‘level playing field’ has undoubtedly been created.
I look forward to the rest of the series and recommend it for anyone who has any interest in the internet. So check it out on BBC iplayer.
