Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Flu diversions

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  • B Jones,

    Hee. At least it ended well. No cliffhangers or, say, getting locked in yet another prison. The season end for F&G was lovely.

    And you can see practically the entire cast today on How I Met Your Mother, ER, Bones, Knocked Up, Spiderman, and so on.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Ashby,

    Just watched the first episode of survivors on the watch again cable feature. It finished and I noticed the 2nd one was on live, never mind, watch it tommorrow.

    Anyway, I thought it was good. Criticisable in terms of minor stuff but well acted and quite effective. Nice plot, interesting mix of characters. A good start anyway and better than a lot of stuff on tv. I watched it because here in the UK even with a gazillion cable channels at 8pm it is a desert of watchable stuff. If it wasn't for watch again etc i'd have to do something radical, like read a book or summat.

    Dundee, Scotland • Since May 2007 • 425 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Ashby,

    I suppose I should say I never saw, or don't remember seeing the original Survivors so can't comment on how the new one measures up.

    Dundee, Scotland • Since May 2007 • 425 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    I suppose I should say I never saw, or don't remember seeing the original Survivors so can't comment on how the new one measures up.

    That never stops the rest of us, so take a punt :)

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Shep Cheyenne,

    Kebabette

    Since Oct 2007 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    Freaks and Geeks Freaks and Geeks Freaks and Geeks.

    F&G was da bomb. Sort of a longer fleshed out Dazed and Confused which I also love for it's chilled stoned flavour, irredeemably rawkk soundtrack, and the possibility of a world where the jocks and geeks can get over themselves for a night and just get along.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones,

    What I liked about F&G the most was Lindsay - a really well written, realistic character. Judd Apatow seems to have lost his understanding women as people powers since then - his recent female characters are pretty much cardboard cutouts for his male leads to get amusingly tangled up over.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I ADORED The Tomorrow People when it was first shown. But i strongly suspect I would cringe if i saw it again after all these years

    With you on that, Mr Ashby. I remember proudly enticing my parents to watch Stingray with me, and only realising how naff it was while they were politely enduring it. I guess it might have some kitsch value by now, but I suspect Tomorrow People never will.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Damn I wish I could see the vids, expecially on a thread like this...

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    And I found Carnivale brilliant but yes, slow. Would work well on DVD I imagine but couldn't possibly comment on other ways of encountering it.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Judd Apatow seems to have lost his understanding women as people powers since then - his recent female characters are pretty much cardboard cutouts for his male leads to get amusingly tangled up over.

    That's putting it nicely, B. I don't want to be too po faced about it, but is Apatow capable of writing adult males and women who aren't either castrating bitches or Mommy-enablers? Damn Preston Sturges!

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones,

    Good question, Craig. If it weren't for Lindsay (who could almost have been me at age 17, minus the stoned babysitting episode), I'd say no, but there she is. Perhaps there's less studio interest in exploring girls' coming of age in a realistic (and therefore funny) way.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Well, Freaks and Geeks was also Paul Feig's baby. Sam's character was semi-autobiographical, I think: Feig even had a 'Parisian Night Suit' like Sam. Oh, and he eventually became a disco dancer like Nick, as I recall.

    Maybe I just give the Apatow crew too much of a pass because I really love dorky foul-mouthed stoners, but I find it a little hard to rustle up feminist indignation about those films. I really liked Catherine Keener's character in The 40 Year Old Virgin - the fact that she was trying to mature Steve Carell beyond that teen-boy-stasis meant that she sort of *had* to be 'mommy-enabling' in some ways. But she had a real life and a quirky job and kids - she wasn't just a cardboard cutout. And the 'objects of affection' in Superbad weren't just ornamental either, which for a teen comedy is fairly unusual.

    I suppose Knocked Up is the 'problem film' in this regard. I might have to watch it again, but I felt like the 'castrating bitch' thing in Leslie Mann's case was a fairly clear offshoot of Paul Rudd's character refusing to accept where he was - refusing to mature, if you like. Her shrillness didn't exist in a vacuum the way it does in many other mainstream films. Plus they sort of 'had to' have a problematic marriage, plotwise, so Rogen and Heigl could realise what they *didn't* want to happen to them.

    Also: yeah, the guys lack maturity. But that's Apatow's 'thing' - I mean, if you read any interviews with him about his personal life, it's fairly clear that 'becoming an adult with a wife and kids' was one of the most freaky things he'd ever experienced. He doesn't seem to have got over it yet!

    (Also, I just saw Pineapple Express: James Franco may be The Best Stoner Character in a Film Ever. He and Spicoli could have a stoner-off, maybe.)

    Nick's cringeworthy performances of Lady L

    Oh man. I am *so* going to watch the whole series again this summer. :)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    I mainly remember Nick discovering Gene Krupa, courtesy of his girlfriend's dad, after previously idolising Neil Peart.

    And "Lady L", now, too.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    (Also, I just saw Pineapple Express: James Franco may be The Best Stoner Character in a Film Ever. He and Spicoli could have a stoner-off, maybe.)

    Apparently, Franco and Sean Penn get off on something else entirely in Gus Van Saint's biopic of Harvey Milk. :) Which looks like something of a return to form.

    And, in the end, I'm marinading in "feminist indignation" about the Rogan-Apatow oeuvre -- but I sure miss the days when the battle of the sexes was fought with rapiers wielded by the likes of Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck and Grace Kelly who weren't any man's madonna or his whore.

    And boring as this is, perhaps by lack of affection for the Rogan-Apatow oeuvre has something to do with the horrible Venn diagram where the intersection of "things that are fun when you're perma-pissed" with "things that are fun when you're sober" is smaller than you might think.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Are you implying that I'm constantly drunk, Craig? :)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Hic.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Or constantly angry? :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Are you implying that I'm constantly drunk, Craig? :)

    I don't think so... but my social life was so much simpler when marinated in a liquid breakfast. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    "I don't think so"? Bit under-emphatic, surely..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • linger,

    Are you implying that I'm constantly drunk

    -->All over the world, people are drinking Jack Danielles.

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report Reply

  • Madeleine,

    Russell, you have officially been tagged by MandM :-)

    Auckland • Since Oct 2008 • 8 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Page not found
    Sorry, the page you were looking for in the blog MandM does not exist.

    Doesn't work from links in their own blog either.

    Maybe Russell 'tagged his master' and that undid it.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Or constantly angry? :)

    Oh Sacha, we already know that's a given. :)

    Sincerely,
    Shrewy McGee

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    Loved Tomorrow People back then. Would love to see it remade with a little more bite. Did anyone alse notice that the SS boy with the machine gun in Andrew's clip was a very young Nicholas Lyndhurst?

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

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