Up Front: I Love it When a Plan Comes Together
63 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 2 3 Newer→ Last
-
The BBC's policy on programme distribution is a complete and utter bloody mess.
After making happy noises at the beginning of the decade about how they wanted the world to see the BBC's programmes, by whatever means -- indeed, this was part of its mission -- they snapped back in the opposite direction.
The first problem is BBC Worldwide, its commercial arm, which is so focused on selling ballroom dancing TV formats that it doesn't even bother to make much of the best programming available for purchase by other broadcasters. BBC4 documentaries especially.
Then there's iPlayer, whose restrictions have pointlessly infested the kind of content that even commercial broadcasters happily make available online. No iPlayer content can be viewed outside the UK, and all of it expires after 30 days.
There's some half-baked rationale around copyright for this, but the blanket policy -- on both restriction of distribution and expiry -- applies even to the likes of the Briefings programmes, where there is no copyright issue, and considerable public good in the programmes.
I have the Briefings series of lectures on the future of public broadcasting (including one by Stephen Fry) on my hard drive. It's a couple of BBC cameras in a room at Westminster, pointed at someone talking. There is no copyright problem. And yet, it is just allowed to die.
I regard downloading those lectures via BitTorrent and passing them on to people who would find them useful as a moral act.
-
I have the Briefings series of lectures on the future of public broadcasting (including one by Stephen Fry) on my hard drive. It's a couple of BBC cameras in a room at Westminster, pointed at someone talking. There is no copyright problem. And yet, it is just allowed to die.
I regard downloading those lectures via BitTorrent and passing them on to people who would find them useful as a moral act.
Denying the world Stephen Fry should be illegal, I think we can all agree on that.
-
Doctor Hoofer...
If John "Putting it Together" Barrowman thinks he's being punished maybe they should do Torchwood live each night - all singing all dancing, to keep him happy... : )And what did we all think of Fringe then?
McCleod's Daughters and Dawson's Creek meets The Twilight Zone via Numb3rs ? or more than that..
a nice nod to Douglas Trumbull's Brainstorm - sadly Natalia Zakharenko's last movie - and Ken Russell's Altered States though...
... to their credit they got the obligatory X-Files "dance of torch beams" out of the way early... : )
and I am worried about someone driving into those large floating place names!
I'll give it another go next week...yrs
Prof Quatermass
Stonedhenge -
And what did we all think of Fringe then?
1) WTF does JJ Abrams have against commercial long-distance air travel? I await the very special episode of Dr. Phil where he reveals being traumatically bad touched by a trolly dolly.
2) John Noble brings the crazy in a richly satisfying manner. How can you not love a man who delivers lines like "let's make some LSD" and "I must have a cow" like he's remarking on the weather?
3) Anna Torv must go into botox rehab now. She makes Formica seem expressive -- which is not really helpful when you're supposed to be the viewpoint lead character.
4) Evil corporate bitch with a cool transparent robot arm. Geekgasm!
5) On the whole, Fringe is entertaining enough -- and the production values are gorgeous. (So they should be given that the pilot cost US$10 million and was shot in HD. But giving credit where credit's due.) But I really hope its going to shake off the air of being a competent X-Files re-boot sooner rather than later. I've also seen interviews where Abrams says, unlike Lost or even Alias, Fringe is designed to be a lot less serialised so viewers don't have spend a day on-line catching up if they miss an episode.
-
X-Files "dance of torch beams."
I thought Speilberg has patented that.
John Noble.
On quickdial for unstable characters.
I'll give it another go next week...
Reading online interviews with the producers you may want to check episode 4 as the series story arc supposedly is introduced then.
Fringe is designed to be a lot less serialised.
Abrams said that although the procedural structure isn't his natural tendency but he wanted to challenge himself.
All that said, it's a bit too necrotic for my normal taste so I may dip in and out unil it gets relevatory...
-
I've seen the entire first season of Fringe, by... let's say magic, and I thouight it was excellent. (In contrast and I can't stand Lost.) John Noble gets better and better -- there's a moment in the second episode where he manages to show about fifteen emotions in the space of two seconds as he realises how tenuous his own grip on reality has become.
While the individual episodes are good "X-Files, but more science-y" fodder, the overall plot arc builds very celeverly, so that by the end of the season, events that would have appeared totally ridiculous at the start of the season (yes, even compared to a plane full of melting passengers) all seem to make perfect sense. Keep watching is my recommendation.
-
Justa clarify, my comment of John Noble was in no means meant as as a criticism of him. Casting perhaps...
-
Justa clarify, my comment of John Noble was in no means meant as as a criticism of him. Casting perhaps...
Sure, just as Grant Bowler (who I'm sure is a frightfully nice chap) has carved out an international career playing strangely endearing bastards with itchy feet.
-
Keep watching is my recommendation.
Not a hard ask, Josh, because it is well-made and the cast (with the exception of Anna Torv) is engaging. But you're not the first person I've heard say it takes a while to really hit its stride, and I'm looking forward to it.
-
Yes, Alison Janney slash NAOW kthx.
My Homosexual Agenda is very much like Emma's - D-rings are very handy. I've also got tattoo-like swirls on it. I don't have the studs, because that's just a tad too diesel for me.
I'm so glad I came out in the mid-80s though - my toaster oven is great, and I don't really like the sound quality of an iPod. What's pissing me off is that my cupboards are starting to fill up with waffle irons from all the recruits ^H^H^H^H^H^H proteges I've enlisted. I like waffles, but not that much.
As for whisky, I'm a very bad butch, obviously. I prefer the Speyside malts - you can take my 16-year-old Balvenie out of my cold dead hands. My femmier-than-most (heels to work, every day) last partner was the Laphroiag drinker, although I might have gotten her onto Talisker as well. Obviously the Homosexual Agenda is all about subverting expected gender roles too. How are we supposed to achieve any certainty in the world?!
-
I know this is in the FAQ, or at least in the manual, but what prize do straight(ish) people get for their part in helping a couple of people find their orientation?
I'd quite like a new toaster and waffle iron.
-
Hm, I think the toaster ovens and waffle irons are reserved for members of The Congregation. Perhaps a blender? I'm having trouble finding the relevant section in the FAQ.
-
Re: Fringe:
Anna Torv must go into botox rehab now. She makes Formica seem expressive -- which is not really helpful when you're supposed to be the viewpoint lead character.
Actually, rewatching the pilot, I think that's a bit unfair. She has plenty of facial performance. It just that not much is revealed of her character but it's only the pilot and female charactisation hasn't often been a strong point of American TV series. At present they're treating her as the typical The Ice Maiden Cometh.
I know from reading of future episodes that will change. Give her a chance...
Post your response…
This topic is closed.