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[Captain Audio]

Thanks for the link I am watching it. I liked it on first run. I have the comics.

Cool, I'd never heard of the New People comic.
Information on the comic and a few scanned pages here
http://www.tvobscurities.com/exhibits/new_people_comic_books/

A series picking up from the old one, with descendents of the survivors still on the island like the people found on Pitcrain island might work on today's market.
Perhaps a few of the original characters still living, trying to guide the development of the island population.
It would be a bit like the situation in "The Earth Abides" which itself would be a fantastic series.

The isolated survivors plot was very well used in the 60's and 70's. "the World the Flesh and the Devil" being a real masterpiece. "the Last Woman on Earth" was probably Rodger Corman's best film, at least of those with a serious story to tell.

[bowers]

Jimm, you couldn't be more right about Andrew's portrayal of the Pimpernel. I have several versions, and this is the best! Just picked up a disc of the early 50's TV series. Saw it as a very young child and can just vaguely remember the opening sequence- a  dropping guillotine and Marius Goring reciting "They seek him here, they seek him there...". Cheers, Bowers

[jimmm kelly]

I was going to try and find the Richard. E. Grant SCARLET PIMPERNEL next, but I think I should hold off on that for a few weeks. To be fair to both the Andrews and the Grant performances, I don't want to be watching one while the memory of the other is so clear in my mind.

[bowers]

The Grant episodes are also very good- I taped them all many years ago. Grant is not my favorite actor, but he does do a very fine Pimpernel. A bit snider and somewhat more egotistical than Andrews, but it works.  All episodes are  well written with a bit of humor and fine production values. Martin Shaw is also a great Chauvelin. A series worth watching. Cheers, Bowers

[paw broon]

We enjoyed the Grant Pimpernel stories also but it was a while ago and the details are a bit hazy now.
Don't think anyone has mentioned the 1950's t.v. series, with Marius goring.  There's some info here:-
http://www.scarletpimpernel.com/goring.html
As you can see, the t.v. version was based on the American radio show.  Amazon have the audio version available:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Return-Scarlet-Pimpernel-Starring/dp/185998195X
Here's the dvd:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/280-8556232-2260533?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=scarlet%20pimpernel%20marius%20goring

I mentioned the new series of Shetland a couple of weeks ago and this week we watched the 1st. part of the 2nd. 2 parter - if you see what I mean.  Excellent, but I wonder how many N. Americans will cope with some of the accents, if it ever gets shown over there.  Dougie Henshall is very good as the D.I. and the supporting parts seem to me to have been well cast.  Well worth looking out for.  This isn't Midsomer or Glasgow or Dixon of Dock Green.  The place is almost as important as the rest of it.

[Captain Audio]

Been watching some 60's UK sci fi horror back to back.
"The Vulture"
"The Projected Man"
"The Island of Terror"
All three involve experiments gone horribly wrong.

"The Vulture" reminds me of lower grade40's-50's Horror comic stories, not very logical, the dialogue stilted.
"The Projected Man" is well filmed, acting reasonable, story a bit depressing.
"Island of Terror" has the saving grace of a fine workmanlike performance by Peter Cushing. A rather large cast and rather gruesome monsters. Creature effects are minimalistic, not great but okay.

[paw broon]

Captain, I'm a big fan of Island of Terror and not only for Cushing.  This film features Edward Judd and I'm a bit of a fan of his stuff also.  One of my favourites is the British b&w s.f. film, Invasion.  Really slow, as if reflecting the increasing heat.  Certainly not a classic but most enjoyable. 
Those swan sort of monsters are really scary, imo and there is a fair bit of tension built up.  Now I fancy digging out the dvd and giving it another watch.  Ta.

[paw broon]

Shetland has finished it's 6 week run and the great news is that it has been given another series.  Highly recommended.
Don't know if the clips will play outside the U.K. but here's the link:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01s711r/clips

[Roygbiv666]

Just ordered that Russian Sherlock Holmes series on DVD. It therefore will become available on Blu-Ray. ;-0

[josemas]

Some shows and collections recently watched-

Deadwood Season 1 (2004) and Hell on Wheels Season 2  (2012)  A couple of very gritty western series.  So unlike westerns of my youth but probably more true to life.

Two's Company Series 1 & 2  (1976-77)  A Britcom which I had somehow always missed until now. Great chemistry between the "bickering" leads.

Man with a Camera- Complete Series (1958-60)-  A Charles Bronson show in which he plays photographer Mike Kovac who always manages to get caught up in one adventure after another. 

Dr Who- "The Sea Devils" (1972), "The Time Monster" (1972) "Inferno" (1970) and "Spearhead from Space" (1970).  Really getting into the Pertwee years and the library has a very good sampling of them (as opposed to the darn few collections of Troughton story arcs they have). Lots of neat extras on the sets , as usual, including a good documentary about the move to color in the early 1970s.

[paw broon]

Man with a Camera was a good show and I found some episodes on the internet.  Still entertaining.
I've been watching an episode a night of the recovered Troughton classic, Web of Fear, which is free on our cable supplier.
Just as good as I remember.

[jimmm kelly]

Yesterday, I watched a program on HAMLET hosted by David Tennant. This includes many scenes from movies and TV of actors playing Hamlet, as well as Tennant talking to a few actors who have played Hamlet. It was quite a good piece. In it, there are also a few scenes of Tennant playing Hamlet. I've never seen this version of the play--I wonder if others have.

[bowers]

I finally found an episode of "Shetland" on the net from season 2- "Raven Black". This one was really great-thanks for the heads-up, Paw! Henshall is perfect as Jimmy Perez and it's always good to see Julie Graham. Excellent photography sets off ,as IMDB puts it, "a hauntingly beautiful landscape." Hope to see some more. Also found several episodes of "Jonathan Creek" I'm really enjoying. PBS gave us only about six episodes from season 1 or 2 many years ago, and I've since worn out my VHS tapes rewatching them. The new "Death in Paradise" is great, but I do miss Ben Miller. Also finished the new season of "Doc Martin"- just keeps getting better! This year's "Bletchly Circle" featured two two-part episodes- first one very good, the second just so-so, and neither as riveting as the first season. PBS also is bringing us a spy trilogy with Bill Nighy as Johnny Worricker- looks like it might be good. Cheers, Bowers

[paw broon]

And just when you thought you had caught them all, another Celtic Noir appears.  This time it's Hinterland and is set on the west coast of Wales in and around Aberystwyth and is in 2 languages - English and Welsh with subtitles.  It's a series of 4 x 90 minute stories with complicated, deep, strong storylines and makes for good viewing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03sgfbz

[josemas]

Feature films watched the last couple of months-

Changeling (2008), Three Word Brand (1921), The Beast Must Die (1974), The Help (2011), Spies of Warsaw (2013), The Gatekeepers (2012), Room Service (1938), Dallas Buyers Club (2013), The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936), Hotel Transylvania (2012), At the Circus (1939), Amour (2012), Go West (1940), Dragonball: Evolution (2009), The Sapphires (2012), Ruby Sparks (2012), Last Vegas (2013), The Big Store (1941), Torture Garden (1967), The Last Stand (2012), One Night in the Tropics (1940), The Conjuring (2013), Red Blood (1926), American Hustle (2013), Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978), Buck Privates (1941), All is Lost (2013), The Uninvited (1944), Ace of Cactus Range (1924), Nebraska (2013), In the Navy (1941), Daughter of the Night (1920), Jobs (2013), Hold That Ghost (1941), Point Blank (1967), Jack Reacher (2012), Charlie Chan in Paris (1935), and The World's End (2013).

Another Perry Mason movie (Warren William's last appearance as the lawyer, IIRC), another Pink Panter (the last done while Sellers was alive), the third Brass Bancroft quickie, a couple of Amicus horrors, a few silents (mostly westerns), four later Marx Bros comedies for my Saturday morning movies followed by the first four Abbott and Costello films.  All mixed in with a good number of more recent films (most courtesy of my local library).

Best

Joe

[jimmm kelly]

Watching the Eurovision 2014 performances on youtube. For some reason this past week, the comments section below the youtube view screen just continues to load and never shows anything--so I can't check the results there. But from other sources I know who won.

I was pulling for Norway and Spain in the finals--because both had real singers, performing totally live and showing their range. Ruth Lorenzo really sang the hell out of her song--making up for what was otherwise a kind of generic tune for Eurovision. Carl Espen, singing for Norway, is like a cross between Freddie Mercury and Meatloaf.

Early on I was hoping that Latvia would make it into the finals (with their song about baking a cake)--but those eclectic type of songs rarely get into the finals. In a way I guess not winning Eurovision is a sign that a song and a performer are probably too good.

It did send a message, by who did win. I won't say, just in case someone doesn't want the result spoled. I just thought the vocals and the song were nothing special. But the symbolism is important, I guess.

Take that Vlad!

[narfstar]

This movie starts and ends with making everyone laugh. I do not really
like going to the movies. I prefer to watch a movie on TV while I am
also engaged on the laptop. I normally fidget when watching a movie in
the theater waiting for it to end. Not the case with Mom's Night Out.
It kept me so busy laughing out loud that I was enjoying every minute
of it. There were times when it was hard to hear because the whole
audience was laughing so loud. It is a fantastic family movie and one
everyone can enjoy. It has no foul language or sex scenes to worry
about. Those are never really needed except to appeal to the immature.

[profh0011]

This is just getting crazy.  I'm watching THE BIG SLEEP (1978) for the 2nd time in less than 2 weeks.

I just LOVE this movie!   

[narfstar]

If you are a fan of classic sitcoms you need to watch the Mother's Day INSTANT MOM from May 8th on Nick. Great scenes with some classic sitcom mom's with funny punny gags.

[Captain Audio]

Just rewatched the first 14 episodes of "Sharpe".
Great series.
Noticed that while well done for a TV series the action scenes aren't quite up to those of many historical dramas.
This is something I've noticed about action scenes in many British TV series. It seems like the actors are afraid of damaging the props and scenery.
In the U S film industry (what remains of it) they are less concerned about destroying expensive props and don't seem to mind injurying or killing a stuntman for that matter in order to make the action seem more realistic.

[profh0011]

Back when GOLDENEYE came out, I think it was "007" magazine did an article about the English stuntmen's union.  They developed VERY strict rulkes over the years, and a film's stunt coordinator had veto power over a director or producer when it came to giving the go-ahead on any stunt he felt was dangerous, or safe to film.

By contrast, I recal reading an article about MAD MAX which mentioned how the film looked like someone almost had to have been killed in the making of it.  I remember also thinking the same thing about the film CLIFFHANGER.

[profh0011]

As a kid, I loved the first 2 Clouseau films.  And I thought RETURN OF... was awful.  And ...STRIKES AGAIN even worse.  Imagine my shock when REVENGE OF... turned out to be prettty good (until maybe the last 15-20 minutes, when it just gets silly).

There's a whole sequence in REVENGE... which I rank as one of the best in the series.  It starts with the "audition" for the hit-man, follows with the attempted hit (which goes wrong and Clouseau never even noticed someone was trying to kill him).  Then we have the transvestite hitch-hiker who steals his car & clothes, unintentionally saving his life when HE gets blown to hell by the waiting hit-squad-- the destruction of the car being, in my eyes, a blatent swipe/tribute to the Clint Eastwood film THE GAUNTLET, which came out only about 6 months earlier!!  Next, news of Clouseau's apparent death cures Dreyfus, who has a run-in with Clouseau as he's about to leave the hospital (but passes it off as a hallucination).  My favorite moment of all is probably when Clouseau escapes the nuthouse and goes home, only to find that Cato, OVERNIGHT, has turned his apartment into a high-priced brothel! And for a MOMENT, you can see it in his eyes, Clouseau considers Cato's idea... (This in turn winds up setting up the potential for Clouseau actually going bad, as happens in CURSE OF...) Finally, Clouseau turns up to see Dreyfuss give the eulogy at Clouseau's funeral.  This extended series of events is so carefully planned out and well-executed, I cut some slack to the rest of the film, which is merely average at best.

[profh0011]

I've loved Warren William's PERRY MASON from the first moment I started watching THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG, where you see he runs a big law firm and only handles the biggest cases himself.  Also, instead of his side-kick getting all the girls, WW's Perry chases the girls himself! It was also somewhat jaw-dropping to see how far he would bend (or even break) the law in the name of JUSTICE.

What gets me is how schizo his 4 films are. Each one almost feels like an alternate version of the same character, despite being played by the same actor.

I was recently reading about how popular Warren William was in the 20's and early 30's, playing BAD guys and "shysters". Audiences loved him, no matter HOW ROTTEN he was onscreen.  This all had to stop when the Hayes Office began enforcing the Production Code-- which is why he switched to playing actual good guys. His Perry is only one step away from being a "shyster". I've long felt if they'd ever made a DOC SAVAGE movie, WW would have been perfect for "Ham".  Given the dates, I wonder if Perry might have been the inspiration for "Ham" in the first place.

http://talkingclassics.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/pmandds1930s.jpg

[profh0011]

The last couple weeks...

MURDER, MY SWEET  (1944)
THE FALCON TAKES OVER  (1942)  This is the comedy version of "Farewell My Lovely".
THE BIG SLEEP  (1946)  This is the romantic-comedy version of this story.
THE BIG SLEEP  (1978)  This is the version that makes sense!
HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER  (1973)
COOGAN'S BLUFF  (1968)  This is the film that inspired McCLOUD.

[Roygbiv666]

I've been watching the DVD Box Set of the Russian produced Sherlock Holmes series.

It was roughly contemporaneous (1979-1986) with the Granda Jeremy Brett series (1984-1994).

I liked Watson right away - awesome. Holmes is growing on me (his voice is a bit gruffer than I'd imagine). They joke a bit more than you'd expect, but it fits.

Looks like the producers saddled Holmes with all the visual cliches (calabash pipe, deerstalker, Inverness), but he's taking the job seriously, which is good.

The stories are based on Doyle's, but the combine bits and pieces, as do so many others. But I like it.

It is only available with English subtitles, not dubbing, so it that bothers you, watch out.