Category: TV

Roelof Kiers Documentary, Part 5

El finito. It shouldn't need repeating at this point, but yeah, still NSFW.

He starts off talking about his instinct for visuals matching his music -- as I've noted before, it's always interested me that, as much as he hated MTV, he loved the principle of music videos.

Then there's another bit with Miss Lucy, a song called The Groupie Routine -- and finally a fantastic cover of Happy Together.

Which is actually the single clip that led to me digging up this entire documentary and posting it over the past 5 days.

Hope you enjoyed. Thank you and goodnight, everybody.

Elementary

It's funny, looking at what cycles into the zeitgeist -- the little bits of culture that come bubbling back up and then suddenly everyone has a different version. Vampires, zombies, fairy tales -- Sherlock Holmes.

I watched the first episode of Elementary. It lacked the fun of Guy Ritchie's Victorian Buddy Cop version, and the sheer genius of the Moffat/Gattiss/Cumberbatch/Freeman version.

Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu were perfectly good as Holmes and Watson. They really didn't have any chemistry to speak of, but that's not their fault, it's the writers'. Watson as drug addict Holmes's handler? Not a good setup, and definitely seems to owe a little too much to that recently-concluded other TV adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, House.

And as for Holmes being a genius, well, it comes across as more that he's the only character who isn't a complete moron. You need the world's greatest mind to tell you that a guy doesn't have the same size foot as the one that kicked in the door? That doesn't make him a genius, it makes you a really terrible forensic detective.

Indeed, there is one brilliant observation that solves the whole case -- and Holmes doesn't make it, Watson does.

All this to say: I don't think I'll be checking out the second episode. I guess if I want my Sherlock fix before next season, I'll just have to go see The Hobbit. Oh darn.

Roelof Kiers Documentary, Part 4

Probably the most NSFW clip yet; features a little song called Penis Dimension.

Some thoughts on politics; as usual Zappa's insights are as relevant today as they were 40 years ago. He discusses Nixon and the buying of elections, and the enthusiasm but questionable efficacy of political protests. And the transformative political power of rock music -- even if just in getting people to loosen up.

Most famously, he observes this: "Progress is not possible without deviation."

And lastly, a good bit with Wild Man Fischer.

I think there's just one clip yet. Tune in tomorrow night for the thrilling conclusion!

Roelof Kiers Documentary, Part 3

Still NSFW, for drug references, lady butt, and more open, not-altogether-pretty discussion of rock musicians' sex lives.

But I find the discussion of bloodless revolution far more interesting.

Roelof Kiers Documentary, Part 2

More on Frank's influences, Call Any Vegetable, and some time with the family and the GTO's. There's a naked baby Dweezil, in case that's something you're concerned about, and Miss Lucy's frank discussion of being a groupie lands this pretty squarely in NSFW territory.

Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka

Another old Who review. Originally posted Bronto, 2008-07-11. This is about Scream of the Shalka, starring Richard E Grant -- which is timely, as Grant's set to show up in this year's Christmas special.


Scream of the Shalka is an animated Webcast from '03 that was originally intended to serve as a pilot for a new series.

All in all, the biggest weakness is Richard E Grant's Doctor: bluntly, he's a prick. He's got all of Eccleston's sarcasm and condescension, with none of his whimsy or manic energy.

Now, there's a reason the Doctor is a prick, it's just not a very good or interesting one. The canonical #9 and #10 have done the "guilt and isolation" schtick too, but much better; the Doctor covering up his personal pain with constant wackiness is much more enjoyable than covering it up by simply insulting everyone and brooding all the time.

The most interesting element of the series is the robotic Master -- one of very few hints that Grant's Doctor has a sense of humor, and the only thread I would have liked to see developed had this made it to series. (The one brief nod on the current series: Derek Jacobi appearing as the Master in Utopia.) The serial's writer, Paul Cornell, would go on to use a similar idea years later in his Action Comics run, starring Lex Luthor and a robotic Lois Lane.

Aside from that, it's a generic alien invasion plot. The animation is serviceable -- and, since it's properly-done Flash, vector graphics and all, looks great on an HDTV -- but very low-budget; it would definitely look at home alongside any number of current cartoons on Nickelodeon or CN. Animations are simple, backgrounds are practically nonexistent (but lots of Kirby dots!). The animators' later attempts (the missing eps in The Invasion and The Infinite Quest) look a good deal better.

Anyway. It's worth checking out; the price is right. And I'd like to see more animated Who (either new stuff or more Invasion-style fill-ins of missing episodes). But ultimately, it's like the '96 movie: it's an interesting "What-If" for a series that never was, but the one we got instead is much better.

Roelof Kiers Documentary, Part 1

A Dutch documentary from 1971. In this segment, Zappa talks about being a juvenile delinquent, becoming interested in R&B guitar, and being influenced by Edgard Varèse.

Powdered Toastman

Featuring Frank Zappa as the Pope.

Ren & Stimpy is available for purchase or streaming at Amazon, or on Netflix. Contrary to the title of the DVD set, the episodes are not uncut; most notably the entire Bloody Head Fairy sequence is missing from Haunted House. This episode, however, is intact and is not the cut-up version shown on Nickelodeon.

(I'm not sure about the streaming versions but have no reason to think they'd be any different from the DVD release.)

Anyway. Zappa loved oddball cartoons, so he fits right in here.

And I'm sure one of these days I'll get to Duckman...

Doctor Who: Survival

Another old Who review; originally posted on Brontoforumus, 2008-04-11. This episode directly follows the last two I reviewed, Ghost Light and The Curse of Fenric.


The original 26-year run concludes with the ironically-titled Survival. (Gloria Gaynor can relate, I'm sure.)

It lacks the deeper themes and clever storytelling of the two preceding serials, and, due to the presence of Cheetah People, is far, far sillier. But it's a fun, if nonsensical, straight-up Doctor versus Master story, and is significant both for the last appearance of Ainley as the Master (a 1990's adventure game notwithstanding) and of course the series finale. Plus it explains what the Master's doing with yellow cat eyes in the 1996 TV movie.

$25 at Amazon; comes with a second disc that apparently has a lot of extra features dealing with the historical significance of the ep. It's not available streaming on Amazon Prime or Netflix; if you're still doing the disc version of Netflix I'd say get it that way, and the second disc is optional. The serial's worth checking out, but its predecessors are better.

Didn't See It.

I have some fans who want to know what I have to say about tonight's episode of The Two Lying Bastards Show.

Well, I missed it. And it's not as funny as it used to be anyway. I think it really jumped the shark after 1992; that episode where they let that third lying bastard in just to shake things up was hilarious.

Caught a little bit of it on the radio, but, well, nothing much to write home about. The usual platitudes. Didn't hear enough to really single anything out for praise or criticism. The show has settled into a pretty comfortable formula at this point and they're not about to shake up audience expectations.

Two more episodes left this season. Maybe I'll catch one of those and have more to say. In the meantime, I'm sure Stewart and Colbert will have the highlights.