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The Best...TV illusionist
- Posted at 3:50pm
- 09 January 2009
- by LauraPledger-RT
- 8 comments
You'll like this blog. Not a lot - but you'll like it.
I don't recall much about the television of my childhood, but I do remember being happily bamboozled by Paul Daniels on a regular basis.
Nowadays, TV magic shows have gone the way of so many brightly coloured handkerchieves and sundry rabbits, disappearing into the black hole of the magician's top hat. (Though if David Blaine could be persuaded to follow them, I suspect nobody would really miss him.)
Not so long ago we were treated to the madcap antics of American double act Penn and Teller. They routinely drove a coach and horses...
Why do l love Keanu Reeves?
- Posted at 2:17pm
- 09 January 2009
- by AndrewCollins-RT
- 4 comments
Keanu Reeves is not the best actor in the world.
He doesn't top polls or get recognised by his peers; he's never been nominated for an Oscar, a Bafta or anything by a critics' circle or foreign festival jury.
Unlike others who came through in the 1980s, such as Johnny Depp or John Cusack, he has yet to mature into a performer of real depth and has never once directed or produced.
He's famous, and can still open big-budget movies (the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still defied toxic reviews and topped the US box office at Christmas), but he's just not that good at...
Celebrity Big Brother - days 3-5
- Posted at 3:40pm
- 08 January 2009
- by PaulJones-RT
When Big Brother announced that Lucy would be reading the news "in briefs" for the talent show, I fancied I could hear the cheering of men around the country. A bit of a letdown, then, when she started slagging off Gordon Brown while wearing a cardigan. Lucy getting her legs out and talking about the Labour Party seems to be missing the point. That's not her talent.
Who knew LaToya Jackson would come out of her shell so readily if you just dressed her up like a jester? Her Coolio impersonation - "you got two hos rubbin' you…get one on that table" - was a revelation....
Demons
- Posted at 2:50pm
- 08 January 2009
- by AlisonGraham-RT
- 17 comments
I tried very hard to think of Demons as enjoyable hokum. It's not aimed at me, I thought, because I am not 13 and I don't believe monsters exist in suburban London, or suburban anywhere for that matter.
Well, I've given up, in the face of overwhelming evidence that Demons simply isn't very good. I could just about go along with its premise - a middle-aged demon-hunter seeks out his godson, who is the last of the Van Helsing clan of vampire-killers - if only it was well-written and even scary.
But it isn't. The thrills are rare and there is no real sense of peril....
Top 20 US TV dramas
- Posted at 5:18pm
- 05 January 2009
- by AlisonGraham-RT
- 61 comments
January is the cruellest month, and I don't care that TS Eliot claimed otherwise. (April? Cruel? Pah.) It's drab, dark, bleak, miserable; Christmas has been and gone and the loft is closed on the decorations for another year.
But wait! Television has candles to light the darkness because, traditionally, it's become the time of year when the cream of US TV shows return to our screens. This week 24, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: New York and Law & Order are back, and life is just a bit more shiny.
The galvanising effect of US dramas has long been a feature of many lives...
New Dancing on Ice contestants revealed
- Posted at 11:13am
- 05 January 2009
- by HelenHackworthy-RT
- 13 comments
The line-up for new series of Dancing on Ice (starts Sunday 11 January, 7:00pm, ITV1) has been announced. Taking part this year are:
Gemma Bissix - EastEnders and Hollyoaks actress
Todd Carty - Grange Hill and EastEnders favourite
Jeremy Edwards - Holby City actor and TV presenter
Ellery Hanley - rugby league player
Graeme Le Saux - football pundit
Donal MacIntyre - investigative journalist
Melinda Messenger - TV presenter and former model
Coleen Nolan - TV presenter and former singer
Roxanne Pallett - Emmerdale actress (pictured)
Ray Quinn - The X Factor runner-up
Zoe Salmon - former Blue Peter presenter
Jessica Taylor - Liberty X singer
Celebrity Big Brother - days 1 and 2
- Posted at 11:07am
- 05 January 2009
- by PaulJones-RT
- 6 comments
The trouble with Celebrity Big Brother - as opposed to proper BB - is that the format provides less scope for conflict. A fortnight or so in the comparative luxury demanded by the stars can't create that much stress. And a lot of the celebs are in there to boost their careers, not ruin them, so they should be on their best behaviour.
Having said that, there is certainly some potential for conflict. Shameless star Tina Malone describes herself as "hormonal, OCD, bi-polar" and has already started to get uptight at the thought of not being able to have a shower every day.
Scottish...
Matt Smith is new Doctor Who
- Posted at 11:00am
- 05 January 2009
- by WilliamGallagher-RT
- 40 comments
If we could only stop seeing that moody shot of Matt Smith on the news. That one endlessly repeated shot where he's looking down at the camera and seems even younger than he really is. Other than that, I'm sold: this new Doctor is a superb choice. It's a brave one but it had to be: the only way to follow David Tennant is to be bold and brave and different.
Peter Davison faced the same criticism when he took over from Tom Baker aged 29, but he had an easier job: Tennant is leaving when it seems unimaginable that anyone can equal him, yet Tom Baker had...
Waterloo Road/Above Suspicion
- Posted at 12:40pm
- 02 January 2009
- by AlisonGraham-RT
- 5 comments
It's that time of year again, when the Worshipful Order of TV Editors holds its annual coach outing to Malham Tarn, a delightful part of the world, dear readers, and beloved destination of many a geography O-level school field trip during my feckless youth.
We have a high old time, acting out scenes from our favourite series among the glories of the Yorkshire Dales, and I'm in charge of this bit of the agenda this year, so we will be re-creating key moments from Bonekickers. The choice is bountiful, but I might get us all to pretend we are being chased by a CGI snake with teeth,...
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