• The King of scoop delivers the goods once again yay! It even has some news about Veronica Mars comic, so pay attention Veronica Mars fans!!!
• Well hello if you have not seen this is the trailer for season 4 of Lost… the extended one and all I will say is son of bitch (excuse my little gem as Mr. Fry would say) but it looks damn good… and whats more it looks interesting.
• Great list of movies coming out in 2008
• Worst movies of 2007, I have to say I agree with many if not all movies on this list
• With no end of the strike in sight networks are going to re-run cable shows (which is good news for Dexter, I have just finished season 1 and all I will say holy fucking shit, pardon my gem again)
• Hobbit finally gets the green light
• Will Golden Globes be a mime show as writers refuse to cross the picket line?
• Colbert takes over Google toolbars
• Michael Douglas joins NBC news
• 2 prisoners escape using the Shawshank redemption method

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I have a new addiction and its name is Dexter.

For the record it did not replace the affection I have for Mr. Fry’s work (that is simply incomparable) nor it did make me think House is any less good (which it is, its bloody brilliant, especially now that I have finally started to distinguish when Mr. Laurie slips in his accent kudos for him, its barely there I did not notice it until now and yay for me here I was thinking I was completely tone deaf), but Dexter is… well creepy. In a good way.

A good friend actually suggested Dexter this summer, but there was the holidays and I do have to soak up some sun here and there, I just did not have the time to catch up. It did sound intriguing enough – serial killer that is also a blood splatter analyst of all things.
I told you it was creepy. And Michael C. Hall (of Six Feet Under fame) could not be better for the role, he is oozing creepiness vibes. And showing a bit of an anal fixation, if I might be so bold in my analysis.
I am only half way through season 1 and its very, very good. Interesting with plenty of cliffhangers and whatnots to keep you on the edge of your seat, but from what I have gathered season 2 is even better so I guess I will have to save it for over the holidays to avoid watching Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time. Not that there is anything wrong with Lord of the Rings, I just fancy something new.
So anyhow Dexter is well a sociopath but he presents a normal front, after his dad (played in flashbacks by James Remar for the girls Sex and the City’s Richard or for Jericho Rangers Jonah Prowse) thought him how to channel his tendencies into something more shall we say productive? So he kills the criminals by night and works for Miami Police by day.
Its dark, its disturbing and do not be surprised if you catch yourself laughing at some bits, its dark, dry, clever humor at its best.

Dexter is deliciously addictive, much more so then Horatio Caine for example. But do not take my word for it, see for yourself.

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Happy Stephan Fry Appreciation Monday!

Ever since studio executives, or as we like to call them “The Money Grubbing Nincompoops”, refused to give the writers what they deserve (I will not go into a new rant about writers strike) I started to read books once again. I love books, but lately (partly due to this blog) I was preoccupied with more secular entertainment mediums. One of the books I’m currently reading is our protagonists The Hippopotamus. I have to admit it’s a work in progress; not that the book is difficult to read or boring (actually it is one of the best books I ever read), but my ADD discovers new books all the time these days while my OCD forces me to read them all. Am I F-U-C-K-E-D or what? Other suggestions my ADD made are American Goods by Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel by Susanna Clarke. I’m also skimming through I’m America (And So Can You!) and The Golden Compass.

Although I haven’t finished The Hippopotamus yet, I feel I have enough information to recommend it to all three of you reading this,…, thing. The book is written in the form of letters between Ted Wallace, a grumpy old intellectual, and his goddaughter Jane. Not to reveal too much, Ted a failed poet and recently fired reviewer at Jane’s suggestion (the monetary kind) joins the party at Swafford Hall. There he is to write a biography of his friend and entrepreneur Michal Logan. The book is written in Mr. Fry’s sharp style, full of uncensored humor through which he makes relevant social commentary. In his description of English country life, he gives a whole new meaning to words Love For Animals, thus revealing degenerate nature of new English aristocracy. Verbal diarrhea aside, let’s just say the book is not PG13 but once you discover Mr. Fry’s style of writing, get used to his use of gems (or profanities to the rest of us) and accept that all of us are freaks and weirdoes you will love this book. Simply this book is a great read. Buy it, read it, enjoy it, smoke it (it is that versatile).

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Dear faithful readers happy Stephen Fry Appreciation Monday!

I will have to begin with an explanation. I only watch Bones sporadically. That is why I have completely missed Mr. Fry’s appearance on the show. I know, shame on me.

Mr. Fry is making an appearance in season 2 and the episodes are 13, 14 and 17. He plays the character of psychiatrist dr. Gordon Wyatt. All I can say is what a delightful performance. I know that might sound terribly condescending however it made me want to pinch those cheeks into oblivion. In my defense I will say that Mr. Fry unleashes some unseemly urges that are not befitting a snarky cow, but I have decided it is easier to just give in.

What I particularly liked about the show are 2 things:

a) the writers have actually let him talk in an English accent.

I do not know about you but for me Mr. Fry without the English accent would be like chocolate chip cookie without the chocolate chips – the essential ingredient would be missing.
And while I do not doubt Mr. Fry’s acting abilities for one second, I much prefer it this way. Then again I always had a bit of thing for men with accents which led me into all sorts of silly shenanigans last of which was 5 Scottish blokes in a Dublin pub taking their shirts off because I asked them to. Ahem, see what I mean?

b) the character is quintessential Fry

Honestly from the beginning to the end, its Mr. Fry we know and love. I’m glad that rather then trying to fit him into some preconceived mold and character befitting a popular American TV show (which lets face it they could have easily done) he gets to play a character that is well… so him. And how refreshing it is to see that in an American show. A chap that will make you tea, call you a silly sausage as a term of endearment and then give you a mini lecture on where do words come from or how to pimp your browser (yup thats the word he used).

So all in all, I have thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Fry in Bones. Now what I would simply love to see is him making an appearance on House. That would be such a treat, although if history is anything to go by I say no punching Mr. Laurie - I have grown quite fond of him too.

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“Tin Man” - a SciFi Channel’s original miniseries – tried to put a modern, darker spin on a classic tale by L. Frank Baum. But, as it often happens, good idea does not equal good execution.

Despite the series lasting only around four and half hours, “Tin Man” still manages to drag with predictable plot and characters behaving as if on autopilot. It’s not that some of the actors don’t try – Alan Cumming and Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben from “Battlestar Galactica”) actually pull a pretty decent job – but the script simply doesn’t give them much to work with. On the other hand, Zooey Dechanel – who plays the main character – mostly looks dazed and confused.

They say that the story is only as good as it's villain and the character of Azkadellia definitely lacks charisma. Although she's evil sorceress cliché straight out of sword & sorcery, the writers tried to make her more interesting by adding some nice little details, like her shifting moods and the way she holds "conferences" by whispering to herself. Kathleen Robertson nevertheless doesn't really leave much of an impression, even with the monkeys flying out of her magical tattooed cleavage.

As for the "modernization" of the story, the results are equally mixed: while the treant-wolves and portable torture chambers are pretty cool ideas others, like Central City or the interior of Azkadellia's tower, are ripped straight out of other, better movies. But by far the worst touch is the lackluster "hipstering" of names, like changing the Oz into O.Z. (Outer Zone) or Dorothy Gale to DG.

If the creators really wanted to make Oz grim and gritty, they should have took a cue from 1985's movie “Return to Oz”. There, Dorothy’s stories about Oz get her into lunatic asylum. She does manage to escape to Oz, only to find herself hunted by headless witch that collects and changes her heads as easily as hats. Now, that stuff scared the hell out of me as kid!

Other decent alternative to “Tin Man” is definitely “Neverwhere” – a six-part British miniseries that amply demonstrates you don’t really need a big budget with a mad genius like Neil Gaiman writing you a screenplay. Then there are some delightfully dark fairy tales like Del Torro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” or Jenuet’s “City of Lost Children”. Finally, you can always check out the movies “Brazil” and “Dark City” from which “Tin Man” definitely took some inspiration in it’s retro/modern set design.

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Here is today’s round up of most interesting news tidbits

• Golden Globes nominations announced today, Atonement leads the way with 7 nominations, is it that good?

• Ross blogs about Golden Globes at his Talky blog

• And this is the last one I promise, about all the Brits nominated, fingers crossed Ricky Gervais will win for the Extras!

• Oh Lord its Ginger House! Love the Vicodin touch, sorry Tic tacs

• The must see list for any Hugh Laurie enthusiast, so you can update your collections, actually has he been in Spice Girls the movie? tsssss Mr. Fry and Mr. Laurie honestly, HONESTLY! There is no excuse!

• Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s

• The first delivery of Pencils2MediaMoguls has arrived, but guess what they are not accepting deliveries tssssk

• Hello?! I didn’t even know Bertie Bott’s every flavor bean actually existed… tsk shame on me, but I do wonder what dirt tastes like…

And my favorite of the day

• Hm have you been wondering what exactly Bill Murray said to Scarlet Johansson at the end of Lost in Translation?
  I really love that movie and now I know… if you dont want to know then do not click here

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Last week episode of Ugly Betty (if you have not seen last week’s Ugly Betty do, I think it was one of the most hilarious episodes up to date, I was literally weeping with laughter) gave me an idea for our Blast from the Past section so I present to you Golden Girls.

Now I know I’m risking my reputation by stating quite obviously that I love something so naff, but I thought and still think the Golden Girls were hilarious. When you think about it, I dont know the pitch for the show would hold muster these days in Hollywood - 4 elderly ladies living together in Florida, however be as it may, the interactions were great, one-liners were delightful and some scenes were wet-your-pants-funny.

For those of your born after the heyday of Golden Girls it is a story about Dorothy Zbornak (played by Beatrice Arthur), her mum Sophia Petrillo (played by Estelle Getty), Blanche Deveraux (played by Rue McClanahan) and Rose Nylund (played by Betty White).

Dorothy was hard and cynical, Sophia was in my opinion hilarious with her stories that usually started with “Picture it… Sicily”, Blanche with her rampant sex life goes to show there just might be sex life after 60 and dim-witted Rose with her St. Olaf stories mixed together made a great telly cocktail.

The show run for 7 seasons (from 1985 until 1992) and is still in syndication which should tell you something about its popularity and the awards it has received during its 7 years run are too numerous to count. Not only was it funny, but it tackled many of the subjects never tackled before on telly such as impotence, senility, suicide but the episode hat ruffled many feathers in its day was when Rose had to have HIV test after she received untested blood transfusion.

One thing is for sure, Golden Girls were never boring. So if you are looking for a sit-com that is actually funny unlike the sit-coms of today is do give Golden Girls a chance.

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Poirot – have I mentioned I love Agatha Christie? When I was little I begged the librarian to let me take out her books even though I was not allowed to take books from the adult section. So by the time I was 7 or 8 I had already read most of her books. I absolutely adore Poirot with his mustache, prissiness and little gray cells. And there is nothing lovelier then settling down with a cup of hot cocoa on a wet Sunday afternoon and watching Poirot. With David Suchet of course, he is the embodiment of Poirot. Whether it is London or English countryside, regardless if I know who the killer is - it is old school crime at its best.

Silent Witness – CSI the English way. Sort of. There is no Horatio with Horatio-nisms, there is no Grissom with his bugs or the lovely Gary Dourdan to look at, but it does not mean Silent Witness is less worthy of the accolade for giving us great insight into forensic pathology. And unlike with CSI, some crimes do not get solved and Horatio is not there to save the day. Not to mention a very big plus none wears sunglasses indoors. That could hinder the actual investigation you see.

Midsommer Murders – hm now this one combines 2 of my favorite things – crime series and English countryside. And you would not believe how many people get topped off, the body count is at least 4 per episode. Who would have thought those pretty whitewashed cottages could hide such gruesomeness? And you thought NYPD has their hands full.

Cracker – an English take on the profiling with ever great Robbie Coltrane (he might be more familiar if I say Hagrid in Harry Potter). A profiler with a penchant for booze, gambling, cigarettes and younger women, Cracker is an English take on all that profiling business. On one hand I’m not gullible enough that Robbie Coltrane is so wickedly clever to solve every case (he is not House after all) but Cracker makes an interesting watch.

Sherlock Holmes – did I mention I use to sneak out Arthur Conan Doyle out of library as well? Another favorite of mine and the reason why I love Baker street tube station so much, Sherlock Holmes was another favorite pastime when I was little. And I cannot imagine a better Sherlock then Jeremy Brett, which is unfortunate as he passed away in 1995. Still it makes for an excellent viewing.

Daziel and Pascoe – based on the novels written by Reginald Hill, Daziel and Pascoe is crime series about a duo of detectives. Daziel (it is pronounced Dee-el) is huge, abrasive and decidedly gross at times while Pascoe is more mellow well anyone is more mellow then Daziel. It is classic murder mystery set in a small and fictional Yorkshire town. See told you that countryside in England is awash with crime if these series are anything to go by.

Inspector Lynley Mysteries – great BBC crime series about another detective duo. Inspector Lynley is a bit of a poshy posh English earl or some other sort while his partner is DV Havers is as working class as they get. Forced to work together their partnership might seem as mismatched as it can get on paper however it does work. And it makes for some interesting telly that is for sure.

Waking the Dead – think Cold Case, but in a British version. And I might add much more interesting then the American version. For one all cases do not get solved. Plus unlike in the Cold Case there are far less trips back the memory lane but in my opinion this is what makes the series so good. So if you like crime, pathology, forensics and profiling this just might be your cup of tea.

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Dear faithful readers, happy Stephen Fry Appreciation Monday!

Today’s installment of Stephen Fry Appreciation Monday will take a look at QI and it will be on a more personal note, so please indulge me.

Before QI

Not so long ago a daughter of a family friend went on “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire”. She got to question number 13 and collected the money which you have to agree was quite a successful visit. You can get a good number of books/trips abroad/clothes and handbags when you get to number 13 question and answer it correctly.

So my dad got a brilliant idea he should register me as I have a reputation in my family for storing infinite amount of trivia in dark recesses of my brain. For example where was the tie invented (Croatia) or which architect designed St. Paul’s Cathedral and Trinity college library(sir Christopher Wren) or who Pete Sampras played against in semi-finals of US Open when he vomited his guts out (Corretja if I’m not mistaken). You get the idea.
On the side note my dad also offered to accompany me and for that privilege I was supposed to give him 10% of my earnings. Families are great like that.
And although I would never consider going (I’m the type to get the first question wrong plus I am blond after all!) I thought I did know something.
That was until I watched QI for the first time. Boy was I wrong!

After QI

I have every sympathy for Alan Davies, he is quite hilarious in fact, but I would give him run for the money in the negative points stakes. Where do they dig up that stuff from?
I will refrain from commenting Mr. Fry’s delightfully floppy public school hair, but goodness gracious me have you noticed the man does not even read from his cue cards on most occasions?
With every respect and I mean it in the nicest way possible, he has been around on this planet itsy bitsy longer then me but I am baffled by a) where does a man acquire all that information from and b) he must have a whopper… (of a brain that is) to store it all in.
And did you know appendix actually has a use after all? Good thing I had it taken out tsss!

Possible remedies?

Maybe I should start drinking ginkgo, it should help with the memory, it is never too early to start but ginkgo can only help so much as I am decidedly blond after all. One thing is certain, after QI I know I will give “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” a wide berth. And if you know any good memory remedies, do leave your suggestions in the comments below.

Now pardon me while I try to speed read the encyclopedia.

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• Good heavens, writers - execs negotiations break down AGAIN - will someone please slap them and get them back at the table?

• Ausiello learns why Cutthroat Bitch was fired on House, plus you can learn more about House post-Super bowl episode on his podcast

• Ross Mathews is shopping for a Christmas sweater - hilarious

• Kiefer Sutherland life behind bars includes laundry duty; hm jail should be a piece of piss for infamous Jack Bauer although I don’t know how he’ll deal being without a cell phone

• Our lovely Mr. Fry has a new Guardian column up (talking about the virtues of Firefox) and he also reveals the secret behind his weight loss, OK who in the world manages to quit smoking and not pile on pounds at the same time, hello?!

• At Cracked you can learn more about the history of sit-coms

• X files number 2 coming to screen with the weirdest supporting cast ever

• Sex and the City trailer hits the Internet

• 300th episode of ER, Lord has it been so long?

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