Lethal Weapon (1987)

After watching Bird on a Wire the other week we decided to stick with 80’s Mel Gibson and revisit (for me – they were new to Andrew) the Lethal Weapon series, beginning of course with the first movie from 1987 that first saw Mel Gibson and Danny Glover’s Detectives Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh partnered together.

This first movie is so 80’s and so right in so very many ways. The music particularly, the jazzy saxophone soundtrack from Michael Kamen and Eric Clapton is definitely of its era, but it fits the tone and the action so perfectly. It might seem dated compared to today’s incidental music, yet it still works. It fits the 80’s look and feel, particularly in terms of the amount of violence and over the top gunplay, before action films became watered down to get more accessible ratings. Lethal Weapon is 18 certificate for a reason, the violence is real and bloody, Riggs and Murtaugh both get hurt and bleed, there’s no sugar-coating.

The movie opens with a half naked woman jumping to her death from an apartment block onto a car below. It’s a hell of a powerful way to start a film, and the drama and action and humour never lets up. The story itself is pretty ho hum about the heroin trade, but it’s the backdrop to one of THE classic cop-buddy movies of all time. Gibson and Glover are an inspired pairing, sharing such an easy chemistry, it’s no wonder they paired up again and again, and again.

Gibson shows off his buff body in a gratuitous early scene, memorably parodied in National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1 (which I intend to revisit after I’ve finished with Lethal Weapon 4), and his whole persona as Martin Riggs is magnetic. I forget how good an actor he could be, and the scene when he contemplates suicide is difficult to watch. Glover is world-weary but has a wonderful family around him, with personalities and a sense of humour. It’s always a delight to hear the immortal ‘I’m too old for this sh**’, and here’s where it all started, twice in one movie too!

The Lethal Weapons are much like the Die Hard movies, once you watch one you’ve got to watch more, because you enjoy spending time with Riggs, Murtaugh and John McClane. I’ll be revisiting Lethal Weapon 2 very soon…Watch this space.

Ross Noble (24/06/10, Grassington Festival)

By the end of 2010 I will have seen Ross Noble live on 4 occasions: in 2007 and 2009 at the Grand Opera House in York, and again on 2nd December 2010 in York, and then in a break from tradition, at Grassington Festival last Thursday, in a marquee, the in the middle of a field. No two of Ross' shows are alike as he works on improvisation and goes wherever his mind takes him. At York he has rhapsodised about how crap the Jorvik Centre is, how York Minster is the largest place of Anglican worship north of the Alps, and myriad other things.

It was good to see him at a different venue then to 'usual' and to hear what he had to say about performing at such a place. Ross' musing ran from strippers dancing to the Last of The Summer Wine theme tune via his trousers being on the wrong setting (set to Nazi starchy march), to his unfortunate experiences of gastric flu and his time in Afghanistan entertaining the troops - Al-Qaeda like to laugh... 

It's hard to capture what is so brilliant about a Ross Noble gig. He's so spontaneous and side-achingly funny. I had tears in my eyes from laughter, and as I looked around at the rather varied/mixed crowd of old and young, saw people red in the face with mirth and it was a wonderful feeling to be laughing along with everyone at such a naturally talented performer. I can't wait until we see him again in December. 

Pulse (2010)

Pulse was a TV pilot shown on BBC3 a little while ago. I didn't bother with any of the other pilots but I was drawn to this one by the promise that it might be a bit like Being Human (in fact the only cast member I recognised was Annie's ex from the first series of that show), and it was written by Paul Cornell, who has written for Doctor Who. If it does get a full series, and I'd watch if it does, they should rename it 'Blood', because there was a hell of a lot of it in this 50 minutes of TV. 

The premise of Pulse is that there is a dubious experiment going on in a hospital where cancer patients have things moving inside them, and then become walking dead. Claire Foy plays Hannah, a trainee doctor who has a bit of a reputation for being eccentric, and it is she who stumbles upon the bizarre occurrences that lead her to suspect something odd is going on. She's gets splattered with blood on two occasions, once during a botched operation, and again when she attacks a 'zombie' with a saw, sending blood spurting from the back of its neck. Pleasant. 

Gore aside, this was a promising pilot, with bits of unexplained goings on and intrigue that I'm sure could sustain a series. Hannah sees her dead mother in strange places, there appears to be a conspiracy to cover up the medical experiments, and Hannah's counsellor is a bit creepy too... Promising then, though a bit dark, it could maybe do with some of Being Human's humour quotient to counter the medical gore.

Dreamgirls (2006)

After hearing Jane McDonald sing One Night Only and And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going from the musical Dreamgirls I decided I had to watch the movie version next, as it has been sat on my DVD shelves for a while now. I knew One Night Only from somewhere when I heard Jane sing it the other night, though I've no idea where, and I'd heard Mercedes sing the other song with real punch in Glee, but that was the extent of my knowledge about Dreamgirls, other than it was vaguely based on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes. 

Dreamgirls follows the rise and rise of The Dreams, a motown trio, through their roots in 1960's Detroit to the height of success (which in Hollywood movies always involves a montage with an appearance on Time magazine) in the seventies. Beyoncé (Knowles, to give her her full, actress title) is top billed as Deema, who becomes the lead singer of The Dreams at the expense of Effie, the big lady with the big voice, played by newcomer Jennifer Hudson. Rounding out the trio (initially) is voice of Tiana in The Princess and the Frog, Anika Noni Rose, playing the somewhat naive Lorrell. When Effie's divaish behaviour threatens the future of the group, Jamie Foxx's Curtis, their manager, sacks her and replaces her. The movie then follows The Dreams' rise as Effie becomes a mother and eventually finds her voice and place again, with the help of Danny Glover's not too old for this shit manager. 

This 2 hour movie packs in quite a lot of incident, and spans some key moments in the civil rights movement and black culture/history in sixties and seventies US, and manages to fit in around 30 different songs, including all the hits from the original movie plus about 4 new ones! Sometimes the number of songs felt a bit exhausting, and I think it may have been prudent to have cut out some of the numbers and had more drama. The film didn't suffer for having too many songs, it just could have used them a bit more frugally. The songs are amazing though, and Jennifer Hudson's performance of ...I'm Not Going is a real stand out, there's so much more emotion to the lyrics when the song is put in context as opposed to sung on its own at a concert. Beyoncé's performance of Listen, written for the movie, is another highlight. Other songs were good, but there were so many I can't pick others out. 

The real success story of Dreamgirls is Jennifer Hudson, who should have received her Oscar for Best Actress, not Supporting Actress. She's in the film much more than Beyoncé, who's presence is pretty unexceptional, and Effie has a lot more to do in terms of the plot and the emotional journey her character faces. Eddie Murphy is the other surprise, here playing Jimmy Early, the singer who ends up giving The Dreams their break as his backing singers. He's restrained from his usual madcap self, although there are moments where the comedy genius show through, and they are moments that stay true to the character. 

I'm waiting for the 2-disc soundtrack to appear in the post as I want to revisit the songs, especially those that get cut short in the movie. Dreamgirls is like watching a concert with a movie in the middle of it. The songs work well, and the drama is compelling, yet there's a little something that didn't add up to the some of it's parts. Having said that, I enjoyed it. 

Chocolat (2000)

A month back Andrew finished reading the novel Chocolat, and it just so happened it was on TV last week, so we made an appointment to watch it. I didn't have any idea what to expect so I was pleased that the movie was enjoyable and amusing. It was a bit like Amelié without the Jeunet look. There was a lot of whimsy going on. 

Juliette Binoche plays Vianne, who opens a chocolaterie in a sleepy French village, and then sets about touching people's lives through chocolate. Halfway through Johnny Depp arrives with a credible Irish accent as a river gypsy and romance ensues. It turns out though that Vianne is not as adept at sorting her own life out as she is with other people. Her nemesis during this time is the vilage mayor, played with delicious, moustache-twirling effect by Alfred Molina, in a role that's up there with his sheikh in Prince of Persia for scene-stealing. One of the recipient's of Vianne's chocolate-psychology is a diabetic old crone played by the wonderful Judi Dench, who always increases the watchability of any film she appears in. 

There are no real surprises to be found in the plot of Chocolat and it doesn't really do anything new, but the performances are all brilliant, Binoche in particular is simply charming. It's a sweet film that I enjoyed, and which made me very hungry for... well it's pretty obvious. Johnny Depp Chocolate!

This is the only World Cup-related thing I'm interested in...

Glee: Season 1 (2009-2010)

What is there to say about Glee that hasn't been said before? I LOVE IT! I don't think it was perfect, but it was certainly one of the most enjoyable series I've seen in a long time. Surprisingly touching and heartfelt as well as hilarious, the songs were for the most part inspired, only occasionally boring. Every character was well drawn out, and there were so many it's hard to pick a favourite - even the minor, recurring characters are top notch. 

Of course Kurt is a personal favourite, although initially I took one look at his hideous wardrobe and wrote him off as a bit of a gay cliché, but he's really not. The scenes with his dad have had me welling up, his struggles to understand his Kurt while endowing him with unconditional love feel so real, and are all the more touching for how unreal these scenes are for the majority of young men who come out as gay to their parents. In the last episode everyone seemed to be pairing off, and I hope in season 2 Kurt gets to pair off with someone. Not Finn though. 

The other characters who delight me every time they appear are: the hilarious Brittany, who's almost too blonde to function; funky-mover Mike ('Other Asian'); Principal Figis; and naturally, Sue Sylvester. Sometimes I'm laughing so long and loud at Sue's put downs that I can't keep up with the rest of the diatribe. She's just fantastic. End of. 

I don't understand people who don't 'get' Glee, I think some people believe it's to be taken seriously, when it's really taking the same tone as the excellent Mean Girls. There's so much knowing humour that is squeezed in alongside the songs that doesn't get as much notice. I don't want to go on and on, so here's a couple of things that I'm not so fussed about on Glee: Finn's singing and dancing, it's all a bit robotic; Mr Shue's over-earnestness; the lack of Terri in the last half of the season. I think that's all. Roll on season 2, but until then there's all the soundtracks to listen to!

And then God created Zac Efron...

Michael Clayton (2007)

All I knew about Michael Clayton before watching was that it had a load of acting Oscar nominations, and Tilda Swinton won hers. It turned out to be a compelling John Grisham-type thriller, i.e. a talky, business mystery rather than something full of car chases and explosions - although a car does explode in the first 15 minutes.

George Clooney plays Clayton, a lawyer who's a Mr. Fix It, someone his bosses send in when situations look dire to smooth things over, such as when Tom Wilkinson's partner seems to lose his marbles during a hearing on a long-running legal matter for a company that is being sued for umm... Something to do with harmful chemicals. Anyway, that doesn't matter so much. What matters is that Tilda Swinton will stop at nothing to prevent Clayton, who grows a conscience as the movie goes on and he realises the truth behind the legal situation, from being the good guy and exposing the corrupt company. 

It's very difficult to summarise the plot - it's one of those thriller-mysteries where the revelations are revealed slowly, and you've got to stick with it and not worry when you don't know what's going on or who anybody is. People who have to know what's going on at every moment in a film really bug me, part of the joy of watching movies is being surprised and even confused, and being open to developments happening in their own time. Michael Clayton could be described as a bit slow if you didn't have the patience to enjoy the powerhouse performances of the leads but I thought it was riveting. I do love a movie that doesn't insult your intelligence and lets you put things together. 

George Clooney's great here, I'm quickly learning to love him in anything I've seen him in. As Michael Clayton the character is a bit like Ryan Bingham, the protagonist in Up in the Air, but without the playful humour and quirks. Michael Clayton is played very straight, unusually for a Clooney film, although I suppose I've seen him in the Ocean's films and Coen brothers movies for the most part where humour is a key ingredient. Even serious though, Clooney is never less than magnetic as a screen presence. He deserves an Oscar someday. Swinton is great here, though her lack of significant screen time I wasn't sure made her stand out as Oscar worthy, even in the supporting category. Clayton was written and directed by Tony Gilroy, who wrote the Bourne trilogy, and it shows, which is a massive recommendation for the movie. 

Jane McDonald in Concert (19/06/10, The Grand, Leeds)

Last night I took my Mum and Mum-in-Law to see Jane McDonald in concert, but they were really just my excuse to not go on my own! I was probably the youngest there, and the Mums were probably a good 10 years younger than most of the rest of the grey-haired audience, apart from the two very enthusiastic lesbians sat behind us. I'm used to being the youngest at plays though, I don't know what my peers do for entertainment - unless they're the people we met on the streets walking home at 10.15pm, drunk, loud and (the women) dressed in their underwear.

Anyway, I digress. Jane was absolutely incredible - it's no wonder she had a few standing ovations (though not from us up in the balcony, there's not enough room to move up there once you're seated). She's not only an amazing singer - as evidenced by a brief 1.5mins of opera that went down incredibly well - but she's also a lovely personality, and absolutely hilarious with it. 

Jane lives in Wakefield, so being in Leeds was a bit of a homecoming for her, and it felt like she'd added that little bit extra, plus her mother was in the audience. The first half of the show was a little more ballady than the second, and I enjoyed the upbeat latter a bit more, although that may have been because I knew more of the songs in the second half. I can't find a set list on line for any of her shows (boo!) but I remember her doing the following:

Walk On By, Do You Know The Way to San Jose?, [Italian Opera], Doctor's Orders, One Voice, Even Now (those 3 from Jane, her last album), One Night Only & And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going (from Dreamgirls), [a self-penned ballad in memory of her grandmother], Voulez-Vous, Heatwave... I can't remember the others! But there was a country song, a Motown medley, a disco medley, more Burt Bacharach, Cilla Black covers... Oh and one of her backing singers did Duffy's Mercy. 

The songs covered something from practically every classic genre, and the uptempo disco medley was a highlight. Jane can do a soaring big ballad one moment, crack a few jokes of a particularly northern kind, and then launch into a massive disco number. Her voiced completely filled The Grand and it was an incredible performance that I enjoyed from start to finish.

The Blood Doctor (Barbara Vine, 2002)

I plucked this book at random from a collection of thrillers sat on my shelves, didn't read the blurb and so wasn't sure what to expect. It turns out that 'Barbara Vine' is the pen-name of Ruth Rendell, and although I've not read any of Rendell's work I'm aware of her prominence as a crime writer. I assume that 'Barbara' wrote The Blood Doctor because it's not a crime novel, although it is sort-of a detective story. 

The Blood Doctor of the title is Henry Nanther, Queen Victoria's personal physician and an expert on haemophilia. Lord Martin Nanther, the book's narrator, is Henry's great-grandson and the plot follows his attempts to piece together Henry's life in order to write a biography. It's an intriguing insight into how biographers of long dead subjects are able to construct timelines from letters and journals, and how a great deal of supposition and guesswork is involved in making sense of how a person behaved or acted so long ago. Martin comes into contact with various long-lost cousins and other relatives who are superbly drawn, each with their own interests or not in Martin's findings. As the novel progresses and Martin learns more about Henry, all the indications are that his great-grandfather may have had sinister motives in his relationships and work on haemophilia.

Alongside the Henry Nanther biography plot, the book follows Martin and his wife Jude's attempts to conceive, and Martin's fears that what Jude's failures to carry a foetus beyond 2 months may do to their marriage. Another very interesting sideplot concerns Martin's experience in the House of Lords, which I presume has been informed by Ruth Rendell's experiences since being made a life peer in 1997. The book is set over 1999-2000 when the government was reforming the House of Lords and getting rid of hereditary peers, one of whom is (fictional) Martin Nanther. 

The biographical mystery element is compelling and the ongoing relationship between Martin and Jude is well drawn, and the details of life in the House and the implications for the Reform Act are very interesting. All this adds up to a compelling read that raises issues for further thought. Altogether a more rounded experience than I was expecting from what I thought was going to be a simple thriller. 

Like People in History (Felice Picano, 1995)

The front cover quote from Edmund White says that Like People in History is 'the gay Gone With the Wind'. I've not read the latter, but I've seen the superb film, and if White meant that Like People is a bit of an epic I suppose he's right. I don't mean that it's a particularly long book (500 pages), just that it covers a large span of gay history. Now, a large span of gay history may not be that long - the book covers 1954 to 1991 - in the grand scheme of things, but many significant events are captured in Picano's novel, and not all of it just gay. I suppose though that Gone With the Wind covers the Civil War period in the US, another period that is not that long in the life of mankind, but significant in the last few hundred years. 

The book has a linear thread, following the narrator, Roger Sansarc, and his boyfriend as they first attend cousin Alistair Dodge's party, attend an AIDS activist rally in Greenwich Village, get arrested for hanging a banner, and ultimately try to prevent Alistair, suffering from AIDs-related illnesses, from swallowing a load of pills. This might all sound a bit heavy and worthy yet it's not. Each chapter features part of the 1991 story, and then a flash back to a significant time in Roger's life when Alistair has played a large part. In this segments of the past we follow Roger from boyhood through his blossoming sexuality, and then his homosexuality to his wonderful but ultimately doomed romance with the gorgeous Matt Loguidice. Along the way Roger ends up at Woodstock, he has affairs with women and men, he's seduced by an older British rocker, writes for a magazine, owns a book shop and comes into contact with Alistair far more often than he'd like.

Alistair is an interesting character. He's a precocious child, then a precocious adult, and he manipulates Roger in a way that he doesn't always realise until it's too late. Some of his feats of manipulation are astounding, and it's surprising that Roger ever forgives him, but everyone loves Alistair Dodge, and there are gaps in the narrative to give Roger time to forgive Alistair. As the picture of their two intertwining lives is built up it heightens the suspense in the 1991 story - Roger is the one who gave Alistair the pills he plans to use to commit suicide, then Roger has a change of heart. You never know if Roger will reach Alistair in time, and sometimes it's hard to decide whether you want him to or not. 

What saves the book from feeling worthy and full of the old gay-AIDs clichés is that Picano writes with such humour and warmth. The relationships between all of the book's characters are wonderfully defined, and I especially liked the romance between Roger and Matt, and was saddened when it didn't go to plan. The scenes when Matt is in hospital dying of The Disease are heartbreaking but never sensational or cloying. This is a book every gay man should read for it presents the history of the gay rights movement in a subtle way, you don't even realise you're learning (about US history admittedly) about Stonewall and beyond, you get sucked in by these great characters.

Billy Elliot: The Musical (11/06/10, Grand Opera House, York)

The movie Billy Elliot is sweet and very, very funny, with a cracking soundtrack, none of which is used in the musical! That doesn't matter though, I enjoyed it thoroughly, despite some dodgy sound problems. It turned out that the performance we'd booked to see wasn't actually a touring version of the West End hit, rather it was a version by the Billy Youth Theatre, set up in York especially for this show. I was concerned when I realised this after reading the programme that it might be terribly amateurish and full of wooden child performances. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Henry Rhodes, who played young Billy, was phenomenal. His dancing left me speechless and wanting to rise out of my seat applauding, and the same went for pretty much everyone else in the cast. I have to say that a week later I don't really remember the songs, although at the time I was tapping along with them (this probably says more about my goldfish memory than the show), yet I do remember the dancing, the energy, and emotion that was purveyed through it, and the hilarious numbers that Billy's gay-in-making mate Michael performed. The latter, played by Josh Benson, surely a star in the making, stole every scene he appeared in, and the song Expressing Yourself was full of delightful moments between the two boys and had some of the most fun choreography.

Act I

• The Stars Look Down - Company
• Shine - Ballet Girls, Mrs. Wilkinson & Mr Braithwaite
• Grandma's Song - Grandma
• Solidarity - Ballet Girls, Billy, Mrs. Wilkinson, Miners & Police
• Expressing Yourself - Billy, Michael, and Ensemble
• The Letter - Mrs. Wilkinson, Mum and Billy
• Born to Boogie - Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy, and Mr. Braithwaite
• Angry Dance -Billy & Male Ensemble

Act II

• Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher - Tony and Partiers.
• Deep into the Ground - Jackie
• Swan Lake-Billy and Billy Older Self
• He Could be a Star - Jackie and Tony
• Electricity - Billy
• Once We Were Kings - Company
• The Letter (Reprise) - Mum and Billy
• Finale - Company

Despite what I said above, looking at the set list, I do remember Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher! It was great fun. The other side of the musical, and the source movie, apart from the ballet is the serious business of the pit closures in the 1980s. I felt that in the musical there was more anger and deeper social comment than in the movie, and it worked well with the contrasting dance scenes - when the miners and ballet girls all mingled in one big dancer number it was very effective. There was some earthy language coming out of the mouths of the children, and on stage it can be quite shocking, especially when the little girl asks Billy if he wants to see her fanny! This line was lifted from the movie directly, but it's much more shocking when the little girl is 5 rows in front of you, I must say. 

I left the theatre elated and amazed by the wonderful performances by the child actors and dancers in Billy Elliot, and I would happily go and watch it again.

Californication: Season 1 (2007)

Better than just Sex and the City from a male POV, Californication is funnier and glossier, and the voice-over blog conceit doesn't last long. I was first drawn to Californication because it stars Fox Mulder aka David Duchovny, and it's also produced by the US network Showtime, who made the US version of Queer as Folk and are a bit like HBO in that they put out quality productions that aren't afraid of offending. 

In one memorable Californication scene, Duchovny's Hank Moody and his agent Charlie Runkle (SATC's Evan Handler) are having a threesome with a naked lady. Hank has slept with her before but didn't call her back and can't remember why. He remembers just as Charlie brings her to orgasm, orally, and gets a face full of ejaculate... just as his wife walks in with Hank's ex! Absolutely disgusting, and absolutely hilarious! Although there are a few too many naked ladies and not enough naked men (Duchovny looks pretty hot for an older man though) I've really enjoyed this series. According to the creator in one of the bonus feature interviews, he called it 'Californication' in order to convey how Hank is sucked into the California spirit, rather than primarily for the 'fornication' aspect. 

Rather than just featuring a different shag for Hank each week there is an interesting ongoing plot involving Hank's desire for his ex Karen (Natascha McElhone) to get back with him. Hank has been, and often still is, a bit of a jerk, but he's a loveable one - it's a role that Duchovny plays very easily, he seems a lot more comfortable than playing it straight as Fox Mulder, although he did bring a lot of humour to that role. So Hank is still good friends with Karen, especially since they have a young teenage daughter (played by Madeline Martin), a precocious girl who often gets the best lines and a superb actress to deliver them. There's a complicating factor that Karen is engaged to someone else, and Hank inadvertently sleeps with the fiancee Bill's 16 year old daughter Mia (Madeline Zima), a manipulative bitch, to put in nicely. 

My favourite character, Marcy Runkle (Pamela Adlon) is Charlie's potty-mouthed wife, who pesters her husband for a threesome and then succeeds in ruining it by tearing his nipple off with a clamp by accident. OUCH! Hank calls her Smurfette, and she's just fabulous. She reminds me of Janeane Garofalo in her look and voice, I'm hoping she gets her name in the credits in future series. 

The drama of Hank's writers' block and his ongoing love and devotion for his ex, combined with the hilarious sexual shenanigans make for a fun series. It doesn't feel like it's breaking the mould (I've seen too much HBO and Showtime for that I guess!) but it is a worthwhile watch. I look forward to seeing more soon.

Me, As A Penguin (10/06/10, WYP)

With a weird title like Me, As A Penguin and a gay theme, it was clear that this would be a play for me! Just an hour long, and featuring a cast of 4, including one character in a penguin suit, the play was absolutely wonderful. What made it better was that the cast and director had a Q & A session after the performance, which we weren't expecting, and I'm sure they don't do every night. 

Penguin features Stitch, a young gay man who works in a small town's wool shop but who is visiting his heavily-pregnant and hilarious sister Liz in Hull. The play takes place in Liz's flat, with her husband Mark, and Dave, Stitch's crush and zoo-worker. Guess which one wears the penguin suit? It's a funny, warm, touching piece about 4 well-rounded characters. I particularly identified with Stitch as I used to work in a tea room in a small town, before finding my feet in the gay world at uni and deciding that I didn't actually want the gay lifestyle that the bars and clubs promote, and Stitch eventually decides the same. 

The writer, Tom Wells, put much of himself into the play, and his writing is reminiscent of Victoria Wood or Alan Bennett, the humour is very Northern, quite gentle in places, with a bite as well. I'd happily go and see this again if it were to tour further. It only celebrated its 1st anniversary with these performances at WYP. 

Junior Apprentice (2010)

Junior Apprentice finally made it on screen after the election, since somehow having Lord Sugar on TV might influence people's political opinions. Eh? Whatever. Junior Apprentice was surprisingly good, and at times, better than the real thing. This was down to the lack of bitching, back-biting and general childishness of the regular adult contestants. The young 16-17 year old contestants could genuinely be seen to learn as the weeks went by. Hair-straightening sheep-shearer Tim particularly went from being pretty shiftless in the first cheese-selling task, to a place in the final, just being (unfairly) pipped at the winning post by Arjun. I liked Arjun all the way through, but I thought Tim was a more deserving winner as he'd grown, thought I suppose Arjun was a bit more consistent from the beginning. 

Of the others no one really stood out as a winner, but Zoe stood out as the most annoying. Initially I liked her because she seemed more competent that the other girls in her team, but then she quickly became irritating, pretentious and plain rude. She thought she was more mature than the others and then flew into hideous sulks when she didn't get her own way. Luckily Lord Sugar (no longer Sir'Alan) picked up on this, yet somehow she survived to the final. The other contestants were fun to watch, and Karen Brady, the new Margaret, did a decent job, though Nick is always my favourite for a wry put down or classic expression.

Reginald D. Hunter: Trophy Nigga (13/06/10, Grand Opera House, York)

On Sunday night we made a second trip to the Grand Opera House in York that weekend, this time to see Reginald D. Hunter's stand up show. The name of the show, Trophy Nigga, was not on the advertising, and Hunter told the audience this was because the venue was unsure about the phrase. This tells you a lot about the tone of the show! 

But first... before Hunter came on stage, a misanthropic Australian comedian called Steve Hughes regaled us for an hour with his take on how the world is going to hell. I didn't expect anyone but Hunter to be on, so I was even more surprised that this 'warm up' act was on for a full hour. He was very funny though, so it was ok! There was a lot of uncomfortable laughter though, and I think an hour of his particular comedy stylings was perhaps a bit too much. 

After a break, Hunter eventually came on at 9.30, which annoyingly meant that he was still on by 10.50, when our last train home was at 11.12, necessitating us leaving before he'd finished in order to beat the crowds out and get to the station. Other than this annoyance, I had an enjoyable evening. Hunter's comedy came from his African-American roots, and involved his bemusement with white British folks, and their (our) supposed reluctance to cause any offence. Hunter's comments on race and his strong language may not be for most tastes, but I believe that anything is ripe for comedy. 

After seeing Andy Hamilton and Arthur Smith this year, Hughes and Hunter presented a more adult, less 'Radio 4' stand up prospect, which didn't make them better or worse than the others, just different. What all four had in common was that their comedy comes from an appreciation of intelligence, and is informed by this. Hopefully if I get to see Hunter again, and I would want to, he'll start a bit earlier and I'll get to see his full set!

Bird on a Wire (1990)

In search of an easy watch one night last week, we settled on Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn comedy, Bird on a Wire. Nothing Goldie Hawn has been in could be described as a hard watch could it? Or Mel Gibson for that matter, he wasn't in torture-porn cack The Passion of the Christ after all. Bird was a very 90's film, utterly ludicrous in it's premise, with some unbelievable fight and actions scenes. 

Gibson plays a witness protection participant who is recognised by Hawn, who'd been engaged to him years previously. A call to corrupt FBI man Stephen Tobolowsky and the men Gibson was running from are back on his tail, chasing him and Hawn from a series of Gibson's witness protection placements - a hair salon, a vet's and eventually a zoo - in the final location an extended gunfight plays out in an enclosure that has tigers, lions, piranha, lizards, chimps and myriad other animals that you would never place together in such a way in real life. It makes for an exciting conclusion to a funny but never amazing movie, especially since it never resorts to fake puppets or green screening with the animals. Hawn and Gibson have an easy chemistry that makes them a pleasure to watch, and it's odd how, well, hot Gibson could look (despite the dodgy pony-tail look), whilst Hawn was (and is) stunning.

The Long Walk to Finchley (2008)

I enjoyed The Long Walk to Finchley a lot the first time I saw it, and then caught it again on BBC3 as Andrew wanted to watch it, so I'm pleased to say it was just as enjoyable second time round. Last time this Margaret Thatcher biography was on I also watched Margaret (2009) a more serious drama about Thatcher's downfall and her last days in power. In Margaret, Lindsay Duncan portrayed the Iron Lady in a straight-forward but compelling drama. In Finchley, Andrea Riseborough plays Thatcher (or Roberts as she was before marrying Denis) in a much more playful piece, that charts how she may have got her start in politics. 

There's a good deal of artistic licence employed in Tony Saint's witty script, not least the lashings of humour and the breezy pace at which Niall McCormick directs the piece. Riseborough is an excellent actress, getting Thatcher's voice and mannerisms spot on, and I enjoyed her in the slightly more serious Civil War drama, The Devil's Whore (according to Wikipedia she apparently played the original Annie in the Being Human pilot!), and she has a great supporting cast including Rory Kinnear as Denis, Samuel West as Ted Heath, and Geoffrey Palmer in an extended cameo as a gruff Tory bigwig who has no truck with women in politics.

The drama follows Thatcher from her first forays into politics, along with numerous setbacks, through to winning her seat in parliament for Finchley. She is portrayed as single-minded when it comes to politics, and poor Denis is shown as playing second-fiddle to her career. When she has twins, Thatcher is pleased that, with one of each sex, she's done with pregnancy and can get on with her career. Two of the wittiest exchanges in the piece involve foreshadowings of her children Carol and Mark's future notoriety - Mark asks when Carol will ever go to the jungle (she won, I believe, I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here), and Mark asks his mother if he can go to Africa one day, where he says he won't be any trouble (he was arrested for a coup attempt in an African country).

Now all I'm lacking is a piece that covers Thatcher's actual time in power, about which I know very little, other than mostly negative aspects. I don't suppose that would be a comedy then.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

A natural progression from the two Tomb Raider movies, the other weekend we watched the latest computer-game-to-blockbuster-movie, Prince of Persia. As with Tomb Raider, it has a silly long title with a colon, and the plot is fairly preposterous guff, but I enjoyed it more than the others. This may be down to the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal is a hotter prospect than Angelina Jolie, or perhaps because it does something a bit different. 

It didn't feel like a computer game adaptation, and I wouldn't have known if I hadn't read about the movie in Empire. I'd not heard of the game before, it's not got the same name-recognition for non-gamers as Lara Croft does. Set in a distant Persia (not Iran...) the movie begins like a live-action Aladdin, particularly in reference to the Disney animation's One Jump Ahead song sequence, as young Dastan runs and jumps his way about the city walls and roofs to avoid capture by the king's guards. Flash forward a few years and the boy is now beefy Jake Gyllenhaal, sporting not-hideous long hair (if he'd been played by Orlando Bloom, the hair would look ridiculous, as he always looks with long hair) and ripped abs. Nice. 

Dastan reluctantly teams up with the lovely princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton), who you know he'll end up falling for once the two get past the bickering stage. They're a great screen couple, Arterton and Gyllenhaal sharing wonderful chemistry that adds spark to their relationship. The two run around the desert trying to stop Sir Ben Kingsley getting his hands on a dagger than contains the titular sands of time, and can reverese time about 60 secs at once. Naturally Sir Ben wants to use the dagger for evil, and Dastan doesn't want to let him have it. 

Along the way, Dastan and Tamina fall in with the rebellious Sheik Amar, played hilariously by Alfred Molina - he's the best part of the movie, and he gets all the funniest lines, as well as a central role towards the end of the film. It's a shame that the conclusion of the movie, time snaps back, means Dastan ultimately never meets Amar - with any luck he'll turn up in the expected sequel. 

That ending, which I honestly didn't see coming, could have been a let down. A typical 'and then everyone woke up' that has worked in films like The Wizard of Oz, here the adventure had been so much fun, and the Persian setting so different looking, refreshingly so, that I didn't feel cheated. All in all, Prince of Persia was a more satisfying film than either Tomb Raider, and even better than Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney/Bruckheimer's other big movie series. I'd happily watch Dastan's further adventures, provided Gyllenhaal is playing him, and Molina returns.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)

After the OK first Tomb Raider movie, I was hopeful that the sequel, with its long-winded title, would be as good, if not better. I was pleased to find The Cradle of Life was a more interesting and enjoyable movie than its predecessor. 

Less Indiana Jones than the first movie, the Tomb Raider 2 had a better plot that didn't just feel like excuses for action sequences, of which there seemed fewer than before, but not to the film's detriment. Despite Angelina Jolie's strong presence, I still found Lara to be pretty uninteresting and unknowable, so it was a good job the plot drew me in. Gerard Butler played the is-he-isn't-he good/bad guy this time round, and he was good enough, though he's no Daniel Craig in the looks or acting department. 

There was a greater sense of fun in Cradle of Life, and Ciarán Hinds made a wonderful villain, a real scenery-chewer. I'm writing this review a week or two after watching the film, and although I remember enjoying it, I don't remember a great deal about the experience! I suppose that says a lot about the movie, and the type of movie it is, nothing profound and with nothing new to say, but a pleasant way to pass 2 hours all the same.

The Shield: Seasons 1 - 7 (2002-2008)

I started watching Season 1 of The Shield in November 2009, and this week I finished the last episodes and featurettes of the 7th and final season. After watching the first 6 or so episodes I went online and ordered the complete box set and I've watched it off and on since then - it's so addictive and so brilliant, it's up there with my favourite TV shows of all time. The weird thing is, hardly anyone even knows it exists! Which is good, because that makes it one of those shows I can claim as my own, like Reaper or Medium, that don't have big audiences or even name recognition (at least in the UK) but which when you find them turn out to be absolute gems. I'm glad I watched The Shield in a complete series stretch, rather than watching a season here and there among others because it allowed me to see how intricate the plotting was, and how events in season 1 lead directly to events in season 7. 

The Shield is a 'cop show', set in the fictional division of Farmington, Los Angeles, with a strike team of cops at it's heart - this team is responsible for infiltrating and handling the area's gangs. Leader of the strike team is Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), a short, sturdy, Grant-Mitchell-a-like (meaning he's bald and solid) and The Shield's chief protagonist. The series follows Vic and his team of Shane (Walton Goggins), Lem (Kenny Johnson), and Ronnie (David Rees Snell) as they bring their own brand of law enforcement to the drug dealers, gangs and general lowlifes of Farmington. Their actions are never less than compelling, and their lives play out like a Shakespearean drama - there are betrayals, murders, secrets and lies - and life for them is never black and white. These shades of grey that run through the series are what makes The Shield such an intriguing prospect, you're never sure how events will unfold, or what a character may do next, usually to save their own skin. 

Outside of the strike team, the Barn, police headquarters in Farmington, has had a number of powerful captains over the years, including David Aceveda (Benito Martinez), later a city councilman and mayoral candidate; Monica Rawling (Glenn Close), an excellent casting decision in Season 4; and Claudette Wyms (the astonishing CCH Pounder), previously a detective in the division. Other police include Dutch Wagenbach (Jay Karnes), who is always a delight to watch; Danny Sofer (Catherine Dent), whose sometime relationship with Vic provides some drama; her partners Julien Lowe (Michael Jace), who struggled with his sexuality in earlier seasons, and then got married and it was much referenced again, perhaps the main flaw in The Shield's history; and Tina Hanlon (Paula Garcés), a rookie cop introduced in season 5 who causes friction with Julien and Danny. Steve Billings (David Marciano) was another later addition to the cast who proved to be hilarious and a nice contrast to the heavy drama of the strike team. Vic's wife Corrine (Cathy Cahlin Ryan) had a surpising amount of screen time too - often in this kind of drama character's social lives get short shrift, but Vic's family is integral to his way of life. 

I've been amused, upset, shocked, grossed out and rivetted by The Shield. Every character is a favourite (though Claudette and Dutch are right up there) and there hasn't been much I would have changed. As I've watched every season, I've also watched every featurette and deleted scene (I've not bothered with commentaries) so I've had a great insight into the creative process behind The Shield, and it's frankly fascinating to watch the writers and directors at work. As the series went on and the strike team and Vic took up more time each episode, it unfortunately meant that Julien, Danny and occasionally Dutch and Claudette got less screen time. Thankfully, the deleted scenes provided more chances to see these characters in cut storylines, but I would have liked to have seen more of these characters. Aceveda was also sidelined somewhat after season 4 when he was no longer captain of the Barn and had fewer reasons to exist in the other characters' lives. 

Each season packed explosive revelations and events into every episode, including Aceveda's rape, Lem's death, and the degeneration of Shane and Vic's relationship, and thankfully the final season did not disappoint. If I hadn't have watched all the series in a relatively short space of time I think I would have been scratching my head a bit to remember what had happened seasons earlier - events which had direct impact on the final season, and Vic's eventual comeuppance. The last episode 2 parter was brilliant television, satisfactorily wrapping up the stories, but with some left open to show that this world would continue beyond the life span of the strike team and Vic Mackey. The final moments of The Shield were much like the previous 88 episodes worth: powerful, emotional, and generating much thought. 

The Queen: Elizabeth II and the Monarchy (Ben Pimlott, 2002)

The Queen is a fascinating, enthralling biography of Elizabeth II and her family, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I'm a fan of the royal family for some reason - and the reasons for the public interest in royalty are well covered in Pimlott's work, particularly in the final 5 chapters of the updated Golden Jubilee Edition. 

The life of the Queen is pretty much a history of the twentieth century in Britain. Born in 1926, the Queen has had about 16 Prime Ministers, lost an Empire and gained a Commonwealth, as a Princess she took part in the VE day celebrations that ended WWII, she's met presidents, popes and other royalty, and she just keeps going. Pimlott's book details some of the absurdities of royal life and tradition - such as a certain member of parliament being at the birth of heirs to the throne, a practise now ended - as well as the more intimate moments of the royal family, without being salacious or gossipy. This is no tell all expose, it's a measured, very readable historical account that places the Queen at the heart of a steady, rarely changing institution. 

It's only a shame that the biography ends at 2002, on a sad note - the last events of note being the deaths of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother. The new chapters are interesting in that they break away somewhat from the standard biography to look back over history to find parallels with older monarchs to explain how and why they hold so much fascination. The chapters covering Diana's death and the massive public outpouring of grief are gripping, and they quite rightly question why everyone cared so much. Pimlott also highlighted how the Queen became more accepting of change after Diana's death, and how the monarchy began to embrace the Diana way of doing things, such as being more hands on when among the public. 

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother lived into her 102nd year. If Elizabeth II is as long-lived as her mother there should be a good deal more to say in future editions of the book, which I look forward to eagerly. I wonder what Pimlott would have to say about the Duchess of York's recent transgressions?

Four Lions (2010)

This week’s Orange Wednesday trip to Vue took in the British film Four Lions, a hilarious comedy about a group of inept, Sheffield-based, would-be suicide bombers. It’s written and directed by Chris Morris, the warped mind behind The Day Today and Brass Eye, so it’s not surprising that the content matter is a little explosive. I think it would be difficult to be offended by this film though, despite the theme – the humour comes from the stupidity and interaction between these characters, there is no criticism of Islam or its followers.

Morris looks at the absurdities of fundamentalists, and he pointedly never gets drawn into any real discussion about why these guys are planning to blow something up for their cause. They spout off about the evils of Boots and Mini Babybels but at the same time enjoy their middle class, comfortable lives. They’re rebels without a cause, or at least they’ve only a vague notion of their cause. Omar is the leader of the group, and the more-or-less sensible one, although his calm discussion of jihad with his wife and son is unsettling. His brother, Waj, is the funniest in the film, a real dim wit – he likens the adventure of martyrdom to the ‘rubber dinghy rapids’ ride at Alton Towers and cannot tell the difference between a chicken and a rabbit.

Barry is the only white member of the group, and he’s also the most fundamental, or at least has the most extreme ideas (such as blowing up a mosque) and the most anger – this last flaw generates most of his humour. Fessal is the less developed of the group, and he’s also quite sweet… until he falls over a wall carrying explosives, taking out a sheep on the way, as well as himself. It’s the funniest death I’ve ever seen in a film, which is an odd thing to say… It’s inevitable that these characters will all die (or is it? After all, they are incredibly inept), but I wasn’t expecting Fessal to go so soon, or so funnily.

The group eventually settles on blowing themselves up at the London Marathon, and taking out participants as they do so, for maximum exposure. Dressed variously as Honey Monster, an upside down clown, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and a Bernie Clifton-style ostrich, one of their members is blown up early before he bottles out, and the other 3 run around ‘London’ trying to avoid detection. The police mistakenly shoot a runner dressed as a Wookie when told one of the suspects is dressed as a bear, setting up some neat gags about how hopeless the police are, as well as the terrorists.

The film ends on something of a downbeat note, after the death of his lovable but dim brother, Omar, who was ready to give up on the suicide-bomber business, reluctantly enters a Boots branch and detonates his bomb. It’s a curious ending for a comedy that also points to the seriousness of the subject matter – something that is also highlighted by the fact that innocent bystanders do get hurt – a lesser comedy would only be comfortable showing the bombers injuring themselves, but Morris is brave enough to mix in collateral damage to drive home the consequences of martyrdom. This is the best British film I’ve seen since In The Loop last year, and these 2 are both miles more consistently funny than any movie that Hollywood has put out for a while.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

I’m not a massive computer game fan, although I do massively enjoy the Lego Star Wars / Batman / Indiana Jones games (I’m playing the Indy sequel at the moment!). Andrew, on the other hand, loves his X-Box (and his PS2 before it died) and has a particular fondness for the Tomb Raider series. It’s not the sort of game that appeals to me, but I like the idea as a movie. We’d both seen the first movie before, but not the sequel, so we decided to revisit the first before watching the next (makes sense, right?).

Angelina Jolie’s Lara Croft is ideal casting – it’s a shame that Keeley Hawes wasn’t asked to dub her voice as she does in the computer games, since Jolie’s Lara occasionally sounds a bit Australian, that is, when she actually gets any dialogue. It’s not a big talky role, it’s mostly action all the way… for Lara Croft anyway. The bad guy gets masses of stodgy exposition, as does Jolie’s real life father Jon Voight, playing Lara’s fictional (and deceased) father in flashback/dream sequences.

When there’s no action sequences the movie becomes very slow indeed, some may even say boring. The plot is so ho-hum and sub-Indiana Jones (perhaps not sub-Crystal Skull…) that the fight scenes are essential to hold an interest in proceedings. The opening fight, with Lara pitted against a killer robot, is good, but the one where Lara fends of a home invasion in her mansion is even better! There’s a good level of humour across the action sequences, that doesn’t necessarily work through the quieter moments.

Chris Barrie is amusing as Lara’s butler, but her techy sidekick is the wrong side of annoying far too often. And how weird is the Leslie Howard cameo?! One of the stranger bits of casting has American Jolie affecting an ‘English’ accent opposite English Daniel Craig and a spot-on American drawl. Craig is one of the best parts of the movie, and his ambiguous relationship with Lara is well played. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Lara pays a visit to him while he’s in the shower – the future Bond looks very buff, even before Casino Royale and those speedos.

The first Lara Croft movie is fun, but forgettable and inconsistent. I hope the sequel is better – although by the law of diminishing returns, I’m not holding out hope! There had better be some good fight scenes…

Die Another Day (2002)

It’s taken some time to get round to watching the last James Bond film before the Daniel Craig franchise reboot, but the other week we finally sat down and watched Die Another Day again. I’d previously loved this movie. I have to say though, watching it again in context and in sequence with the other Bond movies, that it suffers a bit from overkill, and some of the dialogue seems a bit forced, like Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry are almost ashamed of the stuff they have to say.

The opening of the movie is just great, and very brave to show Bond as a fallible human being, suffering under torture and looking all shaggy with his long hair and beard. Madonna’s fantastic title tune fits the images perfectly and it’s one of my favourite title sequences of the series. Unfortunately, having set Bond up in a ‘real world’ type scenario where he doesn’t always escape, he comes across a bit too much like a superhero for the rest of the film. I know he’s always miraculously escaped danger before, but in Die Another Day it’s not so much effortless as cocky.

Die Another Day suffers in comparison with the other Brosnan movies from not having enough Judi Dench in it! I enjoyed John Cleese’s new Q though, and Moneypenny as played by Samantha Bond is just great, especially when she uses Q’s virtual reality glasses to imagine a passionate liaison with 007. It’s nice to see Moneypenny finally get a piece of Bond, even if it is just a fantasy. Other than the recurring characters, this being the 20^th official movie and 40^th anniversary of Dr No there are references to past adventures peppered throughout, particularly Q’s debriefing scene, and Jinx’s emergence from the sea á la Honey Rider (Ursula Andress). The plot has echoes of past movies too – the diamond-encrusted laser in space is very Diamonds Are Forever, and Gustav Graves, the baddy, gets sucked out of a plane like Auric Goldfinger. 

There are some very OTT touches to Die Another Day, including the invisible car, Bond surfing off the coast of Iceland, Bond swimming under the ice(!), and a ridiculous fight with the unimaginatively named Mr Kill while deadly lasers swirl about haphazardly. I enjoyed the fencing match (complete with English/American? accented Madonna cameo) and the car chase across the ice and around the ice palace, they’re just adrenaline fuelled fun.

While Die Another Day is not a bad Bond film by any means, it’s certainly not the sum of it parts in the way that The World is Not Enough or Tomorrow Never Dies are. It’s a shame that Pierce Brosnan could not have done more Bond – the 4 movies he did do showcased a shiny, modern 007 and brought him screaming into the 21^st Century in style.

The Cleveland Show: Season 1 (2009-10)

This spin-off from Family Guy has not been as consistent as it’s parent show or American Dad!, but when it works it’s been hilarious, and some great characters have been introduced to the comedy-animation world.

I can’t say that I expected Cleveland to get his own show, I don’t remember him being a particularly stand-out character on Family Guy, although perhaps that helps, so they can give Cleveland a new identity and build on the character from before. Having an African-American family at the heart of this sit-com means that some of the jokes are skewed to fit – Cleveland’s family gets away with humour that Peter Griffin’s white family could not. Mostly the issues are about family not race, although it has some input into characterisations.

Cleveland himself is a laugh-riot, with a curiously distinctive manner of talking, he makes a great Peter Griffin substitute. The rest of his family include new wife Donna, step-daughter Roberta, step-son Stewie-alike-with-an-afro Rallo, and son Cleveland Jr – in my opinion one of the best characters in the show. He’s fat, which makes for some hilarious insults from Rallo, and he’s very odd, or maybe he’s a genius, it’s not clear. There’s no talking dog, goldfish or alien within the household, but next door ‘there’s even a bear’ named Tim, voiced by Seth Macfarlane in an outrageous east European accent, and another of my favourites (along with his similarly strangely accented wife). The massively obese neighbour who travels everywhere on her motorised buggy is another fave. 

Occasionally the humour got a bit too scatalogical or vomit-based for my tastes, as the season wore on things improved and I found myself laughing more and more. The couple of Family Guy cameos towards the end were enjoyable, and I especially liked the episode where Cleveland's ex-wife died back in Quahog so Quagmire had to drive the body over to Cleveland, before going off to do a background gag on American Dad (the reason Quagmire didn't get a spin off as Peter tells him in the last episode? 'You're a rapist'. Nice). I'll watch out for the next season on E4 - I'm going to miss the insanely catchy sing-along theme tune too!

Mad Men: Season 3 (2009)

I like Mad Men, but I’m not sure why. It’s so slow moving and so not a lot happens. It all happens beautifully though – everyone looks fantastic and the 60’s period costumes and sets are gorgeous, especially the female character’s dresses. This season saw some major events as 1963 moved on to the assassination of JFK, a memorable episode that answered ‘where were you when…?’ for most of the characters. One of the more memorable occurrences this year was when a runaway ride-on lawn mower was driven across the Sterling Cooper office, slicing off a man’s foot and spraying all around with blood. It was horrific and oddly very, very funny. Completely out of left field, but it still felt very ‘Mad Men’.

The female characters are my favourites – little Peggy Olson and her adventures in the big city are great, though I’m not so sure about her relationship with ‘Duck’; Joan is a Ms. Fix it, always on hand to help out, even when feet have been detached, although she was a bit sidelined towards the end of the season when she left Sterling Cooper; and Betty Draper, long-suffering wife of Don Draper/Dick Whitman. Betty has had quite a journey this year. She almost started an affair, then found out about Don’s lies and the truth about his past, including his real name, his dead brother, and his ex-wife. So then she decided to embark on the affair and divorce Don – this all led to some fantastic scenes with Don, who’s life and career quickly unravelled over the course of 2 or 3 episodes.

The final episode of the season was a real tour de force, packed with more incident that the preceding episodes put together as the partners of Sterling Cooper quit to form a new company, taking some of their staff with them. I can’t wait to see the next season, this one has been great. I hope Sal is back next time, as he was unceremoniously sacked for refusing a male client’s advances. It’s a shame that Don was not more forward thinking when he let him go. Maybe the new company will need an art director like Sal?