An Evening with Dara O'Briain (23/11/10, The Grand)

Last week we paid another visit to Leeds' Grand Theatre, for the 10th and final time this year (and 3rd time this month!) - that's just 2 visits fewer than to West Yorkshire Playhouse. An Evening with Dara O'Briain was the first comedy gig I've seen at The Grand, and one of the few times I've been sat in the stalls. It's a really good venue for comedy, especially sat so close, and Dara was nothing short of hilarious. 

The first act seemed more improvisational, with the traditional stand up bit of talking to people in the front row, and the second act was more rehearsed material, although saying that he was on the last 3 dates in Leeds of a 149 date UK tour, everything felt fresh and spontaneous. The only negative thing I have to say about the show was that, although I'm no prude, there was a preponderance of foul language. For some reason it really stood out to me just how much Dara swore, particularly during the first half of the show. It didn't get in the way of the comedy or the material, it just surprised me, but then I'm used to seeing him on Mock the Week and more recently The Apprentice: You're Fired where he's a lot more restrained. 

Dara O'Briain is a fantastic improviser, he's up there with Ross Noble, though he's not quite as 'out there'. There were a few heckles that he dealt with admirably, and his delight in his comedy and the stories of some of the audience (such as the woman who saved a man's life by putting out his burning car, and then sitting with him until help arrived) was infectious. I think that's one of the reason's I really enjoy Dara O'Briain, he's clearly loving what he does. He's also fecking hilarious - the highlights were bits about baby chiropractors, with an impression of a baby bending to pick up a Peppa Pig and putting his back out; a great description of how video games are nothing like books and punish you for not being good enough; a wry take on the movie 2012 and latinos; and some great stuff about his observations at his wife's maternity classes. Brilliant work.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

1937 Theatrical Release

Disney's first full-length animated feature, Snow White needs little introduction. As we watched this on Blu-Ray recently I was amazed by how much of the movie - songs, names, the look, whole scenes - has become part of popular culture, and indeed cliché in Disney or fairytale imaginings. I was also quite shocked by how much this movie stands up to anything that has been produced in the 73 years since it was first released. It's still funny, moving, sad, exciting and beautiful, and in Blu-Ray it looks exquisite. 

One particularly good trick on this and a couple of other Disney Blu-Rays is the use of something called 'DisneyView' which fills in the black strips on either side of the movie (for the early movies were not created in widescreen) with new art in keeping with the style of the film, which changes from scene to scene. It could be potentially distracting, but it fills a widescreen and complements the movie.

I intend to view all of Disney's Classics on DVD and Blu-Ray over the coming weeks and months, in order, and along with the often copious special features. Snow White's recent Blu-Ray is packed with featurettes and

2001 Collector's Edition DVD

galleries detailing not only the fascinating production of the film, but also revealing the history of Disney's Hyperion Studios, where the feature was made, along with Silly Symphonies and Mickey Mouse shorts. At the moment I'm reading an enthralling Walt Disney biography by Neal Gabler, and reading about the immense amount of work that Disney and his hundreds of employees put into Snow White complemented by the hours of informative talking heads and archive footage on the Blu-Ray combines to provide a first rate account that could hardly be bettered.

As well as the Blu-Ray features, we also watched those features from the original DVD release a decade or so ago (I think it was one of the first Disney releases of an old classic) that did not appear on the new release. It's a shame that not all features can make it to the new editions, and it means I have to keep the old

2009 Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD

copies hanging around, so I now have two copies of Dumbo, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio... but it's worth it to see the additional Disneyland extracts, other deleted scenes and galleries of publicity. The Blu-Ray has an updated version of the DVD's Disney Through the Decades documentary, a 40 minute overview of Disney from the Alice cartoons to their acquisition of Pixar told by the likes of Angela Lansbury and Robby Benson, and split up by trailers of each re-release of Snow White. It's a fascinating look at how the Disney name and brand has grown and now reaches books, theatre, sports, TV, theme parks, and a few movies too.

I can't wait to view more Disney Classics, some of which I haven't revisited since I was a child, and a handful I've never even seen, and if all of the extra features are as good as they are for Snow White, it's going to be a fascinating experience.

New Tricks: Series 7 (2010)

Jack, Brian, Sandra & Jerry

It pains me to say it, but I think that New Tricks has gone on long enough. Although it's a ratings juggernaut and it's always a nice easy watch, I think that the show has become a little tired. I didn't sit down to watch the latest series with the same anticipation, the plots seemed to have become uninvolving, the guest stars uninteresting, and they didn't do a lot with the main characters' development. 

I've enjoyed the adventures of UCOS, the Unsolved Crimes and Open cases Squad, particularly as the cast are all excellent actors: James Bolam and Dennis Waterman do surly and grumpy very well, Amanda Redman's been a favourite since At Home With the Braithwaites, and Alun Armstrong is worth watching whatever he's in. His Brian Lane is the highlight of the show, with his obsessive compulsive ways and photographic memory, and his long-suffering wife Esther, lovingly played by Susan Jameson, Bolam's real-life wife. 

Anne Reid & David Ryall in one of the stronger episodes

The banter between the leads is still the best bit of the show, with the mystery's proving mildly engaging at best, none of which are particularly memorable. New Trick's set up suffers from something Without a Trace doesn't - both programmes involve teams solving crimes that have happened up to many years ago, but where the US drama employs effective flashbacks to fill in the blanks, the British drama resorts to exposition. Because we never meet the murder victims, or many of the people involved in the unsolved crimes and open cases, it's up to Sandra and the team to keep reiterating to the viewer who's who and who did what. This can get wearing after a while, and sometimes I find it a struggle to keep up or care for a victim I only know from a photograph. 

After 7 series, New Tricks needs to shake things up. It's very much the antithesis of Spooks, a youthful, fast-paced, adrenaline ride, with innovative directing techniques that continues to fire on all cylinders, compared with New Tricks' old-fashioned look and feel, which was originally it's charm. In these days of HD TV (which I don't have) New Tricks looks grainy and past it. The cast still makes New Tricks an entertaining prospect, but it needs a Spooks producer to come in and be unafraid to inject some real jeopardy into the stories. Saying this, I'll probably still watch series 8.

A Town Called Panic (2009)

One of the weirdest, funniest animations I've seen all year, A Town Called Panic is a bizarre stop-motion movie co-produced by Belgium, France and Luxembourg. It sees the characters Cowboy and Indian accidentally ordering millions of bricks over the internet for their friend Horse's birthday present, undersea creatures stealing their walls, Horse having romantic feelings for music teacher Madame Longray (also a horse)... and a heck of a lot of other weirdness inbetween.

From the beginning I was laughing out loud at the quirky, jerky movements and the low-tech stop-motion. The movie's setting and population look like what a child's playtime may look like, a mish-mash of different creatures, a bit like Toy Story in that respect, but as the Empire quote on the DVD cover says 'like Toy Story on absinthe'. The film isn't just a load of craziness, there's a plot or two, including the aformentioned equine romance. Although the characters have hilarious French voices (it's a subtitled animation, not a dubbed one), farmer Stephen's being my favourite, they also have personalities and although they have no facial expressions, you can tell what the characters are feeling - mostly panic! Especially for Cowboy, the more antsy one. Cowboy and Indian share a room and are a very dim pair, like children, and Horse is in a paternal role.

A Town Called Panic is simply hilarious and an utter joy. Even the trailer, one of only a couple of DVD extras, is absolutle gold, with captions comparing the movie to other live-action classics. I hope that the pair of directors who made this go on to do more of this refreshingly original work (not just the Cravendale adverts), and that it gets released over here!

Goldfrapp (16/11/10, 02 Academy, Leeds)

Goldfrapp was the first gig Andrew and I attended together, 5 years ago. It was in Leeds University's student union, a club called Stylus I think, and it was horribly warm, we were jostled about and had to keep an eye on the clock in order not to miss our train home. Despite this, Alison Goldfrapp was simply awesome. 

This week, we saw Goldfrapp again (when you see Goldfrapp live, it meets you see Alison singing with a band, who knows where the other half of the group, Will Gregory, is), this time at the 02 Academy in Leeds. A bigger, better venue than before, and with home a 10 minute walk away, the experience was much nicer. And more importantly Alison was sounding exquisite. I really like Goldfrapp's Black Cherry and Supernature albums, not so keen on the first one or Seventh Tree, and I've only heard the recent one when Andrew's played it, but I 've liked what I've heard. I was pleased then that the set list (below) featured just 1 song each from the 2 albums I've not keen on, and everything else I knew. 

1. Voicething (Intro)
2. Crystalline Green
3. You Never Know
4. Dreaming
5. Head First
6. Number 1
7. Alive
8. Believer
9. Shiny and Warm
10. Train
11. Ride A White Horse
12. Ooh La La
13. Black Cherry
14. Little Bird
15. Lovely Head
16. Strict Machine

I swear that Goldfrapp never sound better than when they're live. The louder they are the more transcendant is Alison's voice, which has a real operatic quality. There was a preponderance of up-tempo numbers, things only really slowed down for Black Cherry and Little Bird, and Ooh La La, Train and Strict Machine were highlights. Alison was dressed in a strange outfit that looked like an ostrich, which moved as she stood in front of a wind machine, giving an ethereal quality, especially when coupled with Alison's haunting vocals. Occasionally, I can't tell a word of what she's singing, but the noises she makes are so good, I just don't care. A top class gig.

The Habit of Art (10/11/10, The Grand)

We booked to see The Habit of Art, knowing nothing at all about it other than it's written by Alan Bennett, and we really enjoyed The History Boys that we saw in Leeds 27/10/07. I liked the new play, and it's not hard to pin point why... It was well acted, the set was amazing and the dialogue believable and often utterly filthy. 

The Habit of Art features a play within a play, as the audience watches a theatre group rehearsing a play about the lives of poet W.H. Auden, composer Benjamin Britten and Auden's biographer Humphrey Carpenter at a point when they all came together in Oxford. All were partial to young boys, although Britten aparently liked them a bit too young, and Auden has an encounter with a rent boy who gets involved in the main meat of the company's play. The 'actors' step in and out of their characters to compare notes, complain to the script-writer and to make suggestions. It could possibly be quite taxing to follow for some of the audience, indeed a row of old ladies in front of us left in the interval, I think because they couldn't hear what was going on.

I'm surprised more people didn't leave as the mostly geriatric audience was treated to long speeches about cock, cock-sucking, and other such things. There was some lovely language used, and it's great to think that Bennett himself is in his 70's when these words were written. I know very little about Auden or Britten, in fact I know nothing about them other than their names, and I don't think I learnt a great deal about them here - I did have a good evening at the theatre though. I was a little unsure what the 'message' of the play was, it may have gone over my head, although the construction of the play within a play helped when the 'actors' asked questions about the real-life artists' motivations and feelings. Not as immediately accessible as The History Boys, The Habit of Art was still well written and not dumbed down in the slightest.

Spooks: Series 9 (2010)

I love Spooks. I think it's the best drama on British TV since ever. I can't believe it's 9th series has recently finished! Has it really been going almost a decade?! I really enjoyed the 8th series, with it's duplicitous American agent and the force of nation that was Ros Myers. Sadly, series 8's cliff-hanger ending was resolved in a low key manner with Ros' funeral at the beginning of series 9, leaving a large hole in the series where Hermione Norris used to be.

Lucas North (Richard Armitage) took centre stage this series, and I have to say, he's no Ros, and he's no Adam (Rupert Penry-Jones), but with the continued revelations about who 'Lucas North' really is, the character became not just interesting, but fascinating. New recruits Dimitri (Max Brown) and Beth (Sophia Myles) were introduced in episode 1, and despite being rather pretty, they never really got given much personality. There was a bit of a charisma void in Spooks this series. Technician Tariq (Shazad Latif), introduced to replace Malcolm last series, is another character who's beautiful but undeveloped.

However, Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) and Ruth (Nicola Walker) were there to save the day, many times, in many ways. Their relationship has always been multi-layered, leading up to Ruth turning down Harry's proposal this series, and eventually leading to Harry giving away state secrets to save Ruth's life. I've enjoyed how Ruth's character has been given more to do this series, and even chance to get off the grid. Nicola Walker is a great actress, and it's a shame she doesn't do more TV, and she's turned Ruth into a major player, with real emotions who really feels the impact of every service death. She is the heart of the series.

Simon Russell Beale added some much needed levity as the new Home Secretary. He's been an absolute delight, and he follows some great actors in the role. A new addition I hope isn't going to hang around long next series was introduced in the last episode, Alec White. He was played by Vincent Regan in too broad strokes, he felt cartoonish in the realistic (!) world in which Spooks resides. Either he needs toning down or axing. 

There seemed to be more standalone episodes this series, and with more variety than just having Islamic extremist bad guys as the villain's of the week. China seemed to be the main big bad, until Lucas revealed his true colours. I talked in my review of Wallander how it was brave of that show to have Stefan kill himself in the last episode, and it looks like someone at Spooks has been taking notes. To reveal a major character as not only a killer and a terrorist (he planted a bomb in a foreign embassy), but then to deny him redemption and force his end over the edge of a building... It gave the final episode an emotional wallop, and allowed Lucas the kind of memorable exit that Ros, killed off screen, was denied. Even with the gripes mentioned above, I still maintain Spooks is head and shoulders above other UK dramas, even in it's ninth year.