Monday, April 1, 2013

The Walking Dead - Disc 4 for now

The third series of The Walking Dead has ended. It will be back in October kicking off a fourth season and 16 new episodes. 
Walking Dead

Black Mirror + In The Flesh

Black Mirror + In The Flesh


Saturday, March 30, 2013

Thick As Thieves + The Losers

Thick As Thieves, the 1974 comedy starring John Thaw, Bob Hoskins and Pat Ashton, is nothing new here. Thick As Thieves

The Losers starred Leonard Rossiter and a young Alfred Molina. Believe it or not, in the UK as late as 1979 they were still wiping video tapes after broadcast and this show suffered that fate. Fortunately, out there somewhere, someone watching had an early video tape recorder (back when they were as big and heavy as the largest PC tower you've ever seen) and managed to get all but the last episode. Rossiter was a great actor, but this wasn't his finest hour by any means. Molina has gone on to enjoy a very successful career. 
The Losers

Friday, March 29, 2013

Richard Griffiths 1947-2013

Richard Griffiths has died following heart surgery. During the past 40 years he amassed a long list of credits on the stage, in television and in film as one of Britain's greatest character actors. On TV he starred in Bird Of Prey, ffizz, A Kind Of Living, Pie In The Sky and had many memorable guest appearances on shows such as The Hollow Crown, Episodes, Bleak House (2005), TLC, Hope & Glory, Gormenghast, Vicar of Dibley, Canterbury Tales, In The Red, Lovejoy, Inspector Morse, The Good Guys, El C.I.D., Perfect Scoundrels, Boon, Bergerac, The Cleopatras, Whoops Apocalypse, The Sweeney, When The Boat Comes In and Village Hall. He appeared in films such as Superman II, Chariots of Fire, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Gandhi, Gorky Park, Whitnail & I, The Naked Gun 2½, Ted & Ralph, five of the Harry Potter films and one of the Pirates of the Caribbean films.  
Richard Griffiths dies
Richard Griffiths data

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Lightfields

You may recall from a couple years ago a 5-part drama series called Marchlands about three different families that lived in the same Yorkshire house (one in 1968, one in 1987, and the third in 2010) that were linked together by the restless spirit of a young girl that died under suspicious circumstances in the house in 1967.

Or maybe you don't?

Anyway, a follow-up series called Lightfields has aired. This time the setting is a farm in Suffolk and the three occupying families of 1944, 1975 and 2012. Spoiler alert: avoid the episode descriptions on the wiki page.

Lightfields
Marchlands

The Neighbors

The 60's had My Favorite Martian, the 70's had Mork & Mindy, the 90's had 3rd Rock From The Sun and now the whatever they call this decade? has The Neighbors - the latest alien-from-outer space-stuck-on-Earth sitcom from those rarely inventive people in Hollywood. No word on whether this will return for a second season, but if it made it this far then I imagine they should be able to flog it for another 150 episodes or so. 
The Neighbors

Smörgåsbord 50



Film involves Portuguese, French and English participants each speaking their own language. The French and Portuguese dialogue has hard-coded English subtitles.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Cornwall with Caroline Quentin

Caroline returns with a second series about the people and places of scenic Cornwall. 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Locomotion + The Railway

Couple of recent documentary series on British trains. One on the past, one on the present.

Locomotion - Dan Snow's History of British Railways.
Locomotion

The Railway: Keeping Britain On Track
The Railway: Keeping Britain On Track

Smörgåsbord 46

All films from the UK.

Broken Broken

Hollow Hollow

Secret Life Secret Life

The Fall of the Essex Boys The Fall of the Essex Boys

The Night Watch The Night Watch

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Walking Dead - Disc 3

13 more episodes of the US apocalyptic zombie thriller.
Walking Dead

Inspector Montalbano



Here's some more material for the non-English language crime enthusiasts. This one's from Italy. I've used the English titles. (Il Commissario) Inspector Montalbano is based on the detective novels by Andrea Camilleri, although some of the episodes are stories written just for the TV series. I don't have the four most recent episodes (Series 8) at this time. Italian audio with hard-coded English subtitles.

Girls - Disc 2

Girls was back with a second season. The USA comedy-drama will be back next year with 12 new episodes.
Girls

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Engrenages (Spiral) - Disc 5

This brings the French crime-thriller Engrenages (known as Spiral in the English-speaking world) up to date. French audio with hard-coded English subtitles. 
Spiral