Fast vs Slow

Simon Pegg- of Shaun of the Dead fame- comments on the recent British TV zombie show "Dead Set". I haven't seen it yet myself but he takes exception to the choice of fast zombies for the programme.

The concept was clever in its simplicity: a full-scale zombie outbreak coincides with a Big Brother eviction night, leaving the Big Brother house as the last refuge for the survivors. Scripted by Charlie Brooker, a writer whose scalpel-sharp incisiveness I have long been a fan of, and featuring talented actors such as Jaime Winstone and the outstanding Kevin Eldon, the show heralded the arrival of genuine homegrown horror, scratching at the fringes of network television. My expectations were high, and I sat down to watch a show that proved smart, inventive and enjoyable, but for one key detail: ZOMBIES DON'T RUN!

Worth a look at. Personally, I don't mind the fast zombie concept and I disagree that having a zombie run is like giving a werewolf wings. Zombies weren't animated by radiation or a virus originally- that was a new spin on the old myth of voodoo magic. The fast breed is simply another manifestation of that.

I'd actually like to see a film tackle the notion that, after a zombie outbreak, the undead are pretty fast to begin with but, as their bodies begin to rot, they slow down and turn into the mass-congregating shamblers we are all familiar with.

UPDATE - Thanks to commenter jansch, here's the link to Charlie Brooks' response to Pegg's article.

Freudian Slip?

Heh. I couldn't resist.

The wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has insisted that she did not call him "pathetic" in a live television interview.

No, of course not. Slip of the tongue and all that.

Appearing on The View, a leading US morning talk show, Michelle Obama was asked by Barbara Walters whether she wanted her husband to be president.

Mrs Obama said "no", and was then heard to say: "He was sweet and pathetic."

Oops! Whoopie quickly had to step in and correct her, pointing out that Barack's not pathetic but empathetic.

Right, of course he is.

Smallville

As you can see from this blog I've always been a Batman fan rather than Superman. Supes has always been too powerful for my liking- he's virtually indestructible with awesome powers. Bats, on the other hand, is just a guy. That makes him much more interesting in my book.

Anyway, Smallville, the show about Clark Kent's teenage years, is being repeated here in the UK and my wife and I are hooked. Totally and utterly. Seeing a show or two here and there doesn't really do it justice- but right now it's showing every weekday evening and it really does help to see the episodes close together.

The writing is great, the characters are great. the actors are great and it's a terrific addition to the legend. Clark and Lex Luthor as buddies? Brilliant- and Lex is wonderfully ambiguous. Good guy going bad or bad guy pretending to be good? Either way, Lex and warped father Lionel Luthor are done to perfection. If you look up family dysfunction in the encyclopaedia, there should be a picture of these two next to it.

As for Tom Welling as Clark? I've got to say that he's just about flawless. He plays the character brilliantly, whether it's as frustrated teen struggling with his secrets, bad-guy Red Kryptonite Clark, somewhat innocent farm boy or as the courageous man that Superman will be- he's got this role down to perfection. And the cast of supporting characters are all equally good in their respective roles. I particularly like John Schneider's Jonathan Kent- the guy who gave Superman his moral compass.

If you haven't seen the show I suggest you go buy Season One right now.

Here's the opening credits. At first ~I wasn't completely sold on the theme tune but I just can't get enough of it now.

The New Avengers

John Steed, Mike Gambit and Purdey- what a team and what a great show. I'm about halfway through watching Season One again and I've got to say that I'm really enjoying it- combining action, spies and fantastical story lines, it's bristling with energy and wonderful dialogue. It's a terrible shame that bickering between the financial backers killed the show after only two seasons. Apparently the French contingent wanted to ramp up the violence and make Purdey's character sexier. Two things I could have lived with and it would have been worthwhile to get a few more shows featuring these characters-Purdey and Gambit are brilliant on screen together.

It also has a cracking theme tune, just like Brian Clemens' other vehicle The Professionals.

The Professionals

The Professionals is one of those crime shows I loved as a child, more so even than Starsky and Hutch! Bodie and Doyle were ex-Special Forces and ex-police respectively, assigned to CI5, a unit that specialised in serious crime, especially anti-terror activities. This is a slice of classic '70s TV with a healthy dollop of gun fights and chases thrown in for good measure. Even better, it's currently being re-run on British TV after a long absence. Despite the very dated fashions, the show has actually aged very well- thanks to the talent of writer Brian Clemens I'd say. On top of all that, it has one of the best theme tunes ever to play on TV.

Ironside

Something a little different today- I'm a big fan of TV detective shows, really love them: Poirot, Diagnosis Murder, Midsomer Murders, Monk, Sherlock Holmes, Magnum PI, even the likes of the very sedate Rosemary and Thyme. At the moment Ironside is showing again and for me it's the first time I've really paid attention to the show- and I'm loving it. Raymond Burr is, of course, excellent in the main role but it's also fascinating because of the period in which it was set. When I think of San Francisco I generally try to block out the far-left craziness of today and think of the Dirty Harry movies- but Ironside is starting to eclipse that. It's worth watching even if you ignore the detective elements of the show and just concentrate on the late sixties setting; the hippy-type characters they meet, the slang, the costumes. Times really have changed.

Anyway, here's the opening sequence, complete with terrific theme tune.