AE on Telly News (NEW CONCEPTS)

[Mick Harper]

Al-Jazeera is essential for Third World coverage but you always have to take into account their Third World bias. At the moment South Africa -- one of their faves -- is in the throes of mass protests about migrants.

In one sense this is a good sign since it is normally First World countries that are prone to such manifestations. But this one doesn't sit well with Al-Jazeera's world view because

(a) mass protests about migrants are inherently wrong
(b) the protestors are a hundred per cent black
(c) the overall responsibility is that of the (mostly) black government.

So Al-Jazeera sent in their investigators. Who returned with good news. The unrest was all the fault of

(a) organised on-line campaigns (possibly white people)
(b) whipped up by the local mass media (definitely white people)
(c) paid for by untraceable 'foreign interests' though Russia, Israel and white nationalists were specifically mentioned.

So now you know.

[Mick Harper]

Deadwood (Sky Atlantic to Virgin)

I checked this out briefly but finding it was a western I moved on. However Pete, a true westerner (he's a Texan though it varies depending on what we're talking about) said I should stick with it. I did, on the grounds that Raylan Givens off Justified and Lovejoy off Lovejoy was in it.

What he should have mentioned was that it's directed by Walter Hill who made The Warriors a.k.a. Xenophon's Anabasis and the fourth greatest movie ever (o.n.o.), and it shows. Recommended.

[Mick Harper]

Sicily, the Conquered Island (PBS)

It takes a lot to get me back to the computer when I've closed down for the day but watching this has driven me to it. I won't sleep unless I speak out. This full-blown two-part PBS epic with a full regalia of academic experts on hand claims, in the first five minutes, that Hannibal was beaten by the Romans at Cannae.

I don't believe a lot of Classical history but Classical historians are unanimous that this was Hannibal's most famous victory over the Romans and has become practically the eponym adopted by military historians of the twin-envelopment battle. It is one of the most famous battles in the whole wide world. 'Ludendorff executed a perfect Cannae on the Russians in 1914' etc.

I simply cannot understand how such a monumental blooper can make it into the can. I wonder how much of the lesser stuff we should trust. (I mean at the ordinary not the AE level.)

[Mick Harper]

Hot Ones: Extra Heat (Netflix)

[Mick Harper]

CNN took the unusual step of not broadcasting President Trump's address to the nation this week. The reason, they explained, was that previous televised fireside chats from this President were so full of bombast and untruths, they were having no part of it. They then proceeded to analyse what the President had said in great detail for the next two days.

It sounds fair enough, even a bit noble (two of the networks took the same view), until you reflect that CNN is a 'news station'. Its sole remit is to bring to the attention of their viewers the most newsworthy events, in the most complete way and in the shortest possible time. So I've got two questions for CNN:

[Mick Harper]

Fritz the Cat (Talking Pictures)

Those of you old enough to be ex-hippies will revere the name Robert Crumb, the greatest animator of his generation. However short that was. This film stars his most famous creation.

It isn't a very good film (by the variable Ralph Bakshi) but worth watching to clock the enormous difference between the progressivism of the Golden Generation and what passes for it now. Despite being so closely related. Well, I suppose, that's what progressiveness entails.

By the way, Talking Pictures is currently undergoing a change of tack. For years it was the repository of elderly British TV series and B-pictures but is now embracing French nouvelle vague and, apparently, this kind of salacious nonsense.

[Mick Harper]

Looking up salacious to make sure I had spelled it correctly, I noticed the second entry was 'salacious B. Crumb'. I couldn't resist clicking on it.

[Mick Harper]

10 American reactions to BBC, ITV World Cup Coverage (YouTube)

For a twenty-five minute comparison of American and British TV coverage of the World Cup take a butchers at this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhUjoM42i2w&t=1066s We come out of it rather well. According to Brodie Brazil (32 Emmy nominations) anyway.

Some interesting technical stuff about CGI along the way too.