Screenhead

It’s hard to pin down exactly how I feel about volume two of Primeval, which just came out yesterday from the folks at BBC America.  But we’ll go through exactly why in a minute.

First, a plot recap.  There’s an organization in England, the ARC,  that’s devoted entirely to hunting down various beasties that emerge from some kind of time-dilation portal known as an anomaly.  These anomalies spew beasties like a dime store gumball machine spews toy beasties when you put in a credit card.  So needless to say, there are a whole lot of beasties running wild in and around London at any time.

This is where our fearless collective of heroes steps in and takes care of business in the grandest possible sense, ushering the beasties back through the anomalies wherever possible and occasionally killing a few when it’s not.  Meanwhile, the ARC is being hounded in every possible direction, like dealing with overzealous journalists and former operatives who are convinced that they have seen the enemy, and the enemy is ARC, just not right away.

Alternately thrilling and baffling by turns, Primeval is going to do a whole lot of interesting things, some of which even manage to make sense.  But it’s not just science fiction in here, no sir–there will be some laughs and some occasional romantic bits that will actually allow guys, who came here for the beasties and the sheer staggering array of hot English chicks, to convince their girlfriends to see it too, because there will be plenty of drama and romantic tension among our leads.

In other words, Primeval is one of those really, really rare collections that manages to be a whole lot of different things to a whole lot of different people.  And that’s part of its great appeal.

Whether you’re here to watch beasties try and eat people or see if those two favorite characters of yours will EVER manage to kiss, Primeval pretty much has everything you’re going to be wanting.

And that’s why the Screenhead Ten Scale hands it a hefty seven out of ten, because even though it’s a bit niche, it’s nowhere near as niche as anyone expected.

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You know, I’m not a HUGE car buff–I consider a car to be little more than a way to point A to point B.  Though I do prefer to get their comfortably, quickly, and without spending an arm and a leg in gas costs–just an arm is good enough by me–I’m not terribly enthused by the thought of cars that look like small spacecraft that go from zero to sixty before you even blink.  I only really know what torque is thanks to high school physics, and horsepower to me means about as much in my car as it does in my lawn mower.

Though I will admit, I DO enjoy British television–I’m abundantly glad for BBC America, and even the older stuff you find on PBS is actually much enjoyed by both me and my family.  My personal favorite is Keeping Up Appearances, because that Hyacinth woman is just six different kinds of awesome, and she’d probably have a fainting spell if she were described as such.

So when the boys out at BBC America’s PR firm (at least I guess they are–they sent me the disk and they’re some old friends) shipped me a copy of Top Gear season 10, I was skeptical. Especially when I discovered that this show’s been around since 1977 almost continuously.  Almost continously, of course–there was a brief interval in which the show was retooled, so how they call this season ten is quite beyond me.

Strange semantics in numbering aside, Top Gear is a show that really got me.  Like I said, I’m not much of a “car guy”, thinking of them more as utilitarian objects than as artistic statements, but man.  The show is hosted by three guys who deeply, DEEPLY, love cars, and will introduce us to all manner of cars and car-related content.   The first episode, for example, features an interview with actress Helen Mirren (of The Queen) that caps off with having her take a lap around a test track and then putting her score up on a wall of fame reserved for guests. They call this their “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment.

They then spend a great deal of time looking for the best road in the world, and you’ve never seen British guys display such sheer glee.

It continues on like this for fully ten episodes, including what they call “the Botswana Special”. They’ll attempt to cross the English channel in amphibious cars.  They’ll stage the most ludicrous drag race ever, involving an Aston-Martin taking on a rocket pack and roller skates.  At one point they will engage the Royal Air Force’s Typhoon jet fighter in a two-mile race with the Bugatti Veyron.  What these guys display here is, essentially, a car show for people who don’t really care about cars.  You can almost feel their enthusiasm as they tell you all about their cars of choice, and that’s the mark of a good reviewer in my book.  Yes, this is partially a review show, but it’s also got a lot more than that, as you’ve seen from the preceding remarks.  This show is almost sufficient to INSPIRE car love in those who don’t have it.  Almost—but man, what a good try.

Basically, if you have even the slightest interest in cars, even the SLIGHTEST, you will find Top Gear to be both engrossing and entertaining, with plenty of laughs and surprises as they introduce you to cars you will likely never see and have probably never even HEARD of.  I had my eyes opened by this little chunk of British programming, and I’m glad for the experience.  Chances are good you will be too.

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State of Play is a series picked off from BBC. The series goes to the big screen and is set to be released on April, 2009. The movie boasts of a star-studded cast led by Oscar Winner Russel Crowe and Ben Affleck.

This movie is about a blistering thriller about a rising congressman and an investigative journalist embroiled in an case of seemingly unrelated, brutal murders. Crowe plays D.C. reporter Cal McAffrey, whose street smarts lead him to untangle a mystery of murder and collusion among some of the nation’s most promising political and corporate figures in “State of Play,” from acclaimed director Kevin Macdonald (”The Last King of Scotland”).

Handsome, unflappable U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is the future of his political party: an honorable appointee who serves as the chairman of a committee overseeing defense spending. All eyes are upon the rising star to be his party’s contender for the upcoming presidential race. Until his research assistant/mistress is brutally murdered and buried secrets come tumbling out.

McAffrey has the dubious fortune of both an old friendship with Collins and a ruthless editor, Cameron (Oscar® winner Helen Mirren), who has assigned him to investigate. As he and partner Della (Rachel McAdams) try to uncover the killer’s identity, McAffrey steps into a cover-up that threatens to shake the nation’s power structures. And in a town of spin-doctors and wealthy politicos, he will discover one truth: when billions are at stake, no one’s integrity, love or life is ever safe.

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I, Claudius, one of the best stories captivated in Robert Graves novel of the classic Roman Empire, rights have been nabbed by Relativity Media. The screenplay will be written by Jim Sheridan and Nye Heron who will direct, too.

Graves’ well-known novel is a plot driven story of the most complex character in real life ancient Rome.  The novel recounts the internecine plots and counter plots surrounding Claudius, the fourth emperor of Rome, who ruled 41 – 54 A.D.

The stuttering, limping and nervous tics Claudius, born to a murderous, imperial family, worked his cunning mind by using his handicaps to through rivals into misjudgments. He survived and even became one of Rome’s greatest emperors.  

I, Claudius is not new to the screen. It was produced in 1937 with Charles Laughton and on BBC in 1976 with Sian Phillips.

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