Oh, fuck.

Season two of The Venture Bros. hit the shelves last week...another set of episodes detailing the adventures of Dr. Thaddeus Venture, his bodyguard Brock Samson, an assortment of flawed supervillains who want him dead, and his two sons Hank and Dean...who were memorably blown to pieces at the end of season one.

The second season had one heck of a burden to carry, what with the extremely high quality of writing in season one and the fact that the relationships within the Venture family (and within The Monarch's cocoon) seemed to have been left in shambles. Would writers Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer just magically restore everything to order in the classic cartoon series don't-ask-questions way? Would they hell.

Continue reading "The Venture Bros. season two DVD review" »

I figured I'd wait until there were a few entries before I brought this to your attention, but last weekend I started a new kind-of-daily blog which will discuss every Talking Heads song, one entry at a time.

It's called More Words About Music and Songs. If you click that link, it'll even take you there.

You are welcome to agree or disagree with anything I might say as you see fit. You are also welcome to sit and read quietly. But above all, you are welcome to go out and buy Talking Heads albums, because David Byrne was sent from heaven to make music a better thing for everyone.

Yes, as of July 7, the planet is officially saved. Not only will they perform at London's Live Earth concert, however...Rob Reiner is also assembling a sort film about the band in a where-have-they-been vein.

And, just like that, I'm suddenly interested in Live Earth.

I've mentioned this book before on here, but I think it deserves a wider audience. Wendy McElroy's XXX: A Woman's Right to Pornography is some of the best non-fiction I've ever read - and the entire book is available to read online.

Whatever your views on pornography, it's well worth a look - the layout is slightly hard on the eyes, but stick with it, because it's absolutely fascinating...

A new Chuck Palahniuk novel is always cause for excitement in the Lacey household - while he can be repetitive and glib, his novels are never anything less than incredibly compelling. When they're good, they're astute and poignant critiques of modern life, and usually hilarious to boot. His forthcoming novel "Rant", which I had heard literally nothing about until today, has garnered a very positive review on Aint It Cool News. It makes for interesting reading - if "Rant" marries the conceptuality of "Haunted" with the emotional impact of say, "Lullaby", it could be his best yet.

"He's completely mad!"

"That... and a bit magnificent!"

Continue reading "Doctor Who - Gridlock" »

Yes, trials are about to open up once more for iMP, and those who tested it back in late 2005 are being sent emails inviting them to apply for the new run.

Clearly, having been among the early pioneers of the format back with the original test, the BBC have noted the early success of 4oD and Virgin's VOD service, and hopefully they'll step up to the plate to provide a service for TV that rivals their excellent "Listen Again" radio service. Certainly, during the original trial, there was a great deal of potential being shown - hopefully some of the technical (and licensing!) issues can be ironed out through testing this time.

Of course, if any of the NTS writers do get accepted for this trial (the invitation doesn't guarantee entry), expect some updates and examination of how it's all going. And hey, maybe getting on will provide some comfort after trying to apply for this last night only to be told that I didn't meet the "recruitment criteria" WITHOUT ANY SPECIFIED REASON WHATSOEVER...

"Come one, come all! Come witness a new experience in ultimate terror."

Read on as Philip J Reed, VSc and Andrew Edmark give their thoughts on the new film "Grindhouse" in their very own double-feature review format.

Continue reading "Grindhouse Double-Feature Review" »

This is quite possibly the best TV news of the year so far.

Continue reading "Another Chance to See" »

Just as dense and enjoyable as last weeks episode, The Shakespeare Code continues the trend of Series Three Who being really very good indeed. It's this years "celebrity historical" episode, an idea which I like - Ancient Romans or Early Blues Musicians next time, please. Where The Doctor has always said things like "Ooh, these shoes were a present from Gunga Din in gratitude for a sketch I did him of a meerkat" or "I remember well the time I went punting with the prophet Mohammed" these meetings with momentous figures are now a staple of the show, and it feels bizarre that they weren't more common previously, as they're without fail amongst the best of the series so far.

Continue reading "Doctor Who - The Shakespeare Code" »

Normally I'll know if I'm interested in seeing a film long before it's even released. I'm a pretty good judge, by now, of what I will and won't enjoy seeing in theaters. There have been mis-steps, on occasion, but overall I've kept myself on a pretty good course. If there's a film I don't think I'll enjoy, I just don't go.

But Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters complicated this pattern of mine. It wasn't a movie I wanted to see; I had no interest whatsoever in seeing Frylock, Meatwad and Shake on the big screen. Yet, in my heart, I knew that Adult Swim really deserves to be making films...and I felt compelled to support their endeavor. I had decided that, no matter what, I'd donate the cost of admission to the Adult Swim Movie Fund.

The only question was, would I enjoy it?

Continue reading "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters colon review" »

Last night, 84 years old. The world has lost one of its last truly great novelists.

This is a very, very sad day.

Expect the NTS verdict on the finale of Life on Mars (and indeed on the second series in general) at some point over the next week, but in the meantime, enjoy this excellent interview with Matthew Graham, in which he elaborates on the ending, and attempts to claim that it's not really open to interpretation before admitting that yes, alright, it kind of is. Well worth a look, both for the light it sheds on the series itself, and the Ashes to Ashes tidbits.

Goes without saying that it's as spoilersome as is humanely possible, of course, so don't read it if you haven't got round to watching the episode, or are stuck in Canada, or something.

Three big cinematic releases get caught in the erotic crossfire of my critical horn - 300, TMNT (I still can't get my head round them being "ninja" and not "hero" turtles - doesn't sound right) and Blades Of Glory. Plus a new, small section about things to keep your eyes actually literally physically peeled for over the coming months.

Continue reading "Return Of Laceyvision" »

What may well be Adult Swim's most polarizing program comes at last to DVD in a three-disc set that collects all of the episodes, a healthy assortment of bonus features, and your choice of dips (saltwater, freshwater or brackish).

It's a strange show that mixes live action, animation and photography in an intensely stylistic way, and at times it seems just about ready to topple over into sketch comedy. It manages to be both formulaic and freeform at once, and this requires some explanation. Which is good, because there happens to be a full series and DVD review just below the fold.

Continue reading "Tom Goes to the Mayor: The Complete Series DVD Review" »

So evidently a 10-minute pilot was filmed sometime in December that is making the rounds at Disney and may well lead to a brand new Muppet mini-series. You can read about it here, but perhaps the most interesting thing about the possible Muppet revival is the format:

The short pilot uses the television syntax of a documentary (think "The Office" meets "The Muppet Show").

Continue reading ""Do you do...Gonzo?" "No."" »

Judoon Platoon Upon The Moon...

Continue reading "Doctor Who - Smith & Jones" »

Continue reading "Booktext, April 07--Breakfast of Champions" »