Big Chef Takes on Little Chef

Who would have thought that plonking the "best chef in the world," in what is, lets face it, the worst 'restaurant' on the planet, could be such an enjoyable piece of programming.

When i first started watching i assumed this "kitchen Nightmares" style mash up would involve Heston barging into a run down little chef and barracking the employees because they can't cook an omelet.  Turns out Heston doesn't roll that way, oh no, this guy is no Ramsey, he's a pro, he really cares about his food, so much so that creates ridiculous combinations that have been celebrated world wide. 

To be honest the real enjoyment in this program came not from the regeneration of little chef because lets face it, who cares whether that blot on Britons roads had a simultaneous chip fan fire and no one could find the damp towel.  The real enjoyment came from the managing directors ridiculous, pompous and frankly insulting diatribe, born from sitting in four and half million management seminars. His catchphrase was "blue sky thinking;" something i assume means... urm... you know! thinking outside the box... catching the first light of the morning. 

Ian Pegler the aforementioned managing director, was the kind of man you would laugh at if he turned up in a hostage video pleading for Gordon Brown's help, only to have his head sliced off on a grainy internet web page; not only was everything he said taken from one of the huge folders you get when you secure a job at a crap high street mobile phone shop, he was also completely unafraid to lambast Heston's painstakingly created culinary masterpieces that he makes in a science laboratory. 

Against all odds Heston somehow succeeds; he rebrands the little chef we all know and love (dead earwigs down the back of your seat) and makes it into an american diner with meeting place seats and a slightly better menu.

The only problem for Heston is that he couldn't re-brand the staff; because lets face it they all looked like members of Leatherface's family from Texas Chainsaw Massacre; sniveling, educated by dusty bin; and the kind of people you wouldn't want cooking your even if you were forced at gun point by Jack Bauer. 

Suffice to say Channel 4 managed to create a fab program, by simply creating a huge culture clash that they knew could only end in, well, conflict.

Celeb Big Brother

Ok so yesterdays video was of course a clip from the brilliant Christmas special of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchants Extras. Scarily accurate if you look at this years line up and the events to date. Though I have to admit that I have not been bitten by the Big Brother bug, have I finally escaped the curse. Though as much as I lament Big Brother, I know it it is trash tv but, there are people out there, myself included who from time to time need some form of over your head entertainment that doesn't require any brain power. What better than Big Brother as the viewer sits and watches the world go by. Though Celeb Big Brother should be more interesting than regualar summer Big Brother due to the strength of celebrity culture at this time. It gives us a chance to see how "the other side live". If you ever wondered how a middle aged rapper from Compton or a glamour model lived then this is a show for you. Though it's not really their reality, it is the faux world created by the producers in an attempt to provide entertainment through the ridicule of the fame hungry and money grabbing celebs. The most insightful thing I have seen thus far was Verne Troyer and Coolio being at least honest and saying out loud to each other that they were here for the money. Verne Troyer I undertand this he hasn't had the most prolific career, but Coolio must surely have made a good living he had a successful music career back in the nineties. Anyway this faux reality does it's best for an insight into the celelbrity lives so many people clamour for but we are never going to get the so called "truth" or real world unless we have a Truman Show type show where the occupant is not aware that they are being watched. So called reality shows that "follow" celelbrites around are so predictable and created that any actions or interactions are merely as a result of them being watched.

“ man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning.” Clifford Geertz: An American Anthropologist and professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

It appears we will stay in a cyclical cycle of creating celebrity culture and reinforcing it through these reality shows until we have perhaps all had our 15 mins fame, where we have satisfied that thirst for what we deem celebrity to be. Or perhaps if we can understand reality but through a form that does not conduct itself in a faux reality setting then perhaps the cycle can be broken.

Celeb Big Brother 2009

Here is a brief look at recent activity.

Darts - The Greatest TV Sport?

I believe  Darts defined as a sport is severely underated and undervalued.  Not only is the requirement of the game for endurance and dexterity of the highest level. For shear adaptability for tv, and the drama it can provide is at times unparalleled.

Evidence of this is the 9 Dart Finish by Raymond Van Barneveld - The first ever in a World Championship. The 9 dart finish is one of the hardest things in sport.

Posiedon (2006) BBC1 22:40, 02/01/09

I couldn't help but right about a film on this occasion that is shown on BBC1. Whilst watching it the thought came to me once a film or TV show has been made on a subject, where it is able to be the definitive portrayal of a subject or genre should there ever be another made?

If you look at 2006's Poseidon, as boats sinking in films go there are two that stand out the original Poseidon and James Cameron's Titanic. Hence the motive behind the makers of this film must be purely money, because as far as recognition can go it was never going to beat a record 11 academy award wins that Titanic achieved when it matched the 11 by Ben Hur.  However when you think that Titanic made over a billion dollars the the box office can you expect to match that commercial success. It barely made back its budget of $150 million at the worldwide box office. The only shining light being the work of ILM as they received an Oscar for their work on Visual Effects.

The overriding point being should they have ever gone near this topic. On the release of Poseidon, Titanic would be very much in peoples mind's being only nine years old. So as risks go investing in a film of this genre and subject seems foolhardy.  Remakes are of course popular but the adage must surely be do not touch a specific topic/subject that has already been done to such commercial and critical success. Taking Titanic out of the equation then a remake of  The Poseidon adventure still doesn't seem sensible. A huge box office success in 1972 off of a budget of $5 million it was the second highest grossing film of that year behind The Godfather Part 2. The film was the second in a trend of disaster movies in the 70's which were a success at the box office. The thinking perhaps behind the remake was that it was following the same suit after the release of The Day After Tomorrow in 2004. However bring in the overreaching shadow of the at sea disaster movie and the comparison was always going to hinder the success of Poseidon. All this is not even taking into account any reviews professional or fan based of the film itself, though the relative lack of world wide commercial success and lack of core critical response then chances of success is slim. 

If we now draw the issue of remaking specific genre or subjects to a wider view, can we ever envisage anyone with any sense whatsoever of remaking either Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's list or making films specific to the content of these films. There is of course always space for films from this period to be made but to attempt the topics that the aforementioned films seems ludicrous, so why in the disaster film genre should there be any difference. The Day After Tomorrow proved that disaster films are still a viable form of entertainment and critical success, but the decisions made on a less sensitive subject than WW2 and the holocaust seem out of alignment with the thinking given to films such as Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List. As far as D Day landing films, could any film ever compare to the opening sequence in Saving Private Ryan? The short answer is no, however this does not mean there are not still many stories and subjects to explore in WW2 For instance the British on D DAY as not specifically been looked at for many a year and outside The Longest Day many peoples consciousness may not be aware of the actions taken by the British and other Allied forces on D-Day.

Christmas 2008

When I took a look a the xmas scedule in the weeks proceeding the festive time of year I have to say I was left underwhelmed. I felt there was a severe lack of impact from the shows on offer, unless you were of course a Dancing or Doctor fan.  The brilliance of Wallace and Gromet can not be denied but at a mere 30 mins this can not hold up an entire schedule.  Outside of BBC 1 it was as if nobody else could be bothered. Apart from  Channel 4's controversial decison to let Iran's infamous leader Mahmoud Ahmedinajad present their alternative xmas message we were left with a severe lack of festivities. Not even the usually reliable soaps could provide the backbone to shore everything up. All the shock and surprise of Eastenders big storyline had been bled dry weeks before the big day. The usual release of soap storylines in the press weeks in advance had its usual impact, though thats a story for another day. The subplot of Ian Beale as Scrooge, inviting all the soaps misfits who couldn't be bothered to visit their families was at best lazy. 

So as much as Xmas day tv dissapointed it was the days of xmas eve and New Years day that provided the real gems of the Christmas Tv schedule. First of all there was the xmas edition of Gavin and Stacey - the ever brilliant series didn't fail its audience with its normal portrayal of a family xmas with usual family dysfunctionality that never bordered on the ridiculous. This show purely and simply brings joy, it is uplifting and heartfelt and never fails to bring a smile to my face. If you still haven't seen this show use some of your xmas money to go out and buy both series 1 and 2 on dvd. The acting is brillinat the writing is brilliant, need I say more. 

Our second xmas saviour was the surprise return of Jonathan Creek. I always loved this show but at times the more recent episodes tried to hard to be clever, but with the 2009 version we were given a brilliant mystery that slowly fed us the bits of information yet still left me surprised by the ending. Perhaps helped by the fact it was written and Directed by the brilliant David Renwick this ranks up there with not only the best TV over xmas but also the best episodes of Jonathan Creek.

2009 shall be fine

Hello, we're back after our Christmas break, with much to discuss.There will be a breif review of the christmas period then a look forward to 2009 and what we can look forward to.

Of course 2009 couldn't begin without a reality show and it is back - Celebrity Big Brother we'll have to wait and see if there is anyone famous - as I write it's looking like Coolio could take the title of most famous celeb, it will be a close run thing with Tommy Doherty. WHO HEY HE!!!!!!!!!!! What are you talking about!!! It is Tommy Doherty.

Anyway we'll be back with a more detailed review of the celebs and how the show begins over the weekend.

Happy New Year