Wednesday 22 August 2007

Still s*%@

I'm talking about British Film Forever, of course, which I've continued to watch despite myself. Part two was devoted to social realism, while last weekend's third epsiode tackled costume dramas. I assumed, quite wrongly as it turned out, that after the dreadful opener this series couldn't get any worse. So while they don't seem to be giving away so many endings, it's still an embarrassment of crass commentary and inane talking heads. Please people, not eveything needs to be a joke. Or referenced in relation to how much money or, as the commentary likes to call it, "dosh" a film made.

Writer and broadcaster Andrew Collins clearly feels the same way. At http://www.wherediditallgoright.com/BLOG/ he takes the series to task, too, but one thing he doesn't mention and which the makers of this show have failed to grasp is that a) Trainspotting is NOT social realism; and the clip of director Danny Boyle talking about it said as much, and b) not every period film can and should be classed as a "costume drama", something one of the better talking heads, the fine actor Adrian Lester, pointed out in relation to one of the film's they were covering this week.

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