BBC News
ungodly numbers of people watched the ‘Doctor Who’ premiere last weekend
Though some of the numbers are getting spun in interesting ways…
question of the day: Should there be a retirement age for artists?
Who could possibly make such a decision about when to retire accept an artist herself? Is there any way to mandate a retirement age for artists except by audiences refusing to participate as audiences anymore (which still wouldn’t prevent an artist from making art, only from having it seen)?
what she said: Helen Mirren…
Dame Helen Mirren tells it like it is: Hollywood “continues to worship at the altar of the 18- to 25-year-old male and his penis.”
question of the day: What if Christopher Nolan took over the James Bond franchise?
I haven’t seen Inception yet — I’ll see it tonight — but I’m even more intrigued to hear writer-director Christopher Nolan say this about the film (to BBC News): The Bond influence on the film was very intentional because, for me, growing up with the Bond films – they’ve always stood for grand-scale action… for … more…
watch it: “The World’s First Bionic Cat”
Oscar from Jersey lost his rear paws in a terrible accident, but he’s walking around again: And more video of Oscar: I love how the cat, in this second video, is all like, “What? I’m walkin’ here! Lemme alone!” (*sigh* He looks like my Andie, who died many years ago, and without bionic feet.) More … more…
omg: Trekkies descend on Vulcan, Alberta, Canada this weekend
Star Trek conventions are hardly an unusual thing these days: there’s probably at least one every weekend somewhere on the planet. But VulCON17: Spock Days/Galaxyfest 2010, taking place this weekend, is special. You have to travel to the small prairie town of Vulcan, in the Canadian province of Alberta, to join in the fun. And … more…
question of the day: Why do the Hitler ‘Downfall’ parody rants strike such a nerve with us?
BBC News Magazine this week ran a thoughtful, if mystified essay on the popularity of those YouTube Hitler rants (perhaps to coincide with this month’s 65th anniversary of Hitler’s death and the end of the Nazi regime). You know the ones: they borrow a scene from the amazing but serious-as-a-heart-attack German film Downfall, about Hitler’s … more…
Hunger (review)
It’s a hard, harsh film, a triumph of the new realism that is transforming British film at the moment…
watch it: “Teenage Pregnancy Video”
This PSA airing on TV in the U.K. apes the look and feel of viral video. Warning: it’s a little bit graphic in spots. More on the campaign from BBC News…
