Generally speaking, the words 'cringe-inducing' are implied when talking about adverts on Australian tv. For some reason, where I currently live (Canberra) is regarded as a regional market, so we get hilarious things like commercials for horse de-lousing services or something. I'll still take them over the…

Ah, that Prisoner Cell Block H boxset. That's literally* my favourite thing that ever got released, simply because it defies logic. Who's going to buy that? Who loved that show well enough to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on it?

I'm midway through rewatching GG these days (finished season three, then a friend borrowed them all months ago and hasn't returned them). So I'll probably get to start season four at the same time as these reviews, at this rate…

Lordy that time-jump actor-switch in Rome was one of the most bewildering things tv has ever done. Just, all of a sudden mid-season, one of the main characters is ten years older & played by someone who looked quite different. While his sister & mother remained the same. And everyone else.

Fair points on most of those - I can't claim to have really ever paid close attention to Demon Seed's lyrics, for instance, but a quick google seems to prove your point.

Wouldn't you say he's already started doing that? I mean, his last handful of albums have been pretty short on the 'self-loathing' front. With Teeth, Year Zero, The Slip - not to mention the HTDA releases & instrumental stuff, of course - have all been a long way from the stereotypical Downward Spiral themes. One…

Um, spoilery, but I suspect you're right about your last sentence. (I know nothing of what's coming, I hasten to add.)

Nice. 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' is endlessly re-listenable, so I'm looking forward to this album.

Having now seen the whole thing, my main feeling is that 'House of Cards' is another example of US remakes struggling against the British original because of the extended episode order. There was not really enough story to fill the nearly-three-times-as-long length of this. As I said elsewhere, I thought episode eight…

I agree - I finished it a couple of days ago, but as the last one was winding down, I kept on checking the remaining time, wondering what was going to happen, and then… nothing. I mean, okay, there was a climax of sorts towards the end, but it still felt like a cliff-hanger for a week, not the season finale at all.…

Me too. Episode 8 is the worst example of padding I can remember on a tv show, let alone one with a short-ish season like HoC. The Pete stuff saves it from being a total abomination, but the library story served literally no purpose other than giving Spacey & Wright something to do that week.

thecarsonmcullers:

What about Dylan's Dont Look Back? Or had he already influenced music enough by 1965 to slide through on your second condition?

DrFlimFlam:

Huh. I didn't realise Pitchfork had deleted that shithouse 'The Boy With Arab Strap' review. But you're right, they have. (Still available via Wikipedia, though.)

WAV is compatible with iTunes, which might be part of it.

I agree. The show gets progressively worse (although it's still good throughout) series by series, in large part because he reaches his ambition in series one. What's left after that?

It does change the dynamic of the show a lot. He moves from horribly schemey man to, well, that.

A wonderful scene. And incredibly ballsy - it just keeps on going. The tension is incredible.

The time difference might account for that - the original was 75 mins, as noted, whereas the remake is about two hours. And includes Doris Day singing, for some reason (forced on Hitchcock by the studio, I believe).