Just have a look at the two DVD covers up here and you'll immediately notice the similarities. They stroke me while recently watching Ripper Street, the successful BBC1 series starring Matthew Mac Fadyen. I had finished watching BBC America Copper on Fox Crime (one of our pay tv satellite channels) not long before.
Tough, fascinating, torn between their duties and tragic, painful personal experiences, the two protagonists are police detectives fighting crime, respectively in New York and in London, in the 19th century. Their love for justice, their frailty hidden under a tough surface, as well as their charming looks can get under your skin.
Do you have the slightest idea how much I love screen adaptations of the classics? Maybe, if you've been reading FLY HIGH! for a while. Well, the next season at the movies will make me and many other fans very happy with a few interesting titles: Anna Karenina, On The Road, Great Expectations.
September (Ireland, UK, Spain) - Anna Karenina
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way " (L. Tolstoj)
"There are things in this world worth fighting and dying for. We're warriors ..."
The Three Musketeers and their motto are part of our childhood memories : "All for one and one for all!" Like many other kids of my generation I read, saw and enjoyed Dumas's adventure tales of bravery, loyalty, idealism and vengeance. Athos, Portos, Aramis and D'Artagnan were exotic names but they have become unforgettable. Now they 've been turned into warriors.
This new movie version is meant to introduce the old legendary characters to the new, third millenium techno-spoilt audiences. Hence, how could four skilled musketeers just armed with their swords appeal to the young watchers? The answer is 3D, CGI, loads of special effects, swordfights and duels with a 21st century flavour recalling their favourite videogames or Japanese cartoons.
I'm not so sure I'll have the heart to go to the cinema and see this movie though I'll be strongly tempted when it comes out. I'm still terrified by my childhood memories of watching The Spiral Staircase or of just listening to the soundtrack of Dario Argento's Deep Red(Profondo Rosso), though it happened aeons ago. Thriller and ghost stories, horror and mystery films are not exactly my cup of tea. But I've seen several and even liked them. I must convince myself to see this one, I'm intrigued by the trailer, the pictures and everything I read about it.
"Every human being is a collection of selves, we never stay one person as we go on our journey to the grave. I'm all these different people, all these different people are me"
I've finally finished watching ANY HUMAN HEART. It took me time. Each on of the four episodes was so deeply moving and full of greatly emotional moments, I preferred to wait between one another. Touching, sad, but so beautiful. Based on the bestselling novel by William Boyd, Any Human Heart, it is a rollercoaster ride through one man's life. A trio of great actors portray the different life stages of hero Logan Mountstuart, a writer, lover, art dealer and spy living by his wits in the tumultuous 20th century. Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent stars as Mountstuart in his dotage, with Matthew Macfadyen as the hero in his prime and Sam Claflin as the eager seducer in his impetuous youth. Hayley Atwell, Kim Cattrall and Gillian Anderson also star in this gripping tale of adventure, romance and heartbreak.The cast was excellent and the three actors who played the leading role of Logan Mountstuart in the three different stages of life were brilliant.
Hayley Atwell is charming as Freya, Logan's second wife. Their relationship began as an affair, but they soon married. Freya is Logan's love of a life. He would never forget her.
Matthew Macfadyen, Sam Claflin and Hayley Atwell play together again after the three of them were in the cast of The Pillars of the Earth as Prior Philip, Richard and Aliena respectively. Other familiar faces are Kim Cattrall as Gloria, the wife then ex-wife of Logan's good friend Peter Scabius (played by Samuel West), Gillian Anderson as Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, Tom Hollander as Edward, Duke of Windsor, Ed Stoppard as Ben Leeping and, finally , Holliday Granger as Tess Scabius.
I liked it and I recommend it to all lovers of good drama. Mind you, lots of tissues at hand needed.
THEY SPY ON US BUT ... FORTUNATELY IT IS NOT BIG BROTHER!
Not books nor theatre, not poetry nor any literary passage. To fly high a very good TV series tonight. SPOOKS, directly from BBC, my favourite one.
There are generally just a few things that American television does better than its British counterpart. Note …I said just a few, because in general I feel that a lot of British programming is far superior to that of the USA and of Italy, of course! So what does the Americans do better than the British? Well, if you have ever seen series such as '24' or 'CSI' then you will understand what I mean. First of all they do not appear to have a limited budget, then they are well crafted, fast paced and extremely well edited. Each episode is a clearly defined unit and its storyline works well and fills the hour with no loose ends. There is, in my view, one series that challenges them on BBC1: SPOOKS. It is a series that has received a good deal of criticism since its broadcasting,
The seventh series has been nominated for a BAFTA award in the Best Drama Series category. The other series nominated are Doctor Who, Wallander and Shameless. The first series of Spooks won the BAFTA in this category in the 2002 awards, and it was also nominated in 2004 and 2005.
'The BAFTAs' are the most prestigious awards in British television, and are given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. This year's award ceremony will be held in London at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday 26th April. The full list of nominees can be seen at BAFTA's website.
SPOOKS features the work of the British espionage agency, MI5, but it is no glossy James Bond type of programme. We do not see a glossy 'aren't they all a great bunch' kind of programme, we see people with flaws, with grievances and sometimes we see them doing things they should not be doing or being defeated if not even killed.
Adam Carter (Rupert Penry-Jones) & Ros Meyers (Hermione Norris) -Together in series 5 and 6
There have been seven series on television so far – the last has been the most critically – acclaimed ever - and the filming of the eighth series is due to start in March 2009. In Italy, from time to time, you can watch some episodes on BBC Prime, the satellite channel of the BBC (in English with no subtitles). Last summer the third and fourth series were on Hallmark (again satellite pay TV) every Tuesday night at 9.00 p.m. , this time it was doubled in Italian but …it sounded strange. I prefer the original voices of the British actors! I bumped on one episode of the first series during the summer 2006, zapping boringly in search for something interesting, and since then … I’ve seen all the episodes of the first six series (56!) on DVD , I’ve read articles and reviews about the latest series (broadcast on BBC1 and BBC3 from 27th October till 8th December) and I’m eagerly waiting for the release of the new DVD (February 2009).
By the way, SPOOKS is slang for “ghosts” or “spies”. MI5 is the Home Espionage Agency. MI6 is the Foreign Espionage Agency. James Bond (007, not any spook) is an MI6 agent. Have a look at some of the most popular SPOOKS…
Matthew Mac Fadyen as Tom Quinn. Tom was decommissioned because he jeopardised a delicate operation and left the cast at the beginning of series 3 just in time to become ... don't you recognize him? Do you remember MR DARCY in "Pride and Prejudice" 2005 adaptation?
SEE VIDEOCLIP from SPOOKS series 3: "Tom's decommissioned" .
Tom was replaced by Adam Carter, actor Rupert Penry-Jones. He stayed on as one of the leaders of MI5 section D till the first episode of series 7. See the video of his last dramatic breathtaking moments ...
In 2008 episodes, a new arrival, Lucas North, actor Richard Armitage (my one weakness!). Lucas was tortured, then jailed for 8 years in Russia. He replaces Adam Carter at section D where he had worked before he was caught. Is he a double - agent?
I've also found this great music clip which blends my favourite TV series and one of my favourite songs by Coldplay: have a look and enjoy it!
THANKS TO HEATHDANCES FOR THIS WONDERFUL CLIP. SHE'S GREAT! LOOK AT HER PAGE ON YOUTUBE. CLICK HERE.
