finer pleasures

[ljplicease]

Weird things get me excited. When somebody announced recently they had discovered dinosaur feathers trapped in amber for example. I like the idea that dinosaurs still live amongst us in the form of avian dinosaurs, and dinosaur news puts a grin on my face. I can't believe that Lena did not tell me right away when she found out, or at least pretended not to have known when I told her. Tonight when I was watching yesterday's Colbert they played part of this Grey Poupon ad for one of the jokes:

Which I recall fondly from my childhood. I didn't recognize the actors when I was younger. Paul Eddington in the first car played a befuddled UK government minister and later Prime Minister in the satirical British sitcoms Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. Ian Richardson in the second car played the evil Tory government whip and later Prime Minister Francis Urquhart (FU) in the political thriller House of Cards and its sequels To Play the King and The Final Cut.

Earlier this month I mentioned having finally saw On the Beach and I got a couple of recommendations on other post-apocalyptic entertainment. New Zealand film The Quiet Earth is to me more mysterious than post-apocalyptic because you don't really know what happened to everyone, but probably more enjoyable because it doesn't quite follow the usual script. The 80s BBC TV movie Threads was depressing, but one of the more believable post nuclear holocaust stories I've seen. Every time I see post-nuke as entertainment I feel like they are pulling their punches, but not here. The Day After mentioned by the same recommender was directed by the same person who directed the best Star Trek film ever made (Star Trek II), but The Day After is a poor comparison to Threads. It tries to be relevant, but I feel like they are pulling their punches. It made me laugh to see John Lithgow and Steve Guttenberg in something so serious. Also apparently Kirk's son David Marcus, who I didn't recognize.

I am fascinated by watching similar US and BBC productions though so I was glad to have the opportunity to watch both, and confirm my already existing bias that BBC productions are usually better. The original UK version of Life on Mars kept my attention right into the next series Ashes to Ashes, whereas I stopped watching the US version after the second episode. Maybe this isn't bias but simply due to the fact that I see mostly American productions and UK productions have a novelty. Maybe if I grew up in the UK I'd be the opposite. Okay you're right I am just saying that.

I was reading that Netflix (if they are still in business next year) is making a US version of House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey. I am not really a big fan of Kevin Spacey and I can't imagine him inhabiting the character of Francis Urquhart as magnificently as Ian Richards did, so that show is already starting from behind as far as I am concerned, but I will still probably watch it in order to reinforce my probable bias.

Just as I like to compare the US to BBC productions, I have always thought of Yes Minister/Yes, Prime Minister and the House of Cards trilogy as being two very different approaches to the same subject, two very different sides of the same coin, so to speak, and to see the stars of both in an old ad that I had seen long ago but forgotten gives me a thrill.

Comments

[plicease]

Haven't seen Misfits, but may check it out. Life on Mars was great, the chemistry between the two leads was just right. I related to Ashes to Ashes in some ways more because it was set in the 80s and I actually lived through that decade :)