Hot off Edgar Wright's Blog comes the news that Fox plan to remake Spaced for an American audience hoping to emulate the success of The Office.
The article in Variety describes the remake as Single-cam half-hour revolves around a young man and woman who pose as a couple in order to rent a cheap apartment...
Kind of boiled the life out of it there didn't you?
**UPDATED**
Simon Pegg's Official Statement Regarding the US Spaced
I'm not normally a superstitious person. Oddly working in IT has made me more wary of tempting fate then I have ever been before. We're in the middle of buying a house at the moment and Emma and I have been stopping ourselves saying 'everything seems to be going ok,' or 'we haven't had any problems so far,' or anything else that providence could possible construe as over confidence.
Fat lot of good that's done us.
We were due to move in a couple of weeks. The timing was perfect, just tying into the end of our current lease. The sellers had already started packing. Now the house that they were buying has been taken off the market. They're back to square one. And we've got nowhere to live after March twentieth. Of course, the in-laws (Gawd bless 'em) will put us up temporarily.
I just hope the sellers can find a new house fairly quickly as I can already picture my little office all kitted out with index cards, desk tidies and a nice big notice board and flip chart. Not to mention our cat, when we get one (keep those name's coming by the way).
Bloody providence. I never even said it was going well. Except maybe once.
OK, so Chip memed me ages ago but I'm such a schmuck I'm only now getting around to responding. Yeah, I know; Lame as. To keep it simple I've only picked three. A lot of good books have already been picked by other, less useless, bloggers. This is what I've come up with...
Film Book Recommendations
An Autobiography by Peter CushingJust a very special human being really. I think reading the first chapter of this made me realise that actors were just people like me who liked to play games and make stuff up. A lovely memoir by a remarkable man.
Halliwell's Film Guide by Leslie Halliwell
No, I'm not being facetious (for once). As a wee kid I used to literally read through film guides in general and this one in particular. I'm a little out of touch now as the multiplex pleasers of the last ten years or so have largely turned me off current cinema, there was a time though when if I'd never heard of a film - it probably didn't exist. Thanks Les. One thing though, how does he still churn a new one out every year when he's been dead since 1989?
How to Write a Movie in 21 Days by Viki King
Well it's the classic isn't it. This woman wrote for Hart to Hart for God's sake. And Tim Robbins character in The Player has a copy in his desk drawer. And it was in The Sopranos. This was the first book on writing I ever bought. I know a lot of writers can't stand 'How to' books but I've always found them interesting. There's usually something useful you can take away with you.
Viki managed to get my first screenplay out of me. It was called 'Just Love' and was a gritty action drama about a guy who joined the police after his Dad's murderer was brought to justice but then found it wasn't always that simple and became a vigilante. Actually that sounds pretty good now I write it out. Shame as the script is bollocks but thanks anyway Ms King. Incidentally, she has a website here that also has some useful info.Thanks for letting me play, Chip. From a quick but exhaustive search of the entire inertweb I have identified the following blogs which have not so far been memed with this one... until now. The Jobbing Scriptwriter, Bloggery Pokery and Jet Packs and Such - you're all it.
From what I had seen of this before broadcast I expected Being Human to be out and out comedy. I had raised my eyebrow at it occupying an hour long slot; not the conventional length for a sit-com. In fact it turned out to be quite a dark drama with some moments of humour.
It seems like a fairly obvious premise with hindsight but I can't help feeling that quite a few execs must have taken a lot of convincing to say, 'ok, let's make the show with the vampire, the werewolf and the ghost that share a house in Bristol.' I was struck about half way through that it was sort of like a twenty-first century Addams Family.
The name Toby Whithouse must have carried a lot of weight. He's written for Who, Hotel Babylon, Torchie and was the creator of No Angels. That's a smart track record. Being Human is a worthy addition to his cv. I'm a cynical bastard and no matter how much I want to like something I can usually spoil it for myself ('Ouch, that was a bit over acted.' 'Ooh, I would have preferred if X had Y.' 'Lord, I don't like that theme tune, and why is it sung by Dennis Waterman anyway?'). I was captivated straight from the start.
The characters are brilliant; Mitchell (Guy Flanagan), the reluctant vampire with a soft eastern European accent; all sad eyed and ancient. George (Russell Tovey) the neurotic, obsessive compulsive werewolf who wants to keep his condition totally separate to his normal life. I loved the little box motions he kept making with his hands. Finally there's Annie (Andrea Riseborough), killed a year earlier but stranded due to her attachment to the house she bought with her boyfriend. The script and the underplayed performances really brought these characters forward and made them believable and appealing.
In addition to the humour inherent in the premise, there are foundations laid for future arcs. A malevolent coven of vampires poised to prey on humanity (and led by the deliciously evil Adrian Lester), the mystery behind Annie's death and whether she can or will complete her 'journey', and George's struggle with his own nature.
Honestly, I'd like to say there was something I didn't rate but I thought the whole programme was awesome. It was well directed, the music was good, the effects were good (and not too frequent). It was subtle and engaging and bloody good telly. You will probably know that it was intended as a pilot, it's not yet known if it will be developed into a series. I think it should be (you may have guessed), so I've signed this petition along with a lot (about fifteen hundred so far) of like minded folk.
If you didn't see it then check it out on the lovely BBC iPlayer, there are still four days for you to do so. Then sign the petition or the monsters will get you.
Hot off Edgar Wright's Blog comes the news that Fox plan to remake Spaced for an American audience hoping to emulate the success of The Office.
I'm not normally a superstitious person. Oddly working in IT has made me more wary of tempting fate then I have ever been before. We're in the middle of buying a house at the moment and Emma and I have been stopping ourselves saying 'everything seems to be going ok,' or 'we haven't had any problems so far,' or anything else that providence could possible construe as over confidence.
An Autobiography by Peter Cushing
No, I'm not being facetious (for once). As a wee kid I used to literally read through film guides in general and this one in particular. I'm a little out of touch now as the multiplex pleasers of the last ten years or so have largely turned me off current cinema, there was a time though when if I'd never heard of a film - it probably didn't exist. Thanks Les. One thing though, how does he still churn a new one out every year when he's been dead since 1989? 
Well it's the classic isn't it. This woman wrote for Hart to Hart for God's sake. And Tim Robbins character in The Player has a copy in his desk drawer. And it was in The Sopranos. This was the first book on writing I ever bought. I know a lot of writers can't stand 'How to' books but I've always found them interesting. There's usually something useful you can take away with you.
From what I had seen of this before broadcast I expected Being Human to be out and out comedy. I had raised my eyebrow at it occupying an hour long slot; not the conventional length for a sit-com. In fact it turned out to be quite a dark drama with some moments of humour.
In addition to the humour inherent in the premise, there are foundations laid for future arcs. A malevolent coven of vampires poised to prey on humanity (and led by the deliciously evil Adrian Lester), the mystery behind Annie's death and whether she can or will complete her 'journey', and George's struggle with his own nature.
