'Strike Back' promos.

With news coming in today that Spooks might be on the outs, I've found some promos for Richard Armitage's new project to help ease the blues. Despite its uninspired title, Strike Back throws together an appealing cast. Joining Mr. Armitage are: Andrew Lincoln, the cutie from Love Actually who has the hots for Keira Knightly; Jodhi May, the chick who throws herself off the cliff in Last of the Mohicans; and Colin Salmon, the tall, dark and handsome one from James Bond movies...yeah, that one. It's a 6 part series and, according to IMDB, David Harewood will appear in 2 episodes; call it a Robin Hood reunion....Of course you can't really have a reunion with just two people though, which is why they brought in - Sir Toby Stephens! That's right, my favorite television over-emoter will be called on to chew up the scenery for 2 episodes.

There's a tentative air date of April 2010, at which point I hope to have my thesis long behind me. Maybe I'll be in Laos if I'm lucky. In any case, not sure if I'll be able to catch it as the show will be rained down on us via Sky, a UK satellite station. Hmm, but a show about war, guns, soldiers...surely it will appeal to some fanboys out there who will help a sister out.

Hope to see more, and longer, promos soon. The first one is 15 seconds of what looks like to be Richard's showreel from Ultimate Force and Spooks. The second clip has a brief intro with a presenter and then exactly 7 seconds of flashes - mostly Richard Armitage, some Andrew Lincoln, flak jackets, automatic weapons, big army boots, and a make out scene where Mr. Armitage is dutifully getting naked. Looks like a winner!

'Cambridge Spies'...because the world needs to know if RPJ makes as good a spy as he does spy catcher.

Hurrah! I finally located a copy of Cambridge Spies. It's been on my list for a good 5 years now and I've long resisted the temptation to buy it, though hovering at $20, that averages to $5 per spy. Not a bad deal when you consider they are played by Toby Stephens, Rupert Penry-Jones, Tom Hollander, and Timothy West. The lot of them are...the Cambridge spies, or Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, and Anthony Blunt, or the most dastardly double agents in the history of espionage, or plain English toffs. The 4 part BBC1 series chronicles the spies' early days at Cambridge up to Burgess and Maclean's defection to the Soviet Union in 1951. Though it didn't tear up the ratings or win the hearts and minds of most critics, I'm hopeful. Toby Stephens and Tom Hollander are generally a sound insurance policy against defective storytelling and substandard acting, as is the BAFTA winning scribe Peter Moffat. He also brought us North Square (another RPJ vehicle), Macbeth in the Shakespeare Re-Told series (featuring 'spies' Keeley Hawes and Richard Armitage), and Hawking (with Tom Ward who looks like David Tennant, just saying). What an inbred family, that British television. The lady in the picture, by the way, is Anna-Louise Plowman, or Mrs Toby Stephens to you.

The Return of Bits and Bobs

I haven't done a news post in a long time, so here's some stuff I wanted to share.

• The Times questions the future of British cinema post-2009 Oscars haul.
• A Times (NY variety) interview with Buzz Aldrin on the 40th anniversary of NASA's moon landing and his upcoming memoir. I met ol' Buzz once at NASA. Very nice guy.
  
• Time (magazine variety) asks if genetics can help you find love. No.
  
• Toby Stephens takes a few to discuss his latest - A Doll's House, the Doctor, and the birth of his daughter.
• The King and I West End revival, starring Maria Friedman and Lost's Daniel Dae Kim, gets a royal thumbs down.
• The Guardian's depressing look back at how the moon landing killed space exploration.
  
• Holden Caufield loses his allure. Eh, yet another book I successfully avoided in high school.
• Damn. I could have been CIA and maybe crossed paths with M1-5 per the proposed ROTC-like spy program.
• Shanghai celebrates gay pride, sort of.
• Beijing's air still sucks, and that's not the only thing.
  

The New York Asian Film Festival landed on Friday. Some of the Hong Kong movies making the cut: Donnie Yen's Ip Man, Plastic City with the 'endearingly grizzled' Anthony Wong, and a PTU spinoff in the Tactical Unit series featuring Simon Yam, Maggie Siu, and Lam Suet (of course) called Comrades in Arms. There's also a Lau Ching Wan movie called Written By, which I can't find a record for. The only completed and yet unreleased movie I know of is Overheard, which has finally been posted on the theatres' upcoming lists (release date 7.30).

Spotted a new movie called Telstar about 1960s British record producer Joe Meeks, also featuring Kevin Spacey. The buzz is low, but I'm interested as James Corden rears his cheeky head as the cardigan-wearing drummer. We'll see if this outing redeems him from his Horne and Corden debacle.

Bits, Bobs, and BAFTAs for 4.26.09

Watching: Taye Diggs in Wicked
Listening: Taye Diggs in Wicked

News of the Day:

• UK's rich list takes a hit. I'm feeling punchy.
• Twitter + politicians.
• A longer than necessary article dissecting artistic achievement and beauty.
• Interesting commentary from Independent about US television's golden age (that would be now) and how Brit tv compares.
• Juice. Behind the Music: X Factor.
• What is wrong with real British spies?! Another major fuck up. Lucas North, show 'em how it's done.
• Whew. "Bob the Builder's close shave with the Village People."
• Eton opens its doors for the poor black kid. Good idea, bad idea?
  

TV BAFTAs are tonight! Richard Armitage and Hermione Norris are slated to present. French and Saunders are up for a special award so perhaps a little Harry Jasper Kennedy action? Also, Spooks is up for best drama series. If they don't win, I hope they send in Lucas North to set things right. No one seems to think it will, but The Guardian is a fan.

Meanwhile, the preview for episode 6 of Robin Hood looks...good. Richard Armitage and Toby Stephens? That's somewhat indulgent.

Bits, Bobs, and a Badass for 4.22.09

Listening: Pray-as-you-go podcast by the British Jesuits

News of the Day:

• Is college worth it? I'm having second thoughts, and so is my bank account.
• All you need is love, love is all you need - says the Archbishop of Wales. (And sex ed.)
  
• Higher taxes = brain drain? Are we talking about the bankers who fucked up the financial system because I'd say good riddance!
• Big Ag criticizes Michelle Obama's organic garden. Piss off, Big Ag.
• Oh shit! 1 in 10 gamers are 'pathologically addicted'! How about general internet addiction? Where is our patch?
• Wait, who needs a patch when you have friends to help improve your health?!
• House Hunters: Ants Edition.
• NYT reviews State of Play. Ben Affleck in a role originated by David Morrissey? 2 hr shot of a 6 part miniseries? Here's an adaptation that has s-u-c-k-s written all over it.
• How come the US can build space ships and send people to the moon - but we can't increase the bloody high school graduation rate so that we can keep building shit?
• The President says: volunteer.
• Facebook Causes - another useless application. How is asking kids to click on a 'cause' a smart way to raise money or awareness? Oh...it isn't.
  

Star Trek
I don't even like Star Trek, but I do like hot guys in uniform and hot chicks in minis. So I'm am disturbingly psyched about this movie, and to celebrate, here are 3 articles from The Times. 5 star review. Star Trek for a new generation. Star Trek for an Obama generation. Excessive, yes. Movie better be good.

Hugh Jackman
Um, the veins actually pop out of his biceps. I don't know if that's healthy, but does it really matter when you are Wolverine and hot? Methinks no. To celebrate, zero articles from The Times and 1 interview (in 2 parts) from Jonathan Ross.

Richard Armitage (or Mr. Hugh Jackman lookalike, as my friend says)
Ha! He gets his own section today. There is no real news. I just wanted to report that after a painful 2 week hiatus, grisly Guy of Gisbourne is finally coming back in this weekend's episode 5 of Robin Hood. Also, previews are up for episode 6 which marks the debut of Sir Toby as the wretched Prince John, because apparently Toby Stephens can only be cast in roles that require sneering.