TV - Reviews by RadoxTheGreen

TV - Reviews by RadoxTheGreen

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
RadoxTheGreen 9th Aug 2015		TV The Comedians (1971 - 1992)	Review Stand up comedy routines edited together to produce a show designed for a 30-minute TV slot (incl. adverts). Each show went straight into the routines (there was no presenter). The series ran from 1971 to 1974, was revived in 1979 to 1980 for two series, and for another two series in 1984 to 1985. A final one series revival was attempted in 1992. Comedians featured: Russ Abbot, Lennie Bennett, Stan Boardman, Jim Bowen, Jimmy Bright, Duggie Brown, Mike Burton, Dave Butler, Brian Carroll, Frank Carson, Mike Coyne, Jimmy Cricket, Colin Crompton, Pauline Daniels, Charlie Daze, Vince Earl, Steve Faye, Eddie Flanagan, Stu Francis, Ken Goodwin, Jackie Hamilton, Jerry Harris, George King, Bobby Knutt, Bernard Manning, Mike McCabe, Paul Melba, Mick Miller, Hal Nolan, Tom O'Connor, Tom Pepper, Bryn Phillips, Mike Reid, George Roper, Harry Scott, Sammy Thomas, Johnny Wager, Roy Walker, Charlie Williams, Lee Wilson, Lenny Windsor 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
RadoxTheGreen 9th Jul 2015		TV Lucky Star (2007)	Review Each show was split into sections, the first being the main show. The next section was a magazine show parody titled "Lucky Channel" and featured the anime character Akira Kogami and her assistant anchor man Minoru Shiraishi (the real actor portryed in anime form). Each episode ended with a song. Initially, the songs were done as Karaoke by the cast of the main show. The anime background showed a door, with only the voices being heard, suposedly from behind it. From episode 13, the ending song was done by Minoru Shiraishi as a live action filming rather than anime. He would sing all the remaining endings apart from episode16, which was sung by Hiromi Konno. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
RadoxTheGreen 6th Jul 2015		TV Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009 - 2010)	Review Brothers Edward and Alphonse try to resurrect their dead mother using alchemy, but use of a taboo magic has a price. Edward's loses a leg, but his brother takes the brunt of the price, losing his entire body, existing as a disembodied soul. To save his brother, Edward attaches the soul to a suit of armour, an act which costs him an arm. A friend fits new “automail” limbs to Edward, who then vows to find the Philosopher's Stone as a means to undo the damage they have done to their bodies. He and Alphonse set out on their quest, which takes them into several conflicts. Fullmetal Alchemist was first released as an anime in 2003. The first version was a huge hit and gained a large fan following, so you might be forgiven for wondering why anyone would put all that at risk by redoing the entire series less than a decade later. Brotherhood can best be thought of as a fan-service anime. It addresses the criticisms of fans who were not happy that the original series deviated away from the manga on which it was based. To be fair, that had to happen as the first anime was made while the manga was still being produced, forcing the anime producers to come up with their own plots and conclusions. Brotherhood was made when the manga was drawing to a close, and so was able to keep its plot line throughout. The new version faithfully follows the manga story and retells it in animated form. The artwork is near faithful to the manga too, capturing the both the look and feel of Hiromu Arakawa's illustrations. If anything, it's almost too faithful, playing out some scenes for an unnecessarily long time. While a manga may need to dwell on every nuance of a scene to convey its meaning, doing so in an anime can make it seem self indulgent, and a viewer who has never seen the original may be left wondering what all the fuss was about. Be warned, the early episodes in this series are quite poorly done. It's almost “ anime light” in feel, as if they didn't have much budget for those episodes. In fact the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime went into more plot detail than this version, which is odd as the budget for Brotherhood was a lot higher than the original had to work with. You'll need to stick with it before the story finds its pace, which it does with gusto. Once its up to speed, the series bowls along. The animation quality is much higher than the first anime with character movements more fluid, which is understandable given the higher budget. The show has a warmer feel, the light seems to have an orange palette to it. Unfortunately, since the 2003 offering, Japan has succumbed to the Murray Gold school of background music. While the original Alchemist had the atmosphere of a quiet brotherly quest, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood throws a music sting into every space it can find. Perhaps soundtrack albums make so much revenue they're aiming for maximum profit. Overall, Brotherhood is the better anime of the two versions. However, its predecessor is more accessible to someone new to the Fullmetal franchise. That said, I would recommend this version if you can only spare the time to watch one. Just be aware that the opening episodes feel like a chore to watch. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
RadoxTheGreen 19th May 2015		TV Mrs. Brown's Boys (2011 - Now)	Review Mrs Brown is to comedy what John Cena is to wrestling. In other words, loved or hated in equal measures with very few taking a central position. Personally, I love this show. It doesn't pretend to be anything more than family and friends getting together to put on a show and have a laugh. Some don't like the style of humour; that's fine, just understand it says more about you than it does the show. I never got why people liked The Office, but a lot of other folks did. Horses for courses as they say. To enjoy this show to the full, you have to stop trying to analyse it and get beyond seeing it as just a "bloke in a dress". There are a lot of little jokes included which are tributes to comedians of the past. Occasionally you spot them, but it doesn't matter if you don't. Now cue the haters. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
RadoxTheGreen 17th May 2015		TV Jumong (2006 - 2007)	Review Forget Monkey and The Water Margin, they have nothing on this epic 81 episode long series. Telling the legend of Jumong, the son of Hae Mo-Su, who was taken in by the then Prince Kum Wa and raised as his own son, even after he became king. Jumong founded the kingdom of Goguryeo in 37 B.C. which became one of the three kingdoms that united to become Korea. If there is anything to fault this series, it is that Song Il-Guk looks a little to old to play Jumong, given that the real person on who the character is based founded Goguryeo before his death at the age of 27. Like a lot of Korean shows, the pace of this drama is a little slower than the shows on TV in the UK today and it does drag in the middle somewhat. Not that I'm complaining about that. This isn't something for the low attention span kids of today, it demands your attention like the dramas I grew up on in the seventies (Doomwatch, The Onedin Line, Poldark etc). DVD's of this series are hard to find in the West, but it is available in the US as a 4 volume set (and obviously in region 1). Each volume contains 7 DVDs in Korean with English subtitles. With over 80 hours of programming, the set is not surprisingly a bit pricey (Amazon are selling each volume at around $75 to $160 each, depending on whether the volume comes with extra booklets or not). So, not something the casual viewer is likely to buy. All of which makes it a glorious little secret gem. If you're lucky enough to track it down, and totally irresponsible, there's a Jumong drinking game that can get the maximum fun out of your DVD (chug your drink every time someone says "yeah", twice if its Jumong), but, of course, I could never recommend you try something like that. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
RadoxTheGreen 17th May 2015		TV Journeys In Japan (2010 - Now)	Review Travel Channels would be worth watching if they could produce shows of this quality. Superb travelogue documentary series introduces viewers to those parts of Japan that normally get overlooked. With so much Japanese tourism promotion focused on Tokyo and its districts, this show makes a refreshing change, and has a knack of finding gaijin presenters who have a warmth and magnetism that will make you want to come back for more. Of all the shows on NHK, this has done more to make me want to live in Japan than anything else they've broadcast, with the possible exception of Begin Japanology. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
RadoxTheGreen 16th May 2015		TV Wheeler Dealers: Trading Up (2013)	Review Wheeler Dealers' Mike Brewer tries to trade cars around the world with the intention of trading up from a starting budget of $3000, hoping to eventually have earned enough profit to buy a supercar. A quirky little show with enough interest to engage the viewer to the end of the series, even if it sometimes feels a bit staged. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
RadoxTheGreen 11th May 2015		TV Whoops Apocalyse (1982)	Review Comedy set in the last days before nuclear destruction is unleashed upon the Earth. Johnny Cyclops is trying to get re-elected while the deposed Shah of Iran is trying to flee to England, driven by his blindfolded lackey, Abdab ("I am not worth to look upon your holy countenance master"). Unfortunately he is stopped from entering the country by the newly elected Labour party, whose Prime Minister Kevin Pork confides to his colleagues that he is really Superman. Cyclops has to placate the many clones of the Russian Permier while his advisor, The Deacon, crucifies students on the White House lawn. While all this is happening, Lacrobat has stolen a Quark bomb and is taking it to the Middle East. Wear your mushroom with pride. Much funnier than the movie. Alexei Sayle is superb as the crazy Commisar Solzhenitsyn. Rik Mayall gives a brief but memorable appearance as Biff, the man brought in to write the Johnny Cyclops campaign song. Barry Morse showed he had an amazing comic timing as Johnny Cyclops. His facial reactions are some of the best I've seen in a comedy show. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
RadoxTheGreen 8th May 2015		TV Begin Japanology (2007 - Now)	Review Beautifully presented series about Japan. Highly informative and always a joy to watch, this should be required viewing for any would be documentary producer/presenter. In my view, this is easily the best documentary series on television today and shows that documentaries don't have to be hard hitting or filmed in war zones etc to make for compelling viewing. Barakan's gentle voice lends a dignified air to every subject he covers and leaves the viewer wanting to find out more about Japan. This show is the star in NHK World's crown. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?