Clandestine Critic

"30 Rock," which stars, from left, Tracy Morgan, Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Jane Krakowski and Jack McBrayer, took home Emmys this year for best comedy, writing (Fey) and acting (Fey and Baldwin). (Mary Ellen Mathew/Courtesy of NBC/MCT)

TV: 30 Rock Season 2

Post author:David Norman
Post published:2 April 2009
Post category:TV

It took a long time for Channel 5, sorry, Five to start airing the second season of 30 Rock (and they've buried it on one of their silly offshoot digital channels, Five USA – what a stupid name – which annoyingly has one of the worst receptions on our DVR,…

Film Review: Frost/Nixon

Post author:David Norman
Post published:1 April 2009
Post category:film reviews

As I said before, I have been trying to see a film once a week since the start of the year, so this is catching up on my film reviews; I saw this a few weeks back but I'm aiming to see The Damned United with the excellent Michael Sheen,…

Art: Kuniyoshi Exhibition

Post author:David Norman
Post published:31 March 2009
Post category:London

Because I'm, like, incredibly sophisticated and stuff, I go to art galleries to see actual works of art. I'm not saying this to impress you (although that is an unfortunate side-effect), it's just a reason to post about my trip and put up some images. The Royal Academy of Art…

Film Review: Knowing

Post author:David Norman
Post published:30 March 2009
Post category:film reviews

I like the one-line sign-off from the Kim Newman-written Empire review for Knowing the best: 'You're better off not knowing'. I hadn't read any reviews of Knowing before I saw it – this is quite unusual for me, as I like to keep aware of what is going on in…

Film Review: The International

Post author:David Norman
Post published:25 March 2009
Post category:film reviews

Despite the current economic climate, I have decided to make a concerted attempt to watch a new film in the cinema every week (I've bought a Cineworld Unlimited pass, so I can see any film, any time, any where). The idea was to review them regularly on the blog as…

Television Comedy: Free Agents

Post author:David Norman
Post published:24 March 2009
Post category:TV

What is hard in comedy is to be very funny AND to have emotional depth; the default is to be have some jokes and lurch to an awkward sentimental moment, with neither section working very well. However, Free Agents manages this feat, made even more impressive by the fact that…

Comic Book Artist: Tony Harris

Post author:David Norman
Post published:23 March 2009
Post category:comic book artists

If there was ever a case where an artist was so strongly associated with one project, and my appreciation of the artist, then it is Tony Harris and his work on Starman. There were over 80 issues of the mid-1990s series about Jack Knight, the youngest son of Ted Knight…

From A Library – Tangent volumes 1–3

Post author:David Norman
Post published:21 March 2009
Post category:comic book reviews from a library

Collection of the first Tangent comics, based on concepts created by Dan Jurgens. Volume 1 Dan Jurgens – The Atom Ron Marz & Mike McKone – Metal Men James Robinson & JH Williams III – Green Lantern Todd Dezago & Gary Frank – Flash Kurt Busiek & Paul Ryan –…

Comics I Bought 19 March 2009

Post author:David Norman
Post published:20 March 2009
Post category:comic book reviews

Well, that week just flew by – work just sucked the energy right out of me there, so no blogging for three days. Shocking. However, no surprise to any regular readers (regular readers – I'm such a kidder). Anyway, time to talk about the comic books that came out this…

Books: From A Library – Chasing Dragons

Post author:David Norman
Post published:16 March 2009
Post category:books

Chasing Dragons: An Introduction To The Martial Arts Film by David West I don't recall the day or date I first saw Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon, but it was one of those pivotal moments in my life, where something changed and future decisions about entertainment and exercise were…