"Top of the Lake" TV series Episode 6 review

Things I have learnt in this episode:

• Don't piss off a heavily pregnant teenager brandishing a rifle.
• New Zealanders will swim in any weather (e.g. hippies in moonlit icy lakes, teenagers in mountain streams).Was Campion holding a gun to the poor buggers' heads?
• Detective Al Parker (David Wenham) is as crooked as the roads around Laketop.
• Bjork made fantastic music (cover version of "Joga" sung in the Paradise funeral/concert scene)

2 questions:
How come there's snow-covered slopes in some shots and green peaks in other shots?
What about Bob Platt's kinky sex party photos?

The finale should be a doozy. The spectacular clifftop fall will take some beating. But everyone saw the old switcheroo coming, didn't they.
Hope the bikers are still in town.

Location filming:
I'm assuming Glenorchy doubled for Laketop (as it is 'at the top' of Lake Wakatipu) and Queenstown (about 40 km south) was used for the more urban areas (police HQ, coffee shop, Parker's house).

"The Following" TV series Episode 13, "Havenport" few spoilers

Well, the shit hit the fan for Joe in this episode. Roderick tried his Plan B. Emma and Jacob are a couple again. Claire tried a bit of kiss and stab with her ex-hubby/slowly unravelling Joe. I laughed out when Joe told Claire, "I am having a really bad day" and to all in Chateau Psycho, "Everybody needs to calm down!"
When do they pass around the Kool-Aid?
I like the inspired casting of Warren Kole (Roderick) as the blond All American Boy country sheriff. I enjoyed the sparring on the phone between Joe and Ryan. Joe is a great manipulator of people, but a crap writer, as Claire commented last week. He is using "the therapy of words" ... you tosser, Professor.
Loved the gal with the hair pin in the last scene.

Sexy junk mail? For Australians Only

The local Woolies catalogue took my wife by surprise this morning. Nice to see the spirit of "Carry On,  Nurse" is not forgotten with Aussie advertising gurus.

"Plebs" TV series ITV2 Episode 5 "Bananae" review

A nice surprise seeing Mr Roper from "Man about the House"/"George and Mildred" (Brian Murphy) in the first scene as the plucky war veteran. I collapsed when he nutted Marcus. Lots to like in this episode.
Beware Thracian women bearing gifts (in this case bananas). Watching Flavia eating her first banana was hysterical.
Liked the word play: Stylax's nightly "napsturbation" (I think that's what Marcus said) and picking on the immigrants means you might be "Thracist".
Pretty sure a second season will be commissioned on the strength of this one. Last episode next week!
My wife and I (50+ old farts) love this show.
Funniest sitcom since "Friday Night Dinner" and "Miranda"

James Bond girls - ludicrous, lurid names

Ian Fleming took the name "James Bond" from the author of a book of exotic birds. He wanted the most mundane name possible. On the other hand, Bond "birds" had very exotic names. Here are the most colourful.
Key:
F - featured in Bond film
N - featured in original Bond novel

Honey(chile) Ryder "Dr No"   (F)N
Pussy Galore "Goldfinger"   FN
Domino "Thunderball"   FN
Kissy Suzuki "You Only Live Twice"   FN
Tiffany Case "Diamonds are Forever"   FN  Plenty O'Toole, Bambi and Thumper   F
Solitaire "Live and Let Die"   FN
Mary Goodnight "The Man with the Golden Gun"   FN  Chew Mi (I'm not kidding)  F
Dr Holly Goodhead "Moonraker"
May Day "A View to a Kill"   F
Fatima Blush "Never Say Never Again"   F
Dr Christmas Jones "The World Is Not Enough"   F
Strawberry Fields "Quantum of Solace"   F

Honourable Mentions (2 classics from Matt Helm spy spoofs):

Lovey Kravezit "The Silencers"
Yu Rang "The Wrecking Crew"

"Lilyhammer" TV series Episode 3 "Guantanamo Blues" review

This show is beautifully written, everything is perfectly resolved by the end of the episode. Except Sigrid's pregnancy!
Best scenes:
Frank 'negoiating' with a debtor by dunking him in the nearest ice hole. Brrrrr!
The birthday party scene for Sigrid's son, Jonah -  Macbook vs scratching stick gift.
Frank's driving test..."It's a stick shift!"
Frank labelling the hippy as "a half Mike Moore".

"Plebs" TV series ITV2 Episodes 2-4 Review

New drinking game. Watch an episode of "Plebs". Whenever there is a dick joke or the word "penis" is mentioned, go for it. Talbot Rothwell and the Carry-On gang would be blushing. But it's all innocent fun. The three silly boys are counterbalanced by two ballsy women, Flavia, the kinky boss (Doon Mackichan from "Smash the Pony") and the all-knowing, flame-haired Metella (Lydia Rose Bewley, "The Inbetweeners Movie").
Writers Tom Basden ("Fresh Meat") and Sam Leifer (co-producer) keep things bubbling nicely with lots of bodily function references and salacious situations. Classy production values help too - crowd scenes, nicely lit, detailed set design. The reggae soundtrack is a clever touch. The talented cast make it look so easy, great timing and delivery. There's no laugh track.... I was laughing hard enough, anyway. Especially the mutual soiling of tunics scene.
Delightfully vulgar. Can't wait for the last two episodes in the series. Perhaps Vestal Virgins and eunuch gags next week?

"Hannibal" TV series Episode 2 "Amuse-bouche" review, no spoilers

Who thinks up these bizarre deaths - this week it's nine neatly arranged bodies encrusted in fungi, a crop of injected arms jutting out of the fertilised earth. Well, it was Jim Danger Gray ("Pushing Daisies") who wrote the episode. I bet he relished telling his schoolmates, "Danger is my middle name!" It sounds like a Maxwell Smart line, but I digress.

If you had missed the movies and Thomas Harris novels, if you didn't know who Lecter really was, you'd think he was merely a competent, albeit quirky, psychiatrist.
It is the old Hitchcock ticking bomb analogy - only the audience knows it's there, the suspense is when it is going to explode. This series is set out like a banquet - last week's title was "Aperitif', now it's "Amuse-bouche" (bite-size tasties), we get soup in two weeks. The main course (when Lecter gets down and dirty, I am guessing, will be much later in the season).
Don't you love Hannibal's sumptuous office set? So organised, yet stylish. The muted colours with a splash of red. Will's complex, haunted character make this a compelling series -  his surreal dreams, trances and forensic flashbacks. The first disconcerting scene in the firing range grabs the viewers attention. Another great scene was in Lecter's elegant dining room with the close-up of the loin of pork put red sauce - playing with the audience  - is that tabloid journo-white meat????
My wife is not a big fan of U.S. crime shows, preferring U.K.efforts like "Wire in the Blood" (similar themes and main character), but this show has kept our interest.
Bring on the next course, Mr Fuller.