TV Diary: everything I watched on 26/3/05
Top of the Pops (taped yesterday): It’s only a couple of hours, but I have forgotten most of what was on. I think Basement Jaxx was the only thing I loved. The Snoop/Timberlake/Neptunes/someone else (Charlie Wilson?) single is good.
Soccer AM: not paying that much attention (reading Essential Dr Strange 2, then catching up on ILX and email), but the usual good Platoon and Showboat moments.
Football Focus: I watch this less regularly nowadays, as there is often live premiership football on Sky at the same time. I always feel guilty when I skip it. Mostly about the England game today, of course. I am feeling very confident. The presenter here, Manish (sp?), whom I like, stumbles a bit. The cult hero feature is a bit of a decline from last week – George Best can hardly live up to the standards set by Bristol Rovers’ Ian Holloway.
England vs N. Ireland: John Motson described one Irish player as “an Iain Dowie lookalike,” which has to be actionable. Dowie, in the studio as a pundit, starts talking about his lookalike getting modelling work. The current Tony Christie #1 has been adopted by the Irish fans, giving Motty a chance to talk about the ‘hit parade’. (I’ll leave talk of the match for others on TMFD.)
Dr Who: I’ve been less excited about this than, it seems, nearly all of my friends, but I am watching with interest, and enjoying it. Lots of good lines, best of them “Lots of planets have a North!” I expect others will write about it at length.
The Last Samurai: I guess I might have a problem being fair to most anything starring Tom Cruse, but I also wasn’t expecting so many subtitles and didn’t intend to just sit and watch this, so I can’t be remotely fair at all as I missed lots of it. It has some very silly bits, as far as I could gather.
Jeepers Creepers 2: I know this logic doesn’t make any sense, but I appear to be watching this because I thought Traffic ran too late (I’m videoing that). No, it doesn’t follow. #1 wasn’t particularly good, and I am surprised there is a sequel, but I have a strong tolerance for third-rate horror. This may turn out not to be even that good, however, and I am popping in and out while grilling some cod in batter. Which I overcooked a touch, and that has made rather more of an impact on me than this film, which featured a monster and some teenagers running around screaming. I’m sure that narrows it down for you.
I caught a news flash at some point in the evening saying that James Callaghan had died, which is sad. An undervalued PM, I think, probably because he was a cautious, conciliatory type, but I suppose dying will bring out the most positive angles on his leadership.