I'm late to the party on Broadchurch (having just watched the series on Netflix) so let me be just another voice to the overwhelming chorus of praise the show has received. It definitely lends itself to a bingewatch --- having started one episode in mid-afternoon, I ended up watching the entire season before midnight since I am an absolute sucker for a) high-quality British TV, and b) mysteries. It's probably natural for anyone who enjoys an original series to naturally balk at a remake, yet in the case of Gracepoint, I'm clearly not alone in wondering why FOX bothered with Americanizing the series. It's 95% the same plot. It's the same lead actor (David Tennant's entire involvement in Gracepoint makes little sense unless he's simply using it as a way to familiarize himself to the U.S. market). Several of the scenes are shot and framed in the same way. It's even mostly the exact same character names.
The whole idea of 'Americanizing' a movie or TV show seems quaint in today's media landscape. Foreign shows aren't, pardon the pun, foreign to North America since so much is now available on platforms like Netflix. FOX clearly thinks little of its audience if it presumes that Americans won't be able to fully grasp a mystery set in the far-off, alien land of….uh, England unless it's been translated into a U.S. setting. I can't help but be reminded of David Fincher version of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a wholly pointless American adaptation of the novel that came barely two years after the Swedish adaptations of the entire trilogy. For those who'd seen the Swedish movies, Fincher's movie couldn't have been any more unnecessary or, frankly, inferior given how well Noomi Rapace and company pulled it off. (Even if the last two could've easily been combined into a single movie.)
If you've never heard of Broadchurch but enjoyed Gracepoint, drop everything and get caught up on the original. Why bother with dinner theatre when Broadway is right there?
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I'm including this link simply because I seem to be chronicling all of the Conan O'Brien/Jordan Schlansky interactions, though admittedly, this is one of the weaker instalments.
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As poorly as the Packers offence played in Buffalo last week, I'm actually responsible for the team's loss. I was out at a Boston Pizza to watch the game and, as part of a promotion, the restaurant had a Santa Claus in to entertain the children. Once in a while Santa would stroll into the bar area to
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I'm also responsible for that Leafs loss to the Hurricanes, as I recently dreamed that I flipped over to a Toronto/Carolina game and the Leafs had a 20-0 lead. And after two periods! Ok, so this one was slightly more unlikely, as you rarely see 20-0 hockey scores. If one does happen, however, you can bet Korbinian Holzer will be playing for the losing team. How can a guy with such a badass name be so terrible at hockey?
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While we're on the subject of the Leafs, as a diehard fan, I'm obliged to hate everything about the Boston Bruins except a) Bobby Orr, b) that time Cam Neely beat the hell out of a turtling Claude Lemieux, and c) this kid.
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