MAR28

We so don't want to go to Essex ...

if The Only Way is Essex is anything to go by.  Presumably not everyone in Essex is like the narcissistic, spray tanned chav types and slappers who star in this show, but after watching a couple of episodes we're starting to wonder.  These are bogans of the highest order and now they have their own "reality" show.  

It's kind of scripted, and kind of not and makes Sylvania Waters (Australia's 1992 cashed-up-bogan expose) seem like a bonnet drama in comparison.  

And as for vajazzling? Well we can't wait for Kath & Kim's big screen take on that!!

Andrew asks actress Lisa Hensley and Time Out's man about town, Angus Fontaine if they can be bovvered watching.


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MAR25

Boardwalk Empire: as good as it gets?

In a TV universe filled with light-weight pixel puff, there are some shows that brightly shine - think Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, The Wire, John Adams and more.  US cable network HBO has been behind many of these dramas, with the letters HBO now shorthand for quality TV.

So what have those crazy, drama lovin' kids been up to lately? Boardwalk Empire, that's what. Set in Atlantic City in 1920, Boardwalk Empire takes a stroll along the seaside as prohibition provides the purpose for rum runners, bootleggers, gangsters and corrupt politicians.

With Martin Scorsese lending weight behind the scenes alongside Sopranos scribe, Terrence Winter you get a feeling this is going to be good. Add to that, mega watt production values and a cast headed up by Steve Buscemi and it's no wonder The Hollywood Reporter declared it "a new benchmark for the medium".

Hyperbole aside, Andrew asks local screen veterans, Deborah Gray and Graeme Blundell if Boardwalk Empire truly is as good as it can get.


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