*sigh*

[whiskyinmind]

Okay, UK documentaries? Even the bad ones Scottish history has no relevance to UK history according to an astonishingly popular documentary presenter - are about a million times better than the average US one. I've been watching the run on National Geographic "Secrets of the Bible" and good grief could it be any more melodramatic?

Fine, so they're looking at whether the book of Revelation can be read literally or symbolically and therefore there is going to be a fair bit of drama there... but the script of this? Sucks. It's written entirely in bullet points - each of which have exclamation points at the end of it. I have a sneaking suspicion this is done because of the number of ad breaks which could conceivably be inserted in this show - in the UK there is actually legislation to limit the length of time ads can fill in an hour of television (it used to be eight minutes, but I think it might have gone up to twelve now), that means that in an hour long documentary there are three breaks, so the presenter/pundit has twenty minutes to get the point across and can then end on something with an exclamation point which will lure the viewer back from making the tea...

This programme is annoying me so much now that I think I want to watch a cheesy film. Help me choose from this list?

SWAT
X-Men
Pinata
Predator

(I have a lot more, but those ones are jumping up and down on my bookcase trying to get my attention...)

strike that - just turned round and spotted the shelf with the boxed sets on it. Indiana Jones here I come!

eta ...okay... so I switched on my DVD player and SWAT was in there. I haven't watched it for months, is it trying to tell me something?

Comments

[43100.livejournal.com]

Predator!!!!!

Totally agree on the documentary thing! So melodramatic.

[whiskyinmind.livejournal.com]

Heh! I just turned round and saw my Indiana Jones films... I think I might have to watch Raiders...

[aaronlisa.livejournal.com]

I envy you, since we have way more commercial breaks than that in Canadian tv. Less than the # of breaks that the Americans have but still more than 8 or 12 minutes.


Anyhow the movie? X-men.

[whiskyinmind.livejournal.com]

I actually tend to watch documentaries on their first run which tends to be on one of the BBC channels (there are... four? channels now) - there are no ad breaks on the Beeb at all. It is such a relief!

[aaronlisa.livejournal.com]

You're so lucky. Then again documentaries on CBC Newsworld tend to have very few ad breaks.

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

Okay, I will concede that many American documentaries do indeed reek, but we do GREAT crime documentaries! You NEED melodrama in those and we kick derriere at that!


Gabrielle

[frogfarm]

Predator. In many ways the greatest action film ever.

[whiskyinmind.livejournal.com]

*g*

I ended up watching SWAT instead - even though I meant to watch Raisers of the Lost Arc. Predator will be top of the list for tomorrow though!

[dimlondeiel.livejournal.com]

Scottish history has no relevance to UK history according to an astonishingly popular documentary presenter
David Starkey by any chance? He made remarks along the lines of "Scotland doesn't matter" on Question Time last year, I threw stuff at the TV (which amused my flatmate).

[whiskyinmind.livejournal.com]

That would be the one...

Could not believe he said that - I mean, hello? James VI and I? James VII and II? If Scotland didn't matter there would be no United Kingdom, there would be no constitution...

Gah! Makes my blood boil just to think about it to be honest!

[cathain-magi.livejournal.com]

*giggles*

[sparrow2000.livejournal.com]

I was about to say Starkey, but I see someone beat me to it. I used to listen to the Moral Maze on Radio 4 on the way into work and the number of times I've nearly crashed the car listening to one of his diatribes about something.

And yep, it's 12 mins of commercial time max in an hour.

Now you've got me hankering about watching Raiders, it's just such a classic, although if I want a real bit of hookum I have a huge soft spot for the original Die Hard. Yipee kyay..