Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci Writer/Director: Nora Ephron Price: £19.99 (Amazon price: £12.98) Released: March 8th 2010
Calling all foodies! Slight departure from the normal TMINE fare, I know, but I refuse to be confined to one little box - here's your chance to win a copy of Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep as famous US TV chef (ah, see the TMINE link now?) and writer Julia Child and Amy Adams (you know, off Enchanted, Sunshine Cleaning et al) as a blogger who tries to make all the recipes in Childs' magnum opus Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year.
I was going to review this before Christmas, but the DVD arrived too late and I've had zero time to watch it as well as everything else in my TV backlog, so the whole plan's had to go on hold.
So instead, it's competition time! Woo hoo. Just leave a comment below and using the mighty power of the Internet random generator, this time next week I'll pick one of you lucky people to get my pristine, unwatched copy of District 9 on DVD (currently available from Amazon.co.uk for £7.88). What is District 9?
From producer Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) and director Neill Blomkamp comes a startlingly original science fiction thriller that "soars on the imagination of its creators" (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone). With stunning special effects and gritty realism, the film plunges us into a world where the aliens have landed... only to be exiled to a slum on the fringes of Johannesburg. Now, one lone human discovers the mysterious secret of the extraterrestrial weapon technology. Hunted and hounded through the bizarre back alleys of an alien shantytown, he will discover what it means to be the ultimate outsider on your own planet.
DVD special features include:
Filmmaker's Commentary
Deleted Scenes
The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker's Log – Three-Part Documentary
It's a region 12 DVD so is only designed to play on European DVD players, but entries are welcome from anyone who thinks he or she can play it.
Although you can catch up with Lost's first five seasons in just eight minutes if you want, if you have 10 minutes to spare, the Reduced Shakespeare Company are planning on reducing Lost's first five seasons themselves
The final series of Lost starts on Sky1 and Sky1 HD on February 5th and to celebrate The Reduced Shakespeare Company are putting on one of their unique performances condensing the last 5 seasons into less than 10 minutes. The result will be performed in front of a live audience of Lost fans. The event takes place in Covent Garden, London on Thursday 28th January at 7.30pm.
To be in with a chance of getting a pair of tickets to the event all the fans have to do is email their name, contact number and the email address of their plus one to lostonsky1@sky.com. The winners will then be selected and notified if they have received tickets on Tuesday 26th January.
The Reduced Shakespeare Company is a three-man comedy troupe that have succeeded in abridging the complete works of William Shakespeare and even the complete word of God. So surely, the last 5 seasons of Lost will be a walk in the park.
I'm told there'll also be a video preview by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and the footage will be available after the event, so I hope to post that for those of you who can't make it or aren't lucky enough to get tickets. Good luck though everyone!
At last! A competition for US readers of the blog. Those nice people over at the USA Network have a goodie bag to give away and they'd like me to decide who to give it to.
What's in the Burn Notice goodie bag that makes this such a great prize?
Burn Notice Season 1 and Season 2 DVDs
A Burn Notice branded flashlight
A Burn Notice book: The End Game
A Burn Notice T-shirt
That's not bad, huh?
First, stuff that USA Network would like me to point out:
Get ready to get BURNED! The #1 show on cable returns with all new episodes. Don’t miss Tyne Daly & Clayne Crawford guest-starring in the Burn Notice winter premiere – "A Dark Road" – airing Thursday, January 21 at 10/9C. Become a Fan on Facebook, Follow on Twitter, and visit the Official Site to play Covert Ops: Vegas Heist (beginning 1/21) for a chance to win an all-new Hyundai Genesis Coupe!
Second, the terms and conditions:
Open to U.S. Residents only
Entrants must be at least 18 yrs of age
The prize pack is valued at $100 and is provided by USA Network.
Third, how do you win the tote? Simply leave a comment below before next Monday 25th January – don't forget your email address or else I won't be able to contact you if you win. Using the power of the Internet's random number generator, a winner will be randomly determined and announced on the blog on the 25th and I'll get in touch with the person who won to find out where to send it to.
Time to announce the winner of the The Writer's Tale competition. Through the mighty power of the Internet Random Number Generator and atmospheric noise, I can reveal to you that the lucky recipient of my review copy of Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter is...
Authors: Russell T Davies, Benjamin Cook Price: £16.99 (Amazon price: £11.04) ISBN: 978-1-846-07861-3 Pages: 704 Publisher: BBC Books Published: January 14th (that's tomorrow, baby)
Writing's not easy. It's very hard. Ask a writer. Go on. Any writer. They'll tell you about it at length. Really quite absurd length.
Journalist Benjamin Cook asked Russell T Davies how hard writing is, some time just before the launch of the third series of Doctor Who in February 2007, and the resulting email and text correspondence lasted, well, years. But in a radical move, Cook and Davies decided to turn all that correspondence into a book, and thus Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale was born.
Since then, Russell T Davies has continued to tell Benjamin Cook just how hard writing is, and the additional 300 pages or so of correspondence have been collected together and added to the original book to produce Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale – The Final Chapter. This not only continues Davies' insights into writing for Doctor Who, as well as Torchwood, TheSarah Jane Adventures and indeed television in general, but also looks at the politics of television, the nature of television production, how PR and the press work, and more.
And if you keep reading this exciting review, you'll be able to win a copy of it. How's that for fun?
Firstly, a great big thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. Possibly the most number of happy birthdays I've had in my life. Ever. Who says the Internet is good for nothing, because I've found a use for it – eliciting happy birthdays.
Secondly, it's time to announce the two winners of the Amazon vouchers competition. Using the mighty power of the online random number generator, I've picked two names completely at random to get a £25 Amazon.co.uk voucher. And the lucky people are:
Aaron, who'll no doubt be investing in that Bonekickers DVD in just a few minutes' time.
Robert Coupée, who entered by email
I'll be in touch shortly to send you your prizes.
Thanks for entering everyone, and I should have a DVD competition starting very soon (fingers crossed), so keep your eyes peeled for that.
So in an unfeasible act of generosity, I'm giving away two £25 Amazon.co.uk vouchers in time for you to do your Christmas shopping. This time, there's no barrier to entry, since all you have to do to enter the competition - subject to the terms and conditions - is leave a comment below (or if you prefer, email me). No anonymous entries for obvious reasons, please.
Deadline for entry is 11.59pm GMT on Sunday 13th December, after which two winners will be randomly picked from a hat and told how lucky they are.
Incidentally, the prizes are being provided by PromotionalCodes.org.uk, which offers free promotional voucher codes for shops like Argos and Marks and Spencer. Thank them nicely by clicking through (they might offer more prizes): at the very least, you might get some shopping vouchers.
About the blog
This is a UK media blog with daily news, views, exclusive reviews and good conversation. There's a bit of a bias towards the latest and greatest US TV, but we also cover British TV ranging from new Doctor Who to old Z Cars, Property Ladder to Big Brother, and BBC4 to S4C – yes, this blog is firmly part of the conspiracy to promote all things Welsh where possible, particularly Caerdydd.
Add in film, theatre, art, books, events and media journalism and you've (hopefully) got one of the best places on the web for media lovers. Oh yes, and there's The Carusometer, the ultimate guide to quality TV.
About me
I'm Rob Buckley, a freelance journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of. I've edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for trade magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and contributed sarcastic articles about television to the blink-and-you-missed-it "web site for urban hedonists" The Tribe. I'm freelance now and have contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly and TV Scoop. Have pity on me.
Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci
Read more on Question of the week: 6Music - thumbs up or thumbs down?