Just realised that I promised elsewhere that I was going to review Otherwise Engaged, a revival of the 1975 Simon Gray play, starring Richard E Grant and Anthony Head. I’ve been holding off on this one, much as I’ve held off reviewing Broken Flowers, on the general grounds that I didn’t know what to make of it. There are spoilers in it, so look away now if you don’t want to know what happens.
My head’s in a whirl again. No sooner do I think that BBC Four has returned to a post-Christmas schedule of unwatchable crud, then they start to unveil things like Jonathan Ross’s Asian Invasion.
Say what you like about Jonathan Ross – I’ve probably said it already – but when it comes to films, he really knows his stuff. His 1980s Channel Four film programme, the Incredibly Strange Film Show, introduced a whole generation of British youth to Jackie Chan movies long before he became ubiquitous in Hollywood, and that was just one of its achievements. So a three-part tour of Asian cinema by Johnny can only be good.
While researching this entry, I came across an article in The Independent, which suggested that BBC4’s ascent into watchability may actually be a strategy by BBC4 controller Janice Hadlow. If it is, my hat’s off to you Ms Hadlow. It turns out you may be the only controller in British television who knows what she’s doing.
From today’s Daily Express about his relationship with Anna Ford:
“We were friends once: I’m sure we will be again when this blows over. All I’ll say about her response is that some people really lack a sense of irony… The girls are gorgeous babes – or at least they were once.”
You lose a Sugababe one day. You find another Sugababe the next day. It’s very easy to replace a band member who walks out when the band’s been assembled from a kit.
As the BBC reports this morning, only a day after the chavvy Mutya Buena declared she wanted to leave the aforementioned trio, the band’s management has found a replacement. Not bad going: I guess when your indentured help starts getting uppity, you need to have a plan in place to avoid losing a second of profit once she decides to up sticks.
What gets me is the reaction of the other ‘babes. Now, I’m under no illusions that pop stars have been some fount of honesty and truth for the last 50 years. But when did they start to talk like marketing drones?
“Our management introduced us to Amelle as someone they knew with an amazing voice, who looked great and, just as important, was already a big fan of the band.
”When we all met her, we instantly knew she was the only person to share the rest of the journey with us.“
Okay, that was Heidi Range, who had already been brought in to replace another departing Babe and had been in at least one other manufactured band beforehand; maybe she’s just infinitely pliable and willing to spout whatever the band’s communications officer sticks in front of her nose and everyone else’s conscience is intact.
But in an age when bands such as Keane hired their own branding consultant before they’d even signed to a record label, I can’t help but feel that a little charm and soul has disappeared from the whole business, not just the back office, to be replaced by people who really are in it only for the money and have the business studies degree to prove it.
I did Equus for my English Literature GCSE. I’ve seen the play. I’ve watched the movie with Peter Firth and Richard Burton. I’d have to say, if Daniel Radcliffe wants to avoid typecasting, Equus is the way forward. I’m not sure he’ll ever get another role again, but that’s his choice…
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