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The IT Crowd - great british comedy!
I recently had the pleasure of seeing the first season of a british TV comedy series called The IT Crowd from Channel 4, and will recommend it to anyone who knows what a computer is.
The IT Crowd makes fun of nerds, but also has a lot of inside jokes that only geeks and nerds will recognize. The first season has 6 episodes, next season will be produced in early 2007.
I easily found and downloaded the episodes on the Gnutella network. Enjoy!
The IT Crowd makes fun of nerds, but also has a lot of inside jokes that only geeks and nerds will recognize. The first season has 6 episodes, next season will be produced in early 2007.
I easily found and downloaded the episodes on the Gnutella network. Enjoy!
Comments
I just found this site that has links to all the episodes on YouTube. At the moment the article with the links is in the middle of the front page..
Sounds like an awesome show btw.
But The IT Crowd is great - I was downloading the episodes from the Pirate Bay as soon as Cory Doctorow posted about them on BoingBoing.
One show I haven't heard much talk about is DarkPlace, a damned funny parody of 80s shows. It's set in a hospital that just happens to be built over a portal to Hell (or something). The bits where the 'writer' and 'actors' provide commentary about the show are generally hilarious. This Wikipedia article provides a better description, and there's also some clips on YouTube. Watch it, it's awesome.
Thaneofcawdor is right: There are a lot of shitty british productions, and then it's a good thing they don't make more than six episodes. The point is that the production companies let the writers and producers work their magic without much intereference. The result being that some series are just fantastic, while others suck. It's the same here in little Norway, except more of the series suck.
There is however a brand new movie you shuld look out for: Free Jimmy. It's a cgi animated film about a drug addicted circus elephant that runs away and is chased by by different groups with different agendas. It got international interest in the early stages of production, and as a result was made with english voices by famous actors like Woody Harrelson. I haven't seen it yet, but the man behind it (Christoffer Nielsen: author, director and art design) has made a lot of fantastic comics, and the movie have gotten fine reviews. Everything Nielsen makes is ugly, dirty and morbid, but still surprisingly funny. A cult movie and a must-see, at least on DVD! (A side note: his brother Joachim 'Jokke' Nielsen was one of Norways greatest rock poets who sadly died of an OD a few years ago)
The original versions of Insomnia and Head Above Water were norwegian. I have heard that the english version of Insomnia was just as good as the original, but Head Above Water is best in norwegian (Hodet over vannet). It's a very entertaining, but quite unimportant movie.
A classic is Pathfinder from 1987. It's a 1000 year old tale from the Saami people that live in north Scandinavia. It was shot outside in the winter with temperatures around -20 to -30 degrees Celsius, and in the Saami language. It's an action movie that is also realistic with good characters. I believe there is an international DVD release with english subtitles.
A recent film is Naboer (Neighbours). I don't think it has an international release yet, but there should be one soon. It's an erotic thriller that is really intense and really nightmareish. Do not watch alone, and certainly not with a date!
Most of my Scandanavian entertainment comes in the form of music. Dimmu Borgir and Mayhem ftw!
EDIT: Question: Lutefisk. I had it once, when my grandmother made it, and it was absolutely atrocious. Do people really eat that shit?
Movies:
I should correct myself: Pathfinder is not actually an action movie. It' s more like drama with some action, and a good portion of it is really kind of slow. It portrays the Saami peaceful way of life and the calm and beauty of the nature in northern Norway. It is a great movie, just don't expect action from beginning to end.
Comics:
I don't know of any serious comics that is in world class. It seems we are better at comedy. I recommend any comic by Christopher Nielsen (I wrote his name wrong in the last post), although I know many people don't like them because of all the drugs and misery in most of the stories.
Two strips I like have become popular abroad: Pondus and Nemi. There is a daily Pondus strip in English at the Opera web page. You can probably find Nemi in English somewhere too. I think the goth girl Nemi will find many fans among American geeks, although she is technophobic.
Music:
Norway is a nation of rock & roll. I'm not into the black metal scene, but some of the Norwegian bands are big abroad. There are some really good party music and live acts like Turbonegro, Gluecifer and Animal Alpha. The Norwegian pop and dance music is mostly crap or uninteresting, the Swedes are better at that genre.
Lutefisk:
A Danish immigrant I know put it well: 'I love all the Norwegian culture and food, but lutefisk - that's just too ethnic!' :-D
Yes, we eat lutefisk, mostly on special occasions. Many eat lutefisk at Christmas eve. It is however not easy to make it really good, and the not-so-good lutefisk could scare any first timer.
I love lutefisk, I really do!
English nemi
http://nemi.thtn.com/home.php
EDIT: Upon inspection, its just the words, they aren't photoshopped in. Its also interesting that it uses a bash.org~esque system
It also means that we have to come up with far more ideas for tv shows. If one idea only fills a time slot for six weeks instead of 24 then something new has to be made. That means we end up with so much pathetic crap! The BBC is the worst offender. Failing them giving us new crap, we tend to get repeat after repeat of old crap. We even have BBC run satalite channels that show the same six episodes of the same three or four series over and over again. Then they have the nerve to say that Bit Torrent hurts DVD sales. No, if a show is always on, I don't need to buy the DVD, it will be on tv again in six weeks!
I have two comments:
1. The remake is a completely new movie with almost no resemblance to the original 1987 version. The original is about a couple of small nomad saami groups being terrorized by a mythical people called the tsjudes, and a lot of the movie basicly explores the beautiful but dangerous nature and winter of northern Norway. The new movie is about vikings terrorizing native americans in the jungle, and it seems to be mainly fighting action.
2. As an archaeologist I have to say: Apart from the fact that a few vikings reached North America and built a small settlement, this movie has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the real, historical vikings. It looks more like Conan meets LOTR orcs. This movie is gonna make the terrible The 13th warrior look like a good viking documentary in comparison.
The remake seems like a great popcorn movie, and I'll definately see it. Just don't confuse it with the original, or the historical vikings.
Also I can't believe people on digg just discovered this.
The American version is also on it's way.
I had such a high hopes for Coupling but it was garbage.
The Office worked because it translated so well and it has a great cast.
One of my favorite BBC shows is Father Ted which I first found on BBC America. I have since purchased the DVDs.
Father Ted is one of those shows that would not make it in America if it was done the way the Office was done (news cast/new scripts).