Extras: The Complete Second Season (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Ricky Gervais actually managed to top himself with season one of "Extras," all about a struggling actor trying to catch a break.
Well, in the second season of "Extras," his character has finally gotten one. But obviously it's not smooth sailing for the stressed-out extras, who continue to stumble through odd jobs and exaggerated celebrities. It's full of hilarious spoofery of the entertainment biz, and is pretty much hysterical from start to finish.
In the opening episode, Andy (Gervais) has finally gotten his own sitcom, "When the Whistle Blows," and is over the moon. Problem is, the BBC decides to dumb it down and make him use funny costuming to achieve cheap laughs. As the season goes on, Andy struggles to keep "When the Whistle Blows" afloat and approved of, since the reviews are atrocious.
Meanwhile, Maggie (Ashley Jensen) has a tiny part in an absurd courtroom drama starring Orlando Bloom, and the arrogant Bloom starts pursuing her when she expresses a lack of interest. ("They're basically just doing it because you're famous." "Well, they're not just doing it because I'm famous -- no, it's my looks as well!"). When he's not making fun of Johnny Depp ("I've got scissors for hands!")He and Maggie continue to tangle with a bunch of other celebs -- a sex-obsessed Daniel Radcliffe (who accidentally snaps a condom at Diana Rigg), Warwick Davis, a self-promoting Chris Martin, and Robert De Niro. He also gets mocked by David Bowie in a pub, and his sitcom is criticized by Stephen Fry. He even stars in a play directed by Ian McKellen, but neglects to notice that it's a gay romance with a man-man kiss.
It's sort of pleasant that Gervais didn't pound the "barely employed actor" thing to death after the first season of "Extras." Instead, he uses Andy's sitcom to open new storylines (and new disasters) for his increasingly embittered character, as he tries to straddle the fence between success and being a genuine actor.
Gervais continues to write wonderfully squirmy dialogue ("'TV bully kicks dwarf in face.'" "Accurate, but as you say there's no such thing as bad publicity") and horribly embarrassing situations. It's all filmed in a very natural style, except that now we have some looks inside Andy's sitcom, a sort of lowbrow, widely-watched comedy with a random celeb cameo.
Poor Andy has a rough time in this season, and so Gervais really brings out his frustration and dissatisfaction with the way his poor show has been mutilated. Not to mention his tendency to embarrass himself. And Jensen is wonderful as the sweet, flaky Maggue, while Stephen Merchant is great fun as Andy's inept agent.
But the best is the stuff uttered by the actors -- Radcliffe and Bloom are hysterical as clumsily woman-chasing, self-obsessed parodies of themselves, and it's hard not to adore them for it. Bowie's "pathetic little fat man/nobody's laughing" song is just hilarious. And McKellen steals the show, whether it's discussing his "method" ("How did I know what to say? They had my lines written down on a SCRIPT") or accidentally making it look like he and Andy had an intimate encounter.
"Extras: Season Two" is a solid follow-up to the outstanding first season, with our "extras" continuing to struggle in the surreal world of showbiz. Definitely worth seeing!

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What happens when an unknown actor who can't catch a break actually catches one? For Andy Millman, who's just broken through with a TV sitcom called When the Whistle Blows, celebrity doesn't necessarily mean happiness - it just means your follies and fauxes-pas get that much more attention. Extras: The show with big, big stars...and Andy Millman. DVD Features:Documentary: "Extras Backstage" - an hour-long feature that goes behind-the-scenes of Extras Easter EggsFeaturette: "Taping Nigel: The Gimpening" - hilarious featurette that shows the `loving relationship between Extras cast & crew "Art of Corpsing" - behind-the-scenes look at how the Extras cast handles the most outrageous moments on the set Outtakes

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Saxondale - Complete Seasons 1 & 2 (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)if you like steve coogan , you'll want this . i thought alan partridge was funny ( it is ) , but all that was just leading up to saxondale . it's hilarious . you'll want to watch these over & over - you just can't catch it all the first time through .now i'm just waiting for season 3 . don't hesitate - buy it now . you won't be sorry .

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Tommy Saxondale (Steve Coogan) was once a roadie for all the greats: Purple, Floyd, Genesis. Back then youth culture meant couter-culture, and refusing to conform to the suburban dream. Now Tommy's a pest controller in Stevenage and living in suburbia, but he's still railing against the system. Only these days the system means blokes in suits who listen to Dido. Following Tommy's hostile divorce, he met his soulmate in Magz (Ruth Jones), who runs "Samsh the System." That's her T-shirt shop that keeps the authority figures running scared, usually by selling images of them smoking a joint. Completing Tommy's surrogate family is his young lodger Raymond (Rasmus Hardiker), pest control trainee and uncomprehending disciple of Tommy's worldly wisdom. Being self educated, Tommy often feels that he's surrounded by idiots. Like when he has to visit Vicky (Morwenna Banks) who dispense work contracts and gross insult. Vicky is just one of the many reasons why Tommy's anger management therapy sessions won't be ending any time soon. Through it all, Tommy Saxondale is still the smartest and dumbest guy in the room.
DVD Features:Audio CommentaryDeleted Scenes

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The Office Special (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)When we last left the staff of "The Office" it was at a crossroads: secretary Dawn and her fiancee Lee were headed for the States, Gareth was headed for a promotion, and everyone's least favourite boss David Brent had been made redundant. The only person not heading in a new direction (unless you count downwards) was the person who never moves at all: Tim, the every-man of the show whose future prospects were looking monotonous and bleak.
Now, three years later the BBC documentary crew have come to film a follow-up show and see where their previous stars have ended up. Gareth is on a power trip as the new management boss of the office, though he wields about as much respect as David did in his day. Tim is miserable, unsuccessfully trying to bond with the new secretary who is utterly baffled at his jokes and seated next to Anne, a woman with appalling manners and long-winded stories. Dawn is tanned in Florida, but without a real job permit she's forced to babysit full-time for the mean-spirited Lee's sister's baby.
And David. Oh boy. Reduced to a cleaning-produce salesman, he's attempting in his evenings to break into show business by guest appearances at pubs and nightclubs. However, the general public at large despise him, and he's beginning to realise what the rest of the world has always known: he's a pathetic schmuck. And here is where the show takes its most astonishing turn - in the first two seasons, we alternatively cringe and laugh at David's behaviour, but now we are made to feel profound pity for him. One scene in particular, in which David eats alone in an empty food court, actually brought tears of pity to my eyes. No one deserves to be this lonely.
But the Christmas party is looming. David pops into the office uninvited on a regular basis, and the manager Neil is so fed up that he tricks David into agreeing to bring a hot date to the party. Desperate, David seeks the help of a dating agency, which results in several appalling dates and brings up many misogynist, sexist and size-ist comments that only David Brent could possibly come up with. Meanwhile, Tim is bracing himself for Dawn's imminent arrival and praying that he won't humiliate himself yet again.
There are a couple of things I didn't quite agree with: Neil has always been a reasonable and likeable man in the past, but here acts quite jerky toward David (or maybe he's just reached the end of his rope in regards to his ex-employee), and Gareth seems a bit under-used. Worse however, was the complete lack of lines given to Jennifer, who has always been my favourite character. But the repulsive Chris Finch is finally told what we've all wanted to tell him since day one, and the actress playing Anne is so good that the creators probably wished they'd found and put her on the show sooner.
There is one scene that I really must point out simply because it's quite subtle but adds a lot to the overall playing-out of the show. When the staff pick out their Secret Santa names, Jamie (the *other* nice guy in the office), looks at his, smiles and promptly swaps it with Tim, who is in the process of declaring he can never buy his candidate a present. Later on, when Trudy is handing out the anonymous gifts, Gareth looks at his commando-soldier with distaste and demands to know who gave it to him. In the background we see Jennifer look at Jamie and mouth "was it you?" to which he nods. Given the fateful turn that Tim's Secret Santa gift takes, we can see that Jamie purposefully gave up his original name to give Tim once last chance. I never expected *this* show to make me go - "Awwww".
The entire two-part finale plays out to perfection. With the same wry humour, humdrum lives and scarily accurate portrayal of human behaviour, anyone who has been a fan of "The Office" will not be disappointed. Just when you think things can't get any worse for these characters, the heavens open and God (or at least the writers) throws them a curveball that may revive their fortunes. The performances here are Oscar-worthy, and I'm not exaggerating. From David's decline into depression and renewal of hope, to Tim's face when he hugs Dawn goodbye to the strains of "I Want You Back For Good", to Dawn's quintessential scene (don't worry, you'll know it when you see it), the talent here surpasses the television screen that displays it.
The Christmas send-off is the best possible ending to an amazing show, giving us everything we expect and more; the resolution to the Tim/Lee/Dawn love triangle in particular is done with a simplicity and poignancy I just didn't think this show could possess. At the same time we're expecting a `real life' ending, we're praying for a happy ending, and though I just can't give it away, I promise that you'll be more than satisfied.


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OFFICE SPECIAL - DVD Movie

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The Office - The Complete First Series (BBC Edition) (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)From time to time I go swimming for media outside the mainstream. In the UK, this is as popular there as Curb Your Enthusiasm (which shares similar dark appeal) and approaching Friends. I had to take a look, despite the fact that I never really liked British humor.
The first episode was more confusing than anything else. Done in a documentary style, it chronicled the goings on within, of all interesting venues, a paper company, and followed the relationships between its completely pathetic inhabitants. The office constituency is led by (co-writer of the show) Ricky Gervais who plays David Brent...a cocktail of extreme insecurity, arrogance, and level of social ineptitude that pushes (but doesn't cross) the envelope of possibility.
I'll embarrasingly admit that the unorthodox style took a while to get used to, from no laugh track, to a complete absence of jokes or punch lines. This show plays on a variation of the axiom about "truth being stranger than fiction". Well, after an episode or two, I became totally immersed in the environment, an environment that seemed more like reality than fiction. That threw my switch, I now find this show insanely funny, but the realistic element has a gravity of its own. You start to really care about the characters. Pretty unusual for a comedy series.
So, for those of you who haven't seen it, but are curious, I recommend without reservation. For the rest, get this DVD, it's among the few in my collection that I play frequently.
Hope this helped.
Christian Hunter

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Welcome to Wernham Hogg, a suburban paper company where "life is stationery." Critics and fans alike have lauded this hilarious, biting look at everyday office life, told in the mockumentary style of cult comedy classics such as This is Spinal Tap and The Larry Sanders Show. The show revolves around David Brent, (an instant classic character widely compared to Basil Fawlty of Fawlty Towers) the oblivious general manager who instigates petty office rivalries. The wince-worthy Brent still considers himself "a friend first and a boss second...probably an entertainer third."

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Extras - The Complete First Season (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Well, let me help you out! As a British ex-pat living in the USA perhaps I can shed some light on who these "famous" people are:
Ep. 3 Ross Kemp: A former regular cast member of BBC soap "Eastenders", he played tough-thug-with a-heart-of-gold Grant Mitchell ('e loved 'is Mum, 'e did!) for many years, then went on to front a TV show about fishing. Hmm.
Ep. 3 Shaun Williamson: Another Eastenders regular, he played failed son of a second-hand car dealer Barry Evans, who (in the show) married Natalie, who had an affair with Ricky, who was married to Samantha Mitchell (Grant's sister). Oh, and Barry's father was married to Ricky's mother, Pat. It's all true!!
Ep. 3 Vinnie Jones: Actually you may have heard of him - he was recently seen in X-Men 3: The Last Stand as Juggernaut. He was also in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (debt collecting) and Swordfish (random thug). In the UK however, Jones is best known for playing football (sorry, Soccer...) for Wimbledon and grabbing fellow UK football star Paul Gascoigne by the scrotum during a game (all true and caught on film). I realize it may be confusing for those who associate Wimbledon only with Tennis, but the place is well known for its (now defunct) football team and Wombles (but that is another tale for another day).
Ep. 5 Les Dennis: Les came to the public eye as part of a comedy/impersonations duo with Dustin Gee on Russ Abbott's Mad House (old-fashioned British humor from the eighties, say no more), which led to their own show "The Laughter Show". Their best known skit featured impersonations of Vera Duckworth (Gee) and Mavis Riley (Dennis) from UK soap Coronation Street. The Mavis Riley character was known for being wimpy, downtrodden and indecisive, hence Dennis's (over)use of the phrase, "I don't really know!"
Dennis's more recent role was that of host of Family Fortunes (the UK version of Family Feud) which spawned his famous catchphrase, "If it's up there I'll give you the money myself", when contestants came out with particularly stupid answers. Both of these catchphrases feature in the Extras episode, hence the long and boring explanation.I hope that shed some light on things. Episode numbers are per HBO screening. Fortunately there are fewer UK celebs in Season One than in Season Two!

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Meet Andy Millman, Actor. Never forgets his lines because he never gets any. Andy (Ricky Gervais) is a desperate man. He's been an actor for five years but thanks to his useless agent (Stephen Merchant), he?s never done any real acting. Instead, he?s a lowly film extra, making his mark in the background while the stars do their work. His partner in arms is the pitiable Maggie, a fellow extra and a hopeless romantic. Andy may be an extra, but he?s a star in his own right. Too bad nobody else agrees.DVD Features:Deleted Scenes:Never-before-seen deleted scenes featuring Kate Winslet, Samuel L. Jackson and Patrick Stewart. Over 20 minutes of exclusive outtakes. Other:"The Difficult Second Album" behind-the-scenes featurette. "Finding Leo" -- Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant?s desperate attempt to secure a guest appearance by one of Hollywood?s top celebrity?s. Deleted ScenesFeaturette:The Difficult Second Album- Behind the scenes of EXTRAS Finding Leo- featuretteOuttakes

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