WATCHING, READING, LISTENING TO

The staff of Entertainment Manchester reveal what's been entertaining them over the last seven days...

THE WRITER

WATCHING: My love of the Star Wars: Clone Wars movie has reignited my interest in all things Jedi, so all my choices are Star Wars related this time around. First up, I’ve been watching the original Clone Wars TV series by Genndy Tartakovsky. Many fans reckon this is the pinnacle of the modern Star Wars era, and it’s certainly very, very impressive, Tartakovsky using the short cartoon format to strip the franchise back to its bare components of cool planets, bizarre aliens and kick-ass battles - basically all the things you want from a Star Wars story. However, many seem to have forgotten that there’s some pretty ropey dialogue in there as well, and while it is better than the film, it’s not quite the Empire Strikes Back of the present day.

LISTENING TO: In my review of The Clone Wars I described Kevin Kiner’s score as “workmanlike”, and I stand by that statement - to an extent. Kiner’s score is certainly not as good as John Williams’s work (naturally) and it takes quite a while to get used to the more run-of-the-mill, action oriented sound he‘s created. However, after a few more listens, the pounding war drums and rock guitars that inspired my original complaint actually mix quite well with Williams’s trademark themes, ensuring the more militaristic tone doesn‘t overshadow that distinct Star Wars sound too much.

READING: I’ve been considering delving into the vast expanded universe for a while now, and the film inspired me to pick up Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire. Set five years after Return of the Jedi, it’s the first in a trilogy of books in which the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn attempts to overthrow the New Republic and restore the Empire’s control over the galaxy. In less capable hands, it could have been a retread of the films, with the plots being essentially similar, bar the role reversal of Empire and Rebellion. But Zahn’s intelligent development of the three core characters and creation of a host of new players, planets and conflicts means that this is every bit as good as the original trilogy.

THE EDITOR

WATCHING: Having only recently discovered the joys of Virgin On Demand (which isn't anywhere near as dodgy as that sounds), I've watched the entire first four series of Peep Show (across about four days), which I've always quite fancied watching without ever managed to catch it at the start of a series. It's really good, though my total immersion has affected me and made me have a load of internal monologues in my head, which isn't good. Other than that, there's The Wire (not long to go now) and Dexter, both of which are really good, obviously.

LISTENING TO: Autumn means Sinatra for me. As soon as the dark nights start to come in and the rain and the leaves start blowing around (earlier than usual this year, seemingly), I start to really REALLY love listening to Frank Sinatra's torch songs, which just seem to fit perfectly with the gloomy weather, making it all seem to cinematic and romantic (in a doomed sort of way). The same goes for Harry Nilsson's A Little Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night, which has the most gorgeous version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow you'll ever hear.

READING: My Sherlock Holmes odyssey continues and I'm still enjoying these stories a lot. I want to read some other books, but I still want to finish the Holmes stories, so I think I'll get through the remaining few books before moving on to somewhere else. Thankfully, the schools are back and the double trams have started again, so there's more opportunities to sit down and read, so I'm getting through them a lot quicker. Flipping kids...