New(ish) Promo Picture of Damian O’Hare / “Hatfields & McCoys” DVD Release

“New” as in “just turned up”; I think it’s from last year?

Damian O’Hare

In other news: the “Hatfields & McCoys” DVD/Blu-ray is now available; however, it’s Region 1. No news yet on when we can expect the Region 2 DVD. The complete series and Damian O’Hare as Ellison Hatfield aside, you’ll also get some extras: a 30 minute “making of” featurette and the “I Know These Hills” music video, featuring Costner and his Modern West band.

And as you’re already here, why not helping us to meet our target for our 5th anniversary “Magic Breakfast” charity drive? Up to 700,000 children arrive at school too hungry to learn every day. Magic Breakfast works with primary schools across the UK with the aim to make sure every child has access to the right fuel for learning to reach their full potential.

Damian O’Hare: Various Updates

While the holiday-laundry is gently doing its spins in the washing machine, I have time for a quick update:

I’ve updated the list of reviews for Double Feature. The shows saw their last performances on Saturday, so there won’t be any further updates to that entry.

I’ve added a small gallery for Double Feature.

Now that Double Feature is over – would you like the benches as a souvenir? Or maybe the bar from The Swan?

Not quite finished with Double Feature yet – there will be a contest later this week in connection with the plays.

The Scottish Movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has been released on DVD and Blu-ray. Coming to your local  DVD-by-Mail-Service very soon.

In completely different news, Kitaky has sent in fanart: “The Royal meets My Little Pony”. Looks like Dr. Burnett was really deciding his departure on a hoof…!

Ambarussa’s Big Yuletide Contest!

Not too keen on 600+ hours of repeats?

Then you should enter our

BIG YULETIDE CONTEST!

Your friendly neighbourhood Webgnome’s favourites are all you’ll need for a canny night in:

1 x DVD “Taking the Flak”
Martin Jarvis, Doon Mackichan, Bruce Mackinnon, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Joanna Brookes, Lydiah Gitachu and of course Damian O’Hare in the excellent dramedy about a BBC news team reporting from a civil war in a fictional African country.

1 x DVD “A Christmas Story”
Peace, harmony, comfort and joy? Maybe next year. Ralphie Parker desperately wants a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas, but his mother refuses, fearing he’ll shoot his eye out. But neither his mother, Santa Claus nor the neighbourhood bullies can destroy Ralphie’s dream… hilarious Christmas comedy, set in the 1950s and one of my favourites.

1 x L’Occitane en Provence: Bougie parfumée “Cannelle Epices”
Spicy cinnamon scented candle from L’Occitane – this will turn your home into winter wonderland. L’Occitane is a French company, known for cosmetics of best quality. They support local production and don’t test their products on animals. C’est le pied!

And because Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without sweets, you’ll also get some chocolate!

And what do you have to do to win this smashing Yuletide package?

Just send an email to

webgnome at ambarussa. net

and answer the following question:

“What is Rory Wallace’s (Damian O’Hare) job in ‘Taking the Flak'”?

That’s all. Even I could answer that!

Deadline: 15 December, 2009, midnight GMT.

Please read the following rules before you send off your mail.

RULES:

1. By participating in this contest, you confirm that you have read, understood and accepted the rules.

2. You have to be at least 18 years old to participate.

3. Please be fair: only send in one mail per person.

4. No cash pay-out of your prize.

5. No correspondence will be held over the outcome of the contest.

6. If you are the winner, you’ll have to provide us with your name and address.

7. We’ll send your prize out asap, but have no influence on postal services. We hope the DVDs will be with you before Christmas, though.

8. Should, for any reason beyond our control, one of the prizes not be available, we’ll replace it with a different prize of the same value.

“Taking the Flak”/Charity: DVD signed by Tira Shubart up on ebay

Desperate finding the perfect Christmas present?

Look no further and bid on a “Taking the Flak” DVD which has been signed by Tira Shubart, co-creator, co-writer and co-producer of the show. Not only will you get a great DVD, you’ll also support a good cause:

This lot is being sold as part of Save the Rhino’s 15^th Birthday online auction; Hornucopia.  SAVE THE RHINO fundraises for the conservation of endangered species of rhinoceros by supporting community and education programmes in key wildlife habitats in Africa and Asia.

LINK TO AUCTION ON EBAY

“Taking the Flak”: Tira Shubart talks about the DVD extras

“(…) Our wonderful art department hired some delightful Tanzanian artists to paint portraits of our actors in various places in the city of Arusha. Margaret–played by Jo Brookes–could be seen on the back of a Dala Dala (a local bus) while David (Martin Jarvis) was painted on a wall near the market. Rory –Damian O’ Hare–was on the corner of a busy intersection, with camera at the ready. Jane–Doon’s character was above a shop on one of the busiest markets streets. (…)”

READ THE COMPLETE ENTRY ON TIRA SHUBART’S BLOG HERE

You can buy the “Taking the Flak” DVD with many prettiful extras HERE.

Have you read the “Flak” entries on the BBC’s comedy blog, by the way? If not,

READ THEM ALL HERE!

• Cameramen and War
• Animals
• Strictly Come Tribal Dancing
• Red Button and Photos
• Ruby Wax
• The Red Button

Last but not least, here’s another DVD review; this time in French.

CRITICTOO

Here’s a (quick and probably not very accurate) translation of the summary at the end of the review for those who don’t speak French:

Therefore, Taking The Flak is not a memorable series, but it still offers something to satisfy the fans of the genre. There was a lot of potential in the beginning which remained unexploited; the show opted for a more futile and superficial approach. The result will pass the time. And that’s about it.

“(…) Taking The Flak n’est donc pas une série mémorable, mais offre tout de même de quoi satisfaire quelques adeptes du genre. Il y avait un bon potentiel au départ qui restera plutôt inexploité, le show optant pour une approche plus futile et superficielle. Résultat, ça fait passer le temps. Sans plus. (…)”

“Taking the Flak”: DVD Review

Disclaimer: I’m not moonlighting as cheapjack movie critic here, I just really think your money will be spent on a good product. We all have bills to pay and a life to manage; £11.48 (through Amazon) is a lot of money for many of us, so I feel decent information before you buy is nothing but fair. If I thought otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend the DVD, no matter who’s on the show.

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Martin Jarvis, Joanna Brookes, Doon Mackichan and Damian O'Hare in "Taking the Flak".

Don’t judge this DVD by its cover! If you like your DVD to come with printed information of any kind, then you’ll be disappointed. I’d at least expected a list of the episodes and their titles. All you get is a blurb which once again mentions “irritably-bowelled” Margaret, an “aspect” of the character that only turned up in the pilot, was annoying to the ninth and luckily got dropped for all future episodes. Jane is described as hard-nosed, which is rubbish and gives a wrong impression of the character. The way this DVD looks, it will be difficult for anybody to tell the difference between the real thing and a pirated copy…

But it’s the content that counts, and here, the “Taking the Flak” DVD is definitely not on the cheap side.

EPISODES

On two DVDs, you will find all seven episodes of the series, including the one-hour pilot. Due to the unrests that broke out in Kenya after production of the first episode, the work on the series was interrupted for many months and production was moved to Tanzania. It shows; not only does the 30 minute format suit the series better than the 60 minutes it was waltzed out to for the pilot, the first episode also suffers from some  awkward scenes and jokes which are simply not funny. The series improved from episode to episode, and those who gave it a chance after the pilot were not disappointed.

“Taking the Flak”: DVD Release, Contest Deadline

“TAKING THE FLAK” DVD RELEASED TODAY!

BUY THE “TAKING THE FLAK” DVD!

For Harry Chambers (Bruce Mackinnon), the local BBC stringer in the fictional African nation of Karibu, a civil war after years of conflict could mean his big break. Unfortunately, the London newsroom parachutes in its own team under the command of the BBC’s egotistical foreign editor David Bradburn (Martin Jarvis), whose attitude would give any opera diva a run for her money. His long suffering producer Jane Thomason (Doon Mackichan) has the near impossible job of organising David, the cameramen Jack (Lloyd Owen) and Rory Wallace (Damian O’Hare), Margaret Hollis (Joanna Brookes) from the World Service, her own love-life and some friendly locals. Keeping all egos in check is not easy, and if only all would go according to plan, this might be the best story of their lives.

Harry finds it difficult to manage both his career and his relationship to sharp-tongued hotel receptionist Grace (Lydiah Gitachu). Luckily, he’s getting all possible support from local fixer Joyful Sifuri (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), whose connections and cousins are invaluable.

Of course, there are a few minor obstacles in the way of fame and fortune: the desperately uninterested London desk producers; all-action American star reporter, Candida Colter; the BBC’s Brussels’ Correspondent who’s muscling in on their story, and the small matter of people shooting at you in a strange country! Will David’s famous BAFTA crouch save the day…?

Written and produced by experienced, award winning journalists (Tira Shubart, Jon Rolph, Paul Kerensa) and including cameo appearances from real BBC News anchors.

Starring Martin Jarvis, Doon Mackichan, Bruce Mackinnon, Joanna Brookes, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Damian O’Hare,  Lydiah Gitachu, Lucy Chalkley, Harry Lloyd and many others.

The DVD is already in stock, mine was actually dispatched by Amazon on 15 August.

Of course, there’s always the option of participating in our

TAKING THE FLAK CONTEST

and win the DVD (or a t-shirt).

Deadline is today, 17 August, 2009, 11pm GMT.

Taking the Flak: Screencaps S01E06, “Big Beasts”

“According to this article, one of your ex-wives has spilled the beans about your silicone injections, David…”

Get your self-teaching “How To Become A Famous BBC Journalist” workshop here:

BBC iPlayer

Best episode so far imho – some truly stellar Harry-moments!

THIS WAY FOR THE SCREENCAPS, PLEASE!

And don’t forget our

TAKING THE FLAK CONTEST!

Win the DVD or a t-shirt!

“The Brøken”: DVD out in the UK, gallery online

“The Brøken” is now available on DVD in the UK as well. Click here if you’d like to buy this movie on Amazon UK.

If you start watching, doze off five minutes into the movie, wake up in the middle for a moment, fall asleep again and then wake up for the last five minutes, you won’t miss much of the action and none of Damian’s scenes. I found “The Brøken” to be as entertaining, surprising and terrifying as London on a rainy morning in October. Which is pretty much the feeling of the movie right from the start. Personally, I’d rate it with 2 1/2 stars, but this is coming from somebody who thinks “Godzilla vs. Biollante” is great cinema and owns the “Eight Legged Freaks” DVD, so…

The screencaps of the movie are up on the website now:

“The Brøken” Gallery

Damian O'Hare as Anthony in The Brøken

“Taking the Flak” – DVD release date (…!)

We might not know yet on what dates “Taking the Flak” will be aired on BBC2 (aside from “sometime in July”), but the release date for the DVD to go with it is already out. And you can place pre-orders. Very thoughtful!

DVD RELEASE OF “TAKING THE FLAK”: 14 September, 2009

To think how long I had to wait for the release of “Catweazle”…