Netflix Review: After Life

British comic Ricky Gervais returns with After Life, a new show exclusive to Netflix. As a fan of The Office and Extras, I wanted to see how it stacked up. Here are some thoughts.

Film Review: David Brent - Life on the Road

Brent is back! Ricky Gervais revives his most famous comedy character for one final victory lap in David Brent: Life on the Road.

Film Review: Special Correspondents

Special Correspondents is the latest high-profile Netflix exclusive feature film; this time it's English comedian Ricky Gervais at the helm, writing, directing and starring alongside Eric Bana as two radio journalists who're swept up in a lie that threatens both of their careers.

Golden Globes 2016: Winners and Losers

The Golden Globes have been and gone for another year! There were some highs (Stallone winning for Creed pulled at the heartstrings) and some lows (Kirsten Dunst was robbed!), making this your typical ceremony that is filled with shocks, snubs and the occasional flub. Here are some thoughts and comments on the winners and losers from the 2016 Globes.

Film Review: Night at the Museum - Secret of the Tomb

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is the third and final film into the family film series and sees Ben Stiller reprise his role as Larry Daley, a night guard at the Museum of Natural History in New York who protects the exhibits that come to life during the night.

Film Review: Muppets Most Wanted

"Oh no! Disaster! It looks like they've ordered a sequel!" cries the opening number from Muppets Most Wanted. Except, a disaster this is not. Far from it in fact, as this second film since their 2011 'rebirth' shows that the Muppets are back by popular demand for good reason.

Come on everybody, strike up the band. The Muppets are back, and this time they're doing a sequel.

Quotes Corner: Karl Pilkington #2

Stephen Merchant, Karl Pilkington and Ricky Gervais

Karl Pilkington. A man with no qualifications, very little education and who is now known the world over as a man who has a head shaped like a f**king orange. As a long time fan of Karl and his hilarious discussions with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, I've compiled together a quick list of some of the best quotes uttered by the man himself. 

Quotes Corner: Karl Pilkington #1

Karl in An Idiot Abroad

Karl Pilkington. A man with no qualifications, very little education and who is now known the world over as a man who has a head shaped like a f**king orange. As a long time fan of Karl and his hilarious discussions with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, I've compiled together a quick list of some of the best quotes uttered by the man himself. From XFM, Podcasts and An Idiot Abroad, the trio's rants, running jokes and quirky sense of humour have had me clutching my sides with laughter. Let me know in the comments section below if you have any personal favourites! 

Voice of Reason #4: Brits Do It Better

E4's The Inbetweeners

America. Land of the free, home of liberty, justice and apple pie. All that stuff. Oh, and the home of crappy British television remakes. It's no secret that American networks have developed a tendency to adapt hit British TV shows for American audiences with less than brilliant results. It's almost become something of a running joke.

Now, up until now, I've been relatively okay with this. It's kind of understandable that the niche comedy found in certain British shows wouldn't translate so well with American audiences. It might sound a little clichéd, but the differences in humour between the Brits and the Yanks isn't a figment of our imaginations. Added to this, not all American adaptations have been as disastrous and horrific as the Hindenburg. The most obvious example is by far The Office.

The American Office

A definitive British comedy from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the initial scepticism that shadowed the American adaptation in 2005 has been outshone since. The American Office has run 12 times as many episodes as its predecessor and has grown into a classic comedy show in its own right. It is arguably better in some aspects as well; whilst The British Office was centred on solely David, Gareth, Tim and Dawn, the American Office has a much stronger and memorable supporting cast.

That is pretty much however where the positives end. The list of horrific, awkward, disastrous and toe-curlingly bad adaptations sadly out weigh the good ones by a long way. Life On Mars, Being Human, Shameless and Skins are just a few to get us started. All interesting, successful and popular British drama shows that have been lost (sporadically) in translation. When reworking for the American market, the daring, edgy and controversial E4 show Skins failed to make a splash and instead sank faster than a dead scuba diver.

Add to this the horror that was Little Britain USA as well as the little known about IT Crowd remake pilot episode. Such was the lack of originality, the episode was a shot for shot, word for word rehash of the originals first episode, going as far as casting Richard Ayoade in the role of Moss, a role originally played by Richard Ayoade. There is a reason why this is spoken little of.

But worst of all is the most recent of all. MTV is currently airing a remake of E4's The Inbetweeners. And they've butchered it. One of the most endearing things about the original is its crassness and its genuineness. Will, Simon, Neil and Jay aren't over-played or over-acted; they act like teenage guys, right down to the biting banter and the endless mutual torment. The fact that it is also endlessly quotable ("Bumder", "Oooh fwriend", "bus wankers") doesn't hamper the show.

The American remake on the other hand is devoid of all that made the original funny. It's taken classic scenes  and features from the original and not reworked them at all; Simon spray painting Carly's name onto her driveway, his pathetic yellow Fiat and so on. It makes me wonder why they even bother making the show in the first place if all they are going to do is copy everything from the original. If American audiences want to see that kind of show, they should just cut out the middle man and watch the original! If the scenes are identical (sometimes word for word) then surely it makes no difference whether the show is set in America or Britain. It's completely and utterly needless.  Seriously, America, just give up remaking British TV, save some money and watch the originals.

Verdict: Life's Too Short

Life's Too Short features stars like Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp. 

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant; the comedic geniuses behind landmark television shows like The Office and Extras, An Idiot Abroad, The Ricky Gervais Show, a plethora of podcasts and stand-up tours. Now, they're back with a third slap of comedy in Life's Too Short; but how does it stack up alongside it's predecessors?

Initially it might seem that Life's Too Short is treading over old ideas. Similar in concept and approach to both The Office and Extras through it's 'documentary' style and twisted versions of familiar faces, Life's Too Short doesn't appear to be doing anything that Gervais and Merchant haven't tackled before. It's themes of discovering the harsh realities of fame and fortune can be seem reflected in the chronicles of previous character's David Brent and Andy Millman.
Protagonist Warwick Davis, famous for appearing in the Star Wars and Harry Potter films, exhibits all of the same traits one would associate the Messrs' Brent and Millman; ignorance, obnoxiousness and being generally offensive. He is however, on the whole, a more likeable and endearing character than his predecessors'.

There is no doubting that the special guest appearances are works of genius. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter's short skit's were genuinely funny. Depp's dedication to his new film (it's directed by Tim Burton y'know), leads him to studying Warwick, and the more excited and intense Depp becomes the funnier it is. Likewise, Bonham Carter's inability to work alongside Warwick because he's a dwarf is the equal amounts cringe-worthy and funny.

Also, the scenes where Ricky and Steve play dead-pan and "holier than thou" versions of themselves are gold; fans of Extras will delight at the addition of Shaun "Barry from Eastenders" Williamson as the duos errand boy.

The show however, like both of Gervais' and Merchant's previous works tries to do a lot more than just flex it's muscles and show off its star power. There is heart and soul in Warwick's mistakes that show that Life's Too Short has a story and a message to tell. Yes, the jokes are skin-crawlingly awkward and make you want to throttle the star, but this all adds to the charm and appeal of the show. You do feel that come the end of the story arc, Warwick will have learnt from these mistakes and changed his ways in the same way Andy in Extras did.

This being said, the similarities to Extras and The Office are in my mind a little too obvious; the format, the character roles, the settings, the general feel. All of these factors add up to give a overbearing sense of deja vu. For example, Rosamund Hanson's role as Cheryl is really just a re-imagining Ashley Jensen's Maggie in Extras. She may be genuinely funny but it is easy to see where the idea for the "ditzy girl" character came from. Also, once the novelty of going "ooh look it's Johnny Depp/Liam Neeson/Steve Carrell" has worn off, the show reduces itself to laughing at midget ten-pin bowling and Warwick climbing a bookcase three times his size to reach a trophy.

So even though its more of the same witty and clever stuff from Gervais and Merchant, Life's Too Short seems to fall a little, well, short to be honest. It might have genuine character development and a moral at it's heart, but it is also not as revolutionary as The Office and not as outrageous as Extras were, and is seriously lacking in Karl Pilkington.

TV Preview: An Idiot Abroad Series 2

Stephen Merchant, Karl Pilkington and Ricky Gervais in An Idiot Abroad

Following on from the success of the first series, An Idiot Abroad returns to Australian screens this weekend with series two: The Bucket List.

Starring Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant (stars of the Office and Extras) and round-headed buffon (Ricky's words, not mine) Karl Pilkington, this second series follows the same winning formula from season one with Ricky and Steve sending their dim-witted co-star Karl around the world in search of broadening the mind and enlightenment, this time to complete an extensive 'bucket-list'. From swimming with dolphins to travelling across Route 66, the second series of An Idiot Abroad promises to be as hilarious and entertaining as the first in which Karl went in search of the seven wonders of the world.

For me, Gervais, Merchant and Pilkington are all comic-geniuses and witnessing the hilarity on screen would also suggest a great rapport amongst the trio when the cameras stop rolling. Originally meeting by happenstance whilst Karl worked as a producer at radio station XFM, Gervais and Merchant have embraced the unusual persona of Pilkington. Initially just a behind-the-scenes personality, the bald-headed Manc twat (again, Gervais' words not mine) had quickly become an integral part of the radio show. His deadpan delivery and the ever present ribbing he received from Gervais and Merchant made Pilkington a big hit with the listeners.

Throughout the show's brief airtime, Karl became something of a cult comic icon. Pilkington charmed audiences with his hopeless, ridiculous and often terrible quizzes such as "Rockbusters" and "Songs of Phrase" as well as his unique and warped outlook on the world around him. When the radio show wrapped up in 2004, the three continued their success by adopting the emerging trend of podcasting. Throughout 2006, the Ricky Gervais show (as the podcast was called) was ranked the number-one podcast in the world, clearly demonstrating a demand amongst the public for the trio's hilarious antics.

Ricky Gervais has often joked that one of his sole objectives in life has been to make his long-time friend into something of a reluctant celebrity, and so when the oppurtunity arose for the three to produce a show for British satellite network Sky, An Idiot Abroad was born. Shipping their 'typical middle Englander' all over the globe to see the seven wonders of the world (from the Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu and the ancient city of Petra) the resultant show was comedy gold.

Completely bamboozled and befuddled by other cultures Karl's odd sense of humour sprouted numerous one-liners that had audiences in stitches. For example this blogger's personal highlights include Karl comparing the Great Pyramids of Giza to "a game of Jenga that got out of hand" or stating that the Great Wall of China should actually be called the "alright Wall of China". The increasingly out-of-place Karl hated almost every minute of making the show much to the delight of both Gervais and audiences the world over.

Entirely deserving on the popularity and success that it has attained, An Idiot Abroad is a lot more accessible than some of Gervais and Merchant's other works. While the Office and Extras often make you want to crawl into a ball and cry with the awkwardness, witnessing Karl's attempts at running from a dangerous Mexican firework festival or 'relaxing' on a nudist beach in Rio de Janeiro is priceless. Also, the introductory segments back in London where Ricky and Steve try to convince Karl of his journeying's worth is completely bonkers and often strays off topic almost instantaneously (leading to hilarious results).

Hopefully this series will easily recapture the hilarity of it's predecessor as well as up the stakes. Saturday's season première will see Karl embark on a  trip to New Zealand to bungee jump and to the Pacific island of Vanuatu. Other highlights that the series will bring us vary from whale watching in Alaska and meeting a gorilla in Uganda. Bring on the laughs!

 If your not then it's never too late to get onboard thanks to Karl's almost universal likeability. If your already acquainted with Ricky, Steve and Karl then watching (and loving) the upcoming second series of An Idiot Abroad will be an absolute no-brainer.