Discovering Film

Great series apart for Ian Nathan say you know all the time. 27 times when spwaking of Ian Hendry and arms all over th place making the same meaningless gestures.

Why is that american in the series talking about Sean Connery? She doesn't seem to know anything about him and just says the most general things anyone can say about films and acting. The other commentators speak with enthusiasm about Sean Connery but she seems quite clueless. Has she seen any of his films? It's embarrassing to watch.

It's obvious the people roped into to comment on the actors are chosen for certain reasons. Not because they are experts on the subject but because they fit the type of person which is fashionable to have onboard. So it is more important to have talking heads that match a certain type of person rather than for their expertise. The whole thing weakens the series and it cannot be deemed as a serious source of information regarding classic films.

I like this show but this is not the first time I've noted the insistence that all positive characteristics or talents are "the best of British", any fool would know Oscar Wilde was Irish. That was not an oversight just another f up unfortunately. Tiring also is the highs and how wonderful every actor is, then there's a hiccup then a graceful retirement. Why not call some actors out for what they were. Some were on hard drugs,ditched their families,promiscuous,jail time its rarely discussed etc Everything is narratee as pompously as possible and every narrator agrees with each other, its beyond scripted.

This, and its sister show about directors are both going downhill now the show has moved on from classic Hollywood. Yet there are many legends - such as Jean Arthur and Louise Brooks, to name but two of many, who haven't been covered while mediocre actors who debuted in the 80s are covered. What is there to discover about Emma Thompson, Matthew Broderick, and Julia Roberts? These stars are all relatively fresh, especially as this show is mainly just clips without showing us more of the context like it used to.

I'm also puzzled as to why the show has become so narrowly focused on Hollywood. They used to explore world cinema, with shows on the likes Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale. Now they seem to bypass legends of world cinema.

There's little left to discover in these shows, the magic has gone, but legends past and global icons are still out there to be rediscovered if the programme makers can find the attitude they used to have.

Towards the end the narrator says he died aged 93 in 1996 when in fact he was 83 as he was born in 1912 which is stated at the beginning, sloppy......