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A review of "Creation", the Darwinism film due out this year would be interesting - - indeed anything on the great man would be good.

I am hugely excited about the rumour of Prince releasing 3 albums this year. His music is so varied and I find it fascinating the way he is managing to work around being signed to a major record label. It will be interesting to see how he releases his next work. Hopefully not through the Mail On Sunday!

What I'd like to see - and hear - is the Newsnight Review panel, and especially Kirsty Wark, speaking in moderated tones and ONE AT A TIME so that the license-paying audience can actually hear what is being said. Please, no more mega ego bashing clases. (Yawn! Yawn!)

Charlie Brooker from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ4’s Screenwipe to review some new TV in Newsnight Review would be welcome.

Looking forward to Welcome To The Dollhouse, the new series from Buffy creator Joss Wheadon.

Hopefully the film of Hunter S Thompson’s The Rum Diary will finally be made and released. Likewise, the film of Bret Easton Ellis’ book The Informers is out in 2009.

It will be fascinating to see how the media, especially hawkish stations like Fox News, cover the first year of Obama’s presidency.

I'm looking forward to "Milk" coming out (no pun intended) at the end of January.

The Picasso exhibition at the National Gallery (from Feb 25th) should also be good.

Watchmen - The film of the classic Alan Moore graphic novel.

A lot of people are anxious to see this. I hope that Zack Snider has stayed true to the original source material. I was not particularly impressed with his version of 300, especially the introduction of strange monsters that were not in the original graphic novel.

I just hope Hugo Hamilton is busy penning a new novel. I just can't get enogh of this writer (except of course his Dublin crime novels which don't do him justice, and I'm guessing he does for the money alone!)

"the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization () (2002) described culture as follows: "... culture should be regarded as the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs".

So, Newsnight has carte-blanche to present anything it wishes from anywhere in the world (just as it does with the news) given our so-called multi-cultural society, so I suggest you give serious thought to dumping Newsnight Review altogether and using the time insead to review the week's substantial news items and perhaps viewers contributions instead.

I agree with other commentators that much that passes for cultural review is little more than self-indulgent, mutually reinforced, politically correct, hyperbolic twaddle. Britain has no distinctive culture anymore, it's spent decades eroding nationalism in favour of globalism, large parts of which appear to be trashy, largely Jewish, .

Now that's ironic.

1. I stumbled across an episode of 'From the Top at Carnegie Hall' last night, which features profiles and performances from extraordinarily accomplished young performers.

It was inspiring to watch, and highly entertaining as well.

In a time of real gloom in the culture, this is a bright ray of hope.

2. I read reports of a revival of singing in UK schools, and community efforts to involve young people in music growing. Maybe some coverage of this?

A review of Rufus Wainwright's new opera Prima Donna that is being debuted at Manchester International Festival this summer. The opera was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera but later shelved for being written and performed in French.

Rufus is a living musical legend of our day and cites opera as his biggest musical influence. It will be interesting to see his take on this musical genre.

Art as an investment might also be an interesting feature, especially in a year when very few of us will be looking to put our money in property & the markets etc.

Please improve the proms programmes. Let the worlds finest orchestra (³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Symphony) play less modern rubbish and more of the well loved classics.

I'm looking forward to the film "Amateurs". I'd like to hear the views of the panel. I'd also like to hear about what British films are planned for 2009 as they are often gems these days. I do like the blockbusters, but love to see a bit of wit and humour rather than "comedy" sometimes.

Having just read the blog a bit, I also am looking forward to anything new by Josh Wheadon. I loved Serenity and Buffy was a must see I even watch all the re-runs! Been a sci-fi fan since I was about 14; most Brit stuff seems a bit amateurish or basic in comparison with US or even the Russian stuff. However, it is nontheless very watchable - like Blake's 7.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

A review of Big Bands in the UK would be interesting, including Swing Unlimited Big Band of Christchurch, Hampshire!

I'm looking forward to the "Notorious" biopic of legendary New York emcee Biggie Smalls; despite his 'Gangster Rap' associations I hope the press and media give a fair representation of it with out resorting to the standard cliches.

For 2009, I am looking forward to seeing a lot more of Tom Paulin on Newsnight Review (not seen of late), and a lot less of Michael Gove whose commentary is too frequently tainted by his personal political views.

would it be possible to get some presenters / reviewers who don't live within the M25 ??

Kirsty is intelligent, charming and well-read, and Scotland is not [last time I looked] inside the M25 - so it shows it is possible.

Maybe you could have a few older reviewers as well. I'm not a big Sue McGregor fan, but she would be interesting, if only to see what rare adjectives she uses to describe some of the tosh which appears on our tellyscreens.

Or what about Gillian Reynolds ? Or even Libby Purves. Mind you the thought of Richard Wilson getting all 'victor meldrew' on some contemporary art would be entertaining.

But pleeeeeaaazzzeee no Charlie Brooker. He is alright in a 'time and place' but this hideous obsession with being all 'Ch 4' about everything in the cultural world drives me nuts.

Why on earth does the 'Culture Show' have Lauren Laverne on it for goodness sake. Please avoid this temptation, NN Review...

THE 'CULTURAL' YEAR AHEAD - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

I predict a further blurring of the boundaries between gravitas and razzmatazz. Presenters of game shows will become indistinguishable from those of Newsnight.
Audio-visual gimmickry will encroach further, such that anyone with diminished hearing and/or vision, will find themselves alienated and isolated. Female presenters with 'interesting' speech patterns will proliferate, while male sport commentators will be phased out completely. Documentaries will move from 20% content -as now - to 15% and science will all be fronted by Brian Cant style funsters, such as Quentin Cooper of 'Material World'. Historical docu-dramas about the pyramids will lead to a shortage of bogus ancient Egyptians, and the number of TV channels will double. Awards for excellence will multiply exponentially.

It's probably just me getting old, but it often feels like modern pop/rock music is running out of tunes and ideas. Or it could be that the decline of the music industry means that a narrower range of artists are being promoted. Mojo, Q and the rest of the wider cultural media seem to be on some sort of loop, featuring all the same bands again and again (and again).

Either way, I can forsee previously unfashionable bands being rehabilitated by the trendies. Last year Metallica suddenly got mainstream attention - only took 20 years. What a horrible thought - Kate Moss to turning up at those big AC/DC gigs this summer or Victoria Beckham wearing a Rush t-shirt. Shudder.

It's probably just me getting old, but it often feels like modern pop/rock music is running out of tunes and ideas. Or it could be that the decline of the music industry means that a narrower range of artists are being promoted. Mojo, Q and the rest of the wider cultural media seem to be on some sort of loop, featuring all the same bands again and again (and again).

Either way, I can forsee previously unfashionable bands being rehabilitated by the trendies. Last year Metallica suddenly got mainstream attention - only took 20 years. What a horrible thought - Kate Moss to turning up at those big AC/DC gigs this summer or Victoria Beckham wearing a Rush t-shirt. Shudder.

It's probably just me getting old, but it often feels like modern pop/rock music is running out of tunes and ideas. Or it could be that the decline of the music industry means that a narrower range of artists are being promoted. Mojo, Q and the rest of the wider cultural media seem to be on some sort of loop, featuring all the same bands again and again (and again).

Either way, I can forsee previously unfashionable bands being rehabilitated by the trendies. Last year Metallica suddenly got mainstream attention - only took 20 years. What a horrible thought - Kate Moss to turning up at those big AC/DC gigs this summer or Victoria Beckham wearing a Rush t-shirt.

Shudder to think.

It's probably just me getting old, but it often feels like modern pop/rock music is running out of tunes and ideas. Or it could be that the decline of the music industry means that a narrower range of artists are being promoted. Mojo, Q and the rest of the wider cultural media seem to be on some sort of loop, featuring all the same bands again and again (and again).

Either way, I can forsee previously unfashionable bands being rehabilitated by the trendies. Last year Metallica suddenly got mainstream attention - only took 20 years. What a horrible thought - Kate Moss to turning up at those big AC/DC gigs this summer or Victoria Beckham wearing a Rush t-shirt.

Mr Moderator, pls forgive the multiple posts. The posting form seemed to think I had an html tag in test and wouldn't let me proceed ... or at least that's what i thought. :-(

Dear ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ-Friends, as Buckminster Fuller told us:
We are all passengers and crew on Spaceship Earth and we all need to learn cooperation globally for there is only One Earth.
So all performances, activities and publications that can make us all treat each other and nature globally more decent, reducing over-consumption and careless actions will be urgent needs. Our consumption of Earths resources amounts to vastly more than our share of the cake and exceeds grossly what is sustainable.
Help us revise our world view to fit the global reality and human decent life.

barrie (#19) Well said, you're back on form, but I bet they won't listen and wise up as trhe ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is now led by the 'feminised' and I guess they think they know their feminised truth-dysfunctional/dysgenic market well. They appear to produce for audience quantity not quality, it's more 'liberal-democratic'.

Agree wholeheartedly with barriesingleton on 19. Looked at archive of progs about The City. No music, straightforward information and some opinion. Camera not jumping and swirling. Sound uncluttered. The senses we can use to enjoy a prog. are sight and sound. If the sound is cluttered and partially drowned, machinery and environmental sounds cannot be heard so it may as well be silent film. The superfluous sound is sliding into radio too which is ridiculous. Many of us are hungry for an assumption that we are reasonably intelligent but unwilling to struggle to disentangle speech from thumps and mournful pianos.
Some variety of pace and mood and even, God forbid. the return of occasional humour to popular music might bring back some inclusivity. The human spirit cannot be compartmentalised if we want a shared culture. We need our minds stimulated and our souls stroked.

A LOAD OF (JACKSON) POLLOCKS

I have failed.

The future I envisaged at #19 above, did NOT include the latest piece of fancy kit, used on the 10.00pm news (if memory serves) to depict Saint Barack. An animated swirl of blobs (mostly red and yellow?) resolved into an Obama likeness, that was progressively blobby as one retreated from actual facial features. Oh Beeb - how much did you pay for that device? And into what uncalled-for and inappropriate uses will it now be pressed? Let no one accuse you of not representing this country to the wider world; this latest manifestation is bizarre, wasteful, self-indulgent and crass. Bravo.

#19 BS Oh how I agree with everything you say here, and it made me laugh.

And #27 I agree with you as well. I'm going a bit deaf, and I can never hear what anyones saying over the din of sound effects. Why can't we hear the natural sounds, e.g. water over a fall, and volcanic sounds, instead of the idiotic whoosh and bangs!

#28 And this ones even funnier barrie, I should have waited before I posted anything. I shall go to bed happy tonight that someone else sees the crassness of it all. : )

IS THERE AN ECO IN HERE?

Good of you to laugh Lizzy. Thanks, it helps. I feel like a dispossessed and emasculated Hamas bloke, sending my pathetic rockets into a more-or-less aloof and immune ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ citadel, where they view me as of no account, and treat me as they will. No doubt they will duff me up, when the mood takes them; looking all pained, and asking why I am so foolish.

I second #6's pick for most anticipated film of 2009 - The Watchmen. With the way it is now snared in a legal battle just seeing it released will be a good start to the year!

On the concert front, I most look forward to the UK return of Canadian musician Allison Crowe. Following all the praise for Leonard Cohen we've heard in recent times, Crowe performs my favourite version of his "Hallelujah". Still, there's so much more to her artistry. A real joy and discovery.

Ditto ditto the 'Watchmen' film - this project has been years (decades?) in gestation so it has a lot of expectations to live up to. The trailer looks like it's frame-by-frame the comic, though I'm not sure that's nec. a good thing - I'd have been interested to see what Terry Gilliam, once interested in the project, would have made of it. I'm also interested in his upcoming film this year, though - like Tim Burton - he's not very strong on plot or characters (Brothers Grimm was dire!).

I heard that Richard Branson was blocking the online release of TV back catalogues - if that's true, he's an evil spoilsport, and I hope this gets sorted out. It would be nice if the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ also made its online archive available to overseas viewers: if it's a money issue, why can't they do what the French do, and have a pay to download World Service-style TV archive?

I'm also hoping that people finally come to their senses and realise that the ever-expanding weekend newspapers are full of inane rubbish, are a waste of trees, landfill and the rest, and stop buying them. It's absurd to hear a middle class couple complaining about the environmental problem of overpackaging, whilst buying a sheaf of papers that will be chucked out largely unread. If they want news, they can go online. If they want something to read, why not try a book?

I'm looking forward to seeing The Reader. The German title is Der Vorleser. Vorselen is the act of reading to someone. There's no word in English for it - is there?

Jeremy

Thanks for the great comments and suggestions - please keep them coming !

We will certainly follow several of them up.

Liz Gibbons
Newsnight Review

How difficult can it be to have well-informed critics on a cultural review programme?

Why would I be at all interested in what a politician thinks about an art exhibition, a new novel, or a new play?

Why do I have to sit and listen to a self-regarding playwright pontificate about an opera production as though she's the world's expert on classical music?

Why does this risible apology for a critical forum so often sound like a tit-for-tat squabble in a children's playground?

Why are the same old faces carted on?

I still occasionally watch in the hope that for once the programme might offer something approaching an intelligent, grown-up interesting discussion.

So that's my wish for 2009. Critics who actually know what they're talking about.
Dr Pauline Kiernan

Pauline (36)

Which well-informed critics in particular would you like to see on Review?

Best wishes

Liz