In the Loop

Based on Armando Iannucci's BBC series The Thick of It, In the Loop is a satrical look at the relationship between America and Britain in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. The film begins with the MP for International Development, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), saying in an interview that he believed that war was 'unforseeable', going against the government's 'line' on the growing hostility in the Middle East. Even after being repremanded by Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) the Director of Communications for the Prime Minister, Foster goes on to say that people must 'climb the mountain of conflict'. Foster's remarks coincide with a visit to England by various American officials, including anti-war Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomacy Karen Clark (Mimi Kennedy) and pro-war Assistant Secretary of State for Policy Linton Barwick (David Rasche) both of whom try and use Foster as an English supporter for their policies.

The movement of The Thick of It from the small screen to a film is mostly successful. In the Loop keeps the television series' almost documentary style filming, and semi-improvised dialogue. Plus, many of the actors who have been seen in the BBC series appear again in the film; in addition to Capaldi and Hollander, Chris Addison, Paul Higgins, James Smith, Olivia Poulet and Joanna Scanlan also all appear, although only Capaldi and Higgins play the same characters. There are also cameos by James Gandolfini (of Sopranos fame) as General Miller of the Pentagon and Steve Coogan as Paul Michaelson, one of Foster's consitutents. However, it could be the case that the film could appear quite 'small' on a cinema screen, as I've only watched it at home I could not comment on it, but it is more intimate even than other TV shows that deal with politics, such as The West Wing.

Pretty much all of the performances are pretty solid. Peter Capaldi is brilliant as the fearsome Malcolm, also bringing some softness to the role as well as a foul mouth, and Tom Hollander is also good as a politican desperatly trying to keep hold of his principals (whatever they may be). Addison, despite saying he is in no way an actor, is good as the slightly arrogant Toby who is responsible to various press intrusions into the breakdown towards the war. On the American side, Gandolfini is brilliant as the big bear of a general and Zach Woods also turns in a good performance as Chad, the slightly creepy aide to Karen Clark, desperate to work for her counterpoint. Gina McKee also deserves recognition for a slightly small role as Foster's Director of Communications.

Whilst the film is essentially a comedy; the ending is somewhat bittersweet as the inevitable war action does go ahead, leaving Clark, Miller, Foster and Wright in the lurch. It is thought that it is this slight change in tone is the reason for In the Loop not doing as well in America, despite good reviews, as it was released around the inaugration of Barack Obama, and people had a different mood towards their politics.

I really enjoyed it, and I'm really hoping that The Thick of It, returns to our television screens soon.

Chris Addison Live

After the spring leg of Chris Addison's sold-out, he added an autumn extension, meaning that his 2010 tour has lasted around 80 dates; and me and my friends caught him in Nottingham earlier this week.

Addison has starred in The Thick of It, Skins and In the Loop, as well as appearing on the panel shows Mock the Week and Have I Got News for You, although he says he is definitly not an actor. At the age of 39 (seriously), Addison has only recently gained a large following, ending with him gaining his own topical comedy Sunday morning show on BBC Five Live-7 Day Sunday.

His tour is a mix of political, observational and self-deprecating comedy. He doesn't hide the fact that he is definitly not a Conservative supporter, and his musings on their ability to say pretty much anything ('Work sets you free' and 'As prime minister I aim to govern in the national interest') was hugely entertaining.

He also did some wonderful jokes about various universities, which tapped into my friends and my current pysche, when university/university applications/university offers are the things preoccupying us.

Other highlights include his riffing on internet sites such as Amazon & Google; his injury at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Pope and his relationship with his wife.

Chris Addison is very funny, and deserves his long-awaited success. A DVD of his tour is avaliable to preorder here, it looks like it was filmed back in the spring half, as his set has since changed.

(Chris Addison will next be seen in Cheltenam, Canterbury, London, Birmingham and Bristol. More information here)

Upcoming Stuff

First off, I'm on Goodreads, here. I really like it, even if I am a little OCD about having the right editions for all the books I'm reading/have read. I'm also not sure about how the community side of things works, but its fun to be on there.

Secondly, I'm going to see Armstrong & Miller later this month, then Chris Addison in November and also, finally, Chess.

Armstrong & Miller is the live touring version of a television programme of the same name created by Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller, and contains skits such as an unsympathetic father, dinner parties, an ongoing really obvious affair that the husband does not get, and the wonderful Battle of Britain pilots sketch-which are two posh pilots, speaking in teenage slang.

Chris Addison is a comedian who I follow on Twitter (@mrchrisaddison) and he's a regular on TV shows like Mock the Week, has a guest-starring role as the headteacher in Skins and is generally awesome.

And then if you have no idea what I mean when I speak about Chess may I direct you here. It's a musical I adore, and the tour opened a couple of weeks ago, and you can view pictures and things here, but it's coming to Nottingham in November, and me and my friend are popping up to see it (YAY).

Also, way in advance, I'm going to see the amazing Arcade Fire in December in Birmingham.

There are also a couple of CD's I'm excited about:

• Anthems by Kerry Ellis. I love Kerry Ellis. I'm not crazily obsessed, I haven't seen her in Wicked 50 times or anything, but I'll definitly be buying her solo album because her voice is amazing
• Illuminations by Josh Groban. This has been a longgg time coming, and is apparently going to be a little different to his last stuff. He's kind of an operatic-pop-musical-cross-over guy, and his voice is to die for. Not many people here know who he is, and so he's best-known for his appearances in Glee, but, yeah, his voice is amazing
• Les Miserables Live-This is the international 25th anniversary touring cast CD featuring John Owen-Jones, Earl Carpenter and, er, Gareth Gates. I'm intrigued as to how the new orchestrations come off, because apparently the songs have been made more poppy in places and things. This is in anticipation of whatever DVD/CD that'll be released for the 02 concert starring Alfie Boe, Norm Lewis and Nick Jonas among many others

I thought I'd pop this post in here in between my scheduled reviews of my holiday reads, and a couple of other things because I think once school starts I won't have *that* much time to write lots. I'm really, kind of, contemplating the whole vlogging thing after watching Rosianna's videos , but a) I don't know how long my camera lasts and b) I ramble. A lot.

Skins (Series 4)

When Skins began in 2007, it caused a huge stir amongst the Conservative Daily Mail-reading crowd, who took it as proof that Britain's teenagers were all yobs-taking drugs, getting drunk and sleeping around.

What they failed to notice is the series' ability to heighten reality, and yet keep the story as real and relevant to teenagers as possible. In the first two series, characters dealt with religion, sexuality, education, eating disorders, pregnancy, stalkers and death. The actors from that series were also fantastic, with people like Dev Patel (who played doubting Muslim Anwar) and Nicholas Hoult (who played King Bee and kind-of-a-jerk Tony) going on to particular success in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire and Tom Ford's A Single Man respectively.

However, last year the cast were traded in for the new sixth form, this time led by Tony's somewhat wayward sister, Effy (Kaya Scolderio). The last season ended with Effy, Cook (Jack O'Connell) and Freddie (Luke Pasqualino) coming to a strange kind of agreement over their romantic entaglements together. JJ (Ollie Barbieri) is happy, convinced that all his friends problems are now solved, and Emily (Kathryn Prescott) and Naomi (Lily Loveless) beginning a relationship.

It is now one year on, and this first episode centered on the life of Thomas (Mervielle Lukeba), an immigrant from Congo, struggling to deal with both his family life and his new personal life alongside his rebellious new 'friends'. This comes to a head when at the beginning on an episode a girl dies in a nightclub on his watch, probably under the influence of cocaine. The new headteacher (Chris Addison) announces the arrival of the police to try and discover who was in the club, and specifically whether anyone knew that drugs were being handled there. Things are complicated further when Thomas becomes attached to Andrea (Adelayo Adedayo), the daughter of his pastor (Steve Toussaint), despite having a girlfriend in the form of Pandora (Lisa Blackwell).

Skins still delivers it's shock tactics, with this episode opening on a girl taking crack, two sex scenes and plenty of swearing. Yet, as always, it is the performances of the cast that make it feel real. Lukeba delivers a mature and in the end heartbreaking/warming performance as Thomas, aided by the stunningly voiced Adebayo and the David Cameron-esque Addison.