A Matter of Life and Smith

[altariel]

Quick fly-by post to link to this marvellous essay reading "The Eleventh Hour" alongside Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death.

Comments

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I know you have to fly, but I just wanted to say I think the two episodes so far have crammed more cultural references and echoes into an hour and a half than I thought possible

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Eee, plz to be posting at length! I'll be back later this afternoon to read! (Or will it be twelve years?)

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I noticed a lot of posts saying that each episode was 'an obvious reference to x' but everyone had picked a different x.

I can't remember them all but for the best below - Cities in Flight, Discworld, Hitchiker's guide, 2000AD, Demon Headmaster, Omelas, It, Futurama for example

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

There was Star Wars and Red Dwarf too.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I can't remember how I got to 'for the best below' - that's some weird edit from two other half-sentences - but yes

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It really reminds me of Doctor Who as well... ;-)

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I meant the name of the bloody episode. God I am going to have to take more care with typing.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Oh - I was just joshing about all the influences, nothing to do with your typing. I totally followed what you'd written.

[gair.livejournal.com]

And Winnie the Pooh, with Tigger repeatedly getting his favourite food wrong!

(I will read the essay eventually, but in the meantime - A Matter of Life and Death! Of course! I spent about ten minutes of a taxi ride trying, with gerald and a not-very-enthusiastic taxi driver, to remember the title, and didn't get any further than Heavenly Creatures, and I knew that was wrong!)