London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder

The only (fully) watchable, and quite pleasant too, opening ceremony in history! Just a shame that it’s completely unnecessary, about nothing, good for nothing... Why not just declare the games open - period? Because when Boyle conceived the Olympics opening ceremony exactly like his adaptation of Frankenstein (not just the identical industrial revolution), so something isn’t completely kosher and not amount of British (and, thanks to the rubber boots, Czech) self-lampooning can save it. (2012.07.27)

James Bond as a bodyguard, Rowan Atkinson as a runner, Voldemort as a monstrous scarecrow, and Paul McCartney as the man of the evening. Danny Boyle's show covered everything that the elegant Great Britain could offer, and as the final notes of "Hey Jude" played, the human atmosphere that unites continents breathed almost perfectly on me. (2012.07.29)