The Royle Family: Joe's Crackers (2010)

Fast becoming a Christmas staple and national treasure of the Only Fools and Horses variety, The Royle Family's Christmas Day special continues an excellent revival of the suburban sitcom. After last year's foray out of the Royle's house to a caravan, we returned to the front room and kitchen of Jim and Barbara as they entertained Denise, Dave, Anthony and soon-to-be fiancé Saskia, along with neighbours Jim and Cheryl. It's Jim's first Christmas since his wife Mary passed away, although he brings her along in her urn, which ends up in the Dyson...

It's just a typical family Christmas then, albeit with laughs and heart - much of it from the very talented Peter Martin as previously stoic Jim, now you can't shut him up. Jessica Hynes underplays Cheryl to a tee, and Sue Johnston continues to be utterly sublime as Barbara. Ricky Tomlinson will forever be Jim Royle, and he plays the role with gusto - he could probably do it in his sleep. Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, director and co-writers, pitch everything just right, even with the unexpectedly swift ending that requires resolution! The Royle Family Christmas special tops off an evening of quality entertainment from the BBC. 

Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (2010)

One of the only programmes I could truly have claimed to be waiting for this Christmas season was the special of Doctor Who. Thankfully the TV wasn't saturated with trails for it as it was last year when David Tennant was bowing out, and also appearing on QI, Buzzcocks, TOTP, The Queen's speech... well maybe not, but it felt like he did. 

Doctor Who has never looked better than A Christmas Carol, with a massive filmic quality to it. Michael Gambon played the Scrooge character who the Doctor must manipulate by interfering in his past in order to imbue him with good will enough to prevent a spaceship carrying Rory and Amy which is currently hurtling through thick fog surrounding this particular planet. This planet also features fish who swim in the air, in a bizarre yet very Who twist on normality. The Doctor meets young Gambon as a 12 year old and older as well as a singing beauty played by Katherine Jenkins. What follows is a touching story of love and loss, and the meaning of Christmas, but not in any cloying way.

Matt Smith is convincingly the Doctor now, and his fast talking, quirky behaviour is endearing. His inability to understand human relationships is also very funny, particularly when his advice is sought on how to speak to crying girls or kiss them generally. Amy and Rory are relegated to the sidelines in this show, and really the star is Michael Gambon, who's performance draws you through the story. It's nice to see Arthur Darvil's name in the opening credits though, this bodes well for Rory being a main character next series. A Christmas Carol lived up to expectations, and surpassed them on several levels, and has certainly whetted my appetite for the Doctor's return in 2011.

The One Ronnie (2010)

Yesterday being Christmas Day, I found myself glued to the TV for a chunk of time, between making a delicious lunch for the two of us, opening presents and playing board games, and Lego Harry Potter on the X-Box. After lunch I half-watched Top of the Pops, and then paid full attention to The Queen as I feel that it's an integral part of the day to see what Her Majesty has to say for herself. This year's speech was about sport, so it didn't do a lot for me, but she was wearing a fetching purple outfit that very much suited her. 

Come evening time and I settled down to watch The One Ronnie, a special one-off show featuring 80 year old Ronnie Corbett, with support from the likes of Miranda Hart, Lucas and Walliams, Rob Brydon, and James Corden. This turned out to be a highlight of the schedules, small and perfectly formed, like Corbett himself. A format that could have been a bit desperate and twee turned out to be witty and infused with a spirit, particularly in the Harry Enfield 'blackberry' sketch and the Catherine Tate 'pub' sketch, of Corbett's classic partnership with Ronnie Barker. There were chair monologues and a less than exciting musical interlude from Charlotte Church, and up-to-date references to Apple computers, Lady Gaga and Eminem that could have been cringey, but were delivered with such expertise and sparkle, there was not a dud line in the whole show. A gem.

Just a quick mention too about another good show I caught on Thursday, The Two Ronnies: The Studio Recordings which played like a DVD extra of special features and behind the scenes secrets, featuring unseen sketches, fluffed lines and Barker and Corbett being hilarious. The wordplay on display from Ronnie Barker was as astounding and mesmerising as expected and the whole felt so cosy, old-fashioned and fun it made me look forward to The One Ronnie all the more, while feeling the loss of Ronnie B.

Accused (2010)

Accused was a very powerful, compelling series from Jimmy McGovern where each episode featured a new story, focussed on a character about to be sentenced for a crime. It was a very effective format that slowly peeled back layers of mystery as, through flashback, you learnt about the character and what they did, along with what drove them to it. Additionally you saw clips of the court room during the sentencing, and were teased by shots of some supporting characters, or omissions of others. So as you tried to work out what crime they would eventually end of committing, you also didn't know who was alive or dead come sentencing, which meant deciding who the victims were was more difficult. Not always an easy watch, Accused's style managed to build a sense of dread and unease as you knew something bad was to happen, but without knowing how or when or who it would happen to. 

I'd liken watching Accused to watching Final Destination, the movie (series) where the characters are picked of by Death in mundane yet elaborate ways - every scene you'd think, does she die? Will he snap? What's going to happen?! Nerve-shredding stuff. And then the subject matter gets involved... The first episode with Christopher Eccleston features an affair and money laundering, but things get more controversial in episode two, set in Afghanistan and featuring bullying in the army. It's a tough watch as one character is psychologically bullied to the point of suicide and then his mate takes revenge. The final episode was least effective I thought, starring Naomie Harris as a mother who has a one night stand and is framed by her husband and police-officer-father-in-law for distributing cocaine. It seemed a lot more far-fetched and less realistic than the others. 

The best episodes were numbers 3, 4 and 5. Number 3 featured Juliet Stevenson in a powerhouse performance as a grieving mother pushed to arson by an uncaring and unfeeling system (also featuring a cracking turn from Peter Capaldi) - this was special as the episode opened with Stevenson in court telling the jury she did the crime, and then explaining why, so that when the jury's verdict came in, there was an even greater feeling of tension. The verdicts were as exciting as the moment on The Apprentice when Lord Sugar says 'you're fired'! 

In episode 4 Andy Serkis played a creepy taxi driver who effectively stalked, befriended and bedded an unsuspecting young woman. Serkis was mesmerising throughout, and really made you both sympathise with his character and feel uncomfortable about doing so. Marc Warren headed the cast in episode 5, as the father of a child who is abused, and he and his buddies beat up and kill a man they believe is responsible. It turns out he was innocent and Warren essays a convincing decent into hell, and it's hard to know how to feel about the verdict of the jury. I hope that Accused gets another series, it's such a strong format, and each episode has interesting things to say about the human (British) psyche. 

The Apprentice: Series 6 (2010)

It took a while for the latest series of The Apprentice to get to BBC1, and when it finally arrived it was as addictive as ever. Reality TV doesn't really float my boat, but I got into The Apprentice a couple of series back and have been an avid viewer ever since. It's a docusoap really, with a business element tacked on. There's jeopardy, laughs and frustration as the duff candidates make it through firings, and as Lord Sugar dashes off another groan-inducing pun. There's dispair at the language these grown adults use with each other and in work situations (not to mention on camera), along with astounding displays of ignorance. And there's Nick and Karen, skulking in the background, scowling and dripping scorn on the candidates' abilities. 

It all adds up to a very satisfying whole, and what made this series even better was the fact that You're Fired, the show that follows on BBC2 and features interviews with the fired candidate, is now fronted by Dara O'Briain, fast becoming my favourite TV comedian. He brought a level of wit and humour to the series that previous host Adrian Chiles could only dream of. Dara's open shock at Stuart Baggs The Brand not having been fired was hilarious, and his favouritism was refreshing in the type of show that doesn't allow presenters opinions (see Bruce Forsyth's 'you're all my favourites'). 

I was pleased that Stella and Chris made it to the final, though I called it wrongly for Chris. They were both pleasant, personable, competent people and either deserved to win. On the opposite end of the scale Stuart was just repugnant, and so many of the others just hopeless. I did really like Joanna's no-nonsense, no corporate bullshit approach though, it's a shame she couldn't have been in the final 2. Jamie talked a lot of hot air, and of the rest Alex was good value. My favourite scene this year was 'the battle of Trafalgar Square' as Stuart and Chris beat their metaphorical chests during a bus tour task, and Chris told Stuart to 'fuck off you fat twat'. Very well said. At least the late arrival of Series 6 means Series 7 may not be too far off now.

Expecting Someone Taller (Tom Holt, 1987)

Looking for something short and light to take on holiday to Copenhagen earlier this week, I selected Tom Holt's debut novel, which at 218 pages is significantly shorter than the last fiction I read. I read quite a few of Holt's fantasy-comedies during my teenage years, and it's therefore been a while since I read anything as funny and surreal. I knew this was the book I wanted for my holiday when I picked it off the bookshelf and read the opening paragraph, wherein Malcolm Fisher runs over a badger, and the badger expresses annoyance.

It turns out that the badger, who turns into an old, bearded man, was the guardian of a ring that allows the wearer to control the world, along with a nifty helmet-like device that allows a person to change appearance and move around at will. From here Malcolm is taken on a journey that involves Wotan, God of Valhalla, and his 8 Valkyrie daughters (who nag him about housework), various giants and demi-gods and a good dose of surreal, reality-infused fantasy. 

Expecting Someone Taller had me laughing out loud in airport queues and on the airplane, and I fairly zipped through it, finishing it on the plane home, 4 days later. Entertaining and lightweight, but with some engrossing themes, incorporating old Norse Gods - fitting, given the location I was reading about them in - the book was a refreshingly breezy antidote to London and it's weighty ambition.

Tim Minchin and his Orchestra (MEN, 17/12/10)

Last night we had our last trip out to an event for the year (next week's holiday in Copenhagen not included) with Tim Minchin at the MEN. We stumbled across the long-haired Australian comic's stand up show on E4 last year and were creased up laughing the whole way through, so I picked up his 3 albums and eagerly booked for the live show. Tim certainly did not disappoint, which is lucky as I think this was the show I'd most looked forward to all year. 

The set list ran as follows (at least this is the tracklisting of the live at the 02 CD), those marked with an * are Tim Minchin 'classics':

1. I'm in a Cage
2. Rock and Roll Nerd*
3. Cont
4. If I Didn't Have You*
5. Thank You God
6. You Grew On Me*
7. The Fence
8. Prejudice*
9. Lullaby
10. The Pope Song (+ Disco)
11. Cheese
12. Beauty
13. Dark Side*
14. Not Perfect*
15. White Wine in the Sun*

Tim has a great voice and he's a master on the piano. His songs are subversive, side-splitting and make a heck of a lot of sense. Tackling racism, bigotry, religion and relationships, Tim's songs often start out sincere enough and then reality and logic creep in as his dextrous lyrics finish off tenets of Christianity, proper child-rearing techniques and prejudice in general. The odd song like Beauty and White Wine in the Sun are less about the funny and are more heartfelt, and provide a real showcase for Tim's emotive voice. 

Songs such as Dark Side and the extremely sweary Pope Song (which sounded like the South Park movie's Uncle Fukka) really showed how much his orchestra added to the aural mix. They turned the songs into real spectacles. Between songs, Tim was very amusing, and proved adept at improvisation too, but it's in the songs that his genius really emerges and shines. I can't wait to rip his live CD to my MP3 player and enjoy these songs, old and new, all over again.

The Armstrong & Miller Show: Series 3 (2010)

The latest series from Ben Miller and Alexander Armstrong has contained many strong sketches, and some hilarious comedy creations. My favourite recurring sketch involved the two creaking old vampires from Transylvania, trying to make it in the modern world. The way they glide across the floor is just so funny, and Miller's accent particularly has me in fits of giggles. 

I had to stop watching an episode halfway through during recovery from surgery as I was laughing so much I was in physical pain. Armstrong & Miller have a more successful hit-rate than Mitchell & Webb, and generally make me laugh more. I like the way they don't try to be particularly topical or edgy, they just find something that works and run with, such as the 'Origins of' cavemen, or the you-never-see-it-coming 'kill them', 'threesome?' or 'I've forgotten to put the bins out' skits. All three of these start out as traditional sketches or dramatic pieces, and then comes the punchline and you wonder how they fooled you. 

The undisputed highlight of this series was the sketch that began normally enough and then turned into a full blown musical satire around farmers' markets, and featured a guest appearance from a-ha's Mortan Harkett. It was 3 minutes of sublime hilarity. More of these musical moments please.

Unstoppable (2010)

There's not a lot to say about Unstoppable. It's an excellent action-thriller about a runaway train, starring Denzel Washington and the hunky Chris Pine, with great support from Rosario Dawson. 

The reason I say there isn't much to say about this movie is that it's a good, solid action movie in the vein of Speed, with nice character work, but with emphasis on the train. It won't win any awards for acting or originality (there's even the potential of the train colliding with another train of school children) but it provides real thrills, tension and heroism and is directed with such flair by Tony Scott that it stands out against other such thrillers. Who'd have thought that shots of trains travelling really fast could be turned into something so exciting? The relationship between Washington and Pine was well developed, sharing an easy chemistry, but it was secondary to the train! Did I mention the train?! A top notch movie. 

Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention (2010)

I don't normally watch documentaries, I prefer to get my facts from books as I find them easier to digest, and I'd rather watch TV for laughs and drama to escape into. So I can safely say that without the Wallace & Gromit element I wouldn't have bothered with the World of Invention. I'm glad I did though as it turned out to be a fascinating series, interspersed with amusing new Aardman animations, that was also more adult orientated than the presence of Wallace & Gromit would imply. 

The series showcased inventions and innovations from transport, energy production and myriad other areas, and explained them clearly alongside interviews from often wacky inventors. The show didn't poke fun or dumb anything down. Ashley Jensen's narration was amusing and not intrusive, the Welsh narrated comedy segments of failed inventions from yesteryear were actually funny, and 'Mr Jem's' slots where Jem Stansfield put together ideas that never got off the drawing board were intriguing. I have to confess that occasionally, despite the clear explanations, I got utterly lost as to how some of the inventions worked, and resorted to oohing and aahing at the fancy new space-suits, or the crab-like creature built out of plastic pipes and pop bottles. The World of Invention was an interesting, fact-filled series, disguised as a light-hearted Wallace & Gromit vehicle, where really the two were a sideshow to the main event.

London (Edward Rutherfurd, 1997)

I've just finished the epic 1,299 page doorstop of a novel London by Edward Rutherford. In some respects it does exactly what it says on the cover - it tells you a story about London, but it does so over 21 chapters that go from Roman era Londinium, through the centuries right up to 1997, following the families and descendants of a core group of Londoners.

The book is essential 21 short stories, linked via location and familial ties, and it's also a rather good history of England and London, featuring real life figures from history such as Julius Caesar, Kings and Queens from Henry VIII to Victoria, Shakespeare, Pepys... Not only is it an enjoyable work of fiction, London is also an immensely readable and relatable piece of historical prose. Seeing the different time periods through the eyes of the various characters makes the past come alive (cliché but true) and I learnt a lot about the Civil War, the role religion played in England's history, and what theatre was really like in the Elizabethan era. 

I didn't have a problem with the length of the book (it took me 2 months to get through), but there were some niggles - for example it was often tough to keep up with who was descended from whom, especially as names and titles changed. That's not a major issue, as Rutherford helpfully provides a family tree and a number of essential maps, which I thumbed back to regularly for reference and to place events in context. Some of the stories weren't as interesting as others, but the historical detail made up for it. The author also seemed to take liberties with the longevity of some characters, who by necessity had to live to their 80's and 90's in order to span significant events - it's hard to swallow such old age in days when average lifespans were much lower. Keeping the same characters was useful for continuity though. I enjoyed London and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in English history. I liked it so much I even went out and bought Russka, which does the same thing with Russia. I may leave it a while before I decide to tackle its admittedly slimmer 1,000 pages though.

Scissor Sisters (MEN, 11/12/10)

Last Saturday we braved the cold (and a replacement bus service home) to see the incredible Scissor Sisters (and support act Hurts) at the MEN in Manchester. Here's the stonking great set list:

Intro
Night Work
Laura
Any Which Way
She's My Man
Take Your Mama
Whole New Way
Running Out
Tits On The Radio
Something Like This
Kiss You Off
Mary
Skin This Cat
Harder You Get
Skin Tight
Paul McCartney
Comfortably Numb
Night Work
Filthy/Gorgeous
-------------
Fire With Fire
I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
Invisible Light

Excluding the Intro, that's a massive 21 songs, including all bar one from their latest Night Work album. It turned out the show was being filmed too, so I think the show had even more oomph than normal. Jake Shears and Ana Matronic are just phenomenal - Jake's hot half-naked body and Ana's hilarious talky bits between songs had me drooling and in stitches. The Scissor Sisters is what arenas are made for - light shows, dancing, massive up-beat tunes... 

Having said that, Skin This Cat was one of my favourite songs of the evening, possibly because it was more stripped back and just featured Ana and a couple of backing singers/dancers, and it stood out from the huge noise and mania of the other tracks. Filthy/Gorgeous has always been one of my favourites, and it was done justice here. Invisible Light, the extended song at the end of Night Work, is a curio, and a strange end song as it's not got the recognition factor of I Don't Feel Like Dancing, but it worked well, and included an Ian McKellen video element. You certainly get your money's worth with the Scissor Sisters. I can't wait for the DVD.

Merlin: Series 3 (2010)

The beautiful Merlin and Arthur have gone from my TV screen for another year. Sadness. This was another cracking series, building on the last one, but again not moving the over-arching plot along too much - still no one died, still Merlin is hiding his magic secret from Arthur. However, evil Morgana, who spent much of the series giving evil dastardley looks and only just stopping short of cackling an evil mwahahahaha, while pretending to be meek old king's ward. Really she was scheming with her sister Mongoose (or similar) to kill Uther or Arthur. Why they didn't simply stab them and have done with it I do not know, except it wouldn't help the narrative arc.

At least at the end of series 3 Uther saw Morgana for who she really was, and as a consequence he'll either mellow a bit or get even more pissed off with magic. I really hope there isn't a series reset button like at the beginning of the series when Morgana came back. Arthur's relationship with Gwen has moved on a bit, and it has been quite sweet really. Meanwhile, Merlin's only relationship is with Gaius - whether Merlin and Gaius or Merlin and Arthur, the pairings are wonderfully formed, with easy wit and sparky chemisty. The humour is one of the joys of the show. What more do you want from a Saturday night family-friendly drama - action, heroism, romance, magic and laughs. For these reasons I hope Merlin continues for a long time yet. It'll be interesting to see how the dynamics of the show may change next series, particularly now that Arthur has formed his male models knights of the round table.

The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)

Today I've watched The Year of Living Dangerously, starring Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver, and set in Indonesia during a time of unrest. I've had to check Wikipedia for when it was set (1965) and for details about events within the movie, mostly because I didn't feel that I learnt that much about the country and the political situation after 2 hours. It's not that it's a bad film, or that I didn't like it, rather it seemed that you either had to know your Indonesian history going in, or follow very closely. And to be honest, I spent some of the time wrapping Christmas presents, so it was probably my own fault. 

Gibson, back when he was unfeasibly hot, plays an Australian reporter newly stationed in Jakarta. He falls for credibly-accented Weaver, a British spy(?), while getting stories and witnessing the political turmoil of President Sukarno's overthrow. While Gibson and Weaver are as good as you'd expect, the heart of the movie comes from Linda Hunt, an American actress in an Oscar-winning role as Indonesian man, Billy Kwan, Gibson's reporter's photographer. As I knew about the gender-bending role going in, it proved to be a little distracting, but it is through Billy that the viewer witnesses the poverty that exists in Indonesia, sat alongside the rich extravagance of the ruling classes, and the western journalists. Billy hopes that Gibson will help to get the truth of the Indonesian situation out to the world, and he engineers his meeting with Weaver and obtains some high status interviews. Sadly, Billy's idealistic dreams are shattered and he resorts to civil disobedience that gets him killed. Hunt is so convincing in the part, I wished I'd not known about her real identity going in. 

I came away from the movie impressed with Hunt, the different, intriguing locations, yet lacking much understanding of events. And the relationship between Gibson and Weaver never really felt that real or exciting. It may be that this is one of those 'worthy' movies, that you have to be in the right frame of mind to watch. I guess I wasn't.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Yesterday we went to the cinema in the early afternoon to take advantage of the cheaper prices and, along with a whole 6 other patrons, saw my first Christmas movie of the year... Well, it's not that festive, but this Finnish comedy-horror was by turns creepy, hilarious and exciting. The film sees an unscrupulous company mining a mountain in Lapland, on the Russian-Finnish border, and they end up unleashing the original Santa Claus, who was not a nice, jolly red-suited chubster but, according to legend, a horned, giant terror, who kills children who are naughty.

Young Pietari (Onni Tommila) is at the heart of Rare Exports, and he's the film's John McClane, the unlikely hero who saves the day with a great deal of pluck and humour. Living with his reindeer herding father in the snow-covered mountains, Pietari delves into books of folklore about the real Santa Claus, who was trapped in ice hundreds of years ago by unhappy Sami and is now about to be thawed out. As protagonists go, Pietari is one of the best, little Tommila is one of the best actors I've seen in anything, ever, fact! He plays world weary, cautious, terrified, courageous and confidence in ways that have you rooting for him from the first scene. The all-male cast around Tommila are great too, and are happy for him to be the centre of this crazy movie. Relationships are convincingly sketched, with everyone playing their parts straight, letting the comedy in the writing and the situations do their work.
I was worried that the movie would be gory and bloody, particularly since an early scene sees Pietari's father sharpening wooden stakes in a pit to trap wolves - I was praying that we wouldn't be subjected to anything impaling or impaled on them. Thankfully, most of the creeping horror is just that, as the tension mounts, and any violence mostly takes place off screen. There was no point where I had to look away, although one character does take an axe to the back of the head. What's more scary are the hordes of Santa's 'elves', old, bearded, naked men, who protect Santa and bring him naughty children. 

Rare Exports - whose title only makes sense in the last 10 minutes, of what is quite a short yet effective movie at 84 mins - sits neatly alongside Bad Santa in the pantheon of alternative, anti-Xmas movies. It's a comedy-horror classic.

Before You Go (2002)

I recorded Before You Go because it involved both the director and the star of Educating Rita, namely Lewis Gilbert and Julie Walters, respectively. Unfortunately, this small British comedy-drama didn't share a script by Willy Russell with the previous movie, and if it had done maybe it would have been better. As it was this tale of 3 sisters coming together to mourn their mother was a rather uninteresting affair. So glued to my seat was I that I even washed up and surfed the internet while it played out, and normally I like to give a film my full attention. I like to persevre to the end though. While not a bad movie, Before You Go was uninspiring, particularly when you consider the innovate animations or enthralling foreign dramas I've been watching over the past fortnight. 

Julie Walters was the highlight of the film, and Tom Wilkinson provided excellent support as her husband, while Miranda's what-I-call onscreen mother, Patricia Hodge, portrayed the 3 sister's mother. This was odd, since she was dead from the opening scene, but one of the sisters kept seeing her in visions, and there was some plot McGuffin concerning a tin and a birth certificate... and I lost interest. Also, the film featured John Hannah, a charisma free zone if ever there was one. I won't pick a movie based on director and star combinations in a hurry in future!

4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile / 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)

It's taken me less than 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days to see another Romanian movie, after The Death of Mr Lazarescu, and on the basis of these two movies, I'd happily watch another from that country again soon. 'Happily' however, is not a word I would associate with this film about an abortion in Communist Romania. Depicting one day in the lives of Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) and Gabita (Laura Vasiliu), as the uni room-mates check into a hotel and contact a black-market abortionist to terminate Gabita's pregnancy, the movie naturally has none of Mr. Lazarescu's good humour, and is thankfully shorter - thankfully because this is an emotionally draining film.

Told with understated drama and emotion, the two young actresses at the middle of the movie are astonishing, particuarly Marinca, whose Otilia we follow throughout as she books the hotel room, meets the abortionist, grudgingly agrees to his method of payment (sex), and then leaves her prone friend, with probe implanted and awaiting... well, the endgame, to attend her boyfriend's parents' party. The camera never returns to Gabita until Otilia does, so I was on the edge of my seat to find out what had happened to her - she wasn't answering the phone! Had there been complications? Had she died? Had the hotel staff found her and called the police? It was more gripping than several thrillers I've seen, and yet all was played with such realism and despair... When Otilia found Gabita safe and well, and then found that the aborted fetus (it's a bit distressing to type those two words for some reason - I'm not anti-abortion, but this movie would certainly put you off the backstreet variety) on the bathroom floor... it's hard to describe how good the drama is without sounding heartless. I've not seen a movie as powerful as this for a while - it goes to show that even such controversial subject matter can produce a rivetting film, in the right hands. 

The Sheepman (1958)

I don't normally go in for westerns, unless they star or are directed by Clint Eastwood, or unless they're funny. I've enjoyed Mel Gibson-starrer Maverick, and the musical Cat Ballou, although Blazing Saddles left me cold. It seemed only fitting that I watch The Sheepman this week for a couple of reasons. One, it sits alongside Black Sheep in woolly themed movies, and two, it stars the late, great Leslie Nielsen, in one of his earlier straight roles.

Glenn Ford plays the eponymous Sheepman, who rolls into town and immediately begins rubbing people up the wrong way, including Shirley MacLaine, and then when he announces that a train load of sheep are on their way, the cattle-loving town really decides not to like him. Nielsen plays the villain of the piece, a well-respected rancher who happens to be betrothed to MacLaine, and also happens to be something of an outlaw, known to Ford in the past. What follows is fairly predictable stuff as the town folks try to run Ford and his flock out of town and back onto a train going anywhere but there, and naturally Ford falls for MacLaine and must get rid of Nielsen before he can have her and live happily ever after with his sheep.

What could be a routine western becomes fun and enjoyable through the large strain of humour running throughout. It's also interesting to note that of the few westerns I've seen, I've never even considered why they ranchers never farm sheep. According to the townspeople here, sheep mucky up the water and eat all the grass, so now you know... Glenn Ford seems to be having a blast as the slightly cocky and confident sheepman, and Nielsen is as good a straight man here as in the classic Forbidden Planet. MacLaine's funny and clearly a match for Ford, so the two make a great screen couple. If only all westerns were this enjoyable and well-cast, I'd probably watch more of them. 

Persepolis (2007)

A French animation about the Iranian revolution, Persepolis is based on a graphic novel, an autobiographical account of Majane Satrapi's child hood during the 1970's and 80's. It's a surprisingly funny and engaging movie, given the subject matter, and rooting the tale in Satrapi's daily life makes the plot accessible and brings a needed human element. Nearly everything reported in the news nowadays about Iran is negative, so it's good to see some positivity amongst the otherwise life-changing events that surrounded the Iranian revolution and the war with Iraq. 

I know embarrassing little about the country, then and now, so it was fascinating to see from a first person perspective (kinda) what life was like. The animation doesn't create a barrier to the story, it helps tell events with a great sweep, in a way that would cost far too much for a non-Hollywood live action movie. It also doesn't shy away from depicting the hardships, sexuality and bad language that Majane experiences as she moves from childhood to teenage years through to adulthood, all the while seeing how political events impact upon her life. It's not just a political movie though, as Majane's loves and family are also included, particularly her strong grandmother, voiced by Catherine Deneuve.

Persepolis is the latest in a line of 'different' animated movies I've seen, that don't conform to Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks rules. As much as I like those big studios, it's good to see animation taken in a different direction, be it artistic or political or anything else. Persepolis might not have been as beautiful to look at as The Secret of Kells, but the black and white animation (colour for present day) really worked in the film's favour. It also strangely reinforced that events that occurred did not just exist in black and white. 

The First Men in the Moon (2010)

The first of the 7 movies I've watched over the last few days and thus need to update my blog with, was the British TV-movie, The First Men in the Moon, adapted from H.G. Wells' novel by and starring Mark Gatiss. Julius Bedford, played by Rory Kinnear, encounters scientist Professor Cavor sometime in the early twentieth century. Cavor has managed to manufacture a substance named Cavorite that does some mumbo jumbo with gravity, and basically, some garbled sci-fi explanation later, the two have decided to coat a vessel in Cavorite and fly it to the Moon. Can you tell I didn't really follow the psuedo-science involved?

What follows is a funny, old-fashioned adventure on the Moon with some curious CGI aliens, which Cavor dubs Selenites, and which Bedford finds feel like cinder toffee when punched. It was a diverting 90 minutes and Mark Gatiss is fun to behold - his Cavor is a great creation, punctuating all of his sentences with a quiet '...probably', while Kinnear does solid stuff with Bedford. It didn't blow me away, but for a BBC television movie, the CGI was good, and I liked the old-fashioned style, compared with the modernist takes of Doctor Who and the like. It has made me interested to read the book, though I wouldn't watch the movie again.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)

From a movie made in Kazakhstan to one made in Romania, I continued my filmic trip around the globe with The Death of Mr. Lazarescu a 2.5hr drama with funny bits about a man being shunted between hospitals as he attempts to get a diagnosis and treatment - and then after all this time he doesn't even die! On screen anyway. 

I watched this film in two sittings, because although, surprisingly, it was never actually boring, it was quite slow and very little happened. Plus it was long. Beginning with Mr. Lazarescu (Ioan Fiscuteanu) calling for an ambulance, we see his neighbours offering comfort, an ambulance arrives to take him off to hospital, with Nurse Mioara (Luminiţa Gheorghiu) by his side from this point on, as they are sent from one hospital to another, as each professes they can do nothing for him. Some are busy as a result of a coach crash, others just don't seem to want to do anything for Mr. Lazarescu, who visibly becomes more sick as the night wears on. 

If the movie is supposed to represent an indictment of the Romanian hospital system, then it does a good job. All of the doctors are surly if not outright rude, both to their patient and poor Mioara, who just wants to get Mr. Lazarescu admitted so that she can go and help someone else who needs an ambulance. There's absolutely no sense of urgency from any of the medical staff. It's not as funny as Getting On in it's portrayal of the NHS, but there are some amusing moments and character pieces. This is not a movie I would recommend in a hurry, nor is it one I'd watch again, but it is one that held my attention and the drama and realism felt like I was watching a documentary, or more appropriately an exposé on Romanian healthcare.

Ross Noble: Things (2010)

That title should have read 'Ross Noble: Nonsensory Overload (02/12/10, York Grand Opera House)', but sadly, due to a combination of snow, my recent operation and fears we'd be stuck in York with no means of getting home to Leeds, last night we made the decision to miss Ross Noble's live show. It's the first time I've ever missed anything like that with the tickets already paid for, but the priority was my health and our comfort, and with temperatures supposedly forecast for -10°C we did not want to be stranded on a train platform all night. 

So after a tasty meal out, we returned to the warm (relative to outside) flat and instead put in the Ross Noble DVD that had arrived that very morning. The new DVD is 'Things' from Ross' last tour, which we also saw in York on 10/05/09, and filmed in Manchester. Some of the material was familiar to us, but a lot was improvised on the night of filming, as per Ross' style. Having seen Ross live on 3 occasions previously, including at Grassington Festival in June this year, we weren't too put out at missing him this time. The DVD made up for it, with 136 minutes of laughter, with a bonus 10 minutes that was unexpected, found when a pineapple symbol appeared on screen. Clicking enter took us to a piece of footage from the previous night's show where Ross donned a bubble-wrap suit that a member of the audience had left for him. 

Ross' genius for comedy knows no equal. His FAST thinking brain never loses track of what he's talking about, often returning to a subject long after you've forgotten about it, because he's pinged off to another idea, and another, and another. Things was a great show, and now we have 2 more DVDs in the set to enjoy, for as usual, Ross hasn't skimped on the extra material! Having said that, I think we've got hours of extra shows on his other 5 DVDs we've not even watched yet, so there's plenty to keep us going until he next tours - with a bit of luck he'll actually make it to Leeds!

Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child (1963)

Aside from the new series starring Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith, and the Paul McGann TV movie, I've only ever seen bits of the old Doctor Who from my Dad's videos. I wanted to go right back to the beginning, where it all started, and see what it was all about back then, so I recently settled down to watch the first ever, 4-part story that introduced William Hartnell's Dr Who to the BBC viewing public, An Unearthly Child. 

It's hard to compare a black and white, cheaply made 25 minute per episode multi-part drama with the modern, self-contained 45 min episode that is full of special effects and excitement. However, the first Dr Who story still stands up as an enthralling drama, at least so far as the first episode goes. The first episode follows teachers Barbara and Ian as they share their concerns for the slightly weird 15 year old Susan, and they trail her to an old warehouse where she supposedly lives with her grandfather, who turns out to be a cantankerous old man who appears at first to have Susan kept prisoner in a police box... Of course then the TARDIS doors open and Ian and Barbara, and the viewer, learns that things are not always what they seem...

Episode 1's Cliffhanging Ending...

As an introduction to the basic tenets of Dr Who lore, the episode succeeds admirably. There's not too much jargon, and each character is given time to be introduced, with the teachers forming a focal point as a proxy for the audience watching at home. At episode 1's end the TARDIS transports the 4 characters across time and possibly space to a land of cave dwelling people, who do not know how to make fire. It's here that things slow down a bit, with lots of eloquent actors in furs and dirty faces talking over and over about making fire, while they stand huddled around a small cave set. As opening adventures go, being captured by cavemen, escaping, being recaptured and escaping again, it's not that exciting, but already the Doctor and his companions are carving out roles. Susan's the screamer, Barbara is quite practical, and Ian shows a brave streak, while the Doctor is more difficult to pin down. 

It would probably have been easy to jet the Doctor off to a futuristic location for the first episode, so I like that the prehistoric setting (though it's by no means certain the story takes place on Earth, or indeed in the past at all - the TARDIS time display read out is broken) suggests that this series will be more than just aliens with laser guns. 

Barbara and Ian sneak up on the Doctor

Alongside the episodes, I also watched the special features - the Doctor Who DVDs are excellent for these - which included a different, longer version of the first episode, with enlightening commentary by producer Verity Lambert and director Waris Hussein, and a collection of comedy sketch parodies starring Mark Gatiss and David Walliams. And then I read about the story in About Time, an unauthorised guide to the series, with fascinating background and analysis. This gave me a full experience with which to enjoy the story and I look forward to seeing more of the chronological adventures of the Timelord, in his earlier incarnations. 

Getting On: Series 2 (2010)

Expanded to a full series of 6 episodes, Getting On's second outing has been just as funny and full of marvellous characters as the first series, with the bonus of being able to follow stories for longer. Jo Brand continues to excel as the lovably real Nurse Kim Wilde, while Joanna Scanlan's lovelorn Sister Den Flixster takes her relationship with Ricky Grover's sexually confused jobsworth Matron Hilary Loftus to new heights of embarrassment. Vicki Pepperdine is pitch perfect as the socially awkward Doctor Pippa Moore, and her confrontations with her Nurse and Ward Sister are toe-curling to watch. 

I was really impressed with the ongoing storyline featuring Lindy Whiteford as the daughter of one of the ward's geriatric patients. Battling against hospital visiting hours and bans on flowers, and dealing with her mother's estate, while travelling down from Scotland, Whiteford convincingly portrayed an emotionally drained, yet polite version of the public, facing a hospital staff that is being graded on targets and corporate bullshit, and forgets about caring for patients and their families. Nurse Wilde tries her best to combat the new PC way of doing things, and this realism introduces a darker side to the writing that doesn't always show the NHS in a good light. The mix of the mundane, the macabre and the mirthful makes Getting On a great series to watch. Only next series, I hope they dispense with the sea-sick inducing camera movement, it was the only blight on the spotless whole.

Mad Men: Season 4 (2010)

Mad Men's fourth season was possibly the best yet. Every episode was a perfectly grafted gem, with Don Draper thankfully at the forefront. It was a shame that Betty was relegated to supporting player, and didn't even feature in several episodes, but since she divorced Don at the end of season 3 and married Henry, she's been a bit miserable. You'd think she'd be happy! So I didn't mind seeing less of her. It also meant that the delightful Peggy got more screen time. 

Don got to loosen up on season 4, he also had a bit of a breakdown and a drinking binge that wasn't pleasant to watch, but which was necessary to pull him through to the end of the season's revelations about what and who he wants out of life. The episodes with Dick Whitman's ex-wife and her death were heartbreakingly played by Jon Hamm. One of the best episodes involved Peggy and Don together pretty much for the full 45 minutes, and ended with Don asleep on Peggy's lap. Their relationship is what Mad Men is all about, touching, frosty, jealous, sweet... is this relationship Don's best because he's not sleeping with Peggy?

Peggy's explorations with her lesbian friend, her getting naked to prove a point with a boorish artist, and her final episode bitch with Joan were highlights, and showed how Elisabeth Moss and the writers have grown Peggy in statutre and confidence across the series. Alongside Peggy, Pete continues to be a bit weird, Roger's lascivious, and Lane veers from sharing prostitutes with Don to dating a black bunny girl waitress. Everyone's storylines were fun and engrossing, but none matched those of Peggy and Don. The comedy/shock highlight of the season, to rival the infamous lawnmower-slices-off-foot bit in season 3, involved the death of Don's elderly receptionist (an 'Ugly Betty' move from Joan to stop Don sleeping with his secretary... foiled when he becomes engaged to the next one!) and the office's hilarious reactions and subtle carrying away of the body as a client meeting carried on in the windowed office next to it. And now Mad Men will  be moving to Sky :( Looks like I'll have to wait for the DVD box set...

The Secret of Kells (2009)

The second animated movie co-produced in Belgium I've seen in the past few weeks, The Secret of Kells couldn't be less like A Town Called Panic. The latter was a madcap, stop-motion animated laugh-fest, whereas Kells features gorgeous 2D animation, only a few laughs, and a story about a load of monks and a book. Where the two movies compare is in how original and enjoyable they both are.

Kells looked amazing on Blu-ray, and the animation is reminiscent of book illustrations and paintings from bygone ages. I had heard of the Book of Kells, but I didn't really know what it was, and the movie doesn't do much to enlighten you, for this is a tale of the book's creation as seen through the eyes of young Brendan. According to Wikipedia, the Book is 'an illuminated manuscript and known today as one of Ireland's greatest national treasures', so there you go.

The movie opens with Brendan and an assortment of monks of different shapes, sizes and colours giving chase to a goose in order to pluck feathers for use as quill pens. So far so Disney, it particularly put me in mind of Mulan for some reason, and then Brendan later gets a feline sidekick (non-speaking though) who tags along on his adventures. Here's where the Disney comparisons end, although you could say the animation is similar to the stylised work in the opening credits of classics such as Sleeping Beauty. Kells' plot about Brendan, trapped in the Abbey of Kells by his uncle Abbot Cellach who is building high walls all around to protect the abbey from marauding Vikings (rendered as demonic, square-bodied demons, and really quite scary), and Brendan's relationship with master book artist Aidan of Iona is not exactly what dreams are made of.

Brendan does escape the walls into the forest where he meets a sprite named Aisling, who helps him to find berries to make a particular ink for the Book of Kells. Further into the movie, Brendan must find a special crystal and enters an angular world where a snake begins eating itself... It's very strange. Then the Vikings attack, killing many, and despite shooting an arrow into him and slicing him through with a sword, Abbot Cellach lives to see another day while Brendan and Aidan escape. Thinking back, there's actually not a lot of plot, and what there is centres around drawing illustrations in a book of gospel. Now, if Pixar had told the same tale in the same style, I'm sure it would have drawn crowds in millions, for Up had an unconventional old man and child pairing, with a grown up storyline, but sadly The Secret of Kells didn't have the same studios behind it.

I'm glad that I found the movie (in the pages of Empire, where I also read about Panic), as it's a beautiful piece of work. The animation is the best part of the movie, it is the artwork that grips you and pulls you into the story, and it is the stylistic appeal that would make me watch the movie again. That's not to say the story and characters have nothing to recommend them, they're all well and good, it makes sense that a movie that is all about the beautifully rendered pages of the Book of Kells should look so pretty itself.

Tulpan (2008)

Now there's a label that probably won't appear at the bottom of one of my posts for a while: Kazakhstan. For this is where the movie Tulpan was based and made, on the barren, desert-like steppe region. Curiously, it had a lot in common with a recent movie I've seen, well I say a lot, it included a massive flock of sheep - the difference being that here they weren't rabid killers. And this was not a parody, or a horror. Tulpan is a beautifully shot, simple story about Asa, a young man who his sister and her husband are determined to find a wife for, so that he can get a flock of his own and settle down in a family yurt with a farm. 

I spotted this movie in the Radio Times listings on Film4 a while ago, and thought that the 4 star review they gave it was intriguing, coupled with the fact I've never seen a Kazakh movie, and so I'm glad I took the chance. The glimpse into the Kazakh steppe-dwellers' culture was fascinating, watching the characters make food and tend for sheep, camels and donkeys, and just generally seeing how the different genders and ages interacted. There was a good vein of humour running through, which suprised me, such as when Asa's friend pulls out a poster of Charles and Diana to show to Tulpan's parents that Asa's ears are small compared to the 'American' Prince's. 

Tulpan, which I assume means tulip, although this was expressed explicitly, the character who gives the movie it's title, is only glimpsed a couple of times. She is the girl that Asa tries to be married off too, but she wants to go to the city, whereas Asa's dream is to stay and farm on the steppe. It's a dream that Asa's grumpy brother-in-law thinks will never happen as he doesn't consider Asa much of a farmer. It is Asa however who eventually birthes a live lamb, in a scene that would probably be a bit unsettling to someone who's never grown up on a farm - the actor is quite clearly helping a real sheep give birth to a real lamb, and then he's really giving the new born mouth to mouth. It's a bit grim for Western tastes, but these sheep are clearly these people's only livelihood. 

This tale of Kazakh farmers, unrequited love, and dreams was thought-provoking, touching, flawlessly acted and looked stunning. I hope to see more gems like this over the next few days.

Sparkle (2007)

While I'm off work for 2 weeks recuperating after keyhole surgery I've been catching up on a couple of movies recorded from TV over the past few months. I need to get the machine free for Christmas TV and movies! The first one off the box was Sparkle, a British movie starring Stockard Channing, Bob Hoskins and Shaun Evans. Oh and Lesley Manville, Anthony Head and Amanda Ryan, who turned out to be the policewoman from Shameless. 

It was a curiously unemotional tale considering that it was all about how these characters interacted. Evans and mum Manville moved to London to a flat owned by Hoskins' ill father. Evans was a waiter who ended up shagging Channing and becoming her PA, but then he met Ryan and began a relationship with her. It turned out she was Channing's daughter, Head was her gay uncle and Hoskins turned out to be her uncle on her dad's side. So Evans was seeing mother and daughter. Meanwhile, Manville tried to get her singing career off the ground, while Hoskins loved her from afar (well, the flat above). 

There seemed to be a lot of coincidences joining the characters, but these never felt forced. I think the problem with the movie lies with Evans, who's pretty, but I was never really interested in him. He seemed to float through events, and there was little emotion written across his face when big bombshells dropped such as realising who Ryan was and what might happen when she finds out about Channing. The most interesting character was Bob Hoskins, who was so sweet in his devotion to Manville, who was completely oblivious, so it was a shame that his sub-plot was sidelined far too often. Channing of course was great value, and her English accent spot on. I was suprised and delighted to see Anthony Head, who has never turned in an unwatchable, unenjoyable performance. Sparkle then was an intriguing tale that failed to shine overall, despite the best efforts of all involved.