Post Christmas TV & Movie Round-up

Once I come back from the in-laws in January, and have finished my next Open Uni story I'll update on the great TV series that finished in December (The Killing II, Rev, Merlin) but for now I thought I'd update on a few one-offs I've watched in this no man's land between Christmas and New Year.

Following a viewing of the original on Christmas Eve, on Boxing Day we settled down to watch Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) over dinner. While not quite as innovative or original as the first, this film gets off to a strong start with inventive (and believable) new ways of separating Kevin from his family. This time they go to rainy Florida while he ends up in snowy New York, with his dad's credit card, and, inconventiently, recently escaped burglars the Wet Sticky Bandits. More time is spent this time around on the main set piece of Kevin attempting to murder the Wile E. Coyote-related burglars with ingeniously placed holes and buckets. There is some great comedy to be had with reliable Tim Curry as an over zealous hotel concierge and some good continuity gags from the first film, such as Harry still having Kevin's front door handle burned onto his palm. The pigeon lady's emotional arch isn't as touching as the scary neighbours in Home Alone, especially as the scenes between Kevin and his mother are where the real heart of the film lies.

A couple of programmes starring Alexander Armstong and Ben Miller caught my attention on Channel 4 the other night. First we watched The Best Bits of Armstrong & Miller (2001), which featured highlights from the duo's final Channel 4 sketch show, and not any of the first 3 series for unknown reasons. I remember laughing along to this series when it went out, though many of the sketches I'd forgotten. I remembered Nude Practise though, which sees the characters running an inexplicable naked vets... Odd. Some of the best bits are the running gags and one liners, such as the inspirational teacher who tells his class to 'fuck off' as soon as the bell goes, or the camp TV gossip columnists who open the episodes. It's all good stuff, up there with the best of their BBC work.
I suppose the purpose of this strangely scheduled clipfest was to help promote the sitcom pilot that preceded it, also starring Armstong and Miller as a pair of Edwardian fops, Felix and Murdo. It was a curious set up. Written by Simon 'Men Behaving Badly' Nye it had an oddly disjointed, undercooked feel. I suppose, as a pilot episode, it's flaws can be forgiven, especially as Armstrong and Miller's central performances were so reassuringly well delivered. If it were to run to a series I'm not sure I'd be tempted back, but we shall see.

Another comedy one-off, on BBC2, was I suppose a pilot too, for a TV version of the Radio 4 programme I've Never Seen Star Wars. Oddly though, this has already been on TV, on BBC4 and hosted by Marcus Brigstocke. The terrestrial (mainstream?) version here was hosted by Jo Brand and featured Stephen Fry as the guest, apparently because he had time among his other many projects to fit in a bit of boxing, ear piercing, building flatpack furniture and watching Only Fools & Horses. It's an interesting premise for a show, thought I think it would work better without the studio bit and if it just featured footage of the guest enjoying the new experiences. To be fair, it was the attraction of Brand and Fry that drove me to the special, which I suppose was the point, and I doubt I'd bother with it again unless the guest was someone of interest.

There's a second episode of It'll be Alright on the Night airing before the year ends, but I'll write about the first to cover both. This is one of the few shows I'll make a point of watching on ITV, even more so now that isn't-he-dead-yet Dennis (S)Norden doesn't host it. Griff Rhys Jones is a much more agreeable guide to the pratfalls, fluffs and plain weirdness that makes up the long running blooper-fest. I'd seen several of these clips before, but that didn't make them any less funny. From the Blue Peter presenter dropping the Trafalgar Square Christmas star to Martin Clune's inability to write a prescription, there's something so funny about the material found on this show. I love it, and am not ashamed to admit it!

Christmas TV & Movie Round-up

We began the Christmas break on the 24th by not leaving the flat and enjoying the time together. This trend continued through the big day itself - we plan to go out today and visit the sales for a bit - and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Our Yuletide viewing began on Christmas Eve by popping in the DVD of Home Alone (1990), a festive classic that I've not seen for years. What struck me on this watching was how little of the film is actually made up of Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) fending off the hapless burglars (Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci). Even though I must have seen the movie lots in my youth there was plenty to enjoy, and it had us laughing out loud at the hilarious set ups and prat-falls. A great way to ease into the festive mood.

The only TV Christmas special we watched that same night was Outnumbered, which saw the unlucky Brockman family trying, ultimately unsuccessfully, to go away on holiday. It was a nice little piece, with superb performances from Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner, who would pop up again on Christmas Day. We happened to catch and laugh uproariously at a Best of Les Dawson 25 minute special too, just before bed.

As usual, I was up first on the 25th, excited to open my presents. While Andrew had his breakfast we watched the Disney animated TV special Prep & Landing (2009) and the two shorts on the DVD. The 22 minute piece sees elves Wayne and Lanny teaming up to prepare a house for Santa's visit, almost causing a disaster and then saving the day. It's a good natured film, with the highlights being the modern takes on the old-fashioned Santa scenario. So technology is imployed to scan for 'creatures stirring', to test the temperature of Santa's milk, and to knock out waking animals and children - this ingenuity is what the Tim Allen movie The Santa Clause only began to address. I enjoyed the piece, and the Operation: Secret Santa (2010) short as well, especially as the latter featured Betty White as Mrs Claus.

As with most recent years, the TV didn't stray away from BBC1 all evening. Following a successful and tasty lunch of chicken, potatoes, veg and all the trimmings, we podged out on the sofa with the festive edition of Top of the Pops, sadly still fronted by personality vacuums Reggie Yates and Fern 'Amazing' Cotton. Again, as usual most of the best songs of the year (for me) were either skipped through in the round up sections or completely missed out - where's Melanie C, goddammit!? There was a memorably weird performance from Will Young and his dancers, the women holding their pony tails aloft, and a nice albeit brief set of clips featuring the late Sir Jimmy Savile, and some atrocities from Olly 'punch me' Murs, some new group called Little Mix and the massively over-rated Jessie J. All in all a pretty piss poor effort.

Much better was her majesty The Queen in her usual 3pm slot, talking about the importance of family and doing her mother of the nation bit. Thank goodness Prince Phillip didn't take a turn for the worse.

Full of food and not really having the need or want to move from the sofa, we settled down with the rest of our fizzy rosé to watch Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), a movie we first saw on its release in 3D at IMAX. Even without the bells and whistles and size of a barn door extras, this is still one of the best non-Pixar CGI movies, full of loving sci fi references, subversions of cliches and utter randomness - an example of the latter being the President's decision to play a little of the Axel Foley theme, and later, the alien spaceships' password/dance machine playing Aqua's 'Roses Are Red'. The voice cast are excellent and the action is non stop, as are the laughs. A perfect way to unwind on Christmas afternoon.

Later on that evening we saw the sequel to 2009's animated TV special, The Gruffalo's Child, in which the titular protagonist goes on a hunt into the dark woods to find the mythic, scary creature of the Mouse, only to encounter Snake, Owl and Fox. It was pretty much the same storyline as The Gruffalo, except with the roles of Mouse and Gruffalo switched. I didn't feel that this special was quite as magical as the original, but it was sweet enough.

Another sweet Christmas special came in the form of Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, which wasn't as beautifully realised and pretty as A Christmas Carol, yet still had so much heart and warmth, mainly as a result of Claire Skinner's peformance as a strong minded mother dealing with the loss of her husband in wartime and the disappearance of her children along with the Doctor in a snowy winter wonderland where the trees are alive. She also comes across an odd group of people intent on culling the forest, and the extended cameos from Arabella Weir, Bill Bailey and some other bloke are dotty and wonderful. I'd quite happily see Skinner joining the Doctor on his travels once he leaves Amy (and sadly Rory) behind - he needs a strong willed older woman to counter his youthful (looking) exuberance.

I didn't write a full post on Strictly Come Dancing this year, mainly as I only dipped into it here and there, and only watched a couple, including the final, from beginning to end. I do wish I'd watched more though, as I particularly became entranced by Harry Judd's performance. And it seems the judges and rest of the public were too as he won over the dumb blonde Chelsee whatnot from something or other. Judd impresses with his well-toned body, polite demeanour and stunning dancing ability. I did watch the whole of Strictly Come Dancing Christmas which saw the return of all of the 2011 contestants in a disappointing finale, following one-off performances from Charlie Brooks, Simon Webbe, Debra Stephenson, Barry McGuigan and the deliriously potty Su Pollard. It was a camp spectacle that out-gayed even the series proper.

Final treat of the evening was the first return of Absolutely Fabulous (following an hour's break from the TV as Eastenders came on to depress the shit out of an undiscerning audience). The first two series of Ab Fab will never be beaten, and indeed I'd lost faith with the show so much I didn't even see Series 5, but I was hopeful for a return to form for this revival. I was pleased with the result. It may not be a classic, and the plot involving Saffy's ex-prison companion / Patsy's drug dealer was uninvolving stuff, yet the performances from all the J's (Jennifer, Joanna, June, Jane and Julia) were as if the show had never been away and the jokes on modern celebrity were well aimed. The highlight was of course the unnecessary yet somehow essential dream-cameo from Sofie Gråbøl as The Killing's Sarah Lund. Wearing her trademark jersey and hunting around Edina's bedroom for evidence, she made me ache for more (my thoughts on The Killing II will follow at a later date). The main annoyance with this and the next two Ab Fab specials is that now my 'complete' DVD boxset is no such thing! 

All in all a rather wonderful day's viewing complemented a peaceful, loving Christmas day with the man I love.

Red Dragon & The Silence of the Lambs (Thomas Harris, 1981 & 1988)

basics...
The Silence of the Lambs is an excellent movie, so I was intrigued as to what the source novel was like. Packaged together in one volume with Red Dragon, the first of Harris' novels to feature Hannibal Lecter and FBI man Jack Crawford, I devoured them one after the other. Dragon sees reluctant, semi-retired profiler Will Graham trying to track the titular killer before he slaughers another family, while Lambs reads like a script to the movie, acting as a fleshed out version of Clarice Starling's hunt for deranged lady-skinner Jame 'Buffalo Bill' Gumb for a reader already familiar with the Oscar winning adaptation.

brilliant...

I enjoyed both books, and both a little differently. Dragon was great as I've never seen either adaptation (Manhunter from 1986 or the 'remake' under the book's name in 2002) and so the story was fresh and unpredictable. Will Graham is a world-weary protagonist and Harris skilfully conveys both his reluctance to get involved in another serial killer hunt (the last, for Lecter, ended with injury) and his driving need to prevent any more murders. It is also interesting that Harris spends a lot of time with the killer, Francis Dolarhyde, giving him motivation, humanity and a sliver of sympathy, while at the same time describing in graphic detail the horrific acts of this sociopath. Lambs was enjoyable because although I knew all of the story beats, Harris' writing kept my interest, and it had sub-plots and nuances missing from the movie, such as Starling's boss, Jack Crawford, who involves Graham in the Red Dragon investigation, who has a much bigger part to play here. His wife is sick and his relationship with Starling is more fully developed, in fact I'm hard pressed to remember the character past the opening scenes of the movie. Throughout both novels, Hannibal Lecter's presence lurks threateningly behind every page but only bursts into the plot at select points, just as he famously only appears for about 15 minutes in the Lambs movie. Lecter is an intriguing character, somewhat of an enigma, and his intelligence and calm offer great fascination, yet I feel that Harris is right to use him as a supporting character. I think that to concentrate on Lecter would be to remove some of the mystique, and for these reasons I do not want to read the sequels, Hannibal or Hannibal Rising, or see the adaptations as I think they would dilute the character and lessen his impact here.

but...
I was a little disappointed in the last act twist in Dragon when the villain seemingly comes back from the dead, it felt like a horror movie cliché.  

briefly...
Chilling and creepy, Dragon and Lambs are an excellent pair of novels that I would be happy to recommend to any horror or crime fan, whether familiar with Lecter and his companions or not.

December Round-up: TV

True Blood: Season 3 (2010)
Following up season 2's sexed up mynad shenanigans with half-naked beefcake werewolves, fairies and more shapeshifters than you can shake a stick at, True Blood's third outing (which seems to only be taking place about a month after the first episode - a lot goes on in a short spell in Bon Temps) featured more bloody, soapy goings on for Sookie and the gang. Eric continued to be the most interesting of the main characters, mostly by virtue of his murky motivations and touches of humanity. He's still miles more exciting than boring old Bill, who became more intriguing as revelations of his relationship with Sookie came out towards the season end. Sookie got more and more kick ass, especially as she played 'who's lying to me now' with her suitors, as vampire king Russell, a deliciously camp, extravagant performance, went completely batshit crazy and instigated double-cross upon double-cross with our star vampires and their fairy friend. Elsewhere Jason had a rather boring relationship with some skank who turns into a panther for no discernable reason; Tara got to mash in a vampire rapist's head before thankfully heading off, alive, into the sunset; Sam had to deal with his hick birth parents and kinda-hot-but-irritating kid brother; and Lafeyette finally got a storyline - and a hot boyfriend - that looks like it may take him, and the audience, into some intriguing directions next season. Season 3 of True Blood didn't feel as 'must watch' as the last 2 but I enjoyed it all the same, there's nothing quite like it out there. And it's so much better than the bloodless Twilight saga. 

This is England '88 (2011)
Spread over 3 nights just before Christmas, the latest installment of Shane Meadow's distinctly British (comedy-) drama was also set during the 1988 festive period and featured the same gang as before, dealing with new issues and repercussions from 1986. So Lol (Vicky McClure) is a single mother, plagued by visions of the father she killed last series that are genuinely creepy - they could have been hard to swallow in a series that aims for realism, but it worked well to indicate why the unfortunate Lol was so depressed. Her nearly-husband Woody is living in supposed domestic bliss at home with his loving parents and sweet new girlfriend, who are unknowingly smothering the real Woody with kindnesses. He's one of my favourite characters - he tries so hard to be a good son, employee and boyfriend, but he's dying inside, longing to be back with Lol, back with the friends who 'betrayed' him. It's a terrific performance from Joe Gilgun, who steers Woody on a delicate course through humour, distress and anger without ever making him unlikable - I was rooting for him all the way. Young Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), with his permanently worried, Charlie Brown-like demeanour, is now at drama school and is fed up with girlfriend Smell (maybe because she's now Warwick Davis' PA?) and dealing with conflicting feelings about his middle class co-star. The supporting cast do not have as much to do in terms of their own storylines compared to '86 but that's ok because Lol, Woody and Shaun provide laughs, heartache and drama enough to make this series another must-watch drama.

Young Apprentice (2011)
It seems that I never wrote about this year's The Apprentice (series 7), which is a shame as it was a cracker, won by multiple task-loser yet most likable candidate Tom. Barely a few weeks (it felt like, actually a couple of months) after the end of this series came Junior Young Apprentice 2011. Last year's show presented a gregarious bunch of young entrepreneurs who stood out against their older forebears by being reasonable, considerate and less likely to bitch. It turns out that might have been an anomaly as this year's youngsters reverted to common Apprentice type. Never less than watchable, Young Apprentice almost undid all of the good work in the preceding weeks by featuring a final where I didn't care who won - Zara (who 'triumphed') talked a lot of nothing and was just dull, while Irish James (who, like nearly all of the male candidates, proved that there actually is a young obesity empidemic) was so money-driven and coniving his every sweaty red-faced utterance made me more and more sad for him. The real winner, Harry H, a friendly, patient, credible candidate (the only one?), was axed in the penultimate week when Lord Sugar stupidly lumbered him with Harry M, a petulant, illiterate, childish cretin who had lost every single task and was clearly a bad luck charm. This one decision from Sugar almost scuppered the whole thing and I hope it's one he regrets. 

Life's Too Short: Series 1 (2011)
There have been a few shows I've started watching this year and then ultimately decided I couldn't be bothered sticking with them to see if they got better, as there's plenty more readily enjoyable stuff out there. These included Outcasts, The Hour and a couple of things I've blocked from my memory, and very nearly Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's latest, Life's Too Short. I stuck with the latter though, through all 7 episodes, as I had faith that it would improve, and I also really liked Warwick Davis' performance. I'm not convinced it ever did improve, and the laugh ratio was fairly low, especially in comparison with The Office and Extras. The central premise, that Davis is down on his luck, going through divorce and struggling for work, leads to all sorts of embarrassing situations for the short-statured star, some of which poke fun at reactions to Warwick's size and some of which use his being a dwarf to mine for laughs. The problem with Life's Too Short is that so much of the humour comes across as just mean spirited rather than clever - there's too much 'oh aren't we cutting edge, we're not making fun of AIDs or disabled people, we're just pointing out the absurd things real racists/homophobes/sexists say for comic effect'. Sometimes Davis' performance is 'too Ricky Gervais', as in you could see the words coming right out of his mouth, and this is a detriment, as is every time the writer/directors turn up, shoe-horned in to all but one episode. Although I like a celebrity cameo (Keith Chegwin, Shaun Williamson and Les Dennis provided the biggest laughs in episode 6 discussing suicide), I reckon the show would benefit from less of them and concentrating on the promising romance between Warwick and his blind date Amy. My wonder now is whether to stick with a second series, and I think I might based solely on the blind faith that it will get better.

December Round-up: Theatre

Annie (WYP, 30/11/11 & 19/12/11)

I've now been fortunate enough to see the musical Annie twice through volunteering at the Playhouse, and I'm due to see it again before the year ends. I'm not sure I want to see it anymore than that, however much I enjoyed it, but as it doesn't finish until Jan 21st I may just be out of luck. Starring Duncan Preston and Verity Rushworth and a whole host of little girls, not least the star of the show, Annie, the show is a non-stop spectacle featuring some fantastic songs (Hard Knock Life, Tomorrow, Ease Street and New Deal for Christmas being highlights) with exciting special effects, inspired comedy and a thrilling baddie in the form of buxom Miss Hannigan. I feared this would be a cutesy, sugary girls-only affair so I was very pleased to enjoy the rather simple story with the fascinating, and historically resonant, depression-era setting with the references to US politicians Hoover and Roosevelt (the latter of whom is a supporting character!) adding unexpected depth.

Top Hat (The Grand, 05/12/11)

The day after Melanie C we were back in Leeds and at the theatre to see the new stage musical version of the old Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie Top Hat, starring Tom Chambers as a dancer caught up in a screwball farce involving mistaken identities and featuring some amazing dancing. To be honest I'd almost forgotten about this show inbetween all of the things I've been up to this week, which isn't to say that I didn't enjoy it at the time. It was a sweet confection, lacking in edge but soaked in nostalgia for old Hollywood. The dancing was first rate, some of the American accents less so (I'm looking at you Chambers), but the whole thing was shot through with so much fun I couldn't help but be swept up in it's old-fashioned charm.

The Mousetrap (St. Martin's Theatre, London, 08/12/11)
In London for the night, before catching the Eurostar to Brussels early next morning, we hunted and ran through buckets of rain and made it to the theatre with nary a minute to spare to see the longest running drama in the history of the medium. Our third Agatha Christie play, following Witness for the Prosecution and Verdict, we picked The Mousetrap as our London show of choice because it's one of those you don't think about, plus it was cheaper than some of the bigger, gaudier shows - and now we learn it's to tour next year! The drama takes place over 2 days at the Monkswell Manor guest house and is as classic a 'whodunnit' as you're likely to see. Someone has already been murdered before the play begins, and one of the 8 characters, the owners and guests at the Manor plus Sergeant Trotter, is offed at the end of Act 1. Christie's genius comes in the addition of so many red herrings, double-dealings and suspicious machinations that your opinion of who might have done it changes from moment to moment. I won't spoil the ending, as the murderer requests after the cast take their bows, suffice to say that I honestly did suspect the person more towards the end, but it took some false starts to get there. There's nothing overly clever or show-offy about The Mousetrap, it's a confidently written, perfectly performed little drama that uses the longevity of the performance and the mystery of culprit to create a wonderful theatre experience.

Melanie C (O2 Academy, Liverpool, 04/12/11)

basics...
It's been a very busy month, what with going to Liverpool to see the incredible Melanie C live, then a few days later travelling to London, on to Brussels, Luxembourg, then back to London and Leeds, back to work, Christmas party... I've barely had time to think about what I've been up to, let alone write about it. So other than this update my next will just be a quick overview of what I've been up to. 

brilliant...
I've been looking forward to seeing Melanie C live for MONTHS. I saw her in Blood Brothers in London back in 2009 and loved every minute. Her new album, The Sea, is a real tour de force of up tempo pop classics and a fewer slower but equally punchy tracks that easily rivals Northern Star for all round awesomeness. Less guitar-led and rocky than the last three albums, The Sea sees The C returning to her pop days and delivering songs that were made to be song live. 

The set list was as follows, and includes the majority of The Sea's tracks*, along with past hits and favourites:

Rock Me*/Yeh Yeh Yeh
Weak*
Northern Star
Reason
Here It Comes Again
One By One*
Burn*
Out Of Here*
All About You*
Drown*
Next Best Superstar
When You're Gone
Think About It*
Stupid Game*
I Turn To You

I was thrilled with the set list, although perhaps a tad disappointed that there wasn't a single track from This Time. The list above I got from a website but when we wrote down the songs we remembered after the gig I had 'Never Be the Same Again' as well, which I'm certain she sang, I'm just not sure where it fit in. And it's never been my favourite single so that's fine. 

I completely lost myself in the music and was jumping about like a madman, hands in the air throughout. Highlights were Drown - the line 'there must have been a crack in the ice' was worth the entry fee alone - as well as Stupid Game, the opening Rock Me/Yeh Yeh Yeh medley and every single fucking song! Hands down the best night of my life. Despite my cold, the rain outside and the sweatiness inside the venue, none of it could put a dampener on my evening. Melanie C kicks ass and I really hope to get tickets to her recently announced Manchester gig next year for Christmas. Here's hoping!

briefly...
Best. Gig. Ever.

The Sins of the Fathers (Lawrence Block, 1976)

basics...
The first Matt Scudder mystery sees the ex-cop doing a 'favour' for the father of recently murdered Wendy Hanniford by delving into her life to find out who she was. The killer, her repressed gay roommate, Richie Vanderpoel, has already professed his guilt and hanged himself in his cell, but is the case really as open and shut as the police believe?

brilliant...
This is a wonderful little (182 page) crime novel, written with real skill and economy of language. Block's second page description of 'a kid with a tentative beard' charmed me and drew me deeper into Scudder's grey world, as interested by the words used to craft the mystery as the story itself. From the first chapter you know that the murder can't be as clean cut as it appears and Scudder slowly peels back the layers to reveal more about both victim and killer that ultimately leads to an unexpected yet I-should-have-seen it revelation about what really happened. Scudder is an interesting flawed hero - he retired from the force after a bullet meant for a thief ricocheted and killed a child - with a less than black and white view of the world. He doesn't want to solve the crime for monetary gain or for his bosses (he has none) but to lay to rest the spirits of Wendy and Richie. For a book from the seventies, the depiction of Richie's struggle with his homosexuality is sensitively played - other characters may judge him but Scudder doesn't, he's happy to live and let live, unless you're evil and a murderer that is. 

briefly...
A quick read that stays with you, and a protagonist to believe in, I will search out more from Lawrence Block.

Fresh Meat: Series 1 (2011)

basics...
A British comedy-drama (with emphasis on the former) about a student house-share, featuring Jack Whitehall (JP), Joe Thomas (Kingsley), Zawe Ashton (Vod), Greg McHugh (Howard), Kimberley Nixon (Josie), Charlotte Ritchie (Oregon), and Robert Webb.

brilliant...
Fresh Meat's success is down to the pitch perfect simulation of the first-time student dilemmas and relationships, coupled with some memorable characters brought to life by a talented cast. Whitehall's JP quickly emerged as the one to watch. His stand up comedy I can take or leave so I really think he found his niche here, playing the posh boy who so desperately wants to be cool. As with nearly all the characters, he's putting on a front, and only occasionally does he let his guard down - the same is true of Josie, who doesn't want to have a Welsh boyfriend and cosy life while she's at uni, she wants to rebel. Oregon is quite clearly posher and richer than she makes out, appearing even more desperate to be cool, although having a relationship with her tutor doesn't work in the eyes of her role model, Vod. Ashton is unrecognisable from her turn as the secretary in Case Histories here, the marvellous creation of Vod who spouts expletive laden home truths and tries to maintain a veneer of being every so slightly crazy. McHugh's Howard is a sweet geek who wants to be a part of the other students' lives and his intentions are always honourable. I was worried that Joe Thomas' character may become just the continuing adventures of The Inbetweeners' Simon, but he's subtly different. He's still a bit of a lovable loser who just can't seem to get with the girl he desires, but Kingsley is more intelligent, more together, although not that much. I really want to spend more time with these people, to watch their relationships develop, and to just have a bloody good laugh at their antics while reminiscing about my own student days, eating Pot Noodles and projecting a together persona whilst secretly being terrified of adult life.

but...
Some episodes were funnier than others it's true. However, the drama worked, especially in small moments where you think the whole thing could be a car crash, such as JP being high on acid on the way to comfort his recently widowed mother, or Oregon's similar distress over her horse.

briefly...
Authentic, nostalgic fun, with a first rate cast of adorable misfits.

The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown, 2003)

basics...
Is there anyone who doesn't know what The Da Vinci Code is about? I know I'm late to the party reading this, but I deliberately wanted to read it once the hype had died down. I read Angels & Demons, the first of Brown's code-filled thrillers starring Robert Langdon two years ago and I thought it was time to see what it's more famous sequel was really all about. 

brilliant...
I'm a little surprised to find that I found this book utterly enjoyable - it's exciting, fast paced (everything happens within about 24 hours), intelligent and thought-provoking. It's also preposterous and sometimes too clever for its own good, but that didn't detract from Brown's cracking tale of cryptexes, novel takes on the life of Jesus Christ and an albino monk. I found the discussions of religious history fascinating, and the fact that it is all set in recognisable parts of Paris and London made the more outlandish claims and feats more real and believable. I can see why people got up in arms about the claims espoused by Langdon and co, but then again it is only a work of fiction. An exciting, riveting one too.

but...
As with Angels & Demons, Langdon is not really that interesting a protagonist, but at least his female companions have some spunk. It's really all about the plot though, so I can forgive Brown's not making Langdon into anything other than an engine to get the story moving from puzzle to puzzle. 

briefly...
After all of the hype is stripped away, The Da Vinci Code remains a ripping mystery that challenges the status quo and offers food for thought. Plus, did I mention the albino monk?

The Name of the Rose (1986)

basics...
A curious movie, set in the 1300's, in which monk William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) and his novice Adso (Christian Slater) find themselves in an abbey where a series of murders seems to be linked to a mysterious book. 

brilliant...
I've not seen a film quite like The Name of the Rose. It has a serious crime story coupled with comedy from Sir Sean, alongside a host of grotesque supporting turns from the likes of Ron Perlman's hunchback, with a bit of sex and gore thrown in. Oh and there's a great sequence within the labyrinthe passages and MC Escher-like stairways within the abbey. Somehow these disperate elements combine to form an intriguing whole. The mystery works for the most part, although the revelation of how the murders have been committed and why isn't particularly exciting. The film looks pretty stunning, with the German and Italian countryside doing a good job alongside the massive sets to make Rose look gritty, cold and fairly grim. 17 year old Slater looks mighty fine, despite the pudding bowl haircut, in a completely unnecessary seducation scene too. 

but...
Connery keeps his Scottish burr, Slater is American, and the other monks spout a variety of European accents. This is a bit jarring, particularly as Shir Shean plays everything with an effortless grin which makes his investigations look all too easy. There were some rather unpleasant effects involving blood and guts too. 

briefly...
An oddly likable movie with some neat ideas and authentic-seeming settings, even if the accents are a bit wide ranging.

The Flaw (2011)

basics...
A True Stories documentary about the financial crisis of the past few years, how it happened and how it could have been prevented had anyone cared to stop and think.

brilliant...

The Flaw would sit well alongside Starsuckers and Countdown to Zero as an example of an entertaining documentary that shines a light on a less palatable part of the modern world. Where the other films took on the media and the threat of nuclear disaster, the flaw looks at the state of the global economy before and after the financial crisis. Pieced together from interviews with leading economic figures, cartoons of the 50's that celebrated consumer society and graphics that attempt to explain the numbers behind the sub-prime mortgages, stock futures and other impenetrable financial double-speak, The Flaw is as enlightening as it is baffling. It takes a large view of the crisis and then picks out smaller, personal viewpoints from people who are mortgaged to the hilt and a young man who used to work on Wall Street and now gives tours there. I can't say I understood everything that was discussed, but it was all a very convincing indictment of all of us who believed that wages could keep going up alongside house prices and falling consumer prices. The confusion was more a result of my own understanding and resistance to numbers than a fault of the film.

briefly...
Making finance fun, or at least a bit more accessible than previously, The Flaw filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge and entertained me while doing so.

Enid (2009)

basics...
A biopic of prolific children's author Enid Blyton, starring Helena Bonham Carter.

brilliant...
Enid is a good solid drama that casts some darkness on the popular author, showing her as driven, cold with her own children and desperate to be liked by other people's. Blyton's childhood is shown briefly to illustrate how her father walked out on her mother and brothers, informing Enid's flights of imagination as a way of protecting herself and denying the reality of her abandonment. This translated into her rose-tinted stories of the clichéd lashings of ginger beer, as well as her frosty marriage to her initial publisher, played by Matthew Macfadyen. She proves capable of finding love with married Denis Lawson but is unable to show her children any affection. It is a credit to Bonham Carter that she makes Enid so likable in spite of the many flaws the script reveals in her character, conspiring to make the writer worthy of our sympathy.

but...
A touch more balance would have been good, as I have read since that one of Blyton's daughters refutes the fact that she was a good mother as much as the other supports this view. 

briefly...
Solid work with a typically enjoyable and off-beat turn from Helena Bonham Carter.

The Wild Bride (WYP, 19/11/11)

basics...
Last Saturday's stint of volunteering had me watching The Wild Bride, a tragi-comic drama from the Kneehigh production company about a young woman's experiences with her father, the devil and a princely suitor. 

brilliant...
I knew even less than I usually do when I go into a play, mainly because since I didn't choose and pay for the ticket I had done no research into the plot or company behind The Wild Bride. It's an excellent way to go into a performance, unhindered by any preconceived ideas or prejudices. As such I thoroughly enjoyed this particularly grim(m) fairytale, told in an imaginative, kinetic fashion with songs, jokes and even audience participation. The central female character was played by 3 different women at various stages of her life, and each brought new nuance to the part - Audrey Brisson's Girl was delicate, innocent and made you feel the pain when her hands were cut off; Patrycja Kujawska's Wild was a stark depiction of despair and madness that was complemented by innovative props work; and Éva Magyar's Woman showed a strong side, with enough life-taught mettle to refuse the devil. Stuart Goodwin's dual role as unfortunate Father and optimistic Prince were imbued with great humour - he and Stuart McLoughlin's Devil had the lion's share of the dialogue and narration to deliver opposite the mostly mute female trio and they were both magnetic. I particularly enjoyed Goodwin's Scottish, slightly camp Prince, and his mother, represented by an old Renaissance-style painting of a noble-woman, with arm holes for the actress behind. The humour was well balanced against the tragedy and bleak outlook for the Girl, and it stimulated an electric atmosphere in the audience. The Wild Bride ticked many boxes for me - drama, humour, music, and sheer exuberance of performance - so was an unqualified success.

but...
I was volunteering at the other side of the theatre to usual, where the view isn't great, so I didn't get to see the whole stage. It didn't impact much on my enjoyment though.

briefly...
A wild ride full of excitement and new ideas melded to a classic fairytale, simply wonderful.

Bad Monkeys (Matt Ruff, 2007)

basics...
Following the weighty Sophie's World, which took me about a month to plow through, I wanted to read something fast and funny. So I picked up Bad Monkeys, one of those books on my shelf that I bought based on the front cover, title and blurb alone. It sees Jane Charlotte narrate to a police doctor the events that led her to be arrested for murder. The story takes in her initiation and subsequent work with the Bad Monkeys, a group tasked with killing evil people with guns that shoot heart attacks...

brilliant...
Bad Monkeys is bonkers, and I loved every minute of it! The reviews on the back are not kidding when they compare the story with The Matrix - Ruff's tale is cinematic, action packed and a bit of a mind-fuck as twists pile on twists and you question everything that has gone before - before the rug is once more pulled from under your feet. I really like the way the novel evolves from a seemingly normal criminal situation, to a possible unreliable narrator who is proved to have been mistaken, and then the whole conceit of the interview is called into question... Jane Charlotte is a flawed, believable hero, but can she be trusted? Revelations about her brother and her allegiances build quickly through the final third of the book, but never once do any of the twists feel forced or implausible, considering what else has happened. This book is going to be a keeper, I intend to devour it again with the knowledge of the ending to try and properly work out just what the hell was going on.

briefly...
Bad Monkeys posed even more questions than Sophie's World, and was a great deal more exciting while it did so. Stunningly imaginative and inventive. 

Sound of Noise (2010, Leeds Town Hall)

basics...
The third and final film we saw at the International Film Festival, Sound of Noise is, like the film the previous night, difficult to describe without sounding insane. It's a Swedish crime drama, about a gang of anarchists who terrorise a city by... playing unusual pieces of music on a hospital patient, in a bank, using heavy plant machinery and on electricity powerlines. Oh and everything the group play on is rendered mute... for music-hating detective Amadeus Warnebring (Bengt Nilsson). See how hard this is to describe??

brilliant, but...

It would be a little unfair to compare Sound of Noise with Detroit Metal City as they are very different prospects, united only by an unusual approach to music and comedy and my having seen them on consecutive nights. However, Sound of Noise suffers in comparison as although it has a lot of inventive content, it takes itself far more seriously than DMC. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy Sound of Noise - I think part of my resistance is that it was a busy work week, with 3 subtitled movies one night after another... I could have done with something a bit lighter to finish the trilogy. The cast underplay the roles, keeping everything low key, not even questioning the preposterousness of the film's premise, which really helps the audience buy into the odd reality in which Warnebring and co exist. The musical compositions themselves are the movie's highlights, ingenious sequences of novel music-making that actually work as melodies. There are not enough moments of musical exhilaration though, and the characters can be frustratingly laid back.

briefly...
A weird Swedish hybrid of comedy, crime drama, musical and romance that would work better with a greater degree of knowingness.

Detroit Metal City / Detoroito Metaru Shiti (2008, Leeds Town Hall)

basics...
Our second trip in 3 consecutive days at the Town Hall's Film Festival saw us settling in for a Japanese comedy-musical about Soichi (Ken'ichi Matsuyama), a young man who dreams of singing trendy pop songs but somehow ends up lead singer for a death metal band who sing about rape, killing and gore.

brilliant...
I had no idea what to expect from this - the blurb in the Festival programme made us want to see it but didn't explain a lot - and I'm still not quite sure what it was! Whatever Detriot Metal City is it's utterly hilarious - Matsuyama is alternately adorable, gormless and, when made up as DMC lead singer Johannes Krauser II, terrifying. The plot is wacky, unpredictable and oddly touching, while the rest of the characters are either bat-shit bonkers (DMC's sadistic manager, who likes to put cigarettes out on people and likes it when the band's music get her 'wet'), a celebrity cameo (Gene Simmons of Kiss plays DMC's biggest rival for death metal icon status), or sweetly adorable (Soichi's mother, who seems oblivious to everything but knows much more than she lets on). Full of day glo pastels in Soichi's perfect world, muted soft focus in his childhood home, and black dystopian goths in the metal clubs, Detroit Metal City is a visual treat. 

but...
It could have been shorter, losing some of the running around and overlong battle in the finale. 

briefly...
An odd delight, Detroit Metal City is daft and it knows it, which just adds to the enjoyment. I've not seen anything this camp and scary since Lordi won Eurovision.

Gnarr (2010, Leeds Town Hall)

basics...
A documentary that follows comedian Jón Gnarr's entry into the Reykjavik election for mayor and his subsequent landslide victory that saw The Night Shift's Georg assume assume in 2010. Shown at the Town Hall for Leeds International Film Festival.

brilliant...
Gnarr is the funniest documentary I've seen. If I didn't already know the events depicted really happened I could easily have taken the film for a clever satire or mockumentary. Beginning low key with Gnarr addressing his web cam (looking very different to his Georg character), the movie continued in a low-key, student-project type style. There were no talking heads or voice overs, just the odd onscreen caption to identify the key players. Gnarr created the Best Party in the wake of the financial and volcanic disasters that gripped Iceland in the years before 2010, and his refreshing take on politics resonated with a public fed up with a city council they perceived as old fashioned and grid locked. The film shows Gnarr making up policies on the spot, from acquiring a polar bear for Reykjavik zoo to getting parliament drug-free by 2020, and being as surprised as everyone else at how his campaign got traction and propelled him to greater fame and power than before. As the film is made with Gnarr's total cooperation there is little critique of his progress or balance, but the whole documentary is an inspiration to people fed up with politics and is damn funny too. 

briefly...
Almost too good to be true, the story of Jón Gnarr is one that has to be seen to believed. A funnier documentary I am yet to see.

Sophie's World (Jostein Gaarder, 1991)

basics...
Sophie is a 14 year old school girl who receives a letter with a lesson on philosophy in the mail. What follows is a history of the subject told alongside a mystery that could affect Sophie's whole world - who is Hilde, and is she real?

brilliant...
This is one of those books I got as a teenager, started, and then put to one side. Catch-22 was a similar tome, and after trying a second time to get into it I gave up on that one as a bad job. Sophie's World, tackled as an adult, is a more enjoyable experience - it's far too hard going for a young reader. And to be frank, at times it had me scratching my head. The best part of the book was the bits that weren't long treatises on specific philosophers or eras, where Sophie tries to figure out a) who the hell is sending her these mysterious lessons, b) why they have picked her, c) who Hilde is, and d) whether she even exists. I enjoyed the plot for the sheer gutsiness of what Gaarder does with his young protagonist, and these parts really zipped along.

but...
Unfortunately, try as he might, Gaarder's passages on philosophy slow the book down in places. I know this is the book's raison d'etre but still. Sophie's World is not really a great book to pick up at bedtime after a hard day's work. It's a book that you have to take time to dive into and think about later. There's too much info coming all at once though and I did not keep up and take it all in as Sophie does. 

briefly...
A great idea for introducing people to philosophy, if only those lessons were as interesting and compelling as the actual plot. 

Top Boy (2011)

basics...
A four part drama set in the murky world of a London estate, complete with drug dealers, revenge killings and flat-based marijuana farms. It ain't Pride & Prejudice.

brilliant...

I liked Ashley Walters in his brief one-series stint in Hustle a few years ago, and he's part of the reason I was intrigued by Top Boy, spread across 4 nights on Channel 4. The series made a change from the usual detective shows, comedies and American dramas that litter the schedules, and presented a fresh, modern take on the gang and drug culture of some of the dodgier areas of London. Populated with interesting characters who are often only involved in this culture because they see no alternative, Top Boy does little to glamourise the subject. Drug dealing is shown to be cut throat, as well as finger-chopping and chest-burning, and with very little happiness. It was inevitable that some of the characters wouldn't survive the series, but it was never clear which of them would be unlucky enough to make an early exit, and this really heightened the drama. Walters was a part of a largely unknown ensemble of young black actors, and although it's a shame that black casts are reserved for gangland crime dramas (or stereotyped Caribbean natives as in Death in Paradise), at least these characters are sympathetic and human, not mere ciphers.

but...
Ra'Nell, the adolescent who features in one of the main storylines, was a bit dull at times, and his relationship with his troubled mother could have been better explored. Some of the violence was a bit too much as well, although it needed to be to deglamourise it. 

briefly...
A gritty, devasting drama that provides excellent antidote to the Downton mania of recent months.

Bill Bailey: Dandelion Mind (York Barbican, 12/11/11)

basics...
Bill Bailey brings his unique talents to a massive theatre/shed in York, with music, slide shows and plenty of laughs.

brilliant...
I'm so pleased that I've got to see Bill Bailey live as he's one of those comedians I can watch again and again, who is not offensive but has a satirical edge, whose comedy comes from a place of intelligence as well as the absurd, and who brings something fresh to the usual stand up routines - namely a gift for musical instruments. At this gig Bill played guitars of many varieties, the keyboard, French horns (including one that was unexpectedly flat, causing Bill to fall about laughing himself), and a Persian curiosity called an Oud - a half-onion looking thing that is not a bad guy from Doctor Who. From musings on the current state of 'Broken Britain' to slides showing paintings of Doubting Thomas and the wounds of Christ, from a French version of Gary Numan's Cars to a film about self scan supermarket checkouts there was never a dull moment and by the end of the evening I'd laughed myself hoarse. 

briefly...
Absurd, musical, intelligent, hilarious. A top night out.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)

basics...
The Twilight series finally kicks it up a notch and gets *gasp* exciting! The Cullen clan of good vamps teams up with Jacob's wolf pack (introduced in New Moon) to take on some evil vamps who are intent on destroying Bella - not because she's a petulant miserabilist, but because she helped kill bad ass Victoria's beau in the original movie.

brilliant...
With the third movie the series can rightly start to call itself a 'saga' as plotlines from the first movie come back to bite everyone in the ass here. Whether it's a change of director or a stronger plot Eclipse is much more enjoyable and thrilling than the preceding films. Bella is not quite so irritating, while Robert Pattinson is afforded the opportunity to breath life and personality into his gloomy Edward. Taylor Lautner spends about 80% of his screen time with no shirt, never a bad thing, and the script is playful enough to reference this. The best scene sees Edward and Jacob chatting in a tent over Bella's sleeping body - rather than butting heads they bring some warmth and humour to the characters that improves them both immensely. While Bella's friends (including the ever wonderful Anna Kendrick) are sidelined, we get to see more of the Cullen family, particularly Edward's 'sister' Alice (Ashley Greene) one of the few to be given personality and a winning smile. The movie explores Bella's wish to be turned into a vampire by Edward to be with him forever and how that would be selfish to her family and friends, but she ultimately decides she wants to do it anyway. These more complex issues could have been explored in more depth but at least add more adult subject matter to a slightly neutered 12-certificate vampire flick.

but...
I've said it twice before and I'll say it again: Bella Swan is a rubbish protagonist. She has few redeeming or even interesting qualities, just a selfish desire to be with a vampire she's known not all that long. What Jacob and Edward see in her is a mystery, although Kristen Stewart does do a better job with the character third time round (or the script does). There are still odd moments that don't make much sense, like why vampires shatter like glass rather than exploding in a gore fest as in True Blood, and why the climactic face-off between vamps, wolves and vamps didn't result in any fatalities on the good guys' side. I think the death of a Cullen or a pack member would have brought some extra emotional weight and showed that the fight wasn't too easy. I know Jacob got his bones crushed but we know he'll be ok, there're another 2 films to come.

briefly...
It would be too easy to say that the third film 'Eclipses' the first two, but it would also be accurate. Twilight finally becomes a series worth (some of) the fuss.

Paul Merton's Silent Clowns (Leeds Town Hall, 09/11/11)

basics...
Earlier in the year Paul Merton's documentary about the Birth of Hollywood opened my eyes to tales of early movie making that I knew little about. Impressed with Merton's knowledge and approach I was delighted to come across his Silent Clowns, which was on as part of the Leeds International Film Festival.

brilliant...
In the magnificent setting of Leeds Town Hall, Merton introduced 4 silent film extracts, a Laurel & Hardy short and the feature length Harold Lloyd movie, Safety Last!, all accompanied by a live pianist and musicians. The whole evening was an unqualified success, with the biggest surprise for me being how much I enjoyed all of the films, particularly the final one. In the first part of the 'show', Merton introduced the concept of silent movies and gave potted histories of some of the stars before showing clips from: It's a Gift (1923) with Snub Pollard; Get Out 'n' Get Under (1920) with Harold Lloyd; The Pawnshop (1916) with Charlie Chaplin; and Seven Chances (1925) with Buster Keaton. I've not seen any silent cinema before, aside from a couple of Shakespeare shorts when at uni, and I've only seen Chaplin's The Great Dictator, a much later talkie. From the clips I saw I certainly can't wait to see more Chaplin and Keaton - Seven Chances was a breath-taking delight featuring special effects and stunts that hold up against anything in today's cinema. 

The Laurel & Hardy short Big Business (1929) rounded off part one of the evening. In it the comedy duo are selling Christmas trees in Beverly Hills, but soon the whole thing descends into chaos as Stan and Oliver trash an unresponsive customer's house, while he pulls apart their car. I enjoyed the short, but I would have to say that the comedy of Laurel & Hardy doesn't seem to have aged as well as some of their contemporaries.

The second act was devoted to Safety Last! from 1923. The live music accompanying this and all of the previous extracts was first rate, adding to the experience and not once being distracting. In fact I forgot the musicians were there, which I suppose is a complement to how well integrated what they were doing was with the action on the big screen. The whole audience laughed along with Lloyd's hapless character, who was trying to make it big in the city and embellishing his successes to his sweetheart back home. When she turns up to surprise him it leads to new comedy heights - literally in the case of the extended final sequence, which features Lloyd climbing the outside of the building in which he works in order to draw the crowds. On the way up he faces angry dogs, men with guns and frisky pigeons... it all adds up to a funny and ultimately thrilling piece of filmmaking - as I heard one audience member say, he was tense during the scenes of the climb as Lloyd balanced precariously off a clock face, and I could agree with this. The tension was always released with a laugh, and not a cheap one either, generally the humour is physical (there's no words beyond occasional caption remember!) yet sophisticated. Lloyd is a truly gifted comedian, and on the basis of Safety Last! I intend to search out more of his prodigous output. The whole evening left me with the widest grin on my face, having given my chuckle muscles a thorough work out. 

but...
The only thing that was a bit of a let down on the night was that Merton's input was all too brief. I would have liked to hear him talk more about the early Hollywood era. In the end though, the movies spoke for themselves.

briefly...
A magical evening of comedy, with films that felt as fresh as they were 80+ years ago when first shown. Will today's blockbusters have the same longevity one wonders?