There's no time!

The Dead of Jericho (Colin Dexter, 1981)

2012-01-22T09:56:00.000Z

basics...
I never liked Morse on TV, mostly because I found John Thaw a boring actor. Admittedly I only saw bits of it when I was younger, and I might even enjoy it now, but that's my abiding idea of the Oxford-based detective. This opinion has now changed after reading the 5th book in Dexter's Morse series (I've only got a couple of them from bargain thriller box-sets) in which the inspector investigates an apparent suicide and subsequent murder in suburbia.

brilliant...
The Morse in the book bares little resemblance to my version based on the bits of Thaw I've seen, which may or may not be accurate. In the book, Morse is spikey, obstinate and barely even around for a chunk at the beginning. Dexter crafts the mystery with considerable skill, moving between characters and providing red herrings, involving Morse in a personal capacity with the victim, and generally creating a believable, solid world for the characters to inhabit. I was surprised that Lewis, Morse's TV sidekick, had very little to do in this mystery, but then he wasn't particularly needed - much of the investigation is fuelled by the inspector's close-association with the tragic victim. I was surprised by the ending, in that I hadn't been able to work out whodunnit, and overall I was left feeling much more positive about this Morse chap, and happy to read more.

briefly...
It's easy to see why Dexter's Morse is so popular. An excellent mystery, deftly written.

Hugo (2011) & The Artist (2011)

2012-01-22T09:40:00.000Z

basics...
I have decided that were I able to travel back in space and time to any period, I'd choose to go back to twenties Hollywood to witness the spectacle of the movies - the birth of sound, of animation, Walt Disney, a time when movie stars were Stars, not celebrities, when they retained a mystique and weren't like mere mortals like you or I. And through Hugo and The Artist, two critically acclaimed movies set around the period I'm talking about, my dream came true, for a few hours at a time at least.

Hugo is an atypical Martin Scorcese fantasy about a young boy (Asa Butterfield) who lives in a Paris train station with a broken clockwork man for company. Through his friendship with Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) he discovers silent-movie pioneer George Mélies (Sir Ben Kinglsey) working in his station.

The Artist is a French-made movie set in Hollywood, in black and white, full-screen, and silent. They really don't make them like that anymore! The stars and director of the OSS 117 spoofs reunite to create a film that doesn't parody early silent movies, rather it celebrates the ingenuity of the form and uses the same story-telling devices to construct a plot akin to Singin' in the Rain (talkies coming along to make silent stars redundant) that still manages to feel fresh and involving in a world of CGI and special effects.

brilliant...
Both movies are utterly magical - but I'd have to say that Hugo was suprisingly the one I found most enjoyable. Hugo looks beautiful, the train station set is gorgeous and Scorcese's camera-work, even in 2D, is breath-taking. Butterfield and Moretz are charming and surrounded by some fantastic English actors, including Kinglsey and Richard Griffiths, and the fantastic 'villain' played by Sacha Baron Cohen, who turns out to actually have a heart in a very real way. Once the young protagonist discovers who Mélies is, or was, the movie becomes more than an adventurous fantasy and turns into a love-letter to the filmmakers of the early 20th Century, and the whole thing becomes even more magical and exciting.

The Artist is less about spectacle and history than it is proof that special effects do not make a movie more exciting, and that you don't need a honed speech to present emotion on screen. A lot of plaudits have been given to Jean Dujardin for his star turn as George Valentin, yet the person who made the film come alive even more than he is the stunning Bérénice Bejo as superbly named Peppy Miller. Every moment she is on screen is a sheer joy, there is so much enthusiasm and warmth emanating from her. Together, Dujardin and Bejo are a formidable double-act, and they are complemented by brilliant mime-work from James Cromwell and John Goodman. There are some ingeniuous sequences, including one of Valentin's dreams in which he can hear sound effects but not speak, and the final frenetic tap number. A clip of Safety Last! is shown at one point, with the audience reacting to the tense yet funny aspect of the final climbing scene, and the spirit of this edge-of-the-seat emotion that early movies strived for is replicated in the potentially bleak final act of The Artist. I really wasn't sure if either lead character would survive. It was nice too that the movie shied away from a traditional romance - Valentin never really reciprocates the adoration that Miller feels for her hero, and this is to the film's credit and it's ability to subvert expectation.

briefly...
Two beacons of originality and creativity in a medium awash with remakes, star-vehicles and trash, Hugo and The Artist are easily the best movies I've seen or expect to see for some time.

Shelock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2010) & Sherlock: Series 2 (2011)

2012-01-22T09:03:00.000Z

basics...
The continuing adventures of celluloid Holmes and Watson, starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law in Victorian London, plus the return of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock and John, modern day problem solvers on a TV budget.

brilliant...
Very little seems to have been written, at least in the things I read, discussing these two very different adaptations in the same breath, which is odd considering they both back in sequels released/broadcast within a few weeks of the other. The movie is a less cerebral, more visceral, action-packed affair than the trio of new episodes, yet each 'product' is recognisably Sherlock Holmes, and each is a joy to behold. Key to each is the chemistry between the duo of actors in the starring roles - Downey Jr and Law seem so comfortable sparking off each other, while Freeman is a knockout as his (platonic) love for quirky Cumberbatch's super-sleuth translates through to the audience. A Game of Shadows is more fun, more assured than its predecessor, and the inclusion of both Stephen Fry, as Holmes' brother Mycroft, and Jared Harris as nemesis Moriarty are masterstrokes. The TV show has an equally compelling villain in Andrew Scott's Jim Moriarty, and the final episode, in which he sets Sherlock up for an almighty fall was nail-biting stuff. Damn Stephen Moffat's love of cliff-hangers!

but...

I reiterate my complaint from my review of Sherlock: Series 1: 3 episodes is not enough! Even if they are each feature length. While it's nice to see Noomi Rapace on screen in A Game of Shadows it would have been even better if her character had something useful to do - the dearth of female characters gives a real boys' own adventure feel to the film. Women are better served in the TV version, particularly Lara Pulver's Irene Adler - I hope we see more of her next series (although in the infamous naked scene we've already seen quite a bit).

briefly...
Worthy successors and happy bedfellows, each adaptation/version has a lot to recommend it.

Dead Witch Walking (Kim Harrison, 2004)

2012-01-22T08:33:00.000Z

basics...
I spotted this title and a few others in the series in the excellent Yorkshire Book Clearance Outlet in Skipton. I picked up the first one and delved in pretty quickly, thinking if it was good I'd get the rest...

brilliant...
The best thing about Dead Witch Walking is the set up: Rachel is a witch who works for an FBI-type unit that deals with crimes by supernatural beings - since a virus wiped out a quarter of the human population 40 years ago, werewolves, vampires and witches, among other things, came out of hiding and now exist semi-peacefully alongside humanity itself. I guess you could see a gay/straight parallel in there if you look closely. Anyway, Rachel decides to quit the bureau, moves into a church with her sexy vampire friend and pixy assistant in order to set up on her own...

but...
I've no idea how the book turns out though as I gave up halfway through. From an intriguing set up, Harrison over-writes an oddly uninvolving, and at times simply boring, plot. Maybe it is my Creative Writing course that has alerted me to poor writing, or maybe this is just plain bad. Either way, I semi-reluctantly gave up. I've decided that there are far too many other books out there to be read without wasting my time slogging through something I'm not enjoying. Needless to say, I won't be picking up any more books in this series.

briefly...
A crushing disappointment that did not live up to the promise of the premise.

December Round-up: TV & Books

2012-01-11T20:46:00.002Z

The Christmas / New Year period was fairly busy for some reason, and it's only since this last weekend I've been able to unwind, at least that's how it feels. So I'm going to do a quick catch up on the stuff I've been watching and reading to bring me up to date to start the new year.

Back at the end of 2011 I loved every minute of Forbrydelsen II / The Killing II (2009). While not as long or perhaps as compelling as the first series, the second still held my rapt attention. Sarah Lund returned to Copenhagen to track a series of killings involving the army and incident in Afghanistan many years before. Grisly murder scenes and lots of pensive Lund moments mixed with new politician Thomas Buch's investigations into his predecessor's conduct as Justice Minister combined for some pretty exciting TV. I did not see the ending coming AT ALL and it was super intense. The intelligent way that The Killing handles plot, character and drama makes it one of my favourite show of the year. Roll on series 3!

Another returning series was Merlin: Series 4, which kicked things up a notch early on by dispatching Uther (and Lancelot) and crowning Arthur King of Camelot, before treading water with some ho-hum warlock-of-the-week episodes before shifting gear again on the overarching plot and marrying off the new king to Gwen. Still no sign of Merlin revealing his magical secret to his best mate and boss, but there were more interesting developments that almost got forgotten in the final episode of the series when the boy magician finished off evil Agravaine! I'm sure that's going to come back to haunt Merlin and add some angst to series 5.

The small yet perfectly formed Rev came back with a new series that saw some big name guest stars in Reverend Adam Smallbone's tiny congregation. Still funny, endearing and often unexpectedly, refreshingly rude, Rev still feels like a hidden gem.

While in Crewe for New Year I had the 'pleasure' of watching a few bits and pieces on my in-laws' new 3D TV, including some Kylie concert, a bit of a CGI movie and a whole programme in the form of nature documentary The Bachelor King 3D. Narrated by Sir David Attenborough the over-long one off followed the life and times of a king penguin - at least it purported to do, until the closing credits revealed that the penguin lead was actually 'played' by several different birds. The 3D was a nice touch, but as I've said before, watching something in 3 dimensions does not improve the actual experience. It's a novelty and nothing more, and after 75 minutes with heavy 3D glasses it's also a bit of a headache. The programme was good, though didn't shed any new light on the lives of a well-documented species.

TV short Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas was charming though distinctly odd. I understand the conceit of talking mammoths, sloths, etc, but I just cannot credit the presence of a human Santa Claus or the very notion of Christian Christmas many thousands (millions?) of years too early. I know it's a kids' holiday special but come on! Paradoxes aside, the short was a lot of fun and made me want to finally watch the movie sequels to the not-quite-classic-but-better-than-most-cgi-movies original.

I found time to read a couple of books over Christmas. The first I actually received as a gift last year, The Interrogative Mood (2010) by Padgett Powell. A bizarre 'novel' constructed entirely throughout its 164 pages by a random string of questions. It's an odd beast, and not really my idea of a novel, but it's hardly non-fiction either. Occasionally there seem to be groups of questions that link but there is no connected through-line. Strangely the overall impression of the book is that whatever it is, it works. It really has to be read to be believed.
More straightforward was Kate Mosse's Labyrinth (2005), an epic grail quest that feels incredibly sedate compared to the Da Vinci Code. I say grail quest, it's not until the last third of the novel that the relic evens merits a mention. Before that the story is split between Alice in the present and Alaïs in the 13th century as the former pieces together bits of the life of the latter until both narratives cleverly converge in the same cave in the French Pyrenees. I rarely had this book out of my hands over New Year, I very much relished the dual-narrative style, the subject matter and the wonderfully drawn characters. I particularly liked Alaïs' experiences in a foreign country and a dim and distant past for the fact that both aspects of her life were so different and original. Where Dan Brown's book felt like a thriller for the MTV generation, Labyrinth was more like a 20 part Danish drama, slowly unfolding over time to reveal a deftly plotted adventure.

Post Christmas TV & Movie Round-up

2011-12-30T12:19:00.001Z

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

2011-12-26T10:16:00.009Z

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)

2011-12-24T10:04:00.000Z

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

2011-12-24T09:41:00.000Z

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

2011-12-21T21:02:00.002Z

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)

2011-12-21T20:28:00.001Z

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)

2011-12-04T09:27:00.003Z

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)

2011-12-04T09:15:00.000Z

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)

2011-12-03T16:10:00.000Z

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)

2011-12-03T15:59:00.000Z

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)

2011-12-03T15:43:00.001Z

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)

2011-12-03T15:33:00.000Z

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)

2011-11-27T10:48:00.000Z

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)

2011-11-26T11:23:00.000Z

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)

2011-11-26T11:11:00.000Z

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)

2011-11-26T10:56:00.001Z

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)

2011-11-26T10:43:00.000Z

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)

2011-11-26T10:25:00.000Z

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)

2011-11-25T10:00:00.000Z

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)

2011-11-18T10:20:00.000Z

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)

2011-11-18T09:51:00.000Z

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)

2011-11-12T11:12:00.000Z

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?

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

2011-11-12T10:50:00.000Z

basics...
A second viewing of Singin' in the Rain for me, and it's just as fun and frivolous. Set in the twenties at the time of silent movies giving way to talkies, this musical sees Gene Kelly's film star fall for Debbie Reynold's young aspiring actress. Together with mate Donald O'Connor they cook up a scheme to replace Jean Hagen's voice with Reynold's as the former leading lady has a screech that's only suitable for silent film.

brilliant...
Some musical plots are a bit inconsequential, but Singin' in the Rain has a real humdinger of a premise, with a fantastic old Hollywood setting that gels well with the Technicolor MGM musical style of the 1950's. All involved are a delight to watch, Kelly and O'Connor show off some spectacular dance sequence, including the famous title song and the non-stop pratfall masterclass that is Make 'Em Laugh. Jean Hagen is particularly excellent, and I really liked the conceit at the beginning of the movie where she doesn't speak until just the right moment, her nasal twang like nails down a blackboard - she's a monstrous creation and really the unsung star of the show (although she was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar, she's not one of the big names on the DVD box), as she remains likable despite her manipulative ways. I felt some sympathy with her as no one told her that her career was going to end as the talkies came in, a fate that befell many real actors of that time. It's true that overall some of the numbers are more forgettable than others, and except for Hairspray, that's true of any movie musical. The whole is an infectious, joyous celebration of old Hollywood glitz and glamour, with lashings of fantasy and sugar.

briefly...
A witty, fizzy confection that draws on fascinating real life Hollywood events and recycles old songs to create a wonderfully fun movie.

Fry's Planet Word (2011)

2011-11-12T10:23:00.001Z

basics...
A documentary about words - their origins, power, uses and abuses - presented by the National Treasure (TM) Stephen Fry. Like an extended offshoot of QI without Alan Davies, but with Brian Blessed, David Tennant and a lady with tourrette's instead.

brilliant...
An absolutely splendid and incredibly entertaining series, Fry's Planet Word is one of those documentaries I would happily watch again, and there aren't too many of those - I prefer to get my information fixes from non-fiction books. Fry is such a reliable and exciting proponent of words, both written and spoken, and neither - the show takes in other languages such as sign and that of primates. Trekking around the globe, Fry focussed each programme on a specific aspect of language and did a thoroughly good job of exploring almost everything one could ask for in the space of an hour. The episode on language as power, with particular focus on swearing was a lot of fun, and I learnt a lot too. This episode is responsible for some hilarious intereaction with Brian Blessed, as the youtube clip below illustrates. It helps that Fry is so passionate and can call on many celebrity friends to assist in the documentary alongside eminent language experts. There was nothing about this series I didn't enjoy.

bollocks!

briefly...
Informative, thought-provoking and a whole lot of fun, if only all documentaries were this enjoyable.

Scott Pilgrim (Bryan Lee O'Malley, 2004-2010)

2011-11-11T20:36:00.001Z

basics...
Andrew and I both polished off the 6 Scott Pilgrim graphic novels within a week. The series on which the awesome Edgar Wright movie is based, the books are: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (2004), SP vs. the World (2005), SP & the Infinite Sadness (2006), SP Gets it Together (2007), SP vs. the Universe (2009), and SP's Finest Hour (2010).

bitchin'...
It's hard having watched the movie first to separate the abiding memory of how completely fantastic the film is from the written experience. It's especially hard since whole lines of dialogue, plot points and even graphic panels are copied verbatim to the movie medium - this serves to remind me how brilliant the film is and took something away from my enjoyment of the books. I think I enjoyed the bits I knew more than the 'new' bits sometimes! Obviously, over 6 books there's a lot more backstory for Scott and his extended family of friends, and there's more meat on the relationship with Ramona, although she is still a bit of a cold fish. Each book builds to a fight with one (or two) of Ramona's evil exes and we see a little more of each of them. Knives Chau remains one of the best characters in the weird Pilgrim universe, closely followed by Scott's gay roommate Wallace who disappears a bit in later volumes. There weren't as many pop culture and video game references across the pages as I would have expected, although there was plenty of unexplained phenomena, such as Scott's fighting abilities and Gideon's weird omniscience. Ultimately, I felt that as a massive fan of the movie, the books act as an interesting added extra, providing more background and a slightly different overall flavour that probably would have had more impact on me had I read them first.

briefly...
An interesting look at how Scott Pilgrim came to be, and ultimately came to be made into one of the best comic book / computer game movies of the last decade/ever! The series reads like storyboards for the film, which is no bad thing.

Paint it White (WYP, 25/10/11)

2011-11-11T20:19:00.000Z

basics...
Volunteering at the Playhouse has afforded me the chance to see a few plays I wouldn't normally have chosen for myself. Last time I was there I saw Paint it White, a piece about one man's love of Leeds United, from the 1960's to the present day, taking in all of the highs and lows and everything in between.

brilliant...
From a performance point of view, the 4 actors were very good. The youngest was particularly interesting as he was cute and had more varied parts to play, from a dim soccer fan to a camp Trisha TV alumnus. Some of it was quite funny. The trouble was...

but...
... I do not like football, and I have no interest in Leeds United. The audience, some in their football tops and clearly enjoying a rare excursion to the theatre, loved the show. Maybe if I had understood the references, the name checks and shared the experiences of following a sports team I would have had more fun. As it was I felt alienated, particularly at two borderline-homophobic comments. It was nice to see local Leeds landmarks name-checked, but that was as accessible as this got. I just couldn't understand the central character's obsession with this team or any team really. There's much more to life than football, and this guy bordered on the crazy, allowing football to ruin his relationships and dictate his working practices.

briefly...
As a football-phobic snob, I wasn't really the target audience for Paint it White, so it's unsurprising that it didn't win me over.

Spooks: Series 10 (2011)

2011-11-11T20:02:00.001Z

basics...
One of the best British drama series of the last decade came to an end last month with a 6 episode arc that brought Harry (Peter Firth) and Ruth (Nicola Walker) to the fore alongside a tale of cold war espionage and divided loyalties.

brilliant...
I can't believe it's all over - the consistently awesome Spooks is no more. What an ending though! New characters Erin (Lara Pulver) and Callum (Geoffrey Streatfeild) barely made an impression, and hot returning spies Dimitri (Max Brown) and the unfortunate Tariq (Shazad Latif) didn't fair much better, but that was by-the-by as the real emotional meat of the series was carried by Harry and Ruth, whose long-running, steadily simmering relationship reached an inevitably tragic resolution. Firth and Walker are the real champions of Spooks, investing so much warmth into characters who could have been all too cold - they crack jokes in moments of crisis, they feel the hard decisions deep inside, but they keep giving and spying for their country because they know of nothing else to do. The central Russian spy thread this series provided multiple twists, turns and double crosses, and was never less than gripping. It was good to see Jonathan Hyde, of Jumanji, Titanic and Richie Rich fame, back on the screen, his Russian cuckold quietly brilliant up against cold Elena (Alice Krige) and fiery Sasha (Tom Weston-Jones, who will forever be the man who kept Harry and Ruth from finding happiness). Simon Russell Beale's Home Secretary brought a pleasingly light-hearted approach to the role, anchoring some of Spooks' more serious tendencies. Alongside the over-arching story were the usual tales of terrorism and hi-tech espionage, slickly produced, with great London location work and imaginative story twists that kept me guessing all through. A fitting finale to an accomplished series.

but...
Some minor character issues aside (I would rather have had Sophia Myles' Beth return than have to muster up interest in Erin), the main downside of Series 10 is the brevity of the 6 episode season and the fact its the final one.

briefly...
Smart, slick, sexy, Spooks. There's not been anything to match the thrills and spills since it began.

Eyes Wide Open (2009)

2011-11-10T20:35:00.002Z

basics...

How is it 10th November already? It's ages since I've posted, seem to have been so busy. And so it's a while since I saw Eyes Wide Open, an Israeli drama about a couple of Orthodox Jews who get up to some pretty unorthodox shenanigans in a butcher's job...

brilliant...
So this was my first Israel-produced movie, although I've seen a few dramas and animations about the country. This one differs as it has not a jot to do with any Israel-Palestine strife and centres on a purely emotional relationship between a married butcher and a mysterious young Jew who drops by his shop one day and turns his life around. Naturally the elders of the parish (does Judaism have parishes??) have a little to say about this, and the butchers wife is none too pleased. Told with minimal (Hebrew) dialogue and many pained looks, Eyes Wide Open is a touching little movie with many telling moments. It doesn't shout about the homosexuality of it's two leads, so much goes unsaid, in looks and subtexts. There are few locations - most of the 'action' takes place in the shop, the flat above and Aaron's family home, although there's a curiously sexually tense scene during a ritual bath that moves the relationship on a level. The smallness of the film works to its credit, and illustrates a novel take on the typical doomed gay romance - you know there's not going to be a happy ending for the pair but you still want Aaron (Zohar Strauss) to prolong the happiness he has found. Especially since Ezri (Ran Danker) is quite a cutie.

but...
I suppose at times the drama can be a little too slow moving. And it would really have been nice to have a glimmer of hope in the conclusion, although it's by no means a crushing downer.

briefly...
A well acted romance with an interesting social setting, Eyes Wide Open is a credible addition to the gay genre and to romances in general.

Flight From Deathrow (Harry Hill, 2002/09)

2011-10-31T17:46:00.000Z

basics...
The front cover promises 'a novel about life, love and a pig called Estrakhan', with a prominent picture of Harry Hill to imply this book trades on his silly wit more than being a serious literary endeavour.

brilliant...
The book is funny in places, and there are some inspired set pieces and parodies. The mixture of real life celebrities, pulled from the pages of heat alongside political figures such as Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping alongside zanily named creations like Zevon and Meerox Haintree make for a heady brew of oddball digressions that somehow weaves into a series of interconnecting plots.

but...
I'm doing an Open Uni course on creative writing at the moment and one of the techniques suggested to get the creative juices flowing is a freewrite, where you pick a subject and just note down a stream-of-conscious style passage or two. Flight From Deathrow feels very much like an extended version of such an exercise. It's exhausting trying to keep up with all of the asides and wanders down narrative cul de sacs. It feels like Hill uses celebrity names in the hope of being automatically amusing, and it may be odd to see Bobby Davro's name in a strange context once, but when this is done chapter after chapter, things get a bit wearying. I expected more from this book, certainly more laughs, but Deathrow reads too much like it is aimed at the people who can name Kardashians or X-Factor finalists.

briefly...
A disappointing piece of fluff from a very funny TV star. I'll stick to TV Burp from now on, and so should Harry Hill.

Shameless: Series 8 (2011)

2011-10-30T19:11:00.001Z

basics...
Series 8 of the once-unmissable Shameless delivered 22 episodes, with a break for summer, and saw Frank and Carl as the only Gallaghers left in Chatsworth. Pauline McLynn's Libby departed for pastures new, while Tina Malone's distressingly slimmed down Mimi Maguire got inexplicably hitched to the 16 year old father of her child. A new family, the Powells moved in next door to the Gallaghers to bring some colour to the estate while most episodes concentrated on the Maguires, with prositute Kelly (Sally Carman).

The last best reason for tuning into Shameless

bobbins...
As I wrote earlier in the year, the US version of Shameless has surpassed what the parent show has become. There are still sparks of originality and moments of top humour, with some fun characters - Alice Barry's Lillian is a constant delight, nabbing most of the best lines; Elliott Tittensor has made the final Gallagher child the unexpected emotional heart of the show (as well as looking smokin' hot in just a pair of boxers); and Mickey's struggles with his sexuality continue to provide humour and warmth. Sadly, I've lost the ability to care. Even Frank Gallagher, one of TV's finest creations, has lost something of the anarchist spirit he had. Even show creator Paul Abbott's return for the 100th episode felt a bit 'so what'. I don't like the fact that the Gallagher clan has contracted, diluting the focus of the show - if Carl and/or Frank were the stars it would be fine, but some weeks they barely have a line of dialogue. The Maguires have become too dominant - Shane and Jamie have become murderous thugs with no redeeming features, and although Mickey's gay storyline is fun, it needs to move forward; plus Mimi, who still has the odd hilarious put down, swears and shouts her way through nearly every scene. I think that after this lacklustre series, I'll be giving up on the British version and sticking to the more satisfying remake.

briefly...
A long and painful decline for a once-innovative and funny drama means I won't be returning to the Chatsworth Estate next year, however often Elliott Tittensor gets his pecs out.

The Illumination of Merton Browne (J.M. Shaw, 2007)

2011-10-30T09:36:00.000Z

basics...
It was the opening line that made me pick this book up: 'I don't know who my father is, and to tell you the truth I don't give a shit.' Merton proceeds to detail his childhood and adolesence at the hands of a neglectful mother and a weak education system. Despite the hurdles he must overcome, he has a passion to read and learn, and a will to survive that sees him become consigliere to school-bully-turned-gang-leader Savage.

brilliant...
Shaw gives Merton a voice that feels authentic - gritty yet optimistic, the protagonist knows that there is a difference between right and wrong, knows a lot about history and facts, but he struggles to connect with people and has trouble making the best choices for himself. Occasionally Merton comes across as uncaring and irresponsible, casually sleeping with his mum's friend's daughter, taking drugs and helping Savage's gang to make money by scaring the community. It is easy to excuse Merton's behaviour through his abusive upbringing and neglect by authorities, but he is offered help by teachers, and he has a good streak running through him - circumstances and the people around him seem to conspire to beat him down. The portrait Shaw paints of contemporary disenfranchised, inner city youths is bleak and, as recent riots proved, depressingly close to the bone. The schools are ineffective at controlling argumentative, unparented children, letting bullies run riot, even raping a teacher and letting the perpetrators get away with it. Throughout the book though there is hope - Merton's secret trove of books is his sanctuary and through his reading he tries to apply knowledge to the world around him. Through community service Merton comes into contact with Gibbon, a private tutor who encourages the young man to apply to Cambridge. The reader has already been willing Merton to succeed and grow out of his angry box, and the pressure increases, both on the character to not mess up his opportunity and on the reader to expect a happy ending - it is never certain that one will appear.

briefly...
An effective, realistic narrative of what it is like to exist on the bottom rung of the social and educational ladder in modern Britain, with a character you can believe in. If Merton can succeed you can begin to think there may be hope for others too.

King Lear (WYP, 15/10/11)

2011-10-30T09:18:00.000Z

basics...
The Shakespeare tragedy where an aged King gives his kingdom to his two evil daughters and then goes mad. With some bits about a bastard and other duplicitousness.

brilliant...
I saw this play as a (non-paying) punter rather than as a volunteer, and even with my full concentration it was a little difficult to get into. I've only read the play once at uni, and seen a Russian film version, but I was unprepared for how little I could remember about it. By the end of the long, 2.5 hr production I was up to speed on who everyone was, what their deal was and the main plot points - before that it was a bit touch and go! Lear, Tim Piggott-Smith, and the whole company were excellent, bringing some real power and emotional heft to the roles. The second act I found to be much more dramatically exciting, the set changed and it felt like everything kicked up a gear. There was a particularly memorable and gruesome eye-gouging sequence and some smashing duels, along with a triumvirate of different guises from Sam Crane's Edgar. James Garnon's Edmund, bastard son of the Earl of Gloucester, was moustache-twirlingly devilish and amusing as the main villain.

but...
As I say, it took me some time to get into Lear - normally when watching Shakespeare, even one I'm unfamiliar with, I find after a short adjustment period I attune to the language and I'm away. I don't think this production helped by going at a fair speed, and then dressing the characters in a similar way to make it hard to distinguish Regan from Goneril or their husbands from each other. I also didn't think it was quite clear why Cordelia had decided to be so awkward at the beginning, and then buggered off til the very end. The Fool was also prominent in the first half and then disappeared - these grumbles of course are probably more issues with the source - Shakespeare did occasionally drop characters, or combine them so that actors could play dual roles.

briefly...
A powerful lead performance in a production that would have benefited either from an edit or a few pauses for breath.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

2011-10-30T08:54:00.001Z

basics...
The continuing adventures of mopey Bella Swan and her miserable vampire boyfriend Edward, with added Jacob - now a super-buff werewolf.

brilliant...
I wasn't overly excited by the first Twilight movie, but there were signs that it could have been good - Taylor Lautner's Jacob was not just attractive, he also lit up the screen when he appeared. Knowing his role expanded in New Moon then I was happy to watch this sequel. And boy was I happy once it started too! Bella makes reference to how buff Jacob has got since she last saw him at the beginning of the movie, and then once his long hippy hair is cut off and he starts walking around in just a pair of denim shorts we get to see just how buff he really is. It's easy to tell where the nickname Jak-Abs comes from! Lautner continued to be the most charismatic of the main cast members, with Bella mooning over Edward for much of the running time, as he's decided he has to leave - except he pops up in shimmer ghost/visions things that look stupid and appear to be there to placate the 'Team Edward' portions of the audience. Bella continues to treat everybody who's not a vampire shittily, and although she falls for Jacob, once she finds out Edward's going to top himself in Italy (go figure) she's off to stop him without a single thought for cute puppy dog Lautner. I found the whole film to be more satisfying than the first, possibly due to better direction, probably due to a focus on Jacob and his werewolf pack - who are mighty impressive, turning into HUGE wolves that are a solid CGI job.

but...
As ever this is Bella's movie, and Kristen Stewart continues to scowl and mope through the film - as the part demands I suppose. It would have been a braver move to completely forget about Edward rather than have the visions popping up. Bella becomes such a selfish character, and I wanted to reach into the screen and slap her silly, commanding her to get a grip and stop moping over her vampire boyfriend. The supporting characters get pretty short shrift, although Edward's sister is fun - she does however bring about a massive shift in the movie when Bella spontaneously flies to Italy (not telling her poor Dad) to stop Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning killing Edward. Unfortunately, she gets there in time, and then none of the bad vamps decides to kill Bella, despite the fact she knows about their breed. This whole section is clearly a manipulative set up to make you come see the next movie, and undoes a lot of the good work of the rest of the film - Bella, and thus the story, forgets about Jacob who seems to have just been serving as filler in the ongoing love story.

briefly...
An average action/romance flick with a couple of uninvolving leads - brightened considerably by Taylor Lautner's smile and pecs. Could there be a bit more excitement next time please?

The Lion King 3D (1994/2011)

2011-10-29T21:25:00.000+01:00

basics...
Not long after seeing the re-released version of Jurassic Park I got to see another of my top ten favourite movies at the cinema, and this time in spiffy 3D.

brilliant...
There is simply no better Disney Classic animation to beat The Lion King. Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Lilo & Stitch all come pretty close, but The Lion King has it all. Perfectly cast with recognisable names that aren't there just because they are names (Matthew Broderick, Whoopi Goldberg, Jeremy Irons), humour that lasts, a Hamlet-referencing story of redemption, pain and duty, with romance, comedy sidekicks and a cracking set of songs from the mighty pen of Elton John and Tim Rice... The animation is breath-taking, the 3-dimensional rendering a cherry on top of a gorgeous whole. Hans Zimmer's score is one of the biggest stand-outs in a movie bulging with top moments, and the piece that plays during the stampede and Mufasa's death (...To Die For on the CD soundtrack) is hands down the most powerful few minutes of music in any film ever. Never mind Bambi's mother's (off-screen) death - Mufasa's murder at the hands of Scar and the following shots of his dead body are harrowing and pack a real emotional punch.

briefly...
I've seen The Lion King many times before yet I still laughed at the jokes, tapped my foot to the songs and got caught up in the emotional drama. A film this good deserves to be seen on a big screen, with a music system that can properly handle the truly epic score. A masterpiece.

Moonlighting: Seasons 1 & 2 (1985-86)

2011-10-16T09:56:00.002+01:00

basics...
It's taken us a couple of months to fit in all of the 24 episodes of the first and second seasons of this seminal 80's comedy-drama, and I think we're going to pause before continuing with the series, so I thought it would be good to update now. Moonlighting is the 'classic' will-they-won't-they male-female drama (way before The X-Files did it), featuring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis as former model Maddie Hayes and detective David Addison.

brilliant...
I wasn't really sure what to expect when I put the pilot episode in the DVD player so I was pleasantly surprised to find a series that is witty, dramatic and daring and that is still all those things 25+ years later. The casting is spot on, Willis is an energetic presence who brings a real joy to the role, while Shepherd is a perfect foil without just being the straight-woman - she gets her share of the laughs. Other series regular Allyce Beasley is a hoot as Agnes 'Miss' DiPesto, the Blue Moon detective agency's dippy receptionist, who always answers the phone with a contrived rhyme. Following the rather short (5 episode + pilot) first series, the show really found its feet in season 2 and began breaking the fourth wall with Maddie and David commenting on the script or making asides to camera. These instances of self-referential humour really add something to a show that is already terrifically funny, with some interesting plots. There's the black and white dream sequence episode, introduced by Orson Welles; the Christmas episode that ends with the Moonlighting production crew joining Maddie and David in a carol (despite the references to being a TV show, the leads are never out of character, i.e. they're always Maddie and David, never Bruce and Cybill); the cracking Miss DiPesto-centered Next Stop Murder; and the fantastic final episode of the season that guest stars Whoopi Goldberg in a part very reminiscent of both Deloris van Cartier and Oda Mae Brown. One of the joys of Moonlighting is it always surprises, you never know whether the next episode will be an out and out comedy or whether it will have a more dramatic edge, whether Maddie and David will make any progress with their flirtation, or whether they might actually make some money from a case. Oh the theme tune is also top ten best!

but...
Some episodes work better than others - the show where Maddie suspects her father of having an affair for example wasn't as gripping as those around it. I suppose that this is par for the course though with a show that is so 'anything goes'. This being the eighties, I guess I can excuse some of the outrageous fashion too... I would also gripe that, as funny as the fast paced banter between the leads is, sometimes the technique of having each repeat what the other just said gets a little old hat.

briefly...
Fresh, warm and witty, Moonlighting's fingerprints are all over many shows that followed. The particular highlight for me is Bruce Willis letting go and enjoying himself so much, I never realised there's so much more to him than John McClane.

Outnumbered: Series 4 (2011)

2011-10-16T09:31:00.001+01:00

basics...
Series 4 of Outnumbered seemed to whizz by in a blur, I was completely unaware the series had finished! Featuring the continued adventures of the Brockman family, this series saw Jake's secret girlfriend revealed, Ben causing merry hell at a new school, the return of dreaded Aunty Angela and Karen trying to be friends with one of the cool girls.

brilliant...
As the child stars age it's good to see they're not any less funny, Karen (Ramona Marquez) is still the best though, the most consistent. Her logic is usually impeccable as well as gloriously wacky. Ben's (Daniel Roche) antics at his new school are great, and the episode at his parents' evening particularly good - Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner do a marvellous job of being ineffectual and sympathetic, with a good line in defeated resignation when one teacher after another describes Ben's special energy. Jake's (Tyger Drew-Honey) relationship storyline weaves through the series, with Sue desperate to find out what he's hiding. I did find the eventual revelation - that he's dating an old pole dancer - to be a bit of a let down, I'd expected a more interesting reveal. Some of the funniest scenes of the series came in the last couple of episodes when Sue's sister-nemesis turned up, much to everyones dismay - Karen's reaction was the best. The real highlight was German exchange student Ottfried (Ben Presley) turning up during the Angela-debacle and his comments on how odd the Brockmans really are.

briefly...
The Brockmans are back, with more outlandish plots than usual, but with the same British charm, coupling satire on modern family life with the inspired viewpoint of youth.

The Abstinence Teacher (Tom Perrotta, 2007)

2011-10-15T10:39:00.000+01:00

basics...
Ruth is the teacher of the title - she gets into trouble for veering away from the conservative curriculum and informing her students that some people like having sex. Tim is a born-again Christian, part of the Tabernacle church, and he is struggling with his history of drink, drugs and sex. The book follows the pair as they go about their lives in modern America, with their lives intersecting at a soccer game...

brilliant...
I admit that I picked this book up due to the funky design of the cover, which for some reason features a cheerleader shown from waist down - not once is there such a character in the book. I also picked this up because the premise and title promised much, I figured this would be a satire on the state of sex education in the US, along with a swipe at the religious right. I was partly correct. Perrotta's prose is enjoyable, he skillfully unpeels the characters of Ruth and Tim in alternate chapters by revealing their histories in non-chronological flashbacks, detailing their failed marriages, parenting skills and personal demons. Ruth is the more interesting character initially, and when the novel moved to Tim I was a bit disappointed, but his struggles with religion and the honest way he deals with the subject is thought-provoking. Perrotta does not deal with stereotypes, even the supporting characters, such as Pastor Dennis, have doubts about their place in life. This is a skillful and two-sided look at the state of modern America, with particular focus on education and religion, always contentious issues in some parts of the world. There's a good vein of humour running throughout the book, and I really liked the gay librarian character who has issues with proposing to his boyfriend - I identified very much with this relationship!

but...
As I said above, I picked up this book expecting something I didn't receive, so I was a touch disappointed that the satire wasn't as biting as I'd hoped. Instead though, the book has much more depth and was not as trashy as the cover would suggest. I really should learn about judging a book by its cover! Without the P.S. interview with Perrotta at the back of the book I think I would've enjoyed the book less - so much of the commentary on modern life was subtext I think I missed some, but that's my failing not the book's.

briefly...
A readable character study that provides food for thought.

Jar City (2006)

2011-10-15T10:20:00.001+01:00

basics...
Shown as part of BBC4's Icelandic season a couple of months ago, I first learnt of this film in the same channel's documentary 'Nordic Noir' which looked at Scandinavian fiction. Jar City, adapted from a novel, is a none-more-noir tale of murder and genetics. Detective Erlendur (Ingvar E. Sigurðsson) is a world-weary cop tasked with investigating the death of a man who may be linked to a rape many years earlier.

brilliant...
There are shades of Wallander in Jar City, but this film is much, much more bleak. Beautiful Icelandic vistas are breathtaking, as they always are, yet this film looks more at the cityscapes and has a grey, grimy look that is reflective of the dark motives of the characters. None of the characters are particularly likable, nor are they unlikable. Erlendur is calm and methodical - he has to be to deal with his tearaway junkie daughter and the disturbing avenues that his investigation leads him down. The film doesn't shy away from the reality of crime, with grisly images of murder, an exhumed body and the revolting shot of Erlendur eating a sheep's head, eyeball first, that he picked up at a drive through. Not an easy watch, but a gripping one all the same. It is not until some way through the film that I realised some parts were being told in flashback, showing the killer's attempts to find the truth that lead to his fatal deed. It's an effective device, even if it's already obvious why he did what he did before revelations are made.

briefly...
An uber-noir police procedural with real depth and commentary on the state of contemporary Icelandic life. Atmospheric and unflinching, Jar City is not a pleasurable, easy watch, but it is gripping.

Countdown to Zero (2010)

2011-10-15T10:05:00.000+01:00

basics...

A True Stories documentary about nuclear weapons and the frightening truth behind how close the world has been and is potentially to nuclear destruction.  

brilliant...

This film is very powerfully made, full of talking heads with real gravitas - Tony Blair, Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Valerie Plame Wilson and lots of other statespeople, scientists and historians - and images of mushroom clouds, possible fallout zones and historical footage. Director Lucy Walker keeps the visuals interesting and uses narration and pundits to explain how mistakes in the past had the world on the brink of launching nukes; how easy it would be for terrorists to get their hands on nuclear material to construct a dirty bomb; how the launch codes for America's nukes used to just be 000000; and how many countries today have the bomb and why they came to have it. It's scary to think that flocks of migrating birds have caused scares within the military and put them at high alert, and that the USA and USSR had too many close calls for comfort. It's a convincing documentary with a real message that is explained through clear examples as well as dire prediction. 

briefly...
A fascinating insight into Cold War practices that haven't completely thawed, Countdown to Zero makes its points with visual flair and convincing pronouncements without seeming preachy or manipulative.

Dons of Comedy (WYP, 09/10/11)

2011-10-15T09:51:00.001+01:00

basics...

Last Sunday I was supposed to be volunteering in the cloakroom at the Playhouse but once there found they weren't going to open it, so instead I just stayed and watched the show. As part of Black History Month, the show Dons of Comedy was on for a one-off performance. It was a stand up comedy show with compere and the following acts: Felicity Ethnic, Curtis Walker, Felix Dexter, and Slim.

bah...

Clockwise from top left: Walker, Ethnic, Dexter, & Slim

The only act I'd heard of previously was Dexter, who had been in Bellamy's People and on a couple of panel shows, so I was looking forward to him. He was funny, but nothing particularly special. The best of the acts was Walker, he was more consistently funny. My problem with the first three acts was that skin colour was a massive part of it, which I suppose is understandable. It's like gay comedians who do a majority of gay jokes, it's funny for a spell, but you wonder whether without that edge/difference from the mostly straight, white (male) stand up scene is enough to sustain an act. And I also wonder how progressive a black or gay comedian is when they continually use their difference to get laughs - comedy should transcend these labels. I had particular trouble at this night with Felicity Ethnic, who we were warned by the compere, would be speaking in Jamaican patois. Turns out he wasn't joking. I felt like I was watching a Shakespeare play I didn't know, trying to understand the language and catching a few words hear and there. This didn't seem fair to an audience that although predominantly black had ticket-buying white audience members who I'd imagine struggled to understand as well. At least I could tell what the others were saying. I was pleased to note that the final comedian, Slim, didn't appear to be doing the whole 'black people do this' routine, and was telling non-racially motivated jokes. Unfortunately they weren't very funny, and a very long, supposedly true tale about him breaking his cock during sex went on far too long and had no punchline. The strangest thing was that members of the audience were hooting and hollering and going into paroxysms of laughter over this stuff!

briefly...

I was clearly the wrong target audience for this show, however I did enjoy what I could relate to and understand.

Dragons' Den: Series 9 (2011)

2011-10-10T18:09:00.003+01:00

basics…

Yet  another series of the venerable business game show, with the novelty of new  dragon Hilary Devey replacing ‘silver fox’ James Caan in the Dragon line  up.

brilliant…

The  introduction of Devey, with her dulcet northern tones and her massive shoulder  pads, has added a dash of theatricality to the Den, along with a new dynamic.  Now there are two female Dragons, and on occasion Deborah Meaden and Devey clash  with the odd withering look. None of the Dragons are afraid to speak their mind  but Devey adds a real earthy worldliness with a lack of business buzzwords.  Duncan Bannatyne is still reliably grumpy, if not more so, Theo Paphitis has got  a scowl for every occasion, and Peter Jones can be relied upon to see gold where  the others just see rocks. There were some crazy pitches this year, including a  particularly funny one from a guy trying to sell instant-abs via sun beds, but  as usual I’ve forgotten them as soon as the show’s done. Dragon’s Den has become  a reassuring programme that I can watch while washing up, not something that  needs my full attention, but I still enjoy it.

but…

As  ever, Evan Davis lurks around the Den’s basement looking like Gollum and  providing as much useful input as a chocolate teapot. I don’t think he’s  recorded any new voice-overs, I reckon as a cost saving measure the BBC just  cuts old ones over the top of the new pitches. It’s hard to notice any  difference.

briefly…

Reliable, funny and with the occasional surprise,  Dragon’s Den remains one of the few reality shows I’ll willingly let into my  life. I draw the line at the spin off shows though.

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy (2011)

2011-10-10T18:05:00.002+01:00

basics…

A complex spy thriller set in the grey seventies, with a who’s who cast of British acting talent, headed up by Gary Oldman’s George Smiley – tasked with rooting out the mole in The Circus.

brilliant…

I can easily see why this thriller wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. There are no explosions or car chases or anything you might term ‘thrilling’… other than the top notch plot that is. Moodily directed by the Swede behind Let The Right One In, Tinker’s visual style is intoxicating, the camera hovers on seemingly insignificant details and affords Oldman the time to react to things in a subtle way. The spy plot takes in many characters and several twists and turns as each of the 4 suspects are put under varying degrees of scrutiny. Toby Jones does a good turn in twitchy and snivelling while Colin Firth is charming. Kathy Burke makes a welcome return to acting, although what is going on with her massive neck I’ve no idea. She’s one of the few female characters in a film about men betraying men, perhaps a rather old fashioned concept, but one that works really well. Oldman is perfectly world-weary and his approach to the matter in hand is methodical and believable, while Benedict Cumberbatch ironically makes a great Watson-like sidekick. It’s good to see a film that is so resolutely unshowy and so undeniably British getting good box office, especially as this has no King’s Speech style triumph over adversity feel-good factor. Some of it is downright bleak, particularly what happens to Tom Hardy and his love interest, but Tinker is always gripping, never boring.

but…

Ciarán Hinds’ suspect is not as well developed as his co-stars, leaving him not a great deal to do. An extra few minutes of motivation for him would have marked him out as a more credible suspect alongside Firth, Jones and the other fellow.

briefly…

A cerebral thriller that held me rapt throughout as a result of labyrinthine plotting and masterful character work.

One World Divisible: A Global History Since 1945 (David Reynolds, 2000)

2011-10-09T10:07:00.000+01:00

basics...
This book does it exactly what it says in the (sub)title, spanning 55 years of history in 700 pages, with a truly global reach.

brilliant...
I first picked this book up a few years ago and didn't get very far. Back in May I hefted it down from the shelf and got stuck back in, and just a few short months later I'm done. Reynolds has produced an extraordinary work. Covering the East and West and everything inbetween, from Cold War beginnings to the fall of the USSR, taking in economic crises, the emergence of new technologies and countries and also finding time to look at social changes amongst the world-changing big events, One World Divisible was an enthralling read from beginning to end. Some sections were a bit less interesting than others - mostly ones that dwelt on economics - but that's less the fault of the historian than history itself, and of course my particular interests. I learnt a lot from this overview of world affairs, and Reynolds writes in a way that is accessible and even pleasurable, something other non-fiction writers could learn from. I particularly liked how Reynolds wove stories of different parts of the globe into the over-arching narrative, not just seeing events from a Western point of view.

briefly...
Comprehensive, enlightening and readable, an excellent introduction to world history and an awe-inspiring feat of abridgement, turning 55 turbulent years into a readable narrative.

Doctor Who: Series 32 (2011)

2011-10-09T09:45:00.001+01:00

basics...
Matt Smith returns as Doctor Who for a series split in two (There's no time poetry corner!). Opening with the Doctor's supposed future death, witnessed by Amy, Rory (full time companion now!) and River Song, the first part of the series ends with Amy giving birth and a revelation about who her daughter actually is. The second part of the series builds to the Doctor's inevitable end... or does it?

brilliant...
The on-going saga concerning the identity of River Song gets a whole lot of answers this series, some of which I really should have seen coming, but mostly you only realise they were obvious moments before they are revealed. The increased presence of River and of the excellent Rory meant that the Amy-Doctor love story got less screentime, a good thing, and even better everytime you thought Amy was pining for her raggedy Doctor she actually wanted her loving husband. Aside from the ongoing story there were some top notch 'monster of the week' episodes, from the chilling minotaur/hotel/purgatory one, to the funny James Corden one, and all those ones back at the beginning of the year that have slipped my mind. It was good to see new monsters pushed above series favourites, such as the Gentlemen-like Silence, effectively creepy, and the sinister lady with the eye patch. The whole 'Amy's not really with the Doctor' bit in the first part of the series was audacious and I'll need to rewatch those episodes, like I will a lot of these, to fully grasp what's going on.

but...
One of the problems with Stephen Moffatt at the helm of Doctor Who is his propensity for time travel stories that completely confuse and discombobulate. I'm utterly baffled as to how River's time stream works. The rapid fire delivery of explanations by Matt Smith don't always have time to sink in before another explosion's happening or someone cracks a joke. Of course, watching Doctor Who one already has one's disbelief suspended, but sometimes you want to try to make some sense of the story!

briefly...
A return to form after last series, where I felt grumpy Amy dominated, proves that Doctor Who needs non-young-female companions to truly soar. Splitting the series in half made for effective, suspensful cliff-hangers too.

The Pelican Brief (John Grisham, 1992)

2011-10-09T09:13:00.000+01:00

basics...
Having never read a Grisham, yet having enjoyed some of the many film adaptations, I decided to pick up one of his novels. The charity shop I was in at the time had The Pelican Brief, which begins with the murders of two Supreme Court Justices and then delivers a fast-paced hunt for the people responsible. Unwittingly, law student Darby Shaw writes the brief of the title that gets her involved in a life-or-death conspiracy.

brilliant...
Grisham's easy style and cracking plot coupled with interesting characters and well-researched subjects put me in mind of Michael Crichton, which is never a bad thing. I've seen the Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington starring movie version, but it didn't colour my enjoyment of the novel as I can't recall much about it! I got to enjoy The Pelican Brief with no foreknowledge of the outcome and enjoyed even more for that. Supporting characters are killed off unexpectedly, the motives of high-level government officials are intriguing and Darby Shaw is a sympathetic and resourceful heroine. I really enjoyed the interactions of the Supreme Court with the White House, CIA, FBI and the press, I always find it fun to read fiction set in the world of US government. I'd happily pick up another Grisham tomorrow.

briefly...
An exciting, non-stop chase with characters to care for and lashings of political intrigue.

Jurassic Park (1993)

2011-10-09T08:58:00.000+01:00

basics...
18 years after it first appeared in cinemas Jurassic Park was re-released in a shiny new digital print, so of course we had to go and check it out.

brilliant...
I've seen Jurassic Park so many times over the last couple of decades, including at the cinema in 1993, on my friend's pirate video copy (that I taped over with Neighbours...), on VHS, on DVD and now back on the big screen, and it's never looked better. Everything else about the film remains several notches above excellent, from the plot, which complements the sterling source novel, to the cast of fine actors. There's a lot of humour, a lot of suspense, dashings of real terror and awe inspiring special effects. While some of the CGI may not look as pristine as today's efforts, much of it surpasses expectations to remain fresh and real. One of the greatest joys about seeing the film again in the cinema is being able to hear John Williams' epic, magistic, instantly recognisable score blasting out all around. I would probably have been happy to just sit with my eyes shut and listen, since I can probably construct the whole film in my head anyway. Despite the number of times I've seen Jurassic Park, it never gets old. I can find no fault, and each viewing brings further chances to savour the perfectness of the whole and its parts.

briefly...
Quite simply one of the finest films that has ever evolved.

Parenthood (1989)

2011-10-04T18:02:00.001+01:00

basics...
An ensemble comedy with Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest and a young Keanu Reeves, Parenthood does exactly what it says in the title, illustrating the torment and positive attributes of being a parent through the lives of the large Buckman family.

brilliant...
This film is an excellent advert for parenthood, and I say this as someone committed to never having children. Although there are numerous pitfalls shown, such as Martin's toddler who likes to head butt things, Wiest's teenage son (Joaquin Phoenix, back when he was 'Leaf', I'm not sure which one is the better name) who's just discovered masturbation, or Martin's brother (Tom Hulce), who's old enough to know better yet keeps running to his father for assistance. The ensemble works really well together, with Martin and Moranis getting the most laughs. It's easy to see why Wiest was singled out with an Oscar nomination for her role as a single mother dealing with the aforementioned moody son and a sexually active daughter (Martha Plimpton) while neglecting her own barren lovelife. There's nothing especially profound expounded by Parenthood, but the result is charming, funny and emotionally satisfying. Oh and the grandma is excellent.

but...
Maybe there could have been a few more laughs.

briefly...
A film that makes you appreciate children and the joys of parenthood without actually having to deal with the little horrors.

Ed Byrne: The Crowd Pleaser Tour (City Varieties, 29/09/11)

2011-10-04T17:51:00.000+01:00

basics...
My first visit to the newly refurbished City Varieties in Leeds was also my first there ever. It's a small theatre, oddly long, but just right for a stand up comedy show, which is precisely why we were there, for a couple of hours in the company of Ed Byrne.

brilliant...
It's not just the fact he's Irish and mates with Dara O'Briain that made Byrne remind me of the Mock the Week host, it's also the way both come across as intelligent and geeky alongside the big belly laughs. I really enjoyed the fact that Byrne isn't offensive, but neither is he bland, he's got something to say about religion and obesity, yet he articulates his points in such a way as not to be mean spirited, and with no concomitant affect on the comedy. I laughed all the way through - the audience participation bits were particularly funny and let Byrne show his skills as an improviser. A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

briefly...
Intelligent, occasionally extremely geeky observational comedy delivered with aplomb.

Room (Emma Donoghue, 2010)

2011-10-02T09:38:00.000+01:00

basics...

The story of five year old Jack, kept prisoner along with his Ma in the titular Room and their subsequent escape into the scary and exciting world of Outside.

brilliant...
Told from the point of view of an intelligent toddler, Room is by turns charming, funny and horrifying. Initially skeptical about how the book could sustain a plot within the one location, I was pleased when fairly quickly the central paid escaped and then the story became even more interesting as Jack had to adjust to a whole world he didn't even know existed outside of TV. The use of first person narration through a child's eyes put me in mind of The Incredible Adam Spark in the skewed, innocent approach to complex ideas and experiences. I really felt for Jack and the way his whole world was ripped away, causing him to question everything he thought he knew. Unaware of the true horrors that his Ma has experienced in her long years of confinement, raped nightly and giving birth to a still born girl before Jack came into her life, Jack is unable to understand why his mother wants to escape, and then why she cannot cope with his demands in the real world. Her overdose is frightening for Jack and the reader - I feared what would happen to the delicate young protagonist without his one constant by his side. Room is a powerful, meaningful yet pleasurable read, full of funny details and invention, and thankfully the ending feels real and appropriate, and overwhelmingly satisfying.

briefly...
Touching, comic and harrowing, Room feels more like an experience than a story. To see the world through the eyes of a child, and to be able to compare the events with real life dramas of recent years really make the story come alive.

The Go-Between (WYP, 14/09/11 & 25/09/11)

2011-10-02T09:21:00.000+01:00

basics...
Both the second and third shows at which I was a Playhouse volunteer, The Go-Between is a brand new musical adaptation of the book by LP Hartley (apparently, I've never heard of it) in which a 12 year old boy acts as a messenger between a high society lady and her bit of rough farmer lover. Needless to say, it doesn't end well.

brilliant...

The Go-Between is a charming production, that wins out mainly on the performance of the young Leo, Jake Abbott, who is rarely off stage in a role that requires singing, acting, and quite a bit of running around. I was less keen on his co-star for the two shows I saw, played by John Cairns, but I think that was more because his character Marcus is less likeable and more obnoxious than any fault in the acting. The adult cast provided solid support, particularly in Sophie Bould's Marian, the female portion of the central love triangle - hers being the best voice and one of the more interesting roles. There is good use made of the limited stage space, even with a grand piano and pianist present all through.

but...
The story is supposed to be a reminiscence of youth by the much older Leo (played by... I don't know, his name's not in the programme!) and apparently everything that happened that summer when he was 12 has turned him into a disfunctional old man. We see plenty of him commenting on the action and moping about and making ominous exclamations about how he should have left things alone... but I never really understood (or cared) for older Leo and what his problems were. Young Leo's story was much more wonderful and had a great deal of depth. I was also a little disappointed that this 'musical' was really a sung play, with no particular songs. It felt like it would have worked just as well if not better as a straight forward play.

briefly...
If I'd had the choice I wouldn't have watched this twice, but each time the charming child performances held my attention, they really did shine.

Epic Win (2011)

2011-10-02T09:03:00.000+01:00

basics...
A Saturday night game show that is not only watchable, it's often uproariously entertaining. Alexander Armstrong presides over a modern sort of You Bet where the contestants must use their special skill to win a challenge. If they succeed, the panel of comedians/celebrities each awards them a sum of money, and it's up to them to guess how much. If they overvalue themselves, they leave through the fail door.

brilliant...
We were completely hooked by Epic Win, it's so gloriously daft and knowingly stupid, without insulting the viewer or taking the piss out of the contestants. Some of the challenges involved: a guy who loves crisps having people breathe crisp-breath in his face to guess the flavour; a Smurf fanatic identifying the small blue guys just from their silhouette; a fishmonger guessing the fish by being slapped in the face with one; and a bendy girl who kicked herself in the head so many times in a minute. Aside from the ridiculousness of the challenges, there are funny intro sequences, top puns from Armstrong, and the almost constant presence of Micky Flanagan on the judging panel, who is a dab hand at a wry put down and is able to properly value some of these utterly worthless 'skills'. This is what I call Saturday night entertainment! I do hope it comes back, I want to see the fail door, the epic-centre and hear commentator Joe Lycett's 'Epic WIN' catchphrase again.

briefly...
Saturday night entertainment that is as knowing and funny as Harry Hill, but on the BBC.

Trees Lounge (1996)

2011-10-02T08:49:00.001+01:00

basics...
Written by, directed by and starring Steve Buscemi, Trees Lounge is an indie movie that focuses on the multi-hyphenate star's Tommy as he goes through a bit of a mid life crisis in a pokey little US town.

brilliant...but...
I thought that this was a really nice little comedy-drama, with quirky characters and some great casting, including Samuel L. Jackson, Mimi Rogers and Daniel Baldwin. As ever with these indie character studies, not a great deal happens. Tommy has a bit of a thing with a teenage girl (Chloe Sevigny)... and that's about it, other than him driving around in an ice cream truck. I had memories of Junebug, which also had the same feeling of 'nice movie, what's the point?' Buscemi is a great director and it's good to see him in a lead role as a normal human being and not some weirdo. He's really sympathetic here, although there seems little motivation behind his disintegrating life. The supporting cast are an assortment of oddballs and hicks and there's a general good humouredness about the whole that left me satisfied.

briefly...
Nothing much happens, but sometimes that's ok, especially if it allows Buscemi to do his thing.

Trolljegeren / The Troll Hunter (2010)

2011-09-25T12:22:00.000+01:00

basics...
A Norwegian 'found-footage' comedy-horror about trolls you say? I'm there!

brilliant...
The Troll Hunter would be an excellent companion piece to the Finnish Rare Exports about killer santas. Both share a Scandinavian attitude to dark humour and feature 'mythical' beasties. And both are hilarious and, to a lesser extent, scary features that will no doubt suffer in inevitable US remakes. Troll Hunter's claim to be cobbled together from real life footage that has been recently discovered adds to the sense of silly reality that has a college film crew follow a man they think is a bear poacher... and turns out to be an employee of the government's secretive TSS (Troll Security Service). Hans (Otto Jesperson) is tired of the bureaucracy of troll hunting, and he's happy for the film crew to expose the badly paid profession and thus the reality of the existence of trolls to the Norwegian public. The film is full of great comic touches, from the TSS' use a Polish team to supply dead bears with which to create a cover story for suspicious deaths, to Hans' medieval armour used in troll baiting. The trolls themselves are effective and work well in the medium of shaky cameras as they're a much more sinister presence when not seen clearly. A great deal of thought has also gone into the designs of each troll, and the behaviour of the species, making these lumpy giants more than just mindless killers - it turns out they have rabies, so there's a real reason why they've suddenly started straying from their enclosures.

briefly...
Funny, scary, intelligent and Scandinavian. There was little chance I wouldn't enjoy this!

Torchwood: Miracle Day (2011)

2011-09-25T12:04:00.000+01:00

basics...
Captain Jack (John Barrowman) and Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) are called out of retirement when 'Miracle Day' happens... and everyone on earth becomes immortal, except for Jack. Cue CIA assistance, a death row paedo, incineration units and a whole host of bad guys and evil stuff for international Torchwood to deal with.

bollocks...
Torchwood's first and second series were patchy affairs at best, with unlikable characters, gratuitous plots and a general air of trying too hard to be 'adult' in comparison to Doctor Who. Series 3, Children of Earth, was properly brilliant, a serialised, single story, with real menace and heart. Miracle Day, the first Torchwood American-UK co-production has a bigger budget than the previous series, and mixes the best and worst of what has gone before - so there's an imaginative, genuinely intriguing plot catalyst, with lots of interesting ideas (what would be the implications for society and the planet if no one died anymore?), but played out with more unlikable (American) characters, streaks of nastiness and a whole lot of nonsensical explanations.

Miracle Day wasn't a complete disaster, but it was also no where near as good as Children of Earth. Jack and Gwen were reliably ballsy and funny, when they got a chance to be. There was far too much time spent with angry, shouty Rex Matheson (Mekhi Phifer) and pathetic Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins). And then there was the utterly pointless story of Oswald Danes (a creepy Bill Pullman), a convicted child killer - were we ever supposed to feel sympathy for this character? He got grandiose speeches about not very much and kept popping up at odd times - and once the whole purpose behind the miracle was explained... well there still didn't seem to be any point in his manipulation by the Blessing. Likable Dr Vera Juarez (Arlene Tur) was dispatched far too early on, while sledge-hammer subtle Rex and useless Esther hung around til the end, and sadly one of them remained.

but...
Ok, it wasn't all bad, and that was mainly down to the Welsh/British sense of humour that didn't appear often enough, and some great guest casting, chief among them Lauren Ambrose as Jilly Kitzinger. A world away from Six Feet Under, Ambrose lit up her every scene and made her character much more interesting than she had any right to be - especially when, like Danes, there appeared to be absolutely zero point in her being co-opted by the families, except perhaps to act as a way in for the viewer. It's implied she'll come back should this mess be given another series, so that's potentially good news. Kai Owen's return as Gwen's long-suffering husband also offered a welcome breath of light air in his too-few scenes, as did new character Allen Shapiro (John de Lancie) - so naturally the funny, likable CIA guy was blown up. Torchwood doesn't like to keep personable characters around, just the obnoxious ones.

briefly...
A truly original premise that promised big things is let down by traditional Torchwood nastiness and hokey explanations. If this comes back, and I'm not bothered if it doesn't (I mainly watch it for Doctor Who continuity!), lets hope lessons will have been learned.

The Conspiracy Club (Jonathan Kellerman, 2003)

2011-09-25T11:24:00.000+01:00

basics...
A one-off thriller from the writer of the Alex Delaware series, Kellerman's The Conspiracy Club sees psychologist Dr Jeremy Carrier's tentative investigation into a series of killings which may have included his ex-girlfriend. He is directed and assisted by an elusive group of elders who provide clues and wait for Carrier to discovery the truth and help to deliver justice.

brilliant...
There's no traditional crime happens, crime is solved by investigation in this book, mainly because the protagonist is for the most part going about his life and only unwittingly drawn into the plot by external forces. He's trying to move on from his girlfriend's death by building a new relationship, and continuing to help his patients. This provides an interesting take on the usual crime fiction tropes, and it allows for a great sense of mystery and intrigue. Carrier is a believable, flawed lead, whose reluctance to get involved is tempered by a healthy curiosity that translates into an intriguing hunt that had me turning the pages and finishing the book in days.

but...
The club of the book's title are fairly peripheral for much of the story, and I did wonder why they didn't just get on and solve the mystery themselves, or why they didn't just sit Carrier down and explain everything instead of leaking bits of clues in mysterious envelopes. Of course that would've made for a much shorter, boring book.

briefly...
Although not a great deal of action happens, I found this book to be a fast paced thriller with human protagonists.

Wallander: Series 2 (2009-10)

2011-09-24T10:06:00.000+01:00

basics...
Picking up 3 years after the end of the first series, Krister Henriksson's final 13 cases as Kurt Wallander see the dour Swedish detective and his team in a new police house, with a couple of new cadets, Isabelle (Nina Zanjani) and Pontus (Sverrir Gudnason) and resident police prosecutor Katarina (Lena Endre), and a whole host of new crimes to solve.

brilliant...
Wallander is back and as good as if not better than ever. Sadly lacking Johanna Sällström's Linda, following the actress' suicide, the show cleverly refuses to explain away Kurt's daughter's absence, but it is implied that she's dead - the real life tragedy gives Henriksson's portrayal as Kurt an added depth. Kurt clearly sees something of Linda in Isabelle, making him over protective of her creating some nice relationships fairly quickly with the new recruits. Of course the main relationship this series is Kurt and Katarina's will-they-won't-they attraction that is never resolved on screen. Endre provides an excellent counterpoint to Kurt and the pair are a joy to watch, whether flirting or arguing - Kurt does a good line in jealousy too.

The other new guy, Pontus, is a hottie, and he's also got issues that thankfully don't lead him to the extremes of Stefan in the first series, though he does get beaten up and shot a lot. Nyberg (Mats Bergman) provides excellent comic relief, and in one scene, where he hugs a post-explosion Kurt, proves to be an emotional presence. With Linda gone, the focus of this series is more firmly on Kurt, allowing the character to develop further than in the first series, in his relationships with colleagues, with new dog, Jussi, and with his job, which he realises has taken over his life. The cases this season are exciting, grisly and occasionally controversial, with shootings, explosions and gas-emitting flowers adding to the excitement.

but...
There's no more Wallander! The final episode felt like a fitting end to the series, with Kurt provided a truthful and welcome conclusion that sees him finally choose his own happiness with Katarina over the job. If I had to pick an actual fault with the series it would only be that the villains all too often turned out to be foreign, whether German, Polish or Lithuanian. But that's only a minor niggle in what was an astonishingly brilliant series.

briefly...
Superior Swedish drama, with excitement, heart and a few laughs, featuring top rate acting talent. There's going to be a Wallander-shaped hole in my viewing schedule.

The Big Bang Theory: Season 4 (2010-2011)

2011-09-24T09:43:00.000+01:00

basics...
The continuing adventures of the loveable geeky misfits and their hot neighbour... now with added cast members!

brilliant...
The Big Bang Theory's masterstroke in Season 4 was the introduction (at the end of last season) of Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler. Growing from her beginnings as a female version of Sheldon to become 'bestie's with Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and fellow new 'star' Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), and thereby creating a whole new dynamic with opportunities for even more laughs, every word out of Amy's mouth was comedy gold. Bialik (who used to be Blossom!) shines every moment she has on screen, and I miss her when she's either absent in an episode, or confined to webchat with Sheldon (Jim Parsons). Of course, the guys are all still hilarious, with Leonard (Johnny Galecki) finding a new girlfriend in Raj's (Kunal Nayyar) sister and Howard (Simon Helberg) moving his relationship with Bernard on towards marriage.

but...
While Howard, Leonard and, to an extent, Sheldon all get to develop in terms of their relationships with women, Raj is sadly left to his own devices. I want to see him happy next season! Although he is just as funny solo. Oh and Raj's sister has a somewhat thankless task, coming between Penny and Leonard - she's the equivalent of Emily in Friends.

briefly...
One of my favourite sitcoms becomes even funnier with the introduction of Amy Farrah Fowler - long may she continue to shine!

Glorious 39 (2009)

2011-09-24T09:31:00.000+01:00

basics...
A very British tale of an upper class family on the eve of the Second World War. Adopted daughter Anne (Romola Garai) begins to suspect that some of her nearest and dearest may be involved in plots to promote appeasement of Germany and keep Britain out of the war.

brilliant...
Stylish and faultlessly acted, as you'd expect from a BBC production starring Bill Nighy, David Tennant, Hugh Bonneville and the ubiquitous Christopher Lee, Glorious 39 doesn't exactly zip along. Rather, the story unfolds slowly, with some very sinister plot work that has Anne and the audience confused. I suspected certain members of the family as being bad guys, but not necessarily all of them! I really enjoyed Bonneville's performance as a jovial, struggling film extra, and Nighy was so charming throughout I still find it hard to believe he was a wrong 'un... but was he? The family's reasons for supporting appeasement appeared fairly rational, it was their methods - subterfuge and murder - that went over the line. A thought-provoking piece.

but...
Just how did Anne's creepy nephew (who grew into Lee) keep appearing like that, as if he was some sort of supernatural bogeyman? These bits jarred a bit with the realisitic drama, but I suppose they could be explained away through a sketchy memory on the part of the two characters telling the story.

briefly...
A slick period drama with an unsettling theme and execution.

The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje, 1992)

2011-09-18T11:42:00.001+01:00

basics...
I really liked the movie adaptation of The English Patient, and the original Booker Prize winning novel was part of the Picador Thirty set that included Foetal Attraction and American Psycho, so I picked it up next. The book tells the story of a group of people inhabiting a deserted hospital in Italy at the end of World War Two, including an Indian sapper, a Canadian nurse, a thief and the titular burns victim.

brilliant...but...
It took me some time to get to grips with this novel, and Ondaatje's fractured style - passages pass backwards and forwards in time, telling different characters' stories, and it's not always easier to work out either time or person. Over halfway through I started to enjoy it as the narrative became easier to follow and backstories unravelled. Although I seem to remember the movie being more about the English Patient and his tragic backstory, the book is as much about every other character as him. I actually found Kip, the Indian sapper, and his story more interesting, bringing with it interesting perspectives on the war and indeed on the British 'occupation' of his home country. This isn't a book I would recommend easily, I'd start with the movie first, whereas Andrew's just finished the hilarious Foetal Attraction on my recommendation.

briefly...
Too stylised to enjoy initially, The English Patient eventually becomes a touching set of character pieces interwoven with historical accuracy.

What Should I Do With My Life? (Po Bronson, 2003)

2011-09-18T11:26:00.000+01:00

basics...
In need of some direction and inspiration for where my life is going I picked up this wonderfully titled book by the oddly named Po Bronson. It turned out to be full of real life stories of people who have changed career or found their calling, or simply just done something different with their lives.

brilliant...
Bronson's approach divides the stories into useful sections, some deal with the question alongside other commitments like family, others with what it means to find fulfilment in a job, and whether you should actively seek out opportunities that could lead to failure. The author also gets involved in the stories, as in he goes and visits with each person, and he offers comment on their choices but without judgement (much). The book therefore made me think a bit more creatively about my future and what it is I might like to do, and more importantly, the stories encouraged me not to give up hope, that the right job could come along by accident, although it helps to explore possibilities. While I didn't put the book down knowing the answer to the title's question, I'm more confident about being able to figure it out and enjoy doing so. While reading the book I've begun volunteering at the Playhouse, and I'm about to begin a second Open University course, on creative writing - I'm not sure I consciously did these things as a direct result of my reading this work, but it may have helped.
briefly...
A thought-provoking work, with a range of interesting people leading varied and fulfilling lives - a real piece of inspiration to ponder as I go.

StreetDance (2010)

2011-09-18T11:13:00.001+01:00

basics...
A couple of hours before I left the house to go and see Northern Ballet's Hamlet I watched a film involving ballet... well, it was StreetDance, the British dance film about a group of street dancers who are co-opted by a groovy ballet teacher to help her students learn how to let loose and stop being so stiff and formal.

brilliant...
This film is in no way 'brilliant' but it is also no where near as cringey or terrible as I thought it might be, especially since it stars a lot of 'youth' with all the bad fashion and mangled English language that that implies, and follows the standard little-group-who-could format as seen in Coyote Ugly, Step Up and all those other recent dance movies (none of which I've seen). I felt quite old watching the film, yet I enjoyed it as there was a real sense of fun and a lot of skill on display. Britain's Got Talent alumni Diversity and cute George Samson featured, the latter pulling off some incredible moves, but the star for me wasn't northern street dancer Carly (Nichola Burley), it was the hot ballet dancer love interest Tomas (Richard Winsor). Now I've seen Winsor live in Matthew Bourne's modern dance version of The Picture of Dorian Grey in Edinburgh on 29/08/08, and he was hot there. He's even better close up wearing tight ballet outfits and often topless. Nom nom nom indeed. I'm so shallow.

but...
To criticise StreetDance for a lack of originality would be missing the point, as it exists to provide an audience with exactly what they want. There could have been a bit more in the way of humour or maybe a few bits of stunt casting with the adult characters.

briefly...
A film that does what it sets out to do: features a lot of dancing; and one that does it very well with a likable bunch of characters and a pretty lead who can act as well as dance.

Hamlet (WYP, 10/09/11)

2011-09-18T10:50:00.000+01:00

basics...
It's only a few short months since I last saw a production of Hamlet at the Playhouse, but I found myself at another last weekend - a ballet version no less. I saw this in my new capacity as a front of house volunteer at the theatre, which means in return for standing around for a bit showing people to their seats at the beginning and during the interval, I get to sit and watch a play for free!

brilliant...
I'm sure the dancing was excellent, and there were some genuinely exciting bits. However...

but...
I didn't hate the show, but as my last trip to the ballet taught me, I'm not a fan. I like words. And I know Hamlet - this was a very strange version. It was set in Nazi occupied France rather than Denmark - I only worked this out at the end when Fortinbrass liberated the country as the beginning 20 mins was a confusing mess. At least it was to someone who knows the play and didn't recognise what was going on or who was who. I also don't remember Ophelia getting gang-raped and then murdered in the play... I'm all for new interpretations of Shakespeare but being a ballet was new enough without causing more confusion by playing with key elements of the story.

briefly...
Probably great if you like ballet. I don't. I enjoyed it more because I didn't have to pay to see it. Ballet really is just posh mime.

Shameless: Season 1 (2011)

2011-09-17T11:19:00.004+01:00

basics...
The long-awaited American remake of Channel 4's long-running chav soap opera. Starring William H. Macy.

brilliant...
I wasn't expecting to like 'Shameless USA' as it's billed over here, as I have enjoyed the British original for so long. I don't think it's just because the original version appears to be running out of steam (and Gallaghers), but the remake seems so much better and more enjoyable on many levels. Following the first series of the UK version pretty faithfully to begin with, USA soon becomes its own beast with new storylines and incredibly fun performances - and it never descends into the pantomime that the UK series has become. The emphasis is on the drama in this comedy-drama, but there's still time for laughs.

Every cast member is so good you forget their British forebears, and they're not just great actors, most are much prettier too, particularly Lip (Jeremey Allen White), Steve (Justin Chatwin) and Ian (Cameron Monaghan) - the latter's gay storyline is particularly endearing. The transition to Chicago from Manchester makes for stark differences in style and setting, with perpetually snowy streets and a poor white trash sensibility that feels utterly authentic. Even Macy is a great Frank Gallagher, who could sit comfortably alongside David Threlfall's excellent original. Joan Cusack is wonderfully dippy as agrophobic Shiela too. The heart of US Shameless is undoubtably Emmy Rossum's Fiona, the eldest sibling who holds the family together, puts food on the table and also has to deal with Steve's overtures for her affection. Rossum brings much raw emotional depth to the character and thus the series and I hope she stays with the show, and that it continues for a long time without sacrificing the drama.

but...
While Cusack is a gem, I wonder what Sheila would have been like with the incomparable Allison Janney in the role, as she was in the (unbroadcast) pilot?

briefly...
An American remake that is every bit as good as the original series, and compared with the current output of its progenitor, its even better.

The Night Watch (2011)

2011-09-17T11:02:00.000+01:00

basics...
Based on the Sarah Waters novel, The Night Watch was a feature-length BBC production that follows several characters, mostly lesbians, during the second World War. The conceit is that the story's told backwards, so we see the fall out of various events, and then go back a few years to find out what said events were, and then back a bit further to find out more.

brilliant...
Andrew wanted to watch this because he's a fan of Sarah Waters, whereas I was more intrigued by the roster of strong British actresses - Claire Foy (sullen in The Promise, a little lighter here), Jodie Whittaker (a magnetic presence, last seen in Marchlands), and Anna Maxwell Martin (don't know what I've seen her in, but reminds me of Nicola Walker from Spooks) - plus cute Harry Treadaway. I enjoyed the recreation of war torn London, and there were some curious mysteries, not to mention a lot of non-heterosexual relationships to enjoy.

but...
The Night Watch suffered from being too short, I think it would've worked much better as a 3 part series, with each part assigned a different year, so that I could find more to care about in the characters. Although it wasn't that I didn't care, I just didn't have too much time as there were many characters and only a short time in which to tell their stories. I enjoyed the film, but felt that there was a mini-series crying to get out. There was also far too much female nudity and no male nakedness to speak of. Fail.

briefly...
A classy mystery with a cast of excellent future stars, suffers mainly by being too short.

The Shadow (1994)

2011-09-13T20:16:00.001+01:00

basics...
A superhero movie from a time when there wasn't one every two weeks, i.e. the 1990's, The Shadow sees Alec Baldwin's bizarrely named Lamont Cranston taking on a descendant of Genghis Khan in order to save the world. He does this by using a odd set of powers taught to him by a monk back in the days this American hero was a warlord in China...

brilliant...
A synopsis of this film makes little sense, so it's a wonder that the plot holds together. That any of this works at all is down to some great casting, not least in Baldwin's charming (anti?)hero - he's ably supported by turns from hammy Tim Curry, funny Peter Boyle and pre-Gandalf/Magneto Ian McKellen. It was these names that drew me to the film, plus I have a soft spot for superhero movies of course. And it was for these names that I stayed.

but...
Aside from a prologue that was mirrored years later in Batman Begins, the film The Shadow most reminded me of was Dick Tracy - both obviously had a lot of money spent on effects and guest cast, and little attention paid to scripts and anything more than an average finished product. There's just something about The Shadow that doesn't work, and the fault seems to lie with the titular hero, who we meet ordering a man's death and than are expected to root for as he goes about fighting crime. And while Baldwin would prove hilarious decades later in TV's 30 Rock, here he's not given material to really bring out his inner comic. I can't believe that David Koepp - writer of Jurassic Park - scripted this mess. But it's not all bad, there are worse ways to pass 2 hours.

briefly...
A Dick Tracy-style mess of style and little substance, The Shadow could have done with being a lot darker, like a certain Knight, or keeping it light all through, á la Batman & Robin.

The Shadow Man (John Katzenbach, 1995)

2011-09-04T10:22:00.000+01:00

basics...
The second book in the John Katzenbach Omnibus, like In The Heat of the Summer, The Shadow Man is set in humid Miami, Florida and features a killer, but of a very different nature. The titular antagonist is a war criminal from Nazi Germany, responsible for sending many Jews to concentration camps, and is now picking off elderly survivors many miles away and decades later. Retired cop Simon Winter teams up with Detective Walter Robinson and DA Espy Martinez to try to piece together the identity of the mysterious killer.

brilliant...
The Shadow Man's background in real life atrocities sets this novel apart, and allows Katzenbach to provide a brief history lesson alongside the traditional serial-killer-crime-novel thrills. This lends a depth to the story without feeling sensationalist or exploitative. I liked the different perspectives that the 3 lead characters had on events, particularly Winter, who is a neighbour to the first victim, and in the opening chapter his plans for suicide are interrupted by the plot kicking in. Immediately Winter has an intriguing back story and personality, although I guessed from his suicide attempt that he might not make it to the last page of the book. The old detective's belief in the Shadow Man contrasts with Dt. Robinson's no-nonsense approach to deaths that appear to be cut and dried robbery-homicides or suicides. There are interesting supporting characters too, in the form of the black drug addict framed for one of the murders, and the rabbi who is holding strong in his determination to beat the old Nazi killer.

but...
Unlike In the Heat of the Summer, I felt that The Shadow Man could have been a bit shorter. I lost a bit of interest partway through, but things picked up with an excellent climax.

briefly...
A solid serial killer chiller with added depth and historical perspective.

Beaver Falls (2011)

2011-09-04T10:04:00.000+01:00

basics...

Three British friends con their way into positions at the titular Californian summer camp, find themselves looking after the 'chunk bunk' and pursue some of their sexy American colleagues.

brilliant...
The adverts and the title almost put me off Beaver Falls, which I thought was going to be a feeble gross-out, sub-Inbetweeners, juvenile mess. Luckily, I got past these things and found a show that turned out to be funny, full of beautiful people and realistic characters, and more than that - it had an unexpected heart. Hot lothario Flynn (Sam Robertson) initially shagged his way around the camp, only to reveal to camp counsellor Rachel (Kristen Gutoskie) that he is suffering a terminal disease and so is getting laid while he still can. Nerd Barry (John Dagleish) has his sights set on Kimberley (Natasha Loring), who already has a dumb jock boyfriend, but Barry shows that wit and intelligence win out. Love-lorn A-Rab (Arsher Ali) was dumped by his British girlfriend and spends most of his time pining for her while developing feelings for Rachel. Each lead character has an interesting arc, while there is also plenty for the supporting cast of 'fatties' to do, both in terms of comedy and learning to love themselves without any mawkishness. I think the main reason that Beaver Falls gets away without being too sentimental is through the fact it's British made, so humour and reality trumps Hollywood-style endings.

but...
I suppose sometimes the drama outweighed the comedy, or the laughs weren't strong enough at times, but overall the show worked. Oh and a couple of story points you could see coming a mile off, such as Rachel and Flynn getting together.

briefly...
A fun, sexy British show with a glossy, hot American setting, with an emotional set of storylines and likable, believable characters that outgrow their traditional genre stereotypes.

Parlez-moi de la pluie / Let's Talk About the Rain (2008)

2011-09-04T09:37:00.001+01:00

basics...

Billed as a French 'comedy' alongside a 4/5 star review in Radio Times, Let's Talk About the Rain was a typically leisurely comedy-drama where very little happened. A young guy and his mentor decide to make a film about strong women, and interview a local political candidate.  

brilliant...

Certain bits of the film were funny. And the scenery was beautiful. There was some really good character work as well - which is a good job as there was little plot.  

but...

Less pretentious and navel-gazey than a lot of French fare, Rain was still ponderous, plotless and ultimately pointless. The main thing you take away is 'was that it?'. And to bill this as a comedy is stretching things a bit. More like a drama with a few funny lines.  

briefly...

A missable movie whose title is as divorced from the story as the laughs. 

Batman: The Animated Series - Volume 1 (1992)

2011-08-29T09:13:00.000+01:00

basics...
The first DVD volume of the 1990's animated Batman series contains 28 episodes and features the Penguin, the Joker, Catwoman, Clayface, Killer Croc, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze and a whole host of 'colourful' new villains who face off against Bruce Wayne's alter ego.

brilliant...
I'd only ever seen bits of this series when it first went out years ago, and I'd read so many positive things about the show that I decided to give it a shot - and wow, it's one of the best adaptations of Batman ever. Kevin Conroy's voice-work as the Dark Knight and Bruce sends shivers down your spine, while Efrem Zimbalist Jr's Alfred adds a welcome light touch to a very dark animation - both in terms of the colour and content. The well-known rogues gallery of villains are given new origins (apart from Joker and Penguin, who arrive fully formed and appear to have been pestering Gotham for some time), and new one episode bad guys impress as well. The animation is stunning, Gotham looks suitably gothic, and is equipped with docks, trains, caves, springs, suburbs, anything the script calls for, but always in keeping with the same grimy asthetic. Batman really feels like a detective here rather than a super-hero, which he's not really since he has no superpowers, just the money and strength to outwit the badguys. I hope to watch more of the series soon.

but...

Aside from a couple of weaker scripts here and there the only weird thing about Batman: The Animated Series is Robin. He popped up in the second episode, then disappeared only to reappear a couple more times. Inbetween-times he's never mentioned and there's no explanation as to a) who Robin is and how he came to be in Batman's life, or b) where he is most of the time, particularly when things look dicey for Batman and he needs assistance. Robin's appearances don't detract from the episodes, but his absence is curious. He really should be there all the time or not, otherwise it's cheating.

briefly...
The definitive Batman? Very likely, but then Tim Burton's and Christopher Nolan's Dark Knights are also excellent, just different. This Batman certainly stands proud alongside Christian Bale, Michael Keaton and (of course) Adam West, Kevin Conroy is ace.

Starsuckers (2009)

2011-08-29T08:58:00.000+01:00

basics...
A multi-functioning documentary about fame, public hunger for gossip and the lengths that the media will go to to cultivate and feed it.

brilliant...
I liked the style of this documentary, which used clips, talking heads and 'sketches' to make its points. By sketches I mean pieces created for the film, with the creator running fake focus groups and job interviews to show just how crazy some people are. Such as the parents who are happy for their children to take part in a (fictional) visit to an abbatoir or drink alcohol and act drunk if it means they get on TV. Or the celebrity PA candidates who would be more than willing to break the law for their bosses, or in one case even happy to take a bullet, since they'd be alongside celebrity. There's also a long part in the second half of the documentary that looks at tabloids and how they solicit stories, without verification, to fill their pages. And finally there's a piece on how Live 8 pushed the Make Poverty History marches out of the papers and then didn't really have the impact it claimed. Oh and an excellent bit in Lithuania, where much of their parliament is made up of celebrities.

but...
Perhaps there's a bit too much going on in this documentary, and the focus gets a bit muddled. Is it about the way newspapers manipulate the news? Or about child stars? Or about public hunger for fame? It's everything all at once, and I didn't really follow how it was all supposed to be connected, other than under the massive 'media' umbrella.

briefly...
An insightful, disturbing look at the way the media controls our lives, whether knowingly or not.

The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)

2011-08-29T08:49:00.000+01:00

basics...
The four socially-awkward teens go on a summer lads holiday looking for sun, sex, sea, sex, and sex.

brilliant...
Just as hilariously filthy as the TV series, the Inbetweeners Movie is a riot, full of dirty jokes, inspired dance moves, a great cameo from Anthony Stewart Head, plus a heap of nudity from the lead cast - oh and some full frontal bits from a club dancer. What more could you want from a movie?? The cast of 4 girls that the lads pair up with are also great, not just mere eye candy, they have personalities and are not just female copies of the boys. It's good to see resolution to Simon's crush on Carly, who turns out to be a bit of a bitch, and good to see a happy ending for Will. Jay's propensity for bullshit is punctured when he actually develops a mature relationship, and his journey is perhaps the emotional core of the film, along with the general bond between all 4 guys. This unexpected sweetness carries over from the last episode of the TV series and elevates the knob gags to another level.

briefly...
Filthily hilarious, an excellent swan-song for the easily recognisable friends.

Castle: Season 1 (2009)

2011-08-27T11:16:00.000+01:00

basics...

Starring Nathan Fillion (the main draw for me) as Richard Castle, a novelist who helps out/tags along with detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and her team as they conduct murder investigations, ostensibly so that Castle can draw inspiration for his work.  

brilliant...

What puts Castle slightly above similar crime-dramas, since there are so many churned out by US TV networks, is the humour and chemisty of the two leads, which builds well across the short 10-episode first season after a slightly shaky start. Fillion is always so charming, he's a pleasure to watch, and Castle's will-they-won't-they flirtatious relationship with beautiful Beckett makes for some funny scenes. The murders are often gruesome, glossily filmed mysteries, and often include the odd surprise twist, although for the most part there's not much new, other than Castle's fiction-writer input to the crimes. The writer's relationship with his teenage daughter (Molly C. Quinn) provides a lot of the emotional backbone of the show, as well as sparky humour, as does Beckett's backstory concerning the murder of her mother. This latter looks set to be the 'Samantha Mulder' motivation that will burn away in the background, coming to the fore now and then as the series moves forward. 

but...

As with any series, it took a few episodes for Castle to find its feet, the first couple feeling a bit too flashy and inconsequential, but once the relationships and the humour became more assured the show improved. In these first 10 episodes it was important that Beckett and Castle became characters you wanted to keep returning to, so it was perhaps inevitable that the other leads, Beckett's fellow detectives, her boss and the medical examiner, got short shrift and didn't make that much of an impression. It's also taking a while for Castle's live-in actress mother (Susan Sullivan) to grow on me too.  

briefly...
Glossy, gratuitous and greatly engaging, Castle is owned by Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic's enigmatic pairing. A better-than-average crime drama with an intriguing literary background.

Foetal Attraction (Kathy Lette, 1993)

2011-08-27T10:18:00.000+01:00

basics...
From the same collection of books as American Psycho, Foetal Attraction couldn't be more different. Funny chick-lit, Lette's book follows Australian Maddy Wolfe and her relationship with TV wildlife expert Alex. Maddy moves to London to be with her beau, but she soon finds herself an outsider with Alex's snooty friends, and then when the relationship begins to crumble she finds herself pregnant.

brilliant...
I don't normally go in for female-focussed fiction like this, so I was a bit unsure what I would make of this book, particularly as it seemed to be all about pregnancy and babies. And then I read the first line 'My female friends had told me that giving birth was like shitting a water melon', and the first chapter had me laughing a lot at Lette's wonderful use of language so I was gripped. Part fish-out-of-water comedy and part realistic love story, Foetal Attraction is a simple idea realised brilliantly, with wit, sarcasm and a good cynical take on relationships and pregnancy. The funniest chapters of the book are the 4 or 5 pieces that begin each Part of the novel, when Maddy is describing in glorious detail the agony of childbirth in the first person. The rest of the book follows Maddy's journey from her move to London through to conception and ante-natal classes, meeting a host of horrifically funny members of the British upper classes along the way. The unpatronising, very modern take on impending motherhood had me in stitches, and gave me a different perspective on a subject I won't ever get to experience firsthand.

briefly...
Funny, modern and very real - if all chick-lit is this good then maybe I'll give more of it a chance.

The Pitmen Painters (23/08/11, The Grand)

2011-08-26T18:20:00.000+01:00

basics...
Written by Lee Hall, who was responsible for both the movie and stage versions of Billy Elliot, The Pitmen Painters has a similar north-east, mining town setting, although this time the events are based on a real group of painting pitmen from the 1930s and 40s.

brilliant...
I found this play at utter delight from beginning to end, with many moments of laugh-out-loud humour and earthy, believable characters. It was also incredibly informative and thought-provoking about the class system, politics of the period and above all else, the appreciation of art. Hall's approach to art much more accessible than that espoused by Alan Bennett in The Habit of Art, and it opened my mind to ways of creating, interpreting and thinking about culture that I hadn't thought of before. The cast were exceptional, with strong Geordie accents helping the humour along. I particularly enjoyed the culture class comedy between the 5 budding artists and their posh tutor, Robert Lyon. My favourite line involved a posh patron exclaiming that she likes modern art, to be told that she'd like the group's work then, as they were only painted that week!

briefly...
A hilarious and touching portrait of painting pitmen, with the added bonus of challenging approaches to art production and appreciation.

Agatha Christie's Verdict (20/08/11, The Grand)

2011-08-26T18:00:00.000+01:00

basics...
Last year we saw The Agatha Christie Theatre Company's excellent production of Witness for the Prosecution, so we were eager to see their next show. Where Witness was a courtroom drama with a few twists thrown in, Verdict is a pretty straight-forward character drama. There's a murder, but we see it happen, so it's not a whodunnit, or even a whydunnit, the tension comes in the second act when another character is mistakenly put on trial (off stage) for the crime.

brilliant...
Not heavy on plot, Verdict's success is in the fully-rounded cast of 10, including a German academic, his wheelchair bound wife, her sister and a couple of Professor Hendryk's students. The script is witty and initially led me to believe that the play could be a whodunnit, neatly setting up motives for several characters, before romantic jealousy leads a young student to poison the professor's wife. From here the drama intensifies around the court case of the deceased's sister, who also happens to have an unconsummated but reciprocated love for her widowed brother-in-law. It's hard to describe how the characterisations make the play shine, but the actors really brought the whole piece alive, and did so on an impressive library set.

but...
Focussing on the characters means that there's not that much exciting drama, and as I went in expecting a mystery I was a little disappointed at how straight it all was. The very end was rather odd too, and a little flat.

briefly...
An absorbing character piece that's oddly twist-free.

Fish Tank (2009)

2011-08-21T11:52:00.000+01:00

basics...

Directed by Andrea Arnold, who I know from the very good Red Road, Fish Tank is a 'kitchen sink' drama about 15 year old Mia (Katie Jarvis), a disaffected 'chav' who slowly falls for her bitchy mother's new boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender). 

brilliant...

I always find it hard to put into words what I like about these very British sorts of films. The characters are very often from an unlikable social group, the language would make a sailor blush, and generally not a lot happens. Fish Tank is so well crafted though, with characters you care about, and believable situations draw you into these small, personal dramas. Jarvis, who'd never acted before this film, is an excellent lead, she puts an emotional gloss on the chavvy bravado that would normally put me off such a character (on screen or in real life). It also helps that she's supported by the delicious Michael Fassbender, who I find has an odd sort of attraction and is magnetic on screen (get the Magneto pun? oh). Arnold lets the budding crush develop slowly, and it builds to a will they won't they where you hope that either/both character has the good sense not to jeopardise the friendship. And then it all goes pear-shaped and a few revelations and disappointments towards the end make your heart yearn for a bit of good luck for Mia. 

briefly...
A welcome addition to British cinema that is anchored by a pair of likable, sympathetic leads.

Babes in Hollywood (2010)

2011-08-21T11:37:00.002+01:00

basics...
Another documentary in the True Stories strand, this one looks at the experiences of child actors who come to a specific apartment complex every year for pilot season, in the hope of landing a TV series and having their celebrity dreams come true.

brilliant...
Rather than being like some sort of freaky mini-pops style clown show, Babes' tales are full of unintentional laughs, delusional young actors and parents, and a real dollop of reality and emotional heartache. The families who inhabit the apartments include Megan and her mom, who came several years ago and never left, but the precocious young wannabe fails to secure any auditions, never mind callbacks. Her story is the sad heart of the documentary - they rarely see her father, back home in his state making money to keep funding the acting classes, photographers, and myriad other leeches, and her mother regularly breaks down and wonders how she carries on. There's also Shanna, who has come along with her mom to pilot season for the very first time, and they both have their eyes open to how difficult it really is to make it in Hollywood, and how much luck is involved. They end up leaving at the end of pilot season seemingly satisfied to carry on with their lives, but many of the kids and adults are not so clear headed. It doesn't help that the 'motivational' speakers fill everyone's heads with impossible dreams.

briefly...
An eye-opening peek into how Hollywood makes its money, and how difficult it is for anyone, whether child or not, to get a big break.

Dead Reckoning (1947)

2011-08-21T09:38:00.000+01:00

basics...
The noirest of the noir, Dead Reckoning sees Captain 'Rip' Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) trying to get to the bottom of what got his friend killed, and how it ties in to a murder years ago. He is assisted and hampered by Coral, Lisbeth Scott's tricky femme fatale.

brilliant...
Dead Reckoning is packed full of sparkling dialogue, the majority of it tumbling from Bogart's expert lips through narration, or dead pan on screen. I've only seen Bogart before in Casablanca, and his Rip here seems like a close relation of that film's Rick, the script seems to be tailored to his particular style and delivery. The plot is twisty and turny and people with classic noir goons and villains, with Scott's love-interest/plot catalyst/possible mastermind a good foil for Rip's macho manner.

but...
The final act reveal of the criminal mastermind will shock few people, even those who've only seen or read a couple of pieces of the noir genre (like me).

briefly...
A feast for the eyes and ears thanks to the claustrophic noir stylings and the sharp screenplay, brought to sinister life by Bogart.

Twilight (2008)

2011-08-21T09:28:00.000+01:00

basics...
Twilight is your typical girl-meets-reformed-vampire romance, only with hoards of insane fans, going crazy over 'R-Patz' and 'Jac-Abs'.

brilliant...
I wanted to really like Twilight, and it's not a terrible movie. But not being a crazy mad fan of the books (never read them) or Robert Pattinson, who is sort-of-handsome but not really as a pasty-faced, moody vampire. It's only when Bella (Kristen Stewart) figures out that Edward is a vampire halfway into the movie that Pattinson gets to let loose a bit and shows flashes of something great, but this is tempered by the general woodness of the script and misery of the direction. I liked spotting the people I knew in the supporting cast, like Up in the Air's Anna Kendrick, Dr. Cooper from Nurse Jackie and the tasty Cam Gigandet, who has the scene's only hot topless shot. Taylor Lautner's Jacob is only a minor character in this movie, he'll come back in force later on as far as I understand it, but his brief scenes here, with horrible long hair, add a spark that I wasn't expecting. His storyline is one of the more interesting bits. Oh and Edward's vampire family is fun too.

but...
The main flaw in Twilight is the morose, sullen heroine, Bella. I can see why teenage girls identify with her, but she's incredibly difficult to symathise with or give a shit about. She's miserable for no discernable reason and rarely cracks a smile. And then she's lumped with some poor dialogue and an interminably long, drawn-out prelude to romance with Edward. This film could really do with some editing, and some excitement. Especially considering this is a vampire movie there's very little action, you have to wait until the closing 20 mins for all the real danger and thrills when Gigandet's evil vampire smacks Bella around a lot.

briefly...
Twilight is OK. I would like to watch the later films to see more of Lautner, to see if he lives up to the promise he shows here, and to maybe see Pattinson kick things up a notch - maybe different directors will help with this. Otherwise, if I want to see a vampire-human romance I'll stick to a story with bite, like True Blood or Buffy.

He Kills Coppers & truecrime (Jake Arnott, 2001 & 2003)

2011-08-20T09:37:00.000+01:00

basics...

The second and third books of The Long Firm trilogy, He Kills Coppers and truecrime continue and expand upon the world of British gangsters and police that Jake Arnott began in the book that named the threesome. Coppers follows the exploits of policeman Frank Taylor, journalist Tony Meehan, and small-time crook-cum-cop-killing legend Billy Porter through the 1960s and into the 1980s, while truecrime moves Tony into the 1990s alongside hard man Gaz Kelly, and Julie Kincaid, daughter of a gangland father, out for revenge on the man who killed him - Harry Starks.  

brilliant...

Picking up where The Long Firm left off, He Kills Coppers and truecrime work well as standalone stories, and work even better as parts of a labyrinthine whole, tied together by common characters and events. Harry Starks, prominent in Firm, is more of a sinister background presence in the second book, but his (perceived) actions at the end of book one directly feed into the overarching plot of truecrime, namely the plot to end him. Arnott's prose is a pleasure to read, packed with period detail and interesting, earthy characters from various walks of life. The cops are as three-dimensional - and flawed - as the criminals, and the multi-protagonist approach to the books (in Firm and truecrime, one chapter per character, in Coppers, the three characters each get a third of a chapter) means that events are seen through different eyes, meaning it can be difficult to know who to sympathise with. That doesn't mean that the characters aren't sympathetic though, even the villains - Gaz's story in truecrime is particularly good as he narrates his approach to changing fashions in clothes, drug culture and celebrity.  

but...

I think my only real grumble with the books is my own fault - I wish I'd either re-read The Long Firm before reading books 2 and 3, or that I hadn't left it so long before finishing the massive trilogy that's been sat on the shelf only a third read for years. I found myself flicking back through The Long Firm to try and remind myself what Starks was all about, and to see whether the characters in later books has popped up before. 

briefly...

A classic trilogy that seems to get better with each entry, He Kills Coppers and truecrime were both captivating reads. And if David Bowie thinks that the books are 'funny, fast, witty and brutal', who am I to argue?

Die Welle / The Wave (2008)

2011-08-20T09:09:00.000+01:00

basics...
Based on an American teen novel, this German, adult movie follows a high school class during project week, when their Autocracy lesson gets out of hand. Rubbishing the idea of another Nazi Germany, the students are manipulated by their teacher, Mr. Wenger (Jürgen Vogel), into adopting a dress code and a new set of values which leads the class to discover that fascism is all too easy to set in motion...

brilliant...
Would this film have such an emotional undercurrent if it was not German made? I doubt it. Germany's painful history, and its people's struggles to assimilate it with the modern day, are an explosive catalyst to the plot of The Wave. And because of the history of fascism, the resultant fallout is all the more scary. I found the film enthralling from beginning to end, and although I'd associate 'thrillers' with action and special effects, The Wave proves that a relatively simple domestic classroom drama can be just as thrilling. The class is full of recognisable types, the hippy chick who stands up to the Wave and won't conform, the bullies who rail against it initially and then don't want to be left out, and the popular, hot jock (Max Riemelt) who can see that all will not end well. And then there's Tim, who's all too open to the power of suggestion and becomes far too enmeshed in the narrative of the Wave. Posing challenging questions - although the students are defacing property outside of class, their school work improves - about the power of the individual versus the mob, The Wave is a masterful piece of filmmaking, with a style and soundtrack that only increases the feeling of growing menance and lack of control.

briefly...
A powerful premise thrillingly executed, The Wave will be a film I'll revisit in the future.

Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios / Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)

2011-08-20T08:35:00.000+01:00

basics...
A big hit both in Spain and in America in 1988, Women... is about the 7th Almodóvar movie I've seen, after enjoying Bad Education, Volver, Tie Me Up Tie Me Down, etc. Described on the box as a farce, the film features regular Almodóvar stars Carmen Maura and a young Antonio Banderas - the former goes a bit deranged when her lover seemingly cuts her loose. What follows is a typically odd collection of characters drinking drugged gazpacho, soap-opera style histrionics and a final act chase sequence in a bizarrely furnished taxi.

brilliant...
This certainly had Almodóvar's charming off-kilter feel to it, with some funny moments and a tour de force turn from Maura.

but...
Sadly the laughs were not very frequent and I found the whole thing disappointing. After watching the introduction by a film expert, gushing about the story, the hilarity and the movie references, I realised that this is the sort of film that you might study for influences in a film studies class - unfortunately this didn't translate into something particularly easily accessible and enjoyable. And thus I was surprised that it did so well in the American markets. I can't put my finger on what it was I didn't enjoy... I just found the 'farce' strangely paced and the expected laughs thin on the ground.

briefly...
A real treat... if you're a proper serious film buff. I know movies, but not enough to spot Hitchcockian references in Spanish cinema. Oh well, hopefully I'll have better luck with the next Almodóvar we watch.

After the Apocalypse (2010) & The Redemption of General Butt Naked (2010)

2011-08-20T08:19:00.000+01:00

basics...
The Radio Times has picked out a couple of the True Stories documentary film strands on More 4 lately, so I've taken to recording/watching them and found some very interesting stories. The first one I watched was After the Apocalypse which took as its focus the possibly sinister aftermath of Soviet nuclear testing in the Polygon/Semipalatinsk Test Site in remote Kazakhstan. The second followed Joshua Blahyi, known as General Butt Naked during the Liberian civil war of the 1990s, who has become born-again and seeks forgiveness for his horrific acts of bloody violence.

brilliant...
Neither story is the sort of thing that makes for easy viewing, but both subjects are fascinating, and the way both documentary makers let the people tell the story with no narration allows you to make up your own mind about who to believe or who to forgive. Apocalypse begins with stories of people who have grown up in the Polygon area and they and their children have suffered physical deformities, which they blame on nuclear fallout. However, as the film goes on we meet scientists who cast doubt on the veracity of these claims. But some of these scientists work for the government. So it is difficult to know who to believe, since the officials may have an agenda just as much as the poor families are looking for excuses. What is true is that the treatment of the deformed children, and the expectant mothers, is terrible at the hands of unfeeling health professionals.

Victims of the Polygon?

In Redemption - which has a title that really draws you in with the expectation of something a little bit salacious - is the more fascinating of the two documentaries. Covering a filming period of months and years, it follows Blahyi as he addresses congregations, meets victims of his brutality, testifies to the Liberian war crimes 'pre-tribunal' and then goes into hiding. The film never asks you to judge Blahyi, but it allows him to explain himself, his past actions and his later search for redemption, and contrasts this with talking heads interviews with historians, ex-gang members and victims' rights campaigners. After admitting to killing not less than 20,000 through his actions in the civil war at the tribunal, Blahyi is exonerated from prosecution while others - including a politician who had killed the ex-Liberian leader - were recommended for trial. It's a shocking admission, a shocking statistic, and an even more shocking outcome. It makes you wonder about the power of forgiveness and whether a person really is capable of such acts of contrition as Blahyi.

briefly...
Sometimes difficult to watch, yet always fascinating, thought-provoking studies of two terrible periods in the histories of little-discussed countries. I will be watching more True Stories with interest.