Appetite whetted by the original Lethal Weapon, we watched the first two sequels in quick succession, and for my money they're as much fun as the first, and because there's no setting up of the relationship between Riggs and Murtaugh they get straight into the action and comedy.
In LW3, Murtaugh is determined to retire from being a cop - he's too old for this shit - and thankfully, in the avoidance of the usual cliché that spins out from these kind of plots, he lives to kill another day. Leo Getz is back again, and is used sparingly enough that he's effective and not superflous. Riggs gets a love interest this time round, who survives, in the form of Rene Russo's Lorna Cole, a female mirror image of him in terms of scars and fighting technique. She's the Batgirl to his Batman. Or something. Either way, she's a good addition to the growing cast, and she's back for the next instalment. It's interesting to note that there was no love story in LW, and the one in LW2 ended tragically, you'd think that Riggs would see more action. The fact that he's a grieving widower in LW and his lonely life is contrasted with Murtaugh's happy family kept him single then, and the death of Kensit's character in LW2 spurred him on to revenge, so it's nice to see Riggs have a little happiness this time around.
After a break to explore some other movies, we shall return to the franchise, and hopefully give Loaded Weapon 1 a go again too.
Last Saturday I saw Hairspray at the theatre for the second time, last time was a year ago in London, when Michael Ball was playing Edna Turnblad. This time I went with 13 friends and relatives to the touring version in Leeds, with Brian Conley as Edna, and Nigel Planer as Wilbur (who may have been in the London version too).
There turned out not to be much to pick between Ball or Conley's Ednas, except of course Conley doesn't have the voice that Ball has, and he needed more padding. Either way, this second viewing was just as good as the first, if not better! Laurie Scarth was a phenomenal Tracy Turnblad, and Liam Doyle's Link Larkin looked mighty fine from where I was sitting. Gillian Kirkpatrick's Velma Von Tussle was better in Leeds than in London, she seemed to make a more delicious baddy.
As a bonus for this trip to Hairspray, after the show I had my photo taken with Brian Conley himself! Plus my friend Sandra got my programme signed by Nigel Planer, Conley and Laurie Scarth, who she got to put a personalised message on there. It was the cherry on the top of a highly enjoyable, toe-tapping, hilarious night at the theatre.
It's a couple of weeks since the Doctor Who finale, and there's a gaping hole in the Saturday night TV schedule. This series seemed to pass fairly quickly. My verdict on the new Doctor and his show then...
Matt Smith has been great as the new Doctor, initially there was more than a hint of David Tennant in his portrayal, but as the series has gone on he made the role his own, with flashes on anger and panic that never troubled the previous incarnation. I've enjoyed the numerous references to his old faces too, and Steven Moffat, the new show runner, has done an excellent job in making the series feel fresh yet familiar.
There have been some really strong episodes, mostly towards the latter half of the series, including the one with Vincent Van Gogh, 'Amy's Choice' and the two-part finale - the first half of which was among the best TV I've seen. Rory, the new semi-companion, was good fun, and the way all of the adventures tied together at the end was great. There were also a few ho-hum episodes such as the obligatory Dalek one and the drawn out two parter with the Silurians.
I've not been convinced by the new companion Amy Pond though. She seems permanently set to shout mode, and doesn't have a great range of expression. I'm sick of the sight of her legs too - why are they trying to sex up Doctor Who? I must add a caveat actually - adult Amy Pond as played by Karen Gillan I find a little annoying, young Amelia Pond as played by Caitlin Blackwood in the cracking season opener and finale was a joy to behold. I and others I know would much rather watch young Amelia than Amy. But towards the end of the season Amy got a little less annoying, though she never became as good as Donna Noble.
I watched a nice British comedy this morning, Grow Your Own, about a group of people in an allotment. It was a rather gentle comedy that was well played and made some well crafted points about immigration and integration, with a cast populated by well known TV character actors such as Benedict Wong, Eddie Marsan and Olivia Coleman, plus Omid Djalili.
The lead story, if there was one as this was very much an ensemble piece, featured Benedict Wong's mute father, who is placed at an allotment to try to get him to open up. When we find out why he has been struck dumb, the revelation is fairly shocking in both the grim reality of the situation and the mundane nature of the character's finally opening up - to an extra. His children's attempts to get him to speak and interact with the world/allotment are sweet and touching, while the other characters provide much humour and warmth. There are sour notes when Omid Djalili's doctor and his family are forcibly removed by immigration officers, but there is an inevitable happy ending... for everyone else - Djalili's family remain deported.
Grow Your Own is a very British film with a large optimistic streak that can be a bit hard to swallow, but ultimately it's fun and a good watch.
The one drama I watched from the BBC's recent mini 80's season (aside from Ashes to Ashes) was the 2 part comedy-drama Money, starring Nick Frost, and adapted from Martin Amis' novel. It was a strange show really. Frost was good, although I'm not sure that he should be doing starring roles, his humour and style works better against a partner, i.e. Simon Pegg. He did have excellent support from the tasty Vincent Kartheiser, of Mad Men and Angel fame as a dodgy producer though. Frost played John Self, an ad director in the 80's who gets the chance to make a big budget movie in the US, with Kartheiser's producer helping him along the way.
The latest series of The Graham Norton Show has come to an end, and I'll miss it! I used to watch So Graham Norton way back when it was on Channel 4 and enjoyed it muchly, but then it turned into 5 nights a week V Graham Norton and the format was stretched too thin, and the humour got a bit wearing. Since the chatshow moved to BBC2 and now BBC1 it has improved greatly.
At my childhood home last weekend I was updating my parent's computer and waiting for installations when I picked a book at random from the shelf from a hardback collection I had not taken when I moved out. This Classic Adventures series was a fortnightly collection that I got when I was 10 years old, according to the date I've written in the 'This book belongs to...' section at the front. I remember reading Little Women and The Prisoner of Zenda, but none of the other 20 or so books. All are considered classics, and I think I'll appreciate them more as an adult reader, as I've brought them all back to my flat with me.
I polished off Twenty Thousand Leagues... within a week as I found it really enthralling, at least for the most part. I don't know how the French original reads, but the translation (in this abridged version, though how abridged I've no idea) is witty and uses some wonderful language. The book follows M. Arronax, his man Conseil, and Canadian harpooner Ned Land as they are taken aboard Captain Nemo's Nautilus submarine and travel 20,000 leagues around the world - not 20,000 leagues beneath the sea as the title implies.
Those are pretty much the only characters found in the bulk of the book, although the first several chapters explain how Arronax and co end up on Nautilus when they are washed overboard the ship that is tracking a mysterious leviathan... which turns out to be Captain Nemo's submarine. The novel is then set almost entirely aboard Nautilus and follows in a rather episodic manner, the adventures of the ship and the wonderment that Arronax experiences along the way. There are encounters with unusual sea creatures, explorations of shipwrecks, a visit to Atlantis, and a gripping sequence when the vessel finds itself trapped under the Antarctic ice.
The enigmatic Captain Nemo and his mute, nameless crew are a mystery to Arronax and his reader, and I liked that there was no easy (or any!) explanation as to Nemo's background or why he has chosen to renounce the physical world for a life under the seas. I enjoyed the Nautilus' adventures, and found the descriptions of life under the waves fascinating, in much the same way as Moby Dick was interesting in it's depiction of the life and times of whales. A pleasure to read then, and a cracking adventure. I look forward to more of the Classic Adventures series.
In LW3, Murtaugh is determined to retire from being a cop - he's too old for this shit - and thankfully, in the avoidance of the usual cliché that spins out from these kind of plots, he lives to kill another day. Leo Getz is back again, and is used sparingly enough that he's effective and not superflous. Riggs gets a love interest this time round, who survives, in the form of Rene Russo's Lorna Cole, a female mirror image of him in terms of scars and fighting technique. She's the Batgirl to his Batman. Or something. Either way, she's a good addition to the growing cast, and she's back for the next instalment. It's interesting to note that there was no love story in LW, and the one in LW2 ended tragically, you'd think that Riggs would see more action. The fact that he's a grieving widower in LW and his lonely life is contrasted with Murtaugh's happy family kept him single then, and the death of Kensit's character in LW2 spurred him on to revenge, so it's nice to see Riggs have a little happiness this time around. 
