Double Indemnity (James M. Cain, 1936)

I've just finished Double Indemnity by James M. Cain - I wanted something quick and easy, and at just 136 pages this slice of classic crime fiction fit the bill. I read The Postman Always Rings Twice, Cain's previous novel, some time ago and liked it. Double Indemnity is in the same style, featuring a glamorous heroine and a hard-boiled hero plotting murder, yet I preferred this one. There's not a lot to write about it really, other than the story of a murder that is planned, carried out, and then covered up, is intricately plotted, and there are many twists, turns and double-crosses as the book heads towards it's conclusion. The language is snappy and stylish, and while there's little space taken up in descriptions of characters and moods, everyone is well sketched. Although the conclusion was a bit exposition-heavy, that's a fault of crime fiction generally and doesn't detract from the atmospheric, rollicking good read that Cain produced.

Medium: Season 4 (2008)

After a break for Xmas, BBC2 has finally got round to finishing their repeat showing of Medium's 4th season. And as far as I know, that's it's last appearance on free-to-air TV as the rights have gone off to a satellite channel somewhere. Thank goodness for DVD box sets!

Following the waves that were made at the end of Season 3, when Alison was 'outed', Season 4 rearranges the show so that both Allison and Joe are out of work, Devalos is no longer District Attorney, and Scanlon is wary of Allison's assistance for fear of her reputation rubbing off on him. Allison initially works for the curmudgeonly Cynthia Keener, portrayed by Anjelica Huston over a number of episodes during the first half of the (short, strike-hit) season. 

Unfortunately, as good as Huston is in the role, she's not Devalos! And due to the re-jigging of the format, Manuel is often no where to be seen, appearing in only a handful of episodes, despite Miguel Sandoval's name in the opening credits each week. Thankfully, Lee Scanlon, after initial hesitancy, begins to seek out Allison's help more often. The conclusion of Cynthia Keener's story was powerful and unexpected, and then made me miss her! While Allison is often quite grumpy (usually with Joe) it was nice to have a character who was even more irritable to make Allison seem a bit happier. 

There was a new guest star this series too, in the form of a coffee shop where everyone now gets together, despite never having gone there before. I do like it when that happens - the same thing occurred in Kyle XY's second season. Elsewhere in the show, Joe had a brilliant idea for an invention (through his own inspired dream that took place in an animated world), and eventually got taken for a ride by his beautiful financier; Marie got glasses; and... Allison had a lot of dreams! I've been able to work out a few of the cases before Allison this season, which either means I've watched too much detective TV, or the cases are getting easier - yet every time she dreams she has to convince Scanlon (and often Joe) to listen to her. You'd think they'd learn to trust her more! And it would also save a lot of time each episode if she had the full dream at the start, rather than having bits of it over different nights. Though I guess that would make for a boring show. 

By season's end, Devalos was DA again, and Scanlon and Allison are there to help come season 5, and Joe has a well-paid new job, so the money-worries that plagued the DuBois' this season are no more. Despite feeling a little cheated by this series 'reset', it's good to have the gang back together. Now, when's season 5 out on DVD? (And actually I need season 4 as the snooker made me miss 2 episodes!)

Up in the Air (2009)

This Orange Wednesday we took a trip to the cinema to see Up in the Air, a comedy-drama starring George Clooney about a man who chooses to be alone and enjoys his job flying around the US, as part of a firm hired to fire employees of other companies. Beginning as a more of a drama, as we follow Clooney's encounter with Vera Farmiga's fellow high-flyer and his battle with Anna Kendrick's young company upstart who wants to replace face-to-face firings with a web cam alternative, the movie brings the comedy in spades, yet never forgets the emotional pull of Clooney and his co-stars. 

I'm a fan of Clooney's off-beat manner, in films like Ocean's Eleven/Thirteen, O Brother Where Art Thou?, and Burn After Reading, and he's just perfect in the role of Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air. There's been a lot of discussion of how Bingham *is* Clooney, and it's easy to see the parallels. It makes the story feel more personal and adds an edge to some of the more downbeat moments in particular. 

I've never seen Farmiga or Kendrick in a film before, but I hope to again! They are both so fantastic - Kendrick is the comedic heart of the film, and Farmiga the sexy emotional soul, although she can sure do comedy well too! The cast is uniformly superb - including Jason Bateman, and a surprisingly touching turn from J.K. Simmons - and the film looks beautiful. The opening titles alone were gorgeous, featuring aerial views around America, and the rest of the movie followed in this vein. I also enjoyed the music, both incidental and director Jason Reitman's choice of songs. 

In fact, there was nothing about this film I didn't love. Alright, the very end was kinda downbeat, but it felt right. There's no Hollywood happy ending, but I came away from the movie distinctly satisfied and pleased with everything I'd just seen. I cannot wait to see Up in the Air again.

The Day of the Triffids (John Wyndham, 1951)

 'Everyone starts by knowing nothing about anything, but God gives him - and even her - brains to find out with. Failure to use them is not a virtue to be praised: even in women it is a gap to be deplored' - p. 148

At Christmas I watched the decidedly boring BBC big-budget adaptation of The Day of the Triffids. Distinctly under whelmed, I picked the original novel off the shelf last Friday, and from the first page I was hooked. I can’t remember the last time a book drew me in so quickly, and then kept me going until I finished it on Wednesday, less than a week later.

The first few chapters were very closely adhered to in the BBC version, and there were certain story elements that survived in one way or another, but the book was much more satisfying and a really pleasurable read. There was no superfluous Nun character, no Eddie Izzard pantomime villain, and no bloody Dougray Scott!

The strangest thing about The Day of the Triffids is how little the book contains the titular killer plant life. They’re always lurking in the background, but the core of the story is made up of the after effects of a catastrophic (man-made?) celestial event that leaves all but a few people around the world blind. Bill Masen is our sighted narrator, guiding us through his experiences from the morning he wakes up from an eye operation sighted, while everywhere around him lies chaos as everyone fails to adjust to their blindness. Wyndham spends more time exploring how such a blighted society can possibly function without electricity, medicine or wide-scale food production. He explores themes of anarchy, dictators, and free-loving through interesting characters, particularly the compelling Masen.

The Triffids merely add an extra science-fiction layer to the problems the blind world faces. It is suggested that the Triffids were engineered in Soviet Russia and then stolen by the West for their oil production, and Bill theorises that the celestial event was not a comet shower, but a man-made toxin released in space. These extra layers add a great deal of intrigue to the plot, and reflect the Cold War era in which the action takes place. Also indicative of the era is the occasionally sexist views taken by the characters (and Wyndham?) towards women, and what roles they could (and should) have in the coming rebuilding of society. Should they just be having babies, or should they work with the men? Having said that, Josella, Bill’s companion through much of the book is a strong female character who knows her own mind, and who has faced prejudice as she gained infamy by writing a sexy novel.  

A lesser book would not have been able to handle such great themes as society’s destruction and rebirth, let alone with the added science fiction element, but The Day of the Triffids works wonderfully, and I would recommend it to any fiction lover. There’s also a distinct vein of humour running throughout that adds another edge.

Farscape: Season 1 (1999-2000)

We’ve just finished the first season of Farscape, the Jim Henson sci-fi series that features, human, puppets and CGI all working together. This was a new achievement in TV back in 1999, and as far as I know, there still aren’t (m)any adult TV shows using puppets to tell their stories today.

I first watched Farscape when it showed on BBC2 at 6pm on a week night, back when Buffy, Due South, The Simpsons and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air made that a must see hour, right after Neighbours finished on BBC1. But then the BBC decided cult shows such as these were for graveyard slots or the digital realms, so I think I only actually saw a couple of seasons of Farscape – though I’ve definitely seen all of season 1 before.

Watching season 1 again, I found more to enjoy in the series than I’d seen previously. I appreciated how well drawn the characters are, and how subtle some of their interactions are. The concept of Farscape – John Crichton, a human, ends up on a prison ship with a collection of fugitives and tries to find his way back to Earth – has always intrigued me. These characters were (mostly) prisoners, although prisoners of the nefarious and falsely named Peacekeepers, so their crimes are not as cut and dried as they first appear. This show has no basic ‘explore the galaxy’ remit, rather the ship and it’s inhabitants are on the run from the Peacekeepers they escaped from, and each is trying to get to their home planet, although they are currently, inconveniently, in the Uncharted Territories. Each character is distinct and has their own priorities, and each is selfish in different ways. As the season evolves so too do the characters’ relationships with each other, as they develop respect and learn how to interact with others.

Crichton (Ben Browder) is the hunky, pop-culture-referencing Earthling stranded on Moya, a living ship (although as hard as they try, she doesn’t really ‘look’ like a living being, but it’s a very interesting concept, especially when she gives birth at the season’s end), and he is the audience’s way in to this world. Very occasionally, Browder’s performance edges on annoying, but mostly he’s both fun and funny. Claudia Black plays Aeryn Sun, one of favourite characters for she grows immensely from her role as a simple Peacekeeper grunt into a compassionate member of the crew, and her relationship with Crichton is so playful they’ve just go to get it on any minute!

The non-human looking members of the crew are: Ka D’Argo (Anthony Simcoe), a Luxan warrior who is initially very head strong, but like Aeryn learns to use his head before his Qualta Blade; Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan (Virginia Hey), a blue woman who’s actually a plant, and the slightly hippy one with a knack for medicine; Dominar Rygel XVI, a hilarious puppet creation who resembles a toad or a large slug, but in a nice way!; and Pilot, the massive animatronic at the heart of Moya. Gigi Edgley joined the regular cast for the last few episodes, playing Chiana, and she created some excellent new dynamics with the rest of the cast.

I love the humour in Farscape, and not just Crichton’s pop culture references. The fact that Rygel farts helium is brilliant in itself, and when he’s stuck in a pod with Chiana and can’t help but break wind it lightens a very tense episode. Initially made up of monster of the week style episodes featuring either a new planet or a new visitor to Moya, the latter half of season 1 really ups the stakes with story arcs and recurring villains Crais and Scorpius (re)introduced into the mix, creating more jeopardy and a chance for the actors to really show their acting chops. That is not to say that the first episodes are poor, far from it, although sometimes the ideas on display are better than their execution, it is that the later episodes are noticeably more exciting and tighter scripted. Any new series needs time to find it’s feet, just look at The X-Files and Buffy’s first seasons.

One of the other distinctive features of Farscape that set it apart from other sci-fi series (other than the imaginative puppet and costume work that Jim Henson’s workshop creates every episode) is that it was filmed in Australia, and thus most of the cast and guest cast are Australian. Although our hero, John Crichton, is as American as they come, everyone else in this part of the world usually speaks with an Aussie twang. It’s refreshing to hear that Crichton’s translator microbes work with an Australian accent!

Baby Mama (2008)

Being a fan of Tina Fey from Mean Girls and 30 Rock, I was interested to see how she copes with material she hasn’t written in the movie Baby Mama. In the film Fey plays Kate, a career woman with no partner who desperately wants a child, which leads her to a surrogate agency and Amy Poehler’s white trash Angie, who Kate ends up paying to carry her child.

It’s quite a slight movie and some of the twists are turns are fairly obvious, yet it works well due to the great cast and the often hilarious script. Fey plays it pretty straight, and most of the laughs come from Poehler, someone I wasn’t familiar with before this film. There’s some excellent support from Greg Kinnear as the smoothie-store owner Fey eventually falls for, and great comic work from Sigourney Weaver as the owner of the surrogacy agency – I wish she would do more comedy, like the brilliant Galaxy Quest.

One of the film’s highlights is an uncredited turn from Steve Martin as Kate’s pony-tailed hippyesque boss. He steals every scene he’s in and had me in stitches. At one point he rewards Kate with 5 minutes of direct eye contact. Priceless. It’s the cast that lifts this comedy above average and the strong female characters are refreshing.

Face/Off (1997)

How ridiculous is Face/Off?! I saw this for the first time on Friday night, and I think it has one of the most ludicrous plots I've ever seen, but I enjoyed it in spite of this. John Woo's action is always pretty spectacular (I need to watch Broken Arrow again!) and having Nicholas Cage in any action movie usually promises something bonkers. 

So John Travolta plays CIA/FBI(?) agent Sean Archer out to catch the murderer of his young son, namely Nic Cage's stupidly monikered villain Castor Troy (who has a brother named Pollux Troy, a name which is impossible to take seriously). After a manic gun battle in the first 15 minutes, Castor is incapacitated. It then turns out that in order to get Pollux to confess the location of a bomb, the best course of action is for Archer to have his face removed and replaced with Castor's... I'll run that by you again - John Travolta's face is to be lasered off, and Nic Cage's is to be put back on, and then after a bit of lipo and such like, voilá, Sean Archer now looks like Castor Troy. 

The biggest conceit of the movie, the face/off, is also the hardest piece of plotting to swallow. I've seen photos of the woman who recently had the world's first face transplant, and to put it nicely, she wasn't pretty. And this was after numerous operations and many months work. Face/Off asks you to believe that pudgy John Travolta can be operated on to become slim Nic Cage over night. And then it asks you to believe that Nic Cage's faceless bad guy awakes from his coma, then gets Travolta's face put on, again over night, with no scarring at all (other than the face itching a bit!). So far so ridiculous. The face thing is about doable, but the fact that Cage and Travolta have such different body shapes is harder to get around - Troy in Archer's body sleeps with Archer's wife... Surely she might have noticed some intimate details that were different? Or did the doctors match the pair cock for cock?! 

The ludicrousness of these plot points doesn't seem to be lost on the script or actors who occasionally can't believe what they're explaining or witnessing. HOWEVER... As a fun, funny, and balls-out enjoyable action caper, this film works. And it works on the strengths of Nic Cage and John Travolta playing John Travolta and Nic Cage respectively. Travolta's character is much more interesting when he's playing the out-of-his-mind villain, and Nic Cage tones everything down wonderfully to play Sean Archer's frustrated obsessive agent. 

Face/Off fits in a genre of film that seemed prevalent in the 80's and 90's that isn't around much anymore - that of the mindless shoot 'em up. I can't remember a film of recent years (other than the hilarious Shoot 'Em Up itself, and Hot Fuzz, both quasi-parodies of the genre) that has such a high body count, a love of guns, and sense of beserk action madness. These days there's too much emphasis on gore or guns are seen as a bit passé. Now you get Jason Bourne attacked people with magazines, or comic book violence of either the toned down Spider-Man kind or the blood-spattered Watchmen kind.  

I should say though, that one of the main plot points I found hard to stomach was the fact that Castor Troy had murdered a small child in the opening moments of the movie - this was a bit hardcore for a film of this type, and then at the movie's conclusion it was so obvious that Troy's orphaned son would be taken in by the Archer family. I felt that this denouément was terrible, it too easily wrapped up the infanticide plot line, and in a manner that was pretty insulting to both the characters of the Archers and the audience.

That gripe aside, I enjoyed the sheer fun on display in Face/Off. And who cares if the premise is laughable - I'm sure I've processed other bizarre elements in less enjoyable movies. And who cares if some of the stunt men's wires were clearly visible in too many scenes. Travolta and Cage were having fun, and so was I. Plus the inimitable CCH Pounder had a small role! Hooray!