Batman: The Animated Series - Volume 1 (1992)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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.