Friday Night Lights (2004)
Okay, so I did this in totally the wrong order. I watched the TV series first and then the original movie. There's only so much you can pack into a 2 hour film, especially when trying to chronicle the journey of a high school football team through an entire season of the game. The TV show has the luxury of time, and uses it to brilliant effect, exploring each of its numerous characters in depth and spacing out the highs and lows of the drama. The film simply can't compete on this level. What it can do is pack an awful lot of football, heart, brotherhood, pride, loss, anger and joy into glorious widescreen bliss.
As the team coach, Billy Bob takes the ostensible lead role but shares equal screen time with our small set of core lead players. He does brilliant work with the role, playing the elation and frustration and anger of the man, but he's not Kyle Chandler who will forever be the perfect football coach in my mind. Similarly the high schools leads are great but suffer in comparison to their TV counterparts. Worst off is Connie Britton whose role as the coach's wife is cut to only a handful of lines, though she was more than compensated by taking on the same role in the Tv show where she could truly shine.
Ultimately this isn't really a film about football as a game. It's the macguffin around which director and co-writer Berg can explore small town America, it's dreams and hopes and sense of community. Of an endless cycle only some are destined to escape. Of loyalty and brotherhood and striving to be perfect.
Watch it, and then watch the TV series. You won't be disappointed.
5/5
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Film Review: Heigl and Kutcher face off against Killers
Killers
An odd one this. A romantic comedy with several actions scenes and moments of surprisingly strong violence for a 12A. It's certainly no great entry in the pantheon of cinema, but it is harmless fun that works best with your brain in a low gear. Heigl is as charming and sweet as ever, and Kutcher, for the most part, works as a suave spy who genuinely loves his wife and wants to get out of the game.
The film starts to lose momentum once the action kicks in, the romance taking a back seat to the stunts and shooting in some slightly overlong set pieces. There's nothing to worry James Cameron here, but for a rom-com with assassins they do the trick. It's certainly better than anything in that other hit man comedy "The Whole Nine Yards". It's in the ending that things go too far when (Spoiler alert) we find out why all the killers are after Kutcher int he first place. His character that is, we're not looking at a mass celebrity revenge for Punk'd. If you think hard enough about it, it does make a kind of sense, but that still requires a few massive leaps of faith and logic. Surely the person behind it all would have given instructions not to harm a certain other person in the line of duty. (end of spoilers)
If the summer heat is getting too much for you, or in a year's time this pops up in the TV schedule, it's worth a look. Just don't set you expectations too high, and send your brain on a 90min vacation
2.5/5
An odd one this. A romantic comedy with several actions scenes and moments of surprisingly strong violence for a 12A. It's certainly no great entry in the pantheon of cinema, but it is harmless fun that works best with your brain in a low gear. Heigl is as charming and sweet as ever, and Kutcher, for the most part, works as a suave spy who genuinely loves his wife and wants to get out of the game.
The film starts to lose momentum once the action kicks in, the romance taking a back seat to the stunts and shooting in some slightly overlong set pieces. There's nothing to worry James Cameron here, but for a rom-com with assassins they do the trick. It's certainly better than anything in that other hit man comedy "The Whole Nine Yards". It's in the ending that things go too far when (Spoiler alert) we find out why all the killers are after Kutcher int he first place. His character that is, we're not looking at a mass celebrity revenge for Punk'd. If you think hard enough about it, it does make a kind of sense, but that still requires a few massive leaps of faith and logic. Surely the person behind it all would have given instructions not to harm a certain other person in the line of duty. (end of spoilers)
If the summer heat is getting too much for you, or in a year's time this pops up in the TV schedule, it's worth a look. Just don't set you expectations too high, and send your brain on a 90min vacation
2.5/5
Monday, 28 June 2010
TV Review: Old Who/New Who Round 3
It's 2-0 to New Who as we go into the third and final round, the last story for the 11th doctor's first year and the last story of the 5th doctor's second.
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang (S31Ep12-13)
Moffat certainly likes messing with our heads, as the story constantly jumps back to and references other stories from earlier in the year, the final act going right back to the very start. It's 90 minutes worth of superb timey-whimey madness.
Having thrown most of the Who monster cannon at us in the end of part 1, the only "monster" in part 2 is a malfunctioning Dalek. Instead, the second half focuses on the Doctor carrying out numberless seat-of-the-pants plans to save his friends and the universe. It's a bold move but it works beautifully.
There are numerous highlights throughout the story: Rory waiting 2000 years to protect his beloved, the Doctor challenging a sky full of spaceships, River Song's message carved into the wall, bringing the Doctor back with the old wedding rhyme, the multiple shocking cliffhanger endings to part 1. It's not perfect, but the overall power and momentum of the story is enough to plow through the problems.
The mobius strip solution to getting the Doctor out of the pandorica is a brilliant and baffling concept, the Doctor escaping because he escaped. It's become something of a theme for the show, events happening and characters reacting the way they do purely because it's the Doctor involved. Sometimes it works perfectly, like in this finale. Other times you have the far too absurd situation of a geologist and ex-kiss-o-gram negotiating the division of the Earth between the humans and Silurians. Now that one was just daft.
For all the plot holes and inconsistencies there's really only one major problem I want to bring up. Amy Pond. I wish I could like her but it's just not happening. She ditches her fiancee the night before her wedding to run away with an almost total stranger, who she later snogs and seems to be trying to do even more with. When the Doctor reunites her with Rory she spends the whole time treating the guy like dirt. Then on her wedding day she twice demands the Doctor snog her with her new husband only 3 feet away. Frankly, she's an arrogant tart. Rory protected her for 2000 years. She wouldn't stick around 5 minutes. We're expected to take her to our hearts simply because she's the Doctor's companion and she's sassy, standing up to him. Sorry, but she walks brazenly into danger assuming she can deal with anything only to find she's totally outmatched and this is supposed to be endearing? Bossing around someone 900 years her elder who has spent his life traveling through space and time and dealing with the horrors of the universe is somehow clever? Constantly trying to cheat on her fiancee is romantic? She's simply not a nice person, however good she may look in a mini skirt. Keep Rory in the Tardis by all means, but please chuck this self centred hussy out as soon as possible. Ahem.
Oh, I love River Song. She can stay too.
5/5
Enlightenment (S20Ep17-20)
Old Who never really did barnstorming finales at the end of seasons. The closest they got was when a Doctor regenerated, and these weren't often the strongest of stories (the Caves of Androzani being a notable exception). They did occasionally do multi-story arcs, such as the black guardian trilogy Enlightenment forms the conclusion to, in which they tried to tie up the overall plot with the individual story in suitably grandiose fashion. Sadly, more often than not, they failed.
On it's own, Enlightenment is an engaging story, with a good mixture of mystery, action and excitement. As the end of the trilogy, it's an unfortunate anticlimax. Making the prize of enlightenment Turlough's choice rather than a material possession is a nice idea, but a single scene with the black and white guardians at the end isn't enough. It's unclear whether the Doctor ever even realised Turlough was trying to kill him, and if he did whether he's now forgiven the boy. The black guardian's plan oscillates wildly from moment to moment, the original simplicity of just killing the Doctor changing at random to humiliating or trapping him.
Viewed in isolation there are many nice touches to this episode, from the excellent production design and unsettling atmosphere as the characters explore the ship to the mini arcs for the companions and the intriguing concept of the Eternals needing human minds to create ideas. The new CGI special effects work well, even if they clearly don't have the budget of New Who. It's only when viewed in context as the conclusion to the black guardian trilogy that the story falls down, and it's a shame the production team couldn't either work it in better, or cut it completely.
3/5
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang (S31Ep12-13)
Moffat certainly likes messing with our heads, as the story constantly jumps back to and references other stories from earlier in the year, the final act going right back to the very start. It's 90 minutes worth of superb timey-whimey madness.
Having thrown most of the Who monster cannon at us in the end of part 1, the only "monster" in part 2 is a malfunctioning Dalek. Instead, the second half focuses on the Doctor carrying out numberless seat-of-the-pants plans to save his friends and the universe. It's a bold move but it works beautifully.
There are numerous highlights throughout the story: Rory waiting 2000 years to protect his beloved, the Doctor challenging a sky full of spaceships, River Song's message carved into the wall, bringing the Doctor back with the old wedding rhyme, the multiple shocking cliffhanger endings to part 1. It's not perfect, but the overall power and momentum of the story is enough to plow through the problems.
The mobius strip solution to getting the Doctor out of the pandorica is a brilliant and baffling concept, the Doctor escaping because he escaped. It's become something of a theme for the show, events happening and characters reacting the way they do purely because it's the Doctor involved. Sometimes it works perfectly, like in this finale. Other times you have the far too absurd situation of a geologist and ex-kiss-o-gram negotiating the division of the Earth between the humans and Silurians. Now that one was just daft.
For all the plot holes and inconsistencies there's really only one major problem I want to bring up. Amy Pond. I wish I could like her but it's just not happening. She ditches her fiancee the night before her wedding to run away with an almost total stranger, who she later snogs and seems to be trying to do even more with. When the Doctor reunites her with Rory she spends the whole time treating the guy like dirt. Then on her wedding day she twice demands the Doctor snog her with her new husband only 3 feet away. Frankly, she's an arrogant tart. Rory protected her for 2000 years. She wouldn't stick around 5 minutes. We're expected to take her to our hearts simply because she's the Doctor's companion and she's sassy, standing up to him. Sorry, but she walks brazenly into danger assuming she can deal with anything only to find she's totally outmatched and this is supposed to be endearing? Bossing around someone 900 years her elder who has spent his life traveling through space and time and dealing with the horrors of the universe is somehow clever? Constantly trying to cheat on her fiancee is romantic? She's simply not a nice person, however good she may look in a mini skirt. Keep Rory in the Tardis by all means, but please chuck this self centred hussy out as soon as possible. Ahem.
Oh, I love River Song. She can stay too.
5/5
Enlightenment (S20Ep17-20)
Old Who never really did barnstorming finales at the end of seasons. The closest they got was when a Doctor regenerated, and these weren't often the strongest of stories (the Caves of Androzani being a notable exception). They did occasionally do multi-story arcs, such as the black guardian trilogy Enlightenment forms the conclusion to, in which they tried to tie up the overall plot with the individual story in suitably grandiose fashion. Sadly, more often than not, they failed.
On it's own, Enlightenment is an engaging story, with a good mixture of mystery, action and excitement. As the end of the trilogy, it's an unfortunate anticlimax. Making the prize of enlightenment Turlough's choice rather than a material possession is a nice idea, but a single scene with the black and white guardians at the end isn't enough. It's unclear whether the Doctor ever even realised Turlough was trying to kill him, and if he did whether he's now forgiven the boy. The black guardian's plan oscillates wildly from moment to moment, the original simplicity of just killing the Doctor changing at random to humiliating or trapping him.
Viewed in isolation there are many nice touches to this episode, from the excellent production design and unsettling atmosphere as the characters explore the ship to the mini arcs for the companions and the intriguing concept of the Eternals needing human minds to create ideas. The new CGI special effects work well, even if they clearly don't have the budget of New Who. It's only when viewed in context as the conclusion to the black guardian trilogy that the story falls down, and it's a shame the production team couldn't either work it in better, or cut it completely.
3/5
Sunday, 27 June 2010
TV Review: V loses in plot in sequel mini-series
V final battle
Oh dear. And it was all going so well.
After the excellent mini-series this follow up (and intended conclusion to the whole story) is an overlong mess. A sour mixture of incoherent plot, bloated scenes, and an abandonment of powerful allegory for cheap thrills and horror. Part 1 still manages to maintain the pace, intrigue and excitement of the mini-series, but soon after the whole thing falls apart. Plaudits to the cast for carrying bravely on but even they fall prey to the overblown drama at the end.
It's tempting to lay the blame on the lizard baby, but despite being an obvious puppet the casts' reactions before we see the monstrosity were enough to keep me in the story and suitably disturbed. No, the fault begins and ends with the writing. It comes across as though they were given 3 parts first and then told to fill them, rather than working out how many parts they actually had story for. As it is, they end up throwing in as many plot threads as possible but with little sense to any of them. People die by the dozen, telegraphed every time with a "let's get married" or "I'll tell you all about it when you get back". At first it seems a brave choice to kill off well-known characters, but by he end the effect has diminished to nothing though repetition. Members of the resistance walk out of the compound and over to the enemy like it's an afternoon stroll. Lizard babies appear only to be dismissed 5 minutes later after serving their plot purpose. The resistance change compound at the start of each part with even one of the characters commenting how silly it's getting. And don't get me started on red and white sparkly aura around the sudden-growth mutant child at the end that comes from nowhere and somehow defuses the mega bomb we were conveniently only told about 40 minutes earlier. It's a disaster.
Frankly I'm amazed the cast got through the whole shoot with a straight face, but it's a good thing they did as it was only their commitment to the roles that got me to the end. I must say the cinematography was beautiful throughout, apart from the moments they switched to stock footage and the film grain changed.
At least it was still more fun than the remake, but then so is colonic irrigation.
2/5
Oh dear. And it was all going so well.
After the excellent mini-series this follow up (and intended conclusion to the whole story) is an overlong mess. A sour mixture of incoherent plot, bloated scenes, and an abandonment of powerful allegory for cheap thrills and horror. Part 1 still manages to maintain the pace, intrigue and excitement of the mini-series, but soon after the whole thing falls apart. Plaudits to the cast for carrying bravely on but even they fall prey to the overblown drama at the end.
It's tempting to lay the blame on the lizard baby, but despite being an obvious puppet the casts' reactions before we see the monstrosity were enough to keep me in the story and suitably disturbed. No, the fault begins and ends with the writing. It comes across as though they were given 3 parts first and then told to fill them, rather than working out how many parts they actually had story for. As it is, they end up throwing in as many plot threads as possible but with little sense to any of them. People die by the dozen, telegraphed every time with a "let's get married" or "I'll tell you all about it when you get back". At first it seems a brave choice to kill off well-known characters, but by he end the effect has diminished to nothing though repetition. Members of the resistance walk out of the compound and over to the enemy like it's an afternoon stroll. Lizard babies appear only to be dismissed 5 minutes later after serving their plot purpose. The resistance change compound at the start of each part with even one of the characters commenting how silly it's getting. And don't get me started on red and white sparkly aura around the sudden-growth mutant child at the end that comes from nowhere and somehow defuses the mega bomb we were conveniently only told about 40 minutes earlier. It's a disaster.
Frankly I'm amazed the cast got through the whole shoot with a straight face, but it's a good thing they did as it was only their commitment to the roles that got me to the end. I must say the cinematography was beautiful throughout, apart from the moments they switched to stock footage and the film grain changed.
At least it was still more fun than the remake, but then so is colonic irrigation.
2/5
Saturday, 26 June 2010
TV Review: Supernatural's apocalypse comes to a close
Supernatural - 2 minutes to midnight (S5Ep21)
It's the penultimate episode of the season (and originally the entire series until the surprising announcement of season 6), and we've quite firmly switched to serialised storytelling, the action picking up almost immediately after the events of the previous episode. The brothers are going for Pestilence while Bobby helps track down Death for a terrible price (no, not his soul, I'm talking about the kiss).
The opening scenes with Pestilence are suitably disturbing and icky, though the entrance of Castiel is too rushed and confusing with little time to figure out if he was faking the illness or not. Later, Death gets a fantastic entrance but the actor playing him doesn't quite match the style set by the slow-mo walk and reap. I can't help but think the team were running low on money when it came to taking down the virus in the warehouse as, despite a brilliant exploding head shot, we really needed to see the trucks in flames. I know I said earlier how smart the production team were to avoid trying to show the full blown apocalypse, but at this point it did need more than some news footage and press clippings. We needed to get a sense of the scale, especially as the end approaches.
Mark Sheppard once again does wonders with Crowley despite the reduced screen time compared to last week. I'm sure he'll be back given his sudden disappearance from the tale. Jim Beaver gets a nice conclusion to his mini arc, playing the joy and disbelief at getting to walk again. Misha, well Misha, as always, rocks. Which just leaves our leads. Jared's managed to control the twitch more than before but it's still lurking around. And Jensen? There very few emotions the guy has left to play, save just a final, weary acceptance of what he's going to have to let his brother do.
4.5/5
Supernatural - Swan song (S5Ep22)
And so the apocalypse comes to a close, with blood and death and loss, and yet also some hope for the future. Oh, and a huge debate over whether or not one of the characters is actually God.
Except for the very last shot this could easily have played as the final ever end to the show, albeit a much bleaker one if we thought a certain person wasn't coming back. Speaking of which: exploding Cas! Possibly the goriest thing the show has ever done.
The plot is fairly straightforward: Sam drinks a trunk full of new demon-o flavoured sunny d and hulks out; says yes to Lucifer only to get beat like France in the world cup (yeh I made a sports reference. Bet you didn't see that one coming); heads out to meet his angel brother on the final battlefield after taking care of some old friends; and then Dean drives up in the impala to save the day (and get his face turned into the inside of a blood orange). People die, only to get brought back to life; people are trapped in hell, only to pop back up later; and some people get the life they always secretly wanted, until Sera brings the pain again.
It's a great finale, if smaller in scale than I'd been expecting and with an ending that loses some punch with the knowledge the cast will be back in a few months time. This has always been a show about the 2 brothers and it's great to see it's their love for each other and the memories they shared that saves the day.
5/5
It's the penultimate episode of the season (and originally the entire series until the surprising announcement of season 6), and we've quite firmly switched to serialised storytelling, the action picking up almost immediately after the events of the previous episode. The brothers are going for Pestilence while Bobby helps track down Death for a terrible price (no, not his soul, I'm talking about the kiss).
The opening scenes with Pestilence are suitably disturbing and icky, though the entrance of Castiel is too rushed and confusing with little time to figure out if he was faking the illness or not. Later, Death gets a fantastic entrance but the actor playing him doesn't quite match the style set by the slow-mo walk and reap. I can't help but think the team were running low on money when it came to taking down the virus in the warehouse as, despite a brilliant exploding head shot, we really needed to see the trucks in flames. I know I said earlier how smart the production team were to avoid trying to show the full blown apocalypse, but at this point it did need more than some news footage and press clippings. We needed to get a sense of the scale, especially as the end approaches.
Mark Sheppard once again does wonders with Crowley despite the reduced screen time compared to last week. I'm sure he'll be back given his sudden disappearance from the tale. Jim Beaver gets a nice conclusion to his mini arc, playing the joy and disbelief at getting to walk again. Misha, well Misha, as always, rocks. Which just leaves our leads. Jared's managed to control the twitch more than before but it's still lurking around. And Jensen? There very few emotions the guy has left to play, save just a final, weary acceptance of what he's going to have to let his brother do.
4.5/5
Supernatural - Swan song (S5Ep22)
And so the apocalypse comes to a close, with blood and death and loss, and yet also some hope for the future. Oh, and a huge debate over whether or not one of the characters is actually God.
Except for the very last shot this could easily have played as the final ever end to the show, albeit a much bleaker one if we thought a certain person wasn't coming back. Speaking of which: exploding Cas! Possibly the goriest thing the show has ever done.
The plot is fairly straightforward: Sam drinks a trunk full of new demon-o flavoured sunny d and hulks out; says yes to Lucifer only to get beat like France in the world cup (yeh I made a sports reference. Bet you didn't see that one coming); heads out to meet his angel brother on the final battlefield after taking care of some old friends; and then Dean drives up in the impala to save the day (and get his face turned into the inside of a blood orange). People die, only to get brought back to life; people are trapped in hell, only to pop back up later; and some people get the life they always secretly wanted, until Sera brings the pain again.
It's a great finale, if smaller in scale than I'd been expecting and with an ending that loses some punch with the knowledge the cast will be back in a few months time. This has always been a show about the 2 brothers and it's great to see it's their love for each other and the memories they shared that saves the day.
5/5
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
TV Review: Allegorical invasion in the original V
V: The Mini Series
If you caught the first few episodes of the recent re-imagining/remake/regurgitating of V and assumed that if the modern show was so poorly acted, incoherent and dull the 80s version would be even worse, you *have* to watch the original mini series. The 3 hour mini series is everything the update isn't: fast paced, action packed, well acting, richly characterized, creepy, unsettling and powerfully allegorical.
There no question the original series had Hitler and fascism firmly in its sights, packing in nods to swastikas, news as propaganda, the Hitler youth, the resistance movement, racial persecution, and using charisma and false promises as a weapon to hide the evil inside.
The production design and special fx are top notch, certainly on par with many films of the time, and hold up extremely well. The prosthetics work on the visitors is phenomenal, as their human skin is peeled away to reveal the reptiles underneath in all their sickly glory.
The mystery of the visitors is extremely well maintained, the revelations about their true identity and purpose carefully doled out through the long running time. I was constantly hooked as the visitors (and their allies) unquenchable thirst for power led them to take over of the world with all-too-believable ease.
It's unquestionably a product of the 80s, and sometimes it's a little too on the nose with it's messages, but it still works as a fantastic piece of TV. One word or warning: it doesn't have a definitive ending so you will want to pick up the sequel mini series ("The Final Battle"). No idea yet if it's any good, but I'm looking forward to finding out.
I'll take this any day over the crappy remake and many other pointless and vapid modern series broadcast these days
5/5
If you caught the first few episodes of the recent re-imagining/remake/regurgitating of V and assumed that if the modern show was so poorly acted, incoherent and dull the 80s version would be even worse, you *have* to watch the original mini series. The 3 hour mini series is everything the update isn't: fast paced, action packed, well acting, richly characterized, creepy, unsettling and powerfully allegorical.
There no question the original series had Hitler and fascism firmly in its sights, packing in nods to swastikas, news as propaganda, the Hitler youth, the resistance movement, racial persecution, and using charisma and false promises as a weapon to hide the evil inside.
The production design and special fx are top notch, certainly on par with many films of the time, and hold up extremely well. The prosthetics work on the visitors is phenomenal, as their human skin is peeled away to reveal the reptiles underneath in all their sickly glory.
The mystery of the visitors is extremely well maintained, the revelations about their true identity and purpose carefully doled out through the long running time. I was constantly hooked as the visitors (and their allies) unquenchable thirst for power led them to take over of the world with all-too-believable ease.
It's unquestionably a product of the 80s, and sometimes it's a little too on the nose with it's messages, but it still works as a fantastic piece of TV. One word or warning: it doesn't have a definitive ending so you will want to pick up the sequel mini series ("The Final Battle"). No idea yet if it's any good, but I'm looking forward to finding out.
I'll take this any day over the crappy remake and many other pointless and vapid modern series broadcast these days
5/5
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
TV Review: Chuck goes up against The Ring
Chuck - Verses Operation Awesome (S3Ep4)
Now that was a proper episode of Chuck. Just the right mix of family, work and spy hi-jinx, with the added bonus of Chuck getting to show us some proper secret agent moves. We've come a long way from his reluctance to even let someone else tranq a guy. As usual the Buy-More is the main comedy strand with several laugh out loud moments (loved Chuck kicked Lester in the face), but even this gets added depth with Morgan taking his first steps to growing up. The action quotient is amply filled with Chuck leading Devon on a mission to infiltrate a penthouse and kill the occupant at the bequest of The Ring, the intersect 2.0 kicking in at just the right moments. At first I thought they were making it so that Sarah needed to be there for it to work, but i may have to extend that to friends and family in danger.
Only minor quibbles are the too quick and simple resolution to last week's cliffhanger (Devon walking into the Buy-More is certainly surprising, but it's also something of a let down) and Brandon Routh doesn't quite nail all his scenes (though it looks like he's here for a while so fingers crossed the teething problems get ironed out quickly).
The final scenes of Chuck getting together with his friends and family while Shaw (Brandon) puts on his wedding ring, sat alone in castle, are both uplifting and poignant. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Shaw's back story, even if Brandon could do with a touch more rehearsal.
4.5/5
Now that was a proper episode of Chuck. Just the right mix of family, work and spy hi-jinx, with the added bonus of Chuck getting to show us some proper secret agent moves. We've come a long way from his reluctance to even let someone else tranq a guy. As usual the Buy-More is the main comedy strand with several laugh out loud moments (loved Chuck kicked Lester in the face), but even this gets added depth with Morgan taking his first steps to growing up. The action quotient is amply filled with Chuck leading Devon on a mission to infiltrate a penthouse and kill the occupant at the bequest of The Ring, the intersect 2.0 kicking in at just the right moments. At first I thought they were making it so that Sarah needed to be there for it to work, but i may have to extend that to friends and family in danger.
Only minor quibbles are the too quick and simple resolution to last week's cliffhanger (Devon walking into the Buy-More is certainly surprising, but it's also something of a let down) and Brandon Routh doesn't quite nail all his scenes (though it looks like he's here for a while so fingers crossed the teething problems get ironed out quickly).
The final scenes of Chuck getting together with his friends and family while Shaw (Brandon) puts on his wedding ring, sat alone in castle, are both uplifting and poignant. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Shaw's back story, even if Brandon could do with a touch more rehearsal.
4.5/5
Friday, 18 June 2010
TV Review: Supernatural goes on the hunt for pestilence
Supernatural - The Devil You Know (S5Ep20)
Invisible dog fight!
Supernatural continues its awesome streak as the brothers try and track down Pestilence with the help of the demon Crowley. Mark Sheppard is clearly relishing the role, dominating the screen with his presence and killer lines. Sam gets an unexpected chance to confront his past, though Jared could do with screwing his face up a little less as he agonises over his decisions. Seriously, he looks like he has a painful itch for half the episode. Dean is very much just along for the ride this week, taking a back seat to Crowley's machinations and Sam's lust for revenge. Both boys also prove themselves to be the worst liars in the world, something that's getting somewhat hard to believe considering how long they've been having to practice it.
The show ends with the boys gearing up for Pestilence and Bobby getting an offer to help find Death (BTW, thanks for spoiling what happens Asylum goer who *had* to ask that question. Though still not as bad as the poor girl who ruined the ending of Harper's Island for an audience who, judging by the groans, had yet to buy the DVDs).
As the Apocalypse ramps up, the shows writers and producers have taken the smart decision of keeping the show small, most of the time restricting it to only a half dozen actors in dialogue heavy scenes, interspersed with brief moment of one on one violence and action. Unless you have the budget of James Cameron you're never going to be able to pull off showing the end of the world every week, so keeping the stories tight and personal was a smart move that's paid off.
3 more to go...
4.5/5 (5/5 if you can ignore Sam's twitching)
Invisible dog fight!
Supernatural continues its awesome streak as the brothers try and track down Pestilence with the help of the demon Crowley. Mark Sheppard is clearly relishing the role, dominating the screen with his presence and killer lines. Sam gets an unexpected chance to confront his past, though Jared could do with screwing his face up a little less as he agonises over his decisions. Seriously, he looks like he has a painful itch for half the episode. Dean is very much just along for the ride this week, taking a back seat to Crowley's machinations and Sam's lust for revenge. Both boys also prove themselves to be the worst liars in the world, something that's getting somewhat hard to believe considering how long they've been having to practice it.
The show ends with the boys gearing up for Pestilence and Bobby getting an offer to help find Death (BTW, thanks for spoiling what happens Asylum goer who *had* to ask that question. Though still not as bad as the poor girl who ruined the ending of Harper's Island for an audience who, judging by the groans, had yet to buy the DVDs).
As the Apocalypse ramps up, the shows writers and producers have taken the smart decision of keeping the show small, most of the time restricting it to only a half dozen actors in dialogue heavy scenes, interspersed with brief moment of one on one violence and action. Unless you have the budget of James Cameron you're never going to be able to pull off showing the end of the world every week, so keeping the stories tight and personal was a smart move that's paid off.
3 more to go...
4.5/5 (5/5 if you can ignore Sam's twitching)
Thursday, 17 June 2010
TV Review: Stargate Universe reaches a deadly finale
Stargate Universe - Incursion Part 2 (S1Ep20)
Well that was intense. The first season of SG:U goes out with multiple cliffhangers that leave pretty much the entire crew in peril in several different ways. Will Chloe die from blood loss? Will Eli, Scott and Greer all get to the airlock in time? Will TJ and her baby survive the shooting? Are all the soldiers about to be executed? Will the ship escape the next burst of radiation? Why are they making me wait so long to see the next episode?
Plenty of action, bravery and tender moments make for an exhilarating end to a great year, every character getting their moment in the spotlight. It's very much been a season of 2 halves, both literally and figuratively. It's hard to tell how much of the post-mid season break shows were changed after feedback from the first half, but it has morphed from pure survival drama to a more action based show. The great thing is that, apart from the sudden introduction of the aliens,the seams hardly show. In many ways it's remained a survival show, swapping hostile environments and a decaying ship for more proactive external forces like the aliens and the Alliance. I'm glad they still found time to explore planets on occasion (including getting trapped on one) and didn't go down the aliens every week approach they could so easily have taken. It's a brave SF show, trying to combine the grit and thematic scope of BSG, with more mainstream appeal like its parents show SG1. It doesn't always succeed at either, let alone at both, but I'm very happy there's still a space opera on the small screen
5/5
Well that was intense. The first season of SG:U goes out with multiple cliffhangers that leave pretty much the entire crew in peril in several different ways. Will Chloe die from blood loss? Will Eli, Scott and Greer all get to the airlock in time? Will TJ and her baby survive the shooting? Are all the soldiers about to be executed? Will the ship escape the next burst of radiation? Why are they making me wait so long to see the next episode?
Plenty of action, bravery and tender moments make for an exhilarating end to a great year, every character getting their moment in the spotlight. It's very much been a season of 2 halves, both literally and figuratively. It's hard to tell how much of the post-mid season break shows were changed after feedback from the first half, but it has morphed from pure survival drama to a more action based show. The great thing is that, apart from the sudden introduction of the aliens,the seams hardly show. In many ways it's remained a survival show, swapping hostile environments and a decaying ship for more proactive external forces like the aliens and the Alliance. I'm glad they still found time to explore planets on occasion (including getting trapped on one) and didn't go down the aliens every week approach they could so easily have taken. It's a brave SF show, trying to combine the grit and thematic scope of BSG, with more mainstream appeal like its parents show SG1. It doesn't always succeed at either, let alone at both, but I'm very happy there's still a space opera on the small screen
5/5
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
TV Review: Chuck has a family emergancy as Glee reaches regionals
Chuck - Verses the Angel de la Muerte (S3Ep3)
Thank goodness for continuity announcers. The voice over the end credits managed to totally spoil the surprise twist cliffhanger to the episode, and boy am I glad they did.
I've heard that some fans weren't as enamored of Chuck's third season, and based on this episode I can understand why. Chuck always mixes humour, romance, action, family and all things geek. This week the geek was gone. While it's absence was noticeable, it didn't totally unbalance the show, just tipped it a little more in the Alias direction. There were still plenty of laughs, mainly courtesy of Adam-the man they call Jayne-Baldwin's Casey, but Chuck himself was suddenly a much more professional and cool-under-pressure spy. I know the creators have accelerated his arc because of the likelihood of cancellation but this felt a little too much too soon compared to the Chuck we all know and love. I'm sure I'll adjust to the new personality but the shift was somewhat jarring.
It was great to see Awesome and Ellie get some time in the spotlight, though their marriage blues are rather sudden for two people living pretty much the same lives as before. Awesome does get to be especially awesome by saving a man's life twice, and slightly less awesome by revealing Casey to a room full of armed guards who all want him dead.
Overall a fun episode that loses a couple of points for not feeling quite Chuck enough and for the general's almost impenetrable accent, and gains some back for the shock ending.
4/5
Glee - Journey (S1Ep22)
Glee's had a very bumpy second half of a season (and I'm not just referring to the pregnant dance routine. My eyes! My eyes!). You only have to watch the last episode before the mid season break and the couple immediately after it to see the show's producers not only thought they wouldn't get a mid-season pick up, but clearly had no plan in case they did. Plot threads are recycled (regionals instead of sectionals with the same punishment for failure, Will and Emma get together only to be torn apart for the flimsiest of reason); character arcs come and go like thunderstorms, full of sound and fury one minute, as if nothing had ever happened the next; and collections of songs by currently popular artists are forced in with little to no reason.
And then comes this finale. Sweet, moving, uplifting, packed with great performances and moments of joy. Finn telling Rachel he loves her just before they go on; Will saying the same to Emma as she fights to save the club (and him in turn); Finn's tribute to Will, his role model for being a man; Sue Sylvester welling up and growing a heart; the sheer delight of the glee club's faces as they perform at regionals.
They've left a lot of plot threads hanging but now that the writers have the summer to plan for the next year I can't wait to see what they do with them. Bring on season 2!
5/5
Thank goodness for continuity announcers. The voice over the end credits managed to totally spoil the surprise twist cliffhanger to the episode, and boy am I glad they did.
I've heard that some fans weren't as enamored of Chuck's third season, and based on this episode I can understand why. Chuck always mixes humour, romance, action, family and all things geek. This week the geek was gone. While it's absence was noticeable, it didn't totally unbalance the show, just tipped it a little more in the Alias direction. There were still plenty of laughs, mainly courtesy of Adam-the man they call Jayne-Baldwin's Casey, but Chuck himself was suddenly a much more professional and cool-under-pressure spy. I know the creators have accelerated his arc because of the likelihood of cancellation but this felt a little too much too soon compared to the Chuck we all know and love. I'm sure I'll adjust to the new personality but the shift was somewhat jarring.
It was great to see Awesome and Ellie get some time in the spotlight, though their marriage blues are rather sudden for two people living pretty much the same lives as before. Awesome does get to be especially awesome by saving a man's life twice, and slightly less awesome by revealing Casey to a room full of armed guards who all want him dead.
Overall a fun episode that loses a couple of points for not feeling quite Chuck enough and for the general's almost impenetrable accent, and gains some back for the shock ending.
4/5
Glee - Journey (S1Ep22)
Glee's had a very bumpy second half of a season (and I'm not just referring to the pregnant dance routine. My eyes! My eyes!). You only have to watch the last episode before the mid season break and the couple immediately after it to see the show's producers not only thought they wouldn't get a mid-season pick up, but clearly had no plan in case they did. Plot threads are recycled (regionals instead of sectionals with the same punishment for failure, Will and Emma get together only to be torn apart for the flimsiest of reason); character arcs come and go like thunderstorms, full of sound and fury one minute, as if nothing had ever happened the next; and collections of songs by currently popular artists are forced in with little to no reason.
And then comes this finale. Sweet, moving, uplifting, packed with great performances and moments of joy. Finn telling Rachel he loves her just before they go on; Will saying the same to Emma as she fights to save the club (and him in turn); Finn's tribute to Will, his role model for being a man; Sue Sylvester welling up and growing a heart; the sheer delight of the glee club's faces as they perform at regionals.
They've left a lot of plot threads hanging but now that the writers have the summer to plan for the next year I can't wait to see what they do with them. Bring on season 2!
5/5
Sunday, 13 June 2010
TV Review: Old Who/New Who Round 2
New Who wiped the floor with Old Who last week thanks to a wonderful script from Richard Curtis. The week though Old Who has a secret weapon: James Cordon is appearing in New Who.
The Lodger (S31Ep11)
Despite the presence of the aforementioned Mr. Corden and an extended football game montage, I really enjoyed this episode. His appearance at award ceremonies to the side, Cordon is a very good actor, bringing the right mix of hidden yearning, charm, innocence and joy to the role of flatmate Craig.
Matt Smith is magnificently alien, creating advanced tech from brooms and rakes, whipping up tea based antidotes and lecturing his new fellow football players on why he won't allow the other team to be annihilated.
It's certainly the cheapest episode of Who in a long time, brilliant Tardis like spacecraft interior aside, and yet it works because of the charm of the story. The fact Amy Pond isn't in it much helps enormously. There's something off in the way Karen Gillan delivers her lines, putting over-dramatic emphasis in all the wrong places. Go watch the live action intro video to the new free to download Doctor Who game to see what I mean.
A couple of minor niggles: the house being only 1 story tall looks very odd and unbelievable when seen next to it's neighbours, the fact the ship needed someone who wanted to leave was a little thrown in considering we didn't get that from the victims, and why would the doctor touching the panel have been so dangerous? As I said, minor niggles in an otherwise enjoyable episode.
4/5
Terminus (S20Eps13-16)
Let's start with the good.
Right then, on to the bad.
Oh, okay, the Vanir costumes look great even if they don't clank like metal and this design seems both pointless and ineffective. I also really like the Garm's outfit and headpiece though the lack of animatronics back then is all too apparent. Nyssa gets a decent enough reason to leave the Tardis, putting her knowledge to use helping cure people, if it is all rather rushed and sudden.
The biggest problems with the episode are that it's dull and directionless. The cast spend much of their time wandering aimlessly down corridors or through vents, with little in the way of motivation. Yeh okay, this happens most week's with Old Who, just like New Who features pointless running and cries of "brilliant!", but this story is particularly bad. Every set is a different shade of grey, half the cast are silent lepers and the other half downtrodden guards with a giant talking dog doing all the real work. There's plenty of great ideas mixed in here, from the cause of the big bang to curing dangerous diseases on a mass scale and controlling workers through medication. Too bad they never really go anywhere.
Turlough is isolated from the Doctor the whole time, a dramatic necessity given that we've in only part 2 of his trilogy, but it also makes the character and the Black Guardian's demands rather impotent. "Kill the Doctor!" "I can't, he's out there and I'm locked in here" "Oh, well try electrocuting yourself, see if that works". Muppet
Oh, the new CGI effects are quite nice too.
1.5/5
The Lodger (S31Ep11)
Despite the presence of the aforementioned Mr. Corden and an extended football game montage, I really enjoyed this episode. His appearance at award ceremonies to the side, Cordon is a very good actor, bringing the right mix of hidden yearning, charm, innocence and joy to the role of flatmate Craig.
Matt Smith is magnificently alien, creating advanced tech from brooms and rakes, whipping up tea based antidotes and lecturing his new fellow football players on why he won't allow the other team to be annihilated.
It's certainly the cheapest episode of Who in a long time, brilliant Tardis like spacecraft interior aside, and yet it works because of the charm of the story. The fact Amy Pond isn't in it much helps enormously. There's something off in the way Karen Gillan delivers her lines, putting over-dramatic emphasis in all the wrong places. Go watch the live action intro video to the new free to download Doctor Who game to see what I mean.
A couple of minor niggles: the house being only 1 story tall looks very odd and unbelievable when seen next to it's neighbours, the fact the ship needed someone who wanted to leave was a little thrown in considering we didn't get that from the victims, and why would the doctor touching the panel have been so dangerous? As I said, minor niggles in an otherwise enjoyable episode.
4/5
Terminus (S20Eps13-16)
Let's start with the good.
Right then, on to the bad.
Oh, okay, the Vanir costumes look great even if they don't clank like metal and this design seems both pointless and ineffective. I also really like the Garm's outfit and headpiece though the lack of animatronics back then is all too apparent. Nyssa gets a decent enough reason to leave the Tardis, putting her knowledge to use helping cure people, if it is all rather rushed and sudden.
The biggest problems with the episode are that it's dull and directionless. The cast spend much of their time wandering aimlessly down corridors or through vents, with little in the way of motivation. Yeh okay, this happens most week's with Old Who, just like New Who features pointless running and cries of "brilliant!", but this story is particularly bad. Every set is a different shade of grey, half the cast are silent lepers and the other half downtrodden guards with a giant talking dog doing all the real work. There's plenty of great ideas mixed in here, from the cause of the big bang to curing dangerous diseases on a mass scale and controlling workers through medication. Too bad they never really go anywhere.
Turlough is isolated from the Doctor the whole time, a dramatic necessity given that we've in only part 2 of his trilogy, but it also makes the character and the Black Guardian's demands rather impotent. "Kill the Doctor!" "I can't, he's out there and I'm locked in here" "Oh, well try electrocuting yourself, see if that works". Muppet
Oh, the new CGI effects are quite nice too.
1.5/5
Friday, 11 June 2010
TV Review: Supernatural gets some new gods
Supernatural - Hammer of the Gods (S5Ep19)
"Don't mock my world turtle"
It was an episode packed with funny lines, buckets of blood and family tragedy as the other gods of the world gathered to deal with the Judeo-Christian apocalypse and Gabriel/Loki/The Trickster grew a conscience.
The brothers find themselves in a motel that seems too good to be true, though the name "The Elysian Fields" should have given bookworm Sam a hint. Sam himself is somewhat sidelined this week, with the focus on Dean and Gabriel. Even the gods feel for the most part like fleeting cameos, and the way they are so easily dispatched by Lucifer might nark some other faiths off. Oh, did you spot the missing one? Clue, including this guy could have led to a number of death threats to the production team, if not actual deaths. O religion, look what wonderful things you can lead to.
The final showdown with Gabriel and Lucifer is a great piece of TV as brother takes on brother, but ultimately only one can win so congrats to Richard Speight Jr. for going out in style. Speaking of Lucifer, Mark Pellegrino is showing some serious damage to his face. He's going to be needing Sam as a meatsuit pretty soon if he doesn't want to end up looking like 1st place in a Freddy Kruger look alike contest. The gore levels in general are high this week, with dismemberment, a limb and organ platter, and hallways splattered in blood.
The reveal at the end regarding the four rings is a nice throw back to War in episode 2, though possibly a little too convenient. Bonus points for the final creepy and disgusting sting with pestilence.
4.5/5
"Don't mock my world turtle"
It was an episode packed with funny lines, buckets of blood and family tragedy as the other gods of the world gathered to deal with the Judeo-Christian apocalypse and Gabriel/Loki/The Trickster grew a conscience.
The brothers find themselves in a motel that seems too good to be true, though the name "The Elysian Fields" should have given bookworm Sam a hint. Sam himself is somewhat sidelined this week, with the focus on Dean and Gabriel. Even the gods feel for the most part like fleeting cameos, and the way they are so easily dispatched by Lucifer might nark some other faiths off. Oh, did you spot the missing one? Clue, including this guy could have led to a number of death threats to the production team, if not actual deaths. O religion, look what wonderful things you can lead to.
The final showdown with Gabriel and Lucifer is a great piece of TV as brother takes on brother, but ultimately only one can win so congrats to Richard Speight Jr. for going out in style. Speaking of Lucifer, Mark Pellegrino is showing some serious damage to his face. He's going to be needing Sam as a meatsuit pretty soon if he doesn't want to end up looking like 1st place in a Freddy Kruger look alike contest. The gore levels in general are high this week, with dismemberment, a limb and organ platter, and hallways splattered in blood.
The reveal at the end regarding the four rings is a nice throw back to War in episode 2, though possibly a little too convenient. Bonus points for the final creepy and disgusting sting with pestilence.
4.5/5
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
TV Review: Stargate Universe crew prepared to be boarded
Stargate Universe - Incursion Part 1 (S1Ep19)
After last week's tense cliffhanger we were left with one question: would Young kill Telford? Of course he would! Admittedly he then brought him straight back to life. You see, it was all part of a cunning plan (insert Blackadder joke) to remove Telford's brainwashing. Apparently the only way to do this it to die. Remember kids, the more you know...
Anyhoo, once Telfod is back we're straight into the Alliance incursion onto the Destiny. For the last 2 episodes of the season the writers are going all out with the action. Remarkably, despite a long and sprawling firefight, none of the SG:U cast we know are dead. Oh magic bullets, how I love you. Well, there is Chloe who gets shot in the leg and is slowly bleeding to death, trapped in an unexplored part of the ship with Eli doing his best white knight routine. They also feature in a great tracking shot as they run down a corridor to escape the Alliance. The production team must have spent a lot of space and time building this simple set, but it works beautifully. Too often in genre shows the camera cuts a few feet down a corridor as its position is moved to make it look like a new location. Having one long continuous shot instead really helps you to buy into the reality of the ship.
After the action of act 1 and the lull of acts 2 and 3, the episode ends with a number of the crew held hostage by the Alliance, including the heavily pregnant TJ. I'm fairly confident she'll make it through. It's not like this is 24 with the world's most depressing ending to a 1st series ever. Is it?
4/5
After last week's tense cliffhanger we were left with one question: would Young kill Telford? Of course he would! Admittedly he then brought him straight back to life. You see, it was all part of a cunning plan (insert Blackadder joke) to remove Telford's brainwashing. Apparently the only way to do this it to die. Remember kids, the more you know...
Anyhoo, once Telfod is back we're straight into the Alliance incursion onto the Destiny. For the last 2 episodes of the season the writers are going all out with the action. Remarkably, despite a long and sprawling firefight, none of the SG:U cast we know are dead. Oh magic bullets, how I love you. Well, there is Chloe who gets shot in the leg and is slowly bleeding to death, trapped in an unexplored part of the ship with Eli doing his best white knight routine. They also feature in a great tracking shot as they run down a corridor to escape the Alliance. The production team must have spent a lot of space and time building this simple set, but it works beautifully. Too often in genre shows the camera cuts a few feet down a corridor as its position is moved to make it look like a new location. Having one long continuous shot instead really helps you to buy into the reality of the ship.
After the action of act 1 and the lull of acts 2 and 3, the episode ends with a number of the crew held hostage by the Alliance, including the heavily pregnant TJ. I'm fairly confident she'll make it through. It's not like this is 24 with the world's most depressing ending to a 1st series ever. Is it?
4/5
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
TV Review: Chuck gets emotional while Glee gets funky
Chuck - ...Verses the three words (S3Ep2)
I was a little surprised at this week's episode as I knew they had shown eps 1 and 2 back to back in the states and was expecting a little more continuity between them. As it is, the works perfectly fine as a stand alone story, whilst also progressing Chuck and Sarah's character arcs.
The guest stars this week weren't exactly bad (though with Vinnie Jones as chief villain the bar was set pretty low to start with), but they also lacked that certain spark, leaving the whole episode somewhat flat. There was also a sense that a couple of scenes may have been left on the cutting room floor, with the return of Michael getting particularity short shrift.
There were still plenty of great moments though, from Chuck dodging the laser beams, to Casey's impromptu toast and Morgan's happy ending. The final scene of Sarah watching the video of Chuck was also particular moving.
Overall I expect I'll enjoy it more the 2nd time when the DVDs come out, especially after seeing where some of the dangling arc plot threads are going, but for now it was a fun if not spectacular ride.
3.5/5
Glee - Funk (S1Ep21)
The pregnant dance routine. Oh. My. God. I feel so sorry for Dianna Agron. She's singing her heart out but no one is listening. They're staring at the unbelievable sight going on behind her. And then comes the Finn and Puck rap routine. My eyes are burning.
I really can't tell anymore if the producers are deliberately taking the piss or not. Ridiculous dance routines. Character traits changing every week. Plot threads left dangling for months.
The week also sees Mr Schuester seeking revenge on Sue Sylvester, and for me he goes too far. I know she's been evil, but still, breaking her heart is cruel and ruthless. For once I actually feel sorry for her.
Kudos for the end line, but otherwise an unbalanced, in every sense of the word, episode. On to next week and regionals...
2.5/5
I was a little surprised at this week's episode as I knew they had shown eps 1 and 2 back to back in the states and was expecting a little more continuity between them. As it is, the works perfectly fine as a stand alone story, whilst also progressing Chuck and Sarah's character arcs.
The guest stars this week weren't exactly bad (though with Vinnie Jones as chief villain the bar was set pretty low to start with), but they also lacked that certain spark, leaving the whole episode somewhat flat. There was also a sense that a couple of scenes may have been left on the cutting room floor, with the return of Michael getting particularity short shrift.
There were still plenty of great moments though, from Chuck dodging the laser beams, to Casey's impromptu toast and Morgan's happy ending. The final scene of Sarah watching the video of Chuck was also particular moving.
Overall I expect I'll enjoy it more the 2nd time when the DVDs come out, especially after seeing where some of the dangling arc plot threads are going, but for now it was a fun if not spectacular ride.
3.5/5
Glee - Funk (S1Ep21)
The pregnant dance routine. Oh. My. God. I feel so sorry for Dianna Agron. She's singing her heart out but no one is listening. They're staring at the unbelievable sight going on behind her. And then comes the Finn and Puck rap routine. My eyes are burning.
I really can't tell anymore if the producers are deliberately taking the piss or not. Ridiculous dance routines. Character traits changing every week. Plot threads left dangling for months.
The week also sees Mr Schuester seeking revenge on Sue Sylvester, and for me he goes too far. I know she's been evil, but still, breaking her heart is cruel and ruthless. For once I actually feel sorry for her.
Kudos for the end line, but otherwise an unbalanced, in every sense of the word, episode. On to next week and regionals...
2.5/5
Sunday, 6 June 2010
TV Review: Old Who/New Who Round 1
Vincent and the Doctor (S31Ep10, or S1Ep10, or S5Ep10 depending on how you're counting. Frankly it may as well be episode bingly blap for all the different systems used for Doctor Who these days)
I found this week's episode of New Who to be rather wonderful. Melancholic and moving, with just the right balance of humour, action and human drama. I've been very surprised this season as the episodes I've enjoyed the most have been from the writers I've least expected it from: Simon Nye of Men Behaving Badly fame with Amy's Choice, and Richard Curtis, of Blackadder and twee London renown, with this installment.
The episode featured a number of standout moments, not just for the show but for the whole season. A fantastically realised monster, a number of images taken straight from Vincent's own work (including the absolute highlight of the night sky transformed into Starry Night), and Vincent discovering how his work is appreciated in the future.
Amy Pond, who I'll post about later, annoyed me far less than usual and Matt Smith gave one of his best performances to date as the Doctor, mixing empathy with joy and sadness. The pacing felt perfect for once, the characters allowed room to breath rather than constantly running off to a thumping beat. The location work was gorgeous to look at and helped keep you in the drama, something the studio bound work can often fail to do.
Overall an excellent episode and contender for the best, so far, of the season.
5/5
Mawdryn Undead (S20Ep9-12, or S20 Story 3, or... oh dang it, work it out yourself)
And so we turn to Old Who, and the first part of the Black Guardian trilogy. I'm watching the DVD release with the new CGI effects turned on, which helps remove the distraction of some rather ropey old effects. The old VFX team did the best they could with the time and budget they had, but it's nice to have the option of the spruced up versions. Try watching The Invasion of Time without them. Least scary tin foil ever.
The story features a couple of neat twists, with the storyline split between two time periods set in the same location, the return of the Brigadier (in both times), and a new companion who's trying to murder the doctor (you see Peri, the Doc did have a legitimate reason for not trusting the people he was traveling with, though I'll agree the throttling was a tad too far. Oh The Twin Dilemma, how I look forward to watching and then mocking you)
The introduction of the titular Mawdryn comes fairly late into the story with a graphic piece of make up that's all the more shocking for it's brevity on screen at the end of episode 2. Even with it's extended screen time later on the pulsing bloody mesh of the exposed brain is an unsettling sight.
The story features a creepy, atmospheric score, some further horrific make up Tegan and Nyssa, a shout out to Pertwee's famous "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow", and a couple of fun split screen shenanigans of the Brigadier. Scattered throughout the Black Guardian taunts and manipulates Turlough into various nefarious acts as a number of plot threads begin to converge.
Sadly there also the common Old Who flaws of large quantities of screen time spent wandering aimlessly down corridors and confusing technobable solutions, in particular an overly convenient deus ex machina.
Ultimately it come down to a group of thieves seeking salvation. The price: the remainder of the Doctor's regenerations.
3.5/5
I found this week's episode of New Who to be rather wonderful. Melancholic and moving, with just the right balance of humour, action and human drama. I've been very surprised this season as the episodes I've enjoyed the most have been from the writers I've least expected it from: Simon Nye of Men Behaving Badly fame with Amy's Choice, and Richard Curtis, of Blackadder and twee London renown, with this installment.
The episode featured a number of standout moments, not just for the show but for the whole season. A fantastically realised monster, a number of images taken straight from Vincent's own work (including the absolute highlight of the night sky transformed into Starry Night), and Vincent discovering how his work is appreciated in the future.
Amy Pond, who I'll post about later, annoyed me far less than usual and Matt Smith gave one of his best performances to date as the Doctor, mixing empathy with joy and sadness. The pacing felt perfect for once, the characters allowed room to breath rather than constantly running off to a thumping beat. The location work was gorgeous to look at and helped keep you in the drama, something the studio bound work can often fail to do.
Overall an excellent episode and contender for the best, so far, of the season.
5/5
Mawdryn Undead (S20Ep9-12, or S20 Story 3, or... oh dang it, work it out yourself)
And so we turn to Old Who, and the first part of the Black Guardian trilogy. I'm watching the DVD release with the new CGI effects turned on, which helps remove the distraction of some rather ropey old effects. The old VFX team did the best they could with the time and budget they had, but it's nice to have the option of the spruced up versions. Try watching The Invasion of Time without them. Least scary tin foil ever.
The story features a couple of neat twists, with the storyline split between two time periods set in the same location, the return of the Brigadier (in both times), and a new companion who's trying to murder the doctor (you see Peri, the Doc did have a legitimate reason for not trusting the people he was traveling with, though I'll agree the throttling was a tad too far. Oh The Twin Dilemma, how I look forward to watching and then mocking you)
The introduction of the titular Mawdryn comes fairly late into the story with a graphic piece of make up that's all the more shocking for it's brevity on screen at the end of episode 2. Even with it's extended screen time later on the pulsing bloody mesh of the exposed brain is an unsettling sight.
The story features a creepy, atmospheric score, some further horrific make up Tegan and Nyssa, a shout out to Pertwee's famous "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow", and a couple of fun split screen shenanigans of the Brigadier. Scattered throughout the Black Guardian taunts and manipulates Turlough into various nefarious acts as a number of plot threads begin to converge.
Sadly there also the common Old Who flaws of large quantities of screen time spent wandering aimlessly down corridors and confusing technobable solutions, in particular an overly convenient deus ex machina.
Ultimately it come down to a group of thieves seeking salvation. The price: the remainder of the Doctor's regenerations.
3.5/5
Saturday, 5 June 2010
TV Review: Spies in Stargate Universe
Stargate Universe - Subversion (s1ep18)
Is Telford a spy? Is Rush lying? Or is something else going on? By the episode's end it seems we have an answer, along with a tense cliffhanger.
SG:U is one of, if not THE most po-faced shows on TV at the moment. I never watched the original Stargate series or Atlantis, but understand several fans haven't liked the change in tone. The episode in particular highlights the disparity with Richard Dean Anderson's jokey lines feeling woefully out of place. SG:U is attempting to take the situations it puts its characters in seriously, something I applaud. Science fiction is often dismissed as frivolous or silly, so it great to see a TV show treat it like straight drama. I enjoy the fun and funny SF shows too, but am glad someone out there is trying to do things differently.
Back to the show. TJ is worrying about bringing g a baby onto the ship, Camille and the scientists want to know what Young is up to, and Rush finds himself at the mercy of a band of literally cut throat individuals. It's a packed, gripping episode and I can't wait to see how it all turns out next week.
4/5
Is Telford a spy? Is Rush lying? Or is something else going on? By the episode's end it seems we have an answer, along with a tense cliffhanger.
SG:U is one of, if not THE most po-faced shows on TV at the moment. I never watched the original Stargate series or Atlantis, but understand several fans haven't liked the change in tone. The episode in particular highlights the disparity with Richard Dean Anderson's jokey lines feeling woefully out of place. SG:U is attempting to take the situations it puts its characters in seriously, something I applaud. Science fiction is often dismissed as frivolous or silly, so it great to see a TV show treat it like straight drama. I enjoy the fun and funny SF shows too, but am glad someone out there is trying to do things differently.
Back to the show. TJ is worrying about bringing g a baby onto the ship, Camille and the scientists want to know what Young is up to, and Rush finds himself at the mercy of a band of literally cut throat individuals. It's a packed, gripping episode and I can't wait to see how it all turns out next week.
4/5
Friday, 4 June 2010
TV Review: FlashForward catches up with itself
FlashForward - Future Shock (S1Ep22)
And so after just a single season of 22 episodes flash forward comes to a close. Not that the producers noticed, ending the show with multiple cliffhangers and no closure. Does Mark survive? Can Janis escape the bad guys she double crossed? Will Demetri get back together with his fiancee? What did everyone see in their new flash forwards? Does anyone care?
Sadly, the answer to the last is a resounding no.
I gave up on the show about 5 episodes in, tired of every week hearing Mark whine about having a drink in 6 months and his wife whine about having an affair. God it was dull. I gave it another shot when it came back from mid season hiatus and found it greatly improved, if still littered with problems. Things generally improve when Joesph-I can only play over intense-Fiennes leaves the screen and John Cho enters. The finale in particular shows Fiennes at his ott best, strutting around the FBI with a shotgun and generally looking like a right prat. His dramatic phone call with his wife had me in stitches. The action itself was fun, if stolen directly from John Woo's Hard Boiled (an excellent action movie by the way, featuring the extremely charismatic Chow Yun-Fat who could blast Fiennes into next century while leaping out of an exploding building clutching a new born baby)
The last couple of episode have seen the show at it's rushed, logic defying worst. To be fair to the production team they did have two episodes taken away from them (never a good sign) making it neigh on impossible to tie up all the loose ends in the time they had left. In the end they went for shoving 2 fingers up at the audience and running for the hills.
And so ends FlashForward. Fun at times, dumb and confusing the rest. The lesson - don't let the guy who wrote and directed Blade 3 run your show.
2.5/5
And so after just a single season of 22 episodes flash forward comes to a close. Not that the producers noticed, ending the show with multiple cliffhangers and no closure. Does Mark survive? Can Janis escape the bad guys she double crossed? Will Demetri get back together with his fiancee? What did everyone see in their new flash forwards? Does anyone care?
Sadly, the answer to the last is a resounding no.
I gave up on the show about 5 episodes in, tired of every week hearing Mark whine about having a drink in 6 months and his wife whine about having an affair. God it was dull. I gave it another shot when it came back from mid season hiatus and found it greatly improved, if still littered with problems. Things generally improve when Joesph-I can only play over intense-Fiennes leaves the screen and John Cho enters. The finale in particular shows Fiennes at his ott best, strutting around the FBI with a shotgun and generally looking like a right prat. His dramatic phone call with his wife had me in stitches. The action itself was fun, if stolen directly from John Woo's Hard Boiled (an excellent action movie by the way, featuring the extremely charismatic Chow Yun-Fat who could blast Fiennes into next century while leaping out of an exploding building clutching a new born baby)
The last couple of episode have seen the show at it's rushed, logic defying worst. To be fair to the production team they did have two episodes taken away from them (never a good sign) making it neigh on impossible to tie up all the loose ends in the time they had left. In the end they went for shoving 2 fingers up at the audience and running for the hills.
And so ends FlashForward. Fun at times, dumb and confusing the rest. The lesson - don't let the guy who wrote and directed Blade 3 run your show.
2.5/5
Thursday, 3 June 2010
TV Review: Supernatural turns 100
Supernatural - Point of No Return (s5ep18)
I love this show. Morality, destiny, free will, loyalty, family, faith, suffering, loss and redemption. All mixed together with some good old fashion demon (and angel) ass whupping. Not to mention it's frequently hysterically funny.
Ever since the halfway point of the season the show has embraced the Apocalypse full on and this week is no exception. The first 3/4 were a slow build character study leading up to some stunning action and big decisions at a familiar location.
Here be spoilers. Ye have been warned...
This was an episode of powerful images. Castiel's fist in close up, filling most of the frame, a battered and bloody Dean pushed into the corner, staring up at it through the rain. An angel fight in a circle of blasted back trees, the sight of another angel led resurrection. A single bullet placed on Bobby's desk. A sigil carved into Castiel's chest, spilling forth white light to drive him and 4 rival angels far away. Zachariah's wings outlined in soot on the floor and walls, spreading out from his broken body. The light of Michael filling the green room, Adam trapped inside.
As to the plot, in the end, when push comes to shove, Dean said no. And all because his little brother had faith in him. It's a touching revelation and played with heart and genuine emotion. The boys are back and there's going to be hell to pay.
Castiel got 3 kiss-ass action scenes, taking on 7 angels and Dean. Misha has clearly been spending the weeks perfecting his fight training, along with his "special" looks at Dean. Yeh, that line was such a fan shout out.
Bobby gets a poignant moment as we learn he's thinking of killing himself, and it's only a promise to the boys that stops him. Don't do it Bobby! It's not like anyone's going to post that Macarena video on You Tube. Oh...
The question is, what happens next. With Zachariah dead (we'll miss you Kurt) there's only 1 big bad left: Lucifer himself. Or is there? The last moments in the green room hint that maybe, just maybe, Adam is about to become Micheal's substitute meatsuit. It would be a interesting dynamic. Sam and Dean verses the top soldiers of heaven and hell.
Next Wednesday can't come soon enough.
5/5
I love this show. Morality, destiny, free will, loyalty, family, faith, suffering, loss and redemption. All mixed together with some good old fashion demon (and angel) ass whupping. Not to mention it's frequently hysterically funny.
Ever since the halfway point of the season the show has embraced the Apocalypse full on and this week is no exception. The first 3/4 were a slow build character study leading up to some stunning action and big decisions at a familiar location.
Here be spoilers. Ye have been warned...
This was an episode of powerful images. Castiel's fist in close up, filling most of the frame, a battered and bloody Dean pushed into the corner, staring up at it through the rain. An angel fight in a circle of blasted back trees, the sight of another angel led resurrection. A single bullet placed on Bobby's desk. A sigil carved into Castiel's chest, spilling forth white light to drive him and 4 rival angels far away. Zachariah's wings outlined in soot on the floor and walls, spreading out from his broken body. The light of Michael filling the green room, Adam trapped inside.
As to the plot, in the end, when push comes to shove, Dean said no. And all because his little brother had faith in him. It's a touching revelation and played with heart and genuine emotion. The boys are back and there's going to be hell to pay.
Castiel got 3 kiss-ass action scenes, taking on 7 angels and Dean. Misha has clearly been spending the weeks perfecting his fight training, along with his "special" looks at Dean. Yeh, that line was such a fan shout out.
Bobby gets a poignant moment as we learn he's thinking of killing himself, and it's only a promise to the boys that stops him. Don't do it Bobby! It's not like anyone's going to post that Macarena video on You Tube. Oh...
The question is, what happens next. With Zachariah dead (we'll miss you Kurt) there's only 1 big bad left: Lucifer himself. Or is there? The last moments in the green room hint that maybe, just maybe, Adam is about to become Micheal's substitute meatsuit. It would be a interesting dynamic. Sam and Dean verses the top soldiers of heaven and hell.
Next Wednesday can't come soon enough.
5/5
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Film Review: recent release The Losers and 98's Rounders
The Losers
It's tempting to say that the real losers of this film are not the titular soldiers on the run, but the audience who paid to watch them. There are enough bright spots littered throughout the 100min running time to avoid truly earning that statement, but only just.
The film suffers from 2 major flaws: an uncertain tone that lurches from exciting if unoriginal action to comedy that rarely elicits more than a smirk, and Jason Patric. Jason Patric, when you absolutely, positively have to kill every last mother&*%$^! franchise in the room. The man is either on autopilot, playing the whole thing for laughs (badly) or attempting to paint the main villain as utterly bonkers insane. I'm not sure which I'd prefer to be true.
Chris Evans gets the most genuine laughs, doing his best with a weak script that I can't believe Peter-Friday Night Lights-Berg had anything to do with. Oscar Jaenada in the role of the quiet but lethal sniper Cougar comes off as the coolest of the cast, getting the job done with no fuss, no frills, and no unnecessary banter. Jeffery Dean Morgan, the actor I was most looking forward to in this, somehow fails to click, though that may be more the script and director's fault than his. Speaking of which, the director is clearly form the Zack Snyder school of slow motion film making, though even Zack would avoid some of the painful to watch ott uses of the technique on display here.
As to the rest, Zoe Saldana does what she can with a limit role, bringing the toughness we've come to expect from her to an underwritten character, and Idris-Stringer Bell-Elba comes loaded with simmering hostility and the most naturalistic (for this film anyway) performance of the bunch.
2/5
Rounders
Promotional art can be a tricky thing. It gets audiences into your movie but it also sets up certain expectations. Rounders' for instance suggests a Matt Damon and Edward Norton two hander about poker. The poker part is true, but this is Damon's show through and through. Norton is in the film for a fair chunk of the running time, but I doubt the role would have shared top billing if it had been a lesser actor in his place. Norton is, as ever, excellent, crafting a broken and intriguing character, always one screw up away from salvation. Damon has the harder part, having to maintain a poker face most of the time whilst also making you care about his character's journey. That he succeeds is in no small part to his natural charisma despite a number of choices that will make you shake your head. Loaning a gambling addict money is one thing. Vouching for him to a guy with mob ties, now that's all kinds of stupid.
Overall the characters and narrative are engrossing, with elegant lighting and direction throughout, every poker table bathed in a warm orange glow. The film is not without its flaws however. The final third loses focus and ends up repeating many of the issues and arguments that we've head before. Passion verses expectations. Straight up or mechanics. The denouement feels unsatisfying, with much left unresolved and our hero's ultimate fate uncertain.
Of course, no review would be complete without a word on John Malkovich. Some character actors play it small, disappearing inside a quiet, nuanced role. Malkovich is not that actor. And when you combine him with a Russian accent thicker than Borscht, you have a recipe for unintentional hilarity. That the film survives is a testament to the other cast and crew.
3.5/5
It's tempting to say that the real losers of this film are not the titular soldiers on the run, but the audience who paid to watch them. There are enough bright spots littered throughout the 100min running time to avoid truly earning that statement, but only just.
The film suffers from 2 major flaws: an uncertain tone that lurches from exciting if unoriginal action to comedy that rarely elicits more than a smirk, and Jason Patric. Jason Patric, when you absolutely, positively have to kill every last mother&*%$^! franchise in the room. The man is either on autopilot, playing the whole thing for laughs (badly) or attempting to paint the main villain as utterly bonkers insane. I'm not sure which I'd prefer to be true.
Chris Evans gets the most genuine laughs, doing his best with a weak script that I can't believe Peter-Friday Night Lights-Berg had anything to do with. Oscar Jaenada in the role of the quiet but lethal sniper Cougar comes off as the coolest of the cast, getting the job done with no fuss, no frills, and no unnecessary banter. Jeffery Dean Morgan, the actor I was most looking forward to in this, somehow fails to click, though that may be more the script and director's fault than his. Speaking of which, the director is clearly form the Zack Snyder school of slow motion film making, though even Zack would avoid some of the painful to watch ott uses of the technique on display here.
As to the rest, Zoe Saldana does what she can with a limit role, bringing the toughness we've come to expect from her to an underwritten character, and Idris-Stringer Bell-Elba comes loaded with simmering hostility and the most naturalistic (for this film anyway) performance of the bunch.
2/5
Rounders
Promotional art can be a tricky thing. It gets audiences into your movie but it also sets up certain expectations. Rounders' for instance suggests a Matt Damon and Edward Norton two hander about poker. The poker part is true, but this is Damon's show through and through. Norton is in the film for a fair chunk of the running time, but I doubt the role would have shared top billing if it had been a lesser actor in his place. Norton is, as ever, excellent, crafting a broken and intriguing character, always one screw up away from salvation. Damon has the harder part, having to maintain a poker face most of the time whilst also making you care about his character's journey. That he succeeds is in no small part to his natural charisma despite a number of choices that will make you shake your head. Loaning a gambling addict money is one thing. Vouching for him to a guy with mob ties, now that's all kinds of stupid.
Overall the characters and narrative are engrossing, with elegant lighting and direction throughout, every poker table bathed in a warm orange glow. The film is not without its flaws however. The final third loses focus and ends up repeating many of the issues and arguments that we've head before. Passion verses expectations. Straight up or mechanics. The denouement feels unsatisfying, with much left unresolved and our hero's ultimate fate uncertain.
Of course, no review would be complete without a word on John Malkovich. Some character actors play it small, disappearing inside a quiet, nuanced role. Malkovich is not that actor. And when you combine him with a Russian accent thicker than Borscht, you have a recipe for unintentional hilarity. That the film survives is a testament to the other cast and crew.
3.5/5
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