Monday, February 28, 2011
TV Ratings: 'Friday Night Dinner', Channel 4
Great news for Channel 4, who scored a weekend hit with their new sitcom Friday Night Dinner. The comedy, about two twentysomething brothers who have a meal with their parents every Friday, attracted 2.2 million viewers on Friday night at 10pm. That's the best debut for a new comedy since Max & Paddy's Road To Nowhere in 2004. Let's see how many tune in for episode 2 this week...
'OUTCASTS' 1.6
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Episode 6 was actually pretty good, by and large. It began with the two-day disappearance of three XP's (Hunter, Johnson and Docherty), whom we later learn were sent on a black ops mission to assassinate the AC's leader Rudi by Jack (Ashley Walters) and Berger (Eric Mabius), who's evidently intolerant of the threat posed by those genetically-engineered pariahs. The mystery thickened with the surprise return of Josie Hunter (Juliet Aubrey, reprising her role as Helen Cutter on Primeval) to Forthaven, claiming to have survived an AC attack. Josie was swiftly reunited with her three children, who quickly began to sense that their mother has "changed". Indeed, the audience were several steps ahead of writer David Farr in forming the hypothesis that Josie isn't the real Josie, but another example of the corporeal "hallucinations" Tate (Liam Cunningham) has been seeing of his dead children.
There was undoubted fun and anxiety whenever fake-Josie was on-screen, with Aubrey doing a great job as the off-kilter version of the mother her kids know and love. A moment when Tate spied on Josie, seeing her make random expressions and arm gestures, as if practicing human interaction, was genuinely unsettling. However, everyone's reaction to the fact an alien changeling has sneaked into Forthaven was disappointingly flat: Tate barely reacted, Stella (Hermione Norris) feels more detached than Josie at times, and Cass (Daniel Mays) just went with the flow. Part of the fun when you include aliens is seeing how people react to their presence, as the audience at home want to vicariously experience the thrill and fear, but Outcasts did a poor job in that respect.
The simultaneous drama with the pregnant wife of a missing XP, having to give birth without her husband, was of mixed success. It was another example of the show asking us to care about a character we haven't met previously (or if we have, I've forgotten), and the dilemma at the heart of the situation was a very old one (the baby survives and the mother dies, or vice versa). You'd be inhuman if you didn't care to some extent, but I wish this character had been someone we had a connection with.
One thing I want to praise is the marvelous direction by Andy Goddard, who gave this episode a notable boost visually. The scenery has always been beautiful, but it was particularly awesome here (a vista shot with a distress flare arching into the sky was gorgeous), there were some fantastic scene transitions (my favourite being one where Tate seemed to melt into the shadow of the next scene's corridor), and the tilting action shot of Stella running down a corridor was movie-quality stuff. The AC's were also far more threatening as a silent stealth force, burrowing into Forthaven to cause a blackout.
There's not much more to say about Episode 6, which was pretty basic in term of storytelling. I'm glad an alien presence on Carpathia is now confirmed, but slightly worried it's wandering into clichéd territory of the aliens being fascinated by the human concept of love. I'm also unconvinced by Tate's speculation that these aliens caused the genocide of the hominids that used to live on Carpathia, and have similar plans for them. I'm sticking to my theory the hominids WERE the aliens, in a less-evolved form.
Overall, we only have two episodes left of Outcasts, with little possibility of a second series. It seems to be building towards Berger and Jack mounting a coup d'état, with Stella forced to choose between the two ideologies they represent, the arrival of a CT10 transport full of people who appear to be on Berger's side, not to mention the wider issue of the vengeful AC's and the ambiguous nature of the aliens. That sounds like it might be a heady concoction, so fingers crossed Outcasts at least ends on a high note. It's a shame the first three episodes were so tedious and the characters just haven't been very strong, as the core ideas behind this show are decent -- if derivative of other TV shows, films, and novels that tackled the same broad subject-matter with greater skill.
Asides
- I see from this episode that Forthaven has a prayer room. I was under the impression religion was frowned upon in this show's future, hence the friction between secular Tate and spiritual Berger, but clearly I was wrong.
- Not that I want to see more of them, but the lack of Stella's daughter Lily and genius/DJ Tipper in recent weeks hasn't gone unnoticed. Hopefully, if they're still of relevance, they'll figure into the remaining two episodes more.
- Why did the AC's have to burrow into Forthaven? As last week proved with Pak, you can simply walk through the gates and grab yourself a drink at the local bar.
- Juliet Aubrey didn't bring her impressive cleavage over from Primeval, more's the pity, but her character really could have just wandered over from that show.
Oscars 2011: The Results
The 83rd annual Academy Awards were held last night at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. Did you watch? I'll try and catch the highlights, mainly to see the various sketches that hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway did. As for the winners: The King's Speech was the big hit with four awards (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay), and I was pleased to see Natalie Portman win Best Actress for Black Swan. It boggles my mind that Tom Hooper can win Best Director over David Fincher or Darren Aronofsky for The King's Speech, though. And Christian Bale got Best Supporting Actor, proving Tropic Thunder wrong. You really can go "full retard" and be a success.
The full results are below. What did you make of the evening?
BEST PICTURE
- 127 Hours
- Black Swan
- The Fighter
- Inception
- Toy Story 3
- The Kids Are All Right
- The King's Speech WINNER
- The Social Network
- True Grit
- Winter's Bone
BEST ACTOR
- Javier Bardem - Biutiful
- Jeff Bridges - True Grit
- Colin Firth - The King's Speech WINNER
- Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
- James Franco - 127 Hours
BEST ACTRESS
- Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine
- Natalie Portman - Black Swan WINNER
- Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
- Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
- Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Christian Bale - The Fighter WINNER
- John Hawkes - Winter's Bone
- Jeremy Renner - The Town
- Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right
- Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Melissa Leo - The Fighter WINNER
- Amy Adams - The Fighter
- Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
- Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
- Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom
BEST DIRECTOR
- Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
- Joel &Ethan Coen - True Grit
- David O Russell - The Fighter
- David Fincher - The Social Network
- Tom Hooper - The King's Speech WINNER
BEST ANIMATED FILM
- Toy Story 3 WINNER
- How To Train Your Dragon
- The Illusionist
BEST SCREENPLAY WRITTEN DIRECTLY FOR THE SCREEN
- Another Year
- Inception
- The Kids Are All Right
- The Fighter
- The King's Speech WINNER
BEST SCREENPLAY BASED ON MATERIAL PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED
- 127 Hours
- The Social Network WINNER
- Toy Story 3
- True Grit
- Winter's Bone
BEST FOREIGN FILM
- Biutiful (Mexico)
- In A Better World (Denmark) WINNER
- Outside The Law (Algeria)
- Incendies (Canada)
- Dogtooth (Greece)
BEST ART DIRECTION
- Alice In Wonderland WINNER
- Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1
- Inception
- The King's Speech
- True Grit
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Black Swan
- Inception WINNER
- The King's Speech
- The Social Network
- True Grit
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
- Alice In Wonderland WINNER
- I Am Love
- The King's Speech
- The Tempest
- True Grit
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
- Exit Through The Gift Shop
- Gasland
- Inside Job WINNER
- Restrepo
- Wasteland
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
- Killing In The Name
- Poster Girl
- Strangers No More WINNER
- Sun Come Up
- The Warriors Of Qiugang
BEST EDITING
- Black Swan
- The Fighter
- The King's Speech
- 127 Hours
- The Social Network WINNER
BEST MAKEUP
- Barney's Version
- The Way Back
- The Wolfman WINNER
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
- How To Train Your Dragon
- Inception
- The King's Speech
- 127 Hours
- The Social Network WINNER
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
- 'Coming Home' (Country Strong)
- 'I See The Light' (Tangled)
- 'If I Rise' (127 Hours)
- 'We Belong Together' (Toy Story 3) WINNER
BEST SOUND EDITING
- Inception WINNER
- Toy Story 3
- Tron: Legacy
- True Grit
- Unstoppable
BEST SOUND MIXING
- Inception WINNER
- Salt
- The King's Speech
- The Social Network
- True Grit
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
- Alice In Wonderland
- Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1
- Hereafter
- Inception WINNER
- Iron Man 2
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
- Day & Night
- The Gruffalo
- Let's Pollute
- The Lost Thing WINNER
- Madagascar, A Journey Diary
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
- The Confession
- The Crush
- God Of Love WINNER
- Na Wewe
- Wish 143
'BEING HUMAN' 3.6 - "Daddy Ghoul"
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After the cataclysmic events of "The Longest Day" there was a feeling of deflation with this episode, as the atmosphere returned to relative normality. Nina (Sinead Keenan) was still wary of Mitchell (Aidan Turner) now she thinks he's a sicko who keeps a scrapbook of death under the attic floorboards, but primarily she looked to be regretting ever having called the police with an anonymous tipoff about the Box Tunnel 20 massacre. The long arm of the law arrives in the form of DC Nancy Reid (Erin Richards), a beautiful blonde who attracted the furtive attention of Herrick (Jason Watkins) with her cut knee, as the amnesiac vampire is starting to suffer withdrawals. I guess I can accept that Nina has started to have second thoughts about bringing the police into the situation (if only because it may expose vampires to the world if they arrest Mitchell and interrogate him), but it still felt strange that headstrong Nina's shock and revulsion was diluted so quickly.
Elsewhere, it was frankly bizarre to see Annie (Lenora Crichlow) and Mitchell back on good terms, after their horrendous bust-up. You would hardly know a bad word was said between them from how they interacted here, which is perhaps a problem stemming from how UK dramas aren't written in teams. Did writer Lisa McGee get to read last week's script, or was she just briefed about the current state of things and someone forgot to mention Mitchell and Annie's explosive argument? Either way, creator Toby Whithouse could have smoothed the transition by rewriting dialogue to better reflect the repercussions of episode 5.
There was also some confusing series continuity, as a cold open flashback to Paris 1933 gave us a True Blood-esque scene between Herrick and Mitchell in an ornate hotel room containing a dead body and glasses full of siphoned blood. It was here that the debonair Herrick revealed to Mitchell that a vampire inherits the memories of their maker. An interesting piece of vampire lore, but we've seen Mitchell create progenies before now and I never got the impression they had inherited all his memories. To me, this felt like a retroactive way of explaining how Cara knew how to resurrect her maker Herrick. But did you ever get the impression dimwitted Cara had all of Herrick's memories and knowledge? Also, Mitchell himself was turned by Herrick during WWI, so if he was given all of Herrick's memories after becoming a vampire, why did he need to be told any of this? I'll leave that to the super-fans to debate or explain.
The situation at the B&B was suitably tense once Reid started sniffing around, especially when Annie turned Hopkirk to Reid's Randall and helped solve the mystery after realizing Lia (the girl she saw in purgatory) was one of the Box Tunnel 20. There was also some fantastically creepy sequences with Herrick throughout this hour, which are giving Watkins the best material he's had to work with that plays to his strengths. Here, he cut a peephole in the attic floor so he could salivate over Reid's fresh knee wound, before retrieving her bloodied bandages from a bin and sucking on them. But the pinnacle of the episode, for me, was the moment when "Uncle Billy" made himself known to Reid in the bathroom, and Herrick fought against his instinct to tighten his jaws around the policewoman's neck. Having him manage to pull himself back from the brink was unexpected, as was having him give Reid the incriminating scrapbook as evidence. Mitchell may have saved his skin by ensuring Reid didn't leave manage to steal his property without a warrant, later burning it in the garden, but there's no way Reid's going to let this matter lie. As a relative underling at CID, she knows solving this case will make her career.
The majority of the episode was spent elsewhere, after George discovered that his father, George Sands Snr (James Fleet), had died, and decided to attend his funeral. This was the first time we've seen anything of George's family, whom he ran away from after being turned into a werewolf (a decision that's never felt plausible to me), and the storyline here was engaging in the moment. I really liked how George caught his nervous dad's ghost watching how own funeral, and the two decided to reconnect in a nearby caravan, while trying to determine what George Snr needs to do in order to "crossover" to the other side. A kind of posthumous Bucket List that involved them watching Titanic.
I've always found James Fleet irritating, mainly because he plays the same fidgety, upper-middle class milquetoast role in everything he does, but that shtick was used well here. You could buy into George Snr as a spineless tool who let his marriage collapse when his wife Ruth (Marion Bailey) had an affair with bullying former PE teacher Marcus (Danny Webb) during salsa classes, and in death had to man up to win her back. Only, he wasn't really dead. In a beautiful subversion of the spectral cliché popularized by The Sixth Sense, George discovered that his dad unwittingly faked his own death when his shed burned down, toasting an unfortunate vagrant, and just decided to go with the flow when everyone assumed he'd died.
A marvelous idea, although the actual epiphany (with George catching his dad eating) was oddly flat - maybe because the rules about ghosts aren't so fixed in your head. George may have mentioned that ghosts can't eat, to help us out when the reveal came, but it still didn’t quite connect. It would have been better if George Snr was caught catching something thrown at him -- as new ghosts don't have that ability, right?
There was also a great moment when George summoned the courage to tell his parents he's a werewolf, which they didn't believe, but unburdening himself was enough. The moment was played like a "coming out" scene for a gay man (is that the core werewolf analogy in Being Human) which worked very well, and I had to wonder if George Snr spent this whole episode thinking George and Nina's "condition" is that they're both HIV positive.
Overall, I definitely rate this episode as an entertaining hour that ultimately served a purpose, even if the entire storyline with George's parents was just something to pass the time. I hope we'll see more of the Sands, despite the fact George now has less reason to be so tormented about his past. "Daddy Ghoul" was one of those episodes where the A-story was less compelling than the subplots, as everything going on at the B&B was effortlessly more exciting because it has more back-story and relevance to series 3's ongoing narrative. There were some frustrating slips and, for me, moments that didn’t quite make sense, but the situation with Mitchell and Herrick appears to be reaching a crescendo I'm keen to see.
Asides
- I didn't find Annie quoting Cheryl Cole lyrics to George in the kitchen very funny, mainly because the words to "Fight For This Love" have nothing to do with grieving a loved-one.
- There was a clear reference to The Shawshank Redemption with George and Nina's alibi about escaping from a cult by digging a tunnel hidden by a Raquel Welch poster, but was Herrick's attic peephole a nod to Shallow Grave?
- "I'm not very good with death", says Annie the ghost.
- "Daddy Ghoul" didn't really broach how death should mean something very different to Being Human's characters. They have empirical proof that there is an afterlife, so I thought the episode could have mentioned this when George read his dad's obituary. It would definitely change the way in which you mourn someone's passing, wouldn't it?
- So, uh, you don't want to tell your parents you're going to be a father yet, George? Again, did writer Lisa McGee know this was a storyline in-play?
TV Picks: 28 February – 6 March 2011 ('A League Of Their Own', 'Glory Daze', 'Jamie's Dream School', 'Love Thy Neighbour', 'Wonders Of The Universe', etc.)
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'Wonders Of The Universe' - BBC2/HD, Sunday, 9PM |
Every Monday I browse the UK television schedules for the coming week, selecting each day's best new TV shows. Below you'll find the result of that work...
MONDAY 28th
How To Live With Women (BBC3, 9pm) A group of lazy boyfriends are educated in basic domesticity, to please their girlfriends. (1/4)The Story Of Variety with Michael Grade (BBC4, 9pm) Michael Grade presents a guide to variety performances, featuring interviews with Bruce Forsyth, Ken Dodd, Roy Hudd, Barry Cryer, and many more. (1/2)
Great British Hairdresser (E4, 10pm) Reality series where celebrity hairdresser James Brown, model Abbey Clancy and Glamour magazine editor Jo Elvin search for the UK's top stylist. (1/10)
TUESDAY 1st
Horizon: Are We Still Evolving? (BBC2, 9pm) Alice Roberts investigates the theory that mankind's advances in technology mean we've broken free of natural evolution.The Listener (FX, 9pm) Season 2 of the US crime drama.
Neighbourhood Watched (BBC1, 10.35pm) Series 2 of the show that follows a group of housing officers and their dealings with various tenants. (1/4)
WEDNESDAY 2nd
Jamie's Dream School (Channel 4, 9pm) Jamie Oliver recruits celebrity experts to become teachers of a school and convince 20 slacker students to give education a chance. Featuring Robert Winston, David Starkey, Rolf Harris, Alastair Campbell, Dominic West, Simon Callow, Jazzie B & Daley Thompson. (1/7)OMG! With Peaches Geldof (ITV2, 9pm) Peaches Geldof is joined by Radio 1's Aled Haydn Jones and therapist Emma Kenny for a lighthearted mix of chat and advice. (1/6)
THURSDAY 3rd
Hardliners (Dave, 8pm) Series following the adventures of Australian anglers. Comic Relief: Famous, Rich & In The Slums (BBC1, 9pm) A group of celebrities spend a week in a Kenyan slum. Stars Lenny Henry, Samantha Womack, Reggie Yates & Angela Rippon. (1/2)
Love Thy Neighbour (Channel 4, 9pm) 12 families compete to win a dream life in the countryside, with the villagers of their potential new residence having the final say. (1/8)
Working Girls (BBC3, 9pm) Lazy women are partnered with businesswomen for 8 days, in an effort to inspire them to greater things. (1/4)
Glory Daze (E4, 9pm) Drama about four university freshman in the '80s. Stars Joel Harrington, Eli Feldman, Brian Sommers & Jason Wilson. (1/10)
FRIDAY 4th
A League Of Their Own (Sky1, 9.30pm) Series 3 of the sports comedy panel show. Hosted by James Corden, with team captains Freddie Flintoff & Jamie Redknapp, regulars John Bishop & Georgie Thompson, and guests Jimmy Carr & Phil Taylor. (1/9)SATURDAY 5th
Nothing.SUNDAY 6th
Civilization: Is The West History? (Channel 4, 8pm) Historian Niall Ferguson ponders the idea that the West's global dominance is reaching an end, by first charting its rise. (1/6)Wonders Of The Universe (BBC2, 9pm) Documentary series where Professor Brian Cox guides us through some of the most spectacular sights of the universe. (1/4)
Country House Rescue (Channel 4, 9pm) Series about the renovation of various buildings. (1/13)
Sunday, February 27, 2011
'SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA' – "The Bitter End"
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The funeral of Titus brought a somber air to the ludus, with black attire and the gladiators wearing full regalia, although it didn't last long before Batiatus (John Hannah) was plotting to avenge his father's murder by killing Tullius, unaware it was his wife Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) who was behind the poisoning. The plan itself was a beauty: Solonius (Craig Walsh Wrightson) pretending to have turned traitor from his best-friend, alerting Tullius to Batiatus's plan to have Gannicus (Dustin Clare) conveniently "escape" so he can't honour his father's debt. Poor Tullius and his lapdog Vettius (Gareth Williams) fell for the story, walking straight into an ambush by Batiatus's men. The ultimate fate of Tullius, knifed multiple times and bricked up in the foundations of his beloved new arena, was particularly grim and darkly poetic. He's such a detestable character you couldn't totally sympathize (certainly not after his unwarranted murder of Gaia), although knowing he didn't actually kill Titus and the ghastliness of his death elicited some degree of compassion.
Once Tullius was removed from the picture, the finale arguably lost some of its tension, as there were no big villains left to defeat. But I really enjoyed the surprising way Solonius and Batiatus's friendship dissolved, with the former being handed young Vettius' ludus in exchange for keeping him alive to provide an alibi about Tullius's absence from the games. It was an underhanded maneoever on par with Batiatus's best efforts, and instantly transformed Solonius from background player to a prominent lanista with the most gladiators in all of Capua. Out of all this nastiness, it was rather fitting that Solonius would be the one who benefitted the most (now privileged enough to sit a row ahead of Batiatus in the VIP box), but it was also a slight distress to realize many of Batiatus's cutthroat traits has rubbed off on the levelheaded Solonius, who had proven himself a great friend. It was a strong and unexpected way to setup their rivalry, and probably the most successful part of the prequel in terms of making you watch Blood & Sand with fresher eyes now we know their history together.
A large portion of the finale was given over to the inaugural games themselves, in Capua's impressive new arena, and they were as bloodthirsty and brutal as usual. But a more significant moment arrived with the pre-games execution of petty criminals, which included the fugitive slave girl Diona (Jessica Grace Smith) that Naevia had helped escape (Lesley-Ann Brandt). Adding to the torment was the presence of the perverted Roman nobleman who took her virginity and set her down this path, who took great delight in seeing her current circumstance, and the fact Batiatus relented to having her slaughtered in public simply because he didn't recognize the girl and was in a foul mood. That's the horror of this ancient era, encapsulated right there: life is cheap, death is but an entertainment, and your end may come simply because someone's having a bad day.
What impressed me about "The Bitter End" was how it reached its conclusion in ways I didn't expect, while also laying groundwork for season 2 of Blood & Sand. The climactic fight between the outnumbered gladiators of Batiatus and the inherited might of Solonius's fighters was a thrilling spectacle (not least because it took place in a literal ring of fire), but it shook off predictability in some key ways. I'm sure most people were expecting the last man standing to be Crixus (Manu Bennett), given we know he becomes the Champion of Capua and Gannicus isn't in Blood & Sand, but the fight took an interesting turn; with Gannicus knocking Crixus out of the fiery circle, then winning the championship and his freedom. The latter was an especially clever move, seeing as Solonius suggested this show of mercy as a means to remove Gannicus from future competition, making the whole event something of a hollow victory for Batiatus. He may have won the primus, but he's lost his most trusted friend, turned him into a great rival, and his God Of The Arena has become a free man. On a lesser note, Ashur (Nick Tarabay) received the fateful leg wound that ended his days as a competitive gladiators, but it was a nice surprise to realize the deed was done by Crixus. Their frosty relationship in Blood & Sand is thus more understandable.
And as I said, quite a few things feel like they'll be returned to when Blood & Sand resumes its story next year: given his parting words to Solonius, Vettius is likely to return and reclaim his ludus; I get the feeling there's unfinished business between Naevia and the smug Roman who crushed her friend's spirit; Gannicus will undoubtedly return to help Crixus and Spartacus in their quest, as the history books show he was a general in their army; and the denouement confirmed that pregnant Lucretia wasn't slain, so she'll be out to avenge her husband's death. It remains to be seen if Gannicus will ever reveal to Oenamaus that his wife was unfaithful before her death, but he wisely kept the matter a secret here.
Overall, "The Bitter End" was a slight muddle at times, but the pure spectacle and inventive ways it concluded its six-part story managed to compensate, while the prequel succeeded in the tricky business of both deepening Blood & Sand season in hindsight and laying groundwork for its continuation. It also marks something of a fond farewell, seeing as the show will never quite be the same again. Obviously John Hannah's role on the show has come to a definitive end (we were lucky to get this encore prequel) and he's become the show's beating heart in many ways, but there's also the fact Spartacus is turning away from the gladiatorial combat that, for some, is the show.
It remains to be seen if Spartacus: Vengeance will soar or flounder without the ludus as a backdrop, but hopefully it will broaden the show's ambition. As much fun as it's been, I'm not convinced the writers could get more mileage from the existing premise, so a change is probably for the best. Just as long as they continue to give us big emotions, treachery, shocking deaths, fizzing melodrama, buckets of blood, vicious violence and plenteous nudity, they should be fine.
Asides
- Yes, I'm aware now that Gannicus's fate should have come as no surprise if you know your Ancient history. I actually made a point of avoiding too much real-life information on Spartacus's uprising during Blood & Sand, and I'm glad I did. I spent these past six weeks thinking Gannicus could be killed at any moment, which gave the show added life.
- Showrunner Steven S. DeKnight was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly, giving his thoughts on the successes of prequel Gods Of The Arena and the return of Blood & Sand next year. Well worth a read.
- Spartacus has hardly shied away from graphic violence, but Gannicus's victorious final move (shoving an arrow into his opponent's mouth and snapping the man's jawbone and face in half) was surprisingly graphic even for this series!
- I'm not sure why, but I only just realized that Lucretia is wearing Gaia's red wig, in honour of her late friend. Isn't that a little ghoulish, though?
- The fact Solonius fancies Lucretia was hinted at again, with him offering her sanctuary at his home, but nothing really came of this late development. I can't remember his secret love ever being alluded to throughout Blood & Sand, either, so I'm not sure why the writers bothered to include it. Maybe just to confirm to a few people that he isn't homosexual?
Movie Bites: 'The Hole', 'The Last Airbender' & 'The Other Guys'
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There's a pleasing sense of '80s nostalgia about The Hole, particularly in its first act, which features the tropes of many kid-friendly horrors of that decade: a family moving into a new neighbourhood, a shy teen ignoring his mom because he's listening to loud music, there's even a sinister jester puppet that recalls both the unnerving clown from Poltergeist and Dante's own Gremlins once it springs to maniacal life. The trouble with The Hole is that the mystery and scares become less potent the longer the movie trundles on, despite a fun detour when the trio find the house's previous occupant "Creepy Carl" (Bruce Dern), perhaps proving The Hole would have made a better Outer Limits episode than a full-blooded movie.
Still, credit Dante for delivering a scary movie for kids with some genuinely creepy moments (the grinning jester's a recurring nightmare-in-waiting), camera tricks that were once avant-garde for adult horrors (reverse-filmed ghosts, to create an unnerving jittery gait), and good use of Friedrich Nietzsche's quote "if you stare into the abyss long enough, the abyss stares back at you" to explain the eponymous hole's power.
directed by Joe Dante / written by Mark L. Smith / starring Teri Polo, Chris Massoglia, Haley Bennett, Nathan Gamble & Bruce Dern / 98 mins.
* * *
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In a mythical realm there are four kingdoms whose populations can wield, or "bend", the five elements (earth, air, fire, water) to their will. The Air Nation are extinct at the hands of the bellicose Fire Nation, who declared war on all their neighbours, and our story begins with Water Nation friends Katara (Nicola Peltz) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) uncovering an airbender called Aang (Noah Ringer) in a globe of ice -- who's also the long-lost Avatar, capable of controlling all four elements and commune with the ethereal Spirit world. Elsewhere, exiled Fire Nation prince Zuko (Dev Patel) is determined to capture the Avatar to regain the acceptance of his warmongering father, Fire Lord Ozai (Cliff Curtis).
There's nothing about Airbender's premise that shouldn't work as a live-action movie. I hear the Nickelodeon cartoon this movie's adapted from is a revered animation with the potential to have spawned a successful franchise in the Harry Potter/Star Wars mould, which makes Shyamalan's limp movie a bitter pill to swallow. The screenplay unwisely tries to compress an entire season's worth of plot into 99-minutes and, frankly, this results in puzzling twists and turns. I'm still not sure if Zuko was a hero or villain, or exactly why the Fire Nation refuse to live in harmony with the other kingdoms. All the actors are vacuous husks, bringing no personality to proceedings, so it's impossible to care about the quest they're on, or invest in their motivations -- if they even have any. While a stupid love-story materializes out of nowhere for gormless Sokka and a beautiful teenage princess, any potential of a romantic undercurrent to Katara and Aang fails to ignite.
The Last Airbender is a movie with a rich universe to explore, but provides no emotional tether for its audience. It's rather like watching a hazy dream unfold, only half as fun in the moment and forgotten twice as fast. But it was a surprise box-office success, despite being savaged by critics, so maybe a lower-budget sequel will happen. If so, let's hope Shyamalan finds his Irvin Kershner and hands over the reigns.
written & directed by M. Night Shyamalan / starring Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, Dev Patel, Shaun Toub, Aasif Mandvi & Cliff Curtis / 103 mins.
* * *
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My problem with this comedy is, at heart, very simple: it isn't very funny. The case being investigated is a white-collar bore that's impossible to feel any connection with, wasting Coogan in the process (no change there), while the simply humour of partnering nerdy Ferrell with idiot Wahlberg rarely amuses. The only element that works is a running gag that Ferrell's character can't see that his sexy wife Sheila (Eva Mendes) is every man's dreamgirl, instead convinced she's a plane jane, which has very little to do with the actual story being told. There are moments when you get the impression this is intended to be an American answer to Hot Fuzz (a climactic car chase swaps Fuzz's miniature village for a golf club's driving range), with McKay also indulging himself with memorable but pointless sequences (like a one-shot tableaux in a pub, where the camera floats around frozen 3D snapshots of Gamble and Hoitz partying.) Adding to the sense of a movie utterly failing in its intentions, the end credits involve animations that explain various financial concepts (using graphs, pie-charts, and statistics), despite the fact The Other Guys never once felt like a clever treatise on shameful business practices.
directed by Adam McKay / written by Chris Hency & Adam McKay / starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Steve Coogan & Michael Keaton / 107 mins.
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I don't watch Law & Order UK, but that doesn't make this any less amusing. BBC America have created a very funny three-minute video giving American viewers a tongue-in-cheek guide to the cultural differences between the original L&O and this British spin-off. There's a smattering of genuinely helpful information about slang, but it's mostly a funny sequence of observational quirks about the show and British culture. Who knew us Brits love to wear scarves and the police can't resist thwapping files onto desks?
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