Sunday 31 January 2010
A Star Is Born
This year marks the 20th anniversary of 'Pretty Woman' and thus more significantly twenty years since Julia Roberts first unleashed that smile of hers at the audience and became a star. So I'd thought it be would good to take a quick look at some of the star making turns from some of the biggest and brightest stars. Sometimes it takes time for people to build a career and get noticed but this lot all pretty much exploded onto the scene...
First up, Brad Pitt. Brad announced his arrival with fifteen minutes of screen time in Thelma and Louise as the thieving redneck that crosses the path of our leading ladies. It put him on the map as a handsome young guy but after a couple of smaller parts and no so success films it was Interview With the Vampire that really booked him that top rung place as Louis the tormented immortal. You know like Twilight!
It was the double header of Risky Business and All The Right Moves that put one Mr Tom Cruise out there and of course it's so well known that the moment he became a star can pretty much be narrowed down to one sock sliding moment...
Another dancing breakthrough belongs to Cameron Diaz and her turn as Tina in The Mask. Well it's her stunning entrance into the film and the bank that really grabs the attention but her charm and energy throughout the film is what really marked her out. She may not have quite taken Julia Robert's crown as box office queen but she is one of the biggest female stars around, has an interestingly varied CV and looks well set for this year with The Green Hornet and Knight & Day on the slate for her.
Backing away from the dancing we have a role in a cop movie written for Sly Stallone that suddenly became something very different indeed as Eddie Murphy stepped into Beverly Hills and the role of a lifetime. Suddenly everyone knew Axel Foley and Murphy was a box office titan for the next fifteen years before slumping, rising again in a family friendly mode and then sinking back. He may be a spent force now but he was almost the face of the eighties in the cinema.
Will Smith was well known from TV but to become a true movie star all he needed to do was punch an alien in the face and light up a cigar. So began Smith's run of hits as Washington exploded around him.
So there you go a quick look at a generation of stars launching themselves but it takes the real stars to really do it properly and I think I may well come back and look at some of the stars of old.
A white dress, a grating, a draft and a girl called Norma Jean. A Star is born...
Friday 29 January 2010
Trailer Of The Day : Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps
A sequel no one expected but it could well prove timely. There is every chance it will just be terrible but I can live in hope of that smaller chance it may be good. At the least we get Gordon Gekko back on screen once more, one of the most watchable examples of the Alpha male charming right royal b*stard.
Wednesday 27 January 2010
Things I've Been Watching : Star Trek V - The Final Frontier
Well I bit the built and spent two of my hard earned pounds to have the chance to watch this one again. Truth be told it's not without it's good aspects, there is a good film with a great central concept fighting to get out here. Sadly it doesn't really make it.
I do like the idea of throwing a light on faith and the concept of a being posing as a god (a really core classic Trek story) but this aspect fights for space with musing on Kirk's mortality, the sadly underdeveloped Sybok (how exactly does he sway people to follow him? Why is he searching for God? What would he have done had the Enterprise been crewed by more than about ten people?) and clumsy attempts at humour.
Effective scenes like the torment of McCoy over his father are sandwiched between Scotty walking into things and Spock producing rocket boots from somewhere and the Klingon's chasing the Enterprise are something of a tacked on threat. One which also does make a lot of sense considering the last Klingon captain observed he was outgunned by the Enterprise ten to one in a similar ship.
Also the key relationship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy doesn't come over quite as well as it could. There are flashed of the old dynamic but it often feels laboured and the rest of crew barely get to do anything other than capitulate.
The effects are also disappointing and are visibly worse than the last three films for a reason that isn't really that clear. Budget wise it was about the same as previous entries and yet everything just looks that little bit cheaper. Seems like the project was just to much for Shatner to really master in the director's chair.
So overall its forgettable rather than actively terrible I'd argue and frustrating as a missed opportunity to turn out something with real epic sweep as the crew seek God. But there is at least room for one classic line...."Why does God need a starship?"
I do like the idea of throwing a light on faith and the concept of a being posing as a god (a really core classic Trek story) but this aspect fights for space with musing on Kirk's mortality, the sadly underdeveloped Sybok (how exactly does he sway people to follow him? Why is he searching for God? What would he have done had the Enterprise been crewed by more than about ten people?) and clumsy attempts at humour.
Effective scenes like the torment of McCoy over his father are sandwiched between Scotty walking into things and Spock producing rocket boots from somewhere and the Klingon's chasing the Enterprise are something of a tacked on threat. One which also does make a lot of sense considering the last Klingon captain observed he was outgunned by the Enterprise ten to one in a similar ship.
Also the key relationship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy doesn't come over quite as well as it could. There are flashed of the old dynamic but it often feels laboured and the rest of crew barely get to do anything other than capitulate.
The effects are also disappointing and are visibly worse than the last three films for a reason that isn't really that clear. Budget wise it was about the same as previous entries and yet everything just looks that little bit cheaper. Seems like the project was just to much for Shatner to really master in the director's chair.
So overall its forgettable rather than actively terrible I'd argue and frustrating as a missed opportunity to turn out something with real epic sweep as the crew seek God. But there is at least room for one classic line...."Why does God need a starship?"
Sunday 24 January 2010
Radio TVOFR: 30 Seconds To Mars
Ok it is a little pretentious and quite bombastic but I do quite like the song and you to have admit that parts of the video are beautifully shot plus it has a great 'The Warriors' feel to it, you can even spot a Baseball fury or two.
Things I've been watching : Sunshine Cleaning
Sunshine Cleaning is pretty much a textbook example of the 'American Indie' film, a low key drama about people finding their way in life with a touch of the quirky to go along in it.
Rose (Amy Adams) was the cheerleadering captain at school but is now struggling to raise her son by her herself whilst continuing an affair with her highschool sweetheart who is now married to another woman. Her sister Nora (Emily Blunt) can't hold down a job and is feel she has no direction whilst their dad (Alan Arkin) continues to lurch from scheme to scheme and fill is grandson's head with ideas.
The quirk comes when Amy begins a business cleaning up crime scenes and deaths, she brings her sister to work with her and leaves her son to his granddad's attention (since the boy was kicked out of school for licking everything in sight). Of course people learn lessons and find a direction in life.
Amy Adams is outstanding here both comfortable with the comedic aspects of the film and bringing a genuine sense of frailty to the character's darker moments. Emily Blunt is solid but given less to do as Nora but she does have at least one critical scene as she describes the moment of the family's life that forever changed things. Alan Arkin is solid as ever and Jason Spevack is fine as Oscar, coming across best when duping other kids in the sweetshop.
Now I think Sunshine Cleaning is excellent, whilst it may be fairly easy to say what will happen in the end the film rises above thanks to Adams' central performance and a script with genuine warmth and wit (the closing line is pitch perfect). Highly recommended, as it's one of those few films that I've enjoyed so much the first time I watched it that I watched it again pretty much the next day
Rose (Amy Adams) was the cheerleadering captain at school but is now struggling to raise her son by her herself whilst continuing an affair with her highschool sweetheart who is now married to another woman. Her sister Nora (Emily Blunt) can't hold down a job and is feel she has no direction whilst their dad (Alan Arkin) continues to lurch from scheme to scheme and fill is grandson's head with ideas.
The quirk comes when Amy begins a business cleaning up crime scenes and deaths, she brings her sister to work with her and leaves her son to his granddad's attention (since the boy was kicked out of school for licking everything in sight). Of course people learn lessons and find a direction in life.
Amy Adams is outstanding here both comfortable with the comedic aspects of the film and bringing a genuine sense of frailty to the character's darker moments. Emily Blunt is solid but given less to do as Nora but she does have at least one critical scene as she describes the moment of the family's life that forever changed things. Alan Arkin is solid as ever and Jason Spevack is fine as Oscar, coming across best when duping other kids in the sweetshop.
Now I think Sunshine Cleaning is excellent, whilst it may be fairly easy to say what will happen in the end the film rises above thanks to Adams' central performance and a script with genuine warmth and wit (the closing line is pitch perfect). Highly recommended, as it's one of those few films that I've enjoyed so much the first time I watched it that I watched it again pretty much the next day
Friday 22 January 2010
Trailer Of The Day : Sunshine
A case of a trailer that's better than the film it advertises as you can enjoy the visuals on offer but avoided the creaking cliches and ludicrous plot swing in the final third.
Plus the Requiem For A Dream music so popular with trailer editors.
Plus the Requiem For A Dream music so popular with trailer editors.
Tuesday 19 January 2010
The Marathon begins : E.R.
Well it looks like my future entertainment will very much now be dominated by 'E.R.' for I have got hold of the box set of uber glory. That's right over 330 episodes on over forty discs.
I intend to watch it through for the start right through to finish, now I really don't intend to post on every episode as that will just get daft but I will occasionally put up various posts on it, either various random aspects or observations or closer looks at particular episodes (the Tarantino directed episode and the one with Ewan McGregor are two early candidates).
So far I've gone through the double length pilot and the first couple of normal episodes and it's already very much the series it will remain for the next fifteen seasons.
Brilliant characters working in extraordinary conditions faced with vastly different challenges day to day or often within the same day complete with the trademark pulsating bursts of pace.
In summary so far; Dr Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) is the heart of the ER, steady and reliable but with a marriage under strain. Dr Peter Benton (Eric La Salle) is the cocky resident surgeon.unwilling to show any weakness, Dr John Carter (Noah Wyle) is a nervous medical student under Benton's tutelage. Dr Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) is a sure handed doctor better than many give her credit for and clearly is close to Dr Greene. Dr Doug Ross (George Clooney) is the handsome, maverick pediatrician who is something of womaniser but seems to have blown his chances with the woman he really loves. Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) is the charge nurse and the woman Doug really loves and has recently returned to work having attempted suicide during the pilot episode.
And the just about covers our main characters as things stand and of course we already have the team of nurses and Jerry who will staff the hallways for the duration of the show. Plus of course Willam H Macy as Dr Morgenstern.
It's going to get bloody, exciting, desperately sad, reaffirming and long but I wouldn't have it any other way.
I intend to watch it through for the start right through to finish, now I really don't intend to post on every episode as that will just get daft but I will occasionally put up various posts on it, either various random aspects or observations or closer looks at particular episodes (the Tarantino directed episode and the one with Ewan McGregor are two early candidates).
So far I've gone through the double length pilot and the first couple of normal episodes and it's already very much the series it will remain for the next fifteen seasons.
Brilliant characters working in extraordinary conditions faced with vastly different challenges day to day or often within the same day complete with the trademark pulsating bursts of pace.
In summary so far; Dr Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) is the heart of the ER, steady and reliable but with a marriage under strain. Dr Peter Benton (Eric La Salle) is the cocky resident surgeon.unwilling to show any weakness, Dr John Carter (Noah Wyle) is a nervous medical student under Benton's tutelage. Dr Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) is a sure handed doctor better than many give her credit for and clearly is close to Dr Greene. Dr Doug Ross (George Clooney) is the handsome, maverick pediatrician who is something of womaniser but seems to have blown his chances with the woman he really loves. Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) is the charge nurse and the woman Doug really loves and has recently returned to work having attempted suicide during the pilot episode.
And the just about covers our main characters as things stand and of course we already have the team of nurses and Jerry who will staff the hallways for the duration of the show. Plus of course Willam H Macy as Dr Morgenstern.
It's going to get bloody, exciting, desperately sad, reaffirming and long but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Monday 18 January 2010
It's 'Glee' day.
Remember folks it's Glee day today, if you've not caught it yet I say check it out and the first two are on 4OD now if you need to catch up.
Things I've been watching : Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home
The third part of the central trilogy in the Star Trek films as our heroes return home, well return home via a spot of time travel and whale kidnapping.
This is of course the series very much in comedy mode as the crew find themselves coming face to face with 1980's San Fransisco in an attempt to recover a pair of whales to save the future Earth from an alien probe which is looking for the creatures for some reason.
Chekov is of course looking for "nuclear wessels", Scotty tries talking to the computers, McCoy is outraged by the barbaric medicine and Spock tries to get the hang of colourful metaphors. Everyone has a decent sense of comedic timing but as always its the two man team of Shatner and Nimoy that entertain the most in their scenes together as one tries to explain strange human ways to the other. The "Do you like Italian?" conversation is one highlight.
It is of course also very much an eco-friendly message before such things became common place as the plight of the whale is highlighted and a finger wagged at mankind's folly in hunting the species to the edge.
And of course by film's end the Enterprise returns in all her glory (though you wonder who had their ship taken off them, renamed and given to someone else), as effects works is as strong as even making the dip in quality all the more disappointing in the next outing.
So there you have it, the end of a three film series which I basically grew up with and still enjoy immensely and Khan is and always shall be a classic (to crib a line slightly)
And as special treat we have Chekov's rescue from the hospital in German!
This is of course the series very much in comedy mode as the crew find themselves coming face to face with 1980's San Fransisco in an attempt to recover a pair of whales to save the future Earth from an alien probe which is looking for the creatures for some reason.
Chekov is of course looking for "nuclear wessels", Scotty tries talking to the computers, McCoy is outraged by the barbaric medicine and Spock tries to get the hang of colourful metaphors. Everyone has a decent sense of comedic timing but as always its the two man team of Shatner and Nimoy that entertain the most in their scenes together as one tries to explain strange human ways to the other. The "Do you like Italian?" conversation is one highlight.
It is of course also very much an eco-friendly message before such things became common place as the plight of the whale is highlighted and a finger wagged at mankind's folly in hunting the species to the edge.
And of course by film's end the Enterprise returns in all her glory (though you wonder who had their ship taken off them, renamed and given to someone else), as effects works is as strong as even making the dip in quality all the more disappointing in the next outing.
So there you have it, the end of a three film series which I basically grew up with and still enjoy immensely and Khan is and always shall be a classic (to crib a line slightly)
And as special treat we have Chekov's rescue from the hospital in German!
Saturday 16 January 2010
Radio OFR : Paramore - Brick By Boring Brick
And Saturday's tune is this one from American pop rockers Paramore
Sherlock Holmes
A couple of weeks later than everyone else I think but I've had a chance to see Guy Ritchie's take on Sherlock Holmes now and I thought is quite fun.
First off it is very much an adventure film rather than a detective story as Homes and Watson chase down an evil mastermind to prevent him form killing Parliament. Points here though for avoiding taking the origin story route and giving us Holmes' first big case and him meeting Watson for the first time, no Holmes is already a well known detective and his friendship with Watson already clearly a long held one.
It is actually the friendship, the 'bromance' between Holmes and Watson on which the film hangs. The bickering, joshing and friendship of the central pair entertaining us almost with the case at hand being secondary. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson respectively pull of this pair of characters with a strong level of charm. Downey Jr's Holmes is basically a cad about town who happens to be smarter than everyone else and Law's Watson is a principled man (albiet with a gambler's habit) who is smart can capable himself and no the buffoon the character is sometimes drawn as.
Alongside the two we have Racheal McAdmams as a criminal chanteuse and former lover of Holmes. It does feel like a large section of the part has been left on the cutting room floor to help the film pace wise but I thought she did well with what she was given and her Irene essentially becomes one of the boys whilst still needing rescuing the plot calls for it.
We do get flashes of Guy Ritchie's stylistic ticks in a couple of places; various fights are shown in slo-mo before being completed in quicktime and the most obvious is the tracking of Holmes during an explosion again in slow motion. But mostly he appears happy to produce a fairly straightforward action comedy of the type that will please families (very little in the way of innuendo that can lead to difficult questions from younger ones).
The sly insertion of a certain nemesis for Holmes is a smart touch to which should pay off nicely in the already greenlit second outing. So if you go in expecting something light and enjoyable you'll like it but it is certainly not (as mentioned) a detective tale, closer to the adventure of Basil The Great Mouse Detective than the calculated smarts of Jeremy Brett's TV incarnation.
First off it is very much an adventure film rather than a detective story as Homes and Watson chase down an evil mastermind to prevent him form killing Parliament. Points here though for avoiding taking the origin story route and giving us Holmes' first big case and him meeting Watson for the first time, no Holmes is already a well known detective and his friendship with Watson already clearly a long held one.
It is actually the friendship, the 'bromance' between Holmes and Watson on which the film hangs. The bickering, joshing and friendship of the central pair entertaining us almost with the case at hand being secondary. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson respectively pull of this pair of characters with a strong level of charm. Downey Jr's Holmes is basically a cad about town who happens to be smarter than everyone else and Law's Watson is a principled man (albiet with a gambler's habit) who is smart can capable himself and no the buffoon the character is sometimes drawn as.
Alongside the two we have Racheal McAdmams as a criminal chanteuse and former lover of Holmes. It does feel like a large section of the part has been left on the cutting room floor to help the film pace wise but I thought she did well with what she was given and her Irene essentially becomes one of the boys whilst still needing rescuing the plot calls for it.
We do get flashes of Guy Ritchie's stylistic ticks in a couple of places; various fights are shown in slo-mo before being completed in quicktime and the most obvious is the tracking of Holmes during an explosion again in slow motion. But mostly he appears happy to produce a fairly straightforward action comedy of the type that will please families (very little in the way of innuendo that can lead to difficult questions from younger ones).
The sly insertion of a certain nemesis for Holmes is a smart touch to which should pay off nicely in the already greenlit second outing. So if you go in expecting something light and enjoyable you'll like it but it is certainly not (as mentioned) a detective tale, closer to the adventure of Basil The Great Mouse Detective than the calculated smarts of Jeremy Brett's TV incarnation.
Things I've Been Watching : Star Trek III - The Search For Spock
The trek continues with the adventure to bring back Spock. Ok, yes the exact how and why of Spock's return is a bit flimsy but it does make for an enjoyable ride.
Once again this is Star Trek with a dark edge as Bones verges on madness, the crew are stood down and Kirk eventually loses both his ship and his son. (Not surprisingly the franchise went into mainly comedy territory for the next outing) This time around the stand out turn is from DeForest Kelly as Bones especially in the first half of the movie as he conveys the confusion and torment of having essentially two minds in one.
Though most of the other regulars don't get too much to do this time around and Robin Curtis is no match for Kirstie Alley as Saavik. Christopher LLoyd is good value as the Klingon commander though as the classic foes make their first proper appearance in the film series (after the brief glimpse of them in The Motion Picture), as does the desgin classic Bird Of Prey (apparently initially intended as a Romulan ship that had been commandeered)
Some of the effects work as not dated as well as Wrath Of Khan's but this probably down to it being more ambitious in a lot of places than it's predecessor was. The surface of the Genesis planet is well realised even if it does often have that stagey feel so familiar to the original series and our first look at the Excelsior is still impressive even if it's bridge seems a bit overly Buck Rogers in design.
So Khan remains the yardstick but having not seen this for a long time it is actually darker and better than I remember it, it will be time to voyage home next but something tells me after that I'll skip straight to The Undiscovered Country
Once again this is Star Trek with a dark edge as Bones verges on madness, the crew are stood down and Kirk eventually loses both his ship and his son. (Not surprisingly the franchise went into mainly comedy territory for the next outing) This time around the stand out turn is from DeForest Kelly as Bones especially in the first half of the movie as he conveys the confusion and torment of having essentially two minds in one.
Though most of the other regulars don't get too much to do this time around and Robin Curtis is no match for Kirstie Alley as Saavik. Christopher LLoyd is good value as the Klingon commander though as the classic foes make their first proper appearance in the film series (after the brief glimpse of them in The Motion Picture), as does the desgin classic Bird Of Prey (apparently initially intended as a Romulan ship that had been commandeered)
Some of the effects work as not dated as well as Wrath Of Khan's but this probably down to it being more ambitious in a lot of places than it's predecessor was. The surface of the Genesis planet is well realised even if it does often have that stagey feel so familiar to the original series and our first look at the Excelsior is still impressive even if it's bridge seems a bit overly Buck Rogers in design.
So Khan remains the yardstick but having not seen this for a long time it is actually darker and better than I remember it, it will be time to voyage home next but something tells me after that I'll skip straight to The Undiscovered Country
Thursday 14 January 2010
Things I've Been Watching : Star Trek II - The Wrath Of Khan
Even after all these years Star Trek II remains one of my favourite films and is probably the sci-fi film I've seen more than any other (even the mighty Star Wars). It's a submarine movie in space filled with tension, excitement and wonder.
Even our set of heroes operate on a deeper level than in so many of their adventures with Kirk facing up to growing older as well as demons from his past in both his lost son and deadly rival.
It's probably Shatner's best work in the role (that crack in the voice at the end gets me everytime) and or course Nimoy is reliable as ever bringing that quiet dignity to Spock even in his dying moments. Ok Ricardo Montalban hams it up a bit as Khan but wonderfully so! Plus or course Kirstie Alley makes a tremblingly sexy Vuclan.
The effects work still stands up for the most part (although the wireframe computer simulations have unavoidably dated) with the nebula based finale still a highlight and the Genesis project video marking a leap forward in computer animation for the time.
Director Nicholas Meyer does well here to, take for example the sequence cutting between the formation of the Genesis planet and Kirk rushing to his find his friend after noticing that empty chair.
I'm sure if you know it you love it but if you've somehow never seen this check it out, the darkness tinged, grown up alternative to JJ Abrams technicolour reboot (which I do like by the way)
And we really can't leave without this;
Even our set of heroes operate on a deeper level than in so many of their adventures with Kirk facing up to growing older as well as demons from his past in both his lost son and deadly rival.
It's probably Shatner's best work in the role (that crack in the voice at the end gets me everytime) and or course Nimoy is reliable as ever bringing that quiet dignity to Spock even in his dying moments. Ok Ricardo Montalban hams it up a bit as Khan but wonderfully so! Plus or course Kirstie Alley makes a tremblingly sexy Vuclan.
The effects work still stands up for the most part (although the wireframe computer simulations have unavoidably dated) with the nebula based finale still a highlight and the Genesis project video marking a leap forward in computer animation for the time.
Director Nicholas Meyer does well here to, take for example the sequence cutting between the formation of the Genesis planet and Kirk rushing to his find his friend after noticing that empty chair.
I'm sure if you know it you love it but if you've somehow never seen this check it out, the darkness tinged, grown up alternative to JJ Abrams technicolour reboot (which I do like by the way)
And we really can't leave without this;
Wednesday 13 January 2010
Radio OFR : 3 Words.
And now for some more music...it's the surprisingly effective '3 Words' from that Geordie superstar Cheryl Cole. I really like the stripped back feel of the production on the track (from Black Eyed Pea Will.i.Am who also appears on the track) and the video itself has an interesting visual twist to it (although it does go a bit disco camp in places). Anyway take a look and you never know I might put up a music video thats all 'cool' and 'indie' next time!
Cheryl Cole - 3 Words (feat. will.i.am)- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.
The Dharma who now?
With the final season of Lost looming here's a useful link if you need a reminder of the stroy so far or just want to check just how many times those numbers have appeared, it's the Lostpedia.
The top TV drama according to The Guardian
The other day The Guardian published a list of the top 50 television dramas as chosen by it's a group of it's critics. Basically each one of them picked their top series and then rated them out of ten and the scores were added up to produce the order. The list was as follows :
1. The Sopranos
2. Brideshead Revisited
3. Our Friends in the North
4. Mad Men
5. A Very Peculiar Practice
6. Talking Heads
7. The Singing Detective
8. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
9. State of Play
10. Boys From the Blackstuff
11. The West Wing
12. Twin Peaks
13. Queer as Folk
14. The Wire
15. Six Feet Under
16. How Do You Want Me?
17. Smiley's People
18. House of Cards
19. Prime Suspect
20. Bodies
21. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
22. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
23. Cracker
24. Pennies From Heaven
25. Battlestar Galactica
26. Coronation Street
27. The Jewel in the Crown
28. The Monocled Mutineer
29. Clocking Off
30. Inspector Morse
31. This Life
32. Band of Brothers
33. Hill Street Blues
34. The Prisoner
35. St Elsewhere
36. The L Word
37. The Shield
38. Brookside
39. 24
40. The Twilight Zone
41. Pride and Prejudice (BBC 1995)
42. Red Riding
43. Oz
44. The Street
45. The X-Files
46. Bleak House
47. The Sweeney
48. EastEnders
49. Shameless
50. Grange Hill
It's surprising I think to see the likes of Eastenders and Coronation Street make the list ahead of things like Lost, ER (although it's forerunner St Elsewhere is there), Cardiac Arrest and Life On Mars.
But apart from those I don't think there is much there that doesn't deserve to be, though I admit I've never really seen what's so good about Queer As Folk and I think Shameless badly lost it's way after a couple of years. And there are a few on the list I'm not familiar with.
Good to see Grange Hill on there though since it did actually deal with from very serious issues and a way that didn't talk down to or lecture kids. In it's time it covered drugs (famously), alcoholism, depression, bereavement and more alongside tales of, well, kids getting up to mischief.
And at least three of my picks made the list!
1. The Sopranos
2. Brideshead Revisited
3. Our Friends in the North
4. Mad Men
5. A Very Peculiar Practice
6. Talking Heads
7. The Singing Detective
8. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
9. State of Play
10. Boys From the Blackstuff
11. The West Wing
12. Twin Peaks
13. Queer as Folk
14. The Wire
15. Six Feet Under
16. How Do You Want Me?
17. Smiley's People
18. House of Cards
19. Prime Suspect
20. Bodies
21. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
22. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
23. Cracker
24. Pennies From Heaven
25. Battlestar Galactica
26. Coronation Street
27. The Jewel in the Crown
28. The Monocled Mutineer
29. Clocking Off
30. Inspector Morse
31. This Life
32. Band of Brothers
33. Hill Street Blues
34. The Prisoner
35. St Elsewhere
36. The L Word
37. The Shield
38. Brookside
39. 24
40. The Twilight Zone
41. Pride and Prejudice (BBC 1995)
42. Red Riding
43. Oz
44. The Street
45. The X-Files
46. Bleak House
47. The Sweeney
48. EastEnders
49. Shameless
50. Grange Hill
It's surprising I think to see the likes of Eastenders and Coronation Street make the list ahead of things like Lost, ER (although it's forerunner St Elsewhere is there), Cardiac Arrest and Life On Mars.
But apart from those I don't think there is much there that doesn't deserve to be, though I admit I've never really seen what's so good about Queer As Folk and I think Shameless badly lost it's way after a couple of years. And there are a few on the list I'm not familiar with.
Good to see Grange Hill on there though since it did actually deal with from very serious issues and a way that didn't talk down to or lecture kids. In it's time it covered drugs (famously), alcoholism, depression, bereavement and more alongside tales of, well, kids getting up to mischief.
And at least three of my picks made the list!
Monday 11 January 2010
Glee - watch it!
It's what you'd get if you throw Heathers, High School Musical and Mean Girls into a blender and it's brilliant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOU3bUDykrc
Can't find a video to embed but for you Journey lovers it's a link well worth following.
I'm sure I'll post more about this show as it goes along but for now I'll just it's the first new show I've really enjoyed on TV in long, long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOU3bUDykrc
Can't find a video to embed but for you Journey lovers it's a link well worth following.
I'm sure I'll post more about this show as it goes along but for now I'll just it's the first new show I've really enjoyed on TV in long, long time.
The Matrix : Reappraised
Ok, over the last couple of days I have rewatched The Matrix trilogy (as blu-ray upgrading continues apace) and it's time for a reappraisal I think (especially now I have done some reading on and work with some of the key texts and thinkers used as touchstones by the series).
The Matrix was released in the summer of 1999 without any real fanfare as one of many mid range budget pictures out that year. It did decent business but then really got popular as one of the first releases to really take advantage of the DVD format.
Thus the Wachowski brothers took their chance and pushed forward with plans to realise their hoped for trilogy. Shot back to back The Matrix : Reloaded and The Matrix : Revolutions were released months apart in 2003 and were received with a somewhat mixed response.
I myself remember being exciting by Reloaded but then disappointed by Revolutions but I think it's time to look again at the films and also take a little time to look at some of the philosophy and theory that the series uses.
The Matrix is undoubtedly the best of the three; it's tight, well paced, imaginative and at the time showcased genuinely groundbreaking effects work. And that lobby scene is one still one of the best examples of a stylistically choreographed shoot out.
It is true too I think that the first film is also the closet to a normal 'action sci-fi' film, since despite it's direct use of Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation (it both appears as the book Neo uses to hide a disk and one of Morpheus' lines is pretty much a direct lift from it) it has far less philosophical discussion and musing than the subsequent films.
Here we get the basic setup of the narrative's world and the sub textual discussion, that is of course the question of 'what is real?'. Baudrillard argues that the world has become a series of images that have worked to moves us further away from any sense of meaning, of the progression of the artificial image in society he writes ;
The Matrix takes this to the extreme where the reality of the masses is no longer that of the real world but rather a reflection of a reality that no longer exists beyond the recreation of it in image. Thus we have the Matrix in which the majority of the population exist oblivious the real world beyond it.
Of course in the film Neo (and us as the audience) are shown the difference between the real world and the unreal as he wakes up. Something also has roots in Buddhism in terms of the problem of sleeping in ignorance in a dreamworld, solved by waking to knowledge or enlightenment. Then fight begins as the Wachowskis seem to pretty much deliberately use a textbook version of a heroic myth story arc to tell the central story on which everything else is hung.
So the first is a striking piece of action cinema with a strong central concept and some great execution (notice the difference in the filtering and saturation of the real and the unreal worlds - which grew more pronounced as the series progressed).
As The Matrix : Reloaded opens Neo has basically become Superman within the system and a symbol of hope and salvation to many out in the real world. The second film upped the ante both in terms of the level of the production and the extent of philosophical discussion going on within the film.
Production wise the freeway sequence is an immense undertaking (although arguable Bad Boys II similar sequence bettered it later that year - but crucially the rest of that film was dire) and the fight in the Merovingian's lobby outdoes any of the fisty cuffs in the first plus you have the technical achievement of Neo's 'burly brawl' against the multiple Smiths.
However I find the more I see it the more I'm interested in what is going on in between the bursts of action. This time around on top of the question of reality we have questions on 'what is choice?', predestination and the influence of cause and effect. The issue of choice and predestination was touched upon in the first film during the sequence with The Oracle but was very much taking a backseat to the simulation issue as the bending spoon reminds us during that very sequence.
Now these are brought front and center by sequences again with The Oracle, The Merovingian and to some extent the newly 'enlightened' Agent Smith. From his discussion with The Oracle, Neo is told that he must make a choice that we decide the fate of (basically) all but also that he has already made the choice because of who he is but crucially to find awareness he must understand the choice.
Feeding into this is the Merovigian's belief in cause and effect above all else. Anything that happens is a direct result of what has already happened. Essentially we are not free to make choices because events we basically make the choice for us. Of course all charmingly illustrated with that piece of cake.
Neo may be the hero we are asked to cheer for but if you listen to those around him he is being played and channelled down a road not of his own making from the very beginning. So really it should come as no surprise when The Architect tells him exactly that! Although it is argued that The Architect cannot understand why Neo makes his choice since it is not the logical one to take. To him the concept of love is as false a reality as the Matrix is to Neo.
Reloaded suffers from being the middle child, it has some strong elements (as mentioned the freeway chase is impressivily done) but also weaknesses. The rave seqeunce is the most painfully indulgent thing within the trilogy and the film does suffer to some extent in having to move the players to the right positions for the third installment. Plus someone really should have taken another pass at The Architect's dialogue
Picking up pretty much directly after the conclusion of Reloaded, Revolutions was probably the least warmly received upon it's release. With much more taking place in the 'real' world (is it real? Does Neo's effect on the Sentinels mean it is a second artificial reality?) this time around as the city of Zion fights to survive.
For me the scenes of battle within Zion's dock are still far more impressive and kinetic than the battle at the end of Avatar. Although I do still do wish the climatic Neo vs Smith smackdown was shorter as it does repeat a number of action beats already featured within the same sequence and retread of the first film's lobby scene really does feel like a sequence inserted after someone called for more action (I'm looking at you Mr Silver).
Plus it is worth applauding Ian Bliss' mimicking of Hugo Weaving as Smith in the flesh of Bane
Elsewhere Neo ends his mythic journey sacrificing himself for the good of all others and ensuring peace. But there is still time for musing; mostly on the idea of choice and the false constructs of the human condition that we take for granted. For example Smith (like The Architect) cannot understand the concept of love as anything other a false impression of the world around you, as a form of madness telling you one person is much more important than another.
Come the end Zion is saved, the Matrix persists but a cycle is broken as we find The Oracle has coaxed events along seeing the chance to make a change from the normal series of events with Neo's love of Trinity and Smiths agent of disorder within the system.
Now I'm aware this post is getting quite long and I'm only briefly touching on things, I may well return to have a more in depth look at some of the specific themes in the coming days but for now I'll sum up.
The Matrix will remain a classic of it's genre I feel but the others will probably not be so fondly remembered. However I find these days I prefer Revolutions to Reloaded but I think they do both have merits and are good efforts at offering up something slightly different. Big, bold action blockbusters with something to ask. Ok they may not phrase it that well (lost under overly verbose machinations) and they get a little confused as to what they are asking sometimes but points for the effort. (And hey actual academics still debate the extent of and how well the films engage with the ideals used, so they did something right)
I do think that people look down on the films because they did up the level of philosophical chat involved instead of just simply offering bigger and bigger explosions alone. But then if they'd done that no doubt people would complain they were just retreads of the first with bigger explosions.
The Matrix was released in the summer of 1999 without any real fanfare as one of many mid range budget pictures out that year. It did decent business but then really got popular as one of the first releases to really take advantage of the DVD format.
Thus the Wachowski brothers took their chance and pushed forward with plans to realise their hoped for trilogy. Shot back to back The Matrix : Reloaded and The Matrix : Revolutions were released months apart in 2003 and were received with a somewhat mixed response.
I myself remember being exciting by Reloaded but then disappointed by Revolutions but I think it's time to look again at the films and also take a little time to look at some of the philosophy and theory that the series uses.
The Matrix is undoubtedly the best of the three; it's tight, well paced, imaginative and at the time showcased genuinely groundbreaking effects work. And that lobby scene is one still one of the best examples of a stylistically choreographed shoot out.
It is true too I think that the first film is also the closet to a normal 'action sci-fi' film, since despite it's direct use of Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation (it both appears as the book Neo uses to hide a disk and one of Morpheus' lines is pretty much a direct lift from it) it has far less philosophical discussion and musing than the subsequent films.
Here we get the basic setup of the narrative's world and the sub textual discussion, that is of course the question of 'what is real?'. Baudrillard argues that the world has become a series of images that have worked to moves us further away from any sense of meaning, of the progression of the artificial image in society he writes ;
"it is the reflection of a profound reality.
it masks and denatures a profound reality.
it masks the absence of a profound reality.
it has no relation to any reality whatever: it is its own pure simulacrum".
The Matrix takes this to the extreme where the reality of the masses is no longer that of the real world but rather a reflection of a reality that no longer exists beyond the recreation of it in image. Thus we have the Matrix in which the majority of the population exist oblivious the real world beyond it.
Of course in the film Neo (and us as the audience) are shown the difference between the real world and the unreal as he wakes up. Something also has roots in Buddhism in terms of the problem of sleeping in ignorance in a dreamworld, solved by waking to knowledge or enlightenment. Then fight begins as the Wachowskis seem to pretty much deliberately use a textbook version of a heroic myth story arc to tell the central story on which everything else is hung.
So the first is a striking piece of action cinema with a strong central concept and some great execution (notice the difference in the filtering and saturation of the real and the unreal worlds - which grew more pronounced as the series progressed).
As The Matrix : Reloaded opens Neo has basically become Superman within the system and a symbol of hope and salvation to many out in the real world. The second film upped the ante both in terms of the level of the production and the extent of philosophical discussion going on within the film.
Production wise the freeway sequence is an immense undertaking (although arguable Bad Boys II similar sequence bettered it later that year - but crucially the rest of that film was dire) and the fight in the Merovingian's lobby outdoes any of the fisty cuffs in the first plus you have the technical achievement of Neo's 'burly brawl' against the multiple Smiths.
However I find the more I see it the more I'm interested in what is going on in between the bursts of action. This time around on top of the question of reality we have questions on 'what is choice?', predestination and the influence of cause and effect. The issue of choice and predestination was touched upon in the first film during the sequence with The Oracle but was very much taking a backseat to the simulation issue as the bending spoon reminds us during that very sequence.
Now these are brought front and center by sequences again with The Oracle, The Merovingian and to some extent the newly 'enlightened' Agent Smith. From his discussion with The Oracle, Neo is told that he must make a choice that we decide the fate of (basically) all but also that he has already made the choice because of who he is but crucially to find awareness he must understand the choice.
Feeding into this is the Merovigian's belief in cause and effect above all else. Anything that happens is a direct result of what has already happened. Essentially we are not free to make choices because events we basically make the choice for us. Of course all charmingly illustrated with that piece of cake.
Neo may be the hero we are asked to cheer for but if you listen to those around him he is being played and channelled down a road not of his own making from the very beginning. So really it should come as no surprise when The Architect tells him exactly that! Although it is argued that The Architect cannot understand why Neo makes his choice since it is not the logical one to take. To him the concept of love is as false a reality as the Matrix is to Neo.
Reloaded suffers from being the middle child, it has some strong elements (as mentioned the freeway chase is impressivily done) but also weaknesses. The rave seqeunce is the most painfully indulgent thing within the trilogy and the film does suffer to some extent in having to move the players to the right positions for the third installment. Plus someone really should have taken another pass at The Architect's dialogue
Picking up pretty much directly after the conclusion of Reloaded, Revolutions was probably the least warmly received upon it's release. With much more taking place in the 'real' world (is it real? Does Neo's effect on the Sentinels mean it is a second artificial reality?) this time around as the city of Zion fights to survive.
For me the scenes of battle within Zion's dock are still far more impressive and kinetic than the battle at the end of Avatar. Although I do still do wish the climatic Neo vs Smith smackdown was shorter as it does repeat a number of action beats already featured within the same sequence and retread of the first film's lobby scene really does feel like a sequence inserted after someone called for more action (I'm looking at you Mr Silver).
Plus it is worth applauding Ian Bliss' mimicking of Hugo Weaving as Smith in the flesh of Bane
Elsewhere Neo ends his mythic journey sacrificing himself for the good of all others and ensuring peace. But there is still time for musing; mostly on the idea of choice and the false constructs of the human condition that we take for granted. For example Smith (like The Architect) cannot understand the concept of love as anything other a false impression of the world around you, as a form of madness telling you one person is much more important than another.
Come the end Zion is saved, the Matrix persists but a cycle is broken as we find The Oracle has coaxed events along seeing the chance to make a change from the normal series of events with Neo's love of Trinity and Smiths agent of disorder within the system.
Now I'm aware this post is getting quite long and I'm only briefly touching on things, I may well return to have a more in depth look at some of the specific themes in the coming days but for now I'll sum up.
The Matrix will remain a classic of it's genre I feel but the others will probably not be so fondly remembered. However I find these days I prefer Revolutions to Reloaded but I think they do both have merits and are good efforts at offering up something slightly different. Big, bold action blockbusters with something to ask. Ok they may not phrase it that well (lost under overly verbose machinations) and they get a little confused as to what they are asking sometimes but points for the effort. (And hey actual academics still debate the extent of and how well the films engage with the ideals used, so they did something right)
I do think that people look down on the films because they did up the level of philosophical chat involved instead of just simply offering bigger and bigger explosions alone. But then if they'd done that no doubt people would complain they were just retreads of the first with bigger explosions.
Sunday 10 January 2010
Band Of Brothers
I have recently been watching the excellent HBO miniseries Band Of Brothers again, this time from the Blu-ray set. Suffice to say the image quality is excellent and really shines during the combat sequences as you can see every grain of grit and debris, every deadly bullet strike.
But the real gems in the set are the two in-picture features. One sees the men of Easy company speaking about the events on screen as they remember them from the time whilst the other is an information track which pops up with everything from personnel backgrounds to tactical maps to military term definitions to German translations as the episode plays. Also from time to time it will play actual archive footage alongside the recreation of the series.
Fascinating stuff and it really brings home at lot of the events as it keeps track of the company's ever growing casualty list.
The set can be picked up for about £20 at present and I really recommend it if you have HD and blu-ray capability.
Saturday 9 January 2010
Obama won't stop you getting Lost
Even the president won't go up against the season premiere of Lost's last season
Friday 8 January 2010
Things I have been watching : Enchanted
Enchanted is a film the satirises traditional Disney output much more successfully than Shrek ever did and does it with a genuine sense of affection for the subject. So no surprise really that it comes from the House Of Mouse itself, don't let anyone say the studio doesn't have a sense of humour about itself.
We open the film in animated style as Giselle sings about true love's kiss with her woodland friends, finds a Prince and is to be married the next day only for the Prince's evil stepmother to push her down a magical well on the other side of which she appears in real life New York
Pitching Giselle's hopeless romanticism and joy at life against the hard cold reality of New York is what generates most of the film's humour and edge (although the edge isn't too sharp, hey this is still a family film). As she stumbles lost in the city she meets divorce lawyer Robert and his young daughter, then further chaos ensues as the Prince and his manservant come through to find the lost Giselle.
Of course everyone learns a lesson (well nearly everyone) as the divorce lawyer learns to let his emotions out, Giselle learns not to go haplessly into the arms of the nearest prince and the manservant learns to be a decent stand up guy. Through in we have a message of female independence as Robert refuses to let his daughter believe in fairytales but tells her she can be whatever she wants to be (giving her book on Marie Curie et al) whilst Giselle comes to rescue the gentlemen in distress at the film's climax.
A large part of the film's appeal is down to Amy Adams' charming turn as Giselle, all bright eyes and energy. A musical number in Central Park really lets her show what she can do alongside being a strong comedian.
Plus the film is filled with sly visual references to much of Disney's back catalogue and spotting these is as much fun as anything else.
We open the film in animated style as Giselle sings about true love's kiss with her woodland friends, finds a Prince and is to be married the next day only for the Prince's evil stepmother to push her down a magical well on the other side of which she appears in real life New York
Pitching Giselle's hopeless romanticism and joy at life against the hard cold reality of New York is what generates most of the film's humour and edge (although the edge isn't too sharp, hey this is still a family film). As she stumbles lost in the city she meets divorce lawyer Robert and his young daughter, then further chaos ensues as the Prince and his manservant come through to find the lost Giselle.
Of course everyone learns a lesson (well nearly everyone) as the divorce lawyer learns to let his emotions out, Giselle learns not to go haplessly into the arms of the nearest prince and the manservant learns to be a decent stand up guy. Through in we have a message of female independence as Robert refuses to let his daughter believe in fairytales but tells her she can be whatever she wants to be (giving her book on Marie Curie et al) whilst Giselle comes to rescue the gentlemen in distress at the film's climax.
A large part of the film's appeal is down to Amy Adams' charming turn as Giselle, all bright eyes and energy. A musical number in Central Park really lets her show what she can do alongside being a strong comedian.
Plus the film is filled with sly visual references to much of Disney's back catalogue and spotting these is as much fun as anything else.
Thursday 7 January 2010
On Hold Music
I was planning lots of interesting posts but the internet being down at HQ for the last couple of days has led to a backlog of things I want to write about.
So whilst I sort out what I'm going to post about (I typically think of lots of things once I can't actually put them up) I give you some on hold music. A track with a stupidly catchy hook of a chorus; Tik Tok by Ke$ha.....and yes there is a line about 'her junk'.
So whilst I sort out what I'm going to post about (I typically think of lots of things once I can't actually put them up) I give you some on hold music. A track with a stupidly catchy hook of a chorus; Tik Tok by Ke$ha.....and yes there is a line about 'her junk'.
Monday 4 January 2010
Sunday 3 January 2010
Trailer of the day : Knight & Day
A good old fashioned star vehicle for Cruise and Diaz, looks like a another take on the Bird On A Wire formula (now disturbingly twenty years old), which makes it looks rather promising in terms of being a couple of hours of solid entertainment.
I have been watching - The X-Files : I Want To Believe
When I previously said I'd watched all of the X Files, I was lying since I still had to catch up with this, the second film released a couple of summers ago.
As the story starts (the film itself starts with a simple but effective intercutting of two time frames) Scully has taken a full time position as a Doctor at a religious hospital and Mulder is still doing what he always did, just not with a government pay cheque and keeping it low key.
Scully is approached by two FBI agents who are dealing with a case involving a missing bureau agent, a case where the best lead is a disgraced priest who claims to be having visions about the kidnapping.
Mulder is reluctantly talked into getting involved but soon finds he is drawn into the case and unable to walk away without getting to the end, just has Scully finds that she no longer can face up to what she calls 'the darkness' anymore.
Thus we have a case and dramatic tension for the two leads to work through. The tension in the relationship between the pair (and does anyone else find it strange they still user each other's surnames?) does feel a little forced at times but in the end rings true. But you do wonder how well people who haven't seen at least a good chunk of the TV show will follow seeing as it touches on Mulder's sister and Scully's lost son amongst other things.
In fact it is the low key moments in the film that interested me the most, those little pieces of character driven storytelling. Where as the case being investigated is never quite as tense as it should be and remains pretty much within 'Without A Trace' territory despite taking a bit of Fringe style serve towards the end.
The main source of X-File weirdness here is Billy Connolly's priest and even that is underplayed throughout with questions over if he really is telling the truth or hiding something more sinister and there is where the film's title comes in. Mulder wants to believe but Scully is no longer sure she can. Again this leads to some interesting character drama rather than finger biting tension of a race against time.
What the film does lack is a sense of being a 'theatrical event', the first film did have it's share of spectacle from exploding buildings to UFOs to expansive vista's but this time out it really does feel like an extended episode and doesn't appear to have had much more budget to play with than it did in it's days as a series.
Having said that if you view it as something of a double length episode than it is I feel a strong one with well realised thematic beats, flashes of the old humour (note the scene when the pair return to the old FBI halls they used to haunt), AD Skinner and a couple of if not plot twists than plot bends along the way.
As for those who complain that it makes no direct reference to the way the series ended I think there is enough there. Scully just wants to have as much a normal life as she can and Mulder has clearly not given up judging by his new office.
And hey I'm sure Reyes and Doggett are still on the case.
As the story starts (the film itself starts with a simple but effective intercutting of two time frames) Scully has taken a full time position as a Doctor at a religious hospital and Mulder is still doing what he always did, just not with a government pay cheque and keeping it low key.
Scully is approached by two FBI agents who are dealing with a case involving a missing bureau agent, a case where the best lead is a disgraced priest who claims to be having visions about the kidnapping.
Mulder is reluctantly talked into getting involved but soon finds he is drawn into the case and unable to walk away without getting to the end, just has Scully finds that she no longer can face up to what she calls 'the darkness' anymore.
Thus we have a case and dramatic tension for the two leads to work through. The tension in the relationship between the pair (and does anyone else find it strange they still user each other's surnames?) does feel a little forced at times but in the end rings true. But you do wonder how well people who haven't seen at least a good chunk of the TV show will follow seeing as it touches on Mulder's sister and Scully's lost son amongst other things.
In fact it is the low key moments in the film that interested me the most, those little pieces of character driven storytelling. Where as the case being investigated is never quite as tense as it should be and remains pretty much within 'Without A Trace' territory despite taking a bit of Fringe style serve towards the end.
The main source of X-File weirdness here is Billy Connolly's priest and even that is underplayed throughout with questions over if he really is telling the truth or hiding something more sinister and there is where the film's title comes in. Mulder wants to believe but Scully is no longer sure she can. Again this leads to some interesting character drama rather than finger biting tension of a race against time.
What the film does lack is a sense of being a 'theatrical event', the first film did have it's share of spectacle from exploding buildings to UFOs to expansive vista's but this time out it really does feel like an extended episode and doesn't appear to have had much more budget to play with than it did in it's days as a series.
Having said that if you view it as something of a double length episode than it is I feel a strong one with well realised thematic beats, flashes of the old humour (note the scene when the pair return to the old FBI halls they used to haunt), AD Skinner and a couple of if not plot twists than plot bends along the way.
As for those who complain that it makes no direct reference to the way the series ended I think there is enough there. Scully just wants to have as much a normal life as she can and Mulder has clearly not given up judging by his new office.
And hey I'm sure Reyes and Doggett are still on the case.
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