Posted on February 18, 2010 by Darren
Well, that was… weird. I seem to be the only person on the planet with love for the American iteration of Life On Mars. It got a lot of hate for being too conventional, for not being as ‘out there’ as its British predecessor and basically being unoriginal. And I can appreciate those critiques having watching the first season – they are all relatively fair. On the other hand, isn’t it a little unfair to measure it directly to the original series, like comparing apples and oranges? New York of the 1970s was a very different place from Manchester of the 1970s and the new series had its own aesthetic. I won’t pretend that the show was a masterpiece of television history, but I do think that Life on Mars certainly deserved a second season.
Is there life AFTER Mars?
Note: It seems impossible to discuss a show like this without discussing the (incredibly divisive) ending. I will be doing that, in gory detail, below. However, as per usual, I will flag it a paragraph or two beforehand, so you can avert your eyes or navigate away or do whatever you need to do. Consider yourself forewarned.
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Filed under: Television | Tagged: all the young dudes, david bowie, gene hunt, harvey keitel, jason o'mara, life is a rock, life on mars, life on mars usa, michael imperioli, review, sam tyler, Television, the man who sold the world, things to do in new york when you think you're dead | 3 Comments »
Posted on February 13, 2010 by Darren
Who says sexism is dead? To look at the bulk of the romantic comedy genre, you wouldn’t know it. The subtext of any given mainstream big budget romantic comedy is that guys are stupid and unaware dinosaurs, while women are just the tiniest bit uptight and are neurotic in a mild and endearing manner. The Ugly Truth probably isn’t the worst offender – I felt much worse coming out of 27 Dresses, to be honest – but it is the most recent one I’ve seen.
It's a familiar dance...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: gender, gerard butler, Katherine Hiegl, Movies, non-review review, review, romance, romantic comedy, sexism, sexist, the ugly truth, valentine's day | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 12, 2010 by Darren
Sometimes a movie lands (pardon the pun) at the right time. If you had told me that a movie about a guy looking to earn 10,000,000 frequent flyer miles in first class would be arguably one of the most interesting explorations of the recession that Hollywood would offer, I would have laughed in your face. But, against all odds, it works. That the guy in question is George Clooney and the man behind the camera is Jason Reitman undoubtedly helps.
It isn't plane-sailing for Ryan...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: best picture, downsizing, films, george clooney, ivan reitman, Movies, non-review review, recession, review, up in the air | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 11, 2010 by Darren
The Ruins is a decent enough little horror movie. In fact, it’s a cut above the average mould. Eschewing the torture porn or the gratuitous slasher movies, The Ruins is – after a fashion – a creature feature in the style of eighties. It can’t hold a candle to the true classics of the genre, like The Thing, but it offers a perfectly decent substitute. What’s more is the way that – like all good horror films – it is able to generate pure menace from what should be a ridiculous premise.
Worst. Vacation. Ever.
Note: Towards the end of this review, I’ll discuss some items which might be considered spoilers. Nothing as glaring as the ending, but some stuff you might not want to know ahead of time. I’ll flag it a paragraph beforehand, so don’t worry. If you want a recommendation, it’s an old-fashioned horror which works like any truly effective monster movie: the threat is not just outside the group, but also within it. It won’t rock your world and it isn’t a masterpiece, but is worth a go.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: creature feature, film, genre, horror, Movie, non-review review, review, the happening, the ruins, the thing | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 9, 2010 by Darren
There’s nothing necessarily bad about Planet of the Dead. Okay, there’s nothing necessarily unforgiveably terrible about the episode. It certainly isn’t anywhere near the worst episode of the show since the revival. On the other hand, there isn’t anything essential or even spectacular about it. In any given season, it would probably be mid-year filler and pass without note or scrutiny. Unfortunately we only got five of these specials, so each on seems just a little bit more important than a regular episode – even more with the countdown ticking towards David Tennant’s departure. Despite some lovely scenery and a few hints of charm and whimsy, the episode seems too much like treading water.
Somebody missed their stop...
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Filed under: Television | Tagged: david tennant, doctor who, lee evans, michelle ryan, planet of the dead, review, russell t. davies, Television, the specials | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 8, 2010 by Darren
This is nonsense.
That’s one word for it.
Complete and utter wonderful nonsense. Very very silly.
– The “Doctors”
The Doctor Who Christmas special is an annual institution on this side of the Atlantic. Every Christmas Day for the last five years, Christmas dinner has been followed by a sit down to catch up with David Tennant’s time-travelling hero in the yuletide season. These episodes are generally well-constructed popcorn fodder with huge setpieces, great performances, some clever ideas and fairly straightforward plotting – they generally can’t compare to some of the more adventurous episodes of the series. The Next Doctor continues this trend – while it lacks the blockbuster feel of The Voyage of the Damned or the intimacy of The Christmas Invasion, it benefits from added pathos. It isn’t the best episode the show has given us (it isn’t even the best of the season of ‘specials’ produced), but it is a solidly entertaining hour-long programme.
Do too many Doctors spoil a special?
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Filed under: Television | Tagged: christmas, christmas special, david morrissey, david tenannt, doctor who, review, science fiction, Television, the next doctor | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 8, 2010 by Darren
Part of me wonders how a prequel television show is supposed to work. It’s worrying that the only other example which springs to mind is Star Trek: Enterprise, which suffered from failing to explore its premise for three years before finally engaging with the mythos in time to be resoundingly cancelled. I wonder whether I can sit down and watch a prequel day-in and day-out. In a way, no matter how good the show is, it has been spoiled for you. No matter how sharp a left turn the writers may stick into a particular episode, you just know they’ll have to straighten it out down the line. The very premise for Battlestar Galactica is a spoiler for Caprica: mankind is wiped out by the robotic Cylons, former soldiers and slaves who rose up and rebelled. As a result, there’s no suspense when Daniel Grayson finds himself up for a government contract or attempts to crack A.I. – unless the series is a gigantic red herring (and, though I wouldn’t put it past the creators, it is far too early to show their hand if it is), we know that his actions will create robotic killing machines made just a little too perfect.
Oh, the lawyer and the computer genius should be friends... oh, the lawyer and the computer genius should be friends...
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Filed under: Television | Tagged: adama, Alessandra Torresani, battlestar galactica, BSG, caprica, caprica pilot, caprica series, Eric Stoltz, joseph adama, prequel, review, sci-fi, science fiction, Television | 3 Comments »
Posted on February 4, 2010 by Darren
Remember when Steve Martin was funny? I know, it was a long time ago, but think really hard. Remember when he was churning out consistently entertaining and amusing comedies which skirted the line of brilliance? Before he became the straight man to Alec Baldwin in It’s Complicated? The Man With Two Brains is a such a comedy. I’m not sure it’s consistent enough to justify the description ‘classic’, but ‘vintage’ fits it best. A vintage Steve Martin comedy.
And brains to spare...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: comedy, film, hammer horror, kathleen turner, Movie, non-review review, review, steve martin, The Man With Two Brains | 3 Comments »
Posted on February 4, 2010 by Darren
The rest of the story you know too well. It’s been told a lot of ways, with many other people in my life, but this is the way I choose to remember it when I think of you.
– Matt Murdock
The first part of Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb’s informal ‘colours’ trilogy (Spiderman: Blue and Hulk: Grey being the rest of it), Daredevil: Yellow has a lot going for it beyond the two talents behind a trilogy of iconic Batman stories (Haunted Knight, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory). Cynics would describe it as the last classic that Loeb wrote. The truth is that it offers a wonderful eulogy for the carefree comic book stories of old, simple and ridiculous fare with simple storylines and clear-cut good guys and bad guys. It’s a nostalgia trip – which means it isn’t quite as compelling as the duo’s work on Batman – but it does lend the collection a nice feel to it. If you are in anyway interested in the olden days of comic books without the retro-post-modernism that typically accompanies such fare, this is the story for you.
Daredevil's come on leaps and bounds from his early days...
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, batman: the long halloween, comic books, Comics, daredevil, daredevil: yellow, ed brubaker, frank miller, guardian devil, jeph loeb, karen page, marvel, matt fraction, matt murdock, review, stan lee, the man without fear, tim sale, yellow | 4 Comments »
Posted on January 29, 2010 by Darren
Every once in a while a creator lands a run on a mainstream comic which suits them to a ‘t’. There’s Alan Moore’s tenure on Swamp Thing and Frank Miller’s run on Daredevil, for example. Sure, both writers did great work with other characters on a stand-alone basis (notably Superman and Batman respectively), but these were generally individual arcs rather than directing three or four years of the characters’ stories. Having read New X-Men, I can confirm that Grant Morrison has found his own such series.
Is there beauty in the beast?
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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: assault on weapon plus, comic book, Comics, e is for extinction, frank quitely, grant morrison, here comes tomorrow, magneto, marvel omnibus, new x-men, new x-men omnibus, planet x, review, sublime, x-men, xorn | 4 Comments »
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