Review: Sherlock: Part Two

A much more interesting mystery this week, with a tighter focus on getting down to business instead of the lighthearted bantering of last week. Yet again everything fit into place like clockwork, but it got a bit convoluted along the way, leaving the whole thing a bit unreal.
        A Chinese woman disappears. Deep in a tower block in London, someone writes a piece of graffiti in a mysterious language. Sherlock is called in, and discovers that the graffiti is a warning to the Hong Kong ambassador, Van Coon. Sneaking into Van Coon's flat, Sherlock discovers him dead, a murder badly disguised as a suicide. After another murder, Sherlock and Watson follow several paths including book ciphers and ancient chinese dialects, revealing a murderous smuggling chain disguising themselves as a circus.
          The mad complexity of the plot is generally consistant, and there aren't any logical gaps that spring to mind. What is lacking, however, is a sense of light-footed genius. Sure, there are near-supernatural deductions from Holmes, but it could have done with something to break up the madness. Not that it wan't enjoyable, of course. I'm looking forward to the final installment next week.

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Review: Red Dwarf: Tikka to Ride, Stoke me a Clipper and Ouroboros

For the purposes of these reviews, my review pattern will now consist of two reviews covering three episodes and then one covering the last two episodes.

Series Seven, Episode One - Tikka to Ride

"Just call me badass!!"

Series Seven opens with an episode that is bearable at least, with a cohesive plot, some funny sequences and quite a bit of sci-fi. There are cracks however, in the design, acting and general attitude of the episode that forshadows other, more troubling developments.
           We get a cold opening where Lister tries to explain how they survived, and how the ship is still slightly damaged because of the stablising timelines. He talks to Kryten, who explains, sadly, that there is no curry left on Starbug. The acting here is a little forced, and I put that down to five years without practice.
           Rimmer's acting is fine, and there's a small explanation of why Starbug is now massive. They manage to use the space-time drive to travel back in time to Earth to get more curry. (Thus violating THE POINT OF THE ENTIRE SERIES.) To do this, Lister has had to turn off Kryten's guilt chip, turning him into an unstable madman. Anyway, they accidentally end up in 1963, and prevent President Kennedy's assassination, and when they travel forward to 1966 they find Texas abandoned. Kryen is able to explain that if Kennedy lived, his affairs would lead to a Mafia-controlled US, allowing the Cuban Missile Crisis to spin out of control.
        After several attempts to help the assassin, they decide that the only solution is to create a killer on the grassy knoll. They choose Kennedy himself, in the future version, who comes back and successfully kills himself.
         The sci-fi aspects of this episode, and the culmination of several running gags, pave over the initial cracks in the story, and it shows some good omens at least. The humour is mostly slpastick, as in, absent. Lets get on with it.
         
Series Seven, Episode Two - Stoke Me a Clipper

"'translated from German' What a Guy! "

Another sequel to Dimension Jump, this episode is quite brilliant. In it's best areas, it's touching and a poignant send-off to Chris Barrie, who leaves the series temporarily. And rightly so. The removal of one of the series' most important and funny characters, with around three series' worth of plot development, is a terrible decision. But, this is Doug Naylor, so we will have to get used to bad decisions.
         The cold open lasts about five minutes but it's quite a fun action sequence, in which Ace Rimmer saves the girl and does some brave derring do (the effects are a little shabby though, to be honest.) We then cut back to Dwarf, where Lister is once again using the AI machine, this time cheating in order to have sex with the queen of Camelot.
        Ace re-jumps into the Dwarf-verse, causing the ship to lose power. He appears, and everyone is glad to see him, except of course Rimmer. Ace reveals to Rimmer in private that he is dying. He shows Rimmer that he is a hologram, and that every time an Ace dies, he goes into another dimension and passes on the torch. Rimmer isn't persuaded, but mocking from Lister means that he takes up the challenge, saving the crew from one of the AI machinations that has escaped onto the ship (Lister in disguise.) Rimmer then goes off, to fight as Ace in other dimensions.

Series Seven, Episode Three - Ouroboros

"I wonder why guys have nostril hair? "

So. Two decent episodes so far, bar the fact that the best character is gone, we look set. Here to replace Rimmer is Chloe Annett, in the form of Kristine Kochanski. Lets see how they manage her introduction. This episode also gives us a juicy look at Lister's parents.
          Our cold open shows a baby Lister being found as a baby in a small box under a pool table, with the word Ouroboros on the side. We cut to present day Lister, cleaning his teeth and plucking his nose hairs. He's doing this to get ready for bed, and Kryten comes in offering him help. He's half-way through flossing his teeth (terribly), when Cat comes in with news of something on the scanner.
           They see that it is a temporal rip in space-time. They can't escape it and so head straight into it. Heading down to the Engineer deck, they find that a hyperway has opened up into a parallel dimension. There they meet their opposite numbers. A hologrammatic Lister explains that in his universe Kochanski got put in stasis and so Lister was resurrected instead of Rimmer. Kochanski then appears.
          May I take a moment to digress? Kochanski is quite an important character in the long run, despite only making four appearances before Series Seven. She was played by a Scottish actress, and had a few cameos as the woman that Lister loved above all others, a higher ranking officer. Here she is replaced by a new actress without any note whatsoever. And, as we'll find out, she's just got none of the charisma of the former actress. She can't act.
          Anyway, returning to the episode, and Kochanski explains that she wants to have a child with Dave but can't, so wants our Lister's sperm sample. While the others exchange supplies, she gives across the gamma mixer whatsit and the tunnel tears, leaving Kochanski hanging out over nothingness. Our Lister manages to pull Kochanski back up, but the gateway is being attacked by GELFs (from Emohawk:Polymorph II), and she is stranded in our universe.
           As you can apprciate, she is violently unhappy about this, but helps to fight off the GELFs with her superior knowledge nonetheless. Kryten is also annoyed, as he has gained an obsessive need to help Lister, and fears that Kochanski will steal him away. This Kryten personality is not just annoying, it's also incredibly painful. Horrible. Unfortunately, this is Doug Naylor's Kryten. Appalling.
          Anyway, they reopen the linkway and Lister finds the Ouroboros box, and realises that the tube he gave Kochanski will result in himself, and that Kochanski is not only his ex-girfriend, but his mother. Cue looks of disgust from all three men. He runs to get the test tube back, trying to ensure his own birth, and the GELFs return, firing at the temporal gateway. Kristine jumps but doesn't make it, and so fires a harpoon gun at her, saving her life (at some considerable pain.)

Review: Dorian Gray

I can’t help thinking that this film gave me the wrong impression. Its whole anti-hero character structure is based off the Victorian tale from which it was adapted, and so this doesn’t really correlate with modern values. In fact, the main antagonist (other than the protagonist himself) is a pretty ok guy.

            So, we’re introduced to Dorian Gray, this guy with absolutely no back story or personality beyond having a mother and a father. He’s come to live in London and is painted by an artist who loves his image, while he falls under the influence of Lord Henry (Colin Firth with a smashing goatee) who is an opportunist, obsessed with life’s pleasures. Apparently, based on a conversation where Dorian says he would sell his soul to live forever, he is forever bound to the painting, which absorbs all of his evils and imperfections while leaving him untouched. It seems like an interesting idea, but the way it’s executed in the first part of the film means that it comes off as unendingly dull, and the interactions comically bad.

            Anyway, after the original artist sees the evil painting, Dorian (for some god-awful reason) decides that he has to die, and strangles him. He runs away, and we flash forward to twenty five years later, where everyone’s wearing a grey wig and Dorian returns, exactly the same as before. (Of course, nobody notices that 25 years of aging seem to have passed him by.) He falls in love with Lord Henry’s daughter, but Lord Henry, who seems to be the only one that has twigged, decides to burn the painting and the house that Dorian lives, so as to kill him. Dorian ends up destroying the painting himself.

            So, bad characterisations, terrible pacing (I was shocked to see what I thought of as a week was actually a year) and bad moral matching. This is not only a dull film, it is a bad film, and one you should avoid.

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Review: Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers

Published under the name Red Dwarf, most fans refer to this book by its joke road sign on the original cover, which is the title seen above. The book only very loosely follows the canon of the television series, mixing up episode plots to create a competent story in its own right, despite having many of the lines from the series. It also provides a little bit of a prologue to the series as a whole, that could easily be brought into the back of the TV series.

            The book is split into three miniature segments, themselves cut into very short chapters. The first segment is a prologue, the second is a mix-up of some early episodes and the third is after a supposed return to Earth. The prose is easy to read and easily blends in to the personality of the character being described, the narrator having almost no personality of its own. This makes the characters much more identifiable, as well as being a slight bonus for watchers of the series who can now see the interactions in a much deeper manner.

            Of course, it all boils down to this: is it a good book on its own? For me, the answer is yes. It’s got decent prose, a funny and enlightening story and the same deep sense of human understanding as the series. Does watching the series help? Yes as well, but it may be slightly annoying when one sees the differences in canon, one must realise that this is probably what the producers had intended in the first place.

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Top Five Favourite Films

I’ve never covered film on this blog because it’s quite a daunting task; programming and film can be quite different in style and message. A lot of the time a film has to achieve in a few hours what a series can achieve in many more, although on the flipside there is often a much higher budget. Here is my personal Top 5 Favourite films of all time, in reverse order.

5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Written by John August and Roald Dahl, Directed by Tim Burton, Music by Danny Elfman. 2005)

Not a popular choice among the critics, as well as fans of both Dahl and Burton, I find this film’s style, humour and tone inescapable. As well as sticking as closely as is possible to the original novel, it also injects warmth and a message that manages to update the film for the modern age, contrasting with Dahl’s often strict (and today, fairly ridiculous) views.

            Anyone who hasn’t heard of this story, from the book, this film or the 1974 version, is a poorer man for it. Its simplicity is paramount to its success; it’s the tale of Charlie Bucket, who is one of five children invited to tour around the factory of the fictional chocolate maker, Willy Wonka. In this edition, Wonka’s attitude and general dissonance with the outside world is amplified, and as is his childish, whimsical nature. The crucial thing is that reasons are given for why he is like this.

            Elsewhere, Danny Elfman’s score is charming and variable, Burton’s artistic style is spot-on, and Johnny Depp gives us an… interesting character.

4. Sherlock Holmes (Written by Michael Robert Johnson, Directed by Guy Ritchie, Music by Hans Zimmer. 2009)

It is surprising that a film that, as of posting, I saw only three weeks ago is number four on the list. What is it about this film that I love? It’s a mixture of intriguing, witty mystery, swirled up with exciting but realistic action. The performances are superb and the soundtrack just flows.

            As from the title, the film is another adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes book, published by Arthur Conan Doyle in the 1880s and 90s. This time the elusive sleuth and his assistant, Doctor Watson, are updated with developed performances by a good fake-Brit by Robert-Downy Junior and comfortable Jude Law. The instant chemisrty between the characters means that whether you’re looking at a gambling problem, or a thick argument, it all feels slick.

             It’s best to approach this film, and any Sherlock story, without any knowledge of the plot, as to enhance the experience. Therefore, I’ll move on.

3.) Big Fish (Written by Danny Wallace, Directed by Tim Burton, Music by Danny Elfman. 2003)

Yes, my highest Tim Burton film is the oft-ignored Big Fish, which is unusual in Burton canon as it contains only two of his recurring cast members. A tale set in the American South during an unspecified time period, alternating between the modern day and a period around the Second World War. It tells the story of the dying Edward Bloom, as his son tries to discover whether the tall tales surrounding his life are true.

            In essence, it’s a wonderful exploration of one mans lie, focussing on all areas of everyone’s lives. Albert Finnley and Ewan McGregor both do a brilliant job as the protagonist, and Helena Bonham Carter gives a role that doesn’t feel like an unnecessary cameo.

2. The Truman Show (Written by Andrew Niccol, Directed by Peter Weir and Music by Burkhard Dallwitz. 1998.)

A tough call, my two top favourite films are quite close together. Coming in second by a thin margin is The Truman Show, one of Jim Carrey’s first dramatic roles. It was one of the first films, and one of the first pieces of media, to capture the idea of reality TV, and in this case it stands at its most effective.

            The film follows Truman Burbank, chosen by birth to be part of a completely immersive world, and his life broadcast 24 hours a day from the day he was born to the day he died. He is funny and generally accepting of this strange, 1950s style world, which is littered with oddities like circular traffic and people advertising mid-conversation. Around his early thirties, outside forces begin to make Truman start to see the oddities of the world around him.

            The entire film is a slick philosophical pondering on whether we truly know whether the world around us is real, a predecessor of sorts to The Matrix’s popularisation of a simulated reality.

1. Pleasantville ((Written and Directed by Gary Ross and Music by Randy Newman. 1999)

Here we are. My favourite film of all time, Pleasantville is a cauldron of genres; an out-of-this-world adventure, a symbolic examination of human nature, and a chick flick, all rolled into one.

            Two 1990s teens are arguing over the remote; David is an obsessive fan on a 1950s sitcom called Pleasantville, while his sister Liz is a class whore who hates the show. When a strange repairman gives them a magical remote, both are transported into the show as two of its teen characters. While the world is black and white, events slowly occur which mean that colour starts to appear in the town, mainly due to Dave and Liz’s modern freedoms. What follows is an examination of philosophy, race and gender roles, and the changing face of the American family.#

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Prologue: Red Dwarf: Series Seven and Eight

As there was a hiatus between my covering of Series Six and Seven, so was there a hiatus between their broadcast. The five years between Series Six and Seven saw a number of large changes for Red Dwarf.

            The producing/writing partnership that founded the series was known as Grant Naylor, bringing together the comedy writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who wrote several other series together. However, after Series Six, Rob Grant left to pursue other projects. This left Red Dwarf’s television story firmly in the hands of Doug Naylor, who had quite a different idea of where he wanted the series to go.

            Actors also found other priorities. Hattie Hayridge left permanently after her hiatus in Series Six, with Norman Lovett from Series One and Two coming in to replace her. Chris Barrie had found success with his other series, The Brittas Empire, and so only agreed to film in half the series. Series length was increased; Each series used to consist of six half-hour episodes, while the new series would be eight forty-five minute episodes. The budget was bigger, much bigger, and with the advances that half a decade had brought, it was better filmwork as well.

            It’s a terrible shame then, that Doug Naylor’s grasp of what amounts to humour is paramount to that of a small fruit fly. The new series was not only blatantly leaching on the past, it wasn’t funny. And that was the greatest crime of all.

            Regardless, two series were made and I’m going to review them. Most episodes of these two series aren’t considered canon, especially with the more status quo approach of the Back To Earth specials, but they aren’t that good either.

            On another note, I’m also going to start reading and reviewing the series of four Red Dwarf books that, while not truly following the series, do include more of their scenes and seem to contain what the producers would have ideally done had they had the time or the money. Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers and Better than Life were both written under the name of Grant Naylor; After the split, both producers wrote their own sequels to Better than Life; Doug Naylor’s Last Human and Rob Grant’s Backwards.

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Review: Sherlock: Part One

Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis were sitting on a train and decided that together, they would create a modern series regarding Sherlock Holmes. And here, in three film-length instalments, is Sherlock. Expectations were high for this series, having the creative input of two of the most successful writers currently in the BBC, as well as a large budget.

            Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch, who previously played Van Gogh and Steven Hawking), a neurotic, intuitive genius employed as an independent detective by the police, meets and ends up sharing a flat with former army doctor Dr. Watson (Martin Freeman, from The Office, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Love, Actually.) They investigate a spate of four suicides, all of which seem conclusive but that Holmes is convinced are murders. Using a series of clues and a GPS tracker, Holmes tracks down the murderer as a homicidal taxi driver, with only a few months left to live and a sponsorship by a man fascinated by Holmes, who goes by the name of Moriaty. 

            The story is a good effort and the characters are introduced seamlessly, with good humour along the way. Freeman is a bit wooden, but that fits in with the character’s noted experiences in Afghanistan, and his decision to kill the villain before Holmes kills himself in a challenge shows how committed he now is to the detective, as well as showing weakness of character. There’s also a well-developed Sherlock, neurotic an obsessed with understanding everything.

            Very good, Mr Moffat, very good.

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Two Week Break

Right; just finished Series Six, and so now I'm going to Devon for two weeks! When I get back I'll be publishing my first review of Sherlock as well as resuming Red Dwarf.

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Overview: Red Dwarf: Series Six

A lot of critics tend not to agree with me on the matter of the quality of Series Six, in comparion to the other three series in The Golden Age. I think that it's a work of mastery; a series that takes the best from all of the previous series as well as enjoying its bigger budget.
          Admittedly, the larger sets designs for Starbug are a bit jarring, but compared the the empty, echoing Red Dwarf the compactness of the ship provides many more oppurtunities for basic character comedy, something that we haven't seen since before the first reboot.
          The removal of Holly also means that Kryten is faced with all of the series exposition, but this, instead of lumbering him with being a basic plot device, instead enhances his character into something funny and useful. The Cat is similarly benefitted, now being endowed with "nasal powers" that really enhance his value to the plot after his lacklustre role in Series Five.
          And? The series is much more well plotted, with realistic scenarios to house the absurdity, and logical reasons (well, except in Emohawk)  for things to happen. And I appreciate that sort of thing. This, in my opinion, is Dwarf at its very best, and it's a shame that in two weeks, I will have to review the Post-Grant era.

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Review: Red Dwarf: Rimmerworld and Out of Time

Series Six, Episode Five - Rimmerworld

"Grind those balls, sir!"

What's this? An episode focussing on a specfic character? Why, this is brilliant! This series has never done anything like this before! And Rimmer! We've not had any focus on him at all. Well, I am admittedly exaggerating a bit; this episode manages to work on all characters while exploiting Rimmer's personality in a way that actually affects the story.
          Rimmer has just finished his medical check, and Kryten reveals that he's contracted a terminal hologrammatic illness which means that if he becomes highly stressed, he will have an "electronic anyeurism". He tells Rimmer to start a program of relaxation, and Rimmer agrees as long as Kryten doesn't tell Lister and the Cat.
          They've found the Simulant Ship from Gunmen of the Apocalypse, abandoned, and because of their extensive amounts of prisoner food, their ship is ripe for the picking. Kryten and Rimmer object, due to the dangerous nature of the Simulants. Lister then reveals that the ship has no fuel left as well, and so they all have to go to the ship, nearly triggering Rimmer's stress. On the ship, Lister further reveals that the ship is so unstable that they cannot use their weapons.
         They come across a working teleporter, and use it to load crates onto Starbug. One of the Simulants finds them and is understandably angry. Rimmer, having sneaked behind the simulant, leaves the crew by jettissoning off in an escape pod. The other three escape on the teleport. They accidentally travel back in time, telling Rimmer about his cowardice, thus revealing why he did it in the first place. Unfortunately, the escape pod is revealed by Kryten to be one from a seeding ship, and programmed to land on the nearest S3 planet. They find that he is about to pass through a wormhole, and becasue of time distortion, it will be 600 years before they can reach Rimmer from his point of view.
          Rimmer tells of how he started by using the cloning device in the pod, creating several clones to help him. When the crew arrive, the planet is terraformed and ruled by clones of Rimmer, who have them locked away with the original for being totally unlike Rimmer (cowardly, uncouth). The entire society has been brought up around Rimmer, but have exaggerated his qualities. They teleport back out, this time accidentally skipping into the future.
          Overall, it's an episode with good ideas that string together multiple lines of inquiry with some brilliant comical moments and Rimmer wearing a dress (Quite sure that's a negative aspect then...).
         
Series Six, Episode Six - Out of Time

"We're still in deep space, only now we're in deep space in the 15th century!"

Boo hoo. The finale rolls around in this surprisingly brilliant series, which I think really squeezes the best out of the character comedy of Series 1-2 and the light attitude of Series 3-5. Not only that, but after this series, Red Dwarf went on its first hiatus, and there wasn't another series until 1998, by which time Rob Grant had left the project.
          Rimmer tries to make himself into the "morale officer," to make sure people can get their thoughts off their chests, although it is soon revealed that this is just an excuse to insult the crew. The ship ends up in a stellar fog, which the scanners can't penetrate. Kryten, upon medically examining Lister, finds him to be an inferior model android.
          Accordingly, Kryten treats Lister like dirt as they pass through unreality pockets, in which the laws of the universe change. Unfortunately, Kryten realises that they were in an unreality pocket when they took the examination of Lister. They manage to get through a minefield of unreality pockets and find at the centre a derelict that has working time-drive (that the crew might think could return them to Earth). It does work, but only travels in time and not space. Kryten says that while the drive is useless now, if they were to find a FTL drive, they could go to any place or time period.
           Another Starbug then appears, and they find that the ship is themselves from the future. Kryten only addresses them, as he thinks the shock will damage the three other crewmates. The future versions of the crew are evil, and have speant their time gorging on the bounties of the universe. They want to steal the drive from their former selves, ignoring paradoxes. They fight, with the past crew claiming the moral highground. When the future selves are forced back to their ship, they blow up the ship in a cliffhanger.