Buys
New DVDs for my collection include Samurai Jack's fourth season (bring on the movie!), Inception (see below!) and Disciples of the 36th Chamber (sequelitis!). And for my book shelf, I've thrown in Rob Shearman and Toby Hadoke's Running Through Corridors Vol.1 (a Doctor Who marathon) and Michael Chabon's Manhood for Amateurs.
"Accomplishments"
DVDs: I fell in love with Moffat and Gatiss' new Sherlock series within minutes when I started watching it a few months ago, and repeat viewing hasn't taken anything away even if I knew the solutions already. The three 1½-hour mini-films that place the Sherlock Holmes character in contemporary times is so well and stylishly written, acted and produced that is definitely stands up to repeat visits. Benedict Cumberbatch (say it aloud, and often, it's an awesome name) confidently inhabits the great detective, and Martin Freeman (of The Office fame) is an excellent Watson. An extremely smart series and I can't wait for their second go. The DVD offers commentary tracks on the first and third episodes, each quite informative and entertaining, as well as a half-hour making of and the original 1-hour pilot version of A Study in Pink. The latter is quite interesting, but I'm glad to say the production was bettered in every possible way in the reshot, broadcast version. Top marks!
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 4 proved to be the best season yet for the shock-comedy, perhaps because a lot of new writers were brought in, without changing the brand of humor. Mostly gone are the shouty bits where the gang yell over each other (that's good), and in its fourth season, the show feels comfortable enough to provide change of pace episodes - one flashback to 1776 Philadelphia and the other a hilariously bad musical. I had more laugh-out-loud moments than with any other season to date. The DVD has no commentary tracks or making of features this time, but the extras still feature strong new content. Among them is a double-sized live version of the musical episode (featuring more songs), a couple of skits under the Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life banner, and a blooper reel.
On to films now, Inception was the much-talked-about mindf*ck of the summer in which people navigate others' dreams (a straight cross between Ocean's Eleven and The Matrix), but I couldn't manage to get to a theater. My first viewing will likely not be my last because its play on reality is both visually inventive and entertainingly complex enough to bear multiple viewings. My inception moment: That night, I actually dreamed about Inception and woke up around five thinking I had figured out just where reality broke down, but then the rest of the morning REM sleep added lots of extra clues that proved my theory and which of course, weren't there. The kind of puzzle film that will keep people debating for a while. Nolan continues to impress with his action-filled think pieces. I don't have Blu-ray, which is where all the good extras apparently are. The standard DVD takes those 90 minutes and condenses them into 11. Very thin, but I don't mind so much because at this point, I don't really want to be spoiled by extra clues or explanations. Letting it sit and rest.
The Apartment is a romantic comedy back in the days before they took the attempted suicide out of the formula, and it took 1960's Oscar for Best Picture (and 4 other categories) for its trouble. For those who don't quite remember this Billy Wilder hit, Jack Lemmon is the office sucker who lends his apartment to all the higher-ups in exchange for favors come promotion time. He falls for adorable elevator girl Shirley MacLaine who is suffering in a relationship with the married company boss played by Fred McMurray. I'm not a romantic comedy kind of guy, but this was an effective satire about office politics/romances (is there a difference?) and a touching comedy. Plus, it takes place around Christmas, so... 'Tis the season. The DVD includes a commentary by film historian Bruce Block (not bad, but often just paraphrasing the film or being too technical), a good half-hour documentary that lets all the survivors speak, and pulled from the same round of interviews, a shorter feature on Jack Lemmon.
The Dragon Dynasty release of Jet Li's The Enforcer was always going to be disappointing because it was missing the Chinese language track (legal issues, apparently), as English dubs are universally badly acted. And the over-the-top 90s villain in this movie didn't need the help. Yeeech! Jet Li plays an undercover cop whose young son gets mixed up in his father's work (it's a 90s action movie, there HAS to be a kid). The twist is that the little kid can take care of himself and is even more heroic than his dad, getting almost as many fight scenes! He's the real star here. The DVD includes Bey Logan's usual commentary track and three interviews - Producer Wong Jing (in broken English), former child actor Tse Miu (all grown up), and stuntman Ken Lo.
Audios: What if Paradise Towers was any good? It might have been Red, the 7th Doctor and Mel Big Finish audio play by Stewart Sheargold. This atmospheric thriller takes place in a similar environment, though concerns a murderous intention gone viral and rampaging through a "chipped" society out of which violence has been edited. Various intriguing and clever ideas are put into motion as the Doctor tries to both solve the mystery and face his own dark side. Mel is very effective as well (which is usual for the audios, but not for the tv series). White Noise, the computer in charge, is a good concept/character and other supporting cast members each fill out a different and relevant point of view. The only irritant is that it tries your patience with Sylvester McCoy's rolling R's. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrred!!!
Joseph Lidster's The Reaping manages to put a lot of meat on Peri's backstory by returning her to her family as they're about to face a Cyberman threat. The Cyber-elements are the weakest things about this audio (along with the echo knob going too far back in interior environments and perhaps the harsh abrupt ending), but it more than makes up for it with its character moments. Nicola Bryant does some excellent acting, and the banter between her and the 6th Doctor is crisp and witty. The writing even explores why Peri continued to follow the Doctor after his regeneration. Most of the American accents - the story takes place in Baltimore - are good, though not "Baltimore" (going by The Wire), with some minor exceptions. Worth it for the Peri material, if not the general plot.
Its sequel, The Gathering, is the first appearance of Tegan on an audio. Janet Fielding reprises the role not as a companion, but as more mature Tegan, 20 years on. The Cyberman stuff is window dressing to this reunion which contrasts extremely well with Sarah Jane's much clingier reunion with the 10th Doctor in School Reunion. The 5th Doctor (alone, having momentarily left Peri and Erimem in The Veiled Leopard) finds a former companion with no regrets, but also no interest in following in his footsteps or rejoin his crew. Fielding brings a lot of herself, one has the feeling, and though the plot fails to capture my attention, the two principals are well served by a witty script filled with well-chosen inside jokes. The final scene had me weeping, laughing and weeping again in quick succession, which is quite a feat. A must for Tegan fans.
Hyperion to a Satyr posts this week:
II.ii. Brevity
II.ii. Brevity - Branagh '96
New DVDs for my collection include Samurai Jack's fourth season (bring on the movie!), Inception (see below!) and Disciples of the 36th Chamber (sequelitis!). And for my book shelf, I've thrown in Rob Shearman and Toby Hadoke's Running Through Corridors Vol.1 (a Doctor Who marathon) and Michael Chabon's Manhood for Amateurs.
"Accomplishments"
DVDs: I fell in love with Moffat and Gatiss' new Sherlock series within minutes when I started watching it a few months ago, and repeat viewing hasn't taken anything away even if I knew the solutions already. The three 1½-hour mini-films that place the Sherlock Holmes character in contemporary times is so well and stylishly written, acted and produced that is definitely stands up to repeat visits. Benedict Cumberbatch (say it aloud, and often, it's an awesome name) confidently inhabits the great detective, and Martin Freeman (of The Office fame) is an excellent Watson. An extremely smart series and I can't wait for their second go. The DVD offers commentary tracks on the first and third episodes, each quite informative and entertaining, as well as a half-hour making of and the original 1-hour pilot version of A Study in Pink. The latter is quite interesting, but I'm glad to say the production was bettered in every possible way in the reshot, broadcast version. Top marks!
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 4 proved to be the best season yet for the shock-comedy, perhaps because a lot of new writers were brought in, without changing the brand of humor. Mostly gone are the shouty bits where the gang yell over each other (that's good), and in its fourth season, the show feels comfortable enough to provide change of pace episodes - one flashback to 1776 Philadelphia and the other a hilariously bad musical. I had more laugh-out-loud moments than with any other season to date. The DVD has no commentary tracks or making of features this time, but the extras still feature strong new content. Among them is a double-sized live version of the musical episode (featuring more songs), a couple of skits under the Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life banner, and a blooper reel.
On to films now, Inception was the much-talked-about mindf*ck of the summer in which people navigate others' dreams (a straight cross between Ocean's Eleven and The Matrix), but I couldn't manage to get to a theater. My first viewing will likely not be my last because its play on reality is both visually inventive and entertainingly complex enough to bear multiple viewings. My inception moment: That night, I actually dreamed about Inception and woke up around five thinking I had figured out just where reality broke down, but then the rest of the morning REM sleep added lots of extra clues that proved my theory and which of course, weren't there. The kind of puzzle film that will keep people debating for a while. Nolan continues to impress with his action-filled think pieces. I don't have Blu-ray, which is where all the good extras apparently are. The standard DVD takes those 90 minutes and condenses them into 11. Very thin, but I don't mind so much because at this point, I don't really want to be spoiled by extra clues or explanations. Letting it sit and rest.
The Apartment is a romantic comedy back in the days before they took the attempted suicide out of the formula, and it took 1960's Oscar for Best Picture (and 4 other categories) for its trouble. For those who don't quite remember this Billy Wilder hit, Jack Lemmon is the office sucker who lends his apartment to all the higher-ups in exchange for favors come promotion time. He falls for adorable elevator girl Shirley MacLaine who is suffering in a relationship with the married company boss played by Fred McMurray. I'm not a romantic comedy kind of guy, but this was an effective satire about office politics/romances (is there a difference?) and a touching comedy. Plus, it takes place around Christmas, so... 'Tis the season. The DVD includes a commentary by film historian Bruce Block (not bad, but often just paraphrasing the film or being too technical), a good half-hour documentary that lets all the survivors speak, and pulled from the same round of interviews, a shorter feature on Jack Lemmon.
The Dragon Dynasty release of Jet Li's The Enforcer was always going to be disappointing because it was missing the Chinese language track (legal issues, apparently), as English dubs are universally badly acted. And the over-the-top 90s villain in this movie didn't need the help. Yeeech! Jet Li plays an undercover cop whose young son gets mixed up in his father's work (it's a 90s action movie, there HAS to be a kid). The twist is that the little kid can take care of himself and is even more heroic than his dad, getting almost as many fight scenes! He's the real star here. The DVD includes Bey Logan's usual commentary track and three interviews - Producer Wong Jing (in broken English), former child actor Tse Miu (all grown up), and stuntman Ken Lo.
Audios: What if Paradise Towers was any good? It might have been Red, the 7th Doctor and Mel Big Finish audio play by Stewart Sheargold. This atmospheric thriller takes place in a similar environment, though concerns a murderous intention gone viral and rampaging through a "chipped" society out of which violence has been edited. Various intriguing and clever ideas are put into motion as the Doctor tries to both solve the mystery and face his own dark side. Mel is very effective as well (which is usual for the audios, but not for the tv series). White Noise, the computer in charge, is a good concept/character and other supporting cast members each fill out a different and relevant point of view. The only irritant is that it tries your patience with Sylvester McCoy's rolling R's. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrred!!!
Joseph Lidster's The Reaping manages to put a lot of meat on Peri's backstory by returning her to her family as they're about to face a Cyberman threat. The Cyber-elements are the weakest things about this audio (along with the echo knob going too far back in interior environments and perhaps the harsh abrupt ending), but it more than makes up for it with its character moments. Nicola Bryant does some excellent acting, and the banter between her and the 6th Doctor is crisp and witty. The writing even explores why Peri continued to follow the Doctor after his regeneration. Most of the American accents - the story takes place in Baltimore - are good, though not "Baltimore" (going by The Wire), with some minor exceptions. Worth it for the Peri material, if not the general plot.
Its sequel, The Gathering, is the first appearance of Tegan on an audio. Janet Fielding reprises the role not as a companion, but as more mature Tegan, 20 years on. The Cyberman stuff is window dressing to this reunion which contrasts extremely well with Sarah Jane's much clingier reunion with the 10th Doctor in School Reunion. The 5th Doctor (alone, having momentarily left Peri and Erimem in The Veiled Leopard) finds a former companion with no regrets, but also no interest in following in his footsteps or rejoin his crew. Fielding brings a lot of herself, one has the feeling, and though the plot fails to capture my attention, the two principals are well served by a witty script filled with well-chosen inside jokes. The final scene had me weeping, laughing and weeping again in quick succession, which is quite a feat. A must for Tegan fans.Hyperion to a Satyr posts this week:
II.ii. Brevity
II.ii. Brevity - Branagh '96
Comments