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Reviews
Life on Mars (2006)
Original and one of the best by BBC
I admit, at first I didn't want to watch it at first. At first glance, it looked like another BBC's copper shows (and mind you, I'm not British!). But finally someone sat me down to the recording of it, and I was extremely pleasantly surprised. The story took a very interesting twist once Sam Tyler's ex-girlfriend was kidnapped, he got run over by a car while having a mini-breakdown and somehow landed in 1973 Manchester.
Sam Tyler is basically in the beginning a little cold, "pedantic", as others have described, and all modern. He's interrogating a killer, Colin Raimes, in the beginning, and would've nailed him except for his water-tight alibi. Maya, his ex-girlfriend and co- worker, decided to follow her guts against his wishes and was kidnapped. At first his character wasn't too compelling to me, but once I saw him upset in the car after his girlfriend was kidnapped I thought, "Well, now he's more likable. Poor guy."
And once he lands in 1973, it's a totally different world where fists rule the police station and no modern technology is in sight. And he makes the mistake of getting entangled with Manchester's DCI Gene Hunt, a tough, mean guy who can pound poor Sam to a pulp. And Sam's supposed to be a transfer to Hunt's division.
Sam's so confused, and on top of that, he doesn't know whether he's in a coma, gone mad, or really time-traveled!
The rest of the series shows Sam trying to resolve the coma-gone mad-time traveled problem that he faces and the various characters he meets along the way, including possible love interest WPC Annie Cartwright, bumbling Chris Skelton and the nasty Ray.
Admittedly, maybe one or two episodes are weak, but the weak ones are still miles ahead of such trash on American TV. There is British humor, and very funny humor (at least to me) at that. The humor is injected at just the right time mostly to lighten up a dark scene, to illustrate DCI Hunt's sense of humor and crudeness and to show just how different 1973 Manchester is. The drama is great--there is interaction between Sam's past life, Sam's 1973 life, and Sam's nostalgia of his childhood that really tugs at your heartstrings. Romance between Annie and Sam develops, and there are plenty of internal conflicts in the police station. Most episodes alternate between Sam's dilemma and a crime that happens in 1973. Each crime that happens either puts a new piece to the puzzle, gives insight into the characters, or ends up affecting Sam's life in some way. The show is very psychological, where you have to guess along with Sam whether he's gone mad (and at some points you think he is). There are practically no filler episodes--I can't remember when there was a filler episode in all 16 of them. Sure, it's not the most high-budget TV show, but who needs billions of pounds when you can make do with a moderate budget, a great cast, great scriptwriters and a great producer and director? And believe me, the people involved in this program more than make up for a moderate budget.
The actors are all fantastic, especially John Simm as Sam Tyler and Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt. Those guys make the show. Simm is great as Sam; he really makes you feel for what his character is going through, whether it's joy, anger, depression, rage, frustration, or elation. Never, ever in one episode does he ever seem cheesy, no matter how emotional the show gets. And Glenister IS Hunt--the colorful-swearing, fighting, crude, loud cop with principles. As vulgar or politically incorrect or rude he may seem, even he's got rules that he never crosses. And Hunt is strangely endearing, even though he sounds like the opposite of endearing. Just shows you how good these two actors are. The other actors are good as well, but all of them are so good that they can pull off a lot without making the episode cheesy. And some episode have potential to be cheesy if done VERY wrongly. But no fear, the whole cast and crew get it right.
This TV show is just one of the best I've seen from BBC in a long time, mixing the right amount of drama, comedy, psychological thriller and time-travel. It has great actors, an interesting premise, lively characters and great setups to boot. I wouldn't hesitate recommending this TV show to anyone who's interested in it.
To anyone who's felt blown off by the ending of the American Life on Mars: Give the ending of this one a try if you don't want cheap, pat endings. That's all I'm saying.
Persepolis (2007)
Cartoon it may be, but childish it is certainly not. *Spoilers!*
This is a cartoon, but don't be fooled by the medium that this work is presented in. This is a serious, but well-made and humorous and touching story of Marjane Satrapi's life.
The movie starts out as Marjane as an adult, trying to go back to Iran but failing. Intermittently between chunks of the movie we see Marjane smoking and contemplating, perhaps about her life and the dangers that her parents face--or maybe if they're alive. The rest follow her from childhood to adulthood.
Marjane is a curious, sometimes wild and reckless, but kindhearted kid. Growing up in the revolution of Iran is confusing, and as a kid she is confused about the politics that the grown-ups always talk about. Uncle Anoush's tale of being in jail intrigues her, but soon she learns that the revolution and war is nothing quite like she thought and learns values. She finds that, when the Shah has been removed from the throne and Iraq is fighting against Iran, life is changed. She now has to wear a veil, is under a very oppressive government, and because of her somewhat rebellious personality, is always getting herself into trouble.
Her parents, out of concern, send Marjane at the age of 13 to Vienna, Austria. Over there, she manages to meet a bunch of misfit kids, but she's constantly reminded of how badly her family has it and how different life is in Vienna. Finally, she manages to fit in a little better, and after pursuing a gay love interest, she finds Markus. She's in love... And she snaps out of it when she finds that he's having an affair with another girl. Due to a bunch of factors, she becomes homeless, and after two months of living on the streets, she finally returns home to Iran. No questions asked.
But back in Iran and feeling an outcast, she falls into a deep depression--and luckily, she manages to struggle out of it. She takes university courses, meets Reza and gets married to him, all the while going through episodes that teaches her how to survive Iran and go about it in the right way. All this time, she's helped by her ass-kicking, spunky and cool Grandma, who sternly scolds her or gives a bit of humor when she needs it. Finally, because of the danger in Iran, she decides to go to France. She lives there as an adult.
The black-and-white medium and the style of the drawings convey a sense of universality and, in the more impactful scenes, give it more weight and atmosphere. The sense of universality is mostly conveyed by the choice to not go to realism. By having "no" skin color, one stops thinking about the ethnicity and instead focuses on their personality, their environment and their troubles. They are just like any other person, you and I, race aside. An example as to how the medium conveys atmosphere and weight is when the armies start marching in through the gas. The white gas floating through the scene, with the stark contrast of the shadowed revolutionaries and the gas- masked army, is eerie. And when a boy dies with blood flowing out of him, the black and white gives the moment a sort of feel and power that would be lost in color. Color is only reserved for special moments--moments when she is an adult.
The characters are all unique and memorable. I have to give thanks to Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, and whoever else (I can't remember off the top of my head) is involved in the voice-overs. They do a great job of doing the voices and conveying their personality strongly. Especially the grandma, who's a certainly special and butt-kicking one.
No, this it not a political commentary or a history film, for those of you that complain that the history is vague and brief or biased. This is through the eyes of Marjane, not an objective view of Iran's history and the West's involvement. This is, above all, a story.
There are a lot of other things I could talk about, but it's rather late and the review's getting long. I recommend that everyone see the movie. It's worth it.
The Taming of the Shrew (1976)
Seen only one segment, but it's great!
As in the title, I've only seen one 10-minute segment, the part where Petruchio and Katharina meet each other and enter into a furious round of wordplay, but by Jove was that segment fantastic! The acting was great, pulled off so well that every moment in this commedia dell'arte production was hilarious. The wordplay was made obvious, and I am still in awe of how Petruchio can be tossing Katharine in his arms or whirling her over his head and still recite his iambic pentameter. Petruchio, played by Mark Singer, is a cocky man, but you see that he also has a more caring side to him underneath the wild antics that Mark Singer gives. Katharina is definitely easily angered, but she has a feistiness, will, and has plenty of wit. The actress chose to make Katharina's shrieking, shrewish side IMO more toned down, and it makes the character more likable. Indeed, I find myself liking her railing, her shouting and most of all her wit. The wordplay is to die for: quick, lively, and sharp as a razor. Petruchio and Katharina are the highlights, but the other people in the cast (from what I saw) also do a great job in making their characters fit into the commedia dell'arte style and making the audience laugh.
Yes, this is slapstick, but slapstick done well and I'll find it difficult for someone to not like this production. Unless you have an aversion to all types of slapstick, well pulled-off or not, you'll love it. This is the most highly rated out of all the Taming of the Shrew productions from what I've seen on IMDb and Amazon, and I agree that this relatively unknown production really merits praise, even if I've only seen a small part of it.
Merci pour le chocolat (2000)
Ennhhh, quite boring but for Huppert
I rented this movie, hoping that this would lead to something interesting. It started out a bit dubious already with swapped children, which would have been fine with Shakespeare but in more modern-day technology is not very plausible. And then it leads out to the various plots of possible fathers, suspicious deaths and incidents, and a woman who poisons people through her hot chocolate (Huppert). It sounds rather ludicrous, like it should make for a very good comedic story or something of the sort.
It bored me to tears. I sat there and sat there, while the film moved at a glacial pace through those plots, and while inconsistencies popped up. And there were even some implausible cases--how very convenient that the girl who suspected Mika (Huppert) put drugs into the hot chocolate had a boyfriend working in the lab in her mother's place! That was the one big thing that irritated me; the rest I was too bored to notice, and I haven't seen this movie for a few months since.
Huppert was about the only redeeming value, as the rest of the actors are conventional, have no chemistry, boring, and quite frankly did the whole movie in for me. Huppert played Mika quite well though--a seemingly normal woman, but underneath that facade you just know that something's wrong, even though what she does is hardly suspicious at first. And as usual, Huppert uses micro-gestures to convey the creepiness and twistedness of Mika well, although I feel like Huppert was delivering for something, only that thing never arrived.
If you like implausible plots, a glacial pace (but I've seen and liked "Four Months, Three Weeks, and Two Days", which moves rather slowly; don't mistake me for hyperactive or with ADD), and just sheer boringness, this is the movie for you. I am sorry if my opinion seems blatantly wrong, but this movie was just not up to my taste or standards. 5/10.
Chess (2003)
Kinda Good, Kinda Bad
I very much wanted to like this version of Chess. Having seen brief clips of it on YouTube, and this being the only recent staged production, the singing and acting seemed great, and the stage designs lavish. Well, it's a mixed bag, folks.
Tommy Körberg reprises his role as Anatoly Sergievsky, and he does a good job of acting, great job on the singing. Helen Sjöholm is fantastic as Florence, best acting and singing I have seen yet. Nobody can beat her Lämna Inga Dörrar På Glänt or Om Han Var Här. Anders Ekborg would have been included as great singing AND acting for the abusive and crude Freddie Trumper, but his overacted Pity the Child just marked him down a few notches. Jossefin Nilsson was a different matter--screechy, wailing, off- key (well, I guess technically it's on key but it's so screechy and wailing you're not sure)! In Jag Vet Vad Han Vill (I Know Him So Well), every time I heard Jossefin I got a headache, and every time I heard Helen I felt relief. I can't really say much on Molokov, but Rolf Skosglund (or however you spell his name) can't sing. He can, however, provide a most amusing caricature of this sleazy, grotesque French arbiter. Now, most of the singing was good.
The first act, the tension is wound up quite nicely, with arguments between Freddie and Florence over his inappropriate behavior and Florence's past, with dissatisfaction from Anatoly about his home life, Anatoly and Florence seeking asylum; in short, asides from the Arbiter moments and the interchanged settings, very close to the original concept album. The stage design is both appropriate and eye-catching, and you really can't beat the scene where Florence reminisces about her past in Hungary, 1956. The Arbiter's moments were just plain...weird. However, I got a laugh out of those scenes (and so did my friends).
The second act doesn't have much of a storyline. So Anatoly gets Florence, Freddie causes one last outburst, for some unknown reason Anatoly needs to go back to Russia, tearful goodbye, and it ends. Pretty much, asides from a blowup between Freddie and Florence about her leaving him and an argument between Svetlana and Anatoly (Endgame), there's not much. And Endgame drooped quite a bit, being placed in the middle of the show, instead of towards the end as a climactic song. There are a few songs that, to me, don't really have context--Jag Vet Vad Han Vill, or Om Han Var Här, for example. What's the reason for a big fight between Florence and Svetlana? Why is Florence feeling apprehensive? I don't know. And the scenes in the circus didn't fit in with the rest of the dark, brooding plot. That just did not mesh well, and in such a serious setting I wanted to laugh and blush in embarrassment for its incongruity.
There were some interesting rearrangements; sometimes it worked out really well, sometimes it didn't. I love the singing and the stage setting, which are brilliant, but sadly the meaningless second half of the plot and some really out-of-place scenes kind of blew it for me. If you can learn to set aside its flaws (which I am doing slowly), you will enjoy this version. The singing and acting and the stage production and the first act are great. Just be warned about the second act.
Oh, and did I add this has no subtitles for English viewers?
Bleak House (2005)
Wow, love this!
This has got to be the absolute, definitive version of 'Bleak House'! I loved it when I first saw it, and felt that time went by too quickly. Gillan Anderson is wonderful as Lady Dedlock--she's very composed, but Gillan can portray sadness, anger, despair, etc., in a glance or in a turn of a head. Anna Maxwell Martin portrays what was once a one-dimensional character and brings Esther Summerson to life (and that's difficult, considering Esther was originally too... Plain Jane in the book) and adds a bit of spunk and spirit to Esther's character. I have to applaud Charles Dance too--Tulkinghorn is very menacing and he's just enough to make you feel revulsion towards all other lawyers you meet. Burn Gorman does a fantastic job as the hilarious and awkwardly clumsy Mr. Guppy. That's not all... I feel that Andrew Davies really out-did himself with this version and the filming is excellent, as well as the acting with ALL the characters. And never mind the 'whoosh" effects; it didn't really bother me that much. I named just a few people who did well in terms of acting, but everyone in 'Bleak House' was well-casted. It's really a pity that 'Bleak House' has to end so soon, but I've got it on DVD, so I can re-watch it whenever I like!