Edge of Tomorrow

I am not a fan of Tom Cruise.  I used to like him in the Top Gun and the first Mission:Impossible era, but now his personal life and political/religious beliefs have loomed so large as to overshadow any character he might play.  So whenever I see a preview of a movie starring Tom Cruise, I generally automatically dismiss it as unwatchable, no matter how interesting the rest of the story may be.  However in this instance, I chose to watch this movie simply because I’m such a massive fan of Emily Blunt.  Because she was starring, I felt the presence of Cruise would be an annoyance, but not an insurmountable one.  Thus, I rented Edge of Tomorrow.

It wasn’t everything I thought it would be.  It’s what you might get if you combined Groundhog Day with Starship Troopers.  The script blatantly rips off the movie Mimic by calling the aliens Mimics, which I felt was a poor descriptive name for them.  But then, the script had a lot of flaws.  The beginning is very confusing, with Tom Cruise‘s character Cage waltzing about either impersonating a superior officer or actually being said superior officer.  It’s never clear exactly who he is, but he winds up being shipped off to the front lines to die.  No clue as to why.  The attack on the aliens goes poorly and courtesy of being slimed by a special alien, Cage is doomed to repeat it over and over, constantly re-setting whenever he dies.  Emily Blunt‘s character Rita observes him in action and discerns what is happening to him, as the same thing happened to her before.  She fills him in on her experience, dropping the information bomb that the aliens can control time and thus always know what’s going to happen in advance.  She never reported this to anyone else is because A) they’d think she was crazy and lock her up, or B) believe her and dissect her.  Fair enough, I wouldn’t want to be dissected either.  Rita begins training Cage (cue the montage) and together they set out to find and kill the ‘Omega’ alien that is responsible for time loop.

The opening sequence of the film makes you think somebody in the projector room must have accidentally done something to really mess things up, as the image skips all over the place with lots of static.  The end of the film had a kind of Prince of Persia twist to it, but as a whole I felt it was lacking substance.  Groundhog Day was a story of personal discovery and romance, but Edge of Tomorrow has no time for things like character development and instead relies heavily on CGI, special effects and action sequences.  If that’s all that interests you, but you’ll probably love the movie, but after numerous iterations of the tagline Live, Die, Repeat, I grew quite bored with the proceedings.  Every time things reset, you get to hear a rather pompous Master Sergeant expounding on the virtues of combat in a speech you come to absolutely despise. There’s a smattering of decent lines and the plot is as least nominally interesting, but in general I was disappointed.  It’s not terrible, but not good enough to earn it more than an apathetic two stars. – BETHANY

For more on this curiously titled film, visit the Internet Movie Database

Emily Blunt‘s Rita has literally become the poster child for the war effort.  She also has the unfortunate and rather offensive nickname ‘Full Metal Bitch’.  I do at least appreciate the nod to World War II era propaganda.

Meet a Mimic.  What they’re mimicking is unclear, but I’ve gotta say I’m getting really sick of movies that feel like video games.  This is even a first person shooter shot!

Get ready for lots and lots of scenes like this.

Really. a lot of them.

     And now for something completely the same …

Master Sergeant Farrell (Bill Paxton):  “Battle is the Great Redeemer. It is the fiery crucible in which true heroes are forged. The one place where all men truly share the same rank, regardless of what kind of parasitic scum they were going in.”

Fighting to get off a beach in France – hey, this sounds a lot like Saving Private Ryan.

Rita does yoga. (Emily Blunt).

She does it very well.

Look out, it’s an irradiated octopus!

Cage shucking his fancy battle suit.  At least they’re no longer on the beach.

                                                         By his own admission, Master Sergeant Farrell is not an American, he’s from Kentucky.  This is pretty weak as jokes go, and a sad commentary on the American educational system.  Evidently Farrell flunked Geography.

This guy is definitely toast.  Repeatedly.  (Tony Way)

‘Let’s have coffee’.                                                                                                                “And then I’m killing you.”                                                                                            “Fine.”

Why is it always tachyons?

 

 

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, 3 Arts Entertainment, Viz Productions, LLC), Province of British Columbia Production Services Tax Credit and Dune Entertainment (unless otherwise credited in clickable form)

Watchmen

Let’s start with the fact that I am totally unfamiliar with the comic on which this movie is based. I watched it as a neutral party, with no expectations or preconceived notions. It made little sense to me, was pretty much the antithesis of the usual super hero movie and was frankly more than a bit disturbing. In short, I hated it and gave it only a single star on Netflix (their lowest rating). However, as time passed and I mentally sorted through the story that stubbornly refused to vacate my brain, I began to think perhaps I had misjudged it. Eventually, I rented it again, liked it a whole lot more, and then actually bought the DVD. Once I realized this story is not meant to be set on our Earth but rather in an alternate 1985, the glaring historical inaccuracies became funny and I was able to appreciate the dark satire at play here.

Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) is magnificent, a lone crusader willing to do whatever is necessary for what he sees as the greater good. Billy Crudup is, er, divine as Doctor Manhattan, a chilly super being becoming increasingly detached from humanity while at the same time caring deeply about the welfare of the species. Malin Akerman and Patrick Wilson are amazing, delivering one of the most graphic and viscerally satisfying combat sequences I have ever seen. There is some excellent music used in the soundtrack, my favorite being Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound of Silence’ playing during a funeral sequence.  This movie definitely deserves its R rating, with lots of casual brutality, a stomach turning bit involving a murdered child, a horrifying sexual assault as well as the best sex scene ever, bar none. A great look at our society from a decidedly oblique angle, showing us what might have been in order to better understand what is, this movie is very dark, sad, funny, entertaining and above all, thoroughly thought-provoking, with multiple twists I definitely did not see coming. – BETHANY

For more on Watchmen, visit the Internet Movie Database

A whole lot of anti-superheroes.  Left to right:  Ozymandias, Doctor Manhattan, Silk Spectre II, Rorschach, Nite Owl II and The Comedian.

                                                The whole thing starts out with a murder, making it a superhero whodunnit.

Malin Akerman as Laurie Jupiter, a.k.a. the Silk Spectre II.  Why the two?  Because her mother was the original.  This is a multi-generational movie.

                                                                                   Sally Jupiter, the original World War II era pin-up superhero Silk Spectre (Carla Gugino).

Scientist Jon Osterman (Billy Crudup) becoming Dr. Manhattan.  Naturally it was the ‘accident in a laboratory’ cliché.

Rorschach, so named because the black shapes on his mask continually move.  He’s a bit of a dark personality.  “This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout “Save us!”… and I’ll whisper “no.””

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian, known to his friends as Edward Blake.  That is, if he had any.

Adrian Veidt (Matthew Goode) in his guise as Ozymandias, a harbinger name if there ever was one.  This guy has a seriously inflated ego.  “We can do so much more. We can save this world… with the right leadership.”

The Comedian and The Silk Spectre way back when.

Laurie Jupiter (Malin Akerman) and Dan Dreiberg (Patrick Wilson) on their day off.

                                                                             Dan looks much better as Nite Owl II, a job he inherited from his father, played by Stephen McHattie.

                Matt Frewer as Moloch.  In this movie, he’s kind of a tragic figure.

Silk Spectre and Nite Owl have fun breaking someone out of the slammer.

Nite Owl’s ship Archimedes, affectionately known as Archie.

An alternate version of how the Vietnam war might have gone if Dr. Manhattan had been involved.  Scene accompanied by Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’.

 

 

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Legendary Picture, Lawrence Gordon Productions and DC Comics (unless otherwise credited in clickable form)

Interstellar

‘Mankind was born on Earth.  It was never meant to die here.’  Overpopulation and a ferocious blight attacking crops is driving humanity ever closer to extinction.  Matthew McConaughey plays Cooper, a farmer like everyone else, but also an ex-NASA pilot and engineer.  Their world now resembles the 1930’s Depression era dust bowl, with drab clothing and utilitarian farmhouses.  While society regresses technologically, there are a few who realize the salvation of mankind isn’t on Earth but out in the stars.  Once again, it’s the ‘NASA saves the day’ cliché, but since I wholeheartedly support the space program, I don’t mind one bit.  Interstellar is a rather magnificent combination of incredible cinematography and a lot of cool real scientific stuff, and a story of family and what makes us human.  Like 2001: A Space Odyssey, with which there are a lot of parallels, you will most likely love it or hate it.  I’m one of the few who fell right in the middle, able to appreciate all the good qualities in director Christopher Nolan‘s work, but still conscious of the stretches in logic and other faults.

Interstellar has undeniably spectacular visual effects, but it is exceedingly long.  With a run time of almost three hours, I did find myself checking the clock quite a bit.  It’s highly appropriate that the space vessel is called The Endurance, because it’s a trait you will need to get through the overly long and dare I say it, bloated film.  The most I can tell you about the plot is it involves a space mission to find other habitable worlds in order to save the human race.  Pretty much anything else is a spoiler.  Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, a walking Rubix cube wise-cracking robot and a few red shirt extras, including Seneca Crane from The Hunger Games (Wes Bentley, unfortunately minus the crazy beard), set out via a convenient wormhole on a quest designed to assault you with dumbed down but valid science, and copious quantities of stunning visual effects.  The whole movie is a paradox with most everything eventually tied up in a neat bow, so be prepared for a lot of mind bending stuff as well as some rather ridiculous plot devices (the solution to everything is “solving gravity”?  And what was up with that bit resembling that Doctor Who episode The Girl in the Fireplace?)

Despite the annoying absurdities, there are quite a few marvelous things about Interstellar that I must acknowledge.  The cast is beyond impressive with the aforementioned stars as well as Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon, Ellen Burstyn, John Lithgow, Casey Affleck and Topher Grace.  The soundtrack is wicked, with a nice use of pipe organ and I especially liked the subtle tick-tock motif used on the water planet to illustrate the urgency of time passing.  I might actually forgive composer Hans Zimmer for the Gladiator incident, wherein he failed to give credit to Gustav Holst after blatantly ripping off Mars: The Bringer of War from the collection The Planets.  With highly charged emotional content, many tangents regarding high-minded philosophy, quantum science, metaphysics and other conundrums, my personal favorite was a fascinating discussion about the nature of love.  You won’t believe the number of plot twists and while the ending might not be the most satisfying, it certainly fits with the outré thematic comportment of the film as a whole.  Undeniably idiosyncratic thematically with a lot of just plain weird stuff, but also including deeply personal character studies and some shrewd commentary on a number of subjects, including being good stewards of the Earth.  Interstellar doesn’t quite live up to the hype, but definitely has enough going for it to merit a solid three stars. – BETHANY

For more on this slightly bizarre space drama, visit the Internet Movie Database

Movie features lots of cool images like this one.

“We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars. Now we just look down, and worry about our place in the dirt.”  – Cooper

“We’ve always defined ourselves by the ability to overcome the impossible. And we count these moments. These moments when we dare to aim higher, to break barriers, to reach for the stars, to make the unknown known. We count these moments as our proudest achievements. But we lost all that. Or perhaps we’ve just forgotten that we are still pioneers. And we’ve barely begun. And that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, because our destiny lies above us.”  –  Cooper

It’s all about Cooper’s relationship with daughter Murphy (Mackenzie Foy).  Evidently he couldn’t care two pins about his son Tom.  (Timothée Chalamet and Casey Affleck, thanks to the dime differential.)  “After you kids came along, your mom, she said something to me I never quite understood. She said, “Now, we’re just here to be memories for our kids.” I think now I understand what she meant. Once you’re a parent, you’re the ghost of your children’s future.”

As a book lover, it’s deeply satisfying to have a book shelf play such a lynch pin role in the movie.

“When I was a kid, it seemed like they made something new every day. Some, gadget or idea, like every day was Christmas. But six billion people, just imagine that. And every last one of them trying to have it all. This world isn’t so bad. You’re the one who doesn’t belong. Born forty years too late, or forty years too early… My daughter knew it, God bless her. And your kids know it. Especially Murph.”  – Donald (John Lithgow)

Some spectacular visuals of The Endurance about to penetrate the event horizon of the wormhole.

    An oversimplification of the theory of wormholes.

A planet orbiting ‘Gargantua’, the somewhat asininely named black hole.

Jessica Chastain works to ‘Solve Gravity’.

“Very graceful.”  “No, but efficient”.  Landing on Miller’s planet.

The disappointing truth about Miller’s planet.  But think of the surfing possibilities!  ‘Dude, I went to ride the waves on Miller’s planet for a few months and when I got back, it was, like 10,080 years later!’

Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and David Gyasi.

The Rubix cube robot TARS (voiced by Bill Irwin) rushes in to save the day.  “Come on, TARS!”

Investigating a planet with frozen clouds.  This movie really would have been a killer viewed in IMAX.  That is, if you could sit still for three hours.

“Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should rave and burn at close of day;  Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”  Michael Caine (Professor Brand) delivering a poem written by Dylan Thomas.

                                            Anne Hathaway as Dr. Amelia Brand.  “Cooper, you were thinking about getting home! I was trying to do the right thing!”

A rather blatant plot hole in the movie.  But who cares, because it looked awesome.

                Oh merciful heavens, now there are Lego Interstellar characters.  Such flagrant commercialism, not overpopulation and failing crops, might be the downfall of our civilization.

 

 

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, Lynda Obst Productions and Syncopy (unless otherwise credited in clickable form)

 

 

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

When I first watched this movie, I had no idea it was based on a YA series of books by Cassandra Clare. Therefore I was able to weigh its merits objectively instead of comparing it to the original story. This wasn’t a bad thing, because we all know books turned into screenplays often suffer in transition and once I’d read the books (which are VERY good), I found this one wasn’t just in a little pain, it was in agony. They got many, many things wrong, but the big one is the movie gives away a major plot twist that isn’t resolved until the fourth book. Who does that?!  It would be like having someone tell you a critical piece of information about Bruce Willis’ character at the beginning of The Sixth Sense.  Or worse, knowing who Keyser Söze is at the beginning of The Usual Suspects.  (See how I carefully chose my words so as not to actually make them spoilers in case you, as the reader, haven’t seen those movies yet?  You’re welcome.  But seriously?  You need to watch both those movies immediately.)  All that aside, the film was interesting enough to get me to read the books, which is always a good thing.

The story is an inventive spin on the genre of paranormal young adult fiction, starring a half-human, half-angel race of ‘Shadowhunters’, whose sole purpose is to protect humanity by policing the supernatural world and slaying demons.  Clary (Lily Collins) is a normal girl living with her mother (Lena Headey) in New York when she starts to see strange things that other people evidently can’t. People who are invisible to others, signs and symbols no one else can see, and even a violent murder at a club where she is the only witness in a crowded room.  And thus the supernatural world takes an interest in Clary, drawing her into a realm of vampires, fairies, werewolves, demons, angels and magic.  By way of explanation, the Shadowhunters say “All the stories are true.”

It’s the classic good vs. evil paradigm, but with enough ambiguity all around to make it interesting. In the books, the characters are well drawn and the dialogue is witty, even often darkly funny. Not so much in the movie, but there are excellent visual effects, gorgeous sets and some well-crafted scares. Judged solely on its own, this gothic romantic thriller is just plain cool. True, it was a little confusing and unclear about certain plot elements (such as Clary’s mysterious power with runes), but once I read the books, it all made much more sense. Casting Jamie Campbell Bower as gorgeous golden boy Jace Weyland was perhaps not the best choice, but that is just my personal aesthetic opinion. This was a decent introduction to the book series and I’ll be interested to see if they make more of them into movies. – BETHANY

For more on this movie with a very long title, visit the Internet Movie Database

Clary (Lily Collins) and Simon (Robert Sheehan) before things take a turn for the supernatural.

Normally invisible shadowhunters Isabelle (Jemima West), Alec (Kevin Zegers) and Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower) realize they have been seen.

Clary’s best friend Simon (Robert Sheehan).  Being classified as a mundane has to be kind of insulting.

Clary and downstairs neighbor Dorothea (CCH Pounder).

Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Valentine Morgenstern.  It might just be worth watching this movie just to see him in his tight leather ensemble.

Warlock Magnus Bane (Godfrey Gao), whose loyalties are a mystery but who definitely throws a great party.

Isabelle helps Clary get ready for a party at Magnus Bane’s in order for Clary to ask him for help.  “If you go looking like your mundane self we won’t get within 100 feet of Magnus Bane. He’s the High Warlock of Brooklyn.”

Clary getting a tour of the Institute, guided by Hodge (Jared Harris), stop at the statue of the Angel Raziel, whom legend says created the Shadowhunters.

On a mission to save Simon from the vampires, who took him from Magnus Bane’s party.

Where things almost immediately go wrong, thus Isabelle and the flame thrower.

Clary and Jace seek out answers in the City of Bones, watched over by the Silent Brothers.

             Clary seems to have a mystical connection with runes and can even create new ones when need be.

But when this is what you’re fighting, I say go with the super runes!

Some of the Shadowhunter runes.

 

Photos courtesy of, Constantin Film Produktion, Unique Features, Mr. Smith Productions, Don Carmody Productions and Screen Gems (unless otherwise credited in clickable form)

 

 

The Maze Runner

Think of this movie as the opposite of what Peter Jackson did to the Hobbit .  Instead of stretching things out, adding extraneous material and unnecessary new characters with absolutely no regard for the author’s original intent, this film of The Maze Runner apparently took the title too literally because it is like watching the book in fast forward.  Hurry hurry hurry, we don’t have time for character building, so we barely learn a smattering a few names and thus care absolutely not one whit when uh, that one, dies.  Nope, no time for all the little details that made the maze so freaky, no time to build up the suspense around the Grievers before you actually see one, no time to understand the society structure the boys established in The Glade, no time for Thomas to figure out the intricate code embedded in the maps made by all the other Maze Runners and definitely no time to show Teresa and Thomas can speak to one another telepathically (which to be honest would have taken absolutely no time at all.)

Now I realize a lot of you are going to say “gee, another bad review because the movie wasn’t exactly like the book,” and you do have a bit of a point.  However, it is worth noting that at no point will you be saying “hey, that wasn’t in the book”, except possibly when huge story arcs are condensed into a few seconds for convenience and to keep the speed of the story going because if it ever goes under 60 mph it will explode.  (Note:  in case it wasn’t obvious, that was not a spoiler but rather a reference to the movie Speed.)

I originally wanted to see The Maze Runner because Dylan O’Brien plays Thomas, and I love him in Teen Wolf.  I immediately bought the books and thoroughly enjoyed them.  The plot is an interesting one.  Thomas arrives via “The Box” into an idyllic green world called The Glade, surrounded on all sides by a gargantuan maze, with no memory of who he is except his name.  We soon find out that all the boys who populate The Glade arrived in similar fashion and have hammered out a working society of sorts.  Everyone has assigned tasks to ensure their survival, but the main goal is figuring out the maze in order to find a way out.  This is a tough job, as the doors to the maze close every night and the whole thing proceeds to change shape, plus it is guarded by the Grievers – giant bio-mechanical spider thingies that go around moaning when not trying to kill and/or sting one of the Gladers.  The main plot points are all present in the movie, but the book had a beautiful pace to it, with attention to detail and fabulous characterizations while still maintaining a headlong tumble towards the inevitable but surprising conclusion.  I don’t know why the movie feels so rushed, as the run time isn’t particularly short.  If you must watch this, I highly recommend you do what I did and heavily imbibe.  It gets much better then!  – BETHANY

For more on this unfortunate movie version of a great book, visit The Internet Movie Database

Gally, Minho, Thomas, Teresa and Newt.  But the important thing in the picture is the Maze.  It looks cool, but unfortunately contradicts not only the book but the movie itself, as a character says “the ivy doesn’t go all the way to the top”.  Even worse, it is botanically incorrect, as ivy will not grow on moving walls.  Hmmmm.  For the extensive list of all the differences between the movie and the book, plus quite a lot of factual errors, visit the Trivia and Goofs sections on IMDB.

The precious few characters actually named in the film.  Left to right:  Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Alby (Aml Ameen), Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), Gally (Will Poulter) and Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster).  And one more below:

                                                                  Chuck (Blake Cooper), who stands like this in most every shot of him.

“It’s a girl.  I think she’s dead!”

How very Lord of the Flies.

Thomas and Teresa sittin’ in a tree …

A Griever in the film.  To see a bunch of other concept art that wasn’t used, visit this FilmSketchr page.

                                  Duh!

                                                                         There is no actual swearing in the book.

                                                                          Some of the excellent slang invented by author James Dashner, of which only one or two are used in the film.

 

(The trailer and the gag reel might be better than the actual movie)

Warning:  these hilarious bits from YouTube Screen Junkies, CinemaSins and How It Should Have Ended contain a lot of spoilers and poor language choices, but are extremely funny.  Probably best not to watch these unless you have already read the books.

 

Photos courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Gotham Group,  Temple Hill Entertainment, TSG Entertainment, Dayday Films and Ingenious Media (unless otherwise noted in clickable form)

 

Elementary

Jonny Lee Miller is absolutely marvelous as the great detective Sherlock Holmes in this modern adaptation set in New York. Thankfully, Sherlock is still British, but at first I was horrified to learn Lucy Liu was going to play Watson. Dr. Watson, a girl? What were they thinking? I’m all for girl power, but this seemed just wrong and a bit of a literary slap in the face. Fortunately, I decided to give the show the benefit of the doubt and I’m so glad I did!  I love the creative twists on the classic stories which make the whole thing fresh and more accessible to the modern audience. It in no way diminishes the original characters but in this version Watson is more of an equal partner and participant rather than the “yes man” from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books, someone really there just to tell Holmes how clever he is.

Jonny Lee Miller brings a manic quickness to the role, a little bit along the lines of Doctor Who. He’s a deeply flawed individual with a brilliant mind and Joan Watson initially makes his acquaintance as a sober companion while Sherlock is trying to get clean from heroin. Watson herself is also rather scarred, but together they make an amazing team and balance one another out. The stories are clever, inventive and endlessly entertaining, and I particularly enjoy the little details that make the characters really come alive. It wouldn’t be Sherlock Holmes without some mind-blowing twists, fascinating villains and peculiar multi-faceted mysteries with more layers than an onion and there’s oodles of all of it.   The dialogue is witty, snappy and complex, an homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s marvelous command of the English language. There is a great realistic dynamic between the two leads which builds into a genuine friendship.  In the books, Sherlock is definitely the focus and main protagonist, but it isn’t so here.  Dr. Watson holds her own against Holmes and at no point does she say something like “By jove, you’ve got it, Holmes!”  Her character is equally well rounded with a personal life she tries, sometimes unsuccessfully, to keep separate from Sherlock.

By definition a cerebral thriller and an occasionally disturbing unfiltered look at humanity, the writers choose the perfect moments to relieve tension with unexpected humor of a type that is very, very British (unexpected for an American show!).  The show is totally character driven, which means you have great opportunities for different personalities to interact in all sorts of interesting ways and the results are often amusing if not downright side-splitting.  The NYPD characters are very well done, especially Aidan Quinn as Captain Gregson and Jon Michael Hill as Detective Marcus Bell.  I’d love to tell you about some of the villains and who plays them, but anything down that road would be a spoiler and I would never dream of doing that to you.  This is a crime drama well worth your time and as it is now an established show (3 seasons so far and renewed for a 4th), you needn’t worry about it getting cancelled just as you’re getting into it.  I absolutely love it and give it my highest rating.  Bravo!  – BETHANY

For more on Elementary, visit The Internet Movie Database

Detective Bell (Jon Michael Hill), Joan Watson (Lucy Liu), Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) and Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn).

Joan, a former surgeon, has a unique skill set that makes her quite valuable.

             Sherlock’s Brownstone has some gorgeous architecture and amazing furniture, a subtle nod to the Victorian roots of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s work.

Note Sherlock and his characteristic expression of detached distaste.

                          Gareth Lestrade (Sean Pertwee), a British free-lance detective who desperately wants to be the equal of Sherlock and has a lamentable habit of taking credit for others’ work.

Sherlock’s Narcotics Anonymous sponsor Alfredo (Ato Essandoh).  It would be supremely unwise to judge him by his appearance.

For all the fashionistas out there, Elementary features a lot of great clothing, particularly on Joan Watson.  To shop the show, visit Worn on TV and On Screen Style.

Sherlock’s brother Mycroft (Rhys Ifans).

Sherlock’s investigative techniques are unconventional to say the least.

Photos courtesy of Hill of Beans Productions, Timberman-Beverly Productions, CBS Television Studios and CBS (unless otherwise credited in clickable form)

Hogfather

Sir Terry Pratchett invented the Discworld in 1983, doing for fantasy what Douglas Adams did for science fiction, producing a universe built on stories that pokes fun at absolutely everything. He’s a master of the English language and I highly recommend that you read some of his books so you can really appreciate the deep satire and hysterical turns of phrase he employs with careless ease. This is the best movie version of a Discworld book I have seen, primarily because the director was in cahoots with the author himself and Pratchett said it was uncanny watching things come to life that had hitherto existed only in his imagination. The script is very faithful (almost verbatim) to the book and absolutely nails the characters, with my personal favorite being an inspired performance of Bilious, the Oh god of Hangovers (not at all how I had pictured him, but even better!). Hogfather is one in a series of books about the Anthropomorphic Personification of Death, a consummate professional who is fascinated with humanity and is actually a very sympathetic character. He’s not evil, he simply shows up when someone dies but is NOT the cause of it. In this particular tale, a sinister force has conspired to kill the personification of a mid-winter festival, forcing Death to intervene and assume the role himself, lest belief collapse and life as we know it cease to exist.

Discworld is made of magic, littered with all sorts of things familiar but not quite as we know them, its purpose to hold up a mirror to our own world so we can see things from a different and often extremely funny angle. My only criticism of this movie is that scenes are intercut with one another with such speed that it makes it a little difficult to follow the story if you don’t already know what’s going on. This is satiric anti-fantasy, in that the author has taken the genre so terribly seriously that the results are often hilarious and frequently extremely thought provoking, while also digging deep into the human psyche in order to find what really makes us tick. Quite profound and infinitely creative, savor a story quite unlike anything else and discover the importance of belief that defines us as human. -BETHANY

For more on this wild and wacky film, visit: The Internet Movie Database

                            Discworld, a place made possible only by magic and saturated in the stuff.  It is carried on the backs of four great elephants who themselves stand on the shell of the Great A’Tuin, the World Turtle.

The Hogfather, a Discworld pseudo-Santa, who presides over Hogswatch, pictured on an Ankh-Morpork postage stamp.

Susan Sto Helit (Downton Abbey‘s Michelle Dockery), Death’s granddaughter (long story), a governess who chooses to deal with monsters under the bed not by telling the children in her care that they don’t exist, but by bashing them with a poker.  “Don’t get scared.  Get Angry.”

The Wizards of the Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork.

Death, voiced by Ian Richardson, and Albert (David Jason).

Susan investigates the Hogfather’s Castle.

                          Marc Warren as Mister Teatime, an assassin who makes even the Guild of Assassins nervous.  Current contract: kill the Hogfather.

                          Corporal Nobbs, right, and Constable Visit-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets, nicknamed ‘Washpot’ for some inexplicable reason.

                                                                Susan embraces her heritage.

Death gets downright philosophical.

 

Photos courtesy of The Mob Film Company, RHI Entertainment, British Sky Broadcasting, Moving Picture Company, Sky One and ION Television

The Mentalist

This is a truly superb and understated show that has delighted me for years. Smart, witty and endlessly clever, it centers around Patrick Jane, a self-confessed ex-conman who now uses his “psychic” powers of observation, deduction and reasoning to assist the California Bureau of Investigation in exchange for being included in the ongoing search for serial killer Red John. This psychopath murdered Jane’s wife and daughter and leaves a creepy smiley face painted in blood as his signature at all his murder scenes. (I know … yuck!) Despite the somewhat gloomy set-up, this show is anything but a downer. Simon Baker is absolutely tremendous as the quiet dapper man in natty attire with mischief in his eyes as he sets up elaborate cons and very unconventional stings to nab the evildoer(s), much to the dismay of the disconcerted law enforcement suits who are used to doing things by the book.  Patrick is a gentleman in every sense of the word who loves classic cars, drinks tea and is quick with a glib remark, a brilliant observation or a pithily worded expression of distaste.   He’s always one step ahead of everyone else and takes just as much pleasure in solving a case as he does meddling in other things and in particular exposing frauds who purport to be psychic.

One of the things that makes this show great is the marvelous inter-personal relationships between everyone on the team, much like the interactions that made every incarnation of Star Trek so successful. There’s a great group of characters with super-finely drawn personalities and their constant and often exquisite repartee as they go about their business is incredibly entertaining. Major props to Tim Kang for his spectacular performance as Agent Cho, a taciturn stoic with the ultimate poker face and hilarious deadpan delivery. I rarely know where on earth the narrative of each episode is going to go, as the writers are insanely creative in their craft. I was a little concerned as the show went on about how they would handle things when the Red John story arc was no longer extant, but once again the writers have impressed me by continuing to make each episode an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride. I’d sit and watch,frequently clapping my hands in unholy glee as each perfectly crafted story unfolds and it’s tough to think of another show I have so thoroughly enjoyed as much as this one.   The Mentalist ran for 7 phenomenal seasons and wrapped up in a wonderful finale that was just perfect.  I’ll miss it and of course wish it could have continued, but I’m so glad it was given a chance to devote the entire last season to resolving various story lines rather than being summarily cancelled, leaving the rather betrayed viewer stuck with a partial narrative that will never be concluded. – BETHANY

For more on this finely crafted show, visit The Internet Movie Database

Jane’s car, an early 1970s model Citroën DS.  From left to right:  Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman), Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney), Kimball Cho (Tim Kang) and Grace Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti).

                            Jane is often to be found with tea in hand (cup and saucer, of course) sitting on a beat-up couch at CBI headquarters.  “Tea? It’s like a hug in a cup.”

Investigating a yacht called the Miss Red, also the title of the episode.  Every episode has some variation on the color red, a reference to serial killer Red John; Crimson Casanova, The Scarlet Letter, Carnelian, Inc,  Russet Potatoes, A Price Above Rubies, War of the Roses, My Bloody Valentine, Strawberries and Cream, Ring Around the Rosie, etc.

                               Lisbon’s unofficial job is to restrain Jane from his more outlandish schemes.

Jane and Lisbon go undercover as a married pair of socialites with more money than brains.

                                                                   Cho, with his trademark inscrutable expression.

Wayne Rigsby is like a big puppy dog, but it would be a mistake to underestimate him.

Rigsby and Cho are unlikely friends and a hoot to watch.

      Grace Van Pelt has a sunny personality and a whip smart mind.

But don’t discount her simply because she’s pretty and a girly girl.

                              The Mentalist has had quite a list of guest stars.  Morena Baccarin plays Erica Flynn, an owner of a matchmaking service whose husband is murdered, with a devious mind nearly the equal of Jane’s.

                                Henry Ian Cusick (second above) plays Tommy Volker, a shady businessman intent on wooing Teresa Lisbon.  Other guest stars and smaller recurring rolls include:

• Aunjanue Ellis (Madeleine Hightower)
• Pruitt Taylor Vance (J.J. LaRoche)
• Michael Gaston (Gale Bertram)
• Catherine Dent (FBI Agent Susan Darcy)
• Rebecca Wisocky (Brenda Shettrick, CBI Media Relations)
• Kevin Corrigan (Homeland Security agent Bob Kirkland)
• David Narona (DDA Osvaldo Ardiles)
• Leslie Hope (Kristina Frye, a psychic who occasionally works with the CBI)
• Eric Winter (FBI Special Agent Craig O’Laughlin)
• Samaire Armstrong (Summer, a prostitute CI recruited by Cho)
• Emmanuelle Chriqui  (Lorelai Martins)
• Malcolm McDowell (Bret Stiles, leader of Visualize, a pseudo church)
• Pedro Pascal (FBI Agent Marcus Pike)
• Reed Diamond (Ray Haffner)
• Currie Graham (Walter Mashburn)
• Robert Picardo (Jason Cooper, member of Visualize)
• Michael Rady (Luther Wainwright)
• Xander Berkeley (Sheriff McAllister)
• Alicia Witt (Rosalind Harker, Red John’s blind friend/paramour)
• John Billingsley (Ellis Mars)

       Busted!

 

 

Photos courtesy of Primrose Hill Productions, Warner Bros. Television and CBS.  Other photo credits can be found by clicking on them.

Stitchers

Stitchers is at face value a not-so-goodish version of iZombie, only with a sci-fi spin instead of the supernatural zombie one.  Kirsten (Emma Ishta, a hot blonde with questionable acting skills) is recruited by a shadowy government agency (is there any other kind?) because their program needs someone with her particular condition, which we learn ALL about in an interminable explanation of ‘temporal displaysia’.   Basically it boils down to her having wonky perception of time, difficulty with emotion, a distressing tendency to be extremely literal and essentially having carte blanche to be rude and insensitive for which we must forgive her because, you know, temporal displaysia!  The premise revolves around so-called ‘stitching’, or allowing a live person to explore the mind of the recently deceased by means of a secretive high-tech lab run by smart aleck misfits, a fish tank and a gratuitous black catsuit.  This can only be done for a short window of time after someone shuffles off this mortal coil, in rather flagrant contradiction of the show’s tagline ‘Memories never die’, but the techno-babble reason being the newly dead brain’s pathways and connections degrade (duh!).  Kirsten goes poking around in other people’s minds for the ostensible purpose of solving their murders but we as the audience have a sneaking suspicion there’s more to the program than such an altruistic motive.  Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Allison Blake from Eureka) heads the Stitchers program as Maggie, and Allison Scagliotti (Claudia from Eureka‘s sister show Warehouse 13) plays Kirsten’s roommate Camille.  Neuroscientist Cameron (Kyle Harris) and enginerd Linus (Ritesh Rajan ) round out the team, as well as (Damon Dayoub) playing Detective Quincy Fisher, a local cop nosing around in things “above his paygrade” and also the only character who merits a full name and rank on IMDB.

I make the Stitchers /iZombie connection because not only is Kirsten running around solving murders with knowledge acquired via the murder victims’ brains, she’s also sometimes affected by the experience and occasionally takes on the odd characteristic of the decedent.  But iZombie is rather brilliant, a fabulous mix of the supernatural, police procedurals and stealthily applied comedy.  Stitchers isn’t anywhere near the same level of genius, but it may yet outgrow all its endless exposition to become worthy of a few more stars.  There are some inconsistencies with characters, for instance someone accepts a bogus explanation/motivational speech for the sole reason of it being necessary to the plot, not because it makes any sort of sense and I really dislike plot-driven stuff like that.   The writing tends to be a bit hackneyed (“You’re the detective.  Detect.”), pseudo-philosophical (“Trust me, just the way you want me to trust you.”), obvious (“I know you don’t get relationships, like, at all.”) and flippant (“I don’t think you’re an idiot.  You’re more of an imbecile.”), but once in a while, there’s a line that’s beautifully stark and loaded, like when Kirsten references a painful moment from her childhood.  “When my mother died, Daddy saw no benefit in me.”  On a purely aesthetic note, I really don’t like the makeup designs for Emma (those creepy spidery eyelashes!) and Allison, whom they actually manage to make less attractive than she is in real life.  But personal gripes aside, the show has potential and I’ll be interested to see if it ever grows beyond its rather prosaic and heavy-handed beginnings.  – BETHANY

My first review exclusive to this blog!

For more on Stitchers, visit:  The Internet Movie Database

“You want to insert my consciousness into this guy’s dead brain?”
“It sounds icky when you put it like that.”

Tron, Splash and a host of other stuff make up the visuals for this sci-fi pastiche.

Stitchers goes all Rear Window.

   “Okay, you want to use my laptop to hack into the L.A.P.D.’s Data Server? ”
“Yes”
“Well, that’s … help me, … what is the word I’m looking for?  — Illegal.”  (Allison Scagliotti as Camille)

Detective Fisher (the ridiculously handsome Damon Dayoub) and Kirsten have words.

Linus and Cameron try unsuccessfully to look like they fit in at a rave.

                                                     (image courtesy of cafepress.co.uk)

Some interesting behind the scenes bits from a Stitchers interview:

 

Photos courtesy of StoryBy Productions, ABC Family Original Productions and Prodco (unless otherwise noted)

Warehouse 13

This show is like catnip to aficionados of history and literature with a creative sci-fi spin. A parallel sister show to Syfy’s popular Eureka, it tells of the existence of a mysterious warehouse and to know its secrets is a ticket to a lifetime of “endless wonder”. It has existed for millennia, housing objects with special properties that are usually connected to a historical person or event, such as Lewis Carrol’s Looking Glass (which can pull you into it), Edgar Allen Poe’s pen (which causes whatever you write to actually happen in gruesome detail) and M.C. Escher’s Mirror Ball, which distorts space and relativity around it and can lead to brain trauma. Usually rather esoteric in nature, obscure facts from the history books get their moment in the sun courtesy of a very resourceful writing team as they are showcased in an astounding array of “artifacts”. The lives of two Secret Service agents intersect with the Warehouse (#13, with #1 being founded by Alexander the Great) when an artifact causes mayhem during a Presidential visit to a museum. Myka Bering, a somewhat officious brainiac and Pete Lattimer, a bit of a maverick who can sense “vibes”, get reassigned to the Warehouse which resides in, of all places, the Badlands of South Dakota. Their amusingly antagonistic relationship provides much of the hilarity on the show as they become agents of the Warehouse, traveling all over the globe to retrieve and neutralize rogue artifacts. The stories are fascinating and fun, the writing top notch and the cast of characters that are oddball to say the least. Saul Rubinek is magnificent as Artie, a curmudgeonly agent rather set in his ways who supervises the Warehouse, and Leena, the proprietor of the local bed and breakfast who can see auras. Often hysterically funny and sometimes deadly serious, this wonderful show ran for 5 seasons and went out in a blaze of glory. Highly recommended for lovers of academia as well as science fiction, this show is not to be missed. – BETHANY

For more on the details of Warehouse 13, visit:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1132290/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Agent Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) in the first episode.

Inside the Warehouse.  How big is it?  As big as it is needed to be.  It’s kind of like the TARDIS on Doctor Who.  It’s bigger on the inside.

Artie, Pete and Myka search for clues about missing objects from Warehouse 12.

Pete runs into the Christmas-related section of the Warehouse.

                         Agent Lattimer and Agent Bering involved in the weirdness that surrounds the Warehouse.

One of the crossover episode featuring Fargo from Eureka (Neil Grayston)

Enigmatic Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder), prone to appearing and disappearing mysteriously.

                                      Myka goes undercover at a fashion show to track down an artifact that is aging models overnight.

                                                   Agent Myka Bering – it’s probably best not to ask about the costume.

                           Leena, proprietor of the local B&B and friend of the Warehouse.

Leena’s B&B, where Agents Lattimer and Bering live.

Rogue artifact known as the Phoenix Medallion, which protects the wearer from fire, but costs the lives of others nearby.

The artifact that brought Myka and Pete in contact with the Warehouse. (Image courtesy of warehouse-13-artifact-database.wikia.com)

Agatha Christie’s typewriter, which predicts crimes 24 hours in advance but has a limited range and never mentions butlers. (image courtesy of http://warehouse-13-artifact-database.wikia.com)

An interesting piece of trivia from IMDB.com:

Quite a few actors from the Star Trek world have appeared or had parts in the series. To name some of them: Robert Duncan McNeill, (Tom Paris from Star Trek: Voyager (1995)) has directed an episode on season 5, Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager (1995)) plays Jane Lattimer, Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), Armin Shimerman (Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)) and Jeri Ryan (Seven Of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager (1995)) also appeared.

Photos courtesy of Universal Cable Productions and Syfy (unless otherwise noted).