The Tomorrow People

The CW seems to have cornered the market in supernatural dramas populated by the young and beautiful. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, just an observation. I started watching The Tomorrow People because I love Arrow so much, and figured another Amell cousin might be worth a try. After watching the show’s freshman season, I think it would definitely be worth tuning in for the next season, if there is one. The premise is familiar enough, with the next step in human evolution manifesting as the psionic powers of teleportation, telekinesis and telepathy, and the new species being persecuted by normals as well as some misguided members of their own kind.

The main character, Stephen, serves as the audience’s gateway guide to the world of the Tomorrow People as he suddenly starts manifesting superpowers and begins to meet the major players in the “shadow war”. Is the concept thoroughly original and each episode utterly compelling? No, but it is entertaining and interesting enough to keep me watching. This isn’t meant to be groundbreaking television drama. It’s a young adult soap, but in the best sense of the phrase. My favorite character is Russell, a paranormal who gets all the good lines and is always the life of the party. Full of suspense, underground lairs, shadowy government installations, the inevitable romantic entanglements and family drama, I hope the show gets a chance to expand the story line with a second season. It is currently listed as cancelled, but shows have been known to be resurrected if the fans howl loudly enough. – BETHANY

For more on this wasted opportunity by the CW, visit the Internet Movie Database

Stephen Jameson (Robbie Amell), flanked by his uncle Jedekiah Price (Mark Pellegrino, whom you might remember as Jacob from Lost) and his father Roger Price (Jeffrey Pierce), both pulling him in diametrically opposing directions, each with their own agendas.

Jedikiah broods a lot, ostensibly running the ridiculously named covert organization called Ultra.

Stephen’s best friend Astrid Finch (Madeleine Mantock) knows there is something hinky going on.

Tomorrow People Russell and Cara (Aaron Yoo and Peyton List) no doubt crashing a party to which they were not invited.

In order to be cool desperados, it is necessary to wear black boots and black leather jackets.  Anything else would be just banal.  Stephen, Cara and John (Aussie actor Luke Mitchell).

Cara and John are a very cute power couple.

   The iniquitous power behind Ultra, a stygian character known only as The Founder (Simon Merrells).

Stephen and Russell in the Tomorrow People’s Lair, a tricked out abandoned subway station.

 

 

Photos courtesy of Berlanti Productions, CBS Television Studios, Fremantle Media North America, Warner Bros. Television and The CW (unless otherwise credited in clickable form)

 

 

 

Devious Maids

This hilarious show makes no claim to be serious drama. It’s a soap in the best sense, which splits its time between the very rich of Beverly Hills and the tight knit community of Latina maids who work for them. It is not meant to be believable, it’s more like an American version of a telenovela, where everything is over the top and the plot twists and turns more than Bill Clinton trying to explain his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. It is deliciously sordid and frequently laugh out loud funny, with an amazing cast of superb actors.

Relationships are the driving force of the show, where everyone is connected to everyone else and are all up in one another’s business. The squadron of maids and their complicated friendships with their employers are a guilty pleasure to watch, and each character is drawn in bold, broad strokes of caricature, some more realistic than others. True, the very rich do tend to be self-centered and clueless, but absolutely everyone is looking out for number one and in that sense, it isn’t just the maids that are devious. The dialogue is sharp and a bit sarcastic, almost as though it is making fun of itself, which is always entertaining. I look forward to each new episode and am delighted that season 2 is every bit as good, if not better, than season 1 and the same is true for subsequent seasons. This is an unapologetic Latina potboiler and I for one am totally hooked. – BETHANY

For more on this terrifically addictive soap fest, visit the Internet Movie Database

Meet the maids, from left to right:

• Carmen Luna (Roselyn Sanchez), a diva more interested in becoming a Latin pop star than dusting furniture.
• Valentina Diaz (Edy Ganem), the youngest maid with dreams of being a fashion designer.
• Marisol Suarez (Ana Ortiz), a white collar professor undercover as a maid to try and clear her son of a murder charge.
• Rosie Falta (Dania Ramirez), a lovable dim bulb whose simple way of looking at the world is often extremely funny.
• Zoila Diaz (Judy Reyes), Valentina’s mother and an outspoken maid/companion for scatter-brained socialite Genevieve Delatour (Susan Lucci).

Flora Hernandez (Paula Garcés), whose murder that started it all with her epic swan dive into the Powell’s swimming pool during a swanky party.  The question of the season – who killed Flora?

Evelyn and Adrian Powell (Rebecca Wisocky and Tom Irwin), a brilliantly cast twisted pair whose complicated relationship and cavalier attitude towards life and other people is a scream to watch.

Yeah, it’s a rough life being a maid.

Zoila and her boss/friend Genevieve Delatour (Susan Lucci).

                                            Remi Delatour (Drew Van Acker), Genevieve’s son.  He presents a problem for Zoila, who knows her daughter Valentina is in love with him but Zoila’s convinced nothing good could come of such a relationship.

Peri and Spence Westmore (Mariana Klaveno and Grant Show), who are both actors, have a troubled marriage.

Spence has a much more comfortable relationship with their maid, Rosie, who calls him Mr. Spence.

Michael and Taylor Stappord (Brett Cullen and Brianna Brown), whose life has every appearance of being a fairy tale.

                                Carmen works for Latin pop star and heartthrob Alejandro Rubio (Matt Cedeño).

But her plans to seduce/use him to launch her own career are hampered by Alejandro’s longtime and very prickly employee Odessa Burakov (Melinda Page Hamilton).

Fun on the set with Drew Van Acker and Edy Gamen.

 

 

Photos courtesy of ABC Studios, Cherry/Wind Productions, Televisa USA and Disney–ABC Domestic Television (unless otherwise credited in clickable form)

 

 

Mortdecai

This definitely not your usual comedic fare, but rather a delicious throwback stylistically to the great screwball and caper comedies of the 70s and 80s.  Lord Charlie Mortdecai (Johnny Depp) isn’t a nice person.  He’s a vain narcissistic pansy totally convinced of his own superiority or in other words, a perfect send-up of the British aristocracy.  The story is what you might get if you took a P.G. Wodehouse book, infused it with a lot of somewhat crass but extremely elegantly worded vulgarity and then cast all the major characters with movie stars accustomed to getting top billing.  Very much in the same vein as many of Blake Edwards’ movies, most notably the Pink Panther films (at least the Peter Sellers ones, not the recent Steve Martin abomination), Charlie Mortdecai is a bumbling idiot with extraordinarily good luck.  Ostensibly, he’s an art dealer but in reality he specializes in swindling gullible patrons and has many a disreputable connection in the seedy underbelly of the art world.

Lady Mortdecai, Johanna to her friends, is played in rather exquisite detail by Gwyneth Paltrow.  She wields her not inconsiderable power with grace and aplomb as well as all the ruthlessness of Attila the Hun.  Playing the Jeeves to Mortdecai’s Wooster is Jock (Paul Bettany), a thug extraordinaire with a rapacious appetite for the ladies.  He conducts his job of all-purpose servant to the most inept employer on the planet with ease and regardless of whatever onerous task he’s given or dire injury sustained, his response is always the same – “It’s a privilege, sir!”  When a certain painting is stolen, Inspector Alistair Martland of MI5 (Ewan McGregor) reluctantly enlists Mortdecai’s assistance.  The international hunt for the missing artwork eventually leads Mortdecai to Los Angeles, a beastly colonial backwater home to billionaire (and art collector) Milton Krampf (Jeff Goldblum) and his nymphomaniac daughter Georgina (Olivia Munn).  And then things really get interesting.

Like any caper worth its salt, there are Russian criminals, terrorists, Oriental mobsters, femme fatales, kidnappings and at least one narrowly averted international incident.  It had me howling with laughter and I personally think it is one of Johnny Depp’s better performances.  His character is just so blissfully ignorant and genuinely believes himself to be the James Bond of the art world.  All that aside, I can see why it didn’t do terribly well with American audiences because despite it being an American production, the tone is very, very British.  I personally adore British comedy but I’m sorry to say I am not in the majority amongst my countrymen on the subject.  Its subtlety and verbal acrobatics were wasted in the U.S.  This American, however, gives it a smashingly good four stars.  – BETHANY

For more on this twisted and zany farce of a movie, pop by the Internet Movie Database

“What is that infernal thing on your lip?”  Charlie Mortdecai is convinced his new mustache is the icing on top of the confection that is his most treasured self, but absolutely nobody else agrees.

Jock (Paul Bettany) and Mortdecai (Johnny Depp).  Martland had this to say about Mortdecai’s appearance:  “A man your age has no excuse for looking or behaving like a fugitive from a home for alcoholic music hall artistes.”

                                    “I asked for a bit of cheese, not an instrument of biological warfare!”

Georgina (Olivia Munn) living up to her reputation.

Mortdecai crosses swords with international terrorist Emil Strago (Jonny Pasvolsky).

Landing in Los Angeles, which makes Mortdecai “long for the rain and indifference of Europe.”

Darling!  This is not what it looks like.

Mortdecai and Milton Krampf (Jeff Goldblum).

Lady Mortdecai (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Alistair Martland (Ewan McGregor).

Jock, if not the brains of the operation then definitely the fists.  (Paul Bettany)

Mortdecai being forcibly detained by Romanov (Ulrich Thomsen).  Say what you like about him, but Mortdecai really can dish out some devastating insults.  “Your mother and father only knew each other for a day, and money changed hands!”

Lord and Lady Mortdecai (Gwyneth Paltrow and Johnny Depp).  With a mustache like that, the poor chap always seems to be smiling, even when he’s not.

“Can you think of a good reason why I shouldn’t arrest you right now?”              “I eschew discomfort?”

 

 

Photos courtesy of Mort Productions, Infinitum Nihil, Mad Chance Productions, OddLot Entertainment and Lionsgate (unless otherwise credited in clickable form)

Killjoys

Rejoice, fans of Firefly, because you will absolutely love this show.  Syfy hit the sweet spot with Killjoys, a rough and tumble space adventure featuring a trio of misfits that work as interplanetary bounty hunters.  Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), a smoking hot woman incredibly skilled in just about everything thanks to a mysterious and definitely hazardous past, and John Jaqobis (Aaron Ashmore, Warehouse 13) have worked as a highly successful team for the Recovery and Apprehension Coalition, or the RAC, for several years.  Commonly called Killjoys, RAC agents operate across the galaxy but our story focuses on the Quad, a solar system comprised of one planet and three moons.  Killjoys are licensed to fulfill warrants, which range from finding and apprehending people with bounties on their heads to transporting valuable and/or dangerous goods.  They have broad authority, but pride themselves on being neutral parties that do not get involved in local politics.  They have only one sacred creed – The Warrant Is All.  But things change radically for Dutch and John when a new warrant is issued, a level 5 dead not alive bounty on John’s brother D’Avin (Luke MacFarlane).

Killjoys greatly resembles Firefly, featuring humans spread across the galaxy on a myriad of different worlds, but no aliens.  A space ship named Lucy, whose A.I. has a dry sense of humor, and a crew of merry rogues zip all over the place, having fun and often getting into trouble.  The Quad is monopolized by a nefarious, shadowy and corrupt entity known as The Company, but the real source of power is the planet Qresh.  Home to Nine old, inbred and exceedingly rich families, who dealt with the problem of overpopulation by sending the middle classes to rural moon Leith and dumping all of society’s leftovers on poorly terra-formed moon Westerley, leaving Qresh to become the haven of the elite, an obscenely opulent planet devoted to scheming politics and pleasure.  It’s a perfect set-up for a wild, rip-roaring and outrageously fun story with intriguing sub-plots and well thought out back stories.

Dutch is a fabulous character, the leader of her Killjoy team who can switch in the blink of an eye from a highborn lady to a leather-clad fighting machine, always poised and in control until it comes to her messy emotional past. Raised in a royal harem and trained to be a lethal assassin, Dutch is on the run from forces that have a different agenda for her life.  John and D’Avin have their own history and there are a host of other great characters spread across the Quad.  Alvis the Penitent (Morgan Kelly) is a monk from an interesting religious sect whose practitioners seek faith and salvation through physical pain and suffering.  Sarah Power plays Illenor Pawter Simms, a disgraced Company doctor banished by her Qreshi family to live on Westerley, a moon home to beggars, sinners, pirates and other disreputable elements.  Scariest of all is enigmatic Khlyen (Rob Stewart), the man responsible for Dutch’s unorthodox upbringing, from whom she thought she had long since escaped.

Killjoys is a sleek and sexy show, full of grit and glam.  Each episode is an exhilarating thrill ride, rich with fine-tuned characters and incredibly detailed backdrops.  It’s a rollicking adventure cleverly seeded with deeper narratives, beautifully balancing lively humor with compelling drama.  I was a huge fan of the first season, devouring each new episode with tremendous enjoyment and was ecstatic when it was announced on September 1, 2015 that Killjoys had been renewed for a second season.  So go ahead and indulge yourself in a fabulous show, safe in the knowledge it will not suffer the same fate as Firefly.  The Warrant Is All!  – BETHANY

For more on the awesomeness that is Killjoys, swing by the Internet Movie Database

For even more in depth detail, visit the Killjoys Wiki site.

Left to right:  D’Avin Jaqobis (Luke Macfarlane), Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen) and John Jaqobis (Aaron Ashmore).

The Killjoys chasing a warrant in Westerley’s Badlands.  Look at all the fun toys!

                                          Dutch effortlessly blends in, no matter her surroundings.  Fantastic dress, but it’s the necklace that’s deadly.

A view of The Quad.

D’Avin looking decidedly out of place at a high society gala.  The costume design for this show is beyond exquisite.

Lucy, voiced by Tamsen McDonough.  Shiny!

Young girls from Leith earn money for their families by being surrogates for highborn Qreshi women who do not wish to sully their bodies by going through pregnancy.

     Wild child Pawter Simms (Sarah Power) runs afoul of The Company.  Again.

Tough as nails Bellus Haardy (Nora McLellan), a Killjoy warrant broker in her establishment on Leith.

  John and Alvis (Morgan Kelly), a Scarback monk who occasionally works with the Killjoys.

                                              Dutch is equally at home in low places as she is with the upper crust and is a force to be reckoned with in both.

             The beautifully rendered set of a party at a wealthy estate.

John sweet talking jaded bartender Pree (Thom Allison) at his dive in Westerley’s Old Town, where anything can be had for a price.

Dutch flawlessly morphs into a Qreshi aristocrat while searching for a man gone missing on Leith.

Amanda Tapping (Stargate SG-1 and Sanctuary) guest stars as a military doctor from D’Avin’s past.

Dutch faces Khlyen (Rob Stewart), the mentor/tormentor from her childhood.

 

 

Photos courtesy of Temple Street Productions, Bell Media, Universal Cable Productions and Syfy (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)

Fargo tv

This dark comedy/murder mystery/thriller set in small town Minnesota still claims to be a true story, although by now everyone knows that the 1996 movie of the same name was pure fiction. Perhaps the dramatic reference to survivors and respect for the dead is part of the joke, as most everything about this show seems intended to make you laugh in disbelief. Only based on the film in a derivative sense, the setting and tone are the same but the plots and characters vary a great deal. Billy Bob Thornton plays a laconic, stone-cold contract killer, at least that’s the impression you get. It’s never really spelled out, which adds to the nefarious nature of his character. He blows into town on a doubtless ill wind, falling in with beleaguered insurance salesman Lester Nygaard, (Martin Freeman), a brow-beaten milksop, one of nature’s born losers. Murder and mayhem ensue and the local police start investigating the seemingly unconnected string of crimes. Oliver Platt is over the top as the “supermarket king” being blackmailed and Kate Walsh brilliantly underplays an ex-stripper turned bored housewife, mother of two of possibly the dumbest sons on the planet.

There are plots and sub-plots, everything intertwining into one big giant ball of deception, distrust, greed and general skulduggery. This show has a somewhat bizarre charm to it, but be warned, this is not for the squeamish. There’s a lot of blood, violence and other assorted adult themes.  It is a very dark comedy, so far from the realm of sitcom and slapstick humor that you can see the curvature of the Earth. Billy Bob Thornton could give The Usual Suspects Keyser Söze a run for his money as he changes in the blink of an eye from one persona to another, always speaking softly but definitely radiating a quiet menace that is much scarier than if he were loud and overt about it. Colin Hanks, son of Tom Hanks, stars in a huge cast including Kirsten Dunst, Ted Danson, Patrick Wilson, Jean Smart, Bob Odenkirk, Keith Carradine, Adam Goldberg and Allison Tolman as determined Molly Solverson, whose paths keep crossing Colin Hanks’ Gus Grimley during the course of the investigation.  Fargo won 3 Emmys and received 15 other nominations, plus won two Golden Globes.  This is a twisty-turny thriller, underacted and creative, and well worth watching. – BETHANY

For more on this impossibly star studded TV series event, visit the Internet Movie Database

Molly Solverson following a hunch.  (Allison Tolman)

Lester Nygaard, obsequious and spineless vermin and I give him a standing ovation for his spectacular performance!  (Martin Freeman).

This is most likely Billy Bob’s line.  “Hmmmmmmmmm.”

A couple of mobster thugs actually from Fargo.  Mr. Wrench (Russell Harvard) and Mr. Numbers (Adam Goldberg).

Lester gets some advice from a stranger in an ER waiting room.

Colin Hanks as Gus Grimly.

 

 

Photos courtesy of MGM Television, FX Productions, 26 Keys Productions,  The Littlefield Company, Nomadic Pictures, Mike Zoss Productions and FX Network

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)

 

 

Person of Interest

I was reluctant to become invested in this show when it first aired because even though it’s a J.J. Abrams production, shows this good tend to get cancelled. But as it has been renewed for a fifth season, I think I’m safe to say I absolutely love it without jinxing it. This is totally unlike anything else on television, so don’t be fooled by its description as a crime thriller. Very apropos to the current goings on with the NSA, this show postulates a great what-if question. What if the government had an incredibly complex machine that spied on everyone for the purpose of thwarting terrorist plots against America? Harold Finch (played by Michael Emerson in a much more likeable role than Ben Linus on Lost) built such a machine but was distressed when the government chose not to act in order to prevent non-terrorist related violent crimes, calling them irrelevant. He recruits ex-CIA spook John Reese, brilliantly underplayed by Jim Caviezel, to help him deal with the never-ending stream of numbers and together they follow up on each one. Mr. Reese is very, very good at his new calling and he and the secretive Finch have an entertaining dynamic between them as they each stealthily try to figure out the other one.

The show’s writers ask great questions of the audience, dealing with the ethics of government surveillance, do the ends justify the means, and whether or not a complex machine can be called sentient. All the characters are beautifully drawn and slowly become more complicated and fleshed out as the narrative unfolds. Kevin Chapman as good guy/bad guy Detective Fusco is excellent and get a look at Taraji P. Henson playing the complicated Joss Carter long before she played Cookie on Empire.  The introduction of Amy Acker and Sarah Shahi to the show is inspired, but since this is a story where it is better not to know too much going in, I’m being deliberately vague so as not to spoil it for you. Dramatic, wry, often surprisingly funny and deliciously intriguing, this cerebral sleeper is an amazing showcase of humanity in all its facets, running the gamut from the genuinely goodhearted to the truly despicable. – BETHANY

For more on this fabulous show, visit the Internet Movie Database

          How The Machine sees the world.

                                Jim Caviezel evidently kept his look from when he played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ.

                     Don’t you hate it when someone takes a call while throttling you, as if to underscore what a minor nuisance you are?

Look out, Cookie’s got a gun!  Taraji P Henson as Detective Carter.

  This is one guy I wouldn’t mind stalking me.  Hoo!

           The Machine keeping tabs on its ‘assets’.

                                  A rare smile from Reese.

Reese, known to one and all as ‘The Man in the Suit’.

Dang it, she stole a rocket launcher.  MY rocket launcher!  (Sarah Shahi)

When a payphone rings, you’d best pick it up.

Camryn Manheim as the mysterious ‘Control’.

        Paige Turco as high society “fixer” Zoe Morgan.

                        Just another day on the job.

Finch.  “I’m a very private person.”  (Michael Emerson)

Photos courtesy of Kilter Films, Bad Robot, Warner Bros. Television and CBS (unless otherwise credited 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