The Iron Lady – Movie Review
Even though I was alive for most of her political career, I don’t know very much about Margaret Thatcher — the Iron Lady who is the subject of Meryl Streep’s latest Oscar-worthy impersonation. The movie version of Thatcher’s story starts oddly with Streep looking convincingly like a very senior Thatcher (probably somewhere around her current 80 plus years of age). The possibly-fictional episodes that frame the story portray Thatcher as being prone to flashbacks, and having active conversations with her deceased husband, Denis. I’m not really sure why scenes of Thatcher’s daughter and assistant showing concerns over her sanity were such a big part of this movie. They seemed even more important than the flashbacks, which showed Thatcher’s life including her younger days as a grocer’s daughter inspired by her father to become a politician, her courtship with her future husband, and major episodes in her political rise and fall. The flashbacks were mostly cut together as montages of quick scenes and images mixed with actual news footage. While Streep’s portrayal of Thatcher was effective, natural and grounded, the montages felt disjointed and made the overall story unclear. I couldn’t really figure out if the movie was actually going to focus on a particular incident in Thatcher’s life, or simply jump from one point to the next. While most of the “slower” scenes were reserved for the more intimate, personal conversations and meetings, there was some time spent on Thatcher’s role as Prime Minister throughout the Falkland Islands conflict. Those scenes were effective and made Thatcher appear quite impressive. I wish there had been more scenes like those.
As always, Meryl Streep is capable of completely becoming the character that she portrays. Whether it’s Julia Child or an Australian housewife, her accent, delivery, expressions are all pitch-perfect and extremely convincing. Of course, taking on a formidable character such as Margaret Thatcher was probably something of a challenge, but Streep definitely made it seem effortless — even when she had to portray Thatcher from her early days in Parliament all the way to her twilight years. She made Thatcher appear strong, elegant and queenly in one scene, frail and confused in the next. It was almost completely Streep’s performance that carried the show. Jim Broadbent was suitably charming and understated as Mr. Thatcher. Other side roles were played by Anthony Head (of Buffy and Merlin fame), Richard E. Grant, and a cast of many relative unknowns.
Unfortunately, director Phyllida Lloyd’s choices really didn’t work for me. I would have liked to have seen more focus on Thatcher’s political career (and her personal experiences behind it) and less on her supposed senility. Why was she the Iron Lady? How did it feel to be both hated and loved by her own people? How did she become as strong as she did? The jumping around of the flashbacks (though they followed a roughly chronological order) were not very coherent and I kept waiting for the real story to kick in. Not having known much about Thatcher before going into the film, I learned a lot (hopefully the movie is relatively accurate) but I felt that the time spent with minor characters and incidents over so many of the major ones seemed oddly imbalanced. Where were all the important, newsworthy events in Thatcher’s life? Even if they had taken the time to focus more on a single episode (such as the Falkland Islands conflict), that would have made this movie a lot more interesting and satisfying. As it is, it seems like a very long trailer for a biographical mini-series or something. (3 out of 5)
70 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies to Watch Out for in 2012
70 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies to Watch Out for in 2012 (from io9.com)
Link out for a great summary of the scifi/fantasy/horror horizon for this new year. Reading through the list, I noticed four odd trends, and one great one:
- Fairytale reinterpretations – We already have TV’s Once Upon a Time and Grimm, now the big screen is getting in on the act with at least four new movies (including two versions of Snow White).
- Old franchise revivals – New installments and reinventions take a shot at beating new life into dead horses such as: Men In Black, GI Joe, Spider-Man, Resident Evil, Halloween, Amityville Horror, Total Recall, and Red Dawn.
- Continuing not one, but three of the recently played out trends: Superheroes, Vampires, and Zombies.
- Potter alums Daniel Radcliffe, Tom Felton, Robert Pattinson, and director Alfonso Cuaron are all taking another ride on the supernatural side this year.
- My favourite trend: cool directors doing genre stuff:
- Christopher Nolan – Dark Knight Rises
- Tarsem Singh – Mirror Mirror
- Ang Lee – Life of Pi
- Sam Mendes – Skyfall (i.e. new James Bond)
- Tom Tykwer – Cloud Atlas
- Joss Whedon – Avengers
- Timur Bekmambetov – Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter
- Bryan Singer – Jack the Giant Killer
- Peter Jackson – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
That last one, plus The Hunger Games, are probably my two most anticipated movies this year (though many of those others are sounding pretty exciting too.)
2011 TV Characters: Love and Hate
Having so many new shows this year also means that there are so many more characters for me to love or hate (which is good, since I don’t like to repeat names on this list from year to year).
Characters I Love
Surprisingly, new TV shows haven’t added many new faves to my list. The monarch of my love-to-hate list is “Queen” Victoria Grayson from the new soap, Revenge. Everyone likes to compare her to Dynasty‘s Alexis Carrington, but I think she has her own brand of poisonous poise. As the reigning empress of the Hamptons, everyone scrapes at her feet while secretly plotting her downfall, yet she rarely loses composure (even when keeping her ex-best friend, who is also her husband’s mistress, a gilded-cage prisoner in her home). So far, newcomer Emily Thorne has had the upper hand most of the season, but I think Victoria’s going to spread her scheming wings soon, so everyone should watch out!
On the other end of the spectrum, John Reese is someone you don’t realize you can trust until he saves you from a bullet. The ex-assassin of Jonathan Nolan’s new series Person of Interest can disarm a gun-toting hit-man in the blink of an eye, yet he is surprisingly sensitive and likes to offer his soft-spoken wisdom while helping you escape your would-be murderers. That’s really what you want in a vigilante guardian angel.
Another guy who will stand by you is Parks and Recreation‘s Ben Wyatt. Not only does he take care of his clueless housemates Andy and April (you’d be hard-pressed to find a pair less-prepared for adulthood and married life), he seems to do all the work for his boss Chris, and still he has time to sacrifice himself to save Leslie’s job and career after their secret office-romance is discovered. I love that he’s a quiet, reliable guy and yet he’s also a super-nerd (there will never be too many of these characters in my books as long as they continue to bring positivity to geekdom) whose personal reward is a complete Batman costume.
If you’re not watching Lost Girl, you are missing out not only on the closest thing to a reincarnation of Buffy that I can think of. You are also missing the pleasure of characters such as Kenzi (from a previous TV Love list) and Trick, the bartender who provides supernatural detective Bo with Fae knowledge and advice. We’ve only scratched the surface of Trick’s background and now there’s a premonition about something (possibly bad) that happens between Bo and Trick in the coming conflict. I love any character who is secretly much more powerful than he lets on. Don’t let his diminutive size fool you.
Finally, as is becoming my tradition, I have to show some love and partiality to one of the Modern Family cast, all of whom I think are awesome, enjoyable characters. This year, I pick Gloria Delgado Pritchett. I love that she’s gone from a caliente Colombian trophy wife to a wonderful, fun character full of neuroses (like the rest of them/us), and I’m glad it’s not just about her looks. She’s got her love-hate of their dog, Stella (who she tried to coerce into eating her husband’s shoes), and her over-protectiveness of her son, Manny (who she defended when the principal ‘falsely’ accused him of stealing). One of my favourite Gloria-isms is when she shows that she’s smarter than she appears, that she’s figured it out all along (like when she called Claire on her insincere friendship or when she used her feminine wiles to win Jay a contract from a young hotshot).
Characters I Hate
Top of the newcomer list is Han Lee, the owner of the restaurant where Max and Caroline (of 2 Broke Girls) work. We get it: he’s an immigrant, so he’s culturally ignorant and always getting colloquialisms wrong. We’re familiar with the stereotype. But does he have to be such an annoying keener? And his accent is so artificial! Runner up is Declan Porter, from Revenge, the teen Romeo who follows his heart in pursuit of princess Grayson (i.e. Charlotte). 
Ugh! That entire teeny-bopper storyline should be eradicated, but Declan is the worst part. He’s so selfish: always whining about how they don’t have any money, yet acting like a spoiled brat. Plus, Like Han, his accent is some atrocious thing (possibly Boston-sounding), which makes no sense since no one else has the same accent as him. 
Another young whelp that I loathed (I’m starting to really sound my age) is the young king Joffrey Baratheon from A Game of Thrones. To be fair to the cherubic blond teen, author George R.R. Martin pretty much guaranteed that Joffrey would be hated just by the way he was written. Any spoiled whiny brat given ultimate socio-political power is going to be unliked. However, Joffrey’s sociopathic disregard for life and human value definitely makes him someone I hate to hate.
I realize that villains are supposed to be hated, but not because they are lame. Marnie Stonebrook, the head witch from this season of True Blood made a really wimpy villain. She had a lot of power, but she always seemed to be lashing out like a child throwing a tantrum. Even from beyond the grave she was so bitter that she just couldn’t move on. Who’d have thought that I’d actually miss the crazy, vibrating, heart-eating antics of Maryann the maenad? The other moustache-twirler of the year made only brief appearances, but still… 
Lucas Taylor the brilliant physicist son of Terra Nova‘s Commander Taylor was so bitter towards his father that he would sell him and the entire colony out to a blood-sucking corporation from the future. Plus, he threatens the adorable Skye that if she doesn’t comply with him, he’s going to throw her sick mother out of the treehouse to her death! From hating your father to a killer of mothers and destroyer of civilizations? Talk about overcompensation!
Finally, there are some average characters that I hated just because they were super-dull or wasted good actors. Case in point, Penny Johnson Jerald was great as the ruthless “Lady Macbeth” to President David Palmer in 24, but now she plays Castle‘s Captain Victoria Gates as the biggest wet blanket on TV. 
And while I hated almost everyone on Torchwood: Miracle Day, I’m going to lay the blame for my disappointment about that show on Rex Matheson, the category one, undead CIA agent who just grated on my last nerve. Way to ruin an amazing series! Despite these names on both lists, I think there are fewer stand-out characters this year (at least who stand out in my mind).
Nostalgia: Hugo & The Muppets – Movie Reviews
This week I watched two movies that unexpectedly shared a common theme. Hugo by director Martin Scorsese, is the story of a young orphan whose quest to repair a mechanical man leads to an adventure of discovery into the history of early cinema. The Muppets features a young man/muppet named Walter, whose quest is to help Kermit, Miss Piggy and the rest of the original characters save Muppet Studios from being demolished. Both movies dust off cultural treasures to save them from being destroyed, and polish them up to a shine to remind us of how magical they were in their heyday.
Hugo
Before watching Hugo, I was expecting something more in the science fiction genre. I had read about the mechanical man, and imagined a kind of steampunk Pinocchio story. Instead, this movie is a warm, charming stroll into 1920s Paris where young Hugo Cabret lives in a busy train station secretly keeping all the clocks running. He lives in one of the lost apartments within the station walls where he spends his spare time tinkering with, and repairing an old automaton (basically a clockwork robot) found by Hugo’s father (Jude Law gives a nice cameo in Hugo’s flashback) abandoned in storage in an old museum. To acquire the needed parts, Hugo secretly steals from the keeper of a toy shop in the station, Papa Georges (a wonderful performance by Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley), who eventually catches him and forces him to turn over everything in his pockets, including an old notebook. The connection between Hugo, the notebook, and Papa Georges becomes the central mystery of this film, and with the help of Georges’s ward, Isabelle (played by the amazing young actress, Chloe Moretz), Hugo unwittingly discovers that the answer is far beyond what he could have expected.
It’s hard to give a synopsis of this movie without spoiling it, or overhyping the mystery. Despite the fact that the twists in this story are significant, it’s not one of those gasp-inducing shockers where someone’s secretly a ghost. The secrets are relatively mundane ones where characters have left things behind in the past. Similar to the recent Woody Allen movie Midnight in Paris (hmmm…. Paris is another popular theme), not only is there nostalgia for one time period (the 20s) but the characters themselves experience nostalgia about an even earlier time. I am not typically a Scorsese target-market (not being a big fan of gangs or tough-guys. However, I do count his The Age of Innocence as one of my favourites). In this film (which many call a “kids film”), he’s definitely created an enjoyable movie that captures the fun of childhood whimsy (you know, where characters intentionally “have adventures”), along with the innocent joy of the early days of cinema. One last note about Scorsese’s masterful directorial skill in this film is that 3D never looked so good. It’s subtle, with very few things coming out at me, but it was so immersive that I really felt like I was in that Paris train station myself. (4 out of 5)
The Muppets
This movie doesn’t go as far back in time as Hugo, but it elicits even more nostalgia to one of my favourite periods: the 80s, when The Muppets were in full bloom. (In fact, some of my laugh out loud moments in this movie were the lines from a character called “80s Robot”: a life-size remote controlled toy robot which spewed contemporary catch phrases — a sadly common thing found in movies from the 80s). At first I was put off by some of the light-hearted surrealism of this movie. Main character Walter is a muppet (hence his devotion to the capital-M Muppets), but he is brother to Jason Segal’s human character Gary. They live in a town called Smalltown, where apparently people sing along and join the choreography when Walter and Gary break out into song at any time. Gary’s long-suffering girlfriend Mary (played by Amy Adams) also sings and dances her thoughts and teaches a class of keener kids in a school that appears time-locked since the 40s. Nevertheless, all that seems prelude to the world of The Muppets, where the real world is mixed up with the cartoonish world of felt puppets — for example, Fozzie works with a Muppet tribute band called the Moopets, Gonzo is a toilet magnate, and Miss Piggy works for Vogue magazine (where she has an icy British assistant played by one of my new favourite crushes, Emily Blunt). The plot is simple enough: The Muppets need to raise money to save their old studios from being demolished by a greedy oil baron (how’s that for an 80s villain?) so they stage a Muppet Show telethon. Contrary to Hugo, there are very few plot surprises in this movie, but it’s a lot of fun to watch for celebrity cameos (at least a dozen of them) and self-referential, inside jokes.
The new, original songs (obviously not including Cee Lo Green’s F— You as performed by chickens — yes, they went there!) were written by Flight of the Conchords‘s Bret McKenzie and fit right into the tongue-in-cheek yet heartfelt milieu of the Muppets. However, when it comes to nostalgia, nothing could beat that moment where the curtains went up and the Muppet Show theme song began (I’m singing it in my head even as I type). I watched The Muppet Show regularly as a kid, but I don’t consider myself a huge fan (I never bought any paraphernalia, if that’s an indication) but still I was easily cued by that music back to my younger self. I’m not sure whether this movie is meant for us middle-aged kids or the ones who are actually still rugrats. Judging by laughter alone, the couple of 3-year olds in front of me were less interested in the movie than their father a few seats over. In the end, if the goal of this movie was to prove to the real world audience (as it did to the in-movie audience) that we all need the Muppets back, then I say it’s about time! (4 out of 5)
Happy Feet Two – Movie Review
How can a movie that looks so much like the original, wonderful tale of singing and dancing animated penguins become such an awful sequel? The animation in Happy Feet 2 is great, with amazing Antarctic scenery, realistic-looking animals like seals, birds, and of course penguins who not only look like penguins but can dance and sing and show all kinds of human expressions. But that is where the good stuff in common between the first movie and this sequel ends. Warning: If all you care about in this movie is animated cuteness, you should probably stop reading.
The new movie has a meandering plot which culminates in a disaster rescue story, of sorts. However, there are all kinds of irrelevant plot threads (especially a ridiculous B-story about Bill and Will, a pair of krill — aka microscopic shrimp — life-partners). As for the music, it was originally used to represent the penguin’s soul (its “heart song”). In this movie the musical numbers vary wildly from chaotic mass production numbers to characters bursting into song like a Broadway musical. One particularly ill-fitting number is when baby penguin Eric is defending the honor of his father Mumble (the hero of the first movie) to a bunch of elephant seals. All of the sudden Eric is sing-talking in operatic style. If you think it’s jarring to hear a little kid sing opera, wait until you see a baby penguin doing it.
The overall story seems to be a jumble of bits and pieces rather than a clear arc following the adventures of a single main hero. Ostensibly we’re with little Eric when he runs away with Adelie penguin Ramon (played again by Robin Williams) back to his home colony, and with Mumble (reprised by Elijah Wood) when he goes after his son, but some of the focus seems to be on Ramon and his quest for love with Carmen (voiced by Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara), and of course there’s that darn pair of krill (voiced by A-listers Brad Pitt and Matt Damon). I have no idea why they decided to add the subplot about the two krill who want to leave their swarm to find out about the universe beyond. Will the krill decides he wants to move up the food chain and tries to become a predator — oh my gosh, even writing a synopsis of that makes me feel silly. You don’t know how many times I felt disappointed that they weren’t squished when the scene clearly implied that they would be (plus wouldn’t krill die outside of water? They can’t have adventures with the penguins!)
Another new character is Sven, the charismatic leader of the Adelie colony who have become his cult (didn’t they already cover this kind of thing in the first movie with Lovelace, the rock-hopper penguin who saw visions after getting tangled in plastic garbage)? Anyway, Sven (along with Lovelace, who’s back) inspires other penguins with his tales of human encounters and his ability to fly (y’see, Sven is actually a puffin, not a penguin).
The environmental theme that closed out the first movie carries over: this time the melting of polar ice actually puts our penguin heroes in danger as melting ice causes and iceberg to cut off their entire valley from the ocean. The emperor penguins are going to starve to death. By the time the movie came to its triumphant conclusion, I really didn’t care whether the penguins were saved. Nevertheless, cuteness and sentiment won out and I was a little moved when Eric was reunited with his mother, Gloria. Good thing the rest of the Antarctic creatures were able to band together to move the iceberg and save the day. It’s all wonderfully touchy-feely, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how the circle of life really works (even at the south pole). (3 out of 5)
Immortals – Movie Review
As I’ve admitted before, I am one of those super-geeks who has been a fan of all kinds of mythology since I was in primary school — so I’ve been imagining how the heroes, gods, and monsters should look on the big screen for a while. If I were to choose a director, I think Tarsem Singh (director of Immortals, along with the breathtaking head-trip that was The Cell, featuring Jennifer Lopez) is not far off. However, after this movie, the Parlapanides brothers better not be coming on as the writers. In Immortals, Tarsem proves that his skill lies in taking epic characters with larger-than-life visuals and adding even more dramatic flair and style. While the Parlapanides show that they can take the already classical tale of Theseus and the Minotaur and base a messy, hollow, pretentious, “twilight of the gods” story around it.
In this version, the story has King Hyperion (played by Mickey Rourke as a kind of epic-tyrant-meets-Sons-of-Anarchy) rattling sabres against the gods by hunting for a magical bow with which to free the Titans (the ancient enemies of the gods), who are apparently held imprisoned under a mountain, bound together like immortal foosball players. (That’s foosball with an S not a T.) Meanwhile, Theseus (played by Henry Cavill, whose Spartan physique obviously met the standards of 300 director Zack Snyder, who cast him as the Man of Steel in the upcoming Superman reboot) toils away in a cliff-side village soon to be overrun by Hyperion’s men. What links these two stories (besides the imminent pillaging) is the virgin-oracle Phaedra (played by Slumdog hottie Freida Pinto). Her visions are required by Hyperion to locate that magical bow of Plot-device, but she sees a vision of Theseus wielding the same bow and decides to protect him instead.
Besides Phaedra who (at least by virtue of a romantic link to Theseus) resembles her canonical counterpart, there is also a labyrinth (but now it’s just a very convoluted temple built into the cliff wall) and a Minotaur (but now it’s just a big tough guy who grunts and wears a bull’s-head helmet). Even if it weren’t for all the offences against the original myth, there are still a lot of plot holes and meaningless events as the film progresses. One of the most fundamental problems is that no one’s motivation seems clear: Does Hyperion want to take over the known world? destroy the gods? or does he just want to free the Titans? Does Theseus just want to get revenge on Hyperion for killing his mother? or does he actually want to lead the Hellenics to victory? And what about the gods? They have a bunch of paradoxical rules about helping the humans (but only while in disguise) which they enforce until the Titans are released, at which point it’s fair game. So why can’t they also reveal themselves in order to prevent the Titans from being released?
My biggest problem with the story may seem kind of minor, but there’s a scene near the end of the movie when the gods are fighting the recently-freed Titans and losing. The canon-fiend in me is annoyed because there are only 12 Titans, and the gods have clearly killed more than 12 of these immortal zombies. The fact that more and more Titans keep coming, defeating the gods by their sheer number seems ridiculous. It suddenly felt like I was watching myself playing God of War III on my Playstation 3: same mythological backdrop, same over-the-top violence, and if I leave the area and come back sometimes the enemies that I’ve defeated are revived (though even a video game writer knows that this kind of no-win battle is also no-fun).
Similar to its predecessor (No, not Clash of the Titans or 300 … I’m referring to Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch), the director saves the movie, with its sloppy and pointless story, from total failure by packing in the amazing visuals. Even though there are not many scenes that include them, I love how Tarsem interprets the Olympian gods. Of course every character has a perfect marble-sculpture physique, but this is the first time I’ve seen a director treat the gods as parallels to modern-day super-heroes. There’s an amazing scene where the sea god Poseidon (who was originally Theseus’s father in the myth, but is now played by Kellan Lutz of Twilight fame) decides to intervene to save Theseus and Phaedra by diving from Olympus to earth and causing a tidal wave that kills Hyperion’s soldiers. As Poseidon rockets to earth at supersonic speeds, with golden cape flapping, he looks every bit like Superman (or even Neo from The Matrix).
Besides the action set-pieces (of which there are a few), the visual style also includes the clothing and scenery. The outfits of these characters are mostly normal sword-and-sandal stuff (though reversing the stereotype so women are dressed modestly while the men wear skimpy outfits), with the exception of the wonderfully garish headgear. I’m willing to bet that if Lady Gaga were in the audience she’d be busy texting her personal shopper. Hyperion’s battle helmet looks like a bunny costume crossed with a torture device; the oracle and her sisters travel with burka-style red coverings each adorned with a different headdress that looks like a chandelier lampshade; and then there’s the gods: Poseidon’s headgear resembles Princess Leia’s cinnamon buns (but I think they’re seashells) held together with some golden pipe-cleaners, and war god Ares’s helmet (which I think is the coolest) makes a mohawk out of golden swords. Finally, the backdrops are equally epic: from the massive wall separating the two warring forces (which is a decommissioned dam that actually looks like a concrete subway tunnel when the two armies are fighting within), to the Escher-esque Labyrinth temple full of altars made from giant stone heads, to the caverns of Mount Tartarus where the roof of the Titans’ prison is held up by three gargantuan statutes. Everything is big and tall: the sky, ocean, desert, even Hyperion’s army, all appear to have no end. The scale of everything seems larger than god or man.
All that being said, I can only recommend Immortals to serious mythology fans (and only if they’re willing to put aside any canon issues). It’s a treat for the eyes, but not much more than that. (3.5 out of 5)
Saturday Mornings, Now On Fridays
Remember those lazy Saturdays when we’d get up and run down to the family room, turn on the tv to catch the adventure of Thundarr the Barbarian, Spider-man and his Amazing Friends, Blue Falcon and Dyno-mutt, Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, or Space Ghost? At its height we enjoyed the Justice League in super-powered combat with the Legion of Doom. At its depths we still begrudgingly enjoyed the adventures of Rubik, the alien being with incredible powers who was shaped like the cube-shaped puzzle which had become a national pastime. Adventure ruled the airwaves (while merchandising tie-ins washed our brains). Saturday morning cartoons represented the halcyon days for 1980s kids, and it was sad when channel fragmentation and cable networks became the killers of that hallowed tradition (aka time slot).
Well, thanks to that very same programming phenomenon, cable channels are now bringing back some of that adventure-filled animation that is good enough to kick childhood memories’ butts. Friday nights on the Cartoon Network contain a solid block of quality, fun adventure shows, including: Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Thundercats, Young Justice, and the brand new Green Lantern animated series.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
For those of us who enjoyed the 80s cartoon spinoffs from the Lucasfilm trilogy (yes, it was still only a trilogy back then), The Droids, and The Ewoks, you might be very surprised at the incredible quality of this show. It is truly good enough to be considered part of the Star Wars canon. Set in the time between the second and third prequel films, the tempestuous period only referred to on the big screen known as The Clone Wars is depicted in vivid, marionette-like, animated detail. (If you caught the big screen animated movie, the show is much better than that too.) At first we were following the adventures and lessons of Ahsoka, the young padawan to Jedi master Anakin Skywalker. As the show progressed into its 2nd and 3rd seasons, the stories branched out to numerous parts of the Star Wars universe, introducing many wonderful new characters, planets, and societies.
The most exciting part of this show is how it explores so many new corners of this universe and imaginatively depicts so much about these fictional places. There is wonderful thought given to the design of everything from the landscapes and vegetation to the alien physiognomy, garments, cities, traditions, etc. It seems to have been carefully thought through (again, making the quality worthy of feature films). The stories are also very well told, and unexpectedly grown-up (but not to the point where kids won’t enjoy). Often characters will struggle with moral issues and their circumstances. The show does not pull many punches, and will depict characters dying, or seriously hurting or killing other characters (which is treated quite somberly and seriously). Most episodes are part of a two or three episode story arc, allowing the stories to really develop. I know a lot of fans might be turned off by the young-skewing animation, but any fan of the Star Wars universe should definitely check out this series.
Young Justice
Based on the DC comic book, this is a super team comprised of many of the Justice League’s young protégés and sidekicks. Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Artemis (Green Arrow’s niece) and Miss Martian, try to prove themselves worthy of eventually succeeding their heroes and mentors in the big leagues (no pun intended). The animation on this show is pretty good (in my opinion, much better than the art on the Batman and Superman series from the 90s). I also think that the stories are pretty well written as well, with equal parts super adventures, thought-provoking themes, and (unfortunately) fictional teen drama. The series is still pretty new, only in its second half-season, but I think it’s a pretty good superhero adventure show.
Thundercats
Yes, everything is back! From the Sword of Omens, with its incantation: “Give me sight beyond sight”, to all the characters: Cheetara, Tigra (now Lion-O’s brother – not sure how that makes sense, since they are different species of cats), Panthro, Wiley Kit and Kat, along with a mercifully mute Snarf. Evil Mumm-Ra the Ever-Pretentious is also back from the crypt, but they haven’t spent much time fighting him or his mutants since the first couple of episodes. Mostly the gang are on a road trip in the Thunder-tank, encountering new friends and new enemies along the way.
The animation has understandably improved since the 80s, and it’s even more anime-inspired than before. Their adventures can range from dull and preachy to colorful and exciting (which pretty much aligns with the mix we got in the original series). Nevertheless, I think this is a very fun show that should allow a whole new generation to enjoy these humanoid cats.
Green Lantern: The Animated Adventures
Clearly put into production to capitalize on the imagined wave of interest in Green Lantern after his big screen debut courtesy of Ryan Reynolds, there has only been a two-part pilot episode shown so far. Like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, this series is computer animated, which is not a good thing when it ends up limiting the number of characters that can be depicted while staying under budget. This universe, which is the “beat” of the universal police force known as the Green Lantern Corps definitely feels underpopulated. Plus (much like its big-screen inspiration) the story seems simplistic and weak. It revolves around Earth’s Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, and his big bruisin’ sidekick Killawog, trekking (no pun intended) off to the sparsely-populated (sigh) fringes of known space, where Green Lanterns are being taken out by a new sinister enemy, the Red Lanterns. I love the whole idea of Green Lanterns and their corps as well as this new-fangled concept of the various colors of Lanterns, but I’m hoping that this show really takes a turn for the better if I’m going to keep watching.
Kung Fu Panda: the Legends of Awesomeness
I was super excited (having loved both feature films) that Kung Fu Panda was coming to the small screen with more adventures and tongue-in-cheek humour, but so far the series has not blown me away. Again, since it’s CGI, the world looks anemically underpopulated. Po is still pretty good at cracking jokes, but for some reason they are not as funny. My love for this series goes a long way, but if this were a Saturday morning cartoon, I’d wish for it to be early in the schedule so that I wouldn’t worry too much about oversleeping.
Finally, I am highly anticipating Avatar: The Legend of Korra, a sequel to my favourite animated show of all time, Avatar: The Last Airbender (put sour thoughts of Shyamalan’s godawful big screen adaptation out of your mind). It was supposed to come out next year, but now even that “date” is in question. Nevertheless, when it comes out, I’m sure it will make our “Saturday mornings” even better.
TV Red Light, Green Light 2011
I know it seems like I’m all about the TV shows now, but frankly I haven’t been out to the movies in a while. Whenever a movie comes out that I’ve been waiting to see, the reviews are always so mediocre or worse, that I lose interest in going out to the movie theatre, especially when there’s so much new tv to watch. (I promise I’ll get out there soon. Maybe The Immortals will be good. It’s coming out this coming weekend.) Anyway, a lot of new shows came out and I already gave my takes on some of them, but things have been changing quickly. My initial list has been pared down a lot. A lot of shows didn’t turn out to be too good (some have been cancelled by the networks). There have not been any revolutionary or instant-classic shows this season so far: no new Modern Family or Lost has come along. But here’s what I’m still watching, what I’ve stopped watching, and what’s still on the bubble.
Red Light: Shows I don’t watch anymore.
Charlie’s Angels and How To Be A Gentleman have already been cancelled (and I thought they were both terrible shows). I am not a fan of Pan Am, either. Too slow, characters aren’t interesting, and I find no charm in that whole Mad Men, 60s aesthetic. Ringer proved to be a bit disappointing. The circumstances and plots of the show resembled ABC Family’s The Lying Game and yet for some reason, the melodrama seemed much more enjoyable coming from teenagers than from supposed adults. The writing on Ringer seemed pretty weak and the suspense just seemed too contrived. Hello and goodbye, SMG. Sorry.
I also tried to resuscitate my interest in The Office, Nikita and Desperate Housewives, but the new Dunder Mifflin under James Spader and Ed Helms just wasn’t funny or fun enough to make me come back for good; Nikita had a game changing finale and premiere, but I still didn’t care about these characters and their issues. The week-to-week adventures were just not exciting enough on their own. As for Wisteria Lane, I never went back there, and hearing about how the storylines seem to be going this season, I don’t think I’m going to.
Other new shows that have fallen off my watch-list: Suburgatory: I’m tired of this kind of suburban sendup. Hart of Dixie was OK, but I couldn’t stand to watch each week as Rachel Bilson did something to anger the locals and tried to make up for it some how. That wasn’t the kind of formula I wanted in a show. American Horror Story is getting tons of positive buzz, and though I only watched one episode, it seems to have all the freakiness of the latter-day Twin Peaks. I don’t like the scariness/creepiness. I don’t like the very sexual tone, or the bizarreness of some of the characters. I don’t hate it, but that’s probably only because I decided to stop watching it. Homeland is another show that has been getting great reviews, but I don’t like military or terrorism themes very much, plus the gritty realism over thrilling action is not my cup of tea anymore. Finally, New Girl got dropped because I got over Zooey Deschanel’s cuteness, and I’m already watching a number of sitcoms about pretty young adults and their issues. I don’t need this one.
Amber Light: Shows that I may lose interest in if they don’t improve.
I am surprised how many shows are in the amber section. I think there are more mediocre shows these days, so I don’t want to waste too much time on the bad ones. The Secret Circle is on the high end of the scale, but they definitely need to keep the plots moving (like that other show with the vampires). While they have killed one of the main characters already, they are dragging their feet on so many subplots. Plus, for a show about witches, they spend too much time on non-magical problems and dramas. Harry’s Law has gone from being about an inner city practice, to a prestigious firm with quirky cases and characters. While I love all shades of David E. Kelley legal drama, if it becomes too much like Boston Legal, I’m going to have to call it quits. The Simpsons continues to be in amber, but it’s probably going to be that way until it gets cancelled (which doesn’t appear to be any time soon). It’s still funny in dribs, but not as hilarious as it once was.
Though I would find it hard to stop watching any of these shows, Fringe, Supernatural, and Glee (I know! I’m surprised that I said it, too! But even Brittany and Santana have become tired characters) have all slipped from their hey days and I really don’t give them as much priority as I used to. Similarly, Sanctuary, Chuck, Psych and Burn Notice all need to pick it up if they want to stay green.
Green Light: Shows that I like and watch faithfully each week.
The Vampire Diaries – Still firing on all cylinders now that Tyler and Caroline have become more likeable. Evil Stefan is a bit tiresome, but Original Rebecca might be kind of interesting. The Good Wife is still pulling out some great legal drama, Castle is still fun-filled crime-solving (mixing it up with a little hostage situation last week), Hawaii Five-O is also back in business, with a new girl and Masi Oka’s a great addition to the cast (love his Neo costume!). Person of Interest (new JJ Abrams vigilante series) was totally amber or even red at first. I was disappointed because I was expecting complex mythology and exciting action, and when both turned out to be so-so I dismissed this show. It wasn’t until I realized that the beauty of these episodes is in the dialogue and interaction between John Reese and the people he saves that I started to enjoy this show a whole lot more. Terra Nova, Grimm, Once Upon A Time, all have potential. To me they’re all like Hawaii Five-O was last year: enjoyable, but I won’t miss it if I miss it.
All my good sitcoms are still green: Community, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and Parks and Recreation continue to bring the laughs each week. Mike & Molly and How I Met Your Mother are still OK chuckles as well. I’m glad for newbies like 2 Broke Girls (it’s funny ‘cos it’s sarcastic), and Up All Night (it’s got to maintain that contemporary humour and steer away from the cliche “mommy” jokes) to bolster the ranks. Also Happy Endings is only quasi-new and is gaining on its predecessor (HIMYM) in sitcom buzz.
Finally, the shows that I anticipate the most surprised even me. I am not normally a reality-competition fan, but I can’t wait to catch The Sing-Off each week. I have been a devoted fan since the beginning, but with an expanded season this year, I am enjoying the diversity of groups even more. The performances are a lot of fun (it’s really what I watch Glee for). Sometimes I wish they could have my faves from all the seasons go head-to-head. The new show that gets my vote is (surprise!) Revenge! It’s soapy like a vat of Palmolive, but that’s what makes it sinfully delicious (except for a couple of lame characters that really should be exiled to one of the many CW teen soaps). Who doesn’t love to see wicked rich people get their comeuppances? Am I right?
Fall TV 2011 – October
While we tv fans were all kept busy in September with the rush of series and season premieres, a few shows (ones of particular interest to a genre fan like myself) waited until October to make their appearances. Dueling fairy tale shows, the return of cable series Sanctuary and Psych, and spy-fi comedy Chuck make up for a largely sci-fi and fantasy-free start to the fall season.
There’s only been one episode of Chuck so far this season, but it seemed to be more about the setup than the story. Chuck, Sarah, and Casey have formed their own spy agency (along with Morgan, the new Intersect). I was pretty disappointed in the premise to start, but even more so when the show didn’t really seem to embrace it. The gang’s attempts at freelancing haven’t been very successful. While it may resonate with these economically uncertain times to have them trying to make ends meet, the fact that they’re in that “losing” position is not as fun as when they used to be a crack team of pros. As you can imagine, much is made of Morgan being the human supercomputer rather than Chuck. Morgan’s ineptitude makes for the kind of broader humour that Chuck grew out of over the years, but as a mere mortal Chuck’s self-esteem issues just make him appear pitiful. (Plus I am so tired of Lester! And what is with Sarah’s new hair? You’re still hot, but try some conditioner, babe!) It’s the final season. This show needs to up its game and go out with a fun-sounding bang!
I was unexpectedly delighted with the pilot episode of Once Upon A Time. The cheesiness wasn’t too bad for a series about a young woman who finds herself involved in the life of a quaint town where everyone has forgotten that they were once literally the stuff of fairytales. I’m enjoying some of the campy performances, especially Robert Carlyle as Rumplestilskin. The story is set in the modern day, and it seems like it’s going to be interesting (and definitely Lost-esque) to learn how the characters came to be how they are (especially since we know their fairy tale backstories). What I find a bit unfortunate is that series seems to take from the Disney version of the fairy tales as its source (as opposed to their original or Brothers Grimm versions). This kind of seems crass and bumps up the cheesiness a notch. Nevertheless, I hope this show sticks around at least for an entire season (though I am not counting on it).
Grimm is more X-Files than Lost, proposing that the Brothers Grimm and their descendants share the ability to see the monstrous beings hiding in plain sight among us (which were written down as fairy tales). Now the cop at the centre of this show has discovered his gifts and his legacy, and that is going to change his life. I enjoyed this show enough to want to keep watching it, but they definitely had some script-logic issues in the pilot. The two cops were too quick on the draw (good thing the guy they killed was actually the villain). I don’t need them to get super gritty or anything, but the real-life stuff (like the rules of police work) need to make sense in order to keep the crazy supernatural stuff grounded.
I am delighted that this unique fantasy series has made it into season four, but I still think Sanctuary has not reached its potential for cool stories. I loved when the season 2 finale led to a mix of mythology, action, and fantasy in the Big Bertha story, but with the Hollow Earth stories of season 3, they just didn’t seem to know what to do with that. The abnormals’ uprising in the finale and premiere just seemed to be another allegory about any kind of minority group and how we shouldn’t judge. Plus, getting into the whole global politics of running an agency like the Sanctuary is such a snore-fest that they need to keep that at arms length. This is a world where fantastic creatures and beings really exist. There is so much great storytelling that can come from that. The latest episode with the abnormal, super-powered hostage situation was exciting, but not worthy of Sanctuary. It was more an episode of 24 or Heroes (or even Syfy’s disappointing Alphas) than something for this series. I am consoled that they’ve gotten rid of Kate Freelander (liked her, but she was like a character out of another show. She just never fit in.)
This actually reminds me that I owe mea culpa to my home and native land and one of my favourite genre shows that returned to local airwaves in September (but I forgot to mention in my fall tv reviews). Canadian-made Lost Girl is enjoying a much-anticipated second season, and I’m quite enjoying it. Last season split up succubus Bo and werewolf Dyson, and they’re still dealing with that. Frankly, his relationship with Bo is the only thing that livened up Dyson’s block-of-wood expression. As much as I don’t care if they get back together, I really want him to be an interesting character (they tried to achieve that by doing an episode featuring Dyson’s backstory). Kenzie is still one of my favourite characters on TV and the best sidekick. I’m glad that they have featured her in more storylines of her own (including a pretty good episode with the legendary Baba Yaga). This season they also introduced more interaction with the new Ash (the leader of the light fae, who was newly crowned by a Hunger Games style death hunt after the fae leadership were all assassinated in last season’s finale). I think this series is keeping things fresh, with a generous helping of humour, and I look forward to the rest of the season (they took a little break in October).
It has been a long wait for Psych to return. Unfortunately, the premise is really starting to show its age. Since most probably don’t believe or care that Shawn is still pretending to be a psychic, they should just have him come clean. It doesn’t seem to make any difference anyway, and he would finally be able to reveal the truth to his (uh oh!) girlfriend. They still feature great cameos and pop culture references; and the Halloween episode had a few geek-friendly references that I enjoyed (I especially liked having Tom Lenk from Buffy make an appearance), but this show is not nearly as funny or fun as it used to be.
Fall TV 2011 – week 3
Apologies for being a bit late to posting, but I have to say, this season’s stock of new shows is proving to be more quantity than quality. Here’s another 10 shows that I’ve watched this week (without many standouts).
Happy Endings is back after a brief showing at the end of last season. This Friends-How I Met Your Mother hybrid is pretty funny. In the premiere, single gal Penny gets a new place and believes it has a curse that is turning her her into an old maid, so she throws a 1920s party (makes sense, right?). I know that it’s a bit more far-fetched than anything that Monica or Robin might go through, but I’m a sucker for ensemble sitcoms. Suburgatory is a new show about a teenage girl whose dad (played by the surprisingly likeable Jeremy Sisto) moves her out to the ’burbs. As you can tell from the title, it’s got the dry, sarcastic humor of an indie film (but unfortunately not a lot of it). Mike & Molly are back after their season-ending engagement. Unfortunately, watching Mike repeatedly get himself in the dog house is getting old fast. Tragic that the writers felt the need to have big-guy Mike stand up and sink a fishing boat just to get some laughs this episode.
While 2 Broke Girls is a surprisingly funny new odd-couple sitcom, How To Be A Gentleman is surprisingly lame in comparison. The whole “manly men need to be dumb and work out all the time” idea (aka life according to Jersey Shore) was predictably cliche and the only bright spot on the show is Flight of the Conchords’s Murray (Rhys Darby) as the cluelessly cuckolded brother-in-law of the main character, Andrew. Unfortunately, his appearances and one-liners are so out-of-place that it seems like he’s on another TV series altogether. Similarly, Pan Am (a drama about 1960s airline stewardesses) was another girlie soap. Their lives don’t seem super-interesting (even the one character who is a spy was kind of blah).
The new show I’ve enjoyed the most so far has been Terra Nova (another surprise since I thought it would be a been-there-done-that situation with humans trying to live among the dinosaurs). I also feared the family issues Steven Spielberg likes to have mixed in with his sci-fi (luckily that toned down quickly). Ironically, Terra Nova is kind of the only new sci-fi show this season, and it’s set 85 million years in the past. Merlin (the tales of the most famous sorcerer ever as a young man) returns after last season’s climax brought together Arthur’s famous Knights of the Round Table, and Morgana went to the dark side, leaving her father, Uther Pendragon, catatonic with grief. The season premiere was a bit ridiculous as an evil ritual opened a tear in the universe that allows ghosts to fly around and chill people to death, including Merlin himself (As if! Even the preview of episode two shows him up and about again). In a completely different vein, Hart of Dixie features The O.C.’s Rachel Bilson as a hotshot young surgeon who inherits a medical practice in Alabama. This fish-out-of-water story has some potential, but I don’t know that all the supporting cast can win me over with southern charm alone. Hopefully they will become more interesting as the episodes progress.
Finally, The Good Wife returned without really dealing with the immediate events of Will and Alicia hooking up. However, now Eli Gold is working out of the Lockhart Gardner offices, allowing him to spy on Alicia more. The case of the week faced Cary against Alicia (I can’t stand Cary) and Kalinda playing cat and mouse with her lover, Sophia, a P.I. who started working for the D.A. (aka Alicia’s ex) — Could this show get any more incestuous? Well, as long as they keep the story lines involving the Florrick children to a minimum I’ll be happy.
