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knotwilg
Reviews
Spooks (2002)
Many hits but the occasional miss
On our cable network, this show replaces my all time favourite detective show "A touch of Frost" on Monday evening. So expectations were quite high as Frost displays both excellent acting and very clever and realistic scenarios.
I don't know much about work at the secret service, which may be a truism, but quite rapidly this series got me hooked. There ARE the obligatory side stories about the main characters' personal life (or lack thereof) but unlike for instance "Merseyside" these don't lead astray from the often thrilling storyline. After a few episodes of high quality, involving Arab and Serbian terrorist movements - which convinced me in spite of my disgust about the Western world treating terrorism as a pretext for dealing with nations that don't follow suit - I witnessed a disappointing episode about a prodigy hacker. Obviously the scenarists could have done a much much better job on that one. The whole presentation of hacking business was too stupid for words and laden with cryptic riddles which I'd hoped the mediocre movies that used up this theme relieved us of.
But one miss after many hits won't chase me away from my sofa. There is a subtle development of the characters, in particular Jane's, and I want to know where these people and there mission are going.
In any case, this rather old fashioned way of building drama pleases me much more than the sensational but absurd 24 hour real time 4 way split screen setting of "24".
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Overall disappointment - with Spoilers
My main complaint about this movie (and the book) is that it may reflect a strong fascination for mathematicians but doesn't pass the fascination for maths at all. I don't know if this would bother me as much if I weren't a mathematician myself, though. Be it as it may, I don't want a movie or book at all to be filled with formulae: after all, inventive maths is about ideas, and formulae are just tools. If you really want to read a thrilling drama about a man losing his mind to maths, then read of "Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture" by Apostolos Doxiadis. A wonderful and appealingly small novel and not a single formula in it. If you are more into maths, then you will already have read "Fermat's Enigma : The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem" by Simon Singh.
You may read Tedg's comment for an exhaustive review of the missed opportunities. While I initially watched with a lot of prejudice - I didn't even manage to finish the book - I started appreciating the movie a little bit because of the following things:
- All the appearances which I thought highly exaggerated and "typical of American iconolatry" turned out to be the product of his schizophrenia. The emblematic national security chief, the best friend and the little niece in wonderland, were actually very well chosen.
- The make-up on Crowe was rather astonishing.
- The idea that psychiatric patients are capable of humour and self sarcasm pleases me too, although I'm not sure whether it is actually true.
However, the good points are outnumbered by the IMO inconsistent acting by Crowe, his unconvincing mannerisms and the flatness of all the characters, especially that of his caring wife. For just a few seconds there was a scent of foul play in the air, when his colleague starts caring about her which could be seen as courtship. Worst of all, after the highlight of the movie, Nash' admission to the psychiatry, the movie wanders about until the obligatory but unwarranted Nobel prize ceremony relieves us (me at least) from boredom.
Days of Our Lives (1965)
Arguably the worst show ever
These days we get a lot of American trash on Belgian television, especially late in the afternoon, around 4-5 PM. I've become used to teenage angst fuzz and family comedies which are funny only to the taped laughter, but when I first came across "Days of our lives" I was so bewildered that I kept looking. "Am I really seeing this ?". I vaguely remembered the style of the Bold and the Beautiful, but there is something comic woven into the story, so that I couldn't quite figure out what this was supposed to be.
Anyway, the characters are so unreal, the acting is so terribly and consistently bad and the storyline is so much one of another million, that I may grow to love this series.
I don't yet know the names of the characters, but I'm already in love with the girl who, in order to make her look ugly, wears false teeth and preposterous glasses.
Cidade de Deus (2002)
Subtitles
Just a word about the Dutch subtitles, well you couldn't care less I guess. As I am fairly fluent in Portuguese, I could tell that the Dutch subtitles were translated from English rather than straight from Portuguese. Quite a few things get lost in the double translation. Everybody knows the game where a sentence is whispered from ear to ear to arrive back to its originator completely mutilated. So here's a plea for more originality (in both senses) in the subtitles. BTW, it's awkward to read some comments here about "first watch of a subtitled movie". We get that all the time.
You may read other comments to know how fantastic a movie this is.
Wire in the Blood (2002)
Twist in the wire
Crime series can be made by the actors, the director, the scenery, the music and so on, but they can be ruined by a poorly developed plot. "Wire in the blood" gets at best half marks. I've seen two of the six episodes and the four remaining will land in my video player by mere accident, I'm afraid. There are simply too many inconsistencies, too many unrealistic behaviour for this series to rank among "Morse" or "A touch of Frost". I bet professionals in crime investigation pull their hairs out upon seeing the numerous mistakes made. No I'm not going to list them, you may want to see it without spoilers anyway.
The acting crew try their very best and the shooting is nice - as far as I can tell - but they can't save the series either.
Blackadder the Third (1987)
The abused always kick downward
Blackadder has four series, one in the dark ages, one in Victorian ages, one in the revolutionary ages and one in WW1. I'm rereading the transcripts now - I don't have the videos. When you know several creations of the same artist, of equal value, you will like the one you learnt about first the most. I saw the second series first, and I like the third even better. Blackadder III is without a doubt the best comedy and perhaps the best thing atogether I ever saw on television.
Yes, not having Stephen Fry or Tim McInnery present is a shame. The close encounters between Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson and Tim Robinson are pure magic however. The chemistry is perfect, and even fine comedians such as Fry could only disturbe the balance.
Apart from the magnificent acting - how on earth could they ever finish an episode with all those hilarious lines anyway - the plot lines are far more laboured than in the second or fourth series.
My favourite episode is "Nob and nobility" with the actors, with "Ink and Incapabilty" as a close second. Only "Amy and Amiability" I'd consider a slight miss, because the lot goes outdoors and sitcom has to remain behind closed doors so it seems.
My favourite scene is when the Prince Regent uses the word "luck" as a lever to jump into a chicken impersonation, to cover up for the fact he doesn't know what Blackadder means with a "rotten burrough".
My favourite quote is: "Yes, Baldrick, that's the way of the world. The abused always kick downward. I'm annoyed, ans so I kick the cat. The cat pounces on the mouse, and the mouse (Baldrick shouts) bites you in the behind. -- And what do I do sir ? -- Nothing, you are last in God's great chain, Baldrick. Unless there is an earwig around here you want to victimize."
In de Gloria (2000)
How sharp can you get ?
For ten years I have not owned a television, relying on family or friends if I wanted to see something really good or - in my case - a soccer game. Only a few shows are worthwhile and "In de Gloria" definitely is one of them.
This is state of the art humour that must be difficult to translate to other languages because of the multitude of cultural references it contains. Basically the show mocks TV-makers that abuse any poor soul whose behaviour is slightly out of the ordinary and who are only too willing to show off in front of the camera. It is true that Human Interest is polluting the media landscape as never before. Just one of the plots to give a slight idea what the show is like (all are actors):
A man in his fifties, vaguely resembling Jesus Christ is being interviewed in view of the annual procession that goes around town. He has been playing Christ's role, carrying the cross, for more than 20 years now, but the end of his reign is dawning: recent scientific research has shown that Jesus looked much different from what is commonly accepted. (They show an article with drawing in the paper - real) So the organization has decided to engage another, utterly unsuspecting and younger, citizen, who indeed remarkably looks like the "new Jesus" (hilarious make-up). Moreover, the older guy recently has had trouble kneeling, while Jesus at several occasions "kneels".
The TV-crew will now closely follow how the elder hands over the "practicing cross" to the younger. The unwilling old Jesus, the bemused new Jesus, the arrogant organizer and the caring (but cruel) interviewer, all actors do a wonderful job in this hilarious "human interest show".
If you want to know what Belgium looks like, watch this.
NYPD Blue (1993)
Season 7: agony
Season 7 has been broadcasted on one of our local chains here in Belgium. I have been watching it with mixed emotions of curiosity and annoyance. I have read the user comments about the earlier seasons.
I completely agree with one user commenting that the crimes are solved at a glance. No supreme detective job to do except for some extremely convincing pressure in the interview rooms.
Admittedly, 50 minutes is not much to cover a more complicated crime plot BUT
- other shows do it: see Homicide, Life on the streets
- many of those 50 minutes are spent on little Theo being sick or Det. Kirkendal being involved in her husband's drug affairs.
- they use up quite some time having the characters say "How you're doing" or "Thanks" and then have them glare at eachother for ages. A lot of tension is built up between the characters and I almost burst out laughing when Gregg complained to Baldwin he felt left out most of the time: exactly how I felt !
Personally, I find the acting mostly overacting. High emotions are suggested by deep breathing - someone should teach those cops to breathe through their belly - and uncomfortable silences. There is so little joy going on. Of course, I'm unaware of the development of the characters over the seasons. Maybe there is some point in Sipowicz being so overly emotional about his boy's illness. Maybe Russell's alcoholic past makes up for her freaky behaviour. And so on ...
In the "Last round up" we get some compensation for the agony of the rest of the season. Hardly fair though.
Oh yes, one scene having it all: Russell walks down the stairs after another frustrating talk with Kirkendal. She washes away her tears in the sink. Irvin passes, stares at her, "doing okay ?" (centuries pass) "yeah". When she's gone, he bends over twice to the sink doing something like sucking up her tears or weeping himself. What the hell was that supposed to mean ???