Tag: TV

This is my new favourite show of the past TV year.

Ten reasons why I love it, in no particular order (no major spoilers):
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A review of Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin and the first season (2011) of the HBO show.

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The Dark Knight RisesBatman: The Dark Knight Rises (03 01 2013) – This was long. I think I got a headache from watching it. Batman (DCAU) is part of my childhood, but Nolan’s Batman will never be my Batman. I can’t imagine Batman giving up for eight years in seclusion or even saying goodbye to Alfred. Nolan really made sure Batman lost everything though: his money, his city, his identity, Afred, but I did like the ending of this film. This film felt like two films though. There was perhaps a little too much going. I thought the casting was great in all parts. I like Tom Hardy, but I wasn’t really in love with his Bane voice or his portrayal until the very end. Marion Cotillard is amazing in anything. But really, the stand out for me was Joseph Gordon-Levitt whom I continue to adore and have since “Third Rock from the Sun”.

A Young Doctor's NotebookA Young Doctor’s Notebook (17 01 2013) – This is a TV mini series. I don’t watch enough TV or movies nowadays for them to get separate posts. This four 22-minute episode series stars Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe playing older and younger versions of a Russian doctor the 1934 and 1917. It is based on stories written by Mikhail Bulgakov (one of Radcliffe’s favourite authors). The plot is rather thin, and it’s more a psychological analysis of the doctor. Hamm and Radcliffe talk to each other as the former reminiscences about his earlier self. It’s on the gory side and there are a couple of sexual situations (no nudity) with Radcliffe aka Harry Potter. While I don’t imagine Radcliffe when I read the Harry Potter books, he is still one version of Harry so it weirded me out to see him in those situations. Still, there is some really dark funny moments for it, but this series is not for everyone. The ending is dark which is typical of Russian literature. Not really a light series.

ScandalScandal (22-23 01 13) – I watched all of season one and caught myself up to date with the episodes of season two. This is an addictive show, and I have not really liked Shonda’s writing, but her team is doing a decent job of the writing. The serialized procedural aspect is not often interesting and usually all about sex scandals. A couple of the characters are a bit flat. Of course with a lot of shows I watch, I overlook the writing for the actors. Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn have some best on TV. I am definitely an Olitz shipper. I also adore Olivia Pope’s wardrobe. Good show.

Cloud Atlas (29-31 01 2013) – Movie and book review posted here.

Notably Rewatched

Sliding DoorsSliding Doors (earlier in January) -I skimmed this to all my favourite i.e. all the scenes with John Hannah. I’ve seen this film at least four times. I do see the gaps in the plot and the timeline, but it is a dramatic rom-com so I can’t be too hard on it. This is still the only movie where I find Paltrow tolerable, but is very thin in this movie.

My friend recommended this to me because we both love Michael Fassbender. Here is my review of Series 1 and Series 2 of this 2004-2005 British fantasy series.

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My first post about an Asian Drama. In the last year, I have watched and enjoyed Asian Dramas more. While I have watched them growing up, it was only recently that I actively sought and enjoyed them. I don’t watch a lot of them and there have been months where I don’t watch one. I am familiar with some Chinese dramas. I mostly watch Korean dramas now, but veer away from melodramas and like romantic comedies kind such as Lie to Me, Princess Hours, Coffee Prince, and Playful Kiss to name my favourites. I do like ones with more action and politics such as last year’s City Hunter.

S-Scandal

I started watching Sungkyunkwan Scandal or S-Scandal (2010) in anticipation of Rooftop Prince, both star Mickey YooChun and because of the premise of S-Scandal involves girl posing as a boy. This is a very typical Asian drama trope that I usually enjoy; Twelfth Night is one of my favourite Shakespeare comedies too. I also have never seen a Joseon koran drama or sageauk in full so I thought I should begin somewhere.

This was really good and addictive as k-dramas should be. It had romance, action, suspense, comedy, and political intrigue. It also had even more good looking guys than usual. It was almost a reverse harem. I liked most of the guys, even the unblinking villainous one who only ever showed like two sides. I liked the drama seemed to be an ensemble one and had a lot of characters of various ages. Though, I do feel that some of the characters didn’t get enough depth and their endings were swept aside.

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The Borgias

I knew Jeremy Irons was in this series, but Derek Jackobi and Colm Feore too? That pushed me into watching and also seeing a snippet of some of the production values. Though, they aren’t the only reasons I stayed.

I don’t watch a lot of Showtime shows (Homeland was the other one I watched and liked recently), but I know they made this one to replace The Tudors essentially. I saw a few eps of The Tudors and while it its highs (James Frain, Natalie Dormer), it didn’t keep my focus and made me a bit bored by Jonathan Rhys Meyers whom I actually liked more before seeing him in The Tudors. I digress.

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen Jeremy Irons in anything. Whenever I think of him, my mind goes to Brideshead Revisited and The Man in the Iron Mask (a guilty pleasure film for me). For some reason, I keep thinking him as the men in those films so watching him play an aging Pope was surprising at first. I think his acting is solid for the most part, but there were some times when he seemed to be slurring and inconsistent. When he was good, he was good though. Derek Jackobi is only in the first episode which is a bit of a waste. As for Colm Feore, he’s in the whole series, but his character is quite dour and scared half the time. I do like Feore; he’s got a reputation in Canada. He has a full frontal nudity shot in this series which is a bit random and surprising. I didn’t expect to see that much of him.

All that said, the actor that I stayed for is Francois Arnaud who plays Cesare Boriga. He is perhaps the star of this series as he steals your attention even in scenes with the venerable Jeremy Irons. When I first saw him, he looked so familiar to me. Maybe I had seen him in some Quebec production or maybe he just looks so French-Canadian. He has a lot of chemistry with the rest of the cast and strangely enough, he huamnized his character too much. Cesare Borgia is a sociopath and in real life, probably was a psychopath. Jordan and Arnaud have portrayed him as less psycho than history has, making him more conflicted and a tad emo (in a good way). Usually, historical characters are made worse. In this case, he is a lot better, but still disconcerting knowing how Cesare will become worse and worse. Arnaud has a lot of chemistry with Holliday Grainger who plays his sister Lucrezia Borgia. She is also excellently cast and even looked 14 at the beginning of the series. Cesare/Arnaud has chemistry with everyone except perhaps his intended love interest Urusula. I blame this somewhat on the actress, but mostly on the bad writing of the relationship.

All in all, a well acted and well designed series. The writing is not the tightest, but it’s vastly better than The Tudors or the terrible Camelot (yes I saw and those are hours i will never get back; still love you Eva Green). One last thing, I love the opening credits of this series. It’s snippets of the show interlaced with Renaissance art. It’s gorgeous and done with really good music. It is also a bit funny because I always smile when the goat appears. Most shows nowadays don’t do proper opening credits and even when they do, they aren’t that good.

The opening credits for this show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOoVtI9x91U

Watched 27-29 February 2012.

Boardwalk Empire

Season 1 – I don’t watch a lot of HBO shows or have so in the past. I missed out on “The Sopranos”, “Deadwood”, “Rome”, “The Wire” and probably a couple others I can’t name now. I do plan on watching “Game of Thrones” (have season one since it aired) after I read the book(s). I know HBO shows are critically acclaimed, but I don’t always want to watch a lot of shows with violence, nudity and general darkness. I have been more open about TV dramas this year though. I have also taken on to watching more silly CW shows than ever so I guess I can even it out with serious stuff like Homeland and Boardwalk Empire.
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This lists any series or seasonal shows I have watched in marathons during the month, but also whenever I want to write about shows I am watching. Smaller mini series will tend to go in Monthly movies.

Switched at BirthSwitched at Birth – Watched episodes S1x01 to S1x11 in a few days and the new episodes since. I haven’t watched any ABC Family shows since the 90s I think. I was quite surprised how much I liked this, but I really hand’t heard anything about it until the new half of the season started. I found it addictive. Yes, it has some cheesiness, but it also has some decent storytelling. I like all the characters and I think the teens on this show are better than on most other other teen/family shows. Definitely one of my regular shows now.

HomelandHomeland – The complete first season. All the critics are saying that this is one of the best new shows of Fall 2011 and I’m inclined to agree. The acting in this is stellar. I have been indifferent to Claire Danes in the past, but this drama demonstrates what an incredible actor she is. I particularly liked the chemistry she has with Demian Lewis in this; I’m still not sure what to think about the Brody character. Maybe that’s the point though. The ending of the season was depressing if only because Carrie is a Cassandra, and I hope she gets more recognition in season two. Also more scenes with her and Brody and her and Saul (ever charismatic and talented Mandy Patinkin). I love how technology has allowed it for me to easily one season of a show in a few settings. It’s actually quite intense and more satisfying since I’ll be able to see so quickly what happens next.

Sherlock S2Sherlock series 2 – I haven’t seen the new movie yet. I did set my mood by reading House of Silk first before starting this. Off the bat, I liked this more than the first series. In general, I have some issues with this modernization of the Holmes stories. The plots and some of the story characters are heavily adapted to suit the times. I do not like what they did with Moriarity for one thing. He is ridiculously petulant and over the top. The Irene Adler in this series is not in the spirit of the Adler of the books either. Though, I enjoyed Scandal in Belgravia for the most part. The thing I liked about Irene in the book was her actions were for protection and keep herself alive.This Irene’s actions were too over the top villainous. I am also not sure of what to make of the Hound of Baskerville adaptation either; I guess atmospherically it was similar? On a positive note, I do like Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch. I think the adaptation of these characters and their friendship is the best thing about the series. I like that John Watson here is more or less the Watson in the books in spirit. Sherlock here is dry and insular, but not as much as the one in the books. The finale was good too. It made me excited for series 3 which is a good sign.

Emma 2009
How did I miss this BBC adaptation in 2009 I wonder? I watched curiously as I do with all adaptations. This is at least my fifth Emma adaptation. Discounting Clueless, the other two adaptations that one can compare this 2009 one too is the ITV one with Kate Beckinsale and the Gwyneth Paltrow version, both done in 90s.

Romola Garai can be gorgeous as seen in Amazing Grace, I Capture the Castle, and Vanity Fair, but the blonde hair doesn’t suit her here. Emma can be a really annoying character, but Romla’s Emma is the most annoying that I have seen. I think I felt this annoyed with Emma when reading the book too.

Jonny Lee Miller is Knightley. He was also Edmund in the Mansfield Park film. Actually, I think Miller was almost exactly the same age Knightley as described in the book when he made this movie, about 37. He doesn’t look it though. I think his Knightley may be the best I’ve seen.He really grew on me and the ending made me almost swoon when he admitted his love for her.

The length of the mini series means you can really see how much Knightley and Emma are suited to one another. I think Miller and Garai had decent chemistry. Also, this mini series allowed Knightley to pine more than in other adaptations I’ve seen. The romantic couple is probably the best thing about this series. I didn’t really need the attempts to make Frank Churchill sympathetic, but I did like the main shipper bits. Though it does remind me that Knightley may be too good for her. Still, I like the majority of the Austen adaptations I have seen and I will say this errs on the side of being one of the better ones.

Recommended for Austenites.

Watch 23-24 January 2012.

While this post isn’t really spoilerly, it is long and really only for people interested in this series. So click at your discretion.
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True Blood the HBO series was what introduced me the knowledge of this series, and a friend began to read the books after our mutual obsession with the show. She was at book 5, but she spoiled me to book 4 (per my request) and I couldn’t resist picking it up, basically devouring books 4-8 in a few days. Then a bit slowly, I listened to books 1-3 on audiobooks. My favourite books are probably books 4 and 8 though I enjoyed each of them thoroughly. I was addicted. I am very surprised I’d never heard about this series before the show. I guess it is the fact that I tend to read more literary and classics than genre fiction, but this is an excellent series. The characters diverse and fun, and I can not help but love Sookie Stackhouse. I think she is an interesting and dynamic protagonist and there is enough mystery, action, and romance. For those who read the books, I am very much on the side of Team Eric as I find him the most compelling and entertaining of the males in the series. As a vampire series, it’s hard not to compare to the other ones I’ve read namely Anne Rice’s and the Twilight books. These are by far my favourite vampire books and series. I like the idea of supernatural being integration in society, and these vampires are powerful without being invincible and kind of silly (sorry Twilight). Likewise, it is serious and adult without being cheerless and morose (ahem Anne Rice).

Speaking a moment of the audiobooks… maybe I’ve been very fortunate in my limited experience of audiobook listening, but I have really grown to love the format and many of the narrators are so true and make it so much their own that I think they do an incredible justice. The narrator for this series is Johanna Parker who I think delivers especially as Sookie which is very important. I can hear her more clearly than Anna Paquin’s Sookie at this point (but I do like the TV portrayal so far). I recommend the audiobooks.

The show seems to be working at the rate of one season/series per book which I hope they speed up because it’s not often any show especially on HBO to go 8 seasons. I really like the tv show, but now that I have read the books, I am finding myself a little more critical of how Alan Ball and his writers incorporate elements from the books. They have definitely added their own characters, taken out some, and infused a lot of depth to characters the books didn’t. Like the author Charlaine Harris, I do respect the vision Ball seems to putting in. On the other hand, I worry the show is being paced too slowly and a lot of good stuff in the books is down the line (including lots of revealing information about the characters they have hinted at on the show). As well, I think that while some characters have been given more (Tara, Sam, Jason, Bill to an extent, lots of minor ones), a couple of others should be getting more (Eric was severely underused considering the role he plays in the series). Still, it’s only been one series and I count it as one of my favourite new shows of 2008 so I look forward to its return.

While the addictiveness and the plotlines make the books slightly trashy sounding, it really is fun and well written vampire series. The next installment #9 is coming out May, and I eagerly await it.

Jane Eyre Masterpiece TheatreThis is at least the fifth adaptation of Jane Eyre that I have seen. In 2005, I saw almost every major JE adaptation including the BBC version with Samantha Morton and Ciarin Hinds, the 1940s Orson Welles version, the 1983 TV version with Timothy Dalton, and the Franco Zeffirelli version with William Hurt. The only other notable JE adaptations I have not seen are the 1973 TV version and the 1970 film version. Clearly, I love the book. Before watching this Masterpiece Theatre version, one of my favourite versions was the 1983 Timothy Dalton TV version. Yes, he is too conventionally handsome to be Mr Rochester, and the production values were practically nil, but my goodness was he good in it. He made it for me. I’m delighted to say that I love this Masterpiece version even more because it had good acting, better production values, and I found the adapted screenplay had just the right length. They cut just enough, and added the details to Jane and Mr Rochester’s relationship that I often felt lacking in other adaptations. I only remembered after that Toby Stephens was the Bond villain in Die Another Day, and he was Duke Orisno in Twelfth Night. I also completely forgot that his mother is Dame Maggie Smith. There are only fifty actors in Britain, and they tend to be related and star in Doctor Who or Harry Potter movies. I found it hard to remember TS’s roles because he was very much the part. He and Ruth Wilson had great chemistry, and it was romantic enough that I didn’t roll my eyes (though, I don’t think I would for this story). Wilson could be too pretty to be called plain, and she bears a striking resemblance to a friend of mine especially with her hair down. All in all, a very good adaptation, but I’ve come to expect good things from Masterpiece Theatre.