Category Archives: Television

Doctor Who’s James Bond Problem

 

I have been fairly unengaged with the last few seasons of Britain’s most popular cultural export, Doctor Who, the long-running fantasy adventure series about a space and time traveling alien and his various human companions.

The series, first started in the 60s, has told stories that spanned galaxies and stories restricted to a single isolated lighthouse. Sometimes the Doctor, for the character is never properly named, has a curt gruff personality, sometimes the Doctor is silly, and sometimes, tragic. The eternal ‘regeneration’ that has allowed the character to pass from actor to actor has also allowed the series to remain relevant to the times of each series giving the show powerful staying ability.

Lately however it has come to resemble late period James Bond before the reboot of that classic franchise in 2006. Bond’s adventures grew in scale and stakes, or at least attempted to. The truth of the matter is there are only so many times you can ‘save the world’ before that become old hat and the audience turns disinterested.

Who took this issue to greater heights. With settings beyond one planet the Doctor began saving the universe, then destroying and recreating the universe. And each iteration presented stranger and more powerful antagonists for the doctor to battle, replacing emotional connection based in character with what they hoped was thrilling expansive scale.

For me scale never surpasses character as emotionally engaging. I remember the 2009 Christmas Special for Doctor Who The Waters of Mars with the Doctor one a single planet trying to save a small, doomed crew far more clearly than I do the season that just finished with another universe threatening pair villain and absolutely no emotional heft.

The problem is the writing. Which is strange because show runner Chris Chibnall has turned out very compelling character-based drama such as with his series Broadchurch but seeming has forgotten the basic of good character and story when handed a fantasy franchise.

I hope the Doctor’s future has more small scale but greater character driven stories rather than more failed attempts at ‘mind blowing’ concept that are emotionally meaningless.

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Tilbury: an Update and recommendation

 

On Friday Jan 28th I posted my review and comments on the 1985 made for television Icelandic Folk horror movie Tilbury and in that essay, I commented that the film apparently took an antisemitic turn in its final act.

I am pleased, very pleased, to report that such an interpretation is at odds with the director’s intention and the Menorahs visible in the setting of the films climax were ultimately just an element of set decoration that carried the potential for misinterpretation and not confirmation of a character’s earlier accusations. The film’s reached out to me to discuss this matter and I’m happy to revisit my thoughts on this interesting piece of folk horror. (I also want to note that my Sweetie-wife strongly disagreed with my initial interpretation.)

Tilbury with its folklore that is unfamiliar to most people beyond Iceland and its strange nightmare logic sequences is not the sort of cinema that everyone enjoys but that we need more of, off beat and willing to be something more than a machete wielding masked madman. So please check out this unique piece of cinema currently streaming on Shudder.

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Icelandic Folk Horror: Tilbury

Icelandic Folk Horror: Tilbury

Made for Icelandic television in 1987 Tilbury is a short, just 53-minute, folk horror set during the British occupation of Iceland in 1940.

Audun is young man from rural Iceland. When he is sent near Reykjavik to part of the labor force building up defenses for the occupying British forces, he’s asked by the village priest to check in on a young woman, the priest’s daughter, who traveled there earlier and who has now fallen out of contact.

Out of place and naive Audun eventually finds the young woman but begins to suspect that a British officer she’s having an affair with may in fact be an imp from Icelandic folklore. As Audun investigates his experiences become more and more nightmarish.

Despite the limitations of television and budget Tilbury has much to offer; Lynchian dream logic sequences, amusing portrayals of British and American stereotypes by Icelandic performers, and a different vibe of folk horror.

The follow bit of text I am striking through. Please see my follow-up post but essentially it was wrong and I regret the error.

That said it must be noted that halfway through the run time the piece takes an ugly anti-Semitic turn that is truly baffling and utterly unnecessary to story or plot. At first these viewpoints can be dismissed as a character’s bigotry but the movie’s climatic sequence present imagery that invalidates such an interpretation.

With such an ugly turn I cannot recommend anyone support what otherwise might have been an interesting discovery.

Tilbury is currently streaming on Shudder.

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Stolen Infirmity

 

If you follow politics, you are likely familiar with the concept of Stolen Valor where someone claims a military history or deeds that are untrue. They served in combat when in reality they never left the base admin offices and so on.

Hollywood, the most creative place on Earth, has rebooted and reimagined the concept and created what I’m calling Stolen Infirmity.

Over the least several decades there has been a general awakening in American culture to be more supportive, sympathetic, and understanding of people suffering from addictions, disorders, and past trauma. This is a good thing and these people need our attention and our compassion.

However, individuals accused of evil acts are stealing and claiming infirmities as a shield against any and all responsibility for their heinous actions.

People in actual therapy for these serious issues take responsibility for their behavior, for the harm that they have done to others, for their actions but these celebrities do just the opposite. The actions are not their fault but a result of their condition, their drinking, their sex addiction, certainly not themselves.

You can see this on full display in the recent interview where once beloved geek icon Joss Wheadon attempts to rehab his reputation. Despite numerous accusations from numerous people from nearly every production he has led. Somehow none of this true, somehow none of this is hisfault. Somehow, it’s all down to his trauma, and that actors somehow can’t understand his words.

An entire field of bulls would stink as badly.

 

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The Power of Mystery

When an audience or reader has a deficit of information one of two possibilities is likely. They may become frustrated and confused, disengaging with the piece or they may become intrigued and start filling in the missing bits from their own imagination.

In 1975’s Jaws, the mechanical shark worked rarely, and the filmmakers were forced to scrap plans that would have shown the beast on screen much more than the final film. With clever tension building techniques they crafted a taunt masterpiece around not seeing the shark until the final act.

In the television series Babylon 5 the Vorlons and Shadows were powerful mysterious being playing at some struggle that stretched over eons. They captivated the imagination and speculation. Then, once their background was explained, these master races were reduced to disappointed children of a cosmic divorce.

Hannibal Lector, pulled from a supporting role in the novel The Silence of the Lambs to a central thematic element in the film adaptation sparked endless fascination now neutered by endless backstory excavations and explanations.

This brings me to Boba Fett.

Fett, ignoring the animated sequence in the Holiday Special, first appeared in Star Wars: The Empires Strikes Back as the laconic bounty hunter that outwitted Han Solo and captured him for Darth Bader and the Empire. Other than showing a cleverness equal to or greater than Solo’s and successfully backtalking to Darth Vader the character did very little and never revealed his face. A perfect combination to create mystery and fascination with exploded almost immediately. The characters casual end in the next film ignited outrage as already a myth had grown up around him.

Now we are treated to a limited series The Book of Boba Fett centered on the character and as he is seen and heard more and more, he has lost nearly all of his mythic standing.

Having watched 3 of seven episodes I can’t say that anything about the character is worthy of his legendary status. As a guest character in The Mandalorian he was able to maintain that air of mystery that supported him as a mythic character. Front and center of his own series, his own story, he cannot remain an unexplained mystery and like Hannibal Lecter he shrinks in stature.

Mystery is a delicate element in storytelling. Use too much and your story if befuddled and confused, reveal too much as is happening here and there is little to entice.

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4 Things That Annoy Me About Firearms in Media

 

In lieu of writing about the Republican insurrection one year ago today I am instead going to write about several repeating aspects of guns in popular media that always irritate me when they appear.

1) Throwing People: Over and over again guns are depicted as violating Newton’s Law of Motion. A target hit by a round is lifting into the air and flung backwards. Targets weighting hundreds of pounds. If such forced was being delivered to the target an equal force in the opposite direct would be applied to the shooter. In the case of handguns to their wrists. People are not thrown by bullets and very often don’t even collapse or fall down when hit.

2) Inhuman Accuracy: The greatest offenders here are the John Woo films and his imitators and Zombie movies where people firing with a piston in each hand, moving from speeding vehicles, and leaping through the air, sometimes all three at the same time, hits distant or difficult targets. Accuracy with a firearm is much easier to obtain than with a bow but such shooting is beyond the realm of possibility.

3) Lasers on Sniper Rifles: The point of mounting a laser on a gun is to assist in accuracy. The concept being that where the ‘dot’ appears is where the bullet will impact. This is true over relatively short distances, but it is not true over scores or hundreds of yards with a sniper rifle. A bullet the instant it leaves the barrel falls toward the ground with an acceleration of 32 feet per second/per second. If a round travels at 2700 feet per second, after 100 yards it has traveled 1/9 of a second and will be 3 feet 10 inches below when that little red dot. Mounting a laser on a rifle is purely there so the ‘hero’ can spot the tell-tale dot and avoid getting shot.

4) Steady Scope Images: Related to the laser but preceding it in history is the moment in TV and film where an assassin is holding a scoped rifle to their shoulder and we get a shot of what they see through the scope, a perfectly still telescopic image of the target. No wobble or shake because the camera is mounted on a tripod but take out your smartphone and zoom to a distant object and see how steady that image appears. Through a high-powered with a tripod or bracing the image will bounced and shake unless the assassin is an android.

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My Sweetie-Wife’s Latest UK Discovery

My sweetie-wife is a real Anglophile and always finding interesting UK films and programs to introduce me to and the latest is the long running panel game/comedy show Would I Lie to You?(WILTY)

Two teams of three celebrities, with consistent team captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack, participants recount brief statements about themselves and the opposing team through often hilarious questioning must determine if the statement is true or a lie. Mid-Game a guest is brought out and each member of one team, alternating between the teams on a weekly basis, claims the guest has a special connection with them, such as being a member of the same Morris dancing troupe or having produced a song version of Hamlet’s ‘To be or Not to Be’ speech they recorded, or gave them a ride in a steam locomotive. The program is hosted by actor/impressionist/comedian Rob Brydon.

There are no prizes for winning further stressing that this is a show about comedy, and I must admit that there have been episodes where it was difficult to stop laughing. The participants are generally quick-witted, and landing a joke always takes precedence over discovering a truth.

The program has an official YouTube page where previous seasons episodes can be watched without angering the gods of copyright.


 

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A Lackluster Opening: The Book of Boba Fett

 

A common piece of advice given to writers starting out in their craft is to avoid prologs. Far too often am inexperienced writer will use a prolog, particularly with fantasy and science-fiction stories to dump onto the poor unsuspecting reader pages and pages of backstory and world building rather then give the reader character and conflict. That is not to say that a prolog is never to be used, there are brilliant prologs out there including the one that opens The Fellowship of the Ring.

The Book of Boba Fett, like The Mandalorian before it, refers to episodes as ‘Chapters’ within a larger story but episode one, Stranger in a Strange Land (And deduct marks for using the title of one of SF’s most famous books even if both are biblical references), stank of a poor prolog.

The episode depicts two plot threads, one set nine years earlier following Fett’s survival after Return of the Jedi and the troubles he faced in the harsh Tatooine desert, while the other shows his current situation as the new crime lord of Mos Espa. The flashback storyline has little dramatic tension since it is a flashback and we are well aware of the character’s survival and thriving, and the current storyline has very little story content. Elements are established for future use, that is to say world-building, and a bit of combat is thrown in the to give the illusion of stakes, but ultimately the only thing this chapter does is set-up coming payoffs.

I have hopes for a decent series and story but Chapter one failed to pull me in, make me care, or do anything more than lay out the world to come.

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Scary Season #6: Squid Game (Concluded)

 

Spoilers Ahead

 

 

 

 

 

I have now finished all nine episode of the Korean import Squid Game a fictional setting financially that depicts financially desperate people playing children’s games with the stakes being great riches or death upon losing.

The central character is Seong Gi-hun (Surname first as is traditional in Korean culture.) Gi-hun is a reprobate who whines and gambles and stealing money from his elderly mother’s bank account. In episode one I found Gi-hun thoroughly unlikeable and as other characters whose dire straight were not so directly a product of their own selfish choices entered the game my sympathies for Gi-hun diminished even further.

But though the writing displaying Gi-hun compassion for less fortunate players more likely to be eliminated and his willingness to take risks to save them along with actor Lee Jung-jae’s incredible charisma the character won me over as Gi-hun grew exponentially. Even as my sympathies for Gi-hun grew I also rooted for the tragically doomed Ali, a foreign worker abused by his employer, and Sae-byeok a young woman who had escaped from North Korea and now needed cash to save her brother from a South Korean orphanage and her mother still in the North. The most seemingly lost and tragic character was Oh Il-nam, an elderly man suffering from a brain tumor and seeming dementia and to whom Gi-hun develops a friendship and sense of protectiveness that is betrayed when in the final episode it is reveals Il-nam was one of the super wealthy hosting the game with its violence and death to alleviate the wealth created boredom.

While the violence of the series has attracted much attention as well as its commentary on social inequality to me the show’s greatest impact is in the inter-personal dynamics. The personal costs each character accumulates as the dangers and deaths grows, the dependency and betrayals are the emotional heart of the story. When Gi-hun wins but prefers an impoverished life to tainted wealth the show makes its most compelling study of both character and theme.

Squid Game also has a sub-plot as Police Detective Hwang Jun-ho infiltrates the game searching for a brother who has gone missing. The conclusion is somewhat underwhelming but thematically fitting for the show’s dark and cynical view of humanity.

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Odds and Ends

 

It’s mind numbingly stupid that in all likelihood more Americans are going to die of COVID 19 after a safe and effective vaccine is available than before there was such an option.

 

The Internet has performed an artistic trick that a hundred years of cinema could not pull off, making foreign language television and movies popular with Americans.

 

I wonder if any marginal Republican districts are going to change hands because the GOP has successfully convinced their base that death is the way to ‘own the libs?’

 

Colin Powell screwed up supporting the invasion of Iraq, but he was magnitudes less evil and less dangerous that all of those in close orbit with Trump.

 

 

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