Century Falls: Episode 6

 "Before disaster came, when things were perfect still."

This script is beautiful; consider the quote above with its perfect iambs. And this is a beautiful finale, satisgying thematically as much as in terms of plot, with every character getting perfect focus and development.

I've been ambivalent about Century Falls. It's been fun getting the Doctor Who Easter Eggs- characters called Ashe and Josiah, a mysterious Watcher, the whole vibe. And I'm aware there's a lot more subtext here- about hope, about indivoiduality vs comformity on several layers- that I've been slow to realise. But it has, at times, been hard going.

That is not at all the case for this perfect final episode. Even Julia gets redemption and closure, and only Josiah unambiguously dies. It took a while to get here but this finale makes me glad that, like Tess, I kept the faith.

Ms Marvel: Destined

 "Excuse me, Miss Agent... next time, remove your shoes."

Where to begin here? Perhaps with the reveal that Kamran's grandma Najma is the leader of a group of ageless djinn, seen in flashback in 1942, and that Kamala's missing grandma is one of them. Perhaps we begin at the end with that train to Karachi- is Kamala's missing grandmother returning?

Perhaps we begin with the tension between Kamala's secret and her parents who are, in the main, supportive. Or Nakia, a close friend, who is upset to find that Kamala has been hiding big things from her. Or with Bruno, who is soon off to Caltech and away from his friends.There's a lot going on.

But it's also lovely to see Muslim people presented as normal, the culture of the subcontinent, a Muslim wedding followed by a Bon Jovi covers band and Bollywood dancing. And to see the imam's (and Nakia's) response to Damage Control, comedy official baddies representing Islamophobia.

And let's be clear: I'm an atheist. No religion, or its beliefs, should be free from criticism. But there is a point- a point which the likes of Richard Dawkins and his ilk have repeatedly breached- at which that kind of thinking- thinking that I share- can cross a line and assist in the demonising of a minority group which has uncomfortable echoes from the 1930s.

I love this series. It reminds me of early '60s Spider-Man, but with samosas.

Century Falls: Episode 5

 "I've never tied anyone up before..."

I have, thus far, defended RTD's script for Century Falls while allowing criticism to fall upon the production. After all, the dialogue is rich and the characters convincing. And yet... this fifth episode is just running around to no good purpose.

Worse, the revelation of who Julia is falls flat. I expected more than some nebulous sense of her being some kind of gestalt entity for the whole village. There's some nice character stuff wiyth Carey and Ben, and the two Harkness sistors, and the cliffhanger is exciting, but tnis penultimate episiode has very little substance.

This is, perhaps, a fifth episode thing. RTD is, as we know, a bloody good writer, though rather young here. And Dark Season was a pair of linked three parters.

Hopefully the finale will impress.

Better Call Saul: RICO

 "Blow my magic flute..."

It's getting increasingly difficult to find new ways of saying that each episode of Better Call Saul is bloody excellent telly, but my God this is gripping. Jimmy gets properly stuck into a new case where old people in a homde are being defrauded, things seem to go well... and even Chuck seems to get his mojo back. And potentially be cured? We shall see. I'm certain he's doomed.

It's great seeing the whole story unwind. There are moments of simultaneous comedy and ingenuity, such as jimmy writing a legal document on toilet paper. And the David vs Goliath nature of all this is shown by a posh, espensively dressed lawyer calling Jimmy while he's stuck in a bin.

We also see Mike as doting grandfather, and hints that he's looking for a new job. And we get a fascinating flashback to Jimmy's relative youth, with him being resourceful and Howard being, as ever, a dick.

Writing, direction, acting... all are excellent. And the story is unfolding very nicely indeed.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

 "Be excellent to each other!"

Obviously, I've seen this film a million times. That goes withoit saying. But that was before my blogging days, and it was in another century. And besides, the wench is... sorry.

Anyway. we all know the story, and how splendidly silly it is; Bill and Ted must manage not to flunk history (how do they pass everything else???!!!) in order to one day form the band that will end all war and poverty by being awesome. This proves that we metalheads will save the world, although presumbly with better guitars.

It's not about this. It's about the gleeful playfulness with history, the irreverence. It's about that late 80s rock zeitgeist. It's about Keanu Reeves' firsr venture into Hollywood, although Alex Winter is seemingly the more characterful of the two. It's about Napoleon and water slides.

It's about military schools, presented here as comedy, but... resder, if you have ever sent your child to one, taught in one, or endorsed their existence in any way, you are subhuman scum. That is all. Thank you.

It's about the coolness of shsdes in 1989. It's about how the phone box time machine is in no way the TARDIS, and how the very concept of a phone booth evokes such nostalgia in 2022.

This very silly and very cool film is not, on the surface, very clever. But thst's misleading as there's quite a lot going on, much of which breaks the fourth wall.

5 Minute Dating (2010)

 "It's quite a funny story, actually..."

I love a horror film with a punchline.

This is at once a sad little meditation on how unfortunate datring must be for the disfigured while also having fun with the concept. There's a lot of gleeful body horror. And the punchline, of which I shall say nothing, is great.

The comic acting, too, is flawless, from a largely unknown cast. And one cannot but praise the make-up.

The film may be short- it is, ineffect, structured as a one liner, but it's brilliantly executed and bloody hilarious. I shall say no more, as spoilers really matter here, but watching this is an excellent use of four minutes, should nuclear armageddon happen. Although you may well just miss the punchline.

Curve (2016)

Good old Existentialism. Life is a struggle with no objective purpose, but there is liberation in the fact that we are therefotr free to make our own.

This applies no less if one happens to be suspended, on a curve, above an abyss and struggling to cling on to life. The concept of the film is superb, but so is Laura Jane Turner's extraordinary facial acting, with not one word of dialogue. The visual framing of every shot is sublime. Each minor event is hugely shocking and effective. The increasingly bloody hands of our nameless, desperate protagonist foreground the utter absence of any hope. Yet she struggles, she asserts herself regardless. And there is power in that, a power she creates for herself.

It is the concept itself that lingers in the mind. For we are all mortal, and must live with the certainty of our eventual extinction. It is up to us to find our footholds, however bloody our fingers become, to struggle through the suffering that is life, to find meaning in the brief candle of existence.

Pondering such things puts me in a defiantly upbeat mood. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm a bit weird.

Portrait of God (2022)

"Why does God appear to them and not us?"

This, at seven and a bit minutes long, is a serious contender for the best horror film I've ever seen. It's a simple, existentially deep idea, perfectly executed. 

The framing of the shots, and the camera's use of darkness, are exquisite. From the very beginning the darness blurs the distinction between the diegetic and the non-diegetic. And the horror comes not from jump scares and gore but from old-fashioned suspense, and what we don't see. Darkness again.

As for the brief appearance of God... Slenderman, step aside. The design and framing of the concluding moments are another level of exquisite.

Possibly in Michigan (1983)

 "The three of them have two things in common- violence and perfume."

We live in a surreal world. One where male violence against women is, to a degree, normalised, and we almost accept it as natural that women should not have the freedom to walk alone in the dark that those of us with a y chromosome take for granted. This is surreal, so why not use surrealism to tackle it?

This short bit of surreal cinema is absolutely superb, subverting the male gaze in every way. The acting style is deliberately removed from realism. Musicals are surreal by nature, and this leans into that. The most obvious phallic symbol is a pathetic little worm. The scene of sexual violence is particularly surreal in its presentation, removing any possibility of fetishising it.

The music, font, clothes, everything, are of course gloriously '80s, but the message resonates just as strongly forty years on, sadly.

Braindead (1992)

 "I kick arse for the Lord!"

I utterly adore this film with all my heart. It is, of course, absolutely nothing like a cerain trilogy Peter Jackson would later helm. Said film may evoke the New Zealand landscape spectactularly but, well... the cast is as follows: the Hobbits consist of two Americans, an Irishman and a Scotsman. Aragorn is Norwegian. I could go on. 

But this film is very New Zealand.

This film is gory in exactly the way non-gore fans like myself prefer: comedically. And it fulfils the comedy enormously Yes, we end with a splendid, extended, zombie set piece, as we may well espect and want. But this film is New Zealand genius.

The zombies, including the zombie baby (it's a nuce sequence), look superb. No CGI here: it's 1992.  Have sime stop motion instead.plus the verbal wit is superb. Really superb.

The acting is sublime. Let us mention in dispatches Timothy Balme, whom I know not from anything else. The kung fu priest is hilarious, but there are so mmy genius linres. The '50s setting wasn't necessarily essential, but it adds depth: it works. The script ks comedy genius. The gore is... and I choose the adjective with care... hilarious. This superb New Zealand fim has a serious claim to being the greatest zombie film ever made.7

Ms Marvel: Crushed

 "No Snapchatting in the Masjid!"

This is, of course, another perfecr episode. Witty, full of humour and character, and once again subtly introducing both Islamic life and South Asian culture to an American audience. We get a potted history of Partition and get a nicely effective look at what it's like inside a Mosque and the different cliques that frequent it.

We also learn a little more about Kamala's mysterious and controversial great grandmother, about whom rumours abound. She gets her second outing as a superhero.And we meet the baddies- Damage Control, from an old limited series or two back in my era.

And we meet the almost comically seductive Kamran... and his mother.

This is utterly magnificent telly.

Andor: Rix Road

" Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that."

This is, if not unexpected in what happens, a tense and taut finale with lots of intense character moments as everyone gathers round for Maarva's funeral- with her fiery death speech inspiring the people of Fennix to rise against the empire. Hope may, indeed, lie in the proles.The riot is glorious.

Other sruff happens; Mon Mothma lays the ground of a cover story for her financial doings, but nevertheless introduces her daughter to that dodgy bloke's son in a possible forced marriage, Ouch. But it's mostly focused on and around the funeral, with Andor rescuing poor Bix and getting his friends a way off the planet. Interesting that Syril Kane should save Dedra from certain death. He clearly has not only ambition but a huge crush on her. To be continued, I've no doubt.

The ending is something of a cliffhanger; will Luthen, who will do anything for the cause, murder Andor to keep him quiet? Cassian calling his bluff is an extraordinary piece of acting from Diego Luna. And this is an extraordinary finale.

Century Falls: Episode 4

 "Being alone is the easiest escape there is."

This episode is the turning point, full of revelations. Tess and her mother are reconciled, both with each other and with the truth: Elizabeth was adopted, but was born in Century Falls. We also hear a fuller account of what happened in 1953, and who Century is... although we get only hints of who Century is.

We learn who it is that Richard Naismith has been keping prisoner, though; his own father, Dr Josiah Naismith. We Doctor Who fans find all this very Ghost Light, no doubt very deliberate from RTD. There are lots of nice little character touches, too- Julia's manipulation of Ben, and her interesting longing for oblivion. Who is she?

And yet... somehow the brilliance of the poetic, beautiful script is not conveyed well by the visuals and, perhaps, the acting. Nevertheless, this is getting interesting.

Ms Marvel: Generation Why

 "You're Kamala Khan. If you want to save the world, then you're going to save the world."

I'm far too old to know Kamala Khan from the comics; she's after my time and Carol Danvers was my Ms Marvel. But that mean's I'm coming to this series fresh... and it's wonderful.

How to sufficiently praise this delightful piece of television? As a comedy, it works perfectly- witty; real, likeable characters; superb and visually comedic direction. Hilarious, fourt-wall breaking, but with real heart. Kamala, her parents, her brother Aamir, and Bruno are all instantly both likeable and real, which is a triump of both script and acting.

Also, this is an American show, and the USA has a history of not being great in its depiction of either South Asian people or Muslims. It's so refreshing, as a Brit, to see something that evokes Goodness Gracious Me or Bend It Like Beckham in the lightly assured way it has fun with the cultural contrasts without ever stereotyping.

The episode establishes both the characters and the set-up with aplomb. So what is this bracelet from Kamala's grandma? What does it do? What are the family secrets? I'm excited.

Better Call Saul: Bingo

 "Why are you sending her to the cornfield, Howard?"

This episode isn't as good as the last one, but what episode is? This is neveryheless an intriguing little self-contained little story that presumably finishes off the tale of the Kettlemans. Yet, beneath the fun, Jimmy isn't seemingly doing very well, despite his bluster.

Indeed, there's an air of impending tragedy. Chuck has found a sense of purpose and optimism which is bound to be dashed... although what is Jimmy's rather obvious plot to get him to look at those files...? Mike seems to be in legal trouble, but seems to have ways of handing it which Jimmy is clearly not privy to. But I love the vibe between the two of them.

The episode, despite its cleverness, is about two very tough decisions. The decision by the Kettlemans to accept their fate, and what is best; and the decision by Jimmy to do the right thing for Kim. He genuinely loves her, which is heartwarming. Yet, for valid reasons, she has to turn down his business proposal.

I suspect things are not going well for Jimmy at all. And we shall soo see the fallout. Excellent bit of telly.

Century Falls: Episode 3

 "I'm aware only that three spinster women have nothing better to do than gossip."

This is, it has to be said, a slow episode, but I don't think the failt is that of RTD's script, which feels very classic kids' TV stuff and, I noticed today, has twin sisters named "Harkness", a link between Agatha and Captain Jack.

Of course, the big character thing is that Tess's mother wants to keep her away from the Harkness sisters, bitter at what Esme said and understandably so. But the way she speaks to her poor daughter for believing the story is horrifying.

We see a little more, though not much, of what happened at the temple in 1953, and a gold masked woman called "Century". It's a nice drip, drip, drip for the third episode of six.

And then the big revelation... Julia, the "maid", is really in charge. I didn't see that coming, but it makes sense in hindsight. Is she Century? I'm dsure there's much to come.

And yet, despite the script, I think the direction and the cast aren't quite selling this as well as they could.

Andor: Daughter of Ferrix

 "Everything's all right..."

After last week's extrsaordinary drama it's back to getting all the pieces in order for the final two episodes. It's an episode of prep, not bnecessarily of action. So we get Andor and Melshi- and very possibly no one else- off that prison planet hellhole. We, and poor Andor, learn that his mother is dead. We, but not Andor, see that the funeral is being prepared by Dedra as a trap.

Yet the rest of the galaxy, under the Empire's horrifying totalitarianism, remains a prison. We are reminded of Bix's awful torture. Mon Mothma condfides to Vel how much trouble she's in, and how she will have to accept the betrothal of her only daughter to the son of a monster for the greater good, a particularly harsh example of the kind of brutal moral choices made routinely by Luthien- one of which is revealed to a horrified Saw.

Luthien gets the coolest moment, of course, as his little ship rather awesomely outmaneouvres a Star Destroyer.

It's all character and plot thread development with no fireworks. But the fireworks are coming. And yet again the world building is superbly on theme.

 

Moon Knight: Gods and Monsters

 "Are you an Egyptian superhero?"

"I am."

This surprisingly short yet satisfying finale packs everything in. We have an epic battle full of twists and turns between a despearate Khonshu and a terrifying Ammit. We have Tawaret continuing to be adorable, and Layla being awesome as her temporary avatar. We get cool superheroics in the heart of Cairo.

Yet we also get more scenes in the psych ward; we're made clear which reality is real, but Marc really does have Dissociative Identity Disorder, in a way which involves no fantasy elements whatsoever. And, as we're to discover- and have, I think, had hints of previously- that there is a third, and rather violent, personlaity: Jake Lockley.

Yet the core of it all is the new-found bond between Marc and Steven. This is at once a simple and a complex finale.

And I appreciated the not-so-subtle tribute to Bill Sienciewicz.

Century Falls: Episode 2

 "All the past of Century Falls- and it's coming back."

The plot thickens. So Richard has powers too, as do many in the village; Ben is merely particularly powerful.Then there's the "Gathering", where those villagers with a "birthright"do this psychic seance type thing. Oh, and no pregnancy in the village has been carried successfully to term for forty years, which is not good news for Tess' mum.

However, good though the script is, and good though much of the adult cast are, this suffers a bit from an abundance of child actors, all three of which are adequate but little more. There's an intriguing and effective atmosphere, though, in spite of this clearly not being an expensive programme to make. 

The village's attitude towards outsiders is clearer now, with Tess and her mum in a rather worrying position. Richard is all the more sinister. And what is this creepy, gold-masked figure? This is a very different series to Dark Season, and the characters, while well written, are less charismatic; there's no one to compare with Marcie.

Still, I'm enjoying this.

Easy Street (1917)

It's been a while since I've watched a silent comedy short, so here's another one. After all, all of them are well out of copyright and many if not all of them can just be watched on YouTube or similar.

This is a another fairly early Chaplin short, although it's very good indeed, with the visual comedy being truly first class and Chaplin himself being extraordinary- the mannerisms, the walk, the facial expressions. He's every bit as good as his reputation.

As ever, with silent films and especially with comedy shorts, you really have to focus on what's going on visually. I'll admit that there are bits of the plot I only really grasped after reading a synopsis. It just goes to show how the experience of watching a film is so fundamentally different if everything has to be communicated visually in a world where cinema-goers were all used to that level of concentration as a matter of course. The rise of sound would fundamentally change that.

Yet the humour absolutely works, a hundred and five years later, despite coming from a time when Russia had a czar and the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires were still a thing. In many ways, the world as seen in this comedy is a very different one from ours. But slapstick is timeless. And this is some of the very finest slapstick known to humanity.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

 "No guns. No killing."

"Where's the fun in that?"

I've been putting off this film for years. Oh, its predecessor was a good action film, and was centred around a sublime performance by the late Heath Ledger. But it wasn't a good Batman film. I was expecting the same of this.

I was wrong. This is both a brilliant action film- the set pieces are universally sublime- and an equally brilliant Batman film. The typically wooden performance of Christian Bake matters not: the characterisation of Bruce Wayne, eight years after Batman has retired and Rachel has died, is at the centre of everything. He slowly regains hope, is beaten away from it, and symbolically rises from mpossible odds. It's all sublime.

I know not of Bane from the comics. He was after my time. Yet Tom Hardy, despite some accent slippage, is excellent as the muscular, pseudo-intellectual ewpitome of the sort of characters that could only have existed in the '90s.

A more pleasing character is an unusually engaging Catwoman: Anne Hathaway is both charismatic and brilliant, with so many little nuances to her performance. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is superb as a young, orphan cop who identifies with Bruce becausevof how he lost a parent. Morgan Freeman, as Lucius Fox, commentts wryly on the corporate side. Alred, meanwhile, has lost his stiff upper lip. Yet, if he's played by the extraordinary Michael Caine, who cares?

Yes, everybody bloody knows Bruce is the Batman. But I found this film to be excellent. Both the direction and the performances were sublime .

Moon Knight: Asylum

 "There can be no progress without understanding."

Ok. This one is deep. Almost certainly the pivotal episode, in fact.

This is a superb piece of television. We know not what is real. Is it the asylum, with Dr Harrow? Is it the Egyptian afterlife, with the lovely goddess Tawaret. Along those two realities, we have Marc's traumatic past, How he, being very young, led his younger brother into a cave and he drowned. And yet... we saw his mother neglectfully entrust the safety of her youngest son to his still very young older brother. She's a grown-up. Her Ro-Ro's death is her fault.

Her physical and mental abuse of Marc is inexcusable, despite her grief., and we see it through Steven's horrific eyes ashe sees the "mum" he's been frequently phoning. She's dead. And an abuser. It's made very clear where Marc's demons come from. And, indeed, where Steven came from. This is a place of real darkness. And from there, we see the disturbing origin of Moon Knight.

As an aside, I'm glad they acknowledged, within the origin story we see here, both that Khonshu is a manipulative bastard and that Khonshu is Jewish. As for whether reality is the mental hospital or the Egyptian afterlife, it's left nicely ambiguous.

But don't you want to hug the lovely goddess Tawaret? She may have helped Marc escape to stop Arthur, But Steven's soul is gone..

Andor: One Way Out

 "I burn my decency for someone else's future..."

This is an extraordinary episode of television. Obviously the focus is on the priso escape, a heost in reverse, full of drama and tension. But, more than that, it's about the intense and extraordinary performance of Andy Serkis, whose performance deserves recognition come award season, as Kino Roy, a man of such intense and nuanced character who saves everyone yet must be left behind because he cannot swim. It's that good. That alone is enough to elevate this episode to the sublime.

And then we get Luthen, coordinating the Rebellion, making harsh decisions, choosing to let the empire kill fifty men rather than reveal the existence of a spy. And his speech, when challenged by the spy, is a thing of art, expressing the moral ambiguities which one must face when destroying fascism.

Thois is an upbeat episode. A moment of triumph, as five thousand men escape. Yet the existential horror of tyranny remains. The Empire is not some movie serial space tyranny. It is Lukashenko. It is Khamenei. It is Trump. It is Crown Prince Mohammed. It is Putin. As ever in Andor.

Century Falls: Episode 1

 "If you were born outside Century Falls, you're always an outsider!"

Yes indeed, this is a local village for local people.

I've been wishing to watch this early kids' drama by Russell T. Davies for years. It's very different from Dark Season, but feels very much in the lineage of a certain type of childrens' telefantasy. We have the Falls themselves, a mysterios temple that burned down forty years ago despite being made of stone- are these suspicious villagers pagan? Have Tess and her pregnant mother stumbled into The Wicker Man?

The characterisation, and the dialogue, are brilliantly RTD. Tess and her mum seem very real in comparison to the otherworldly villagers and those strange kids, Carey and the disturbingly odd Ben, a complex figure, with bullying tendencies and hidden depths, seemingly feared even my hos despairing father.

So many secrets and subplots are developing already, yet it's all very easy to follow. This is all rather intriguing.

Moon Knight: The Tomb

 "I squashed it, I squashed it."

I was enjoying Moon Knight already... but that was a turn to the unexpected. Shades of Legion there.

The bulk of the episode, with Steven and Layla exploring the tomb, is perhaps a little slow, despite the hostile mummies and the revelations. Layla and Steven are getting on really rather well, and Marc is jealous, keeping his distance from Layla only to protect her from Khonshu. It's a very interesting two body love triangle.

Yet we also have the revelation that Marc's "partner" killed Layla's father. Is this "partner" a third persona, perhaps the same one as has been hinted at before, a bloodthirsty killer?

We also have the tomb of Alexander the Great. And Steven showing himself to be a bloody good arccaeologist.

The conversation between Layla and Harrow is fascinating. But not as fascinating as what happens when Harrow shoots Marc, and reality gets very weird and uncertain. I don't really think that Marc is in a mental home and Harrow is his psychiatrist, but I have no idea what's going on. And I like not knowing.

And then a bloody hippo-headed goddess appears. Brilliantly bonkers.

Better Call Saul: Five-O

 "I am asking you to take a few ounces of lukewarm coffee and spill it on him."

Bob Odenkirk is certainly  in this, an episode of the show in which he's the nominal star. He even gets a moderately meaty and typically enjoyable supporting role, which nicely develops the relationship between him and Mike. But this, for one episode only, is The Mike Ehmentraut Show. And Jonathan Banks, after several episodes of him being a mysterious figure in the background if not for the obvious dramatic irony, gives us an extraordinary star turn.

The revelations keep coming as the mystery is develops. Mike's son Matt, a cop too, is dead, leaving Mike's daughter-in-law Stacey and his beloved Kaylee. And so we learn the devastating story of how Mike came to Albuquerque.

The episode is cleverly structured, like a whodunit. But it also shows how damned clever Mike is, with the trap he lays for his son's killers. Yet the most extraordinary part of this extraordinary piece of television is Mike's monologue to Stacey at the end. Jonathan Banks gives us, for the first time ever, a deeply emotional Mike. And his performance is an absolute tour de force. Incredible.

Johnny Got His Gun (1971)

 "I'll pray for him for the rest of my days. But I will not risk testing his faith against your stupidity."

Two things first. One: this film is one of the finest works of cinematic art to which I've been exposed, and I've blogged many hundreds of films. I'm very grateful to the lovely individual who introduced me to it. Two: yes, I've seen the video to Metallica's "One" probably hundreds of times. That means, firstly, that there were spoilers, although I don't think that matters and, secondly, that finding clips I recognised provided some relief from the beautiful yet cathartic horror of what this film is about.

It's an anti-war fim, yes, completely and absolutely; the end caption drives that home. But there is so much subtext here. The poetry of both the dialogue and the direction is painfully exquisite. The sheer horror of imagining oneself without eyes, nose, limbs, mouth, movement, yet forced to live one's natural span with nothing but interior life and what touch and feeling one is permitted. The ambiguity between dream and reality, with sedatives further blurring the lines. The importance of kindness, a kiss on the forehead. The joy of sunlight. 

The longing for extinction. For this cannot be life.

Joe's dreams of the past- in colour, for the monochrome of the present has an obvioius symbolism- mix memory and surrealism. The sweet yet only time that he and Corrine, people of their time, in 1917, enjoy the union of their bodies. His innocence. The cynical evil of a world that, having communicated with him and registered his wish to die, keep him alone, secret, to live and suffer. The frustrated kindness of the nurse and his love for her. 

It's hard to process, shortly after a first viewing, how much meaning there is in this film.But it is magnificent, cathartic, beautiful.

Andor: Nobody's Listening

 "I can't help him. I can't help anyone."

Andor continues to be the best television exploration of totalitarianism. Where to start? With Dedra being menacingly evil while having Bix tortured, with her being scarily efficient at uncovering everything? With Mon Mothma be caught with her funding rebel activities, and by the way Vel is her cousin? 

All these things emphasise the sheer intensity of Imperial oppression. Yet there are those who benefit. Dedra, despite the tightrope she walks. Syril Kane, who seems to be obsessed with her as much as his own ambition. That's a fascinating and creepy dynamic.

But the focus is on that prison, The horror of it, the hopelessness of escape. Yet, slowly, even Andy Serkis' prisoner supervisor starts to see the hopelessness as an old man, forty shifts from release, has a stroke and is euthanised. And it's realised that no one ever leaves; released prisoners are simply reassigned. There are only life sentences. That's evil.

And even the supervisor turns against them.

This is bleak, powerful stuff.

Moon Knight: The Friendly Type

 "To signal for an audience with the gods is to risk their wrath."

Wow.This episode switches everything around. This time we follow Marc Spector with Steven in the mirrors, pleading his hieroglyphical expertise; quite the reversal of roles. And it's fascinating to see the new dynamic, Marc as leading man, Steven in his old role, Layla's dynamic with nthem both.

But the scene now shifts to Egypt, a fascinatingly different setting and dynamic. And somehow Ethan Hawke as Arthur Harrow is even more exttraordinarily charismatic. He really does steal the show. And yetv Oscar Isaac is astrounding. The transition from Marc to Steven is an amazing bit of facial acting.

And so much happens in Egypt. The gods of said ancient land... get gaslit by Arthur Harrow. Wow. Thart's embarrassing. Poor Khonshu.

Yet the wider Marvel universe impinges for the first time. We meet the Egyptian pantheon, via their avatars. We get mention of Madripoor. We get Midnight Man. I suspect all of this will resonate later more than it does now. The Egyptian gods, gulls though they may be, shall recur.

As shall I. This programme enthrals me.

Andor: Narkina 5

 "You think the Empire stops to catch its breath?"

The episode begins like the Space Fall episode of Blake's 7 as a pseudonymous Andor and others are transported to a  prison planet, but soon takesa darker turn as we are forced to see the shher awful grind of life in an Imperial factory prison.

Yet the prison works also as metaphor for totalitarianism under Empire, with all civil liberties and natural justces eroding into utter tyranny. Yet, like a boiled frog, much of the populace, particularly privileged senators on Coruscant who, unlike a Mon Mothma desperately trying to hide her illicit funds, come out with statements like "If you're doing Nothing wrong, what is there to fear?" 

Yet all prison sentences are doubled. Arrests and imprisonment are, as we've seen, arbitrary. One is reminded of the vile, disgusting, tyrannical leaders of Russia, China, Iran, Myanmar, Belarus, Saudi Arabia and others. Palpatine is no different, but there is hope despite the oppression. As Luthen says, tyranny begets rebellion. And I suspect we're seeing that in the person of Kassian. Even Bix is arrested...

Absolutely first class.