Life on Mars: Season 1, Episode 2

“I’ve never fitted anyone up who hasn’t deserved it!”

This is a clever second episode, our first “story of the week”, perhaps, and centred around a big difference between Sam and Gene, this time around the fitting up of suspects in the days before the 1984 reforms. But it’s also subtly the episode where Sam and Gene bond after an initial massive clash, something which had to happen, and a couple of other subtle character nuances- establishing Sam’s Blackadder-Baldrick relationship with Chris, and that Ray hates him. And there’s also lots of ‘70s flavour, not least with the white dog shite.

We also have the first outing from the vaguely average title sequence, and more hints that Sam is imagining this from his hospital bed- the blackout sequence at the end is very well done, and the way the creepy Test Card Girl comes from out of the telly is deeply effective.

But the story of the week- nailing a dangerous bank robber properly, with evidence and not fitting up- is also handled very well indeed. It’s a nicely structured plot, with Sam’s principles letting June get shot but Gene, Ray and Chris almost letting Annie and a witness get killed. It’s a much-needed episode giving a bit of depth and reality to the Sam/Gene relationship as well as fleshing our Gene a little to make him less of a grotesque and more of a person. These two- Sam and Gene- are fascinating to look at from the perspective of 2020 with all this culture war nonsense: Sam, sensible chap, would have voted Remain while you just know Gene would be one of them Leavers. It’s seemingly that age old clash between people who are liberal and people who are wrong, absurd oversimplification that is... but Gene, like many of the other side, is someone you just can’t dislike.

A strong episode and perhaps, in story and character terms, better than the first. I’m very much enjoying this.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 9- Paterfamilias

"The Prince is sure to be put through his paces by their gruelling physical regime..."

As ever, this is a thought-provoking and stimulatng piece of drama, and about more than it may seem at first. The gruelling experiences of the sensitive young Prince Charles at Gordonston are paralleled with flashbacks to the childhood of the young Philip- and we see that both father and son are damaged, both of them in large part because of their own fathers. The cycle continues. And it is hard to escape the conclusion that Charles will be a worse king for his experiences.

Charles is put through five long years of what he describes as "a prison sentence" and "Hell" by Philip, who passionately believes in Gordonstoun and its ethos and will stop at nothing to send his son there. Yet he struggled there himself at first, until the death of his favourite sister- which his absentee monocled failure of a father, Prince Andrew of Greece, cruelly blames on him. Dickie Mountbatten has the right of it in his little monologue to young Charles about parents falling short. The whole theme is masterfully developed, with the use of planes being particularly clever throughout. And Matt Smith is sublime in portraying his disappointment at Charles at the end.

There's more, of course- it's a shock to see the young Philip in Nazi Germany, speaking German and surrounded by the casual presence of Nazi iconography. His sister, Princess Cecile, casually and apptovingly refers to "Herr Hitler". And it's a shock to see Philip insist to Elizabeth that Charles must continue to attend Gordonstoun on pain of divorce- he is deeply attached to Gordonstoun. And the flashbacks tell us why: despite the physical exertions, cold showers and gruelling runs, the this of the school is not cruel and its headmaster, Jewish refugee Dr Hahn, is as progressive as he is harsh.

And yet, in spite of the nuanced portrayal here, one cannot but reflect on the words Elizabeth is made to say here, about the terrible childhood damage caused by bullying, and be horrified at how the man who will soon be our King was brought up. Poor Charles.

Brazil (1985)

"I won't look at your willy."

This film is, of course, a work of genius from the unique mind of Terry Gilliam- Kafkaesque, nightmarish, surreal, perhaps similar in visual style to his recently directed Crimson Assurance bit of Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, but announcing Gilliam as a true auteur. It’s also a true cinematic classic, managing to present a fundamentally bleak view of civilisation with the darkly humorous approach that is of course the only sane one.

Gilliam may be a native of Minnesota, but this film is full of the influences of his twenty years in Britain. It is, obviously, full of that Orwellian fear of tyranny, and the petty details of that tyranny, that is constantly found in British science fiction. It is set in a deliberately timeless and anachronistic time and place, but there are plenty of visual nods to the Nazi’s, and in particular to the phenomenon, in the words of Hannah Arendt, of the banality of evil.

It’s very Pythonesque, of course, but should certainly not be reduced to that. The casting of Michael Palin against type is a masterstroke, as is the starring role for the excellent Jonathan Pryce. A parade of British character actors play a parade of entertainingly disturbing grotesques, as does Robert De Niro, whose insane casting somehow works.

It is, of course, obstructive to see a film about the reality of, well, fascism, in 2020. The Kafkaesque evils inherent in computers are shown here, as well as the effectiveness of information control by those in power. Where the only news is Fox News, truth no longer exists. And, while the UK is not yet at risk of fascism or anything close, the blatant cronyism and disrespect for constitution norms we see here are particularly chilling.

A superb film from a director who, with this film, has well and truly outgrown Monty Python.

The Return of Godzilla (1984)

"Godzilla is a living nuclear weapon!”

This is, I think it's fair to say, the first of a new breed of Godzilla movies. It's been nine years since the last film in the fanchise; the eponymous beast has been subtly updated; and it's heavily implied that all previous Godzilla films since the first have been retconned away.

And, in a sense, this is a version of the first film updated for the Eighties. Certainly the fashions and office decor scream loudly which decade this was made in. But, although very much a Godzilla film in the familiar tradition, it also looks and feels much more like a Hollywood blockbuster. The set pieces of Godzilla destroying various marine vessels and, of course, Tokyo, ae present and correct but, well, somehow more dated than the earlier films which are, perhaps, easier to excuse in this respect because of their age. Certainly, the giant sea lice are... not exactly a special effects triumph, and amused me greatly.

And yet none of this prevents this well-shot and well-structured film from being an impressive achievement. It has a nice balance of set piece, drama and political tension, with the use of the Japanese prime minister as a key character being a nice touch. The threat of nuclear war by understanding, and the nuclear sabre rattling, by the Soviets and Americans respectively, add an exra bit of dramatic film.

And it is in this aspect- nuclear weapons- that provide this film with a political subtext that echoes that of the first film, and amplifies it. For the only nation in human history to have been nuked to be pressured by both superpowers to allow itself to be nuked, even for its own protection, is a powerful scene, and the PM's speech rejecting a nuclear attack is a real philosphical centrepiece.

Overall, this is a successful and enjoyable revival which, while still being somewhat kitsch, manages to morph the somewhat illy franchise of the "Monster Island" era to something more serious, with Godzilla established once again as a serious threat.

Life on Mars: Season 1, Episode 1

"I need my mobile."

"Your mobile what?"

I thought, given the recent news about a new series, that I may as well just marathon Life on Mars- which I saw on the telly when it was broadcast- and Ashes to Ashes, of which I've only seen the first episode.

It's an impressive first episode, every bit as good as I remembered, and nicely establishng the show's central conceit- DCI Sam Tyler finds himself hit by a car and either in a coma or back in 1973- while introducing a load of compelling characters and, no easy feat, getting us to like them. John Simm and Philip Glenister are both superb from the beginning, in very different parts. It's amusing, given that the show relies heavily on the contrast betwee the present day of 2006 and the past of three decades earlier, that the last fourteen years have really dated the 2006 sequences- the eponymous Bowie track is playing on an iPod.

I think, though, that while the characters are well-drawn and the script is highly quotable, we are perhaps stretchng credulity a little as DCI Hunt and the rest of the 1973 gang give a little too much credence and leeway to this nutter claiming to be from the future. But there's enough sleight of hand to get away with it, and it's all nicely smoothed over with truly phenomenal, auteur-like direction from Bharat Nalluri. He really shines here, and is arguably as much of an authorial voice as the writer Matthew Graham. The dreamlike sequence where Sam first wakes up in 1973, and the panorama round the 1973 street, stand out in particular as brilliantly done, but the camerawork is masterly throughout.

Overall it's a superb conceit with plenty of potential- the casual sexism and pre-1984 policing methods are very much highlighted here in setting up the ongoing comedy of manners but, interestingly, Gene Hunt is allowed to end the episode with a moral victory on behalf of the old school methods. Perhaps it remains to be seen how the series fares with a less amazing director, and part of me suspects this is more of a pop culture 1973 than a real 1973 (surely we'd see more internal decor from the late '60s, for example?), but perhaps that's not necessarily a flaw.

Fourteen years on it's clear that this isn't quite up there with the very best telly, but there's nothing wrong with that. Life on Mars is big, brash and fun. I'm sure I'll enjoy it again this time round.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)

This is, perhaps, my second favourite Bowie album- you'll have to wait for the first. Obviously, it's quite simply an extraordinary collection of rocking, music hall, vaguely queer, anthemic, awesome songs, many of which still receive heavy radio play even now. There's a peculiar depth not only to the songwriting but even to the concept of the album itself and, indeed, the Ziggy Stardust altar ego, perhaps Bowie's finest.

And yet there's something ineffably 1972 about it. "Five Years" communicates a sense of oncming armageddon, something which includes but it at the same time wider than the Cold War fear of nuclear annihlation, and is almost existential in its cynicism. "Moonage Daydream" manages at the same time to communicate a jaded and very post-hippie, coming down from the highs sort of attitude to progress, apporiately marking the year which marked the last time, as of September 2020, that a human foot last touched the Lunar surface.

I'm not going to go rough each song as I'd be here all night, but the fact I need to say that is pretty revealing. This is an extraordinarily album- simultaneously shallow and deep, niche and popular, undisputably an album of the very first rank.

Acid Mammoth- Under Acid Hoof (2020)

Deep within the ancient Attican peninsula, in the immortal city of Athens, dwells a band who, with this splendidly and brutally slow little stoner masterpiece that is, I've no doubt, something Plato would instantly have recognised as the ideal soundtrack to his ideal polis of philosopher kings. I haven't read The Republic since my early 20s, but I'm sure the main thrust of it is the desperate need for a deeply mellow yet crushingly heavy soundscape lest the Spartans should prevail.

This is a little more poppy than, say, Sunn O))) or Earth, but reminds me more of Conan: those slight concessions to hookiness are delightfully focused on bludgeoning guitars that are in absolutely no hurry whatsoever.

I don't geneally do new albums in this blog- alas, my time to pursue new music is not what t was- but this is magnificent.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 8- Dear Mrs. Kennedy

"What are they doing?"

"Had to say. I believe it's the foxtrot."

It's getting almost predictable that I'm declaring each episode of The Crown in turn to be a superb piece of telly. I'm rather afraid I'm having to do so again.

This episode is a particularly strong example of what this episode does so well- the seamless mix of geopolitics and the history of the twentieth century with very real characterisation and psychological acuity. In this episode there's a lot of ten dimensional chess going on as the winds of change blow and former European (particularly British) colonies, especially in Africa) are made independent. Yet the episode begins with a foregrounding of how this is playing out in a Cold War context, with the Soviets ready to swoop. We see the Queen's portrait being removed and replaced with that of Lenin- replacing one symbol of European imperialism with another.

We also see the British cultural cringe- even that of royalty- to the glamour of Camelot, as President Kennedy and the dazzling Jackie visit, seeming to outshine the Queen, And, while she and Jackie seem to connect, it seems  that Mrs Kennedy is unimpressed with Elizabeth, who is hardly an intellectual.

And yet... the Queen may not know who wrote Tartuffe, but her life is full of complex diplomatic decisions. And the episode centres on an outside-the-box diplomatic masterstroke, keeping President Nkrumah close to the West by allowing herself to be seen dancing the foxtrot with him in a masterful display of soft power.

We also, in a nice little coda, see the truth behind the Camelot glamour in Kennedy's illness, his philandering and... well, I'm not sure how factual the domestic abuse is, or the exact nature of the drugs administered to the First Couple. But the connection between the two women is nice to see, and the reaction to Kennedy's assassination tasteful.

I'm not sure I'd be gushing so much if the Kennedys were the central figures here- my impression of the historical Jack, despite the philandering, is that he was a much nicer chap than portrayed here, and Michael C. Hall is simply miscast. But I can't deny that this is, once again, bloody good.

Fugazi- Repeater (1990)

I’ve never been a big fan of Minor Threat. I mean, they’re ok, I own their stuff, and I’m aware of their importance to the D.C. scene, straight edge and all that. But I tend to prefer, Bad Brains aside, my early ‘80s US punk to hail from California, where the bands tend to be more varied and interesting. Minor Threat, to me, is the American Sham 69.

But with this, the first Fugazi record, my respect for Ian MacKaye increased hugely. Superficially, in some ways, it sounds like Minor Threat. But, in most ways, it doesn’t sound like them at all, sort of the PiL to their Sex Pistols, much more structurally interesting. I’m no musician, so I couldn’t tell you whether this has any great level of technical complexity or not. But the progression from Minor Threat is fascinating, and is an interesting if rather late (1990!) example of the many ways in which punk segues into post-punk. And I love that: from the Ramones’ famous “here’s a chord, here’s another, here’s a third, now go and form a band” ethos it’s fascinating to see, as here, how punk musicians all negotiate in their different ways how to rediscover complexity without being pretentious.

I know naff all about how music works. But I know I love the time signatures, structure and weirdness of this album. And this is just the start for Fugazi.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Captain Marvel's Secret

"Shazam!"

And so it ends, wth a bang. This has been a splendid serial, retaining not only just excitement but plot progression (or at least the illusion of such!" throughout. But this is the final episode, and stuff can actually happen.

So we finally- after a teaser scene with his face in shadow, and a typical cliffhanger resolution- discover that the Scorpion is Bentey: it would be an interesting exercise to rewatch them all with that knowledge, although I'm not going to do it. We also discover- inevitably- that Tal Chotal is just what he seems to be- an obvious red herring, and secretly a decent chap. There's still a scattering of vague racism everwhere- Thailand is still just like Afghanistan, apparently, and I raised an eyebrow at Captain Marvel's assertion that Bentley would be extradited to face justice in the USA when he should surely be tried for the murders he's committed in, er, Thaighanistan first- but hey, it's 1941.

The ending is surprisingly final, as Billy is thoroughly outed as Captain Marvel in dramatic circumstances, and once the Scorpion is finally defeated the powers are seemingly gone forever. But it makes for a good, self-contained story.

This final episode may be brief, and somewhat crowded. But it's a thoroughly enjoyable end to a superb serial, one which has restored my faith in the material just when I needed it. Superb stuff.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

"Ah, Skywalker. Missed you I have."

I'm a fan of Star Wars, in the ordinary sense of the word. Sufficiently so that I watched every Star Wars film at the cinema from Return of the Jedi in 1983 to The Force Awakens in 2015 at the cinema, incuding the horrible special editions of the original trilogy. Sufficiently so that I could spend talking about the old Kenner action figures. Suffciently so that I've blogged the '80s Ewok TV films.

That it's taken me so long to watch this film is a testament to how real life has changed for me these days, and little else. Let's just say that, with a daughter, a disabled wife and a full time job, free time is not what it once was.

But that’s not the only reason I mention this. Because I’m a fan, but not a fanboy. And I’m vaguely aware of the fact, if not necessarily the details, that the fanboys wee split over this film. And I have no idea why. It’s a splendid bit of blockbuster fun, with real heart at its core and great characters, and absolutely in the spirit- and indeed structure- of the original trilogy.

That last point, after this second film, is now abundantly clear. Hence Han, in the last film, fulfilled the role of Obi Wan, whereas Luke here is Yoda, in terms of plot function. Leia has a large and rather touching role, rather fitting as a send off for the much-missed Carrie Fisher. But the main protagonists are or course Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren, the next generation. And rightly so.

I love how the film knowingly echoes the sort of things earlier Star Wars films tended to do, but does unexpected things at the last minute. So Ren shockingly kills Snoke as Vader killed Palpatine- but not because he’s had a moral reawakening, merely because of personal ambition. Laura Dern’s unlikeable Vice Admiral Holdo turns out to be right, brave and clever all along. Luke is not even there in his final, epic fight with Ren- the second member of the original cast he’s now slain. Best of all, Rey is not Luke’s daughter or any such thing, just a poor person from nowhere. Social mobility is a thing on the Star Wars universe.

I can see how some may dislike Luke’s characterisation here; they have a good case to make, but good drama should be unpredictable and challenging by definition. Arguably it may be out of character, but by sleight of hand it works. As for those lonely, virgin little boys who stamp their tiny feet at the fact some of the cast have the temerity to not be white or male (gasp), let us leave them to their crippling loneliness.

I didn’t just like this film. I loved it. Waiting three years was absurd.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 7- Matrimonium

"As in art, so, it would appear, in life..."

Again we have a Margaret episode and, again, there is much subtlety and character development. Like ast episode, the plot is simple; Margaret is to marry Tony who, we now see, is sectretly carrying on polyamorous relationships with both sexes and, moreover, is rather more damaged than he might appear. Yet Elizabeth, even after hearing the truth from Tommy Lascelles- again brought out of retirement to do what Michael cannot- is unable, after what happened with Peter Townsend, to say no. And the baby to whom she gives birth here will one day be mixed up with sexual doings that are a thousand times worse.

The episode abounds, as ever, with lovely character moments on which we can dwell as we hope that Margaret won't get hurt. The scene between Margaret and Elizabeth at the end is fascinating- Margaret wants freedom and independence, and is marrying this man as part of that. Yet she, unlike the Queen, enjos the titles and the deference and will never give up those things- a necessary precondition for any royal to break free of their life sentence in a gilded cage.

We get an outburst from Philip, last season a victim of snobbery himself, yet looking down on Tony who, unlike hilself, is not the grandson of a king and a prince in his own right. Fascinatingly, we learn that the womanising Tony is the son of a vaguely neglectful mother who left his commoner father to marry an earl, and his younger half-brother outranks him- until he marries Margaret. Deliciously, we hear this as Tony, along with the Frys with whom he is having a bisexual menage a trois, watches the results of the 1959 election as Supermac crushes all before him in a country that has never had it so good.

It is also jarring to see Macmillan lead the Cabinet in prayer upon hearing of the royal baby. 1959 was a different world, albeit a changing one, more religious than ours on the surface- but perhaps not much deeper than that; and where conservative social mores on the surface are not applied to the discreet elite.

A superb hour of drama, as always.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 6- Vergangenheit

"He's shouting, darling. Only zealots shout."

This is, perhaps, the finest episode so far, and rich in its themes of duty and (not narrowly religious)  faith.

It's obvious to those of us with vague knowledge of the Duke of Windsor's wartime activites that the two plot threads- David's desire to return from exile and do some useful work to free him from a life of empty decadence versus the looming forced publication of secret wartime papers linked to the toyals and, as we see in the flashback with George VI, are a source of great shame- are linked. And so the overall plot, as Elizabeth learns the full truth (perhaps) from Tommy Lascelles and ultimately exiles him forever, plays out superbly, with excellent dramatic beats and superb characterisation throughout.

Except the episode is even better than that. There are so many superb touches, from Tommy Lascelles preciousness with his miniature troops (the geek), to the quote above- given the wider themes of the episode, is the Queen Mother comparing Billy Graham to Hitler, as least in the limited sense that demagoguery is not a good thing? Yet the presence of Graham here- and the Queen's interest in him- provide a contrast between the dutiful and deeply conscientious Christian sovereign and the life of empty luxury and fundamental tackiness led by her flighty uncle in Paris. We last see Elizabeth kneeling in prayer, while we last see David giving a look of profound alienation as he suffers yet another party. Alex Jennings is superb here.

The first scene between Elizabeth and Graham is superb, too. I'm not someone capable of faith myself (show me empiiacal proof that God exists and I'll believe, but don't just tell me there's an invisible man who lives in the sky and not expect a raised eyebrow) but the desire of the Head of the Church of England to be a "simple Christian" is touching. Although nowhere near as good as the revelation that Phil has been getting bladdered with the Queen Mum and Tommy Lascelles.

Is what Tommy Lascelles says about Edward VIII literally true? I'm sure to a large extent it is, but in full? Was David significantly worse than his brother for hob-nobbing with Nazis in the 1930s, when the Holocaust was unsuspected but it was already clear Hitler was a cruel dictator, whatever sympathies one may have had for Germany after Versailles? I'm no expert. But this is a supetlative hour of telly.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Valley of Death

"White infidels plan to enter the sacred valley the day after tomorrow!"

Som it's the penultimate episode, and we're back in Thailand (Siam in 1941)- but it seems that Thailand is Afghanistan, going by the place names, costumes and culture- although no one seems to be specifically Muslim. No one seems to look ethnically South East Asian, either.

The change of scene makes things fresh, though. We're back to the tomb, Lang;a lens is found, the natives are working for the Scorpion and his cool bird of prey that he uses as a messager pigeon.

We also have an exploding volcano about to engulf the tomb while the gang are mostly inside. It's a busy episode and I can't believe there's just one left. The episode feels, perhaps, a little too reminiscent of the first, but that was a while ago. This movie serial has been excellent, and it's about to end...

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 5- Marionettes

“Goodness, a constitutional crisis!"

A quietly excellent episode this time, artfully exploring somewhat abstract constitutional issues while nevertheless functioning as drama. And John Heffernan is superb as a peer(!) who throws a grenade on to the institution of monarchy in order to save it in a world where, after all, where monarchies were once the rule and republics the exception, we now live in a world where the reverse is the case.

Lord Altrincham's opinions reflect, interestingly, a time where any criticism of the monarchy was seen as heretical and republicanism was unthinkable. Today we are, I think, more open-minded, and not necessarily to the monarchy's detriment. Like many, I am a republican in the abstract. My ideal state would of course be a republic; that a head of state should be elected is a no-brainer. But we do not, of course, live in the abstract; we live in a particular time and place. And I for one do not believe, here in the UK in 2020, that our current generation of politicians has either the integrity or the constitutional literacy to make such a radical change and the monarchy is, in contrast to the damage that may be done, eminently preferable. I'm the St Augustine of republicans- give me a republic, but not yet.

Yet there are troubling issues- of snobbery, of the diminished but inevitable presence of divine right in a secular world, of the disconnect between the actual job of being a head of state who is "above" politics and the actual history of royalty, represented by the Queen Mother here in her dolefully reactionary "marionettes" speech near the end. These issues are hinted at by Lord Altrincham- a character who comes across rather well, both overall and while being interviewed by Bertie Carvel as a superb Robin Day- but he seeks not to destroy the institution, but to save it, as comes across in the dramatically effective but probably apocyphal chat with Elizabeth herself.

What is perhaps clear is just how out-of-touch the old breed of courtier has become, as seen with the dreadful speech Elizabeth is given. Things must change, so that they may stay the same.

In other news, Margaret is shagging Tony. This is superb stuff as ever.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Doom Ship

 "She's going down!"

...And in the tenth episode, with two to go. everything changes. I'm continually amazed at how plot progression, or at least the illusion of plot progression, is maintained throughout this movie serial. It's not just a never-ending series of action set pieces, unlike some serials I could mention.

Yes, the cliffanger resolution is a typical cheat. But that's ok, because we learn two incredible things from the contents of the safe. The late Dr Lang couldn't spell the word "lens"! And, no less excitingly, the safe contains a map showing the location of the lens, not the lens itself. The lens is still there, in situ, in Thailand or Afghanistan or whatever vaguely eastern country the tomb is in.

So it's the next steamer to Bangkok for the whole expedition- interesting that, in 1941, travelling that distance by plane would not have been a thing. And here we get, after a reminder that the Scorpion must of course also be on board, a complete change of genre to disaster movie, as the scene switches to tje stormy seas of the Indian Ocan and a terrifying typhoon. Catain Marvel saves the ship by using something called a "breeches buoy", but Betty was still in her cabin! Can Billy save her as the ship sinks, possibly by saying "Shazam"?

This serial was pretty exciting anyway, but this change of scene has added to the excitement. Superb stuff.

Genuine (1920)

I blogged The Cabinet of Dr Caligari a scary number of years ago. It's a film that has lingered in the memory, both because of its extraordinary Expressionist visual style and the creepy effectiveness of the story. Is this, Robert Wiene's much less famous follow-up from later in the same year, and now a hundred years old, in the same league?

Well... no. That's not to say there isn't much that's visually impressive. Not all the sets are in the Expressionist style here- there seems to have been a compromise arrangement with realism- but there's lots to admire, not to mention a great deal of nightmare fuel. The facial expressions of both Lord Melo and the creepily moustachioed barber are enough by themselves to cause sleepless nights, but the central feature of Melo's house is a rather noticeable skeleton with a clock in its face, reminding us that this is the age of Surrealism. There's also a very strikingly dishevelled block pyramid, like a kind of uneasy proto-Pompidou Centre.

But aside from the visuals, and the strikingly modern, or more likely universal, sexuality of Genuine herself, this isn't much of a story. Essentially, the priestess of some vaguely non-European is bought in a slave market and ends up as the plaything of a modern aristocrat in a generic European country. And she uses her deadly feminine wiles as a vamp, or succubus, or what ou will, to control young and impressionable men. Murder, love triangles and tragedy unfold with a certain inevitability. It's all a bit ho-hum, not to mention the gender and post-colonial questions it raises-mthis is 1920, the height of colonialism although Germany lost its colonies in last year's Treaty of Versailles, and the only Black actor, in a vaguely stereotypical role, is from German Kamerun.

Despite this, though, the visuals are fascinating and it's worth a look. After years of the film being incredinbly hard to see in full, it's now available on YouTube in all its 88 minutes.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Dead Man's Trap

 "You're the Scorpion!"

For a ninth episode of a movie serial, and therefore doomed to tread water by default, this episode is extraordinarily good. It treads said water with real aplomb.

It would be quite extraordinary to claim that any ninth episode in a twelve part story advances the plot in any meaningful way. This is the point where we're just filling in time with set pieces until we get to the finale. And yet, between the opening and closing cliffhangers, this episode does a superb job ofv maintaining the illusion of plot advancement.

It does this by means of the two simple drivers of the Scorpion's quest for the two remaining lenses and the ongoing mystery as to which expediation member is the Scorpion. Dramatically, Lang sees an unmasked Scorpion before he's shot, and the number of suspects is decreasing. Could it be Malcolm himself?

All this intrigue, plus the ever-present peril and action, means I'm no less entertained in spite of being at the part of the serial where one would expect things to drag. And the cliffhanger- Billy and Betty menaced by two booby trap guns emerging from a dumb waiter- is as splendid as ever.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Boomerang

"It's Dr. Lang!"

Inevitably, the resolution to a splendid cliffhanger is a bit rubbish, as Billy's gag comes loose and he says "Shazam!" in time for Captain Marvel to save Betty and himself. But the rest of this episode manages, in spite of the continual captures, escapes and set pieces, manages to avoid the curse of being a late episode but still not too close to the end by developing further the intrigue of the Scorpion's identity.

I had to raise an eyebrow at Billy's suggestion that Betty quit her job because of the danger; you can tell that first wave feminism hasn't happened yet. I also raised my second one at the suggestion it might be normal for Billy to "borrow" Lang's car without asking.

But all the intrigue over the Scorpion, and which one of the academics will have an injured right hand, is clever: I suspect, by the rule of drama, that it isn't Dr Lang in spite of his sinister butler. But all this inrigue is much better done than one might expect from a movie serial, and I have confidence that the narrative isn't cheating. This is good stuff.

Sex Education: Season 2, Episode 6

“ If you’re not ready to talk about douching with your boyfriend, you’re not ready to have his cock in your ass.”

Well, if it seemed as if last episode was the one where everything went wrong, this episode ups the ante. We k of its going to happen all the way through, as Otis formulates plans for a “gathering” and we just know hordes of people are going to arrive and trash the place, because that’s how the trope always goes.

And the episode is obviously centred on Otis’ drunken speech in which he’s as absolute dick to both Ola and Maeve, burning his bridges with both of them as well as humiliating himself. The moral high ground, to the extent he had it at all, is well and truly surrendered.

Also, the house is trashed. And, worst of all, lots of horrible bottled lager is drunk, with no real ale or wine in sight.

We also have Jean and Maureen having a few drinks and bonding, over terrible nightclub music, about the ambivalence of their newfound mutual singledom. Maeve bonds further with Isaac who, it now seems clear, is like a version of Otis with a similar background.

Interestingly, Jackson has a massive anxiety attack at the party about the pressure to swim again now his hand had healed, and it’s Viv (who finally realised the dullness of the bloke she fancies) who takes it upon herself to tell his parents. This is going to be interesting: let’s hope it’s resolved happily. But for poor Amy, still very much suffering from the sexual assault, there’s no happiness.

This is a superbly done ensemble show, with believable characters who drive the plot rather than vice versa- and I applaud the decision to allow Otis, the main protagonist, to behave like a dick. This is very good indeed.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Human Targets

“A smart trick!”

I won’t linger on the plot for this episode which, as the serial has just passed its mid point, consists of Fisher being dead and the Scorpion having both the lenses he was after last episode. Otherwise it’s just a case of captures.escapes and peril, although I like how Betty is far too resourceful to be a mere peril monkey. She’s bordering on co-star material. She even shoots the Scorpion.

Captain Marvel is pretty ruthless here, again doing a spot of harsh interrogation, and disdaining to save a hood from a likely fatal fall when he could probably have done so. He also lifts a bloke up by the crotch to throw him. Well then. I’m also beginning to notice that the Scorpion has scorpion logos where his nipples should be. Not sure what to make of that.

It’s also interesting that the whodunit plot needs some variation of its to last until the end. Will Billy come under suspicion? But we get a splendid cliffhanger, with Betty and a gagged Billy about to be bombed by a plain. Even the filler episodes in the middle of this serial are very well done, with the water being trodden with aplomb.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 4- Beryl

“The surface is so dreary, don’t you think?”

This is a superb bit of telly. On one level, it’s a Margaret episode, allowing the royal couple to fade a little into the ensemble. One another, it’s far deeper and more interesting.

We see some development of Elizabeth and Philip as they make the best of things and settle down into their very humdrum married life of duty. Marriage is a theme, as Harold Macmillan uses the metaphor to refer to the fractured post-Suez Transatlantic partnership- but, as we discover, his wife is openly having an affair with the Prime Minister as a knowing and emasculates cuckold. As his wife says of him, “His weakness repels next, his love disgusts me.”

For Margaret, it seems, there can be no wedded bliss, as her latest potential fiancé humiliates her. Only by venturing into a freer world, the fascinating Bohemia of Fifties London with its Angry Young Men, artistic ferments and upcoming ventures Beyond the Fringe, does the discover a measure of freedom from her gilded but oh-so-restrictive cage. And she meets, in avant garde photographer Tony Armstrong-Jones, not only a potential love interest but an exciting entry into a much less dreary world.

What’s particularly wonderful about this episode partly set in arty Bohemia- with cameos from Ken Russell, Dudley Moore, Johns Profumo and Betjeman, and no doubt others- is that the cinematography is as creative and unconventional as anything in Tony’s studio, and Vanessa Kirby shines. A finely crafted episode.

Pulp- This Is Hardcore (1998)

This is, perhaps, an eccentric first Pulp album to blog- their sixth, and coming right after the intelligently poppy double whammy of His 'n' Hers and Different Class. like Blur the previous year and Radiohead two years later, this is an example of a "Britpop" band (I'm personally quite ambivalent about that term, for reasons I'll come to in a future blog post) exploiting their popular success to make a fascinatingly interesting album which, while not crammed full of the catchy singles of the recent past, marks a step forward in singwriting.

This album is more of a compelling soundscape that a collection of catchy tunes, and I find myself playing it much more frequently than any of the band's more populist fare. It's their masterpiece, with the triumphantly epic title track at its centre but with the album as a whole sounding variously like Pavement, Public Image Ltd and Bowie during his Berlin period. It's a mercurial, interesting and compelling long player record, and far too good for people who just want popular singles.

The Robot vs the Aztec Mummy (1958)

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

This film has, you must concede, a magnificent title. And it was, I correctly assumed, the perfect film for the Friday of a knackering week where I wanted something very undemanding.

I’m nearly always ridiculously anal about not watching either sequels or remakes until I’ve seen the original, and this bonkers ‘50s Mexican horror/sci-fi insanity is not only the third film in a trilogy but more than half the film is taken up with footage from the first two- and there’s an absurd amount of narrated recapping before anything happens. But, and let’s not pretend otherwise, I’m not going to see the first two.

This is an easily watched hour of hilarious runaround with absurd concepts (past life regression! A hilarious mad scientist called Dr Krupp! A hilariously ‘50s robot that only appears in the last ten minutes and from which the hilarious Dr Krupp intends to make a mechanical army to do his bidding!), but underneath all this low camp nonsense is a pretty standard Egyptian mummy film with the rather cool variation that, with this being a Mexican film, the mummies, pyramids and cultural trappings are all Aztec rather than Egyptian. That adds something culturally cool into the mix, however tokenistic it may be.

The film is a load of old tosh, of course. But it’s fun and quick to watch.

Sex Education: Season 2, Episode 5

"Is the bike in question your vagina?”

It’s the middle episode, and a watershed for the season, in the form of an ill-advised camping trip taken by Otis and Eric with Otis’ wayward father, Remi, whom we get to know a bit more. And it’s an episode in which most of the relationships go horribly, horribly wrong so that we can spend the rest of the season seeing what results from all this.

The love triangles, being unstable, come apart. Last episode Ola gave Otis an ultimatum to stop talking to Maeve or loses her, and he does- and she dumps him anyway, leaving him with no one. Meanwhile Ola, exploring her sexuality, finds herself dreaming not about Otis but about Lily, particularly in a superbly done dream sequence. Alas, as soon as she kisses Lily, she faces rejection.

Others are struggling too. Aimee is still recovering from the sexual assault, and can’t let her boyfriend touch her. Jean finds it impossible to cope with Jakob’s being everywhere, being unused to the ever-present intimacy of relationships. These scenes are funny, and Gillian Anderson is superb (I love the pans cupboard scene), but she ends by confessing to Jakob that Remi kissed her- and we don’t see the fallout.

Remi, meanwhile, is revealed as a pathetic, self-pitying, womanising man-child, perhaps intended as a warning for what Otis could potentially become. Maeve connects a little with her very human, recovering addict mother- and receives an unexpected love interest in cheeky bastard Isaac. I suspect that Otis, should he try to pick up the pieces with Maeve, May have a love rival.

Jackson, still hiding his theatrical doings from his mum, co to yes to bond with the nerdy but likeable Viv as he helps her to woo her beau: there’s definitely a spark between them. And Maureen Groff finally gets an orgasm after at least six years courtesy of Jean and a little bullet between her legs... and announces her desire to divorce her come husband. Of all the decouplings this episode, that’s the one with the feel good factor.

On a more ambiguous note, Eric chooses to be with Rahim after discussing his own triangle after a discussion about Adam with Otis, who doubts the old bully’s motives. Poor Adam, I suspect, has some more redemption to do before he's worthy of Eric.

This is well-crafted, character-driven, believable stuff. This second season may well be eclipsing the first.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Lens of Death

"It's a trick!"

Halfway through and, while it's starting to become slghtly apparent that al this dancing around the Scorpion getting hold of all the lenses is just a form of padding, we don’t mind as we’re being entertained by the set pieces and there’s simultaneously a whodunit as we’re left wondering who the Scorpion is- despite a little light misdirection in this episode, he’s clearly a member of the expedition.

I like the cliffhanger resolution here, as Captain Marvel being overwhelmed by lava is the biggest so far and there is, diegetically at least, potential for doubt over whether he survives, and the Scorpion and co certainly believe him to be dead. Cleverly, a few minutes pass before the appearance of Billy shows us that he isn’t.

The Wizard’s pan here is clever- claiming to have all lenses but one in order to smoke out the locations of two expedition members’ lenses, and the two attempted robberies make good set pieces. It’s interesting to note, though- this is the halfway point. Where is the story going to go now? Are there six more episodes, albeit entertaining, of hunt the lenses?

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: The Scorpion Strikes

"What about Captain Marvel? He seems to appear every time Batson's in trouble."

Another splendid instalment here even if, again, the reprise is a little long and the resolution- Captain Marvel swoops down and saves Betty from being unconscious at the wheel- is again obvious. It doesn't matter; the cliffhanger is just a set piece, a bit of excitement, and it's on with the story- and again the set pieces are not just random ways to pass the time as per certain other movie serials; the plot actually progresses.

We have a fun little set piece in which Captain Marvel goes after the goons who had Betty and ctches one by pulling down the lift by its cables with said goon still inside. He then takes said goon to meet the rest of the group of archaeologists and see if he can identify the Scorpion by his voice- he can't, but it's always fun to see so many red herrings acting suspiciously. I'll say it: I suspect Malcolm himself, on the grounds that he isn't behaving suspiciously at all.

So it's on to the final set piece, as Captain Marvel is lured into a molten rock trap, in which sock footage of running lava is mixed with some rather good effects. Five episodes in and I'm still enthralled.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 3- Lisbon

“One always has to accept one’s own part, I believe, in any mess.”

This is a very cleverly structured episode, both in itself and as part of the season. We return, of course, to the Lisbon flash forward where the season began, whet the two plot threads- Eden’s resignation and the climax of the Parker divorce case revelation in the media and the confrontation between Elizabeth and Philip. It’s masterfully done: the train steaming inexorably towards Sandringham for Eden to suffer his drive of shame before resigning is also a symbol of what awaits Philip.

Yet Elizabeth remains, somehow, constitutionally above it all. Eden may try to rationalise things to himself, and to claim that he’s resigning from ill health and not because he’s just been- to use an anachronism- Thatchered by his Cabinet. Macmillan may try and downplay his past support for the Suez misadventure, but the Queen is not unaware. And nor is she unaware of the underlying reasons for Philip’s “restlessness”- again, the question of his possible adultery is left open- or, indeed, unfeeling, whatever the stiff upper lip exterior may show. Claire Foy is utterly sublime here.

The solution- upgrading Phil to a Prince and a crackdown on moustaches- seems unlikely to work. We shall see. Further kids are on the way, the less said about the first of them the better, but Mike is perceptive, in his parting chat with Phil, on the underlying tension between a monarch and their eldest son, who represents their personal extinction.

There is an awful lot going on here- echoes of the Iraq War, but one where the protests claim their scalp; Tommy Lascelles coming back from retirement for a crisis; the Queen and Eileen having a woman to woman talk. The obvious respect both PM’s have for Elizabeth- and her perceptive comments to Eden on how doing nothing is often the wisest course, but not one that may appeal to those wishing themselves to be great men. This is a clever, clever bit of telly.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 2- A Company of Men

“Men are expected to indulge...”

This is a very, very courageous piece of telly and I’m surprised the subject matter didn’t arouse more controversy at the time. Again, Philip isn’t shown to have been having an affair during his five month tour of the Commonwealth (or indeed previously), but it is implied that he may have been a little naughty- as Eileen, Mike Parker’s disgruntled wife, tells us, the five month trip looks awfully like a very long stag night.

Meanwhile Elizabeth remains at home- calm, unflappable, far too stiff upper lip to allow her feelings to be visible- much as Sir Anthony Eden, humiliated by the Suez debacle, appears to be having a physical and mental breakdown as the drugs no longer work. But this is not an episode for geopolitics, much as Lord Mountbatten may scheme- he’s an interesting character.

But a large portion of the episode, expensive looking at that, is given over to Philip’s hi-jinks, interspersed with the odd speech and the occasional Olympics to open. There’s a very symbolic scene in which he rings Elizabeth from the other side of the world but the line is terrible- as ever, they aren’t communicating. But most fascinating is the journalist interviewing Philip in which we are reminded of his traumatic childhood, where revolution in Greece led to parental abandonment and breakdown- and the awkward fact of his Nazi sisters.

We finish with Philip having a long night of the soul, and a family reconciliation of sorts. But, as the start of last episode shows, there are still difficulties to come. The spiralling scandal of Mike and Eileen’s divorce threatens to expose Philip and the tension is palpable. This is good drama, although I’m glad we do t have those stupid lese-majeste laws they have in Thailand. And Matt Smith, in particular, is superb.

Robot Monster (1953)

Fool humans! There is no escape!"

I’ve seen Plan 9 from Outer Space. I’ve seen Teenagers from Outer Space. Surely ‘50s sci-fi B movies has nothing more that can compete with these?

Oh.

Doctor Who fans may find this film something of a blatant influence on The Sontaran Experiment, with Ro-Man a cheaper and more crappy named version of Styre. In both cases we have the last handful of humans running around an Earth almost bereft of humans as an alien baddie runs around trying to catch them using the power of robotic strength. Meanwhile, he makes regular video calls to an increasingly exasperated boss who starts to doubt his competence- in 1953, of course, video calls were the future.

I think you’re already expecting me to put this into so-bad-it’s-good territory and, well, yes. Why does the imaginatively named Ro-Man wear a gorilla costume with a vaguely robotic helmet, for example? And antibiotics can do anything: not only have two of the goodies made an antibiotic serum that can cure all disease, it can also protect people from death rays. I’m sure this is entirely scientifically accurate.

The goodies won, sort of, because plot convenience makes Ro-Man fall in love with one of the female humans. There’s some vague attempt at drama and even a wedding. But Ro-Man’s failure causes his boss to take over and, er, shoot rays that cause stock footage of stop motion dinosaurs to rampage across the Earth and “smash the planet Earth out of the Universe.” All seemed doomed. But it was all a dream... or was it?

And yes, that’s all literal. One does not “recommend” this film- let us not pretend it’s anything other than crap. It’s worth watching for a good laugh, but this film should on no account be watched while sober.

Sex Education: Season 2, Episode 4

“Otis, you're gonna be deflowered!"

Well, a lot happened in this episode; must be mid-season. And relationships are getting complicated now. There are more triangles in this episodes than you'd see in a game of Kensington, to use a cultural reference that probably isn't appropriate to a programme featuring characters born mainly in the 21st century. Yes, I'm forty- three. I feel old.

This is all cleverly plotted for maximum angst, and even the farce about Otis looking after a toddler goes horribly wrong. So many awful things happen. Maeve is horribly let down by her useless mother and horrible quiz teammates... and, to make things worse she confesses her feelings to Otis, mere tens of minutes before he's due to have sex with Ola, whom he's not sure he loves.

But Eric is also horribly conflicted between the sexy Rahim and the very human, and extremely depressed, Adam. Yet it's not just the kids who struggle with relationships. Even Jean- a sex therapist, no less- is beginning to be annoyed by some of Jakob's habits. And when her ex Remi arrives unannounced we get uncomfortable undercurrents of snobbery to her new plumber boyfriend... and eventually a slightly tipsy kiss between the ex-spouses. That's three triangles.

Still warming up is Jackson's interesting plot thread about treading the boards and acting as sex advisor (another one!) to Viv. And we learn (with Jean) that Mr Groff hasn't shown any sexual interest in his wife Maureen for six years. Ouch. There's something going on there.

This may not be quite top notch drama, but it's elegantly scripted and very good indeed.

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 1- Misadventure

“A prison...?"

It's been years since I saw the first season so this is long overdue. In my defence, there's so much telly to see and blog. But I'm reminded, after this first episode of what I can hardly call the new season, that this is a bloody good programme. And both Claire Foy and Matt Smith excel as ever- as does Jeremy Northam as an increasingly tragic Sir Anthony Eden beneath the apparent patrician poise.

Foy is superb at conveying the deep yet necessarily restrained emotions of a Sovereign, not free to be a person, as her marriage seems to be falling apart, yet divorce is not an option and neither, it seems, is happiness. Monarchy is a gilded cage, and not a humane one. Yet Smith also successfully walks a tigtrope, remaining likeable as an emasculated yet childish paragon of toxic masculinity chafing at his traditionally feminine role and, it's implied, having affairs- although this, I suspect, will never be more than implied. I suspect the picture of a woman found by Elizabeth in his bag will have an innocent explanation, but there are definite hints at infidelity. Their marriage is in trouble.

But can royals ever be happy, or human? The institution is cruel. Look at Margaret, now a careless drunk after being denied happiness last season. Royalty means privilege, comfort and no freedom whatsoever. There are plenty of reminders here of the snobbery that surrounds it. Any debate on the monarchy would always be won by republicans as a no-brainer. And yet, what should we have instead? Do we, in populist 2020, trust our venal politicians with any major constitutional reform?

But the Establishment (a very '50s word) goes beyond this. We first see Eden addressing Eton, hia alma mater, as the sixteenth out of forty prime ministers to have been an Old Etonian. It reminds us that even the sensibly, centrist, Welfare State-supporting Tories of the Butskellite decades were still Tories and not, alas, Whigs, accepting change and reform only as far as they needed to survive.

This is a fascinating mix of themes, of the personal and the political, which are of course profoundly intermingled. Again, I'm hooked.

We see the Suez slowly unfolding in Egypt, to the concern of pretty much everyone, and scenes of the Canal being invaded by British and French troops are juxtaposed with Eden popping pills.

Sex Education: Season 2, Episode 3

"Cum is kind of like a penis having a sneeze..."

This is a rather more serious episode than usual, focusing on Aimee as she suffers a sexual assault on a bus. Realistically, she dismisses it at first but is persuaded by Maeve, a wonderful friend using her birthday to accompany her to the police station, to report the crime. She seriousness of it all slowly sinks in until we see her break down in tears having been unable to tell her mum. It's a sobering reflection, in these post-#MeToo times, of the shit women and girls are expected to put up with, every day, by people who are the same gender as me.

Like last episode, there's a fair amount of bad sex via miscomunication this week as Olivia puts a pillow over her boyfriend's face while she cums because she has an "ugly cum face". How very teenager. I love how this series, so very often, is Marshall McLuhan with tits and willies. We also, rather bravely, get to see Otis being very immature indeed with the long-suffering Jakob, who ends up taking a staggeringly graceless apology with good grace. Meanwhile, Eric has a wonderful date with Rahim, who kisses him... only to randomly run into Adam, who is understandably very depressed indeed. Love triangle alert. And, on that front, and despite Aimee's advice, Maeve yet again fails to tell otis how she feels.

Touchingly, though, the very vulnerable Jackson has a bit of a crush on his tutor Viv as opposites- the athlete and the brainbox- seem to attract. He auditions for the part of Romeo- and nails it. I love where this is going.

Sex Education: Season 2, Episode 2

"Baba ganouche!"

This second episode is, on one level, setting up the actual character dynamics and plot arcs after last episode- hence we have Eric realising that Rahul actually likes him, and Marvel admitting- at least to Aimee and herself- that she isn’t over Otis. It’s also nice to see a couple of the more sympathetic teachers- Emily and Colin- shown as human beings with sex lives. But what makes this episode particularly great is that it’s all about one thing: communication.

We’re not great, in this country at least, about actually talking about sex, and what the other person wants. There seems to be an expectation, among far too many people, that there’s some magic trick that will please the other person without realising that the only secret of good sex is to find out what the other person likes, by talking to them, and doing it. Hence Colin’s problem with dirty talk, and even Otis’ rubbish fingering of Ola. (I love how Lily tells him!) Hence, perhaps, the culture of repressed gay sexuality at poor Adam’s cruel military school.

Part of the problem, I think, is how we Brits see sex as a joke, as “smut”, and not about an enjoyable and emotionally important part of life that is certainly fun and playful but also deadly serious, and important. It can, and often should, be silly, but it should never be treated as a joke- the excruciating scenes of Jean at the assembly and the equally cringeworthy sex education lesson (with Rahim as the voice of continental common sense; Brexit is even bad for our sex lives).

This is just what I like from telly- good characterisation and juicy subtext. Good stuff. And don’t forget, folks- ask about her orange.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Death Takes the Wheel

"Talk fast, or I'll..."

Four episodes in and the first ever appearance of a comic book superhero continues to impress. The mystery of the Scorpion's identity continues to enthral as possible clues appear. And, while this is pure pulp with a cliffhanger every seven minutes, it's done so. And, impressively, behind the set pieces it feels, with the conceit of the device and three lenses for the Scorpion to recover, as though there's a real plot beneath the set pieces.

And the set pieces are exciting, although the re-edited cliffhanger (Billy realises about the bomb, says a quick "Shazam" and flies away before the plane explodes. Surely he's only supposed to do this for the cause of right, not pure self-preservation...?) is a blatant cheat. We have Billy and Betty (our two intrepid investigators) both lured into a trap and both imperilled in delightfully entertaining ways.

Interesting, too, that Captain Marvel is not too much of a goody two shoes, threatening dire consequences to the minion he asks about Betty’s whereabouts. We’ll see how such things develop. For now, though, I’m enjoying this in ways I never expected I would.

A Dangerous Method (2011)

“Angels always speak German...”

I've been watching a lot of David Cronenberg films lately, something which stems from both an increasing admiration of the diversity and extraordinary quality of his work and their ease of availability, particularly as several of them have been available on Amazon Prime of late. Sadly, I've seen rather more of the later films which tend to be subtitled than the older, more stereotypically Cronenberg "body horror" films which Amazon Prime seems unable to subtitle although its rival Netflix seems to have no trouble subtitling everything. Still, this superb film can't be blamed for that, and is another example of Cronenberg's late career peak.I hope, with increasing desperation, that he hasn't retired.

Superficiall this is a typical late Cronenberg film in that the camerawork and mood feel like Cronenberg and, of course, Viggo Mortensen plays a prominent role. Yet this is anything but a typical sort of film for Cronenberg to helm, being an adaptation of a period stage play that eschews the visual in favour of psychology. In every sense.

This is a fascinating portrait of three figures in intellectual figures- the well-known figures of Sigmund Freud and Paul Jung and the less famous yet pivotal figure of Sabina Spielrein.The film deals with several themes which echo those of psychoanalysis- father figures, sexual repression and guilt, and a very Belle Epoch approach to kink and kink-shaming, but also such things as social class and the tension between a comfortable yet repressed bourgeois life and a Bohemian life of freedom without security. It's a fascinating film of ideas, in that sense reminiscent of Cronenberg's Cosmopolis, but also a film full of repressed passion.

The whole thing is anchored by the three central performances of Mortensen, Michael Fassbender and expecially Keira Knightley, whose performance is simly extraordinary. A splendid film.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Time Bomb

"I don't think the police will hear about this..."

This third episode, while being absolutely a straight-up movie serial with all the tropes and limitations thereof, not least in stopping every seventeen minutes or so for a moment of peril, continues to show that The Adventures of Captain Marvel gets the superhero movie serial just right.

I like that the baddie is credited just as “the Scorpion”. I like the recap stills at the start of the episode that imprint in our memories the characters and the plot. Little things like this tend to be done right. But so far the plot has a nice, simple, but engrossing structure in that the Scorpion is after the lenses and, moreover, we know the Scorpion is one of the expedition. I like that there are several ostensibly sinister individuals amongst the group, and not just the obvious foreign red herring Tal Chotali.

And the cliffhangers, so far, are done with suspense- the time bomb on Billy’s plane is no exception, as the tension bounds and builds until the plane (a biplane with a propeller!) falls apart in the air.

This may not be big or clever, but it’s done very well indeed.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 12- Sold Under Sin

"Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh..."

This season finale is fascinating, thematic, perfect, and very much centred on the difficulties and dilemmas facing its two central characters as the military and magistrate arrive. Annexation and civilisation are almost here, and both Al and Seth must face what it means for them.

We begin as the camera pans away from Al, for whom the moment of truth arrives: the magistrate with the warrant for his arrest on a capital charge. He eventually deals with this problem decisively, but not without risks that the problem will return. And yet he carries out a more merciful killing, too: that of poor Reverend Smith, at the subtle urging of an upset and despairing Doc, who can at least take solace in the fact that his care has made a positive difference to a cheerful and smiling Jewel as he drinks himself to oblivion.

Al has other problems, though. The newly appointed sheriff is corrupt and, worse, acting in the interests of Cy in striking at Mr Wu and the Chinese. And this is not a problem, to Mr Wu’s fury, he can make go away.

Worse, Alma’s father turns out to be an utter blackguard, who wants to use his daughter to finance his growing and huge gambling debts- and is willing to blackmail his own daughter to achieve this. Seth, ever the gentleman, gives him a jolly good thrashing for being a cad and boulder- but comes close to arranging his murder at the hands of Al. At last he comes back from the abyss, but not before breaking his empty wedding vows by finally shagging Alma- and accepting, at last, with Al’s blessing, the position of sheriff.

This is a finely crafted, multifaceted ending to a superlative first season. I’ll be back before too long to begin the second...

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: The Guillotine

"Whoever controls this device will have power such as men have dreamed of since the beginning of time!”

It's fascinating to compare this second episode with that of the rubbish Batman and Robin: the difference in quality is all the clearer from the similarities in format. Again, after a longer first episode, we’re now into a much shorter length. The music is very similar. There’s a hooded and masked baddie with a loaf of very ‘40s behatted hoods working for him. There are fights. It all points towards a cliffhanger every seventeen minutes. And, after the cliffhanger, the action shifts from vaguely oriental lands to the USA, a similar setting to Batman and Robin, and the racism (although everyone seems to be white!) is no longer so apparent.

And yet it’s all so much better done. The direction and acting remain clearly superior. This is still a movie serial, and not exactly great art, but it all looks perfectly competent. Captain Marvel in action- flying, being impervious to bullets although one can’t help wondering why he never gets shot in the face- looks bloody good. The dialogue is functional, but does its job well.

But it’s also at plot level that this is obviously superior. The guillotine is used as the cliffhanger at the end, but it’s introduced earlier in a nice little Chekhov’s Gun moment. And it’s established that the Scorpion is really one of the archaeologists, so we have a nice little whodunit going on.

I’m enjoying this, and relieved to be.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel: Curse of the Scorpion

"Shazam!"

You may recall that I blogged, not many months ago, 1949's execrable Batman and Robin, a movie serial so cheap, so badly written, so "that'll do", that it threatened to put me off movie serials for life- especially as my only previous experience, as a twelve(ish) year old boy watching 1943's somewhat racist and very similar Batman on the telly in 1990(ish). I'm only watching this one because a) I need something with short episodes to blog because life is very hectic and exhausting indeed right now and b) I'm assured that this is actually good.

The name "Captain Marvel" is, it's fair to say, reasonanly popular amongst superheroes. Marvel have a current character of that name (Carol Danvers, the former Ms. Marvel) and within the pages of the House of Ideas we have also seen Mar-Vell the Kree superhero and Monica Rambeau, my own generation's Captain Marvel.

But this is 1941, and the first Captain Marvel. And it's not Marvel Comics who own the character- and not is it DC at this point: it's Fawcett Comics, although DC would later buy the company and integrate its characters into their own universe- with the rather pleasing result that Captain Marvel, something of a Superman rip-off, will end up interacting with Kal-El himself. But it's only 1941. That's all ages away.

So is this first episode any good? Well, yes. It is, of course, an origin story based on the familiar trope of a tomb that must not be disturbed for fear of annoying the vaguely superstitious and randomly violent natives. And, well, it's 1941. You didn't think there'd be no racism at all, did you? It's set in "Siam", yet the natives are all beturbaned, suspiciously Caucasian and look very much like the common perception of Afghan tribesmen to me. It very much gives the impression that we're supposed to think that all these vaguely Eastern places are pretty much the same. Edward Said would have a field day with this. But, well, it's 1941. Empires are still a thing. The past is indeed a foreign country. And why would a Thai legend imbue Captain Marvel with attributes from Greek gods?

Despite this, though, the production values, acting and special effects are all good, and it's already clear that this has been made with a lot more care than Batman and Robin. The story is well told and it looks good. So far, so good.

Batman: Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires

"Batman, how could you have opened a vault, to which you didn't even know the combnation, in three seconds flat?"

"With my Three Seconds Flat Bat Vault Combination Unscrambler, Commissioner."

At last we come to the final episode and... well, Minerva's first two millionaire victims are one William Dozier and "millionaire television producer"  Howie Horwitz, but that's just an in-joke for those in the know. There's otherwise no acknowledgement whatsoever that this is the final episode. Was there still some uncertainty when this was made about whether the show was going to be picked up for another season by NBC?

This is rather good, though, and a decent finale, although it doesn't hit the real heights. Zsa Zsa Gabor is charismatic, sexy and funny as one-off baddie Minerva, and the script has a bit of fun- one of Charles Hoffman's better efforts. The episode may be a little rushed, and Batgirl underused, but that's not so much the fault of the episode as the format for this season.

And... that's it. Batman is gone with neither a bang nor a whimper but a very ordinary episodes. I suppose that's how things were in 1968. But I have every intention of following certain aspects of the series' afterlife.

Fornow, though, I'll continue with Deadwood, and start something else...

Demolition Man (1993)

"The exchange of bodily fluids? Do you know what that leads to?"

From unpromising beginnings- Sylvester Stallone's first line is a very crude bit of blatant exposition- a film I was expecting to be just a fun '90s action movie turns out, as well as being exactly that, a genuinely (and intentionally) funnt comedy at the same time as well as a timely warning against an over-sanitised society. No sex or alcohol? That's no utopia.

The cast is superb. Yes, this may no longer be the Stallone of First Blood who actually acts but more the Stallone of Judge Dredd whom you just point as a script and let you do his shouty stuff, but that's exactly what's needed for the part of John Spartan. Wesley Snipes gives a much more accomplished performance- yes, his role as Simon Phoenix calls for much scenery chewing, but this is considered, nuanced and multi-layered scenery chewing and the perfect performance. The lovely Sandra Bullock, meanwhile, gives a perfect comedic performance. She's a talented actress, although sadly one who (present film excepted) hasn't always chosen the best films in which to appear. And Nigel Hawthorne, although bizarrely miscast, is superb as always.

On the surface this is a film about a cop and a psycho from 1996 emerging into the distant future of 2032, where they continue their rialry amongst much skulduggery. Yes it is just as much a comedy of manners, finding copious humour in putting its macho hero in a saccharine future where police are unable to handle violence and swearing is prohibited. I'm certainly not a libertarian of the right-wing sort, you'll never catch me railing against that nebulous concept of "political correctness", but, in its attitude to civil liberties, sex, beer and ratburgers, this is perhaps a rebuke from the '90s towards our society of facial recognition and that silly, arbitrary fourteen units a week. It's also a bloody good and well-shot film, both as a comedy and as an action film.

Wild at Heart (1990)

“Too bad he couldn't visit that old Wizard of Oz and get some good advice."

This is a David Lynch film, so you just know there's going to be weirdness, symbolism and ambiguous subtext. We get all this in Wild at Heart, yet it simultaneously is and isn't what one might expect from Lynch.

Interestingly, despite the arty directorial flashes, dreamy atmosphere, eschewal of nturalism in both directorial and acting styles and Lynchian blurring of what is and is not real, on the surface this is quite a straightforward film, to the extent of being cheesy. After all, it's a road movie, a romance with a happy ending, and interestingly the kind of action movie based on American  grotesques that looks ahead to Tarantino.

And yet there's so much going on beneath the surface- playful irony, yes, but much more. There's a loving relationship between two flawed but decent people, lots and lots of good sex, and the soppiest ending ever- but there's also a lot of darkness, particularly sexual darkness. We learn of Lula being sexually abused as a teenager, and Bobby sexually assaults her in a very uncomfortable scene. Yet, although this film doesn't flinch from the fact that this is a sometimes dark world, where good people suffer and die needlessly, it's also a film that holds out the hope of eventual happiness.

It's also, interestingly, a film full of characters reminiscing to one another, but these memories are unclear, frangmentary and inconsistent: all the characters, and indeed the narrative itself, are unreliable narrators. Memory, and thus the past, is a fragile, vague thing. There is only now. There's a melancholy to this, but also hope: we don't have to be prisoners of our past, as Sailor ultimately learns from the Good Witch.

And no, I've no idea what those Wizard of Oz references are all about, beyond the obvious rarallel of a journey. But this is a film that can be enjoued at a much deeper level while also being a weirdly straightforward melodrama. Fascinating.

Batman: The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra

"A Batfight seldom takes more than forty seconds, and they're already half an hour late."

Now this is more like it. It will never be one of my all-time  favourites, it's extremely cheap-looking, and all the ersatz "arch-criminals" are both underused to the point of undermining the characters and far too easily defeated, but the wit and the fun are back.

We first meet alchemist Dr Cassandra and her sidekick husband Cabala (both played by minor Hollywood stars) as they use invisibility to rob a bank that's "so conservative it pays no interest at all", and the silliness remains at that level- right to the point of a gun that turns our Terrific Trio into two-dimesnsional beings, aka cardboard cutouts. This is splendidly silly, and results in Batgirl being introduced to the Batcave.

The misuse of the arch-criminals is unnecessary and jarring, although I love that Gotham Prison has an "arch-criminals' wing". And the Batfight in total darkness is hilarious. After last episode's disaster, the series may well be regaining its mojo just before the last ever episode...

Batman: The Joker's Flying Saucer

"Holy known unknown flying objects!"

Oh dear. Only last episode I was rejoicing that, while this season is clearly under-budget and, on the whole, under par, it is nevertheless capable of reaching real heights. It is also, alas, capable of real lows, and this third-from-last episode is a real stinker. The sort of episode, in fact, which can tempt one to mention shark jumping. And this is the last episode of the Joker and, indeed, of any recurring villain.

Cesar Romero's Joker was never my favourite villain in Batman: Frank Gorshin's Riddler, Penguin and both Catwomans (Catwomen?) outshine him. And Romero, admittedly, is only my third favourite Joker. Fourth, if you count Conrad Veidt. But I liked him, and he deserves a much better swansong than this.

High concept episodes are fair enough, but this episode takes the theme of a silly flying saucer hoax and does absolutely nothing interesting with it. There's no wit or metatextual fun to speak of, just broad attempts at humour, although admittedly the Joker asuming Alfred must be a "mad scientist" is quite funny. Not even stock footage of the Batcopter can save this cheap, tawdry and funny episode.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 11: Jewel's Boot Is Made for Walking

"You pay or she pays..."

Al Swearengen is truly the puppetmaster in this penultimate episodes, pulling all sorts of strings. We begin with him bribing Silas Adams to make his judge go away, and it is he who ultimately decides on a dodgy new sheriff- although he later seems to warm to the idea of Seth. He has worrying designs on the increasingly unwell Reverend. His jealousy at Sol when he finds he's been sleeping with Trixie on a non-commercial basis is solved by his asserting his "rights" as pimp.And yet this, along with the judge's warrant over his head, could be the harbinger of the potential threat to his position of the coming of civilisation and annexation. In controlling the process, can he control the threat?

Less clever is Alma's dodgy father, who is after her claim but is seen through by all, although he explicitly gives his blessing to her and Seth, of whom he approves, in full knowledge that Seth's wife and ward are coming. Ominously, too, Tolliver gets the surviving junkie to spread racist rumours about the Chinese, rumours that reflect badly on Swearengen, our antihero.

Yet it's not all theme and simmering plot threads: poor Jewel and the Doc get a lovely scene. As we approach the end it becomes clearer and clearer just how finely crafted this first season has been. This is first class television.

Batman: I'll Be a Mummy's Uncle

"I'll build an indestructible empire that no one will be able to destruct!"

Every episode of this last run is the last gasp of something or someone that we will miss. This time it's King Tut making his last appearance, in a triumph of an episode crammed with magnificent one liners. Yes, Stanley Ralph Ross is on writing duties again.

This is twenty-four minutes of pure fun. It's nonsense, of course: Tut's plan is to acquire land next to Wayne Manor and then drill sideways in order to grab some priceless "Nilanium", accidentally hitting the Batcave after which farce ensues. The Aswan Dam, still under construction in 1968, gets a topical mention. And, although Bargirl is sidelined somewhat, this is a splendid bit of storytelling, filling the time available to perfection.

We even get a delightful scene in which Barbara, as Batgirl, rings Batman, as Bruce Wayne. The Dynamic Duo casually run a three minute and then a two minute mile. And, of course, Victor Buono is comic gold as ever. Tut will be missed. And we're so very close to the end now...

Batman: The Great Train Robbery

"You cheated! You know we ain't no good in a fair fight!"

Just to recap, before I discuss this splendid episode... I've seen the first season as a young adult, some parts more than once, albeit more than twenty years ago. But, although I've seen many, but by no means all, of the second and third season, we're looking at childhood memories, so watching certain episodes can lead to a completely unexpected wave of nostalgia. That's what happened tonight where Chief Standing Pat, the episode's totally non-problematic Native American character, spoke of a time "when little hand is on eleven, and big hand is on twelve." I remember this line from having seen it once, as a child of about ten, in about 1987. That's weird.

Stanley Ralph Ross has a knack for superb scripts, and this is his best. Shame (and the institution f the two parter) get the best of send-offs here, in a rare second episode that far exceeds the first. Not even the dodgy accent of Hermione Baddesley as (snigger) Frontier Fanny can take away from it.

We have a splendid deconstruction of Western tropes here, with a train robbery and ending with a shootout at High Noon and "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do". All the characters know full well what genre they're in. The wit of this script is a joy. And Cliff Robertson is superb; Shane hasn't really appeaed that much but there's a reason why the character is so fondly remembered. And, while the third season may (we can now see) perhaps be the least good overall, it can still hit real heights.

Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

“I'll teach those humans for failing to recognise me. They mocked me. Well, now they're going to eat their words!"

This is the film that killed the Godzilla franchise for nine years. It was never intended to do this but, despite decent reviews, it was a box office bombs. So this is the last film of an era- an era of rubber customes, toy tanks and B movie awesomeness.

And this is actually one of the superior entries. Yes, its monster stuff is more or less recycled and yes, we don't get to see much monster action (or indeed Godzilla) until really rather late on. But the science fiction intrigue and the twists and turns before them keep us entertained. We have a bitter old mad scientist! We have the shocking revelation that his downtrodden daughter is a cyborg! We have the most 70s clothing possible!

Oh, the plot doesn't really make sense, and Mechagodzilla doesn't actually do an awful lot, plus this new monster is a bit generic, but who cares? The pace, and the plot beats, are perfect for suspense. This is how to do a B movie.

So, what next? I'm genuinely watching these movies blind, having never seen any of them before. But I very much suspect that, after this film, nothing will ever be the same again. Let's hope the franchise remains enjoyable as the period charm gradually lessens as we approach more recent decades.

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 10- Mister Wu

“August commencement to my administration, standing stymied outside a saloon next to a degenerate tit-licker.”


This is a subtle, well-written script, well realised. As ever, there’s a lot going on. The Reverend continues to deteriorate- the Doc thinks it’s a tumour. Business is good for Charlie while Joanie is stuck. Fascinatingly, Bullock honestly talks to Sol of his doubts about a wife and boy he barely knows as “she” is a beautiful woman. But the episode is, as ever, about the town’s slow process towards annexation and order... and systemic racism.

The episode shows us the racism, and doesn’t tell us how to react. Certainly, Wu is not a nice man. He supplies opium to Al and feeds murdered bodies to his pigs- and the other members of the Chinese community are clearly afraid of him. He is, I suppose, a community leader of sorts- but, because of his ehnicity, there's no possibility of his being considered one, and there is uproar when he enters the Gem through the front door. He is, in a sense, respected- certainly by Al- as an individual, but it seems to be accepted by all that there's a "proper" separation of "races". Racial slurs are everywhere, whores find his entering by the front door scandalous, and Cy even comments that a white dope fiend is "still while"- and Al is wary of being seen as too close to the "celestials".

It's interesting that this structural racism is clearly shown, and shocks with how clearly ingrained it is, without a need for a sympathetic character. Interestingly, too, we meet Hostetler, our first black character.

Beyond this, civilisation grows nearer, although not without Al having to pay extra bribes to make a murder charge go away. Already there's tension between using tax for corrupt purposes and for public services. There's a lot of nuance and subtlety here. It is, as ever, superb telly.

Batman: The Great Escape

"They've got Batgirl, and we've got Fanny."

There are two things which are probably worh mentioning as I start to blog this episode. The first is that, in this final run of episodes with their many last times, this two parter is both the final appearance of Shame and, well, the last two parter.The other thing, no less importantly, is that Hermione Baddesley- the maid from Mary Poppins- is playing a character called (titter) Frontier Fanny.

This is a hilarious episode for many reasons, not least Shame's sidekicks: a Native American who communicates solely in shorthand smoke signals and a Mexican bandit with a cut glass RP accent, neither of which you would see today, but this kind of playfulness with stereotypes is not, I don't think, mean-spirited.

There's more, though, from the latest variation on the ever entertaining "Commissioner rings the Batphone with Bruce Wayne present" trope to Batman reading the note from Shame in Shame's own vernacular, reminding us that Adam West is a terrific comic actor. I've peraps been remiss, too, in my praise for the penmanship of Stanley Ralph Ross.

Still no cliffhanger, though, and this was the last chance...

Batman: Penguin's Clean Sweep

"Don't you see? That's what happens, Pengy-poo, when you send a fly out to do a man's job."

We're getting close to the end now (only six more short episodes after this one- how on Earth did we get here so fast?), so we're going to be saying goodbye to all the villains, one by one. We've already waved adieu to the Riddler. I didn't realise at the time, but we've already bidded to Catwoman after but three short episodes for Eartha Kitt.

This time it's a true milestone: the last appearance of the unsurpassable Burgess Meredith as the Penguin. Let there be much mourning. With the one exception of Frank Gorshin, who has appeared but onceas the Riddler sinceutterly  owning the first season, his quacking, conniving baddie is unquestionably the finest villain to grace this programme. And, while I won’t pretend this episode is amongst his best- it’s no Hizonner the Penguin- it’s a splendidly entertaining little episode and a fine send off.

The plot is wonderfully silly- contaminating banknotes with "Lygerian Sleeping Sickness" so no one will want money and Penguin can literally vacuum it from the street. The solution is silly, too- alerting the world that Gotham's money is unclean so all Penguin's cash is worthless. This clever conceit of Batman's is foolproof because, as we all know, there's no such thing as money laundering. Right? On a similar note, let us also gloss over the conflation of vaccines and antidotes. This is 1968; they're not living through a plague like we are here in 2020. We can't expect the same level of obsession.

Next week looks interesting, with Shane being back, and one (titter) Frontier Fanny...

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 9- No Other Sons or Daughters

"Taking people’s money is what makes organizations real, be they formal, informal or temporary."

So annexation is coming- and it terrifies Al, much as he simultaneously longs for it. Like all the other businessmen, he craves respectability but, unlike some, is less keen on the responsibilities that flow from that. He dominates this episode, at once insecure and firmly in charge, with most of the best lines, but it's about so much more than him.

The episode centres around the meeting, on Al's territory, in which they all try to form a kind of proto-government. It may be laughable that E.B. is appointed mayor, but ths is ultimately how such thngs happen, in microcosm. Farnum may be the face of government, but Al is the unseen power behind the throne. And it is the public, of course, the little people, who are to be manipulated into paying the necessary bribes. This is extremely clever telly.

Other things happen, of course- the Reverend is clearly unwell, and it will be interesting to see where this is going. Poor, likeable Jane is drunk again and, for now, leaving town, full of thinly disguised self-loathing. Meanwhile, her friend Charlie is setting up as a postmaster- and has an interesting meeting with Joanie. Cy, meanwhile, is somewhat sensitive to having overstepped the mark last episode. And his henchman, Eddie, seems to be revealed as our first overtly gay character. Then there's the ever-present dance between Bullock and Alma.

This feels like a real community, and is offcially about to become one. This continues to be extraordinary relly.

Laura (1944)

“Murder is my favourite crime.”

As one would expect of a famous film noir from the heyday of the genre, this film is magnificent, indeed close to perfection. The atmosphere, the direction, the cast, the witty script and the delightfully clever unfolding plot... this is not so much a film upon which one passes judgement, as a film to gaze upon in awed amazement. It’s that good.

Ultimately, this is because of the clever, witty, melancholy script and Preminger’s superb direction, but the film is full of extremely real-seeming characters. Gene Tierney is mesmerising as the eponymous murder victim herself, and Dana Andrews strokes the right notes as Detective McPherson. Yet it is Clifton Webb, as the witty, arrogant yet somehow likeable Waldo Lydecker, who truly astounds in what must have been a deeply satisfying role. Then there’s Vincent Price, impossibly young, playing a part totally unlike what he would later be known for.

The film is seventy-six years old as I write. And yet it has a world-weary and deeply intelligent level of psychological perceptiveness that feels somehow more “modern” than most contemporary cinema. Each character feels like a thinking, feeling, self-justifying human being, with real motives. And yet the film also functions perfectly as a clever and gripping whodunit. Everyone must see this film.