American Greed: James McGill

 "Right from the start he was the kind of lawyer guilty people hire."

Tonight, something a little unusual. I've been assured that, from my perspective, there are no spoilers.

This is, I understand, an episode of a documentary series that usually deals with real life criminals and fraudsters- I had a look and recognised a few names from other episodes, Allen Stanford for one. But this episode deals with our very own Jimmy McGill aka Saul Goodman. And it's a rather good laugh.

The style of the visuals and narration is somewhat overblown, reminding me of The Day Today. But, as one watches this, it becomes clear just how clever it is. Actors from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul appear, most hilariously the Kettlemans, deluded and annoying as ever. It's all played so very straight, which is exactly why it's such fun.

See for yourself... https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DC4yenXwx7ao&ved=2ahUKEwjU_t28r_2KAxUAQ0EAHRlJGh8QtwJ6BAgPEAI&usg=AOvVaw01PuO0QN1Lqhn1UxyeKHWl

What If... What If?

 "But... what is the point of just watching?"

This is, in terms of how it's constructed, a masterfjul finale. I'm just not sure it's about anything other than itself, philosophical though it may seem on the surface.

It's vert good though. Lots of pleasing moments. We begin with a flashback to Uatu's accession as a Watcher by the Eminence, but the master ultimately becomes the pupil. Peggy gets a meaningful death, very characteristic of her. Ultron's sacrifice, of course, had to happen. The powers of the Watchers are shown to be truly incredible, able even to erase a given person from ever having existed... in all realities.

And the end being a slightly altered version of the opening monologue, this time by Uatu again, is a particularly nice touch.

Yet the core of it all is the ongoing debate between Uatu and the Eminence... to watch, or also to intervene? To remain neutral, or to nurture the garden that is reality? To watch, or to see? And yes, it's all very philosophical on the surface... but is it really meaningful? This is a purely abstract debate with doubtful relevance to the real world. I suppose one could take it asa plea not to try to be "apolitical", as this just means a passive kind of conservatism. But even that's a stretch.

That said, though, this is very good.

Squid Game: 001

 "Can I just have what you're wearing instead? I like pink."

Wow. And with this the season lights on fire. This is devilishly clever telly in a number of ways.

To begin with, we have twoi narratives- Gi-hun adjust to the fact that he's on the islans again, while in the B plot Jun-ho and the others follow the tracker in his teeth in order to find him. But, in a smart bit of misdirection, it's suddenly revealred that the two sets of scenes don't take place at the same time... and that Gi-hun removed the tracker, that he'd gone to such lengths to get, in advance of the first game. Why?! I'm sure this will be revisited.

We see all the sights and dynamics once again. The Escher staircase; the striking costumes of the guards; another set of interesting characters. We have a mother and son both playing to clear the son's debts- I strongly suspect they'll ultimately be pitted against each other. Then we have a trans character, an old friens of Gi-hun's, an unscrupulous rapper called Thanos(!), and a crypto scammer (all crypto is a scam, people; don't do it) whose justifications for his behaviour suspiciously echo those of Front Man. People have a "choice"...

But the truly delicious bit is the effect of Gi-hun, with his experience, as a catalyst. He wants to help people, but people will be people. He and another lady risk their lives to save number 444... but No-eul shoots him nonetheless. And his warning people, duiring this year'sgame of Red Light, Green Light, that those whio do not remain still will be shot, is met only with mockery. And afterwards he is met with suspicion by many. We liuve in a greedy and conspiracy-addled world today, alas.

It's by one vote, of course: this is television drama. But, although the players will always be free to vote after every game whether to keepplaying or not, the result of the vote is inevitable.

Again, wow.

What If... the Watcher Disappeared?

 "It's definitely a risk."

"But it's to save a friend, and that's worth taking."

So it's nearly all over.

I know I'm always saying this for the episode of any serial (for this season is just that, albeit loosely for most of its run) that comes before the finale, but this episode functions as baasically set-up. What impresses here is how entertainingly the episode does its job of basically exposition and setting up of a cast of heroes to take us through the finale.

The Watcher has been arrrsted and tried by his own people for the crime of, you know, getting of his arse and doing something on occasion. And so, in a brilliant touch, the usual opening monologue is from not the Watcher but his erstwhile boss... and not just the delivery but the wording is more suercilious than we're used to.From the off, we don't like this bloke.

And then we're introduced to our team of desperate heroes who will hopefully save the day... and they all happen to be female, which will annoy all the far right culture warriors. We have the continuing story across realities of Captain Carter; the returning Kahhori; the now grown-up daughter of Darcy and Howard the Duck; and Storm, brilliantly shown as goddess of thunder (isn't this homaging an old limited series from the late '80s with the X-Men visiting Asgard?), yet again gradually pushing the mutants into the MCU.

There characters are introduced with skill, getting us to know and like them. And then there's the concept of Ultron, centuries after destroying all life in his universe, realidsing the enormity of what he did... and there can be "no redemption" for him. Wow.

Sometimes a set-up episode, which has to do so much, can be even more impressive than the actual finale. We'll soon see thether or not that's the case here.

Better Call Saul: Carrot and Stick

 "Lalo Salamanca lives!"

We don't see Lalo in this episode at all. But his influence is seen everywhere. 

We begin with... domino rally! Mike, again, has his moral code, and is trying to protect Nacho's dependents. But for Nacho things look much bleaker. His hiding place is discovered and, in sloooow scenes, we feel the tension deeply on his behalf as he realises his likely fate. In the end, he only just survives in an incredibly tense and dramatic sequence as the Salamancas (including those terrifying twins) arrive looking for him.

It's all devilishly complex: Gus talks to Don Hector who, of course, knows that Lalo is alive... and Gus sees, from Hector's expression, that this is the case. Giancarlo Esposito is exquisite here: he communicates this through facial expression alone.

And sothe way lies open for Mike to point out, according to his principles but also correctly, to Gus that he must lookafter Nacho. Because if thre Salamancas get to him, and get him to talk as they undoubtedly would... Gus is surely finished. Mike is bravely defiant on this: if Nacho hadn't rung, and asked to speak to Gus, I'm not sure what would have happened... but I suspect, in the longer term, Mike is earning even more of Gus' respect.

The other thread of the episode, with Jimmy and Kim putting their plot against Howard into operation, is similarly complex. It not clear what's going on yet, or meant to be, but it's fun to see this unfold, much as it was with the scams of old... much as it's also fun to see the entitled and arrogant Kettlemans get their comeuppance.

But this seems to be a turning point: Kim is turning very dark here, thoroughly corrupted by Jimmy. It's subtly and brilliantly done, and very much feels earned.

Better Call Saul was already exquisite. But we seem, crazy though it sounds, to be moving to another level altogether.

The Delta Force (1986)

 "You don't need beds. You're gonna die tomorrow..."

I seem to be very much in the mood for cheesy '80s action films and this very much seemed to fit the fill- by Cannon, themasters of the genre, and starring Chuck Norris yet featuring a rather impressive-looking cast.

And it is, indeed, a fun watch, slowly going through the events of a hijack based loosely on one from real life the previous year. While there's plenty of action towards the end, there's plenty of tension throughout and the decision to take us through the mechanics of the hijack is in itself highly engrossing.

It helps, too, that we spend time getting to know and like the passengers and crew, many of whom are played by rather high profile character actors. It's very odd indeed to see a young Robert Forster, who I know from Jackie Brown and Mulholland Drive, as the chief hijacker... but he's very good indeed.

The film is, however, of its time. Very gung-ho, and the main flashpoint of the world is of course Beirut. The presentation of Arab characters- not just the hijackers but air traffic control and so forth- is, let us not mince words, quite shockingly racist. And there's a very prominent pro-Israeli subtext throughout the film. It's not crudely overdone, but it's ever-present.

However, there's no denying that, if you're in the mood to switch your brain off and enjoy a proper '80s action film, this very much does the trick.

Trancers (1984)

 "Hey Mom, they shot Santa Claus!"

This is now my favourite Christmas film, and I will die on this hill. Eat your heart out, Die Hard.

This is one of the finest of that splendid genre that is cheekily obvious rip-offs of much bigger action flicks that were so prevalent back in the '80s. In this case we're ripping off... er, homaging Terminator. Oh, the Trancers are sort of zombies, not robots, and the time travel is via a "time drug" that implants your consciousness into the body of an ancestor... but it's very, very blatant. And I for one have zero problem with it, because this film is quite simply awesome.

The ideas are silly but great- the "long second", "Lost Angeles". Jack Deth (I love how every character points out what a ridiculous name this is) is the perfect protagonist played to Adam West-like perfection by Tim Thomerson. Gruff, cynical, but heroic and with a heart of gold- with every line delivered absolutely straight, as camp humour requires.

This film knows damn well how silly it is and there are nice clever touches- Deth may be middle aged, but he's from the far future, so he dances happily to a punk band which, to him, would sound quite old fashioned.

It would be churlish to point out the plot holes- if Jack stays in 1985, what happens to Phil? Why can't the Council just send him another syringe?- because the film is just so damn enjoyable. I may even watch the sequels. Here's hoping they're the right kind of bad.

What If... 1872?

 "In this universe, Ultron was actually programmed for show tunes..." 

Here we reach the wilder shores of What If?, where we move veyond a simple point of divergence from an event we know to the truly wild and wonderful... which, rather nicely, includes a nice little cameo from Frog Thor from the Walt Simonson days. So we go back in time to the OldWest, to the 1872 of the Marvel Universe. I'm not really au fait with much that happened in the comics after about 1993, but perhaps I was expecting at least some reference to the Two Gun Kid or Rawhide Kid or, indeed, the original Ghost Rider.

Instead we get a decent little tale of Shang-Chi and Kate Bishop looking int the mass kidnapping of Chinese immigrant rail workers by the mysterious "Hood". I appreciate the political subtext here, especially as we await the swearing in of Trump, that doddering old fool, and his many moronic policies including mass deportations.

But... well, the climax with the twist and emotional twists and turns with Xialing doesn't quite do it for me, although once again it's fascinating to see such a Shang-Chi heavy episode. But I was entertained, there were some nice ideas, Easter eggs despite a relatively small cast, some fun with Western tropes, and a nice little cameo from John Walker.

It's all about the ending though, as the Watcher is finally in trouble for interfering. About bloody time...

Squid Game: Halloween Party

 "Put me back in the game..."

After an exciting first episiode, this one is quite blatantly about putting the pieces into place and getting Gi-hun back in the game as we knew would happen. It does the job, and is still good television, but it's somewhat functional and hardly up there with the last episode. And the way Choi and Jun-ho are recruitred, alongside a massive paramilitary force, feels a bit too awkwardly easy.

Still, there's good stuff here. It's heartbreaking how Jun-ho's mum feels her other son has deliberately cut her out, but Jun-ho can't tell her the truth. There's a little girl with cancer and a reminder, as per last season, and indeed Breaking Bad, that for a country not to have a public healthcare system is as evil as anything Front Man does, if not more so.

Intriguinly, too, we have another North Korean defector, No-eul, homeless and desperate, who is looking for her daughter and agrees to accept the usual card and meet in the usualplace... but the twist is that she's a guard, not a contestant. Nice twist. I assume we'll be following her throughout the season. The guards are as manipulated as the players.

But the heart of the episode, as Gi-hun (and I don't care about the phone call; he's still a terrible father) and Front Man verbally spar, Gi-hun calling out Front Man's right-wing crap about how the players have a free choice. Of course they don't; inequality exists, and people don't beome desperate and out of options because they enjoy it. And that's Squid Game to a tee: at its root, it's deeply political.

Still, I'm hoping for a return to the usual form next time.

What If... the Emergence Destroyed the Earth?

 "He has broken his oath. Again..."

Interesting episode, this. For a start, the baddie (derspite the lack of Jake Gyllenhaal) is Mysterio, our first Spider-Man villain to appear in any non-Sony related MCU thing. Also interesting is that, although the main character is Riri "Ironheart" Williams, a character from well after my time in the comics whom I don't know well, we're leaning heavily into concepts from Shang-Chi and The Eternals. This season does that a lot, which is interesting.It woukd be rather nice if those films woukld turn out to actually lead to something.

The main conceit is that the Dreaming Celestial has destroyed the Earth early, it's split into little inhanbited fragments that somehow survive, and Mysterio has taken over the Earth using illusions, his control of Stark Industries, and the while version of the Vision. Much as I love Valkyrie, Wong and Ying Nan (yes, that obscure)... yeah, the villains here are B listers. The plot is ok, based around Riri's stubborn determination, but despite a sound if bonkers central premise this is pretty average.

That predictable ending, though... yes, I know it's a cliche from the comics that the Watcher does nothing but interfere. But they're really leaning into it here.The final season, then, surely?

Squid Game: Bread and Lottery

 "Let's play a game..."

At last Squid Game is back... and wow. That was quite the first episode, brilliantly shot and fullof perffectly paced tdension and intrigue. This time both Gi-hun and Jun-ho are searching for the island, the game and the invitation, at first fruitlessly and then with deep drama.

Jun-ho, now being a humble trafficcop and not particularly rich, struggles stoically in his quest to painstakingly locate the island. Gi-hun... well, let us pause firstly to observe what a rubbish dad he is: let ius not forget that. Yet, while his search for the mysterious man at the subway stations seems similarly fruitless, Gi-hun now has resources. And blimey, he's changed: determined, basass and, as we later see, with nerves of steel.

The episode is devilishly clever as it intertwines the two linked quests, although admittedly it's an awfully convenient coincidence that the speeding Ji-hun should be stopped by Jun-ho's colleauge.

When we find the man wigth the suit, though.... wow. First, we see his little trick, offering the desperate a choine of bread (sensible: a certain hope of food) and lottery scratchcard, mocking the irrational yet perhaps inspiring hope of the desperate. But when he catches Gi-hun's two underlings, later Ji-hun himself, and plays those riveting games of Russian roulette... this is gripping television, although of the two musical accompaniments I rather preferred Puccini.

The end confrontation is utterly perfect, with the man losing, yes, but in playing by the rules of the game regardless of the consequences he wins a victory of sorts.

The perfect start. More please.

Better Call Saul: Wine and Roses

"Sounds like the day from Hell."

"It was one of the best days of my life."

And so begins the final season. It seems, at the start of episode one of thirteen, that we're a long way from the events of Breaking Bad. But there can't be far to go. And the pre-toitles is a slow, lingering scene with Saul Goodman's opulent and disgustingly tateless office being examined by the Feds. In the present day, with Saul in Nebraska, the net is closing in. And the episode really lingers on that fact.

And we move directly to the contrast with Nacho, also hunted, desperate, and possibly doomed, with a price from Don Eladio on his head. All the scenes with him are impossibly tense, with us feeling fear on his behalf. Yet he's a pawn. Lalo, wanting everyone to think him dead (although Gus suspects) is out to get him, and plotting with Hector. Mike tries to speak up to Gus about him, but Gus is playing his own inscrutable game. And Lalo has seldom been scarier.

Meanwhile, Kim and Jimmy are the usual contrast- Kim doing good work for the vulnerable and loving it while Jimmy remains a "friend of the cartel". Yet they're both tainted, and Kim is the driving force in their fascinating plot to do over Howard. We're not privy to the details, so it's fun to see the early stages of the scheme play out, reminding us of the scams from earlier seasons... but the stakes are higher. The golf club scene is fascinatingly layered. The golf club stands for the snobbery againstwhich Jimmy has alwayds genuinely struggled... yet Kevin is right to blackball him for being the bounder and the cad that he is. And to play the antisemitism card ("only following orders", ouch!) when he's about as Jewish as my cat... wow.

And plot threads abound. Is Jimmy going to get rumbled in court for the stints he played to get Lalo bail? Is Mike suddenly now not the person on the phone to Nacho? What is Lalo planning? What are Jimmy and Kim planning? And what of that sphinx, Gus? This is a superb start.

Death on the Nile (1978)

 "Mon dieu, how she makes enemies of them all!"

I've read the novel, but it would have been around 1990-ish, so I wasn't expecting to remember much of the plot, and surely enough I didn't. So I was genuinely unspoiled for the big reveal. Nevertheless, I'll try and review this as a film rather than as Agatha Christie's original plot.

It's a very cinematic adaptation, shot on location at all the sights in Egypt as well as in rural England. The whole thing is exquisitely shot- particularly impressive is the first tracking shot of the dramatis personae all at dinner for the first time.

This isn't quite an all-star cast, but the star wattage is nevertheless relatively high, with no less a personage as Bette Davis in a middling sized role. David Niven is solid as the Watson figure, with Colonel Race giving some hilariously off colour views on those characters who deign to speak in a language other than English. Maggie Smith excels as a bitter woman in reduced circumstances, while Angela Lansbury is every bit as good as an amusingly sozzled romance novelist.

However... I'm not sure about Peter Ustinov as Poirot. It's not that there's anything wrong with his performance, he just feels miscast. He doesn't visually convince as Poirot, however well he may play the part. However, the overall performances are strong, and the film works superbly, helped by its awesome locations, in letting events play out dramatically, even if we do spend far too long on Poirot's explanation of how pretty much every character could have seen Jacqui shoot Simon through the window.

There are some fascinating moments here- a brief mention is made to a previous case involving a "decapitated clergyman". There's an unfortunate Indian stereotype. But overall this is a fine adaptation which plays the source material with a straight bat.

What If... Howard the Duck Got Hitched?

 "Captain Mohawk stole our baby!"

Just to be clear, I quite like a lot of KISS. But "I Was Made for Loving You" is a disco-tinged abomination. Just to be clear.

That said... otherwise, I like this episode. Yes, it's very silly having the concept. of Howard the Duck and Dacy (Mr and Mrs "the Duck"...) have a hybrid kid together, absolutely leaning into the interspecies sexz fun of 1986's Howard The Duck (nice touch, the reference to "Mrs Switzler"). And naturally this egg is the most important child ever, whose coming has been foretold and who is therefore fougfht over by allthe cosmic entities of the MCU, from Zeus to the Grandmaster to Dormannu to Thanos to SHIELD.

Only for it to turn out that it's the parents who should raise the child after all, as that's how childrearing works. This child is special... but aren't they all? This episode, broadcast on a day which commemorates the birth of a child, is a rather nice and fun metaphor for all the things we parents go through, and it's lovely.

But also fun. And with a surprisingly high amount of star wattage.

I'm left wondering, though... yes, this works as just a meaphor. We don't need to take the meaphor literally and see what this little girl becomes... but will we?

What If... the Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?

 "Horseradish! I am no fool!"

This week the blog will be a little different as Little Miss Llamastrangler is with me. I don't usually blog the same show night after night, but I'll be blogging What If? between now and Friday as the episodes are short and it works logistically. 

After that I'll try and get back to some sort of "normal" schedule. And somehow fit in Squid Game Season Two...

Anywayy, this is a nice, light-hearted little romp, and a real joy. Yes, the "What If" is straightforward... but the episode is really about showcasing the Red Guardian as the truly fun character than he is- a bit of a blowhard, yes, but straightforward and honest. And while he's a communist, at least he has a genuine ethical system, although surely he's the only true, non-cynical Soviet communist left by 1991.

Of course, it helps that he's played by David Harbour, a rather prominent actor these days, hence the prominence for the character. But this episode, by giving him a real bond with the brainwashed Bucky, really humanises him. And it's great that the other main hero here is Bill Foster, or Goliath, another obscure hero even if Laurence Fishburne is hardly an obscure actotr.

This kind of thing, exploring small scale eventualities with underused characters, is exactly what this series ought to be doing more of.

An Ideal Husband (1947)

 "I don't know that women are always rewarded for being charming. I think they are usually punished for it."

I thought I knew An Ideal Husband, having read the play several times when I was younger. Let us say that it feels very different, and much less of a straightforward comedy, in my middle age. But perhaps that's also a result of seeing the film rather than reading it.

There are, of course, many witty lines, several of which I remembered. But this is, at its heart, a serious tale of blackmail and integrity. Indeed, we are reminded that, despite the milieu of balls, "society", the "season" and the London of the upper classes centred on Grosvenor Square that are the focus of this and other plays, Oscar Wilde was himself, despite his aestheticism, rather left wing in his views.

The focus of the film is Sir Robert's dark secret, an act of financial impropriety done in his youth. Yet, as he tells Lord Goring, who has never wanted for anything, poverty- even the genteel type- is crushing, overwhelming. Without wealth, there can be no freedom. The script notably takes a forgiving view of Sir Robert, who ultimately goes unpunished. Mrs Cheveley, whose sins do not have the excuse of poverty, does not get such understanding, although it is notable that the film ends with her free to prey on others.

The film is mostly a straightforward and well-acted version of the play, allowing the performances and Wilde's words to carry the film. Michael Wilding is particularly good. A very young Glynis Johns also impresses. Yet I was intrigued to see the opening narration, introducing the world of 1895 and "society", only fifty years before the film was made- as the 1970s are to us- but a world away from an existence of rationing, Indian independence and the setting up of the Welfare State.

This may be a straightforward telling of the play, for the most part. But, with Wilde, that's no bad thing.

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)

 "Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years."

Oscar Wilde is awesome. I've read everything he ever published at one time or another. And, of all his plays, The Importance of Being Earnest is the most fun, just edging out An Ideal Husband. So I should enjoy this film, right?

Well... obviously the script is faultless, as it's Wilde with only minor, functional changes. And the cast is broadly excellent- especially Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth and Rupert Everett. There are some creative visual touches behind the basic dialogue and scenes- Cecily's fantasies, the revelation that Aunt Augusta was a chorus girl before meeting Lord Bracknell, and that Jack, at the end, is telling a bit ofa porky about being called Ernest. I can see why these were done.

But... well, there's a rather brilliant 1952 film of this play, one that looms over this version like an intimidating mountain. It's quite plausible that I'd have enjoyed this version more if I hadn't seen and enjoyed its magnificent predecessor. We'll never know. But... it just isn't as good, and isn't really different enough or quirky enough to make upfor that.

Plus, although I can understand the desire to expand the settings and locations and to try and make this film not look like a static,filmed stage play... that's what the play is. It's people standing in rooms talking. Pretending otherwise doesn't work.

And finally... a production of The Importance of Being Earnest always stands or falls on its Lady Bracknell. And Edith Evan's languidly witty version of the character is quite definitive. Judi Dench is very good here, but her inevitably sterner interpretation simply cannot compare with her truly great predecessor.

Still, taking this film on its own terms, there are things to like here. it's good to see a more modern cast speaking these lines. But, if it's not too late, I'd recommend watching this first and the 1952 version second.

Woman of Stone

 "They come to punish..."

Mark Gatiss' annual Ghost Stories for Christmas are, it seems, quite firmly an annual fixture now, something which pleases me very much. This year we have an adaptation of E. Nesbit's Man-Size in Marble; it seems that, aside from her more well-known children's stories such as The Railway Children and Five Children and It, she was also wont to write the odd ghost story for her fellow adults.

Delightfully, the episode is book-ended by two rather witty little metatextual sequences with Celia Imrie as E. Nisbit herself, on her deathbed, telling the story to her doctor ad cheerfully chain-smoking as the lung cancer goes through the final stages of killing her- in themselves these scenres are at once a grim memento mori and a cheerful reminder that the only response to mortality is to live life to the full.

And yet this tale isdark. A newleywed couple, newly married, and all sorts of subtle indications of domestic abuse- the physical kind, yes, but also the cotrolling behaviour that lies behind it. And, with this being the 1880s, poor Laura has no recourse to justice, hope, or even dvorce. Awfil though it is, perhaps her end is a mercy of sorts.

And, of course, the ghostly (if very, very solid) force from the deep dark past echoes all this, the violent jealousy of me who, of course, apply that tired old double standard as they unthinkingly abuse their wives.

I saw the twist coming, yes, but it worked nevertheless. Capital punishment may be barbarous, Jack may be innocent of the specific crime for which he hangs... but I have no sympathy for him.

There is not, it has to be said, much to find scary in this episode. But it was excellent nonetheless.

Doctor Who: Joy to the World

 "I don't usually live like this- one day, after another, in the right order..."

I love blogging Doctor Who.As far as this blog is concerned... well, that's how it all started with this blog. I was doing a Doctor Who marathon with a group of people on Outpost Gallifrey between 2008 and 2010, from An Unearthly Child to The Pandorica Opens, uploaded all my entries to this blog, and then... kept on going with new Doctor Who, along with soooo much other stuff. This blog has now been going for so long that Doctor Who comprises only a small part of it, but it will always be the beating heart of this blog.

This time I'm doing something different, though. Because yes, I watched this yesterday; yesI paid attention; but... I didn't take notes, as I almost always do, because I was with my family for Christmas. Also, while by no means further in that a couple of glasses of wine, I'd started on the booze. So this blog post is more of a memory test than usual, especially as I'm deliberately basing it on the one viewing and haven't read or seen any other reviews.

So... with one reservation, which I'll come too... i liked this a lot. It has all the wit we might by now expect from Steven Moffat, but also the brilliant concepts (the Time Hotel; using time and a suitcase to birth a star) and the very clever way it all fits together. It's standalone, funny, and the complexity is well explained and accessible for a slightly sozzled Christmas Day audience.There's Villengard, and a character who just simply happens to be a Silurian, but continuity does not loom large.

There's a heart tothis, though. Joy may seem in the surface to be nice and unthreatening, but her story is truly heartbreaking, and I loved Moffat's anger at the "one rule for me and one for thee" aspect of the lockdown parties. No doubt culture warring lockdown sceptics will decry this as "woke", whatever that is, but no one cares hat they think.

Nicola Coughlan is excellent.Yet, as ever, Ncuti Gatwa is simply superb. This is a very lonely Doctor who has just said goodbye to his companion and could do with a reminder that he needs a friend to travel with. Yes, I know; we've seen this before. But it's well handled here, with the Doctor taking the "slow path", as Reinette would have said, spending a year working in a hotel and making a good friend. and more than that... he learns again what friendship truly means. And the importance of chairs. That especially.

All this and a Mr Benn reference.

That said... the big reveal at the end that Joy and the others had become the Star of Bethlehem wasa bit much, one step too far. But it's Christmas, dammit. And this sort of episode is exactly what we need in this increasingly worrying world.

What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood?

 "Wow! That chemistry was hotter than the Hindenburg!"

I love the style of this, all late '30s Hollywood with opening titles to match, a massive contemporary musical number, pop culture references like the above and the Hollywoodland sign (not Hoyywood, yet) as a nice touch. And it's interesting to mix up Agatha Harkness with the world of Eternals and Celestials and the rapport between Howard Stark and Jarvis that we know so well from Agent Carter.

I'll be honest, though: I've only seen The Eternals once and there hasn't since been much follow-up. I just about remembered the Dreaming Celestial and Arishem's secret agenda to treat Earth as expendable. And if I'm a little vague on this stuff, surely many others, even those who try to keep up with the MCU, like myself, willbe in a similar situation?

Still, this works. I wouldn't say it's an absolute triumph, but it works. Kathryn Hahn can elevate anything just by being herself, and the script has lots of fun and clever touches- I love the bit where Howard casually and cheerfully reveals that he's well aware that Agatha is using real magic and Kingo is a powerful alien robot thingy, but it fine with it as it saves him money on special effects.

Overall, then, a nice little curiosity. And heavy hints that other Celestials will be back for a sequel. I wonder... is this a hint that the Eternals and Celestials will be used again in the MCU at some point?

The Ice House

 "But there is only ice in the ice house..."

This is the last of the BBC's original run of A Ghost Story for Christmas, screened just before Christmas, 1978. Like the previous year's instalment, this is an original story, set in the present day, which may well be counted against it. Worse, this instalment departs even further from its predecessors in not being directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. And there isn't even any suggestion of a ghost.  I understand it was rather panned at the time.

Personally, though, I rather like it.

Our protagonist is Paul, played by John Bowen who looks significently older than my forty-seven year old self does today, despite being five years younger- which is rather appropriate. Paul has separated from his wife (join the club...!), yet seems to have no spark for life, with no appetite for competition in playing croquet and seeing life as somnething to be "got through". He seems to have very little zest for ligfe to begin with.

And so he visits a very peculiar health farm, whose peculiarity is so very gradually revealed. The farm is run by a sinister, pansexual and incestuous brother and sister who seem to be symbolically (or literally) echoed by the flowers of a mysterious and sinister vine that covers a creeply ice house within the grounds... and holes appear in the windows of Paul's room which are the shape of the flowers of the vine... and rather phallic.

Paul's path to his inevitable doom, echoing those of the other zombified guests, is very well done. Yes, the performances are very mannered, but this works well in showing us a world where stultified middle class convention is a substitute for a life truly lived.

Definitely worth seeing.

What If... the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?

 "Of course, issues left unresolved rarely stay buried for long."

One episode a day over the Christmas period, is it? With Mark Gatiss dropping a new Ghost Story for Christmas tomorrow and Doctor Who the day after? I'm so going to fall behind with this...

It's a fun way to start, though. Mechs and "Gamma Beasts" that owe a lot to Japanese tropes that I suspect I'd understand more if I was more deeply into Manga and the like as opposed to just the retro Godzilla films and of course Transformers with its Japanese roots. But we all know what mechs are and this is a fun take on the tropes from the MCU, exactly the sort of thing that What If? should be doing. I rather enjoyed this.

And yes, there's a very obvious subtext- the whole thing is a giant metaphor, a macrocosm, for what's going on inside Bruce Banner's head.

But there's something else going on too, I think. I've long seen the constant talk of the MCU's decline as overblown, but that's not to say there's nothing to the criticisms. Individual films and series have usually been good, but there's no denying that there's less of a feelof a cohesive gang of heroes as used to be the case, with the MCU spread much more thinly.

So is this episode trying to push a viable team of new "main" protagonists, including Sam Wilson's Cap, Monica Rambeau, Shang-Chi, Bucky and Moon Knight? If so, this could be interesting...

Better Call Saul: Something Unforgivable

 "Am I bad for you...?"

For tne record, Kim, the answer is YES. Sigh....

This is, of course, a superb finale. Script and acting top notch as we've come to expect, as well as some very nice directorial touches.

But I must confess: it got me. I was convinced, perhaps through deliberate misdirection, that Kim was going to die this episode. So many of what seemed to he hints. She's "in the game" as of last episode. She and Jimmy are on the run in a hotel, looking over their shoulders. She's making plans for a pro bono future. She breezily ignores a dire warning from Howard about what Jimmy is like. She and Jimmy spend what seemed like possibly a last night together.

But no. And nor does Lalo die. There's lots of tension for him, of course... and for Nacho, who gets out alive, as arranged, before the hit. But the hit going south leaves Nacho in a dangerous position. But then, something had to give.We spend time here with Don Eladio- menacing as ever- by THAT swimming pool. All this tension as Eladio sizes him up, but the life of a double agent is always an impossible one, expendable to both sides.

But the events with Kim and Jimmy are just as dramatic in their eway.Jimmy opens up about the events in the desert and his PTSD, although not about the context. And their bond, if anything, only deepens. Yes, even when Jimmy confesses that the bowling ball and prostitute incidents actually happens. And, even more scary, she's the driving force- the Jimmy- in a plot to get rich by screwing over Howard, a decent man, in a deeply ethical way. Indeed, even Jimmy is shocked. She may not die this episode but, well, is this where she finally turns to the dark side...?

One season to go. Damn.

Don't Lose Your Head (1967)

 "That's all very well, but that would never have happened under a Royalist government."

We're entering a stretch that represents the absolute pinnacle of Carry On. This, and the next couple of films or so, are the peak. It is, or so we're led to believe, all downhill, starting very soon. I'll keep an open mind, naturally, but let''s enjoy this purple patch while it lasts. And let's appreciate the irony that two of the films in this period, starting with this one, strictly speaking didn't have the "Carry On" prefix.

This film is bloody good, though. I've seenit many times over the years, but not for a while. And it didn't disappoint either this time or before. It's a simple premise: just riff off The Scarlet Pimpernel and pit Sid James' Sir Rodney Ffing ("Effing, with two f's") against Kenneth Williams as the inevitably named citizen camembert. Add in Charles Hawtrey as the Dic de Pomme Frities, and you have a filmthat cannot fail.

Add in a couple of contemporary references "It's the one thing the English are good at, striking", but otherwise just let the cast be themselves as we know the formula right now... and we end up with a film that never gets stale.

The deliberately, cheerfully crap jokes are a joy too. The Duc and Duchesse de la Plume de ma Tante. "I'm Camembert. I'm the big cheese". "But then, you've always had magnificent balls, and I wouldn't miss one of them". In fact, these gloriously awful puns are indubitably the best bit.

This is easily the best instalment up to this point. Can they top this one?

Futureworld (1976)

 "Nothing can go wrong..."

Sequels are rarely better than the original, right? I mean, I tend to think this statement olds even with The Godfather. But this... well, it may be an exception.

Yes, the plot is simple- the same corporarion from Westworld have regrouped and now seem to be set on world conquest via duplicating world leaders, the implication being that robot duplicates have already taken over the company. It a solid premise, if not exactly original... although the point that humans will despoil the planet if left unchecked is certainly well made.

But it's not the premise but the execution that makes this sequel not only an underappreciated gem but a much better film than its predecessor. The direction is a triumph,with lots of arty touches but not too many for this type of film. Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner (especially) are absolutely superb as Chuck and Tracy. Not only do the characters come across as both likeable and very real, their romantic chemistry is perfect.

And the whole thing sizzles with wit and character, which add an extra dimension of both depth and fun to every scene, from Harry playing poker with "Clark" to the many amused jokes at how many of the park's guests just basically want to have sex with robots, which we all know is what would actually happen. But the film doesn't shine away from the philosophical implications of its premise either.

It is, perhaps, a little cheeky to make such a big deal of Yul Brynner for what is essentially just a cameo, but that is literally the only criticism I can make. And the entire dream sequence is superb. As is the film.

Stigma

 "It's the old religion. I read about it in a book."

Hmm. It has its moments but... I'm not sure about this one.

It's 1977. The year I was born. Up to now the BBC's Ghost Stories for Christmas strand had focused on adaptations of old ghost stories, chiefly those of M.R. James. This time, we get a contemporary take.

It's eerie that the first contemporary ghost story should showcase the year of my birth so powerfully.The cars, the fashions, the sound of an old rotary phone ringing, news of the Voyager missions on the radio... and, of course, contemporary 1970s horror tropes- folk horror, complete with stone circle, and the poltergeist trope, complete with creepy teenage girl.

It'a very simple, straighforward half hour, with few twists and turns until the very end, and even that could be predicted. Yes, the atmosphere is there- it's Lawrence Gordon Clark, after all- and the relatively unknown case is very good, Kate Binchy in particular. But it's all a bit... by the numbers, if well made.

Oh, and if you're scared of blood... give this one a miss. You couldn't make this today.

Wolf Hall- The Mirror and the Light: Light

 "The King of France gave me gloves. He didn't want to marry me..."

Wow. And with that... I'm broken.

The genius of this real piece of televisual splendour is that... well, wew know what happens. This is documented histoiry. We know how and when Thomas Cromwell dies. There's no suspense here, but suspense is not the point. There is only character, and emotion.

There is Cromnwell's true stoicism, as he runs rings round his interlocutors while knowing he is nevertheless doomed. Oh, he's accused of arrogance, getting above himself, wanting to marry Mary, othersuch absurdities... and heresy, of which he is guilty by the standards of the age, rejecting the Pope only for a very Enflish Catholicism. Yet above all, I think, it's his impatience for the grinding of due process, his manipulation of events, that he is damned. And so, as he says, he will be followed by slower men, and England will suffer.]

He is clear-minded, cautioning his friends to stay apart and not seem to be plotting. He insists that Gregory denounce him for his own safety, as would any father in his position. Yet his calm does not mean absence of feeling, as Mark Rylance shows us with sublime subtlety. Some peoople are vlatile, but those of us whonare calm and composed have feelings too, and Cromwell has his demons... and yet one, at least, is healed. He feels himself reconciled with Wolsey's ghost, and his final plrea for forgiveness before his beheading, are clearly aimed at his former master, a lovely touch. And, as a parallel, his own protege Rafe has the most love for his own master.

And so it ends, and so does he. The ending is devatating. Liuke Anne Boleyn, he finds dignity before the blade takes his life, all as the king prepares to wed yet again...

Sublime television.

The Signalman

 "You! Down below!"

By 1976, it seems, the BBC had decided to move the focus of their Ghost Stories for Christmas annual tradition away from the tales of M.R. James, this time adapting a short story from the later career of Charles Dickens. The visual style and atmosphere, nevertheless, are just as eerie and just as full of foreboding. The change of authorial style is, oddly enough, not strongly felt as the visual tropes of Lawrence Gordon Clark's direction encompass us... eerie silences, creepy yet subtle use of sound, light, voice and facial expressions to evoke unease within these liminal spaces.

I won't repeat the plot, but the whole things is a subtle yet very rreal building up of tension as we are ledft in no doubt, albeit quietly, that dread approaches and that this world, in the depths of the night, is no place for reason. The twist at the end, and the horrifying supernatural sight, are well and truly earned. And the unease has an interestingly philosophical timbre to it- this Victorian signalman is thoughtful and nuanced.

Denholm Elliott, as though it needs saying, is superb. This is as good as any of its immediate predecessors and, indeed, one of the best such stories made by the BBC. M.R. James does not have a monopoly...

Better Call Saul: Bad Choice Road

 "How about a day without drama?"

Oh boy. What an episode.

Kim is, of course, the focus of our sense of mounting dread and, naturally, the episode itself. But let's do a tour of the other plates that are spinning during this penultimate episode of the season...

Jimmy and Mike finally get out of the desert and can begin to recover... but Jimmy is not so battle hardened as Mike, who can afford to be philosophical, true stoic that he literally is. Jimmy is physically worse for wear (although he has Kim, ooooh he has Kim...) but more; he hobviously has PTSD following his experiences.

Gus, chilling as ever, is debriefed by Mike, works out exactly what's going on, and gets back to his usual chillingly amoral ten-dimensional chess, played with typical cold intensity by the sublime Giancarlo Esposito. Mike may sympathise with Nacho's wish to get out of this cartel life, but to Gus, Nacho is just another pawn. Once you become a "friend of the cartel", you don't get out... are you listening, Kim?

But Kim... oh, so many bad decisions. Shockingly, she gives up her job so she can focus on her pro bono workm much less well paid. This is... unwise, and ties her even more to Jimmy's criminally adjacent, "friend of the cartel" life. The final scene, with Lalo demanding andswers from Jimmy, is a masterpiece of tension, with Kim very much present, involved... and showing real guts in resolving the situation.

But she's in, now, irrevocably. Her decision to quit her main job wasd, ironically, so she could focus on work with which she feels much more ethically comfortable rsather than driving old men off their land... but she's driven into the hands of Jimmy, who may not like getting his hands dirty but has zero morals as long as he isn't personally close to the bloodshed.

Oh Kim. I'm now certain. Her downfall will not just be the ruin of a genuinely good person. The moment has come: I'm certain that we're going to see her die. Itr's her only possible trajectory.

Better Call Saul is not Jimmy's tragedy. It's Kim's.

Erik the Viking (1989)

 "Stay calm. This is not happening."

Oh dear. What went wrong here? We begin with a moderately well-scripted Pythonesque little scene about, er, rape (yes, quite), and then we seem to descend into quite the mess.

And yet... it's written and directed by Terry Jones, he of Monty Python fame, certainly someone with comic talent, many glimpses of which are seen here- it's a bad film, yes, and don't get me started on the dragon, but there are funny concepts and funny lines. Jones, of course, knows his mediaeval history, and there are references and in-jokes aplenty, many of which go over my head. There's a theme of belief that runs throughout- Harald the Missionary refuses to believe in the aspects of Norse myth that surround him, and cannot see them. The King of High Brazil and his subjects refuse to believe that their land is sinking beneath the waves. And Erik falsely believed that he is wearing an invisible cloak.

There are other little bits of cleverness. The Norse gods are played by children. And yet... overall, it falls flat. There's a clear plot, pretty much, but it all falls flat. This tries to be a Monty Python and the Holy Grail or a Time Bandits but... it isn't.

Then there's the performances. Jones himself is excellent, as is John Cleese as the delightfully evil Halfdan the Black. But so many of the cast fail to shine. And I suspect this offers us a clue: Terry Jones is a damn good writer and performer, and I don't think the script is at all the problem here... but he's just not a good enough director to helm a big blockbuster, at least on his own.

An interesting failure, then, and with nuggets to be found. But a failure nonetheless.

The Pink Panther (1963)

 "You do the walking and I'll do the drinking."

Yes, I know, forty-seven and have only just seen this... 

Anyway, it's fascinating to see the actual film behind the Pink Panther cartoon and that seminal Henry Mancini tune that we all know so well; these things in themselves are a seminal achievement, as is the opening titles. It's all very well shot. But... well, asa comedy, it's a curate's egg.

Of course, as with the original curate's egg, parts of it are excellent. This isn't a comedy of verbal jokes, exactly, but the script is particularly witty in its sexually charged conversations between David Niven's Sir Charles (and his nephew George to some extent) and both Simone Clouseau and the Princess. This is top quality flirting and there's a lot of it.

Plus the setting- the Swiss Alps and Rome- is visually arresting, and the plot is enormous fun. But, well... we need to talk about Inspector Clouseau. I mean, Peter Sellers plays the part very well, and it's not that I don't enjoy slapstick comedy or farce. But the character isn't that funny. Oh, I do enjoy the extended sequence in the hotel room with Simon where both Sir Charles and George hide from him. But all the falling over and bumping into things just gets tired very quickly.

Still, a film doesn't have to be the greatest ever example of its genre to be good. This is no Life of Brian, but it is, at least, quite funny, and the flirting scenes are genuinely brilliant. Iwasn't blown away... but I enjoyed the film. And that's what matters.

Wolf Hall- The Mirror and the Light: The Mirror

 "You have few friends, Cromwell..."

This episode, as are so many others, is a materpiece in how it shows us the slow bursting of Cromwell's bubble, power and favour slipping away from him. Yes, the final couple of minutes are enormously shocking, even if you know your history, but the whole thing is masterfully structured.

There are, of course, big events swirling outside of Cromwell's control. The events of Henry meeting, and didliking, Anne of Cleves are just as we know from history, but the wider European context is emphasised, with its ironies. An alliance with the German princes is necessary precisely because the alliance between France and Charles V threatens England- yet, as soon as the king is married, England's ambassador to Spain (none other than Sir Thomas Wyatt, whose greatest poem is, of course, about Henry's terrifying, bloody and murderous capricioiusness) drives a wedge between them. The German alliance, and Henry's unhappy marriage, is no longer needed.

Worse, Cromwell's feud with the Duke of Norfolk is deepened, as the chancery which prays for Norfolk's ancestors is dissolved. And Norfolk, it seems, has been hiding conciliatory messages from France. And then there are the ongoing rumours about Cromwell and Mary, Cromwell yet again preventing her marriage...

And the king grows ever colder. And ever closer to Norfolk's niece.

There's so much nuance here. Cromwell's demons appear in flashback, and he now speaks to Wolsey's absent ghost. This is an episode of wonder. We really shouldn't be shocked by the ending, which really should be predictable. It says so much that we are.

Number 13

 "Well, I'm sure I don't intend to disappear..."

So we here we havethe second of the BBC's 2000s revival of their Ghost Stories for Christmas. For the secind year in a row it's an M.R. James adaptation, and for the second year in a row it features Watson himself, David Burke, in a major role.

It's a very CGI'd Victorian cathedral town, and an Oxford don, a Professor Anderson, sets out to study some recently discovered manuscripts for the cathedral authorities. Hilariously, there's a lot of lampshading the fact that he seems doomed early on. He's just that little bit arrogant and aloof. He seeks for knowledge. He pooh poohs superstition. He scoffs at the mention that his predecessors have suddenly disappeared (without paying!) and utters the above quote.

And... as with many hotels, his place of abode has no Room 13, except... sometimes it does. And there are voices at night of confessions from the witch trials of 1647. It's all very ominous...

SPOILERS!

And yes, a twist... Professor Anderson's fate is (just!) averted,and the evil creature from the dark past seemingly destroyed by means of a humble axe. We have, for most of the story, a very textbook M.R. James structure, but subverted at the end.

All in all, then, a quality production, and all the more for the low budget and no-star cast.

Batman: The Animated Series- It's Never Too Late

 "All your power and money has bought you is an empire of misery."

Another excellent episode here. It's interesting once again how there's an ambiguity in the setting- the cars and clothes and tommy guns evoking the 1940s while the drugs evoke contemporary times. It's also good to see how the Animated Series follows not only Batman's usual rogues gallery bus also the same mob bosses- once again we see Boss Thorne.

And yet this is a touching and effective story about how one mob boss, with his empire of hard drugs, can yet be reformed. It's an episode full of flashbacks and clever twists and turns- most notably involving Father Michael- and superbly constructed in such a way that it earns its payoff. It's also fascinating to see Batman not just using his brute force and detective skills but also psychology.

I do wonder if or when we'll see Boss Thorne again- or whether Two-Face will ultimately get him...?

A View from a Hill

 "I can't explain it..."

I confess I've never read any M.R. James, just as I've never read and H.P. Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard- I suppose, like many people, and without thinking about it, I tend to gravitate towards novels without considering short stories. I really ought to correct that.

I mention this to excuse the fact that I've now seen a good half dozen or so of his stories as adaptred on the BBC as Ghost Stories for Christmas. And I'm beginning to detect a pattern to many of them- a distant, unholynevil from the past ensnares a curious scholar with temptations of knowledge, slowly luring him to his doom. It's a simple formula, and one that can be easily repeated without going stale.

This story fits the template exactly. Young and awkward academic Dr Fanshawe visits a friendly local squire, stoically philosophical about his financially straitened existence, in order to catalogue some archaeological relics. But what whe finds are some unusual binoculars which tempt him slowly, inexorably, gentle BBC jump scare by gentle BBC jump scare, to the gallows.

It's superb, of course. Well directed, with the entire cast excelling. It's fun to see David Burke as the sinister butler trope, but it's Mark Letheren who truly excels as the shy, solitary Dr Fanshawe.

Overall, good stuff. And yes- I will indeed be watching several such stories between now and Christmas Day.

Batman: The Animated Series- Two-Face, Part II

 "Chance is everything. Whether you're born or not. Whether you live or die. Whather you're good or bad. It's all arbitrary."

After our first "Previously On" moment, we skip forwardsix months and see Two-Facewell into his prgramme of harassing Boss Thorne. We get to see how he looks and behaves... and he's a fascinating, riveting character, far more so than anything I've read from the comics and at last giving us a worthy screen version of the character.

This is a fascinating character study of Harvey Dent, at the centre of which is a debate between and Grave, his former fiancee, on whether or not life is all down to chance. Yet this is also an episode about the guilt of Bruce Wayne, haunted by nightmares about his failure to save not only Dent but also his parents.The characterisation of this series is suddenly on another level.

And we end on a hopeful note. Two-Face is still very much presented as Harvey Dent here.

Incidentally, I continue to be fascinated on how the setting is deliberately a conflation of the '40s- card, fashions,tommy guns- and the contemporary, with beepersand female detectives. Episode after episode, it's a design choice that really works.

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas

 "Christianity isa ratiional system of belief, Peter."

Once again we have one of the BBC's once annual Christmas ghost stories based on various short stories by M.R. James, this one from 1974. And my God, it's superb. This is the BBC, so the early Victorian period with its bonnets and mutton chops is evoked to perfection. The deliberately slow pace gives us tension of a kind that the television of recent decades cannot provide.

And at the centre of it all is a masterfdul performance from Michael Bryant as the calm, rational, scientific Revd Dr. Justin Somerton, an Oxford don of the very old school, dismissive of superstition- he puts short shrift to a couple of seance mongers-

He is, at first, far too rational to be taken in by the enthusiastic young Peter'd enthusiasm for the buried treasure on a 15th century abbot, rumoured to be an alchemist carried away by the Devil. Yet events ptroceed fascinatingly and inexorably to his temptation and doom, the Abbot and all things supernatural seen only in yerrifying glimpses.

Of all the M'R. James adaptations of the '70s... this may well be the best I've seen so far.

Lot No. 249

 "Your filthy Egyptian tricks won't answer here in England!"

I must have missed this, last year's offering from the excellent Mark Gatiss in his highly impressive run of Christmas Ghost Stories on BBC 4. I'll be blogging his offering for this year closer to Christmas, as well as a number of older such stories, but watching this little gem tonight was an absolute joy.

I'd never read, or indeed heatd of, the original short story by Arthur Conan Doyle which seems to have been highly influential in shaping the Eyptian mummy subgenre of horror, but Gatiss really evokes the Victorian setting here, and has it oozing with atmosphere. Kit Harington is superb as Smith, our lead, but it's Freddie Fox, chewing the scenery with aplomb, who steals the show as the sinister and dastardly Bellingham.

Gatiss has a real ear for the dialogue of the time, which adds a great deal of verisimilitude. He can't, of course, resist the temptation of including a certain irresistible cameo but, well, the cameo is irresistible, after all. And I like the subtle dialogue link to the Elephant Man.

I suspect the budget for this was tiny, but it certainly doesn't look it. The BBC can do Victoriana with one arm tied behind its metaphorical back and darkness works wonders. But ultimately it's the script and the performances that make this a thing of beauty.

Wolf Hall- The Mirror and the Light: Jenneke

 "You're going to bring them down? The oldest and richest familes in the land?"

"Like skittles!"

It's redundant, by now, for me to point out that any given episode of Wolf Hall, this one most certainly included, is a televisual masterpiece. But I seem to have done so anyway. Yes, big things are happening- the birth of a son for the king, the tragic, negligent death of Jane, the peace between King Francis and Charles V and the dangers posed to England. And yet this series ais about Thomas Cromwell, and this is where his position starts to slip.

Oh, he finds happiness in Jenneke, the lovely daughter of whom he's just learned... yet he is loving, good, tender and fatherly, a good man. In stark contrast to the things which Dorothea said to him, things that have truly shaken to him and, as we often see, haunt his nightmares. He doubts himself, wonders if he betrayed Wolsey after all, knowingly or not, and confesses himself "undone".

Jane's death upsets him deeply, more so than his tyrant king, play-acting at mourning. And Stephen Gardiner is back, with the ear of the king, pushing him against "heresy". Cromwell, baring his soul to Archbishop Cranmer, begins to despair that all he's done to bring Protestantism to England may perhaps be for naught. And Gardiner (Alex Jennings a worthy successor to Mark Gatiss) is an insidious foe, one in the ascendant.

He is getting nowhere with the Poles. He clashes with the Duke of Norfolk, ironically in defence of Wolsey and the old ways. His influence with Mary is diminished. 

All hope rests in an alliance with the German princes, and a new bride from Cleves. We know the history here, of course. Yet this episode gives us a much deeper context in which Cromwell is already losing ground.

As Cromwell's vaunted ambassador to Charles V, Thomas Wyatt, would say... circa regna tonat.

Better Call Saul: Bagman

 "The alternator's shot. Literally."

Wow.

You kbow, when Vince Gilligan himself writes and directs that you're getting a treat, and probably an unusual one. And crikey, we did.

The plot is simple- Lalo gets Jimmy to be the bagman in discreetly collecting his $7,000,000 bail from a discreet desert rendezvous, but he's ambushed by ne'er-do-wells and nearly robbed and killed. But Mike, watching from afar, efficiently saves him, kills the baddies, and eventually leads a desperate, fish-out-f-water Jimmy, to safety.

But it's about the nuances. The directorial touches here are frequently magnificent. The suspense is frequently exquisite. Yet, as ever, it's all about the characters. Lalo manipulating Jimmy into doing the fateful job in the first place. Jimmy demanding a $100k fee, something he may regret. The power imbalance between Jimmy and the scarily calm Lalo.

Then there's Mike's little speech about how he keeps on doing all this- for his granddaughter. And the episode's main point- Kim is now irrevocably involved in Jimmy's underground stuff. She's also the wife we don't see in Breaking Bad. She's... going to die, isn't she? I'm certain. The show isn't even trying to hide it.

Saul is getting involved in things far beyond him. And it's not just him who will be hurt in the process. This is utterly gripping, suspenseful television, even by BCS standards, but it's Kim it leaves me thinking of.

Quantum of Solace (2008)

 "Bond, if you could avoid killing every possible lead, it would be appreciated."

Finally I've caught up in my Bond marathon. I saw this film at the cinema in 2008, but I haven't seen anything since. All things Bond from this point forward are new territory for me. 

As for this one, though... it surprised me. Oh, I'm not saying it's one of the better Bond films because it certainly isn't. It deserves praise for it's non-excessive run time, but it has flaws. The many action set pieces are entertaining but don't come remotely close to equalling those of Casino Royale. Olga Kurylenko impresses as Camille, a character with depth who earns Bond's respect, while Gemma Arterton is also good as Strawberry Fields(!) who, as tradition dictates, falls for Bond, but ends up dying with a touch of the grand guignol. And yet...

The villain, the plot, the scheme- to engineer a coup in Bolivia and profit from control of the nation's water- lacks a certain excitement. Bond is cut loose from MI6 and on the run, albeit with M's role being ambiguous.. but how many times have we seen this? Compared to its predecessor, this film ends up seeming lacklustre by comparison.

And yet...none of that makes it a bad film, just a flawed one. And, on this second viewing,hot on the heels of seeing Casino Royale, I can see what they may have been trying to do. Yes, Daniel Craig's Bond lacks the flippant charm of his predecessors, but the character has depth. The fim sees him working through his feelings about Vesper, finally forgiving her (and himself), as urged by Matheson's dying words, and we end with him finally getting revenge.

And, across both films together, a shadowy organisation is set up- no spoilers, please, but perhaps SPECTRE?

All of this may well be going somewhere. If so, this film may be more quietly impressive than it appears on first glance.

Wolf Hall- The Mirror and the Light: Defiance

 "In the north parts, they use your name to terrify their children..."

Oh my. There's soooo much going on here. Yet the overall trajectory is clear: Henry's court is always a place of peril, both geographically and conceptually, and for Cromwell, this may be the beginning of his slow end.

For the king, he keeps failing to get Reginald Pole. Those rumours about him wanting to marry the Lady Mary just won't go away. And the schemes he is forced to use, because of the king, are beginning to affect others' opinions of him. Most obviously, the Lincolnshire rebels, who see him as a literal antichrist... but there is mistrust and misunderstanding everywhere. The ending of last episode sort of broke Cromwell emotionally, and suddenly he is alive to how he is seen.

Those jibes from Lady Rochford (possibly my favourite character) hit harder. Bess mistakenly believes she is to marry the father, not the son, and even Gregory suspects Thomas of designs on his wife. Ouch.

The King continues to be scary and volatile. Chapuys continues to be a fun character, the ultimate player of ten dimensional chess. But the atmosphere is, if such a thing were possible, all the more dangerous. Even Jane, in the things she begs for, risks angering the king. If she were not with child, well... it's clear that her reputation as Henry's favourite wife owes not to any real affection on his part but what she gave him in her death. Poor woman. But I get ahead of myself.

We end with a bombshell: Cromwell has an illegitimate daughter. Yet the peril seems so much more...

Superlative telly. As if it needed saying.

Batman: The Animated Series- Two-Face, Part I

 "I'm more worried about the mental scars..."

Our first two parter, and... the series seems to be stepping up a gear. This is seriously impressive stuff. It was clever to have us know Harvey Dent from earlier in the series: everything in this episode feels earned, which only deepens the feelings of real tragedy.

This seems to be much deeper than the Two-Face origins- admittedly 1970s and earlier- with which I'm earlier.We have Dent as an incorruptible but intense District Attorney, but he has pre-existing demons. Boss Thorne, from the comics, is present and correct, but this episode plus front and centre the stgmas around mental health which were very much a thing in the '90s ('40s?), with Harvey enduring the stress of an election campaign to boot. It's a potent mix and very well realised.

The tragedy at the end packs a punch- Dent's disfugurement, no fault of his own, and his mental health issues have cost him his career, and now his fiancee.

And so, for the first time, we end on a cliffhanger and plunge into part two with a real sense of quality.

Wolf Hall- The Mirror and the Light: Obedience

 "I created him..."

And the second episode turns out to be even better than the first, which is saying a lot. In fact, let us not mince words: yes, it looks fantastic and the acting is first rate. But this is an absolute masterpiece of televisual scriptwriting- and makes it clear that I need to read the original novels as it seems likely that Hilary Mantel may indeed be a genius.

This is a masterpiece of form and feeling. In showing us the deadly danger of Henry's court, where anyone can sudenly be judicially murdered at the whim of a capricious tyrant, we have a series of examples. Firstly, there is Lady Margaret and her affair and, indeed, marriage (without the king's permission) to Thomas, one of the younger, pooer Howards. Meg is soon made by Cromwell and her friend, in an extraordinary scene, to realise just how much trouble she's in... but Thomas stands to lose everything.

For this is a world in which it is treason to imagine the death of the king. To marry the king's niece is to maneouvre oneself closer to the throne, and this smacks of dangerous ambition.

Yet soon Cromwell himself faces the same danger, as absurd yet potentially damaging rumours start to spead of his wishing to marry the Lady Mary. The aggression with which he treats Chapuys here leaves us in no doubt that he realises fully the dangers of his situation.

And then we have poor Jane Seymour, having to endure the sexual attentions of that bloated, smelly man. She confesses to not enjoying said attentions, and worries that, without taking sexual pleasure, she will not conceive a son. What lies unspoken, horribly, is that, without a son, she will be yet another Anne Boleyn, fated for the block.

Finally, we have the devastating conclusion, as Cromwell shakily says all the wrong things to Wolsey's daughter, slowly realising exactly how he is seen... and may have been seen, at the end, by his beloved Wolsey himself.

Oh, the things one must sacrifice for the king. And he will always demand more and more...

Batman: The Animated Series- Be a Clown

 "If it wasn't risky, I wouldn't enjoy it."

I suppose, on the basic level, this is a by-the-numbers and very typical Joker episode, for said villain has now appeared three times and I'm perhaps in a position to gauge what's "normal". Mark Hamill is, as ever, splendid. The creepy abandoned amusement park- often seen in Batman in various media since the '70s- is nicely used, and there are lots of excellent set pireces. Interestingly, some of them are riffs on Harry Houdini- not only are the clothes and cars reminiscent of the 1940s, the same is true of the pop culture references here.

Yes, there's an annoying kid. But the point here, I think, is to introduce us properly to Mayor Hamilton Hill- bad father, selfish and ambitious climber, useless obstacle and busybody, and blinkered about the Batman. And that introduction is well done as we now know and disapprove of him.

The Joker as clown, though? Brr. But I do begin to worry if the character, while well portrayed, is coming across as pretty one note? We shall see.

Casino Royale (2006)

 "That last hand nearly killed me..."

I'm doing lots of different film marathons where I blog each film in order, in some cases veeeeery slowly, something I'm actually quite proud of. Because my blogging of the Bond films is gleefully slow, at a snail's pace, having started in 2015. Yet it proceeds inexorably on. 

Casino Royale, though... yes, it'a little too long and bloated, as blockbuster films from the present century inevitably are, but objectively it's very good indeed. I enjoiyed it. I'll be honest, though: while there's much to admire I found it dragged at times on this viewing, but perhaps for reasons which are not entirely the film's fault.

Daniel Craig is superlatively good as a more nuanced Bond, one with much more interiority, but still absolutely the Bond we know. And, of course, he gets a real character arc here, more so than since On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Importantly, though- and the word is much overused, but it's literally so here, although the continuing presence of Judi Dench as M does make one wonder. Bond begins the film earning his promotion to 00 status, in delightfully artily shot scenes. The Bond theme is not heard until the end. Bond has yet to think of a name for his dry martini, shaken, not stirred.... (crikey, spirits are complicated. I stick to real ale and wine) and,of course, there's the last line of the film.

Yet much of the film is a very well done tromance between Bond and Vesper, starting out sparring and eventually falling in love with her, resigning and proposing to spend her life with her. Of course, we know what happened to Trace well back then:Vresper's death is no shock. But the manner and circumstances of her death are truly heartbreaking. No wonder Bond, I assume, will harden his heart and be wary of attachments from now on.

There's lots of action, loads of set pieces, and all with a more realistic tone, devoid of the slight excess of gadgets we've seen in the recent past... although, that scene...? Ouch.

So yes, the film is a little overlong, but very, very good. And yet, so much screen time is devoted to playing poker and... well, this is just me, but I find gambling so very boring. Not that I'm in any way puritanical... it's just dull.

I accept, though, that this is just a matter of taste. Overall, this is a highly effective and affecting relaunch.

Hard Target (1993)

 "How does it feel to be hunted?"

Before I go anything further, something has to be said.

That mullet is not acceptable.

There.

Aside from that lamentable lapse, however, John Woo gives us a well shot and solidly scripted action film with excellent set pieces aplenty, the highlight probably being our protagonist literally standing on the saddle of a moving motorcycle as he sprays his limitless supply of bullets at various expendable baddies.

The concept is interesting- shadowy, cynical baddies recruit homeless military veterans for rich paying clients to hunt and kill, with Jean-Claude Van Damme's Chance getting mixed up in it all. The setting- New Orleans and the surrounding bayou- also adds a lot of flavour. And, while this is hardly a film oozing with subtext, there's a nice bit of commentary on how we ignore and dehumanise homeless people.

Van Damme, shall we say, is probably never going to win an Oscar, decent though he is, although he can certainly kick. But the film lives and breathes by its hugely charismatic baddie, with the superb Lance Henriksen chewing the scenery in the best possible way. His performance is a real highlight.

But, well, the whole thing is just so fun and entertaining, especially the last third of the film,in the bayou, as the final hunt plays out. Yes, Chance and his friends have absurd quantities of plot armour. Yes, Chance shoots a truly absurd quantity of anonymous henchmen with a single shot. But...isn't that part of the fun?

Go on. Switch your brain off and give it a go. You know you want to.

Wolf Hall- The Mirror and the Light: Wreckage

 "I do not understand you, Cromwell. Why are you not afraid? You should be afraid."

It's been... yeah, many, many years. Use the search function if you'd like to see my reviews of the earlier series, adapting Hilary Mantel's first two novels- I did; I certainly needed my memory refreshing. So much life has happened for me since then....

This first episode is extraordinarily powerful. Story, stript, acting, look, direction- all are superb in depicting the sheer peril of politics where the tyrant at the centre of it all is a highly intelligent, scarily volatile and utterly caprucious monster such as Henry VIII, a tyrant of truly terrifying proportions.

As per The Private Life of Henry VIII, a film which, oddly enough, I saw only weeks ago, we begin with the horrifying juxtaposition of Anne Boleyn walking to the scaffold as Henry prepares to marry Jane Seymour the same day. This sequence alone, beautifully shot, says everything. Horrifyingly, Anne keeps looking up, to the windows of the Tower, imagining that there may be hope...

Yet much of the episode concerns the fascinating and deadly games of power. Cromwell may be at the centte of all yet, as Chapuys amusedly pointds out, he is utterly dependent on the King, with no one to save him should he falter. No wonder he is carefully writing a book on how to handle the King.

The King, at this point, seems even worse than before, seemingly contemplating the execution of his own daughter for refusing to sign the oath, yet turning on a sixpence at the end to embrace his cowed child. As for Cromwell himself... he plays such a dangerous game. At one point, when Henry seems to turn fully against Mary, he himself even acknowledges that things certainly appear bleak.

I'm going to enjoy this series so very much- telly at its best.

Batman: The Animated Series- Forgotten

 "Maybe I'll lose my memory and wake up a milliuonaire too."

Surprisingly, this is the third episode in a row without any of Batman's rogue's gallery: indeed, if I'm right, we've only seen the Joker (twice); Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow and Man-Bat, and Harvey Dent is, at this point... one faced.

Yet I'm enjoying these one offs, and this one is no exception- partly, yes, because of the fun of seeing a very nervous Alfred in the Batwing, but also because this is Alfred trying to rescue an amnesiac Bruce. Bruce's uncanny dreams are well done, too.

This one is dark, though: people who won't be missed are kidnapped and put on a chain gang, mining for ore, being put into a sweatbox if they annoy their captors. We never leaern the backstory, but I suppose we don't have to: terrible things can happen at night to the homeless and, indeed, the unwary.

And so we have the satisfying climax as Batman deals with the baddies. But yes indeed... not many of those who endure such horrors will wake up rich the following day.

The Sweeney: Cover Story

 "I think that fish fancies me".

Hmm. Good dialogue, good acting, and it all looks great- not surprising for an episode directed by the great Douglas Camfield. But... for the first time with The Sweeney, I'm not sure about this one.

It's not that the chemistry between John Thaw and Prunella Gee isn't there. It's not that their relationship isn't believable, or that the dilemma isn't real- she genuinely is mysterious: is she in league with this week's villains? And yet... well, the is she / isn't she is driven up to a point of real suspense as the rubbish tip, et, tip she leads them on turns out to be false. But the revelation that she's kosher is just... fairly flat, nothing to it. And her disappearance- leaving because Jack loves his job more thsan her- is the most horrible cliche.

Which isa pity. Great script, characterisation... but the plot just fundamentally doesn't satisfy. Good job, then, that we've got all this '70s-ness to entertain us, the world of half a century ago when journalists mattered.

I'm sure this one is just a blip.

Better Call Saul: JMM

 "No rings. Okey dokey..."

After last episode's deeply dishearening last line, we begin the last line with the world'd least romantic wedding ever, presided over by a very bored and disengaged judge. No rings, no wedding guests, witnesses who are not exactly friends, no celebration... and let's say the two new spouses are not exactly equally invested. Poor Kim. This is the wedding she gets... and this is the wedding she gets. Even worse, she really should know what she's marrying, and gets more reminders later when she realises Jimmy- no, Saul- is being forced to get Lalo out on bail and is quite happy to use this to get money. Oh, Kim...

She isn't in Breaking Bad, of course. I fear for her. Perhaps a fate even worse than ruin awaits. And she's a good, decent person.

Interestingly. Kim, the other lawyers and Kevin all reconcile, after a little brutal honesty on both sides, in a situation of genuine mutual respect. No Jimmy here: these people are all grown-ups.... and that makes the situation worse. Kim is decent, professional, respected. As Kevin says, she could do a LOT better.

Mike is a grown-up too- we see him doing the patient hard work of making amends to his family, and successfully. But the ongoing cold war between Gus and Lalo, with Nacho and his dad in the middle, is getting increasingly complex. Lalo's engaged Jimmy to get him out on bail so he can skedaddle... so why is Mike, on Gus's behalf, handing him the means to do so on a plate? Gus has reason to be furious at Lalo: I suspect the latter is not long for this world, and Gus has plans to kill Lalo in ways thst won't start a "war". The discussions with Lydia and Gus' desperate old German friend is fascinating, pointing ahead to the Madrigal stuff but hinting at quite a long history. Giancarlo Esposito continues to play Gus with such exquisite nuance.

Yet it feels very much as though big things are being set up. Despite this, the episode is as gripping as ever.

Code of Silence (1985)

 "Just like the cops. Just like the Comachos. Nobody talks. Omerta."

This is, surprisingly, the first time I've ever seen or blogged a film starring Chuck Norris, he of all the jokes about how he;s hard as nails... and also of some extremely dodgy political views: bet he voted for the tiny handed orange fascist. I suppose I was expecting some kind of cheesy B movie... but that's not what I got.

Norris' films, this one very much included, tend to be relatively obscure compared to those of his peers Sly and Arnie. Yet Code of Silence is actually a pretty damn good '80s action film. Yes, Norris plays a hard-as-nails character, but not without nuance. He can certainly act. Andrew Davis gives us a stylishly directed thriller with fights, car chases and set pieces before, showing off the Chicago setting superbly.

Yet the plot, character and themes elevate this a little above that,despite the very '80s incidental music and the silly robot,about which the less said than the better. We have a "war" between the local Mafia family and the local Colombian meth lot, both with their own code of silence. Yet into this mix we also have a mildly corrupt police force who protect one of their own who kills a suspect in cold blood, their own code of silence.

Having Norris play a truly incorruptible cop who refuses to goalong with this, therefore meaning he's on his own and his fellow cops won't back him up, is powerful. The plot is clever, satisfying and generally a cut above what one might expect, while the thrills are very much present. An unexpected gem.

The Gorgon (1964)

 "It never ceases to amaze me that the most noble work of God, the human brain, is the most revolting to the human eye.

It's been a while since I've blogged a Hammer horror- partly, I admit, because a lot of the remaining ones are sequels that have to be acquired and seen in the right order, but partly because, well, there are only so many left. 

Still, this is one of the more well-known ones that I hadn't hitherto seen, and it has a stellar cast, from Christopher Lee as the intellectual hero with, er interesting hair to Patrick Troughton as a Prussian policeinspector complete with spiked helmet. But the realstand-out performance is from Barbara Shelley who, despite the many charismatic figures on screen, carries this film.

There's a very nice twist towards the end, and a nicely done red herring. The effects for the Gorgon herself are... well, a bit pants, which is a shame, because the plot is clever and the conclusion highly effective and satisfying aside from that... although surely Professor Meisner ends the film about to be arrested for the apparent murders of Carla and Paul?

It's a melodrama, of course, with all that implies... but that's Hammer for you. With the one excaption of the gorgon itself the film looks superb, the script is captivating and clever, and the cast is one of true Hammer royalty. This is truly one of the highlight's of Hammer's most fertile period in the mid-'60s. Hugely enjoyable.

Agatha All Along: Maiden Mother Crone

 "I do tend to... kill my coven members."

I suppose, in terms of bare plot, and certainly in comparison to recent episodes, what happens in this finale is quite simplle. We see a pregnant Agatha in the 1750s with her son Nicholas Scratch, wandering around killing witches to survive. Yet Death was supposed to take Nicky at birth. She grants Agatha what turns out to be six extra years, but in the end (and, as a parent, on balance I agree) it's more heartbreaking to lose a child of six than a newborn you had never known.

So this is the truth of what happened in the past... although how Agatha came to become Death's lover (like Thanos!) is not explored. Yet, perhaps not surprisingly after last episode... the Witch's Road was a lie, born ofva song she devised for Nicky and turned into a myth intended only as a trap for her witch victims. Agatha was as surprised as anyone when this time the Road appeared... but it was all Billy.

So that's it. Otherwise it's all character- Agatha bonding with her son in 18th century colonial America while cheerfully being a serial killer of witches. How Billy reminds her of her son, hence the fondness. How she would have killed all the witches anyway... but Jen (the only actual comics character!) survives... is she now  going to meet "Ted"?

Not, perhaps, the greatest finale ever, but I enjoyed it. And, as Joss Whedon once did in Buffy, it's brave and iteresting of Jac Schaeffer to allow the penultimate episode the true mantle of finale.

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

 "Because I'm Marvel Jesus. Or Spock. Hard to say..."

I knew this was going to be enormous fun, and oooooh, it was. Both the stars are superb, and sooooo many cameos, many of them hidden behind Deadpool masks. I'm not going to talk about the plot because irt's bonkers: I mean (SPOILER ALERT) Deadpool and Wolverine, having saved Deadpool's universe for good, get to survive certain death by anti-matter because, er, they were holding hands to Madonna. That's the kind of cheerfully deliberate middle finger at plot logic we're looking at here. I mean, did you expect anything different?

So we have a rogue element of the TVA trying to recruit Wade to the MCU, while saying a fond farewell to the old Fox mutany universe- I loved that bit in the closing credits. The Big Bad (Emma Corfrin is great) Is Professor X's evil sister, and her goons are the likes of Pyro, Toad and Juggernaut. There's a hilarious appearance by Chris Evans, surely Captain America until he cries "flame on!" and an equally hilarious version of Gambit with Channing Tatum, pulling no punches at how ridiculous the character is.

And ahh, all those Deadpools. Love the unfortunate death of Nicepool, and yes... I did indeed notice the "Welshpool" visual joke.

Naturally we get hard-hitting, fourth wall breaking comments on the MCU, that Deadpool is not coming to the MCU at a good time, and his criticism of the Multiverse Saga. But there's far more than that. The 20th Century Fox logo is there in the void. Wesley Snipes' Blade gets to insist that "There's only ever been one Blade, and there's only ever gonna be one Blade", a delightful little comment on behind-the-scenes discord. Oh, and "Paul Rudd finally aged".

This film is, basically, not about the plot at all. It's just there to be hugely entertaining, and to throw cameos and in-jokes at us... and it works! I love the various alt Wolverines, from the comic book accurate short king to Patch to the Siege Perilous era crucified Wolverine. I love the Henry Cavill cameo and the little rib at DC. And of course Colossus loves The Great British Bake Off.

Basically, best Marvel film ever. And now I'm going to check out all the many Easter eggs I no doubt missed...