The Wild Robot (2024)

 "I do not have the programming to be a mother."

"No one does. We just make it up."

Little Miss Llamastrangler and I toddled off to the cinema so very pleasingly nearby to watch this film today, and a good time was had by both nine year old and forty-seven year old, the main thing. It is, of course, quite the time-jerker. but it's also interesting in more than the obviousways.

The quote sums up the main subtext, of course: the conceit of a robot accidentally ending up as mother to a little gosling allows it to be a metaphor for the reality of parenting- there's n manual, every child is different and not what the books say, you do a lot of improvising and hoping for the best.

And yet... for all the anthromorphism of robots and animals here, the humans, decadent in their robotised sci-fi society, are not shown as "people". We see them only as a decadent other, surrendering their agency to the robots who live their lives for them. For slavery- and that's what this is- is fundamentally decadent. history shows us this. Slave societies have no further reason to advance, or progress. Sooner or later, they will be out-competed.

Yet the animals of the island are free... and they do progress. To them, the robot is not a slave but a beloved friend and member of their community. And so they seem to slowly learn to live together and forswear rugged, predatory individualism.

But, pretension aside, this is a wonderfully animated, richly emotional film... and yes, I cried when she told him that she loved him. Wonderful stuff.

Batman: The Animated Series- The Under-Dwellers

 "Leprechauns and Batmen. What's Gotham coming to?"

For the first time we have a new villain and no Batman lore other than Bruce himself and Alfred, still the mildly sarky early '90s version of the character- I'm still very much enjoying the banter between the two of them.

This is all a bit Dickensian, a bit Fagin, with a creepy "Sewer King", forcing ragged children to steal for him while using the rather enormous sewer gators to intimidate them. It's all rather unpleasant, if the real horror is sensibly downplayed, but it's a nice little tale, very well and subtly told. Michael Pataki, one of those Hollywood character actors who pops up everywhere, does a good job.

Are we going to get more episodes not so focused on the lore, then? This one certainly worked. I'm here for it.

I'm also continuing to enjoythe stylised Animation- of its time, yes, with obvious Japanese influence, but it quite rightl leads into the Tim Burton Gotham aesthetic, and that's how Gotham should look. I also continue to enjoy the clever ambiguity as to time period, with modern features mixed in with very 1940s-looking cars and fashions.

Several episodes in, and we're still slowly exploring what this series can do. I'm impressed.

Agatha All Along: Familiar by My Side

 "Don't you dare feel guilty about your talent!"

And this is where we realise how clever Agatha All Along is, I've no doubt much cleverer than I've grasped,. This episode is, yes, a flashback, to the Teen's background. But it's so awfully clever that we see all thosesame scenes between him and Agatha in the first episode, but this time as part of his narrative.

And the whole flashback is so well handled. We follow William Kaplan, an ordinary teen, living in Westview,  just having had his Bar Mitzvah... and that night he suffers a permanent amnesia. It's hinted throughout that another personality has taken over, nicely laying seeds. He and his boyfriend (Eddie is a very nice kid indeed).

The conspiracy theorist chap reminded me of Clive from Rose in Doctor Who, albeit giving off much stronger nutter vibes... the irony being that everything he's saying is true.And (Easter egg) in a certain light he looks a bit like Quicksilver...

So... Teen, whose words we finally see and hear without the sigil, is Billy Maximoff, and he's looking for his brother, as Agatha so entertainingly works out. It seems the rest of the coven are dead?

The whole episode looks great, delivers bombshells that have really been earned, and both of its two leads are extraordinary. This just keeps getting better and better.

Agatha All Along: Darkest Hour / Wake Thy Power

 "We have to ouija."

"It's not a verb!"

At first, this seems like yet another test on the Road and just another episode in what we supposedc to be the series format... but no: this episode pulls the rug out from us and does it superbly. Despite the splendidly meta riffing on broomsticks at the start, with everyone hating how they're both a terrible cliche anda symbol of female domesticity (good point), the humour is much less foregrounded here, despite Agatha's initial witty efforts. Insyead things get surprisingly dark.

The ouija scenes (P-U-N-I-S-H A-G-A-T-H-A) are bloody terrifying... and so is Agatha's mother. But we're reminded that, witty and entertaining protagonist though she is, and capable of what she thinks to be maternal love, is not actually a very nice person simply becaudse she's the main character. She's done terrible things, and is by no means a reformed character.

... Indeed, Teen aside, she has no actual friends among the coven, as we soon discover. All of them are quite happy to let Agatha be punished, and survive.

And then unexpected things happen. Alice dies! Teen turns against Agatha... and all of them. We discover who he is... and he's not Agatha's son, but someone else's entirely.

Wow. Nicely done. Agatha All Along continues to toy with out naive exoectations at every turn of what we may think we're watching.

Army of Darkness (1992)

 "I may be bad, but I feel... good!"

It's October, so time for another suitably Halloween-ish film... although I seem to be in a rather silly mood. 

I'm aware that I'm part way through an enormous number of cinematic horror franchises, but in my defence there are rather a lot of them. Still, it feels good to finally complete Sam Raimi's superb Evil Dead trilogy. 

The film is, of course, hilarious. We know what we're getting- slapstick humour and the parody that the horror genre, with its innate artificiality, so naturally attracts. Once again, Bruce Campbell's performance utterly nails the comedy. Quite rightly historical accuracy is cheerfully ignored in favour of a vague Hollywood version of the Middle Ages. And everything just looks great.

There are so many highlights, not the least of which is the magnificent rudeness of Ash himself. But there are so many set pieces. The evil little mini-mes. The magic words being a nod to The Day the Earth Stood Still. Bad Ash. The three Necronomicons. The gloriously evil ending, riffing on Planet of the Apes... why didn't Ash just stay in 1300? He could have been a somebody!

But yes, the final battle, with all those Harryhausen style stop motion skeletons... that was exquisite. And so was the film, and indeed the whole trilogy.

Agatha All Along: If I Can't Reach You / Let My Song Teach You

 "You don't have to know a person's name to know who they are..."

I've enjoyed Agatha All Along up until now, but this episode is another level. It's superb. Suddenly this is feeling like first class television drama. We've got to know the characters, now we get the deeper drama... alongside the wit we've come to expect. And it all looks amazing, too.

Agatha's callousness about Sharon is hilarious. As it the fact that a new green witch has to be summoned, and it's Rio. Oops. Yet she and Agatha have a truly fascinating and nuances dynamic- lovers, arch enemies, something very deep indeed.

The A story here is Alice and her generational curse, all very cleverly plotted and unveiled. Perfectly, the curse is expunged through rock 'n' roll. A song, as a protection spell... a superb twist.

And then there's the hints as to the teen's identity: is he Agatha's son? Her upset at him being hurt suggests she feels he might be, but Rio says not. The sigil confuses things, but apparently a sigil isvdestroyed once it's no longer needed. I love the ideas in this show.

We also get hints as to Rio's backstory... Agatha is her "scar" and made her hurt someone? Oh, and why does Lilia seem perfectly lucid most of the time but occasionally forget things? So much is going on. I'm loving this.

The Lord of the Rings- The Rings of Power: Shadow and Flame

 "You are their prisoner, Sauron. Lord of the rings..."

I know, this is two blog posts in succession and both on the same show. But I wanted to get this season of The Rings of Power finished. And wow, what a dramativ finale. So much happens, and so much is set up. It's a wild ride.

We begin with the confrontation between the Durins, both father and son, as the King continues to mine, despite the risk of awakening what the subtitles reveal to be indeed the Balrog. His heroic death is nicely done- unexpected, shocking yet appropriate. Durin, I assume, is now king... but it seems his succession is not uncontested? The dwarvesare at last able to assist in the siege, but does civil war await them?

Equally dramatic is the confrontation between the Stranger and the Dark Wizard, who seemingly seeks not to join Sauron but to supplant him. Yet he responds to the Stranger's refusal to join him by destroying the Stoors' village, meaning that they, like the Harfoots, must wander. Yet there's a twist; Bombadil intended him to choose friendship, so he gets his staff after all... and his namre. This, again, is very nicely done. No wonder Gandalf is so fond of Hobbits.

At Numenor things get even worse. Pharazon declares all followers of the Valarto be traitors, and we end the episode with poor, blind Mirielin chains. Yet she orders Elendil to leave, and "reclaim your lordship". Isildur, meanwhile, and the displaced southlanders, also learn of the new regime and its harshness. Yet I sense Numenor, at this point, is irreversibly bound to sink between the waves. Isildur's future lies in Gondor... ad, I'm sure, with Estrid, taken though she is.

Celebrimbor's death, tortured tro death by Sauron, is indeed grimly horrible. He may have been at fault, an eager dupe, but he didn't deserve this. Charles Edwards, though, is again extraordinary.

Adar's death, a horrible twist, also shocks- betrayed by his own Uruks who turn instead to Sauron. He is, perhaps, as tragic an eff as Celebrimbor, noble in his way,and on the cusp of allying with Galadiel.

His flaw was love. He loved ad cared for his orc... and yet they spurned their loving father for an evil master, because evil is what they are. That, to put it mildly, is dark.

Galadriel's combt with Sauron is epic, although perhaps it goes on too long. We end with her barely alive... and, I trust, confined to Lothlorien if she wishes to live?

An extraordiunary episode. And, after a mixed first season... this season has been extraordinary.

The Lord of the Rings- The Rings of Power: Doomed to Die

"Forgive me..."

"Win!"

More than seventy minutes for this penultimate episode, and there's not a Man, Wizard or Harfoot to be seen. It's all an epic chronicle of the siege of Eregion, with all its twists, turns and impressive CGI hill troll(!)... and we end on a very bleak note, with Adar triumphant, and Arondir seemingly dead.

And the dwarves, despite Durin's promise, cannot come to the elves' aid, lest Durin's ring-addled father continue to mine and awaken the beast beneath- the Balrog? The show likes doing these kinds of impossible dilemmas, but they're effective. Can Elrond's friendship with Durin survive? Surely this will cause the enmity between elvesand dwarves; I'd assume so.

The parlet between Elrond and Adar is nicely done too, with Elrond refusing Adar's terms even at the apparent cost of Galadriel's life... and that parting kiss. For this show, usually all about the epic scale and not the humanfor once we have a lot of effective character drama here.

Most horrifying of all, though, is the full force gaslighting of Celebrimbor by Sauron. Yes, he wins, sort of, by entrusting the nine rings to an escaping Galadriel, but what he suffers is truly horrid. Charles Edwards is simply extraordinary here.

The Rings of Power has at times been inconsistent, but this extra-long episode is a trimph of both visuals- it looks amazing, cinematic- and storytelling. I have high hopes for the finale.

Better Call Saul: Dedicado a Max

 "You never told me that he was a side sitter!"

Another gripping episode this time, one that may well spell doom for Kim. Of course, Jimmy's antics trying to impede the seizure of Old Man Acker's house provide the main amusement this time round, but rather av lot happens.

Interestingly, once more we havean A plot and a B plot, with many characters- chrefly Nocho and Lalo- not appearing for the time being. The B plot is Mike, who is in rock bottom receiving medical care across the border... provided by Gus, thus indebting Mike to him.Gradually, throughoutbthe episode, Mike realises, with increasing injury to his pride, that Gus does indeed own him... and the moment where Gus puts the phone down with a terse "not now" is a brutal reminder of that.

Even so, Gus's interactions with Mike at the end make sense- Mike was indeed washed up, without purpose, drinking heavily and starting to alienate himself frpm a family whom he hasn't even told where he is. Much though he hates to admit it, he may well need Gus. It's just that, well, we know where this leads.

But Kim, oh Kim. It may feel like fun with here and Jimmy on opposite sides, but this is no game, whatever Jimmy may think, casually dismissing another call from Howard about a job offer we know he won't take. And... the gambit fails: Kevin simply doubles down. Worse, Rick seems to be on to Kim. She absolutely needs to back down, she's done what she can for the old man... but she doesn't.

I've been certain for a long time that Jimmy's baleful influence is going to end up ruining Kim's professional reputation. I'm increasingly worries that this may be the start of her fall.

As if it needed saying... superb bit of telly.

Relative Values by Noel Coward at the Little Theatre in Leicester

 Alas, it was the final performance when I saw the play last night, so this blog post won't be of any use in plugging any future performance, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

It's fair to say, I think, that Noel Coward hasn't been fashionable in recent decades, but there comes a point where suffiiuent time has passed such that "dated" becomes "period". Such is the case with thisfairly late Noel Coward comedy on the little nuances of social class from 1951. It an enormously entertaining and very funny play, with wit reminiscent of Oscar Wilde, but also a fascinating glimpse into attitudes from the middle of the laast century, a time that suddenly feel a lot more distant than it did a couple of decades ago.,

The cast, of course, were superb, utterly inhabiting their parts while letting the wit shine through. The set desigh was also excellent, the entire play taking part within the confines of a single room.

Alas, I cannot plug this play. But, for those who live locally, I can certainly plug the venue. This is the third play I've seen there now, all of which were brilliant.

Carry On Screaming (1966)

 "May I blow it?"

It's October. The month of Halloween. The month of ghouls and ghost and things that go bump in the night... and the next film in my slow, chronological meanderings through the Carry On series turns out to be rather appropriate. Who'd have thunk it?

Just as recent films have been genre pastiches, this time we get a glorious taste on the British horror films from the likes of Hammer and Amicus, very much in their heyday at this point. The look of the film is perfect, as are the opening titles and song. Yet, as ever, the success of this film lies in the superb performances and the gloriously crap jokes... and yes, the innuendo about the whistle is absolutely the best thing in it.

No Sid James this time, but Harry H. Corbett is a more than adequate replacement in what is more or less a starring role. Fenella Fielding, too, is a wonderful new addition with perfect timing. But best of all, as so very often, is Kenneth Williams, hamming it up in the best possible way as the dastardly Doctor Watt (Doctor Who is his uncle, apparently...!).

Everything about this film is wonderful and utterly unafraid to be silly. Charles Hawtrey gets a surprisingly small role (was his personal life more than usually chaotic at this point?), but it says a lot that the absence of the great Sid James is hardly noticeable here.

The Lord of the Rings- The Rings of Power: Where Is He?

 "Your friend or your destiny? The choice is yours."

Perhaps the finest scene in this excellent episode is the two hander between Adar and Galadriel about how Sauron manipulates. Yes so much else happens... not least Celebrimbor whinging in iambic pentameter. 

What else? We see Sauron'sincreasing manipulation of a Celebrimbor coming apart at the seams... yet not only him. Yes, Adar and Galadriel ally against him, using the elven ring and Mordoth's crown, or hoping to. Yet, as Galadriel realises, even this is exactly what Sauron wants- the thought in the viewer's mind as the siege of Eregion begins in Earnest.

Our two Harfoots begin to learn the meaning of home as peril awaits, while Tom Bombadil would have the Stranger choose a staff, a test he MUST pass . And yet, the situation parallels that of Luke now in The Empire Strikes Back, with Nori and Poppy in danger. If he leaves now, help them he could but... well. The scene is a cliche, it must be said, but it works dramatically.

Then we have Elendil, accused of treason for his loyalty to his old faith and queen, and having to face an ancient form of trial by CGI sea serpent. And... with Miriel risking her life for him so beautifully, this scene is damn good. Miriel 1, Pharazon 0, as the crowd cheers her. And it seems she and Elendil are falling in love, does it not? Even as Elendil and his daughter grow further apart.

Then there's King Durn, his greed, and the ring. Brrr. This is good stuff. Yet what lingers in the mind is the true manipulative power of Sauron, which is so very well done indeed.

Agatha All Along: Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials

" He's not in the coven. And he's underage..."

Once again, this episode is filled with wit, fun, and four witch characters we're a;ready getting to know and enjoy... although, as ever, Kathryn Hahn's performance is utterly wonderful. And we get a possible hint of the format: four types of witch- divination, green, potion and whatever Agatha is- and four trials from the Road.

But, simple though the format is- a posh house, a timer, poisoned wine ("Ugh! Cheap!"), and a race against the clock for Jennifer to make a suitable potion- it's so much more than that. Each character has a weird flashback, possibly telling us something. Jen is seemingly drowned by a man in early 20th century clothing. Alice seems to be facing a curse passed through generations from mother to daughter. And... did Agatha give her son to Mephisto (first MCU mention?) for a magical book?

Oh, and who is the Teen?

Yet it all looks brilliant, and the conceit works perfectly not only in entertaining us but in making us feel that wealready know all of these characters. But... Sharon is dead? There has to be more to her, surely? Regardless, I'm loving this.

The Lord of the Rings- The Rings of Power: Halls of Stone

 "It will open with a password known only to friends..."

This episode is, perhaps, the most exciting yet to those of us who have read only The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, pointing strongly towards the future we know. We have Durin's gate of course, but we see Sauron to continue manipulating Celebrimbor to makerings not only for Dwarves but also for Men... nine rings for the kind of the nive noble realms. We know well where this is leading.

We also have hints of the doom that awaits Khadad-Dum. Oh, King Durin III may have saved his realm in the short term, but he shows signs of the greed and the ring addiction that we shall soon come to know so well,charging a "ring tax" and forcing the other sixdwarven kings to make a tribute in return for their own rings. Worst of all, he wants to dig, despite the fact that ancient evil lies beneath.

Then there's Gil-Galad's dilemma between Sauron and Adar. Adar seeking an alliance with Galadriel. And the darkness beginning to envelop Numenor. Pharazon already threatens to be a tyrant, and his son seems worse. Elendil is not having a good time, and nor are his many friends. Even his daughter has betrayed him.

And yet... despite this series being more about epic events than character, what shines here is the detail of Sauron's manipulation of the proud but gullible Celebrimbor. The Rings of Power is on fire as never before.