Better Call Saul: Wexler v Goodman

 "Because it's cold pizza fondled by community actors..."

For the first time, the pre-credits shows a small episode from Kim's childhood: she refuses to get intothe car with her mother, who's been drinking, and bloody well sticking to her principles, even back then. Not hard to see what the subtext is here. Kim has her strong moral principles. We know that. But alas, she seems to be in love with Jimmy for some reason, and I'm sticking to my own guns: Jimmy will be her ruin and her downfall.

Bizarrely, we then see a young Kevin in an old Mesa Verde commercial, zand get a long montage of Jimmy trying to film stuff in his plot against Mesa Verde, getting stuck in to the writing, the directing, anything but lawyering... and along comes Kim. She wants out, unnerved by Rich's suspicions. It's gone too farand she's even willing togive some of her own money to the old man so there can be compromise. And... Jimmy agrees, so that's that, right? I mean, it's not as though he's the unscrupulous type, right...?

We then shift to Nacho who, like Kim, won't be in Breaking Bad. But with him, I suspect, we're looking at literal death. He simply lives too dangerously, inforning Gus and Mike of what Lalo is up to... and wow, as ever, Gus isquite the presence. It looks as though we'll see a lot of Mike and Nacho together from this point. Lalo may appeal to Mike's morals... but, of course, Gus owns Mike. We're so far into Better Call Saul at this point that the nuances between all the characters are utter perfection.

And so cue another series of scenes where we get to see how Mike operates, this time manipulating a librarian and the local police into dropping Lalo right in it... ending in what looks like Lalo's arrest. Nut this, I suspect, is a mere opening skirmish. I note that Lalo has a pet lawyer... although, of course, on this occasion, I use the word "lawyer" in its loosest possible sense.

Still, yes, there's an interlude of Jimmy being an utter **** to Howard but, as the episode comes to an end, it looks as though Kim's going to get her was with Mesa Verde... and then Jimmy REALLY goes for the kill, harassing Mesa Verde to the max, and Kim is furious, very visibly so, to be thrown under the bus like this. This threatens to have dire consequences for her, despite her very visible and real anger.

Kevin, incidentally, has a very clearidea of exactly what Jimmy is, and he certainly isn't a lawyer.

Finally, we have the confrontation. Kim really laying into Jimmy and there's a sense that even he may now realise that he may have gone too far. Is this it? Kim is beginning to sound like he might dump him, as she should have done long ago....

"Maybe we get married".

Oh Kim....

Obviously, this is televisual perfection. Yet again.

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

 "

I wasn't surprised to see that this film is very, very good- the director and the star meant that would always be likely. What did surprise me, however, is how funny it is- and how relatively frank about sex- in a humourous way, yes, but this is hardly picture postcard humour.

Charles Laughton is, of course, definitive as Henry, with both his performance and the acript showing him as merry yet dangerously capricious. Intelligent, cultured, yet the ultimate spoiled brat, self-indulgent and able to turn on a sixpence.

Yet the film plays this largely for black humour, downplaying religious matters entirely, as well as foreign affairs... although Henry is made to say that "If those French and Germans don't stop killing each other then Europe will be in ruins"- hard not to see as a comment on the Europe of 1933, a decade and a half after the Great War and with Hiller yet to burn down the Reichstag.

I laughed out loud as the opening blurb dismissed Catherine of Aragon as being of "no particular interest", the opening scenes set on the day both of Anne Boleyn's execution and Jane Seymour's wedding to Henry, leaving us in no doubt whatsoever what a callous man he is, with scenes of Anne bravely facing her last couple of hours juxtaposed with Henry and Jane being frivolous... and Henry cynically sees Jane as a "stupid woman".

He is, again, callous as Jane dies in childbirth, caring only for his baby son. Yet the film focuses on the contrast between Anne of Cleves, who plays the game cleverly and ends up divorced, alive and rich... and the true tragic focus of the film, Katherine Howard, whose eagerness to court the king and have a crown eventually results in being trapped into a marriage to an old man, followed by her inevitable doom. These moments are dark, although it is not dwelt upon here that young Kate was only nineteen.

A superb, witty, funny, dark and tragic script all in one, and a strong overall cast with Charles Laughton giving the performance of his life. This is one of the triumphs of early historical sound cinema.

Stargate (1994)

 "There can be only one Ra..."

I've never seen any of the subsequent telly series, but I have seen this film before, back in the '90s, hiring it from the local video shop. I enjoyed it then... and I absolutely adore it now.

I'm told there were all sorts of behind-the-scenes headaches for the film, it wasn't expected to do well, and it was a massive surprise when it turned out to be a huge hit. Yet it's simply very good, a very '90s twist on Erik Von Daniken with Egyptian gods as ancient aliens, with a superb and well-placed plot, a brilliant series of concepts and very strong central performances from James Spader and Kurt Russell. 

The visuals, the aesthetics of the gods are awesome. The first sight of Horus is well-shot and effective- and it's a surprise to find him being played by a young Djimon Hounsou. The pyramids, the three moons in the sky... the visuals are as good as the plot.

The whole thing is very much plot-driven, and the conceit of seeing everything through the eyes of Daniel Jackson works well, as we are introduced to the backstory of the Stargate at a point where the authorities are on board and plans already laid.

Yet there is humanity too. Both Daniel and Colonel O'Neill are three-dimensional, flawed but ultimately good people, and the people enslaved by the "gods" manage to seem like real and likeable people despite speaking an unknown language. And the ending is deeply satisfying.

This is simply a great concept, executed superby. That's why it's a great film.

Agatha All Along: Follow Me My Friend / To Glory at the End

 "So, Agatha's ex is death".

"That also makes sense..."

Wow. So much happens here in forty-odd minutes. Agatha All Along has been a slow burn, but these last episodes, with all the cleverly set up reveals, have been incredible.

So Rio (reference to the River Styx or summat?) literally is Death: we see Alice meeting her at the moment of death, incredulous that she should die now, upon the lifting of the curse, in a scene very reminiscent of similar scenes in Sandman, although we don't talk about Neil Gaiman these days. We also see some very cool subtle skull effects on her face, which is nicely done.

But wow.I mean, Agatha passes the last trialon the Witch's Road- just- but this is almost an afterthought. We discover that it was Agatha who bound Jennifer, and she is thus able to rather dramatically unbind herself. It's hinted that Agatha did not do the terible things to her son Nicky that everyone supposes, but istaking on the opprobrium to avoid something worse- for next episode, no doubt.

Then we have the episode-long  see-sawing of whether or not Agatha will betray Billy. She doesn't, she does... and then she doesn't, seemingly dying for him.

Yet the end- so clever, with all the elements of the Rosad being within Billy's bedroom- seems to hint that bigger and even more fundamental reveals are to come. Wow.

One more to go...

Batman: The Animated Series- P.O.V.

 "I guess Batman must have gotten a second wind after Detective Bullock dragged him out, because he was in rare form!"

I'm increasingly enjoying not only the subtle '40s style of this series but the fact that the titles being shown on screen is clearly intended to evoke movie serialds. There's a lot of clever stylistic touches thatI'm increasingly coming to appreciate, and the animation continueas to be superb.

But... Batman: The Animated Series does Rashomon. In twenty minutes. And it's superb.

I love how Bullock's low level dodginess is contrasted with the earnestness of Montoya and her fellow rookie but, more than that, with the depiction of Batman as he appears to these overawed young cops. At first I wondered whether Batman would get to speak at all but, of course, he does, as he and Montoyatake down the baddies together.

I simply love the mood of this episode- very noir. This is, let's admit it, not a good day- the next American president is going to be a terrifying fascist, not good for Ukraine and by extension Europe, for the climate emergency, for the very notion of the "West", for decency or, indeed, the freedom of the orange fascist's own country. But good art has its consolations and so, in its small way, is the case here.

Agatha All Along: Death's Hand in Mine

 "We can be culturally offended later..."

Yeah, I know. They're all dressed like famous witches from popular culture- Wicked Witch of the West, Maleficent, etc... but they do have the tendency to be the Disney versions, don't they? Gosh, I wonder why that is.

Grumbling about the corporate cultural appropriation of folk culture aside, this episode is a thing of genius from the beginning to that wonderful and highly appropriate Jim Croce song at the end, as Lilia's entire life goes full circle. The little apparent lapses from Lilia suddenly make sense as we follow the conversation from her own, very timey-wimey perspective. It's so sad: she only gets to find fulfilment and purpose just before she dies. But wow, what a triumph, what a character and what a tour de force from Patti LuPone.

Also... Rio is literally Death? As in Thanos' lover Death? And... she's Agatha's ex? Wow. We get a lot of minor answers here- Lilia cast the sigil- but that's quite the reveal. What's her angle, and is she going to be showing up in all sorts of other contexts?

Overall, though, this is near perfection. The superb sets. the gleefully cliched trial. And the funny, tragic and incredibly clever script. Wow.

Raw Deal (1986)

 "You should not drink and bake."

…Or, indeed, shoot and drive. Please, any drivers reading this: keep your eyes on the road (or quarry). Engaging in a gun battle with the goons of an entire Mafia family can impair your driving concentration, even if, like Mark here, you also come armed with prodigious quantities of plot armour.

I must be close as dammit to having blogged all the '80s Arnie action movies, so here's another one. And it's good, it's fun, like all movies of this ilk. It isn't the greatest action film of all time, but it doesn't have to be. The action set pieces are great. Sam Wanamaker is also great as a Chicago Mafia boss, and Robert Davi is exceptionally good, as ever, as Max. But Arnie, in his first real role with lots of proper dialogue, just oozes so much charisma.

The film really showcases Chicago as a city, too, as all the suspense and action takes place. Admittedly the final scene is very Saturday morning cartoon, and the film nicely reminds us that two bottles of champagne in one sitting is perhaps not great for one's sex life. But then, of course, the plot mustn't allow Mark to sleep with the rather lovely Monique, lest he commit adultery with his rather unpleasant, cake throwing wife.

Still, the flaws of this film are all partr of the fun. Highly recommended if you just want to switch off your brain and watch some '80s action with car chases and shooting galore.