The Boys: Get Some

 "Hughie, you just arse-bombed America's sweetheart..."

An awful lot seems to happen in every episode so far, and this is no exception. We're introduced to Mother's Milk(!), another old mate of Butcher's who seems to have reason, like the rest of the gang, to hate the supes. And Frenchie. He's a cool addition, and at this stage a person Hughie can usefully confide in for the benefit of the viewer.

I love the montage as the corpse of Translucent is cleaned up- to Jane's Addiction's "Stop". And the events following from what Translucent let slip- that A-Train is having an affair with Popclaw, a kind of female Wolverine. And then there's a lot of intrigue about Popclaw and A-Train's relationship involving toe-sucking and resentment... and the discovery (after Hughie uses his own superpower of installing electronics in people's houses) that A-Train is using a steroid called Compound V... and was high on it when he killed Robin. All this stuff makes for great viewing, and not only because Popclaw accidentally makes her landlord's head explode while sitting on his face. It's not only in The Sopranos that cunnilingus can be deadly.

Annie's story is also unfolding nicely as her little problem with unauthorised crime-fighting turns out to work unexpectedly in her favour after the victim comes forward. It's all so fickle, and ironic, as she proceeds to be given a new, highly sexualised constume and has a narrative imposed on the whole thing for her... by, yep, a couple of men. The social commentary may not be subtle, but arguably it shouldn't be. And it's very well done indeed.

We also get more of Homelander being an utter douche, Hughie realising who Annie is and getting her phone number- but being expected to plan a bug on her (ouch). And the cliffhanger- of the Seven finding Translucent's body promises "war".This is well-paced, witty, gloriously irreverent yet meaningful telly that reminds me a hell of a lt of reading Garth Ennis' Preacher.

The Boys: Cherry

 "You're not the hero of this story..."

The second episode is, if anything, even better than the first as both Hughie aStarlight continue to disciver how deeply twisted is this world, with its cynically corporate and utterly immoral superheroes- and the whole thing manages to be great fun while this is happenning. It's all very, very Garth Ennis.

The plots drive forward perfectly while developing the themes. Starlight manages to get back at the pathetic Deep after last episode's #MeToo moment, but proceeds to get in trouble for stopping a rape without permission. And her first official patrol (with the Deep) proves to be a cynically stage-managed affair.

Meanwhile, Madalyn (Played by Jennifer McFly!) cynically and deliciously blackmails a senator in her ongoing plan to take over the US military, and seems to have a disturbing relationship with breast milk fetishist Homelander, who proves to be just as cynical and amoral as them all. This story may have an obvious political point, but doesn't forget to be darkly funny while making it. That awkward scene with A Train and the kid with cancer is magnificent.

Hughie, though, is truly dropped in the deep end. yes, his plot strand this episode consists of wonderful black humour as he, the now even more mysterious Butcher and the intriguing Frenchie spend most of the episode working out how to kill Translucent. There's an excellent dialogue between Hughie and Translucent which, I suspect, points towards the arc we can expect as he slowly morphs into a kind of hero. Or not. There's also a nice scene with him impotently punching a wall, showing very much that he's no superhero. And, of course, he ends by popping his kill cherry.

Translucent's death, though (by ass bomb, which is genius), is hilarious. I'm loving this.

Captain America: Episodes 6 and 7

 

 Episode 6: Vault of Vengeance

"Now the homicidal maniac will plan a counter-attack!"

There's actually a rather good cliffhanger resolution, for once, as this episode's peril monkey Gail is saved from the guillotine by a realistiv distraction before Captain America arrives to fight the baddies- ultimately stopping the blade from touching her by mere inches. 

We then move to the baddies pretty much suspecting the D.A. of being Cap, as a surprising series of cat and mouse games ad tricks commences between Cap and the Scarab. It's all rather good fun. And the cliffhanger involves Cap with a rifle(!), and an impressive-looking mine shaft.

 

Episode 7: Wholesale Destruction

"It'll blow sky high!"

The intrigue grows, as last episode's extortion victim is afraid of his life, as the Scarab is rather miffed that the $100,000 he extorted has been rendered useless by Grant's cleverness. Meanwhile, Grant does some clever and plot-convenient sleuthing in a place what repairs vans.

We end up with a rather ominous cliffhanger as the building with Cap in it is blown up with "Nitrogas", with some rather impressive and explosive effects. This is still just a load of random set pieces, but I'm enjoying it.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Sixth

 "I always said there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe..."

And so it ends, with a twist that was much more powerful the first time but still feels worryingly true: the human race is fundamentally a race of useless management consultants, marketing executives and so forth- no civil servants, of course. We would have been on the "A" ark. Yes we would. 

And then there's what is, apparently, the ultimate question- although I'm not sure why it would be in Arthur's subsconscious in the first place, as he's descended from Golgafrinchans and thus surely not part of Deep Thought's computer program- is a mathematical equation that is incorrect. This does, indeed, explain so much about the universe. 

The Golgafinchams are great, and Aubrey Morris in particular. It's a powerfu end to a splendid visual adaptation. It may look cheap, ot may look dated, but it's bloody brilliant.

Captain America: Episodes 4 & 5

 Episode 4: Preview of Murder

"The robot truck is on the way..."

We dispose of the fiery cliffhanger, somehow, by a few shots of a pistol, which seems to make no sense: Lionel Atwill twirls his moustache splendidly as the Scarab, plotting to kill the poor professor for inheriting what he needs.... so, naturally, he fills a "robot van" which is something to do with television with explosives to control it remotely (televsion, in 1944, is super impressive tech) and crash it into the home of the unfortunate prof. This is, of course, in no way absurdly convoluted, but simply what villains in movie serials do.

Cap is there at the explosion. How on Earth can he get away from this one?

 

Episode 5: Blade of Wrath

"Professor Dodge has been murdered!"

Er, that's a blatant cheat with footage blatantly edited to show Cap getting away. That's very cheeky indeed, and not even the first time this movie serial has played that old trick. 

Still, Professor Dodge is killed- finally- and we get a promising-looking cliffhanger with a guillotine. The whole thing makes very little sense, and we would be wise not to connect these set pieces into any kind of plot, but heigh ho: this is a movie serial. 

Also, Gail is a bit badass and awesome, isn't she?

Breaking Bad: Seven Thirty-Seven

 "I'd say these two know their chemistry..."

This is exactly how to open a second series. It carries on smoothly from the end of the previous series... but it's already clear that Walt's ambitions are going to have to reach another level. He's having to get deeper in.

Not that he realises this at the start. After a short reprise we have further scenes of terrifying violence from Tujo, and it's already clear that, through sheer necessity, Walt is going to have to get rid of him. Life is simply too dangerous and fearful with Tujo around. Raymond Cruz does a superb job of portraying an absolute and unpredictable psychopath. And yet Walt- trying to hide his fear behind calm reason- tries to persuade humself, working things out in his head, that he needs to make $737,000 from all this, and then he can stop. Hah.

It soon becomes clear that Tuho is after them, as they've seen too much. It's a case of kill or be killed, and it's fascinating that, already, Walt is not even talking to Jesse about the morality of it all: it's all about the how. And Jesse feel huge relief when Walt tells him that he has a plan- even if it involves an adaptation of the famous killing of Georgi Markov- which again subtly shows how he looks up to his old teacher.

And yet the tension builds and builds up to the shocking conclusion. Worse, Walt's problems continue to build unsustainably. He just isn't going to be able o keep making excuses to Skyler. He needs to confide in her, but can't. And his instinctive post-crime sex goes horribly wrong this time. He just can't keep living these two lives. Something just has to give- and Hank, too, is again getting dangerously close, even if he has his own problems with his wife's acknowledged shoplifting.

This is a powerful and promising opening.

The Boys: The Name of the Game

 "What do I look like?"

"Like you're starring in the porn version of The Matrix."

This is something Mrs Llamastrangler and I have just decided to start watching... and it's rather good. I have no knowledge of the original comic books by Garth Ennis (whom I know well from Preacher- and no, I haven't seen that series yet), but this is certainly very much reminiscent of Watchmen, at least superficially.

This is, essentially, a world where there are superheroes... yet, beyond the surface, those superheroes are amoral,  money grabbing, corporate bastards who behave like the very worst kinds of rock stars in the days before punk, and worse. We have two POV characters through whose eyes we see this world. The first is Hughie, whose girlfriend is gruesomely killed by speedster A-Train in suspicious yet covered-up circumstances and who, while struggling against a history of meek unambition, strives to get justice. We also have Anna, a privincial superhero who achieves her dream of joining the Justice Lea... er, the Seven... and ends up sexually abused in a shockingly #MeToo moment. These people are above the law, and it stinks.

We also have the awesomely sweary New Zealander Butcher, who enlists Hughie in his quest to encover the superheroes' many transgression. This is a superb basic concept, and an admirably successful first episode which succinctly introduces the many characters while balancing humour and tragedy superbly. More please.

Breaking Bad: A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal

 "Why was it so damn good?"

"Because it was illegal."

This is a bloody good, bloody clever season finale that ends things at a perfect point:Walt and Jesse are now solidly established and in business- although the last scene with Tujo beating his own henchman to a pulp reminds us (and Walt) that this is a world where violence is not far away.

It's also a scene that establishes Walt, in this context at least, as the apha male he hasn't been for most of his life- it's a sign of Tujo's respect for Walt that he beats his own man for dissing him. But Walt gets off on risk, and feels horny during the opening scene as he hides in the very plainest of plain sight from the narco authorities, leading to what seems to be some rather good car sex.

There are some interesting contrasts with Hank- out of place in the baby shower scene- as he and Walt discuss the arbitrariness of the drug laws, something Hank can't see even as he smokes (illegal) Cuban cigars.

The theme of middle class "respectable" criminality spreads wider than that- is Marie secretly engaging in some fairly major shoplifting? And we also see Skyler using her wiles to wiggle out of admittedly unfounded suspicion. None out of either couple are entirely free of some kind of lawbreaking, and the episode nods at the sexiness of this.

Yet Walt's subtle attempt to see how Skyler would react if she only knew the truth yields no answers. Still, he and Jesse, after an episode of chemical cleverness solving problems and some top heist-themed farce, end up in a good position. This is a magnificent end to a splendid season.

So is Walt now going to move on Tujo...?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Fifth

 "The first ten million years were the worst, and the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million years I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline."

Although I have, naturally, experienced the events of this episode repeatedly, and in multiple media, it is nonetheless fresher to me than the preceding four episodes, and the ideas are, of course, as awesome as anything that comes from the mind of Douglas Adams.

We have a rock star, spending a year dead for tax reasons, whose over-the-top gigs illustrate precisely why the galaxy so urgently needs punk. We have Colin Jeavons, whom I tend to think of as Lestrade from the Granada Sherlock Holmes, as a splendidly over-the-top compere. We even have an utterly unrecogniseable Peter Davison as the Dish of the Day, which longs to be eaten.

But Marvin is, as ever, the best bit. This is wonderful stuff.

Captain America: Episodes 2 and 3

 Episode 2: Mechanical Executioner

"All the wealth and art treasures of the world will be mine!"

So, er, Cap jumps out of the collapsing building on to the next building. Ok...

Again, this is Captain America in name and costume (minus those silly wings) only- but so far it's solid, if stolid, movie serial. Lionel Atwill continues to be excellent as the greedy, arrogant Scarab, there's plenty of action, and it's all nice and simple.

It's already clear that this is going to be a succession of set pieces rather than a plot as such, but we knew this- it's a movie serial. Who cares if we start with a cliffhanger resolution cheat: this time Cap is in a barn and, er, about to be run over by a little tractor...

 

Episode 3: Scarlet Shroud

"He's a brave man, but I'd feel better of Captain America was with him."

This is still enormous fun. Like any movie serial it lives and dies by its set pieces, but they're good ones. It matters not that Dick Purcell isn't that great an actor- he isn't exactly called ipon to d much acting as such, but he's great as a stuntman, which is pretty much what he is.

The Scarab seems a pretty cultured baddie, only stealing Old Masters and priceless manuscripts. Gail is unexpectedly good with a gun. And it's always fun (as per The Adventures of Captain Marvel) to see a sequence where the hero's vehicle is booby trapped to explode once a certain gauge reaches a certain point.

It's all very straightforward, but it's a movie serial. And this is good, solid fun.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Fourth

 "We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!"

This episode is, of course, where the novel ends: it is also, if I recall correctly, where we diverge from the radio series. But that's after the ecxplosion at the end: until then we hae plenty of Douglas Adams' signature absurdity to look at.

The whole thing about Deep Thought and the Ultimate Question is conceptually awesome, of course, however dated the computing looks forty years later. Yet there's more going on than this- the ridiculing of philosophers (personally, I think we need rather more of them in today's accessible cultural media, but...) and the fact that they behae exactly ike the more rigidly-minded trade union leaders of the time. I somehow doubt Arthur Scargill would have enjoyed this episode much.

Yet we also have an absurd, timey-wimey series of events cause by Arthur's tremendous difficulty with his lifestyle,and a wonderful sequence about the mice offering to buy Arthur's brain: there will never again be a sitcom quite like this. And that's before we even get to the glorious piss take of cops at the end...

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: One World, One People

 "I'm Captain America!"

In the end, I think this series has been good but not great. The concept works well, bt the chracterisation (despite superb acting) falls a little short. It's only in the final two episodes that the series catches fire. Still, this makes for a strong finale.

In theory this is about Sam and co finally defeating the Flag Smashers, with Karli getting the death she probably deserves after such fanatcal willingness for so many others to die for her beiefs. It's about Bucky learning how to truly atone for his past misdeeds. It's about the shocking revelation that Sharon is the Power Broker, a proper baddie- and, with the newly restored Agent Carter, the US Government has a cuckoo in its nest. It's about John Walker finding some small redemption, and a new costume ("It's the same, but black(!)" as the US Agent, courtesy of the splenid Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra La Fontaine.

But mostly this is about Captaim America, and what it means for him to be black. Sam's entrance, with his new costume, and announcing himself, is a huge moment. So is Bucky calling him Cap, and the nod from Walker. So is his rather awesome speech about idealism and not being dicks to refugees, words that certain British politocoans, some of whom bully their civil servants, would do well to heed.

And the moment with Isaiah is sentimental, yes, but just about earned. There's a hell of a big history of racial oppression behind all this, and not only in the United States. In the end, I think, the script tries hard to address this enormous subtext but doesn't quit hae the eloquence. But, as Isaiah sort of says to Sam, not everyone can be Martin Luther King.

Breaking Bad: Crazy Handful of Nothin'

 "The faster they undergo change, the more violent the explosion."

Damn, this episode is clever.

I mean, there are all sorts of touches I could point to, from the flash forward to violence at the beginning to the way what Walt says in his chemistry lesson (see above) tends to foreshadow events. Yet ultimately this is an episode that pushes Walt's hands deeper and deeper into the blood as he commits more ad more heonous acts.

Things are out of control. Walt's chemo is leading to serious symptoms. He can no longer hide his cancer from Jesse, leading to a nuanced and extraordinary scene between the two men in which they seem to grow a little closer- and he may have to rely on Jesse for at least some of the cooking because of his ill health. This is not what he wanted: Walt makes it clear to Jesse at the start of the episode, tempting fate somewhat, that  he wants a clear division of labour. Walt cooks, while Jesse handles the sales and the "business" side. Walt thinks he can be the "silent" partner, and shield himself from all the ugliness. But we know that ain't gonna happen.

Nor are his excuses about why he comes home so late, or his lies about where the money for his treatment is coming from, at all sustainable. And he needs more money than can be gained from Jesse selling on the street- he needs to sell wholesale to a distributor. It feels natural at every stage how Walt is drawn deeper and deeper in, which is a sign of masterfu writing. It's a nice twist, too, that Hank's investigations get close to Walt but end up destroying the wrong man- the kindly caretaker who has helped Walt and whose only crime is to have smoked some weed. This is yet another tap, tap, tap on Walt's conscience.

In the context of al this, then, the conclusion is explosive in every sense.  Jesse has been hospitaised following his attempt to deal with the dangerous Tuco yet it is the badass Walt, armed with a little chemical oomph, who ends up the alpha male here- cleverly foreshadowed earlier as he bluffs Hank at cards, in turn reflecting how Hank failed to get his man. Layers upon layers. 

Walt gets what he wants, but at the cost of getting deeper and deeper in. He is slowly leaving his orderly life for one of violent chaos. "Heisenberg", as he is known to Tujo, is very much becoming a kind of uncertainty principle. This is clever, clever stuff, and bloody good telly.

The Doors (1991)

"Does death turn you on?"

This is, I believe, the first film helmed by Oliver Stone that I've ever blogged, and I believe it's my 758th film. Most odd. 

This is, I think its fair to say, a brave and triumphant rock biopic that dares to be art. The real Jim Morrison was both a genius and a twat, and the film illustrates this perfectly. He would not have enjoyed surviving to the #MeToo movement, which would have dealt a just comeuppance; he was a hopeless addict; he was a two timing bastard with double standards who didn't like it when Pam slept with others; worst of all, he reacted with cowardly denial to the babies he fathered, roving himself less than a man. If you father a child, you love that child with all your heart, or you fail to be a man. As a father who dotes on the wonderful Little Miss Llamastrangler, despite her trying to "teach" me ballet, I have to despise the coward. He was not a mn.

Yet he had a magnificent singing voice, his lyrics were extraordinary and he was (despite contemporary criticism that supposed a long-haired man who fronted a rock an roll band could not be cultured, well-read or talented) a poet of real genius and significance. Morrison was not Bob Dylan: he had a good grasp of poetic structure and rhythm.

He was a genius. He was a wanker. He was probably a rapist. Val Kilmer, in an extraordinary feat of acting, IS him. His performance is magnificent.

The film is at once a linear biopic, with extended footage of gigs, an art flick, with multiple rather successful attempts to simulate a drug-induced haze. There is plenty of selective use of the Doors' transcendent music, which seems to be considered unfashionable by various young fools with no understanding of what makes good art. Kyle Machlachlan is superb as the genius Ray Manzarek, yet Meg Ryan as Pam and Kathleen Quonlan as Patricia are transcendent as his "muses" who were fascinating women in their own right.

I hope, one day, to find a rock biopic as good as this. I shall try more Oliver Stone films, amd try not to be put off by the stupid conspiracy theories of JFK.

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)

 "Is there anywhere a man who simply takes?"

This is an unorthodox adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella- with the action for some reason moved from Edinburgh to a London with a dark underbelly- but it works. This is, incredibly, the first film adaptation of this that 've blogged, but it's a bloody good one.

Paul Massey is, of course, magnificent in his dual role, but it's extraordinary that the film should have Hyde be young and handsome- a cad and a seducer- while Jekyll should be aged and bearded with make-up. It's a mystery that Massey's career should be so relatively sparse on the evidence of this.

Yet just as interesting is the very Hammer treatment of Jekyll, who is a scientific obsessive on the way towards obsession himself- a character who owes as much to Hammer's Frankenstein as the novella. His early dialogue on the duality of man sounds positively Nietzchean, and I'm sure this is intentional.

Indeed, Jekyll is a neglectful husband, whose wife is having an affair with the spendidly unscrupulous Paul, played with superb loucheness by Christopher Lee, who absolutely nails a role which is completely against type.

This is ultimately a gripping and fresh version of the tale which dares to give us something new. It's another early Hammer triumph, whatever the critics may have said at the time.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Third

 "Is there any tea on this spaceship?"

Tonight was going to be the finale of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but Disney Plus is down, so I've brought this forward instead. Expect to see your previously scheduled blog post on Monday, probably, stuff permitting.  

Anyway, Douglas Adams' magnum opus continues to unfold televisually here, with those elements that have dated continuing to charm, forty years later. I've mentioned Zaphod's no doubt budget-busting animatronic head, but we also have fairly blatant switched between the Heart of Gold, in studio, and the legendary planet of Magrathea, on film. It is, of course, also amusing that the ancient Magratheans should have left a venerable answerphone message.

But the point of all this is Adams' gloriously absurd conceptual coolness, all filtered through his gloriously individual sense of humour. We get our first hints at the true history and purpose of Earth. Yet this, along with the narration of the demise of the old Asimov-like Galactic Empire, plays once more with notions of extinctions and the ends of civilisations, yet lightly, which possibly gives away the Cold War themes of nuclear holocaust. If only nuclear missiles really would turn into a whale and a bowl of petunias.

Yes, I know what you're thinking, but sod Agrajag.

Captain America: Episode 1

 The Purple Death

 "You'll never get away with this!"

This is easily the first Marvel screen action of any sort, from a time long before Marvel as we know it in 1961. But Marvel was an offshoot of Martin Goodman's Timely Comics, and creators such as Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, Jack Kirby and Joe Simon had already created the Sub-Mariner, the first Human Torch, Captain America and more. This serial is the only screen relic of that strange proto-Marvel time which, perhaps, we never quite see in its own terms as opposed to what came later.

Yet neither, on the evidence of this episode, does this serial. Captain America wears the costume and is a hero, but there the similarities end. Here he is not Steve Rogers but Grant Gardner, district attorney in an unnamed city and conveniently close to the mayor and commissioner. There is no shield to be seen, but Cap is always toting a pistol, which is the most jarring thing.

However, even if this is Captain America in name and costume only, it's an impressive start. The Scarab, a scientifically hungry criminal, who mind controls people via poison to suicide(!), is a worthy foe, ably played by a monocled Lionel Atwill- and, in a brave departure from conention, we learn the villain's identity in the first episode. 

This is a strong opening episode wgich looks to be a superior example of the genre. So far, so good.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Second

 "Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it."

You can tell a superior sitcom (if, indeed, that is what this is, with its ever-shifting "situation" by how it uses narrative cleverness and manages to be funny at the same time. Here, even the "previously on" bit is hilarious, featuring a fun little Reginald Perrin-like cameo from Douglas Adams and lots of 1981-ness, with jokes about digital watches.

The Guide is again used cleverly in order to excuse any kind of narrative trickery Adams like- and the Improbability Drive is a splendid concept that excuses the absurd number of coincidences going on here, serving to subtly introduce Zaphod, Trillian, the wonderful Marvin and the new status quo. It's all well enough realised by the standards of the time, and I think that afer forty years we can just about see that animatronic second head as a charming relic of the time as opposed to, say, embarrassingly awful. Although not as awful as the poetry of Paula Millstone Jennings, which I reproduce below because I'm evil...

 

The dead swans lay in the stagnant pool.

They lay. They rotted. They turned

Around occasionally.

Bits of flesh dropped off them from

Time to time.:And sank into the pool's mire.

They also smelt a great deal.

That, however, in no way makes this episode anything other than a triumph.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Truth

 "There will never be a Black man be Captain America."

So far this series has been consistently good, but has never reached greatness. Its been enjoyable, well-structured and well made with a great cast but, I think, the dialogue has never quite taken flight. That changes here: this penultimate episode, at least, whatever happens in the finale, achieves greatness.

The whole thing is, of course, a meditation on what it means for Sam to be, quite transparently, on the cusp of being the first Black man to be Captain America. The meeting with Isaiah is necessary: Isaiah stands for the many crimes against Black Americans over the centuries, the burning crosses, the Jim Crow laws, the unspeakableness of slavery and its lasting scars, the continuing unspeakableness of voter suppression and mass incarceration- although we non-Americans cannot smugly assume that we do not have similar sins of our own, particularly after the Windrush scandals and the racist attacks we've seen in the last couple of days aimed at three brave young men. It is not only in America that racism is institutional and has tendrils that get everywhere, no doubt including my own subconscious.

That said, I like the handling of John Walker here. Yes, he has done a terrible thing, but it was the disturbingly military-worshipping culture of the USA that made him a monster, and seems to betray this damaged man who has only become what they made him. So it's intriguing to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus, with an outageous accent, approaching him as Valentina Allegra La Fontaine, a very retro character from the days of Jim Steranko. It seems, from the closing credits, that US Agent will be appearing soon.

However, this is about Sam, about his family, his sister, and their boat- all symbolising their heritage. There's a lovely bit of flirting between Bucky and Sarah, but an equally lovely scene between the two friends as Bucky admits he failed to appreciate what he was asking Sam to do in being the first Black man to take the shield, and taking some good advice. But the groundwork is laid as Sam prepares for his new role. 

We end with the Flag Smashers about to strike for the finale. But, quite rightly, this episode was not about such things. A superb piece of drama.

Breaking Bad: Grey Matter

 "I have the talking pillow".

This is yet another first class bit of telly from Breaking Bad. It has a very good reputation, but seems not only to be living up to it but improving with each episode as the situation becomes more established.

There are two parallel storylines here. The B plot concerns Jesse, who attempts to go straight but comes up against the reality of demeaning minimum wage jobs for anyone without a uni degree- not only is there obvious social commentary here, but it's emphasised just how attractive the undeeground economy can be for someone whose only alternative is this sort of job.

It's no surprise to see him return to cooking meth with a new, thicker partner, Laurel to his Hardy. Yet it's revealing, as well as funny, to see how he eagerly adopts the methods, views and mannerisms of Walter White- who, to return to a theme tht continues in this episode, is an alpha male in this context, even though he doesn't know it. It's a nicely subtle bit of acting from Aaron Paul at the end as a slight facial twitch tells us how pleased he is to see Walt.

As to how Walt gets to cooking Walt again... its brilliant, complex drama yet at the same time so simple and watchable. Yes, Walt and Skyler go to the birthday party of a super rich old friend who offers to pay for Walt's treatment, but there's more to it than that. There are hints that Elliott ended up married to Walt's ex, and that Walt made a huge contribution to the company that gave Elliott his riches. I'm sure we will learn more, but Walt refusing help out of pride (in his position I'd have bitten Elliott's arm off), hints at the darker, evolving alpha male side that we've seen in previous episodes.

The family conference s a fabulous character scene. Hank is there as the macho comic relief, and both Skyler and Walt Jr try to articulte their powerless anger that Walt is terminally ill- and seems uwnilling to "fight" it. Yet his eventual monologue is both wise and powerful. Who would wish to spend their last months in humiliating suffering for the sake of a little extra time?

Walt tells us, eloquently, that he feels that he hasn't made a decision about the course of his life, ever. This one time, he wants agency, to make his own decisions.

And yet... he concedes to Skyler in the end. He doesn't even have that decision.

This is very good indeed. It reminds me more of theatre (Terence Rattigan and Arthur Miller, oddly, not that they are exactly similar) than of other quality episodic telly. But this is sooo bloody good.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

 "The Beast? Wait, there's a beast?"

 This was, until tonight, the only Star Wars film I hadn’t seen. And it was very far from being a disappointing  postscript.

This is the second of two films in what must surely be an abandoned attempt to produce a series of films outside the narrative. And it's a shame. No, Alden Ahrenreich doesn't remotely convince as Han Solo. But this is nevertheless a magnificent sci-fi heist film, Woody Harrelson is brilliant, Emilia Clarke is nuanced and alluring, and Paul Bettany (he who has recently so impressed in WandaVision) makes a splendid crimelord.

Ron Howard may, on occasion, give us a little much in the way of a subdued colour palette. But he gives us a solid action film which may well have no illusions of intellectualism, but does the job well. Han's origin is given to us satisfyingly, with Chewbacca's introduction being particularly clever. There's a real sense here, too, of a criminal underworld being semi-tolerated by the Empire. The nods to what is to come are, perhaps, a little too indulgent, but surely we can forgive that.

What leaves a big impression, though, is Phoebe Waller-Bridge's performance as L-37, the sadly doomed droid liberation activist. The character hits a nerve- are all the fleshy characters in the Star Wars universe, rebels included, bastards who evilly enslave sentient AO's? Free the droids!

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the First

 "They hung in the air in exactly the same way that bricks don't..."

Before I start, two things.

One: I don't blog sitcoms. Except when I do. This is one of those exceptions which simply, obviously, need to be made.

Two: I know Hitchhikers very well. I first saw this aged about ten when my parents, rather wisely, introduced me to it. They'd seen the original broadcast in 1981 and, indeed, my dad happened to catch the first episode of the radio series in 1978, and was immediately hooked. I may not have got into it in March 1978, being under a year old and that, but I later made up for it. Let's just say that, over the last three and a had decades, I've come to know the radio series (all of them) and the books (ditto) moderately well.

I'm not, therefore, going to spend these blogs recounting the plot, and the witty lines. Or, at least, I'll keep tht to a minimum. Instead I'll remark on such things as the perfection that is Peter Jones' voice, or that Simon Jones is Arthur Dent. I'll also remark on how long ago 1981 was on the evidence of this: a pub landlord offering change from a fiver for six pints, or those bowler hatted city gents coming out of the tube station. It's also obligatory to point out how quaint the Guide itself now seems in our internet age. Also, the Ventraxi is literally a Muppet an the Vogons look rubbish.

But I don't care. This is magnificent. It's not just the wit, or the pefrformances. It's how the demolition of Arthur's home parallels the destruction of the Earth, or how the indifferent officiousness of Mr Prosser parallels that of the Vogon captain. This is a universe of harsh, heartless officialdom but with room for hoopy froods to hang out and chill regardless, provided they know where their towels are.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Whole World Is Watching

 "Being Cap is the first time I've had the chance to do something that actually feels right."

This is still no WandaVision, but it's a complex and nuanced action drama with actual subtext and proper characterisation. There are echoes of Mark Gruenwald's John Walker storyline in Captain America, most obviously at the shocking final scene, but this is very much its own thing.

It's to the writers' credit that the plot is bloody complex at this point- we have Sam and Bucky, who are not quite on the same time as Walker and Lemar, let alone the compelling Zemo; we have Karli Morganthau and her Flag Smashers; we have the Wakandans, who just want Zemo; and, of course, we have the mysterious Power Broker (probably not quite as Gruenwald originally wrote him). Some of these want justice, but not all of them agree on what this is. Some want power, very literally symbolised by the Super Soldier Serum.  And evryone is an individual with their own motives. There are nice character touches, too, like the flashback to Bucky's "unbrainwashing" in Wakanda.

But there are, I think, two themes here. One is the ethics of terrorism. Karli is a genuine idealist, whose ideology appeals to Sam, yet her methods are murderous: the ends justify the means, however vague her ideology (Socialism? Anti-Nationalism?) may be. Yet Walker simply accepts the US government line, while Zemo simply says that "The desire to become a superhuman cannot be separated from supremacist ideas". He may be a cynic, but this works on more than one level. Altruistic aims can subtly shift, and if one's peers are super soldiers...

This segues into power. Karli has some further vials, most of them destroyed by Zemo (giving Karli a problem; the Power Broker ants those vials or else), but one secretly pocketed by Walker, who spends most of the episode losing fights. But would you take one if you could? Sam has no hestitation: no. Afte all, he refused the shield. Lemar, asked by John, is an instant yes. Given how the episode ends, I think we all know what he's going to do.

But, given how the episode ends... this man is a damaged war veteran and as much a victim as anyone. But John Walker is no Captain America. And, while this may be no WandaVision, it's very good telly.

Breaking Bad: Cancer Man

 "I'm thinking Albuqerque may have a new kingpin..."

The above line from Hank, near the beginning, is immediatley juxtaposed with a shot of Walt brushing his teeth and looking every bit the middle aged nerdish square. This sort of nice little touch- of which this episode has many- is key to what the episode is about, but we shall come to that.

The episode is about how Hank is, unwittingly, proceeding on Walter's trail. It's about the deepening of Jesse's character by showing us his parents and his privileged upbringing. It's about the reaction of Walt's family to finally being told about his cancer- from Skyler's irrational yet necessary optimism to the dickish yet understandable behaviour of Walter Jr, whose teenage mind proves incapable of processing this unacceptable news. It's about how school swots who play the piccolo can nevertheless smoke weed.

It's also about the grim reality of Walter's treatment, and the sheer expense of it all, with no guarantee of success and the certainly of massive debts either way. It can hardly, of course, avoid being a commentary of how unspeakable it is for a first world country to have no free-at-the-point-of-use health system. Yes, the wealthy can pay for quicker treatment elsewhere, but most Europeans have never known a time where being treated decently for cancer depended on one's ability to pay.

Yet this is Walter's dilemma. To die pointlessly, to bankrupt his family. Or...

At one level, Walter seemd to suppose that he can return to his old life as though the things he's done lately had never happened, as though there will be no consequences and he can leave all that behind. He certainly sends Jesse away with a flea in his ear when he offers to resume the partnership... for now. Yet it's clear he needs money, if only to save his family from crippling debt.

But the episode is, more even than this, about more than this: it's about what it is to be an alpha male, and how Walter needs to change and become one if he is to survive in this world. From Hank offering to support his family after Walter dies, to that yuppie wanker who gets his just desserts at the end, Walter's masculinity is under challenge. 

He has a decision to make.

And this remains superlatively good television.

Breaking Bad: ...And the Bag's in the River

 "I've got lung cancer. I'll go make you another sandwich."

Yes, well I suspect I'll have to find endless ways of praising an episode as superlative if this third exercise in sublimity is anything to go by. This is television of the very first class.

We begin, after a nice bit of directorial showing off, with Walter continuing to clean the blood while we have a flashback to Walter and a woman to whom we've yet to be introduced. They are workimg out the percentages of elements in the human body: the literal human condition. This nicely artistic use of chemistry reminds me of Primo Levi, and makes me wonder if this is going to be a cleverly done episode of cleaning up blood (itself symbolic) with lots of flashbacks to flesh out Walter's past.  

But no. It's better than that.

Stuff happens, of course. Skyler gets even more suspicious to the point where Walter has a lot to do to explain himself to her... but that's next episode. So is the fact that, in a nice touch, Hank is slowly but unwittingly on Walter's train as he and his men examine the scenes of previous episodes.

But no: the episode starts properly as Jesse buggers off and leaves Walter with the dilemma of whether or not to kill Crazy Eight. It begins with a hilariously nerdy list of pros and cons but centres around a long and extraordinary scene, a simple two hander between Walter and Crazy Eight which is at once superbly scripted and proof that Bryan Cranston is an extraordinary actor with phemomenal range and talent.

Ultimately, after discovering he was about to be betrayed, Walter ends up committing his first unambiguous murder. The following scen finds him at a literal and metaphorical crossroads. He's taken yet another big step into darkness. Can there be any way back?

Also, loving the way Walter makes sandwiches ithout crusts. These little touches say so much.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 6- The Trap, Part 4

 "This place is nowhere. And it's forever."

Well, it's fair to say I wasn't expecting that. A magnificent ending to Sapphire & Steel, and a properly weird and, er, final finale from a televisual age when such things were not routinely done. The whole set-up is indeed a trap, and we end with Sapphire and Steel trapped in a 1940s cafe, for all eternity, with nothing outside but endless space. Wow.

It matters not that there are so many questions unanswered- the background of the "Transient Beings", and the true nature of the woman from 1948- this episode is about mood and weirdness. As ever with Sapphire & Steel, the point is ro reveal just enough to tantalise but not enough to penetrate the sense of mystery and unknowability. Ths episode achieves that magnificently.

It also achieves the shocking effect it intended, with the twists and turns for once occurring quickly, and with a truly outstanding bit of villainy from Edward de Souza.

The series ends memorably, in a way that will stay with me. Alas, the series wasn't of this quality throughout, with P.J Hammond's magnificently weird ideas not matched always by his plotting or pacing. But I shall miss Sapphire & Steel.

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

 “There’s a maniac trying to kill us!”

“Welcome to New York.”

I know this film is supposed to be where it all goes wrong for good after the previous two instalments had managed to be bizarrely impressive instalments of a franchise which had, let’s be honest, been a bit rubbish until that point- after all, a franchise doesn’t knock up eight instalments over ten calendar years through rigorous quality control. So I watched this film expecting the usual rubbish to resume.

Except.. this is not actually a bad film at all. Yes, it’s a cheesy B movie with no stars that cheerfully leans into what were, even in 1989, long-established horror tropes. And yes, precious little of this film actually takes place in New York as opposed to most of the running time being spent with Jason killing teenagers one by one in the claustrophobic environment of a boat. But isn't that as it should be? This kind of slasher works best in a proper base under siege environment, and it works, with plenty of suspense and lots of fun with the absolute predictability of who's going to die next.

The New York scenes at the end are a kind of postscript, and that's fine. Having Jason wandering round a big city killing scores of anonymous people would have been much less fun than what we have here- the focus on a small gang of teenagers and teachers who may not be the most well fleshed out characters in cinematic history but all have easily recognisable characteristics which allow us to quickly grasp who they are. It works, and it's fun seeing why the victims deserve to die, from vanity (Julius); poor swim teaching technique and being a dick (Charles) and being the cokehead queen bee type (JJ).

Naturallyn the only survivors are clean cut lovers Rennie and Sean. But the fact this film leans into the tropes of its genre is only a problem if you don't like B movies. Sometimes we don't need high camp. Well-executed low camp can be good enough.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Power Broker

 "I can't run in these heels!"

I have to admire the way this episode is constructed. On the face of it the plot is a load of fairly obvious padding, as Sam and Bucky look for clues on how the Super Soldier Serum has been recreated, in the form of a kind of treasure hunt. Also, John Walker and Lemar Hoskins are getting jealous of them, while it's established that the only twenty vials of the Serum in existence are held by Kari Morgenthau, with the mysterious Power Broker in pursuit. That's it.

And yet we also have strong characters, good dialogue and lots of globe trotting between Bavara, Latvia and... Madripoor. There may be no sign of a certain eyepatch wearing Canadian mutant, but I think this is the first appearance in the MCU of something which was once part of the X-Men bunch of characters and concepts formerly owned by Fox before Disney ate it. Am I right?

Of course, we also have Bucky springing the ever-entertaining Baron Zemo, who makes for a splendid triple act with Bucky and an exasperated Sam. We also meet Sharon Carter again, on the run- not pardoned, like Sam and Bucky- and dealing in stolen Monets. Her situation is a massive rebuke to Sam, who has never stopped to consider the present condition of thise who sacrificed everything for him and Cap in Civil War.

There's also a nicely played scene where Kari's friend and underling is shocked that she is now willing so set off bombs in situations where there are likely to be casualties. And John Walker is turning out to be more and more of a massive dick.

This is good stuff. Not WandaVision good, but good.

The Producers (1967)

 "Deutschland is happy and gay...."

I haven't blogged much in recent days because I'm cramming for a big interview on Wednesday morning for a potential promotion at work, after which normal blogging will resume. Tonight, however, is my night of rest, with good Cornish ale and entertainment of the strictly relaxing kind.

It's absurd that I should see this film for the first time at forty-four, but there are so many seminal films I still haven't seen, even having blogged more than 750 of them over the last ten years. It is, of course, no less brilliant for the fact that I haven't been living under a rock all my life and am very much aware not only of the concept (if not the precise accounting subterfuge) but of the signature song.

It's surprsing, I suppose, how long it takes to get to the theatrical performance, but this is a surprisingly linear film, plot-wise, setting up and executing the conceit with very little deviation. Yet it's very Mel Brooks somehow, even if his films don't usually show such focus. This very Jewish comedy about Nazis is full of grotesques, not least Max and Leo themselves. I knew that Gene Wilder was a good comedy actor but Zero Mostel, whom I've never previously seen in anything at all, acts him right off the set. We also have the parade of randy old ladies, the Nazi scriptwriter, and the camp director and his associate who perhaps show us how far we've come in LGBT+ representatives in cinema over the past half century.

This was 1967, though. I suppose it was somethging to have LGBT+ representation at all. And this film is a comedy triumph. Just the thing to prepare me for three whole evenings of soul-destroying interview prep...

Update

 I’m being interviewed for a possible promotion at work on Wednesday next week so I won’t be blogging at the usual pace while I’m preparing for that. I’ll still try and get some blogging done before then (certainly Saturday), but things won’t return to normal until Wednesday night.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 6- The Trap, Part 3

 "I mean,the future could have been a lot of fun. Provided the price of a pint hasn't changed."

This is an unusual third episode, essentially consisting of shoving an extra character into the mix and seeing what happens. Johnny Jack seems at the start to be the Big Bad, but he's just some kind of creepy cockney carnival performer with a dodgy attitude to women and a creepy rhyme, an exemplar of the fact that childlike things can be scary. Johnny Jack, "and all the children on his back" gives us some weirdness and menace, but rather less mystery than intended.

He's from 1957, a different time period again, although everyone seems to be from within the last sixty years or so. and there's a third, bearded, figure. 

But things only get more intriguing towards the end, as the woman from 1948 wants to talk... and it seems everyone is like Sapphire and Steel, with similar powers somehow. This is a trap, and it's a random yet ending to an episode that really seems to go off at right angles. Who is this "higher power"?

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Star-Spangled Man

 "Time to go to work..."

An impressive, and very different, second episode here in which Sam and Bucky finally meet up again and immediately, action sequences or not- and the action sequences are good- have great comic chemistry as the kinds of friends who constantly insult each other. I particularly love the extended riff on Sam's theory about "androids, aliens or wizards", and Bucky's boast about having read The Hobbit... in 1937.

This episode also gives us our first look at this version of John Walker- from Custer's Grove, Georgia as Mark Gruenwald originally wrote him but this time less of an obvious redneck, although he's still something of a jock and naive square jawed conformist type. It's notable how this version of Lemar Hoskins is considerably brighter than this John Walker.

There's lots of tension between all of these characters. As we find out at the end, Bucky resents Sam for spurning the shield as Steve Rogers' hand-picked successor and, of course, both of them are wary of the initially friendly new Captain America and Battle Star. The subtleties of this awkwardness are well handled. There's some nice political subtext, too, in the context of American racism- Sam is only not abused by racist cops because of who he is, and we meet Isaiah, a black super soldier from the Korean War who seems to have been treated abominably by his country.

And the learn more about the Flag Smashers- this time most certainly not a bloke but an organisation much less organic, and its leader is a young woman (with a nice bit of misdirection as we meet her) called Kari Morganthau. Her "imagine there's no countries" ideology is channelled through "the Blip" here, and the whole gang appear to be super soldiers. This is very interesting, as is the mention of Gruenwald perennial baddie the Power Broker.

This isn't quite up there with WandaVision, or indeed Gruenwald's splendid run on the Cap comic. But it is, nevertheless, very good.

Breaking Bad: Cat's in the Bag...

 "The hell is a MILF?"

This second episode is just as good as the first but, fascinatingly, very different. Walter has got his hands dirty, started cooking crystal meth and committed his first murder. I'm reminded of Macbeth in that our protagonist, a seemingly decent man, makes a few decisions that seem to make sense and suddenly there's no going back. And yet, serious though the underlying themes are, on the surface the episode is basically slapstick comedy about disposing of a body (the Denis Nielsen way) and killng someone whose existence is somewhat inconvenient.

And it's good comedy, with Jesse dragging the corpse upstairs and, yes, the incident with the bath. Jesse is clearly being treated as the Stan Laurel to Walt's Oliver Hardy here- yet he's also Walt's mentor into how the business works.

We get some nice contrasts between all this and Walt's home and work life, and another partly comedic sub-plot as Skyler gets suspicious and ends up getting the wong idea about Walt's secret being weed. Yes, the scene where she confronts Jesse is hilarious farce, but Walt's face and manner to her after his "confession" shows a new, menacing side to him. And then there's the scan, as the couple discover the sex of the baby Skyler is carrying, and the look on Walt's face as he hears the words "when she's sixteen, when we suddenly remember the inoperable cancer that is the catalyst (See? I can do chemistry allusions too!) of all this.

I love the slower pace here, as we see how Walter slowly adjusts to the consequences of his actions and his slow yet inexorable descent into villainy. This is, yet again, first class telly.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 6- The Trap, Part 2

 "We happen to be running away, that's all."

The second episode of the final story, like the first, consists of further intrigue and revelation along with tension rather than action as such- and this is no bad thing. I continue to be gripped, and P.J. Hammond's problems with pacing are not so far in evidence here.

So we begin with a little relatively tame intrigue as it's confirmed that our curiously taciturn couple from 1948 are adulterers running away from their respective spouses. They're defensive, despite the fact that adultery is no crime and "They can't hang you for it". More intriguing is Silver's statement that, if they were both to drive off in a straight line, they would simply return to where they started.

Then things move up a gear as Sapphire, Steel and Silver questin why they are there with so little briefing. And why was Silver, a technician, sent early to "watch"? Could it be some sort of trap. Even more curiously, they again see the old man from last episode. Except this time he's not a ghost- they are. In 1925. Ooh.

And we end with the clock moving on ten minuts, mysterious footsteps, Steel seeming to disappear- and a myserious, shadowy, behatted tramp...

This is good stuff.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: New World Order

 "Every time something gets better for one group, it gets bad for another."

This may not be as high concept as Wandaision and, I'm guessing, won't have been as popular. From this first episode is looks like fairly standard Marvel superheroics fearuring several Captain America supporting characters in Stee's absence with a few nice fan touches- it's nice to see Georges Batroc, although sadly there's neither any leaping nor any facial hair on this upper lip. We'll have to satisfy ourselves with the outrageous accent.

I haven't read a Captain America comic since 1994, so there may be allusions to more recent runs that go above my head, but so far it looks as though there's going to be an exciting amount of linkage with the late Mark Gruenwald's seminal yet underappreciated run on Captain America from 1985 to '94. We have Flag Smasher, presumably (so far shown as a group, although perhaps with a super strong leader) and we end with a new Captain America- presumably John Walker?

This is a good first episode, though, giving us a lot of introductory exposition and showing us Sam (with his nifty robotic Redwing) and a pardoned Bucky in a world six months after the "blip". Sam is clearly the star, bequested the shield by Steve: we begin the episode (after an awesome Falcon action set piece) with his declining to be Cap and returning the shield to the US government- only for th episode to end with someone ese being appointed Cap. But we also get to see his family, and his sister's financial struggles, as well as facing both the question of just how Avengers support themselves and what dying in the "blip" does to one's credit rating.

For Bucky we get both his coming to terms with his past actions and the weirdness of living in the present day at the age of 106 with a young body: his only apparent friend is a man close to his own generation, and he struggles with both relationships and friendships. But Sam is very much the focus.

It's a promising start, although this was pretty much a busy first episode full of exposition. But I bet the series ends with John Walker anding over the shield to Sam after failing in a similar way to Cap #350?

WandaVision: The Series Finale

 "Your power exceeds that of the Sorcerer Supreme. It is your destiny to destroy the world."

Now that's how you do a series finale. Satisfying, action-packed, eventful, and full of several little geeky Easter Eggs.

The main A plot is, of course, the battle between Wanda and Agatha, which is epic, cool and full of revelations. The Darkhold makes its MCU debut, and Agatha claims that the Scarlet Witch has her own chapter... and gives the above quote. Ominoud. As is the fact that we end up with a maturer Wanda, having accepted what she's done and the people she's hurt (the scene where the citizens of Westview literally beg Wanda is both powerful and necessary), flying away to explore the full extent of her magical nature. Agatha's fate is an act of almost fairytale cruelty, forced to live indefinitely as her sitcom character.

Then there's the white Vision. Those of us who remember John Byrne's run on West Coast Avengers at the end of the '80s are well aware we need to be alarmed. But in the end we get a fight between Visions which is both cool and satisfyingly resolved.

It's a busy episode, perhaps. Darcy skewers naughty old Hayward but that brief moment is pretty much all that we see of her. Woo gets to look cool in the end, and Monica (still not Captain Marvel- yet) gets a nice little post-credits sequence with a Skrull. But it is, in the MCU way, perfectly balanced between story beats, action and character. 

It's true that Wanda (and Vizh) seem to get over the twins not being real a little too easily. But overall this is a superb ending to a magnificent series.

Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986)

 "I you can fly a Sopwith Camel... you can fly anything..."

This is, let us make no bones about it, a B movie with inexplicably high production values. This is no bad thing.

Let us be equally clear that this an utterly bonkers concept. I remember naff all now, but I read two or three of the '50s publications of the W.E. Johns novels inherited from my dad in my childhood. That someone decided to make a cinematic tribute to Biggles by doing all this sci-fi stuff about a sonic weapon and, indeed, random and unexplained time travel, is enough to restore one's faith in human eccentricity. This film is both silly and wonderful. It knows damn well that ir's a B movie, as all the best B movies do.

Alex Hyde-White is superb. So is Cushing, who nevertheless looks much older than 72. So is the direction, from an old Hammer veteran. The opening titles and, in particular, the music, are both magnificent and from no other conceivable year than 1986. This so splendidly of its time. There's even a moment where Biggles gets to see a load of proper 1980s punk rockers and declare them "inconceivable"

This is wonderful. I don't care how silly it is. I don't care that airmen are inexplicably doing missions best suited to ground troops. I'm not going to criticise a B movie for this or that moment of implausibility. Just watch this film.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 6- The Trap, Part 1

 "I suppose it's how the future would feel..."

It's back to P.J. Hammond for the final four parter of Sapphire & Steel, and this time it's yet another highly intriguing conceptual first episode. Yes, once again it's about weirdness with time, but it feels fresh. The setting- a petrol station in 1981- is nicely different, even if it is all rather obviously in studio. It's well shot, too, with a nice tracking shot at the start, and Silver is back along with all he brings to the dynamic between Sapphire and a jealous Steel.

But the concept is nicely nuanced and original. A couple from 1948 are displaced in time to 1981, and 1948, with its ration books and newspaper headlines such as "OPERA NATIONALISED", was only as long ago as 1988 was to us, which feels weird before you reflect that the filing caninets, smoking paraphernalia and cash registers are obviously closer to the 1940s than the 2020s.

It's not just the fact that the couple are displaced, though- they are secretive, and may be running off together from their respective spouses.Time is rerunning the same few seconds as heard in traffic noise and the radio. There was a mysterious old man in 1948. There's a feeling of fear and violence. And it's allways 8.54pm, but the clocks are working... until time jumps forward a few minutes at the end.

It's an intriguing start. Let's hope this final serial, hopefully not overlong at four episodes, lives up to it.

WandaVision: Previously On...

 "The only way forward is back..."

This penultimate episode is, in its metatextual way, a flashback episode, and thus full of exposition. It's also rather serious, being full of the trauma of Wanda's tragic life, meaning the metatextuality can't be allowed ro get too fun- although Kathryn Hahn is a hoot (in a good way) as Agatha. Nevertheless, the episode is necessarily formulaic and, while well-executed, was never going to be the highlight of the season.

There's good stuff here, though, starting with Agatha's origin in Salem, Massachusetts in 1693, hinting at unseen depths of MCU magic lore. Wanda's tragic life is necessary to be seen, and her childhood love of American '50s and '60s sitcoms is cute. It doesn't really matter that the events leading to Wanda creating sitcom magic Westview through awesome power ("magic on autopilot" as Agatha says) are pretty much as we expected: it's all about the emotional beats.

And then there's the revelation at the end from Agatha: Wanda uses "chaos magic" and (let us old Marvel Zombies forget we knew this of old) she is the "Scarlet Witch", which no doubt means something in terms of MCU magic lore...

This was worthwhile. But bring on the finale...

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 5- The Dinner Party, Part 6

 "Would you have me be the man who destroyed the human race?"

A fitting ending, then, to probably the finest serial so far- and yes, the only one not to have been written by P.J. Hammond. Where Hammond is full of ideas but not necessarily great with plotting or pacing, this serial may not be full of original ideas beyond letting the ravages of Time loose on the events of an Agatha Christie novel, but the execution of the plot is confident and assured.

In the end this final episode hinges on the question of who originally murdered George, as we see suspect after suspect almost kill George, only to turn out to be misdirection. It's amusing, but not so much as to be silly or to undermine plausibility, as much as one can use the word with a story like this. The same goes for the amusement value in George desperately trying to work on his breakthrough while his two women fight over him.

One cannot really defend the portrayal of Emma as a dim and gullible man-obsessed female who resents men and their work which distracts them from shagging here: it's certainly sexist, much as there are also undertones of her being a spoilr aristocrat. But 1981, let alone 1930, was a different age.

This is a satsfying finale, setting time back on track via Sapphire's well-established powers and concluding all the plot threads elegantly. It's a joy to see that being done for once in Sapphire & Steel.

Breaking Bad: Pilot

 "Actually, it's just basic chemistry, Jesse. But thank you."

Fear not: my existing series will continue to be blogged as normal. But Sundays will (usually) be Breaking Bad for the foreeable future. So let me start with the executive summary: this is sublime, as good a first episode as The Sopranos and Deadwood managed and a very similarly arthouse directorial style. The first things we see are a cactus (the New Mexico locations are magnificent) and a pair of trousers floating in the breeze like that plastic bag in American Beauty.

This episode is, basically, art, while still functioning as entertaining drama. On both counts it's rather helpful that Bryan Cranston's acting is simply incredible. Already it's quite plausible that Walter While could be a role as complex and multifaceted as Hamlet. His moral situation is exquisite.

I don't think it's the premise, superb though it is, that makes this as good as it is, though. Yes, the concept of a fifty year old chemistry professor, struggling to support his wife, disabled son and another baby on the way on his chemistry teacher's salary suddenly developing inoperable lung cancer and deciding to cook crystal meth to raise money is a bloody good one. There's an awful lot of subtext there, from the absurdity of the world's biggest superpower settling for a third world health system to the implied criticism that crystal meth dealers are crap at chemistry.

Yet it's the handling of White's interiority, more than the concept itself, that this programme reaches sublimity. Is he a good man, this meth maker in a pinny and a pair of pants? Is he, er, breaking bad? Was he always a latent psycho underneath? There's a fascinating late scene where some kids mock his son and he threatens them with violence... and all three of them sod off. It's a little microcosm of the benefits of being bad. To misquote Blackadder's Christmas Carol, sometimes we want more from life than a Bible and one's own turnip.

It's also interesting that he can't get it up early on during a delightfully awkward hand job scene but later pounds the missus properly after killing a couple of violent thickos. There's also a moment at the end where Jesse finally realises that his new partner may well have what it takes.

Excellent stuff. More please.

WandaVision: Breaking the Fourth Wall

 "Agatha all along..."

This episode, like all the rest, is enormous fun. This time the sitcom fun comes from The Office-type mock documentary comedy, which fits perfectly with the theme of a depressed Wanda as her reality seems to fall apart- with even Billy and Tommy seeing, worryingly, to have disappeared by the end.

Meanwhile there's fun with clown Vizh and escape artist Darcy at the circus, followed by his feeding him much-needed exposition as Wanda's subconscious seems to delay them. The two of them make a great double act.

But the real hero- and in some ways the real star- is Monica, who heroically manages to fight her way into Westview once again, and it's hinted that she may have gained her Captain Marvel superpowers along the way. Her confrontation with Wanda is magnificent, and would have been the highlight of the episode... were it not for the revelation of Agnes as being Agatha Harkness, and that she has been the baddie all along... as attested by her awesome theme song.

Fourth wall... who needs it? I'm loving this.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 5- The Dinner Party, Part 5

 "Are those cultures...?"

It's rare for a fifth episode of a six parter to be interesting in its own right, or for it to introduce or develop new ideas: usually it's all just about moving the pieces on the board into position for the finale. Not this time.

We break the pattern a bit as Annabelle (the youngest remaining guest) is killed halfway through, while Felix- the last guest standing to have been born after 1930- dies at the end. Everyone believes by now that this is 1930. There's a rather clever scene juxtaposing a game of bridge with some telepathic exposition as Steel telepthically discusses things with Felix, now brough into the confidence of our titular couple.

Yet what makes this superb is not only the masterly progression of the plot but the concepts. George opens and walked through a door that is locked for everyone else, but not him. The guests quockly forget the deaths. There was a fire in which George was killed, as reported in the press- yet the physical evidence shows there wasn't.  We begin to see what the bacterial culture does to people as Felix's face is horribly dissolved.

This is a superb episode within a superb serial, easily the finest so far. I'm excited for the finale.

WandaVision: All-New Halloween Spooktacular

 "Don't go past Ellis Avenue!"

It's clear by now that this is a phenomenal series, based around a superb central concept and oozing all the dramatic goodness out of each angle week by week so that each episode is better than the last. But never mind that: it's Halloween, so Vizh, Wanda and Pietro, for one week only, get to dress up in their proper costumes as Vizh, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Hooray!

Also, Pietro is quickly becoming my favourite laddish waster in television, in a very Nick Frost version of the character. And, if Tommy has his powers, does this mean Billy will be casting hexes?

But the plot continues to move in fascinating ways. Vizh has noticed that, in the fringes of town, people are ill-defined and can move less and less- and he sees one poor woman repetitiely performing the same action, Sisyphus-like, as a tear rolls down her cheek. It's a poignant contrast to Pietro's bro-like approval of his sister's handiwork in their heart to heart. And Vizh is spurred on to escape, especially as he comes across Agnes as, in a scene to give one the shivers, he frees her mind as he dis last episode with Norm- to be told that he's an Avenger, he's dead, and "No one leaves. Wanda won't even let us think about it."

Meanwhile, outside the literal Westview bubble, Director Hayward is proving to be such a dick that Monica, Jimmy Woo and Darcy are forced to leave and start their own gang- following which, interestingly, Darcy tells Monica that going through the barrier twice has altered her molecular chemistry. Please tell me she's going to get her Captain Marvel superpowers?

But the end is magnificent, as the Vision attempts to escape the bubbe despite the fact it means his death- of course, he explicitly said he never wanted to be resurrected in the first place. But Wanda expands the bubble to grab all of SWORD and turn them into a circus (ha!)- including a handcuffed Darcy, but not Monica, Jimmy or a Hayward who flees like a rat. Wow. I'm loving this.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 5- The Dinner Party, Part 4

 "You can't depend on servants at all these days..."

We get another fascinating episode in which the murder mystery plot is developed- Emma may, in 1930, have been having an affair with George, while Howard was blackmailing George, who had been embezzling from the company. And the structure is maintained with the ciffhanger being another death- in this case Howard, who hasd earlier come under suspicion, as seems to happen to the next to die.

Yet things are, of course, working on another level. Sapphire casts doubt on whether the dead are truly deceased. The secretary, in another room (and another time period) sees text on her screen about a fire at the house. And whatever presence is there almost makes Sapphire stab herself- and shoot Steel.

This is brilliant stuff. Yet it also finds time for little things like Steel not knowing which way to pass the port, or the difference between cynical womanising and love. And then there's the playing with murder mystery tropes, and the sly digs at the idle rich of the early twentieth century. This is quietly brilliant.

Vampyr (1932)

 "She must die..."

This is an odd film. It was made in 1932, some years into the sound era. It has music and sound effects, and even some dialogue. Yet it has the grammar of a silent film, which is most odd. It is visually a masterpiece, as one might expect of Carl Theodor Dreyer, yet its visual excellence is that of a silent film. 

It hints at Expressionism in several shots, while not really being an Expressionist film. It is most certainly European rather than Hollywood in feel. It is extraordinary to think that this little artistic throwback is a contemporary of the Universal horror films: it feels utterly unlike them.

I feel bad saying this of a film with such visual excellence, and which generates such an atmosphere... but it feels like style (and the style is truly very good indeed) over substance. The film is short, but feels interminably slow, and I say this as someone who is very much used to slo pacing and, indeed, the grammar of silent cinema. The acting is, well, irrelevant, as the camera tells the story while the cast is asked to do very little. This is a film that very much relies on ots dreamy visuals, and makes no concessions to the audience in terms of follwing the plot.

But there's no subtext beyond the usuall generic sexuality found intrinsically in the vampire as subject matter. This is an artistic film with no real artistic point to make and, given what it is, it can hardly fall back on populism. It's a gloriously made dud, perhaps, but nevertheless a dud.

WandaVision: On a Very Special Episode...

 "Just make her stop!"

Just when it seems WandaVision has peaked, it becomes clear it hasn't. After last episode departed from the format to give us an explanation, sort of, we now get another sitcom episode (it's the late '80s, with yet another theme tune), but with scenes of Monica, Darcy and Agent Woo outside of Westview. And, interestingly, the Vision is starting to notice the flimsiness of the fourth wall.

Outside of Westview we are gratdually seeing how Monica and Darcy make an awesome double act, and that Hayward may well just be a bit of a dick. But inside Westview the twins are growing up fast, and Vizh is beginning to notice things like the lack of other kids in Westview , how Agnes always seems to turn up with a solution at odd moments, how inconsistently time passes- and that the neighbours are all brainwashed, and suffering. We begin to see a rift developing between the supposed spouses. It feels like a pivotal episode, and it's utterly riveting.

And that's before we get to the final scene: Pietro is alive and well, and back! And they've recast him... with Evan Peters, who played the character in the X-Men movies. It's the perfect type of fourth wall-breaking way to cross over. This is simply inspired.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 5- The Dinner Party, Part 3

 "And then there were nine..."

And, with the third episide, things get even better. I'm loving the conscious Agatha Chrustie spoofing here- an isolated country house, suspiciously cut off from the outside world; yet another cliffhanger ending with a murder (Tony), intrigue as Sapphire reads suspicious behaviour in Tony's recent past, and Steel soing his very best Poirot impression in the most Agatha Christie setting possible- and in 1930, the time of peak Christie.

And yet the weirdness ramps up too. The collective amnesia seems to deepen, and it seems the house is on a ley line- and on the Summer Solstice too. And yet, as Sapphire explores, there seems to be something about the late George McDee at the root of it. He was working on a vaccine when he died (very topical), and he died just before unleashing a deadly virus or bacteria (the script has it both ways!) which would have destroyed humanity. This may be scientific nonsense, and in 2021 is comes across as more anti-vaxxer than was probably intended, but this is fascinating. I'm enormouly impressed with the writing here.

There's even an unusually fancy camera shot here, as we are drawn back through a linear tableau of all the "suspects". This serial becomes more and more impressive.

WandaVision: We Interrupt This Programme

"So you're saying the universe created a sitcom starring two Avengers?" 

Wow. Three episodes of teasingly and ingeniously bizarre fourth wall shattering weirdness made bloody good telly regardless, but it feels like such a satisfying rush to get so much of an explanation as to what's going on.

The first reveal is that Geraldine is in fact Monica Rambeau, complete with a couple of audio clips from Captain Marvel! Captain Monica Rambeau, no less, to remind us that (to my generation at least, it is she- not Carol Danvers, not Mar-Vell, not Billy Batson- is the real Captain Marvel. But here she is, in flashback, in Endgame, jus after Bruce Banner clicked his big green fingers into a world where five years have passed and her lovely mother Maria died five years ago.

Ever curiouser, Monica is sent on a mission to the New Jersey town of... Westview. And the town seems to have been erased from local memory, while there's a barrier around this mysterious town. This is wonderful stuff. And then we see Monica get inside, as a team of boffins (led by the rather awesome Darcy from the Thor films, a nicely female twist on the maverick scientist trope) discover the sitcom being broadcast... and so they see the three episodes we've already seen. And it's very clever indeed how different certain things look in context.

As Monica says at the ens, "It's Wanda". And Wanda, with her scarily powerful hexes, has everything under control. This is simply amazing.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 5- The Dinner Party, Part 2

 "I think his Lordship's taking this joke a bit too far, Greville, don't you think?"

In a departure from Sapphire & Steel tradition, an intriguing episode shows promise in developing a seemingly lacklustre first one. Suddenly I'm hooked, despite very little happening other than the appearance of two more guests. I'm not even bothered by the fact that the announcement of a game of sardines makes it perfecty obvious that poor Veronica is going to be killed while hidden. This seems to be getting good.

And I can't really say why; I think it's just that this episode succeeds more in leveraging the increasing confusion between 1980 and 1930, with everyone's memories getting increasingly foggy- until the sudden appearance of a very alive George McDee shocks everyone. It's an effectve scene.

Interestingly, too, and despite my not spotting it last episode, this story is written by someone other than P.J. Hammond- Anthony Reed and an uncredited Don Houghton, both well known to us Doctor Who fans. Suddenly, this serial has become rather interesting.

WandaVision: Now in Colour

 "Think you may have taken the hedge trimming too far there, old buddy!"

This is, on the one level, yet another episode of a retro comedy that is yet another deconstruction of an old-fashioned sitcom staple- in this case the pregnancy episode. Suddenly, while no one has aged and the supporting characters are the same people we're slowly getting to know, it's the '70s now- and a particularly exaggerated '70s where Geraldine has Pam Grier hair and the opening titles have gone all hilariously Brady Bunch.

And it works well, as comedy, on multiple levels. Yet the pretence that reality is slipping. There's a moment where Vision starts to work out the plot holes in his life so Wanda just rewinds things; this entire reality is clearly all here as wish fulfilment for her on some level.

And it is this that casts a disturbing light on Wanda's pregnancy and the birth of Billy and Tommy. I can't comment on any similarities with that '80s The Vision and the Scarlet Witch limited series (Bill Mantlo?), but I certainly remember what John Byrne would later do to the twins in the pages of West Coast Avengers. I fear for Wanda. Especially with what she seems to do to Geraldine (through a wormhole into what may be reality) when she blurts out that Wanda's brother Pietro was killed by Ultron.

I have thoughts about what may be going on. This is all a bit Life on Mars, but I suspect the resolution wont be simple. This is bloody good telly.

A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

 "Stupidity has saved many a mind from going mad."

This is certainly a contender for the finest film I've ever seen and although, at the time I blogged my first film in 2011 I felt myself slghtly uncultured when it came to cinema (if you grew up wearing hearing aids in an era of videotape, with no subtitles, reading books becomes a much lazier option) but I suspect I may have a broader perspective now, aged 44 in 2021. This may well be the film I currently believe to be the greatest ever made, flexible though such statements are. Ask me tomorrow.

What makes this film great isn't necessarily the superb direction by Powell and Pressburger- many films are well shot. Nor is it the charismatic performance from David Niven. It's impressive, but hardly the only excellent performance from a star that there ever was. It's well made, well acted, well-written and all the things one usually praises a film for. These things explain why it's good, but not why it's great.

No; what makes this possibly the greatest film ever made is... well, the wit, yes, but it's better than that. The opening line "Space. Big, isn't it?" seems to presage Douglas Adams in four words. The parallel between Peter's operation and his trial in the gloriously bureaucratic afterlife is exquisite and, in hindsight, much imitated. Kim Hunter is sexy. The use of poetry, and not just the usual F.R. Leavis-approved stuff, is glorious. One has to admire a film that, in 1946 and at the height of Sir Walter Scott's unfashionability, slips him in among the Marvells and a nicely obscure work from Ralegh.

The dialogue is lierature. The people are real. This is the greatest film ever made. Possibly.

The Vampire Bat (1933)

 “You give me apple. Herman give you nice soft bat."

These '30s horror films, by no means all of them Universal, are certainly something to be enjoyed. Not all  of them, alas, can be directed by James Whale. Yet this one is, as the amusingly hypochondriac maid in the film keeps saying, rubbish.

On paper it should at least be fun, if not necessarily good. Fay Wray is the leading lady, albeit in an underwritten role. Yet Dwight Frye, such a cult favourite that Alice Cooper wrote a rather good ballad about him, gets a nice and juicy part which shows how stereoyped he has become as the Renfield figure, but he's bloody good at it. He's the best thing in the film.

And yet... Lionel Attwill and Melvyn Douglas give passable performances, but the burgomeister is shocking. And, while there is some good visual stuff, the film is sloooow and dull, with appallingly functional dialogue. I suppose it's a plus to focus on vampire bats from South Ameirca somehw biting people here in central Europe and turning them into vampire-like people, but the resolution at the end is silly.

And so is the film as a whole, worth seeing only for the sake of the lovely Fay Wray and the splendid Dwight Frye. Not all of these '30s horror films, alas, are any good.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment 5- The Dinner Party, Part 1

 "Why did it choose this house?"

The penultimate assignment begins: there's only so much left of Sapphire & Steel. On first glance this story appears to be some sort of metaphor on the dangers of excessive nostagia and the dangers of dwelling overly on the past. This is an interesting observation to make while discussing a forty year old television programme from a time, shockingly, when 1930 was fifty years ago and very much in living memory.

So far we have a dinner party held by self-important tycoon Lord Mullrine, who seems determined ti make everything as much like 1930 as possible. Yet it seems time is taking the hint and, in places, making this literal. There are a couple of nice and subtle illustrations of this, with the radio and the green door, but so far these light hints are all we're getting, as we spend the first episode getting to know the various guests. The posh dinner setting, the country house and the sort of 1930 setting feels a bit like an Aldous Huxley novel.

It's certainly an intriguing start, but thus far there are few truly new ideas. We shall see.

WandaVision: Don't Touch That Dial

 "Are you using your night vision, Vision?"

For a second wek in a row we get a genuinely funny piece of retro comedy... bt it's becoming more obvious that none of this is actually reality, and that it may represent a world that Wanda has retreated into in order to avoid an unpleasant reality.

The comedy is similar to last time, and represents more of '50s suburbia, and we're introduced to more of Wanda and Vizh's neighbours as they try to fit in. The comedy is great, with a stage magic act going all Tommy Cooper in entertaining fashion. Emma Caulfield from Buffy has a great part, too.

And yet... things from the real world are blending in. For the second episode in a week we get a mock advert- this time not Stark Industries but Strucker. And there's a scary moment at the end where the menacing noises from the start seem to be caused by a bloke in a hazmat suit emerging from a manhole... until Wanda seems to panic and alter reality. Hmm.

And Wanda is, impossibly, pregnant. Tommy and Billy, from that '80s Bill Mantlo limited series? Leading potentially to... well, what John Byrne went on to do in West Coast Avengers?

Regardless, this is magnificently original, brave and superb telly.

Sapphire & Steel: Assignment Four- The Man without a Face, Part 4

 "A few cheap tricks to impress the ladies!"

"Well, at least he bothered to impress them..."

And so the serial ends; there are a few fantastical leaps of logic, but the concept makes this appropriate, and it's a satisfactory conclusion. The faceless baddie even gets a final monologue intended to scare us, P.J. Hammond-style, as the evil spirit is trapped in a container until the day it is released. It's episodes like this that remind you that Sapphire & Steel is really horror fairytale fantasy with scientific trappings. It's about exorcists and evil spirits.

The stuff about how Williamson's trickery summoning the spitit makes little sense, but it doesn't have to. It works, odd though it is in 2021 to see such a focus on analogue photography. The whole episode drips with atmosphere and dread, yet there's time for a heartbreaking couple of lines from Liz where she realises her lot in life will never improve. 

This is the best conclusion so far, and easily the best serial. Let's hope the high standards continue.

WandaVision: Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience

 "Oh, what kind of housewife would I be if I didn't have a gourmet meal for four just lying about the place?"

Yes, I know: I have loads more of the Netflix Marvel series to do (although apparently Kevin Feige has de-canonised them and there is bad blood), and I will do so, but the new stuff on Disney Plus is extremely zeitgeisty, so I'll do that firs. And WandaVision is a brilliantly brave and creative choice to be the first Marvel series on Disney's own streaming service- weird, genre-busting, metatextual and wonderful.

On the surface, this is an I Love Lucy-style '50s American sitcom episode, set in '50s middle American suburbia, in black and while, with the Vision doing an undefined (and lampshaded as such) job while Wanda stays at home as exactly the sort of housewife Betty Friedan was talking about. We even have a standard retro sitcom plot in that the boss is coming to dinner.

The comedy really works, especialy with the addition of Wanda's magical powers and Vizh being a synthetic being capable of phasing through matter. It's a fun, if short, half hour. Yet already there are hints in the background of something very odd. The titular couple can't remember anything about their pasts when pressed. Lots of detail about their lives are hazy. It's all quite deliberately made so as not to feel quite real.

So far I think it's all in Wanda's head, the grief of someone with hex powers. But we'll see...

TRON: Legacy (2010)

 "Life has a way of moving you past wants and hopes.

TRON is not, on its merits, a particularly good film. It just benefits from the early Cyberpunk zeitgeist, released two years before William Gibson published Neuromancer. The film caught a wave, and gained a reputation beyond what it deserved, aesthetics aside.

And now we have a sequel. And, despite Jeff Bridges being superb; despite an impressive performance from Olivia Wilde;despire a nice little part for the great Michael Sheen... the film really is utter pants.

Partly, I suspect, it's the dull cinemtography and sleepily blue colour palette, that does the film no favours. But the script isworkmanlike and predictable and, moreover, the Cybrpunk themes just don't have the futitistic resonance in 2010 as they did in 1982. The entirety of not only the aesthetics but the concepts look both retro and quaint. It so doesn't work, however much Michael Sheen may evoke Ziggy era David Bowie in his scene-stealing appearances which certainly manage to liven up a dull film somewhat.

The narrative is fairly exciting, and I'm left suspecting that the workmanlike script, while not setting the world on fire, may have led to a significantly better film if the visual style for this sequel were not so tired and derivative.

A poor and disappointing sequel, but then again a late sequel to a film so very much of its time was always going to be a doubtful proposition.

Friday the 13th: The New Blood (1988)

  "OK, you big hunk of a man. Come and get me!"

I've reached the seventh film on eight years. The pace at which I'm watching the Friday the 13th film is a bit of a blatant clue in how bored I've been with them- although the fourth on was nicely metatextual.

Perhaps part of the problem is that ever since Scream, and certainly with The Cabin in the Woods, we've thought of the slasher genre (and it is a very trope-driven genre) in a very fourth wall-breaking way- sex means death; drugs mean death; nerdiness means death; going out in the dark means death... and that's all just literally from this film.

Halloween wasn't the first slasher film, as late as 1980. Psycho and Black Christmas were predecessors, and so the first Friday the 13th film turned up and proved to be a fairly perfunctory recital of previously established tropes. The sixth film stands out for the fact that it does as much violence to the fourth wall as to the characters, but the franchise is mostly meh.

And yet... this film cheerily announces its cheesiness with the voiceover during the opening recap. The conceit is that Tina, a telekinetic teen a la Poltergeist, has resurrected Jason through her passionate guilt at killing her father (who hit her mother and was thus irredeemable scum) and the shifty doctor who is "treating" her. There are no stars, as one woid expect for the seventh film in the franchise, but Tina's mum is Susan Blu- Arcee from Transformers: The Movie.

This film doesn't pretend to be anythng more than a B movie. But it's a sound, an fun, example of ts genre, far more so than it's firsr five predecessors. Even the writing is hack-like but solid. This is ctualky, and by far, my second favourite film after the sixth. However, I must confess that I have just imbibed a splendid bottle of classy Rioja.