Year: 2013

Weekly Wonder Woman

Mini-reviews: DC Universe vs Masters of the Universe #2/Smallville #68

28 October 2013 Rob Buckley 1 Comment


Not much by way of new canonical Wonder Woman last week. However, in alternative universes, there was another issue of Smallville: Season 11. Since this is a Super-strip, despite Supes and Wondy facing off against the god Hades himself – gods being Wondy’s forte – it was Supes who saved the day, demonstrating to Wondy why killing is always, always wrong… except at the end of major blockbuster movies, of course.

Superman won't kill, Wondy will

Supes goes flying

It has to be said, though, that as a god, this Hades was a bit rubbish, given that his response to being grabbed by Superman and flown into space wasn’t to kill him on the spot or turn him into an ant, but to grin and bear it. Oh well, at least Wondy and Steve were reunited at the end, which was quite cute. 

Wondy and Steve reunited

Next week, we find out what happens now Washington DC has been turned all rubbly.

DC Universe vs Masters of the Universe

The other alternative universe on display is in DC Universe vs Masters of the Universe, which sees the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe universe crossing over with the DC Universe. What a lot of universes.

It’s all been a bit weird so far, with everyone magical in both universes having heard of each other already but as legends. Apparently, John Constantine is pretty much a killing word over in Eternia. Blimey. And I remember him when he was having problems with a simple demon in Newcastle…

Anyway, it’s also been a bit biased towards the MotU side of things, with much of the two issues published devoted to Adam’s mum (who came from Earth originally, as readers of the MotU TV series writers’ bible will recall. Yes, I have read it. Sorry).

It has to be said, the DC characterisation is pretty weak. Superman stonked all over the place by Skeletor and the Justice League only looks a bit wide-eyed? Hmm.

Wondy is impressed by Skeletor

The entire Justice League bewitched by Skeletor?

The Justice League bewitched

And then, of course, Superman gets killed by He-Man. I don’t think we’re in Kansas any more…

He-Man kills Superman

On the whole, it’s not great, particularly on the DC side, so probably one more for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe fans. However, I’m not sure that it’s actually going to please anyone.

A Charmed reboot, and more Atlantis, Peaky Blinders, Dads and Drop Dead Diva,

28 October 2013 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

UK TV

US TV 

US TV show casting

New US TV shows

  • CBS rebooting Charmed

New US TV show casting

  • Carrie Fisher to guest on Bravo’s A Girlfriend’s Guide To Divorce + other casting
Australian and New Zealand TV

Review: Anno 1790 (season 1)

25 October 2013 Rob Buckley 9 Comments

Anno 1790 DVD coverStarring: Peter Eggers, Joel Spira and Linda Zilliacus
Amazon price: £16.92
Released: October 28th 2013
Original network: SVT

‘Nordic noir’ is a fairly flexible concept, but largely, most people think of it as dark crimes being solved by the police in Scandinavian countries: think of The Killing, The Bridge, Those Who Kill et al. That’s certainly what you’ll be able to see on BBC4.

But as with any genre, there’s more to nordic noir than the acquisitions staff at TV networks decide to spend their money on. Anno 1790, a 2011 Swedish show, demonstrates this pretty clearly. As the name suggests, it’s set in Sweden in AD1790. It’s just after the French Revolution and anti-monarchy sentiment is catching like wildfire across in Europe. In Sweden, the king is making himself even less popular with a war against the Russians that’s killing many for little purpose but is thankfully coming to an end.

A doctor in the Swedish army, Johan Gustav Dåådh (Peter Eggers), finds his life changed forever when his compatriot Simon Freund (Joel Spira) is nearly killed in the war and asks Dåådh to take him home. Freund is the tutor of the children of Carl Fredrik Wahlstedt, the commissioner of Stockholm’s constabulary, and it’s not long before Dåådh is using his keen deductive skills, scientific knowledge and sense of justice to investigate crimes at Wahlstedt’s behest.

The only trouble? Not only is Dåådh a republican, a friend to some really quite violent anti-monarchists, and Wahlstedt nobility employed directly by the king, but Dåådh is falling in love with Wahlstedt’s wife, Magdalena (Linda Zilliacus) – and she with him.

It’s like CSI crossed with Whitechapel and Barry Lyndon, but all in Swedish. Here’s a trailer and an exclusive video to give you a taster. I’ll talk more about the show after the jump.

Continue reading “Review: Anno 1790 (season 1)”

The BarrometerA Barrometer rating of 3

Third-episode verdict: The Tomorrow People (The CW/E4)

25 October 2013 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

In the US: Wednesdays, 9pm/8c, The CW
In the UK: Acquired by E4 to air in 2014

Three episodes into The CW’s The Tomorrow People – a blander but still mightily improved version of ITV’s 1970s sci-fi kids show – and we’ve just had our first genuinely decent episode.

Now, all things are relative, of course. The first episode, which saw the teleporting, telekinetic, telepathic next step in human evolution get given the American ‘family’ treatment, was a decent cross between the original show, Smallville and Arrow, with thankfully no aliens, robots or anything that would ping Operation Yewtree’s radar. It suffered the usual flaws of such shows, with minimal attempts to give anyone except the two central white male characters much to do and a reliance on CGI and efficient but hollow martial arts scenes, but it was decently done for what it was.

Episode two was… episode one again. Same plot, pretty much the same conclusion, just with a smaller budget. 

But episode three was a much improved affair, developing the show in new directions, giving the female TP a combination of the interesting (pre-break out deafness) and the boringly typical (someone tried to rape her) for a backstory. We also got some of the show’s almost unique traits: a willingness to discuss human evolution and how it works, with signs that the TP’s powers are variable in quality, not entirely perfect and vulnerable to other factors. It’s a near-original touch for a show that could simply have been Mutant X all over again. 

Yet, it’s still not a strong sell. John, Stephen and Jedikiah are just not that interesting as characters, none of the cast apart from Mark Pellegrino has an ounce of charisma, the action is only above average, and there’s nothing truly compelling about the story that sets it out from any other shows in which a group of goodies have to escape baddies in black suits.

And, it has to be said, compared to the original’s title sequence, the new title sequence is just a bit limp (despite the head nod here and there):

Barrometer rating: 3
Rob’s prediction: Unless it does something to lift itself out of ordinary – please not aliens though – it’s going to be dead by the end of its first season