It’s “What have you been watching?”, my chance to tell you what movies and TV I’ve been watching recently that I haven’t already reviewed and your chance to recommend things to everyone else (and me) in case I’ve missed them.
The usual “TMINE recommends” page features links to reviews of all the shows I’ve ever recommended, and there’s also the Reviews A-Z, for when you want to check more or less anything I’ve reviewed ever. And if you want to know when any of these shows are on in your area, there’s Locate TV – they’ll even email you a weekly schedule.
Sunday’s overload of TV, as well as a generally busy weekend, means that I’m very slightly behind on my viewing. That means that still in the viewing queue are the latest episodes of The Affair, Homeland, Mulaney and Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. I’ve also got the first episode of The McCarthys to watch as well. As a result, I think “What have you been watching?” should shift to Friday again for the next few weeks, to deal with the latest schedule fun.
I did give The Knick (US: Cinemax; UK: Sky Atlantic) a brief try. This is Steven Soderburgh’s little project, starring Clive Owen, which aired in the Summer while I was away on holiday. Set in a turn of the 20th century American hospital, it appears to exist mainly to allow Soderburgh to play around with a brilliant surgeon who’s a racist drug addict and for Owen to try out an American accent that doesn’t fit him very well. It didn’t inspire me to watch any more of it anyway.
Before I get on to the regulars, though, I’ll briefly mention a few films I watched this week.
Chef (2014)
Jon Favreau is a cook who ends up having a fight with a restaurant critic (Oliver Platt) and getting fired. He decides to go back to basics by driving around the US in a van, but thanks to the fight going viral – and his son tagging along for the ride helps out a lot there – he soon becomes incredibly popular. Largely, the movie exists as a metaphor for Favreau’s experiences of going from independent movie making to big franchise movies (eg Iron Man) and back to indie movies again, and he’s got a lot of acting pals along with him to help (eg Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey Jr). But it feels very self-satisfied, not least to the effect the portly Favreau has on women, and ultimately very predictable.
How Do You Know (2010)
Reese Witherspoon is a baseball player who hooks up with fellow athlete and ‘playa’ Owen Wilson. But should she really be with lawyer Paul Rudd, who’s a little bit too ready to commit. How will she know? Why should you care? You shouldn’t and won’t. A fabulous cast that also includes Jack Nicholson, and directed by TV comedy super-director James L Brooks, but the funny bits are all in the trailer.
The Anomaly (2014)
A strange futuristic little movie, in which Noel Clarke from Doctor Who is a soldier who keeps waking up to find himself in all kinds of strange situations, only for him to lose consciousness again after 10 minutes. Cue the next strange situation. Over time, he begins to piece together what’s going on – at least, when he’s not being punched a lot by Ian Somerhalder (Lost, The Vampire Diaries) – and it could change the world. Directed by Clarke and also featuring Alexis Knapp (Pitch Perfect, Ground Floor), it looks surprisingly good for a low budget indie movie and has some good ideas: in its own way, it’s the Megaville of this decade. But it’s somewhat sabotaged by some well choreographed but poorly shot, impactless fight scenes, a decision that all the female characters should be topless/naked at some point or other, and by leaving Brian Cox to almost literally hang around with nothing to do. Blink and you’ll miss Freema Agyeman as Clarke’s wife.
That’s it for new new shows, though, but after the jump, I’ll be running through: Arrow, The Blacklist, Constantine, Doctor Who, Elementary, Forever, Gotham, Gracepoint, Homeland, Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, Muianey, Plebs and Scorpion. Will I be dropping any this week?
Shows that I’ve been watching but not really recommending
Elsewhere, I’ve given third episode verdicts on Marry Me and Jane The Virgin.
Constantine (US: NBC; UK: Amazon Prime)
The Darkness Beneath
After opening with a potentially interesting format in its first episode, Constantine has basically reverted to a boogie monster of the week style series, almost completely unwatchable in its sub-Grimm dullness. This is despite all sorts of weirdness going on: the replacement of Lucy Griffiths with Angélica Celaya as Zed, having an entire mining town in Pennsylvania obsessed with Wales, Matt Ryan’s accent and anti-Romani racism. I’m not even sure I’ll make it through to episode 3.
First episode
Forever (US: ABC; UK: Sky 1)
Fallen Idol
Back to plain old mystery of the week. Sigh.
First episode Third-episode verdict
Gotham (US: Fox; UK: Channel 5)
Spirit of the Goat
As stupid as the episode title suggests, right down to its conclusion (spoiler: it was the hypnotherapist wot got everyone else to done it). But as always, a good ending.
First episode
Gracepoint (US: Fox; UK: ITV)
Episode five
The murder mystery is becoming moderately engrossing now, even as the Tennant-Gunn side of things is dialled down. Tennant’s also becoming increasingly Tennanty and comedic. But still very watchable.
First episode Third episode
Mulaney (US: Fox)
The Doula + Halloween
Two episodes that weren’t quite as good as the first episode, but still made me laugh, which is more than most other comedies are doing right now. And Halloween was more frightening than Constantine.
First episode
Scorpion (US: CBS; UK: ITV2)
True Colors
It’s art forgery time, but unfortunately, it’s not quite ludicrous enough to be entertaining. The framing device – a psychiatric evaluation of the team by Shohreh Aghdashloo – moderately enlivened proceedings, as did an NCIS: LA crossover by Linda Hunt, but the main cast were too tedious to really make you care about events, until right at the end.
First episode
The recommended list
I’ve already passed my third-episode verdict on The Affair, but here’s what else I’ve watched.
Arrow (US: The CW; UK: Sky1)
The Magician
In which John Barrowman shows up and demonstrates that actually, sometimes he’s not that bad an actor – in fact, he can be quite good. Felicity was largely absent, thanks to being in The Flash this week, unfortunately. Laurel is still… Laurel.
First episode
The Blacklist (US: NBC; UK: Sky Living)
The Mombasa Cartel
An attempt to simulate some of the more political episodes of the first season that didn’t work especially well, given most of the points came out of Red’s mouth. However, some welcome characterisation for one of the supporting cast (no, no clues). The Lizzie’s secret thing has to end soon, though.
First episode
Doctor Who (UK: BBC1; US: BBC America)
Dark Water
Steven Moffat’s back and engineering a surprisingly creeping Halloween episode as well as the return – in fan-outraging form – of an old enemy (spoiler: Missy turns out to have been The Master with a sex change all the time) and an almost intriguing return of another old enemy (spoiler: the Cybermen). Not that despite the fact it only happened in the final five minutes that last spoiler is actually a spoiler, given it’s the preview frame for the episode on the iPlayer. A very decent effort, with Capaldi coming off as reasonably likeable for a change, the Danny/Clara characterisation a little odd but well played, and the central ideas are largely blinding. Surprisingly conventional for Moffat, but good.
Elementary (US: CBS; UK: Sky Living)
Enough Nemesis to Go Around
It’s eight months after the second season and it’s all change – kind of. Holmes has a helper, Watson has her own detective business and new boyfriend (Raza Jaffrey). But otherwise the series is a little bit same old, same old, although at least there was a ridiculous central mystery to be solved. It might be time to wave goodbye to this one soon.
The Flash (US: The CW; UK: Sky 1)
Going Rogue
Felicity from Arrow shows up to visit Barry and show everyone else how to be a proper nerd. Meanwhile, Wentworth Miller from Prison Break returns to TV after a bit of a break as Captain Cold, but forgets to defrost his acting skills along the way. Generally, a fun little episode as always.
Plebs (UK: ITV2)
The Phallus
Oops. Turned out there’s another two episodes left this series. The first of a two-parter, The Phallus is as puerile (fun little Latin joke for you there) as the name suggests, with the boys running into an old school friend that they used to mock, but finding out he’s now a powerful lawyer and potentially useful in matters legal. Nicely flipping round current British xenophobia, we also have British immigrants Cynthia and her slave potentially being deported back to Britain for not having their papers. Not one of the show’s best, but still entertaining.
First episode
