In France: Canal+. Aired last autumn In the UK: Saturday 9/16 March, 9pm, BBC4
Blimey. We’re already done. In fact, we were done a week ago, but because I’ve been a tad busy, finding the time to watch and review four whole episodes of Spiral after a week away proved a lot harder than I thought (note to BBC4: next time, show one episode a week if you want me to review them on time. There, I’m sure that will affect their scheduling policy). Plus there’s only four of you reading these things anymore, now the BBC has stopped linking back to blogs that link to them. Ho hum.
Anyway, let’s go in and discuss suicide, terrorists, death, counselling (and lack thereof) and abusive lovers. Who says the French are culturally pre-disposed to misery, when they have rolicking good fun like this?
Psycho was of course Alfred (and Alma) Hitchock’s greatest triumph, a 1960 horror masterpiece that has become embedded in popular culture. It sees Janet Leigh steal money from employer and run away with the swag. Unfortunately, along the way she stops at ‘the Bates Motel’, where despite being a big star of the time, she’s murdered in an iconic shower scene by the mother of the motel’s owner, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) – it’s a trick Scream repeated several decades later.
Eventually (spoiler alert), it’s discovered that the disturbed, schizoid Bates has been murdering women in the motel while dressed as his mother, believing that his actually deceased mother wouldn’t like his being sexually attracted to the women in question. I say spoiler alert, but pretty much everyone knows this much already.
So powerful a movie is it that as well as the Bates Motel being preserved by the studios, there were two sequels made in the 80s, with Perkins reprising his role as Bates.
There’s even been a movie this year about its making. It’s got Scarlett Johansson in it. You should watch it.
Now along comes Bates Motel, a prequel starring the marvellous award-winning actress-director Vera Farmiga (returning to TV nine years almost to the day since my beloved Touching Evil debuted) as the still-living Mrs Bates and Freddie Highmore (Charlie Bucket from the Tim Burton Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) as the still-teenage Norman. It attempts to explore what could have made Norman into such a fruit-cake in his later years.
What’s interesting is that the show attempts to emulate Psycho with a completely different twist shortly after the beginning of the first episode, one I really didn’t see coming. And just like the original, it takes about half an hour before anything at all happens, so you’ve really got to stick with it to get to the good stuff.
And so far, do we have an explanation for Norman’s craziness? We do. And, for the sake of avoiding all spoilers until after the jump, I’ll just say it rhymes with ‘anger’. Here’s a trailer that does, unfortunately, spoil the twist.
Normally, I have to raid the archives for our regular The Wednesday Play but this Sunday saw BBC2 unveil the rather impressive The Challenger, a TV movie/play all about the US presidential commission into the Challenger disaster.
For those who don’t know, in the mid-80s, one of NASA’s space shuttles, the Challenger, exploded shortly after take off and a presidential commission was convened by President Reagan to investigate the cause of the accident. The commission included the likes of Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride, but most notably it also included the Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, who ultimately was to discover the cause of the accident.
Feynman was/is a bit of a hero to geeks. A New York City boy and an atheist with contempt for all forms of authority and ‘sacred cows’, he was also involved in the Los Alamos project during World War 2, played the bongos, cracked safes and was generally an all round fun guy. That and he invented Quantum Electrodynamics, path integration and, of course, Feynman diagrams.
Being a geeky sort, when I won a physics prize at my school, it was Feynman’s What Do You Care What Other People Think? that I requested: I’d first seen Feynman in the 1981 BBC Horizon documentary, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, which I’d really recommend watching it if you have any interest in science or indeed people, since it’s a great bit of work:
For those who prefer movies, his early life during World War 2, particularly his relationship with his dying wife, Arline Greenbaum, was depicted in the film Infinity, with Matthew Broderick playing Feynman.
The Challenger, a co-production between BBC Scotland, the Open University and the Science Channel in the US, was as much an examination of Feynman and the nature of science as a rational tool as it was of the cause of the disaster. With a stellar cast that includes William Hurt as Feynman, Joanne Whalley as his third wife Gweneth Howarth, Brian Dennehy as Chairman Rogers, Bruce Greenwood as General Kutyna, Eve Best as Sally Ride and Kevin McNally as Larry Mulloy, the play depicts the events during the inquiry, as well as his ongoing struggle with cancer (he died two years after the start of the inquiry). It follows the story from the disaster itself through to Feynman’s adventures in Washington DC, Huntsville AL (I’ve actually been there – I’m not entirely sure the programme makers have been, despite the various subtitles claiming so, but I guess you have to save budget where you can. Plus Huntsville ain’t the most exciting of places) through to the eventual conclusion of the inquiry.
Written by actress-writer Kate Gartside, it’s a tad more conspiracy theory-ish than perhaps it should be, but it’s a really impressive dramatisation and well worth a watch. Hurt’s not quite Feynman – he doesn’t try to do an impression, not even aiming for a New York accent, and doesn’t quite have Feynman’s exuberance – but he does a very good job all the same.
I’d love to be able to embed it below, but the BBC being what it is, I’ll merely link to the iPlayer instead, and leave you with Feynman’s appearance at the Rogers press conference, vividly demonstrating in characteristic style, what he’d found wrong with the shuttle, as well as his take on the commission. No word yet on a US broadcast date, by the way.
It’s “What did you watch this week fortnight?”, my chance to tell you what I movies and TV I’ve watched this week fortnight that I haven’t already reviewed and your chance to recommend things to everyone else (and me) in case I’ve missed them.
First, the usual recommendations:
The Americans (FX/ITV)
Archer (FX, 5USA)
Arrow (The CW/Sky 1)
Banshee (Cinemax/Sky Atlantic)
Being Human (US) (SyFy)
The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
The Doctor Blake Mysteries (ABC1/ITV)
Cougar Town (TBS/Sky Living)
Elementary (CBS/Sky Living)
Go On (NBC)
House of Cards (Netflix)
Modern Family (ABC/Sky 1)
Mr Selfridge (ITV/PBS)
Shameless (US) (Showtime/More4)
Southland (TNT/Channel 4)
Spartacus (Starz/Sky 1)
Engrenages/Spiral (BBC4/Netflix)
Top Gear (BBC2/BBC America)
Vegas (CBS/Sky Atlantic).
These are all going to be on in either the UK or the US, perhaps even both, but I can’t be sure which.
Surprising, despite my time away, I’ve actually managed to get my viewing queue down to more or less nothing: last night’s Shameless (US) and This Is Kevin. I’ve even found time to watch some more House of Cards, which I note is now available to buy on DVD and Blu-Ray. Buy it, it’s really good.
Admittedly, to get back on track, I’ve had to drop Red Widow (ABC), Lightfields (ITV) and Broadchurch (ITV) from the viewing queue before I’d even started watching them, and Shetland (BBC) didn’t even get a look-in, but such is life.
Now, some thoughts on some of the regulars (fingers crossed, reviews of the final four episodes of Spiral – bloody BBC4 – tomorrow):
The Americans (FX/ITV): The first of the two episodes since last entry was actually the first rubbish one so far: it was entirely obvious what the twist was and the counter-trap laid by the FBI was clumsy. The second was much better, showing us for the first time what Matthew Rhys’ character gave up and that no spy can truly be trusted to tell the truth. The Russian dubbing was a bit poor, though.
Banshee (Cinemax/Sky Atlantic): A strong finish to the season with the typical violence we’ve come to expect and virtually all the loose plot threads brought together at the end. Add on some creepy Amish incest and Banshee season two (coming 2014) looks like it’ll be worth watching. Not quite sure why that video didn’t go viral, though.
Being Human (US) (SyFy): Zombies are so hot right now. But I think it’s a misstep. Plus that vaccine was remarkably easy to come by.
Cougar Town (TBS/Sky Living): Good to see the Travis/Lori relationship being developed. And the Alanis Morisette episode was a nice callback to the cast’s previous work and the Cox/Springsteen episode.
The Doctor Blake Mysteries (ABC1/ITV): Two eps, the second of which was a little bit blah, beyond the continuing development of Blake’s moving relationship with his housekeeper. The first was a more intriguing piece dealing with the death penalty and featured some early forensic science. I like how Blake isn’t afraid to proclaim himself a scientist, a period statement if ever there was one.
Elementary (CBS/Sky Living): Features a The Wire reunion. Otherwise, same old, same old.
Mr Selfridge (ITV/PBS): A slightly limp ending to the season, with Jeremy Piven not proving up to the challenge of delivering lines in anything less than a Barnum style and far too much time spent over the season on soap opera intrigues. All the same, the play at the end was a welcome bit of acid to the normal proceedings and David Calder, whom I almost didn’t recognise, was fantastic as the King. Will I watch if Gregory Fitoussi isn’t back next year, though? I think not.
Shameless (US) (Showtime/More4): Fiona’s speech last week was a powerful moment, whereas this week’s episode is far more comedic (in a good way).
Southland (TNT/Channel 4): Odd how unlikable Sherman has become. That’s good character development for you. Mind you, my mother in law has given up watching it now because it’s making her sad to see what’s happening to all the characters she liked.
Spartacus (Starz/Sky 1):Tying into history well and good to see Romans who aren’t complete idiots for a change, particularly Caesar. Not long to go now, but we all know where it’s heading, so it should be an interesting few episodes. Hopefully, not more ‘rape as a character point’, though, please?
And in movies, which I saw a few of on a teeny tiny screen in the back of a chair:
Lincoln: Essentially two and half hours of historical talking that’s less exciting than an episode of The West Wing. A brilliant performance from Daniel Day Lewis and eye-opening in terms of the legal manoeuvers that Lincoln and others used to indulge in back then, but not as involving as it should be.
Silver Linings Playbook: Good central performances from everyone (Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Julia Stiles and even Chris Rock), with Cooper and Lawrence two mentally damaged people who offer to help each other on the road to recovery. But it’s an unempathising, predictable movie with the standard message that crazy is more interesting than normal and that leaves you cold beyond the normal romcom parameters. Plus Cooper and Lawrence is a little bit too May to December to avoid a certain amount of queasiness.
Hitchcock: Surprisingly jaunty for a movie about the true story of the making of a movie based on a real-life serial killer and in which the director has a peep hole into his leading ladies’ dressing rooms. Anthony Hopkins is surprisingly light as Hitch compared to Toby Jones in The Girl, Scarlett Johansson is aces but perhaps a little too self-possessed as Janet Leigh while Helen Mirren is great as Hitchcock’s real-life partner in crime Alma, who was as much responsible for the success and quality of his movies as her husband was. Nice touch to have it book-ended in the style of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, too.
Van Helsing: Possibly the worst movie ever made
“What did you watch this week?” is your chance to recommend to friends and fellow blog readers the TV and films that they might be missing or should avoid – and for me to do mini-reviews of everything I’ve watched. Since we live in the fabulous world of Internet catch-up services like the iPlayer and Hulu, why not tell your fellow readers what you’ve seen so they can see the good stuff they might have missed?
In France: Last autumn In the UK: Saturday 2 March, 9pm, BBC Four
Prepare yourself for much wailing and gnashing of teeth: I’m away for a week, so I won’t be able to review episodes 9 and 10 until next Thursday or so, I suspect. Of course, given these reviews are only getting as many as one comment each, maybe you’ll all live somehow. Let’s see how many comments this gets by the time I return, anyway.
Either way, let’s look at the two episodes that have just aired, in which Gilou proves that yes, he can be very smart, provided it’s criminal activity rather than police work, Karlsson proves that she’s great at defending everyone except herself – at least, when Pierre’s around – and Laure proves that Spiral will remember past continuity references and characters eventually, even if takes a year or two.
