Strike Back

French TV

Review: Transporter 1×1-1×2 (RTL/M6/HBO Canada/Cinemax)

8 January 2013 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

Transporter The Series

In Canada: Fridays, 9pm ET/MT, HBO Canada/Super Ecran 1
In the US: Acquired to air on HBO Cinemax, possibly in June
In Germany: Already aired on RTL
In France: Already aired on M6

Co-productions are the future. Allegedly. Ask the BBC, which regularly works with BBC America and also HBO on productions. Sky also does plenty of international shows in collaboration with US, Spanish, French and South African broadcasters.

The idea is that you unlock more money that can result in either better shows or shows that couldn’t otherwise have been made at all, or you can have overseas filming and exotic locations courtesy of the people who know the areas best and can give you firm advice on the cultures that can be incorporated into the scripts.

Sometimes this works: the Swedish/Danish The Bridge was excellent; Sky’s Falcón and Strike Back are good; Canada’s Flashpoint, originally produced in association with CBS, wasn’t half bad, despite its desperate attempts to appear as un-Canadian as possible.

Sometimes it doesn’t: BBC/Cinemax’s Hunted was dreadful.

Quite often, the problem is in making a programme that will appeal to audiences in all the countries involved. Anyone can import another country’s television, quite cheaply, but once big production money is involved, you often want actors from both countries, filming in both countries, writers from both countries and so on. And of course each country’s producers and network executives will want input into the show. As a result, more or less anything interesting gets filed off by the process.

It’s basically ‘death by committee’.

In particular, there is one unholy alliance of producing countries, familiar to anyone who watched TV in the 90s, that can be pretty much be guaranteed to co-produce rubbish: Canada, France and Germany. Forget how good each individual country’s television can be – united in co-production they are only a force for evil.

Remember Highlander? Remember its arbitrary location changes from Canada to Paris and back each season? Remember the contractually obligated French and German actors struggling to speak English each episode? Remember the guest Englishperson in any episode shot in Paris, since they needed someone who could act in English, who was cheap and who could be there quickly?

If not, let’s pretend 20-odd years haven’t happened and tune into Transporter: The Series. It’s based on the 2002 Luc Besson French-US movie that starred Jason Statham as Frank Martin, an ex-special forces, samurai-like car driver who would drive anything you wanted, anywhere you wanted for a price and would kick the crap out of anyone who tried to stop him – provided you stuck with his supposedly rigid rules. The series sees Chris Vance (ex of Prison Break and Mental but no action background whatsoever) take over the role of Martin, who’s still working in the South of France – and Germany – but now has the help of a comedic German car engineer and an East European female boss, and is being chased by both the French and Belgian police.

Creative compromises? I don’t know what you mean. Here’s a trailer for the movie, followed by a trailer for the series itself.

Continue reading “Review: Transporter 1×1-1×2 (RTL/M6/HBO Canada/Cinemax)”

TMINE’s recommendations for last-minute boxsets for Christmas!

17 December 2012 Rob Buckley Post a comment

So those nice people at Vouchercodes.co.uk emailed me – and a few other bloggers – a while back to ask us for some recommendations for DVD boxsets released this year that would make nice Christmas presents. Taking a bit of a departure from the norm, rather than “Presents for Mum – she’ll love Miranda!”, “Presents for Dad – he’ll love Top Gear!”, “Presents for Sis – she’ll love The Vampire Diaries!” et al, which let’s face it, is never going to work for everyone or even the majority of people and would probably end up being offensive, I decided to go for three separate categories: drama, comedy and factual.

So decide what genre your relative likes then pick a gift: at the very least, you might introduce someone you love to something good.

Continue reading “TMINE’s recommendations for last-minute boxsets for Christmas!”

What did you watch last week? Including Argo, Bomb Girls, Redfern Now, Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2 and Men in Black 3

19 November 2012 Rob Buckley 16 Comments

It’s “What did you watch last week?”, my chance to tell you what I movies and TV I watched in the past week 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: 30 Rock, Arrow, Don’t Trust The B—– in Apartment 23, Go On, The Last Resort, and Modern Family.

Still in the viewing pile: this weekend’s Dexter and The Wedding Band, and a queue of Strike Back and 30 Rock that’s as long as your arm. But here’s a few thoughts on what I have been watching.

  • Arrow: A bit of a down-tick in quality, the show essentially being about why the Arrow starts fighting ordinary crime, rather than just rich people, and largely suffering from a whole heap of silliness as a result. But even bad Arrow episodes are still quite good.
  • Bomb Girls: A Canadian period series set in World War 2 in Canada. Currently airing on ITV3. I missed it when it aired in Canada, but I’m not that fussed, since although it seemed a reasonable show of its type and it had James McGowan from The Border in it, there weren’t many characters to draw me in.

  • Don’t Trust The B—– in Apartment 23: A topical one this, tied into People’s Sexiest Man of the Year issue. The first episode in a while to tie back into the idea that the B—– is a con-woman, not just insensitive, it was another fun watch.
  • Elementary: The first of the Keith Szarabajka projects of the week, this went largely in the directions expected of it, although with a few twists here and there. The show’s largely finding its feet now and remembering it’s Sherlock Holmes, not just a procedural. Separating up Holmes and Watson so Watson could investigate Irene Adler was a bold move, but it worked. Not sure about the ending, but it would fit in nicely with the idea that she is one of the only people capable of fooling Holmes. Or he could be lying.
  • Go On: Has acquired a new title sequence for no good reason. It’s not the worst title sequence ever – The Mindy Project has that – but it’s odd that it’s now getting one after all this time. A well-handled episode that possibly introduced a new character, but nothing extraordinary.
  • Happy Endings: Sad to say, but I’m giving up on this. It’s just not funny any more and they’ve messed around too much with Max, so I’ve deleted it from the queue.
  • Homeland: Not quite as ridiculous as last week, but it’s now so 24-ish, it’s impossible to take seriously. Plus it has one of the daftest sex scenes you’ll have seen in a while.
  • The Last Resort: The first episode without much action fun to keep things going, it also buckled a bit under the strain of the smuggler narrative.
  • The Mindy Project: Getting funnier again, but it does have the worst title sequence ever. Hard to tell if this was shown out of chronological order or not, because there were lines in it that didn’t make sense this late in the run.
  • Misfits: Off the viewing list as well. It’s lost its purpose now, not having any particular story to tell or any particularly interesting characters to tell it with. The cast try their best, but it’s not fun and it’s quite misogynistic.
  • Modern Family: A good one. Matthew Broderick did well.
  • Redfern Now: A The Street-like Australian show that Jimmy McGovern had a hand in shaping and featuring an Aboriginal cast and set in a Sydney suburb. While the first episode, which dealt with one woman’s attempts to look after her mentally ill sister’s children, did have its bleaker moments, this was more a look at triumph in adversity. Not something that’s really up my street (ho, ho), but a decent enough show for what it is. Worth a try if you’re looking for something a little different.

  • Suburgatory: Off the viewing list. Not really satirical or even funny any more.
  • Vegas: The best episode since the first one. Carrie-Anne Moss finally got something to do and with the introduction of Michael Chiklis’ wife, there’s almost a separate female narrative that runs parallel to the main male one, which is an interesting historical twist. The original theme of the different shades of grey of the two protagonists got a re-viewing as well and I liked the obvious parallels to the original JFK election debate, too. Perilously close to the recommend list, now.

And in movies:

  • Argo: The second Keith Szarabajka project of the week, this one a tad more appropriate to a former star of The Equalizer. Here he plays a smaller part in a film based on the true story of how the CIA extracted six Americans from Iran during the 1979 Revolution by faking a science-fiction movie called Argo. Beautifully directed by the lead, Ben Affleck, it’s tense and funny in equal measure, with some frightening scenes of crowd violence and some wonderful recreations of LA in the 1970s that actually make you wonder “how did they do that?” more than most CGI in sci-fi blockbusters. The 1970s Warner Bros logo is a delight and they even get Jimmy Carter at the end, but the fact that practically everyone in it has been in a TV show I’ve watched at some point was distracting (Oh, it’s her from Homeland… Breaking Bad… The Mindy Project… Alias… Damages…!). Recommended, though.

  • Men In Black 3: A real surprise. While it takes a while to really get going and it lacks the energy of the previous two, it’s certainly a whole lot more original than the second one. Josh Brolin is great as young Tommy Lee Jones. There’s also some real pathos at the end. If you’ve given it a miss since you think you know what it’ll be like, give it a try – you might be surprised.

  • Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2: While it suffers largely from the same problems as the previous movies in the franchise – too long, not much happening, not enough time spent on developing the secondary characters – this does at least have a decent, extended fight scene and Bella changes from being a wet domestic abuse victim to something a whole lot more kick ass, thankfully. I watched this in a screening packed full of teenage girls and it turns out that teenage girls en masse have forgiven Kristen Stewart for whatever ‘sins’ she might have committed, and that not only do they like ‘an eye for an eye’, they’re also partial to a decapitation or two, judging by the whoops and cheers. That might be just a SE London thing, though. They also get a bit embarrassed by on-screen sex. Possibly the most gruesome of the movies, it’s also slightly spoilt by Michael Sheen going colossally over the top, but otherwise, it’s surprisingly not bad.

“What did you watch last 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?

UK TV

Review: Falcón (Sky Atlantic) 1×1

19 November 2012 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

Falcón

In the UK: Thursdays, 10pm, Sky Atlantic

Times are a-changing, my friends. Time was it was perfectly legitimate to have a go at BSkyB for not putting anything decent on our TV screens. Sky1 and the like was full of nothing but US imports (some good, some not), rubbish like Prickly Heat, and almost no original drama or comedy whatsoever. After a few faltering steps on Sky1 with Terry Pratchett adaptations, Mad Dogs and Strike Back, Sky is now embracing quality, mainly with its new channel Sky Atlantic, which despite the name is originating plenty of quality comedy. Now it’s turning its hand towards drama.

After Sky Atlantic’s first attempt, the not-half-bad but dirt cheap Hit and Miss, we now have the first of the big guns: Falcón, which is best described as “sexy Wallander” or “Wallander in Spain”. Based on Robert Wilson’s series of crime novels and starring New Zealand actor Marton Csokas as well as a fine cast of Brits that includes Hayley Atwell (Captain America), Emilia Fox, Bernard Hill, Bill Patterson, Robert Lindsay and Charlie Creed-Miles, Falcón relocates Ken Branagh’s misery, artist-father issues, grizzly horror and Brits pretending to be foreigners to Seville, where the eponymous detective has to solve a horrible murder that is connected to his father in some way. Along the way, there’s an attractive widow (Atwell), his ex-wife (Fox) and, thanks to Dredd 3D‘s Pete Travis, a lot of beautifully composed scenes of local colour for him to deal with.

And if you loved Ken’s Wallander, there’s a good chance you’ll love this, too, assuming you don’t mind a cop that takes coke. Here’s a trailer, a “characters 101” and the first three minutes of the first episode.

Continue reading “Review: Falcón (Sky Atlantic) 1×1”

What did you watch last week? Including Don’t Trust The B—– in Apartment 23, Happy Endings, and Vegas

29 October 2012 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

It’s “What did you watch last week?”, my chance to tell you what I movies and TV I watched in the past two weeks 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: 30 Rock, Dexter, Don’t Trust The B—– in Apartment 23, Go On, Homeland, The Last Resort, The Mindy Project, Modern Family, Red Dwarf X, Suburgatory and The Thick of It.

Still in the viewing pile: Misfits. But here’s a few thoughts on what I have been watching.

  • Dexter: A little silly, but still as tense as it used to be.
  • Don’t Trust The B—– in Apartment 23: A delightfully daft way to introduce new viewers to the show, with the B in question demonstrating extreme insanity, and the show offering 20somethings extreme TV nostalgia fun with cameos from Busy Philipps from Dawson’s Creek, Frankie Muniz from Malcolm in the Middle, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar from Saved By The Bell – all, in standard, Don’t Trust The B—- style, as ‘themselves’. M-P G was actually good, which makes a difference from Franklin & Bash then.
  • Go On: The first post-pilot weepy episode. Which is moderately embarrassing when you’re commuting on a train.
  • Happy Endings: Dreadful, but redeemed by some good performances and Elisha Cuthbert. Hope the next episode is better.
  • Homeland: It’s so hard to keep up with the producers and their twists and turns. Not absolutely convinced by the speed of the events in the episode, but handled well nevertheless.
  • The Last Resort: Another tense one, although the end result was somewhat corny. The best action show on TV at the moment, though (although maybe Strike Back: Vengeance is good – will let you know when I watch it).
  • Modern Family: They always do really good Halloween episodes, don’t they?
  • Red Dwarf X: Rubbish. More like series four or five than previous episodes and correspondingly bad.
  • Suburgatory: Back on the recommended list. Quite sweet, but it feels like no one pays much attention to character continuity.
  • The Thick Of It: A low-key way to end the series. You really wanted Malcolm to go out on a high, but a realistic way to end it all, I guess. What can replace it?
  • Vegas: Perilously close to the quality of the first episode, with only minor hobbling from the procedural aspect of things. Also good to see a few black faces in the story for a change.

And in movies:

  • This Means War: Tom Hardy and Chris Pine are spies who are both dating Reese Witherspoon. Who will she pick? You won’t care, because it’s largely rubbish and McG directed it. But it actually does have a few decent moments in, include a very funny paintball tournament, and both Hardy and Chelsea Handler liven the whole thing up beyond the standard drek. Also features Til Schweiger.

“What did you watch last 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?