The Doctor Blake Mysteries

US TV

What have you been watching? Including Growing Up Fisher, Secrets and Lies, Red Road, Suits and Agents of SHIELD

14 March 2014 Rob Buckley 12 Comments

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.

Despite my having been away for a while, I’ve managed to catch up with many of the regular shows and even tried out plenty of new shows. Although I’ve now got three episodes of new Canadian medical show Remedy to wade through, I’ve been able to post reviews of:

I did also try one other new show:

Growing Up Fisher (US: NBC)
DJ Nash’s semi-autobiographical series, in which the Fisher family – blind attorney JK Simmons, mother Jenna Elfman and son Eli Baker – surprisingly grow closer after the parents get a divorce and Simmons finally gets a guide dog called Elvis. It’s nice, it’s got Jason Bateman doing the voiceover for that Arrested Development feel and David Schwimmer from Friends is an exec producer, too. Elfman and Simmons are both good. However, it’s not very funny, just mildly uplifting, and most of the humour revolves around Simmons’ blindness. If you find people being blind and trying to do things funny, it might be more up your street.

But after the jump, reviews of Agents of SHIELD, Helix, Red Road, Secrets and Lies, 19-2, The Americans, Banshee, Community, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Elementary, Hannibal, Line of Duty, Suits and True Detective.

Continue reading “What have you been watching? Including Growing Up Fisher, Secrets and Lies, Red Road, Suits and Agents of SHIELD”

What have you been watching? Including Community, 19-2, Arrow, Hannibal and The Doctor Blake Mysteries

6 March 2014 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

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.

Typical, isn’t it? No sooner have I just about caught about with my previous backlog of viewing then I have to head off again, so I’m predicting a whole new backlog next week. Ho hum.

But after the jump, reviews of Almost Human, Enlisted, Helix, 19-2, The Americans, Arrow, Banshee, The Blacklist, Community, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Hannibal, The Life of Rock with Brian Pern, Moone Boy, Perception and True Detective.

Continue reading “What have you been watching? Including Community, 19-2, Arrow, Hannibal and The Doctor Blake Mysteries”

What have you been watching? Including Doll and Em, Star-Crossed, House of Cards, and Moone Boy

20 February 2014 Rob Buckley 15 Comments

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.

I’m off on a secret mission for a few days (okay, holiday), which is why this is a day early, so I’ve still got a few things in my viewing queue: lots of season two of House of Cards as well as Sky’s new firefighter drama Smoke which starts tonight but which has been on Sky Go for a while and last night’s episodes of 19-2 and Fleming. But I have managed to sneek in some new shows as well as my regular viewing choices.

Star-Crossed (The CW)
A Romeo and Juliet tale in which aliens crashland on Earth and try to integrate into the local small town US population, where they face prejudice, as well as possible potential romance with humans. Not even a tenth as interesting or as deep as Roswell, which is saying something, and absolutely every choice made has been the most generic. Incredibly dull, too, and the leads so far exceed their characters’ supposed ages, they actually have wrinkles in some cases.

Doll and Em (Sky Living)
Real-life best friends Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells pen a tale about best friends Em and Doll, with Doll joining actress Em in LA to work for her when her relationship falls apart. It’s all very naturalistic and obviously feels like a real friendship. Funny? Not in the slightest and there’s nothing you can glean from it that you won’t have from a dozen other shows like it (eg Entourage, Episodes, Curb Your Enthusiasm). YMMV.

Shows that I’ve been watching but not really recommending:

Almost Human (Fox)
A slight drop-off as we have some hacked home security systems killing their owners. There’s also an ill advised new subplot about Dorian having someone else’s memories embedded in him. A Matrix tribute of about three lines of dialogue really wasn’t worth the effort either, and as usual, attempts to depict hackers on-screen have the authenticity of Californian champagne.

Helix (SyFy/Channel 5)
Jeri Ryan’s here and having fun, but still just a low budget TV Resident Evil with more secrets than necessary and too few answers too make it interesting. But I’m still watching, so what do I know?

Salamander (BBC4)
Gave up on this in episode three when the top-secret conspirators started telling each other about their top-secret conspiracy and Aquaman’s dad took refuge in a monastery. There’s silly and then there’s Belgian silly, apparently.

And in the recommended list:

Banshee (Cinemax)
A bit more of a traditional Banshee episode, with plenty of fights and a British bruiser in town called Quentin to deal with. Not quite the way I expected the Hood Jr storyline to end. Enjoyable, but nothing special.

The Doctor Blake Mysteries (ABC1/BBC1)
A superior effort to the first episde, with much needed characterisation for the new cop in town, and some lovely moments for the original characters as they learn all about this new fangled rock and roll thing. A little bit worried about the message at the end (don’t believe girls).

The Life of Rock with Brian Pern (BBC4)
Promoted to recommended after this week’s episode, this mock documentary about the Peter Gabriel-like Pern (the star of some 2009/10 video blogs) has decided it’s no longer content satirising merely the prog rock groups of the 70s, it’s now working it’s way through the TV and films of the 70s and 80s, too. With piss-takes of everything from Swap Shop and Triangle through Doctor Who and Labyrinth, it also features a cast worth dying for, as well as comedy characters from other shows (Mike Smash from The Fast Show and Mulligan and O’Hare from The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer). If you know the period, you’ll love it.

House of Cards (Netflix)
No, don’t spoil me. I’m only three eps in. If you’ve seen the original, then you’ll already know of one Big Thing that happens in season two, but largely it’s plotting its own path at the moment, with Frank conspiring to get the right man (actually a woman, but he doesn’t want anyone to know that yet) to replace him as chief whip. Seems to have had a healthy dose of feminism added to it between seasons, and it’s as engrossing as always, if perhaps a little less tightly plotted. The hacking details are very accurate, too, I’m pleased to say.

Line of Duty (BBC2)
Superbly tense, with a wonderful couple of reversals towards the end. Much recommended.

Moone Boy (Sky1)
The return of Chris O’Dowd’s delightful, semi-autobiographical sitcom about growing up as a young boy (with an imaginary friend) in Ireland in the late 80s and early 90s. We started with a trip to the countryside to visit some Gaelic speakers, which was both funny and educational, thanks in part to a cameo by Jonny Vegas as another imaginary friend.

True Detective (HBO/Sky Atlantic)
Best episode so far. Extremely clever and we finally get to see where it’s all headed. A bit worried that it’s about to head into fantasyland though and jump the shark. Fingers crossed.

And in movies

Her
In a slightly futuristic LA, lonely Joaquim Phoenix falls in love with his new operating system (the voice of Scarlett Johansson). As a movie it’s full of ideas about loneliness, the nature of human connection, whether virtual connections are as good as in-person connections, the nature of artificial intelligence, what we expect from relationships, how the expectations of others change our relationships and so on. But it’s a movie free of messages or conclusions, that merely likes to flirt rather with the ideas rather than explore them in any depth. Sad, funny, beautifully performed, it’s ultimately as empty as some of its characters’ lives.

 

“What have you been watching?” 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?

What have you been watching? Including Fleming, The Life of Rock with Brian Pern, The Moodys, Salamander and Suspects

14 February 2014 Rob Buckley 16 Comments

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.

With the Winter Olympics now in full flow in the US, I’m only slightly behind on shows now, with only Sunday’s Babylon and The Musketeers as well as Wednesday’s Inside No 9 to find time for. But with so little new TV on in the US, I’ve resorted to watching some new shows on UK TV as well as the Internet.

Alpha House (Amazon Prime/Lovefilm)
A group of US politicians all live in a house together (or something). A decent cast, including John Goodman, and Gary Trudeau, the creator of ‘Doonesbury’, writing should have spelt hilarity. But while it does feel authentic in its situations (albeit with a comedic twist), the funny that should have been there never really turned up. Only the first episode is available on Lovefilm at the moment, but the whole series is on Amazon Prime in the US.

Fleming (Sky Atlantic/BBC America)
Dominic Cooper and Lara Pulver play Mr and Mrs Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, in a biopic (with a slight economy with the truth) that sees how the two met pre-War when she was still married to someone else and how the feckless Fleming got his act together during the Second World War in naval intelligence, before eventually writing the novels we all know and love. A first half hour of outright tedium almost put me off the whole thing, but the second half was a lot stronger, albeit with a hint of the ‘rapey’, so I’ll be tuning in for episode two. Has already finished its run on BBC America, I believe.

Inside No 9 (BBC2/online)
I’ve only watched the first part of this a dark, comedic anthology from Reece Sheersmith and Steve Pemberton of League of Gentlemen fame. Set in various houses, all numbered 9, the show gives various actors a chance to shine, and for Sheersmith and Pemberton to play implausible grotesques. The first was a little ‘And?’ but well acted (big kudos to Tim Key in particular), so I’ll be giving number two a chance when I find the time. A third is available online.

The Life of Rock with Brian Pern (BBC4)
Simon Day and numerous musicians and comedians all rip the piss out of Peter Gabriel and other prog rockers of the 70s. Very precise in its targets, so if you know the music and bands of the era, you’ll probably get more out of this than the lay audience. I found it moderately amusing but with some very good individual moments.

The Moodys (ABC1)
Follow up to the popular Australian show, The Moodys At Christmas, featuring the eponymous family. Not especially funny, although the generational culture conflicts rang true, but I imagine it’s funnier if you’re Australian and saw the first series.

Salamander (BBC4)
Belgian import that sees a bank robbed but only the safety deposit boxes of important people raided. A police detective investigates and opens up a whole heap of trouble for himself and his family, as the victims and thieves try to cover up the robbery. About as realistic as an episode of 24, and it’s not helped by it all being very silly and having a guy who looks like Aquaman’s dad as the virile hero. But it’s a decent enough show that reminds me enough of 1970s cop dramas that nostalgia will keep me watching.

Suspects (Channel Five)
Channel 5’s first foray into original drama production in donkey’s years is a semi-improvised police drama that sees the National Lottery’s Fay Ripley investigating various crimes with the help of her team. Shot in shakey-cam, it has a documentary feel (in part because it’s Channel 5 and so colossally low budget) and you do genuinely believe you’re watching a proper police investigation a lot of the time. Which is fine, but I don’t want to watch a documentary about the police; I want to watch a drama.

Shows that I’ve been watching but not really recommending:

Agents of SHIELD (ABC)
Probably the best episode since the first one, with shock near-deaths as a cliffhanger, some comedy that actually worked for a change and the characters actually being characters. Too little too late?

Almost Human (Fox)
A change of showrunner gives us two good episodes in a row. The first had Gina Carano (woo hoo!) as a eyeliner-wearing soldier android/gynoid and also provided us with more background story. Meanwhile, for more or less the first time since the pilot, we had an episode dealing with the failed raid Karl Urban’s character led and what his evil girlfriend might have been up to. Some good scripting, some good action and some good characters – plus Gina Carano – means this is almost ready to go on the recommended list.

Enlisted (Fox)
A good point about sexism in the military and sexism towards women in the military. Otherwise, an okay episode.

Helix (SyFy/Channel 5)
Progress is being made, story is advancing and Jeri Ryan is arriving in tonight’s episode. I’m going to keep watching.

Rake (Fox)
Reviewed elsewhere on the blog.

And in the recommended list:

19-2 (Bravo Canada)
Reviewed elsewhere on the blog.

Arrow (The CW/Sky 1)
Nyssa Al Ghul turned up, Black Canary returned and all sorts of weird things happened sexually. There were some good fights, at least. Plus we now have one person who can pronounce Ra’s Al Ghul correctly, at least.

Banshee (Cinemax)
A road trip episode unlike all previous Banshee episodes. Lovely direction, some surprises in terms of wrong-footing with the plotting, and the general message that you can’t escape your past and live a happy life once you’ve done certain things. Excellent viewing.

The Doctor Blake Mysteries (ABC1/BBC1)
The return of the period Australian detective drama and the return of Doctor Blake himself after a trip overseas. Some unavoidable changes in the cast (a death in between seasons and an actor having gone off to the US to seek their fortune) as well as one in-story change haven’t really affected the show that much, although the various emotional repercussions of the overseas trip have been largely brushed under the carpet in a five-minute scene. A decent enough, well plotted episode, though.

Line of Duty (BBC2)
I gave up on the first season because it lacked subtlety and got very silly. However, this second season is an automatic recommendation already, because the first episode was such a cracker. Keeley Hawes is likeable for a change, despite possibly being evil; Jessica Raine is as great as ever. But who saw that ending coming? Tense and a must-see – at least for the next episode. Also, nice head-nod to the first series in the missing persons file.

True Detective (HBO/Sky Atlantic)
Another show promoted to the recommended list this week, thanks to a cracker of a fourth episode. The plot is sorting itself out, the characters are really developing and some superb direction make this another must-see. First episode review, third-episode verdict.

“What have you been watching?” 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?

What did you watch this week? Including How To Live Life With Your Parents…, Corleone, The Raid and The Americans

7 April 2013 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

It’s “What did you watch this week?”, my chance to tell you what I movies and TV I’ve watched this 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:

  • The Americans (FX/ITV)
  • Archer (FX, 5USA)
  • Arrow (The CW/Sky 1)
  • Being Human (US) (SyFy)
  • The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
  • The Doctor Blake Mysteries (ABC1/ITV)
  • Cougar Town (TBS/Sky Living)
  • Doctor Who (BBC1/BBC America)
  • Elementary (CBS/Sky Living)
  • Go On (NBC)
  • Hannibal (NBC/Sky Living)
  • House of Cards (Netflix)
  • Modern Family (ABC/Sky 1)
  • Plebs (ITV2)
  • Shameless (US) (Showtime/More4)
  • Southland (TNT/Channel 4)
  • Spartacus (Starz/Sky 1)
  • 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.

I’m adding to the recommended list both Plebs (ITV2) and Hannibal (NBC/Sky Living) (hopefully, I’m not being too quick off the mark there).

Still in the viewing queue: Jonathan Creek, last night’s Orphan Black, Arne Dahl and Rogue. I’ll be reviewing last night’s Doctor Who on Monday, when I’ve woken up. But I’ve tried a few new shows this week:

How To Live With Your Parents For The Rest of Your Life (ABC)
In which Sarah Chalke (Scrubs, Mad Love) is once again wasted, this time in an incredibly bland sitcom with an almost zero joke count. The story, for what it’s worth, is that Chalke splits up from her no-hope, but good-hearted husband and takes her kid with her to live with her parents. Six months later, she’s still there. Everyone, including Elizabeth Perkins as Chalke’s mother, tries really, really hard to make this work, but i’s just utterly bland.

Corleone (Sky Arts)
2007 Italian crime drama aka Il Capo dei Capi based on the life of real-life gangster Salvatore Riina, aka Totò u Curtu, growing up in post-war Sicily. Surprisingly well made for Italian TV, it is, nevertheless, completely unremarkable and lacking in interest for anyone who doesn’t know about said gangster. Trailer over here, for those who want one.

I’ve also been watching a few things on Netflix, just to mix things up a bit:

Black Books
Yes, I never watched Black Books. Treat me like the leper I am. The first episode wasn’t bad and it surprised me to see Martin Freeman in it as a doctor, doing the exact same Martin Freeman routine he’s apparently been doing for the last 12 years now. Still feels like a slightly less funny cousin to Spaced, Hippies and The IT Crowd. But I’ll keep watching when I have time.

House of Cards (remake)
I finally got to the end of it. Yes, it ends on a cliffhanger. Yes, that cliffhanger is not the same as the BBC original’s cliffhanger. Yes, nothing much at all is resolved. But it’s still magnificent.

Spiral (season 1)
Yes, I know I’ve watched it already, but I thought I’d give season one a re-watch, since I’m now horrified to discover it was filmed in 2005 (although I think it took BBC4 a couple of years to pick it up). It’s remarkable to see what’d different and what’s changed. The directorial style, with the CGI zoom and crash zooms with sound effects are just weird; the swearing was considerably less than it is now; it’s filmed in Summer, so everything looks sunny for a change; Laure’s happy; Karlsson’s still learning how to be evil from the drunk struck-off solicitor; Clement’s still a magistrate; Romanians are the ethnic enemies; Pierre and Laure are shagging like very French bunnies. It’s all just so fascinating to watch and fun to see how the Spiral formula is still being worked on.

Now, some thoughts on some of the regulars and some of the shows I’m still trying:

  • The Americans (FX/ITV): Just keeps getting better every week, blurring the boundaries between who’s good and who’s bad in the cold war between the KGB and the FBI. The separation was unexpected, as was the final killing, and while the show obviously amps up the intrigue beyond what the KGB would have allowed their sleeper agents to do, it’s all done in as unshowy a manner as possible. A regular must-see.
  • Arrow (The CW/Sky 1): Despite the presence of Count Vertigo, this episode surprisingly didn’t suck and was actually quite good. Nice to see that they’re making the Chinese woman Oliver’s flashback mentor, rather than Deathstroke.
  • Being Human (US) (SyFy): Another US TV season ends with an overly sentimental wedding. Quelle surprise. But despite some good jokes in this final episode, it’s largely been a bit of waste of a season, offering no real plot advancement, with everything that happened in the first few episodes effectively reset by the end of the season. There have been a few changes and clearly a whole lot of things are being set up for next season that might pay off. But unlike the British original, it’ll probably still be worth watching. UPDATE: Duh! Obviously, it wasn’t the season finale. Silly me…
  • The Doctor Blake Mysteries (ABC1/ITV): A decent 10 episodes of intelligent TV period crime drama. It became a little formulaic towards the end, with less of the period commentary than before, but the story arc about Blake’s family was very well handled and moving, and the ending only promises good things for the future.
  • Elementary (CBS/Sky Atlantic): Surprisingly close to a genuine Sherlock Holmes mystery, although Jill Flint was badly unused. The addition of Doyle’s Hudson to the roster of characters was very welcome, changing the Watson/Holmes dynamic in useful ways, and well handled, too, given the changes made by the producers. The story was also a good way to capitalise on New York’s recent weather ‘issues’.
  • It’s Kevin (BBC2): Cameos from Stewart Lee, Peter Serafinowicz, Matt Berry and more show how respected Kevin Eldon is. Definitely getting better but a little bit of an acquired taste. The Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber sketch was marvellous though.
  • Parks and Recreation (NBC/BBC4): Six episodes into the second season and I’ve finally see a funny episode that didn’t entirely depend on Ron Swanson for the jokes. And that’s after an episode that didn’t have Ron in it at all, and so was virtually unwatchable.
  • Plebs (ITV2): While largely The InBetweeners in Roman times, it’s surprisingly clever and this week’s “role reversal” episode where the hero and his slave swapped jobs for day and the two cousins who shag were interesting marriages of laddish humour with Roman cultural differences. If you watch one ITV2 show, this is the one to watch.
  • Shameless (US) (Showtime/More4): Surprisingly, not the final episode of the season, despite the apparent resolution of so many plot threads, including an unexpected act of kindness by Frank. What they do tonight should be the last thing we expect then.
  • Southland (TNT/Channel 4): More or more like a series of vignettes, rather than an actual drama, with our characters almost aware that their television time is drawing to an end and looking for personal closure. A great couple of cameso this week for long-time fans of the show, which I’m hoping will lead to more by the end of the season.
  • Strike Back (Sky 1/Cinemax): I’m finally catching up with this, which has been sitting on my Apple TV for months now. Funny to see Tim Piggott-Smith running around with a sub-machine gun, Charles Dance being an arms dealer, and
  • Spartacus (Starz/Sky 1): We’re on the home straight of the season, the traditional time for the show to really dig into the politics and intrigue. An almost nostalgic episode, where the gladiators return to the ‘arena’, various characters get the vengeance they want and deserve, and with the arrival of the third member of Caesar/Crassus triumvirate, Pompey (if not yet in person), it’s starting to feel more and more like a prequel to Rome as well as decent ending for one of the most surprising shows on cable TV in years.
  • Vegas (CBS/Sky Atlantic): Finally realised that the FBI guy is Shawn Doyle (with US accent and black hair) from Endgame. An odd little procedural about an under-age prostitute, with a somewhat surprising, feminist conclusion that once again shows what a standout Sarah Jones is. That, and the addition of a new title sequence, suggests the producers have been having a slight rethink in the show’s extended absence. Needs a little more umph, but still a good drama and a cut above the standard CBS procedural.

And in movies:

No Country For Old Men
An excellent movie with a great cast. Josh Brolin finds some money, Javier Bardem chases him with a bad haircut, Sheriff Tommy Lee Jones wanders around cluelessly. It’s quite a scary movie, in some senses, where the moral of the story is that even if you are a Vietnam vet and a hunter, there’s always someone deadlier than you out there, and beyond that is God/Fate who can kick that person to the kerb, too. It’s ending defies analysis, too, although it’s efforts to defy the standard Hollywood traditions of how plots must be resolved, particularly violent plots, is welcome.

The Raid
An elite Indonesian SWAT team have to take in a crime lord who lives at the top of a building. To get to him, they have to shoot, punch, stab, kick and beat everyone they come across along the way, in what is largely a demonstration of the Indonesian martial art of pencak silat, starring some of the art’s greatest living practitioners. Not exactly the most plot-driven or character-rich movie out there, but a cracking action film, incredibly shot on a ridiculously low budget, that’ll be too violent for a lot of people. Came out at the same time as Dredd 3D, to which it bears such a similarity that it largely (unfairly) killed that movie’s box office.

Bad Boys 2
Dreadful, even by Michael Bay standards. Shame, because Bad Boys was actually quite good.

“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?