An original film from Netflix. Well, not that original. Tau is quite like Ex Machina in that it has a "bad man" making an ultimate AI. But in many ways it is more enjoyable because the guy is just mental and his antagonist is more believable.
There are some nice touches, but plenty of annoyances too. I get a bit tired of the "mad scientist" trope. Come on. People clever enough to make something that advanced a) don't do it on their own (especially the building) and b) are not psychopathic killers.
Nice touch having a "Julia" ... I wondered if the other guy was a "Winston".
One thing that disappointed was that I was convinced there was more to it than there was. If this project was so important to Alex then what was he doing going out all day every day and leaving Tau to deal with Julia?
There had to be a reason; and I was sure that Alex was watching the whole time and it was all about how Julia would teach Tau stuff that Alex couldn't.
But no. Alex was actually a psycho who just had to go out a lot. And...
Well, never mind. It was quite entertaining. Just not very clever.
Monday, 2 July 2018
Sunday, 1 July 2018
The Bridge [Broen] [Bron] (series 4)
The Bridge (this one) is my favourite TV show of all time. Ever.
Nothing comes close in breadth of story and depth of character. The acting is superb. The writing is brilliant. The atmosphere is absolutely mesmerising.
I was very sad to hear that series 4 would be the last (and also that Martin would not be returning, again). And why only 8 episodes, not 10? But if you have to go, best to go out on a high with another cracking story rather than go on too long and risk a steady decline.
It is another roller-coaster ride. There are always a few strands of story that we assume might come together at some point... but you never quite see how until it does. People do terrible things, then you end up feeling for them... not sorry, just a speck of understanding. People get trapped in a corner, and you can't see any way out for them.
And all the while we see the personal lives of our well-loved characters being played out. Oh, how they suffer, but carry on living as well as they can...
The brutality of the crimes is shocking. Especially when turned on Henrik... how can anyone think the poor man hasn't suffered enough? I guess someone who buries a woman up to her chest and stones her to death (episode 1 - micro spoiler).
Even at the last, when everything seemed resolved, I was still worried that there might be one last cruel twist. And that last line of dialogue was absolutely spot on - it made me cry.
If I was forced to have my memory wiped and could only retain one TV show from the whole of my life... I would not hesitate to choose The Bridge.
Nothing comes close in breadth of story and depth of character. The acting is superb. The writing is brilliant. The atmosphere is absolutely mesmerising.
I was very sad to hear that series 4 would be the last (and also that Martin would not be returning, again). And why only 8 episodes, not 10? But if you have to go, best to go out on a high with another cracking story rather than go on too long and risk a steady decline.
It is another roller-coaster ride. There are always a few strands of story that we assume might come together at some point... but you never quite see how until it does. People do terrible things, then you end up feeling for them... not sorry, just a speck of understanding. People get trapped in a corner, and you can't see any way out for them.
And all the while we see the personal lives of our well-loved characters being played out. Oh, how they suffer, but carry on living as well as they can...
The brutality of the crimes is shocking. Especially when turned on Henrik... how can anyone think the poor man hasn't suffered enough? I guess someone who buries a woman up to her chest and stones her to death (episode 1 - micro spoiler).
Even at the last, when everything seemed resolved, I was still worried that there might be one last cruel twist. And that last line of dialogue was absolutely spot on - it made me cry.
If I was forced to have my memory wiped and could only retain one TV show from the whole of my life... I would not hesitate to choose The Bridge.
Friday, 29 June 2018
Gantz: Perfect Answer
After the first live action Gantz movie, Gantz, proved to be quite good, I had a reasonable amount of hope that the second, Gantz: Perfect Answer, would at least be OK.
It's not. It's mostly terrible. Even the gorgeous Ayumi Ito as Eriko can't save it.
Obviously the whole CGI budget was spent on the first part, because in this one the aliens are all conveniently taking on human form. They do something weird with their eyes from time to time to remind us that they are aliens... but mostly they are just people (often the same people who are normal people too).
And the story goes bonkers.
We know that Kei is desperate to get 100 points and resurrect Kato. But when the older guy gets 100 points first (how?) he resurrects Kato... even though he knows Kei is also just about to get 100 points. And then Kei resurrects the young brat fighter in the hoodie. Which would be fine, except that when everyone thinks that Gantz is about the expire the older guy becomes so desperate to get the last 100 points that he almost kills the innocent girl for it. Huh? He says he wants to resurrect his wife (did we even know she was in the running for resurrection, I missed that) ... but if that is so important to him, then why did he resurrect Kato? It just doesn't make sense.
And that is just the easiest to explain dumb thing about the story.
On the plus side, some of the fight scenes are better in this one than the first. But that's like saying the Star Wars prequels have merit because the lightsabre battles are better than in the original trilogy.
Overall this is a poor movie. I can't help thinking that like the animated effort, they should have done one decent film instead of attempting two.
It's not. It's mostly terrible. Even the gorgeous Ayumi Ito as Eriko can't save it.
Obviously the whole CGI budget was spent on the first part, because in this one the aliens are all conveniently taking on human form. They do something weird with their eyes from time to time to remind us that they are aliens... but mostly they are just people (often the same people who are normal people too).
And the story goes bonkers.
We know that Kei is desperate to get 100 points and resurrect Kato. But when the older guy gets 100 points first (how?) he resurrects Kato... even though he knows Kei is also just about to get 100 points. And then Kei resurrects the young brat fighter in the hoodie. Which would be fine, except that when everyone thinks that Gantz is about the expire the older guy becomes so desperate to get the last 100 points that he almost kills the innocent girl for it. Huh? He says he wants to resurrect his wife (did we even know she was in the running for resurrection, I missed that) ... but if that is so important to him, then why did he resurrect Kato? It just doesn't make sense.
And that is just the easiest to explain dumb thing about the story.
On the plus side, some of the fight scenes are better in this one than the first. But that's like saying the Star Wars prequels have merit because the lightsabre battles are better than in the original trilogy.
Overall this is a poor movie. I can't help thinking that like the animated effort, they should have done one decent film instead of attempting two.
Hana-bi
A Japanese crime drama. Not what I expected at all. It is quite slow, there isn't a lot of dialogue at times, there aren't many characters.
But I found something about the main character Nishi-san quite interesting. He is almost enigmatic at the start. He doesn't say or do much. What he does do is whatever he wants, or so it seems.
As the film progresses you realise that Nishi is a fairly ordinary cop who has been dealt a bad hand. A really bad hand. So bad in fact that he has given up on the world... and most of the people in it, apart from a select few.
Gradually it becomes clear that Nishi is on a mission to show the world it can go fuck itself. He takes a destructive path, but because he doesn't care about defeat, he steamrollers all opposition.
We know that ultimately Nishi's quiet rampage will end in tragedy. But really the tragedy happened before the start of the film, so what we see is his long defiant finale.
Not always my kind of film. But on this occasion I really enjoyed it.
But I found something about the main character Nishi-san quite interesting. He is almost enigmatic at the start. He doesn't say or do much. What he does do is whatever he wants, or so it seems.
As the film progresses you realise that Nishi is a fairly ordinary cop who has been dealt a bad hand. A really bad hand. So bad in fact that he has given up on the world... and most of the people in it, apart from a select few.
Gradually it becomes clear that Nishi is on a mission to show the world it can go fuck itself. He takes a destructive path, but because he doesn't care about defeat, he steamrollers all opposition.
We know that ultimately Nishi's quiet rampage will end in tragedy. But really the tragedy happened before the start of the film, so what we see is his long defiant finale.
Not always my kind of film. But on this occasion I really enjoyed it.
Thursday, 28 June 2018
Ghost Wars
This show has to go down as "good start, bad finish".
After the first few episodes I was really enjoying it. It seemed like The Returned in some ways... just a lot less French. And it looked like it was going somewhere.
But as it progressed, it stopped going anywhere. The middle episodes just drifted. What was going on? Hardly anything. The only thing changing was whether Meat Loaf liked Roman or hated him... and that changed every 20 minutes.
I real turning point was when the Lambda boss arrived. Then it just got boring and predictable. By now it was trying to be Stranger Things 2.
When the bar owner started on the weird pregnancy I thought something important might happen. But it didn't. When the priest burned the live ghost pod people I thought the surviving one might become more powerful, or something. She didn't.
Nothing was happening. The ending just came and went. And I really don't care how Roman ended up with the amber rock thing at the end... when it was supposed to blow up and close death's door for good... without a single other person noticing that nothing blew up.
Sorry, but Ghost Wars disappoints all the more because it showed early potential.
After the first few episodes I was really enjoying it. It seemed like The Returned in some ways... just a lot less French. And it looked like it was going somewhere.
But as it progressed, it stopped going anywhere. The middle episodes just drifted. What was going on? Hardly anything. The only thing changing was whether Meat Loaf liked Roman or hated him... and that changed every 20 minutes.
I real turning point was when the Lambda boss arrived. Then it just got boring and predictable. By now it was trying to be Stranger Things 2.
When the bar owner started on the weird pregnancy I thought something important might happen. But it didn't. When the priest burned the live ghost pod people I thought the surviving one might become more powerful, or something. She didn't.
Nothing was happening. The ending just came and went. And I really don't care how Roman ended up with the amber rock thing at the end... when it was supposed to blow up and close death's door for good... without a single other person noticing that nothing blew up.
Sorry, but Ghost Wars disappoints all the more because it showed early potential.
Saturday, 23 June 2018
Prime Suspect 1973
This is a prequel to the 1990s police drama Prime Suspect and shows the early days of Jane Tennison as a probationary police officer.
Whilst I didn't particularly follow the original "series" very closely (each "season" consisted of two 2 hour parts) I did enjoy this portrayal of the character.
Perhaps the format was just more watchable, with 6 episodes of 45 minutes. Perhaps it was because I watched it on Netflix with no ad breaks (I hate ad breaks in drama... they destroy the atmosphere).
It is a shame that ITV have already announced that there will not be a season 2. This has a similar feel to Endeavor and that has been running nicely for several seasons now.
As much as Tennison suffered sexism in the 1990s, by then she was basically a tough woman playing like a man in a man's world. In contrast, the 1973 character is still idealistic and determined to succeed in the police as a woman. That is more interesting. Especially given the insight into how her own family even fail to support her much of the time.
Whilst I didn't particularly follow the original "series" very closely (each "season" consisted of two 2 hour parts) I did enjoy this portrayal of the character.
Perhaps the format was just more watchable, with 6 episodes of 45 minutes. Perhaps it was because I watched it on Netflix with no ad breaks (I hate ad breaks in drama... they destroy the atmosphere).
It is a shame that ITV have already announced that there will not be a season 2. This has a similar feel to Endeavor and that has been running nicely for several seasons now.
As much as Tennison suffered sexism in the 1990s, by then she was basically a tough woman playing like a man in a man's world. In contrast, the 1973 character is still idealistic and determined to succeed in the police as a woman. That is more interesting. Especially given the insight into how her own family even fail to support her much of the time.
Monday, 18 June 2018
The Alienist
Scanning the list of things to watch, you are bound to think that The Alienist is a sci-fi. But it is not. It is a crime drama set in late 19th century New York.
And it is really good.
Like the Scandinavian crime dramas that I love, it has such a strong set of interesting characters that you can't take your eyes off it for a minute. The crime itself is just a backdrop for the characters to fight in front of.
And it even makes you doubt the honesty of the main "good guys" from time to time. That is a gripping drama.
Now we are just getting started. Bring on season 2.
And it is really good.
Like the Scandinavian crime dramas that I love, it has such a strong set of interesting characters that you can't take your eyes off it for a minute. The crime itself is just a backdrop for the characters to fight in front of.
And it even makes you doubt the honesty of the main "good guys" from time to time. That is a gripping drama.
Now we are just getting started. Bring on season 2.
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