Telly stuff - reviews etc

[shapinglight]

Hello again. A very quick post about telly stuff, which includes mention of several shows, such as Ripper Street, Utopia (which, no, I haven't watched), Homeland and JM's guest spot in The Wedding Band.

No real spoilers for any of them.



Re: Homeland, I agree entirely with this reaction in today's Guardian to the show winning best TV drama at the Golden Globes. Homeland is a pile of racist s**t. I'm just glad the plot has now got so preposterous that it's unlikely people will take it seriously for much longer.

I didn't like this Sunday's ep of Ripper Street as much as the first two. Torture scenes are a big turn off for me (and I'm sure I'm not the only one), especially when torture is shown as being effective. See that Guardian article again. I will still keep watching the show, though.

The first episode of Channel 4's new genre drama series Utopia is on tonight. I would probably have watched this if it weren't for every critic and article I've seen about it so far mentioning the very graphic torture scene in ep 1. Shall probably give it a miss.

Finally, I just watched the episode of The Wedding Band with JM guest starring (as a (mostly) washed up old rock star). I wasn't really expecting to, but I enjoyed it enormously. JM was great (the character was pretty much Spike-as-a-rock-star, but still..), and I quite liked the other characters too. The only teeth-grittingly awful false note was the other Brit character (really a Brit, I think) guessing that JM's character was a Scouser and being told he'd guessed right. The Beatles (remember them?) were Scousers. Does JM-doing-a-Brit-accent sound like the Beatles? No, he does not.

The stuff with the awful little dog was hilarious, though.

Comments

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised by JM's guest spot. It was enjoyable fluff. And I kept expecting a LOTR joke with "Precious". :)

[kikimay]

I also think that Homeland is overrated. I like watching the show, mostly because it's really game-changing and entertaining, but I don't think it's the greatest example of television. Mad Men is ten times better.
(Also stupid academy! Benedict Cumberbatch should win something!)

[ex_peasant441]

We had torture in last week's Ripper Street, so if it is worse this week (I'm half way through and haven't got to it yet, but then they haven't got a suspect even in the microscope at this stage) then I'm not looking forward to it. It is presumably appropriate for the period though. However the dialogue is far less clunky this week, and at least the 'New Discovery! We've done our research! Yay!' is something that genuinely mattered for the period and therefore is much less irritating.

I would be much happier if Homeland had ended with him being shot at the end of the last but one episode of S2. The whole final episode felt so gratuitous and tacked on so they could spin it out for another season. However I have to disagree with the Guardian (and so I guess with you) I found it a very nuanced show. Completely unbelievable and presumably unrealistic, but still nuanced and intricately plotted. And FWIW I think asking 'why do they hate us?' is a perfectly legitimate question and better asked than not. Surely it's a step up from 'they do it because they are all evil'.

I've got Utopia set to record. I'll fast forward through any torture if need be, and let you know if it's worth catching up on.

Any opinions on World Without End? The book is less violent than the first one, but it still has it's moments and if they go too graphic with the plague I may give it a miss.

[aphroditemf.livejournal.com]

I still haven't watched the third episode of Ripper Street, although I adored the first two!

Hmmm, so many people have told me that I should check out Homeland, but I tried watching one episode and couldn't really see the appeal (as much as I like Damien Lewis and Clare Danes).

[missus-grace.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed The Wedding Band and might even tune in for some more. JM was fabulous, as usual. You're right that it was basically Spike as a rock star. Loved hearing a Brit accent from him, whichever region it was from ;)

Very interesting article about Hollywood and Islamaphobia, and some insightful comments. Wish we could all be more open-minded.

[hawk-soaring.livejournal.com]

I loved JM in The Wedding Band as well -- and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't hate the show. Huh. Don't know if I'll watch again, but this one was fun.

[gillo]

Is there a legal way of getting hold of that ep of Wedding Band? We don't do Sky and we don't torrent, but I'd love to see this.

[shapinglight]

I highly doubt it, I'm afraid. :(

[shapinglight]

I doubt I'd watch it again either, but I did think it reasonably well written and quite fun. The boys in the band were fun characters too.

[shapinglight]

Loved hearing a Brit accent from him, whichever region it was from ;)

Yes, that took me by surprise actually. I didn't know the character was meant to be British.

[shapinglight]

I liked the third ep up until the last couple of minutes, though there's one scene which I suspect is a blatant anachronism.

As for Homeland, you may see it differently. Lots of people do, obviously.

[shapinglight]

so if it is worse this week (I'm half way through and haven't got to it yet,

It's not worse. It's mostly off screen, but it's the fact that it's effective that I hate. There's too much of that about in TV/films at the moment, and I've had too many torture!Yay! arguments with annoying people on the internet.

Surely it's a step up from 'they do it because they are all evil'.

IMO, that's pretty much what the show is saying anyway. Plus pandering to already existing paranoia and painting a completely false picture of al-Quaida and how it works, which ramps the paranoia up even further.

Haven't seen World Without End and didn't watch whatever it's a sequel of so can't comment. As for Utopia, just reading a description of the scene in question made me feel sick this morning. I'm going to give it a miss.

[shapinglight]

:) That would've been funny. Was very enjoyable anyway, though.

[shapinglight]

I can understand season 1 winning things, but season 2? I thought it was dire. Mad Men is a much better show, though ultimately it may prove sterile. I'm not sure.

[ex_peasant441]

If Utopia is that bad I think I'll ditch it unwatched. I have plenty to watch at the moment anyway and it didn't sound that appealing a scenario.

I've had too many torture!Yay! arguments with annoying people on the internet.

It always astonishes me how many people can get to adulthood without having thought through issues like torture, the death penalty, abortion etc. They then wander around expounding their half-baked morality and working it out in public - usually very slowly and rudely - and generally annoying the populace. Surely one of the few advantages of locking teenagers up together in schools for their formative years is it gives them time to work all this stuff out where they can't annoy other people while they do it?

[shapinglight]

If Utopia is that bad I think I'll ditch it unwatched

The rest of it is probably interesting enough, but this scene goes on for four whole minutes, apparently. I just don't see how that can be justified. Actually, I think I might complain to Channel 4, though I'm always reluctant to complain when I haven't watched/read the thing I want to complain about.

It always astonishes me how many people can get to adulthood without having thought through issues like torture, the death penalty, abortion etc. They then wander around expounding their half-baked morality and working it out in public - usually very slowly and rudely.

Most of the people I've had rows with have had very definite views in actual fact. I've just found them horrific and indefensible.

[aphroditemf.livejournal.com]

Oh no! If there's one thing I can't stand, it's anachronisms.

[vae]

I wish I'd seen the mentions of the torture scene - I'm funny about eyes anyway and if I'd known that was coming I'd have skipped it entirely. Pretty sure I won't be chasing any more - something about the writing and pacing didn't quite work but I'm not sure I'm invested enough to try to analyse how.

[shapinglight]

Well, all it consists of is an out of date name for a gay brothel. At least, I think it would have been out of date at the period.

[shapinglight]

That bad, was it?

Have to admit, even reading a description of the scene made my stomach churn. I'm funny about eyes too.

[vae]

It was bad. And then it kept going back to it. Breaking to something else, and going back to it.

The whole thing seemed like it was trying to do saturated hyper-realism, but just seemed too detached and cold to manage it successfully.

[aphroditemf.livejournal.com]

OK, I finally got around to watching that episode, and the thing that struck me as a potential anachronism was the fact that the gay men were shaving their legs... surely this wouldn't be so very important, in an age when even women didn't shave their legs, and ladies wore floor-length skirts, petticoats and stockings?!

I've already forgotten the name of the gay brothel! What was it again?

The part about the excavation of The London Underground in a recent episode annoyed me because the District Line was already up and running in Whitechapel at that time! And it wasn't electric until 1905!!

[shapinglight]

Ooh, blimey! I didn't even spot that one, and I should have.

The gay brothel was referred to as a 'molly house.' That's what they were called in the 18th century, but I don't think that was still the case in the 1880s.

The leg shaving didn't bother me, probably because I've no clue whether it's anachronistic or not.