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Nov. 27th, 2023 08:24 amTook today off, which turned out to be a good idea. Per my work email - it would have been a slow day anyhow.
1. Doctor Who Special - this is currently airing on Disney + in the US.
[Also, it should be mentioned that Disney doesn't just have distribution rights, it's also co-producing the series with the BBC. Which means, there's more money involved. Disney and BBC join forces for Doctor Who.
This is very different than the previous situation - where BBC and BBCAmerica aired it, along with AMC. I'm not sure a lot of folks online understand the ramifications of this deal? It means Disney has a say in the creative decision making. And by the way - they also have the money to back it up.
"Under a shared creative vision, they will deliver this quintessentially British show to future generations on an unprecedented scale with Disney+ as the exclusive home for new seasons of Doctor Who outside the UK and Ireland. The announcement – which was made this morning by the next Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa, during an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan - begins a new collaboration between BBC and Disney Branded Television.
Both partners have aligned under returning showrunner Russell T Davies' bold vision, who takes control of the TARDIS in 2023. He was responsible for Doctor Who's revival in 2005 and is credited with propelling the show into one of TV's biggest hits.
The new episodes will premiere on the BBC and Disney+ beginning in late 2023 for fans all over the world.
The show will be produced in Wales by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios Production."]
This episode clearly demonstrates that financial input. ( vague spoilers )
If you are on the fence about seeing the episode, because of lingering issues over how RT Davies split up Donna and Ten, don't be. Davies redeems himself and resolves that plot line. They also do a good job of explaining the return of David Tennant in the role of The Doctor, along with Catherine Tate as Donna Noble.
The Doctor Who that I'd enjoyed most is finally back. It's funny in places. The dialogue for the most part crackles and pops. There's less moralizing and pontificating, and more lively banter. Tennant has always been entertaining in this role and jumps back into it with ease - he's among the few who can jump from serious to comedic with barely a shrug. The other Doctors always seemed to be more comfortable with the serious and ill at ease with the comedic. That was my difficulty with the last Doctor, neither the writer nor the actor playing the role seemed that adept with comedy. And Doctor Who is more of a dramedy than a straight drama, or it appears, for the most part, to work best - when it's not taking itself too seriously. The difficulty with the last season of Doctor Who wasn't a female doctor, actually that was the one bright spot in that season, or the diverse companions, also among the few bright spots. No, it was the shoddy and overly ponderous writing. Too much pontificating and moralizing. Too somber. Not enough lively banter, sight gags, and comedy. The writer and the actors were taking themselves a wee bit too seriously. And I got bored, as did most of the audience.
That's not to say the moral themes aren't still there - they are, just with a bit more of a wink and a giggle, than a glower.
It's the first time I laughed during an episode in a long time. Also, RT Davies does a good job of clarifying that the Doctor is both male and female or non-binary - which means, another actress could easily play the role down the road. (I honestly think the last actress was miscast in it, and it should have been a more comedic actress like Vanessa Kirby, but that's just me.)
( spoilers )
Overall, one of the more enjoyable episodes of the series - to date.
Welcome back, RT Davies, David Tennant, Catherine Tate and Doctor Who.
2. The Fall of the House of Usher
Streaming on Netflix. By Mike Flanagan. Starring Mary McConnell, Carla Guigoni, Bruce Greenwood, Mark Hamill, Henry Thomas...
Completed this yesterday as well. The final episode wraps around to the first one, nicely. We start with the Cask of the Armontildillo and end with it - with the back story of how Madeline and Roderick took over their father's firm coming front and center.
And it is through Pym and Roderick that we get an explanation as to who Verna truly is, and why she's doing what she's doing.
A deal with the proverbial devil indeed.
Overall, not a bad series. It's not quite as good or effective as either The Haunting of Hill House or House of Bly Manor. Lacks the sympathetic characters or for that matter the layered character development of earlier series adaptations. In part this is the fault of the source material - Edgar Allen Poe isn't exactly known for character development, it's usually the plot mechanics that he's known for and the flowery language (which was basically how everyone wrote during that particular time period). Jackson and James were more into character development than Poe.
But, it does make up for it - in clever tidbits of satire. At times on the preachy side - yes, yes, we know the ophoid pandemic has killed millions. Evil corporations. Got it. Let's move on, please. Flanagan does a tad too much of hammering that particular point home, often at the sake of his characters. I don't really care about any of them, including the allegedly nice ones. I should care about Annabelle, Dupis, Lenore, and Morella - but alas, I do not. And they are barely on screen and when they are - we get
The only characters that stand out are Pym, Madeline, Roderick and Verna - in part due to the acting. Hamil is almost unrecognizable as Pym, and manages to take his voice down to a hollow rasp. He's become quite the character actor. McConnell equally imbues Madeline, with both sharpness and vulnerability - and her character may well be the most developed, along with the actress who performs her in flashbacks. Roderick is well played by Greenwood, who brings a bitter pathos to the role.
But this is a problem - because we should care or be more horrified what happens to the characters. Then again, maybe not? The deaths are shown as almost laughable or satiric in their extremes. All caused in part by the characters own stupidity, and self-absorption. While this works well on a thematic and intellectual level - it doesn't quite resonate on an emotional one, which is my difficulty with it.
It should be noted that I'm familiar with the source material - Edgar Allen Poe's short stories and poetry, which helped. I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed it - if it weren't for my familiarity with the source material.
3. All the Light We Cannot See - starring Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie, among others. Adapted from the book of the same name, and it is a "limited series or mini-series" with only four episodes. Streaming on Netflix.
I've not read the book, so cannot comment on it. Based solely on the film? I was somewhat disappointed by it. No one had a French accent, they had German accents, and British accents, and there was an American French accent but no French accents. And most of the characters were French. I got confused, are they French or Brits living in France?
This annoyance aside. I found it a bit muddled and at times overtly sentimental. Watched it mainly for Ruffalo and Laurie working together, also was intrigued by the French Resistance Radio Broadcaster/German Solider Radio Expert Romance advertised. Ruffalo and Laurie are on screen together for about twenty minutes of the four hours. And barely say anything. Both kind of phone it in - and seem to be more of background, which is a shame - considering no one else truly shines. The blind girl - we had to be reminded was blind. The actress struggled a bit with it, I think? There's a lot of nasty Nazis and bullying by Nazis, which takes up a good portion of the series, and I kind of fast-forwarded through at one point. The villains are a bit too one note, almost comically so. (Which is kind par for the course with Nazis.)
The series has a good thematic arc, and could have worked with some tweaking. Less time spent with the villainous and ultimately boring Nazi villain, who has become obsessed with the cursed Sea of Flames stone as a cure-all and a bit more time spent developing the romance between the two leads. And how one is searching for the other. This trope works best if he finds her, doesn't know it, falls for her, then struggles with turning her into the villain, etc. What I did appreciate about it - was that they allow for the most part - Marie, the lead, to save herself. No one really comes to her rescue - although they try to.
It's okay. I can see why it's kind of disappeared and no one has really raved about it much. It kind of falls flat.
4. Great British Bake Off Season 1
Well, I understand why they made so many changes to the series by the second season. The big changes?
( Read more... )
Currently streaming on Roku Channel with ads.
***
My Name is Barbara Audiobook - well, I was right - Streisand chose never to appear on the Broadway stage again - after Funny Girl. Her traumatic experience with Sydney Chaplin (who verbally and sexually harassed her during every performance for six months until they finally got rid of him) and Stark (who didn't help and waited far too long to intervene and kept changing directors on them), kind of ruined Broadway for her - along with performing on stage. She had no way of knowing what her co-star would do whenever they were on stage - how he might try to undercut her performance, sabotage it, or sabotage the play. That fear - and the judgement she felt as a result of Chaplin's ongoing harassment and Stark's enabling behavior - lead to her stage fright. She learned a lot from Funny Girl - but quickly realized that there were other creative outlets, that did not result in severe anxiety, where she had more control over the process and could play a greater variety of characters. She states in the book that when she completed her Broadway run in 1964, she felt like she'd finally been released from the prison of Funny Girl. And could move on to better and more productive collaborative efforts. While she'd enjoyed working with Jerome Robbins, it had been a grueling project and she was happy to be free of it.
While she was doing Funny Girl? She produced, acted in, and sang in a television variety special, and produced two separate albums. She did these as side projects to distract her from Funny Girl - which she was not enjoying.
***
My right hip is bugging me a little - I think I may be sleeping on it wrong? Will work on that - also try some yoga moves.
1. Doctor Who Special - this is currently airing on Disney + in the US.
[Also, it should be mentioned that Disney doesn't just have distribution rights, it's also co-producing the series with the BBC. Which means, there's more money involved. Disney and BBC join forces for Doctor Who.
This is very different than the previous situation - where BBC and BBCAmerica aired it, along with AMC. I'm not sure a lot of folks online understand the ramifications of this deal? It means Disney has a say in the creative decision making. And by the way - they also have the money to back it up.
"Under a shared creative vision, they will deliver this quintessentially British show to future generations on an unprecedented scale with Disney+ as the exclusive home for new seasons of Doctor Who outside the UK and Ireland. The announcement – which was made this morning by the next Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa, during an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan - begins a new collaboration between BBC and Disney Branded Television.
Both partners have aligned under returning showrunner Russell T Davies' bold vision, who takes control of the TARDIS in 2023. He was responsible for Doctor Who's revival in 2005 and is credited with propelling the show into one of TV's biggest hits.
The new episodes will premiere on the BBC and Disney+ beginning in late 2023 for fans all over the world.
The show will be produced in Wales by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios Production."]
This episode clearly demonstrates that financial input. ( vague spoilers )
If you are on the fence about seeing the episode, because of lingering issues over how RT Davies split up Donna and Ten, don't be. Davies redeems himself and resolves that plot line. They also do a good job of explaining the return of David Tennant in the role of The Doctor, along with Catherine Tate as Donna Noble.
The Doctor Who that I'd enjoyed most is finally back. It's funny in places. The dialogue for the most part crackles and pops. There's less moralizing and pontificating, and more lively banter. Tennant has always been entertaining in this role and jumps back into it with ease - he's among the few who can jump from serious to comedic with barely a shrug. The other Doctors always seemed to be more comfortable with the serious and ill at ease with the comedic. That was my difficulty with the last Doctor, neither the writer nor the actor playing the role seemed that adept with comedy. And Doctor Who is more of a dramedy than a straight drama, or it appears, for the most part, to work best - when it's not taking itself too seriously. The difficulty with the last season of Doctor Who wasn't a female doctor, actually that was the one bright spot in that season, or the diverse companions, also among the few bright spots. No, it was the shoddy and overly ponderous writing. Too much pontificating and moralizing. Too somber. Not enough lively banter, sight gags, and comedy. The writer and the actors were taking themselves a wee bit too seriously. And I got bored, as did most of the audience.
That's not to say the moral themes aren't still there - they are, just with a bit more of a wink and a giggle, than a glower.
It's the first time I laughed during an episode in a long time. Also, RT Davies does a good job of clarifying that the Doctor is both male and female or non-binary - which means, another actress could easily play the role down the road. (I honestly think the last actress was miscast in it, and it should have been a more comedic actress like Vanessa Kirby, but that's just me.)
( spoilers )
Overall, one of the more enjoyable episodes of the series - to date.
Welcome back, RT Davies, David Tennant, Catherine Tate and Doctor Who.
2. The Fall of the House of Usher
Streaming on Netflix. By Mike Flanagan. Starring Mary McConnell, Carla Guigoni, Bruce Greenwood, Mark Hamill, Henry Thomas...
Completed this yesterday as well. The final episode wraps around to the first one, nicely. We start with the Cask of the Armontildillo and end with it - with the back story of how Madeline and Roderick took over their father's firm coming front and center.
And it is through Pym and Roderick that we get an explanation as to who Verna truly is, and why she's doing what she's doing.
A deal with the proverbial devil indeed.
Overall, not a bad series. It's not quite as good or effective as either The Haunting of Hill House or House of Bly Manor. Lacks the sympathetic characters or for that matter the layered character development of earlier series adaptations. In part this is the fault of the source material - Edgar Allen Poe isn't exactly known for character development, it's usually the plot mechanics that he's known for and the flowery language (which was basically how everyone wrote during that particular time period). Jackson and James were more into character development than Poe.
But, it does make up for it - in clever tidbits of satire. At times on the preachy side - yes, yes, we know the ophoid pandemic has killed millions. Evil corporations. Got it. Let's move on, please. Flanagan does a tad too much of hammering that particular point home, often at the sake of his characters. I don't really care about any of them, including the allegedly nice ones. I should care about Annabelle, Dupis, Lenore, and Morella - but alas, I do not. And they are barely on screen and when they are - we get
The only characters that stand out are Pym, Madeline, Roderick and Verna - in part due to the acting. Hamil is almost unrecognizable as Pym, and manages to take his voice down to a hollow rasp. He's become quite the character actor. McConnell equally imbues Madeline, with both sharpness and vulnerability - and her character may well be the most developed, along with the actress who performs her in flashbacks. Roderick is well played by Greenwood, who brings a bitter pathos to the role.
But this is a problem - because we should care or be more horrified what happens to the characters. Then again, maybe not? The deaths are shown as almost laughable or satiric in their extremes. All caused in part by the characters own stupidity, and self-absorption. While this works well on a thematic and intellectual level - it doesn't quite resonate on an emotional one, which is my difficulty with it.
It should be noted that I'm familiar with the source material - Edgar Allen Poe's short stories and poetry, which helped. I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed it - if it weren't for my familiarity with the source material.
3. All the Light We Cannot See - starring Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie, among others. Adapted from the book of the same name, and it is a "limited series or mini-series" with only four episodes. Streaming on Netflix.
I've not read the book, so cannot comment on it. Based solely on the film? I was somewhat disappointed by it. No one had a French accent, they had German accents, and British accents, and there was an American French accent but no French accents. And most of the characters were French. I got confused, are they French or Brits living in France?
This annoyance aside. I found it a bit muddled and at times overtly sentimental. Watched it mainly for Ruffalo and Laurie working together, also was intrigued by the French Resistance Radio Broadcaster/German Solider Radio Expert Romance advertised. Ruffalo and Laurie are on screen together for about twenty minutes of the four hours. And barely say anything. Both kind of phone it in - and seem to be more of background, which is a shame - considering no one else truly shines. The blind girl - we had to be reminded was blind. The actress struggled a bit with it, I think? There's a lot of nasty Nazis and bullying by Nazis, which takes up a good portion of the series, and I kind of fast-forwarded through at one point. The villains are a bit too one note, almost comically so. (Which is kind par for the course with Nazis.)
The series has a good thematic arc, and could have worked with some tweaking. Less time spent with the villainous and ultimately boring Nazi villain, who has become obsessed with the cursed Sea of Flames stone as a cure-all and a bit more time spent developing the romance between the two leads. And how one is searching for the other. This trope works best if he finds her, doesn't know it, falls for her, then struggles with turning her into the villain, etc. What I did appreciate about it - was that they allow for the most part - Marie, the lead, to save herself. No one really comes to her rescue - although they try to.
It's okay. I can see why it's kind of disappeared and no one has really raved about it much. It kind of falls flat.
4. Great British Bake Off Season 1
Well, I understand why they made so many changes to the series by the second season. The big changes?
( Read more... )
Currently streaming on Roku Channel with ads.
***
My Name is Barbara Audiobook - well, I was right - Streisand chose never to appear on the Broadway stage again - after Funny Girl. Her traumatic experience with Sydney Chaplin (who verbally and sexually harassed her during every performance for six months until they finally got rid of him) and Stark (who didn't help and waited far too long to intervene and kept changing directors on them), kind of ruined Broadway for her - along with performing on stage. She had no way of knowing what her co-star would do whenever they were on stage - how he might try to undercut her performance, sabotage it, or sabotage the play. That fear - and the judgement she felt as a result of Chaplin's ongoing harassment and Stark's enabling behavior - lead to her stage fright. She learned a lot from Funny Girl - but quickly realized that there were other creative outlets, that did not result in severe anxiety, where she had more control over the process and could play a greater variety of characters. She states in the book that when she completed her Broadway run in 1964, she felt like she'd finally been released from the prison of Funny Girl. And could move on to better and more productive collaborative efforts. While she'd enjoyed working with Jerome Robbins, it had been a grueling project and she was happy to be free of it.
While she was doing Funny Girl? She produced, acted in, and sang in a television variety special, and produced two separate albums. She did these as side projects to distract her from Funny Girl - which she was not enjoying.
***
My right hip is bugging me a little - I think I may be sleeping on it wrong? Will work on that - also try some yoga moves.