BuysThe Whoniverse is the star of my buy pile this week (bet no one's surprised): The series 6 music CD, the special edition DVD of Remembrance of the Daleks, and Torchwood: Miracle Day.
"Accomplishments"
DVDs: William Shatner's Full Moon Fright Night Presents Vampire Journals (quite a mouthful) found its way into my collection because it's the Shat, but Shatner is actually the worst thing about this DVD release. He hosts a gothic vampire movie in the Lestat mold (bleh) for the Sci-Fi Network, which means frequent interruptions for commercial breaks and usually unfunny strings of puns from the host. At least he seems to be having fun. Vampire Journals itself wasn't as bad I thought it would be, and more or less taught me how to run a Vampire: The Masquerade game (I'm not sure how that achievement rates). It's about a vampire who hunts vampires and his battle against an evil ancient vampire for the soul of a beautiful pianist. It's not bad, it's just not particularly good. I liked the way vamps turned into shadows, but that's about it. The DVD includes an interview with Stan Lee on the most dubious of justifications, but was part of the original showing. It's Stan's usual stuff, but Shatner gets a few things we don't usually hear out of him. There's also a making of featurette for Journals, and promotional materials for New Moon releases, road shows and monster bras.
I'm not a particular fan of either Peter Pan or Johnny Depp, but I'm very much a fan of Finding Neverland. For one thing, Depp is so much more restrained in his performance than he is in a lot of other things. For another, I'm a real sucker for stories like this where the life and work of an author mix liberally (Shakespeare in Love is another). There isn't a bad note in the film, and he could so easily have slipped into sentimentalism and melodrama. The performances are excellent, the story wonderfully poignant, and the turn-of-the-century stagecraft really interesting. Ultimately, it's about letting your imagination go free, which justifies any and all changes made to the J.M. Barrie's biography. The DVD includes a strong commentary on both the film and its deleted scenes, making of elements taking the film from idea to the premiere, and some fun outtakes.
Where the Wild Things Are is another "imagination run rampant" film, but a very different one, as you would expect from director Spike Jonze. Based on the 1963 children's book by Maurice Sendak, it actually has a darker and creepier edge. 9-year-old Max actually runs away from home in the film (not just to his room) and there's something very odd about the monsters he encounters on his journey which isn't just from Sendak. No, the fact that they have very normal voices - the actors don't put on any monsterish tones - make them even more eerie. Max will become their king, but he'll make a mess of things and we'll realize that they represent some of the worst sides of himself - his anger, fear and boredom - and he'll return home having wrangled with inner demons in the only way a child can, through imagination and play. There are some lovely moments, the effects are top-notch and the monsters' expressions especially well done, but its strangeness does keep you at arm's length and I found it more touching in the real world than in the fantasy. As with other Jonze DVDs, the extras are slight and fanciful, mostly behind the scenes hi-jinks. There's the story of why animals are hard to work with, a prank on the director, a short film by star Max Records, and on-set stories of having children around at all times.
Greg the Bunny's second IFC season has only six film parodies (including Passion of the Christ and Blue Velvet), but the DVD package attempts to give you much more. There's the half-hour reunion special that relaunched Greg for the Independent Film Channel, the full pilot for Warren the Ape's Supper with Friends (much funnier than in the few minutes actually used on the special), plenty of deleted scenes and outtakes, a montage of the best in Greg's public access appearances, webisodes, a gag reel, a music video, photo galleries and making of materials. As with Season 1, there's commentary available on almost everything as well. I continue to be a big fan of uncensored puppets in the real world, and I'm sorry it's over.
I watched my Ocean's Collection a few weeks ago, but not the original 1960 Ocean's 11 starring the Rat Pack as an old WWII unit who reunite to steal from five casinos on the same night. It's not bad, especially once the heist starts, but it shows its age. It's a lot more talky than the Soderberg remake, for one thing, and is in fact as indulgent as Ocean's Twelve, letting its stars do their thing and fearing to leave anything on the cutting room floor. Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. even have extended musical numbers. The first hour is all set-up, and unfortunately, not all of it pays off. The subplot with Ocean's wife peters out before the end, and various other back stories are told, but aren't relevant to anything that happens later. I was also surprised by the less satisfying ending, even if it's straight out of the novel. So definitely not as fun as the more recent film, but nonetheless a nice snapshot of 1960s Las Vegas. Frank Sinatra Jr. offers an informative if over-fawning commentary track sometimes supplemented by Angie Dickinson. The DVD also has small featurettes on each of the casinos hit by the thieves from people who worked there, and a Tonight Show clip in which guest host Sinatra interviews Dickinson and talks about their experience together.
In the late 80s, comedies about people behaving very badly indeed became popular, for some reason (today, that's more a television thing) and the best of these was A Fish Called Wanda. Hadn't seen it in years, but it's kept its edge, with memorable performances from all involved. While I'm a big fan of Monty Python's Flying Circus on TV, the films' relentless absurdity makes me lose interest in them rather quickly. But Cleese's script for Wanda is crisp and tightly-plotted and provides a more satisfying experience, at least, for me. The DVD package is quite good too, with both vintage (1988) and contemporary (2006) material. The vintage stuff includes a Pythonesque message from Cleese, 50 minutes of making of set around probing interviews with John Cleese and a less interesting episode of "On location", which talks about the film and where it was shot. The more recent stuff includes an excellent commentary track by Cleese, trivia subtitles that fill space with non-movie related subjects like philosophy and the British legal system, a remembrance-focused documentary, and lots of deleted scenes with introductions by, yes, once again, John Cleese. The package is rounded out with picture galleries, and did I mention John Cleese? Well, for Cleese fans, let me make sure: John Cleese is in most of these extras. That's right, Meryl Streep--I mean, John Cleese.
In 2009, Korea produced The Sword with No Name (or literally, Like Fireworks, Like Butterflies), a historical epic very loosely based on real events (Queen Min's openness to other countries in the 19th century and how it led to rebellions and aggressive action by Japan). This is really a sweet and tragic romance between the Queen and her (fictitious) bodyguard, with some insane moments of martial arts action. I bought into every part of that strange equation. Su Ae is wise, centered and affecting as the Queen, and Cho Seung-Woo has a playful, awkward side that plays well against his portrayal of a suffering warrior and lover. The film benefited from being set in a time and place my Kung Fu Friday crowd knew little about. And as for the action sequences crossing into fantasy territory, I saw them as poetic interludes more about feeling and tone than about what was actually happening. That the cool didn't take me out the historicalness is a minor success. The DVD's making of is little more than behind the scenes footage and is of very mild interest unless you really want to see the performances on video, but there are some nice (of awkwardly staged) interviews with the two stars that are worth a gander.
Audios: I started a new 7th Doctor cycle of Big Finish audios, a trilogy that uses a former villain as a companion. Gone are Ace and Hex (whenever these stories take place). In A Thousand Tiny Wings, Andy Lane instead makes the Doctor meet up with Elizabeth Klein (Tracey Childs), the Nazi from an alternate timeline first introduced in Colditz, who undid her Nazi future in trying to steal the Doctor's TARDIS in the past. They meet up again in 1950s Kenya during the Mau Mau Uprising, but have to tangle with a very strange alien as well. It's a good audio story, not least of which because the unusual antagonist would have been difficult to realize on television. The starring Nazi isn't the only morally ambivalent character in the story, which keeps up dramatic interest until Klein is inevitably asked to come along. But can the Doctor teach her a lesson about the evils of fascism before she up and steals the TARDIS?
Survival of the Fittest actually starts with Klein's Story, a one-parter by John Ainsworth and Lee Mansfield. Through the use of flashbacks, it recounts just how Klein found her way to Colditz, and is quite good. Fans will be overjoyed to find a certain character make an important appearance (no spoilers for you!). The bigger story (in three parts) is by Jonathan Clements and creates a really neat sentient insect race that communicates through smell. Clements has the brilliant idea of having the TARDIS translate those smells into words (and vice-versa) and then allowing that concept to affect the story in a variety of creative ways, enhancing the standard "outsiders exploit alien world" plot that Doctor Who has done so often. And it all build to one whopper of a cliffhanger. Steve Lyons, it's all in your hands now!
Hyperion to a Satyr posts this week:
III.ii. The Mouse-Trap - Tennant (2009)
TECHNICAL SPECS: Though this episode was recovered late last year, it has yet to be released to the public. A reconstruction will have to do in the meantime. First aired Jan.21 1967.
