diayag Reviews

The Singing Detective (2003)

Equivocal

[7/10 · 16 February 2012]

Admittedly I saw this awhile back and am planning to get again from Netflix because I am re-watching the older TV series with Michael Gambon as the writer and the comparison keeps coming to mind. If this suffers by comparison, it is because the older series was 6 hour-long episodes, and this was movie length so nothing was as developed. Some confusion would no doubt have cleared up without time constraints. Both were engrossing and fascinating, prefer the older if only because the wife's nature was more unclear (i.e., bitchier) And MG does curmudgeon so well. Watch both if you can, and compare, see what you think. Worth the time spent.

Paradox (2009–2010)

It's okay

[15 December 2009]

The comparison to FlashForward was very apt and I was surprised a Brit made it. All the USdumping about imitation, it's payback time! Every time we go to EE's tortured face (or whatever that expression is) I have to remind myself this is NOT Joseph Fiennes - as if they deliberately were looking for a copy. Both can probably act better than these roles demand but it looks like they had a deadringer's runoff. Who is taking the pictures may also involve parallel universes, just 6 hours or so instead of 6 months flashing forward. I am enjoying it anyway, there is some satisfaction to the greater potential of changing the future than FF has so far presented.

Lab Rats (2008– )

It was okay, and grew on you.

[7/10 · 19 December 2008]

The first episode or two were pretty bad; as it went on I thought it improved. I would like to note that the criticism about canned laughter was wrong. On the Fr. Ted DVD Graham Linehan goes into the studio audience "problem" at length - the audience wants to be part of making the show a success, and they laugh too easily. The actors have to wait, timing gets shot and viewers wonder what was so funny. This show reportedly had "live before a studio audience" as an ideal; in practice that does not always make for good comedy. Editors who can put in or take out a hair from a single shot do an extremely good job of editing laughter; if the laughter sounds off, it's probably live.

Black Books (2000–2004)

Which came first, Notting Hill or Black Books?

[10/10 · 2 July 2007]

I quite like "getting" Brit jokes long after the fact- having a second laugh from a different perspective. The first was learning 20-some years later when John Lennon sang, "Her name was McGill and she called herself Lil but everyone knew her as Nancy", this was a British gag none of us were getting (that Lil was a man). Seeing Dylan Moran steal a book from Hugh Grant's used book store made me wonder if this show was already out and a hit in the UK? Doesn't seem so, from the dates; which was the egg here? The thing is, the thing is, the thing is... it's Graham Linehan (he who bought the 40 french fries from Dylan in series one) - I hope he's not insulted by this - writes American-friendly. (Though Dylan M. and Graham L. are not the only writers). Father Ted, Black Books, The IT Crowd - they would play funny to most American crowds. That's not true of all Britcoms. It's not just allusions, it's something about the slant of the humor. We "get" Irish comedians. A British taxi driver explained to me the Irish ruined the American accent; that's why we don't sound British (which British he meant, I don't know). For whatever reason, we do understand Irish speakers better than Brits. Maybe we have a common funny bone as well.

Jeeves and Wooster (1990–1993)

Classic.

[9/10 · 18 December 2006]

I agree the cast changes, and definitely the loss of the original Aunt Agatha, affect reaction to the series as a whole, but not necessarily individual episodes or seasons. To see characters switch from one role to another unrelated role was a bit disconcerting. The series 3/4 Gussie was a bookie in series 1; the original Marilyn Bassett becomes Florence Cray in 3/4. It was a monumental task, however, to put all 50 stories into one shorter body of work and this does the job well. I agree somewhat, about the accents: Janan Kubba's New York accent was delightful if odd. The mistake in most Brit productions is they don't hear a difference between Americans and Canadians. Some actors were Canadians and hence (apparently) sounded American to the BBC. I can tell the difference between a Northern dialect, Londoner and Welshman but was stunned tonight (for instance) watching a BBC production ("Carrie's War"), in which an "American airman" was identified as being from Pennsylvania (where I live) and having a southern drawl. Maybe we are picky; maybe we are more conscious because we watch more Britcoms than the average American. And maybe the majority of Englishman wouldn't notice that "aboot" is not something you'd hear south of the Canadian border. These are minor. The later episodes ARE more ridiculous and goofy, but I watch them on a regular basis. Laughter is precious; this is a clean, non-demeaning, and very pleasant escape that even the young members of the household can enjoy. How rare is that?

Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)

Dissenting voice, sorry.

[6/10 · 12 October 2005]

I chanced upon the movie and ended up watching the whole thing. Maybe that "proves" it is great, but it was more akin to being glued to the TV in the days after 911 or like watching a fire. The play was what my daughter would call "a train wreck", meaning you keep hoping for a better outcome but the next scene is worse than the last. The last time I saw anything so completely miserable was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? which it somewhat resembled. (I know O'Neill's work is older.) From the same decade, I believe; must have been a depressing time when you look back at the movies and plays of the period, like teen angst on a grand scale. I am fond of Katherine Hepburn but this was so hammy I couldn't believe she was doing it. Ralph Richardson was supposed to be a ham, so he was in character. The pure emotionalism of the whole thing was ghastly and unbelievable - and I say that coming from a family of Irish alcoholism. The touches of reality within the world of the play itself were few, and precious. Dean Stockwell was the only sane and believable character, and since his role was the alias of O'Neill himself, maybe that's how he viewed his family - that everyone else was mad. It lived up to Shakespeare's definition of life (in The Tempest): A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Maybe that is what the playwright was aiming at. If so, he hit it dead on.