Review: Ashes to Ashes, Series 1 (2008)

'Ashes to Ashes' follows-on from its predecessor 'Life on Mars', this time with DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) transported back in to 1981, after a possibly fatal incident, where she finds she is part of DCI Gene Hunt's (Philip Glenister) team. Alex quickly works out that she is having the same experience as Sam Tyler from LoM (conveniently, she read his case file) and decides that the way back to the present day is to save her parents, Caroline Drake (Amelia Bullmore) and Tim Price (Andrew Clover) from dying in a car bomb.

I wonder why the creators, Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham, chose to set the series in 1981, a period when there hadn't been any remarkable police procedurals other than 'Hill Street Blues' (and at a stretch, 'The Professionals'), unlike LoM, which was set in the early 70s and could reference many more series. Series 1 also seems to live in a vacuum; the fact that the UK economy was in a deep recession is hardly mentioned, and significant local events in the early 80s, such as the Brixton race riots, aren't used much in the series.

The dynamics between the Alex and Gene in the first few episodes in the new series were a bit wobbly, as if the creators were writing a female Sam Tyler instead of a totally new character, and it isn't until episode 4 that Alex steps out of Sam's shadow. Also, from that episode onwards, other members of Gene's team start filling out the series: macho Ray's (Dean Andrews) masculinity is tested, mop-haired Chris (Marshall Lancaster) and newcomer WPC Sharon 'Shaz' Granger (Montserrat Lombard) start making eyes at each other, and even desk sergeant Viv (Geff Francis) plays a part in the investigations.

More of a conventional cop series compared to 'Life on Mars' but still inventive and sometimes surprising.

4 out of 5 stars.

Review: Torchwood Series 1 (2006)

'Torchwood' is an adult-oriented SF spin-off from 'Dr Who', featuring Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), previously a recurring character in 'Dr Who', as the leader of a secret government organization of the title. In episode 1.1 'Everything Changes', we are introduced to Torchwood via Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles), a Cardiff police constable who tails the Torchwood team back to their base after an incident with an alien. She finds out that Cardiff is the centre of a rift in space and time, and the Torchwood unit in the city is assigned to monitor and deal with incidents related to that rift.

In line with the edgier premise of the series, there's a lot of violence, coarse language and sex scenes. Unfortunately, many of the early episodes seem to be little more than an excuse to draw a reaction from the audience. For instance, episode 1.2 'Day One' has the team tracking a sex alien and 1.7 'Greeks Bearing Gifts' has geek girl Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori) in a girl-on-girl relationship with an alien. In addition, the team's doctor, Owen Harper (Burn Gorman), is bisexual, and Harkness is bedding Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd), the team's administrator. It is not until episode 1.9 'Random Shoes' that the series leaves behind its adolescent focus on sexuality and starts to, um, actually tell stories.

During the course of the series, various events foreshadow the arrival of something extra nasty out of the rift. These threads are played out in the final back-to-back episodes 1.12 'Captain Jack Harkness' and 1.13 'End of Days', where a spooky time-traveller Bilis Manger (Murray Melvin) is introduced. The climatic fight between Torchwood and the Big Bad, though, is underwhelming.

Not a good start to a new series, too much effort on adolescent sexuality and angst, and not enough on telling stories.

2 out of 5 stars.

Review: These are the Damned (1963)

Simon Wells (Macdonald Carey), a retired American executive holidaying in the tourist town of Weymouth, meets and becomes attracted to a young local girl, Joan (Shirley Anne Field), much to the displeasure of her older brother, King (Oliver Reed). King, the leader of a gang of punks, beats up Wells and tries to imprison his sister, but the couple escape in Well's boat. With the gang trailing them, the two lovers end up in a secret government installation and discover a terrible secret.

Made in 1961 but only released in 1963, this film quite blatantly exploits the public fear of nuclear war in that period (the Cuban missile crisis occurs in October 1962) and the collapse of the law and order, signified by King's gang openly roaming the streets of Weymouth with impunity, to justify the extreme actions of the government. Viewed away from that period, it's really a rather plodding film that takes a very, very long time to set the scene, overplays a very irritating song for the gang's call sign, includes an obligatory but unlikely romance between the leads, and casts Carey inappropriately as a middle-aged romantic lead. On the other hand, Oliver Reed makes a substantial presence as the well-dressed gang leader with a cane, quite possibly a precursor to Malcolm McDowell's Alex in 'A Clockwork Orange', and there are some fearful and gloomy scenes in the end.

1 out of 5 stars.

Review: The Prestige (2006)

In the beginning of the 20th century in London, two magicians vie to create the most spectacular illusions. Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) comes from an aristocratic family, and he feigns an American accent and background to avoid embarrassing his family with his stage ambitions. His rival is Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), who comes from more humble beginnings. After the death of Angier's wife, the two magicians become enemies because Angier suspects Borden's role in her death. Over the years, the two men create more and more spectacular illusions, culminating in 'The Transported Man'.

The story, based on a novel of the same title by Christopher Priest, is told in two parallel threads. In one thread, Borden is facing the gallows for murder of Angier, is told from the perspective of Borden and Angier's illusion engineer, Cutter (Michael Caine). The other stream traces the careers of the two magicians and their escalating rivalry.

Writer-director Christopher Nolan and writer Jonathan Nolan structure their film like a magic trick, where the audience is drawn into the trick (the promise), the expected happens (the turn) and a surprise is revealed at the end (the prestige). However, they have provided only sketchy information about the two protagonists, which makes it hard to understand the origin and depth of their animosity, and also reduces the impact of the climax. For science fiction fans, one unexpected delight is the appearance of electrical engineer Nikolai Tesla (David Bowie) who provides Angier with a device for the ultimate illusion.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review: Million Dollar Traders (2008)

In a another twist to the reality series format, hedge fund investor Lex Van Dam fronts up a million dollars to set up a hedge fund in London, run by 8 novice traders. The idea is that novices would do as well as experts. The series was filmed in July and August of 2008, which coincidentally, is also the period of the current financial crisis.

You won't find out much about the mechanics of trading in this series; the focus and the drama in this series is about how people deal with the mental stress of making decisions in a very uncertain environment. Intelligent, analytical personalities over-think the effects of their decisions and freeze (analysis paralysis), people used to acting on intuition do better, and those who can combine both and remain calm in the heated environment do best.

This series also captures the current reality of high-powered white collar work (albeit on a compressed time scale) where the traders are treated no better than battery chickens. In one telling scene, after one trader resigns, the team leader requests that there be no farewell drinks because he wants his team regain their focus by the next day instead of still thinking about their ex-colleague.

Both Van Dam and his team leader, Anton Kreill, come across as confident hard-headed fund managers who see their role as making the most effective trading team. You might not like to socialize with them but you probably want them to manage your money.

In the midst of all this drama, the results of the experiment is inevitable: people who keep their cool make money.

Screened on SBS-TV on 2, 9 and 16 June 2009.

4 out of 5 stars.

Review: The Pumpkin Eater (1964)

Follows the breakdown of housewife Jo (Anne Bancroft) and writer Jake Armitage's (Peter Finch) marriage, told from Jo's perspective.

Harold Pinter adapted Penelope Mortimer's novel for the film, and the dialogue has his style of using repetitive phrases, which calls attention to itself and becomes distracting after a while. On the other hand, director Jack Clayton and DoP Oswald Morris set up some visually rich shots to support the point or emotions in each scene.

Anne Bancroft inhabits her character so well that we are drawn along with her as Jo becomes increasingly distressed and suspicious of her husband's activities. Peter Finch as Jake supports her well, though we necessarily don't see as much of him. Character actor James Mason has a small but critical role as a nasty and oily acquaintance.

4 out of 5 stars.

Review: Children Of Men (2006)

In 2027, mankind is on the path to extinction because no children have been born in 18 years. While the world descends into chaos, Great Britain remains relatively calm but has become a police state. The government regularly extradite refugees (nicknamed 'Fugies'), though some citizens, the 'Fishes', are opposed to it. Some protestors take it a step further and become terrorists.

Theo (Clive Owen), a public servant, is contacted by members of the Fishes, his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore) and Luke (Chewetel Ejiofor) to obtain some exit papers for a refugee, Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey). When the Fishes' initial plan to steal Kee out of the country fails, Theo, his mentor Jasper (Michael Caine) and Kee's companion Miriam (Pam Ferris), find an alternative route.

After previously directing possibly the best Harry Potter film, 'The Prisoner of Azkaban', I expected Alfonso Cuaron would make 'Children of Men' another exceptional film. The production and technical aspects of the film are fantastic; London feels like city under seige from within and there's some tour de force single-shot camera work by DoP Emmanuel Lubezki.

However, other than one scene in a refugee camp, the film lacks emotional punch. Ironically, while the single-shot scenes are impressive, they removed instead of involved me because I spent more time admiring the technique rather than getting swept away by the story. Characters have rather predictable roles (Theo is the everyman hero, Kee the package, Miriam provides some exposition) or are discarded too quickly. The most annoying issue is that Luke's motivations, which drives most of the plot, are unclear.

Good film, lots of technical aspects to admire, but too studied for me to fully enjoy.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review originally published in Morva House.

Review: What is History? (1990) by Edward Hallett Carr

This book is a collection of the author's speeches on history delivered in 1961. The speeches address ...

1. the current feeling of pessimism felt by a once-powerful elite that sees the end of the British Empire,
2. why history is not merely a recitation of statistics and facts and that historians should try to understand what has happened,
3. that we should be cautious when using our values to judge the past,
4. how we reinterpret history using different views as our knowledge increases.

Throughout the book, there are constant reminders of how the past, present and future form a continuous narrative of human society. References to other past and contemporary historians make some parts of the book hard to understand. Carr is rather disparaging of the 'big man' and 'chance' interpretation of history, preferring a more sociological view.

Carr died before he wrote a planned second edition to his book, and R. W. Davies presents his notes in an afterword.

4 out of 5 stars.

Review: The Ipcress File (1965)

When a top government physicist goes missing and his minder is found murdered, the British secret service decides to investigate. Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is transferred to the team looking for the physicist. During the investigation, he discovers something more sinister called Ipcress.

This low-key thriller has all the elements of the "realistic" spy genre: mysterious shadowy men, treachery, seduction, and a bit of action. Sometimes, it feels like it tries to be too realistic when the agents also have to do boring surveillance tasks, fill in forms and survive departmental politics.

Michael Caine is perfect as the bespectacled gourmet Harry Palmer, playing him with the right amount of cheek, charm and ruthlessness expected of a public service secret agent. A youngish Gordon Jackson co-stars as Palmer's partner, Jock, with that very recognisable Scottish accent.

Very dated but watchable.

Stars: 3 out of 5

Review was originally published in Software Salariman.

Review: Birthday Girl (2001)

John Buckingham (Ben Chaplin), a lonely and frustrated bachelor, marries a Russian mail-order bride, Nadia (Nicole Kidman). After an initial period of awkwardness (they don't speak each other's language), they settle down to a life of kinky sex. Their marital bliss is upset by the arrival of Nadia's friends, the genial Yuri (Mathieu Kassovitz) and the menacing Alexei (Vincent Cassell).

The premise makes no sense: Why doesn't Nadia speak English? How do Nadia's friends know John's responsibilities in his job? After the interesting start exploring the theme of trust, the second half of the film becomes conveniently plot driven and predictable. As expected, the stars do a fine job in their constrained roles with French actor Vincent Cassell having the strongest presence as the violent yet tender ex-lover.

Stars: 1 out of 5

Review was originally published in Software Salariman.