Kes

Flying high....David Bradley....Kes

It's been nearly 42 years ago, since Ken Loach's radical masterpiece made it to the big screen, now all these years in the future people look back and take the form of Billy Casper (David Bradley) as an extraordinary deprived talented who discovers a symbol of beauty in a kestrel, Kes. In his flat in Barnsley where he lives, he sits with his drunken mother, who shows no love for him and his hideous brother, who constantly verbally and physically abuses Billy. He retrieves a kestrel and begins to train it, bonding closer to it ever time they train. Nobody sees his talent and his skill and cast him aside. The only person who reaches out to him is Mr Farthing, (Colin Welland), in a remarkable scene in Kes' shed home, where Billy describes nature and who it should be treated quietly and lovingly. Of course, not all of it is sad and quite a lot of humor comes from the evil P.E teacher, (Brian Glover) who presides himself as teacher, team captain, and player. There's a strong accent that you have to get used to but that's easy enough. This is a truly spectacular piece of film.


4.5/5

Dr Who. Series 6. Pt. 2 - Closing Time

The end is nigh......Matt Smith....Closing Time

The twelfth episode of Doctor Who is probably the most banter-ish episode this series, and probably my second best after, Tom McRae's The Girl Who Waited. It doesn't feature any of Moffat's "amazing" story-arcs, unless you count the last five minutes that I thoroughly enjoyed. It shows, Matt Smith, well and truly at his best, visit last year's series, The Lodger's Craig Owens, played by a very like able James Cordon. Instantly he's drawn to mysterious power failures and silver rats, darting around a department store. So instead of running off to Lake Silencio to his death, he stays and almost in the first ten minutes we see the villains of the episode, the Cybermen. I think this is a bit disappointment as normally the keep the baddies hidden from view until the climax. With loads of different mini gags, like Craig's baby, Alfie, in which the Doctor now announces he speaks, "baby" with his nickname as Stormeggedon, Dark Lord of All. Enjoyable banter with still the underlying series plotline, bad guy defeated by love. Lynda Baron has a lovely cameo as Val. Looking forward to next week.


Who Rating: 4/5

Jane Eyre

Plain Jane......Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender

It's nice to see another costume-type period drama return to the big screen, as we've been feasting on the era dramas of the BBC for a while. It gives us a flavor of Miss Jane Eyre, a orphaned child thrust into the folded arms of Mrs Reed, (Sally Hawkins), who instantly neglects her and sends her to a type of Hell school, run by several vicious teachers. The actress who plays young Jane Eyre, plays the character as well as her older self. After becoming a governess at Thornfield Hall, run by the very broody Mr Rochester, played superbly by Michael Fassbender. She is taken under the wing of Mr Rivers (Jamie Bell) in the future, and his two sisters. The whole film is run, starting from quite near the end, and lapsing back into flashbacks. Judi Dench is on top form, as housekeeper of Thornfield, Mrs Fairfax. The chemistry between Jane and Rochester is meant to be tricky, but I didn't think Fassbender and Wasikowska played their characters to their full acting potential. With some good scenes and a well filmed landscape, a thoroughly enjoyable drama.


4/5

Dr Who. Series 6. Pt. 2 - The God Complex

A major disappointment......Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill

Well, this week's Doctor Who didn't hit off. It began outside the TARDIS, already disappointing, I love a TARDIS opening and the mystery of when the Doctor and his companions exit, to see where they've landed. Instantly they realize their in an 80's-style hotel with a very unfunny irritating David Walliams in prostethics as Gibbis, a nurse named Rita, a geeky blogger (don't laugh!) called Howard and a gambler in hysterics called Joe. The lead monster is a Minotaur that is weirdly un-scary, that feeds on fear or something like that. It has an amazing plot principle, with everyones main fear in each room except sadly it doesn't live up to it's potential. Again we have the, a-baddie-that-doesn't-mean-to-be-a-baddie thing going on, similar to last week's Handbots. At the end theirs a big twist, giving the Ponds a big exit. The whole thing seems like a run-around adventure just to get the one final twist. Rita, is doomed from the moment the Doctor offers to take her along, meaning goodbye Rita, which is sad, to a point. An OK episode, that doesn't live to it's potential.


Who Rating: 3/5

Dr Who. Series 6. Pt. 2 - The Girl Who Waited

All by herself........Karen Gillan...The Girl Who Waited

Tom MacRae, his last creation for Doctor Who, was the Cyber horror way back in Series 2, has missed Doctor Who for a while. In a video, he bragged about this episode, and now I've seen it, he has the right to brag. This a masterpiece in Doctor Who history, alongside episodes like Vincent And The Doctor and The Doctor's Wife. None of those episodes feature Steven Moffat as the lead writer, not so cocky, now are we Mr Moffat? Horror writer, Neil Gaiman and of Blackadder fame, Richard Curtis provided the amazing talent for that. Surprisingly this is a very cheap episode, the trailer and the set is very expensive looking. With no guest actors unless you count Imelda Staunton as Voice of The Interface. With some really big tear-jerking performances. The cast really shine. 


Who Rating: 4/5

Outnumbered ~ Series 4. Housework

(out)numbering it's days.......Outnumbered

The problem with making TV shows featuring children in a sitcom is the ageing process. The hurdle that The Simpsons managed to avoid from episode one, by making Bart and Lisa never age. Whereas Outnumbered is different. Ben is starting to become irritating, Karen isn't cute any more and Jake is just too grown up. Tonight's episode, is a little better from last week's funeral-themed episode. It sees Sue take offence from some of the comments made by the males of the Brockman's and take Karen for a day out. This leaves Pete, Ben and Jake with the problem of the house; a hallway, "that doesn't bare similarities to war-torn Baghdad" as Sue would say, a dodgy washing-machine, Ben's cooking and Jake's homework. Sue thinks that she can have a lovely mother-and-daughter day out with Karen but instead the realisation of the fact Karen isn't that seven year old any more hits her. With Karen wanting to buy her mum tops that say, "Nice Tits" and getting her to try on hot pants, she decides that she wants to be sucked into the world of fashion. The person that has thrust this on nine-year old Karen is Tanya. Meanwhile Pete decides to fix the washing machine with a hammer and Ben makes pureed salad.


Sitcom Rating: 3.5/5

Dr Who. Series 6. Pt. 2 - Night Terrors

Are there really monsters?...........Matt Smith and Daniel Mays.....Night Terrors

Bearing similarities to an EastEnder/Doctor Who crossover, this episode starts off in a council estate in London, an ordinary one, with broken lifts, angry old ladies, miserable landlords and the fact, the bin men never come. It shows, a difficult couple, Alex and Claire (Daniel Mays and Emma Cunniffe), and how they struggle to live with their potentially disturbed son, George, played by a very irritating child actor, Jamie Oram. The Doctor receives a distress call, from George and they arrive at the estate, where they look for George for the first twenty minutes of the episode. Meanwhile Amy and Rory get transported to a dollhouse through a lift (eh?) and appear to be on the run through this house of horrors from creepy dolls that turn people into one of them. It's a emotional episode, that misses difficult Doctor Who story arcs like The Silence, and River. Although the last ten minutes is rather dreary and the actors become wooden (not just Karen Gillan.) To top this innocent episode off, there is a wee mention of The Doctor's forthcoming death.


Who Rating: 3/5