Broadchurch (2013)

Broadchurch (2013) Trailer

I am interested in watching Broadchurch because of David Tennant. He plays a completely different character from the Doctor. Alec is a detective who failed a case before coming to Broadchurch. He is so sick to perform his duties that he is hospitalized during the investigation.

Every character has a (dark) past and each episode explores a different character. It gives depth to them and the characters are well-developed.

Compared with American detective dramas such as the Mentalist and CSI: NY, the pace of the story is quite slow. Many of the scenes are about exploring the mental status of the characters or showing how they feel. Most characters are either mourning the dead or somehow upset with their lives. The music is very powerful in bringing those emotions. I think the first episode was quite boring. But I grew more and more interest in understanding the characters and I wanted to solve the case.

The writers tried very hard to mystify the case and almost all of the characters are suspicious. You wouldn't know who the killer is until the last episode.

This is such a quality show.

Secret Diary of A Call Girl

Secret Diary of A Call Girl is a British TV drama based on the books of a real call girl. The call girl is played by Billie Piper.

I have seen the poster many times before but I couldn't recognize that the girl is Billie! She is Doctor Who's companion, never think of her in that role! The poster doesn't look British at all! I've seen the same girl in martini glass thing in CSI:NY.

It's funny that Matt Smith stars in one of the episodes in Season One. Doctor and his ex-companion, huh! And they will star together in the 50th Anniversary special. Once stars are outside Whoniverse, I couldn't recognize them. The characters they play are so different (as you may know DW is a children's show).

Billie is quite a good actress. She can play both the wild side and nice girl thing. 

Story-wise, unwinding the escort/call girl/prostitute theme is catchy already. It's entertaining though I know things are dramatized. I like Belle breaking the forth wall and telling us the tips of the trade. We all like to know the secrets, the dark side, the tips of the trade. TV shows are always about doctors, attorneys, police. That's why the books of less-seen-on-TV-professions, such as flight attendants are best-sellers. Wonder if they would do something for accountants or regulators...hear someone yawning. LOL

Christopher and His Kind (2011)

Christopher and His Kind (2011) - BBC Two


I am interested in seeing other works by Matt Smith who plays the Eleventh Doctor. Then I found this BBC TV movie Christopher and His Kind. Quite surprised to see him cast as a gay character.

The movie is based on the same-named biography of Christopher Isherwood. A biography is different from stories as characters come and go, serve their purposes and may not appear in the protagonist's life again. That's real life vs drama.

I am quite inspired by the story and I read more about the biography of Christopher Isherwood. He was the author of A Single Man, which happens to be the adapted movie that I like. He was also friend of Capote, who is the writer of Breakfast at Tiffany's. I recently watched the movie Capote as well. It's like everything is connected.

To succeed in an area, fine arts, screenwriting, acting, writing, etc., first you need to realize where your talent lies. Then you need to find a way to showcase your talent. Not everybody can do that. That's why I admire people who become someone.

And along the way, you need buddies and friends. People come and go. But you still need the right people at the right time. And keep one or two for life.

I've found my interests in oil painting and cinematography. And I learned about screenwriting and electric guitar. I want to keep focused and be good, very good some day.

Now You See Me (2013)

Now You See Me (2013) Trailer

Magic.

Always like magic stories, such as The Prestige, but not so much for Harry Potter's kind of magic.

I think the trailer of the movie is so successful attracting people to watch it in the cinema. I like the fast paced and information-loaded opening. The exposure of the story is very good. It keeps telling you the theme of the story, "the more you look, the less you see". (This parallels the first line in The Prestige, "Are you watching closely?")  It also defines what magic is, explains how important distraction is. (As in The Prestige, the three stages are the pledge, the turn and the prestige.)

After watching the trailer, I guessed how the Four Horsemen "robbed the bank". As I watched a lot of tv shows on exposing the secrets of magic, I have a brief idea of how they do it. I guessed that the robbery actually happened before the show, and the show is just a distraction. But the details are always the most difficult to sought out, that's why one big magic trick worths so much money.

The story and characters are well-developed as more and more characters are introduced which helps building the layers of mystery. A lot of CGI in post-production, including some magic tricks, also the typical car chase scene...all these elements are typical commercial Hollywood best-sellers tricks.

There are twists within a twist. Some plots are rather baffling. How would they betray their billionaire sponsor? The most disappointing part of the story is the ending. How could the "I'm-tracking-myself" stupid agent turns out to be the mastermind who is always three steps ahead? And there's too much coincidence in the story. How could Jack faked his death? The timing of blocking the cars behind is too good to be true. And why would the Four Horsemen take the risk of going to jail just to get the entry ticket to the Eye, which is an unknown secret organization? The writers seems to have over-used the coincidence quota.

The Adventures of Tintin(2011)

The Adventures of Tintin (2011) Trailer

A superb animation by Steven Spielberg. The adventures come one after another and leaves the audience breathless. I like the action-packed storyline. It is different from a Bond movie as there is less sex and violence. Yet there are a lot of thrilling shots and car chases (chasing a bird, LOL).

A lot of the camera shots are thinking-out-of-the-box and complicated as they are made in post production. This enabled the director to creatively manipulate the shots to tell the story.

Character-wise, Tin Tin is composed and have a high integrity. He found the clues for the coordinate but he didn't keep it for himself. Even though he had a plane crash and was fired from a plane, he didn't get hurt at all.

The Captain still has another treasure buried in the sea to find. I'm so looking forward to the sequel, if any.

James May's Man Lab

James May's Man Lab - Budgie Number 35 and Tommy the Cat's Space Funeral


James May's Man Lab is an interesting show that demonstrates different skills to modern man. The presenter James May is humorous as he said, "Welcome to the non-awarding winning Man Lab". I think the programme deserves a thumbs-up for its educational purpose. I really enjoy British television for their educational programmes.

Some of the projects are cool and amazing, such as the High Voltage Festival (season 2 episode 2), pet space funeral (season 2 episode 3), and build your own bar (season 1 episode 2), etc.

However, many projects ended in failure, such as rock-paper-scissors championship (I heard of a better method to win rock-paper-scissors which was not mentioned by any of the experts in the show), search for his father's lost ring, etc.

Anyway, I love the show as it gives me a bit of a laugh. A perfect stress reliever for a hard day.

The Full Monty (1997)

To understand the movie, you've got to understand the title. "Full Monty" is a British slang which means everything. The premise of the story is about unemployed steel workers trying to make money by learning to striptease. This premise sets the comedic tone for the movie. I like British humour. Magic Mike goes for the same topic but has a more serious tone.

The characters are well developed as we can understand what their concerns are. They are desperate and need money, yet they are embarrassed to striptease. As a result, the audience would root for the characters. Gaz reminds me of Doctor Who, may be because of his figure and accent.

The plot is a simple formula. The protagonist comes up with a plan and more and more people join. They form a team and have a common goal. Then something goes wrong and the team falls apart. However, they finally manage to pull it together and perform a great show.

What I remember most about the movie is the songs. The selection of the songs are appropriate for the scenes. And the songs, especially You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate, make the scenes alive.

This is a movie recommended to watch when in stress. A good laugh would make your stress away.

Once Upon A Time

Once Upon A Time Trailer

Why do antagonists become who they are? I like stories that dwells into the past of characters. For example, Regina became evil because of the tragedies that happened to her love. Audience may root for her. This is much better than the good-versus-bad cliché. Humans are far more complicated than that. Love the psychological approach and development of the characters in Once Upon A Time.

Happiness is...

"Who among you doesn't depend on someone or something to help you get through the day?", says Linus on Snoopy's roof when his friends are demanding him to throw away his blanket.

I agree that everyone has insecurities. If Linus' happiness is a warm blanket, my happiness is a warm rabbit. I admit it. I need my rabbit. LOL

Happiness Is a Warm Blanket (2011)

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) Trailer

The premise of the movie is excellent as the story is developed with the background of the Wizard of Oz, the good witch and bad witches, the yellow brick road, the munchkins, and so on.

Oz is brought to the Land of Oz by the tornado. I love the fact that the movie starts in Academy ratio and in black-and-white. I correctly guessed that once Oz hits the Land of Oz, the aspect ratio would change to 16:9 and movie would be in color. Some audience was baffled when they see the first scene in black-and-white as the movie trailer has such vivid in color.

The plot is average because it is cliché and there are some plot holes. I am confused with whether Oz has given a music box to Evanora. Why does Evanora give the apple to Theodora? Why does Theodora want to keep her ugly face? Even Oz sees what she becomes, it doesn’t make him feel sorry. I don’t understand the reason for Glinda putting down her wand in the dark forest. Does she put it down to give a reason for Oz to steal? Moreover, the hot air balloon should have burnt once it hits the tornado. Logically, it cannot survive the tornado and land on the river. There are too many coincidences in the story which are too convenient for the writers. And I feel uncomfortable seeing the burning of the hot air balloon because it reminds me of the recent accident in the news.

Oz has apparent character arc but most of the characters are stereotypical. The bad witches are sinister and wear heavy makeup while the good witch wears white and cannot kill. It may be a rule of thumb that no character shall die in a Disney film. I almost thought that Glinda had used her magic to throw Evanora out of the window. But she is saved anyhow.

The dialogue is average in the movie with not many memorable quotes. I like the dialogue between Finley the monkey and Oz most. They are funny and I like the friendship that they develop.

I like the vibrant colors used in the movie. I could tell that most of the backgrounds are done by blue screen and CGI. The costumes and makeup of the village people heavily reminds me of Disneyland.

To conclude, this is not a movie that brings a lot of meaning to the table but a movie that is recommended for families. I watched the 3D version and it was a pleasant 2 hours and 10 minutes in the cinema.