The blog
Sunday 06 July 2008
TV: Criminal Justice
This has kept me hooked all week! Criminal Justice has been a surprisingly intelligent and engaging mini-series for the BBC. Its depiction of the criminal justice system seemed real and the characters were well drawn. It was easy to connect to the accused and feel compassion for his predicament (despite Ben Whishaw’s slight over-acting — was I alone in noticing that?), although the little twist towards the end made me start to doubt everything I’d understood up to then. Unfortunately the final episode seemed to go a little out of control and felt out of place with the preceding episodes, but I can forgive them for that. It’s good to see some quality drama being broadcast on BBC One for a change.
— Andy
Tags: bbc, crime, drama, television, thriller, uk
Monday 02 June 2008
Heartbeat Detector
Heartbeat Detector (La Question humaine) is a French corporate thriller currently in cinemas. It’s a very slow paced film that seems to be going no where for a long time, but then small events in the film ripple out to reveal a deep plot underlying the whole movie. Heartbeat Detector tackles some very heavy themes, of which I will not spoil here. At first this movie looks like a dull uneventful art house movie, but by the end I was stunned by the revelations and the questions they raise about the corporate world. This is not a film for everyone, but if you’re patient with it you’ll see an intelligence in the plot and twists not seen very often in the cinema.
— Andy
Tags: 2007, drama, france, in cinemas, thriller
Saturday 17 May 2008
Live Flesh
Live Flesh (Carne trémula) is a bit different for an Almodóvar film, in part because the lead characters are male and the story is based on a Ruth Rendall novel. It’s not his best work, but still good, particularly towards the second half when the plot starts to thicken. Penélope Cruz makes a brief appearance at the start as the mother of the protagonist Victor.
— Andy