What I Watched This Week (w/e July 27th 2008)

DVD

The Wire: The Complete Second Season - As I said last week, this was a show I never watched when it was broadcast on television and only bought the DVDs because the show had such a high reputation and the box sets were relatively inexpensive (£14.99). If you haven't seen The Wire and don't want to read any spoilers, scroll down now. The second season begins shortly after the first finishes with Avon and D'Angelo Barksdale (plus a whole load more from 'the pit') in jail and with McNulty now working for the Harbor Patrol. When he fishes a corpse out of the Baltimore River, it appears that the Jane Doe is a unique murder but when a container crate shows up with thirteen dead women, it appears that McNulty's Jane Doe is linked to the other thirteen and it's not too long before he is involved in the homicide investigation. I said that the first season reminded me of American Gangster and this one, with its themes of gangsterism and human trafficking seemed similar to Eastern Promises. The writing and plotting of the show is superb as the case unravels, drawing in more and more elements and characters. I bought the third season which will occupy most of this week. :D

Ren & Stimpy: Seasons Three and a Half-ish - From the warped imagination of John Kricfalusi comes this extremely odd and surreal show about a simple cat and a short-tempered chihuahua. The animation has a look of real absurdity and the stories - no episode follows on from the previous one - have very bizarre story lines involving Powdered Toastman, Jerry the Bellybutton Elf and Mafioso Girl Scouts. The humour won't be to everyone's taste but I love the madcap and anarchic content. Given that the episodes bear no relation to each other, I couldn't tell where season three ended and season four began but it's such a fun watch that you can just put in one disc and watch however much you feel like without having to worry about continuity. :D



Vampyr - Review here.
Wizard of Gore - Review here.
Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire - Part of David Lynch: The Collection with The Elephant Man - review to follow shortly.

Cinema

WALL-E - I can only repeat what I said last week as I loved it again and was equally impressed by the scale of the film. I would definitely put this in Pixar's top 4 along with Toy Story 1 and 2 and The Incredibles. It's beautifully written, has a very emotive score by Thomas Newton and is extremely well directed by Andrew Stanton, who did a much better job than he did with Finding Nemo. It's funny, moving and thoroughly involving; I laughed most of the way through and even had a tear in my eye at the end. As usual, the short before was brilliant - a laugh out loud piece about a magician and his bunny which was slapstick comedy at its best. :D



The Dark Knight - In my opinion the adaptation of the Batman material is getting better and better (the Joel Schumacher films notwithstanding). At the time, the Tim Burton movies were better than the Adam West TV show, conveying the darkness of Gotham City and the Bruce Wayne/Batman dilemma more convincingly. With Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan and David Goyer really lifted the bar with one of the best origins films ever made - really getting to the heart of what makes someone become a vigilante. With another great story by Goyer and screenplay by the Nolan brothers, together with brilliant directing and a superb ensemble performance, with Heath Ledger and Christian Bale standing out, this is possibly the best Batman film yet, but a second viewing is necessary. What makes it so much better than the Schumacher films is the realistic depiction of the characters, especially The Joker and Two-Face who are not cartoonish as in the earlier films.

I went on Thursday morning and, as I got to the front of the queue, the display changed from 'limited seats' to 'sold out' and I had to go back in the afternoon as I couldn't wait - it was an extra trip worth making. The only downside was the trailer for Disaster Movie which led to this rant. :D

Television

The Twenty20 Finals - I hadn't watched any of the games in this year's competition but did catch the end of Durham's quarter final victory last Wednesday so watched this knowing practically the form of the four teams involved. Defending champions Kent were extremely impressive in their semi-final win, with a good innings by their captain, Rob Key, who batted very well at the top of the order. Middlesex ruthlessly dispatched Durham in the second semi, largely due to Durham getting bogged down in the middle of the innings and failing to deal with the spin duo of Udal and Kartik. The Final was incredible with Middlesex batting first and posting the highest total ever in an English Twenty20 final. It didn't look like Kent would be able to chase it down but they nearly did, thanks to a fine opening partnership and big hitting throughout the innings. With 6 needed from the last 3 balls and 4 from the last 2 (3 would have done as they had lost fewer wickets) it looked like Kent would win but Tyron Henderson, who'd been expensive, sent down two dot balls to win Middlesex the tournament, a trip to the Caribbean and entry into the Champions League.

Australia vs. New Zealand - The New Zealand press really turned on Graham Henry after this as the All Blacks who, for most of the game, had enjoyed 70% of the possession capitulated in the face of the Wallabies' pace, power and intensity. With two losses in a row and with Australia hoping to win the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2003, many rugby commentators in NZ are asking why Robbie Deans was not appointed after the World Cup and was able to take up his current role as Australia's head coach - I can't wait for next week's return in Auckland.



Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito - Forget that this was only for one of the four major belts as what was really on the line was the welterweight championship of the world and the latest in a long line of clashes between fighters from Mexico and Puerto Rico. This was hotly anticipated and widely tipped to be the fight of the year and it's likely it will be as Cotto came out countering the Tijuana Tornado but Margarito seemed to get stronger as the fight went on and Cotto tired, forcing the highly rated Puerto Rican to take a knee twice in the 11th having been spitting out blood and taking heavy punishment since the 6th. I wonder if Floyd Mayweather Jr. will fancy coming out of retirement to put his WBC belt and undefeated record on the line against the titanium tough Mexican?

Evan Almighty - This had been in my V+ box for ages and, though I didn't think Bruce Almighty was much good, the trailer for this looked mildly amusing. It wasn't and is a nauseating environmental and religious message with absolutely no jokes of note - unless you find bird faeces or Steve Carell yelling 'Sheep' particularly amusing.