Doctor Who Audio Review: The Doctor Joins Another Revolution

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Revolution in Space, the latest Doctor Who audio drama to feature the Third Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith, is quite entertaining even though it does seem to drag on a little too long sometimes.

Big Finish Productions continues its efforts to bring new adventures for the Third Doctor, who is continued to be performed by Tim Treloar. Sadie Miller takes on the role of Sarah Jane Smith, who was originally portrayed by her mother, Elisabeth Sladen. Prolific Doctor Who contributor Jonathan Morris brings another solid script to the range with Nicholas Briggs returning to the director’s chair. The guest cast includes Juliet Aubrey, Richard James, Barry Aird, and Charlie Norfolk.

The story takes place on a colonized asteroid in the furthest reaches of Earth’s solar system. While the asteroid is being mined for vital minerals, a prisoner with growing and terrifying psychic powers is planning her escape. The denizens are also plotting a revolution to break the control that the Earth government exerts on them. The Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith arrive just in time to get swept up into the maelstrom of fear and discontent. The psychic abilities that some of the people, including Sarah, comes at a fatal price, and the Doctor has his hands full in his efforts to stop an unhinged prisoner from wreaking havoc and saving Sarah’s life.

There is a lot to appreciate about this release. Tim Treloar’s impression of Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor continues to improve. Sadie Miller is able to emulate her mother as well, while showing her own acting abilities. Juliet Aubrey is perfect casting as the villain, Zyla Kalstein. The sound effects are, as usual, quite effective. The effort to emulate the Third Doctor’s is quite successful.

Big Finish Productions usually are quite successful with the quality of writing, and Morris is certainly one of their more reliable contributors. Revolution In Space is a solid addition to the range, and many elements work nicely, but it is not really a unique adventure. In some ways, I rather wish Big Finish would not necessarily stay devoted to the somewhat cheesy, grating musical score of the Third Doctor era.

This story has six episodes and does feel a little strained at times, which was often a problem noted in the television series. Still, there is a good chance I will appreciate it more when I listen to it again. Once again, the performances and some of the dialogue really helps with forgiving the downfalls here. Doctor Who does require some forgiveness and grace in order to properly enjoy it, but Revolution in Space, in spite of its flaws, is still one of the better adventures. Jonathan Morris still proves himself to be an interesting and capable writer, and I hope he still has plenty of time to bring many more ideas to the table of Big Finish.

Book Review: An Avalanche Of Murder

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Ruth Ware’s thriller, One By One, does have a bit of an overused setting and mystery plot device, however it still ends up being an effectively hair-raising literary roller-coaster ride.

A group from a popular app company decide to get away for a ski trip on the French Alps and rent a chalet nestled in the mountains. They meet the two employees, a chef and a housekeeper, who turns out to have complicated past. An unexpected avalanche traps them within the luxurious cottage, however one of the guests has gone already gone missing, and others soon start dying as buried secrets come to the surface.

Ruth Ware has been called today’s Agatha Christie, which may be a little too generous, however she is a talented and engaging enough writer for me to not be too critical of the comparison. The novel is told from a first-person perspective with two characters alternating chapters on relating the story. The housekeeper, Erin, turns out to be a bit more than one would usually expect from a housekeeper is one of the narrators. Liz, a former employee and current shareholder in the company known as Snoop, is the other narrator. Liz is awkward and shy, easily able to fade into the background. I am not usually a fan of this idea of having more than one first-person narrator, but Ware makes it work pretty well once the story takes off, and corpses are discovered.

There are some coincidental and unlikely occurrences that are somewhat distracting, but the plot and setting are strong enough for me to be forgiving of those minor lapses. To be fair, I am like most mystery fans and cannot turn away from a good, claustrophobic thriller where the characters are isolated and cannot get any outside assistance as they contend with a murdered in their midst. As I mentioned before, it’s a pretty common set-up, but that’s because it can work so well. The characters are unique and interesting enough for me to want to see it through to the last word of the last page.

I actually doubt that Ruth Ware herself would consider herself to be the new Agatha Christie, however her rising popularity does appear to be well-deserved if this novel is anything to go by.

Next up, I will be checking in on game warden, Joe Pickett and his family, with Trophy Hunt written by the prolific and reliable C.J. Box.

Film Review: Sharon Takes Charge

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Ordinary Angels is a drama film directed by Jon Gunn, that is somewhat predictable and often implausible, but it still manages to hit the heartstrings just right.

The screenplay was written by Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig. Oscar winner Hilary Swank is paired with Alan Ritchson as the leads. Nancy Travis and Tamala Jones are included in the cast with Amy Acker, who is onscreen too briefly as the deceased wife and mother. Two young daughters of Ritchson’s character are played by Skywalker Hughes and Emily Mitchell and are very well cast.

The storyline concerns a widowed father of a young girl in dire need of a liver transplant. The bills are crushing his spirit and his ability to better provide for his family. Swank plays an alcoholic hairdresser named Sharon Stevens who is moved by the family’s plight and takes it upon herself to shake the community into helping in the most extraordinary ways. Sharon comes across as bombastic and stubborn, but she is carrying a secret heartache of her own. The motivations behind this sudden altruism bear a bit of scrutiny, however there is no denying that she knows how to get results.

The plot is pretty simple, and films like this are not in short supply. Once again, the performances really make it work. Swank, in particular, had a role that could too easily become a caricature, but she manages to show enough restraint to not go too far over the top. Ritchson, who has recently found further fame as the stoic, indomitable Jack Reacher, also demonstrates a somewhat unexpected range in a captivating performance as the hapless, prideful father who feels a bit out of his depth when dealing with the bossy, but well-meaning hairdresser who has barged in his family’s tragedy.

Everyone in the cast delivers a solid, heartfelt performance. The two girls playing the daughters were quite believable and charming. There were times where it was easy to believe that Ed Schmitt, played by Ritchson, could have a moment where he could put his worries aside and just love his children in spite of the apparent oncoming heartbreak that is hovering over them.

There is so much to appreciate about this film, but it is not without some drawbacks. Some of the circumstances surrounding the girl’s illness and the coincidences depicted that ended up helping to resolve the crisis seems a little too implausible at times.

I have yet to read the comparison between the film and what actually happened in the real world, but it was too easy to get distracted by the apparent artistic liberties at times.

The Schmitt family and their unexpected friendship with Sharon is really a true story, but some elements in the film still felt a little exaggerated, which is a par for the course for anything coming out of Hollywood.’

I do wish that the writers were able to make more use of Amy Acker. I understand that she has the character who dies at the beginning, but there could have been some flashback moments or something. Acker seems to have enough of a filmography and more than enough talent that should require more than two minutes of screen time, and I just think there could have been more of an effort to have her audience spend a little more time with her.

The overall experience is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, and although it’s not always a fun ride, it’s memorable and ultimately enjoyable.

I was also pleased that God was acknowledged in a way that felt genuine and reverent without going into some cartoonish depiction that Hollywood usually goes with when presenting Christian values.

The film has a few flaws, but the merits here outnumber those considerably.

Film Review: A New Web Is Spun

~ Peter Kanelis ~ 1 Comment

Madame Web is the latest offering in the Marvel movie collection and has been the recipient of an avalanche of negative reviews, which it richly deserves. I should have known better than to waste my time with this cinematic disaster, but I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me.

The culprit in the director’s seat is S.J. Clarkson, who also shares screenwriting credit with Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, and Claire Parker. Karem Sanga must also share the blame for the story credit. Dakota Johnson is in the lead as Cassie Webb, a dedicated paramedic with mother issues, who suddenly develops ability to see future events. Tahar Rahim plays the not so menacing villain in the shape of Ezekial Sims, who sees his future death at the hands of three young women in superhero tights and becomes obsessed with finding them. Sydney Sweeney, who seems to be the current Hollywood It Girl, plays one of the trio alongside Celeste O’Conner and Isabela Marced. Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, and Mike Epps are also included in this cast.

The film starts off in 1973, which is a pretty good year since that is when I came into this world so I can torture myself with this garbage and complain about it to whoever happens to stumble across this endeavor at some sort of creative writing. Apparently, what also happened in 1973, is that a research team led by Constance Webb, who is quite pregnant with our supposed heroine, is on the hunt for a rare spider in the jungles of Peru. She is betrayed and injured by her partner. A legendary tribe with some rather familiar spider-like abilities attempts to save her life but her only able to save the child. The child grows up to be Cassie Webb, paramedic extraordinaire, who starts having jarring visions that predict the future, however she realizes that if she acts quickly enough, she can indeed change the outcome of these events. She encounters the three young women who are unknowingly being hunted by the former expedition partner of her mother’s because he is really rich, powerful, and ridiculously evil and is compelled to protect them from forces that she can’t understand with abilities that she has yet to master.

The script throws in some loose ties to the Spider-Man canon because Cassie’s paramedic partner is none other Ben Parker, the uncle to who would become Spider-Man. Uncle Ben, played by Adam Scott, and his wife will end up raising their nephew, Peter Parker, who gets bitten by the radioactive spider and develops the powers which everyone knows. Madame Web has nowhere the name recognition in the comic book canon. This background already feels like it was just thrown in a too obvious attempt to give this addition some kind of credibility. I am not sure that Ben Parker’s profession was actually ever mentioned in the original canon since it was his death that was part of Spider-Man’s origin story.

Anyway, almost nothing about this latest entry into the MCU works. The special effects are fine, but Madame Web’s powers are not conveyed all that interestingly. Johnson barely seems interested in the role, and I have heard that her enthusiasm is not all that evident on the talk show circuit. It’s hard to blame her if that is actually true. I wasn’t all that intrigued by the motivations or behavior of the supervillain. Tahir Rahim is a handsome guy and probably has some talent, but this film does little to showcase that.

There were times where the chemistry between the three girls was almost entertaining, but the dialogue was just too absurd for them to have any consistent success at being charming or amusing. Although there are moments where I could see glimmerings of acting talent in much of the cast, it was not enough to pierce the pile of cinematic muck that was presented on the screen.

The reviews and box office numbers are horrendous, and occasionally I like films better than the reputation suggests. Sadly, this is not one of those occasions, and this film ultimately earns the almost legendary amount of bad press that is being heaped upon it. I won’t necessarily blame the cast for their performances, but I question the judgment of their agents for thinking this project would enhance their careers all that much.

Marvel movies have been taking some critical hits lately, and this latest effort may actually be the stake through the heart.

Film Review: The Joke Goes Too Far

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

American Fiction is a film that takes on racial stereotypes in a very interesting way with Jeffrey Wright giving probably his most compelling performance as a black author who wrote a satirical piece targeting how African-Americans are depicted in modern literature that was taken far more seriously than he intended.

The source material is a novel entitled by Erasure by Percival Everett. Cord Jefferson wrote and directed the adaptation with the aforementioned Jeffrey Wright in the lead. The talented cast includes Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Erika Alexander, and Adam Brody. 

Wright portrays a black writer and university professor named Thelonious “Monk” Ellison who has published compelling fiction, but he is far from being a bestseller. He is forced to take some leave after losing his patience with students when discussing racial issues. He returns to how hometown to Boston to reconnect with his dysfunctional yet affluent family as he attends a literary seminar. He encounters another author, played by Issa Rae, who has written a more popular, which in Monk’s estimation, promotes the worst of black stereotypes. Although Monk’s family has defied many of those stereotypes, it has more than its share of problems. Monk is alarmed to see signs that his mother is showing some significant cognitive decline. His sister dies suddenly, and his estranged brother returns bringing his troubles along with him. Monk then writes a novel of his own and creates a more thuggish persona as a pseudonym, thinking he is creating satire and making a grand point about the false stereotypes of black American culture. The problem is that the audience and critics miss the point he was attempting to make about how shallow and insipid this work should be deemed and give it far more credence than he expected.

The story displays an impressive mixture of dark comedy and genuine tragedy as more of Monk’s family background comes to light for the audience, and more predicaments arise. Everyone in the cast does well, but Wright in particular just seems to have been the perfect fit for his part.

There are some moments in the film that seem to drag, but that’s not terribly surprising for something in this genre. There are some complex characters, and the plot itself takes a bit more reflection and concentration than much of Hollywood’s output these days. The ending is a bit confusing and a little unsatisfying, but I will avoid spoilers here. The idea may be to reflect how life really can get. Many chapters in a person’s life are confusing and unsatisfying, and I may be missing a point by grumbling about that aspect of the film.

It’s a film that is likely to stir up some interesting discussion and debate for those that look for something more meaningful in the cinematic arts. I don’t find it be a flawless film, but it is certainly much better than many of the recent onslaught of mediocrity coming out of Tinseltown.   

Film Review: Will The Real Agent Argylle Please Stand Up?

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Argylle is an action comedy that manages to be some somewhat entertaining in spite of an over reliance on slapstick and a pretty peculiar plotline. Matthew Vaughn directed this film with Jason Fuchs credited as the screenwriter. Henry Cavill is om the title role, but the main protagonist, Elly Conway, is played by Bryce Dallas Howard. Sam Rockwell, Samel L. Jackson, Bryan Cranston, John Cena, Catherine O’Hara, and Dua Lipa are included in the admittedly impressive cast.

Elly Conway is a spy novelist who has been living quite nicely thanks to the creation of her character, Agent Argylle. She is inexplicably ambushed while on a train trip, and she is then unexpectedly rescued by an actual spy, portrayed by the reliably entertaining Sam Rockwell. It seems that Elly has stumbled onto some authentic espionage while researching for her novel. Elly also is forced question everything and everyone she has known in her life because she is no longer sure where the fiction ends and the reality begins.

The cast really makes this pretty watchable. Sam Rockwell probably has the better role here. Of course, he usually knows how to make his mark in a film. The action wavered from being compelling to getting a little too ridiculous. I guess I wasn’t expecting the comic book style of violence. Howard is pretty convincing as the hapless writer who gets swept up in this peculiar caper

The film is pretty uneven when it comes to the level of enjoyment. It’s a promising story idea, and I applaud the attempt to do something pretty original, which has been lacking in Hollywood’s recent offerings. The overall talent of the cast makes this film watchable, maybe even a little better than that, however some of the action sequences were too long and a little too silly for my taste. The film serves the purpose of enticing me to the theatre without too much regret, but it still doesn’t offer much incentive for me to recommend it wholeheartedly.

Film Review: Ghosts On The Water

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Haunting of the Queen Mary has many elements I enjoy in a supernatural thriller, but this thing just turned into a confusing, gory mess of wasted potential. Gary Shore directed this piece which he also co-wrote the screen play with Stephen Oliver. Tom Vaughan shares the story credit as well. Alice Eve is in the lead as a young mother who wants to write a book and direct some virtual tours of the well-known, haunted luxury ship. The cast includes Joel Fry, Nell Hudson, Will Coban, and Lenny Rush.

The film starts off as a family aboard the Queen Mary in 1938 sneak into a rather posh party that has Fred Astaire in attendance along with many other celebrities of the time. There are some strange costumes and a disturbing confrontation between the disfigured father and a director. It actually looks to be an interesting party. The focus shifts to the present day to a couple with a young, disabled son who are also aboard the ship to make a film to be used as a virtual tour. The woman, played by Alice eve, wants to write a book. The two stories are unfolding at the same time. The 1938 timeline culminates in a brutal mass murder with an axe.

The cinematography is actually quite well done, but that’s the only element that is consistently worthwhile. The plot was confusing in both time settings. There is a pretty good dance sequence between this little girl and the actor portraying Astaire. That was kind of fun. The film looks gorgeous in many ways.

The story falls apart, and the gore that was displayed was just too distracting and unnecessary. I don’t normally mind occasional bloody scenes, but some of the violence just felt too gratuitous and distracting. The film would have been more impactful if the gore was merely implied.

There was what should have been interesting twist at the end, but I was too annoyed to understand or appreciate the cleverness the writers were attempting.

Haunted ships and past eras are kind of my bag these days, so I normally would enjoy a spooky ghost story on the high seas. Also, I am not terribly squeamish when it comes to movies of this sort, but there was still too much blood and dismembering even for my ghoulish tastes.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Who’s Up For A Little Chaos?

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Another pretty decent yet familiar sort of Doctor Who audio novel has been released from Big Finish Productions. Colin Brake is the author of The Chaos Cascade. One big twist is that there are three narrators this time as opposed to the usual single performer. Dan Starkey, Beth Chalmers, and Rebecca Root share storytelling duties and are directed by Nigel Fairs.

Reality is about to be destroyed yet again, and the Doctor is aided by one old enemy and a former companion in his quest to unite three pieces of a device known as the Triskelia. If this was an onscreen adventure, Peter Capaldi would be portraying his version of the Doctor. Michelle Gomez would be Missy, the female incarnation of fan favorite villain, the Master. Rebecca Root reprises another Big Finish role, Tania Bell. Tania has previously met the Eighth and Ninth Doctors, and is currently living another former companion, Liv Chenka. They have to contend with other parties searching for the Triskelia, and not everyone has the same altruistic motivations as the Doctor.

Brake is a solid writer and crafts a pretty decent adventure here. The problem is that the audience has seen the Doctor have similar quests. The banter between the Doctor and Missy is amusing, clever, and pretty close to how they would be if viewed on the television set. Brake clearly knows and can replicate the characteristics established onscreen and in previous audio episodes and is able to make it seem pretty fresh.

The narrators also do well, unsurprisingly, and are aided by the sound effects and musical score. I appreciate that Starkey can sound uncannily like Peter Capaldi. Since Capaldi has not shown any interest in revisiting his Doctor, Big Finish has a pretty solid path to representing the Twelfth Doctor without his participation.

Overall, this latest offering in the audio novel range is a solid enough contribution, but the whole galactic quest angle risks being overdone in spite of the new mixture of Doctors and companions.

Film Review: No Running Or Dying Around The Pool

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Night Swim is a horror film written and directed by Bryce McGuire. He shares story credit with Rod Blackhurst. It is based on a short film they did recently. Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amelie Hoeferle, and Gavin Warren star as the Waller family who are facing the troubles of a haunted swimming pool.

Ray Waller, a retired baseball player, and his family move into a new house and refurbish the swimming pool. Ray had to retire early due to being inflicted with degenerative musculature illness. After he and his family settle into their new home, he finds that the pool has properties that are more therapeutic than expected. Since this is a story of horror, his newfound physical improvement comes at a ghastly cost. There is an entity within the waters as well as a long history of previous residents disappearing into the shadows. The Waller family will be facing a potential heart-wrenching sacrifice to feed a dark presence.

I have noticed that this film has been pretty thoroughly panned by the professional critics. It’s no brilliant masterpiece of the genre, but it’s not that bad. There are some moments that did creep me out occasionally or came close enough to it for me to find some appreciation for the attempt. The performances were as believable as one could expect for a somewhat outlandish plot. My surface effort of research shows that Wyatt Russell is the progeny of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, and he is not without the ability to give an at least competent performance. His co-star, Kerry Conlon, was likeable enough as the mother who starts to piece the strangeness together.

The background of the unworldly menace is ridiculous, of course, but not worse than a lot of other unnatural evils depicted in this sort of film.

Overall, Night Swim functions as a reasonable cinematic diversion for those of us with a taste for the macabre. It’s not going to be remembered as a masterful display of creative genius, but I doubt that it will be considered to be the bottom of the scrap heap of horror films. One could see it with some expectation of receiving a chill or two to accompany the occasional sardonic smile of amusement that may twitch across mt face whenever I see a film of this sort.

Film Review: Some Retirements Don’t Go As Planned

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Retirement Plan is a comedy action film written and directed by Tim Brown. Nicholas Cage is in the lead role as a seemingly aging beach bum named Matt, who lives in the Cayman Islands. Other cast members include Ashley Greene as Matt’s estranged daughter, Ron Perlman, Jackie Earl Haley, Ernie Hudson, and Grace Byers. There’s a cute kid played by Thalia Campbell, who may actually be the best thing in this film.

Ashley and her husband run afoul of some ultra powerful crime syndicate, and she sends their daughter to the Cayman Islands to meet her grandfather for the first time. When Ashley is forced to take some of the bad guys to her father’s doorstep, she finds that he had a secret past that led to their rift. It seems Matt is not as inept as he first appears and was at one time a government assassin. When the granddaughter falls into the hands of one of the henchmen, Matt dusts off some of his old skills to make sure he does not lose another opportunity to reconnect with his family.

There are some actors that can make eccentric characters rather charming and fascinating. Cage didn’t hit that mark here. Matt just seems a little weird, although the fight scenes were pretty good. The film kept getting interrupted by this one second flash card effect every time a new character was introduced. The villains were more like caricatures. Byers had a couple of almost chilling moments as a crime boss lady named Hector. Haley and Perlman were the peculiar killers sort of in the lead of those actively hunting for this elusive hard drive with some unspecified important information that is supposed to change the world or upset lots of people. I sort of lost track of what was so significant about this thing.

Thalia Campbell plays the granddaughter who gets caught up in this caper involving her sketchy parents. Her scenes with were her newly met grandfather were kind of charming. Most of the film has her in the company of Ron Perlman, who plays the lead henchman who kind of kidnaps her. I think I would have preferred her to have more scenes with Cage.

Anyway, the film is pretty campy but falls short on overall charm. It was supposed to be somewhat comedic, but it was kind of dull. The dialogue wasn’t all that creative. The bungling antics of the bad guys were just a little too stupid for my liking. Somehow, Cage’s character, who could have been more interesting, just didn’t hold my attention.

Overall, there are a couple of very mild amusing scenes, however this is another exercise in relentless mediocrity. That really is a shame because there is some real talent here that ended up being wasted. Hopefully, Brown isn’t kicking around the idea for a sequel.