Did you vote today?

Is there any point in voting when none of the political parties are worthy of respect? Still voted anyway just because it's the only system we've got and people fought hard to get the vote for everyone. Better to have some say than none at all.

Boston Marathon bombing

Boston Marathon bombing
This terrible event seems so pointless not least because no one has claimed responsibility for it. Terrorists of some kind may have done this. Terriorist usually justify their acts by saying they are at war. But this is not the kind of war most people would recognise or understand. It seems to be random acts of violence targetted not at oppressors but innocent by-standers.
As awful and tragic as this is I hope people will remember that such acts are happening in other countries all the time Iraq deadly bombings

Thatcher

Today Margaret Thatcher's funeral takes place at great public expense and inconvenience to Londoners. Personally I'm not one of those people who have been singing 'ding dong the witch is dead' since the announcement of Thatcher death last week. I never liked her politics and policies which, in my opinion, brought forth the very worst aspects of selfishness and greed in this country. But as I didn't know her and as in her later years she came across as somewhat pathetic I see no point in relishing the death of an old woman who has been out of politics and the public eye for so long.
I do object to the state-style funeral today though, especially the cost. Much has been said about Thatcher being a divisive charachter, admired by some and reviled by others; either way she is not deserving of such a funeral; her time in office is nothing to praise and after she did sod all.

A Good Day to Die Hard

In the beginning

It’s not very often I agree with film critics but in the case of A Good Day to Die Hard I found myself doing exactly that. Back at new year me and my mate went to see Jack Reacher (a film I didn’t bother to review because I had no strong feelings either way about it) and saw the trailer for Die Hard 5 (easier to call it that) and we, being fans of the franchise and Bruce Willis, decided we were definitely up for seeing it when it came out. Sadly it wasn’t very good. 

Not bad for a sequel

There was all the usual action and gun play you’ve come to expect in Die Hard films but the dialogue was poor and the storyline of John McClean (Bruce Willis) going after his estranged son Jack (Jai Courtney) in Moscow could have been so much more than it was. The most redeeming feature of the film was its length; at 98 minutes at least the disappointment didn’t last for long. 

Good to have a partner

The reason the Die Hard films have worked so well in the past was the mix of action, a man being in the wrong place at the wrong time, witty dialogue and OTT villains. Die Hard 5 had action aplenty; the car chase alone must have come close to surpassing The Blues Brothers for the most wrecked cars and the mad shoot outs were loud and crazy. But that was it. Never really understood why the action had to be in Moscow, other than to give a backdrop to Jack’s backstory of being a CIA agent because there was no use of culture clash (only age and agency of the state clash) or a Moscow cop to help out, just a load of not very convincing Russian villains and an awful lot of subtitles.

4th time out still got it

To me Bruce Willis looked bored a lot of the time (perhaps that’s why the film was short; he had somewhere better to be). There was no chemistry between him and his on screen son Jai Courtney, who I had only recognised from Spartacus: Blood and Sand (just about as he was clothed in Die Hard 5) and had completely forgotten was in Jack Reacher.

So very, very bored

All in all a poor show and I heard a rumour there’s going to be a Die Hard 6. Well I say unless you get a better plot and script it’s time for John McClean to retire.

 

Mad Conspiracy

Of the new series that started on telly this year so far I only stuck with 2 to the end. I watched a couple of episodes of BBC1’s period police drama, Ripper Street, but it wasn’t for me, and as for comedy, BBC3’s Way to Go and BBC4’s Bob Servant Independent were not amusing enough to watch more than the first programme. Much to my surprise it was 2 Channel 4 dramas that I found entertaining. I say surprise because I don’t watch Channel 4 very often these days as it and its sister channels E4 and More 4 schedules generally seem to be made up of US so-called comedy imports, life-style programmes and slightly exploitive ‘reality’ shows. Anyway for lack of other things to watch I decided to give 2 programmes a go.

My Mad Fat Diary, shown on E4, was the story of Rae Earl, a 16 stone, 16 year old girl, who had just been released from a psychiatric unit after 4 months. Rae had been admitted for self-harming and the 6 part series charted her struggle with not only returning to the ‘real world’ and her therapy but all the usual trials and tribulations of being a teenager.

Rae’s therapist asks her to keep a diary as she leaves the unit and this provides the backdrop and voice over to what happens to Rae over the summer. On the way home she runs into Chloe, a childhood friend, who has acquired a small group of friends that Rae becomes part of. Having friends is great for Rae but there are all the problems that come with it. Like her jealously of the thin and attractive Chloe and wanting to be more than friends with certain boys in the group. However Rae learns that she is not the only one with problems; Archie is closet gay, Chloe has an abortion after getting pregnant by a teacher and even her therapist’s marriage breaks down, while back in the unit her anorexic friend Tix nearly dies because of her illness.

But like everyone in therapy insight into what got you to the place where everything collapsed is hard and frightening. Rae is full of self-doubt and self-loathing and every set back means she struggles not to harm herself again.

It’s been a long time since I was a teenager yet I recognised in Rae all those emotions and self-righteous, know it all traits, that you have at that age, as well as the fear of being ‘different’ and alone. Sharon Rooney, who played Rae, was fantastic at expressing all these complex emotions and often conflicting emotions, from teenaged frustration with adults to pure joy at those moments of happiness that friendship can bring.

With self-harm being an increasing problem among adolescents and horror of how conservative teenagers can be this series although aimed I think, at teenagers would be ideally shown in schools but probably won’t be because of the swears and sexual references. Hey ho.

Utopia, a conspiracy thriller, shown on Channel 4, was a rather different series and definitely ‘adult’. How I did I reach this conclusion? Not so much because of the swearing but the extreme violence. In every of the 6 episodes someone (usually more than one person) died violently and bloodily.

Adult then, but was it ‘grown up’? Well a good conspiracy should make you think, wonder and even get a little paranoid. Not sure Utopia did and I think its weakness was the myriad of characters that were thrown together by the plot, most of whom I didn’t care about at all.

Jessica & Arby in family reunion

But leaving that aside for a moment the plot of Utopia was as follows:

A shadowy and all-powerful organisation called the Network is in pursuit of a graphic novel manuscript written by a mad-man who happened to be one of their former scientists, which holds the secret to their diabolical plans and the identity of their top man Mr Rabbit. This organisation was born out of the Cold War and allies attempts at biological warfare. The end of the Cold War did not end the Network’s ambitions. The Network can act seemingly with impunity, tracking people, killing them or framing them for heinous crimes as well as manipulating and blackmailing government officials. It has its own assassins, including the slightly podgy and perpetually breathless, Arby. Unwittingly falling foul of the Network are 4 comic-book geeks, Ian, Becky, Wilson and Grant, who soon find themselves on the run with Jessica Hyde, who is also being sought but knows what to do to lie low and is the daughter of Utopia’s author. At the same time civil servant at the Ministry of Health, Michael Dugdale, finds himself in serious trouble after getting his Russian sex-worker girlfriend pregnant, and victim of the Network’s blackmail. While the others stumble about trying to find ways to expose what’s going on, Dugdale tries to get his life back.

Like all conspiracies the plot was somewhat far-fetched in places and you didn’t always know what some of the characters motives and there was enough going on to keep my interest up but as I said I didn’t care much for the characters. Other than the children, Grant and Alice, I wasn’t really too concerned what happened to the rest; though I was sad at Arby’s demise after discovering his origins. If there is another series might give it a go…

Violent Entertainment

Once upon a time my Saturday afternoons were often spent watching some of the finest acting on telly - Wrestling. The BBC4 Timeshift documentary When Wrestling was Golden shown last night didn't tell me much more than I already knew about the wrestling TV heyday (fixed not 'fake') and the company that controlled it all. But I didn't know about how it all came together in the post WW2 years and the clips and interviews were revealing and nostalgic. Simple entertainment and good fun that was dropped by Greg Dyke, probably because it was seen as too 'low-brow' and common. Which is a joke when you consider what passes for entertainment these days. US wrestling is not the same as the home-grown heroes and villains. Sigh.

Skyfall

Skyfall has all the usual Bond features; exotic locations, Istanbul, Shanghai, Macau; a mad villain,  Raoul Silva, played by Javier Bardem (2008 Oscar supporting actor winner for playing another looney tunes in No Country for Old Man); beautiful women, Naomie Harris as Eve & Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine; plus cars, chases and lots of shooting and explosions. Everything to keep Bond fans happy then.

Apparently not. Some people I know that have seen Skyfall were disappointed. Not me. We really thought it was great, even better than Daniel Craig’s first outing in Casino Royale and far superior to the forgettable Quantum of Solace.

Without giving too much away the plot begins with a stolen list of agents and Bond going MIA after being shot by a baddie and Eve who, on the command of M (Judi Dench), is forced to ‘take the shot’ when Bond is fighting the baddie. While Bond remains missing presumed dead M16 comes under attack and this time it’s personal – M is target of the frankly bonkers villain, Silva. Bond chooses to return to London and to M, who is also under pressure to resign. Despite Bond’s lack of fitness M sends him out into the field to track down Silva – cue action, death and destruction.

I’m not a massive fan of Bond films. I understand they are a genre of their own and view them as such. Skyfall stands out for me because while it has all the Bond ingredients, for a change you really get a sense of the characters emotions and feelings of love, duty and loyalty.

 

What next for the Bond film franchise? There are rumours that Skyfall will be the last Daniel Craig Bond film and that the lovely Idris Elba may play the first black Bond. Interesting as that prospect is what I would like to see is a female agent as least as tough and resourceful as Bond, or at least for Bond to actually save the girl for a change!