Tom Charman

If I lost my boss’s soul, I’d expect to get fired. So surely the gang must be slightly nervous about bringing him back now. Considering how completely they’ve screwed everything up in his absence. Whether it’s Angel or Angelus talking inside the cage at the end — he’s absolutely right. But just because everyone’s doing things they’re not proud of doesn’t mean the episode’s bad, does it?

No sir. There’s some great stuff here. The fascinating triangle between Lilah, Wesley and Fred is wonderful to watch, after Angelus lets the cat out of the bag to Fred. The explaination of why only Fang-boy remembered the Beast is a clever and neat one too — quite a rarity in Joss Whedon shows, filled as they are with such memorable plot devices as “It’s Summers blood” and “The Prophecy was a fake”. Angelus is still as nasty and sex obsessed as he was last week, but this time he’s much funnier as well, which is better to see. I particularly liked the scene with him, Gunn, and the big flamethrower.

Luckily for the crew, this week they finally came up with a clever plan to get Angelus to tell them what he knows. The solution: be so incredibly crap that he just can’t stand to watch you stumble around in the dark. Don’t scoff — this works in real life too. I frequently used it at school camps to get Alistair White to put my tent up for me.

The ending, obviously, came as rather a shock. If Cordy’s been doing naughty things like this for a while, it might explain some things. Although quite frankly, if I had to choose which of Stephanie Romanov and Charisma Carpenter was going to remain with the cast… I wouldn’t have gone with the woman who has lost all ability to act in the last half year. Still. Interesting developments, and perhaps hope for more exciting things to come…

Ooooh, and isn’t Fred’s new hair nice?

Ah… the legendary Angelus. The last time he managed to loose his terrible power upon humankind… well, the last time, he didn’t even manage to bite a defenseless girl before he was overpowered — by the combined strength of… Cordy and Wesley. And that was Wesley back when he was tearfully grateful to Angel simply for hiring him. Not a terribly impressive resume is it?

So it’s lucky for Angelus that no one bothers to mention that brief run-in, and his rather more fearsome stint terrorising Sunnydale is remembered instead. Much scarier.

Of course there’s a few difficulties in interrogating someone who knows all your secrets, and furthermore is well aware of exactly which information you hope to get from him. Especially if you’re not going to offer to release him or anything in return. It seems no one has a cunning plan to get round this. Not even Cordy. She does however have a crummy plan that somehow manages to work. I wasn’t convinced. Perhaps she’s been studying hypnotism.

The episode managed to survive this rather key logical drawback on the strength of the characters involved. While Angelus proved a little more foul-mouthed and less witty than I remember him, it was a treat to see the other characters get wound up by him. Gunn and Wesley’s fight in particular was brilliant. And I found myself almost starting to enjoy Connor during his conversation with demon Dad.

Of course, it is yet another episode with no clear individual plot — merely ‘question the suspect; investigate nothing; return’. Not a particularly dynamic piece of writing in that respect. Interestingly, it was directed by Sean Astin (Sam Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings) and he does a fairly good job with an episode confined almost entirely to one room with a cage. It always seems fairly dynamic — especially during the nifty initial pan down to the basement at the beginning of the episode. Of course, it’s hard to precisely judge Angel‘s direction due to channel seven Australia’s decision to transmit it full screen, rather than the widescreen it was filmed for.

A moderately successful episode then, with not quite enough meat.

Things to ponder: The Beast once asked Angelus to work with him. Angelus remembers him, even though Angel did not. The Beast can be banished — just not the way they tried it in Long Day’s Journey. And I feel sure there’s some tricky foreshadowing going on with Cordelia’s breasts. They seem to have been mentioned almost every episode this season… perhaps they have a part to play in the apocalypse?

A bit dull, this episode.

Buffy’s still giving her inspirational speeches and the new girls aren’t impressed by things. Obviously not fans of constant danger, they’re also disappointed in the Slayer. She can’t defeat the vampire, she lets that other girl die, wants to rescue another vampire and gives pep talks like she has everything under control. These slayers-in- training keep wanting crazy things like plans and vampires dead.

All this saving the world must be going to her head. She’s going to defeat evil itself this season. That should make Sunnydale a safer place. She could seal up the Hellmouth while she’s at it. She’ll be bored next season when she’s got nothing left to fight. Maybe she can fight the principal then. He’s been looking pretty shifty and evil. I’d bet my reputation as reviewer on his evilness. Sneaking around basements, stealing bodies; these are the actions of evil people. Obviously has demonic powers, like being able to read computer screens from oblique angles, and sense when there’s a body in the basement.

A couple of better parts of this episode were the character relationships between Andrew and the rest of them and the comic relief. The shift of power in the conversation as they switch from their adult to their school roles is a nice touch. He’s doesn’t fit in and the others aren’t sure how to react to him. Joss has far too many geek jokes left to kill off Andrew, so he gets to be the comic relief for this season. I like the amount of new characters in the gang. It really sprukes things up.

When we were in English, Year Ten, we were specifically told not to finish stories with “… and it was all a dream.” And yet here are the Angel crew, flagrantly disregarding that. It is a bit of a risk to take. While it makes complete sense, in context, that the majority of the episode is cliched, cornball and soppy-sweet, your casual viewer may have turned off in disgust, or hurled their season one dvd boxed set through the television before they reach the clever conclusion.

What ‘Awakening’ really needs is to be watched again after you know what’s going on. What can we tell about Angel’s subconscious? He liked Raiders of the Lost Ark. He wants reconciliation with Wesley. He wants hot sweaty sex with Cordy (and Buffy it seems, if you listen to what he says at the end of the dream). He wonders what the Powers that Be are up to these days. He wants reconciliation with Connor. He wants Gunn and Wes to get along. He enjoys stripping asian men naked and examining their bodies. He likes solving problems with magical swords.

Amusingly, there are one or two times during the episode when Angel almost catches on. A magic sword to kill the beast hidden right under LA? That’s a bit implausible! Ah, it’s a mystical realm with many doorways, including one under LA. Fair enough, that’s sensible. Still, he’s a bit dense that he didn’t spot anything funny when the Beast just happened to walk in immediately after he found the sword, or when the moment they hit a tricky patch Cordy had a vision.

The trouble with a dream episode is that you feel on shaky ground criticising things, because it can just be claimed that that’s the way Angel’s mind works. Why did they all go through the insanely dangerous stake trap? Because Angel likes being with his friends. So I don’t have much to criticise. It still didn’t fit completely right with me that Angel would be dumb enough to sleep with Cordy. But I’ll make allowances and say that by that point, Wo-Pang’s spell was powerful enough to dull most of his instincts. Or possibly heighten other instincts.

All in all, an amusing way to have Angel lose his soul — but not terribly satisfying, simply because dreams never are. Hopefully we’ll all remember when we watch next week that everyone’s still paranoid and hates each other…

Once upon a time, making a superhero movie was not considered a really cool idea, or a guaranteed money maker. Hard to imagine, I know, but you really only have to go back to before the release of Bryan Singer’s X-Men. And it’s easy to see why when watching it. From the grounding effect of the Auchwitz opening, to the comfortable suburbia of Rogue’s (Anna Paquin) introduction, the film slides itself neatly into reality, or some close approximation of it.[ftn] And this gives it a lot more power than if it had been in the same kind of ultra-cartoony universe that the later Spider-Man film used.

For X-Men is trying at least to invoke themes of tolerance, fear, prejudice and hatred, and it largely succeeds — particularly by having a villain with largely believable and consistent goals and aims, even if he is, as Wolverine later points out, “full of shit.” Ian McKellen’s Magneto is brillianltly played for the most part, and shines in particular when confronting Professor Xavier outside the station. It’s a pity he’s given a few dodgy lines of dialogue when introducing his henchpersons — “Toad has a wicked tongue, Senator”; “Mystique … takes so many shapes.”

Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, however, is the show stealer, with the then near-unknown actor turning in a performance that does for X-Men what Harrison Ford did for the original Star Wars. Namely, being someone who tells it like it is, and approaches the fantasy content with the same level of scepticism that the audience does. Moments like his “wheels” gag (ad libbed by Jackman) and his sparring with Cyclops (James Marsden) give the film that vital spark of life missing from The Phantom Menace, for example.

I haven’t got time to go through all the cast members, of course, but I particularly enjoyed Anna Paquin, Ray Park (Toad), and Bruce Davison (Senator Kelly). Oh, and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (Mystique), of course. The direction is for the most part excellent also — a shot that still stands out in my mind is Wolverine being batted by Sabretooth (Tyler Mane) several metres away and landing in shot on the bonnet of his truck. The action is generally excellent too — Wolverine’s fights in particular being great fun.

Where the film falls down — if it does — is in the script department. There are a few clunkers, and one or two that didn’t have to be — such as Halle Berry’s (Storm) delivery of “What happens to a Toad when it’s struck by lightening.” Or perhaps I’m just a Joss Whedon apologist (the Buffy scribe was called in to tighten the script in places, and meant for the answer to that riddle to be delivered off hand, as she walked away). More fundamental problems lie in the decision to make Magneto’s Crazy Mutant Making Machine^TM lethal. Why? It undermines his precise character when he disregards Storm’s evidence — and surely his plan, even if working correctly, deserves to be foiled even if only to save Rogue? This rather odd bit of plotting strikes me as a fear that the audience wouldn’t get why the X-Men had to save the day unless LOTS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE WERE GOING TO DIE. Which is plain dumb.

As a whole, however, X-Men is not dumb, but a fun, occasionally worthy action film — with the potential for sequels to be so much more. Here’s hoping.

Footnotes

1. Minus, of course, the wildly improbable mutations, and crazy functioning of the Mutating Machine.

DVD Review

X-Men has been released three times in Australia. Each time the extras have improved, and this time they’re so close to perfect that I decided it was worth the risk purchasing it. The DVD is labelled X-Men 1.5, with the ability to play the DVD with extended scenes, and a second disc full of extra documentaries, galleries and trailers (as has become the norm). The opportunity to watch it with extended scenes thrilled me — accustomed as I was to the fantastic extended The Fellowship of the Ring DVD. Of course, if I’d used my noggin I’d have realised that that kind of detail was highly unlikely.

In fact, the ‘extended’ bit is the worst part of the DVD. If you choose to watch the feature with the extended scenes, then when you get to a scene that has an extended bit, the film suddenly stops and you’re switched to poor quality footage of the full scene, from beginning to end. Then you’re returned to the film, where you have to watch half of what you just saw again. Brilliant. Still, watching the scenes alone works alright, especially with the commentary track.

The commentary for the film is nicely done, although director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects) has gotten some guy in to help him who only seems to have had tangential influence on the film. A member of the cast — preferably Hugh Jackman — would have been a lot more fun for the viewer. But Bryan and his mysterious friend do get on very well, which is always better for these things.

The documentaries are very good, especially the candid “Reflections on the X-Men”, as well as the documentary about costuming, design and make-up. One comes away with a deep feeling of sympathy for Rebecca Romijn-Stamos after that feature — being married to the loser from ‘Full House’ AND enduring six-hour makeup application must really suck. All in all, some good DVD material — it’s just a shame that we had to wait so long for it. I’d be severely annoyed if I’d bought one of the earlier DVDs.

Movies about violent, shy people with deep psychological issues are always fun. However, they’re usually about those people killing other people, and eventually being taken down by someone fairly good-looking and sensible. Red Dragon springs to mind. So it’s nice to see one that actually allows the disturbed person in question — Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) — to find a niche in the world for himself, and the love of someone who understands.

So it’s a happy film? Well, yes, mainly. It’s also a pretty convincing look at how incredibly screwed up you’d be if you grew up with nine domineering sisters. The scene with Barry at a family do was the one for me that convinced me, after a slow and peculiar start, that I was enjoying the film. Anyone who has ever been talked about at a family function will sympathise.

It’s also a film that explores paranoia, to an extent. Barry’s initial forays into seeking help are met with failure and then disaster, when a phone sex operator (the wonderfully sleazy Philip Seymour Hoffman — I wondered why I was thinking of Red Dragon) attempts to extort money from him by sending a bunch of thugs after him. But once he finds Lena (Emily Watson — dammit, this is a Red Dragon reunion) he knows he has something stronger in his life to support him.

I should really mention Adam Sandler at this point. I’ve never been a particular fan of his movies, but he’s always shown promise as an actor. This film allows him to play the kind of character that he’s often played before — but for real, and explore what that means. And he does it brilliantly. Emily Watson also shines as Lena. There’s been some criticism of their relationship — why does Lena love Barry? Well, this wasn’t a problem for me. This criticism stems from not empathising with Barry. Barry’s violence may turn some away, but I felt it was portrayed realistically and understandably enough to make you feel sorry for him rather than scorn him. And who hasn’t wanted to beat up a bathroom every now and again?

The music is quirky, unsettling, and perfect for the film. The direction is magnificent also — the early scenes with the piano organ on the road are incredible — if a little long. But certainly when Barry rushes through corridors, trying to find Lena’s door again, you know there’s something special going on behind the scenes.

This film may bore some, and unsettle others. It certainly isn’t one that you’ll just enjoy without questioning. But personally, I found it worthwhile — and incredibly truthful.

To decide on one’s favourite episodes, in order, is a tricky thing to do. I wouldn’t have, except that I sensed an imbalance in the Grapefruit concerning tv program focus. So I will insist that people look at my given positions with an error of plus or minus five. In the end, it really depends which way the wind is blowing as to which is my favourite… I will also not take any episodes from season four. I don’t want to have to hide spoilery things, and besides, you haven’t really watched an episode until you’ve seen it on TV.

And so, without further ado, we’ll work our way up, using the same format Shannon did. Thanks to sites like The Sanctuary for rejuvenating my memory of some things. Today, it’s the honourable mentions…

I’ve Got You Under My Skin (114)

Written by Jeannine Renshaw and David Grossman, Directed by R.D. Price

We may as well get my small Wesley obsession right out into the open now. There’s almost no character in the Buffy and Angel universe that has had such a careful, consistent character development as this ex-Watcher. At this point, very early in his story, we see some hints as to his pathetic childhood, and an exploration of his confidence issues, which is very welcome. Cordy also shines — as normal for season one — in her scene at the magic shop.

It also explores Angel’s desire to keep his ‘family’ safe — a theme revisited a few times in season one — and his relationship with Wesley. “I know you’re not trying to kill me, Wesley. But you’re willing to. And that’s good.” Angel respects the side of Wes that knows what has to be done, and will do it — but this will come back to haunt him later…

Of course, one of the best things is that this episode features a self-contained plot, with guest characters, and resolution. Something that I do hope they haven’t forgotten how to do.

ANGEL: Wesley, you don’t even have sales resistance. How many thighmasters do you own?
WESLEY: The second one was a free gift with my buns of steel!

I Will Remember You (108)

Written by David Greenwalt and Jeannine Renshaw, Directed by David Grossman

This might have been higher up in the list, but then it’s almost a Buffy episode, so I wasn’t sure. It’s definitely a beautiful coda to the Buffy/Angel relationship, giving us a glimpse of what might have been, while examining their responsibilities to the world. Angel spends a lot of the first season rejecting the ‘easy’ resolution to his eternal torment, and this story shows once more that his dedication to redemption is more powerful even than his love for Buffy.

Still, I dare anyone to come out of that last scene without crying just a wee bit.

However, this episode introduced those daggy Oracles, and for that alone it shouldn’t be in the top ten proper.

CORDELIA: Oh, please. They’ve got the forbidden love of all time. They been apart for months. Now that he’s suddenly human, I’m sure they’re down there just having tea and crackers.

Sleep Tight (316)

Written by David Greenwalt, Directed by Terrence O’Hara

Your boss is starting to look peckish around his kid, and you’ve just read an ancient prophecy that says he’ll kill the brat. And this time, you’re fairly sure you read it right. What do you do? Running off with it might seem the best plan? Well, yes and no.

Thus begins Wesley’s big character arc of rejection by the man he swore to help, and it begins damn well. He’s not afraid to do what must be done, as his brutal beating of Lorne demonstrates. And he’s finally got the confidence to stand up to the villain, and to seriously embark on a new life without any of his friends, to save Angel and Connor from their destinies.

The episode is also (as I’ve mentioned in our archives) a tribute to the absent Cordelia’s character. With no one there to spot Wesley’s pain, or Angel’s weird blood issues, things fall apart. One could really call this her last great episode, as once she returns from her holiday, she never talks to Wesley again. Which doesn’t sit well with me.

Meanwhile, Angel suffers yet another massive heartbreaking failure. Poor guy.

JUSTINE: What you’re about to do to your friend. I imagine it’s easier to hate Holtz than yourself.
WESLEY: There’s enough to go around for both him and me.

Waiting in the Wings (313)

Written and Directed by Joss Whedon

One of Joss Whedon’s incredible writing/directing shows. Nicely self contained (well, except for the Groo at the end), yet developing each of the characters solidly. Yet it didn’t really hit all the notes for me, which is why it’s not so high. Certainly it has some brilliant set pieces — Cordy and Angel getting all huggy, Wes swordfighting, and everyone getting dressed up for the ballet. A very smart and clever episode.

Sadly, it began the most cloyingly sugar sweet relationship ever seen — Gunn and Fred. So it loses valuable points.

CORDY: You know, there was a time when you thought I was the loveliest thing in the world.
WESLEY: Well, I… you’re an extraordinary woman! I —
CORDY: At ease, soldier. Just like to hear it every now and then. I was the ditsiest bitch in Sunnydale, coulda had any man I wanted; now I’m all superhero-y and the best action I can get is an invisible ghost who’s good with a Loofah.

Continued in Part Two…

So, it’s another of those ‘arc-moving’ episodes. In the case of the last few episodes, they’ve been genuinely exciting, fast-moving and involving in a self contained way. But sometimes you get an episode that contains more exposition than story. And this is one of them. It seems no sooner have we heard of the Ra-Tet than they’ve all been munched. I can’t help feeling that it would have been more dramatic to establish the Ra-Tet in an earlier episode. But this is ultimately minor quibbling.

Perhaps my problem with the episode was the depressing fact that the team achieve virtually nothing — they don’t save the Ra-Tet, they don’t stop the sun from going out. Useless bunch. At least they did manage to send the Beast through that portal. I loved his re-entrance.

And it was nice to see Gwen again, especially to give Angel someone to spark off a little — it’s much more fun to watch than him being grumpy. The ‘super-powered’ pair in many scenes were the only ones keeping me interested. However it must be said that the cliffhanger was pretty intriguing too — we now have a solution to “The answer is among you”. And I was SO SURE it was Gunn.

Basically, my problem with the episode was that it was dull. But if they’re reintroducing Angelus soon, then this may no longer be a problem.

Hmmm. This isn’t turning out to be a ‘happy’ season of Angel, is it? Last week, we had a rain of fire and the complete defeat of our heroes. This week we had the mass slaughter of folks who, while not innocent, were almost certainly not evil enough to deserve what they got. Although Gavin did, for his heinous crimes against believable acting in the past.

Tensions in Angel Investigations are still running high, and this is generally entertaining. Though Wesley and Fred’s willingness to leave Gunn to fight off a dozen zombies was puzzling. As was his subsequent, miraculous survival. Angel’s tantrum over Connor and Cordy’s horizontal mambo was fun too.

As for plot this week… well, there wasn’t really much of one. Big Monster go Wolfram and Hart, kill many and strange girl. But this was nevertheless well presented and occasionally scary — especially with Lilah, one of the few ‘expendable’ characters, running from the Beast. There were still problems — despite Angel (and Wesley, one assumes) knowing to decapitate zombies to kill them, the gang seemed remarkably keen to hit them repeatedly with the blunt ends of their weapons, as well as fists and feet.

Regardless of the odd logical miss, the episode advanced the main plot nicely, if not actually doing very much itself. And we’re still left with a very evil nasty wandering around.

Things to ponder: How did the Beast know Connor’s name? Did he raise the corpses, or was it a Wolfram and Hart safety measure? Is this truly the end for Wolfram and Hart? And what does the girl mean when she says "The answer is among you…"?

The trouble with reviewing things that friends perform in, is that if you want to bag it it gets tricky. However, Shannon was in tech crew for this one, and not officially involved artistically, so strictly speaking I’m free to rubbish it. Also, this is my first ‘high class’ review, and I may show my ignorance at any or all points as I review a play by a man demonstrably far cleverer than I.

I say demonstrably, because Arcadia is a brilliant play.

It deals (in part at least) with the opposition between personality and progress, between the intrigues of the individual and the mathematics of the universe. Straddling two time periods — and it’s well known that everything worth reading or seeing straddles at least two time periods — it explores both a tragic love story with science at its centre and the struggles of people in the present to understand the events in the past. The intelligent script hardly waits for the audience to catch up, and certainly never patronises them, as it lets us spot links and the answers to riddles with little signposting.

It also engages quite openly and in depth with many mathematical and physical concepts. This is a fairly brave step, and one I’m not in a position to judge the success of, having studied all the concepts investigated. I can’t be sure that the maths wouldn’t be alienating or irritating to a non-mathematically inclined person. It certainly worked for me.

The play gets more dramatic in the second half, where we see the characters from both time periods overlap, sharing the same space yet not interacting — with the enigmatic exception of Gus Coverly (Robert Edwards). This manages to notch up the tension and excitement without actually affecting the narrative, and leads up nicely to the melancholy final scene of Gus and Hannah dancing alongside Septimus and Thomasina.

The characters are all brilliantly drawn — and was only enhanced by the acting in the Leonardian Players’ performance. James Martin stole all his scenes as the dry Septimus Hodge, though Isabelle Brennan held her own as a pretty believable genius. Both managed to make their attraction at the end transcend age boundaries and the tutor/student relationship. Nathan Bell’s Ezra Chater was completely over the top, and went rather against the atmosphere of the piece… but then, I can’t imagine that anyone expected him to do it differently.

In the present, Kate Shearman’s affected accent as Hannah confirmed my suspicions that she is, in fact, a clone of Kate Winslet. Her anger and awkwardness were brilliantly shown. David Palliser’s sleazy, arrogant academic played against her wonderfully, and the scenes between the two were hilarious: “I was looking between her legs and saw something that reminded me of you.” Nick Stein, as usual, turned in an eccentric yet empathic performance, and Erica Johnson assumed the role of the flirty Chloe very well indeed. If there was any main criticism of the players, it was that initially many of the lines were somewhat hurried. But as the audience laughed more and more they became far more relaxed, and this became far less of a problem.

There was a funny blue screen with moving stuff in it that I think was supposed to be a window. The patterns of clouds kept on changing, but for the life of me I couldn’t actually SEE them change. This was a source of constant frustration for me. It was hard to notice the direction, but the trickier scenes were done flawlessly, so someone must have been organised somewhere…

A fascinating play, and a cut above average for the Leonardian Players.