Best of September/October 2014

Movies:
I really ought to choose A Room with a View, but I loved Midnight Run. I have no good excuses for that. Am I living in denial? Maybe. My review.








I've heard about The Godfather my whole life. And yes, it's as good as they say. A tragedy cum mafia thriller, it can be shockingly dark at times, but it's shot with extraordinary beauty, and acted with amazing finesse. My livetweet review.








TV:
Inspector George Gently is one of the grittier British crime shows that form a staple of our detective diet, but for the most part, it earns its drama. Martin Shaw brings the perfect mix of street smarts and baritone gravitas to the lead part. This isn't his first foray into investigation, but it has proved the most enduring, beginning in 2007 and filming a new season now. Lee Ingleby is his sidekick, the irrepressible John Bacchus, and while he can prove tedious at times, he adds a welcome dash of uncertainty to the plodding companion role.

Inspector Lewis is one of the old reliables, cranking out three more episodes every year or two. Still, this scarcity ensures fairly constant quality. This season was no different, and it's always a pleasure to return to the dreaming spires and bloody libraries of Oxford.

My reviews: Entry Wounds, The Lions of Nemea, Beyond Good and Evil.



Hannah Long

Inspector Lewis - Beyond Good and Evil - Episode Review

My review of last week's episode: The Lions of Nemea

Need a MacGuffin to inject drama into your season finale? Add a serial killer with a grudge against your hero!

Let's face it, the story is pretty clichéd, but psychopaths have a way of upping the tension in any story, and it's no different in Beyond Good and Evil.

Graham Lawrie, a Scotsman with a rictus of a face, has been in prison for thirteen years. A newly minted Inspector Robbie Lewis put him away in 2001 for allegedly murdering three policeman with a hammer. Now, fresh evidence has cast the verdict into question, and another murder with an identical method adds further force to Lawrie's appeal.

Inspector Lewis - Lions of Nemea - Episode Review

My review of last week's episode

Murder in Oxford! Panic in the streets!

Well, British panic—which means we’re suitably upset about the whole thing but couldn’t we hush it up quietly?

This Lewis episode brings us back to the heart of England’s deadliest city when Rose Anderson, a graduate in classics, is found stabbed to death alongside a canal.

Inspector Lewis - Entry Wounds - Episode Review

Sidekick promotion has always proved somewhat of a stickler for long-running detective shows. There’s some reshuffling of authority, which can often produce manufactured drama. In Morse the transition was rocky, as an ailing Morse had so little confidence in his sergeant’s abilities that he shadowed him incognito, much to Lewis’s dismay.

This time around, Superintendent Innocent has recruited a retired Robbie Lewis as back-up for newly promoted D.I. Hathaway. Hathaway is not too hip on this idea, and does his usual Brooding number. Unsurprisingly, we only get half a glimpse of his motivations, something involving doubts and faith and insecurity, probably, and also some trip to a church in Spain, and now he’s in a bad mood and nobody knows why, even him. Is this just me? It’s what makes the character interesting, but also frustrating—he is just sort of a vague intelligence without reality. Morse, on the other hand, was constantly displaying tangible flaws, and his existential ponderings had real weight because of it.

British Mystery Coming Soon - 2014, 2015

Starting Thursday, October 2, Gracepoint will hit the small screen in America. Folk have been quick to assure us that it will not be a point-by-point remake (at least, after the first two episodes) of the original, superb series Broadchurch - but I'm not entirely convinced. (Update: my review of the first episode.)

 Since my last update list, I've seen a few more things turn up.

Besides more seasons of Foyle's War (complete - here's a brief interview from the elusive Mr. Kitchen), Broadchurch (finished filming), Father Brown (filming), and Sherlock (being written) we have...