We Hate Water!

One of a mess of episodes. We were trying to do something more useful to the overall bigger plot, but by the time we finally get somewhere useful, we are out of time for doing anything.

Eh, I'm not sure the title is that funny, but it's what tickled our amusement at the time.

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Fourth PROBEing

This is a sequel to a previous story, so yeah, it's Mark Gatiss writing it again.

In the previous story a chap failed to perform a ritual to bring back a dead ancestor. Guess what happens here? It's that, plus some padding scenes that don't amount to anything and don't progress anything interesting.

A "damp squib" of a story, as they say. For some reason, Liz Shaw is even more into the occult now, taking part in rituals, not just saying "they believe in it so let's use that", now it's "let's use this book to summon a spirit". Science? What's that then?

We do get a lot of returning cast, with repeat characters (and a convenient twin sister to allow one actress back), although Mark Gatiss doesn't grace us with his janitor character (probably didn't want to shave his head again).

There are other P.R.O.B.E. stories that came out much later, but this is it for the late 90s. If I get a hold of the others, we'll see...

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The King Sman

Did we need a prequel? No? When did that ever stop anyone.

When his wife dies, a dad grows up protecting his son from the world. Where that dad is the Duke of Oxford and the world is heading into 1914 and there's a bad of Evil Bad Guys that want a war. So you know, relatable. And while the war is going to happen (unlike other directors and revisionist history, Matthew Vaughn actually keeps some facts), but there is also a group to fight to allow for the good guys to step in. So yay!

This was long, and it felt it. And there's a whole section in the middle that could have been lifted out. It provided some minor character and plot development, but the size of that piece outstayed its welcome. Aside from a fun whirling dervish sequence, I can't say that the fights were that amazing either (especially when compared to the earlier movies... which I will go back and rewatch soon).

Not a terrible time, but I can't say that you shouldn't wait for the VOD.

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Third PROBEing

I assume Mark Gatiss wrote all of these. Certainly three for three so far.

Pretend you are dealing with "the next stage of evolution". Actually do Frankenstein's Monster instead, and have a strange creature go around getting body parts out of people to repair another. Realise it doesn't work and die of lead poisoning...

Yeah, I didn't think much of this one. Had one idea and stretched it out for a full video. Really not a lot happens, and it takes a while to not happen. Still, I will give that their effects budget must have suddenly increased, we get some very gory goop effects around parts of the the body, so that was pleasantly unpleasent.

Star-wise... I can't say I recognised anybody. We still have Carolyn John and Louise Jameson, and yet another character played by Mark Gatiss. I guess the big name is Charles Kay, but I can't say I recognise him from anything.

Admittedly, we get Liz doing something approaching some kind of science talk, but considering her original thesis was on meteors, I don't think she'd be that knowledgeable about biological intricacies?

All in all, a lot of a pfizzle...

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Matrix Resurrected

Seems like all the takes are already on the internet, so I don't need to do anything!

Thomas Anderson is once again in the Matrix, this time as a famous video game developer. But he's still kept to heel and struggles with his dreams that this is not everything that it seems. Eventually, others drag him out, but it's not that simple. There's something else calling him back to the Matrix, and he will do anything for her.

Yes, this is a retread of the previous Matrix movies. First they have the "get Neo out of the Matrix" scene, then the fight related to the Merovingian and a big battle with the big bad and... which isn't to say this is all retread, but a lot of it is. And no amount of lampshading is going to entirely erase that. But hey, we have fights... with quick cuts and lots of different characters. Remember when it was a lot of slowmo of just Neo taking on a bunch of people? Nope, back to just everyone piling in. At least Neo will save us all...

Except, one small point. Neo is kinda pointless to the entire thing. There's nothing for him to really do once he's out, and even the great final battle is more personal that meaning anything in a wider sense (although the movie does spend the final few minutes trying to pretend).

All of which isn't to say that this movie didn't need to be, but that if you set your expectations properly, it's fine.

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Doing the French Dispatch

This movie is so Wes Anderson it's painful!

Journalists write for the French Dispatch, and this is three stories from those journalists. One about a painter, one about a chef and one about a revolutionary. But there's more to each story and you get wrapped up and carried away in each story.

This is, I have to say, EXCEPTIONALLY shot. Every frame a picture indeed. Wes Anderson knows what he is doing, and the screen is his canvas. Every shot perfectly framed, exquisitely composed and finely crafted.

And the story is all right. Certainly I can't say I brought into everything doing on, but I didn't mind as I was swept along at every moment. And an amazing cast of actors. Although hey, if I was asked "do you want to be in a Wes Anderson movie," I would say yes no matter how small the part. (And some actors are only on screen for moments.)

Certainly a feast for the eyes. I missed it during the festival, and definitely glad I caught up with it.

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Second PROBEing

There are only four episodes that I have, so this isn't going to be a long series.

The second on is The Devil of Winterborne. Mark Gatiss returns to write this episode, and even returns to play a character (no, not the same character, that would be hard). We are at Winterborne, a school for male children. At least there are three of them, all just turning eighteen, and there is one teacher and a headmaster. Yeah, we aren't dealing with a huge cast here. But we are dealing with devils, homosexuals and people who stutter. A sensitive portrayal? Well, it could be worse, but definitely wouldn't be done that way these days.

This story works so much better than the previous one. There's one clear storyline, deaths with weird overtones, and we get a simple thread to follow. Some minor sideplots, but basically one story. However, the audio doesn't continue to make friends here. Music overwhelms a lot of scenes, and when there is dialogue there is also a lot of natural sounds (eg footsteps) that can easily wipe out what people are saying. Still, far better.

And hey, Peter Davison is in this, as you would tell if you saw the cover (which is just his face over swirly lines). We also get Geoffrey Beevers (he's a doctor, and he wants his sausages!), Terry Molloy and a group of young actors playing the young men and doing a great job at it.

However... I'm still not sure what the point of the P.R.O.B.E. taskforce is. It's kinda UNIT-lite, but this is supposed to be in the Doctor Who universe because this is Liz Shaw, so why not just have UNIT? Or, given the rather prosaic nature of events, just the normal police even. Let's get some really weird things happening and actually make Dr Shaw use her scientific abilities!

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