Epic Christmas blog: The Holiday, Hancock, Terminator, Dr Who

What do two sisters snowed into their country house, armed only with Sky HD and a surround sound system, do for a week and a half? Why, they watch a lot of tv.

There were the obligatory rewatches of films you've seen a hundred times already:
Jurassic Park,
Enchanted,
The Great Escape,
James Bonds,
Iron Man,
Batman [including, notably, watching The Dark Knight twice in 24 hours... I do love that movie!]
Fly Away Home
Wallace and Gromit
Australia

And I also had the opportunity to see a couple I'd not seen before:

The Holiday

There will be spoilers in this review, but it's a romcom - do you really care? It's not a bad example as far as it goes, tapping into two forms of emotional wreckage (the girl whose boyfriend who turned out to be a bastard and the girl who can't get over her ex-turned-friend). It also has the clever tactic of providing American glamour for the Brits and British glamour for the Americans. The cast is good too, and I like the romance between jude Law's character and Cameron Diaz's. In a fun touch, her character worked cutting trailers for big budget movies and couldn't stop herself from picturing her life in trailer form.

The story of Kate Winslet's character is very interesting, veering off into issues of the elderly and giving a bit of a history lesson about old Hollywood. My big disappointment is that her arc seemed to be heading her for a state of happy self-sufficiency, but they apparently felt obliged to give her a love interest since it's impossible for a woman to be happy without a man in a film. I'm not being a psycho, I don't mind a good romantic plot, but there was no call for one here, and there was zero chemistry between Winslet and Jack Black, who is a fine comic actor but no Jack Lemon. Oh Hollywood, will you ever give us a less than sexist romantic comedy?

Hancock

As a general rule, you can't go far wrong with a Will Smith movie. He's just entertainment gold. This, however, is not even enough to save this wreck.

I do try to look for the good in every film, and this had such an exciting concept, and it's a logical continuation from the recent trend of superhero movies. Will Smith plays John Hancock, a man with super-strength, healing abilities and the power of flight; unfortunately, he's also an anti-social alcoholic who tends to cause as much damage as he prevents. I described it to my friend as like Watchmen for dummies, but it's more like The Incredibles for people who like swearing and violence.

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON IN. Thanks to Richard's class I can pin down exactly why it goes so badly wrong from there. For one, the inciting incident is a positive thing: Hancock meets a PR man who wants to change his image and improve his life.

There's also a criminal lack of an antagonist; there's an attempt made with a couple of people who aren't too fond of Hancock and want to kill him but they don't fit into the structure and they're not nearly developed enough. So the only thing our hero is struggling against is himself, and even with the charismatic, most popular man in existence playing him, he's not lovable.

This isn't made better by his apparent willingness to betray the man who's been helping him by making moves on his wife, Charlize Theron.

As if that wasn't enough the film then takes heads in a direction best described as what on earth were you thinking? There are twists, and then there are broken legs. Out of nowhere, this great big mythos breaks out: apparently John Hancock is an angel-type-thing, and so is Charlize Theron. AND, the deal is that they were made in pairs and that if they are together then they lose their powers. It comes out of the blue and makes absolutely no sense. It would make an interesting film in and of itself, but there's only so much you can throw at an audience at one time! There's an episode of Angel which very neatly shows this off - it fails because the viewer has to accept three entirely new things at once and it's too much. So rather than going OOooOooOO at the twist in Hancock you just scratch your head and get yanked out of the story. It's a pity, since I do think there was potential in the story.

Terminator

That's right, until recently I hadn't seen Terminator. Well, situation rectified! And it also let's me finish on a positive, because I loved it.

First though, I find it disturbing that the people of California have seen their Governor butt naked.

It's a really clever premise, full of time travel paradoxes and ample opportunity for explosions and shoot-outs and car chases. It's really the best role Arnold Schwarznegger could ask for: he's an emotionless robot who just has to be crazily muscley.

Sarah Connor is great, an ordinary woman who responds to her extraordinary circumstances in a believable way without being a cissy about it. Seeing this has made me quite interested in watching the spin-off series The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I liked Kyle Reese as well, he's believably lovable and practicle.

And on a screenwriting note, it was excellently structured! (Can you tell I've been filtering everything I see through my three-act-structure goggles?)

The only bum note in the whole thing is the dodgy CGI of the skinned terminator, but it's churlish to sneer at special effects in an otherwise excellent film.

Doctor Who

This was really the big event for me, and for a lot of people I'm sure. It was David Tennant's last outing, and the end of Russel T Davis' reign as Executive Producer. This is a big deal; since back in the day I was quite the Doctor Who fan, and in fact it sparked off my blogging career and taught me a lot of stuff about storylining and the way a tv show is produced.

It was typically RTD. By which I mean: big, loud and in love with its own mythology; the ending was an unparalleled piece of indulgence. You call it connecting with the spin-offs and resolving the loose ends, I call it tedious. When Christopher Ecclestone's Doctor died, he didn't get this, this is about the producer leaving.

The whole story was inpenetrable to anyone who hadn't been watching religiously for several years, with every other character an appearance from two or three seasons back. The exposition for those not in the loop was all pompous pseudo speak: for once, can't a character please not speak in riddles?please?

I'm starting to sound sour, but it's a problem which has plagued the series' run so far. Too much is thrown at the screen and the plot holes are covered with bluster and yet more riddles. Doctor Who works best with contained stories mixing humour and horror, like the recent Waters Of Mars, or pretty much any Steven Moffat episode, and while you need an over-reaching arc, and a fitting climax to that, it doesn't necessarily follow that that must involve the entire universe should be under threat.

However, let's talk a out what was good:

John Simm. When I saw him as The Master, I knew it was perfect - he's such a brilliant psychopath, and this incarnation does far more with their relationship than the original series did. I'm glad he was brought back, even if I'd have preferred it if the fourh season had been The Doctor and The Master have madcap adventures in time and space.

Timelords. Ever since the reboot in 2005 the Timelords have loomed as an exciting possibility, and the little glimpses we got were not disappointing. And the fact that the President was Rassilon? The part of me which will always be a fan was thrilled, partly because of the geek-appeal and partly because I can just see how much that upsets continuity and how stressed it will ammeter some people.

David Tennant. I am going to miss the 10th Doctor terribly, and his final line broke my heart. I don't want him to die either! (I cried.) I want to like Matt Smith, but he has a tough act to follow.

Still, I am very much looking forward to the next season since it will be led by Moffat, who has been the most consistently brilliant writer (along with Paul Cornell) and he's sure to take an interesting direction.


Phew! Well, that was a glimpse of my Christmas. Despite all this I can't wait to get back to the cinema to watch the new releases (and endlessly rewatch Sherlock Holmes of course).