Small Screen: Game Of Thrones Season Two Episode One: The North Remembers
Posted on Tuesday April 3, 2012, 15:44 by Stephen Carty in Small Screen
 Whether you read about it in Empire, overheard whispers at King’s Landing or received word via raven, you probably already know that the eagerly-awaited second season of Game Of Thrones has marched back onto our screens. Having quickly proven itself as an ambitious, densely-plotted classic-in-the-making, the first season of HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s popular fantasy series earned a solid fanbase and bags of critical acclaim, meaning that many of us (this writer included) were desperate for more. For anyone who hasn’t seen the show, first, you should seek it out immediately (that’s an order). And second, it would be wise to stop reading now as, to paraphrase the House Stark motto, spoilers are coming.
Previously on Game Of Thrones: A seven-year-old was pushed off a castle turret after witnessing incest; Conan the Barbarian (well, Jason Momoa’s Khal Drogo, same diff) melted an exiled heir’s bonce; Mark Addy’s barrel-like King was killed by... Continue reading... Comment Now (22 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: Mad Men Season 5 Premiere: A Little Kiss
Posted on Tuesday April 3, 2012, 15:38 by Stephen Carty in Small Screen
 Accompanied by a widespread, everywhere-you-look publicity blitz, the long-overdue fifth season of AMC's Mad Men finally sauntered back onto our screens after an agonising 18-month absence. But like Don himself, who often arrives at client meetings late before rescuing them with a seductively-persuasive pitch, it was worth the wait. Despite rumours of budget disputes (which allegedly affected fellow AMC tentpole The Walking Dead) and contract negotiations with creator Matthew Weiner, the two-hour premiere “A Little Kiss” delivered a confident and typically-classy reminder of what we’ve been missing. Spoilers, like shots of Jon Hamm's Don Draper staring pensively out his office window, will certainly follow.
Now that we're in 1966, the colours are noticeably brighter, the swinging '60s are almost in full swing and those drab post-War sensibilities of the '50s seem gone for good. Having become somewhat defined by its depiction of booze-swilling chauvinists who chain-smoke without c... Continue reading... Comment Now (2 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: The Walking Dead Season 2 Finale: Meet The Walkers
Posted on Wednesday March 28, 2012, 17:49 by Stephen Carty in Small Screen
 The second season of AMC’s The Walking Dead has split audiences. But whether you hold the series as a compelling zombie drama or a dragging talk-fest, there's little doubt that the finale delivered a gripping example of how good it can be. In fact, it's the best instalment since the cinematic, Frank Darabont-directed feature-length pilot. As Hershel’s amusingly-isolated farm was finally overrun by hordes of Walkers, there was bags of zombie carnage, plenty of incident and a final shot that will have many of us – especially fans of the graphic novel – wishing that the third season started next week. For anyone wishing to read on, it goes without saying that major spoilers are to follow.
Of course, a key moment was the introduction of hooded warrior Michonne, a fan-favourite from the comics who pitches up wielding a Katanna blade and dragging two armless, jawless zombies shackled behind her (!). Another was Rick revealing what Noah Emmerich’s despairing Dr. Jenner whisp... Continue reading... Comment Now (20 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: Luck Be Dustin Hoffman Tonight: Luck - The Pilot
Posted on Friday February 24, 2012, 15:36 by Stephen Carty in Small Screen
 While television was once seen as cinema's lesser cousin, the idiot box is now able to attract some major talent. Take Boardwalk Empire for example. The pilot was benevolently overseen by Martin Scorsese (who stayed on as executive producer); the impressive ensemble remains headed up by veteran character actor Steve Buscemi, and the whole shebang is orchestrated by one of the Sopranos' key writers, one Terence Winter. Arriving with a similarly-impressive line-up, the pilot of HBO's new horse racing drama Luck comes directed by Michael Mann, starring Dustin Hoffman and under the watchful eye of Deadwood creator David Milch. Like the horses galloping around the track, there's no shortage of pedigree here.
As you'd expect from Mann, the pilot is hugely stylish and sumptuously shot, and includes typical Mannian tropes like the badass in a suit (naturally) and an ultra-cool soundtrack (including Elliot Goldenthal’s theme music from Mann crime classic Heat). As you'd expect from Milch, it's a meas... Continue reading... Comment Now (10 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall
Posted on Monday January 16, 2012, 14:53 by Stephen Carty in Small Screen
 It returned to our screens a mere three weeks ago, but that’s it for season two of the Beeb’s utterly-brilliant Sherlock. Mirroring the superlative first season, the second began with a dizzying, Moffat-written opener, dipped slightly in the middle with a self-contained mystery and finished with a tantalising, event-packed finale which will have us formulating theories in our mental palaces until next year. Although for all the high-functioning sociopaths reading the following should be obvious, it goes without saying that this article will contain spoilers…
Admittedly, I was a tad anxious regarding this one since writer Steve Thompson was responsible for last season’s weakest instalment and a duff recent episode of Doctor Who (Curse Of The Black Spot, more commonly known as ‘the Pirate one’) – but he really pulled it out the bag here. Whilst Moffat’s Irene Adler-focussed opening was an ingenious, frequently-dazzling Russian doll of plots-within-des... Continue reading... Comment Now (35 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: Sherlock: The Hounds Of Baskerville
Posted on Tuesday January 10, 2012, 14:01 by Stephen Carty in Small Screen
 So last week I thoroughly enjoyed the marvellous season two opener of Sherlock, which welcomed the Beeb’s modern day story of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary sleuth back to our screens with assurance. Like the first season’s opening instalment, it was penned by co-creator Steven Moffat and offered a frequently-breathless plate-spinning act of knotty plotting, dazzling dialogue and Watson-impressing deductions. Admittedly, there were one or two niggles (as Ali Plumb pointed our in his well-reasoned blog piece), but on the whole it was sufficiently superior viewing to result in many critics and industry bods gushing with enthusiastic praise via Twitter and elsewhere.
The problem was, as I sat there afterwards trying to collate my thoughts and play mental catch-up, I began to anticipate what lay ah... Continue reading... Comment Now (10 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: My Problems With Sherlock
Posted on Thursday January 5, 2012, 11:00 by Ali Plumb in Small Screen
 Back at uni, I studied the Sherlock Holmes stories as part of a module on Crime Literature. Raffles The Gentleman Thief was also on the reading list, as were Father Brown, Lord Peter Wimsey, Poirot and Miss Marple. If you consider yourself a Sherlock fan, I heartily recommend them all, especially Lord Peter Wimsey. Start with The Nine Tailors, you won’t regret it.
I'm not calling myself an expert here – far from it – but I mention all this because although I’ve studied Conan Doyle's work, I don’t think of myself as a Holmes purist, and I genuinely enjoy the new Guy Ritchie films and the Moffat / Gatiss TV shows. This includes the latest episode, A Scandal In Belgravia, which despite the problems I mention below, I genuinely did enjoy. But after looking forward to seeing Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman return for so long, I can’t help but feel slightly disappointed – even t... Continue reading... Comment Now (49 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: Sherlock: A Reaction
Posted on Thursday January 5, 2012, 10:38 by Stephen Carty in Small Screen
 Even though Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes sequel A Game Of Shadows has been receiving positive-enough word of mouth, for many of us the real return of literature’s most iconic sleuth was always going to be the second season of Sherlock. Co-created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, it was an intelligent, playful and brilliantly-written take on Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories which seamlessly transplanted the high-functioning consulting detective from the Victorian era to the modern day. Although the middle instalment was comparatively average, the opening episode (penned by Moffat) of the three-part first season was sparkling, top-class television and the finale was a dizzying, often-dazzling affair which left us begging for more.
Picking up exactly where we left off – a tense stand-off between Holmes, Watson and Andrew Scott’s brilliantly-impish ‘Jim’ Moriarty – the Moffat-written season opener was a confident, fun and head-spinningly twisty return... Continue reading... Comment Now (3 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: What's The Best Show On TV Right Now?
Posted on Tuesday October 11, 2011, 16:38 by Stephen Carty in Small Screen
 Last year, we bid farewell to the mysterious hatch-filled island of Lost. Year before that, we waved goodbye to the good ship Battlestar Galactica (so say we all) for the last time. And, in the three years prior to that, The Wire, The Sopranos and The West Wing all exited stage left on an annual basis. So, with all the heavy-hitters having packed up their bags and marched off to immortal glory like an outnumbered Spartan, what is now the best show on television?
For sure, this is no easy question. No doubt, debate will be sparked and cans containing worms will lay open everywhere. Certainly, there's no definite right or wrong answer (aside from anyone voting Hollyoaks; that is wrong). But with the throne arguably vacant just now since all the televisual game-changers of recent years have departed, let's debate anyway.
My criteria are these. The show needs to still be currently airing, so ones that are shown as repeats obviously don't count. It needs to have been running for a reasonabl... Continue reading... Comment Now (104 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: Supernatural Vs. The Vampire Diaries: Battle of the Buffy Successors
Posted on Tuesday September 27, 2011, 15:20 by Helen O'Hara in Small Screen
 As our forumites will know, I've been into Supernatural for some time now. And just recently, I've been attempting to get into The Vampire Diaries as well. What I've discovered are two very different contenders to Buffy's throne, so let's discuss their similarities, their differences, their strengths and weaknesses, shall we? Before we start: I'm deliberately not counting True Blood here because it's openly aimed at a different, older, less geeky demographic, nor am I considering the cancelled likes of Moonlight, Blood Ties or whatever. This is about ostensibly-at-least teen-friendly shows wherein improbably good-looking folk encounter supernatural creatures.
First of all, Supernatural. When it first started back in 2005 I more-or-less instantly dismissed it as Buffy-for-boys, a cynical attempt to remove the kick-ass ladies from the vampire slaying equation in a move which I objected to on girl power principles and rejected sight unseen. My bad. It's pretty much entirely awesome. OK, season one sta... Continue reading... Comment Now (35 comments)
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