Wonka

I...will accept that.

Again, had next to zero inkling what this movie would be but I stepped in happy and open minded and was rewarded for my efforts. I feel the trailers did kind of a disservice, it was really pushing the Gene Wilder-isms and origin story card to get butts in seats, when in actuality the film is a beast of it's own entirely. In fact it is folly and a waste of time to compare this with the 70s film, it's like seeing a person with the same hair color, eye color, and even the same shape of their noses but everything else is different entirely. Even the angle of it's a prequel to Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory is null and void, it uses elements of that film with some being more on the nose than others but ultimately is a fun and fancy free film with plenty of ludicrous nonsense. But a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest man. So our tale begins with a young Mr. Wonka setting foot back on dry land after seven years of seafaring to a city where he wants to open his first shop. Now the odd thing about this town that I noticed is everyone is for the most part british and cockney in accent, but I swear I saw a street sign in german but no architecture was german. Very strange. But anywho! So, and this is a no horseshit Jack statement, there is a chocolate cartel conspiring against the candyman and on top of that this movie gets a tiny bit little orphan Annie, and a squad of workers chip in to help open the store. That's the basic gist and for a film around the 2 hour mark keeps a very good pace, with more musical numbers than Willy and Charlie combined and it is exactly as I suspected. You get every flavor of song you can think of, introductory song, aspiration song, villain song, sad song, the works with full blown can-can dancing included at times. The songs are passable, I didn't adore nor despise any of them, and Timothée actually has a pretty decent singing voice. And yeah his performance is entirely his own, he has moments of Gene but at the end of the day is his own unique iteration. The emotion and humor is there from all the characters, with a good bit of love going towards Paterson Joseph, Jim Carter, Keegan-Michael Key, and of course Rowan Atkinson who were a joy to see. Though I feel slightly bait and switched when it came to Sally Hawkins but all is forgiven for I got to see her rapturous beauty if only for a moment. And to be honest I was fawning a bit over Rakhee Thakrar too. The sets and colors are great, the movie is actually really dang funny and I was probably the only one cracking up in that theater, even the plain absurdity of Hugh Grant as an Oompa-Loompa works surprisingly well I mean this director knew what tone and style he wanted and nailed it pretty succesfully! It is a fun movie and thankfully not terribly saccharine, so it is a recommendation. It's honestly tied with the 70s version for me but I give it 3.5 stars, 7.5/10! And I think the end may almost be here, but I may have a trick or two up my sleeves for you to enjoy.

Blackadder Goes Forth

Well this really is the end. You know how I said I hated depressing endings to comedy shows? This is the crown jewel of the lot. But I'm happy the writers did take it more seriously, this is The Great War, it was an unbelievable event and took more lives than I dare to say so of course it would be a bit more serious in instances despite it still being well written and very funny. We join our usual gang of Edmund, Baldrick, and George as they are on the edge of no man's land and Edmund tries every trick to not go over the top. I firmly believe that the writers and creators of this series knew this would be the last one, not only were there few historical periods to play off of but how do you pick up after one of the strongest and most impactful endings in television? The first time I sat to watch this, I was floored, absolutely stunned silent by the last 4 minutes of the last episode, and I heard tale that the producers were incredibly nervous about it thinking it wouldn't respect the british soldiers who really did put their lives on the line but were relieved to hear surviving members of the war praise it and said it did do justice by them. I can't name another television show with that sort of approval. But how's the rest? Very well done I would say. Cast gives a sterling final bow, Rowan might be giving the best performance of the whole show here, Hugh is such a joy to watch and I'm happy they brought him back, Tony still in my opinion shined brightest during series 3 but still has his moments, thank the lord Stephen Fry was given a much larger and regular part I don't know what it is but he slays me in this series, and most interesting of all is Tim who went from an absolute prat to a very cold and very biting persona who is really the antagonist to Edmund this time around. Plus I would really love to give a noted credit to Geoffrey Palmer who had a surprising cameo in this series, the man is nothing less than a treasure in my eyes and I swear on my future grave I will review all of As Time Goes By one day to fully pay my respects and admiration to him. The set design and costumes are incredibly well done too, though the sets are the smallest we've gotten they capture the environment of such a situation and the costumes look completely legitimate. I adore the writing in it's criticism of war and good situations with fun characters, this is a damn fine series. Though it may not be my favorite I feel because of the creator's intentions and the story that it told, yes I would say objectively this is the best. 4 stars, 9/10, this has been quite a journey. One more week to go before the horror. Good luck everybody.

Blackadder The Third

Excellent series if I do say so.

Jumping forward to the time of the Prince Regent, Blackadder is now a not so humble butler in the service of Prince George as he lives the life of luxury in the company of idiots, a cruel fate which I understand well. That's one aspect of this entire series that I enjoy, not only is each series 6 episodes meaning a short but sweet experience but the story itself is hardly ever complex and built more around a situation than overarching stories which means easy and fun viewing. I'm not as literate in british government and history as I would love to be, but it has never been a hurdle to cross while watching any of the series, sure I know these are all very real periods of history and know bits here and there but the fact that the show is crafted so well without having to have the audience be a wellspring of knowledge on the times just shows that the writers had their priorities straight. Comedy first, with the backdrop of history. I know Blackadder was a real treat in the second series but I think this is my favorite ever. The sarcastic and dry wit could never be better in no short part due to the supporting cast. Hugh Laurie makes this series for me, the man is brilliant and yet can play an utter prat with such ease and expert comedic timing, he is half the reason you should watch this! Tony Robinson has his moments too but I would say Baldrick from either the first or second series is my favorite but of course we have just one more after this so who knows. And as always we have our sterling cast crop up again in small parts, delightful as always. Something I noticed about the production design here is that while the sets are really quite small they don't skip out on the detail and the costuming is spot on so I must give expert props to the production team this time around! Plus I am thrilled there wasn't such a downer ending, I really hate being bummed out at the end of a comedy series but this one breaks from that and all for the better I say. But is this better than the last? Well my enjoyment factor was much more than last time and to be fair all the stories are so well done whereas even in the second series there were some I could say is worth skipping on repeated viewing, but here they are all on point and good fun to watch again. I may have to rate this a smidge higher. 4 stars, 8.5/10! Can the fourth and final series top this score? It is quite possible at this point, nothing surprises me anymore. See you next time when we go over the top.

Blackadder II

This is the one that will be the hardest to top.

Years back when I first sat down to watch the entire run of Blackadder, series 2 was my absolute favorite. The plot is somewhat similar to the first with Edmund Blackadder living under the rule of Queen Elizabeth The First, but instead of trying to usurp control of the throne, he's constantly battling the idiocy of the times. Where the first series was still trying to find it's footing, the second is on top form with an amazing cast and simple but fun concepts for episodes. Easily the best performances are from Rowan Atkinson and Miranda Richardson, they just crack me up with Rowan being deadpan and sarcastic to the Nth degree and Miranda for lack of a better word, being very simple. It's just so damn funny seeing Queen Elizabeth acting like a silly and spoiled child, and precisely nothing like any other sort of regal performancein media. It's an absolute joy. Tony Robinson and Tim McInnery return as Baldrick and Percy, this time playing the oafs to Blackadder which they handle perfectly. The writing for this series is where the most praise should go, you can tell they put effort into the scripts and it really does work and really the writing is why this series is so highly regarded in the comedy world. It's difficult to pick a favorite episode, it's a toss up between Potato and Beer. One has a fun cameo by Tom Baker, and the other is the perfect storm for poor Edmund to be in but it is outstanding. This is a definite improvement for the series and one thing I noticed is that they really don't shift the cast up, nearly every supporting cast member from series 1 makes an appearance here and thusly the supporting cast from this in some small way makes their way to series 3. So there's always this tight knit sense of community both on screen and off screen, which makes it even more enjoyable. 4 stars, 8/10! And next time we get to see Hugh Laurie shine before he became a big name doctor here in the States.

The Black Adder

Happy Christmas to me.

One more week of reviews after this and I refuse to be party to any merriment or all around joy to humanity, so join me as we visit cynical Britain once more as we see all iterations of the classic Blackadder series. It's very humble beginnings for the series as we enter the 15th century following the ascent of King Richard IV and not historically Henry Tudor, and we encounter the meek and backstabbing Edmund who tries every trick he can to take the throne. Not the most involved of plots but nevertheless a very entertaining and fun series, obviously with many a nod to Shakespeare. I will fully admit of all the subsequent entries in this show, the first season is definitely weakest in terms of comedy. But don't let that stop you from watching it, it's a good start and still has it's moments. Any scene with Brian Blessed is glorious, Rowan Atkinson has some genuinely funny moments, no doubt the more historically knowledgeable will get a kick out of the narration, but I think it's more satirical of the time period. To poke fun is not neccessarily always funny, but wit is always wonderful. And any chance I get to feel good about myself by recognizing Shakespeare dialogue without reading any of his works is awful nice. This is one of the more lavish BBC productions I've seen at that period in time, there was a lot of on location filming at a proper castle and it's subsequent grounds, with more than just leftover period costumes, the whole nine yards, and it does look good. One aspect that must be addressed, because this is the oldest BBC show I've reviewed though I've seen many from the 60s to the 2000s, is the fact that location shooting or really anything outside the studio is shot on film and not all film stock is the same so it does have a grainy look to it whereas the studio footage had those proper big three lensed cameras so it looks really good. It's actually really interesting to sort of chart the character progression between all the series, because a good chunk of this cast gets brought back each time even if they don't play the same characters. Queen Victoria from the christmas special is the Spanish Infanta in this series and is marvellous to say the least for example (Bit out of sync but hey welcome to the timey wimey show!), so we'll compare notes on each. I don't actually think any sort of future series was even spared a thought of at this point, and could have very easily been just a one shot but it flourished throughout and could arguably be said that each series is better than the last. But of course more on that, in time. I give it 3 stars, 7.5/10! And we'll time warp tomorrow to the age of Queen Elizabeth I for Blackadder II.

Mr. Bean's Holiday

One more film from my collection marked off.

I needed some fun and this fipm certainly delivers. I was a huge fan of Mr. Bean when I was in my british television phase during my early teen years, that brand of silent and unconventional physical comedy has a wide appeal which this film carries more than the very americanized first movie released in the 90s. Our favorite bumbling and sometimes walking disaster Mr. Bean has won a raffle contest and is quickly in France trying to get to the French Riviera but quickly gets sidetracked when a young boy gets seperated from his father and what could only be described as an odyssey begins. I truly feel that word fits this film so much more than an adventure, an odyssey being a long and eventful journey which certainly fits the bill here with train travels, film festivals, performing arts, and plenty of other occurences. Rowan Atkinson is on top form in this movie, honestly getting strong laughs throughout and his characterization of this odd man is what keeps the film interesting. Which is funny because you can't really describe the Mr. Bean series, it's just several setpieces around this one man who's a bit daft and childlike as he tries to overcome obstacles his way. Hell I think the first episode of that show was him just trying to take a test and it is really funny. So you would think that putting that format on film wouldn't really work but it flows almost flawlessly, and since the movie doesn't even run for a full 90 minutes it's a short and sweet fun ride that really could be viewed and enjoyed by anyone. Now have we seen film's like this? Absolutely. But it does have this charm to it that doesn't make you want to stop watching, it has enough variety to where you won't really know what's coming next but even the bits we have seen are still really funny. The supporting cast though minimal does fine work with particular love going to Emma de Caunes, she is downright lovely and I enjoyed every second of her on screen. The more I think about it the film is practically a foreign film, and not simply just because it stars a british character. You see quite a bit of France beyond Paris, hardly any person speaks english, there is a strong need for subtitles, you get some elements of the culture. You know what it's like? It's like if you took a silent film, a foreign film, and mixed in bits of a found footage film. Yeah surprisingly, there is a bit of footage shot entirely on a real camcorder and not even slightly tampered with, we see it from the lcd screen perspective and it's sprinkled all through the movie. This was quite a while before that type of movie got big, friggin' Cloverfield wasn't even out yet so Mr. Bean's Holiday kinda did it first. And despite being made in 2007 it still holds pretty good with nothing terribly dated beyond the cell phones of the time and a certain popular song around that time which I have to admit I was fully grooving to. It's just a fun little movie that has kind of been under the radar for over a decade, and you know I'm an advocate for giving lesser known films more attention and love. This easily gets 4 stars from me, 7.5/10, I had a wonderful time and really hope you do too. And by all means give the show a whirl, Richard Curtis of Blackadder fame worked on it and it's definitely worth your time.

Next time, something you might not have expected quite so soon.

Blackadder's Christmas Carol

Finally, a story for me.

Ah, we really do need more specials like this in the world. If you haven't watched the Blackadder series I highly suggest you do and I shall attempt to review all 4 series next year, but regardless you can still very much enjoy this story. In old London town lives a one Ebenezer Blackadder, the kindest and most wonderful man in the city who is so generous and affable that Queen Victoria herself wishes to reward him with a small fortune, but that night he is visited by the Spirit Of Christmas himself and is shown the past, the not so long ago past, and the far too distant future where he witnesses versions of himself which are cruel, cunning, and self absorbed. I am on board with this premise if you could not tell already. Yes there is Christmas celebratory matters, but it's done in the most self centered and glorious fashion so I will give it a pass. I also have no issue telling you that the comedy is far more effective when it's sarcastic and insulting. But the performances from Britain's comics are what makes this special work so damn good. Rowan Atkinson is brilliant as Blackadder and in every series of the programme I've seen him in makes me laugh even more than the last, he's a great comedic actor that can perform both silent comedy and dialogue heavy comedy. Tony Robinson is the perfect foil for the comedy, if only just to be the world's punching bag. I almost feel sorry for Baldrick but like I said, almost. Miranda Richardson, Hugh Laurie, and Stephen Fry are only in the history segments but what little time they do have they certainly don't waste and made me laugh loud and hard. In fact if you look at the cast list, chances are you know 90% of these people, their reputations speak for themselves and are better known now than ever. This is a Christmas tradition of my own like Tokyo Godfathers and A Very Murray Christmas, and I love it a great deal. To see such utter contempt for stupid people sets my soul alight with glee. Seriously, these people are complete asses that take advantage of kind and generous individuals and don't nearly get the comeuppance they deserve. It's a complete inversion of the Charles Dickens' tale and it's just so nice to hear someone agree that bad guys have all the fun. And now I will share a lovely Christmas sentiment for those whom you just don't like, "May the yuletide log slip from your fire and burn your house down.". Tis' the season my friends. 4 stars, 8/10!

Next week though will not be jolly or gay. And the more I think about this next week, the more I think of how much it will hurt me. But if I don't do it now it will haunt me for another year, and that is something I cannot stand in the least. Next week....ugh, I hate even typing it. Elf.

Love Actually

Bloody hell this was good...

So Love Actually is not only a damn good romance movie, it's a good Christmas movie. So we got to talk about that! Love Actually is really a story following 10 different people and all their paths are intertwined, think Valentine's Day or New Years Eve but good. Like really good. I'm honestly not sure where to start with this movie, cause there are lots of characters and lots of ground to cover. The cast itself is amazing, I mean we got people like Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, and the list goes on. I have to be honest here, I could not pick a favorite character in this movie cause they are all awesome! It was like every new scene that popped up I said there's my favorite character, and that happened every time we saw a different character. You might think the movie gets a bit confusing with it's vast cast of characters but thankfully it does not. Hell I can't even call them characters because they are as real as you or me. And that is what I loved about the movie, it centers around relationships. Almost any relationship that you can think of is potrayed in this movie and it is 120% accurate! This is what happens in the world that involves relationships, there are good moments, bad moments, love is won, and love is lost. If there has ever been a movie with the sole theme of love it IS this movie! And I can't believe I have never seen it before. So please for the love of all things good and wholesome in this world, I implore you to go see this movie. The time is right to view it, and the movie really has a strong point that Christmas is a time to spend with people that you love. In my personal opinion that is with any holiday but Christmas especially. This movie makes you want to spend time with the people that you love more than anything in this world. It's almost necessary to see this movie if you haven't already. I promise you will love Love Actually.