Alex Rider Season 3 reviews Episodes 5 - 8

 

Episode five

A gripping episode sees this season really earn its spy points courtesy of three separate yet intertwining strands. Alex is sent on what seems like a traditional mission to infiltrate a house to lift the contents of the safe. Yassin will be joining him and needless to say there aren’t any funnies on the way. Yet this turns out to be different from expected – after all Scorpia don’t specialise in conventional crime- challenging Alec’s moral stance over killing people as he watches Max Grendel being shot. After Alex is incensed by this he uses some of the kit from the job to break into Julia’s office which of course he was expected to do. Scorpia’s sneakiness knows no bounds.

Alex Rider Season 3 reviews Episodes 1 - 4

 

Though it doesn’t always seem to receive a lot of high profile support in the media Alex Rider is a class show. Compared to how much publicity and hype other shows have it has slipped in though a side entrance rather like its main character might do. It hasn’t helped that the show has had to sprawl over a lengthy period due to actors’ availability and the pandemic.  This time there seems to have been a more concerted effort to push it though this is the final season, partly I imagine because the teenage characters are now being played by actors in their mid twenties, and promises to complete Alex’s story.

It’s not just the actors who are maturing, the production this time seems geared towards a slightly older audience – and I note that Otto Farrant gets an executive producer’s credit too. Whereas we had the school setting of season one and the game background of season two, this third offering is less contained and wilier as a good agent would be.  There is a layer of sophistication to things, the kids are no longer fumbling about but this time are being more proactive and prepared for things. They’re operating on their own too unaware of the Department’s dealing with a new Scorpia threat. There are lies and deceptions but played out in a very human context with a pleasing minimum of unlikely ideas.  Of course, a James Bond adventure is done and dusted in less than half the run time this eight part series of 45 minute episode so the pace is slower though this only adds to the tension. Along with the series’ trademark understated electronic score it also helps distinguish Alex Rider from other spy genre material.

 

 

Film Reviews- Two current releases and two Seventies films

 Last week's watches!

If you like huge monsters constantly battling each other you are a match for this film. So over the top that you can’t actually see the top, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is a chaotic noisy stew of various giant creatures in successive dust ups levelling cities as they go. Any characters or messages that might be lurking are swept aside by relentless monster action edited so sharply we leap from one scene to another. It works fairly well for the first half but the longer it goes on and the more creatures turn up the more repetitive it becomes. 

Top of the Pops 30 March 1989

 

Reviewed by Chris Arnsby.
This is a live edition (kindly supplied by commentator Billy Smart, who is keeping these write-ups on life support by sending me the relevant episodes to download) so there's some pre-show chatter over the countdown clock. The talk starts in media res with someone briefing the crowd.

 “I don't wanna see no silly faces. None of that. All right we know its live. Still get your meet and...” (?)He's interrupted by someone else, probably Floor Manager Carmella Milne: “Stand by...”
[The two voices jumble over each other]
Male voice: “Somebody catch me... [giggles from the crowd]... no one.”
Carmella Milne: “Good luck everyone.”
Male voice: “Sorry about that... [inaudible]... look Dennis the Menace top...  ”
Carmella Milne: “Here we go ten, nine, eight...seven... six... five... four... three... ” Titles roll.

Gary Davies: “Hello, good evening, we are live on BBC1 and Radio 1FM we have five bands live in the studio tonight including Roachford, Fuzzbox, The Cult, and The The.”

Bruno Brookes: “Okay we start on Europe's number one TV pop show at number sixteen, Pat and Mick I Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet. Right down here.”

 

Review- Wreck season 2

 

Season one of Wreck was a low key success largely through word of mouth. Framed with horror iconography it’s killer wore a duck mask representing Quacky, the mascot of a cruise ship company Velorum. A duck mask may not sound that scary but there is something unsettling about it’s expression and also the fact that its wearer is carrying a very large knife. Yet in between the frights were characters who were more than the standard potential victims and had interesting lives of their own plus a central character searching for the truth about his missing sister. The media seem to have flagged up the LGBTQ+ aspect of the show though this is included as being part of the everyday lives of the two main characters despite the official title of episode one.

There is a lot of violence – and I mean a lot- which is both realistic yet absurd at the same time and if this sounds like something that would disturb you its probably better to avoid. Also I’d recommend for maximum effect watching an episode a day rather than bingeing because it really draws out the tension and the mystery. I’d actually advise this with any thriller or mystery. Binge watching may seem more convenient but you are missing out on a whole part of the appeal of such shows which is that gap where you speculate and anticipate. The episode reviews that follow were penned directly after I’d watched each episode on different days so they make no reference to subsequent events. It’s a bit like live reacting except obviously not live.

Spoilers lurking in the dark after the beak, I mean, break…

 

Top of the Pops 23 March 1989

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

Mark Goodier: “Hello. Welcome to a special Easter-stylee Top of the Pops.”
Andy Crane: “A lot of girls on the show tonight. Live in the studio there's Kim Wilde, also Alyson Williams and Lisa Stansfield with Cold Cut.”
Mark Goodier: “Of course. And you get them all in FM stereo on Radio 1.”
Andy Crane: “But first...”
Mark Goodier: “...The Reynolds Girls.”
Andy Crane: “I'd Rather Jack.”

 [10] REYNOLDS GIRLS: i'd rather jack. Merry Easter. Through zero planning I've found myself writing up the Easter 1989 episode in the week running up to Easter. Will I actually get it sent over to John in time for the Bank Holiday weekend? Watch that space.

Speaking of Easter, Mark Goodier unironically describes tonight's show as “Easter-stylee.” He must be hunted down and neutered for the good of the species. I don't know if it was Mark Goodier's thing* to refer stuff as BLANK-stylee, but it's driving me nuts trying to remember what I associate this with. I've got a vague memory of a song lyric which goes “something something dance hall-stylee something,” but I don't want these write ups to turn into middle-aged man noodles about half remembered things from 40 years ago so I'll just stop this sentence here**.

Film Review- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

 

The second `new` Ghostbusters film opens with a bang before slowing to a crawl and a little while in you realise it is essentially a remake of the 1984 original with more characters. You've got the original Ghostbusters and the new ones plus sundry additions and the result is an enjoyable if crowded production. It seems to fall into a category of movie that is becoming more prevalent of late- the film that is fine but not exceptional. I don't think its as good as Afterlife though it doesn't have that nostalgic kick to propel its finale. On the plus side it looks great, has some exciting sequences and a strong comedic performance though not from who you think it will be from. 

Spoilers after the break

 

Review- Doctor Who Season 15 Collection

 

Just released in the ongoing Collection series of box sets, Doctor Who Season Fifteen brims with character and is bristling with ideas. If the production values sometimes flag you hardly notice because there is so much going on. Admittedly it’s not always cited as a fan favourite because it was the point at which Tom Baker’s presence became larger than life but if you enjoy that- and I certainly do- this is essential classic Doctor Who. Season Fifteen is a changeover season and these can be the most interesting ones where a production team are finding their feet and yet aspects of their predecessors remain. The results here are more varied than you’d expect.