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TV-FILM REVIEW
INDEX: Ted Lasso + Foyle's War + Years and Years + FatherMotherSon + Bosch + Greyhound
Spiralling back to TV
Michael Meyer
Stars of Spiral - Fred Bianconi (top), Caroline Proust, Thierry Goddard, Philippe Duclos, Gregory Fitoussi, Audrey Fleurot
I love my international TV shows.
Spiral (In French with English subtitles) has it all, as long as you have a strong stomach.
Despite having seen every episode of all seven series of this French plainclothes police series, I was excited to learn that it's back on SBS On Demand. Series One was first aired in 2005 (overseas).
It is an amazing interpretation of how the French legal and police system works. It just has to be made up, doesn’t it?
Spiral (In French with English subtitles) has it all, as long as you have a strong stomach.
Despite having seen every episode of all seven series of this French plainclothes police series, I was excited to learn that it's back on SBS On Demand. Series One was first aired in 2005 (overseas).
It is an amazing interpretation of how the French legal and police system works. It just has to be made up, doesn’t it?
Caroline Proust
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Audrey Fleurot
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Thierry Goddard
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Every single one of the main characters, above, have their own personal problems and, on occasions, seem amazingly inept at doing their jobs properly. But that’s half of the allure of this award-winning series - they all seem so fallible. If I had a comment to make it’s that each of the first two series (8 episodes each) keep you in so much suspense until the end that I get a little frustrated at how the baddies (oh and are they bad) seem to nearly always have the upper hand. I was always waiting for the good guys to get a break.
But then our detectives and legal crew aren’t the only ones that need a break as the team beat-up suspects, snort coke, tamper with evidence, steal drug money and threaten witnesses all to keep in front of the bad guys who really are a very nasty bunch and deal in sex trafficking, kidnapping, torture and mutilation all graphically displayed with subtitled bad language to go with it.
But then our detectives and legal crew aren’t the only ones that need a break as the team beat-up suspects, snort coke, tamper with evidence, steal drug money and threaten witnesses all to keep in front of the bad guys who really are a very nasty bunch and deal in sex trafficking, kidnapping, torture and mutilation all graphically displayed with subtitled bad language to go with it.
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It takes very little time to get to know the Spiral team as the series starts like a steam train and leaves you nearly always with a cliff-hanger that pushes you on and on into watching another episode.
It’s obvious why this wasn’t on commercial television. Way too naughty and tough for them. Not for the faint-hearted. But definitely for bingers and after 8.30! Oh, and there's an 8th season coming! Spiral Produced by the amazing Canal+ Starring: Caroline Proust, Thierry Goddard, Philippe Duclos, Gregory Fitoussi, Audrey Fleurot, Fred Bianconi SBS On Demand |
All tied up
Phil Kafcaloudes
click arrow for trailer
LAST year I went to a lecture by famed British film producer David Puttnam. He showed us a slide that indicated Apple was the biggest company in the media universe. In contrast, he then showed us how Netflix had overtaken Apple and everybody else when it came to online streaming of movies and TV shows. The graph was extraordinary. It seemed Netflix, with its model of willing to take financial loss, had succeeded in dominating the industry, far out-stripping even long-stayers like Foxtel.
Well you wouldn’t have to be a genius to expect Apple to fight back.
Apple launched its Apple+ service which promised great original content that would be aimed squarely at Netflix. It enlisted Oprah Winfrey to do a series of conversations and some young filmmakers to put together left-field series and movies. Some have been quite successful such as the movie Greyhound which I reviewed a few weeks ago. Others have not been so successful such as the animation Central Park which at times is quite cringeworthy in its attempts to be a cross between animated musical theatre and The Simpsons.
The latest Apple+ offering is Ted Lasso. It's a comedy series with a simple, although hardly original, premise. A failing English football team hires the American amateur sporting coach Lasso to be its manager. Lasso has no idea about football, having never coached it, or played it. As a clash of cultures series this works very well. Lasso played by Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses and Saturday Night Live) is thrown into the domain of cynical English Premier league footballers, their fans and the British sporting press. Lasso so does everything wrong at the media conference in his first day in London, and we know this can’t go well. At the same time we know there will be some kind of redemption coming, because we’ve seen it in so many American comedies before. But as a comedy it works well largely due to Sudeikis’ consistent naivety and pathos. I do question to which audience this is aimed though. The Brits would probably not like how they are portrayed, coming off as loudmouth and crude nasties who contrast with this very polite American intruder. Americans may love this but I wonder what Australians will make of it. If you go into it being prepared to be entertained in a cringe kind of way made so famous by Chevy Chase in his vacation movies, then you may find it worth your time.
Ted Lasso
Starring: Jason Sudeikis
Apple+
Well you wouldn’t have to be a genius to expect Apple to fight back.
Apple launched its Apple+ service which promised great original content that would be aimed squarely at Netflix. It enlisted Oprah Winfrey to do a series of conversations and some young filmmakers to put together left-field series and movies. Some have been quite successful such as the movie Greyhound which I reviewed a few weeks ago. Others have not been so successful such as the animation Central Park which at times is quite cringeworthy in its attempts to be a cross between animated musical theatre and The Simpsons.
The latest Apple+ offering is Ted Lasso. It's a comedy series with a simple, although hardly original, premise. A failing English football team hires the American amateur sporting coach Lasso to be its manager. Lasso has no idea about football, having never coached it, or played it. As a clash of cultures series this works very well. Lasso played by Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses and Saturday Night Live) is thrown into the domain of cynical English Premier league footballers, their fans and the British sporting press. Lasso so does everything wrong at the media conference in his first day in London, and we know this can’t go well. At the same time we know there will be some kind of redemption coming, because we’ve seen it in so many American comedies before. But as a comedy it works well largely due to Sudeikis’ consistent naivety and pathos. I do question to which audience this is aimed though. The Brits would probably not like how they are portrayed, coming off as loudmouth and crude nasties who contrast with this very polite American intruder. Americans may love this but I wonder what Australians will make of it. If you go into it being prepared to be entertained in a cringe kind of way made so famous by Chevy Chase in his vacation movies, then you may find it worth your time.
Ted Lasso
Starring: Jason Sudeikis
Apple+
No Foyling Around
Vincent O'Donnell
TOO many repeats on TV? Had it to here with fake romance or talent quests?
Here is a repeat that is always worth a second... or is it a fifth look? One of the best British TV series of the past three decades, bar none, started its umpteenth rerun on 7-Two on Monday nights.
It is called Foyle’s War. It was created by one of Britain’s most inventive and prolific screen writers, Anthony Horowitz, with actor and producer Michael Kitchen as the taciturn, but dry-witted Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle.
Foyles War’s value lies in the challenges of public law in a time of war, as DCS Foyle tries to balance the professional and legal dimensions of the task, with the moral, personal and patriotic, in coastal Hastings.
In the first episode of twenty eight, it is the spring of 1940. The Phony war has ended; the Battle of Britain and the Blitz, yet to begin. The principle thread is the detention of those declared enemy aliens. And that thread is braided with three stories, the largest of which is truly Greek in its tragic dimension: the wealthy squire who uses money and connections to save his German wife from detention; his actions, inevitably, lead to her death. There are three other storylines, each of which is knitted through succeeding episodes.
Here is a repeat that is always worth a second... or is it a fifth look? One of the best British TV series of the past three decades, bar none, started its umpteenth rerun on 7-Two on Monday nights.
It is called Foyle’s War. It was created by one of Britain’s most inventive and prolific screen writers, Anthony Horowitz, with actor and producer Michael Kitchen as the taciturn, but dry-witted Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle.
Foyles War’s value lies in the challenges of public law in a time of war, as DCS Foyle tries to balance the professional and legal dimensions of the task, with the moral, personal and patriotic, in coastal Hastings.
In the first episode of twenty eight, it is the spring of 1940. The Phony war has ended; the Battle of Britain and the Blitz, yet to begin. The principle thread is the detention of those declared enemy aliens. And that thread is braided with three stories, the largest of which is truly Greek in its tragic dimension: the wealthy squire who uses money and connections to save his German wife from detention; his actions, inevitably, lead to her death. There are three other storylines, each of which is knitted through succeeding episodes.
And if you’re tired of the UST (unresolved sexual tension) that keeps bubbling over in NICS or Bones, you will be pleased to know it rarely happens in Foyle’s War and then only to the under 25 year-olds.
Foyle has seen the best and worst of war at Passchendaele in 1917: he was widowed early and raised his son alone.
He is among the most moral characters you will meet on television. That is why Foyle’s War is worth watching: it gives you hope in humanity.
Foyle has seen the best and worst of war at Passchendaele in 1917: he was widowed early and raised his son alone.
He is among the most moral characters you will meet on television. That is why Foyle’s War is worth watching: it gives you hope in humanity.
Michael Kitchen and Honeysuckle Weeks
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Charles Dance and Colin Tierney
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Click arrow for trailer
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Foyle's War. Channel 7TWO. Monday nights
A dystopian zeitgeist?
Phil Kafcaloudes
Phil Kafcaloudes
Richard Gere and Pippa Bennett-Warner (MotherFatherSon)
THERE must be a zeitgeist happening right now. Two British-based miniseries have come out that have a similar theme of a dystopian near future.
Years and Years actually takes us through fifteen years from 2019 onwards to a future where Donald Trump wins re-election and starts his own American dynasty. Into this comes a Pauline Hansonish politician played by Emma Thompson whose rise turns her from a Hanson into more of a Donald Trump (English style).
As with all great dramas this political storyline is contrasted with the personal; in this case the changes happening to one British extended family, led by the world-weary wisdom and understanding of matriarch, beautifully portrayed by Anne Reid, who with her various sons and daughters, is written to represent a broad spectrum of the collapsing society in Britain.
Years and Years actually takes us through fifteen years from 2019 onwards to a future where Donald Trump wins re-election and starts his own American dynasty. Into this comes a Pauline Hansonish politician played by Emma Thompson whose rise turns her from a Hanson into more of a Donald Trump (English style).
As with all great dramas this political storyline is contrasted with the personal; in this case the changes happening to one British extended family, led by the world-weary wisdom and understanding of matriarch, beautifully portrayed by Anne Reid, who with her various sons and daughters, is written to represent a broad spectrum of the collapsing society in Britain.
Helen McCrory (MotherFatherSon)
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Richard Gere and Billy Howle
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They witness their family and financial world crumble as instability takes hold across Britain. And this was before anyone had ever heard of a thing called corona virus. Some of the elements are very disturbing such as when a child comes out as Trans, but in this near future she does not mean sexually but something far darker. The elements of this series were written by Russell T. Davis to be as close to truth as possible, and this makes it uncomfortable viewing at times.
MotherFatherSon has many similar themes. Another Hansonesque politician, played eerily by Sarah Lancashire, rises to power with a lot of the same characteristics as Thompson’s Vivienne Rook. Both are unashamedly grabbing at the populist vote for their own ends, and somehow in a fractious society, they find a sympathetic voting public. But there is an additional storyline here that surely appears to be an other-world Rupert Murdoch and his family. We are introduced to Richard Gere’s media magnate after he has been grabbing power for decades buying newspapers all over the world to the detriment of his marriage and his son. And of course the reading public.
MotherFatherSon has many similar themes. Another Hansonesque politician, played eerily by Sarah Lancashire, rises to power with a lot of the same characteristics as Thompson’s Vivienne Rook. Both are unashamedly grabbing at the populist vote for their own ends, and somehow in a fractious society, they find a sympathetic voting public. But there is an additional storyline here that surely appears to be an other-world Rupert Murdoch and his family. We are introduced to Richard Gere’s media magnate after he has been grabbing power for decades buying newspapers all over the world to the detriment of his marriage and his son. And of course the reading public.
Emma Thompson (Years and Years)
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Jessica Hynes (Years and Years)
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As I said it is extraordinary that two sets of dystopia happened to come out at roughly the same time. It may not make for comforting pre-bed watching, but there are moments in both series where you see things that are just a little too close to home.
There’s truthful acting in both series with Years and Years just a little grittier, darker and, strangely enough, verging on the black comedy edge. It’s hard to find humour in MotherFatherSon but Helen McCrory as the magnate’s wife gives us a sardonic portrayal that could make her the representative of anybody in the audience who has a cynical view of media politics. And laissez-faire business. Her character’s son, played by Billy Howle, is the conscience of the piece. Howle’s performance is astounding, first as the Lachlan Murdoch-in-waiting, then as a man destroyed by his father’s expectations, and finally his redemption. It is worth the time for his performance alone. The James Bond producers could do worse than screen test him as they prepare their rethink of the series post Daniel Craig. He’s that good.
Years and Years is on SBS On-demand
MotherFatherSon is on ABC iView and Amazon Prime
There’s truthful acting in both series with Years and Years just a little grittier, darker and, strangely enough, verging on the black comedy edge. It’s hard to find humour in MotherFatherSon but Helen McCrory as the magnate’s wife gives us a sardonic portrayal that could make her the representative of anybody in the audience who has a cynical view of media politics. And laissez-faire business. Her character’s son, played by Billy Howle, is the conscience of the piece. Howle’s performance is astounding, first as the Lachlan Murdoch-in-waiting, then as a man destroyed by his father’s expectations, and finally his redemption. It is worth the time for his performance alone. The James Bond producers could do worse than screen test him as they prepare their rethink of the series post Daniel Craig. He’s that good.
Years and Years is on SBS On-demand
MotherFatherSon is on ABC iView and Amazon Prime
TV REVIEW
Bosch Binge
Michael Meyer
Michael Meyer
Titus Welliver is Harry Bosch
WITH us having so much time at home forced upon us there's certainly no limit to what we can watch (at least) with film or TV series on all number of visual television providers- paid and unpaid.
I have to admit that I am a fan of Netflix, now and again, but I am an even bigger fan of SBS OnDemand.
Perhaps my tastes are not to everyone’s liking but I find it hard to turn off many of the foreign language series despite the subtitles. Canal+ would be, almost, my most favourite (French) film producer with the series Spiral. Or the Nordic series set in freezing cold and as gripping and hot in content as any produced by the US or UK.
But when it comes to Bosch, I know I'm in for many episodes at a time and am still disappointed when it finishes.
I have to admit that I am a fan of Netflix, now and again, but I am an even bigger fan of SBS OnDemand.
Perhaps my tastes are not to everyone’s liking but I find it hard to turn off many of the foreign language series despite the subtitles. Canal+ would be, almost, my most favourite (French) film producer with the series Spiral. Or the Nordic series set in freezing cold and as gripping and hot in content as any produced by the US or UK.
But when it comes to Bosch, I know I'm in for many episodes at a time and am still disappointed when it finishes.
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Bosch is a Los Angeles detective (Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch) created by bestselling author Michael Connelly and brilliantly portrayed by Titus Welliver.
Amazon are the producers who, in 2014, were unsure of how the public would react to series one so they put it out there for comment. Series 6 was released in Australia in April and a seventh and final season will be seen next year. Not bad.
Amazon are the producers who, in 2014, were unsure of how the public would react to series one so they put it out there for comment. Series 6 was released in Australia in April and a seventh and final season will be seen next year. Not bad.
Maddie
Harry (Bosch) was a former Vietnam veteran, tough, smart, caring. His TV daughter, Maddie, grows into a strong character and their relationship is an interesting one that never takes over.
I started to have a think about some of the film/TV series heroes and how they, sometimes, seem smaller than you might imagine. Harry Bosch is the old school cop with his pants pulled up high on his waist and a gun on his belt. He's a fraction under 6ft yet in so many scenes he seems a little short to be the powerhouse he is, when required. He’s among a tall group.
Then there is Lee Child's Jack Reacher who's 6'5" and built like a building. He's played by Tom Cruise who is just 5’7”. Too small, it seems, for the likes of the author who is looking to replace him in the next movie. I think he’s fantastic.
My only comment to that scenario is that Hollywood (and beyond) is full of little guys playing big guys and they are all good at what they do. Harry Bosch (Titus) is irreplaceable, I'm not at all sure that the new Jack Reacher will be better than Tom. But I can't wait.
Of Bosch, the series, if you can find it, start at the beginning. Like any good series you have to grow into the characters and live their past. But if you can’t wait then slip on your SBS OnDemand glasses and enjoy every minute of the 10 episodes of Series 6.
Oh, and check out Harry's house view in Woodrow Wilson Drive LA (above).
Oh and speaking of little heroes. Anyone old enough to remember Alan Ladd in Shane?
I started to have a think about some of the film/TV series heroes and how they, sometimes, seem smaller than you might imagine. Harry Bosch is the old school cop with his pants pulled up high on his waist and a gun on his belt. He's a fraction under 6ft yet in so many scenes he seems a little short to be the powerhouse he is, when required. He’s among a tall group.
Then there is Lee Child's Jack Reacher who's 6'5" and built like a building. He's played by Tom Cruise who is just 5’7”. Too small, it seems, for the likes of the author who is looking to replace him in the next movie. I think he’s fantastic.
My only comment to that scenario is that Hollywood (and beyond) is full of little guys playing big guys and they are all good at what they do. Harry Bosch (Titus) is irreplaceable, I'm not at all sure that the new Jack Reacher will be better than Tom. But I can't wait.
Of Bosch, the series, if you can find it, start at the beginning. Like any good series you have to grow into the characters and live their past. But if you can’t wait then slip on your SBS OnDemand glasses and enjoy every minute of the 10 episodes of Series 6.
Oh, and check out Harry's house view in Woodrow Wilson Drive LA (above).
Oh and speaking of little heroes. Anyone old enough to remember Alan Ladd in Shane?
Click for Season 6 trailer (Alan Ladd inset)
FILM REVIEW
Greyhound
Phil Kafcaloudes
Phil Kafcaloudes
THERE is a certain tradition in Hollywood that the most popular actors are the everymen and women. These are the actors that play the boy or girl next door thrust into extraordinary times. They don’t have superpowers. They are not extraordinary in any way other than they possess the best of wills and behave as we like to think we would in terrible situations.
This was the way with Gary Cooper as Sergeant York or James Stewart as the honest politician, Mr Smith. It is also the way of Tom Hanks as Commander Ernest Krause in the new Apple movie Greyhound.
Hanks’ Krause is an ordinary man in charge of a convoy of three ships protecting a huge Flotilla of supply boats heading from America across the Atlantic during World War II. Protecting 37 ships seems an impossible task when the German submarines start to attack the flotilla.
Krause fights to keep his own terror under control as he battles wits and tactics against the commanders of six enemy subs. Putting everyone ahead of himself, Hank’s Krause fights for 50 hours against a largely underwater (and thus unseen) enemy.
So realistic is the direction in this movie that you are there with Hanks on the bridge, and it may come as a surprise to learn it is based on a C.S. Forester novel rather than strict fact. These convoys did happen but Krause himself was a fictional hybrid. But that does not make it any less powerful.
Greyhound is the latest in the small building collection of Apple originals on its hopeful TV+ channel. And Apple, like Hanks, is battling huge numbers from Netflix, Stan, Amazon and the increasing number of opponents who have access to countless old movies, TV series, and occasionally their own studios. But if Greyhound is anything to go by, Apple has started the battle against the giants very well indeed.
This was the way with Gary Cooper as Sergeant York or James Stewart as the honest politician, Mr Smith. It is also the way of Tom Hanks as Commander Ernest Krause in the new Apple movie Greyhound.
Hanks’ Krause is an ordinary man in charge of a convoy of three ships protecting a huge Flotilla of supply boats heading from America across the Atlantic during World War II. Protecting 37 ships seems an impossible task when the German submarines start to attack the flotilla.
Krause fights to keep his own terror under control as he battles wits and tactics against the commanders of six enemy subs. Putting everyone ahead of himself, Hank’s Krause fights for 50 hours against a largely underwater (and thus unseen) enemy.
So realistic is the direction in this movie that you are there with Hanks on the bridge, and it may come as a surprise to learn it is based on a C.S. Forester novel rather than strict fact. These convoys did happen but Krause himself was a fictional hybrid. But that does not make it any less powerful.
Greyhound is the latest in the small building collection of Apple originals on its hopeful TV+ channel. And Apple, like Hanks, is battling huge numbers from Netflix, Stan, Amazon and the increasing number of opponents who have access to countless old movies, TV series, and occasionally their own studios. But if Greyhound is anything to go by, Apple has started the battle against the giants very well indeed.
During the Battle of the Atlantic, over 3500 ships carrying millions of tons of cargo were sunk. 72,200 souls were lost forever
Click to view film trailer
PHIL KAFCALOUDES is an author and broadcast journalist who presented the breakfast program on the ABC’s Radio Australia for nine years, earning him a highly commended as International Radio Personality (Asian Broadcasting Awards). For the ABC he worked in 12 countries, and hosted the corporation’s first English language program from China. For a Churchill Fellowship, he studied journalism trauma training worldwide. In 2011 his novel Someone Else’s War was published in Australasia and Europe. It tells the story of his grandmother who was a spy in Greece in WWII. As an extension, he has just submitted a PhD on oral history storytelling which involved adapting the novel into a play. Phil has also taught journalism at La Trobe University and at RMIT where in 2019 he produced the first national TV election program presented entirely by students. This program earned Phil the inaugural teaching award by the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia. He is currently in discussions for staging his play in Greece, and is writing a sequel. You can read more about Phil and his books here
