|
External
|
ENTERTAINMENT TO THE BBC! August 5, 2007
Robin of the Hood So I never did rent any more discs of Hex. After two months of waiting, Robin Hood Series One disc 1 finally freed up on Netflix. I watched the first episode of Robin Hood and then promptly put the disc back in the red envelope. I've learned that BBC television is overrated. I've heard such good things about the UK version of The Office but now I'm hesitant to see it and seriously doubt it's as good as the Steve Carell version. As for Robin Hood, I thought it was awful. The acting was not good. I learned that just because the BBC actors are British, it doesn't mean they're any more talented than their American counterparts on The CW. The casting of Robin Hood himself was a fatal mistake because after 42 minutes with that guy, I knew I didn't want to spend 12 more episodes in Sherwood Forest with him. Hell, I'd sell him out to the Sheriff of Nottingham in a heartbeat, collect the reward, and go hang out with the Sheriff's witch, who wasn't even in the show! (And where was Azeem?!) Kevin Costner's Southern drawl was more inspiring than that guy who plays Robin on the show. And the quality of the direction and editing was laughable. The action scenes were punctuated by random slo-mos and, even better, showing the same shot twice -- for extra action and excitement! Between Robin Hood and Hex, I'm sorely disappointed the what I've seen from the BBC. Let it be known across both our great nations, and in every great nation and not so great nation in our world, that the United States produces the very best television, bar none. USA! USA! USA! June 6, 2007
Hexed All of my favorite shows are on hiatus, many until 2008. With Netflix's help, I'm hoping for something similar to last summer, which I spent watching Jack Bauer's five miserable days on DVD. I decided to try a couple of series on BBC America that I've read a lot of good things about. First is Hex. Described as a British version of Charmed mixed with Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter, it seems to have a lot of what I look for in a TV show: a hot teenage heroine, supernatural powers, a British boarding school, plus sex and nudity. Sold! Hex only has two seasons and there won't be any more so it's a self-contained investment. The DVDs are the British versions as the BBC America versions edited out the sex and nudity. Fuck that. I hate censorship. The other show I'm interested in is Robin Hood. I've always liked Robin Hood, even when he speaks with a Southern accent. Robin Hood also looks pretty good and season one just ended so there are only 13 episodes to catch up on. That's the other good thing about the Brits: short seasons, no filler in their TV. But Hex arrived first so that's what I watched. Hex is a strange show. I've watched the four episodes on disc one. I'm not sure if I like it, nor am I at this point inclined to recommend it. It's not quite what I expected: it's laborously slow in its pacing, there hasn't been a single major plot point revealed that hasn't been thuddingly obvious from the outset, the dialogue ranges from some engaging banter to being point of fact generic, and most of the characters are rather lifeless. The only real exceptions so far who have been interesting characters are the lesbian ghost and the headmaster of the school, who is played by Colin Salmon, the black guy who works for M in Pierce Brosnan's James Bond movies. Now, the way the mythology is set up, the headmaster is clearly the repository of all the information Cassie, the heroine, could possibly want about witchcraft, demons, and the magical history of the boarding school she attends. Indeed, he periodically thrusts himself in front of her and stops short of doing a little dance and waving a big flag that says, "Cassie! Ask me anything and I'll bloody well tell you everything you want to know! Go ahead!" And yet Cassie ignores him for inexplicable reasons and all but tells him to bugger off. Imagine if Giles kept showing up at Buffy's house and at the Bronze literally bursting with vital info about vampires and Buffy kept rolling her eyes and walking away. Cassie is very attractive and doesn't mind us watching her shower, but she's not that bright, nor is she all that interesting, all told. So far the mythology about witchcraft and the dark past of the boarding school the series takes place in has been stunningly banal. Cassie's witchcraft seems to consist mainly of some minor telekinesis. The show plays fast and lose with the ground rules for how the supernatural works, especially in how Thelma the lesbian ghost operates. Sometimes she can appear or disappear at will to haunt Cassie, whom she has the hots for, other times she has to run across campus to look for Cassie. The demonic villain, Azazael, is not even close to being as interesting or entertaining as say, Spike, Angelus, Glory, or even the Master. Azazael literally stands around the school grounds and watches Cassie in the same catatonic way Jean Grey stood around in X-Men: The Last Stand. His only goal seems to be to have sex with Cassie somehow. While I can certainly get behind that idea, Azazael has to be the most poorly written and tedious villain I've seen in a show like this. I'm going ahead and order disc 2 from Netflix to see if the story actually goes anywhere. By the end of episode four Azazael figured out a way to nail Cassie so business looks like it's about to pick up. Season one ends after only six episodes so there are 2 more episodes to go where I hope something more interesting will actually happen. |
 |
