James Spader (His Many Quirky Roles)

While watching The Blacklist (NBC TV series) recently, I couldn't help but revisit some of James Spader's earlier movies and TV series. For the last 2 decades, I have seen many of his movies and TV series and could not help but like the many eccentric (and sometimes unlikeable) characters he played but the most memorable ones to me were Max Baron (White Palace), Dr Daniel Jackson (Stargate), Mr E.Edward Grey (Secretary) and Alan Shore (The Practice/Boston Legal). Looking back at these roles, it is obvious that Mr Spader displays a knack for playing damaged characters with hidden idiosyncrasies. Whether playing a wealthy young widower involved with an older waitress (Susan Sarandon), a nerdy archaeologist who speaks alien languages, a lawyer involved in a S/M relationship with his secretary (Maggie Gyllenhaal) or an eccentric but brilliant attorney who is amoral, he always does it with flair. Anyone planning to see the (much hyped) upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey movie next year which is based on the notorious E.L. James novels, should first check out Steven Shainberg's 2002 indie movie, Secretary, based on a short story by Mary Gaitskill. The movie which is highly rated and tastefully done concerns an eccentric attorney who embarks on a S/M relationship with his submissive secretary. The movie (which won numerous awards especially for Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance), is really an exceptional  movie which deals with the subject of S/M relationships with great sensitivity, intelligence and dark humour. As for James Spader's E. Edward Grey, he will always remain the original Mr Grey to me. Move over zillionaire Christian Grey :) . But I guess James Spader's most memorable role will always be Alan Shore who first appeared in the tv series 'The Practice' and later in his own spin-off  'Boston Legal'. Well, one could attribute the success of 'Boston Legal' to David E. Kelley and his team of writers who also brought us Ally McBeal but who can deny the fact that Alan Shore just wouldn't be Alan Shore without James Spader. The brilliant but highly eccentric and amoral attorney was a role tailor made for the actor and I always liked watching his impassioned closing arguments during trials which he delivered so eloquently (not to mention his hysterically funny antics in court). Glad I still get to see this actor on TV these days and I heard he (or is it his voice) will also be appearing in the next Avengers movie.    

Dracula Untold 2014

Caught a recent trailer (courtesy of MovieWeb) for the movie 'Dracula Untold' which will premiere on 17th October 2014, just in time for Halloween. The trailer was interesting enough but then trailers can be deceiving so I guess I have to watch the whole movie to find out whether it is really that good. I have watched many vampire/Dracula movies in the past but my personal favourite still remains The Count from Sesame Street. Sorry, just can't resist joking about that :) . Seriously, what caught my attention about this trailer was Dracula's backstory and Luke Evans (The Hobbit). I have always found the story of Dracula's origin interesting although most movies skip that part and tend to focus more on the later part of his life (for obvious reasons). This also explains why I found 1994 movie Interview With The Vampire (based on the Anne Rice novel) so interesting because the movie provided backstories for each of the main characters/vampires. 'Dracula Untold' combines the myth created by Bram Stoker with the true story of Vlad The Impaler and somehow portrays Dracula as a 'hero' who had to turn to the dark forces to fight evil.  The movie, directed by Gary Shore, stars Luke Evans, a rising Welsh actor, who can be seen currently in The Hobbit and who will also star as the lead in the upcoming reboot of 'The Crow'. I find him an interesting choice for the Count because like Stuart Townsend (vampire Lestat in Queen of the Damned), he has the same bad boy/rock star quality to him. No, I don't think Robert Pattinson has that same quality ;). Anyway, now I know what I will be watching this Halloween.    

                          P.S. Is that Tears for Fears Everybody Wants to Rule the World?

(Trailer Courtesy of Universal Pictures)

Addendum (4th May 2024) : Dracula Untold is available on Amazon Prime and on Blu-Ray/4K. Links provided below. 

Dracula Untold (Amazon Prime) (paid link) 

 Dracula Untold Blu-Ray/4K (Amazon US) (paid link)

Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary

In view of its upcoming 30th Anniversary, Sony will be releasing Ghostbusters 1 & 2 on blu-ray on 16th Sept 2014. Actually, Ghostbusters 1 was released on blu-ray before but now both the original movie and its sequel will be released in a limited edition (remastered) 4K blu-ray digibook gift set with added bonus features and a figurine of Slimer. The movies themselves will also be given another wide theatrical release in anticipation of its anniversary. There is a video posted by 'Zaranyzerak' (The Multi Media Chronicles) on YouTube which mentions the previous releases of Ghostbusters on blu-ray and gives a sneak peek on the upcoming release of the new 4K blu-rays. I recently discovered 'Zaranyzerak' (not his real name) and MMC on YouTube and found his videos which are mostly short, honest and fuss-free reviews of dvds/blu-rays and video games highly informative and entertaining. After some searching, I found out that this 'videographer' has been giving independent reviews of dvds/blu-rays/video games for over 2 decades. I hope readers of my humble blog will check out his other videos on YouTube (reviews of steelbooks, limited edition sets, old films restored to high-definition etc). Anyway, below is the video on the 30th Anniversary of Ghostbusters.

        

(Video Courtesy of The Multimedia Chronicles-MMC)

Link for the above product is provided below.

Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary 4K + Digibook (Amazon US) (paid link)

Addendum (21st July 2024) : If you love the original Ghostbusters movies like I did when I was a teen, maybe you can check out my expanded post on 5th July 2024 (link provided below) for a dose of nostalgia. 

1980s Movies From My Teens

Into The Storm & Richard Armitage

There are really some good British actors who remain relatively unknown in the US until they are discovered in some major movie/TV series. I could name quite a few namely James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender  (X-Men) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock). Another British actor, Richard Armitage, won me over when he first appeared in  a BBC miniseries, North & South, in 2004 (please refer to my post dated 30th Jan 2014 on British Period Dramas on Blu-Ray). Since then, he has appeared in a few British series Robin Hood, Spooks, Strike Back and more recently in the movie The Hobbit. This versatile actor will now be appearing in the lead role of an upcoming major US summer film, Into The Storm, which will premiere on 8/8/2014. The movie is basically about a town being hit by tornadoes. Although I'm not a fan of disaster films, I might give this movie a try just to see how Mr Armitage fares in it :). 

   

Full Length Trailer Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures

Addendum (5th May, 2024) : If you interested in this movie, it is now available on dvd, blu-ray and Amazon Prime (links provided below). By the way, I am currently watching a new 6 part British TV Series from ITV 'Red Eye' which stars Richard Armitage and Jing Lusi about a British man who is extradited to China on suspicion of murder. The series looks promising enough so I have decided to include the trailer for it below. Prior to this series, I managed to catch this prolific actor in the 2022 movie 'The Man from Rome' by Sergio Dow which is about a priest investigating a hacker infiltration into the Vatican that eventually leads him to a church in Spain. 

Trailer courtesy of Serienjunkies

Into The Storm 2014 (Amazon Prime) (paid link)

Into The Storm 2014 Blu-Ray (Amazon US) (paid link)

Minuscule, Futurikon & Valley of the Lost Ants

A few years back, my mum and me got hooked on a cute French animated series called 'Minuscule' which lasted for 2 seasons and comprised of 78 episodes.  The series consists of short videos with animated CGI insects against real backgrounds (French countryside, interiors of a house etc) in humorous situations. I remember a rather mischievous ladybird, curious spiders, dragonflies/bees engaged in aerial chases and armies of ants. The series, not unlike Canimals, was really funny and entertaining . The animation was top notch and I really enjoyed watching the beautiful French countryside. Anyway, I was surprised to discover that Futurikon (the French company that produced the original series) has released a new full length movie entitled Valley of the Lost Ants which was released earlier this year. The movie concerns a ladybird (modelled after the original ladybird in the series) who befriends a black ant whose colony is at war with another colony of red ants over a box of sugar cubes. The movie, released in 3D, looks fun and is suitable for family viewing. I'm actually terrified of (real) insects but these cute ones from Futurikon are really lovable ;). In fact, they remind of another early Pixar movie, Antz, except the insects here don't talk. They only whistle. 

          

(Video Courtesy of Minuscule YouTube)

Addendum (5th May 2024) : Besides two seasons of Minuscule and the film 'Valley of the Lost Ants' in 2013, Futurikon had released another film in 2018 titled 'Mandibles from Far Away'.

Cosmos, Carl Sagan & Crabs

As a kid in the early 80s, the original 'Cosmos' by (the late) Carl Sagan made quite an impression on me but not because I was interested in astronomy or such but because it was 'different' from the other documentaries that was being shown during that time. Firstly, the special effects during the space sequence was very 'state of the art' for those times. Secondly, Carl Sagan had a distinctive and enthusiastic style of talking which could make even the most boring topic interesting. Yes, I was weird as a kid :) but weren't we all? Anyways, amongst the few strange things that I remember from my childhood (which is very blurry to me now) was an episode of Cosmos that had Carl Sagan talking about a crab with a human face on its shell. Thanks to technological advances and YouTube :) I was able to find the clip with that scene on it again which I would like to share here now. Although I was very fond of the original series, I have not seen the new version with Neil deGrasse Tyson yet. Enjoy... 

                          
                                                      

(video courtesy of KipEsquire's Rants)

Link below for those interested in Cosmos-Carl Sagan 7 Disc Collector's Edition (Remastered) DVD Boxset.

Cosmos Collector's 7 DVD Boxset Amazon (US) (paid link)

Salem (WGN America TV Series)

Currently, I'm following Salem, a new original TV series by a relatively unknown channel WGN America. I feel this series is worth mentioning because despite my earlier presumptions (before viewing) that it must be another run-of-the-mill series about the Salem witch hunts in the 17th century, it was on the contrary a different kind of beast altogether. Although the series does deal with witches and those famous Salem witch trials, the story is cleverly woven around the premise that the witches were real people who were conspiring to revenge against the puritans. The series stars some interesting new faces on TV namely (English actress) Janet Montgomery as the charismatic Mary Sibley, a powerful and wealthy witch who is plotting revenge on the unsuspecting townsfolk who have wronged her. Despite myself, I found the series to be very addictive due to the soap opera like story complete with twist and turns, secrets, scandals and conspiracies. If Dark Shadows was a soap opera about vampires, this series is a soap opera about witches. Mary Sibley might even give Alexis Carrington a run for her money ;). So my verdict on the series, if you're looking for light entertainment why not give it a shot. Who knows, you might get hooked like I did. By the way, the series also stars Shane West (Nikita) as John Alden, a war hero and Mary's former love interest who returns to Salem after nearly a decade. His reappearance (she thought he died) soon rekindle old feelings within Mary and complicates her plot for revenge (he doesn't know she's now a witch). I don't want to give too much away but Mary is not all bad witch and you can't help rooting for her and John to have a happy ending. WGN has ordered a second season of the series so I guess I can look forward to the continuation of the story. I really disliked that many of the previous TV series that I was fond of e.g. Emily Owens M.D. and Do No Harm was cancelled after only one season. Signing off for now :)

(Trivia : The theme song is by Marilyn Manson)

Addendum  (30th April 2024) : For those looking to watch this old series again or are newbies, you can view all three seasons on Amazon Prime. Perhaps because Salem was produced by the relatively unknown and now defunct network WGN America, the series was never properly released on any physical media (DVD or Blu-Ray). And if you want to see more of the beautiful actress Janet Montgomery, you can always catch her performance as Dr Lauren Bloom in the later NBC hospital drama, New Amsterdam, which ran from 2018 to 2023. Link to Salem on Amazon Prime provided below. 

Salem (Amazon Prime) (paid link)

Penny Dreadful (Showtime TV Series)

With reference to my post on Gothic Horror Movies from the 90s dated 11/5/2014, gothic horror is now scarce on tv/cinema so naturally I was curious about Penny Dreadful, a new series from Showtime. The first two episodes of the series, which is created by John Logan and produced by Sam Mendes, had initially been available on demand for some time before airing on Showtime and is a mash-up/loose remake of  famous classic horror stories namely, Dracula, Frankenstein and Dorian Gray. As with most Showtime series, production quality is high but content can be very adult (not recommended for kids/family viewing). The series borrows heavily from elements contained in the classic stories but the plot/story line differ greatly from the books. I have only watched the first two episodes and while watching them, is greatly reminded of another movie, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Actually, I was piqued by the series when I heard that Timothy Dalton, Eva Green and Josh Hartnett was involved in the series. I liked Eva Green's performance in the remake of Dark Shadows and I haven't seen Josh Hartnett for a while so it was worth a try. The story starts with Sir Malcolm Murray (Dalton) who enlists the help of  Vanessa Ives (Green), Ethan Chandler (Hartnett) & Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) to find his missing daughter, Mina Murray, who he suspects was abducted by a vampire like creature. After watching the first two episodes, I was left with mixed reactions. The series does show promise (there are six more episodes for Season 1) but was at times a little too slow paced  and messy (like it was trying too hard to combine all elements of Dracula, Frankenstein, Dorian Gray & Jack the Ripper!?) but I like to give some series time to develop and find its footing. Will I watch Episode 3? Yes, because most of my favourite series like Grimm and  The Following has ended their season run and I'm not A Game of Thrones fan :).  If you would like to watch the trailer and behind the scenes videos for Penny Dreadful, you could always check out the Penny Dreadful Production Blogs on YouTube (link below). 

Penny Dreadful Production Blogs

Addendum  (5th May 2024) : All 3 seasons of this high quality series from Showtime is available on dvd, blu-ray and Amazon Prime (links provided below). For those who are interested in what the (rather elusive) actor Josh Hartnett is up to these days, you can catch him in M. Night Shyamalan's upcoming psychological/mystery/thriller film 'Trap' in August 2024. 

Penny Dreadful (Amazon Prime) (paid link)

   

 Penny Dreadful Blu-Ray (Amazon US) (paid link)

Vexed (British TV Series)

Lately, I'm sure many caught Toby Stephens as Captain Flint in Black Sails. Personally, I have not seen the series (not really into pirate films/movies) but whenever I hear of Toby Stephens, I am always reminded of a little known series by BBC2, Vexed, which is still on hiatus after the second season. This series was created by Howard Overman ,who was responsible for series like Hotel Babylon, Merlin, Hustle & Misfits, and is actually a comedy police drama about two police detectives who can't get along with each other but still manage to solve cases together. The first season ,which comprised of only 3 episodes, starred Lucy Punch as DI Kate Bishop who was later replaced, in the following 6 episodes of the second season, by Miranda Raison as DI Georgina Dixon. Frankly, I liked the second season more because the writing was funnier and I felt Miranda Raison was a better foil to Toby Stephen's DI Jack Armstrong (of course, that is just my opinion). The thing is, after seeing Vexed, I can't really reconcile Toby Stephens with his more serious roles like Captain Flint and Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre (which I have not seen either). Because I'm fond of the series, I'm still hoping that there will be a third season to it. Heard rumours that some networks in the US are interested in remaking the series but I feel part of the charm of the series is Toby Stephens. Without him, the series just won't be the same. Decided to post a video with a scene from the series (which still remains my favourite) of Jack inventing a song (on the spur of the moment) to avoid doing some real police work which Georgina asked his help with.

               

(Video Uploaded on YouTube by Ambermoon42)

Seriously, Mr Rochester?

Those interested in watching this series for the first time or wish to revisit it, can purchase both seasons on DVD from Amazon US or watch the episodes on Amazon's streaming platform, Prime, courtesy of Acorn TV. Links provided below.  

      Vexed Series 1 DVD Amazon US  (paid link)

     Vexed Series 2 DVD Amazon US (paid link)

    Vexed Amazon Prime (paid link)

Constantine (NBC TV Series)

Lately, horror (not the seriously scary ones) has been making a comeback on NBC with shows like Grimm (my favourite) and Dracula. Now, NBC has released the trailer for Constantine which is based on DC's Hellblazer comics. Despite being panned by critics, I truly liked the 2005 movie of the same name which starred Keanu Reeves. However, after watching NBC's trailer, I'm left with mixed reactions. On one hand, the lead actually talks like he's English (which should please fans of the comics) but is the story good enough for a TV series?  Incidentally, NBC has not given any date for the premiere of the series but has already ordered a full season of the show.

Those who want to know more about the 2005 movie Constantine starring Keanu Reeves and whether the movie will spawn a sequel can check out my post on 30th April 2024 titled Constantine 2, Is It Really Happening?

             

(Constantine Season 1 Trailer Courtesy of Series Trailer MP)

Below is the link for Constantine : The Complete Series on Blu-Ray/DVD.  

Constantine The Complete Series Blu-Ray (Amazon US) (paid link)