Film:
I could go into obscene amounts of detail in this section,
but I’ll confine myself to a few notable highs and lows. On the highs, and
kicking the year off with surprising quality, was rom-com ‘Warm Bodies’, which
retold ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in post zombie apocalypse style, and Romeo dying long
before the start of the story instead of at the end. A sharp script which
managed to do voice-over right, and
great central performances from Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer grounded the
outlandish concept. An unconventional date movie, but one worth watching.
Elsewhere in movies that you defied obvious expectations, Guillimero
del Toro’s ‘Pacific Rim’ was a triumph of spectacle, but managed to secrete a
surprising amount of substance into a film about giant robots beating up bigger
monsters. It wasn’t quite as original as some would have you believe,
essentially being Power Rangers versus Godzilla, but it had characters with
depth, a coherently constructed universe, outstanding art design and, of
course, giant robots using oil tankers as offensive weapons, which
automatically makes it one of the best films ever made.
On the comic book front, Marvel’s output in 2013 was
outstanding. ‘Iron Man 3’ wrapped up (maybe) that particular arc of the wider
franchise, and while the Iron Man films have always had a broad streak of
comedy, which was exacerbated wonderfully by Shane Black taking the helm, it
was actually a surprisingly sombre, thoughtful film, and was a worthy finale to
the series. “Thor: The Dark World” was perhaps even better, and definitely
funnier. Christopher Ecclestone was wasted as the villainous Malekith, hidden
behind too much make up and with zero characterisation, but the laugh rate, the
stonking action, and first rate performances carried the day. The inevitable
third film will no doubt be a must see.
They were certainly better than the other big superhero
film, ‘Man of Steel’. A more controversial entry, largely due to the ending,
which saw Superman break a man’s neck, I felt it for the most part a highly
entertaining and surprisingly clever film, but one that was occasionally bent
under the attempt to make the character ‘relevant’ to a modern audience, not to
mention some appallingly heavy-handed Messianic imagery. Opinion on it will
probably vary depending on how much of a fan of Superman you are, but it’s
worth watching to make up your mind if nothing else.
To wrap up the blockbuster overview, and a comfortable
winner of film of the year in my book, Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘Gravity’ was the
single most thrilling cinematic experience I have ever had, and a welcome
reminder of what Sandra Bullock can do when given a decent role. The story of
one woman’s attempt to survive an appalling accident while servicing the Hubble
telescope, it was all at once horrifying, awe-inspiring, heart-wrenching and
visually spectacular, to the extent that even Mark Kermode, who has devoted
entire swathes of his blogs, radio shows and books to the horrors of 3D,
admitted that it was worth spending ninety minutes wearing silly glasses for
the privilege of seeing it done so well. Whether it will have the same impact
on smaller screens is subject to testing, but that’s a mild concern with an
astonishing film.
If it hadn’t been for ‘Gravity’, film of the year would
probably have gone to ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’, perhaps best known for Ryan
Gosling’s quietly intense performance as a stunt rider turned bank robber, but
worth seeing for a whole host of other reasons. Despite its reputation, it
isn’t actually Gosling’s film; he’s very much part of an ensemble, and is
really only in it for a third of the film or so. If you’re looking for a film
of his though, go for this over the over-rated ‘Drive’. But you should also
watch it for some excellent direction from Derek Cianfrance, and a couple of
tender, heartbreaking performances from Bradley Cooper and Dane deHaan.
Melancholic but hopeful, and unlucky to have been outshone by ‘Gravity’.
On the downside, I shall gloss over the truly terrible
‘Mortal Instruments’ to mention ‘Oz: the Great and Powerful’ and ‘Jack the
Giant Slayer’, both reasonably entertaining in a fairly mindless sort of way,
but falling far short of the level of quality one might expect from the source
ideas and creative teams involved. ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ was great fun for
eighty percent of its run time, but crippled by appallingly lazy writing, while
Neill Blomkamp’s ‘Elysium’ was simply a couple of hours of being told that rich
people are bastards.
Television:
I’ve probably watched too many TV shows this year, but an
awful lot of them have been fantastic. Sadly, many of the best have been
old(ish), and watched on DVD; ‘Breaking Bad’ is without question the best thing
I’ve watched this year, but that was the first series…which I started the day
after the final episode of the show ever was broadcast. Great timing. Anyway,
it is absolute must-see television. Bryan Cranston is outstanding as the
terminally ill, and morally misguided Walter White, and the whole show just
oozes intelligence and class. A close second was ‘Community’, a very funny American comedy set in a
community college, and revolving around a crowd of somewhat familiar misfits. A
nice blend of laughs are to be found, ranging from slapstick to verbal banter
nearly as slick as the master of the genre, Dr. Frasier Crane. Well worth
checking out.
However, in terms of television actually made this year, it
has been a decidedly mixed bag. ‘Doctor Who’ got off to a very shaky start,
with more than a couple of duff episodes, including a surprisingly
disappointing entry from Neil Gaiman. Matters weren’t helped by a lacklustre
storyline revolving around Jenna Coleman’s ‘Impossible Girl’, Clara Oswald, a
fine performance in desperate need of some characterisation from the production
team. However, a few cracking scripts, an outstanding final twist, and Matt
Smith’s always wonderful performance carried the day, and then it was time for
the 50th anniversary. ‘Day of the Doctor’ was an absolute triumph,
blending comedy, time-travel, and moral debates about genocide into one of the
most entertaining hours of television in a long time. And then came ‘Time of
the Doctor’, which did everything ‘Day…’ had done, and did it even better,
while managing to answer more or less every hanging plot thread from the last
three or four years. Matt Smith’s regeneration was magnificent, and nearly had
me in tears; as an unashamed fanboy, I’m going to miss him. But Peter Capaldi
is looking pretty impressive already, and the prospect of a full series with
him is very enticing.
On a related note, one-off drama of the year was ‘An
Adventure in Space and Time’, Mark Gatiss’ dramatization of the origins of
‘Doctor Who’, which was superbly written and acted, and positively
heart-wrenching.
Elsewhere, the BBC also triumphed with David Mitchell and
Robert Webb’s new series, ‘Ambassadors’. The tale of two ambassadors in the
fictional state of Tzbekistan, trying to walk the line between moral certainty
and the demands of the malevolent POD (Matthew MacFayden, in no way inspired by
Peter Mandelson), it was reminiscent of ‘Yes, Minister’ at its best, but
surprisingly more focused on drama than laughs, for the most part.
However, the show of 2013 was without question, for me,
‘Orphan Black’. Telling the story of Sarah Manning, a young woman trying to
escape the mistakes of her past and reconnect with her young daughter, it was a
thrilling, intelligent and twisting drama. It had me hooked from the first
scene: Sarah at a train station, watching in horror as another woman throws
herself in front of a train. A shocking enough thing to see, but when the dead
woman is a perfect doppelganger of you…the eventual twist was fairly
predictable, at least to watchers familiar with genre tropes, but the execution
was more or less perfect. Particular praise must go to Tatiana Maslany as Sarah
– and four or five other characters within the series, each one of them so
nuanced and varied that you could have difficulty believing it’s the same
person. Series two will be starting in April, and I cannot wait.
On the side of the disappointments though, there are two
entries. Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’ came with a lot of expectation
attached, partly due to the weight of the franchise, and partly because of the
Whedon name attached to it. It quickly became apparent that it wasn’t going to
be the spectacular super-hero fest people had wanted, which was fair enough;
most of the Marvel heroes would either be too complicated or expensive to
recreate on a television budget, or would work better as their own franchise,
at least initially. More serious was the lack of decent characterisation and
coherent tone. Although the quality did pick up as the show progressed, it
never quite rose above solidly entertaining, which isn’t quite good enough for
a seemingly key development of one of the biggest franchises around. In any
other year, it would likely have been the most disappointing show of the year,
but fortunately for Marvel, we’ve also had series three of ‘Homeland’.
The first series was outstanding, a thrilling, engaging,
morally ambiguous tour de force that gripped you by the scruff of your neck and
would not let go. Series two was disappointing, reduced to a more bland spy
thriller, but still had spark, and finished with an outstanding few episodes
that re-ignited interest with a bang. Series three…well, it’s never a good sign
when a show that has been so focused on two characters, both in terms of the
plot and their developing romance, has one half of that duo off screen for
two-thirds of the series. Damian Lewis’ Brody has gone from a terrorist who
made you sympathise and support him to a wishy-washy drug addict with no real
purpose in life, so you can understand why he was out of focus. It might not
have mattered so much if Carrie’s (Claire Danes) storyline was more believable;
sadly, while ‘Homeland’ has never made claims to rigorous adherence to reality,
in series three it completely abandoned such concepts as common sense and
logic, preferring to spend more time on the teen angst of Brody’s daughter.
True, she has more reason to whine than pretty much any other teenager on
television, and Morgan Sayler gave her best performances of the show so far,
but that’s not why anyone is watching the show. Frankly, the majority of the
series was poor, and I only kept watching in the hopes of a last minute save
akin to the second series. Alas, it was not to be, and I won’t be bothering
with the inevitable and seemingly pointless fourth series.
Books:
As with television, I have to say that the best book I read
this year was not actually written in 2013. Nonetheless, I can’t write this
without mentioning ‘Wolf Hall’, by Hilary Mantel, an enthralling
fictionalisation, although as far as I can tell thoroughly researched and
accurate telling, of the early life of Thomas Cromwell, architect of Henry
VIII’s divorce and the Break with Rome. Engaging throughout, beautifully
written, and detailing a fascinating period of history through lesser known
personal details (and presumably a few embellishments), it’s an outstanding
book, and if you have any interest in history or simply good literature, you
owe it to yourself to read it as soon as humanly possible.
However, in books actually released during 2013, the clear
winner was Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane’. Now, I’m a big fan
of Gaiman anyway, and I’ll admit to a certain fondness for any book that
results in an all too brief meeting with him, but it really is beautiful. It’s
a simple story, really; a young boy meets a slightly older girl and befriends
her and her family. Except slightly older is really very, very old, and her
grandmother remembers the Big Bang. And then an Eldritch Abomination hitches a
lift back to our world in the boy’s foot, and proceeds to try and take over the
world. And then reality starts to die. Well, it is a fantasy story. For all
that though, the best moments of the book are the sections that focus on the
boy’s life. Gaiman perfectly captures and recreates the feeling of being a
slightly lonely child, and how even the most ordinary things can inspire
wonder. It might not be Gaiman’s best work – it’s always going to be hard to
beat ‘The Sandman’ – but it’s probably the most accessible, and by far and away
the most heartfelt. It’s already won at least one book of the year award, and
if there’s any justice it will win a whole lot more.
There were others, of course. Stephen King’s rather belated
sequel to ‘The Shining’, ‘Doctor Sleep’ was a pleasant surprise. Horror isn’t
really my genre of choice anyway, and what I’ve read of his previous work,
admittedly very little, hasn’t especially grabbed me. Having read ‘Doctor Sleep’
though, I came away feeling I may have misjudged him; it’s a much more mature,
thoughtful work than I was expecting, as much about the dangers of addiction as
the dangers of soul-eating, motorhome dwelling child killers. And while it didn’t
quite have me scared to go to sleep with the lights off, fans of chilled spines
will be more than satisfied. I also enjoyed ‘The Red House’, by Mark Haddon of ‘The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ fame. A very different book to
his debut, focussing on two siblings and their respective families, on a week’s
holiday after a bereavement. It’s a far from cheerful book – estranged family
members, unhappy marriages, teen angst of so many varieties, and at least one
affair all contribute to a rather stressful holiday, and that’s really just the
tip of the iceberg. However, while the distinct shortage of particularly
likeable characters does somewhat hamper proceedings, the writing is spot on,
and the book has an uncomfortable familiarity to it that really makes it hit
home.
Returning to fantasy, Kate Griffin returned with another instalment
in her urban fantasy universe, thus far comprising two series: the Matthew
Swift novels and the Magicals Anonymous series. ‘The Glass God’ is the second
of the latter series, and related the return of trainee shaman and social
worker Sharon Li, not to mention the imminent destruction of London by an
ancient plague spirit and, of course, a new divinity constructed from glass.
The major strength of Griffin’s works has always been the world in which they
take place; the magical additions to London are so well thought out and
constructed that it never feels anything less than believable, and any
subsequent visit to London is bound to feel a little disappointing afterwards.
However, as yet, Sharon Li and her co-stars haven’t quite captured the
imagination as much as Matthew Swift. It must be said, that would be a tall
order. Swift is a sorcerer who makes his debut waking up two years after his
brutal murder, and turns out to have been inhabited by the new gods of the
telephone wire. His defining characteristics are a slightly schizophrenic
childishness and a propensity for mass destruction on an awesome scale. Sharon
Li is very much a typical young woman in modern day London – it just so happens
that she can walk through walls, turn herself invisible, and commune with the
spirits…and her social work tends to bring her into contact with banshees who
appreciate modern art, trolls with a talent for cookery, and vampires with OCD
about personal hygiene. It’s all great fun, but as yet not quite as good as the
Swift series, and this isn’t helped by the fact that both books in the MA
series have featured Swift as an important secondary character, and in both
books things would have gone horribly wrong without his intervention.
Hopefully, future instalments in the series will push Swift to the background
and develop the actual protagonists a little further.