Wear THE CROWN Again

Article first published as TV Review: THE CROWN Season 2 on Seat42F.

Netflix’s THE CROWN has returned for a second season. The series follows the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and the latest batch of episodes focuses on the mid-1950s into the 1960s. This will be the last season with the original cast, as the producers have said they will be switching performers every two seasons (which cover roughly twenty years of time). In general, season two seems to have mostly maintained the good quality of season one.

Picking up near where last year left off, things have gotten more complicated for Elizabeth (Claire Foy) in both the personal and professional realms. Concerning the latter, she no longer has Winston Churchil (John Lithgow) to rely on. Difficult as he could be, the new prime minister, Anthony Eden (Jeremy Northam), doesn’t have the same wisdom or competence. This almost immediately puts Elizabeth in a complicated place as tensions erupt in Egypt.

At the same time, Elizabeth fears her husband, Philip (Matt Smith), may be cheating on her. This is not helped at all by his louse of an assistant, Mike (Daniel Ings). Their relationship has been rocky ever since she was made queen, but this concern is new. In the first hour of season two alone, we see Elizabeth and Philip at their highest and their lowest points, as they continue to try to figure out how her official role fits into their marriage.

While I like seeing the contrast, I am going to take a moment to complain about the opening scene of season two, which takes place five months after the rest of the hour. It has become a far-too-common crutch for television shows to do a flash forward to try to hook the viewers before jumping back to the more ‘mundane’ parts of the story. It’s especially bad here because I feel the narrative would be far more powerful if we saw Elizabeth start on a high note and watched things fall apart, rather than knowing with certainty (for those not super familiar with her history) where it’s going before it takes a turn.

But that is my only real gripe about what I’ve seen so far of season two. Yes, there’s a bit of a hole without Lithgow’s constant presence. However, at this point viewers should be suitably invested in Elizabeth, Philip, and Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby) enough that the story remains compelling. With terrific performances and wonderful sets, props, and costumes, it’s still a very impressive production.

I am most intrigued by what role Dickie, also known as Lord Mountbatten (Greg Wise), may play in this season. The first year found him often an antagonist, though not a particularly diabolical one, while the premiere of season two already casts him in a more positive light. Complex characters like Dickie, and ones who aren’t as famous as Elizabeth and Churchill, provide a good hook to the drama.

There is a fair amount of speculation as to how accurate THE CROWN is. While the major sweeps of plot can be fact-checked, this royal family is notoriously private, and it’s hard to know for sure if, for example, Philip really did cheat on Elizabeth. I feel THE CROWN handles this delicately, though, hinting when it isn’t sure, and leaving enough open to interpretation to avoid going too far off the rails, while still preserving the drama.

I very much enjoyed THE CROWN’s first season. While I’m not far into year two yet, I can tell I am going to enjoy this run, too. It’s a feat to bring history to life so vividly and interestingly, especially when the story revolves around characters who might not scream drama themselves. The raw, layered portrait painted manages to make for a fascinating series.

THE CROWN season two is available now on Netflix.

KNIGHTFALLs Heavily

Article first published as TV Review: KNIGHTFALL on Seat42F.

ALERT: This article contains spoilers from the KNIGHTFALL pilot. It does not spoil anything beyond episode one.

History channel has a new drama called KNIGHTFALL. Following the Knights Templar in the 14^th century, we see the titular group trying to recover the Holy Grail, which they lose when fleeing their stronghold. The action quickly picks up fifteen years after that event in Paris, in the final days of the Knights’ existence. What will they accomplish before they disappear from history, and will they recover their most holy of artifacts?

KNIGHTFALL reminds me a lot of Vikings, a sister series on the network. It focuses a lot of violence and brutality. There are slow-motion fight scenes with plenty of blood punctuated throughout the first hour, and presumably, each hour after. The political drama is secondary, though there is also focus on sex and personal relationships. Characters don’t age as much as they should. In those aspects, KNIGHTFALL tries to build upon Vikings’ success.

Another thing KNIGHTFALL has in common with Vikings is that it is set during an era and concerning a people whom very little is known about. There are rumors and myths mixed with fact, and a lot of gaps exist in the history books. This allows the show to take much creative license without worry of offending anyone or being challenged too much by those who study the era. Though, in my opinion, it does tarnish the authenticity of the network’s name.

KNIGHTFALL does not have a very recognizable cast, a rarity in a television show today, though not necessarily a bad thing. Tom Cullen (Downton Abbey) is the lead, Landry, and perhaps the most well-known face in the pilot. Landry has just been put in charge of the Knights as KNIGHTFALL gets under way, a strange decision since the previous leader didn’t exactly agree with much of what Landry urged him to do. But he is a typical Hero, so there’s no doubt he can guide the group through whatever is coming their way.

Of course, given that KNIGHTFALL is airing in this particular age, the Hero must be flawed, too. We soon find out that Landry has a lover, a big no-no for members of the group. Worse, his sex partner is none other than Queen Joan (Olivia Ross, War & Peace), whose husband, King Philip (Ed Stoppard, Upstairs Downstairs), trusts Landry. (This isn’t, by far, the only glaring mistake Philip makes. He is not a wise monarch.) So we have the added, forced drama implicit in such a triangle.

It’s decisions like these that keep KNIGHTFALL down. It chooses to follow worn-out plots and open easy doors to drama, rather than trying to build something special. It may well satisfy the audience History is going for, but it tends to take some of the weaker parts of Vikings and ignore the better ones, at least in the pilot (the only episode I’ve seen). This is not the recipe for a ground-breaking show, but it’s fine if you just want popcorn entertainment.

I will say, KNIGHTFALL looks pretty good. I don’t know how accurate it is, and it certainly doesn’t rise to the level of a Game of Thrones in sweeping vistas. But it’s pretty enough, foreign and dated, and the costumes are pretty cool. This will lend it some legitimacy to the casual viewer, and also means if the writers do find their groove later on, some of the ingredients are already in place for a superior recipe.

KNIGHTFALL isn’t terrible, it just isn’t great, and in this day and age, that’s a dangerous thing to be if it wants any critical attention or to compete for viewers outside of a narrow demographic. Which doesn’t mean it won’t do well if it finds the right audience.

KNIGHTFALL airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on History.

THE MAN FROM EARTH Comes Home

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: 'The Man From Earth: Special Edition' on Blogcritics.

Ten years ago, The Man From Earth was released to the world. Not in theatres; the low-budget, indie film went straight to DVD. But with an excellent cast and cred for the writer, the movie went on to critical acclaim. It scored nominations, awards, and topped the list of Best Films in its genre. It was also, unfortunately, heavily pirated. Now, with an impending sequel, the original gets a remastered Special Edition release.

The Story

The story is a great thought experiment. Professor John Oldman (David Lee Smith, CSI: Miami) is packing up to leave town unexpectedly. A group of his colleagues insist on having a going-away party. When he slips out, they follow him and demand an explanation for his attempted disappearance. John tells them he’s actually a 14,000-year-old caveman who moves along every ten years before people notice that he doesn’t age. Of course, no one believes him. But the more they try to poke holes in his story, while he can’t prove what he’s saying is true, they fail to disprove it, either.

The Man From Earth plays very much like a play. Almost all the action is on one set, taking place in a single day. The ensemble by and large all stay on camera for the duration, making it a dialogue-heavy conversation piece. There isn’t any action, per se, just an intense examination of the claim and the ramifications of such a thing, exploring both the practical and the historical. Given that the characters are college professors, the conversation is high-brow and intelligent, covering a wide variety of angles.

Sci-Fi Cred

This is about what one might expect from writer Jerome Bixby, who literally finished this story on his death bed. Jerome is best known for “It’s a Good Life,” a short story that was turned into a seminal episode of The Twilight Zone, and for writing multiple episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, most notably “Mirror, Mirror.” (Another Star Trek episode he wrote, “Requiem for Methuselah,” has parallels to this tale.)

The ensemble cast also has plenty of Star Trek cred in it. Among them are John Billingsley (a lead in Star Trek: Enterprise), Tony Todd (guest star in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, and Star Trek: Voyager), and Richard Riehle (guest star in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise). Rounding out the cast are Ellen Crawford (ER), Annika Peterson (Tanner Hall), Alexis Thorpe (Days of Our Lives), and William Katt (Carrie). While not a highly recognizable troupe, these are all working actors who do a good job.

Ten Years Later

The Man From Earth holds up very well as a story. The plot is engrossing, the actors are natural, and there are enough surprises to make it worth it to pay attention. While it doesn’t answer every question that could be posed, it covers a lot of ground, and Bixby did a great job trying to anticipate what viewers would ask. I’m glad it’s getting a re-release to bring more attention to it.

But despite the expense spent on upgrading the film to HD (which it was not filmed in), I’m not sure the job was good enough to justify it. Sure, the original quality is soft and a bit blurry, but the new version is harsh and grainy. Watching the side-by-side comparison in the Blu-ray special features, I personally appreciated the original better. I’m not saying The Man From Earth couldn’t be made to look higher-quality, but I don’t think this release does it.

Extras

There are a wealth of bonus features on the Blu-ray. We get trailers for both the original movie and the upcoming sequel. There are two audio commentaries to choose from. There’s a very entertaining, very short film called “Contagion.” A few featurettes are interesting.

I am loathe to complain about a behind-the-scenes feature, as most are too short for my taste, but the one here is actually too long. Perhaps it would be better split into chunks, as it runs roughly the same length as the film. But I’m not sure that would help much, as there are a lot of unnecessary conversation in it. It’s cool to hear most of the cast, Bixby’s son, a producer, and director Richard Schenkman talk about the unique filming process and the piracy issues. However, there’s repetition and tangents that make it drag on. So for once, I have to say this one could use some editing down.

Conclusion

This is a great film, and I’m very glad to get to see it. It feels indie and low-budget, but that might be a plus for this particular story. The extras, despite my minor complaint that the main one could use some editing down, are plenty and mostly enjoyable. I recommend Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth, available now.

Blu-ray Review: 'The Vampire Diaries - The Complete Series'

Article first published as "Blu-ray Review: 'The Vampire Diaries - The Complete Series" on Blogcritics.

The CW, once a struggling also-ran broadcast channel, though still lower than its peers in the ratings, has established itself pretty firmly as a network this past decade or so. One of the series instrumental in building that brand was The Vampire Diaries. Throughout its eight years, it mixed soapy teen angst with a supernatural fun ride. These are the two primary genres that the CW has become known for. This melding of story is not unusual right now in pop culture, but rarely is it done as well as it is here. You can see what I mean as The Vampire Diaries – The Complete Series is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Love Triangle

The Vampire Diaries began as a love triangle between two brothers and a girl. Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) was the ‘good’ guy and the obvious choice. Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) was the brooding bad boy. The Salvatores were vampires, so of course they’d done horrible, murderous things. But Stefan was sorry for them, while Damon seemed completely unapologetic. Elena Gilbert’s (Nina Dobrev) choice was clear, right?

Of course not. As the series went on, layers of complexities were added to all three that muddy the waters. Sometimes it was predictable, the show firmly playing to tropes and familiar conceits. But other times, it found its own unique footing, and had some surprises. Over the course of eight years, the relationships between all three were explored in-depth, and romance was merely one facet of a messy grouping.

Fleshing Out the World

The Vampire Diaries wasn’t just about three people, though. Magic, witches, doppelgangers, family and local history, and werewolves were just some of the elements added as the program went on. Dobrev also played the role of Katherine Pierce, a vampire the Salvatore brothers had history with. Among the main cast members were Bonnie Bennett (Kat Graham), whom found power within herself, Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino), who became a furry beast, and Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis), a teacher and historian.

Some of the characters seemed to be a stereotype, but went through major growth arcs. For instance, Caroline Forbes (Candice King) was just the pretty, popular girl at first. Then she hooked up with the wrong guy and became much more interesting. Matt Donovan (Zach Reorig) was the safe, nice guy who stayed away from the supernatural for the longest time, but eventually found his place in the crazy. Ancient, ‘original’ vampires like Klaus Mikaelson (Joseph Morgan) seemed very mysterious at first, but eventually were fleshed out and went over to their own spin-off.

So The Vampire Diaries may have seemed relatively familiar in makeup at the start, but with the longevity of the series, it had the freedom to go quite a bit further, and it did.

The Blu-ray Release

All eight seasons are packaged in this latest set, on shelves just in time for the holidays. Inside the outer shell, a tasteful design featuring most of the show’s longest-serving leads, there are separate sets with the artwork used when first marketing each season, though the cases are uniform. The appearance is pleasing and looks like it was just put together.

Start opening them up, though, and it’s clear that the older releases were just boxed together. For example, season one contains an insert for The Secret Circle ‘Thursdays this fall.’ That was a short-lived series from many years ago. That in of itself isn’t much of an annoyance, but the fact that only two of the eight seasons contain codes for digital copies is. There are a plethora of bonus features, the same ones previously available, seemingly nothing new added for the incarnation.

The Verdict

The Vampire Diaries was an excellent show, this is a good looking set, and there’s a lot here. The episodes alone will keep you busy for months. Add the extra features, and you’ve got an extensive collection. The disappointing thing is that they didn’t include digital copies for all the seasons. And there is nothing new to make this set worth it if you already own most of the seasons. I do recommend getting The Vampire Diaries. But I only recommend The Complete Series if whatever seasons you don’t already own price at more than this package. Hopefully, one day we’ll get a more retrospective set; this one is just to complete your collection of episodes.

The Vampire Diaries – The Complete Series is available now.

Glutton For THE PUNISHER?

Article first published as TV Review: THE PUNISHER on Seat42F.

If you’d like to watch a Marvel television show, but are concerned that the mythology has become too dense with all the Netflix series, ABC programs, and films already out, THE PUNISHER is for you. Released on Netflix, and featuring characters and settings introduced in other series on the streaming service, it also stands completely on its own. It can be enjoyed without prior knowledge, which is a bit refreshing, a self-contained story that is intense and enticing.

As THE PUNISHER begins, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal, The Walking Dead) has completed his revenge mission. He has killed everyone involved with the death of his wife and children, his sole mission in life these past years. Six months later, he still hasn’t reengaged with the world, and avenging their tragedies hasn’t brought him peace. What will he do now?

Well, The Punisher as a character has a very clear focus: take down people who have done wrong, often in brutal, merciless ways. Even if his own personal journey is complete (something that may or may not actually be true), his talents can be put to use for other causes. And while Frank isn’t a team player that’s going to go sign up with a group of, say, Defenders, nor will he be embraced by law enforcement because of his methods. So solo vigilantism seems to be his best choice, and he certainly has opportunity to do so.

Like other Marvel shows on Netflix, THE PUNISHER begins slowly enough. We get Frank’s story first and foremost, but because there are thirteen hours to fill, we are introduced to a few other characters. David Liberman, a.k.a. Micro (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Girls), has a similar story to Castle’s, though his wife (Jamie Ray Newman, Bates Motel) and children are still alive. Still, he’d like Frank’s help. At the same time, Homeland Security Agent Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah, Indian Summers) has been called back from overseas as she sticks her nose in where it isn’t wanted. Her mission, assisted by black sheep agent Sam Stein (Michael Nathanson, The Knick), is sure to bring her into Frank’s orbit soon.

The Punisher is a tough character to do on screen because he likes to wall himself off so much. Sure, Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll, True Blood) and Curtis Hoyle (Jason R. Moore, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) may have made inroads that he tolerates, but Frank doesn’t surround himself with friends or family. And that’s a problem on a long-running story, forcing a very narrow focus. Only two episodes in myself, I don’t know if THE PUNISHER can sustain its momentum. But from what I’ve seen, I think it certainly has added enough to stay engaging as a show without ruining the core of who Frank Castle is.

I can’t say this is my favorite Marvel Netflix series so far; Jessica Jones and Luke Cage both had some strong takes on the world with important messages. But what I like about THE PUNISHER is that it truly is a character study on a unique individual, one far more violent than most of us would ever consider being, but who also is someone to root for, at least partially. With Bernthal doing a terrific job as the taciturn non-hero, I do greatly enjoy seeing the personality built in a complex, fully-formed way.

I like THE PUNISHER. I’m too early in the run to make any sweeping judgments on the series as a whole, but the first two hours show a lot of promise, and I definitely will commit to watching more. It’s already better than some of the other Netflix Marvel shows. And while I’m the type who like a bunch of shows tied together, I also dig that THE PUNISHER provides an alternate option, without abandoning the shared world altogether.

THE PUNISHER season one is available on Netflix now.