The End of an Era

Man Men returns next month for its final season and there are celebrations going on in various cities including New York. Tonight I went to the Film Society of Lincoln Center to see "Mad Men: The End of an Era," a conversation with the show's creator, Matthew Weiner, and Jon Hamm, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, and John Slattery, moderated by Chuck Klosterman.

My terrible photo taken from the back of the orchestra at tonight's event.

Jon Hamm may be the handsomest man I have ever seen in person. He was also very funny (and wore red-striped socks). John Slattery told a hilarious story about filming the infamous scene where he wore blackface. January Jones was gorgeous and spoke the least but got in one good zinger.Christina Hendricks explained how the Joan walk came about (tightness of the dresses) and at one point left the stage and returned with drinks for her and Jones. And Matthew Weiner told tons of stories like how his son, Martin, came to be cast as Glen and how he wanted to give his characters things to do while delivering their lines but didn't want them to walk and talk like in The West Wing. 

The evening included screenings of clips that each of them had chosen. The first one up was from Mystery Date from Season Five (above). Weiner picked it because he had always wanted to see it screened in front of an audience. It's classic Mad Men and a great example of the humour on the show. The event served as a reminder of not just how brilliant the show is but how sad I'm going to be saying good-bye to the employees of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

Mad Men returns to AMC on April 5, 2015.

The Fall

Gillian Anderson is Stella Gibson in The Fall. 

Last weekend I stayed up late watching The Fall, a BBC program that I had been dying to see (no pun intended).

The murder of a young woman has the police in Belfast stumped so they call in DSI Stella Gibson from the Met in London who quickly sees connections between this murder and prior one. The police at first are reluctant to agree (this might mean they messed up) yet when a similar murder occurs it becomes apparent that they have a serial killer on their hands, one who stalks and preys on young career women. Gibson takes over the investigation and sets about drawing the murderer out before he can kill again.

The main reason I was excited for The Fall is that Gillian Anderson plays Gibson. Yes, Dana Scully of the X-Files is once again donning a lanyard and carrying a gun. I don’t mean to sound glib. Anderson is a fantastic actress. It’s just hard not to think of Scully when she’s in a police tale, especially when she visits the morgue.

Gibson is a type of character popular in mysteries: the single female detective who is intelligent, attractive, lives alone, and appears to need nothing but her job save for the occasional one night stand. It’s been done many times before (think Cordelia Grey in the PD James novels or DCI Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect as a couple of classic examples), and you can now add Anderson’s Gibson to the list.

A good detective and leader, Gibson manages to run a team smoothly. She gives commands without raising her voice, holds her own with the men, and supports the career advances of younger female officers. She is utterly devoted to a case. She lives the job, drinking too much coffee, changing in the women’s room, and even spending some nights on a cot in her office.

She is also attractive and uses it to her advantage, lowering her voice and speaking softly, flipping her long blonde hair, and wearing shirts that almost reveal too much. In fact, her wardrobe is one of the standouts on the show: silk shirts with black pencil skirts and trousers, heels and tailored coats. She always appears put together, a bit posh. It’s only in the close-ups that she allows the fatigue she’s feeling to show in her eyes.

And Gibson is used to getting what she wants. Spotting a good-looking police officer, she asks to be introduced and almost immediately tells him where she’s staying and her room number. For her it’s sex with no strings attached, something that she refers to as “sweet night,” a term borrowed from an African tribe. Gibson knows this because her first degree was in anthropology, one of the few personal details she reveals about herself.

The other cast members are stellar including Jamie Dornan as Paul Spector, a family man and grief counsellor who happens to be a serial killer, John Lynch as ACC Jim Burns who has a history with Gibson, and Niamh McGready as Danielle Ferrington, the young patrol officer who becomes Gibson’s right hand woman.

All five episodes are streaming now on Netflix and the BBC has commissioned a second season (yay!). Watch them all but a word of advice: start your viewing early in the evening, as you’ll want to blast right through all five.

The Final Countdown

It appears that I've been AWOL from the blog this past week. This is partly due to work but also because of marathon re-viewings of the first three seasons of Arrested Development followed by staying up to 3 am to watch the premiere of season 4 and then the rest of the episodes over the course of three days. Was it as good as the first three seasons? No. Does it matter? Of course not. While I miss the largely ensemble episodes of the past (this season each episode is focused on a particular character), I was more than happy to see the return of the Bluth family, particularly my favourite, Buster. And loads of Lucille 2. So if you haven't seen season 4 yet, do check it out. And if you've never seen the show, well there's just no excuse. Do it now. And remember, there's always money in the banana stand. 

Mystery

Thinking of Edgar Allan Poe earlier reminded me of another favourite of the macabre—Edward Gorey. Here's the intro that he and Derek Lamb created for Mystery (it's a shame you now only see an abbreviated version). I always thought it would make a great video for Elvis Costello's "Watching the Detectives." Anyways, enjoy!

Downton Abbey

Just when I thought there was nothing to watch on television this month along comes Downton Abbey on Masterpiece. Written by Julian Fellowes of Gosford Park fame, this opulent new drama follows the lives of the Crawley family and their servants in Edwardian England.

Episode one opens on April 15, 1912 with news of the sinking of the Titanic. Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, learns that among the dead are James and Patrick Crawley, his cousins and male heirs. This poses an enormous complication for him and his family as Patrick had been engaged to Grantham's eldest daughter, Mary. Now the family's future is uncertain as the estate is entailed and girls cannot inherit. Grantham invites his new heir, a distant relation whom he barely knows, to move onto the estate and get to know the lay of the land. But Matthew Crawley is not your typical heir. For starters, he’s a practicing lawyer and appears to be opposed to the customs of the upper class. Marriage between Matthew and Mary would solve the family’s problems. But can the two overcome their differences and fall in love? 

 The three Crawley daughters.

The show is simply gorgeous, from the wonderful sets to the lovely costumes. The opening scene—a tracking shot that follows various servants through the house—allows the viewers to get a close look at the real star of the show, Downton Abbey itself. Filmed at Highclere Castle in Hampshire, the house represents the English upper class and their beliefs, which will soon go the way of the dodo bird with the coming of World War I.

The cast is excellent. The always-solid Hugh Bonneville plays the Earl of Grantham and the surprisingly good Elizabeth McGovern is his American heiress wife, Cora. The servants are portrayed by many stellar actors including Jim Carter as Carson the butler, Phyllis Logan as Mrs. Hughes the housekeeper, and Brendan Coyle as the crippled new valet John Bates. But it is Dame Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess who steals every scene she’s in. Has any other actress perfected the glowering glare or the cutting putdown delivered with a smile better than Smith?

There are three more episodes left to air, and a second season has already been commissioned by ITV. I can’t wait to watch the rest of the series and highly recommend that you do the same.

The Game is Afoot

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in Sherlock.

It was with some trepidation that I tuned into Masterpiece Mystery the other night to catch the first installment of a new Sherlock Holmes series simply titled Sherlock. The big difference between this version and the dozens that have come before it was that now the famed detective was living in the 21st century. Would it work? I had my doubts but those were squashed upon viewing the show. Holmes is definitely a detective made for modern times.

Played by the uniquely named Benedict Cumberbatch, Holmes still resides at 221B Baker Street with the faithful Mrs. Hudson fussing over him. And yes, he can tell a person’s background by just looking at them and is always one step ahead of those around him. Only now Holmes, a consulting detective, taunts the police with text messages and writes a blog on the science of deduction. Instead of smoking a pipe, he indulges in nicotine patches. His trusty sidekick, Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman), is still amazed by Holmes' intellect and continues to question some of his flatmate's more peculiar traits. But in this version Watson's military background, so often glossed over in the past, is made an important part of the story. He’s been wounded serving in Afghanistan and is dealing with both the physical and emotional scars of battle. This makes for a more complex and interesting Watson than we've seen in a while. 

The show has a bit of a Doctor Who look to it (not a bad thing in my book). No big surprise considering co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss also worked on Who. This along with the strong rapport between Holmes and Watson and the clever nods to the Holmes canon make this one enjoyable show to watch.

Sherlock airs on PBS October 31 (how fitting) and November 7. Please watch. It would be a crime to miss.

A Jolly Good Murder

Michael Kitchen and Honeysuckle Weeks in Foyle's War.

Among the many things that summer brings (humidity, bare legs, gin cocktails) is the return of PBS’ Masterpiece Mystery. And this year one of my favourite detectives is back—Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle—in Foyle’s War.

Set in the English seaside town of Hastings during World War II, the series focuses on Foyle, played by the incomparable Michael Kitchen, who is frustrated to be stuck solving local crimes instead of helping with the war effort. But as we soon discover, there’s plenty of work for Foyle to do. Accompanied by his driver, the ever cheerful Samantha “Sam” Stewart (Honeysuckle Weeks), and Detective Sergeant Paul Milner (Anthony Howell), who lost a leg in the early days of the war, the steadfast and methodical Foyle fights the enemies at home.

Foyle is the epitome of the reserved Englishman. Even while having a gun pointed at his head, he exhibits grace under pressure. He rarely raises his voice; with Foyle, a slight twitch of his mouth can speak volumes. He takes his time observing the people and events around him while allowing us to enjoy his intelligence and dry wit.

Brigadier: What was it? A heart attack?

Foyle: Well, you might say that. He was shot in the chest.

His dogged determination and strong sense of right and wrong lets us know that in the end, justice will prevail. And he drinks scotch. What’s not to love?

After the show was cancelled (bad ITV) someone there with a brain decided to renew it and three new episodes just aired (oh how I miss the old Mystery with its wonderful Edward Gorey opening but that is for another discussion). The new episodes take place right after the war has ended but they are just as good as the prior ones. They will most likely be shown again during the summer but if you don't want to wait (and who does?) they are available now on Netflix. I know I shall be spending more time with Foyle before the summer is over.