Tag: Geraldine James

Silo (2023) s01e03 – Machines

Is Machines a great episode, or is it a sign “Silo”’s going to be great? It’s a phenomenal fifty minutes of television (in an hour-plus episode), but the show’s still got all the existing problems. There’s just this one outlier. So far. But the episode, writing credit to Ingrid Escajeda, is fantastic. If director Morten Tyldum, who wouldn’t know if a cinematic shot if it were a hundred-foot-tall steam generator spinning around, ready to slice up the heroes going to replace it so the silo doesn’t lose power forever… well if it weren’t Tyldum, it’d be better. Even with his profoundly banal direction, it’s great.

And the cast can find the energy in the action, even if Tyldum can’t bring it, even if the weird accents continue. They’re intentional. I’m pretty sure. Based on Iain Glen having the same weird, not quite anything, but definitely a very white European-ish accent. Glen hasn’t given this bad of an accent since he was in Resident Evil and has spent his subsequent career showing off his ability with accents and middling directors. So if he’s giving a bad accent now, it’s because they told him to give a bad accent.

Harriet Walter’s back with her weird one too. However, she has some okay scenes. One opposite Geraldine James, who’s walking down the silo to offer Rebecca Ferguson the sheriff job while also getting in some quality time with Will Patton. Halfway through the episode, I turned to my wife and asked her if she thought it was weird Patton has become a soulful, sensual type in his old age. She hasn’t seen H40 so she was very confused.

But it’s fine. I’m here for it. It’s at least not wasting Patton.

And James, with her weird, weird, weird accent, is more likable this episode. This episode should’ve been the first episode, and they should’ve figured out how to get the backstory in later. It’s got an excellent three-act structure for a feature narrative. James needs to decide if she’s hiring Ferguson or if she’s going to kowtow to her rival branch of government (an unnamed female judge, who will be a stunt cast later on) while Ferguson needs to convince boss Shane McRae they’re running out of time to fix the generator.

If they don’t fix it, the silo loses power, and everyone dies. Badly.

Along the way, we finally find out Tim Robbins really is an asshole and doesn’t just seem like one in the flashbacks. And Common threatens James, which is a weird moment, but later on, we find out Common’s just a good dad trying to get by in a bad future. Common works for Judicial; James is the Mayor, so her rival is the Judge.

I wonder if it’s Diane Lane. There’s a somewhat deep cut.

Susan Dey would be baller.

Especially if they make her do an accent.

Anyway, the stuff with the generator is great. It’s not a real-time episode because Tyldum’s bad, but it’s exceptionally tense, with big stakes.

It’s so good it makes up for the cliffhanger resolve being almost entirely toothless.

Ferguson also gets to run a room instead of brood or moon. She does okay. Not great, but successful.

The episode also doesn’t shy away from comparing how worker-class boss McRae supports and values women to how Robbins hates them.

I was reluctant on “Silo.”

Tedious Tyldum or not, I’m much less so now.

Machines is great.

Silo (2023) s01e02 – Holston’s Pick

As is the way since, what, “The Shield” in 2002, “Silo” changes its opening titles to adjust for last episode’s big “surprises” as far as lead actor deaths. Also in this episode’s titles is Harriet Walter, which made me happy. I couldn’t wait until Harriet Walter showed up.

And I’m glad she’s getting work other than her standard British lady stuff. Maybe someday it’ll even be a good part. And, maybe someday, her director will tell her—and her British costars—to work on their freaking accents. It wasn’t until Walter shows up I realized… none of the British cast members in “Soil” can hold their accents. Now, “Silo” takes place in an unknown future location. There’s no reason to think it’s not in the UK. Maybe it’s just a Brexit thing.

But neither Walter, Rebecca Ferguson (who’s Swedish, sorry; director Morten Tyldum doesn’t care either), David Oyelowo (who has more to do in this episode than last, even though he’s dying in the present), nor Geraldine James (as the mayor) can do normal sounding accents. They all sound like they just remembered they’re supposed to be doing American and did anyone notice they weren’t. Except Walter. Walter’s doing a voice out of a fantasy cartoon.

This episode opens with Oyelowo walking outside the “Silo,” presumably to his death—only, as all the people inside the silo watch, it’s obvious they’re not going to reveal it right away at the start of the episode. “Silo,” the previous episode established, is all about leaning in on the timeline manipulation. Like in this episode, which establishes Oyelowo is walking out three months after he met Ferguson last episode and had his “connection” with her, or whatever Will Patton called it.

Except as we find out later on in the episode, not only is calling it a “connection” tenuous, they only meet the one time. Oyelowo’s just a special guest star. They have a relatively eventful first meeting—including Ferguson revealing she and Ferdinand Kingsley are lovers and have been exploring the history of the silo—the forbidden history. Also, they’re forbidden lovers. Kingsley’s an amateur archeologist, which is super-illegal, and he doesn’t want to put a ring on it because then Ferguson would be liable for his crimes or something.

This episode also introduces Common—who may have been in a crowd shot last time—as one of the future KGB guys or whatever. They all dress in black, and they make people disappear and whatnot. It’s pointless because the show’s obviously waiting to explain it for emphasis later, not just telling the audience what they need to know. Then, the content might have to be interesting rather than its presentation.

But it’s 2023, and presentation over content is how streaming prestige series roll.

Director Tyldum failed some very basic sci-fi imagery last episode and continues to do so here, except this episode’s also where AppleTV+ apparently told “Silo” to cut back on the CGI a bit (not a good sign telling them to cut back on episode two, obviously). The composites are particularly poorly lighted, but since Tyldum’s not interested in making it visually engaging or compelling… it doesn’t matter?

They promise things will get interesting next episode—unraveling conspiracies and solving murderers interesting—but it’s also their TV show. They could’ve just made it interesting from the start.

Silo (2023) s01e01 – Freedom Day

“Silo” is about future humans living in a giant, hundreds of levels deep silo because the outside atmosphere is toxic. They don’t remember why it’s toxic; just it’s toxic. They also don’t know how they got to living in the silo. If you say you want to go outside, you have to go outside. And die. They ask you to clean the single video camera with a piece of wool as you go outside.

“Silo” is based on Wool, by Howey, the first book in the Silo series. I read the comic book adaptation, Wool. I sort of assumed the series was a one-and-done, but if it’s a series now, maybe they’ve got future seasons in mind. I don’t remember the comic very well, other than it being pretty good and thinking a movie or TV show would be solid.

The TV show’s okay. I’m not sure if it’s solid. It’s prestige-y streaming, with Rashida Jones playing a rare dramatic role in a special appearance. She’ll come back in flashbacks later, I’m sure, but the cold open—slowly—spoils she’s dead, having gone outside, and her husband, the sheriff, played by David Oyelowo, is going out after her. Sometime later. We later learn it’s two years later. There are lots of indeterminate time periods used for dramatic effect, which the show can get away with because it takes a full day to walk from the top of the silo to the bottom.

Would it help to understand how life worked in the silo? Oh, heck yeah. I skimmed my old posts about the comic and the show’s following its narrative structure (and presumably the novel’s), but it’s a bad structure for TV. We start in the present with Oyelowo, jump back to Jones’s story, jump forward in Oyelowo’s a bit so the show can introduce eventual lead and executive producer Rebecca Ferguson, then jump forward back to the present to get ready to kill Oyelowo off.

Neat trick in a novel if the writer can pull it off. Neat trick in a comic if the writers and artists can pull it off. Neat trick in a TV show if the showrunner, episode writer, show director, cast, and crew can pull it off. Director Morten Tyldum really doesn’t get it. Graham Yost—also the showrunner—gets the writing credit, and he doesn’t not get the relatively simple noir structure, but Jones isn’t playing for it. The actors in “Silo” don’t get much direction, whether Tyldum’s got a good idea or not. Professional competence and affability get them through.

I mean, Will Patton’s the deputy. There’s basically a genre of “Will Patton’s the deputy” TV shows now.

The flashback’s about how renegade IT clerk Jones and husband Oyelowo got permission to try to have a baby for a year, and over that year, their continued failures to get pregnant will drive Jones to question their reality. Oyelowo’s got an iffier part the longer the episode progresses, as he eventually manages to gaslight Jones both as a lawman and just as a man. It should be a better part, and it’s not Oyelowo’s fault at all. In this case, it’s mostly Yost’s.

Jones teams up with computer repair guy Ferdinand Kingsley to uncover the secrets of “Silo,” and then she can’t live with them. Fast forward two years but not to the present, Kingsley’s dead, and Oyelowo’s investigating. Patton’s voiceover tells us Oyelowo then has some reinvigorating due to Ferguson (who may not even have an audible line of dialogue, just sweaty biceps).

Then the episode’s over, and they’ve killed off (imminently) two likable protagonists.

Tune in next time for a third?

It’s nice to see Jones in a dramatic thriller, I guess. And it’s decently produced. Unfortunately, there’s just nothing particularly exciting yet.

The Tall Guy (1989, Mel Smith)

Mel Smith is a stunningly inept director. Especially for comedy. Though, given its awkward flashback montages, lack of supporting character resolutions, impromptu musical number, and just over ninety minute runtime, it sure seems like there might be a longer version of The Tall Guy out there. As is, The Tall Guy is way too skinny. So maybe it’s not all Smith’s fault. Or maybe it’s just editor Dan Rae’s fault. Maybe Smith directed a bunch of good comedy and Rae just screwed it all up. Maybe there’s some explanation for why it doesn’t work.

Because lead Jeff Goldblum is really cute. He’s really cute with romantic interest Emma Thompson. The movie’s not cute, but they’re cute. They carry a lot with this movie and don’t get anything in return. Richard Curtis’s script short changes them just as much as everyone else. Including third-billed Rowan Atkinson, who’s an inflated cameo. It’s weird. So maybe there’s a good reason for it.

It’s the fairly familiar tale of American actor Goldblum trying to make it in London. He can’t get any parts because he’s too tall apparently, which isn’t clear for a while because he’s employed at the start of the movie. He works for Atkinson, who’s a bastard physical comedian with a hit stage show. Goldblum’s his sidekick. And Goldblum doesn’t seem to have any ambition past being Atkinson’s sidekick. He just wishes Atkinson would be nice to him. And he wishes his roommate Geraldine James would at least have the courtesy of bringing home a dude to buff who isn’t going to drink Goldblum’s orange juice. Goldblum’s a man of few pleasures, orange juice is one of them.

Until Goldblum has to get his seasonal allergies resolved because it’s screwing up his performance—only it’s not, it’s just getting him laughs and Atkinson is a prima donna who can’t handle anyone else getting laughs. That single tidbit of character motivation for Atkinson is more than Goldblum or anyone else in the film gets. Anyway, Goldblum has to go to the doctor, there he meets nurse Thompson and falls for her immediately. The reminder of the first act is Goldblum getting shots for his allergies from Thompson, not asking her out, whining about not asking her out to roommate James, cue comic bit about what James’s lover of the moment is doing (usually hidden from view and humorously contorted), repeat.

Once Goldblum does go out with Thompson, they immediately get physical in a raucous love-making scene you know is supposed to be funny but it’s really more just dumb. It also results in Goldblum losing his job with Atkinson, which kicks off the second act proper as Thompson will soon tell Goldlbum he’s got to get another job because she’s not dating some bum actor.

Now all of a sudden it’s supposed to be believable Goldblum’s employable as a professional stage actor. This time the absurdity of his potential projects generates the charm, as the film phases out Thompson and Goldbum’s romance, then Thompson almost entirely. How’s Goldblum feel about it? Who knows. He doesn’t have the depth of a head shot.

Affable performances all around, though by the third act you’ve got to wonder how Goldblum and Thompson kept a straight-face through the disastrous third act. Professionalism, pass it on.

Atkinson always seems like he’s about to be really funny and it never pays off.

Anna Massey is fun as Goldblum’s agent.

There’s a poppy score from Peter Brewis. It’s rather energetic, which is something since the film manages to drag even at ninety-two minutes.

Adrian Biddle’s photography is solid.

Smith could be worse at composing shots. He could be as bad at it as he is directing actors.

The Tall Guy’s problematic execution give the film its charm through the first half plus a few, but then once it shatters that charm—intentionally—it’s got nothing to replace it with. Not in the acting, writing, or directing. It’s a bummer for Goldblum, Thompson, and Atkinson; they deserve something for keeping the film afloat. Against some considerable odds.

This post is part of the Jeff Goldblum Blogathon 2019 hosted by Emma of Emma K Wall, Explains it All and Gill of Realweegiemidget Reviews.

Dr. Easy (2013, Jason Groves, Chris Harding and Richard Kenworthy)

Dr. Easy is definitely well made. It’s unclear if directors Groves, Harding and Kenworthy are competent on their own but together they can make a decent looking little picture.

But they raise a lot of obvious questions with Easy and ignore them.

It’s a future story with a robot medic going in to handle an armed gunman. Oh, wait, there’s the first question. Is the robot really there to help the gunman or the police? The police stand down to the medic. All the filmmakers needed was to give the main cop, played by Alex Macqueen, a line of dialogue. Except there aren’t any other speaking cops (a cost issue?) and Macqueen only barks orders.

It’s possible the directors intend this question (and others) to make the viewer think, but why bother? Easy is a seven minute short about robots; it’s incapable of offering a reward worth that extra work.

1/3Not Recommended

CREDITS

Directed by Jason Groves, Chris Harding and Richard Kenworthy; screenplay by Groves, Harding and Kenworthy, based on a novel by Matthew De Abaitua; director of photography, Barry Ackroyd; edited by Dominic Leung; production designer, Agnieszka Debska; produced by Ally Gipps.

Starring Tom Hollander (Michael), Geraldine James (Dr. Easy) and Alex Macqueen (Superintendent).

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Arthur (2011, Jason Winer)

My Thin Man affection aside, I’m not against sobriety. However, Russell Brand movies integrate the glory of AA to the point it hurts the film (Get Him to the Greek made a similar move at a similar time). The development hurts Arthur, somewhat significantly. It’s good the film has Greta Gerwig, as she pulls it through.

The film is a very pleasant surprise; Brand has shown he can be endearing while still being raucous, but this film is the first I’ve seen where it suggests he might actually be able to act as well. He’s mostly acting opposite Helen Mirren or Gerwig, so he definitely has a lot of support.

The approach helps. Of course it’s nowhere near as good as the original, but it doesn’t compete. Between Brand, Gerwig and Mirren, it engenders a totally different response.

A lot of the film is Mirren’s show—it’s funny because of her responses to Brand. Her career’s gotten so much more interesting as she’s taken these varied roles.

Gerwig’s excellent. Since I’d never seen her before, I was pleasantly surprised, but Arthur has two other big surprises. First, Jennifer Garner’s fantastic. It’s like she was born to play a (realistic) heartless harpy. The other surprise is Nick Nolte (in a small role as Garner’s father). He’s atrocious. I’m not sure they even bothered making sure he was awake.

Winer’s direction is good, very calm and self-aware.

I was hopeful for Arthur, but it’s better than I thought it could be.

Sherlock Holmes (2009, Guy Ritchie)

Ok, so… is Robert Downey Jr. ever going to be in a serious movie again? He’s the new Johnny Depp (serious indie actor turned blockbuster star for hire). Anyway. Sherlock Holmes.

Let’s see. Guy Ritchie can direct. Who knew? Maybe he just needed Joel Silver to rein him in. Good Hans Zimmer music. Good Jude Law sidekick performance. Awful Rachel McAdams (I really wish they’d killed her off so she couldn’t come back). Mark Strong is one of the worst villain “heavies” I’ve ever seen. Love how he’s dressed like a Nazi with a Nazi hairdo and a plan to invade the States. But whatever, one doesn’t see Sherlock Holmes for the script (not when the script gives Strong’s bastard character a lordship).

Unfortunately, Downey’s performance, while engaging and charismatic, is really nothing more than an athletic aping of Jeremy Brett’s Holmes and Downey’s own Chaplin (for the accent). There’s never a moment one doesn’t think a British actor couldn’t have done a superior job.

The film’s pretty simple to describe: it’s a well-produced League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It’s also directly informed by “House,” which is inspired by Holmes‘s source material. It’s exceptionally unoriginal in its relationship between Downey and Law, but all the writing is pretty lame so it doesn’t matter much.

It’s a fine non-summer blockbuster. It discourages any intellectual involvement, it has a decent, “I hope there’s a sequel” ending. Too bad Downey’s become such a boring actor.

Hopefully it’ll get people to see Chaplin.