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Rating 2½
Created by Alan Ball
Based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries novels by Charlaine Harris
EP1 ‘Nothing bu the Blood’ (Written by Alexander Woo, Directed by Daniel Minahan); EP2 ‘Keep This Party Going’ (Written by Brian Buckner, Directed by Michael Lehmann); EP3 ‘Scratches’ (Written by Raelle Tucker, Scott Winant); EP4 ‘Shake and Fingerpop’ (Written by Alan Ball, Directed by Michael Lehmenn); EP5 ‘Never Let Me Go’ (Written by Nancy Oliver, Directed by John Dahl); EP6 ‘Hard-Hearted Hannah’ (Written by Brian Buckner, Directed by Michael Lehmann); EP7 ‘Release Me’ (Written by Raelle Tucker, Directed by Michael Ruscio); EP8 ‘Timebomb’ (Written by Alexander Woo, Directed by John Dahl); EP9 ‘I Will Rise Up’ (Wriiten by Nancy Oliver, Directed by Scott Winant); EP10 ‘New World in My View’ (Written by Kate Barnow and Elisabeth R Finch, Directed by Adam Davidson); EP11 ‘Frenzy’ (Written by Alan Ball, Directed by Daniel Minahan); EP12 ‘Beyond Here Lies Nothin’’ (Written by Alexander Woo, Directed by Michael Cuesta)
Starring Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse), Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton), Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte), Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse), Rutina Wesley (Tara Thornton), Nelson Ellis (Lafayette Reynolds), Jim Parrack (Hoyt Fortenberry), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica Hamby), Carrie Preston (Arlene Fowler), Chris Bauer (Detective Andy Bellefleur), Todd Lowe (Terry Bellefleur), Michelle Forbes (Maryann Forrester), Medcad Brooks (Benedict ‘Eggs’ Talley), Alexander Skarsgård (Eric Northman), Michael McMillian (Reverend Steve Newlin), Anna Camp (Sarah Newlin), Wes Brown (Luke McDonald), Mariana Klaveno (Lorena), Allan Hyde (Godric), Valerie Cruz (Isabel), Ed Quinn (Stan Davis), Christopher Gartin (Hugo), Adam Leadbeater (Karl), Ashley Jones (Daphne), William Sanderson (Sheriff Bud Dearborne), Adina Porter (Lettie Mae Thornton), Lizzy Caplan (Amy Burley), Kristin Bauer (Pam), Dale Raoul (Maxine Fortenberry) and Evan Rachel Wood (Sophie-Anne Leclerq)
The telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse and her vampire lover Bill Compton agree to go on a dangerous mission to Dallas to locate the whereabouts of a missing vampire sheriff, but with so many divided loyalties and double-crosses they do not know who they can trust. Sookie’s brother Jason joins the vehemently anti-vampire Fellowship of the Sun church, which is training an army to go to war with the vampires. Lafayette Reynolds goes missing after falling foul of the vampires for peddling “V”. The mysterious Maryann Forrester has a strange hypnotic hold over the people of Bon Temps, including Tara Thornton, and soon there are nightly mass orgies. Only Sam Trammell is able to resist her will, but he knows more about her than he is willing to admit.
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After an early false start, I liked the first season of ‘True Blood’ and I looked forward to watching this second season. It has some “wow” moments and the show has got the cliffhanger episode endings down to a fine art, but ultimately I found it all a little underwhelming and instead of having to force myself not to watch it too quickly I ended up having to make myself keep on watching.
A number of story threads come and go over the duration of the twelve episodes, but primarily the season concerns itself with the parallel storylines of Sookie and Bill going to Dallas in search of the 2,000-year-old vampire Godric and Jason’s recruitment into the army of the Fellowship of the Sun. Back in Bon Temps, Maryann Forrester imposes her will on the people and they participant in increasingly wild and uninhibited sex orgies. Part of the problem for me, apart from the constant stream of sex that, like the first season, quickly bores and becomes desensitising, is that too many characters become less interesting and more irritating than in season one and the various threads that make up the overall story arc are too often cumbersome and veer towards the prosaic. The ever-present problem of comparison to ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ also refuses to go away. The events in Bon Temps could be quite easily equated to the season four BtVS episode ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ (one of the least interesting and successful episodes of that show) and there seems to be more than just coincidental passing resemblance to events in the BtVS spin-off show ‘Angel’.
I found Maryann Forrester to be often a tedious and infuriating character, although undoubtedly an effective one and nicely acted by Michelle Forbes. While she might have had a supernatural hold over her followers, her irritating new-age manner was surely enough to put anyone off. Equally, I found Godric rather insipid, which made his beatific appearance and the fierce loyalty he commanded less convincing for me. As for Bill Compton, one of the show’s two principal characters, I am not warming to him very much at all and I don’t find him remotely interesting. Even Sookie Stackhouse was more irritating than not at times. On the plus side, I did like one new character, the newly turned vampire Jessica Hamby.
I enjoyed this second season up to a point, but not a single individual episode has stuck in my mind. I could name all 144 BtVS episodes and briefly describe the synopsis of each one. When I watched the short-lived ‘Point Pleasant’ each episode made an impact on me and left a footprint behind. These twelve ‘True Blood’ episodes have failed to do that and even though the season has ended on a cliffhanger I don’t at the moment feel any pressing need or urgency to discover what happens next. Having said that, viewing figures have increased dramatically and my opinion seems to be out of step with most of the reviews I have read.
The second season of ‘True Blood’ is based primarily on, but is not entirely faithful to, ‘Living Dead in Dallas’, the second Southern Vampire Mysteries novel, first published in March 2002.
Review posted 29 November 2009
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Rating 2
Written and directed by Michael Dougherty
Starring Dylan Baker (Steven Wilkins), Anna Paquin (Laurie), Britt McKillip (Macy), Leslie Bibb (Emma), Tahmoh Penikett (Henry), Samm Todd (Rhonda), Jean-Luc Bilodeau (Schrader), Isabelle Deluce (Sara), Alberto Ghisi (Chip), Lauren Lee Smith (Danielle), Connor Christopher Levins (Billy Wilkins), Christine Willes (Mrs Henderson) and Brett Kelly (Charlie)
A series of bizarre and bloody events occur on Halloween, each one in some way connected.
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‘Trick r Treat’ was written and directed by Michael Dougherty and produced by Bryan Singer. Dougherty co-wrote ‘X2’ and ‘Superman Returns’, two big-budget blockbuster films directed by Singer. The film, which had a $12 million production budget, was originally scheduled for release to coincide with Halloween 2007, but following a number of isolated one-off screenings from December 2007 onwards it was eventually released to DVD in October 2009. It has an 86% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes from 21 reviews.
The film is an anthology of several Halloween stories, each one in some way linked to the others. It has an almost dreamlike quality to it and plays like a kind of grisly comic fairytale. It is very cleverly put together, with some nice touches and attention to detail, and it has a recognisable and likeable cast. Such an inventive horror film with touches of black comedy set around the Halloween holiday should have been a real treat, but for some reason I just didn’t take to it. One reviewer, Bill Gibron, writing for PopMatters, suggests that, “A second viewing is definitely needed before confirming its almost masterpiece status.”
There already is a Halloween masterpiece, of course, and it’s called ‘Halloween’. All other Halloween-based horror films are destined to be compared to that John Carpenter classic. I don’t think this one compares, but perhaps I need to give it that second viewing sometime.
Review posted 15 November 2009
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Rating 3¾
Created by Alan Ball
Based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries novels by Charlaine Harris
EP1 ‘Strange Love’ (Written and Directed by Alan Ball); EP2 ‘The First Taste’ (Written by Alan Ball, Directed by Scott Winant); EP3 ‘Mine’ (Written by Alan Ball, Directed by John Dahl); EP4 ‘Escape from Dragon House’ (Written by Brian Buckner, Directed by Michael Lehmann); Ep5 ‘Sparks Fly Out’ (Written by Alexander Woo, Directed by Daniel Minahan); EP6 ‘Cold Ground’ (Written by Raelle Tucker, Directed by Nick Gomez); EP7 ‘Burning House of Love’ (Written by Chris Offutt, Directed by Marcos Siega); EP8 ‘The Fourth Man in the Fire’ (Written by Alexander Woo, Directed by Michael Lehmann); EP9 ‘Plaisir d’Amour’ (Written by Brian Buckner, Directed by Anthony M Hemingway); EP10 ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’ (Written by Chris Offutt, Directed by Scott Winant); EP11 ‘To Love is to Bury’ (Written and Directed by Nancy Oliver); EP12 ‘You’ll be the Death of Me’ (Written by Raelle Tucker, Directed by Alan Ball)
Starring Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse), Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton), Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte), Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse), Rutina Wesley (Tara Thornton), Nelson Ellis (Lafayette Reynolds), Michael Raymond-James (Rene Lenier), Jim Parrack (Hoyt Fortenberry), Carrie Preston (Arlene Fowler), William Sanderson (Sheriff Bud Dearborne), Chris Bauer (Detective Andy Bellefleur), Todd Lowe (Terry Bellefleur), Adina Porter (Lettie Mae Thornton), Alexander Skarsgård (Eric Northman), Lizzy Caplan (Amy Burley), Aisha Hinds (Miss Jeanette), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica Hamby), Kristin Bauer (Pam), Michelle Forbes (Maryann Forrester) and Lois Smith (Adele Stackhouse)
Sookie Stackhouse is a telepath who works as a waitress in a diner in the small community of Bon Temps in Louisiana. Her best friend Tara Thornton works the bar and Tara’s cousin Lafayette Reynolds is a short order cook. He also deals drugs and has a gay porn website. Tara’s mother Lettie Mae is a violent long-term alcoholic who believes she is possessed by a demon. The diner is owned by Sam Merlotte, who is in love with Sookie but does not openly express his feelings towards her. Bill Compton, a vampire who was turned during the American Civil War, comes back to Bon Temps to take up residence in the old house owned by his family and despite the antagonism of some locals to his presence he begins a relationship with Sookie. When a number of brutal murders occur, Sookie’s feckless brother Jason is implicated and it becomes clear that she is being targeted.
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In a nutshell, ‘True Blood’ is Tennessee Williams with vampires. The show premiered on the HBO premium subscription cable television channel on 7 September 2008. It was created for television by Alan Ball, who was previously responsible for the acclaimed ‘Six Feet Under’, another HBO show. The first season comprises twelve episodes and is based primarily on ‘Dead Until Dark’, the first ‘Southern Vampire Mysteries’ novel by Charlaine Harris, which was published in 2001. The opening episode was watched by 1.4 million viewers and the twelfth episode was watched by 2.45 million viewers. The second season of the show premiered on 14 June 2009 and marked a considerable increase in viewer numbers, reaching a high of 5.3 million for the tenth episode (the twenty-second in total). Reviews were initially mixed, but have become increasingly enthusiastic.
I had high hopes for the show, but when I finally had an opportunity to watch it I stalled at the first episode. It stayed that way for a few months, before I eventually decided to give it another go. I went straight to episode two and this time I quickly became hooked, watching the whole of the first season in a week (the days of ‘The X Files’ or ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ when I could sometimes watch five or six episodes in a row are very much a thing of the past).
How much does ‘True Blood’ owe to ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’? There is an obvious similarity between the relationships of Sookie and Bill in ‘True Blood’ and Buffy and Angel in the early seasons of BtVS. Sookie’s telepathic abilities might be compared to Buffy’s in the season three BtVS episode ‘Earshot’ and the cripplingly addictive and hallucinogenic properties of “V” (vampire blood) bears more than a passing resemblance to the affect that magic has on Willow in season five of that earlier show. However, apart from the general fantasy elements, that’s more or less where it ends, although clearly the novels would seem to have been influenced to some degree by the BtVS template and that has carried through into the television series.
Although Sookie and Bill’s relationship is the central focus, I didn’t find this particular enthralling, but equally it was not too distracting and there were plenty of other story threads that kept me watching. I did feel that various storylines were being raced through too quickly without being allowed time to breathe and develop, almost as though they were trying to throw everything into the first season just in case the show was not renewed. It didn’t adversely affect my enjoyment and there were a few genuine “I was not expecting that!” moments. The over-abundance of frequently rather silly sex in the episodes did sometimes become wearisome, largely because it often seemed to be there for no other reason than the fact that it could be, but I found myself becoming desensitised to it and there was the occasional incorporation of humour, some that worked and some that didn’t. One thing the show does not do is subtlety.
There is a degree of analogy between the campaigns on both sides regarding the acceptance of vampires into society and the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, something referenced in one episode by the character Tara Thornton, but the subtext is undoubtedly influenced by much more recent ideological conflicts. It is very noticeable that the vampires have a clearly aggressive hidden agenda that is evident to all just beneath the surface of the conciliatory public face presented in the constant television debates that we see in the show. There is also the right-wing Christian Fellowship of the Sun. What will be done with this sub-text beyond simple dramatic effect remains to be seen.
Three actors in the main cast are not American. Anna Paquin, who was the initial reason I paid some attention to the show when I first heard about it, was born in Canada and brought up in New Zealand. Stephen Moyer is English and Ryan Kwanten, who I can still remember from his days as Vinnie Patterson in the television soap opera ‘Home and Away’, is Australian. I cannot judge how accurate or otherwise their Louisiana accents are. Both Paquin and Kwanten seem fine, although Moyer’s does occasionally sound a little odd, but I have no real point of reference, so any inadequacies in this area don’t affect me and it could well be that, in fact, Moyer’s is the more authentic of the three.
Anna Paquin is quite a distinctive actress, with just a hint of quirkiness in her performances. That applies here. From a few comments I have read, not all fans of the show are fond of her presence. In fact, some seem positively hostile and consider her to be the weak link, although I am guessing that this is simply a vocal minority. I have always liked her in what I’ve seen and that doesn’t change here, although Sookie is not necessarily the most interesting character.
I don’t know if ‘True Blood’ is as good as some critics have suggested, but although I have a few minor niggles, I am semi-hooked on it. In fact, it is fast becoming addictive.
Review posted 14 November 2009
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Rating 3
Directed by Jaume Balagueró
Written by Jaume Balagueró and Fernando de Felipe, with additional dialogue by Miguel Tejada-Flores
Starring Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Giancarlo Giannini, Fele Martínez, Fermí Reixach and Stephen Enquist
For those who do not already know this, I should start my review by saying I like horror films and I am particularly fond of haunted house stories.
An American family move into an architecturally unusual and dilapidated house situated on the outskirts of an unnamed city in Spain. The house, which was built forty years earlier, but appears to be much older, has apparently never previously been inhabited.
The father Mark (Iain Glen) previously suffered from a disease related to Huntington’s, although this was successfully treated with medication and he now longer displays symptoms of the illness. He spends his time aimlessly working on the house. Maria (Lena Olin) has a job in the city that often requires her to work late, but there is never any actual mention of what it is she does. Their slightly sullen teenage daughter Regina (Academy Award winner Anna Paquin, who is top billed here) seems to be beyond high school age and her only apparent activity is swimming lesions, which is where she meets Carlos (Fele Martínez). The youngest child is Paul (Stephen Enquist).
Mark had been brought up in this Spanish city until the age of seven, when his parents separated and his mother took him to America. His father Albert Riu (Giancarlo Giannini) still lives in the city and is a respected doctor at the local hospital.
Regina claims to feel a strange and troubling aura in the house. She becomes increasingly concerned when her father begins to exhibit symptoms of his illness again and she spots bruising on Paul’s neck. She tries to talk to her mother, who refuses to listen to her and dismisses her fears out of hand. She then turns to Carlos, telling him she was terrified of her father before his treatment. Mark is prescribed new medication by Albert Riu, who also talks to Paul and concludes there is nothing to worry about. However, the unexplained events in the house continue and become increasingly strange and scary.
The story continues in this vein until reaching a climax that seems to draw on a hotchpotch of ancient superstitions from various religions about the nature of darkness and Hell.
‘Darkness’ was a joint American/Spanish production, filmed in the Cataluña region of Spain. It has an international cast. Anna Paquin was born in Canada and raised in New Zealand. Lena Olin is Swedish, Iain Glen is Scottish and Stephen Enquist was born in Singapore. Giancarlo Giannini is Italian. The film premiered in Spain in October 2002 and was released into cinemas around Europe during 2002 and 2003. However, its American release was delayed until the end of 2004 and it was not released in Britain until 2005. It was greeted with very poor reviews. Rotten Tomatoes collects 50 together, resulting in a dismal 4% rotten rating.
The film is rather unfocused and incoherent. I particularly found the behaviour of Maria mystifying throughout. She would certainly get my vote as the most negligent parent I have ever come across in a film. She exhibits a complete lack of interest in her children and almost total apathy towards the very obvious mental decline of her husband. Her response to the bruising on Paul’s neck is to dismiss it as of no concern and when Regina attempts to share her fears she suggests her daughter pack her bags and sling her hook.
I could not make up my mind about the acting, although I do like Anna Paquin very much. There were times when the actors did not seem too clear themselves about what they were doing. Whether this is the result of the problems of language barriers working with a Spanish director I do not know. However, what this does is increase the sense of the curious dysfunctional inability to communicate that smoothers the family, so in some strange way it is almost to the benefit of the story.
‘Darkness’ shares a similar feel with Japanese horror films and I was particularly put in mind of ‘The Grudge 2’, Takashi Shimizu’s joint Japanese/American film from 2006. Like that film, I would hesitate to recommend ‘Darkness’, but for all of its very obvious faults, I did enjoy it very much and plan to watch it again at some point.
Miguel Tajada-Flores, who contributed additional dialogue to the screenplay, would later write the very silly ‘Decoys 2: Alien Seduction’.
Screencaps taken from anna-paquin.net
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The telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse and her vampire lover Bill Compton agree to go on a dangerous mission to Dallas to locate the whereabouts of a missing vampire sheriff, but with so many divided loyalties and double-crosses they do not know who they can trust. Sookie’s brother Jason joins the vehemently anti-vampire Fellowship of the Sun church, which is training an army to go to war with the vampires. Lafayette Reynolds goes missing after falling foul of the vampires for peddling “V”. The mysterious Maryann Forrester has a strange hypnotic hold over the people of Bon Temps, including Tara Thornton, and soon there are nightly mass orgies. Only Sam Trammell is able to resist her will, but he knows more about her than he is willing to admit.
A number of story threads come and go over the duration of the twelve episodes, but primarily the season concerns itself with the parallel storylines of Sookie and Bill going to Dallas in search of the 2,000-year-old vampire Godric and Jason’s recruitment into the army of the Fellowship of the Sun. Back in Bon Temps, Maryann Forrester imposes her will on the people and they participant in increasingly wild and uninhibited sex orgies. Part of the problem for me, apart from the constant stream of sex that, like the first season, quickly bores and becomes desensitising, is that too many characters become less interesting and more irritating than in season one and the various threads that make up the overall story arc are too often cumbersome and veer towards the prosaic. The ever-present problem of comparison to ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ also refuses to go away. The events in Bon Temps could be quite easily equated to the season four BtVS episode ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ (one of the least interesting and successful episodes of that show) and there seems to be more than just coincidental passing resemblance to events in the BtVS spin-off show ‘Angel’.
I found Maryann Forrester to be often a tedious and infuriating character, although undoubtedly an effective one and nicely acted by Michelle Forbes. While she might have had a supernatural hold over her followers, her irritating new-age manner was surely enough to put anyone off. Equally, I found Godric rather insipid, which made his beatific appearance and the fierce loyalty he commanded less convincing for me. As for Bill Compton, one of the show’s two principal characters, I am not warming to him very much at all and I don’t find him remotely interesting. Even Sookie Stackhouse was more irritating than not at times. On the plus side, I did like one new character, the newly turned vampire Jessica Hamby.
I enjoyed this second season up to a point, but not a single individual episode has stuck in my mind. I could name all 144 BtVS episodes and briefly describe the synopsis of each one. When I watched the short-lived ‘Point Pleasant’ each episode made an impact on me and left a footprint behind. These twelve ‘True Blood’ episodes have failed to do that and even though the season has ended on a cliffhanger I don’t at the moment feel any pressing need or urgency to discover what happens next. Having said that, viewing figures have increased dramatically and my opinion seems to be out of step with most of the reviews I have read.
