The Borgias (2011)

☻ ☻ ☻ The Borgias (2011). The 15th century was a rough time to be Pope. Especially if you were a Spaniard. Rodrigo Borgia, aka Alexander VI (Jeremy Irons) is burdened with more than your average pontifical responsibilities. Unpopular with his flock, former colleagues at the College of Cardinals are plotting a coup. Dinnertime disposal of Cardinal Orsini (Derek Jacobi) was his child's play, but Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (Colm Feore) is a racehorse of a different colour.

What with the costly election and maintaining the high life, Rodrigo must also with securing his children's future. He forces would-be warrior, Cesare (François Arnaud) into the family business, leaving chicken-hearted Juan (David Oakes) to provide the family's muscle. Compliant youngster Joffre (Aidan Alexander) offers to play any part his father desires.

Naïve Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) is the apple of Cesare's eye. She's old enough to have a few ideas of her own, but too young to realize her father's plans have everything to do with Borgia advancement and little to do with happiness.

It's not easy being the offspring or the partner of a person who insists on the appellation "Your Holiness":

The Spanish Borgias: Promoted an a original crime family, they 

were the inspiration for Mario Puzo's The Godfather (1972).

This aristocratic 15th-century underworld costume drama makes for compelling viewing.

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Speaking out:

"[U]nlike The Godfather, there seems to be no bigger goal behind Pope Alexander’s evil deeds than to survive. [H]e wants his sons to have influential jobs [and] packs the Vatican with ... cardinals to ensure his own job security. But ... Irons’ performance fails to demonstrate the necessary gravitas for a compelling psychopathic power mongerer. [F]or history buffs, not for viewers looking for another Godfather." Rachel Ray (The Telegraph)

"Few actors ooze decadence as effortlessly as Jeremy Irons, and casting him as an amoral pope ... who bribes and bullies his way into the papacy sounds like the role of a lifetime. Yet [director] Neil Jordan's take ... is never as fun as its The Godfather." Brian Lowry (Variety)

"[A] lavish costume drama about the poisonous family that put the machiavelli in Machiavelli, handily beats The Tudors and Rome. Art-directed down to the last detail, The Borgias [looks] far more lush than anything outside the pay-cable wall. Newcomers Arnaud and Grainger make terrific impressions ... Irons, too, is wonderfully shaded as a murderous pope who may yet find Jesus. Rating: ***1/2 stars." Greg Evans (Bloomberg)

 8.6/10  imdb.com (21 April 2011*)

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Note

* Date of web access

10 O'Clock Live (Channel 4)

☻ ☻ ☻ 10 O'Clock Live (Channel 4) may be another news show hosted by comedians, but what a mix! David Mitchell tells, no, demands, that politicians answer his questions. Charlie Brooker continues to blur the lines between TV and reality (did you know that Mubarak bears an eerie resemblance to the Count from Sesame Street?). Jimmy Carr usually manages to keep a straight face while suggesting the  ridiculous, such as vets becoming Community Health Specialists and butchers then filling in for animal docs. The next step on the continuum you ask? Not the government's problem. The fourth member of the team, Lauren Laverne, frightfully underutilized, whips the others into line. Wrong continent for a Canadian, but the same problems.

Jimmy Carr putting product placement in the news:

Courtesy Channel 4

Speaking out:

Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) and his
misbehaving automobile. Courtesy BBC.

"10 O'Clock Live became the latest show to try to raise the ghost of TW3 [That Was The Week That Was] and channel [Jon] Stewart [The Daily Show]. ... [T]he over-dominant tone, especially from Mitchell and Brooker, is exaggerated comic rant: Basil Fawlty as reporter. ... [10 O'Clock] has the potential to become a must-see weekly show looking back at the week that was. Mark Lawson (Guardian)

"[R]ecession, credit crunches, home ownership crises and the punishment of many while the rich go free have become part of life. ...  We may not all be angry, but we're all annoyed, and if we can't get the bastards, at least we can be rude about them and laugh." David Quantick (The Independent)

"[T]hese are very early days. The comedic chemistry and sense of live urgency will take a while to develop. It was not helped by the blank spaciousness of the set ... The show's key asset, though, is four talented performers." Andrew Anthony (Observer) 

How Television Ruined Your Life (BBC)

☻ ☻ Charlie Brooker's back! How Television Ruined Your Life (BBC2) shows the usual OTT Charlie dissing TV while attempting to convince viewers Midsomer's a real place and Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge was an actual chat show. Full of the expected strong language and gross imagery, but very, very funny. A relatively tame clip: Trouble at the office Speaking out: "[O]ne of his most acute shows to date. ... Brooker’s comedy is mixed with cynicism and imaginative descriptive observations that are impossible not to laugh out loud at. ...[T]he pace ... may cause viewers to marvel at the amount of content intricately packed into those sole 30 minutes." Ashley Jacob (Suite101®)

Inspector Aurelio Zen (BBC)

☻ ☻ ☻ New series! Michael Dibdin's Inspector Aurelio Zen (BBC). Only three episodes. RIP? Filmed on location, the show's worth watching simply for the atmosphere. And the architecture.  A preview of Episode 2, Cabal: Pigs that they are, there's an office bet as to  who it  will be. Zen forfeits his prize. Think Aurelio's life is complicated? Why not take the opportunity to find out more by reading the books? An interview with Rufus Sewell (Aurelio Zen): Not looking particularly like Venetian Zen, Sewell's  more believable in an expensive Italian suit.  Speaking out: [A]t least two-and-a-half cheers to Vendetta, the first of three new Zen stories ... [A] pacy and intriguing thriller, dripping with gorgeous panoramas of Rome and haunting Italian countryside." Adam Sweeting (The Arts Desk)

Primeval (ITV)

☻ ☻  Primeval (ITV) It's back! Dinosaurs, time travel and mayhem. More amazing rescues from perplexed critters. More disgracefully bad, perhaps mad, scientists. More visitors from the future. Nice architecture too. What more could anyone want. Ever cool, calm and collected, Lester getting a wee surprise: One of the hazards of working with anomalies To return latter this year ... Speaking out: "Probably the most individual and unique item in [ITV's] repertoire ... a great series." Throng UK blogger atomickarma (Christian Cawley) commenting on the previous series' end.

Being Human (BBC)

☻ ☻ ☻ BBC's Being Human is back for a another series. Apparently, Limbo still exists. Much better than the new derivative American version. However, it is fun to watch both and compare (ie, predict what will happen, based on the original). Calling the mirrored vampire Aidan was a bit OTT, though. As expected, the final episode was a cliff-hanger. Stake your hopes on New Zealand and take a gander at the cast members of Peter Jackson's two-part film adaptation of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit, if you what to understand what really occurred. Win some, lose some. The good news is a fourth series is now in the works! Vampire Mitchell below. See kids? This is what what happens when you get bored on the bus, so don't forget your book! Mitchell doing a poor job of pretending to Be Human Speaking out: "Being Human depends on how you see it ... [A]s a comedy then it’s simply not funny enough ... [A]s a serious drama that takes a unique spin on an overused subject that actually has a solid theme running through it then it’s one of the best things BBC Three has ever shown." Steven Cookson (Suite101®)

Atonement (2007)

☻ ☻ ☻ Atonement (2007). Twist to your average criminal's get-out-of-jail-free wartime play of joining the army and combine it with a child's misinterpretation. James McAvoy plays WWI criminal Robbie Turner imprisoned on the word of 13-year-old Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan). Her sister, Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley), condemns herself to pay the price. Years later Briony (Vanessa Redgrave) makes a public announcement  of contrition. Based upon master of the cringingly embarrassing, Ian McEwan's magnificent, but Booker Prize-nominated novel. Decide for yourself if any atoning was achieved. And don't forget to bring virtual rotten produce to throw at the real criminal. Read The Biblio Phile blog's Love, War & Remembrance Speaking out:    83%/79%  rottentomatoes.com (2 Mar 2011*)   7.8/10 imdb.com (2 Mar 2011*)  * * * Note * Date of website access.

Faulks on Fiction

Faulks on Fiction on BBC2. Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, Martin Amis’s John Self, Jane Austen’s Emma, philosopher Alain de Botton, and more! The source of Amis' remarks that incited the furor over children's writing! The Biblio Phile blog's Love, War & Remembrance Speaking out: "Yes. Genuinely illuminating, refreshingly unpatronising." Fisun Güner (The Arts Desk)