Life On Mars S2E2 (Contains episode spoilers)

Photo Copyright of www.timetravelreview.com and the BBC

I have to say, I think this is the best Life On Mars episode yet. Partly because it doesn't overly focus on events surrounding Sam being stuck in the past. Except for the newspaper switch about 7 or 8 minutes in, and then the phonecall near the end. Instead it was a much more physiological and character based episode, which I don't think we get to see enough of. Especially not for Gene, not that properly explores his character like this did.

The episode starts off simply, Sam, Chris and Ray are moving Dickie Fingers, a safe cracker from prison back to the station to ask more questions about a few robberies he was involved in. A van gives chase, and a gang of armed men run the police car off the road (not that Chris's driving did them any favours) and the men take Dickie.

Arnold Malone is their number one suspect for robberies that have being happening in the area for years. However Malone tips them off about the next robbery.

Another plot is that one of the first black police officers is transferred to the station - And he also happens to be Sam's mentor. Sam due to a little time shifting or whatever the writers want to call it, knows Glenn Fletcher is dead back in the present, but is surprised to see him back working along side him. But is even more surprised how weak and scared of challenging ideas he is, so sets about trying to give Glenn some back bone and be the first to change how people treat Black officers and racism in general - So pushes him to be the man Sam learnt from when he first became an officer.

Back with Dickie Fingers they find him red handed and question him. But Dickie instead of dropping Malone in it, points the finger at Superintendent Harry Woolf, the officer who happens to be presiding over the case and has been trying to get Malone sent down for years. Not to mention the fact that he's Gene's mentor...

As I said before I really did like this episode, I thought the dynamic between Sam and his will-be mentor and being disappointed, mirrored with Gene and his past mentor and still being disappointed was very well done, and the showdown scene as it were with all four was just brilliantly done.

I especially loved the camera angles as Gene's arm shook with holding the gun, and Sam was stood in the background, watching seeing what he would do. Because in a way I think Gene and Sam kind of mentor each other and are great friends, as the final scene in the pub helped to show.

There was a bit of humour in the episode, mostly from Annie and Chris - Such as Annie half threatening to shoot Gene after being refused gun training, and Chris forgetting whether they were staking out a Post Office or a bank.

However it was still a mostly character based episode and touched on both police corruption and racism within the force, but in a way that didn't seem too trivial.

I think my favourite moment for me was at the end when Gene said that even after everything Woolf had done, he would still stand by him when he died of cancer in a few months. It would have been all too easy for Gene to just hate him and walk away, which he would have being doing really had he let Woolf escape, but he proved he was a better man by not letting him get away with it, and proving it again by sticking with Woolf to the end.

Life On Mars isn't on next week so the next review for it will be in two weeks time.

Is 'Back In Business' the business?

Poster copyright of "Back In Business" & New Light Films

On Wednesday when I was in Manchester I went to see an all British low budget movie called 'Back In Business' It's only showing in the Apollo cinemas, so not many across the UK.

I should should probably start by explaining a bit more about the film;

Will Spencer (Martin Kemp), a middle aged aristocrat who in his younger days would pull governmental scams with his acting buddy and partner in crime Tom Marks (Chris Barrie). Over the years the two have lost contact but Will and his neice Fiona (Joanna Taylor), who works as head of marketing at the British Space Centre have a plan. - To scam the Russian and Chinese governments for millions of dollars for making them believe they can have Britain's new space buggy "Explorer" - A triumph in technology that could save the world from the looming energy crisis. So they approach Travis (Stefan Booth), Tom's accident prone but computer whizz son to get Tom on board. Soon the team set their scam underway - Just three problems:

1. The Chinese and Russians won't hand over the money until they get Explorer.

2. Jarvis (Dennis Waterman), An ex police officer who has worked as Will's butler since Will lost him his job, however even after all these years Jarvis is still trying to pin something on him.

3. The Explorer hasn't actually being built yet - The British have the plans, but never made the Explorer due to lack of funds...So the gang have to build their own using the plans.

Ok, so what did I think of this all British movie made to encapture the real heart of British cinema at it's best?

Answer - Not a lot.

I am almost ashamed to say that it grated with me quite a bit - That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, because I did, and I found myself sniggering quite a lot at various things. But on the whole it wasn't that slick;

I hated the chopped up camera shots - When interesting action like the breaking into the space centre, etc... happened, the shots would peal off into 2, 3 or 4 different shots which split up the action and at times made it confusing to clearly follow what was going on.

There were places where the acting lacked too - The chemistry needed in a couple of father/son scenes with Tom and Travis could have been more convincing, and there's one particular scene that just had me cringing and audibly groaning in my seat. Basically Tom as a master of disguise is pretending to be the head of the Explorer space project Trevor Pilkinton (Brian Blessed), when in the meeting with the chinese. However it is actually Brian himself in the chair, with Chris Barrie's voice lip synced. Easily the worst and most unconvincing part of the film for me - despite the sillyness of the plot on a whole.

However I do like the way the cast worked together on the whole, as well as general sillyness of the plot - It was a bit like a spoof of Mission Impossible, and in it's own way the movie is really sweet and charming. As are a couple of the subplots - Like Travis wanting to be a full member of the team instead of just being there because he's Tom's son and is good with computers - He wants to prove his worth, and there's also a slight romantic interest between Fiona and Travis which is very understated and I think suits the movie well in that way.

I don't know how long this film will stay at the cinemas as it hasn't been doing very well, and is barely advertised, but if you live near an Apollo, and fancy seeing something a bit different then I certainly won't discourage anyone from seeing it, - in fact it was a nice movie to see to pass the time, and I give it 7/10 after weighing up the various factors such as budget, cast, plot, how much the bits that grated with me distrupted my enjoyment of the film, etc... Though admittedly I did have to give it an extra point just for the sheer comedic value of seeing the talented Chris Barrie dance around in a banana costume and later appear in Queen of England drag...

Additional: Back In Business is being released on DVD with a few extras on March 17th so if you don't fancy seeing/can't see it at the cinema, you can pre-order it here.

Official Back In Business Site Apollo Cinema Listings Teaser Trailer

Life On Mars is back on BBC1

Photo Copyright of www.timetravelreview.com and the BBC

Just like the title says, and I for one was certainly not let down. I know I should be going into more detail but I'm really at a loss for words. For one thing Marc Warren's cameo as Tony Crane was just so creepily good. Though that fur coat he wore did make him look more than a little pimpish.

One big change you notice is the dynamic between Gene and Sam - In a twist of irony it is the 70's coppers doing everything by the book while Sam is trying to fit Crane up any which way he can to stop him from being able to commit crimes he knows Crane is going to do in the future.

I have to admit a lot of last series is a bit of a haze now, but that gives me an excuse to watch the series again so I'm not complaining. However, one thing that does stick out in my memory due to the pure creepyness factor is that girl from the BBC testscreen, and the whistling in tonight's episode has a similar effect.

One problem I do have with Life On Mars though, is that while it is a fantastic 70's cop drama, it can sometimes be hard as a viewer to believe in all the back in time, or back in a coma business considering just how real and gritty the rest of the show is - It's not like Life On Mars is any real sci-fi show, it's supposed to be real within our own physical laws and reality. But at the same time I guess that just adds to the charm and originality of the show.

On another note, I could see the ending coming - Not the ending where Sam got that phone call about his predicament being a 'job' of course - I'm talking about how he got rid of Tony Crane - Like all cutting edge and smoothly done shows nowerdays they don't include little extra scenes like the 'stringer/stinger' scene and to some extent the scene where that man was getting sent to a padded cell, without it meaning something to the plot later on. Then Sam goes and tells Tony 'the truth' and you kinda know that that is going to come back later and bite one of them in a very sensitive place - And as we're only on episode one, it's kinda obvious that it's not going to be Sam.

All in all a very enjoyable episode with good support acting and as usual more fantastic one liners than I can mention - A great start to the new series in my opinion and I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest pans out, as well as finding out how the writers have decided to end the series - Though all I can say on that front is that I'm glad I'm not responsible for the final episode, but I of course have no problem in watching and seeing what brains much more brilliant than mine have decided to do.

Episode Two is of course now airing on BBC4, but I think one ranty episode 'review' is enough for now, besides - I don't want to spoil my Tuesday evening for next week.