Surprises of 2011

I've been tardy with my blog of late but I plead mitigating circumstances. I've been working on two scripts and painting 'original fakes' for friends and relatives for Christmas.

I've decided that this blog will follow a more organised pattern in 2012 (this sounds horribly like a resolution but it isn't), it will appear twice a week from the first week of January.

As it's awards time I thought I'd mark those things I've found most enjoyable on the big and small screen these past twelve months. So, here are the completely random nominations for those things that made me laugh, cry, gasp and kept me coming back for more.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a surprise. I'd heard good things but you can read a hundred critics - even those you trusty - and still come out with a different opinion. This reboot of the POTA franchise was thoughtful and felt more like a drama. Thoroughly enjoyed it, much more than the 2001 Tim Burton remake. I look forward to the next slice and hope and pray they stay on this track and not just go for a popcorn actioner next time out of the traps.

Bridesmaids was the female Hangover according to many. I hate it when they do that, a lazy way to describe a film, comparing it to another, especially if it's a hit. I found it funny, well played and way too long. In Kristen Wiig (who was also the best thing in the Simon Pegg misfire Paul) the movie had a believable female lead who wasn't twelve and someone who displayed considerable comic understanding. She also wrote it so four cheers for Kirsten. But looking back the thing I'm remembering most about the film is the actress, Melissa McCarthy. She bears an astonishing resemblance to Ricky Gervais, she could be his sister. As I was watching the movie all I could think about during her scenes was what kind of project could put the two of them together - brother and sister, yes...what about a bodyswap where he becomes a woman - or she becomes a man?

Maybe he should write something for the two of them rather than another series of Life's Too Short. Both Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have been very defencive in the face of criticism about LTS.  I heard one interview where Stephen Merchant suggested the bad press was more about wanting to 'get' Ricky because he'd got too big for his boots. I felt uncomfortable with many of the gags in LTS, many involved laughing at the diminutive Warwick Davies - but the uncomfortable feeling extended beyond this. I think it had more to do with it being a mockumentary where everyone is playing a version of themselves rather than characters. Warwick Davies seemed to be playing a version of Ricky Gervais that we've seen before- all the familiar Gervais ticks are their in the performance. It's been recommissioned so Gervais, Merchant and Davies can stick two fingers up at those of us who think it's not the best thing they've done.

I loved Justified. An American series that seemed to owe more to those old Westerns I grew up with than latter day cop shows. Here was a man in a Stetson, walking around, quipping and shooting bad guys; there were echos here of the Clint Eastwood movie Coogan's Bluff.
But it was so much more. The bad guys were three dimensional, they weren't all bad all the time. In fact some of them were good. The surprises came thick and fast, like the snappy eloquent dialogue.
This year I watched two series on Box Set, not just me - the whole family. Night after night we had to get our fix of Raylan Givens. Absolutely loved it.

I felt the same way about a very different show: Game of Thrones. The trailers had done little to whet my appetite, did I really want to watch what looked like a dungeons and dragons show? But within minutes of the first episode I knew I was going to enjoy it. One of the best of 2011.

Boardwalk Empire came back for a second slice of Depression-era drama. Terence Winter has created something that is up there with The Sopranos and, even though the second series has just ended, I'm already looking forward to the next.

One of the best things to happen to British television this year is the entry into home-grown comedy of Sky. They launched a number of well received comedies and comedy dramas; Trollied, Spy and The Cafe all hit the ground running, felt confident - and here's the thing - had laugh out loud moments, warm identifiable characters and look certain to find an audience as they've all be recommissioned. It feels like Sky is now the place to go with a comedy. I look forward to seeing how they fare with an audience sit-com.

On the BBC, Silk had lots going for it. Great writing, characters we cared about. Though it was set in the heart of the British establishment it felt as though it had benefited from learning the best tricks of American series with plots playing out over a number of episodes and minor characters that cropped up again when most British series discard them after one episode. 

I thought the animated feature Rango was excellent - you don't see that many existential animated comedies. Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy was a masterclass in slow burn cinema. Source Code showed that Duncan Jones is no one hit wonder, he's a director to be watched. George Clooney continues to make interesting films big and small - though why someone with all that talent has to be that good looking as well...c'mon God, share it around.

True Blood was a delight for Friday nights, Danish drama The Killing was magnificent, as was the sequel and if you missed  Romanzo Criminale track it down. This gangster story, set in 1970's Rome, was gripping from start to finish.

As the David Fincher version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo hits the multiplexes those of us who've seen the Swedish adaptation made in 2009 will tread warily towards it. In the Swedish version Noomi Rapace (who you can see in the new - excellent - Sherlock Holmes Movie) is brilliant as Lisabeth Salander. If you buy the box set the three Swedish films are split into six, extended, parts. The films stays faithful to the books without going off down many of the alleyways that author Stieg Larson spent time exploring, especially in his introduction of new characters (something you can do in a novel that you absolutely cannot do in a movie adaptation). That the American remake comes so closely on the heels of the well received Swedish original is surprising but the material - dark, disturbing, violent - deserves a wider audience.

There's so much I could mention here but these are the shows and films that come instantly to mind.

From January I'll be here with a blog twice a week until then, a happy new year to all readers, please come back and join me next year.