Page Eight - not much of a page turner

WARNING: If you have not seen this programme for yourself, please be advised my review contains a number of spoilers.

When I first sat down to write this review, I thought my ‘issue’ was with the Masterpiece Contemporary branch of the 40-year-old Masterpiece brand. I confess I did Contemporary an injustice in that assessment, due in large part to the drivel that was The 39 Steps under the Masterpiece Classic banner that aired on my PBS affiliate earlier this year, but I digress.

Page Eight began the Masterpiece Contemporary season last night on my PBS affiliate. The one-line summary was “Accompany an aging spy who stumbles on an international scandal that could bring down the British government”. It sounded promising.

• Aging spy: Bill Nighy, check.
• Stumble upon: no. The file with potentially explosive information was distributed during a meeting by Michael Gambon’s character to those of Bill Nighy (spy), Saskia Reeves (Home Secretary), and another character who revealed to be Johnny’s most recent lover at the end, but is only seen in that scene and again at the end.
• International scandal threatening to bring down the government: well, the Page Eight bit is the TNT, but there’s no cloak-and-dagger element, no screws get tightened causing the hero any kind of consternation/conflict/crisis - there IS no threat - Bill Nighy gets a talking-to by the PM, played by Ralph Fiennes. That’s about the extent of it. Johnny finds out (because Judy Davis’s character tells him) he will be the scapegoat for the Page Eight thing after Michael Gambon’s character dies. Is there any consternation/conflict/crisis there? No. He takes a painting off the wall, travels to a former lover, sells her the painting for as much cash as she can spare him, returns to England. That little storyline didn’t even get close to interesting.

The term “pure intelligence” is thrown around quite a bit; it’s apparently what sets Johnny Worricker apart from the other 21^st century spies. That also translates to his interpersonal relationships: those with his daughter, the lover he sells a painting to, the lover he leaves when he’s about to disappear, his ex-wife, his neighbour with whom he shares a farewell kiss – Bill Nighy is known for the understated delivery, but this character had about as much passion as fish on ice on display at the fishmonger’s.

When the neighbour drives Johnny to his ex-wife’s farm and introductions are being made Rachel Weisz looks as awkward as her character’s presence requires. There’s no point to it, unless you factor in the only cloak and dagger move Johnny, the experienced MI5 operative, does is in Cambridge when he makes a show (for the operative watching outside) of getting into his car on one level of a parking structure and departing, only to park the car one level lower and take the stairs out the back where his lovely neighbour is waiting. The result is merely that he is without his Saab for the remainder of the film. Enter the neighbour as chauffeur? Not terribly riveting stuff.

Humour was not easy to come by either: when his daughter Julianne tells Johnny the father of her unborn child was a conceptual artist and Johnny says something about him being able to conceive something, I managed a tired smile. We were around the 90-minute mark of the programme by that time, after all.

At the end of the programme, I did not feel I had arrived at any kind of destination. Johnny is at the airport looking at the departure board. It is not clear where he goes, the viewer is left to infer he has chosen a destination at random based on departure time. He and his Waitrose shopping bag full of cash and a case walk towards customs. He has said his impersonal goodbyes, left a painting for the neighbour – maybe the harbour depicted in it is where she’ll be able to find him someday (or not), and has chucked the file with the oh-so-important information into the bin. Or MAYBE the explosive information was the by-the-way revelation that the neighbour’s brother was intentionally killed by Israeli forces in Syria although he was waving a white flag at the time. Not so much – he gives the super-secret file to the neighbour, gives a copy to the press, gives them the go-ahead to air the information, and the PM gives a statement to a reporter. Yawn. I think I most enjoyed the Waitrose bag – that’s one great grocery chain of stores.

I was not expecting the Bourne trilogy. I did not think it would be like a two-hour episode of Spooks (their one hour has more spy drama, adrenaline-fueled plots of bombs and ways and means by which the government du jour could be collapsed than Page Eight could even contemplate much less muster). Just because the story is about an aging spy doesn’t mean it goes the pace of an OAP taking the bus to the High Street for the week’s groceries. At least there’d be a point to it! This was a dawdling two-hour meander into I don’t actually know what. This is not a cerebral programme as it necessitated no brain activity. This wasn't a visceral programme; my heart rate remained constant throughout, it may even have slowed at times. As examples of what I mean, I offer State of Play (2003 BBC 6-part mini-series with Bill Nighy, not WGBH) as cerebral gold and The State Within (BBC 6-part original mini-series from 2006) as a visceral nail-biter. Page Eight does not register as a blip in either category.

I have higher hopes of The Song of Lunch with Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson (what could go wrong?). The only other programme billed this season as part of the Masterpiece Contemporary series is Framed with Trevor Eve as a poncey art museum guy who ships the most valuable pieces of the National Gallery’s collection to a little town in Wales where he meets Eve Myles and a young boy in a somewhat predictable cockles-of-your-heart warmer in which the viewer learns that just because you’re from a mining town in Wales doesn’t mean you are incapable of appreciating art, and just because you’re from the big city doesn’t mean you have a clue about life. Why do I know this already, you ask? It's a repeat. Sorry, "encore presentation". Enjoy.

Image from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/pageeight/index.html

Blogs, TV Podcasts, and Works in Progress

This summer at Bard, I pitched an idea to a fellow volunteer. Both of us have an avid interest in popular culture - not the reality TV, celebrity-of-the-month type, but television programming, music, film, books, news; the things surrounding (or in many cases, constituting) everyday life in a first-world country. In addition to her being a virtual encyclopaedia on all things Harry Potter, we tended to talk about popular culture a lot during our downtime, so I thought about doing regular reviews and discussions of things we've seen, read, and heard and record them on video. Vanessa thought we should do audio only - she's much more of a techie than I am, with her own YouTube channel and everything - so, podcasts it is.

We brought in another fellow volunteer, Nadya, and did our first two recordings in September. They're published on Vanessa's Wordpress blog "Pop Goes the World" if you'd like to have a listen. Vanessa was armed with Entertainment Weekly, I came armed with the appropriate issue of TV Week.

The first podcast was about the new shows coming to the new TV season.

http://theworldgoespop.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/pop-goes-the-world-podcast-the-new-tv-season-is-upon-us/

My picks for new were New Girl (Tuesdays on CityTV and Fox), Against the Wall (Wednesdays on Bravo with multiple repeats), Ringer (Fridays on Global), Unforgettable (Tuesdays on CBS and CTV), Terra Nova (Mondays on CityTV and Fox), Person of Interest (Thursdays on CBS and CityTV) and A Gifted Man (Fridays on CBS and Global).

The second podcast was about returning TV shows and what we were looking forward to.

http://theworldgoespop.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/pop-goes-the-world-podcast-returning-tv/

My picks for Returning were Being Erica (Mondays on CBC), Drop Dead Diva (Sundays on Slice), Parenthood (Tuesdays on GlobalTV and NBC), Supernatural (Fridays on the CW, and on Space delayed by a week), Warehouse 13 (Thursdays on Showcase with multiple repeats), and I grouped NCIS/NCIS:LA/Hawaii-Five-O under one. They essentially follow the same formula. NCIS followed by NCIS:LA broadcasting Tuesdays by CBS and Hawaii-Five-O (Mondays on Global).

Our next one is scheduled to be recorded on October 30 and I'm making notes for it. As is quite often the case, some of 'my' shows have failed to impress and others I had absolutely no knowledge of at the time that I think are pretty good and would have deserved a mention. Specifically, and listed in no particular order: Suits, Silk, Party Animals, Case Histories.

Other shows I find I'm watching mainly to see who turns up as guest stars, and although I do like them on their own, they do fall under the category of 'familiar fare' - you know what you're going to get: A Touch of Frost, Law & Order UK, Hustle. They're a little like my above grouping of NCIS/NCIS:LA/Hawaii-Five-O, except I like them for the main cast more than the guest stars.

Speaking of which, I started work on something some weeks back. The temporary name of it is "MyIMDB", which, for obvious copyright reasons, I won't be keeping. It had begun to bother me that over the years I keep seeing the same faces pop up in programmes I was watching and I could never remember their names. I suppose that's the perceived fate of 'character actors' (not the best of terms - actors plays characters, that's the job), but I not only wanted to actually remember where I had seen them before, and some I have been seeing for a few decades, I wanted to actually know their names. A peace of mind thing, I suppose you could say. Currently it concentrates on faces on British television programmes (but not exclusively British-born), and I'm considering expanding it to North American (Canadian focus, but again, not exclusively) actors as well.

Just as a forewarning, it's currently 50 pages long, and I will be publishing profiles periodically. It's not going to anyone's complete resume, just the programmes I personally have seen them in.

If you have any suggestions as to what to call it or who to include, I would welcome them.

In the meantime, I think that's me done for now.

Noah & the Biltmore - Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Before I get to the show itself, a little side note. I think I just found Vancouver’s answer to Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern. This might not seem like too big of a deal to most, but as a live music fan who grew up in Toronto, the Horseshoe Tavern has had some pretty major people play (at all points in their careers) since it first opened its doors in 1947 according to their Website. It is known as a great venue for great music. Full stop. Since moving to Vancouver in 2002, I had thought the Commodore Ballroom was the ‘shoe’s Vancouver counterpart. It seemed logical except the Commodore has a second level, a big open dance floor, padded booth seating off two sides of the massive dance floor, and a capacity of upwards of 1000 people. In short, it is nothing like the ‘shoe. Enter the Biltmore Cabaret.

Located near 12th and Kingsway, but on the ass end of the HoJo. Smallish stage – more like a shoebox with the front panel removed. Check. Capacity: a few hundred. Check. The band so close you could be the designated towel supply person. Check. Intimate atmosphere and a great sound system. Check and check. Hello Biltmore, glad to have made your acquaintance.

If my Google Map had not led me astray (in all fairness, I might have misread), I would have caught more of the opening band, called Bahamas. By the time I arrived and had scoped out a spot from which I could actually see musicians from my formidable 5’2” (158 cm) height, there were maybe only 5 songs left. I don’t know where they were from but they weren’t local. Canucks were acknowledged, laundromats had apparently been visited and dude said Vancouver was their only Canadian date. The young woman’s vocals were set up so she sounded like a two-or-three-person backing vocals team. Dude singing and playing the guitar was decent enough, but call me cynical, I have a feeling he gets by quite a bit on his looks. Whatever. They were passable.

Noah & the Whale. Can I just begin by saying I had no idea how young they were? Or maybe I actually am old enough at this point to be their mother. Drummer boy for sure – he looked about 15. I hope he was legally allowed to be in a licensed establishment.

I read somewhere that their sound is described as “indie folk rock”, which might just be something to pigeon-hole them into. I don’t know about ‘Indie’, they are signed to Mercury Records, so the ‘indie’ label has more to do with the fact they don’t sound like 80% of the drivel that gets played on popular radio, so although the music is radio-friendly, it’s not consumed by the masses (poor masses). ‘Folk’ must come from the fact that they have a violin player and the main singer’s voice sounds even and effortless. Oh, and the first CD I have by them Peaceful the World lays me down has a woman’s voice harmonising quite a bit. ‘Rock’, for sure. Their sound was almost bigger than the Biltmore could hold (I really hope to see them in a slightly bigger venue next time, but also hope the atmosphere, that crucial intimacy, gets maintained).

Their fashion sense was rare: if not dress shirt, suit and tie (including waistcoat), then dress shirt and suit jacket. Their dry cleaning bill must be stupid, but they looked as well put together as their songs are. When they slow things down, they slow it waaaay down, and then right back up to bopping and rocking.

From Peaceful the World lays me down, the setlist included Give a little Love, Rocks and Daggers, 5 Years' time (shortly before the end) and I’m not sure about 2 Atoms in a Molecule and Peaceful the World lays me down – they’re both maybes.From the CD Last Night on Earth we heard Paradise Stars (this song started the show in darkness giving the band time to walk on and get sorted), Life is Life, L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. (the very last song of the night), Tonight’s the Kind of Night, Wild Thing, Give it all back, Just me before we met, Waiting for my Chance to come, the Line, Old Joy (I think this may have been the first song of the two-song encore). And yes, for those of you keeping track, they did play the entire album they are touring in support of.

Alls in all, I had a great time. As is obvious, I am not a die-hard fan, familiar with every nuance of their performances, able to recite the names and lyrics of songs at will and knowledgeable of their names and marital statuses. Their stage presence is warm and sincere; their musicianship and performance solid. When the lights on stage went out completely for the better part of 10 seconds, they did not miss a beat. They did not let the audience wait more than 3 minutes before returning for an encore. They have fun on stage, but they do not mess about. Was my mind blown? No. Would I see them again? Absolutely. Did I listen to their music again the very next day? You betcha.

The ‘Fourth’ was definitely at the Vogue Theatre: Mother Mother with Brasstronaut ~ May 4, 2011

This was only my second show at the Vogue (the first was the mindblowingly awesome Mumford & Sons) and I hold it to be a fine venue. Plenty of room on the floor for dancing and general up-close-and-personal show enjoyment, and a large balcony with a steep rake so there really are no bad seats in the house. Patrons in the first row of the balcony are always reminded not to lean over the balcony itself (there is no railing and it obstructs the view of EVERYONE behind), nothing is to be placed on the edge (safety hazard), and no feet against the balcony (heavy lighting equipment supports are bolted to it).

I arrived by 1930 hrs and found a seat in second row of the centre right (looking from the back of the house towards the stage) section. The entire first row was reserved for friends and family of the band, the last of whom arrived by 2130 hrs.

The opening band was called Brasstronaut, their one brass instrument a trumpet (albeit two types). Trumpet player was also responsible for glockenspiel (which was played simultaneously with trumpet in various songs), cowbell and wood blocks; again some played simultaneously. Great coordination. Other instruments, played by other members of the band, included keyboard piano, bass, guitar, drums, and clarinet.

Their sound had a really smooth groove to it; you could tell that they had jazz in their musical backgrounds. This was most evident in songs that had ‘islands of instrumentation’ as I call it. Trumpet playing half notes or longer in long phrases providing the only semblance of melody whilst everyone else was ‘noodling’ around. No tune you could hum along with per se, but plenty of foot tapping and body movement by the audience. Main singer had a lovely and smooth voice; he was really chuffed that there was a full house to see them open. I don’t suppose he realised it was a General Admission show: if audience members wanted a good seat, they really had no choice but to see the opening band. Good thing they didn’t suck. They were really good musicians and if I had had any cash on me, I would have braved the immensely long queue at the merchandise booth. Sound-wise, on occasion they reminded me a lot of MuteMath. Overall – a nice opening band. I’d see them again – on purpose.

Mother Mother visually and image styling channel the ‘80s. Their logo alone is reminiscent of those bold patterns and hint of the indicative colour combinations. They look it to a not insubstantial degree, but they don’t sound like it (vintage stores must love them). Sometimes that 80s ‘pedigree’ comes through, but overall they sound undeniably fresh and fun. Most commonly they are referred to as ‘quirky’, but I think that comes from the fact that no one’s thought of just the right adjective to describe them and their music.

I tweeted last night that they PLAY – they play with words, with syllables, with vocalisations, with harmonies. And they play their instruments (2 keyboards, bass, guitar (acoustic/electric), and drums. Rather well, I might add. Rhythmically they can be all over the place and yet still be spot on. How do they do that? Vocally, two female singers and a male singer (higher than average voice, but not in ‘falsetto-land’, à la the current (annoying) trend subscribed to by Foster the People, MGMT, Awolnation, etc. It affords them the capability to split chords so tightly that it’s on the verge of dissonance and intentionally so. They have excellent pitch; with harmonies sounding like that, it’s crucial. Very clever. Very creative. Very, very good. And such a treat to see them live.

Good setlist (slow-slow-quick-quick-slow): O My Heart, Body of Years, Try to Change, Ghosting, Hayloft (nearly brought the house down), Wrecking Ball, The Stand (different from album version and segued in between Body of Years I think), Baby Don’t Dance, Born in a Flash, Simply Simple, Oleander, to name a few. There was interaction with the audience (the number of f-bombs was a bit surprising considering ‘all ages’ in Mother Mother’s case meant a lot of pre-teen children (I was sitting beside three of them), not just the ones just shy of the legal drinking age) and sincerely expressed gratitude, with a special shout-out to mothers everywhere. Two songs comprised the encore. Arms Tonite was one of them. Just shy of 2 hours of music I believe (I really should wear a watch and checking the mobile in a dark balcony is just obnoxious). I was home just past 2330 hrs (and asleep by 0005, I’d wager).

Aaahhh. What a fun night.