Single Father -- first thoughts

I didn't sleep last night.

Neither did Cloud.

I'm not sure if this was related to anything we did/ate/watched yesterday, but either way I didn't sleep.

So frankly I feel TRASHED.

But still: a hour of David Tennant being lovely, and romantic, and frustrated and weeping - worthwhile in my books.

The ratings were... okay, given Downton Abbey held firm and it was a competitive slot for attention from largely the same sort of audience.

But I think that Tim Dowling (incredibly - he's normally a bit glib for my liking) taps into the sharpest nerve for this drama: whether you can commit to such emotionally draining material.

For all sorts of reasons, various people I know watching Single Father found it hard. Frankly, I pretty much lost the plot only a few minutes in when Rita's lips move as she falls from her bicycle in her horrific and fatal collision with a police car, and Tennant - busy at his photography studio - (randomly, simultaneously) says "I love you too", out loud and to the bafflement of himself and those being photographed. That may have struck Tom Sutcliffe as melodramatic, but for me it worked.

If anything, the worst element of the whole piece - heightening melodrama in the worst possible way - was the music.

Blimey, made the worst of Murray Gold in Doctor Who seem positively subtle in his underscoring.

I wasn't the only one disturbed by the music:

The horrible background music, sort of sub-rock desperately trying to sound expressive, frogmarched you unceremoniously to whichever point of the emotional compass the director had decided he was trying to convey in each scene.

And again on the music:

However, quite a bit of the action was marred by blaring intrusive music, which obscured bits of dialogue and distracted from the measured direction and performances.

Anyway, by the end of the show I had a splitting headache from trying too hard not to cry. I should have just crumpled as Tennant so expertly portrayed.

At least it would have come without an over-done music score.

I've said it before: Whedon's Buffy Episode "The Body" gets me every time

I was belatedly reading Jayne Nelson's piece for SFX's April edition and have to say it struck a chord.

Not for the first time, not even for the second time, I end up writing about how bloody fantastic "The Body" is as an episode of TV drama.

Nelson was writing about moments when TV makes us sob: there was plenty to recognise, not least when she said "The new series of Doctor Who also seems to know how to press my weepy buttons". But she knows who really could draw out the tears...

However... the number one, top dog, undisputed king of heart-rippage is.... Joss Whedon.

Goddamn it, she is so right. Not least for remarking that it is "an episode so rooted in primal anguish that even just hearing its name has me reaching for a tissue". Blub. And I thought it was just me. I could feel the tears welling up as I stood and read Nelson's piece: that's how powerful an effect this episode still has on me. And she's right too that watching Anya's speech (yes, THAT one) demonstrates how in this instance it's way beyond therapeutic, because as Nelson writes - and you can almost feel her choking as you read the article - Anya's "words should come with a health warning because they honest-to-God physically hurt you to watch."

I need a cuppa tea having just been thinking about all that. And masochist that I am, I may just have to rewatch the episode over the next week. With a large box of hankies to hand.

Helen Lisette's selected film lines

Through thunder and lightening, my good friend HL has had a quick think about the movie lines. There are some here I would expect, and some that make me go "doh! why didn't I remember that?!" I mean, "To Kill a Mockingbird" - classic stuff!

"Stand up Miss Jean-Louise, your father's passin'"
Reverend to Scout in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Never fails to make me cry as the whole of the balcony in the courtroom stand to acknowledge Atticus leaving the courthouse.

"I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next".
Maximus to the Emperor in 'Gladiator'. Inevitable choice.

" I've got a bad feeling about this"
Anyone in the Star Wars Sextet. Had to have a 'Star Wars' line.

"I'll have what she's having"
Lady in diner - 'When Harry Met Sally'. The best ad-lib line I have ever heard and perfectly timed: God bless the director's mum!

"Why would you want to go digging any deeper, Lieutenant?"
Jack Vincennes to Ed Exley, 'L A Confidential'. Mr Spacey at his coolest and most sardonic. I love it!

"Lucca Brazzi sleeps with the fishes".
Sonny Corleone, 'The Godfather'.
One of those lines that just needs to be said aloud and can frequently be heard emanating from my office.

"Why Me?"
Bud White to Lynn Bracken, 'L A Confidential'.
I know exactly how she feels!

"Miss Jean-Louise
Finch, may I introduce Mr Arthur Radley. I believe he already knows you."
Scout is introduced to 'Boo' after he has saved her life.

Best lines in movies?

George comes back from his imposed blog break (holidays, working, us visiting?!) and brings us another excellent and inspired post.

10 best lines from movies

Now of course I have to take up the challenge.

It is tricky though, because movie quotes lists are legion and lengthy. And although they are fun to read through, you can get the feeling that they don't mean that much to anyone. On the other hand, by investing it with personal taste, a movie lines list can represent something more individual. In that respect it is rather like the desert island discs selection we did before - and by the way, I have to give proper credit here as that was actually inspired by the lovely Sonia!

My problem was that I couldn't select very well in terms of type. I found myself drawn to a lot of comedic lines/exchanges but really wanted some of the tingle inducing romantic moments. So I know this is more of a list of what came to mind than a perfectly formed top 10. Cos I know the longer I think about it, the longer it will get!

So this is more of a selective 10. There could have been another 10 at least.

1. The cheesy moment: "No one puts Baby in a corner" - cue cheers from every girl in the audience!


2. The best suburban punk rebellion line: "Let's get sushi and not pay! - hysterical


3. The "yeah!" moment: "This is from Mathilda" - Although this was on G's list, I'm justifying including it here as it has long been on my list of favourite moments that make me cry


4. The "what-the-hell-have-I-just-been-watching?!" moment: "We have just lost cabin pressure" - the second when I KNEW I had to immediately go back and see this movie again


5. The exchange that sums up (local) politics: "Warren, suppose the hijackers start shooting at me? / Will you stop? They have no reason to shoot at you / Why - do you think they're from out of town?" - my valentine's day present a few years back. A film I still love to bits.


6. The line that makes me wince with laughter: "And I cayn't stand'im" - 'cos Lina Lamont talking just floors me...


7. The funniest moment featuring Brad Pitt: "Hey, get some beer, and some....cleaning products" - just cracks me up every time and is regularly invoked when we go shopping


8. The best in-joke about movies: "She is Lana Turner" - has me in giggles before the line even appears


9. My completely gratuitous inclusion of a line/speech that I love: "You see, you care for somebody more than you care for yourself. You lose yourself. You may be frightened, but you trust, and you risk. You risk everything that you've fought to gain." - sniff.


10. The best set-up line for a conclusion: "Baby, you're gonna miss that plane..." - because it just makes you catch your breath with the hope that the film is gonna end perfectly. And it does...

And if I can also have one perfect script, can I please have Casablanca which has just too many great lines to chose from. Witty, political, and weepy. I could have filled a list from that one film...

So there you have it. And if you fancy donating your own selections, can I perhaps direct you to the lovely George's page?

Opening Line: 30 July 2006

"Best of all...all the things in this world that's worth a look"



Never fails to make me cry.... If you don't know this song, find it, listen to it and treasure it. It's a gem.

Name of song and artiste?

Quote for the Day 7 Oct 04: BtVS & thinking about Death

I was thinking back over the year recently and recalling the wonderful conversation I had with a friend about their watching The Body, the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Season 5: 16) where Buffy finds her mother Joyce dead and the aftermath of that traumatic event.

It's a stunning episode, full of wonderful and very real moments. But one of the best is the reaction of Anya - thus far too often used as a foil for humour (being an ex-demon she struggles to comprehend human emotions and is brutally honest in her opinions). Throughout the follow-up action to the finding of Joyce, Anya has been asking lots of questions and finally Willow snaps at her.

ANYA: (desperate) But I don't understand!

Willow and Xander look at her in surprise.

ANYA: (crying) I don't understand how this all happens. How we go through this. I mean, I knew her, and then she's, (sniffling) there's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore. It's stupid. It's mortal and stupid. (still teary) And, and Xander's crying and not talking, and, and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, well, Joyce will never have any more fruit punch ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why.

What the scene highlights is that sometimes it takes an outsider to truly see, to ask the difficult questions in order to understand the world around us. Of course, though Joyce's life seemed horribly and unnecessarily cut short, we all get the same allowance...

"You lived what anybody gets, Bernie. You got a lifetime. No more. No less."

Bernie Capax and Death, in SANDMAN #43: "Brief Lives:3" By Neil Gaiman