The Prisoner and Quatermass Podcasts!

I often go hunting for new podcasts that look at favorite movies and television. Recently I found a couple of excellent examples and thought I should share. Both originate in Britain and both focus on content from that country that is pretty obscure today.   

First up is Free For All, a show that digs deeply into Patrick McGoohan's 'The Prisoner'. Each week screenwriter Cai Ross and media lecturer Chris Bainbridge delve into an episode of The Prisoner interpreting them in their own unique way. They have been lucky enough to get some great guest interviews including several original cast members! Free For All is a wonderfully funny, bitingly critical and sometimes academically analytical exploration of McGoohan's television epic. I highly recommend it as it seems to only get better and better as they go along. Upcoming shows have even more guests! Follow the imbedded links above to find the show.

Second we have the BERGcast and I would be surprised if you knew immediately what BERG is all about! BERG stands for British Experimental Rocket Group and the podcast is devoted to exploring the creator of that fictional government agency Nigel Kneale. The show is an examination of Quatermass and every other thing that Kneale ever produced during his long and impressive career. I’m slowly working my way through the backlog of episodes and loving every minute of the journey! If you have a love for the amazing creative mind of Nigel Kneale, I can recommend this show unreservedly. 

What I Read in September

THE PRISONER by Thomas M. Disch (excellent sequel to the classic TV series)

Festival at Wolfnacht by Stephen Sullivan

KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE by Charles Runyon

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN by J. Carson Black

I was thrilled to finally get around to reading the 'official' sequel novel to the classic British TV show The Prisoner. I've been a fan of the show for decades and I consider Thomas Disch to have been a fantastic writer so I'm surprised at myself for putting this off for so long. The book is a very good continuation of the series postulating that the events of the last episode were not quite as final as we might believe. Number 6 has been returned to the Village and is being more cleverly groomed to be the new Number 2. I found the structure of the tale to be perfect, the tone spot on and the dialog sharp and very much in keeping with the show's sparkling template for arch exchanges between intelligent antagonists. I can unreservedly recommend this to fans of the brilliant original 17 episode show.

Stephen Sullivan's excellent short story set in one of his large fantasy universes was very good with only one problem- I wanted more! Some of the characters are so interesting that I wanted to spend more time with them before the amazing, violent action cranked up. What was great for me was that I couldn't help seeing this as a great Hammer film that never got made- and that is a very good thin to be able to say. If you've never read any of Sullivan's work this is a good place to start.

KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE was a book I thought was going to be a type of spy tale -don't ask why- but turned out to be a very literate murder mystery. I really enjoyed it and was happy with its complex characters and their difficult choices.

DARKNESS OF THE EDGE OF TOWN is a pretty straightforward police procedural about the tracking of a serial murderer of children. This crime case intersects with another from the lead investigator's past and her own childhood. It is a well done thriller but not in the upper tier of things I've read recently. I'd be willing to read more from the author.  

The Prisoner comes to Blu-Ray

As reported at TV Shows On DVD -

"This October, A&E Home Entertainment has partnered with the Network DVD to deliver the definitive version of this definitive cult classic with THE PRISONER BLU-RAY EDITION. Featuring a complete high definition restoration, sound re-mix and hours of stunning extras never before seen stateside, the Blu-Ray ($99.95 SRP), streeting just prior to the premiere of the highly anticipated reinterpretation of THE PRISONER (starring James Caviezel and Ian McKellen) on AMC, is certain to continue to mesmerize viewing audiences and build on its place as one of television's most dramatic achievements."

I'm not sure how 'anticipated' the remake of this classic show really is but if that production caused this to happen it has served its purpose for me. No way I'll pay $100 but it'll go on my ever growing 'want' list.

REVOLVER (2005) - Am I free man?

Two recent watches have been an eye opening experience for this old movie nut. Both were movies recommended to me by a friend and both were quite good- but both were highly derivative of other, older movies or television.

First up was Guy Ritchie’s 2005 film REVOLVER starring Jason Statham and Ray Liotta. At first glance it appears to be of a piece with Ritchie’s usual British crime tales such as SNATCH, LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS, and ROCK N ROLLA. But by the mid-point it becomes clear that there is much more than stylistic camera tricks, clever criminal plots and snappy dialog on the director’s mind this time out. Mysterious, nameless characters begin to call the shots, a never seen Mr. Big lurks behind the scenes and the motivation of the main character is called into question. And all the while games of chess are played and serious philosophical musings weave nicely into the narrative. By the end I smiled with twin realizations- I understand completely why a mass audience would hate REVOLVER and it struck me that what Ritchie was up to was destined to fail commercially no matter what. He has done what I would have though was unthinkable until recently- he has crafted his own version of Patrick McGoohan’s brilliant 1960s TV series THE PRISONER right down to the final revelation about Mr. Gold and Mr. Green. He’s thrown in a number of other ideas about wealth and its worship and then spiced it with a 21st century cinematic style but the movie’s debt to THE PRISONER is huge. I urge fans of the classic McGoohan series to check this movie out and judge for yourself. Even if you’ve never enjoyed Ritchie’s films before I suspect that this one has enough meat on its bones to have you chewing for a good long while. It will at least get you to thinking about your own view of the world and your place in it.

"The only way to get better at the game is to play someone who is better than you."

Film number two later......

Farewell Number 6

Because I will miss the actor and love the show I mourn the passing of the brilliant Patrick MacGoohan. Here is a neat mash-up of THE PRISONER and THE MATRIX that points out a connection between the two tales that I had missed until now.
He was a free man!