Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon and Mu (2015)

Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon and Mu (2015)

Author + Illustrator: Junji Ito  | Page Count: 116

"Hrm. The road to cat wand mastery is long and treacherous indeed!"

An illustrated account of the trials that manga author Junji Ito faced after moving into a new home with his fiancée and her two cats, Yon and Mu. Ito had never before shared a home with cats, and the cats had never before shared theirs with an Ito. Adjustments on both sides would be needed if a happy balance was to be achieved, but anyone who's ever lived with a cat (or cats) will know that they're rarely in a mood to compromise, especially when it involves a stranger.

The natural passing of time is the structure, so don't expect a tightly plotted narrative. And, while it's not a prerequisite, a love of felines is most likely going to help you get the most from the book. The little things, the nuances, the 'I'm judging you!' glances, and the silent 'I'll fucking kill you if you attempt to pet me now!' threats will be more relatable to that audience.

Jonathan Creek: Series I, II and III (1997-2000)

Jonathan Creek: Series I, II and III (1997-2000)

S1: Pilot, approx 90 mins + 5 episodes, approx 60 mins each |

S2: 6 episodes, approx 50 mins each | S3: 6 episodes, approx 50 mins each

A mystery/detective series, but the titular Jonathan (Alan Davies) isn't an actual detective, he designs magic tricks for a stage magician.

His knowledge of stage magic, or rather his understanding of what it takes to create the perfect illusion, enables him to take available clues from a crime scene and work backwards.

He assesses the impossible without ever dismissing the implausible. In a sense, the show is less of a traditional 'whodunnit' and more of a 'howdunnit' in which every episode keeps you guessing right up to the inevitable reveal.

It's not all death and murder, though. There's also a lot of comedy, much of which revolves around Jonathan's relationship with his partner in crime-solving, the female writer/investigative reporter Maddie Magellan (Caroline Quentin). He's the reserved, quiet sort, whereas she's the bold, outgoing kind. As the show progresses their relationship deepens and they spend more and more time under each other's feet, and on each other's couch!

The Transporter Trilogy (2002-08)

The Transporter (2002)

Dir. Corey Yuen and Louis Leterrier

Frank (Statham) transports packages from A to B with no questions asked. He's punctual, precise, always cool under pressure and a believer in playing by the rules - his rules, until one day the shit hits the fan and there are more than just questions flying his way.

It’s a typical Luc Besson penned comedy/action flick with a simple but fun plot, tongue in cheek action, bad European music, and a car chase or three. But strangely, for a movie about a car driving anti-hero, the car chases are some of the worst parts of it.

The most amazing thing is that it makes any sense, because the people involved didn't speak the same language off-set. It had a French production, a Taiwanese actress, an English actor and a Hong Kong co-director (Corey Yuen, the man behind both The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk films; also behind the camera but uncredited on the R2 box was Louis Leterrier).

I can't end without mentioning François Berléand, who plays Inspector Tarconi. To be honest, his French accent meant I didn't catch everything he said in English, but he was great, nevertheless.

Dragon's Claws (2008)

Dragon's Claws (2008)

Author: Simon Furman | Illustrator: Geoff Senior / Bryan Hitch | Page Count: 260

Marvel UK's output for the home market prior to the launch of Dragon's Claws in June 1988 had been either 100% reprint from existing US titles or a combination of new UK and old US. Claws was their first attempt at mimicking the US format (i.e. small size) but filling it with all-new homegrown content.

Despite its size and the Marvel name in the corner, it had more in common with the edgy 2000 AD than any of the costumed superhero vs supervillain guff.

The dystopian setting (Britain, 8162 AD) is rather bleak, overseen by a shady government agency.

The heroes of the work aren't selfless do-gooders who put themselves between helpless citizens and clumsy villains, they're borderline sociopaths who fight for personal reasons - sometimes those reasons overlap with greater social concerns, but the majority of the time it's more by coincidence than design. Except, perhaps, for Dragon, the leader of the team. Dragon believes that what he's doing is partly for the greater good of mankind, but neglects to acknowledge the impact his actions have on the people he should be protecting most.

Æon Flux (2005)

Æon Flux (2005)

Dir. Karyn Kusama

Being a fan of Peter Chung's animation prior to seeing the live action adaptation, I was surprised when the announcement came that actress Charlize Theron had been cast in the lead role.

I'm not suggesting that she wasn't up to the task, Monster (2003) clearly proves otherwise, I'm saying that she's a shapely, beautiful woman, whereas the animated Æon is wiry and gangly, even undernourished, so from a purely visual perspective the two ladies are almost opposites.

But, truth be told, while not Peter Chung's Æon, Charlize's has a feminine strength that I wasn't expecting to see. In fact, given Hollywood's track record for sucking the life out of anything creative there's a lot included that I wasn't expecting. It's not a perfect film, but it's one that I enjoy wholeheartedly for the things that it did well.

Masters of the Universe: Origins of Eternia (2012-13)

Masters of the Universe: Origin of Skeletor (2012)

Author: Joshua Hale Fialkov | Artist: Frazer Irving | Page Count: 21

"The half-breed bastard child of a King and creature the world has deemed sub-human."

A trio of stand-alone comics, each one devoted to a particular MotU character, telling their origin story.

The evil Skeletor leads the way and at first glance it appears to be pretty damn good! But once you get to actually analysing the story the cracks begin to show and it becomes clear that issue one is all about the art.

Frazer Irving's artwork is amazing, perfectly capturing the drama of a single moment, with a modifed use of colour to suit the era; e.g. as Skeletor walks the halls of his childhood home the flashbacks triggered by the location have much of the colour drained from them, like you'd sometimes see in a movie. It helps separate the past from the present and adds further commentary on the differences between the child and the man.

It's interesting seeing the genesis of the resentful feelings that skull-face nurtures and uses as strength, but at just 21 pages it's all too brief.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 3 (1989-90)

Star Trek: TNG: Season 3 (1989-90)

26 episodes, approx 44 minutes each.

There'll always be exceptions, but in my experience, whether by accident or design, within forms of entertainment patterns emerge if you care to look for them: book two of a trilogy is often the weakest; tracks one and seven of a CD are often the strongest; and season three of a TV series is often one of the best. TNG is no different. Mostly it's business as usual, with Picard having to accommodate self-important assholes at the behest of his superiors and play diplomatic mediator in heated situations, but there's also a lot of new directions taken.

Wesley matures and develops into less of a dick. His mom, Dr Crusher, returns to sickbay, so the argumentative Katherine Pulaski is out. There's no mention of why or where Pulaski went, but I like to think she married an Antedean dignitary and now lives as a cold and miserable fishwife on Antede III.