Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) is a man with a plan - to execute the perfect bank heist. Storming a Manhattan branch with three other accomplices, he gets into a cat and mouse game with police negotiator Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) who is battling his own problems. Adding fuel to this fire is the mysterious Madeline White (Jodie Foster) who has her own ideas about who’s going to walk out with what they want.

Russell has everything planned to perfection - from the disguise as painters, to the technical wizardry, to taking everyone hostage and dressing everyone in the same outfit as what the robbers are wearing. It’s hard to tell who’s who, which is precisely the confusion that Russell wants to create.

Inside Man is Spike Lee’s latest directorial outing and probably his most commercial. Driven by a clever script, which could have degenerated into the typical bank robber movie, it has moments of great humour as well. Lee delivers the required tension between the characters with ease - although sometimes you feel he’s got the paint-by-numbers sheet handy. The story moves along well and at times is intercut with future action of the detectives still trying to figure out what’s going on. Dalton Russell’s plan is working perfectly.

What delivers this movie from mediocrity is the great performances of all involved. The moments between bank robber Dalton and detective Frazier are intense and exciting - Owen and Washington are simply magnetic. Up and coming star Chiwetel Ejiofor plays detective Frazier’s partner, Bill Mitchell, and although he’s not given much to do he really shines in the scenes interviewing the hostages. Jodie Foster infuses her character with a real drive and confidence which you can’t take your eyes off and Christopher Plummer and Willem Dafoe round out a cast of characters that can’t be faulted.

Inside Man is a cleverly written, engaging film which rises above its counterparts. Lee manages to inject his usual salient social commentary about racism and community but never gets heavy handed. It’s worth watching for the engaging script and the performances of all involved.

Posted in Reviews •

For a television show in its 43rd year and 28th season, Doctor Who is certainly looking very sprightly. Having undergone a major reinvention courtesy of a genius scribe named Russel T Davies and a charismatic thespian called Christopher Ecclestone, the TARDIS rematerialized on television screens in 2005 and scored top ten audience viewing figures in the process. With a quirky blend of humour, wild inventiveness and bubbling on-screen chemistry, the Timelord and his impish companion dragged the comatose television franchise into the 21st century and charmed a new generation of viewers and their parents.

Now dazzling the critics Stateside, albeit with a ‘visual inventiveness that sometimes exceeds its budget’ (as one reviewer politely put it), 2006 sees the arrival of a new series, kick-started already by the Christmas special in which new lead, David Tennant inherited the keys to the famous blue police box. With the return of some familiar faces, a promising new Doctor and some fascinating story ideas, fans are hopeful that the new series will build on the impressive opener.

So, what can we expect when Doctor Who returns to our screens?

It would be natural to expect that the creative team behind the ‘new’ Doctor Who would want to distance themselves from the previous incarnations of the show and make their own mark, especially with the bold new direction in which they’ve steered the franchise. However, it’s refreshing to see that they have chosen to pay homage to the rich history of the Whoverse by bringing back some familiar faces from the past, a decision that will surely delight the generations of old-school fans out there.

This season, expect to see the return of:

Sarah Jane Smith
With the Doctor now sharing the interior of his dimension twisting space vehicle with 29th companion Rose Tyler (played by diminutive ex singer Billie Piper), it’s time to turn back the clock and catch up with Sarah Jane Smith played by Elisabeth Sladen. The character of Sarah Jane, an investigative journalist, was a regular on the show between 1973 and 1976, accompanying both the third (Jon Pertwee) and fourth (Tom Baker) Doctor. Sarah Jane returns in episode 3, ‘School Reunion’.

K9
In Whoverse history, K9 was created by Professor Marius, as a highly intelligent and armed mobile computer designed to replace the dog he had left behind on Earth. The amusingly designed robot dog made his debut in 1977, his popularity even spawning a brief solo sojourn into television adventure in the stillborn ‘K-9 and Company’ with Elisabeth Sladen (above). John Leeson returns for the new series to provide the familiar vocals, whilst K9 will return in the same Mark III configuration gifted to Sarah Jane Smith.

The Police Commissioner
David Warwick returns as the Police Commissioner, reprising the role of Kimus from 1978’s ‘Pirate Planet’ starring Tom Baker and ‘Gallifrey: A Blind Eye’ which also featured his wife Louise Jameson who played Doctor Who companion Leela.

Such has been the huge success of the reinvented Doctor Who, that a spinoff series is in the works with another strongly rumored-

Torchwood
John Barrowman, the charismatic Captain Jack Harkness from the last series of Doctor Who has earned his own series. The man who failed to secure a role in US sitcom Will & Grace for ‘being too straight’ will reprise his role as the dashing and sexually ambiguous adventurer in Torchwood. The show will air on BBC3 and is described as a darker, sexier, more adult science fiction show, focusing on a renegade team investigating human and alien crime, and extraterrestrial technology that has fallen to Earth. Torchwood will feature three main characters including Gwen Cooper, played by Eve Myles. Although James Hawes, the original producer has bowed out of the project due to a change of schedule and filming has been postponed until July, Torchwood is a go. Barrowman says “It’s going to be Britain’s answer to The X-Files, with the craft and the humour from This Life.”

K-9 and Company
K-9 and Company, the pilot of which called ‘A Girl’s best friend’ was broadcast on the 28th of December 1981 to favourable viewing figures. Unfortunately for all those involved, the show never saw the light due to a change of controllers at the BBC. Much derision by fans of the shows title sequence, music (by Ian Levine) and plot have not done much to endear it aficionado’s. Now it seems that remarkably, 25 years later, the show might get a second chance to prove itself. The Sun reports that an as yet unnamed serial will be made specifically for children’s television.

At the time of writing there is some conflicting information about how the series will pan-out, with the production team being notoriously secretive. The following episode list is as accurate as possible:

Episode 1) New Earth
Vain and bitchy ‘human trampoline’ Cassandra ( Zoe Wannamaker) returns in a story about a plague farm administered by evil cat people where humans are the subject of experiments. Supposedly set after End of the World from the last series, Cassandra is out for revenge.

Episode 2) Tooth & Claw
Another trip back in time with Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine) playing Queen Victoria. The Doctor and Rose must protect the Queen from an alien attack in Scotland’s Balmoral Castle. Apparently the monsters will be werewolves and the episode will be lensed ‘Tarantino style’. Pauline Collins returns to the show after nearly 40 years, having previously appeared in ‘The Faceless Ones’ in the original series.

Episode 3) School Reunion.
Old assistant Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and robot dog K9 join the Doctor in battling Headmaster Finch (an alien shape-shifting Krillitane) played by Buffy’s Anthony Head. Interestingly, Head auditioned for the role of the Doctor in 1996. Word has it that the Krillitanes will “get kids diving behind their sofas again”. Russell T Davies said that when Sladen did her first read through, “I thought Stephen Fry was going to faint. I’m not kidding, you could actually feel this shiver go through the room.”

Episode 4) The Girl in the Fireplace
The Doctor and Rose travel to the court of Louis XIV with Sophia Myles as Madame Du Pompadour and Ben Turner as King Louis. Word has it that we will see the return of the Autons. If you were creeped out by “Are you my mummy?” last year, apparently the ticking of a clock will do the same this year.

Episode 5/6) The Rise of the Cybermen Part 1 & 2
The alien cyborg race created by show science advisor Dr. Kit Pedler in 1966 returns to battle the Doctor. Although the chunky re-design of the gold-hating baddies has raised a few eyebrows, the producers claim that the Cybermen are going to look awesome on screen. Rumours of a full-scale invasion of a parallel Earth sound almost too good to be true. Starring Roger Lloyd-Pack as John Lumic, a wheelchair bound evil genius and Tracy-Ann Oberman (Chrissy Watts from Eastenders) as another baddie.

Episode 7) The Idiot’s Lantern
An alien intelligence takes advantage of the technology of television in the 1950’s. Featuring Maureen Lipman as ‘The Wire’, the Idiot’s Lantern sees the Doctor and Rose end up in 1950’s London at the time of the Queen’s coronation.”Rose will be wearing a huge fluffy pink circular skirt with layers of petticoats, a blue denim top and a pink ribbon in her hair. David Tennant will be riding a Vespa scooter, wearing a white crash helmet. Underneath his helmet, the Doctor will be sporting a teddyboy style DA hair”. Jamie Foreman who played Dickensian badboy Bill Sykes in Polanski’s Oliver Twist will also appear.

Episode 8/9) The Satan Pit Part 1 & 2
The new Doctors first foray onto an alien world, described as being very much like Hell. Danny Webb (Alien 3, Henry V) and Will Thorp (Casualty) are rumored to appear.

Episode 10) Love & Monsters
A typically tongue-in-cheek concept with a monster called the ‘Abzorbaloff’ (the name might give a clue as to the method by which it consumes its prey) that is somehow born from the design of a Blue Peter (classic British kids TV show) competition winner. Featuring Peter Kay (Phoenix Nights) in a rare serious turn as the ‘cold and powerful’ Victor Kennedy. Just announced today, Marc Warren (Hustle) and renowned Scots actress Shirley Henderson will also star.

Episode 11) A Blind Eye?
Penned by Matthew Graham (Life on Mars) after it was decided that Stephen Fry’s effort would be held back until series three, this episode is rumoured to be about the 2012 Olympics. Includes a cameo from real-life psychic fraudster Derek Acorah of ‘Most Haunted’ fame and an appearance from Trisha Goddard (both playing themselves). This might also be the episode where Barbara Windsor appears as her famous television character, mouthy matriarch Peggy Mitchell alongside other Eastenders stars. Nina Sosanya, (Tennant’s lover from Casanova) will appear as the mother of a key character.

Episode 12/13) Army of Ghosts & Doomsday
The first of a two-parter, again featuring Roger Lloyd-Pack as John Lumic alongside Tracey Ann-Oberman as Yvonne Hartman. The Cybermen return as well as another old enemy. Russell T Davies assures us that “Series 2 will end on a f****** colossal cliffhanger. It’s so huge I can’t describe it. I hope they can get it on film.” Rumours of Eve Myles replacing Billie Piper as the Doctor’s companion for series three (filming commences July and is rumoured to be entirely digital) might come into play.

Following Christopher Ecclestone, new boy David Tennant (Casanova) has a lot to live up to, but his performance in the Christmas special hints that he is up to the job. Expectations are certainly high, with insiders on the production team claiming that he is ‘the best Doctor since Tom Baker’. Whether his ‘cheeky geezer’ take on the Timelord works as well as Ecclestone’s intense and twitchy portrayal inside the complex Whoverse is yet to be conclusively proved, but fans are eager to find out. One can only hope that his stint as the Doctor is not as short lived as his predecessor’s.

There will be a press launch in Cardiff on the 28th of March to launch the new series and announce the transmission dates (rumored to be mid-April). Doctor Who will again fill the BBC1 7.00pm Saturday night timeslot.

BBC
U.N.I.T.
Outpost Gallifrey
Wikipedia
Scifi
Drwho-online

Additional thanks to the legendary Throb for helping me research the individual episodes.

Posted in Commentary, Doctor Who, Movies •