Arts & Living
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TV FEATURE
MITCHELL GELLER | SLINGS AND ARROWS
British TV offers bolder, grittier shows with less fluff BY
Feb. 15 is for (candy) lovers
REBECCA GOLDBERG Daily Editorial Board
Due to not wanting to step on NBC’s sports coverage of the Winter Olympics, American TV has more or less shut down for the past two weeks. But for viewers hungering for new and different scripted TV, there’s another place to look: across the pond. The United Kingdom has a history of prolific television production. It produced “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” (1969-1974) and then John Cleese’s “Fawlty Towers” (1975-1979), both of which are generally regarded by critics and experts as some of the best television comedies ever made. But not everything the UK has to offer lately is as polarizing and British as “Are You Being Served?” (1972-1985). The BBC and other British networks have many intriguing and unique series easily available to eager, TV-loving American audiences. These shows come in all shapes and sizes. On and off since 1963, the BBC has been churning out different incarnations of the family-friendly sci-fi adventure show “Doctor Who,” a series that has now seen 11 different actors playing its protagonist. With its low-tech, low-budget special effects and heartfelt storytelling, “Who” has a reputation in Britain and around the world as a family institution that has won over multiple generations of audiences. A new season, featuring 27-yearold Matt Smith as the Doctor, will premiere on BBC and BBC America later this year. Episodes from the series since its 2005 revival — including those featuring doctors Nine (Christopher Eccleston) and Ten (David Tennant) — are available on iTunes. “Doctor Who” has recently inspired two spin-offs, including “Torchwood,” a more adult-oriented, salacious chronicle of a division of alien-fighters, starring Scottish song-and-dance
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A werewolf, a vampire and a ghost walk into a bar… man John Barrowman. Last summer, Syfy aired “Torchwood: Children of Earth” (2009), a five-part miniseries that earned critical acclaim from both British and American critics. For teens (and teens at heart), BBC America also offers “Skins” and “The Inbetweeners,” shows with attractive teenagers (like The CW’s “Gossip Girl”) frankly discussing serious problems (as in Canada’s “Degrassi High,” 19891991). The second series (season in American speak) of “The Inbetweeners” premieres Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. on BBC America.
MOVIE REVIEW
Stellar cast powers creepy ‘Shutter Island’ BY JORDAN
TEICHER
Daily Staff Writer
Many consider Leonardo DiCaprio to be the best actor of his generation. For some this statement is not speculation or hyperbole — it is fact.
Shutter Island Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley Directed by Martin Scorsese Since turning in a string of highcaliber performances that date back to Martin Scorsese’s 2002 crime epic “Gangs of New York,” DiCaprio began to establish himself as the most prominent leading man of the 21st century. With the release of “Shutter Island,” his latest collaboration with Scorsese, DiCaprio gives another superb performance, cementing his position at the top of the heap of Hollywood actors. Based on the 2003 Dennis Lehane novel of the same name, the film opens in 1954 with Federal Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) suffering from seasickness aboard a ferry that is on its way to a mental institution located on the secluded Shutter Island off the coast of Massachusetts. Teamed with fellow marshal Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo),
Daniels is sent to Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane to investigate the disappearance of a patient. When the two arrive, they are greeted by electric fences and armed guards. They begin to realize that Ashecliffe is not a normal mental institution and that they are not going to get the open-and-shut case that they hoped for. When a severe storm hits, Daniels and Aule are forced to stay extra nights on the island. They interrogate a few of the patients who knew the missing woman and find a clue that may hold the answer to her whereabouts. But midway through, it becomes clear that Daniels has other motives for coming to Shutter Island. Through brief flashbacks and dream sequences, the audience comes to understand Daniels’ past as a World War II soldier and, later, as a husband back in Boston. DiCaprio’s performance is phenomenal. His role requires stunning depth, and he pulls it off flawlessly and disappears into the character. He is fierce in the beginning and vulnerable toward the end, but the intensity of his performance never wavers. At first glance, Ruffalo’s performance as Chuck Aule appears a bit dull. He is a quiet sidekick, speaking only when necessary. His suppressed character, however, is a perfect fit for the film’s see SHUTTER, page 7
Last summer, BBC America broadcast the first series of “Being Human,” a horror-dramedy that follows three friends living together in Bristol: Mitchell (Aiden Turner), a moody, century-old vampire, George (Russell Tovey), an uptight Jewish werewolf and Annie (Lenora Crichlow), a bubbly, recently-deceased ghost. The first full series of “Being Human” runs only six hour-long (i.e. 60 minutes, with no commercials) episodes, which were all filmed on location in see BRITAIN, page 7
MOVIE REVIEW
‘Dangerous Man’ enthralls audiences BY
REBECCA SANTIAGO Daily Staff Writer
A wartime nation is much less a body of emotional, interested and varied individuals than it is a well-
The Most Dangerous Man in America Starring Daniel Ellsberg Directed by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith greased and intricate machine. Within this jingoistic device, each human being satisfies a particular role, subjugating personal needs and values for the good of the unit. Yet what happens when one cog sickens of the operation and springs free? Judith Erlich and Rick Goldsmith address this in “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” a documentary about the government insider who exposed to the public the ugly realities of the Vietnam War. see DANGEROUS, page 6
alentine’s Day is a tough holiday. Single people are bitter on Valentine’s Day; people who are not single are stressed. Regardless of relationship status, however, everyone should remember one thing: Candy goes on sale Feb. 15, the day after Valentine’s Day. Say what you will about how the holiday is nothing more than a sham thought up by greeting card companies to make money. Whine about the futility of love. Hell, criticize the color red if you want. Whatever you do, though, don’t hate on the candy. That cheap, cheap candy. For less than a dollar, I was able to buy two bags of Necco Sweethearts Tiny Conversation Hearts (“#1 Valentine Candy,” according to the bag), and, with the help of the contents of these two bags, I could get on, and stay on, a sugar high that will last me more than a week. The net weight of each bag is seven ounces. Think of that in drug terms if you like, because these are powerful stimulants! Let’s get these onto the streets, ASAP! Barksdale won’t hold those towers for long! Necco is not messing around. Looking at the ingredients of Necco Sweethearts, one may be completely unsurprised to learn that the primary ingredient is sugar. After sugar comes corn syrup and corn starch. Basically these hearts are sugar that’s only held together by corn byproducts. But let’s focus on that first one, shall we? It’s capitalized on the bag. All of the ingredients are capitalized, but this pink bag of tiny little heart-shaped candies is screaming to potential consumers that what they are about to consume is sugar. Pure sugar. And let’s not forget that actual, biological hearts look nothing like these hearts. It has been suggested that this particular geometric shape came about because if you turn it upside down it appears to be a buttocks. A female’s buttocks. And that is a sign of fertility and getting freaky. It makes sense if you think about it a little, but not too hard. Consequently, that’s what she said. I just popped eight of these things and I feel like I drank an entire Box O’ Joe. I’m not going to be able to sleep any time soon. If these sugary rumps weren’t good enough on their own, Necco turns them into adventures in literature by printing a phrase on each tiny, edible female buttocks, whispering sweet nothings to the eater. Some of them are poorly printed and the occasional heart is blank, but how often does such a powerful stimulant tell a user to “Kiss Me,” or “Be Mine?” Or, for that matter, “Top Chef,” or “Got Love?” I love it when my candy makes outdated references to wildly popular but mostly forgotten ad campaigns for extremely mundane products. Also, Tony Montana snorted that mountain of yayo, but it never once called him “Top Chef.” Not once. Aside from the chalky Reader’s Digest/ Don Juan of the confectionary world, Feb. 15 also offers sweet deals on other types of terrible candies: oversized boxes of disgusting chocolates with fillings like maple-crème, stale toffee and cherry-or-isit-strawberry and bags of red-only M&M’s. Candy lovers everywhere can find themselves sugared up and stomach-ached for weeks on end with the bounties bought on this glorious day. So, to recap, say what you will about Valentine’s Day, but everyone can agree that the day after Valentine’s Day is awesome. What’s better than cheap candy? Nothing. Almost nothing. Almost. Feb. 15: four and a half out of five stars. I just ate a couple more hearts and now I’m shaking a little bit.
Mitchell Geller is a junior majoring in psychology and English. He can be reached at Mitchell.Geller@tufts.edu.