Sherlock Holmes is a character so ingrained in our cultural imagination that it’s hard to think up any new spin on him. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle invented a character who became an archetype, even for procedural television, as the airwaves are still littered with brilliant assholes who owe their very existence to the original detective of 221B Baker Street.
Endeavour has had a near perfect second season run. Yes, the season hasn’t packed the same emotional punch that the first did, but the mysteries have been intriguing and the most important aspect of Endeavour, its characters, have continued to develop and fascinate.
Every so often, you can almost physically feel the shift a film makes as it attempts to lift the rug from under your feet. Most times, though not all, such shifts being so cognitively visible are a burden, and that’s the case with The Angels’ Share, Ken Loach’s most recent film, the Jury Prize winner at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
The Iron Lady Written by Abi Morgan Directed by Phyllida Lloyd UK/France, 2011 Very early on in The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher’s father, in a flashback sequence, tells her to “never run with the crowd” and to go her own way. These words are typical of the “inspirational” biopic formula, and Phyllida Lloyd’s film embodies …