NBC's Grimm (Pilot)

I was a little slower to catch Grimm (thank goodness for hulu, where I don't have to be on time!), but I finally saw the pilot of this show, too.

I think it shows some promise, although is much more aimed toward people who like a gritty police procedural than those who are looking for a fantasy story. The set up is that Nick is a police detective and one day he starts seeing creepy monster faces on passing people. His aunt shows up and tells him bits and pieces about his family legacy: he's a Grimm, one of the few people who can see what no one else can. Which starts him down a spiral of fairy tale mysteries, beginning with a predator hunting and killing girls wearing red....

I'm a bit worried at the show's early tendency to only have women as victims. So far all the interesting characters are male, except for the aunt who is clearly, from the beginning, slated to not be around for very long. (Which I can understand, as she'd be able to explain everything, and that would make it Too Easy. Still, so far I'd rather the show had been about her--what's HER story?! She kicks ass! Ah, well.)

I'm willing to give this one a little time to get its feet under it, because hey, I'll take my fairy tales how I can get 'em. The special effects aren't bad, so far--not big budget Hollywood great but certainly passable. The actors... ehh, nothing outstanding so far but give them some time to figure out who their characters are.

You can (as I mentioned) watch this on hulu if you don't have the network or the time to watch it when it's scheduled:

http://www.hulu.com/grimm

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Little Red Riding Hood

With Warner Bros releasing their new Red Riding Hood movie, I thought I'd take this week to look at some of the previous versions of Little Red in film.

They... didn't so much use child actors in Faerie Tale Theatre. So Mary (Red) is played by Mary Steenbergen, who brings a certain charm to the role even while remaining firmly grown up.

Little Mary meets a woodcutter, Chris, and hits it off with him, but her dad is opposed to them spending too much time together, until she runs into an actually dangerous wolf, and Chris saves her. Then dad is okay with their budding relationship.

This is a cute episode in FTT. Not my favorite, but the content they added to the original story was done well enough to fill the time.

Riese: Kingdom Falling

With Warner Bros releasing their new Red Riding Hood movie, I thought I'd take this week to look at some of the previous versions of Little Red in film.

While it's not strictly a LRRH retelling, Riese: Kingdom falling does borrow heavily from Red's imagery, from the wolf to the red hood to being lost in the forest. Think LRRH meets Game of Thrones meets Steampunk.

Riese is the lost princess, escaped into the woods and isolation after her family were killed in a coup by her aunt. She's traveling, trying to survive and help people when she can without too much risk to herself. The show starts with a bounty hunter on her tail, and when she's injured she seeks refuge in a small town that seems peaceful, until she investigates more closely.

This is a very cool show, especially because it started as an independent internet effort. It's since been ... bought? backed? by SyFy, so I'm interested in seeing how it develops from this point forward. Aside from some heavy and unnecessary narration, the writing up until now has been interesting, the storyline developing over the course of ten five-to-eight minute episodes. So far it all feels very prologue-y, which may have to do with the fact that the episodes are so short, or perhaps because there's only been about 40 minutes of actual episode.

It's available to watch now on SyFy (if you can handle Syfy.com's obnoxious advertisements) or you can find episodes on hulu.

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Beauty and the Beast

Since Beastly, based on Alex Flinn's book, is coming out this Friday, I thought I'd take this week to look at some of the previous incarnations of Beauty and the Beast in cinema.

OMG, this is almost a straight-up rip-off of the Jean Cocteau film. I MEAN, this is La Belle et la Bete, on fast forward.

I... can't say much else about it than that. From the costumes and settings, to the special effects, this is a direct nod to Cousteau. Watching them in such proximity was actually quite fascinating. The story was very close, so it was interesting to see what was cut for time. Only a couple of the confusing story elements were dropped--the bit about the random smoking beast (I mean like he was ON FIRE smoking) was still there.

Starring Susan Sarandon and with Angelica Houston in a bit role, this is a pretty fitting (timewise) entry in the Faerie Tale Theatre collection.

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: The Nightingale

Mick Jagger? Whaaat! But it's true. Mick Jagger stars as the emperor in Faerie Tale Theatre's version of The Nightingale. So I guess we know what he's talking about when he has a musical preference.

This episode is a little weird, and I mean that in a good way. Although not always successful, this is the first time you see Faerie Tale theatre branch out from the staple, common fairy tales for one that's a little less known, which I have to admire. You may have your own opinion about a bunch of white folks playing Chinese people... sigh...

The pacing on this one is pretty good, there is enough story to carry the hour-long episode. And it was nice to see the cast change up a little bit. Faerie Tale Theatre was starting to find its feet by now and it shows in the writing and directing.

(I've chosen to review all the Faerie Tale Theatre episodes separately because they vary so much and cover so many different stories. Also: reading/watching the material for this blog takes a lot of time! I hope you enjoy the slightly more in depth reviews this way.)

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Rapunzel

Let me follow up yesterday's Tangled post with a much older, more traditional retelling of Rapunzel.

The Faerie Tale Theatre version follows the original story quite closely, from the stolen veggies to the restorative tears in the desert. This is also one of the first ones where I noticed that Rapunzel's parents were played by the same actors that played Rapunzel and her prince--although I may not have noticed that the first time I watched it, as that was long, long ago....

This is a pretty good story, for Faerie Tale Theatre, because it's not too dependent on special effects, and it's an involved, longer story. The pacing is much better in this one than some of the others I've commented on. Still, it's not my favorite, partly because it feels more like the Shelley Duvall's Shelley Duvall theatre and partly because it fails to address any of the problems with the original story. (Not, as I've said, that we should change things JUST because they bother us....)

Even so, if you haven't seen it, and you like Rapunzel, you should watch this one--particularly if you're a big fan of the early versions of the story.

(I've chosen to review all the Faerie Tale Theatre episodes separately because they vary so much and cover so many different stories. Also: reading/watching the material for this blog takes a lot of time! I hope you enjoy the slightly more in depth reviews this way.)

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Rumpelstiltskin

Man, this is a greedy king. Well, of course, we all know the story of Rumpelstiltskin, and Faerie Tale Theatre doesn't go out of its way to excuse that. The king is depressed because he can't find a princess rich enough to marry, when the Miller shows up and begins talking about his beautiful and talented daughter who can embroider tapestries that are like gold--that are practically gold--that in a gold-like way are very much like gold!

Which naturally leads to the tale as we know it.

Again, this episode isn't one of the best as far as pacing, although it is a quite close translation of the commonly told tale. The special effects are dated but they work pretty well for this particular tale--and I admit I do love the matte paintings of the external castle.

Also: Unicorn pony? Freakin' cute.

You can watch for free on Hulu, though, so that's a good price for a show.

(I've chosen to review all the Faerie Tale Theatre episodes separately because they vary so much and cover so many different stories. Also: reading/watching the material for this blog takes a lot of time! I hope you enjoy the slightly more in depth reviews this way.)