Father Brown: Season One

At times it feels a bit too much like the producers of this series had some sort of British Mystery checklist that they keep going to throughout each episode: Tea party… check ... upper class snobs and lower class ‘good’ people … check … bumbling coppers … check. It’s almost enough to make you stop watching because you’re sure all their heavy handed clues are leading you in one direction. But hang on. This isn’t the series you are expecting, particularly when the lead is played by the delightful Mark Williams, best known now as Arthur Weasley, Ron’s dad from all those Harry Potter movies. It’s a finely tuned performance, all smiles and charm when it comes to setting up the case, but Williams gives the father a bit of a bite when push comes to shove that can be downright exciting. The cases are generally well plotted, leaving plenty of clues along the way to keep you guessing whodunit. Only don’t be too embarrassed when you find out you’re wrong in the end.

Doctor Who: Deep Breath

The fact that they showed this episode of the long running British television series in movie theaters  -- to sell-out crowds dressed in all their Doctor Who finery – will give you some indication on just how wildly anticipated the arrival of the twelfth doctor was by fans. Was it worth all the hype? Definitely. Given the fierce popularity of the two men preceding him – David Tennant and Matt Smith – the new Doctor, played by Scottish actor Peter Capaldi, had some pretty huge shoes to fill. The joy of watching Deep Breath is that he doesn’t really seem concerned at the Doctors who came before him: Capaldi steps out of the Tardis as his own man the first time we see him and takes over the screen from that moment on. The script has plenty of references for him to help make the transition easy for those in denial, particularly the presence of Clara (Jenna Coleman) to add continuity (and a bit of confusion), but it isn’t too long into the episode before Capaldi stands on his own and becomes The Doctor. The story, about mechanized people trying to make themselves more human by taking body parts from living people, is a cracker, too.

Bee People

Without bees, life as we know it on planet Earth would be impossible. That’s a scientific fact, but instead of banging us over the head with a gloom and doom scenario telling us how bad mankind has treated the bees of this world, this fun – and funny – documentary from director David G. Knappe focuses on the people who are doing something about it. Not scientists, mind you, but regular people who raise their own bees. What does it take to be a beekeeper, you ask? If these people are any indication, you have to be a little bit nuts, but in a good way. The film follows, among others, Gregg McMahan, Colorado's own 'Bee Guru' and Tony 'Bees' Planakis, NYPD's go to beekeeper as they go through their daily routine of not only tending their own hives, but rescuing wild bees who have built nests where nobody wants them. The way they refer to the bees as ‘girls’ gets a bit old (and a bit weird) after a while, but there’s a generous spirit to the film that makes it a lot of fun. 

The Midnight Special

‘Eclectic’ hardly covers the line-up presented in this six-DVD set; after all, it’s hard to think now that people who tuned in to The Midnight Special to see Aerosmith or Alice Cooper were happy to find Harry Chapin or John Denver on their television sets. But that was sort of the beauty of this long running show: You never knew what you were going to get beyond a live performance by some of the biggest and best musicians in the business. Since it made its debut in 1973 (at one o’clock in the morning) and lasted throughout the 70s and well into the 80s, you know that hairstyles and fashion trends are going to be just as interesting as the music being played, and if you wonder what some of the musicians were thinking when they put those clothes on, there are plenty of extras included in the package with the musicians themselves explaining it all. The quality of the shows is surprisingly good, as are the majority of the performances, whether you think you like the band playing or not. It’s all a bit of a time trip, to be sure, but one worth taking, even if you weren’t there when the shows first aired.

Words and Pictures

A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. But what if you are a poet who can’t write or an artist who can’t paint? How much is the finished product worth then? Although on the surface, this film from director Fred Schepisi (Last Call) seems to be about the value of the image versus the value of the printed word, you only have too scratch a bit to see it’s a story  about two lost souls struggling to find their muses and instead, finding each other. It’s a bit heavy handed, in story terms, but the fine performances from Clive Owens and Juliette Binoche make it work. Millions of words have been written about onscreen chemistry between actors, but nobody can tell you why some romantic pairings work and some don’t. In this case, it works very well. You appreciate the difficult journey the pair has to make to get to each other, but you are also rooting for them every step of the way. 

The Curse of Oak Island

A tale of pirates, the Knights Templar, buried treasure, secret booby traps, and a curse of death – what else can you ask for? How about the added pleasure of two rich brothers, Rick and Marty Lagina, who will stop at nothing to uncover the mystery behind (or beneath) this isolated island off the coast of Nova Scotia? It’s not your typical reality show, meaning there are not a lot of heightened emotions from the brothers fighting for more time on screen. It’s far more honest than that, and therefore more believable and, ultimately, more enjoyable. Do they solve the mystery? We’re not going to tell, but take our advice and watch the show in daily installments, even if you are tempted to marathon it through to the end. The wait is worth it. 

Hal - The Movie

Can a robot replace a human, not just physically but on an emotional level, too? That’s the compelling question asked in this gorgeous new anime movie from director Ryoutarou Makihara, and the answer may surprise you. The film tells the story of a robot that is asked to replace Hal, a young man who died in an accident, to help Kurumi, Hal's girlfriend, move on in life. As part of the process of earning Kurumi’s trust, and perhaps love, the robot Hal starts to learn that the flesh and blood person he’s supposed to replace wasn’t a good person in the first place. The robot tries to right the wrongs of Hal’s past in an effort to be a better “person,” but he quickly learns that there are some cuts that leave scars that are just too deep to be bandaged over. The story is well told, and Makihara paces it extremely effectively. The voice cast is strong, too, as is the beautiful artwork used to tell the tale. All in all, Hal is as beautiful a romance as you can find on film these days.