Colin Manning

When I first caught a glimpse of Supernatural I dismissed it as derivative and more of the same.  All of this territory had been covered before by the X-Files, Buffy, Angel; and Medium and Ghost Whisperer of late.  But the TV universe of the undead is very big and there is plenty of room in the genre for shows like Supernatural to eek out a corner.  The show is bizarrely self-aware of its place within the the genre and often makes references to other shows and movies.  One character is prone to visions and the other compares him to Patricia Arquette and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Although the X-Files had its share of monsters and mutants, most of them had a pseudo scientific explanation. Agent Scully was always on hand to find a mutant gene or toxic chemical to explain them. The other worldly elements of the stories were literally from another world, rather than inhabiting some place between this world and the next. The other story arc of a massive an...

I am working my through Season 1 of Dexter. It is slow going. Not because it is poorly written, but because I find it so disturbing. When something is on TV you have to watch it or miss it (so 90s), but on when watching on DVD you can come up for air if needed. Dexter is a psychopathic serial killer, who only kills other serial killers. The violence in Dexter is not cartoony, and although much of it happens off screen it is still a bit disturbing at times. But what worries me most is that Dexter might get caught. Having already paid good money for Season 2, it is safe to assume that he doesn't get caught, but I find the suspense and the tension too engaging at times. Feeling for Dexter is strange. It does not sit comfortably with me and I wonder if the show is experienced differently by US and non-US audiences. Dexter goes to great lengths to ensure that he only kills bad people who have beat the system. This makes it OK, sort of. And this is a recurring theme. In one episode ...

Classic Sci-Fi Collection EAN: 5050582513738 I recently bought a Sci-Fi Box set that had six old movies in it: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Thing From Another World, Incredible Shrinking Man, This Island Earth, Creature From The Black Lagoon, and It Came From Outer Space. I like old movies and I thought some of them would be fun. I was most interested in Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1956] since this is a very famous movie. Mercifully the movie came in both the original Black & White and the colorized version. Someone who is going to be interested enough to pay for a movie like this is not going to be interested in seeing a version with colour added sometime in the 1980s. I was very disappointed by the quality of the picture. The box claimed that the movies were digitally re-mastered. Not only was the picture quality shabby in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but it was interlaced. This means that the DVD was made using a transfer from video tape rather than actual film. That...

I like Weeds. The episodes are short and densely packed with plot and wit. It is a dark drama based on a widow who turns to drug dealing to support her suburban lifestyle. There's plenty of interesting commentary and observation of the conformity of suburban life, and the thin veneer that covers the dark goings on behind closed doors. Weeds inhabits the same world as American Beauty. I think though that it misses the mark slightly. The problem with Weeds is that it is not dark enough. The inevitable violence of the drug business has a cartoon quality. So the danger that drives much of the plot and the tension is somewhat unreal. When one character is very seriously injured in a non-drug related incident, his injuries and his pain and suffering are played for laughs. Some interesting characters have become cartoon stereotypes. So when another character is beaten up (off screen) by a drug gang it's hard to take it seriously. Instead of being like the Desperate Housewives meets...