DVD review: Hannibal, The Complete Series One

Fava beans, chianti and murder, that's what I know of Hannibal Lecter from that one time I saw Silence of the Lambs and was completely terrified.

A little older, I felt more prepared for Hannibal, which across 13 episodes develops the character of Lecter (Mads Mikkelson) into a suave, sophisticated and, dare I say it, almost likeable person, despite his murderous and cannibalistic tendencies.

Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) is a brilliant criminal profiler, haunted by his ability to see into the minds of serial killers. Asked by the FBI's behavioral science unit - headed by Laurence Fishburne's Jack Crawford - to help them solve the case of a Minnesota Shrike, a serial killer who has been brutally killing college aged girls, Will soon finds himself on an ever disturbing path. As he chases more serial killers, he is unaware that the greatest one of all is sitting across from him, being his psychiatrist, acting his friend.

Hannibal is a carefully crafted procedural, which doesn't feel at all like a procedural. The case of the Minnesota Shrike unexpectedly pervades the whole series, even though the serial killer is caught in episode one, and other murders shock and disturb, and stay with Will and the team for a long time.

Dancy is an interesting choice to play Will. A pretty boy who's more often the romantic lead in films, he's not the first actor I would have picked for the nervous, deeply affected Will, but he makes it really work. Dancy's Will is likeable, and draws out the most caring instincts in the viewer - I just wanted him to be okay the whole time I was watching, and I spent plenty of time angry at other characters for not taking the cues that Will was not alright.

Among the characters I felt the most anger towards was Jack, who ploughs ahead with using Will to help him solve crimes, thinking that just having Lecter counsel Will is enough to counter the bloody and brutal sights Will is exposed to.

Of course, Lecter is a help, which is what makes him so much more disturbing than any other serial killer encountered in Hannibal. Lecter is a friend to Will, and a father figure to Abigail Hobbs, the daughter of a serial killer. He helps them both, listens to them, and genuinely cares for them (in his own way).

Mikkelson's rich tone of voice, and his stately presence, make Lecter a calming influence in many scenes, and add to the horror of those in which he kills. Lecter's enthusiasm for fine dining adds black humour to the programme (and is a nod to the fava beans and chianti), as he serves up gourmet dish after gourmet dish to his friends - all of them unknowingly eating human parts.

Hannibal is not a perfect programme. There are distractions which take away from the core of the show and are completely unnecessary - a couple of episodes are wasted on exploring Jack's relationship with his wife, only to then not even mention her for the rest of the series, and there's an aborted romance of sorts in the second half of the season. And reporter Freddie Lounds (Lara Jean Chorostecki) is an annoying and largely superfluous character. She's clearly around to function as a signpost, and therefore is rendered badly enough to be both unknowable and unlikeable.

Overall, though, Hannibal is an intriguing programme. It dispenses with many of the annoying cliffhangers that are so often found in drama series, meaning the surprise is not the who but the why, which is much more interesting. The killings are gruesome and of a kind I've not seen before on television (it beats Game of Thrones for horror, if not bloodshed), and the end of series one left me wanting more. Just don't eat meat while you watch.

DVD review: Nashville - season one

Trashy, fun, bubblegum television - that's what Nashville is, and it's not sorry about it either.

Country music isn't as understood here in Britain as it perhaps is in America, but Nashville brings the guitars, cowboy boots, hats and more to the screen, easily translating everything for international audiences. Nashville explores plenty of everyday issues - heartbreak, family, love, success, failure - all set to a backdrop of twanging guitars and sequined tops.
 
Established Queen of Country Rayna James (Connie Britton) isn't selling records or tour tickets as fast as she used to, so her record label decides to pair her with teen country sensation Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere). The two are like chalk and cheese, and clash at every opportunity, all while trying to deal with conflicts aplenty in their personal lives.

Nashville's two protagonists are both characters you love, and sometimes love to hate.

Panetierre's Juliette starts off as spoilt and annoying, but quickly gains depth and our sympathy, despite her sometimes brattish tendencies. Just when you think she's learnt something new, she proves that she's still just a girl in so many ways.

On the other hand, Britton's Rayna is all confident adult woman, and she knows how to handle herself. She's the consummate good girl, who becomes not so good as the series goes on, but her faults only make her human. And it's easy to like Rayna, who is coping with a husband who's just a bit too smooth, a father who she doesn't have the best relationship with, and a career on the wane.

Behind Rayna and Juliette are a huge cast of secondary characters.

Deacon Clayborne (Charles Esten) is Rayna's former flame and guitarist, who finds himself acting as Juliette's confidant and sage. He provides an interesting conflict for Rayna and Juliette to navigate around, and has a compelling back story himself - one I'd like to see more of without Rayna and Juliette constantly fighting over him.

His niece, Scarlett O'Connor (Clare Bowen) and her writing partner Gunnar Scott (Sam Palladio) are very talented, and very sweet together. Their story is a slow burn, and one I like, even though Scarlett can be a bit grating sometimes with her sweetness.

But then there are the back stories I really don't care for. These include anything to do with Avery Barkley (Jonathan Jackson), Scarlet's former boyfriend who's a bit of a scumbag; Rayna's husband Teddy Conrad (Eric Close), who's a womaniser; and all the political manouverings that involve Teddy, one of Rayna's friends, and her dad. All of these just distract from the main narrative of Nashville, are nothing to do with the music (apart from Avery's, but did I mention he's a scumbag?) and involve characters I find it really difficult to care about.

Nashville loses coherency when it starts to delve into its many, many side stories. The show is at its best when the concentration is on Rayna and Juliette, either as a pair or individually, and on the music. Granted, country may not be everyone's thing, but I defy you to watch Nashville and not be pulled in by its soapy nature. You'll be wanting to add a cowboy hat to your wardrobe before you know it.

•Nashville - season one is out on DVD on July 15.

DVD review: The Paperboy starring Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman and Matthew McConaughey

Dark, disturbing and full of unlikeable characters, The Paperboy is a gritty thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat.

It's a hot summer in the 1960s, and successful reporter Ward (McConaughey) returns home to his southern town with colleague Yardley Acheman (David Oyelowo). The pair are out to prove the innocence of Hillary van Wetter (John Cusack), a nasty, nasty man who has been wrongly put on death row for murdering a sheriff.

They're helped by Charlotte Bless (Kidman), a needy, overly sexualised woman who has been writing letters to van Wetter in prison, and who plans to marry him when he's released.

As Ward and Yardley dig deeper, Ward's brother Jack (Efron) becomes obsessed with Charlotte, and the group find themselves being drawn ever deeper into the swamp that is van Wetter and his family.

The Paperboy is full of black humour, interspersed with disturbing scenes which will leave you wondering where to look. Standout moments of crassness come in two scenes - the one with the jellyfish, and the one with the first visit to van Wetter in prison. Both will have you glancing away, and feature Kidman as you've never seen her before (and never want to again).

While the central aim for the characters is proving van Wetter's innocence (you can't help but wish they fail), The Paperboy isn't about who actually murdered the sheriff. That plot is simply a tool to learn more about Ward, Yardley, Jack and Charlotte, and the things they learn about each other are often unappetising but can lead to some touching moments - we are shown Ward and Jack's bond as brothers, for example, multiple times.

The Paperboy features some great performances from all its central cast, as well as from supporting actress Macy Gray, whose servant Anita is both friend, adviser and mother to Jack, and whose husky tones narrate the whole film.

A sweaty noir, The Paperboy is compelling viewing, even when you don't like what you're seeing.

•The Paperboy is out on DVD and Blu-ray from July 29.

DVD review: Boss Season One, starring Kelsey Grammer

Political intrigue, double crossing, scandal and more converge in Kelsey Grammer's new programme, Boss.

Tom Kane (Grammer) is mayor of Chicago, and rules with an iron fist. Behind the scenes, he has just discovered he has an incurable degenerative illness, one that is already starting to affect his mental faculties, and which will soon begin to have a physical effect too.

A combination of Shakespearean tragedy and American melodrama, it's Grammer's acting that is the most compelling aspect of Boss. He is simultaneously terrifying and unpredictable, yet under it all he also draws our sympathies.

It's on its secondary storylines that Boss falls down, partly because there are too many of them. Kane's wife Meredith (Connie Nielsen) is pursuing her own political agenda, and comes off as a one dimensional ice queen. Their daughter Emma (Hannah Ware) is struggling to keep the clinic she runs afloat and herself away from the drug habit which caused her parents to cut all contact with her.

Meanwhile there's a storyline I didn't quite understand about O'Hare airport, a journalist who's determined to get to the bottom of a story about contaminated water, and a gubernatorial race between grizzled incumbent McCall Cullen (Francis Guinan) is battling handsome young hopeful Ben Zajac (Jeff Hephner), who is having an affair with Kane aid Kitty O'Neill (Kathleen Robertson), who spends most of her time explaining stuff or with her top off, or sometimes both.

Kelsey Grammer plays Chicago mayor Tom Kane. Picture: Lionsgate

Splitting the attention between so many storylines and people who rarely interact is ambitious, but means that it's easy to lose grip with what's happening, even if what's happening is as horrid as someone getting their ear cut off. Personally, I would have cut two or three of the plot points and just concentrated on those that directly involve the presence of Kane, since scenes with him are easily the most interesting.

Boss is good, and certainly got better with each episode in the series, but I can't help but feel most of the elements that make it up have been done better elsewhere: The West Wing did the political figure hiding a degenerative illness storyline with much more humanity, even though it was full of much more hope than Boss; The Wire did corruption in more detail; The Sopranos did the threats better; and Game of Thrones has the monopoly on sexposition.

But I would recommend Boss, if only for Grammer's performance, which will have you wondering how he can be the same person who played Frasier. If Grammer can continue to bring that scary edge to Kane in the second season, and if some of the secondary characters and storylines can be drawn with more layers, Boss will go from average to great.

Boss is out on DVD on June 10.

DVD review: Broadchurch

Broadchurch follows events in a small community after a boy is found murdered on a beach.

Is there anyone left who doesn't know who the killer in Broadchurch was? Well, it's for you that the DVD box set of the critically acclaimed ITV drama has been created.

Somehow, I missed the fuss over Broadchurch until the day of the final episode, where I couldn't switch on the TV or radio, glance at my Twitter feed or look at a newspaper without reading speculation about whodunnit.

And so, determined to not just join in at the last episode, I somehow kept myself spoiler free, which meant I came to the box set without any idea of what I was about to see, but with incredibly high expectations.

In a small town in Dorset called Broadchurch, a young boy is found dead on the beach. Called in to investigate is ornery detective Alec Hardy (David Tennant), known for failing to convict a child murderer in a nearby town. He is assisted by Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman), the local girl turned friendly police officer whose promotion he took.

David Tennant and Olivia Colman play the police officers investigating the case.

As the pair try to solve the crime, suspicion is turned on everyone in the village, secrets are revealed, and lives are ruined left, right and centre.

Broadchurch isn't the height of sophistication - the identity of the murderer or murderers isn't as big a shock as you expect - but it is the height of great storytelling.

At the forefront of that is Chris Chibnall's script, which tightly binds together a number of different stories, some in ways you didn't see coming.

That is paired with top-notch acting, namely from Tennant and Colman, who are stunning in the lead roles. Tennant plays the efficient, damaged Alec Hardy with restraint, while Colman's Ellie is a lesson in likeability paired with steely-eyed determination to see justice done in her community.

And the supporting cast are brilliant too - Andrew Buchan and Jodie Whittaker are heartbreaking as the parents of murdered Danny Latimer, whose pain can be felt in every word they say and in those they don't. Pauline Quirke, Arthur Darvill, Will Mellor and more all help to build a well-rounded world.

It's that world that is convincing, and that makes Broadchurch the addictive drama it is. If you can keep from finding out who killed Danny Latimer, then settle in for a marathon weekend of Broadchurch viewing - you won't want to stop until you get to the end.

•Broadchurch is out on DVD on May 20.

DVD review: Pan Am series one

There was a lot of hype around Pan Am just before it came out - hype that quickly fizzled when it hit screens.

I was little apprehensive therefore when I got the complete series one box set (there is no series two), despite the fact that the producer (Thomas Schlamme) of my favourite programme ever, The West Wing, was involved.

But by the time I'd finished watching the 14 episodes that make up Pan Am, I actually found that I really liked the series.

Yes, it was full of flaws, primarily that it couldn't make up its mind what type of a programme it was meant to be. One minute it was all about the glamourous lives of air stewardesses, the next it was a spy drama. One episode would be a lighthearted love story, the next would be a comment on the political situation in Haiti. It was more soap, less drama.

Pan Am never quite got into its rhythm, too desperate trying to be everything at once. It was at its best when it focused on its characters and their work, and skipped the big messages - and the spy angle.

That doesn't mean Pan Am wasn't good when it focused on what a changing time the 1960s were in America. Among the good plot lines was one where Laura (Margot Robbie), and a young black sailor found themselves fighting (literally) against racists and bigots when they appeared in public together. The plot was a good insight into race relations, yet at the same time showed us Laura's depth - up until then she'd largely been the sweet, pretty one. And Maggie (Christina Ricci) was at her best when she found herself stuck between her attraction to a Republican senator and her hippie views. The rest of the time she was just annoying in her "rebelliousness".

The spy element was a huge part of much of Pan Am, but I never felt it quite fit in with whatever else was going on. We never quite found out why Kate (Kelli Garner) decided to work for the government on the sly in addition to being a stewardess, and when things started getting heated (a lover from Yugoslavia, a colleague turned rogue), I never quite found myself believing in any of it. It seemed this aspect of Pan Am was a whole separate programme.

My favourite characters were young pilot Dean (Mike Vogel), who stood for the first generation of Americans and American pilots who had nothing to do with the Second World War, and Colette (Karine Vanasse), the French stewardess whose past was filled was pain. Both characters had depth, and felt more well-rounded than anyone else, even though they too weren't always well written (particularly in regards to Dean's romantic liaisons).

Unsurprisingly, because it was cut short Pan Am ends very suddenly, and there are plenty of loose ends that you just have to tie up in your own imagination.

Pan Am will never win awards, it will never be a cult hit, it will never be talked about in the same breath as Mad Men unless it's to say how it's a much, much poorer relation, but there was something fun and frivolous about it which means I'll be watching it again. 

DVD review: Marvel Avengers Assemble

a (Chris Evans) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in Avengers Assemble. Picture: Zade Rosenthal

"Phil Coulson died believing in that idea, in heroes. Well, it's an old fashioned notion."

Old fashioned it may be, but there's a reason we love superheroes so much, and it's all here in Marvel Avengers Assemble.

Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk and Thor, they may not be a conventional view of heroes but that's the reason they work so well. Each has as many flaws as the average human being, but their actions elevate them to the status of superheroes.

I haven't seen the previous films leading up to Avengers Assemble, and while I think I would have benefitted from viewing them, this was still a brilliant watch.

The Avengers are brought together to fight Loki, an egotistical almost-god who wants to wreak havoc on earth as some twisted form of revenge for his own shortcomings. He harnesses the power of the Tesseract to open a portal that brings an army of mutant things and giant flying centipede types flowing into New York.

The film gets off to an action-packed start, with the blowing up of a research facility and the escape of Loki with the Tesseract. Having no other option Nick Fury, director of international peacekeeping agency S.H.I.E.L.D, calls together the Avengers.

What follows is two and a bit hours of spectacle and amazing fight scenes, all held together with a simple but effective plot - the good guys must win.

The numerous fight scenes, which are essential to the story, never seem gratuitous. Instead, they show us more and more about the characters, about their motivations and emotional states and their struggles to be who they want to be, and who society expects them to be.

Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). Picture: Zade Rosenthal

The effects are amazing. So much of what we see on screen is actually green screen, yet the actors never look out of place or awkward.

Directed by Joss Whedon, who has a history of just being brilliant (see Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, etc) Avengers Assemble was never going to be a film afraid to gear itself towards sci-fi geeks - there are so many little details that would make the geekiest of fanboys and girls (like me) happy. Among the bits geared towards geeks is the launch of the giant S.H.I.E.L.D ship into the air, which is all the more jaw-dropping as you see it through the eyes of some of the characters unused to S.H.I.E.L.D. Yet at the same time, the film is mainstream enough that the average viewer wouldn't feel confused watching what's going on.

For all its high tech scenes, the best moments are those which show the heroes at their most human, or that involve those who have no super powers - Captain America and Iron Man constantly arguing, the Black Widow having to recall her past, even Loki's egotistical, sometimes childish attitude is an all-too-familiar human reaction, although magnified.

The most emotional moment for me came during a very human scene of loss and hope featuring one of the only non-superhero characters we get to know - the aforementioned Phil Coulson. It's Agent Coulson who inspires the superheroes the most, showing the real power belongs to those who seemingly have no power.

Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Picture: Zade Rosenthal

On the opposite end of the scale to the kind, principled Agent Coulson is Loki, the maniacal baddie of the film. Yet, I still loved him. Tom Hiddleston created a bad guy who really drew you in, and however heinous his behaviour there was always something compelling about him - the mark of a truly successful bad guy. Ultimately though, like the best bad guys, it was his need to be more that led to his downfall.

Unconventionally the end of the film wasn't the usual bad guys die, good guys prevail and are heroes kind of thing. It was much more complicated than that, and all the better for not adhering to cliche.

Avengers Assemble is two and a bit hours of pure adrenaline, a real rush to watch, and I can't wait for the sequel.