Monika’s Pensieve

They’ve released another, longer trailer. I suppose it’s the official full length one, although it’s actually a trailer for part one and part two. It looks like the focus of it is material from part two though (weird choice IMO, but I’m not complaining *grin*). Anyway here it is:

The interesting thing is that it has a very clear narrative structure in trailer terms and only at the end, when the music picks up, does it go into the fast-paced cutting Hollywood trailer thing. Ok, maybe not that many people find this interesting, I do though ;-P Generally speaking, Harry Potter trailers tend to go for very fast-paced editing all the way through, so this is unusual (and rather refreshing *grin*).
The whole “come to die” scene is looking great. Love the moment when Harry closes his eyes and all, it’s creepy. Though the make-up on Harry is a bit over the top IMO ;-P

Unlike the villain list, compiling this one did not feel that natural, but I thought it would be amusing to try. I looked at some best nude scene lists before compiling my own and they were almost all booooooring. Seriously, just about the only one I enjoyed was this one.
Mine will be a little different because:

• It features only male nudity
  I was struggling with coming up with female nude scenes I particularly enjoyed (the list I linked to had some good sounding ones, but I haven’t seen any of those unfortunately). But since there are loads of lists which say they are “best nude scene lists” rather than “best female nude scene lists” and yet they only feature ladies, I decided I may as well turn the tables ;-P
• It includes nude scenes with no actual nudity
  That might sound like no fun, but hey, I like those too ;-P I’ve seen plenty of scenes with frontal nudity that haven’t done much for me, but I’ve also enjoyed plenty of scenes where the character is supposedly nude, but the camera is careful not to show it. Which is probably why compiling this list felt so unnatural to me :] I mean, don’t get me wrong - I do like to ogle a naked man and there are plenty of full frontals on this list also (and in three cases I even moan that the scenes should have been full frontals ;)). But in the end, I get a bigger kick out of the context of a nude scene than I do from the nudity itself. Which is why, even though I complain that certain scenes aren’t full frontals, I’ve put them on this list anyway.
• The list is slightly tongue in cheek
  Reading through most of the lists I found, I felt they took themselves way too seriously :]

You don’t often get scenes in which men pull down their pants to show off they don’t have any genitals, so I figured this one was particularly list-worthy ;)

The sad thing about this scene is… that it doesn’t exist ;) But even though it doesn’t, it’s probably the most controversial nude scene we’ve had in Hollywood in the last few years ;) Summit Entertainment had to release official statements saying that there is, in fact, no nude scene, but there were still doubts about it until the movie finally released.
Personally, I think Bower’s idea was brilliant (check out the two clips for more info on what the scene was supposed to have entailed). I’m sure that if the scene had existed I would have loved it ;)

I mention Trainspotting because as far as I remember (though it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it), it has a scene where not only is he naked, but he’s wearing a condom. Can’t think of any other film I’ve seen that had a frontal with a condom, so thought it was worth some particular attention ;)
Young Adam because it’s one of the most absurdly controversial full frontals I’ve ever heard of. The US distributor removed the scene even though the context of the scene is extremely innocent (he’s in bed with a woman, it’s morning, they’re waking up and she gets him out of bed by taking all the covers for herself). Ewan made his distaste at the censorship very loudly known.
It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen The Pillow Book, but I don’t think I’d exaggerate much if I said that he’s naked almost as much as he’s clothed in the movie ;)

It’s two attractive Japanese men in a very homoerotic and aesthetically-orientated film and the scene is beautifully awkward *grin*

As far as I’m concerned, this one is cinematic history ;) However, as the title of the film is “The Full Monty”, I think a short frontal shot would have been in order ;-P Still thought the scene was list-worthy though :)

Ok ok, I’m bending my rules a bit - the drag scene is sort of female nudity, but as it’s a man doing it I think it’s still fully acceptable on this list ;-P Unfortunately, the excerpt doesn’t show the full beauty of Gael’s “naked female body” (personally, I loved the pubes *grin*), but I think you get the idea.
Even though Gael has far more nudity in Y Tu Mama Tambien for example, his La Mala Educacion scenes stand out in my mind more. He’s basically a male femme fatale in the film and both those scenes are extremely seductive - it’s not just what he does but how he does, how he’s filmed and how he’s made up.

Haven’t seen this for ages and can’t find a clip, but it must have been hilarious cause otherwise I never would have remembered this scene existed and would not have been tempted to put it here despite having such a vague memory of it ;)
Wikiquote has the following quote from the scene:

William: [sees a naked man on the road] Oi sir, what are you doing?
Chaucer: Uh… trudging. You know, trudging? [pause] To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on.
William: Uhhh… were you robbed?
Chaucer: [laughs] Funny really, yes, but at the same time a huge resounding no. It’s more of an… involuntary vow of poverty… really.

Imagine Heath Ledger as William and Paul Bettany as Chaucer and you will probably understand the appeal this scene has for me ;) I suppose the other reason it resonates with me so strongly is that this is the way the film introduces Geoffrey Chaucer and it feels like blasphemy ;)

This one really should have been a full frontal. Bill Condon (the director) has even admitted that he intended for there to be a full frontal shot in the scene. There was gossip that the reason they didn’t go for it was that some of the suits freaked out - at the time Brendan Fraser was the star of George of the Jungle and they didn’t want somebody who was in a kids’ film doing frontal nudity.
I can’t quite explain why the lack of nudity in this bothers me so much. I suppose it just looks silly with them trying to hide him with the towel all the time when he’s actually supposed to be naked (his “nudity” lasts quite a bit, otherwise it would be easier to shoot him without it appearing quite that silly).
The scene makes it here anyway because I love the intensity of it. It’s very melodramatic, ends with one of them sobbing and the homoerotic tension is so clear through it all *grin*

I was very disappointed to hear that Alec Baldwin used a body double ;-P And also this is the third time I’m going to complain that it should have been a full frontal ;) There is no way that the only thing that appeared on the computer screen was his belly when he was in that position ;-P They should have gone with showing his genitals - it would have been even funnier. Though it was hilarious anyway.

The reason for this one is obvious - how often do you get to ogle a blue cock? *grin* It’s also the first and only time I’ve seen a superhero’s penis, which I think is cool in itself ;)

The nudity that always gets mentioned in the context of The Piano is Harvey Keitel (an American actor over 50 doing a full frontal is almost unheard of!). But I always liked Sam Neill’s nude scene better ;) I suppose it’s because it’s so awkward and embarrassing for his character. Plus there’s so much sexual and emotional tension in the air.

Eastwick has a couple of great scenes (like this one) in which Darryl insists on being naked for no logical reason and I adore all of them (it’s the total randomness and silliness of them that is so great), but the couch one is my favourite *grin* What cracks me up so much about this one is the position he’s sleeping in *grin*
I suppose the scene would have been a tad bit more amusing if they did not have to abide by the rules of American television (the objects in the way look so silly ;-P), but I actually don’t mind it as much as with the other three I complained about.

This is another one of the homoerotic tension ones. But it’s different than the others I’ve mentioned cause it’s very sweet and actually sort of funny. But there’s a lot going on emotionally as well.

Apparently, they debated whether to keep the penis shot in this or not (especially as the penis was not quite flaccid ;-P), but the audience reaction during the test screening convinced them it was a keeper ;) It is a really funny shot - the timing of it, Jason Mewes’ whole expression… it’s perfect *grin*

I debated whether to put this one down, but I figured that since I listed a scene that doesn’t exist and therefore I haven’t actually seen it, I can also list a scene that does exist, but that I haven’t actually seen ;)
Apparently, this one’s legendary and it certainly does sound awesome *grin*

Ok ok, I know I said no female nudity, but then, just as I thought I’d finally finished my list, I remembered this one and I couldn’t not list it :] I just couldn’t… I haven’t seen it in a long while, but I remember it was one of the weirdest, creepiest and most beautiful sequences about the female body that I’ve ever seen.

{FILM DIARY}

Green Zone (France/USA/Spain/UK, 2010)

Seen: Saturday, 5th June 2010 (cinema)
Runtime: 115′
Director: Paul Greengrass
Cast: Yigal Naor, Matt Damon, Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Khalid Abdalla, Jason Isaacs
Production House: Universal Pictures, Studio Canal, Relativity Media, Working Title Films, Antena 3 Films

Video
See a clip from the film here.

Rating: +1 (Loved It)

Themes: Conspiracy, Army, CIA, War on Terror, Iraq, WMD

Plot: Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller is frustrated with the intelligence his unit is getting - every time they arrive at a site there are no signs of WMDs. He starts asking questions about where his superiors are getting their intelligence on Iraqi WMDs from.

Driven By:
- Action/Plot
This is very much a film that relies on its intrigue. It’s beautifully paced.
- Issues
It’s quite a political film. The question of why the US went to war in Iraq drives the story.

Style: Handheld camera, very fast-paced editing.

Memorable Moments:
- Miller’s confrontations with “Freddy”, his translator
The film is packed with confrontations - there are military ones, but also plain and simple arguments between people. I found many of them interesting, but I particularly loved the arguments between Miller and Freddy. In one of the confrontations Freddy shouts something along the lines of “Don’t you think I want to see my country free a thousand times more than you do?”. Ironically, I think it’s the first time I’ve seen an American film portray an Iraqi who badly wants his country’s independence :]
- Miller getting frustrated with not finding WMDs
I liked how Matt Damon played the frustration - it was very real and easy to relate to.
- Al Rawi’s scenes
Al Rawi is yet another example of how Iraqis are generally not portrayed in Hollywood. He’s a completely different character to Freddy. I loved his calmness and clear-headedness. There’s something quite majestic about him, which gives a very different flavour to the confrontations with him.

General Comments:
While Green Zone and The Bourne Ultimatum share their editor, they have different cinematographers, which accounts for the difference in style. Green Zone isn’t quite as adventurous as The Bourne Ultimatum was - no long lenses and awkward angles. But it’s beautifully paced. Christopher Rouse (the editor) has an absolutely wonderful sense of rhythm and I want to see more of his work *grin* I still don’t get how he can get away with shots that short and have me like it. The way he does it… it just works.
In terms of the plot I loved that there were bad Americans and good Americans, bad Iraqis and good Iraqis and that the whole reality of the film is so complex. One could even argue there are about three different wars going on in the film - the American army against Iraqi insurgents, a political war between two camps of Americans and, perhaps the most difficult one to understand and yet the one that proves most pivotal, the conflict between the Iraqis themselves.
And then there’s Al Rawi. Even though he was part of Saddam’s regime, you can easily understand the argument that he might be a better man to rule the country at this time, while at the same time feeling Freddy’s disgust at the very suggestion. It’s a very multi-layered reality and yet very well explained.

So this is the list of the villains that didn’t quite make it into my main list. I.e they made a strong impression on me, but I’m not sure I can call them favourites…
Sometimes it’s just because I haven’t seen the film in a long while and I don’t remember it well enough to be sure. Sometimes I really like the performance, but the character just isn’t quirky enough or interesting enough or whatever for me to feel strongly enough.

Oh, and before I begin listing - I found a site, which is dedicated solely to film villains. I thought the way they assign points for different aspects of being evil was rather amusing ;)

Rahul Mehra is a stalker, but his love for the heroine is completely genuine. It’s a chilling villain and an obsessive lover all in one and this is the combination that made the audience fall in love with Shahrukh - Darr was one of his first hit films.
Apparently, when this was first shown in Indian cinemas, the audience booed the hero during one of the final hero-villain confrontations - they wanted the villain to get the girl *grin* “I love you K…k….k….kiran” remains a classic line in Indian cinema even now (apparently SRK still gets some of his fans saying it to him).

Elektra King is a female villain in the “sex can be a powerful weapon” kind of vein. I haven’t seen the film in ages, so I don’t remember her that well. What I do remember though is that I loved Sophie Marceau in the role - she’s magnetic :) The final confrontation between her and James Bond is quite something.

I haven’t seen this for ages (probably since 1998, which would make me about 14 when I last watched it). I remember that at the time Bruce Willis made a huge impression on me. There’s something extremely human about his whole on-screen persona, which made it so much more chilling to see him cold-bloodedly murder his victims. I’ve no idea if I’d still react the same way now though, which is why The Jackal is not on my main list.

I think many people would find Olivier’s “crazy dentist” villain in Marathon Man (1976) a lot more worthy of such a list, but I never got into that one ;-P I love his performance in this, however, and IMO it’s a pretty unique villain. For one thing, it’s probably Hollywood’s first ever attempt at sneaking in a bisexual character into a very mainstream movie (an unsuccessful one - the studio cut the scene).
In the end I suppose the reason this villain doesn’t make my main list is that the studio butchered him too much. Some things about Crassus were much too subtly hinted as censorship was a bigger issue at that time. I suppose Alan Rickman’s Sheriff of Nottingham would not have made my list either if I had watched the film in its original cinematic version (the cut scenes of satanic rituals and such were later reinstated for the DVD release). In the case of Crassus, even after reinstating the scene in which he makes a pass at his male slave, a lot of things in the dialogue and in the way certain scenes are shot are just too butchered to really get Crassus’s whole essence through *sigh*

I’m not sure how much I can say about this part without it being a spoiler. Anyway, it’s a very interesting performance by Tony Curtis and it’s completely against his image. Not sure if I’m right to label his character as a villain, but I can’t tell you why I have my doubts without spoiling stuff :] Suffice to say that it’s more of an art house film than a mainstream one.

Another sexy lady that uses sex as her weapon against men. In fact she goes as far as to sexually assault the hero of the film. Priyanka is hilariously evil in this, it’s a great performance.

Brother Peter Lavin is the supervisor of a Catholic orphanage and he happens to be sexually attracted to little boys. This is another role that I don’t know how I would react to now, but I remember being awed by the performance when I saw it in my teens. I suspect its rightful place is in my main list, but as I’m not sure how I’d feel about it now, I’m keeping it here.
I’m wondering if “villain” is really the label I should be putting on the character. The film is a drama piece rather than a hero versus villain kind of thing. But then considering what he does during the film, I find it difficult not to put that label onto him, so I’m staying with it :] He’s a complex character though. From what I remember he is monogamous, which is actually a bigger strain on the 10 year old boy than if he distributed “his affections” more freely like most of the other brothers in the orphanage. It’s a very chilling film and a very unpleasant character, but it’s also a very honest and daring portrayal.

Another paedophile role - Sean Nokes is a guard in a detention centre. Though he shares his sexual inclinations with Brother Lavin, he’s a much nastier piece of work. He gets a kick out of not just the sex, but the act of torture and humiliation.
I wanted to mention the role because Kevin Bacon puts in a great performance, he really makes you hate him. In fact I remember that when the heroes of the film get their revenge, it was unsatisfactory. It was too quick, too simple and he never got confronted properly on an emotional level. The reason it doesn’t make the main list is that the character itself is very simple and just not particularly interesting.

This is the only SRK villain that I don’t root for! Or rather I do at the beginning of the film, but after a while I can’t take what he does anymore and I switch to rooting for the heroine :]
IMO this is the darkest villain SRK ever played. Generally speaking, SRK either plays villains which are so evil they’re comical or villains that have very human motivation for what they’re doing. This part is neither, it’s truly dark. Also, it’s probably the only time you get to see SRK beating up a woman black and blue. When I saw that scene in the cinema people were literally gasping and averting their eyes. He really goes whole hog on that and seeing one of the world’s biggest romantic heroes in a scene like that is quite something I tell you :] (to put it into Hollywood terms - it’s kind of like watching Hugh Grant hitting and kicking a woman until she’s all bruised and bleeding).

I’m not sure he really is a villain, perhaps antihero would be a better way to describe him. He doesn’t exactly have any sort of hero to fight with, but then a quick google search shows I’m not the only one to label him that way, so all is well :]
Anyway, Christian Bale is truly sick and chilling in this and it’s not every day that you get to see a villain who runs around naked with a chainsaw ;)

Another of the rare female villains that isn’t a “fairytale witch” or a “sex is a weapon” kind of character. Domyoji Kaede is the head of the biggest corporation in Japan and is an “iron woman” in regards to both her employees and her son.
Every appearance of the character is announced by a specific musical theme and by the end of the series every time I heard it I was like “oh no, what now?” ;)

Another of the I don’t remember the film well enough cases. I just remember I loved Joaquin Phoenix in this and I’m sure there’s a reason he makes many best villain lists ;)
On a side note - Commodus is probably the only villain on either of my lists that is into incest…

Inspired by my friend’s blog, I’ve been wanting to start compiling various kinds of film lists here for a while now, but never quite got round to doing it. This one seemed like a fairly natural one for me to start with. In fact I’ve ended up with two lists. One is the actual favourite villain list which includes 9 characters. The other is a “special mentions” list, which includes 12 villains that I didn’t love enough to put into the main one, but which I wanted to mention anyway. I’ll post the second list once it’s ready.

People like to watch villains for different reasons (if they like to at all, that is, some people just aren’t predisposed to enjoy villains in that way). Personally, I love watching film villains because they don’t have conventional boundaries to what they can think, feel and do. So when an actor portrays a villain, they tend to have more freedom. What they do has to make sense within the story, but beyond that there are practically no rules to how a villain should feel or what they should think. And then, of course, they have the freedom to be nasty ;) They can say and think the most perverse things with practically no consequences to themselves because everyone knows it’s not real! And there’s another benefit - villains, by their very nature, are supposed to pose some sort of threat to the hero and “being threatening” usually means that memorable villains have very strong and intense screen presences, which I always find fun to see.

Anyway, my list is below. The order is completely random.

Don is one of those boundlessly evil action movie villains, but one ends up sort of rooting for him anyway (unless one doesn’t, in which case the film loses a lot of its appeal ;-P). This is evil at its most glamorous and most cool ;)
Shahrukh clearly has a great time being this evil - it’s so obvious he’s having fun that one kind of ends up joining in with him *grin*

Darryl Van Horne is some sort of supernatural force of evil, but unfortunately they cancelled the show before we got a full idea of the extent of his evilness *sigh* He’s certainly the lewdest character on my list, however. He hits on most of the women he meets in the most obnoxious possible manner (including randomly taking his clothes off) and Paul Gross clearly had a lot of fun with that *grin*
He can be deceptively sweet and even vulnerable, but it’s extremely hard to make out how much of it is deception and how much of it is honest. It’s a lot of fun watching Paul Gross juggle all of that.

This is the most vulnerable villain on my list. He’s 16 years old and about to commit his first murder (using magic, but that’s beside the point ;-P). He’s fiercely proud to have been entrusted with such a task, but as he gets closer to completing it, it becomes apparent that he might not have the guts to actually go through with it.
By Tom Felton’s own admission Draco Malfoy is a blond, Nazi mini-Hitler (in wizarding terms), but he has a conscience and he’s scared shitless by what he’s about to do. And that’s really why this particular performance is so much fun to watch. It’s very angsty, intense and has so many different levels. And Tom Felton is bloody awesome.

I suppose this is not the Alan Rickman villain that most people would choose, but Judge Turpin sure works for me ;-P At first glance he seems like just another perverse villain with no conscience, but on occasion he slips… says just that little bit too much.
It’s that slight sense of doubt and vulnerability in Judge Turpin that does it for me. He may be perverse, but he has doubts about himself and even some guilty feelings. I love how Alan Rickman plays that out - it’s very subtle, but it’s constantly there. And anyway, who doesn’t love a singing villain? ;) (obviously I must have a thing for singing villains cause there are about three singing ones on this list ;-P)

Probably the most universally acknowledged villain on my list. I loved how they wrote the Joker as a terrorist. Coupled with the intensity and humour of Heath Ledger’s performance it’s special.

Yet another 16 year old villain, but this one is far from vulnerable. When we meet Tom Riddle the first time, he seems nothing more than a polite, public school boy. There is a peculiar sort of restraint about him, but until the finale that is all that clues us in on how dark he actually is.
I loved how Christian Coulson played it out. This is evil at its purest and yet it’s so beautifully and believably hidden. One rarely sees portrayals like that - characters which are so utterly and completely evil and yet so subtle about it. In fact, Coulson was the only of the four or so Voldemorts we’ve had who took that approach. He’s also by far my favourite.

Frollo is the only animated character on my list. I’ve seen many people on-line declare him the best ever Disney villain and I totally agree.
I think the reason I respond to him so much (apart from Tony Jay’s voice which is amazing) is the whole Catholic aspect of him and how he explains away his hypocrisy and sin (and most importantly - he sings ;)).

Dolores Umbridge has the distinction of being the only female villain on my list. I find that most female villains fall into two groups - fairytale witches or very attractive ladies that use sex as one of their weapons. Dolores Umbridge is neither *grin*
She’s an obnoxious woman that never wears anything but pink, decorates her office in kitten patterns and makes teenage boys write lines in their own blood. Imelda Staunton is absolutely brilliant - hilarious, but very chilling.

Alan Rickman is the only actor, who made my list twice, which seems kind of appropriate as it’s a villain list and all. The Sheriff of Nottingham is a very hammy and vaudeville kind of villain, but he seems quite universally acknowledged as one of those villains that completely upstage the hero.
I think for me it’s largely the humour of it that does it. Alan Rickman has a very sarcastic and ironic sense of humour and this part is right up his sleeve in that sense. But also, he really plays it full on. I had a giggling fit when I listened to one of the interviews he gave at the time. He was totally denying that the Sheriff of Nottingham is a villain. In his eyes the character was just a man who has certain goals in life and tries to follow them through. Robin Hood thinks that wrong, but that’s Robin Hood’s problem ;) This generally seems to be the approach that Alan Rickman takes when he plays “villains” and I think that’s a large reason he works so well in them. In his mind the acts he’s committing on screen are only evil if the character thinks they are. While Judge Turpin might have had doubts about some of his actions, the Sheriff of Nottingham had none whatsoever despite arguably going much further - and that’s what’s so much fun about this part *grin*

I know I’ve supposedly posted the first teaser about 6 months ago, but the real teaser trailer (whatever that means ;-P) is this:

They use many of the same shots on both teasers, but the new one is somewhat more interesting :)
The scraps of feedback that have come through from a super secret maximum-security test screening were all pretty much unanimous in that Harry and Ron’s argument is one of the most striking moments in the film. We’ve got a small clip of it on this new teaser and while I’m not sure what I think based on such a short clip, I kind of see why it’s generating so much excitement *grin* It’s definitely looking very intense and it’s a very different Ron. I mean we did see a bit of angry Ron in the fourth film, but this is angry Ron on a whole new level *grin*

Last week he won Best Villain at the MTV awards for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I’m extremely happy about. His performance in that is definitely one of my favourite ever villains *grin*
And also, he’s done his first ever major chat show last week as well. See his appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson here. He looked kinda terrified ;)

{FILM DIARY}
Note: Please refer to this post for more details and links to other Due South reviews.

"Due South" (Canada/USA, 1994)

Viewed: late May 2010 and early June 2010
Rating: +1 (Loved It)

Video

Episodes:
- 7: Chicago Holiday: Part 1
Ray investigates the death of a prominent figure of the underworld, while Fraser has to watch over a very reluctant daughter of a Canadian diplomat.
- 8: Chicago Holiday: Part 2
Continuation of the story from episode 7.
- 9: A Cop, a Mountie, and a Baby
Ray and Fraser find a baby in Ray’s car.
- 10: Gift of the Wheelman
A gang of bank robbing Santas are double-crossed by one of their own. Fraser and Ray try to solve the case.
- 11: You Must Remember This
Ray falls in love at first sight with a woman who ran him over. Ray tries to track her down while solving a big criminal case she might be involved in.
- 12: A Hawk and a Handsaw
Fraser admits himself into an asylum to find the answers to a murder case.
- 13: An Eye for an Eye
Fraser encourages the elderly to form a neighbourhood watch after a series of muggings on older people in the area. One of the old men tries to seek justice in his own way.

Memorable Moments:
- Fraser in a BDSM club
Just having him in such an establishment was hilarious *grin*
- Ray’s and Fraser’s dead fathers appear
The 10th episode marks the start of the two of them having visions of their dead fathers giving them silly advice.
- Fraser telling psychiatric doctors how he ended up in Chicago
He tells them truthfully what happened and they are immediately convinced of his insanity *grin* It’s a beautiful scene (and yes, Fraser really was chased by “men in white” in the pilot episode lol).

General Comments:
Gradually, as the series evolved, they started turning the tables - it was no longer Ray who always ended up as the butt of the joke. It turned out that making Fraser look ridiculous and having Ray snark at him worked just as well if not better, so the dynamic between them changed. Fraser lost some of his conventionality as a hero and was being mocked a lot more, Ray stopped being just a standard sidekick and at times his cynical approach to crime turned out to be a much more practical one. The dynamic between them became that of partners rather than hero and sidekick. It helped also that by this time Paul Gross and David Marciano had developed a beautiful chemistry and familiarity with each other.
The two of them began playing the quirks of their characters more earnestly, which made some of the comic situations absurder. The writers had already started going in the same direction and so the scenarios became progressively absurder as well. Finally, in episode 10 they introduced the concept of Fraser and Ray having visions of their dead fathers giving them impractical advice. To me that was the moment when Due South really started establishing its style. I don’t think any other detective series of the time would have gone with a scenario that was quite that far out there. I remember an episode of MacGyver where MacGyver was helping Merlin and King Arthur, but he hit himself in the head beforehand and the whole thing was a dream :] Due South never tried to explain why Fraser and Ray would talk to thin air and see their dead fathers there. This was just established as part of the convention and for me that’s the attitude that made Due South completely unlike any other series.
It’s also around this time that Paul Gross’s approach to playing Fraser changed. The pilot episode had Fraser as a strong, even slightly macho hero. Some of that vibe changed by episode one, but it was still there, just covered up by the comedy. Eventually, Paul Gross did away with it entirely and fully embraced everything that made Fraser awkward, uncomfortable, vulnerable or just plain ridiculous. IMO this was great as I found Fraser a bit stiff in the early episodes and with that change he really came to life.

{FILM DIARY}
Note: Please refer to this post for more details and links to other Due South reviews.

"Due South" (Canada/USA, 1994)

Viewed: late May 2010 & early June 2010
Rating: +1 (Loved It)

Video

Episodes:
- 0: Pilot
Fraser comes to Chicago to make sure the murderer of his father is found and convicted.
- 1: Free Willy
Fraser convinces Ray to help him save a 12-year-old purse snatcher from being unjustly charged with a bank robbery.
- 2: Diefenbaker’s Day Off
Fraser tries to help 6-year-old Lucy who is worried about her father’s strange injuries. Journalist Mackenzie King suspects Fraser is part of a large insurance scam. Diefenbaker roams the streets without a license.
- 3: Manhunt
Buck Frobisher, a close friend of Fraser’s father, goes missing one week before his retirement.
- 4: They Eat Horses, Don’t They?
Fraser realizes that the meat in a local supermarket is actually horse meat and enlists Ray’s help to solve the case.
- 5: Pizzas and Promises
Fraser and Ray go undercover as used cars salesmen to find out who stole the car of a pizza boy on parole.
- 6: Chinatown
Ray and Fraser solve a kidnapping case in Chinatown.

Memorable Moments:
- Fraser doing guard duty at the Canadian consulate
I love the concept of Fraser standing there without being able to move. It makes for some great humoristic situations throughout the series.
- Fraser gets shot in the hat (video)
The conversation between Ray and Fraser is priceless :)
- Lieutenant Welsh’s sarcasm
Welsh amuses me almost every time he comes on screen. He’s so real (I can easily imagine a boss being like that) and yet so funny.
- Ray in the shower
Ray takes a shower while Fraser’s in the bathroom talking to him and Ray’s whole family keep interrupting. I loved that scene *grin*
- Ray and Fraser get found in the closet (video)
Elaine finds Ray and Fraser in the closet - how much better can it get? ;)

General Comments:
It’s interesting to watch the early episodes now. I’m surprised at how conventional the initial concept was. It wasn’t until later that they started mixing things up and making the whole thing feel insane which is when I fell in love with it *grin*
Initially, it seemed like Due South was meant to be just another police detective series, but with a Canadian twist. The pilot episode is very cliché - Fraser is the pure hero taking revenge for his father’s death (although perhaps a little less violently than would usually be the convention), while Ray Vecchio is the sidekick that brings in most of the comic relief. I tend to associate Due South with its particular brand of humour, but the pilot doesn’t even feature that. The jokes in the pilot are few and far between and the few comedic repartees between Ray and Fraser are very conventional.
After the pilot it gets much better - they started introducing some of the absurd humour that I associate Due South with (as well as using more humour in general), but they were still playing safe. The comedic dynamic between Fraser and Ray remains relatively conventional and crude. Fraser, for the most part, is still the classic and pure hero, although he does have some amusing quirks. And Ray is the comic relief, his character doesn’t really get explored on any other level.

{FILM DIARY}

"Due South" (Canada/USA, 1994-1996)

Runtime: around 45′ per episode
Creator: Paul Haggis
Cast: Paul Gross, David Marciano, Beau Starr, Catherine Bruhier, Tony Craig, Daniel Kash, Gordon Pinsent, Camilla Scott, Ramona Milano
Production House: Alliance Atlantis Communications, Baton Broadcasting Incorporated (BBS), CBS Productions, CTV Television Network, Paul Haggis Productions

Themes: Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Police, Crime, Chicago, Canada, Wolf

Plot: The adventures of Constable Benton Fraser (an upright Canadian mountie), Detective Ray Vecchio (a cynical American policeman) and Fraser’s wolf Diefenbaker as they fight crime in Chicago.

Style: It’s the standard 90s TV kind of thing, nothing quirky.

Driven By:
- Characters
Like with most serials - if you don’t get into the characters then you’re unlikely to get hooked.

General Comments:
“Due South” is a series I used to love when I was in my teens and now that I’m watching it once again, I’m finding I still do. I have loads of nostalgic feelings for it, but also it was actually a damn good series *grin*
As it’s a very long serial which evolved a lot over time, I figured the review would make more sense if it was broken up into a couple of posts. I originally intended to break it up by season, but I’ve ended up with a division that looks completely random :] The season with “the new Ray” will be reviewed as something completely separate, as there are some very major differences even in basic info (imdb also lists them separately as two different serials).
I’ll be applying different ratings in the different reviews rather than giving one rating for the whole series. This might seem a bit counter-intuitive, but giving one rating to 30-40h of something that was shot over a period of years and kept evolving, wouldn’t have carried much information anyway.

Review List:
I’ll be editing in the links as I watch the series and write the reviews. I’m not entirely sure where I’m going to make the split in some cases as I haven’t watched all the episodes yet. And take my divisions with a pinch of salt - the series evolved gradually, so it’s impossible to pinpoint exactly in which episode general tendencies changed.

1. Season One: ep. 0-6
2. Season One: ep. 7-13
3. Season One: ep 14-22 and Season Two: ep. 1-8
4. Season Two: ep. 9-18