Doctor Who vs Sherlock: FIGHT!

It's BAFTA time again, the day in the year where Jimmy McGovern clears a spot on his shelf for yet another gong while fans of cult shows bemoan the lack of awards glory for their favourites. But last year the mold was broken when Misfits walked away with the Best Drama Series trophy. I think that might just be the first time a British sci-fi show has actually won our highest TV honour, and it has increased my interest in the BAFTAs. If Misfits can win, anyone can. The Best Drama Series category is chock-full of my favourite shows: Sherlock, Misfits, Being Human and Downton Abbey. (I'd like to see Being Human pick it up for a brilliant third series and in honour of it's wonderful first series, for which it wasn't even nominated. But I think this one will be between Downton and Sherlock. Any would be a deserving winner though.) I'll also be interested to see if Robert Sheehan and Lauren Socha stand any chance in their acting categories (what clips of them will they be able to show at 8pm? Nathan trying to lick his own balls?) but I was sad to see Russel Tovey miss out on a nod, again.

But the category everyone is excited about in Best Actor. Mainly because Doctor Who and Sherlock are going head to head, with both Matt Smith and Benedict Cumberbatch nominated alongside Jim Broadbent and Daniel Rigby. But we don't care about them. This is the Doctor versus Sherlock Holmes, people! It's a Christmas special dream! Let's take a look at the contestants:

Matt Smith - The Doctor

Believe it or not, this is the first time a Doctor Who actor has been nominated for the role. Does that mean that Matt Smith is better in the role than Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant were, or just that BAFTA are now finally acknowledging that sci-fi acting is still acting?

Frankly, he's brilliant in the role. (Whether he's better than the others is a discussion for another blog). His is a completely bonkers performance. He somehow embodies childish exuberance and ancient weariness at the same time and never reads a line quite how you'd expect him to. He is a sheer force of nature and finally proved that he can do the serious stuff as well as the comedy with his heartbreaking performance in The Doctor's Wife, looking utterly bereft as he says "hello" to his TARDIS for the first and last time.

But will voters be able to see past the fact that this is essentially a children's programme? Smith's performance could be a bit too off the wall for some tastes and the fact that he doesn't have a huge body of work behind him to show his range could dent his chances. Plus, some people could say that based on interviews he's pretty much just playing himself. So far his performance in series six is even stronger than last year, so maybe he deserves to win it next year instead.

Benedict Cumberbatch - Sherlock Holmes

I'm rewatching Sherlock at the moment and remembering just how bloody brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch is in the role. Magnetic, commanding, intelligent - like Matt Smith, you can't take your eyes off him. It's not until a second viewing that you realise how good Martin Freeman is too in the less flashy role of Watson. Cumberbatch makes a character with very few likeable traits absolutely loveable and has surprisingly good comic timing.

He also has the advantage of being a two-time BAFTA nominee. He's got the CV to back up his nomination and prove his (very impressive) range and with his strange, angular face he's the poster boy for a new generation of great British character actors.

Putting him at a slight disadvantage is that Sherlock was on TV almost a year ago and he might not be fresh in voters' minds, whereas Matt Smith is galavanting in front of them every Saturday night. Also, his performance in Sherlock is inseperable from Martin Freeman's. The show and the performances are utterly dependent on the chemistry between the two of them. It would be hard to honour one performance and not the other.

If it was up to me and a gun was at my head I'd give the trophy to Cumberbatch. But only if I could give it to Smith next year, soley for The Doctor's Wife. Of course, after all this speculation the award will almost certainly go to Jim Broadbent, because who doesn't love Jim Broadbent?

Either way, there's going to be a man in that hall tonight who wins no matter how it all turns out:

Steven Moffat: The Man of 2010. Congratulations!

May Contain Some Mild Peril

I watched Thor last week and thoroughly enjoyed it, and not only because Chris Hemsworth got his kit off. It trod the fine line between tipping a hat to the inherant silliness of the concept and treating the story like a Shakespearean epic, and as such avoided both poe-faced seriousness and OTT campery.

It's also notable for being just about the only superhero film I've seen in which the heroine/love interest doesn't get imperilled. Not even once. Never does Thor think that maybe he should keep his superheroics secret from Natalie Portman's Jane Foster just in case a villain dangles her off a roof. The character poster for Jane says it all, really:

She's not a love interest, she's a scientist. Thor is something of a superhero oddity. Not only does the lead female actually have better things to do than moon after the hero (although she's not adverse to the odd ogle - and frankly who can blame her), but the film also boasts a warrior woman in the shape of Jaimie Alexander's Sif and the brilliant Kat Dennings just about stealing the film as taser-happy Darcy.

Let's hope that this is a sign of things to come because, let's face it, superhero love interests haven't had much success in the book-to-screen transition. Mary-Jane Watson, a fiesty, tough gal in the comics, was reduced to screaming and delivering nonsensical lines in the films (were you 'always standing in his doorway' when you were shagging his best mate?). Elektra was relegated from Daredevil's conflicted, fascinating foe/lover to a grieving daughter with a love of emo rock. Batman's lovers are so bland on screen that I can never remember which was which (Nicole Kidman was Vicki Vale, right?) and Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman is more iconic for her costume than for her performance (which was enjoyable enough, but not in any way representative of the intelligent, crusading, morally flexible heroine of the comics).

And then there's Halle Berry, out in a league of her own, managing to ruin both Marvel and DC heroines with her turns as Storm in the X-Men franchise and Catwoman. (I'll never forgive her for her delivery of the infamous "do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning?" line. Joss Whedon wrote it as a flippant aside. She delivered it like a freakin' revelation.)

But they're not all bad. So here's a run down of my favourite female comic book characters on screen.

Lois Lane - Superman

The original and possibly the best superhero love interest. Margot Kidder's Lois was a shameless throwback to the sort of screwball lady reporters made famous by the likes of Rosalind Russell. Scatty at times, so caught up in her latest story that real life falls by the wayside, annoyed at herself for being so besotted with Superman. Crucially, she's also allowed to figure out for herself that Clark Kent is Superman (even if he does eventually come clean by choice).

By comparison, Kate Bosworth's Lois in Superman Returns is just about the worst screen love interest ever. I expect great things, however, from Amy Adams in Zac Snyder's forthcoming Superman: Man of Steel. She's a woman who, even when playing Disney Princess levels of naivety, is still incapable of seeming unintelligent.

Jean Grey and Rogue - X-Men

Okay, so neither of these characters are flawless in their film transitions. Rogue was a walking victim in the original film and both were served terribly in Brett Ratner's deservedly-maligned X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Jean Grey became a psycho with little to no emotional conflict and Ratner completely abandoned the 'accept your differences' theme in favour of Rogue giving up her powers without even getting her flight and super-strength abilities.

But in X2, at least, these two are brilliant. Famke Janssen breaks your heart as the self-sacrificing Jean, fearing the power inside her while still owning it. Anna Paquin, meanwhile, is so good as the growing-in-confidence Rogue that it's a travesty we never got to see her as the powerful superheroine she is in the comics. Although, admittedly, this might be a case of actors outstripping the on-paper limitations of the film characters. In fact, the X-Men films have a long history of missing opportunities with their female characters. Ellen Page was perfect casting for Kitty Pryde and they still cocked it up.

Liz - Hellboy

Selma Blair's downplayed Liz is by no means the most eye-catching aspect of Hellboy. After all, she has fish men and a career-best Ron Perlman to contend with. But she's a perfectly judged character, the level-headed partner to the impetuous Hellboy, slowly coming to terms with a power that, like Rogue's, has left her untouchable. But unlike Rogue, she gets over it. Yes, she gets imperilled quite a bit in the first film, and even gets resurrected by the Magical Kiss of Love, but in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army she is wall-to-wall awesome, and returns the favour by saving Big Red's life.

Hit Girl - Kick-Ass

Yes, an 11 year old girl is one of the best ever on-screen female comic book characters. Chloe Moritz imbues her with just the right amount of childishness to undercut the OTT bad assery of the character and manages to turn it back around just as we're on the verge of forgetting that she is, in fact, 11 years old. Maybe it's horribly inappropriate to see a child lopping off limbs and spouting profanities, but the knowing performance of Moritz keeps it just the right side of wrong.

This year sees a new spate of comic book adaptations and it's looking good for the female characters. X-Men: First Class is debuting one of the comic's best female characters, Emma Frost - although the lack of dialogue from her in the trailers may not bode well. The hugely talented Hayley Atwell is on love interest duty in Captain America, all pistols and red lipstick. She looks like she's having a whale of a time. Blake Lively, on the other hand, doesn't fill me with optimism in her role as Green Lantern's Carol Ferris, but Angela Bassett should be good value as Amanda Waller (one of my favourite DC characters). Looking ahead to The Dark Knight Rises, the prospect of Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle and Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate (cough Talia Al Ghul cough) is very exciting.

So, things are picking up. Now let's just hope someone one day figures out how to do Wonder Woman.

Sexist and the City

There are two types of women in the world: those who think Carrie should have forgiven Mr Big for jilting her at the altar, and those who don't.

Actually, that's not true. There are three types of women: those two, and the ones who think Sex and the City is a travesty of feminism. Guess what category I fit into? I generally don't class myself as a feminist (I'd call myself an equalicist - yes, I know it isn't a word) but this show forces me to be one.

This weekend, hungover and trapped beneath a duvet, I was powerless to resist when my friends popped the first Sex and the City movie in the DVD player. And it wasn't all bad. It nails female friendship quite well and is pretty funny in places. What really got my hackles up though was that all four of the main characters had plotlines defined by the men in their life, and two of the four had arcs that involved forgiving and going back to men who betrayed them in some way. If one of them had made the difficult decision to work on the relationship it would have been interesting and truthful. But showing both women crawling back to their men just made me shout at the TV.

It also made me realise that I couldn't think of a single TV show revolving around women that wasn't about their relationships with men. Sex and the City was billed as a post-feminist celebration of independent women, but all they seem to do is sit in fabulous bars bitching about their love lives and standing in the rain whenever they get dumped. Desperate Housewives began life as a dark and funny exploration of women who have no choice but to lead lives that revolve around men, and yet refused to be defined by them. But a few series down the line they were reduced to fighting over men on front lawns. And don't even get me started on the interior design porn that is Mistresses.

It occured to me that the only places to see decent female characters are precinct dramas (ones that revolve around a place of work) and sci-fi/action shows. ER, Mad Men, Ugly Betty and Nurse Jackie contain female characters who have hopes and doubts about their careers, identities, friends, families, goals, and, yes, their love lives. It all contributes to a larger whole. Because it's set in a workplace the characters automatically have better things to think about than 'why hasn't he called?'

The same can be said of sci-fi and action. Because these women are also vampire slayers and spies, because they're fighting Cylons, or are Cylons, or they wake up with superpowers, their love life is never all they are. They have romances, of course. Epic, tragic, mundane ones, because there's nothing quite like a good love story. But they also go entire episodes without talking about men.

Yes, I know that there's a reason men-obsessed women became a cliche. This weekend myself and the same women that sat me in front of Sex and the City talked about sex, wedding dresses and babies. But we also talked about our jobs, our home lives and families. We bitched about moving house. We watched a football match, recommended books to each other, discussed the nature of mental illness, told anecdotes and embarrassing stories about drunken escapades. I'd love to see all of that on screen when I turn on a female-oriented character comedy/drama.

In shows centred around men they get to solve crimes, meet gangsters, become gangsters, run companies, have punch-ups, have arch enemies and bromances, save the world (see: Sherlock, Mad Dogs, State of Play, The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Supernatural, Red Dwarf, Only Fools and Horses, every cop show ever made). In shows centred around women they just get screwed over by men.

The world needs fewer Carrie Bradshaws and Susan Mayers and more Carol Hathaways and Buffy Summers'. And maybe it's just because I'm currently reading Ed Brubaker's brilliant run on Catwoman, but I don't see why a fun show with a genuinely independent woman in the lead would be such a tough achievement.

Kapow Sunday: The Con, erm, Carries On!

Day Two Sunday was the crazier day of the two, mainly because Helga and I went dressed like this:

Once we got there, it was the coolest thing ever. Getting there on the Tube at 9am on a Sunday in those outfits was a little... weird. By the end of the day we didn't care, and were quite happily walking into McDonalds with top hats and proton packs. Kapow made these things normal, which is another reason I love it so much!

First stop on Sunday was the Misfits panel. (Technically, it was the Misfits and Skins panel, but we don't speak of that.) After the disappointment that was the Merlin panel, Misfits was a breath of fresh, funny and foul-mouthed air. Iwan Rheon (Simon) was charming, witty and unsettlingly smiley compared to his on-screen alter-ego, and Lauren Socha was basically everything you'd hope for from Kelly ("What do you get shouted at you in the street?" "I dunno. Mostly people just like my accent, so I get 'wank-uh' a lot."). The panel included such gems as the revelation that Lauren's brother (Being Human actor Michael Socha) was nearly cast as her love interest Nathan, the reveal that the powers-dealer will be back in series 3 and develop a romance with Kelly, and Iwan discovering that the button on his desk still played the Batman theme from the pros vs fans gameshow. He proceeded to press it everytime the Skins girls were answering questions. (I may have been to blame for this disruption. I was in the front row and I told them about the buzzer.)

The panel also brought some very bad news: Robert Sheehan has left Misfits. Not leaving: left. The Christmas special is the last episode he'll appear in. He'll be written out in an online short before series three arrives in Autumn, and said short will also introduce his replacement, the as-yet uncast Rudy. Will this be the death knell for my beloved show? The other characters are all very strong but Nathan was the lead, and Robert Sheehan brought to the role a brilliant mix of bravado, vulnerability and a willingness to be filmed rubbing sunblock on his arse crack. Producer Petra Fried was keen to point out that it was Howard Overman who created Nathan, not Robert Sheehan, and they're all sure that he'll strike gold again with the new character. But still, a moment of silence for Misfits as we knew it, and the glorious Nathan. He tripled himself.

Okay, that's enough silence. Look, I got to meet Simon and Kelly!

They look a little alarmed by the costumes.

Misfits was the only panel we attended on Sunday (missed Toby Whithouse talking Being Human. Damn! Apparently Mitchell is definitely dead.) Instead, we spent most of the rest of the day queuing, this time for a Dave Gibbons signing. Being an excellent daugher, I stole my Dad's copy of Watchmen and got it signed for him.

So for me, Sunday was a day for meeting people and a hell of a lot of cosplay! I met Con-Buddy No. 2 Andy in the Gibbons queue, along with Cosplay-Buddy No. 1 Huntress:

(Come on Gail Simone, you know you want this Birds of Prey team-up to happen)

After the Gibbons signing, we managed to queue-jump for John Romita Jnr, leaving me gutted that I'd left my Mark Millar-signed Kick-Ass at home. Helga got the writer/artist double on her copy and I've never seen her so excited. Incidently, JRJR had to leave his scheduled signing early in the morning, so he came back in the afternoon unscheduled and signed until everyone who wanted his John Hancock had it. Legend.

Sunday also gave me my iconic comic con moment, running between the cosplay parade and the Gibbons queue, holding my top hat on my head like a slutty Artful Dodger while Con-Buddy No. 1 Alex yelled "the queue's moving and it's moving fast!" at me. I won't lie to you - running while in a superhero costume makes you feel extra heroic. If only I had a cape.

By the end of the day a bunch of my follow cosplayers had invited us to the pub with them for a post-con drink. And this is just the best thing about Kapow. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, happy to chat about what you were in to and playfully rib you over your choice of favourite Green Lantern. It's a 5,000-strong community of potential friends. The image of anti-social Comic Book Guys just doesn't ring true anymore. The crowd at Kapow was young, mixed gender and fun - so long as you don't try to cut in front of them in a queue. I had a brilliant time and I'll be booking my tickets for next year as soon as they become available.

Here are some more pics to end on:

You can't really see him here, but God bless the bloke who came as Blue Beetle! (He's behind one of the Ivy's) Me and Judge Dredd swapping hats.

Who ya gonna call?

Just chilling after the con.

There are far too many pics to have up here, and I'm sure there'll be a few pics of Zatanna knocking about on other people's blogs and Twitters. Give me a shout if you spot any!

But for now - Kapow, thanks for the memories!

Kapow Saturday: The Con is On!

After two days at Kapow! Comic Con, it's fair to say that real life is just dull. If I could run around in costume all the time, meeting my idols and chatting to people who share all my interests and don't start looking for the exits if I mention comics, then I would. Kapow was a brilliant experience and an enormous amount of fun. Here's how it went down.

Day One

My first thoughts as I arrived: Holy shit. There are a whole lot of people who like comics.

Saturday was by far the busiest day of the two and it was pretty manic. But maybe the Tube has just desensitised me to large crowds, because I didn't feel squashed at all. I came with former-housemate and fellow-nerd Helga, and we dived in, orientated like crazy and headed straight for the first panel: Jonathan Ross' pros vs fans gameshow. It was a gameshow in the sense that Shooting Stars is a gameshow, with rounds including 'intentional or accidental?' with pictures like these:

Next stop was Merlin. After much deliberation between Merlin and Mark Gatiss, I followed my loins towards Colin Morgan and Bradley James. This taught me a valuable lesson: attractive people are boring. A mere five minutes into the Merlin panel I was regretting my shallow decision. Merlin was the disappointment of the weekend for me, with everyone bar the honorable exception of Katie McGrath looking like they had somewhere better to be. Case in point: Bradley James, who, it seems, was both hungover and texting. Who says men can't multi-task?

After this came the long winding queue for the Mark Millar signing. Here's where I learnt that comic cons are the only place in the world where queuing is actually fun. Helga and I got chatting to the people around us, including con-buddy Alex (oddly enough, in a room of 5,000 people, we kept bumping into the same people again and again. By the end of the weekend I'd made lot of new Facebook friends and Twitter followers!) Our queue went past the signing table of Nicest Man in Comics Paul Cornell, and after two hours of solid signing he still saw us waving and came over to see if we wanted anything signing while we were stuck in a queue. The man is a God-damn hero. Buy his stuff and line his pockets.

You know who's also nice? Mark Millar! He happily signed our stuff and chatted, congratulating me on getting Helga into comics, then posed for this awesome picture:

At the end of the day we got another disappointment when, after an hour of queuing, we didn't get into the Thor panel. (This is also how we learnt that the 'rule' about only queuing 45mins before a panel is never adhered to) Sad about not being able to ogle Chris Hemsworth, we headed for the exit. But just as we were passing the IGN stage they announced that Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston (Loki) would be doing an interview there for the people who didn't get into the panel! So we did get to ogle! Tom Hiddleston was intelligent and funny, and Chris Hemsworth was - I'm sorry, was he talking? Can you blame me for losing focus somewhat?

I hear that the Thor footage was very well received, with a tantalising Hawkeye cameo from Jeremy Renner (I didn't even see it and I was excited) and Hemsworth winning fans over when asked if Thor would be an extended advert for The Avengers. "Thor is an advert for Iron Man 3" he replied, no doubt with an Aussie twinkle in his eyes.

So, that's pretty much the highlights from Day One. Add in a lot of photos posing with cool things (the TARDIS!) and time spending money on comics and hunting down free swag, and you've pretty much got my day.

Next post: onto Day Two!

Splat! Bang! Kapow!

Kapow Comic Con is mere days away, my first ever comic con! After years of secret nerdiness I'm stepping out in public in fishnets and a top hat, no less (yes, I'm cosplaying Zatanna. Speaking of which: boots or pumps? What do you reckon?)

It's not just the panels that I'm excited about - it's the whole atmosphere. For the last few years I've looking longingly at grainy You Tube videos from the San Diego ComicCon. How much did I wish I'd been there when the entire Avengers line-up was unveiled last year? For someone like me it's the equivalent of being able to say "I was at Live Aid".

Britain has always been regarded as cultured and restrained rather than geeky. Hell, even our sci-fi icon chooses to travel through time meeting famous authors and politicians rather than Blowing Shit Up. So it's about time that we showed that we can do nerdy just as well as the Americans. Hopefully, Kapow will take off and it will become a mark of honour for a comic, film or TV programme to show there. Mark Miller already has some panels lined up for next year (pleeeaaase let The Hobbit be amongst them...) so let's hope that this weekend I get to be present at the birth of a tradition.

Plus, where else can I dress as Zatanna and not be taken for a whore?

So here's what I'm looking forward to most:

DC Creators Panel
This'll be one I go to on my own. The friends I'm going with aren't really into comics unless they're being adapted for the screen, so I'll be sitting by myself getting quietly very excited.

Thor
I'm not into Thor. At all. But my housemate showed me a picture of Chris Hemsworth and I've decided I may have to rethink my position on Thor. Plus, I suspect that it could also be Movie X, especially since they've gone to the trouble of flying their lead actor over.

Toby Whithouse
I love Being Human. I am also a writer. Therefore, Toby Whithouse is one of my heroes. This is especially exciting for me since I once had tickets to hear him talk and missed it because I was laid up with flu. Screw you, illness! Who's laughing now?!

Misfits
Unfortunately, this panel is shared with Skins and is missing two crucial components: Robert Sheehan and Howard Overman. But Misfits is Misfits, and Iwan Rheon and Lauren Socha are two of the reason's it's so damn good. I will be there with bells on.

Merlin
It's one of my favourite guilty pleasures and is also one of the only panels in which the entire cast will be in attendance along with one of the creators. And if Anthony Head can drop by for a guest appearence, even better.

But there are a couple of things bothing me about Kapow:

1. The Merlin panel clashes with the audience with Mark Gatiss! How can I choose between the two? Mark Gatiss is a genius, a gentleman and a raconteur, but Merlin is silly, fun and easy on the eyes. So, yes, basically this is a decision that boils down to whether I go to listen to a writer and actor I've always admired, or go to ogle Colin Morgan and Bradley James. I'm horribly shallow.

2. Where are the two big British properties: Doctor Who and Harry Potter? Both have big returns coming up and both have a cast and crew that actually live in the country. Doctor Who showed at WonderCon in America last weekend but can't drag its arse to London? Come on BBC, sort it out!

Superhero Shag, Marry, Avoid 3: Green Lanterns

Now, I know what the correct answer to this is: you shag Hal, marry Kyle and avoid Guy. But my relationship to the Green Lanterns of sector 2814 is a little more... complicated.

1. Shag - Kyle Rayner

Hal might be the stud of the Corps, but who wants to be a notch on his (possibly STI-ridden) bedpost? Kyle it is then, even if it would mean running the risk of winding up stuffed in a fridge.

2. Marry - Guy Gardner

Yes, he has stupid hair. Yes, that jacket is unforgivable. But Guy is far and away my favourite Green Lantern and is oddly adorable to boot, with his swaggering over-compensation, his general pig-headedness, and his cute little thing with Ice. Plus, any man who can moon Batman and live to tell the tale is surely marriage material.

3. Avoid - John Stewart

He's been knocking around the DCU for 40 years now and they still haven't managed to give him anything approaching a personality. Hal is the maverick, Guy is the loudmouth slob, Kyle is the senstive one - what's John? The boring one? Frankly, DC has far too few non-white characters to justify wasting their most prominant one.

There's a reason that a Google Image search throws up a bunch of pictures from the (brilliant) Justice League cartoon when you type in 'John Stewart'. At least they actually made something of the character, unlike in the comics. Hell, Aquaman has more cool moments than John Stewart. So, DC, either kill him off and start from scratch by introducing a more interesting black leading male, or do a complete retcon on him, throw a couple of defining features at him and make us care. Because at the moment he still reeks of tokenism, which is pretty much inexcusable in 2011.

(Well, actually, in real life I'd probably avoid Hal. And then he'd tell his mates that he totally did me and Lady Blackhawk AT THE SAME TIME. Whattaguy!)