Bosch and FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics

Last night, or rather this morning, I was up watching a series whose pilot I'd watched a few months ago on Amazon, based on the crime novels by Michael Connelly. L.A.P.D. Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch (Titus Welliver) is called in to investigate some bones found by a dog in the Hollywood Hills.

Ably supported by an excellent cast (including Jamie Hector as his partner and Lance Reddick as his ambitious and more political boss, both actors from The Wire), Welliver looks very suited to the role and the story is excellent, as you would expect from the author of The Lincoln Lawyer. The only complaint is that when there's a deviation from the main character, it does feel somewhat artificial and contrived. Overall, though, it's an enjoyable, if conventional, series. I even like theme tune.

I'm also reading a Trade Paperback from Vertigo about an agency that fixes breakdowns in the fabric of reality. Trying to determine what happened to his father in a "quantum tornado", Adam Hardy joins the Federal Bureau of Physics and, with his partner Jay Kelly, gets caught in a bubble universe trying to rescue a financial fraudster.

I'm always looking for comics that break out of the conventions of the genre and this is no exception. Written by Simon Oliver (Story), Robbi Rodriguez and Rico Renzi (Artwork), it's just one roller-coaster of weirdness, but intriguing and entertaining in equal measure. And not a super-hero or zombie in sight.

Blue Skies – The Future of Regenerative Medicine, with Stephen Minger

Last Saturday, I attended a presentation hosted by the London Futurists in the basement at Birkeck College on the subject of stem cell-based regenerative medicine by Dr. Stephen Minger, Chief Scientist at GE Healthcare.

Stephen gave us an overview of what GE Healthcare did (they have a $1 billion budget for research) and a potted history of stem-cell research. He seemed somewhat hesitant to speculate on what the future might be for (stem) cell therapy, although he did highlight both the successes, in particular with leukaemia, and difficulties with the treatment.

The group has been posting the presentation on Youtube, and this one is no exception:

Overall I found the presentation both engaging and informative.

A Man Who Wants Nothing Cannot be Bought - Hercules and Godzilla

A few more films from my Amazon subscription, both based on legends old and new.

The first is based on one of the oldest Greek legends. After completing his twelve labours, a war-weary and haunted Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) and his companions Amphiaraus (Ian McShane), Autolycus (Rufus Sewell), Tydeus (Aksel Hennie), Atalanta (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and his nephew Iolaus (Reece Ritchie), are hired by King Cotys of Thrace (John Hurt) to defend his kingdom from ruthless bandits.

Despite a slightly shaky start, this turns out to be quite a good film. It's a good story and deceptive enough to keep you second guessing almost until the end; the special effects aren't too bad; and the acting is more than adequate, the effect of all the class British thesps in supporting roles encouraging Dwayne to raise his game above previous attempts. Recommended as an above average pizza movie.

In contrast we have as my second film, Godzilla: a remake of a remake of a modern Japanese legend. Fifteen years after his wife dies in a mysterious accident at a Japanese nuclear power plant, engineer Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) breaks into the quarantined area with his estranged son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to get answers.

I suppose that if you like the original Japanese movies, this will be quite a good experience, even nostalgic. For me, however, it was a little tedious. Most of the "A" listers had gone by the time the movie got going and all that was left was three huge monsters slugging it out in San Fransisco. In the dark.