FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Kirandeep Yoder
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
swivelhips
What is going on at the BBC? In the past couple of weeks we've seen the launch of Hope Springs, Personal Affairs and now a new series of Hotel Babylon and not one of them has got the slightest thing going for them. To call them lightweight is an understatement - I'm sure some of the actors must be tied to stage weights to stop them floating off into the atmosphere. From script to performance all three shows are dire and are an insult to any reasonably intelligent audience. The direction on the latter of the three shows mentioned is gimmicky in the extreme, an attempt, I would imagine, to take one's mind off the poor quality of the material. There was a time when the BBC was synonymous with great television. Nowadays, shows of quality are the exception rather than the rule. The BBC have had the licence fee to themselves for far too long. Maybe they'll up their game a bit now that it looks like they may have to share it with the other main broadcasters.
marty mascarin
Hotel Babylon is a slick bit of business, superficial yet entertaining enough to a degree; the show does benefit from Max Beesley's observant second-in-command, aloof and cool, all-seeing on the lobby floor, his interior monologue serving to give us a sense of a philosophical insider's perspective. Dexter Fletcher benefits from being one of those street-wise, connected types who seems to have a remedy for every problem. Oddly, despite her glitzy status as manager, Tasmine Oouthwaite came off sexier and more personable in the gritty drama The Fixer than she does here, where her character is often hard yet brittle, with only intermittent flashes of humanity. Again, the goings-on are slickly rendered with the break-neck pacing, cross-cut story lines and slick production values to keep us distracted.As the series went along though, two problems became increasingly apparent. One, the hotel crew are always up to something, some sort of cover-up or switcheroo, whether in the name of their clientele or themselves or both in some instances, which may in reality be part of the territory but they come off as a kind of a deceitful, slapdash bunch, hardly as all knowing, professional and savvy as they're made out to be, all ultimately deserving the sack. Secondly, the characters generally do not come off as likable or honourable, more obsessed with making a buck. There is one episode where the Raymond Coulthard character cheats in a wine-tasting competition, going up against an old rival. One could have empathy for him if he was dealing with some n'er-do-well who deserves comeuppance, but Coulthard's catty character is merely desperate and out of his depth, compromising a colleague to aid in the deceit. Do we like this guy? Nope. We're not given enough character development to think otherwise. Ditto for the self-absorbed lobby receptionist, who's petty, venal and superficial. True, people like this can be found in any workplace, but watching them week after week minus any other redeeming traits gets a bit tiresome.I realize these are picky complaints but if our protagonists were bit more rounded or at least made empathetic or charming in spite of their foibles, then the series might have had some resonance and depth, raising it beyond the trifle that is, dissipating from the mind as quickly as a wafer disappearing from the tongue. Nothing lasting beyond the initial sensation.
vagabondjonson
This slick drama is what should make American TV viewers upgrade their cable or satellite to include BBC. What so-called classy shows in the states like "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy" pretend to have, this show actually has. Finesse. Everything about this show is classy.The dialogue is fantastic. One would think that dialogue about the inner workings of a hotel would grow urbane after a few episodes but each time I watch this show, it seems the dialogue is fresh and intriguing.There are absolutely no wasted characters in this show. Each one represents such a facet of the overall feeling of the show that if one were to be missing, the show would actually suffer. Tony is my favorite but I personally can't get enough of smarmy Brits and so I suppose I'm biased.There is a new plot each week, and while they seem to stretch beyond believability at points, they never seem inane or silly. Each of the episodes holds its own points of interest that are rarely reused in the next installment. This is difficult to achieve in weekly dramas.While everyone in the show is unbelievably attractive, they are all flawed in believable ways and even American audiences will find one to relate to and once found, will keep them coming back every week. And on that note, this show has appeal that spans the ocean. A lot of British shows are so British that much of their charm is lost on American audiences. This is not the case with Hotel Babylon. Their references and story lines are pertinent in America too and anyone who considers themselves a fan of sophisticated entertainment will enjoy this show immensely, regardless of location.If you get BBC, this is a show to get hooked on, because it won't disappoint.
Ryu_Darkwood
I always had the idea that the BBC just made endless adaption's of Jane Eyre and other costume dramas. How wrong I was! In the new millennium the BBC has the same status as the American HBO. They spend their dough on innovative, well crafted and highly enjoyable drama of the highest level. ''Hotel Babylon'' is a little pearl, together with ''Life on Mars'', ''State of Play'' and many, many other BBC-productions.In Holland they aired Hotel Babylon together with Desperate Housewives. A nice combination, both shows do have much things in common. They both have a trendy atmosphere combined with a dark sense of humor, witty dialog and a cast of colorful characters. Hotel Babylon is slightly more deep because it shows the world of the rich and famous as a rotten world; one that is corrupted by preposterous needs, adultery, prostitution, crime, arrogance, the using of others, etc. Every episode has a moral message in it for anyone who wants to see it, cleverly hidden so it doesn't feel like its writers want to push their opinions down your throat.I must say that the romantic tension between Max Beesley and Tamzin Outwaithe is another huge plus. Both actors are really the kind of charismatic actors that carry any show to a higher level, most certainly this one.
