Film Review: Tomorrowland

Back to the Future

To say that Disney have done reasonably well this year in terms of both cinematic revenue and, more importantly, critical success would be something of an understatement, with Cinderella and Avengers: Age of Ultron two of the many Disney distributed films that are set to be released in 2016 already doing fabulously well in both categories. If I was to pick a favourite in terms of its' critical appeal out of the two so far, then Cinderella would take that gong at this very moment in time, but maybe not for long, with Brad Bird's Tomorrowland causing a potential upset for Mr. Branagh and his little glass slipper. I mean come on, George Clooney and time travel. what more can you want? 

After being arrested for trespassing on a defunct NASA operative base, heroine Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) comes across a pin which transports her to the magical world of Tomorrowland, a utopian dimension of life where Frank Walker (George Clooney) has been exiled due to his creation of an algorithm designed to determine the future of those who wish to see it. When such algorithm determines that the Earth is set to destroy itself within the next 66 days, Casey and Frank are tasked with saving it by Athena (Raffey Cassidy), a girl who may not be as she seems. Firstly, a film which basis itself on a theme park is destined to have restrictions from the get-go. Take the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise for instance, where the first may have been rather good-fun, if overlong, but then sank into depths of darkness with its' sequels where plot points ran thin and characters' became tiresome, even if they continued to still take bundles of cash. Where the first Pirates was good fun and entertaining, Tomorrowland at times, is arduous and obvious in its' direction and intentions, with its' main morale standpoint of 'move to Disneyland when the shit hits the fan on Earth', questionable to say the least. 

Aside from questionable underlying themes of utopia, which for some youngsters may be a step too far, Tomorrowland does feature some solid acting, particularly from Raffey Cassidy, who aside from sounding startlingly like the evil sentient AI from the first Resident Evil film, is the standout performer as young-un Athena, who even out-acts Clooney at times, who although gives it his best shot as Frank Walker, is reduced to cliche'd adventure-film lines throughout most of his time on-screen. In fact, all of the child-actors in Tomorrowland do a solid job in comparison to their elder co-stars, even Pierce Gagnon. last seen as spooky child Cid in the wonderful Looper, as Nate Newton, whilst Hugh Laurie is given way too little screen time to embrace himself in the role of the evil David Nix. The visuals may look top-notch, and so they should for a Disney film, but they also seem vacuous, something of which is now common place in a lot of 21st century films due to the magic of CGI. Does anyone still remember stunts? Aside from George Miller that is.

Muddled in its' morale standpoint, messy in its' exploration, Tomorrowland seeks to assert the notion that good things come to those who buy Disney products are good themselves, featuring some rather excellent child-actors, whilst strangely wasting the combined talents of both Clooney and Laurie. Cinderella, have no fear. You are still the top Disney dog of the year so far. 

Overall Score: 6/10

TV Review: Game of Thrones - Series 5 Episode Seven "The Gift" SPOILER ALERT

In The Light of the Seven

Yes! After weeks, actually, years of Cersei Lannister playing it calm and collective as Queen/Queen Regent, regardless of her crimes, it seems her penance has finally caught up with her thanks to the dynamic duos of Littlefinger/Olenna and High Sparrow/Lancel Lannister. It was interesting to wonder to what extent High Sparrow was under Cersei's thumb throughout the past few episodes and whether he had just become another avenue to exploit further power and influence on Cersei's behalf, but oh how wrong that proved to be, with Cersei's plan completely backfiring and ending up in a rotting, stinking cell herself after Lancel who, probably after a little push from Littlefinger, confessed all crimes of incest et.al, in order to royally screw over his beloved aunt. And how we all rejoiced. Top marks go to Jonathan Pryce and Diana Rigg who aside from both getting nostalgia points due to their influence in the Bond universe, fully engage themselves in their characters, making their scene together about old age and weakening limbs a marvelous wonder to behold. 

Only a short review this week I am afraid, so I may have to cut to the chase in regards to some of the storylines such as goings on at the Wall, where Jon Snow rode off in support of the Wildlings, a decision that inevitably did not go down too well with the remaining brothers who seemed to immediately turn their attention to inflicting harm on poor old Sam who although nearly ended up getting beaten to death when protecting Gilly, was rewarded with some after-hours pastimes, something of which he seemed to rather enjoy. Iconic death of the episode went to Maestor Aemon, a figure who single-handedly has withstood four and a half whole seasons of GOT, a high accolade in itself. Elsewhere, Stannis and Davos argued about the snow and the forthcoming war with the Bolton's at Winterfell, whilst Melisande asked for the blood of Shireen to ensure victory in the wars ahead, something of which was not taken too lightly by her father, understandably. Ramsey continued to act in a Joffrey-esque, psycho manner towards Sansa, who although attempted to alert Brienne and Pod to her continued danger, ultimately failed, and was rewarded with the sight of another flayed Stark supporter. Eugh. Please stop.

Comical moment of the week went to Dorne and the captivating scene in which Bronn was too easily seduced by Tyene Sand and her umm neckline, whilst Tyrion finally introduced himself to Daenerys after Jorah was once again rejected and left in the friend-zone, even after declaring himself champion in the fighting pits. So all in all, another pretty solid and interesting week of developments in the land of Westeros, THREE EPISODES LEFT. And they are bound to get tasty. 

Overall Score: 8/10 

Film Review: Poltergeist

They're Here!

I really have no idea why film producers, directors, executives etc. in the 21st century feel the need to constantly regurgitate, remake and ultimately ruin classic horror movies of the century previous aside from the notion that hopefully it will make them a quick buck. Not only is it annoying that every-time you speak to someone about films such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and even The Wicker Man (Not the bees!) you have to prepare yourself to constantly remind them you are speaking about the original, not the remake, but that the quality of such is so terrifyingly bad it begs the question whether they will ever stop murdering films of a classic nature that mean so much to the horror fans in the world, me included. For the time being, it seems like the answer is no, with the latest entry into such an unwanted genre of movies is Poltergeist, a "terrifying new vision" of the 1982 classic, which back then had Spielberg on screenplay and production duties whilst Tobe Hooper, of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame, was on board as director. Replacing them is Sam Raimi, who I am a massive fan of, and Gil Kenan of Monster House respectively, but even with the mastermind of Evil Dead behind it, the 2015 version of Poltergeist is everything I feared it to be; turgid. 

Haunted house? Check. Creepy child? Check. Bad script? Check. Unnecessary from the outset? Check. If you need a plot synopsis, I implore you to please go and watch the original Poltergeist which although may seem rather dated in terms of effects and dodgy haircuts, is the Citizen Kane of horror movies in comparison to this turkey of a movie. Half way through the film I actually decided to have a little sleep, with the film not attempting in the slightest to come across as a "new vision" of the Poltergeist franchise, but instead being an almost uncanny, shot-for-shot remake of the original except with much more boring characters, a much more boring and limp script, a badly CGI'd scene in which a child's drone is flown into the "other side", which obviously was shafted in to make the use of 3D retrofitting seem acceptable, and Sam Rockwell seemingly looking like he has just walked off a set in which he was portraying Brad Pitt's stoner character from True Romance. His decision to act with as little acting ability as possible was actually quite startling to see, with the choice to embrace the character of a beleaguered father seemingly caught in the crossfire with the cheque he picked up on his way out the set. 

As you can tell, I am pretty peeved with Poltergeist. It is just so sad to see a supposed horror-movie lover such as Sam Raimi just seemingly not give a care in the world in trashing one of the 20th century's greatest horror movies. Please, save your money, go and watch A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night instead and gaze at a proper horror movie, one that doesn't blatantly copy every scene and line from a much better film and one that will live long in the memory of those who watch it, unlike Poltergeist, which should be forgotten and denied it ever even existed as soon as humanly possible. It takes a really bad film to get a score of zero, and Poltergeist isn't that, its' a film that begs the question of its' own existence. Did we really need it? Of course not. Will it be left alone forever more from this day on? I really, really hope so. 

Overall Score: 3/10

Film Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

From Dusk 'Till Dawn

To be brutally honest, the first thing that always pops into my mind when the two words, "vampire" and "romance" are intertwined into a sentence is the abomination of a series that was Twilight. Okay, I may have secretly enjoyed the first one when it came out but the series itself has now been tarnished with the label of "keep away," leading to an inevitable punishment of shame and regret if and when such rules are broken. What we have with A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night however is a film at the complete opposite end of the cinematic spectrum to Twilight with its' comparative story-line being the only sure thing in common. Think more Let The Right One In, except with added darkness, added detail and much a much more delicate take on the age-old tale of vampires; A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is not for the faint-hearted. 

Shot entirely in black and white and taking place in the Iranian town of Bad City, the film follows Arash, who aside from looking after his heroin-addicted father and settling debts for such with drug peddler/pimp Saeed, falls upon the hypnotic gaze of the vampiric beauty simply known as The Girl who has been patrolling the streets for prey deemed ill-worthy enough of being subject to death. In terms of plot, that is pretty much it; a straight-forward vampiric love story told on the backdrop of darkness, and boy is it dark. Not only is the film dark to look at, with the beautiful cinematography by Lyle Vincent effectively managing to contain the films' sense of noir throughout its' 100 minute runtime, but highly dark in tone also, with the violence not only contained into one format, but in many with disturbing scenes of drug abuse, sexual violence, capped off with a huge sense of impending doom for most that appear on screen. 

Top marks goes to Sheila Vand for her portrayal of the vampiric presence, who although says very little, is highly effective in creating a sense of eeriness whenever she appears on screen, making her one of the more memorable characters that have appeared in horror movies released in the year so far. Much like Vand's character, the film perfects the art of doing quite a lot whilst not really doing much at all, with its' delicate approach to the dark matters within juxtaposing the generic horror tropes that are so usually readily expected in horror films of the 21st century, and for that I can only praise it. For once a horror film has swayed away from the "audience-favourite" approach of quiet, quiet, quiet, BANG and instead favoured a much more low-key notion of how to tell a story, which for some may be boring, but for me worked on every level and had me engaged from the outset where at times, the film reminded me of the works of David Lynch, and that is always a good thing. 

Dark, delicate and delightful, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night was a truly refreshing experience of modern horror attempting to tackle the endless tale of vampirism. It may not be for the Twilight fans, but that pretty much is the reason why the film works anyhow. Seek it out. 

Overall Score: 8/10

TV Review: Game of Thrones - Series 5 Episode Six "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" SPOILER ALERT

The Dread Wedding

Well, that ending was pretty terrible. After weeks of Sansa being built up as the new heroine figure of the Game of Thrones saga, such a notion can only be regarded as "on hold" after another controversial scene which must have made even the strong-willed of GOT fans feel a little uneasy. Much like the Cersei/Jamie situation last season, the final scene of "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" is set to breed headlines in the next few weeks or so, or maybe until Sansa (hopefully) gets her own back and violently stabs Ramsey in the eye or something. We're a nice lot aren't we? Game of Thrones has never shied away from the subject of rape or other sexual violence but to see Sansa, who already has witnessed more tragedy than everyone put together in the Seven Kingdoms, be the newest victim of such was a hard sight to see. We hate you Game of Thrones. We flippin' hate you.

Aside from the worst eloping ceremony since the Red Wedding, Jamie and Bronn failed spectacularly in their attempts to steal back Myrcella, who under the watchful gaze of soon-to-be-hubby Trystane Martell was faced with the two hunting parties of Uncle/Father and the Sand Snakes, each with their different reasons for taking her away from the wonders of Dorne, which once again was given much too little screen-time to fully engage in its' supposed beauty. There was however much more screen-time for Arya at Braavos, who after weeks of cleaning the dead was given the opportunity to witness what was in the crypts below, something of which could only be classed as "eerie", a word which perfectly suits the entire Arya storyline so far with their being not much to go on but enough to constantly ask, "what they heck was that?" 

The soap that is King's Landing continued to blossom, with this week's drama being based around the infidelity of the Tyrell's, particularly Ser Loras who was royally screwed over by ex-lover Olyvar in his testimony. of which, subsequently resulted in Margaery herself being put on trial. All we needed was the EastEnders drum roll and I would have been sold. Thumbs up too for the return of Olenna and Diana Rigg who always seems to have the knack of having the greatest comical lines in the entire history of Game of Thrones. Popping up for the day too was Littlefinger who once again threw his allegiances into the land of ambiguity by proclaiming his loyalty to the throne, which to Cersei meant the Lannister's but to everyone else meant whoever suited Littlefinger best. It is constantly amusing how the entire backlog of story within Game of Thrones has pretty much been orchestrated by Littlefinger himself making him not only the slickest person in Westeros, but the luckiest to be alive. 

With Jorah now infested with the horror that is dragonscale, it was no surprise really to see him go along with Tyrion's escape route from recent capture by the slavers which will see him enter the fighting pits in the coming weeks, something of which I am very much looking forward to. Tear-jerk moment of the week too was the scene where Jorah was made aware of his late father's death by Tyrion, and with Jorah seemingly not having much time left himself, it seems Bear Island is set to lose two of its' most famous home-grown talents, unless Jorah bumps into the same medic that saved Shireen Baratheon. I can only hope so. In conclusion therefore, Game of Thrones served up yet another controversial episode which is bound to see repercussions in the coming weeks, both in Westeros itself and the forces that be within the World's media. With just four weeks to go, it is fair to say that viewers should start sitting even more comfortably. Stuff is gonna go down. 

Overall Score: 8/10

Triple Whammy Review! - Mad Max: Fury Road - SPOILERS

Dan -

In a time where remakes and sequels are in constant supply, regardless of the demand, it would be fair to say that George Miller has fully deserved the chance to release another addition into the world of Max Rockatansky, with 30 years passing since the the release of Mad Max III: Beyond Thunderdome, where back then Mel Gibson was still slightly sane, Everton and Liverpool were the dominant footballing sides in England, and Queen were blowing minds during their performance at Live Aid. So now, in 2015, we have Mad Max: Fury Road, with the wonderful Tom Hardy replacing Gibson in the titular role, as well as Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult in supporting roles. With Miller himself stating in an interview with Empire Magazine that Fury Road was set to be "big on action and low on dialogue," it would be foolish to believe that this latest addition to the Mad Max saga was going to be anything other than spectacle. And boy, is it. And some.

Still suffering heavily from the loss of his wife and daughter from the first film, our titular hero Max (Hardy) is captured by the War Boys, the violent army spawn of King Immortan Joe, whose teachings and tyranny have forced the people of the Citadel into poverty and sickness. Once captured, Max becomes a blood bank for illness-strapped War Boy, Nux (Hoult) who follows Joe and the rest of the War Boys into battle with Imperator Furiosa (Theron) after hijacking a war rig secretly containing King's Joe's "wives", each of whom are used for the purpose of breeding. First off, as you can tell from my very short plot synopsis, to say Fury Road is mad would be doing it a huge injustice. It is a film wrapped in a straight jacket whilst shock-therapy treatment is being applied to it throughout. Seriously, what other film includes a guitar-yielding mad man playing heavy metal riffs on top of a truck whilst his equally mad colleagues set about causing endless destruction, all at the speed of 100mph? That's right, none. The sheer madness of Fury Road is one that shouldn't alienate the audience at all and instead, should be admired for the sheer bravery of it to not just be another quirky action movie and instead, stick to its' guns and be something completely different, much like the original was more than thirty years ago.

If ever there was a cult/B-movie hidden in the form of a summer blockbuster, Fury Road would undoubtedly be it, with the violence turned up way past eleven, and the post-apocalyptic view of the Earth being one totally lost in the face of craziness, of which, is worse than any vision of the future that has ever been seen before in Mad Max universe where ironically, Hardy's portrayal as the slight-spoken titular character is the calmest thing within it. Hardy has always had a knack of brilliantly portraying characters in films that focus on the physical aspect of their demeanour, whether it be Charles Bronson in Bronson or even Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, and it is no surprise that such a gift is fully formed within Fury Road where although there is little in terms of dialogue from Hardy, the sheer physical demands he adheres to from Millers' 21st century take on Max is more than enough to warrant standing up and applauding.  Applause is needed too for the overall look of the film, with the colour palette ranging from the gorgeously vast sand-induced emptiness of the day to the dark, moonlit shadow of the night, whilst the CGI and stunts seemingly outdoing themselves as the film progressed throughout its' more than satisfactory two-hour runtime. 

There was a personal fear of Mad Max: Fury Road being just another action film before I had watched it, but this potential downfall was put to bed as soon as the film started. What Miller has created here is not just another action film, it is one of the greatest, yet strangest and completely bonkers, action movies of recent times and is easily the best yet in the Mad Max canon. If this is the result of a thirty year wait for a sequel, then I am more than happy to wait just as long for the next. Simply brilliant.

9/10

Josh - 

I have to say I made a huge mistake before watching Fury road and that is not watching any of the previous Mad Max movies. I would have enjoyed this film so much more if I knew about the earlier Films in the series. So keep in mind that this review is based solely on what I have seen in Fury Road. Fury Road threw me into detailed apocalyptic baron wasteland, Our protagonist, Max has been captured By a group known as the “War Boys” which serve the Warlord “Immorton Joe”.

Immorton Joe is somewhat the god of the citadel and controls the only water source in a vast desert wasteland. 

Fury Road shouldn't be labelled as an action film, it should be “THE” action film. This is exactly what action should be a Chaotic symphony of destruction with cars, flames and blood! Despite most of the action taking place around what is initially a truck the fight choreography is amazing and brutal especially to old ladies. What really makes the action shine is the creativity of the vehicle designs and how they use some of the unique design features to fight on. 

Something I really enjoyed about this film, was the detail in the culture of the War Boys and their Valhalla worshipping towards Immorton Joe. It seemed that every action that one of the war boys took whether that be my Nux or other War Boys added more to the insanity and brainwashing by Immorton Joe for example spraying their teeth silver to look “shiny and chrome” before trying to become suicidal martyrs in the hopes they will be carried through the gates of Valhalla.

 Though Max was intended to be the main character, there seemed to be very little character development throughout the film with Max being a man of very little words however definitely made up for it with thrilling  action scenes. However in my opinion he was out-shined by Furiosa mainly because she is what starts the events throughout the film with her stealing Immorton Joe’s wives in the hope of taking them to the “Green Place”.

The only negative I had when I was watching the film was the CGI. Luckily there was very little of it apart from the enormous dust storm which did look amazing, however near the end of the film they used a CGI steering wheel that was coming towards the camera as a transition between shots and it really broke my immersion not only because the CGI looked awful but it just wasn't necessary they could have just faded to black or had rock cover the screen and it would have been perfect.

As you can tell I loved this film yes there was little character development for Max, apart from what we assume is the death of his daughter however nothing else was needed. All we needed to know was that he is awesome and bad ass. The action is amazing creative with raw destruction and apart from a few CGI issues there was nothing wrong with this film and I look forward to watching the previous films and new ones to come. 

9/10

Drake - 

I'm in the same sinking boat as Josh. A member of the audience with no experience of the original trilogy and I'm ashamed that I never got around to watching it. I'd call it excusable but now, I'm excited to get my teeth in. Aware of the story and basic points of its predecessors, the reveal trailer for this monster had me excited (wink wink). Tom Hardy, explosions, gore, violence and incredible vehicles had me drooling from the start and if you're reading this and have yet to see this movie, you should probably have left half way through Dan's introduction.

Rather than babble on, lets get down to business. Fury Road brought a soap box to the convention of movie goers, threw it as Sylvester Stallon and his loaf of bread, pissed on his foot all while making him their little bitch. Expendables? Pffft. Rambo? Pfffft. George Miller isn't afraid of you. He's got Mad Max. A crazy SOB with a predisposition to kill shit.

The movie rocks. It rocks harder than Dwayne Johnson. The action is like nothing I've seen before. The practical effects were incredible and it must be said, the stunt crew must drag their nuts around in wheelbarrows because the shit they were pulling is next level. Often the difference between CGI and practical is difficult to distinguish which is incredible work by the department, apart from the 80's transitional effects of Max's daughter. That stuff was a little weird and outdated in context. I can't actually pick a favourite between any of the visual effects. The microsecond glimpse of someone's ribcage opening, the crazy costumes, the big balled stunt crew or the astonishing selection of vehicles. Its a V8 ratters wet dream and I want to be part of it, so much so, I'm going to buy myself one...So click that big Razer sign to the right and fund my new hobby! 

Ahem, enough of this plug. The guys have given you a stellar report of the movie. I'm tagging in merely to extenuate their points. Visual effects were top gear, the acting was perfect and the characters were just insane, in a good/bad kinda way. A man with elephantiasis repping a dapper waistcoat with nip holes for his blinging nipple tassel hip-hop chain and dude who should really be DC's newest Joker what's not great about that!? But lets be honest, those milk udder women were just plain freaky.

Sure, there are a couple things I have issues with. Its suffered from the Hobbit 2 syndrome where it went from Ultra Mega 8 Billion K cameras to a crappy 10MP compact with dust on the lens and a scene where Max tells the crew to move on while he goes Hulk only to return to the exact spot a cut later. Otherwise, what else can I complain at? Well, apart from the fact that it ended. 

In an unpredictable story of survival, Mad Max: Fury Road is a movie that won't last for just a year. It'll drop into the books as one of the biggest and best movies of our generation and cement Mad Max at the top of the food chain. BRING ON THE SEQUELS!

Overall Score - 9/10

Film Review: Spooks: The Greater Good

I Spy With My Little Eye...

If 2015 is year of the blockbuster, with Furious 7 already in the top four of highest-grossing movies ever and Avengers: Age of Ultron slowly making its' way into similar box office territory, there is no surprise really that 2015 also brings with it a vast range of films that focus on the old-school favourite theme of spies and espionage, with Kingsman: The Secret Service being released earlier in the year, whilst Spy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E and Spectre all set to come out in the second half of the year, with all being odds on to make quite a substantial bit of dosh, particularly Spectre which will no doubt be the one that everyone will be anticipating the most.  For now however, we have the release of Spooks: The Greater Good, the big-screen adaptation of the popular BBC programme, featuring Kit Harrington, Jennifer Ehle, and Peter Firth, who reprises his role as Harry Pearce from all ten seasons of the programme in its' run between 2002 and 2011, and its' fair to say that Spooks more than holds its' own in the vast canon of spy movies, even if it remains in an overarching shadow of much more popular movies that have come before it. 

Part Bourne, part Bond, Spooks adheres to the expected tropes of any decent paranoia-filled spy movie with its' interweaving narrative focusing on the simultaneous plots of MI5's pursuit of Pearce after he is suspected of corroborating with escaped terrorist Adem Qasim, and Pearce himself, who attempts to discover a suspected mole within MI5 who may have been behind Qasim's escape in the first place. Between the two is Kit Harrington's Will Holloway, who after being discharged from MI5 years previously is tasked with locating Pearce in an attempt to prevent potential terrorist attacks on London, leading to a constant shift of allegiances between those in power and those on the run. With solid acting and rather enjoyable action sequences throughout, Spooks: The Greater Good succeeds in being an entertaining 100 minutes of London loving, not stopping long enough to question certain plot points whilst having too many similarities to previous spy efforts to be classed anything other than solid. 

Overall Score: 7/10

Assassins Creed Syndicate - Live Reveal & Trailer!

Well, here it is guys. The brand new instalment of the Assassins Creed series has finally arrived, titled Syndicate. Based in London during the Industrial Revolution, we follow our new Assassin, Jacob. Funnily enough, the combat has taken a very personal approach. Its much closer and features a lot of the weaponry used in that period, such as the hidden blades and brass knuckles in giant gang fights! Everything seems very direct, gory and fast paced but its character is what has drawn me in. Every game based in London loves picking up on Jack the Ripper, what will stop these? Could Jacob be Jack? Could those he murdered be spies for the Templars? I'm officially calling it. Jack the Ripper is our Jacob.

Hopefully we will see a return to Assassins Creed that is truly worthy of the next gen consoles that we all deserve!

Soon we will have an official trailer to show everyone who missed out on the live showing so stick around for more information!

Assassins Creed Syndicate will be dropping on the 23rd October for Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC.

News: The X Files Confirmed Return

I Want to Believe

After months of speculation regarding the return of cult 90's sci-fi sensation The X Files, FOX has finally announced the confirmation of the show's return in early 2016! Stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are set to return as Agents' Mulder and Scully whilst Mitch Pileggi is also set for a return as Walter Skinner. Things are looking good for 2016! Check out the link below for the showing schedule for FOX in early next year which also includes an all new series of Gotham as well as a TV version of Phillip K Dick's Minority Report.

http://www.fox.com/article/fox-announces-new-primetime-series-for-2015-2016-season

TV Review: Game of Thrones - Series 5 Episode Five "Kill the Boy" SPOILER ALERT

A Game of Stones

Now that we are officially at the half-way stage of the latest Game of Thrones season, it is blindingly obvious that these first few episodes are essentially buildup to the chaos and carnage that is likely to occur during the next five weeks or so, something of which that although was the blueprint for most of the earlier seasons, seems rather unsubstantial in comparison to Season Four which had constant edge-of-your-seat storytelling throughout its' ten episode run. I may be being slightly harsh on GOT as Season Five was never going to live up its' predecessor, but once again I am left with the overall impression of, "solid, but not spectacular," when it comes to "Kill the Boy", and unless the series propels itself into another level ASAP, I fear that will be the feeling of the season overall. Enough of all the negativity anyhow as Game of Thrones is still miles better than anything on TV at this very moment in time, with this week's offering including all the standard tropes of what's expected in a GOT episode such as dragons, nudity, and death. GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT!

It would be expected of an episode that primarily focuses its' time on proceedings in the North to be rather bland, particularly with the strangeness of Arya's storyline and the soap-esque drama of King's Landing being totally excluded when it was beginning to get rather tasty, but "Kill the Boy" manages to still effectively grasp the viewers' attention, particularly when it came to the tense atmosphere at dinner when Reek was forced to apologise to Sansa regarding the "death" of her two brothers by Ramsey who was swiftly knocked down a peg by the welcoming of a potential new, fully-blooded Bolton into the family, something of which was not taken lightly. Aside from the Bolton's, Stannis finally set sail into Winterfell, where. depending on how long it takes to get there in the episodic time-scale, the much spoke about retaking of the North is likely to occur within the next few weeks or so, something of which is a juicy prospect to say the least. 

At the Wall, Jon Snow was told to become a man and stick by his decisions, regardless of what his comrades in the Night's Watch thought of him, even when that decision was to try and save the Wildlings, something of which I think everyone disagreed with, including myself. You are going a bit soft in the head there Snow, watch yourself laddy. Aside from the North, Daenerys unleashed her anger from the death of Ser Barristan on the heads of the great families of Meereen, including zo Loraq, who must have been shell-shocked from being in front of dragons one day and then being asked to a hand in marriage to their mother the next. Oh yeah, and the fighting pits are back open. Finally. Spooky scene of the week went to Tryion and Jorah, who after deciding to sail through the desolate lands of Valryia, were attacked from the greyscale ridden stone-men, ending in Jorah being touched and thus ridden with the disease himself. Poor Jorah, nothing ever goes right for him. 

So like I said at the start, "Kill the Boy", is yet another solid, if unspectacular episode of Game of Thrones, featuring plenty of buildup for the episodes that lie ahead, whilst focusing on events occurring primarily in the North which is proving to be the most interesting place to be right now, unless you are Reek. Poor Reek. Now that we are half way through Season Five, it is fair to say things can only get better. Bring it. 

Overall Score: 7/10

Film Review: Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck

The Man Who Rocked the World

If ever there were a band to ruffle the norm of the music industry during the course of the 20th century then Nirvana were arguably the most successful and highly publicised act to do so during the 1990's, where the pop-rock music of the decade previous began to seem tiresome and self-indulgent in the face of Cobain and co.'s fearful rawness and eagerness to proclaim their hate for not only teenage lifestyle in the USA, but almost everything that encapsulated 1990's America at that time. What we have with Montage of Heck is the first official documentary on the tragically short life of Cobain, which intertwines footage and documents belonging to Cobain, his family and his friends with epiphany-like dream sequences in an attempt to highlight the troubled nature of one of musics' most beloved, iconic, and unforgettable artists of all time. The question is, does it work? Oh yes, it really does. 

The fundamental issue that came to mind before watching Montage of Heck was whether it would be successful in encapsulating both the Nirvana fan-base and the lay movie-goer who although may be aware of Nirvana and their influence in musical history, may not be as engaged as Nirvana fans may be in a documentary solely interested in the life of Kurt Cobain. From the viewpoint of someone who is a Nirvana fan, I would have to say Montage of Heck succeeds in providing enough interest to suitably entertain both ends of the spectrum, with its' detailed and sometimes solemn interviews and insights being effectively juxtaposed with the sheer madness of live Nirvana performances, showcasing how at the time, their refreshing punk-rock style was something sorely missing in the forefront of the musical industry. 

The documentary goes right through from the early days of the Cobain family up to Nirvana's wonderful performance on MTV Unplugged, detailing the many issues and problems surrounding Kurt throughout his lifetime including a misguided youth, the influence of drugs, and finally his marriage to Courtney Love. If ever there was a documentary so in love yet shocked by its' subject matter, Montage of Heck would definitely be it, with the film not shying away from both the calmness and carnage of Cobain's life, something of which was hard, yet needed to be seen in order for the documentary to sway away from being classed as a full frontal homage to the greatness of Kurt. By showcasing the darker, seedier side of the Cobain lifestyle, the documentary expands beyond the one-sided nature it could have been, and by doing so, makes the definitive conclusion of Kurt's suicide even harder to take. 

Montage of Heck truly succeeds in bringing the life of one of music's most influential and iconic rock stars to the big screen in a dark and uncompromising fashion, showcasing the rise and fall of Nirvana and the issues that had arisen in Kurt's life prior to his suicide. This year marked the 21st anniversary of such a tragic event and Montage of Heck proves to be a fitting and emotional tribute to a musical artist lost at an age much too young. In a time where music is questionable to say the least, Cobain solidified Nirvana into rock and roll history, emphasised by the release of this documentary where Kurt and his music are needed as much now as they were within the late 20th century. RIP. 

Overall Score: 9/10