TV: The Killing (S2) (8/10)

In contrast with it's Danish origin, the US adaptation of The Killing took the decision, for better or for worse, to not reveal Rosie Larsen's killer at the end of season one and dedicate another season to the Linden's investigation.


I like The Killing as in a similar manner to The Wire, it shows the detective process in a more painstaking light and at a more realistic speed, with the detectives sometimes at a loss for clues or leads and makes a change from solved in an episode police shows. Again similar to The Wire, it dedicates time to the characters from both the police and the suspects as well as the grieving family.


Season two begins immediately where the first left off, as Linden pieces together clues of a possible conspiracy to frame Richmond. This has Linden questioning Holder's loyalty to the case and the two lead characters manage to avoid each other's attempts to explain the situation for the first few episodes. This became frustrating as first Linden ignores Holder and then Linden struggles to reach Holder after she clears him. There are only so many times you can watch someone choose to not answer the phone.


Holder remains as amusing as before with his macho posturing but Linden becomes quite dislikeable during the season. Her neglect of her son as she becomes addicted to the case is abhorrent.


A lot of screen time of the first half of the season is spent with Richmond recuperation in hospital. While I assumed that this time was being well spent, and that Richmond's involvement hadn't finished yet it was a distraction from the crime solving activities.


The season improved greatly from Episode 8 onwards. Linden manages to save Holder, loses her badge, sends Jack away and the episode ends with her and Holder driving away from the camera in a new direction, both having found new determination.


The final episode brought all three groups of characters together and despite the anti-climax of the first half of the episode, the second half provided a heart-breaking twist and some solid acting from Rosie's family as all was revealed, both from a justice point of view and with regards to Rosie's feelings towards her parents.


The show has now been cancelled by AMC and I feel that having solved the Larsen case and been through so much in doing so, there is little left for the writers to work with for Linden and it would not be the same starting with a fresh investigation so all in all a good decision to let the show finish on a high.

FILM: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (5/10)

It is safe to say that most people knew what to expect from Michael Bay's third instalment of the Transformers franchise. Impressive visuals, great special effects and plenty of metal on metal action sequences all flimsily supported by a weak script and storyline. Dark of the Moon is a better film than the previous Revenge of the Fallen but is still beset by the same flaws.


Dark of the Moon starts impressively, taking its initial story from a Transformers novel, where the US moon landings and space race are explained to be a front to investigate a Transformers ship that has crashed on the dark side of the moon. It transpires that the Russians obtained a Transformer energy source from the crash site and began experiments with it at Chernobyl with disastrous consequences. Grounding the beginning of the film in this historical context is the strongest point of all three Transformer films. However, as soon as the initial story is set and the screenplay of Ehren Kruger takes over, starting with the appearance of Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf), the film descends into familiar territory.

Cue another weak script for the same bunch of characters, Special Agent Simmons (John Turturo), Lennox (Josh Duhamel), Epps, (Tyrese) and what was not great but occasionally amusing the first time becomes annoying the third time around. Megan Fox is not present this time and the script throws some barbs in her direction. Her replacement is posh Brit Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who ticks all the aesthetic boxes Bay must have been looking for in a replacement but provides nothing more. Cameos from John Malkovich and Ken Jeong provide some fresh humour in places.

Despite the criticism that Revenge of the Fallen was bloated, Dark of the Moon clocks in at just over two and a half hours and is far, far too long. I have no problems with long films, I have sat through Apocalypse Now and Once Upon a Time in America many times but for an action film with a cheesy script it is completely unnecessary.


I couldn't help compare the films main protagonist, Sentinel (voiced by Leonard Nimoy), with the Fallen from the previous film in that both were characters from Cybertron's past, re-activated and brought to Earth as part of the Decepticon's plans.

Visually the action looks amazing again, in particular the scenes on the freeway and with the falling skyscraper but it has all been seen before. The film culminates in another huge battle between the Transformers set against a different cityscape (Chicago this time) that feels oh so familiar.


By giving Dark of the Moon 5 out of 10, it made me realise I was too kind to Revenge of the Fallen.

FILM: Bad Teacher (7/10)

Bad Teacher is 2011 comedy from the writers of The US Office starring Cameron Diaz as a gold-digging, unscrupulous and rule-breaking high school teacher.


Diaz plays the renegade teacher role with relish and is the highlight of the film. The Office style humour comes through in the form of some quirky characters, none more so than Lucy Punch's angelic and sugary sweet contrast to Diaz's character and the dolphin obsessed principal.


The concept of a teacher not really giving a damn, not learning her pupil's names, providing education through the showing of films and turning up hungover most days is a promising one that could have yielded stronger material. That being said, I don't understand some of the low reviews this film received. Without being laugh out loud funny, Bad Teacher is a decent enough comedy providing you accept it for what it is, a fairly trashy comedy with a predictable ending.

BOOK: Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur, Bernard Cornwell (6/10)

The final book of Bernard Cornwell's Arthurian trilogy finds Arthur still battling the invading Saxon armies, while struggling to keep the peace within the kingdoms of Wales and the South West of Britain.


As with each of the previous books, the story is a combination of epic battles and shield walls, mixed with the magic of Merlin and the contrasting religions of Paganism and Christianity. However, the description of the epic siege at Mynydd Baddon does feel repetitive coming off the back of the similarly epic battles at Lugg Vale in The Winter King and Thames Valley in The Enemy of God. That said, Cornwell manages keep to the rest of the story interesting enough until it's end when the reader is at last rewarded with discovering how the main protagonist and storyteller Derfel ends up a Christian monk. Across all three books I enjoyed the story in between the battles more when Cornwell's portrayal of the familiar historical characters was given chance to come across.


Looking back, the trilogy is an interesting and more realistic take on the often romanticised Arthurian legends, with a grand scope that Cornwell manages to do justice to.

FILM: Senna (9/10)

Brilliant 2010 documentary film following the racing career of three-time F1 World Champion Aryton Senna.


Compiled from hours of footage of racing, family videos, interviews with the Brazilian with interviews from peers played over the top, Senna is a documentary featuring no narration or retrospective interviews and plays out more like a written film than documentary.


The film tells the story of Senna's arrival in F1, his instant success on the road to his titles, his rivalry with Alain Prost and clashes with the FIA, culminating with the fateful San Marino GP in 1994.


The film is perhaps unbalanced when it deals with the Prost Senna relationship and I share Prost's opinion that it doesn't explain how their relationship thawed before Senna's death. The fact that Prost was a pallbearer at Senna's funeral speaks volumes of this. That said, the real 'bad guy' of the story is then FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre.


Senna comes across as highly spiritual, patriotic, committed and I'm sure racing fans of the Senna era enjoying seeing and listening to some interviews with the man just as much as the racing footage. 


A moving masterpiece in documentary making that will appeal to all.

FILM: True Grit (9/10)

After their 2007 No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers try their hand at a true western with True Grit, an adaptation of the novel of the same name which John Wayne won his only Oscar for the 1969 version.


Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) is a headstrong 14 year old girl out to avenge her father's murder. Knowing her limitations she recruits the most unscrupulous U.S. Marshal she can find, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges). They set off into Indian territory to hunt down her father's killer (Josh Brolin) occasionally accompanied by Texas Ranger Matt Damon, who is after the outlaw for a previous offence.


Helped by the Coen's excellent script, Steinfeld, Damon and Bridges in particular deliver excellent performances. Mattie is the moral compass of the uncomfortable trio as they proceed on their road trip and amusingly keeps her elder companions in line throughout for her own gain. 


The film also benefits from superb cinematography, including some memorable shots when Rooster and Mattie cross the horizon at sunset.


True Grit operates at its own pace towards it's finale and although few may consider it uneventful or boring it is a great story of unflinching retribution and justice.

FILM: Thor (6/10)

After Iron Man and Hulk, next up was Thor for introduction to the cinema-going masses in preparation for his role in The Avengers.

In comparison with most other superheroes, not only being from another world but a God at that, the story of Thor is probably one of the more difficult stories for adaptation. By dealing with other worlds and deities, as superhero stories go, Thor is more magical and less grounded than say Captain America or Batman.

The result is a hit and miss comic book adaptation that suffers from a poor villain, too much mythology and fantasy, unmemorable fight scenes and an occasionally cheesy script. Chris Hemsworth is likeable as Thor, he delivers both the brash arrogance and later sincerity of the character and although I haven't seen The Avengers I hope his character is given a reasonable amount of time.

The story benefits most when Thor is exiled to Earth, the subsequent clash of cultures with scientist Natalie Portman is funny in places, although the line about a phone picture going straight onto Facebook may win 'cheesiest line of the year'.

Having read differing reviews of Tom Hiddleston's Loki, I side with the negative. Comparisons of the actor's portrayal with Heath Ledger's Joker are way wide of the mark. Thor's brother Loki is as unmemorable a villain as I can remember.


A must see for any comic book or Avengers fan but not the greatest superhero film.

FILM: 13 Assassins (8/10)

Set in shogun-era Japan, 13 Assassins tells the story of an elite group of samurai selected to rid the land of the shogun's evil brother who uses his power to rape and kill at will.


I was expecting fight sequences similar to Chinese produced successes like Crouching Tiger or House of Flying Daggers, with elaborate camera effects and stylish choreography. However, director Takashi Miike serves up a totally different kind of action. The fight scenes are much more substance than style and are considerably more gritty and realistic.

At just over two hours long, 13 Assassins can easily be broken into three chapters. Initially the film is slow to start as the story is told and characters are introduced, although Miike sensibly introduces the assassins in groups, and provides more focus on a few rather than diluting the characters too greatly. The middle of the film deals with the assassins travel to their chosen ambush point as the shogun's brother and samurai approach. Following a few minor fights in the first two-thirds of the film, the ambush and subsequent fight fills the remaining 45 minutes without much pause and can only be described as epic.


After the initial upper hand is lost, the 13 men fight against a seemingly never ending army of guards and samurai knowing they are fighting towards their inevitable deaths. Having killed tens or hundreds of the enemy each, the realism of the film is underlined by the fatigue shown by the assassins as they are ultimately swamped holding off the enemy forces.

A largely enjoyable samurai film worth watching if not only for the epic fight between good and evil.

FILM: Predators (5/10)

Based on a draft screenplay penned by producer Robert Rodriguez in the mid-nineties, the Predator (without Alien) franchise was given an update with this 2010 reboot/sequel directed by Nimrod Antal.


Set on an anonymous planet serving as a game reserve, Adrien Brody (yes, Adrien Brody) leads a group of humans shipped to the planet for the purposes of being hunted by several Predators. The humans are selected from various global military organisations and have to overcome their initial confusion and distrust of each other as they are stalked by their foes.


I remember seeing the trailer for this film and being amazed that Brody had bulked up to play an action hero role. He actually plays the morally detached and cold Royce reasonably well and attempts his own version of the patented Christian Bale Batman voice. While I think about the trailer, the coolest scene where tens of red Predator scopes appear all over the cast never actually occurs in the film!


The story starts well as the mix of characters knit and begin to piece together why they have been brought to the planet. It is an interesting take on the Predator series, however Antal doesn't manage to sustain the interest once the first Predator kill occurs. From this point on the film becomes a pretty average and predictable killing spree similar to Predator itself only without the originality and B-movie feel. Only the brief cameo from Laurence Fishburne as a crazed survivor provides some change in direction.


As a standalone film, Predators is an average action film although better than the recent AVP series. As a new entry to the Predator story, it fails to live up the original, either that or perhaps I just remember the Arnie version for being better than it actually was.

FILM: The Thing (8/10)

In 1979, Ridley Scott released Alien. Three years later followed John Carpenter's The Thing. These two films are often considered seminal releases in the history of all things sci-fi, alien and horror. I am a huge Alien fan but The Thing has always slipped below my radar until now.


The 'Thing' itself is an alien released from its frozen tomb in Antarctica by a group of Norwegian scientists capable of taking on the appearance of those it infects.


Carpenter regular Kurt Russell leads the nearby US research base that is infiltrated by the alien when a huskie arrives from the Norwegian base. As the base comes under attack, the scientists struggle to control the spread of infection and paranoia sets in as they realise that anyone could be 'the thing' waiting to attack. The alien in The Thing is clearly intelligent as it bides its time hiding amongst the team sabotaging attempts to flush it out rather than revealing itself and taking the team head on.

In comparison with modern horror films, Carpenter doesn't rely on jumpy moments and creates a suspenseful atmosphere using the isolation of location, paranoia of the group and Ennio Morricone's haunting score. That said he is not afraid of revealing the alien in its natural form and The Thing contains some famously iconic scenes, most notably when Norris's decapitated head sprouts a giant tongue and legs and scuttles around. The special effects still look good to this day, however if you consider Ridley Scott's fantastic alien pre-dates The Thing by three years the aliens do not appear quite as polished.

It is worth mentioning that Carpenter decided to cast no female actors, something that a studio would surely not allow these days.


Having watched The Thing now, I see no reason to disagree with the film's seminal status in the sci-fi horror genre. A must-see film and a lesson in claustrophobic paranoia and suspense.

FILM: Point Break (8/10)

All I knew of Point Break before watching this was the scene where Keanu Reeves lays on his back and empties his gun into the sky so it's safe to say I didn't know much.


Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, 18 years before her Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker and set amongst the Californian surfing scene, Point Break follows Keanu Reeve's jock FBI agent Johnny Utah as he hunts down a group of surfer types responsible for a string of bank robberies. Patrick Swayze plays adrenaline junkie surfer Bodhi, part of the group Reeve's attempts to infiltrate.


The plot may be slightly pie in the sky, but Bigelow manages to deliver a non-stop testosterone-laden ride throughout, be it with well-shot surfing scenes, chases, shoot-outs or the heart in mouth skydiving action sequences.


Reeves over-acts as ever, but this time around it doesn't feel too ridiculous as it almost seems a natural fit as part of the humourous cop buddy relationship so typical of police films of this era. Gary Busey is great as the joker to Reeve's largely straight character. John C. McGinley plays the typically over-wrought and angry police chief in a character that people will recognise as remarkably similar to Dr. Cox in Scrubs.


A pre-cursor to funny cop action flicks like Bad Boys, Point Break is a simple but enjoyable no-brainer action film.

FILM: The Lincoln Lawyer (7/10)

Having enjoyed the book by Michael Connelly, the film held no surprises for me but I was still curious as to how successfully the story could be transferred to the big screen. Matthew McConaughey stars as The Lincoln Lawyer Michael Haller, an LA defence lawyer who operates out of the back of his chauffeured Lincoln.



Employing all sort of tactics to maintain his cash flow, Haller appears brash and without morals as he keeps LA's undesirables out of prison. However, this all changes when he gets drawn into a deadly game of secrets with his latest client, the young, rich Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe).


The screenplay does it best to squeeze in most of the sentiment and moral dilemmas that the book obviously had more time to focus on. Used to winning, Haller struggles with the dangerous situation as he deals with the complex mix of legal obligations, client and attorney privilege and his previous moral shortcomings.


McConaughey shines as the charismatic Haller and will hopefully stick to more meaningful roles in the future based on his performance here and that in his upcoming film Killer Joe. His performance is even stronger when viewed in relation to Phillippe's, who doesn't deliver the menace of the book's character. Michael Pena and John Leguizamo provide strong support to the main characters including William H. Macy and Marisa Tomei in typically minor roles.


Director Brad Furman tries gives some verve to the courtroom scenes with some non-typical angles, but all in all he lets the story play out adequately.The attorney versus client story seemed remarkably similar to that of Ryan Gosling versus Anthony Hopkins in Fracture in 2007.


A word on the soundtrack, which stays true to the hip-hop references of the book. Connelly explains that Haller's interest in the hip-hop genre stems from his driver Earl. I don't feel that this came across enough in the film and that the soundtrack appears to be a typical 'street' savvy selection of music selected for any LA based film. It is interesting that musical duties fell to Cliff Martinez, who had the same role for Drive, also set in LA, and the two soundtracks could not be further apart with the exception of Kalinsky's 'Nightcall' which appears in both.


A successful transformation from book to big screen.

TV: Touch (S1) (7/10)

Heroes creator Tim Kring brings Kiefer Sutherland back to the small screen in Touch, another ambitiously global and far-reaching series bearing all the hallmarks of a Kring production.


Touch tells the story of 9/11 widower struggling to raise his 11 year old son Jake, a mute introverted boy gifted with numbers. Jake is placed in supervisory care just as his father, Martin (Sutherland), realises that Jake's repetitive numbered scribblings are an attempt to communicate with him. During each episode Martin follows his son's instructions and 'follows the numbers' all the while trying to protect his son from sinister forces after him for their own gain.

The writers struggle to really portray what it actually is that Jake is capable of seeing and why he needs his father to correct things in the world through 'butterfly effect' actions to stop the pain he feels. The butterfly effect and red thread theory (that those who impact on others in the world by the butterfly effect are connected by an invisible red thread that must never break) are explored throughout the series, and each episode begins and ends with Jake narrating philosophy and theory.


However, by focusing on global as well as character specific issues to illustrate the complexity of the science, the number of single episode characters is high and it can be difficult to care about random characters in Iraq, Brazil or China on a one-off basis.


The season premiere was a fantastic start to the show, however the coincidences, or not as the case may be, do become to be slightly predictable as the season continues. Towards the end of the season, this predictability is balanced by the story arc of Martin trying to investigate who his after Jake and what for.


Sutherland plays the troubled father with great sincerity and care although his character becomes annoyingly anxious as he is led into predicament after predicament by Jake. The one way dialogue also began to grate slightly towards the end of the season. Danny Glover played an interesting character and I felt it was a shame he didn't make it as a regular character. Credit must also go to 11 year old David Mazouz for his portrayal of Jake.


The season ends strongly and it looks as though Martin and Jake have found a new ally in their search for answers. The show has been renewed for a second season and it will be interesting how the Kring moves the action along given the events of the season finale (let's hope it is better than season two of Heroes).

FILM: Edward Scissorhands (8/10)

When I was young, the combination of Depp's freaky appearance and the hands of scissors convinced me that Edward Scissorhands was a scary horror film and I never watched it. After all these years, how wrong I was.


An endearing romantic black comedy capable of some genuine heart warming and sad moments as well as plenty of laughs, Scissorhands is a definite highlight of Tim Burton's filmography.


Released in 1990, Scissorhands marks the first of many collaborations between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. Depp is fantastic as the friendly and innocent ugly duckling Edward, rescued from hiding to a normal life by a sympathetic Avon lady (the excellent Dianne Wiest). Winona Ryder plays Edward's love interest.


Burton takes a swipe at pleasantville suburbia with his creation of the pastel coloured, generic town dominated by gossiping bored housewives. Having never experienced anything alien, the townsfolk welcome Edward's uniqueness with intrigue and curiosity rather than sinister suspicion. However, everything seems too good to be true until their fickle nature is revealed later when they unite as mob against the 'monster'.