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'.

FILM: Deliverance (8/10)

John Boorman's 1972 classic, Deliverance, stars Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox as four city slickers who decide to take a canoeing trip in the remote wilderness of Georgia.


The foursome, Reynolds and Beatty in particular, approach the trip with a naive view of the dangers they face and patronising attitude to the country locals.


The sinister nature of the film is providing early on during the famous 'duelling banjo's' scene. Stumbling across a remote petrol station, the locals show hostility to the arrogant foursome and Boorman ensures that the banjo scene where the local inbred boy plays the banjo in almost savant manner is creepy enough so as to be able to use the simple banjo tune throughout the rest of the film as a soundtrack of tension and unease.


Already aware of some of the details of the most harrowing moment of the film, I watched Deliverance with an uneasy tension. The foursome face danger from their surroundings as well as the locals, however it is the locals who strike first in a scene which I can imagine in the early 70's was incredibly shocking to watch. After the male rape scene, the city boys realise the danger and isolation they face and as paranoia begins to set in they take desperate action to survive.


Perhaps unusual in today's cinema, Boorman was certainly not afraid to use long scenes of the actors canoeing down the river to patiently bridge the key scenes.


40 years on, the story remains remarkably simply, but is told in a bold and powerful manner. Each of the four characters are different and all are changed men as the story ends differently for each of them. The acting is fantastic, in particular Voight and Reynolds, although looking back Reynold's character Lewis now perhaps comes across as a bit too macho as the Bear Grylls wannabe.


The hopeless sense of claustrophobic wilderness and isolation portrayed may well have been the inspiration for later films such as Predator and The Edge.


Nowadays the film suffers from some very dated editing but has largely aged well and is a 70's classic well worth a watch.

BOOK: Enemy of God, Bernard Cornwell (7/10)

Enemy of God is the second book in Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles trilogy chronicling the story of Arthur and his battle against the Saxons.


Following on from the first book, The Winter King, Arthur has achieved temporary peace across the south of England via shrewd diplomacy and on occasions, war. Cornwell's trilogy portrays Arthur as an oath-bound Lord sworn to protect the kingdom of the infant King Mordred against the Saxons as the country itself is torn apart by warring Christians and pagans. Arthur is a principled leader who remains true to his oaths even as they overpower him and conflict with each other.


As with the first novel, the story is told retrospectively by the main protagonist Derfel, a former warrior and now monk loyal to Arthur. By telling the story in such a way, Cornwell maintains the suspense as the reader is aware of Derfel's present situation (writing the story in a monastery) but unclear how he ends up there from the story he is telling which is a world apart.


The book has an underlying theme of atheism common to modern times as Cornwell narrates the escalating threat to peace of the warring Christians and pagans and Arthur's struggle, despite all his best diplomatic efforts, to bring harmony to the rival religions.


I am largely unfamiliar with the story of Arthur and his knights of Camelot, and I enjoyed Cornwell's attempt to retell the story without all the usual romantic legends, however, in comparison with the first book, Enemy of God does feature more magical goings on as Merlin ropes Derfel into his quest to find the Treasures of Britain. The ending is particularly exciting as Arthur's friend Lancelot shows his true colours and places the story's heroes in danger while setting the scene for the final instalment of the trilogy.


A good mixture of history, legends, magic and religion.

FILM: Star Trek (7/10)

In my opinion, Star Trek was never quite as cool as Star Wars and I remember some of the feature films being particularly poor. J.J Abrams does his best to equal things up by giving the much-loved franchise a much needed modern update with this 2009 reboot. 


By setting the action in the infancy of the Enterprise (a prequel to the original TV series), the writers are not only able to base the story around familiar characters but younger, more energetic versions of those seen before. No doubt slightly unpopular with Star Trek die-hards, this results in a film that will attract younger viewers to the franchise. This is summed up by the scene where Kirk is shown in bed with a scantily clad busty green alien at the academy, a scene unlikely to have appeared in any previous Star Trek film. However, Abrams gives enough props to the franchise with some finer details like the transporting CGI and sound effects and Spock using a Vulcan death grip without giving in to the clichéd catchphrases that I had expected. 


The film itself is a fast paced action-er with an enjoyable plot, and would be capable of being a decent space action film without all that being a Star Trek film brings to it. Chris Pine's Kirk is cocky but likeable and his rivalry with the young Spock is a source of some of the films funnier moments. I loved Zachary Quinto in Heroes and he is superbly cast as the legendary Spock, who finds himself confused between his Vulcan upbringing and human emotions. 


It was great to see Leonard Nimoy make more than a cameo appearance as the older Spock, but as often the case with action film villains, it was shame that Eric Bana wasn't really given much to work as Nero.

TV: The Good Wife (S3) (8/10)

The Good Wife is one of the most criminally underrated TV shows around. In the UK it is hidden away on More 4 and deserves a place on a much more prominent channel. For those not in the know, the good wife is Alicia Florrick, the lawyer wife of the disgraced state attorney who struggles to restart her career in the aftermath of her husbands scandal. The show is basically a court room TV drama with very compelling sub-plots and a great cast of interesting characters. Weekly legal cases are combined with long running story arcs involving Alicia's complicated personal life and co-workers.


The third season follows the relationship between Alicia and her old flame and boss Will, as Alicia and Peter keep their separation secret for the benefit of Peter's political career. At work, Alicia questions her future at Lockhart & Gardner and acts as a mentor to new lawyer Caitlin while all the time struggling to keep her personal life separate.


The strongest story-line in the third season is the indictment of Will for bribing judges by Alicia's husband, the current state attorney. Peter hands the investigation over the politically motivated Wendy Scott Carr and the story-line culminates in a fantastic episode where her case spectacularly collapses in front of the grand jury due to Will's clever tactics. The drama reminded me of the court scene from Stieg Larsson's third novel The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest which is high praise indeed.


The show has an excellent cast of characters and actors, Julianna Margulies and Brit Archie Panjabi are excellent as Alicia and the complex Calinda respectively. Alan Cumming deserves recognition for his character Eli Gold, who provides most of the shows light heart moments with lines such as "the problem with Sun Tzu is that he never fought the Jews". Lighter moments are also provided by all the judges featured on the show, who are portrayed as quirky and particular characters.


Guest stars Michael J. Fox, Jason Biggs and Matthew Perry spice up the action throughout the season.


The season ends with a cliffhanger as it appears that Calinda's mysterious past may have caught up with her and Alicia realises that unintentionally her family has been brought back together, and she must choose if she wants to be a part of it.

TV: Mad Men (S5) (8/10)

Never a show with the cheeriest of characters, season five of the multiple award winning show is the darkest season yet by a clear stretch.


This time around the writers deal with some dark themes throughout the season, depression, suicide, alienation, prostitution and unfulfillment both professionally and personally.


A switch in office dynamics has clearly taken place between seasons, with Pete now far more powerful than before and now rivalling and finally side-lining Roger in terms of bringing in new accounts. Roger initially struggles to deal with suddenly becoming surplus to requirements and attempts to undercut Pete where possible before realising that he used to be as hungry and ambitious as Pete himself.


Don and Megan's honeymoon period lasts longer than I thought it would and Don's initial happiness in having his wife at work alongside him distracts him from his job. The bubble begins to deflate when Megan leaves the company to pursue an acting career and seemingly bursts in the season finale. Although expecting it all season, it was disappointing that the writers appear to have given in and decided that Don's personal life has now gone full circle back to that of the first season. 


Sandwiched in amongst the ambitiousness and doom and gloom, there are several heart-warming moments, in particular Don accepting Peggy's resignation with a kiss on her hand and again Don's visit to Joan in an attempt to stop her sacrifice for the company.


I found this season to contain a huge amount of subtly placed humour with Harry, Roger, Bert, Pete and new boy Ginsberg all given some great lines. Given the incredibly dark story-lines Mad Men has almost become a black comedy.  


The season's finale lacked the big storyline of previous finales but perhaps this was apt given the places that most of the characters find themselves in heading into season six.


While the themes dealt with in season five allow the writers to deal with some powerful emotions, having what seems like the whole cast trudging around waist deep in doom and gloom for the majority of the season is perhaps overkill. Mad Men is still a hugely enjoyable show and one of the best around but I hope for an improvement next time out.

TV: Alcatraz (S1) (5/10)

Coming from J.J Abram's stable and set on the mysterious prison island of the same name, Alcatraz had all the ingredients to be a great show. Unfortunately, it was billed as the new Lost and although this surely attracted viewers to the early episodes, this expectation probably did more harm than good as the show falls a long way short of Abram's work.


I'm sure most viewers did not expect to be tuning in each week to watch a really weak police drama with the occasional scrap of intrigue thrown in relating to the 1963 Alcatraz era. With the exception of the first and final episodes, the episodes are repetitively mechanical and formulaic. Each time we are introduced to a new inmate from 1963 on the loose in modern day San Francisco, each one as clichéd as the last. A sniper, child killer, poisoner, bomber, bank robber are all covered throughout the series. The team then use Dr. Soto's (played by Jorge Garcia) in depth knowledge of the prison along with the inmates personal belongings to track down the escapee within the totally contrived time-frame required.


In casting Jorge Garcia as one of the main characters, the producers did not help but draw similarities to Lost. Garcia does not help matters as his character may as well be Hurley, with his shyness, wit and cuddly teddy bear personality. Just in case the desire to replicate Lost wasn't totally obvious, the producers hired Lost's composer Michael Giacchino. The results are an almost identical Lost-style string loop piece of music.


In replicating Lost's penchant for posing more questions than providing answers with the view to a long run, Alcatraz shot itself in the foot as the result is a show not half as good as Lost and it does not do enough to maintain the viewers intrigue throughout the season. The bulk of the episodes tease by mainly dealing with the inmate's recapture rather than shedding any light on the how and why of their reappearance after 40 years. It was early on that we found out that Lucy was a 63'er, we then discovered that the sinister warden was doing something to do the blood of certain inmates with silver and ultimately that he appears to be behind the reappearance of the inmates, tasked with tracking down keys for a room on Alcatraz.


Sam Neil was the biggest name to sign on for the series but his character was incredibly dislikeable and his cranky and aggressive nature to his colleagues wore me down throughout the season.


Alcatraz is the latest in a few sci-fi based TV shows to not survive past one season (see FlashForward and Terra Nova). Overall I feel the producers made it difficult for the show to be successful and while the show has some serious flaws, I feel that with the unanswered questions and remaining intrigue it did have the potential to grow into something better and probably deserved a second season.

FILM: Frost/Nixon (8/10)

Absorbing historical drama based on the series of interviews between British chat show host David Frost and disgraced former US President Richard Nixon in 1977. 


The film is based on the play of the same name and Michael Sheen (Frost) and Frank Langella (Nixon) reprise their characters from the stage version. This continuity gives both actors confidence in their portrayals and both give terrific performances, in particular Langella, who earned an Oscar nod for his initially snarling and defiant and later personal and sombre portrayal of Nixon.


Frost/Nixon deals with the preparation for the interviews by both camps, an unfavoured Frost and team and an over-confident Nixon. The interviews are likened to a boxing match, with both participants retiring to their respective corners in between sparring sessions, and Nixon's chief of staff Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon) temporarily 'throwing in the towel' on Nixon's behalf before Frost delivers the knock-out blow.   


In dealing with the most significant scandal in American politics, director Ron Howard has an engrossing subject matter to work with and he does a decent job behind the camera mixing in faux-documentary retrospective interviews with some of the bit part players with clever shots of the interviews from behind the camera.

TV: Game of Thrones (S2) (9/10)

Before the second season of Game of Thrones began, I decided to read the first book and this gave me an appreciation of how true to George Martin's story the writers stayed with the first season's adaptation. It also helped provide some additional background and detail to the characters in the way that only a several hundred page book can.


Fresh from sorting out all the loose ends at the end of the last season, the new season begins in earnest with Robb at war with the Lannisters, Tyrion appointed the Hand of King Joffrey, Arya on the road and Daenerys struggling to forge a way home with her infant dragons.


The season then injects a huge influx of new characters, including Stannis and Renly Barratheon, the township of Qarth, the Tyrell siblings, the house of Greyjoy and Jaqen H'ghar. Certain characters from the first season are given much more screen time this time around, most notably Tywin Lannister, who is superbly played by Charles Dance.


In covering all the characters, locations and story lines, the scope of the show can only be described as epic. As with all good shows of such grandeur (The Wire and Treme), the writers manage to maintain interest through rich character development and intricate story telling despite the meandering pace of the action. Given the scope of the show, the story arc for each character within each book/season is relatively shallow, for instance, Stannis takes almost all 10 episodes to mount his attack on Kings Landing, Robb sits at camp and really does nothing more than deal with his mother and his new love interest, Jon sets out north of the wall and achieves relatively little and Daenerys enters Qarth and struggles with the local politics, but through the structure of the episodes the writers manage to not make you feel short changed at all as the action progresses.


The season really belongs to Peter Dinklage, who as Tyrion, with the confidence of his father behind him, really comes into his own as he schemes and plots with the best of them at Joffrey's court. All in all the acting and production is superb, and as a Northerner, I love to hear the broad Northern accents when the action switches to Winterfell and beyond the wall.    

For both seasons I have watched the TV adaptation before reading the associated book and I appreciated the penchant Martin shows for killing off seemingly important characters, for season one read Ned Stark, for season two read Renly Barratheon, removed in the fourth episode. As TV shows go, it is a pretty rare occurrence to kill off the main headlining character and this is what sets Game of Thrones apart. In choosing to remain (relatively) true to the books, the writers are lead by Martin's hand and the show is richer for it.  


As with the first season, the final episode follows the climax of the season's central theme in the previous episode, and serves to set each character on course for season three. The only difference this time around being that Daenerys dragon's development is bumped up to the penultimate scene of the episode to give the cliffhanger to the White Walkers. Season three looks like it could be along the lines of Lord of Rings meets The Walking Dead, I can hardly wait.


Hands down, the best show on TV at the moment.

TV: The Mentalist S4 (5/10)

Fresh from the gripping end to the third season, Simon Baker returns as Patrick Jane for the fourth season of The Mentalist.


The beginning of the season is a huge disappointment following the events at the end of season three. Jane begins the season in prison after shooting the man he believed to be Red John at the end of season three. I wondered how the series would continue with Jane locked away but in ridiculous fashion he argues his case at trial and is out by the end of the first episode.  Oh and surprise surprise, it wasn't Red John he shot and killed.


The series is at its best when dealing with Red John and the writers know it. Ending the Red John storyline would effectively end the series so the writers can only afford to drip feed the Red John story throughout the seasons to keep interest. 


When not dealing with Red John, the series is very run of the mill and after four seasons Jane's tricks and schemes are beginning to become slightly repetitive. Also, it now feels as though the CBI have solved almost every type of homicide imaginable in the four seasons. Originally the unit were only called in on special high profile cases and I must have missed the point at which this no longer became the case. Lisbon apart, the other three members of the team are really just there to make up the numbers and serve as part of Jane's charades. As is often the case in this season, I find it bemusing to believe that Jane allows the other four members of the team to hopelessly pursue an entirely different lead for an entire episode while he goes it alone having already solved the case.



Simon Baker's charismatic and cheeky portrayal of Jane still remains a positive note for the show. 


As ever, the season ramps up the Red John drama to a climatic ending but it all feels slightly too familiar and unfulfilling this time around. Renewed for a fifth season, the main question remains when will Patrick catch his man?

FILM: Law Abiding Citizen (7/10)

Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx play the lead roles in Law Abiding Citizen, a brutal thriller in which a father and husband (Butler) makes an example of the legal system that wronged him.


Jamie Foxx plays the prosecutor who makes a plea deal with the man who killed Butler's wife and child. In exacting payback on an attorney for his previous decisions, the film is similar to Cape Fear but LAC actually shares more in common with Saw as Butler cleverly butchers his way through the cast.


LAC begins in an interesting manner and tries to argue the case for both flawed sides of the justice system. However, once Butler lands himself in jail and puts his plan into effect this balanced view disappears and is replaced by a violent killing spree. Butler's logic seems confused as he vehemently denies that his actions are revenge, but by killing everyone close to his case, I struggle to see what else they could be described as. Mass murder of the local justice system seems overkill for ensuring that lessons are learnt. The film will no doubt promote some discussion as to the point at which Butler's character's actions become unjustified and he transgresses from the film's hero to ruthless villain.


Butler outshines Foxx, initially as the troubled father and husband with a cause to fight before his descent into his role as psychopathic murderer.


Law Abiding Citizen had the potential to be a cat and mouse thriller with a conscience but is ultimately just a reasonably decent thriller, but one lacking the clever twists and intelligent ending of Saw.

FILM: Wanted (7/10)

Based on a comic book series of the same name, Wanted tells the story of a secret fraternity of assassins striving to keep order in the world. As you would expect from the Hollywood debut of Daywatch and Nigthwatch director Timur Bekmambetov, the film is fast paced and contains some stunning action sequences and stunts. 


James McAvoy is well cast as the pathetic office worker recruited by the fraternity to avenge his father. McAvoy is supported by big hitters Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. In contrast with most of her action roles, Jolie delivers a much more restrained performance while Freeman is simply allowed to do his stuff.


Bekmambetov has a penchant for using slow motion sequences (in the vein of Zack Snyder) followed by pauses in both picture and sound. This works in places but is used rather a lot, most often when bullets are flying, and does become slightly tedious as the film goes on. He also employs an annoying pulse effect during the slow motion scenes. Initially this seems unnecessary but the effect serves a purpose once McAvoy's abilities are explained.


Despite the pace, Bekmambetov allows the plot time to develop and the film delivers a few decent twists as McAvoy hunts down his father's killer. Wanted's script is exactly what you would expect from the writing team that penned a large part of the Fast and Furious series. Danny Elfman provides a pretty heavy soundtrack which suits the film's angry and intense action sequences.


Overall, Wanted is a stylish and fun ride although you may need to suspend your disbelief from the offset.

FILM: American Pie: The Reunion (6/10)

After nine years(!), the main cast return to the American Pie series, presumably after accepting being typecast forever as Jim and co. Interesting that screenplay duty is given to new hands and not to Adam Herz, who wrote all three original films. Unfortunately, the change of writers does not result in a contemporary update to the series.
   
Never the wittiest of comedies, the humour hasn't changed in the slightest and this time around some of the gags are a little too crude and predictable. Guess what, the pages are stuck together in Jim's old porno mags when his Dad catches him (again) having a look for old times sake. That's not to say that the film isn't funny, it definitely has its moments, and those mostly revolve around Stifler. Stifler always was the funniest character and Seann William Scott steals every scene he appears in with his juvenile enthusiasm and foul mouth. Jim and his Dad share some quite intimate scenes and Jason Biggs and Eugene Levy must be credited for the on-screen relationship they have developed over the years.


Appearing to have grown up, the characters return for a 13 year high school reunion. Similar to the other films, Jim manages to get in yet another predicament due to his ineptitude with girls and digs his way out of the hole with the help of the gang as they struggle to realise that times have changed. My sympathy with Jim was waning this time, supposedly nine years older and wiser, it is slightly tedious and quite depressing that he fails to cope with the most basic of social situations around the opposite sex and becomes tangled up for the fourth time.


By playing on the nostalgia of the series, gags revolving around Jim and his porn stash and footage of his dance and premature ejaculation from the original, the writers are acknowledging that Reunion doesn't hit the highs of previous ones by itself. Although the fact that the audience in the cinema still laughed at these moments suggests the writers are simply giving the viewers what they want.


Worth watching, if just to see the cast back together one last time and for Stifler's revenge on Finch.

BOOK: The Winter King, Bernard Cornwell (7/10)

The first in Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles trilogy is a fictional depiction of early Saxon Britain retrospectively told through the eyes of one of Arthur's warriors. Cornwell turns his back on the typically romanticised version of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and portrays Arthur as the more historically accurate military leader. This is a refreshing change and allows Cornwell to ground the story in realism rather than magical fairy tales of ladies in lakes and wizards. However, Cornwell does allow himself the artistic license to introduce characters such as Merlin (a druid rather than wizard), Lancelot (a crown prince from Brittany) and Guinevere into the action.


The story tells of Arthur's return from exile in France to act as protector to the infant king of Dummonia and his attempts to unite the warring kingdoms of southern Britain and Wales against the growing Saxon threat.


Cornwell delivers the story in sufficient detail and depth to give the reader plenty to go on. Often historical authors can fall into the trap of either glossing over or dedicating too much time and detail to battle scenes but Cornwell seems to find the middle ground well in describing the book's final scenes. 


An enjoyable read for any fan of fictionalised history.

TV: Blue Bloods (S2) (5/10)

I want to like Blue Bloods, I really do, it has a decent cast, led by Donnie Wahlberg and Tom Selleck but the writing really lets the show down.


Firstly, the writing for the children on the show is complete drivel. Thanks to the writers, Blue Bloods's children may well be the most annoying children in the history of moving picture. I cannot accept that any 10 or 13 year old, no matter how well they have been raised, or even if they are a Reagan, would ever come out with such sickly sweet and pretentious lines, delivered in the majority by Erin's daughter. What world have these writers been living in? The following are two of my vomit-inducing favourites, Nicki saying "I do know what it means, I buried my Uncle when I was 13" and Danny's son (about 10 or 11) on the family business, "I think you have two lives, one you are born into and one you choose". I rest my case.


Moving on. The family is so self-righteous and respectable it is tedious. I have lost count on how many times I have been told what it means to "be a Reagan" or why anyone one else would do this or that but not Selleck's brood because they are Reagan's. This saintly and holier than thou attitude is served up by Selleck for family dinner each week and gives me indigestion. It is in stark contrast to Danny, apparently the only detective in New York it would seem, running around slapping 10 bells out of any criminal he can get his hands on.


Thirdly, the family dinner. The writers use the weekly family dinner as an opportunity to discuss the moral implications of the episodes cases. Given Erin's role as Assistant District Attorney, like Law and Order, the show is able to argue cases from both sides of the arrest with Erin arguing for the law, right or wrong, and Danny arguing for justice at whatever cost with Tom Selleck acting as judge from the head of the table. If it wasn't for the  way the writers get the children involved in the discussions, or use the unflinching Reagan moral compass as a way of discussing the cases, these discussions could really deliver a decent view of the episodes cases. As it is though, the family dinner is usually a cringing low point of each episode. 


All the above spoils what is actually an average show. The idea of a police version of the Corleones, with Selleck as the Godfather and all his offspring in the family business of delivering justice in one way or another is a unique one. The episode plots are pretty simple but it can be enjoyable watching Danny, Jackie and Erin work their cases episode to episode. The writers clearly made the decision to build in a longer length story arc each season, Jimmy and the Blue Templars or Jimmy and the Mob in the case of season two, but they just don't dedicate enough time to develop this arc week to week for it pay off at the end of the season with any satisfaction.


I think Blue Bloods is probably the first show to give an insight into the mixed political/police role of a police commissioner. While Selleck's role was interesting in the first season, the writers seems to be fast running out of story lines for Frank Reagan this time around. The episode featuring the Catholic Church visiting him to get his opinion over a sainthood for his conflicted childhood priest was the worst by far.



The terrorist threat and missing child cold case season finale felt like we were covering old ground from the first season and apart from Frank resignation dilemma was a disappointment.


The show has been renewed for a third season so they are obviously doing something right, either that or maybe the network boss is a Reagan.

TV: John Adams (8/10)

Having an interest in most things historical, I looked forward to the HBO produced mini-series chronicling the life of American Founding Father John Adams.


History does not appear to have been as kind to the reputation and legacy of John Adams when compared to the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin and as such I was curious to discover more of Adams's role in the American Revolution.

It soon becomes apparent that Adams is a feisty, strong willed and self-adored character of the revolution. At first uncertain of using his legal skills to defend Massachusett's interests amongst the thirteen colonies in their dispute against the British crown, Adams grows into his role as statesman and becomes instrumental in campaigning for and assisting in the development of the Declaration of Independence. More due to his vanity and stubborn nature than any particular political beliefs, Adams seems to be largely unpopular amongst his peers. 

The show provides an unromanticised insight into the hard work and personal sacrifices given not by the soldiers of the war but by the new statesmen of the American independence. Following on from independence, the political machinations of the early US government are seen through Adams's eyes as he serves first as vice-president and then as the 2nd President. Adams and Jefferson's friendship breaks down, leading to some greatly dignified but passionate disputes between the two as the ideals of the revolution diverge into Federalist and Republicans party beliefs. In a similar manner to its subject, the series may be slightly overblown at eight hours in length. The middle section in which Adams travels throughout Europe certainly did not need to last for two or three episodes. Although this does serve the purpose of making the time Adams was apart from his family seem extended and more credible bearing in mind his family's remonstrations. That said I certainly would not wish to see any of the brilliant and emotionally intense last episode cut. The series can be subtly humorous in places, notably in Europe where Adams struggles to communicate with the French nobility and deal with their gratuitious pomp and excess and later in London when taught the required etiquette of an ambassador in King George's presence. 

The scope of the mini-series is impressive and as is the norm for an HBO production the visuals and attentions to detail are great.


Now here is the kicker, Paul Giamatti is not a favourite actor of mine. I find him quite limited and find him too abrasive and shouty for my liking. I tried to look past this when watching him on screen and in fairness he does play the part quite well and is capable of portraying some of Adams's character flaws but I just feel strongly that the main part could have been much better cast. Thankfully, Giamatti is supported by a terrific cast. Laura Linney, in particular, is fantastic as Adams's wife Abigail and Washington, Jefferson and Franklin are superbly played with real thought by David Morse, Stephen Dillane and Tom Wilkinson respectively. 
All in all a strong series well worth watching for anyone with a degree of interest in the subject matter. Even non-Giamatti fans! 

FILM: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (5/10)

Bloated and excessive sequel from Michael Bay, with a 'more is more' approach seemingly applied in producing the second Transformers film.


Revenge of the Fallen's plot will appeal to both sci-fi fans and fans of the franchise, however Bay overshadows the story by packing the film full of exhaustingly repetitive action sequences to the point of saturation. The characters and plot appear to just be something to fill the time with in between rounds of the contest.
For the first two thirds of the film, the human characters are largely sacrificed for the breakneck speed at which the plot hurtles along towards the next robot royal rumble.


As goofy and frantic as before, Shia LaBeouf is responsible for most good things in the film. On the other hand, the writers really failed with the addition of the annoying Leo (Ramon Rodriguez) and the two wise-cracking and Autobot twins, complete with racial slurs.


Applying a bigger is better philosophy, the cast of Transformers seems to have multiplied ten fold from the first film. The new Transformers are never properly introduced, and the vast number makes it difficult to identify the main characters amongst all the flying metal and exploding scenery.


At this point it should be mentioned that the CGI is impressive and the Transformer battle scenes are visually top notch. This usually counts for something in a film which relies on effects so heavily but the novelty of seeing cars and planes transform into robots was worn out in the original and so counts for less second time around. In all honesty I think Bay could have halved the budget and re-used the Transformer battle footage from the original given how unmemorable the battle scenes are in Revenge of the Fallen. 


Not likely to attract new fans to the Transformers series and worthwhile only for die hard fans.

TV: Ringer (S1) (6/10)

I'll hold my hands up, this show is something of a guilty pleasure of mine, which may have something to do with my old teenage liking for Sarah Michelle Gellar.


Set in upper class New York, Ringer's story revolves around two identical twins both played by Gellar. On the run to avoid being killed, Bridget takes her sister Siobhan's place in wealthy New York in order to stay alive when she believes Siobhan has killed herself. However, as it pretty quickly turns out, by doing this she unwittingly inserts herself into her sister's devilish schemes.


The story is dizzying with twists and turns and it can be slightly convoluted with the same actress playing two roles on top of flashbacks of each role. It can take time at the beginning of a scene to work out which character is being portrayed by Gellar. Helped at first with Siobhan hiding out in Paris, this challenge only increases when she moves back to New York.

Weighing in at a ridiculous 22 episodes, Ringer is definitely several episodes too long yet as the story lines finally begin to be wrapped up towards the end of the season, there are some strong episodes and twists aplenty as the scheming and backstabbing takes its toll on several characters. Serving as executive producer, Gellar managed to recruit a strong supporting cast including Ioan Gruffudd and Nestor Carbonell (Richard from Lost). Ringer features a very contemporary soundtrack which fits well with its glamorous New York suburbanite settings.

There were times I doubted how much scope remained in the story for any future seasons but with the final revelations the writers set the scene for a second season of sibling squabbles. However, the future of this show remains in doubts as a second season is yet to be confirmed.

TV: Homeland (S1) (8/10)

The debut season of Homeland is an enjoyable and suspenseful ride through the modern post 9/11 world of American domestic espionage.
It stars Claire Danes as the paranoid spy doing just that on newly-returned war hero Damien Lewis, in an above average 'is he or isn't he" thriller.


The introduction to Brody, for the first few episodes, is largely provided through footage from illegally installed surveillance cameras planted in his house by Carrie (Danes), this provides an interesting viewpoint which serves to heighten the suspicion on his strange behaviour in settling back into his much-changed family life.


As the action progresses, Carrie, not without her own personal struggles, finds it difficult to foster support for her theories within the CIA and risks everything by going it alone to investigate Brody up close and personal. Having kept the lead characters apart for the first half of the series, with Carrie always watching from afar, I was unsure about how the show would develop once the two grew close but I was not to be concerned as their relationship falls apart once Brody learns of Carrie's suspicions.


The show deals with some uncomfortable themes that are unlikely to go down well with too many loyal Americans, namely that the US is largely responsible for the terrorist threat it faces on its own soil, and I strongly doubt that many American viewers will be too sympathetic to Brody's cause, be it as it is based on Islamic ideals. The writers try to Americanise Brody's adopted ideals by having him use an American civil war last stand at Gettysburg to explain to his children that you should always fight for what you believe in.


The action is tense in places and strong performances are delivered by Danes, Lewis and Mandy Patinkin as Carrie's supervisor and mentor Saul. Once Brody's intentions are finally apparent, the final episode makes for tense viewing and features some superb acting from both Lewis and Morgan Saylor (Brody's daughter) at the moment of truth.


A second series is confirmed and the events of the final episode suggest that the action will switch from that of violent retribution to silent political influence, however with Carrie still on the trail.

BOOK: 127 Hours, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Aron Ralston (7/10)

The inspiring story from which Danny Boyle produced the Oscar nominated film 127 Hours is a fantastic read and having seen the film, provides Aron Ralston to narrate the sequence of events from his own perspective.


Ralston tells his story in a methodical, clear and intelligent manner in many ways similar to the way in which he approached his horrific situation.


For the majority of the book Ralston alternates the chapters between the infamous accident and stories from his earlier climbing experiences. While these older anecdotes provide an insight into Ralston's experiences, and allow him to explain how his adventurous life took him to that canyon on that fateful day, the detail into which he provides, specific dates, locations and names, does become slightly monotonous. Midway through the book, these chapters became nothing more than a distraction from the main event and I found myself longing for the next update from the canyon and the grisly details of the accident. 


Several chapters are also dedicated to the actions of Ralston's parents, friends and rescuers and how, in parallel to Ralston's entrapment, come to realise that something is amiss when he fails to return and begin to raise the alarm. The book converges this side story with that of Ralston's own perspective when he frees himself and finds help. Being deliberately excluded from the film, I enjoyed discovering the actions of the other parties involved. 


The final chapters of the book, describing the amputation and escape were an excellent, inspiring read and more than made up for any previously mentioned flaws.