TV Review: PERSON OF INTEREST - Bad Code 2.2 - The ROOT of The Problem

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Well correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is the first ever episode of Person of Interest where we have not had a weekly SSN delivered by the machine, not that it mattered in the case of "Bad Code" because there was so much other stuff going on that small detail like that really didn't matter at all. As promised "Bad Code" took Reese and Carter on a road trip to Texas whilst Fusco was left at home dog sitting and digging up leads on the Alicia Corwin investigation, so, not much fun for him but plenty to be had by us as Fusco looking after a dog and attempting to speak Dutch was hilarious, whilst story lines were being developed into dodgy government officials and the story of Root has now been fully explained. I loved the way we had our story recap again this week with the CCTV footage being used before whizzing us back to 1991 to hear of a girl named Hanna Frey, could this be the weekly POI? No.

What was brilliant to see this week is Carter and Reese working together, side by side as apposed to Reese just delivering messages over the phone, the pair made a great team and its something I would definitely like to see more of as the season rolls on. The mission of "finding Finch" took them to Texas where 20 years earlier a girl by the name of Hanna had disappeared without a trace, believing her to be the now infamous Root, Reese had Carter on the case with local police whilst he decided that there was a quicker way to get answers, walk into a bar dressed in a suit and kick a little ass, effective and always seems to work.

I enjoyed the backing story to Root's character as we got to see the reason she seeks revenge, turns out Root is actually Sam, a friend of the murdered Hanna who left home following Hanna's disappearance, she then went on to rob some gangsters of $100k only to put the transfer name on the account as Trent the name of the man who kidnapped her friend Hanna. Turns out Root has actually been a bit of a computer whizz all her life, she completed that Oregon Trail game pretty quick, not that I have even heard of that game but it kind of reminded me of my old Acorn Electron, pretty retro huh! With everything Root has been through its no wonder she turned out the way she did, doing the right thing as a youngster and telling people what she saw the night Hanna went missing done her no favours at all, giving her the belief that all humans are instilled with "Bad Code", problem is back in the present day, kidnapped Finch does not believe that, his belief in humanity is completely different.

After all was said and done in this episode I'm still a little at a loss of what exactly Root wants with the machine, I don't think she is a bad person per-se but what does she want with a machine which detects acts of crime early? Finch of course uses it (although he probably shouldn't be, I'll explain later) for good and sees Mr Reese as the "Good Code" which the machine instills, preventing minor crimes before they happen, helping good people stay safe, what reason other than that would Root want the machine? Does she just want to destroy it and all of its creators? Or is she planning on becoming a one woman band John Reese, no offence Root but I don't think your all that kick ass, clever yes, but kick ass, No.

Away from the story of Root and Finch is the seemingly bigger plot bubbling away in the background as it did during the first season, the White House lawyer Denton Weeks who Root also kidnapped this week, plus all of the officials who have made base for themselves in New York City to find a lead on the Alicia Corwin case, the head of this group would seem to be one of the few people in the world who knows about the existence of the machine and he needs to sever all ties on the Alicia Corwin case so no one else can find out what it leads to. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they develop the story here, although Root is probably going to be the underlying antagonist of the season it would seem that these guys are going to be the more immediate threat to Finch and Reese, this season Elias and HR.

What I found quite interesting about Denton Weeks was his question to Finch, right before he attempted to shoot him he asked can the machine be got to? Finch answered the question like a politician, he didn't really answer it, he simply said that the machine could not be controlled remotely, so I guess that yeah it can be got to as long as you know where it is. I'm going to presume that the machine and its servers are not in the old library which Finch uses as his office and that maybe they are in that town mentioned in the first season which has no Internet or telephone access. That begs a question though, if the machine can not be controlled remotely how does Finch use it? He always said there were no back doors built into the system, and not to mention Root has already hacked it once that we know of.

"Bad Code" was a real step away from the usual procedural of Person of Interest but that didn't detract from my enjoyment at all, I thought this was a solid episode where a a lot of answers were given whilst new ones were also posed. It's nice to see Reese and Finch back together again, although I think Finch's rescue could have been a bit more dramatic. I think next week will be back to Person of Interest as we know it with Reese following a lead dealt by the machine whilst the backing story of the machine and government officials simmers away nicely in the background.

Side Notes;

Don't know why I haven't noticed this before, but although a little on the crazy side, how HOT is Root (Amy Acker), also from Texas in real life incidentally.

Finch has a new roommate thanks to his lavish gift of an apartment to Reese at the end of the first season the dog will have to live with him, time to get the Dutch dictionary out Finch!

Yeah it's worth mentioning again, Amy Acker!!!!

TV Review: HOMELAND - The Smile 2.1

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Homeland had one of the most successful first seasons of all time, proved even further last Sunday when it pretty much wiped the boards at this years Emmy Awards, the first season was brilliant, not only in story but the characters, direction and writing involved were also brilliant, again like Dexter and Person of Interest, Homeland’s second season premiere is one of the most highly anticipated in the Fall season, and rightly so. “The Smile” followed straight on from the Dexter premiere to massive audiences and I have to say it did not disappoint, it was brilliant and I probably enjoyed it more than both of the shows which I have mentioned above.

A lot has been said in the summer on how they were going to top the mightily impressive first season, the writing and characters were so brilliant along with stellar performances from Clare Danes and Damien Lewis that things looked like they couldn’t get any better. Now we know or at least have an idea of where the show is going following this premiere and a good look as to why season two of Homeland may well be even better than the first. It was finally confirmed in the last episode of season one that Sgt Nick Brody (Damien Lewis) was a terrorist, although he still stands by his words “I’m not a terrorist” which he reiterated to Abu Nazir’s aid during this opening episode, reminding them that yes he may work for them and is conspiring against the US government but he does not consider what he does to be an act of terror.

It really puts things out there for you this show, why does a US Marine who went to war for his country now have such strong beliefs against them? He is willing to work along side them and provide them with information, but just how far is Sgt Brody willing to go? It is his lover of Abu Nazir’s son Issa who was killed during a Drone strike which first got him to start changing his views, but now he has that same pulling effect from home as his daughter Dana who in the first season discovered that her father had converted to Islam, it would seem that she is all for it, and actually wants to learn more about the religion herself.

It really is brilliant story telling, and the development which Dana will have during this season is going to be great, will she be the anchor that stops her father going to far? I guess we will wait and see. We also were left wondering at the end of the first season about how Carrie would become involved this year as last season the CIA sacked her after they found out that she had Bi-polar, pretty sure she would have some sort of employment case there but never mind, it’s by the by. They brought her back into the story brilliantly with a mole recruited by her in Baghdad coming out and wanting to speak with her and only her, the CIA have had no other choice but to bring her back in as the mole is the wife of as high ranking person who’s information may be to good to turn up.

That sparked some great scenes showing that although Carrie is quite prepared to put herself back in the field for the CIA she is nowhere near ready for the level of secrecy and involvement of it all, she really seems on the edge and I’ve no doubt some of her own problems will surface during her time in the field. Clare Danes threw herself back into Emmy spots for next years awards along with Damien Lewis in this opening episode as both where brilliant, the scene with Brody and CIA Director David Estes was very nerve wracking, will he get caught? It’s kind of odd to watch because you want Brody to not get caught. Morrina Baccarin (Brody wife) is also back and learned during this episode that her husband is a Muslim, she went a little mad at that after all her war hero husband is inline to become the next American Vice President, it will be good to see what they do with Jessica’s character this season, all of Carrie’s ranting last year did not go unnoticed and maybe she will start to put the pieces together.

I was really impressed with “The Smile” if you hadn’t guessed that already, I actually was late getting into this show during the first season and found it rather tuff going at first but Homeland has now firmly cemented a place into my weekly TV schedule as a must watch along with Dexter and Person of Interest, only thing left now is to see which one of the new shows will be joining them.

TV Review: DEXTER - Are You...? 7.1

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Dexter’s sixth season was admittedly poorer than what we have been used too, but during those final few episodes Showtime pulled off a major coup in agreeing terms with it’s star Michael C. Hall and having him sign up for two more seasons of Dexter, everyone’s favourite serial killer. Season six may have been a poor showing but the final scene of Deb walking in right as Dexter plunged his knife into the chest of Travis Marshall left fans both old and new gasping for air at the though of what season seven might have in store for us. All summer we have been teased by Showtime of a major showdown between Debra, now Lieutenant of Miami Metro and her adopted brother Dexter, aka The Bay Harbour Butcher, season 7 premiered with “Are You…?” to massive audiences and as promised it did not disappoint in any way shape or form.

Starting in a completely different vain from what I was expecting, the show recapped on the events of season 6 before braking into the season premiere with Dexter frantically driving along the freeway towards Miami International airport, “oh no”, Deb has gone and done it I thought, she has reported Dexter to Miami Metro and he is going on the run, turns out that was not the case at all, following his check in we were taken back to the final scene of season 6 and the promised showdown between Dexter and Debra, from there this episode just got better and better with the final scene again leaving us gasping for air and a real taste of what we can look forward to in the coming episodes.

It seems that Dexter is at his best when he’s not contemplating whether or not he should be a serial killer, the seasons before this (notably five and six) where Dexter has been questioning his Dark Passenger have not been as good, yet this opening episode of season 7 proves that Dexter is best when he is having to scramble, think about it, in season 2 Doakes was well onto Dexter and that is up there as one of the best seasons of Dexter ever, why? Because Dexter was caught out and every episode was a constant battle in order for him to stay one step ahead of the game, now, even bigger than Doakes, Debra knows, not just about Travis Marshall (who she is now an accessory too) but the fact that her brother is a serial killer and her father, also a respectable law man trained him in how not to get caught.

What I have always really enjoyed about Dexter are the flashback involved, if you remember I only started watching in season 5 at which point there were no real flashbacks, just moments where Harry (James Remar) would appear and have a conversation with Dexter, they were also brilliant but when I was catching up with seasons one and two during the summer the flashbacks to Deb and Dexter’s childhood were brilliant and season 7 has brought all of those back, Deb now knows why she could never have a dog in the house for instance. I’m really looking forward to seeing how these go through the season and it was also brilliant to see Debra taking herself back to season one and how she was thrust up in plastic on Rudy’s table, things where falling into place throughout the whole episode.

As always we were introduced to the season seven protagonist, this year it’s Ukrainian mobsters, one who Dexter killed during this episode and the others who will now no doubt be paying a visit to Miami to find out who bumped off one of their own in an airport departure lounge, a little unrealistic in how Dexter got away with it but at least he used a fake passport, doesn’t count for the CCTV that would be littered all over the airport but never mind it was fun all the same. Who will be the protagonist though? Ukrainian Mobsters? Debra? No doubt the mobsters will be involved but in season 2 Dexter’s main focus was always on Doakes and the investigation by Lundy, I doubt that he will kill his own sister and the fact that she helped him cover up the murder of Travis Marshall makes it harder for her to now go to police, she is involved in the murder as much as he is, she even bought the gasoline to set the fire.

As always with Dexter there are going to be side story’s, the first to mention is Masuka’s dick of an intern Lewis, who had my suspicions going last season, he seems to have some sort of personal hate campaign against Dexter sending him the hand from the Ice Truck Killer investigation and then in this episode cancelling one of his back accounts (I suppose the point may be revealed later), don’t really get that as yet. Then you have LaGuerta, she found the blood slide at the scene of Travis Marshall, why she chose to conceal it as apposed to just having Masuka run the prints is anyone’s guess, remember she has never been convinced that Sgt Doakes was the Bay Harbour Butcher.

The season seven premiere delivered everything that it promised throughout the summer, only I was expecting maybe a little more of a dramatic showdown between Dexter and Debra in the church, the pacing was brilliant though and we now can look forward to a full season of Dexter ducking and diving, trying to convince Debra that there is good inside of him, after all he only kills certain kinds of people, roll on next weeks “Sunshine and Frosty Swirl” I can’t wait.

TV Review: SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND Starring Andy Whitfield

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As you know there really is not much on TV right now, of late I have been filling in my time with box sets such as Dexter seasons one and two as well as the same from Breaking Bad, on a weekly basis I’m watching only Falling Skies season 2 and have decided to keep two more seasons of Dexter and Breaking Bad until they have wrapped for their upcoming seventh and fifth seasons respectively. I got home from work late to yet again nothing on TV and decided to turn to a DVD box set which I’ve had sitting for quite some time now, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, earlier in the year I watched Spartacus: Vengeance which quickly became my favorite show on TV all be it a different actor playing Spartacus. After one episode of Blood and Sand I was hooked on what turned out to be an ultra violent show with blood and gore a plenty.
 
I think too many people took this show a little too seriously, it is what it is really. Fair enough it’s not exactly historically correct (or so I’ve been told) but I didn’t really care, there was enough in storyline, acting ability, sex, and of course out and out violence to more than keep my interest. This opening season sees the rise of Spartacus a Thracian persuaded to join the Roman auxiliary to fight the Gatae by Legatos Claudius Glaber, however Glaber goes back on his word and switches his interest to the Mithridates in order to gain higher standing with the Roman Senate, it’s a move which the Thracian’s don’t take kindly and a soldier with no name is condemned to death in a Gladiator ring whilst his wife Sura is sold into slavery. The soldier refuses to be defeated and kills the four Gladiators sent to execute him becoming a favorite of the Capua crowd, he is sold to Batiatus (John Hannah) and begins life as the most famous Gladiator of them all, Spartacus.
 

I didn’t really know anything about the actors involved in Spartacus before I started watching but they very quickly get your attention here, whether that’s because of all the naked scenes or just the brilliant blood thirsty violence that’s on display I’m not sure but Spartacus himself, the late Andy Whitfield did put in a brilliant performance as the Thracian warrior and added real believability to his character, Andy actually picked Liam McIntyre to be his replacement in the latest season of the show. Also putting in the other noteworthy performance was British actor John Hannah, who plays Batiatus, the dominoes of the house, dropping F-bombs as there often called on the Internet Hannah puts Batiatus across brilliantly as the power crazy Dominoes wanting to better himself in politics and become the Magistrate with one eye firmly on Rome, his ruthlessness is brutal for such a little guy it’s often hard to believe that the physically superior Gladiator’s didn’t jump him before Spartacus encouraged them too, the reason? Before Spartacus all Gladiators in the house were fighting to take the crown of champion of Capua, a most prestigious award and one that could elevate their status in the house of Batiatus and even win them their freedom.
 
Crixus (Manu Bennett) is the champion of Capua throughout most of this season, mostly due to the fact that it’s a title that does not interest Spartacus, his only concern is that of his wife Sura and her safe return. Once given the encouragement of course Spartacus takes the mantle defeating one of Capua’s most feared Gladiators and the man who even defeated Doctore (Peter Mensah), Spartacus takes the crown and so continues the bickering between he and Crixus. I don’t want to go into to much story, obviously that will give the game away if you haven’t seen the show but its also available in history (on Wikipedia) as the show does follow the journey of Spartacus, this is the beginning and the story behind why he lead such a massive and successful slave rebellion during a time when the Romans reigned supreme.
 

I often wonder when watching shows and movies like Spartacus, Gladiator, Rome and 300 if things really were that brutal back then, they certainly lived in a very harsh environment and I suppose the shows and movies are based on real life events so it must have been as bad if not worse for people in slavery, or those who lived free lives but did not have a high standing within the Roman government, it seems if you lived in Rome you were wealthy, if you were a Dominoes you had high standing, if you were a Magistrate same goes, these people were untouchable and free to do as they pleased regardless of repercussions on those of a lesser standing.
 
Spartacus: Blood and Sand may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I certainly enjoyed it as I did with Vengeance and God’s of the Arena. For me this is a show where you can simply sit back, relax and enjoy the excitement on the screen as the back stabbing on all levels builds to one brilliant finale where Spartacus does exactly as instructed by his wife, kills them all.

Movie Review: BLITZ (2011) Starring Jason Statham

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Blitz is a movie which I have known about for a good while now, and to be honest I’ve never really felt the urge to watch it, mainly because it’s a British movie and typically the sort of thing I don’t care for to much. However thanks to the folks down at Lovefilm HQ this ended up being my latest Blu-ray rental. I found myself with a couple of free hours (unusually) the other day and decided to take advantage giving Jason Statham’s latest (almost) kick ass action fest a run for its money.

Starring: Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, Aidan Gillen, Zawe Ashton, David Morrissey and Luke Evans

The Plot

Jason Statham plays Detective Sergeant Tom Brandt, a cop who has nothing in his life other than alcohol, currently suffering from what he describes as blackouts he is in therapy after catching three youths trying to break into his car, Brandt decides that to arrest them just isn’t enough and proceeds to beat the youths to within an inch of their life with a hockey stick. Then things get worse as there is a cop killer on the loose and he seems to be targeting the station where Brandt works, problem is they know who the perpetrator is, they just need to find the evidence to charge him.

The Verdict

If it’s realism that you are after, then in terms of violence and what London “really” looks like Blitz will serve you very well, it’s a gritty dark humoured police thriller with Jason Statham doing what he does best, putting on a gruff voice, drinking and kicking ass whilst hurling abuse at his superiors. However that’s where the realism in Blitz ends, don’t get me wrong it was a very enjoyable movie and coming from someone who doesn’t normally like British East End type flicks that’s saying something, but what Blitz didn’t get right was the scenes with the police.

Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones / The Wire) is brilliant as the psychotic villain, he comes across really well, but its just a shame that a little more of why he turned out wanting to kill cops wasn’t involved at the beginning, my guess would be that he is a no one, a loner who simply wanted to make a name for himself. Thing is Gillen is the Blitz, or at least that’s the nickname he affords himself and after he dispatches three cops he is arrested, now one killing was dead of night, no witnesses, the other through the day, loads of witness, both of those are shots to the head. His final one before arrest, bludgeoning the Chief Inspector with a hammer, he then proceeds to be sick all over him. Police complain when the Blitz is allowed to walk free, as they have no solid evidence.

Realism? I don’t think so, first off The Blitz is arrested for the murder of three cops, the clothing he is wearing would be seized from him before he is placed into a police cell, here he wears the same clothing all the way through with no hint they are going to seize it. Second, he has fifty grand cash on him, police know he does not work and therefore has no means to be carrying that sort of money, it would be seized from him under the proceeds of crime act and weather charged or not he wouldn’t be given it back. Third, the biggest mistake of all, the one which would have put him in prison, DNA, yes, the police claimed to have none, hold on, after killing the chief he was sick on him, isn’t that DNA? Crime solved.

Don’t let any of that put you off, I suppose you could say I spoke to someone in the know, or maybe not. Blitz is actually a really good cop thriller, especially for a British movie, unlike Hollywood there are no brash over the top action sequences or explosions just good old hard as nails kick arse, but even Statham shows that his acting abilities extend beyond that of a martial arts expert as his dialogue in this movie is actually pretty good, especially with his superior Detective Sergeant Porter Nash (Paddy Considine, The Bourne Ultimatum).

To cap it off if its A-List Hollywood kick ass you are after then Blitz probably won’t cut it, you’d be far better off watching Statham in The Mechanic or The Transporter, but if you care for gritty darkly humours drama thrillers then Blitz will be right up your street.

The Music

Brilliant actually, really raw and grimy garage mixed with some techno, primarily used during the chase scenes, the opening title music is particularly gripping, and sets you up well for 1 hour and 30 minutes of good old fun.

Would I watch it again?

You know what? I think I would, Blitz is something you can stick on and not have to think to vigorously about, and I enjoyed it.

TV Review: SONS OF ANARCHY - Pilot 1.1

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Sons of Anarchy is a show which I have never really given much thought too, I know its immensely popular, obvious when its just been renewed for a sixth season. Away from never giving it much thought, I never really knew what it was about other than some dudes riding motorbikes, I had visions of handle bar moustaches on guys riding big American choppers (please don't take that the wrong way). It premiered back in 2008, what was I watching back then? Lost would have been top of my list right about that time followed very closely by Prison Break, then I didn't have a blog so watching pretty much everything that was on TV was not really of interest to me, now though? It's a different story I can't get enough TV and right now as you  know there really is not to much on TV, that's about to change I know but in the mean time I decided to put my LOVEFiLIM account to some use, they have the full four seasons of Sons of Anarchy available to view instantly, it's one of their services I have never used (usually just get Blu-rays through the door) but I have to say not only was I impressed with LOVEFiLM instant but also Sons of Anarchy.

I really didn't know what to expect from the show, I've never really read much on it so had no idea of storyline or plot. I have to say I was pretty impressed with both as well as the actors and characters involved, in the "Pilot" alone we are introduced to a lot of people all of whom it would seem are going to be central to the plot. It is the biker gang extravaganza I thought but with many different layers, from family drama to kick ass action. What I didn't expect was the gangster side of the storyline, I think that along with Sons of Anarchy's two leading men Ron Perlman and Charlie Hunnam are the two things which impressed me most, bikers are a pretty serious bunch and let's be honest we all know they like a beer or two, here we see all of that including the more humorous side of things which really helps to lighten up what can be pretty intense drama.

The story? SAMCRO, Sons of Anarchy Motorcylcle Crew Redwood Original, that's the name of the group of outlaw bikers who by day sit around their club, drinking beer or they are out riding their bikes, by night they are black market gun runners dealing in anything from pistols to high end assault rifles, they have the corrupt local Sheriff in their pocket and the whole town of Charming, California know they rule the roost. The reason they get away with it all? They look after their own, kind of give back to the community in a way. The show follows the life of the gang of course but more importantly Jackson "Jax" Teller who's father set them up years earlier with his pal Clarence "Clay" Morrow, Jax's father is not around these days and Clay has been rather quick to jump into the bed of his so called pal, that's ok though, biker rules I think, as long as Clay looks after his missus Gemma Teller (Katey Sagal).

The "Pilot" episode, although introducing us to a lot of people focuses primarily on Jax, the now Vice President of SAMCRO and soon to take the reigns as President. But, is that what Jax really wants? His newborn son is ill in hospital and in the mean time he finds a book which his father had started to write questioning the morals of SAMCRO and their involvement in the black market gun trade. Jax is beginning to question the morals of the gang himself, a move which doesn't sit well with his hard ass mother or Clay who needs to train him to be a "man". This episode starts with the SAMCRO warehouse full of guns being blown up by their rivals, Mexican gang "The Mayans", it's basically revenge from their on in for the Sons of Anarchy crew most of whom are completely nuts and will pretty much do anything to cement their reputation as tough guy Harley Davidson riders. I have no doubt that the story arch will involve Jax eventually becoming president, and maybe even move SAMCRO in a different criminal direction than what we have seen so far.

That backing crew who Jax and Clay have are a pretty impressive bunch though and all the actors involved really hold their own. I hadn't realised that Jax (Charlie Hunnam) is actually from Newcastle, England, exactly where I'm from, boy done good I suppose you could say considering he used to be in a local kids TV show named Byker Grove, and no, it had nothing to do with people on bikes, actually I never watched it so I couldn't tell you what it was about, but I'm pretty sure the budget didn't extend to Harley's. Charlie Hunnam does really well to disguise his Geordie accent, were known up here for our broad (almost Scottish) twang, and throughout the first two episodes of Son's I would never have guessed that the guy was from Newcastle.

This really was an impressive "Pilot" episode, one which set the series up well, giving us many different characters to chew the fat over, don't get me wrong it's not the best show on TV but like Spartacus this is good fun for guys, yeah your girlfrind or wife may not care for it to much other than looking at Charlie Hunnam without his clothes on, but trust me that's as far as their interest would probably go because Sons of Anarchy is a show about men being men, who just happen to all be hard asses and slightly crazy. I loved it. 

Movie Review: DIE HARD 4.0 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD Starring Bruce Willis

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Yeah, sorry I haven’t been around for the last couple of days, but hey, I do have other stuff to do in the “real world” away from this blogging lark. Never mind normality of posting should restore soon (next week) as all the good TV is about to start. Come here often? Then you know that I have not been watching much TV lately, still though I have had plenty of movies to get through including this surprise addition to the Die Hard franchise which I originally saw a few years ago, this time around I caught it on TV and have to say I enjoyed it every bit as much as I did the first time round.
 
Starring: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant and Maggie Q
 
The Plot
 
It’s yet another boring day at the office for New York veteran detective John McClane, that is until the FBI don’t have anyone around in their local field office to go pick up a computer hacker who may be responsible for hacking their Cyber Crime Division. Who gets the job? You guessed it, John McClane, however law enforcement are not the only people after young computer Hacker Farrell (Justin Long) who helped a psycho cyber terrorist out with some computer code which would help him pretty much shut down the US. Arriving at the scene to pick up Farrell shots begin to get fired, McClane gets the kid out but is the new technology involved all a little to much for him?
 
The Verdict
 
First off, is it just me or does Bruce Willis keep getting cooler the older he gets? A 50 something guy who still kicks serious ass and shouts Yippe Ki Yay Motherf***** like he is in his early 30’s. You gotta hand it to Bruce the guy can still kick it with the kids and teach them a thing or two about being cool while he’s at it.
 

As for Die Hard 4.0, or Live Free or Die Hard, depending on whether or not you watched the American release of the movie, you get pretty much what you would expect from a Die Hard movie, loads of action along with some witty one liners. Willis, as we know is good at the one line comedy act, add in funny man Justin Long then you have a pretty good winning formula, especially as Long shows here that he is no one trick pony, action, comedy, drama, he can handle them all and does a great job in this movie. It’s a proper action movie just like the original Die Hard franchise, only this time its been updated to give it that 21st century feel. It doesn’t take that feel over the top though, the CGI is handled well and most of the combat action is done hand to hand as it would have been in the originals with people doing real stunts, it certainly adds to the realism.
 
In an action movie you need a good bad guy, or girl of course and in Die Hard 4.0 we are provided with both. I’ll be honest I’m not the biggest Timothy Olyphant fan, here the guy does ok but he is more the stand and shout the order to his “runners” with guns type of guy. The real bad girl kick ass action comes of course from Maggie Q, she has done it plenty times before (see Nikita and Mission Impossible III) and certainly hands Mr Willis his ass on a plate in this movie. Maggie is the real villain here for me, Mr Olyphant is way to posh to pull this kind of stuff off, although he is very good a staring intensely at things or people.
 
I say this all the time when doing movie reviews but here it is again, if its a popcorn Saturday night on the sofa you want and you can’t be bothered to use your brain to much then Die Hard 4.0 will be right up your street.
 
Would I watch it again?
 
Oh yes, you can be sure of that.

More evidence that Bruce Willis is a funny guy.

Sorry about the quality;

TV Review: FALLING SKIES Season 2 The March To Charleston

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Season 2 of TNT’s Falling Skies premiered to quite good audiences, thanks to a solid first season the show had begun to gather momentum, I decided that to keep up with the US on this was a waste of my bandwidth and I should just hang for it to premiere four weeks later on the UK’s FX network. Following the season 1 finale I hadn’t really decided whether I would watch the second or not, but I have to say I’m pleased I did as Falling Skies has now been renewed for a third season and as promised TNT ramped up the action and story in this second season and they have firmly cemented it as one of my favourite non fall shows, essential summer viewing when all of our regular favourites are away.

At the end of that first season Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) willingly got into an alien spacecraft for reasons unknown, season 2 sees him return to Human resistance group the 2^nd mass, any explanation? Of course not, Tom has just been tucked away on an alien ship for the last three months and he doesn’t know why. I was expecting answers to this but actually I don’t care that they didn’t come because this second season of Falling Skies was even better than the first in my opinion. This season introduced a new angle to the Skitters who were the season one protagonists, the alien foot soldiers who the 2^nd mass were fighting or hiding from on a daily basis. Turns out the Skitters were kids who had been harnessed by the aliens when they invaded other planets, in season 2 they wanted to stage a fight back, a section of them formed a resistance group and communicated with Commander Weaver and Tom Mason through Tom’s son Ben, Their plan? To kill their overlords and then co-exist as one big happy family.

The 2^nd mass however have other plans, get to Charleston, a town they know is occupied by military and where a new civilisation has been started, kind of like Terra Nova, just this time were not 85 million years in the past. I think what I enjoyed about season 2 was the fact they were on kind of a road trip, the 2^nd mass didn’t find themselves bogged down in once location too often and like season 2 of The Walking Dead that added to the danger that was on offer from Mech’s and Skitters, although Mech’s really didn’t feature to heavily in the second season I only recall seeing them in the opening battle which was probably one of the best in the entire season.

As with most new season, Falling Skies introduced some new characters to the mix, first was an impressive new addition Jamil Dexter (The Killing’s Brandon Jay McLaren) a voice of some authority in the 2^nd mass ranks and also a handy mechanic, however no sooner did his story get going they killed him off, I thought a bigger named actor may have been granted a little more screen time than the five or six episodes he was treated too.

If I had to say anything about the second season it would be the story line involving Charleston, I have no problem with it per-se but right from the beginning (or at least mid way) of the first season the mission for the 2nd mass has always been to get to Charleston, they finally get there at episode six or seven, however they find that Charleston is not all it was cracked up to be, they have formed a government with Arthur Manchester (Lost’s Terry O’Quinn) as President, he has helped form a military and the citizens of Charleston find themselves some what oppressed, not allowed to leave the confines of the city which will be the US Capital when order is restored.  The 2^nd mass, being on their own for such a long time don’t take lightly to being treat this way, they have countless run in’s with both Manchester and the military before finally deciding that the city walls of Charleston are not really for them.

All that brought about what season 2 was really setting up, the march into season 3 and possibly many more for this show. Earlier in the season Ben Mason (Connor Jessup) had decided that he didn’t belong with the 2^nd mass and much to Tom’s dislike he took off to go live with the rebel Skitters in order to help them kill their overlords. That’s where this got interesting but it should maybe have been introduced into the story a little sooner. The apparently “safe” Charleston was very easily breached by Ben and a bunch of his Skitter pals in the final episode, he came to inform them all of some laser gun (which is way to geeky for me to remember the name of) that was going to be used by the over lords to kill them all. The shift then came about and it looked like Charleston was not the be all and end all of the story and focus should probably have been put onto this laser gun thingy mabob a little sooner, at least then we could have had time to build to it.

Thinking those would be the final scenes of the second season we were dealt another surprise. Hal Mason (Drew Roy) had been knocked unconscious during the battle to destroy the laser gun (I’m starting to sound way too geeky now, that’s three times) and woke up in a room on his own, even after the 2^nd mass had agreed to keep an eye on him, he had one of those weird alien worms (sounding geeky again!) crawling out his eye and then back into his ear with a real creepy “let me get my mission started” smile on his face. So you can be sure that Hal is going to be worth keeping an eye on during the third season. Then just as the gun (I’ll leave the geeky bit out this time) is destroyed loads of things drop from the sky one of which turns out to be a space ship (seriously I’m not a geek) and another new alien steps out, roll credits. Season three will no doubt be bringing us the answers, who are the new aliens? Are they friends are foes? Maybe that gun was pointing up to keep them away, who knows?

One thing is for sure Falling Skies done a great job of cementing its reputation for me during its second season and I look forward to what season three has to offer, especially as the 2^nd mass would seem set to leave Charleston meaning that its once again going to be a bit of a road trip.

Blu-ray Movie Review: THE NEXT THREE DAYS Felt Like The Next Three Weeks

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Getting time to myself on days off seems to becoming more of a regular occurrence lately, this is the second time in the last few weeks where I’ve had some time to kick back and relax, what did I do with that time? I took it upon myself to watch my latest LOVEFiLM rental The Next Three Days, a movie which I’ve heard plenty good things about but never really felt that inclined to watch. Turns out my initial thought was probably the right one because although this movie tells a very good story I just didn’t really enjoy it all that much.

Starring: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Ty Simpkins and Michael Buie

The Plot

John Brennan (Crowe) is your everyday average guy, a school teacher who comes home to his loving wife and son every night for the perfect family life. That is until one day police storm the house and arrest his wife Lara (Banks) for the murder of her boss, with the evidence of fingerprints and motive stacked against Lara she takes the easy way out and attempts suicide whilst locked up in prison. Losing all faith in the American justice system and believing his wife to be innocent John devises a plan to break Lara out so they can all be together again as a family.

The Verdict

So, John Brennan breaks bad, just like Walter White (Bryan Cranston) in AMC’s Breaking Bad, mild mannered school teacher Brennan is thrown into a situation which forces him to become a bad ass guy who carries a gun and makes shady deals in dodgy neighbourhoods. Don’t take all that as great though, although the action towards the end of this movie is Die Hard like neo noir, the plot takes to long to set up and at over two hours long I fear you may get bored.

Since watching this movie I’ve seen a whole host of reviews, some good, some bad, some mediocre. I have to agree with the latter “mediocre” would sum this movie up pretty good, I wouldn’t say I was blown away at all and like I’ve mentioned in the title of this post it really felt like the movie was longer than it needed to be, for me by the time we got to the main meat of the story I was bored and frankly didn’t really care anymore. I don’t think it’s because The Next Three Days has a bad story line I just think that maybe I’m more inclined to watch a more explosive thriller of a movie, Russell Crowe in Gladiator for instance.

I wouldn’t say that I’m a massive fan of Russell Crowe but he does do a very, very good job in this movie and shows how good of an actor he really is. His co-star and wife Elizabeth Banks is also brilliant, I don’t know to much about her but she is very good and very attractive. I didn’t see much point in Liam Neeson’s role here, the only man who ever escaped the prison where Crowe’s wife is holed up, I like Neeson I really, really do but for what he done here anyone could have played the role really. I’ve seen this movie likened to 1993’s The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford, for me that movie and its follow up US Marshall's were better, or at least I enjoyed them more.

It's not a bad movie, nor is it a bad story but I think they could have done with reining in the length of it a little.

Would I watch it again?

At over two hours long with a very deep plot I don’t think I would watch this again, I don’t think there would be anything to see that I didn’t catch first time around and I always have plenty other movies to watch. So, no is the short answer to that one.

 

Movie Review: THE BOURNE LEGACY - Guest Post

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From the opening sequences of Calgary Alberta’s snow-swept mountain ranges to later panoramic shots of the Philippines crystal blue waters, director Tony Gilroy holds nothing back in presenting us with an absolute visual feast as we are taken along through his masterful, quasi-adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s novel of the same name.

Joining the cast this time around and no stranger to the action genre is Jeremy Renner, taking on the role of Aaron Cross. This is Renner at his absolute best. Nothing is overdone as he artfully portrays what could otherwise be the stereotypical top-secret government spy role. Renner is joined by Rachel Weisz who plays Dr. Marta Shearing. Weisz does her best to encapture the emotion of Shearing, who’s whole world is turned inside-out as she is thrown into a deadly brew of government cover-up and espionage, but ultimately falls short to Renner. Weisz seems to get lost in her portrayal of concern and distress. Instead of evoking a sense of empathy, she often appears remedial and repetitive and her features only shift slightly in her plight to escape the films antagonist, Eric Byer played by Edward Norton. Norton does a remarkable job with what is given to him. Instead of being an archetype to the villain role, Norton is able to emulate a man who is without grudge and simply tasked with doing his job for the CIA.

The Bourne Legacy starts with Aaron Cross, agent number 5, making his way across craggy mountainscapes on a training mission to rendezvous with another fellow Outcome (this film’s Treadstone) agent, Number 3, played by Oscar Isaac. However, things go wrong when Byer initiates the termination of all Outcome agents as to quell a potential high-level government foible. A drone is dispatched to eliminate both Cross and Number 3 and through auspicious chance, Cross is able to escape. Gilroy handles this and the rest of the movies action sequences adeptly. Explosions aren’t overplayed and the chase scenes (one in particular clocking in just at 20 minutes) aren’t derivative or tacky.

Meanwhile Eric Byer works with a team of CIA agents as they attempt eliminate Cross who has come to the rescue of Shearing, another casualty of the Outcome cover-up. From here, and just as with the other entries into the series, the film takes us abroad. To the surfeited neon streets of the ritzy Gangnam suburb of Seoul to the impoverished alley-ways of Manilla, Gilroy makes the newest entry into the franchise feel right at home amongst its globe-trotting predecessors. The same grittiness of Gilroy’s Michael Clayton is present here and Renner does an amazing job at conveying that there is always something more complex and serious going on underneath the iconic intensity he brings to all of his roles.

Legacy does not hold anything back in its action. Throughout the film’s numerous fight sequences, Gilroy skillfully manages to hold his audience’s suspension of disbelief. Whether Cross is bounding over the steel roofs of Manila in pursuit of the ever-distressed Shearing or performing the most complex set of martial arts maneuver s you’ve ever seen, we are right there with him, cheering him on. The science behind Outcome’s genetic meddling is just credible enough for us to not question whichever wildly, teetering on over-the-top, direction Cross and Shearing careen into next.

One can’t help but wonder how many more films can arise from this franchise without the presence of, well…Bourne. Regardless, Bourne or no Bourne the latest edition into the franchise achieves just what it set out to do. Deliver an intelligent, sharp and thought-out action film. It seems that in stepping out of his writing shoes Tony Gilroy has found the perfect fit in directing and if his first stroll in the Bourne franchise is any litmus test, he’ll be wearing them for quite a while.

Zack Mandell is a movie enthusiast, writer of movie reviews, and owner of www.movieroomreviews.com which has great information on actors such as Jeremy Renner. He writes extensively about the movie industry for sites such as Gossip Center, Yahoo, NowPublic, and Helium.

TV Review: REVOLUTION – Pilot 1.1 on NBC From J.J. Abrams

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Amidst all the new and returning American TV shows this fall the one which I have been most excited about is Revolution, the new high concept vehicle brought to us from J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot production company. Mr Abrams is on somewhat of a sticky wicket right now, he really needs something to go his way, amongst the things I have watched lately his only success has been Person of Interest on CBS which is on it’s way back for a second season at the end of this month. Other than that Abrams has seen shows like The Event, FlashForward and Alcatraz cancelled after one season thanks to poor audiences, with his long running hit Fringe due to wrap with one more season he could really do with Revolution being the runaway hit which grabs everyone’s attention just like Lost did back in it’s day. Second to J.J needing this to work out NBC could really do with something which captures and audience right now too, as we all know what happened with their latest offering Awake.

They went all out on this “Pilot” episode as is usually expected from anything to do with Abrams, they even got movie Director John Faverau in to direct the first episode, a lot of what we saw in this episode was really the kind of scenery you see in movies and was shot really well, think overgrown cities in Will Smith’s I Am Legend, the way the vines wrap themselves around buildings, abandoned cars litter the overgrown streets and time seems to have come to a stand still, that’s the kind of scenes we get here. Away from the cities people have created little villages/settlements for themselves in vacant houses or simply just pitched tents in fenced off fields, back to a more basic time before the all important invention of electricity. Actually watching this opening episode cast my mind back to the summer and Danny Boyle’s extravagant London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, the staging regarding time before the Industrial Revolution had a very similar feel in what they were trying to portray.

To Revolution then, what did I think? I would say that I think the show looks like it’s going to be ok, not great but definitely worth your time on a weekly basis, we got introduced to so many people here in this opener that its hard to remember all their names and what their involvement may or may not be, but I’ll try and cover things in order that we don’t miss any key moments. I suppose the first of those would be the opening sequence where a frantic Ben (Tim Guinee, Person of Interest, The Fix) runs through his door announcing that “its all about to go off”, his daughter is sitting watching TV whilst his wife Rachael prepares their evening meal. Ben has in his possession a very modern USB stick which before all the power goes off he manages to download some data too, before calling his brother Miles (Billy Burke) to inform him that “It’s all going to turn off and never turn back on again”. Just then, all electrical appliances cease to work, mobile networks go down, cars bring themselves to a standstill and planes drop out the sky.

We then pick up 15 years later, when the villages I mentioned above have been formed, some people have remained living in the city’s and others including Captain Tom Neville (Breaking Bads Giancarlo Esposito) have formed the feared “Militia”, a seemingly renegade bunch who are after Ben and his brother Miles and we know very little about at this point. Ben is killed thanks to the efforts of his son Danny (Graham Rogers) who then takes off with his sister Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) in order to find their Uncle Miles in Chicago. Kind of a quick killing I suppose, really didn’t care much because at that point I really didn’t know enough about the characters, never mind I suppose its not really going to matter, I’m guessing he’s not that big of a part in the story (although according to IMDB he is in more than the “Pilot” episode, flashbacks obviously).

I’m intrigued enough to continue watching, although batteries no longer working would suggest energy source problems rather than electricity, I’m sure all will be revealed, probably not this season though, that’s what J.J will be hoping. There were a couple of nice twists, just enough to keep you with bated breath. The fact that Miles was obviously once friends with Captain Neville who now wants him would suggest that one or both of them know something that no one else does, the lady in the house situated in the middle of nowhere who has an identical USB device to that of the one Ben had in the opening sequence and uses it for electricity in her attic, before she finally boots up her computer to inform someone of the Militia’s presence at her home, could be interesting.

It’s definitely enough to keep me watching, I just hope we don’t end up with another FlashForward or The Event where it’s cancelled after one season and no answers ever come, we’ll see how things progress when the show premiere’s on NBC September 17^th, I’ll speak about it again there. What did you think of Revolution? Will you be watching? Or, do you think this is another high concept idea which will last no longer than one season? Your comments and discussion are welcome below as always.

TV Review: REVOLUTION - Chained Heat 1.2

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Rolling on with Revolution, the new high concept drama from NBC and J.J. Abrams, following the “Pilot” episode I wouldn’t say that I way awe inspired or anything, I thought, yeah, that was ok, let’s see what happens next week. Now I’ve had that chance as this week saw Revolutions second episode “Chained Heat” air on NBC. I Think it’s hard sometimes to become instantly attached to characters after one episode of a show, following this second episode I still wouldn’t say that I feel emotionally attached to any of the characters on display, Charlie Matheson for instance, I couldn’t care less right now whether or not she finds her brother Danny, this is probably a good thing though, because lets face if she does find him then it won’t be until the end of the first season by which point I think people may have switched off.

I love what Revolution is trying to achieve and I love how it is very similar to J.J. Abrams Lost, at least in it’s story, problem is up to now I don’t think Revolution is going to achieve what Lost did, that show set the bar extremely high for this type of concept and everything done now (FlashForward/The Event/Awake) is compared to it, I remember watching Alcatraz at the beginning of the year and feeling the same about that show, I just wasn’t attached to the main characters. Even so I still think Revolution has room to grow, there is after all plenty still to get through.

So, what do we want to know? First off, the biggest question of the show, and its premise, who is responsible for the power going off? It would already seem apparent that the Matheson family in some way shape or form either have something to do with it or they are aware of what caused the problem. The Militia’s General Monroe who worked with the Matheson’s before the lights went out seems well aware of this fact. What caused General Monroe to become the leader of The Militia and such a nasty git for want of a better word? He has now formed the Monroe Republic, who claim to be the good guys out to burn American flags, why does he hate America all of a sudden? Then we have Grace, who we met briefly in the Pilot (although I don’t remember) what relevance does she have to the story? Who are the resistance? How many people have futuristic USB sticks? Are they the resistance? You get my point here, there is still plenty to explore with the off shoots seemingly looping back to the central plot, but we have said this before.

I have a couple of issues, some of the acting this far has seemed rather hammy, particularly from Tracey Spiridakos, not all the time it just seems to be the points where she is giving a speech to her uncle Miles about how she needs to protect her brother, this episode she did handle shooting that guy whilst also killing the other one very well, I liked the way they showed the flashbacks letting us know where she mustered up the courage from. A couple of Billy Burke’s lines also came over a little hammy during this episode, I don’t remember the exact words but it was when Charlie asked him where he was going, his reply, along the lines of “it’s a great place called mind your own business”. Charlie hasn’t minded it so far, nor do I think she is going to start now.

Another little issue I have is the swashbuckling sword fights, they are pretty kick ass don’t get me wrong but I just don’t find them all that enjoyable, leave swashbuckling to pirates, the cross bows too, at times I feel like I’m watching The Hunger Games. Revolution is doing a great job this far of being (for TV) visually stunning, it really shows that a lot of money has been spent on production, for me “Chained Heat” was better than the Pilot and the added twist at the end of Rachael (Charlie’s mother) still being alive and held captive by Monroe was quite revealing. I just hope that Revolution lives up to the hype that we have all been hearing about running up to the Fall TV season.

TV Review: VEGAS - Episode 1.1 on CBS Starring Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis

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I have to say that out of all the new “Pilot” TV shows coming out of America this Fall, Vegas starring Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis is probably the one which I was least looking forward too, don’t ask me why, I don’t really know. Guess I just thought it was going to be some sort of old town “western” Nevada type thing. I stand here corrected now, as I couldn’t have been more wrong, I was toying with they idea of leaving on Person of Interest (a repeat) but found the effort to reach for my Blu-ray player to check this out and I’m pleased I did because this is actually one of the better Pilots I have seen in a while and it really set Vegas up to look as if it’s going to be a really good show.

Vegas is set back in the 1960’s way before Las Vegas was set up as it is now, it was a simpler time when there were a few casino’s in the area, and most of the land was taken up by ranchers. However, the 60’s was also the time when everyone including the police and town governors were on the take, with the Mob moving in on Vegas to take advantage of the various gambling laws officials decided to look the other way with even the local Sheriff being corrupt. Things quickly go wrong for the small town during this Pilot though and the governors daughter turns up dead and the Sheriff is missing in action, step in Ralph Lamb (Dennis Quaid) a local ranch owner and former military cop who is hard as nails, Lamb really does not care to much for the new Vegas residents and within the first five minutes of the Pilot he is already beating several air traffic controllers to a pulp for letting planes give fright to his heard. With the Sheriff MIA Lamb is asked to take lead on the investigation by the mayor who for his own gains needs the crime solved.

We are introduced now to plenty of characters, joining Lamb on the hunt for the murderer is his brother Jack (Terra Nova’s Jason O’Mara) and son Cale (Billy Lush), their investigation is backed of course by the mayor Anthony “Red” Carvelli (James Russo) and Vegas’ Assistant District Attorney Katherine O’Connell (Carrie-Ann Moss). Their investigation of course does not go without its snags as new Mob boss Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis) has recently rolled into town, the pair meet on mutual grounds to start with, but it quickly becomes apparent that Savino is not in favour of the local Sheriff snooping around unescorted in his plush Savoy Casino.

It's quite amusing that Ralph Lamb who is made Sheriff by the end of this Pilot has been brought on board to help run a more strict law enforcement operation, whilst at the same time Mob boss Savino has been sent to Vegas to straighten out and “clean up” a few unorthodox mob activities, it would seem that Savino to this point will never be directly involved in anything, and on the face of it although Lamb will and does know Savino is corrupt he will have nothing to go on, think Robert De Niro Goodfellas.

I was worried about my enjoyment of the show like I mentioned above, mainly because of the 60’s setting, I have to say that I thought Vegas actually felt at times very current, maybe even more so than Revolution does in it’s Pilot, there was nothing unbelievable about what was being portrayed, yes, a couple of the fight scenes had you laughing and came as a bit over the top, especially as Lamb chased a Hells Angel motorcycle club member on his horse only to catch him and close line him off the bike, funny, and adds to the enjoyment, kind of reminded me of Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies “Hurry up, my horse is getting tired”. The added thump of those punches also adds to the persona of Ralph Lamb being a hard ass.

The Pilot centred on the murder investigation, but succeeded in setting up what should be an interesting battle between Sheriff Lamb and Mob boss Vincent Savino, I would hope that each episode does not involve some sort of police procedural and they concentrate more on the battle between the police and the Mob. Following the Pilot Alcatraz’s Sarah Jones was added to the cast to play a mobsters daughter, so an interesting twist could come in there with Lamb’s free living son Cale and her. I really think Vegas looks ok, I’m wouldn’t say I’m totally sold but I enjoyed this Pilot and hopefully it will be built upon in the second episode “All That Glitters”. How about you? What did you think of Vegas? Your comments and discussion are welcome below as always.