Peaky Blinders Series 3

Original programming by the BBC has grown substantially in recent years thanks to the success of dramas like Sherlock, Luther and Broadchurch. One of the shows thriving in the light of this surge for drama is ‘Peaky Blinders’.

Starring Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman’ series superstars Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy, the latest series of the BBC 2 hit drama ‘Peaky Blinders’ has wowed audiences once again. Starring Murphy as Thomas Shelby, the head of the Birmingham mobsters turned entrepreneurs the Peaky Blinders, the show follows the rise and fall  of the fortunes of the Shelby family as they seek to turn their businesses legal and settle down to a quiet life of ruling Birmingham.

Fraught with danger at every turn this gripping drama is like nothing on British TV at the moment. With fantastic performances from the entire cast, especially Murphy and ‘Harry Potter’ actress Helen McCrory who plays Aunt Polly, the show is enchanting audiences worldwide. The actors wouldn’t shine quite so brightly without the incredible scripts that the writers create. It’s rare to see a TV show that has that many believable twists and turns but ‘Peaky Blinders’ manage to deliver time and time again. It could be because it’s based on a real gang from Birmingham after the war that makes it so enchanting and real but nevertheless there can be no doubt that creator Steven Knight has outdone himself this time with this highly celebrated epic.

The third season of the show begins in spectacular fashion with the wedding of Tommy and the mother of his son, Grace. The whole family was there to celebrate the occasion, including Arthur played by the incredible ‘The Revenant’ actor Paul Anderson, who was recently married to a devout but greedy Christian woman himself. This series focused on Tommy’s upcoming deal with some seedy Russian aristocrats  and the new villain Father John Hughes, played by Paddy Considine. But Tommy’s trip into the Russian underworld doesn’t go as well as he hoped as blood is spilt and events escalate. As his family is threatened, loyalties are questioned and the Shelby women rise up, Tommy finds that once again he is dealing with forces that will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo and grind his family into the dirt.

This series was particularly powerful due to the themes of morality and trust that ran through it. The characters have never been so tested and the Shelby families bond has never been so close to breaking point. Even business deals become strained as Tommy and Alfie Solomons (brilliantly played by the incredible Tom Hardy) butt heads when Tommy becomes frustrated by Alfie’s constant and consistent self preservation. This series we see Tommy as we never have before, driven to the very edge of his limits as his desperation to keep his family safe force him to seek out actions like torture that we’ve never seen him use before. Even John, normally a strict follower of both his brother Tommy and aunt Polly’s wisdom, acts out when an Italian disrespects him. Fevers run high and the furnace of Birmingham only seems to create more problems for our beloved gangsters.

The writers truly have hit their stride with this series and I honestly can’t wait for the next series. If the continued rise in quality continues at the rate it’s going now, the next installment of the hit show should be nothing short of epic.

Pacific Rim

When ‘Pacific Rim’ first came out in 2013, I didn’t really hear about it until it became a box office hit and was all over the internet. Even then, I didn’t bother to learn more about it. I knew it starred Idris Elba, who I thought was an incredible actor, but it never really captured my interest. Until, that is, the announcement a few months ago that a sequel would be made starring John Boyega. After falling in love with the London actor after his superb performance as Finn in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’, I knew I wouldn’t want to miss out on him in another epic action packed sci-fi adventure.

So I got my ass in gear and went on to all my online streaming accounts and tried to find one with ‘Pacific Rim‘ and luckily, Amazon Prime didn’t fail me. Now I have to be honest, I went into the film not having the slightest idea what was in store for me. I had some vague notion of robots versus aliens but that was about all I’d gathered over the years. So I was pleasantly surprised that I became so in awe of the storyline and absolutely loved both the novelty and originality of the concept.

The idea of Jaeger’s and their pilots, mentally connected, against great dinosaur like Kaiju, alien monsters that emerge from the deep is one that really sticks in your mind. That’s why one of the things I loved about this film was how stunning the cinematography was, each shot was captivating and the colour schemes were bold and memorable. The shots of the Jaeger’s and the Kaijus, especially the fight scenes, were brilliant and looked amazing.

The casting was epic too. Idris Elba’s performance was strong but evocative and he never, not even for a second, felt like the stereotypical stilted general that so often haunts action films of this nature. His on screen relationship with Rinko Kikuchi who played Mako Mori was intense and left me completely hooked on the story. While Charlie Hunnam was awesome as Raleigh, I have to say for me it was Mako who was at the heart of the film. Even experienced Jaeger pilots Herc and Chuck Hansen played by Max Martini and Rob Kazinsky were left in the shadows by the incredible depth of Mako’s character. Together, with Burn Gorman and Charlie Day’s incredible sidelining moments of comedy, the film came together as a thrilling, cohesive whole thanks to Rinko’s phenomenal performance. But then again, that’s not a surprise from an Oscar nominated actress.

Basically, I really enjoyed this film and I’m really annoyed at myself for not watching it sooner. It had everything: action, emotion, comedy and intense uncertainty. This may be a work of science fiction, but for me the greatest thing about it was the fact the story was so real. The characters were brilliantly developed and incredibly well acted, the useless governments accurate to the extreme, the sacrifice heart breaking but all too familiar and the occasional moments of humour derived and defined by the age old art of having two wise clowns that are both clueless and yet hold the relevant information necessary to saving the world.

This is gonna be a film that I revisit often in the future, especially in the run up to the sequel which I now cannot wait for. If it’s even half as good as the first, then we’re in for a truly sensational viewing experience and I just can’t wait. Hopefully, as time goes on we’ll find out more about the plot which will hopefully feature some familiar characters, but until then I’m content to rewatch ‘Pacific Rim’ and enjoy the spectacle.

X Men: Apocalypse

Having been a huge fan of the X Men franchise since I saw the first live action X Men film back in 2000, I have to be honest and say I look forward to the new release of each film with barely concealed excitement. Especially since the revival of the series starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, who I believe to be two of the finest actors working today.

The new film, ‘X Men: Apocalypse’, stars McAvoy and Fassbender as an Ancient terror known as Apocalypse threatens to destroy the world in a typically narcissistic super villain fashion- in order to build a new one devoted to him as a sort of God. Apocalypse is the first known example of a mutant who was worshipped before being betrayed back in Ancient Egypt by people who were more than a little bit done with his and his followers crap. But, after being woken up in the modern world (well, the 80’s) Apocalypse decides to go for round 2. The dastardly villain (brilliantly portrayed by ‘Star Wars’ star Oscar Isaac) rounds up a group of young followers (enter debutants Archangel, Storm and Psylocke). Apocalypse decides to get Magneto on board too. Fresh from watching his wife and young daughter die, Erik Lehnsherr alias Henryk Gurzsky alias Magneto (superbly played by the incredible Michael Fassbender) is quickly taken in by Apocalypse’s vision of a mutant controlled future. That’s when  Charles Xavier otherwise known as Professor X (a role James McAvoy plays beautifully) gets involved and ends up getting kidnapped by Apocalypse. This causes Mystique and Hank McCoy to get together a team of young misfits to rescue the Professor and save the day.

I know this film didn’t receive the critical acclaim that was expected but to be honest, I really enjoyed it. It didn’t try and do too much, it was well written and most importantly it had just enough heartbreak and humour to get the audience invested. With superb performances from both the returning cast and newbies, I felt the film did a great job of telling the story. I was never bored and although I have to admit I never really felt like Apocalypse was a real threat, or that he’d ever actually succeed, that didn’t stop me from feeling elated when Phoenix kicked ass.

The great thing about the X Men films, and Marvel films in general, is that they always provide you with a few absolutely spectacular scenes that you can’t help but remember. In ‘First Class‘ it was Magneto’s  Bond-esque search for Kevin Bacon and the final battle on the beach; in ‘Days of Future Past’ it was Magneto’s jailbreak courtesy of Quicksilver and the fight on the White House Lawn. In this film, there were so many. Quicksilver (played by Evan Peters, who is absolutely perfect for the role) always has good scenes but here his high speed evacuation of Xavier’s School will forever go down as one of the greatest scenes in Marvel Cinematic History. Combine that with the awesome Striker facility scene featuring a confused and angry Wolverine, the fight between Archangel and Nightcrawler and the final fight scene where Jean unleashes the Phoenix and you have a truly unforgettable film.

In short, I really liked it. I thought it featured some truly great performances, especially from Fassbender and Peters, and was incredibly entertaining. If this marks the start of a new generation of X Men films featuring the younger cast then I am very excited for the future. I can’t help but feel Havok’s death was a little blunt and unnecessary but it seems to be a trend with the X Men films, especially after the frankly disappointing death of Darwin in ‘First Class’. Perhaps the next alternate timeline series of films they make they’ll make better use of their characters, we can but hope.

Captain America: Civil War

Having been a huge Marvel fan for a number of years now, I’ve been incredibly excited about the third installment in the Captain America franchise since it was announced by Marvel. The second Captain America movie, ‘The Winter Soldier’ was by far my favourite film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I had high hopes for the Russo Brothers latest dip into the world of Marvel. And after hearing the lineup of heroes set to star in the film, I couldn’t contain my excitement. I’m a huge fan of the MCU and Cap, Falcon and especially Bucky are my absolute favourites so the idea of the three of them on the same team, fighting together, was immediately something I was on board with.

The film itself was incredible. The action packed airport scene was the most entertaining of any fight scene I’d seen in a Marvel film and the overarching storyline was enthralling and suitably epic. ‘Civil War’ has joined the other two Captain America films as a thrilling spectacle that left me in emotional turmoil. The stunts were stunning (especially Bucky’s parkour), the sad scenes heartbreaking (no I don’t care about Howard I’m worried about Tony ok) and the moments of humour were hilarious (Sam being bitter at Bucky is my new favourite thing).

That being said, the film wasn’t entirely perfect for me. There was very little time spent on team Cap’s reasons for disliking the accords- probably because the government didn’t actually give them much time to read and discuss them but still. There was such discord between why the two teams were fighting that it went completely at odds with the way the film was marketed. You could never be truly 100% on either side as you can agree with both of them and sadly there was never enough opportunity for a compromise to be reached. The whole fight just seemed slightly pointless: Cap would have agreed with an amended version of the accords and Tony’s team were blindly following orders without even bothering to see what was really going on with Bucky. I mean, he managed to live in peace with his plums for 2 years so how much of a danger was he really? Not only that, but I will never forgive Marvel for not giving me the Bucky and Steve hug that I’ve been needing since “I’m with you ’til the end of the line”. Seriously, after all they went through together and as hard as they fought for each other you can’t even give me one little hug?

Basically, they needed to spend more time on the characters. Fight scenes are all very well and good but I can’t get behind heroes kicking ass if I don’t support their reasons for doing it. The only person who had motives that I could fully understand was Sam, he was always gonna have Cap’s back in any fight at any time no matter what. Apart from that, I needed a lot more depth, especially between Steve and Bucky and Steve and Tony. In fact, speaking of Tony, why wasn’t he at Peggy’s funeral? You can’t tell me Howard Stark never introduced his son to Agent Carter? Or even mentioned her?

All in all though, I did really enjoy watching it, and it has to be up there as one of my favourite films. Whether I enjoyed it more that ‘The Winter Soldier’ is debatable, but the Cap films are still winning by a country mile. And if Marvel could use Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie more in future films, that would be great.

Orange is the new Black Season 4

Orange is the new Black is arguably the most successful Netflix Original series ever made. Centering on a privileged white female New Yorker called Piper who enters Litchfield prison after being found guilty of charges of drug trafficking, the series follows the stories of the inmates as they serve their time. What makes this series unique is that the main bulk of the cast are women and a large percentage of them are women of colour. Representation is one of the series biggest strengths and why it is so popular, especially with its American fan base.

Season 3 ended with the majority of the old guards walking out just as the bulk of the prisoners escaped the yard and spent the day relaxing and playing in the lake next to the prison compound. This season opened exactly where it left off last time as the new Warden Caputo called in extra guards to help get the prisoners back on prison grounds just in time for a new batch of prisoners to arrive. This season deals with the fall out of the new overcrowding as the Dominican population grows and we see into the history of series regulars Maria and Blanca. The celebrity chef Judy King also has to find her feet in Litchfield while Alex’s life is saved by the insane Lolly and Poussey and Soso’s relationship grows.

The great thing about this series is that it dealt with a lot of really important topics in a very interesting way. Caputo brings in poorly vetted guards who are allowed to do practically whatever they want to the prisoners, including racially targeted invasive searches and twisted mind games involving dead flies and a baby mouse. The guards of the show have never really been portrayed as the bad guys before, even Pornstache the intolerable asshole wasn’t representative of the entire group but in this season the guards give the viewer every reason to hate them. From forcing the prisoners to fight, not letting the prisoners sleep properly and even forcing them to stand in their own filth with no food or drink for days on end, the guards band together to deny the prisoners even the most basic of rights.

This atmosphere of unhealthy deprivation can’t help but invoke the Stanford Prison  Experiment and makes for unsettling viewing. It comes to something when a rapist becomes one of the best guards but it just really goes to show how completely awful the others are. I can’t be the only one who misses Bennett like crazy (seriously Matt McGorry come back to us) but it looks like things are only going to get worse where the guards are concerned.

But they’re not the only ones having a bad time of it, Piper makes some serious enemies and ends up being taught a powerful lesson that shocks her friends and Nicky is back in Litchfield from max and back on the drugs. Morello’s love life isn’t smooth sailing but nor is Suzanne’s and even Poussey and Soso’s perfect romance isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Basically, no one has a good time this season, least of all the powerless prisoners, especially poor Sophia who spends most of the season in solitary for her own “protection”.

I have to say I loved this series, it was everything I wanted it to be and more. Although some of the scenes with the guards did make for very uncomfortable watching, it was thought provoking television at its finest. My biggest problem with the series was the completely unnecessary, heartbreaking and frankly sickening portrayal of the death of my favourite inmate, Poussey Washington, played by Samira Wiley. Yet another death of an lgbt character for absolutely no reason other than dramatic effect. Poussey was killed by guard brutality just before she was about to get released and start a new life with Soso. As if that wasn’t painful enough, the aftermath of her death shocked me to the core. The treatment of the situation by all involved was sickening and although it disgusted me so much I was 100% rooting for the riot that ended the series I couldn’t help but be left feeling broken by the show. I was in tears, distraught and left thinking about not watching the show again. Poussey was a fantastic example of much needed representation of queer women of colour and the fact she didn’t get the happy ending she so desperately deserved breaks my heart.

Game of Thrones Season 6

Game of Thrones has become a worldwide phenomenon since 2011, when the first series premiered. Based on the bestselling book series by fantasy writer George R.R. Martin, the show follows the fortunes and miseries of the great Houses of Westeros as they fight for power and survival. Throughout the previous seasons the Stark family have been firmly established as the show’s noble heroes and have therefore suffered pretty much every unfortunate disaster that can happen to one family. They’ve been betrayed, beheaded, defenestrated, stabbed, raped, forced into marriages with psycho’s and have pretty much just had a really shitty Autumn. But it’s ok, because Winter is finally here and the status quo is well and truly dead and gone.

This season was definitely one of my favourites purely due to the progress. All of my favourite characters, namely Jon, Dany, Arya and Sansa are kicking ass, taking names and generally giving a great big middle finger to the failed politics of their elders. In fact, if you ignore Bran’s complete failure by inviting the King of the White Walkers in to the home of the Three Eyed Raven then the Starks and Targaryens have had a fairly good season. Sansa and Jon took back Winterfell, Arya killed Walder Frey (in the single most satisfying scene in TV history) and Dany and her dragons are on their way to retake the Iron Throne. Not only that, but the Lannisters are in crisis, King’s Landing is in flames and the North are once again united under Stark banners. Even the Dornish and the Tyrell’s are ready to fight under Targaryen flags. I can’t help but feel like this season gave me pretty much everything I could have asked for, including the customary onslaught of dead bodies. The Freys, the traitorous brothers of the Night’s Watch who killed Jon, King Tommen, Pycelle (finally), Kevan Lannister, the high sparrow and his cult, Lancel bloody-Lannister and, perhaps most importantly of all, Ramsay Bolton. God, that last one well good. I have never felt more proud of Sansa and honestly in that moment she rivalled Arya and Dany as my favourite female character. Although, I have to admit, the deaths of my beloved Ser Loras and Queen Margaery Tyrell hurt a lot. Finn Jones and Natalie Dormer are phenomenal actors and this High Sparrow and The Faith Militant storyline robbed them both of much needed screen time. The Tyrell House has been added to the list of people in Game of Thrones who deserved so much better, although I can’t wait to see Olenna’s face when Dany crushes Cersei.

But the great thing about this season wasn’t just the awesome place it left us in. It gave us absolutely everything I’ve come to expect from Game of Thrones, just when I was beginning to lose interest in the show. I have to admit, last season I was feeling a little bit disinterested, like Dany would never reach Westeros, the Starks were all screwed for sure and the Lannisters were going to get everything they wanted. Not that I don’t like the Lannisters, I love the character of Cersei and Jaime is one of my favourites. I just really want to see them get their asses kicked, that’s all. But this season brought the action big time. The Battle of the Bastards was a spectacle, although I was disappointed that budgeting meant we had to choose between the giant Wun Wun and Jon’s direwolf Ghost. I know special effects are expensive but I feel robbed, I can’t imagine anything sweeter than if it had been Ghost who was the end of Ramsay. But, you can’t have anything and Wun Wun was an incredible addition to the fight sequences.

Basically, the show could not be in a stronger position for next season. With the Starks in the North (and Bran hopefully on his way to confirm the R+L=J fan theory I’ve been spouting since ’09) and Dany and the Greyjoy’s fast approaching on the South coast to join with Dornish and Tyrell forces to crush the Lannisters, I can’t help but feel more than a little excited. Now I just have to maintain that excitement for another year and try not to shed a tear when I think of how proud I am of Arya Stark and her general badassery.

Daredevil Season 1

Marvel studios have been doing fairly well recently with the huge success of their Cinematic Universe. It seems that when it comes to translating comics to the big screen, Marvel have got the right formula as each new project draws in massive numbers to the cinema time and time again. But ownership of the big screen clearly isn’t enough since Marvel forged a partnership with online streaming service Netflix to take over smaller screens the world over. Netflix have been known for their fantastic original programming, with ground breaking shows like ‘Orange is the new Black’, ‘House of Cards’, ‘Sense8’ and the hit docu-series ‘Making A Murderer’; so Marvel seemed to be going for gold when they decided this was the best platform to test the waters when branching out from films to shows. And, with the success among fans of the first season of Marvel’s ‘Agent Carter’ and ‘Agents of Shield’ still going strong, it seemed a match made in heaven.

Matt Murdock, otherwise known by his superhero alias Daredevil, has been one of the most popular Marvel’s heroes since he first appeared in 1964. Despite the somewhat terrible 2003 film starring Ben Affleck that scores a whopping 5.3/10 on IMDB (very kind, in my opinion) Marvel’s new adaptation seems to be off to a much better start.

Starring Charlie Cox (the adorable Tristan Thorne from ‘Stardust’) and boasting an 8.8/10 rating on IMDB, the new series is a fan favourite already. The first season explains how Murdock (Cox) first took up the mantle of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, his training and his war against Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio, ‘Jurassic World’) the man at the helm of a criminal empire who has big plans for the city of Hell’s Kitchen. The plot of the show is a typical Marvel superhero storyline, but you never feel bored. The great thing about the scripts are that the writers feed you Murdock’s background bit by bit, which allows you to have frequent actions scenes while building the emotion with the momentum of the story. By the final episode not only are you completely hooked but you actually care about the characters to the extent that when Daredevil and Fisk finally have a proper fight you’re on the edge of your seat.

Making Daredevil with Netflix was probably one of the smartest decisions Marvel’s made in the past few years. The season was allowed the proper time to mature and was permitted to have a slightly darker tone than Marvel films usually have which made the perfect atmosphere for the story to be told in. The cinematography was stunning and the action sequences, specifically the now famous “hallway scene”, created the perfect mix that made the show irresistable. The characters of Jack, Matt, Karen and, more importantly for me, Foggy were instantly loveable which made the show far more engaging. When the characters were in danger you really felt concerned, especially where Fisk was concerned. Fisk in himself is an especially interesting character as the show spends a lot of time telling his story which gives you a unique insight into his perspective and would have had me questioning whether I might sort of understand where he was coming from. I couldn’t quite get on his side though, since so much time was spent on Matt and Karen’s crusades for justice which had so firmly placed Fisk in the wrong that the characters became polar opposites in a sense. If you were on Daredevil’s side you had to be against Fisk, it was that simple.

But, the most important thing about this show, and Daredevil in general, is that it centres on a disabled superhero. Matt Murdock is a blind man who doesn’t let other people tell him what he can and can’t do and refreshingly spreads the message that you shouldn’t let your inability to see get in the way of you kicking the bad guys ass. After Marvel came under fire from fans who were disturbed at their erasure of other disabilities such as Hawkeyes deafness (in fairness to Marvel, they’re not the only ones doing it, just look at ‘The Hunger Games’, it’s everywhere) so to see the studio spending some serious time and money into putting some form of disabled representation out there was heartening.

All in all, I absolutely loved the first season and I’ll be catching up on the second as soon as my schedule allows! After that maybe I’ll take a look at Marvel and Netflix’s other team up, ‘Jessica Jones’, while I wait with bated breath for the promised Punisher series. Marvel have been doing some fairly incredible work onscreen (I’m still not over how amazing Captain America: Civil War was) and I can’t help but wonder why they can’t carry that back to the comics- yeah Nick Spencer, I’m looking at you and your ridiculous Hydra!Cap storyline!

Anyway, good job with Daredevil Marvel, have 5 stars for your efforts.

The Revenant

‘The Revenant’ is one of those films that film fans are going to be talking about for years. After becoming the film in which Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Academy Award (probably the first of many let’s be honest), the film has sealed its place in movie history. But the Alejandro G. Iñárritu epic shouldn’t just be defined by the awe inspiring performance of its lead actor (although we should never forget it) because it is so much more than that. The performances from the entire cast were superb, the cinematography was the most stunning of any film I’ve ever seen and the script was pure magic.

‘The Revenant’ tells the story of a fur trapper by the name of Hugh Glass, played by DiCaprio (Titanic, Django Unchained) who is mauled by a bear to the brink of death. As if that wasn’t bad enough luck, his son Hawk, played by debutant Forrest Goodluck, is murdered by the traitorous Fitzgerald, Tom Hardy (Legend, Mad Max: Fury Road), and Glass is left to die. But of course he doesn’t, he gets slowly stronger and resolves to track Fitzgerald and the cowardly Bridger, Will Poulter (We’re The Millers, The Maze Runner) and get justice.

Now, if the story of the slow progress of a half dead man across hundreds of miles in North America doesn’t exactly sound like your cup of tea, I can sort of understand. Sort of. The thing is, this film is so much more than that. It’s the story of a man’s desperate need for revenge and defying the odds. It’s about love and survival. But it also serves as an incredibly interesting social commentary into the treatment of Native Americans at this point in history when they were seen as little more than primitive savages- barely human.

Of course it’s not just the script that’s impressive. The acting performances are sensational. The characters are so perfectly embodied you completely forget you’re watching a film and not a documentary. Notably there is of course DiCaprio and Hardy’s performances but I also think Domhnall Gleeson (About Time, Ex Machina) deserves an honourable mention for his portrayal of Captain Andrew Henry. Not only does he manage to make the audience emotionally invested in someone we don’t see for a large proportion of the film but towards the end he manages to not only hold his end up in the final climactic scenes with DiCaprio but also steal the limelight from him. Which I think we can all agree is not something that is easily done.

The setting itself was like it’s own character. The beautiful wide shots of the open, snow laden terrain and the awe inspiring woods and waterfalls made for many breathless moments. You could almost be forgiven for missing a bit of the storyline by getting distracted by the utterly phenomenal landscapes forming the backdrop of this intense film. Although no matter how gorgeous the natural world surrounding Glass and the men was, there were certain moments that dragged you back to the action immediately. The gruelling scenes of violence that broke out between the Indians and the trappers, the vicious bear attack and Leonardo’s face poking out of a dead horse belly Empire Strikes Back style are not images you forget in a hurry.

Having read the novel it’s based on by Michael Punke I can safely say you can give it a miss. If you came to the film to be entertained then the book will add nothing. The book is, in fact, almost completely different to the film as it tells a far more accurate account of Hugh Glass’s life. And to be honest, once you take out the revenge plot as driving force and Fitzgerald’s deceit you don’t sympathise with Glass quite as much. He basically drags his half dead body all over America just because they stole his rifle which arguably he might not have needed for much longer. After the film it’s just a bit of a disappointment but I suppose history rarely lives up to the expectations we build up.

Personally I think if this film does indeed take its place as one of the greatest feats in filmmaking of all time it will be no less than it deserves. It truly is a shocking, exciting adventure that you cannot help but be taken along with. It’s the sort of film that I can tell I could watch a hundred times and each time I’d notice another little detail that would make me fall in love with it all over again.

And here we go

I have no idea how to start this, so I guess I’ll just start at the top.

My name’s Grace, I’m in my early twenties and I like to write stuff. Well, in theory. You see I find it very difficult sometimes to actually force myself to sit down and write. My favourite thing to do is think up stories and scenarios and although sometimes it’s nice to write them down, often I find I can’t sustain that for long periods.

Hence, the blog.

I figure, that if I force myself to write at least one post a week that maybe I’ll get into the habit a bit more and my work ethic will improve. Well, that’s the plan anyway.

This blog is going to be strictly for any film or TV show reviews that I write. If I get really brave I may even proffer an opinion on entertainment new stories as I’m an active member of a number of fandoms and often find myself writing semi coherent rants on the tags of my tumblr blog and so may, perhaps one day, attempt to order those thoughts in a more civilised fashion. Until then, I’m just going to write about what interests me and on things that I want to discuss, since that’ll be the best way to keep myself motivated and posting.

This blog *should* be mostly spoiler free, especially if I write a review fairly soon after the release date (I do go to a lot of midnight premieres so this may be the case) however if it’s necessary to mention any major plot points I’ll make sure to warn you at the top of the review.

Now I’m not an idiot, I know very well that the likelihood of anyone reading this is minuscule, and  that this is basically the electronic version of talking to myself. But hey, I do that anyway so I don’t see why this is any worse.

Basically, the aim of the game is to get something down regularly and to get some of my old enthusiasm for writing back. And you never know, it might cheer me up a bit.

Don’t get too optimistic though, I did say might.