Review: HOMELAND 1.9 - Crossfire

Homeland enjoyed probably it's best episode last week with the impressive "Achilles Heel", this week's "Crossfire" was no different.  Homeland has not let up once with every episode being equally impressive in tense drama and lately plenty of action.  Right at the beginning this week we saw Brody (Damien Lewis) get kidnapped, we didn't know who by but we could guess it had something to do with the Saudi Arabian diplomat he roughed up last week.  You pretty much knew something was going to happen when he's in the underground car park and the creepy music comes on, right?

In the mean time the FBI and CIA are busy dealing with the shooting at the Mosque, two innocent members of the community had been shot dead whilst the FBI chased Tom Walker (Chris Chalk) through the Mosque, something is not quite adding up for Carrie (Claire Danes), the Imam seems to know something but won't tell Carrie the information he knows about Walker unless she can convince the FBI to come clean and say that they have made a mistake and shot two innocent people when no fire was opened on them.

What was really great this week were Brody's flashbacks to Iraq three years earlier, we have head Brody say that terrorist suspect Abu Nazir (Navid Negahban) was the only person who showed him any compassion during his eight year ordeal, it would seem that he spent the last three years of it living with Nazir, who instructed Brody to teach his son Isa fluent English.  Brody made a massive connection with Isa during this time, not speaking to Nazir that much, but he clearly trusted Brody with his son.  That brought about the whole plot really, we saw Isa killed when an American bombing campaign hit their village, this made Brody say that he would do something in the name of Isa which is now clear.  Brody is going to make it his business to become a political figure, but it's yet to be seen weather he knows what Tom Walker is really up to on behalf of Nazir.

Carrie is clearly very respectful of the local Imam and the religion that they follow, due to her time spent in the field she speaks their language and respects certain things, the FBI are not so respectful in that way which clearly upsets the Imam, understandably.  Carrie even made the FBI agent remove his shoes when he entered the Mosque.  Carrie clearly wanted the FBI to come clean about their mistake hoping that the Imam would provide her with valuable information on Walker, luckily for her the Imam's wife agreed to meet with her in secret telling her that Walker has been to the Mosque on eight or nine occasions meeting with a man she doesn't know but he drives a car with Saudi Arabian diplomatic plates on.

We heard Walker speak for the first time this week, he sounds like the all American hero you would expect, only he's playing for the other team.  Walkers character has got so much room to grow as yet and I'm really looking forward to seeing how he came to be involved, we saw that Brody is clearly involved and why this week.  I'm hoping we get the same with Walker heading into the second season, has he changed religion like Brody, has he saw something that's made him change his mind on what he believes?  It will all be revealed I'm sure and I for one can't wait.

Following his ordeal Brody returned home to his wife Jessica (Morena Baccarin) giving her the story that he was mugged in the car park of the supermarket.  He has told her that he wants to spend more time with her and the kids as a proper family, this is no doubt to put on a show and gain public confidence before he is put into office by aids of the vice President, the plot will then no doubt thicken.

This show was no doubt helped in the beginning by the fact it follows Showtime's biggest hit Dexter but for me it's way above what Dexter is achieving this year, and show runners for Showtime are saying that they see Dexter and Homeland being their big Sunday night shows running together for the next few years.  If Homeland can keep up the pace it has set this season then the second will be a thrill ride from start to finish.

Homeland continues on Showtime Sunday 4th December 2011 at 10pm, don't miss it!

Review: DEXTER 6.9 - Get Gellar

I was really looking forward to this weeks episode, I know the previous two haven't been all that but this really stepped things up a gear and has certainly set up an impressive last few episodes.  "Get Gellar" had a great start picking up exactly where it left off last week with Dexter and Travis in the old church.

First off I'll mention Debra who seems to be having the longest shrink session in history, she's been there since last week.  She's had more therapy than Charlie Sheen and seems to be putting pieces together slowly, her therapist has even booked her in for extra sessions, that girls got some issues.

One thing I love about Dexter is the humour involved in the show and man Masuka is funny talking of Quinn this week when he was late for the briefing, he tells Dexter and Batista "he got shit faced last night and started proposing to strippers", he also gave Lewis some sound advice "always follow your dick", following on from that Quinn had to go get his gun back from the strippers car, I think I almost wet myself when that hot girl was at the door and he's all like hey this is awkward, I lost my gun in your car last night.  She replies I think you looking for my mom, Quinn's like hotness like that runs in the family, er no it doesn't she was a horror, maybe I'm just childish but I thought it was funny.

So let's get back to the main story line involving Travis and Gellar, it definitely had you second guessing yourself this week, is Gellar real?  At times I thought he could be but even when they supposedly followed him to the college campus Dexter never saw him, he just went on Travis' word.  It just so happened that Dexter got stuck in the elevator at the point Professor Trent Casey is removed from his officer, but before that Gellar's blog had been updated.  This was easily explained though as Dexter had left Travis with a laptop in the Motel room he put him in.

The next morning Dexter gets the call from Debra to say the killer has struck again, for Travis to have done that on his own even if he did work all night, I don' think would be possible.  That brings me to Masuka's intern Lewis, he decided to take Batista's sister to bed this week and it was revealed that he has the piece of evidence from the Ice Truck Killer investigation in his apartment.  I'm just throwing one out here, Dexter said earlier in the episode that this seasons killer had taken another leaf out of his brother Brian's book, or words similar to that.  Could Lewis be involved in some way, is he helping Travis out drip feeding Info to the police but not letting them get to close?  He did lead them pretty close to the church though, would he have done that?

Not only did I enjoy the beginning of this episode but the ending was equally impressive with Travis unconscious on the floor, Dexter has his own hunt for Gellar.  It's not long before he finds a hatch in the floor and goes down to investigate where he finds Gellar dead in a freezer, he's been there all along like we had all guessed.  Ok we didn't guess that but we knew Gellar was not real.  Dexter sneaking around had me on the end of my seat and it has set up what should be an impressive last few episodes of this season, I didn't want this episode to end and I can't wait for next week.

New UK Music Single Releases: 28th November 2011, BLINK 182, JASON DRULO, JAY-Z and KANYE WEST

Alphabet Backwards – 'British Explorer' – No don’t worry, I haven’t heard of them either and to say they are easy to find out about on the Internet would be a lie.  Google “Alphabet Backwards Wiki”, you are treated to some info on a guy who can say the Alphabet backwards.  They are a relatively new pop band from Oxford, England.

Brett Anderson – 'Crash About To Happen' – Easier if you just say Suede, you know the band?  Yeah them, Brett Anderson was their lead singer, they split in 2003 and he formed The Tears, that didn’t work out so now he’s going solo.

Blink-182 – 'Wishing Well' – Need no introduction from me do they?  Blink 182 are a massive American rock band formed in 2003, their music is pretty good and the drummer is Travis Barker, you know the guy who wants to be a millionaire, so fricken bad.


Fixers

 Fixers – 'Imperial Goddess Of Mercy EP' – A British band, I think this may be their fourth single release, previous to this they released “Swimhaus Johannesberg” which was played quite often on Radio 1.

Gotye – 'Easy Way Out' – A one guy multi instrumental musician who is also in Indie band The Basics, he performs solo and this latest track is from his fourth studio album, I ain’t heard of him but this song is very good, more the guitar riffs than anything else.

Ben Howard – 'The Fear' – An English singer/songwriter making his way up the ladder, the song is not bad but it’s not my idea of fun.


Jay Z (top), Kanye West

 Jason Derulo – 'Fight For You' – Again a guy who really does not need any introduction from me, Jason Derulo has been on plenty mixtapes here before, this song is crap.

Jay – Z and Kanye West – 'Why I Love You' – Two massive names in the world of hip hop, they seem to be working together quite a lot lately. I have heard this song a lot on the radio and I have to be honest it’s pretty catchy.

King Charles – 'Bam Bam' – An English singer/songwriter who says he tramples the border of cool and not cool.  As far as Bam Bam goes, I would have to say not cool.

Lenny Kravitz – 'Push' – An American artist who can just about do anything, I have never been the biggest fan of his music but I can’t deny he is a talented guy, this latest release is not that good but does provide you with very easy listening.


Lenny Kravitz

 Christina Perri – 'Arms' – She might be pretty but don’t let that lure you into a false sense of security, I only caught a little of this song and was beginning to develop self harm issues.

Patrick Wolf – 'Together' – An English/Irish singer/songwriter who I hadn’t heard of, after taking a listen to this I can’t say I’m that bothered.  I was bored literally just after it started.

The Wombats - '1996' – An Indie rock band from Liverpool, England.  They featured here a couple of weeks back, I have never been their biggest fan but this song is ok.

Review: DEXTER 1.1 - Dexter

I have been promising this for long enough now and I thought since I was looking or a new TV show to watch then I really should start to catch up with Dexter, currently in it's sixth season I'm taking you right back to the beginning, maybe you could watch it with me, or maybe you want to keep up with the latest season.  Click HERE to read about episode 6.8 "Sin Of Omission".

I have to say I'm hooked already, I'm up to the third episode so I have some catching up to do reviewing wise.  I found myself comparing certain traits that Dexter has here at the beginning which we still see in the sixth season, I suppose that's due to the fact he's a serial killer, they don't change their habits do they?  You will have to forgive me I don't remember all the names of people but I'm sure you will get who I'm talking about, if not then we'll figure it out.

In season 6 we saw Dexter take hold of Travis in the car, he hid out in the back of his car then held him by the throat with some wire.  Dexter did just that in the opening episode of the first season, I don't remember the guys name but Dexter had him on the kill table before to long.  His kill table features a lot more in these opening three episodes than it does in season 6.

I found it all quite revealing, I did watch it when it first started but I can't remember any of these episodes.  I've found out that Harry is not his real dad, he was adopted or they are his foster parents one of the two, Debra is only his half sister I have always thought the were full brother and sister, I guess they don't need to explain it down the line.  I already know that Brian Moser is the Ice Truck Killer and Dexter's real brother, I won't tell you how I know in case you are not as far into the sixth season as me, enough said.  As I only started watching in season 5 I thought Dexter had only been with Rita from maybe the third or fourth season, turns out not he was with her from the beginning of the show and brought up her kids.

One thing I love about the latest seasons of Dexter is the scenes Michael C. Hall does with James Remar his father Harry in the show, in these early one's they have it so they are flashback to Dexter's childhood showing us that he's always had a dark passenger which Harry has tried to control usually taking him hunting.  I really like this too, I think I'm enjoying it more because I know where things are going with it.  Maybe he should have took to killing dogs (I don't condone that) dogs clearly don't like Dexter that's something shown in the first episode, in the sixth season Brother Sam's dogs don't like him either.

There is no Joey Quinn (Desmond Harrington) in these early episode, the Quinn type character is played by Erik King, Sgt James Doakes, like Quinn he doesn't like Dexter either, lab geek's as he refers to them.  He is probably just like Quinn, jealous that Dexter solves everything before he does plus La Guerta has a little crush on Dexter maybe he doesn't think that's right.  Speaking of La Guerta that's something else we can relate to season 6. Debra is speaking to Dexter in relation to La Guerta "so young, so much power" that is of course Debra's role now, one which she got at young age.

I'm really enjoying watching the first season and can't believe I didn't stick around the first time round but I'm sure it'll be just as good.  Like reading the old reviews?  Then make sure you follow the blog in some way.  You can do that via RSS, Facebook or Twitter which ever you prefer.  Want to start watching Dexter?  Then head over to my Amazon store, there you can purchase the season 1 box set and keep up with me (links on the left).  Hope you enjoyed reading back on the old episode and like I said above I am three episode in so hopefully they will come through the week for you.

TV Previews: DEXTER 6.9 - Get Gellar, HOMELAND 1.9 - Crossfire, THE WALKING DEAD 2.7 - Pretty Much Dead Already, TERRA NOVA 1.10 - Now You See Me

Well here we go with this weeks previews, I have to be honest they all look pretty impressive.  Can one of my American readers help me out?  It looks like there is no Person Of Interest again this week, but don't worry though, the four shows below will keep you ticking over.

Following a couple of disappointing episodes by Dexter's standards this week's "Get Gellar" looks to be getting back to it's best.  It seems to be a week for adversaries and Dexter teams up with Travis in order to find Gellar, will they ever find him?  I'm not so sure if all my reviews have been right up to now.  Dexter standing covered in blood at the end of this preview suggests that his dark passenger may well be back this week.

Last weeks Homeland had to be the best one so far, and the previews to the show are usually electrifying, "Crossfie" not so much.  The show seems to be taking a political line this week whilst the CIA and FBI continue their hunt for Sgt Watson.  I have no doubt that this episode will be brilliant, Homeland has not faltered once during it's opening season and I don't think it will be starting now.

This is the mid season finale of The Walking Dead and I have to say it's the show I'm least looking forward to, I didn't review it last week basically because I'm getting quite board with it, all the survivors just stuck on Hershal's farm is taking some getting through every week.  This episode is going to have some major improvement to keep my interest.

Am I being optimistic in saying that this week's Terra Nova look's really good?  Like I said last week I'm struggling to come up with a reason to keep watching this show.  I think the previews give us the only bit that's usually any good and the rest just fills in the blanks.  The story does seem to move on a little this week though with Commander Taylor checking out Lucas' drawings on the rocks, there he is joined by Mira, leader of the Sixers and the pair become unlikely allies.

Review: TERRA NOVA 1.9 - Vs.

Terra Nova Is beginning to terrify me, not with fright but the shear fact that this is one TV show that does not appear to be going anywhere fast, what do I want from Terra Nova?  Probably the same thing everyone else does lot's of Dinosaur action, and some sort of gritty storyline between the Terra Nova inhabitants and the Sixers who live outside the compound gates.

For me Terra Nova is spending way to much time on all the little backing stories that no one really cares about, the Shannon’s kids for example.  I am really not interested about the younger two their story lines only seem to be there to fill in the gaps, their son Josh (Landon Labiron) can be forgiven a little, at least he is proving to be a bit of a risk taker mixing it with the Sixers, owing them a favour or two.  Mostly just rebelling against his parents pretty much in a similar fashion that you would have expected his father Jim (Jason O’Mara) to do when he was younger, only problem is Josh’s light rebellion is quickly apologised for at the end of an episode especially when he has done something really bad, like say stealing from his own mother.  That landed him with being grounded this week, the perfect opportunity to rebel but he chooses to stay in the house.

Jim’s main problem with his son is that he associates with Tom who owns the only bar in Terra Nova, he is directly linked with the Sixers but on a business level only.  Commander Taylor arrested him this week and put him through torture Terra Nova style wanting to know why he was informing on Terra Nova to the Sixers, little did Taylor know the Sixers technology is a lot more advanced than his, thanks largely to his son Lucas Who he banished from Terra Nova 5 years ago.


During the interrogation Jim was able to find out that Commander Taylor has a little secret of his own, a skeleton that’s buried under a tree which Jim decides to investigate on the QT, as you would in a Dinosaur infested wilderness, rigtht?  This story did eventually lead to a little meat being put on the bones of Terra Nova this week and has opened up a new (ish) element to the show which could progress into a second season should it get one.

 In probably the only Lost comparison I can think of in this show Taylor finally admitted to Jim that he knows his son Lucas is still alive and communicating with 2149, he works for people back there who want Taylor overthrown as Terra Nova’s commander, Lucas and the Sixers are the people to make that happen.  Lucas leaves drawings on rocks (taking us back to the second episode I think) around Terra Nova for his father to find, antagonising him for ruining his work when he was still living behind the safety of the walls.

That really is about as interesting as things got this week and like I said lst week I'm struggling for a reason to keep watching this show other than I have seen it this far already, all in all Terra Nova has ben going down hill since the pilot and it's not showing any signs of improvement just yet.

Movies Music & Television: Giving You More

Technically that's a little bit of a lie, I can't actually afford to give you anything as yet.  But it is my plan in the future to start running competitions for DVD's and music when this blog becomes a little more profitable.  So what's new?  Well not to much other than the week I've just had at work, with me and my colleague's finding out that our jobs are not as secure as we thought they might be.

I got to thinking straight away, what else can I do? You know as a proper job.....Well I thought why not start with the thing I know best.  The Internet, more importantly this site and maybe the network I could build up around it. If you have ever read the "About" page on this blog then you will know it came about one night almost a year ago now when I was sitting watching YouTube, go read about if you haven't already.

I started this blog with the hope that one day it may go somewhere, I don't know where exactly, probably on a rubbish heap somewhere if I'm any judge!  I'm not a professional writer, nor do I ever claim to be I just simply say what I think, some times it comes out better than others but I try.

Ok I've rambled on enough now, you came here to read about the new stuff, right?  The template of the blog changed lately and now has a image slider on the "Home" page, not seen it then go check it out, it also has 2 sidebars, the left being the smaller of the two and I have been looking for stuff to fill that one up a little.

First off I put a link to Moves Music & Television's YouTube channel there, in text it wasn't to effective so now I've changed that to a picture link, people like pictures apparently.  So there is the first little bit of networking, I know it's not complicated networking but the YouTube channel also has a link back to the site your on now.

Today I have added another little networking feature, one which I would really like you to bookmark especially if you live in the UK.  I have set up a shop/store with Amazon, you will see the new unit over on your left.  At the top of the unit you can click to visit my store, over there you can buy all the latest DVD's and music as well as all the old classics you know and love.  Make sure you pop over there and check it out, let me know what you think, it's basic I know but it's very easy to use and also has a search feature, so enjoy and happy shopping, like I said feel free to Bookmark the page, as you can with all my pages.

I have said in plenty of my posts I don't get paid for doing this, but I do make little money off advertising so if you want to shout me a beer any time and you see an advert for something you like then don't be shy to follow the link, after you have read my post of course.  This and the new store will all go towards Movies Music & Television running competitions and improving the blog further.

Thanks to all my readers for your continued support and again don't be shy, leave you comments I always respond, maybe not straight away but I will get round to it in the day.  Not following the blog already?  then take a look up the top left, there you can follow us through Facebook, Twitter and via RSS, just pick your favourite.

Thanks again.

New UK Cinema: 25th November 2011, MONEYBALL, DREAM HOUSE and 50/50

Three new movie releases out this week for you, well there’s more of course but I haven’t time to mention them all and you probably wouldn't want to see most of them anyway.  There is a sport movie for you, a comedy movie and a new psychological thriller which I posted the trailer for quite some time ago now.

First off this week, it’s Moneyball the new movie starring Brad Pitt.  I’m quite interested in this one due not only to the sporting storyline but also how close it follows the story of my Football club Newcastle United, take a look at the plot and see if you can draw some comparisons.

Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman

Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A’s baseball team who are stripped of all their best players and a wage cap is brought in, wanting to win a World Series Beane is forced to look for a new advantage and starts to use statistical data to pick his team, resulting in great success.

Like I said very similar to the story at Newcastle United, apart from the analytics maybe but the same wage cap there has brought a little success our way this season and the movie is based on the success the Oakland A’s enjoyed because of the implementation.  The only thing that put me off a little is the fact it’s about Baseball, I don’t know the first thing about the game.

Now to Dream House the movie which I posted the trailer for quite a while ago now, this would probably go down as my pick of the week, especially if you want something to think about.

Starring: Daniel Craig, Rachael Weisz and Naomi Watts

Craig plays Will Atenton a man who leaves New York and his city job behind to start a new life with his wife Libby (Weisz) and their children in a small quaint New England town.  Will soon discovers that the house they have moved into was once a grisly crime scene and the house is full of memories, deciding to investigate further Will starts to piece together a disturbing puzzle.

I really like the look of this and think out of the three mentioned this week it’s the one I’m most likely to see not just for the interesting premise but the fact I’m also a Daniel Craig fan helps no doubt.

Last one to mention this week is the new Seth Rogan vehicle 50/50, as you would expect is a comedy but not like you’d quite imagine.

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogan and Anna Kendrick

Adam (Gordon-Levitt) is a 27 year old radio program writer who is diagnosed with a rare form of Cancer, with the help of his best friend Kyle (Rogan), his mother and therapist Adam learns what the most important things in life are.

The movie is based on a true story and I caught a TV review on it the other night saying that although the subject matter is very serious it is a very funny movie.

Review: HOMELAND 1.8 - Achilles Heel

Wow, no seriously wow.  This has been the best episode of Homeland so far, everything thing it left us wanting more of last week was provided and we now know for certain that Tom Walker (Chris Chalk) is alive, back in the USA and is clearly planning something along with terrorist Abu Nazir.  Whilst over at Brody’s (Damien Lewis), he is going back to his wife following Carrie’s (Claire Danes) admission that she thought he was a terrorist.

“Achilles Heel” was based firmly on the main story line, there wasn’t to much room for backing story's.  We got a little, enough to get a grasp (a good one) I would say.  This is going to be one ride on the final few episodes of this season and is easily materialising into a show which premise could span a second and possibly even third season.
 

It turns out every man has an Achilles heel (of course), but this was meant in the sense that it's what you always go back to.  Saul (Mandy Pantikin) told his wife she was his Achilles heel and it was made clear that Tom Watson’s is his wife and son, think of it as a weakness.  The CIA managed to track him down eventually, taking full advantage of Watson's weakness when Saul found that he called home everyday, but wait, not to speak to his wife.  Watson rings when he knows she’s going to be out only wanting to hear their voices on the messaging system.

We were introduced to Watson begging in downtown DC, holding up a “Homeless Vet” sign, not long into that he spots a diplomatic vehicle, I’m thinking he’s going to kill someone in that car.  I was wrong, you just can’t guess with this show.  Watson is handed a folded up bank note by the occupant in the back clearly someone important, inside the note is a key to a secure lockup facility, in there is one single item.  A sniper rifle, we all know where this is going.

 

It would seem that Brody is being groomed for a position that he could only have dreamed about prior to his capture, he and his wife Jessica (Maria Bacharin) are invited to a party by Elizabeth Gaines (Linda Purl), why, that’s their first thought.  It soon becomes clear that they are being put into the spotlight to takeover from a disgraced congressman, one of the heads of military I think.

I really liked the twist we got at the end of this weeks episode, will it turn out to be a twist?  Brody being in the house of the Diplomat who handed Watson the key to the lockup.  Is Brody simply just angry at the fact that these people let him believe that his colleague had been beaten to death by him, or is he part of a bigger plan?  If Elizabeth Gaines gets her way and Brody becomes part of the political elite so to say then he is in a much more dangerous and threatening position.  His excuse to Carrie in last weeks episode "The Weekend" was pretty convincing but, he clearly knows more than he is telling anyone right now.

This for me has been one of the best, if not the best episode of this opening season, it has set up a brilliant premise for the remainder of the season which I'm sure is going to leave us wanting more from the second.

Homeland continues on Showtime Sunday 27th November 2011 at 10pm

Review: DEXTER 6.8 - Sin Of Omission

"Well look what the fucking cat dragged in", Dexter's back but, is he back to his best?  Not quite yet in my opinion, he returned to Miami this week following his trip to Nebraska. he had tail between his legs making his way straight to Debra's new beach house.  Forgiven very quickly he made his way over to Brother Sam's funeral where we saw Dexter half admit that Brother Sam changed his life.

We were brought back to season 6's storyline this week with the Doomsday Killer(s) being the focus of both Miami Metro and Dexter's investigation, are they looking for one or two though?  We all know Travis is real, Dexter spoke to him a few times during this episode, popular opinion regarding Gellar seems to be that he's only a fragment of Travis' imagination.  I find it hard to believe that the writers would allow us to guess the twist on a show as big as Dexter so quick, don't you?  I really think they may have a little trick up their sleeve for us, or at least I hope they have now that I've said that.

Gellar will probably turn out not to be real but, remember when Debra got onto the name of Travis Marshall, she went to speak with his sister who was very cagey.  I don't know if that was just her knowing that her brother Travis has been acting a little weird, or has Gellar been to see her?  Gellar has been unhappy about the fact that Travis was trying to go straight and eventually his sister became "Whore Of Babylon" as Gellar had threatened earlier in the episode.  I didn't quite expect that, especially if it turns out Gellar is not real, that means Travis killed his own sister, and hit himself in the face with a shovel as well as tying himself to a drain in the hideout he is using.

A few side stories to cover as always, they really are not that interesting but do provide a little light entertainment, especially where Masuka is concerned, this week he went clubbing with Quinn, not to much fun, a pointless little inclusion to be honest.  Then you have Debra seeing her shrink, could prove to be something into her unraveling the truth about who her brother really is.  Last one to mention would be Masuka's intern Louis and his attempt to get with Batista's sister, if Batista hadn't put a stop to it then I'm sure Dexter would have.

Probably the best bit of the episode, if not the season as a whole would be Dexter finally discovering Travis and Gellar's lair, going alone Gellar disappeared the minute he got there, leading you to believe even more that he is not real, the shots of him appearing for Travis to see, but disappearing just before Dexter could see him.  I did think this bit was very good and has set up what should be an excellent episode next week.

So all in all this wasn't the best episode of the season but, it was better than last weeks and has set up what should be a fantastic 50 minutes next week for "Get Gellar".

Dexter Season 6 body count

EP 1: Ben (ambulance driver/technician
EP 1: Roger (ambulance driver/technician)
EP 1: Joe Walker (High school reunion, college Football jerk)
EP 2: Julio Benes (Gang banger)
EP 3: Walter Kenny (The Tooth Fairy)
EP 6: Nick (Brother Sam Killer)
EP 7: Norm (Creepy Motel guy)

 Dexter continues on Showtime Sunday 27th November 2011 at 9pm.

Review: BREAKING BAD 1.1 - Pilot

I have been promising myself for a while now that I was going to watch this show, finally I got round to buying the Box set and I’m off, Want to help me find a new show?  READ THIS, and let me know what you think.

Ok back to Breaking Bad, I have read some pretty impressive things about this show on various different blogs, that’s what forced my hand to start watching it myself.  I have to say first off that I don’t think I’ve seen a more impressive opening to any pilot, a guy (Bryan Cranston) driving his mobile meth lab through the desert before crashing it, and then going about toting a gun in his underwear.  Impressive.

It get’s your attention straight away and manages to never loose it for the whole 50 minutes, that’s the mark of a pretty good show in my opinion.  I can’t think of any other apart from Lost maybe that has opened so impressively.

The story centers on Walter White (Bryan Cranston) a mild mannered chemistry teacher who also moonlights as a car wash attendant/cashier to make ends meet.  He finds out during this opening episode that he has lung cancer and only 2 years to live, wanting to leave his family financially secure he decides to put his chemistry skills to good use and recruits one of his former students and local druggie Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) to help him cook methamphetamine

It’s a crime drama series but don’t worry there is some dark humour along the way, or at least there was during this opening episode, I’ve posted a little clip of one scene where Walter has gone with his brother in law Hank (Dean Norris), a DEA agent, they go to the house of a suspected drug dealer, the previously mentioned Jesse.  Take a look you’ll laugh I promise. (I don't know why the video reverted to the bottom of the screen!)

I really didn’t know to much about Bryan Cranston before watching this, I haven’t ever see Malcolm in The Middle but from what I’m lead to believe in that show he’s kind of a big kid.  Not so much here, this is one mild mannered man who has suddenly woken up to a situation and no one is going to stop him from doing what he wants to do.

If you can't tell already then I am really impressed with this opening.  The show is of course just finished with it’s fourth season and they are doing a 16 episode fifth which may be put over two seasons, I just hope I can get through all the rest in time.  I will probably review all the episodes so make sure you start following the site on Twitter, Facebook or via RSS to keep me up to date with what you think.

To finish, this is not the only older show I will be reviewing, I'm a massive Dexter fan, remember?  I only started watching at the beginning of season 5 so I'm working my way through that box set, be sure to drop by and leave your comments.



New Music Single Releases 21st November 2011, CHASE & STATUS, MARY J.BLIGE, KASABIAN and KELLY ROWLAND

Big Deal – 'Distant Neighborhood' - Never heard of these guys, they are kind of alternative.  Only way to find them is by writing their name and song title into Google otherwise other songs actually named Big Deal beat them to the chase.

Bleeding Knees Club – 'Teenage Girls' - I have to be honest again, I have not heard of these guys.  The reason for that is simple, they are an up coming indie rock band from Australia, they consist of two members one who sings and plays drums the other plays the guitar.

Britney Spears – 'Criminal' - Don't like Britney Spears, don't know about you.  I just can't take her seriously as a musician or artist, piss artist maybe but her music is just not for me, not even as a teenager was I interested in this (music wise).

Kelly Rowland – 'Down For Whatever' - Argh Kelly, the lady who is currently judging on the X Factor UK, yo all know who she is her music is pretty up beat and entertaining, it's not the kind of thing I would have in the car but it's good pop music.

Seranades – 'Come Home EP' - There English apparently, I have never heard of them but they have been on the go for some time, since 1993 in fact.  In that time they have only managed one album though, I think that speaks for itself really.

Will Young – 'Come On' - The winner of the original Pop Idol, Will's carrer ha gone on the up and up, not only does he do music but he also stars in TV shows and has even had a movie role.  He fought against Cowell to prove that he ws a real artist, not being a smug guy I think he quietly beat him.  His music is not my thing but the guy is pretty talented.

Wu Lyf - 'We Bros' - A strange group of guys from the UK, who incidentally form another indie band, they are pretty secrative about who they are or even what they do, I took a listen to this and to be honest they have no reason to be secrative, it's shit.

Chase & Status – 'Flashing Lights' - These guys have featured here a few time lately, they are an electronic duo from London, artist is a word that you can associate with them unlike Britney, this song is actually quite good, I really think I'm starting to get into this dub step thing, it's not really my sort of music but these guys do a very good job at it.

The Duke Spirit – 'Don't Wait' - An English rock band that I have never heard of, they must be doing ok though.  Just as you start typing their name into Google or YouTube it knows what you want to write, still this song is not for me.

EMA – 'Marked/Angelo' - Not to much about this girl on the Internet, she works alone although her band name wouldn't suggest it, I haven't figured out the name of this song yet it's one of the two words I have mentioned, the other is the title of her album.


Enrique (top), Grouplove

Grouplove – 'Lovely Cup' - What is it with indie rock bands right now, ever sine Kings Of Leon became such big stars indie groups are coming from everywhere, some of them are quite good, not as good as KOL of course but good all the same.  As far as Gropulove goes, I hope that's a motto they follow as they may only love there own music.

Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull – 'Like How It Feels' - I have to make a little confession, I actually quite like Enriques music, not all of it granted but some of it.  He has taken the safety ption here and got Pitbull on board, for that reason this will be a top ten hit, I have no doubt.

Mary J.Blige – '25/8' - Never heard of this lady for a long time and I'm sure she needs no introduction from me, I can't say I have ever been the biggest fan but I do like some of her stuff, not this though.

Kasabian – 'Re-Wired' - This is an English rock band that I really like, I can listen to pretty much all of their music and this latest release is no exception to that, I heard these guys perform this live on TV last week, I think it may have been better than the actual video version.

The King Blues – 'The Future's Not What It Used To Be' - A pretty famous English punk group who I have never heard of, this song ain't bad though, It's not something that I could enjoy time and time again but one listen is not to bad.



Review: PERSON OF INTEREST 1.8 - Foe

So are we all refreshed?  We have had a couple of week's off from Person of Interest and it came at a time when the show was really just starting to hot up.  I actually really like this show and have missed it the last couple of week's, granted it's not Dexter or Homeland but it does have it's moments.  Unfortunately though this week was not one of those moments and it was all a bit of a let down from what I was expecting.

J.J. Abrams kept things tight knit as usual and brought in an old face that we all remember from Lost, Alan Dale played the mysterious Charles Whitmore the last time I saw him on the screen and his character in this show Ulrich Kohl was no different, equally as mysterious but with nowhere near as much conviction of what Lost had.

Kohl has been missing for over 20 years with everyone thinking he was dead, not even making a transaction from his bank account until he appeared on Finch's little machine.  Who is he?  Wallace Negel at first but, they soon come to realise that he is a German spy named Ulrich Kohl who operated with an elite ops team during the Cold War, whys he back in New York though after all this time off radar?

Answers simple, the deserters who traded him to the American government for their freedom all live their and he has come to get revenge for his former wife who he thinks is dead.  Very soon the body count is on the up and Reese seems to be one step behind the callous killer.

This all got me to thinking about that genius machine again, if it's so clever why didn't it give the SSN numbers for the former team members that Kohl was going to kill, I know his SSN lead Reese and Finch to them anyway but they could probably have stopped the three killings had they had those numbers first or at least at the same time.

For me this episode was way under par from what I've come to expect form this show, it did pick up I thought when Kohl managed to get Reese's gun and tie him up, it was a little feeble the way Reese was taken down by Kohl, for a former CIA operative you would expect him to put up a bit more of a fight.  Like I say though this did lead to the episode hotting up a little especially when Kohl found out that he had a daughter.

The finale was a little hard to believe though wasn't it.  Reese is sitting in the park (Central Park, I presume) with Kohl and just about every uniformed cop and detective are in their looking for them, somehow though Reese manages to escape unseen just in the nick of time as always.  Don't get me wrong, I don't want him to get caught but he could at least give Detective Carter (Taraj P. Henson) a little hint as to who the guy is cleaning up her streets.  I do think the scenes with Reese and Finch can sometimes come across a little cheesy, especially this week at the beginning "relax Finch it's just tea, I haven't guessed your favourite colour yet.", steady on dude you'll be bringing him flowers next.

So not the best episode of this show, they have time to get over it though Person of Interestwill be having a little break until they roll the rest of the show out.  I don't see a second season coming but it will be nice to see this first one rounded off nicely.  In the mean time I need a new show to watch.

Movie Review: METAL TORNADO Starring Greg Evigan

Ok so Syfy are back with their latest offering and don't worry about it, I haven't heard of Greg Evigan either, following this movie I don't think I'll be rushing out to see any of his other movies.  I keep watching these offerings as some of them are ok, unfortunately though this movie can not be added to that list.

Starring: Greg Evigan,Sophie Gendron, John Mclaren and Alexis Maitland

The Plot

Well there is this scientist guy who works in science (funny, that), he and his team have done an experiment that goes tits up in all honesty.  As a result of their experiment a massive Tornado breaks out but, wait for it!......... It's not like any tornado you've ever seen before, it's a tornado with a magnetic field meaning that anything that's metal will be drawn towards it.  That's pretty much it really being a SyFy movie there is nothing more pressing than that.


The Verdict

Well what do you expect really?  It's a made for TV SyFy Movie which failed to impress on any level what so ever.  I have said this before about SyFy movies, you would expect them to get better with time.  Techniques and Technology move on but for SyFy they seem to be able to make it stand still. Earlier in the year they put out Swamp Shark, a great TV movie in my opinion, from that you would expect them to keep a standard.The acting, if you could call it that is terrible, they have gone back to the Mega Python vs Mega Gator standard.... TERRIBLE.  I'm struggling here, this is how bad this movies was.  Nothing here is believable, and you wouldn't even concern yourself if it was because the movie is so bad.  SyFy should be trying to make this kind of thing better as apposed to worse.

I understand that TV budgets are limited somewhat but I'm sure that even in times of recession that they could do better than this.  A fake looking tornado, that is clearly computer generated every time on screen does not fill me with suspense.  The actors, all of whom I've never heard of do a terrible job even in convincing us that the tornado is real.

Do you want to see a good SyFy movie, yeah?  Then don't watch this one. I would imagine they bill it as a thriller, there are no thrills here believe me.  This movie is terrible and a compete waste of your time.  The only reason I got through it was the fact I was writing this whilst watching it.  To add further insult to injury, I read a review on the movie which labelled it a national embarrassment, it was shot in Ontario, Canada, no problem with that but, apparently they hang American flags in the Ottawa Valley (shocking).

Would I watch it again?
Of course I would!  Yeah right, someone would have to pay me a lot of money to watch this one again, I'll take Swamp Shark any day.

Rating:  To give this movie even one star would be an embarrassment, there for its not even getting a rating.  I have granted movies a score in the past which they didn't deserve.  That stops now.

Weekly News: ICE CUBE to do fourth FRIDAY movie, COURTNEY LOVE insults a fan, DEXTER renewed for seasons 7 and 8

Great new this week especially if you’re a fan of Chris Tucker, Ice Cube or any of the Friday movies, I don’t know about you but, for me the second two movies didn’t quite cut the mustard so to speak but, the first one, the original Friday starring both Tucker as Smokey and Cube as Craig would have to go down as one of the best hood movies of all time.

I absolutely loved the the 1995 original, I lost count of how many times I saw this movie as a teenager, a bit like Menace II Society it’s one of those that during my teenage years you just had to see.

The movie turned Tucker into a bonified movie star and really brought Ice Cube out as a family guy as apposed to the hard ass Compton NWA rapper we all knew previously.  Now New Line Cinema and Ice Cube are sitting down and passing round a joint whilst discussing the possibility of a fourth Friday movie which Ice Cube will will write and lead reprising his role as Craig Jones.

The hope is now that they can also get Chris Tucker on board to make the movie, I can’t really see him turning it down right now, due to his IRS debt and the lack of any other offers Tucker has lost the box office status he once had back in the 90’s.  One problem though the new religion he follows may stop him from performing the same role as he did in the original movie but, they could bring Smokey back as a reformed character.

 

Next up this week it’s not really news, more of something which just made me laugh.  Courtney Love, heard of her?  Yeah that’s right the one who was married to Kurt Cobain from Nirvana.  Courtney now front’s a band named “Hole” I’m not so sure that’s a great name for a band with a female lead singer and I for one can’t say I have ever even heard of them let alone know any of their music.

Hole were performing in Sao Paulo, Brazil when a fan held up a picture of her late husband, the move didn't really impress Courtney to much and she stormed off stage but not before giving the fan a piece of her mind.  Courtney was tempted back to the stage after no more than a minute but demanded that the fans chanted that the Foo Fighters are Gay, there not of course but what they are is a whole lot better and more successful than her band.

Great news for fans of Dexter this week, cable network Showtime have finally managed to close a deal with Michael C. Hall and have renewed their front running show for two more seasons, which will take the show into it’s eighth season.  Both seasons will consist of 12 episodes each with season 7 scheduled to start production next year in Los Angeles.  Last week’s re-appearance of Brian Moser, The Ice Truck Killer sent audience ratings through the roof and they were the highest they have been since the season 6 premiere.  Michael C. Hall will co produce the show as he does now.

TV Previews: DEXTER 6.8 - Sins Of Omission, TERRA NOVA 1.9 - Vs., HOMELAND 1.8 - Achilles Heel, THE WALKING DEAD 2.6 - Secrets,

This week should see all of our favourite shows back on track, unlike last week when they all seemed to go off on their own in some little way.  Kind of like stand alone episodes, Dexter and Homeland pulled it off but Terra Nova failed miserably in my opinion, so lets get on.

Dexter first off, my favourite show.  Last week we saw Dexter manage to shed his dark passenger Brian Moser, The Ice Truck Killer in what was a stand alone episode which saw Dexter take a trip to Nebraska.  This week seems back on track, back to the main story line of season 6.  Travis (Colin Hanks) would seem to be in a world of trouble with Debra hot on his heels and asking questions, I'm really looking forward to this episode, and remember this show has just been renewed for another two seasons, that's in the news later.

Last weeks big reveal in Homeland was surrounded in mystery a little, we found out that the POW who had been radicalised by terrorist Abu Nazir is not Brody (Damien Lewis), it's his colleague who we were all lead to believe was dead.  I reviewed it saying, was it just a big trick, well it would seem not with Walker now back in the U.S and being very shady in that he's grown himself a beard, changing his appearance a little.  This show is the one which pulled off the stand alone episode the best last week and it would seem that the action is going to kick up another gear it this episode.

The Walking Dead is a show which I've only got into at the beginning of the second season, I have been really enjoying it but last week it reached a bit of a stale mate.  For me the show really needs to get itself moving, the survivours need to move away from the ranch a get going otherwise this show is in trouble of becoming a little boring.

Like I was saying above Terra Nova really didn't impress me much last week, in fact it hasn't impressed me much as a series at all.  I don't think this show will be getting renewed for a second season unless they can come up with something genius in the next few episodes.  On saying that this episode does look pretty good, Jim Shannon (Jason O'Mara) finds a skull buried in the jungle, the find seems to ruffle a few feathers in Terra Nova base camp.

Review: TERRA NOVA 1.7 - Proof

What is going on with all the American TV shows this week?  They all seem to have taken a detour from their main story lines, Terra Nova was no different and although the other shows seemed to work out pretty good Terra Nova failed miserably and in my opinion was a little pointless this week.

After last weeks convincing ending with the Sixers retrieving Lucas’ work from Terra Nova HQ, it set up what should have been an interesting premise for this week, unfortunately the writers seemed to take us off on a little side line and we didn’t get any of the main beefy (ish) story line and were instead treated to a pointless part of the story which seems to have no relevance at all.

 

The storyline focused on the Shannon’s genius daughter Maddy (Naomi Scott) and her fixation with the colony’s greatest scientist who has just returned following six months in the wilderness.  Maddy has been fixated on this guy since she was a kid even writing to him and managing to get a reply.  The scientist (who’s name I don’t know, or can’t really remember) looked a little like Anthony Hopkins in Zorro, anyone else get that?  Anyway Maddy was so fixated on the guy that it didn’t take her long to figure out that he was a fake, not the real scientist she thought he was, or claimed to be.  She soon finds her life in danger as she goes on her own personal mission to prove that he’s an impostor.

 

In the mean time, Commander Taylor (Stephen Lang) seems to trust Jim Shannon (Jason O’Mara) more than anyone else in his entire security team, kind of surprising considering the guy has only been there five minutes, although he did save Taylor’s life.  This week Taylor took Jim on a prehistoric fishing adventure, yet another pointless little storyline which bared no relevance to where we left off last week.  Watching Jim Shannon attempt to do battle with a very CGI looking giant prehistoric fish really isn’t my idea of fun.  If I wanted to watch people wrestling with giant fish then I’d watch a fishing program.

 

There was only one slightly interesting inclusion in this weeks episode which didn’t directly follow on from last weeks show but a little was explained.  Josh Shannon (Landon Liboiron) still owed the Sixers leader Mira a favour, this week that was called in and he had to steal from his own mother, again there was nothing particularly interesting surrounding that, it wasn’t even that gripping.  The fact that Josh was going to come clean to his parents in the end wasn't particularly hard to figure either.  The only interesting bit like I say is that we now know that Mira has been true to her word in that she can communicate with 2149.

From that Commander Taylor was able to figure that his son Lucas, who is a genius, must be responsible for that technology, and there for must have been captured by the Sixers.  Of course we all know that’s not the case his son works alone camping out in the jungle, I presume.

I’m really struggling to come up with any justification to keep watching this show other than I have seen it this far already, it’s is loosing my interest and fast.  People compare it to  lost but, other than it being set in a jungle I really don’t see it.  What do you think of Terra Nova?  Is it keeping your interest?  Or have you already lost interest?