TV Review: PERSON OF INTEREST - C.O.D 2.9

My initial reaction to “C.O.D” was that its a lot better than the previous offering from Person of Interest “Til Death”, having time to reflect on the episode and do some research I haven’t changed my mind. I still think this was a better offering but I think at the same time a lot of what happened here was very forgetful. I found myself reading reviews as I always do, only this time I was thinking “what are they talking about?”, “I don’t remember that”, “or that person”. Mind you coming to write the review two days after watching it probably doesn’t help, as during that time I’ve also watched Dexter and Homeland already.

I still think this was a good episode, the weekly procedural may have been a bit of a bore but what was going on in the background was probably more important to the show. We thought at the end of the first season that we had seen the last of HR, but it seems that Simmons is eager to have them set up once again. This week he was looking for the back-up of Elias in their corrupt business venture, but he doesn’t seem interested in that right now. It’s great to see how they still use Elias in the show, although he is in prison he has featured and done something important regarding the plot in at least three episodes that I can think of. HR, of course are going to prove a problem for Fusco, the dirty cop turned clean is still a little dirty, he desperately wants to change his ways but is ultimately paying the price for things he has done in the past, for want of better words Simmons has him by the short and curley’s .

The weekly procedural side of things this week focused on a taxi driver from Cuba who wanted to bring his family into the country. An Estonian gang were prepared to do that for a certain sum of money, however when he come to drop it off wouldn’t you know? The price has gone up. Not only did he have that to contend with but someone just went and left a secretive laptop in his cab, and now the people who are after it want him dead. Step up Mr Reese for some kick ass scenes, although at the time of writing this I don’t remember them all particularly that well, but what I do remember was that Reese dealt out a healthy dose of justice as per usual.

Ok, I have left this way to long to write the review of C.O.D, I will be watching tonight's episode later and will be sure to let you know in more detail how we get on. I really have nothing more to say on this episode, the more I read the more I'm reminded that an awful lot went on, problem is non of it was all that memorable. Here's hoping this weeks offering has a lot more to offer.

TV Review: DEXTER - Do You See What I See? 7.11

As you know I have been missing Ray Stevenson’s Issak Sirko from Dexter, last week just wasn’t the same in what has been a brilliant season so far. Turns out, we were all too quick to judge because in “Do You See What I See?” I think Dexter went about delivering us with one of its best episodes this season. I am genuinely sitting with bated breath to see what is going to happened in next week’s finale “Surprise Motherf**ker”. The seasons big bad seemed so obvious at the beginning of season 7 but now it looks like Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski) will take that role as this week Dexter had her busted for the murder of Sal Price. Many think that producers have also given us a nod that a big character will be killed off by the end of this season, we know Batista will be leaving, but how?

I thought a little way into this episode that maybe the review I read last week could be right, would they kill off Debra? I suppose they still could but now that Hannah McKay is behind bars, any immediate threat to her is already quashed. Deb will be gunning for La Guerta in the season finale that’s for sure, she has promised Dexter that Harrison will not grow up without a father, that could really put her in the firing line to be either shot or arrested, she is an accessory to murder remember? Debra has also helped Dexter plant all of the evidence in the boat house to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Sgt James Doakes was the Bay Harbour Butcher.

What is going to be interested going into the season finale is seeing whether or not Hannah will keep quiet about Dexter, other than Debra she is the only one who knows who he really is. It was brilliant the way they started the episode, Dexter 15 years on living happily ever after with Hannah, whilst a teenage Harrison stepped out for Basketball practice. Dexter was allowing himself to imagine the future for the first time, a future which included he and Hannah being “normal”, a thought that Dexter has never allowed to enter his head, even when he was with Rita. I so wanted to believe that Hannah was not responsible for spiking Deb’s drink, and I still think that there will be a twist to come in the finale regarding that. Maybe Hannah didn’t do it, what do you think? As much as I didn’t want to believe she done it, I still couldn’t believe it when Dexter turned her in to police, has he gone mad? The one woman who could ruin him with what she knows, and also the one who is not afraid to do anyone over in order to protect herself, I just can’t wait to see how this pans out next week.

What has been bubbling brilliantly all season long is La Guerta’s investigation into the Bay Harbour Butcher, wanting to prove that her good friend Sgt Doakes was innocent. She brought ex Captain Matthews in on the investigation and she was very quickly amassing some very good circumstantial evidence against Dexter Morgan. Matthews sort of warned Dexter about her “crazy” theory, but I can’t help but think that Matthews has his own hidden agenda in all of this, one which could prove a massive turning point in the season finale. La Guerta pulled off a master cross over during this episode, she needed to prove once and for all that her suspicions about Dexter are true. The best way to do that, get Hector Estrada released from prison, on what Dexter thinks is the justice system being too soft once again. La Guerta new that Dexter would want him dead and she got her wish, almost catching Dexter in the act and being one of the very few people to see his kill room. Of course she didn’t catch him, but it pretty much goes to prove that her theory is correct.

There are certainly some nail biting moments to come in what looks like it will be one of the best Dexter season finales yet. Will Doakes be back? Will Dexter get arrested? Well, for Doakes to have survived that blast in the cabin would be something of a miracle and for Dexter to be arrested could prove a bit of a boring season 8. I can’t help but think that little sneak peak at the finale may just be Dexter imagining how things could go, but of course I could and probably will be wrong, to see Doakes back would be amazing, the guy is still a legend after all.

Amongst everything that was brilliant with this episode it was still good to see a little light hearted entertainment, Masuka dressed as an Elf, anyone?? He was doing the rounds in the office seeing who would join in secret Santa, a cool reminder that Miami Metro are not really that busy these days with no season serial killer to catch, as La Guerta is the only one looking into the Bay Harbour Butcher case. And what was with all of the Christmas decorations? Dexter always enjoys it’s season finale in December but I can’t remember them ever having so much to do with Christmas in the show.

A brilliant episode paving the way for a brilliant season finale which I’m sure will see Dexter collecting some of those fake passports and foreign currency before hitting the road, on the run from Miami Metro. What did you think of “Do You See What I See?”? One of the best episodes yet? Your Comments are welcome as always.

Movie Review: TED (2012) Starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis

People have been telling me for weeks now that I need to watch and review Ted as it’s one of the funniest movies they have ever seen. My brother and brother-in-law were almost telling me the script line for line when we were doing a house move (not mine, and no, that’s not what I do for a living, you have to help out family right?) last weekend. Also I have seen a lot of comments on Facebook with various friends of mine stating that Ted is the funniest movie they have ever seen. Critics have bigged it up whilst others have panned it. I posted the trailer some time ago now and wasn’t that interested due to the Seth MacFarlane factor. Now, please join me for what will be a very short (no pun intended Ted) write up on this absolute pile of shite.

Starring: Seth MacFarlane (Voice), Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Giovanni Ribisi and Bill Smitrovich

The Plot

John Bennett (Wahlberg) is a lonely kid growing up in the 80’s with no friends, at Christmas he makes a wish on a falling star that his teddy bear named Teddy would come to life. Hey presto, wouldn’t you believe it? The next morning he wakes up and the two begin a beautiful friendship before scaring the crap out of John’s parents. Jump forward fifteen years or so and Teddy is now named Ted, a washed out celebrity phenomenon bear who loves nothing better than sitting getting stoned at 9am with his best friend John, not only does he like drugs he also partakes in copious amounts of alcohol consumption, loose women and pretty much anything else you can think of that’s bad for your health.

The Verdict

Mark Wahlberg is a pretty easy going guy, and I’d say that’s a pretty good job for this movie, Ted really does just go to show that Wahlberg clearly does not need the money anymore, and maybe he just likes to indulge in his crazy side every now and again. Whalberg is a great actor in my opinion, more the kick ass type I’ll admit but personally I really enjoy the movies he does like that, most recent of which would be Contraband. Quite why he offers to star in trash like this is beyond me if I’m honest.

Maybe it’s just age, I don’t know, now I’m in my 30’s I just found this comedy totally ridiculous. I’ve no doubt teenagers or people in their early twenties (my brother) will think that this trash is utterly hilarious, a bear who swears a lot, takes drugs and makes very derogatory sexual remarks towards women, there is no real story here not least that you can’t see coming anyway. John’s girlfriend wants Ted rid off and then ultimately wants him back in their lives, I know it’s not real but come on give me a break. Who would you rather have in your bed? A foul mouthed bear who is scared of thunder or Mila Kunis? It’s a difficult decision but I know which one I’d be choosing, and it ain’t the bear.

Quite often with movies these days they say if you have seen the trailer then you have seen the movie, and they are right. Most of the time these days most of the movies best bits are in the trailer, whilst the remaing almost two hours has very little to offer the audience. I can report that unsurprisingly Ted is one of those movies, drunken sexual jokes can only go so far and all you need to do is check out the Ted Red Band trailer and you will see every joke that this bear has to offer. I will admit that during my first viewing of the trailer I laughed, even though I don’t like Seth MacFarlane. Second time I saw the trailer I still laughed, however on this occasion I simply sat and watched, bored with the comedy on offer in need of much more intelligent laughs.

Would I watch it again?

Really?? No

 

TV Review: PERSON OF INTEREST - Til Death 2.8

I have to apologise here first off, Person of Interest, or rather IMDB duped me this week, I got hold of the latest Person of Interest (2.9 C.O.D) and was ready to go ahead and watch it last night thinking Thursday gone was it’s first return to CBS since episode 7 “Critical”, at least that’s what IMDB told me. I thought the numbers looked a bit off so I checked and yeah, I missed one, this one in fact, turns out it was on last week. Never mind I’m back on schedule now and it’s a bonus for you, as you will get two Person of Interest reviews this weeks starting with “Til Death”.

I don’t know whether it’s the fact I have had a two week break from this show or whether it’s the fact that Dexter’s seventh season has been so good, but I found “Til Death” a bit of a chore. Nothing was really going on in this episode which was all about love, fate and the choices that we make in life. For our main man Finch that “choice” was quite a big one, faking his own death in order to protect Grace from ever knowing about the machine, Finch’s backing story is always one which I love to see, he is still surrounded in mystery just as he was in Lost and that really lends to his character for me, following this episode I really don’t think we are any closer to finding out that much about the guy, other than he was, and still is deeply in love with Grace. It will be interesting to see where they take this, will he reveal all to her? I’d say he’s got some major explaining to do if he does, and it would probably become a weakness for him if he brings her into the fold.

There was nothing going on this week with the main story of the show, the machine, corrupt HR, nothing. I did think for a brief moment that Fusco was finally going to get rumbled by Reese for joining in with his past shady ways once again, but that would have been too quick. I can’t help but think that Fusco’s dealings with HR are going to have some sort of come back on Finch, Resse or even Carter landing them in some sort of sticky situation probably towards the end of the season. Although, whilst were on the subject of “love” Fusco was having a little dating action himself this week, who knows, maybe that woman could turn him on the right path and Fusco could go straight once and for all.

Carter also found time for a little “love” this week with her fellow detective and Jamie Foxx look-alike asking her out to dinner, now that’s a role I had pinned down for Reese, I always thought our man in the suit would be the one who ended up dating Carter. Of course, at this time it’s only dinner, it might not even work out for her. It was nice to see everyone involved this week with the weekly procedural. The story was a bit lame but at least it was backed up by some decent acting talent in Mark Pellagrino, he and his hot shot wife had taken out contracts on each others lives only to be sat down at the end of the episode and be given some relationship advice from Mr Smooth himself John Reese. Reese is the only character who was not really delved into this week (unless I missed something), I don’t know why but I’m sure more will be coming about the mystery man in coming episodes.

Like I said above “Til Death” was all a bit of a chore for me, we seemed to be coming out of a lull of Person of interest episodes after “The High Road”, but this seems to have taken us back to square one. I know it will get better because there are so many avenues to be explored, I guess we should remember sometimes that POI has over 20 episodes in a season, from “Wolf and Cub” onwards in the first season it did not come up for air with one brilliant episode after another I just hope season 2 goes on to do the same. How about you? What did you think of this episode of Person of Interest? Your comments are welcome as always.

TV Review: DEXTER - The Dark...Whatever 7.10

I think this will probably go down as the least enjoyable episode of Dexter’s seventh season so far, I really didn’t feel like there was a whole lot going on here. It seemed like it was taking a step back towards the days of seasons five and six with Dexter questioning the killer inside him, otherwise known as his “Dark Passenger”, a scenario which new girlfriend Hannah McKay found totally ridiculous. “The Dark… Whatever” was ultimately an episode of Dexter questioning whether he even has a dark passenger at all, and thanks to a few “chats” with Hannah and Harry he came to realise that maybe he is the “monster” that he has talked about so often in the past. I still enjoyed this episode immensely, and I suppose there is no point on dwelling in characters gone, but one thing I have to say is that Issak Sirko (Ray Stevenson) was a big miss this week and it felt like the writers were attempting to fill the void with lesser story lines.

This episode did set a couple of things in motion, most important of those is the ever increasing threat of La Guerta and Matthews finding out that Dexter Morgan is the Bay Harbour Butcher. As yet they don’t know for sure, but I have said for weeks now that the circumstantial evidence is certainly mounting up against him and following this instalment I now think that this seasons finale named “Surprise Motherf**ker” will be the big reveal to all that Dexter Morgan is a serial killer, that story will roll into season 8 for sure but I’m not sure as yet how it will run, as always I can only speculate. I can’t really see them arresting Dexter by the end of this season or at the beginning of the next, what I think will happen is that Dexter will go on the run, we saw at the beginning of this season in “Are You…?” that he has a massive stash of fake passports and foreign currency. Personally, I think that will be a great story line as Dexter will be doing exactly what he done at the beginning of this seasons, squirming to get out of situations, he’s always better when he is having to dodge bullets.

What was the point of Hannah’s father (Supernatural’s Jim Beaver) being involved here? He served no useful purpose other than Dexter quenching one of his cravings. You knew from the off that this guy was no reformed character, can I borrow $20k? Of course you can! Yeah right, your reformed dad has turned up after years, he was a dick when you were younger and now he wants $20k to invest in some crab business or something like that. I knew where this was going from the moment he arrived at Hannah’s door.

The same could be said for The Phantom Arsonist, a character who was introduced a few episode’s a go for no apparent reason whatsoever, turns out this was to fill this weeks void of no Issak or other Ukrainian mobsters to be dealt with. I actually thought the fire safety guy would be the arsonist as Dexter thought, but it was a good enough little twist I suppose which led to the real criminal, a guy who had offended as a child but been clean since leaving his stint in juvenile detention, you see where we’re going with this? Yes, that’s right as a kid The Phantom Arsonist also enjoyed the same urges as Dexter, what was no great surprise was to see this dude on Dexter’s table by the end of the episode, only to let him go before killing Hannah’s father. The arsonist was introduced only for Dexter to realise that his “Dark Passenger” did not exist, a thing he really already knows, right?

I have speculated in the last few weeks also that Hannah might be the first of Dexter’s love interests for a while to make it through to another season of the show. I don’t necessarily think that has changed but maybe she won’t be with Dexter, maybe she will be behind bars giving up Dexter to save her own ass, especially now he has killed her father. Although I don’t think Dexter lied to her about what he had done, he told her she’d never have to worry about him again, now reading between the lines when your boyfriends a serial killer you should get what that means. Rolling towards this season’s finale is certainly going to be fun and I can’t wait to see how it works out, roll on next week’s “Do You See What I See?”.

Thank You CBS ACTION For Bringing Sgt Doakes Back to our Screens

If you don't live in the UK then you probably don't know what I'm talking about, CBS Action is one of the many free-to-air TV stations we receive here. I'll be honest this channel along with it's counter parts CBS Reality and CBS Drama are ones I've never really checked out before, the reason? Well, generally there is not much on them, not that I'd like to watch anyway, but now it seems they are taking a big leap into bringing the UK some quality American TV shows for free. To start off they have hit the ground running with none other than Showtime's Emmy and Golden Globe winning drama Dexter. If your a big Dexter fan like me then you'll know already that season 7 is currently airing in the US, here in the UK we are awaiting the premiere on FX (soon to be FOX) who currently have the rights for the latest series' of big US TV shows including The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, Burn Notice and of course Dexter. It was a great surprise for me when flicking through my Sky EPG to see Dexter's first ever episode had just started on CBS last night, of course there was nothing else on so I just dove right in.

I've already seen the first season of Dexter and you can check out my "Pilot" review of the show HERE, but if your not a fan and have always thought about watching the show then this is a great opportunity, especially if you don't have pay-per-view TV. CBS will be airing Dexter's first season at 10pm every weeknight. You may as well come back here and check out my reviews of each and every episode as you go, and be sure to join in the comments and let me know what you think. I have actually seen the "Pilot" episode of the show a bunch of times now, being so far into the show as I am it kind of takes a new angle for me every time, but the last time I watched it I actually read the script first, not normally my thing but if your into TV and you have seen Dexter, or any show for that matter do a search for the script online. Honestly, you think watching the show a bunch of times brings something new? Read the script, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Sgt James Doakes

To the title of this article now, you haven't seen Dexter? Then you don't know who Sgt James Doakes (Erik King) is. Well, let me tell you if you that Dexter is worth checking out for him alone, his witty one liners and personal hate of lab geek weirdo Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is brilliant, don't like Doakes to start with? Don't worry neither did I but the guy quickly grows on you and he's almost a legend between Dexter fans, most probably because he is so "plot" involved (don't take that literally) even now in the latest seasons, I really can not say anymore than that without spoiling it for you.

The plot of season one introduces us to Dexter Morgan as an adult but through flashbacks you quickly learn that he was adopted by a cop Harry Morgan (James Remar) when he was a young kid. Harry learns that Dexter has an urge to kill and helps him out by teaching him firstly how not to get caught, but secondly that he should live by a code. What's the code? Well, he only kills people who have escaped justice, more importantly killers who slip the net of Miami Metro police department who Dexter works for as a blood spatter expert. Season one of Dexter sees him go after the Ice Truck Killer, a fellow serial killer who really is a little to close to home, I've posted the trailer for you to check out below, and once again thank you CBS Action.

Blu-ray Movie Review: THE RUM DIARY (2011) Starring Johnny Depp and Michael Rispoli

The Rum Diary is one of those movies which I wasn’t really all that excited about, other than the fact it starred Johhny Depp I knew very little about it. I added it to my LoveFilm rental list some time ago now thinking id Depp’s in it then it can’t be that bad, I hadn’t read any reviews prior to I was going in blind so to speak, what I found was a little gem which has since received mixed reviews regarding its comparisons to the book on which it’s based. First, I posted the trailer back in 2011 when the movie was released so why no go check that out first?

Starring: Johnny Depp, Michael Rispoli, Giovanni Ribisi, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins and Amaray Nolasco

The Plot

Johnny Depp plays Paul Kemp, a hard-drinking journalist who takes the opportunity to move out to Puerto Rico in the 1960’s. Kemp takes a job at a struggling local newspaper but quickly becomes involved with his co-workers hard drinking island life ways, lead off the path he is persuaded by a millionaire Sanderson (Eckhart) to become the word smith for a brochure he needs developed for a new hotel he is building. Complications arise when Kemp finds himself lusting after Chenault (Amber Heard), Sanderson’s girlfriend and it quickly become apparent to Kemp that Sanderson is everything that he disagrees with and Kemp makes it his personal need to take down the “bastards”.

The Verdict

 First off, have you read the book? Yes this movie is based on a book by Johnny Depp’s good friend Hunter S. Thompson, he initially wrote it back in the 60’s when he was out in Puerto Rico looking for work as a journalist, it’s kind of a diary of his time there from what I gather so far. Depp wanted to bring this movie to the big screen and for that he got on board not only as the lead actor playing his very good friend but also as producer too. I’ve never read the book and until doing research for this was unaware of who Hunter S. Thompson was, if you want to compare previous working then you could check out Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas another novel of his which was brought to the
big screen starring Depp and from what I’ve read its very similar.

The Rum Diary is one of those movies where nothing actually happens, everything that was achieved by Thompson happened following this story which is even alluded to during the end credits, “this is the end of one story, but the beginning of another”. In the two hours spent here you basically see Paul Kemp (Depp) and Sala (Rispoli) making their way
around various exotic locations in the Caribbean whilst drunk or high on drugs. I wouldn’t let that put you off though because the drunken and drug induced states do lead to some very funny moments in this movie which in my opinion can be enjoyed even without knowing the backing story of the book.

Giovanni Ribisi is amazing in this movie, a little eccentric, as he is most of the time but honestly everything I have seen this guy in lately I have really enjoyed, not just the movie but more importantly his performance in it. It’s hard to believe that Phoebe’s brother in
Friends has turned himself into such a house hold Hollywood A-lister but there are a couple of times throughout The Rum Diary where Ribisi doesn’t just match Depp in acting talent, he goes over and above owning the screen in his alcoholic, Nazi record propaganda listening state. Ribisi’s purpose in the movie is played to perfection, what’s the point in what they try to do as journalists? When at the end of the day greed and corruption wins over. Take the “bastards” down as Hunter S. Thompson said back in his

For those of you who love Johnny Depp movies then I’m sure you will love this movie too, I really liked it but what I would say is that if you are not into heavy dialogue between characters then Johnny’s rum swigging pirate character may suite more to your tastes. The Rum Diary is probably a movie which suits people who like to read books, I’m not
one of them but I enjoyed the dark humour and what the movie stands for. I can’t say that I was all that happy with the ending but at the end of the day I watched it, enjoyed it and if any one asks I can say, yeah I’ve seen that.

Would I watch it again?

I don’t think I would choose to watch this again if I had other “more exciting” options, but if there was nothing on and I just wanted something to give me a laugh then I could sit through this again, the two hour run time didn’t seem that long the first time around.

 

TV Review: DEXTER - Helter Skelter 7.9

Wow, what a brilliant episode, unfortunate though. Issak Sirko has met the end of his story line and with that goes one of Dexter’s best ever “big bad’s”. Ray Stevenson has genuinely been one of the best characters I have seen in Dexter for a long time. Season 7 as a whole has been on another level compared to the previous two and Stevenson is a big part of that. Was Issak Sirko the season’s “big bad” though? It certainly seemed that way for the most part, but in the last few episodes it seemed like it would go the way it did in “Helter Skelter” with Issak and Dexter almost becoming friends, or at least enemies who learnt to trust one another with Dexter even learning a thing or two. Maybe we have been guessing the “big bad” wrong all along, maybe it’s nightclub boss George Novikov (Jason Gedrick) who is really the bad guy here, after all it initially seemed that Sirko had been sent to Miami to get George to clean up his act, however in “Argentina” it was George who called home and effectively ordered the hit on Issak.

I can’t think that Dexter will let George get away with killing Issak, yes he did him a favour and certainly got rid of a headache but you can’t help but think that he might end up on Dexter’s table before the finale of this seventh season. Quinn is in way over his head with George, this week throwing him through a window before beating him to a pulp, and I wonder if comments I made a few weeks back about writers throwing us a clue that Angel Batista may be getting killed off is going to happen? I said then that it would be some balls up made by Quinn which resulted in someone shooting Batista by accident, that someone may be George giving Dexter an even bigger reason to treat him to a night out on his table. As always I’ll probably be completely wrong but at least its fun to get some ideas going.

It will be interesting to see how they move the Dexter and Hannah story along now, Dexter is clearly head over heels in love with Hannah, but is that feeling mutual? I’d say probably not following their embrace at the hospital, Hannah seemed a little awkward to me. I thought last week that Hannah may be one of the only characters who rolls into another season, setting up an “ideal” life with Dexter and Harrison, but now I’m thinking that may not be the case. It’s one of those where I really don’t know how there going to go with it and I guess we will just have to wait and see. If anything I’d say that her Lila side may come out a little more, especially now that the threat of Issak is out of the picture, what will keep us entertained until the season finale?

Well, there’s always La Guerta who is all but convinced that she will be re-opening the Bay Harbour Butcher case, her primary target? Dexter Morgan. Now of course she has the help of her former boss Captain Matthews, who will help her out on the case in return for his old job back. I can’t see that being much of an exciting race to the finale can you? As yet La Guerta has nothing but circumstantial evidence against Dexter, eg; he moved his boat to a new marina about the time of the investigation. I’m thinking that Matthews might figure Dexter out before La Guerta does, after all it’s been proved in the past that she’s not exactly the best detective in the world. If Matthews, or anyone else does find out it will of course be in the season finale. Again, I may be totally wrong about it but it’s worth a mention to see what you think.

I hope that the excitement does not drop out this season now that they have done with the Issak story, I’d hate to think they got rid of him to early when all along it looked like he would be the usual suspect for Dexter’s kill table in the season finale, but I guess that’s a good thing because non of us now know where they are going with the story, we can only guess as I’ve done above. Dexter has been panned especially last season for becoming to predictable, there was nothing predictable about the way Issak was killed in this episode (not even by Dexter) and I think the writers are really working on making us sweat about what’s coming next. My favourite thing about tuning into this season so far was to see a Dexter showdown with Issak, as for next week I don’t know what to expect, I just hope it’s a good as season 7 has been so far.

“Helter Skelter” was a brilliant episode, where we were served up some brilliant scenes between Dexter and Issak and some real unpredictability in the way in which Issak was killed off, I loved this episode, I’m loving this season and I just hope things continue to get better and better as we roll towards the end of a season that has re-affirmed Dexter as the best show on TV.

SyFy Movie Review: JERSEY SHORE SHARK ATTACK Starring Melissa Molinaro

Ok, yeah I know. I’ve gone and done it again, but even with a feast of other (and better - probably) movies on offer I just couldn’t bring myself to reach for the Blu-ray player when I saw a movie with a title like Jersey Shore Shark Attack. Made for SyFy movies have a certain pull for me, often promoted in the horror or thriller genre, they actually turn out to be comedy gems which give you plenty of cheap laughs at the crappy budget, production, directing and editing. JSSA has it all and to top that off they are not only taking the p**s out of a 1979 classic but they will also have you believe that some actors taking the p**s out of the real life Jersey Shore reality show residents are going to be eaten by sharks, but on that note I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Starring – Jack Scalia, Jeremy Luke, Joey Russo, Daniel Booko, Melissa Molinaro and Paul Sorvino

The Plot

Do you really need me to explain it? Ok, I will, basically Jersey Shore comes under attack from Sharks, not just any sharks though, these are Albino sharks, brought to the area thanks to some underwater drilling, a man goes missing and the local geek squad think that it’s a shark attack, they plead with the local mayor to close the beach but, like in 1979, he refuses. Next thing the have a full blooded shark massacre on their hands and the local geek squad must team up with the much cooler (but still geeks) squad to help rid Jersey Shore of the Albino Bull sharks. Now I know what you’re thinking, can you get Albino sharks? Well, a quick Google search reveals that, yes you can. So keep reading it’s not so ridiculous after all.

The Verdict

Shark!

Now without doubt the funniest moment in this entire movie is the part which I believe was in the trailer (although I’ve never seen it), the scene includes the now washed up former N-Sync star Joey Fatone who unlike his N-Sync counterpart Justin Timberlake finds himself booked for all the wrong gigs, he is hired to sing at the 4^th of July celebration weekend in Jersey Shore and just as he’s serenading the crowed a shark leaps out the water and takes him off the jetty, I have to be honest, I laughed my ass off even before I realised that it was Joey Fatone, now for the rest of this shark fest pile of shi…….
 

I seem to have set myself up with this strange affiliation of low budget (edit: extremely low budget) SyFy movies again, Jersey Shore Shark Attack is the latest comedy thriller to come from the made from TV horror genre. I have never seen Jersey Shore on MTV, but I have seen its North East England counterpart Geordie Shore and I can only imagine that this movie is some sort of over hyped reality show where people pretend to be chased by sharks. You probably won’t believe this, I certainly didn’t after fifteen minutes, but I switched off Batman Begins for this trash, right when the trashy kids were bringing down the shore whilst the posh Yacht kids were complaining about it. This far in I want to say, I have seen some pretty bad made for TV movies, and some pretty decent one’s in fact, but Jersey Shore Shark Attack is by far the worst of the lot. Oh, wait it just got worse, the Yacht club kid decided to come and talk to the “so called” cool juice monkey kid, they have become involved in the worst playground fight I have ever seen. The stupidest chase ever, I’m wondering why I’m even still watching?

THE SHARKS: Have you ever seen Deep Blue Sea? You know, the movie with L.L. Cool J? The sharks in that movie are pretty unreal and that managed to get a theatre release here in England, probably due to the fact that Samuel L’Jackson starred in the movie. This pile of shit from SyFy doesn’t quite prosper from the same dedication actor wise, in fact looking right now I’m pretty sure the girl who I suppose is the lead is some sort of Kim Kardashian wannabe.

It’s funny that every shark movie, if only low budget shark movie takes something away from Jaws, the 1979 classic produced by Richard Zanuck, but this is just a complete low budget rip off that if the Jaws producers saw they would be saying, “hey, that’s the same rocky pier we used, the shark fin comes exactly the same way, what are you playing at copying our movie?” I’d say let them copy it all they want because this utter trash can do proper movies no harm what so ever.

You can imagine already with my reference to the reality show of Jersey Shore that the people involved in this movie are all your muscle bound type, especially the guys. It got so hilarious at one point during the scene on the rocks which was clearly ripped off from Jaws that this movie was just awful. The muscle bound buffoon decided that when a load of the sharks are swimming towards the bay that he should feed them with his 25gm protein bars which he never leaves the house without, now I work out, but leaving the house without a protein bar especially the way that guy looked is all a little far-fetched for me. And to think the (fake) computer animated shark actually fell for it is even more laughable.

ALBINO SHARKS? That’s not my opinion, that’s how the Bull shark is referred to in this movie, actually writing this little bit I discovered that Paul Sorvino stars in this movie, not know him? You should, this guy is legendary probably best remembered for his part in 1990 gangster movie Goodfellas as Paul Cicero, he must have been bored the weekend they filmed this or he lives just on the filming location, essentially he plays the part of the mayor in Jaws, he opens the beaches against the gangs (Chief Brody wannabe's) wishes.

After forty minutes of this movie I’m pumped, not in the gym sense of things (it is 25 to 1 (am) after all). I feel like Dexter Morgan right now? No, not in that way! I mean I have had a lack of blogging enthusiasm lately and seem in the last week to have got that enthusiasm back. Things are bad in this movie and Dexter always reacts best when the situation is bad, I have hope I have done that here by completely trashing this shitty B-Movie, I stopped by a website once that said every bad movie has a good point, on Jersey Shore Shark Attack I can’t agree with that at all.

Smile stupid fish, clearly replaced yet another line stolen from Jaws. "Smile you son of a bitch".

Would I watch it again?

Erm, No, but I think you got that already.

 

TV Overview: REVOLUTION Mid-Season Finale - Nobody's Fault But Mine 1.10

I have talked plenty about J.J. Abrams’ sci-fi drama Revolution, I reviewed everything from the “Pilot” to the fourth episode, following its third offer “No Quarter” I was wondering and posing the question, will this show get any better? Turns out after that episode it did improve slightly when it delivered episode 4 “The Plague Dogs”, a very impressive character based episode which gave me a feeling that maybe things were just going to get a little better from here on in, unfortunately that was not the case and I didn’t talk about Revolution again until maybe the seventh or eighth episode, I don’t remember the name of the episode, and to be quite honest I don’t really care, if you remember though I titled my review – who turned out the light’s? I don’t think anyone cares anymore. That was basically a review of a handful of episodes, none of which had filled me with any confidence that Revolution was going to serve up anything decent.

With shows like Last Resort and 666 Park Avenue having just been cancelled I was wondering that since we are heading towards the season finale of Revolution would it suffer the same fate. No, it won’t is the short answer to that. The reason, well it’s only the mid-season finale before Revolution takes a four month hiatus from our screens, it will return in March 2013 with the remaining twelve episodes of its first season, giving it a total of twenty two episodes. Now I have to say that reviews have been mixed on the show, mine certainly have, well actually I only gave it one decent write up the rest have all concerned the negative factors. Problem is I’m bored with this show after ten episodes, and I’m wondering will any one bother returning to the show after such a long break.

NBC seem to have a thing for doing this, they done the same with The Event, and another network tried it with FlashForward, both of which I thought were better than Revolution, but that’s by the by now. Ratings would suggest that people will be back to see what happens, Revolution’s “Pilot” was directed by Iron Man master John Favreau and attracted almost 24 million viewers across America and Canada, the same went for the shows encore a couple of nights later, even after the ninth episode (again, I don’t remember the name) Revolution is still attracting over 12 million viewers (almost Dexter territory). I just wonder how many of those 12 million plus will be back after such a long break and new shows to come in January. NBC see this as a good thing as they believe that people who are not already watching may go and watch a box set or online streaming, and they hope that will garner up more interest for its return to our screens.

Revolution does have its good points, Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito would be top of that list with the young kid being held hostage by the Monroe Republic coming a very close second (somebody Matheson). But unfortunately for me the shows bad points far out weigh the good ones, Tracey Spiridakos for instance, would be more at home starring in a low budget made for SyFy horror movie, her skills do not sit with the a for mentioned Giancarlo’s. And then there is the fact that nine episodes in and I still don’t feel attached to any of the characters, I watch it weekly and simply go through the motions.

 

The mid-season finale looks like it will be quite good, probably to make sure you come back to watch some more, but seriously though, it looks like General Monroe is going to have the power to turn the electricity back on, meaning that he can unleash his arsenal of helicopters and tanks on the various other countries that have now formed in what was the United States, I suppose that could get interesting, but we’ll have to wait and find out I guess. As I’ve watched it this far then I suppose it’s only fair to come back and see what it has to offer, but one things for sure I won’t be going back over the previous episodes in order to have myself caught up. How about you? What do you think of Revolution? Do you watch the show? And, will you be back for more?

TV Review: DEXTER - Argentina 2.8

I really don’t feel like there is all that much I want to say about “Argentina”, I thought it was a very good offering and I really enjoyed it but it did seem a little slower than what we have been used to so far in season 7. “Argentina” seemed to really step away from the main story this week for us all to become more involved in the character study side of things, and of course with the return of Astor, Cody and Harrison this weeks action was a little think on the ground. You would probably go with me and say though, the bar sit down between Dexter and Issak has to be one of the best scenes I have ever seen, Ray Stevenson really is an amazing actor as is Michael C. Hall, but Stevenson has you believing every word that comes out of his mouth, this guy is so convincing and it’s a shame that Dexter will probably end up killing him in a couple of episodes time.

But, what if Dexter didn’t kill him? What if Dexter manages to talk Issak around? After all the Koshka brotherhood wants him dead now anyway. There have been references made by Issak that in another set of circumstances he and Dexter could have been very good friends, no doubt using Dexter’s masterful killing and crime scene cleaning skills to help mask what the Mob had done, and let’s be honest there wouldn’t be many people who Issak Siko rolls with that wouldn’t fit Dexter’s code. So, that would maybe be good if we got to see Dexter helping Issak find his “Argentina”, that could maybe happen, as seen in the preview for next weeks episode Issak decides to invite himself around to Dexter’s apartment for “a chat”, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what that’s about.

Of course Dexter seems to have already found his “Argentina” in Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski), but let’s face it she’s not exactly Rita or Lumen is she? Hannah is the first woman who accepts Dexter for exactly what he is in every aspect of his life, or at least it seems that way for now, his kids have only just come back on the scene and it’s yet to be seen whether or not she accepts that side of his life, and even if she does I don’t think Hannah is a sit in with the kids while Dexter is out doing his thing. Hannah seems to like Dexter as much as he likes her but it’s not something you can see lasting, but you never know. Lumen is one of the characters we thought may roll into another season of Dexter, that didn’t happen but maybe Hannah is here for the remainder of this show.

Now onto Debra and Dexter, finally eight episodes in she has told him the reason she came back to the church at the end of season 6, to tell him she loved him. Now, like many of us watching Dexter really didn’t know what to do with that, a little taken back maybe but clearly not in love her. I have heard plenty of people moaning about this story line, I wouldn’t say that I like it and that I don’t find it a little weird but I do think some people are to hung up on it. I guessing that following Dexter’s almost nothing response that it probably won’t be brought up again, but who knows?

Now as Debra sits and ponders where to go next with the current Dexter situation it’s clear that she is not doing one side of her job properly, other than smoking pot on the balcony with Astor she has also left La Guerta to get on with her Bay Harbour Butcher investigation. She did tell her to leave it alone, but she should have guessed that wouldn’t happen. Now for the last couple of weeks everything that La Guerta has uncovered links back to Dexter Morgan, nothing illegal as yet, but still very good circumstantial evidence that he is the Bay Harbour Butcher. This week’s final scene was La Guerta at Dexter’s boat “Slice of Life”, could she be guessing that the name of his boat has even more meaning to it now?

So, to cap it off, I wasn’t blown away by this episode but I still think it was very good, La Guerta and her Bay Harbour Butcher case look as if they will be setting up the basis of the season 8 story, Issak probably won’t be around for season 8, which is a shame because this guy has brought some intensity to the show, Dexter doesn’t love Deb in any way other than his sister and Hannah may just be taking Bay Harbour Butcher punches with Dexter, like I said above I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Top Movie CAR CHASES - Guest Post

What have been some of the best movie car chases of all time? A great car chase can be one of the most memorable parts of a film, and range from more low key, realistic chases, through to physics defying races and pursuits. Some of the best car chases tend to lean towards the former, with the assumption that they could at least be possible in the right conditions. With this in mind, the following list represents some of my favourite movie car chases of all time, which are listed in no particular order: 

The Dark Knight, 2008 

Batman pursues the Joker through the streets of Gotham as a police escort tries to save Harvey Dent. Armoured trucks, a Batmobile transforming into a motorcycle, and even a helicopter get in on the action in a sequence that is marked by the sheer physical weight of the forces involved. 

Bullitt, 1968 

This iconic Steve McQueen film sees him take a Mustang on a chase with a Charger through the streets of San Francisco. Buses, cars, and the laws of physics are threatened in this classic chase. 

The Blues Brothers, 1980 

A film full of great car chases, including a collapsing bridge, and a major pile up, The Blues Brothers also sees heroes Jake and Elwood evade the police in a shopping mall, crashing through stores and windows in the process. 

The Italian Job, 1969 

Mini Coopers are the star in this classic crime heist, with Michael Caine’s gang of bank robbers converging on Turin for an extended race against the Italian police. The 2003 remake of the film took a similar approach with the new Mini Cooper S. 

The French Connection, 1971 

Detective Popeye Doyle goes head to head with a speeding train in New York in this crime thriller, trying to keep it in sights as he dodges obstacles below the raised tracks. 

Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991 

Another great example of practical effects mixing with CGI, Terminator 2 sees a three way chase between John Connor’s dirt bike, the Terminator’s motorcycle, and the liquid nitrogen T1000’s truck through the tunnels of Los Angeles. 

Ronin, 1998 

A car chase dominated crime film reaches its high point as Robert De Niro and his gang embark on a cross-Paris trip through tunnels and traffic, with director John Frankenheimer using mostly practical effects. Most of the actors were also placed inside the stunt cars. 

The Bourne Identity, 2002 

Another appearance for the Mini Cooper, this time in the hands of Jason Bourne as he attempts to lose the police on the streets of Paris, which includes driving down a flight of stairs. 

The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977 

James Bond has been involved in some memorable car chases, but few have matched the transformation of a speeding Lotus into a submarine as it crashes into the ocean. Maybe not the most realistic addition to the list, but there had to be a place for Bond somewhere. 

Vanishing Point, 1971 

One of the best road movies of all time sees a 1970 Dodge Challenger engage in a movie-long race across American highways.

TV Review: PERSON OF INTEREST - Critical 2.7

I wouldn’t say I was all that blown away by this weeks Person of Interest episode “Critical”, it really didn’t do all that much for me up until the last twenty minutes or so when Reese decided that he had enough of playing games and donned his ass kicking shoes, even kicking one guy up onto a car bonnet. Last weeks “The High Road” was a lot more effective in the weekly procedural, although my liking of Son’s of Anarchy may have had something to do with that (go read the link). What “Critical” didn’t do this week was give me any reason to care about what was going to happen to the Dr’s wife, she didn’t get enough screen time and although we were “living it” through the eyes of the brilliant surgeon I didn’t feel all that engrossed. What served better last week was the fact we got to know the whole family in the story and what they all stood to loose, I really wasn’t feeling that this week.

“Critical” did do something which we didn’t see in “The High Road”, it moved on the story a little, bringing people back who haven’t been in the show for a while as well as introducing us to another possible “big bad” guy for Reese to keep watching out over his shoulder for. Alistair Wesley (Julian Sands) was the former MI-6 operative who this week was in New York with his elite team of former SAS soldiers, they needed business man and energy Tycoon Oliver Veldt to be done away with, their plan? Get the surgeon (mentioned above) to botch her open heart surgery on him, as Mr Wesley stands to make a fortune if energy tycoon is out of the picture. I think all in all this may serve as an introduction to a new bad guy, Wesley knows Reese from their former Government lives and left the party a little unhappy thanks to Finch and Reese messing with his plans. He will be back, he even said it himself, so I guess we will just have to wait and see what the writers have in store for a guy who like Elias will clearly be a worthy opponent to Reese.

You always know that Reese and Finch are going to win whatever battle they are involved with, and this week that was no different, even when it emerged that they were up against former elite SAS soldiers. It never crossed my mind that they wouldn’t win and save the girl’s life and her wife’s job. I have to be honest, the SAS is the UK’s elite in the military, I’ve never been in the military but from what I gather, in order to be in the SAS you have to be hard as f**k, non of Wesley’s crew really gave me that impression and Reese dropped them like flies, now I know he is ex CIA but aren’t they more of the thinking and strategy type? They leave fighting up to Navy Seals who would probably be the US equivalent of the SAS. Of course I wouldn’t want to see Reese get beat up and I’m pretty sure that the CIA, like MI-6 will train their field operatives to a pretty high standard.

No part again for Fusco this week (well, he was in a little at the end), not that I really missed him but his corrupt story line with HR will no doubt come back into the frame of things at some point. Nice to see Carter in on things though, although she wasn’t actually involved in the weekly procedural side of things, this week she was actually doing police work showing up at the office of some tech company where someone has just opened fire. That person just happened to be our old friend FBI Agent Snow, who unbeknownst to Carter had a bomb vest strapped to himself. This could be the week where Crater finally drops deeper into the fold, as Snow informed her that “She” is going to do something terrible. We as the audience have known since season 1 that Reese’s former partner Kara Stanton is still alive and has something planned, quite what that is we don’t know as yet but I’m hoping there will be some brilliant episodes to come so we can find out. Plus Reese doesn’t know she is still alive yet, so that should be fun. She doesn’t have a reason to go after Reese though, does she?

We are really starting to get some stack of bad guys built up in this show now, all of whom seem to have something against Reese, Finch or the Machine. It should serve as an excellent run for some hopefully brilliant episodes. This week was mediocre, but like I always say they can’t all be brilliant, I think this week’s could be the staging for some brilliance to come but I guess we will have to wait and see. How about you? What did you think of “Critical”?

Blu-Ray Movie Review: MONEYBALL Starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill

My latest LOVEFiLM rental landed through the door earlier in the week and it’s a movie which has been sitting on my “to watch” list for quite some time now, Moneyball, the story of pro Baseball team the Oakland A’s and their general manager Billy Beane.  There are a couple of reasons I wanted to watch this movie which I will get into below but just in case you get bored before then, you should know that the main reason is because the Oakland A’s have a very similar policy to my team Newcastle United in how they scout players with future sustainability in mind.

Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt and Kerris Dorsey

The Plot

Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane the general manager of the Oakland A’s Baseball team, the movie picks up in the last game of the pro league 2001 season when the New York Yankees beat them in the World Series (I think). We then roll into the 2002 season with Beane loosing his star players and having to start from scratch in building up another team on a wage budget which is nowhere near big enough to compete with the teams at the top. Beane decides that conventional scouting methods are no longer working and after his latest attempt at a signing goes awry he employs Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) as his assistant general manager, stops listening to what the scouts are telling him and drafts players based on statistics. This leads to the Oakland A’s equalling the record of the most consecutive games won by any pro league Baseball team.

The Verdict

I have to be honest here, Moneyball is not generally the type of movie that I’d watch, a heavy drama with a lot of dialogue, not that I mind that I just think sometimes when a film is over two hours long I may get a little bored of sitting watching people talking. There are a couple of reasons I wanted to watch Moneyball, first off was the story, a very similar one in sporting terms to that of the football club I support in England. Newcastle United have done a very similar thing to the Oakland A’s Baseball team, not in using statistics to pick players but deciding on developing their own players as well as scouting out talent on the cheap that can be sold on for profit in future seasons.

I knew very little about what the Oakland A’s and their general manager Billy Beane (Bard Pitt) had done or achieved, that’s mainly due to the fact that I know absolutely nothing about the sport of Baseball, one of my old bosses went to see a Baseball game when he was in America, he told me if I ever wanted to be bored stiff for three hours then Baseball was a sure fired way of making that happen. I read the story of the Oakland A’s when the movie was due for release and I posted the trailer, right then I could see similarities between what they had done and what Newcastle United were doing. Objective achieved on both sides of the pond I suppose because Oakland A’s are now the model of how a pro league Baseball team should be run, same goes for Newcastle United. Other clubs in both professions are looking to adopt models set up by either club in order to obtain financial sustainability and a degree of success on the pitch.

As for the movie, I have to say I enjoyed it, I was toying with the idea of not watching it but decided to give it a go, before I knew it I was nearly an hour in. We all know Brad Pitt can act but it’s a while since I’ve watched him in anything and I have to say I was very impressed with his ability, even when just sitting in silence on the screen he really put across the stress he was going through, it was delivered brilliantly by Pitt who done an outstanding job of displaying a character who could at first see things unravelling before his eyes whilst at the same time remaining confident to his doubters, most notably the Oakland A’s manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who again done a brilliant job with his character, but even at the conclusion of the movie with the success the team have had he still does not agree with using statistics to draft players.

A massive nod is due here for Jonah Hill who plays Peter Brand in the movie, the Oakland A’s assistant general manager, a Yale graduate who designed the computer program that would statistically analyse every Baseball player in the league. Apparently getting on 1^st base is important, I have no idea what that means but clearly this young kid did. Jonah Hill is well known for playing hilarious comedy roles, which of course he is very good at but you have to take your hat off to the guy here as he proves that his acting ability goes far beyond that of a funny man portrayed in movies like Knocked Up.

I’d say that Moneyball can be enjoyed whether you’re a Baseball fan or not, clearly I’m not but the movie is based more on the characters, the dialogue and how the stresses took their toll before ultimately paying off in the long run. It should probably be noted that the Oakland A’s are yet to win the World Series in Baseball but the Boston Red Sox, who adopted their policy and offered Billy Beane $12.5m (which he turned down) to help them implement his model have now gone on to win the World Series. I only hope it pays off for Newcastle United and we go and win the Premier League, what do you think fellow Geordies?

Would I watch it again?

I’d have to say that I would be looking at other more action/thriller type movie options first, although the story and acting from all involved was very good, it was pretty tough going at over two hours long.