Category Archives: TV/Movie

Age of Ultron

Posted on by

Avengers: Age of Ultron was released yesterday on DVD. First thing in the morning I went to Tesco’s and bought a copy. I used to pre-order them from Amazon but after the last Avengers film got lost in the post, on release day I go and buy a copy to have in my hand. It’s literally the one thing I don’t wait for, release day is the day I get the film and the day I re-watch it.

Yes – re-watch. I know I didn’t post a review of Age of Ultron back in May. I did see the film at the cinema but I was physically unwell at the time. By the time I felt better it had been a while since I’d seen the film and I couldn’t remember half of what I wanted to say. Therefore I decided to wait until I saw it again before writing a post.

Age of Ultron, the end of phase two, the end of the road that Tony Stark/Iron Man started us on. At the end of the film things are different, it’s evolved and it’s not going to be the same from here on out.

What did I think?

Continue reading →

Never Thinking of Consequences

Posted on by

I haven’t blogged in a couple of weeks which was probably a bit of a mistake. In my last post about Once Upon a Time I was on episode 2.15, I’m now on episode 4.10, so I have nearly two seasons worth of comments swirling around in my brain, I don’t even know where to start. I can’t decide if it would be better to go by character, or chronologically – so much happened!

Best bet is chronologically in the hope I don’t forget anything. Not that if I do, that matters to anyone but me but then that’s kinda the whole point. The title of this post comes from a line of Regina’s in the season three finale. It’s oddly apt given that I clearly didn’t think of the consequences of not blogging about this show for so long. I was going to write everything today, in the one post. Given I’m at over 4500 words and I haven’t started season three yet, I figured I better split the posts.

Nearly two seasons of perspective have completely changed my view of Regina, I was starting to see her differently when I wrote the last post. Now? She’s my second favorite character. In my own words I’m on ‘Team Bad Guy’ which is funny as I don’t really see Regina or Rumple as out and out bad guys. They are complex characters but I’ll get back to this later on.

I was speaking with my friend the other day and we had an interesting discussion about character motives, and the writers opinion of characters vs the readers/watchers. This will probably be a topic of it’s own one day, but I’m going to mention it here too.

Get comfortable, this might take a while.

Continue reading →

A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Posted on by

When I watch a show, I watch for the characters really. If the characters don’t get under my skin, then the show doesn’t either. I might still watch it but I won’t care, I won’t think about it afterwards, I won’t ever be desperate to watch more. Characters are compelling, plot happens but characters make it worthwhile.

Rumpelstiltskin has got under my skin.

I’ve watched up to episode 15 of season 2 now. I’m further on than I was when I wrote the last post on Once Upon a Time. I have some vague awareness about what’s happening next, but no real context to go with it. For me, that’s about as unspoiled as I ever really get, so I’m learning about the characters as I watch.

My last post was mostly about Rumpelstiltskin because, for me, he’s the most compelling part of the show. From the time of my last post to now I’ve watched another ten episodes, which include some pretty big revelations about Rumple’s past, plus some very difficult current events for him.

Yes I’m probably going to try and talk logic again.

Continue reading →

Stargate Universe

Posted on by

I’ve mentioned this show in my last couple of posts. First I said that I was going to try watching it again as I had Once Upon a Time withdrawal. Both shows star Robert Carlyle and I also figured it was about time I gave Universe another shot. Given what a self-professed fan I am of Stargate, it seemed a little wrong to have not watched every single one of the 354 episodes that were made.

Well I’m now on episode 17 of season one and I figured the show was overdue a post. When I first tried watching it I saw the first four episodes before giving up. I didn’t rewatch those episodes, instead continuing on from episode five. From description the last three episodes heavily lead into season two. I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to watch the story arc through to conclusion, and I’d really hate to stop on a cliffhanger.

When I first tried the show I was bitterly disappointed, I really didn’t like it and I wrote it off. The question is, now I’ve given the show more of a chance, what do I really think?

Continue reading →

Are Named Actors Important?

Posted on by

Last night I watched Serenity, the movie that finished off the show Firefly even though it only ran for one season. That stars Nathan Fillion, who I’m much more familiar with starring as the eponymous writer in Castle.

I then really wanted to watch Once Upon a Time. However, I’m watching that with someone else and they are away for a week. Any episodes I watched now, I’d only have to watch again when they got back, so I might as well be patient. It’s only a week right? Well, yeah but when I really like something I want to watch it a lot. What I do is watch whatever the show is exclusively until I’ve seen it all, I then swap to another show and do the same. That’s why dvd boxsets are never wasted on me, I go back and rewatch entire seasons when I have a ‘season’ of that show.

Unable to watch Once Upon a Time I started browsing my Netflix queue for something I did feel like watching. That’s when I saw Stargate Universe. I am a mega huge fan of Stargate, I watched all of SG-1 and loved it, I watched all of Atlantis and loved it. I then went on to Universe, got four episodes in, and went back to start watching SG-1 from the beginning. I really did not like Universe at all. However, Stargate Universe stars Robert Carlyle, who plays Rumpelstiltskin/Mr Gold, aka my favourite character, in Once Upon a Time.

This made me think about the importance of named actors. Big movies like to put the stars names on the posters, to make a big deal about certain people being in it. True sometimes unknowns get to headline things but for any film that possibly can afford it, there’s a well known name cast somewhere.

That’s important to the studios but is it important to the viewer?

Continue reading →

Once Upon a Time

Posted on by

To save my friend from my endless walls of text on skype, I just had to write a blog post about the TV show Once Upon a Time. This isn’t my usual kind of show, over the past few years I have broadened my tastes and now I like a lot of Sci-Fi. However, this is fantasy, not something that would usually get my attention.

I subscribed to Netflix for the free month, I wanted to watch Marvel’s Daredevil. To give Netflix their due, they know what they are doing as I’m now past my free month. We even got an Amazon FireTV box, in the sale, to make watching streaming services easier. As I was now subscribed I went through their catalogue looking for other shows to try.

The first episode made me want to watch the second, within a couple more I was safely hooked. I’ve now watched all of season one, and the first few episodes of season two. Really Netflix is a good fit for how I watch TV, as I binge watch everything. I don’t watch anything live, as I live in the UK. I’m used to getting the dvd’s, now with the FireTV box, Netflix works just like a dvd.

Anyway, the show itself, where do I even begin? Fair warning, it might seem like I’m complaining. Although it might not seem like that, the more I like something, the more I pick fault. I think it’s because I care enough to bother, I actually think about it rather than just accepting it for what it is and moving on.

Continue reading →

Ant-Man: This time, embrace the change

Posted on by

I saw Ant-Man at the movies Monday night. I always go to the cinema for Marvel films, they are the films that I just can’t wait for to be released on dvd. I made the subtitle for this review a quote from Season 1 of Agents of Shield. Fitz says to Simmons, “This time Simmons, embrace the change.” and that just came to mind.

I know I still haven’t written about Age of Ultron. To be honest I’m now thinking that I saw it so long ago, I should wait until the dvd is released to remind myself of what I thought. I didn’t mean to miss reviewing the big Avengers mash-up, climax to phase two but I was ill and lazy.

Anyway, onto Ant-Man which has topped the UK box office, though it’s not done nearly as well as other Marvel films. Although, considering it’s still likely to make a good profit given it’s smaller budget, and the fact that it’s numbers could go up with word of mouth reviews, it’s not exactly bad news. It’s a bit like complaining you got an A on the test rather than an A* but Marvel is used to galactic success.

So what did I think? Oh and in the words of Coulson – “Spoiler alert.”

Continue reading →

Marvel’s Phase Two

Posted on by

Avengers: Age of Ultron is now out in Europe, it’ll be released in America on my birthday, May 1st. My twitter feed has been filled with #It’sAllConnected tweets regarding Agents of Shield. Now I haven’t talked about that show on this blog since the beginning of the season, I never even blogged about Agent Carter.

It would seem I have some catching up to do.

ABC still haven’t announced whether Agents of Shield or Agent Carter are going to be renewed for another season. There are also rumors that there could be a spin-off from Agents of Shield, more Marvel TV shows to geek out on, sounds good to me. There might be spoilers under the cut.

Continue reading →

Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer

Posted on by

This was supposed to premiere during Agents of Shield next Tuesday but some ******** leaked it early. Now you’d think given how much I love the Avengers, and how eager I have been to see the trailer, that I would be pleased to get it early. However, I’m mad as hell in a way because it has completely taken the wind out of the sails of the promo for Agents of Shield.

Marvel were telling everyone to tune in next Tuesday to see the trailer for the first time. It was a good strategy, get people back into watching AoS, as they see it once/or again and think it’s awesome, then tune in every week after that. Now, there’s no hook to get all kinds of new people to tune in. I just really think that AoS could have done with that shot in the arm for ratings, it’s an amazing show and I want to see it go on for years but if it doesn’t meet the magic numbers then it won’t. It’s only the beginning of season two, so unless they announce cancellation early, then I have until next May to worry about renewal.

Coulson lives! I just hope AoS continues too as well. Back to the trailer … there will of course be spoilers for it under the cut.

Continue reading →

Agents of Shield Wishlist

Posted on by

I could have entitled this post “I have no idea what to write” as I really struggled to think of anything at all. In fact I didn’t think of anything, I did what any sensible person would do when they are really stuck, I asked my friend. Who is probably getting a little fed up of having to help me think of blog topics, and it’s only day 11, this is serious.

Anyway, they suggested writing about what I hoped would happen in this season, season two, of Agents of Shield. I am completely spoiler free for this show, not by choice but just because I don’t know anywhere that gives out spoilers. I have seen the first two episodes and I have no idea what’s coming up next.

So what do I hope will happen this season? I better put it under a cut just in case.

Continue reading →