Who's your Favourite Superhero?

Ok for today's post you are going to have to forgive me a little, this was supposed to be the new must have music post in relation to the Foo Fighters, unfortunately I haven't had time to do that yet as I was busy all day yesterday and have been recovering from Saturday Nights hangover today, I have now been trying to type this short ditty for 3 hours not because I didn't know what to write just other stuff to do.

The idea has just come to me today as I had nothing else to post, what if I run a poll for a week on who is your favourite superhero?  The idea sort of came after regular reader and commenter Ruben informed me that there is no way Captain America is the most famous American superhero.  I have done some rooting around to try and find who is but obviously everyone has a different idea on the subject.  The poll will run for a week like I said above, give people time to see Captain America.  The voting box is over on the right side where the popular posts section usually sits (that will be back following the poll) so go over and vote for your favourite.

Your choices: Captain America, Spider-Man, Superman, Iron Man, Batman, The Hulk and X Men.

If I have missed any then be sure to let me know in the comments, especially if your choice is not there tell me.  The results will be put out next Sunday as to who your favourite is in another post.  This is the blogs first poll so help me out a little.

This is not the best post I know but I'm strapped for time and It's all I could put together, I'm back to work tomorrow though so may get some time then.  As normal the Monday movie review will be out tomorrow that's already done and it is on Iron Man who my vote has gone to in this poll.

Get hunting round the blog to all of the tabs at the top work now making it easier for you to navigate and the search box also works and remember don't forget to vote in the poll.

Dexter Season 5 Episode 7 - Circle Us

Another week and yet another solid episode of Dexter, last week is by far the best one I had seen so this week I was expecting it to slow back down again.  Luckily that's not what happened and I think this weeks episode was every bit as good just without the laughs.

A quick recap.  Dexter is now helping Lumen find and kill her tormentors, he knows this is a  dangerous move as he always works alone and doesn't have room for another.  Dexter was also busy doing his actual job this week, problem is his job and his serial killing are starting to roll into one putting Dexter under increasing pressure not just from himself but also Quinn who has Robocop looking into him and now Lumen.

Like I've said this was a great episode with the introduction of two guest stars who are surely going to play a major part in the story line for the next few weeks.  First up was Johnny Lee Miller, you know him right?  Angelina Jolie's ex.  Johnny plays Jordan Chase a motivational speaker who has made millions from books he has published, at first he seemed a pretty decent guy willing to help police with their investigation.  Also coming into the story this week was Cole Harmon (Chris Vance) last time I saw him he was in Sonar prison with Michael Schofield, we knew from the off that this guy was up to no good, he knew Boyd Fowler and was the one organising to have the dumped bodies removed from the lake.

That move didn't exactly go to plan when his truck was hit by a drunk driver spilling the bodies of the women all over the road.  Dexter is called to the scene and instantly knows all of this could lead back to him, he needs to find out who was driving that truck and quick, the situation is not helped when Lumen turns up to the crime scene and unbeknown to Dexter she is seen by Quinn who could possibly now be thinking Dexter offed his own wife.  He is informed by Stan Liddy (Robocop) that Lumen showed up in town 2 weeks before Dexter's wife was killed and it would seem that Dexter is now shacked up with her at his former Martial home.

Dexter managed to plant some evidence in the truck of Cole Harmon, pointing police in the direction of Boyd Fowler, they of course won't find him Dexter saw to that weeks ago but at least they have something to interest them whilst Dexter Perseus both Cole and Jordan.  Dexter and Lumen got access to Cole's house which nearly ended badly for Dexter being caught from behind only to be saved by Lumen.

The Santa Muerte killer saga came to an end last night, and proved to be nothing more than a little sideline the killer or supposed killer was shot in the club this week, although his brother escaped following a gun fight with cops so maybe it'll continue a little more. One thing for the scene in the club that's two weeks in a row the "C" word has been used in the show, if that was on a normal non satellite channel here in the UK then you would probably have a few rubber healers complaining.

I'm starting to miss Harry (Dexter's dad) he has not been in the show for a couple of weeks now and his scenes with Dexter are usually brilliant, I would think with all the killing Dexter has to do in the next few weeks that he should be making an appearance soon.  Also this week Dexter's son Harrison spent most of the episode asleep, that of course didn't ruin the episode he generally just brings the light hearted entertainment along.  Masuka and Angel where quite this week to, Angel is usually pretty funny but is on his best behaviour at the minute trying to save both his job and marriage.  Harrison featured at the end of the episode when Dexter decided to introduce him to Lumen, is Dexter starting to get feelings for her? or is he simply making his life easier giving Lumen something else to think about?  I personally hope it's the first option as i don't mind seeing more of Julia Stiles hopefully her part could roll over into season 6. 

No music info for you this week either unless you want a gun shot soundtrack, one thing I've noticed the last couple of weeks the title music goes on nearly as long as a James Bond movie, not that you mind once the show starts.  Like I said twice now another great episode and I think it's only going to get better and better from here.

The Killing Season 1 Episode 5 - Super 8

Don't be fooled by the title of this episode Super 8.  It has nothing to do with the new movie that comes out here in UK cinemas next week, although it has been used here in a similar way as detectives hunting the killer of Rosie Larsen have managed to uncover some Super 8 video camera footage of Rosie, now all they need to know is who is shooting the film?

This week the show was mainly based around Bennett the high school teacher who is now in the frame as a suspect.  Holder and Linden went to see him and he faced some difficult questions, most of which he could give plausible answers for.  His only problem he has no one to confirm those alibi's for him as his wife was out of town the weekend Rosie was killed.  Bennett also works for a charity named All stars which is supported heavily by the Richmond Mayoral campaign, police were able to confirm with him last night that he has access to their campaign vehicles, although Bennett claims never to have driven one.

Speaking of the Richmond campaign, I'm really liking this side to the story.  The dirty politician willing to do anything to throw off his competitor and the good politician (Richmond) working hard on rooting out the mole in his camp.  In order to do that he staged the sacking of right hand man Jamie who is working on getting in to the current mayors camp.  Finally coming up with the goods this week we now know who the mole is.  He really plays a guy with a heart this Richmond you normally wouldn't trust people like him but he seems a pretty decent character, not willing to carry out his advisers demands of speaking to the Larsen family.

Remember a couple of weeks back I talked about the drug addict cop, yeah.  Well this week Holder was seen to be taking a rather large sum of money from some guy in a car, what's that for?  Is he dealing drugs?  We know he has worked undercover for years, maybe he has turned good cop gone bad.  Something is very strange about this guy, a good detective yes but he ain't shootin straight.

Just a side note Richmond's love affair lady Terry (Jamie Ann Allman), one sneaky b!t*h she is, right?  All over Councillor Richmond whilst sleeping with some top director in order that he helps out to make a campaign video to beat all others.  Back to the Investigation and It seems now that Stan Larsen wants something done about this quick, he has asked one of his co-workers to get him the names of people the police are looking at as possible suspects.

Police are still firmly focusing their efforts on Bennett, this guy is starting to crack a little I think.  They went to speak to his wife after they found out that she is one of his former students, he certainly seems to have a soft spot for them.  He even sent his wife little notes when still at school just as he has done with Rosie.  Cops searched the apartment whilst Bennett was out and found a stash of Ammonium Hydroxide.  They then got Rosie's body examined again and it was found to have Ammonium all over it as well as in her lungs.  Things really aren't looking to good for Bennett right now, maybe he has done this before.  Is it to obvious to be Bennett though?  I'm just throwing this one out here let me know what you think.  The Larsen's nanny, her name I'm not sure but I think she is Mitch Larsen's sister.  She knew they were away camping for the weekend without Rosie and she has access to the house.  Her name has not even come up in police conversation, is she telling all she knows?  After all it's always someone you wouldn't expect.

Being almost half way through this season now you expect that we may be starting to get somewhere, as the Danish show this is based on was a one series 20 episode show.  The killing has already been commissioned for a second season though with another 13 episodes so don't be expecting answers any time soon.

New Cinema Releases: 29th July 2011

First off today, hello to the blogs latest follower Matthew.  Welcome aboard and don't forget to leave your comments.  It's Friday again and you know what that means, no?  Well it's the weekly roundup of whats worth your time and whats not worth your time going to see at the cinema this weekend, as always with this post the movie featured last week Horrible Bosses is currently riding high at the box off, but it's struggling to get past the other movie I mentioned Cars 2.  Neither of them though are anywhere near that kid wizard yet.

First up this week Captain America: The First Avenger.  This movie has been on the horizon for quite some time now, not being American or into comic books I have to ask what is all the fuss about?  Isn’t this just another superhero movie for us all to enjoy?  All be it he is probably the most famous American superhero but will this movie actually be that good?  As it’s called the First Avenger, will there be a second movie?

Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell and Tommy Lee Jones

It’s 1942 and America is just heading off into World War II.  Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) has been deemed unfit for military service so he volunteers himself for a top secret research project “Rebirth”.  His weak body is suddenly turned into the maximum of human potential turning him into Captain America.  The head of the project Dr Erskine is assassinated by Johann Schmidt aka the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) Nazi Germany’s head of HYDRA research department.  Rogers completes a successful mission as Captain America which leads him into a war against Schmidt.

As always I’ve done some rooting around on the movie, of course I didn’t have to go to far to find a review.  The review drew comparisons from Iron Man and Spider-Man stating this is a worthy contender and even compared it to being as good as Raiders Of The Lost Ark, a movie that many people consider the best 80’s action movie and quite possibly the best one of all time.  If those comparisons are right then Captain America is a must see and we are in for a real treat.

Next up this week is Zookeeper, a movie where simply watching the trailer below should satisfy your interest, if you have any at all that is.  I suppose if you have children then you may well be heading to the theatre this weekend for your dose of talking animals, we haven’t seen that before right?

Starring: Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb and Donnie Wahlberg

As you can probably tell form the movie poster Griffin Keyes (Kevin James) is the Zookeeper.  Griffin is chasing the love of his life Stephanie (Leslie Bibb) who rejects him claiming that it’s because of his Zookeeper credentials.  A few years later Griffin is offered a job working at his brothers car dealership being assured that a change in career is the only way to woo Stephanie.  It’s then that the Zoo animals decide to break their code of silence on speaking to humans in order to hold onto their beloved head Zookeeper.

Sounds great right? Not.  I think Night At The Museum may be slightly edging ahead of this one in the talking animals stakes.  I don’t really know what Kevin James is up to with movie choices right now, all I can imagine is that he is really good friends with Adam Sandler who owns the production company that made this movie and maybe Kev owes the Sandman a favour.

On the plus side Sylvester Stallone plays the voice of the Lion, that's all I got really.  I can however point you in this direction.  Glen at 1Man. 365 Movies has reviewed it so go check it out.

Midweek Mix Tape: Loick Essien, Maroon 5, Amy Winehouse, Nirvana

I'm a little late on this one today, well not late for you more on my side really.  See I usually type things up the night before they are posted, unfortunately I didn't get time last night so it's 7am I'm at work, no really I am and I have managed to get this done before my boss comes in.  So if there is anything I missed then you know why.  Now as you would imagine Amy Winehouse is currently racing up the charts, we talked about her last week remember.  Her album Back To Black is back to number one, maybe I should feature something from it, let's see what else we can find first though.

First up this week is a guy I have been meaning to mention for weeks now.  Loick Essisen is a British rap and R&B star who is three singles into his album Identity (not yet released), before that Essien has featured on tracks with both Chipmunk and Dappy from N-Dubz, the latest single to be taken from his album is How We Roll and currently sits at number 6 in the charts.

Next up is someone who featured on the must have music post a few weeks back.  Maroon 5 lead man Adam Levine has been taking a bit of a break lending his talent to US TV show the Voice, which comes to the BBC early 2012 from what I've heard.  He is now back with the band though and they have released their new single Moves Like Jagger, the song features Christina Aguilera (are they dating?) and is already a top ten hit in the US, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands, I wasn't sure what to think at first but it didn't take long to grow on me, let me know what you think.

That's pretty much it for new music this week, not much going on so I'll feature a couple of artists from this so called 27 club now starting with Amy Winehouse.  Last week we featured Tears Dry On Their Own today I have another favourite of mine from her album Back to Black called Valarie which features DJ Mark Ronson, enjoy.

Next up Kurt Cobain and his legendary Grunge band Nirvana, the band were massive worldwide and lead singer Cobain also died at the age of 27, leaving a massive hole in the music world.  Cobain's memory still lives on through his music and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, lead singer of the Foo Fighters.  The video below Smells Like Teen Spirit was one of Nirvana's biggest hits.

Falling Skies Season 1 Episode 4 Grace

This show really does just keep getting better and better, this episode has to be the best one I have seen so far, plenty of action and another great addition to the story which was touched upon briefly last week.

This week saw Pope (Colin Cunningham) released from his make shift jail cell in order to help the 2nd Mass fighters find some motorcycles.  The mission to save Ben was on hold whilst this was done and Pope managed to escape, petrol bombing a few skitters along the way causing problems for the fighters left at the garage.  They came under fire from the harnessed children and Tom (Noah Wyle) refused to allow his fighters to fire back at children, knowing it was the harness controlling them.


I said in the review of episode 2 when the 2nd Mass managed to capture Pope that I thought he would become a big part of the story, having escaped that may now hold off a while but I still think he has a major part to play here.  He is the one who figured out how to wound or kill the skitters meaning that Tom was able to take a prisoner of war last week.  The prisoner of course being a skitter.  We learned some new things about them this week, they are vulnerable as Humans would be, although the harness has been taken off one of the children successfully the skitter is still able to control them, weather they have to be a commanding skitter or not is yet to be seen.  The skitters also seem to communicate through radio waves, kind of like telepathy I suppose.  No mech's this week, it would seem that the mech's are just security for the skitters who are the real threat.

The skitters are also able to communicate through the harnessed children, so they must be able to understand what's said to them.  The main premise of this episode was making attempts to communicate with the visitors, who are they? why have they come here? what do they want? and indeed where have they come from?  As you guessed we didn't get a straight answer out of the captive but they did try a couple of different options.  Dr Anne (Moon Bloodgood) took the softly softly approach believing the creature to be scared whilst Dr Michael (Steven Werber) took a slightly harder approach showing the skitter one of his dead friends, as you can imagine that didn't go down to well causing the skitter to believe they were going to kill him, so is Dr Anne right?  Could it be frightened? and can their be peace?

We eventually saw a slightly softer side to commander Weaver (Will Patton).  I mentioned a week or so ago that this guy is one hard ass mutha, nothing has really changed in that respect but I think the toughness may just be starting to break a little.  Like I said above this show is really starting to get going and has the perfect recipe for TV, not only do we get to know the characters and their backgrounds but we also get the great action sequences and a show that leaves you wanting more week after week.

Trailer Time: Haywire, Dream House, Contagion, Sherlock Holmes 2

Ok so as I promised yesterday, this is a new post mainly video's which features new movie trailers I have come across on the net that week.  So let's get started.

Haywire: Gina Carrano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas

Dream House: Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts

Contagion: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwenyth Paltrow and Jude Law

Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law and Racheal McAdams

Don't forget to leave your comments and let me know what you think.

Sirens Series 1 Episode 5 Stress

On we go with what is surely the most popular TV show in the UK right now, and can you believe it, there is only one episode left.  They must be going to do a second series surely?  As always we'll have a recap of the episode along with a laugh and then I'll tell you all of the music that was used on the episode.

Titled Stress, you can probably guess what this episode was about?  Stress that's right.  That is not in relation to work related stress, more on Stuarts part who has seen love of his life Maxine begin to run off with her hunky Fireman.  Maxine is also feeling the pressure though due to the afore mentioned Fireman not returning her text messages.  The two of them are having slight wobbles at work in situations they would normally deal with no problem.  Of course on Stuarts side that means Rachid and Ashley are going to take the mick, and as you would expect they do so in spectacular fashion.

First off the guys get called to an incident of mass outrage of public decency at some junction with the A1, I'm thinking 20 guys or girls or both maybe standing flashing their bits at cars on the flyover, I was wrong it was a car park full of doggers, one with his arse stuck up against his windscreen as he had put his back out whilst he was on the job you do wonder how Ambulance, Fire and Police are able to keep their laughs in with some of the situations that they face.


The best gag of the night came from Rachid when he placed two toy figures in the ambulance, one was a police officer and the other a fireman.  The figures were placed over the dashboard (need I say more) all in an effort to wind up Stuart.  I liked the word bingo game the guy's played also, what's that?  Well basically the guys have attended so many stress management meetings they know the key words the therapist will use, so in order to have a bit of fun they each note down a list and mark them off as they are mentioned before finally shouting "House" in the middle of the course.

If you weren't a fan of Sirens and last night's episode was the first one you watched then you probably didn't get it.  Last weeks episode King Of The Jungle was by far the funniest with this one taking a more serious note.  It set's things up nicely for next weeks finale and then we can all hope their will be a second series, come on Channel 4.

Now as I do every week, here is the soundtrack to last nights episode with a little video of the best track on the night.

Body Language, MANDY Vs Booka Shade
Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered, Ella Fitzgerald
God Made Me, Altered Natives
Surf Hell, Little Barrie
A Chore, Tom Vek
Tenderoni, Kele Okereke
What in the World, Carol Kenyon
Car Video, Sporto Kantes
We Want To, New Young Pony Club
It's Me, Aquadrop
The Phoenix Alive, Monarchy
Barbara Streisand (O-God Remix), Duck Sauce
Airwar, Crystal Castles
Enfant Terrible, Sonny J
Freak Like Me, Sugarbabes
Midsummer Night Blues, Waldeck
Diplo Rhythm, Diplo
Kalimba, Mr Scruff
Baby Get Lost, Dinah Washington
Blackeye, Love Inks
See You All, Koudlam
Turn Up (The Music), Camo and Krooked
Stand on the Word (Larry Levan Mix), The Joubert Singers
Come to the Bar, Pete and the Pirates

Soundtrack care of briankellett.net

Movies Music & Television: How We Doin?

This is one of those State Of The Blogs posts but as everyone else calls it state of the blog I've gone with something else.  I wanted to put something out just to keep everyone up to date as to what's going on here, as always I ask that you give me your thoughts in the comments section below.

Ok first things first the template the blog currently uses will be staying this way, I like it.  It's easy to use and requires very little maintenance on my part.  Not only that but the posts are easy to read and they lay out well with both pictures and videos.  One more thing to change with the template are the buttons at the top (Movie Reviews, Movie News etc) If you read this blog often then you may have noticed that they don't work yet.  I am getting round to it and it should hopefully be rectified by the end of this week.

You also may have noticed that there was a featured video section on the right sidebar for the last week or so, that has gone now.  It looked ok I thought but the pages where taking to long to load on a feature that wasn't really required.  I may put something else there in relation to a featured artist or something, I haven't decided yet so it may well just stay the same.

Now onto the posting of articles or blogs, lately they have been getting pretty structured and I try to keep them to certain times.  As always that won't change I intend to post everyday, but what about you ask?  well below I have detailed it for you, again any suggestions on things you would like to see or not like to see are appreciated.

Monday - The Monday Movie Review

This started today and as always the movie won't necessarily be new but every Monday a movie review will be posted.  Movie reviews are quite hard to get traffic to as you can imagine, there are so many on the net but I enjoy doing it.

Tuesday - New Movie Trailers and Sirens

Two posts for you on a Tuesday and one of which is new, since removing the featured video section I thought maybe I could do a post with trailers of upcoming movies, the post will mainly be videos with a short of what the movie is and who stars.  Sirens is a TV show here in England which is massively popular and has been posted about on here for 4 weeks now.  There are only two episodes left and I will find something to put in it's place when it's finished.  (maybe it will be Dexter reviews form the previous seasons)

Wednesday - Falling Skies

As it has been for the last few weeks, Falling Skies will be reviewed every Wednesday if you don't watch it then get caught up and start leaving me some comments.

Thursday - Midweek Mix Tape

This is the post that was called Must Have Songs For Your iPod, which is popular viewing wise but does not get any comments.  So I have changed the name and will put the post out through the week keeping you up to date with all the latest music.

Friday - New Cinema Releases and The Killing

Two posts again on a Friday the first will be in the morning and notes all the new movie releases that week, the post went for a while but was a popular one for traffic so last Friday I started it again and it's up their with the most viewed of the week again.  In the evening a post will go out in relation to the Killing, the popular TV show has about 11 episodes left.

Saturday - Dexter

My favourite post and TV show at the minute, the review of Dexter will be out every Saturday, again it's quite a popular one hence I'm going to review the previous seasons through the week as and when I watch them.

Sunday - Must Have Songs For Your iPod (with a twist)

Not the regular post that's changed remember this will be in relation to a specific artist.  It starts this Sunday with the Foo Fighters. 

So that is how the post structure will work, as always if I hear something on a TV show, movies or music and feel the need to put something out about it, then I will put a post out.

The blog had it's second guest post the other day, that's something I intend to continue.  If you want to get something up here then go to the contact section and E-Mail me at the address there with your post, I'll publish it here and you will get whatever links you like in the post.

There are plenty of good shows to come.  Terra Nova and Alcatraz have been posted about here, I will be watching those and reviewing them also coming up soon is the X Factor, as I did with Britain's Got Talent I will review every show.  And Two And A Half Men returns soon with Ashton Kutcher so that should be worth a watch.

Finally, I just want to hear some thoughts on what I done with the movie review post today.  If you have read it then you will notice there is a scrolling Amazon feature with the DVD's that have been mentioned, I don't want the blog to be over promotional and put people off, so let me know does it look ok?  Or does it put you off? 

Movie Review: SOURCE CODE Starring Jake Gyllenhaal

My turn to pick the movie again this Saturday night and the lady friend agreed with me that Soure Code sounded like a good option, not quite the response I thought I would get but as I had no other DVD worth watching and there was no better options on TV, we thought we'd give this a go.

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright

The Plot

Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a USAF helicopter pilot who's last memory is flying in Afghanistan.  Stevens wakes up on a commuter train heading for Chicago opposite Christina (Michelle Monaghan) a woman he has never met, she however knows him very well.  8 Minutes into the train journey it blows up and Stevens awakens again, only this time to find himself in a pod where he has access to a TV monitor enabling him to talk to Collen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) who drip feeds information to Stevens as to what he is supposed to be doing.  We come to learn that Stevens is part of a new government programme called "Source Code" which allows them to send you (theres a catch) into someones consciousness for the last 8 minutes of their lives.  His mission is to run the 8 minute scenario over and over until he figures who the bomber is and where he has placed the bomb. 

The Verdict

I have been waiting a little while to write this one, not because I thought the movie was bad I just didn't think it was as good as some other people had made out.  I'm trying to think of a movie where they have a similar scenario space wise.  Phonebooth for instance, where he can't leave the booth but then Colter Stevens is free to move around on the train and get off the train if he so wishes whilst he is in the Source Code.  I then thought of Innerspace starring Dennis Quaid it's similar I suppose he's inside of someone and able to talk to them (control their mind), in Innerspace Quaid is also free to move around all be it inside the body of someone else but he's only small and that movie is no where near as cool as this one.

Don't be put off by the comparisons, I mean they aren't bad ones.  Phonebooth is a great movies considering where it was set and I haven't seen Innerspace since well, I can't remember but I do remember it was quite a good movie.  Source Code is a lot more stylish than both of those movies and that is only helped by a 5 star performance for Gyllenhaal and a quality backing cast both on the train and back in the Army command centre.

This is director Duncan Jones first action movie and unlike many others there is nothing loud or brash about it.  It's a very good story with an equally clever plot that gives nothing away.  Ok so I know that the thought of people being put into another persons body for the last eight minutes of their life may well be a little hard to believe but in this movie you do have to take that and put it into the back of your mind whilst you marvel in everything else this movie has to offer, which is a great story, great acting and a great outcome that I won't give away now.  My advice to you if you like a clever well put together action, mystery thriller would be to watch this movie.

Would I watch it again?

I would watch this movie again, no doubt about it.  Maybe not on DVD but if it's on TV ad there is not much else happening, then it will assure you a couple of hours good entertainment.

Rating: MMM

No soundtrack information to give you on this movie as it doesn't have one, I will mention that if this is the kind of movie that you like then along with Source Code I would get my hands on Vantage Point.  Another good shout would be to see Moon by the same director Duncan Jones, I haven't seen it myself but will get round to it when I can.

Official Amazing Spider-Man Teaser Trailer: Do We Need Another Spider-Man? "Guest Post"

The new Amazing Spider-Man teaser trailer hit the web this week, and showed us exactly what we saw in the first Spider-Man movie, back in 2002. Peter lives with his aunt and uncle, he’s a social misfit, and then one day he’s bitten by a radioactive spider and—boom—he has super powers! I’ve already seen this movie, right?

2 Reasons to Remake/Reboot a Movie

There are only two reasons to remake/reboot a movie: 1) If the movie was badly made in the first place, a remake/reboot can update it and give the material new life; 2) To expose the material to a new generation of fans.

The recent Star Trek movie is a great example of an almost-perfect remake/reboot. It updated the material, made it cool again, and exposed a new generation to Start Trek (since the last Star Trek franchise has been dead for years now).

But Spider-Man wasn’t done badly in the first place. Critics raved over the first and second installments. And even if the third installment wasn’t stellar, it still deserves an honorable mention in the pantheon of superhero movies.

And rebooting the series now hardly counts as exposing the material to a new generation. Spider-Man 3 was released in 2007, a mere 4 years ago. I suppose there may be some middle schoolers who weren’t exposed to the original franchise, but they can hardly count for a huge shift in the age demographics of the US.

The 3^rd Reason

On the other hand, the Spider-Man franchise has proven to be extremely profitable. The original franchise grossed over $2.3 billion worldwide, and that’s not something studio executives want to walk away from anytime soon.  And considering that Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst can hardly pass as young college students anymore, I suppose there was a third reason to make a new Spider-Man movie, with newer, younger, actors—profit.

Cynical-Man

But for all the cynicism of Hollywood money and the death of true creativity in entertainment, there is something to be said of the filmmakers and actors who want to tackle a project that is still relatively fresh in the minds of moviegoers. And, according to reports, this reboot is supposed to stick closer to the original source material and be more faithful to the characters—so maybe this version can offer us something the originals did not.

But can they pull it off, and not make it seem like I’m watching the same movie I did just a few years ago?

Check out the trailer below and leave your thoughts on the new Spider-Man in the comments.

James Ged is a writer, runner, and movie geek who blogs for Comcast.USdish about Digital TV and entertainment news. Follow him on Twitter: @James Ged

Must Have Songs For Your iPod - Week 20

It just wouldn't be right to do the weekly post today without mentioning the passing of Jazz singer Amy Winehouse.  The 27 year old crooner was found dead in her London flat on Saturday afternoon (23rd July 2011).  No stranger to the media the singer had well publicised problems with both alcohol and drugs, Heroin imparticular.  I was never the biggest fan of her music but feel it only right to include what was my favourite song of hers.  Tears Dry On Their Own is taken from her 2006 album Back To Black, yes the girl had problems but you can't fault her vocal talent, enjoy.

On with the regular posting now and a bit of a lighter note.  Example is back following his chart topping single Changed The Way You Kissed Me.  Stay Awake will be released on August 28th and features on his album Playing In The Shadows.

Now onto a song I've been meaning to mention for a while now and Jennifer Lopez is certainly better to look at than Amy Winehouse, especially now she is single (bit old for me maybe)  but her song I'm Into You featuring Lil Wayne is one you need to be adding to your iPod or MP3.

As I have mentioned that Jennifer is single, I might as well mention her ex husband Marc Anthony, he features on the latest Pitbull tack Rain Over Me.  Mr Worldwide, seriously he says that in every song has he bought the rights to that name or something?  Check out the video below.

Hope you enjoyed the Video's this week, all the music is available below.  Be sure to check back to the blog later tonight when I will have this blogs second Guest Post from James at drivenetwork.com, he has done us a post asking if we really need another Spider-Man, it's a great post so be sure to come back later, check it out and leave your comments.

Dexter Season 5 Episode 6 Eveything Is Illumenated

Six episodes into the 5th season of Dexter now and I'm finally getting to grips with the different characters and the roles they play.  I've done some reading up on Dexter to help bring me up to speed as I haven't seen season 1 through to 4 (I'm working on that).  I've read some blogs who say they have had enough of this show and it should be brought to a close.  I disagree with that, I maybe haven't seen the other seasons but for me this show builds up and up and just keeps getting better.  Episode 6 did not let me down with that either, so with that in mind.

What is Dexter hiding?  PEEK ABOO, man that's funny this Harrison kid cracks me up, as a toddler he is more entertaining than some of the backing cast.  He started to talk this week and as usual Harrison's development was used to turn a murderous situation into something funny.  Just as Dexter is on the way out to kill his latest victim (or not) Lance Robinson, Harrison says "BYE, BYE" of course it sound more like "DIE, DIE".  Dexter's like WHAT?.

Quinn is still on Dexter's case this week also, hoping that there must be something he can get on the psycho blood spatter expert.  Unfortunately not even Robocop can get anything on this guy.  Dexter is squeaky clean, to squeaky clean for their likings.  Quinn's character has not really interested me me at all, you think they would get someone a bit smarter on the case.  Maybe he will come up with the goods by the end of the season, who knows?

It was a pretty murderous episode this one, not only was Dexter after his latest prey but Lumen had decided she would also go and confront her tormentors.  She managed to get a shot off at Dan Mendell (guest star Sean O'Bryan), unfortunately she only managed to injure him leaving Dexter to cut his evenings entertainment with Lance short in order to clean up her mess.  This guy Dan actually had me thinking at one point that he had done nothing wrong and Lumen had the wrong guy.  I was wrong of course and that's the first time I've seen Dexter snap anyones neck .  I then think I'm sitting watching Jackass and that Party Boy or Steve O have just jumped out of Dexter's trunk wrapped in cling film.  Any one else find that funny?

This of course all leads to Dexter almost getting caught, regular reader and commenter Ruben has said Dexter has had some close calls in the past and this surely has to be one of the closest, right?  As Debra is called away from a drugs bust to a possible homicide, the one Dexter has just committed or two he has just committed in fact. That's just after Lance has leaped out of his car and almost made it to where the cops where searching, how did Dexter get away with it this time?  Masuka that's how, this guy is hilarious like I said last week.  Just as the episode is wrapping up he is giving the cops a visual description on how these two guys come to end up dead.  Dexter was quite happy with that verdict, means he has no difficult questions to answer.

And don't kids who have just learned to talk call at the most inconvenient times.  Harrison's nanny calls Dexter to let him talk some more.  YEAH "BYE, BYE" daddy just got to get rid of a couple of bodies, see you in the morning.

That leads me onto this now, last week I gave you a sneak peak that gave nothing away about season 6.  Below is the new trailer released by Showtime with a look ahead of what's to look forward to in September.

As with all my TV show reviews now people are coming here looking for information on songs they have heard during the shows, so with that in mind I'll start and give you the soundtrack info for Dexter.  This episode featured DJ Marlboro and his song Som De Preto which was played in the nightclub during the drugs bust.

The Killing Season 1 Episode 4 A Soundless Echo

Where do I start with with this drama.  Dark, chilling, creepy drug addict cops, drug addict suspects, clean cops, clean suspects.  Politicians out for their agenda and their agenda only double crossing and scheming even their own staff who of course return the favour.  Add into the mix Rosie Larsens parents and this depressing TV show leaves you wanting more and more every week.  New story twists and background starting to appear from main characters in the plot which in turn could throw us down an altogether different line.  I did warn on the second episode review that if it's laughs you are after, then this show is not for you but if you want something with a great story that keeps you guessing then you won't go far wrong with the Killing.

This episode saw the two main suspects so far at the police station, Kris was there being pressed hard by both Linden and Holder whilst Jasper turned up voluntarily with his lawyer.  The true story of what happened in the cage that night is now out, although as yet we the audience don't know the full story but from what I was able to gage the violence in the cage on that night was directed towards Sterling, Rosie's best friend.  Stan had to borrow some money from his estranged father, he had bought a house before all this happened as Rosie never had a back yard, the house was a surprise and now he finds himself in financial difficulty wanting to spare no expense on the funeral. 

I mentioned drug addict cops at the top, as yet I'm not sure Holder is a drug addict, he certainly looks like one and his suspect even referred to him having the same itch as him as well as his boss telling him to put on a suit as he was looking rougher than the person he was supposed to be interviewing.  This guy was initially the lightness in the show with his little funny one liners, that seems to have shifted now as the seriousness of the investigation continues.  Holder is pretty unorthodox in his methods, he has worked on the streets for years and all he knows is unorthodox, or bad cop as it's probably referred to more often.

A new side in Rosie's father Stan was coming out last night, he owns a local removal company and one of his employees offered to help him deal with Richmond, the councilman who's campaign car Rosie was found in.  Stan's reply was that he does not do stuff like that anymore, that immediately gets you thinking.  Ok this guy has not always been legit and maybe there is more of a story to come from that, especially now we have met his father who clearly is not a straight laced guy and their has obviously been a big falling out in the family over something, is anyone from that side involved in Rosie's murder?

The politician Darren Richmond, having secured his funding last week in order to win the vote of the unions was still on the lookout for money last night to bring back his wavering campaign, the guy clearly trusts no one in his camp his showdown last week saw Jamie fired from the campaign, or was he?  No he wasn't it was staged as Richmond knows he is not the real mole and Jamie is now working on getting into the opposition camp in order to help Richmond win his mayoral campaign.

Now onto the school teacher.  Bennett.  Rosie's mother had gone to the school to see the messages left on her daughters locker.  Bennett sits with her to tell her some of Rosie's quality's and shows her a poetry book which was her favourite, just as this is happening Lindon is at the Larsens house to do another search of Rosie's bedroom fearing that they had missed something, they have a hunch that she was seeing an older man.  Lindon then finds letters concealed in a globe, from what I could tell the letters resembled poetry (I'm not a fan) and they had Bennett's name at the bottom, theirs our new suspect.  Do you think he done it?

It was an all round solid episode with great acting as always and more twists to the story of who killed Rosie Larsen?, it's never boring and like I said above leaves you wanting to know more at the end of every episode.

New Cinema Releases: 22nd July 2011

Ok so this post has been away a little while and replaced with a post called "This Week's Top Movie".  That didn't really work out and I've since realised that I get quite a lot of traffic in relation to new movie releases, so to go in line with a new structure coming to the blog in the next week I'm going back to this.  I'm going to post details on the new structure at the weekend and will be asking for some opinions on what you think also, so be sure to check back for that.  Let's get on with it.

First up this week, Horrible Bosses a movie that has been getting plenty hype here in the UK.  Jennifer Aniston was even on morning TV here on Thursday promoting it, she looked pretty good considering the time.  The movie has been pretty well received in the US, released on 15th July it has taken over $60 million and currently sits number 3 at the box office.

Starring, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis and Kevin Spacey

The story follows three guys, Nick (Bateman) hates his boss as he is expected to work from sunrise to sunset and is even humiliated if he is a minute late.  Dale (Charlie Day) also hates his boss, he is about to get married and the unwanted sexual harassment from Dr Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston), what's he complaining about? is not what he needs.  Kurt (Sudeikis) likes his boss, well at least until his son takes over always high on coke (not the fizzy variety).  Not wanting to quit their jobs due to the economical climate they decide to come up with a plan to kill their bosses, before to long they are in way over their heads and have hired a murder consultant in order to help them complete their mission.

Seems pretty stupid I know but I think it will be worth a watch, it's a good cast all with comedic value, so although the story may not be great at least you get a laugh.

Next up this week, it's one for the kids.  Cars 2, again this movie has had plenty hype.  Helped of course by the fact that it's a Disney movie and the first installment was a massive hit.  The movie is currently sitting at number 5 in the US box office and has took over $165 million.

Starring (Voices): Owen Wilson, Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Cane, Eddie Izzard and I believe F1 Driver Lewis Hamilton has a small cameo too.

The cars are heading over to Japan, where Lightning McQueen (Wilson) and his best pal Mater (Cable Guy) are going to be competing in the World Grand Prix.  The race and their Tokyo adventure don't go quite to plan when Mater becomes involved in an International espionage adventure of his own.

As far as animated movies go, this is one I won't be going to see but I suppose if you have older kids then this is your Saturday or Sunday afternoon sorted.  If you want a review that gives you a good overview and a bit of a laugh then head over and see Glen at 1Man. 365 Movies.

Upcoming Movie Trailer - Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Due out September 2nd 2011 in UK cinemas is this comedy drama starring US Ofiice funnyman Steve Carrell.  Now for me any movie that stars him in a comedy role is worth your time and this movie looks quite promising, maybe kind of like the 40 Year Old Virgin with a little more seriousnes added.

The movie also stars Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore and Kevin Bacon and I think this could prove to be a real hit.  Carrell will star as Cal who is married to Emily (Julianne Moore) they have what seems like the perfect life together until one day Emily asks for a divorce.  Cal's perfect life is now thrown into tatters, as he has not dated for decades now he comes across to women as Mr unsmooth, didn't I say this was like 40 Year Old Virgin only this time he's been married.   Cal is now forced into the singles scene and spends most of his evening sitting at his local bar, pretty much sulking really.  His friend Jacob (Ryan Gosling) decides that he needs to show cal some good times and give him some style introducing him to flirty women and manly drinks.  Jacob soons falls in love with a woman who is resisting his charm and Cal learns he need to fight off the affections of his 13 year old sons 17 year old babysitter who has developed a bit of a soft spot for him.

Alcatraz, Is J.J Abrams New Hit TV Show The Next Lost

I ran across this show this morning whilst doing my rounds on the net.  is this the new Lost?  I think it may well be.  The show produced by Abrams, who created TV hits Lost and Fringe and is also responsible for hit movie Super 8 as well as the upcoming Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. 

As yet I have not heard of any UK network picking this show up but based on the trailer I have seen and posted below it won't be to long before Sky some calling at the doors of Fox once again.

Alcatraz of course needs no introduction from me, it's the most infamous prison in America and as far as I know, no one ever escaped and if they did then the currents around the island were so strong they would never have made it back to San Fransisco.  Now I know what you are thinking is this just a TV show re hashed from that movie "The Rock" starring Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage?  No it's not.  the premise of this show is a lot classier than that and it seems like man of the moment J.J Abrams has pulled it out the bag once again, take a look at the trailer below and then let me know what you think.

Set in present day San Fransisco Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones "Sons Of Anarchy") is assigned to a grisly homicide case, there are no leads except one fingerprint lifted from the scene.  The fingerprint however, belongs to Jack Sylvane (Jeffrey Pierce "The Nine") a former inmate at Alcatraz prison who seemingly died decades before.  Que government agent Emerson Hauser (Sam Neil "Jurassic Park") who is trying every way he can to scupper Rebecca's investigation into the crime.  Trusting no one she turns to Alcatraz expert Dr Diego "Doc" Soto (Jorge Garcia "Lost"), a little young to be an Alcatraz expert maybe?  but one all the same.  The two begin to piece together a sequence of events and discover that Sylvane is not only alive but he is roaming the streets of San Fransisco and has not aged a day since he was in prison.

The pair eventually team up with Hauser and his technicians in order to stop Sylvane and his vengeful killing spree whilst uncovering a web of government cover ups along the way.  It soon becomes clear that Sylvane won't be the only dangerous former Alcatraz inmate to make a re appearance in San Fransisco.

The trailer for this show looks great and I really think Lost addicts, myself included are going to love it.

The Dark Knight Rises Official Teaser Trailer

The long awaited return of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman the moodiest superhero in the world is over come July 20th, and now the studio have given us something to feast on with the release of the official trailer, enjoy.

Starring Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson and Josepth Gordon-Levitt the movie has a more secretive plot than even Super 8.  Not a bad thing in my book as sometimes the trailer of the movie you want to see so much is in fact all the best bits rolled into three minutes.  I have to hold my hands up here and be honest, I haven't seen the Dark Knight yet so will have to get onto that in the next couple of weeks.  The Batman movies are not really a favourite of mine before Batman Begins I can't remember seeing any of the movies.  Since Christian Bale though they seem to have been majorly re invented but again for me Bale is not really one of my favorites, a great actor yes but I have seen him interviewed a couple of times and he could well be Batman in real life.
 

Falling Skies Season 1 Episode 3 Prisoner Of War

I mentioned last week when reviewing the second episode "The Armoury" that at times I was sitting thinking, come on get on with it.  That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the episode and I'm pleased I didn't let it put me off as this week it done just what I asked, got on with it and in spectacular fashion too.

This week saw the fighters going out to rescue the kids as had been promised by Commander Weaver.  Problem is the teenagers who have all been harnessed by the aliens are under armed guard from the skeeters and the Mech's.  The fighters need to come up with an idea of getting them out without anyone getting hurt.  A new face is also in town or high school as the case may be, DR Michael Harris (Steven Weber), he has discovered a way to remove the harnesses from the children's backs without loosing them.

From the minute DR Harris and Tom met each other last night you were sensing a slight degree of awkwardness between the two, they clearly knew each other but what was going on behind the scenes.  I really didn't think we would find out so quick but turns out DR Harris was with Tom's wife Rebecca the night the aliens came and as far as Tom is concerned Harris is responsible for her death.  The episode is called Prisoner Of War, I initially thought this would be in relation to the biker gang prisoner John Pope who they captured last week.  Turns out not, Tom got into a confrontation with a skeeter and shot it's legs off maiming it, he then trailed it back to the high school where it's going to be kept for further observations, or is it?

Progress it seems is being made across the whole of America, not only are there the 600 people from the first episode but we now learn that their are unorganised resistance groups in almost every city, the down side to that being the aliens, they also have a command center in every city, this did breathe some light into the camp though, in relation to their chances of defeating the Skeeters.

Probably the best part of the episode last night was when Tom's son Hal and his girlfriend got left behind following some foolish behaviour by one of the resistance fighters.  Hal awoke to find the harnessed children dragging his girlfriend away whilst he started at the end of a loaded alien gun, the gun however wasn't for him, the Skeeter lined up a few of the harnessed kids and ordered the Mech to shoot them all in front of Hal.  At first I thought this was some sort of offering, you take one of the kids and send us back our alien friend, he's been to school already and doesn't need to go back.  No it was a message and Hal is the messenger give us back our pal or we will shoot the rest of the kids, Tom's other son and Hal's brother is in that group of kids remember.

Pope is a prisoner of war as I've mentioned but he is slowly proving his worth to the group, disapproving of the food we learn that he is a qualified chef and he has bartered with Commander Weaver for some time out the cell in order to cook meals for the 2nd Mass .  I said last week that I think this guy is going to play a massive part in the story and last night proved that he is starting to win over some of his doubters in the camp.

This was a brilliant episode of the show, especially after being a little disheartened last week.  This one was full of action a great part to the story, more story to build on and finally the budget must have been slightly upped this week as they showed the Mech's and Skeeters in the daylight and they did look pretty good even for TV.