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.

Sirens Series 1 Episode 4 King Of The Jungle

This show is clearly very popular, whilst it was on TV last night ratings here on this site went through the roof, most people of course looking to find what the amazing soundtrack was that the producers have matched to various scenes.  So as always I'll give you an episode recap, a review and then go through the best tracks of the night with a link to the full track listing.

King Of The Jungle was the name of the episode and this refers to the alpha male stereotype.  Woodvine (the boss) is threatening to break the lads up and pair them up with different people, this prompts Stuart to try and excerpt his authority in the ambulance over the other guys whilst promising to Woodvine that they will tighten up on their targets.  Stuart is facing tough competition for the alpha male role from Rachid who has taken a liking to driving the ambulance which leads us to believe his credentials for learning to drive fast may not be legitimate ones.

This has to be the best episode yet, both the story and the laughs got you from start to finish last the battle of Rachid and Stuart was hilarious.  The opening scenes with the ambulance attending 3 diffrent scenarios.  Rachid thinking of some profound medical reason for the pain the patient was in whilst Stuart on the other hand was keeping it simple knowing it was a case of mis adventure.  The guy with the carrot up his ass, hilarious.  Rachid's reaction he didn't need to say anything just the look on his face, I needed to pick myself off the floor in order to watch the rest of the episode.

Brian Kellett the ambulance driver who this show is based on must be loving this show, to see his book and blog come to life in such a funny way, it is clearly entertaining and has been a massive hit for Channel 4, hopefully we will get a second series or more episodes to add to the first, there are only six remember so only two left.

Aplha male has been mentioned loads now and the theme continued with Ashley who has been hoping to go out with the cop for the last couple of weeks, I thought Ashley was the one most comfortable with himself being gay and all, turns out he's not.  He is in search of an alpha male to take control in the bedroom department.  They finally get to go out but Ashley makes a stereotype that is inappropriate in relation to the cops manhood and the date is cut short.

It was a good episode for Maxine to, her alpha male was a guy who she met through the Internet dating site she has been using.  There was a pretty awkward moment for the guy following the sex scene when Maxine asked how he would rate her out of 10, 6 and a half out of ten seemed to be a better mark then she was expecting.

All in all this episode has been the best one yet, definitely the funniest and the soundtrack was awesome to, speaking of the soundtrack lets go through that below.  It worth bearing in mind that some of the music is quite obscure and you'll be lucky if you find it on YouTube.

First Up was Little Barrie - Surf Hell, the title song and the best one on the show.  Like that one check out the list below with a video at the end.

Crystal Fighters - Follow (acoustic)
Noisia - Gutterpump
The Drums - Me And The Moon
Groove Armada - But I Feel Good
Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin Beats
Sylvester - You Make Me Feel Might Reel
The Clash - Rock The Cashbah

I'll leave you with this one for the week.  The end credits song, Hot Chip - Over and Over, take a look at the video below.

Terra Nova Coming To Sky 1HD

I have been going to write about this show for a while now and I figured that since I have nothing else to put out today then this would be a good start, I'm hoping to fill the Monday void with a Movie review every week so watch this space.

Terra Nova is a new TV show from Academy Award winning director Steven Spielberg, who is currently delighting our screens of FX with the show Falling Skies.  As with Falling Skies Spielberg has not ventured far from the movies we all know so well.  Tarra Nova is due to go out in the US on September 26th with a two hour premiere on Fox, the show will then come to Sky 1 in the UK for Autumn.  Take a look at the trailer below then we'll discuss it.

So as you have guessed the show begins in the year 2149 and the Human population is facing extinction due to a dwindling air quality.  Scientists discover a fracture in time which allows them to create a portal that enables time travel.  The idea is to settle the Human population 85 million years in the past, prehistoric Earth.  The show centers around the Shannon family who join the tenth pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova a seemingly idyllic world.  The tenth pilgrimage however are not alone, the camp is set in the middle of carnivores Dinosaurs and they also have a splinter colony to contend with.

The show will star Jason O'Mara as Jim Shannon (Life On Mars, Monarch Of The Glen), Shelley Conn as Elizabeth Shannon (Mistresses, Strike Back, which is due a second season), Landon Liboiron as Josh Shannon (Degrasi: The Next Generation, Life Unexpected) and also Naomi Scott as Maddy Shannon (Life Bites).

The show of course draws comparisons to Spielberg's Jurassic Park movies the fourth of which is still being talked about but, for me the show also draws comparisons to lost, ok there not dead but you can see the similarity and he portal thing is kind of like Stargate only better.  If the trailer is anything to go by then the show looks set to be a smash hit in both the US and UK.

Must Have Songs For Your iPod Week 19

Just two more weeks left of this post now, don't worry it's not going anywhere just moving to midweek with a bit of a name change, if you read last week then you already know that the Sunday music post will continue but with a bit of a twist, want to know what it is?  Well that would be telling so you will have to subscribe to one of the feeds or maybe follow me on Twitter to make sure you don't miss out.

I've got four songs to mention for you this week and first up is something I have talked about a lot lately.  Any guesses?  That's right it's another one of those ideas, lets get a DJ who's on top of his game get him or her to mix up some beats stick a highly successful R&B artist on the backing track and hey presto we have a number one, along with a massive club hit.  If that is what you are into then I guess you should check out the video below of Little Bad Girl by David Guetta who has not got one R&B artist he's got two Ludacris and Taio Cruz feature on the single which will be released August 30th and David has said it will be a massive club hit, let me know what you think.

Next up this week you may remember this guy I mentioned him a while back.  Mann was in this post a while ago with his track Buzzin featuring 50 Cent, I don't remember that one being a cover version of anything else but that's exactly what he has done this time sampling Mark Morrison's Return Of The Mack and renaming it The Mack, original right?  The track also features Snoop Dogg (who else?) and Iyaz.  Mann's debut album is due out at the end of this month and this track will be featured on it.  The songwill probably work out quite popular since the original was so well thought of.

Whilst I'm talking about the original we might as well take a look at it here, I have it on my phone for the car (it's not my ringtone) and for me the original version can not be outdone.  For those of you who don't know who Mark Morrison is.  He is an English R&B singer from the 90's, the most successful one of that decade in fact.  His single Return Of The Mack was number 1 in England and most other European countries, it also got as high as number 2 in America the following year.  Mark has also had his run In's with the law back in the day he was convicted of Affray and sentenced to community service before being sent to prison for paying a lookalike to appear at the court for him, check out the video below.

Last one to mention now and as always I'll leave you on a high, the best boy band in the UK if not the world at the moment JLS, they came second on X Factor a couple of years back and have proved massively popular and very pocket enhancing for Simon Cowell.  Their new single She Makes Me Wanna is produced by hit maker Red One who they won the chance to work with in an auction it's due out July 24th and also features Dev from Far East Movement.  The video is below, enjoy.

Ok so that is all the latest music for this week, don't forget if you want to find out about the new posts coming up or you just enjoyed your visit then get subscribing to the feed and don't forget to leave your comments, I respond to them all.

Dexter Season 5 Episode 5 First Blood

As always I'll start with a quick recap from last week, then give you a brief on what this week's episode was about.  From episode 4 Debra and the rest of the Miami Metro police would appear to have been hot on the heels of the Santa Muerte killer after tracking him down to a house.  Dexter spent the the show trying to convince Lumen Pearce (Julia Stiles) that he was not going to kill her and would like to help her move on.  Dexter was also facing increasing pressure from Quinn, not face to face but in the background he is doing a lot of work to prove that Dexter leads a double life and has also been known as Kyle Butler.

This episode "First Blood" did not see the story line in relation to the Santa Muerte killer move forward any really, I think that one may be trailing on a little while yet.  Dexter has convinced Lumen that his intentions are honorable and is trying to convince her to go home and move on with her life and Quinn has recruited some help in his battle to prove that Dexter is in fact Kyle Butler.

The Santa Muerte killer, the story is more of a back burner really and would appear not to be connected in any way whatsoever to the main storyline of Dexter and Lumen.  That side of things is really not holding my interest at all, although last night it did provide me with the best laugh of the night.  Don't get me wrong some of Dexter's one liners that are narrated over the top, him thinking in his mind I presume do crack me up but, the hunt for the Santa Muerte killer lead Debra and Masuka to a local tattoo parlour to identify a drawing one the victims had provided them with. The joke was from Debra and referred to the ladies in the parlour being impressed with small needles, she told Masuka he should get out his manhood and show them.

Another sideline story that is getting quite amusing, although it probably shouldn't be is in relation to Harrison, Dexter's son.  He took him to a party in this episode and young Harrison would appear to be already following in his fathers footsteps getting his scratch on at the expense of another kids faces.  This is all following the shrink telling Dexter that Harrison would not be affected by him seeing his mother killed.  Dexter appears genuinely concerned regarding this especially as his son even knows how to discard of the evidence by licking his fingers clean.

Dexter and his storyline are afforded top billing as always it is his show after all, he is meeting up with Lumen every morning at a local coffee shop where she is expressing a desire to kill the men who abused and tortured her. Dexter on the other hand is trying to convince her that this is not a good idea and may not lead to her feeling better about things at all, I'm really liking the Lumen side of the story especially now that she decided not to get on the plane and stay in Miami.  Julia Stiles plays the character brilliantly and really shows that she is a cut above the other female actresses in the show.  Another character that works really well is Dexter's father Harry (James Remar) his ghost stopped Dexter from committing the murder of an innocent man in this episode, urging him to take a second look and think again if this man could be responsible for the abuse caused to Lumen, was Harry a serial killer to?

Finally Dexter is going to have to be extra vigilant from now on, not only is Quinn snooping around on the Kyle Butler theory but Dexter now has Robocop on his ass to.  That's right Robocop, guest star Peter Weller (Robocop in the 80's) plays Stan Liddy and is now also looking into Dexter to help out Quinn.  This is going to prove one of the best story lines of the season I think and I'm really looking forward to see how it pans out, for Dexter, Quinn and Liddy.

Before I saw this episode last night I caught up with a sneak peak into Season 6 of Dexter, with a new video released by Showtime.  I have included the video for you to check out below and am hoping you are going to let me know what you think in the comments section below, check it out.

As most of you know I have only been getting back into Dexter this season and it's fast becoming my favourite show along with Sirens on Channel 4, this teaser of season 6 is really encouraging me to catch up with season 5 via DVD a little quicker then watch season 6 in line with America rather than waiting six months to a year for it to start here.

Movie Review: Quantum Of Solace Satrring Daniel Craig

I got round to watching another movie this week which was supposed to be the Hangover Part II, that didn’t come off so I moved to the planner on my TV and saw that I had recorded Quantum Of Solace, the second installment of the bond franchise to star Daniel Craig and the 22nd Bond movie in total.  I’m surprised that it’s took me so long to this as I enjoyed Casino Royale so much but, finally I got round to it and two hours down the line I couldn’t have been happier.

Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Gemma Arterton and Judi Dench

The Plot

As you know from Casino Royale Bond’s love interest Vesper Lynd has been killed.  Bond is now on a revenge mission for the one and only girl he has ever loved.  This movie is set in Bolivia, South America where bond is on the hunt of an environmentalist who seems as if he’s taking control of the county’s oil, we soon come to realise that’s not the case and the villain is actually after the country's valuable water resource's by bringing on a drought courtesy of the corrupt government he has helped to bring to power.

The Verdict

I’ll start at the beginning in Italy with what has to be one of the most kick ass car chases I have seen, it then moves on to a city location in Italy where a kick ass foot chase takes place, it then moves onto a kick ass boat chase scene before towards the end of the movie you get a kick ass plane chase, have I used sufficient kick asses there?  I hope so.

Due to the afore mentioned car chase at the start of the movie, it really get’s you from the beginning, one thing I will say about the beginning of the movie is that the title song goes on a little long.  I know this always forms  part of a Bond movie but for me this just seemed to go on and on, it does come after the initial car chase and probably rightly so as you may be tricked into switching it off otherwise.

Daniel Craig is equally impressive in this movie as he was in the first with probably a little more swagger, charm and arrogance.  His presence on the screen is there to be seen and he owns it above everyone else with the exception of M (Judi Dench) who held her own against Bond as you would expect.  The support cast is not bad either and Jeffrey Wright is back in this movie for his role as CIA agent Felix Leiter, and is giving Bond the heads up on with whats going on at their end.

This is one of those movies that you really have to watch rather than just taking another opinion, I had heard the movie was not as good as Casino Royale and maybe that put me off a little but it shouldn't have as I thought it was every bit as good as Casino Royale and really leaves you looking forward to Bond 23 due out October next year.

I really can't think of anything bad to say about this movie, nope nothing at all.  My only advice would be to watch it and make up your own mind if it's as good or even better than Casino Royale.

Would I watch it again?

To right, as I've seen Casino Royale a few times this definitely gets the nod of approval, before Daniel Craig I was not the biggest fan of the Bond franchise except for Sean Connery.  I just hope Daniel Craig keeps doing it.

Rating: MMMM (From now all movies will be rated with M's as apposed to stars, let's be original!  Again any feedback is appreciated)

The Quantum Of Solace theme song was written and produced by Jack White, who also featured on the track with Alicia Keys, you can check out the video below.

The Killing Season 1 Episode 3 El Diablo

I warned you last week that if it was laughs you were into then this TV show is not for you.  I don't think I have ever seen an American TV show involving a police investigation that has proved to be so true to life, ok the story line has probably been done before but the dark and gritty side that is police work is really brought to life in this show.  Unlike your CSI: Miami, New York and how ever many more they have done in that franchise The Killing does not serve up any Armani suits and supremely polished shoes.  Instead we get the feel of real people, police officers who are dealing not only with a stressful investigation but are also feeling the strain of family ties at home.

After three episodes now the question of who killed Rosie Larsen? is still ringing clearly in our ears, although this episode was not quite as gripping as the two part opener the story is setting itself up really well and asking us some great questions as to who is responsible for Rosie Larsen's demise.

To recap, Rosie Larsen was found in the back of a car which had been dumped in a lake.  The car was registered to the campaign of councilman Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell) but had been reported as stolen on the Saturday morning.  No one in the camp of Richmond is currently a suspect but they play such a big role in the show this far that you can't help but wonder that they know more than we know already.  Detective Holder (Joel Kinnaman) went on a little cop initiative and spoke to some students who lead him to a room called "the cage", a place kind of like a torture layer and also would appear to be the spot where Rosie Larsen was subject to some sort of bloody assault.  Noticing a spyhole the cops soon realise they need to speak to the caretaker of the school Lyndon Rosales (VJ Delos Reyes) he informs them that Kris Echols (Gharrett Paon) was in the room with Rosie on the night, he is a kid who has been expelled from the school for his drug use.  Kris clearly knows something about what has happened and is referred to in the episode as El Diablo, a student who was wearing a mask in the room on the night.

From that you would think we now have at least one maybe two suspects lined up , that's not the case this is of course a thirteen part TV series and for the cops to be anywhere near the truth just yet would be to easy, well.  Maybe they aren't close to solving it but at least they may be nearing the truth and getting close to the suspect.  Should it be Kris or one of his fellow students, they are acting shady enough that's for sure.  Maybe it is someone inside the camp of politician Darren Richmond who trusts his own staff no further than he can throw them, maybe Richmond is someway involved himself, who knows?

The family of Rosie Larsen have been left out his episode, well not left out they were in it at times and they would appear to be trying to keep things as normal as possible for their two other sons.  Rosie's mother Mitch Larsen (Michelle Forbes) would appear to be taking it worse than her father, is that a sign of guilt the police have not noticed yet?  I doubt it, the only guilt I think she and Rosie's father Stan (Bret Sexton) are feeling is that they went away camping for the weekend without her. 

One thing I will bring up is that why are the Larsen family just left to get on with it?  I don't know how they work in America but here in England if something like that happened the family would be assigned a family liaison officer, a cop who is specially trained to speak to people about situations like this.  In the Killing the Larsen family are simply left to their devices to get on themselves with the leading investigator popping around to deliver whatever news there is.

This Weeks Top Movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

It's not really a good week for movies unless you are a Harry Potter fan, with every film director and producer deciding that the only way their movie will get any credit is if they don't release it this weekend and go head to head with what will probably be the biggest movie franchise of all time.

That said, I have not seen one single Harry Potter movie, nor have I read any of the books.  I know who Harry Potter and his two counterparts Ron and Hermione are but for me the movies just don't interest me.  That seems kind of weird now that I'm posting here about it being the biggest movie out this week.  Fact is it is the biggest movie out this week and will probably be one of the biggest movies releases of the year.

With all of this in mind I suppose I'm going to have to provide you with some sort of summary as to what this movie is about, yeah?  Well there is this kid wizard called Harry, have you heard of him?  He goes to school (or at least he did last I heard) with some other wizards from what I'm lead to believe, he and his friends get on great, it's just some of the outside influences that are the problem.  Am I even warm here?  I really don't know (that's weird just as I'm typing this the trailer comes on TV).  I guess the best way to do this would be to check out the trailer below, hopefully that will give more away than my appalling summary of a movie franchise that does not interest me in the slightest.  I can't be the only one surely, can I?

What I do know or certainly from what I have seen promotion wise this will be the last Harry Potter movie, yep that's right there will be no more after this one.  Kind of lucky for you guys I guess as you won't have to read anything this bad again in relation to the weeks top movie release that I know nothing about.

Since I'm not going to watch the movie or any of it's predecessors I thought I would read a review of what it was like.  As I say I have not intention of seeing it, no matter what the review says.  The review I read, rated it as "the best movie of the year" and credited it with ten, yes count them (**********) stars.  What that means for you and me, well If you like Harry Potter and you know remotely more about it than I do then I suppose you should go see it, but if you are like me and have no interest in Harry Potter whatsoever then I would stay away from the movie theatre this weekend.

An Idiot Abroad Series 2: The Bucket List

By now we all know who Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are, one person we weren't to familiar with was their comedy counterpart and best friend Karl Pilkington.  Karl is your typical Englishman who considers visiting Spain every year, going to British pubs and eating British food a holiday.  All that changed last year when Gervais and Merchant sent him on a trip around the world to visit the seven wonders, that of course wasn't the case and Karl was roped into some hilarious situations against his will.  The fist series was a massive hit here in the UK and turned Karl Pilkington into a household name.


Now, he's back and this time Ricky and Stephen have sent him on another trip around the world to take part in activities that are considered "things you should do before you die".  Karl is informed as always that he is simply going sight seeing but we all know different, as Karl should by now.


In the first episode of the new series Karl is sent to Alaska, he believes he is going Whale watching, the clip that has been released on Ricky Gervais blog is hilarious, there is no video just an answer phone message left from Karl to Ricky when he realises he has been sent on a industrial fishing vessel, you know the guys from Discovery Channels Deadliest Catch, yeah?  Well I don't think Karl got quite the Whale watching experience he was expecting.

Following that a photo was released on the net from the second episode of the new series, where Karl was simply sitting on the ground following a parachute jump.  He really does not look like he enjoyed the experience to much.

The second series of the show is due to go out on Sky1/HD in September 2011 and will no doubt be just as funny if not funnier than the first series, if you missed the first series then you can get it from Amazon at the link below.