New Music Single Releases: October 10th 2011, MATT CARDLE, GYM CLASS HEROES, KATE BUSH and TIMBALAND

Back again as promised to give you the run down of all the latest single releases this week.  No thought’s on this post shared last week so if you have any, you like it!  You don’t like it….Let me know.

First up this week Matt Cardle with his new single Run For Your Life,  the 2010 X Factor winner went straight to Christmas No1 with his first single When We Collide and his latest release featured here on the weekly mixtape a while back now and I kind of like it.  Matt was on the X Factor last Sunday night promoting it along with American superstar Cee Lo Green.

Kate Bush – Wild Man, probably the most successful British female solo artist of the last 30 years, Kate has been in this business a while.  She shot to fame in the late 70’s when Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour recommended her to EMI Records, back then she was 19 years old and topped the UK singles chart for four weeks with her single Wuthering Heights.

You may have heard of these guys (I haven’t)

All The Young - Quiet Night In (A four piece indie rock band from Stoke On Trent, England who I don’t know anything about).

Dionne Bromfield (top) and DZ Deathrays

Dionne Bromfield – Get Up Offa That Thing (I knew I recognised the name of this girl, she is pretty new to the business and was signed by the late Amy Winehouse’s Lioness label.  She appeared on Strictly Come Dancing).

DZ Deathrays – ''Gebbie Street' (These guys are a two piece rock band from Australia, that’s all I got!)

Girls –  Honey Bunny (Has nothing to do with actual girls, these guys are a two piece pop group from San Francisco).

Next up for you some guys you would probably consider to be pretty famous Gym Class Heroes have a new single out titled Stereo Hearts.  The guys are a US hip hop rock group (does it go?).  You may not have heard of the band, if not then you will have heard of Travie McCoy (he wants to be a millionaire so frikin bad), he put the band together with drummer Matt McGinley.  This latest release is from their third album and features Maroon 5’s Adam Levine.

Ikona Pop - Nights Like This (A Swedish pop group who I know nothing about and there is very little on the net).

Icona Pop (top) and Jamie N Commons

Joe Jonas – Just In Love (Part of pop group the Jonas Brothers, can’t stand them so I figure I won’t like this one either).

Owl City – Dreams Don't Turn To Dust (An Electronica group from Minnesota, I have head of them and maybe their music can’t say I’m a big fan though).

Little Roy – Come As You Are (Never heard of this guy, suppose that’s bacause I’m not into Reggae.  This dude has been on the go since the 60’s and is a bit of a legend).

Jamie N Commons – Baron EP (a British singer songwriter, seems a bit underground.  I'm off to check him out on YouTube).

Veronica Falls – Bad Feeling (A British indie pop group made up of members from two other groups The Royal We and Sexy Kids).

Timbaland feat. Pitbull – Pass At Me, The biggest hip hop producer on the go right now is back this week and he's surely got another hit on his hands, just to add to the mix this new track also features Pitbull and hit DJ and producer David Guetta.  The song is all ready on it's way to an impressive 4 million hits via Timbaland's Vevo channel on YouTube and will no doubt be a top ten hit.

Korn – Narcisstic Cannibal (A band who I have never really listened to in fear of my head ringing due to the heavy metal beats that these guys lay down.  They have been on the go since 1993 (impressive) and describe themselves as "Nu Metal" but they just aren't for me, I would rather listen to Evenesance, featured in last weeks post.

Review: STRIKE BACK: PROJECT DAWN Episode 8

Since this show has just been renewed for a third season, I figured I would mention the last few episodes beginning with this one.  I watch this show every week but up until the latest I really couldn’t think of anything I really wanted to say on it.  I think now I’ve found something to say…Struggling to keep up?  I’ll give you a quick recap.

Strike Back follows an elite part of the British intelligence service named Section 20 (fictional, of course).  The unit is headed up by Colonel Eleanor Grant (Holby Citys Amanda Mealing).  The two main characters are Sgt Michael Stonebridge (Philip Winchester), the straight laced do everything by the book kind of guy, the other Sgt Damien Scott (Sullivan Stapleton) a former Delta Force operative disgraced and thrown out the unit, set up in his opinion.

This was the 8^th episode in the 10 part series which has saw Section 20 on the trail of terrorist Latif (Jimi Mistry) who earlier on in the series fooled everyone at Section 20 having them believe he was Major Jamal Ashkani, the head of Indian intelligence.  A lot up to now has been a big build up to what we just saw this week with the introduction of a new character Hasani (Mel Raido).



Latif fools Section 20



The story to this really started at the end of episode 7 when Stonebridge and Scott were in Kosovo, there they were to trade a prisoner in exchange for some kidnapped European Union officials.  Of course things didn’t go to plan and they found themselves held captive along with the officials.

So now to this week, they need to break out and get all of the hostages out of Kosovo, problem is Hasani has a section of the US military in his pocket and they are helping him run his Heroin business by keeping his competition to a minimum.

I really couldn’t have enjoyed this episode more, it was full on from the word go.  All action, explosions, guns, fighting and of course being Strike Back plenty guys getting there way (catch my drift).  I don’t think I have seen an episode this season which I enjoyed so much, every part of it was exciting.  Ok you know that that although the main character is involved in a gun battle (1 v 8) the likely hood is your going to get hurt and that he did but still he managed to escape and give the old lady Union official he rescued earlier a smile.

This for me was kind of what made last nights episode, with Stonebridge captured saving the hostages and causing general havoc for the Kosovo Heroin traffickers was left to Scott, the playboy of the US military.  He really came into his own with the effort this week though and put in probably his best performance yet.  You still have the cheeky one liners but I think his performance may well have just booked him a role season 3.

I also think the story was helped along this week with the introduction of the new character Hasani, he is the drug king pin at the top of his game yet he still has to answer to Latif.  Working for them both were Kosovo rebel fighters and section of the US army most of whom Scott promised to come back and shoot for their double crossing.

If you hadn’t figured yet I think this was the best episode of the second series so far and I’m really looking forward to the final two episodes before the cast (not confirmed) head off to South Africa early 2012 to shoot season 3.

Strike Back: Project Dawn continues on Cinemax (US) Friday October 14^th and on Sky1 HD (UK) Sunday October 16^th 2011 with episode 9.

Movie Review: THE INVASION (2007) Starring Nicole Kidman

This is a movie which I have never really felt the urge to put on in the past, but the other night it was on TV here and as usual there really wasn't much else on offer.  I thought I would put it on for 10 minutes give it a go and do a bit channel hopping.  The channel hopping didn't happen and I ended up watching the whole movie as well as the one that was on after it.

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Jeffrey Wright and Jeremy Northam


The Plot

A space shuttle explodes on it's way back to Earth and the fragments of the craft bring back an alien virus which re codes Human DNA.  Psychiatrist Carrol Bennell (Kidman) observes changes in behaviour of both a regular client and her ex Husband before realising that the population in general is changing.  With the help of DR Ben Driscoll (Craig) and Dr Stephen Galeano (Wright) she must try to discover a cure to a virus that effects Humans when they are sleeping.  They find that her son Ollie, who had Chickenpox as a youngster is immune to the virus.

The Verdict

First off I have read some other reviews on this movie which gave it a bit of a licking, I don't think it deserved that.  I mean it's not the best movie of it's genre and I'm pretty sure it won't have won any awards but as I always say does that really matter as long as you enjoy it.

The movie is billed as a horror, sci-fi thriller.  I agree with the second bit but horror may be a bit strong, don't get me wrong you probably wouldn't want your kids who are under 15 years old to watch it but it's not scary, more tense I would say.  There are some moments in the film where you could well be on the edge of your seat with a pillow ready to hide your face (I didn't) thinking you're about to get a real scare that to be honest never really comes.

The movie is of course helped along by the fantastic cast, Nicole Kidman has been critisised for her portrayl of the role in some things I've read but for me her performance was great, along with Daniel Craig's.  His performance was no doubt helped along by the fact that whilst shooting this movie he got the call informing him he was the new James Bond.  Then you have Jeffrey wright, I don't think I have seen him do a bad job in any movie he stars in.

Like I said with the movie Super 8, if it's super scary that you are after then this movie probably won't cut it for you.  This movie is very tense and well acted though and is definitly closer to the edge of your seat than Super 8 was.

Would I watch it again?

Probably not, this is one those movies where it's better to just say yeah, I've seen it.

Rating: MM

This Weeks TV Previews: DEXTER "Once Upon A Time" and TERRA NOVA "What Remains"

Another new weekly post for you now and it's one I hope is going to go down well.  I figured as I review all of these shows and you take your time to come here read and leave your comments then we should take a look at whats coming up in each of them week on week. It's not going to be to long writing wise but hopefully it will suffice.

First up, the best show on TV DEXTER (last weeks review HERE).  Dexter got off to a good start last week with his body count up to three already, this week I don't think there will be so much killing, maybe a little more story with another new character.  This week should see the characters of Travis Marshall (Colin Hanks) and Professor James Gellar (Edward James Olmos) really get developed a little further, these two it would seem are really going to drive home the religious feel to this season.  They are going to be joined this week by Brother Sam (Mos Def), looks to me like he may be Dexter's biggest foe this season.

Dexter season 6 episode 2 - Once Upon A Time... premiers on Showtime October 9th 2011 at 9pm.

Next up some Dinosaur adventures for you, this weeks TERRA NOVA looks like an exciting one following last weeks slight lull, as Ruben said it was like watching that Hitchcock movie Birds.  The love triangle seems like it will come into the swing this week.  Elizabeth, Jim and Michael are sent to investigate radio silence at a scientific outpost where a mysterious virus has broken out, not wearing a gas mask in the clip below Elizabeth seems a little confused and shoots her husband Jim with one of those sonic blaster guns before cosing up with Michael.

Terra Nova season 1 Episode 3 - What Remains premieres on Fox Monday October 10th at 8pm.....Episode 2 will premiere in the UK on Sky1 the same night at the same time.

Weekly News: DI CAPRIO in SATORI, DEXTER in turmoil, SUGE KNIGHT, P DIDDY and STRIKE BACK SERIES 3

Currently the highest paid actor in Hollywood, Leonardo Di Caprio has been in some pretty big movies most of which I haven’t got round to seeing yet, currently on my list The Basket Ball Diaries and Inception, now it looks like I will be adding a new Di Caprio movie to that list, an uber cool one which will see the leading man take the role of an assassin.

Deadline are reporting that Warner Bros. Pictures have acquired the rights to make a movie out of the best selling novel Satori.  Di Caprio has been picked up as the leading man, he will play Nicholai Hel.  A westerner raised in Japan by a group of martial arts experts.

The movie is billed as a sophisticated thriller, it has a certain hint of Jason Bourne to it, raised and taught assassin skills by his master Hel repays him by killing him.  For his actions he is thrown in a Japanese prison and tortured for three years before the CIA break him out on one condition.  He must kill the Soviet Commissioner to China.  The movie is set during the 1950’s, and Hel is betrayed by his so called allies and ends up on the run through Vietnam from American, Chinese, Russian and French intelligence agencies as well as the Corsican mob and a Vietnamese crime syndicate.

Cancel Dexter, WHAT!  Are you kidding me?  Unfortunately I’m not, it hasn’t been cancelled of yet and hopefully it won’t be but just as season six wraps it’s shooting talks between the shows star Michael C Hall and network Showtime have stalled.

The show is the biggest hit on the cable network and Season 6 opened last Sunday night with an impressive premiere which saw Dexter receive it’s highest rating ever of 2.2m (I thought it would be more).  Showtime have offered Hall a figure of $20m to acquire his signature for another two seasons, talks have come to an “Impasse” though as Hall has said he wants $24m for two more seasons which would make him one of the highest paid actors on cable TV.  Let’s just hope they get this resolved and we get another two season of a quality show, I say give him the $24m, if Charlie Sheen is worth that sort of dough then so is Michael C Hall

I got some music news for you believe it or not, well actually it’s more of a gang related story which goes back to the early 90’s it involves two record labels Death Row owned at the time by Suge Knight and Bad Bay Entertainment owned by Sean “P. Diddy” Coombs.

An Ex-LAPD detective Greg Kading has wrote a book and claimed that he has evidence that the heavyweight record producers where involved in the murders of both Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur.  He claims in the book that the LAPD had evidence which was suppressed, it included taped confessions from hired hit men but was removed just before the case was solved.  Sean Coombs has E-Mailed LA Weekly saying it’s pure fiction and completely ridiculous.

More good news now, hit TV show Strike Back has been commissioned for a third series.  The British drama is currently coming towards the end of it's second series on SKY1 (UK) and HBO/Cinemax (US).  The third series will once again be a co-production between Sky and HBO/Cinemax and will start filming early 2012 in South Africa before it premiers later in the year.  The show follows a fictional part of the British Intelligence agency named Section 20 and concentrates on counter terrorism operations.  None of the cast have been confirmed as yet but I would think leading man Philip Winchester would return for another series no problem.

Review: PERSON OF INTEREST Season 1 Episode 3 - Mission Creep

I have actually been really enjoying this show, I know it has it's flaws but what show doesn't?  This episode was a little disappointing in my opinion, I still enjoyed it but just not as much as the previous 2.  The start was very promising, a good premise which saw a man who has served for his country as a marine return to America and found himself unable to find work.  Not being a real bad guy he got involved with some "work" which friends of his (other former marines) became involved with through a guy who owned a local bar.

The way the story started in the first 15 minutes was really promising and showed some real potential to develop into an interesting story which really could have been expanded on.  For me this story line would have been better had they stretched it over a couple of episodes, the back ground stories to the characters involved really could have been developed more rather than focusing on one marine and his reason for joining the criminal gang.  Did the other marines not have a reason for joining?

I know this is maybe non sensical to nitpick about and I know that the Story focuses on one target during each episode by way of the machine giving out a social security number.  I suppose that's the reason for not taking it into two episodes former CIA operative John Reese is only supposed to focus on the SSN which he has been given by Finch, maybe he's not contracted to deal with the others.

The opening back robbery was a brilliant and exciting way to open the episode, the potential of Reese having 5 bank robbers, great.  It didn't come to that though, he infiltrated the gang far to quickly too (must be his CIA training), even the head of the gang accepted him knowing very little, if he's such a criminal mastermind why wouldn't he check into Reese's back story before inviting him along to help rob a casino? 

I also still find this detective Carter a little annoying, she seems to solve things very quickly apart from who John Reese is, she doesn't even know his name yet and can only presume he has been in the military due to his exceptional fighting skills.  She guessed the rest of the story this week pretty quick guessing that the gang where soldiers due to the radios they had clipped to there belts, really?  Could they just be civilians who have got someone working on the inside of the military?  I'm wondering if she will figure out who Reese is by the end of the show or weather it's a story which could run into another season (if there is one).

That genius computer didn't quite do it's job again this week, or did it?  The computer gave the SSN of one person, there were five involved in the bank robbery.  Why don't the other four SSN's come up?  Are the other four guys not from New York City?  It picks up all kinds of criminality remember but only in the NY area, genius!  I still say though for a second series I would like to see technical genius Finch develop his ground breaking computer system and open up nationwide SSN's with the potential to forming his own private CIA type organisation.

All in all I thought this was a good episode but I would like to have seen it developed a little further, it won't make me look forward to next weeks show any less.  I'm a fan and I really think Cavizel is starting to come into his own, Emmerson is great and the show has real potential to sell the rest of it's series to CBS.

New UK Cinema Releases: October 7th 2011, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, JOHNNY ENGLISH and TYRANNOSAUR

I don't like horror movies but it seems that this weeks biggest release is indeed that, so it may be here for you know but don't for a minute think I have watched the trailer or will be watching the full movies in order to review it.  Other releases this week see an MI-7 crime caper, a deep British drama, The Lion King is re-released today at I-Max and there's also a new Drama out starring Ewan McGregor which I'll give you the link to the trailer.

So first up this week is that horror movie I mentioned above.  Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (I'm not) but I don't like horror movies, I will watch them providing I can satisfy myself that I will sleep that night.

Starring: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce and Bailee Madison 

The story follows a young girl who is sent to live with her estranged father and his new girlfriend. They live out in the sticks in a big house which a famous painter used to own, he disappeared under mysterious circumstances (This is some scary s!*t).  The girlfriend Kim soon discovers the reason for the disappearance, the house is full of creatures who want to claim the young girl as their own.

I heard a little about this movie a while back from my friend Glen over at 1 Man 365 Movies, he hasn't reviewed this movie yet but if it's horror reviews your looking for then he's your man. (link at bottom right).

Next up this week is a movie which I have been waiting on for ever now, Johnny English Reborn is the follow up to the hit spoof movie Johnny English which was released back in 2003.

Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Rosamund Pike and Dominic West

MI-7's most unlikely secret agent is back and he's as unorthodox as ever, since his last appearance in 2003 English has been hiding out in a remote part of Asia, he has been honing his skills as an elite fighter.  The British government soon learn of a group of international assassins who are setting out to assassinate the Chinese Premier.  They must now travel to Asia and retrieve English as the world needs him once more, English is then entrusted with unraveling a conspiracy that runs through the KGB, CIA and even MI-7.

Expect laughs a plenty, this movie looked great from the very first trailer which was posted here a good few months back, now you can check out the full one below!

Last one to show you a trailer for now and to be honest it's not normally the kind of thing I would watch but I like the lead actor here, Tyrannosaur and it's leading man Peter Mullan is a movie you may not have heard to much about in the US but believe me Peter Mullan is a classy actor and this movie should prove a bit of a power house.

Starring: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan and Paddy Considine (also wrote and directed)

Joseph (Mullan) is a man who is fuelled by alcoholism and full of rage, he runs in to a woman named Hannah, a charity shop worker.  Just as Joseph's life is running into turmoil he sees a chance of redemption in Hannah but, she is also hiding a secret and once it's revealed it has devastating results on both their lives.

Wondering who Paddy Considine is?  You will have seen him before, he starred in The Bourne Ultimatum with Matt Damon he was the London based reporter investigating Tretstone, check out the Tyrannosaur trailer below.

Ok I have a couple more to mention, The Lion King was released in 1994 I remember going to see it at the cinema, it's now back.  Not as a new movie but it's been given the Hollywood 3D treatment and will set you back a considerable amount more than it did last time around. 

Also out this week Ewan Mcgregor is continuing his come back to movies with his new release Perfect Sense, Like Tyrannosaur it's a British drama.  I can't really recall a bad Ewan Mcgregor movie so this should be ok.

Review: TERRA NOVA Season 1 Episode 3 - Instinct

Three episodes in now and just like I said last time out there are still so many comparisons that can be made to Lost in this show but, if you didn't like Lost then you shouldn't let the comparisons put you off because this show stands on it's own two feet very well indeed.  Following the impressive two part opener, this episode really put the brakes on a little in my opinion.

This installment was pretty much about migrating birds, kind of Pterodactyl (Pterosaurs) looking things but on a smaller scale with a lot more of a vicious appetite.  The only comparison to Lost here would be that no one new of this species, remember there was a Polar bear on the island in Lost.  The migrating birds in this episode kind of reminded me more of the Event, there was some construction in the middle of a desert there which brought a lot of Crows down, ok not the same but you can see what I mean, birds migrating.

Like I said above this episode really saw the brakes coming on, we do have 13 episodes to get through this season so that doesn't worry me, I'm not saying it was boring just that is wasn't as good as the first two parter.  Having said that I still intend on watching this every week.

This episode concentrated a little more on backing stories, firstly with the Shannon's son Josh (Landon Liboiron) and the girlfriend he left behind in the year 2149 but, mostly with Elisabeth Shannon (Shelley Conn), a Kate (from Lost) lookalike, only hotter!  Her story is that she was brought to Terra Nova at the request of Dr. Malcolm Wallace (Rod Hallett) her high school sweet heart.  There is definitely going to be a Jack v Sawyer thing going on here later in the show between Jim Shannon (Jason O'Mara) and Dr. Wallace.  I need to stop with the Lost comparisons I know but I just can't help it.

There were no Sixers involved this week, that didn't disappoint me to much, as yet we don't really know to much about them other than they don't like the rule of Commander Taylor (Stephen Lang) and have formed their own colony away from Terra Nova.  There really is space for something to develop here, are they just some disgruntled former Terra Nova residents?  Or should we go with the opinion of Commander Taylor and believe that they have been sent on purpose by someone in the year 2149 to upset the colony of Terra Nova?

So all in all the episode was a little bit of a bore but was enjoyable leaving you wanting more from next week.  I for one can't wait, I said last week it was more than Humans v Dinosaurs and apart from this week I'm sure it will be.

Terra Nova continues on Fox Monday October 10th with the 4th episode and the 3rd episode premiers on Sky1 the same night, both showings are at 9pm.

Midweek MixTape: THEOPHILUS LONDON, KASABIAN and JENNIFER LOPEZ

First off this week, did you catch the new weekly music single releases post yesterday?  If not go check it out HERE.  Then you can jump back over to see what music is coming up over the next month or so, not to much happening so only a few for you.

First up this week is Theophilus London, I really haven’t decided why I like this song so much or the artist for the matter.  Maybe it’s just he’s so mother f*@king cool, born in Trinidad this guy was brought up in Brooklyn, New York and at the age of 24 his debut album was released back in February this year.  His debut LP Timez Are Weird These Days is in stores now and the first track to be taken from the album is I Stand Alone, check out how cool he is and his new video is below.

Next up this week are a bad who sometimes I love and sometimes I hate it really just depends how far out they are with the music they are releasing.  Kasabian are a band who have been on the go for almost 14 years now, formed in Leicestishire, England back in 1999, they are regarded as one of the biggest touring bands right now.  Their new single Days Are Forgotton is taken from their fourth studio album Veleciraptor which is available to buy in stores now.  

Seeing as it’s October now I’m guessing it’s pretty cold where ever you are, for me that’s north east England and you can bet your ass it’s pretty brassic up here.  So what’s the answer?  Jennifer Lopez and a new Latino vibe to remind us all of those summer months, or even just last weekend when we had a heat wave here in England.  This new single Papi, watch the video closely at the beginning when the intro states “Love Happens”, she has a Blackberry with a photo of her and I’m sure the guy is Marc Anthony.  The song is currently number 3 on YouTube’s top 100 having been viewed almost 12.8 million times, and the video is pretty cool.

New Music Releases: October 3rd 2011, EVENESANCE, DELILAH, LMFAO and MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS

A new post for you now to go along with the new (.com) status of the site, I’m going to give you a run down every week of the new singles released along with the regular Midweek MixTape post (upcoming music) and another new post in relation to albums, they will hopefully be on a Monday but don’t hold me to that.

Nine new singles in total for you this week from all sorts of genres, from absolute head banging mayhem to the rather more mellow rock then onto the hip hop beats, I’m really looking forward to this new post already.  Your feedback is appreciated as always.

Formed in 1995 Evenesance would probably be regarded as one of the biggest rock bands on the go right now, probably more favourably with the head banging attire than main stream music.  I’m not their biggest fan but but I do like some of their music.  Their new single What You Want was released on Monday October 3^rd (UK) and has been out since August 9^th (US).  The band have won some Grammys in their time and their self titled third album is due for release on October 11^th, Maybe I’ll take a listen and review it for you here.

A few I haven’t heard of!



Clock Opera (top), Delilah

 CRADLE OF FILTH – LILLITH IMMACULATE (Don’t know anything about the band as I’ve never heard of them but their name would sort of point me to thinking that they are some sort of heavy metal band, please correct me if I’m wrong.)

CLOCK OPERA – LESSON No. 7 (Another band I ain’t heard of and unfortunately can tell you nothing about!)

DELILAH - GO (A girl who is pretty famous from what I have heard, I think she got there covering a Chase & Status single.)

Back to the norm now with Marina and the Diamonds, the band fronted by Welsh singer songwriter Maria Lambrini Diamandis, they shot to fame with that song lead by Marina informing us all that she was not a robot, it was pretty catchy I saw them do it live on Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny last new year, maybe I had to much to drink but I enjoyed it and now they are back with their new single Radioactive.

Some others I ain't heard of!



Imelda May (top), LMFAO

 GIVERS - MEAN (A band I have not heard of, they are an Indie group from Louisiana in the US.  Most probably similar to but not as good as Foster The People)

IMELDA MAY - ROAD RUNNER (I have heard of her, why have I heard of her?  I can't remember But she is an Irish singer songwriter who started her career at the age of 15)

VISIONS OF TREES - SIRENS (Never even heard of them, I can't find to much about them on the net!)

Last one to mention are a couple of hip hop guys who featured on my must have songs for your iPod post some time ago now.  LMFAO are DJ's Redfoo and SkyBlu who would probably be remembered in their first track more for the dancing than anything else.  Their first single is annoyingly catchy though and I heard this one a week or so ago, for me Sexy And I Know It does not have quite the same ring but, who knows maybe if I listen to the radio enough in the next few weeks it will grow on me like their last effort did.

DEXTER Season 6 Episode 1 - Those Kinds Of Things

STOP! HAMMERTIME, still great...Dexter - Lumen still = a great show and the first episode of the new season did not disappoint at all, new story, new theme and some interesting new characters for us to get our teeth into every week.  Unlike many of you I haven't really missed Dexter to much, I'm late on this show remember and only started watching it during season 5, meaning it's only been off my screen for a month.

Everything we have seen in the build up to the 6th season of Dexter has been religious in some way, portraying Dexter as some sort of angel, a man with a higher purpose.  Those Kinds Of Things was all about that starting at the very beginning with Dexter looking for Harrison's school and then onto the new bad guys (no names yet) but, they are very religious from what we heard in the first episode, seems like some sort of ritual killing.

Whilst we are mentioning the new bad guys we may as well discuss who they are (real names).  First up is Edward James Olmos, the leader of the bad guys if you will not to many lines for him right now he has simply been instructing the other newbie to do stuff.  Colin Hanks, the other newbie and the best installment for the show especially after letting the talent of Julia Stiles go.  Colin Hanks is an actor I don't know to much about and in the first episode of Dexter's 6th season he had very little to do or say but, when he did speak or was involved in a scene you are gripped and I'm sure that as this season progresses there will be some major heavyweight battles between him and Michael C Hall.

The returning cast are the ones we all know and love, isn't it funny though how someone you didn't care for during the last season gets you in the first episode of the next.  I am of course talking about Desmond Harrington who plays Quinn, he had massive on screen competition from Peter Weller (Robocop) last season.  Dexter saw to that for him and now I think the dude is growing on me (not in that way) I enjoyed the part he played on the night.  As always the favourite has to be Masuka (C.S. Lee), a very funny guy who was brilliant during the opener with his potential interns.

I loved the way at the beginning we all thought Dexter had been stabbed, I really thought a hit had gone wrong or something, just then the ambulance drivers get M99'd, good stuff.  Turns out they where letting certain patients die on purpose in order that they could sell their body parts, looks like you are getting Dexter'd then guys but, not in his usual knife to the heart he decided that electrocution was a better way to do it.

With the electrocution Dexter still needs to get rid of the bodies, meaning he is out till late at night on his boat....How does he ensure they won't be washed up?  His new babysitter, Angel's sister has sort of dropped a hint already that he is out late at night on his boat, she thinks as time to reflect on the death of his wife from the end of the fourth season.  Wonder if she is going to become suspicious in anyway or weather her brother the new Miami Dade Homicide Lieutenant Angel La Guerta is going to catch wind of anything.

I have sort of touched on this with the new characters but I'm really looking forward to this new season, the way it has been billed through trailers and sneak peaks was this may be the last season, that's not official and I don't or at least hope that it won't be.  This is the best show on TV right now, it had everything as aways there was the funny side of things (usually quirky one liners), I suppose you can say action during the times Dexter is on a hit, add in some brilliant acting and you have great TV.

Dexter Season 6 Body count: 3

Ben (ambulance driver/technician)
Roger (ambulance driver/technician)
Joe Walker (High school reunion, college Football jerk)

Dexter continues on Showtime Sunday October 9th 2011.

Movie Review Time: NOUTORIOUS (2009) Starring Jamal Woolard

The life and times of Christopher Wallace aka Notorious B.I.G aka Biggie Smalls certainly seemed to be short lived, I don't really remember to much about hip hop from the 80's and I'll be honest I only really heard of Biggie when P.Diddy as he was known then released that song Missing You.  This is a movie that I did actually want to see when it came out but I guess it's one of those ones I never really got round to.

Starring: Jamal Woolard, Anthony Mackie, Derek Luke and Angela Bassett

The Plot
West coast vs East coat, the biggest rivalry in the world of hip hop and this biopic is the tale of two males Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur that nearly changed that rivalry forever.  The movie is of course the story of Biggie the East coast lyricist turned international rap superstar in what is a true rags to riches story.  Chronicling both his life and the night he was shot in Los Angeles, California with many believing he and his management Sean "P.Diddy" Combs were responsible for the shooting of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas.

Christopher George Latore Wallace - 1972 to 1997.

The Verdict

First off I have to tell you just how good the soundtrack is to this movie, I'm guessing if you like Biggie then you have probably seen the movie and enjoy his music anyway.  I have actually been listening to a lot of his music lately something I didn't do when he was big in the late 80's to early 90's, I'm just starting to realise what an impact his music actually had.

I suppose it's hard in this type of movie to put across someones life when they have made such a big impact on a culture like hip hop, biopics tend to be long for that reason but not in this case or at least it didn't feel to long.  I think we only got a glimpse into the life and sometimes shady underbelly of his world, he is painted as a pretty nice dude here and I'm sure he was at times but we all know his life and his friends were not really all that plain sailing.  He was never far away from violence and guns even when he did make it to the big time.

I've no doubt he had a pretty tough up bringing and we get glimpses into the more violent side of his life, particularly against women.  I don't think I have seen a biopic where the artist has not had another woman other than his wife and that other woman is on the receiving end of Biggie's volatile and violent temper on a few occasions.  The guy who played Biggie Smalls does a great job Jamal Woolard was an unknown in Hollywood when he done this movie and he really isn't much bigger now, I'm a little surprised by that due to his performance here.  Jamal himself is an aspiring rapper and in the movie he layed down the lyrics to biggies songs, in my opinion he didn't miss a beat.

The characters are not really given long enough to develop, it consists mainly of Biggie and his entourage.  Little is given to the members of the Junior M.A.F.I.A, Biggie's relationship with his wife, R&B star Faith Evans (Antonique Smith) or his affair with female rap star Lil Kim (Naturi Naughton) which he continued whilst married.


This biopic is one that for me will be remembered more for it's music than it's in depth story line, and I can't help but compare it to Get Rich Or Die Tryin (2005) starring Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson a movie which I enjoyed in story better than this one.  Ultimately though as music bio's go my favourites would have to be Ray (2004) and Walk The Line (2005).


Would I watch it again?

Without doubt I would watch this again for the soundtrack alone.

Rating: MMM

Movies Music & Television Weekly News, ANTOINE FUQUA "HUNTER KILLER", SCARECROW "DARK NIGHT RISES and AMERICAN REUNION

I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing but I have to be honest and say that until I heard about the possibility of a biopic of Rap star Tupac Shakur I hadn’t even heard of Director Antoine Fuqua, maybe I should have, who knows?

Since hearing about that movie he has been attached to just about everything going and most recently he has took hold of the reigns from Guillermo Del Toro for the upcoming movie “Hunter Killer”.  Before that Fuqua had been attached to a string of other movies including a Chinese Epic, a movie named Afterburn and a boxing movie named Southpaw.

Fuqua's main focus was on his Tupac biopic, which he even held Internet auditions for looking for someone with the street skills to pull off the role, however the movies has struggled to get off the ground and now Relativity media almost have Fuqua’s signature to direct Hunter Killer.

The movie will be set during the cold war and follows a submarine captain who must work with a Navy seal team to rescue the Russian president.  They team up to stop a Russian General from starting World War III.  The movie is based on a book named Firing Point which is due to be released next year.

So it’s been confirmed now that Cillian Murphy will reprise his role as Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow for next years highly anticipated The Dark Knight Rises.  Murphy has played the character in the last two movies Batman Begins and The Dark Knight (review coming soon).  This is great news in my opinion Murphy is the ultimate at being a creepy villain he’s going to be a judge in the new movie I wonder what he has up his sleeve?

I got the news over at IMDB and there they reported that some fans had been sneaking around the set of the new movie and caught a glimpse of a scene starring Christian Bale and Cillian Murphy along with a host of other characters.

So as far as we are all aware movie stars are multi millionaires but, is that really the case?  It would appear not.  It seems that only the major stars of movies are paid the big bucks and the same goes for returning movies.

American Reunion will be the fourth cinematic instalment of the billion dollar movie franchise which helped set up the careers of Sean William Scott and Jason Biggs and The Hollywood Reporter is saying that they are going to be the best looked after this time around with their signature for the movie worth a cool $5m dollar pay cheque each, not bad if you can get it!  On top of that they will also be paid a hefty part of each dollar that the movie takes.

Coming down from those salaries to $3m each are stars Eugene Levy, the man who has kept the DVD franchise of the movies alive, and also Alyson Hannigan  will receive the same sum thanks largely to her keeping up her star profile on CBS show How I Met Your Mother.

Other stars who were involved in the original movie Chris Kline included have taken major blows, they are all believed to have been signed on for fees ranging from $500k to $750k, a long shot from the actual stars of the movie, it is believed that if the movie does well that they may receive some of the gates receipts, if their lucky.

Worst off of them all though is the person who I have least sympathy for Tara Reid usually brings the trouble to her own back door and her fee is rumoured to be around $250k.

Review: PERSON OF INTEREST Season 1 Episode 2 Ghosts

I'm still not convinced that I am going to review the whole series of Person Of Interest, although I will probably watch all of it so why not give you a little write up every week!  Luckily for you there really isn't to much other stuff on TV right now and this week inparticular I have a talking point which regular commenter Ruben brought up last week, actually make that two talking points.

As you know this is kind of a vigilante show in which Finch (Michael Emmerson) and John Reese (Jim Cavizel) are fighting there own personal war against crime, this is achieved by a computer program designed by Finch which spits out SSN's (Social Security Numbers).  This week the machine gave the SSN of a teenager who was killed along with her family 2 years earlier, doubts over the machines ability are brought into place but with some checking Finch is able to determine that if the machine has gave her number then she must be alive.


The numbers are all the same (click to enlarge)

 This brings me to my first talking point.  Did anyone notice the close up of the SSN's last week?  Did you notice that all of the numbers repeated themselves?  Take a look at the picture I have highlighted the matching numbers, but they aren't the only ones the scene goes back and you see the top of the list and all the numbers I haven't highlighted here are repeated there.  This weeks episode was all about the numbers so I feel like it was a good opportunity to bring it up.  Are the repeating numbers something that they have done on purpose?  Maybe it is and will be explained in another couple of episodes, who knows!  Remember leading bad ass Reese was in the CIA, working for them you would surely notice that the numbers are repeated, any how maybe I'm just reading to much into it.

This was a pretty decent episode following last weeks set up, as I thought then Reese is clearly going to try and find out more about Finch who up to now has always been one step ahead of him.  We got to learn the origins of the machine thanks to flashbacks on Finch's part, there are only 8 people who know it actually exists and what it's capable of and we also now know that Finch is only collecting SSN's of people who live in New York.  Does that mean that the show has potential to open it up?  Maybe Finch could have his own personal CIA with operatives all over the country collecting SSN's and preventing crime.

On the plus side again this week at least John Reese is starting to show some interest in the job he has been hired to do, he seemed to get on with things a lot quicker and he got his ass kicked this week.  I suppose that makes things a little more realistic.  One thing that gets on my back a little is the constant switching to a CCTV view, I know that's what the show is mainly about but it kind of reminds me of Enemy Of The State (great movie) but it's not done with the same slickness as it was there.

Onto the other talking point now, why does John Reese shoot everyone in the leg?  He done it again this week when that guy was about to shoot the kid he was trying to save.  Why shoot him in the leg?  I can only presume he's not dead, and he will surely come after him again.  On this occasion though like last week we weren't to know because that was where the show ended.  If he shoots them in the leg every week then Reese is going to have some number of people after him come the end of the series, albeit they will probably all have horrendous limps.

So to conclude a solid episode and well followed on from last week, I will be watching again next week when Person Of Interest continues on CBS Thursday October  6th 2011 at 9pm.