TV Review: ALCATRAZ - Clarence Montgomery 1.10

I gotta get myself some of those ribs, man they looked good. Alcatraz was back to it's normal scheduling this week following last weeks impressive double bill. The impression left from the previous two episodes was definitely carried on into "Clarence Montgomery" it was a solid episode but as always it wasn't without it's flaws. Alcatraz really does have a good concept away from the procedural cop drama side of things, but this far into the season I feel like I should be excited about watching every episode and that is just not the case right now, I find myself not really caring all that much of what goes on in modern day San Francisco and am more compelled to see Alcatraz back it's it's glory days of the 1960's.

Speaking of glory days, is that really a word we should associate with "Clarence Montgomery"? If this episode showed us anything it was the fact that racism was rife during that time with white's even refusing to eat on the same side of the room as black people, I know it's what went on then but I do at times find that difficult to watch given the times we live in. Clarence Montgomery (Mahershala Ali) was sent to Alcatraz prison for the murder of his girlfriend, a crime that he was ultimately convicted of due to the colour of his skin. Clarence re-appears in the modern day as all the prisoners have, only this time he is the killer that was convicted 50 years earlier.

These flashbacks we all love so much, are they really flashbacks? Could we possibly be witness to parallel universes here? After all, Alcatraz has promised all along that it's the new Lost. Clarence is now the second or maybe third prisoner I recall saying that he visited the Alcatraz infirmary in 1963, next thing knew it's 2012. Considering technology was not that advanced in the 60's an alternate universe in which Warden James and E.B Tiller travel to and from could be a possible way, that would explain why all of these returning prisoners who have supposedly been asleep for 50 years are all so capable in the use of modern technology.

Clarence Montgomery is probably the first prisoner who has returned that if captured alive could, and probably would have provided some answers as to just what the mystery behind Alcatraz is. Clarence clearly didn't want to be a killer and hated the person he had become, or rather had been turned into, that turning started in 1960 when in Alcatraz he was being shown a brainwashing movie all but convincing him that he was the callous domestic killer who had been convicted in a court of law. During this sequence I did again suspect that Dr Beauregard is actually more involved than I thought, that was quickly eradicated though when he questioned the Warden on why he took blood and what the Warden done with the blood before it was re-injected into prisoners.

We have gone on this long about "Clarence Montgomery" now and I haven't even mentioned our supposed main characters Rebecca, Doc and Hauser, there is a reason for that. They really were not that interesting during this episode, like I said above right now I find anything happening in the "flashbacks" more of interest to me than these guys, maybe they aren't the main characters, somebody else could come into from the shadows. I still think Hauser is hiding something, he and Dr Beauregard clearly know more than we do right now. They must at least have an inkling as Hauser knew all these people would be coming back.

I do enjoy Alcatraz, but this far it has hardly done anything game changing, better than Terra Nova without doubt but it has a long way to go before it's anywhere near as good as Lost. With three episodes left of the first season and poor ratings this far I wonder if Alcatraz has done enough, or provided enough mystery to be renewed for a second season, if not, then I hope everything is explained and it doesn't finish poorly like FlashForward or The Event.

TV Review: DEXTER - Truth Be Told 1.11

TV shows really just don’t get any better than Dexter do they? As promised I’m back with my latest review from season 1 in “Truth Be Told”. Dexter came back impressively following the last two episodes which I found a bit of a drag, “Truth Be Told” was a brilliant episode and although I did nod off (through tiredness, not boredom) at one point I still remember enough about it to get this down on paper.

Dexter’s first season is definitely building to a spectacular finale, with the pieces finally starting to drop into place, Dexter himself grows suspicious of Rudy and begins to investigate why he was sent to room 103 at the Marina View Hotel, what’s the connection of that number Dexter and Rudy? Dexter finally comes up with the solution when he looks into a crime which Harry investigated back in 1973 when Dexter’s biological mother was killed. In the mean time The Ice Truck Killer strikes again killing the prosthetic arm prostitute who was linked to Batista in “Seeing Red”. The ever growing suspicions of Dexter are enhanced further when coincidentally Rudy has an injury to his lip and Batista has teeth marks in his head, on that Dexter has Rudy's DNA analysed along with samples from The Ice Truck Killer.

It’s not all plain sailing for Dexter though, he has his own problems. Sgt Doakes is growing ever more suspicious of Dexter believing he is hiding something, but what is it? Does Doakes think Dexter is a killer or does he believe that Dexter is in someway connected to The Ice Truck Killer and is withholding vital evidence in the case. Which ever one he suspects he is right but it just wouldn’t be as much fun if he found out would it? Dexter of course doesn’t help himself in the case as Doakes catches him out lying on at least three occasions from what I recall.

This whole episode featured on what we all love about this show, Dexter himself and the main plot of The Ice Truck Killer, very little time was spent dressing around things and everything focused on delivering what you would probably say is one of the best build ups to a finale of all time. If you read this blog often then you’ll know that I only got into Dexter maybe a year ago watching season 5 and 6. In Michael C. Hall I’ve found an actor who I think I would watch in anything, this guy really is brilliant and when he is on screen you simply don’t want to divert your attention, I never saw Six Feet Under but I’m seriously considering going over that sometime.

“Truth Be Told” is up there with “Return to Sender” as far as season 1 episodes go, I really enjoyed this and just when you think it can’t get any better Dexter pulls together all the pieces discovering that Rudy is The Ice Truck Killer and his sister is in a very dangerous
situation, secrets out, great move onto the finale, no no. This is Dexter cue another scene with Rudy revealing himself as The Ice Truck Killer to Debra tying her up on his boat before sailing off, roll end credits. Now that’s how you build up to a finale.

I’m so pleased I’m not watching this as they go, luckily for me I could roll straight into the season 1 finale and before you read the full review which will be coming in the next day or two, just trust me when I say that it wasn’t disappointing at all.

TV Review: DEXTER - Seeing Red 1.10

I’m finally through season 1 so this is the first of three reviews you can expect coming soon and I will be getting on with watching season 2 in the mean time. For me “Seeing Red” was good but it wasn’t one of the best, the whole run from here on in seemed to concentrate solely on the Ice Truck Killer and how he was leaving cryptic clues for Dexter to find him and reveal the shocking truth behind both their childhoods.

In “Seeing Red” Rudy (The Ice Truck Killer) delivers a key to the police station, this is no normal delivery though, the key is secured in a jar of blood and opens door 103 at the Marina View Hotel. Dexter is left to test the blood as Doakes and Debra investigate, finding a blood soaked room they call for backup and forensics to attend. On entering the scene the usually cool Dexter is overcome with emotion as flashbacks to his childhood and what he witnessed in a ship container start to go through his mind. Dexter collapse to the ground and has Masuka do the rest of the investigation on his behalf.

Why all the flashbacks to his childhood though, I know of course as I have seen season 6, but for those of you who may be catching up on box sets or Netflix why is the Ice Truck Killer so interested in Dexter? This whole episode was very character focused on Dexter and Rudy, are we going to get a shocking reveal that none of us have seen coming as yet?

Away from the main story of Dexter and Rudy Batista is on a night out with Masuka when he sees a working girl with a prosthetic limb, the fingernails are all painted different colours. He questions the girl leading him to Rudy. Batista’s efforts are not realised though and he gets stabbed for his trouble landing him in hospital. Meanwhile Debra is so madly in love with Rudy she can’t see past his obvious flaws and dark side.

I’m still loving Doakes, this dude cracks me up. He really doesn’t like Dexter does he? Doakes had me laughing a couple of times in “Seeing Red” first off when he and Debra attended the Hotel scene “I need uniforms, backup, forensics, f**k it send everybody” then Dexter turns up to the scene and Debra tells him “it’s bad in there” Doakes comes back with “she’s not kidding, it’s your wet dream in there” like I said in the last review they should have kept Doakes for the one liners.

Dexter could have caused himself some problems this week, though it was very entertaining to see him clobber Rita's ex over the head with a pan following her assault charge. The guy deserved it lets be honest. Dexter’s solution is of course only temporary Paul will get out of prison eventually which will probably mean that Dexter may have to deal with him in a more effective manner.

“Seeing Red” was a solid episode which I really enjoyed, not as much as "Return to Sender" which remains my season 1 favourite but still very good. I can’t wait to get started on the second season of Dexter now and hope you will join me for the reviews.

TV Previews: THE WALKING DEAD 2.12 - Better Angels, SPARTACUS 2.7 - Sacramentum, ALCATRAZ 1.10 - Clarence Montgomery, THE RIVER 1.7 - The Experiment

All the previews for this weeks top US TV shows, check out the trailers below.

The Walking Dead is a show that was really beginning to bore me somewhat, but recently that seems to have changed and I have really enjoyed the last few episodes. Ok, the shed in this episode is locked, would you really un-bolt it and go in knowing what Hershal had been hiding in the barn all along? Of course you wouldn't but if they didn't go in then this would be a really boring show wouldn't it.

Spartacus gets better and better every week and I have no doubt that this one will be any different. It seems Glaber is wanting to put on a show of force to Spartacus and his army of freed slaves but in sending the message I imagine he makes an enemy of Gannicus who will no doubt be sticking around to help out Spartacus.

We seemed to have hit a mix up with Alcatraz, a couple of weeks back I posted the preview for "Clarence Montgomery" thinking it was on the following night. The rain hit the Daytona 500 meaning the show was cancelled and they came back with the double bill the following week, that meant that this episode was pushed to number 10, at least that's all I can figure. I quite like the look of this latest offering, an innocent man locked on Alcatraz for a crime he didn't commit. I think we might be getting more of the bigger picture delivered in this episode again.

I'm not going to go into The River in any great detail, I watched last weeks "Dr Emmet Cole" and up to writing this I couldn't come up with anything to say about it, that may or may not have changed by the time you read this. "The Experiment" is of course the season finale of The River and it promises answers, for me that's pretty much the only reason I will be watching it, check out the preview and let me know what you think. 

From what I can see there is no new Person of Interest this week it's a repeat of episode 16 "Risk" and on Thursday night CBS has NCAA Basketball on.

TV Review: PERSON OF INTEREST - Baby Blue 1.17

Babysitting? Yeah babysitting, that's what Reese and Finch were up to in "Baby Blue" when the machine spat out the number of a baby who was in danger. Did that let up on the kick ass action? Not at all. Person of Interest was as good as it always is and didn't let up in story or action. As the plot thickens Reese is into the enemy for help, Carter is doubting Reese and Finch's credentials and Fusco is struggling to stay on the right side of the law. It was a good change of pace with the baby this week and Person of Interest delivered us some laughs which I personally can relate to with Finch and Reese attempting to change nappies and then loosing Leila who was later found with something a six month old simply shouldn't be playing with.

Leila Smith was this weeks POI she is a six month old baby who has been put up for adoption, that is until her number rolls out of Finch's machine. Leila is at first a bit of a mystery until Finch found that she was the daughter of a receptionist who had been killed in what was supposedly an accidental fire, the father at first was believed to be Bradley Petrosian the son of a wealthy business man who owned a company of the same name. It turned out that it was actually married company Director Adnan Petrosian who was the father, he'd had an affair with the receptionist which his wife found out about. She hired someone to torch the house kill the mother and then kidnap the baby who would then be smuggled through to Eastern Europe.

"Baby Blue" started with another POI Gianni Moretti, an Italian Mafia Don being released from prison, his life was also in danger. Truth is Moretti's the son of New York kingpin Elias (doesn't look Italian does he?) and it would seem that Elias wants him dead, but why? Mr Moretti is clearly not a fan of the police either. Reese and Crater decide to tail Moretti home, I should say tail him badly. They weren't exactly doing a good job of hiding themselves were they? Any how that got us off to a good start with Elias attempting a hit on his father which was scuppered in brilliant fashion by Reese and Carter, meaning Carter got her way and Moretti went into hiding.

It was evident after about twenty minutes that Reese and Finch were going to need more help to protect baby Leila, whoever was after her was very well organised and heavily armed. Reese of course found out it was an Eastern European gang. "What you gonna do?" asked Finch. Reese does what we expect him to, storm the bar of the local Eastern European gang and kick all of there asses, he nearly went so far as to ask for their clothes, their boots and their motorcycles. It was nice to see that Reese still had the energy following his storming of the Petrosian household and kicking their lame ass security guards ass. Plenty of action as always, I thought it was great.

Whilst all of this tough guy action is going on "Baby Blue" did deliver us some funny moments. Reese and Finch trying to change nappies and then when baby Leila got out the makeshift crib made of books, they trained her well, six months old and she was ready to deploy tear gas on her potential kidnappers. In all seriousness I and I'm sure you can relate to the panic which sets in when you quickly pop into the kitchen and return to the living room and think "Shit", where has the baby gone, trust me they can roll behind the sofa pretty quick causing your heart to jump into your throat, mind you I've never caught either of mine with a tear gas grenade, they generally have the TV remote.

Person of interest done a great job again this week of pulling together the weekly story line and the bigger picture with Elias involved from the start. Why would Reese even consider going to this guy for help? Does Reese think Elias owes him a favour? I don't think it works like that he's not a criminal mastermind for nothing. Elias did agree to help but you knew as much as we didn't want it to happen that Reese would get double crossed, am I the only one who found seeing the baby in the refrigerated truck a little disturbing? It did add realism I'll give you that, and yeah I know it wasn't a real baby but that quick shot does get you, I noticed to, that they didn't show Reese taking Leila out the bag, guess they can't actually put a real baby into a bag.

So, another brilliant episode of POI and there are now only three episodes left of this first season. We now have a new angle with Gianni Moretti being released from prison, will he join with his son? Or will Elias kill him? Maybe Reese can have him in his pocket too and Moretti can help bring down Elias. Which ever way POI goes I'm sure it will be brilliant and I'm pretty sure we are going to see a second season of the show (hurry up and renew it CBS). Person of Interest continues to go from strength to strength and and can't wait to see how it pans out.

Side Notes

Did you see Finch's photo fit when the Amber alert went out for the missing baby? Man that was funny, he looked like the teacher from South Park.

Detective Schemanski? Where do they think of these names? Pleased he got shot at the end of the episode meaning I don't have to attempt to spell his name every week.

Is that the oldest six month old baby you have ever seen? I don't know any six month old baby that can stand up or crawl away, Reese made a good point "She can't walk Finch".

TV Review: ALCATRAZ - Sonny Burnett 1.9

For me “Sonny Burnett” was the better of the two episodes on the night, or maybe they were on a par, your thoughts? Either way I really enjoyed the episode, although it was the usual procedural chase the prisoner around San Francisco catch him and return him to Alcatraz, I thought this one was better than usual. What was better for me was the fact that “Sonny Burnett” posed more of a threat than previous prisoners and a whole lot more answers, or clues were given to the actual main plot as well as opening up some more questions.

Sonny Burnett was a kid when sentenced to his stretch in Alcatraz, he was a kidnapper who held wealthy people for ransom but would always return them unharmed following payment of the money. That money was $100,000 which he hid in a field and told his last victim Helen (14 at the time) where the money was, he went to Alcatraz and she stole the money, although it was technically stolen anyway so could she really steal it? Anyway Sonny returned to exact a bit of revenge on Helen, kidnapping her husband and killing him, before kidnapping her daughter and burring her alive in the same field where his hid his loot.

It wasn’t so much the front running plot of “Sonny Burnett” that was interesting the episode really opened up with stories in relation to Ray Archer, Tommy Madsen, Lucy, Dr Beauregard, Hauser and has given us some fresh questions or maybe ideas as to where the story could go from here. It would seem that like Person of Interest Alcatraz is going to deliver the mystery just at the right point in the season, I just hope to many people haven’t been forced into switching off already.

It was good to see how Sonny Burnett turned from wimpy kid into menacing inmate who was prepared to take on the toughest guy in the prison firstly beating one of his right hand men before going on to gouge out the guys eyes. This earned Sonny not only the respect of fellow prisoners but also Deputy Tiller who it would seem has some what of an agenda with the prisoners, turning them into men if you will. Like I said in “The Ames Brothers” review Tiller and Warden James clearly don’t see eye to eye and it’ll be interesting to see if Tillers ideas in 1963 have something to do with the prisoners coming back, maybe training them to be of more use in the modern day or something like that.

The Ray Archer / Tommy Madsen story line is clearly going to be very central to the plot of Alcatraz along with that of Rebecca Madsen. We have already seen that Hauser has made it his business to have Rebecca in his team even against her uncle Ray’s wishes, we know Hauser tried to recruit Ray years ago and Hauser also has people watching him,
a move which Rebecca really doesn’t seem to mind. She wants to catch Tommy Madsen but not for the reason that he’s her grandfather, she wants justice for her partner who Tommy killed in the “Pilot” episode.

Dr Beauregard gave us a little insight this week that he may not be as up on things as we first thought, he told Hauser that he only took the prisoners blood, he doesn’t know what happened with it following that. He has discovered that some of the prisoners have been injected with colloidal silver which seems to make them heal faster than a normal person would. A little theory of my own, could it be some sort of age preserving drug and that’s why the prisoners have not aged a day since 1963. Beauregard has told Hauser that if a prisoner has the same blood type as Lucy then she could be injected with this to in order to make her heal quicker. Lucy is another character who will seemingly become
a lot more central to the plot.

Nine episodes in and three to go, Alcatraz has certainly heated up in way of backing plot especially in this two hour Ames Brothers, Sonny Burnett special and I’m really looking forward to seeing the next few episodes, weather we will get all the answers we need by then or are left on a cliff hanger for a second season we’ll have to see.

New UK Cinema Releases: 9th March 2012, THE RAVEN, JOHN CARTER and BEL AMI

Can’t say I’m all that excited about what’s at the cinema this week, maybe they have just burnt themselves out in the last couple of weeks.  This week there is a new Disney epic adventure, a new thriller and one romantic drama which stars Twilight’s Robert
Pattinson.

My top release this week would have to go to The Raven starring John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alica Eve and Brendan Gleeson

I haven’t heard a great deal about this but it’s based on the life of poet Edgar Alan Poe, fictionalised of course it follows him on the last days of his life as he peruses a serial killer who's murders mirror those of his own stories.

Probably my pick of the week, although I do think it will be pretty intense and full on, I probably won’t get round to seeing it if I’m honest.

Next up it's the release I’m least excited about, don’t even think the wife will be watching Bel Ami starring Robert Pattinson, Christina Ricci, Uma Thurman and Kristen Scott Thomas

Not being interested in this movie at all there is not all that much I can tell you about it, I think it’s a period drama, in which Pattinson stars as Georges Duroy a young man who rises to power in Paris using nothing more than manipulation of women who have high standing in the city.

Sounds fascinating, right? Yeah like me you are giving this a wide birth to can’t say I blame you.

Last one to mention now John Carter starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton and Willem Defoe

This is the new Disney epic I mentioned at the top. It follows John Carter, of course, as he is transplanted to Mars. When on the plant he finds it to be a beautiful place however, Carter finds himself a prisoner of the 12-foot tall green barbarians which inhabit the planet before he make an escape where he meets Dejah Thoris Princess of Helium who is in need of saviour.

I’ve no doubt Disney will probably want to make this some sort of series of movies, it seems to me a bit like Avatar, a movie which I’m yet to see. John Carter would probably have been my top pick but I’m just not into this type of movie, enjoy the trailer.

TV Review: ALCATRAZ - The Ames Brothers 1.8

“The Ames Brothers” the so called two scariest and most dangerous criminals ever to come back from Alcatraz, take that with a pinch of salt, there were a couple of edge of your seat type moments but nothing to memorable. What I remember more than anything is that Rebecca Madsen did not get captured this week, instead it was left for Doc to outwit the two scariest guys of the season.

I would say “The Ames Brothers” was an ok episode, but in my opinion it could have been better, I think they could have kept the younger less psychopathic Ames brother alive a little longer it really could have added more edge. I was enjoying the fact that we had more than one returned prisoner to worry about. Add to that corrupt guard Donovan and the makings were there. The three had returned to Alcatraz in order to find the gold bullion which is buried in the dungeons, the three had come up with a plan back in 1960 which suggests that the Ames brothers knew they would be coming back to 2012. I’m not sure on Donovan though I think he may have been living in San Francisco all this time.

“The Ames Brothers” was a revealing episode, giving us some answers to questions we had already, but it also posed some new ones. It pointed towards the fact that warden James may well be responsible for all these returning prisoners. He ran Alcatraz with an iron fist and seemingly Ray Archer was in the know of just what might be going on at here, and the warden and his deputy don’t get on quite as well as we think.

What was good about “The Ames Brothers was the fact it was based in the prison itself, a lot different from what we have seen this far with the returning prisoners. The prison setting, flashy lights and thunder storm definitely added the edge to this episode and it god under way well with “Pinky” Ames clobbering that guy to death with bolt cutters, I felt the episode had a Shutter Island feel to it, of course not that classy but you get me with the thunder, lightning and the prison.

Is it just me or since 24’s Jack Bauer does every TV cop hold a gun and flashlight in exactly the same way? It does look cool let’s be honest, but none of them do it movie star style holding guns in each hand pointing in different directions, in this episode that could have
proved more useful with all the twists and turns in Alcatraz prison in was clear that “Pinky” would be attacking from behind.

I did think this was a good episode it gave a little more mystery into those keys, what do they open? Clearly not the room with the gold in, the warden seems to keep them close to his chest. We saw that Hauser is maybe not quite as clued up as we thought and is willing to torture people to find out what they know. I just think they should have kept the younger brother alive longer, although that does suggest that maybe more of the guards are in on this than we think. “The Ames Brothers” was the start of two promising episodes for me.

Movie Trailer: DARK TIDE Starring Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez

I never heard anything about this movie until I logged onto IMDB the other day, at a quick glance I thought it may be ok, anything that features on their top bar is usually worth a look. Dark Tide Stars Olivier Martinez and Halle Berry, again not to bad, the likelihood is that Halle Berry will be wearing very little clothing for most of the movie, then you have the added excitement of a big ass Shark, I mean what more could you want?

Dark Tide follows the story of Kate (Halle Berry), a shark expert who has not been in the water since a fellow diver was killed by a shark attack. Her business is in tatters and the bank are about to foreclose on her boat, her ex boyfriend Jeff (Olivier Martinz) convinces her that the only way to save her business is take up a lucrative offer from a thrill-seeking millionaire business man on a open water shark dive. She battles against her doubts and fears before finally agreeing to take the guy into Shark Ally, the worlds deadliest feeding ground. Take a look at the trailer and let me know what you think.

TV Review: THE RIVER - Peaches 1.5

Ok, that’s it I’m officially board with The River, does anyone even watch this? I said in last weeks previews that The River bills itself as the most terrifying show on TV, and the preview seemed to back that up. That is at least until you watch “Peaches” and realise that nothing is going to scare you because you can see the story coming from a mile off. I’m at the stage now where I will watch The River’s final two episodes only to see what happened to Emmett Cole, other than that I’m really not interested so I’ll keep this review brief.

“Peaches” was the title and the episode took a slight Alcatraz / Person of Interest twist focusing on one individual, that was crew member Lena and Peaches was the nickname her father gave her. Her father was Emmett’s camera man and pretty much up until this point she is the only person who has cared about finding him. The previous episode “A Better Man” gave us a slight new angle introducing us to Jonas Emmett’s other camera man who did promise even if just a little to move the story on, it was Jonas this week who seemed to take an interest in Lena and actually bothered to find some footage of her
father for her to watch.

Considering this is such a short series, seven episodes, and considering the pace that it started with you would expect this show to be further on by now, maybe we can expect two very fast very revealing episodes to come. Weather that’s the case or not I really
don’t think they will be that interesting. I can’t see The River coming back for a second season, I think everyone including me was expecting just a little more from this show.

I would think in the next couple of weeks that we will find whatever this “Source” that Emmett was looking for is, if we do, that can be the only new angle that gets thrown into this show right now. If Kurt contacts whoever it is he speaks with on that satellite phone and they turn up things could get interesting. That’s providing it’s not actually Emmett himself that he is in contact with. Even then would you be interested? More twists and turns have been needed in this show and I think we will all forget about it very quickly.

What are your thoughts on The River? Do you enjoy the show? Do you feel like you have wasted five hours of you time so far? Do you think it will get any better? Let me know. I will watch the last two episodes as I said above and I have no doubt that the reviews will be similar in length to this one.

Movies Music & Television Hits 100,000 Pageviews, Thank You.

Would you beileive it? Movies Music & Television has just hit 100,000 pageviews (actually it was Friday night Saturday morning it's 101,000 now) and man am I pleased. What started as a bit of a hobby has turned into something really good, or at least I think it has. I always wanted my own website and starting Movies Music & Television was it, I started off small. For those of you who remember I just used to put out two or three posts a week at most, sometimes I didn't even bother. The site was named Movies Gaming & Video back in those days but I was quick to realise that I knew nothing about video games. I decided to try and make something of this site in January 2011 and changed the name to Movies Music & Television. For a while I ran the site with the .blogspot sub domain and in August 2011 I bought the .com address, from there the site has gone strngth to strength and in the last week pageviews have really gone up, over 700 yesterday.

I don't really have a lot to say, as you can guess I'm pretty pleased about the pageviews, the site is starting to get more and more from Twitter and it's nice to see that some people have subscribed to the site via Email. As always I encourage comments, join our chat. I always reply. Get yourself signed up for a Disqus account you can do it for FREE in the comments section right here.

How did I celebrate? Well I was up at 6am for work on Satrurday morning, that was fun, then Sunday I got pretty drunk Watching Newcastle teach Sunderland how to play Football, at least in the second half anyway. That is pretty much why we are celebrating now, work Saturday, drunk on Sunday.

So, just over 1 year old and I would say that Movies Music & Television is pretty much where I want it to be, my next aim 500,000 pageviews which I hope to acheive before the second year of the site, it would be nice if it was 1 million by then but that maybe be rather lofty ambition. What can you expect then, well more of the same. Did you catch the Spartacus Vengeance post earlier today? tomorrow I have The River, Wednesday will be Alcatraz, Thursday is The Taking of Pelham 123 Blu-ray, Friday will be the cinema releases, Saturday Person of Interest and Sunday I'm back with the TV previews and anything note worthy news wise. I have also just watched another couple of Dexter's first season so I will get those wrote up and posted some time soon.

I'll shout to some people now, firstly Glen at 1 Man! 365 Movies (get blogging Glen), go check him out. Tassa over at Eat Music. Fellow geordie Jo Jo, at JoJo's So Called Life, girls will love this. The funniest guy on the Internet Simple Dude.

TV Review: SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE Mid-Season Episodes 1 - 5

There are a whole host of TV shows that I watch as you know, but there are also many that I watch which I don't blog about, the reason? Well, I just feel that there are some shows that don't really require weekly reviews. One of those would have to be Spartacus: Vengeance, as you know I'm no writer and I'm no good at telling you how beautiful the subtle tones of the background are, or telling you how some flower blossomed. I'm more of a lets guess what's going to happen next episode guy, or why did they do that? For that reason I probably don't write about Spartacus, lets face it, since Spartacus is based on a real person who most of us learnt a little about at school, all we need to do is type Spartacus Wiki into Google and you got the story there so there would be no point of me writing about it as we know what happens eventually.

I absolutely love Spartacus, and I'm saying that when I didn't even see Blood and Sand, although I do have the box set to watch now. I was lucky enough to catch Gods of The Arena which gave me the basics of who was who so I could pick up in Vengeance. Even then I'm not one to go on about how sublime a performance a certain actor has put in, or tell you how terribly drama school like their acting was (not the case in this show). What I could say is Craig Parker as Glaber is the least convincing Roman Praetor I've seen. of course not seeing the afor mentioned Blood and Sand I can't compare the late Andy Whitfield and Liam McIntyre, what I do know is that McIntyre puts in a great performance and I know he was Andy Whitfield's personal choice for the role.

2.1 Fugitivus

The story of the second (or third) season started with "Fugitivus" and follows straight on from Blood and Sand's last episode which saw Spartacus and his Gladiator rebellion in full force causing the death of Batiatus, the bloody battle saw the slaves free and Spartacus with a dilemma. By this time Roman Praetor Gaius Cladius Glaber and his Roman legion have been sent to Capua to crush Spartacus and his growing band of slaves. Does Spartacus stay and tackle the man who condemned him and his wife to slavery or does he make the sacrifice for the greater good and head for higher ground for his army to grow? I got into the show because I heard that it was pretty full on in every aspect and in "Fugitivus" that's exactly what I got with plenty bloody violence sex and swearing on offer. The battle in the brothel certainly opens your eyes if you didn't see the first season, I mean did you see the size of those things?

2.2 A Place In This World

As the title of this episode would suggest it's pretty much what does a slave do when their master has disappeared? The slave rebellion continued to grow though, and lead by Spartacus and Crixus the small army get into Robin Hood Territory robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, as they make their way through the Italian terrain they raid villa after villa killing all Roman’s in their wake and freeing slaves the help fight against the Republic.  Not quite as battle laden “A Place in This World” was brilliant (especially for me) as it showed us the backing story of Oenomaus (Peter Mensah), showing us how his life started fighting in the pit and how he was sold to Titus (Jeffrey Thomas) and entered into the house of Batiatus where his Gladiatorial presence would eventually see him achieve the role of Doctore. Oenomaus now finds himself back in that same pit fighting man after man wanting each to kill him for the shame he brought on the house of Batiatus. This episode also saw the return of Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay) who has been working with Lucretia to bring back Oenomaus to the Ludus fold.

2.3 The Greater Good

For me this is probably the least memorable episode of the second season, it was still very, very good but more in the way of character development as Crixus learns the fate of his love Naevia (Cynthia Addai-Robinon). We also see the coming together of Spartacus’ most trust aid Agron and the newest addition to the fighting army Nasier.
It is learnt eventually that Navia lives and is working in the mines, though you can see Agron’s reason for not disclosing the fact to Crixus you can also see Spartacus’ argument for them to raid the mines and save her life. Less action packed without doubt but I still enjoyed this. Eventually we see the beaten and tortured Oenomaus break and reveal the whereabouts of Spartacus to Ashur.

2.4 Empty Hands

Spartacus and Agron have parted ways, joining Crixus to the mines in a bid to rescue Naevia, Spartacus makes a narrow escape only to be pursued to the woods by the Romans. As Crixus has been captured in the mine and men have fell left right and centre Spartacus faces an uphill challenge and it would seem that he and Mira are resigned to the fate of being captured by the Romans, following all the battles before Spartacus soon learns that his latest threat is nothing more than right hand man Agron with his men on their way to meet with him at Mt Vesuvius.

2.5 Libertus

“Libertus” would have to go down as my favourite episode so far, not only was it spectacular with Spartacus returning to the arena posing as a Roman before he burned the place down, but as I promised in last weeks preview this episode saw the return of Gannicus, the Gladiator given his freedom at the end of Gods of the Arena. Everything about this episode was brilliant, far from the green screen scenes we have seen in this series of Spartacus the effects and money spent on them were on display for all to see. Roll on tonight's "Chosen Paths".

I’ve seen a few things which people have wrote in relation to Spartacus: Vengeance saying that it’s not as good as Blood and Sand, but like I said above I haven’t seen that (yet). I would guess that most of Blood and Sand is based in the House of Batiatus and the arena, don’t get me wrong that’s great and I can’t wait to see it but I could put it in terms similar to Prison Break, for the first season they were all stuck in a prison which was good but I enjoyed the second season more when they where on the run. Maybe that’s why I enjoy Spartacus: Vengeance so much.

TV Previews: ALCATRAZ - The Ames Brothers 1.8 & Sonny Burnett 1.9, THE WALKING DEAD - Judge, Jury, Excutioner 2.11, SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE - Chosen Paths 2.6, PERSON OF INTEREST - Baby Blue 1.17, THE RIVER - Dr Emmet Cole 1.6

Back again delivering to you all the latest in TV previews from your favourite US and UK shows, first up,

Alcatraz rolls into it's eighth and ninth episode, "The Ames Brothers" (I called it Clarence Montgomery by mistake last week) should have aired on Fox last week but with the rain in the US on Sunday it meant that the NASCAR Daytona 500 race was delayed, I believe that's a 500 kilometre race and takes some time to get through on TV. Saying that it would probably have been more entertaining than Alcatraz you can guess which one they cancelled. To see the the "The Ames Brothers" preview click the link to last week's post, otherwise check out the "Sonny Burnett" preview below.

So far The Walking Dead has not really been setting the world alight as they say, yet it still attracts eight million viewers every week. I have to be honest, I have really enjoyed the last couple of episodes, although I don't review the show I will put something together at the conclusion of the second season. This next episode "Judge, Jury, Executioner" looks like another promising instalment to the series, take a look at the trailer below.

Next up it's Spartacus: Vengeance, I have a mid season review coming for you on Monday so be sure to look out for that, with last week's "Libertus" being probably the best episode yet this week promises to be even better again. The return of Gannicus should add some intensity to things, especially as it's inevitable that he will join with Spartacus' slave rebellion, also Ashur get a taste of his own medicine this week whilst Glaber is still coming to terms with the fact his wife no longer loves him.

Now with a title like "Baby Blue" I was expecting the weekly Person of Interest to be a rookie cop or something like that, turns out I was wrong in my guess and it would seem that Reese and Finch are in for a spot of babysitting this week when the latest number to roll out the machine belongs to a baby. Just how much kick ass we'll see this week I'm not sure but this is the best show on TV right now (other than Spartacus) so I'm sure it'll be pretty god fun.

My thoughts on The River have shifted majorly since the season "Pilot" but there are only two episodes left now so I might as well watch it to the finish, what will it have in store? Well, I'm not sure but the preview looks promising, I've said that before.

New UK Cinema Releases: 2nd March 2012, THIS MEANS WAR, WANDERLUST and PROJECT X

Following last weeks impressive cinema releases I’m surprised that this week is again so good. So what we got for you? Well there is a couple of new romantic comedy’s both of which look pretty good and there is a new teenage comedy from the producer of The Hangover movies which looks pretty good fun and because this weeks releases are so
good I’ll show you the trailers for them all.

First off my top pick for the week, This Means War starring Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy and Chris Pine.

Tuck (Hardy) and Frank (Pine) are CIA agents both at the top of their game, returning from a mission gone wrong they are assigned to desk duty. Tuck decides that he’s lonely and loads his profile onto a dating website where it’s seen by Lauren (Witherspoon) who decides to go on a date with him, little does Tuck know that in the next few days she also bumps into and hits it off with Frank his best friend and colleague. The friends finally come to realise they are dating the same girl and at first agree to be admiral about it, but before long that plan goes out the window and they begin to sabotage each others dates.

Why is it my top pick? Well, considering the write ups I’ve seen so far it probably shouldn’t be but if you caught my Blu-ray review of Inception then you know I’m a big fan of Tom Hardy, that’s why it gets my top pick vote. Check out the trailer and let me know what you think.

Next up it’s another romantic comedy for you, Wanderlust stars Jennifer Aniston, Pual Rudd, Malin Akerman and Justin Theroux

I have heard of this movie coming for a while but never really looked at anything about it, for that reason I really can’t tell you much. George (Rudd) and Linda (Aniston) are a couple who suddenly find themselves unemployed. They decide to go check out some alternative living options which sees them end up in a rural community where free love rules.

Now obviously I have seen at least the trailer for this movie and have to say it looks pretty funny. I will probably see it, not at the cinema but I’ll probably check it out on DVD take a look at the trailer and let me know what you think.

Last one to mention this week is Project X starring Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown and Kirby Bliss Blanton.

There are no monkeys in this, forget Virgil and Matthew Broderick, although you could probably describe these guys as little monkeys, you know the type right? They have a party when their parents are away for the weekend, invite every one of their Facebook “friends” get totally pissed and end up trashing the house. Little Monkeys. Their aim with the party is to turn themselves into cool guys with the most popular girls in the school, won’t look so cool when they get grounded for a year and have to pay the first three years of their wages back to their parents for the damage caused to the house.

Joking aside this does look pretty funny and it’s brought to us by Todd Philips who Directed and produced The Hangover movies, think back to how much we all loved American Pie, if you liked movies like that then you’ll probably enjoy this, check out the trailer.

Blu-ray Movie Review: TAKERS (2010) Starring Idris Elba, T.I and Paul Walker

I’ve been sitting on my latest rental from LOVEFiLM for well over a week now, I’ve just not had the time. I really didn’t know to much about Takers and can’t remember hearing all that much about it when released. I didn’t let that put me off and I’m pleased about that because of all the movies I have seen lately this is one of the ones I have enjoyed the most. Seriously, if your looking for a good action thriller then this is your squeeze.

Takers Starring: Idris Elba, Paul Walker, Matt Dillon, Hayden Christensen, Michael Ealy, Jay Hernandez, Chris Brown, T.I. and Zoe Saldana.

The Plot

Gangsters Gordon Crozier (Elba), John Rahway (Walker), A.J. (Christensen), Jesse Attica (Brown) and Jake Attica (Ealy) are celebrating in grand style having just completed their latest high end back robbery, meanwhile their former crew runner Ghost (Tip “T.I.”
Harris) is released early from prison with inside information on a job he wants them in on, problem is they usually leave a year between jobs this needs to be done in a week. The siege of an armoured truck carrying $30m with Russian Gangsters also getting a cut, throw into the mix hard nosed Detective Jack Welles (Dillon) and your left with a classy action thriller where no one knows who can be trusted.

The Verdict

Do you remember 2007’s American Gangster with Denzel Washington, yeah? Well think of his character Frank Lucas, the way he held himself the way he rose to the top of the pile. He was never flashy never done anything out of character that could arouse suspicion. Take that turn it on it’s head and think more like 1995’s Heat starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, knock 20 years off the actors and you are left with Takers, a much faster paced and harder hitting action movie than Heat was. That’s not to say Heat was a bad movie, I thought it was great but, if it’s something like Heat you want to see and don’t have the three hours of your time to give up then believe me Takers is a well worthy opponent.

The action in Takers is top notch and right up there with the best I have seen, not only do you get great action here but there is also a worth while story which has you rooting for the criminals more than the cops. Takers is exactly the type of action movie I love, one I
could watch time and time again. It’s helped by a star cast and one surprising but worthy inclusion, four of the main cast stood out for me. Idris Elba first off playing crime boss Gordon Crozier, then you have Hayden Christensen an actor I haven’t really seen to much of but man can he kick ass and with some style too, I’ll then move to Michael Ealy I know plenty about him and as always he doesn’t disappoint, his on screen brother and surprise of the movie is rapper Chris Brown who turned in a sublime performance. I’m not a massive fan of Chris Brown as I’ve stated before but I think Hollywood action roles will be
coming calling following this performance. Matt Dillon plays Detective Jack Welles and I have to be honest along with the four mentioned above Dillon really adds some intensity to this movie. Again, I’m not his biggest fan but this may be the perfect sort of role for him. I’m not a person who can see Paul Walker as a kick ass action man, I’ll agree the guy is good at driving fast cars but as far as beating people up goes, not for me. In Takers he doesn’t do to much of that but shadowing what the Directors and Producers say in the extras he does have a sophisticated smooth suave about him kind of like Steve McQueen, he always seems one step ahead managing to talk or think his way out of a situation as apposed to causing a huge punch up.

Honestly, if you haven’t seen Takers than I can’t recommend it highly enough. If there is one thing that disappointed me it was the fact I watched it on an afternoon, meaning I had no beer to watch it with. Takers is top draw Saturday night entertainment with a brilliant story and loads of pumped up action from a brilliant cast. Finally on the verdict, I’ve seen a lot of hate thrown at this movie because it’s a blatant rip-off of The Italian Job, I have never seen either version of that so can’t compare.

Sound & Colour

As always with Blu-ray the picture quality is brilliant, I would expect noting less. As far as the sound goes, it could have been better. Usually when I review Blu-rays I say that I have to turn down my TV at certain parts, even in The Hangover. In Takers I didn’t have to do that and feel like they were holding back, even drowning out some of the audio in the explosive action scenes.

Blu-ray Special Features

Trailers - It should probably say advertisements for all Screen Gems and Sony Pictures productions, telling you to take a look at the BD Live features on your disc - Then there are some trailers which I didn't watch.

Commentary with Director Jason Lessenhop, Producer Will Packer, Producer Jason Getter and Tip "T.I." Harris - Speaks for itself really, watch the movie again with commentary from the Director and producers.

Executing The Heist: The Making Of Takers - Writers came up with the story after Seeing Heat starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. The directors say There is nothing that Idris Elba can not do, I have to agree with that one. This really was the directors hats off to the cast, who admittedly are all super cool throughout this movie. It Was really good to see that the actors done most of the stunts themselves, even live action sequences with them running through the street. They insisted on moving cars in order to get their blood pumping.

Take Action - This is the perfect extra for this movie as action was at it's most paramount, kick ass is not the word. I agree with the writers and Directors Chris Brown is absolutely amazing in this movie considering his acting experience, also brilliant was Hayden Christiensen who kicks ass. It was really good to see how they done the Helicopter explosion at the beginning of the movie, it the went on to show all the effects behind the armoured vehicle siege, no wonder things cost so much.

Yeah Ya Know (Takers) By T.I. Music Promo - A look at all the movies best bits with T.I. track "Yeah Ya Know" in the background, kind of a shorter version of Take Action.

The Music
In a movie which was produced by T.I you can expect plenty rap music even in the extras and that’s exactly what you get, they also throw in a little rock for you heavy action entertainment.

Would I watch it again?

Absolutely, to all the Takers haters out there just take it for what it is, good fun.

Rating: MMM