NYC 22 is the latest in the huge line of police procedural drama's to hit our screens, premiering on CBS Sunday 15th April 2012, thing with this police procedural it comes with a twist. NYC 22 is produced by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal's Tribeca Productions, not only that but the show is written by Richard Price who wrote the movie Clockers produced by Spike Lee, it's one I've never seen but have read very impressive things about. On the face of things NYC 22 looks ok, I liked the "Pilot" and was hooked right from the intro with the 6 new rookies making their way for the first day at work to the beat of "New York Groove" before breaking into Jay-Z's "Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)".
The "Pilot" was very procedural as you would expect but I still enjoyed it, NYC 22 is very bright very refreshing and this opener showed us a little promise as maybe something like The Wire, don't get to excited NYC 22 on face value is nowhere near as good as the Wire, at least that's what's "real" critics will tell you, I'm not a real critic nor did I enjoy The Wire all that much, probably due more to the fact that I was a few years to late catching on. For that reason and as a non critic I'll say that I enjoyed NYC 22 more, what can I say, this is the kind of show I like. NYC 22 has got legs I'm pretty sure on that and from what I've read it's a very mixed bag of reactions.
Ok, so NYC 22 is not Person of Interest which is my favourite show on TV right now, nor will the twists and turns be as good the characters probably won't be as deep either but I still think this looks like a good show, you can tell from the out-set that NYC 22 has had plenty money spent on it not only in production but also in recruiting it's potential stars. That's one thing you can say for Robert De Niro, he's not going to put his name to something which he doesn't think is any good and with NYC 22 he brings a certain essence of cool without doubt, that can be seen from the music in the beginning, that same beat of street rap rolls right through the episode probably due to the fact that the week's story was based on a potential gang war which eventually went off half way through the episode but was brought to a very uneventful conclusion.
The uneventful conclusion is probably because the show is based on the rookies and their experiences of life on the beat so, with that in mind let's roll through the characters first off Jennifer "White House" Perry (LeeLee Sobieski), a former US Marine MP who worked on security at the White House, Tonya Sanchez (Judy Marte) the daughter of a criminal family who has become a cop to clean up her family name and just happens to look very much like Jennifer Lopez, Ray Harper (Adam Goldberg) a former news journalist who lost his job after 14 years due to budget cuts, Kenny McLaren (Stark Sands) a 4th generation cop who was all but expected to become one himself, Ahmad Khan (Tom Reed) a refugee from Afghanistan who just wants fair play, Jayson "Jackpot" Toney (Harold House Moore) a former college basketball star who never quite met his potential and finally Daniel "Yoda" Dean (Terry Kinney) the boss in charge of all the newbies.
I can't say I was disappointed with any of the performances, I've seen a few criticising Leelee Sobieski but hot blonde chicks sit fine with me no matter how wooden they look, anyway my eyes were drawn in the direction of Latino Lopez lookalike Judy Marte, what can I say I like dark hair. We found out enough about everyone here in order to move forward with what looks like it will be a weekly storyline as apposed to something that continues, what may continue is relationships between the rookies and their seniors and for me a few of the rookies are certainly open to corruption, you just have to look at their backgrounds. Although "Jackpot" did talk his best friend into handing himself into police and Tonya certainly seems committed to cleaning her family name, former journalist Harper is also very disgruntled towards newspapers. Maybe the most likely one to stray would be 4th generation cop McLaren, his eyes were certainly drawn to the sister of that little gangster, you know what some men would do for women.
In essence NYC 22 is no different really from all the other police procedural's we see on TV, although unlike say CSI (New York or Miami) I think NYC 22 may require more of your attention, you couldn't get away with just watching this every now and again. I really enjoyed it and I will be back for more. What are your thoughts on NYC 22? Will you be back for more like me? Or are you writing it off as just another police procedural?
I really don’t have that much to talk about with Awake this week, would it be wrong of me to say that I found it a little boring? I suppose it’s not, but that is what I felt like this week, maybe it was the fact that none of the cases really crossed paths, but then again when it came to the shows main plot, what happened to Michael Britten? The cases did cross and the conspiracy grew some more. For me Awake has two questions that I want answered (well three actually, but the third may or may not be relevant, I’ll get to it shortly) I want to know which reality is real and what the conspiracy against Britten is?
I suppose with all the twists and turns in which reality is real I’m not going to get an answer to either of those questions any time soon, although I would still say that Awake could be wrapped up in one season if everything is revealed in the next four episodes. It may well go on longer, who knows? The show could give us the answer to which reality (green/red) is real then roll into a second season with the conspiracy storyline. It really does have potential.
One thing I want to touch on, it’s something I’ve noticed before but never really paid that much attention too. Awakes slogan “Two dreams, one reality”, is it just me or would that suggest Britten is dreaming two dreams and as the audience we are yet to see the reality, say maybe he is in a coma or something like that and before he wakes up he is solving all his cases. It maybe is a little far fetched but to suggest that one of the dreams is a reality shouldn’t the slogan say “Two dreams, one is reality?” This could well be the reason I don’t
work in TV, am I missing something?
The Westfield Distribution case is seemingly going to be the main focus of attention as to where this conspiracy actually lies, does that mean the red world is real? I honestly don’t know and the more I think about it the more I seem to confuse myself. Whatever Westfield Distribution has to do with things then certain people including Britten’s boss Captain Harper don’t want him digging to deep, it may also have something to do with “Ricky’s Tacos” or was that just helping out with a clue in the blue world? It’s Ricky’s Tacos where Britten hallucinated this week believing the ordering machine told him to go check out Westfield Distribution. That really is all I got from this episode.
Maybe like I said above we haven’t seen the reality yet, he is in a coma and before the accident he knew people were conspiring against him, it will all build to him figuring out all the clues in a coma and the season finale will see him “Awake” and bring down his foes. That is possibly completely ridiculous speculation but at least it’s a thought, I don’t really know where Rex or Hannah would fit into this scenario, maybe they are sitting at his side when he comes around.
Lastly, that third question I mentioned above, does Michael Britten ever change his shirt? It would seem that he has a vast selection of ties yet only one blue shirt, is that something the writers have done on purpose or am I just not paying enough attention? Or on the other hand to much attention?
The story picks up thirty eight days after Dexter saved his sister and killed his brother Rudy, The Ice Truck Killer. Thirty eight days is a long time for Dexter to go without killing anyone though and he has his next target in his sights, problem is ever since the conclusion of The Ice Truck Killer case the suspicious and frankly hilarious Sgt Doakes has followed Dexter’s every move when not on duty. In order to prove or at least try to convince Doakes that he’s normal Dexter has took up bowling to surpass his murderous desires until one day the opportunity presents itself and Dexter finds himself unable to quench his thirst.
“It’s Alive” dealt very much with the fall out and aftermath of season ones stunning finale, not only was Dexter in quandary trying to kill someone but his sister Deb has all but convinced herself that returning to work so soon after her ordeal is a good thing, whilst
back at home for Dexter, Rita is still facing a hard time from ex-husband and convict Paul who's trying to convince her that Dexter is not the man she thinks and she should be in the yard looking for a shoe which will see him released from custody.
It’s probably Dexter’s problem which was the best bit of this opening episode, not only does he have Sgt Doakes on his back but Deb has also moved in with him and is slowly grinding further and further on his nerves, turns out Dexter has a slight OCD when it comes to his apartment being clean and tidy whilst Deb really doesn’t seem to concerned with anything like that. Finally with the chance to kill again Dexter’s problems race to the surface and he finds himself riddled with guilt over killing the biological brother who helped open his eyes to where he came from and the lies Harry had kept from him for years, it’s a strange affection for Dexter as he loves Deb dearly but she is not blood and he choose to protect her over Rudy.
Doakes chips in with another brilliant one liner in this opener, but you have to ask if you were trying to get rid of a sergeant’s attention would you really be opening a titty site at work? Doakes blazes in “what’s that a titty site?”, you surely wouldn’t dare look at anything like that at work, but you have to admit it adds to the dark humour of Dexter.
If you remember I read a spoiler accidentally whilst watching season 1, and I thought Dexter’s first victim of this season would be Paul Bennett when he was released from custody, but I got that wrong. Stuck in a federal prison which is admittedly way out of his league he is killed in a prison fight, argh, to bad, but lets face it the prick had it coming for long enough, and it’s one less problem for Dexter to deal with, although Rita is not going to follow up anymore of Paul’s claims thankfully for Dexter, and I have to mention seeing Julie Benz wearing little to no clothing certainly wasn’t a low point in this episode.
It all builds towards a brilliant episode with lots of things set in place, and then just when you think things can’t get any better two treasure hunters diving off the Miami coast uncover the bodies which Dexter has buried there, that leads to a massive police operation and the beginning of a hunt for a new Miami based serial-killer dubbed “The Bay Harbour Butcher”, or Dexter as we all know him.
As always here at Movies Music & Television here are all the latest previews and trailers for your favourite US TV shows.
Firstly its Game of Thrones, a show which I have become a very big fan of. It's not my usual squeeze but this is very good indeed, I'm not really there yet on who everyone is or what they are all fighting for but I am hoping this week may shed a little more light on the subject. Check out the trailer and let me know what you think, other than that why not take a look at last week's review and fill me in on the blanks.
Onto Awake now, another very good show. This really isn't the best preview week for me there is very little on and I haven't seen the previous episode "Ricky's Tacos" just yet, I will be watching it tonight but in the interest that I give something away that will spoil my viewing I haven't watched this preview yet, take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.
No Touch this week, I don't feel any desire to watch this show, I watched the first two episodes and thought they were ok but in all honesty I was just a little bored, I don't think Keifer Sutherland and his on screen son linking peoples life's together for a happy ending every week is all that enjoyable so for that reason I have stopped previewing and reviewing the show. This gives me even less to review so if you have any suggestions on something I should check out old or new then let me know.
As you know I'm a big fan of Dexter, I'm currently making my way through season 2 so, why not put out the trailer? That way you all know what I'm watching. As well as this I also have a new writing gig coming off which I'll let you know about in due course, I'm just busy deciding how much time to offer the opportunity.
Note: I would have done individual episode trailers for Dexter's second season but they don't have any from back then so you will have to do with the whole of season 2 trailer.
Breakout Kings is a show that’s a little late getting to the UK audience, it premiered in the US on the A&E Network back in March 2011. Eventually it’s rolled its way over the Atlantic and landed on obscure digital channel Universal HD, the same channel which seems to be buying up a lot of old and new US processed junk TV right now. I didn’t actually know Breakout Kings was premiering and only set it to record by chance as I’d flicked for the first time ever (I think) onto Universal HD to check out Enrico Colantoni’s (Elias from Person of Interest) performance in a slightly more successful show called Flashpoint.
Breakout Kings was quite a highly anticipated show, mostly due to the fact that the writers/creators are Nick Santora and Matt Olmstead, these are the guys who brought us the hugely successful Prison Break for four seasons. Not only that, the show came with a bit of a star casting including The Wire’s Domenick Lombardozzi and Avatar’s Laz Alonso.
The show is based mainly on the two characters above, both of whom work for different sectors of the police, they don’t particularly care for each other but are offered the opportunity to set up a task force which chases escaped convicts. Not wanting to do it alone, they come up with a slogan of “It takes a con to catch a con” and recruit some prisoners from various prisons around the US in order to help them catch escaped convicts, in return the prisoners are offered a reduced sentence of a month for every escapee they help apprehend, and this time will be served in a minimum security prison.
It’s a slightly different twist on the standard procedural crime police drama, and one which I didn’t think would work to bad. The Pilot was ok, nothing great but it served it’s purpose of introducing us to all the characters, at least on the surface and it delved pretty quickly into the action, I suppose you could liken it to Alcatraz, just without the budget. The released cons consist of a genius gambler (Jimmi Simpson as Lloyd Lowery), a con woman (Nicole Steinwedell as Philly, Pilot only), an ex gang leader (Malcolm Goodwin as Shea Daniles) and briefly a bare knuckle fighter who you don’t really need to know about.
Breakout Kings is set up like Person of Interest and Alcatraz in that there is a different story or prisoner every week, that guarantees you one thing, you will get thorough the story pretty quick but from the Pilot it looks like it will get very boring, basically like Alcatraz someone will escape every week this team will hunt them down and return them to prison, simple. I think you could basically describe this as popcorn TV, no need to watch intensely and no need to worry if you miss a couple of episodes as it won’t be to hard to catch up.
I don’t think it helps that we are introduced to five leading characters in the Pilot, meaning we only really get to know them on the surface with only really one exception in Lloyd Lowery the gambler who seems to do quite a lot of talking, which for me came across quite hammy. That would go for Lombardozzi to, I can’t say that I was all that impressed, especially given the calibre of TV show he was in before this. Laz Alonso as the boss fared a little better for me, but all in all I think it might be ex gang leader Shea Daniels who turns out to be the star of this show, other than the two cops he is the only one who strikes me as street wise and tough enough to deal with murderous escaped cons. I will be back for more next week, hoping that maybe we will start to see characters develop beyond face value, I enjoyed it but I’m not so sure that I can come back week on week and review it unless there is something particularly good or bad that I feel should be mentioned. What are your thoughts’s on Breakout Kings? Did you catch this in time with the US? Or like me have you tuned into Universal HD earlier this week hoping to catch a show which resembled Prison Break?
Note;
*A ten part second season to Breakout Kings has just started airing in the US last month*.
I have to tell you straight off this is not the best week ever for movies, probably more like one of the worst in fact, but as always here at Movies Music & Television I’ll take you through what may be worth your time this weekend. You have a new super scary (I think) horror, Independence Day on a boat and Butch Cassidy is back fresh out the 60’s.
I’ll start with my pick of the week as always, its Battleship starring Alexander Skarsgard, Liam Neeson, Brooklyn Decker, Taylor Kitsch and popstar Rhianna
Battleship is based on Hasbro comic book novel Combat Game, and follows an international fleet of ships who are on a Naval war games exercise. Whilst there they encounter an alien force known as “The Regent” and a air and sea battle ensues.
I don’t know anything about the books or Hasbro comics but when I was younger we had a video game named Battleships where you used to have put coordinates in and try to blow your opponent (the computer) out the water, however I don’t think it’s the same thing. In all honesty if I see any of the movies released this week Battleship will probably be it, check out the trailer below.
Next on this week’s list is Blackthorn starring Sam Shepard, Eduardo Noriega and Stephen Rea
Blackthorn is set in Bolivia and follows legendary cowboy Butch Cassidy (Sam Shepard) who now calls himself James Blackthorn. Butch or James (whatever you want to call him) is making one last attempt to get home, a journey which sees him team up with a young robber, and the pair become a target for gangs and cops, or lawmen as they were known then.
I have no interest in Westerns at all, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid released in 1969 is a movie I’ve never seen, nor do I intend watching. If Butch was around then what’s he doing in Bolivia?
Last one to mention this week is The Cabin in The Woods starring Kristen Connelly, Chris Hemswroth and Anna Hutchinson
It’s the latest teenage type horror thing that you’ll all love, a bunch of people go to stay in a creepy cabin which is in the middle of nowhere, well apart from the woods obviously, when there they get more than they bargain for and must try and figure out the truth behind The Cabin in The Woods.
Horror is not a genre that I’m a fan of and from what I’ve seen of this movie up to now it seems a lot like Cabin Fever, a movie I watched expecting to get a scare. All I got was bored.
I have actually put off watching The Social Network, I've heard plenty people say that it’s a pretty good movie but I just never really felt inclined to watch it. I know who Mark Zuckerberg is of course and I know many people have tried to sue him over the actual ownership/idea behind Facebook, I can’t say it really interested me though, after all without his genius programming knowledge Facebook would probably never have been what it is and my Blackberry would be a lot quieter with updates.
Starring: Jessie Eisenberg, Rooney Mara, Dustin Fitzsimmons, Joseph Mozello, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake
The Plot
The Social Network is the story of Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg and takes us back to the fall of 2003 when one night Zuckerberg grabbed himself a beer and started coding for a site which at the time he called "The Facebook", an idea adapted from an internal Harvard computer system which was already in place. What follows is Facebook’s rise to revolutionise the way we communicate and the legal battles that Zuckerberg faced following Facebook going live.
The Verdict
Been putting off from watching The Social Network? Then let me tell you, stop there and get out to buy or rent this on DVD OR Blu-ray, really the movie is that impressive and it’s a complete comparison from what I was expecting, I really enjoyed the way the story was
told, although mostly fictional from what I'm lead to believe. Also the acting by all involved was something else with Eisenberg as the real star of the show.
If your thinking that The Social Network will just be a geek fest then you are wrong, also if you think that Zuckerberg writing pages and pages of Internet code is going to give you an idea that will make you a billionaire you are wrong. The Social Network is not going to give you any ideas like that its more character based with some very good laughs thrown in for good measure. The characters where the best bit for me, apart from Zuckerberg himself you have Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfiled) the co-founder of Facebook and in all honesty the money behind the venture, I actually felt quite sorry for this guy as he considered Mark Zuckerberg to be his best friend, then you have Dustin Mosovitz (Joseph Mozello) co-owner of Facebook, who seems to take more of a back seat. Finally Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) the founder of Napster and the man who helped Zukerberg propel Facebook to where it is today.
I really liked the way the movie was handled set in the present day in court room scenes, well offices with solicitors, Zuckerberg and others arguing over the ownership of Facebook, what it done was every bit of the story we got told in the room was a flashback to how it played out, I really liked that and have to say The Social Network really is a great movie and not what I was expecting at all, I can’t recommend it enough.
Would I watch it again?
Yeah, totally, I thought this was really good and I can’t wait to see it again.
Oh, so that's a girl. I'm pleased I found out this quick she had me completely fooled last week thinking she, or he was in fact in line to take Joffrey's throne as king. I did think on watching last week that Ari (actually Arya) was slightly effeminate, as you know I didn't watch the first season so this is all new to me. I have to say I enjoyed "The Night Lands" better than last weeks "The North Remembers", more things started to fall into place for me this week and I think that maybe I'm starting to grasp what is actually going on.
One thing I forgot to mention last week was the killing of the "bastards", I know it's not real but I did find that very uncomfortable to watch, or listen to as the case may be. You think that maybe they would leave it there, but no. Game of Thrones was just as daring and outrageous this week as it was last. Firstly we were treated to the scene in the brothel with the lady who had clearly just finished servicing some guy, I'm presuming that wasn't milk he was wiping from her chin, then we got some very wrong brother sister action which quite frankly was just creepy.
I wouldn't let any of that put you off though, yes the nakedness was there for all to be seen, but again, I didn't see the first season so I don't know if that's how it was, nor have I read the books, so maybe it was taken from those. Game of Thrones is still a brilliant show and and the brilliant acting, clever story and hint of the big battle which is going to commence at some point in this season all ramps up to keep you coming back week on week.
I actually laughed this week too, that's twice, remember Awake? Yeah, well Game of Thrones was actually pretty funny this week with the best laugh coming from that guy (I don't know his name) who told the Gold Cloak that his sword had just been sharpened that morning, and it was so sharp he could shave a spiders arse, what can I say it doesn't take much to make me laugh, maybe it's the way "that guy" delivered his line. My other moment of laughter came just before Ari turned out to be Arya with the kids washing pots, again, I don't know who the kid was but it was a funny little chat about how he knew someone was a Knight because they wore body armour.
Although I'm getting there with the characters I still have plenty to learn, this week Joffrey didn't make an appearance but I was introduced to so many other people, supposed kings and their teams (is that the right word?) that I kind of feel back to square one, I think I get a little more on what they all want, and now I know that Tyroin is attempting to keep all of these people from passing his, well Joffrey's walls and getting into their kingdom, please correct me in the comments if I have that wrong. I thought that I pretty much met everyone in the opening episode but it turns out not, I was introduced to the house Greyjoy, you know the creepy brother sister bit? I take it he was in the first season and sent away his son who he now despises to fight with the Stark's. I still need to know who the lady in the red land's is, someone was obviously sending her little crew a message this week sending one of her Bloodrider's back minus his head.
Before I sum up, where were they taking that baby at the end of this episode? And what was that thing which picked it up? The shadow on screen and heavy breathing leads me to think it's some kind of man wolf
I still have plenty to learn about Game of Thrones but I really did enjoy this episode, as with last week the person I was most impressed with was Peter Dinklage, when this guy is on screen he completely owns it and from what I have heard he will be taking more of a leading role in this season. Another brilliant episode and I can't wait for next week's.
For me this was the best episode of Awake so far, I have really enjoyed the series but so far it's been more procedural crime drama rather than explaining what the Sci-Fi mystery twist is. This far two things have ran constant in Awake that we want answers to, firstly is the police conspiracy side of things which up to now is pointing towards the fact that the Britten's car accident maybe wasn't so much of an accident, and then you have the which reality is real question, the main focus of everyones attention. "That's Not My Penguin" is the first episode which has started to deliver answers to one of those questions, or maybe the writers are just throwing us a curve ball to keep us off the scent.
Every little clue thrown in so far has pointed towards the fact that the blue/green reality where Martin lives with his son Rex is the real one, "That's Not My Penguin" certainly didn't do anything to change my opinion on that, it only served as more concrete evidence that everything in the nice glossy red reality is in fact a dream, a world built by Michael Britten to help him come to terms with the fact he lost his wife. By this reveal, if it is a reveal can we presume that the writers are looking to wrap Awake after one season? Let's face it that's the whole mystery and if Britten is going to start putting together the pieces six episodes in I think he may well have solved it by the time we are at the season finale.
"That's Not My Penguin" focused on a young guy named Gabe who just happened to be holed up in a psych hospital in the red world. Gabe believed that his sister who had died some years earlier had been kidnapped and the nurses on the ward were hiding her from him so, he decided to lay siege to the ward held the staff captive and wired up some explosives. That put Michael in kind of a predicament, he faced a hostage negotiation with a mental patient who possibly has the same condition as him, but that made gripping TV for us as this is where all of the answers came.
I think this is possibly the first episode where I have laughed, up to this point there really hasn't been to much to laugh about but when that Penguin showed up in the psych ward I had to have a little chuckle to myself. That penguin was of course the first of two hallucinations that Michael was about to have, it didn't escape from the zoo section of the hospital, it was never there and only present in the mind of Michael. I'm not sure on this but I have to ask the question, can you hallucinate in a dream? I would say the answer would have to be yes, as the writers wouldn't have done that otherwise unless of course it's not a dream.
Lets say it is a dream, it's a pretty elaborate one, it's a whole other world and the hallucinations seem to point to the other world being the real one. The Dr (B.D. Wong) in the red reality showed up in that psych ward I was thinking this is a bit of a twist, I didn't pick up right away that it was just Michael hallucinating, it really was brilliant at the end of the episode when you find out that he was never there in the first place, Michael Britten's mind sending him a message possibly?
I'm really enjoying this show, it is brilliant and I have no doubt that some twists and turns will be coming our way, but for now I stand that the blue/green reality is the real one, the rest is just a dream, however, I'm still aware that this show could throw us a massive curve ball, we often thought that Lost might provide answers, they never came so why should we think any different in Awake, this show really is that good and I can't wait to see more.
All the latest trailer, promos and previews of your favourite US TV shows here at Movies Music and Television as always, enjoy.
I'll start this week with Game of Thrones, if you caught my review of last week's season 2 premiere "The North Remembers" then your already aware that I didn't watch the first season but I was very impressed with the way the show handled itself, and like pretty much everyone else I was really impressed with the performance of Peter Dinklage. I'm still figuring out who everyone is so I can't go into that much plot here but "The Night Lands" looks like a pretty action packed episode.
I started reviewing Awake following episode 5 "Oregon", I have the review of the sixth episode coming for you tomorrow. I really love this show and I think the last episode "That's Not My Penguin" really started to put some questions in our mind about which world is reality and which is a dream. In "Ricky's Tacos" that would seem to continue along with a police conspiracy that was touched upon briefly in an earlier episode.
Touch is a show which has had to take a bit of a back seat lately, it's not that I don't think it's a good show, I just don't rate it as much as everything else that I've been watching. I'm a couple of episodes behind now and do intend to catch up however, I don't think I will be reviewing every episode. Maybe I'll drop a comment or two should something happen that I find interesting or a worthy talking point.
It's a pretty short list this week, as you know Spartacus is now wrapped for it's second season, Person of Interest is a repeat of "Number Crunch" and unfortunately I can't get a preview or promo of Magic City's second episode. So, we'll have to make do with what we've got.
That's it! I'm getting into Yoga, if all you have to do in the morning is a little stretching to get in touch with your "Chi" and it enables you to kick ass like John Reese, I'm in. Seriously, does TV get any better than Person of Interest? "Flesh and Blood" was not the best episode of this opening season but I would still put it up their with the best of them, what worked so well for me this week was the fact that so many people were involved, yet POI remained true to it's premise and the power struggle between Finch, Reese and Elias.
It's a good job Reese was in touch with his Chi in "Flesh and Blood" as he arrived at "work" to be informed by Finch that the machine had spat out the SSN's of New York's five Mafia Don's. No investigation required, Reese figures straight off that Elias must be executing a plan to take control of the city. Bring back all the corrupt "HR" cops, have their families watched,kidnap Carter's son Taylor (Kwoade Cross) and you have got one brilliant episode of Person of Interest lined up.
It was great to see the team back together again, in last week's "Identity Crisis" Carter still wasn't speaking with Reese, this week she really didn't have a choice as he saved her ass and that of her sons. I love the way that both Carter and Fusco before her have been brought into the fold, it seemed like great timing and considering that the reveal of Reese to Carter was supposed to be the season finale, I think they made a good decision to bring that forward to mid season. The choice has really made things more interesting and it adds a whole other dynamic to the show. Although we know both characters well enough now there is still plenty to be explored with their back stories and the little separate jobs that Reese has them running, I've no doubt that some of these stories will run into the second season.
Another story that I think will run into the second season is Elias, or Carl as we learnt this week, the son of Moretti one of the five Mafia Dons he was looking to get rid of. Do you really think he will be staying in prison? I don't, this guy is way to powerful, with friends way higher than even NYPD top brass. I've never been to prison so I can't really comment but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be allowed to use your (or someone else's) mobile phone on the way to your cell, has Elias bought the prison Guards already? Maybe Michael Schofield will show up in their with his Prison Break apparatus and break Elias out. Only kidding, but there is no way Elias will be spending to much time behind bars. I really enjoyed the brief flashbacks to Elias as a younger guy to, struggling to find acceptance from his father and realising that he actually wanted him dead. Moretti really could have saved Reese and Finch some trouble had his henchmen done their job right in the first place.
It was Elias who ultimately had the last laugh in "Flesh and Blood" when he made that phone call to his father who was sitting with his half brother in their big posh BMW 7 series, of course, it's not so big and posh now as Elias' right hand man Scarface (David Valcin) blew it up killing them both, that only leaves two bosses for him to get rid of, I'm sure he won't find that to hard going. There are only three episodes left of Person of Interest's debut season and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the wrap it up.
It's not the best week ever for cinema releases but I think there are a couple of new thrillers in this weeks mix which haven't been that heavily promoted, meaning they probably shouldn't go un-missed. As always I'm here to give you the run down of what may be worth your time at the cinema this week.
My top pick has to go to The Cold Light Of Day, the movie comes with a pretty decent cast including Henry Cavill, Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver, it seems like a decent action thriller.
Cavill plays Will Shaw, a Wall Street trader who has flown to Spain for a sailing holiday with his parents Martin (Willis) and Laurie (Caroline Goodall). Will goes for a quick dip and returns to the boat to find his parents have been kidnapped, quickly Will is confronted by the people responsible and learns more than he knows about his father and what his parents captors are after.
This is the kind of movie I like best so I am probably being a little in favour, but it does look like a pretty good popcorn flick.
Next up this week is Headhunters which stars Aksel Hennie, Synnove Macody Lund and Nikolaj Coster-Waldu, don't worry I haven't heard of any of those people either.
Headhunters is a Norweigan movie about a high powered executive head hunter who has a bit of a dark side, kind of like Dexter this guy moonlights from his day job and by night becomes an accomplished multi million pound art thief.
The trailer looks decent enough, lots of action, but I'm put off with all the subtitles. I say this looks good but I'll probably never get round to watching it. It does seem like a pretty good crime thriller.
Last of the new releases is Mirror Mirror: The Untold Adventures of Snow White starring Julia Roberts, Lilly Collins, Armie Hammer and Sean Bean.
It's a story of Princess' and Prince' and I really have no interest at all, it's for kids of course and it supposedly a magical fairy-tale. Basically Snow White is banished from her Kingdom when an evil Queen takes over, she enlists the help of 7 Prince' to help her win back her birthright.
Last but not least is the re-release of James Cameron's epic Titanic, the movie was released in UK cinemas January 1998, now it's back and pimped out in 3D for our viewing pleasure. Personally I saw it back then and have seen it many times since, as good as it is I won't be spending £12 - £15 on a cinema ticket to watch it in 3D.
If you caught my post yesterday, telling you I’d be back today then you’ll know that I took in the season 2 premiere of Game of Thrones the other night. I didn’t watch the first season of the show but have heard some pretty impressive things regarding it, firstly I could see straight away that those things I heard were very correct, this does seem to be a very good show. I suppose I gave Game of Thrones a miss as I’m not normally into medieval fantasy type things, but this definitely got my interest enough to start watching weekly. Please feel free to fill me in on the gaps, as I said I didn’t see the first one so I may have picked some stuff up wrong.
I’ll start with this boy-King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), a young man who’s face I’m sure I wouldn’t tire of punching, the phrase arrogant little "bastard" comes to mind. I suppose they done a great job in casting, as he isn’t supposed to be a likable character, you could say he pulls that off rather well. I take it from the roundup of the first season that I watched Sean Bean’s character Eddard Stark was the actual King of the Throne until they chopped off his head, his family have been overthrown by this boy-King and now Eddard Stark's son Robb (Richard Madden), the King of the North is going to fight in order to retain his rightful Throne.
I’m still figuring out who this girl Daenery (Emilia Clarke) is wandering across the red wasteland with the dragon on her shoulder, has she been banished there for some reason or another?
As with everyone else I way mightily impressed with the performance of Peter Dinklage as Tyroin Lannister, before this I didn’t really know to much about him but from the moment he appeared on screen it was obvious that he owned it. Could someone explain to me who he is and how he gets away with speaking to King Joffrey like he does? After all the little prick almost ordered someone to their death for showing up to a fight drunk. Is he like the Spartacus of Medieval times, and no one would dare question his judgement? Not only does Dinklage put in a powerful performance, he is also very funny, the scene with his sister Cersei Lannister (Oh, I just watched the episode again and figured that Tyroin is actually the Kings uncle, well sort of.) in particular got my attention and although I wasn’t up with everything they were talking about I still found myself raising a smile.
Also starring in the hit HBO drama is Richard Madden who I knew I recognised, but it took me a little time to figure it out, probably due to the fact that his role is so different here than it was when I reviewed British cult hit comedy Sirens last year, this guy really can hold his own on the screen and his variation in roles shows that. I was also impressed by the fact that the HBO show has and almost entirely British, Irish and Scottish cast, normally with American shows they go for their own stars, which really does say a lot for British acting considering that Game of Thrones has been such a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
I was really impressed with this season 2 premiere and I can’t wait to see some more, things which right now don’t make that much sense will pan out I’m sure and I’ll get to grips with things pretty quick. I’ll add the show to the weekly previews and I can’t wait for the next episode.
I was going to review this show from the beginning, but since the "Pilot" I'm yet to find something of length that I wanted to say, I do enjoy Awake and I am interested to see where they go with things, I know we are only five episodes in but I thought that maybe we would have a little more of the Sci-Fi element going on, rather than the procedural crime drama that we've seen so far. The reality's or dreams always cross over in some way or another but I'm yet to see anything more than a clue helping solve a crime in the red or blue world.
Right from the off in "Oregon" the dreams or reality's are crossing over, I have to say the red reality with his wife looks a lot nicer especially when watching in HD, you really notice how pretty his wife (Laura Allen, quite amusing on her IMDB page she was actually born in Portland, Oregon) is. I liked the great way they used a dog in the reality's almost to warm him, kind of like a constant seeing a dog attack him and then one lead him to a body in the woods, that was pretty clever but still not explaining what is really going on. Michael spent the beginning of the episode looking for Lassie, was he hoping for a statement? The dog had of course found the body first and we were to learn later that it had chewed up and swallowed some vital evidence in the case of The Gemini Killer.
The Gemini Killer for me is probably the first character I can see on a returning basis, he set Michael up for his first murder and thanks to the dog eating the evidence, the FBI believed that Michael was in fact guilty as they had killed the man they believed to be The Gemini Killer years before. Wouldn't that be a good name for a serial killer in Dexter? Once I heard the name come up I kind of thought that maybe Dexter might moonlight onto the set of Awake and hand out a little vigilante justice.
Another example of the realities crossing over was of course the title of this episode "Oregon", Hannah has been redecorating in the red world hoping that would help them get over Rex, now she wants to move to Portland, Oregon and unbeknown to Michael she had already set up costs for moving their furniture with a company named Montana Moving and Storage, on it's own a little boring but back in the blue world Michael was chasing up a lead on The Gemini Killer which led him to an empty building, luckily for him that empty building happened to be across the road from the now empty Montana Moving and Storage building, leading Michael to his first confrontation with The Gemini Killer. When Michael saw the Montana moving and storage co, it was another great moment of the reality's crossing over, in the two reality's the name meant two different things, in the blue one he just ripped off the metal sheeting door, wouldn't you need a warrant for that? I know in England you would.
The ending was brilliant with the Gemini killer getting away, not only that but his conversation with Michael would suggest that he knows more about him, like the situation he finds himself in with the red and blue world's, The Gemini Killer hinted towards the fact that things maybe similar for him. Normally cases are solved on a weekly basis but maybe we are going to get something like Person of Interest where one or maybe two bad guys keep recurring. The Gemini Killer didn't half make the blue reality seem like the real one, and it was that reality or dream which this episode and the ones before it focused on more. There really is no telling or guessing in this show which I love, and I've mentioned before that the weekly procedural drama is probably up there with most shows, but Awake goes one step further adding the Sci-Fi element and I'm really intrigued to see how it turns out.
This is going to be a very short irrelevant post really but I feel that I owe an explanation as to why there is no "proper" post here today, or yesterday. I have been pretty busy the last couple of days which hasn't enabled me the time to research episodes like I normally would. What I can say is that come tomorrow normal service should be resumed with a couple of reviews for you.
Tomorrow there will be AWAKE'S fifth episode "Oregon", a post which I intented to finish this morning but just didn't get time to do before work, and to do it there is not an option. Later on in the day I have a review of GAME OF THRONES second season premiere, I didn't watch the first season for some reason but I was really impressed with the premiere of the second season and decided that I should start reviewing it. So that's Thursday. On Friday I will have all the latest movie releases as always and then Saturday will be, or should be PERSON OF INTEREST. I will also be trying to fit in a season review of SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE for you somewhere down the line.
I don't know if you remember last year, I reviewed THE KILLING. The second season premiered in the US on Sunday night, I have it to watch and may review it, it really just depends on how board I get with it as the show is pretty intense.
You may have noticed that there is not much going on in the way of music around here lately, reason for that is nobody ever comments on music posts and I think I should concentrate on things which get eyeballs to them, TV shows for example. So, don't be expecting to much in the way of music, unless someone comments here saying they want one of the features brought back.
So, that's just a quick update with where I'm at, I'm a pretty busy guy you know so please don't be disheartened by the fact there has been nothing of significance the last couple of days. Well, I'll catch you tomorrow with the two reviews I have promised above
Ok, so from the top I can't believe I'm about to post a movie trailer about a teddy bear that can talk to it's 35 year old owner, even more so when that 35 year old owner is Mark Wahlberg. I take that guy pretty seriously as an actor, more kick ass than method admittedly but this is a whole other direction from the hard as nails Marky Mark. I caught the trailer thanks to Slashfilm and the reason I'm posting it here is due to the fact I laughed so hard, I know it's childish and in all seriousness the movie probably won't be all that good but, honestly, you have to check out this red band trailer for Ted.
I think you pretty much get the gist of what the movie is about from that right? If not, then it stars Mark Wahlberg as John, a guy who made a wish when he was a kid that his teddy bear would come to life. John gets his wish and ends up with an extremely offensive and foul mouthed bear in the shape of Seth Mcfarlane. Normally, that wouldn't cause to many problems but when your trying to bed Lori (Mila Kunis) then you have to man up a bit, never mind all the fun, swearing and drugs your doing with your teddy bear.
Ted is a Seth Mcfarlane movie as you can probably guess from the trailer, Seth is the man responsible for bringing us Family Guy, a show which personally I hate. Honestly I really don't find it funny at all, I imagine I would probably take this movie the same but that teddy throwing out some moves on the shopping till and then posing for photo's with the ladies tickled me enough to do this.
Ok, so I've had this review of Due Date sitting waiting half finished for weeks now, reason? Well, it really wasn't all that good. In fact I would go as far as to say that it's pretty rubbish and I don't recommend it at all, the worst rental movie I have seen so far, bare in mind I haven't been renting that long.
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx and Juliette Lewis
The Plot
It's pretty straight forward really Downey Jr plays Peter Highman, a high strung businessman who needs to get home to LA in time for the birth of his first child, all is going well until he bumps into aspiring actor and Two and a Half Men fanatic Ethan Trembley (Galfianakis). The pair get into an argument on the plane before being thrown off and having bans placed on them. Stuck with no way home Peter is forced to hitch a ride with the extremely strange Ethan.
The Verdict
I have to say I was really disappointed with Due Date, the film on a whole failed on every level for me and quite honestly I was board and only watched it to the conclusion in order to type out what will be a very short review with some Blu-ray extras. Considering the two lead characters who were involved I really was expecting more, I had thoughts of The Hangover and other movies of that calibre what I got was something which really just seemed rather pointless.
It’s a road movie as you’ve probably gathered and with no real story other than Downey Jr needing to get home Due Date is left to rely on dialogue between the actors, that would probably have been fine with Doweny Jr however he is let down majorly by Galifianakis which is a shame because I do like the guy he is very funny. Unfortunately the funny does not quite roll in Due Date and he just comes across as pretty stupid and unbelievable.
Sound and Colour - As always with Blu-ray these are both brilliant, being a road movie they run past plenty of nice locations so the picture quality is there to be seen.
Itsrainingtwoandahalfmen.com
That's: It's Raining Two and a Half Men.com, yes the website does actually exist because I know those of you who haven't seen this movie already will be thinking about Googling it, that's what I did. The site is fictional of course, as it's set up by Zach Galafinakis' character Ethan Trembley in the movie because he is a huge fan of Two and a Half Men. The site used to feature a head shot of Ethan Trembley, now it just diverts you to the Warner Brothers sales page offering you the chance to buy the Due Date DVD or Blu-ray, personally I wouldn't bother with either.
Blu-ray Special Features
The Complete Two and a Half Men Scene Featuring Ethan Trembley - This was actually funnier than the movie, maybe they should have just done a feature length episode of Two and a Half Men starring Zach Galfianakis and Robert Downey Jr.
Deleted Scenes - Yeah, well the scenes are deleted for a reason. That's all I have to say.
Gag Reel - Very funny, similar to that of The Hangover, they should probably have left some of these in, the movie would have been a lot funnier.
Due Date: Too Many Questions - Another look at the scene where Ethan has just offered Peter a lift and he is trying to get to know him better by asking "too many questions", it wasn't funny first time round nor was it funny on the extra scene although they did throw in some extra questions (I think).
Due Date: Action Mash-Up - A quick flick of all the movies action scenes, it lasts seconds and hardly seems worth the effort. This seems to be a feature on Todd Philips movies as he included a Action Mash-Up on The Hangover.
All the previews and trailers for your favourite US TV shows right here as always on Movies Music & Television.
I can't even begin to tell you just how much I'm going to miss Spartacus following the season finale. Good job I have the Blood and Sand box set to get through. The show has been relentless all along and the finale is going to be one immense battle between Spartacus and his freed slaves against Glaber and his legion of Roman soldiers. Thanks to Wikipedia and various other references we know that Spartacus wins the battle meaning their will be another season and we will probably see Glaber killed off.
I actually put the wrong name out for Touch in last weeks previews, I believe it should have read "1 + 1 = 3", or something like that. Never mind, you may recall I reviewed the "Pilot" episode of Touch and I do think it's a good show I just don't think it will hold my interest, if all we are going to see every week is Keifer Sutherland connecting peoples lives then I think I will get bored quick. I haven't reviewed the second episode and don't imagine that I will be reviewing this one either. The preview does look pretty good, but remember it's only 30 seconds long.
You know I love Person of Interest and as always it looks like the show will deliver big time as usual. "Identity Crisis" was pretty kick ass and "Flesh and Blood" looks better again, last time round Carter was not speaking with Reese and seemed to be considering the option of helping out the FBI however, in the latest episode her son who we haven't seen much of is kidnapped and their is only one man who has the skills to get him back. I really think we might get to learn quite a lot during this episode and who knows Finch may even do some "X" again.
Awake is a show where the sun is usually shining, I don't think there will be any penguins involved. I have to be honest I really do like this show but I haven't got round to watching "Oregon" just yet. Am I going to review it? Well maybe I should, I'm not going to go right back to that second episode but maybe I'll start with Oregon and see how we go from their, I will have that for you tomorrow. This preview looks pretty impressive I must say and the dreams seem to be getting more and more realistic.
I posted the trailer for Magic City the other week so, for that reason I'm not going to put it here again. The show looks pretty impressive and to be granted a second season before your first episode has even aired is quite an achievement these days. If you want to check out the trailer and synopsis for Magic City then click HERE to check them out.
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