The occasion was the celebration of the 90th Anniversary of Bomber Command. Something I couldn’t miss. Anything aeronautic and propeller driven brings out the true Geek in me. My flat is practically a museum in itself. Even the bedroom walls drip with pictures of Lancasters and Spitfires. I was promised a surfeit of pilots and memorabilia plus a fly-past by the RAF Commemorative Flight. Who could ask for more? Even the weather seemed to agree....
Out of a job and with no real prospects, Billy spends his night stumbling along Google via two-fingered typing only to discover a great opportunity to leave behind the world of sales and reach into the future. The future, of course, is Google. Specifically, an internship competition that leads to a guaranteed job with the world’s largest search engine etc. company. All the two have to do is overcome the fact that they’re both in their 40s and are stuck with a team of misfits like themselves as teammates....
Sometimes in life you find yourself in sticky situations. I’m not talking about getting treacle in your eye or ending up glued to the toilet seat. I mean dilemma scenarios where tough choices have to be made and where none of the options seem easy or appealing. Movies are made out of these traumatic moments and I suppose the way you act when the sticky situations come might ultimately boil down to your filmic preferences....
Apart from providing subject matter for several classic movies, I’m inclined to agree with the Edwin Starr song and say: “absolutely nothing”. Admittedly, I haven’t fought in battle or lived in a conflict zone, but the impression I’ve got from the news and numerous films is that war is hell. Movies like Paths Of Glory make this point quite clearly: war begets pain, suffering, injustice and death. The powerful poster image for Platoon with Willem Dafoe down on his knees, howling out helplessly to the sky above sums it all up for me....
Kids! Get back to the shore! It’s a terrifying, bloodthirsty shark attack, and it’s coming to get you in Digital 3D and Real D 3D! (I think the ‘D’ in ‘Real D 3D’ stands for Dangerous, which means pregnant women and those who suffer heart conditions or acute nervous disorders should avoid the cinema and go to the aquarium for their weekend treat instead.) As suggested by the title, it’s a film tailored for three-dimensional exhibition, and it’s directed by the man who made the modern B-movie masterpiece Snakes On A Plane....
4.1 Return To Royston Vasey What a way to begin the much-anticipated reunion of writers Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. Just as he did 18 years previously, Benjamin sits on the train and reads a message from his off-the-wall Auntie Val. This time, he’s not holding a letter but a smart phone and, with the camera slowly panning left, we get two gags in one. Much like that first fateful trip to Royston Vasey, the voiceover we hear of the letter being read out is actually an old lady reading over his shoulder....
In truth, it took a bit of digging just to be able to get to review the film, let alone find it on a cinema screen around the country. But this is the kind of production that needs film lovers to get out and push, and do their bit. I’d argue It’s the film many of us hope to see on a blind night out at the cinema: a feature that sinks its hooks into you, doesn’t let go, and takes you utterly by surprise, knowing barely anything about it going in....
2.4 Unintended Consequences Marcia Gay Harden returns as ACN lawyer Rebecca Halliday in this fourth episode of The Newsroom‘s second season, as we go back to the deposition room flash-forward seen in the season premiere. It’s Maggie’s turn to testify, and with her newly cropped hair, we’re about to find out what happened to her in Africa. Flashing back to the newsroom, as well as Maggie’s ordeal of the previous year, Neal’s Occupy Wall Street comes to a head, when the promised coverage of the movement turns into our lead anchor and all-around good egg Will McAvoy verbally demolishing Neal’s mate Shelly, to her face, live on television....
2.7 Red Team III “I thought about having you killed. Then I thought, what does Charlie Skinner fear more than death?” Over the last few weeks, I’ve questioned Aaron Sorkin’s wisdom in revealing right at the top of The Newsroom‘s second season that its main characters were headed for disaster. There’s been six episodes’ worth of investigation of Operation Genoa, and evidence to suggest that the story could be true, and the US military might really have committed war crimes during an extraction....
The Night Of’s “Subtle Beast” episode is a further descent into the dark recesses of pre-justice. The night shift can’t get off work. The day shift isn’t much fresher and the witnesses and families are treated just as shabbily as the suspects. The episode moves from the callous confines of the MCC to the bus to Riker’s Island and everyone from the prisoners to the driver is jaded. He is serious about this too....
After last week’s classic heroic tale of Basilone, we have the reverse here, the descent into hell by Eugene Sledge, both physically and psychologically. Sledge is now a veteran of the campaign, and well established friends with Snafu. However, just as Snafu has lost his veneer of nonchalant roguishness, and succumbed more to the crazed aspect of his persona, so Sledge has seemingly burnt out the remnants of his humanity....
The only problem with this whole line of work is that Michael doesn’t exactly believe in God or want to be a Catholic priest. His initial plan, to attend four years of college on Rome’s dime, doesn’t work out so well when he is told by his advisor that he either finishes school and takes up the vow of priesthood, or his scholarships become student loans and he’s saddled with $100,000 worth of college bills....
For all he’s accomplished, there’s one thing Mark has never done: had sex. He has all the emotions, feelings, and sensations of the able-bodied, but he simply cannot control his muscles in any voluntary sense. He reveals his problem to his priest, Father Brendan (William H Macy), and eventually, Mark talks to some folks and discovers a solution to his problem. He’s going to hire a sex surrogate. It’s not like a prostitute, in the sense that you can’t be a repeat customer, and their mission is one as educational as it is fornicational....
The Shannara Chronicles Season 2 Episode 2 Okay, seriously: what the **** is up with this show? Why?! If you told me at the end of last week’s premiere that the next episode would primarily focus on relationship drama, I would have – well, I wouldn’t have cared too much, but I would have been surprised at the very least. As a matter of fact, I distinctly remember commenting on the fact that those elements had been sidelined during Shannara‘s retooling....
This The Simpsons review contains spoilers. Pot pies know who they’re for, but baseball caps have to fit more than a bald man’s dome. The episode begins with a diatribe on the cheatingest gamesters of New England. From the magnetized coin-tosses through the fattening of cheerleaders to the browning of their volleyballs, their trophies are less for winning than traversing loss. Sure, they pulled off a prank so great, the Boston Tea Party, that a whole nation was formed....
Thirty-five years old today, variants of Breakout, augmented though they often are with post-Arkanoid power-ups and colourful graphics, can still be found as Flash games and downloaded as mobile phone applications. Breakout may lack the instantly recognisable sprite design of Space Invaders (when was the last time you saw a Breakout T-shirt?), but its gameplay has nevertheless endured over the decades, and its influence on games in general shoudn’t be underestimated....
3.6 The Battle For Central Park In my opinion, last season’s best episode of The Strain was The Battle For Red Hook. The epic human vs. Strigoi confrontation had more violence, NY pride, and chaos than a four game Yankees vs. Red Sox series. It was a stirring battle between muncher and New Yorker, and was one of the greatest victories our human protagonists had celebrated since the Master arrived at JFK....
7.1 Day One Of Twenty-Two Thousand, Give Or Take Well, one thing Day One Of Twenty-Two Thousand, Give Or Take did well was showcase how many characters we still have to follow and care about. It’s an ensemble, with people you love and people you hate, and really the constant reminders of Elena’s absence (with actual diaries!) serve just to remind us of how small of an impact her departure has had on the general feel of the series....
Oh thank you Zombie Jesus! Tonight was another beautifully written episode with loads of zombies, violence, and character growth. I am a happy fan. Last week focused on Andrea so it was only fitting that this week was spent in the company of Merle. Both are having trouble fitting in and getting along with the local management. What do we know about Merle? The series has established an excellent, layered background for this character....
2.9 Triggerfinger Unknown assailants are outside, while our gang of friendly folks are inside, with a pair of human corpses with unzombielike bullet wounds to the face and general torso. Meanwhile, on the road to town, Lori wakes up to find herself in the wreckage of a car after having a run-in with a walker while trying to read a map and drive at the same time; that’s the zombie outbreak version of driving while texting, I guess....
