Turn Season 4 Episode 9 SPOILER ALERT: The Americans, with the help of the French, defeated the British at Yorktown, Virginia. That shouldn’t come as a surprise since Yorktown is one of the half-dozen Revolutionary War milestones most Americans have heard of. Even in the Turn universe, which deviates in significant ways from actual U.S. history, the British aren’t going to win there. On the British side, more is still up in the air as Maj....
A major feature of The Return has been drawn-out scenes of stilted conversations and Part 12 really pushes the viewer’s tolerance on this front. This episode had enough scenes of people awkwardly conversing in rooms to rival Revenge of the Sith! For an episode titled “Let’s Rock,” which not only implies action but is also a huge freaking deal in Twin Peaks lore, this feels like a prank. (I should note that I believe these titles are informal ones selected by the network; as far as I know, all the episodes are officially just called “Part X....
Setting the scene for one of the most audacious events in global history, the opening gambit of Brian Singer’s account of the assassination attempt of Adolf Hitler during World War II is all about Tom Cruise, who has bagged the role of Colonel von Stauffenberg, the man with the plan. In a strange way, Cruise manages to portray the very German von Stauffenberg as the archetypal All-American hero that he has come to represent, in cinematic stakes at least....
Van Helsing Season 2 Episode 5 Anyone who’s been following these reviews of Van Helsing knows that I love this show and its rich, multi-layered text exploring what it means to be human. By its very nature, a series about a vampire apocalypse requires viewers to suspend their disbelief before entering this imaginary world, but “Save Yourself” pushes that suspension and a well earned faith in Vanessa just a tiny bit too far....
4.14 In The Uncertain Hour Before The Morning & 4.15 All His Angels This week and last week, we got to watch the last days of Ragnar Lothbrok. And if he did not die sword in hand, that does not mean that he not go out as a Viking should—especially this Viking. After all, Fimmel’s Ragnar has never lived like other Northmen, so it’s hardly surprising that he didn’t die like them—at least on the surface....
I’m a big proponent of the theory that historical dramas are never as much about the period they’re set in as they are about the one they’re made in. And the stories and systemic scariness of Undergroundare still very much relevant to our countries’ racism, a contemporary reality that of course has its roots in the system of slavery that helped build this country. How our country’s history of slavery still informs our present is something we are, generally, bad at discussing in national discourse....
As they travel the harsh route from New Mexico to Montana, picking up a woman (Rosamund Pike) along the way whose entire family has been murdered, the captain, his men, the woman and the chief’s family must find a way to cooperate and protect themselves against the elements and enemies both Native American and white. A formal Western that is very much about the differences ripping America apart today, Hostiles was one of the very best films of 2017....
First off, Wii Fit, look, I’m sorry. I know last week I said I didn’t need you, that our relationship was becoming stale. But the truth is, I need you. My diet isn’t quite whole without you, and I hope you’ll take me back. No, I promise there’s no one else. Just you and me, Wii Fit. Needless to say, I learned a valuable lesson this week. So, to recap, at the end of last week, with minimal workouts and just strict dieting, I was able to lose 10 pounds....
Player Manager Sensible World Of Soccer An obvious, but entirely correct, inclusion. Forget the recent Xbox Live version, emblazoned with as many advertising hoardings as could be squeezed on a screen, and head to the Amiga original if you want the purest SWOS experience. A deathly addictive title that built on the successes of Kick Off 2 with some style. To many, this is still the best football game ever....
But there were a vast array of terrible dangers out there, so the British government’s Central Office of Information peppered advertisement breaks during children’s programming with oft-repeated short films designed to advise us on how to negotiate the veritable minefield of deadly obstacles. Of course, they didn’t so much advise as traumatise us into behaving with their horrific scenes of misguided unfortunates befalling gruesome fates as a result of their own stupidity....
The film follows a trio of high schools friends, Miller (Miles Teller), Casey (Skylar Astin) and Jeff Chang (Justin Chon) who have grown apart since leaving for college some years previously. Casey is the driven, sensible one destined for the financial world, Miller is the wild card who has, unbeknownst to his friends, dropped out of school altogether, and Jeff Chang is the latest in a long line of doctors – the only trouble is, he’s flunking science and is too scared to tell his overbearing father (Lost’s Francois Chau)....
Enter Jack’s new hot tip for this week, Douglas Knowles (Whom they at least had to courtesy of setting up briefly in a previous episode). If they can get this guy involved then perhaps they can make something of the situation they are currently stuck in. Hehe. Cherry Jones is a fine actress, but she is becoming a President like many we’ve seen before on TV. Someone who leans over a phone and asks pointless questions when being told something they don’t like....
Agents of SHIELD Season 3 Episode 15 You have to give it to the talent behind Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, they somehow changed a whole lot without really changing a darn thing. Since the middle of the first season of Marvel’s inaugural TV series, Grant Ward has been the show’s primary antagonist. Earlier this year, Ward was killed on an alien world by Phil Coulson. The show was out one big bad and he was never really replaced....
7.5 Holes Cult hasn’t been quite as crisp as Murder House was in that regard, but one thing I can’t complain about is the way that Cult brings up, then pays off the idea that Ivy is part of Kai Anderson’s murderous cult. She’s been behaving unsupportively the entire season, but that could have been explained as simply dissatisfaction with married life or just exasperation with dealing with a mentally ill partner....
3.6 The Axeman Cometh In this case, joining the voodoo queen Marie Laveau, the serial killer Delphine LaLaurie, and the fact that Nicolas Cage used to own the bulk of the city’s real-estate, AHS digs into the brief period between World War I and the Roaring Twenties to uncover the legend of New Orleans’ most famous modern serial killer, the Axeman. He roamed the city killing folks with an axe (hence the catchy name), and on March 13, 1919, he wrote a letter to the newspaper detailing his motivation, with this letter being read either via voice-over or via the witches/suffragettes in the 1919 class of Miss Robichaux’s Academy....
As our planet struggles to work out the intentions of 12 gigantic, pebble-shaped craft hovering over its surface, US Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) turns to linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) for help. What do the aliens want? Are they peaceful visitors or invaders? Is it even possible to accurately communicate with a species so different from our own? Other countries are trying to come up with their own answers to those questions, and as tensions across the globe begin to mount, the possibility of a third world war begins to rear its head....
4.19 Canary Cry We start with the first of many flashbacks taking place directly after Tommy’s death in the season one finale, but before Oliver flew to Lian Yu to hide from his feelings. That he didn’t go directly there feels out of character, but then it’s not the only thing about these scenes that’s going to bother me. We’re tricked into thinking it’s Laurel’s funeral we’re watching, but instead Laurel herself stands up to deliver a eulogy in place of Oliver....
Arrow Season 5 Episode 5 Arrow season 5 is only five episodes in and already it has forced itself to juggle an awful lot of moving parts. It was doing a relatively good job of balancing the characters fans love with the newbies they’ll soon cosplay, until “Human Target.” Pacing complaints aside, “Human Target” opened where you wanted it to, with Rene Ramirez (Rick Gonzalez) getting the absolute hell tortured out of him by Tobias Church (Chad L....
1.6 Killer Of Killers Let’s get the major business out of the way first. So Amanda has officially joined up, which on the one hand feels welcome considering her hanging around to swear and be vaguely suspicious was getting pretty tiresome, but on the other hand seemed to happen almost too rapidly, considering how much the show has been leaning into her evangelical belief that Ash is a murderer. She’s seen him in action before, so I don’t quite see why any of what happened this week absolves him of the responsibility Ruby claims is his....
“My name is Alex Drake. And your guess is as good as mine.” The challenge facing Ashes To Ashes this time round is to make good on the mind-binding cliffhanger it left us with at the end of the last series. If you recall. Gene Hunt had accidentally shot Alex Drake, she’d thus awaken from her coma in the present day, but then turned round to see the mush of Philip Glenister on the screens around her....
