Just watched episode 3 of season 3 of True Blood and I'm disappointed once again. This show was fresh and thrilling, albeit disturbing, when it first came out, but it seems to be relying far too heavily on the disturbing side lately. I'm not sure if they've lost some writers or just run out of good ideas, but it really seems to be flailing.
The 2nd season marked the start of this decline. I liked the storyline with Jason going off to join the religious cult but the whole maynad thing was just stupid. The relationship between Bill and Sookie just didn't seem to be the same as the first season either. It was nice to see more of Erik, but they completely underutilised Godric and wrote him out of the series far too quickly.
So far in this series they've struggled to establish any firm storylines. They've thrown lots of new characters into the mix, including 2 extra shifters, multiple packs of werewolves, another vampire kingdom with fresh alliances forming and even Nazis (and remember this was all done in the span of 3 episodes!). This overkill reeks of desperation, and their main problem is that they've split up most of the key characters leaving many scenes lacking.
I'll give it another couple of episodes to find its feet, but if it doesn't improve I'm going to have to drop it from my Sky+ planner. There's just too much other good stuff to watch lately!
Friday 4 February 2011
Thursday 3 February 2011
Love Happens
Since it's almost Valentine's Day I thought it was about time I reviewed the movie Love Happens, which I rented about a month ago. I didn't really know much about it when I rented it, I just knew it had Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart in from the billboards, and they seemed like an unlikely combination for a romance movie so I was intrigued.
It is a bit of an odd movie. Aaron Eckhart plays a self help guru called Burke Ryan who holds seminars to help people get over the death of a loved one after his own wife died and he wrote a book to help himself get over it. However, he's ashamed and unhappy because he isn't really over it, and this is only magnified when a TV network wants to sign him up to host a talk show and go national.
Jennifer Aniston's character is an eccentric yet gloomy florist who gets kicks out of vandalising public places with obscure words such as "quidnunc" and "poppysmic". Predictably she helps Burke move on and he makes her happier as they fall in love.
Rating 5 out of 10 - Passed the time nicely but could have done with more humour to lift the mood at times. Not really that memorable or worth watching again either.
It is a bit of an odd movie. Aaron Eckhart plays a self help guru called Burke Ryan who holds seminars to help people get over the death of a loved one after his own wife died and he wrote a book to help himself get over it. However, he's ashamed and unhappy because he isn't really over it, and this is only magnified when a TV network wants to sign him up to host a talk show and go national.
Jennifer Aniston's character is an eccentric yet gloomy florist who gets kicks out of vandalising public places with obscure words such as "quidnunc" and "poppysmic". Predictably she helps Burke move on and he makes her happier as they fall in love.
Rating 5 out of 10 - Passed the time nicely but could have done with more humour to lift the mood at times. Not really that memorable or worth watching again either.
Wednesday 2 February 2011
And here's some I prepared earlier
No time to write a new blog post today, but I'm on a roll so I thought I'd recycle some of the reviews I posted on Flixster a while ago.
Clash of the Titans Rating 2 out of 10 - Bad acting, rubbish dialogue, poor use of 3D, and very cliched. The original was better, all this version improved on was the special effects, but they're half the fun of the original. Also very disappointing performance from Sam Worthington after stealing the show in Terminator Salvation and Avatar.
The Hangover Rating 10 out of 10 - Laughed till it hurt, had to look away at one point so I could breathe! Best comedy I've seen in years and it's still funny the second time!
Daybreakers Rating 7 out of 10 - Solid intelligent plot that was slightly undermined by the gratuitous gore (but hey some people see that as an added bonus). Would have liked more details in the back story about how the disease spread but they're probably saving that for a sequel. Still managed to add some new dimensions to the vampire mythology though.
Monsters Vs Aliens Rating 7 out of 10 - Worth watching for the insectosaurus alone!
2012 Rating 9 out of 10 - Breath taking special effects sequences that make me want to see it on the big screen again, good performances from John Cusack and Woody Harrelson, not a boring moment. A brilliant return to form for the apocalyptic action movie!
Sherlock Holmes Rating 6 out of 10 - Holmes and Watson were great but the bad guy was uninspiring and the scene on Tower Bridge seemed a bit gratuitous too (look Mom I'm in London!). Refreshing to see a period drama that's not some stuffy Dickens or Austen remake though.
Avatar Rating 9 out of 10 - Amazing effects, gripping action scenes and a satisfying yet predictable ending.
Inglourious Basterds Rating 9 out of 10 - Much better than I expected, worth watching for Brad Pitt's accent alone!
Funny People Rating 6 out of 10 - Haven't quite made my mind up about this one yet. It was funny in places but the story was also depressing. It's not as good as you would expect given all the big names in it either.
District 9 Rating 7 out of 10 - Decent storyline but too slow moving, would probably have worked better as a TV series. It just started heating up at the end so I'm hoping there will be a sequel to finish off the story properly. The setting in South Africa and local actors made a refreshing change from the usual Hollywood movies too.
Clash of the Titans Rating 2 out of 10 - Bad acting, rubbish dialogue, poor use of 3D, and very cliched. The original was better, all this version improved on was the special effects, but they're half the fun of the original. Also very disappointing performance from Sam Worthington after stealing the show in Terminator Salvation and Avatar.
The Hangover Rating 10 out of 10 - Laughed till it hurt, had to look away at one point so I could breathe! Best comedy I've seen in years and it's still funny the second time!
Daybreakers Rating 7 out of 10 - Solid intelligent plot that was slightly undermined by the gratuitous gore (but hey some people see that as an added bonus). Would have liked more details in the back story about how the disease spread but they're probably saving that for a sequel. Still managed to add some new dimensions to the vampire mythology though.
Monsters Vs Aliens Rating 7 out of 10 - Worth watching for the insectosaurus alone!
2012 Rating 9 out of 10 - Breath taking special effects sequences that make me want to see it on the big screen again, good performances from John Cusack and Woody Harrelson, not a boring moment. A brilliant return to form for the apocalyptic action movie!
Sherlock Holmes Rating 6 out of 10 - Holmes and Watson were great but the bad guy was uninspiring and the scene on Tower Bridge seemed a bit gratuitous too (look Mom I'm in London!). Refreshing to see a period drama that's not some stuffy Dickens or Austen remake though.
Avatar Rating 9 out of 10 - Amazing effects, gripping action scenes and a satisfying yet predictable ending.
Inglourious Basterds Rating 9 out of 10 - Much better than I expected, worth watching for Brad Pitt's accent alone!
Funny People Rating 6 out of 10 - Haven't quite made my mind up about this one yet. It was funny in places but the story was also depressing. It's not as good as you would expect given all the big names in it either.
District 9 Rating 7 out of 10 - Decent storyline but too slow moving, would probably have worked better as a TV series. It just started heating up at the end so I'm hoping there will be a sequel to finish off the story properly. The setting in South Africa and local actors made a refreshing change from the usual Hollywood movies too.
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Men Who Stare At Goats
I missed Men Who Stare At Goats when it was in the cinema so I was pleased when it turned up on TV recently. Unfortunately it also got sent out to us from our DVD rental list at the exact same time, doh!
It's about an experimental US military unit called the "New Earth Army" that trains recruits to be "Jedi warriors". They aim to develop skills such as invisibility, remote viewing (being able to see any place in the world in their mind), phasing (running through walls), and most importantly to be able to stop a goat's heart by staring at it. But as you might expect there isn't much evidence that anyone in the unit developed a single power, they mainly just grew their hair out and acted like a hippy cult until the unit eventually gets disbanded.
The training program initally got approval because the the Russians heard a rumour the Americans were training an army of psychics, then the Americans heard a rumour that the Russians had started their own psychic army in retaliation, so of course the Americans had to start one too. The movie starts with the disclaimer that "More of this is true than you would believe", but I'm not sure that's true because I could believe 100% of it. Just look at the other crazy stuff the US military got up to during The Cold War, and the similarities between the War On Terror and the book 1984.
Anyway the plot of the movie follows Ewan McGregor who plays a broken hearted reporter who goes off to cover the latest Iraq War to impress his wife who left him for his one-armed editor (there seems to be a lot of amputees in independent films lately!). He meets George Clooney's character, a former member of the unit who's been "reactivated", in Kuwait and they travel to Iraq together to start the mission. However they don't get very far before they crash their car and are held hostage by armed Iraqis.
Rating: 5 out of 10 - No where near as funny as it could have been, especially considering it also had Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges in it, the storyline and characters let the concept down despite George Clooney's best efforts.
It's about an experimental US military unit called the "New Earth Army" that trains recruits to be "Jedi warriors". They aim to develop skills such as invisibility, remote viewing (being able to see any place in the world in their mind), phasing (running through walls), and most importantly to be able to stop a goat's heart by staring at it. But as you might expect there isn't much evidence that anyone in the unit developed a single power, they mainly just grew their hair out and acted like a hippy cult until the unit eventually gets disbanded.
The training program initally got approval because the the Russians heard a rumour the Americans were training an army of psychics, then the Americans heard a rumour that the Russians had started their own psychic army in retaliation, so of course the Americans had to start one too. The movie starts with the disclaimer that "More of this is true than you would believe", but I'm not sure that's true because I could believe 100% of it. Just look at the other crazy stuff the US military got up to during The Cold War, and the similarities between the War On Terror and the book 1984.
Anyway the plot of the movie follows Ewan McGregor who plays a broken hearted reporter who goes off to cover the latest Iraq War to impress his wife who left him for his one-armed editor (there seems to be a lot of amputees in independent films lately!). He meets George Clooney's character, a former member of the unit who's been "reactivated", in Kuwait and they travel to Iraq together to start the mission. However they don't get very far before they crash their car and are held hostage by armed Iraqis.
Rating: 5 out of 10 - No where near as funny as it could have been, especially considering it also had Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges in it, the storyline and characters let the concept down despite George Clooney's best efforts.
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