Mostly, it’s Negan. Apparently viewing figures for AMC’s The Walking Dead have dropped off a cliff since the season 7 premiere- 17 million down to 11 million or so. Some attribute that to more people binge-watching on Netflix or Amazon, others say it’s down to the incredible violence of the premiere episode, while I say it’s because of Negan. And that opens a whole bucket of worms. 7 worms, in fact. 1. The zombies are not the threat any more. Wholly, squarely- the fault rests on Negan’s shoulders, and the reason for that is because, after Rick cleared Alexandria of …
Unimpressed by the muddle of Game of Thrones Season 6, Episode 1: The Red Lady – Review
The opening shot of the Game of Thrones season 6 premiere was excellent. It showed the Wall and Castle Black from a perspective we’ve never seen before- looking back to the sun setting over a southern tree-lined horizon, to the exact promised land the ice zombies and White Walkers are so into. And Jon Snow! He was there too, like another piece of the tatty furniture, lying pitifully, palely, lank as melted then refrozen butter, in a puddley goop of blood (and guts?). Defiantly dead. This is good, I thought- this is what I want. Is he coming back to …
7 reasons why The Walking Dead Season 6 finale was a disappointment – review
I hate to be disappointed by The Walking Dead, especially with a finale, especially with the finale to such a generally awesome season as season 6. I hate to think it failed, it sucked, it just didn’t follow through on the promise of its dramatic situation, but with this finale, that’s a large part of what I’m thinking. There’s 7 reasons for this failure/disappointment, but they all really boil down to one, which I can express in one word: Negan. Negan, boss of the Saviors and dark shadow hanging over Rick’s neck, has been hinted at since the end of …
The Thieves stole my heart – Korean movie review
We’re on the last train heading home after a screening in the London Korean Film Festival, after a pell mell dash across central London to make it in time. 5 minutes to spare. The film was The Thieves, a kind of Korean Ocean’s 11, shown at the Leicester Square Odeon, and it was excellent. SY suggested we go see a K movie, and let me pick which one. I didn’t have very high expectations, but The Thieves totally smashed it. It’s a long movie (135 minutes) set around a diamond heist from a notorious gangster in a major casino in …
Why ‘Insurgent’ is, unsurprisingly, utter crap – movie review
I should not have watched Insurgent, movie two in the Divergent series. I knew it, I know it, but still I watched it. Blame the fact that movie 1, Divergent, while quite ridiculous , drawn-out and annoying for so many reasons, actually has a romance inside it that really appealed to my wife. ‘Maybe it’s not so bad?’ I wondered. It’s true that the lead character, Tris, is way better than Bella in Twilight, while also being more proactive than Katniss in Hunger Games. Those are good things. That it ripped off Harry Potter’s sorting hat and houses for its …
The Walking Dead S6 E01 ‘First Time Again’ Strategy Fail
Count the number of tiny bandages on Rick’s face. Go on count them. 5? 4? 3? When it gets down to 1 he’s basically recharged and it’s clobbering time, like an Energizer bunny. Ah I love the Walking Dead. Zombies, Rick Grimes, murderin’, gore, zombie conga, it just gets no better. I love the episodes that open with a time jump and I’m left wondering- wait, is this episode one? I love use of black and white. I love zombie cattle drives, and uncomfortable looks between Rick and the woman whose husband he executed, and diggin’ graves, and brain stabbing, …
How ‘The Name of the Wind’ blows Robert Jordan away – book review
Take the story structure and wizarding world of Harry Potter, add the main character and creative problem-solving skills from Ender’s Game, then stir liberally with a generous helping of ‘epic’ from The Wheel of Time, and you’ll come up with Patrick Rothfuss’ 2007 debut fantasy novel ‘The Name of the Wind’. It tells the story of Kvothe, ‘the most interesting man in the world’ as I saw him described in an amazon review, telling the story of his life in a pub. Yes, really- the whole story is backstory. It’s a guy in a pub telling a story. For that …
Why Downton Abbey has lost its charm – TV review
For 5 years I have loved Downton Abbey- getting excited weeks before it came on, getting all tremulous when the gorgeous and haunting theme music came on, reading up about it and being on tenterhooks to find out what was going to happen next. But now that feeling seems to be gone, and I’m sad, puzzled, and wanting to know why. Yesterday I turned on the TV and saw on the Guide Downton Abbey? What? I thought it had to be a repeat. No, it was episode 4. EPISODE 4?! How did I miss that it was on? Even in …
Why ‘The Martian’ is not so out of this world – movie review
Have you any idea how many vacuum-packed turds it would take to turn desiccated Martian dust into thriving, bacteria-rich, potato-nurturing soil? How about hydrazine, if you knew what that was, could you turn it into water without burning your face off? Ridley’s Scott’s latest movie The Martian, based on the bestselling book by one-book author Andy Weir, will point you in the right direction: Turds- A lot Not burn off face- Wear a space helmet These are some of the most gripping scenes in the book, a runaway bestseller that started out as posts on Andy Weir’s blog in 2011, …
Why Tom Hardy’s Legend is basically a true story.
Numerous critics have been slating Tom Hardy’s movie ‘Legend’, about the notorious gangsters Ron and Reggie Kray, on the grounds that it misrepresents history, glamorizes and Americanizes violence and the gangster life, and generally does a poor job of showing the REAL Krays and the REAL social cost of their bloody trail of terror splattered from London’s East End to Soho. But they’re wrong to attack it for that, and I’ll tell you why. ‘Legend’ is a taut action gangster story, full of threat, charm, massive amounts of cocksure grinning, and of course sudden, bloody violence. Yeah, that’s what we …