Rview: Film News and Reviews!

Bates Motel Epsiode 7 - The Man In Number 9 Review by Calvin...

Sun, 05 May 2013 16:27:37 +0100

Bates Motel Epsiode 7 - The Man In Number 9

Review by Calvin Dyson

Best Bit: Norman talking to himself as Mother while walking away from Bradley’s house. This show is really nailing Norman’s decent into complete madness. Getting these little hints every so often is just perfect.

Worst Bit: Wrapping up everything from the previous six episodes in two minutes with a nice little bow on top… Um, wasn’t the Sherriff friends with Keith Summers? Didn’t he and Shelby get along swell? Why is he so quick to cover everything up for their convenience?! The only saving grace of the scene was Dylan getting jealous that Romero would be the hero of the situation. Also, what exactly happened to the Chinese girl? Norman mentions Shelby shot her in the woods… Is no one going to mourn her? No one going to rush out into the forest to see if she’s okay? How the series has treat that character is pretty deplorable. The writers haven’t even tried to mask the fact that she was just a blatant plot device.

Most Hitchcockian bit: No single moment stood out as particularly Hitchcockian to me… I did think we were going to get a hint of Hitchcockian darkness and Norman was going to kill the feral dog himself but no such luck…

Best Line: ‘Every time I walk out the door it’s gonna be ‘Oh what a beautiful day! Hey that’s where Deputy Shelby bled to death!’’

Biggest surprise: Norma teaming up with Emma to form the ‘We Hate Bradley’ society. It was bad enough Norman has his Mother trying to control his life but it looks like Emma could be learning a few things!

Review: After last weeks action packed episode I was afraid this week would pale in comparison… But on the contrary! The Man in Number 9 is quite possibly my favorite episode of the series so far!

With this episode the series has become what I wanted it to be. A compelling family drama centered on a young man slowly losing his mind set in a motel and creepy house where mysterious visitors appear and stir up trouble. That’s not to say I especially want the show to rely solely on motel guests for plot devices, but it feels more at home than marijuana fields and Chinese prostitutes.

This episode introduced us to the first guest of the Bates Motel, Mr. Abernathy, who couldn’t look, sound or act creepier if he tried. There’s not a great deal of subtlety to this character, but he’s a camp delight to watch and I’m very much looking forward to see how he plays out in future episode. What exactly are him and his salesman friends planning to do in the motel for a week? Will this link back to Deputy Shelby’s sex trade thing?

It was good to see each of the Bates Girl’s getting a fairly equal amount of screen time this episode and it was good to see Emma and Norma have a few scenes together (although with their sleuthing skills, the likes of Cagney and Lacey have nothing to worry about!) There’s a really compelling dynamic there that I’m really looking forward to see develop. Emma has no mother and Norma has no daughter, but more interestingly Emma’s illness means she needs to be looked after constantly. She hinted previously that the reason her mum took off was because it was so hard looking after a kid with CF. Norma would probably love it if Norman had an illness that meant he couldn’t live without her.

Much like how last weeks episode felt like an ‘end of season’ thing to me, The Man in Number 9 felt almost like the start of a new season. A fresh start. I’ll be interested to see if Mr. Abernathy and his little story is wrapped up by the end of this season or if it’ll bleed into season two but, as ever, I’m very intrigued to see where things go next. One things for sure, Norman’s DEFINITELY going to taxidermy that dog! By the way, did anyone else burst into laughter when the dog got run over? It looked so stiff, it was terrible!

TV Review - Bates Motel Episode 6, "Ocean View"

Sat, 04 May 2013 11:26:00 +0100

By Calvin Dyson

Won’t be long before Norman’s putting on Mother’s lipstick…

**Warning! If you’ve not seen the Psycho sequels (2 and 4 in particular) may contain mild spoilers!**

Best Bit: Mother tries to drive away in the car but Norman leaps through the window and the pair drive around in circles fighting for the wheel. The restrained look of amusement of Emma’s face paired with ‘Shit’ was hilarious.

Worst Bit: They threw the belt in the sea… Because that worked SO well the last time they chucked something in there… Have they learned nothing?! Seriously, rip it to shreds, burn it, drive to the next state and bury the remains in the woods somewhere!

Most Hitchcockian bit: The sound of water travelling through the pipes is what tips off Deputy Shelby that someone else is in the motel. It’s the kind of mundane thing Hitchcock would have used as a plot device.

Best Line: “Shelby’s here. He found the girl in the motel room and she ran off into the woods he’s there right now chasing after her. Norman, is what he just said true?”

Biggest surprise: Norman killed his own father! Quite a shake up from our previous Psycho continuity of Mrs Spool… And, um, bee stings… Actually I think Norman killing his father in a blind rage is probably the most sensible way to go.

Review: If I didn’t know any better I’d have thought this was the season finale of Bates Motel. This episode was a real wrap up. We saw conclusions of stories and arcs and even the death of a (relatively) main character!

I’m glad we got to this point sooner rather than later. It’s good to know that the showrunners aren’t going to drag out stories any longer than they need to be. I really thought we weren’t going to see an end to this story until episode ten but after a good few episodes of largely character development it was good to see plot at the forefront. The shoot out in the Bates house was easily the most exciting episode of the series so far!

That’s not to say we didn’t get a lot more character development despite the action. Dylan in particular has emerged as something of a white knight among the Bates clan. It’ll be interesting to see if Norma is okay with him moving out after this event… Norman is certainly no great help in physically threatening matters like this.

Norman is evolving into our classic psycho at a speedy rate too. He’s got the blackouts, imagining Mother is there when she isn’t… Maybe Norma will get bumped off a lot sooner than I thought! It was a big shock to find out Norman had killed his own father and even more shocking to see Mother as a subject of domestic abuse! I wouldn’t have thought she’d stand for that.

As much as I loved this episode (my personal favourite of the series so far in fact) it wasn’t without fault. Much of this I feel comes down the Chinese prostitutes treatment in the script. Surely this character would have lots to reveal and talk about and yet, the story relegates her to unconsciousness for most of the time. Indeed, I think it was maybe too much to expect this character to become anything more than a plot device. Of course we’ll see next episode exactly what the writers plan for her to do now… Surely they can’t just leave her running around in the woods behind the motel for the rest of the season?

Bates Motel Episode 5: Ocean View - Review

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:32:01 +0100

This truly is Bates Motel for the 21^st Century. Norma was smart enough to leave the creepy old house off of the main page…

Best Bit: Norman waiting for his Mother to be released from prison with a bunch of flowers in his hand. It’s obvious that Norman is not used to being in the dog house with Mother. He thought once she was out, that was it, back to regular life but Norma is seeing things a little more realistically. The scene where she threw him out of the car was fantastic too.

Worst Bit: How long did it take Regina to get those damn IR forms for Deputy Shelby? Are they kept on the other side of the State?!

Most Hitchcockian bit: There wasn’t any particular stand out Hitchcockian moment for me this episode but when Norman was buttoning up his shirt to leave Bradley’s house I half expected him to say ‘You never did eat your lunch did you?’ I understand that only die hard Psycho fans will probably get that reference…

Best Line: ‘He make me have-a sex’ followed closely by ‘I KILL YOU!’ I can’t think of a single case in the history of film and television where the phrase ‘I kill you’ has instigated anything but laughter.

Biggest surprise: Norman and Dylan’s bromance has greatly accelerated! First it’s swigging whisky on the porch, then it’s motorbike rides through suburbs… Looks like it’s a house by the beach next!

Review: I need to get this off my chest… I’m really enjoying Bates Motel and it’s currently shaping up to be one of the best first seasons of a television show I’ve ever seen but if there’s one thing that really bugs me it’s the whole organized crime thing… First it’s the weed and the AK47’s and now apparently quaint little White Pine Bay has some kind of thriving sex trade going on. Now, from what we’ve seen so far I find it hard to believe that this town has more than a populous of a couple of thousand. Surely word of a prostitute being held up in the Deputy Sherriff’s basement would travel fast to some out of town relative who would alert the real authorities? FBI or some such? If this were L.A. or New York or some other huge city I’d buy it. It just seems a bit at odds with the aesthetic of the town but then I guess maybe that’s the point?

Sex trafficking aside, episode five has probably been my favorite of the season so far since the pilot. There was plenty of story and character development, a good level of creepy and some good action.

It was Bradley’s turn last week so we’re back with Emma as primary ‘Bates Girl’ this episode. I’m surprised that we’re five episodes in and I can’t recall a single scene where both ‘Bates Girls’ have been present and exchange dialogue. Anyway, Emma finds out about Norman sleeping with Bradley and if that scene didn’t break your heart then you have no goodness in your soul. Olivia Cooke really stands out in this episode. Her performance was perfectly judged in that scene. She’s definitely my ‘Bates Girl’ to root for now! Go Team Emma!

Meanwhile things for Mother were down and up and down again this episode. Hurray for Deputy Abercrombie and Fitch coming to her rescue and getting rid of the carpet fibers but boooo he’s actually into sex trafficking! It’ll be interesting to see how this revelation plays out over the next few episodes. No doubt Norman and Emma will want to do the right thing and call the FBI but Norma has too much riding on staying sweet with the Deputy to do that. Conflicts ahoy!

Dylan also had a week of ups and downs. Hurray he got the money for his dream house by the beach but boooo his pal gets shot. As silly as I think all the high crime in this small town is, Dylan’s pal getting shot was one of the biggest shocks of the season so far. I thought we were going to be lead down the route of Dylan owing money and the friendship turns bad and such but no! I do wonder where this little plot thread is going though. The residents of this town are dropping like flies! Not since Cabot Cove in Murder, She Wrote has a small fishing village seen such crime!

Now, as we’re half way through the first season I’m going to make a few predictions… I think by the end of the season we’ll see the deaths of Deputy Shelby, Norman’s teacher Miss Watson (she’s been fairly inconspicuous so far, but Norman fantasizing about her tied up leads me to believe she’s going to appear more prominent sometime in the future) and Bradley Martin. What do you think? Will that be too much of a bloodbath? Or will more feel the blade of the Bates’ kitchen knife?

Bates Motel Episode 4 - Trust Me - Review

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:28:18 +0100

Sherriff Romero’s Manscara – Coming soon to a boutique near you!

Best Bit: Norman taking a huge swig of whisky. The scene between Norman and Dylan on the porch was lovely… Up until Norman wastes… Um spends a good couple of minutes explaining what happened to Keith Summers, how he feels, where the belt is etc. I thought the recap came at the start of an episode! There has to have been a more neat way for Dylan to be updated on the wacky misadventures of Norman and Mother without having to dedicate a few minutes of screen time to a dry, verbal summary.

Worst Bit: ‘Aw shucks the dump is closed. Looks like we’ll just have to come back tomorr… Mom? Mom get down from there please, climbing the barb wired fence is not going to help.’ Norma leaping onto the fence and moving around like a space invader seemed a bit OTT for me. I get that this is the character realizing her actions will have consequences and that’s why she loses her cool but I felt it was a little over done.

Most Hitchcockian bit: Keith Summer’s hand in the bucket was deliciously macabre.

Best Line: ‘I KILLED THE CRAP OUTTA HIM!’

Biggest surprise: Norman got laid! And it wasn’t with his Mother!

Review: Episode 4 Trust Me is another slow moving character developing episode but the characters here are interesting enough that the 40 minutes fly by.

We get more Brothers Bates growth here and I find myself warming to Dylan a lot more. The purely bad-ass nature of the character is slipping away and we’re seeing a much more rounded person. And he hardly even did anything this episode! Seriously, how long can a person stand to be sitting on a porch drinking and smoking?!

Emma was conspicuously absent from this episode meaning we focused largely on Norman’s relationship with ‘Bates Girl’ number two. Bradley seems to have been spending the past few days moping around town wearing big sunglasses like a pop star with a black eye. The pair bond over similar interests and experiences (ice cream, dead dad etc.) before jumping under the bed sheets for some rumpy pumpy. This is approximately one day after Norman promised Emma’s dad he would be ‘decent’ with her… Lets hope for Norman’s sake he’s not one of those weed growing townsfolk (I should point out I’m still very skeptical about this whole marijuana town thing).

Meanwhile Norma continues her relationship of convenience with Deputy Abercrombie and Fitch who took Norman on the most awkward fishing trip imaginable. Norma and Deputy Shelby’s relationship is growing to be one of the most intriguing aspects of the show. The scene where he turns up to arrest her, and does so in a very professional way, is interesting in that it makes it clear that Shelby is only going to take a stand for Norma in private. He’s not going to challenge the Sherriff’s judgment but he will do a bit of sneaking behind the scenes.

By the way, scene-of-the-week award definitely goes to Norma’s interrogation with the mascara-wearing Sherriff. Vera Farmiga again shows why she’s the perfect actress to play Mother Bates. That scene positively bristled with tension. There was a point I was certain the Sherriff was going to pin Norma to a wall to get a confession out of her.

What else?… Um… Oh yes the girl in the deputy’s basement wasn’t there… Is it all in Norman’s mind? Is Deputy Shelby really sex trafficking Chinese girls? Is White Pine Bay really a large enough town to warrant a sex trade industry? Find out next episode!

Bates Motel Episode 3 - What’s Wrong with Norman Review

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:24:17 +0100

‘Excuse me? I’m Norman Bates I seem to have stumbled onto an entirely different TV show… Could you point me in the right direction?’

Best Bit: Norman referring to the images in the scrapbook as ‘pornographic’ and Emma’s response of “Most text messages are dirtier than this.” Those two lines perfectly convey to the audience that Norman’s mindset is clearly not of this decade.

Worst Bit: Dylan and the townsmen guarding the marijuana fields and hunting the pheasant with AK47’s and shotguns. I’m coming around to the idea of the town having its own justice system and that but seeing characters wander around forests with machine guns just feels like it’s a part of a completely different series.

Most Hitchcockian bit: “I was sexually assaulted and I killed a man. Why would you ever ever in a million years want to keep a memento of that?” I may as well change the name of this category to ‘Most Incesty bit’…

Best Line: “Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Bates”

Biggest surprise: Norman finding the drugged up Chinese prostitute in Deputy Shelby’s basement. Looks like Abercrombie and Fitch model policeman is shaping up to be this series main antagonist!

Review: What’s Wrong with Norman presents a much slower pace than the last two episodes. But that’s fine, it’s breathing space for us to get to better know the relationships between these people and watch them develop.

I very much enjoyed what they did with Dylan in this episode. He’s becoming more likeable and more human. His want of a stable family life and job came across well and generates sympathy as, so long as he’s living with Mother and Norman in this town his existence is going to be anything but stable. Dylan opens the episode with an amusing Taxi Driver-esque scene which was something of a relief. It’s good to see we can generate some humor from this character and not have him constantly shuffling around looking moody.

Meanwhile our two main Bates’s had their own blossoming romances. Mother with Deputy Shelby and Norman with Emma… Or Bradley? Or maybe even Miss Watson (her hand lingered on Norman’s arm for just a little bit too long for my liking!)? In a change from usual high school conventions, Norman has managed to be the only new kid in history to faint in class and NOT become the subject of torment but rather have women throw themselves at him.

It was nice to see a bit more of Bradley this episode. She’s definitely the least developed character of the main cast at the moment and is currently ‘Bates Girl’ number two to Emma’s number one but I’m interested to see where this character goes. At the moment she seems quite bland but I have the utmost faith she’ll be developed into someone equally as interesting as the rest of the cast and not just end up as knife fodder for our two protagonists.

One of the more prominent elements of this episode is Norman’s madness, which has been lightly touched on in the last two episode but becomes significantly more overt here. The scenes of him imagining his teacher/mother tied up with rope and of Mother telling him to retrieve the belt from Deputy Shelby’s house were well handled and very creepy. However, I’m surprised at how clear it was made that Norman was imagining the latter scene. At first it’s unclear if Mother really is there, or if it’s all fantasy but there are a couple of shots of Norman talking to thin air which, kinda give the game away and I’m surprised the writers would do that so soon and not play with the mystery a bit more.

Bates Motel Episode 2 Review - "Nice Town You Picked, Norma…"

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:35:25 +0100

By Calvin Dyson

Best Bit: The dialogue between Emma and Norma is wonderfully written and the punch line of the scene by Dylan is pretty funny too.

Worst Bit: Bradley’s half cremated Dad crashes his car at the beginning of the episode and… Nothing much else really comes of it for Norman and Norma. The whole event seems to be just an excuse to showcase the ‘eye-for-an-eye’ justice system of the town, but our two main characters are barely involved in the matter so it feels quite disjointed. You can’t open an episode with a big, dramatic, shocking event like that and then barely refer to it again.

Most Hitchcockian bit: Norma getting changed in front of Norman.

Best Line: ‘What is your life expectancy, Emma?’

Biggest surprise: The town is… Mental or something?

Review: If a pilot episodes primary objective is to set up characters, themes and the main premise of a show then a second episode is traditionally the one where we are introduced to the wider world of the show and episode two of Bates Motel certainly does that… And I’m not entirely sure if I’m sold on that wider world just yet.

We’re only two episodes in and, who knows, the whole thing may work out beautifully but this whole eye-for-an-eye town mentality is bothersome. What exactly does it have to do with the Mother-Son relationship that’s at the center of this show? The only effect it really has is that the stakes are higher for Norman and Mother to not be found out for murdering Keith because if they are they’ll be hung from some post like Mussolini and then burned to death as opposed to just being thrown in jail.

And what the hell is up with the marijuana fields? It’d be fine if the operation was just being run by some local crime syndicate but… Everyone in the town knows about this? They build their economy on it? Really? This all just seems like it’s part of a different show that got drunk and came stumbling into Bates Motel.

But who knows? These threads could very well end up paying off wonderfully, despite how strange they may seem at the moment, and there’s plenty more good stuff in this episode to keep a fan coming back for more. Once again, the best scenes are those that revolve around Mother and Norman. Put those two characters in a room and have them talk for 45 minutes and the show would still be gripping and tense.

The episode also gave us a proper introduction to Dylan Bates, Norman’s half brother. Max Theriot is a good actor and he’s certainly playing the bad-boy part as well as he can. The little fight between he and Norman was great and I like that we have another character living in that house to shake up the dynamic a little bit.

Bradley and her Edward Cullen wannabe boyfriend were barely glimpsed this episode but that’s okay it was nice to spend time developing relationships between Norman and Emma and Norma and the Abercrombie and Fitch model policeman. I very much liked the taxidermy nod to the Hitchcock film and did anyone else pick up on Mother referring to Norman’s father as Sam? Possible reference to Sam Loomis? Or coincidence?

While not up to the level of excellence as the pilot, episode 2 of Bates Motel gives viewers a lot to chew on and edges further away from the Hitchcock Psycho lore. It’s clear this series is going to do it’s own thing with this demented Mother and son pair and I’m trepidatiously enthusiastic to see what the next episode brings.

Bates Motel - Episode 1 Review

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 17:53:24 +0000

Bates Motel ‘First You Dream, Then You Die’ Review

By Calvin Dyson

Like Mother like son… Wow since when was Mrs Bates so hot?!

Best Bit: Norma and Norman’s dialogue during the boat scene at the end of the episode manages to be simultaneously sweet and sizzlingly sinister. You can tell Mother’s hacked off that Norman is stealing lines from a film to compliment her.

Worst Bit: The first half of the episode, though enjoyable, contains little to none of the Psycho films trademark black comedy.

Most Hitchcockian bit: ‘You just gotta jiggle it.’ Hitchcock would have LOVED the dark humor of that scene.

Best Line: ‘Who is gonna book a room in the rape/murder Motel?!’

Biggest surprise: Norman’s teacher describes his test scores as ‘Excellent’. I don’t know why but I never really imagined Norman Bates as being very intelligent. He always just seemed more… Average to me… But whatever, this is a different Norman Bates after all.

Review: Lets get one thing straight before we start reviewing this prequel series. Bates Motel is no more a prequel to Psycho than Casino Royale is a prequel to Dr No or Batman Begins to Batman. It’s a reboot.

Besides, we already had a true Psycho prequel with Psycho IV: The Beginning. It had Anthony Perkins and everything. And in fact we already had a T.V. spin off called Bates Motel in the 1980’s… But after this first episode of A&E’s Bates Motel I’m anticipating this series to be the best installment of the Psycho franchise since the beloved 1960 Hitchcock film. And that’s coming from someone who loves Psycho II!

One of the more unusual things about this program is that, well, it isn’t ‘The Norman Bates Show’. It’s as much about Mother as it is about Norman. Vera Farmiga receives top billing in the credits and rightfully so. Norman might be the central character of this franchise so far but this episode belongs to Mother as far as I’m concerned. Farmiga is wise in steering away from the typical, dominating matriarch character (Sorry Olivia Hussey) and gives Mother warmth and sympathy as well as hinting at the deranged. The scene in which Norman comes home late from school is perfectly acted by Farmiga. The key at this early stage is not to make Mother a villain and yet she still needs to be shown as an imposing, almost malevolent figure. She’s a protagonist here as much as Norman so the audience needs to like her… Or at least, be willing to watch her exploits and not scream ‘DIE BITCH!’ as burly, small-townsmen attempt to rape her. And I think Farmiga accomplishes this well.

As enthusiastic as I am about Farmiga, sadly the same zeal cannot be applied to Freddie Highmore… Yet.

“A boys best friend is his…” “AWWWW!! Shut up and let me pinch those cheeks!”

“What?! The wide eyed, sickly sweet, abomination of cuteness from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Finding Neverland is playing Norman Bates?!?”

Is how I reacted when I first heard of Highmore’s casting and obviously it’s going to be impossible to top what Anthony Perkins did in his Psycho films but, luckily for Highmore us Psychophiles have already witnessed the bottom of the barrel when it comes to Norman Bates performances thanks to Vince Vaughn so he’s automatically second best. Don’t get me wrong, Highmore does a good job and I’m interested to see how the character evolves over the next nine episodes but if it wasn’t bad enough contending with everyone’s memories of Anthony Perkins he also must do battle with the real star of the show; Vera Farmiga. Of course there’s plenty room to grow and I’m sure Highmore will come into his own. Which is necessary if the series intends to follow the Psycho lore faithfully and he ends up the sole lead. I’m predicting Mother will go the way of her 1960 counterpart by the end of season two… If there is a season two. It’s probably going to take a while to get used to the idea of Norman Bates as a school kid. And owning an iPhone.

Besides our leads who are, rightfully, given the most time and attention we’re introduced to a motley band of supporting characters. Some of whom will no doubt end up in the trunk of a swamp submerged vehicle but all of whom will no doubt provide conflict and drama for our two leads. I’m predicting teen love triangles and angst galore between Norman, the girl with CF, the incredibly forward light-haired girl and her boyfriend. I’m also predicting some rumpy pumpy for Norma with either the Sherrif and/or his Abercrombie and Fitch model deputy. There’s also the teacher character… Don’t know what to expect there… Um… Who else is in this cast again?

*Checks wiki*

“Hi, I get third billing in the opening credits I’m totally the third most important character in the show!… No, I’m not in the pilot…”

Oh of course there’s another Bates! Certainly one of the weaker aspects of this pilot is how quickly and throw away the subject of Norman’s brother is handled. Norman Bates has a brother?! He gets a passing mention in dialogue and calls Mother towards the beginning of the episode asking for money but then that’s kinda it. Of course this is going to lead to conflict and tension and will probably be a major plot line for the series but I’d rather they maybe dropped one or two from the pilot and picked them up properly in the next episode because this pilot is brimming with enough potential story lines already. I do love how they’re picking up on the ‘They moved away the highway’ line from the Hitchcock film and making a whole plot out of it. What exactly is Mother planning to do to prevent them building that thing? And who was that getting injected at the end of the episode? And what happened with Norman’s Dad exactly?

It’s unfortunate that, given the great performances and excellent writing that the direction of this episode is so unimpressive. Last years Hitchcock by Sacha Gervasi suffered from a similar problem. When you’re making something that’s brushing shoulders with memories of, arguably, the greatest director in all of cinema, more attention is going to be paid to the visuals than usual and while Tucker Gates’ direction is competent and very standard of U.S. television, that’s part of the problem. The pilot episode should be setting a visual style for the rest of the series to follow and perhaps anything too radical would have caused worry for the producers and A&E but the recent Channel 4 U.K. drama Utopia has proved that creative, unique and different direction does have a place on television screens.

As far as pilot episodes go, ‘Bates Motel’ is one of the finest I’ve seen. A pilot episode is never going to be the best episode of a series. They are always far too concerned with setting up characters and story and mysteries that they often forget to breath and let the audience enjoy what’s happening on screen. Fortunately, ‘First You Dream, Then You Die’ manages to do both and as far as jumping off points go, I’m sailing through the wind right after this show and can’t wait for next weeks episode. And lets hope for the future of the series that the 3 million+ U.S. viewers feel the same way!

Calvin also has his own film review channel on YouTube. Take a look here: http://www.youtube.com/user/calvindyson

The 85th Academy Awards have just wrapped in Hollywood, and here...

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 04:56:58 +0000

The 85th Academy Awards have just wrapped in Hollywood, and here are the winners for 2013:

Animation – Brave

Cinematography – Claudio Miranda - Life of Pi

Visual Effects - Life of Pi

Costume design - Anna Karenina

Makeup and Hair - Les Miserables

Live Action Short - Curfew

Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz

Animated Short – Paperman

Short Documentary - Inocente

Documentary Feature – Searching For Sugarman

Foreign Language - Amour

Supporting Actress – Anne Hathaway

Sound Mixing - Les Miserables

Sound Editing – tied between Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall

Editing - Argo

Production Design – Lincoln

Governers awards – honorary Oscars go to D.A Pennebaker, George Stevens jr, Hal Needham

Humanitarian Award - Geoffrey Katzenberg

Best Score - Mychael Danna - Life of Pi

Original song – Skyfall - Adele and Paul Epworth

Adapted Screenplay - Argo - Chris Terrio

Original Screenplay - Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained

Director - Ang Lee - Life of Pi

Georffrey katzenberg – humanitarian award

Actress - Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook

Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln

Film - Argo

There you have it, folks! ‘Til next year…

LONDON ANIME CON - AN ANIME & GAMING CONVENTION THIS 9-10 FEBRUARY!

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:22:16 +0000

LONDON ANIME CON - AN ANIME & GAMING CONVENTION THIS 9-10 FEBRUARY!

London Anime Con is an 18+ anime and gaming event on February 9-10 at The Rocket Complex, Holloway Road. Signup for London Anime Con HERE. Pricing is reduced £16 for two days or £9 for Saturday & £7 for Sunday if you register now!

VIDEO GAMING AT LONDON ANIME CON

Brought to you by the likes of Namco-Bandai, Arc-Systems, NeoEmpire and Konami the Sunday of London Anime Con on 10th February shall be a special-gaming themed-day! They will be running an entire days worth of gaming tournaments with big-cash prizes at stake. But that’s not all, for there is also a lot of gaming going on for the Saturday as well! Check out the provisional timetable HERE.

Free to Enter Tournaments: Sonic Racers Transformed (Wii U), Zombie U, Mario Kart Wii/7, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, DDR/Stepmania, Gears of War, Halo Reach, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Smash Bros, Pokemon, Mario Party 9, Let’s Fish!, Metal Gear Rising
Stakes Tournaments (Big Prizes): SSFIV, Blazblue Extend, Marvel v Capcom 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, DDR/Stepmania, Super Smash Bros Brawl/Melee
Casual Play, over 100 Games: Too Many To List from modern to retro. Chillout with your friends!
MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!

EVEN MORE GAMING HIGHLIGHTS…

Live-Music & Chiptunists- The most popular musicians from the Chiptunist scene including electronic-hit TEMPHUiBIS, 2 Hearts 1up AND MORE!
Gamers Day Quiz - How hardcore are you? Sunday afternoon will see the gamers-quiz. Team up with your friends and prove your gaming knowledge to win cash prizes!
Gaming related Cosplay including the Cosplay Masquerade!
A Gaming-themed party bought to you by Gamerdisco, London’s #1 gaming clubnight! As well as some of the best DJs, there will be live-music, dance performances and free glowsticks and lollipops up for grabs!

AND EVEN MORE FOR GAMERS! On BOTH Saturday and Sunday, there shall be -

Video Gaming Chillout – An entire zone where you can drop in, play your favourite games non-competitively and chill out with your friends! Come along, grab a drink and have a good time!
Handheld Gaming - Make sure to bring along your DS or PSP! There will be plenty of wireless gaming taking place, as well as hand-held tournaments planned including Pokemon hosted by Pokemon World!
Retro Zone – A wide variety of consoles from the 8-bit/16-bit era right through to the original SNES, Megadrive, Playstation and N64. Come enjoy your favourite classics! Gaming-Related Traders – The likes of Plug N Play shall be selling the rare and unusual that you would struggle to find on ebay, much less in the shops! Come along and check it out!
Massive DDR Tournament; Stay tuned for a big announcement to come with this one! We’ll also have DDR Casual play as well as Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

Not a Gamer? Fear not, for the Sunday shall STILL have plenty of Anime, Cosplay, Manga, Talks, Workshops, Karaoke, TCGing and J-Culture present! Why not check out all that London Anime Con has to offer on it’s website HERE.

BASIC DETAILS

Opening Times: 11am to Midnight.
Pricing: Reduced price Sunday entry to just £7 if you pre-pay now. On the day entry is £10 for Sunday London Anime Con Website: http://www.londonanimecon.com
View Event Timetable: HERE
Tournament Information: HERE
Link To Pre-Pay: Here
Join the forums: HERE

BAFTA Film Awards 2013 - Nominations Are Announced!

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:49:52 +0000

The nominations for the 2013 British Academy of Film Awards were revealed today, January 9th at BAFTA HQ in London. The awards ceremony, dubbed “Britain’s Oscars” will be aired on the BBC on 10th February 2013 from the Royal Opera House, and hosted by Stephen Fry (who deserves some sort of knighthood by now, surely?!)

The nominees for the EE Rising Star award were recently announced, and notable for being (nearly) an all female line-up. The Rising Star award is the only award voted for by the public. Choose wisely!

EE Rising Star Award
Elizabeth Olsen
Juno Temple
Suraj Sharma
Andrea Riseborough
Alicia Vikander

Here are the nominations in full…

Best Film

Argo
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

Skyfall doesn’t get a look-in here, but makes up for it in the next category. Epic adaptations Les Miserables and Life of Pi are strong contenders but critic friendly films Argo and Lincoln could also fare. Then there’s controversial Zero Dark Thirty which may prove another hit for Kathryn Bigelow…

Outstanding British Film
Anna Karenina
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Seven Psychopaths
Skyfall

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
Bart Layton (director), Dimitri Doganis (producer) - The Imposter
David Morris (director), Jacqui Morris (director/producer) - McCullin
Dexter Fletcher (director/writer), Danny King (writer) - Wild Bill
James Bobin (director) - The Muppets
Tina Gharavi (director/writer) - I Am Nasrine

Film Not in the English Language
Amour
Headhunters
The Hunt
Rust and Bone
Untouchable

Here, Rust and Bone and Amour have proved to be the critics favourites, so we’ll be very surprised if either of these fail to win.

Documentary
The Imposter
Marley
McCullin
Searching for Sugarman
West of Memphis

Animated Film
Brave
Frankenweenie
Paranorman

Director
Michael Haneke - Amour
Ben Affleck - Argo
Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty

Original Screenplay
Amour
Django Unchained
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty

Adapted Screenplay
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Leading Actor

Ben Affleck - Argo
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day Lewis - Lincoln
Hugh Jackman - Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln is surely BAFTA bait but we’re hoping Ben Affleck or Hugh Jackman get some much deserved recognition.

Leading Actress
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren - Hitchcock
Emmanuel Riva - Amour

In 2006/2007 Helen Mirren won the Oscar and the BAFTA for her star turn in The Queen - can her powerhouse performance as Alma Reville in Hitchcock earn her more accolades? We’d like to think so :D

Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Argo
Javier Bardem - Skyfall
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - The Master
Judi Dench - Skyfall
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Misérables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions

Original Music
Dario Marianelli - Anna Karenina
Alexandre Desplat - Argo
Mychael Danna - Life of Pi
John Williams - Lincoln
Thomas Newman - Skyfall

Cinematography
Seamus McGarvey - Anna Karenina
Danny Cohen - Les Misérables
Claudio Miranda - Life of Pi
Janusz Kaminski - Lincoln
Roger Deakins - Skyfal
l

Editing
William Goldenberg - Argo
Fred Raskin - Django Unchained
Tim Squyres - Life of Pi
Stuart Baird - Skyfall
Dylan Tichenor, William Goldenberg - Zero Dark Thirty

Production Design
Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer - Anna Karenina
Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson - Les Misérables
David Gropman, Anna Pinnock - Life of Pi
Rick Carter, Jim Erickson - Lincoln
Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock - Skyfall

Costume Design
Jacqueline Durran - Anna Karenina
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor - Great Expectations
Paco Delgado - Les Misérables
Joanna Johnston - Lincoln
Colleen Atwood - Snow White and the Huntsman

Make Up & Hair
Ivana Primorac - Anna Karenina
Julie Hewett, Martin Samuel, Howard Berger - Hitchcock
Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Findlater - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Lisa Westcott - Les Misérables
Lois Burwell, Kay Georgiou - Lincoln

Sound
Mark Ulano, Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti, Wylie Stateman - Django Unchained
Tony Johnson, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick, Brent Burge, Chris Ward - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Jonathan Allen, Lee Walpole, John Warhurst - Les Misérables
Drew Kunin, Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton, Ron Bartlett, D. M. Hemphill - Life of Pi
Stuart Wilson, Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Per Hallberg, Karen Baker Landers - Skyfall

Special Visual Effects
Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Peter Bebb, Andrew Lockley - The Dark Knight Rises
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer - Life of Pi
Nominees TBC - The Avengers
Richard Stammers, Charley Henley, Trevor Wood, Paul Butterworth - Prometheus

Short Animation
Here to Fall
I’m Fine, Thanks
The Making of Longbird

Short Film
The Curse
Good Night
Swimmer
Tumult
The Voorman Problem

Great advice for 2013!

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:37:27 +0000

Great advice for 2013!

chewiejr: tomorrow we all die Noooooooo! hides

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 20:30:35 +0000

chewiejr:

tomorrow we all die

Noooooooo! *hides*

Mark’s Anime Corner Review: Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? / Kore...

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 21:03:26 +0000

Mark’s Anime Corner

Review: Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? / Kore wa Zombie Desu ka Of The Dead (“Is This A Zombie? Of The Dead”)

I originally intended to review the first season of “Is this a Zombie?” but after having many joys from watching the very short run 1st season I immediately started watching “Is this a zombie of the dead” its 2^nd season and I wholly regret it. I couldn’t believe from the 1^st to the 2^nd I could love and hate a show so fast & passionately.

It embraces all the silly joys of anime clichés as a joke that it is fully aware of and targets its audience through that. However, once into the 2^nd season it forgets all that simple guilty pleasure and becomes a far more serious and is worse off for it, over-playing the stereotype gimmicks of these clichés to the point it becomes unbearable to watch. This leaves you questioning to why you wasted your time in the first place; if you were hoping for something fresh and new, you won’t find much of that here.

I love anime, I may not be a frequent watcher like my friends and I always want to defend the style but even after many years I do find it hard to find a decent one no matter what its genre. At first I was expecting this series to be more like the amusing “High School of the Dead” and with its first season it does excel at the silly anime clichés yet still bringing some form of drama and heart to the franchise.

So let’s start from the beginning. It’s an anime and like all anime’s, they take pride in their long drawn out intro sequence which serves as a compilations of nutshells informing you to what to expect from the show. If you have never seen one before it goes like this. Plenty of characters (mainly females) looking into the far distance being emotionless in a vacant environment badly trying to set the tone of the series that it is in fact a romantic comedy.

The intro is all about the flare of what never really happens but for what you really hope for it to achieve. Most times I wonder why they even animate it, why couldn’t we base the show on the intro alone as it seems far more interesting.

Anyway, besides the false marketing the intro ends with a struggling action sequence with our heroes fighting the main antagonist while a heavy beat catchy Jpop/rock song plays on without a care, reminding you that this show is meant to be cool.

423 words in and I haven’t even mentioned the plot or characters to “Is this a Zombie?”. From its title it does differ from anything you might know or love about zombies, but somehow that is also a good thing. This Anime does a lot of things differently yet anime clichés galore makes it familiar at the same time.

So lets focus on what matters. “Ayumu Aikawa” the lead protagonist is a normal boring high schooler & all natural round perverted good guy (it’s an anime get over it) who doesn’t let himself be surprised by any fantasy that so happens to exist seeing now after his death that he has become a zombie, due to a serial killer in his local area.

From the start of the story he has been dead for one month but has been blissfully resurrected as a Zombie by a young necromancer girl called “Eucliwood Hellscythe” who so happens to now after his death lives with him drinking mainly soup.

She is a young girl wearing armour who can never speak due to her immense magical power that if she did, her voice alone would kill them so to make due to her disability she writes on a notepad to express her thoughts to much added comedic value.

In the mean time, Ayumu still goes to school to continue his last life holding an umbrella against the sun to avoid himself decomposing fooling his classmates & friends of his current issues of being dead (yea becomes that will work).

One night, he patrols his local area in hope to find his killer yet while doing so at the local graveyard he finds a young magical chainsaw wielding garment girl called “Haruna” fighting a monster called a “Megalo”, which are talking annoyed animal spirits that are given no reason to be there other than that they are evil and should die. Yet their existence or back story is easily not the focus of the show and when they are explained it flew over my head that I had to look it up.

During being mixed in the fight the undead Ayumu (but very much still living in any other single way other than sunlight that decomposes him for laughs). Somehow without question absorbs the magical girl Haruna’s power. Her power is controlled by her pink chainsaw and is represented on the user by a very cute girl’s garment.

Now Ayumu has stolen her power and now dresses as a Tranny for whenever he needs to use her power which to me is a bit silly as Ayumu already displays great power now being undead and extremely powerful as a zombie making his muscle strength beyond 100% — I didn’t get it either I just went with it.

Yet this is all good and fun which extends itself with far more silly ideas as this now powerless magical girl has to live with him (of course) & the necromancer. The roster has to be bolstered by Vampire ninja big breasted girl (for the fan service I’m sure) who lives with the rest but has a more hate towards our main pathetic yet appealing lead.

From then on, our now newly over powered cross dressing zombie of goodwill has to fight off these evil demons yet once again (as I mentioned earlier, rarely happens). In the 12 episodes (and one OVA) they focus on more the simpler life of these one dimensional characters living together. There is one humours scene where the three girls play Jenga and take it to a whole new level.

Halfway through the 1^st series we encounter Ayumu’s killer and have a memorable fight where the art & directing finally gets a chance to shortly shine and immediately after that the plot really kicks in – well, not so much of a plot, more of “the bad guy wants to cause trouble” which our heroes try to solve with violence.

Plenty of insults are thrown at our main lead and it is very nice to watch a show that doesn’t care, if you want to swear then great. If you want a tad of tentacle rape on our main lead then that’s fine along with decapitation only if it’s all for cartoony humour and that is what I really liked about this anime, it didn’t hold back in being immature while still holding witty dialogue between the cast members.

The 2^nd half of the 1^st season became far more serious which I was surprised about, especially for it to happen so quickly but now we have equal understanding of each character through the immature humour which now made me already invested in the characters. This is because I liked them even though I still have plenty of lingering questions about the nature of this fantasy universe and how it works. I got hooked when I didn’t expect to be and despite the shift of tone, it still kept the humour.

It may have ended in an anticlimax but it suited the story as the fight scenes never really reached their peak. What I was really excited about was the 2^nd season for it to expand on the universe and humour, I was pumped and ready to laugh with more ways that they would defeat their enemy with more ways than “Noodle Theory” as a weapon (throwing bowls of ramen to kill spirits).

So to my dismay I watched an even shorter season of 10 episodes (not including 2 OVA’s) where the humour become over sexualised and the main lead, Ayumu just simply became the cliché pervert who gets punched in the face every 5 minutes.

I know the first season was much of the same but it was unnecessarily overplayed, especially how the first became more serious and good hearted towards the end. For a show that started out joking about these clichés, it ended up being swallowed by it becoming the very much thing it was taking the mickey out of and using it for distasteful laughs, making it as any bad anime before it.

But it got worse, with the original 3 females against the one male love triangle it suddenly became that every single female character including the minor ones were in love for no reason! With Ayumu, II counted at least ten females falling for him!

What once was a parody ended up becoming everything it hated or joked about. Action wise you can forget about it. The villain was introduced mid season with the characters going for a more of out cry that it’s the end of the world but the villain never seemed to be a threat like the 1^st’s originals and do they ever fight — NO!!!

The 2^nd season to me felt like one of these infamous padding seasons that happen with long running anime’s like “Naruto or Bleach” where they wait for the manga to catch up before truly continuing with the story, with the makers expecting/wanting us to get excited with uncertainty promises.

And sadly I leave with what was a promising anime of joyful over the top silliness made me want to wait another four years for a decent anime of any genre to be really special and rekindle my love for the style which has been very vacant in my soul for too many years to say.

Is this a zombie? 3.5/5

Is this a zombie? Of the dead 1.5/5

New feature: Mark’s Anime Corner! A new series of anime...

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 16:32:30 +0000

New feature: Mark’s Anime Corner! A new series of anime reviews by new writer, Mark.

Tiger & Bunny

Reading the premise to this show had me in highest hopes, a Starsky and Hutch (or the Lethal weapon series) anime where superheroes known as “N.E.X.T” fight for justice and TV ratings on the popular TV show called “Hero TV” where our two leads form a awkward team up to become the next so called “Avengers or Justice league” where their points for the TV show cannot be so easily split to be ranked as the hero of the year where sponsorship to their adventures means everything on how well they perform in a 1970’s setting.

What could go wrong, you say? Quite a bit. Well our two focused superheroes Wild Tiger, an over the top stupid old hero with general superhuman abilities who will risk the damage to buildings to save lives and Barnaby Brooks Jr, a no nonsense far younger with the same power but who is more playing by the books/glamour model. (nicknamed Bunny and the first superhero too has his real identity known by the public) are forced into a partnership when Tiger’s corporate sponsor goes bankrupt and is very quickly bought out by Bunny’s corporation who so happens to own the Hero TV channel.

Together they form the more western cliché of old versus new (Wild Tiger easily looks in his early 30’s than being an old guy), than the going by the book and doing what your heart tells you and of course you would easily imagine they get over their differences through time and very much respect each other.

There is nothing about this 70’s re-imagining setting of New York that doesn’t say, okay these 2 (and only these) guys dress in a somewhat 70’s style and the rest of the characters, city or even technology that suggests that it’s actually the near future.

As both companions wear power armour which really down plays the idea that they both have super human abilities — However these other heroes (some of which are for some reason rendered in CG?) who have other abilities other being MR. STRONG, can fly, make ice or fire.

Each super hero’s general weakness is that they can only perform each power for the length of 5 minutes with the recovery of 1 hour’s time to reactivate if needed.

So going back to the good stuff — Ah yea there isn’t any, even if there are elements of a buddy cop adventure it doesn’t happen till the later half of the 24-odd episodes which is primarily about Bunny trying to figure out who his parent’s murderers are from when he saw their corpses as a young child (his parents were scientists, in case you thought it might be important or cliché).

Naturally Bunny the silent bold dreamy hero leaves as much compassion & personality to care about as a sandwich that I found in my fictitious Sofa crevasse that fell into a portal ending up in one of the circles of hell that go 1 to 7 and infinity.

He’s the plot and you just don’t care even when he goes a tad mental you still don’t care for this baby wipe.

Tiger on the other hand only really brings humour that is so childish – No I can’t even say that, he’s just not funny yet he is the best part of the show which other than that I rather be watching a tom & jerry episode. He’s meant to be the comic relief of the series but ends up being a sad man that cannot connect with his family due to various (this was the good part, believe or not) reasons.

Even with the failure of being a good buddy cop show, it’s the characters we want to invest with and Tiger does the best job. He is morally a good person with a lot of baggage and you do want to root for him, but he’s so stupid that you figured out the plot to this show in the very early episodes you do find it hard to root for him.

Just to quickly mention all the other super heroes which do take a good focus in this story whether its quick character building or personality of their backstories fall flat. Not all manage to do this, but I’d rather they focused on the main leads than these waste of space as they clearly don’t have anything to contribute to the story.

That could easily be a separate rant in it’s self but I shall not go there for now. Our heroes aren’t special, they are a bunch of yes men to this TV show and as you probably guessed this reality TV show is a somewhat focus to the plot and you would be right along involving with Bunny’s revenge.

The 2^nd half did get far better, it wasn’t so much about who is the villain but more, how are these retards going to figure it our for their selves that in a silly way got me engrossed. Through beating the $?!% out of friendship (literally) they figure it all out which lead me to my last problem with the anime.

So you’re taking an unoriginal idea (superheroes/buddy cop/Mecha) you have a villain that will stop at nothing (*Insert villain here that you think will be better suited for this anime*) – So stop me here if you’re not being original —— Oh sorry I’ve been mistaken, you said you’re going to plant a both of explosives on people and if they push the button then the other person dies & you live, how original—

This is where the anime fell apart. Towards the end, even though it gets better I couldn’t help but noticing—I’ve already seen this (for example, in the Dark Knight) great ideas but its been done (I know it can’t always work out) but this anime felt like a copy and paste job. Nothing was original. It would only be acceptable if the characters themselves were entertaining, which they weren’t — SPOILER!!!

God knows how this made a film after the series. I mean, Pokemon was one thing but now it questions all anime to me.

Final thoughts: An unadventurous idea that could had (it generally said it would) explored a superhuman but all we got was a cliché that felt it would be funnier than it was. It’s not all bad. There is stuff to like and only holds some of the more simple anime clichés.

Art & sound aren’t worth a mention.

As a whole it’s barely just passable.

3/5

Sofie Grabol returns to our screens as Detective Inspector Sarah...

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 21:35:04 +0000

Sofie Grabol returns to our screens as Detective Inspector Sarah Lund in The Killing 3, aka Forbrydelsen. The third and final series of the hit Danish drama started last weekend on BBC 4, with two gripping episodes. In this new series, Lund investigates another grisly murder (no surprises there, then) but this time has the murky worlds of politics and business to contend with, not to mention the kidnapping of a young girl.

These two episodes serve as openers to this latest and last series in this hugely successful series and instantly introduce us to a whole host of colourful characters, including some more familiar faces such as DCI Lennart Brix. Lund is joined by a new assistant in the shape of youthful and eager Asbjorn Juncker (“why can’t you just call me Juncker?”), suggesting that Lund is perhaps ready to hang up her jumper at long last. But with her long service award (25 years, really?!) just round the corner, knowing Lund she won’t let a little thing like promotion - or indeed her familial ties - get in the way until this latest mystery of murder and suicide has been solved.

Advert: London Anime Con Returns in 2013!

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 12:36:38 +0000

With voice actors Caitlin Glass, MasakoX and many more already (and to be) announced, London Anime Con is shaping up to be the best ever this February 9-10 2013! Crammed full of anime, gaming and cosplay, it goes on till 1am, offering you not just a full convention, but massive parties later on in the evening too - all included for just £8 per day if you book now at http://www.londonanimecon.com/register.php ! Accommodation nearby is also available!

Caitlin Glass is confirmed as guest of honour and shall be present for signings and talks. She is best known for our role as Winry Rockbell in Fullmetal Alchemist and featuring in over FIFTY other anime and gaming roles such as Hannah Annafellows in Black Butler, Cammy in Street Fighter IV/SFxTekken and many more! Read more about the ever growing guest lineup at http://www.londonanimecon.com/guest.php

Highlights

- Over a DOZEN Video Game Tournaments - Smash, SSIV, Blazblue, Mortal Kombat, Soul Calibur V, Marvel v Capcom, Mario Kart Wii/7, Pokemon, Halo, CoD AND MORE
- Watch Latest Anime & Abridged Series
- Maid Cafe
- Cosplay Masquerade
- Otaku Fashion Show
- Manga Workshops
- Voice Acting Workshops
- Artist Alley & Art Stalls
- Buy Anime & Manga Goodies
- Pub Quiz
- Yu Gi Oh, Vanguard & MTG Tournaments
- Cosplay Auction
- Live Music & Bands
- Dub That Anime
- DDR Tournaments
- Cosplay Workshops
- J-Culture Talks
- J-Pop & K-Pop Parties!
- Talent Show
AND MUCH MUCH MORE!

Many more announcements still to come, make sure you stay up to date with all the latest news by following us on twitter @londonanimecon or joining the forums at http://www.animeleague.net/forum !

Basic Details

Opening Times: 11am to 1am. (10:45am entry if you’re pre-paid)
Pricing: Reduced price entry if you pre-pay now. On the day entry is £10 per day. £5 Evening Entry.
London Anime Con Website: http://www.londonanimecon.com
Guests & Performers List: http://www.londonanimecon.com/guests.php
Link To Pre-Pay: http://www.londonanimecon.com/register.php
Accommodation - Available to book when registering at £39 total for both Friday and Saturday night, or just £58 for from friday through to Monday.

Warning! Major Spoilers ahead! If you’re still with...

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:20:29 +0000

**Warning! Major Spoilers ahead!**

If you’re still with us, then as the latest Bond movie is released in the US today, 9th November 2012 please check out our review of….

Skyfall

Directed by Sam Mendes

Starring Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Ben Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe, Ben Whishaw, Albert Finney

2012 is of course the 50th anniversary of the James Bond 007 franchise, something which is unprecedented in the history of modern cinema. So there’s no time like this year to celebrate the release of the latest Bond adventure, Skyfall.

After a mission to recover a stolen harddrive containing sensitive data is botched (thanks to a misplaced shot by Bond’s fellow agent Eve), Bond goes underground for 3 months only to be drawn back into the murky world of espionage as M’s past comes back to haunt her. 007 is resurrected and must track down techno terrorist Raoul Silva, who launches a vicious attack on Mi6 and takes steps to bring his personal grudge against the British Secret Service a little closer to Bond than ever before…

Oscar winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Jarhead) takes the helm for this latest adventure, which takes the series up several notches after 2008’s rather lacklustre Quantum of Solace to bring Bond bang up to date for the 50th anniversary.

In terms of box office receipts, Skyfall has now become the biggest movie at the UK box office this year! That’s right, even Chris Nolan’s epic The Dark Knight Rises has been surpassed, with the 23rd Bond film taking £57m in just 12 days. Skyfall is also the biggest Bond film of all time, beating Casino Royale’s £55.6m gross reached in 2006.

As a Bond fan of nearly 13-14 years, after watching the credits roll on this one it was very easy for me to think, “best Bond film ever!” - whilst there may never be the perfect Bond film, Skyfall is quite possibly the best Bond film that Daniel Craig has done so far. Casino Royale provided the series with the much needed reboot, with Craig providing a fresh take as the secret agent, a little rough round the edges before being honed into the suave super spy we know today. Quantum of Solace was a solid action film and a worthy entry to the series, but was fairly humourless and left fans of the series feeling rather bereft. Sam Mendes is completely the right person to direct this latest Bond thriller, bringing together the combined talents of cinematographer Roger Deakins and screenwriter John Logan (Gladiator) - together with Bond regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade - to forge a Bond film that the series can be proud of.

The opening action scene sets the action packed tone for the rest of the film, as 007 with Eve in tow pursues villainous henchman Patrice (Ola Rapace) through the in a heated motorbike chase through the bazaars and rooftops of Istanbul. That’s not to say that action dominates the film as it did with QoS, as Skyfall strikes a good balance between faced paced action and the right amount of tension and suspense. At 142 mins, Skyfall is the 2nd longest Bond behind Casino Royale but it really zips by as there mix of action and intrigue will keep you glued to your seat. Daniel Craig manages to inject some humour into the proceedings as 007, being careful to tread that fine line somewhere between Connery and Moore but still firmly adding his own trademark touches to the role. The Hour star Ben Whishaw joins the series as the new Q, a smarter more tech savvy quartermaster who provides 007 with a radio device and a new Walther PPK S 9mm short, coded to Bond’s palmprint so only he can fire it. “It’s not exactly christmas,” quips Bond, as it’s clear from the get go that the two men have an immediate understanding. The new Q is also more involved in the plot compared to the late great Desmond Llewelyn, and employs his hacking skills to fend off an attack from Silva during one tense scene later in the film. “Bond girls” is perhaps an outdated term considering the series is 50 years old, but Berenice Marlohe boosts the film with her understated but brilliant performance as Silva’s captive lover Severine, who manages to make the most of the short time she spends with Bond onscreen. Naomie Harris also sparkles as Eve, who we learn isn’t quite cut out for field work and in a welcome flourish for the series, takes up her position as M’s secretary, Moneypenny. But it is Javier Bardem as blonde baddie Silva who steals the film, providing the series with its most memorable and formidable villain since the likes of Blofeld. Bardem’s performance as the slippery hacker and ex-Mi6 agent really subvert traditional ideals of what a Bond baddie should be and has been compared to Heath Ledger’s interpretation of the Joker in terms of the villain’s goals and motives which are aimed squarely at M rather than your garden variety world domination. If you’re not a fan of Bond, or don’t really fancy this film then I urge you to see Skyfall - Bardem’s superb star turn as Silva (among other aspects) make it well worth your time.

It’s safe to say that with Skyfall, Bond is well and truly back!

4/5

Directed by Marc Forster Starring Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko,...

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:39:54 +0100

Directed by Marc Forster

Starring Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Gemma Arterton, Jesper Christensen, Mathiew Almaric

007 is out for revenge following the death of Vesper as the trail leads him to Mr. White, part of a mysterious crime organisation called Quantum. In his latest mission, Bond must investigate a slimy environmentalist from working with the corrupt Bolivian General Medrano, and prevent them from gaining a monopoly on the country’s most valuable resource.

This followup to Casino Royale got its fair share of criticism as in many ways it perhaps struggled to live up to the expectations of its predecessor. However, despite its dour, rather serious tone it’s not all bad, and bears the hallmarks of a decent 007 adventure. Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, The Kite Runner) handles the action as competently as he does dramatic tension; sure, the opening pre-titles sequence is choppily edited meaning it can be a little hard to follow, but the payoff is worth it. Daniel Craig’s Bond is a little more tortured this time round, but still shows that there’s a human side to 007. Brit newcomer Gemma Arterton (St Trinian’s) has the dubious honour of being the unfortunately named Bond girl and has little to do other than provide some eye candy, but it’s her death scene which will strike a chord with Bond fans, harking back to previous , more iconic 007 adventures. Olga Kurylenko provides us with another strong, memorable Bond girl in Camille, a woman who, in many ways similar to our hero, is also out for revenge. French actor Mathieu Almaric (who in 2008 won the much coveted Cesar award for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) is superbly slimy as the self appointed environmentalist Dominic Greene who despite his name, doesn’t really care much about the world we live in.

Strong performances aside, Quantum also offers some thrilling set pieces. Although the opening car chase may induce motion sickness, the film does boast some standout scenes including Bond’s pursuit of Dominic Greene at the Tosca opera, and Bond and Camille’s parachute jump, narrowly avoiding a plane crash.

Bond will return in… Skyfall.

Film: ***.5 Extras: ****

Casino Royale (2006) Directed by: Martin Campbell Starring...

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:13:02 +0100

Casino Royale (2006)

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Starring Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright

Bond goes back to basics as we discover his first mission that earned him his 00 status. The suave super spy must go head to head with international terrorist financier Le Chiffre in a tense game of high stakes Texas Hold’Em poker at Casino Royale, Montenegro.

No, not the mish-mash that was the 1967 multi-directorial disaster, but of course the epic reboot that reinvigorated the long running, much loved franchise. Layer Cake and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo actor Daniel Craig was eventually chosen to slip into the tux as the 6th actor to play the secret agent and it’s through these Bond films that Craig was able to flex his acting chops, demonstrating to audiences around the world that he could handle those tough action scenes aswell as providing a magnetic screen resonance. He has also enjoyed considerable on screen success away from his stint as Bond, including a skit in this year’s London Olympic opening ceremony sending up his 007 persona and appearing to parachute out of a helicopter with HM The Queen!

This rebooting of the series also benefits hugely from Martin Campbell’s return to the director’s chair, who after working wonders in relaunching the series with Pierce Brosnan’s debut as Bond, Campbell does it again with Casino Royale. Danish star Mads Mikkelsen is incredibly oily as Fleming’s central villain Le Chiffre whose physical defects may give Bond the upper hand at the poker table. Caterina Murino sizzles as love interest Solange but it’s Eva Green as the multi layered Vesper Lynd who delivers the most appealing performance in the film, portraying a character who beneath the tough exterior is almost as fragile as 007 himself.

Bond will return in…. Quantum of Solace.

Film: ***** Extras: ****

Casino Royale (2006) Bond goes back to basics as we discover his...

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:11:18 +0100

Casino Royale (2006)

Bond will return in…. Quantum of Solace.

Film: ***** Extras: ****

Rview: Film News and Reviews!

Bates Motel Epsiode 7 - The Man In Number 9 Review by Calvin...

TV Review - Bates Motel Episode 6, "Ocean View"

Bates Motel Episode 5: Ocean View - Review

Bates Motel Episode 4 - Trust Me - Review

Bates Motel Episode 3 - What’s Wrong with Norman Review

Bates Motel Episode 2 Review - "Nice Town You Picked, Norma…"

Bates Motel - Episode 1 Review

The 85th Academy Awards have just wrapped in Hollywood, and here...

LONDON ANIME CON - AN ANIME & GAMING CONVENTION THIS 9-10 FEBRUARY!

BAFTA Film Awards 2013 - Nominations Are Announced!

Great advice for 2013!

chewiejr: tomorrow we all die Noooooooo! *hides*

Mark’s Anime Corner Review: Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? / Kore...

New feature: Mark’s Anime Corner! A new series of anime...

Sofie Grabol returns to our screens as Detective Inspector Sarah...

Advert: London Anime Con Returns in 2013!

**Warning! Major Spoilers ahead!** If you’re still with...

Directed by Marc Forster Starring Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko,...

Casino Royale (2006) Directed by: Martin Campbell Starring...

Casino Royale (2006) Bond goes back to basics as we discover his...

chewiejr: tomorrow we all die Noooooooo! hides

Warning! Major Spoilers ahead! If you’re still with...