A series in which I watch movies classified as ‘rotten’ by Rotten Tomatoes and try to find their redeeming qualities. Rotten Tomatoes Score: 33% The Only Living Boy In New York tells the story… More
Sherlock Finale: It Wasn’t That Bad
The season 4 finale of Sherlock aired on Sunday night and it wasn’t exactly a resounding success. Firstly, Russian hackers leaked the episode online before its release resulting in the smallest audience in the show’s seven-year history. Secondly, a large number of people were already feeling let down by this season and didn’t embrace the latest instalment with quite as much gusto as usual. Finally, the finale wasn’t that great an episode.
It hurts me to say it – I adore the show – but the finale simply wasn’t of the quality that I have come to expect of Sherlock. However, it wasn’t that bad.
If you haven’t seen the episode yet, I suggest that you close this page now because the following will contain spoilers.
Previous seasons of Sherlock have always had a big, bad villain at the end. Somebody that tests Sherlock and really allows him to stretch those clever, brain muscles. Normally, the entire season would be leading up to that but the writers called an audible this year and changed up the structure.
Unfortunately, people don’t tend to embrace change.
The first episode served to clear up some of the plot holes from the previous season and then they killed off John’s wife. I loved the second episode – it felt very old-school Sherlock and included Toby Jones’ villain that had been marketed as the season’s big nemesis. However, it turned out that a previously unknown Holmes sibling was to be Sherlock’s final foe.
A lot of unbelievable things happen in Sherlock but by virtue of excellent writing, you find yourself completely believing it. At the end of the second episode I was completely ready to believe that Sherlock had a secret sister but the third episode simply did not lay out a convincing argument for it at all.
The sister herself wasn’t a particularly good villain, either. A mixture of casual cruelty and a campness that paled in the wake of Moriarty, made her seem like a throwaway villain. The question of how she escaped her island prison and wreaked havoc in the Holmes boys’ lives was never really answered, and it turned out that she only ever really wanted a friend.
It wasn’t a normal episode of Sherlock. However, I don’t think that it was supposed to be. Everything about this episode seemed like the closing of a book to me. The creators, Moffat and Gatiss, have reported that they have a fifth season plotted but have not yet decided whether or not to produce it.
My opinion? Don’t. As a strange, final episode, The Final Problem works. John and Sherlock are raising a baby; Sherlock is more human than ever; all is well at 221B. Euros Holmes felt like the show was grasping and I don’t think that there needs to be a further four and half hours of Sherlock made it that manner.
What did you think about the final episode of the season? Should they continues to produce episodes of Sherlock? Let me know in the comments.
Reasons To Be Excited In 2017
By all accounts, 2016 was a rough year. Fortunately, 2017 promises to be a lot better – or at the very least that’s what people are saying and blind faith is currently preferable to painful realism.
At the very least, in our geeky, little bubble, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the forthcoming year – so many, in fact, that narrowing it down to 17 was a challenge but that is what has happened. Here are 17 things to get excited about this year.
Wonder Woman (2 June)
This is the first time that I’ve truly been excited for a project by the DCEU and I’m really hoping that they don’t screw it up. Just give us a female hero and let her be as bad-ass as she was originally written to be.
Beauty & The Beast (17 March)
Disney classic, music from my childhood, Emma Watson: what isn’t there to love about this movie? Even Gaston looks good (in a he-seems-to-be-a-more-well-rounded-character kind of way, don’t worry – it looks like he’s still a total bastard).
Sense8 (5 May)
After the Christmas special at the end of December, I’m absolutely buzzing for this new season. Sense8 is hope and light but it’s also painful and terribly, terribly sad at times. Essentially, it’s the best thing being broadcast at the moment.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (7 July)
Sure, it’s the third reboot of this hero’s franchise but he’s still my favourite and I still can’t wait to see him again.
Cars 3 (14 July)
Never in a million years would I have thought that any member of the Cars franchise would be making it onto a list like this but… never say never. The first teaser trailer got me hooked and now I absolutely have to see it.
Coco (8 December)
I can’t talk about Cars 3 and miss out the other Pixar release for this year. Not a lot of people are talking about Coco at the moment but it’s about the Mexican Day of the Dead and that alone has me very interested. Plus, it’s Pixar – it’s going to be fantastic.
Orange Is The New Black, Season 5 (June)
The last two episodes of the most recent season of Orange Is The New Black were viewed behind a curtain of tears which is basically the highest praise from me. They ended on a cliffhanger that I couldn’t stop thinking about for days. Dammit, now I’m thinking about it again.
Star Trek: Discovery (May)
I am a part of a new generation of Star Trek fans that jumped onboard after the Pine movies. That huge market is probably one of the main reasons that they decided to launch a new series and I am very grateful for that.
The Oscars (26/2)
Th glitz, the glamour, the terrible jokes: I live for this award ceremony. It’s the one night of the year that I can successfully pull an all-nighter so that I can watch the entire show all the way from England.
Stranger Things (TBC)
I don’t know where they’re going to go from the first season but I am more than happy to find out.
Justice League (17 November)
My hopes for this movie are slightly lower than those for Wonder Woman but I’m trying to stay optimistic. Most of the characters seem great (with the exception of Batfleck) and if Warner Bros. can get their act together, this could be something amazing.
Hamilton, London (21/11)
I’ve adored this musical for the last year and it is finally coming to London! I won’t be able to afford tickets but at least I’ll be able to walk past the theatre…
Iron Fist (17 March)
Judging by Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, this show is going to be amazing. What’s more, it’s the final piece of the puzzle before we get to…
The Defenders (TBC)
I love what Marvel are doing with their Netflix series and this seems like it’s going to be beyond amazing.
Star Wars VIII (15 December)
My appreciation for the Star Wars franchise is an even more recent development than my enjoyment of Star Trek. For the first time, I will be waiting with anticipation alongside the other fanboys and fangirls.
Fast & Furious 8 (14 April)
I’m not going to pretend that these movies mean anything more to me than 2 hours of ridiculous stunts and cheesy one-liners but sometimes the world needs crazy stunts and cheesy one-liners.
Logan (2 March)
Is it weird that I feel a little bit scared of this movie? Like I know it’s going to be brilliant but I think that if Logan dies, a little part of my heart may also die.
So those are the 17 things that I am most looking forward to in 2017.
What are you looking forward to? Is there anything on my list that has you pointedly unenthused? Let me know in the comments.
The Circle || Trailer Review
Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, and John Boyega: it was always going to be difficult for me to not like this film.
Based on this trailer, The Circle is about Big Brother and privacy and freedom. It is dealing with huge themes that are becoming more and more relevant in our society every day. More importantly, it looks like it is dealing with these themes in a smart and compelling way. After watching the trailer, I can’t wait to see what happens.
Unlike so many recent trailers, The Circle does not give away the entire plot of the film – a feat that has to be commended when compared to its contemporaries.
This trailer creates a sense of anticipation and urgency but maintains its veil of mystery and that’s why I can’t wait to see more about this film.
What did you think of the trailer? Are you excited about this film? Let me know in the comments.
Wait, What Happened? || Geek News
Happy Sunday! This week has been insanely full of fantastic things. From trailers, to premiere dates to castings – there was a lot to keep up with. In fact, you may find yourself asking: wait, what happened? If that’s the case, I’ve got you covered.
How To Train Your Dragon 3 Moves To 2019
I had no idea that there was even going to be a third How To Train Your Dragon movie so I can’t say that I was that disappointed to hear that it was delayed from a 2018 release to a 2019 release. I love these films and I’m just excited that the series is continuing. The third film is reported to focus on Toothless finding a mate and Hiccup dealing with the responsibilities of being village chief. This delay may be the result of Universal’s acquisition of Dreamworks which has also seen The Croods 2 removed from the release schedule.
Shameless’ Emmy Rossum Demans Equal Pay
Emmy Rossum, one of the stars of Shameless, is now demanding equal pay to her co-star, William H. Macy. The show is moving into its eighth season so Rossum has been paid less than her male co-star for years. At this stage, I have no idea why this is even an argument. Admittedly, when the show first began Macy was a much more famous face and added more value to the show in that respect. However, the show is now well-established and they both play equally vital roles to the story. Equal pay for equal work.
Sherlock Season 4 Teaser
The new season of Sherlock is so close! In the new year, season 4 of Sherlock will be arriving on our screens and I, for one, cannot wait. The teaser was uploaded yesterday and… it was okay. I wish that it was incredibly exciting and that I loved it a lot more but it just didn’t have the same effect as anything Sherlock normally has on me. Maybe you’ll like it more than I did. You can watch it below:
Are you a fan of How To Train Your Dragon? Do you believe that female actors should make as much as their co-stars? How much are you looking forward to Sherlock? Let me know in the comments.
Exclusivity in Cinema
I like to complain – you know that. There are a lot of things to complain about in the world: poverty, discrimination, the fact that both geography and my bank balance prevent me from watching Hamilton live in the Richard Rodgers Theatre… In a world of minor inconveniences and major injustices the cinema is a refuge, a place to escape reality.
For the longest time cinema has been the widely preferred alternative to the theatre. As much as I love to see live performances, the theatre is expensive and often poses a barrier in the form of location for many people. I may have never seen Hairspray or Grease performed on stage but thanks to cinema, I have been able to experience those stories.
However, when I began university last year I moved 200 miles away from my home to a much smaller town and I discovered that a lot of the films that I wanted to watch simply did not show here.
In the last year I distinctly remember my excitement at the lead-up to the releases of The Edge of Seventeen and Everybody Wants Some!! only to find that they would not be shown in this town. It was then that I started to realise that cinema isn’t as accessible to everybody as I had once believed it to be.
No matter how wrong it is, there is a stereotype that exists in which the sort of people that go to the theatre are typically wealthy, middle-class liberals. Similarly, when you hear that somebody loves independent cinema, an idea of who that person is forms in your mind. Cinemas aren’t going to pay to screen a movie if they don’t think that they’ll make money back from it and so, smaller niche films are reserved for bigger cities and specific types of cinemas.
The little town where I live for the majority of the year is a great place, full of students from a variety of backgrounds and with a range of interests but that variety isn’t reflected in the cinema listings. Of course, I can watch Rogue One: A Star Wars Story or Moana but if I want to watch Snowden or The Birth of a Nation I have to travel for two hours.
I understand that the film industry is an industry: there are big businesses involved and ultimately they’re trying to make a profit but it doesn’t seem right.
Do you think that films should be more widely distributed? Or that there’s no need to do so? Let me know in the comments.
A Beginner’s Guide To Office Christmas Party
Everything you need to know before Office Christmas Party comes out tomorrow.
What is it?
Office Christmas Party is a festive comedy film about – you guessed it – an office Christmas party.
That doesn’t sound very funny.
Yeah… but there’s this growing trend in comedy where boring, middle class people are put into “extreme” situations and in the end they decide that their lives are actually pretty great and they return to them. I’m not saying that that’s what happens here, but I’m guessing it’s pretty close.
What is it actually about?
Officially:
When Zenotek CEO Carol Vanstone (Jennifer Aniston) tries to close the branch of her hard-partying brother Clay (T. J. Miller), he and his Chief Technical Officer must rally their co-workers and host an epic office Christmas party in an effort to impress a potential client and close a sale that will save their jobs.
Not that that doesn’t sound great but are there any other Christmas movies?
There’s this and Bad Santa 2. Take your pick.
Who’s in this movie?
Oooh, the cast is pretty great: Jennifer Aniston, T.J. Miller, Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, and Kate McKinnon are just a few of the huge ensemble cast. It was directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck.
The guys who did The Switch?
Well, yeah but they also did Blades of Glory so this film could go either way.
Finally, is it any good?
The reviews aren’t in yet so I have nothing to base my opinion on except for the trailer. Personally, I think that it could be a fun watch but the trailer is below – see what you think.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 || Trailer Review
I watched this trailer twice before I realised that I have no idea what this movie is about but I don’t even care. I mean, there’s a baby groot – it doesn’t get more adorable than that.
With that said I think that it’s pretty safe to assume that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is going to involve the team saving the galaxy in some way or another. The first film was an underdog because it was so very out there and when it turned out to be amazing, it was a shock to most people. This one has a lot more pressure on it.
Whilst the trailer doesn’t say much about the plot of the movie, it promises that this film will be at least as funny as the last and twice as cute (thanks to one baby groot). Hopefully it also has a great story that isn’t just there to pull the Guardians closer to the rest of the MCU in preparation for the next Avengers movie.
How many times have you watched the trailer? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.
The Best Of This Week’s TV
Happy Saturday everybody, all of the shows returned this week which was amazing. There was DC crossover week; Agents of SHIELD finally resolved that cliff-hanger; and Pitch aired their penultimate episode. Obviously the biggest question is which was the best but before we get there let’s talk honourable mentions.
Honourable Mentions
Agents of Shield – for some sweet Doctor Strange tie-ins.- Modern Family – for proving that watching Ty Burrell get electrocuted never stops being funny.
- Westworld – for managing to be objectively amazing yet subjectively underwhelming.
- Pitch – for finally releasing an episode that didn’t stress me out or leave me an emotional wreck.
- Black-ish – for elegantly dealing with some complex themes of identity.
- Empire – for setting the standard for awkward family dinners.
- Gotham – for the best episode since its first season.
- Jane The Virgin – for catering to that burgeoning lapsed Catholic market.
- Once Upon A Time – for confirming that nobody will ever carry a baby full term in this show.
Show of the Week: DC Crossover
This week saw the first time in history that the DC shows on The CW – Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow – crossed over and it was perfect. Normally, this section is reserved for a single show but it is impossible to choose between the four episodes that aired this week because they all came together as one cohesive narrative. Separating them simply wouldn’t make sense.
When I heard that the main villain in the crossover was going to be aliens, I was less than enthused but I am happy to say that I was wrong to judge it so quickly. The aliens ended up being a very serious threat with believable motivations.
More than anything, I loved this television event because it felt like a massive pay-off for anybody that had been following these shows from the very beginning. Old characters were brought back; subtle nods were made to the wider DC universe; and they did an amazing job of analysing the relationship dynamics that form when you throw this group of people together.
The ending, with Oliver and Barry sat talking in a bar, felt like an wonderfully poetic way to wrap up the week. They were the two characters that began this wider universe and you were really able to appreciate that in how the wider team immediately deferred to them as leaders.
This Week’s Worst: No Tomorrow
There’s no doubt that No Tomorrow has improved from when it first began this season but it still isn’t doing enough. The show has established what it’s about and at times it can be a fun thing to watch but it has no real bite to it.
It’s being sold as an hour-long dramedy when its story seems better suited to the half-hour sitcom format. With such a high-level of competition on The CW at the moment, I don’t know if this first-season show will be renewed next year.
Did you have a favourite episode from the crossover? Have you been watching No Tomorrow? What did you watch this week? Let me know in the comments.
Wait, What Happened? || Geek news
Happy Saturday, geeks. I hope that everybody has had an amazing week so far but, let’s face it, not everybody has. If you need something to cheer you up then why not check out all the great geeky news that happened this week. I mean, you’re already reading this: you might as well just continue.
Billy Dee Williams Cast In Lego Batman Movie
The Lego Batman Movie has a new cast member in the form of Billy Dee Williams. Williams was introduced to the world of Batman in 1989’s Batman where he played Harvey Dent. Clearly the universe had a plan in mind for him because he is now taking on the role of Harvey Dent’s evil alter ego, Two-Face. You can look forward to seeing the movie in February of next year.
Detective Pikachu Gets A Director
The Detective Pikachu movie made a big step forward this week, announcing that they now have a director. If you’re wondering what Detective Pikachu is, it is exactly what it sounds like. Rob Letterman (Goosebumps, Shark Tale) is signed on to direct.
Justice Smith Joins Jurassic World Sequel
Justice Smith has quickly become one of my favourite young actors currently working. He starred in Paper Towns and, more recently, The Get Down, now he is joining Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard on the sequel to Jurassic World. His role is currently unknown but the project will begin filming in England next spring.
What other villains do you think will be popping up in the Lego Batman movie? Will the Jurassic Park franchise ever end? Let me know in the comments.
The Top 3 Disney Princesses
Moana is officially in UK cinemas and to celebrate that we’re going to honour Disney’s wonderful, feminist approach to princesses by ranking these ladies against one another.
Not including Moana, there are currently eleven Disney princesses: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Merida. Everybody has their favourites (although if your favourite is Aurora, you should probably take a step back and think about the choices that you’re making in life) and for me, that favourite changes every time I re-watch on of their films.
Instead of selecting just one, which would be almost impossible, I have chosen my three favourite of the princesses, and with no particular order to it, here they are:
POCAHONTAS
I actually only first watched Pocahontas a year ago and it was amazing. Pocahontas has one of the most real-life tragic stories and it has to be said: the Disney version is much nicer. Like way nicer. Still, they spoke about an actual historical figure who cares about the environment and nature. She speaks out against blind prejudice and she genuinely cares about the wider world where most people are motivated by self-interest.
BELLE
As a book-loving nerd, Belle was always going to be one of my favourite princesses. Nothing quite resonates with me as strongly in a Disney movie than Belle’s reaction to that library. Also, when it comes to sexuality she’s definitely the most interesting – stick with me here. Most Disney stories are pretty vanilla when it comes to that aspect but Belle falls for the Beast when he’s the Beast. Try to convince me that that is not bestiality.
TIANA
The first black Disney princess was always going to be one of my favourites. With it’s New Orleans jazz; amazing voodoo plots; and uncharacteristically dark undertones, The Princess & The Frog is in my top 5 Disney movies but I’m focusing on Tiana. The title of ‘princess’ suggests some sort of birth-right or entitlement but Tiana is nothing like that. She works for everything that she has and she never gives up on it. Most people aren’t born princesses but Tiana shows that you can be extraordinary just by trying and that’s inspiring.
Who are your favourite Disney princesses? Are you an Aurora fan? Let me know in the comments.
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