Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Good afternoon lady and gentle readers, this blogger decided to make the trip this fair fine Good Friday to the local cinema to watch the aforementioned film and here's what I thought;

I'm sorry to report that its a mess, not a fun glorious over the top mess but a stodgy mess that for a large proportion of the film doesn't get into first gear. I'm trying not to give away spoilers so it isn't going to be as detailed as other reviews. There are a few dream sequences in the film where it isn't really clear the character is dreaming until the events unfold, at one point there is an event in the film about to take place and I thought we were still in a dream. I had to nudge myself into clarity as it dawned on me the final act was about to take place, at that point it dawned on me that I was a bit bored and rather than excited I was relieved.

The film starts giving us a very good reason why Batman may not be on the same page as Superman, however however the story takes a while to show us why Supes may not be on the same page as Bats. As well as that other things are going on (including what looks to be the setting up of the film DC Universe) and its just to much. A lot of Superman's storyline is tied up with ramifications of his previous film which I didn't care about - certainly take something from the film and develop it but stop the endless referencing.

There are a lot of comic fan moments in this film - at one point I caught myself mentally squeeing at the sight of a SPOILER but a quick scan of those around me saw blank expressions. Its the kind of film where your going to need a geeky mate to explain things to you afterwards and most people will definitely need to look it up on wikipedia to explain some of the confusing plot elements. Visually the film is unclear and murky which doesn't help things - especially in the final act. Its without doubt a film for the fans I know full well a shed load of texts from non comic geek are going to be coming my way demanding explanations. There are some really good Easter eggs to keep your eyes open for and a lot of things to excite fans. Ben Affleck I found quite decent, Holly Hunter and Gal Gadot deserve plaudits and should have had more screen time. The rest I could give or take to a certain extent.

To sum up, this is purely for fans and theres a lot of good stuff for them in this, however as a film it looks a bit sloppy and I came away disappointed when I was really up for it. I give it five Bat signals out of ten.

Big Finish Catch-Up: November 2015 - December 2015

For those of you new to this section of the blog, I started listening to the Big Finish Doctor Who releases when they started back in 1999, getting them as they were released up to mid 2002 and release No 33 Neverland. At that time I left Uni and due to being a bit busy with life and what not I only heard one or two releases over the next few years. I started getting back into them around 2008 and was 6 years behind at that point. Due to wondering off into the Lost Doctor range and a relaxed listening pace I fell further behind. In order to catch up I'm listening to two releases a month (or more when its a 60 min single disc release, plus without seeing the cover or knowing anything about the story) and my mission to catch up continues;

Due to me being busy I haven't had the time to update this part of the blog over the last few months so here's a bumper update of the stories I listened to between November and December...

First up its 'No Mans Land' featuring the 7th Doctor, Ace and Hex. I like this story very much, there are a few curve balls and around an episode in it really pulls the rug from under the listeners feat. This is one benefited from coming in with no spoilers and I look forward to coming back to it in the future.

We're in the realms of 'something special' here, I must say at the start I've heard this story before but like the rest of the first season of '8th Doctor adventures' not since the original broadcast. This story sums up to me what this range is about, taken a past Doctor and putting him in a situation more akin to the TV series since 2005. We've had some standout moments and stories from the 8th Doctor in the main range (I get soppy remembering  Storm Warning coming out as we were finally getting the current Doctor in a season and at that at the time the show was a million miles from coming back to TV) but here we're getting the equivalant of a TV season finale with Paul McGann and Sheridan Smiths 8th Doctor and Lucie. We get answers, revelations, plot twists, ongoing characters from during the season get developed while in the middle at times theres an intimate story. Fully recommended, a thumbs up from me and 10/10.

This is a story that sums up what Nick Briggs does best, he comes up with a plot and firmly pins the entire story to it. I've heard some stories lately where Nick is trying to be 'fluffy' (mainly with the 4th Doctor) and it doesn't work. If your coming into Big Finish wanting to hear some stories by Nick Briggs get this or Creatures of Beauty. This story in particular I found very interesting - not fun but I was fully absorbed, a strong 7/10.

This one randomly popped up because it was on offer, we're back to being in 'something special.' For a reviewer who doesn't look at the titles or covers to avoid spoilers I feel the urge to point out how much I like the cover and the title. I like The Beatles, they've been a constant in my life since my youth and theres a lot of fun to be had here. The best thing I can say about this story is I've been trying to sneak the gags into daily life. Its a fairly different story and fun - I think everyone can take something from this, its a Fab Four out of four from me.

Answers...

GIVE ME ANSWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Storm Imogen

Hello ladies and gentle readers, in case you don't know Storm Imogen is battering the UK and its all gone to pot.

The countries on the verge of grinding to a halt, trucks are being blown over, tiles and roofs are being blown apart, the streets are littered with damage, the trains have a speed limit of 50mph and unless I'm very much mistaken a herd of pigs was just blown by.

My problem with this is we know its coming, we're an island, theres always a storm/snow/flood/heatwave around the corner. We should be prepared for this and we never are. My message to the powers that be; SORT YOUR SHIT OUT AND GET THIS COUNTRY READY FOR WEATHER ON GENERAL.

David Bowie

For those of you who don't know David Bowie passed away during the week, condolences to his family and friends. As a fan I hope he enjoyed his final days as much as he enjoyed the rest of his life. I've had the music and albums playing all week and to celebrate Davids career here's my top 10 David Bowie tracks;

10 Magic Dance, the first time I saw David was in Labyrinth which included this memorable song...

9 Blue Jean, David at his catchiest.

8 Absolute Beginners, the title track from the film of the same name a rather underrated track in this bloggers opinion.

7 Under Pressure the classic collaboration with Queen...

6 Life on Mars, an amazing stand out moment from David and a song that became further enriched by the TV series of the same name.

5 Golden Years, perhaps the most well known track from the 'plastic soul' era.

 4 Underground, the main song from Labyrinth and for my generation the song most associated with David, revisiting the 'plastic soul' era with added venom.

3 Hallo Spaceboy, David teams up with another of my favourite acts with an electric result.

2 Young Americans, the funkier side of Davids journey into soul.

1. Heroes, David Bowie and Brian Eno, this isn't a song its solid sound carved out of granite.

Top TV Picks: 2015

A happy new year to you ladies and gentle readers, I greet you in 2016 with a new blog which is my favourite TV choices from 2015. I hope you agree with the following, if not I hope you take pleasure in telling me why I'm wrong and marking my card for something I've missed;

10. Banished

A BBC 2 drama from Jimmy McGovern tucked away in a 9 pm slot on Thursdays featuring a fantastic cast including Julian Rhind-Tut, Russell Tovey and Myanna Buring. Revolving around the politics and daily life of a recently set up penal colony. Not the cosiest of topics and perhaps not the easiest of subjects to set a drama around but good stuff none the less.


9. 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

I don't watch 8 out of 10 Cats and I don't watch Countdown, however after flicking over one evening I was hooked. By far one of the funniest shows on TV at the moment.


8. Inside No. 9

Reece Shearsmiths and Steve Pembertons dark series of one off horror/comedy episodes did not disappoint in its second season. More twists, more guest stars and two episodes which were must see TV.


7. Wolf Hall

BBC 2 already getting its third appearance on this list with a drama based around Thomas Cromwell and the court of Henry VIII. Starring Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis, this was the BBC doing what it does best, period drama with a touch of something special.


6. Ordinary Lies

Set in a modern day car dealership this show featured a group of 'ordinary workers' and the lies which threaten to send their lives out of control.


5. Elementary

This series features a modern day interpretatrion of Holmes and Watson starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. This is a down dirty 'warts and all' version of Holmes and more in line with the Jeremy Brett interpretation than you might expect. Watson at times takes centre stage and new things are being with their relationship. Perhaps this is the most consistent show on TV at the moment.


4. House of Fools

I love Vic and Bob, I could watch 50 minutes a week of them stroking kittens and this has by far been the funniest show on TV for the last two years. The BBC and are fools to cancel it.


3. The Enfield Haunting

If your into horror and didn't see this you missed out big time, based around the events of 'The Enfield Poltergeist' which took place in the late 1970's. Starring Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson and Matthew Macfayden this was based around the investigation of the haunting endured by family to see weather its genuine or not.


2. Doctor Who

I've been a fan of this show since I can remember and this years series was one of my favourites in ages. The Doctor having a midlife crisis and having to be reminded he's The Doctor was a story that feels like it concluded Peter Capaldi's introduction if The Twelfth Doctor. This years output felt more suited to my personal taste, more horror, darker stories, more multiple episode stories and in 'Heaven Sent' possibly the most 'WTF' moment of TV during 2015.


1. Daredevil

 
Ever since I was a kid I was into comics, started with the Transformers and then spread into Marvel and beyond. Daredevil was someone who cropped up from time to time as a guest star and not a character I was interested in, to be honest I wasn't interested in this series until I saw the trailer and it was something special. Finally I saw episode one on Netflix and all I can say never have I seen a TV show or film capture a book or comic character so perfectly. I can only implore you to watch, as its brilliant. The confrontation between Daredevil and Kingpin in episode six is brimming with tension, no doubt you would have heard about the fight scenes but theres so much more to this show than that. I'm constantly pausing and rewinding because theres so much to watch out for. By far this was the number one show of 2015 for me.

Hope you enjoyed this blog and if you have any other suggestions you think I missed why not tell me bellow...

The Euro 2016 Draw

So ladies and gentle readers the draw for Euro 2016 has finally taken place and for the first time in what feels like a life time Wales were in it. Going into it I was dreaming of the glamour teams and a group involving the likes of Spain, Germany, Italy, Croatia and Sweden. I wanted a proper group full of mouth watering fixtures and slowly one by one the teams were drawn;

Up first we had the noisy neighbours next door, Woy Hodgsons boring army. The only top ranked team I didn't want as they usually stink up the tournaments with boring matches over the last few tournaments. Plus the media and fleet street regulars will be ignoring the Welsh point of view and covering the match from England's point of view with a 'Battle of Britain' mantra nobody cares about.

Please pretend there something witty written here - I have no Slovakia material.

Up last we had Russia, now its getting juicy, if I could take you back a decade dear reader, the closest Wales have ever got to the Euros before was Euro 2004 where we finished second in our group to Italy, cue highlights of the classic Wales 2 Italy 1 match;

We were drawn against Russia in the playoffs and after a hard thought 0-0 in Moscow they scored from a badly conceded free kick at Cardiff to knock us out. A proper grudge match here and the standout fixture of the group.

Well my thoughts are that its a disappointing unsexy group but we've got a decent chance of second place, the countdown to summer 2016 starts now...