Saw V

If you are familiar with the Saw films then you will know that each one has a cliff hanger at the end and that the next one follows on from the previous one. I myself have only seen Saw IV and Saw (in that order) and so I found it a little hard to follow. But I managed to get the general jist of it. And whilst it's not the best Saw film that I've seen, it is still just as clever as the rest.

If you've seen Saw, Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV then this is a must. However, if you haven't then avoid this film like the plague because you simply won't understand it.

Burn After Reading

I went in expecting to see a really funny film. After seeing the trailer it looked like a very good comedy and after I found out my friend was going to see it at the cinema for a second time I thought, "Okay well now I've got to go."

The film definitely has some funny moments in it, but it wasn't really laugh out loud material, more like chuckle quietly to yourself. It seems to me like the film is trying to be funny the whole time. Now I don't tend to watch a lot of comedies simply because when I watch a comedy, I want to be rolling around in stitches on the floor (like with Bruce Almighty), and of the comedies I've watched 90% of them are very disappointing because this just doesn't happen (e.g. 40 Year Old Virgin, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Meet The Parents, Meet The Fockers, Along Came Polly). They just make you chuckle, which is what this film does. Sadly this isn't what I'm looking for in a comedy. I've laughed harder playing an episode of Friends back in my head.

Now I think one of the reasons for this film not being all that funny is because of the writing. If you find a lot of today's modern comedies funny then I'm sure you'll find Burn After Reading funnier than I did. But the writing wasn't my biggest problem with the comedy, it was the music.

The music in this film really is amazing, but the trouble is, half the time it doesn't fit the scene. I'm expecting music that is a little lighter and funnier to be playing, in order to go with the jokes, but instead we are given dark and twisted music that is beautiful but inappropriate. It is almost like the music is scoring the subplot, while the characters laugh and joke about what is actually going on. The music makes you concentrate more on the subplot and so distracts you from the comedy making the film less funny then it already is.

Now you might be thinking that this is what the film is trying to do, and it probably is because I can think of no other reason why the film would be scored as it is. But for me this combination just didn't work and I was really put off by it. The trouble is the music is so good that it almost makes me want to go and write a dark film in order for the music to have something that matches it.

If this film was rewritten and had the comedy taken out of it I think it would be an excellent film, because the story really is quite dark and interesting. But because it is a comedy I have to say whilst I wanted to like the film, in actual fact I must be honest with myself and say that I didn't really like it that much. But hey, my friend went to see it twice so I guess it depends what films you really like. I'm just telling my side of the story.

Frost / Nixon Score Preview

There are now 4 tracks from Hans Zimmer's score to Frost / Nixon that you can listen to in full. Just go to http://www.universalpicturesawards.com/ then click on Frost / Nixon, and then score.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2 Update

After last weeks disturbing news I can happily report to you this week that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been picked up for a full season. So there is no longer any threat of it being cancelled.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2

Here we have another show that has managed to reach the UK before it has even finished in the US. Unfortunately I don't currently have freeview though and so have been watching all of my TV off of the Internet on BBC iPlayer, ITV Catch Up, 4oD and Demand Five. This means I haven't been able to watch season 2 of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles which started on Virgin 1 on Thursday, and so will probably end up buying the DVD Boxset if it comes out.

Yes Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles isn't scoring very high in the ratings over in the US and the show is close to being cancelled. It appears to be managing to stay alive for the moment as Fox has ordered some more scripts.

But it seems such a shame that the show is now struggling when it started off so well. My only hope is that if it does end up getting cancelled, that they are allowed to tie up the story so we won't get left without any closure, like so many other good shows that get cancelled (e.g. Firefly).

Sanctuary

It would seem that American and UK television networks have been working more cooperatively recently, with shows such as Heroes arriving in the UK only a few weeks after their American broadcast. Sanctuary seems to be one of those.

Sanctuary started life off as a webseries, but now it has been picked up by an American network. I didn't actually know much about Sanctuary before last month so I never actually watched all the webisodes (I believe there were quite a few of them). Instead of being a continuation of the webseries they seem to have started a fresh. A definite positive for new fans but possibly not such a good move from the point of view of old fans.

I've seen the first four webisodes of which the two hour pilot episodes (all though ITV4 only showed one this week, part two is obviously next week) are basically a re-write of. But old fans should not be worried, they won't just be watching repeats of the webseries as the TV version will be taking a different root.

I was quite surprised that the TV version of Sanctuary had the same cast as the webseries. But when I watched the webseries and realised Amanda Tapping was in it I wasn't surprised. Although I was surprised that she was in a webseries to begin with.

The TV version is still shot mostly with green/blue screens although the special effects look much better in the TV version than the webseries, obviously due to the higher budget.

The show looks great so far and it definitely has a lot of great potential. If you haven't already checked it out then it is definitely worth doing.

Eureka Season 2 Soundtrack

I'm a huge fan of Bear McCreary the man behind the music for the television shows Battlestar Galactica, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Eureka. However, whilst Bear was there right from the start of Battlestar Galactica (writing additional music for the mini-series) and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles he didn't join Eureka until season 2 where with the permission of the producers he reinvented the sound of Eureka.

If like me you own all of Bear's other soundtracks or if you just own one or two, then it will only make you really appreciate the musical talent of this great composer. Eureka is unlike anything we have heard from McCreary so far. A soundtrack that he describes as:

"A twisted blend of folk, blues and zydeco with 80s New Wave synths, 8-bit and 16-bit video-game-inspired FM synthesis, 70’s keyboards, accordions, dobros, didgeridoo and a little Spanish Flamenco."

In all my years of listening to soundtracks I really have never heard anything quite like this soundtrack. It is fresh and original and some of the tracks are so good that they almost make you laugh just listening to them. And not having seen the series it has definitely made me want to go out and buy it, because if the show is anywhere near as good as the music then it will be money well spent.

If you wish to read an interview with Bear McCreary about his work on Eureka, click here.

Bring Back Firefly Petition

There is currently an online petition to bring back Joss Whedon's Firefly. If you wish to sign the petition, follow the link below.

Bring Back Firefly Petition

Batman: Gotham Knight

Sadly I was quite disappointed by this film. I knew that the format of the film would be slightly different as the trailer said it was six stories from six different directors. This I didn't mind, because really they were just six different parts to the same story and there was a definite overall plot. I was more disappointed with the film as a whole.

Batman: Gotham Knight is supposed to take place between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. I didn't really feel this because to me the Batman in this film didn't really resemble the Batman that Christian Bale plays in the Christopher Nolan films. Therefore for me it didn't really fit in the Batman universe Christopher Nolan had created and felt more like it because it was a different Batman that it belonged in a different Batman universe. If I disassociated Batman: Gotham Knight film with the Christopher Nolan Batman films, then I was able to enjoy it much more.

The first two stories I found slightly boring as they didn't really feature Batman as the main character. Instead they dealt with the Batman myth and how people didn't understand him. Was he human or was he an actual bat? Was he good or was he bad? The concept of these stories works very well, but sadly I found them slightly boring. The stories then focus more on Bruce Wayne becoming Batman.

Sadly I didn't find this film as good as I thought it would be. In terms of animation film spin-offs I found The Animatrix much better.

Desperate Housewives Score Petition

There is currently an online petition to get a release for Steve Jablonsky's score to the popular television show Desperate Housewives. If you wish to sign the petition, follow the link below.

Desperate Housewives Score Petition