I’m quickly realising that Game of Thrones needs more than two hundred words to discuss – it’s not even enough to summarise the episode! And even in a strong episode like “Walk of Punishment,” not every sliver of plot is going to succeed. The difference between a plotline flourishing or floundering seems to have direct…
Scanners is the first film I’ve seen from David Cronenberg’s impressive filmography that I’d describe as disappointing. It has a promising introduction; an atmosphere of cold disquiet pervading claustrophobic sets suffused with violent crimson. Early scenes are enigmatic and fascinating: a homeless man, strapped to a bed, writhes helplessly as silent spectators slowly march into…
When Spartacus and Crassus finally face off on a sandy summit above a swirling, immense battle, “Victory,” the finale of Spartacus, isn’t afraid to be emotionally manipulative. It’s hard not to be overcome with dismay as Crassus grasps Spartacus’s sword and swings it towards him (from “Enemies of Rome”), or stunned delight as Spartacus blocks…
“Does anybody see the clue?” “There isn’t one.” The above quote tells you a lot about the kind of show Hannibal is trying to be, and the kind of show it isn’t. The show could’ve easily been a serial killer procedural; instead it has no interest in solving mysteries. A murderer’s grotesque garden is found,…
Is Funny Games a good film? I’m not sure. It is, undeniably, interesting, and that’s almost as important as “good.” Director Michael Haneke set out to challenge audience reactions to stylised violence and suggest the viewer’s complicity. The film is a provocation, an unsubtle attack on its own audience. I don’t know that Haneke is…
One of my earliest memories at the movies is sitting in a darkened cinema as Jurassic Park begins… the rustle of leaves in the dark, me clutching my seat in fear as that first, perfect velociraptor shriek echoes through the theatre. I’d like to say that Jurassic Park inspired my enduring love of film –…
If you believe the blurb, Timequake is a novel that tells the story of an unexplained “timequake” that shifts the world’s population back a decade and forces them to relive every moment of their lives – without opportunity for change, forcing them to make the same decisions, do the same things as they did the…
Like last week’s premiere, “Dark Wings, Dark Words” is largely a place-setting episode. But where “Valar Dohaeris” felt accomplished, thanks to a consistent tone, this episode felt clumsy. I think this is because “Dark Wings, Dark Words” fell victim to the ‘clunky pilot’ curse that I spoke about in my Hannibal review. We’re in the…
I don’t want Pissed Jeans to become successful. I don’t mean this in a hipster “I don’t want these guys to sell out and become mainstream” kinda way. If they sold more records, there’s a better chance they’d tour Australia, after all. No, it’s because it’s hard to imagine the band’s unique template working if…
It’s taken me a while to collect my thoughts on the pilot of Hannibal, a show that’s simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. On its surface it’s of a piece of many other shows – it’s an investigative procedural (thankfully avoiding any fancy-schmancy forensic technology) and certainly concerns serial killers, like the critically-reviled The Following. Like Bates…
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