First Impressions: Gallipoli

The first episode of Gallipoli definitely lived up to the powerful and haunting nature of its trailer, albeit a little slowly. The story seemed to drag in places when the men weren’t fighting the Turks, and even then, I wasn’t on the edge of my seat. I hope the story finds its feet in the next 6 episodes.

However, it was still a powerful episode, filled with a few surprising moments. For one, I definitely wasn’t expecting Jeremy Lindsay Taylor’s character, Captain Eric Taylor, to be killed off in the first episode, let alone by a Turkish sniper. Kind of hoping he might just be severely injured? I thought Sergeant Harry Perceval had joined Taylor for a few minutes after he collapsed on the shore, but he managed to pull himself up again, thank goodness. I don’t think I could have handled two!

The flashbacks to Johnson’s life back home were jarring and a disappointment. The narrative kept jumping quite rapidly into them during the action at Gallipoli and it was hard to see how it fit, apart from the obvious fact that Johnson was trying to escape. All we really know from these flashbacks is that Johnson has a crush on his older brother’s girl Celia, played by Ashleigh Cummings and that his brother knows it.

It was good to see that at least the reporter has a good head on his shoulders, compared to all of the officers. The men needed honesty and he gave it. Good sport. Speaking of the officers, a bunch of men standing around a table arguing gets nowhere, men die, and they wonder how they got there? Honestly. However, on that note, it’s nice to see that the show is being honest and not glorifying Gallipoli by dressing up all of the tactical bungles. At least this far, anyway.

On a positive note, the narration by central character Thomas Johnson (Kodi Smit-McPhee) was so compelling and truthful. Lines that have stuck with me are “So many men went up into that gully and were never seen again” and “that’s as far as we ever got.” Goosebumps.

I’ll be back later with my thoughts on the rest of the season, so stay tuned!

 

First Impressions: Stalker

I know that this show was in all likelihood designed to scare us into taking a second look at our social presence online, just as much as it was to entertain us, but so far this show hasn’t done anything remotely scary enough to make me run and delete everything about myself on social media.

It is however nice to see Maggie Q back on the small screen after Nikita, but I still can’t see her as Lt. Beth Davis, the characters are just so similar. The mystery about her past is however interesting, and apart from seeing who the next episode’s creep is, it’s probably the only thing that’s keeping me watching.

I can’t stand new guy on the block Jack Larsen, or “New York” as I like to refer to him, he’s so fake and let’s face it, as creepy as all the other guys on the show stalking women. We get it, you want to see your son, but stalking him? I can think of at least a hundred ways you can win over over-protective ex-lover and see your son, but stalking ain’t one of them buddy. No wonder she wants you gone.

Now, about the only thing I like about this show (apart from the fact that Maggie Q is in it, of course) is that the underlying thread piecing everything together is Beth and Jack’s stories. It adds mystery that other wise isn’t really there and reminds us that they’re human too. Not that you can really invest in them anyway.

And the music at the end of the episode? Creepy. Never thought love songs could be so sinister and dark. But that’s the whole point of the show isn’t it? To get us thinking about how secure/private our information really is and what monsters are lurking in the dark. Well, cyberspace predominantly.

The one thing I know for sure after Stalker is that I won’t be trying internet dating anytime soon. You can bet on that!

First Impressions: How To Get Away With Murder

How To Get Away With Murder premiered in NZ this week and despite a long day at uni I managed to stay awake long enough to watch it. First impressions? Intriguing. So, here’s why:

It’s all about the fight for the top, that obsession with winning and all of the juicy consequences.

I love that the characters are morally ambiguous, given that they’re aspiring lawyers. On that note, I love how they’ve teamed murder with lawyers, because they’re the ones that are meant to be upholding the law.

Great that the murder was dealt with first, instead of building up to it. Deals with the characters’ journeys in a refreshing way, by going back and showing us how they got there/fell so far.

Two big questions going forward:

Did Keating’s husband kill Lila Stangard?

Why do Wes, Connor, Michaela, Asher and Laurel murder Keating’s husband, well, at least dispose of his body? Some demented sense of loyalty to Keating? For that trophy?

Can’t wait to (hopefully) find out! Definitely going to stick with this one!

Revenge Season 4 Episode 14 Review: Back to old tricks

With big bad wolf Malcolm Black gone, it seemed there was nothing left for the characters to do but get back to old tricks.

Victoria was back to manipulating her ‘friends’ to remain at the top of the social food chain, albeit with a challenge from newcomer Natalie Waters (Gina Torres). And here I was looking forward to Victoria mellowing out a bit. But, the question I’m asking (and I’m sure everyone else is) is who is she? She seems to know a lot about Victoria’s ways…Someone Victoria’s slighted in the past or (dare I say it) Malcolm Black’s wife? Either way, it looks like Victoria has another nemesis on her hands. And who was the “death in the family”? Let’s be honest, Victoria doesn’t have much left! Fingers crossed it’s not Charlotte.

This week’s episode happened to prove you just can’t pull off a take-down without Emily, with Mamma Ellis finally getting her just desserts. It was nice to see that Nolan still has it, sending Mamma Ellis packing with his usual panache. The icing on the cake would’ve been if she ended up locked in the loony bin.

Ever since Emily told Jack who she was he’s been a royal pain in the butt. “We can’t do that Emily” and “don’t do that Emily”. “Where’s your moral code, Emily?” I don’t really see why he needs to be there anymore and the only reason he probably still is is because the writers are still dangling that old carrot where Jack and Emily live happily-ever-after. If I’m being perfectly honest I don’t think that’ll ever happen. Jack isn’t in love with Emily, he’s in love with the little girl Amanda Clarke. And after all, if he was really in love with Emily, he wouldn’t be trying to change who she is every five minutes. He would just except Emily, revenge warts and all. And Jack seeing Emily and Ben at the end of the episode, just had to happen. Just had to happen, didn’t it? (Face palm). Que writers dangling the carrot again!

On the note of Emily and Ben. Bit of a strange fit, but it’s nice to see Emily have the opportunity to let her hair down a little. And despite his Jack-like personality, Ben seems like a nice guy.

But don’t even get me started on Margaux. She’s like a dog with a bone! I really hope she doesn’t go ahead with taking Jack and Emily down. Poor Carl. Margaux doesn’t want her child to grow up with a bad image of their father, so why let Carl grow up the same way? That just doesn’t seem fair. Margaux just needs to build a bridge and if she can’t even make up her own mind at all about what she wants to do, she has no right to play the revenge game. Is it obvious I don’t like Margaux?

Will Margaux stoop so low? Who’s the death in the family? And how’s Jack going to handle the whole Emily and Ben thing? Looks like we’ll have to wait until Revenge returns on March 8! Catch the promo for the next episode below:

You can catch Revenge on http://tvnz.co.nz/video

 

 

On the box: What I’m looking forward to so far in 2015

With the centenary of World War I last year, a lot of war dramas have been making it to New Zealand screens lately. First we had Anzac Girls, followed by The Crimson Field, and coming in February is Nine Network’s Gallipoli, an eight-part television series following the ANZACs both during and after the battle for Gallipoli. I’m not only looking forward to this series because of my interest in military history, but also because the trailer for Gallipoli in itself is so powerful, capturing a rawness of the human spirit in wartime I haven’t seen since HBOsThe Pacific.

I also love a good thriller and Katherine Heigl, so I’m also looking forward to NBC’s State of Affairs, a television series which follows Heigl as CIA analyst Charleston Tucker briefing the President about all the big bad wolves threatening US security.

And finally for 2015 so far I’m looking forward to ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder, because I love a show with a good murder that promises to wreak havoc with a few lives, especially because this bunch are on their way to being lawyers.

 

 

 

 

 

Revenge Season 4 Episode 13 Review: Will Emily ever get her happily-ever-after?

With Malcolm Black gone (well, peppered with bullets and incinerated…nice one, David!) and Victoria all but putting an end to her path of revenge to be a doting grandmother, there was a tiny glimmer of hope that Emily might get her happily-ever-after…until Margaux stomped all over it! With Margaux on the hunt for evidence to put Emily away (WHY, JUST WHY?!) I have the feeling that Emily’s happily-ever-after may just turn out to be happily-never-after.

While my interest for this show waned after the exit of showrunner Mike Kelley, one of the only reasons I’ve stuck with this show is in the hope that Emily might just, dare I say it, live happily-ever-after. But with the whole “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves” thing I don’t know what I was thinking. In all likelihood she’ll probably end up dead and one of her friends will pick up the revenge gauntlet and the whole entire cycle will begin again (SIGH)…

But, back to the task at hand…I said last week that I love it when Emily kicks a little butt and oh boy did she ever. First the bodyguard, then Malcolm, pure gold.

However, the only people who should be teaming up for a rescue mission are Emily, Jack and Nolan. Despite the fact that Jack, David and Ben managed to sort of pull it together in the end, they just can’t measure up to the take-down prowess of Emily and her wing men.

Although this episode didn’t deliver as many surprises as I was hoping for (Emily and Victoria teaming up was kind of inevitable), the one thing I wasn’t expecting was for Nolan and Louise to get hitched! Of all the ways to give mama Ellis a run for her money, that certainly wasn’t what I was thinking. I thought that a well thought-out revenge plot would ensue (hoping that might come later?) Points for the surprise though Nolan.

Hey, what can I say? I guess I’m just hooked on all things revengy now. So, on that note, I’ll be sticking it out to see if good ol’ Margaux’s any good at the revenge game.

Catch next week’s promo here 

You can watch Revenge on http://tvnz.co.nz/video

Revenge Season 4 Episode 12 Review: Don’t underestimate Malcolm Black

This week’s episode was titled ‘Madness’ and with everyone underestimating Malcolm Black at every turn (everyone but David of course) I thought the title was pretty apt. You’re obviously mad if you think you can get rid of Malcolm Black that easily! After all, killing his daughter Kate in a fist fight and a shootout was a bit of a mission, so it’s obvious that getting rid of Malcolm isn’t going to be a walk in the park.

David warned everyone that he’d not be an easy fish to fry (he’s way scarier than Conrad for starters, duh) and after escaping the clutches of the feds this week due to “lack of evidence” (good one, Jack!) everyone’s probably pinching themselves now! If Malcolm wasn’t on the war path before (which he was!) he most certainly is now and if abducting Victoria and Emily at the end of the episode was anything to go by, things aren’t going to be pretty (but at least we know it’s going to be oh so good!).

Victoria spilled the beans to Margaux ABOUT EVERYTHING (not entirely unexpected I must admit) and Ben overheard! I kind of get the feeling that Emily’s problems are just beginning with that one and that he might just be more of an adversary than Margaux. He’s a stickler for the rules, so there’s no way now that he won’t start digging (he’s been sniffing around for a while). I can’t wait to see what happens there…will he become another victim of the red sharpie or another ally??

And surprise, surprise, Emily said exactly what I was thinking during last week’s episode, after she found out from Louise that it was Victoria who put Kate onto her and practically killed Daniel.

I said in last week’s post that things were bound to get more interesting with Elena Satine (Louise Ellis) becoming a series regular and indeed they are. It turns out Louise isn’t crazy after all. After a visit from aspiring politician and brother Lyman (Sebastian Pigott) Emily and Nolan managed to find out that Louise’s family have been drugging her for years to control her inheritance.

I do love it when Emily shows off some moves and kicks butt, so after taking a look at the promo, next week’s episode looks even better!

You can catch the promo here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYHg6PTkdAY

You can watch Revenge on http://tvnz.co.nz/video

The Crimson Field: A Review

Recently (or should I say finally?) making it to New Zealand screens this week was the BBC’s The Crimson Field. Following the experiences of patients and medics alike at a field hospital in France during the opening of World War I, there was no question that with military history a bit of a passion of mine, I was going to enjoy this series.

Crimson Field managed to tell a beautiful story of love in wartime, paint an accurate picture of British social life, for women in particular, while in no way shying away from the reality of trench warfare and its psychological effects on the men or the injuries suffered. All of the characters held depth, even nineteen-year-old Flora Marshall, played by Alice St. Clair, and the acting was phenomenal.

Kiwi Kerry Fox as Sister Margaret Quayle had me muttering at the TV even when she was playing nice, and Oona Chaplin’s Kitty Trevelyan was my favourite character (and not just because she was in Game of Thrones or had eyes for Richard Rankin’s Captain Thomas Gillan, oh that accent). Kevin Doyle’s Lieutenant Colonel Roland Brett provided some of the most heartfelt moments of the series, due to his unbending commitment to helping a particularly shell-shocked soldier.

The only bone I have to pick with the series was the rather pathetic and open ending following the rather emotional separation of Sister Joan Livesey (Suranne Jones) and her German fiancee. However, with writer Sarah Phelps having sketched out storylines for four more series, it’s no surprise.

So, as a fantastic series with an amazing cast, I was mortified to find out that the BBC has cancelled the series. The nail in the coffin, low audiences and critical praise. As someone who is passionate about the media industry, I’m getting sick and tired of ratings being behind the axing of great shows. It shouldn’t be a numbers game. NBC’s Dracula, The CW’s Star-Crossed, Legend of the Seeker..and now The Crimson Field.

However, all in all, a beautiful series and well worth the watch.

You can catch up on The Crimson Field at http://tvnz.co.nz/video

Source:

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-06-10/bbc1-axes-first-world-war-drama-the-crimson-field

Revenge Season 4 Episode 11 Review: What goes around, comes around…again?

‘What goes around, comes around’ has always been the best way to summarize Revenge and after this week’s episode farewelling Daniel Grayson it looks like the cycle of revenge will be continuing and it has me asking, will the cycle ever end?

‘Epitaph’ not only saw Daniel’s baby mamma Margaux LeMarchal picking up the torch of revenge and vowing to take down Emily, it also saw Malcolm Black, the new big bad wolf, arrive in the Hamptons to settle his score with David Clarke and more than likely take down Emily and Co for killing his daughter aka FBI Agent Kate Taylor in the mid-season finale.

After four seasons of a constant tit-for-tat between all of the Hamptonites, I must say it’s starting to get a little tiring. And with Nick Wechsler (Jack Porter) coming out and saying that the show could last two more seasons, I don’t know how much longer I can hold out. I mean, will Emily ever get her revenge?

The icing on the cake for me in this episode however, was Victoria Grayson once again refusing to admit her culpability. The first thing she did after finding out Daniel was dead was to ask Emily, “What have you done?”, and I was like more, “What have you done?”. After all, it was Victoria who put Kate onto Emily in the first place. Just saying.

However, despite all of the bones I had to pick with this episode, I still enjoyed it and I can’t wait to see what happens to everyone moving forward, and with Elena Satine (Louise Ellis) being promoted to series regular, things are bound to get more interesting!

You can catch Revenge on: http://tvnz.co.nz/video

And with Daniel gone, will Victoria be next? Catch next week’s promo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olzHvENimtM

Sources:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/revenge-star-nick-wechsler-says-4919108

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/revenge-promotes-elena-satine-series-761150