To Boldly Watch - Part 3

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So next up on my odyssey of Star Trek, my Star Trek trek so to speak is Star Trek: Enterprise. I thought I'd try and watch the shows in chronological order of when they are set so I am sure although this is one of the more recent shows (2001 - 2005) it's set in the earliest time, the 22nd century, 2151 (100 years before Kirk), when humanity are only just venturing out as Starfleet into the universe to boldly go and all that jazz.

I have never seen a single one of the adventures of Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and his crew upon the Enterprise but seeing people's posts about it I had the vague idea that the general consensus was not too positive towards it. It must have done fairly well though as it had 4 seasons with 98 episodes. As I write this paragraph I am still on season one and I like it. The premise is interesting, the earliest space explorations of humanity, their 1st trips to discover new life and planets. We've already  had contact with other alien species, the Vulcans assisted us with perfecting our space technology, although there is some animosity towards them with feeling that they held mankind back. Initially placed on a temporary basis the Vulcan T'Pol eventually becomes fulltime and some of this mistrust is directed towards her. The ship doctor too is an alien, Dr. Phlox is a Denobulan, a jovial little character who is possibly my favourite of the series. The captain has a ship's dog too Porthos!! The 1st mission starts prematurely in the end when a Klingon, Klaang is wounded and they have to take him home. We also find a new enemy race, the Suliban (I think they're new, I don't remember them from anything else?), who are doing the bidding of a future intelligence in a Temporal Cold War. Later in an episode where Captain Archer and Mayweather are captured and held in a Tandaran internment camp with a number of Suliban we find that it is only some of them that are enemies, the Cabal. This episode is a parallel of the human history events when Japanese American citizens in the US were detained during WWII. Something that happened to The Original Series actor George Takei (Mr Sulu) and his family. I wonder if it was written or directed by him perhaps.

1st contact of Vulcans on Earth: Carbon Creek

As an early (chronologically) mission some of the tech is not so good, their top warp speed is not so fast, photon torpedoes haven't been discovered yet and the translaters have a few hiccups, Comm officer  Ensign Hoshi Sato has her work cut out for her. The teleporter tech is new and they start off wary of it, favouring instead small shuttle craft for flying to planet's surfaces. They also launched early so some of their systems were not fully set up just yet. When they start to encounter new planets and civilisations we find that no official contact protocols have been devised yet. This leaves it very much up to Archer to make up on the fly with advise from T'Pol. 

There are some great episodes, fun ones like when male engineer Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker gets unexplainably pregnant, and when T'Pol tells the tale of her ancestors 1st unintended visit to Earth. There are tense ones too like when Archer gets a virus that prevents him making new memories creating a whole different timeline and when they are held at gun point by Andorians at a Vulcan temple as they believe it's a spy base. Horror icon Jeffrey Combs plays Andorian Commander Shran a reoccurring character extremely well, it's funny to see him with blue skin and antennae.

Jeffrey Combs as Commander Shran

Season 3 we discover a new enemy, the Xindi, the whole season is taken up with preventing them from wiping out Earth. Beings from another dimension convince the Xindi that humanity are their enemy and are destined to destroy them if they don't pre-emptively destroy us first. Enterprise has to enter The Expanse a dangerous, uncharted area of space to try and stop them from building a massive weapon capable of destroying our planet.

4 of the 6 Xindi races at their Council

Season 4 seems to consist of lots of 2-parters with stuff like alien Nazis, cowboy planets, Vulcan political intrigues and Romulan warmongering amongst the subjects portrayed. With the program coming to an end we see talk about the United Federation of Planets being born. Archer and his crew have done much to heal rifts between the Vulcans, Andorians and the Tellarites over the series and have helped to create conditions where a United Nations of planets is possible. In the final episode, told in a very unique manner we see Johnathan Archer working on his speech for the inauguration of this body but is side-tracked by an urgent plea from Commander Shran.

The series has a fair few nods at historical stuff and hints at future canon events. In one storyline for example Brent Spiner, (Data from Next Generation), stars as a criminal, Dr Soong, responsible for creating banned genetically enhanced augments. At the conclusion he determines that perhaps synthetic androids would be a better avenue for his talents. Hence he is bound to model their look on himself and thus he creates Data!

I have to say my favourite moment from the entire series has to be when Dr Phlox is stuck in quarantine with a pon farr'd T'Pol which is comedy gold! Where's the porn parody? (Joking!)

I read up on some of the dislike that this series had at the time of it's 1st airing, some called it the death of Star Trek!! I've got to say that's all a bit harsh if you ask me, but you know what it's like when people obsess over shows, they can never be satisfied and will complain about any little thing. One thing I can agree on though is that the theme tune sucks, give me a woman harmonising over a theremin anyday! (Although I've just done some research and found that the original theme actually has no theremin in it after all so that's my world view rocked!!)

Nextflix Reviews - The Expanse

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This is a show my brother recommended to me a while back, I was a bit slow to watch it so he kept reminding me over and over so it's safe to say he must have enjoyed it. I started with a couple of episodes and wasn't really captivated at 1st but my bro told me to persevere so I did and it does get more enthralling as it goes on. It starts slow but really picks up momentum until it draws you in and gets you rooting for the characters.

OK so obviously it's Science-fiction, it's very story heavy, there are a lot of characters spread over 3 planetary groups and various different factions. It's quite a feat to get your head around all the motivations and intrigues that are going down to be honest and I was a bit confused for a couple of parts. Especially when I started on season 2 it was so long since I saw the 1st season that it took me a couple of episodes to get back up to speed with it.

The main 3 factions/planets we have are the Earth, Mars and then there are the asteroid belt dwelling miners known colloquially as 'belters'. Earth and Mars are at loggerheads with each other and simmering ill will between them means they are almost ready to go to war. The hardy and wild 'belters' dislike both planets for how they have treated them in the past and there is a rebellious terrorist faction amongst them. There is a lot of diplomacy and intrigue going on behind the scenes on Earth where we follow the work of United Nations executive Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), as she tries to prevent war between the planets. Then we have a police detective Josephus Miller (Thomas Jane), looking for a missing woman and we also follow the crew of the Rocinante. 

A conspiracy is uncovered that threatens the fragile peace, a bio-weapon has been created and is tested in catastrophic fashion. Shrouded in mystery accusations begin to fly as paranoia grips the political factions, each suspecting the other of preparing for war. The crew of the Rocinante seek to wipe out the proto-molecule and also discover it's origins but there are more factions who want it for themselves, to use it for their own ends despite the potential dangers.

I have just finished watching the 2nd season of this show and it's pretty good but whilst I do enjoy it there are a few negative points to it at least to my mind anyway. Those negative points are not really caused by the show but by myself really. I am too much of a multitasker and get distracted from what's going on in the show whilst playing on my laptop at the same time. There are so many characters with different motivations that I find it a bit hard to keep up at times. This is a show that requires concentration to pick up all the layers and memory too to remember the names and which characters belong to which faction. This is a show that would benefit from multiple viewing I think so you can catch things you missed the 1st time around.

Season 3 has aired already but isn't up on Netflix yet, and the show was cancelled by Syfy but with an immediate & popular campaign to save it that followed it's been picked up for a 4th and possible even beyond that series by Amazon. So that probably means that future seasons may not be aired on Netflix but Amazon Prime instead! We'll have to wait and see.

The series is based on the Hugo Award winning The Expanse books by James S.A Corey. There are currently seven main novels and 5 shorter works in the series with more already planned so the source material for the TV show to still draw on is seemingly plentiful. The show has received much praise from fans and critics alike so it could well run for quite some time yet.

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Nextflix Reviews - Re:Mind

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This has the look to it of a Jigsaw type of horror, it has a chilling and intriguing premise although I have to say it fell a little flat for me and the potential was not realised. Eleven Japanese school girls wake up with red hoods over their heads fixed by foot manacles around a dinner table. They have no idea how they got there and no clue as to why they have been abducted and shackled. Over the course of 13 episodes they try and piece together what happened and who they offended to wind up in such a scary predicament.

The whole room is decked out with objects that are meant to trigger memories in the girls to prompt them to realise why they have been imprisoned. Every so often, normally after a confession of a memory to do with their missing school friend Miho, the clocks all chime the lights darken and a girl disappears.

As I said the story idea is good but I found the execution to be clunky and confusing and the subtitles didn't really help much with that I think. It has lots of young Japanese ladies shouting at each other and crying It was pretty unmemorable and didn't really have any horrors elements as such just a bit of mystery that I got bored of pretty quickly. It's also pretty unmemorable, I was anxious to get it over with as it was pretty uninspiring and I can't for the life of me even remember what happened in the end!! 

Apparently the main girl characters are members of the Japanese idol girl group Keyakizaka46, I have no idea what that even means... is that a pop band?

Nextflix Reviews - American Horror Story

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This is another cool show that's well worth watching on Netflix. It has six seasons ready and waiting for your viewing pleasure. Each season is an ongoing story arc with a different horror tale to tell. In order the seasons are Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Hotel & Roanoke. It is unique show as far as I am aware as there is a regular ensemble cast over most of the seasons who play different roles from season to season. Only two of the cast have appeared in every season Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson, the latter was a medium in series 1, a gay writer consigned to an asylum in 2, the headmistress of a school for witches in 3, conjoined twins in 4, the ghost of a dead junkie in 5 and an actress starring in a documentary re-enactment show in 6. Series 7: Cult, which I am sure I heard is based on the US elections, has been released although it's not on Netflix yet. If it's anything like the 6 series I have seen so far it should prove to be most interesting and entertaining. Series 8 & 9 have also been confirmed and will be set in the future apparently!! 

Other reoccurring cast members include excellent turns from Angela Bassett, Jessica Lange and Kathie Bates who act their socks off as various larger than life characters. The plots are all twisting and turning and full of memorable and crazy characters. I will give a quick synopsis of each season but so much goes on in each of them that you need to see it for yourself really. 

Murder House is your basic , (although it's far from basic really), haunted house story. A family moves into a house with a bloody past and have to suffer due to it's history both from the living and the spirits of the murderers and the victims that presided there.

Asylum, set in the 60's, is the story of a writer who goes into a run-down insane house for a story and ends up stuck there and sees all the deprivation and depravity that occurs within it's walls. It features subplots of mad doctors, possession and alien abduction of all things!! There is even a random big song and dance number that is truly surreal.

Coven tells of a school of witches that has existed in New Orleans  since escaping there after fleeing from the Salem Witch trials and has a long and chequered history. The current small crop of students are a disparate lot with petty differences all looking to graduate. Their supreme witch returns suddenly to upset the status quo and to facilitate her own personal agenda.

Freak Show is set in the 50's and tells of a struggling travelling group of freaks and their trials and tribulations. There is murder afoot as well with 3 separate outside forces set on targeting people from the show and in the surrounding town. Foremost of these forces is a killer clown named Twisty.

The Hotel of the 5th season is inhabited with vampires and serial killers and their victims and ghosts of serial killers and their victims and a transgender bartender! Lady Gaga won awards playing as The Countess a vampires who lives in the penthouse.

Roanoke is the filming of a re-enactment of a haunting event for a TV programme called My Roanoke Nightmare. The cast filming the re-enactment are plagued by their own horrors similar to those that affected the people they're portraying. With cannibal locals, Celtic witch goddesses and ghostly residents of the historic Roanoke settlement hounding them they'll be lucky if they get out alive.

As horror goes it's not really overly gory or horrific I don't find, it's kind of teen level horror I'd say PG-13 or something but maybe I am numb to it after 40 odd years of watching horror movies. it's been a while since I watched it now but I'm pretty sure there's a fair bit of nudity so probably don't go showing it to your kids.

Most series run for 12/13 episodes and sometimes the stories do have a sense of being a little dragged out with extra elements seemingly thrown in to prolong the story but I don't mind that really as the over the top craziness is great fun as far as I'm concerned. 

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Nextflix Reviews - Z Nation

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Is it possible to get too much zombie stuff? Obviously there is some rubbish stuff out there but this show is not amongst that category by a long shot. This is a very cool show with lots of action and humour with a cast of believable characters. I discovered it when the 1st season popped up and binge watched it straight away and have done the same as each subsequent series has been released. 

The zombie plague has pretty much taken over the entire world with only pockets of human survivors struggling to survive in the hostile environment. The show starts by showing us a medical unit's attempts to create a vaccine using prisoners as test subjects. One of their guinea pigs Murphy is tied to a gurney and injected with the most recent experimental batch of the anti-zombie vaccine but the room is overrun and he is attacked and bitten multiple times by the undead. Instead of dying or being fully consumed he awakes as a strange human/zombie hybrid with telepathic powers over the undead. In season one a team of survivors gather and take up the mission to get Murphy across country to another facility where they can develop a vaccine from his blood. They discover that Murphy's bite turns people into hybrids who are not attacked by zombies but can be influenced by murphy's mind over zombies power.

The team varies as events claim some of their lives or allegiances change but the main players who have survived the longest so far are ex-soldier Roberta Warren, the team leader, a driven and capable woman who is the team's brains; Doc, an aging hippy with a heart of gold and a taste for weed who applies his medic skills and drug knowledge as best he can; 10K a youth with a knack for sniping who takes his name from his proposed Z kill target and Addy a nice girl turned spiked baseball bat swinging Amazon bad-ass by the necessity of life post-Z apocalypse. They are aided from outside the group by Citizen Z who is the lone operative at a government listening/viewing post in the Arctic Circle, he directs them as best as he can using satellite technology but in a world full of chaos he can't always get the message across.

The story of their travels is influenced by the zombies that are always in their way and the living communities that they encounter along the road. Each season seems to culminate with an end to one phase of the mission and the beginning of another as events seem to always conspire against them. 

Although they fight alongside each other for survival there is often conflict within the group too. The dynamic in the team changes fairly often with Murphy himself being the main catalyst for trouble within the group. This friction increases when he is able to father a daughter by a human, who also has zombie controlling powers of her own amongst other abilities. He's a criminal after all and he has his own ideas about the world's future with himself as the ruler of his own zombie/hybrid community. His bite offers survivors safety from zombies which is very tempting for them and Murphy is fed up with being the subject of human experiments and thinks his kind are the future.

The tone of the show is serious in the main but there is a lot of humour in it too, like a slightly less serious and angst ridden The Walking dead. It's got drama in all the right places but is able to induce more than the odd laugh through crazy situations and quirky encounters.

Netflix has 3 seasons available to view right now although 4 have been released so far and a 5th is in the works too. Hopefully we won't have too long to wait as it was left on rather a meaty cliffhanger. 

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Nextflix Reviews - iZombie

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Starting in 2015 this comedy/drama has just tied up it's 4th season on Netflix and is bloody good stuff. Based on the DC imprint Vertigo comics by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred it tells the story of Oliva 'Liv' Moore who has to change her life drastically after getting scratched by a zombie at a party and becoming infected with the zombie virus herself. The zombie rules in this world are different though rather than being a slathering flesh crazed shuffling fool she retains all her human abilities but craves brains. It's only if she doesn't get a supply to eat that she becomes feral. To this end she gives up her training to be a doctor to become an assistant pathologist at the King County Morgue. Her boss Ravi Chakrabati soon realises her plight and becomes her friend and confidante. Also with his scientific knowledge he seeks to find a cure for the condition.

There is a saying, "You are what you eat" and a strange side effect of eating the brains of the deceased is that she picks up images and characteristics of her meals. This leads her to be able to uniquely assist Detective Clive Babineaux in his homicide cases as she often sees memories from the victims very recent pre-death lives. It also provides much of the ample humour as she takes on their characteristics also which can lead to some very funny situations and I imagine it must be a lot of fun and a challenge for an actor to have so many different facets to play with. She's been affected by the brains of a jock, a geek, a seductress, a surly teen, a mother hen, a cantankerous old man and all sorts of other combinations of humanity in the course of seeking sustenance. And with the knowledge her meals have given her she's helped to solve the cases of their untimely deaths.

Other members of the cast include her on again/off again fiancé/boyfriend Major Lilywhite, when she gets zombied up she has to ditch him as zombism is sexually transmitted apparently! There is also her room mate Peyton Charles who is assistant district attorney for King County and then there is Blaine a sometimes ally, (but mostly villain), whose drug dealing of an infected batch of Utopium led to the initial incident that got Liv zombified in the beginning. 

Over the course of the 4 seasons things have developed significantly as more is learned about the cause of the condition and more people become infected. Blaine uses it as an excuse to earn more money and power through increasingly nefarious means. A lot of the initial story was around Liv keeping her condition secret from her friends but they each learn of it as the show goes on changing the dynamic of the relationships. Also a cure is developed but it is limited and has side effects and they are unsure of it's safety. This also leads to a bit of a zombified/not zombified back and forth too for some of the cast. Attitudes to zombies change as the humans knowledge of them increases and by season 4 we have an independent zombie state in Seattle which is founded in much controversy in season 3. Seattle is now cordoned off from the outside world with paranoia rife between humans and zombies. There is fear and distrust from both sides many humans think of zombies as monsters to be eliminated and some zombies think of humans only in relation to their tasty skull content and with brain shortages being a problem the new rulers of the area are finding it very hard to govern, becoming more authoritarian as the series runs. There are humans who want to become zombies as it cures any terminal illness they may have, and also zombies who want to be cured but there is only a very limited supply of the antidote available. Even the friends within Liv's circle are forced to question their thoughts and loyalties and are faced with hard decisions. 

Apparently the next season, number 5 will be the last so we will see how things develop after the cliffhanger of season 4's finale. I've grown to like all the characters, (apart from Blaine who is a bastard albeit a charming entertaining one), and hope that season 5 will end well for them and like many will be waiting feverishly for 2019 to find out what transpires.

I'd recommend this to anyone who likes a laugh with a bit of sickness involved, she eats brains every week and prepares them with almost mouth watering detail!!!, so that might make some a bit queasy. The interplay between all the cast is great and they all have proper stories to get into as well with no real boring undeveloped characters really. Liv played by New Zealand actress Rose McIver is great, she is so versatile to play all the nuances of the characteristics she inherits from her meals but she is slightly eclipsed as my favourite character by English actor Rahul Kohli's fun portrayal of her boss Ravi. 

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Apparently the show is only loosely based on the comics but I may well add these to my Amazon wishlist 😃

     

Nextflix Reviews - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

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This one may seem a bit out there for my normal viewing tastes but I really enjoyed this period detective series. I got watching it as my girlfriend loves all her detective dramas and did her normal trick of putting this on at bedtime and promptly falling asleep, leaving me to watch it on my own. I eventually watched all 3 seasons of it, (not all in that 1 night obviously!!) 

The programme is based on the series of books, by prolific author Kerry Greenwood, which began in 1989 with "Cocaine Blues" and runs to 20 in number so far with the latest "Murder and Mendelssohn" released in 2013. Greenwood has also written science fiction, children's books and plays.



Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis) is a spirited thoroughly modern 1920's  woman who has recently arrived  back in Melbourne, Australia. She engages herself as a sleuth solving all manner of crimes and mysteries. Independently wealthy, although she hasn't always been so, she seems to do it more for the love of solving mysteries and to help people out than for any financial need. In the show she has a great cast of interesting characters around her. She is a bit of a thorn in the side of police detective 'Jack' Robinson (Nathan Page) and his constable Hugh Collins (Hugo Johnstone-Burt) as she keeps wheedling her way into his investigations but her skills prove to be very useful and their relationship burgeons over the course of their investigations. Constable Collins falls for Phryne's secretary, the sweet and innocent, good Catholic girl, Dot (Ashleigh Cummings). Recently employed by Phryne, Dot grows from a timid girl to a much more modern and adventurous lady as the show progresses and we see how her relationship with Hugh grows and the ups and downs it goes through challenged by the fact that he is a Protestant and also his ideas of a woman's role differing from her new Phryne influenced ones. Also in Phryne's employ are Mr Butler the butler and Bert and Cec a pair of cabbies who she employs to do all manner of investigative footwork for her. Other recurring characters include Miriam Margolyes as her Aunt Prudence, her friend Dr Mac (Tammy Macintosh) and her ward Jane (Ruby Rees).

As well as solving a wealth of crimes as the series progresses we get to learn more of Phryne's colourful and sometimes tragic history. Some events of her past catch up with her as the series progresses, we learn of her time in the ambulance service during WWI and her time as an artist's model, muse & lover in Paris after the war. Also there's a long story arch much taken up with the escaped criminal Murdoch Foyle (Nicholas Bell) who abducted and killed Phryne's younger sister Janey when she was just a child. He brings some real tension to the story during his time in it, being a thoroughly horrid and capable villain. In later episodes Phryne's father turns up, he's a bit of a cad and they have a strained relationship, he brings his dangerous drama into the mix having unresolved issues from his past that could prove fatal.

I really enjoyed this show, the interplay and progression of relationships between the cast is great, it's a very good ensemble of characters and actors who you end up caring for and wanting to do well. The look at history is interesting too with a lot of social elements picked up and examined during the course of the show.

There is no new series planned it seems but thankfully a full-length movie is in the works having been successfully financed and apparently is planned to begin filming in October. It's called Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears and is slated to be directed by Tony Tilse who is a veteran Australian director who did Murder in the Outback and several episodes of Farscape, Wolf Creek & Ash Vs Evil Dead. Also there is talk of a prequel series based on Miss Fisher which will not be based on any of the books but will be imaginings of the character from a part of her life not previously dealt with.

Check out Phryne's website for more information on her adventures.

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Also starring Essie Davis

     

Geek Tee Friday - Wanted! - The Joker

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My geek tee for today is of that arch villain, the clown prince of crime, The Joker! And rather a snazzy little shirt it is too, showing him in all his insane glory. It's one of the four I picked up recently in my blog HERE, check it out.

The Joker was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson and debuted in Batman #1 by DC Comics on 25th April 1940 which makes him 78 years and 1 month old today!! 

Although he has no super powers he has a mad cunning intellect and is a master at planning crazy schemes. He revels in chaos, mayhem and murder. For a time during the comics code regulations of the 50's he was more of a goofy prankster but more often than not now his japes are deadly. He is responsible for a lot of pain to the Bat-family, killing the 2nd Robin, Jason Todd, in  brutal fashion in Batman: A Death in the Family and also crippling Barbara Gordon, Bat Girl in the iconic story The Killing Joke.

He's been played by a number of actors over the years both on TV and films. Cesar Romero was The Joker of my youth, playing him for 3 seasons of the Batman TV show that ran from 1966 - 68 and the spin-off movie. Jack Nicholson starred as him in the Batman movie of 1989, a film I must admit I despised when I 1st saw it! Heath Ledger received many accolades for his crazed portrayal of him in The Dark Knight (2008). His was a tough act to follow indeed and many hated Jared Leto's Joker in Suicide Squad (2016). I thought the dislike for his Joker was unfair and actually rather enjoyed his manic take on the character.

Top: Cesar Romero & Jack Nicholson

Bottom: Heath Ledger & Jared Leto

In animation Joker has been voiced by a number of actors most notably Mark Hammil who is a Sci-fi hero after his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars series. It was interesting to see that a hero from another Sci-fi franchise, Brent Spiner, who played Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation also voiced him too! 

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Random Superhero T-shirt purchase!

So I saw this ad on Facebook for 4 random superhero t-shirts for £15 and thought, "Heck, why not?!"

Here's the video of me opening my goods 😀

That's my next 4 Geek Tee Friday posts sorted out now anyway :)

Here is the company I bought these from if you're looking for a deal

www.loudshop.com

Check out my other Geek Tee BLOGS

Nextflix Reviews - Hungerford

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For some reason, (I dunno if I imagined it or something), I had some weird notion that this was by the same team, or a follow up of the movie Pontypool! That was a Canadian film named after a town in Wales, although I guess Canada has a town of the same name too.  I must have just imagined that though, perhaps I should have just left this film there really in the imagination stage, maybe the film makers should have left it at that stage too!

Hungerford is a town in Berkshire in England, the only reason I ever heard of it before was because there was a massacre there back in 1987. It strikes me as a bit of an odd name for this film, it doesn't tell you anything about the movie with it's title other than this is where the film is set. The need to pin down it's geography seems pointless to me unless they are appealing to loyal Hungerfordites, (Hungerfordians?), hoping they'll buy it!!

In the film Cowen, (Drew Casson, who also directs), is staying with brother and sister Adam & Philippa, sleeping on their sofa. He's filming for some project or other so this film is all done in the very worst that shaky-cam camera work can manage. Actually it wouldn't surprise me if this movie itself was a university project of some sort. There is a strange storm that shorts out radios and mobiles and afterwards people start acting violently. The trio plus the lodger Kipper try and fathom out what is causing the chaos.

What can I say about this movie? I am a little bit torn really, my initial reaction is that it is just plain bad. Amateur actors guide unbelievable characters through a turgid plot with clumsy action sequences all filmed with headache inducing camera work. It's low budget for sure but it's kind of plucky as well, I want to salute their endeavour in putting it all together. Some of the special effects are passable and the overall story is efficient enough but the dialogue feels so unnatural and clunky that it gets annoying pretty quickly.

The enemies aren't zombies which makes a change I suppose but they might as well be except they are caused by something that looks like it belongs in a 50's sci-fi b-movie or a really early Dr. Who episode. Actually this film might have played better if they'd tried to parody either of those two styles, especially the former. If they'd filmed it in Black & White with a still camera instead of Go-Pros and hammed it up then it would have at least been amusing and perhaps deliberately over-acting would have disguised their actual limited acting talents and terrible dialogue. 

This is essentially a bargain basement Slither, I wouldn't recommend it to you to watch unless you've seen practically every other horror film that Netflix has to offer already.

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Lisa's quick peek into the week

Quick peek into the week - Wheel of fortune reversed.

Down on your luck this week? Feeling like the world is against you and nothing is working out in your favour?

If you can relate – and don't mind being challenged – have a think about whether it's really a case of 'bad luck' or bad decision-making. When things go wrong, it's easy to blame luck, Mercury Retrograde or other people. But if you want to live your life feeling empowered and in control, you need to step up and take accountability for where you are at right now.

Even if things aren't working out the way you want them to, you are being asked to shine the light back onto yourself and look at what actions you've taken that have lead to your current circumstances. When you do that, you reclaim your power and you can make positive change for the future – rather than always playing victim to 'fate'. You choose!

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Have a good week everybody.
Readings are £5 off now, so please message me on my fb page Lisa Farmer Tarot Reader if you 'd like to book in.
Looking forward to speaking with some of you.

Best wishes. Xx

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Nextflix Reviews - Before I Wake

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Mark & Jessie a couple who lost their own child adopt another, Cody, who's had an unfortunate life. He lost his mother and then has been in a string of foster homes with not much success even being abandoned by one couple to fend for himself. He's a sweet kid and the couple soon take to him and he seems to be settling in nicely.

There is something a little odd though, we soon learn that he has an odd fear of sleeping, using stimulants to keep him awake. It seems that his dreams have effects in the real world, he has psychic powers or something that makes his sleeping visions manifest. When he does sleep for the 1st time it's beautiful as he dreams of butterflies much to the wonderment of Mark & Jessie. Later he dreams of Tate, the child they lost which seems like a miracle to them helping to aid them with the healing process perhaps although Mark thinks Jessie is taking advantage of Cody to see her son again causing a little friction between them.

The visions he projects soon start to take on a more sinister turn, as he has dark dreams, where his own personal nightmare, the Canker Man turn ups. Can his new family keep him safe from this terrible apparition, can they themselves survive it?

I thought this was a decent film, with an interesting premise and some nice chills, the acting and effects were good and the explanation tied it up very well at the end. It's only a 15 so don't expect it to trigger too many nightmares itself unless you are squeamish, although just because it's not super gory at all perhaps the concept of it might just makes your own dreams a little uneasy.

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Nextflix Reviews - KL Zombi

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I was just saying in my review of Plan Z earlier today about the proliferation of zombie movies that are being made, I mentioned the difference in quality from film to film, but I forgot to talk about the different tones they have, zombie comedies are pretty popular it seems and the zombie movie phenomenon is pretty global too with this one a case in point. It's a zombie comedy from Malaysia, the KL stands for Kuala Lumpur that countries capitol. 

A group of friend's watching fireworks from a cliff top see a cute little poodle who bites one of them and he becomes patient zero. Before you know it the zombies are everywhere plaguing the group members wherever they are, working at school, trying out for a TV popstar talent competition and such like. The main protagonist is Nipis, (which translates as Skinny), he's a bit of a slacker and doesn't notice the dead around him for quite a while, even playing hockey with a team of undead!

Being a comedy and maybe because it's a foreign film the rules are a bit different , the zombies seem to react to pain more rather than just having their heads bashed in, they seem to be able to knock them out. Some of Skinny's fight scenes play out like Robert Downey Jnr's Sherlock Holmes ones where he plans out the attacks before implementing them. He gets out fought by a couple of kids he hooks up with quite a lot though. I suppose it's like Shawn of the Dead a Zom/Com/Rom a zombie comedy romance as there is a love interest for Skinny. 

I quite liked the movie, it was silly mainly, without any real belly laughs, perhaps some of the humour was lost in translation and it didn't have any scares but I didn't mind it at all. Perhaps it was just the novelty of it and if it had been in English or not from an exotic location I'd have disliked it more!

Check out some more zombie stuff HERE!

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