My Days Off: Television

By Geeky Gem

In this series of blogs I have been telling you all about the things I get u to when I have a day off. This time around I am going to share with you some of the television shows I am currently watching and some I have on my list.

Criminal Minds

As you may know me a little bt by know, you will know I have a habit of not getting into certain shows once it has been on a while. Criminal MInds is one of these shows, I had seen the odd episode here and there and then a friend in work lent me season one and boy am I gripped. I love it, it’s a fantastic show about B.A.U ( Behavioral Analysis Unit) who are called into to find some of the most twisted people out there. It really is a good show.

Game Of Thrones: Season 2

Now season 2 pick up where season one left off and boy does it start off as it means to go on. I haven’t finished season 2 yet but I better get a move on as season 3 starts soon and I for one can not wait. The North remembers is a great season opener and it just gets better and better.

American Horror Story: Asylum

This season is as every bit as good as the first season. The best thing is you don’t have to have seen season one to enjoy the whole host of new and disturbing characters that walk the halls of Briarcliff Asylum. Full of twists and turns and some messed up story lines AHS: Asylum is brilliant from start to finish.

The Walking Dead: Season 3

Now did you really think I could go on without mentioning The Walking Dead. I think we all know how I feel about this show, so I wont go on about it too much. It’s just getting better and better. Watch it, just watch it.

Arrow

Now Arrow is on my list of shows I have yet to watch, and was I really going to miss it. No as it’s based on the comic book character The Green Arrow and we all know how I feel about comics.  The Story is about  billionaire playboy Oliver Queen who after a violent shipwreck goes missing and presumed dead for five years. However he is later found alive on a remote island in the Pacific. This looks good and I will get round to watching it.

There we have it for another week, see you soon and happy watching.

WEDNESDAY WHIMSY

By @hmsbeefnuts

Welcome friends, once again, to a steaming hot, tasty plate o’ whimsy, served every Wednesday, by yours truly. I have been threatening for a while now, toying with the idea of actually writing a new blog all about WWE, but once again, it is beyond my grasp this week. I just havent had the time to process much that has gone on in the WWE Universe, perhaps next week, maybe, probably not though, we shall see. That leaves me with a blog to fill, and not much time to properly think about something and plan it properly. So I shall probably just write some stuff about the stuff I have done, since the last Wednesday blog, as long as it is deemed geeky enough to be blog worthy. Well, things have changed in my life recently. I have a new job, and TWO whole days off on the weekend. This has meant that I am actually enjoying my days off immensely. I used to have only Saturday off, and it felt far too short a time between weeks. This two day malarkey is fantastic, and my whole weekend was filled with fun and frolics, and of course, movies, some gaming, reading and TV, pretty much everything a growing geek needs.

Lets start with movies shall we? This week I managed to see two films at the cinema, Dredd, and Lawless. I loved both of these films, for very different reasons, as they are quite different, but I would recommend both of them. Lets start with Dredd. Based on UK comic property 2000 AD’s Judge Dredd, Dredd 3D is in 3D, and usually, I would be fuming that 2D wasn’t offered as an alternative, however, this film made fantastic use of it’s 3D, and was well worth the increased price, and slightly decreased vividness. Set in a dystopian future where 800 Million people live in a gigantic city, Mega City One, whilst the surrounding area is a wasteland. The only thing keeping the Law in Mega City One are the Judges, police officers who also serve as Judge, Jury and executioner, and Judge Dredd just happens to be the baddest Judge in the city. Karl Urban grimaces his way through a fantastic performance, never takes his helmet off, never talks in anything less than a snarl, Dredd is a complete badass. The story revolves around, Dredd and a rookie, Anderson (Olivia Thrilby), a psychic mutie, who is having her trial by fire in the mean blocks of the city. Investigating 3 gangland murders in one mega block, the Judges’ run fowl of Ma Ma (Lena Headley) a drug kingpin who runs all the Slo-Mo in the city. Dredd and Anderson are about to have a very bad day as the whole block is turned against them, and backup can not get through. Luckily Dredd is hard as nuts.

The many Slo-Mo scenes in the film are spectacular, as we go into the Slo-Mo junkies perspective, the 3D paid off during these scenes. The story is simple, but effective. The acting is strong, the violence is super harsh, and it is truly refreshing to see an 18/R rated movie that isn’t a horror film. I loved Dredd, it was up there with some of my favourite films this year. Now  haven’t read a lot of Dredd comics wise, but am aware that this is a very close representation of the comics, Dredd fans will I’m sure, be over the moon at this film, and anyone else should still give it a go anyway. It is also refreshing that there is no love interest, even though Anderson is very attractive, Dredd couldn’t give a shit, all he cares about is The Law. This film is a breath of fresh air, even though it has a simple story, it needs to be seen, because I want sequels.

Lawless is the story of one family, The Bondurrants, a family that has the reputation of being genuinely immortal, or at least extremely tough, in Prohibition era Virginia. The family has run a small, yet successful moonshine business, thanks to Tom Hardy’s elder brother, who is basically Bane without a mask, Jason Clarke, irresponsible, but still tough middle brother, and Shia Lebeuf’s younger, not so tough brother. The film shows the trials and tribulations of the family as the city encroaches on their business, with Guy Pearce’s Deputy causing problems and turning the town against them.

All the cast are excellent, yes even Shia Lebeuf, who apart from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, has put in strong performances in many films, and continues to do so here. Guy Pearce plays bad guy duties, with an off kilter Deputy Rakes, and Gary Oldman has a tiny but brilliant performance as Floyd Banner, a big city gangster. Tom Hardy is the star though. At first barely understandable, Hardy infuses Forrest Bondurrant with a quiet rage, his movements are slight, hardly talking, but is body language screams menace, you would not want to fuck with this guy. I happen to love prohibition era gangster movies, and this is a slightly different take on the usual Al Capone tommy gun madness, although, there is plenty of gun play on display. Not quite as epic as films such as The Untouchables, but I enjoyed it far more than Public Enemies. Great Sunday afternoon entertainment, highly recommended.

I think that’s enough for this week, and so I bid you farewell and adieu, which reminds me, you should really check out JAWS on Blu Ray, a thing of beauty, pure unadulterated beauty.