How Television Saved My Life

don't have 'the talk' (spoilers for s03e01) What's Arrow ? A vigilante by the name of Oliver Queen ( Stephen Amell )  who downs a green hood and who originally goes by Green Arrow in the comics, except the popular show has dropped the word green.  After two successful seasons, the third has finally begun and with that loads of stress/anxiety/angst with it. Oh joy. I'm going to be a human wrecking ball of emotions... Let me also explain 'shipping'. Have you heard of the term? It's in the Oxford Dictionary so it's a reality to be faced with. When a person says 'I ship-," it doesn't mean they're about to send a package to Hong Kong, but that they want a relation ship   to happen. The ship isn't exactly something one finds in real life however, but in tv-shows/books. In Arrow for example there are various ones to be found, but the most prominent, the most vexing - Olicity. I hate when I've been given something and people...

Viola Davis is a bamf I've been seeing this show mentioned a lot lately, funnily enough there's only  two episodes out and in this day and age that's impressive. The curious soul that I am, I hastened a glance and it's certainly the stuff of interest. We follow Wes Gibbins  ( Alfred Enoch ) who steps into a class headed by Annalise Keating ( Viola Davis ) - a brilliant criminal defense professor, and who you instantly know is someone to admire. Unsurprisingly it helps that Viola Davis is playing her, since the woman is a tour de force and truly believable as the professor of her class.  The second Wes walks into the classroom the majority of the students are chattering about her methods, some out of fear, some out of awe and some were just terribly smug in belief over their own skill. She instantly sets off about a case, one she's currently defending - a secretary accused of having poisoned her boss who was also her lover. Knowing crime shows and other law-...

Charming Fabio that's the name (spoilers for s04e02) There will be puns, sorry about that.  Finally here's more like it, a bit frostier this time round, as we follow the path of Ana and what's currently happening to Storybrooke since Elsa arrived. It's not the frosty spectacle one surmised, but it's brewing up to quite the debacle. Charming turns out to be an old friend of Kristoff and Ana swings in there first, encouraging him to stand up against the cruel Bo Beep who keeps a debt and possible slavery hanging over the younger man's head. While Elsa has created a frosty barrier so no one can escape Storybrooke, quite literally actually, though the trio of detectives lead by Emma investigate, only to find the saviour trapped not soon after. There are of course other problems occurring in the town - the electricity going out is one. Snow finds herself suddenly pushed forward as 'mayor', which with lack of sleep and loads breastfeeding is clear...

geeky heroes are the best ' My name is Barry Allen and I'm the fastest man alive. A friend recently gave me the idea for a new name and something tells me it's gonna catch on.' I'm not terribly familiar with The Flash , only having glimpsed him in DC' comics assorted collection of heroes called  Justice League. He was always the funny and sarcastic character who sped about in red to me. The pilot episode of The Flash begins exactly like it should weaving out the character's background and general life. We've got Barry Allen  ( Grant Gustin )  who always seems to be perpetually late, working as a forensic for the police (very Sherlock-like scene) and also secretly in love with childhood best friend Iris West ( Candice Patton ). Iris' dad Joe ( Jesse L. Martin ) works for the police as well making it the typical set-up of familiar faces, as Barry's parents aren't participating in the extent they should, but his father played by John Wesley...

'he's hot' 'no, he's creepy' You know what I love? The adrenaline rush of watching something you know feels almost post-coital. Like you wanna light a cigarette and look up into the night sky. Smog and fading stars above you. The feeling of blood rushing through your veins as you take that first gulp of cold air, your cheeks turning hot and the adrenaline kicking within you. What could be terrible about that? Well of course if you were like me, say alone, then there's that problem of not having anyone to talk to. And then I remembered the internet, like a little blessing and curse. David Fincher is famed for Se7en , Fight Club , Zodiac and The Social Network - his work is recognizable for its smart quick spoken dialogue that's often social commentaries and sleek filming/editing. You know a Fincher film when you see one. His most famous are often based on real people or books, and Gone Girl written by Gillian Flynn is a marvel to behold (the au...

'Dracula' by Francis Ford Coppela back in 1992 Red blood travels across a stone structure, slithering to some wistful pale female slipping open her white nightgown, letting the night overtake her and there are gothic luscious structures all around. There’s probably some sensual but scary music in the background. And then the cloak of darkness turns into a handsome man with devilish red eyes and pointed teeth that tear through skin (most likely through a beautiful English rose's throat). Everyone knows about vampires and especially Dracula (Dracul means Dragon, Dracula means son of dragon). The concept of vampires wasn’t originally Bram Stoker’s , for the idea had been out for a while, but he was the one who created Count Dracula.  You’ve probably heard that he based his character on the real historical figure nicknamed Vlad the impaler (according to the Saxon Germans that was) who was apparently quite bloody and violent, though, then again most peo...

Anthony Perkins was a total babe Imagine listening to a record player in the foyer of the theatre play music, before a voice suddenly exclaimed - " Ten minutes to Psycho time ." That's how it was when Psycho was released back in 1960, director  Alfred Hitchcock forced people to watch it from the very beginning, also requesting the audience to keep silent about the ending ('It's the only one we have'). A feat no one could pull off these days, as everyone seems to encourage being spoilt, hunting and searching for clues about the even most unexciting films released. There's even websites dedicated to this very pursuit. But Hitchcock created a legend, an unexpected sleeper-hit filmed only in thirty days and as cheap as possible - did he think it would become such a hit? No one knows. It became his greatest success and it's not surprising really. There's something so very delicious about this slice of horror that showcases that we all go a lit...

serious badasses yo Let's talk about Sleepy Hollow  - not to be mistaken with the classic gore-dark comedy by Tim Burton back in 1999 lead by Johnny Depp . No, we're talking about last year's new horror fantasy-adventure-detective show that might not be exactly the kind of horrifying experience one looks after during Halloween , but it's certainly a memorable show nonetheless. Ichabod Crane ( Tom Mison ) is having a hard time during the war in 1781 and after almost (ok pretty much) being killed by a hessian he suddenly wakes up in something similar to a grave, and soon he is walking through fog and almost gets hit by a car . Cue the song Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones and you've got pretty much the intro that sold me on watching this show. Crane might be the typical gentleman-like British (of course he is) time-traveller from the past who is suddenly paired up with the unwilling and certainly disbelieving lieutenant Abbey Mills ( Nichole Beha...

Kurt Russell is hot, pass it on (spoiler-ish) "You gotta be fuckin´ kidding." Tense and surprisingly real - The Thing really caught me by surprise in terms of pacing, though with John Carpenter being in the director's chair I shouldn't have been shocked by the sheer elegance, briefly seen in Halloween . A team of American scientists out on Antarctica live quietly enough, until one day a bunch of Norwegians appear in a helicopter shooting after some dog, shouting " It's not really a dog, we have to kill it - don't invite the thing in!"  Apparently back in 1982 Norwegians didn't know English, so the poor unsuspecting Americans put a bullet into the one guy who seems to be bearing a pretty sensible warning.  This is of course where our story begins.  It's clear that this time round Carpenter has more cash to spend in terms of special effects and scenery, which is much more convincing and gore-filled compared to Halloween (I...

pssst spoilers, she's a good girl Before slasher-films truly took hold and became a household thing, the first one to truly steer the path was Halloween  by  John Carpenter . The 'rules' you've heard spoken of in Scream - if you were of that generation probably originated here, though this isn't so much horror as thriller. Slasher-films these days have turned gritty, besides bloodier and crammed to the brim with back-stories to explain away why people suddenly turn bad. They really don't make them like they used to. Why Michael is scary you ask? Because he was an ordinary kid. It begins in 1963 where you see through the eyes of the murderer (literally) who turns out to be Michael. Everyone knows the story, but it was the first time I watched it myself. There wasn't any mean parents or cruel sister, as she just seemed to be having a visitor over (for you know stuff). Normal . Basically. That's what's actually scary. This is what horror the...

I used to doodle that swirley thing shiit Years back I did a sort of ' October-fest ', though not with those nifty trousers or any of the kind of festivities involving loads of alcohol - I watched one scary movie a day. I wouldn't exactly call the majority of those flicks scary, but they were certainly childhood classics that I enjoyed that celebrated the spirit of Halloween. I'm a huge fan of Halloween, though usually it's the moral-high-ground plots (you bad ghost you) and cute pumpkins and skeletons who sing songs. I've never been inclined to sit down screaming my head off, as the last scary film I watched voluntarily was The Ring  back when it first came out. Somehow that film wasn't so terrifying, but that's because I was mesmerized with the cinematography most of the time ( Goré Verbinski knows his shit). The Conjuring I've heard of for a while, and like always the sentence 'scariest movie of - - -' appeared repeatedly. There's...