How Television Saved My Life

Thunderball. Yeah. When I was a kid it wasn't my favourite. There was too much going on underwater, too much going on in general, but nothing really happening. The concept is great... Spectre has devised a plot so devious it requires a bloke to get facial reconstructions, adjusting his voice and all to pretend to be someone else. This is all to get two nukes that Spectre can use to blackmail the UK and US to give them 100 million in diamonds. I've got questions. You see the concept is great if you keep it simple with them holding bombs for hostage for ransom and that the government have four days to accept or anyone's a target. Instead we've got a bloke with an eyepatch called Largo (Adolfo Celi) who's the chief architect of this plot , and he's dating the sister to the guy who got 'copied'. Now, I wonder - why didn't they just threaten the bloke with the fact that his sister would get murdered? So simple. Using a familiar device, and an und...

Goldfinger is probably one of the most recognizable and iconic of the films in the series. It's the one that defines what the future film try to do - with an outlandish evil geniuses plot - from the fantasy gadgets of ejector seats and bullet proof glass - and beautiful women. The film starts with Bond on a mission with a line as a bit of exposition to what's-going-on, which started in From Russia with Love , though this one pre-credit scene is completely unrelated to the film we're about to see. It's even got a completely lovely moment of Bond having a seagull on his head at one point. Anyway it's besides the point, it's silly, and funny with the usual dry wit, besides showing how fantastical the concept of this secret agent is. However, when on holiday, Bond is pretty much forced upon a different mission concerning a man called Auric Goldfinger. He plays a bit of a trick on the man who's been winning lots of card games with a helping hand from his a...

As I won't be able to see another Bond film today, I might as well talk about the film everyone is talking about, which is common when it comes to Christopher Nolan. One of the few directors who've taken over a franchise (The Dark Knight Trilogy) and still managed to garner huge amounts of buzz around his next films. He's made some cracking ones with Memento , Inception and even in my own eyes the very underrated and often forgotten  The Prestige. I've not yet seen Interstellar, shock and horror, I know, but the very negative buzz surrounding it deters me. Last Sunday, however, I was rather glad to get to see Dunkirk, which several were sceptic over - as Harry Styles was cast in it. Lots of drama over that casting happening, and I get that, as it felt like casting Keanu Reeves in Bram Stokers' Dracula, however, here it wasn't thankfully about his popularity but about the fact that he can  actually act. Way to go Harry! To the films plot, it's center...

When I was a kid I thought this one was super romantic, and I suppose it had to do a lot with Matt Monroe crooning "From Russia with Love" over James and Tatiania kissing in a boat in Venice. It's pretty picturesque, besides his hand slowly letting go of the film of them 'shagging'. Also the whole bedroom scene - Tatiana: I think my mouth is too big.  James: I think it's a very lovely mouth. It's just the right size - for me anyway! Number of jokes I didn't catch as a child. Many, also the illusions of romance have faded ever so slightly, yeah. Over to the plot. Spectre our international baddie group are in full focus this time orchestrating Tatiana Romanova played by Daniela Bianchi and James meeting. She's been told by 'Number Three' who's still pretending to be a part of the Russian Intelligence Service that she's got to pretty much seduce Mr Bond, besides do as he says at all times, and get him a Russian decoding ma...

Dr No, the first Bond film where Sean Connery became a star by playing the fictional MI6 agent 007 - James Bond. A character first made famous by the series of books written by Ian Fleming. The author himself disapproved of the casting of Sean Connery, though later incorporated the fact that Bond's family were originally Scottish and so-on, besides inserting a character similar to that of Honey Ryder played by Ursula Andress in the unforgettable beach scene, getting out of the water in a white bikini. In this one Bond is sent to Jamaica to find out why another fellow agent got murdered while investigating. It turns out that one of the privately owned islands is covered in radio active materials, it's owned by a man called Dr No, hence the title of the film, who's supposed to be half-Chinese and half-German, though the actor is 100% white, but made up to look Asian (unfortunately common at the time, as Breakfast at Tiffanies is probably the worst example of that). He...

It's been a while since series 9. There was a lot riding on the last series steered by Steven Moffat. Not only that, but the fact that it's also Peter Capaldi's last series as the Doctor. There are an awful lot of goodbyes going round, and one does not expect anything else, but great bits of mystery besides the usual showmanship displayed by Moffat in previous series. Somehow, thankfully, they started series 10 differently. The episode starts of with us getting to know Bill played charmingly by Pearl Mackie. She works in the canteen at a University the Doctor's currently working at, giving out chips to the students, though clearly craving to learn as well, showing up at his lectures. And why he noticed her? She smiled when she didn't understand something. The rest of the episode follows them through a period of time, with him tutoring her, and her developing feelings for a girl who's curious about a strange puddle. As an episode,  The Pilot  feels di...

Laika studio made Coraline , an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel about a young girl finding her 'other mother' who wants to give her buttons for eyes. In Kubo , we follow, of course Kubo who lacks one eye, and who tells stories of a great hero called Hansu in his village. More I can't really say, for fear of revealing too much. The thing that is truly remarkable of this stop-motion film is how extremely beautiful and well-done it is, every sequence is remarkable and beyond beautiful. From the colours, to the scenery, to the character design and the details on their clothes. Despite this, the story does lack some of the refinement it could have had, like, Coraline, but it's a wonderful tale nonetheless. A story worth seeing.

Director John Carney of the film Once  and Begin Again fame, returns with another charming film, focusing on a bunch of teenagers in 1980's. We follow Conor who's parents are going through a rough time in Dublin, financially and emotionally. One of the consequences financially is that he's sent off to a different school, a lower class all-boy school called Synge Street.  Conor doesn't start off so well, being different, but everything sort of takes a different turn when he finds another like-minded soul who in turn leads him to a girl  - possibly the  girl. It's like every 80's flick you've ever known, the sort of familiar trail of "boy sees beautiful girl whom he's desperate to impress". Conor confidently asks her to star in his bands music video, except, he's not got a band. It's effortlessly charming, besides being hilarious, as you see the band change their style, especially Conor. He's repeatedly changing throughout t...

Last time Nick Hornby wrote a screenplay was for An Education , which was good, except for the fact that the ending didn't seem to know where it was going. The fact that Brooklyn is based on  Colm Tóibín 's novel probably helps, besides Saoirse Ronan being downright amazing in the role as Ellis. Living in a small town in Ireland with her sister and mum, her sister encourages her to leave for America, putting her up with a job and a place to stay, as there's nothing available for her in Ireland. To begin with Ellis is deeply home-sick until she meets Tony, a young Italian man who begins to make her feel like Brooklyn might be home to her. The film isn't revolutionary perhaps, but it's wonderfully done by director John Crowley. The acting is also splendid and you understand the dilemma's and worries that go through Ellis' head as she tries to adapt to change, besides trying to understand where she truly belongs. It's nice to see such a story from ...

Ricky played by Julian Dennison is a foster kid, sent to live by the bush in New Zealand with Bella and Hec, the former more enthusiastic about Ricky, than both her husband and Ricky are themselves. He's had a troubled past - known for loitering, kicking things, breaking things, burning things etc, you name it, and winds up in some more trouble - getting lost in the bush, with his foster Uncle Hec played by Sam Neill. The fact that they also wind up being hunted by the government/child services because of a misunderstanding complicates things. Directed by Taika Waititi who also directed What we do in the shadows , it's a brilliant comedy-drama/adventure film, and I highly recommend it!