TV Review: 12 Monkeys Series Premiere: "Splinter" [Emz]

So I just watched the very first episode on Netflix. I'm not sure what I expected but it was certainly different to what I had in mind.

For those of you who haven't seen is here is the series premise:

 A man from the post-apocalyptic future, Cole uses a dangerous, untested method of time travel to get from 2043 to the present day. He is on a mission to locate and rid the world of the source of the plague that will eventually annihilate the human race. Assisting him is Dr. Cassandra Railly, a virologist who must decide whether to do harm in order to save the world -- regardless of the fact that she has taken the Hippocratic oath. The sci-fi series is based on Terry Gilliam's 1995 film, which starred Bruce Willis as Cole.

Review:

So, I haven't seen the original movie that this series is based on, but this episode was completely Sci-fi all the way through. I loved the way the characters connected with past, present and future, from comments thrown out there to thing we and the characters are yet to explore to the way time travel affects them.

The title of the episode refers to the type of time travel depicted in this series.

Amanda Schull who plays Dr. Cassandra Railly, is not stranger to playing complicated characters as she played Sara Evans / Katie Ryan in One Tree Hill and for those of you who have watched the series well she is definitely not a wallflower of a character.

There are currently 2 seasons on Netflix, with the third season hopefully coming soon after ending in the US in May.

I will review episode 2 soon.

Till Then

Emz x

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Ella enchanted (Zee Tay Post)

Film: Ella enchanted
Year: 2004
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Jim Carter, Hugh Dancy,  Minnie Driver, Aidan McArdle, Parminder Nagra,
Plot: Anne Hathaway From the princess Diaries, is Ella in the charming fairytale adventure of Ella enchanted. At birth Ella's fairy godmother gave her the gift of obedience. Which is a curse as Ella has to do what ever she been asked to do even if it bad. So she chose to set of to return then gift. This simple task turns into an amazing adventure filled with ogres, giant, wicked stepsister and the handsome princes evil uncle.

Review

Ella enchanted is a fill good movie that all the family can sit down and enjoy. There are places where you can tell that they CGI as they are not amazing, but in all fairness for a 2004 film where some CGI techniques was still new. So I guess for that year it was about average.

The overall story line was lovely about understanding how lucky we are to be able to choose in what wrong and right as there are some people in the world who not as free in doing what they want to do.

It about listening to your heart, as there are times where your heart might say something stupid but in reality you know in your mind that your heart is right.

Overall I give this film a 4/5 stars.

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DVD review: Now You See Me [Emz]

So I have had this film on DVD for a while, but I love this film.

The way these magicians/ illusionists are rounded up y an unknown source and all the twists and turns that keep misleading you until the final reveal.

Here is the premise:

Charismatic magician Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) leads a team of talented illusionists called the Four Horsemen. Atlas and his comrades mesmerize audiences with a pair of amazing magic shows that drain the bank accounts of the corrupt and funnel the money to audience members. A federal agent (Mark Ruffalo) and an Interpol detective (Mélanie Laurent) intend to rein in the Horsemen before their next caper, and they turn to Thaddeus (Morgan Freeman), a famous debunker, for help.

Review:

I loved this film and the cast. We had Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.

So we have the four Horseman. All the twists and tricks they pull off, keeps leaving you guessing. Jsust when you think they have been caught, something happens and they slip away. 

From simple tricks and illusions, to robbing a bank, faking death and then the big reveal that someone isn't who you though they were was brilliant.

I would happily watch this film and it's sequel over and over again.

Till next time

Emz x

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DVD Review: Hidden Figures [Emz]

So I first saw this film at the cinema and I absolutely loved it. I now have it on DVD and thought I would review the film.

Here is the premise:

Three brilliant African-American women at NASA -- Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) -- serve as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation's confidence, turned around the Space Race and galvanized the world.

Review:

I loved this film. With it being based of a true story and set in a time where you were segregated because of your skin colour. In other words Racism was the norm. These three women were brilliant in their own way and all of them has skills that could equal or outsmart the men at NASA. They fought hard to get what they deserved and it was moving to see all the struggles they went through to get there.

I would recommend this film to anyone. 

That's it for now

Till next time

Emz x

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TV Reviews: Timeless Season 1 Episode 2 "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln" [Emz]

So I have just watched the second episode of Season 1. The title is "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln." So this mean they have travelled back in time to the end of the Civil War.

The bad guy of this series is called Garcia Flynn and is intent on changing American History. So that is why they have to follow him back in time to stop that from happening.

Here is the premise: 

Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus track Garcia Flynn to the night of Lincoln's assassination, where he has joined up with John Wilkes Booth; the team debates whether they should alter history.

Review:

So, this episode was really good. Both episodes sof ar have dealt with the theme of slavery, this time it is the men free from slavery that have been fighting in the Civil War. the idea that Flynn wants to get Boothe to kill more people than just Abraham Lincoln means that the impact on history will be significantly different. with the character of Lucy still dealing with the aftermath of her sister being erased from time as well.

I will review the next episode: Atomic City soon.

Till then

Emz x

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DVD Reviews: Supergirl Season 2 Premiere " The Adventures Of Supergirl" [Emz]

SO I bought this on DVD last weekend and am slowly making my way through the season.

I thought I would start by reviewing the first episode of season 2. 

The first episode is called " The Adventures of Supergirl" and in this episode we meet Superman properly for the first time.

Here is the premise:

Supergirl and Clark team up to stop a new threat emerging in National City; Alex feels left out while Kara's family stays in town; a pod comes crashing down to earth.

So we have a few new faces this season. Including a new character, Lena Luthor she is portrayed by Katie McGrath best known for playing Morgana is the BBC series Merlin.

Review:

I enjoyed this episode. It showed the growth in Kara's character since we first met her at the beginning of Season 1. She is no longer an assistant and has now decided to be a reporter. She is still fighting Aliens and criminals as Supergirl, but is always facing new challenges. 

I also really liked the inclusion on Superman in this series, it was great to see how the writers got to bounce the characters off each other. I look forward to the rest of the season.

I probably won't post about every episode of this season but I may post another later on.

Till then

Emz x

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Books to review soon [Emz]

So I thought I would post something a little different for this post. I am in the middle of two books and will be reviewing them once I am done

So here we go.

1. Private Games by James Patterson.

I have read quite a few books by James Patterson. I have read 3 of the NYPD Red series and 2 books in the Private Series (Private and Private L.A) This book is set in London at the beginning of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Here is the plot.

This book is a thriller novel set just before and during the 2012 London Olympics. Peter Knight is an investigator for Private London, a subsidiary of Private, a private investigative agency led by Jack Morgan in the United States. Private London has been commissioned to provide security for the London Olympics. Private London has been thrown into some disarray, because a number of its personnel were killed in an airplane crash just before the Olympics began.
Just before the Olympics begin, someone beheads the fiance of Knight's mother. The slain man is a member of the Olympic games organizing committee. After the murder, Karen Pope, a reporter for The Sun, receives a letter from a person who calls himself Cronos. Cronos claims he will kill persons involved with the Olympics who he considers corrupt. Cronos does just that, even infiltrating Olympic security and Knight's home. Throughout the novel, Cronos and his underlings kill those considered corrupt and anyone who gets in their ways. Near the end of the book, Private Games takes an unexpected twist.

So I hope to finish this soon.

2. Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Enigma by Eric Van Lustbader

Soo I started reading this on my Kindle on the Train to Edinburgh and got really into it. It's completely different to the Bourne in the films, which is actually quite refreshing.

I am past halfway in this book so I should be finished soon enough.

Here is the plot

On the eve of Russian general Boris Karpov's wedding, Jason Bourne receives an enigmatic message from his old friend and fellow spymaster. In Moscow, what should be a joyous occasion turns bloody and lethal. Now Bourne is the only one who can decipher Karpov's cryptogram. He discovers that Karpov has betrayed his sovereign to warn Bourne of a crippling disaster about to be visited on the world. Bourne has only four days to discover the nature of the disaster and stop it.
The trail Karpov has been following leads Bourne to Cairo and the doorstep of Ivan Borz, the elusive international arms dealer infamous for hiding behind a never-ending series of false identities, a man Bourne has been hunting ever since he abducted former Treadstone director Soraya Moore and her two-year-old daughter and brutally murdered Soraya's husband.
Bourne must travel to war-torn Syria and then Cyprus as he chases the astonishing truth. The clock is ticking, and Bourne has less than four days to solve Karpov's riddle—and hunt down Borz—if he hopes to prevent a cataclysmic international war . . .

So that's all for now.

Till next time

Emz x

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TV Review: Timeless Season 1 Premiere "Pilot" [Emz]

So I finally started watching this tonight on Netflix. I have to admit it's not bad. I'll happily watch anything that features time travel (*cough* nothing beats Doctor Who *Cough*) haha!! Anyway, I'm only one episode in and there were alot of faces I recognised but I did have google them to make sure I was correct.

The actors that portray two of the main characters, Abigail Spencer (Cowboys & Aliens, This Mean War) and Matt Lanter (90210, Star-crossed, Vampires Suck) I recognised them but its the actors portraying the recurring and guest characters that  took me by surprise.

So the first is the actress who played the guest character Kate Drummond for this episode, Shantel VanSanten, she has starred in One Tree Hill and The Flash, she is currently starring in Shooter. Also in a recurring are Matt Frewer who I am currently watching in The Librarians (season 1) and Susanna Thompson who for me is best known for playing Moira Queen in Arrow.

Here is the premise from IMDB for this episode:;

An unlikely team must travel through time and stop a criminal mastermind from destroying the past.

Review:

So I've only watched the first episode but, so fat so good. The twists in the story and how they struggle to keep everything as it was in the past, not always with success is very interesting. I am looking forward to seeing how the season progresses. 

That's it for now. I will hopefully review another episode of this in the future,

Till then

Emz x

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