GOTHAM SEASON 1 EPISODES 1-5 TV REVIEW

Gotham is a show based around the early days of Jim Gordon whilst working on the CGPD while Batman's future villains' origins are shown.

Now I was really exited for this series to premiere. The trailer made it look good and the show looked visually stunning in terms of the city.

While I must say that Gotham is a very pleasing experience for Batman fans, I also have to say that it has many flaws, but not any that it can't overcome in the future if given the chance (after all Fox is known to cancel shows).

As of now there are 5 episodes out and each of them are more enjoyable to watch than the previous one as it feels as though the show is learning from its mistakes as it goes on. The show doesn't really knows what it wants to be yet, and whilst that makes for a sloppy first season (as shows like Arrow proved can be corrected over time) it also gives it potential to be a show much bigger than itself.

This season primarily focuses on Jim Gordon's relationship with Harvey Bullock and Bruce Wayne. Now I liked Bruce Wayne during the first episode as I felt he had some sort of purpose to be there. Having him as one of the main characters really bothers me because nearly every scene he's in foreshadows the fact that he will be Batman one day, which sort of contradicts the whole point of the show.

However, everything to do with the penguin in this show, I love. It's what works best, we get to see Penguins origin story told through television which means a lot of character development has place. I think who ever is doing Cobblepot is doing a great job even though I still can't see any of the personalities we know him by and I'm sure the show will progress into him becoming the Penguin we're all familiar with.

Jim Gordon is a cool main character. He's the new kid in the playground and he has a lot of authority so people don't want him to mess things up.

A really cool moment on the pilot is when they want him to kill the Penguin but he can't bring himself to do it and lets the penguin go.

But other than that I think that there are lots of things the show still needs to work on, but right now it looks amazing, has some really engaging plot lines (Maronni, the Penguin and Gordon on the table was such an intense sceene!!) and I look foward to see where it goes.

Can't wait till the Joker shows up!!

So overall

Gotham is a visually stunning show. It still needs to find out what it wants to be and the way its doing that is by showing us what is has to offer and seeing what works or not and thats fine. Its really nice weekly entertainment and in my opinion a lot cooler than Marvel's Agents of SHIELD.

Obvs: How cool would it be if there was a huge time gap between every season ? Eventually we'd get Batman, the Joker and the Gotham we know and love!!

7.5/10 (Good but not Great)

THE SPECTACULAR NOW MOVIE REVIEW

The Spectacular Now is based on a Young Adult novel by Tim Tharp and it stars Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley.

I came across this film by looking across Miles Tellers filmography and to honest, I am mroe that I did.

The Spectacular Now is a fantastic drama because despite the story being cetered around High School Students it appeals to pretty much everyone. I cant say how much this film impressed me and most of that is due to the writing (keep in mind: Written by the guys who wrote 500 Days of Summer).

But this is a very different film from 500 Days of Summer. In fact, I don't think it should be marketed as a romance as it was.

The film focuses around Miles Teller's character Sutter Keely, a senior High School student who drink way more than he should and has very optimistic yet childish views on life adn throughout the film we get to see how those views affect him and those he cares about.

That is basically the best way to say what the film is about without giving anything away because I went blind to this film and I'm glad because there were so many surprising moments which a trailer could easily give away to get people to sit in the movie theater.

The actors are wonderful and the film is also wonderfully directed, keeping in mind it wasn't made with a very big budget.

So overall:

"The Spectacular Now is a film with a lot to say about life and if you take your time to hear it out, you may end up learning something useful."

8.5/10 (Great)

CRITICS REACT BADLY TO THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY

If you were as excited as I was for the upcoming Ben Stiller directed "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" then you might be disappointed.

Apart from a few positive reviews from the Empire Magazine "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" hasn't been a critical success and that really bugs me. The film looks amazing and has a promising story, plus it's Stiller. 

Of course, this is Rotten Tomatoes here. These guys gave Insidious: Chapter 2 a 38% and I love that movie and they are known to be picky, but still, it bugs me that people don't think this is the new Forrest Gump. It looked like a good contestant for my favorite film of the year.

My expectations have gone down, but I won't let Rotten Tomatoes (which gave the film a 38% average of positive review plus a 5.8/10) make me pessimistic about it. I'm still rooting for this to prove Ben as a good director, what do you think?

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is directed by Ben Stiller and comes out the 25th of December this year.

THE TIME OF THE DOCTOR TRAILER IMPRESSIONS

The eleventh hour is over. Matt Smith's final episode of Doctor Who is coming this Christmas and it looks very promising!

I was one of the people who had a few issues with the David Tennant regeneration last year and I hope they don't focus this whole episode on 11th regenerating. 

We have the Silence, Daleks and Cybermen! Even you know you'll see it just for that!

I know people will react badly to Capaldi (who I think will be a more serious Doctor) but I'll have to wait till the first episode of Series 8 to judge wether he'll be good.

Overall I'm very excited and hope for the best. Merry Christmas guys!

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG REVIEW

The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring.

If you came out of "An Unexpected Journey" disappointed because it wasn't as good as you expected, go to the theater right now.

The second part of the Hobbit trilogy does everything that worked on the Lord of The Rings movies very constantly. 

Right off the bat you have a fun action packed adventure movie which drops the childish tone of the first film and focuses on more mature and more engaging themes. Nobody likes spending 40 minutes in Bag-End watching Bilbo make up his mind about going on a quest in which we know he'll go to anyway. That's stalling time.

The Desolation of Smaug fills its time completely. There were a couple of elements which felt shoe horned such as Legolas (which is the movie for way too long).

If you've read the Hobbit book, you'll know there isn't enough to make a whole trilogy on it. But The Desolation of Smaug is essentially the best part of The Hobbit book. You have the forest, you have the meeting with Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) and you have a completely new element which the book doesn't really touch on, but works very well here.

Peter Jackson kept his directing style from the first film although this one has a lot more tension (whilst "An Unexpected Journey" lacked tension in some action sequences). The action sequences in this movie are original and creative enough to make them memorable.

Everyone's performance was just as good as ever. Benedict Cumberbatch who only the voice of the dragon Smaug must praised because his character is the most memorable character o this trilogy (yes, including Gollum). The dragon scene was tense, twist filled and awesome plus the CGI looked great (which is surprising).

The character of Bilbo felt a bit overshadowed in this film (as Frodo was overshadowed in "The Two Towers") and that did bother me. I want to see more of him in the next film. His relationship with the other dwarves really built up and that was fun to see. 

As in the first film there was a reasonable amount of noticeable CGI. Apart from Smaug the CGI was very noticeable and that, for me, was very distracting. The orcs did look better though, which pleased me.

The movie slows down at one point which takes you a lot but it soon grabs you in it again. THe pacing was faster which is good.

The music isn't as memorable as in the first film but it is still great. Howard Shore is a great composer and the music really worked with the film but it didn't stick to me as much. The score is definitely more original than the first film but my favorite bits are when he re-uses his scores from The Lord of The Rings.

I loved this movie and the cliff hanger ending left me absolutely excited for the next chapter!

Overall:

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a massive improvement over the first film reaching the standards of The Lord of The Rings Trilogy it tries to resemble. Great performance, a faster pace and memorable action sequences will fill the near three hour run time. The Empire Strikes Back of Hobbit movies!"

8.8/10 (Great)

X-MEN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST TRAILER REVIEW

Bryan Singer returns to bring to of the best cast of actors together into one awesome X-Men movie based on the DOFP comic book.

I really enjoy this trailer because it shows how much being in a wheelchair affected Charles Xavier in the 70s. He was at a very bad point in his life and i have a feeling this movie going to be awesome.

The Hans Zimmer music worked really well and helped show how beatiful the movie looks.

Everyone seems great at their parts but we have to wait and see Mr Dinklage villain up.

I really hope they continue both franchises, First Class can have a sequel and so can The Last Stand. This can be a push to that.

X-Men Days of Future Past will reach Cinemas in 2014.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER'S FIRST TRAILER

MARVEL has released the first trailer for the sequel to Captain America: The First Avengers and the third follow up movie to the Avengers (2012).

In this trailer Steve Rogers, now working for S.H.I.E.L.D, is challenged once again when his past catches up with him as "The Winter Soldier".

For those of you who don't know about the Winter Soldier, he is Bucky Barnes from the first Captain America movie who goes to war with Steve Rogers and is then captured by HYDRA (only to be rescued).

In this movie he seems to be a little unfriendly to his old buddy Steve, who knows what the hell happened, we'll have to wait and see for ourselves.

Does Nick Fury end up in a hospital bed?

Captain America: Winter Soldier is out 28th March 2013 on the UK and 4th April on the USA.