My Review of Ratched's 1x06: "Got No Strings"

 

Written by Jennifer Salt & Ian Brennan

Directed by Jessica Yu

Mildred (to Gwendolyn): "He's a patient at Lucia State Hospital. My brother is Edmund Tolleson."

Except, here we just found that Mildred and Edmund are not actually sister and brother in the biological sense but if this episode wanted us to feel sorry for Edmund, then it somewhat succeeded in a way, both through Mildred giving some context to Gwendolyn and Edmund's own behaviour while shortly on the run.

Now I hate puppet shows so I was definitely on Mildred's side in not wanting to go to a puppet show and found it somewhat odd that Gwendolyn herself seemed keen on the idea. This episode also managed to make puppet shows even more disturbing by using it as an allusion to describe the abuse that Mildred and Edmund suffered at the hands of the foster care system in horrifying detail.

Speaking of Edmund, I found it interesting that Dolly quickly pointed out his ease in murdering priests and a security guard while at the same time having a problem with killing a rooster for dinner. Dolly certainly hinted at her own dark side throughout their time together but things came to a brief end with a shoot out that resulted in Dolly's death. I didn't mind the character but I can't say I'll miss her in the grand scheme of things.

As for Edmund, he's back in Lucia State Hospital, having surrendered to protect Dolly (which didn't pan out), lost his alliance with Mildred and thanks to the governor deceiving Hanover, it looks like he'll be toast in the next two episodes. Or will he? Eh, probably not.

Continuing with the trend of terrible male characters in this show, Wilburn managed to be even worse than Hanover this episode with his condescension towards Mildred and the spiteful way in which he also fired Gwendolyn at the end of this one. If Mildred or Edmund want to bump him off, I won't object here. 

- Bucket gave Hanover the cold shoulder in this episode while Huck, Lenore and Charlotte were nowhere to be seen here.

- This episode was mostly away from Lucia until the last ten minutes. I liked the shift in format for this one.

- Standout music: Isham Jones And The Ray Miller Ocrchestra's I'll See You In My Dreams.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Got No Strings definitely used the concept of a puppet show (and that creepy puppet guy) in an effective way to explain Mildred and Edmund's backstory while also putting Gwendolyn in something of an awkward place as well. As for Mildred, the pressure really is on for her now to save her brother, whether he deserves it or not.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Ratched's 1x05: "The Dance"

 

Written by Ian Brennan

Directed by Michael Uppendahl

Hanover: "From this day forward you will never bark another order at me again, do you understand? I am your superior."

Mildred: "Of that, you are very, very mistaken."

And with that, Mildred let her mask slip off a bit more. I think if Hanover wasn't written to be such an idiot, it probably wouldn't have taken him five episodes to stand up to Mildred but whether he likes it or not, she's basically got him exactly where she wants him, even if this week she did push her luck by a lot.

Mildred began the episode by blackmailing Hanover into demoted Nurse Bucket and promoting her as Head Nurse while also making sure that Hanover accompanied Bucket to the Spring Fling dance at the hospital, all at the same time devising a plan for Edmund to prove his insanity.

Of course while Mildred had Hanover in the palm of her hand, several things went south for her. Hanover exposed his true colours to Bucket, which put Mildred in the position of trying to comfort a woman she had set up for humiliation while Dolly proved to be the worst influence on Edmund than Mildred anticipated.

I'm surprised if took five episodes for Edmund to actually go off script and escape the hospital and I felt bad seeing Harold die in front of new patient but at the same time, while Edmund had no problem murdering an innocent security, he seemed annoyed that Dolly shout Gwendolyn. I'm not worried about the latter though. If anything, Gwendolyn's near death experience at Dolly's hands seems to be a motivator for Mildred to embracing her feelings for the woman.

Keeping with the female characters this week - can I just say that Sophie Okonedo was absolutely amazing as Charlotte Wells? Her backstory was harrowing to the point that even Hanover seemed genuinely happy when he thought he helped her and devastated when she regressed at the dance. Not to mention meeting Charlotte's other personalities as well. Sophie really stole this entire episode right out from under everyone. 

Then there was Lenore. Sharon Stone is having a ball, playing this overly campy villain and the back and forth between Lenore and Mildred was entertaining enough. I do think Mildred needs to keep an eye on Lenore as she did prove not be so easily swayed in this episode. Saying that, Lenore should also keep an eye on Mildred too. 

- Charlotte's other personalities included Baby Taffy, Ondine and Apollo. I also felt so bad for that violin player she berated in public.

- I could be wrong but I think Huck might have a bit of a crush on Mildred and Bucket also suspected that something was going on with Mildred and Gwendolyn.

- Standout music: Gerald Wilson's Moon Rise and Dinah Shore's Shoo-Fly Pie And Apple Pan Dandy.

- Chronology: It seems we're in the Spring of 1948 going by this episode.

The Dance definitely was the strongest episode so far in this series. Largely down to an incredible central performance from Sophie Okonedo and really upping the ante with everyone else as well, especially as Mildred suffered some big set backs with this episode.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Ratched's 1x04: "Angel Of Mercy: Part II"

 

Written by Evan Romansky

Directed by Michael Uppendahl

Huck: "Mildred Ratched, you're an angel of mercy."

Mildred: "Thank you, Huck. I've never heard that before."

I'm not sure I'd go with that description myself but to be fair, Huck has only seen the good side in Mildred and they did make for a great team with this particular episode. Huck's disgust at the mistreatment of patients was highlighted previously and here, both him and Mildred decided to do something about it., which just goes to show the latter's scheming side can be a source for good.

Huck obviously tampered with the hydrotherapy in order to prevent Ingrid from getting a scalding but when Bucket managed to get the machine fixed quicker than expected, it was up to Huck and Mildred to act fast in order to get both Ingrid and Mrs Cartwright out of Lucia State Hospital. The only thing standing in their way was of course a rather snoopy Gwendolyn.

I'm not sure what happened but obviously Huck managed to appeal to Gwendolyn's best nature as both him and Mildred were successful in getting Ingrid and Mrs Cartwright away. Speaking of Huck - way to have the episode belabor the point of telling Mildred she was an angel of mercy, before cutting to that very heavy handed flashback where she relieved a soldier's suffering in order to emphasize the point.

Of course when Mildred wasn't helping lesbians escape, she was also serving as a gateway between Edmund and Dolly getting time together from prying eyes. I have to admit I thought that scene was being set up so that Dolly would be caught by Bucket but seemingly not though. Still Mildred did manage to get some pointed barbs at Dolly for being a nymphomaniac. 

Speaking of Edmund, while Mildred might be determined to make sure he doesn't die, Governor Wilburn has made it his mission to have Edmund or else he'll defund the hospital. Hanover probably would pay attention to this if he didn't spend most of the episode being led by Mildred and avoiding death by Wainwright.

I have to admit that Wainwright has got to be one of the dumbest PI's/would be assassins out there. Lenore would've saved herself a lot of money if she had just bumped off Hanover herself because Wainwright was so easily manipulated and led to his doom by Mildred, it bordered on the embarrassing. I suppose he was sort of lucky he made it to halfway in the season but in the end, Charles was clearly too stupid to live.

As for Lenore, well the show has set the ground for her and Mildred to meet and I'm looking forward to the inevitably campy showdown we'll get between Sarah Paulson and Sharon Stone in the next episode. Lenore definitely did not seem pleased with Mildred inserting herself into her revenge campaign and Mildred may have underestimated getting involved as well. Then again, they just might team up as well.

- Gwendolyn left Trevor in this episode and even managed to get a date with Mildred. The latter herself also seems to be slowly opening to the idea of getting involved with Gwendolyn.

- Peter popped up here more prominently than previous episodes. What exactly is he dreaming of that should be cause for concern?

- Standout music: Kitty White's Mine All Mine. 

- Chronology: More or less from where the first part of the story left off.

Angel Of Mercy: Part II definitely upped the gore factor with Wainwright's downfall and while it was nice to see both Mildred and Gwendolyn get closer, I'll admit the circumstances also came across as a touch contrived and in reality, Gwendolyn would be less inclined to help Mildred and Hanover than what happened in this episode. On another note, Huck continues to be the best male character here and not just because the bar is so low for men on the show, but because he's genuinely a fantastic character with Charlie Carver really showing his strength as an actor in the role.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Scream 5 - Full Cast Announced

A few weeks ago, I did a piece on some of the casting for the upcoming fifth Scream film, but now, the rest of the official cast has been revealed.

Returning along with Courtney Cox and David Arquette, it has been revealed that Neve Campbell will officially reprise her role as Sidney Prescott and somewhat more surprising was the reveal that Marley Shelton will be reprising her role as Judy Hicks from the fourth movie. I know some fans were hoping for another return, but I think this is great news.

Also joining the previously confirmed Jack Quaid, Melissa Barrera and Jenny Ortega are Mason Gooding (Love Victor), Dylan Minette (13 Reasons Why), Kyle Gallner (Smallville), Jasmine Savoy Brown (The Leftovers), and Mikey Madison (Better Things).

While there's no details on who any of the newcomers are playing as of yet (though I'm sure Reddit will have lots of fun theories), filming has also began, so I expect we'll have plenty to mull over until the movie's release.

Press Release: https://movieweb.com/scream-5-cast-marley-shelton/

Scream 5 has begun filming and will be in theatres (hopefully) by January 14th 2022.

Supergirl - CW To End Series With Season 6

Okay, I sort of saw this one coming but I also expected at least one other CW DC series to end before this one. This is going to be interesting.

On Tuesday, the WB and CW announced that the upcoming sixth season of Supergirl will in fact be the final season for the ongoing superhero series. With filming due to start in the next with a planned airing in 2021, lead actress Melissa Benoist took to social media to confirm the show's imminent ending with several cast members following suit.

The final season, rumoured to have 20 episodes will ensure that the show goes out on it's own terms, though details in relation to specific stories and casting has yet to be confirmed, though with the show back in production, I imagine we'll be getting more news on that front pretty soon.

The show debuted back in 2015 on CBS before moving the CW from it's second season. It's no lie that the change in networks has seen the writing take a nosedive but having any show go to six seasons and getting the chance to end on it's own terms is something every series would like to have. I personally think it's right that the CW are ending the series and it's also got me thinking.

The future of the CW's DC universe certainly should be looked. Arrow ended back in January and with Supergirl ending next year, I think it's safe to assume with shows like The Flash, Legends Of Tomorrow and Black Lightning no longer new to audiences that they themselves are likely to be next on the gradual chopping block.

This would leave the likes of Batwoman, Stargirl and the upcoming Superman And Lois the last few DC shows for the CW. I can see the CW having to look into other properties over the next few years as HBO Max becomes the place for live action DC content, TV/streaming wise but that's just a theory on my part. Maybe the CW have other DC properties waiting in the wings. It's possible.

As for Supergirl, it's been a great run for the series but like I said earlier in this post, I think the right decision has been made here. Good luck to the cast and crew in future projects.

Melissa Benoist's Statement: https://twitter.com/MelissaBenoist/status/1308507326752514048

Supergirl's final season has entered production with filming due to start towards the end of the month. Season 6 will air on the CW from 2021, exact date to be confirmed.

My Review of Ratched's 1x03: "Angel Of Mercy"

 

Written by Ian Brennan

Directed by Nelson Cragg

Hanover (re Henry/Lenore): "His mother wants me dead and I don't imagine it's a gentle death she has planned. She's never going to rest until she finds me."

Mildred: "Then we have to make sure that she never does."

So, this episode finally debuted Sharon Stone's Lenore Osgood and seeded her character into the backstory for Richard Hanover with results that easily could've came out of any season of American Horror Story. Hanover, you really are too dumb to live and I imagine you haven't got much longer on that front.

This episode quickly revealed that Hanover played a role in Lenore's son, Henry (Brandon Flynn) having lost his limbs but Hanover's version soon indicated that Henry was more responsible for his current situation though Hanover didn't exactly help matters.

When I reviewed the first episode of this series, I brought up comparisons to both Asylum and Hotel. We can now add Freak Show into that mix as Lenore and Henry's dynamic feels like a rip off of Gloria and Dandy's from that particular season. Henry literally comes across as Dandy 2.0 - a petulant, murderous, overly sheltered manchild with an enabling and campy glamorous mother to boot. I can already tell that Lenore's indulging of her psychotic son will be her undoing as the season progresses as well.

This week, Lenore got PI Wainwright to try and kill Hanover. Wainwright failed in his first and very public attempt and then indulged in some weird roleplay with Mildred. The only good to come out of that particular scene was that we got some flashbacks to Mildred's days in the army and the fact that she's developing an attraction to Gwendolyn and that was it really. As for Hanover, he's now got Mildred in his corner when it comes to dealing with Lenore and Wainwright but he'll no doubt live to regret letting Mildred infiltrate his life more and more.

Speaking of Gwendolyn though, this episode revealed that she's in a lavender marriage with Trevor (Michael Benjamin Washington) and she wants to end it, due to her growing attraction to Mildred. I quite liked Trevor in this episode, but I'm all for seeing Mildred and Gwendolyn just hooking up at this point, even if the former is in denial about her sexuality at the moment.

Getting back to the hospital side of things - Dolly made herself a bit too familiar with Edmund, which Mildred did not seem happy about while Huck seemed to be an audience point of view with the way he was openly horrified by Nurse Bucket's administering the hydrotherapy treatments of a lesbian patient in this episode. It's nice to see at least one stand up main male character so far this series as the rest of have been anything but. 

- Mildred removed a book from Lily as she felt it encouraged her lesbianism but then later fantasised about being with Gwendolyn when she was having bad sex with Wainwright.

- Nothing better happen to Lenore's pet monkey. Seriously, just don't go there, show. It's so adorable. 

- Standout music: Gabriel Yared's Une Novelle Famille.

- Chronology: Spring 1948 it seems, going by a brief conversation between Bucket and Hanover. The former's crush on the latter is depressing to watch.

Angel Of Mercy showed further improvement by fleshing out Hanover's character. I still don't like the guy and he clearly needs to be removed from Lucia State Hospital but at least there's more to go on with him. It does feel like this show wants to depict Mildred's sadistic side but at the same time, have her as this "heroine" of the piece. I'm not sure if it can have it's cake and eat it but it's certainly going to try, isn't it?

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Ratched's 1x02: "Ice Pick"

 

Written by Ian Brennan

Directed by Ryan Murphy

Mildred (to Father Andrews): "You see Father, Edmund Tolleson is my brother. He wasn't born a monster. Someone turned him into one. God bless you, Father."

Ah, the lengths someone will go to protect their sibling. It's not that Mildred isn't aware that Edmund is a cold blooded monster, if anything she seems all too aware of that, even if there's the impression that Mildred thinks she can control her brother. Of course, it's obvious that we'll get to a point where Mildred won't be able to keep Edmund under wraps.

However, she was desperate to prevent him from getting the electric chair and while she was able to have influence over Hanover who even chatted to Edmund this week, there was the problem of Father Andrews (Hunter Parrish) to deal with head on.

In the first episode, we saw Mildred nearly kill one patient and directly cause another to commit suicide. Here she perfectly the transorbital lobotomy that Hanover himself didn't seem widely adept on the traumatised priest, leaving him unable to send Edmund to his deserving fate. While I felt sorry for Father Andrews, at least the show is cementing on Mildred's evilness here.

Of course with Mildred going to the extremes to protect her brother, the episode saw Edmund putting on an act of schizophrenia that even Hanover wasn't fooled by. Some brilliant acting between both Finn Wittrock and Jon Jon Briones in that particular, even if my opinion on the latter's character has not changed since the first episode.

Moving away from the Edmund plot, we also got to see Mildred forming a connection with Gwendolyn Briggs and promptly being terrified by it when she realised the latter assumed she was a lesbian. I'm pretty sure Nurse Ratched was not an LGBT character in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest  and I'm not sure about the show going there but at the same time, there's no denying that Sarah Paulson and Cynthia Nixon are electric in scenes together.

As for Nurse Bucket - I'm really enjoying her and Ratched's rivalry and this week's kerfuffle over a peach added some nice comedy to the episode as well. Mildred didn't even have to enact any direct revenge as Bucket's own squeamishness became her undoing. As for Dolly, she probably shouldn't go out of her way to antagonise Mildred. Bucket may be a worthy adversary for Ratched but Dolly strikes me as someone that Mildred could easily crush without putting much thought into it.

- We got the title sequence in this episode (why wait for the second episode to do this? Anyone else find that a bit annoying?) but no Sharon Stone as of yet.

- The episode nicely depicted Gwendolyn's opposition to lobotomies before outing her as a character while two of the current patients are also lesbians, one of whom an actor named Ingrid played by Harriet Sanson Harris.

- Standout music: Glen Miller's Moonlight Serenade and Sandy Williams Afterhours On Dream Street.

- Chronology: Not long from where the pilot episode left off.

Ice Pick was a bit of an improvement on the first episode. It was nice to get some insight into characters like Gwendolyn, see Mildred plummet to another low as well as the intense scenes with Hanover and Tolleson and those lobotomy scenes were not easy to watch either. 

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Ratched's 1x01: "Pilot"

Written by Evan Romansky
Directed by Ryan Murphy

Mildred: "Looking good today, Mildred."

It's heading towards the end of September. It's around this time we should all be settling into the latest season of American Horror Story but COVID had other ideas and in it's place and to try to fill the void is a prequel series to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest that nobody strictly asked for but at the same time, why not, eh?

When I say American Horror Story, it's best to think of Asylum and Hotel for reasons that should be apparent while watching all of this opening episode. The location itself is set in Lucia State Hospital while there's an arguable overemphasis on styling up the title character that's a bit reminiscent of the other season I mentioned here.

Now let's get to Mildred Ratched herself. Louise Fletcher made the character into an instant icon and true villain of the big screen. Sarah Paulson is one of my favourite actors currently working in Hollywood today and I'll watch her in just about anything. 

However this opening episode alone and what I've read about the series as a whole, it feels like she's playing Ratched in name only and that Judy Davis's more stern fellow Nurse Bucket would be closer to what Ratched should be as opposed to Paulson herself. Hopefully that does change as the series progresses but I'm doubtful it will.

Saying that, this episode sets up everything necessary with Mildred's ongoing mission. When a position at Lucia State Hospital isn't available, she resorts to blackmailing a fellow nurse into creating one and once she's there, she willingly puts two patients lives in danger in order to ensure that Dr Hanover (Jon Jon Briones) becomes unable to fire her on the spot. 

Out of the patients, the most tragic is her treatment of vulnerable Dario Salvatore (Daniel Di Tomasso) whom she coaxed into killing himself in Hanover's office while the end of the episode somewhat revealed her connection to new arrival Edmund Tolleson (Finn Wittrock), also known as the Clergy Killer. She's determined to make sure that Edmund doesn't die and give the lengths she's already gone to ingratiate herself into Lucia's, Mildred will probably succeed in that particular endeavour.

Paulson does command the episode pretty well and you can tell this is a passion project for her (considering she has a producer role on the series as well). In terms of performances, I do think Finn Wittrock excelled in his brief screen time here as did Judy Davis as the biting Bucket while I also find myself intrigued by Charlie Carver's mysterious Huck Finnegan as well.

On top of that, there was also Corey Stall's Charles Wainwright who seemed fascinated by Mildred but also not willing to tolerate her mind games while Cynthia Nixon had a few nice scenes as secretary Gwendolyn Briggs. Less great were Briones as Hanover, who just seems woefully inept and Vincent D'Onofrio as the slightly sleazy governor but maybe both characters will get a little more interesting as the show goes on.

- Like Hollywood beforehand, we didn't get the title sequence here and at least one other regular - Sharon Stone's Lenore Osgood has yet to be introduced.

- Slight shout to Amanda Plummer's motel owner, Louise, who seemed to be slightly stern and a bit of a fangirl of the Clergy Killer. I'd keep an eye on Louise if I were Mildred.

- Standout music: Peter Sivo Band's This Is Ours.

- Chronology: The episode opens in 1947 with the priests going to see Miracle On 34th Street while the main events then take place six months later.

We've had stronger and we've had weaker pilot episodes from Ryan Murphy in the past and this would probably be square in the middle. It doesn't quite have the edge that American Horror Story had in it's earlier seasons but it's a solid opening episode, even if there is a danger that this could wind up being very style over substance. Hopefully it can really hit it's stride though.

Rating: 7 out of 10

She-Hulk: Tatiana Maslany Lands Title Role For Upcoming Disney+ Series

I did not see this one coming at all to be honest. Also to be fair, I haven't been really that fussed about any of the MCU Disney+ shows beyond the first five that were announced and are currently in various stages of production and filming but this was a pleasant surprise to read.

Tatiana Maslany, best known for her roles in both Orphan Black and recently, Perry Mason has been cast in the title role of Jennifer Walters, best known as She-Hulk. The character, famously a cousin of Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) who gained her abilities from a blood transfusion but unlike Bruce is able to retain her intelligence upon her transformation will debut in the Disney+ series, which will have procedural as well as action based format. The show will be ran by Rick & Morty's Jessica Gao with Kat Coiro slated to direct the pilot episode as well as several episodes for the show's first season.

She-Hulk has been a popular character with Marvel fans and with the MCU adding more female characters to lead their movies and TV shows, I have to admit that Maslany is a masterstroke in terms of casting. I know some fans had their favourites for this particular role, but I wish people would realise that fancasts rarely to never happen and that some of the best bits of casting for comic book characters are usually actors that are not on anyone's radar. Personally, Marvel should be thanking their lucky stars that they've gotten someone as talented as Maslany for this role. 

As for whether or not the upcoming Disney+ series will feature Jennifer's more infamous cousin, it was confirmed a while that Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner will appear in the series as will other Hulks. With the series set to go into production around the same time that Tom Holland will film his third and yet untitled Spider Man movie, there's also a chance that Jennifer might make her way to the big screen also as quickly as she will to streaming.

After months of little to no information from anything regarding the MCU, it seems that this week has had an influx of things to mull over. While Black Widow may now be moved from it's November date (I see it going the same way as Mulan in that regard), Falcon And The Winter Soldier has gone back in production and WandaVision is slated to air on Disney+ later this year. On top of that we also got Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country) cast as Kang for the third Ant Man movie to boot, while Shang Chi And The Legends Of The Ten Rings has also resumed filming in Australia. 

She-Hulk News: https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/she-hulk-disney-plus-series-tatiana-maslany-1234773900/

She-Hulk will begin production in early 2021 while WandaVision will air on Disney+ in late 2020. What are your thoughts on Tatiana's casting for the role?

Doctor Who - Series 13 Due To Film Soon And Other Bits

It's been a while since I've done a Doctor Who blog and while Chibnall is still frustratingly secretive for his and show's own good, it seems we're finally getting something to mull over.

First of all, it seems that filming for Series 13 might be finally starting up in the next few weeks. With many productions starting again after months of lockdown and with new measures implemented for safety for all cast and crew in the midst of the current pandemic, filming will of course take much longer with a possibility that the thirteenth series may not air until early 2022 but this has yet to be confirmed as there's still hope they might be able to meet a late 2021 airdate. I've been saying for a while I think they would be better off going down a split series route with this upcoming series.

In terms of casting, Jodie Whittaker will of course reprise her role of the Doctor for the upcoming series as will Mandip Gill as Yasmin Khan. It's also appearing further likely that both Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole will depart the series in upcoming special Revolution Of The Daleks. The special which has yet to confirmed for either Christmas Day or New Year's Day will be something of a love letter to the Daleks.

Speaking of the pepperpots, they'll be getting their own animated spin-off, which fans will be able to watch on YouTube from November. The series, consisting of five ten minute episodes and featuring the vocal talents of Nicholas Briggs, Anjli Mohindra, Ayesha Antoine and Joe Sugg will be a part of the ongoing Time Lord Victorious series, which also has taken in upcoming audios, comics and books to name a few things. The series will be written by James Goss and created by Salford-based animators Studio Liddell. I'm hoping that at least one of these episodes will factor in a certain Time Lord of course.

Elsewhere, do you fancy some live action stuff from UNIT? Yes, I know they were foolishly disbanded in Resolution (yes, Chibnall, that's still a very dumb thing you did) but from Spring 2021 if you're in London, you can see Doctor Who: Time Fracture, a ground-breaking Immersive Theatrical Adventure set during the Blitz. The BBC YouTube put some effort into this by having Jemma Redgrave briefly reprise her role as Kate Stewart but cast for this is subject to change depending on various conditions. 

A little closer to time, make sure to check NYCC on October 8th as Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill and Bradley Walsh (I'm gonna assume that Tosin Cole will be later confirmed) will be taking part in a restrospective of the series so far with Melanie McFarland, starting from 2.45pm ET/likely 7.45pm for UK/Irish fans. Whether or not we might get a tiny bit of info about the upcoming special or next series, I'm doubtful but at least it's something.

Doctor Who: Time Fracture Details: https://www.fromtheboxoffice.com/city/2957-london/1DDFR-doctor-who-time-fracture/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI85OzudHt6wIVGODtCh3qLgN-EAAYASAAEgI8EfD_BwE 

Filming for Series 13 of Doctor Who due for later this year. When more details emerge, I'll post about them here of course.

My Review of Doctor Strange (2016)

Written by Jon Spaihts & Scott Derrickson & C Robert Cargill

Directed by Scott Derrickson

The Ancient One: "Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all."

Dr. Stephen Strange: "Which is?"

The Ancient One: "It's not about you."

Two confessions before we begin this review - 1: both the MCU and DCEU need to go bigger with the magic/supernatural side of things and 2: aside from Sherlock (and now this role), I don't greatly care for Benedict Cumberbatch. I mean I like him, but I'm not greatly fussed about him as an actor. I'm probably going to lose some points for that one, aren't I?

In terms of the two roles that I like Cumberbatch, this one might actually being his best. He might be the most definitive 21st Century of a certain Detective but as a magician of the arts, this is easily his best role for me personally.

The origin is handled simply enough with Cumberbatch playing arrogant neurosurgeon Stephen Strange who finds himself unable to operate as a result of a car crash and even ex-girlfriend and fellow doctor, Christine (Rachel McAdams) isn't able to get Strange out of his depressive funk.

However a trip to Kamar-Taj and meeting up with Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and of course, meeting the Ancient One with some miscasting with Tilda Swinton changes Strange's life for the stranger, if I'm being perfectly honest. Now I like Swinton as an actor, and while I don't like social media pile ons about casting, even I think they should've gone for a different actor for this particular role. She does a decent job but she still feels miscast here.

Getting back to Stephen, he's suddenly found himself with a new magical skill set and it's not long before he soon crosses paths with a former student of the Ancient One, Kaecilius (Mads Mikkkelson). As baddies go, Kaecilius admittedly is a hit and miss first baddie for Strange. There's no denying that Cumberbatch and Mikkelson play off each other brilliantly, but at the same time, despite the cool visuals surrounding their big confrontation, I feel that Kaecilius went out on a whimper, which was a shame. 

However while Kaecilius was slightly hit and miss as a baddie, the movie was more successful in highlighting Mordo's growing disillusionment with the Ancient One as well as the addition of Wong (Benedict Wong) who became an ally of Strange's as the movie progressed. We've seen Wong in later movies but I'm hoping that Mordo will re-emerge in the upcoming sequel. As for Christine, it's a pretty thankless role for the brilliant McAdams. 

- The film was originally going to feature a bit with CERN but was scrapped for being too scientific for a magical based movie.

- Stan Lee's cameo was of a bus driver while Thor popped up in a mid credit sequence. Strange returned the favour by appearing briefly in Thor: Ragnorak.

- Originally Joaquin Phoenix was rumoured for the title role and while he probably would've worked, I think he was wise rejecting the role and taking on Joker years later.

- Chronology: After the events of Captain America: Civil War.

Doctor Strange easily would be a top ten contender for MCU movies for me (just narrowly missing the top five). I love the supernatural and magical side of things and it's great to see the MCU go all in with this debut for Strange and Benedict Cumberbatch really does nail the title role. Issues with the Ancient One and main baddies aside, this definitely is one of the strongest MCU debut solo outings for a main hero.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Thor: Ragnorak (2017)

 

Written by Eric Pearson & Craig Kyle &Christopher L. Yost

Directed by Taika Waititi

Valkyrie: "This team of yours, it got a name?"

Thor: "Yeah, it's called the... uh... Revengers!"

Okay, I'm not gonna lie here. When it comes to the MCU, much as I do like Chris Hemsworth as Thor, I gotta admit that his movies don't really do a lot for me and it seems that they're generally the weakest, that is until we get to this one.

With the first two movies taking more of a serious tone, things changed big time with Thor: Ragnorak as it feels like the comedy was upped several notches, our title hero lost his father, eye, some of his hair and a bit of his mojo. He did however gain something of a team (even if the name needs working on) and of course, there was the matter of family as well.

Odin (Anthony Hopkins) might have passed on but Loki (Tom Hiddleston) of could was still very present in this third installment, serving as both a thorn in Thor's side and a grudging ally when things got really bad. The really bad of course being the arrival of Hela (Cate Blanchett) who had her own plans for Asgard.

Hela without a doubt has been one of the better villains in the MCU and she wasted no time in making her presence known when Thor had to witness his half sister destroy Mjölnir while she then took over their home world and while she did that, Thor himself wound up being taken by a slave trader named Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and forced by the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) to take part in some gladiator tournament for good measure.

It's through this plot we're reunited with the Hulk (Bruce Banner) who feels more disconnected to his former humanity while Thor himself cooks up an escape and even wins Valkyrie around into helping him defeat Hela while also building some bridges with Loki as well.

There are times in the movie where the humour definitely feels like it's overplayed and while Hela is more camp villain than full on scary (in spite of the headgear she dons when things are meant to be serious), there's plenty of drama as well. Drama centring on family and humanity and it's handled pretty well, especially when you consider that the last scene did lead into something very dramatic for Thor and Loki.

- Director Taika Waititi had a supporting role in the film as Korg, a character he'll likely reprise for the next film, Thor: Love And Thunder.

- Nice cameo appearances from both Doctor Strange and Black Widow as well as the amusing retelling of the events of Thor: The Dark World.

- This movie was originally going to refer to Valkyrie as a bisexual character but was cut. The next movie however will confirm it.

- Standout music: great use of Led Zepplin's Immigrant Song.

Thor: Ragnorak is definitely one of the MCU's most colourful of movies. It's also a massive step up in terms of movies focusing on Thor and it's easy to see why Taika Waititi could end up being something of a mainstay in the MCU. In some respects, this would've been a satisfying end to Thor's solo outings but it's great that he'll get another outing after the results of this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10

DCFanDome - Day 2 Highlights

Three weeks, DCFanDome basically dominated the internet and crashed a few times, site wise.  The latter happened yet again and while the hype on the second day wasn't quite the same as the first, we still got some interesting tidbits, concerning the TV shows and even the movies.

Superman & Lois: With filming due to start, we got a lovely panel with stars Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch and artist Jim Lee. Seeing them drawing the Superman symbol was lovely but in terms of spoilers, there wasn't too much revealed. Right now, there's a rumour of 15 episodes for the first season, we'll be getting a new suit for Superman, we know that the main villain will be The Stranger as played by Wole Parks and a potential love triangle with the Kent sons and Lana Lang's (Emmanuelle Chriqui) daughter. Other characters in the show will be General Sam Lane (Dylan Walsh), Martha Kent, Perry White, Morgan Edge and Ron Troupe. Also expect a crossover with Batwoman as well in the series.

Legends Of Tomorrow: Season 6 is due to film soon and we've finally got a casting information. Chicago PD alumni, Lisseth Chavez will join as a new regular, called Esperenza 'Spooner' Cruz to help the team hunt down extraterrestrials displaced in history. The show's take on aliens will be different to Supergirl while the second episode will focus on the Tarazi siblings, Sara won't be gone for long. Meanwhile Constantine and Astra will be living together with the latter also being a regular along with Behrad.

Supergirl: Not much was revealed here, though we did get to see both David Harewood (J'onn) and Nicole Maines (Nia) talking about representation. It does seem that filming will start sometime this month, even though it'll air later in 2021 compared to the other DC shows on the CW. I would also expect a reduced episode count.

Batwoman: I was hoping we'd get to see Javicia Leslie's look for Ryan Wilder's Batwoman but alas we did not. Now, the show has actually begun filming and joining Leslie for the show's second season will be Shivani Ghai, who will be playing the role of Safiyah Sohail who has a past connection to Alice (Rachel Skarsten). Another villain added to this season will be The Whisper, though the role has not been cast yet. I'm betting we'll get a glimpse of Ryan's Batwoman suit towards the end of the year. Other than that, I'm intrigued to see how this second season will play out.

The Flash: Now technically this show has finished as episodes intended for the sixth season are now part of the start for the upcoming seventh season. A trailer released showed the gang coming together to try and defeat Eva McCulloch's Mirror Master as Iris attempts to escape from her own prison. Showrunner Eric Wallace also confirmed that Barry will get his gold boots this upcoming season while Godspeed will also play a much bigger role than before. Trailer for the seventh season can be seen here .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e43b-f_Vg9I

Stargirl: I'm still halfway through the first season but this panel with the main cast and creator Geoff Johns was an interesting watch. It seems that the second season will feature more of Solomon Grundy along with the Shade as a main villain.

Black Lightning: Robert Townsend spoke to the main cast on the upcoming fourth season, due to begin filming as well this month in Atlanta and it was a nice enough panel but nothing revealing as such. Various cast members talked about things they'd like for their characters like Gambi getting a girlfriend or Tobias doing good through politics but in terms of spoilers, there was nothing to be revealed here.

Titans: Filming is due to start with the third season and as you can see from the pic above, Donna Troy (Conor Leslie) will be back from the dead. Of course, it won't be just Donna's return to look forward to as we've got both Blackfire (Damaris Lewis) and Red Hood (Curran Walters) as main villains, a heavy focus into Gotham, the arrival of Barbara Gordon, Roy Harper and a character named Danny (largely suspected to be Tim Drake from the character description) as well as the Scarecrow and Lex Luthor, casting for both to be confirmed. The upcoming season will also move to HBO Max.

Doom Patrol: Not too much revealed here, except that the show has officially been renewed for a third season and will air exclusively on HBO Max in 2021. The finale originally intended for the second season will now be the third season premiere, but we already knew that.

Pennyworth: With Epix set to air the second season of this other Batman prequel series later in the year, we did get the interesting news that Martha Kane (Emma Paetz) will be pregnant while Alfred (Jack Bannon) is desperate to get out of London. New additions to the season include James Purefoy, Edward Hogg and Jessye Romeo.

Lucifer: The sixth and final season of this show will comprise of 10 episodes, due to begin filming later this month. A clip was released of the cast singing Another One Bites The Dust while Netflix will release the second half of the fifth season later in the year. Clip to the upcoming musical episode can be seen here .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeUyF8xkOCc

Elsewhere HBO Max have yet to confirm if they will pick up a third season of Harley Quinn though I suspect they will while the fourth season of Young Justice will be titled, Phantoms. On a disappointing note there was no new information on any of the upcoming HBO Max DC shows, so looks like we'll be waiting a bit longer on that front. Meanwhile the official title for a certain upcoming four part HBO Max miniseries will be Justice League: Director's Cut.

As for the movie side of things, well the first day mainly focused on that but there was some new bits to emerge over the last few days nonetheless.

• Wonder Woman 1984 is moving yet again, this time it seems to give Tenet some more breathing space at the cinemas. It's new (and hopefully final) release day is December 25th 2020.
• The Batman had start filming, then had to stop when Robert Pattinson himself got COVID. Filming is rumoured to resume later this week as Pattinson is on the mend. Meanwhile we got a nice new poster and the trailer has amassed over 22 million views on YouTube since it's release.
• The Flash movie will "restart everything and forget nothing" according to producer Barbara Muschietti. More casting has yet to be revealed but expect many DC characters in it. 
• Black Adam and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods are due to begin filming in early 2021.

Well, that covers just about everything for DCFanDome. It's been an interesting two days and technical issues to one side, overall, I would say this has been a success. What have been your highlights over the two days and do you think this will be a yearly thing for DC?

My Review of Mulan (2020)

 

Written by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver & Lauren Hynek & Elizabeth Martin

Directed by Niki Caro

Mulan: "Loyal, brave, and true... it is my duty to protect my family."

It's been a strange time with this movie, huh? Originally due for release back in March prior to worldwide lockdown and in between various controversy and a general state of divisiveness, Disney+ surrendered to the fact that it wasn't going to be enough to tempt cinema goers back into theatres and decided to released on their streaming but with a price. The question: is it worth it?

I have to admit the answer is probably not, unless it's for families, in which case they're likely getting a bit of a bargain but for everyone else, maybe not so much. In terms of live action remakes, this take on the beloved 1998 fan favourite is definitely something of a mixed bag. Unlike last year's The Lion King, this is not a shot for shot remake of the original but there are a lot of changes and for those who loved the original, perhaps too many changes for it's own good.

The basic story remains the same though - our titular heroine played Yifei Liu defies the normal conventions of young girls and happens to be a bit of an outcast among her village and even her family. Her parents attempts to have the Matchmaker (Cheng Pei-pei) marry her off fail and when Mulan's father (Tzi Ma) is unable to fight in battle, Mulan takes his armor and place when joining up with the training camp. It's where one of the noteworthy of changes to this movie happens.

In the original movie, Mulan served under a commanding officer named Li Shang, whom she later fell in love with. In this version, Li Shang is replaced with a commanding officer named Tung (Donnie Yen) while fellow soldier, Honghui (Yoson An) serves as an initial rival, but later implied potential love interest on the basis that this movie might do enough to generate a sequel and explore that particular plot strand.

As characters go, they're decent enough replacements for Li Shang and while I get the logistics behind the character's omission, the romance between Mulan and Honghui feels more downplayed compared to the movie. Of course they're not the only changed or omitted characters here.

I could complain about the lack of Mushu but given the tone aimed for this movie, I get why they lost him and having Cricket as an actual human character and fellow soldier gave us one comedic character whose pratfalls were thankfully not overdone. Actually all the supporting soldier characters were given a decent enough amount of screentime and the general comradery worked well enough.

As for the villain, well, we got two of them and out of the two, it's clear that Gong Li's witch Xian Ling worked the best. I mean there was some pointed commentary on the similarities between Xian and Mulan as both women have the ch'i, are generally outsiders, are essential to their rival men led tribes but ultimately their destinies take different paths. Not to spoil what happened to Xian, but she's a character that worked far better than the main villain.

In the original, the main villain in question was Shan Yu who wanted to rule China but here, it's Bori Khan (Jason Scott Lee) whose motives are more driven by revenge against the current Emperor (Jet Li). As villains go, he's a fairly weak villain, a bit too obviously sexist in parts (something which the original movie managed to avoid with Shan Yu) and while his fight scene with Mulan does work, his defeat definitely felt like a whimper overall.

In terms of central performances, I think Yifei Liu does a decent job in bringing the character to life and most of the changes to Mulan herself work well enough in the movie's favour. In spite of one or two moments, I do think the central themes are handled well enough, if a bit heavy handed. Mulan's decision at the end regarding her military future to be left on a cliffhanger does feel like the movie tempting fate, even more so in the current climate.

- This movie opened with scenes of Mulan as a child, excluded her dog Little Brother, renamed her horse Black Wind and gave her a sister, Xiu (Xana Tang) who has a fear of spiders. Original Mulan actor, Ming Na-Wen has a cameo towards the end of the film.

- I noticed that they changed the opening of the Shanghai Disney castle for this movie. 

- Standout music: Both Christina Aguilera and Yifei Liu's versions of Reflection and Aguilera's Loyal, Brave And True.

- Chronology: Early Northern and Southern Dynasties, China. 

Mulan is definitely not a perfect live action version of a beloved Disney Classic but it's not quite the disaster area that some have said. The central performances are mostly strong as are the fight sequences but the lack of certain characters and musical numbers definitely does detract from completely enjoying and Bori Khan could've been a better realised baddie. I don't know how this will fare overall on Disney+ premium access strategy but I guess time will tell if this will do well enough to generate the sequel it's clearly trying to set up.

Rating: 7 out of 10

All Kinds Of New And Exciting Adventures

It's been a while since my last TV Jumble blog and with autumn now with us, here's a look at some shows I've been catching up with in the last while.

911: I'm near the end of the third season of this show with only the two part finale left to watch and again, things have been interesting to watch. The last few episodes dealt with a hostage situation, delved into Eddie's early days of fatherhood while at the same time continuing with the theme of disconnect that Buck seems to have along with Hen potentially making a career change next season. Two episode left to go, I am looking forward to a certain character coming back as well.

I Hate Suzie: It's been a while since we've had Billie Piper on our screens and now's she back in the eight episode miniseries co-created by herself and Lucy Prebble. It's an interesting take on an actress in her thirties, struggling to deal with compromising pics of her being leaked, appealing to her fanbase, losing a Disney Princess gig and of course, trying to get her marriage back on track. Three episodes in so far and Piper gives a fantastic performance, the show is genuinely funny and uncomfortable and there's a great support with Leila Farzad's Naomi. Easily one of SkyAtlantic's best homegrown offerings.

Lovecraft Country: It seems that in the last while HBO has had it's bigger successes with delving into the sci-fi/fantasy/horror genre and three episodes in with this innovative, 1950s based show, they've struck more gold. That's especially true with a career defining performance from Jurnee Smollett as Letitia Lewis while Jonathan Majors has made for a charismatic protagonist in Atticus Freeman. Both actors bring their A game and have natural chemistry while the racial themes are handled perfectly along with the monsters of the week and strange goings on per episode. 

Stargirl: It's taken me a bit longer to get to this show than I would've liked but six episodes in, I'm both impressed and hoping that it's move to the CW for it's next season won't see a change in tone for the series. I like the small town setting, Brec Bassinger is fantastic in the title role as is Luke Wilson as STRIPE. The nice build towards a new generation of JSA along with the ISA coming out of the woodwork and a fantastic performance from Neil Jackson as Icicle. This might be DC Universe's last live action but it's as impressive as the other they've had. 

The Politician: And I've completed the second season. I really don't know how I truly feel about this show to be honest. I enjoy it but I have to admit, there's no-one really to root for here. The final three episodes did delve into the voters (this time between a lesbian mother and her daughter) while also cementing Payton's victory and his future which seems to be tied into Dede's growing ambitions. It's probably a good thing that the next season, which will likely be a while off will be it's last. 

The Umbrella Academy: When I heard rumours that the finale was for this season was going to be a polarising game change, I was a bit nervous but having watched the finale, all it's done has made me want the next season all the more. The first season was enjoyable but this second season was so much better and far more layered. A better examination of the main seven characters, fantastic new characters like Lila, Sissy, Ray and the Swedish assassins, the Handler being delightfully menacing and camp to the hilt, the excellent music choices, fight sequences. This season has been an absolute joy to watch. 

• UK/Irish viewers will be able to see 911 spin-off, 911: Lone Star on SkyLiving later this month.
• American Horror Story's tenth season will start filming next month and will air in 2021.
• Shameless will begin production on it's eleventh and final season this month.
• Anna Faris has quit Mom ahead of it's eighth season.
• Star Trek: Discovery have cast Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander as the show's first non binary and trans characters.
• Sony plan to do a live action TV series, focusing on the Marvel hero, Silk. 
• Sarah Paulson has revealed there is a plan to take upcoming Netflix series Ratched to four seasons.
• The X Files is getting an animated comedy spin-off. No, I have no idea why either.
• Viewers can see Buffy spin-off Angel again on E4 after the parent show finishes up it's current late night run.
• Alan Ritchson will star in the upcoming Jack Reacher show for Amazon.

Scream Reboot: Casting News So Far (Mild Spoiler/Speculation)

Well, this was pretty much inevitable, wasn't it? If you're a horror franchise, you are never going to stay dead and the latest one to get some life breathed back into it of course happens to be Scream.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that a fifth movie in the popular franchise was on the cards and the first movie not to be directed by the late Wes Craven, who passed away in 2015. This upcoming movie will be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett with the screenplay being penned by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. There does seem to be some confusion in however whether this upcoming movie will be titled Scream 5 or simply, Scream as the social media accounts seem to be leaning towards the latter so far.

Casting so far for the movie has been pretty modest but with filming due to start next month, there will undoubtedly be more names announced but so far it's been confirmed that both Courtney Cox and David Arquette will reprise their roles as Gale and Dewey Riley while new additions to the movie will include Jack Quaid (The Boys), Jenny Ortega (Jane The Virgin) and Melissa Barrera (Vida) in undisclosed roles so far.

Of course the big question remains - will Neve Campbell complete the original line up and reprise her role as iconic Final Girl Sidney Prescott? Right now, I'm willing to bet that she will, although her inclusion has not bee officially confirmed. I can't imagine a Scream movie without Sidney Prescott and like every other fan of this franchise, I certainly don't want to. Sidney is too important to this franchise, not to use and despite the MTV/VH1 (2015-2019) series attempts to have their own final girl, there's only one Sidney Prescott and that is Neve Campbell.

As for what the actual story will entail, details are sketchy so far but in terms of Ghostface(s), we've done the boyfriends, homicidal family members, vengeful relatives and easily led friends. What possible motive will the new Ghostface(s) have to go after Sidney, Gale and Dewey while wiping out the majority of the new cast? It's going to be fun to find out, won't it?

Scream 5 Wiki: https://scream.fandom.com/wiki/Scream_(2022)

Filming for Scream 5 will start from October 15th in  Wilmington, North Carolina with a release date slated for January 14th 2022. Are you looking forward to a new chapter or do you think this franchise should stay dead?