Sense8 - W. W. N. Double D?/We Will All Be Judged by the Courage of Our Hearts

Two thirds into the season and the arc has taken some interesting turns as several characters get more information on their connection when not placed in morally compromising positions.

Nomi Marks: Now these two episodes really seemed to play on Nomi's hacking abilities to the max. Not only did she meet up with a past hacker friend called Bug but both her and Amanita stalked Dr Metzger's place, learned more about the creepy organisation after the Sensates, which then led to them coming directly after Nomi by paying Amanita's mother a house call. I did like that with the connection to Will, Sun and Capheus that Nomi was able to escape from her would be captors for the time being but at the same time, I'm now worried for Amanita and her mother though. Ooh and Nomi interacted with Jonas again.

Lito Rodriguez: This was not a good set of episodes for Lito. First of all, Daniela's abusive ex-boyfriend was able to get her back and use some suggestive pictures of Lito and Hernando to break up the fun trinity while at the same time, Lito and Hernando then broke up after the former made no effort to get Daniela out of harm's way. Much as I feel bad for Lito, I'm actually on Hernando's side in this one. Hopefully in the remaining episodes, Lito will be able to get Daniela away from her abusive boyfriend and reunite with Hernando as well as come out of the closet as well.

Will Gorski: The gang subplot that Will has with his partner wasn't particularly riveting to watch but the slow burning connection that he's forming with Riley (not unlike the same dynamic with Wolfgang and Kala) is actually quite lovely. You could argue about it feeling contrived but it really doesn't though. It's been handled so believably well that when the two of them are talking about their homes, it's genuinely lovely to watch. Other than that though, Will ended up getting suspended (not good) but at least the combination of him, Sun and Capheus managed to save Nomi though.

Riley Blue: The last few episodes have been great for Riley. I've enjoyed her interacting with other Sensates, particularly in one scene where her and Capheus shared a flight together and the romance with Will has been beautifully handled as well. More to the point, taking the character out of London and back to Iceland and having her reconnect with her father has been great for the character.

Kala Dandekar: Like Riley, the last few episodes have also been great for Kala. The eighth episode particular ended in a shocking scene where she witnessed her future father in law being stabbed in public (which even I didn't see coming) - the same future father in law who also seemed savvy enough about her true feelings for his son. Then there was her getting a better insight into Wolfgang's terrible childhood and friendship with Felix as well. The only thing I do want though is to see Kala interact with some of the other Sensates aside from Wolfgang as well. She seems to be the only one who hasn't yet.

Wolfgang Bogdanov: These last two episodes not only gave me a better insight into Wolfgang and Felix's friendship but also a rather horrible look into his childhood as well. Seriously, in a show that has had some horrible parents (and great ones like Amanita/Capheus's mothers, Riley's father, all of Kala's family), Wolfgang's father is arguably worse that Nomi's mother but at least we saw just how much of a great friend and ally Felix has been to him over the years. It does look like for now that Felix is touch and go, so he might survive the season while Wolfgang and Kala's connection also seems to be growing as well.

Sun Bak: We've gone all Orange Is The New Black/eventual Prison Break perhaps with Sun's storyline now. She's stuck in prison but aside from one mean spirited lag, the majority of the prisoners are either helping her to learn to sew, are bringing her food and generally being nice to her. Also after that little prison yard scrap, only a stupid person (that lag in particular) would be deluded enough to physically take Sun on in a fight. I also enjoyed seeing her and Nomi interacted as she showed the latter how to fend herself from some federal agents belonging to Whispers.

Capheus: Poor guy. The more involved he got with Silas and interacted with his daughter in order to help his mother, the more it forced him to realise that getting in bed with a crime lord wasn't a smart idea. Unfortunately (and expectedly), he's just gotten himself in too deep to really get out and now we've got a plot with a rival gang who want Silas's daughter as well. On the plus side at least Capheus had some great interactions with Will, Riley and Nomi in the last two episodes.

Next week, I'll recap/talk about the episodes Death Doesn't Let You Say Goodbye and What Is Human?

Recap/Review: Penny Dreadful's 2x09: And Hell Itself My Only Foe

It's time for the penultimate episode in the current season of Penny Dreadful and it's certainly an episode that contained some rather surprising moments, if also a few rushed ones too.

Written by John Logan
Directed by Brian Kirk

The Witch's Lair: After nine episodes of this season, the moment finally arrived for Vanessa and Evelyn to properly face off (and Hecate too). Of course Malcolm being kept as prisoner was going to be more than enough for Vanessa not to listen to her friends and go to save her 'father' of sorts. I really liked the confrontation between Vanessa and Evelyn - restrained but effective as the latter more or less began to drip feed her general plot to Vanessa while Hecate continued to undermine her mother at every turn as well as trying to make Vanessa jealous by discussing Ethan. Come next week though, this mother and daughter duo won't be a problem for anyone ever again.

The Wrong Time To Change: In the first ten minutes of this episode, one of Ethan's ongoing problems was taken out the equation. However Rusk is still around to make Ethan's life a living hell and Hecate certainly took delight in trying to tempt Ethan into her way of thinking as well. However I did massively enjoy the scenes between Ethan and Sembene in this episode as the latter encouraged Ethan to tell Vanessa the whole truth about himself. Unfortunately given the way this very episode ended, things don't look so good for Sembene who really has come into his own this season.

Family Torture Hour: For this week, both Malcolm and Victor had to deal head on with their failings as fathers in a pretty interesting way. Malcolm was reminded by his wife, Mina and Peter about his responsibility for their deaths while Victor ended up facing Caliban, Lily/Brona and even Proteus as well. I did find it interesting that both Malcolm and Victor ended up locked in the same room, unable to help each other as well.

Rule The World: I am really liking this darker side to Lily/Brona/whatever she's calling herself these days. Not only does Billie Piper pull it off so bloody well but it's also moving things forwards as well. After Dorian figured out that Lily was Brona, he then got into something of a faustian pact with her as Lily manipulated him into revealing more about his darker side. It does make me wonder if the show is setting up both Lily and Dorian (maybe less so) as the main antagonists for the third season? Interesting if they are.

Caged Poet: Well, it finally happened. An episode appeared where I felt sorry for Caliban. After Lily reduced him to a whipping boy last week, this week Lavinia and her awful parents decided to trap caliban in a cage with a poetry book so they could run their own little freak. Caliban might be one of the few characters I'm happy for this show to lose but even I don't believe he deserves this fate. Hopefully next week's finale will see the end of Lavinia and her parents.

Next week, it's the finale as Vanessa and Evelyn go to battle.

Heroes: Reborn - Airdate/Trailer/Cast Pictures Released

It won't be another three months but after months of small teasing and casting announcements, NBC are now powering ahead with the promotion for Heroes: Reborn.

First of all, the official press release for the upcoming miniseries ....

A year ago, a terrorist attack in Odessa, Texas, left the city decimated. Blamed for the tragic event, those with extraordinary abilities are in hiding or on the run from those with nefarious motives.

Two such vigilantes include Luke (Zachary Levi, Chuck) and Joanne (Judith Shekoni, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2), who are seeking to avenge a tragic loss.

Noah Bennet, aka H.R.G. (Jack Coleman, Heroes), has gone off the grid but conspiracy theorist Quentin Frady (Henry Zebrowski, A to Z) finds him and opens his eyes to the truth behind the Odessa tragedy.

While in hiding, some are discovering their newfound skills. Awkward teen Tommy (Robbie Kay, Once Upon a Time) just wants to be normal and win the girl of his dreams, Emily (Gatlin Green, Criminal Minds), but normalcy is virtually impossible after learning of a new ability that terrifies him. Coming from a very sheltered upbringing, a bold and ethereal teenager, Malina (Danika Yarosh, Shameless), has been told she is destined for greatness. In Tokyo, a quiet and unique young woman, Miko (Kiki Sukezane, Death Yankee 3), is trying to track down her missing father while hiding an extraordinary secret that will make her a force to be reckoned with. Elsewhere, a different type of hero is emerging through former soldier Carlos (Ryan Guzman, The Boy Next Door).

Meanwhile, Erica (Rya Kihlstedt, Masters of Sex), the head of the highly successful tech conglomerate Renautas, has an agenda of her own.

For better or for worse, some are fated to cross paths with assorted heroes of the past, including Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka), Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) and the Haitian (Jimmy Jean-Louis), among others. Yet, together, their ultimate destiny is nothing less than saving the world and mankind.

Joining Kring are executive producers James Middleton (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and Peter Elkoff (Sons of Anarchy). Heroes:Reborn is produced by Imperative Entertainment, in association with Universal Television.

Having watched the minute long trailer that NBC have released for the upcoming series, I have to admit I'm actually cautiously optimistic for this miniseries. I absolutely loved the first season like many did but the second, third and fourth season lost their way and struggled to maintain the interest, leading to the show's cancellation in 2010. With a mixture of some old faces and a slew of new people and a different threat, the show stands a very good chance of possibly recapturing it's original glory. I'm also hoping that with the diversity of cast members that maybe this time there might be an LGBT hero in the midst as well. If Sense8 can pull it off with less cast members, no reason this show but most importantly, I just there's more focus and cohesion to Reborn as well.

Press Release/Trailer: http://www.spoilertv.com/2015/06/heroes-reborn-new-1-minute-promo.html

Heroes: Reborn will air Thursdays at 8pm on NBC from September 24th. A UK broadcaster has yet to be confirmed.

The Selfie Culture

With some shows yet to return and others I'm doing more extensive reviews for, here's another look at some of the other series I'm watching at the moment.

Humans: For US viewers, they got the first episodes of this on AMC but on Channel 4 for UK and Irish viewers, we're nearing the halfway point and it's picking up rather nicely. While I still don't greatly like Laura or Matilda as characters, I do like that through their own methods, both are attempting to learn more about Anita and Synths going off script in general. I'm also liking the more volatile Niska, the continued partnership of Max and Leo as well as George doing his best to keep Odi while having to tolerate the rather strict Vera. Some things don't quite work though - mainly the sour faced detective and his personal life but overall, the series has continued to impress so far.

Orange Is The New Black: With the usual Netflix binging of sorts, I've now watched as far as episode six of the third season. At this point, I've seen Piper and Alex reconnect, Red use her charms on Healy to get her kitchen back, Nikki get transferred to another prison, an interesting aptitude test scene as well as backstories for Big Boo, Flaca and Chang and of course, the rather brief introduction of Stella. I'll admit this season isn't as great as the previous two have been but it's still making for some rather enjoyable television nonetheless.

Selfie: This show might have been dropped after thirteen episodes courtesy of ABC, but it found a home for Irish viewers on RTE2 this month. Now I love Karen Gillan as much as the next person and while her and John Cho have an excellent rapport in the series, it's not a surprise this show got cancelled. Not only was the premise somewhat restrictive for a long term sitcom but a lot of the writing in the first two episodes alone is genuinely horrible I'm afraid. No matter how good Gillan/Cho are with each other, neither of them can elevate the pure dreck of this show. I've heard from some people that the show gets better and there's at least one episode where Gillan gets to showcase her vocal talents but I'm not sure I want to continue to watch to find out really.

True Detective: I enjoyed the first season of this show quite a lot, though at times the Breaking Bad style hype it generated was a little tiresome. On the plus side, the complete cast/location/story change for the show's second season so far has worked. I've only seen the first episode but already I'm enjoying Rachel McAdams hard bitten Ani and Taylor Kitsch's sheriff, Paul while both Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn (especially the latter) have been a pleasant surprise too. Unlike the first season, I think there's going to be less supernatural/occult elements to it but with a striking new theme tune, great cast and a nice sense of California Noir, I'll be sticking with this.

- Charisma Carpenter and Roger Bart will be playing the parents of Ariana Grande's character in Scream Queens.
- Emma Roberts will be returning for the last few episodes of American Horror Story: Hotel.
- Hannibal has been cancelled by NBC after three seasons.
- John Barrowman will be back as Malcolm Merlyn for Arrow's fourth season.
- Contrary to recent rumours there won't be a Hawkgirl TV series. The character however will be a regular on Legends Of Tomorrow though.
- Aisha Tyler has joined Criminal Minds for it's 11th season.
- Penny Dreadful has been renewed for a third season of nine episodes.
- Sinqua Walls is returning as Lancelot for Once Upon A Time's fifth season.
- Aquarius has been renewed for a second season.
- Chris Rock will play an inmate as well as a person from Lucious' past in the second season of Empire.

Gotham - Season 2 Airdate Confirmed/New Villains Announced & Cast

While it won't be until September before viewers can catch up with the second season of Batman prequel series, Gotham on FOX, filming has already begun and a lot of casting announcements have also been made too.

First of all, Morena Baccarin (Leslie Thompkins), Nicholas D'Agosto (Harvey Dent) and Chris Chalk (Lucius Fox) have all been made regulars, following the departures of Jada Pinkett Smith, David Zayas and possibly John Donam. Meanwhile, Erin Richards will still be a regular for the show's second season and in a press release, it seems that Barbara is now being categorized in the villain segment, mentioned alongside Selina, Edward and Oswald as Barbara will become increasingly unstable. The idea of Barbara as a villain is actually pretty appealing to be honest. The upcoming season will also explore the origins of both the Joker and Mr Freeze as well - the former pretty early in the new season.

Of course the Clown Prince of crime and a certain chilly customer aren't the only ones for GCPD to be worried about as well. James Frain, recently seen in Orphan Black and True Detective will also be a regular this upcoming season. Frain will be taking on the role of villainous billionaire, Theo Galavan. He will appear to be heroic and sexy to the citizens of Gotham before taking extreme measures to his sister, Tabitha in order to bleed the city. Speaking of his sister ....

The role in question will be playing by Jessica Lucas, best known for the movie Cloverfield. Lucas's character, Tabitha is not only the sister to Frain's Theo but she is also the supervillainess known as the Tigress. Described as sexy and violent — and toting a bullwhip! — she’s the opposite of her cold and calculating brother, deriving a sensual pleasure from the mayhem she’s tasked with making. After Fish Mooney, it's nice that we're going to have another main female antagonist for the upcoming season.

Last but not least (for the time being), Dustin Ybarra (The Goldbergs) has been cast in a recurring role of Arkham resident/cannibal Robert Greenwood. His character is described to having eaten over a dozen women as well as the apt description of "his appetite for murder is only surpassed by, well, his appetite."

So that's a former love interest taking a dark path, a sexy but dangerous brother/sister act and a cannibal. After the plethora of mob related plots for the first season, this seems like a welcome step into making Gotham a lot closer to the comic world than the Nolan movies ever did. Along with the planned origins for Joker and Freeze (and probably others in the second half of the season), it really looks like the show is seriously going to hit it's stride with it's second year.

Season 2 Spoilers: http://www.spoilertv.com/search/label/Gotham

Gotham's second season will air Mondays 8pm from September 21st on FOX. A UK airdate has yet to be confirmed.

Sense8 - Art Is Like Religion/Demons

Now we're at the halfway point of this gripping Netflix series and things have certainly began to heat up immensely (including one very memorable scene as well) with our Sensates.

Nomi Marks: She's out of the hospital and when she wasn't interacting with Will for a second time (when he also wasn't rallying to her defence against her mother), Nomi got involved in the most talked about scene from the entire series so far. Well, Nomi and five other characters but more on that later. Other than that, we also had Nomi and Amanita hide out in the latter's mother's place where an interesting discussion as to whether or not Nomi can actually control her other selves as well. It's an interesting discussion and it's nice that Nomi now has someone along with Amanita who believes her as well.

Lito Rodriguez: Also involved in that infamous scene, the last two episodes have been some of my favourites for Lito. Not only do we continue to get a better understanding of him and Hernando together but the bearding storyline with Daniela is still working beautifully. However the highlights of these two episode were his interactions with Sun at the strangest of times as well as briefly meeting Will during the filming of an action scene from his movie too. And that other scene of course.

Will Gorski: Okay, no more crypticness - that scene. That unbelievably hot as hell orgy sequence involving Will, Lito, Nomi, Wolfgang and to a slight lesser extent, Amanita and Hernando as well. That scene had the potential to come across as sleazy and exploitative but instead it was carefully filmed and genuinely oozed of sensuality as well as sexiness as well. If there's a vote for best sex scene on telly, then this one is the clear winner. Not even a competition. As for the rest of the Will - I liked his interactions with Nomi, Lito and Riley in these episodes. Similarly with Kala and Wolfgang, you can tell that a romance is being shaped up with Will and Riley.

Riley Blue: Still not my favourite character (she isn't doing anything wrong, just the others are more compelling), I do however have to admit that these last two episodes have been good for her. Sure there was a few brooding scenes but there was also scenes where Riley nearly got killed by that creepy guy from the opening episode and her scenes with both Capheus and Sun were both exceptional stuff. The romance of sorts with Will seems a little predictable but the connection (given the premise of this show) at least works.

Kala Dandekar: Well, these two episodes were interesting for Kala. We had her hen party of sort and the wedding almost took place until the sight of a completely naked Wolfgang had her fainting and causing the whole ceremony to be put on hold. I do like that Kala has a supportive family and that her husband to be isn't being portrayed as an ogre either. As for her scenes with Wolfgang, I'm definitely enjoying them more than I thought I would. There's definitely a good connection with those two.

Wolfgang Bogdanov: Orgy scene aside (and yes, that scene is still stuck in my head), the last two episodes have gone to great lengths to make sure that Wolfgang remained nude as much as possible. And mainly for this nudity to be witnessed by Kala as well. Much as I enjoy his scenes with Felix and the whole heist subplot with his uncle, I think the scenes where he's interacted with Kala have certainly made him more likeable as a character, though I do want to see more interactions with the other Sensates too. Orgy scene aside of course.

Sun Bak: Oh dear, these two episodes were just not Sun's week. On the plus side, her scenes with Lito, Capheus and Riley were genuinely delightful to watch. In particular, both her and Capheus bonded over responsibilities for their families, her and Lito vented their rages and frustrations and her and Riley connected over suffering for other people's crimes. Having Sun take the rap for her feckless brother was horrible but I do like that she got to meet Angel at the end of the episode though.

Capheus: Well, he got some great scenes with both Sun and Riley where he offered some good advice and revelled in the amazement of being in London and Seoul. The subplot with him working for a crime boss isn't the most exciting but it has put him in a very compromising situation in order to help his mother get better. I did like his scene with the child of his new boss though. Some good writing in that scene to help explain Capheus's love of all things Van Damn too.

Next week, I'll recap/talk about the episodes W. W. N. Double D? and We Will All Be Judged By The Courage Of Our Hearts.

Recap/Review: Penny Dreadful's 2x08: Memento Mori

And here's a first for everyone. For one episode only, both Vanessa and Ethan are a no show but don't worry, they're mentioned enough times while this episode knocks it out of the ballpark and truly amazes in places.

Written by John Logan
Directed by Kari Skogland

Woman With A Plan: I think we've all been waiting for two seasons now for Billie Piper to give an outstanding performance as Brona/Lily and with this episode, it's exactly what we got and then some. Not only did the episode open with Lily discussing the Peter Pan with her victim from the previous episode but when Caliban tried to project his entitlement issues onto her, Lily turned the tables and ended up putting the guy in his place as she gave a rather intense commentary on the female role and her plans for Victor. Put it this way, Victor should probably be making plans to get out of London and fairly soon now.

Spell Undone: In another surprising moment of this episode (and thanks to Sembene), Evelyn's hold on Malcolm spectacularly broke this week, which not only resulted in Hecate openly challenging her but also led to both Evelyn and Malcolm having a rather interesting conversation about loved ones - in particular daughters. While Evelyn's comments about Malcolm and Vanessa's relationship were hardly new, they were well played out with the former being left in a rather unfortunate predicament as well.

Successor Vying: If Malcolm had a bad week with Evelyn, then poor Lyle had an even worse one with both Evelyn (that awful forced kiss) and then of course there was a little moment with Hecate as well. Every week that Lyle makes it out of an episode alive is a good one but a terrible omen that he will probably die horribly fairly soon. As for Hecate - I like that she's going up against her mother but her chances of actually besting Evelyn don't seem that high though.

Love Me For Who I Am: While Lily's bloodlust was an oddly pleasant (but dark) surprise, a part of me was almost disappointed to see Dorian's in this one. I get why he had to kill Angelique in this episode but it certainly stung as well though. On the plus side, at least we finally got to see that infamous painting and going by the previews for next week, it does look like Dorian will in over his head in relation to his growing fascination with Lily.

The Hunt Still Remains: Ethan might have been absent in this episode but Rusk's pursuit of him certainly didn't take a break this week. In one scene alone he was able to realise that Malcolm had a connection to Ethan when he wasn't working out that Malcolm had the circumstances of Mina's death covered up and that the door is made of steel. In some ways this feels like a distraction from the main plot with Evelyn and her Master but Rusk has certainly proved to be quite relentless though.

Next week, the gang band together, Lily sinks her claws into Dorian and Vanessa and Evelyn face off.

Return To Oz (1985)

Written by Gill Dennis And Walter Murch
Directed by Walter Murch

Ozma: "Why did they bring you here, Dorothy?"
Dorothy: "Because I can't sleep, and I talk about a place that I've been to, but nobody believes that it exists."

I'm going to start this review with a potentially controversial statement - Return To Oz is not only as good as The Wizard Of Oz but it's actually better. There I said and yes, I absolutely mean it. I absolutely cannot get enough of this movie for various reasons. One it's just turned 30 years old (as I have recently) and two - it's bloody fantastic.

A sort of sequel to The Wizard Of Oz, six months have passed and Dorothy's wonderful adventures aren't being believed by her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry (the latter whose taking his time to fix up the new house), so the former decides to have her spent the night at a creepy asylum headed up by Dr Worley (Nicol Williamson) and the similarly not nice  Head Nurse Wilson (Jean Marsh). That is, until Dorothy meets a mysterious girl (Emma Ridley), prompts escapes from the asylum on a stormy night and then ends up back in Oz with her chicken, Billina. Sadly Toto got a bit of demotion for this movie but Billina's pretty great though.

Once in Oz again, Dorothy realises that everyone has been turned into stone and the place is being ruled by Princess Mombi (also Marsh) - a head changing witch and the rather fearsome Nome King (also Williamson). Like in the first movie, Dorothy isn't soon making other friends - metal soldier Tik Tok, the sweet but somewhat dim Jack Straw and the newly created for escape purposes, Gump.

With this gang, it isn't long before Dorothy isn't watching her step, facing off against the Wheelers (how scary were they as a child watching this?) before her rather volatile encounter with the head changing Mombi and final confrontation with the Nome King in his underground lair.

Much as I loved the Wicked Witch of the West, I actually think both Mombi and Nome King are a little better drawn out as antagonists and the respective downfalls they suffer at the hands of Dorothy and her motley crew are pretty effective. Whether it's being poisoned by eggs (Billina, you badass) or being stripped off magic (miserable creature indeed), the comeuppances both Mombi and the Nome King receive are truly brilliant.

Of course, brilliance is something this movie has in spades. It might have been unimaginable for anyone other than Judy Garland to give an iconic portrayal of Dorothy Gale but Fairuza Balk (who would later appear in The Craft and Almost Famous) is a revelation in the role. I'd actually go as far as to say that she's even better than Garland throughout the whole movie.

As for the denouement, a part of me had wished that Dorothy had stayed in Oz (Billina had the right idea) but her reunions with Toto/Em/Henry were beautifully handled as was her goodbyes to both sets of friends she made in both movies along with her freeing of Ozma (also Ridley) as well.

As a movie, it's a truly incredible piece of cinema. A sort of sequel that (in my opinion) is actually better than the original, a children's movie that is both genuinely heartfelt and a little scary at times and an adventure definitely worth getting immersed into. One of my all time favourites.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

Written by Noel Langley And Florence Ryerson And Edgar Allan Woolf
Directed by Victor Fleming

Dorothy: "There's no place like home."

Now this was something I should've reviewed last year during the movie's 75th anniversary but seeing as we're another two months before it turns 76, I'm still kind of within the confines of an anniversary year, right?

It's hard to almost know what to say about this movie as virtually everything that has been said about it has been at this point but here goes - I really enjoy this movie. Now, I'm not going to say it's my all time favourite movie (that honour belongs to a certain Caped Crusader movie) but as an onscreen adaptation of Frank L. Baum's classic story, The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, it's really not hard to see why it's actually stood the test of time.

Granted, even in 1939, Judy Garland looked a little too old for the role of Dorothy Gale but at the same time, you really couldn't imagine anyone else in the role at the time. She slips into the role (and the ruby slippers) with such an effortlessness, it's truly something to behold and the formatting in which the story is played out for the audience is one of it's many triumphs to be honest.

I love that the movie begins in sepia with Dorothy on the verge of losing her dog, Toto to the horrible Miss Almira Gulch (Margaret Hamilton) while swiftly introducing both Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, their farm hands, the Wizard himself in another guise and of course that infamous hurricane that pretty much took both Dorothy and Toto over the rainbow and to the land of Oz itself.

It's from there onwards, that all the familiar elements really do slot into place - singing Munchkins, the selectively helpful Glinda (I might have issues with her), a rather Wicked Witch of the West (Hamilton again) and of course, Dorothy in possession of the ruby slippers and a band of friends - the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), Tin Man (Jack Haley) and the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), whom she needs in order to defeat old Westy and get home as well upon the request of the Wizard (Frank Morgan).

If the Lord Of The Rings movies and prequels pride themselves on the journey aspect, then this movie really set the precedent for that motif. The way Dorothy met each of her new friends, the various obstacles it took to actually get to Oz and then the final confrontation with the Wicked Witch of the West herself are some of the best moments from the whole thing along with Dorothy eventually getting home herself.

It's one of those movies that's constantly aired and even if you're one of the rare people who've never seen it or even seen it in full, it's impact is still embedded somewhere in your subconscious. The ending isn't the strongest but it's still a satisfying way of ending the movie nonetheless and with the plethora of sequels (live action and animated), TV movies and even a certain arc on Once Upon A Time, this movie remains the most definitive take on Dorothy Gale of all time. However, only one other for me usurps it. That I will reveal tomorrow.

Rating: 9 out of 10

American Horror Story: Hotel - More Returns/Comic Con Panel News

It's been a while since I've posted any news on American Horror Story: Hotel, mainly because I wanted enough items to be revealed before discussing them all, so here's another blog.

Keeping with the female returns, not only will we have the wonderful Sarah Paulson and Kathy Bates along with Chloe Sevigny and Lady Gaga but Angela Bassett will also be a regular this upcoming season. According to Ryan Murphy, it looks like Bassett may be playing a rival singer for Gaga's character as well. Should be interesting.

As for male returns, along with Evan Peters, Wes Bentley, Cheyenne Jackson and Matt Bomer, the villain of Freak Show (well, one of them), Finn Wittrock will also be a regular in Hotel. Wittrock's character will be involved in a love triangle with both Gaga and Bomer's characters in the upcoming season. Is there any chance this triangle could involve both Bomer and Gaga wanting Wittrock's character rather than Wittrock and Bomer pursuing Gaga? It would be a lot more interesting to be honest. I said it before but I'm going to say it again - I want at least one likeable/sympathetic gay character this season who's integral to proceedings like we had with Lana Winters before.

Also returning to the fold will be Denis O'Hare, meaning that Asylum will still be the only season not to have featured him. No details on how Denis will factor into Hotel but Murphy has revealed that both Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters will be playing villains for the upcoming season and while both Jessica Lange and Emma Roberts are not regulars this year, there's always a chance they may resurface in later episodes. He's also stated that all the main parts are very big this year but that it's also a different tone than previous seasons.

In terms of guest actors, Max Greenfield has also confirmed to be making an appearance this season. The actor best known for his roles on Veronica Mars and New Girl will be checking into Hotel but not checking out. I'm guessing one of the first casualties for the show. Either way, he's another addition to the slew of hunky men that Ryan Murphy is adding to the upcoming season. Meanwhile the series will be sharing a panel with Murphy's other horror anthology series, Scream Queens at Comic-Con next month. Heading up the panel for both shows will be Jamie Lee Curtis, Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, Skyler Samuels, Abigail Breslin, Keke Palmer, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters and Matt Bomer.

Spoilers: http://www.spoilertv.com/search/label/American%20Horror%20Story

American Horror Story: Hotel will air on FX and FOXUK from October. The Comic Con with Scream Queens panel takes places July 12th at 12.30pm.

Sense8 - Smart Money Is On The Skinny Bitch/What's Going On?

As you can tell, I'm sticking with the format of watching two episodes a week (though I am aware of spoilers for all the season) and recapping/reviewing each of those two episodes in one blog. Here are thoughts on episodes three and four then.

Nomi Marks: I swear these two episodes were almost dedicated in how to make poor Nomi suffer as much as possible. Largely seperated from Amanita, Nomi was trapped in the hospital, forced by her awful mother and the sinister Dr Metzger to have an operation against her will. Speaking of Will, his lock picking skills came in the nick of time for Nomi to free herself and then for Amanita to get them the hell out of there via taxi cab. Although she had less screentime in these two episodes compared to the first, Nomi's storyline was still riveting and sad to watch.

Lito Rodriguez: These episodes were great for the character. We got see his insight as an actor with his filming his action movie. More to the point, I really like the relationship with him and Hernando and even the bearded thing he's got going on with Daniela is actually a lot better done than I thought it would. I'm still expecting something to go wrong at some point with the arrangement (namely Daniela's possessive estranged boyfriend) but for the time being, it's a storyline that's working better than expected.

Will Gorski: Right now while we're still getting moments where each of the sensates are somewhat interacting with each other, harnessing each other's skills and the like, it's only Will that seems to be slightly aware of the bigger picture. When he was inadvertently rescuing Nomi and tapping into Sun's skills, he also caught up with Jonas again who gave him more of a heads up of the wider picture. Will is definitely being portrayed as the more archetypical hero of the eight to an extent.

Riley Blue: Out of all the characters, Riley had the least interesting stuff to do during the third and fourth episodes. In episode three, she caught up with an old friend and his tactless Aussie girlfriend and brooded and in episode four, she was mainly by herself, listening to a voice message from her father and then listening to music. Riley's meant to be a bit of a mysterious/enigmatic type, at least that's what I'm sensing the show is trying to do with her but I found her scenes the weakest during these particular episodes unfortunately.

Kala Dandekar: Like Riley, a lot of Kala's scenes weren't as interesting as the ones she had in the first two episodes but then she sang along with Wolfgang (episode four had a genius use of a certain Four Non Blondes song connecting all the sensates) and it was the first time she came alive as a character. Something which even her sister seemed to notice and something she hasn't shown since her arranged marriage as well. Speaking of Wolfgang ....

Wolfgang Bogdanow: I have to admit I like him a lot more in the fourth episode than I did in the first two. I just felt that this episode drew a bit more sympathy for him as we saw glimmers of his past (Kala aside, it seems all of the sensates have terrible family members) while also seeing his savvy when it came to dealing with a dealer for the diamonds he had stolen. I also got a kick out of his shoe shopping scene with Felix and the karaoke moment that connected all the sensates as well.

Sun Bak: A difference two episodes can make for a character. In my last blog, I admitted that Sun didn't particularly grab me as a character but with episodes three and four, she certainly did. Yes, we got some fairly predictable flashbacks with her sick mother dying and both her father and brother treat her pretty shoddily but the underground boxing storyline was a nice twist (especially when it also connected with Capheus and Will too) and I'm hoping she ends up not taking the fall for her brother's embezzling antics as well.

Capheus: Keeping with the great stuff, I also found that Capheus got a little more interesting in the last two episodes as well. Aside from the brief connection with Sun in the third episode and a wonderful conversation about being a Zebra (bonkers but inspired that scene), Capheus is definitely one of the show's more lighter and caring characters, in spite of the dangerous situations he seems to be getting himself into.

Next week, I'll recap/talk about the episodes Art Is Like Religion and Demons.