My Favourite Films - The Graduate

The 1960s is often viewed as a revolutionary time for cinema. The Golden Age had died out and most of its stars were losing their appeal. The rise of television created the first real competition for films and was considered "The Death of Cinema" (Good call on that!). It was a time where the old talent was being brushed out to make way for the new, the young, the experimental. While The Golden Age introduced many of the storytelling elements we still use today, a lot of the films themselves seemed rather conservative, safe, and eventually audiences were getting tired of it. The 60s saw the birth of Bonnie & Clyde, Easy Rider, 2001: A Space Odyssey, films that were rebellious, liberal and pioneering in ways they weren't before. It also saw one of the earliest (And to this day best) examples of the Coming of Age film, The Graduate (1967).

I say "one of" because one could argue Rebel Without A Cause would count as a coming of age film, I'm not inclined to disagree, but when I think of the standards and conventions expected of the genre, I usually think of The Graduate being the one that formed them. Also while Rebel is without a doubt a fantastic film-and may one day be talked about in this series-it's not so much a story I think people love because they identify with, it's a character piece about an individual who is forced into a stereotype and a critique on the failings of the prior generation (Okay, maybe we do relate to it a little), and it certainly opened the gates for The Graduate to exist.

*Spoilers Ahead*

The Graduate follows the story of Ben Braddock, a recent college graduate who is now left with one simple question "What next?" it's a question everyone asks him, everyone expects him to have a plan and go on to do something big, the problem is: He has no idea. He spends the majority of his summer seemingly ignoring the problem, focusing on other unimportant and even deplorable things, such as starting an affair with a much older woman, and after breaking it off, dating her daughter.

I've said in the past that for a coming of age film to work, you have to identify with the character's specific problems, which is incredibly difficult to do because every teenager goes through different problems depending on things such as personal identity, social status, popularity; meaning to have a character you identify with means alienating a large audience that didn't go through the same struggles you/the character did. Note: This is why The Breakfast Club works so well, it doesn't have one specific character, it has five, so chances are you will relate to one of them. The Graduate is the exception to the rule, there's nothing unique about Ben, nothing about him to make him standout from the rest, but chances are you either are, are going to, or will have gone through exactly what he is going through-hell, I'm going through it right now. Finishing University and having absolutely no idea where you go from here. It's a confusing time of our lives, we're technically adults, about to enter "The Real World" yet we still feel like children, these people who are supposed to be our peers are still light years ahead of us in maturity, along with the added pressure of everyone expecting you to have the next 60 years of your life figured out, it's easy to see why Ben regresses into such immature and poorly thought out scenarios.

There are very few people Ben's age in the film, his relationship with Mrs Robinson is very clearly not one of equal ground, it's uncomfortable and feels like a grown woman grooming a boy. Yet his relationship with Elaine Robinson-a woman his own age-isn't any better, it doesn't feel like two young adults, but rather two teenagers who's entire relationship is basically an act of defiance, a chance to rebel and embrace young love even if it's against their parents' wishes. The final shot of the movie basically confirms this, the two proclaiming they're in love, having a dramatic 'crash the wedding' scene, and then ends with them realising their actions have not been well thought out and and probably going to make them suffer in the long run.

Granted, I'm not saying everyone will end up like Ben, making horrible decisions and risk ruining their life, but the idea of returning to your teenage ways certainly is a lot more comforting, especially with the little consequences young love can lead to.

Also I'd be remiss to not mention the soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkle, it's fantastic, iconic and features songs that are still beloved to this day, even if the internet slightly ruins 'Sound of Silence' by playing it all the time.

In Summary, The Graduate is fantastic because it's timeless. It's somehow a film that helped define a generation of filmmaking, while still remaining relevant for modern audiences. People can connect to it, laugh with it, sing to it, and in the end remind you of that pit in your stomach as you still don't have the answers to the question "What next?". Just as long as you don't crash any weddings, you should be fine.

-Danny

DC TV Weekly #42

Legends of Tomorrow 'I, Ava' Review
The advantages of a show like this with a big ensemble means that they can do these kind of stories, where the team splits off into several groups and goes on their own adventures, some dramatic, some funny, all character based. The A-Plot sees Sara learn about Ava's mysterious backstory - oh, and Ray is there because he needed something to do - Nate & Amaya try to redeem her granddaughter and fight of Damien Darhk & Nora - oh, and Wally's there because he needed something to do - and finally Zari has to teach Mick how to use his totem. This final one is probably my favourite of the three, mostly because every character has is used, each scene has a purpose, and the relationship between the two is finally developed. Mick & Zari definitely make a great combo, they're both stubborn, relaxed and independent individuals and both are now Totem Bearers. This episode just got to see their personalities bounce off of each other and by the end of it they have a better understanding of one another, it's a simple yet effective story. Nate & Amaya's story is also engaging because it further addresses the issue that the two simply can't stay together as Amaya has a pre-written destiny, and now she seems dedicated to fixing it. Strangly the main plot of the episode was the one I was least invested in, I'm not sure if it's because I'm not too invested in Sara & Ava's relationship or I can't tell if Gary is funny or annoying, or even just small nitpicks like Ray hacking a government computer even though he's a physicist not a computer science wiz. Most likely a mixture of all three, which thankfully means no major complaint to be had about the episode, just a bunch of small ones. I'll give it a 7/10.

Black Lightning 'Sins of the Father: The Book of Redemption' Review
Is it me or has the show someone completely switched plots? Or at the very least lost focus on one seemed like the main story. A month ago I was complimenting Tobias Whale for being the best thing about the show, and now it feels like he's barely in it. The only plotline that was established from the beginning that has maintained momentum is Gambi's secret, which I will give it credit for being a very well told story. The initial mystery was engaging, Jefferson's reaction was understandable, and now the rebuilding of their relationship from Gambi's sacrifice was dramatic and well done. However when it comes to the villains, it seems as though Tobias has been dropped for this plot of Lala coming back to life, and I'm sure they'll tie together in the end eventually, but considering the last time we saw Tobias was his sister - the one person he loved - dying in front of him, that should have been the peak of his fury, and now he's just dropped off the face of the Earth. Furthermore there's this government conspiracy of kids with superpowers being kept in stasis for 30 years, and this does not feel like it goes along with this season at all. The show started off being about Black Lightning trying to keep his city safe from crime and gangs, this has taken a huge jump and doesn't seem connected to the main plot at all, I'd argue it should have been saved for season two. Overall this is the first time I've felt the show has been inconsistent with it's pacing and story, which are the main things I've been praising it for. Each story is still good on their own, but they don't go together at all. 7/10.

Arrow 'The Thanatos Guild' Review
"Conflicting" is the word of the day kids. Not one thing in this episode did I like or dislike without a "but" being attached to it. The main plot of this episode very much felt like a return to form for season three but no one likes season three, it was the worst season and the League of Assassins is boring but it was character driven and the main plot of this season isn't exactly engaging but I am still glad they developed it in the B-Plot with Curtis & Dinah but I still think Dinah & Curtis aren't that interesting on their own. Honestly the most interesting thing about the B-Plot of the episode was Curtis asking out that police officer, because that was entirely a character growth moment and that's always the best thing to focus on. It also made me realise that they really have kept Malcolm Merlyn dead for nearly the entire season. I still don't think he'll ever be really dead because superhero show ya'know, but still, props for upholding his death for near an entire season. Finally the main motivation behind this episode is to give Thea & Roy a proper send off. A big part of me wishes that they could have just given them the happy ending, driving off into the sunset. But (Last one) at least this means that they can come back at some point after having their own adventure which we can only hope that'll lead to something good. Oh, and Roy was wearing a trucker hat, nice touch. 7/10.

Tomb Raider Vs Tomb Raider

Neither Tomb Raider films are very good. I think both of them are fine, which in the grand scheme of videogame movies practically make them masterpieces. Yet I can't stop thinking about the two and comparing them, as both are wildly different interpretations of the iconic character of Lara Croft, yet they also share a decent number of similarities. So which one is truly better, and is there any merit to either of them? Let's discuss.

*Spoilers Ahead*

The first thing to consider is simply the timing of these films, and how that changed the production of them. The 2001 film was released back when the videogames were still an over the top, fantastical, overtly sexual adventure series. Meanwhile in the world of blockbusters it was filled with simplistic Indiana Jones inspired family adventure films with little logic but a lot of charm (Think The Mummy/National Treasure type scenario). Because of this, the film really doesn't put all too much focus in developing things such as plot or characters, but is just trying to be an extreme and stylish action flick, filled with impractical stunts, techno music and a heavy use of cgi & slo-mo. It's certainly got a lot of charm to it, if you can accept the tone of the film then it's easy to let go of most of the flaws, because there are tonnes of them, cliched characters, nonsensical story, dated cgi. Yet because that's not the focus and instead the focus is just on having cool stunts and badass one-liners, making everyone look as awesome as possible, even some of the more dated elements have somewhat of an endearing factor to them, ironically a movie all about uncovering relics of the past is a relic in itself of action movies of the early 2000s.

Meanwhile the reboot film is coming from a different background, taking more so from the 2013 reboot of the franchise (Even repeating several major plot points), this is a story more grounded and brutal, showing the birth of what would become Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, rather than highlighting her in her prime. Toning down the goofiness & sexiness, and replacing it with more brutality and emotion, the film is basically the polar opposite of it's predecessor, meaning both its pros and cons are also switched.

Let's compare two scenes in both films that are very similar, Lara Croft coming face to face with her father for the first time in years. Both scenes are supposed to be emotionally heavy, yet because the original film didn't spend any time showing the vulnerability of Lara, or even that great a range of emotions, the moment feels completely hollow. However in the remake, the relationship between Lara and her father is the core of the film, and the majority of the movie up to this point is about exploring their relationship and how Lara never gave up on finding him, making it quite an effective scene.

On the other hand, because the first film is just a simple adventure film, it can get away with having stock characters or scenes seeing as they're just there to help progress things along, meaning everyone is easy to understand and their relationships are more clear. The new film, trying to be more realistic, whenever it fails to develop something in greater detail, it suddenly stands out more than it would in the other film. Take the supporting cast for example, the original film doesn't explain to us how these people became friends with Lara, but they give them such energetic personalities and play off of each other really well, that you just accept it. However the new one, trying to be more realistic, needs to give us a stronger reason to believe the relationships these people (Okay, one person) would be so dedicated to Lara, and you just don't get it.

Then there is Lara herself, yet again, two very different characters, but I'd argue both equally compelling. The Angelina Jolie one somehow has one of the thinnest, yet also most engaging motivations behind what she does - She's just an adrenaline junkie. She doesn't do it for the knowledge, the glory or the money, she does it all just because she's good at it, and gets a kick out of it. After all, this is a woman who regularly trains against giant killer robots just because she can. Honestly...I can't think of any other film like this that does that, it's so simple and could so easily be seen as lazy, but the fact that it's so rarely done, it's surprisingly refreshing. The downside of this is that because she's like this, she's too good at what she does, at no point does the danger ever seem too much, or that she isn't constantly on top of things, she always seems to be the smartest, toughest and most in control person in the room. This type of character certainly can lead to a lot of cool action and one-liners, but not necessarily an engaging protagonist.

Then there is Alicia Vikander, who has a much better defined motivation (Finding her father), has a clear arc throughout the film, and still gets a lot of well done action scenes, without ever ruining the tension. For example, her first scene in the film is her losing an MMA match, and later on in the film we see her get in a fight similar to this, where she learns from her mistake the first time round and winning the fight. This is a Lara that's allowed to be vulnerable, we see her get beaten down and be emotionally honest, meaning we connect to her more and get excited to see her overcome obstacles and grow as a character.

It's hard to say which one is better, it really depends on what you prefer, the perfect badass who you want to be, or the stubborn survivalist you relate to. Personally I would say I have a preference for the Vikander version, seeing how broken a character can get just makes them more engaging to watch and root for, someone who never screws up loses my interesting rather quickly. But which film is better? Honestly it could go either way. Again, neither of these are great films, I'd say they're decent at best, but even decent films can still strike up an interesting debate, and this is one that I'd say I've had fun thinking about, even if I didn't come to any sort of conclusion, but comparing movies doesn't have to be about definitely deciding one film is better than the other, just seeing how two films can interpret the same source material differently.

-Danny

DC TV Weekly #41

Wow, only two DC Shows to talk about this week. CW has always had weird scheduling, but this is quite in consistent and confusing, certainly makes these reviews harder to keep track of.

Legends of Tomorrow 'Necromancing The Stone' Review
Well hey, guess John Constantine had more to offer than just a one episode stint. Unfortunately I'd say this is a waste of a Constantine usage. Don't get me wrong, Matt Ryan is amazing as always, it's just that now that it's been announced he'll be joining the show as a series regular next season, I'd say there are other things that could have been done with him. What we got felt far too similar to his prior appearance, I'd have liked to see him interact with other members of the crew and create a rapport with them, establish more of his dynamic amongst the crew. We've seen him with Sara and Mallus before, and I feel the main plot of the episode didn't need him, Ava & Mick could have taken down Demon Sara without him. Speaking of, let's actually discuss Demon Sara, a story that allowed for more development for one of the main characters who so far this season has seemed emotionally in control of everything, also allowing the show to play around with tone and attempt a more horror-themed episode. Whether it worked or not being a horror episode is dubious, but no one expected the show to be capable of going full horror, it still gets points for effort. 7/10.

Black Lightning 'The Book of Little Black Lies' Review
Now this is more of what I would have expected behind the whole 'finding out your loved one had powers' storyline. Jennifer learning the truth about her family and of course is very upset, but they actually make it more interesting here. The focus isn't just on the family lying to her, but it's also on her new found responsibilities. Jennifer doesn't want to become a superhero, she wants to be normal, and now with powers, whether she uses them or not, it has severely stricken her chances of just being normal. I also appreciate the fact that every member of the family has a different conversation with her, showing different perspectives. Something I haven't praised this show for is how natural a lot of the dialogue is, characters talk like real people, meanwhile in other DC Shows whenever people sit down to have a dramatic conversation, the whole thing always feels staged. I think the best way to enjoy this show is to focus on the familiar elements reflecting reality, because they really are the stand out moments. Jefferson as a principal and as a father are far more interesting than Black Lightning as a superhero, so an episode that mostly focuses on those aspects often means a better episode overall. Unfortunately those superhero fight scenes are still here, and they're not getting any better. Thankfully they weren't the focus of this episode so they didn't drag it down too much. 7/10.

DC TV Weekly #40

The Flash 'Run, Iris, Run' Review
These past two episodes have been perfect examples of how to do filler episodes well and how to do them poorly. Last week's filler was creative and against formula, this week's filler is just that, filler. A random meta with generic fire powers tries to rob a bank...without a mask...in the city with the Flash...dumbass. However there's another bus meta who can take people's powers, and at first he seems to want to help people, but then he holds Iris hostage and runs away...for no reason. Then another guy gets the powers and instantly goes into crime because apparently everyone is evil. For nothing else at least they addressed an issue I've had since season one, that being Iris' uselessness. I'm not convinced they've fixed that issue in the long run, but having at least one episode of her being physically active is nice, plus the purple lightning made for a nice change of effect to look at. Then there's the subplot of Harry trying to recreate DeVoe's experiment and everyone except Cisco is totally up for it, even though Cisco has a very reasonable argument that it was this same experiment that turned DeVoe from a smart pacifist to an evil genius, and they give no reason to why the same won't happen to Harry...speaking of this subplot, it also contained the line "Have you not seen Spider-Man 2?" which means Marvel movies exist in this universe, except in the first Sam Raimi movie they reference Superman, who is canon in DC Television and this creates one heck of a paradox that I'm obviously thinking way too deep into but this episode as a whole was kinda meh and that's one stuck out to me the most and now I'm just babbling. 5/10.

Legends of Tomorrow 'Amazing Grace' Review
Perhaps Legends has just gone so far down the path of weird & wonderful that an episode all about Elvis having the power to summon ghosts with the power of music seems rather underwhelming by their standards. Not that there's anything wrong with the concept, more so the execution. At no point in this episode did there actually feel like there were any stakes, no villains, no tough obstacles, if the characters used their powers even once then any "problem" would disappear in an instant. Elvis didn't push back against the Legends, the ghosts didn't turn out to cause any problem, there was nothing, because of that, this whole episode just felt hollow. The closest I got to caring about anything was Axel the rat, and when I find myself caring more about the rat than any of the actual characters on the show, I think we can sum it up as a dud. Nothing bad about it per se, but nothing good either. 5/10.

Black Lightning 'The Book of Revelations' Review
And we're back to everything the way it always was, where everything is simply decent, mostly the plot progression. Jennifer's powers are starting to activate, but we all knew that was going to happen eventually, it's another case where there are certain story beats it has to hit before it can get interesting, but I'm glad they got through most of them in this one episode. That's another positive I can say about Black Lightning, it knows when it has to deal with specific story tropes that most superhero shows go through, so it tries to rush through them as quickly as possible to get to the good stuff. For example, Anissa is already going out on missions as Thunder, because wasting time with Jefferson saying no when we all know it's gonna happen eventually is boring, they dealt with it last episode and now they're just acting like a superhero duo. Then there is Gambi admitting his history to Jefferson and of course he's pissed and I'm excited for where that's gonna go. So yeah, good balance between advancing already established storylines and establishing entirely new ones with Jennifer and Lala. 7/10.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - Trailer Review

It's been a long time since I've reviewed a trailer, mostly because it's been a long time since I've seen a trailer that gave me a longer thought than "That looks good" or "That looks shit". However, a trailer for a new film in the Harry Potter Franchise is never going to be "just a trailer", seeing as my love for Harry Potter is practically unrivalled, that being said, this trailer gives me some pause. Fantastic Beats & Where To Find Them was a film I very much enjoyed, there were even parts of it that I loved, and those parts were whenever the film was doing something new. The location, the creatures, Jacob Kowalski, Queenie Goldstein, all things that we had never seen before in Harry Potter, and thus were the most enjoyable parts for me because they expanded on the world and differentiated themselves from the other films. My least favourite parts of the film is whenever it felt the need to reference or repeat elements from the Harry Potter films, those were the moments where the film felt rather doubtful of itself and needed to fall back on already established elements as a safety net. This trailer suggests that this film is going even further back, returning to Hogwarts, making Dumbledore a main character, and telling a story that was already told in Deathly Hallows. Not told in great detail mind you, but it wasn't really a tale that needed detail, it was fine as it is.

I realised after watching it that every bit of news to come out about this film has been slightly disheartening for me, Dumbeldore's sexuality not going to be addressed, the casting of Johnny Depp, David Yates remaining on as a director, none of it being things to raise my confidence in the film. That being said, I am still very much looking forward to this film, and while I may complain about now, I know that as soon as I see Hogwarts back on the big screen, I'm going to turn into a pile of mush, because it's like Rowling said: “Whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.”.

Also, here are some smaller observations I noticed about the trailer:

-I really don't like how they're downplaying the costumes and general aesthetics of the wizarding world, Dumbledore is for some reason wearing suits instead of robes.

-Rebranding it under the 'Wizarding World' Franchise is probably a good move, calling it the Harry Potter franchise is a bit odd when he hasn't been in one of these films for 7 years.

-That one shot of Newt and Dumbledore throwing their wands to the ground looked really cool.

-The music at the title screen sounded like the theme to The Avengers.

-Danny

DC TV Weekly #39

The Flash 'Enter Flashtime' Review
Well I'll be, last week I complain about Flash being so blandly average, and the very next episode they bring in the most inventive and original episodes the show has ever done. Barry stuck in Flash-Time and one by one dragging in everyone else to try and stop a nuclear bomb as it's exploding. Right from the start you could tell this episode was different, beginning in-media-res to establish the tension by showing Barry at his most desperate, and from there the rest of the episode is formula breaking in more than one regard, even down to the cinematography had a very distinct style to it, the go-pro pen shots, the focus on the glass shaking during the climactic moments, the beautiful cgi on the Speed Force, also having three speedsters all working together and trying to solve a problem through science rather than fighting it. It also gave Grant Gustin a chance to act his butt off, the man has shown time and time again how talented an actor he is, and he really got to show off here. Also just a small moment but I really want to mention it is when Jesse first shows up and Barry says "Wally's not here" was a perfect comedic moment, the way it was shot to have Barry obscured from view, to Gustin's delivery, really was as well executed the small joke could have been. This is why this episode sticks out to me, everything feels like it just had a little more effort put into it than would have been expected. From the writing, to the acting, to the directing, everyone seemed to dedicate just more energy to this one episode than everything else they've done this season. I've been looking back on my reviews of the season so far and it upsets me how many "meh" reviews that I've had to give this year, even the stand out episodes upon further reflection only stand out in comparison to the rest of the season. This is the first episode that I can say is truly outstanding, one of the best the show has ever done. 9/10 (Very tempted to give it a 10/10, but I'm gonna hold back for now, see how I feel later.).

Legends of Tomorrow 'No Country For Old Dads' Review
Hm, apparently it's the trend of the week for DC shows to be trying something new. A whole episode dedicated to Ray, the kindest and most gullible of the Legends being held prisoner forced to work alongside Damian and Nora, and by the end he actually sees a possibility of redemption within her. Not gonna lie, I really enjoyed their interactions, seeing Ray empathise with Nora's situation, and getting some actual solid development between Damian & Nora's relationship, though the show seems to forget Damian did have another family in Arrow that he doesn't seem to care about, but we'd all like to pretend that season existed. While I may complain that Damian as a villain has been overplayed at this point, but my god Neal McDonough is just having so much fun in the role I can't help but be entertained by him, even something as dumb as a "Hi Annoyed, I'm Dad" joke. The rest of the Legends didn't really get that much to do in this episode, but a part of me actually likes that, it gave them plenty of more time to focus on Ray and the villains, and like I already said, the three of them play off of each other so well that they were able to hold attention for the majority of the episode. Also Wally's officially joined the team and looks like Grodd's returning next episode, yippee! 7/10.

Black Lightning 'Equinox: The Book of Fate' Review
Boy howdy was I ready to give this episode a negative review, heck, I was even excited for just so that I had something new to talk about with this show, but then gosh darn it did they do a 180 on me in the final act of the episode. Let's start from the top. For the majority of this episode all I could think was "boring" and it's not even the show's fault for some of it. The conversations between Anissa and Jefferson about him being a superhero and she wants to team up but of course he doesn't want it to happen, it's dull, it's predictable, but it has to happen because of course those are the conversations you have in a story like this, it's just the fact that we all know they're going to get to that place eventually, I just wish there was a way to skip all the meandering. Then there was the ending, with so much plot progression occuring in such a short span of time, Tobias' sister is killed, Lady Eve is killed and Black Lightning framed for it, and then Lala coming back to life, boy howdy was I more invested in those final few minutes than the rest of the episode combined. I'm glad the episode at least ended on a high because it meant my feeling as a whole came out positive, but it certainly dragged it's feet getting there. 6/10.

Arrow 'Doppelganger' Review
So Roy's back, that's pretty neat. Apparently he's back for several episodes, that's super neat. It also seems this is the show's way of writing Thea out for good, that's less neat, but also makes sense, Thea was missing for a chunk of the season near the beginning, it makes sense that they might send her off soon, and if she goes away with Roy then at least they both get a happy ending. Speaking of the early parts of the season, it's amazing how many storylines I completely forgot about (and seemingly the show did as well) that are now being addressed. Ollie's trial, Rene's daughter, the fact that Ollie being the Green Arrow was supposed to be a temporary thing. This season as a whole has felt rather unfocused, like the writers couldn't decide on what the main plot could be, so just threw everything to the wall to see what stuck, unfortunately multiple things stuck so they just decided to incorporate them all. And now there's a Ra's Al Ghul related sub-plot that's being set up...more than halfway through the season. Ah well, it's not like the "main" plot of the season takes up all that much time, might as well see if we get anything good from this one. This episode as a whole didn't offer much in terms of quality, but nothing that bad either, at least we got to see Roy again, which is nice, so I'll settle on a 6/10.

DC TV Weekly #38

The Flash 'Subject 9' Review
Well, at least they acknowledged the weirdness of DeVoe coming back, and even entertain the idea that DeVoe wasn't really there and it was just a metahuman trick...which it was. Yeah, Barry's still innocent, but I mean, they're not wrong. And this would conclude the section of the episode worth discussing. Sorry to say it, but the rest of the episode's main plot was just so incredibly paint by numbers I might actually believe a robot wrote this one. New meta shows up, Team Flash try to protect her, they fail; no new developments to the main plot, just that there needed to be 12 Metas and this one was just a placeholder. There were certainly attempts to make this more interesting, having Ralph develop feelings for the new meta is a good way to go at it, unfortunately the plot rushes through it so quickly that I do not even slightly believe they'd be this invested in each other, and so neither is the audience. I suppose the subplot between Harry and Cecile was somewhat entertaining and gave the two a unique storyline for them, but that's the B-Plot for a reason, they know it can't hold that much weight. I can't even argue that this is a bad episode, it's just so blandly average. 5/10.

Legends of Tomorrow 'The Curse of the Earth Totem' Review
I acknowledge this show isn't exactly accurate to real life history, hell, I should never expect it to be, that's not what it's there for. That being said, as a big fan of Blackbeard, I can't help but feel a bit miffed by their representation. Mostly because I'd say the real guy is far more interesting (Seriously, look him up), but hey, like I said that's not fair, I just wanted to get that off my chest. The episode for what it is, it's fine. We get more of Amaya and Mick's charming friendship as he tries to hype her up as the biggest and baddest pirate, we don't really talk much about how well these two work off each other, them as a pairing always makes for some of the best moments in the show. We also have Rip and Wally West off on their own adventure which includes drunk karaoke in 90s Japan, because why not. I really do think the move from Flash to Legends was the best move for Wally as a character, he was seriously being underused in the former show. But no matter what horrible events transpire with Blackbeard's pirate crew or Damien Darhk & daughter's mischief, the most crucial thing to the crew is that they don't ruin Sara & Ava's date, because of course that's the highest stakes in the show, it's just their style. 6/10.

Black Lightning 'Three Sevens: The Book of Thunder' Review
Either I haven't been paying enough attention or the show didn't establish it very well, but I had no idea Jefferson's kids didn't know he was Black Lightning, at no point did I realise that was a secret. Even though it is a secret, it continues one of the dumbest parts about the show, and that being HOW DOES NO ONE RECOGNISE EACH OTHER?! Those masks do absolutely nothing to hide their identity, I was willing to let it go for Black Lightning, but they really push their luck, especially with a father & daughter fighting and somehow not recognising each other, it's super dumb guys. I'm also mentioning this because I am seriously running out of things to say about this show, it's incredibly consistent in the good things staying good and the bad things staying bad, the story is moving at a decent pace, the mystery is there, the action still isn't that great, same thing week in-week out. 6/10.

Arrow 'Collision Course' Review
For an episode that actually had quite a bit happening, I'm struggling to think of things to discuss. The episode-as well as a large portion of this season as a whole-is the distrust between Team Arrow and team...not Arrow, and this episode was the boiling point for it, the two sides finally bashing heads in a fight where they don't hold back pulling out all the dirty tricks they need to in a very poorly shot action scene. Seriously, what is with this show's split between action and storytelling? It's like they know when an episode has a crap story so they put extra effort into the action, but when a story is actually good they decide to half arse the fight scenes? It was so dark I could barely make anything out. But let's focus on the positive there that this story was really well told, like I said they've built this up for a fair number of episodes now, with the distrust between the two growing bigger and bigger, tying it into the main plot of the series, creating genuine reasoning behind both sides, and not solving everything by the end.Their actions have consequences and no one came out of this episode a winner, no one got justice, the money wasn't returned, Rene is severely hurt and the two sides seem to hate each other. I'm sure everything will turn out alright in the end but for now I'm enjoying the restraint and damage the writers are showing with this story. 7/10.

Best Things of February 2018

Well, might not have as much to talk about as last time-not just because it's a shorter month-but because one thing in particular took up most of my time, nevertheless, let's talk about things.

Black Panther
Let's get the obvious one out of their way, because everyone & their mothers has already fallen in love with this film. While Black Panther is certainly a quality film, with brilliant characters, music & visuals (Minus some cgi backgrounds) the film has instantly become iconic as a cultural milestone. It's representation of African culture and Black heritage makes it possibly the most important film Marvel has ever made, and seeing the impact it has on people, inspiring children, making grown men & women burst out into tears, frankly, no one can take that away from them, getting that kind of genuine reaction out of people is the best thing a film can strive for, and Black Panther achieved it in strides.


The Shape of Water
Despite coming out late last year for America, it took until February for those of us in the UK to finally see Guillermo Del Toro's latest film, and I have been dying to see it since it was first announced seeing as Del Toro is one of my all-time favourite directors, and it was absolutely beautiful. Like every Del Toro film the first compliment to talk about is the absolute visual treat that is the film, everything from the cinematography to the costume design of the Amphibious Man is absolutely stunning. One could argue this film has the simplest characters out of all Del Toro's filmography, the heroes are easy to root for as a group of outcast misfits with heavy prejudices against them, while the villains are easy to hate & fear because...they're Michael Shannon and he's just really fucking good at playing those type of characters. But I'd argue the film can get away with it as it already has one giant hurdle to overcome, making the audience believe a romance between a woman and a fish monster. Del Toro once said that he sees the beauty in horror, and this is probably the most literal example of that statement, taking the monster from an iconic horror film and turning him into a sympathetic romantic lead. The film takes this story with complete sincerity and in the hands of a lesser director it could have easily crashed and burned, but in the hands of a master like Del Toro, he of course makes it one of the most beautiful films both in story and in visuals that I have seen. An instant classic that I can gush over for years to come.

Persona 5
And now for the thing that took up the majority of my month. I was never really that interested in purchasing Persona 5, I had heard great things about the franchise-this game in particular-but it never really appealed to me. Then when I found out it was on sale for half off on the Playstation Network, I shrugged and thought "what the hell". Since then I have become addicted to this game in a way that I have not being addicted in years. A game that is near 100 hours long in gameplay and yet it so well paced, hours fly by without me even noticing, and I've not even finished by the way, at the time of writing I'm only about 45 hours in! The game has endearing and likeable characters, catchy music, and really fun gameplay. Though you will catch on to the formula rather quickly, and the further into the game you go I find there's just so much to do and so little time, that just means I wish I had more time both in real life and in game to do everything possible. There have been nights where I can't sleep cause I'm thinking of playing the game, so I play the game and come morning when I have actual shit to do, I hate myself and the game for making me so addicted to it...then I go ahead and play some more. Frankly, I love this game so much I hate it, and I can't wait to finally finish it so my life can actually go back to normal and I start functioning like a real human being...but the only way to do that is to keep on playing it so, I'm gonna go back to playing it, bye!

-Danny