Stella series 3 returned to Sky 1 in January 2014. Stella (Ruth Jones) writes and stars in this comedy drama, she has delivered a excellent stereotypical family from The Valleys, Having rose from fame from Little Britain to Gavin and Stacey its about time that Jones was control of her own series. With more characters and side stories Stella seems to get funnier by its series, However on times it can be complicated to keep up on who is who but series 3 has been pushed in the right way. What happens when an englishman moves next door to Stella how will he be able to cope? Having cheated on Emma, Sunny left in series 2 how will she manage as a mother? Will Big Al ever get with Stella? Ten episodes in this series focus on the ups and downs in relationships within a small community.
Each character has moved on in their own unique way, some will have their happy ending others will be sick of the much loved Pontyberry.
a great finale to the series, no wonder Sky has commissioned a fourth series for 2015.
The valleys comedy drama returns for its third season. How will Stella manage with her ex rob left for Canada? will Stellla Morris ever find true love?
Gravity is the kind of film that comes along once in a blue moon, if you're lucky. Visually stunning, emotionally-grounded, and technologically astounding, its status as a successful blockbuster is matched in recent years only by Christopher Nolan and his The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises epics.
Director Alfonso Cuaron's work is beyond worthy of the Best Director honour recently bestowed upon him by the Academy at the Oscars a few weeks ago. Watching the beauty unfold before you, it is very easy to see how he came away with the statue on the night. His creative ingenuity in the director's chair is everywhere evident.
The seventeen-minute unbroken long-shot with which the film opens is an excellent example of such artistic brilliance. In one long, sweeping stroke of his brush, he paints us a picture of life in space, bringing the miniscule details to life in a way that remain realistic on even the largest of canvases, such as those found in an IMAX theatre. And it is a joy to discover, following its release on Blu-ray, that not only does the film hold up so well to a second viewing, but it also retains the quality of its exceptional visuals in stunning HD on a television screen in the average home. If you missed it in the cinemas, now is the perfect time to enjoy it, because it really does need to be seen to be believed.
Along with the incredible work clearly put in by the special effects teams, much praise has been rightfully placed on the leading acting performances by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, who truly bring the script to life, lifting it off the page. In the hands of lesser actors, you would never even buy the film's setup, let alone be taken in for the duration of the film.
The basic premise is simple: What happens if you are stuck in space?
It's as scenario many of us have nightmares about. It's a story told in many sci-fi novels. But it's one that was previously untold in cinema, making Gravity that much more of a unique film. With the simple setup laid out for us relatively early on, it is then almost solely up to Bullock and Clooney to keep our interest for the next ninety minutes, and it's their impressive work doing this that has rightfully led to so much praise lauded on them alongside Cuaron and his crew.
The lion's share of the praise is naturally attributed to Bullock, who gives us as close to a first-person experience of this traumatic situation as is possible in cinema. And make no mistake, this is very much a traumatic scenario that we are invited to watch unfold. Cuaron is tremendously skilled in managing the tension and adrenalin fuelling the film after tragedy strikes, leaving Bullock and Clooney stranded and alone, with nothing and no one to talk to but each other.
With Bullock starring as a novice astronaut, really a scientist who has been asked to take on a space-bound mission, we are given a character we can relate to, someone way out of their depths when it comes to traversing the seemingly infinite territory of space, placing our life in the expert that is George Clooney's character. With no one to talk to but each other, and nothing to do but try to keep the less experienced astronaut calm, Clooney slowly begins to unravel the inner pains of Bullock's life on Earth, and why she signed up for this mission in the first place.
It is this story that is ultimately at the heart of the film that lends it its most power, even beyond the special effects, which is why Bullock's performance has been so critically lauded. It is a story of tragedy and aspired redemption, set within an explosive, heart-racing blockbuster of a thriller, quite unlike anything you've ever seen or are likely to ever see. Its brilliance is sheerly undeniable. Cuaron's work, along with that of everyone involved, is breathtaking. He and his co-writer son, Jonas Cuaron, have spun a tale here worthy of the ages, and they bring it to life masterfully.
It comes as no surprise to discover in the Bonus Features that Cuaron and his team needed to invent many of the techniques used to shoot the film. With such a singular story, previously untold in cinema, it's no wonder the techology didn't already exist. Powerful, eye-opening, mind-blowing work. Cinema at its very finest.
Hustle is one of Bbc best dramas.
Michael Stone/Mickey Bricks(Adrian Leicester)leads a team of con experts trying track down people who cheat people out of honest money.
Robert Vaughn Robert Glenister and Marc Warren are among the con artist playing the roles of Albert Stroller, Ash 'Three Socks' Morgan and Danny Blue.
The series takes the gang all over the world from London to Las Vegas.
'A must see, Brillant, what a finale'
'You Cant Con an Honest Man'
Excellent film well made with plenty of accurate facts about the way the romans expanded their territory (very useful for teaching the subject at my high school.
This film is both funny and poignant film because James gandolfini made this film before is tragic sudden death, the story centers around the meeting of Albert and Eva who start a relationship , Eva goes to great lengths to keep her affair from her close friend Albert's wife as well as not telling Albert of her friendship with his ex wife Marianne great performances from the main characters.
casual meeting of two singletons at a party where the female friend is the friends of his ex wife and dates her ex husband without either of them knowing of their intimate friendship
It's good, but it's no "Avengers".
That's the general sense you get after watching "Thor: The Dark World", a sequel both to the original Thor movie and the subsequent (and wildly-popular and critically-acclaimed) Avengers crossover film that manages to be perfectly entertaining in its own right, while simultaneously never quite hitting the heights of Marvel's most successful movie so far. Having said that, it does manage to improve on the original Thor film in a number of ways, and is still well worth a look for superhero fans, or those who just want a bit of Friday-night escapism.
The story reunites Norse god Thor (Chris Hemsworth) with his villainous half-brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), as well as his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and his Earth-bound love interest Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, who was mysteriously absent from the Avengers movie). It gets us up to speed with the current status quo of the characters quite quickly - Loki is imprisoned in the otherworldly realm of Asgard due to his actions in the Avengers movie, while Thor and Jane are still separated - before throwing us into an all-new adventure involving evil Elves, cosmic dark-magic as old as time, and teleporting cans of Vimto (yes, really).
It's the usual fantasy/sci-fi mashup that we've come to expect from the Marvel movies, and even if the plot is a bit nonsensical and never really manages to provide much motivation for the evil machinations of lead-evil-Elf Malekith (played by an unrecognisable Christopher Eccleston, buried in prosthetics and makeup), there's always enough in the way of large-scale action and witty one-liners that we never have a chance to get bored.
Even if the overarching story is a bit silly and vaguely-defined, director Alan Taylor does some good work in the smaller details of the movie. Notably, he makes the Norse Gods' home realm of Asgard feel a bit dirtier and more lived-in than the gleaming, clean architecture of the original Thor movie, and he also shows us a lot more of the normal day-to-day moments in Asgard that help to make it feel like a real place, rather than just a fantastical alternate dimension. He also gives a bit more attention to supporting players like cosmic gatekeeper Heimdall (Idris Elba), who was barely a presence in the first movie but benefits from a beefed-up role here, including a great action scene in which he single-handedly takes on a Star-Wars-style spaceship with his bare hands.
Taylor also demonstrates good instincts for comedy, always knowing just how far to push some of the film's more light-hearted moments (like Thor having trouble navigating the London Underground, or Jane Foster's ex-mentor Dr Selvig running around in a state of half-naked madness for most of the movie) without undermining the sincerity of the main story. There's also a fantastic extended cameo from Chris O'Dowd (of The IT Crowd) as a potential 'normal' boyfriend for Jane - his scenes were some of the funniest in the movie, and I found myself wishing he could have stuck around for longer.
But while the mixture of fantasy and reality seems a bit more confident and assured here than in the original "Thor", and there are a couple of moments of decent drama (mostly involving Loki) that help to add a slightly serious edge to the story, there's still no getting away from the fact that - without a decent villain or a truly well-defined threat - this feels like a bit of an empty and hollow story compared to the grandeur of the Avengers movie. Perhaps it's unfair to compare the two directly - this is only a solo Thor movie, after all, not the big superhero crossover event that the Avengers was - but this second Thor film doesn't help matters by featuring a similar structure, particularly when it comes to the climax involving a massive alien attack on a well-known city (this time it's London, rather than New York, that's under threat).
So if you come to this after watching the Avengers movie and hoping for more of the same, you're probably going to be disappointed. But on its own terms - as a fun, silly, imaginative fantasy-action-adventure movie with a decent cast and some nice aesthetic choices - there's enough to keep you entertained here, at least until Avengers 2 rolls around.
An excellent start to such a good drama. Andrew Lincoln is a joy to watch.
Attention to detail is out of this world, the make up department know how to design a zombie. The first episode is one of the best introduction i have ever seen, no wonder it has had so much hype. The series brings a unforgettable journey for several characters during a zombie Apocalypse. At times scary but most definitly tense. This is the start of a tv drama that gets people hooked and has everyone talking about. The Director Frank Darabont (Green Mile and Nightmare on elm street 3) has had experience with a horror concept and a film that people love. This series wont disappoint.
9/10
The Return of the Hit sitcom Birds of a Feather was brought on television early 2014. ITV isnt the main distributor of sitcom however it worked well on Thursday nights.
This easy watching sitcom is a laugh a minute, with the three sisters who cant still argue but put up with each other for family sake.
Although some episodes were weak, the audiences were still tuning in to watch Tracey, Sharon and Dorien.
It is a joy to watch a sitcom that made a come back and work, many people didnt think it would still have its popularity as there has been many sitcoms that have taken off, however Birds of Feather shows it can still work. it will be interesting to see what happens next.
Mr Selfridge series 2 raises his game. Some people didnt enjoy the finale of season 1 however fans of this period drama will appreciate the ten episodes of the next part of the drama.
The attention to detail is down to a tie, from the design of the shop to the costume and vehicles. As World War 1 breaks out, How will Harry and his beloved store be able to manage in the up roar of Britain.
With new characters, Mr Selfridge ups its games and delivers some tense scenes and some interesting facts about how London was perceived at that time. At the end of season 2 fans of this will want a season 3. Jeremy Piven along with Katherine Kelly and Tom Goodman-Hill bring you Mr Selfridge and its fabulous characters who worked for Harry.
its been 5 years since Mr H Selfridge opened the store, has his luck ran out?
How a dream become a reality.
James Corden (Gavin and Stacey and Lesbian Vampire Killers) stars as Paul Potts in this feel good film. The Idea of turning a talent contest winner into a film may sound at first over the top however what Director David Frankel has done is a clear image of the man Paul Potts was on how desperately he want to show to the world his love for singing.
Frankels attention to detail is clear from where the movie starts to the end he has certainly done his homework, he gives the clear indication of the sterotypical welsh family who are not very well off to the glamorous sights of Italy.
Macenzie Crooks (Pirates of the Carribean) co stars as Pauls best friend, Crook gives the audience his ability to switch to other acting roles, along with Crook and Corden comes Julie Walters, Alexandra Roache and Colm Meaney.
This film may have not done well on the box office however it is well cast, funny and interesting to see the development of a normal human being to a sell out opera singer.
When you have three of the biggest names in the current industry leading a dramatic thriller like Paranoia, you ought to be able to expect a solid cinematic experience. Instead, you're left wandering how the film managed to so spectacularly waste the talents of such talented actors, who are undeniably all ordinarily at the top of their game.
Having made a name for himself in recent years in such films as The Hunger Games and The Expendables 2, Liam Hemsworth takes the central role here in Paranoia, starring as a young employee who discovers he is in the middle of a bitter, decades-long rivalry between two of the biggest tech billionaires in the world (Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford), seduced by promises of wealth and power, not to mention the femme fatale-like Emma Jennings (Amber Heard).
The premise is a simple one, and it's perhaps a little surprising that it hasn't been overly-done before, so the potential for it to be done well here is all the more. Corporate espionage is a track well covered in movies, but in a high-tech industry like this, it's not quite so frequently seen. Yet the technology's place in the movie is little more than eye candy, largely extraneous to the plot itself, which is a real shame.
It's difficult to find one main reason why Paranoia fails to live up to its full potential. Rather, it's lots of little things that gradually start to add up. When you are watching it, you can never really let yourself be totally taken in by this world; on the peripheral of your mind, you can't help but remain aware that it's a film you're watching, which I think is perhaps its biggest failing. A large part of that is down to the script, or lack thereof.
As a fan of Joseph Finder's original novel, I had big hopes for this adaptation, even more so when I learned that Barry L. Levy, who wrote the brilliant thriller Vantage Point, was co-writing the script. Finder's original characters have terrific dynamics, and their interactions are so sharp, but the script here is really missing that same sharpness. The characters always feel like they're playing out a pre-conceived dialogue, rather than actually living it; it lacks that natural feel necessary to keep tensions high.
Before seeing the film, I admit I was somewhat apprehensive, particularly as a fan of the source material. Director Robert Luketic has a slightly mixed bag of credits, with great films like 21 and even Legally Blonde under his belt alongside sub-par efforts like The Ugly Truth and Killers. I was really hoping that Paranoia would be a return to form, but sadly it falls among the latter. In fairness, I don't think that the faults like with Luketic. The directing is impressive in places, and it's the script that really lets Luketic and his leading cast down. The material just isn't there for them to work with.
Ultimately, I think my recommendation would definitely be to give this one a miss. I wouldn't even say you should see it just to be able to form your own opinion; trust me. If you want to see Hemsworth in better form, you need only look so far as The Hunger Games. Equally, Gary Oldman fans can go back to Leon, Harrison Ford fans to Air Force One, and Amber Heard fans to Drive Angry or the recent Machete Kills. Any and all of the above would be significantly better options, and much more recommended.
The cheesiness of Paranoia's tagline perhaps says it all, and ought to have served as a warning sign to me not to commence watching it in the first place: 'In a war between kings, even a pawn can change the game.' I'd hoped that it would live up to its potential, but alas I was sorely mistaken. I'd have to say very much not worth your time.
For all its potential, Paranoia really falls short of where it should have left its mark.
Having spent a number of years directing TV episodes, Jeremy Lovering returned behind the camera last year for his feature directorial debut, In Fear. The result is an impressive horror film, very much British in flavour, the likes of which haven't been seen on our shores in longer than I can remember.
The film revolves around Lucy (Alice Englert) and Tom (Iain De Caestecker), a young couple still easing into the relatively new relationship, going away together for the first time. Their plan: To spend a night in a quiet hotel before going on to meet their friends at a nearby music festival. What starts out with sparks of romance between the two quickly descends into something much more sinister, as they find themselves stuck in a seeming maze with no way out, and a haunting presence attacking their car at every turn.
What separates British horror movies from their Hollywood counterparts is their unique ability to do so much with so little. It is perhaps best encapsulated by the likes of The Blair Witch Project, which has spawned a whole new genre of found-footage horror movies. Whilst In Fear bucks the recent trend of handheld camera footage, it does take a leaf out of The Blair Witch Project's playbook in keeping its cast trapped in a forest as the sun goes down, without any hope of salvation.
And whereas many recent horror films, both British and American, tend to opt for a monstrous presence, In Fear instead stays within the realms of reality, going down the psychological horror route rather than the supernatural, and it is very much to its credit that it remains firmly in that path; it makes the terror that much more real, and thus that much more scary for us as an audience, which is exactly what you ask from a horror movie like this.
As darkness approaches, and their nightmare really starts to sink in, it isn't long before the young couple start to turn on each other, and question just how much they really know about one another. Has one of them lured the other into this neverending situation? Or is it an external force that has them pegged for a terrorising night of mayhem?
The way the film unfolds is truly to Lovering's credit, as both writer and director of the film. Rare is the horror film that will leave you guessing right up until the end, and rarer still is the film that will have such a satisfying emotional payoff. Lovering manages to keep the tension on high throughout, leaving you gripped on the edge of your seat, daring yourself to peep out from behind the cushions of your sofa.
Englert and De Caestecker's performances deserve the utmost praise, and we can perhaps thank the fact that Lovering didn't tell even his cast how the film would end that the tension between them continues to rise, remaining so high throughout.
It's a high-intensity thrill ride that makes the very best of a low budget, and is really quite unlike any horror released in the best part of a decade, and so worthy of your attention. For any and all fans of the genre, if you missed its fairly limited theatrical release last year, I can't recommend it enough now it's out on DVD and Blu-ray. A guaranteed must-see. You won't regret it.
This is a film made up of many long take scenes in which nothing much happens in most of them. At three hours long, it's a draining experience but there is some allure to the film. Aurora follows a middle aged engineer, with next to no emotion, who sneaks around Bucharest spying and observing people, occasionally interacting with them. Clearly a sociopath who appears to have suffered a breakdown, he buys a gun and without any explanation, uses it without much hesitation. He's clearly unhappy with a number of people including ex-family members. The one decent relationship he does have which appears intact is with an older lady he calls Pusa who appears t be his mother but this is made unclear. The intrigue of the film is one's desire to find out who all the people he visits are, why he does what he does and what has caused him to snap. We find out bits of information but just when we think we're going to get all the information when the engineer decides to talk, he isn't allowed to explain his actions and behaviour. They are deemed too complex for the authorities and institutions that run Bucharest. This implies that the lives of human beings are clearly not so simple as society's wish to try to find answers for everyone's actions in straightforward terms. This film is clearly not for everyone as it tries to use cinema in a different way to shine a light on the dysfunctional protagonist of our film.
Based on the true story of a Danish ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates somewhere in the Indian Ocean, this thought provoking and gripping film gives a unique insight into what it might be like to not only be a victim of a hijacking but also tells the story from the point of view of the shipping company's CEO as he tries to negotiate the release of the crew over a period of time that becomes long and drawn out.
Adding further authentic realism to the film, it was shot on board the actual hijacked ship not far from where it was taken by the pirates and used real hostages from the incident.
Obviously being a Danish film it chose as its protagonists, two Danish characters whose eyes we see the film from. It would have been nice and bold to see the film from one of the foreign crew's points of view or even the Somali viewpoint to try to understand what truly drives them to take such drastic action. It also would be nice to see a film about Somalis made in the West that doesn't show them as simply pirates. Nonetheless, if there are some 1000 hostages currently being held on board ships by pirates then it is important to raise the plight of this situation.
The strength of the film lies in its performances from all its international cast, each maintaining their native tongues and mannerisms, from the expert brought in to assist the CEO with negotiations, right through to the to the crew and the Somali pirates. You feel as if you're actually there and you're never quite sure how the characters might behave from day to day as the situation ebbs and flows. There are no far fetched heroics which adds to the helpless situation and makes you question the ethics of the shipping company's position when it comes to the absurdity how much we value human life. What was also very odd though may have been true about thew film is the lack of involvement by the military. Nowadays, any incident involving hostage taking or even accidents and at the drop of a hat, you see military personnel being deployed to the area, not only the country where the vessel originated from but elsewhere. In this film, that scenario was absent or never shown. I found this rather peculiar over time, especially knowing that large corporations find it hard to pay out any money and numerous government's stances about not negotiating with terrorists. This is a fascinating piece of work that's overall very believable.
Two of cinema's coolest tough guys come head to head for the first time in their careers under Michael Mann's stylish and explosive thriller and they don't disappoint. Al Pacino plays Vincent Hanna, an LAPD detective whose number one priority in life is to out to try and foil criminals attempting heists and murders. Robert De Niro is the equally determined Neil McCauley, who commits high-end scores with his regular and trusted crew including a Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore and an early appearance by the now legendary and cult figure of Danny Trejo.
Ultimately the two giants of acting come head to head when Neil takes a score where the rewards are bearer bonds. Things don't quite go to plan when the crew recruit the psychopathic Waingro played by Kevin Gage who doesn't act according to plan.
What makes this film well worth the watch are the acting talents on view which also include Academy Award Winners Jon Voight, and a young Natalie Portman, Diane Venora, Dennis Haysbert, Wes Studi and Ashley Judd. On top of that you have the stylish hues of the film that we've grown accustomed to when watching a Michael Mann film. Above all though, you have a rare cops and robbers film where the filmmakers have taken the time to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the main players in the film and their desires and motivations so that you end up with a story that's character driven rather than plot driven. Somewhere in the middle of the film is an explosive gun battle between the criminal crew and the LAPD that's as seemingly real a scene as you're ever likely to lay your eyes and ears on.
One can argue that the film is a little drawn out and at times the character studies are overly unnecessary and the characters don't always abide by their code, especially when it comes to some of the decision making skills of Robert De Niro's character. He makes one particular choice that's particulrly dubious which prolongs the film and its outcome considerably which disappointed me somewhat. There's also some characters whose dialogue is poorly written and make you think the situation is unbelievable and I speak of Tom Noonan who plays Kelso, the guy who searches out the banks that can be robbed, in particular. Lastly the overall feeling you get once you've viewed the film is how dysfunctional everyone is in the film and generally how vile some of the characters are and at times the film is too stylised for some of the horrors we see but you find yourself totally immersed and engrossed whilst watching the film because the characters are so well acted and believable and that's the mark of a well made film.
This DVD has plenty of additional featurettes around the making of the film, that famous scene where De Niro and Pacino meet for a coffee and material around which the film was inspired. They don't make films like this anymore!
Gravity is an amazing filmmaking achievement that absolutely blew me away when I saw it at the cinema late last year. In IMAX 3D, the film was one of the most involving, affecting and downright enjoyable experiences that I've ever had at the cinema, and I came out of it convinced that I had seen one of the most groundbreaking movies of this generation.
On DVD and Blu-Ray, some of the film's power is inevitably dimmed, as no home cinema set-up could hope to compete with the all-encompassing feel of an IMAX cinema. However, that doesn't stop Gravity from being a very compelling story and a very technically innovative movie, and one that's definitely well worth a look if you missed it on its original release.
The film's greatest strength is its ruthless focus on its central character, Dr Ryan Stone, played by Sandra Bullock. A rookie astronaut on her first spacewalk, Stone becomes Gravity's main protagonist when a freak accident damages her space shuttle and kills most of the crew. Along with her only remaining companion - experienced space-goer Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) - she's tasked with finding a route to safety while struggling against all manner of space-bound dangers that threaten the pair's life at every turn.
That might sound like a fairly thin outline for a film - limited to just two characters in a very sparse environment - but director Alfonso Cuarón wrings every ounce of drama out of the situation, shredding your nerves with every twist and turn of the story. It helps that Stone and Kowalski are given real humanity by Bullock and Clooney, with some very genuine-feeling exchanges and a real sense of warmth between the couple. Clooney's usual charm and charisma plays nicely off Bullock's more timid, frightened and insecure performance, helping to lull us into a false sense of security just before things get really frightening.
Because Gravity is all about presenting a danger, having the characters react to that danger and eventually overcome that danger, only to realise that the solution revealed an even greater danger to come. Such a succession of out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire storytelling tricks might sound a little obvious and repetitive, but it's to Cuarón's credit that he manages to make the relentless onslaught of obstacles feel so fresh and surprising each time, barely giving the characters a chance to catch their breath - and when you're operating on limited oxygen reserves, that's a pretty important concern.
Indeed, one of the film's greatest strengths is the way it varies the types of stresses and strains that it imposes on the audience, constantly testing your nerves in different ways to ensure that you never get too comfortable with the way the story is going. There are moments of cold horror (such as the spooky initial shots of the exploded shuttle, filled with drifting dead bodies), occasional shots of graphic violence (like the brief glimpse of an astronaut who suffered a smashed visor and was exposed to the freezing vacuum of space), sequences that are designed to disorient you spatially (one early scene in which Stone is sent spinning off into space is enough to challenge even the strongest stomach), moments of intense pressure and imminent threat (like a spreading fire on a space station), and even certain moments that evoke a sort of existential angst, asking some of the deepest questions about life and death and refusing to serve up a comforting answer. Gravity certainly can't be labelled as a dumb action film - it's far too smart and thoughtfully-made for that.
The other area in which the film truly impresses is on a technical level, with visual effects that truly push the boundaries of what films can do. Crucially, however, Cuarón understands that the effects must always serve the story - so while you might be gawping at some incredibly complex CGI creations or wondering exactly how the filmmakers managed to pull off a certain shot (including one amazing scene that seamlessly moves from outside Stone's spacesuit to inside her helmet, literally putting the audience in her place), that impressive quality will always be a secondary concern to what's happening to Bullock and Clooney's characters on-screen. Even more so than other masters of effects-driven science-fiction movies (James Cameron springs to mind), Cuarón is sure to always put the story first - and it's that, more than the amazing graphics, that makes Gravity such a compelling film.
The DVD release loses a single star from me for the simple reason that the home video version of this movie simply cannot compare with the experience of seeing it in the immersive, all-encompassing environment of an IMAX 3D cinema - as well as the fact that this is a film that can never hope to be quite as suspenseful or gripping the second time around, once you know how everything is going to play out. But these are very minor criticisms of an otherwise amazing movie, and I'd urge anyone who didn't see it at the cinema to snap up this DVD and enjoy an hour and a half of shredded nerves, unbearable tension, and filmmaking genius.
I thought series 1 of the programme was amazing but then this second series arrived! It has even more death, mystery and great characters making for an interesting watching experience. The original cast have returned giving us more insight into their characters' lives which means we get a great period drama from the BBC.
have always loved hinge and bracket they will be spoke of for years to come most funny
The first series of this programme was amazing but the second series came back with even more death, mystery and shocking moments. The original cast return to portray their characters even better than before so we get a drama rich in characters from the Victorian era. This is probably the best drama produced by the BBC in a long time!
An absolutely brilliant second series from the BBC!
Marvel continue to totally outdo themselves with Thor: The Dark World.
The epic blockbuster returns us to the worlds of Asgard and Earth following on from 2011's blockbuster, Thor. Kenneth Branagh did a fantastic job in setting up the demi-god's standalone franchise, and Game of Thrones' Alan Taylor has steered the ship to even greater heights with this first sequel.
Chris Hemsworth is of course back in the titular role, looking as manly as ever - the gratuitous shirtless shots show off an immensely toned body, built exactly as you'd expect of a demi-god.
For the uninitiated, Hemsworth stars as Thor, son of Odin, brother of Loki. In the first movie, we see the relationship between Thor and Loki slowly beginning to fracture, before ultimately collapsing completely in Joss Whedon's The Avengers the following year.
Thor: The Dark World picks up in the wake of The Avengers, with Loki imprisoned and Thor battling to save the other Realms from the havoc wreaked in the meantime before he can return to Earth to be with the one he loves: Natalie Portman's Jane Foster.
With even more blockbuster-sized action than the first instalment, and an even greater story arc behind it, it comes as no surprise that The Dark World has outperformed its predecessor at the box office significantly. Put simply, it is a much better film.
Hemsworth is once more joined by a stellar cast, with Natalie Portman yet again putting in a great performance in the female lead as the love interest, but also strong-willed, Jane Foster. Christopher Eccleston makes a terrific new addition as the main antagonist, the Dark Elf Malekith. And of course Tom Hiddleston is just remarkable as Loki, doing double duties as his manipulative nature necessitates. Hiddleston is understandably a fan-favourite, culminating in his recent nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance here in the Jameson Empire Awards, as voted for by us, the cinema-going public. And if you've seen the film already, you'll know how much he deserves it.
Naturally, this is a Marvel movie, and its place within the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to be an incredibly interesting one to watch unfold in the years to come. It serves as a fantastic follow-up to last year's Iron Man 3, and if you stick around to watch the end credits, then you'll no doubt already realise that it very nicely teases the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy, and quite likely beyond that to Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron. Without giving away any details, let's just say that it's the perfect start to what's soon to come.
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