Superman and Batman issue #62 reviewed

This issue was entitled "Sidekicked" and featured Supergirl and Robin instead of Superman and Batman. The lack of Superman and Batman did not bother me in this comic because it showed so well the comparison of Superman's idealist views and Batman's dark realism.they show this key difference between the two heroes through their sidekicks. In the second panel Supergirl says "this city's is so not Metropolis." Metropolis is the perfect city compared to Gotham's Criminal filled streets. Their differences are even shown in their villains in this comic, you can see that Supergirl is shocked at the twisted-ness of the arkaham inmates. Superman's villains all want something logical world domination, revenge, money etc where as the majority of Batman's villains to quote the dark knight "just want to see the world burn."

These differences are what make Superman and Batman such an interesting team and the same applies to their sidekicks. I really enjoyed this comic despite the fact that I've never really enjoyed the characters of Supergirl and Robin, it was however a rather interesting look into their characters and I have to say I have a new found respect for the sidekicks. It was good to see the sidekicks take out a lot of Batman's rouge gallery.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince reviewed

It may be the sixth in the series but its the best film yet. This film didn't star Clint Eastwood, there were no funky china men and the children did not speak in unison but it was bloody good fun. what really impressed me about Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was the films ability to combine a extremely dark presence at times with some of the funniest moments ever written, the only other time I've seen this done successfully was in The Dark Knight.

The film featured brilliant performances (as always) from Daniel Radcliff, Rupert Grint and the rather gorgeous Emma Watson. The film showed how Voldemort rose to be the greatest dark wizard of all time, the plan to destroy Voldermort, Dumbledore's death and the blooming relationships between Harry and Ginny as well as Ron and Hermione. The pure density of this story caused this film to be the longest Harry Potter film yet and while some may moan at the idea of sitting in the cinema for 150 minutes however I was delighted when I heard how long it would be. The reason I was delighted that Harry potter and the Half Blood prince was 150 minutes long because it means they got to keep more of the book's detail in the film which is good. To prove this I give you:

exhibit A: Harry Potter and the goblet of fire, a great book but a terrible film due to its lack of detail.

Exhibit B: Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix, a great book but a terrible film due to its lack of detail.

You get my point but due to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince's extended length it was a rather enjoyable film and I did not spend the entire film wondering why they took such a part out of the film. I did however spend half of the film laughing until it became to hard to breath and the other half admiring the special effects. While the film had its flaws they weren't really that noticeable I was rather annoyed when Luna Lovegood found Harry on the train instead of Tonks but other than that there wasn't anything major missing.

I was rather disappointed with the score as I didn't notice it at all maybe the film was too good or perhaps Miz Watson distracted me but it wasn't noticeable all the time. A good film score needs to enhance the film by adding effect to the picture on screen (it needs to be noticeable and dramatic but not distract from the film) and Nicholas Hopper simply did not deliver this which is a shame because the Harry Potter score is normally quite good not epic (like anything by John Williams) but still makes me enjoy the film more.

But other than the lack of a good score I throughly enjoyed this film and maintain that it was the best Harry Potter film out so far. I can't wait for both parts of Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows which really needs to be the best two Harry Potter films ever made. And know I have to end this blog as I am really getting tired of typing "Harry Potter and the....." but I will leave you with the promise of Jackass the movie 2 being reviewed here soon.

Torchwood: Children of Earth reviewed

We are coming! Torchwood has never been as good as Doctor Who but last week they started a five episode series that did something that Doctor Who never has. Doctor Who is a family friendly TV series and Torchwood is a more down to earth show that shows the grit and horror that Doctor Who can't, for once Torchwood found the perfect story for them (although have way through I couldn't help but wonder where the Doctor was.) The Children of Earth was a dramatic but brilliant five episode storyline, when I started watching I only watched because I had nothing better to watch but by episode three I was hooked, nine o' clock on the dot I was sat in front of the tv with a coke in one hand and popcorn in the other.

I live 45 miles from where the Torchwood hub is supposed to be, I have stood where they found Jacks hand after the explosion but that didn't make it seem any less real. I was completely astounded by how creepy the children speaking simultaneously all over the world were but by the last episode that wasn't the big thing, you weren't thinking about the aliens, you were chocked up about Ianto, you were freaking out about the children being taken away and impressed by the bravery shown by those characters you thought were just there for comic relief. I began to hate the government for what they were doing if they had just let Torchwood/U.N.I.T do their jobs I'm sure they could have fond out what Jack found out.

Admittedly The 456 weren't the biggest or scariest aliens but you know they are a powerful civilization capable of destroying planets but then you find out that they just want the children because they use them as drugs you start to think of them as lowlife gangsters who just need their next fix. The series just got more and more serious until it got to a point where John Frobisher murdered his wife and children and shot himself so that they wouldn't see the bad that was going to happen. The end was sad to say the least with Jack sacrificing his grandson but thankfully the prime minster didn't get away with it thanks to Bridget Spears who completely redeemed herself in my eyes. I even liked Johnson (the female special forces gal) at the end if they bring Torchwood back I think she would make a great addition to the team .

But now the big question will Torchwood be back ? With Ianto dead, Gwen pregnant and Jack of world who knows if it will be back. I hope so and I know how they could do it, if they tie it in with Doctor Who some how they could reunite Torchwood, some new recruits may be needed ( I suggest Johnson and Lois Habiba.) The show was under preforming a lot recently but after the Children of Earth storyline ( to which have the nation tuned in to) who knows maybe the BBC will bring it back. If you missed it you can still watch it on iplayer, trust me it will be five hours well sent.

The Forbidden Kingdom reviewed

There were funky china men from funky China town! The Forbidden Kingdom was one of the best films I've seen recently, it combines non-stop action, comedy and a star studded cast. The film starred martial arts legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li as well as lesser known actors Michael Argarano and the rather gorgeous Yifei Liu, Chan and Li alone make this film worth watching. David Buckley also did a tremendous job with the music, he masterfully creates an iconic and exciting piece of music but also adds a hint of traditional Chinese melody's with great effect.

The film starts when Jason (Michael Argarano) finds the legendary Monkey king staff in the back of a Chinese pawn shop, the staff sends him back through time to ancient China. He then meets Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) who saves him and takes him as his student in martial arts, they are later helped by Sparrow (Yifei Liu) who also joins them on their quest to deliver the staff back to the Monkey King (Jet-Li) during their quest they meet the Silent Monk (Jet-Li) who also joins them in their attempt to deliver the staff and free the stone encased monkey king but the jade warlord stands in their way. This leads to some kung fu fighting, those cats were fast as lighting, In fact it was a little bit frightening but they fought with expert timing.

All in all this was a superb, action packed, kung-fu filled thrill ride with an amazing cast and a terrific story. It is impossible to watch this film without daydreaming about being in ancient China or at least daydream about Yifei Liu. I'll end this post with a quotation from the film He who speaks, does not Know; He who Knows, does not speak.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly reviewed

Six may be the perfect number but the third was definitely the best! This film was perfect it had all the things that made the first two good and so much more. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly saw the return of Clint Eastwood as the Man with no name (The Good), the return of Lee Van Cleef this time as Angel Eyes (The Bad) and Eli Wallach as Tuco ( The Ugly.) While some may say the film was slow to start and that it went on for too long it doesn't take away from the pure excellence of the movie. The film features the three men going after 200,000 dollars but they get caught up several times in the civil war on the way to the money the film is filled to the brim with gunfights and kick ass-ery.

Ennio Morricone proved his genius once again with the world renowned the Good, The Bad and The Ugly theme which is a very iconic piece and is one of my favorite non john Williams pieces. This film had a terrific cast, an amazing director and a incredible composer. It is one of the first films you think of when some one mentions western films and I can see why this is truly one of the best western films ever and by far the best film to come out of the 60's.

This is such a good movie that it worries me that it took me this long to watch it, if you haven't seen it go watch it! I can guarantee if you like westerns or even action movies in general you will love this movie. This is a must watch movie with a poncho wearing six shooter wielding horseback riding cowboy.

For a few dollars more reviewed

The Man With No Name is back but not quite as good as the last time! I still think Clint Eastwood is the ultimate cowboy, I still think that his poncho is awesome however I still think A fistful of dollars is the greatest movie I have ever seen. For a few dollars more was a superb film, It had a great cast, a great story and a great soundtrack, it was almost perfect. My only complaint is that Eastwood's character seemed unimportant to the story, he was cool and made the film more interesting but the story seemed to focus too much on Colonel Douglas Mortimer (played by Lee Van Cleef.)

Colonel Douglas Mortimer is a rival bounty to The Man With No Name and meet when they go after the same man (El Indio) and after some hat shooting they team up and go after El Indio together. The team up has many humorous moments as well as some purely kick ass moments. The addition of the Colonel Douglas Mortimer character did make for an interesting team-up however I felt it diluted Eastwood's character. The gunfights were spectacular not cinematic but exciting, again you could tell that the film was not up to modern standards and the audio was slightly behind the video but as I've said before I love that style of film making.

This film is not as good as For a fistful of dollars but it's still one of the greatest western films of all time and is worth watching but watch For a fistful of dollars first. You get to see some more characterization of The Man With No Name, you see a lot more of his human side as in the first film he seems very uncaring and cold (until the end.) Guess the only thing left to do is go and see how it holds up against The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.