ferguscostello Reviews

Doctor Who: The Name of the Doctor (2013) Season 7, Episode 14

Did anyone else prefer Clara when she was dead?

[8/10 · 29 October 2013]

I love Moffat's era of Doctor Who and actually I love this episode as well. The episode was incredibly dark, it hinted at the fiftieth special and tied up a few loose ends to finish the series.

But Moffat has more than a few loose ends.

And he only has two episodes in which he can do it!!! And I don't even expect the Silence to be there and they are the easiest option of tying up the loose ends. Here's a list of all the loose ends:

• Who was that voice in the TARDIS in S05E12? - What the point in the Silence blowing up the TARDIS in Series 5 if they already killed the Doctor in Series 6? - What happened at Trenzelore? - How does the Silence link in with the Great Intelligence's plot? - Why did the Silence not want the Doctor to be asked the question at Trenzelore? -When did the Doctor even tell River his name (she didn't know at the end of Series 6, I actually thought River would find out at Trenzelore)? - Who is John Hurt's Doctor?

And my main problem with Series 7 was Clara. She was a walking plot device!!! She had more character in the first episode and the Christmas special than in the whole of Series 7 part 2 (my favourite incarnation of her was the Christmas Clara). However, she was boring and just the same as every other companion in the second part of the series. Not to mention that six of the episodes were boring filler (but let's not go there). To the point: I want the funny, quick at problem-solving, inquisitive Clara from Christmas back.

All in all, this was the only episode I like (which had wonderful acting in River's goodbye scene) in an abysmal second part to the series.

Moffat better save his show before the fiftieth.

Game of Thrones: Mhysa (2013) Season 3, Episode 10

One of the Best Episodes Yet!!!

[9/10 · 12 June 2013]

Firstly, I'd like to start by saying that I don't understand all the hate that this episode has been getting. Yes, I know, it's no "Red Wedding" but if this episode had been shown to people without the Red Wedding then they would consider it one of the best. So that's why I've called it one of the best.

The episode starts with a great scene that directly follows the Red Wedding. The scene includes some nice shots of Stark flags burning but the most crucial thing about the scene was when The King in the North rode again (along with his Direwolf). This was the moment, for me at least, when we could finally accept that Robb Stark was dead and it's when Arya accepted the fact. Later on, we have to come to terms with Arya having lost everybody she loved and started her descent (or ascent) to being a killer.

Then we come to King's Landing, where Joffrey is in glee at Robb Stark's death and decides it would be a good idea to feed his head to Sansa at his wedding. Tyrion stands up to the King and Joffrey starts to kick and fuss. Tywin decides to send him to bed. Then comes the best bit, Tywin's family teaching lesson to Tyrion and one of the coldest lines of the show, "The day that you were born!". Later on, more Lannister family teachings from Cersei as we learn how deep her character really is. Most of the time she is over the top evil but there are a few moments where she shows the greatest love out of anybody.

After that we go to Bran telling a story about a cook who killed a guest in his house. Enter Walder Frey and Roose Bolton, discussing Robb Stark and the burning of Winterfell. At last, for those few viewers who didn't, we find out that it's Ramsay Snow who's torturing Theon. Theon's over-sized story arc this season is given reason when we return to Pike to see Balon given "Theon's favourite toy" and Asha (or is it Yara) venturing to rescue Theon. This was one of the episode's other great scenes and was, for once, a good diversion from the book.

Continuing with Bran, we go back to the Wall where Sam gets south and Bran journeys to the Land-Beyond-the-Wall. But he doesn't leave alone, as Sam arms him, Hodor and Jojen with the Dragonglass he found at the Fist of the First Men. This has a beautiful shot of Bran going North with his Direwolf silhouetted against the moon. Meanwhile Sam gets to Castle Black and Maester Aemon returns!!! He is instructed to send 44 letters to the Lords of Westeros concerning the army of Wights and White Walkers. I'll talk about this later.

Jon and Ygritte have a wonderful scene where it seems that there love is broken and Ygritte tries to kill Jon. Luckily, after three arrows, Jon gets to Castle Black for a Lord-of-the-Rings-esque moment. In other Westeros love news, !Varys! tells Shae to take some diamonds, head back to the Free Cities and live a long happy life. However, she opts to stay in the capital and refuse wealth. This is a significant turning point for Tyrion and is a story we'll see escalate at the beginning of Season Four.

Nearly there.

On Dragonstone, Davos talks to Gendry about growing up in Fleebottom and about getting from a river of sh*t outside you front door to becoming Hand of the King to the rightful King of Westeros. Because of their similarities Davos saves Gendry from Melisandre. This is completely in character and is what Game of Thrones is great for. He is nearly sentenced to death for his treason but is saved by Sam's letter about the dangers beyond the Wall and Melisandre convinces Stannis to work with her and Davos to defend the Wall. This will become one of the most important story lines and I'm really pleased with the set up it had for Season Four. The lighting in Davos' scenes and the music was truly great and was one of the best achieved parts of the whole season.

Finally, and unfortunately, we have the final scene. We could have had Stannis' awesome speech or Joffrey's Purple Wedding but no we have Daenerys' Mhysa scene, the worst part of the entire episode. This scene was just disappointment through and through. There was only one redeeming quality and that was the music by Ramin Djawadi which was just beautiful. However, the whole scene was just underwhelming and, yes I know the word gets thrown around a lot now but, slightly racist.

To conclude, this great episode, and great season, and great show, cannot be ruined by the lacklustre ending. The best parts were Davos' story, Tyrion's story and the Greyjoys' story (for once) and I would rate this episode 9.5 out of 10. The only thing I have left to say is, bring on Season Four!

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

The best movie of the year (but that's not saying much)!

[8/10 · 6 May 2013]

In 2008, when I walked out of the theatre after seeing THE DARK KNIGHT I could not believe what I had just seen. Heath Ledger's acting, the music, the acting, the unexpected plot twists and that final scene summed up to make it one of the best movies ever. When the teasers and trailers for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES were released all I could think about was, what could beat that?

Sadly, nothing could beat the brilliance of that movie and Christopher Nolan created a film that was solely dependant on the events of THE DARK KNIGHT. This resulted in (for the first two hours of the movie) every Christian Bale scene having some sort of link to Rachel's death or Batman's inability to fight. This presents us with a superhero movie without a superhero. This is the movie's biggest problem but also it's greatest asset.

There is very little action until the last 45 minutes but this gives the movie more time to explore it's characters. It feels like the movie tries to understand characters like Catwoman, Blake and Miranda Tate more than the Dark Knight. I must say that I loved Ann Hathaway's, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's and Marion Cotillard's acting in this movie, they shine.

Christopher Nolan should have given the people watching the movie more action in the first two acts because in the end I didn't feel any sort of sense of good vs. evil, the ultimate showdown to save Gotham. It just felt kinda random. That said the one sole thing that stood out in this movie for me was it's sound. The sound really captivates you and makes you feel the tension and the emotions better. This should definitely have won the Oscar for Best Sound.

Overall, its a great movie but don't watch it expecting to see a repeat of THE DARK KNIGHT, watch it expecting to see a great conclusion to one of the best movie trilogies ever. Most importantly, watch it expecting to see THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.