TV SHOW REVIEW: TROLLHUNTER (PART 1 and PART 2)

Trollhunter is a Netflix series by Guillermo Del Toro. In it, this sees a young high school student (Jay) become chosen by an amulet of power to command daylight and hunt trolls. All of this is going around his normal high-school life including bully-problems, the girl he likes, etc.

First things first, the animation is really good. There is a real sense of movement and technique to what people do. This doesn't go the route of Dragonball, with the "faster than light" movement things, but instead you are always given a sense of the environment and how each character fights. The lithe characters feel fast, while trolls feel brawny.

The storyline begins with the normal high-school hero story. However, along the way, there are several small twists and turns to it. Although Netflix calls it Parts 1 and 2, there are probably 3 seasons of a normal animated show in here. Each character, although starting as an archetype, has more going on under the surface than first appears.

My only criticism of the show is that it has all to noticeable moments of idiocy by the characters to progress the episode plot, or delay the end of the episode to meet the time quota. This includes regressions by the characters. Thankfully, these are more to do with the threat of the week and don't often affect the overarching global story.

The other thing is the few genuine moments that bring out the feels often are undone quite quickly after. I know it is a kids show, but some actions should be shown to have consequences that stick. These moments sometimes make you face-palm with the moment they have undone.

However, they are only minor complaints. It is a bit of a slow boil to get started until you get to know the depths of the characters a bit more. However, if you have time, I would recommend this.

4 out of 5 rocky waffles.

TV REVIEW: BLACK MIRROR, WHITE CHRISTMAS

Black Mirror, a show that regularly applies imagined technology from the not-so-distant future against the cracks of human weakness. In Charlie Brooker’s dystopian British Christmas special, extrapolates how Google Glass and implanted tech might dilute our sense of humanity in the most disturbing of fashion. Black Mirror episodes usually run around forty-five minutes; just enough time to introduce characters, and delve deeply and thoroughly into one central concept. At nearly twice that length, “White Christmas” has more space to kill. splitting up the running time into three interlocking tales and a frame story. All of which ultimately connect together to tell one big story. We learn the consequences of humans using technology to reform how we see the world and to force those closest to us into new roles or contexts. This special is supremely disturbing but necessary holiday viewing.

As sad-sack Joe wakes up, dazed, in a snowbound cottage, with the radio and Jon Hamm (Mad Men’s Don Draper) preparing Christmas lunch. You want to know what on earth is going on?

Seems these two people have been stuck with each other in a desolate place of the earth. There uncomfortable body language and dull conversation gives a sense that they have both done something wrong if their former lives. Being Christmas Matt (Jon Hamm) a good-looking man with charisma. Feels they need to open up and conversate more. Joe is hesitant about making conversation at all. So Matt open up first proceedings , explaining that he used to have a hobby helping men attract women, counselling them in real time. This segment introduces augmented Google Glass. People now have Z-Eye implants let them control and share what they see. 

 It’s in this kind of technological advance - one that doesn’t seem far off in the realm of possibility but that has the potential to shatter human relationships. We learn that Matt is a dubious character, he is a seedy pickup artist, who coaches loser into getting woman. All while conducting to a voyeuristic choir of online pervs. Yet one of his clients, upon meeting a glamorous but severely disturbed woman at a Christmas office party, had unwittingly persuaded her to kill both him and herself – to silence the voices in their heads. We saw the fellow vainly insisting that the voice in his bonce was real. “No one understands what that’s like!” she smiled, as her fatally spiked drinks claimed them both.

Hamm gives Matt this atmosphere of being all nice, friendly and good-natured. Both those facts make you want to trust him. He is also has this perfect kind of swaggering, smug Yank. That first story helps breakdown his character. You become invested in this story. Like Joe you become more intrigued about this what this handsome man has done. Where lured into his story web. As he asked Joe “What do you think my real job was ?”

The next interwoven story. Tell us of his previous actual job. Starts of in a hospital with what seem like a simple procedure. Then turns all kind of dark and twisted. We are introduced to a beautiful porcelain-skinned spoilt brat. That has make a cookie of herself in order to run her digitally controlled house. Trouble is the copy is completely sentient. Matt job is to break this digital doppelgangers into obedient slaves. Forever trapped in the dwelling’s circuitry with nothing to do but draw blinds and make toast. What are our responsibilities to the people who provide our consumer luxury? And is digital enslavement something we should be signing a petition about anytime soon?  You’ll never again take your phone’s “intelligent personal assistant” for granted again. This was the darkest of the 3 stories. At this point in proceedings, Matt is the villain of the piece. He’s manipulative, deceitful and views people by category.

We jump back to the cabin in the snow. With Matt confessing all this horrible sins. Joe finally open up about what he did. Turns out that the former’s girlfriend fell pregnant, had permanently blocked him and vanished. Why? Because, as he eventually learnt, in an appallingly tense scene, the baby wasn’t his. Joe kills the grandfather and left the tot to freeze, he had been found by police, unwilling to talk. The slack is quickly picked up by the final segment, which ties all the elements of the previous hour with deft efficiency, twist and unblinking bleakness.

If you thought there was something fishy about Matt and Joe confines, you were right. This was in fact an artificial construct. As Matt being digitally sent in by police to tease a confession out of Joe’s cookie. Like an episode of any procedural cop drama. Matt was only helping to gain freedom. Although he might have gain it, he’s still being punished for his previous, illicit hobby. Now being universally blocked, reducing the rest of humanity to indistinct, inaudible pixels. But, as the real Joe languished in jail, his cookie had a yet worse deal, incarcerated for millennia in the digital snow-globe in which it had been all along, with I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday playing on a never-ending loop.

It was thrilling stuff: escapist entertainment with a very real-world sting in its tail. Like the stronger of the previous Black Mirrors, it exaggerated present-day technology and obsessions to subtle but infernal effect, a nightmare-before-Christmas reminder that to revere our digital gizmos is to become their pathetic slave

5 out of 5 dystopian Christmas waffles

The Inbetweeners 2

As a massive fan of all 3 series and the first film, I couldn't wait for this. The relatively laugh-free trailer cause me to think “Do we really need a sequel ”. That idea lodge itself into my brain, as the marketing machine started pumping its release, I was losing my interest in wasting my money on it. I’m glad I didn't end up paying to see this stinker.

The film is slow to start, too, with a overly stylised opening setting, where three of our central quartet are set up for uncomfortable misery. Will hates university, Simon’s girlfriend is crazy and  Neil...well Neil is Neil. Not until the reintroducing Jay as a kind of superstar DJ-cum-Scarface, it a fantasy sequence that is deliberately overdone, easily the funniest part of the movie. That’s about 10mins in.

Eventually they make it to Australia.Where the movie spends too much time  setting up borning peripheral characters and relying on stereotypical backpacker perceptions. It was just so dull dull dull, I  even drifted off into a daydream half way through the film. Its really annoying as i love this show, the sequel feels like a cheap throwaway to earn a some extra cash and have a holiday.

As a fan I felt it failed to deliver this was just a crude bland imitation.  What made the TV show so brilliant was the how witty and clever it was. Had lots of great awkward moments that you could empathise with. However the sequel seems to just try and recreate that rather than try and be original in its own right, and as such just leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth.  Shame as I was looking forward to watching the four of them together again,  what I got where 4 lobotomized idiots.  

1 out of 5 sunburnt bus wankers.

Moone Boy

Moone Boy isn't groundbreaking, but it one of the most charming series I’ve watched in awhile. It’s delightfully funny, upbeat and touching. It has that quirky family dynamic and coming-of-age story arc that's timeless and relatable, and it’s set in Ireland.


The premise is pretty simple. Let O’Dowd in the show’s opening voice-over explain it: “Ever wanted to be the imaginary friend of an idiot boy in the west of Ireland? Me neither. But there you go.” I was immediately hooked on the show from there.


Having the series take place in Boyle, Ireland in 1989 is refreshing change of pace from middle America. You might miss a few Irish-centric jokes, you’ll absolutely will not miss the visual jokes about clothing, music and lack of technology. It smartly focus on the universal problems that we can all relate to. Most of the character motivations, foibles and personalities will resonate immediately with you. Plus the Irish make swearing seem innocent and adorable.
 
All the cast are terrific. Martin's family really grows on you over the first season and you’ll find yourself connecting more with them than you would have expected. David Rawle really shines as the main character Martin. He a quirky 12 year old that’s completely lovable and doe eyed. I was hoping for more from relationship between Martin and his imaginary friend Sean (O’Dowd). While the premise is set up, it never touched too much on. After a seconded viewing I liked that the world of imaginary friends is pushed to the back to make way for the rest of the characters in the real world. Makes it feel more believable.

 
Moone Boy is a coming-of-age story for a child not yet equipped to battle the real world. But there’s so much humor and sincere moments, that it’s the kind of adventure you can’t wait to see Martin (and O’Dowd) experience together.

4 out of 5 imaginary friend waffles.

UTOPIA

 Wow? Where did this come from? And why aren't more people watching it?

Utopia it's one of those series that lodges itself into the dark corner of your mind, and it sits there gnawing away at you to watch another episode. Before long its 3am and you have watched the whole thing. Now all you can think about is telling everyone you know about the show so you can debate and converse on the moral ideas and consequence the show brings up.

Utopia centers around a  group of Internet geeks, who are heavily invested in a cult graphic novel called The Utopia Experiments. This novel has gained notoriety for having predicted past global disasters and possible future ones. Beyond the internet forums, a hunt for the cult manuscript is transpiring. Five of its fans then meet in real life to read the fabled, unreleased sequel, and this seamlessly casual meeting puts them in grave danger from a shadowy organization called The Network. 

 The Network operatives are a pair of hit men, overweight Arby and sharp-dressed Lee, who are leaving a trail of dead people in their wake in the pursuit of a  signature question: "Where's Jessica Hyde?" No one seems able to answer this question, but it isn’t like it would save their lives if they did. From there you’re lead down a rabbit hole of Machiavellian plot twists with dire worldwide implications. 

Utopia has such a unique visual style using slightly over saturated colours and many different views, vantage points, colors and contrasts. Almost Kubrick-esque with one-point perspective shots, that give this bleak yet sharp tone its unsettling nature. The series has this constant feeling of menace, isolation and paranoia. It is almost uncomfortable to watch but for the way the plot is revealed in a steady flow.

The characters are wonderfully portrayed and utterly believable. Special credit has to be given to Neil Maskell's portrayal of the overweight 'Arby.’ He plays this darkly comical sad sack and  brings hidden depth to this character that makes you actually start to sympathise with him even though he does some of the worst things you will ever see on screen.

The plot is revealed throughout the six episodes, in true 'Lost' style, with more and more is revealed each time building on what has gone before. Without having to drag you through several season of backstory. Utopia is an amazing show that hit all the right button: Dodgy looking hitman, a secret organisation, political conspiracy theories, some flu outbreak, and a mad scientist to boot.

The 'plot' is revealed in episode 5 and it is as shocking as it is thought provoking. You will find yourself having debates as to its merits with friends and family. I'll say no more about it, but it is brilliant !

5 out of 5 secret cult waffles.