Category Archives: Television

Fargo Season 2: Tall Tale Made in Weirdness

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Sam S-P

The following piece contains spoilers for Season 2 of FARGO. The first season of the TV companion piece to the Coen Brothers’ classic movie had me completely and utterly hooked. I felt sure no-one could hope to measure up to … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Feature, Television | Tagged Angus Simpson, Crime, Drama, Fargo, Film, Gangster Film, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, Kumiko the Treasure Hunter, Movies, Noah Hawley, Patrick Wilson, The Coen Brothers, TV | 2 Comments

Review: An Inspector Calls (2015)

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Sam S-P

This review contains spoilers for JB Priestley’s 1945 play, as well as subsequent film and TV adaptations. For the most part, the BBC’s TV adaptation of JB Priestley’s classic AN INSPECTOR CALLS, broadcast last weekend, is polished, if conventional. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review, Television, Theatre | Tagged Aisling Walsh, Alistair Sim, An Inspector Calls, BBC, David Thewlis, Film, Guy Hamilton, Helen Edmundson, JB Priestley, Ken Stott, Miranda Richardson, Movies, Sophie Rundall, Stephen Daldry, Theatre, TV | Leave a comment

“Enough about me, let’s talk about me…”: When Actors Play Themselves (Sort-of)

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Sam S-P

What’s an actor to do when your star persona becomes a joke? You embrace it of course, and let the audience know that you’re in on the gag. It can be incredibly self-indulgent if mishandled, but if pitched just right … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Feature, Television | Tagged Alejandro Iñárritu, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Batman, Batman: The Animated Series, Being John Malkovich, Birdman, Bruce Campbell, Charlie Kaufman, Christopher Nolan, Colin Baker, Doctor Who, Edward Norton, Extras, Film, Flash Gordon, Jeremy Renner, John Barrowman, John Malkovich, Last Action Hero, Liam Neeson, Life's Too Short, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton, Movies, My Name Is Bruce, Olivia Colman, Paul McGann, Peter Davidson, Peter Jackson, Ricky Gervais, Robert Downey Jr, Sam Jones, Seth MacFarlane, Stephen Merchant, Steven Moffat, Sylvester McCoy, The Five(Ish) Doctors, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Office, TV | Leave a comment

The Grey and the Greyer: Heroes and Villains on Netflix’s Daredevil

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Sam S-P

I know in the past I’ve defended Mark Steven Johnson’s much-derided Ben Affleck-led DAREDEVIL, but even I’ll admit it looks pretty ropey compared to Marvel’s latest forrey onto the small screen. It will surprise nobody to learn that Marvel/Netflix’s Daredevil … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Feature, Television | Tagged AKA Jessica Jones, Ben Affleck, Charlie Cox, Daredevil, Drew Goddard, Elden Henson, Film, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Mark Steven Johnson, Marvel, Movies, Netflix, Steven S DeKnight, Superhero, TV, Vincent D'Onofrio | Leave a comment

Review: Doctor Who: Deep Breath (2014)

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Sam S-P

On Christmas Day 2013, Matt Smith regenerated into a very different actor. Arguably no more drastic a change personality-wise than it was from Christopher Eccleston to David Tennant two regenerations ago, but certainly a world apart from youngish David Tennant … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review, Television | Tagged Ben Wheatley, Catrin Stewart, Christopher Eccleston, Colin Baker, Dan Starkey, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Film, Jenna Coleman, Jon Pertwee, Matt Smith, Neve McIntosh, Penny Dreadful, Peter Capaldi, Sci-fi, Steven Moffat, Television, Tom Baker | 2 Comments

Penny Dreadful’s Frankenstein: Faithful and Thoughtful

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Sam S-P

The following article contains spoilers for Episodes 1 and 2 of Showtime’s new television series PENNY DREADFUL, and for a 196-year-old novel. I’ll admit I’m a sucker for slightly trashy pseudo-historical romps on TV – THE TUDORS, DRACULA and now … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Feature, Television | Tagged Alex Price, Billie Piper, Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Dracula, Eva Green, Film, Frankenstein, Gladiator, Hammer Horror, Harry Treadaway, Horror, John Logan, Mary Shelley, Movies, Penny Dreadful, Reeve Carney, Robert DeNiro, Rory Kinnear, Skyfall, The Exorcist, The Last Samurai, The Tudors, Timothy Dalton, TV, Universal | 1 Comment

Review: Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor (2013)

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Sam S-P

THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR is everything a 50th anniversary celebration of DOCTOR WHO disserves to be. It not only works as a glowing and affectionate tribute to half a century of an icon of science-fiction, but it’s also a cracking episode … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review, Television | Tagged David Tennant, Doctor Who, Film, Matt Smith, Movies, Sci-fi, Steven Moffat, Television, The Day of the Doctor, The Empty Child, The Night of the Doctor | 1 Comment

Time of the Timelord

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Sam S-P

I know this is a film blog, but I couldn’t resist marking this occasion. Today’s the day (as if you’d managed to miss it), the 50th anniversary of the debut of DOCTOR WHO. I haven’t always been a diehard fan … Continue reading →

Posted in Television | Tagged Billie Piper, Christopher Eccleston, Daleks in Manhattan, David Morrissey, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Evolution of the Daleks, Human Nature, John Barrowman, John Hurt, Kylie Minogue, Last of the Time Lords, Matt Smith, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Troughton, Russel T Davies, Sci-fi, Sophia Myles, Steven Moffat, Suranne Jones, Television, The Day of the Doctor, The Doctor Dances, The Doctor's Wife, The Edge of Destruction, The Empty Child, The Family of Blood, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Next Doctor, The Robots of Death, The Sound of Drums, The Vampires of Venice, Tom Baker, Voyage of the Damned, William Hartnell | 1 Comment

Breaking Bad: A Very Filmic Television Experience

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Sam S-P

BREAKING BAD has now come to a glorious end, and it really was a television marvel. The show, about a cancer-stricken chemistry teacher cooking crystal meth to secure his family’s future, was thematically layered, beautifully performed, perfectly paced, artfully filmed and … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Feature, Television | Tagged Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Betsy Brandt, Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston, Crime, Drama, Film, Film noir, Movies, Rian Johnson, Steven Soderbergh, TV, Vince Gilligan, Western | 3 Comments

Category Archives: Television

Fargo Season 2: Tall Tale Made in Weirdness

Review: An Inspector Calls (2015)

“Enough about me, let’s talk about me…”: When Actors Play Themselves (Sort-of)

The Grey and the Greyer: Heroes and Villains on Netflix’s Daredevil

Review: Doctor Who: Deep Breath (2014)

Penny Dreadful’s Frankenstein: Faithful and Thoughtful

Review: Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor (2013)

Time of the Timelord

Breaking Bad: A Very Filmic Television Experience

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