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The Crown

The Crown – Season Four – Episode 2 – The Balmoral Test

The Crown – Season Four – Episode 2 – The Balmoral Test

Plot: Margaret Thatcher visits Balmoral but has trouble fitting in with the royal family, while Charles finds himself torn between his heart and family duty.


There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Balmoral Test starts as Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) gets his first date with Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) with them both facing the reality of the summer apart due to the commitments of the crown, while the Queen (Olivia Colman), Philip Duke Edinburgh (Tobias Menzies) and Princess Anne (Erin Doherty) are looking to finish off an injured prize stag on their property. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson) is looking to bring her own stamp of difference in the country, her ideas of change with see her taking opposition within her own party with her plans. Margaret Thatcher will have to face her own test, joining the Queen at Balmoral for a weekend, learning that she doesn’t fit in with the traditions of the royal family, always trying not to look out of place.

Thoughts on The Crown – Season Four – Episode 2 The Balmoral Test

Thoughts – The Balmoral Test focuses on the building relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, showing us how the two have come from different backgrounds, that reflects how they might want different things for the country in the future. We must address the fact that a large part of this story is focused on hunting, which isn’t putting the royal family in the best spotlight, showing them to be animals hunting innocent creatures. Gillian Anderson steals this episode with her ability to show just how out of place she is in the Balmoral Test. We are slowly building up to see how Margaret Thatcher is looking to make the drastic changes, with everyone around her questioning her decisions, wanting to bring the country closer, after seeing the upper classes always looking down on people with her own background. We do get to continue to see how Prince Charles is struggling with his relationships, with his desire to be with Camila needing to end, with his interest with the young Diana Spencer leaving him conflicted.

Final Thoughts – The Balmoral Test shows us two big relationships, one growing, one falling apart, bracing us for everything that is going to come in the future, but the needless obsession with hunting holds this episode back. 4/5



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The Crown

The Crown – Season Four – Episode 1 – Gold Stick

The Crown – Season Four – Episode 1 – Gold Stick

Plot: AS Elizabeth welcomes Britain’s first woman prime minister and Charles meets a young Diana Spencer, an IRA attack brings tragedy to the royal family.


There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Gold Stick starts as we see how the royal family are waiting to see who Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) latest love interest is, for now it is Lady Sarah Spencer (Isobel Eadie), the older sister of Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) who wanted to meet him. Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman) is getting to meet the incoming Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson), with the two striking a new relationship that the two never thought they would have. Princess Anne (Erin Doherty) is struggling to find her motivation to return to competitive show jumping with her father Philip Duke of Edinburgh (Tobias Menzies) trying to motivate her about how proud he is of her. The royal family is struck by an IRA attack which sees Lord Mountbatten (Charles Dance) and his family murdered in an explosion.

Thoughts on The Crown – Season Four – Episode 1 – Gold Stick

Thoughts – This episode starts off with a bang, bringing us the importance of the new prime minister, something that has been key to most of the Queen political interactions for years, Margaret Thatcher brings us somebody new and more complex for the Queen to deal with, we get a new threat in the IRA whose attacks will continue to give Prince Charles the struggle to fit into the royal family, losing another ally in Lord Mountbatten, the brief introduction of Lady Diana adds the future we know is coming, even if we only get the fleeting story of Princess Anne problems in the royal family. The build up to the explosion is brilliantly shot, with the family all hunting in their different ways, reflecting on how they have now become the hunted. We have the returning cast all shining like before, with Gillian Anderson stepping into the series like she had been her from the start.

Final Thoughts – Gold Stick is an excellent start to the series, bringing us the new battles the royal family will be facing, along with a new Prime Minister for the Queen to befriend. 5/5



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Movie Review

His House (2020) Netflix Movie Review

Director: Remi Weekes

Writer: Felicity Evans, Roby Venables, Remi Weekes (Screenplay)

Starring: Sope Dirisu (Mr Malcolm’s List), Wunmi Mosaku, Malaika Wakoli-Abigaba, Javier Botet, Matt Smith

Plot: A refugee couple makes a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, but then they struggle to adjust to their new life in an English town that has an evil lurking beneath the surface.

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: His House starts as we see the harrowing escape from South Sudan by Bol (Birisu) and Rial (Mosaku) who lost a daughter along the way, now in England they are being removed from the detention centre and placed into a home in an estate in London.

As the pair try to adjust to the new life in London, they find the nights filled with a horror inside the home, has the witch followed them to England or is this a new sinister presence haunting them or just the trauma of their escape from South Sudan.

Thoughts on His House

Characters – Bol is still suffering from what happened in his escape from South Sudan, he is trying to put together a normal life in England, going through the system, wanting to keep his head down. He starts seeing things around the new home, but he wants to fight it because he knows what it will mean to leave this home. Rial has come with Bol from South Sudan with her own traumatic past, they stick together through the troubles of trying to start a new life, she isn’t afraid of what might be in the house, because she has seen worse before. We do get to see the social workers that are trying to keep things together for the couple, seeing they are good, even if they are struggling with things.

Performances – Sope Dirisu is brilliant in the leading role, showing us the horrors of what he experienced with the horrors that a new life could bring him. Wunmi Mosaku is great too, with the leads doing an excellent job through the film.

Story – The story here follows two refugees from South Sudan looking to start a new life in England, but they start to believe a witch has followed them and wants something from them. This is a new twist on the haunted house, by first having the targets knowing they simply can’t leave, knowing what will happen if they don’t stay there, secondly having a mystery about what happened on their escape in the first place and third playing into the culture where they know what is haunting them and know what it means. This all adds up to more intense story that is filled with emotion and desperation.

Horror – The horror in the film comes from the haunting visits that Bol goes through, seeing just what he is going through and went through.

Settings – The film is unique with the setting because we are in a haunted house in a council estate, but easily escaping us to what the two could have once lived in.


Scene of the Movie – Dinner on the river.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – No one seems to notice the noise being made.

Final Thoughts – His House is a unique haunted house movie that shows us the desperation for a new life against the cultural horrors that could follow people, with excellent performance from Sope Dirisu and Wunmi Mosaku.

 

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Movie Review

Project Power (2020) Netflix Movie Review

Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

Writer: Mattson Tomlin (Screenplay)

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback, Rodrigo Santoro, Courtney B Vance, Amy Landecker

Plot: When a pill that gives its users unpredictable superpowers for five minutes hits the streets of New Orleans, a teenage dealer and a local cop must team with an ex-soldier to take down the group responsible for its creation.

Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Plenty of Sparks

Story: Project Power starts as we learn about a new drug, one that gives you a new user an ability for five minutes, not all are good though, teenage dealer Robin (Fishback) is protected by cop Frank (Gordon-Levitt) who uses the drug to equal the odds on criminals, while Art (Foxx) is searching for the people who are selling the drug.

When the three cross paths, they learn they want the same thing, the end of the drug, they must work together in an attempt to bring down the designer before the drug becomes a worldwide problem.

Thoughts on Project Power

Characters – Art has arrived in New Orleans in search of people that took his daughter, the former military man will break down doors, shoot anyone who crosses him, but will give them all a fair chance to explain their involvement in the situation. He is wanted by people who are involved, dangerous in a fight, relentless in the hunt. Frank is a street-smart cop that uses the drug to fight back against other users, he isn’t afraid to go against the rules and is left to hunt down Art before learning the truth, he is also useless with a gun. Robin is the young teenage dealer that works with Frank, she supplies him, while he protects her. When it comes to the dealers, creators and middlemen, we are left with pretty flat characters here.

Performances – Jamie Foxx brings the toughness required for the role, with the determination shining through from him, Joseph Gordon-Levitt works well as the gritty cop that is more honest that most on the force. Newcomer Dominique Fishback is great addition to the leads in the film, she shows us the desire of a better future from a teenager.

Story – The story here follows a teenage dealer, cop and a visitor to New Orleans who are caught up in the middle of a new drug that gives abilities for five minutes for the user, with a host of different consequences. We do get an original idea here that mixes the drug usage consumption with superhero abilities, showing how the fixes people want can come at a price. We do get the characters we would expect to see in the crime side of a film like this, only the villains are very flat, not given enough time to make a true impact on the film. We do spend a lot of the film waiting to see what powers could be unleashed, wanting to see side effects etc, with most being created well, we just could have seen some more bad effects.

Action/Sci-Fi – The action comes from the fighting, which is a mix of good and bad, with certain moments coming off very well, while we get the typical over the top moments too. The sci-fi side of the film brings a fresh approach to a X-Men idea mixed with drug usage, showing the effects, which could easily be seen as the true side effects of the drug.

Settings – New Orleans is the setting for this film, which is important for the bigger picture of the events, even if we don’t get any of the iconic locations for the events to unfold in.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are strong, we get moments when the transformations are happening, each one looks great and does enough to look fresh in the world where we have seen it too often.


Scene of the Movie – The sell meeting.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Could have seen more from the villains.

Final Thoughts – This is a nice original movie that breaths something new in the superhero idea, mixing it with the drug underworld, with a dash of The Purge to give us an entertaining ride.

Overall: Entertaining.

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Movie Review

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Overall Review

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Overall Review

With the third season of The Crown we jumped the cast forward, with the excellent original cast being replaced by older actors, this was always going to be a difficult task to achieve with such a stunning set of performers. Olivia Colman will get praise and deserves is all, but this season has such a brilliant cast with the big known names like Helena Bonham Carter and Charles Dance showing their experience, the stars like Tobias Menzies and Jason Watkins that have been through the television scene for years and this shows why they are always excellent choices. Add in the newcomers in Josh O’Connor and Erin Doherty we have a complete mix of experience that all performer to the highest levels.

When it comes to the episodes we do start very well with the first three being excellent with the Aberfan one becoming one of the most difficult to watch, one that is emotionally draining, following one from this, everything does seem to goes downhill with a couple of slower episodes, with most of the focus being away from the Queen, instead focusing on the people around her, giving Margaret, Philip and Charles episodes where they are centre stage. The episodes do have a wonderful ability to reflect the situations the family is going through with the incident going on within the world.

If you have watched the first two seasons, you will enjoy this one because with a new cast, we get a fresh approach to the characters at an older stage of their lives, we get to learn history along the way, though certain government problems don’t get discussed enough for my liking. We do also fall into the feeling that each episode is just focused on an incident that they had to get through rather than being a connected by the events that have previously happened between the royal family, which was a flaw I noticed in the second season over the first.

Overall this is just as captivating as the previous seasons, we get a chance to learn about big event mostly in British history, while showing us just how difficult the years in this season were for the Queen after losing some of her most trusted allies.

Rating 9/10

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Movie Review

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 10 Cri de Coeur

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 10 Cri de Coeur

This episode starts by as Margaret is seeing her marriage fall apart seeing her slip into a depression despite the Queen trying to cheer her up, while the government is turning into a complete mess with neither side managing to get a majority vote off the latest election.

Margaret hosts a birthday party where she declares that she wants her husband banned from all royal functions, turning to social friends to find her own affair on the side with a younger man, one that the tabloids are quick to make front page news of.

The Royal Family has seen its reputation dragged through the papers once again, now Margaret is going to get caught up in the middle messy divorce, as her life spirals out of control. Harold Wilson regains the power of Downing Street, but will need to look to step down, finding his latest replacement and finally showing the respect for each other that the two have often clashed over before, being offered the honour only Winston Churchill had received before.

The Queen is preparing for the next chapter of her career in the palace, with a new prime minster, her sister being the first royal to have a divorce in memory and now a change in the world once again, for the next season.

This episode if a Margaret one which has been long awaited for because she is a delight to watch, Helena Bonham Carter gives us a wonderful performance that finally gets the laughs we were expecting. The troubles could reshape her reign and learning more about who she can trust around her, while seeing the country starting to fall apart, in ways that were completely out of her control.

Rating 9/10

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Movie Review

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 9 Imbroglio

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 9 Imbroglio

This episode starts with the funeral of Edward the Eighth back in England, as Prince Charles sees his closest Uncle put to rest and starts to see his family looking at him the same way they once looked at his Uncle and his relationship with Camilla isn’t going to make his life any easier.

Queen Elizabeth is working with the Prime Minister Edward Heath to help deal with the miners strike who want the equal pay for their work, one that she sees as one that could end easily, while Edward just wants to stay in control of the situation.

Charles’ relationship becomes the centre conversation between his parents with his mother wanting him to be happy, while Philip doesn’t believe Camilla is the type of woman that you can just marry seeing her as a girl you turn to after time at sea. Lord Mountbatten plays to send Charles on a long-term posting in the Navy, one where he can’t spend any time with Camilla, finally putting a wedge between the lovers.

The Queen however is seeing the Prime Minister losing his battle against the miners, which sees the loss of electricity around the country forcing even the Queen to greet guest in candlelight, as she is also involved in trying to break up the Charles and Anne relationship, planning to push both families away from her own children.

This episode does get to reflect how the Queen herself was almost pushed into marrying somebody other people wanted instead of letting her follow her own heart, she might not make the big decision, but she is left to deal with Charles after the family got involved in his life. This part of the episode is sad to see making you only feel sorry for Charles, while the mining strike side of the episode just doesn’t get enough attention for what is happening in the country.

Rating 7/10

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Movie Review

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 8 Dangling Man

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 8 Dangling Man

In this episode we pick up with the Duke of Windsor still leaving in exile in Paris, while facing health problems, not giving him much time left. Charles is the one that has visited him seeing how sick he is, keeping in contact with the disgraced uncle.

Princess Anne has her first romance, which the fallout sees Charles meeting his first love Camilla Shand (Emerald Fennell) and the Queen must open up her palace to the latest Prime Minister Edward Heath who suggests making up with her Uncle.

With Charles and Anne both in love with an old couple they need to remain in power of the relationship, while the anniversary of the end of World War II is being remembered in France to reflect on not learning from mistakes of the past, with how the Queen is treating her own Uncle.

This is one of the busiest episodes of the series, we get to see Charles and Anne involved in their first relationships, the Queen facing her own past with her Uncle and former King facing death, as we see how Charles is waiting to step up and be the King he believed his Uncle would have been one day.

This is one where the whole cast get to shine and we give the smaller characters a chance to shine, with Erin Doherty coming into her own here and Princess Anne, and Josh O’Connor once again showing he could be one of the best performers in the series.

Rating 8/10

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Movie Review

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 7 Moondust

Recap & Review – The Crown Season 3 – Episode 7 Moondust

In the episode we moon landing is about to happen which has captured the attention of Prince Philip like most of the world, he has started to become bored with his everyday routine, wishing he could have done more outside of his royal responsibilities leading him to have a mid-life crisis.

With the landing on the moon changing what man could achieve, Philip goes in search for his new challenges including trying to get to the stars himself, risking his own life to try and push the boundaries of what a plane could handle. While a priest wants to open a building that is previous unoccupied on the grounds to help other people reaching middle aged and losing enthusiasm for life.

When a chance to meet the astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins presents itself, Prince Philip sees it as a chance to meet three men he would have inspired to be, asking for time alone to talk shop with them.

This episode is a Philip heavy one which ones against highlights how Prince Philip gave up a lot of his ambition to be part of the royal family, Tobias Menzies steals this episode with his acting and shows us just how content his life has become living this life of opening brick factories over having his own adventures. This episode is big on focus on a major event in history and how the Royal Family was watching over them from a far, without being a big part of it.

Rating 8/10