Glee: Hitting The Right Notes?

Glee: Hitting The Right Notes?

So glee is now on its second series and has proven popular across the globe. However some of my peers simply don't like the show and don't get it. I myself am a fan however do find the show does have some flaws. My friends who don't like the show say they see it as just being another high school musical and believe they are killing some good songs.

While sometimes I can find the main girl's (Rachel) singing voice slightly annoying at times it must be said that the girl can sing and has on more than one occasion sent a shiver down my spine. The show is a black comedy; it is dark, cruel, self aware and post modern. The show is aware that it appears like just another high school musical but the story lines are so much deeper and more adult, so far the show has been about identity, sex, sexuality, drugs and marriages falling apart while at the same time having a jolly good sing along. The show isn't to be taken seriously however does touch on some important issues. For example the cheerleader captain called Sue comes across as mean, self centred tyrant however at the end of one of the episodes we see she cares for her sister with learning issues.

As the series has gone on though I feel some episodes have been very weak, especially some of the first episodes from the second series. They almost felt lead by the songs filled with few lines of dialog and then a few songs no one has heard of. However as the series has gone on its only gotten better. The song is about singing, being who you are and being proud of it.

So far there have been two specials where the songs have been dedicated to Madonna and Lady Gaga. I didn't think too much of the Madonna episode, from the start it had a weak reason for only doing Madonna songs, basically it was the cheerleader captain saying she liked Madonna and everyone had to listen to her, from there the songs began, while the Vogue video they made was something special it wasn't enough to save the episode for me. I am currently watching the Lady Gaga episode, the members of glee have just performed bad romance and It was simply fantastic!

While Glee has a dark humour to it, it does let itself down with the occasional corny lines and situations and at parts I find it hard to defend while the show is about singing the show does sometimes struggle finding the right balance between story and songs. When its good, its really good but when it’s a weak episode it’s just boring.

Overall a good show and I won't stop watching it, while not pitch perfect its got enough star power to keep it going.

Eurovision final and Dr Who Update

Eurovision Final

So tonight I have been tweeting away while watching the final of Eurovision. I have to say I was shocked! In the end Germany (who I had put down as an annoying lily allen wanna be) won! The UK came last (while not a shock, there were places that did worse than us!) While watching it I found myself liking Iceland, Ukraine, Ireland, Azerbaijan and Georgia.The flash mob was a nice touch and was a great idea showing people across the world connected (it was a pity the UK let us down, we just can't seem to do anything right). It was a little odd how Germany put so much effort in, they had live dancers ready on a stage, big screens showing the show live in their area, it was almost they were prepared to win.....mmmmmmmm. None the less the show was well put together, the presenters did a good job compared to what some have done in years gone by and most of the acts were really good. An enjoyable watch with the family.

Dr Who: Poor Rory

So in this weeks episode of Doctor Who, Rory pushed the Doctor out of the way of a laxer beam and ended up dieing. I wasn't sure what I first thought of him when he joined Amy and the Doctor, at first I thought he was going to be another annoying Mikcey, simply getting in the way of the relationship of Doctor and Rose. However as time has gone by its clear that Amy loved him and they were meant to be together, not Amy and the Doctor. The way the relationship worked between the three was nice, three friends going out in to time and space to go on adventures, all enjoying each others company. While he's no captain Jack he wasn't a cocky Mickey type character, he was simply a human without any knowledge of aliens, time lords or weapons. An all round nice guy, I mean he saved the Doctor! What more can you want from the guy!? I was sad when he died, however I believe we'll be seeing him again the final of the series. I believe here are four more episodes left in the current series and normally each story arc has ended in that series, eg bad wolf, Saxon, Doctor Donna, so unless the Crack is carried on into the second series we can expect the next episode to be about Vincent van Gogh, one with the cyber men and then the last two episodes bring the series to an end.

So what do we think is going to happen in the last two episodes? Well the Doctor dragged a piece of the Tardis from the crack in the wall, now a friend of mine told me of his friends prediction for the series final. At the time I brushed it off and thought nothing of it, however he thought somehow all three Doctors would make an appearance, christopher eccleston, David Tenant and Matt Smith. Now I'm not sure how Christopher would be brought in but I can see how David could. In the last episode with Donna the doctor had a human copy made from his hand who went on to live with Rose. In that episode the Tardis was attacked, so somehow this crack might spilt dimensions and from it might appear human doctor David Tenant. Now I'm sure the writers will come up with some fantastic piece of sci-fi wording to make it all make sense, but really I think fans just want to see Matt and David together.

David or no David, Matt Smith will heal the crack and in doing so drag everything the crack took, eg Rory. At least I hope they bring Rory back. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Eurovsion

Eurovision: That Sounds Good To Me......really.....that’s what we're going with this year?!

You either love it or you hate it but Eurovsion is back. Having watched the show from a young age with the family It feels wrong not watching it, even if it means skipping through the bbc i-player to see what the different acts bring. Last year the UK decided that it was going to take the Eurovision seriously and so created a show with the x-factor format with around seven possibly acts for the uk and each week the public would vote to keep in their favourite act. In the end we got Jade, who with the help of Andrew Lloyd Webber went on to take fifth place! The best the UK has done in a long time. This year our chances aren't as strong. Rather than having the show over a period of weeks to pick the act to represent the UK there was just one show and instead of having the help of Andrew Lollyd Webber this year the song would be made by Peter Waterman.

As soon as I found out it would be Peter Wateraman creating the song and helping the artist I could hear the empty dead echo beats of 90's cheese. Peter Waterman has no idea what modern music sounds like and I get the feeling he thinks he knows 'what the kids listen these days' the BBC made a big mistake taking on Pete. The end result of the contest was Josh Dubovie with the song 'That Sounds Good To Me'. Firstly the song title sounds like a half arsed attempt. It might as well be 'Yeah....that will do' or 'Meh...It’s a title'. How have we gone from Jade in 2009 with this



To this



Huge difference in quality of song and video. Granted Jades song was no master piece but at least she sold it. It’s a shame for Josh because I'm sure he could do better than this and for anyone to be tagged with this song is a shame.

'You bring the sunshine, I'll bring the good times. Just add your laughter. It’s happy ever after'

I mean hand on heart if Josh was to be honest do you think he'd really be happy singing a line like that. Its cheesy, it’s boring and it’s out dated. While I don't think the UK will go without any points this year we most certainly will not be in the top five.

Away from the negative and on with the positive, here are my top three for the night (in no certain order)



Paula Seling & Ovi singing 'Playing with fire' for Romania




Malcolm Lincoln singing 'siren' for Estonia



Safura singing 'drip drop' for Azerbaijan
I'll be watching the event and will be twitting about it, so if you want my thoughts on the night go check out my twitter http://twitter.com/CottonWoolJames

Junior Apperence: Childs Play?

Junior Apperence: Childs Play?

I have watched the apprentice for years now, enjoying each series with the different types of people, some I liked, some I loved and some I hated and wanted to fire myself. Now it’s back but this time it’s a little bit different, rather than having adults take on the challenge to impress Lord Alan Sugar this time its up to a group of teenagers, ranging from sixteen to seventeen they have the chance to win worth £25,000. The fund will go towards kick-starting his or her business career and will be tailored to their individual career prospects and development.

At first I wasn't a fan of the idea of using teenagers this time. Sir Alan Sugar isn't as harsh (which I suppose is a good thing considering they are just kids) the challenges aren't as big as they were with the adults, even the house they are living in isn't as big as the house the adults get. The house itself is a little patronising as its filled with furniture that is brightly coloured, the bed sheets have little cute lady bugs and while not a huge issue it’s as if a bunch of producers have sat down together and have asked 'so what do kids like....BRIGHT COLOURS AND TOYS!' come on give these teenagers a little more credit.

With most of the contestants with the normal grown up show there are always contestants on the show that you love to hate, but seeing as these are kids you would think I would be nicer and like them all. Wrong, there have been at least three I have hated so far. I should explain when I say hate I mean I just don't like the way they are treating others, their attitudes and well just generally hate them. But hating them is part of my love for the show. There are always contestants that you always root for and just will to do well.

Now I have never actually been interested in to going in to business but when I watch the show I'm so sure I could do better than everyone doing the tasks. I think of how I would do it different and how I would talk to people and sort everyone out, however things are allot easier when you are watching from afar on your comfy chair. But that’s the same with every show, for example who wants to be an millionaire when you see the contestant unsure about what the answer is and you think you do, you watch them questioning if they should walk away with the money they have now and you can't help just shout at the tv 'THE ANSWER IS D! GOD YOUR STUPID THE ANSWER IS D! JUST SAY D!' and you get annoyed when they walk away.....then feel more stupid when you find out the answer is actually A.

So far there have been three episodes and four contestants have left. In the third episode one contestant was told to leave because he wasn't feeling well, I found it odd that he gave no struggle or pealing to stay, but for all we know this happened when the cameras weren't on. So let’s have a look at what contestants are left
Arjun Rajyagor: At first I wasn't sure he was going to be in this contest for much longer however the more I see him I more I like him and is slowly turning in to my favourite of the group.

Emma Walker: We have yet to see much from Emma yet, in the latest episode we saw her in the background and when she was talking it was mostly negative. I don't expect to see her in the show for much longer

Hannah Cherry: Last week Hannah took charge and was project manager, she sells herself as being creative and an inventor yet I don't see much energy about her.

Kirsty Cleaver: I expect Kirsty to do well in this show; this seems to be likeable and hard working. She seemed to jump on the gang wagon this week though as the team she was in attacked their project manager. However in their defence he was pretty useless as the project manager.

Tim Ankers: Tim has been ducking being fired since the first challenge task, next week when he has to be project manager to prove himself its either going to be sink or swim.

Zoe Plummer: And finally the one I simply can;t stand. I find her to be smug and I believe she thinks very highly of herself. Give her chance and I think she would gladly kill the others to win.

So currently I want either Arjun Rajyagor or Kirsty Cleaver to win. I am wondering what the final task is going to be, normally it’s to arrange some big event inviting allot of people and making it a great night but so far the tasks for the teenagers have been quiet small in comparison to what the adults went through.
As always I will continue to watch the show, however I do hope that if there is going to be another series that it will go back to its normal format of using adults rather than teenagers.

Four Lions: Film Review

Four Lions: Film Review

After my friend saw my blog that I went to go see Prince of Persia rather than going to see Four Lions today she decided that I needed to see the film. I have wanted to see the film after hearing allot of good things about it, I was worried that all the fuss might have ruined the film for me and not met my expectations. None the less I was still able to enjoy the film and its funny one liners.

Overall I left the film undecided on what I thought about it, after talking to Sammy and thinking about it some more; I'm still not 100% of what I think about it. The film shows how stupid people can be, their actions can be and how stupid terrorism is. We are taken on the journey of five wanna be terrorist martyrs. The five are pretty clueless and one character who is not very bright gets dragged in to it while this one character is not too sure of his own actions the others in the team are just are brainless. I'm not even sure most of them know what they were 'fighting'' against.

The film isn't made to offend anyone, yet it shows how stupid people can be. My favourite scene in the film is where two policemen are on the top of a building with sniper rifles ready to shoot who they think the bomber is, they end up shooting someone dressed as a wookie (star wars) believing it to be someone dressed as a bear and the two end up debating what species a honey nut monster is.

There was one dark moment in the film where the leader of the group is with his wife talking about blowing himself up and taking charge of his group again, unsure about it he is reassured by his wife and his son, while the performance was acted out very normal what they were saying and the situation was very dark and disturbing, creating comedy out of an uneasy situation.

Again, I'm not really sure as to what I think towards this film, I found myself asking what was its purpose. But I don't think it really had one, in the end I think it’s just a dark comedy following a bunch of selfish, cowardly brainless men. I would certainly recommend watching it but I have no clue as to what I would give it out a marks out of ten.

My First Sold Painting With Its New Owner

Last night after I finished my blog entry about the Prince of Persia I received an e-mail which had a photograph of a painting I had sold to a man called Chase. I am also a painter and recently I have been trying to sell some of my pieces, a few weeks ago Chase asked if you could buy one of my paintings and I was more than happy to say yes. I asked him once he got the painting to take a picture of himself with the canvass so I could add it to a happy customer board I want to create. I can't tell you how happy I felt when I saw my painting with him. It’s the first painting I've ever sold and I sent it all the way from England to America. See this picture meant allot to me. Since then I have sold another painting to his house mate and I’m hoping that will get to him soon. If you are interested in seeing some of my other works then you can find them here http://cottonwooljames.deviantart.com/

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Review

So I went to go see the Prince of Persia, I had the choice of either this or four lions, but I was in the mood for something a little away from reality. Being a fan of the games and thinking the pirates of the Caribbean were an ok series of films I thought it couldn't be that bad. I'm also a fan of Gemma Arterton. Now many films that have been made from games have never done well. To list a few, Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and Doom. None of these films are actually any good when considered as films, granted they try to please the fans of the games by trying to stick to the same style and patterns but when trying to expand on story lines from games which can go in to hours in to an two hour movie can prove hard, or in another instance sometimes there just isn't enough story line behind a game to create a good story for the film eg Street Fighter. Tekken is soon to be the next movie game to come out, being a fan of the Tekken series I had high hopes for it, but after watching the trailer it looks like I may just be adding it to my guilty pleasures list.

The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time movie is by no means a bad movie, it’s just not very good. It looks nice, there is plenty of action and stunts, the actors are attractive and at times witty however overall the script and the story is at times very cheesy. It clearly plays tribute to the game as it has a very game feel to it, while watching it I couldn't help but think I had played similar levels when the prince jumped on boxes and ran across walls. There is a scene at the start of the film where the camera quickly spins around the location the Prince is about to break in to and its very much like the camera work in the game where you get a chance to look at your surroundings to plan ahead as to what you are supposed to jump on and what secret buttons you are meant to press to advance in the level. While I am pleased the movie showed respect to the game I did think they might have pulled back a little with the over the top acrobatics, instead of doing it at any given moment it might have been nice just to have one really over the top scene for the fan rather than letting it consume the whole movie.

I sometimes felt as if the plot moved very quickly and it felt like they jumped to different parts of the story without having explained how they had got to different locations. The very important scene where the power of the dagger is explained happens very fast and I almost thought a pop up was about to come on the screen to explain the audience what buttons have to be pressed to use the time travelling powers of the weapon.

Gemma Arteton looked stunning in every scene she was in and my female friend would often whisper to me 'he's pretty' referring to Jake Gyllenhaal aka the Prince to which I would say back 'He's no Amy Pond' to which she would answer 'you’re not wrong'. After seeing her performance in this I would like to see her more gritty, darker role in 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed'

There is a moment in the first game where the prince and female lead are trapped in a small area under rocks in the dark. The prince panics a little and the female (I think she’s a princess, it’s been a while since I played the game) calms him down by telling him of a 'magic' word her mother told her when she was younger, I forget what the magic word is, but she has never told anyone this before. It is in the end of the game where the Prince uses the power of the dagger to restore everything back to the way it was before meeting the princess that he goes to her room and she asks who he is he says he should not fear her and tell her of the magic word, shocked as how he could know of it, he leaves. It’s a bitter sweet ending but I feel the movie missed on a great scene that would have granted the film a better ending.

Overall the film isn't a great film, its a bit of fun and if someone wanted to watch it on DVD I'd say sure. But I wouldn't mind giving it a miss. It was fun and imagine a younger audience would enjoy it. 6/10

Ashes to Ashes: There's No Place Like Home

Ashes to Ashes: There’s No Place Like Home

Warning this blog entry contains spoilers

So its been a few days since the last ever episode of Ashes to Ashes was on television, however I didn't get the chance to watch it with moving back home and with the odd jobs to sort out. However luckily I had recorded it on my families sky box and was able to watch it today in stunning HD. I haven't yet watched all of life on mars but I know the story and how it ends, but I have watched all of Ashes to Ashes. While the first and second series was a little off in places, as my Dad said 'in every episode she cries, shouts at the television and ends up drinking' and to be fair he wasn't wrong. However this third series has been allot better, we have gotten allot of character development from the team and its mix of liner narrative with experimental story telling is compelling.

So to sum it up basically when Gene Hunt was younger he was shot and killed, when he died he entered some sort of limo reality for police officers (as far as I understand it) those who have died, or in coma's appear in this reality trying to make them self better or simply hiding from the grim truth their reality is. Alex finally was able to go home when Gene, Ray, Chris and Shaz all undiscovered the truth. They all managed to go home, sadly thought their reality was death (or so we are left to think) and poor Gene hunt is left as the gate keeper of his own reality all alone. All in all a sad ending for everyone. Although it showed them all, had they had a second chance they could have all done well and make something of them self, showing them they had it in them to be great.

I didn't see it coming at all, and the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Half way through the episode I saw a link between this and the wizard of Oz. Through the series Shaz learnt to be brave like the Lion. Chris the scarecrow learnt to think for himself. Ray the tin man learnt to use his emotions. And Alex, sweet Dorothy just wanted to go home. In the episode I noticed she was wearing a pair of ruby glittery shoes. I don't know if this was on purpose or me just looking in to it too much, but I don't think the comparison could be missed. Gene Hunt the mighty and all powerful Wizard of Oz, turned out not to be so powerful after all.

Now the series is finished and the BBC has said there will be no more episodes, however I can't help but think in a few years’ times a new team will be next to gene hunt. I also can't help but wonder if this was the ending the writers of the show had always intended. I can only hope so, unlike the makers of Lost who no matter how many times say they always had the ending planned I can't believe. I'm not actually a fan of lost, did anyone watch it? Was the ending any good? Did it leave questions unanswered? Were you happy with it? Overall I'm happy with the ending of Ashes to Ashes, be it a sad ending at least everything is left answered.

Dr Who: Amy Pond, Brave Heart Or Damsel In Distress?

After trying a few different blog sites I have finally decided to use Blogger. I tired using blogger about a year ago but found myself not actually having anything to write about, I then tired other sites but found I didn't like their layouts. After finally sorting out my different accounts I m back on blogger! I will be using this space to talk about shows, film and events I find interesting and as a record of what I like and dislike.

I have been watching dr who recently, and wrote a blog about Amy Pond on my Tumblr account, however as I will no longer be using that site I have decided to post my last entry from there on to here.

Dr Who: Amy Pond, Brave Heart Or Damsel In Distress?

I am a Doctor Who fan, I haven't wathced the 'classic' seires and have been told to on many occastion. I started watching with Christopher Eccleston and since I feel the show has gotten better and better. As the show has moved on it has changed and I feel for the better, with each seires there is the right ammount of different. I really liked David Tennant as the Doctor and aside from a few of the specials his seires was overall really enjoyable, he was young, fast paced, fun, wise and I would glady run away from an alien down a long corridor with him. I was sad when he left the seires and when he last his last words 'I don't want to go' I (and likely most of his fans) shouted at the televsion screen 'THEN DON'T!' but sadly he did, his end had to happen eventually and it certainly ended on a high note.

Now we have Matt Smith as the youngest actor to yet play the role of the Doctor, the first episode was a little odd and I didn't really like the start of it when he was getting used to is body, however I didn't like the first episode David Tennant was in with the christmas special, this may have been due to me getting used to a new Doctor after liking the last one but It was also because the Doctor was still getting used to his body and there has to be a bit of adjusting for the character to do. So far I am enjoying Matts series, while being the youngest actor yet he has the power to turn in to an old man when yelling at the humans around him, in the second episode with the star whale he turns on those around him and says something on the lines of 'No human gets to talk now' this line perfectly spilts the time lord from the human and reminds us he is smarter than any human their, as a viewer I even felt like i was being told off by a older teacher. The weakest episode has to be 'victory of the daleks', not alot happened and most the episode was shot in two rooms with alot of people making alot of sound. There could have been an interesting sub-plot with one of the female workers waiting for news from what I can guess is her love interest, but as for the actualy story nothing happened other than letting us know the daleks are back in bright new colours. The writers will at some point use them again but I'm not expecting to see them again in this seires.

With a new Doctor comes a new companion, travelling with the Doctor this time is Amy Pond. A young, adventurous, fun, attractive, Scottish lass. But for now for my main point of this blog entry. Is her bark worse than her bite? So far we have seen her in trouble and caught by the enemy in nearly every episode. Lets examine this more

Warrning, this will contain spoilers

1) Granted in this episdoe Amy is very much getting used to the Doctor and getting her head around the idea to an actualy time lord, aliens and the possible end of the world. However in comparision with Rose, Martha and some respects Donna's first encounter with the Doctor we found them fighting back and trying to make sense of things alot quicker, Rose even saves the Doctor in her first episode! With Amy, we see a lot of shouting and running away. While Donna tired to save the world by shouting she acted on it. None the less as this was her first episode, we'll let her off.

2) Again in her defence it was her who worked things out and saved the star whale (side note: How sweet is that name? 'Star Whale'!) the Queen did alot of the action in this episode and didn't leave much room for Amy to have a shot of it.

3) Overall not a great episode, very boring which was basically set in two rooms where Amy stood around for a bit not doing much.

4/5) Amy is caught by an angel and walks around with her eyes closed for most of the episode. Being protected by a group of army men who wonder off in to the crack in time. She does have to save her own skin by walking through the angels with her eyes closed which she would have had to be very brave to do but none the less she had the Doctors help. Not a very active member in this episode, and more a victim. However she was up against the weeping angels, of the best and most scary of the dr who villians out there.

6) While she offers to go in to the school to save the girl from the alien fish/vamps she does end up being caught and tied down and almost being turned in to a fish lady. While she kicks and screams a bit she is saved by the Doctor and others around her. I can't but help but wonder what Rose, Martha and Donna would have done. She was even guarded by her wussy human boyfriend, she finished him off with her make up mirror but is this only empowering a over stated female stereotype or just quick celver thinking?

7) Shes with child!? Ok so shes in no fit state to be fighting back against an alien race but the episode is called 'Amy's Choice' this could have been her chance to sine and come across as a real hero, work everything by herslef and show charatcer development. When her boyfriend dies this is where she finally knows she loves Rory and its sad that it took something like that for her to know her real feelings, from this her emotions get the better of her and preety much says 'I'd rather die without him' this is sweet but she could have very well been wrong about which was the real reality and could have just killed herself, her unborn child and the Doctor!

8) She gets dragged in to a hole and tied up again. Enough said.

Their are still 5 episodes left in the seires and we still might she Amy strike back and use what she has learnt and seen to be the hero in the end. If she is in the second seires (and I believe she will be) her charatcer may change slighty as did Rose's. It has been said that Amy is supposed to be one of the more relatable female charatcers the show has had, however it would be nice to see the female gender portrayed with a streonger role model rather than a damsel waiting for her knight/Doctor to ride in on his horse/tardis.

I do like Amy and the way she interatcs with the Doctor and Rory, together they are a fun team. I think Amy will be around for the second seires but I'm not sure what they are going to do with Rory, they might keep him on board and go back to the orginal format of the show where there was the Doctor, a young girl and two adults. This time however keep it as the Doctor and two young adults. One things for sure though they are certainly not the Doctor, Rose and Jack.