Reviews of the Bosch

           I can’t help but notice the last time we saw this much of the Riverlands on Game of Thrones was the Red Wedding. This time though things were slightly less violent, but Blackfish didn’t get away.           “No One” brought a couple storylines to an end while revving up another couple, had some pretty good performances, and character reunions that ranged from bittersweet to “you again?” to “thank god you’re here!” It does pick up on the cliffhangers from last week, and delivers on them well, but the more intense stuff is still to come. Especially with next week’s episode being titled “Battle of the Bastards” (which reminds me that Ramsay hasn’t shown up in a while).           I’m noticing people are travelling very quickly in Westeros as already Brienne has reached Riverrun. Bronn and Podrick have a reunion typical of their characters and I couldn’t help but share Bronn’s sentiments of admi...

          As a follow-up to Beauty and the Beast , I don’t think Disney could have picked something more different and exotic than Aladdin . It’s not really a fairy tale being based on one of the stories from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights . So while a few of the Disney fairy tale tropes made their way into this film, Aladdin ’s more concerned with having fun in its set-up and focussing more on a then very original kind of comedy.           And you know what, it actually works very well. Against the odds that this would blow up in Disney’s face they managed to pull through a very good movie that succeeds on its visuals, heart, and of course one scene-stealing performance that would go down as one of Disney’s greatest.           Aladdin is a street thief in the kingdom of Agrabah (which an astonishing number of Americans believe is real), orphaned from an early age and forced to steal to survive. Bu...

          The Hound is still alive! Well I guess it’s just confirmation no one’s dead on this show unless you actually see them die (in which case I’m expecting Stannis to return about three years from now...). Not only is the Hound alive but he’s living in some kind of convent with Ian McShane building the Wicker Man! Who’d have thought. But that wasn’t the only surprise of “The Broken Man” which wound up being very good in most of its storylines.           As it turns out the Hound a.k.a. Sandor Clegane was lucky enough to be found by a septon before he died, and was nursed back to health. Since then he’s been living in this small community doing manual labour and forging his own family atoning for his past misdeeds. Of course it’s surprising to see Rory McCann back, but his scenes this week with Ian McShane as his mentor Ray are some of the episodes best. You really pay attention their conversations on philosophy and their past....

         The princess fairy tale movies are Disney’s best known staple by a mile. Not only are they the type of movie that launched the studio back in 1937, but they are among the best remembered properties, engaging children particularly girls on an emotional fantasy level from a young age. Before the Disney Renaissance there had been only three, but by the nineties every other Disney movie either was centred on a princess (or princess-to-be) or featured one in the second lead role. And while it was The Little Mermaid that brought the princess movie successfully back, I think the film that proved they could be a great work of art and set the standard was Beauty and the Beast !           Not only is Beauty and the Beast Disney’s best fairy tale movie but I think it’s one of the best animated films ever made! Few other works of animation captivate, enchant, and move more than this relatively simple story about love and inner be...

          The subject matter of “Possession” is very much akin to the penny dreadfuls that inspired the series title. In that it’s both very dark while also ludicrous in some of its conceits. The episode actually balances the camp with some genuine dark moments really well and you’re concerned with what will happen to Vanessa in the aftermath of last episode’s sudden levitation.           It seems Vanessa’s encounter with Dorian led to a psycho-sexual response and possession by a demon (thanks Dorian!). It lashes out and toys with audience expectations by acting like Vanessa’s recovered a couple times only to reveal nothing’s changed. The gang restrain her and try to care for her (Sembene deals quite a slap to the face), but it soon becomes hopeless as Vanessa sinks under her possessors control. Meanwhile Chandler begins to suspect Sir Malcolm doesn’t have her best interests at heart and the impatient group begin to squabble over bri...

          Just going to come right out and spoil it, Deadpool does not join the X-Men in this movie.           In a world where Marvel and DC both have vying cinematic universes of superheroes, the X-Men series is an anomaly. They’ve had some bad films (this one especially pretending that X-Men Origins: Wolverine never happened) but have lasted sixteen years and managed a degree of success. X-Men: Apocalypse is coming so soon on the heels of Captain America: Civil War though, that it’ll be tough to beat; which is a shame because it’s not a bad movie. Is it good?           The very first mutant (Oscar Isaac -never actually referred to as Apocalypse) awakens from his centuries-long entombment at the dawn of the 80’s and plans on destroying humankind. He assembles‘Four Horsemen’ to help him carry it out, one of whom is of course Magneto (Michael Fassbender) who’s been hiding under a false identity since...

          Nothing spectacular happens in “Blood of My Blood”; there seemed to be the implication that at least regarding the King’s Landing storyline, something big would go down. The episode on a whole is not a disappointment, there are a few interesting developments and curious character actions, as well as returns of minor characters we haven’t seen in years, but I think its main purpose is to get certain circumstances under way that will lead to bigger things.           After last week’s heartbreaking death of Hodor (which isn’t even acknowledged!) Bran and Meera struggle to escape while Bran is still stuck in the Three-Eyed Ravens download. To be honest I think this brief sequence may have been the best in the episode, because not only did Bran see many of the events from the show (seeing both his father’s and brother’s deaths among them) he also got flashes of older important moments from before the series: including what app...