Category Archives: Reviews

Web Review – Dragon Age: Redemption – Josmael

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‘Dragon Age: Redemption is a six-part web series set in the world of the EA/Bioware RPG Dragon Age. The series tells the story of Tallis, an Elvish assassin, who gets a last chance at redemption when she’s sent to capture a rogue Qunari mage intent on wreaking havoc in the world.‘

Dragon Age: Redemption

Dragon Age: Redemption is certainly an impressive achievement in web video, but thankfully it’s also really enjoyable to watch. Each episode has built nicely on those preceding it and it feels like a nice coherent experience, even though it’s being delivered at the rate of only a few minutes per week.

The party building aspect of the series feels Continue reading →

Fright Night Review

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Director: Craig Gillespie

Writers: Martin Noxin, Tom Holland

Starring: Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, David Tennant

Year: 2011

I sometimes like to claim that I have a bizarre relationship with horror films. When I was a little ‘un, and our family would go to the video store, I would check to make sure no-one was watching, then sneak into the horror section and start checking out the covers. I wouldn’t actually watch one – not in a million years (well…12 to 15) – but the images on those boxes held a dread fascination. One such cover that I have always clearly remembered was the 1985 cult classic Fright Night. Continue reading →

The Captains

The Captains Review

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‘Since first soaring onto television screens in the 1960s, Star Trek has become one of the most beloved franchises of all time. Now, the original Captain Kirk, William Shatner, travels around the globe to interview the elite group of actors (Chris Pine, Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew and Scott Bakula) who have portrayed the role of Starship Captain, giving fans an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the pop culture phenomenon as well as the men and women who made it so.‘

The Captains

William Shatner has made a whole comedy act out of poking fun at his most famous role, but you don’t often hear him or any of the other Star Trek actors talk about the impact that it had on their personal lives. There are plenty of documentaries out there that talk about how obsessed the fans are, or what impact the show made on television, but how does it feel to be a part of something so massive?

The Captains is a very honest, if a little Continue reading →

Web Review – Dragon Age: Redemption – Cairn

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‘Dragon Age: Redemption is a six-part web series set in the world of the EA/Bioware RPG Dragon Age. The series tells the story of Tallis, an Elvish assassin, who gets a last chance at redemption when she’s sent to capture a rogue Qunari mage intent on wreaking havoc in the world.‘

Dragon Age: Redemption

With Bioware’s Mark of the Assassin receiving generally positive reviews, their multi-platform strategy with Felicia Day seems to be working fairly well. But will Redemption live up to fans expectations, or be remembered as a failed experiment?

The second episode of the series opens moments Continue reading →

Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire – Ourselves Alone Review

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‘When realizing that he might be losing control over Atlantic City, Nucky tries to figure out which one of his men betrayed him. When agents search the Treasurer’s Office for evidence, Margaret tries to dig into her past to help Nucky in the present.‘

Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire continues to go from strength to strength. With the season premiere ending on such a cliffhanger, I knew that this episode was going to be interesting, but it still managed to exceed my expectations. The power struggles are certainly heating up in Atlantic City, and who knows which players will still be standing at the end of the season.

Ourselves Alone never lets up on the tension. Just as things seem Continue reading →

Web Review – Dragon Age: Redemption – Tallis

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‘Dragon Age: Redemption is a six-part web series set in the world of the EA/Bioware RPG Dragon Age. The series tells the story of Tallis, an Elvish assassin, who gets a last chance at redemption when she’s sent to capture a rogue Qunari mage intent on wreaking havoc in the world.‘

Dragon Age: Redemption

I’ve always been a big fan of Bioware’s Dragon Age franchise, and when I heard that they had approached Felicia Day to make a web series set in the game’s universe, I knew that we’d be getting something special. Day is a vocal fan of the series, and as the brains behind one of the Internet’s most popular web series (The Guild) she is definitely the right person for the job.

Day’s experience with the medium Continue reading →

Real Steel Poster

Real Steel Review

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‘Set in the near future, where robot boxing is a top sport, a struggling promoter feels he’s found a champion in a discarded robot. During his hopeful rise to the top, he discovers he has an 11-year-old son who wants to know his father.‘

Real Steel Poster

It seems like an odd premise; take a story by Richard Matheson, strip out everything but the overarching sci-fi concept and shove in a father/son bonding plot together with a classic underdog story. On the surface, it shouldn’t work. But Real Steel is one of the big surprises of the year.

I went into this movie with very low expectations. I was hoping that Continue reading →

At Home With Julia – Citizens’ Assembly Review

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‘It’s like any relationship. Who walks the dog? Who puts the bins out? Who sends the troops to Afghanistan? These are just some of the questions facing PM Julia Gillard and boyfriend Tim Mathieson.‘

At Home With Julia

At Home With Julia has been rating fairly well for the ABC, and has certainly sparked some discussion, but as a show it never really worked. The controversy created by the show’s marketing team has been the main selling point, and it is debatable whether anyone will remember in a year that it was anything more than the first satire of a Prime Minister at home on Australian TV.

After last week’s improvement with the show’s political one-liners, it seemed odd Continue reading →

Terra Nova

Terra Nova – Genesis Review

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‘In the year 2149, the planet Earth is a disaster, and most of the plant and animal life has become extinct. Scientists can’t reverse the damage, but have found a way to travel back to prehistoric times to save the human race.‘

Terra Nova

There’s been a lot of buzz building about Fox’s new sci-fi show Terra Nova. Take Steven Spielberg and several other sci-fi veterans, add time travel and dinosaurs, and you seem to have the recipe for a sure-fire hit. Unfortunately, after the disappointment of Falling Skies earlier this year, Spielberg’s name in the EP slot doesn’t do that much for me anymore. There’s a whole bunch of things that need to come together to make a compelling series; dinosaurs aren’t going to keep people around forever.

Thankfully, the team behind Terra Nova seem to have made Continue reading →

Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire – 21 Review

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‘Nucky faces a lot of insurrection among some of his most trusted people. Chalky’s own life is threatened when the Ku Klux Klan launch an attack too close to home. Margaret must deal with her son’s disciplinary behavior. Angela asks Gillian’s advice over Jimmy’s affections at home. And Van Alden decides to show his wife, Rose, around the town for her anniversary.‘

Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire was one of my favourite shows from 2010. It was great to see a period drama that was willing to take its time setting up all the various plot threads, and allow the show to rest entirely on its characters without relying on gratuitous nudity to keep audiences interested (not that there wasn’t plenty of skin on show, it just wasn’t the focus of the show). Now, nearly a year later, it’s time to dive back in to the seedy underworld of prohibition era Atlantic City.

We left the first season with a montage of our characters reflecting on Continue reading →