Kingsman: The Golden Circle

#StokerScore: 7/10

I am more than willing to admit that I loved the first one and, while the second isn't quite as fresh (in terms of story), I enjoyed this as much for the right reasons. 

For most of the movie I was, as a kid who grew up in the Roger Moore era of Bond, loving the preposterous special effects, and weapons, and evil criminal genius, and villain's lair, and sidekicks and the list goes on. 

Picking up quite nicely from the events of the first one we find familiar faces abound. Some weren't around as long as I expected, but when you look at the trailer and the departure for America, that's no real surprise. Plus, the trailer would also suggest that death is no longer a problem. 

No spoilers if this is your first foray into the realm of spies-fronted-as-Saville-Row-tailors, you can soon catch up. The movie is certainly not high-brow, not asking you to invest your little grey cells in working out what's going on, the exposition from the characters easily solves that. Yet where other movies find this to be a failing, I hardly noticed, such was the pace of events.

Actually, if you have seen the first movie, you may not want to think too long and hard about the hows and whys. Instead, strap yourself in for more 70's/80's Bond spoofery with a charismatic bunch of people intent on saving the world.

One small point. I saw this in an Indonesian cinema which was 17+ and where said rating means nothing at all, as attested by the 10-year old sat in front of me. There is a seduction scene in this movie that leaves 1% up to the imagination and which had me gobsmacked thinking it would never go as far as it did...and then it did. If you are with someone who might not be thrilled at how you would get a tracking device into someone's mucus membrane without putting it up their nose, maybe see it with someone else.

#StokerScore: Gogglebox - The Mist (Season 1)

#StokerScoreTV: Definitely not worth your time or trouble

I have to admit to having had an initial lack of interest in this show. When I heard it was being made, I thought that it wasn't the best of ideas, but then I thought about how good the movie version of Stephen King's book was I changed my mind and thought "no, this isn't a bad idea...it's a really, really, really bad idea".

Having another job that takes up most of my time and having to cherry pick my tv consumption, I have been watching it due to a lack of current shows that I find interesting. I was waiting for Marvel's Defenders and The Punisher, I've been watching season two of Preacher, and obviously there was Game of Thrones, so, as well as finding season one of Sense8, which I haven't binge-watched, I've been watching this on a weekly basis and, having finally come to the end of episode ten, I can promise you that I hate myself for having put up with it for this long (please tell me there's not more to come?)

What makes it so bad? Well, the first episode isn't really that much od a disappointment. The set up, that an amnesiac wakes and finds himself near to the Arrowhead Military base and who immediately loses his (pet?)dog to a strange mist, isn't a bad start. Tie that to the camera panning to a nearby town and the premise is set up. We are introduced to a range of main characters and supporting cast who all appear to have their own range of problems that will be difficult to contend with along with the menacing mist.

The main problem with this show is the sloppy writing, which frustrates to the point that you want to slap the tv to get it to see sense. Characters are continually adding in dialogue that could have/should have been brought up at a similar time, so much so that it feels the script is being written on the fly. Sure, we can throw in the occasional curve ball as far as plot points go but this is so over-the-top it's laughable. Generally the actors are of a good calibre, they just wouldn't behave as the writers would have you believe. 

And the cop out is the writers can use The Mist as their excuse for stupidity/callousness/deviousness because the mist this time isn't home to Cthulhu and his minions as evidenced in the movie version, no this mist is more of a sentient toxic gas which gives hallucinations to some of the people in it. I say some of the people because not everyone seems to be immediately affected. A woman who believes herself to be a Wiccan priestess and who is demonstrably unaffected by the mist, is later seen to be its latest victim. Then there are times where no cars work, preventing people from completing whatever task the writers have set, only for the time a main character needs to go from A to B quickly, they find a working car.

I am trying to remain calm while writing this but it is truly a disgrace and a thinly veiled attempt to cash in on the current truckload of remakes, reboots and re-whatever-else. Instead of this, go back and watch the Thomas Jane movie version.

#StokerScore: Gogglebox - Sense8 (Season1)

#StokerScoreTV: Weird, but well worth a watch

Enigma (n): Someone or something that is strange or difficult to understand. There are so many shows that this moniker could apply to. Even with flashbacks, Lost seemed to revel in baffling the brains of the most ardent fans. The X-Files never truly realised Mulder's goal of finding the truth out there, which also became more of a joke in it's most recent comeback season, and then there's the enduring popularity of Angela Lansbury's serial killer detective in Murder She Wrote (it's the only answer that makes any sense with that many murders happening around one person).

Having referenced so many dated shows, I'm pretty late with this review as not only has there been a second season of Sense8 but the show has also been cancelled by Netflix, not counting a possible one-off movie to tie it all together or an offer for it to be hosted by an online adult entertainment network. I'm late to it because it must have flown under my radar. We're always on the lookout for shows for my wife to watch and this kind of thing is right up her street, yet still we didn't find it until I was looking for some character bios and chance prevailed.

Am I happy that I found the show? Most decidedly yes, but it is because of the characters and the global setting rather than it is my understanding of the plot. And here's the thing, I have a vague idea of what's going on. I can tell you who each character is and what ties them together, but apart from that I'm completely in the dark. I get the idea that the psychic talents are nascent and the characters are learning along with the audience. I get that they've brought in Naveen Andrews to significantly up the confusion factor that made Lost the show it was. I get that it's the Wachowskis who have previously done the 'I don't know what the hell is going on' thing so well in The Matrix sequels and, more impressively, in the completely bonkers Jupiter Ascending.

Yet here's the thing, I haven't cared to know. I know there is another season and possibly a concluding entry to come but I have enjoyed this first season. It's nice not to have exposition shoved down my throat and instead be trusted with working some stuff out for myself. Admittedly I do seem to be doing a tad more than I should need to and maybe that's the reason for the cancellation. I see this show going the way of other cult shows, like The Prisoner which ran for 17 episodes in te 1960's. 

I don't know if Season Two will help or hinder my understanding but I am looking forward to it...