Awake Season 1, Episode 2

Another episode of the promising show has me worried that it may have slipped in with all the other generic crime dramas. This time they're investigating a murder of a homeless guy, while using both of the two worlds he lives in. The worrying part though is that, already, it is beginning to become a bit stale. 

The promising side to the show though is you find out more about is family which I hope will be a bigger part in the series to break up the flow a bit. 

Still a show that I'm going to continue to watch, but I'm not as exciting as I was when I watched the first episode. 

What makes a good horror film?

Horror films,you either love them or you hate them, but what makes a good horror film? Is it just for the scares  or is deeper than that? Here's what I think makes a good horror film;

An imaginative story, you can tell exactly whats going to happen in any horror movie, I also think a twist helps a great deal. They just need to start surprising their audience.

Most horror films lack a genuinely scary villain or anti-hero, most are just boringly stereotypical villain. I think we need new monsters, people are getting bored of vampires,mummy's,zombies and ghosts. Why can't writers think of new monsters ? Just something original to shock the audience.

Suspense is often a key factor in horror films, something to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, that goes hand to hand with jumpy moments, if done correctly.

If you look at some of the great horror films you will see that they need a fear inducing and well filmed setting. It could be anything from a tower block (Candyman) ,a wide open area (Hills Have Eyes) or even just the sea (Jaws) as long as it is well filmed it's fine.

Actors are obviously the key to any film but what I think horror films need especially is a likable main character, if you don't like the character you're not going to care if he dies are you? Good acting is obviously a necessity as well, that’s what I think horror films lack, good acting.

Horror films needs something to engross the audience, some intensity would be good because when I see a horror film it doesn't feel like I’m “in the film” the story line is just too impossible to be real.

They need more angles than just the classic horror film angles, try to mix it up without making it too cheesy and photogenic and so it can't distract from the horror.

A story that you don't know the ending to is key. Take Scream, if you took the plot twist out of the equation, it would be an average film. The story also need to be easy to follow, but interesting.

Also, most horror movies think they can just slap on blood and guts to make a horror movie. This is not the case. Horror movies, although they don't look like it, are smarter than that (well, most of them).

In short, a horror movie needs to be; unexpected, original, tense, have brilliant acting, and involve your worst nightmare.

My thoughts on England's Euro 2012 squad

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, Robert Green, John Ruddy 

Defenders: Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, John Terry, Joleon Lescott, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Leighton Baines

Midfielders: Theo Walcott, Stewart Downing, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Steven Gerrard, Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard, Scott Parker, Ashley Young, James Milner 

Strikers: Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Andy Carroll, Jermain Defoe 

So, let's start with the goalkeepers. Obviously Joe Hart was a must. He's clearly the best English keeper and arguably the best keeper in the world at the moment. Paul Ruddy has been brilliant this season and fully deserves his place, but Robert Green...really? He's been playing in the championship this season and not even for the championship winning side. If you're going to go the championship route would you not pick Kelvin Davis? He's been unbelievable this season. In my opinion though, where's Ben Foster? He was excellent this season and has played at the top level. 

Now onto defenders. Fairly decent list. Obviously Cole is a must. He's fantastic and the best left back in the world, in my opinion. Terry is a leader and there have been good glimpses of him and Cahill having a fantastic partnership. For me though, the weak links are clearly Baines and Jones. Jones is so overrated. He's a fairly good center back, but put him in defensive midfield or right back and he's useless. He's an awful passer of the ball. Also, where the hell is Micah Richards? He's been brilliant this season. He's big and strong and can defend, unlike Glen Johnson.

The midfielders is very strong. Everyone there deserves to be there for different reasons, apart from Downing. Let's be honest, he's done absolutely nothing all season. Let's like on the bright side though, Gerrard and Lampard are fantastic leaders on the pitch. Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain will be great impact players to bring on. Barry is a very good player. Good passer of the ball and good at breaking up play. Ashley Young and Milner are will be good but I would've preferred to have seen Adam Johnson instead of Milner, as I feel as the better winger. 

Strikers is fairly simple. Rooney was obviously a dead certain. Jermain Defoe is a great goalscorer and Andy Carroll could be a good player to bring on if we need goals. I would have liked to have seen Crouch in the squad though. He's consistent, you know what you're going to get with him and he can score goals. 

All in all though, very good team and I'm really looking forward to the Euro's! 

Awake Season 1, Episode 1 Summary

It's not usual that you'll find a crime drama that is particularly unique anymore, due to how many there have been. Awake, however, is very different from the rest. Jason Isaacs (who is very good in it and manages to pull of a very believable American accent) stars as Detective Britten, who has just been in a car crash with his wife and his son. However, during this, his life is somehow split into two realities. One where his wife survived and one where his son survived. All the while, he is going to a shrink in both realities, that are both telling him that that world is real. The very interesting part though, is the fact that both of these realities help him to solve crimes and even stopping them from happening.
Yes I know, it all sounds very confusing, but it's actually portrayed in a very simple way. This is due to a couple of reasons. For one, he has a different partner and shrink in each reality. So, all in all,  it was a very promising pilot and I hope it keeps it up the whole series!

What did you think? Tell me in the comments below!

My 'The Amazing Spider-Man' thoughts

I've been a Spider-Man fan since I was a kid and was watching the cartoon on Fox Kids (anyone remember that?) and have loved him ever since. Now I know there has been a trilogy of films before, but other than the first one I didn't really enjoy them for a couple of reasons. One being that he didn't have fucking web shooters, which just goes against the whole idea of Peter Parker being a genius, but that's another story. When 'The Amazing Spider-Man' was announced I was willing to give it another chance, mainly because I long for a good Spidey film, but also because I loved (500) Days of Summer and wanted to see what Marc Webb could do with the webhead. Now I knew it could always could go either way, but I always thought in the back of my mind it would be good. My faith has just slightly been reassured with the new trailer. This is mainly due to seeing The Lizard/Curt Connors. From the trailer, it's looking like he has the exact personality of Curt Connors/The Lizard from the comics and Rhys Ifans has great potential to pull of the the mad scientist. The other key point from the trailer that really brought my attention was seeing the little knife quip that he made. This was genuinely funny and exactly like he should be, unlike Raimi's films.

Yes, I know this is all hope, but I truly have faith in this film and hope my faith it repayed. What do you guys think? Feedback would be appreciated!

Just a little update...

Woah! Look at that! I haven't posted since 18th August last year. I'm currently very busy with my exams but will start religiously posting on here after that. I'm currently working on a Football Manager 2012 mega post, so look forward to that!