True Detective Season 2

After the sheer brilliance of Season 1 I was really looking forward to the second season of HBO's top flight police drama.

Is it as good as the original?

Unfortunately not.

It tries to be... and the actors pull out all the stops but regrettably it is inferior in every single way. And I reckon that is down to not giving a toss about who was murdered, why they were murdered and who the murderer is.

As the viewer you just don't care!

Having said all that I will watch the remaining episodes.

Rating: 6/10

Stretchy sleeves...

Why do young women who are wearing jumpers always stretch their sleeves down over their hands?

What's all that about?

Rant over.

Fear The Walking Dead

Love this poster for the new spin off series: Fear The Walking Dead... very clever!

OXO

Today was the longest day of the year and it was also Father's Day. So to celebrate we had lunch at the OXO Brasserie situated along the South Bank near to the National Theatre.

I must admit I was expecting something pretentious, but in fact it was far from it. The staff were courteous, quick and efficient and the food was excellent. I was expecting small portions but was delighted to discover that they were more than generous. In fact I felt completely stuffed by the end of it. We had the steak which at £30 sounded expensive but was actually great value when you considered the quality and where you were eating it.

Would I go back?

I most certainly would!

We had parked our car at London Zoo and taken a leisurely stroll through Regents Park. Then took the tube to Embankment. It was also the first time we had paid for a train ticket contactlessly with a debit card so I hope to god that the correct amount has been debited. Most disconcerting!

A great day out... Rating: 10/10

Farewell Mr Spock

Leonard Nimoy - you portrayed one of the greatest and most iconic characters of all time.

Rest in peace.

Heads in the trough... Again!

"A fresh row erupted over MPs' pay today as a senior Tory caught in a 'cash for access' scandal said he sought extra business deals on top of his £67,000 salary to secure the standard of living he is 'entitled' to enjoy.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who chairs the Intelligence and Security Select Committee, has been suspended from the Conservative party after bragging that he could see any foreign ambassador in London and has 'useful access' to every British ambassador in the world.

But in a series of disastrous media interviews, he claimed today that it was 'quite unrealistic' to expect backbench MPs with professional backgrounds to 'simply accept a salary of £60,000'.

Sir Malcolm and former Labour foreign secretary Jack Straw were secretly filmed discussing how they could use their contacts to benefit a private company and both boasted about charging at least £5,000-a-day. Mr Straw has also been suspended by the Labour party over the 'disturbing' allegations." -- Daily Mail website.

"Quite unrealistic to simply accept a salary of £60,000"... But Malcolm is it realistic for the public to accept you using the contacts you acquired whilst in public office to line your own pockets from benefitting a private company?

I think not.

Completely out of touch with the world the rest of us live in!

Rant over.

Oh to be an Oscar nominee...

The annual backslapping luvvies awards ceremony is on this evening and no doubt someone you’ve never heard of will come away with a gong for appearing in a film you never have the intention of watching… But what gets me is that just for being nominated you receive a $125,000 goodie bag.

Yes… $125,000 worth of freebies for being on a list.

Why?

Rant over.

Fortitude

Three episodes in and I am still undecided whether I actually like Sky Atlantic’s new homegrown drama series Fortitude.

My first question is… Where is the town of Fortitude?

We know it is within the Arctic circle with a population of 700… But in what country is it located?

Why does it have a multinational population? Scandinavians, British, Spanish… Why? What is the reason for people living in such an inhospitable environment?

Does it really matter? Probably not.

It is difficult to feel much sympathy for many of the characters though and the writers employ the usual unsubtle tactic in making us believe a couple of them are the prime suspects where as they are almost certainly red herrings.

Stanley Tucci is by far the best actor and portrays the most interesting character. Michael Gambon is his usual overrated self: cynical, slightly drunk, a chip on his shoulder and starts speaking common every so often (much like his role as The Singing Detective). The philandering black guy with the son in hospital is crap. Christopher Ecclestone was hardly in it before becoming the victim.

Anyway… It’s not great but I will probably watch the remaining episodes simply because I am intrigued to discover who the murderer is.

Rating: 6/10

Helena Bonham-Carter gets naked with a giant tuna...

Now that is what I call disturbing!

Weird.

Amazing Spider-Man 2

A truly terrible film.

I finally got around to watching this the other night and dozed off midway through it. Jamie Foxx was appalling. In fact everyone was pretty dreadful... all except Andrew Garfield's portrayal of Spider-Man (not as Peter Parker though).

Don't bother watching it.

Rating: 2/10