Reviews: Coming Soon

The following reviews will be released soon, and apologies for them being late and delayed and so on:

-The Prisoner (Original Series) Episodes 2-9
-The Prisoner (Remake) Whole Series
-Young Dracula Series 3 9-13 (may be released)
-"The Thief Lord" 2005/6 (not sure which) film
-Doctor Who 2011 Christmas Special Review

After these, I will continue with reviews of more DVDs, hopefully more music, and I will conclude my reviews for the Prisoner. You can also find my other blog (which won't have reviews on) here.

Hope you had a good Christmas, see you soon.

Florence + The Machine "Ceremonials" Review

This is the first of many (hopefully) album reviews on this blog. The reviews for Young Dracula will be written soon, probably tying in with another review for TV that I'll write.

I started listening to F+TM a few weeks ago, probably not even that long. I first heard "No Light, No Light" on the BBC Christmas advert, and so I looked it up and listened to it. And I fell in love with it. I started listening to the other tracks, deliberately making sure I'd picked all tracks from the new album, which I knew had only come out recently. And quite simply, F+TM became my second favourite band (the first always being Keane).

I told my friend the other day that I only liked songs that had meaning and weren't just sung for the sake of it. A lot of Keane songs have meaning ("Black Burning Heart" being perhaps the best example) and a lot of F+TM ones do as well, which is probably why I find their songs so powerful. I'll go through the album track-by-track, giving my thoughts and saying which is the best part of the song. A lot of the F+TM songs have one key moment which grabs my attention and makes me listen, and I'll pick these out.

It feels weird reviewing "Only If For a Night" first, as it's one of the more recent I listened to before I bought the album (or before it was bought for me). Only If For a Night reminds me of Great Expectations. Partly cos I'd been reading the book around the time I first heard the song, but it's the introduction, the tune that reminds me of weddings and more importantly: Ceremonials. The lines "What's all this sighing about" are sung so beautifully and perfectly that they grab my attention and they allow a break within the song, which follows quite a formal structure.I like songs that I can make sense of, and Only If For a Night is probably one of those, though a break still allows something to change and makes you keep listening.

"Shake It Out" is one I'd heard already and I'd seen F+TM perform it on The X Factor. When I watched that performance, I wasn't a fan of F+TM, yet I knew there was something I liked about the song. The chorus is too repetitve and too typically "first released single" for me. Maybe the band should've placed their faith in a less 'ordinary' song to sell their single and album, rather than one that feels a little too... normal. The chorus lets the song down a little and means it doesn't quite fit into the tone of the album. Yet the rhythm and song are still epic enough to be part of Ceremonials.

What the Water Gave Me is another one I avoided listening to when I started listening to their music properly. Shake It Out was the other one I initially avoided in that time. However, What the Water Gave Me is an incredibly powerful tune. It drags tune and lyrics and this fits perfectly with what's sung. It's a beautiful song, if beautiful is the right word, and it seems to take 'normal single release' and the album tone and collides them together to make a song that's not perfect, but is superb.

I'll review the next three together. I hadn't listened to these three at all before I bought the album. "Never Let me Go" is typical of the album, sung beautifully, with a perfect tune and it's just absolutely brilliant, with the repetition of the chorus seeming to work much better here. "Breaking Down" and "Lover to Lover" are weird. They're fast paced, with big sounds and rhythms, and they don't fit into the small but powerful tone the album has developed."Lover to Lover" is my least favourite on the album. It's a good song - but I feel it might be more suited on a Will Young album. "Breaking Down" has an amazing tune and the lyrics, while not quite seeming to fit, work really well with the music, and there's a perfect symbiosis between the two.

"No Light, No Light" is amazing. No question. It's video's promoted a fair bit of criticism, and to be quite honest, I don't find the video racist or offensive at all. I truthfully find it quite clever, and I think using the choir and contrasting with the different locations is brilliant. It also pushes the song in a direction I never would've thought it could go. The lyrics seem a bit clumsy in places, but once you're used to the amazing tune and you've played the song blaring out of speakers, you ignore the clumsiness of the lyrics and focus on the pure awesomeness of the song.

"Seven Devils" is scary. The lyrics and the tune are gothic, it's a dark and scary song, and there's a horrible foreboding and depressing feeling that the song develops. However, all this makes the song the most powerful and effective on the album. If you're brave enough to listen to it, it's perfection.

"Heartlines" reminded me of "Earth Song" by Michael Jackson, and the sounds of animals (it sounds like they're there) and the heavy drumbeat gives the song a feel that's unique to the album. The songs within the album are different, and in some places different in huge ways, yet they all link somehow. Heartlines has a link through the huge drumbeat, which echoes through several songs on the album.

"Spectrum" is a beautiful song. It's lyrics and tune are perfect, and it's perhaps the most positive song on the album. It's the F+TM equivalent of a ballad, and it makes you look forward to the song on the album. The lyric about the colours igniting is made to sound so significant, that if you only remember one thing about the song, it will be that line. If you only remember one thing about the album however, it should probably be the gothic theme of Seven Devils.

"All This and Heaven Too" is another song with excellent lyrics and a beautiful tune. It perhaps feels more uplifiting than the others, though does it in a way which is much more suited to the gothic feeling of the album. That leaves "Leave My Body", which is again, gothic and brilliant, with the repetitions of "Pulling me down" working brilliantly.

Overall, the album is fantastic. There are a few lower points (well, mainly just Lover to Lover), but most tracks are powerful, gothic, and have rhythms and lyrics that are so powerful they will make you think. And they'll stick in your head for days as well.Excellent work, Florence + the Machine, and I'm glad there's still music out there that has purpose (not just repeated rubbish *cough* We Found Love by Rihanna *cough*)

Young Dracula: Episodes 6 - 8 Review

I apologise about falling behind on these blogs. I've been busy with various stuff, and get distracted easily. But. Finally. I have the reviews for Episodes 6, 7 and 8.

Episode 6 "Blood Thieft" seemed to serve one purpose. Get Vlad and Erin out on a date. Which of course goes wrong. And everyone nearly discovers she's not a vampire. But they don't. I'm not sure what I think of the episode. While the plot was quite predictable, it was a strong plot, and it was portrayed in a way typical to one of the old series of Young Dracula. Again, it's taking more grown up ideas and using them. Except this episode seemed a bit more childish. I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed it though. The acting was again on top form, especially from Gerran Howell (Vlad), and the Count, Ingrid and the tutor who's name I did know but have nwo forgotten was also really good. Erin was really good as well: it's just it didn't feel that she had a very big part. And it was primarily a story about her! So there should have been more Erin/Vlad scenes. So overall, the story wasn't up to the high standard of episode five, but it was still a good episode, which has revealed more about the characters....

Episode 7. This episode made Young Dracula trend on Twitter. Which is a massive achievement, absolutely huge. It was 5th trend in the UK, and compared to some of the other things that were trending, it was a massive achievement. As I've said. And I'd say it deserved to be trending. It had the action, it had the comedy, and it was one of the best episodes of the series. 3rd Best. (My favourites, joint top, are episodes one and five.) The idea was brilliant, and there was another excellent performance from Vlad. The idea of puppet Vlad was... um.... actually quite funny... and it broke up the excellent scenes that were taking place within the Mirror. The acting in the episode was excellent, but in episode 7 it was ultimately all to accompany Vlad as he accepted his true destiny. Or was made to, anyhow.

I was worried about the end of episode seven. Because whenever a good character turns bad, it always seems to throw the series off track, and often not for the better. But I was very surprised. Young Dracula episode 8 was fantastic. Both Vlad and Erin gave perfect performances in this, as well as Ingrid, and the scene where she was chucked into sunlight then saved while crying were acted brilliantly. Again, this episode took quite a basic idea, but it did it absolutely fantastically. The character of "Bad Vlad" wouldn't have worked for longer than one episode, but episode 8 tackled it perfectly. It was fun and serious, it was directed brilliantly, and it was a perfect episode for Young Dracula.

And there's still five more, hopefully fantastic, episodes to go.

Oh and they've confirmed Series 4, with Vlad, Ingrid and Erin definitely returning.

Young Dracula - “Carpathian Feast” Review

First of all, a few blog updates. Tomorrow, Young Dracula Episode 6 will be reviewed. And then, before next Monday, I will write a review containing my thoughts on Episodes 2 – 5 of “The Prisoner”. But today – Young Dracula Episode 5.

Which was excellent. While the last episode had fantastic moments, it had the pointless flashbacks and certain parts seemed a bit slow. But episode 5 was fantastic. I said in my last review that with the flashback episode over, the series could move on without looking back. And it’s done exactly that, and done it perfectly. And I did not expect Erin to be revealed as a ‘breather’ to Vlad this early on in the series.

The plot for this story was similar to a plot of the old series of Young Dracula. Except again, it was more developed, more grown up, and generally handled a lot better (by both writer and actor). The comedy was there but kept to a minimum, and the storylines of all the characters were expanded on, which was brilliant. Ingrid is finally serving a proper purpose and back to her old ways, and the Count and Vlad’s relationship is being explored further and in ways suited to the new series. Fantastic.

The Vlad/Erin relationship is also developing (and very quickly, which is a good thing because no one likes watching a TV show where we spend twenty weeks waiting for progress). Vlad discovering that Erin wasn’t a vampire was done in quite a surprising way, and I’m glad it was done differently to what any other show on CBBC would dare to do. All the series between Vlad and Erin were performed and written brilliantly as always, and the conversations between just the two of them are getting to an even higher standard than before. Young Dracula is showcasing brilliant writing, acting and storylines, and throwing them into a CBBC show which any age can watch. Now to convince my friend Chloe of that.

One character I haven’t mentioned so far is Vlad’s tutor. Who is awesome. And while it took me a little while to like a character who was just a nicer version of Count Dracula, I’m now beginning to like the tutor (who’s name I don’t know) and the idea of him being around for 400 years is being used in really good ways. And it’s mentioned in a lot of it. Not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing, but I like the character and it adds another dimension to the characters and series, so it can’t be a bad thing. By the way did I mention he was 400 years old?

Young Dracula this series, so far, has been excellent. It’s had only a few low moments, and the rest has been superb in all respects. The new location is great and being used to maximum, the characters are great and are being explored all the time – but I have to mention Vlad. Who is now an absolutely brilliant character. He was always good, but the performance has developed, and Vlad’s speeches to the Count’s Vampire mates in this episode were done excellently.

No complaints – I just hope the series continues to be this good.

Young Dracula - “Fangs for the Memories” Review

Episode 4 features exactly what I’ve talked about wanting in the series, and mixes it with what I normally hate within a series. For example, the episode of K9 “Mind Snap” features flashbacks to previous episodes. Which seems a bit pointless, considering the 21 that go beforehand were all part of the same series. Young Dracula handles the flashback episode differently, and it might be the first example that works.

The conversations between Vlad and Erin are good. They’re all the things I normally say are wonderful about the scenes involving two people in the series (good acting, good directing, so on). The scenes with two people are so far the strongest point of the new Young Dracula series, and so episode 4 takes this and stretches it across 30 minutes. Excellent. But the conversation, in real time, would only last about ten minutes. Not good.

Which brings me onto the flashbacks. They are useful, for both a new viewer and an old viewer who has forgotten what’s happened. They’ve also stopped any need for explanation later on, which is also good. But some of them just seem a bit unnecessary, and the constant interruptions aren’t always appreciated. But some of the flashbacks are excellent, and some of them do add an extra dimension to the episode. However, are all the flashbacks needed? Including the ones from two episodes ago? Old flashbacks, a few of them, is great. Old flashback, lots of them, is good. Old flashbacks with flashbacks to more recent stuff, pointless. And it’s these ones which got in the way of the excellent scene between Vlad and Erin.

Despite, in some cases, being utterly pointless, the flashbacks did have a good use. They’ve illustrated how the series have moved on, they’ve helped a new, casual, or forgetful viewer with the series. And they’ve enabled the series to move on for the next nine episodes without looking back.

The Count, Renfield, Ingrid and Wolfie are a little… unnecessary in this episode. They again feel like another interruption, when all we really want to know is whether or not Erin is going to kill Vlad or not. (Not, I think at the minute, by the way.) But again, the scenes with the others (Count and so on) do keep Young Dracula from going into a full proper grown up interesting drama. And whether that’s a good or a bad thing, depends on the age of the viewer. So for me – the light hearted stuff isn’t really that useful. I am glad that Wolfie hasn’t been in it too much. I was worried he would dominate the series, but the scenes with him being kept to a minimum, and keeping Vlad as the main focus, is excellent.

Overall, this episode is a mixed bag. The flashbacks of the old series are useful, and they mean that from now on, the series can keep on moving forward. The conversation between Vlad and Erin is dramatic, emotional and excellent (if only it had been a little longer) and it shows promise for future episodes. (And the opening scene also indicates the kind of thing that frankly, despite it being a dream sequence, we’ve all been predicting from episode one.) The other scenes (that aren’t flashbacks) are slightly unnecessary but again, for a younger viewer, would be great. And the flashbacks of the previous episodes from THIS series… well… why?

Focussing purely on the new content in episode four – the episode was very good, and maintains the high standard already set. Episode four enables the audience and the characters to look to the future – and that’s exactly what needs to happen.

Excellent, excellent, excellent series so far.

Young Dracula – Episodes 2 & 3 Review

As I mentioned in my last review, several times, Young Dracula is back and it’s excellent. And I’d like to thank Erin from Young Dracula for reading my review (and reading this one if she’s reading) and calling it “ace”. It’s REALLY good to know that someone. Famous. Is reading my reviews, so I shall keep going.

Episode Two was also very very good. It didn’t quite have the same feel as episode one did, and seemed to focus on the humour and the whole “oh its a CBBC programme lets put some childish bits in" thing. But, it is a CBBC programme, and that kind of stuff is inevitable. And ultimately, it hardly detracted from the plot. The plot was driven forward brilliantly by the scenes with Erin and her brother, Ingrid is back, which means we can no doubt expect more sarcastic comments throughout the series. Episode Two felt completely like Young Dracula, and it still kept pushing the series in new directions. Vlad and his tutor or mentor or whatever the word they use is excellent, and the scenes with all the tutors were great. It also kept pushing the new themes that were brought in in episode one – and while this episode felt more like an early episode of Young Dracula, it still had the darkness to make it very very good. Superb in fact. In all places except the ones including Renfield.

Episode Three was simply amazing. Again. The Count reading Twilight was fantastic, the little cameo from that woman off Waterloo Road who’s now in Strictly Come Dancing was considerably shorter than I thought it would be, and we’re still getting developments with characters. Vlad’s scenes with Magda were fantastically written and acted, and even though I’ll admit to groaning when I read Magda was coming back, the whole episode was handled brilliantly. Ingrid was back with her sarcastic comments (yay) and it seemed like a true example of the new Young Dracula. I was avoiding using this cliché, but the series has grown up with the people in it. The series now seems to be exploring the relationships between everybody , and we’re still getting the action, the whole Erin is a slayer theme, and the comedy and the darkness the series has. But I’m noticing a lack of Vlad and Erin scenes like there were in episode one.

But the series is now showing the kind of things it does best. Scenes between two people (Vlad and Ingrid meeting again, Vlad and Magda talking at the school, the Count and that Head Teacher woman who’s name I can’t remember, and also the final scene of Episode One where we discover Erin is a slayer) are brilliant. They’re written and directed brilliantly, and the acting and relationships between the characters is superb.

I’m loving this series of Young Dracula, and it’s nice to have half an hour watching it where I don’t have to think about the Maths homework I’ve gotta do, or my science exam next week.

Young Dracula is excellent. For everyone. And tomorrow or at some point I’ll be reviewing episode Four.

Young Dracula – “Hide and Seek” Review

I don’t know how many years it’s been since Young Dracula was last on TV. A few, I know that much. I watched series one all the way through, and despite missing Series 2, I remember catching up during a Summer holiday by watching it every morning. And then it stopped. Vlad the Chosen One, Count Dracula locked in a cage, and Ingrid wearing a crown that looked like it had stepped out of 60s Doctor Who.

And then. 2011. Announcement that Young Dracula returns for another series. First of all, gutted it wasn’t filmed in Wales (my home from home) and the old castle at Caerphilly (a place I’ve visited at least… three times). But the location move hasn’t affected the new series in a bad way. It’s made it better and added to the story.

Being several years after Series 2, things have changed. Me for a start. Normally I wouldn’t watch a show on CBBC anymore, but the brilliance of the previous two series of Young Dracula made me want to watch the new series. And the new series is AWESOME.

Episode One begins with Ingrid on the run from slayers, Vlad and dad Count Dracula living in a school, and Renfield without a memory. The scene with Ingrid on the run is directed brilliantly, and the action, and the stunning location already give the feel for the new series. And then we cut to Vlad, who is considerably older than he was last time we saw him. And considerably more Vampire-like. But it’s clear that actors, characters and even theme has grown up in the series, and it doesn’t feel odd that me, a 16 year old, should be watching it. It’s more a grown up series, and it doesn’t neglect a younger viewer (with moments of humour dotted in in places) or a new viewer (with recaps on what happened last time).

Location is a big thing in the first episode. The forest, the roads and the school are all brilliantly cut together, and all give the perfect atmosphere. Having the main character being able to turn into a bat is also useful – meaning that Vlad isn’t stuck in a school or his home. Or his coffin, for the whole thing. The music also seems better in the episode, where used, and helps to add the drama and the darkness that this new series has brought in excellently.

The characters are a hell of a lot better now. Not that they were bad before, but they’ve all progressed. The relationship with Vlad and the Count is portrayed better, Ingrid is a stronger character (and the scene where she and Vlad meet again is perfect writing, directing and acting) and the new character of Erin is also excellent. The relationship between Vlad and Erin adds something which was absent in the first two series, and the developments all the characters, the location and the series has gone through make it feel like this series is expanding. The core theme of Vlad wanting to remain human is still there, but it’s been developed and is now portrayed better.

Basically, this new series is fantastic. The atmosphere is perfect, the acting is perfect, the characters are perfect, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching episode one. Twice. So far. I’ve also seen episode two, and a review for that will be coming later. But episode one sets a very high standard for the rest of the series. It needs to keep pushing Vlad’s character, his relationships, and needs to bring in other stuff as well (and since I’ve watched episode two, I can say it’s doing well on all of that so far).

Young Dracula is the perfect series and it’s a kids programme that doesn’t need age boundaries. There’s stuff in there to appeal to everyone, it is just, overall perfect.

Fingers crossed for an excellent series. Oh – and Vlad and Erin (or at least, the people who play Vlad and Erin) have created an unofficial soundtrack for the series. You can download their song here: http://soundcloud.com/rgsentertainment/syd-feat-gerran-howell-sun. The song is truly awesome, and I suggest that all of you listen to it immediately. And it’s a free download as well.

Or you can follow them on Twitter. @GezFez @shidknee.

More reviews coming soon.