Season Review: The Witcher Season 4

The Witcher returns for its fourth season and now features Liam Hemsworth in the lead role of Geralt of Rivia. New additions to the cast include Meng’er Zhang, Danny Woodburn, Christelle Elwin, Ben Radcliffe, Fabian McCallum, Aggy K. Adams, Connor Crawford, and Juliette Alexandra. It also features Clive Russell, James Purefoy with Sharlto Copley and Laurence Fishburne.

Set after the end of season three, the story follows Geralt and Jaskier journeying through a warzone to Nilfgaard under the belief of rescuing Ciri. Yennefer leading the remnants of the Sorcerers against Vilgfortz and his conspirators before he destroys them all. And Ciri joining with a band of highwaymen to try and get away from the various factions wanting to use her. Meanwhile, Nilfgaard continues to consolidate their power, the forces of the northern kingdoms struggle to keep them in check and a new threat stalks the Ciri and her band of friends.

Continue reading →

Season Review: Peacemaker Season 2

DC and HBO’s Peacemaker returns for a second season and sees the return of John Cena in the title role. Also returning is Jennifer Holland, Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee, Dee Bradley Baker, Nhut Le and Robert Patrick. Newcomers for the season include Frank Grillo reprising his role from Creature Commandos, Sol Rodríguez, Tim Meadows and David Denman.

Set some time after the end of the first season (and the rebooted universe which isn’t really touched upon), Christopher Smith aka Peacemaker’s life is down the drain. His attempt at joining the Justice Gang has gone poorly, his attempt at a relationship with Harcourt ended badly and he’s still struggling with the guilt of his previous actions. Made all the worse as A.R.G.U.S. is now being helmed by Rick Flagg Sr. and the fact that Peacemaker still has access to the pocket dimension his father used as an armory. But when a drunken trip into that dimension sends him into a whole new universe, one where he has all the love and respect he craves, a series of decisions ends up dragging him and his band of friends into this strange and seemingly perfect paradise…

Warning:Spoilers may follow.

Continue reading →

New In Review: Superman

Superman is the first film in the rebooted DC Universe and was directed and written by James Gunn and stars David Corenswet as the titular superhero. It also stars Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olson, Maria Gabriela De Faria as The Engineer, Wendell Pierce as Perry White with Sara Sampaio as Eve Teshmacher, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as Jonathan and Martha Kent. It also features Nathan Fillion as the Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Dinesh Thyagarajan, Zlatko Burić with Anthony Carrigan and Milly Alcock.

Set three years after Clark Kent begins his career as Superman, the Man of Steel’s efforts to intervene in an international conflict have set him in the crosshairs of not only multiple governments but in Lex Luthor and his personal cadre of metahumans, a trio of corporate-sponsored superheroes and the public itself. With a PR campaign with the deck stacked against him and the troubles with his relationship with Lois, Superman may be in battle that he can’t win. And in this bleak and cynical time, how does a symbol of hope find hope for himself?

Continue reading →

New In Review: Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is the latest film from the Sonic franchise from Paramount. Directed by Jeff Fowler, Ben Schwartz returns as the Blue Blur alongside Colleen O’Shaughnessy as Tails the Fox, Idris Elba as Knuckles the Echidna and features Keanu Reeves as Shadow the Hedgehog. It also features James Marsden and Tika Sumpter as Tom and Maddie Wachowski, and Jim Carrey as both Ivo and Gerald Robotnik. Rounding out the cast is Lee Majdoub as Robotnik’s lackey Stone, Tom Butler as Commander Walters, Krysten Ritter as Director Rockwell and Alya Browne as Maria.

Picking up from the last film, a secret weapon known as Shadow has escaped from the custody of Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.) and Sonic and his friends are called in to stop his rampage. But the overwhelming power of this new hedgehog is more than any of them can handle and in their desperation they’re forced to make an alliance with an old enemy. But the journey to stop Shadow will the reveal the root of his trauma, the sins of G.U.N.’s past and Robotnik’s long-lost relative and the ensuing battle may be more than our heroes and the Earth can take…

Continue reading →

Series Review: Shōgun

The miniseries is a fascinating piece of media, allotted more budget for production and the cast than the average television series but not as much as the average major film release. Created like a television series but with a self-contained story and with no intent of creating a second season; a beginning, middle, and end was created and that’s the whole of it. And from the 70’s all the way to the early 2000’s some miniseries have become important parts of television history and helped launch a fair share of careers. In 1980, an adaptation of the James Clavell novel Shōgun captured America audiences; starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune it became one of the most famous miniseries ever made…In America at least, in Japan views were a bit more mixed. Which brings us to this remake.

Shōgun is the latest miniseries from FX and was created by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks. Based on the novel, its story is a fictionalized tale of the life of William Adams, an English navigator who came to Japan and ended up serving as an advisor of Ieyasu Tokugawa, becoming one of the few non-Japanese to become samurai. The series stars Hiroyuki Sanada (who also acted as a producer) as Lord Yoshii Toranaga, Cosmo Jarvis as John Blackthorne, Anna Sawai as Lady Mariko, Moeka Hoshi as Fuji Usami, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Yabushige, Takehiro Hira as Lord Ishido, Néstor Carbonell as Rodrigues, Tommy Bastow as Father Martin Alvito and Fumi Nikaidō as Ochiba no Kata.

Continue reading →