TV | Black (2017-)

Cast: Song Seung-heon, Go Ara, Kim Dong-jun, Lee El, Kim Won-hae, Kim Tae-woo, Kim Jae-young

Summary: A woman who has seen the shadow of death all he life, meets a cold hearted grim reaper. Together, they uncover many hidden secrets all reaching down to a darker evil secret.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Fantasy

Season(s): 1

Watched: December 2017

In one of my early Korean lessons my tutor said that watching Korean dramas can help when learning the language, I already had this show in my Netflix watchlist so after that lesson I decided it would be the first Korean show I started with.

Black follows Kang Ha-ram (Go Ara) a woman who is able to see the shadow of death just before a person dies, Han Moo-Gang (Soung Seung-heon) a weak stomached detective and Grim Reaper #444 (Kim Tae-woo) who is searching for his AWOL partner.
It is no secret to say that Moo-gang dies because we find this out very early in the show. Shortly after meeting Ha-Ram, Moo-gang discovers her ability and persuades her to use it to help save those about to die; however an apparent mistake in identifying the culprit of a potential murder soon leaves Moo-gang dead.
Meanwhile Grim Reaper #444 on the hunt for his partner who disappeared after he was sent on a job alone, discovers that he might just be using the body of a recently deceased human in order to remain undetected and decides that the best way to track him down is too do the same.

This show definitely isn't for everybody, it requires a lot of attention and a hell of a lot of patience from the start. As much as I loved the show I definitely had trouble following everything that was happening and remembering who was who. I liked the majority of the story, although I did get a bit lost towards the end and I thought the show was a bit too long, there are 18 episodes all of which are over an hour long, some even stretching to an hour and a half long.

I can't do this review without mentioning those final scenes. I quite liked the scenes showing what happened to Ha-ram but the scene with her and Leo (Kim Jae-young) and the final scene with her and Moo-gang ruined the show for me, because it felt like a poorly written and rushed way to try and explain everything that happened. It actually leaves you with you more questions like did Ha-ram ever find out the truth about Moo-gang?
Plus I really wanted to see more of Kim Dong-jun and he was nowhere to be seen at the end.

All in all I enjoyed this show, I will probably watch it again at some point to see if it makes anymore sense the second time round, but I really could have done without the ending.

Rating: 7/10
One Final Word: Good/Very Good

TV | The Sniffer (2013-)

Cast: Kirill Käro, Ivan Oganesyan, Nikolay Chindyajkin, Maria Anikanova, Nina Gogaeva, Sergey Leskov

Summary: They call him the Sniffer. He's the proud owner of an acute sense of smell, he knows things about you even you don't and would rather keep to yourself.

Genre: Action, Drama, Crime

Seasons: 2 (Season 3 is on the way!)

Also Known As: Нюхач, Nyukhach

This is yet another show I decided to watch based on the very cool poster, but perhaps if I had paid more attention to the description I would have spotted the foreign cast names, instead my first hint that the show wasn't going to be in English was when the characters started speaking.
The show is actually Ukranian and recorded in Russian, but I quickly got over the fact that I would have to read the subtitles and settled down to watch the rest of the show.

The Sniffer is about a man called the Sniffer (Kirill Käro)(he's never actually given a proper name) with an incredibly acute sense of smell and the show focuses on him as he investigates a series or cases with his special ability and we are first introduced to the Sniffer and his ability in the first episode where he foils an attack after discovering a bomb hidden on the arm of a fellow passenger on his flight, after he notices the particular smell of acetone peroxide plasticized.

We also quickly learn that he is frequently contacted by childhood best friend Victor Lebedev (Ivan Oganesyan), a colonel in the Special Bureau of Investigation, to help him investigate various crimes. Alongside this he also works freelance and takes on a number of clients including a gangster who wants him to solve the murder of his underling and an embassy who worry that a returned painting is a fake.

Along with solving crimes and dealing with a best friend who thinks of himself as a ladies man, he also has to deal with his angry ex-Julia and their teenage son Alex.
Ex-wife Julia turns up frequently, usually to ask for money (because apparently she has none of her own) or to complain about always being in trouble and how it's the sniffer's fault for not being a good father.
15-year-old Alex doesn't really get on with either parent, he doesn't seem to like his mother one bit which I can completely understand, especially after seeing the episode where she told him to shut up because he was nothing. He only tolerates his father (at times) typically when he wants something but doesn't want to involve his mother.

I really enjoyed this show, there were a few off moments with some of the action and acting but I thought the idea and the story we very interesting.
Now I'm just patiently (or maybe not) waiting for season 3 to be shown on Netflix!

Rating: 8/10
One Final Word: Worth the watch

The Accountant (Gavin O'Connor, 2016)

Cast: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.k. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson

Summary: As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities and the body count starts to rise.

Genre: Crime, Action

Watched: November 4th, 2016

I had absolutely no intention of watching this film when I first saw the trailer.
It looked incredibly boring, nothing that I would want to waste money on watching in the cinema. Then one of my closest friends asked if anyone wanted to go to the cinema and that she wanted to watch The Accountant.

I decided to go purely because I wanted to see my friend and I'm very happy to say I was absolutely, 100% wrong. This film is absolutely brilliant and I would 100% recommend going to see it.

I've only seen Ben Affleck in probably 3 films one being the awful Daredevil (2003), but I've never really thought much of his acting. I haven't seen Batman vs Superman, I'm not the biggest Batman fan although I have seen the Christian Bale ones, this one just didn't interest me at all.
I know he's also written and directed quite a few movies that people have raved about like Gone Baby Gone (2007), The Town (2010) and Argo (2012) (I haven't seen any of these either).


Affleck does an absolutely fantastic job and it definitely makes me want to watch more of his films. I also really enjoyed Anna Kendrick's performance, I've liked her ever since her small part in Twilight (2008). The cast as a whole is incredibly good.

I absolutely loved the story! I was able to guess one of the twists long before it was revealed, but the final twist definitely shocked me. For myself and probably most people that have seen it, it was definitely one we didn't see coming.
I did get a little confused at the very beginning trying to figure out which if the children was Christian and it found it a bit long in places, but no so much that I lost interest.

This film is 100% worth a watch, it's so good to watch a film that answers almost if not all questions that come up. The trailer absolutely does not do it any justice at all.

Rating: 10/10
One Final Word: EXCELLENT!

The Girl Who Played With Fire (Daniel Alfredson, 2009)

Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Endre, Peter Andersson, Per Oscarsson, Georgi Staykov

Summary: As computer hacker Lisbeth and journalist Mikael investigate a sex-trafficking ring, Lisbeth is accused of three murders, causing her to go on the run while Mikael works to clear her name.

Genre: Crime, Mystery, Drama

Watched: October 15th, 2016

I read the first book in the Millennium Series (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) back in May last year when I was doing my Goodreads Reading Challenge.

When I finally got round to reading it, after the first few pages I was told that it would take me around 11 hours to finish (I was reading it on my kindle), and after reading a few chapters I was just about ready to give up and start reading something else.

I had nothing to read on one of my long bus journey's so I decided to give it another go and I ended up absolutely loving it. I then said to myself that I would read the next two books (The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest) before watching the films.

I watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sometime last year and I thought it was absolutely brilliant, so when I finally sat down to watch The Girl Who Played with Fire (I watched the Swedish versions) I was definitely expecting big things and I wasn't disappointed.

To be honest it's kind of hard to review this film separately from the others as all three films link in with each other. Although technically a sequel this film is a bridge between the first and last film and the final film continues on from the end of the second film.

Unlike the first film which focuses more on the case they're investigating, The Girl Who Played with Fire tells us much more about Lisbeth and some of her childhood.
If you've never read any of the books the films are very easy to follow; however I would definitely recommend reading them, as the books goes in to a lot more detail then the films.

Although I think Dragon Tattoo is better, I still think this one packs a punch.

Rating: 8/10
One Final Word: Very Good


Oh and Merry Christmas!

Mindhunters (Renny Harlin, 2004)

Cast: Val Kilmer, LL Cool J, Christian Slater, Will Kemp, Jonny Lee Miller, Kathyrn Morris, Clifton Collins Jr and Eion Bailey

Summary: Trainees in the FBI's psychological profiling program must put their training into practice when they discover a killer in their midst.

Genre: Mystery, Crime, Horror

Watched: May 30th, 2016

I wasn't expecting much when I started watching this film, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A group of young FBI students are sent to a small island that is also used by the Navy and "populated" by incredibly creepy target dummies, to complete their final training exercise.
The killings begin the morning after the group arrives on the island, and I think it's safe to say that I was pretty shocked. I absolutely wasn't expecting it to happen as soon as it does and I wasn't expecting to be as gruesome as it was.

I really enjoyed this film. I really liked the characters within the group and the individual roles they played, but I don't want to give too much away.
So go watch it!

Rating: 8/10
Watched: Very Good

The Fast and The Furious (Rob Cohen, 2001)

Cast: Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Rick Yune

Summary: An undercover cop infiltrates an underworld subculture of Los Angeles street racers looking to bust a hijacking ring, and soon begins to question his loyalties when his new street racing friends become the prime suspects

Genre: Action, Crime

When I told my friends that I had never seen any of the Fast and the Furious films they were pretty shocked, then I made it worse and told them that I hadn't seen any of the Scream films which I have to admit even I thought was bad especially since I love film.
I thought that this was a pretty good film, although at some point I felt like the acting was a bit rubbish but I can definitely see why it's such a popular series.

I already have the second one ready and waiting to be watched.

My Rating: 7/10
One Final Word: Quite Good

From Dusk Till Dawn (Robert Rodriguez, 1996)

Cast: George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Harvey Keitel, Quentin Tarantino, Ernest Liu, Salma Hayek

Summary: A deranged convict and his brother kidnap a preacher and his two kids

Genre: Crime, Action

I absolutely loved this film! I think my sister or my mum said I should watch it and boy oh boy was it good.
When I started watching the film I thought I knew what it was about and what was going to happen, and then all of a sudden I thought wait a minute, I must have fallen asleep, I must have missed something.

Turns out I hadn't actually missed anything; the film just has one hell of a twist that (much like the characters) made me think hold up wait a minute I was losing my mind.
I loved the relationship between the characters especially between Seth and Ritchie (I thought Tarantino's acting was quite good in this, don't hate me) and I absolutely loved Juliette Lewis.

This film is definitely worth a watch!

My Rating: 10/10
One Final Word: Excellent

The Brave One (Neil Jordan, 2007)

Cast: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews, Nicky Katt

Summary: A woman struggles to recover from a brutal attack by setting out on a mission for revenge.

Genre: Crime. Thriller, Drama

Like most reviews I'm going to start off by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I can normally watch films with acts of extreme violence but the opening attack scene is one I struggled with. Don't get me wrong the scene is done fantastically but I struggled because it is an extremely aggressive, unprovoked, random, cruel and vicious attack forever changing the lives of those it involves.
I couldn’t actually bring myself to watch the whole thing so I skipped most of it.

I absoluely loved Jodie Foster in this role, I truly felt for her character Erica Bain and the pain she was going through. Everyone deals with their grief in different ways and although her way is just a tad bit extreme she does what she feels she has to do.
I'm actually quite a fan of Miss Foster Panic Room and Flight Plan are two of my favourite films.

I think the thing I loved most about the film is the understanding/relationship that develops between Erica and Detective Mercer played by Terrence Howard (who I think is pretty hot). Had the attack not happened they most likely would never have met, the chemistry between them is unmistakable and I like to think that after everything that's happend they will always be there for each other.

My Rating- 10/10
One Final Word- Excellent

The Losers (Sylvain White, 2010)

Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, Idris Elba, Columbus Short

Summary:  The members of an elite Special Forces unit are sent to the Bolivian Jungle on a search and destroy mission, but the team soon find that they have become the target of a deadly double cross by a powerful enemy.

Genre: Action, Crime

I'm a big fan of films based on comic books (despite having never read things like Batman or Spiderman) and films that have a sort of comic book style. This film definitely has that comic book style and look that I love, from the introduction of the 5 guys, whenever they enter a new city, to the closing credits (the DVD even comes with its own little comic book.)


Even though the film is about a close knit group of guys (and one girl) you don't really get to know the characters well if at all, we only know from the opening scenes that they have been betrayed. Even so I still found myself drawn towards the characters Jensen (Chris Evans) and Pooch (Columbus Short) because I always loved them and because I think they're the funniest characters.
I feel like Zoe Saldana is a bit out of place in this role, something about her just doesn't sit right with me but she does an okay job and Idris Elba's American accent is a bit distracting.

Some parts of the story seem a unbelievable like the whole business involving the snukes (unless they're actually real but I highly doubt it), characters aren't explored and some don't entirely fit, but I'd say it's worth a watch.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Perfect for: Comic Book Lovers
One Final Word: Quite Good

The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)

Cast: Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga and Ray Winstone

Summary: An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.

Genre: Crime, Thriller, Drama

I heard about this film a while ago but I avoided watching it because I'm not really a fan of crime films like this, but surprisingly I actually really enjoyed it.

I thought it would be boring but it just kept going and going with all these twists and turns around every corner, that made me feel like I was part of the film because both me and the characters didn't know who to trust.

I absolutely loved the final twist, it left me feeling as though justice had been served and it just made the film so much better for me.
I did feel as though parts of the film tended to drag with not much happening, but it definitely did get better.

My Rating: 9/10
One Final Word: Very Good

Road To Perdition (Sam Mendes, 2002)

Cast: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Stanley Tucci, Daniel Craig, Tyler Hoechlin

Summary: He shouldn’t have been there. But in the moment that Michael Sullivan’s son witnesses a brutal slaying, the lives of this 12-year-old and his gangsta father are shattered irrevocably and their destinies forever joined.

Genre: Crime, Thriller, Drama

To be honest, I'm not normally one for films like this although I do love my Thrillers I'm not really a fan of gangster films. However saying that I did actually end up really liking this film.

I was very impressed with the performances of the actors; especially Jude Law who I've always thought of as being your typical London boy, but then he came onscreen and he had this brilliant American accent. I also thought Tom Hanks gave a really good performance but I was a little unsure about his accent, and I can't believe I didn’t even realize that Mr Rooney was Paul Newman.

30 minutes into the film I can safely say that I was not expecting that! This is definitely a type of story I love, stories about the love parents have for their family, especially their children and the length’s they'll go to to protect them.

My Rating: 8/10
One Final Word: Very Good

Mystic River (Clint Eastwood, 2003)

Cast: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney

Summary: Jimmy, Dave, Sean. Friends who grew up in working-class Boston, they drift apart after a terrible tragedy. Years later, brutal events reconnect them. Jimmy’s 19-year-old daughter is coldly murdered. Dave is a suspect. And Sean, now a cop, scrambles to solve the crime before volatile Jimmy takes the law into his own hands.

Genre: Crime, Mystery, Drama

A friend of my mums recommended this film to me and considering how brilliant I thought the last film she recommended was (The Mist) I thought this one would be just as good.

Mystic River is very character focused, focuses mainly on the lives of childhood best friends Jimmy (Sean Penn), Dave (Tim Robbins) and Sean (Kevin Bacon) who drift apart and lose contact after a terrible tragedy that occurs in their childhood. Despite this character focus when the three reunite some years later it feels as though crucial background information about one of the characters is missing, due to the fact that the film introduces an incredibly sensitive/taboo topic and then somewhat ignores it.

The mystery of the whodunit is absolutely fantastic and will leave you with a sour taste in your mouth, and once again Marcia Gay Harden’s performance is incredible as she plays a woman battling her emotions involving her husbands troubled past.

For me this film for me packs an absolute punch with its incredibly talented cast and gripping story, it's definitely up there as one of the best films I’ve seen.

My Rating: 10/10
One Final Word: BRILLIANT!

The Crying Game (Neil Jordan, 1992)

Cast: Forest Whitaker, Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Miranda Richardson

Summary: A British soldier is kidnapped by IRA terrorists where he befriends one of his captors, who is drawn into the soldiers world after an escape plan goes wrong.

Genre: Romance, Crime, Drama

To be honest there’s not much I can say about this film except that it truly gave me the shock of my life.

This is another film that was given to me by one of my media teachers when they heard that I had given myself a goal to watch 100 films in a year, and I’m convinced he gave it to me because he knew it would shock me.

The story was a little confusing at first but by the time it ended I quite enjoyed it. Even though I ended up liking the film I struggle to find what to say about it because for me the shock takes over everything else.

Have you seen The Crying Game? What did you think?

My Rating: 6/10
One Final Word: Good

Panic Room (David Fincher, 2001)

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Jodie Foster, Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, Patrick Bauchau

Summary: A divorced woman and her diabetic daughter take refuge in their newly-purchased house's safe room, when three men break-in, searching for a missing fortune.

Genre: Thriller

This is definitely one of my favourite films.
I love how the first 15 maybe 20 minutes of the film are used to introduce us to not only Meg and Sarah Altman (Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart), but also house where all the action takes place.

I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea for a story. It definitely makes you think about what you would do in that situation; or what would you do if you have no panic room, where would you hide, how would you escape?
You always think that home is where you're safest but sometimes home can be the worst place to be.

Although I do have a slight obsession with Kristen Stewart, I have to say that I fell in love with the intruders Burnham (Forest Whitaker), Junior (Jared Leto) and Raoul (Dwight Yoakam).
I love the interaction between them and how mismatched they are. They’re so completely different from each other and they clearly don’t get along which makes watching them much more entertaining, especially as none of them know what the others are going to do.

I'm also quite a fan of Jodie Foster and I think that for me as much as I'm obsessed with Kristen Stewart and as much as I like the three men, Foster does the best job out of everybody and she makes me want to watch the film again and again.
My two favourite scenes have to be the three guys trying to get into the panic room from below and with the gas and the last few scenes where Jodie Foster shows them why you should never mess with a mother or her child.

My Rating: 10/10
One Final Word: One of the Best

The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)

Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman

Summary: When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, the caped crusader must come to terms with one of the greatest psychological tests of his ability to fight injustice.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Action

To be perfectly honest I wasn’t actually interested in watching Batman, mostly because I’m not really a fan of Christian Bale; but after the tragedy of Heath Ledger’s death I kept hearing things about the film and how this was his best ever performance.

I definitely have to say that I am glad that I decided to watch it after all because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Christian Bale wasn't as bad as I thought he was and Heath Ledger's performance certainly was amazing, and personally I think the best thing about the film was The Joker.

It did get a bit boring in parts for me but overall I really enjoyed it.

My Rating: 7/10
One Final Word: Very Good