deardarkness Reviews

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022– )

An enthalling start

[10/10 · 2 September 2022]

Being back in Middle Earth is so comforting. Whilst there are many new locations and characters to meet the entire world is memorizing, it is like being back home for anyone who grew up with the books or the Peter Jackson films.

The familiar characters of Galadriel and Elrond anchor the opening episodes but these are younger versions of the Elves we know in Lord of the Rings. Galadriel is more defiant, battle hardened and determined. Elrond is open but his knack for diplomacy and working with other races is there. His friendship with Dwarf Prince Durin is a delight to watch.

Other characters fit in easily with the Harfoots standing out, much like Frodo and his friends many years later, Poppy and Nori are being faced with the prospect of an adventure - a dangerous one at that in the form of the mysterious Stranger.

This is just the start of hopefully a multi-season story. Evil lurks but as always with Tolkien so does light.

In Your Eyes (2014)

Great performances really make this movie

[8/10 · 21 April 2014]

In Your Eyes was written by Joss Whedon but on the surface it isn't your usual Whedon story. It is essentially a tale of love, two people who feel connected but are thousands of miles apart. Yet there is a twist, they can literally see through each others eyes and into the others world.

Now at times this film could verge on the melodrama but the chemistry between leads Zoe Kazen as Rebecca and Michael Stahl-David as Dylan is pretty amazing made more surprising by the fact that well they aren't on screen together. It is really hard not to fall for their charms even if the story goes many places I expected it to.

Not groundbreaking by any means by definitely worth watching. This is a tale about lonely people trying to connect and in the end that really is what a lot of Whedon's work is about.

Rectify (2013–2016)

Aden Young is mesmerising in this thoughtful compelling show about how a crime affects a family and community

[10/10 · 20 April 2013]

This is a review for the first 3 episodes of Rectify.

The recently concluded and utterly superb Top of the Lake has a partner well in crime in the form of Rectify.

Like Top of the Lake, Rectify is magnificently acted and directed and both concern how crime can affect a community. Rectify deals with an issue I have been fascinated with for some time and that is people being wrongly accused of a crime and sent to prison. Only instead of showing us the legal wrangles the family and lawyer would have to go through Rectify picks up when Daniel Holden (Aden Young) is released after new DNA evidence throws his case out. Daniel has served 19 years on Death Row for rape and murder and now has to adjust to coming up and living with his family again.

One of the genius things about the show is whilst the evidence gets Daniel out of jail it doesn't necessarily prove his innocence and he could face a new trial. Also as an audience we really don't know if he is guilty or not, even three episodes in I have no clue if he was involved or just the two males we saw briefly in episode one.

Daniel is a bit strange, a bit weird but is that just an effect of 19 years shut away in a cell or was he always like that? Does it mean he has a hidden more sinister agenda? Or perhaps just a little eccentric?

Most of the town seem to think he is guilty including the State Senator and the Sheriff. His family or at least his sister Amantha (Abigail Spencer) is convinced of his innocence, I think his half brother Jared (Jake Austin Walker) does as well. Meanwhile step brother Ted, Jr. (Clayne Crawford ) seems to care more about how it will affect the family business than getting to the truth whilst his wife Tawney (Adelaide Clemens) seems to have formed a touching connection to Daniel. As for the mother Janet (J. Smith-Cameron), she is just overwhelmed by the entire situation.

Rectify was originally developed by Ray McKinnon for AMC with the intention of Justified actor Walton Goggin playing the role of Daniel. Whilst I would loved to have seen his take on the character I have to say Aden Young has impressed me so much in the role I can't imagine anyone else now. Daniel has this awkwardness about him which is natural after being away from the real world for so long and Young brings to the character this mesmerising charm. You can't help but listen to what he has to say, listen to his experiences and life view.

Whether or not Daniel committed the crime isn't really the central point to the show, it is about how prison changes a person, about how life moves on for everyone else and how they have to deal with his return. How victim's family have to cope when the justice they thought had been served perhaps hadn't been.

Rectify is every bit as good as dramas airing on HBO, AMC and Showtime. I can't wait to see where Rectify ends up and the other intense beautifully filmed dramas Sundance Channel commissions.

The Fades (2011)

Another great supernatural show from the BBC

[9/10 · 22 September 2011]

Following on from the launch of Being Human a couple of years back, BBC 3 have struck gold again with The Fades. Teenager Paul (Iain De Caestecker) disturbed by apocalyptic dreams for years stumbles across their possible cause whilst trespassing with his best friend and film referencing geek Mac (Daniel Kaluuya).

Paul like so many characters from great TV shows is not your average teenager, he is special and can see the Fades - the ghosts of people who didn't move on. Now he must help to stop the future he sees in his dreams from coming true.

The show packs a lot of lore and mythology into its first episode and it will be interesting to see how it all comes together.