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Vujadaday Music Festival Phase One Lineup Announced

K.F. Cumberbatch
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Vujadaday Music Festival Phase One Lineup Announced

In a post to their Facebook page, the Vujaday Music Festival has revealed the lineup for the first of three planned phases. Listed in alphabetical order, the line up includes: ART DEPARTMENT, Bedouin, Dj Tennis, Francesca Lombardo, Green Velvet, Justin Martin, Latmun, Lee Burridge Lee Foss, Lee Reynolds (Desert Hearts), Lonely C (Soul Clap), Mikey Lion (Desert Hearts), Nick Monaco, Peggy Gou, Solardo, The Fitness + Pony (Crew Love) and Wolf + Lamb.

Earlier this month the festival shared a sneak peak of the line up in a series of videos on their Facebook page.

Running from April 4th to 8th next year, 2018, the Vujaday (déjà vu backward) Music Festival will be the first electronic music festival to be held in Barbados, described as “an entirely new experience” and “like nothing you have seen or felt before.” The festival will be held at a different location everyday; Farley Hill, Holetown, South Beach Zone, the East Coast and the West Coast.

To buy super early bird tickets and for more information about the festival and booking your trip to Barbados to attend, visit the Vujaday Music Festival website.

Get Ready For Xhosa’s Design Challenge 2018

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Get Ready For Xhosa’s Design Challenge 2018

The premium Kadooment Band, Xhosa Barbados, is ready to bring us another edition of the Xhosa’s Design Challenge reality competition series. Launched during this year’s Crop Over festival, the show sees costume designers competing in a series of challenges and vying for the opportunity to design a section for the band.

The show is described on the band’s website as  “[t]he first of it’s kind in Barbados and the Caribbean” and one that gave “Barbadian designers and fashion enthusiasts…the opportunity to better understand and learn the craft of masquerade costume design, planning and construction.”

The winners of the inaugural season were Alyssa Goddard (the owner and creative force behind Cambria Costume and Design) and Caleb Straker, who worked as a team.

Applications are now open for the second edition.

Applicants must be eighteen years or older, reside in Barbados or be in the island at the time of filming and have a valid passport and US Visa. Submissions must be sent to challenge@xhosabarbados.com by December 20th. They must include the applicant’s full name and contact information, a sketch of their ideal costume design and a fifteen to thirty second video about what inspired their design. For more details, check out the band’s post on their Facebook Page.

For direct links to all four episodes of the first edition, visit the band’s website.

‘Justice League’ Film Review

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
‘Justice League’ Film Review

Justice League is a 2017 superhero and comic book film that sees the titular team on the big screen for the first time. The film stars, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, J. K. Simmons, Ciarán Hinds, Diane Lane and Connie Nielsen. Written by Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon and directed by Zack Snyder, the film sees Bruce Wayne/Batman and Diana Prince/Wonder Woman assembling the super hero team in order to stop Steppenwolf from gathering the three Mother Boxes and destroying the earth.

This film is  far more cohesive than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (even the extended cut) and Suicide Squad. It’s fairly simple and not overly convoluted. It’s just about getting the heroes together, bringing back Superman and stopping Steppenwolf. That’s it.

The return of Superman fits very well into the narrative of the film and makes a lot of sense. It unfolds from the story naturally and doesn’t feel shoehorned in, forced or like an ass pull. It was quite cleverly done.

It also sets up the films that will follow it – the solo films for The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg in particular – in a way that isn’t glaringly obvious that that is what it’s trying to do. Something that, for the most part, Marvel has as yet been unable to do. Justice League succeeded in generating a great deal of excitement for the new heroes’ solo films, but also for the further adventures of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Despite having about forty-five minutes of it removed, it’s surprisingly well paced. It never feels like it’s speeding through story and plot, but the character moments in between the action sequences do feel rather slow at times and a drag on a little. It doesn’t help that a lot of that is due to some infodumping here and there through heavily expository dialogue.

The flashback to the previous war between Steppenwolf and his Parademons and the alliance between Men, Amazons, Atlanteans, Gods and [SPOILER; Highlight to reveal] Green Lanterns [SPOILER], was the biggest infodump and the fact that it was entirely narrated, the longest example of heavily expository dialogue. Another glaring moment in which both occurred was the conversation between Mera and Aquaman in Atlantis. That scene could have been a lot tighter and concise. The exposition was unnecessary and added nothing.

The film opened strong with Batman squaring off with a Parademon and all of the subsequent action sequences were impressive. The most awesome, perhaps, was the one that followed the opening sequence and was previewed in the trailer; Wonder Woman stopping the bank heist. The highlight of which  was Wonder Woman deflecting bullets from an automatic weapon with her gauntlets.

The final action sequence, in which the Justice League faced off against Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons, while fun and exciting had a fairly anti-climactic ending. Furthermore, the human element in the fight just didn’t work and fell flat. How the human element was incorporated was nonsensical.

The six members of the Justice League worked together fairly well. Affleck, Gadot, Cavill, Miller, Momoa and Fisher had good chemistry and bounced off of each other in a way that made the burgeoning relationship between them believable.

Superman and Batman are a lot lighter here than they are in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. They weren’t super serious and broody and it was very refreshing. Affleck continues to perform well in the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Cavill has never been better or had as much charisma as Clark Kent/Superman. For the first time the romance between Clark and Lois was believable and didn’t feel like it existed just because it does in the comics.

Diana has an interesting ac in the film and is pretty much the only character who has one. Her arc is two fold and it makes sense that her character would go in the direction that it did coming off of both Batman v Superman and Wonder Woman. She has things that she needs to come to terms with and, for the most part, she does by the end of the film. There were some moments in which Gadot’s acting was not so good, but overall she was fine.

Wonder Woman is unnecessarily objectified in some shots, especially her behind, though, and the more skimpily dressed Amazons stand out incredibly since the other Amazons have similar or the same costumes that they did in Wonder Woman and are just as covered up as they were there. So it begs the question why those Amazons are dressed so differently from their sisters since their dress was so uniform in the Wonder Woman film. As some have said, Wonder Woman and the Amazons’ treatment here really shows the difference between male and female directors when it comes to female characters.

The portrayal of The Flash was fun. The way that his power was presented looked great, although he has a funny, gangly, run. The portrayal of Barry, however, was very weird and not in an endearing way. He’s supposed to be the comic relief character and at times he is and it’s done perfectly. The rest of the time he’s just awkward. He’s supposed to be; he’s the socially awkward nerd. But it doesn’t come together. He’s not unlikeable but he’s not likeable either.

At points he hits a sweet spot where the film isn’t trying to make him funny or awkward and he’s just fine. Ezra Miller is a phenomenal actor – which he proved in We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Perks of Being a Wallflower – but here his performance is subpar. Hopefully he does better in the Flash solo film.

Aquaman was perhaps the biggest surprise in terms of the new characters. From the glimpses we got of him in the trailers, Aquaman could have gone either way. Thankfully, the interpretation of him in this film was well done. He’s a lot of fun and very likeable. Jason Momoa has such a charismatic presence and personality that he brings to the character that makes him shine. He was just playing himself, more or less, and Momoa is a cool, personable dude.

There wasn’t much to expect of Cyborg from the trailers. He’s the most broody character in the film. He’s kind of boring, didn’t stand out much or make an impression. He’s there and doesn’t do much outside of the action sequences. Even there he doesn’t do much either. He has a very specific function and that is just hacking alien technology.

The green screen in this film is absolutely terrible and its present in so many shots. Some of which may have been reshoots since in many scenes in which it is present, every single shot is so clearly and obviously shot on a green screen. It’s not seamless at all. It’s very noticeable  and distractingly so. To the point that it’s hard to concentrate on what is going on in the scene. Other uses of visual effects in the film are somewhat better, but still not great.

Before Wonder Woman a film in the DC Extended Universe didn’t need to do much in order to be the best of the franchise. After that film, it takes a lot more to do just that. Although from a film-making standpoint, Justice League does not excel like that film does, it’s a lot more fun and enjoyable. It’s a step in the right direction for DC.

It can be said that it borrows from Marvel a little too much – it has Joss Whedon after all – and is trying a little too hard to match it’s lighter tone and DC does lose some of it’s identity in the process, but in doing so it made a much more entertaining film than the others in the franchise. So entertaining in fact, that many of its flaws can be overlooked.

Outlander S03E09 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Outlander S03E09 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

Jamie and Claire are off to Jamaica a lot sooner than I thought and not in the way that I expected. Not that I had any particular scenario in mind as to how they would end up in Jamaica, but I wouldn’t have thought of this. They’re off to rescue Young Ian who is being taken there by the sailors who kidnapped him in the previous episode, which, if you ask me, was rather unnecessary since they could have just knocked him out and taken the treasure. But it looks like they may plan to sell him as an indentured servant. I must say that I’m kind of sad that they won’t be going to Paris.

Yet again Jamie – and now Claire – is lying to Jenny and Ian about the whereabouts of their son! Instead, they left Scotland before the letter they sent could reach her. I don’t exactly blame him, however, Jenny is fearsome when she is angry and I would not want to face her wrath either. But really, he needs to stop lying to his sister.

Also lying in this episode was Fergus, who had been secretly courting Laoghaire’s elder daughter, Marsali, and had handfasted/married her before taking her onto the ship without telling Jamie or Claire. I already don’t like her because, not only is she the spitting image of her mother, but she has her wicked, vindictive personality as well. What Fergus even sees in her, I don’t know. Perhaps when she’s not actively hating Claire – another trait she picked up from her mother – she’s actually a nice person.

Given that some of the new visuals for the opening (which I love; kudos on the music team for not going the tired old route of using steel pan music to denote the Caribbean) show what I assume to be Claire washing up on a beach and what looks to be a ship being battered by waves, I thought that would mean that their ship would be hit by a storm.

That the wind was lost only made me think that it would happen all the more, since still air precedess storms or very heavy rains. When one of the sailors peered out onto the horizon with…whatever instrument that was…I thought he was going to see a storm coming. But there was nothing. My fear that they would be hit by a storm was quickly dispelled, however, by the fact that they had suffered the loss of wind for weeks.

That didn’t mean that they were completely out of the woods, though. The sailors were very agitated by the fact that there had been no wind for weeks and their superstition and paranoia was kicked into high gear. As brutal and archaic as it would have been to throw someone overboard to assuage the situation, I understood where the Captain was coming from.

I could not disagree with him for letting the crew do whatever they felt like they needed to do in order to fix the situation. It would have been far better than a mutiny. That being said, had they done it and it not worked, things could have gotten so much worse. A small part of me suspected Marsali as being the one not to touch the horseshoe. Not that I would have wanted her to be thrown overboard, but it would have been nice for her to receive the venom she was spewing at Claire.

Thanks to Jamie, no one was thrown or threw themselves overboard, but I really thought that Willoughby was about to. When people get backstories they generally die and the fact that he had told Claire that once he tells his story, he’ll need to let it go, didn’t give me high hopes for his survival. Neither did him saying that he gave up everything to keep his manhood and it wasn’t worth it, nor did his jumping up onto the side of the ship.

I thought that it was a case of him realising that the wind had returned when everyone else was too caught up in their near mutiny to notice. So, believing that he had wasted his life, he was going to end it and at the same time make them believe that he was the Jonah and that his death gave them back the wind. Turned out that he meant that he would need to literally let go of the papers he was writing his life story on and scattered them into the wind so that the crew would see that the wind had returned.

Just as they got out of the woods, they met with another misfortune. I celebrated a little too early when it turned out that the British ship didn’t want men to man the vessel and Jamie wouldn’t be taken from Claire. It was the other way around! I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach for that entire sequence that something bad was going to happen. I knew that them being separated wouldn’t bode well. The moment that she was escorted out of the Captain’ quarters, I knew that he was going to kidnap her. At least they’re headed to Jamaica as well, so she and Jamie will be reunited there.

Random thoughts:

  1. I love that Claire’s mainly upset because she won’t get to bone Jamie.
  2. Wont’ her Paris clothes be 20 years out of style?
  3. The same way that Jamie and Claire snuck of to do the deed, couldn’t Fergus and Marsali have?
  4. Is it just me or is the British ship the Dauntless from Pirates of the Caribbean?

Outlander airs Sundays at 10 PM on Starz.

Outlander S03E08 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Outlander S03E08 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

Drama bomb! This episode was, as we Bajans would say, “hot!” And one Jenny Murray was at the centre of the entire thing, particularly as an instigator. No offense to this show and I mean this in the most sincere way possible, but in terms of the type of drama that was in this episode, it was like an episode of Jerry Springer or some trashy soap opera. Which only made it all the more amusing. Really, this episode was such a trip.

The show wasted no time in returning us to Lallybroch and having Jamie answer to Jenny for more than one crime. Firstly for making Young Ian a criminal. Which even before we found out that Jenny and Ian Sr. didn’t know that he was with Jamie, I knew that she wouldn’t have approved of. Secondly, for taking up with Claire again and bringing her back home when he had a second wife. Said second wife, of course, being the one and only Laoghaire, who is still a silly, vengeful and conniving little girl.

Honestly, the woman hasn’t changed at all and it’s even more disappointing given the redemption she received in the last season. A season in which she begged Claire for forgiveness, only to curse the woman’s existence again (not literally, verbally). Clearly she’d never gotten over her obsession with Jamie, even after two marriages.

I understand her being angered by losing the man she’d always wanted and finally had, especially to the same woman she lost him to before. But trying to kill Claire? Extorting ridiculous sums of money out of Jamie as alimony? She’s just despicable.

Claire was justifiably upset about the whole thing. He’d kept the fact that he had another wife from her and that said wife was Laoghaire made it even worse.Leading to one of their classic Claire and Jamie fights. He was really unfair to her then. Throwing the fact that she had asked him to be nice to Laoghaire into her face and then acting like she didn’t experience the same pain he did in their twenty years apart. Sometimes Jamie can be thick, but gosh, he seriously can’t be that daft that he would honestly believe that Claire was all sunshine and roses for those twenty years.

I was waiting on Claire to tell him precisely how her marriage with Frank was. Particularly to clear up the notions that she and Frank had any sort of sex life to speak of. Their marriage was loveless, sexless and cold. Not at all like the marriage she has with Jamie. He’s clearly insecure about it so I would have liked for her to explain to him what life with Frank was like during those twenty yeas.

I’m not too fond of the fact that Jamie initiated sex with Claire during the fight. To, in his words, prove how much he loved her. That’s hardly evidence of the fact. I’m even less fond of the fact that she give into it. It kind of come off like he was trying to silence her, but I know – or at least hope – that that wasn’t what he was trying to do. The fight wasn’t over at all. Claire was still very much upset, ready to leave and the matter had not at all been resolved.That was the most inappropriate time to initiate. Jenny throwing water on them was hilarious, though.

Perhaps if Jamie had had the opportunity to tell Claire about it himself, it wouldn’t have gone so terribly. And he was just about to too, before Laoghaire’s daughter and Laoghaire herself barged in. But Jenny hadn’t let Jamie tell Claire, of course.

I could not figure out why she had been so cold to Claire when she saw her again. It felt so off and weird. Then she insulted her when they were arguing about Young Ian and had just been distant for the entire episode. It was like they’d gone backward to when Jamie had first married Claire and she didn’t like her at all. But it all made sense when Jenny explained where all of that was coming from. She felt like Claire had abandoned Jamie and the rest of his family. She was right, though; had Claire stayed, she never would have given up on looking for Jamie.

If there was ever a time when I felt like Claire and Jamie should tell Jemmy the truth about everything, it was in this episode. And there were so many moments that would have been the perfect time for them to tell her. Neither of them were able to successfully lie to her. She could tell, every single time, when they were holding back information. And a few times I thought that they would have told her. Especially when she and Claire had talked alone, sitting outside. But I will trust Jamie’s judgement on how his sister would react it.

I was so excited about the prospect of them returning to Paris. I really wanted to see Louise and find out what she’s up to at present time and find out about her and Charles’ child. But with Young Ian being captured by whoever those sailors were, it looks like the trip may not happen at all. This was another moment in which I was sure the youth would die and, once again, because of Jamie. Just the boy’s capture will earn him the further ire of Jenny. I’m curious to see who these sailors are and what they want. Besides the treasure, of course.

Random thoughts:

  1. Jenny is a grandmother!
  2. Isn’t Young Ian too old for corporal punishment?
  3. Why is Ian the only one with a full head of grey hair?
  4. First Claire and now Jenny is taking a dig at Jamie for his lack of parenting experience despite having children? Low blow.
  5. Jenny is the real MVP! I forgot that Claire and Jamie were in a house full of people.
  6. Can nothing go smoothly for these two?

Outlander airs Sundays at 10 PM on Starz.

Outlander S03E07 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Outlander S03E07 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

This wouldn’t be Outlander without Jamie’s illegal activities putting Claire’s life n danger and her being threatened with rape. So I guess that it was, in some ways, the perfect way to end their reunion episode? Everything’s back to the status quo.

Percival really, really means that he is to get a larger chunk of Jamie’s whiskey smuggling profits and he’ll do anything to get it. Up to and including hiring random brigands, whose job it is to find Jamie’s hidden casks. Fortunately for Claire – although she didn’t need him at that point – Jamie returned to his room just in time to find one of said brigands passed out on the floor with a head injury. Unfortunately for Jamie, Claire was adamant on saving the man’s life, even though he’d just tried to rape her.

I was with Jamie in letting the man die. The only reason, to me, to have saved his life was to keep him alive in order to find out who had sent him and why. But Jamie figured that all out on his own so keeping him alive was unnecessary. In any case, despite Claire’s best efforts, the man died anyway and right under Percival’s nose. Or rather, above his head, since he’d arrived at the brothel in the middle of the confusion and searched its basements for the casks Jamie had already had moved and sold.

Claire is a better woman that most. That’s something that can be said about her time and again. Doctor or no, oath to protect life or no, most people would have just let the man die. One, because he’d have attacked them and two, because that’d be one less of Percival’s lackeys to worry about. Sure she blames herself for getting Jamie into trouble, but had she not been there, his secret stash of casks would have been discovered. So really, the life she saved was her own husband’s.

But Percival was not deterred.

When his second brigand was shown to be in the same tavern as Fergus and Young Ian, I immediately suspected that the girl that Young Ian was interested in was somehow involved and a lure to trap the two. But that didn’t make sense since the brigand was a new hire and Young Ian had been eyeing the girl for a long while. Still, when he took her back to the print shop, I was incredibly uneasy and knew that something bad was about to happen. Especially since that scene was intercut with Jamie and Claire arguing about his lying to Ian Sr. about the whereabouts of his son.

I seriously thought that Young Ian was about to die. The brigand shot at him and then he was trapped in the print shop as it burnt down. Plus, Jamie was talking about how much safer he was with him and everything. If fiction has taught me one thing, it’s that when characters make declarations like that, they’re proven to be dead (pun intended) wrong. Which sort of did happen, but without the dead part. If Young Ian had died, my only consolation would have been that he didn’t die a virgin.

Thankfully, Jamie arrived at the print shop before the fire got too bad and had he presence of mind to remember that Young Ian would have been inside and went in to save him. Despite Jamie having main character plot armour (we know he’s not going to die), I was just as worried as Claire was for his life. Which is a testament to how good this show is at creating tension and suspense, even when you know a character will be safe.

The good thing about the print shop burning down is that all of Jamie’s seditious pamphlets are now gone, so Percival no longer has a heap of evidence to use against him. The few that the brigand managed to steal, however, may serve to be enough since as we saw when Robert produced one of them, Jamie’s name is all over it. So Claire and Jamie are forced to, once again, relocate. At least this way Claire gets her wish of moving out of the brothel.

I haven’t read the book for this season as yet (I’m waiting until it’s finished airing), but the internet is such a wonderfully spoiler filled place, that I know that Jamie and Claire will head off to Jamaica at some point this season. So I’m guessing that after they return Young Ian to Lallybroch, that is where they will be headed. I assumed they would be on their way there soon since Archie Campbell said that he was taking his sister with him to the West Indies.

Outlander has proven itself to be a show in which everything and everyone is important. And even if our introduction to it or them is brief and fleeting, they come into play in a key role later on. I think the Campbells will be more important than just a teaser for their travelling to Jamaica. Particularly because Margaret Campbell is a “seer” and Claire is a “dame blanche.” The siblings, I think, will be significantly involved with Jamie and Claire when they go to Jamaica. Especially when it comes to the wealthy person they are going there to serve.

One thing that Jamie and Claire will most definitely need to iron out before leaving for Jamaica, is the fact that Jamie has another wife. He can’t just pick up and go to another country with Claire now that we know that she’s in the picture. I need to know who she is and how that happened. Didn’t he just say that he didn’t fall in love with anyone else while Claire was gone? Does he have another child with this new wife of his? I suspect that she’s Mary McNab.

Random thoughts:

  1. Young Ian is a really good haggler.
  2. Fergus is the best wingman.
  3. Young Ian made the same mistake that Jamie did lol.
  4. Archie is clearly taking advantage of Margaret.
  5. Ha! Jenny and Ian don’t know that Young Ian works with Jamie.
  6. Those pamphlets were not well hidden.

Outlander airs Sundays at 10 PM on Starz.

‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Film Review

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Film Review

Thor: Ragnarok is the third film in the Thor franchise and the seventeenth film in the Marvel Cinematic universe. Written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost and directed my New Zealand director Taika Waititi, the films stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Cate Blanchett as Hela, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk/Bruce Banner and Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie. When Hela, the Goddess of Death, escapes her imprisonment and threatens Asgard and banishes Thor to the planet Sakaar, he must escape the planet and assemble a team of heroes to stop her and rescue his home.

The direction here is strong. The film feels so different from the first two Thor movies and – despite the 80’s music and overall vibe and the vibrant colour aesthetic – also feel different from the Guardians of the Galaxy films to which it has oft been compared. Taika Waititi is no James Gunn, but his personal style as a director is just as distinct. Fans of his work will no doubt feel his fingerprints all over this film.

Adding to the difference of this film is it’s comedic tone. It is, as the trailer showed, far more comedy heavy than Thor and Thor: The Dark World. Thor’s ignorance of the human world and his “fish out of water” state when in Midgard were always played for laughs. And although there is a bit of that here, the comedy flows from elsewhere this time around. Particularly because Thor himself is more of a comedian.

Even as Marvel took the character in a more comedy driven direction with each subsequent film in which he appeared, his serious nature was still present. Even up to Avengers: Age of Ultron. Here, it is almost absent. Gone is the serious, Shakespearean, God of Thunder from Marvel films past. Thor spends the majority of the film cracking jokes and doing funny things even when in “serious moments.” The comedy may be a little too much at times, since it undercuts dramatic moments and strips them of the gravity that they should have.

That being said, Waititi really gave Chris Hemsworth the opportunity to flex his comedic muscles. A talent we’ve gotten glimpses of here and there…and he’s really good at it. Hemsworth shines here, playing this version of Thor. His best moments as the character, or at the very least the most memorable, have always been when he’s being funny. Or shirtless (there’s more of that here as well). So it was much appreciated that Marvel took advantage of this other side of Hemsworth’s acting talents in such a big way. It made Thor an even more likeable character than he already was.

Hulk is also a source of the film’s comedy and it’s a little strange to see him with so much personality, since up to this point he’s been little more than a giant, green, rage monster. It’s also strange to see him do things other than “smash” and having complex feelings. We’ve seen him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before, but in Ragnarok he’s like a whole new character that we’re only now getting to know since we’ve spent so much time with Bruce.

His characterisation here adds so much more to Hulk as a character, gives the audience a deeper appreciation for, understanding of and bond with him and expands the Banner/Hulk dynamic. Before this film, Hulk was just a weapon. Now he’s an actual person.

Loki, well…continues to be Loki. Waititi and Tom Hiddleston did nothing new or different with the character or added anything to him in any way really.

In terms of the new characters, Valkyrie was a nice addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe roster. She’s cool and a badass. She has clear motivations and every fight scene that she had demonstrated her prowess as a fighter and proved why she was a valkyrie to begin with. It was also nice that Marvel [MILD SPOILER: Highlight to reveal] didn’t go the route of making her a love interest (though some viewers saw sparks between her and Hulk) [MILD SPOILER]. Tessa Thompson did a very good job in playing the character and further appearances from her in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are most welcome.

Hela somewhat suffered the same fate as most other Marvel villains, in that, she was just there as more of a plot device than an actual character. She didn’t have much of a personality beyond “female baddie who wants to take over the world(s)” and didn’t leave much of an impression beyond how absolutely gorgeous Cate Blanchett looks in her make-up and costume. Hela isn’t in the film much and didn’t do much besides kill a lot of people. And she did that in the first forty of the one-hundred and thirty minutes of this film.

Speaking of Blanchett, despite not being given much to work with or do, she, as always, delivered an excellent performance. Her villain walk was a particular treat, as was all of the other ways that she physically embodied and portrayed Hela. From the way that she stood, to the way that she moved her arms, Blanchett played Hela in every little way that she could. She was Hela. Blanchett never fails to bring it as an actress.

The real MVPs of the film, however, were Korg and the Grandmaster. Korg is the comedy highlight and each and every one of his appearances is a riot, particularly when he introduces himself to someone. He’s a great one-off character. We don’t need to see him again, but more appearances couldn’t hurt. The Grandmaster is just precious because he is Jeff Goldblum doing all of the Jeff Goldblum things that we love him for. It’s obvious that he’s enjoying himself and having fun with the role. Plus, he gets some of the best moments in the film, the post-credits scene being one of them (and it somewhat resembles Rob Pearlman’s post-credits scene in Pacific Rim).

There are some very beautiful shots in this film. The opening shot in particular, though obviously computer generated, is such a strong and stunning image. As is every shot in the Valkyrie battle against Hela, as seen in the trailer. So too would have been a later shot featuring Thor, Odin and Loki, if only the green screen had been done better. Even so, it’s still very pretty to look at. It certainly helps that the production design is amazing and gave the cinematographer something spectacular to capture to begin with. Every location has it’s own distinct look, most notably Sakaar with it’s brilliant colours, and all of them work.

Thor: Ragnarok is well made film. It’s also funny and enjoyable to watch. It doesn’t take much to out do them, but it is truly the best of the Thor films. Taika Waititi was an inspired choice as a director and he brought out the best in his cast. Taking the Thor films in another direction certainly worked for the franchise, especially now that it has embraced more of the cosmic, out there elements of the mythos. Something that it owes to the success of Guardians of the Galaxy. 

Outlander S03E06 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Outlander S03E06 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

This was a very slow episode, but not in a bad way. The show took it’s time in re-introducing Claire and Jamie to each other and us to them as a couple, after five episodes of seeing them apart and longing for their reunion. As Claire said when they sat down to dinner, they were “savouring each other.” Just as we were savouring every beautiful moment of the two of them being back together and eagerly anticipating the moment when they consummated their reunion. And when that particular moment came, it didn’t disappoint.

Before we get to that, though, can we just appreciate the first few moments of their reunion? Particularly when Jamie fainted? That wasn’t the reaction I expected from him, but it was truly adorable. As was watching him pore over the photos of Brianna (his reaction to the bikini picture was hilarious). I so wish she had been there for him to meet in person. The only one of his children he has had the chance to have any physical interaction with is Willie and he had to leave him too.

It would have been nice if her reunion with Fergus hadn’t been quite so brief. He’s basically her child. One that she hasn’t seen in twenty years. He’s a grown man now! I’m hoping that in subsequent episodes they sit down and catch up and she gets to know him as an adult. We, the audience, don’t know what his life is like now either. Is he married? Does he have children? I’d like to know these things!

A slightly bigger question is whether or not Jamie and Claire will continue to live in the brothel. I’d imagine that they won’t, even though Claire doesn’t seem too bothered by it anymore. Honestly, when Jamie denied being a client of the establishment, I thought that her next question would be whether or not he was one of the prostitutes. Not that I would have expected him to have been; Jamie wouldn’t do that. Still, it was the logical leap considering he lives in a brothel and isn’t a client. How he is making his money, however, is arguably more questionable.

Is Jamie ever not on the wrong side of the law? We got a hint that he wasn’t entirely on the straight and narrow with the two men who showed up at the print shop and then again when he met with Percival. Only for him to later state that he is a smuggler. One who already has an arrest record. He never fails to be the “bad boy” with a heart of gold.

But enough about all of this other stuff, let’s talk about those love scenes!

The slow, purposeful way that Jamie and Claire undressed each other was so sensual and intimate. Here again they were savouring every moment. Claire’s covering up and embarrassment at Jamie staring at her nakedness so intently was unexpected, but endearing. It made sense that she would be somewhat uncomfortable being naked in front of him again; the two were still getting to know each other again and she’d previously expressed some concern about her appearance since she’d aged quite a bit since she last saw him. But of course our Jamie always sees her as beautiful.

Some awkwardness in maneuvering around each other was to be expected; they hadn’t had sex with each other in twenty years, they needed to relearn each other’s bodies. Still, that Jamie hit her in the nose and then hit her head was adorably hilarious. It was a bit of a subversion, as was the fact that the first time they had sex in the episode, Claire told Jamie not to be gentle.

In these kinds of stories the sex is always perfect. No one is bumping into the other or being clumsy and uncoordinated. Sure, the second love scene was the slow, careful and tender sex one would expect. A scene in which Jamie and Claire did what they’d been doing all episode; savouring each other. But in this first love scene there was none of that. It was all twenty years of pent of desire and hunger for each other, released in a quick bout of passion. And in keeping with Outlander’s treatment of love scenes in its three seasons, it wasn’t gratuitous at all.

Random thoughts:

  1. Jamie’s in pants!
  2. Well Geordie’s a little rude.
  3. Aww, Jamie was concerned about Frank.
  4. Cockblocked in a brothel!
  5. That is a lot of clothes to take off.
  6. Young Ian!
  7. Of course Claire would have no problem with the prostitutes and get along well with them.

Outlander airs Sundays at 10 PM on Starz.

ICYMI: Robbi Niles Released “More Than It Hurts You” Music Video

K.F. Cumberbatch
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ICYMI: Robbi Niles Released “More Than It Hurts You” Music Video

Toronto based Barbadian singer Robbi Niles released the music video for his latest single “More Than It Hurts You” last week. Shot and directed by Derek Brin, the video co-stars “CAT” from Cat and Co. In the song, Niles sings of knowing that he needs to breakup with a lover who has betrayed him, but being unable to. The video shows Niles performing to camera along with said lover, out on the town with her visiting expensive stores, her lying on a bed, him driving around in an Aston Martin and shots of the city.

The single, released on September 15th, is available on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon Music and Google Play. Watch the music video below.

Scandal S07E06 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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Scandal S07E06 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

This episode was exciting, it was intriguing and it was captivating. And it looked like Olivia was finally being taken to task for all of the terrible, despicable things she had done thus far. I was having so much fun watching it. Then the whole experience was ruined by the very last scene.

I thought that it was plausible that it could have been Olivia who had had Rashad and Yasmin killed, but I didn’t think that it was likely. Like I said in the last recap, the rebels had motive and had proven that they had access to the man. The one time this entire season I had given her the benefit of the doubt, Olivia proved me wrong. It was her. And she did it as part of a deal with the rebels to get them to agree to the nuclear treaty.

Hadn’t Olivia and Jake, in the last episode, come up with a way to get rid of the rebels in order to minimise (or completely eliminate) the loss of life of American soldiers in a war with them? Or did I misunderstand their conversation? Because if they had, there would have been no reason for them to have made that deal with the rebels in the first place. I had assumed that had it been Olivia who killed Rashad and Yasmin, it would have been to get her way; i.e. that there would be no war with the Bashrani rebels to begin with.

Mellie came so darn close to ruining that plan though, which was the only positive thing about her little tantrum with the Bashrani diplomat. Honestly, the way that her feelings for Rashad were clouding her judgement were so annoying. Understandable, but annoying. It was reasonable that she would have lost herself in her grief over Rashad and want revenge, but it felt wrong that Shonda Rhimes, of all people, would do one of her strong female characters such a disservice. She even went back on her denouncement of B6-13 yet again by asking Jake to take care of the rebels,

So I’m glad that Marcus didn’t entertain her lust for revenge, talked some sense into her and was able to change her mind. It was surprising that the rebels wanted so little; that they would honour the treaty if the neighbouring nation did and to be officially recognised as the legitimate leaders of the country. They weren’t bad terms. Agreeing to them would mean that there would be no social progress for Bashran, however, but at least there would be peace.

I wasn’t surprised that Quinn knew that it had been Olivia who had Rashad and Yasmin killed. I was so happy that she lost her illusions of Olivia still wearing the white hat and stopped hero worshiping her the way that she did. With that gone, Quinn was the only person remaining who dared to challenge and disagree with Olivia. It was beautiful. I didn’t think for a second that Olivia’s threat would silence her. In fact, I thought that it would only embolden her to bring Olivia to justice even further. Like did Olivia even know who she was dealing with? This is Quinn!

So I was exhilarated when it looked like she had planned everything down to the very last detail to make Olivia sweat, trip her up and expose what she had done. That she knew Olivia so very, very well that she knew exactly what she would do, how she would react and how she would feel. It seemed like Quinn had planned everything out even before she went to meet with Olivia. I was one-hundred percent expecting Quinn to suddenly show up and drop the truth bomb on everyone.

But she didn’t do any of that. She really had been taken. That revelation took all of the wind out of my sails and left me disappointed. It ruined the entire episode for me. It was no longer a carefully laid trap for Olivia. Plus, it made the fact that she tried to frame Fenton even worse. She was trying to scapegoat the man because she thought that Quinn was coming after her, when she wasn’t. I really thought that there was still someone out there who would stand up to Olivia and that wasn’t the case at all.

Random thoughts:

  1. Fenton acting like a love struck school girl is adorable.
  2. Rolling my eyes at Olivia pretending to be upset about Rashad’s death.
  3. Giving Quinn a new life is not the same as ending someone else’s.
  4. Lol. Huck is Best Man and Maid of Honour.
  5. I’ve been calling Curtis by the wrong name this entire time.

Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 PM on ABC.

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