Movie blog & reviews

Awards season came to a close this weekend as stars gathered in their finest attire for the biggest show of them all – the Oscars!

With all the glitz and glamour you would expect, Hollywood’s finest sashayed up the red carpet, or in some cases lingered in the hustle to appear in as many photos as possible, revelling in the glory in what is, comparative with us mere mortals, the last day of the movie world’s annual leave.

Fashion and the red carpet aside, nominees were hoping for the ultimate nod of approval from their peers by bagging a little golden statue for themselves. So, who triumphed on the night?

Well, in a minor shock, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker took home the night’s biggest prizes bagging Best Picture, Best Achievement in Direction, Best Screenplay, and a few techie awards. With a US box office of only $15m dollars, The Hurt Locker now has the dubious honour of being the least commercially successful Best Picture winner ever, although it’s now going from strength to strength on the back of its recent award success.

So, despite keeping half the industry in gainful employment for the next year or so, little old Avatar went home with only a few special effects awards, and the Cinematography trophy, from its nine nominations. You have to think back to 1997 when James Cameron’s 13 times nominated Titanic left empty handed from the Baftas for a comparatively light haul. However, I’m sure Mr. Cameron will be sufficiently comforted by Avatar’s $2 billion plus box office.

As predicted, the acting awards went to the expected, and not undeserving, nominees – Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart, Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side, Mo’nique for Precious, and Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds. Equally as predictable, the Best Animated Film was awarded to Pixar’s Up.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, although probably the least noticed, was that both A Prophet and The White Ribbon, widely seen as the favourites, were over-looked for Best Foreign Language Film with the little known Argentinean film El Secreto De Sus Ojos triumphing. One to look out for!

Organisers made a concerted effort this year to make the show more exciting to Oscar show newcomers (i.e. younger cinemagoers) as viewing figures, and consequently advertising dollars, had been dropping in the past few years. So, ‘young Hollywood’ was courted to present awards on the night, including Twilight stars Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, and Zac Efron. This seems to have worked as indications are that the show was a huge success. And with awards going out to a cover-all-bases mix of box office successes and critically acclaimed movies, it seems Oscar is back on track!

So after all the hoopla, and with all the awards presented to their new owners, the stars took to the night and celebrated into the wee hours at a multitude of fabulous events including the Governors Ball (the official Oscars after party), Elton John’s AIDS benefit party, the annual Vanity Fair party and the E! Oscar party. I’m sure there were a few sore heads in LA-LA land on Monday morning!

And for those of you aching to know the results of the anti-Oscars, The Razzies, Worst Actor was awarded to all three Jonas Brothers, Transformers 2 bagged two honours, Worst Picture and Worst Director for Michael Bay, and Sandra Bullock was awarded Worst Actress for All About Steve, admirably turning up to collect the award in person and promising that it will take pride of place in her home – alongside the Oscar, of course.

So there we have it, the party is over, Kathryn Bigelow can probably get just about anything green-lit (at least for the next year), and most importantly, it’s time for the backslapping to end and for Hollywood to get back to work entertaining us!

I am probably the last person on the planet to see Battlestar Galactica. It’s the one TV show, with the exception of The Wire, that everyone recommends, and when I sheepishly confess that I haven’t seen it I am guaranteed a wave of incredulous looks from my sci-fi loving friends. So, hoping that I’m not alone and that a few of you might also be ignorant to its supposed genius, I thought I’d take the plunge, saving you the embarrassment, and myself being ostracized any further.

Originally a remake of a 70’s sci-fi classic, 2003’s Battlestar Galactica mini-series was such a huge success that it was commissioned for a full series and promptly became one of THE cable buzz shows of the past decade. Starring Edward James Olmos as Admiral William Adama and Mary McDonnell (Independence Day) as President Laura Roslin, the show picks up from the end of the mini-series after a war with the Cylons sees 50,000 humans fleeing their planet on a fleet of star ships in search of the mythical planet – Earth. Should be easy enough, really, big blue planet with the rest of the humans… apparently not so! The Cylons are hot on their tails and show no sign of letting them sneak off in peace.

The first episode begins with the star fleet under attack from the Cylons, an attack which occurs every 33 minutes, and requires a ‘faster than light jump’ to escape. This is the 237th consecutive ‘jump’, and the crew members have not slept for 130.35 hours! Oh dear. Tempers are fraying, the crew are exhausted, but they must continue to evade the Cylons and root out the rumoured ’sleeper agents’ in their midsts.

The result of this is palpable tension throughout the entire episode. It actually feels like the episode starts half way through a brilliant film. There is, literally, a ticking clock over their heads and things start to get worse until, after the usual 33 minute interval since the last ‘jump’, the Cylons are nowhere to be seen. With the promise of a little snooze, you could forgive the crew’s desperation for respite, however, it is then that they notice that one of their citizen carrying ships is missing – another 1,300 souls to strike off Madame President’s population whiteboard! The panic appears to be short lived as the missing ship re-enters radar and things appear well, until it becomes apparent that the Cylons are tracking the ship and have now found their way back to the fleet.

Exciting stuff! There’s also some random guy running around on some other planet, maybe Earth, but I’m guessing we find out more about that as the episodes continue. I’m off to find out…

The Mentalist is one of the most critically acclaimed new shows of recent years, and was THE number one drama in the US in 2009. Starring Simon Baker (Land Of The Dead) as Patrick Jane – the Mentalist himself – the show follows up a crack team of agents from the California Bureau of Investigation as they traipse around sunny Cali to solve gruesome murders. Ok, it might sound like a billion other shows on TV right now, but bear with me…

Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon heads up the investigation team, with a little help from Grace (Amanda Righetti - Friday the 13th) and Wayne (Owain Yeoman – Generation Kill), but it is Baker’s Patrick that seems to be doing all the Columbo work.

The first episode begins at a crowded crime scene in an affluent suburb. As the camera pans in a missing person sign featuring a teenage girl is ripped off a tree outside, obviously the body has been found! Patrick and Teresa arrive on the scene, and Patrick moves silently through the melee as he makes acute observations of all the people involved: family, medics, neighbours, etc. As the family are bombarded by questions from journalists while giving a press conference on a makeshift podium in the yard, and Patrick pays close attention to the mother squirming uncomfortably by her husband’s side, the stereotypical heavy metal loner kid next door is handcuffed and escorted into a waiting police car as the primer suspect. However, this doesn’t seem to hold Patrick’s attention, and he slips inside the house unnoticed to look for clues.

Finding himself alone in the immaculately clean kitchen, he makes himself a ham and cheese sandwich – as you would – and pours himself a cup of Spirit herbal tea – clearly not a run-of-the-mill coffee and donuts kind of cop! As he paces the kitchen and spots some family photos on the fridge – some cheesy, others decidedly uncomfortable – the fraught mother enters and is flustered to find the sandwich eating stranger in her kitchen. Quickly put at ease by Patrick’s polite, soft spoken charm, she partakes in a cup of Spirit herself and they sit down to chat. Patrick then, quite accurately, reels off a bunch of assumptions about the mother based on his observations in the kitchen; her favourite colour, she has trouble sleeping, she’s secretly glad her friend got fat, then without a hint of subtlety, posits that she suspects her husband of killing her daughter! What?!

Obviously quite at ease in Patrick’s company, the mother barely eschews his theory, meekly recapitulating the reasons that it couldn’t be true. But when the husband enters the kitchen and becomes furious at the accusation, the mother senses the guilt in his denial and quickly departs the kitchen – leaving Patrick and the father to argue it out – only to return a moment later with a handgun and kills her husband! All this and only 6:48 minutes gone on the clock! Best start of an episode, ever!

It is during that scene that Patrick clarifies he is not psychic, but that he used to make a good living pretending to be. This previous career path is given further development in a series of flashbacks later in the episode, when a fresher looking Patrick is seen appearing on a TV talk show supposedly communicating with those on the ‘other side’. Actually, the character back-story is unveiled to quite an extent, especially when you consider this is the pilot episode, ensuring that you are pretty much hooked from the get-go.

Following the unfortunate kitchen incident Patrick is suspended from service, but later rejoins the team, albeit a little unwelcome, when a familiar serial killer, Red John, appears to have taken another victim. I can already tell that the Red John story is going to be one of those classic multi episode serial killer storylines!

Simon Baker’s Emmy nominated performance as the quiet, thoughtful detective, reminiscent of proper old school detectives – crimes solved using brain power and mind games without the aid of CSI CGI is hypnotising. Each character development is subtly and skilfully unveiled with intelligence. Robin Tunney is great too, as the head of the unit. There is even a little hint of ‘frisson’ between the pair – which reminded me of Brennan and Booth in the early seasons of Bones – which should be fun to watch develop.

I’m already geeking out on this show!

The Mentalist is available now on blinkbox.

We all remember the horrors of high school, right? Bad dates, cliques, homework, acne, all gruesome stuff! Well, no one understands and writes better quirky teen angst than Diablo Cody. Her first screenplay for Juno won her an Oscar, and the movie made Hollywood stars of Ellen Page and Michael Cera. A frenzied bidding war ensued for her follow up script Jennifer’s Body, a sexy high school horror comedy starring Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia/Dear John) and Megan Fox (Transformers) which plays out like the teen cult classics of the 80’s and early 90’s with punchy dialogue, in-jokes and a supernatural slasher twist – think Heathers vs. Supernatural!

We are introduced to Needy (Seyfried) in prison. After knocking out an orderly – she’s known as The Kicker – she is sent to solitary to listen to some musak for her crimes, and begins to regale us with the story of how she got there in the first place…

Jennifer and Needy have been friends since the “sandbox”, and have built something of a psychic connection with each other, demonstrated by Needy’s ability to anticipate Jennifer’s arrival at her front door. An odd coupling in the typical high schools as, traditionally, beautiful and popular “Jennifers” would ignore dorky “Needys”. The friendship is not entirely understood by classmates, and there are hints of – and I quote – “lesbigay” undertones, primarily on Needy’s part. As a result it is a somewhat toxic friendship as bitchy Jennifer seems to push Needy around with little consideration for her adoring friend. All in all this odd pairing ensures that they are never quite the homeroom darlings, although Jennifer’s beauty ensures she is able to – ahem – straddle any teenage social divides. It is often implied that Jennifer could have whomever she likes, whenever she likes, and often does!

On an exciting night in the girls’ small town home of Devil’s Kettle, a new band from the city is playing the local dive bar. At Jennifer’s behest, Needy ditches her boyfriend and tags along to the gig as Jennifer is determined to pull the “salty” (now an official Diablo Cody-ism meaning hot) lead singer Nikolai played by eye liner wearing Adam Brody (The OC / In The Land Of Women). After some distant leering, Jennifer chats to the seedy Nikolai and offers to buy him a 9/11 cocktail – “red, white & blue – but you need to drink it really fast before it turns brown”. Apparently being underage is no problem for Jennifer as she gets served by playing “Hello Titty” with the bartender – classy! Nikolai’s lecherous intentions are evident, and while Jennifer either welcomes them or is oblivious, Needy starts to worry about her BFF.

A short time in the band’s set, the stage mysteriously catches fire and the room is engulfed in flames. The band, Jennifer, and Needy manage to escape – everyone else is pretty much toast! Jennifer, who is obviously in shock, is lured into the band’s van and they take off leaving Needy to make her own way home in the chaos. Back at home, Needy is desperately worried about Jennifer and during a frantic call to her boyfriend, she thinks she hears someone in her house. She ventures downstairs in classic teen-horror style and, after much suspense, is greeted by blood-soaked, almost catatonic, Jennifer. And the gorey good times begin…

The great thing about Jennifer’s Body is that the movie can be what you want it to be. It’s excellent eye candy as a trashy teen horror/comedy, but there are also deeper observations of female relationships and empowerment to be made if you are inclined to look. Indeed, I think that was Diablo Cody’s main aim with this script, as she was particularly keen to ensure an 18-25 female audience was encouraged to see it – unusual for a horror, or comedy – and that the movie was not sold entirely on Megan Fox in a cheerleader outfit – although that does bring a certain charm to proceedings.

The dialogue ensures things never get dull. Even if the absurdity of terms such as “jello = jealous” and “salty = hot” only just raise a smile, for every scare there are a bunch of laughs. The soundtrack is awesome including The Black Kids, Screeching Weasel and White Lies (who appear to be on the soundtrack to EVERY teen show in the US).

Amanda Seyfried is charming, as always, and although you can obviously tell that underneath the glasses and dorky hair she is, in fact, gorgeous, she plays the ugly duckling /nerdy role well. Megan Fox is just as convincing as bitchy Jennifer, a character you’ll love to hate, and of course, Megan is as “salty” as always!

Tom Ford. Not content with being the most stylish man on the planet, creative director of Gucci, and starting his own fashion label, has turned his hand to film. While the history of fashion’s brightest trying their luck in Hollywood might have given Mr. Ford cause for trepidation, his directorial debut – with production and writing credits to boot – is a triumph!

Considering his career to date you would be forgiven for thinking that A Single Man would just be ‘quite nice to look at’, indeed it is, but this is a stunning film with an emotional depth and visual prowess far beyond what could reasonably be expected of a first time director.

Based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood, A Single Man is set in Los Angeles in the early 60’s and stars Colin Firth (Mamma Mia/ Bridget Jones) as George, a middle-aged English professor coming to terms (or not) with the unexpected death of his partner. Simply put, the film is a day in the life of George struggling with his world, empty and colourless as he now sees it, with the back-story revealed in a series of flashbacks.

The beginning of the movie is quite sombre. There is a distinct lack of colour, and the first scenes are of a recurring dream that George has of drowning, and visions of his partner Jim – played by Matthew Goode (Leap Year / Watchmen) – in the aftermath of his car crash. Particular attention is paid to the sound throughout the movie, and in these scenes in particular, as every day noises are presented as an unwelcome assault to the senses. Clearly, the message is that George is a very lonely guy!

From the outset, no attention to detail has been spared in recreating the period. After the dream sequence we are taken on a tour of the beautiful ‘glass house’ where George lives bringing a very stylised version of the 60’s back to life – think Mad Men in a show home! When George leaves for work we are shown the idyllic American of the nuclear family and white picket fence neighbourhood he lives in. When he arrives at work, the schoolyard is full of beatniks, letterman jacket wearing jocks, and of course, curvy girls with big hair chain smoking. Fabulous!

It is at this point when we can see colour start to infuse George’s life, literally, with a warm rush of colour to the screen as his drab day is transformed into glorious Technicolor when he encounters a handsome young student, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult – Clash of the Titans). This is repeated throughout the movie whenever George’s permanent state of melancholy is challenged by encounters with truth, love, youth, and intelligence.

After a foreboding lecture on, appropriately, After Many A Summer by Aldous Huxley, we are introduced to George’s best pal/ex-lover/sole confidante Charley, a chain smoking fellow British ex-pat, expertly portrayed by Julianne Moore (The End Of The Affair / Children Of Men), as they make arrangements for the evening. However, as the day unfolds there are a multitude of signs that George might have an entirely different evening planned…

Much has been made of the performances in this movie, and rightly so. If anything, I would say Julianne Moore has, once again, been criminally overlooked! Surely, a little gold man is due sometime soon! Colin Firth has just been awarded a BAFTA and is justly nominated for Oscar gold for his arresting performance and Nicholas Hoult gets a BAFTA breakthrough nod for his first major feature role as a grown up. Not too shabby!

Despite the heartbreaking story at the core, the movie is a joy to watch. Coming in around 90 minutes, it is perfectly paced without a hint of a flabby mid-section! You will not enjoy a more handsome film this year!

A Single Man is in cinemas now.

This week at blinkbox we are celebrating the Best Of British film with lots of shiny new Brit flicks available to stream. We also have loads of classic films from the British Film Institute now available for free! (yes, FREE!)

The BAFTA awards are just around the corner and there are nominations galore for British talent this year, so let’s have a look at the best of the Brits, the contenders for Outstanding British Film…

1. Fish Tank
Andrea Arnold’s follow up to the brilliant Red Road is Fish Tank, winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2009. It tells the story of the changes in mother/daughter relationship between Joanne (Kierston Wareing) and Mia (Katie Jarvis) when Joanne brings home a new boyfriend (Michael Fassbender). Set in council estate Essex, this is a superb, if painfully grim, slice of life in hum-drum suburban Britain with outstanding performances from all three leads, particularly newcomer Katie Jarvis.

2. An Education
Leading the BAFTA hopefuls with 8 nominations (equal to Avatar and The Hurt Locker) An Education is certain to triumph in at least a few of its many nomination categories – Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Carey Mulligan – Best Actress, Alfred Molina – Best Supporting Actor, and Nick Hornby for Adapted Screenplay. I’ve already raved about this beautiful film in a previous post, so let’s just cut straight to the action…

3. In The Loop
Written and directed by the genius behind the BBC’s Thick Of It, Armando Iannucci, In The Loop is a hilarious political satire focusing on the ’special relationship’ between the UK and the USA. The film centres on Malcolm Tucker’s (Peter Capaldi) involvement in a fictional (?) drive for war in the Middle East. Featuring superb performances from Peter Capaldi as the UK spin doctor and Tony Soprano himself – James Gandolfini – as the dovish US Lt. General Miller, In The Loop is for all intents and purposes, an extension of The Thick Of It onto the big screen. Sure to delight fans of the TV show and anyone with the ability to laugh!

4. Moon
A stunning debut feature from Duncan Jones starring Sam Rockwell (Frost/Nixon) as an astronaut nearing the end of a 3 year moon mining expedition to replenish Earth’s depleted energy supplies. With only video messages from his wife and a robot voiced by Kevin Spacey for company, solitude and loneliness are getting the best of him, but when he wakes up following a freak accident on his moon buggy, he has the sense he is no longer alone… A tense film expertly crafted by Jones in the vein of sci-fi classics such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris. Brilliant!

5. Nowhere Boy
Sam Taylor Wood’s Nowhere Boy is a biopic of the pre-Beatles John Lennon. Focusing on his relationship with his mother and aunt and his burgeoning musical interest, the movie takes us through Lennon’s teenage life and shows what shaped the man. Exceptional performances from Kristin Scott Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff have secured BAFTA nominations for both in the supporting actress category, with Sam Taylor Wood nominated for Outstanding British Debut, and Aaron Johnson’s portrayal of Lennon earning him a Best Actor nomination at the British Independent Film Awards.

All in all a great year for British films at the BAFTAs, assuming The Hurt Locker and Up In The Air don’t swipe the lot! And with nominations for Colin Firth and Nicholas Hoult for Tom Ford’s magnificent directorial debut A Single Man, as well as Andy Serkis for Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll there are sure to be a few heavier mantelpieces in London after Sunday.

Winter ghouls getting you down? Fear not, the Winchester boys are back! That’s right, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles return for more action in the CW network’s hottest show!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Winchester boys’ family business – hunting demons! – head straight over to our Supernatural page where you’ve got 82 thrilling hours of television to catch up on!

I know the rest of you have been on tenterhooks awaiting the return of Sam and Dean as much as we have, so let’s get back up to speed! You remember Season 4, right…?

Dean was raised from hell by the angel Castiel after being tricked into opening the first of the 66 seals keeping Lucifer in his toasty den… The almighty battle between the angels and Lilith’s demon disciples that ensued… Sam getting his vamp on drinking from foxy demon Ruby to enhance his psychic strength and kill Lilith – breaking the final seal…

… Well the gates of hell really opened wide after that! Season 5 kicks off with Lucifer on the rampage and the apocalypse in full swing!

What will Season 5 bring for our heroes? Will Dean give in to the angels and take his place leading a war on El Diablo himself? Will Sam delve any deeper into his demon side? Will Castiel get his wings back? Will they have new haircuts? All these questions, and more, sure to be answered as the boys continue fighting the good fight – taking on vampires, tricksters, and erm, the ghost of Ghandi!

All done in a black ‘67 Chevy Impala – so cool, it hurts!

So that day is almost upon us. The day when half the world seems to be dancing to a joyful tune sung by the birds of spring for only them to hear, while the other half wallows in the dark clouds of self pity and resentment. Of course, I’m talking about Valentine’s day. Whichever side of this great social divide you find yourself on this year, we at blinkbox have something for you. Click here to check our love or hate Valentine’s selection of movies.

You will, by now, have been bombarded with images of happy couples, stuffed animals holding glittering love hearts, and the general merriment of those in love. As always, Hollywood will be leading the pack with a slew of mushy romantic ‘dramadies’ on offer, this year’s front runner being Valentine’s Day.

For those of you who like a little less saccharine on the silver screen there is one movie which stands with its head high above the schmaltz pit. As the antithesis to all the happy ever after stories we know and love, (500) Days Of Summer is a refreshing dose of love versus life. The tagline for the movie says it all: “Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t.”

Starring two of Hollywood’s most exciting and gifted young actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, 500 Days tells the story of a sometimes joyous, sometimes torturous relationship between Levitt’s Tom and Deschanel’s Summer.

Our kooky kids meet when Summer starts a new job at the greetings card company that Tom (a frustrated architect) works for. It’s love at first sight, well, for Tom at least. Ever the miserabilist, he is certain nothing will come of his infatuation until one day while listening to The Smiths in the elevator, Summer starts singing along to ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’. Such encounters a malcontent’s youthful dreams are made of. Tom then resolves to win her over when the office team go out for karaoke. They chat about love and life, sing a few numbers, and pretty soon they are going out on dates to IKEA – not as tragic as it sounds!

I’m not giving anything away by telling you that things do not go smoothly for very long – the clue is in the title! Director Marc Webb (rumoured to be helming the Spider-man reboot) does a great job in pacing (500) Days Of Summer. The movie chapters are split so that the early/good days are interspersed with the post-break up/miserable days. This actually heightens the anticipation to see events unfolding (even in reverse order) as you just have to know what happened to these kids!

It’s important to say at this point that there is a great sense of humour throughout the whole movie. There is a classic corny dance segment (complete with cartoon birds) after Tom and Summer first spend the night – if it doesn’t bring a smile to your face, you’re dead on the inside! Even when Tom feels like his world is ending there are still a few visual gags: grocery shopping in a bathrobe, anyone? All of this set to a soundtrack of the best songs put to celluloid in recent memory (a must have!). The supporting cast are brilliant and colourful, including Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds) as Tom’s hilarious best friend and Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass) as his worldly little sister. The heart of the movie is, of course, the relationship between Tom and Summer. Both characters are played to perfection and are incredibly enjoyable to watch, to such a degree that you can’t help falling in love with them both and join in their joy… and sorrow.

Twilight, True Blood, Daybreakers, the Vampire videography seems to grow by the week. For those of you, like me, who can’t get enough of the Cullens, the Stackhouses, et al, get ready to give up another hour a week of your hard earned free time as The Vampire Diaries swoops onto blinkbox. Based on the book series by L.J. Smith, The Vampire Diaries was one of the biggest US TV success stories of the season.

Of course, I have streamed the first two episodes already and as a seasoned observer of all vampire related entertainment, I can happily report that all necessary teen vamp mythology has been adhered to. Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) is a 162 year-old (but still teenaged) soft spoken, brooding, lovelorn, journal keeping vamp who abstains from human blood. Our human, Elena (Nina Dobrev) has, of course, a tragedy in her recent history (the death of her parents), loves to ‘journal’ in the cemetery, and rather conveniently, has a taste for pale boys in leather jackets. She’s also a dead ringer for Stefan’s long lost love. All par for the course.

Episode 1 begins with a young couple traveling through the forest in the dead of night returning from a gig declaring their love for each other (yawn), when they accidentally hit someone with their car (yay!). The brave boyfriend ventures out to check out the trampled guy and in a flash of fangs disappears only to be dropped on the car with his neck chewed out. Cue much screaming from the terrified girlfriend as she starts running away only to be swept up into the night herself. Safe to say this is not a case for animal control!

Day breaks and it’s first day back at school after what appears to have been an eventful summer. Elena is still coming to terms with the death of her parents, and is worried about the effect on her brother Jeremy who has become a stoner to ease the pain. She sets out for school with her quirky best mate Bonnie (who is apparently psychic) where we are introduced to the other main players at school; Tyler – the Jock, Caroline – the pretty/popular girl, and a mysterious newcomer, Stefan, who we, the viewer, see ‘glamour’ his way through registration (apparently you only need the approval of a secretary to enrol in this school). After a standard 90210-style teen angst day at school trying to hide her misery from her friends, and being stalked by a crow, Elena winds up in the cemetery writing in her journal by her parents’ grave stone. Engrossed in her writing, she is oblivious to the dry-ice machine working overtime behind her (in the daytime, no less!), but is startled by the stalker crow, and scurries off through the grave stones only to fall over, cutting her leg, and bumps into Stefan who has appeared out of nowhere. After a few moments of awkward conversation Stefan can smell the blood from her leg and dramatically turns his head away from her as the veins in his face seem to ignite under his skin, his eyes turn dark, and his fangs are revealed. Obviously having a bit of trouble with the whole Veggie-Vamp thing!

I think that’s enough of an incentive to get you guys going! I will say, however, that events heat up towars the end of episode 1 with the arrival of another major character. All in all, episode 1 sets the season up rather nicely, and having watched episode 2, it goes from strength to strength. While it might not end up rivaling the truly awesome True Blood, The Vampire Diaries is a different beast altogether and I’m sure most of you are going to lap it up.

I need another TV show obsession like a hole in the head but always ready to gorge on tasty TV goodness, I thought I’d check ABC’s highly recommended Eastwick.

It is my humble opinion that witches have been grossly under-represented on TV since the glory days of Willow and Tara on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but after watching Eastwick I am glad to report that there are 3 new girls in town brewing up a supernatural storm!

The premise of the show is familiar: a mysterious stranger bestows magical powers on three-not-unattractive-ladies. Based, of course, on the classic movie The Witches Of Eastwick.

The show stars Rebecca Romijn (Ugly Betty, X-Men), Lindsay Price (Lipstick Jungle, 90210) and Jaime Ray Newman (teen TV fans might recognise her as Mindy O’Dell from the criminally overlooked Veronica Mars), as our paranormal protagonists. The series kicks off introducing each of our enchantresses at the Eastwick town fair celebrating the rich, magical history of the town (witch burning by a swathe of rabid pilgrims). As chance (and script writers) would have it, three coins fall from the skies directly into the paths of our ladies, each of them takes the coin to the local wishing fountain in the town square to make a wish – simultaneously, of course! Cue gusts of wind, blowing hair and dramatic music. Seconds later Veronica Cartwright is attacked by red ants while reading a story to a particularly well-behaved group of children, and the fun begins!

A handsome stranger from New York (Paul Gross) arrives shortly after, and implants himself firmly in the middle of the shenanigans. Buying up half the town, and managing to hit on all three of our ladies in one day, he hints at our heroes’ latent powers and encourages their harnessing. Despite Veronica Cartwright waking up from a coma just to deliver a garbled foreboding message regarding this charming newcomer, our ladies pay little attention, and continue with business as…well, i wouldn’t say usual; after some psychic nightmares, earthquakes and impromptu hypnosis, we have some drama on our hands!

Now, I’m not going to give away the ending, but let’s just say after episode 1… I’m already hooked.

Conjure me up the next episode of Eastwick please…