Adapting for Screen – The Handmaid’s Tale, Part 1

The Handmaid’s Tale was high concept. It’s premise especially intriguing. Especially to someone with a close circle of proactive feminists who all had something to say about it. But that wasn’t what I was thinking when I stood in Waterstones contemplating my purchase. At the time Hulu had just announced a TV adaptation of The […]

How to Efficiently Establish Character – Don’t Breathe

We all have that friend who likes to get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Instead of cutting corners they’re cutting to the core of the problem. That friend is probably a screenwriter. Or, at least, they should be. If you’re anything like me, when you come to write a screenplay your head […]

What’s Wrong With Star Wars: The Last Jedi? Answer: The Fans

Spoilers ahead. No seriously don’t read on if you’d rather be surprised. Or unless you actually listen to the rabid fan base who say it’s shit. The critics are right for once. Shockingly! Oh wait, wasn’t that paragraph meant to be a simple disclaimer? Sorry. Ahem. Major Spoilers Ahead. Now let’s jump onto something more […]

Do Androids Eat Electric Sheep? Who Cares, Blade Runner 2049 is Brilliant

Warning: Spoilers (River Song voice) Yesterday I saw Blade Runner 2049 with my Dad. He bought a senior ticket, one and a half quid off. Apparently there are benefits to being sixty. We went to an IMAX screening and its aim of being an EXPERIENCE are wholeheartedly achieved. Finally, a cinema EXPERIENCE that lives up to […]

The X-Files Season 11 Trailer: A J.D. Reaction

It was all too much. My body produced an overcharge of geek endorphins and to avoid betraying my cool exterior, I simply looked away and composed myself. That was just the first ten seconds. The trailer for the next X-Files season was released during the cast and crew panel at last weeks New York Comic […]

Scrap That! Start Over: Rebooting Halloween and The Terminator

Isn’t it great how easy it is to forget our past mistakes? No matter how spectacular our pitiful, brainless screw ups and questionable judgement that results in years of bitterness and regret are, we can simply pluck it out of existence and move forward with our past errors fluttering away in some alternative universe. Isn’t […]

Theater of Fear & Horror : Expanded Edition: The Grisly Spectacle of the Grand Guignol of Paris, 1897-1962 – Review

The legacy of the Grand Guignol is still overlooked by many horror fans. The melodramatic and often stomach churning plays, as performed at the small Le Théâtre du Grand Guignol, had as great an impact on 20th century horror as gothic novels and art. Thankfully, the third edition of Mel Gordon’s acclaimed book provides an […]

Prevenge Review

The first I ever heard of Prevenge was when attending a talk with Alice Lowe at the York Aesthetica Film Festival last November. While discussing her body of work, she went on to talk about her latest project that was going around the festival circuit. If the premise of a pregnant woman who goes on […]

Russell Howard: Round The World Tour at the Manchester Arena Review

Last night, I broke an all time absolute never by attending a stand up comedy show in an arena. Personally I prefer the intimacy of a comedy club. It really does take a talented and confident performer like Russell Howard to keep 10,000 plus people laughing for nearly two hours. He didn’t disappoint. Performing on […]

Dexter Morgan: The Moral and Well-Loved Serial Killer

Dexter Morgan might just be the world’s most-loved serial killer; blood-spatter analyst for Miami Metro Homicide by day, and a killer by night – but only a killer of killers. What makes Dexter so fascinatingly different is that he has a code to follow for his victims – they must be, without a doubt, murderers […]