Tag: series

Shadowhunters Series Review

April 10, 2016

*** This will probably contain spoilers!***

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this series, I was really excited but also apprehensive for another adaptation of one of my favourite book series. I was very happy with the cast aesthetically, in my opinion they looked perfect, but my main concern was whether they would stay true to the characters and whether they could actually act!

With the first few episodes I was a little worried with the casting choices, I felt Dom and Kat as Jace and Clary were showing weaker performances than the rest of the cast, however I feel this was partly due to a mediocre script. Nevertheless I was compelled to keep watching week after week and it started to become such a guilty pleasure! But, I was really pleased to see that with each episode the script got stronger and the acting got stronger, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out if they filmed chronologically because I could see them settle into their characters and explore them more and more! Some of the performances I was really impressed by was Alberto who played Simon, I really felt as though he completely captured the heart of Simon and acted him so beautifully! Also I felt Mathew’s performance as Alec was also was superb as well as Alan Van Sprang’s portrayal of the evil Valentine! However, I have to give Dom and Kat credit for their emotional performances, especially towards the end of the series, they looked really tough but they did amazingly and I felt they have really grown grown as actors throughout the show! I also thought that Dom’s American accent was really good, but to be honest I wouldn’t know a lot about that because I have an English accent myself and I’m shockingly bad at the American accent, so I’ll probably think anything sounding remotely like an American accent is good! (If you know more about accents than me, please comment your thoughts on his accent!)

I quite liked where the show writers took the events of the books, it kept me on my toes and gave me a few surprises which I really liked! But I was mainly happy because the story was still recognizable and wasn’t completely different to the book. Some of the added bits that I really enjoyed was how they interpreted Malec and the whole wedding with Lydia, not going to lie it had me a little worried, but I should have had more faith in the writers and in Cassie that Malec will always prevail! Although saying that, I really liked how the wedding brought out the conflicting emotions within Alec and how he wants to have alliance with Jace but he also wants to impress his parents and the Clave. I also really liked how Valentine disguised himself as Micheal Wayland, it gave all of us book lovers a great cliff hanger and left us all completely confused as to how this major plot point in the book would be played out in the show! It left me tense and excited and I love that!

Overall I really did enjoy this show and I’m so glad things picked up and that they stayed faithful to the characters and to (most) of the book! I’m going to award this 4 out of 5 stars, I cannot wait for season 2! Hazaarr!

War and Peace (BBC) – Series Review

February 17, 2016

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Amy:

Words can’t describe how much I loved this series/adaptation, it was beautiful. From the dramatic and heartbreaking storyline to the glamorous costumes and locations; it was just wonderful. For some reason I’ve always had a love of Russian history and the country itself so when I saw the trailer for ‘War and Peace’ I instantly knew I would have to watch it and would definitely fall in love with it.

This unique adaptation includes everything you would want from a mini series; it was heart-renching, romantic, dramatic and just simply shattering. The different locations contrasted really well with each other whether it was in the lavish mansion in Moscow, or the peaceful country home or even the bloody battlefields of Russia – everything worked! I have to admit I have some serious costume envy as some of the gowns the women wore were out of this world as well as some of the male uniforms!

Personally, I thought every role was played to perfection and the cast was brilliant; Lily James, Paul Dano, and of course James Norton *heart eye emoji*! The series was told from the three different view points and are all intimately connected with the national history that is played out in parallel with their lives. I loved that these three main characters crossed paths and were all connected in different ways. Each storyline was unique and dramatic which made it hard to pick a favourite, nevertheless, each one made me cry, scream and smile!

I could go on for hours praising this series but I have restrained myself! I absolutely loved this mini-series and it is easy to say it is now one of my favourites which I highly recommend to everyone, 5/5 stars!! Certainly, ‘the greatest costume drama of the decade’, now I just need to read the book…

Eleanor:

I didn’t actually plan to watch this TV series, I only started watching it because my dad started watching it so THANK YOU DAD! I would have seriously missed out if he hadn’t flicked over to BBC1 on a Sunday night! This series really ensnares you right from the beginning, you instantly fall in love with the characters and genuinely form an emotional bond with them, which means that for the whole series you have your heart in your mouth!

I found the series really interesting especially as I studied Russian History last year for my AS exams, although at the time it was the bane of my existence, I can now look back in hindsight and appreciate how rich and special their history is. This series beautifully accentuates Russia and what a stunning country it is, like Amy said, across the series we were shown a broad scope of Russia and it’s history from the grand ballrooms of Moscow to the bloody battlefield of Borodino, it was all so rich, very well directed and choreographed! The acting was also terrific, Lily James is just flawless let’s be honest (and seems to be in EVERYTHING, good for her!) also James Norton’s god-like features, and Paul Dano, who I was amazed to find out wasn’t English!?! His accent was so good!

I loved how this story entwined and spanned across a multitude of years, we saw the characters grow, make mistakes and learn from their mistakes, some of the story arcs are quite spectacular! Just a warning though, by the end of it I was in FLOODS of tears… It was truly brilliant and provided me with one of my, now, favourite quotes “As long as there is life there is happiness”. I highly encourage you to watch the on iPlayer, Netflix, or any other online source, it is incredible! One of the easiest 5 out of 5 stars I’ve given!