NorthamptonFandom

Doctor Who: About Time

I vowed to my brother, that as much as I liked previous doctors, the next Doctor either had to be an ethnic minority and / or a woman, otherwise I would not be watching it. Doctor Who should be a reflection of our world and society. And our society is made up of more people than cisgendered, white men. Yes, it’s a science fiction…

Vanity Fair: Humbugs, Fools and Othered Visions

Based on the 1848 novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair is set against Victorian London and the Napoleonic Wars, following Becky Sharp (Olivia Cooke) in her attempt to elevate herself out of poverty into English High Society. It’s “a vain, wicked, foolish place” narrates Michael Palin, as Thackeray. “Full of all sorts…

Black Earth Rising: The White Man’s Burden

Revolving around Kate Ashby (Michaela Coel), Black Earth Rising follows her in as a legal investigator in the chambers of Michael Ennis (John Goodman). When her mother Eve Ashby (Harriet Walter), an international criminal lawyer, takes a case in which she will prosecute Rwandan militia leader Simon Nyamoya (David Sapani), the…

The Hate U Give: This Is America - certainly one of the best YA films since The Graduate and it's my favourite film of 2018 and it's unlikely to move from poll position #TheHateUGive #THUG #policebrutality #ThisIsAmerica

Starr Carter (Amanda Stenberg) is always switching between environments. The first one is the poor, working-class, mainly Black neighbourhood where she lives with her parents (Regina Hall, Russel Horsby) and brothers (Lamar Johnson, TJ Wright). The other is the rich, mostly White, private school she attends. The code-switching…

The Hate U Give: This Is America

Starr Carter (Amanda Stenberg) is always switching between environments. The first one is the poor, working-class, mainly Black neighbourhood where she lives with her parents (Regina Hall, Russel Horsby) and brothers (Lamar Johnson, TJ Wright). The other is the rich, mostly White, private school she attends. The code-switching…

The Handmaid’s Tale: The Future Is Female

Without Margaret Atwood’s novel to fall back on, season two of The Handmaid’s Tale takes audiences to new heights. Even if you have never watched the show or read the original text, you will know from people that have certainly told you to watch it that it’s just dark. It’s a show with no hope. Season two wastes no time in showing…

A24’s The Children Act: Dear God

As her marriage to Jack Maye (Stanley Tucci) depletes, High Court judge Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson) has to make a decision that will change lives forever, both her own and that of a teenage boy called Adam (Fionn Whitehead) and his parents (Ben Chaplin, Eileen Walsh). Should High Court judge Fiona Maye legally compel Adam to have a…

BlacKkKlansman: Rebirth Of A Nation

Based on the 2014 memoir Black Klansman by the real Ron Stallworth, co-written and directed by Spike Lee (She Gotta Have It), and co-produced by Jordan Peele (Get Out), BlacKkKlansman offers an insight at race relations in America today in 2018 and back in the 1970s, and from an earlier time. In the thick of the 1970s Civil Rights…

BBC One’s Bodyguard: Nation On The Take

From the makers of Line of Duty comes Bodyguard. It tells the story of David Budd (Richard Madden), an Afghanistan war veteran turned police officer suffering from PTSD. Working as protection for high profile people as part of of London’s Metropolitan Police Service, he is assigned to the over-zealous, ambitious Home Secretary…

Following the death of Matthew Murdock / Daredevil (Charlie Cox) in The Defenders, it was his final wish that Danny Rand protect his city from those who would do it harm. As rival mobs, the Golden Tigers and the Hatchets, battle to fill the power vacuum left by The Hand, Danny (Finn Jones) and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) meet an old friend. Whilst doing volunteer work at Bayard Community Centre, she discovers a mysterious box containing her family’s crest. She decides to search for the original owner. Danny meets Mary (Alice Eve), a newbie to New York, whilst Joy (Jessica Stroup) and Ward Meachum (Tom Pelphrey) have at it as she decides to leave Rand.

Season two is very much a step above its predecessor, and I liked that season as well. Much akin to other Netflix shows like thirteenth-century period drama Marco Polo, the fight scenes are glorious to watch. This season wasn’t rushed like season one and it’s all the better for it. It may not have the viewership of say, Daredevil, but it’s still a good time nonetheless. He comes into this season filling in for Matt Murdock, the man without fear, Hell’s Kitchen’s Daredevil, following his “death” at the end of the Battle of Midland Circle in The Defenders. Additionally, Danny is coming to understand his privilege and how that defines him, despite choosing not to live off his billions.

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In “The Main Ingredient” (Luke Cage), Luke shows Danny his privilege. Walking into Mariah Dillard’s club Danny was untouchable. The concept of White privilege was portrayed simply; he was untouchable and even then, Danny still refuses to live off his father’s money. Being rich (and White) in Harlem is kind of like being bulletproof. In the Netflixverse occupied by a bulletproof Black man, a kickass PI, a blind ninja and a man who picks off gangsters with military grade weaponry from city rooftops, the addition of a rich White guy skilled with kung fu is weird. However, it’s a great balance to Luke Cage, and he might be the only person who could actually make a dent in him.

The best thing about this season is perhaps its seamless ten-episode length. All these shows should have been ten episodes from the beginning. The shorter season is an improvement, and it sorts the pacing issues that most of these shows have as well. The Defenders was eight episodes but that was the final phase of what could be defined as the Marvel/Netflix Phase 1. All these shows, maybe except The Punisher, have suffered from the thirteen-episode season model. This is more notable in season one of Luke Cage and season two of Daredevil. If there were ten episodes instead of thirteen in the latter, the arc with Elektra and The Hand would have been more bearable.

The chemistry between Danny (Finn Jones) and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) is epic (Iron Fist, Netflix)

Overall, this is a superior season, and puts the spotlight on women, especially Detective Misty Knight (Simone Missick) and her totally badass… I mean mechanical arm which is half a season plus worth of fun. Jessica Stroup continues to slay as the compelling Joy Meachum and I loved her scenes with Davos (Sacha Dhawan), and Colleen Wing is on screen a lot more too. From her epic fight scenes to trying to street children who have fallen on hard times, young people who have been manipulated and don’t know any better. When are we getting a Colleen Wing and Misty Knight spin-off? This needs to happen; either that or Luke Cage and Iron Fist in their own show?

Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) as Mary, or as comic fans would correct you, Typhoid Mary, is fantastic. A woman ailed with DID AKA Dissociative Identity Disorder, a very real condition that is often portrayed as cartoonish and frequently falls into disorder stereotypes. But Eve gives one of my favourite performances of the year. Simultaneously, Davos is the lead villain and a compelling one, who poses a very real threat to Danny and everything he’s tried to build. Dhawan delivers a brilliant performance, and honestly it’s really the antagonists that steal the show, as they often do within the Netflixverse. From Mary to Kilgrave to Fisk, heroes always get out-acted by the big bad.

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From warring siblings to allusions to fighting dragons (gimme an actual dragon next season), Iron Fist is truly the underdog of these shows but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. I love all these shows and they continue to go from strength to strength. Next stop, Daredevil on October 19. I can’t wait.

Ninjas, glowing fists and martial arts, what’s not to like?

Netflix’s Sierra Burgess Is A Loser

Sierra, played by Shannon Purser (Barbara in Stranger Things) is intelligent but unpopular and wants to go to Stanford University. She doesn’t fit traditional beauty standards but she’s witty and charming. Mean girl Veronica (Kristine Froseth) does her utmost to ruin Sierra’s life with verbal bullying, cruel taunts on her…

Netflix’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

Recently on Netflix’s slate of original films, I saw To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Lead character Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor) pens letters her past loves. The letters were simply meant to be for her, until all the letters are somehow sent to them. Her life is then thrown into disorder when all the boys she’s loved before…

Dear White People: Unrivalled Blackness

With the fallout from season one’s protests at Town Hall, and the fire at Davis House forcing integration at Armstrong-Parker, the Black students are pushed to adapt. Samantha White (Logan Browning) deals with trolls for being a dual-heritage activist, while in an ongoing dispute with Gabe Mitchell (John Patrick Amedori). Reggie…

Marvel’s Jessica Jones: Trauma Through A Screen

After killing Kilgrave (David Tennant), kick-ass PI Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) is now outed as a vigilante hero in her neighbourhood Hell’s Kitchen and around New York City. Her best friend Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor) urges her to investigate her past and IGH, the company that gave her powers. Meanwhile, another PI Pryce Cheng…

Poldark: An Angry Tide Under Swash

Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) sits as MP for Truro. His time is divided between London and Cornwall and his thoughts divided about his wife, Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson). His feud with George Warleggan (Jack Farthing) persists, as does the forbidden love between Drake Carne (Harry Richardson) and Morwenna Chynoweth / Whitworth (Ellise…

13 Reasons Why: After Hannah Baker

Season two picks up five months after the events of season one. ‘The First Polaroid’ shows the start of The Trial of Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford) and Tyler (Devin Druid) is first to testify. Clay (Dylan Minnette) is starting to hallucinate about Hannah and this whole season is about the fallout of the tapes but also how…