Still on the run after 21 days, are family man Nick Cummings, best friends Anna and Elizabeth and dubious friends Ayo and Madu who have since gone their separate ways.
After taking a backseat in the last couple of episodes, Anna and Elizabeth feature a bit more heavily here. I like the two girls. They're young, perhaps a little naive, but spunky and determined. Their relationship strongly reminds me of last year's winners, Ian and Stephen, who were good entertainment.
When we catch up with the girls, we find out that they are hiding in Warwickshire. Deputy Ben Owen of the Hunters, formally in military intelligence, predicts that now the fugitives are so close to the finish line, they'll return home to group for that one final push. So the Hunters unleash another social media campaign. Meanwhile, the girls fall into the Hunters' trap. They return to their home country of Yorkshire and after hiking through the Yorkshire Dales for two days, they make contact with a Steve Barnett who shelters them. However, the Hunters have Barnett on their radar and move to intercept him. The girls make it away in time.
After Nick Cummings spectacularly tricking the Hunters last episode, he is in more of the background here. From Tring, Hertfordshire, he's moved south to Buckinghamshire, where he is visiting some childhood haunts. He then makes the wise decision of changing his clothes and that's all we se see of him for this episode. Great, as that means he'll be in next week's finale. Although anyone else find it strange that the Hunters didn't question Richard after catching him last week?
Time to move to Ayo who I was sure would be caught last episode. He makes the foolhardy decision of returning to his home turf of Hackney with the Hunters in hot pursuit. With ground teams, drone and dogs, I thought that Ayo would be dead meat, but no, one of his friends successfully drove him to safety. This was where I was glad to see Ayo finally showing some common sense. When his friend suggests to take Ayo to his mother's house, Ayo straight-out refuses knowing that it is not safe. Smart decision, as the Hunters have target Ayo's mother, but he continues to evade them.
Finally, we have come to Madu. We've not seen much of him, as he's been overshadowed by the louder, more extroverted Ayo. But now the two have split up, Madu finally got his moment to shine. Originally hiding with a stranger in Lancashire, Madu decides to go to Swansea to get into contact with some of his ex-university friends, falling into the Hunters' trap. The Hunters predict he would return to Swansea and pay a visit to his main contact. They take the electronics and leave. When Madu arrives, he is warned off and stays in a derelict beach house, where we see him start to break. Just like last year's formidable Ricky Allen, we see Madu beginning to give up. This is where he realises that he's pushed his luck and decides to leave Wales, committing two rookies errors in the process. Firstly, he uses a stranger's phone to call a contact, whom the Hunters are monitoring, to ask for more money. Secondly, he decides to get on a train to Reading. As the station is crawling with CCTV, the Hunters quickly spot Madu and identify where he is likely to be heading. Unable to stop him from getting on the train, they dispatch a team to Reading, but Madu gets there first. He wanders through the town centre telling everyone about his plans and asking where he can go to me meet his contact. With the Hunters right on his tail, Madu's paranoia grows and he heads out of the city onto the canal. Here he tells eve more people about his plans before he is directed to meet his contact at the Cunning Man pub. Madu goes to the pub, but he realises his foolhardiness when he notices how many security cameras there are. Oh and that the Hunters are lying in wait too. After a brief chase, Madu is caught.
It is very interesting to see the role reversal of Madu and Ayo. Wherea before, Ayo was the more reckless one, in this episode it is Madu whose overconfidence and carelessness that gets him caught. This was a surprise, as I thought he had a good chance, now that he had separated from Ayo. Although there is something quite telling in how the loose cannon Ayo is still at large, but it was the methodical, organised Madu who got caught. Perhaps Ayo's more unpredictable, foolhardy approach like Ayo.
So next week is the season finale with Ayo, Anna and Elizabeth and Nick Cummings still on the run. Will any of them make it for the full 28 days? I sure hope so. GO NICK!
Top tips for going on the run:
1. Don't call or visit home. This is the first place Hunters will look. It's what almost caught out Anna and Elizabeth.
2. Don't use the trains. Not only are they crawling with CCTV, but the Hunters can easily predict your next move. This is what caught out Madu.
3. Don't become overconfident. You're never safe, only safer. Madu's overconfidence is just another reason he got caught this week.
Sunday, 27 November 2016
Yojimbo Review
Number 96 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1961 jidaigeki film Yojimbo.
The first Japanese film I've reviewed since The Seven Samurai and also the film that inspired Sergio Leone's Dollars' Trilogy including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Yojimbo focuses on Sanjuro Kuwabatake, a ronin. When Sanjuro wanders into an impoverished country town, he finds himself caught up in a war between two different clans of bandits. As much as he tries to stay neutral, he finds himself drawn into the conflict as both sides want him to act as their bodyguard or Yojimbo.
From an outsider's perspective, this was an interesting film to watch. I don't know much about Japanese history, so it was definitely interesting learning about Japan's Edo period. I especially liked watching how Yojimbo focused on the family. The two warring factions are led by Ushitora and Sebei. At one point friends, Ushitora rebels against Sebei when the latter hands over the reigns of the gang to his son, Yoichiro, who is not up to the task. A second example of family comes right at the beginning of the film where Sanjuro witnesses a son arguing to his elderly parents that he wants to make something of his life by joining the bandits, rather than live the rest of his life as a boring, dull farmer. At the end of the film, in the final confrontation, when Sanjuro is killing all of the bandits, he spares the son telling him to go home and enjoy a quiet life. This was a nice touch and a good way to bring the film full circle. Sometimes it is better to fade away eating gruel rather than dying young in a blaze of glory.
All of this notwithstanding, I can't say that I particularly enjoyed this film. I found it tedious and difficult to follow at times. I did get confused between the large cast of characters and especially about who was on whose side. Every so often I had to pause the film and read the IMDB summary to catch up on everything that was happening. Plus the special effects and fight scenes were pretty poor as well. I know that this was a black and white film in the 60's, but they were so obviously fake.
All in all this was a film that made very little impression on me. I can't remember much of what I watched, but it'll be interesting to come back to this film, after I have watched the Spaghetti Western classic it inspired: A Fistful of Dollars.
The first Japanese film I've reviewed since The Seven Samurai and also the film that inspired Sergio Leone's Dollars' Trilogy including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Yojimbo focuses on Sanjuro Kuwabatake, a ronin. When Sanjuro wanders into an impoverished country town, he finds himself caught up in a war between two different clans of bandits. As much as he tries to stay neutral, he finds himself drawn into the conflict as both sides want him to act as their bodyguard or Yojimbo.
Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Hunted Episode 4 Review
So we're now 18 days into Hunted and with Lolly being caught last week, we have three groups of fugitives on the run: solo fugitive Nick and the two pairs Ayo and Madu and Anna and Elizabeth.
Just like last week, Anna and Elizabeth take a back seat in this episode. After hitchhiking over 2000 miles, they decide to stop in Windsor for the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations and that's all we know for this episode.
When first introduced to Nick Cummins, I had described him as bumbling Englishman, sweet and likeable, but utterly incompetent. However, he has continously left me eating my words, as he's managed to evade the Hunters for close to three weeks now.
The Hunters struggling to pin anything on him, having identified that he is a family man, suspect that that he is staying close to home. Afterwards they interview his wife and bug his home. Their suspicions are proved correct, when it is revealed that Nick is only 30 miles from his home. Camping in public camping grounds, before being taken in by stranger Richard and his family, Nick decides to return home to get money from his wife, Joanne. Nick plays it safe by staying in the garden and having his son go fetch her. This is where Joanne shows her loyalty and intelligence. She warns Nick about how the Hunters know about his workman costume and have probably bugged her phone. That's it. No prolonged goodbyes, just a quick exchange of information and a fierce display of loyalty from Joanne.
However, this is when Nick makes a mistake. After he has Richard drive him to a camping site, he uses Richard's phone to call a neighbour to call a friend to tell Joanne that he's lost his camping equipment and money and he wants to meet her his gym, so that she can help him. The Hunters latch onto this and immediately send a team to intercept NIck at the gym. The Hunters see a man of Nick's description complete with wig and blue boiler and suit and catch him. Can it be? Was I right all along? Did Nick break every every rule about being on the run? No, of course not. Once again Nick proves why he should not be underestimated, especially by the Hunters. The man whom the Hunters caught was actually Richard. Nick having been tipped off by his wonderful wife, Joanne, knows that to escape, he needed to create a diversion. Quite rightly he suspects that the Hunters are monitoring Joanne's phone and so calls her up to lay a little trap, whilst he is escaping 250 miles away to Tring, Hertfordshire.
For me, Nick has proven his worth. Seeing the Hunters being so completely outsmarted was brilliant to watch and has exposed their own ineptness. Oh how the tables have turned. Last year, Ricky Allen lasted three weeks before being caught and Nick is proving himself to be as every bit as cunning and devious.
Whilst Nick now stands a chance of winning, I'm not too sure about Ayo and Madu, or at least Ayo. I predicted last week that like last year's eventual winners Emily and Lauren, that Ayo and Madu's personality clashes would cause them to split up. And I was right. The organised, methodical Madu has had enough of the loose cannon Ayo and walks off, with Ayo doing little to stop him. The rest of the episode focussed on Ayo with Madu being the centre focus of next week.
We've already seen Ayo's cockiness and his desire to the centre of attention. The Hunters aim to exploit this by provoking Ayo into making a mistake. They do this by buying his baby daughter a toy car and then tweeting about it. Meanwhile, Ayo has charmed his way into staying with the family of a Subway employee in Shropshire. And when he sees what the Hunters have done, he completely rises to their bait. Angry at how they've used his family. Ayo decides to take revenge by going into London and seeing daughter all without getting caught.
But firstly he lays a trap for them. He has photos of him and the his hosts posted on social media and in an outrageous display, creates wanted posters of the Hunters. Finally he tauntingly calls Chief Inspector Peter Becksley. All of this is to trick the Hunters into thinking that he is still in Shropshire when he is actually travelling to London. However, unlike, Nick's plan, Ayo's doesn't work. The Hunters suspect that it's a trap and think that he will return to London.
This is exactly what happens. Ayo hitches a lift into London with the Hunters right on his tail. Succumbing to paranoia and realising the recklessness of his plan, Ayo ditches the car and decides instead to see his brother for help. Instead he runs into one of his friends who holes him up in his flat. However, the Hunters are one step ahead. They have pinpointed his location, and whilst not knowing exactly where hs is, they decide to smoke him out through helicopters, ground teams, dogs and drones. Will Ayo get out? Honestly, I'm not too sure. His cockiness has always been his downfall and the fact that there are two episodes left, means that I think that somebody will be caught next week. If not, I will be having serious doubts about the people who are supposedly safeguarding our nation.
Top tips for going on the run
Whilst no glaring errors were made in this episode, here are some small things to aid in your success.
1. Be careful in trying to outwit the Hunters. It worked for Nick, because the Hunters underestimated him. But they were suspecting Ayo to try something like this.
2. Stay away from crowded areas. Anna and Elizabeth may regret going to the Queen's birthday celebrations in Windsor.
3. Find the Richard who helped out Nick. This man is a legend.
Just like last week, Anna and Elizabeth take a back seat in this episode. After hitchhiking over 2000 miles, they decide to stop in Windsor for the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations and that's all we know for this episode.
When first introduced to Nick Cummins, I had described him as bumbling Englishman, sweet and likeable, but utterly incompetent. However, he has continously left me eating my words, as he's managed to evade the Hunters for close to three weeks now.
The Hunters struggling to pin anything on him, having identified that he is a family man, suspect that that he is staying close to home. Afterwards they interview his wife and bug his home. Their suspicions are proved correct, when it is revealed that Nick is only 30 miles from his home. Camping in public camping grounds, before being taken in by stranger Richard and his family, Nick decides to return home to get money from his wife, Joanne. Nick plays it safe by staying in the garden and having his son go fetch her. This is where Joanne shows her loyalty and intelligence. She warns Nick about how the Hunters know about his workman costume and have probably bugged her phone. That's it. No prolonged goodbyes, just a quick exchange of information and a fierce display of loyalty from Joanne.
However, this is when Nick makes a mistake. After he has Richard drive him to a camping site, he uses Richard's phone to call a neighbour to call a friend to tell Joanne that he's lost his camping equipment and money and he wants to meet her his gym, so that she can help him. The Hunters latch onto this and immediately send a team to intercept NIck at the gym. The Hunters see a man of Nick's description complete with wig and blue boiler and suit and catch him. Can it be? Was I right all along? Did Nick break every every rule about being on the run? No, of course not. Once again Nick proves why he should not be underestimated, especially by the Hunters. The man whom the Hunters caught was actually Richard. Nick having been tipped off by his wonderful wife, Joanne, knows that to escape, he needed to create a diversion. Quite rightly he suspects that the Hunters are monitoring Joanne's phone and so calls her up to lay a little trap, whilst he is escaping 250 miles away to Tring, Hertfordshire.
For me, Nick has proven his worth. Seeing the Hunters being so completely outsmarted was brilliant to watch and has exposed their own ineptness. Oh how the tables have turned. Last year, Ricky Allen lasted three weeks before being caught and Nick is proving himself to be as every bit as cunning and devious.
Whilst Nick now stands a chance of winning, I'm not too sure about Ayo and Madu, or at least Ayo. I predicted last week that like last year's eventual winners Emily and Lauren, that Ayo and Madu's personality clashes would cause them to split up. And I was right. The organised, methodical Madu has had enough of the loose cannon Ayo and walks off, with Ayo doing little to stop him. The rest of the episode focussed on Ayo with Madu being the centre focus of next week.
We've already seen Ayo's cockiness and his desire to the centre of attention. The Hunters aim to exploit this by provoking Ayo into making a mistake. They do this by buying his baby daughter a toy car and then tweeting about it. Meanwhile, Ayo has charmed his way into staying with the family of a Subway employee in Shropshire. And when he sees what the Hunters have done, he completely rises to their bait. Angry at how they've used his family. Ayo decides to take revenge by going into London and seeing daughter all without getting caught.
But firstly he lays a trap for them. He has photos of him and the his hosts posted on social media and in an outrageous display, creates wanted posters of the Hunters. Finally he tauntingly calls Chief Inspector Peter Becksley. All of this is to trick the Hunters into thinking that he is still in Shropshire when he is actually travelling to London. However, unlike, Nick's plan, Ayo's doesn't work. The Hunters suspect that it's a trap and think that he will return to London.
This is exactly what happens. Ayo hitches a lift into London with the Hunters right on his tail. Succumbing to paranoia and realising the recklessness of his plan, Ayo ditches the car and decides instead to see his brother for help. Instead he runs into one of his friends who holes him up in his flat. However, the Hunters are one step ahead. They have pinpointed his location, and whilst not knowing exactly where hs is, they decide to smoke him out through helicopters, ground teams, dogs and drones. Will Ayo get out? Honestly, I'm not too sure. His cockiness has always been his downfall and the fact that there are two episodes left, means that I think that somebody will be caught next week. If not, I will be having serious doubts about the people who are supposedly safeguarding our nation.
Top tips for going on the run
Whilst no glaring errors were made in this episode, here are some small things to aid in your success.
1. Be careful in trying to outwit the Hunters. It worked for Nick, because the Hunters underestimated him. But they were suspecting Ayo to try something like this.
2. Stay away from crowded areas. Anna and Elizabeth may regret going to the Queen's birthday celebrations in Windsor.
3. Find the Richard who helped out Nick. This man is a legend.
Sunday, 20 November 2016
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Review
Continuing my stay in the era of Classic Hollywood, we have number 94 on the top 1000 films of all time: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) and Curtin (Tim Holt) are two Americans in Mexico, down on their luck. They encounter Howard (Walter Huston) a veteran, ageing gold-miner. Having little other option they decide to try their luck prospecting gold in the remote Sierra Madre mountains- a dangerous area crawling with bandits and federales. Yet the biggest danger proves to be themselves.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is the ultimate tale of the corrupting influence of greed. Dobb's story-arc is fascinating to watch, as he transforms from a pitiful, yet sympathetic protagonist to a selfish, paranoid antagonist. In the beginning it is possible to feel sorry for him, as he has to ask strangers to treat a "fellow American to a meal." But as the film progresses and the promise of a big payout increase, Dobbs becomes ruthless and agitated, ready to kill anyone in his way. Al credit goes to Humphrey Bogart for this great performance; Dobbs' transformation is entirely believable and quite true to life, I think,
Dobb's antagonist climaxes in his attempted murder of Curtin. Curtin is a great character and Holt and Bogart play well off each other. What makes their relationship so good is how in some ways, they are reflections of each other. Both of them start off in the same pitiful position, but Curtin keeps a grip on his humanity, whilst Dobbs slowly devolves. Dobbs symbolises the greed and selfishness of the gold rush era and Curtin is more indicative of the opportunity and wanderlust that it cold bring.
Rounding off our trio we have Howard, the ageing, world-weary gold prospector who joins Dobbs and Curtin for one last adventure. To some extent, Howard is light relief, but he's also the neutral party. Dobbs and Curtin are motivated by money, but for Howard, it's his love of prospecting and the Mexican landscape. He proves an invaluable resource when it comes to identifying the best areas for prospecting and for defending the camp against Mexican bandits and federales.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is set in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution, which made an interesting backdrop. It isn't an area of history that I know a lot about, so it was interesting seeing it through the eyes of our heroes. Although, for the most part, the bandits are a background threat, their presence is felt throughout the film.
Although by today's standards, the Treasure of the Sierra Madre is nothing new, it was still done well. Even in monochrome, the visuals are strong, the context interesting and Bogart gives one of his best performances. Having said that, the only other thing I've seen him in is Casablanca.
Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) and Curtin (Tim Holt) are two Americans in Mexico, down on their luck. They encounter Howard (Walter Huston) a veteran, ageing gold-miner. Having little other option they decide to try their luck prospecting gold in the remote Sierra Madre mountains- a dangerous area crawling with bandits and federales. Yet the biggest danger proves to be themselves.
Sunday, 13 November 2016
Hunted Episode 3 Review
We're halfway through the series and already ex-marines Jeremy and Kirk and hedonistic would-be couple Hamish and Michaela have been hunted down. Curently left we have house-husband Nick Cummngs, Temp Lorna "Lolly" Jones, and two sets of best friends, Ayu and Mado and Elizabeth and Anna. The latter two took a backseat in this episode.
The first fugitive focused on househusband Nick Cummings aka my favourite to win. One of the hunters revealed that she is secretly rooting for Nick, as he is an underdog. This is the best description for him. Feeling emasculated having been a house-husband for 17 years he goes on the run to prove his worth. He initially comes across as a bumbling Englishman, however, his greatest weakness could be his greatest strength. He narrowly escaped capture before through sheer dumb luk. He has currently evaded capture through camping in Cornwall. Unlike all of the other fugitives who have massive social media profiles, Nick's generally consists of cat videos. He has a very small circle of friends for the Hunters to exploit. However, one friend they do find is an old school friend Paul Nash whom they pay a visit to. Paul is less than helpful and it was great to see the Hunters so pissed off. Nevertheless, they still bug Paul's phone. This is when Nick calls Paul to ask for money. Paul obliges but also tips Nick off about the Hunters. The Hunters track Nick to a farm and prepare to go in for the kill. However, this is where Nick shows some cunning. He asks the former for a lift, but he refuses his request to go with the farmer's suggestion for a safe place. If the former does't know where Nick has gone, then he can't tell the Hunters. Here we also see the terrifying powers of the state. Using sniffer dogs and thermal-imaging drones, they attempt to catch him, but he gets away. Go on, Nick. Do it for the little guy.
Next we move onto best friends Madu and Ayo, who are very similar to Lauren and Emily last year. When the Hunters interrogate Madu's wife, they quickly discover that the two have a tumultuous relationship brimming with fights and arguments. Madu is organised and calm, whilst Ayo is a loose cannon. We see Ayo's rebellious nature in the tweets he sends to taunt the Hunters, which is bloody stupid. Madu is perhaps on the other end of the spectrum, using mirrors to help him see round corners, in the Welsh street where they are staying. The Hunters confiscate Madu and Ayo's electronics and hack into Ayo's Facebook, after they find a list of passwords on his computer. Another stupid thing to leave lying around, made even stupider by how the passwords are easily guessable ones like 1234568 etc. From there, the Hunters create a social media campaign, which Madu and Ayo see and Ayo is humbled by. Quite rightly too. Ayo is a loose cannon and could get the pair caught. From here, we see their relationship starting to fracture. Escaping on a train, Ayo is desperate to call one of their contacts, but Madu begs him not to. As we've seen before, using your phone on the run is a massive no-no. Madu and Ayo then get into a barmy, of which Ayo is a the winner. The two remain uncaught, but considering how different they are, I wouldn't be surprised if they split up like Lauren and Emily did.
The last fugitive in this episode is temp worker Lorna "Lolly" Jones (34) who goes on the run as a "fuck-you" to people who say that at 34 she should be married and have a proper career. So far she's stayed out of the Hunters' grasp, relying on a network of friends. One of these friends is her getaway driver, Emily Sears, whom the Hunters interrogate. They also take her phone and find cryptic texts from SJG. From social media, they quickly identify this is Sophie Johnson GIll. Meanwhile, Lolly who is hiding in Hertfordshire and running low on money, writes a message to Sophie hidden in a secret code. Lolly then posts this letter to Sophie, as she thinks the Hunters won't be able to find this. However, unbeknownst to her, the State has the power to seize and read mail, which is exactly what happens to Lolly's letter to Sophie. They crack her code, which they acknowledge as being a very clever code, and more to intercept Sophie. Chaos and confusion ensue. With guard dogs, thermal-imagery drones and men camouflaged as bushes, they move to pounce on who they think is Lolly, but is actually Sophie. Lolly is watching from a distance and after becoming spooked runs away. It looks like the Hunters have screwed up again, but the men camouflaged as a bush soon catches Lolly. After over a week on the run, Lolly has been hunted
Five down, five to go. Can they escape? And remember, don't tell me your plans for going on the run in the comments below. Who knows who's reading?
Top tips for going on the run:
1. Be digitally savvy. The Hunters will go through your social media, so delete to deactivate your accounts. Also be clever about your passwords. Don't use "password" or "123456" as your passwords and don't have a list of your passwords on your computer. Hell, why not go one step further and wipe or remove your harddrive?
2. Budget. You know that you're only going to have £250 to last 28 days. Spend it wisely. Going to ATMs or calling for friends to help is too big of a risk. This leads into my next point.
3. Be self-sufficient. Don't rely on your friends and family. They'll be the Hunters' first target.
The first fugitive focused on househusband Nick Cummings aka my favourite to win. One of the hunters revealed that she is secretly rooting for Nick, as he is an underdog. This is the best description for him. Feeling emasculated having been a house-husband for 17 years he goes on the run to prove his worth. He initially comes across as a bumbling Englishman, however, his greatest weakness could be his greatest strength. He narrowly escaped capture before through sheer dumb luk. He has currently evaded capture through camping in Cornwall. Unlike all of the other fugitives who have massive social media profiles, Nick's generally consists of cat videos. He has a very small circle of friends for the Hunters to exploit. However, one friend they do find is an old school friend Paul Nash whom they pay a visit to. Paul is less than helpful and it was great to see the Hunters so pissed off. Nevertheless, they still bug Paul's phone. This is when Nick calls Paul to ask for money. Paul obliges but also tips Nick off about the Hunters. The Hunters track Nick to a farm and prepare to go in for the kill. However, this is where Nick shows some cunning. He asks the former for a lift, but he refuses his request to go with the farmer's suggestion for a safe place. If the former does't know where Nick has gone, then he can't tell the Hunters. Here we also see the terrifying powers of the state. Using sniffer dogs and thermal-imaging drones, they attempt to catch him, but he gets away. Go on, Nick. Do it for the little guy.
Next we move onto best friends Madu and Ayo, who are very similar to Lauren and Emily last year. When the Hunters interrogate Madu's wife, they quickly discover that the two have a tumultuous relationship brimming with fights and arguments. Madu is organised and calm, whilst Ayo is a loose cannon. We see Ayo's rebellious nature in the tweets he sends to taunt the Hunters, which is bloody stupid. Madu is perhaps on the other end of the spectrum, using mirrors to help him see round corners, in the Welsh street where they are staying. The Hunters confiscate Madu and Ayo's electronics and hack into Ayo's Facebook, after they find a list of passwords on his computer. Another stupid thing to leave lying around, made even stupider by how the passwords are easily guessable ones like 1234568 etc. From there, the Hunters create a social media campaign, which Madu and Ayo see and Ayo is humbled by. Quite rightly too. Ayo is a loose cannon and could get the pair caught. From here, we see their relationship starting to fracture. Escaping on a train, Ayo is desperate to call one of their contacts, but Madu begs him not to. As we've seen before, using your phone on the run is a massive no-no. Madu and Ayo then get into a barmy, of which Ayo is a the winner. The two remain uncaught, but considering how different they are, I wouldn't be surprised if they split up like Lauren and Emily did.
The last fugitive in this episode is temp worker Lorna "Lolly" Jones (34) who goes on the run as a "fuck-you" to people who say that at 34 she should be married and have a proper career. So far she's stayed out of the Hunters' grasp, relying on a network of friends. One of these friends is her getaway driver, Emily Sears, whom the Hunters interrogate. They also take her phone and find cryptic texts from SJG. From social media, they quickly identify this is Sophie Johnson GIll. Meanwhile, Lolly who is hiding in Hertfordshire and running low on money, writes a message to Sophie hidden in a secret code. Lolly then posts this letter to Sophie, as she thinks the Hunters won't be able to find this. However, unbeknownst to her, the State has the power to seize and read mail, which is exactly what happens to Lolly's letter to Sophie. They crack her code, which they acknowledge as being a very clever code, and more to intercept Sophie. Chaos and confusion ensue. With guard dogs, thermal-imagery drones and men camouflaged as bushes, they move to pounce on who they think is Lolly, but is actually Sophie. Lolly is watching from a distance and after becoming spooked runs away. It looks like the Hunters have screwed up again, but the men camouflaged as a bush soon catches Lolly. After over a week on the run, Lolly has been hunted
Five down, five to go. Can they escape? And remember, don't tell me your plans for going on the run in the comments below. Who knows who's reading?
Top tips for going on the run:
1. Be digitally savvy. The Hunters will go through your social media, so delete to deactivate your accounts. Also be clever about your passwords. Don't use "password" or "123456" as your passwords and don't have a list of your passwords on your computer. Hell, why not go one step further and wipe or remove your harddrive?
2. Budget. You know that you're only going to have £250 to last 28 days. Spend it wisely. Going to ATMs or calling for friends to help is too big of a risk. This leads into my next point.
3. Be self-sufficient. Don't rely on your friends and family. They'll be the Hunters' first target.
Singing in the Rain Review
Number 92 on the top 1000 films of all time is the film that gave us one of the most famous song and dance routines of all time: Singing in the Rain.
The film is set during the send of the silent era of films and focuses on a cast of characters who have to make the hard transition from silent films to speakies. At the centre of this conflict there is Don lockwood (Gene Kelly,) his best friend Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) and Lockwood's love interest Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynolds.)
Considering the last film I reviewed was Charlie Chaplin's The Kid, a.k.a an immensely popular silent film released when the silent film was at its peak, I found it interesting watching a film that centered on the downfall of the silent era. Singing in the Rain painfully demonstrates how some more actors were more suited to silent films, rather than speaking ones. Nowhere is this clearer than with the deluded and talentless Lina Lamont, Lockwood's leading lady, who lacks the voice or class for talking films. In some ways, this film is a comment on the difficult of staying topical and relevant in a cut-throat, fast-paced industry. The same can be said for certain child actors of today, like Macauley Caulkin, Jake Lloyd and Wil Wheaton.
The fact that Singing in the Rain is a musical conveyed a certain life and magic that silent films lacked. The songs kept the film upbeat and entertaining to watch. They provided it with an energy that kept it engaging, despite the unbelievability of characters spontaneously bursting into song and dance. Although, the good old suspension of disbelief helps to tackle the incredulity that musicals like these inevitably cause.
My previous point, notwithstanding, the film wasn't enthralling throughout, and I did find myself falling asleep at times. This led to me missing a few key sequences such as Gene Kelly's iconic song and dance scene. This did lead to me becoming a little lost at times. Whilst it wasn't a major problem, it did hurt my viewing experience.
That's another film from the classic era of Hollywood watched; an interesting tale about how easy it is to become forgotten and obsolete.
The film is set during the send of the silent era of films and focuses on a cast of characters who have to make the hard transition from silent films to speakies. At the centre of this conflict there is Don lockwood (Gene Kelly,) his best friend Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) and Lockwood's love interest Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynolds.)
Sunday, 6 November 2016
Hunted Episode 2 Review
Last episode had everyone decrying the ineptness of the Hunters. It looked like ex-Marines, Jeremy Scarratt and Kirk Bowett, were going to be caught when they decided to have lunch in a curry-house in the middle of broad daylight. The Hunters spotted them inside the restaurant, but they did they go in for the kill? No. They didn't. They let the fugitives escape out the back. Well they let one of them escape, whilst the other stayed at the table. This was when the Hunters went after Kirk and Jeremy, only not to catch them. Confused yet? Wondering how these Hunters, who are police detectives, intelligence experts, hackers and psychologists, in charge of the nation's security could let these two fugitives so easily slip through their fingers? You're not the only one.
However, this episode immediately served to clear up some of the confusion. It was revealed that both Kirk and Jeremy escaped from the curry-house by sneaking out a back exit (although this doesn't explain how the one who stayed behind managed to get away) and then get driven to safety by the manager of said curry-house. They escaped the grips of the Hunters through more luck than judgement. Or by the sheer uselessness of the Hunters.
Anyway, the curry-house manager drops Kirk and Jeremy and their accomplices a couple of miles away from the centre of Blackpool. From here, they have one of their accomplices call one of their friends who holes them up for the night. However, shock, horror, can it be? The Hunters do something right and track the phone call, leading them straight to Kirk and Jeremy. The ex-marines lead the Hunters on a merry car chase before pulling into a service station and promptly giving up. This was a disappointing ending to a pair whom I had high expectations off. I expected Kirk and Jeremy, with their military background, to do very well, but instead they just became over-confident. And as for the confusing ending of the first episode, I reckon this was Channel 4's stupid way of creating tension by leaving things on a cliff-hanger. It was stupid, as it was too unclear how things ended and we saw the pair had gotten away in the trailer for next week.
Fugitives: Jeremy Scarrett and Kirk Bowett
Time on the run: 8 Days
Status: Caught
Although one plus of Kirk and Jeremy being the first to be caught is that they weren't targeted in the mass-media campaign that the Hunters instigated to track down the rest of the fugitives. They used Facebook, Youtube, Radio, Television and old-fashioned wanted posters to catch fugitives like Anna May and Elizabeth Garnett.
I'm liking the two girls so far. They're young, bubbly and good fun to watch. They're best friends and their chemistry shows through. They've managed to last 8 days on the run through hitch-hiking 500 miles from Cornwall to Perth, Scotland where they are holing up in a warehouse depot. However, here they become aware of the media campaign and get one of the warehouse managers Catherine to drive them to the safety of Dundee or Stanley. Well this is the plan, until the three get wind that one of the warehouse workers have ratted out Elizabeth and Anna for a £250 reward. Catherine chastises this worker claiming that grassing people up is something that we do in Scotland. Instead she drops them off in a little rural village in the middle of nowhere.
This is where we see the girls beginning to crack. Panicking at the social media crime, they bemoan their situation and how they ever came to Scotland. Meanwhile, the Hunters pay a visit to Catherine who quickly shows her hypocrisy. Despite earlier claiming that being a grass isn't something you do, she rats out Elizabeth and Anna for £500. The Hunters do guilt-trip her into doing it, but this shows that you cannot trust anyone on the run. Back in Scotland, the girls are breaking down and are going door-to-door asking for a lift out of town. One good Samaritan helps them before the Hunters are able to intercept them. But hey at least Catherine and that warehouse worker got their karma. Their cash rewards are conditionally offered upon the successful capture of the fugitives. As Elizabeth and Anna got away, they get zilch! Ha! Serves them, especially the hypocritical Catherine right.
David Toddington, an online intelligence expert and one of the Hunters, makes an interesting comment about the effects of the mass-media campaign. He notes that it elicited a lot of reactions along the lines of "fuck you to the Hunters and help the fugitives." Although as we've already seen, it isn't universal, it's interesting how most of the public are siding with the fugitives, seemingly empathising with their situations and living vicariously through them.
The last pair of fugitives in this episode are Hamish Thoburn and Mikaela Sales who the living embodiments of hedonism. Old flames, the two decided to go on the run for the adventure. And hell, they have quite an adventure. The free-spirit Mikaela wants to have as much fun as possible and brow-beats Hamish into enjoying things with her. And that's exactly what the two want to do. Throwing caution to the wind, they go water-skiing in Wiltshire and live the Champagne lifestyle.
Paying little to no attention to the Hunter's media campaign for them, Mikaela claims she is too delicate to be camping in the cold, so they go to a pub, despite Hamish's protests, where they continue to drink and make far too much noise. All Hamish wants to do is to camp quietly, but he can't resist Mikaela's zest for life and soon joins her in talking to the other pub patrons. However, all this noise is bound to attract attention, which is exactly what happened. One of the barmen grass up the couple claiming he doesn't like the look of them. Mikaela and Hamish completely oblivious to this continue to drink away until they decide to hitch a lift out of there. However, the Hunters were there to stop them right in their tracks. After a week on the run, Mikaela and Hamish were caught, but not before Mikaela, in some last weird attention-seeking stunt decides to jump in the canal in a desperate bid for freedom. This, unsurprisingly, doesn't work and the two go home.
Although it is difficult to imagine how Hamish and Mikaela survived for a week, especially due to their larger than life personalities, they were also good entertainment. Both middle-aged, they showed that just because you grow older, doesn't mean you have to grow up and there isn't anything wrong with having some fun once in a while.
Fugitives: Hamish Thoburn and Mikaela Sales
Time on the Run: 8 Days
Status: Caught
Top tips for going on the run:
1. Never trust anyone. We've seen it multiple times in this episode. Anybody could grass you up at any time.
2. Never become over-confident. This is what almost got Kirk and Jeremy caught out. And they really should have known better.
3. Don't draw attention to yourself. Hamish and Mikaela could have lasted far longer if they had followed this advice.
So what do you think of Mikaela's hedonistic lifestyle? Is it okay to have some fun every so often? And what do you think of Catherine stabbing Elizabeth and Anna in the back? Let me know what you think in the comments below and remember, DON'T TELL ME you're plans for going on the run.
Who knows who's reading?
However, this episode immediately served to clear up some of the confusion. It was revealed that both Kirk and Jeremy escaped from the curry-house by sneaking out a back exit (although this doesn't explain how the one who stayed behind managed to get away) and then get driven to safety by the manager of said curry-house. They escaped the grips of the Hunters through more luck than judgement. Or by the sheer uselessness of the Hunters.
Anyway, the curry-house manager drops Kirk and Jeremy and their accomplices a couple of miles away from the centre of Blackpool. From here, they have one of their accomplices call one of their friends who holes them up for the night. However, shock, horror, can it be? The Hunters do something right and track the phone call, leading them straight to Kirk and Jeremy. The ex-marines lead the Hunters on a merry car chase before pulling into a service station and promptly giving up. This was a disappointing ending to a pair whom I had high expectations off. I expected Kirk and Jeremy, with their military background, to do very well, but instead they just became over-confident. And as for the confusing ending of the first episode, I reckon this was Channel 4's stupid way of creating tension by leaving things on a cliff-hanger. It was stupid, as it was too unclear how things ended and we saw the pair had gotten away in the trailer for next week.
Fugitives: Jeremy Scarrett and Kirk Bowett
Time on the run: 8 Days
Status: Caught
Although one plus of Kirk and Jeremy being the first to be caught is that they weren't targeted in the mass-media campaign that the Hunters instigated to track down the rest of the fugitives. They used Facebook, Youtube, Radio, Television and old-fashioned wanted posters to catch fugitives like Anna May and Elizabeth Garnett.
I'm liking the two girls so far. They're young, bubbly and good fun to watch. They're best friends and their chemistry shows through. They've managed to last 8 days on the run through hitch-hiking 500 miles from Cornwall to Perth, Scotland where they are holing up in a warehouse depot. However, here they become aware of the media campaign and get one of the warehouse managers Catherine to drive them to the safety of Dundee or Stanley. Well this is the plan, until the three get wind that one of the warehouse workers have ratted out Elizabeth and Anna for a £250 reward. Catherine chastises this worker claiming that grassing people up is something that we do in Scotland. Instead she drops them off in a little rural village in the middle of nowhere.
This is where we see the girls beginning to crack. Panicking at the social media crime, they bemoan their situation and how they ever came to Scotland. Meanwhile, the Hunters pay a visit to Catherine who quickly shows her hypocrisy. Despite earlier claiming that being a grass isn't something you do, she rats out Elizabeth and Anna for £500. The Hunters do guilt-trip her into doing it, but this shows that you cannot trust anyone on the run. Back in Scotland, the girls are breaking down and are going door-to-door asking for a lift out of town. One good Samaritan helps them before the Hunters are able to intercept them. But hey at least Catherine and that warehouse worker got their karma. Their cash rewards are conditionally offered upon the successful capture of the fugitives. As Elizabeth and Anna got away, they get zilch! Ha! Serves them, especially the hypocritical Catherine right.
David Toddington, an online intelligence expert and one of the Hunters, makes an interesting comment about the effects of the mass-media campaign. He notes that it elicited a lot of reactions along the lines of "fuck you to the Hunters and help the fugitives." Although as we've already seen, it isn't universal, it's interesting how most of the public are siding with the fugitives, seemingly empathising with their situations and living vicariously through them.
The last pair of fugitives in this episode are Hamish Thoburn and Mikaela Sales who the living embodiments of hedonism. Old flames, the two decided to go on the run for the adventure. And hell, they have quite an adventure. The free-spirit Mikaela wants to have as much fun as possible and brow-beats Hamish into enjoying things with her. And that's exactly what the two want to do. Throwing caution to the wind, they go water-skiing in Wiltshire and live the Champagne lifestyle.
Paying little to no attention to the Hunter's media campaign for them, Mikaela claims she is too delicate to be camping in the cold, so they go to a pub, despite Hamish's protests, where they continue to drink and make far too much noise. All Hamish wants to do is to camp quietly, but he can't resist Mikaela's zest for life and soon joins her in talking to the other pub patrons. However, all this noise is bound to attract attention, which is exactly what happened. One of the barmen grass up the couple claiming he doesn't like the look of them. Mikaela and Hamish completely oblivious to this continue to drink away until they decide to hitch a lift out of there. However, the Hunters were there to stop them right in their tracks. After a week on the run, Mikaela and Hamish were caught, but not before Mikaela, in some last weird attention-seeking stunt decides to jump in the canal in a desperate bid for freedom. This, unsurprisingly, doesn't work and the two go home.
Although it is difficult to imagine how Hamish and Mikaela survived for a week, especially due to their larger than life personalities, they were also good entertainment. Both middle-aged, they showed that just because you grow older, doesn't mean you have to grow up and there isn't anything wrong with having some fun once in a while.
Fugitives: Hamish Thoburn and Mikaela Sales
Time on the Run: 8 Days
Status: Caught
Top tips for going on the run:
1. Never trust anyone. We've seen it multiple times in this episode. Anybody could grass you up at any time.
2. Never become over-confident. This is what almost got Kirk and Jeremy caught out. And they really should have known better.
3. Don't draw attention to yourself. Hamish and Mikaela could have lasted far longer if they had followed this advice.
So what do you think of Mikaela's hedonistic lifestyle? Is it okay to have some fun every so often? And what do you think of Catherine stabbing Elizabeth and Anna in the back? Let me know what you think in the comments below and remember, DON'T TELL ME you're plans for going on the run.
Who knows who's reading?
The Kid Review
Click here for my previous review of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Number 91 on the top 1000 films of all time is Charlie Chaplin's first feature-length film, the Kid.
Made in 1921, the Kid begins with an unnamed, unmarried woman deciding to abandon her newborn child in a car. The car is stolen and the thieves leave the baby on the street. The Tramp (Charlie chaplin) finds it and takes him in. Five years later, the Tramp and the kid (Jackie Coogan) have formed a father, son relationship.
This is the first Charlie Chaplin film I've seen since The Great Dictator and the first silent film since Modern Times, and it was classic Chaplin. Ture, it definitely wasn't laugh a minute, I've never found Chaplin hilarious, but it did have its moments. Chaplin's comic timing and physical comedy were great especially the scenes with the Tramp and the Bully. Chaplin and Coogan's onscreen relationship was also great, made so by how the two had a great off-camera relationship. I read that this was because that Jackie Coogan was very much a surrogate son for Chaplin who had lost his own son only days before.
Chaplin described this film as "a picture with a smile- and perhaps, a tear," and whilst it was funny in places, it was also emotional. The saddest moment is when the kid is taken away from the Tramp, due to how he was lying about being the boy's father. This scene was done well and the Tramp's anguish was evident, as is the Kid's. He put up a good fight to stop them from taking away his son and why shouldn't he?
My criticism with this film would my usual criticism with Chaplin films. It just wasn't engaging throughout, due its very nature as a silence film. As a culturally ignorant millennial, I'm used to witty dialogue and a catchy soundtrack. Although to be strictly fair, this wasn't the fault of The Kid per se, but more how it was made before any strict copyright laws. THis means it is in the public domain and free to be edited, chopped and changed by whoever deemed fit. Whoever credited the bootlegged version I was watching had decided to delete the soundtrack.
However, we're still early in the list and I amy come across a Charlie Chaplin film that completely changes my mind.
Number 91 on the top 1000 films of all time is Charlie Chaplin's first feature-length film, the Kid.
Made in 1921, the Kid begins with an unnamed, unmarried woman deciding to abandon her newborn child in a car. The car is stolen and the thieves leave the baby on the street. The Tramp (Charlie chaplin) finds it and takes him in. Five years later, the Tramp and the kid (Jackie Coogan) have formed a father, son relationship.
This is the first Charlie Chaplin film I've seen since The Great Dictator and the first silent film since Modern Times, and it was classic Chaplin. Ture, it definitely wasn't laugh a minute, I've never found Chaplin hilarious, but it did have its moments. Chaplin's comic timing and physical comedy were great especially the scenes with the Tramp and the Bully. Chaplin and Coogan's onscreen relationship was also great, made so by how the two had a great off-camera relationship. I read that this was because that Jackie Coogan was very much a surrogate son for Chaplin who had lost his own son only days before.
My criticism with this film would my usual criticism with Chaplin films. It just wasn't engaging throughout, due its very nature as a silence film. As a culturally ignorant millennial, I'm used to witty dialogue and a catchy soundtrack. Although to be strictly fair, this wasn't the fault of The Kid per se, but more how it was made before any strict copyright laws. THis means it is in the public domain and free to be edited, chopped and changed by whoever deemed fit. Whoever credited the bootlegged version I was watching had decided to delete the soundtrack.
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