Spoiler-free Review!

Game of Thrones is one of the most successful TV series aired on British television and also in 29 other countries; created by American production company HBO, this fantasy-drama series has been on our televisions for four seasons, 39 fantastically written episodes, and (so far) three emotionally wrecking season finales.  And it doesn’t stop there: this wonderful and exciting TV series has already been renewed for another two seasons, taking us up to six in total!  The combination of David Benioff’s and D. B. Weiss’s writing has made Game of Thrones so successful, with two million viewers for season one and over triple that amount (seven million) by season four.

The series is set in the world of Westeros, which contain seven large kingdoms with a city – the capital - in the south called Kings Landing; this is where the King of Westeros sits on the iron throne.  The main conflict within Game of Thrones is the feud between two families, house Stark and house Lannister, while in the east the Targaryen family rises once again; and to the North, a place called Castle Black must defend the wall from any type of invaders and defend the wall with their life.

The cast have definitely improved in their skills as the series has gone on.  In particular Kit Harington (Jon Snow) has really adapted to his character and in every scene he is exciting and entertaining.  But the highlight character in my opinion is Tyrion Lannister, played by Peter Dinklage.  His scenes in Kings Landing are always comic and gripping, his quarrels with his sister, Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) are the most entertaining and dangerous story lines during the first two seasons, and Dinklage really adapts to his character.  Another favourite of mine, and one of the best actresses of the show, has to be Emilia Clark (Daenerys Targaryen.)  Her character develops into a caring yet ferocious leader and over the four seasons so far she has become one of my all-time favorites; no one else could play the role of Daenerys better than Emilia has.

Game Of Thrones has most certainly improved since season one.  From season two onwards each character has been able to develop and the overall plot of each season has dramatically improved.  Although season one was the start of it all, the story line over time became boring until the season finale, however, since then, each story has been exciting, interesting and also emotional; Weiss and Benioff have done a brilliant job of creating an emotional attachment to each of the characters, whether they are sinister and evil or noble and heroic.

Gossip Girl first aired in 2007…years ago, right! But whether you want to re-live the‘OMG’ moments or just watch it for the first time ever on Netflix, the six-season teen drama does not seem dated at all and the fact that the show is still on Netflix proves its continuing popularity.

Based on books by Cecily Von Ziegesar and produced for TV by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz (who also produced The OC), each season of the show represents a new school year of the privileged teens living on the Upper East Side of New York City.  Because of this you feel like you really grow with the characters and you can relate to them, well, kind of.  Even though they are super rich and have loads of designer clothes, bags and heels, they do go through some normal teen problems such as being in love, falling out with friends, failing school, and family feuds.

The show is narrated by ‘Gossip Girl’, a New York blogger who spreads secrets and rumours around the city via her website.  Imagine your biggest secret being revealed to everyone… it would be your worst nightmare!  But thankfully this isn’t real life.  Beautiful blonde Blake Lively plays the character of Serena Van Der Woodson accompanied by her brunette best friend Blair Waldorf played by Leighton Meester.  (You can tell just by their names how posh they are!)  Also, the stunning bad boy Chuck Bass is played by English actor Ed Westwick. 

An interesting fact about Gossip Girl that I bet you didn’t know is that all of the episode titles are based on the name of a novel or film; for example, the episode ‘Easy J’ from season four is named after Emma Stone’s film Easy A.  Clever.

If you’ve never watchedGossip Girl but you enjoy teen drama that’s easy viewing yet still keeps you on the edge of your seat, I would recommend it.

The ninth series of How I Met Your Mother kicked off in January with an episode called ‘The Locket’
in which the hopelessly romantic Ted (Josh Radnor) tries to win back Robyn’s (Cobie Smulders)heart despite the fact that she is marrying his best friend Barney (Neil Patrick Harris).  And the drama doesn’t stop there: Marshall (Jason Jordan Segel) takes a job as a judge without consulting Lily (Alyson Lee Hannigan) first, regardless of their plans to go to Rome for a year to pursue Lily’s
career as an art consultant.

Much as I hate to admit it, this series feels like it’s dragging.  We are now into episode 18 of 20, and I wish Ted would hurry up and meet his children’s mother already!  I don’t know about you, but I find myself shouting at the TV when ’34 hours before the wedding’ comes up at the start of the episode, but once the episode starts I get so dragged into the comedy I don’t feel quite as concerned.

In some ways, you’ve got to admire the dedication of Ted. This series show subtle hints of how he
meets his future wife, first under an umbrella, then when she buys him a scotch, and the latest we know is he heard her singing on the balcony.  This romantic love story really pulls on the heartstrings of the viewer and creates excitement as we already know that Ted and this woman are destined to meet, marry and produce the offspring to whom Ted has been narrating his search for love for nine series.  Also, there is the approach of Barney and Robyn’s wedding, around which all of these events are based – for example, Ted’s future wife is the bass player in the wedding
band.  The last we saw, Lily had stormed out from Marshall after a huge argument. The series still has 2 episodes left, so we will just have to wait and see how Ted finally meets their mother.

A couple of days ago my brother ran downstairs in excitement and presented himself in front of me looking all giddy, like a six year old on Christmas morning opening his presents.  I put down my revision unenthusiastically and prepared to zone out what he was about to tell me.  

Acting all cool and casual, he said, “Fi, my friend told me about this new app called The Test and it’s amazing, you should get it.”

Starting to become slightly more interested, I said, “What’s it about then?”

He replied, “It’s where you test how well your friends know you, and how well you know them.”

At this point my brother was looking as smug as if he’d discovered something amazing, so I shot him down by saying, “Oh right.”

Still, after he went back up to his room, I thought: Actually, that does sound interesting…so without wasting a moment longer I picked up my phone and opened my App Store.  I then carefully and curiously typed in ‘The Test’.  There it appeared at the top of my search list with a generous 4.5 rating out of 5.  Without a thought I pressed ‘download’.  This was surprisingly a very quick process and within a minute the app had downloaded.  When I opened it, I suddenly heard a loud noise travelling at speed down the stairs.  My brother once again skidded into the room and yelled, “You got it, you got it!”

He then said,“Play it with me, I’ll go first.”  I now looked at the screen, all confused, when suddenly my brother’s name popped up and it said ‘play’ next to his name.  Reluctantly I pressed play and two
questions appeared, requiring me to match my brother’s answers, which I did successfully, and our friendship bar rose.  Following this, two more questions came up on the screen, and I had to enter the answers that I thought my brother would give to them.  Once that stage was finished, the app instructed me: please wait, it is George’s turn (my brother).

This was my first encounter with The Test and I loved it.  It is on-going and can be played with
loads of friends; all you need to play is Wi-Fi.  I was not very optimistic about the game when my brother first told me about it, but I tried it anyway and now it is a great pass time and I have found out many surprising facts about my friends which I may not have ever known.  I highly recommend this game to anyone of any age from any place.  The app is limited in some ways: occasionally I have received the same question more than once, which can be a bit boring and repetitive.  Despite this, it is also a test in another way, in that you have to try to remember what answer your friend put the first time.

In conclusion this app is the best thing I have played in a long time.  It is a free, fun, active way to communicate with your friends.  The Test is quick and easy to play; after playing it once you will feel like you’ve been playing it your whole life!

Coronation Street took a tragic turn last week as feisty Tina Macintyre was viciously murdered by Rob Donavon, her lover’s brother-in-law.  The dramatic series of events was hooking; I could barely tear my eyes away from the screen and each episode left me wanting more – I was practically counting down the hours until the beloved theme tune blessed my ears once again.  As a keen Tina fan, the storyline had me in tears and shouting at the screen.  Over the past few months we’ve followed Tina on an emotional rollercoaster of heartbreak, destroyed hope and blind love for the raging alcoholic troublemaker Peter Barlow.

As the complicated romance was revealed to Peter’s wife, it kicked off in true Corrie style, as livid Carla stormed through the pub screaming, “Tina Macintyre. I’ll kill her!”  Meanwhile Tina was being beaten to death by Carla’s very own brother as she threatened to reveal his and his fiancée’s criminal deviance.

To add to the tragedy of the situation, Carla had a miscarriage last Wednesday (4th June).  Alison
King’s portrayal of a grieving women who has lost a child was truly heart-wrenching and showed a whole other side to the previously career-driven ambitious woman.  As if she hasn’t been through enough, things are looking to get even worse for Carla, as Peter claims his stake to her business underworld and she faces a lengthy sentence for a murder she didn’t commit.  I can’t help but feel sorry for Carla as the ice queen showed her sensitive and compassionate side throughout her close friend Hayley’s emotional death.

The whole storyline has been riveting and I haven’t missed an episode.  Michelle Keegan, who plays Tina, has said she was shocked to hear that her character was being killed off, but excited to see how her death affected the street throughout the year.  There is a mix of emotion amongst the characters, but I think it is important to appreciate how manipulative Peter can be and how young and naive Tina was.  I personally will miss seeing the feisty Macintyre, but I love how she went out with a bang and seeing how her death has affected David and Rita in particular.  Tina grew a lot during her time on the street and left a lasting impression on many characters.  I’ll be intrigued to see whether her killer is brought to justice and what lies next for broken Carla.

Director: Robert Stromberg
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Sam Riley
PG cert, 97 minutes

 This heart-warming film is Sleeping Beauty like you’ve never seen it before.  A clever twist on the 1959 Disney animation, this live-action film explores the once-thought-of-as-evil Maleficent’s past and reasoning behind her actions which the original version does not describe.  In the 2014 film we learn that Maleficent was once a kind fairy who was betrayed by King Stefan, the boy she
loved.  She is drugged by him and awakens to find both him and her wings have disappeared.  Heartbroken by this, she begins her transformation into the Maleficent the audience thought
they knew.  Where Sleeping Beauty portrayed her as cursing Aurora simply out of evil, we now realise that it was out of revenge.  The new film is not only a great family film with humour throughout, but is also a beautiful story.  It makes the audience question what appears to be a simple case of good and evil, and shows that things are much more complex in the case of Maleficent. 
 
The audience will sympathise with Maleficent throughout her on-screen emotional journey, as ironically she becomes a mother figure to Aurora, who helps Maleficent to overcome her heartbreak and bitterness, and to become a better person.  Although there is a brief appearance from Prince Phillip, unlike in Sleeping Beauty, in Maleficent it is a kiss from Maleficent herself that awakens Aurora from her slumber.  This is a nice change to the original and adds a more realistic element to the storyline.  Aurora and Maleficent have been on a journey together in the film and it seems only right that the “true love” which awakens Aurora is between them.  This twist also emphasises a new element in Disney films, with, as in Frozen (2013), it being family love that conquers all and women having more power than the traditional Disney princesses, waiting on a prince to run in and save the day.

Angelina Jolie plays the role of Maleficent fantastically, and all the other characters are played well too.  There are sly references throughout to the 1959 film; for instance, Maleficent’s pet crow, which we are so used to seeing with her, is given a new dynamic as we discover how he is found.  The beloved red, green and blue fairies, this time under different names, bring humour to the film, as in the original.

Overall, I would definitely recommend everyone to watch Maleficent.  It will make you laugh, maybe even cry, and leave you happy that Maleficent was not actually evil and that instead she watched over and protected Aurora (who cutely mistakes her for her fairy godmother).  You may not have thought you would ever sympathise with Maleficent and like her after seeing Sleeping Beauty, but now you will.  There is more to this film than a simple case of good and bad, but a relationship between someone who is misunderstood and someone who is naïve and unjudgemental is explored. A very clever storyline!

4 and a half stars

Here we are again, with the next in the series of the X-Men franchise: Days of Future Past.
 This film begins where Last Stand left us all the way back in 2006, after the war between mutants and humans had really begun to take its hold.  The film allows the audience to connect with Professor X/Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy) in a way that was previously impossible, due to the real insight that is given as to the man he was before he had come to terms with his accident and the way his life would change when he set up his ‘school for gifted students’.  Also the casting of James McAvoy as the young Charles Xavier was truly inspired, as shown by his earlier performance in First Class (2011), and he did not fail to deliver in this much-awaited sequel.

As well as this, there is also finally an answer to the incident at the end of Last Stand when Magneto/Eric Lensherr (Ian McKellan and Michael Fassbender) was supposedly turned human after he was hit with a serum that was meant to rid him of his powers.  In Days of Future Past we learn that he does in fact still possess his power to manipulate metal in the same way he has done throughout the other X-Men films. 
 
However, there was a slight continuity error concerning Wolverine/Logan (Hugh Jackman): at the end of his film The Wolverine (2013), Logan is seen to lose his metal claws in Japan after his fight with Yashida, who wanted his gift to be able to regenerate himself when injured, and they seem to grow back as bone.  Still, at the beginning of Days of Future Past the metal claws are back; unless he can regenerate the metal within his body, then surely he should still have his bone claws.  This however seems to be the only error within the film so maybe we should let them off for such a small mistake. 

The film seems to have been an immediate success with fans of the franchise, as it has already reached around the $610 million mark after only two weeks in cinemas.  This may be partly down to the directing genius that is Bryan Singer as a returning director to the X-Men series – he was able to show off the talent of the actors who are part of the X-Men movie franchise.  As well as this, the film really allowed the audience to feel connected to Logan, as it truly enables the audience to see how much he does care about the future of mutants and, more importantly, about Professor X.  The film also allows the audience to see that deep down maybe the character of Magneto is not as sinister as he is made out to be, as at a key moment in the story he shows that he has a startling capacity for compassion and self-sacrifice. 
 
So, all in all, good job, Marvel.