Breaking Bad - Series 6 - Episode One

Breaking Bad coming back for a sixth season.

The recently leaked and much anticipated sixth season is all that fans could have hoped for and more. Shooting is still underway due to scheduling issues, but hopefully we will see season six released mid next year.


I have been privileged enough to watch the final visual edit without music scoring for the first episode and have seen the script for a further 2 episodes which I will cover in later posts. I will give you a short synopsis of them being careful to not reveal too much, but hopefully it will give you some idea of the treat you are in for.


The first episode opens with a scene in a jail cell where someone is being beaten viciously by some prisoners. As the shot opens out you can see Walter White in prison greens standing in the doorway watching it calmly with a prison guard by his side, also looking on.
This alone tells you that Heisenberg is back in business and his transformation is seemingly complete.

After the opening titles we go back to where we left season five. We witness police and and ambulance dealing with the crime scene at the compound where Walter White was injured and last seen dying surrounded by the chemistry lab where Pinkman was kept as a meth cook slave at the end of season five.

Without to many spoilers, Walter White is seen being taken away to hospital, all filmed from his hazy semi-conscious perspective laying on a gurney, and as you might guess from the fact we have a new season to enjoy, he does live. At least for a bit longer.

A brief outline of the plot for the first episode and some selected content from the scripts for episodes 2 and  3 is as follows:

• Walter in prison hospital alone but we do see his wife. I will say no more about that meeting but it is important and involves a fortune and a treasure hunt and a continuation of their truce.
• Walter being arraigned and held in a prison hospital.
• Saul is back from hiding out and this time he has his work cut out to say the least. All I will say is it is a good thing the judicial system can be as dishonest as the criminals they put on trial.
•  A meeting and a developing relationship with a strange priest who wants to save Walters "soul", which becomes important to the plot as the season proceeds.
• Without saying whether he is found guilty or not and spoiling it, I can say that the wording on one of the past seasons "All Hail The King" becomes appropriate again whilst he is in jail, although it does take a few episodes to get there.
• His cancer is still around but is being treated again. In fact the very invasive surgery he underwent after his gunshot injury brings some new facts to light about his cancer. I will say no more...

The end of the third episode sees him much recovered, in jail on remand but very busy with a new occupation and his skills and services much in demand.

Dope - Movie Review

Dope - Movie Premiere Poster - Open Road Films

Dope is not your typical “coming of age” film. Set in urban Los Angeles, the film stars some relatively unknown actors yet manages to draw out performances that are both captivating and emotive. The story revolves around Malcolm Adekanbi (Shameik Moore), a final year high school student along with his two close friends who are soon to graduate. Malcolm is an introvert and unlike other youths depicted in the film, he isn’t involved in the violence and gangs that surround him. Instead he is indulged in 1990s hip-hop culture illustrated by the way he dresses and his musical taste. Throughout the film he is portrayed as an intelligent student and his ambition is to attend college at Harvard. He dismisses the discouragement of his careers counsellor and hopes for a better future.

Through some poor circumstances and decisions Malcolm is caught up in the middle of a drug deal and unfortunately is forced into disposing drugs and giving the money to Mr Jacoby who coincidentally is also the person who controls the outcome of Malcolm’s application to Harvard.  Through some clever means, Malcolm and his friends’ setup business operations in the school, using labs, lockers and their music room that no one in the school uses, for storage and processing of the drugs. They also setup an online store and use Bitcoin for its anonymity to sell these drugs on the online black-market. They become an overnight success due to the drugs high demand at parties. As the events take place in the film, the characters are pushed into corners and their friendships between one another are tested. 

Open Road Films

A critical scene in the film that depicts just how desperate Malcolm becomes and how the situation he is forced into has distorted him is when he draws out a gun and points it directly at the street gang, to obtain the cash they withhold from him and to protect his friends.

The film does indeed have a positive ending as Malcolm skillfully coerces Mr Jacoby to support his application to Harvard. In his application, Malcolm consolidates his challenging experiences and reflects on who he feels he is using the technique of dichotomy and several metaphors. Throughout the film a key message is the notion that it is ok to be different from the crowd you are around and that creatively getting yourself out of a problem is possible. Another aspect of the film that is briefly touched on is Malcolm’s relationship with Nakia (Zoë Kravitz), another student that wants to separate herself from the harsh environment she lives in. This really just adds more colour to Malcolm’s character and gives him space to open up more emotionally to the audience.

Overall, I would say this film is worth a watch. The humorous moments and the quirky characters captivated me and this is reflected in my rating. =D

4 Stars

By Navin Ralhan 

Harry Brown - Movie Review

Harry Brown - Movie Premiere Poster
Lionsgate UK

The film's official synopsis:

"Set in modern day Britain, Harry Brown follows one man's journey through a chaotic world where teenage violence runs rampant. As a modest, law abiding citizen, Brown lives alone. His only companion is his best friend Leonard. When Leonard is killed, Brown reaches his breaking point."

Harry Brown is a retired soldier and widower living in an area that was once respectable but has now become a haven for violent crime and ever present drug use. The area is ruled by teenage gang members with zero police presence to alleviate the issue. Not unlike some areas of the UK at the time this film was released in April 2010.

After the constant persecution by teenagers in the area his friend Leonard confronts them and is murdered. Harry decides to take the law into his own hands and seek justice for his friend, and there the story really gets going.

Emily Mortimer plays D.I Alice Frampton and is very good. She plays a detective who suspects Harry Brown of the recent murders in the area but is doubted by her superior and is helpless in the face of such overwhelming violence that the people of the estate have to live under. She comes across as both sympathetic to the plight of people like Harry's friend Leonard but is unable to offer any solutions as she knows the reality is the police are unwilling to deal with the issue of crime in the area. It is all just too hard.

Lionsgate UK

Michael Caine is excellent as Harry Brown. Harry may seem to be nothing more than a pensioner to those he comes into contact with, but you can see just under the surface the man he once was and his capacity and skill for violence that was once his stock in trade.This is a film where you have no doubt who the hero is, where vigilantism seems to be the only way to fix the estates issues.

Harry Brown dealing out some justice.
Lionsgate UK

The film really kicks it up a notch when Harry visits a squalid drug den to obtain a gun. It is a great sequence that shows both his morality and his capacity to defend himself and deliver summary justice.

Harry Brown taking a stroll through plantation
Lionsgate UK

The riot scene is very well done. It is clearly trying to draw parallels between the scenes and conditions in places that Harry saw combat like Belfast, Northern Ireland and parts of modern Britain like this estate. It does raise some interesting points about the differences between a civil conflict and rioting and how that line may over time blur even further.

Without any spoilers the film also has a small conspiracy in it which although significant in its way is a side plot to the real story.

The soundtrack is well scored and fits the mood of the film throughout.

This film should in my opinion have been more widely recognised as the excellent film it is but sadly I think too many reviewers found the social issues it raised and the neglect by much of main stream society for those living under such conditions just too confronting to properly acknowledge.

4 Stars

Sean Atherton-Feeney ©