The Big Bang Theory - Season 7, Episode 4 'The Raiders Minimization' [Recap + Review]

It's that time of the week again. Episode 4 of Season 7 of The Big Bang Theory aired last night and this time it's all about Indiana Jones. The episode opens with Amy and Sheldon, watching Raiders of the Lost Ark in Sheldon's apartment. Eager Sheldon asks Amy whether she enjoyed the film and Amy says she enjoyed it but has found a plot hole - that Indiana is irrelevant to the conclusion of the film (i.e. the Nazi's would have died anyway by opening the Ark). This causes Sheldon great discomfort and causes him to drop his mouth in awe - which Amy quickly closes. Oh, how we've missed these Amy/Sheldon moments.

Poor Sheldon, discovering something he has enjoyed for so long isn't 'perfect' - it must be agony for him. I think we can all safely assume Sheldon isn't going to take this well. Meanwhile, Penny reveals to Leonard that she has bought his mother's psychology book for her psychology class, and it's chopped full of fun moments in Leonard's childhood that he undoubtedly wishes he could forget. Unsurprisingly, Penny teases Leonard about it. 

At lunch in the cafeteria, Sheldon reveals the plot hole in Raiders, which makes the whole gang sigh and appear solemn. It also appears that Sheldon is trying to find something that Amy likes and rip it apart like she did to Sheldon. Because clearly, that's going to solve everything. Later on, Leonard and Penny are in Penny's apartment cooking dinner and when Penny begins to show him attention over the problems with his mother, he exaggerates his sadness causing Penny to comfort him in a multitude of ways. Well, this isn't going to end well for Leonard. 

Meanwhile, Raj and Stuart are setting up dating websites and Raj is attempting to take a good photo of Stuart, and failing miserably. Stuart's faces look intensely creepy. Raj and Stuart then discuss what they put on their dating profiles - so do we think this is going to end up well for both of them? (My guess is probably not.) Back in Leonard and Sheldon's apartment, Sheldon is reading the funnies in a magazine to try and uncover something with a flaw in it. 

Leonard asks what happened with the book Sheldon was reading over (Pride and Prejudice) and Sheldon replies that it's perfect - 'he's got too much pride, she's got too much prejudice.' Sheldon reads Marmaduke but can't find anything with that, and begins on Garfield, only to find that he loves the cartoon too. Drat! Leonard goes over to Penny's apartment as they are meant to be going to watch a sports game with Penny's friends, but Leonard fakes sadness about his mother issues in order to stay home and watch The Hobbit. 

Later at Caltech, Howard knocks on Leonard's lab door and Penny walks out, post-coitus with Leonard. Howard asks how he's doing it and Leonard reveals his secret about his sadness/mother issues and how Penny gives him attention when he feigns sadness. Back at Sheldon's apartment, Sheldon invites Amy over (so he can undoubtedly ruin something of hers) and performs some maniacal hand rubbing (which he attributes to putting on lotion). This is obviously a lie, but Amy agrees to come over, and after their video-call ends, Sheldon remarks that it was a good ruse. 

Meanwhile, Howard tries to incorporate Leonard's technique with Bernadette, but she's way too feisty and sharp as a tack to fall for it, and makes Howard crumble and reveal what Leonard said about Penny. Meanwhile, Stuart and Raj have set their dating profiles live, and start to receive hits. Back at Sheldon's apartment, Amy is over and they begin to watch Little House on the Prairie. Amy manages to deduce what Sheldon is doing and asks him to tell her next time if he is mad. He does, and she apologizes. 

Back at Penny's apartment, Leonard comes back to find Penny all made up in a nightie and she leads him on to believe they are going to have sex. However, just when Leonard is disrobing, Penny turns round her computer screen to reveal Mrs Hoftstadter on video-call. Leonard's mother berates him for lying to Penny and begins to discuss with him their issues, calling Leonard to shout apologies to Penny and begs her to come back. Poor Raj and Stuart, meanwhile, have cottoned on to they fact that whilst people are reading their profiles, they have received no messages of interest. 

They decide to go to a bar and get rejected the old fashioned way - but this proves no less of a heartache. The episode ends with the Sheldon, Howard, Raj and Leonard watching Raiders again, and trying to figure out whether Indie was irrelevant to the story. Overall, the episode was fairly enjoyable, possibly not as good as last week's but it still featured enough laughs to make it entertaining and the whole Amy/Sheldon saga and the Penny/Leonard moments made it stand out. Next week's episode is 'The Workplace Proximity' and features Amy, who gets a job at Sheldon's University and also focuses around Howard, who has a fight with Bernadette and ends up sleeping on Raj's sofa. So, how might this play out? No doubt Sheldon will probably find it difficult with Amy being so close to him 24/7. 

Reviewed by Mel. 

Criminal Minds - Season 9, Episode 3 'Final Shot' [Recap + Review]

The third episode of Season 9 of Criminal Minds featured mass-hysteria and eagle-eyed Hotch displaying some first-rate sniper skills. If you have yet to watch the episode, you probably don't want to read this review...yet. Watch the episode, then come back and read! Ok, so things kicked off to a pretty dramatic start as two women walk out and discuss the fact that one of them won't go ask a guy out to lunch. 

So she does, except no sooner has she started talking to the guy in the headphones, he drops dead. It's revealed he's been shot in the neck by a bullet, and then more bullet noises ring out throughout the plaza. We see a sniper is perched above the scene, so, cue team! The team assemble and head to Dallas to investigate the sniping and whether the scene was a form of domestic terrorism by white supremacy groups. Meanwhile, the unknown sniper has masqueraded as a builder/painter and got away. He then takes out a photograph of a woman - is he hunting her next? Meanwhile, the said woman gets escorted away by another man who says they are in danger, and off they run. 

Reid and Alex go to the hospital to question the women (who were talking to the guy who got shot in the first scene in the plaza) about whether they saw anything - and one of the women says she saw a guy in the window above the plaza. The team think they might have a suspect in the form of an 'ex' leader of a white supremacist group, but that goes no-where (although he is still extremely racist). The team find the spot on the window and locate it as being the sniper's vantage point, and then realise that these aren't any random acts - they're calculated hits by professional/s. 

There is then another shooting at a gas station, and this time another older woman is shot, along with others. The team locate the shooting point, whilst the woman who was in the earlier photography and her 'escorter' hide out in a room and discuss their situtation. The team manage to identify that the sniper was after the third victim in the plaza, and identify her as a first point of contact in a programme for beaten women. They conclude that the sniper must be after someone in the programme, as the third victim in the plaza sent the name of the gas station victim to an unknown cell number. 

They indentify the gas station victim as a neighbourhood 'angel' who was the second point of contact for the women, and housed them in her home (and changed their appearance). It is then revealed that the 'photograph woman' has a husband who was very dangerous and that she escaped their house through the help of the third point of contact for the centre, a delivery driver who escorted her to a third location (safe house). JJ and Morgan go to the office of her husband, and he flees the scene. 

Unfortunately, he gets hit by a vehicle and dies at the scene whilst fleeing. He gives a disgusting little smirk to Morgan who concludes that he definitely has something to do with the whole affair. The team eventually come to the conclusion that he hired one of his ex special ops pals to finish the job. Now we go back to the scene and it's revealed that the 'escort man' is infact and was all along, the sniper who the unsub husband hired to kill his wife. 

Confused? Basically, the sniper has imagined his whole scenario with the target in order to stay focused. Unfortunately, she decides that the best thing to do in this case is to go and stand outside. The sniper prepares his rifle and is about to strike, when a bullet passes through his own head, and he falls on the ground - dead. JJ and Morgan come in behind the sniper and it's revealed that bad-ass Hotch has sniped the sniper from across the balcony. Jesus. You go, Hotch. 

All in all, it was a pretty engaging, thought-provoking episode, and it's nice when they don't always reveal who the end killer is at the beginning. Great job, writers. Not to mention Garcia was looking as vibrant as ever in her awesome outfit. Someone give Hotch a pat on the back for the effort though. So, what did you think of 'Final Shot?' The next episode is called 'To Bear Witness' and revolves around the team meeting their new section chief who has some history with JJ, and an unsub who leaves his victims unable to 'communicate.' Hmmm, so what do we think that means? I'm expecting some sort of tongue-chopping, mouth-sewing event.

Reviewed by Mel.

Lady Gaga - Aura (Lyric Video) [+ Review]

The lyric video for Lady Gaga's new track 'Aura' from her upcoming album ARTPOP has been released and features clips from upcoming film Machete Kills. 'Aura' was featured in one of the trailers as the signature song and will feature in the movie, leading to speculation as to whether this track will be the second single from Gaga's ARTPOP, or if it's just a promotional release for the film. Needless to say the lyric video is certainly more explosive than some and sees Gaga in numerous scenes from the film, in which she stars, alongside Sofia Vergara, Danny Trejo, Mel Gibson and co. Watch Gaga's action-packed lyric video below:

The track features a heap load of maniacal laughter; possessing a Western feel to it. While it may prove too much for some, it features some moments of quintessential Gaga and we're sure most fans will love it, whether it's next the single, or not. 

Reviewed by Mel. 

The Great British Bake Off - Series 4, Episode 8 'Quarter Finals' (Review)

It was the quarter-finals of the Great British Bake Off Series 4 last night, and from this day forth it shall be known as the day everyone wept. There were tears all around the tent, and more than usual as both Beca, Frances and Christine sobbed as they all faced eviction after their lacklustre show-stoppers. Paul and Mary were feeling unusually harsh as they hammered down their judgements onto the bakers, as everyone seemed to revert back to their own ways. Frances (who by now should really be focusing on the TASTE of her bakes) chose style over substance with her showstopper - a 'hidden' carrot cake, which looked quite frankly, ghastly and unappetizing anyway. Seriously, it's a mound of dirt. Don't believe me? See below. 

 Edible dirt. Lovely. Needless to say Mary wasn't too pleased the little plant pots weren't edible and both Paul and Mary weren't a fan of the flavour. Uh-Oh. However, Frances' performance earlier with her Chelsea buns managed to save her from elimination. What a pity. I do hope she comes back next week and actually focuses on the flavour(?!). Making an appearance for Team Despair is Ruby, who just about managed to give herself a compliment this week, and earned herself first in the technical - as well as Star Baker. It was between her and Kimberley, and the young student just managed to clinch it by coming one space up in the technical. Ruby made her first specifically decorative piece - an allotment shed type-thing. Here it is below:

 Let's just say it looks far more appetizing than the soil above. Kimberely was back to her usual self (thank god) and produced a lovely little toadstool house for her showstopper. It was rather pretty, and had she got first in the technical, she probably would have be crowned Star Baker, but congratulations to Ruby anyhow. 

Poor Beca made the fatal error Ali made, of not actually practising her showstopper beforehand, and needless to say Paul described it as extremely 'bland.' So, so bland. And dull. So, yeah...maybe it didn't go as well as she had hoped. This put her firmly in the firing line - but she managed to stay, as Christine has scored last in the technical, and had also done pretty badly with her guitar, which was also bland. So 0/10 for taste all around? Beca made a pretty simple cheese style novelty showstopper cake complete with fondant mice.

Sadly, poor Christine had to go as her guitar didn't hit any high notes for Mary and Paul, who complimented the passion-fruit Icing, but said there wasn't nearly enough, and that the cake itself had no flavour. 

Scoring last in the technical meant that Christine had to go. Everyone burst into tears over her departure and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Except maybe Paul. So, with Beca, Kimberely, Ruby and Frances through to Week 9's Semi-Final, which is 'savoury canape' week, who do you think will crumble under the pressure? And did you think Christine deserved to go this week?

Reviewed by Mel.

Prisoners (2013) Review

From the twist and turns of dark and intricate mazes comes Prisoners (2013), a gripping thriller-drama film, directed by Denis Villeneuve. The film focuses around Keller Dover, (portrayed by Hugh Jackman) whose daughter, Anna, disappears along with the Birches daughter, Joy Birch, while retrieving a safety whistle from her house. This spurs Dover into enlisting the help of the father, Franklin Birch (Terrence Howard) to help find their daughters. Meanwhile, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is brought in to help recover the girls and thus begins the hunt to find the two girls who have just vanished.

The film benefits from moving performances from Gyllenhaal and Jackman, as the latter delivers a raw and gritty performance as a father who has lost his daughter and has to delve into murky waters in order to, in his mind, get her back. A potently powerful performance indeed; Jackman’s character Keller reminds us of the possible lengths we would go to get back someone we loved, and at what cost. Gyllenhaal, also, excels in his role as the Detective, and puts in a memorable and haunting performance that will not soon be forgotten by many. This coupled with a beautifully chilling and tense score from Jóhann Jóhannsson singles out Prisoners as one to watch in the upcoming awards season. 

The film is affected, in a way, by its relatively basic storyline and unfortunately, if you have seen a lot of similar types of films, you may have guessed the ending before the film reaches its climax. This, however, does not detract away from the efforts of the director, to create a sense of pacing and to try and hold certain details back and not reveal them until the very end. He succeeds in creating a film which could give itself away very easily if put in the hands of any director, and although somewhat predictable, it will not take away the thrill for a vast majority of viewers.

Prisoners is a film focused around loss and questions what people will do when faced with a crisis and holds strong religious undertones that contribute to the eerie and disturbing nature of the piece. The film has enough intensity to command attention from most audiences; the acting is sublime and the script well-written, despite the fairly generic storyline. Prisoners proves itself to be a substantial thriller enriched with striking messages and performances along with strong subject matter that will satisfy audiences with a taste for the thrilling and dramatic.

 4 stars 

If you'd like to check out my review in Issue #286 of Concrete Newspaper, then you can through this link! 

http://issuu.com/concreteuea/docs/venue_286/19?e=5493954/5123535