Film Review: 1917

Directed by Sam Mendes and based in part on an account told to Mendes’ grandfather, 1917 tells the story of two young British soldiers – Schofield (George MacKay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) – during the First World War who are ordered to deliver a message calling off an attack that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap. This message is especially important as Blake’s brother is due to take part in the attack, but it is a race against time.

TV Review: Black Mirror (Netflix) – Season Five

Written and created by Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror returns to Netflix with a fifth series compromising of three episodes – Striking Vipers, Smithereens, and Rachel Jack and Ashley Too.

With a series like Black Mirror, you expect to be thrown in at the deep end with a warning of how technology is advancing, but this is definitely a much more stripped back series. Technology and advances aren’t pushed in your face to make you fearful of the future. Instead, this series uses concepts which we already have – social media platforms, VR gaming, and simple AIs – to show you their everyday dangers (or possible benefits).

Film Review: Spectre

The 24th James Bond film, Spectre is the second instalment directed by Sam Mendes and is the 4th film featuring Daniel Craig in the lead. With the secret service under political threat by a member of the British government, Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott), the team – M (Ralph Fiennes), Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw) – must focus their efforts on keeping the operation alive. But Bond puts matters into his own hands after a cryptic message forces him to go on a rogue mission to uncover a sinister organisation known as Spectre. With the company of Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), Bond must follow a well-disguised trail of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind the organisation, as a face from his past, Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), uncovers a link bigger than any of the 007 initiative could have ever imagined.

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