The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power | I Came By | Bloods | Life by Ella

Well, hello and welcome to binge. Watch the podcast where we take a look at the hottest new TV and film releases on streaming television platforms. I'm Hannah pone, the editor of woman magazine.

And I'm Ian Quen writer on TV and satellite week magazine and watch, watch.com. And today we're looking at the new releases for the week, starting Friday, the 2nd of September, including this is the big one on Amazon prime video.

It's the arrival of Lord of the rings pre wall, the rings of power and on Netflix hug Bonneville's thriller. I came by.

And

we'll also be looking at Apple's family drama life with Ella and the return of Peerless paramedics, comedy blunts on now TV. But first I, what is in the news, apple

TV's Philadelphia based crime drama, sinking spring, which is directed by Ridley. Scott will follow a group of friends who pretend to be drug enforcement agents to Burgle a house only to stumble across a narcotics business.

What else is in the news? Well

in Netflix's retro, a futurist film, the electric state stranger thing, star Millie Bobby Brown will play a young woman, searching her little brother with the help of an enigmatic stranger and an endearing robot. I mean, does sound quite out my street. Does it really? Um, Chris Pratt is also.

Um, starring alongside Jason Alexander Stanley Tuchi and Brian

Cox. Good cast. Well, it's another huge week. I mean, you wait ages for one fantasy drama, prequel to come along and then you get two in quick succession. So we've had the game of Thrones prequel this week, just as eagerly, if not more eagerly anticipated.

It's the Lord of the rings, prequel the rings of power, which arrives on Amazon prime video. On Friday, the 2nd of September, and here is a clip. My brother gave his life hunting. The enemy.

His task

is now mine

stand with me. Ours was no chance meeting search,

not fate.

Well, I am a huge fan of Peter Jackson's wonderful film adaptation of the Lord of the rings. So. I was really looking forward to this, but I was also had a bit of trepidation that, mm, will it be as good? Well, I have to say it is absolutely top notch.

as blown away. So this is set: 3000

So it centers on the forging of the 20 rings and Lord SAS rise to power. And of course it's another epic struggle between good. Evil. So we're introduced at the beginning to an Elvin lady called Guad, or she was played by Kate Blanchett in the films. You will remember here, she's played by Mor Clark.

There's been a great war against SAS master Morgo. Gala's brother was killed in that war. And she is convinced that SA is still there somewhere, even though the war was won, she believes that evil is out there somewhere. And she takes this group of Elvis warriors tracking all over the place to try and find some evidence that SA is still out there and poses a threat.

This has been touted widely as the most. TV series ever made and you can see it on screen. It looks incredible. I mean, easily up to the standard of the films in terms of the visuals. Wow. And there's this great scene where they're up in this sort of far north they're climbing up this sheer cliff face.

It's all icy. All these El Elvis warriors. And it just looks fantastic. Then they find this sort of abandoned. It looks like a, sort of a Citadel evil Citadel, where they come across a snow troll that attacks them. It's everything you want from a Lord of the rings, TV adaptation. It actually exceeded my expectations.

Another interesting elements of it. Now, of course, we all love the hobbits and we find out in this series that. The antied of the hobbits are the Harts who are sort of hunter gatherer, nomadic people, and they among them one Lenny, Henry, uh, you will see. So as I say, this exceeded my expectations. It looks absolutely amazing.

And if you are a fan of the films and a fan of Toki and you are going to love it, Hannah, what did you think?

You see, I, I love the Lord of the rings to read. And you know, when they, after we've talked about the same time before, when you've got a book and then you go and watch a film or an adaptation or a series or whatever, it might be, it kind of it's it.

You need to read the book first and sometimes it can ruin it and sometimes it, it doesn't, and, and this really doesn't this, I think absolutely brings it to life. And I think it's really hard when other people have played the parts before. Like you mentioned Kate Blanchett, you know, it's very, very hard for someone new then to come in and do it.

But I think this absolutely works. I. It, it, it does what it says on the tint. Um, as in, if you like this genre, you will love it. And if you don't like this genre, you might find it a bit hard to watch because it can be a bit gruesome at times concert and quite sort of violent in places. But, um, I, I, I think it's very true to, to the, um, To the original story in many ways.

Um, and an absolute fortune has been put into this to make it as brilliant as it has or something like a, a reported 58 million per episode. I mean, can you imagine that kind of, that kind of cash and, and, and it looks like it, there is no expense bed here. So yeah, I, I, I think it is. It is truly brilliant.

Um, not something you have on the background. You need to sit down and you need to watch it

agreed. Those prosthetic ears do not come cheap now, uh, arriving slightly earlier this week on Wednesday, the 31st of August, you are going to tell us about a new feature film, a thriller on Netflix called I came by.

I was reading about that. Judge people call him a Saint

he'd take on inquest on behalf of refugees. It's a publicity stunt.

The elusive I came by taggers are back to haunt the city's rich fight the system. Remember,

can you think of anyone who might have, cause

to target you? I was a judge, so yes, one or two people.

Where do I start with this? So firstly, Hugh Bonneville. So Hugh Bonneville is the, is the star of the show? Well, I say he's the star of the show. There's a few stars of the show actually here. Um, but he's a big part and a face that you'll absolutely recognize. Um, and he plays the part of, um, a high court judge called sir Hector Blake.

Um, obviously, uh, well off a well respected member of, of the community. Um, and he's seen as a judge. That that does good work. That he's a force for good, because he represents, um, refugees and, and, and, and people that need his help as opposed to just people with, with loads of cash. But he is hiding a very dark secret and this very young graffiti artist, um, Toby Neely.

He's there to uncover it. Now, the graffiti artist, they work as a duo and they break into homes of, of, of very rich people, wealthy people, powerful people, and spray the words I came by on their walls. So that now, you know, where the, the title of this came from the high court judge is one of the people that they break in the homes to.

And that's when they stumble across some. A dark secret, and that's what it explores and that, and there's loads of twist, loads of twists and turns these two louds shouldn't have been doing what they're doing. Of course they shouldn't be, you know, but, but they're rebels without a cause. Or maybe they do have a cause.

And yet that it's the rich and the powerful that kind of hold all the power. And yet they're trying to gain some of that power back. So it's a bit of a, there's a kind of a. There's a theme bubbling under and a, a kind of an ideology bubbling under all of this, which I, which I actually, I really quite liked.

And it made you have a new take on it cause they shouldn't be doing that. And of course they shouldn't be, but. What they're doing is trying, trying to fight back. So, so I suppose it's, it is sort of a trio that the mother is brought in at one stage as well. And, and, and, and is kind of caught up in, in, in this graffiti artists, uh, want to absolutely uncover the truth, but it's, it does take a lot of twists and turns.

I, I personally really enjoyed it. What

are you thinking? Yeah, I thought it was great. It was a really good thriller. I enjoyed seeing Hugh Bonneville. On the surface, as you say, playing someone who is a bit of a Lord Grantham type figure, but actually underneath he's a he's a Badie he's could see him playing a villain, cuz obviously we know him from Paddington as well.

He's normally quite cuddly. George Mackay, uh, young star. He plays the graffiti artist, Toby. He always does pulls that weird face a lot. His he, but he's good in this cuz we've seen him playing like a sort of posh diplomat in Munich, the edge of war. He's very different in this. He's a sort of, bit of a young rebel and, and the relationship with his mum played by Kelly.

McDonald is good as well. Cuz he's in the early twenties. He's still living at home. As far as he's concerned, he's not doing. Kind of thing with his life. Yeah. Some great Swiss and turns. It could keep you on the edge of your seat and there's lots of people sort of going to places where you are thinking now, get out of there.

You're gonna get caught something bad's gonna happen. Yeah. It starts off with, um, Toby kind of on a, on a tube platform and there's a homeless person, and then there's a rich guy and that kind of what he does there underpins this idea that he's kind of trying to strike back at the establishment and write some wrongs.

So yeah, I think it's a perfect thriller for an it in. Really enjoyable really well done. And yeah, I liked killing McDonald's performance as well because the nice twist about it is so Hector is really tight with, um, a high up member of the police force. Like they play squash together. So as soon as there's any suspicion about has, is he, has he done something wrong?

Is he a criminal? He's able to just brush it off and, and the police just back off. So yeah, I thought it was, um, I really enjoyed it. It was great. A bit of much needed light relief now. On now TV. It's the welcome return of the comedy bloods. And here's a. This is what the job's all about out on the roll, being your own boss.

Well, Joe's our boss.

Do we do mental? I don't think so. Lost. There's a sign that says it's not shot for absolute co proceed.

Darrell Darrell

never get confusing. Yeah. People do get us mixed

up cuz they're so similar. So this is basically a batch of new episodes. There's not a whole new series for the uninitiated. Or Samson, Koo co-writes and stars in it as he, as he does with slice the pizza guys, uh, company, which is also very good.

So normally he's teamed up with Jane HOKs, who plays Wendy Samson plays my league and they're a pair of paramedics. And it's a great premise for comedy because. Or it's more like a comedy drama, cuz there's some quiet moving parts in it as well. So they're out and about treating patients coming across emergencies.

So you get that aspect of things, you get their relationship, which is great fun. And then everything that goes on back at base where there's some, some funny characters, um, a great cast as well. Adrian Scarborough. You've got Julian barer. I mean, it's, it's, it's a terrific lineup. Ko just has funny bones.

He's he's really good. He's a good writer of dialogue. As we pick up the action fans will know that there was, there's an investigation, a. Into Malik and Wendy's conduct after something that happened when they were on shift on new year's Eve. So he's really angry about that. And he's put in a team with Julian Barrett's, uh, character, which is, uh, very amusing.

Uh, meanwhile, Wendy is team up with the rather scary boss. Joe played by Lucy punch, and it is just as good as ever great music as well. And I would say if you haven't checked out this. Comedy you should do so because it's very, very good. And there are other series to enjoy. What do you think about this one?

Hannah? Are you a fan? Yeah,

I am a fan. I, I, what I like about it is that it's not afraid to kind of tackle some of those more difficult topics. Um, and like you say, and I, I, again, in comedies, I think the, the best part, I mean, now I love after. You can laugh and you can cry almost in the, in, in, in the same moment.

And I think this, this brings that as well. It's quite a special thing to be able to do, I think when you're writing something. So yeah, absolutely words. I think if you haven't, haven't had a look at this, you really, really should. It's quite addictive. I keep wanting to go back

for more and what you were saying about the comedy and the drama leads us rather neatly into our last offering for this week, Hannah, which you're gonna tell us about.

It's a new family drama on apple TV plus, and it's called life by Ella. She just finished chemo a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure Ella's ready for school tomorrow. Carl, we discussed this and C Santa Anna winds are blowing. I didn't catch cancer from the wind. So I'm guessing it's not gonna bring it back.

Ella, come on. I finally get to be a regular teenage. Staying up all night, eating candy, drinking soda. Jen, I didn't hear any of that.

I often talk about apple TV plus, and the fact that they are sort of big productions and I don't think there's been anything. I haven't really liked that much. And here's the first, there always has to be a first, I don't personally like this that much, and this is why it just feels a bit cliche.

So this is a teen series. Okay. And it follows 13 year old. Ella played by Lily Brooks. O'Brien um, Recently completed her chemotherapy. So the premise of this is, is really sad, but also really happy because she's completed it and she's going back to school and she. Wanting and is leading a kind of, um, a normal teenage life and, and her, I mean, something like that happening to anyone will, will change them.

They dunno how it will change them, but for her, it's given her a real perspective life, real ES for life and for adventure. So, you know, the parents are particularly the dad, um, It's, I just don't wanna hear this stuff. I don't wanna hear what you're doing. Cause he wants to wrapper in cotton. Woo. And can't do this and you can't do that.

And that kind of which every parent would be. I can completely see it, but it didn't feel to me it didn't feel brilliantly authentic. So whilst it was fun and it was lighthearted and a good view, uh, Fine check into it. Did I think it was something that hit all the right notes for me? No, I didn't. And it, it just didn't feel right on apple TV, plus it didn't feel like an apple TV plus production.

If I'm honest with you. Um, as I say, I, it, it's nothing. It's nothing to hate about it. Absolutely not. The premise of this is great, but did I think it all gelled together? No, I didn. Am

I on my own. I think you summed it up really well. And it's interesting to compare, for instance, the treatment of a, of a young cancer victim in bloods.

Who's like a regular character and the way. Ko writes those scenes, which are sort of savagely funny and also incredibly moving with this. So when this started, I thought, well, this kind of, this seems quite kind of cheesy. It's not really the kind of comedy drama that I enjoy. I wasn't that keen. However, I do like the setup, it it's a good subject to tackle and they do get some quite good mileage out of the dad.

Uh, as you say, he's. Make sure that his daughter eats healthily and they all think, oh, come on, dad, calm down. You know, let her live her life. And she goes back to school and she realizes that she's kind of overestimated what she, even though she wants to go back to just living a normal life against them all with her friends doing this and that eating what she wants.

She realizes that she's not quite ready. And I did find it. Quite moving actually, when, when she suddenly discovers that, oh, I'm still, you know, I'm still pretty weak and I'm, I'm quite ill. And she goes back to visit another cancer sufferer onwards. So I found it moving because anything to do with young people with, with sort of potentially terminal diseases is, you know, is very upsetting and moving isn't it.

But like you, I, I. Always particularly like the tone of it, but I do think they get some good co mileage and some good drama, but I just wonder if it's gonna kind of be beating the same drum for the whole season. I'm not sure how it's gonna develop further, but, but we'll see. Yeah. So I kind of, I felt it was a bit of a mixed bag, this one, but I, I certainly enjoyed elements of it.

We've got that time, Hannah, where we find out what you've been. Binging on apart from red wine. So please reveal all .

Um, well I was having a bit of a bingeing on sex in the city with a glass of red in hand, actually. Um, yeah, I, I felt like I wanted to mind you and my daughter's into friends now. So, you know, it's friends and sex Missi on the TV all the time.

Happy

days. As for me, celebrity marsh chef is back. Of course I've been, uh, getting my teeth stuck into that. And the return of another of my favorite shows, the jewelry making competition, all the glitters presented by Catherine Ryan. I love that one. Now, we've just got time to look ahead to what we're gonna be talking about next week.

So what's on the agenda, Brenda, the roller

coaster live story of heavyweight champion. I and Mike Tyson is told in the Disney plus drama called, guess what,

Mike? And this is another big E eagerly anticipated Tom Hanks stars in a live action remake of Disney's classic film Pinocchio. So we look forward to those and more, but.

In the meantime, keep watching!