Banshee

In this review I will review the Cinemax show Banshee. This show is about Lucas Hood, played by Antony Starr, a con man that is just released from spending 15 years in prison. When he is released he heads to his transvestite computer hacker friend Job, played by Hoon Lee. The reason he visits Job is to find where his ex-lover/partner Anna known now as Carrie, played by Ivana Milicevic, is located.

Hood showing up where Carrie lives now, which is a town called Banshee in PA, messes up her life. The reason it messes up her life is because 15 years ago Hood and Anna banded together to steal from the man they worked for Rabbit, played by Ben Cross. Rabbit is your definition of a Crime Lord, and he is one not to be messed with. When Hood and Anna stole from Rabbit they were on the run, and because Hood loved Anna so much he let himself be caught so Carrie could get away. Then for 15 years Rabbit made Hood's life in prison a living hell, and he searched for Carrie but couldn't find her.

After Hood visits Carrie at her house he finds he has lost all that he cared for. He goes to a bar to get a drink where we meet a future friend of Hood's, Sugar Bates, played by Frankie Faison. Along with Bates the new Sheriff for Banshee is at the bar; his name is Lucas Hood. What happens is that these men working for the Crime Lord in Banshee, who is Kai Proctor, played by Ulrich Thomsen, visit Bates' bar to hassle him, and the real Hood steps in to stop them and gets killed in the process. The fake Hood, Antony Starr, stepped in too late to stop them from killing the real Hood, but he killed the two goons.

The fake Hood sees an opportunity and takes it. He calls his friend Job, and after Job forges documents that is how our ex con becomes Lucas Hood new Sheriff of Banshee. With Hood now in Banshee permanently, a lot of chaos ensues. Hood isn't always the hero we want him to be, but I really like his character even if he still steals and robs. Since this show is on Cinemax it has a lot of gore, violence, blood, language, sex, and nudity. To explain most of these here is a clip from the show, and it is one of my favorite scenes in the first season.

I didn't mention all the characters, but everyone's acting is great, and you feel for these characters. Banshee's first season is out on Blu ray/DVD, is currently in its second season on Cinemax, and has been renewed for a third season even though the second hasn't ended yet. In the end my rating is, you see this as soon as you can if you can handle it, and if you enjoy a great action series that has great acting and drama. It is brutal, but very much worth it. If you want to know how many secrets one town can have, watch Banshee and find out.

Remember the Titans

I thought really hard on which next great media I wanted to review, and I decided on the great classic Remember The Titans. The film is a true story about an African American football coach and his high school team on their first integrated season. Integrated means they put both black and whites together on the same team. 

This was back when schools were still separate, and blacks and whites stayed away from each other. This film was directed by Boaz Yakin, who has done most recently the film Now You See Me. I simply love this film, and Yakin did an amazing job.

The acting is really great in  this film, and I'm not surprised with the talent they got. The head coach, Coach Herman Boone, is played none other then by Denzel Washington, who has done films like American Gangster and Training Day. Washington is amazing as Boone and I can watch him as this character a million times and it will never get old. Washington portrays Boone as a very serious man, but he loves his family, and he loves the game. He will do anything for either, and he expects his team to have the same respect for the game as he does. He wasn't expecting the position he was given, but he accepts it, and he does what he can to bring the team together; including getting along with his assistant head coach, Coach Bill Yoast.

Bill Yoast is played by Will Patton, who is in the recent show Falling Skies on TNT. Yoast was the original head coach of the high school, but changes were made and it was given to Boone. This didn't agree with Yoast, and he applied for other coaching positions, but when the players he loved so much weren't going to play for Boone he became the assistant head coach. Patton is fun to watch, and he portrays the emotion very well. Yoast and Boone don't get too well in the beginning, but they grow closer and they begin to trust each other. Yoast has a daughter, Sheryl, played by Hayden Panettiere, who is in the recent show Nashville on ABC.

Panettiere is very young in this film, and even though she is young I like her performance. Lets go with that I've seen worse child actors. Now the two main football players Titans concentrates on are Julius Campbell, played by Wood Harris, and Gerry Bertier, played by Ryan Hurst. These two hate each other in the beginning, but they become great friends despite their color. 

Some other well known actors in Titans are: Donald Faison, who was in the show Scrubs, Kate Bosworth, who was in the film Homefront, and Ryan Gosling, who was in films The Notebook and Drive.

All the acting is great by these, and everyone else in the film. Titans is a great sports film, but you don't even have to like sports to enjoy this film. It is about being who you are, no matter what obstacles are put in your way. I believe this film is a classic because it is a film that any generation can watch and will enjoy no matter what year it is. In the end my rating is, it is a classic that you have to see as soon as possible.

Strike Back

I thought for my second review I would do a TV show that I really enjoy. The show is called Strike Back, and it is on Cinemax. The show is about Section 20, a secret British Intelligence Unit that goes around the world fighting terrorism. In the first season they are after a terrorist known as Latif; who no one knows what he looks like. They have a picture of him, but it is so bad that you wouldn't recognize him if you saw him. I'm not going to say who plays Latif because that will actually spoil the show; I know that sounds weird, but if you watch the first two episodes you would understand.

Section 20 is led by Col. Eleanor Grant, played by Amanda Mealing. Grant is a tough leader, and she doesn't take crap from anyone. She will also do what she has to when trying to get information she needs. She may not agree with some of the choices her team may make, but she will defend them till the bitter end. I enjoy Mealing's acting, and I wouldn't want to mess with her character if she existed.

Grant may be the leader of Section 20, but the show concentrates on two characters. The first is Sgt. Michael Stonebridge, played by Philip Winchester, who has been in movies like The Patriot and Flyboys. Stonebridge is a great soldier with a wife at home. He takes his job very seriously, and he is always ready to defend his country. Winchester does very well in this role. He does the fighting and action scenes great, and he nails the emotion of the character. 

The second is Sgt. Damien Scott, played by Sullivan Stapleton, who was in the movie Gangster Squad, and will be in the upcoming movie 300: Rise of an Empire. Scott is my favorite character in the entire show by far. Scott is a former Delta Force commando, and he was discharged because he was set up. Scott is my favorite character because he does take things seriously, but he also knows how to have fun and make jokes. Here is an example of just that in this scene. I feel this shows who each character is, and how well they work with each other. In the beginning Scott and Stonebridge don't get along, but they become closer and become great friends and it shows. They have each other's back, and they trust in each other. I enjoy these two together, and it just makes the show that much better. 

Section 20 is made of a lot of people, but the other two that the show looks at are Sgt. Julia Richmond, played by Michelle Lukes, and Maj. Oliver Sinclair, played by Rhashan Stone. Richmond is the communications officer who concentrates in staying in contact with the agents out in the field. Sinclair is Grant's right hand man, and he handles the logistics and management of the team.

The team doesn't always win, but they always pick themselves back up, and continue forward. I strongly recommend this show to people who like military movies/TV shows; although it will not be for everyone. This show is on cinemax which mean there is a lot of blood, violence, language, and sex. I feel that is what makes this show what it is, but I understand if people don't like that sort of stuff. If you can handle it I recommend watching it. In the end my rating is; watch as soon as possible, if you can handle it.

Warrior

I didn't feel like making a video, but I felt like reviewing movies/TV shows that I enjoy, and see. I thought my first would be my favorite film, Warrior. This film is about two brothers, one a family man and the other a war hero, who both decide to start fighting in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) again. They both are fighting for different reasons, but you feel for both of these brothers. When I saw this I couldn't help but want both of them to succeed.

You might think this is just another fighting movie, but it goes way beyond that. They had a very rough childhood, which they don't go into huge detail, but you get how it affected them through their emotions instead of using flashbacks which I enjoyed.

The family man brother is played by Joel Edgerton, who before this I haven't seen him in anything else, but I'm sure glad I saw him in this. The war hero brother is played by Tom Hardy, who most recently played Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, who was excellent in the emotional scenes and the fighting. Last but not least the father of the brothers is played by none other than Nick Nolte, Who is just a legend in the film industry. The acting was just great all around, and the fighting was unbelievable. The film was directed by Gavin O'Connor, who is the director of another great film called Miracle.

In the end this is my favorite film because the action is superb, but it goes way beyond that to another level with the story and the acting. My rating of this is, see it as soon as humanly possible!

I will review more stuff shortly, but I want to see what kind of feedback I receive on this. If you have any requests please let me know, and I will review it as soon as I can. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all see Warrior.