I don’t think Penny Dreadful quite met up to its potential but with a fine cast headlined by Timothy Dalton, Eva Green and Josh Hartnett, to go along with impressive set and costume designs, it’s certainly more than watchable. This Complete Series set is very much for those who don’t already own the individual releases and it is at a reasonable price.
Man Up is on the better and all around fun surprises of 2015 in a genre that doesn’t very often surprise. The chemistry, both romantic and comedic, shared between Simon Pegg and Lake Bell really propels combine that with some genuinely funny scenes, even surreal, it makes for a breezy brit-rom-com.
Although I enjoyed J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels and movie adaptations, for whatever reason The Casual Vacancy failed to strike a chord with me. I don’t know if it the adaptation work was lousy or what but outside of the likes of Michael Gambon, Rory Kinnear and Julia McKenzie there wasn’t very much that grabbed my attention.
The Imitation Game probably gets a solid “B+” for sheer entertainment value but a “D+” for accuracy, something that is an unforced error as the real life story of Turing, as well as co-inventor Gordon Welchman, is interesting enough without having to introduce non-existent plot points and changing around characters to fit the dramatic story the filmmakers wanted to tell. Even so, the acting still is top notched especially by Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley.
Albeit not the perfect first season, “Penny Dreadful” is a show that begins to run on all cylinders from the get-go and being only 8-episodes, made for binge-viewing. What stands out from the others even in the pay television venue is the performances from a cast of who’s who including Timothy Dalton, Josh Hartnett and Eva Green, the latter whom well deserving of a Golden Globe nomination.