Matthew Lang

My “must watch” for 2023.

It’s great to finally see a trailer for The Last of Us, which features all the characters and locations from the game.

I must admit, I had goosebumps when it came to the clip of the skyscrapers in Boston.

Also, the clickers look fantastic and a bit different from the usual post-apocalyptic worlds we’ve seen in other films and television shows.

Essential viewing.

I watched the final episode of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi last night and I have to say it was a great ending to a fantastic series.

I had so many questions about how this series would pan out. If Obi-Wan and Leia meet, why doesn’t she remember? Surely Obi-Wan and Darth Vader can’t have an epic lightsaber battle? These questions and the many more I had were thankfully answered in a number of different ways, but didn’t lead to a major plot hole between this a A New Hop. Obi-Wan’s final episode was a great finish to the series and for one scene in particular, it’s definitely worth the wait.

Ewan McGregor reprising his role as Obi-Wan was always going to be a good choice, but it was Vivien Lyra Blair who played Leia who really stole the show for me. Moses Ingram who played Inquisitor Reva was also great, a more complicated character than you might first assume.

Will there be more from Kenobi? I don’t know. I would be quite happy if they left the show as it finished. There is one story that I would like to see more of, but I don’t want to give the ending away, so you’ll just need to watch it.

And about that missing Star Destroyer in the final episode. Maybe on the other side of the planet?

It would be “one permanent, comprehensive home where anyone in Britain can get all of our library content - both the ITV and BBC library - in one place and they can watch it anytime, anywhere,” Dame Carolyn told Today.

— BBC and ITV set to launch Netflix rival

An attempt by the two big broadcasters in the UK to build a streaming service to rival Netflix seems like a lost cause to me. Streaming services are global, so any attempt to compete with the likes of Netflix and even YouTube is a going to be a massive task for the new streaming service.

In our home, we’re not big watchers of either of these channels. For us, other streaming services and cable channels replaced the BBC and ITV a long time ago. This isn’t representative of the UK as a whole, but I’m sure that there are plenty of other households like this.

I think the BritBox might just be too little, too late.

So it is official. No more Daredevil seasons on Netflix.

“We are tremendously proud of the show’s last and final season and although it’s painful for the fans, we feel it best to close this chapter on a high note,” the company said in a statement. “We’re thankful to showrunner Erik Oleson, the show’s writers, stellar crew and incredible cast including Charlie Cox as Daredevil himself, and we’re grateful to the fans who have supported the show over the years.

— Netflix cancels Daredevil after three seasons by The Verge

I like to think that this is a good thing.

Daredevil has been my favourite of the Defender’s series on Netflix. I just like the characters and story that has been told in each of the seasons. Like any good story, it should come to a close. Yes, Daredevil could go on and on, but I think it would fall into the same problem that so many long-running series have at the moment and that’s fatigue.

You just can keep putting out season after season and expect to maintain a high degree of storytelling. The Walking Dead has suffered from this in the past. Episodes were strung out to tell part of a bigger story. There have been quite a few episodes over the last few seasons where I’ve wondered what the point of that episode is.

Sure we’ll no longer see new episodes of Daredevil on Netflix, but I like the fact that as a story it has a beginning, middle and end. It’s something I would like to see more of in television series instead of continually dragging them on.

Netflix’s fourth superhero series will air in March 2017.

I started watching Luke Cage last night, but Daredevil is still my favourite.

And on the topic of Netflix:

Star Trek fans around the world clamoring for CBS’ new take on the universe have an unexpected party to thank for the show’s international availability: Netflix. The streaming giant announced today that it’s obtained the international rights to the new Star Trek in 188 countries (excluding the US and Canada), a deal that’ll see new episodes premiering on Netflix less than 24 hours after they make their domestic debut on CBS All Access, the network’s own paid streaming platform

— Netflix will stream CBS’ new Star Trek series all around the world by The Verge

This has been something of a let down this season of Game of Thrones. There has been some great moments but largely the episodes have plodded on.

Arya’s storyline in “No One” is pretty well proof positive of that. It deflates like a punctured balloon, setting up a big confrontation between Arya and the Waif, then completely failing to follow through.

— Game of Thrones’ bungled Arya plot explains why George R.R. Martin’s taking so long to finish the books by Todd VanDerWerff for Vox

Oh yeah, it’s going to be good.

Me and Jen watched this religiously years ago. It’s great to see it coming back.

via Mme Scherzo

I’ve been really enjoying the Game of Thrones TV series. It’s been playing well to the books. Looking forward to the next series.

via Deviant Art