Springsteen: Deliver me from Nowhere (2025) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

Adapted from the book, Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska by Warren Zanes, this feature film is not technically a biopic as it just covers a very specific short period of the iconic rocker from New Jersey's life in the early 1980's. Fresh from the success of touring his most recent album, The River, 32 year old Bruce (Jeremy Allen White), has entered a period of soul-searching as it seems dark memories from his past seems to be playing heavily on his mind and he begins to retreat from the limelight.

He decides to rent a house by a lake in the country near his home town in New Jersey to explore these thoughts alone and see if they lead to anything constructive that he can channel into a new album. Even his good friend and Record Producer, Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong), can't seem to convince him that the incredible momentum gained from the previous release shouldn't be squandered right now. Bruce is adamant and orders a home four-track mixing desk (the Tascam Portastudio 144), that records only to cassette and with just a couple of guitars and a harmonica, he gets down to it.

The film actually starts in 1956, Freehold, New Jersey, where Bruce is 7 years old. Living in a modest house with his sister, Virginia, and working class parents - loving and supportive mother, Adele (Gaby Hoffmann) and troubled and alcoholic father, Douglas (Stephen Graham). It's clear that the strained relationship he has with his father is the darkness descending on the 32 year-old Springsteen. Periodic flashbacks (shown in black & white) of those days of his youth peppers the film as the adult Bruce desperately uses this time alone to cathartically work out his demons and create a very personal body of work.

Early on, we see a live on-stage performance of Born to Run with the East Street Band. In this scene and throughout, Jeremy's embodiment of the thirty-something Springsteen's persona is very impressive, doing all the singing and playing himself. Strong, however, is also excellent as the ever supportive Landau, assertively fighting off pressure from Al Teller (David Krumholtz), a pushy Columbia Records executive who is constantly criticising the Nebraska album project for being very uncharacteristic for what Springsteen has been acclaimed for up till then.

I wasn't to sure about the sub plot of the on/off romantic relationship with the sister of one his old high school buddies. Faye (Odessa Young), who he meets after one of his impromptu gigs with an unnamed local band. This didn't add much to the story and seemed like just filler in the 1 hour 59 minute runtime. I would have much rather seen more scenes with the band and in the recording studio. I also noted that although the film spans a number of months, it always seems to be Autumn, as the colours are constantly prominent by the lakeside house.

There's a couple of main takeaways here. I think the viewer has the be a fan of Springsteen and the process of creating music in general, as the core of the film concentrates a lot on using that Tascam Portastudio 144 to lay down those tracks. However, because I was a bit of a cassette recording fan in the 80s, all the analog tech used here brought back a lot of lovely nostalgia - the sound of 'play' buttons clicking on and gain-level needles flicking from left to right. Scott Cooper's direction perfectly captures the mood of Bruce's life at this time and overall, although a little slow in pace, was for me, a satisfying watch.

King & Conqueror (2025) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

This is an 8-part TV historical drama, co-produced by many companies including RVK Studios, Iceland and the BBC - and is currently on the BBC iPlayer. I use the term, Historical advisedly here, as they really do play fast and loose with both the facts and timeline! Covering an actual period of about 24 years from 1042 to the iconic year of 1066, this story mainly covers the interactions between three powerful families. The Houses of Wessex, Godwin and Normandy but does involve other strong noble families within England and France.

As always in the early Middle Ages, there was a power struggle for control of the English Crown. The death of Harthacanute, the last Viking born King of these isles, leaves a vacant throne. The strong-willed widow of the previous English-born King, Emma of Normandy, played deliciously by Juliet Stevenson, is determined to get her Son, Edward the Confessor (Eddie Marsan), to become the next monarch. The major noble families are generally happy with this choice - even if Edward does come across as weak and preoccupied with the voices in his head, that he insists are directly from God.

The most prominent of the nobles are the Godwin's, of which the middle Son is Harold (James Norton). His younger sister Gunhild (Bo Bragason), is Queen to Edward and although young, seems to be getting the measure of her dominating mother-in-law. Meanwhile, across the channel, Emma's great nephew, William (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), is in a fierce disagreement with King Henry of France about how much influence the French crown should have over Normandy.

This is a pretty lavish production that wouldn't look amiss on the big screen. Period costume and weapon technology look pretty authentic. The limited indoor locations seem fairly modest but enough in order to keep the story moving along during the frequent and longish expositions scenes. The main characters were accompanied well by a solid group of supporting performances, especially from Emily Beecham as Harold's beloved Wife and Clémence Poésy as William's Spouse, The Duchess of Normandy. Her ever-charming but constantly interfering Father, Baldwin of Flanders (Oliver Masucci), should get a special mention for his excellent low-level Machiavellian exploits to undermine her and William.

The multiple skirmishes, other battles and the monumental clash on the field at Hastings are definitely what stands out in this production - with authentic-looking combat sequences that were extremely bloody with many realistic wounding scenes. Not for the faint-hearted but after other recent popular sword-and-shield drama series' like The Vikings and Game of Thrones, that raw content would be conspicuous if absent.

The script is very expository but in spite of that, all the performances are situationally believable. The chemistry between the leads, who actually did historically meet a couple of times before the legendary 1066 clash, are strong and carry along the narrative well. I can even forgive that Harold never seemed to have a clean face, even during his own coronation - and the moustached William looked like a time travelled 1970's Dad! Thought this series feels about two episodes too long, the attrition builds quite steadily. Due to constant power struggles, the relationship between these once-amicable distant relatives slowly deteriorates to produce total mortal enemies.

Motorola Edge 60 Neo

The Edge 50 Neo was my Phone of the Year for 2024 and very often my SIM Card finds its way back to the unit. So many reasons to love it which you can read about in my full review here on my Blog from October of that year. Because of this (and my love for all things Moto) I've been really looking forward to this updated version. If you read that review, you might wonder how on earth they could impress me with any changes. But I'm looking at specs now to find out...

Usually at the end of my phone reviews I'll do a recommended/not recommended with certain caveats or ways in which it could be better. The review of the Edge 50 Neo is notable for not having any of that at the end, it was such a well-rounded device with everything I could possibly want. So more the fear now will be whether or not they are going to take anything away from my apparently perfect phone!

So let's scout through the specs at GSMArena in the usual way and see what we can pick up. I guess Gorilla Glass 3 on the front could have been a more robust version and sure enough, Gorilla Glass 7i has been added to the 60 instead, which should make for less chance of scratching/breaking on impact (though my carefully-used 50 has none of that, 18 months on). The IP6/8 on the 50 has been upped to include IP6/9 for 'high pressure water in industrial environments' and MIL-STD-810H compliance retained.

I'm delighted to see that they haven't followed the general trend in making the phone bigger as it retains the dinky 6.36" screen. With the exact same dimensions it's a truly pocketable, one-handed phone, for those who have good eyes still (or happy to wear glasses when needed if they're old and knackered like mine)! The lovely P-OLED panel looks to be the exact same with optical, under-glass fingerprint scanner. The specs also show that it has an LTPO display still with AoD which was a bit of a worry for me, given that they supplied the 'global' Edge 60 Pro with a non-LTPO display and only people in India could get the LTPO version.

Being released in autumn 2025 it would have certainly been nice to see it arrive with Android 16 instead of 15, but with Android kinda plateauing out largely these days and the promise of 5 OS updates retained this time, it's not such a worry really. Still wonder what Moto are going to do with M3E (if anything) on their HelloUI on top of Android.

The chipset has been upgraded from the Mediatek Dimensity 7300 (4nm) to 7400 (4nm). If there was one area where an increase in performance could have been implemented, maybe this was it - but in my review of the 50 I also noted that for most people, almost all of the time, it was just fine. The slowdown I noted was during heavier data-copying tasks, but not at all day-to-day stuff. The 7400 was used in this year's Edge 60 (well, the Indian one anyway) and yes, it's an incremental update and I shall be keen to see the difference in real-world use.

The internal storage options are much the same from 128GB/8GB to 512GB/12GB depending on region for availability I guess. My 50 is 256GB/8GB and it seems to hit the sweet spot there, having no trouble running multiple tasks and even driving Smart Connect regularly. One tech-spec that is different though is that the storage on the new 60 is uMCP instead of UFS 2.2. What difference this makes, it seems, relies on a whole bunch of different factors which one needs to be a tech-head to understand and follower on benchmark tests! I'm perfectly confident that this will not cause a huge issue for Joe Public.

I expect Smart Connect to be exact same as all the Moto phones now, not wired, but wireless now works perfectly well given a decent home network.

The battery is something of note as the 50, with stonkingly good performance in this respect in my findings from its 4,310mAh unit has been usurped by a 5,200mAh unit in the 60. I can only imagine that this will take the 50 experience of a good two days to a 60 one of a good long weekend! From what I can uncover online, this battery is Lithium-ion still rather than Silicon-carbon, used in the upcoming Edge 70 by Moto and other OEMs far-east. The 68W wired and 15W wireless Qi charging have both been retained but I'm guessing now that there's not going to be a charger in the box! Maybe in some regions they will retain that practice.

The stereo speakers on the 50 were just great and my guess is that they will be just the same on this 60. Yes, they could be better, but again, for most people, most of the time for most uses they are very good and punch above their weight. There's only so far that an OEM can go with physics in a tiny little phone like this. Bluetooth has been upped from 5.3 to 5.4 but I guess that's really not hugely significant.

For those wanting to use cameras in their phones, it looks like the setup is identical in the 60 to the 50 to me, so check out my above-linked review for thoughts on the 50MP f1.8 main shooter with OIS, 10MP f2 3x optical zoom with OIS, 13MP f2.2 wide-angle with Macro AF and 32MP f2.4 Selfie - as it looks like it'll all be the same findings.

And that's about it really. Certainly an evolutionary, iterative update - but one which I shall be ordering on Day 1 for myself, not waiting for Moto PR to send a review unit! And the icing on the cake, for me, is that it's still going to be available in Pantone's Poinciana, the lovely red colour that my 50 has. The other colours are going to be Latte, Frostbite and Grisaille - no Nautical Blue and Mocha Mousse gone. Looks like it's going to be the same £399 release price, which will, no doubt, within months, be right down to £299 (if not £249). So those with an ounce of sense (not me) will, of course, bide their time!

Photos courtesy of GSMArena - do go and support them - check out all their coverage, spec-sheets and reviews on all sorts of phones, with decades of data.

Vicious (2025)

This horror film, directed by Bryan Bertino, is more of a psychological nightmare based on one girl's life, some kind of never-explained curse-spirit thing and a game it plays on the keeper of a wooden-looking box with a big egg-timer inside. It's just arriving on streaming in the UK, first-up Paramount+ via Amazon Prime.

The person who is given the box has to put three things inside in order to stop the egg-timer's progress and their own death, that very evening! The best thing about this daftly-premised story is the performance of Dakota Fanning as the person we mainly follow, Polly. I do think that she's maturing well as an actress and have followed her progress from the early likes of Man on Fire (2004) to Ripley (2024) and The Watched (2024).

An old woman appears at Polly's door, looks cold and in need of kindness, so Polly invites her in. Big mistake! While Polly is making a drink, she whips out the box and timer, puts it on the coffee table and tells Polly that she's now cursed and will die tonight. Nothing about how to avoid that. She throws the woman out eventually, box and all, but when she's gone, Polly sees the box in the middle of the road.

Polly presents as a bit of a mess really, failing at most things in life, propped up by her sister financially and those around her seem more interested in her doing something with her life than she does. Later in the film, these character traits become significant as the spirit thingie seems to home in on such people.

The three things that have to go into the box, she finds out by visions, teases from the spirit, appearances from people who are dead, not there, not themselves or whatever - you get the idea - are something she hates, something she loves and something she needs. Part of this psychology could be said to have a bearing on people with mental health issues - though not directly. It's all a bit confusing often and by the end of it, after all the reveals, I still wasn't really 100% sure how it hung together!

Anyway, Polly starts to try and work out what complies with these demands, largely by trial and error. Some end up being pretty gruesome as she struggles for her life. The first thing she offers, for example, is a pack of fags - we have seen previously that other people around her think she should give up smoking - and she has tried to - but they didn't comply because she didn't "hate" them herself.

As I say, quite often it gets confusing and yes, all a bit daft. But the atmosphere is creepy and the sinister tone keeps the viewer on their toes. The 100-minute runtime passed quickly. There is an ending, but it's left a little to one's interpretation - possibly saying more about Polly and others' mental well-being. At the end, we can't be sure if it's all been 'real' for the characters though there are some bits of evidence which suggest that a lot of it was.

Watch it for Dakota Fanning's performance though as she holds the film together, present in every scene, convincing in the role, demonstrating the required emotion, frustration and terror, holding the story together, daft as it may be. Watch it also for the chilling atmosphere and thoughtful lighting and camerawork.

The Smashing Machine (2025) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

This is the first solo directorial film by Benny Safdie. It follows the true story of American professional wrestler, Mark Kerr, played by Dwayne Johnson, during a part of his career when, during the late 1990's, he obtained a major fan-following in the UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championships, held in Japan.

Having already worked their way up through the amateur wrestling ranks, Kerr and his good friend, fellow UFC fighter Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader), are preparing for the Tokyo tournament back in the USA. However, home life is not serene at this time as long-time supportive Girlfriend, Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt), is feeling a bit ignored - as Kerr's focus intensifies on his training regime.

On top of this and against the advice of Coleman, Kerr seems to be relying more and more on ever-stronger pain killers. And eventually during the tournament, just before a massive bout against a notoriously hard-hitting Ukrainian, all these things seem to be weighing on his mind in the changing room. So - is Kerr ready for the fight of his life?

This film would make a good double-bill with 2008's 'The Wrestler' as it has a similar 'gritty' feel and simple handheld filming style. Now that Dwayne's physical presence in all his multiple action roles have made him a major box office draw, I have to say that seeing him on the big screen in the wrestling garb that was part of his bread and butter for many years before Hollywood came knocking, made me feel that this role was the most perfect for him so far. We can finally see his acting prowess.

Emily Blunt's performance as the super glam, perfectly manicured - but troubled - Dawn, was also a bit of a departure from anything I've seen her previously in, but she pulled off a solidly intense performance. All the other roles were filled by actual combat sportsmen, in some cases playing themselves. Also, the great sound keeps you right inside the ring's grappling action so the collisions of these immense male athletes could really be felt. Some superb needle drops but the 2 hour 3 minute runtime seemed about spot on to tell this fairly small segment of the life of this humble, however pioneering, combat sportsman!

Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue (2025) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

This is a six part mystery drama currently on the BBC iPlayer and is how 'Lost' should have been. Thrown together on a small-time budget airline, eight strangers and two crew members were on their way from Central America to Houston, Texas, when an unexpected empty fuel tank forces the pilot to crash land in the remote Mexican jungle. When the broken twin prop plane finally comes to a stop the passengers immediately discover that the first casualty is the one female cabin crew.

Obviously, nobody has signal on their mobile phones and with none of them familiar with this jungle terrain, a race to organise their meagre food and water supplies ensues and an amicable decision to sit tight and wait for the inevitable rescue by the authorities is made. Though, after the badly-wounded pilot succumbs to his crash injuries overnight, tensions and accusations build up fast in the diverse group that one or more of them are not quite who they say they are and why they were on the plane.

Only a couple of faces were familiar to me. Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) as the constantly whining ex-doctor, Kevin Anderson and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) as one half of a MAGA-supporting, ultra-cynical married couple - sporting a brilliantly deep southern accent. 

However, there's a solid ensemble performance and the twists and turns of the plot keeps you constantly guessing as to what's really going on. The sultry jungle location, although vast in nature, feels really claustrophobic as all the survivors try to deal with their ever deteriorating predicament.

I found this a gripping watch and as all episodes were around 45 mins, it's easily bingeable in a single day. The reveal at the end is definitely rewarding so I highly recommend this mini TV series.

Bait (2025)

This is a truly bad film. A spectacular failure. It begins with the Herring family getting into a car accident - only slightly less ludicrously staged than the obvious studio footage inside the car while they are travelling!

After the crash, they wake up trapped in a basement, the unwilling guests of some sort of a human gatekeeper and his caged and chained flesh-eating monster - with abysmal makeup and design - it's a bloke with a rug over his shoulders and mask on! That picture of the creature on the poster has not one tincture of resemblance to the one in the film! You might expect the family to panic and feel terror - but actually, they all seem pretty calm about it. The acting from the whole cast is diabolical.

The creature is served up humans by the gatekeeper as it can only live on human flesh. So it's his job to keep providing fodder (by, in this case, snagging a family of four by staging the car crash). Eventually, the family are given an ultimatum - who is first?! If they don't decide, Mr Gatekeeper will!

It takes them sometime to start to work together to overcome the creature and gatekeeper. At this point we're shown where what budget there was went - the prosthetics of bits of human body half-eaten. It's not at all convincing. How they can dub this film with a 'horror' label I don't know!

There's zero suspense or tension throughout, just poor acting. There's zero atmosphere, hand-held camera throughout, dreadful soundtrack and production values which would feel at home in Llamageddon or Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey!

The director is Andrea M Catinella who has other projects of a similar loony approach, like Mouseboat Massacre and Piglet, so I should have expected this really! It's amazing that people can make films like this - or want to. I guess they must think they can make some money from it somehow. Keep your £2.99 in your pocket instead of giving it to Amazon Prime Video, unless you want to see, wide-eyed, for yourself - or financially support this tomfoolery!

PodhubUK Podcasts for the Month of September 2025

...a roundup of our month of podcasting. Links to the team, communities and podcast homes on the net at the foot, so scroll down!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 867 - Disable Doze

Monday 1st September

Here we go then with the new-look, new-feel Pod and we hope that you enjoy it. Please let us know, either way. Malcolm Bryant joins Joe and I as we do a geeky dive into sideloading restrictions, alternative app stores, Launcher permissions and loads more. We have news of new phones, chat about the Honor Magic V5, Moto Edge 60 Pro and Honor 400 Pro - and still have time for POTW and Classifieds. All a bit different, but here it is! Special thanks to Aidan for the theme music!

Whatever Works

Episode 231 - Toothpaste in the Fridge!
Tuesday 2nd September

Aidan and I are back with another hour of fun and frolics as we discover, against the odds, Whatever Works. For us and you! This time we visit a Belgian Fjord, Ramble with a Yeti, shine a Torch on Hearing Tests, warm-up for emails and much more. So do join us. It's mandatory!

Projector Room

Episode 193 - The Smokin' Ballerina
Wednesday 3rd September

Gareth and I warmly welcome back Allan after his filming event as we get back on track with the usual trio, nattering about film, cinema and TV. This time Audrey Rose goes up in Smoke, Wolfs take no Prisoners, F1 meets Mr Mum, there are Weapons aplenty in Run Silent Run Deep and yes, OK, some of us drool over AdA in Ballerina!

The Camera Creations Podcast

Episode 6 - The Camera in the Pocket

Wednesday 10th September

Joe, Chris C, Ian and Chris K join me again this time for a natter for an hour about all things camera and photography. We talk about what's in the news, what's rumoured, how 35mm film compacts were, well, compact - and everyone compares the bags they carry gear in. Plus loads more as always!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 868 - The Magic of Honor

Monday 15th September

Joe and I are back with a catchup week as I do the headlong into Honor 400 Pro, Joe the Magic V5. Joe summarises the new Apple hardware, we natter about new apps and software, my Sony Xperia 5 Mk IV revisit, what's coming in E Ink, Photo of the Week and oodles more! A big thank you to Aidan for the scrummy Nokia-style new theme tune and Malcolm Bryant for his invaluable help with fixing rss code - where Gemma couldn't!

Projector Room

Episode 194 - Woken in Yuma County
Wednesday 17th September

Gareth, Allan and I are back with our usual fortnightly roundup. This time we tinker with TekWar, go up in Smoke on an Alien Earth, introduce Dirty Harry to Charley Varrick, face The Prisoner in Wednesday and still have enough time for what's coming soon and oodles more. Tune in, why not!

The Camera Creations Podcast

Episode 7 - Does Sensor Size Matter?

Wednesday 24th September

Joe, Chris C, Ian, Chris K and I are joined by Ed Hause this time as we talk about this important question! Loads of other stuff too with some great photos to talk about, news and rumours aplenty too. Available now in the usual places, so do get stuck in, snap snap, grin grin, wink wink! All the links you need are at tedsalmon.com/cameracreations including that Shared Google Photos Album so you can actually see what we're bangin' on about!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 869 - The Apple Pip

Monday 29th September

Joe and I welcome Pip Tomlinson and Chris K to natter for an hour or so about their findings with new and shiny Apple phones. I try to chip in where I can but Joe does a much better job keeping up! Plus some other stuff, like the SnapDragon Summit, new Moto hardware, Honor phones briefly and POTM for August!

The Podcasts (PodHubUK)

Phones Show Chat - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - Tech Addicts - Camera Creations

The MeWe Community Groups (follow the links to join up)
Phones Show Chat - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - PSC Photos - PSC Videos - PSC Classifieds - PSC Health - Coffee Time - Camera Creations - Tech Addicts

The Team
Ted Salmon - Steve Litchfield - Aidan Bell - Gareth Myles - Allan Gildea - Joe Hickey - Chris Clayton - Ian Bundey - Chris Kelly

Enemy (2013)

Blimey! I won't even attempt to review this as it's so complicated. I'm going to point you at a spoiler-riddled YouTube video that, even though many interpret the film in many ways, I was sold on this chappie's analysis, explanation and outcome.

The bones of it are that we follow Jake Gyllenhaal, a teacher, as he becomes aware of an actor out there who looks exactly like him and goes off to investigate, eventually meeting him and trying to work things through about how this can be.

They're as alike as identical twins down to the finest detail and yet, his mother, played by Isabella Rossellini, confirms in that he was certainly her only child. Sarah Gadon and Mélanie Laurent play good parts as the two leading ladies, one his girlfriend, the other, the actor's wife.

The film opens with an incomprehensible scene in some sort of sex club and ends with a complete jaw-dropper. I'll say no more! If you're smarter than me you can work it out (or interpret) for yourself - but the 25-minute detailed explainer in the above-linked review is recommended if you can't get there! It's out there on a few streaming services now. It's based on the book The Double by José Saramago if you fancy an even deeper dive!

Bullet Train Explosion (2025)

This is available now on Netflix and it's a rip-roaring adventure, thriller, drama, disaster movie out of Japan. Well worth a watch, if you have the rather long runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes to spare. Notably, I think they did a really good job with the dubbing - possibly the best I have ever seen - so unusually, I'd say give it a go over subtitles. Original title was Shinkansen Daibakuha.

It's about a train, super-fast one, in Japan which is going from some other place to Tokyo and some fiend has slapped an unknown (at the outset) bomb or number of bombs on the train. In good Speed (1994) fashion, the train is going to blow up if the driver drops below 100kph. The bomber phones into to central railway control with a demand for one billion Yen (which I think is about half a million pounds) but doesn't want it from the train company or government, but from every citizen of Japan chipping in! It's not very clear how that was supposed to happen, but when the news breaks, some smart-Alec Content Creator who happens to be on the train breaks the news to social media and starts a fund to raise the money.

A lot of the travellers are very annoying, as we have come to expect with this kind of film, and the viewer decides for themselves which one (or ones) they'd like to see get their comeuppance first! Meanwhile, back in the control centre, the number of growing officials, government bods and engineers is growing, working to find a solution whilst keeping other trains and everybody out of the way as they find a clear path and strategy to ensure that the train stays above the speed.

The centre of the drama is around the conductor chappie and his initially enthusiastic young newbie assistant and how he behaves to try to handle things at the train end. If you like trains, there's actually lots to get stuck into here as they work with each other to route, plan, map, adjust, work to find a solution. There's also plenty to learn about Japanese culture and their approach to efficiency and making sure everything is as it should be. Lots of polite bowing to each other and focus on being good to others over yourself. However, there's a bunch of rowdy schoolgirls onboard and young lads who are clearly not so much with the old ways and I guess representing the shift away from traditonal values and culture in the country.

Anyway, we follow closely the perils of the driver of the train, the conductors, the travellers and those back at base throughout and it really is a pretty good thrill-ride. I really wasn't expecting it to be so, so it was a nice surprise. There seems to be three stages to the story as everyone works to find a way out of it - when one problem is fixed, up pops another, then another - so a triple thrill-ride really! There's also a couple of nice twists in the storyline, so I won't spoil that, nor the outcomes.

Pretty well shot on a budget, decently-enough acted by most (though I don't know any of the actors), claustrophobic when needed, tension and suspense here and there - and even the special effects are decent-enough too. A nice watch, which I ended up being pleased that I had.

The Animal (1976)

Anyone up for experimental arthouse cinema? Director/writer Walter Ungerer was, in 1976, to bring the art world this quite bizarre film in which, well, nothing really much happens. Much is left to the viewer's interpretation, assuming they stay awake long enough!

So yes, it's an existential mystery about a couple who appear to be meeting up at a holiday cabin in a snow-covered isolated location somewhere in New England, America. We join the story on a railway platform where she, Jo, is apparently aimlessly wandering up and down. For quite some time. And then some more time. Then her husband/boyfriend, Paul, turns up in a car and they seem to play some sort of game where he plays at being a stranger picking up a girl.

We eventually get to the cabin. Lots of snow. Falling and covering the ground, deeply. We spend time with the couple as they eat. Sleep. Dress. Undress. Walk. Ski. Argue about his sexist approach to her briefly. Maybe they have gone there to repair something between them? Then a child turns up, lurking outside the cabin. Standing. Staring. Not spookily, but just, well, there! Jo tries to engage the child in conversation. No go. Then there are two. Then gone with an old woman.

Then during a skiing session they get separated and Jo disappears. He hunts for her. We see her approaching a cottage. He gets concerned so calls the police. There's a 'manhunt' where lots of local people join in a search but find nothing. Timescales are not given. This could be hours, days or months! Eventually he gives up, packs his bags to leave, alone, then goes out one more time for a last search and with the suggestion for us that he might actually finally solve the mystery.

Nothing much is explained though. The landscape is gorgeous and the director is clearly making the most of it within this strange little 80-minute film. Perhaps the cold isolation is supposed to reflect the relationship that they are trying to fix? I have no idea what the title is about as there were no animals that I could see - nor any humans behaving like an 'animal'. Commentators seem to report that this is a film about loss, fate and the unknowable. All a bit lost on me, I'm afraid! If you fancy the challenge you can see it on Vimeo just now.

Sony Xperia 5 Mk IV (Revisited in 2025)

I reviewed the Sony Xperia 5 Mk IV in October 2022 and was very positive about the dinky (kinda) flagship from Japan. Since then, a few things of note have happened, which I'll come to - but for now, the question is whether or not it could still be used as a primary phone 3 years later - and what's still great about it, if anything.

We've had all the Mk V (1, 5, 10), Mk VI (1, 10) and Mk VII (1, 10) Xperias since then of course as the years have progressed. Notice anything missing? Yes, you're clearly a genius - the Demise of the Five. They made a Mk V but then that seems to have been the end of it, though traditionally tight-lipped Sony don't actually say so. I suspect that with the 10 Mk VII specs being somewhat upped this year, it doesn't point to Five Alive!

This 5 Mk IV has run out of updates. OS was given a measly two, so Android 14 was the last, and 3 years of Google Security Updates, so until September 2025. I write in September here and the phone has indeed been given quarterly updates for the last 12 months, but I suspect that this is it now. There might be a September update coming this month I guess, but very possibly not - and even if there was, it would certainly be the last.

But most people don't care about that (or even know) and chugging along in the background is the Google-controlled Play System Updates, which keep things pretty safe for way into the future. So no development of, or updates to, Sony apps going forward but everything else should continue until Google pull the plug on Android 14, I guess, which, going by recent comparative behaviour should be at least 10 years. Android 6 (Marshmallow) was released in 2015 and is still supported at time of writing, so on that basis, this Xperia should be good for another 7 years!

The AlbumArt on the Always on Display was stripped away after the Mk IV Xperias (1, 5) which is a great shame - and further, the version on the 1 Mk IV goes to sleep after the first track. So it shows the AlbumArt of the last playing track when the screen timed out and stays there. That makes the 5 Mk IV even more special as it doesn't do this and continues to update as tracks change. No idea what is different between them to have changed this but in my experience here, this is what happened. Anything newer than the Mk IV devices don't get it at all.

And that is also true of the Notification LED. A tiny dot in the top-right, front-facing, which gives notifications of stuff coming in, charging status and so on. It's hard to stress how useful this is, even with a bright Always on Display available too, as it's the glanceability (if that's a word) factor. It catches the eye as it flashes, changes colour or glows - for an instant view of what's come in or how the battery is or whatever. For anyone having not used a phone with this in the past, you don't know what you missed!

So various LED colours then - red for low battery, green if the phone is charged enough, orange if lower but charging, white for most app notifications (though developers were able to assign their own or even use patterns of blinking - so check your apps as they might still do it), blue is for, you guessed it, Bluetooth stuff and there are apps on the Play Store which allow further granular control. It's a hark back to earlier years when most OEMs did this but now, the best you can hope for is, yes, third party, but certainly no physical lamp (that I'm aware of) so all in-screen. So anyway, yes, gone.

The price is now of benefit to buyers of course, though you'd be hard-pushed to find a new one now (and if it had been sitting on a shelf in a stock room, the battery would be knackered by now anyway!), a far-cry, used, from the £949 release price in the UK! I just had a look on CeX in the UK for a used one in good condition and it seems to be about £300 - less on eBay no doubt - so certainly less than a third of that release price, maybe even a quarter.

This was the first 5-series Xperia that got Qi wireless charging and three years on it's still working perfectly well here. We don't get any battery health data here so without deeper diving with various apps/tools/testing, I can't see what that is - but it certainly appears to be working well and not far away from the review data I quoted three years ago. Yes, the 5,000mAh battery in this dinky device (how did they fit it in?!) is still quite superb - my 10% Reading Test still returns a result of over two and half hours and for my average daily use, a day and a half if needed. Your mileage will vary of course, based on how you use your phones.

The dinky physical form is now unique I think. Certainly in its 21:9 ratio. It's very cute - and the 5 Mk V went fatter, so not as nice. It's really slim and pocketable and even for someone not wanting to use it as their main phone, it can be a perfect on/offline MP3 Player (I'll come to that later though). I did recently wonder about the 21:9 and conclude that Sony were wise to switch out to 19.5:9 for the Mk VI model (1) and Mk VII (1, 10) but I'm not so sure with the slim MP3-player sized 5 Mk IV here. It kind of feels just right for purpose as it is. It would be nice to see it in 19.5:9 but I do think it would have less impact (and the 10-series has always been a bit chunkier anyway).

Yes, the boxy aluminium design works nicely with the symmetrical bezels making room for the sensors and speakers and flat, 6.1" 1080 x 2520 (449ppi) screen which remains bright and colourful (and free from scratches with GGVictus) with 101 ways in Sony's software to tweak and adjust it. It's a no-compromise (IP65/8) design which Sony have stuck with over the years with Xperia phones and it somehow just feels right again, even with this tiny phone. The only downside to the small form factor is that it's tiny for typing on the keyboard. Gboard can be adjusted to compensate but eventually you have to stop making it taller (as you can't see the rest of the screen) and there's nothing you can do, obviously, about the width. Tinkering with other keyboards or voice input might help, but for me, I accept that I'll need to put on my glasses and be careful (as I like Gboard).

The two-stage camera shutter button is (I think) still unique to Sony. Others have dabbled with capacitive and so-called smart buttons, but I do not believe anyone has come close to this very camera-centric, two-stage button with focus confirmation on-screen in the Photography Pro (camera) app and more. It's fiendish - and makes it a delight for anyone having used proper cameras. As we know, one can make the most of all the photography-centric apps if paired up with a Sony camera, but I've never used one. Check YouTube for reviews of those who are deeper baked into Sony's ecosystem. The other buttons are lovely too though - still working perfectly as they were on Day One, beautifully crafted, for volume and power/capacitive (instant) fingerprint scanning.

And then there's the 3.5mm audio-out/microphone-in socket (which I am guilty of underusing and favouring Bluetooth) giving high quality audio output via wired headphones. It works perfectly well still, 3 years on, with 24-bit output, the drilled-down full version of Dolby Atmos, 360 Reality Audio, upscaling of music via DSEE Ultimate and so on - for those who want to make use of wired headphones (and not be bugged with Notifications and the Google Assistant)! The SIM Card Tray with fingernail access, seems to have survived my abuse over the three years, in/out as a Serial SIM-Swapper regularly, but no sign of it breaking or wearing out.

The 128GB of storage seems mean by 2025 standards but they have stuck with that in all-but the 1-series (256GB) even with the 10-series on brand new release as I write. They clearly figure that their users are going to be happy with the microSD Card expanded memory option - and maybe they are right, with so much mobile phone use now being cloud-based. Speaking as a data-hoarder it kind of sticks in my throat a bit, but in reality, most of the time I have a good connection and use YouTube Music, streaming. So there's that. Anyway, armed with my 1TB card I'm OK - and anyone wanting more for far-reaching photography/videography storage will likely be on the 1-series anyway.

Because of the really clean version of Android on the phone, I remain, 3 years later, amazed at the processing speed of data driven by SnapDragon 8 Gen 1 (4nm) supported with 8GB RAM. Really snappy. I notice the difference when copying stuff from one place to another or getting the Play Store to install app updates etc. Blazingly fast - and without any resource-hungry AI to be driven, the 8GB RAM is perfectly good still. Yes, the phone flies with any tasks thrown at it, even demanding games (not that I do much of that)!

I hear no degradation in the powerful front-facing proper stereo speakers 3 years on. They remain, as I reported before, loud, bass-orientated enough (for the size of the phone), clear and with good tone. The Dynamic Vibration is something else that nobody does in the same way - and Sony sadly removed it with the Mk V devices (10-series never had it). This also works perfectly 3 years on and the fact that it is now missing from newer devices (other than the 5-series) is yet another great shame. The pulsating of the vibration motor to beats in the music is wonderful to feel/use. So, another tick for this older model. Hooked up to my WH-1000XM4 headphones (now, themselves, two generations old) remains perfectly good. Are we seeing a pattern here?!

I continue to make use of HDMI-Out (DisplayPort) here now and then, though again, with connectivity and latency options so good these days, it's something that needs to be on the 'handy-to-have' list rather than Mission: Critical one in 2025. Plex and Roku changed so much of that for me! All the connectivity stuff works perfectly well still to, so apparently the components were good at the outset and have stood the test of time.

One of the changes Sony made with the 1 Mk VI was to ditch much of the confusing Cinema Pro, Music Pro, Photo Pro and Video Pro cludge for a unified, user-friendly, non-geeky approach to all things camera. And that was a good move because all this stuff is complex on this phone and feels like it's geared up for photography nerds, not Joe Public. It depends on your approach to all things photography I guess but they'll reach a much wider audience by making it not so stuck-up-in-the-clouds. So yes, with the 2022 phone here, one is not going to get a change on that. You can always use a different camera app to keep things simple, I guess. However, it's nice to have a 2.5x zoom on the camera and 3 x 12MP shooters which do the trick with the Zeiss Optics with T* lens coating and all those Program, Shutter Priority and Manual modes. So many dials and buttons to play with for those who want to deep-dive.

I'm not really the 'pro' target audience for this phone as I won't be VLogging, shooting a movie or even recording high quality audio, but with the stuff on offer here generally as a mobile phone (and already in the house here - or cheap to buy now, used) it might be worthy of consideration, abandoned by Sony as it is. Is a later version really needed? I guess a lot of that depends on one's view regarding the later simplified auto-all camera (which, by the way, you don't either get in the 5 Mk V) and software update situation - for those who are not bothered about ongoing Sony support but are trusting Google to keep it secure, it's still worth a look in my view. It still has a good number of now-unique features which Sony have stripped out going forward (and nobody else even did) and it really is lovely in the hand, the pocket, light and dinky (for those with good eyes and nimble fingers for that keyboard)!

It has a load of good aspects going for it including Qi charging, great speakers (and audio all-round), Dynamic Vibration, super battery, a great OLED panel with the best AoD there is - and that LED Notification light. Well worth considering if you fancy a small phone which keeps it simple in many ways, no AI (apart from what Google supply) and still as fast as lightning in pretty much whatever you throw at it. It still works perfectly well in 2025 and is recommended if you can find one used - there's an awful lot of phone here for under £300.

The Last Stop in Yuma County (2023)

This is a film created and delivered by near first-timer Francis Galluppi which is somewhat hard to categorise! A thriller crime comedy I guess. It has a Tarantino stamp all over it in terms of style but lots of Coen Brothers' stuff too - it really is a rip-roaring ride for a solid 90-minutes of entertainment.

It's clearly a fairly low-budget film which is set in one location almost throughout - the dusty, dry landscape of Arizona and particularly one petrol station with attached hotel and cafe. The Americans would call that a truck-stop, motel and diner of course. And do!

We start off with a simple scenario where a petrol tanker has come off the road and is laying on it's side, driver dead, out of sight of anyone passing. The petrol station is waiting for it to arrive and the longer it goes on with no fuel available, the more people turn up, are told that the delivery is due any minute and so wait in the diner until it does (not knowing that it never will)! Nobody has enough fuel to get the next 100 miles to the next petrol station so they're stuck.

On the radio, we're hearing about a bank robbery which has taken place nearby and the criminals are at large, having fled. First up on the scene at the diner is a premium knife salesman on his way to see his daughter. He's told to wait by the guy running the petrol station, so does. Next up is the waitress opening up the diner being dropped off by her husband, the Sheriff. Waitress and knife salesman start to natter. 

Then come the criminals en route to Mexico! They're told the same story and have no option to wait. They do so in the same manner, quietly at first, bag of money in the boot of their car, until they see waitress making a phone call. They then leap into action, threatening waitress and knife salesman to keep quiet and they'll live - to carry on as normal until the petrol lorry arrives.

So now the tension is high between those who know who is who - they try to keep a lid on it as other people arrive facing the same wait. An older couple come in. Even the Sheriff's Deputy rocks up to get some coffee. The air is thick with stress as everyone's on edge and not wanting the robbers to start shooting anyone.

Then we get a young Bonnie and Clyde type couple - think the Honey Bunny pair in Pulp Fiction! They work out what's going on and who is who - and as they are hard up for money, try to plot a way to turn the situation so they can cash in financially. So to rob the robbers! The more people pour into the scene, the more complex it gets, until the gasket is blown and we have the showdown, about two thirds of the way through. And I'll say no more on the plot so as not to spoil the happenings and outcomes for everyone, but expect mayhem and violence (well, otherwise there wouldn't have been much of a story here now, would there)!

The two coppers are actually very funny in their interactions with each other, likewise the guy running the petrol station, initially the old couple and even one of the robbers - a bit young and not very bright, being guided by his older 'brother' (partner in crime). The whole cast do a great job - I don't really know most of them but at least one or two have popped up in Tarantino films. Jim Cummings plays the knife salesman, Faizon Love the petrol station guy, Jocelin Donahue (Doctor Sleep, the waitress, Gene Jones (The Hateful Eight, No Country for Old Men) the old man and so on. I'm sure some will know these actors better than me.

It's a great little thriller which keeps you on your toes until the final scene (in fact there's a comic audio turn during the credits too) and well worth tracking down. It's been a long-time coming but can now be seen on various streaming services here in the UK.

Woken (2023)

Written and directed by Alan Friel in his first feature film, Woken's biggest strength is the pacing of the unfolding of the mystery and what's going on! I hadn't really worked it out until three-quarters of the way through and the viewer is kept on their toes as they try to unravel the story!

It starts with a pregnant young Anna, jumping off a cliff to what one could only imagine to be her certain death. However, we then join her again as she's in a bed with a bandage on her head and no memory. No memory of anything. Not the cliff-jumping incident, who she is, where she is from, where she is or who the people around her are.

The people around her are her husband, James, and a friendly, caring lady called Helen. They are lavishing her with sympathy for her situation and try to help her come to terms with the fact that she can't remember anything. They help her with photo albums and incidents from the past, but there's really no helping her as she just can't get there. So she grows to relax and trust the pair of them and accept that the man must be her husband.

They are in a cottage, in the middle of an island, isolated and alone, separated from the world. It doesn't take long for us to find out the first fact about the situation - that there's been some kind of virus and they are on the island in order to keep out of the way of it. However, Anna starts to get suspicious of the actions of Helen and, particularly, James so starts to push the boundaries trying to discover for herself what is going on.

This is where the strength lies, as I said, because we see what she sees to a large extent. We discover stuff as she does. We do get a little more insight than her, but not really with any great reveals - so yes, we're living the trauma and anxiety with Anna - and that works really well as a strategy for the unfolding of the tale. Now, later on it does get a little daft, frankly, when the reveals arrive and it's all very far-fetched, but that really doesn't matter because by then, we've soaked up the process. So that's all I'll say!

Erin Kellyman (28 Years Later, Blitz) plays Anna beautifully well, Maxine Peake (Dinner Ladies, Shameless, The Theory of Everything) is not far behind her as Helen, Ivanno Jeremiah (Humans, Black Mirror) is husband James, Corrado Invernizzi (Le Mans '66, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny), Peter, husband of Helen (who we don't see much of) and Peter McDonald (The Batman, The Dig) plays the Doctor attending to Anna in her pregnancy. It's a bit of a Brit Pack of actors from TV and film and I think that the production company is from Ireland.

It's nicely shot with claustrophobic interiors and lavish land/seascapes on display throughout. Careful use of interesting close-ups and focus are employed which often works well, adding to the anxiety, stress and growing paranoia within our main character, Anna. It's an enjoyable ride. Forget about the last 20 minutes and you will still have felt it had been worth the bus fare. I liked it. The only way I could find to watch this was via Dailymotion by the way. Presumably it'll come to mainline streaming eventually.

Love Life (2022)

Director Kôji Fukada presents a beautifully layered drama that begins with a deceptive sense of domestic tranquility before descending into a powerful exploration of grief, love and the silent complexities that exist within families.

The film introduces us to Taeko, her husband Jiro, and her young son Keita, who live a simple, happy life in a modest Japanese apartment. Through these ideals there's a fragility lurking, suggested by the recentness of their marriage and the quiet resentment of Jiro’s parents. The grandparents, while loving toward Keita, are unable to fully accept him as a true part of their family as he was not from their son - a tension that Jiro’s father struggles to conceal.

This peace is shattered by a devastating tragedy that shifts the film's entire tone. The incident forces the characters to confront their deepest emotions, revealing hidden sides of their personalities and challenging their relationships in profound ways.

Taeko, in particular, is forced to re-engage with her past when her ex-husband and Keita’s biological father, the unhearing and non-verbal Paku, reappears after a long absence. A bond is reformed between them as Taeko, the only one who knows sign language, comes to his aid. This act of compassion further strains her relationship with Jiro, who feels sidelined and helpless. The friction builds as Taeko’s focus shifts towards caring for Paku, causing resentment to flow freely between the couple.

The emotional complexity is further heightened by Jiro’s own actions. While helping his parents move, he reconnects with a former girlfriend he had once abandoned, adding yet another layer of betrayal and unresolved history to the tale. It’s a beautifully constructed and often heartbreaking portrait of modern family life, where personal histories collide and past decisions haunt the present.

A central strength of the film lies in its portrayal of grief and isolation, as well as guarded communication. Yes, Japanese culture is on display here - the politeness and reserved nature of the people which are particularly relevant to the story. The characters, especially in the face of a tragic event, often bottle up their feelings and create a sense of quiet desperation. This cultural context provides a powerful backdrop for the emotional distance that grows between Taeko and Jiro.

Fumino Kimura's performance as Taeko is excellent. Her ability to convey profound emotion through the most subtle gestures and expressions is what makes the film so genuine and moving. The heartbreak feels well-earned and realistic, ensuring that the story never feels soppy or shallow. It's a solid drama that captivates with its quiet intensity and leaves a lasting impression. Streaming on BFIPlayer via Amazon Prime and AppleTV+ in the UK at time of writing.

The Birds II: Land's End (1994)

The only way I could find to watch this was via the Internet Archive (apparently it comes around sometimes on Tubi and Mubi). But probably not worth the bother! It's a made-for-TV film from 1994 which is fairly poorly acted, scripted, presented, shot, produced, directed and imagined. Feels a bit like they were trying to do a Jaws with birds because of the seaside setting thrown in!

Tippi Hedren is roped in for a few scenes as a link to The Birds (1963) and apart from that, the highlight of the cast seems to be James Naughton, playing a budding photographer (who'd rather photographically document what's going on with the invasion of the birds than live)! He's the chappie who was in some of those Planets of the Apes TV spin-offs in the 70s - oh and Ally McBeal's dad later on! Brad Johnson plays the lead - again, pretty badly, and the kids aren't much better, adding to the real feel of a made-for-TV outing. Their family dog does a good turn!

Anyway, the story is about a family of four who go to stay in a house (detached, middle of nowhere, by the beach) so that he can write a book (or something) for the summer. His wife gets a temporary job with the aforementioned budding photographer (who also instantly has the hots for her) and yes, much like the story of Hitchcock's The Birds and Birdemic, a load of birds start terrorising everyone for no apparent reason on Amity, er, Gull Island! The quality is pitched somewhere between those two other films, but much further towards the latter than the masterwork!

Most of the camerawork is gulls in flight at close quarters, flapping around madly, so few long-shots like we saw, laughably, in Birdemic! Most of the 'special effects' are centred around people having their eyes pecked out. There's no suspense or tension, start to finish. It's short and sweet and I guess credit should be given for effort - someone having a go - but it does feel like it might have worked better as some sort of comedy-thriller/horror than to take itself seriously, as it seems to do.

Anyway, worth a look for fans of Hitchcock's film and Daphne Du Maurier's story, even if to just see how not to do it!

Memoria (2021)

This pure slice of Tilda Swinton arthouse, brought to us by Apichatpong Weerasethakul has just arrived on Channel 4 (in the UK at time of writing) and for those up for a slow-burn, meditative, quirky, hypnotic two and a quarter hours are in for a treat.

Tilda Swinton stars as Jessica Holland, a Scottish botanist in Bogotá, Colombia, who is suddenly plagued by a mysterious, deep sonic boom that only she can hear. She tries to find out what it was. And wonders if she heard it at all. Or if it was something from another time, place or universe. Or was it just in her head? She consults with a sound engineer who tries to recreate the sound from her description. The next day, he's gone and nobody knew him.

She continues her search which lands her in a remote jungle village where she meets a much older man, who has the same name, Hernán, as the sound engineer. He lives a reclusive life. He reveals that he is an "antenna" for the memories of the Earth, and he has a unique ability to connect with the planet's history and its past inhabitants. You can probably see where this is going - something otherworldly and off-piste!

The finale of the film throws much of what's gone before out the window as the film shifts gear doing a 180 in genre/theme! So I'll say no more. The cinematography is lovely, with long, lingering shots - and the sounds cleverly let us in on what she's hearing and going through. And of course, it's the Tilda Show throughout, showing everyone once again how to act. Well worth a look but be warned - it's often a head-scratcher (at least until the final act)!

Wednesday, Season 2 (2025) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

Wednesday is back for season 2 on Netflix. She's been spending the long Summer recess writing a novel that she's keeping close to her chest. Also, by studying the family heirloom, Goody Book of Shadows, much to the disapproval of her mother Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), our dark heroine has been honing her skills of seeing the future and as a side hustle is also an amateur crime sleuth. Her powers helping her catch a doll collecting serial killer (played with a brilliant cameo by Haley Joel Osment, "I See Dead People!").

Episodes 1-4

Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) is back at Nevermore Academy. Totally irked by all the attention she's getting from saving the school last semester, she's not quite as chummy with her ever upbeat lycanthrope roomie, Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers), Wednesday is also on a downer because her younger brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) is joining her at the Academy and her parents are also staying close as they've been asked by the new Principal Barry Dort (Steve Buscemi) to get more involved in fundraising for the school of Outcast students.

On the second evening of the new term there is a special bonfire event at which Wednesday is meant to be student guest of honour but she basically ruins the proceedings by giving a less than gracious speech. As they leave the event, Enid is annoyed about Wednesday's general attitude and in a bid to confront her, grabs a shoulder. Instantly black tears appear and Addams goes into convulsions. It's a premonition that Sinclair has died at the hands of a mysterious hooded figure. Later, when she's revived, she vows that the cloaked assassin has to be found and stopped.

The extended Addams Family take a much bigger role in this series, including Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) who pops in Ep 4. You get more of a feeling of the overall family dynamics at play as Wednesday is constantly rebelling against her mother. Meanwhile, Morticia is trying to mend a rift with her own mom, Hester Frump (Joanna Lumley). Gomez (Luis Guzmán) is generally trying to keep the peace and Pugsley is getting into his own trouble - as while investigating an old legend, finds a brainless zombie with a clockwork heart (that he names Slurp) buried in the woods. Finally Thing, the dismembered right hand and loyal family servant is constantly alert and ready to help in any crisis.

There are handful of new student characters introduced this time and are worked nicely into the story. They play key roles in Ep 3 when just about the entire academy go to camp for team building only be confronted by a couple of dozen well-drilled scouts and their Marine Corps like scout leader that are determined to take over the camp for themselves. Thandiwe Newton as Dr Rachael Fairburn is the last major new character of note as she plays the chief psychiatrist at Willow Hill Psychiatric Facility (a location that appears throughout the series but looms large in Ep4).

This season has a different feel to the first where Jenna was in just about every scene and did so much eye acting. She has a lot more dialogue now and the ensemble cast get significant stuff to do. It feels more thought-out as the dynamics between the students, faculty and those outside the academy play out. I binged all four episodes in one afternoon but only found out after it's shocking end scene that they're splitting the season with a short break and the concluding 4 episodes are only dropping in the first week of September. (There's a trailer for those final episodes right at the end). It's just like that twisted Tim Burton to keep us hanging!

Episodes 5-8

There are no crucial spoilers in the following! There's a wonderfully gothic climax of which the creators of Hammer House of Horror would be proud. There was so much plot crammed into these final four episodes, with very little exposition needed. Each scene moves on the various story arcs swiftly with superb performances all-round as every major character have crucial parts to play. There's even an excellently-cast Miss Havisham-like cameo from Lady Gaga!

Jenna Ortega continues as our darkly dramatic lead after scraping through the events in episode 4 by the skin of her teeth. I was happy that all members of the Addams Family get their moments in the spotlight as I felt the heavyweights of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán, as her parents, were definitely wasted in Season One. There's a lot more reference back to when they were young students at Nevermore Academy and how their interactions with those other older characters are shaping the events of now.

The sets are definitely more lavish this season and that comes to a peak during a Venetian style masked gala on a crucial night that involves just about everyone. The quirky abilities of the various 'Outcast' characters are beautifully interwoven into the ramped-up edge of your seat action. Along the way, some of the other big cast names meet their demise in entertainingly epic ways and some even bring an uncharacteristically sly grin to the usual mono expressive face of our heroine.

There's a great teaser to Season Three in the epilogue which I can't wait to see! If you were waiting for Episodes 5-8 to drop before seeing the whole series than I think you can look forward to a brilliantly spooky binge watch! Grab that bucket of your favourite popcorn and I guarantee that you won't be able to take your eyes off the screen. All in all, a super 'well done' to Tim Burton and everyone involved in bringing us this absolutely excellent second season!