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Showing posts from August, 2021

'American Psycho' vs 'Spree': Stylish Satire and Subpar Slasher

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  It’s not a big secret by this point that my favourite film characters tend to be psychopaths. These twisted yet nuanced individuals often immediately draw me to a film. A particular favourite of mine is Patrick Bateman, the murderous businessman portrayed by Christian Bale in the 2000 satirical horror ‘American Psycho’ (based off the equally excellent book). So when I saw posters for the 2020 film ‘Spree’ frequently using the statement from Collider “‘American Psycho’ for the digital age” I was both intrigued and hesitant. Intrigued to see how the film would direct a similar kind of satire and commentary to modern society and hesitant as I was almost convinced it wouldn’t succeed. Regardless, I watched the film and was left disappointed. To be able to express my thoughts on the film, I will be comparing it to ‘American Psycho’ to highlight where it missed the mark for me.   ‘American Psycho’ follows Patrick Bateman, a narcissistic 1980’s Wall Street worker, for a long period of h

TV Review: Bordertown (Sorjonen)

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  For the first entry in my series of TV reviews I’m going to be discussing the Finnish crime drama ‘Bordertown’ (also referred to as ‘Sorjonen’ in Finland). I touched upon this series in a recent post about Autism in the media but after recently completing the entire series I feel I am more ready to tackle the programme as a whole. As the series could be considered quite niche (even compared to other subjects I’ve talked about) I am sure many readers have not seen it. In which case I would like to cast a spotlight on an excellent series that may have flown under your radar.   ‘Bordertown’ tells the story of Kari Sorjonen, a police detective with implied Autism who moves to Lappeenranta with his wife Pauliina and daughter Janina. Whilst there he joins SECRI, a special police task force focusing on more serious crimes. Aided by Lena Jaakola, a former-FSB officer with a mysterious past, and Nikko Uusitalo, a likable everyman, Kari solves some of the most difficult crimes of his caree