Salamander

This Belgian subtitled TV detective drama has been slated by various TV reviewers and I fail to see why. It is different to our usual British fare and for me that is an excellent change. I am a fan of the recent trend to show subtitled dramas like The Killing and The Bridge, with subtitles you tend to get drawn in more because you have to read them or you may miss out. The main character Inspector Paul Geradi (Filip Peeters) is also very different to our usual. A maverick cop who will not let politics or his boss get in his way of solving his case.

A private bank vault is robbed of possions and documents of the high level society in Belgium, or one quote puts it "They run half the country". Paul is drawn into the consipracy deeper when his informant runs into trouble, and others connected with the robbery are also in danger. After the first two episodes it is clear his family and himself will also be in danger. It seems some people have too much to lose. Excellent drama.

Oblivion

Set in the future, when earth has albeit been abandoned, due to the Moon being nearly destroyed by an alien race. Jack Harper ( Tom Cruise) is teamed with Victoria ( Andrea Riseborough ) to secure and maintain the drones that are sucking up the remaining resources on the earth, to send to Titan the Saturn moon, where the remaining humans have evacuated to. Jack begins to think things are not quite what they seem, when a spaceship crash lands in the area.

Other notable actors are Morgan Freeman and 007's Olga Kurylenko.

The storyline is good and Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise, but the real star of the movie is the effects and creative genius who designed the CGI. The vision of the New York area is outstanding. Most is buried under ash and debris caused the moons destruction but glimpses of landmarks give the clues to the location. This movie won't be for everyone but any Sci Fi or Star Trek fans will love it.