Monthly Archives: September 2013

Breaking Bad

TV

I can do nothing more than continue to slobber all over this show, so I’ll keep this brief. I watched it from the very start, watched each episode when it aired. I was hooked on the set up and the characters. How was Walt’s story going to come to an end? What would become of Jesse through this? Each episode built on the last, the escalation and execution of events being pulled off almost flawlessly. The scenarios this show went through every season is an exercise in brilliance. Intense, funny, shocking and most importantly, believable.

The writing, the acting, the directing, the editing! A perfect storm that came together for 5 of the best seasons on television. I really can’t think of a bad episode. A throw away time that could be excised and not missed. That’s incredibly rare. A beginning, a middle and end that I think is one of the most brilliant stories ever told. Some of the best and most memorable characters will live on for generations in Breaking Bad. Long after stuff like Lost and Dexter are lost to time, Breaking Bad will be passed down and talked about as a high mark in television.

I loved the end. All the final pieces came together. The continued display of brains and intensity coming together to one of the most satisfying conclusions in any medium. Thank you to every man and woman responsible for making Breaking Bad possible. It was a hell of a ride.

My Review: Iron Man 3

Movies

I’m a casual fan of the Iron Man movies. I think they are grossly overhyped despite Robert Downey Jr. being a great Tony Stark. The films would be nothing without him.

Iron Man 3 fixes one of my biggest complaints with this series, the action scenes. They’ve all been teases until this movie. It’s like once something great was happening, the fight ended. Here, the action scenes last more than 35 seconds and are really satisfying. The plane rescue is a real knockout and they came up with some really wild in-suit, part-in/part-out suit action that was really inventive. Special FX remains top of the line ILM work, they make knock out stuff that integrates so well with practical work.

I real surprise for me was how little Iron Man is actually in this. It’s all Tony. He’s full bore IM for a small percentage of the movie. There’s a really great story arc for Stark here where he is suffering from PTSD from the events in Avengers He’s a real mess in the beginning. he goes through even more terrible stuff (which his ego asked for) and at the end he’s much more than a guy in a really expensive suit. He IS Iron Man.

Solid villain work here too (something IM 2 completely botched), with great set up, villainous follow through and a good amount of scenery chewing.

But there is a ton of suspend your disbelief logic and physics here. They acknowledge it at times, but it’s ridiculous. The same people that moan about Batman surviving huge falls and getting back to Gotham in a day better be crossing their arms at the nonsense pulled off here too. At one point the parts of his suit fly to Stark over 800 miles in maybe 2 minutes. That basically requires time travel to work. But I digress, it’s still a good movie and easily the best Iron Man.

Dexter ~Fin~

TV

The best times of Dexter was many seasons ago. After the Trinity Killer, it was an uneven, poorly written show that managed to hang on to a series finale. While there has been some moments that proved Dexter’s entertaining value, it too often did a header into a pile of freshly shoveled dirt (the end of season 6 in particular).

The series finale is just a disappointment for me. They knew it was the end, they had plenty of time to come up with a satisfying and cohesive narrative for Dexter. The finale really felt rushed. I find it hard to believe that Showtime would be forcing them to get that last episode wrapped in 55 minutes. Dexter is basically the flagship show for the network. It was a defeatist ending too, which made it feel worse to me. There was nothing satisfying about seeing Dexter, who is a very strong character, basically give up. Plus, there are so many loose ends that force you to fill in the blanks. Stuff that is just convenient writing that ignores real world observation and common sense to get to their desired end (which has been a big problem for the show). Needless, poorly handled death and bizarre, kneejerk abandonment don’t go over well with me.

It’s a bummer to see a once great show roll over and die with very little intact of what made it so great in the beginning.

My Review: Life of Pi

Movies

Life of Pi’s story is framed in the smartest of ways: a person retelling an experience to another. A beautiful film in it’s visuals, pacing and meaning, Life of Pi is one of my favorites I’ve seen all year. In fact, I regret not seeing it in theatres as the rich visual element (and from what I’ve heard leading 3D cinematography) probably would have made me enjoy it even more.

In his travels, a writer is told by a man that he knows someone that could tell him a true story that would make him believe that God is real. With a pitch like that, who wouldn’t want to hear that story? The writer tracks down Pi Patel and sits down with him to hear a harrowing story of adventure, loss, acceptance, power and discovery. As a teenager Pi and his family were on a large tanker sailing across the Pacific ocean from India to Canada to start a new life with their zoo animals. One night a massive storm sinks the boat and only Pi, a zebra, a orangutan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger survive.

It’s a fanciful story, much like Noah’s Arc where the resiliency and growth of the human spirit is demonstrated. At sea for weeks with only the tiger, animal and man end up depending on each other to survive. There’s a lot of metaphors and hidden meaning in Pi’s tale, one that I think is brilliantly told in just under two hours. The reveals at the end were great and masterful and a lot goes to director Ang Lee on his careful and gentle eye to tell this epic story. Often intense and deeply touching, I think this is a movie for the ages.

Life of Pi reminds me of Tim Burton’s Big Fish which is another beautiful example of how the myths and stories made by man often carry the most weight through generations because they are so colorful and poignant no matter how old you are. Life can be difficult and dark, sometimes dressing things up can make it easier to comprehend. Learning doesn’t come from just step by step manuals where everything is laid out for you.

Years ago I was given Life of Pi to read. I gave it a try but for some reason I didn’t make it far in. Was a too young? Too disinterested? Too distracted? I can’t say for sure, but I think now is the time for me to give it another go.

TV Premieres (part 1)

TV

Sons of Anarchy- The drama continues to rumble down the street for the Sons. Season 5 was rough for the club, there’s a bunch in jail (oh Otto!), one who is thinking of leaving the club, some who may not be able to be trusted. Jax is basically just trying to hold things together in any way he can. His wife is in jail and doesn’t even want to see him, Clay is a huge problem sitting in jail and the ex-FBI guy is whipping things into a frenzy behind the scenes. Plus he’s trying to get some cash flow back into the club and that will probably come slamming back into his face soon enough.

There’s a lot of drama going on and we’ve been introduced to a blonde haired kid with some serious issues. He crosses the paths of a few characters as they go about their business in town and the whole time I’m wondering what’s up with him. The show ends with him walking into a school with a gun. It seems really out of left field and unnecessary, but Kurt Sutter doesn’t just throw people and situations into his story without an end game. Clearly he’s just a kid that no one is paying attention to (just like the real life shooters who are unknown and ignored until they hit the news). He’s alone and ignored in every scene he’s in, he floats from space to space until the end of the episode. It’s controversial for sure, but so much about SoA is, so that’s not exactly surprising. We can only wait and see how this unfolds, but now that the ball is rolling it’s up to Kurt to show his viewers that he has a full and well meaning story to tell through this season with this plot line.

The Adventures of Korra- It’s been more than a year and Korra is finally back on. This has to be the best looking and sounding cartoon being made today. Some of the animation is down right amazing and the action sequences are always some of the most enjoyable to watch. The colors are sumptuous and the soundtrack is epic. Book 2 starts not too long after last season. Korra still has a lot to learn (air bending apparently) and the spirits of the north pole are causing up in arms. Korra’s uncle shows up and tells her it’s her job to head north to handle the situation, she is the bridge between the spirit and physical world. Her first meet with an angry spirit doesn’t go well, she gets tossed around like an amateur until her uncle steps in with his spirit management techniques (it looks really cool). So now Korra sees that she has a lot to learn…from someone who doesn’t already call themselves her teacher. There’s a lot of push back at this, but Korra sticks to her guns and manages to turn things around in the north. Now the question is, what are her uncles true intentions? It was a nice hour introduction to new characters and events, I think we have a lot to look forward to.

My Review: Now You See Me

Movies

Now You See Me is a really good, bad movie. It’s in my wheelhouse, I love heist movies. It’s a new twist on heist movies which gives the movie a few more points from me as well. The thieves are master illusionists! So you have the combination of theft and magic, but the problem is you can’t mix magic like this with a Hollywood movie. All the major tricks come down to the explaination of “that’s computer generated”.

The magic of magic is seeing something unbelievable happen in front of you and it looks completely legit. You struggle to figure out the trick. When people are disappearing, floating around or throwing clearly digital objects, that needed suspension of disbelief is gone.

That’s not to say the actors aren’t doing any slight of hand, it’s just that the pay offs of the big “illusions” don’t hold any weight because so much was done in post production. You see three major heists and the main beats of how they were done are explained. Clearly a lot of consultation from magicians was done as the planning and complexity of the illusions are great and plausible (there’s a lot of built sets, forced perspective, misdirection, mirrors and the like shown) but there’s always that “computer generated” out for everything (the giant mirror used for one of the heists is broken and it’s clearly CG).

Even as I could never get passed all of the above, it’s still a fun movie that I enjoyed. The Feds chase after a group of illusionists (dubbed The Four Horseman) who steal money in their live performances and give it away to the audience. It’s a wild concept, taking bank heists and Robin Hood to a new level. The cast is good, although Jesse Eisenberg falls into his Social Network smarmy act and while Dave Franco is pushed to the back for the most of the movie, he gets far and away the best action set piece. Morgan Freeman is also Morgan Freeman, not sure why they wanted him to play himself.

The reveal at the end of the movie is more of a shoulder shrug than a twist. I don’t think it was necessary. You could have had that character be known from the start and change the beginning of the movie to accommodate that and you’d wind up with a better movie in the end. There is a set up for a sequel and there has been industry talk of one…despite all the complaining I’m doing, I’d watch it.

My Review Film Quick Hits

Movies

I’ve back logged a few movies, so let’s tee em up and knock em down.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation- Everything a sequel should be. Really well done, fixes the problems of the first and pays a lot of homage to the franchise. Dwayne Johnson keeps cementing his action hero career, he really is one of the best in the buisness today. He carries this movie on his gigantic shoulders. Let’s be real here: G.I. Joe is dumb. It always has been and always will be. It’s a popcorn movie, so if you go into it looking for that, you’ll like it. It’s got guns, marines, tanks, ninjas, choppers, a doomsday device and over the top action scenes and villains. The ninja cliff fight is a real stand out. I don’t think it’s ever been done before and is really well visualized. Complaints are for the terrible soundtrack, Bruce Willis just rolls through his screen time, I have no idea why they cut him a big check to be in this. Easily replaced. And RZA. I’d like to know who invited him. His terrible make up matched his role.

Snow White and The Huntsman- Everything is really dark these days, isn’t it? I think this is the first time I’ve ever scene Kristen Stewart look like she didn’t want to drop dead on the spot. The visuals are really striking, but nothing really stuck with me afterwards. Except Charlize Theron, she’s awesome in everything she does. This flick is pretty paint by the numbers, it follows the fairytale closely, adds it’s own unique visual elements and makes Snow White the leader of an army at the end. Oh and she’s put to sleep for like an hour, much like I was.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox- Warner Brothers rules. The animation partnership they have with DC is just the best. Every single movie they put out is awesome, I look forward to every release no matter who is the star. Paradox is all about The Flash and this is such a great story that it made me a fan of The Flash. Before watching this I was pretty luke warm on him as a character. Now, it does help that Batman was a big part of this, but it’s a testament to how cool The Flash can be (Geoff Johns is one of the best comic writers working today). This tale goes into some wild revisionist time traveling that is brilliant in its ideas and execution. WB gives the DC guys the resources to make their best stories come to life and should be commended for it. Check this out!

Four Lions- Wow does this comedy go to some dark places! This is a daring movie in it’s concept and is a tremendous achievement in that it works. Four Lions is a British movie about a young group of Islamic Brits who are going for the full jihad. Yes, this movie focuses on suicide bombers. This is such a taboo subject, but the wit and irony in the writing is really something to behold. The cast really sells it, so kudos to them especially. This flick pulls no punches, it makes you feel uncomfortable and it makes you think and there are some truly hilarious moments from start to finish. This came out in 2010 and I don’t think that many people know about it.

Television and the ponderous FXX

TV

The summer shows are winding down, with a few leaving the airwaves for good. So as the regular season starts to gear up, I’ll give some takes on what I’ve been watching.

I’ve been on a big BBC kick. I’m all caught up on Sherlock which is a terrific show. Each episode is just under an hour and a half so it’s really more of a movie than an episode. Really fun show, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are so well cast as Sherlock and Watson. Neat cases, weird villans, excellent writing. Luther is like the guy who works on the other side of London, he takes on the psychos that Sherlock doesn’t get to because he’s already busy. Luther is super smart, damaged but not so eccentric and social awkward as Sherlock. Luther has a bit more of a horror/serial killer vibe to it. He skirts around the rules all the time and gets under the skin of a lot of people, but he’s a great cop. I thought he was super obnoxious to begin with, but he grew on me and I found myself sympathizing with him. I finished the first two seasons on Netflix just in time to catch season 3 air on BBC America. They’re playing all 4 episodes in one week which is a weird way to do it, but I’m not complaining. Top Gear did it’s full series as well. Some good stuff as usual, but one episode had a ton a filler and the finale was also average at best. It was at a live Top Gear show in Australia that was a cheap and convient way to squeeze out an episode. Some good content, but not very entertaining. It was probably the weakest series I can remember.

Futurama is done! The last episode aired last night and was a beautiful finale. I’ve liked the seasons that Comedy Central has soley aired, they’ve done some edgeier stuff and have come up with some inventive and fun ideas while keeping the laughs coming. The staight to DVD stuff can be skipped, but the last two seasons are worth a watch. I can’t see any other network to step in to foot the bill for more, so I think it’s really the time this show was laid to rest. It was a fun journey with the Planet Express crew.

Network shows seem to be starting next week, with the bulk of them starting the last week of September. Cable shows a bit sooner (like Boardwalk Empire and Sons of Anarchy). I’ll have more when those get going. Dexter is almost done, 2 episodes left I think. It’s been an okay season, I was expecting more intensity in the last season, but maybe they’ll crank it up for the end. Can only hope for a satisfying end for Dexter, but with those writers who knows. Breaking Bad has continued to deliver at least. I could blather on (which I will when the show ends) but I’ll just say it’s the best show on TV and leave it at that.

I’ve been watching Under the Dome for some reason. It’s alright. I mean, it fits CBS quality. Acting that’s all over the place, some terrible dialog that either over explains things for the dummies or tries to sound dramatic and comes off corny. And the keyboard soundtrack is never far behind those dramatic turns! Dean Norris is one of the main characters and it’s really weird seeing him on another show while Breaking Bad is still stewing up juicy bits of insanity.

Now FX started it’s new channel, FXX this week and I can’t figure out why. They’ve spent 12 years or so building FX and have had some amazing success. It’s to the point where they have enough great programming to run new primetime shows year round. But with FXX, they’ve basically made another TBS. It’s all syndicated shows and FX bought movies that run all the time because they’ve moved over like 4 shows from FX for now. Why dilute your channel by moving the stuff people want to watch already? FX and FXX are like 20 channels apart on Fios and not every carrier is carrying the channel so they’re screwing fans. There must be some inside stuff I’m missing because I can’t figure it out. So Always Sunny started with The League and Kamal Bell. It was a strong start for Sunny, but I still scratch my head at this FXX idea.