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Showing posts from 2014

Fury

So I made the mistake of watching this recently. Fury is one of those unfortunate movies in which I hate all the characters. Sure, I started out liking Norman, but in the end everyone was unlikable, especially that guy who played Shane in The Walking Dead. Pretty sure I'm incapable of liking him in anything, even if his character wasn't horrible. Fury takes place near the end of WWII. As you may expect, there's some violence, which isn't really something I often take issue with. My problem is that...how can I root for any of these people? Most of them are horrid and I couldn't wait for them to die. And the ending...the ending. I mean come on, Brad Pitt, that was stupid. I was uncomfortable throughout this film, and for all the wrong reasons. I wasn't worried about what would happen to the main characters, I was worried what they would do. Bad! My grade: C

The Babadook

After pining over this for weeks, I finally got down to watching it a few days ago. I was, in fact, so excited about watching it that I had a game plan. It had to be perfect! I planned it almost like a first date, except that I've never planned a first date, but that's besides the point. The Babadook is about a widowed mother whose son believes that a monster is coming to get them. He's so certain of this that he starts building his own weapons and telling everyone about the monster. His mother is going crazy with stress and can't handle her screaming, paranoid child very well. Then her son asks her to read him a book called The Babadook, which turns out to be a little too creepy, so she hides it...but it ends up reappearing elsewhere, and with new pages added depicting some violent murders. Even worse, her son turns out to be right, as much as she tries to deny it. The Babadook is coming! To be frank, I was a bit disappointed. It's a scary film, but didn'

Death Comes to Pemberley

As a Jane Austen fan who has read almost all of her books, I should have been looking forward to this more. I should also have read the book by P.D. James, but...yeah, it was never something I cared much about. There are so many Jane Austen what-ifs, prequels, and sequels floating around, and most of them don't end up on my radar. Also, a lot of them are porny. Not that I'm complaining. I'm willing to give this two-parter a chance, even though episode one left me with a feeling of nothingness. So here are its downfalls so far: (1) Good actors who are miscast. Darcy lacks pretty much everything Colin Firth's Darcy had. For shame! And I like Anna Maxwell Martin, but I don't think she's a Lizzie Bennett. (2) Too dark. Humor and wit, asap! (3) Maybe Matthew Goode should have been Darcy, hmm? At least he's more interesting. (4) How can they kill Denny?! He was one of the nicest characters. :'( (5) They'd better feature the rest of the Benne

Inspector Lewis Season 7 Episode 2: The Lions of Nemea

Time to catch up on my PBS shows! I liked this episode more than the last one. It feels like we're getting back to normal, rather than the weird vibes I was getting last time. Everyone is settled into their roles once again. This is one of those episodes where it's hard to tell who the killer is. So many dead people, so many motives. Good motives at that. The reveal wasn't a huge surprise in the end, but it rarely is, right? They also threw in some mandatory tension between Hathaway and a random female character, which amounted to...nothing. How shocking! My grade: B+

As You Turn to Go and He Didn't by The 6ths

Recently, I've been in the mood to go through my CD collection (yes, I still have one, a big one!) and listen to some of my old favorites and even songs/albums I'd forgotten about. I have two albums by The 6ths, which, as far as I can tell, is still a rather obscure band. Worth checking out!

Gone Girl

*Possible Spoilers* At this point, I'm pretty sure most people have read or seen Gone Girl, but it's one of those things you don't want to spoil for others. Since I hadn't read the book, my main interest in seeing the movie was finding out what the big twist is. Did it surprise me? Not at all. I think a lot of people must have seen it coming, at least in the movie. Despite that, it's a good "surprise", and it shakes things up nicely and makes this more than just a murder mystery. Ben Affleck, soon-to-be-known only as Batfleck, is effective as the suspicious husband whose pretty wife goes missing under mysterious circumstances. And he looks guilty, very guilty. Batfleck is good at playing someone who can't act, and I do mean that as a compliment. He doesn't appear as crushed as a distraught husband should, and he has things to hide. Naturally he becomes not only the prime suspect, but the only suspect. Rosamund Pike is excellent in her role

Inspector Lewis Season 7: Entry Wounds

*Possible Spoilers* Inspector Lewis is back! I almost forgot it existed. Also, doesn't it feel like it's season 20? As excited as I was/am for this new season, this season opener didn't exactly set me on fire (there's a pun in there). The dynamics have changed, and perhaps that has something to do with it. As you might recall (took me a good minute to remember), Lewis retired last season and finally shacked up with Laura. Fast forward to now, and he's bored at home, attempting to make a canoe. Hathaway took a gap year and apparently spent it walking to some cathedral in Spain, since they're incapable of going one episode without reminding us of his religious background and the dilemma he always seems to be facing. He is now a detective inspector, and he's just acquired his first murder case. He's not entirely sure how to handle it, either, so of course Lewis ends up getting back in the game and offering his help. Hathaway also has a new partner (

The Escape Artist; Episodes 1 & 2

*Possible spoilers* David Tennant is back in my life! Hooray! And Masterpiece Mystery is back in town. My world is temporarily brighter for it. Tennant plays a barrister, Will Burton (hopefully a soon-to-be silk), who defends a man, Liam Foyle, who has been accused of sadistically murdering a woman. It's obvious he thinks the man is guilty but, as he says, 'Everyone deserves a defense' (yes, I'm 99.9% sure I misquoted him), and of course everyone is supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. But we all know this guy did it. He's nuts, but not in a particularly loud way. The actor portraying him, Toby Kebbell, does an amazing job of getting that across. You can sense the undercurrent of barely controlled rage and psychosis. Unfortunately, Burton is far too good at his job, and Foyle is far too clever a killer. He gets away with the whole thing, and we soon see why this series is called 'The Escape Artist'. It quickly comes to bite Burton i

Nebraska

A slow-starting movie that eventually pays off. David opts to drive his father, Woody, to Lincoln, Nebraska to claim his supposed million dollar winnings. The family knows that he didn't actually win anything, but he won't stop talking about it. David caves, thinking that, at the very least, they can get away for awhile. They end up visiting his father's hometown along the way, where word gets out that Woody is a "millionaire". Naturally, people start coming out of the woodwork and demanding money after decades of silence. My main issue with this is how silly David and his family are when people actually start trying to bully them for money. My reaction would be to leave town. Seriously, stop stalling. Go to Lincoln, get it over with, and, most importantly, get the hell away from these people. Instead they linger. Most of the movie is spent there, since that's where there's more story to tell. You find out more about Woody's background, which is f

Future Islands: Seasons (Waiting on You)

Discovered this song today. <3

Rude by Magic

Ernest and Celestine

This movie is adorable. French movies in general tend to attract me. I was hoping this wouldn't be solely geared towards children, but I didn't have anything to worry about. I think adults will enjoy this, maybe even more-so. Or perhaps that's just me. Ernest is a bear. Bears live above ground and are feared by mice. Mice live below, spending their lives striving to collect bear teeth (don't worry, they don't do this by violent means) in order to replace their front teeth with them, since bears have such strong teeth. They think it gives them an advantage, which I suppose it  does, if you have to gnaw through a lot of rope on a daily basis. Of course collecting teeth is a dangerous thing to do, but the expectations are high. Celestine is a mouse, and probably the only mouse who doesn't think bears are evil (that belief leaves her rather ostracized). She's only managed to nab one bear tooth, sadly, so she gets kicked out of the cute underground mouse uto

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (Documentary)

Steve Wiebe and family Oh, I do like a good documentary! This one was too interesting to pass up, and it didn't disappoint. I don't think you have to be a hardcore gamer to enjoy this (I'm not), or even a casual gamer (like me). For me, this is about more than just beating the Donkey Kong record, set in 1982 by Billy Mitchell; it's about an egomaniac douchebag and a nice guy who he's trying to screw over. The 'ole good vs. evil. Steve Wiebe is trying to beat Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong score. And he does, pretty early on in the film. But the egotistical, manipulative, sociopath Billy won't have that. It's easy for Billy to get his way when he's treated like royalty, and everyone looks up to him. Although I don't think anyone adores and admires Billy Mitchell more than Billy Mitchell himself. I think what makes this so satisfying is that you can clearly see what everyone is about, and it soon becomes obvious to them what everyone else

Almost Human

Oh my god, this movie. This is easily one of the worst films I've watched in a long time. Why was I expecting this to be good? That's what I get for not reading reviews in advance, though.  Basic plot: aliens! Some dude named Mark disappears in Maine when all of these fancy blue lights appear from the sky and abduct his handsome self. Another friend of his, Rob, also disappears, but they never actually bring it up after the fact. Weird. So, two years later, Marky Mark comes back, but...he's not himself. He's been alienized and starts killing everyone he comes into contact with. So yeah, that's pretty much it. Bad acting, horrible dialogue, silly events, squandered plot. You're pretty much just watching a laughably bad serial killer film with alien noises and weird, jutting alien...things. Yes, there is a thing, and I'm kind of wondering if they stole it from Red Dwarf. Also, that thing goes where no thing should go. I'm temporarily traumatized. I

Don't Find Another Love ~ Tegan and Sara

One of my favorite new songs from one of my favorite bands (although they didn't pen the song themselves, but who cares). Unfortunately, it's from the soundtrack to what looks like one of the most vomit-inducing movies to come along in awhile, Endless Love . Oh well. I'll probably never watch it unless someone bribes me, but I can still enjoy the music.

Sherlock Season 3: The Sign of Three and His Last Vow (season finale)

The Sign of Three is probably my favorite episode from season 3. John and Mary are getting married, and Sherlock is the best man, which means it's going to be crazy. It actually ends up being more than crazy, and everything is shown/told in a rather complex way. Sherlock likes to go back and forth in time when telling a story. It's both impressive and showy. Also, I want to say more about the plot, but when it comes to this show, I sometimes feel that saying much about it would be spoiling it. Better to simply watch! My grade: A His Last Vow  actually got on my nerves at first. Like I said above, Sherlock likes to show off. A lot. It toys with the audience maybe a little too much, catapulting us back and forth (so much!) and hitting us with twists that don't entirely seem to fit, just to shock us. And my god, the way they conduct certain scenes is so fancy and convoluted! Just get on with it! It feels almost overly cocky. Everyone involved in this show knows i

Movie Review: Her

What a strange, thought-provoking, sad, funny movie. Not to mention one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Her is about a man, Theodore (played by the wonderful Joaquin Phoenix and his equally wonderful mustache), who falls in loves and starts dating his computer's operating system, Samantha. "She" talks, sounds, and behaves like a human, which is disconcerting to him at first, and raises a series of questions later on. She becomes his best friend and girlfriend, and, for awhile, it works for them. I suppose one of the sad things is that I can see how someone could become so attached to someone who isn't real, especially when that person is lonely. Theodore and his mustache need love, you know? Scarlett Johansson voices Samantha. At first I was bit skeptical. I'd read how good she was in it, and that she could be nominated for an Oscar, which would be quite unique considering she doesn't physically appear in the film at all. I didn't

Sherlock Season 3: The Empty Hearse

It's finally back!! It's been way too long, don't you think? It's been so long that I almost forgot about it. Well, in this season 3 opener, Sherlock returns (obviously), startling and further wounding a still-grieving Watson. Poor Watson. He really gets messed around with in this episode. On the plus side, Watson has found himself a nice (and intelligent) woman whom he wants to marry. Rejoice! On the downside, Sherlock must stop a terrorist attack in London, and Watson can't help but get caught up in it, despite wanting to steer clear of everything Sherlock-related. As for how Sherlock survived that fall in the last episode, well, um...just watch. There are tons of theories, which I think the writers had a lot of fun with. My one complaint (and this is probably just me) is that I found this episode a little confusing at times. There was some time-jumping involved, and it can be easy to lose the thread if you're not careful. Overall, though, this was a