Each week I take 5 news items from the current week from the entertainment industry, list them out here and then give my take on them. This is Take 5.
1. World Series Goes to Game 7 – I don’t really have a horse in this race but any game 7 in a championship series is exciting. Both lineups are full of power and both have had impressive bullpens throughout the regular season. I’m hoping that Texas is able to overtake St. Louis, they haven’t won a series yet. I am disappointed that this means no new Fringe this week and that the new NBC show Grimm won’t get a fair chance tonight as many people will turn for a World Series Game 7. Chuck will also get hurt by this, but it’s the final season anyways.
2. Harry Potter DVD’s to disappear after this year – So Warner Bros. is playing the Disney Vault card. Probably a smart move that will mean huge sales this holiday. The only question is, when they get released from the vault will DVD’s still be relevant or will electronic media be the king? They will have to do something pretty special to get big sales from them again.
3. Nintendo Reports Record Losses – Ever since I was born Nintendo has been a profit making company until this year when it will report losses of over 100 Billion. This is mainly due to the possible failure of the 3DS. I won’t claim that it is a failure until after Christmas however. Nintendo has made a lot of mistakes since they released the Wii. I honestly don’t think that they thought it would work and now just don’t know what to do. Hopefully the house that Mario built will be able to right itself.
4. New Charlie Sheen Series to air on FX – It’s called Anger Management and I couldn’t care less. Odds are this show will be a joke, people are so over Charlie Sheen that I see this as being a show that gets boycotted by everyone. Then again people still watch The Jersey Shore.
5. Thor Dies . . . Again – Last week was the conclusion to the Marvel summer series Fear Itself. It centered around Thor and some bad guys getting hammers and nazi robots. It was not very good. At the end of it Thor died. An ending that everyone saw coming a million miles away. However its finally happened and no one cares about death anymore. They killed off both Thor and Bucky Barnes in this series and no one cares. Because we have finally seen behind the curtain and everyone now realizes how pointless the revolving door of death is. DC has reinvigorated interest in their comics thanks to the new 52. Maybe Marvel should try something as well.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
All the King's Men - The Oscar Project Part XXII
“All the King’s Men” was a movie I had often heard as being a meaningful movie when it comes to politics. So it was one of the movies on the Oscar winning list that I was looking forward to. Released in 1949 the movie is based off of a book of the same name and apparently is a thinly veiled telling of the life and assassination of real-life Louisiana Governor, Huey Long.
The movie plot follows a journalist as he begins to cover the campaign of Willie Stark. Due to corruption in the government, Stark loses his first bid. He puts himself through law school and then runs for governor. This time he starts making some of the shady deals that he refused to make the first time. As the movie continues Willie does big things for the state, but at the same time makes a lot of shady deals that profit himself and his family. We see this through the same reporter who is brought into Willie’s group as a close advisor who would get dirt on everyone. Eventually Willie’s antics catch up to him and he has to keep doing more and more illegal activities to try and keep himself looking clean. However by the end of the movie, after beating a possible impeachment, Willie is shot and killed.
The plot itself is decent and resembles some of the political dramas that are so prevalent today. However, there is a big step missing. The transition from Willie being a clean candidate to a dirty politician is glossed over. He goes from being a nice straight forward candidate to being someone who is willing to lie and cheat to get what he wants over night. Apart from this transition however the rest of the story is interesting and can match up with the plots of today.
From an acting perspective the movie belongs to Broderick Crawford and his portrayal of Willie Stark. Apart from the transition problem I mentioned above, Crawford puts in a master class of growing a character. By the time the movie is over he is hardly recognizable as the same character that started the movie and it is very convincing. Most of that is due to the script which is full of fun speeches and lines for him to say. The supporting cast is decent, but the movie would be nothing without Crawford. While the script is also pretty good, the directing is nothing to really celebrate. It’s a standard piece of work, but nothing really special is happening here.
With a few small tweaks “All the King’s Men” could work very well in today’s world. The topics would still fit, the meta-commentary on our current political strife would be present, and it would be an actor’s dream role. The movie gets 4 out of 5 stars.
The movie plot follows a journalist as he begins to cover the campaign of Willie Stark. Due to corruption in the government, Stark loses his first bid. He puts himself through law school and then runs for governor. This time he starts making some of the shady deals that he refused to make the first time. As the movie continues Willie does big things for the state, but at the same time makes a lot of shady deals that profit himself and his family. We see this through the same reporter who is brought into Willie’s group as a close advisor who would get dirt on everyone. Eventually Willie’s antics catch up to him and he has to keep doing more and more illegal activities to try and keep himself looking clean. However by the end of the movie, after beating a possible impeachment, Willie is shot and killed.
The plot itself is decent and resembles some of the political dramas that are so prevalent today. However, there is a big step missing. The transition from Willie being a clean candidate to a dirty politician is glossed over. He goes from being a nice straight forward candidate to being someone who is willing to lie and cheat to get what he wants over night. Apart from this transition however the rest of the story is interesting and can match up with the plots of today.
From an acting perspective the movie belongs to Broderick Crawford and his portrayal of Willie Stark. Apart from the transition problem I mentioned above, Crawford puts in a master class of growing a character. By the time the movie is over he is hardly recognizable as the same character that started the movie and it is very convincing. Most of that is due to the script which is full of fun speeches and lines for him to say. The supporting cast is decent, but the movie would be nothing without Crawford. While the script is also pretty good, the directing is nothing to really celebrate. It’s a standard piece of work, but nothing really special is happening here.
With a few small tweaks “All the King’s Men” could work very well in today’s world. The topics would still fit, the meta-commentary on our current political strife would be present, and it would be an actor’s dream role. The movie gets 4 out of 5 stars.
Monday, October 24, 2011
"Hamlet" - The Oscar Project Part XXI
I have a long history with the theatre. Most of my teen years and my early twenties were spent either behind a curtain or on center stage. It even inspired me to take multiple theatre classes while in college. One of my favorite of these classes was my Shakespeare class. I had been introduced to Shakespeare in high school. It was there that I discovered my favorite play in “Hamlet.” Prior to watching the 1948 Oscar film I had seen three different versions of the play, twice on stage and the Kenneth Branagh 1996 film. I was excited to see a “Hamlet” that had won the Oscar for Best Picture and I knew that Laurence Olivier was a legend of the silver screen. Unfortunately I was let down.
For the most part the script follows what Shakespeare had originally penned. Cuts are made however to shorten the running length. The usual characters of Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were removed completely, that is a typical cut made and I can be okay with that. However they also cut all of the lines from the play within the play, this would be fine but they also have to cut the scene before then were Hamlet is giving the actors notes on how to read their lines. If they are not going to read any lines then why is he giving those notes? The biggest change that upsets me though is the opening lines read by Olivier where he equates Hamlet to simply being a movie about a man that can’t make up his mind. I’ve studied “Hamlet” and let me assure you that the script has a lot more to it than just someone that can’t make up his mind.
The set is what is considered standard now for “Hamlet” with the hallways and stair cases twisting to show the craziness that is present in his mind. The actual film work could use some work as the whole film feels to light without much use of contrast. On a whole the film feels very old. Not old due to the age of the script though. Just old as a movie, something I haven’t felt as much with some of the other films that I have watched.
If your going to take on Shakespeare and put it on film, it needs to have energy and this movie just didn’t have it. However, it’s still Shakespeare, but I can’t recommend that you watch this. If you want to see “Hamlet” go watch the Branagh movie. It’s complete and well done. I give “Hamlet” 2.5 out of 5 stars.
For the most part the script follows what Shakespeare had originally penned. Cuts are made however to shorten the running length. The usual characters of Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were removed completely, that is a typical cut made and I can be okay with that. However they also cut all of the lines from the play within the play, this would be fine but they also have to cut the scene before then were Hamlet is giving the actors notes on how to read their lines. If they are not going to read any lines then why is he giving those notes? The biggest change that upsets me though is the opening lines read by Olivier where he equates Hamlet to simply being a movie about a man that can’t make up his mind. I’ve studied “Hamlet” and let me assure you that the script has a lot more to it than just someone that can’t make up his mind.
The set is what is considered standard now for “Hamlet” with the hallways and stair cases twisting to show the craziness that is present in his mind. The actual film work could use some work as the whole film feels to light without much use of contrast. On a whole the film feels very old. Not old due to the age of the script though. Just old as a movie, something I haven’t felt as much with some of the other films that I have watched.
If your going to take on Shakespeare and put it on film, it needs to have energy and this movie just didn’t have it. However, it’s still Shakespeare, but I can’t recommend that you watch this. If you want to see “Hamlet” go watch the Branagh movie. It’s complete and well done. I give “Hamlet” 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Take 5 - 10/21/11
Each week I take 5 news items from the current week from the entertainment industry, list them out here and then give my take on them. This is Take 5.
1. Sherlock Holmes 2 Trailer – There are currently two Sherlock Holmes franchises going on. One is a British television series and the other is the American Robert Downey Jr. movies. Fortunately both are so different in their take that there is room for both of them. I prefer the television series but the addition of Moriarty to the movie should make for an epic battle on the big screen. The trailer promised more of what I liked about the first movie, which is all I really want.
2. The Walking Dead Premieres Huge – Who doesn’t love a zombie? Apparently no one since the second season premiere had a record breaking debut. The first season was good but not great television. It will be interesting to see where the series goes from here. I am pretty familiar with the comic but the show has already left that in the dust.
3. NBA Lockout Continues – While I am not really a basketball fan, and could care less about whether the season is saved or not, it is a shame that so many people will be out of work for the next 6 months. And not the players but the people that work at the stadiums or in bars close to stadiums. They will get hit by this the hardest since they don’t make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
4. Tigers Lose the ALCS – Yeah, maybe this isn’t a big news story for a lot of people but I am a Tigers fan. In the end the toll of the 162 game season was just too much for them. They came into the playoffs tired and injured. It caught up with all of them. Looking forward to next season and how they’re going to fill in their holes during the off season. Go Tigers!
5. Ice Cream Sandwich Unveiled – This is the next Android operating system and will but any android tablets and phone on the same operating system. I like the idea of Android. Open sourced software that is developer and user friendly, nothing wrong with that. The problem lies in how it is rolled out. Google leaves it up to the device makers to conform it to their system and get it out. With so many different devices several people get left behind. Still ICS looks pretty sweet, and delicious.
1. Sherlock Holmes 2 Trailer – There are currently two Sherlock Holmes franchises going on. One is a British television series and the other is the American Robert Downey Jr. movies. Fortunately both are so different in their take that there is room for both of them. I prefer the television series but the addition of Moriarty to the movie should make for an epic battle on the big screen. The trailer promised more of what I liked about the first movie, which is all I really want.
2. The Walking Dead Premieres Huge – Who doesn’t love a zombie? Apparently no one since the second season premiere had a record breaking debut. The first season was good but not great television. It will be interesting to see where the series goes from here. I am pretty familiar with the comic but the show has already left that in the dust.
3. NBA Lockout Continues – While I am not really a basketball fan, and could care less about whether the season is saved or not, it is a shame that so many people will be out of work for the next 6 months. And not the players but the people that work at the stadiums or in bars close to stadiums. They will get hit by this the hardest since they don’t make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
4. Tigers Lose the ALCS – Yeah, maybe this isn’t a big news story for a lot of people but I am a Tigers fan. In the end the toll of the 162 game season was just too much for them. They came into the playoffs tired and injured. It caught up with all of them. Looking forward to next season and how they’re going to fill in their holes during the off season. Go Tigers!
5. Ice Cream Sandwich Unveiled – This is the next Android operating system and will but any android tablets and phone on the same operating system. I like the idea of Android. Open sourced software that is developer and user friendly, nothing wrong with that. The problem lies in how it is rolled out. Google leaves it up to the device makers to conform it to their system and get it out. With so many different devices several people get left behind. Still ICS looks pretty sweet, and delicious.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Gentleman's Agreement - The Oscar Project Part XX
In 1947, the movie “Gentleman’s Agreement” was released and would go on to win the Oscar for Best Picture. The War was over and the clean up was still occurring. A big portion of this was the exposure of the Holocaust to the general public and the discussion of the creation of the Jewish state of Israel. The movie takes advantage of what is currently going on to make a statement about Judaism. The film more than any I have watched, other than “Mrs. Miniver”, was a movie with a message.
The movie focuses on journalist Phillip Green, who is a widowed single father, as he attempts to write a story that exposes prejudice against those who are Jewish. He takes the approach of pretending that he is Jewish and writing about his experiences. Over the course of the movie he is refused service and treated differently. He even begins having problems with his personal life as the ruse he is putting up is beginning to effect a new relationship that he has started up. The movie makes a big point that there was a lot of prejudice going on. This makes the movie very political for the time period and I can see this as being part of the beginning of the view as Hollywood trying to be very political with how it gives out its awards. Something that doesn’t seem to be as present today.
Directed by Elia Kazan, the movie doesn’t really break any new movie making ground. It felt standard from that perspective. The real draw to the movie was due to the script and to the acting. Gregory Peck carries the movie and he is one of the few actors that don’t have a problem doing that. He has so much gravitas when he is performing it is almost impossible to look away. He is also able to portray a lot of emotion without trying. The script was also solid and had a natural progression that stuck with me long after the movie was finished.
“Gentleman’s Agreement” was a solid movie that surprised me in how good it was. The only problem is that I don’t view the problem that it is stating as being a problem anymore. It makes the movie less relevant and since it presses its message so hard it loses a lot of its punch. Still a good movie is a good movie and it gets 4 out of 5 stars.
The movie focuses on journalist Phillip Green, who is a widowed single father, as he attempts to write a story that exposes prejudice against those who are Jewish. He takes the approach of pretending that he is Jewish and writing about his experiences. Over the course of the movie he is refused service and treated differently. He even begins having problems with his personal life as the ruse he is putting up is beginning to effect a new relationship that he has started up. The movie makes a big point that there was a lot of prejudice going on. This makes the movie very political for the time period and I can see this as being part of the beginning of the view as Hollywood trying to be very political with how it gives out its awards. Something that doesn’t seem to be as present today.
Directed by Elia Kazan, the movie doesn’t really break any new movie making ground. It felt standard from that perspective. The real draw to the movie was due to the script and to the acting. Gregory Peck carries the movie and he is one of the few actors that don’t have a problem doing that. He has so much gravitas when he is performing it is almost impossible to look away. He is also able to portray a lot of emotion without trying. The script was also solid and had a natural progression that stuck with me long after the movie was finished.
“Gentleman’s Agreement” was a solid movie that surprised me in how good it was. The only problem is that I don’t view the problem that it is stating as being a problem anymore. It makes the movie less relevant and since it presses its message so hard it loses a lot of its punch. Still a good movie is a good movie and it gets 4 out of 5 stars.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Breaking Bad - Season 4 Review
I have always been a big fan of Quentin Tarantino. His films have some problems but he has such a unique and distinct style that when I see a movie of his I am always overwhelmed by how fresh it feels. During this season of Breaking Bad I realized that this is what a Tarantino television series would feel like and is probably one of the reasons that I love the show so much. I didn’t watch the show when it first came out. I thought it was going to be light hearted or just completely devoted to action sequences. Boy was I wrong. This season of Breaking Bad had more plot, characterization and development than almost anything else on television.
Season 4 focuses on Walt and Jesse’s labor dispute with their employer Gus Fring. Over the course of the season this dispute brought on several changes for our characters. Walt essentially went crazy and by the end of the season truly broke bad, Jesse completely submitted to his old lifestyle before being brought out of it by Gus and grew into a better person and Skylar immersed herself further into the “family” business and learned that she would go far to protect her family. But in reality the season focused on two things the relationship between Jesse and Walt, and the character of Gustavo Fring.
Throughout the series the relationship between Walter and Jesse has grown as the two have worked together. In many instances Walt has referred to Jesse as a son. During this season there was a change. In one of the bigger moments of the series the two of them finally went at each other. After this confrontation the status quo changed. Jesse was the one on the high ground with Walter being the more criminal. I’m not saying that Jesse is a saint now, but he demonstrated loyalty to Gus and even more loyalty to Walt after the fight. He also became more involved in the life of his girlfriend and child. Walt went freaking nuts. He became overly paranoid to the point that he took a risk and poisoned a child to get at Gus. By the end of the season Walt had turned into a character that we almost cannot sympathize with. It will be interesting to see where this goes next season, with Gus out of the way, will Walt take his place? Will he go back to cooking meth or is his criminal past behind him?
The rest of the season focused on Gus. We learned pieces of his past and how he works with his employees. In developing the character the show writers have created one of the most complete villains to ever be on a television series. The actor playing Gus was able to convey an entire conversation without ever speaking. Everything about him said something. The color suit he wore, the look in his eyes. He was a complete character. Due to the fact the show is about Walt, we knew that by the end of the season that Gus had to die. Which is what is great about this series, any other show would have kept him alive, but the writers on Breaking Bad want to keep the narrative moving, the only way it could move any further is if Gus was dead. Their several instances throughout the season though that I think were purposely done just to get a specific reaction out of the final shot of Gus. He walked into the line of fire of a sniper, poisoned himself and somehow knew about a car bomb. When he stepped out of the room after the explosion there was half a second where I thought he might actually be invincible. If it weren’t for what happened the rest of the season I wouldn’t have had that great reaction to his death.
Breaking Bad had its best season this year. The previous season contained great acting and so did this one, but this year it just had something a little extra. The only show on television right now that I watch that can compete with this is Mad Men. I am interested to see if that show can still keep up with Breaking Bad when it comes back in 2012. And of course this season of Breaking Bad gets 5 out of 5 stars. If you’re not watching it, do yourself a favor and start.
Season 4 focuses on Walt and Jesse’s labor dispute with their employer Gus Fring. Over the course of the season this dispute brought on several changes for our characters. Walt essentially went crazy and by the end of the season truly broke bad, Jesse completely submitted to his old lifestyle before being brought out of it by Gus and grew into a better person and Skylar immersed herself further into the “family” business and learned that she would go far to protect her family. But in reality the season focused on two things the relationship between Jesse and Walt, and the character of Gustavo Fring.
Throughout the series the relationship between Walter and Jesse has grown as the two have worked together. In many instances Walt has referred to Jesse as a son. During this season there was a change. In one of the bigger moments of the series the two of them finally went at each other. After this confrontation the status quo changed. Jesse was the one on the high ground with Walter being the more criminal. I’m not saying that Jesse is a saint now, but he demonstrated loyalty to Gus and even more loyalty to Walt after the fight. He also became more involved in the life of his girlfriend and child. Walt went freaking nuts. He became overly paranoid to the point that he took a risk and poisoned a child to get at Gus. By the end of the season Walt had turned into a character that we almost cannot sympathize with. It will be interesting to see where this goes next season, with Gus out of the way, will Walt take his place? Will he go back to cooking meth or is his criminal past behind him?
The rest of the season focused on Gus. We learned pieces of his past and how he works with his employees. In developing the character the show writers have created one of the most complete villains to ever be on a television series. The actor playing Gus was able to convey an entire conversation without ever speaking. Everything about him said something. The color suit he wore, the look in his eyes. He was a complete character. Due to the fact the show is about Walt, we knew that by the end of the season that Gus had to die. Which is what is great about this series, any other show would have kept him alive, but the writers on Breaking Bad want to keep the narrative moving, the only way it could move any further is if Gus was dead. Their several instances throughout the season though that I think were purposely done just to get a specific reaction out of the final shot of Gus. He walked into the line of fire of a sniper, poisoned himself and somehow knew about a car bomb. When he stepped out of the room after the explosion there was half a second where I thought he might actually be invincible. If it weren’t for what happened the rest of the season I wouldn’t have had that great reaction to his death.
Breaking Bad had its best season this year. The previous season contained great acting and so did this one, but this year it just had something a little extra. The only show on television right now that I watch that can compete with this is Mad Men. I am interested to see if that show can still keep up with Breaking Bad when it comes back in 2012. And of course this season of Breaking Bad gets 5 out of 5 stars. If you’re not watching it, do yourself a favor and start.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Take 5 - 10/14/11
Each week I take 5 news items from the current week from the entertainment industry, list them out here and then give my take on them. This is Take 5.
1. Netflix Puts a Halt to Qwikster – Thank you. I hated this decision from the beginning. I use Netflix pretty heavily and the thought of having to go to two different websites to manage my movie watching experience bugged me. I have my movies all laid out and I love the way it is right now. Fortunately I was not the only one who thought this was a terrible idea. So long Qwikster, we hated you before we met you.
2. iOS 5 is Released – I am a PC guy and it will be very hard for me to ever change over to a Mac. That being said I am very impressed with Apple and their new iOS update gives me everything that I love about my Android phone on a more reliable and more supported handset. I have one more month before I upgrade. Before now I was planning on returning to Android, but I am now almost certain to be getting the new iPhone.
3. The Avengers Trailer – If you would have told me 5 years ago that an Avengers movie would be made and that it would be written and directed by Joss Whedon I would have slapped you in the face and called you Shirley. But it is coming and we got the first real trailer this week. The big question that is still left unanswered is who are the aliens that are being used. We know Loki has an alien army, but what army? The rest of the trailer does demonstrate that this will be a very big threat and features classic Whedon dialog spoken from Downey. I can’t wait to see how this movie comes together.
4. The New 52 Sells 5 Million Comics – Wow! Thanks to the speculator bust of the 90’s comics have been slowly dying. The industry is on the verge of collapse but it appears that DC has managed to inject some life into it by relaunching their line-up. I think that they’ve done a pretty decent job so far. My only wish is that the comics would truly embrace digital and give me a Netflix type option for reading. I know they don’t want to kill brick and mortar stores but they also need to do this to save themselves.
5. The CW on Netflix – I know, two Netflix stories this week. But this one is just as important. I have a hard time giving CW shows a chance because a lot of what they show is crap at first. Then I hear that they start to get better. So now I can watch a couple of these shows that people panned at first and are now raving about. I love technology.
1. Netflix Puts a Halt to Qwikster – Thank you. I hated this decision from the beginning. I use Netflix pretty heavily and the thought of having to go to two different websites to manage my movie watching experience bugged me. I have my movies all laid out and I love the way it is right now. Fortunately I was not the only one who thought this was a terrible idea. So long Qwikster, we hated you before we met you.
2. iOS 5 is Released – I am a PC guy and it will be very hard for me to ever change over to a Mac. That being said I am very impressed with Apple and their new iOS update gives me everything that I love about my Android phone on a more reliable and more supported handset. I have one more month before I upgrade. Before now I was planning on returning to Android, but I am now almost certain to be getting the new iPhone.
3. The Avengers Trailer – If you would have told me 5 years ago that an Avengers movie would be made and that it would be written and directed by Joss Whedon I would have slapped you in the face and called you Shirley. But it is coming and we got the first real trailer this week. The big question that is still left unanswered is who are the aliens that are being used. We know Loki has an alien army, but what army? The rest of the trailer does demonstrate that this will be a very big threat and features classic Whedon dialog spoken from Downey. I can’t wait to see how this movie comes together.
4. The New 52 Sells 5 Million Comics – Wow! Thanks to the speculator bust of the 90’s comics have been slowly dying. The industry is on the verge of collapse but it appears that DC has managed to inject some life into it by relaunching their line-up. I think that they’ve done a pretty decent job so far. My only wish is that the comics would truly embrace digital and give me a Netflix type option for reading. I know they don’t want to kill brick and mortar stores but they also need to do this to save themselves.
5. The CW on Netflix – I know, two Netflix stories this week. But this one is just as important. I have a hard time giving CW shows a chance because a lot of what they show is crap at first. Then I hear that they start to get better. So now I can watch a couple of these shows that people panned at first and are now raving about. I love technology.
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