May 16 2013

Strange Things are Afoot in Hemlock Grove

Hemlock Grove

Netflix original, streaming

First it was cable television that gave network TV a run for its money.  Now it’s streaming TV online. Netflix and Amazon Prime have both jumped on this band wagon presenting new material and returning fan favorites. The creepiest so far? Hemlock Grove whose first season is streaming on Netflix.hemlockgrove

Hemlock Grove is based on the novel by Brian McGreevy.  A pair of gypsies move into town and the teen boy is pegged by the local aspiring writer to be a werewolf. But when grisly murders start happening around town, some of the town’s folk give credit to the girl’s theory.  Local girls are torn apart by what looks like animals. But it seems that the upiόr that the Gypsies are chasing may be the cause. The town sheriff as well as representative from the US fish and Wildlife Federation is investigating as well. Many strange things are found in the Pennsylvania little grove including a girl impregnated by an angel.

The show is The Gates combined with American Horror Story with a dash of The Walking Dead thrown. The story combines a supernatural town with the bizarre twists that keep the viewer confused, terrified, and wanting more. Each town member has a secret and not one person is the town is truly normal. McGreevy sinks into years of folklore putting the fear back into werewolves, vampires, and angels.

Any reviews you read about the show focuses on how gory the show is. In reality it’s not insanely gory. What is disgusting is the events and how realistic they look. It’s not The Walking Dead gory with blood and guts everywhere. Greg Nicottero’s FX company uses a more subtle hand here. For example, it’s not gross how the werewolf sheds its skin; it is disturbing when the werewolf at its left over human parts. Only one body looks like a zombie, and even then, Bicycle Girl was scarier. But maybe I’ve just watched too much horror and sci-fi to be bothered by the gore.

The story itself is psychologically disturbing.  The show uses a giant with a deformed face as an allegory for being a teenager as well and a mysterious medical company that brings her back to life. The story sometimes over reaches and the finale is like the worst episodes of The X-files; you have more questions than answers. But more than anything it the characters and the actors that portray them that keep viewer hooked. Viewers will recognize Femke Jemson and Dougray Scoot as the adult stars. Battlestar hemlock_grove_netflixGalatica Fans will be thrilled by the appearance of Kandyse McClure and Aaron Douglas. But it is the two teen boys Landon Liboiron and Bill Skarsgård that give the best performances as they deal with their dual nature.  Their unique bromance captures your attention as they both try to help a girl they love (a love triangle Twilight would never touch!).
The first season follows the original novel and McGreevy is writing second while he had outlines for a third. As an Executive Producer, the show captures his warped version of a town from his childhood and this works for Netflix. Forget who shot JR; I want to know what that thing is inside the box!

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May 9 2013

Man of Many Suits

I personally am not big on superheroes as a movie genre. I prefer sci-fi heroines that kick butt. But sometimes I do find a superhero story I really enjoy. I love X-Men and its allegory of life lived outside the norm. And though I hated the Avengers, I liked several of the character. Captain American, Hawkeye, and, of course, Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr brings the character life and makes most of the Iron Man movies enjoyable. Iron Man 3 is a great addition to the franchise.

In the latest installment of the Marvel saga, Tony Stark has to use his brains again against two nefarious foes. When a terrorist known as The Mandarin is behind worldwide explosions and terrorist messages. When one puts his friend in a coma, Tony Stark tells The Mandarin je was not afraid and invites him to challenge Tony personally. The fight is brought to his house which is destroying, and Tony is left adrift with just one suit. He must use his wit and brain to repair the broken suit and go against the terrorist.

iron-man-3-tony-stark-robert-downey-jrThe movie is at its best when Tony is doing his “tricks and one liners.” Without his suit, Tony must rely on his wit to conquer goals and to deal with the people around him. He partners with a young boy, and it’s hard to say who wins when they slam each other. As Tony goes MacGyver to get his damaged suite working, it is so to see how this geniuses’ brain works. The character gets real depth dealing with his issues on his own without Pepper, his suit, or his money.

The biggest detractor is the startling gender inequality. Polly Purebred-excuse me, Pepper Potts-spends half of the movie half naked and screaming. There is a moment when Pepper is powerful and comes to her man’s aid. But Tony must “fix” her and let her go back to the damsel in distress negating any equality her previous actions.  I make fun of Black Widow’s outfit but her kick ass factor is at least one step in the right direction for feminism. Pepper is not.

Comic fans will be unhappy with parts of the film especially The Mandarin. As a movie goes, I enjoyed the villain and his twist. He could have easily been a Bane rip off, but Ben Kingsley makes The Mandarin multi-faceted, giving humor to the film as well as misdirecting Tony from other threats.   This works well for the movie, even though it breaks from comic cannon.

Iron Man 3 has the typical plot holes of a super hero movie (Are the suits designed only for Tony or not? Make up your mind!), this installment of Marvel’s Phase 2 focuses on the character making Tony human and relatable. As always, Downey Jr is amazing and truly makes the movie and the character. Iron Man 3 is not to be missed.

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May 3 2013

Promised Land: Why You Should Give a Frack

Blu-ray, DVD

 

I do not enjoy movies about environmentalism or animal rights. Hell, I can’t even watch the animal abuse commercials. Instead of making me feel good, these movies are sad and sappy with a magic ending. So unlike real life. I had no desire to see Promised Land when I read the synopsis but the trailer made me think differently. Promised Land might be a different kind of movie.

Steve Butler and Sue Thomason are natural gas sales people sent to a small rural town in economic decline. Their goal is to acquire the drilling rights of the land in order to set up a hydraulic fracturing (fracking) station for natural gas. The two encounter trouble with a local, retired teacher, as well as a cute and funny environmentalist who want to keep the area fracking free. Both Steve and Sue s learn about life and love seeing the world through new eyes.

This David and Goliath story pits a rural against the large company with their false promises of cash. The town is struggling and their eyes turn big when they are promised exaggerated amounts of money to save their children. Steve watches their struggles and lives alongside them in an effort to bring them to his side. But he starts to see the company in the same light. The lies won’t help this town and save these people. The man is being turned from the inside. This gives the movie a sense of hope knowing that home and standards are not just a thing of the past.promised-land-blu-ray-cover

The film could have been a puff piece about being green; instead it was a smart and emotional looking into becoming an adult. Blending humor with real world issues, Matt Damon and John Krasinski proved to be deft screen writers as well as actors. If anyone else had tried to do this movie, it would have become a sappy mess.  In fact, it’s my favorite of Damon’s work.  Krasinski is fabulous juggling drama and humor making sure the laughs, never losing the tone of the film. He works well with Damon. Of course, it is Hal Holbrook who steals the screen. The husband of the late Dixie Carter adds true down home feel to the Pennsylvania town.

I actually enjoyed learning more about natural gas. How knew it could be so dangerous to get? Who knew franking was a real word? I shocked at the lies spewing out of the Steve and Sue’s mouth like a car salesman. I really shouldn’t have been surprised. Natural gas is capitalism at the top of its game. It can be harmful and greedy.

If you are in the mood for a smart, funny film look no further. Krasinski and Damon surprise you with deep look into rural life and the natural gas business. This becoming an adult film shows what truly matters in life.

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Apr 28 2013

Entering Columbia

Reveling in Bio Shock Infinite

SOILERS AFTER THE PHOTOS.

Entertainments franchises often suffer as sequels are produced. Video games are notorious of this as they try to develop new and innovative game play. Designers feel a need to give players an even better experience than previous installments. The companies complicate the game mechanics and deviate character back history with detrimental effect to the game.  But some developers know when great is good enough. The makers of BioShock knew what they had and that fans wanted that.  BioShock Infinite melds familiar game mechanics with a new and intriguing story.

Infinite takes players out of the water and flies them into the sky. Gamers play as Booker DeWitt, a man with a mysterious past but with a concrete mission. In order to erase a debt, Booker must travel to Columbia to rescue a girl named Elizabeth. He knows nothing about her or this floating city in the sky but he quickly learns that he is not favored by the Prophet Comstock. Comstock rules over the idealistic floating utopia and holds Elizabeth hostage. Booker must battle the townsfolk as well as a resistance group to save the girl. Things become complicated when Booker learns Elizabeth has unique powers that make her a danger to this world but a help to Booker.
Infinite is the spiritual sister of the first two installments. The core elements are here: take an Average Joe throw him in a world free from government regulation, science has run amok giving people the power to throw fire or possess others and a girl is at the heart of the matter. A girl who is innocent and played upon by the villain to do his own dastardly agenda.

These facets continue to work weaving the past elements in new worlds allowing fans to relieve the excitement and intrigue while personalizing Booker’s tale for this new adventure. Elizabeth’s talents are different from any Little Sister’s and adds a new dimension to the game play (pun intended). Because Elizabeth can open “tears”, portals to other demensions, allowing Booker to by pas obstacles, call in reinforcements, and relive certain events.

The first person game play is still the same. Magically elemental damage in one hand, gun fire on the other. This helps veteran players not become confused with new game play mechanics which can be a problem with sequels. Instead, gamers fall into that familiar pattern of melee, shoot, and destroy.  The developers added several unique elements to allow Booker’s journey to be his own. The new Skyline is thrilling though somewhat confusing for battle.  It allows the player to move quickly around areas and even lets them shoot from the line. I personally found the aiming difficult, but loved the skyline attack when you dismounted. Booker can also pick up gear that gives him special abilities as he tours Columbia including the ability to add elemental attributes to his melee attacks.

A welcome addition is Elizabeth herself. As an AI, she is quite intelligent. She is neither a target nor a fighter and gamers don’t have to worry about Eluizabeth’s safety. She stays out of the way, peroidaclly providing health and ammo when the fight seems over. She finds cash for  Booker cash which you no longer have a cap on.

The game would rate as high as the first BioShock except for the ending. Like a conspiracy episode of The X-Files, the game leaves you with more questions than answers. The conclusion is unsatisfying and promises of DLC make me wonder if the ideas will be explored more in additional content. But why should players have to pay for more content for a concrete resolution. (For a detailed Discussion of the ending, read below the pictures).

BioShcok Infinite is beautiful and bug free. It is intriguing and beguiling whipping gamers into the world of Columbia. It remains true to the original game play (unlike a certain zombie franchise I shall not name) and philsphies leaving players with an Andrew Ryan taste in their mouths. Too bad the conclusion didn’t deliver the punch of the first one.

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Taking Apart Infinite’s Confusing Ending

SPOILERS

The first BioShock installment contained one of the best twists in video game history. The twist made the conclusion almost another game entirely as you realize you have been fighting the wrong villain. Infinite attempts to do the same concluding with an ending that made you rethink the game.

Infinite leaves the twist until the final scenes and leaves little time to truly explain the confusing and metaphysical ending that had been created. Saying that Booker was Comstock was a twist that made little sense to the plot. It seems that both version of Booker to kill the other. But why? The player’s character was trying to save Elizabeth from the evil version of himself. But was Comstock holding Elizabeth and why would he create a tear to capture here? The game does not explain at all why the alternative Comstock/Booker is bringing the girl across. What tool was she being used for? There was some talk of a syphon, but there was not a successful resolution.

Infinite goes for the shock of your character dying. But that is no longer a shock. It was when Fallout 3 was released and a fitting end for the Mass Effect Trilogy. But instead of Booker’s demise wrapping up the story, it just cause more questions. How was there a version of Elizabeth left? Why did he regenerate in his office after the credits? What the hell is going on?

The final issue is that Infinite pulls out a useless, superficial dalliance with the world of Rapture. Elizabeth pulls them from the sky to land momentarily in rapture. You catch a glimpse of a Big Daddy and Little Sister, and then they are gone. It was a cheap connection to help fans identify this game with the previous. I was so excited because I though, we were going to end up with a great twist that would connect the stories. But it seems it was just a coincidence that Elizabeth’s name started with an “E” and was referred to as the Lamb.

Fans have been promised DLC and my hope is that it expands these ideas. But is this fair? To pay for the game as well as extra content just to get the full story? I am not saying this is the case, but if it is, it’s a new low. The only other thing more dastardly is the buggy release of Fallout New Vegas.

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Apr 23 2013

Ah, Oblivion

Oblivion’s biggest issue is that it takes material from every sci-fi/fantasy story ever told and does it poorly. Read on for a list of what happens in the movie and what did it better.*

SPOILERS

1. Redhead gets pissed off and causes destruction-Carrieoblivion_tom_cruise_poster
2. Man is confused about what memories are real and which one aren’t- Total Recall
3. Too long and steals from other source material -Avatar
4. Heroes dies but female gives birth to the hero’s baby-Terminator, Pirates of The Caribbean, Premonition
5. Promises a treat when mission is completed but it’s a lie-Portal
6. Tom Cruise plays a man of the future that has been lied to by the accepted normality and then they try to kill him when he rebels-Minority Report
7. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is a good looking asshole-Game of Thrones
8. Computer tried to kill everyone-2001 A Space Odyssey
9. Heroes must battle clone of themselves-Resident Evil
10. A phrase is repeated and can manipulation people’s destruction -BioShock
11. People stored in goopy cells in an alien ship-The X-Files
12. Tatters of the Statue of Liberty in a waste land- Planet of the Apes
13. Morgan Freeman adds a coolness factor to a Tom Cruise Movie –War of the Worlds
14. Circular robots get ill with the human and try to kill them- Portal 2
15. Collects crappy human relics- The Little Mermaid
16. Hero falls in love with the clone of their true love- Aeon Flux
17. Spaceship chase through tight canyons- Star Wars
18. Movie is so slow that you miss nothing when you go to the bathroom- Twilight
19. Hero redeems himself for the human apocalypse by sacrificing his life- Dollhouse
20. Title- Elder Scrolls Oblivion

*This is not a comprehensive list. The movie was so boring I probably missed a bunch.

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Apr 12 2013

The Day the Goat Died

I remember that day clearly. I was ten years old and knew all kinds of things about dinosaurs because my seven-year-old brother loved them. We shared dino facts in the movie theater while waiting for the movie that would change our lives; the Stars Wars for my generation. The two of us were positive that the T-rex would be the scariest dino of all. It’s huge and eats meat! But will there be a triceratops or a stegosaurs? I would love to go to a dinosaur island! How cool! Cue the dark theater. The low, somber music. The Velociraptor that can open doors. The T-rex that eats cars. Cue mayhem and madness.
Jurassic-Park-3D

But those 10 and 7 year olds didn’t run. They loved the movie and how scary it was. They laughed at their mom, a thirty year, who old had dinosaurs nightmare. Jurassic Park became THE movie, and we could not be swayed.  Fast forward twenty years. My brother and I are fully grown and headed to the theater to see the famed movie in 3D for his birthday.
In case you’ve been encased in amber all these years, I’ll spell the plot for you. Man clones dinosaurs. Man invites grandkids and scientists to his park. Fat guy gets greedy and shuts down all the systems in the park. Dinosaurs run loose. Spitter kills Fat Guy. Children are terrorized by

T-Rex. It just gets worse from there.
This twentieth anniversary 3-D version is worth the price of new admission. Steven Spielberg was ahead of the time with the graphics in the early ’90 and that pays off now. Spielberg had almost documentary feel to the film, shooting in and from the action. This allowed the 3D artists to take apart your surrounding and layer them for depth taking the viewers into the park. Two movements come to mind. When the car is stuck in the tree, the limbs are layered in a way that you feel you are in the tree. The second moments are in the Visitor’s Center with Hammond and Sattler. The camera starts on Hammond and pans to show Settler standing where you previously couldn’t see her. The motion of the camera combined with the great depth perception spooked me as I realized that, suddenly, someone was there.lex-jurassic-park

The 3D easily adds to the scare. The immortal sequence of the water shaking as the T-rex stomps through is more vibrant and the theatrer sound literally shakes you. The raptor’s eyes, claws, and tails move so quickly that you physically shy away from them. Looking directly on their creepy eyes sends chills. It’s even scarier than that first time.
So many movies slap on 3D to either beef up crappy films or use the veil to get you to re-see a classic movie. This is the best revamp yet, taking you in the dino carnage and really scaring the pants of you.
The only negative thing is that Michael Chriton didn’t live to see this. He would have loved it. He would have loved it and then written a screenplay about what could go wrong with realistic entertainment. Oh wait, he did—West World.

Apr 2 2013

By The Book: The Host

Andrew Niccol’s adaptation of The Host is very faithful to Stephenie Meyer’s book. But the film fails to capture the philosophical and moral complications detailed in the book.

eng-the-hostThe story follows a Host and a Soul on post-apocalyptic Earth. The Souls, an alien race who take over the natives of war-torn planets, live to make every world peaceful for their hosts. Earth’s humans are very dangerous to themselves and their planets so the Souls have some trouble subduing all the humans. Melanie is a particularly difficult being to conquer as she is part of a rebel human resistance. The Soul Wanderer is placed inside Melanie to mollify her and find out where the human are living.

Wanderer finds it hard to subjugate Melanie. She is still there inside the Host’s body nagging at her with every move she makes. Wanderer begins to sympathize with Melanie, and the two start a quest to find Melanie’s brother and boyfriend. But the Souls are not giving up, and a particularly singular minded Seeker chases after them.

By luck, Melanie and Wanderer are able to make it to the desert hideout of the humans. Wanderer is given shelter even though the humans do not trust her. Melanie’s boyfriend and brother are found, but the story does not simply end there. Wandered, now called Wanda empathizes with her human captors and falls in love while in the caverns.

The changes made to the movie are minimal. Some back stories, such as Kyle and Jodi’s, are left out leaving you to question the motivations of some characters, but the movie leaves little time for much more than Wanda and Melanie’s story.

xthe-host-movie-poster-pagespeed-ic-zyypkhl6cdThe problem with The Host as a film is that somehow all nuisances lost. The movie makes everything black and white. There is some discussion as to how one body can love too men but it mainly glossed over in stark kisses and slaps. The movie losing the internal dialogue between Wanda and Melanie. The movie features Melanie as a disembodied voice but Wanda talks aloud to herself. This is done for ease of understanding but the inner turmoil is too a minimum and Wanda seems to collapse under Melanie’s influence which is absolutely not the case. The book features two souls at war finding peace between themselves, their morals, their loves, and their loyalty.

It is hard to suggest what could have made this better. I want to fall back on an old excuse; it’s not a book you can translate. It’s not Twilight; there is depth and character development that was missing from the vampire saga. This is Meyer’s best work. But this is not Niccols.

Make sure to follow me on Facebook for my exclusive MUSINGS.

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Mar 29 2013

The Clue is in the Title

Psych celebrated its 100th episode with fan appreciation and their take on the movie Clue.

For this special episode, The Psych did a theme James Roday and Dule Hill had been wanting to do for some time: celebrate the movie Clue based on the Parker Brothers/Hasbro board game. The movie came out in 1985 and featured three endings that were shown in different theaters. The crew filmed three different episode endings with different killers and let fans decided on which suspect would be the perpetrator.

100 Clues featured several of the original cast members including: Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren and Christopher Lloyd.  The episode loosely followed the original movie plot. Party members are invited to a creepy mansion for a party with a hidden agenda. When the guests start to die, everyone becomes a suspect.  Gus and Shawn find themselves in the middle of revenge gone wrong when a local rock star gets out of prison for the death of his wife. The psychic must figure out if the author of the rocker’s biography, his manager or the butler did it.

In an effort to tell their own tale, the plot loses the parody focus. The action follows the rock singer and not one of the movie alums. These character quickly become background and are not used to their full potentials. The plot loosely spoofs the events of the movie (there is a singing message girl and a chandelier fall) but the episode loses the feel of the movie. The humor waned as the writers failed to capture the magic of the Twin Peaks episode.

This is probably why the episode was such a disappointment. Dual Spires was a wonderfully parody/homage to the ninety’s drama. I personally thought this episode would eclipse Dual Spires in references and laughs. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Clue was filled with fabulous one liners that were obviously left out (you got a letter, you got a letter….) while others barely registered on the honor scale (one plus one plus….). The best part of the whole episode is when Roday emulates Tim Curry’s famous “no.”

Even the slap stick loses it humor. It is tedious to watch Shawn run back and forth to describe how people were killed or injured. The weapons each suspect carried ranged from insanely dumbly to moderate useful (I would use the baking torch). But when Shawn comes out with a saxophone as a weapon, it falls flat.

Its greatest selling point is letting fans choose the ending live. In the East Coast version (the one I watched and voted for) fans voted for the “What really happened” option from the movie: the butler did it. West Coasters mixed it up and showed favor for the most famed alum: Lloyd (the author did it).

This concept was amazing for fans and more rewarding than reality TV. Built the humor is off the mark. The most stunning tribute? Dedicating the episode to the late, great Madeline Kahn.

Checkout my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/starsinhereye to see the endings!

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Mar 25 2013

Checking in at Bates Motel

TV shows based on movies face unique issues. The biggest being the lack of actors from the original movie. Actors are either not interested in TV work or cannot be paid what they would like. So producers have two options: use the same characters with different actors or create whole new characters. Both options can lose fans but sometimes shows can triumph. For every success like Friday Night Lights there is a Clueless.  The key is to have good writing and characters played by actors that are relatable.

Bates Motel takes viewers through Norman Bates’ journey of becoming a psycho. A&E jumps from the timeline of the original movie but keeps the character intact and the plot is engaging. The pilot starts strong.

Bates Motel beings the Bates story after Norman’s father dies and he and his mother move into the hotel to get a fresh start. The house and hotel are in major disrepair so the pair has a lot of work ahead of them. The town of Seaside is caught in an economic slump and the original owners of the hotel are not happy about losing their property. Added onto of being the new kid at school, Norman is dealing with the questionable death of his father and dealing with his mother’s mood swings. In the pilot, Norma is raped and the last shred of sanity in the Bates’ house snaps.  Viewers watch as Norman begins his descends to the world of psychosis.

A&E gets quite a few things right. The first is the casting of the principle characters. Great care was taken in casting the 17 year old version of Norman Bates. Freddie Highmore (Johnny Depp’s progeny) moves past fairy tale characters and becomes the awkward teenager with mommy issues. Highmore nails the almost stutter and jerky movements that afflicted adult Norman. Highmore seems to channel Anthony Perkins, and you feel sorry for this budding psycho.bates-motel-610x580

Adding the mother as an actual character is the unique twist that makes the show worthwhile. Even though Psycho IV: The Beginning delved into Norman’s childhood, the show gives a more intimate look of Norma Bates, and she truly comes to life. Vera Farmiga radiates crazy- the way she walks, the way she talks, the way she smiles. You clearly see why Norman becomes what he is; genetically and environmentally, he never had a chance.

Perhaps the best character in the show is the house itself. The production team did a fabulous job of reconstructing the Bates home and motel. The sets decorated as they were in the original movie. This eye for detail makes it seem nature that Highmore would be the young version of Bates. This blast from the past gives a sense to the family state of being: out of touch with the current time. The minimal use of technology allows the house to cast its spell and keep the characters and viewers trapped in the past. As a viewer, seeing the house done correctly was more important than casting the characters.

Bates Morel is a solid pilot and the show itself has lots of potential. Let’s see if the team at A&E can keep it up.

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