Archive | February, 2015

Justified “Sounding” Review (6×05)

17 Feb

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“I’m finishing the job, what you and me started together.”

The final season of Justified is continually returning to its deep well of a past, digging into a rich history filled with intriguing characters and standoffs and storylines as it brings our characters’ stories to their ends. “Sounding” isn’t a particularly eventful episode, but it weaves in quite a few familiar faces as it continues to explore Ava’s psyche in the face of impending danger. It’s funny and entertaining, and it features characters who have to face off against each other in one way or another, who have to engage in a push and pull that’s bound to tip a certain way at some point.

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Shameless “Crazy Love” Review (5×06)

16 Feb

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Shameless features quite possibly the best ensemble cast on television, and “Crazy Love” displays that cast at the height of its power. This is one of those episodes in which everyone shines, in which everyone breaks your heart in one way or another, and it’s the kind of episode that solidifies this show’s deserved placement in the upper echelon of television. It’s an hour about love, but it also delves into the constant struggles surrounding that love, and it’s a tense, moving, and heartbreaking piece of television that moves us right along into what should be an excellent second half of season five.

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Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special Live Blog and Review

15 Feb

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All times central. Instead of going by solely sketches, I’ll go by times tonight as well.

6:59-Oh look, Kanye already being an asshole. GRADE: D-

7:02-Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon having a great time is always fantastic to watch, although the opening is certainly very awkward (especially considering they’re trying to cram in as many references as possible). So fun, though. “Dick in a Box!”

7:05-It’ll take about 5 hours to get through these credits, guys.

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The Americans “Open House” Review (3×03)

11 Feb

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This show is, at its most basic form, a show about a conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. From there, we branch out into personal and emotional conflicts, into conflicts between parents and kids and conflicts between coworkers and conflicts within your own mind. Underneath all that conflict, though, lies the heart of the show: the mutual trust and respect that is needed in order for a relationship to function, in order for any kind of team to function. It’s exactly what we see tonight between Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, and how the show goes about conveying it is absolutely fantastic.

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Person of Interest “Guilty” Review (4×14)

11 Feb

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“It’s just you and me again, Mr. Reese.”

“Guilty” is a very fun throwback to season one of Person of Interest, and it’s an episode complete with everything we knew and loved about the show at that time: Reese and Finch teaming up, an entertaining guest star, and some nifty tie-ins to the overarching story. Getting an episode like that here serves as a bit of a break from the Samaritan storyline, but it certainly doesn’t skimp on the character development; sure, the story isn’t nearly as compelling as what we’ve had recently and there are some flaws in execution, but it’s still an entertaining episode throughout.

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Justified “The Trash and the Snake” Review (6×04)

10 Feb

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“I’m telling you not to get your ass bit.”

I’m not sure there’s a show on air right now that is better at building up tension just by sitting characters down in a room and letting them talk. “The Trash and the Snake” is full of those moments, whether it be the marvelous Raylan-Ty-Avery-Tim-Loretta scene or the Katherine-Ava exchanges or even the Boyd-Ava talks. This final season of Justified is allowing the tension to simmer, to progressively build up until what will presumably be its explosive conclusion, and it’s on a roll right now as a result. At the same time, the show also doesn’t lose its comedic sensibilities, and it creates a delicate balancing act that is rarely matched on television.

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Still Alice Review

9 Feb

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Still Alice is, without a doubt, a very moving film, but what’s nice about it is its ability to deliver a story without relying on histrionics. It hits all the emotional beats we expect it to hit, but it also does so with more care than we might expect. Now, the movie certainly does have an intrusive score, a hastily put together world, and several underwritten supporting characters; at the same time, though, it can be a great movie when it focuses on its central character: Alice Howland, a 50-year old Linguistics professor at Columbia University who develops early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

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Better Call Saul “Uno” Review (1×01)

9 Feb

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“There are no sides. Jimmy, wouldn’t you rather build your own identity rather than ride on someone else’s coattails?” 

It’s not a very subtle scene, but it perfectly encapsulates what this show is about. Whereas Breaking Bad detailed the rise and fall of a good man turned criminal, this show seems to be about attempting to rise above the sleaze, about how to be your own person and make a name for yourself. That, of course, places us in interesting territory because this is a prequel to Breaking Bad; we know that Jimmy McGill will end up as the sleazy Saul Goodman, and while that certainly does take a bit of suspense out of the equation, that doesn’t mean the show can’t play with expectations a bit.

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Shameless “Rite of Passage” Review (5×05)

8 Feb

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“Rite of Passage” is all about transitions, about being caught between an old life and a new life, about becoming stuck in a limbo of sorts as you attempt to figure out where you want to go next in life. After all, that’s what a rite of passage is: an event that marks a person’s transition from one status to another. We see the past and the present clash with each other throughout this episode, and in fine Shameless form, it’s yet another entertaining episode punctuated by poignant and genuine moments.

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Banshee “Tribal” Review (3×05)

6 Feb

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“Everything you touch turns to blood.”

There’s no question that Banshee consistently features the best action sequences on television, but what makes it a complete show is its ability to surround that action with compelling character and theme explorations. Take the entirety of “Tribal”, for example, which revolves around an attack carried out by Chayton Littlestone and the Redbones on the Banshee Sheriff Department; yes, we get insanely awesome shootouts, but the episode also finds room to delve into certain relationships, into new characters, and into the idea of change.

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