Archive | May, 2016

Last Days in the Desert Review

13 May

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I’m not a huge fan of deserts because they suck, but Emmanuel Lubezki sure can make them look good. The land we see is beautiful in its simplicity, the crags and the never-ending sand serving as the perfect backdrop for Jesus taking an extended walk. Once again, it’s all natural light used here, the sweeping panoramas and intimate close-ups giving us a good sense of both the personal aspect of the story and the insignificance of it to the desert itself. Plus, there’s one shot near the end that is just so damn gorgeous in its use of flames set against a purple-ish sky. To sum up, it’s not shocking that Lubezki’s top notch work is the main highlight of the film.

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Person of Interest “Truth Be Told” Review (5×03)

10 May

"Truth Be Told" -- Reese’s cover could be blown when he realizes the latest POI has ties to his old colleagues in the CIA, on PERSON OF INTEREST, Tuesday, May 10 (10:00 – 11:00 PM ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured L-R: Amy Acker as Root and Michael Emerson as Harold Finch Photo: Giovanni Rufino/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. ©2015 WBEI. All rights reserved.

“We don’t get normal lives.”

Early on in “Truth Be Told”, Harold tells Reese that it’s good that he’s attempting to have a normal life, and Reese responds by adding a disclaimer about the supercomputer “bent on world domination”. This exchange, coupled with Reese taking care of some baddies before a lunch with Iris and her parents, help set up the main thrust of the episode, putting the pieces into place for those episode-ending conversations. Simply put, none of these characters are living normal lives because normal lives don’t come with the territory. As Root says, their jobs are all about taking risks, and it’s the only option because the weight of the world is on their shoulders.

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Person of Interest “SNAFU” Review (5×02)

9 May

SNAFU1“There are no heroes or villains…just people doing the best they can.”

See, these kinds of ideas are exactly why this show is one of the best on TV. The central conflict in Person of Interest could very easily throw all its marbles into some generic “good guys vs. bad guys/good AI vs. bad AI” setup, but the writers understand how to transcend the basics and really delve into the complexities of the human experience. The above quote wonderfully captures the show’s understanding of not just human beings themselves, but also human beings as they relate to the technology they craft. Finch, Root, and Reese are all just trying to do the best they can, trying to utilize The Machine to save as many lives as possible. They’re trying to change, and that counts for something even given their histories. However, one could also easily take a look at their actions sans context and condemn them, and that’s what “SNAFU” spends its runtime exploring.

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Captain America: Civil War Review

6 May

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Let me preface this by saying that superhero movies usually aren’t my thing. I used to look forward to them and still find some to be extremely well done–Iron Man 3 is way underrated–but I just cannot muster up any excitement anymore for this bloated assembly line of a franchise. The thing is, at least Marvel’s got the formula down pat; DC’s assembly line right now probably consists of a bunch of shitty workers standing around some plastic table praying to their Lord and Savior Zack Snyder. Anyway, I’ve nevertheless grown tired of that (albeit efficient) Marvel formula, especially after enduring the terrible Age of Ultron and really feeling like my life was slowly slipping away with each passing scene. Then came a formula-breaking attempt in Deadpool, a movie that ended up just expediting the disintegration of my life by tearing my soul out of my body and smashing it to pieces with a sledgehammer. Then came Civil War, and I thought it’d just be a huge, overstuffed mess that was more of the same. Well, I might’ve been wrong on that last one.

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Person of Interest “B.S.O.D.” Review (5×01)

3 May

"B.S.O.D." -- Reese and Finch attempt to rescue the Machine's source code before it deteriorates beyond repair. Also, Root fights for her life against an onslaught of Samaritan's agents and Fusco is faced with hard questions following the deaths of Dominic and Elias, on the fifth season premiere of PERSON OF INTEREST, Tuesday, May 3 (10:00 -- 11:00 PM ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured L-R: Jim Caviezel as John Reese and Michael Emerson as Harold Finch Photo: John Paul Filo/CBS ©2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

“History is upon you, Harold.”

As we head into the final season of Person of Interest, we find our characters at a crossroads, grappling with mistakes of the past as they try to determine the best course of action in the present. Harold Finch in particular is looking to “handle things differently” moving forward, and he tells The Machine at the end that he “won’t make the same mistake again” (that mistake being crippling her early on). He’s always been well aware of the wide-reaching implications of something as powerful as The Machine, extremely wary of it inevitably superseding human capabilities. At the end of “B.S.O.D.”, though, something changes.

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High-Rise Review

2 May

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High-Rise has the ingredients needed to be a bad movie: off-putting characters, a frequently incoherent plot, and a style that is oftentimes prioritized over substance. And yet, there’s something alluring about the film and its rampant debauchery, its high-rise setting a kaleidoscope of sex, violence, and pretentious shits wearing wigs. It’s controlled chaos, but it also feels at times like Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump Mad-Libbed the entire thing (and they had a book to go off of!). Roast dog? Check. Horses? Check. Lobotomy requests? Check. Margaret Thatcher? Why the hell not?

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Penny Dreadful “The Day Tennyson Died” Review (3×01)

1 May

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“‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

The above quote from Lord Tennyson is a fitting thematic summation of this premiere. This is a show that constantly deals with internal and external monsters, exploring various evils like this season’s Count Dracula. Yet, it still has a beating heart underneath it all, a light that drives its characters even as the darkness threatens to consume them all. That light takes form in the connections they forge and the relationships they develop, and as a result, there’s an optimism to be found in many aspects of the series.

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