The 72nd Golden Globe Awards Live Blog

11 Jan

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Hi, everyone! Join me at 8/7 central for a live blog of the Golden Globe Awards. All times will be central (the best time zone, let’s be honest).

I will begin by saying: in news that surprises no one, Jessica Chastain looks stunning tonight.

7:05-The cut to Emma Stone’s eyes was funny. Also, Joaquin Phoenix is here and he seems amicable! Also, that Clooney Lifetime Achievement Award joke was excellent.

7:07-That one-take was Lubezki, too!

7:11-Monologue was excellent. Loved the Bill Cosby jab.

7:15-J.K. Simmons was incredible in Whiplash. It looks like he was rushing during that speech, so I’m going to have to throw at a chair at his head. Anyway, this is probably the award I cared most about tonight, so it looks like we’re done. See you later!

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Banshee “The Fire Trials” Review (3×01)

10 Jan

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“Allegedly.”

At the heart of Banshee is a discussion about identity, about who you were, who you are, and who you want to become. It employs a thrilling forward momentum that fits right in with the violence and the sex, but it also constantly looks at the past as it handles its characters and themes. “The Fire Trials”, for example, is an excellent examination of a post-Rabbit world; although the man is dead, the events of season two still play a large role in how our characters act. And here, the show is at its most impressive: it makes a name for itself with the incredible violence and the steamy sex, but what makes those moments even more effective is the fact that they’re surrounded by really interesting ideas and characters.

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Parenthood “How Did We Get Here?” Review (6×10)

8 Jan

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“Life is short. You cannot know how impossibly fast it goes by. Cherish every minute of it.”

“Life is short” is something that comes up quite often in “How Did We Get Here?” It’s an episode about life in general, about what happens when the realization hits, about what happens when you’re forced to confront the notion of death. As we move into the homestretch of the series, Zeek’s situation becomes not only a gut-wrenching scenario in and of itself, but also a catalyst for the rest of the family; these characters are faced with mortality right in front of them, and as a result, they begin to reevaluate where they are in life and what they want to do.

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Big Eyes Review

6 Jan

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Big Eyes is a Tim Burton movie on depressants. It’s also a pretty good movie, one not without its flaws, but one that delivers solid performances and an entertaining and compelling story. Burton and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel craft a world permeated by bright, vivid colors, an environment that will eventually stand in contrast to the darkness revealed through the Keane relationship, but also one that allows for a particular type of visual flair.

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Person of Interest “If-Then-Else” Review (4×11)

6 Jan

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“The lesson is: anyone who looks on the world as a game of chess deserves to lose.”

Person of Interest has always dealt with the intersection between humans and machines, with the meaning of humanity in the context of a technologically advanced world. In “If-Then-Else”, easily one of the show’s most thrilling, heartbreaking, and entertaining episodes, that issue is at the very forefront. It plays a role whether we’re seeing Finch and the Machine playing chess, Shaw trying to take care of the bomb vest situation, or the Machine calculating success rates, and it’s an absolutely fascinating question handled with aplomb. That’s Person of Interest for you, folks. It’s one of the best shows on television.

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The Imitation Game Review

4 Jan

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Alan Turing’s story is one that definitely should be told, but it’s one that should be told through an actual movie, not through a collection of meandering scenes that happen to be next to each other. The Imitation Game wants you to be moved, to be fascinated, to be able to learn something about Turing, but the problem is that the movie doesn’t know how to go about it. It attempts to tie everything together thematically, but its version of doing so consists of the “hammering the message over your head until you have no choice but to give it an Oscar” method.

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The Top 20 Television Episodes of 2014

3 Jan

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Honorable Mentions: “Fight” from Masters of Sex, “The Symbolic Exemplar” from Transparent, “Possession” from Penny Dreadful, “Streets of Fire” from Arrow, “7” from The Affair, “5 p.m.-6 p.m.” from 24: Live Another Day, “The Truth About Unicorns” from Banshee, “Get the Rope” from The Knick, “Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency” from Silicon Valley, “Alicia” from Veep, “A Whole Other Hole” from Orange Is the New Black, “The Mountain and the Viper” from Game of Thrones

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The Top 15 Television Performances of 2014

27 Dec

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Welcome to the first installment of my 2014 Year End series. Over the next week, you’ll see the following: The Top Television Performances of 2014 (down below), The Top Television Episodes of 2014, and The Top Television Shows of 2014. My year end movie lists will be out in a month or so, as I still have quite a few movies to see. For now, enjoy this list! I only have one performance from each show in the top 15, but I added some shout-outs in certain places.

Honorable mentions: Amy Acker and Sarah Shahi for “Person of Interest”, Manu Bennett for “Arrow”, Julia Louis-Dreyfus for “Veep”, Andre Braugher for “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”, Julianna Margulies for “The Good Wife”, Samira Wiley for “Orange Is the New Black”, Louis CK for “Louie”, Pedro Pascal for “Game of Thrones”, All four “The Affair” folks (for the record, either Maura Tierney or Ruth Wilson would be #16 on this list)

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The Interview Review

25 Dec

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This movie is going to be remembered for every reason except it being a good movie. It’s certainly not surprising that North Korea took offense to its release, nor is it surprising that Sony eventually decided to release it, but perhaps the most unsurprising thing about it is the fact that James Franco and Seth Rogen really like rectums. I’m assuming that during one of their coke-fueled bro sessions (I assume they have those in real life), they once again found their sixth-grade humor, thought about their luscious behinds, and decided to make a movie about peeing and pooping in North Korea.

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Two Days, One Night Review

23 Dec

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“You have to fight for your job.”

Two Days, One Night (or Deux jours une nuit) tells an elegant, profoundly affecting, and quietly wonderful story about a woman who takes control of her life and influences others in the process. It utilizes a simple narrative–Sandra, who works at a solar panel factory, has to persuade a majority of her 16 coworkers to vote for her keeping her job over them receiving their €1000 bonuses–and it’s better off for it, as this simplicity still allows us to witness a broad spectrum of humanity on display.

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