The Summer Movie Awards 2013

 A mix of many of the films of the summer

Photo Credit: Screencrush.com

It’s that time of year again! Time to break down the best that this summer in films had to offer! In general, blockbuster wise at least, I’ve got to say this wasn’t a very good summer at all. Most of the films that came out this year were disappointments and ultimately the summer felt really flat. On the other hand the indies saved parts of the summer as there were a few fantastic little films that really caught my attention (and I say this not having seen The Spectacular Now, Blue Jasmine or Short Term 12). As usual, and unfortunately more so than this year, I have not seen all the films that this summer has to offer (again see the list of films above that I desperately want to see and that’s only the beginning) so bear that in mind while reading this. But hey this is supposed to be laid back and fun anyways because well it’s the summer we’re reflecting upon! So without further a due here they are the Summer Movie Awards 2013:

*Mild Spoilers Ahead*

Best Action Sequence:

Robots and monsters clash in the middle of the city (Pacific Rim):

One of the biggest pleasant surprises of the year was Pacific Rim. Its energy and fun factor were unmatched amongst this year’s crop of blockbusters. Plus it’s just great to watch a well shot, well plotted, and perfectly choreographed fight between giant robots and giant monsters happens! The scene was great in general because it took everything that the Transformers series did wrong in Robot action, ie confusion and lack of character, and got it as right as possible. The sequence was filled with so much energy, heart, and power that it really packed an amazingly fun punch! Oh yeah and Robots were fighting monsters, and it was good! That in itself is a feet!

Runner Up: Fighting on a bullet train (The Wolverine)

Worst Action Sequence:

Alien beings fight in the middle of the city for half of the film (Man of Steel)

The most disappointing action sequence of the year was also the worst. It wasn’t a poorly shot, edited, nor produced piece of work, but plot wise it crushed the film. The last half of Man of Steel ruined Man of Steel as it turned the film from uplifting origin story about acceptance and everyone’s place in the universe into a poor man’s Independence Day. The plot stopped and the film just turned into a mishmash of disappointment. Anytime you take a film that in its first half looks like something special and make it average by the end is a sin on every level, thus making the worst action scene of the summer.

Runner Up: Wait it all comes down to a fist fight? Seriously? (Star Trek into Darkness)

Prettiest film (Best cinematography/direction):

The Bling Ring

Yeah it wasn’t big nor was it full of action sequences, but boy can Sophia Coppola ever make an amazingly flashy film. The whole look of the Bling Ring just gave it such an energy and flair that just wasn’t present in many films so far this year. Ultimately what makes the film the best direction wise is that the visuals in the film propelled the film higher than it had any right of being. Great stuff all around!

Runner Up: Pacific Rim

Most Unnecessary Sequel:

The Hangover Part 3

Why do things have to make so much money? They really should have stopped making these after the first film and the world would have been a much better place. Do I need to say more?

Runner Up: Red 2

Most Underrated:

The Bling Ring

Seriously this was a good movie. I don’t understand how as many critics just outright panned it like they did. For one there are no likable characters because it’s a social satire and the point of the film is for the crowd to not like these people. Also sure it wasn’t as good as Spring Breakers but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good (boarder lining on very good).

Runner Up: Elysium

Most Overrated:

Star Trek into Darkness

Let’s get this out of the way right now, I liked Star Trek into Darkness it just shouldn’t have been called “the film of the summer” as it was by many critics. Sure the film is good but it has serious troubles near the end as it veers more and more into the territory of Wrath of Khan. Again it’s a solid blockbuster but it sure isn’t great by any standard.

Runner Up: Man of Steel

Most Disappointing:

Man of Steel

Really I’ve said enough about this. This one is by far the most crushing disappointment mostly because how much I wanted to like this film. It looked fantastic in short bursts and even within the first 30 minutes it really caught my attention. And then the city began to blow up and it all went downhill from there.

Runner Up: Star Trek into Darkness

The Little film that could:

Before Midnight

While no one this summer saw Before Midnight the impact it left was fantastic. Between the conversations that are so natural that they might as well be real, the true development of these characters, and the darkness and pain that can come with a long term relationships Before Midnight had so much amazing in it. The film pulled the weight of a thousand blockbusters in an hour and a half in a way no other film has been able to so far this year. Now people just need to watch this movie!

Runner Up: Fruitvale Station

Best Blockbuster:

Elysium

The most ambitious of the summer blockbusters was also the best. Elysium may not have been perfect, not even close for that matter but it was a film that took chances something that couldn’t be said for many films this summer. It had a message and ideas and while they didn’t always work, when they did they were fantastic. Drop in a fantastic final 40 minutes and you’ve got a very good thriller.

Runner Up: Pacific Rim

Worst Film:

R.I.P.D.

Why was this film made? Cheap, pathetically written, and awfully acted R.I.P.D was just an absolute mess in every way. Let’s just it was awful and leave it at that. But hey no one watched it so that’s a positive.

Runner Up: The Hangover part 3

Best Film:

Before Midnight

I’ve pretty much said everything I can about this film. It’s so touching, funny, and darkly powerful. Perhaps the last bit of praise I can bestow upon this gem is that I believe that it’s most likely going to be the best film of the year. I just can’t see myself seeing anything better period.

Runner Up: Elysium

Breaking Bad “To’hajiilee” Review: Master chess players

 Walt stares out the window on Breaking Bad

Photo Credit: AMC TV

A Review of tonight’s Breaking Bad as soon as I set my ringtone to “She Blinded Me With Science”…

“It’s over!”
-Hank

I’m still shaking and the episode has been done for a while.

“To’hajiilee” was an hour in which I had to consistently remind myself to breath and afterwards I had to remind myself that, yes an hour of my life had just passed. “To’hajiilee” was an hour of television so tense and engaging that a bomb could have gone off or I could have been given a million dollars and I wouldn’t have noticed. The whole episode felt like it took only an instant yet it felt like an eternity (thank you extreme tension). This is television at its most powerful, tense, and epic and it’s an honor to be along for the ride.

If only Hank capturing Walt could have been the end of this series. It’s the ending to the show that most would have envisioned as being a near perfect one as well. Sure it isn’t a happy end for anyone (Walt’s life is basically over, the family is ruined, Hank’s career is done etc.) but it feels like the ending that most viewers envisioned for the show and actually wanted the show to take. It also seems like one of those endings that Vince Gilligan had envisioned himself when they were in the writing room.

It’s never that simple though, not on Breaking Bad that is. Last week Jessie stated that everything about Walt always ends up going the opposite way that you think it’s going and ultimately that seems to be the case for the show too this week. Hank has to take the time to call Marie and brag about getting Walt and Uncle Jack had to (probably rightly so) still come despite Walt (sketchily) telling him not to and it all has to go to hell. Nothing on Breaking Bad is ever as simple as Hank getting Walt, as Jessie getting to see the moment in piece, and Walt getting locked up right before he dies. Nope, like the train heist from the first half of the season on a much larger scale, something always has to reset the table, bring us back to the drawing board, and make us wonder collectively what is going to happen next?

Boy what a way to do that as well. The shootout between Hank, Gomez, and the seemingly endless amount of Neo Nazis was as thrilling and stunning as a television action sequence/cliff hanger can get in every way. If I didn’t breathe earlier in the episode then reminding myself to breathe at those moments proved nearly useless (nearly since I am alive now). I mean the sequence topped what could have potentially been the climax of the entire series for goodness sakes. The series could have been satisfactorily over after Hank arrested Walt (okay maybe there needed to be one more denouement episode afterwards) and that sequence was so perfect that it was much better. It was a brilliant reminder that we’ve still got three more hours of this show left to go and that it’s not going to be as simple as we initially thought it was going to be.

As for the rest of the episode, boy are Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul ever fantastic actors. That sequence where Walt is driving to the site of the money while having to listen to Jessie go on on the phone is as fantastic as Cranston has been all season. The mix of panic, sadness, confusion, and utter rage present on Cranston’s face is sheer brilliance in utterly every way. Walt, as we’ve learned this season can be one of the best liars ever if he’s got a clear script to follow, but when he’s under pressure he’s an utter mess. It never occurs to him that this is a trap in any way or that he shouldn’t fall right into it. Then there is Paul who is just as fantastic if not more so in the sequence where he, with very little to say, gets to put on an equally fantastic mix of emotions when Walt finally gets put into the van with his hands firmly behind his back. These are long sequences but because of all that is going on, and how fantastic these actors really are, they go by so very fast.

Also Michelle MacLaren is the best television director working currently period. Someone needs to let this amazing talent loose on a feature film right away (yes the Alan Taylor treatment). This episode, especially that final shootout, looks so fantastic, as is the standard with MacLaren. Every frame just oozes with tension and every moment is made even more fantastic through the power of her direction (not taking anything away from the script which is equally as fantastic). Every shot has such detail, the amazing coverage when Walt is speeding towards Jessie, the angles of the shootout, and the open yet completely claustrophobic version of the desert which Walt and Jessie have been to so many times in the past.

Breaking Bad is on an unforgettable role at the moment and this episode was the best of the bunch. “To’hajiilee” was full of series highs and the final moments of the episode were unforgettable in every way. Heck if the show had of ended two minutes before this episode it would have been a very satisfying series finale and what followed was even better. Every moment was unforgettable and breathlessly perfect, tensions were higher than ever, and this show tops every great moment with one that’s even greater. I can’t wait for the most likely crazy and awe inspiring ending that I’m assuming that Gilligan has in store for the audience.

Only three episodes left…

Some other Musing:

• That opening sequence (which after that ending almost seems utterly forgotten) was fantastically creepy as well. Todd is as creepy as it gets in that interaction with Lydia. I mean first off the whole trying to get overly close to Lydia in general is very creepy. Then on top of that he drinks out of the cup that she has lipstick (which I’m assuming is as close to kissing her as he’s ever going to get). On the one hand he has decent intentions but he’s Todd so everything that he does has a creepy undertone to it.

• Speaking of Todd I laughed out loud when it was revealed that his ringtone was “She Blinded Me With Science”. Seems like a thing for post Walter White Todd would have as a ringtone.

• Hank was a brilliant chess player with poor Huell this week. Oh and if Hank and Gomez don’t survive who is going to come back for him.

• Even if you don’t like spoilers (which there isn’t in this one) the next time on Breaking Bad segment is absolutely brilliant. It’s a monologue delivered by Skyler cut over top of the final scenes of this episode makes the cliffhanger even more unbearable and perfect.

Now excuse me while I try to stop shaking like a mad man. You can find me in the fetal position until next week roles around...

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?

Breaking Bad “Rabid Dog” Review: Introducing the wild card

 Walt sitting by another pool he doesn't swim in on Breaking Bad

Photo Credit: AMC TV

A Review of “Rabid Dog” as soon as I cancel that dojo membership….

“He can’t keep getting away with it!”

-Jessie

 If the last three episodes of Breaking Bad have been all energy and suspense all the time then “Rabid Dog” was an acknowledgement that this fantastic final season needed to take a bit of a breather to reset the chess pieces. Unlike in previous weeks the pace of “Rabid Dog” was measured and often focused (or in fact entirely) on conversations about what happens next. Not to say it’s disappointing or out of place in fact 

“Rabid Dog” was quite the opposite. The pieces are being reset and the moves seem to be deadlier than 

ever in what is turning out to be a legendary final stretch of a legendary show.

The first main piece that needed to move was Walt’s stance on Jessie. Throughout the seasons of the show it’s been debatable how much Walt has truly “cared” for Jessie, as he’s both helped and tortured Jessie on many different occasions (for example that whole Brock thing that got Jessie only slightly angry last week). Throughout most of “Rabid Dog” it’s made clear that Walt does in fact care for Jessie and even as he’s becoming a threat to Walt after he found out about Brock last week (which on a side not many people were confused about the events leading up to. To me it worked extremely well and I was able to follow what was going on but it’s easy to understand the confusion, it’s not the most cohesive storytelling the show has ever done. Still I love that Gilligan and crew stuck to their guns on this one) Walt’s still willing to talk to Jessie and try to work things out. He really wants to fake father Jessie and keep this relationship going as in his mind Jessie’s more of a son to him than even his son is.

Then that poor guy (who to Jessie’s defense did look menacing) had to be at the square to pick up his child and things all go to hell. Jessie (who again to his defense shouldn’t put it past Walt) thinks that Walt is trying to once again play him and take him out of the picture and doesn’t go along with the plan that he, Hank, and Gomez (snuck right back into the fold didn’t he) had thought up earlier in the episode (more on that in a bit) and becomes menacing to Walt over the phone. Jessie seems to understand afterwards how they’re going to get Walt in the end and by the end of the episode seems to have most of it figured out. Unfortunately for Jessie though he pushed Walt’s final button and Walt finally ties the rabid dog loose in the form of calling Todd and his merry band of Neo Nazis. It’s the final step in their relationship that, from a simple misunderstanding none the less, is going to go out with a bang.

Really the conversations that lead up to the misunderstood confrontation are mostly revolving around most everyone other than Walt wanting to get rid of Jessie. Skyler sees him as just another threat to their family and asks “what’s one more?” without understanding the full extent of the ins and outs of Walt’s feelings for the boy. Even when he’s helping out Hank couldn’t care less about Jessie and ultimately sees him as a disposable tool. Even Marie seemed pretty nervous about having to make him coffee (ok maybe just awkward but well). This was again a great episode for Aaron Paul though as he got to show both just how vulnerable and empowered Jessie can be. It goes from him screaming “He can’t get away with this!” while pouring gasoline all over the floor at the beginning to him actually seeming angry and empowered by episode’s end. Paul continues to be fantastic as usual and his role throughout “Rabid Dog” was Paul at the top of his game.

 Despite its slower nature “Rabid Dog” was a much needed board reset for the show. Something spectacular is seemingly coming next week and the showdown may be one for the ages. Boy this final season just keeps getting better and better!

Only 4 more left!

Some other musings:

• Marie was also prominent throughout the episode as we find out through her therapy that she actually fantasizes of poisoning Walt constantly! She doesn’t even mind having the crazy junkie Jessie in her house as long as it brings down Walt. Viva la Revolution I guess!

• Poor Walter Jr. gets to hear the worst lie ever about where the gas came from. As good as Walt is at lying to others lying to his family seems really tough for him.

• Loved the dual character pairing structure to the episode (Hank and Jessie and Walt and Skyler) gave a cool cryptic structure to it!

• Ice machine POV shot for the win!

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?

The Newsroom “Red Team III” Review: Get it back!!!

 Charlie and Will are in trouble on The Newsroom

Photo Credit: HBO

A review of The Newsroom “Red Team III” as soon as I spend $1000 to see Skyfall Daniel Craig…

“Then Get it back!”

-Leona

Man that cut to black was so awesome in every way possible that it’s not hard just to ignore everything else in this episode. Sure the cut is manipulative and comes at the end of a slightly frustrating moment; but man that was so perfect in every way and it shows that Sorkin for his faults can still make an awesome sequence that’s for sure. In fact “Red Team III” was an interesting mish mash of great moments for the show (yes I can’t believe I’m saying that) and frustrating ones. The result is fortunately more on the good side and actually has me looking forward to what these last few episodes have to offer.

“Red Team III” focused mostly on the Genoa incident and tried to turn around the perception that all the blame was going to be put on Jerry Dantana a character we hardly know so that we can keep the normal cast of characters blameless and perfect as usual. For the first about 40 minutes of the episode it was a success, and the events that transpired really made these characters seem super stupid. The most glaring example (and maybe it makes these characters look stupid to a fault) is the edited video. How these characters couldn’t have figured out that the tape was edited (because it was so poorly edited I mean it doesn’t seem like the general said what he said at all quite frankly) is beyond me. In the end the question is with all that investigative muscle how in the world could these people not catch it, but it seems like they’ve made a big mistake and that for the show is a huge step.

Thus the big overarching plot for the season becomes clearer. Turns out it’s not the government that is suing News Night it’s Dantana, which actually makes a lot more sense when thought about. It shows that in fact these people did screw up and were stupid thus the “institutional failure” lawsuit. It seems to work, and the show seems to be finding its legs. The one thing I’ve enjoyed the most about this plotline is the fact that it’s given the show such a clear focus and hasn’t allowed the show to go off into its old sexist and stupid romantic comedy ways. The show seems grounded now in ways that it hadn’t before and making these characters screw up just adds to the show’s new found focus…

…Then there was the last five minutes of “Red Team III” which was solid from a dialogue and acting place (Jane Fonda reading Sorkin dialogue and acting stoned was amazing) but again plot wise began to shift the blame away from the characters again. So Will, Charlie, and Mac aren’t getting fired over this because Leona is proud of them? Sorry that’s kind of a little sketchy reasoning wise considering the fact that they have (according to the show) sucked for two months. It seems really weird and a way of Aaron Sorkin trying to desperately get himself out of this whole that he’s dug for these characters. It all seems last minute and artificial.

That being said I do want to see how this resolves, for better or for worse. Again this year has had me more and more optimistic about the show because of these last 4 episodes and I’m curious if Sorkin can stick the landing. Plus this episode did end on the best cut to black ever (any time Jane Fonda gets to yell “Then get it back!” I’m in) which actually made me want to watch what’s coming next. For this show that’s a huge accomplishment at this point all factors considered. We’ve got only two episodes left and I hope they’re as clear and focused as these last few have been.

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?