Hannibal “Mizumono” Review: Let the bodies hit the floor!

 Hannibal Lector standing tall on Hannibal

Photo Credit: NBC

A brief review of Hannibal’s season 2 finale as soon as I do what needs to be done…

Due to time restrictions let’s go straight into point form musings:

• Boy is David Slade a great director and that is sure evident throughout this episode. One of the magical things that Slade pulls off is that he adds a hauntingly beautiful quality to all the violence that unfolds throughout the end of the episode. Horrific things are occurring throughout the last half of this finale but they never feel gross or played for shock value, instead it seems that Slade finds a sort of operatic beauty to the carnage. Take for example the beautiful shot of Alana being pushed out a window to her potential death; what’s occurring is horrifying but the shot is played in such a way that it lingers not only on the potential final struggle on the character but on the glass of her life breaking around her as she stumbles to the ground below. Even when Will is stabbed and the returning Abigail throat is being split it’s not the actual act of bloody violence that is being focused on but instead the direction (and due has to be given to the great writing as well) makes the viewer focus on the emotional strife of the scene. There are so many more examples of just how well shot and directed this episode was we could be here for a few thousand words just talking about the fight scene and the nightmare quality to the visuals the list goes on and on. In all Slade has crafted a visual masterpiece in “Mizumono” and it’s one of the best shot and directed episodes of television I have ever witnessed.

• While we’re on the technical end props have to go the unrelenting nature of the score and the sound design throughout this episode. The relenting clock like nature of the score during the last half and the wispy nature of the sounds of the actual action that is occurring give the feeling the horrid nightmare that we are witnessing. Not often do I mention Sound design or score when talking about television shows but it was so great throughout this episode that it’s really hard not to.

• Ok on to the finale from a point of wrapping up a season of television. “Mizumono” didn’t answer any questions about the how of the investigation, it didn’t pull back the curtain on how exactly Will pulled off his wizardry and it left us to our own accord about how exactly everything worked for the last half of this season; at the same time nor did it have to. The second half of the season seemed to me to be very disinterested with the how of everything and instead looked into the emotional end of the duel of Will and Hannibal; as a finale of said second half of this season of the show “Mizumono” worked fantastically. There has been a since of surrealism to the last half of this season in contrast to the cold realism of the first half and “Mizumono” took that to the brink essentially acting as an hour long nightmare of sorts. Everything from Will’s still dulling mind to the big Jack Hannibal fight to Will getting a glimpse of Abigail before her dying to Alana falling out a window felt less like a straightforward thriller and more of a lucid dream from the mind of Hannibal Lector. It’s a near perfect episode especially after the way the last many episodes have been slowly burning to this point.

• As for the season as a whole I have very few complaints. This was a fascinating and experimental season of television that built to a finale that caped everything off perfectly. Did I prefer the more straight forward start to this season than the dream like second half, probably, but most of that stems from the fact that the second half of the season was much harder to watch because it was so creepy and disturbing in its nature. I loved this season as a whole better than the first it seems as well and it seems at this point that Fuller really has a handle on this show and where he’s going with it and is not afraid to step into some wild places.

Let’s just say it’s going to be a long wait for next season.

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

Mad Men “The Strategy” Review: I did it my way

Peggy looking slightly bewildered on Mad Men

Photo Credit: AMC TV 

A review of “The Strategy” as soon as I put this beer down right in the middle of your cake…

“She’s doing it the way she wants to do it!”

-Don

Every season there is always that episode of Mad Men that reminds me why I love the show so much. It’s not that the show isn’t great on a regular basis (which quite frankly it is) but there is always that special episode that really invigorates my love for the show. “The Strategy” is that episode, a beautiful, near perfect hour of television that could have strangely acted as the Mad Men series finale.

The best thing that “The Strategy” achieves is how well it manages to make Peggy look by the end of the episode. It’s not that I’ve really minded how Peggy has been treated by Weiner and crew over the last season or so, but for once it’s nice to see Peggy get some redemption, especially in regards to her relationship with Don. Peggy getting the thumbs up on her pitch for the burger project gets squandered early on when Pete wants Don to do the pitch for the project instead of Peggy. On top of this Don manages to try and sneak in his own idea regarding the add making Peggy fear that not only does her idea suck but that Don is going to change it up during the actual pitch itself.

The result is one of the best sequences in Mad Men history. Peggy and Don share a moment in the office for the first time in forever (remnants of what some would argue is the best Mad Men episode ever “The Suitcase”) brainstorming a new idea. For the first time in potentially forever it seems that Don actually cares about Peggy and her work and treats her like his protégé. It’s a great moment and everything lines up, the performances of both Jon Hamm and Elizabeth Moss are so perfect, the musical choices so perfectly unsubtle but beautiful, and the final dance being so beautifully emotional as a culmination of their relationship. If this was the end of the Don and Peggy relationship for the rest of the show (which it most certainly isn’t) I couldn’t imagine it ending on a more tender and perfect note. The sequence never forgives all the sins of these character’s past, but it also never forgets the special bond that these two have. Don never gave up on Peggy and thinks the world of her no matter how little he shows it and no matter how much she brings herself to hate him Peggy still looks up to Don as her mentor. As previously touched on above the sequence all culminates in a little dance to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” a song that not so subtly sums up their relationship. These are two broken people who have had a bond since the beginning of this show and while they’ve had their many ups and downs they will always have this bond, and no matter what both of them will end up doing things their own ways no matter how right or wrong.

While the Don and Peggy sequence was easily the best thing in “The Suitcase” it was not the only great event to take place throughout the episode. Heck this was the triumphant return (and probable send off) of one Bob Benson! Bob returned to find out that Sterling Cooper and Partners are losing Chevy, and that he has many opportunities through internal add production for Buick. Of course this is going to throw off his relationship with Joan, which as is discovered in this episode is much more complicated than it appeared at the end of last season. It seems that Bob isn’t really looking for love (and in fact is probably gay) and is essentially using Joan as a means of keeping appearances. His strange proposal to Joan perfectly illustrates this; he tries at first to sell Joan on the idea that he has true feelings for her but Joan sees right through it and eventually he transforms it into the “let’s be practical” speech (or as I like to call it the Walter White pitch) at one point promising her a mansion in Detroit. In season six we explored the idea of history repeating itself and Bob Benson essentially being the next version of Dick Whitman/Don Draper, but this takes it to a whole other level. Say what you want about Don but he never went this far to farther his career (notice the music and lighting changes whenever Bob is on screen it’s much darker and sinister in tone even during the proposal it seems that he is lit much darker). Joan backs up right away and rightfully so and tells Bob that she will never give up looking for love no matter how hard she tries. It’s a wonderful little sequence that is a good possible send off to the character of Bob Benson and finally reveals what his true intentions have been throughout his entire run in the agency.

Finally there are the marriage problems on both Don and Pete’s end. Pete seems unwilling to let Trudy go as he when she isn’t there the whole time he’s seeing his daughter (who as a representation to just how detached Pete really is with his former life manages to be afraid of Pete) he just waits for her and leaves his new seemingly more awesome girlfriend Bonnie alone in the hotel room while he drunkenly waits for Trudy to come back and allow him to pin his emotions on her. It shows that Pete, no matter how happy he is in California still has the same broken person problems that he’s always had. Pete is still really the same guy he’s always been just literal distance has kept him away from his problems. As Bonnie (and really a lot of the audience who have dealt with despicable Pete for many seasons) puts it that she hates him in New York.

Don’s marriage problems aren’t quite as obvious as Pete’s but are troubling none the less. Megan is growing much more distant from Don; she’s no longer as receptive to his affection and is beginning to take all of her things away from Don’s apartment in New York. She is so far removed from Don’s work life that she has no idea of his current working predicament nor does she know how to handle Peggy and Stan really at all. When she heads off on the plane on her own at the end of the episode (as we presume without Don really getting her there) we see that this marriage is falling apart at the seams and that Megan is probably much happier on her own than with Don. Potentially troubling times await…

Some other musings:

• Useless Ted comes back to deliver very useless comments to Peggy.

• We get a nice little nod to Ginsberg in this episode as he gets mentioned by Megan and Stan briefly. Off at a funny farm or something one can maybe assume.

• I love that Harry Crane becoming a partner was met with either utter indifference or complete disapproval depending on which partner you are.

• Having business meetings in a steam room should be a regular occurrence.

• Lou manages to go a whole episode without being all that awful! Yay Lou!

• Bob Benson always chooses to work for the unshadiest people who don’t manage to get themselves thrown in Jail… Great Job Bob!

• Also Great Job Bob is the best potential Mad Men spin off. Pair it with Better Call Saul and you have a great Sunday night lineup.

Okay time for me to get out of here. I can’t believe that we only have one more of these left this year.

That’s just me folks. What did everyone else think

Mad Men “The Runaways” Review: Michael Ginsberg vs. the World

 Don enters a meeting on Mad Men

Photo Credit AMC TV

A review of tonight’s Mad Men as soon as I give you my nipple in a box…

“You think this is going to save you, don’t you?”

-Cutler

So computers make people insane correct? And poor Ginsberg, all he wanted to do was give Peggy a thank you gift and she utterly shut him down and resented him. Sure the gift was the nipple that he got taken off but still poor Ginsberg…

Okay anyhow back to “The Runaways” as a whole which was a wildly strange episode of Mad Men, sometimes for the better sometimes for the worse that ultimately built to an awesome final sequence. The episode was ultimately a chance to set things up, get the rest of the season in motion and move towards what seems to be a big final confrontation. “The Runaways” was ultimately a messy episode of Mad Men but one that had and set up many intriguing events.

Most of the set up in “The Runaways” focused around Don in one way or another. The most important of this set up involves Don’s role at Sterling Cooper and Partners as they begin to look to get back into the Tobacco scene. Don wrote the now infamous New York Times article that slammed the Tobacco industry and ultimately ended the firm’s relationship with the big Tobacco companies; thus if the firm were able to potentially land Commander Cigarettes Don would probably have to be let go. Of course the two driving forces behind the Tobacco deal were Lou and Jim Cutler, the two who want Don out of the company the absolute most. The two sneak around and have secret meetings in the computer dungeon (which poor Ginsberg misinterprets, more on that in a second) and try to get the deal through without much of a fight.

Of course Don has to find out somehow and how he does is strangely through an accidental trip to California. Stephanie, one of the relatives of Anna Draper calls Don lost and pregnant and Don sends her to Megan. Of course not knowing too much about Don’s dueling identities this causes Megan to worry about who this person is and how the heck Stephanie actually relates to Don. The whole sequence where Megan sends Stephanie away is one filled with a great sense of tension as Megan is worried about Don’s past life coming and haunting her and Stephanie is worried about the pledge she had given to Anna to stay out of Don’s life.

  

The uncertainty of Stephanie, the uneasiness of Megan and yet another 1960s party drive Don into being a little bit down and he ends up getting a drink with the very reluctant Harry Craine. The two end up conversing about the Tobacco situation (again with the wonderful awkwardness one can come to expect from two people who have worked together for a long time but never really got along) and thus we get the wrench in the Lou and Cutler plan. It leads to the spectacular final sequence where Don actually gets to be Don the super ad man again for the first time in what seems like forever to try and pitch himself back into a job, whether the company lands the Tobacco or not. It’s fantastic to see Jon Hamm get to play confident Don Draper again, and the final pitch that ended the episode was absolutely gangbusters, with another great cut from the last line to the music and the credits to end the episode (which saw Cutler at his most supervilain looking).

The rest of the episode I could take or leave. I don’t really care at all about the relationship between Betty and Henry, but when put through the eyes of Bobby it’s a little more interesting. Anytime we get sequences with Sally and Betty yelling back and forth and Sally and Bobby plotting to run away together it’s fantastic but other than that I couldn’t care less about where the Betty marriage ends up going in the end. Nothing about talking about Vietnam or Betty telling Henry that she isn’t dumb interests me too much and I felt that everything about that storyline that didn’t set up anything with Sally and Bobby fell a little bit flat.

The final and strangest of the storylines this week focused around Ginsberg. I’ve loved Ginsberg when he was used in small doses earlier in the season (including having the line of the episode for the last two episodes) and here, when he had more to do, the character worked most of time but felt a little too out there at others. The computer drives Ginsberg insane arc seems like a blow off for the character this season and as such I think it worked in some ways and went way too far in others. The worst of the out there part was that Weiner and company kept hammering the” computers are metaphors for our worst fears” idea way to far, making Ginsberg seem over the top wacky and a little on the nose. On the other hand though we get a really interesting look at Ginsberg as a human and his anxieties and feelings (especially for Peggy) in a ways in which we’ve never really gotten before. Ginsberg battling with his desires and the lengths he’s willing to go to do it (severing his nipple) are really curious and interesting from a character stand part I just wish it wasn’t washed up as much in the computer metaphors.

Finally we’ve only got two episodes left before this season is over until sometime next year. I’m really curious and almost concerned for how the next two episodes will feel plot wise considering Mad Men (even at this point) feels like a show that isn’t built for a seven episode stand alone half season. I’m not doubting the ability of Matthew Weiner at this point but I am questioning the decisions of AMC and the parties involved as it seems like this season is going to either end in a really strange feeling pace or move at a pace I may not be comfortable with for this show.

We shall see...

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

Mad Men “The Monolith” Review: What society expects

Serious looking creative types on Mad Men

Photo Credit: AMC TV 

A Review of “The Monolith” as soon as I go see the Mets…

“Do the Work Don!”
-Freddy

Over the last two years Mad Men has had its detractors; many fans and critics have been skeptical of the dark backslide that Don had been going through throughout last season and the fact that he really hasn’t changed profoundly after all of this time. Last week’s episode we got Don getting into the office, despite the situations and this week we get Don working through the office despite not really being able at all. “The Monolith” throws Don through the ringer and then shows that for once this man may be on the path to redemption; and because it’s been so long and tenuous along the way it seems to be feeling a heck of a lot more satisfying.

Our voice of reason for Don this week is actually Freddy Rumson who manages to come through for Don at when Don seems to be in a terribly dark place. Don has been doing a whole bunch of nothing at the office for the weeks that he’s been back and it seems that it starts to get to him. It’s made even worse when he finally gets his first job which is making tags for Peggy. This pushes Don over the edge, he’s trapped essentially in office hell and no one is there to support him. When he brings the advertising for computers idea to Bert he gets instantly shut down and nearly humiliated.

As a result Don goes to the one thing that he seems to know best and that’s the bottle. He steals a bottle from Roger’s office and decides to resort to drinking his troubles away. This seems like another opportunity for Don to sink back to the level that he was at last season as Don seems to want to just eliminate all of his troubles the easy way. Thankfully for last year’s detractors Freddy comes to the rescue managing to get Don out of his terrible slump in one fell swoop with the power of the pep talk. Don puts his head down and ends up going through with his last resort crap job because of it and hopefully redemption will be found through this place of mediocrity.

The situation is also awkward for Peggy who gets Don dumped upon her. The two haven’t gotten along particularly well over the last little while and their meeting in this role is particularly awkward. Sure Peggy enjoys being in the position of power for a few moments, but soon realizes that she gets Don because no one really wants him and he’s going to be an utter pain to get along with. It’s an interesting situation for both parties, especially Peggy who still seems confused about just what is actually going on with the people in her life especially the ones that she thinks (and is mostly right about) destroying her life as she knew it. It’s made even better by just how great Moss and Hamm are on this show and how their chemistry over the seasons has been allowed to develop, making for one heck of an awkward working reunion.

On the other side of the show there is Roger’s journey to find his daughter amongst the hippies. Metaphorically it’s an interesting contrast to the new high tech computer being built in SC&P but on a more literal, and show operational level it’s a great way to get into the heads of both Margaret and Roger and figure out where they are for the time being. Slatery especially does a fantastic job of playing Roger as he tackles the emotions of really giving Margaret a toxic childhood and almost having to except the hippy lifestyle (that seems like she’s mostly into it because of the sex). The sequences that play out between the two are fantastic they combine the hopeful (the stars conversation and whether people will land on the moon), with the darker aspects of it (the sex and Roger not taking the idea very well at the end), it’s a strange set of emotions and one the show ends up playing off of very well.

Once we get past the broad computer metaphors “The Monolith” is another really good episode of Mad Men. It manages to move our characters forward and potentially into a mode of redemption, while still playing off of emotional problems that have been festering forever. We’re moving closer and closer to the end and maybe we’ll get some redemption for a certain falling character…

Or maybe again it can all change on a dime…

Some other musings:

• So with Margaret in hippyland USA and her terrible husband punching rednecks, where does that leave their poor child? Is he just going to have to resort to fake shooting secretaries all day?

• Don and Lloyd actually seem to have a good business relationship going until Bert decides to drive Don back into obscurity.

• When does Ted get to do anything, or get punished at all for running and hiding in California? Man being friends with Cutler does pay off in the end…

That’s just me folks. What does everyone else think?

The Amazing Spiderman 2 review: The Electric Boogaloo

Jamie Foxx and Spiderman in The Amazing Spiderman 2

Photo Credit: Sony Pictures

The Amazing Spiderman 2

C

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Can we just make Spiderman the indie film already? When I heard the idea from film critic Christie Lemire a few days before I was able to see the Amazing Spiderman 2 I chuckled at the idea and thought it was a pretty good joke/snarky idea; the more and more I got through the Amazing Spiderman 2 though the more and more I desperately wanted that film and saw how perfect that thought actually was. Instead though we (for now and probably forever sadly) get another big budget attempt to keep the franchise within Sony’s walls with the Amazing Spiderman 2, the return to the generic, messy comic book films of old despite some small flourishes of goodness sprinkled in.

In the overly bloated script we find that Spiderman/Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) going along his marry way, saving people in the vast landscape of New York City and dealing with the off and on nature with his relationship with Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone). Meanwhile at Oscorp devious things begin to happen as a tortured and forgotten about employee Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) falls into a vat of previously tested upon eels; this sparks his transformation into Electro (or as I call him Dubstep Man) a mutated man who can absorb and project electricity that somehow sounds often like Dubstep music. Meanwhile, also at Oscorp, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) finds out from his father that he is dying of slowly of the same disease that Norman was and decides to try and get Spiderman to give up some blood to save his life and thus tries to reconnect with his old pal Peter. Oh and there’s also another subplot about Peter’s parents disappearance that seems to be the focus of the film for a while and then seems utterly forgotten.

It’s sad that the script is way overbooked because the relationship that’s at the core of the Amazing Spiderman is interesting and unique. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone have some great chemistry and Marc Webb, who before this franchise directed the really good romantic comedy 500 Days of summer, knows exactly how to time and shoot each individual sequence. The emotional portion of the film actually connects really well, and the idea of Peter dealing with his complicated life juggling all of his relationships is fascinating and easily the best part of the film, especially as we reach the climax of the film.

The tragedy of this though is that the core relationship is buried under a truckload of crap. The first and most notable of these terrible things is the origin story of Dubstep man Electro. Every element in it is just truly awful, from the total miscasting of Jamie Foxx, to the terrible blue CGI that makes him look like an utter cartoon (think a mix of terrible CGI Dr Manhattan and Dubstep). At this point in superhero films we really don’t need a villain origin story that lasts half the film, especially if every element of it feels rushed (yes despite it taking up so much time it still feels rushed and sudden) and completely uninteresting. None of it works at all and by their big final fight there was no care left in me regarding this villain or his terrible arc.

Harry Osborne’s arc might be even worse. If the Electro arc felt rushed then the Harry Osborne arc feels like it’s on speed. The whole transformation arc for Harry takes only about twenty minutes to develop, when it should have really been a whole films worth of character growth. It feels very much like the film needed to get to point B and set up the next film as quickly as possible. It’s one too many plot points at this point and ends up feeling like the worst version of forced.

The one redeeming factor of a big budget superhero can be its cool action sequence, but sadly The Amazing Spider Man 2 misses that boat as well. The more we move into the film the less the action sequences look like they’re from a live action film and more like I’m watching a CGI animated film. Most of the scenes (especially when Spiderman is fighting Electro) look so much from another world that it pulled me out of the experience. If I had cared about the action sequences then maybe I wouldn’t have cared about how they look, but I couldn’t care less at some points and so it became extra destructing. It’s not all bad though, the descending shots of Spiderman swinging through the city and spotting danger are really cool, and whenever Spiderman manages to not get a CGI abomination for an opponent (which isn’t too often) the sequences look good enough.

It’s sad to say all of these negative things because there is true potential here especially with the two leads. Andrew Garfield is still the ideal version of Spiderman, cool and cocky while in the suit, and smart, slick, but confused and damaged as Parker. Emma Stone is really good here also playing a perfect love interest for Peter and his confused emotions. I’m sad that the Harry Osborn arc was so rushed as Dane DeHaan feels so perfectly cast and does good work with what he’s given. As mentioned earlier Jamie Foxx is miscast, as none of his cool charisma is used here at all and then he ends up getting dwarfed by CGI crap.

The Amazing Spiderman 2 is a mess, plain and simple. It’s got a great relationship at its core but ultimately fills it with an outside that is terrible enough to bring it down many notches. For me the only way this franchise can really be salvaged is through Marvel Studios acquiring the rights to the character or Spiderman the indie film where Spiderman deals with the impact he has on the loved ones around him and deals with power and responsibility. Sadly it seems that neither of this things are going to happening anytime soon and thus we are going to be stuck with more films in the vein of The Amazing Spiderman 2.

Fred’s Top 50 Films: 34. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Stick them up in the air for Bonnie and Clyde

“This here's Miss Bonnie Parker. I'm Clyde Barrow. We rob banks.”

-Clyde

America loves their bad guys. They’re prevalent throughout American cinema and culture and there always seems to be a certain sexyness and sultriness surrounding them. Bonnie and Clyde wasn’t the original film that focused on the criminal, but it’s the one that defined the American bad guy film. It’s a revolutionary film, one that despite not being very shocking given the cinema of today still holds a position as one of the great works of American Cinema.

The main element of Bonnie and Clyde that stands out today about Bonnie and Clyde to a modern audience is the pure unabashed, brash since of style that oozes out of every frame. From the ever visual element changing throughout the course of the film to the tone that expertly mixed comedy, drama and gruesome violence everything in Bonnie and Clyde for the time was utterly revolutionary. The sequences still hold to a modern audience as well though as the unique tonal and visual style is hard to not be captivated by the film. 

The film also presents fascinating characters and features a star making performances from Fey Dunaway. The quirky individuals each frustrated with a different part of their identities and each turning to crime as a way to qualm them is something that’s seen often in modern cinema but was holy new here. Still the characters still do not seem outdated as there still as much of a certain consistent charm and fascination to them as ever.

Bonnie and Clyde may be seen today solely as a pioneer to modern audiences which is a shame. Bonnie and Clyde is still a marvellous film and is just as intoxicating now as it was to an older audience.

-Frederick Cholowski

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