Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Review: Why so serious?

The DC trinity all together in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

I think it most apt to begin this review with an apology. It’s not an apology to any particular person, but rather the film Avengers: Age of Ultron. Almost a year ago I sat here and wrote about the film claiming its emptiness made it feel like a “two-and-a-half-hour commercial for future Marvel films.” It’s not that I don’t stand by that statement 10 months later, I’m still not enamored about how Age of Ultron ultimately tried to cram future movies down my throat, but at the very least it had some fun, and care surrounding it.

I say this because in comparison to Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Age of Ultron does a masterful job of balancing a fun breezy plot and set up for future films. Dawn of Justice is literally a two-and-a-half-hour trailer for the upcoming Justice League movies. There is no narrative progression, no characters that have more than one-character trait, but hey look here are some vignettes for characters you are going to get the see in a Justice League movie! Dawn of Justice is simply baffling there is no other way to put it.

As mentioned earlier there is literally no plot progression in this film. The plot essentially boils down to Superman (Henry Cavill) getting a lot of attention after the events of Man of Steel, some of it’s good some of it’s bad. Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck) does not like Superman for reasons that are still baffling to me. Lex Luther (Jessie Eisenberg) likes neither of them and is evil. A mild amount of chaos ensues.

Storytelling according to Dawn of Justice involves stitching together a bunch of vignettes with little if any through line holding them together and hoping for the best. There is no forward momentum and no since that one thing leads to another. Instead plot points just kind of happen and the filmmakers just pretend that this constitutes actual storytelling. There is no central idea or heartbeat that moves the film forward it’s just scene after scene after scene of emptiness without any point or value. It feels like instead of stitching, or even piling, plot points together the filmmakers just threw a bunch of things they wanted to get in a hoped that some sort of narrative would come of it. Ultimately by the time we get to the showdown between Batman and Superman so much pointless plot has been thrown at the screen it’s impossible to care.

Worse is that Dawn of Justice, despite its brutally long run time, has no time to build any characters. I’m fine with Superman not being much of a character as even in his best story he’s often relegated to being a symbol, but in order to do that everyone else around him has to be somewhat interesting. The problem is that the characters in Dawn of Justice are embarrassingly two dimensional, and even that is being generous. Ben Affleck’s Batman is officially the worst depiction of the character I have ever seen on screen, even topping George Clooney and his bat nipples. Batman is relegated to being a petulant child. He’s a man who can’t understand nuance, his reasons for initially hating Superman (before the film tries to give the character a semi intelligent motivation) are baffling, and blind range seems to be his only personality trait. He is the most static, brutally uninteresting, and soul draining frustrating adaptation of the character ever put onto screen, and with Batman that is saying something.

Even worse is that there are none of the other characters are any better. Lois Lane (Amy Adams) has gone from semi competent journalist in Man of Steel to a plot device in Dawn of Justice. She shows up only when the plot deems it convenient and then leaves without any further explanation. The film has no interest in developing her into a real human being in any capacity. Even worse is Wonder Woman who is just there for fan service. There is no pay off to her appearance, nor does she have any sort of character. She’s just kind of there. But worst of all in the character department is Lex Luther, who literally can’t pin down a consistent character. The film can never decide whether it wants him to be an eccentric weirdo or a charismatic evil genius and his character changes in literally every scene. To say the least, it’s mind numbingly frustrating.

Even worse is the set up for future films. The filmmakers in Dawn of Justice don’t seem to know how to do anything subtly so rather than dropping hints, or putting an Easter egg after the credits, the film literally stops for about 5-10 minutes just so we can be introduced to these characters that for some unknown reason we would like to see team up to fight for truth justice and the American way. It’s just another example of how lazy the storytelling in Dawn of Justice is. There is nothing clever, subtle, or creative it’s just all sledgehammer storytelling all the time.

But worst of all is that I don’t know how much of the I can blame on Zach Snyder himself. His direction is the best part of this mess and many of the otherwise completely generic action sequences are saved by his eye for shooting them. I’ve never had a problem with Snyder’s stylistic tendencies and without him this mess is most likely worse. The problems with this film ultimately feel more fundamental than Snyder going into full on Sucker Punch mode. It feels like either writers David S Goyer and Chris Terrio who have otherwise done some good work either had no idea how to make a screenplay all of a sudden or there was a lot of studio pressure in making this film. I’m not one to speculate but given the amount of money and future investment Warner Bros sunk into this mess I can imagine it being the latter. 

No matter whether it’s studio pressure, bad writing, or Zach Snyder being Zach Snyder Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is an awful mess from beginning to finish. The plot never moves, the characters never even attempt to develop and the film is so painfully long. It’s a film that has so little in it that it feels even more insulting that Warner Bros used this movie entirely to try and get me to come back and see more of these catastrophes. If this qualifies being the best possible trailer for the Justice League movies the Warner Bros are going to need to hire a new marketing team.

Grade: D

-Frederick Cholowski

Horace and Pete “Episode 8” Review: Only darkness can bring us together

Horace trying to console a depressed Pete on Horace and Pete

Some brief thoughts on Horace and Pete’s eight episode right after I have a good hearty laugh…

Sorry about nothing on Horace and Pete for the last two weeks, life has been hectic… On that note it’s time to jump right into the bullets:

• I enjoyed the last two weeks of Horace and Pete without thinking they were amongst the show’s stronger efforts. “Episode 6” gave us a great Steve Buscemi performance as well as the lovely Hannah Dunne but ultimately provided what turned out only to be an interesting diversion. “Episode 7” featured the controversial trans conversation at the very end of the episode which ultimately left the feeling that Louis CK was trying to cram way too much into one 10-minute ending sequence… Again both were very solid episodes of the show with some memorable sequences but both will end up on the lower end of Horace and Pete’s spectrum (which in reality is not a knock as the bar for this show has gotten very high).

•  With that in the rear view let’s discuss this Saturday’s episode which turned out to be rather spectacular. Let’s start with Buscemi who until two weeks ago had been good but not a great focus of the show. Since episode six Steve Buscemi has had the chance to really put on the great performance shoes and the work he did in “Episode 8” was by far his best to date. The long take of Pete breaking down and crying at the realization that, due to the side effects of the drug he was taking to remain mentally stable (Probitol which is not an actual drug from what I could gather from a brief internet search), that he would have to be readmitted to the mental hospital was fantastic and Buscemi was perfect throughout. The rest of the episode which dealt with Pete trying to deal with his what his future would behold melded a great mix of darkness and sweetness as the episode saw the return of Tricia a friend of Pete’s in the mental hospital. Pete is contemplating death until Tricia shows up and by telling him what he needed to hear (and the truth as well) at that moment managed to give him enough strength to move on. The sequence both delt with Pete’s dark situation with a beautiful amount of weight, but also managed to find a certain since of hope under the veil of darkness. That mixed with the fantastic Steve Buscemi made the core of “Episode 8” very powerful.

• Louis CK is also flirting with serialization in Horace and Pete and has been doing a wonderful job over the past few episodes building to what seems like a climax of sorts. The show has been flirting with Sylvia wanting to sell the bar since its first episode, but the central conflict between Pete wanting to maintain the status quo and Sylvia wanting to blow it up by selling the space has really started rolling in the last few episodes. Louis CK weves the threads subtly enough, there is a conversation midway through “Episode 8” about how Budweiser, the only beer the bar sells, is getting more and more expensive. On top of that with Pete potentially moving out of the picture (more on that in a minute) it opens the door for Sylvia to get the ball rolling on banishing the bar once and for all.

• Was this Steve Buscemi’s last episode? I don’t know how time has worked particularly on Horace and Pete so I don’t know whether a month will pass between episodes ala Mad Men. I don’t believe he is every shown leaving the bar with Tricia but the final shot with Horace and Sylvia in the “side of the bar” pose at the end of the episode (that we’ve seen numerous times with Horace and Pete) could suggest that the shutting out of Pete from the bar’s future plans is imminent.

• Another scene worth shouting out is Lucy Taylor’s drunken rampage at the tail end of the episode. Louis CK does a wonderful little job at showing the sadness of not only alcoholism on its own but the continued perception of the disease in comparison to others. Also Lucy Taylor acts the hell out of it and makes it a memorable.

• This week in bar talk includes AI and LSD, which both involve potentially hallucinogenic personifications on human inventions… Or something…

That’s all for this week! I continue to love this show and am curious where it’s heading as we assumingly move further towards its finale!

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

Horace and Pete “Episode 5” Review: Death and Rebirth

 A Hopeful Horace and Pete as Act 1 comes to a close

A brief review of Horace and Pete’s fifth episode right after I see if Brooklyn is on the ups…

“Because maybe It’ll get better”
-Pete

The final line of dialogue uttered at the end of Horace and Pete’s fifth episode is the thesis for the“first act” of Horace and Pete’s final play (presumably). The fifth episode of Horace and Pete is all about dealing with death and the potential for rebirth that can emerge from it. It’s the death of the “Horace and Pete universe” as we’ve seen it throughout four episodes and through that there is the potential for change. The fifth episode of “Horace and Pete” creates a beautiful set up for the last acts of the show, and suggests whether it’s good or bad the show will end on something different.

The episode begins with THE DEATH OF UNCLE PETE. Turns out the long shot of the door closing at the end of last week’s episode was indeed the departure Alan Alda’s great character as we find out near the beginning of the episode that he ultimately killed himself (I don’t know how time works on Horace and Pete but I would love to think that this happened right after he delivered his final words of wisdom to his son at the end of last week). And while I’m sad that we won’t get anymore of Alan Alda for the rest of the series the way that Louis CK used it as a means of set up was beautiful. To these characters the death of Uncle Pete was not just a singular death, but the death of an institution as a whole. No matter what happens to Horace and Pete’s from here on in it’s going to have a somewhat different face.

The wake scene that made up most of the first half of the episode was a fantastic representation of that change. We see the departure of almost everything that’s associated with the past lives of Horace, Pete, and Sylvia. From Marsha giving her tragic backstory in what felt like her exit monologue, to Sylvia essentially shoving her daughter away, to the confirmation that indeed the attempts for Horace to reconnect with his daughter have failed (in rather hilarious fashion) everything that once characterized the previous generation of Horace and Pete has exited stage left. Sure some of the old bar patrons have stuck around, but there is a different atmosphere to the proceedings.

The decision of where to go from here (essentially rock bottom in a way) is solely up to the three “siblings” (it’s hard to know how to characterize Pete at this point) involved. Syliva has always wanted to sell the bar in the first place but the want has been intensified now given the cancer and the new dollar figure associated with the bar. Pete on the other hand knows nothing outside of working and living in the bar and essentially needs to keep it. It’s Horace, for really the first time in the series who actually steps up and tries to create a compromise. There is a clear sense here that Horace is attached to something about the bar and is at the same time concerned about the livelihood of both of his siblings. His proposal is to have the three of them run the bar together, maybe redesign the place, and create something for themselves with the admittedly little the actually have. While Sylvia seems down on the proposal when she exits near the end of the episode it looks as though that’s where the series may head as it enters its final stage.

It ultimately leaves episode five/act one on a hopeful note which is one that the series has not really touched on throughout its run. Maybe, even in the most challenging of times, there can be hope to change one’s future in a positive way. The end of act one suggests potential for a positive direction for these characters, one where they won’t need to just “off themselves” like Uncle Pete. For now though we can only hope along with the characters, as we still don’t know whether this play will turn into a comedy or a tragedy.

Some other musings:

• This was the best that the “current events bar conversations” have been. It flowed really well in the last third of the episode, and ultimately set up the note that the episode ended on.

• I like the idea that Uncle Pete actually killed himself. It adds much more meaning to his death and sets up the need for change that predicates the last third of the episode.

• Jessica Lang has been underrated good as Marsha. I was glad she got one more chance to shine before (presumably) making her exit.

That’s it for this week folks. I can’t wait for what comes next!

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

Let’s Talk: Louis CK’s Horace and Pete is television’s best show

The trio of Steve Buscemi, Louis CK, and Edie Falco in Horace and Pete

Thoughts on the beautiful and unique new Louis CK show Horace and Pete just as soon I water down your boos to save some money…

“I don’t feel good Maggie”

 -Horace

It was four Saturdays ago when Louis CK became the Beyoncé of television and dropped a little show entitled Horace and Pete. All of a sudden there was just an episode sitting there on his website with no build up, promotion or anything really that goes with the release of a new television show. It was a present surprise to see it arrive in all of it’s $5 glory, especially given how much I love his FX show Louie and stand up. What Horace and Pete was has been an even bigger surprise as Louis CK delivered a show that wasn’t really funny at all. Instead the first episode was essentially Louis CK’s version of a dramatic play filmed for television. It was an awesome shock to the system and a beautiful amalgamation of what seemed like a bunch of Louis CK’s pent up dramatic ideas dumped out into this new format.

What has made Horace and Pete something special though has been what the series has been able to accomplish post the initial surprise. Every week Louis CK has presented something different and equally as satisfying. The second episode was for all intents and purposes a free form jazz like venture through various bits of comedy and drama exploring everything from breast cancer to disturbing sex fantasies. The third episode, which essentially revolved around a single conversation was one of the most extraordinary hours of television I’ve ever witnessed (more on that in a minute). Finally, this week’s fourth episode felt like a multi cam episode of Louie just with three different sketches instead of two. The joy of Horace and Pete is not knowing how and what one is going to get week by week and just watching Louis CK be creative in this new medium is fascinating.

The chief example of the unique creativity of the show is in its brilliant third episode which is pretty much just a single conversation. The episode opens on a just over nine minute still shot of theater actress Laurie Metclaf as she’s telling a strange and super detailed story. As the story progresses the details become painfully clear, Metclaf is playing Horace’s ex wife Sarah who is telling the story of how she has cheated on her new husband just as Horace had cheated on her in their prior relationship. The conversation is stunning on a number of levels, first of all it’s essentially one giant monologue carried by Metclaf. It’s one of the single best bits of acting I’ve seen in a long time, Metclaf is not only required to tell an incredibly complex story in a realistic fashion but must do it all in incredibly long takes. It’s truly extraordinary to watch the camera just linger, hanging on the pain behind of every word.

The third episode also allows Louis CK the writer and director to shine brightly. While Metclaf has to do a lot of heavy work on the acting side, it can’t be forgotten how important the creativity of Louis CK plays in throughout the hour. The direction is careful, still, and calculated allowing both Metclaf and Louis CK the actor time to let the story slowly build, and for the audience to linger on the conversation's implication. The conversation itself is also incredibly well written, not only striking a tone of realism, but constantly adding twists and turns to continuously build the conversation to a beautiful climax. It makes the moment when Uncle Pete comes in at the end to crack the cruel joke at the end of the episode hit hard. There was definitely laughter to the idea that Louis CK could have created this incredible hour of television as an elaborate set up to a cruel punchline, but the uncomfortably long, silent shot of Horace that follows is a reminder of the pain that was felt throughout the hour. The range of emotions one is left with at the end of the episode is a perfect example of all the elements of filmmaking coming together to create something rather extraordinary. Horace and Pete’s third episode is truly an hour of television I will never forget.

It’s follow up and the most recent episode of the show, while not as extraordinary as its predecessor, continues the creative hot streak that Louis CK continues to strike with this show. The episode revolves around three skits that almost could have come right out of Louie. The first, and weakest of the skits revolves around the show’s weakest aspect as a whole, which is the discussion of current events. The abortion discussion depicted is slightly more successful than previous attempts made to cover current events and politics, as it is much funnier and revolves around the theme of the rest of the episode, but it still doesn’t connect the same way the rest of the show does. While it is funny to listen to a send up of a bunch of older guys talk about the intricacies whether an aborted fetus ends up going to hell (all while ignoring the woman sitting right next to them) it dose not have the same resonance as the rest of the show and can ultimately feel out of place.

Despite its lesser opening third the fourth episode (come on Louis CK we really need episode titles) of Horace and Pete manages to return to greatness for its final two thirds. The episode’s examination of different forms of love worked beautifully. Horace’s interaction (lets not call it a booty call) with the young waitress Maggie (played by yet another theatre actress Nina Arianda) continued the show’s knack for getting theatre actresses to deliver great monologues. 

The best moment of the episode though comes in its final little sketch in which Uncle Pete and Steve Buscemi Pete have a strange father, son bonding moment. While Uncle Pete’s views and ideas have been made to look outdated and ridiculous throughout the show his final moment in which he describes what he believes to be love is as tender and vulnerable as the character gets. It's a scene that shows just how deep a character that Uncle Pete can be, even as there is natural temptation to make him a stereotype. Uncle Pete may, in many people’s eyes, be wrong about the power relations involved in going down on a woman (that’s as far as I’ll go) but the moment when he’s acknowledging his son really for the first time to tell him what love really is, before walking out of the door (with yet another beautiful lingering shot to accompany it) is another example of the emotional power that Horace and Pete has been able to achieve over its mere four week existence.

Horace and Pete has quickly established itself as television’s most unique and powerful show. Louis CK continues to surprise, delivering episodes that span genres and deal with painful situations with the amount of care that is often not seen on television. I do not know what Louis CK’s future episodes of Horace and Pete will bring, all I know is that I cannot wait for the email informing me of a new episode enter my inbox.

Some other musings:

• I’m going to try and cover this show in some form or fashion weekly from now until the season is over… No promises on timeliness but I love this show too much to let it slip through the cracks…

• Alan Alda has been so very fantastic as Uncle Pete throughout the four episodes… It’s a different kind of role for him and he’s playing it to perfection.

• Louis CK has established such great cast its astounding… And a Paul Simon original song! It would be interesting to hear the story of how he pulled all of this off...

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