mjh's blog

Breaking Bad (5 stars and an asterisk)

I just started watching Breaking Bad on Netflix in the past few months. I started primarily because it is filmed in Albuquerque and elsewhere in New Mexico. I’ve loved the vistas and the sky more than any of the other details I’ve recognized, and I’ve wondered if someone who has never been here is as delighted with the beauty as we who live here are.

I almost stopped watching because the occasional violence is very strong. People die. Few are shot, too many are beaten to death. There is too much screaming and mad-dogging. It can be hard to watch. That’s the asterisk on this 5-star rating.

That said, I am more often stunned by the writing and the acting. I can’t do either justice. Some scenes are heart-wrenching and one can read thoughts on faces to a degree I can’t remember from another TV show. The two principals, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, are phenomenal; both have shown such depth. Almost everyone around them is great. Even the characters I hate.

Although making and dealing methamphetamines drive the plot, this show in no way glamorizes drugs. The desperate skeletal junkies should scare anyone away from meth (or heroin).

My comments come at the end of Season 2. The first season had only 7 episodes; Season 2 has 13. Twenty episodes aren’t very many. I’ve heard things get weirder or worse (very hard to imagine) in Season 4 (not yet on Netflix). Can good writing and acting compel one to watch the unwatchable? I’ll let you know.

Metrotopia (2+ stars)

Ultimately, this movie fails because it is so dreadfully slow. It fascinates with its animation, which seems based on real film distorted in an interesting way, producing anime like faces and Astro Boy like movements (the original; haven’t seen the remakes). It looks like a descendant of Peter Gabriel’s Big Time: newer, slicker, not as much fun. It is a dystopian tale of a corporate takeover of Europe and may be too European, if not too dystopian. I’m not sorry I saw it, but I recommend so many 5-star movies before this one: Ink, the Caveman’s Valentine, Jade Warrior, or Franklyn.

Curiously, Stig Larsson was one of the screenwriters.

The Caveman’s Valentine (5 stars)

Whoa. Samuel L. Jackson is fantastic in this movie, as a mentally deranged man on a mission. The movie takes us into his mind repeatedly, and very effectively. Quite interesting. (And a suitable follow-up to the sublime Ink.) Don’t read the IMDB synopsis or any other. (Not a Valentine’s movie.)

Great performances along side Jackson, especially Aunjanue Ellis, Tamara Tunie, Ann Magnuson, and Anthony Michael Hall.

Ink (unlimited stars)

Holy crap! What an original, stunning vision. If you have some patience and don’t mind uncertainty, this movie is amazing. Don’t read any synopses – take a chance. The movie streams on Netflix and IMDB (106 minutes).

Though quite original, Ink made me think of several movies, including Dark City, 9, Beauty and the Beast, Newt from Aliens, and Franklyn. (Yes, weird to call a move original and then cite other movies, but, seriously, Ink is fresh.) And Jade Warrior, which Ink resembles only in blowing my mind. In particular, a short film I caught on PBS, Spin, came to mind. Damn if it wasn’t the same writer/director, Jamin Winans (see the 8 minute short).

Ironman II (1 star)

I hesitate to waste another second on this movie. If you haven’t seen it, good for you. (If you haven’t seen the first Ironman, Merri and I both loved it.) This iteration was bad in so many ways. I would give it –1 stars, but I still love Robert Downey, Jr, and I like seeing the “Minority Report interface” grow ever grander. (Coming soon to your computer by way of Windows 8 plus Kinect. Well, less grand, no doubt.)

I keep thinking about the brilliance of Aliens: whereas Alien depended on a barely-seen single creature, Aliens features countless monsters to great effect – both versions work very well. In Ironman II, there are several Ironman suits – self-powered why? – plus an army of “drones” which are on the scene despite the fact that the guy presenting them believes they don’t work. (I wish Gary Oldman had played Hammer.) Endless pointless destruction – how long is that entertaining? (Answer: as long as there are human beings – destruction is our raison d’être.)

18 things you didn’t know about Firefly [via the How-to-geek]

Wow. I can’t imagine Neil Patrick Harris as Simon Tam, but I bet he would have been great. (I recommend Dr Horrible’s Sing-along-blog.) If you haven’t seen Firefly – YOU MUST (but the first 10 minutes are not entirely representative). I’m on my nth iteration.

CarSort’s 18 Things You Didn’t Know About Firefly Infographic

A few more movie reviews (and one TV)

We both liked Away We Go (4 stars), starring Maya Rudolph (SNL) and John Krasinski (The Office), a favorite from It’s Complicated (recommended). It’s low-key, chuckle-funny more than laugh out loud. A 30-Something.

Rango (voiced by Johnny Depp; 4 stars) was hilarious, uproarious, and very interesting to look at. Highly recommended.

Community is a TV series about to start its third season. It is hilarious and so inventive one wonders how long the writers can keep being so creative. You have to see it. Sadly, it’s not on Netflix streaming. Mer just bought the Season 1 DVDs; we missed the first half of that season, so we’re having a great time.