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Review: The Walking Dead (Season 2)

April 23, 2012 in Reviews, TV

I got into The Walking Dead when it was still a comic book. Years ago a friend had lent me the first few volumes, which I enjoyed but didn’t think was anything too special (could be attributed to my bias against American comics). When I heard about the TV series, however, I became very keen because I knew it had tremendous potential.

Season 1 of The Walking Dead was great television. Anything with zombies makes pretty good television anyway, but it’s not often that a post-apocalyptic world depicted on TV is so dreary, bleak and horrifying. It had a love triangle, some volatile characters and plenty of terrific deaths (both meanings intended).

Season 2 came with a lot of expectations. What were they going to do this time that could top the solid first season?

Having now watched all of season 2 in its entirety, I have the feeling that perhaps my desire to like the show is greater than how much I really like it. The dark mood of the first season was maintained well, but significant portions of it felt somewhat repetitive and was extraordinarily slow for a show aimed at zombie lovers.

It’s strange, considering when you list the main story arcs of the season it sounds pretty awesome:

  • The little girl, Sophia, goes missing, and the gang split up and set out to find her;
  • Rick’s son, Carl, is accidentally shot and almost dies — then becomes a bit of a douche;
  • The gang find refuge at a ranch owned by the enigmatic Hershel;
  • Glenn gets a lady friend;
  • Daryl grows a heart — for a while;
  • Lori gets second thoughts about the pregnancy;
  • Andrea goes half mental; and
  • Shane goes full mental.

This doesn’t even mention all the excellent twists and turns, such as Sophia’s fate, Hershel’s little secret, the gang of dangerous survivors they run into — and of course, the mega big huge revelation of the finale, not to mention the first appearance of one of the comic’s coolest and most memorable characters. Oh, and the deaths of key characters were pretty shocking too.

Core cast of season 2

And so it baffles me while for stretches throughout this second season I found the pace to be excruciatingly slow. Part of it probably stems from the fact that the majority of the episodes take place on Hershel’s farm, meaning there is very little movement. I admire the efforts to make this a hard-hitting drama focused on the human characters and all, but to be honest, I just wanted to see more crazy zombies.

Is that wrong? I mean, let’s face it, the zombie scenes are still the most thrilling — by far — and at times during season 2 I almost forgot they existed. I suppose the point was to show that the humans are more dangerous than the walkers, but humans, for the most part, aren’t quite as exciting as decomposing cannibals. Not to say that they should go overboard and turn this into a video game because the drama is what drives this show, but slightly more balance would have been welcome. It’s really their own fault for making the zombies so wonderfully frightening — kudos to the make-up and special effects team, by the way — which only made me want more of them.

Nonetheless, judging from the final scene, it appears season 3 could be an explosive and very bumpy ride — depending on how closely they follow the comic. Season 2 was relatively strong but it could have been a lot better, in my humble opinion, had they hastened things a little. Perhaps sensing what a commercial success the series is they decided to drag it out for as long as possible.

In any case, I hope the Governor makes an appearance in season 3.

Rating: B

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Mega Catch-up Movie Blitz (Part 1)

April 22, 2012 in Movie Reviews, Reviews

With around 25 movies waiting to be reviewed in my draft folder, I have decided that it’s no longer possible for me to just “catch up” to present day with detailed reviews for each film, especially not when I have plans to eventually put out a long overdue “Best of 2011”film ranking.

And so I have decided to go on a bit of a mega review blitz and get most the majority of the films out of the way with condensed reviews. I have reserved more detailed reviews for the newer and more high profile films I have something to say about, which I will hopefully chuck in there somewhere.

Anyway, here is the first batch:

The Way Back (2010)

My only 2010 film in this entire review blitz. I had been dying to see The Way Back for quite some time but never managed to get around to it until a couple of months ago.

It’s supposed to be inspired by real life events (also have to take that with a grain of salt), about a bunch of gulag prisoners who literally walk fromSiberiato Nepal/India. It features an all-star cast including Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan and Colin Farrell, and I believe the film was nominated for a 2011 Oscar for its make-up.

This is one of those visually stunning, well-acted, inspirational “true” stories that highlight the strength of the human spirit. Most of the film is about the kind of amazing feats (and crap) these people went through to survive, so from that perspective it was compelling to watch, but on the whole it didn’t quite have that “memorable epic” feel to it. At the end of the day, I enjoyed both the story and the technical achievements of the film but also came away slightly disappointed that it didn’t blow me away like I wanted it to. I’m glad I caught it on DVD.

3.5 stars out of 5!

The Three Musketeers (2D) (2011)

My knowledge of the Three Musketeers, sadly, comes almost exclusively from that 1998 Leo DiCaprio movie The Man with the Iron Mask, where the Musketeers are played by powerhouses Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich and Gerard Depardieu, with Gabriel Byrne as D’Artagnan.

This new version of Musketeers, on the other hand, is played by relative unknowns – Luke Stevenson, Ray Stevenson and Matthew Macfayden (Mr I love, I love, I love you from the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice), with Percy Jackson himself (Logan Lerman) as a young D’Artagnan. The bigger stars, Orlando Bloom, Christoph Waltz and Milla Jovovich, on the other hand, are relegated to smaller roles.

I’m afraid this one was not at all very memorable for me. The lack of star power amongst the key roles might have had something to do with it, but for some reason despite all the swordplay, flying around and blowing things up I never felt…well, anything. It wasn’t awful and admittedly it was fun at times, but I found myself watching for the sake of it and not really caring what happened next.

Apparently a sequel was planned but I’m not sure I’d want to see it.

2.5 stars out of 5 

Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

Having called the original overrated and the sequel one of the worst films of last year, I returned for more punishment with Paranormal Activity 3, which is actually a prequel about a young Katie and Kristi, the sisters who led the first two films in the franchise.

I suppose the makers deserve some kudos for coming up with the prequel idea so they can milk a little more money out of audiences – but still, the movie sucked dog scrotums. Perhaps it was scarier than the other two from a “boo” factor perspective and slightly less tedious in its build-up, but those are the only positive things I have to say about the film, which has really scraped the bottom of the barrel this time.

For one thing, I thought being set in 1988 meant that the “film everything” philosophy would have to be slightly reconsidered, but instead this family had some of the most advanced video camera technology ever used. I mean, seriously, what kind of family from the 80s would install cameras in just about every corner of the house, and what kind of futuristic cameras were they using to capture both crystal clear audio and high definition quality video for every second of the freaking day? This would have had to have been on tapes, by the way.

But I guess people who watch these films already know what to expect — a lot of time fillers, a few chills and several boo moments here and there, and a crazy ending where all hell breaks lose. Strictly speaking this might have been the most enjoyable movie of the three, but because the predictable formula has been reused so many times I can only give it…

1.5 stars out of 5

The Double (2011)

Richard Gere. Topher Grace. Straight to DVD (I think). That just about sums up The Double, a film about a Soviet operative called Cassius who is some super deadly killer seeking revenge against those who harmed his family. Gere and Grace are two CIA agents trying to track him down, but is there more to the story than meets the eye? And why is it called The Double?

Actually, this was not too bad for a straight-to-DVD flick (if that’s indeed what it is). But as a feature with two somewhat marketable stars – plus the likes of Martin Sheen, Odette Yustman, Stana Katic (from Castle) and Stephen Moyer (True Blood) – The Double fails to generate any real suspense or genuinely exciting action. It reminded me a little of those Carlos the Jackal films that were popular for a while, except those films were considered cool back then but not now.

The so-called “twists” were fairly obvious and didn’t add a whole lot to the drama. The execution wasn’t all bad but I think the script itself needed work. Not an atrocious effort overall but still a completely forgettable film. As you can see I am struggling to remember the details.

2.25 stars out of 5

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Book Review: ‘Then We Came to the End’ by Joshua Ferris

April 10, 2012 in Book Reviews, Reviews

Not my cover but I thought this looked nicer

Then We Came to the End is another book I bought years ago but only got around to recently. At the time, I was deeply depressed about my job, which attracted me to the award-winning debut novel by Joshua Ferris, which was described on the cover as a very realistic and hilarious depiction of an office environment. The other reason I bought this book may have been because it was on special.

In a nutshell, Then We Came to the End was somewhat uneven but still pretty good. It is told from the perspective of a nameless narrator who is part of the action but mostly observes as a bystander who picks up a lot of gossip. The story is set in aChicago advertising agency in the 90s, right around the end of the internet boom.

For a while, however, I had no idea about the industry it was taking place in, and it didn’t really bother me. Anyone who has worked in an office environment will probably be able to identify all, if not most of the characters, or at least most of the character traits, displayed in this book.

There’s the office gossipmonger, the depressed wretch struck by tragedy, the office clown (or psycho), the potentially closet homosexual and of course, the lonely boss woman who gave up her life for a career — amongst many others. I was impressed with Ferris’s ability to keep track of all of them, giving each distinct personalities and quirks. Everyone is a little crazy, neurotic and paranoid about even the most banal, pointless things (such as who took who’s office chair), and they know it, too.

The tone of the novel is generally satirical, and while I wouldn’t say it was consistently laugh-out-loud funny, I did have a few chuckles here and there, predominantly attributable to the nutty contributions from Tom Mota, the sensitive/insensitive office time bomb. Most of the jokes were based around the absurdity of office culture and it was certainly something I could relate to despite being from a completely different field.

The weirdest part about the 387-page book is that it takes a bizarre turn around the middle that made no sense to me whatsoever. After plodding along nicely with a series of amusing office anecdotes told from the first person perspective of the anonymous narrator, the novel suddenly switched to third person to tell the sad, lonely story of Lynn Mason, the boss woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer. Not that it was poorly written, but the story and the tone of it felt totally out of place for the book, so much so that when it eventually returned to its original style (for the finale) I still had trouble getting back into it. I understand that the story had to be told from third person because the narrator couldn’t have known aboutLynn’s private life, but still, I found it utterly bewildering.

To Ferris’s credit, the book picks up momentum again as it heads towards its explosive finale, which, all things considered, was well executed. My main complaint about it was its sentimental postscript, which made me feel like I had been watching The Breakfast Club rather than reading a satire about how working in an office drives us insane.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the novel for its message and wit. Personally, I think it might have been more effective as a thinner, slightly more relentless book, but on the whole it was still a worthwhile read.

3.5 out of 5

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Book Review: “Everyone’s Pretty” by Lydia Millet

March 4, 2012 in Book Reviews, Reviews

Last year, when I was struggling with my masters project (a black comedy set in an office), my supervisor recommended Lydia Millet’s Everyone’s Pretty.

Though Millet is a PEN-USA Award-winning author, the book is regarded as somewhat obscure, but my supervisor raved about the the cracking narrative style and the novel’s subject matter — pornography — so I purchased it online from The Book Depository immediately. The inspiration for the book apparently came from Millet’s old job as a copy editor for Hustler, which boosted my expectations up a couple more notches.

Due to the long list of books on my ‘to read’ list, I didn’t get around to it until November, and due to some other other books that I had to read for review purposes or simply because I wanted to badly, I didn’t actually end up finishing it until just a few weeks ago.  I guess that pretty much sums up my feelings about the book — good but not quite good enough to sustain my interest long enough for me to want to get through it in a hurry.

As it turned out, the book is not about the pornography industry, much to my disappointment.  It’s really a farcical satire about contemporary American life, starring a delusional pornographer by the name of Dean Decetes, a habitual liar, an immoral sex fiend, an alcoholic low-life who lives off his poor Catholic sister, Bucella, who is in love with her obviously gay boss and works with an uber religious Christian scientist who is married to a mentally challenge and depraved blonde bombshell.  Oh, and there’s also an extremely ugly, sexually starved midget and a teenage girl/maths whiz who is obsessed with complex equations. You get the picture, right?

Everyone’s Pretty doesn’t have any obvious structure — it just goes (chronologically) from scene to scene, character to character at a break-neck pace, and some scenes are over even before you figure out what the heck is going on.  All you do know as that all the characters are heading towards some kind of major, catastrophic collision down the track.

A lot of the confusion has to do with Millet’s writing style, which is undoubtedly brilliant but is what I would call an acquired taste.  It jumps around like a mini-hurricane, throwing curveballs at you from all directions, sprinkled with occasional nuggets of pure comedic gold.  At times it comes across like an awesome screenplay, but at other times it becomes incredibly jarring.

Perhaps it’s an indictment of my comprehension skills more than anything else, but I often struggled with it — it’s the type of book that ought to be a light, brisk read requiring minimal effort, but I found that if I didn’t put enough attention into it I would miss bits and pieces here and there while missing jokes that don’t deserve to be missed.

To be fair, there were some excellent scenes and several laugh-out-loud moments created by Millet’s wonderfully bizarre and depraved characters and their wacky conversations and internal monologues.  However, because I picked up and put down the book so many times, I found that I really never got into the narrative like I should have, and as a result it wasn’t anywhere near as compelling as I wanted it to be.

2.5 out of 5

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Movie Review: Contagion (2011)

October 31, 2011 in Movie Reviews, Reviews

I’m still washing my hands at least 20 times a day after watching Contagion last week.

This medical thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh plays out like a horror movie because of how possible it might just become reality some day.  The film begins on day two of a new, highly infectious and deadly disease outbreak and follows several key characters from different walks of life as they fight for survival — of their own lives and that of the human race.

Soderbergh is known for his amazing ensemble casts, and Contagion is no different.  No single actor or actress dominates, but there is enough screen time in this 106 minute film to fit in significant roles for the likes of Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, John Hawkes (remember him from Winter’s Bone), amongst others, including my new favourite actor, Bryan Cranston (I’ve recently become addicted to the sickeningly great Breaking Bad – and it took me almost a full season to realise that he’s Tim Whatley from Seinfeld!).  Ensemble casts are ordinarily troublesome but every actor in this film played their part perfectly and without trying to steal the show, resulting in an awesome experience where you are constantly watching an A-lister without feeling overwhelmed by the fact.

There have been several ‘outbreak’  films in the past (Outbreak being one of them), but Contagion surely has to be one of the better ones, and certainly one more the most realistic.  It looks at how different people deal with the news of the infections, how the government tries to pinpoint the source of the outbreak, how it seeks to contain it, and how certain people may try to profit out of it — on an international scale.

Soderbergh controls the film at a deliberate pace — fast enough to not get bored but considerate enough to allow the audience to appreciate the magnitude of the events.  Contagion tackles numerous themes and gives viewers plenty to think about if, god forbid, this film became reality — loss of social order, public vs personal interests, wealthy countries vs poor countries, and the systems governments have in place to deal with and control sudden mass deaths and mass hysteria.  It’s actually all quite fascinating.  And yet, despite these potentially heavy themes, the film is rarely bogged down and manages to keep the focus on the characters.

As an ensemble cast film, Contagion obviously struggles to provide the deeper emotional impact some top-notch single protagonist films can, but I think overall it was done well enough to provide an entertaining and thought-provoking viewing experience.

4 stars out of 5

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