Under the Dome “The Endless Thirst”

Holy cow crap, I’m back!  Sorry for the sudden silence dear readers…or reader…or person who randomly clicked on this page, but I was busy moving over this weekend/ last week and between working and getting my belongings situated I haven’t had time to do my daily duty of reviewing movies and TV shows…mostly for myself, let’s be honest. 

Anyway, back to reviewing.

Last Monday night brought the new episode of “Under the Dome” and thankfully this show is finding its legs.  Slowly, and painfully at times, but like the baby giraffe that falls twenty stories from its mother’s innards to the ground this show is hefting its body up on slim, shaky legs and taking tentative steps toward an involving story.

I’ve complained on multiple occasions about the Big Jim Rennie in the TV show.  I liked the books Big Jim.  He was a caricature, sure, but he was a threat to everyone under the Dome, even though the town backed him as their saving grace.  People who knew of his deceit knew what Big Jim was capable of, and he was frightening.  So far in the show he didn’t pose that much of a threat until the end of last episode, he began to form into the character I’ve been waiting for.  This episode he goes a little further down the rabbit-hole and I’m enjoying seeing this narcissistic, power-hungry evil force take form in Chester’s Mill.

Another great moment in this episode is the break-in at the diner.  Not only does it happen at the perfect time in Angie’s story, but it gives a spark of life to this show that I feel was starting to drag.  Angie just escaped from the bunker where Junior was keeping her and during the riot Junior sees her so she runs from him and ends up at the diner.  She collapses into the arms of Rose who owns the diner and tells her about what happened in the bunker.  Just when you think poor Angie has a friend who will protect her and bring to light what Junior put her through a couple of brothers break into the diner and raise hell.  They kill Rose and almost rape Angie, but she is thankfully saved by Barbie and taken to safety.  This starts bringing in more of the craziness of the novel, which I loved, and it complicates Angie’s story even more than it already was.

Under the Dome is starting to come through on being a good show, although I still dislike most of the teenager’s dialogue.  Also, I found the storyline about creating the Geiger counter to find the power supply of the Dome a little far-fetched, but we’ll see where they go with it.  This episode was pretty good and next episode looks to be better.  To be quite honest, I just watched the new episode and I’ll post the review of that tomorrow as well as more information about this blog going forward.

Community “Alternative History of the German Invasion”

After weeks of being dismissive about Community I’m almost satisfied with a sub-par episode only because it was slightly funny and was close to Community’s old glory.  The gang’s normal study room is under attack as the German students move in on their territory.  The school soon stands behind the Germans finally tired of the Greendale 7 getting special treatment.  The gang eventually learns that they need to give back to the school that has given them so much and they help fix the other study rooms.

This episode has all the fixings of a good Community episode.  They have a clear enemy that pits them against the school, they learn a lesson as a group, and there is the capacity for comedy.  Unfortunately, this episode suffers from a very serious problem.  It takes the main characters, which we should be rooting for, and makes them assholes.  All throughout the earlier episodes I never questioned their right to be in the study room all the time, but this episode makes clear that they never signed in for the study room and never let anybody else use it while they were up to the hijinks of earlier episodes.  I’ve been to college I know how it is when you have to work on a group assignment and you are trying to find a place to gather and get work done so you reserve a room in the library.  If everything goes right and society functions as it is supposed to the room should be clear when you are scheduled to use it.  In this case, you have left your house, driven to the school, met up with your group and start to enter your study room when you find out the room is full of people.  They’ve never signed up for the room and they are taking up your time because they lost a pen.  Now you have to find a new place to work.  The study group that we are supposed to root for has been the cause of annoyance and inconvenience.  In short, they are assholes.  All of a sudden, I don’t care about their plight.  In the end they do learn the right lesson, but for the wrong reason.  They don’t learn to pick whatever room is open, they fix the other shitty rooms so other people have a place to study and they can have the room they always have (still assholes).

Other than that major problem, I thought the episode was pretty funny.  Pierce actually had some decent moments, which doesn’t happen very much anymore.  I hope it gets better from here, but I’ve heard that it doesn’t get better until the last episode.  I’m not exactly sure how this show lost its soul, but it did.

3/5

R.I.P.D.

I wanted to like “R.I.P.D.”  I really did.  The first trailer was lack-luster, sure.  The only thought I took from it was “This is Men In Black with ghosts,” and I knew I was right, but I hoped they could create a good movie from that formula.  The next couple of trailers built upon my hopes.  They showed a world that, yes, was almost the exact same as M.I.B. except with ghosts, but was fun and engaging and imaginative.  Unfortunately, “R.I.P.D.” is at best forgettable and at worst illogical.

Part of the appeal for this movie is the cast.  Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds, and Mary-Louis Parker?  Sign me up.  Add Kevin Bacon to the mix?  I have to go.  But the problem with this movie isn’t the cast, the problem is the script.  I didn’t actually feel very many emotions that are supposed to be important for the film.

The emotional impact of the movie hinges on Nick (Ryan Reynolds) taking gold from a drug bust and burying it in his backyard.  Nick is supposed to be a good cop who only took the gold to make his life…easier (?) for him and his wife.  But, isn’t that how most good cops turn bad?  Anyway, he regrets taking it and tells his partner they should turn it in.  His partner, Hayes (Kevin Bacon), has a better idea than turning it in, he’ll just kill Nick and be done with it.  Unfortunately this is predictable, even though the filmmakers didn’t really give anything away, I just figured it would happen.  This leads to Nick becoming a part of the Rest In Peace Department because he is one of the best policemen in Boston…which I never saw, but I’ll accept. 

That’s all well and good, but I have a question.  Now, I’m dipping into spoilers (no surprise), but stick with me.  Hayes is an evil spirit that is trying to piece together a golden statue that will allow the dead to come back to the earth.  Now, the gold pieces they picked up from the drug bust are part of this statue.  Why on Earth would Hayes give Nick any of this gold?  Nick obviously didn’t want it, and I’m assuming Hayes talked him into it at the bust, why wouldn’t Hayes just take the gold?  Was he afraid that Nick would tell?  Did he push the gold on him so he wouldn’t be able to?  I can see that, I guess.

I think what would make this movie better is if we actually saw this drug bust where they found the gold.  With this scene we can set up Nick as a great policeman who doesn’t want the gold, but is talked into it.  Then later when his wife learns about the gold and becomes angry that her husband was a crooked cop we would feel properly hurt that his reputation is despoiled.  The way it is I didn’t really care.

Later, Nick and Roy (Jeff Bridges) find a ghost who has pieces of gold very similar to the gold Nick buried behind his house.  They turn the gold into the evidence chamber at the R.I.P.D. and learn that they make a statue that allows the dead to come back.  The bad guys need all of the pieces to complete the statue, but instead of hiding the gold somewhere else or being extra careful that the ghosts would try to steal the gold, the R.I.P.D. don’t do anything.  In a twist that doesn’t surprise, Hayes allows himself to be caught so he can get the rest of the gold from R.I.P.D.  Dumb.

Ultimately, the movie disappoints.  I wanted to like it, but glaring holes in the plot raise too many questions.  One that bothered me through the whole movie was the secrecy conundrum.  Men In Black succeeds as a fake secret bureau because they have a plan to keep themselves secret.  The world would go crazy if they learned that aliens live among us.  In a similar situation, the world would go crazy if they learned about evil spirits that refuse to die wreaking havoc in our everyday lives.  M.I.B. takes care to erase the memories of anyone who sees an alien or witnesses the agents of M.I.B. taking care of an alien threat.  R.I.P.D. on the other hand will break windows, knock pieces off of buildings, and generally destroy things in front of people, but take no care to retain their secrecy.  Of course, I’m judging this from their first case as their antics are soon seen on TV during the finale, but how can they stay secret with that laissez faire attitude toward destruction?  The broken windows and cat walks would be noticed by somebody, like maybe the people who fix said things.  How do they explain that?  The movie doesn’t explain it at all, which has caused me hours of irritation.  If you want to watch a mildly entertaining movie with some decent jokes, check this out.  If you like Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges, check this out.  If you want an enjoyable movie about stopping the destruction of the world from something not human, check out  Men In Black.

2.5/5

Under the Dome “Blue on Blue”

Finally!  Big Jim Rennie is starting to come out of his shell.  He’s finally becoming the force of power he embodies in the book.  This episode has its problems.  The writers still don’t understand how teenagers actually talk, and the visitor’s day was difficult to watch because of some of the awkward moments, but hopefully the shocking last moments of this episode is a harbinger for things to come.  Hopefully “Under the Dome” can make a turnaround.

“Blue on Blue” starts with one of the most stunning visuals this show has to offer so far as the electromagnetic nature of the Dome has attracted a swarm of Monarch butterflies.  The beautiful orange and black creatures coat the invisible field of the dome creating a fluttery, breathing, fluctuating wall that hangs in the air like a surrealistic curtain blocking Chester’s Mill from the rest of the world. 

This magical moment was slightly scarred by the horrendous arrival of Joe and Norrie.  I don’t blame the actors for their characters, really.  I think they are doing a somewhat decent job of what they are given, but my main problem is they don’t talk or act like real people, let alone teenagers.  Their dialogue is stinted and makes no sense most of the time.  Take this episode for example.  Joe’s sister, Angie, has been missing for five days.  He hasn’t seen her since the Dome came down because she’s been locked in Junior’s underground shelter.  With his parents trapped outside of the Dome and his sister missing, wouldn’t he try a little harder to find her?  For the last four episodes Joe hasn’t seemed bothered that his sister is nowhere to be seen.  He’s spent his time at the skate park, having parties at his empty house, and following Norrie around.  In his defense, he has had a lot on his plate.  He began having seizures when the Dome appeared and has been trying to solve that mystery (sometimes?) with seizure buddy and budding romance, Norrie.  But I have one question; Joe was at the edge of the Dome when it appeared shearing cows in half and crashing a plane.  He witnessed the destruction the appearance of the Dome can create and for four days he’s just assumed his sister was okay?  Wouldn’t he want to know she wasn’t cut in half like the cow?  Maybe somebody would have found her if that was the case, but I think someone would still worry about it.  I don’t know, I just think the fact that he didn’t even look for her before the final act of this episode is unbelievable. 

As mentioned earlier, the characters of Big Jim and Junior are finally coming around to the evil they represent in the book.  Big Jim has been covering up a drug operation to help bring money in for the town, which was real nice of him and all, but his role as the leader of the town is threatened when the reverend thinks he should repent his sins and tell the town what they did.  Big Jim has said many times that Chester’s Mill is his town, but I haven’t witnessed him making any huge power grabs so far in the show.  He’s used his respect amongst the town’s people to help get things done, but he hasn’t made any definite power plays…until this episode.  When the reverend starts cracking under the pressure of hiding the drug ring Big Jim kills him in an awesome way, finally, FINALLY doing something on par with his book character.  Junior looks like he’s going to do something crazy next episode so stay tuned for that.

This episode was better than what has come before, but I think the show has quite a way to go if it wants to impress me.  The main problem I’m having is questionable character motivations and clunky dialogue.  The visitor’s day scene in this episode was difficult to watch because of the cringe inducing dialogue.  Also, a moment that made me angry; Linda puts up police tape to keep people from touching the Dome and then, before Barbie even gets done tying off the police tape, she crosses under the tape and makes out with her husband through the Dome.  What the hell?  You should be leading by example!  If you put of tape and tell people to stay away you can’t just disregard your own rules!  That was annoying, and probably started off the scene on a bad note which might have led to my dislike of it, but there you go.

Decent episode, but I expect better work.

3/5

An American Werewolf in London

I decided to dip into the trove of classic movies that I need to see for tonight’s blog and landed on “An American Werewolf in London.”  Even being a classic in the horror genre and a milestone in practical effects, I didn’t know much about the movie other than the nationality of the werewolf and his location.  American Werewolf succeeds on giving us real, interesting characters that get caught in an unbelievable situation.  The almost tongue in cheek tone and likable characters draw the viewer into caring so when David Kessler turns into a werewolf, in that famous scene, the audience is appalled and feel his pain, both afraid and anxiously awaiting what destruction he will cause in the crowded streets of London.

And destruction he does cause, beautifully rendered practical effects that stand up in light of digitized special effects bring the werewolf into the streets of London in a frightfully believable way.  Of special note is the transformation scene.  Done in full light of a living room, Kessler’s first transformation blows the mind.  In today’s world of computer generated effects, I had to keep reminding myself that all of these skin-stretching, bone-bulging effects were done in camera with a real actor and crew working the illusions.  Watching this scene is like watching a good magic show, you know there is a slight of hand here, a distraction there, but you can’t quite work out how all of the tricks are done.  I’m actually considering going out and buying the special edition Blu-Ray so I can watch all of the special features on Rick Baker’s work in this film.

I did find some parts of the story telling unique.  I wasn’t expecting Kessler to be able to see the dead, or at least people in limbo, so when those scenes started popping up I didn’t know how to take them at first, which was brilliant.  I believe the point of the scenes was to have us as off-balance by the appearance of the late Jack Goodman as Kessler, which I was, so I really enjoyed the experience of wondering if he was hallucinating while he wondered the same thing.  After that the nightmares of the Nazi Werewolves was really cool.  I’ve never in my life seen a Nazi Werewolf so it was kind of a shock to see these grotesque depictions of the Nazis killing kids and slitting throats.

If I had to pick on one aspect of the movie to pick on it is the ending.  To be honest I feel it is a bit sudden.  One minute the werewolf is ransacking London and next he is cowering in an alley.  Then Kessler’s new girlfriend, Jenny, comes into the alley and professes her love.   A glint of recognition in the monster’s face gives a sliver of hope, then BAM, he is blown to bits by the cops.  In a spray of bullets that somehow didn’t hit Jenny, which I don’t believe for a second considering she was standing directly in between the wolf and the cops.  I don’t know a better way to end the movie right off the top of my head, and I might even respect them a little bit for rejecting the formulaic ending, but it still felt sudden and almost unsatisfying.  Although that was a shocking moment, the gunfire, the shot of human-Kessler dead, then slamming into the credits to the tune of “Blue Moon.”  Maybe unsatisfying, but pretty brilliant none the less.

“An American Werewolf in London” is a great horror film and I don’t know how I went so long without seeing it. 

4/5

Orphan Black “Effects of External Conditions”

Nature versus Nurture is one of the main themes of “Orphan Black” as a whole and is really interesting to consider while watching Tatiana portray many different personalities within identical bodies.  Sarah, Tatiana Maslany, has already been established as a clone so all of her other embodiments (Alison, Corina, Helena, and Katja) are genetically identical copies.  So all of the clones should have turned out exactly the same, but they in fact they are drastically different due to how they were raised and what they have experienced.

This week we learn more about the n/.0ew clone, Helena.  Last episode ended with her sewing up the wound she received from Sarah.  Helena has been hunting down the clones in Europe for some time and has presumably followed Katja over into Canada.  She is bent on killing the clones because she sees them as atrocities towards God. 

Sarah stays undercover with the police as a way to help within the group of clones.  Beth used the police resources to help the clones hunt down others like them before and now the group needs Sarah to stay on the inside to help hunt down the one killing them.  But as the case grows more intense, Sarah’s personal life becomes dire.  Mrs. S has allowed Sarah to visit Kira, but Sarah is too busy hunting down Helena to get there so Alison has to fill in for her.   This is one of my favorite scenes of the episode because it creates a bond between Alison and Sarah.  Ever since they met they’ve had problems.  Alison saw Sarah as a hot-headed, irresponsible punk who doesn’t think actions through, like when Sarah showed up to soccer practice.  Sarah saw Alison as a stuck-up, pretentious bitch.  Now, Alison has a new respect for Sarah because she has a kid and Sarah appreciates Alison because without her help she would never see Kira again.  I like how their relationship is progressing.

The end reveals a few secrets about the lives of the clones.  Katja was coughing up blood at the end of the first episode.  Likewise, Helena seems to have a liver problem, I assume this because of her pale skin, and she mentions to Sarah that she is sick.  The apartment where Helena has brought Sarah is the apartment of Maggie Chen, the woman Beth shot.  Helena explains that Maggie helped create the clones, but had a change of heart and began eradicating them.  Sarah almost kills Helena, but lets her go as Art breaks into the apartment.  Later, Helena collapses and her body is picked up by a mysterious van.  This is another example of why this show excels.  Every answer, every plot point, drives the story forward and answers questions, but the answers always lead to more questions and, more importantly, more plot points.  Every episode brings us deeper into the story and the mythology, but always hints at something even deeper.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “Orphan Black” is one of the best shows I’ve watched recently and belongs right alongside “Hannibal” and “Game of Thrones” as this year’s best shows.

5/5

The Following “Guilt”

"You don't need more people?" "Nope, just us two. The FBI couldn't protect a kitten in a room full of marshmallows."      

Bad.  So, so, so, so bad.  Watching this show is painful.  I want to like it so much, but it makes absolutely no sense.  Even worse, the show has some really nice character moments and arcs, but the details make no sense.

Last episode, Joe Carroll stepped up his search for Claire and tried to draw her out of hiding.  That plan didn’t work, but he got his cult did hack into the FBI’s phone records and triangulated her position.  They surmise that she is being kept in…wait for it…a motel.  The FBI is keeping a person who is in extreme danger in a motel.  Now, I’m not an FBI agent, I’m not trained in the field of protecting endangered persons, but if I was going to find a safe house, a place that needs to be secure and guardable, I wouldn’t pick a motel.  That would be almost the last place I would put someone (the last place being a street corner).  Motels have customers coming and going day in and day out.  What happens if someone checks into the motel and they mean to do the person you are protecting harm.  Now, they walk in, check in with the front desk clerk, and go to their room.  Now they have as much time as they want to find out where you are keeping them and they can get pretty close considering you have to deal with constant foot traffic. 

“Hold on,” you might be saying, “The FBI closes down a whole wing of the motel that they secure and watch with cameras.”  But let me pose a rebuttal.  Let’s say you decide to hole up in a house in the woods.  The house is surrounded by a seven foot wall and can only be entered through a gate.  You can post security and surveillance equipment all through the gravel drive to the gate and along the wall.  If someone pulls into the gravel drive that isn’t cleared to be there, BOOM, they’re dead.  If someone sneaks through the woods and climbs the wall, BOOM, they’re dead.  The FBI has large amounts of money and resources and you are going to tell me they don’t have similar establishments, or at least something as secure?  Bullshit.  Holding an endangered person in a motel is moronic on a level never before reached.  No wonder it was easy for the TWO MAN SQUAD to almost catch Claire and Ryan.  Two men, that’s all they needed to foil the FBI.

Ryan and Claire get away and Ryan goes to a real safe house, the house of an old friend who is in witness protection and has a lot of guns.  Everything seems okay as the show slows down to show us a couple of meaningless flashbacks and exposition about Ryan and Claire’s relationship until Claire realizes that one of the men at the motel put a bug in her clothes.  Apparently everyone in the cult is a master at sleight of hand considering all of the crazy shit they get away with.  After they find the bug they decide to stay a little bit longer.  You know, because that’s what you do when you know bad people know where you are.  The bug is found in the daytime, but the bad guys don’t show up until nighttime.  Why couldn’t they run in those few hours?  The bad guys can track the tracer down to meters (they send a guy out to look for a house even though they can see the house on their tablet, but we’ll leave that one alone for now), so why not take the bug and leave.  Drop the bug off somewhere else, and skip out?  You have literally hours to fool them apparently.

This show continues to have logical issues and weird character choices which blow my mind with their stupidity.  I didn’t even get to half of the things wrong with this episode, only the two biggest grievances.  I got around to reading some reviews on IMDB over the week and I’m glad to see that at least some people can tell how stupid this show is.  I’m still astounded by the booming success of this show while a similar yet better made (near perfect?) show like Hannibal struggles to take off.  All I can hope is that NBC gets more of an audience on Wednesday nights so Hannibal will get some more viewers.  Now I’m talking about another show…I better stop.

2/5