Even though last week was the official season premier for Game of Thrones, it didn’t quite feel like the season was officially underway until now. All of the major threads of storyline have been revealed and I personally had forgotten just how excited I was to see them resume. The one I was most looking forward to the most was easily Brienne escorting Jaime, but now I can’t wait to see what happens with Brandon and his newly discovered ability. His new friend Jojen Reed is especially interesting, and while Bran’s story line was kind of boring last season it looks like it is going to be one of the most intriguing this time around. [Read more...]
TV Without Commercials: Game of Thrones 3.2 “Dark Wings, Dark Words”
04/08/2013 by Leave a Comment
TV Review: Game of Thrones 301 – Valar Dohaeris
04/01/2013 by Leave a Comment
Game of Thrones returns for its third season and it moves the pieces into place for about half the cast of characters, setting up some excellent intrigue. [Read more...]
HST… Film Review: John Carter
03/09/2012 by 2 Comments
Lauren: Before Pandora became more than the name of a box thanks to a little film called Avatar, before Star Wars became a space opera deserving of more than just cultish, nerd admiration (I’ll include Episodes 1-3 for Zac), there was a man named John Carter who found himself fighting for the inhabitants of Mars. Yep, Mars; just because we’re willing to explore other planets doesn’t mean we’re ready to go gallivanting around the far corners of the universe. [Read more...]
Film Review: The Woman In Black
02/03/2012 by Leave a Comment
“Here comes the Woman in Black / Murderous Offender / Here comes the Woman in Black / She’s hard not to remember.” Yes, those are the catchy lyrics to Will Smith’s “Men in Black” with a few alterations of my own, but it is hard not to manipulate the lyrics of the chorus to fit this film even though they are leagues apart in genre and story. It simply could not be helped. [Read more...]
Film Review: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
12/16/2011 by Leave a Comment
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the English language debut for Tomas Alfredson and the result is a marvelously acted and meticulously directed and plotted spy film that will reward those who give themselves over to the plot as it unfolds its twists and turns. [Read more...]
Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
07/15/2011 by Leave a Comment
The Deathly Hallows: Part II is an exciting, heart pumping, and near perfect finale to the Harry Potter series.
We last left our heroes as they escaped Malfoy Manor and our villain had acquired the Deathly Hallow, the Elder Wand. Harry, Hermione, and Ron pick right back up where they left off, on the trail for Voldemort’s Horcruxes, and they have a lead on the possible location of the fourth. Meanwhile, Snape is headmaster at Hogwarts and Voldemort may be realizing the fate of his Horcruxes.
The film opens with a couple scenes of exposition and then basically hits the ground running. The pacing is fantastic and the film rarely gives you a chance to breath. [Read more...]
Review: The Rite
01/28/2011 by Leave a Comment
The Rite is being all wrapped up to be the next exorcism movie but is in fact a meditation on psychology vs. demonic possession that is moderately interesting before it makes the decisions for you.
The film is based on “real events” and follows a falling out of faith seminary student who is recruited to become a recruit of the new league of exorcists the Vatican is recruiting. There has been a recent surge in possessions as of late around the world and the Vatican is wishing to place exercisers for easy access around the world. The recruited student is Michael Kovak who is forced into priest hood by his father and when nearing graduation feels like he can’t go through with it. The Vatican’s Exorcism Head Master takes a special interest in Michael and pairs him up with Father Lucas who attempts to show Michael the way. Michael’s skepticism is tested by Lucas as he takes him through his current patient’s troubles but is really tested when things get personal.
The Decade's Best – Munich (2005)
09/18/2009 by Leave a Comment
Steven Spielberg’s – Munich (2005)
Steven Spielberg continued his successful run of historical period pieces with this spy/thriller of sorts following the Israeli reaction to 1972 Munich Olympic hostage massacre that not only captures the tension of assassination, but perfectly conveys the right vs. wrong of the Israel/Palestine conflict.
The film opens amid a flashback that we will re-visit throughout the film of the Palestinian terrorists group Black September infiltrating the Olympic housing and taking the Israeli athletes hostage. After following the press/public perspective of the event unfolding, leading up to the haunting line “There all gone,” on NBC’s broadcast. We next jump to a top secret meeting of Mossad in which lead by the Prime Minister of Isreal they compile a list of targets as part of retaliation and retribution of the terrorist attack. To lead this mission they recruit Avner, the son of a war hero and a former body guard of the Prime Minister. With the aid of four other specialized individuals, bombs, documents, clean up, and cars, he will eliminate the desired targets as all ties are cut from his connection to the government. Operating on cash out of a safety deposit box and names on a list Avner is at his own means to locate their targets and eliminate them. [Read more...]
Review: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
03/12/2008 by Leave a Comment
This adaptation of a book by the same name is a fun period film for the actors to have some fun in, and they do, but ultimately is a bit off in a couple of areas and doesn’t gel overall as a film.
Amy Adams and Frances McDormand star as a bubbly, American, wanna be actress and a British nanny who is down on her luck, respectively. The film takes place over the entirety of one day and that plot device constrains the film and only serves the purpose for a food joke that I can see. The film also involves a love triangle for McDormand and a love square Adams [Read more...]
Review: There Will Be Blood
01/15/2008 by Leave a Comment
Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film is a masterpiece for the first 2/3 of the film but drags intermittently between some amazing scenes the rest of the way out, leaving it falling short of being the masterpiece it almost was.
We start off in 1898 in a sun bleached desert watching Daniel Plainview, Daniel Day Lewis in a fantastic portrayal or this menacing “Oil Man”, as he mines alone in a hole, searching for anything to help him get by. Cut forward to 1901 and Plainview is now mining for oil with a small team of men and finding moderate success after, and accident in the well the victim’s son is left orphaned with the crew and Daniel takes the boy, H.W., under his wing as his son. [Read more...]
