The second to last episode of a season is usually a disappointment. It consists mostly of build up to lead into the season finale that will soon be following and therefore lacking in excitement. This week’s Boardwalk, however, was nothing of the sort. From the very beginning it was full of action and the excitement was constant. [Read more...]
TV Without Commercials: Boardwalk Empire 3.11
11/28/2012 by Leave a Comment
HST…Film Review: Anna Karenina
11/21/2012 by Leave a Comment
Lauren: With this theatre inspired adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic novel, Anna Karenina, Joe Wright and Keira Knightley manage to produce a film worthy of following up their other work together, Pride & Prejudice and Atonement. [Read more...]
TV Without Commercials: Boardwalk Empire 3.10
11/20/2012 by Leave a Comment
Well, it’s been a while (once again) since I’ve written about this season of Boardwalk but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching (once again). Last week we saw Nucky in a way we have never seen him before, severly concussed. Not only was he in a terrible state of mind from his injuries, but he is still coping with the fact that Lillian is now dead and he is alone. No one is supporting him in his attack against Joe Masseria and now those closest to him are also planning to leave him. Time, and hope, are dwindling for Nucky and moves will have to be made soon in order to maintain not only his status and fortune, but his survival as well. [Read more...]
TV Without Commercials: Boardwalk Empire 3.7
10/30/2012 by Leave a Comment
So I know it has been several weeks since I have written anything about the current season of Boardwalk Empire, but that doesn’t mean that I have not been watching. So far this season has been unfolding in a dramatic and exciting fashion, and has been far from disappointing to say the least. Not only has Nucky’s business life been unraveling but his personal life seems to have turned against him as well. Perhaps this Easter celebration with his family will be the beginning of things starting to turn around for not just him but all of the main characters in this season. [Read more...]
TV Without Commercials: Boardwalk Empire 3.2
09/26/2012 by Leave a Comment
It’s pretty hard to follow up a fantastic premiere, and Boardwalk Empire seemed to have that exact problem. This week’s episode wasn’t bad by any means, but it just didn’t deliver in the same way the premiere was able to. That being said, the problems are beginning to pile up for Nucky thanks to Gyp Rosetti making his delivery to Al Rothstein impossible. [Read more...]
TV Without Commercials: Boardwalk Empire Season 3 Premiere
09/19/2012 by Leave a Comment
The third season of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, started off with a bang…or better yet a whack. Several whacks to be exact, Gyp Rossetti. Gyp, from New York, and Dean O’Banion from Chicago, are two new mobsters we have already been introduced to this season, and based on the premiere alone this season practically guarantees to deliver drama and excitement equal to its predecessors. [Read more...]
Film Review: Brave
06/22/2012 by Leave a Comment
Pixar’s latest entry, Brave, is a reimagining of the damsel driven fairy tale and Brave finds success outside its title not making a whole lot of sense and the connective tissues of the plot not being terribly well earned. [Read more...]
TV Without Commercials Review: Boardwalk Empire 2.10
11/29/2011 by 2 Comments
When I first saw that the title of this episode was called Georgia Peaches, I was slightly confused. What could Georgia peaches have to do with Atlantic City, gangsters and liquor? Then it hit me. During the scene where Nucky goes to New York to find a new lawyer, he meets with Arnold Rothstein’s lawyer and is accompanied by Teddy. When the lawyer sees Teddy he hands the young lad a baseball that is autographed by non other than Ty Cobb, the Georgia Peach. The title is a reference to Cobb, but also to Nucky who, like Cobb, isn’t necessarily a good man but he is very good at what he does, in fact he is the best. Not everyone agrees with his methods but his ability to get the job done cannot be argued with. [Read more...]
TV Without Commercials Review: Boardwalk Empire 2.9
11/22/2011 by Leave a Comment
This weeks episode of Boardwalk Empire was entitled “Battle of the Century.” This was of course referring to the fight between heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey and his french challenger Georges Carpentier which took place in New Jersey on July 2nd 1921. This would be the only battle that took place during the episode and we didn’t even get to see it (but we did get to hear the real radio broadcast from 1921, that was pretty cool, but what else would you expect from Scorsese who used Jake LaMotta’s real fight audio in Raging Bull, but I digress). That is my only complaint, because the rest of this episode was excellent but come on, show us Dempsey knocking him out. I understand the title was about the fight since that was the actual name of that particular bought, but what we, the audience, witnessed was the build up to the inevitable battle between Nucky and Jimmy. Last week Nucky declared that he was stepping down and therefore James was the new king of the boardwalk. This week we saw what the power does for our young protagonist and how quickly that power seems to be slipping away. [Read more...]
TV Without Commercials Review: Boardwalk Empire 2.7
11/07/2011 by Leave a Comment
Last nights episode of Boardwalk Empire was even more crazy than the week before, which is something I never thought would be possible. Jimmy now has the power that he has been seeking and it appears that he is in position to lead his group of young gangsters. They all have one thing in common, they have one person standing in their way from complete dominance of their respected cities. It seems that all of them are in complete agreement that Nucky stands in the way of all of them. While Jimmy is confident he will go to jail and therefore be out of their way, no one else shares his confidence. Eli suggests that Nucky should be eliminated and everyone agrees. Jimmy, hates the idea and is clearly torn up with his decision but is afraid to look weak in front of his colleagues so he carries it out but, thankfully, is unsuccessful. [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: Choke
10/13/2008 by Leave a Comment
The adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel of the same name is a well made and humorous adventure in the life of a sex addict, but as a reader and lover of the book, I feel like it didn’t quite touch the greatness of the source material.
With that said, Clark Gregg’s adaptation will most certainly shock and awe people with the insane twists and unpredictability to the proceedings and I think the film works probably much better if you do not know what is coming. The absurdity and lunacy of everything that happens in this story is what makes it great, and take away the shock and reveal of it all takes away from it a bit. But moving on…
Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell) is a sex addict, he attends sexaholic anonymous (where he usually has sex), and is a historical interpreter at a colonial Williamsburg type of community. Victor is a med school drop out that is now raising money to keep his mother (Anjelica Huston) in residence at a nice adult women’s care facility due to her dementia. Victor visits regularly, though his mom usually thinks that he is a dead lawyer from her past as he struggles to get her to eat in-between his banging of the hospital staff. When his Mothers new doctor, Paige (Kelly Macdonald) comes into his life he tries to sleep with her, obviously, but at first for the wrong reasons and then possibly for the betterment of his mother’s health. [Read more...]
