Note: Major spoilers for the episode of The Walking Dead, you have been warned.
This week's episode was a bit of a slower walk than the last few episodes, but it really took the time to set up several new things, and have set some wheels into motion that certainly do not bode well for the group. The episode starts off with Abraham and Sasha talking, as they come back from patrol. Sasha says that Eugene is going to be going on the patrols with Abraham moving forward, and that Sasha is going to be going on watch tower duty. Abraham doesn't take this news very well, but he doesn't say anything. They show a flashback of Abraham and Rosita together, which will be a bit of a common theme throughout the episode as we see Abraham dealing with conflicting issues about whether or not he wants to have a relationship. I personally see this as a way of setting Abraham up to be taken off the show soon, but I guess we will find out about that later.
Next, we see Jesus talking to Rick and the group about how he lives in a similar community, and how he wants to work out a deal to trade between the communities. He says there are several other communities that are doing the same thing, and that the people of Alexandria are about to be opened to a whole new world. Rick and some of the others agree to go with Jesus to his community to see what the deal is.
On the way, they find a car wreck, and four survivors that are hiding out in a store nearby. We find out that one of them is a doctor, an OB-GYN doctor by coincidence, and so Maggie and Glen are hoping that he can provide care to Maggie during her pregnancy. After they arrive at the community, named Hilltop, the group finds out that this place is successfully growing crops and raising cattle. We also get to meet the leader of the community, a man by the name of Gregory. It's apparent rather quickly that this guy is just a leader by name, and that he is really not a very good leader and his people just fall in line because they don't know any better. Maggie talks to Gregory at Rick's request, and Gregory says they are willing to help out, if the people of Alexandria are willing to work for it.
A group of members of the Hilltop community return from a run, and a few members are missing from their group. Gregory asks where the others are, and one of the men says that Negan has taken his brother hostage, and would leave him alive only if he delivered a message to Gregory. He then stabs Gregory, and Rick and the group move into action to stop the attack. Rick ends up killing the man that stabbed Gregory, and the people of the community don't really know what to think of what has just happened. Jesus steps in and talks both sides down, and Jesus says that the situation is complicated and he will need time to explain everything.
We then find out that Negan came and killed one member of the community, a 16 year old boy, and demanded that they give half of all of their supplies, and in exchange, Negan and his Saviors would not attack the town. Rick and his group can't believe that they would just give in like that, but Hilltop doesn't have any fighters, outside of Jesus, and so they just gave in instead of fighting back. Rick says that they will go and kill Negan, in exchange for the supplies they were asking for. Maggie then goes in and works out a deal with Gregory, and he agrees. The end of the episode sees the group going off to find Negan's compound and fight Negan and his Saviors.
Considering the slower pace of the episode in comparison to some of the recent episodes, I still felt like it kept pace enough to not get boring, and to really introduce a lot of new aspects to the show. I feel like they spent a lot of time focusing on Abraham and Glen, and the emotions they are currently going through, which leads me to believe that something bad is on the horizon for one or both of them. Knowing how the comics play out a bit, I do know that something bad is coming sooner rather than later, but I do think they will stretch that particular sequence out until the season finale, so I wonder just what could happen between now and then.
Maybe this is all misdirection by the showrunners, as they know that a lot of people are aware of something bad happening very soon, and so they are trying to keep everyone guessing. There has been lots of speculation as to how this whole thing is going to play out, and so my guess is that they are going to play along all the way up until the moment happens. It's also possible that they are putting a lot of stuff out there to see how the fans react, and then make changes accordingly.
I guess we will just have to wait a few more weeks to find out all the answers, but the tone of the show has definitely gone from being hopeful and optimistic in the last few weeks to a more somber mood. I knew it wouldn't last long, but I guess it was good for the group to catch a breather for a few episodes before things go from bad to worse. And it looks like that change is going to be coming all to soon for the group.
My rating for the episode is 7/10
Monday, February 29, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Video Game - Rise of the Tomb Raider on PC
Rise of the Tomb Raider is the sequel to 2013 reimagining of the original Tomb Raider games, which was named simply Tomb Raider. I played through most of the 2013 game on the PS3, and while I thought the game was very good, both from a story perspective as well as a gameplay perspective, I still felt like something was missing. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at the time, but whatever it was, it did result in me never finishing the first game. And so I went into the sequel with a little bit of hesitancy, as I was afraid that I would end up in the same boat, and would not finish it. After about a month of playing, I have now finished the game, and have actually completed it at 100%. Whatever it was that was missing from the first game was completely erased by the creators, and I felt myself compelled to finish up all the side quests just as much as I was compelled to finish up the main story line as well.
First off, the story is excellent. This game picks up some time after the events in the first game, and we find Lara and her friend Jonah heading up a mountain, looking for an artifact that Lara's father was looking for before he died. This intro works as both a beautiful landscape and introduction to the story, and also a tutorial on how to use Lara's abilities. There more than a few moments that I found myself holding my breath as Lara makes her treacherous climb to the top of the mountain. The way that the game designers laid out this intro was amazing, and I was hooked in right away.
After the climb goes terribly wrong, and Lara gets separated from her friend, we get some more of the backstory. It turns out that Lara's father was searching for this artifact, and it ruined his career, as what he was looking for essentially amounted to the fountain of youth, and so nobody believed that it existed. He continued to pursue it, even up to the point that it appears he took his own life, after running his family name and his career. Lara goes in search of the artifact because she believed in her father, and also wants to clear his name. I will not ruin any more of the story, but it takes many twists and turns along the way, and plays out like a well written movie, not the typical writing you get from a video game. The voice acting for all of the actors was very well done, which really added to the overall presentation of the game.
Next, I want to talk about the gameplay. Every aspect of the first game that I can recall was improved on and worked out to near perfection. There were a handful of times that I would try to do something, and the controls would cause me to fall to my death, or would maybe not quite land on the ledge I was trying to get to, but these moments were few and far between, and normally I found Lara doing exactly what I wanted her to do. I also thought that the actual fighting (the bow and arrow, and the guns) was well improved from the first game. I found it rather easy to switch out between the different weapons on the fly, and to then aim my weapons at either the bad guys or the various objects around the landscape.
There is plenty of side quests and additional items that you can obtain along the way as well. The map layout was very well done and it was almost always easy to see just how much of an area I hadn't completed yet. If you missed things from a previous section, it was also easy, via the Fast Travel from the various campsites, to go back and pick up the things you missed. There were a handful of puzzles along the way that were a bit tricky or hard to see what to do at first, but this only added to the satisfaction upon completion of the puzzles, and you would get a worthwhile reward at the end, through upgrades that made Lara's journey a bit easier.
I think my play through with 100% completed was somewhere between 30-35 hours. To just play through the story itself, you could probably completed it all around 15-20 hours. Pretty satisfying amount of gameplay from a mainstream, $60 game, and I would say that Rise of the Tomb Raider was worth every penny. I even find myself wanting more now that I have finished it, and I will likely be looking into the DLC that is available for the game, which is something I normally don't do. The only complaint I have at this point is that I will likely have to wait 2-3 more years for the next one. But if the next one is even half as good as this one was, it will be well worth the wait.
My rating for Rise of the Tomb Raider is 9.5/10
First off, the story is excellent. This game picks up some time after the events in the first game, and we find Lara and her friend Jonah heading up a mountain, looking for an artifact that Lara's father was looking for before he died. This intro works as both a beautiful landscape and introduction to the story, and also a tutorial on how to use Lara's abilities. There more than a few moments that I found myself holding my breath as Lara makes her treacherous climb to the top of the mountain. The way that the game designers laid out this intro was amazing, and I was hooked in right away.
After the climb goes terribly wrong, and Lara gets separated from her friend, we get some more of the backstory. It turns out that Lara's father was searching for this artifact, and it ruined his career, as what he was looking for essentially amounted to the fountain of youth, and so nobody believed that it existed. He continued to pursue it, even up to the point that it appears he took his own life, after running his family name and his career. Lara goes in search of the artifact because she believed in her father, and also wants to clear his name. I will not ruin any more of the story, but it takes many twists and turns along the way, and plays out like a well written movie, not the typical writing you get from a video game. The voice acting for all of the actors was very well done, which really added to the overall presentation of the game.
Next, I want to talk about the gameplay. Every aspect of the first game that I can recall was improved on and worked out to near perfection. There were a handful of times that I would try to do something, and the controls would cause me to fall to my death, or would maybe not quite land on the ledge I was trying to get to, but these moments were few and far between, and normally I found Lara doing exactly what I wanted her to do. I also thought that the actual fighting (the bow and arrow, and the guns) was well improved from the first game. I found it rather easy to switch out between the different weapons on the fly, and to then aim my weapons at either the bad guys or the various objects around the landscape.
There is plenty of side quests and additional items that you can obtain along the way as well. The map layout was very well done and it was almost always easy to see just how much of an area I hadn't completed yet. If you missed things from a previous section, it was also easy, via the Fast Travel from the various campsites, to go back and pick up the things you missed. There were a handful of puzzles along the way that were a bit tricky or hard to see what to do at first, but this only added to the satisfaction upon completion of the puzzles, and you would get a worthwhile reward at the end, through upgrades that made Lara's journey a bit easier.
I think my play through with 100% completed was somewhere between 30-35 hours. To just play through the story itself, you could probably completed it all around 15-20 hours. Pretty satisfying amount of gameplay from a mainstream, $60 game, and I would say that Rise of the Tomb Raider was worth every penny. I even find myself wanting more now that I have finished it, and I will likely be looking into the DLC that is available for the game, which is something I normally don't do. The only complaint I have at this point is that I will likely have to wait 2-3 more years for the next one. But if the next one is even half as good as this one was, it will be well worth the wait.
My rating for Rise of the Tomb Raider is 9.5/10
Friday, February 26, 2016
TV Show - Better Call Saul - "Cobbler"
Note: Major spoilers for the Better Call Saul season 2 episode "Cobbler", you have been warned.
Despite the fact that I think the show has started off to a bit of a slow start for its sophomore season, I still find myself being sucked into the anxiously waiting to see what happens next scenario. I don't know if it is my deep admiration for Breaking Bad, and knowing that there are likely big things on the horizon, or if it is just that the way the show is written is supposed to make me feel that way. This week's episode certainly ended on a high note, and there were several very good scenes throughout the course of the episode, but I still felt like a lot of the time, I just wanted the episode to get to the point already.
The episode starts with Chuck in his house, still with all the electrical items turned off around his house, and he is trying to play the piano. After his boss shows up to tell him that Jimmy has taken on a job at the other firm, Chuck clearly doesn't take the news well, and it appears that he has decided to leave the house and go in to work to see Jimmy at the meeting between the two firms that happens later in the show. I felt that this scene was pretty good at continuing to develop Chuck. I feel bad for him half the time, but it sure feels that he is going out of his way to make sure that Jimmy doesn't succeed. He is a very interesting character, as I don't know if I should like him or hate him.
Next we see Pryce showing up at the police station to further discuss his missing baseball cards, and Mike sees him come in. Mike tells him that the police are just trying to set him up to confess to the drugs that he was hiding in his house, but Pryce doesn't believe him. Mike says he will take care of it and will find the missing baseball cards, and Pryce reluctantly agrees. Mike then goes to Nacho's place of business (his dad's auto body shop), and tells Nacho that if he doesn't return the baseball cards, he is going to tell his uncle Tuco that he has been doing side business, and Nacho decides that the wrath of Tuco is not worth the trouble, and so he says he will return them after hearing Mike's offer (more on that later).
We then go to the meeting between the two firms, and everyone is surprised to see Chuck show up. After the meeting, Chuck tries to talk to Jimmy, but Jimmy really doesn't want anything to do with him. They have a brief conversation, and then Jimmy leaves. It is very clear in this scene that Chuck is being nothing more than an instigator, and it is eating at Jimmy that his brother would only come out to (hopefully) see him fail. I still think that the dynamic between the two and whether or not Chuck is really out to sabotage him or if he genuinely is hoping that Jimmy will just come into his own and prove him wrong. I think it is the former, but I guess only time will tell.
Nacho, Mike, and Pryce all show up at the normal meeting spot, and Pryce gets his baseball cards back. In exchange, he has to give up his yellow Hummer, which Nacho is planning on breaking down for scrap, and so he is making a good profit off of the deal. Afterwards, Mike tells Pryce that he is going to need to go to the police station to tell them he found his baseball cards, but first he calls Jimmy to go to the police station with him.
To get the cops to accept that Pryce found his cards and can drop the case, Jimmy tells them that what he was really hiding was some sexual fetish videos that he had made. This is a big whopper, but it reminds me of some of the excuses that we saw Saul Goodman make in Breaking Bad, where he just goes so over the top, that its hard to question him on it. To take this even further, he actually has Pryce make one of his "squat cobbler" videos to show to the cops so that they won't think he's making it up.
At the end of the episode, Jimmy and Kim are eating pie (yes, the ones he bought to make the video with, but these were the "untouched" pies). Jimmy relays the story to Kim, and she gets visibly up when she finds out that he fabricated evidence (the video he made), and tells him that he could lose his license to practice for doing something so stupid. She says that she doesn't want to ever hear about anything like that again, and he says, "Don't worry, you won't ever hear about it again." We all take this as he just isn't going to tell her about it when he does it again, as opposed to realizing that what he did was stupid and not doing it again.
As I said above, I felt that the episode was a better than last weeks, but I was still hoping for it to pick up pace a little more. There is still a long ways to go in the season, so I'm sure that it will pick up a bit in the next few episodes, but I just keeping waiting for something big to open up, and it just hasn't happened yet.
There were several very strong scenes in the episode. When Mike goes to visit Nacho at the auto body shop, I think this was one of the better scenes in the series so far. Mike just adds something extra to all the scenes he is in, just as he did in Breaking Bad. The other scene is the end scene with Jimmy and Kim. The way it goes from all fun and games to being so serious, it was a very well filmed scene and really reminds me just why I started liking the show to begin with, and Breaking Bad before it. The writing is just so well done, and the way these scenes are filmed, they just suck you in and make you hungry for more.
My rating for the episode is 7/10
Despite the fact that I think the show has started off to a bit of a slow start for its sophomore season, I still find myself being sucked into the anxiously waiting to see what happens next scenario. I don't know if it is my deep admiration for Breaking Bad, and knowing that there are likely big things on the horizon, or if it is just that the way the show is written is supposed to make me feel that way. This week's episode certainly ended on a high note, and there were several very good scenes throughout the course of the episode, but I still felt like a lot of the time, I just wanted the episode to get to the point already.
The episode starts with Chuck in his house, still with all the electrical items turned off around his house, and he is trying to play the piano. After his boss shows up to tell him that Jimmy has taken on a job at the other firm, Chuck clearly doesn't take the news well, and it appears that he has decided to leave the house and go in to work to see Jimmy at the meeting between the two firms that happens later in the show. I felt that this scene was pretty good at continuing to develop Chuck. I feel bad for him half the time, but it sure feels that he is going out of his way to make sure that Jimmy doesn't succeed. He is a very interesting character, as I don't know if I should like him or hate him.
Next we see Pryce showing up at the police station to further discuss his missing baseball cards, and Mike sees him come in. Mike tells him that the police are just trying to set him up to confess to the drugs that he was hiding in his house, but Pryce doesn't believe him. Mike says he will take care of it and will find the missing baseball cards, and Pryce reluctantly agrees. Mike then goes to Nacho's place of business (his dad's auto body shop), and tells Nacho that if he doesn't return the baseball cards, he is going to tell his uncle Tuco that he has been doing side business, and Nacho decides that the wrath of Tuco is not worth the trouble, and so he says he will return them after hearing Mike's offer (more on that later).
We then go to the meeting between the two firms, and everyone is surprised to see Chuck show up. After the meeting, Chuck tries to talk to Jimmy, but Jimmy really doesn't want anything to do with him. They have a brief conversation, and then Jimmy leaves. It is very clear in this scene that Chuck is being nothing more than an instigator, and it is eating at Jimmy that his brother would only come out to (hopefully) see him fail. I still think that the dynamic between the two and whether or not Chuck is really out to sabotage him or if he genuinely is hoping that Jimmy will just come into his own and prove him wrong. I think it is the former, but I guess only time will tell.
Nacho, Mike, and Pryce all show up at the normal meeting spot, and Pryce gets his baseball cards back. In exchange, he has to give up his yellow Hummer, which Nacho is planning on breaking down for scrap, and so he is making a good profit off of the deal. Afterwards, Mike tells Pryce that he is going to need to go to the police station to tell them he found his baseball cards, but first he calls Jimmy to go to the police station with him.
To get the cops to accept that Pryce found his cards and can drop the case, Jimmy tells them that what he was really hiding was some sexual fetish videos that he had made. This is a big whopper, but it reminds me of some of the excuses that we saw Saul Goodman make in Breaking Bad, where he just goes so over the top, that its hard to question him on it. To take this even further, he actually has Pryce make one of his "squat cobbler" videos to show to the cops so that they won't think he's making it up.
At the end of the episode, Jimmy and Kim are eating pie (yes, the ones he bought to make the video with, but these were the "untouched" pies). Jimmy relays the story to Kim, and she gets visibly up when she finds out that he fabricated evidence (the video he made), and tells him that he could lose his license to practice for doing something so stupid. She says that she doesn't want to ever hear about anything like that again, and he says, "Don't worry, you won't ever hear about it again." We all take this as he just isn't going to tell her about it when he does it again, as opposed to realizing that what he did was stupid and not doing it again.
As I said above, I felt that the episode was a better than last weeks, but I was still hoping for it to pick up pace a little more. There is still a long ways to go in the season, so I'm sure that it will pick up a bit in the next few episodes, but I just keeping waiting for something big to open up, and it just hasn't happened yet.
There were several very strong scenes in the episode. When Mike goes to visit Nacho at the auto body shop, I think this was one of the better scenes in the series so far. Mike just adds something extra to all the scenes he is in, just as he did in Breaking Bad. The other scene is the end scene with Jimmy and Kim. The way it goes from all fun and games to being so serious, it was a very well filmed scene and really reminds me just why I started liking the show to begin with, and Breaking Bad before it. The writing is just so well done, and the way these scenes are filmed, they just suck you in and make you hungry for more.
My rating for the episode is 7/10
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
TV Show - 11.22.63 - "The Kill Floor"
Note: Major spoilers for the second episode of the 11.22.63 mini-series, you have been warned.
The episode starts with young Harry Dunning running through the woods, away from some kids chasing him. They catch up to him, spit in his face, take his pants and throw them in the river, and then leave him by himself on the bank of the river. This really sets up how this kid was bullied, not only by his dad as we know that he is going to kill his brother, sister, and mother on Halloween night, but he was also being bullied by the kids at school as well.
We then cut to Jake, who is at a diner when Harry walks in and has a brief conversation with the diner owner. The owner tells him he needs to stick up for himself, and gives him an extra pair of shorts, since the boys took his pants and threw them in the river. Jake then asks if there is a place he can stay in town. The diner owner tells him that he can try Edna and Arliss Price, because they rent out a room sometimes. After settling in to the Price house, he goes to the bar in town to see if he can track down Frank Dunning, Harry's father.
He walks in and talks to the man behind the bar, a man named Bill, and asks if he knows Frank Dunning. They guys looks at him funny and asks why he wants to know. Jake explains that a friend told him to look Frank up if he was ever in town. I guess he didn't learn his lesson about being too obvious from the previous episode. Anyway, Frank shows up and Bill tells him that this man was looking for him, so Frank and two of his friends sit down at Jake's table to talk to him. Frank is right out of the gate overbearing, intimidating, arrogant, and you can just tell that this guy is all bad news. They drink and talk for a while before Frank tells Jake to come with them, they want to go have a little fun.
In the car, Frank asks Jake how he knows him, because he never heard of Jake before. Seeing a tattoo on Frank's arm, Jake says that a guy he met in Lexington said he knew him from his time in the service. Frank asks Jake who it was, but he just gives a vague description, trying to throw him off. It's unsuccessful, but Frank doesn't let on. They go to the meat packing plant in town, and all go inside. Frank takes Jake to the kill floor, where they slaughter the cows. He brings one out and puts it in the gate, with only its head sticking out. Frank then tells him that his dad used to just have to swing the mallet one time, and the cow would be dead. He then hands the mallet to Jake and tells him to give it a shot. Jake hesitates, and then finally drops the mallet and walks away. Frank and his boys all laugh and they leave, guessing that their message has been sent.
The next day, Jake goes to the Dunning house and tells Doris that she has won tickets to a festival in Lexington, and that she should go away for the weekend. Jake goes back to the Price house thinking he has changed the past and everything is going to be okay. Jake is eating dinner with Arliss and Edna when Arliss tells him a story about how he killed a boy during the war, and the boy didn't even resist him. He just held him under the water and let the kid drown. He says that there is nothing heroic about killing a man.
After this story, Frank shows up and tells Jake to take a ride with him. They go to Frank's butcher store that he owns, and he brings out Doris, who has a black eye. Frank says that he thinks Jake is trying to sleep with his wife. Jake says that was what he was doing, but that Doris had no idea. Frank hits Jake a few times and throws him out in the street, along with Doris. Jake tries to apologize to Doris, but she just walks away from him. Jake then goes and buys a gun before heading home, as he has decided there is only one way to deal with Frank.
Jake goes to the Dunning house right before 8 o'clock, which was when Frank is supposed to kill everyone except Harry. While he is waiting outside, Bill shows up and holds a knife to Jake's throat, asking what he is doing there. Jake tells him that he is from the future, and that he is going to stop Frank from killing the Dunning family. Bill thinks Jake is crazy, but tells Jake that Frank killed his sister 12 years earlier, so if Jake is going to kill Frank, he won't stop him.
The events from Harry's story start to play out, and so Jake runs into the house, with his gun drawn. He finds Frank and Doris upstairs, and he tells Frank to stop. Frank comes at him, so Jake shoots him, but it's not a clean shot and Frank keeps coming. The fight back and forth, and Jake tells Doris to run. Young Harry comes in and grabs the mallet that Frank brought with him and takes it downstairs. As Frank goes to get the mallet back, Jake takes a rope and wraps it around Frank's throat, holding it there until Frank dies. Jake walks downstairs to make sure everyone is okay, and then he leaves the house.
Back at the Price house, Edna is waiting, and says she should call the cops. Jake says that no matter what it looks like, what he does was not a bad thing. She says that God will decide that, and then lets Jake leave without calling the cops. Jake drives off, but he stops along the road to wash his hands and face off at a water fountain. As he is standing there, saying to himself that he did it, Bill shows up and holds up the newspaper clipping that Jake had, saying that JFK has been shot. He holds out a gun and says, "Get in the car."
Of all the potential that I thought this show had after watching the first episode, it exceeded all of my expectations in this episode. The episode just flew by, and there were so many good scenes, the best of which were when Arliss told his story about killing the German kid, and the meat packing plant scene. The episode also left the cliffhanger with Bill finding out that Jake may not be crazy after all, and so now I am going to have a hard time waiting until next week for the next episode. If the remaining 6 episodes of this mini-series can keep the pace that this episode had, then I think this whole thing will end up being better than I was even hoping for after the first episode.
My rating for the episode is 9/10
The episode starts with young Harry Dunning running through the woods, away from some kids chasing him. They catch up to him, spit in his face, take his pants and throw them in the river, and then leave him by himself on the bank of the river. This really sets up how this kid was bullied, not only by his dad as we know that he is going to kill his brother, sister, and mother on Halloween night, but he was also being bullied by the kids at school as well.
We then cut to Jake, who is at a diner when Harry walks in and has a brief conversation with the diner owner. The owner tells him he needs to stick up for himself, and gives him an extra pair of shorts, since the boys took his pants and threw them in the river. Jake then asks if there is a place he can stay in town. The diner owner tells him that he can try Edna and Arliss Price, because they rent out a room sometimes. After settling in to the Price house, he goes to the bar in town to see if he can track down Frank Dunning, Harry's father.
He walks in and talks to the man behind the bar, a man named Bill, and asks if he knows Frank Dunning. They guys looks at him funny and asks why he wants to know. Jake explains that a friend told him to look Frank up if he was ever in town. I guess he didn't learn his lesson about being too obvious from the previous episode. Anyway, Frank shows up and Bill tells him that this man was looking for him, so Frank and two of his friends sit down at Jake's table to talk to him. Frank is right out of the gate overbearing, intimidating, arrogant, and you can just tell that this guy is all bad news. They drink and talk for a while before Frank tells Jake to come with them, they want to go have a little fun.
In the car, Frank asks Jake how he knows him, because he never heard of Jake before. Seeing a tattoo on Frank's arm, Jake says that a guy he met in Lexington said he knew him from his time in the service. Frank asks Jake who it was, but he just gives a vague description, trying to throw him off. It's unsuccessful, but Frank doesn't let on. They go to the meat packing plant in town, and all go inside. Frank takes Jake to the kill floor, where they slaughter the cows. He brings one out and puts it in the gate, with only its head sticking out. Frank then tells him that his dad used to just have to swing the mallet one time, and the cow would be dead. He then hands the mallet to Jake and tells him to give it a shot. Jake hesitates, and then finally drops the mallet and walks away. Frank and his boys all laugh and they leave, guessing that their message has been sent.
The next day, Jake goes to the Dunning house and tells Doris that she has won tickets to a festival in Lexington, and that she should go away for the weekend. Jake goes back to the Price house thinking he has changed the past and everything is going to be okay. Jake is eating dinner with Arliss and Edna when Arliss tells him a story about how he killed a boy during the war, and the boy didn't even resist him. He just held him under the water and let the kid drown. He says that there is nothing heroic about killing a man.
After this story, Frank shows up and tells Jake to take a ride with him. They go to Frank's butcher store that he owns, and he brings out Doris, who has a black eye. Frank says that he thinks Jake is trying to sleep with his wife. Jake says that was what he was doing, but that Doris had no idea. Frank hits Jake a few times and throws him out in the street, along with Doris. Jake tries to apologize to Doris, but she just walks away from him. Jake then goes and buys a gun before heading home, as he has decided there is only one way to deal with Frank.
Jake goes to the Dunning house right before 8 o'clock, which was when Frank is supposed to kill everyone except Harry. While he is waiting outside, Bill shows up and holds a knife to Jake's throat, asking what he is doing there. Jake tells him that he is from the future, and that he is going to stop Frank from killing the Dunning family. Bill thinks Jake is crazy, but tells Jake that Frank killed his sister 12 years earlier, so if Jake is going to kill Frank, he won't stop him.
The events from Harry's story start to play out, and so Jake runs into the house, with his gun drawn. He finds Frank and Doris upstairs, and he tells Frank to stop. Frank comes at him, so Jake shoots him, but it's not a clean shot and Frank keeps coming. The fight back and forth, and Jake tells Doris to run. Young Harry comes in and grabs the mallet that Frank brought with him and takes it downstairs. As Frank goes to get the mallet back, Jake takes a rope and wraps it around Frank's throat, holding it there until Frank dies. Jake walks downstairs to make sure everyone is okay, and then he leaves the house.
Back at the Price house, Edna is waiting, and says she should call the cops. Jake says that no matter what it looks like, what he does was not a bad thing. She says that God will decide that, and then lets Jake leave without calling the cops. Jake drives off, but he stops along the road to wash his hands and face off at a water fountain. As he is standing there, saying to himself that he did it, Bill shows up and holds up the newspaper clipping that Jake had, saying that JFK has been shot. He holds out a gun and says, "Get in the car."
Of all the potential that I thought this show had after watching the first episode, it exceeded all of my expectations in this episode. The episode just flew by, and there were so many good scenes, the best of which were when Arliss told his story about killing the German kid, and the meat packing plant scene. The episode also left the cliffhanger with Bill finding out that Jake may not be crazy after all, and so now I am going to have a hard time waiting until next week for the next episode. If the remaining 6 episodes of this mini-series can keep the pace that this episode had, then I think this whole thing will end up being better than I was even hoping for after the first episode.
My rating for the episode is 9/10
TV Show - The Walking Dead - "The Next World"
Note: Major spoilers for the episode of The Walking Dead, you have been warned.
"The Next World" episode picks up some time after the previous episode, but we aren't really told just how much time has passed. Everything seems to be getting back to normal around Alexandria, Carl has healed up and is now wearing an eye patch, and Rick and Michonne are seen getting ready for the day in their house. We soon find out that Rick and Daryl are going to be going out on a supply run, while the others remain at Alexandria. We are given the impression that this has become a routine of sorts, with the two men going out and looking for anything that will help the town and to see if they find any survivors.
As they prepare to leave the town, they get several shopping lists from the other residents. Everybody has their own special thing they seem to want, if they happen across any of the items. The mood around town seems to be upbeat, similar to how the last episode ended with things looking like they are finally working out for the group. I found it to be an interesting change of pace for the show, to see the people actually getting to act like people again. There is so much doom and gloom in the show, it's not often we get to see these characters acting at least a little bit like they did before the zombie apocalypse came along.
Rick and Daryl come across a large truck that is just packed full of all sorts of stuff. Deciding they have found the mother load, they leave their car behind and just take the truck to go back to Alexandria. On their way back, they stop at an abandoned gas station and start looking around. Daryl finds a vending machine that has one of the special items that was requested by Denise (soda pop in a can), and so they are trying to get into the vending machine when a man comes out of nowhere and runs into them. The man tells them that he is running from walkers, and that they are headed their way. Rick asks the man if he is with anybody else, and the man says no. Rick and Daryl say the same thing, as they don't know whether to trust this guy or not. The man introduces himself as Paul Rovia, but he says that his friends call him "Jesus" because he bears a striking resemblance to Jesus Christ. He then runs off, and gun shots can be heard behind the building. Rick and Daryl go to investigate, only to find firecrackers going off in a barrel. Realizing what has happened, the run back to the front of the building to see Jesus driving off with their truck.
Next we get to see Michonne following Spencer in the woods, and asks him what he is doing. He says he is just walking and allows Michonne to come with him. Carl and Enid are also in the woods having a picnic of sorts, when a walker wanders nearby. It looks like Carl is going to kill the walker, but then he changes his mind after he sees who it is, but we don't get to see just quite yet. It's pretty obvious that it's someone we know, and if you have been paying any attention at all, you should already know who it is, but Carl and Enid then begin to lead the walker away instead of killing it.
Cut back to Rick and Daryl who have been chasing after the truck. They find the truck sitting in the middle of the road, and Jesus has just finished changing a tire that apparently went flat. Rick and Daryl jump the man, but he puts up a surprising fight. They do end up getting the advantage on him, and they tie him up and leave him on the side of the road. Some ways down the road as they are driving, they hear a sound on the roof, and figure out that somehow the man got loose and got on the truck, so they slam on the brakes and he falls off the roof into the field where (coincidentally) there are a bunch of walkers. Rick fights them while Daryl goes after Jesus, but Jesus gets a gun and points it at Daryl. He then says, "Duck," and Daryl ducks just in time for Jesus to shoot a walker that was coming up behind him. Daryl then knock the man out and takes the gun. The parking brake gets knocked in the exchange, and the truck rolls into the lake, losing all the supplies that were in the back.
Spencer and Michonne are talking in the woods, and we see Carl and Enid walk by, and then we finally get to see who the walker was. It was Deanna, Spencer's mom. Spencer does what he has to do, and puts the walker down, and then he and Michonne bury her. Michonne later confronts Carl for not killing the walker himself, and he tells her that it needed to be somebody that loved her, that was why he led her to Spencer. He then tells Michonne that he would do the same for her, and she returns the sentiment.
Rick and Daryl are now back, and Rick gets home to find Michonne waiting for him. They make some small talk and briefly explain that they have both had a long, strange day. They then proceed to make out and put to rest any suspicions we may have had about their relationship that they have now moved on to more than just friends and survivors.
The next morning, Rick and Michonne are sleeping and someone is in their room, whispering for Rick to wake up. He and Michonne come out of bed with their weapons ready to find Jesus standing at the end of the bed. He says, "We need to talk," and that is how the episode ends.
I felt this episode was pretty strong. The pacing was good, the storylines all made sense, they did a good job of introducing a soon to be very pivotal character in the story (for those that know what happens in the comics), and it set into motion the next part of the story. We know instantly that there is more to this guy that showed up, but we don't know just how different and how important he is going to be until this final moment in the episode. I can honestly say that I'm pretty excited for the next few episodes, because there are some big moments coming as we speed into the season finale, and it has already been teased that the season finale is going to be huge. I have a very good idea of what is going to happen in that episode, but I will leave that for now as I have read too far into the comic to ruin it for those that haven't. I'll just say that you better strap in, because things are going to pick up real quick and I can't wait to see how it plays out on screen.
My rating for the episode is 8/10
"The Next World" episode picks up some time after the previous episode, but we aren't really told just how much time has passed. Everything seems to be getting back to normal around Alexandria, Carl has healed up and is now wearing an eye patch, and Rick and Michonne are seen getting ready for the day in their house. We soon find out that Rick and Daryl are going to be going out on a supply run, while the others remain at Alexandria. We are given the impression that this has become a routine of sorts, with the two men going out and looking for anything that will help the town and to see if they find any survivors.
As they prepare to leave the town, they get several shopping lists from the other residents. Everybody has their own special thing they seem to want, if they happen across any of the items. The mood around town seems to be upbeat, similar to how the last episode ended with things looking like they are finally working out for the group. I found it to be an interesting change of pace for the show, to see the people actually getting to act like people again. There is so much doom and gloom in the show, it's not often we get to see these characters acting at least a little bit like they did before the zombie apocalypse came along.
Rick and Daryl come across a large truck that is just packed full of all sorts of stuff. Deciding they have found the mother load, they leave their car behind and just take the truck to go back to Alexandria. On their way back, they stop at an abandoned gas station and start looking around. Daryl finds a vending machine that has one of the special items that was requested by Denise (soda pop in a can), and so they are trying to get into the vending machine when a man comes out of nowhere and runs into them. The man tells them that he is running from walkers, and that they are headed their way. Rick asks the man if he is with anybody else, and the man says no. Rick and Daryl say the same thing, as they don't know whether to trust this guy or not. The man introduces himself as Paul Rovia, but he says that his friends call him "Jesus" because he bears a striking resemblance to Jesus Christ. He then runs off, and gun shots can be heard behind the building. Rick and Daryl go to investigate, only to find firecrackers going off in a barrel. Realizing what has happened, the run back to the front of the building to see Jesus driving off with their truck.
Next we get to see Michonne following Spencer in the woods, and asks him what he is doing. He says he is just walking and allows Michonne to come with him. Carl and Enid are also in the woods having a picnic of sorts, when a walker wanders nearby. It looks like Carl is going to kill the walker, but then he changes his mind after he sees who it is, but we don't get to see just quite yet. It's pretty obvious that it's someone we know, and if you have been paying any attention at all, you should already know who it is, but Carl and Enid then begin to lead the walker away instead of killing it.
Cut back to Rick and Daryl who have been chasing after the truck. They find the truck sitting in the middle of the road, and Jesus has just finished changing a tire that apparently went flat. Rick and Daryl jump the man, but he puts up a surprising fight. They do end up getting the advantage on him, and they tie him up and leave him on the side of the road. Some ways down the road as they are driving, they hear a sound on the roof, and figure out that somehow the man got loose and got on the truck, so they slam on the brakes and he falls off the roof into the field where (coincidentally) there are a bunch of walkers. Rick fights them while Daryl goes after Jesus, but Jesus gets a gun and points it at Daryl. He then says, "Duck," and Daryl ducks just in time for Jesus to shoot a walker that was coming up behind him. Daryl then knock the man out and takes the gun. The parking brake gets knocked in the exchange, and the truck rolls into the lake, losing all the supplies that were in the back.
Spencer and Michonne are talking in the woods, and we see Carl and Enid walk by, and then we finally get to see who the walker was. It was Deanna, Spencer's mom. Spencer does what he has to do, and puts the walker down, and then he and Michonne bury her. Michonne later confronts Carl for not killing the walker himself, and he tells her that it needed to be somebody that loved her, that was why he led her to Spencer. He then tells Michonne that he would do the same for her, and she returns the sentiment.
Rick and Daryl are now back, and Rick gets home to find Michonne waiting for him. They make some small talk and briefly explain that they have both had a long, strange day. They then proceed to make out and put to rest any suspicions we may have had about their relationship that they have now moved on to more than just friends and survivors.
The next morning, Rick and Michonne are sleeping and someone is in their room, whispering for Rick to wake up. He and Michonne come out of bed with their weapons ready to find Jesus standing at the end of the bed. He says, "We need to talk," and that is how the episode ends.
I felt this episode was pretty strong. The pacing was good, the storylines all made sense, they did a good job of introducing a soon to be very pivotal character in the story (for those that know what happens in the comics), and it set into motion the next part of the story. We know instantly that there is more to this guy that showed up, but we don't know just how different and how important he is going to be until this final moment in the episode. I can honestly say that I'm pretty excited for the next few episodes, because there are some big moments coming as we speed into the season finale, and it has already been teased that the season finale is going to be huge. I have a very good idea of what is going to happen in that episode, but I will leave that for now as I have read too far into the comic to ruin it for those that haven't. I'll just say that you better strap in, because things are going to pick up real quick and I can't wait to see how it plays out on screen.
My rating for the episode is 8/10
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
TV Show - Better Call Saul - "Switch"
Note: Major spoilers for the Better Call Saul season 2 premiere, you have been warned.
Better Call Saul, the prequel series to my favorite television show of all time, Breaking Bad, has now officially started its second season, and unfortunately, I feel that it started off with more a whimper than anything else. I have been looking forward to the return of this show since the first season ended, as I really felt that the first season did a good job of distancing itself from Breaking Bad, while still keeping that overall feeling and keeping some of the links to Breaking Bad. I guess I was just hoping for more from this episode than we got.
After a brief intro showing what has become of Saul/Jimmy after the events in Breaking Bad (working as a manager at Cinnabon), the episode really starts off with Jimmy turning down the job that Kim had lined up for him. He doesn't really give a reason, just turns it down and walks away. He then stops and talks to Mike Ehrmantraut on the way out and questions why they gave back all the money at the end of the first season, and says he will never make that mistake again.
Next we see Mike about to take on another job with the pharmaceutical IT guy from the first season, but after seeing the new wildly painted Hummer that the guy has bought, Mike decides its time to step away from this job, as the guy doesn't understand what it takes to be successful as illegally selling drugs to dangerous criminals. The guy does the sell anyway, and the drug dealer he has been dealing with (Nacho) finds out where he lives during the exchange, proving that Mike was right.
We now go back to Jimmy, who is lounging in some pool at a hotel. Turns out he is using someone else's name and charging their room to get free drinks and food. Kim shows up and gets upset with Jimmy for turning down the job, as he tries to explain why he did it. The best explanation he can give is that he is just being himself, aka Slippin' Jimmy the con artist, and then he shows her what he means by scamming some douchebag at the bar that was talking about the stock market into buying him and Kim a bunch of drinks and then leaving abruptly. Kim and Jimmy then go home together.
The next morning, Kim is going back to work and Jimmy is quite obviously upset and wants her to just come with him and repeat the same thing over again. However, Kim knows that she has responsibility, and goes to work while Jimmy tells her that he has somewhere he needs to be anyway.
Cut back to the pharmaceutical IT guy, and the police show up at his house. The place has been ransacked and he talks about how his baseball cards have all been stolen, and he wants the police to find them before they can be sold to a pawn shop or a collector. The police sense that there is something suspicious going on, and they discover a hidden area behind his couch where something has been hidden away. They don't say it outright, but we get the idea that they are on to him for stashing drugs from his company and then selling them off.
Back to Jimmy in the pool again, and he is calling Kim trying to get her to come there, because he has found an easy mark. After he calls and leaves several messages, he then calls one more time, but this time it is to the people who offered him a job at the beginning, and he decides to take the job. When he shows up, everybody is welcoming him in, shaking his hand, making a big deal about him. He gets his own office and his own assistant. It looks like he has everything he needs, but then he sees a light switch on the wall that says "Do not turn off for any reason." He goes over to the light switch, and he can't help but to remove the sign and turn the switch off. He looks around and it looks like the switch did nothing. He flips the switch back to on, and the episode ends.
Overall, I was just thinking most of the time, "Come on, let's get on with this." I felt that there was a lot of build up to something, but then there was never any payoff. He said he was never going to make that mistake again about the money at the beginning, but by the end of the episode, here he was going back to trying to do the right thing. I understand that there is still a long ways to go in the story, and they have already alluded to the fact that he can't just leave well enough alone (the light switch scene), but I feel like we get the point already and didn't need the full 46 minutes of the episode to see this in action. I also found it weird that they did so much with the pharmaceutical guy, but then once again, no payoff. The cops appear to be on to him, but nothing really happened. I'm sure that will get tied up in the next episode, but still, I just felt like with the season 2 premiere, we needed a little more, I don't know, but just something.
Hopefully this episode was just a way to settle into the season, get a few balls rolling, and then let them pick up steam as they roll down hill over the next few episodes in the season. The first season took a little bit to get rolling as well, so I'm going to try not to jump to too many conclusions just yet. I will try to hold off better judgement until next week, but so far, I just feel that it was a bit of an underwhelming start.
My rating for the episode is 6/10
Better Call Saul, the prequel series to my favorite television show of all time, Breaking Bad, has now officially started its second season, and unfortunately, I feel that it started off with more a whimper than anything else. I have been looking forward to the return of this show since the first season ended, as I really felt that the first season did a good job of distancing itself from Breaking Bad, while still keeping that overall feeling and keeping some of the links to Breaking Bad. I guess I was just hoping for more from this episode than we got.
After a brief intro showing what has become of Saul/Jimmy after the events in Breaking Bad (working as a manager at Cinnabon), the episode really starts off with Jimmy turning down the job that Kim had lined up for him. He doesn't really give a reason, just turns it down and walks away. He then stops and talks to Mike Ehrmantraut on the way out and questions why they gave back all the money at the end of the first season, and says he will never make that mistake again.
Next we see Mike about to take on another job with the pharmaceutical IT guy from the first season, but after seeing the new wildly painted Hummer that the guy has bought, Mike decides its time to step away from this job, as the guy doesn't understand what it takes to be successful as illegally selling drugs to dangerous criminals. The guy does the sell anyway, and the drug dealer he has been dealing with (Nacho) finds out where he lives during the exchange, proving that Mike was right.
We now go back to Jimmy, who is lounging in some pool at a hotel. Turns out he is using someone else's name and charging their room to get free drinks and food. Kim shows up and gets upset with Jimmy for turning down the job, as he tries to explain why he did it. The best explanation he can give is that he is just being himself, aka Slippin' Jimmy the con artist, and then he shows her what he means by scamming some douchebag at the bar that was talking about the stock market into buying him and Kim a bunch of drinks and then leaving abruptly. Kim and Jimmy then go home together.
The next morning, Kim is going back to work and Jimmy is quite obviously upset and wants her to just come with him and repeat the same thing over again. However, Kim knows that she has responsibility, and goes to work while Jimmy tells her that he has somewhere he needs to be anyway.
Cut back to the pharmaceutical IT guy, and the police show up at his house. The place has been ransacked and he talks about how his baseball cards have all been stolen, and he wants the police to find them before they can be sold to a pawn shop or a collector. The police sense that there is something suspicious going on, and they discover a hidden area behind his couch where something has been hidden away. They don't say it outright, but we get the idea that they are on to him for stashing drugs from his company and then selling them off.
Back to Jimmy in the pool again, and he is calling Kim trying to get her to come there, because he has found an easy mark. After he calls and leaves several messages, he then calls one more time, but this time it is to the people who offered him a job at the beginning, and he decides to take the job. When he shows up, everybody is welcoming him in, shaking his hand, making a big deal about him. He gets his own office and his own assistant. It looks like he has everything he needs, but then he sees a light switch on the wall that says "Do not turn off for any reason." He goes over to the light switch, and he can't help but to remove the sign and turn the switch off. He looks around and it looks like the switch did nothing. He flips the switch back to on, and the episode ends.
Overall, I was just thinking most of the time, "Come on, let's get on with this." I felt that there was a lot of build up to something, but then there was never any payoff. He said he was never going to make that mistake again about the money at the beginning, but by the end of the episode, here he was going back to trying to do the right thing. I understand that there is still a long ways to go in the story, and they have already alluded to the fact that he can't just leave well enough alone (the light switch scene), but I feel like we get the point already and didn't need the full 46 minutes of the episode to see this in action. I also found it weird that they did so much with the pharmaceutical guy, but then once again, no payoff. The cops appear to be on to him, but nothing really happened. I'm sure that will get tied up in the next episode, but still, I just felt like with the season 2 premiere, we needed a little more, I don't know, but just something.
Hopefully this episode was just a way to settle into the season, get a few balls rolling, and then let them pick up steam as they roll down hill over the next few episodes in the season. The first season took a little bit to get rolling as well, so I'm going to try not to jump to too many conclusions just yet. I will try to hold off better judgement until next week, but so far, I just feel that it was a bit of an underwhelming start.
My rating for the episode is 6/10
TV Show - 11.22.63 - "The Rabbit Hole"
Note: Major spoilers for the first episode of the 11.22.63 mini-series, you have been warned.
The mini-series 11.22.63 is based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King (my favorite author), and so when I found out they were making a television series based off of the book, I was extremely excited. I wasn't as excited when I saw that James Franco would be playing the lead of Jake Epping, but he has always been kind of hit or miss for me, so I tried to save my judgment until I actually saw him in the role. After watching the first episode, I must say that Franco did a pretty good job in the role.
For those that don't know what the book/mini-series is about, it is about a teacher that is frustrated with the way his life is going, as nothing seems to be working in his favor. His wife is leaving him, his writing career has gone nowhere, and his teaching life is not going the way he had hoped. One day, while eating at a diner in the local town, the owner of the diner informs Jake that there is a "time portal" in the back of the diner that will transport you back to 1960 (1958 in the book, but they chose a later date for the mini-series to speed up the process a bit). The diner owner has gotten cancer, and so he has decided that he won't last until 11/22/1963, which is the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and so he asks Jake to go in his place and to save JFK on that date to make the world a better place. After some reluctance, and then the death of Al, the diner owner, Jake decides he will go through the portal and try to fulfill Al's final wish.
The book and the television show differ in several ways, so I will stick to the television series for the rest of this article. At the beginning of the show, we are told a story from one of Jake's students, Harry Dunning. Harry Dunning is a janitor at the school, and when he was a young boy, his father killed his mother, brother, and sister on Halloween in 1960, and Harry was the only one to survive. It is made very apparent the effect that this has had on Harry's life, and why he is an old man now that is just a janitor at a school and never really made anything of his life. This was obvious foreshadowing for the show, but it does a nice job of setting up something else for Jake to do after he goes back and has to wait the three years until the assassination of JFK.
The next bit shows Jake finding out about the portal, going through it for the first time, and trying to come to grips with what he has seen and trying to make sense of it all. Al tries to explain everything to him, and shows him the notes and ideas he has come up with during the times that he has gone through the portal and tried to make the changes himself. He also explains that when you try to change something in the past, the past kind of pushes back at you, because the past doesn't want to be changed.
After Al dies and Jake goes back, they show that Jake is not quite taking the caution that Al had told him to take, as he buys a flashy, expensive car, and he makes a bet on a fight with extremely long odds with a bookie that doesn't take kindly to being made to look like a fool. I thought this whole scene was well played, showing the profound effects that could happen without really knowing that you were doing anything too dramatic. The bookie sends one of his men after Jake, but Jake knocks the man out and leaves town to drive to Dallas, Texas, where the assassination will take place.
At this point, Jake starts doing a lot of research on the events that will be taking place. He finds a place to stay in town, and begins to do some of the things Al has suggested he do. He begins to follow George De Mohrenschildt, which is Lee Harvey Oswald's soon to be best friend, to try to find out if Lee Harvey Oswald was really the man who shot JFK, and if anyone else was involved. Jake gets very sloppy during all this and gets caught at one point, but he talks his way out of it, saying he was an obsessed fan of JFK, and that was why he was sneaking around.
At one point, he decides to go to a phone booth on the street and call his father. As he does this, the "past pushing back" really comes into play, as the connection is bad and so he can't really talk to his father. He hangs up and goes to walk away, but then he turns to try again, and a car comes speeding through and wipes out the phone booth. I felt that this scene was one of the better scenes of the episode, as it really showed that if Jake is not careful, things can go very bad, very quickly.
After this, the place that Jake is staying burns to the ground, and all of his papers that he had brought with him are gone. He decides to give up his journey and go back to Maine, and go back to his own time. But on his way, he decides to stop in Kentucky, which is where Harry Dunning was from. They show some kids in Halloween costumes, and then they show the young Harry Dunning and his family, and Jake stares at the father as he picks up the kids and drives off. This is where the episode ends, and so we have to wait until next time to find out what is going to happen when Jake tries to stop the father from killing the whole family except for Harry.
Overall, I thought the opening episode of the mini-series did a good job of setting up the storyline, and really making you wonder what is coming next. I thought the acting performances by both James Franco (Jake) and Chris Cooper (Al) were pretty good, although they never were really great performances, just solid. I'm anxious to see how things turn out, and I wish this was more like a Netflix show that I could just binge watch through, but instead we will have to wait until next week to find out more of the story. I hope the rest of the mini-series really capitalizes on the solid start, and I think this mini-series could turn out to be really good. I have found that sometimes the work of Stephen King doesn't translate well to the screen, but I'm pretty optimistic that 11.22.63 is going to be one of the few that does.
My rating for the episode is 7/10
The mini-series 11.22.63 is based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King (my favorite author), and so when I found out they were making a television series based off of the book, I was extremely excited. I wasn't as excited when I saw that James Franco would be playing the lead of Jake Epping, but he has always been kind of hit or miss for me, so I tried to save my judgment until I actually saw him in the role. After watching the first episode, I must say that Franco did a pretty good job in the role.
For those that don't know what the book/mini-series is about, it is about a teacher that is frustrated with the way his life is going, as nothing seems to be working in his favor. His wife is leaving him, his writing career has gone nowhere, and his teaching life is not going the way he had hoped. One day, while eating at a diner in the local town, the owner of the diner informs Jake that there is a "time portal" in the back of the diner that will transport you back to 1960 (1958 in the book, but they chose a later date for the mini-series to speed up the process a bit). The diner owner has gotten cancer, and so he has decided that he won't last until 11/22/1963, which is the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and so he asks Jake to go in his place and to save JFK on that date to make the world a better place. After some reluctance, and then the death of Al, the diner owner, Jake decides he will go through the portal and try to fulfill Al's final wish.
The book and the television show differ in several ways, so I will stick to the television series for the rest of this article. At the beginning of the show, we are told a story from one of Jake's students, Harry Dunning. Harry Dunning is a janitor at the school, and when he was a young boy, his father killed his mother, brother, and sister on Halloween in 1960, and Harry was the only one to survive. It is made very apparent the effect that this has had on Harry's life, and why he is an old man now that is just a janitor at a school and never really made anything of his life. This was obvious foreshadowing for the show, but it does a nice job of setting up something else for Jake to do after he goes back and has to wait the three years until the assassination of JFK.
The next bit shows Jake finding out about the portal, going through it for the first time, and trying to come to grips with what he has seen and trying to make sense of it all. Al tries to explain everything to him, and shows him the notes and ideas he has come up with during the times that he has gone through the portal and tried to make the changes himself. He also explains that when you try to change something in the past, the past kind of pushes back at you, because the past doesn't want to be changed.
After Al dies and Jake goes back, they show that Jake is not quite taking the caution that Al had told him to take, as he buys a flashy, expensive car, and he makes a bet on a fight with extremely long odds with a bookie that doesn't take kindly to being made to look like a fool. I thought this whole scene was well played, showing the profound effects that could happen without really knowing that you were doing anything too dramatic. The bookie sends one of his men after Jake, but Jake knocks the man out and leaves town to drive to Dallas, Texas, where the assassination will take place.
At this point, Jake starts doing a lot of research on the events that will be taking place. He finds a place to stay in town, and begins to do some of the things Al has suggested he do. He begins to follow George De Mohrenschildt, which is Lee Harvey Oswald's soon to be best friend, to try to find out if Lee Harvey Oswald was really the man who shot JFK, and if anyone else was involved. Jake gets very sloppy during all this and gets caught at one point, but he talks his way out of it, saying he was an obsessed fan of JFK, and that was why he was sneaking around.
At one point, he decides to go to a phone booth on the street and call his father. As he does this, the "past pushing back" really comes into play, as the connection is bad and so he can't really talk to his father. He hangs up and goes to walk away, but then he turns to try again, and a car comes speeding through and wipes out the phone booth. I felt that this scene was one of the better scenes of the episode, as it really showed that if Jake is not careful, things can go very bad, very quickly.
After this, the place that Jake is staying burns to the ground, and all of his papers that he had brought with him are gone. He decides to give up his journey and go back to Maine, and go back to his own time. But on his way, he decides to stop in Kentucky, which is where Harry Dunning was from. They show some kids in Halloween costumes, and then they show the young Harry Dunning and his family, and Jake stares at the father as he picks up the kids and drives off. This is where the episode ends, and so we have to wait until next time to find out what is going to happen when Jake tries to stop the father from killing the whole family except for Harry.
Overall, I thought the opening episode of the mini-series did a good job of setting up the storyline, and really making you wonder what is coming next. I thought the acting performances by both James Franco (Jake) and Chris Cooper (Al) were pretty good, although they never were really great performances, just solid. I'm anxious to see how things turn out, and I wish this was more like a Netflix show that I could just binge watch through, but instead we will have to wait until next week to find out more of the story. I hope the rest of the mini-series really capitalizes on the solid start, and I think this mini-series could turn out to be really good. I have found that sometimes the work of Stephen King doesn't translate well to the screen, but I'm pretty optimistic that 11.22.63 is going to be one of the few that does.
My rating for the episode is 7/10
Sunday, February 14, 2016
TV Show - The Walking Dead - "No Way Out"
Note: Major spoilers for the midseason premiere of The Walking Dead, you have been warned.
The episode picks up right where the midseason finale left off a couple of months ago. We see the group of men on motorcycles stop Daryl, Abraham, and Sasha, and then try to take all of their belongings, and also say that they are going to follow them back to wherever they call home. However, Daryl has other ideas, as he uses a rocket launcher to kill the entire group, and they instead head back to Alexandria on their own. For those of us that know about the comics, and the upcoming appearance of Negan, whom is mentioned in the scene, we know that this is only a temporary reprieve, but we will cross that bridge in a later episode, as there is no other mention of Negan for the duration of the episode.
Back in Alexandria, there are several things going on. Rick and his group are still trying to make their way through the streets covered in the guts of the walkers. The wolf and Denise are trying to make their escape amid the chaos. Carol and her group are trying to look for an opening as well, while not really dealing with what went down between Carol and Morgan. Glenn and Enid are also plotting out a way to save Maggie. Each of these different storylines play out to different outcomes, some of which I believe was entirely unnecessary considering the outcome, but I understand the need to tie up all of the loose ends that were left hanging during the midseason finale.
First, for Rick and his group. Considering how long they had built up this strange relationship between Rick and Jessie, I was a little surprised that it all came to a head the way it did. First, Sam (the youngest of Jessie's kids) started to freak out because of something Carol had told him a ways back, and so the walkers got him. This caused Jessie to start screaming, so of course she was next on the list to get killed by the walkers. During the commotion, someone dropped one of their guns, and Ron (the older of Jessie's kids) picked it up and pointed it at Carl. Apparently they hadn't quite hashed out their differences from the previous episode, and so Michonne kills Ron, but not before he pulls the trigger and shoots out Carl's eye. Having read the comics, I knew this was coming eventually, so it was no real surprise and really took out the suspense of the moment for me. I also felt like this scene was rushed, and the three deaths by this entire family felt just like a plot device and really took away from the impact that it should have had on Rick. Maybe they will address this later, but we will see. I have a feeling they will just move on and probably not really mention it again.
The wolf and Denise have some rather boring and out of place conversations, in which each one is trying to say they will change the other one. I really could have done without this whole storyline, so I will just get to the end. The wolf saves Denise instead of letting her die and getting away on his own, then he gets bit, she tries to save him, but Carol shoots him and he gets turned, causing Morgan to run into him after he has turned, and apologizes and kills the walker version of him. After writing out the above sentence, the whole thing seems even more ridiculous, and so I will just leave it at that.
As far as Carol and Morgan go, there was no resolution. They had a brief scene in which Carol says she should have killed Morgan, and he says, "You can't." Don't really know if he was alluding to the fact that she physically couldn't, because he wouldn't let her, or if he means that he didn't think she had it in her. I assume this will get further elaborated on in the future, so I won't dwell much on it. The only other interesting thing here is that they tried to show that Eugene was actually thinking about stepping up and being a man for once, which he eventually does before the end of the episode.
Not a whole lot going on with the conversations between Glenn and Enid, he is just trying to tell her that she has something to live for. It was fine, but it felt pretty unnecessary. Enid is a minor character that I don't feel like they even know what they want to do with her on the show, so I imagine all of this will be for nothing in the end, as she will likely die unspectacularly, or just fall into the background. Either way, they do end up saving Maggie, and Daryl and the others get back just in time to save Glenn before he gets overrun by the walkers.
Now that all of that was out of the way, the second half of the episode finally took off. After Rick gets Carl to the infirmary, he leaves and goes out to face the walkers on his own. He starts really laying into them, and slowly the rest of the town joins in. This is something I think should have been done a long time ago, everybody actually banded together and took the fight to the walkers, instead of just sitting back and waiting to get eaten. I'm not really sure what has been taking them so long in this show, but the walkers are slow and easily manipulated, the group knows exactly how to deal with them, so why haven't they been doing more of this all along? I know they were greatly outnumbered, but they just proved in this episode that none of that matters. They didn't really even do much out of the ordinary, other than Daryl lighting the pond on fire and letting the walkers just wander right into it. Why they all just turned their attention to the fire and away from the group of food right in front of them is a different question, but sometimes logic has to be thrown out on this show, and considering how well the scene was pulled off, I was okay with it.
At the end of the episode, Rick is talking to Carl and telling them that he was wrong, and that the people of Alexandra have learned, and they did fight for their survival, and now he thinks they can turn the town into what Deanna was trying to turn it into. Carl then squeezes his hand, showing the audience that he is okay, and strangely for this show, everything looks to have worked out for the group and everybody is optimistic. I think we all know this won't last more than five minutes into the next episode, but hey, we should probably take it. Lord knows this group could use it, even if it is only a five minute reprieve.
So, some of my thoughts on the episode as a whole. I thought the episode was pretty good, I just wish they would have focused less on the more boring storylines that were just going to end abruptly and not matter in the end anyway, and put more time into the bigger picture storylines. I think overall they did a good job, but I think they would have just felt like bigger moments if they would have gotten more time. I'm mainly referring to the deaths of the Anderson family, and the wolf/Denise storyline. On the whole though, I like what they have done with The Walking Dead this season, and I'm anxiously awaiting to see what happens next. I just hope they don't drag out the Negan storyline all the way to the end of this season, and then just show him for like two seconds, but I'm not holding my breath on that.
My rating for this episode is 7/10
The episode picks up right where the midseason finale left off a couple of months ago. We see the group of men on motorcycles stop Daryl, Abraham, and Sasha, and then try to take all of their belongings, and also say that they are going to follow them back to wherever they call home. However, Daryl has other ideas, as he uses a rocket launcher to kill the entire group, and they instead head back to Alexandria on their own. For those of us that know about the comics, and the upcoming appearance of Negan, whom is mentioned in the scene, we know that this is only a temporary reprieve, but we will cross that bridge in a later episode, as there is no other mention of Negan for the duration of the episode.
Back in Alexandria, there are several things going on. Rick and his group are still trying to make their way through the streets covered in the guts of the walkers. The wolf and Denise are trying to make their escape amid the chaos. Carol and her group are trying to look for an opening as well, while not really dealing with what went down between Carol and Morgan. Glenn and Enid are also plotting out a way to save Maggie. Each of these different storylines play out to different outcomes, some of which I believe was entirely unnecessary considering the outcome, but I understand the need to tie up all of the loose ends that were left hanging during the midseason finale.
First, for Rick and his group. Considering how long they had built up this strange relationship between Rick and Jessie, I was a little surprised that it all came to a head the way it did. First, Sam (the youngest of Jessie's kids) started to freak out because of something Carol had told him a ways back, and so the walkers got him. This caused Jessie to start screaming, so of course she was next on the list to get killed by the walkers. During the commotion, someone dropped one of their guns, and Ron (the older of Jessie's kids) picked it up and pointed it at Carl. Apparently they hadn't quite hashed out their differences from the previous episode, and so Michonne kills Ron, but not before he pulls the trigger and shoots out Carl's eye. Having read the comics, I knew this was coming eventually, so it was no real surprise and really took out the suspense of the moment for me. I also felt like this scene was rushed, and the three deaths by this entire family felt just like a plot device and really took away from the impact that it should have had on Rick. Maybe they will address this later, but we will see. I have a feeling they will just move on and probably not really mention it again.
The wolf and Denise have some rather boring and out of place conversations, in which each one is trying to say they will change the other one. I really could have done without this whole storyline, so I will just get to the end. The wolf saves Denise instead of letting her die and getting away on his own, then he gets bit, she tries to save him, but Carol shoots him and he gets turned, causing Morgan to run into him after he has turned, and apologizes and kills the walker version of him. After writing out the above sentence, the whole thing seems even more ridiculous, and so I will just leave it at that.
As far as Carol and Morgan go, there was no resolution. They had a brief scene in which Carol says she should have killed Morgan, and he says, "You can't." Don't really know if he was alluding to the fact that she physically couldn't, because he wouldn't let her, or if he means that he didn't think she had it in her. I assume this will get further elaborated on in the future, so I won't dwell much on it. The only other interesting thing here is that they tried to show that Eugene was actually thinking about stepping up and being a man for once, which he eventually does before the end of the episode.
Not a whole lot going on with the conversations between Glenn and Enid, he is just trying to tell her that she has something to live for. It was fine, but it felt pretty unnecessary. Enid is a minor character that I don't feel like they even know what they want to do with her on the show, so I imagine all of this will be for nothing in the end, as she will likely die unspectacularly, or just fall into the background. Either way, they do end up saving Maggie, and Daryl and the others get back just in time to save Glenn before he gets overrun by the walkers.
Now that all of that was out of the way, the second half of the episode finally took off. After Rick gets Carl to the infirmary, he leaves and goes out to face the walkers on his own. He starts really laying into them, and slowly the rest of the town joins in. This is something I think should have been done a long time ago, everybody actually banded together and took the fight to the walkers, instead of just sitting back and waiting to get eaten. I'm not really sure what has been taking them so long in this show, but the walkers are slow and easily manipulated, the group knows exactly how to deal with them, so why haven't they been doing more of this all along? I know they were greatly outnumbered, but they just proved in this episode that none of that matters. They didn't really even do much out of the ordinary, other than Daryl lighting the pond on fire and letting the walkers just wander right into it. Why they all just turned their attention to the fire and away from the group of food right in front of them is a different question, but sometimes logic has to be thrown out on this show, and considering how well the scene was pulled off, I was okay with it.
At the end of the episode, Rick is talking to Carl and telling them that he was wrong, and that the people of Alexandra have learned, and they did fight for their survival, and now he thinks they can turn the town into what Deanna was trying to turn it into. Carl then squeezes his hand, showing the audience that he is okay, and strangely for this show, everything looks to have worked out for the group and everybody is optimistic. I think we all know this won't last more than five minutes into the next episode, but hey, we should probably take it. Lord knows this group could use it, even if it is only a five minute reprieve.
So, some of my thoughts on the episode as a whole. I thought the episode was pretty good, I just wish they would have focused less on the more boring storylines that were just going to end abruptly and not matter in the end anyway, and put more time into the bigger picture storylines. I think overall they did a good job, but I think they would have just felt like bigger moments if they would have gotten more time. I'm mainly referring to the deaths of the Anderson family, and the wolf/Denise storyline. On the whole though, I like what they have done with The Walking Dead this season, and I'm anxiously awaiting to see what happens next. I just hope they don't drag out the Negan storyline all the way to the end of this season, and then just show him for like two seconds, but I'm not holding my breath on that.
My rating for this episode is 7/10
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Movie - Deadpool
Note: This review may contain spoilers, but I will try to limit them to only what is necessary.
So, it's been a while since I have posted anything on here, but after going and watching the movie I have been anticipating for many years (back when I watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine, when I thought any chances of getting an actual good representation of Deadpool were ruined forever), I decided it was time to get back to doing it. And so, here we go.
Deadpool in a lot of ways works like all the other super hero movies that are out there. This is an origin story, and there is a plot where someone close to the hero (or anti-hero in this case) gets captured, and so the main character has to use his new found powers to save the day. But that is where the comparisons stop. The way Deadpool gets from point A to point B is unlike any other superhero movie that has come before it, and I think that is what makes the movie stand out.
For those that don't already know this, Deadpool has a hard R rating, and it almost goes out of its way to make sure that it earns that badge and wears it proudly. But the best part about this, is that it never feels forced. I have been a huge fan of the character in the comics for years, and Ryan Reynolds, along with the writers and the director, have all made sure to stay as close to the character as possible. Deadpool is a unique superhero, mainly because he isn't a superhero. He has these powers, and he somewhat uses them to help people, but only when it benefits him. This is taken to full effect many times throughout the movie, and that is a big part of what sets this apart from say Captain America or Iron Man.
I think what makes Deadpool stand out so much more than the other typical superhero movies in the market today is how self aware it is and how it makes such good use of this self awareness to add so much humor to the movie. Even when it tries to take itself seriously, it's only another few minutes before Ryan Reynolds is delivering one of the hundred or so one-liners to remind the audience (through the 4th wall) not to take anything too seriously. I think the most surprising form of humor came through the use of Colossus, from the X-Men. He plays the perfect straight man to Ryan Reynolds' Wade Wilson, most notably when they first meet and Colossus tries to recruit Deadpool into the X-Men.
I had high expectations going into Deadpool, as I noted above that I had been waiting so long for someone to do it right, and I can honestly say that it exceeded my expectations in every way. It was a more coherent plot than I thought it would be, the acting was spot on for all characters, the humor was as it should be, and action scenes were as high quality as we have come to expect from Marvel movies. If I am to make one complaint, it would be that the humor might not be for everyone. Or maybe that I will have to wait too long before Deadpool 2. But hopefully in the meantime, we can see the Merc with the Mouth show up in one of the upcoming X-Men movies.
My rating for Deadpool is 9/10.
So, it's been a while since I have posted anything on here, but after going and watching the movie I have been anticipating for many years (back when I watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine, when I thought any chances of getting an actual good representation of Deadpool were ruined forever), I decided it was time to get back to doing it. And so, here we go.
Deadpool in a lot of ways works like all the other super hero movies that are out there. This is an origin story, and there is a plot where someone close to the hero (or anti-hero in this case) gets captured, and so the main character has to use his new found powers to save the day. But that is where the comparisons stop. The way Deadpool gets from point A to point B is unlike any other superhero movie that has come before it, and I think that is what makes the movie stand out.
For those that don't already know this, Deadpool has a hard R rating, and it almost goes out of its way to make sure that it earns that badge and wears it proudly. But the best part about this, is that it never feels forced. I have been a huge fan of the character in the comics for years, and Ryan Reynolds, along with the writers and the director, have all made sure to stay as close to the character as possible. Deadpool is a unique superhero, mainly because he isn't a superhero. He has these powers, and he somewhat uses them to help people, but only when it benefits him. This is taken to full effect many times throughout the movie, and that is a big part of what sets this apart from say Captain America or Iron Man.
I think what makes Deadpool stand out so much more than the other typical superhero movies in the market today is how self aware it is and how it makes such good use of this self awareness to add so much humor to the movie. Even when it tries to take itself seriously, it's only another few minutes before Ryan Reynolds is delivering one of the hundred or so one-liners to remind the audience (through the 4th wall) not to take anything too seriously. I think the most surprising form of humor came through the use of Colossus, from the X-Men. He plays the perfect straight man to Ryan Reynolds' Wade Wilson, most notably when they first meet and Colossus tries to recruit Deadpool into the X-Men.
I had high expectations going into Deadpool, as I noted above that I had been waiting so long for someone to do it right, and I can honestly say that it exceeded my expectations in every way. It was a more coherent plot than I thought it would be, the acting was spot on for all characters, the humor was as it should be, and action scenes were as high quality as we have come to expect from Marvel movies. If I am to make one complaint, it would be that the humor might not be for everyone. Or maybe that I will have to wait too long before Deadpool 2. But hopefully in the meantime, we can see the Merc with the Mouth show up in one of the upcoming X-Men movies.
My rating for Deadpool is 9/10.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)