REVIEW: Alice Through The Looking Glass

Alice travels to many lavish places, talks to many extraordinary beings, sees many cool things and yet it feels as if she really doesn’t do much at all. I mean, sure, she does things—it’s just that I don’t really care all that much.

“Alice Through The Looking Glass” is the sequel that brings back Mia Wasikowska as Alice, a captain of her father’s ship. She enters through a mirror into Wonderland where she learns that the Mad Hatter, reprized by Johnny Depp, is extra mad…

…as in more mad than normal. And why is that? Because his dead family may not be dead after all. As a result, he is sick, which makes little sense aside from removing him from the story so that Alice can save the day by herself. 

Plot: Alice decides to journey back through time to learn of The Mad Hatter’s family’s fate.

This sounds like a great concept. Time travel with Alice In Wonderland. How could this possibly go wrong? Well, when it turns into “Alice On The Conveyor Belt of Life”.

This movie felt like Alice was going from place to place… as in on the conveyor belt… moving along, not staying too long, just kind of gathering intel.

The most interesting place was when she met Time played by Sacha Baron Cohen, who was a fun character. There was some very amusingly clever pieces of dialogue here. And Time becomes a sort of antagonist though I don’t think he’s in the wrong. But that’s all right because Helena Bonham Carter’s Queen Of Heart’s Iracebeth enters and becomes the second and real antagonist.

The film tried to juggle quite a bit of stories. Normally, I don’t mind that too much—even if a movie feels dense or overstuffed. As long as there’s some meat to chew on and even if it takes a couple of viewings to get it all, I tend to not be too put out by it. But unfortunately, this story doesn’t know which story to focus on and ultimately chooses to not put much care into any of them, leaving a hollow feeling which transformed into boredom.

What are all these stories?

We have Alice’s pre-wonderland story, which is actually good. A woman who wants to maintain her life as a captain in a world ruled by men. But this story gets left behind when she walks through the mirror. They try and pick it back up at the end, but it’s too late to care. I’d actually prefer if this was the only plot of the story.

The Mad Hatter… he’s the focus or more his family is the focus. But he’s not in it enough to really care about his emotional state and ends up resembling a MacGuffin since he is what drives Alice to travel in this world.

Alice in wonderland… she’s on an egg hunt of sorts. There’s no emotional resonance here. Time… He needs to stop Alice and so he tries. The coolest character with a lot to lose, but doesn’t play a significant role aside from showing up when the plot needs him. 

Then there’s Iracebeth and her sister Mirana—acted oddly by Anne Hathaway with these over-the-top flighty hand gestures. This was an okay part of the wonderland side of the story as we examine their past relationship. And although I found the resolution to their sibling relationship somewhat satisfying—even if the whole thing is rather bizarre to begin with—I think the correlation between this and the conclusion of Alice’s mission felt so abrupt and unrealistic that it undermined everything. There should be consequences.

Visuals

There were plenty of wonderful sets to enjoy as Alice moved throughout the story. I particularly liked the various clocks. Most of the CGI didn’t bother me, I thought it was well done. But there was a scene of Alice running where it looked like she was half-jogging on a treadmill with the background moving behind her. She didn’t even put much energy into that run. But as a whole, it was beautiful to look at.

In conclusion, “Alice Through The Looking Glass” had a great concept using time travel, but it falls short in story. The three characters with the most to gain or lose—Iracebeth, Time and The Mad Hatter—were more sideline characters, leaving Alice on a journey where the goal felt flat. There was very little tension and I never felt like the stakes were high enough.

But that’s what happens when Alice’s actual personal story is outside of Wonderland. That was the story that should have been written.


 Score: 4/10

Game Of Thrones: RECAP “Blood Of My Blood”, The Un-Undead Edition

(Season 6, Episode 6)
**spoilers**

Benjen, The Un-Undead

We begin with Bran. Fleeing from the walkers, a flurry of visions flood his mind… pause... we’ll get back to that in a minute…

With the dead descending upon them, a mystery man swoops in and rescues them on horseback. That person is non other than Benjen.

Damn, Benny, you don’t look so good. He tells the story of how he was attacked by a White Walker and was about to turn when he was rescued by those tree lovers from last week. They pierced his heart with a shard of dragon glass, which kept him from becoming a walker.

Interesting… so you can keep someone from fully turning. Sort of like an UN-UNDEAD person. Well, better than being Undead or Dead.

Back To Bran’s Visions

We saw the Mad King being, well… mad, yelling “Burn them all”. The way everything splashed across the screen I couldn't help but wonder if The Mad King was yelling about the White Walkers when he said BURN THEM ALL.

And we even got a shot of Jamie killing him.



Include in all these flashes, Bran gave us this. Looks like a female hand. Could this image be Ned’s sister?




Dinner At Sams

Sam is one of those characters you root for and generally expect to see him as a sort of side kick to another character, like Jon Snow. But this season he and his wildling girlfriend and baby are on a road trip to be with Sam’s family. This was starting to feel like a filler, but we now know there certainly was a purpose to this story line.

At dinner, Sam’s father, who is a lot like Tywin Lannister when it comes to hating one of his sons, boasts about his sword and how Sam would never get his hands on it.

“See that sword… it’s called Heartsbane. It’s been in our family for 500 years. It’s Valyrian steel. Only a handful of them left in the world. Supposed to go to my first born son after I die… to him. He will never wield that sword” - Sam’s Father

Wait, wut… Valyrian. Sam could sure could use that against those White Walkers.

Back to the dinner… Sam’s dear old dad learns that Gilly is a Wildling, which fuels his disgust for his son ever more. He throws his son out of the house. This leads to Sam taking the girl, baby and leaving… But not without grabbing that sword!




The Non-Separation of Church And State

That king sure is gullible and the High Sparrow took advantage of that. The Queen convinced the King of her sinful ways which she is *wink* trying to atone for *wink*. And the King fell for it so hard that he has become a pawn for the High Sparrow. He's following the laws of a God he probably knows nothing about... well,  aside from what others tell him.

The naive King  proclaimed that speaking against God is the same as speaking against the crown. Oops!

And since Jamie had the bad timing of fighting the High Sparrow, he has been banished from King’s Landing and sent to help with Riverrun.


What Happened To Riverrun?

Blackfish happened… Remember him? He left the Stark wedding to take a leak and fled the whole massacre. Walder Frey’s men haven’t been able to find him. But now, they know where he is. Blackfish took Riverrun and now Walder Frey wants it back.

And Walder Frey, like Ramsey from last week, has a chip to play…



Remember this guy. He was the groom at the wedding. Spent his wedding night in a dungeon. Blackfish’s nephew.


Arya Has Her Face Back

Arya was tasked with assassinating the lead actress of a stage play. So she watched the play and assessed how best to kill the woman. This was her last chance to get in good with the Faceless Peeps.

But when the moment came, she couldn’t do it. She had no problem killing people on her list, those who in her mind deserved it. But this woman didn’t deserve it from what she saw. And she figured out that the person who wanted her dead was a fellow actress who wanted her part.

Arya warned the actress that the other woman wanted her dead and then fled. She went back to herself, to who she was as seen when she picked up her sword “needle” which she had abandoned.



And now she waits and hides because she knows someone is coming to kill her. 


Danny Brings A Dragon To A Horse Race

The Mother of Dragons and Daario lead a posse of Dothraki and they have this obvious on-the-nose dialogue.

“How many ships will I need to bring my Khalasar to Westeros?” - Mother Of Dragons

“Dothraki and all their horses, the unsullied, the second sons… 1000 ships easily, probably more.”  -Daario

“And who has that many?” - Mother Of Dragons

“Nobody.” - Daario

“Nobody yet.” _ Mother Of Dragons

Now lets rewind to last week:

“Across the sea there is a person who hates the great Lords of Westeros just as much as we do. Someone with a large army, three large dragons and no husband.” - Euron Greujoy to Yara & Theon

Hmm… Sounds like the Ironborn will eventually meet The Mother Of Dragons.

But then an unexpected visitor shows up…



She knows how to ride in style!


Looking Forward To:

With Jamie going to Riverrun will he run into Brienne?

Game Of Thrones: Could The Mad King Have Been Yelling About Burning White Walkers?

For the episode entitled “Blood Of My Blood”, Bran had a lot more of his visions, including a cluster of images from the past. And one of the things he witnessed was the Mad King.

… yelling “Burn Them ALL!!”

This is nothing new. We’ve heard the story a few times, even from Jamie himself when he was with Brienne. So Bran’s vision fits into what we would expect. But one thing I never really asked myself was…

“What made him mad?”

What if “Burn Them ALL” was about the White Walkers. Maybe he had visions as well, not as intense as Bran’s but something that showed him that the White Walkers were coming.

We know FIRE kills the Undead. So he could have been talking about that.

Maybe his visions drove him to such insanity that he saw everyone as a White Walker that needed to be burned.

OR

Maybe he saw that the dead were turned into an army and did a preemptive attack to save himself by having everyone killed by fire. After all, if everyone is dead, there is no one to “turn”.

REVIEW X-Men: Apocalypse

Dazzling visuals are the cherries atop a a well made dramatic cake that successfully blends an assortment of characters while sifting in some well timed humor without overdoing it.

“X-Men: Apocalypse” begins in the past, introducing us to Apocalypse, the first mutant. It then shifts to the present, which is ten years after the previous installment.

The film has a lot of eggs, yet manages to neatly fold them all together.  Many of the characters start off separated with their own lives and are then united in a way that makes sense to the story and the characters. Their introductions are unique from each other, maintaining a freshness that kept me engaged.

Professor X maintains his school with the new addition of a young Jean Grey, nicely played by Sophie Turner from Game Of Thrones. Her powers are strong and she can see the future, but has some issues with control. We soon meet Cyclops. And thankfully, he is treated with more regard than in the original trilogy. We watch him come into his powers, which forces him to move into the academy. The relationship between him and Jean is believable, using their concerns over what their powers can do to others as a connection that felt real and natural.

Magneto has been living in Poland but bad things happen, as they tend to do with this tragic character. And he ends up ethically lost.

His story was the most compelling and the film did a good job of keeping Magneto on that gray edge, which has always made him a fascinating counterpart to Professor X.

Coming into the film, I was the most interested in seeing how Quicksilver and Nightcrawler would work within the team and it didn’t disappoint!

Quicksilver had one of the best scenes.

I liken it to his scene in “X-Men: Days of Future Past”. He didn’t just bring the speed, he brought humor with him as well.

As for Nightcrawler, the effects of the remnants of smoke he left behind every time he jumped was very well handled.

The scene between Angel and Nightcrawler was handled very well and highlighted the development with which the film was willing to give to the non leading roles, particularly for Angel. It doesn’t take a tremendous amount of time to have an effective subplot as the film proved here.

There was a lot to love about this film, but it’s not perfect. One of the weak spots is Apocalypse. He’s an intimidating figure and has amazing powers that were eye popping to watch.The things he can do with sand… And I love the etchings on his face. 

His interactions with other characters were intriguing particularly with Professor X. But I still felt like I didn’t really know him. X-Men always does such a tremendous job with their characters, especially the villains; but this time it felt a little flat. I knew what his goal was, but I really wasn’t as sold as to why he just couldn’t “get along” so to speak. Though with so much to cover, it’s difficult to give Apocalypse his full attention.

And I’m still not sold on Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique. But I did enjoy her scenes with Nghtcrawler.

Tone

The serious tone makes the story feel real and more like a sci-fi film. The coloring was fantastic and added to the gravitas. And there were times when the scenes had a level of violence that treaded on the dark side, blood and all.

Visuals

But the story really excels in the special effects and its impact on the enormity of what was happening. I loved how things disintegrated. Watching the world wither away was spectacular. Though at times it felt redundant. Seeing it a couple of times was awesome, but after a while, I got the point. And I would have liked to have seen more from Magneto in the final act but I loved the team work. This is the kind of movie that needs a theatrical watch.

All in all, “X-Men: Apocalypse” was a treat with rich characters and stunning visuals. I really want to continue with this new group of X-Men and hope they stay together for the next installment.


Score: 8.75/10

Wayward Pines: “Enemy Lines”

(Season 2, Episode 1 - Spoiler free)

The second season of “Wayward Pines” lacks what made the first season so engaging… the mystery. It rehashed much of season one, flowing a lot like the cliff note version as it rushes to get through the set-up. But the crumbling of what feels like a social experiment has me so intrigued that I will be tuning in next week.

The episode continues the story, picking up a short time after the conclusion of season one except, we now follow a new lead character—Dr. Theo Yedlin played by Jason Patric, which was a nice addition to the cast as I’ve always been a fan of his. Theo wakes up in Wayward Pines, wondering where is he and, like in season one, no one is in any kind of rush to inform him of the truth of this town.

What I was interesting in seeing was the comparison between the two seasons and its impact on viewer experience. Last season we saw the story through the eyes of Matt Dillon’s Ethan Burke, a secret service agent who went to Wayward Pines looking for his missing co-workers. Something nefarious seemed to be happening and so it played out like a mystery that kept the viewer coming back to figure out what was going on. How could his co-worker age over ten years? We needed to find out and the answer was satisfying.

Season two has a completely different feel from that perspective. We know what the lead character doesn’t know. And so it’s almost like experiencing it through the eyes of a town folk. You have information that Theo needs, but you also know the danger that comes from divulging that knowledge and quite frankly this lost and confused Theo isn’t your problem until he becomes your problem.

So what would you do if Theo came across your path? How would you handle things? Probably, call the authorities, let them fix it or else you can find yourself on the wrong end of the law.

We see the town in turmoil. And as the ending of season one would indicate—the children have adapted and see this town as a home they must maintain at all cost while some of the adults have a hard time adapting.

How do you go on when you are forced to leave behind a life that’s so ingrained that it defines who you are? How do you go on when all your past hopes, dreams and many relationships were robbed from you without your consent?

On the flip side...

How do you deal with people who are an imminent threat to the only world you’ve ever known and you want to keep that world safe and whole?




And so it plays out like a psychological, social sci-fi thanks to Dr. Jenkins.

Although we know the big answers, the episode did have some mystery to it, though it’s more small scale than the world building variety like in season one. But there is enough of a feeling that things need to unfold to make me curious and the ending had an amazing cliff hanger.

REVIEW: Angry Birds

Bright colors, zanny action and cuddly, big-eyed characters make this a visual treat that should easily satisfy kids; but an anemic story line will leave adults dissatisfied.

Video game turned movie, “Angry Birds” is set on an island where birds can’t fly. The film centers on a bird named Red. Seeing him grow up, we understand why Red and his Groucho Marx eyebrows is so angry as an adult. But maybe he’s too angry, turning downright mean at times. Things have gotten so bad that he’s isolated himself from a society that doesn’t want him around. Consequently, his behavior gets him in trouble and he’s ordered to attend anger management classes. It’s there where he meets three other birds who are also getting counseling.

The plot is rather thin. And the first act meanders as it waits for the green pigs to show up and give Red and the birds a goal to go after.



But even past the first act there isn’t much there with a chunk of the time spent on silliness that poses as story, but these scene are actually filler. The plot isn’t terrible, it’s simply mediocre. So if you’re taking your kids, you won’t be put out. 

The verbal comedy could have been better and sometimes it enters into lewd territory. Though, it feels like those were more for adults as kids may not even pick up on them... except for this one scene which is bizarre and lasts too long. But the real humor comes in the visual variety where it’s more about characters actions—like flying through the air, mouth open, eyes bugged eye type of thing that would appeal to a younger audience, who it’s targeting.

To its credit, “Angry Birds” gives Red his redemption and a touching moment that demonstrates that what he thought he wanted was far from what he really needed in his life; thus, giving the audience a satisfying ending.

The animations are excellent and the world is a real treat on the eyes—like this scene overlooking the edge of a hill with a pool of water leading to the edge.

The voice work was well done, though I felt Jason Sudeikis as Red was more acerbic than angry. The stand outs were: Maya Rudolphas as Matilda and Keegan-Michael Key as Judge Peckinpah.

All in all, “Angry Birds” lacks a good plot but has eye-popping visuals and amusing action scenes to keep its targeted audience entertained.


 Score: 6.25/10

BEAT SHEET: The Revenant

Protagonist: Glass
Antagonist: Fitzgerald

The first act is tad long.

1. Opening Image
	Glass sleeps with wife & young son beside him
2. Theme Stated
	Son is all Glass has left: Soldiers burned his Indian home, killing Indians including Glass' wife. His son is alive. Fast forward to present: Glass and his son hunt--they fire a shot Fitzgerald: Concerned about the pelts and the sound of the gun fire from Glass hunting in the woods (because the sound could alert others).
3. Set-Up
	Group of French traders and Indians attack the Glass/Fitzgerald team for the pelts. The survivors grab pelts and flee on boat. But they're sitting ducks. New Plan sets off Fitzgerald: Glass says they should ditch the boat & go on foot. Captain orders them to leave the pelts behind. Fitzgerald is angry, he won't leave his pelt behind. Money is all he cares about. We learn of his prejudice against Indians and his suspicions on whether Glass killed soldiers in the past in favor Indians
4. Catalyst - Inciting Incident
	Glass goes hunting by himself and gets brutally attacked by a bear.
5. Debate
	It doesn't look like Glass will survive. Initial Plan: Fitzgerald thinks they should do a mercy kill Captain chooses to carry Glass. So they comply but they can't carry Glass up they mountain. Captain is tempted to kill Glass but can't so… Ultimate Plan: Captain will pay money to whoever stays with Glass, waits till he naturally dies & buries him. Fitzgerald stays behind for the money. Glass' son stays too along with another man, Bridger.
6. Break into Two
	Night time comes, Glass' son talks to him, stays by his side. Glass dreams of his wife (fortifying the importance of family) Fitzgerald: Digs a grave We learn of his dislike for Indians. He was scalped and survived. Has a scar and bald patches.
7. B Story
	Fitzgerald/Glass: Fitzgerald offers Glass a chance to die (no more suffering), all he has to do is blink. Glass seems to blink & Fitzgerald smothers him BUT Glass' son returns. Fitzgerald and son fight and the son is killed. Bridger: Returns. Fitzgerald lies to him. Tells him the son is missing and he saw the bad guys. They must leave. But Glass is alive. Bridger, unsure & scared of the bad guys coming. He gives Glass his water kanteen and takes off leaving Glass alive in a grave.
8. Fun and Games
	Glass: Survival mode. Wants revenge for his dead son. He treks, alludes bad guys. Fitzgerald/Bridger: Bridger is suspicious. Fitzgerald tells Bridger he lied. No Indians on their trail. Bridger decides to continue with this lie because Glass is probably dead.
9. Tentpole - Midpoint - Reversal
	Glass meets a a stranger who turns out to be a good guy Indian, who feeds Glass. Not everyone is bad. There is good in this world.
10. Bad Guys Close In
	Fitzgerald: Returns to fort with Bridger. Tells his lie to Captain that they buried Glass. Gets paid. Bridger remains silent but allows the lie, doesn't take his share of the money. Glass/Friend: Bad weather rolls in. Friend builds a hut to save Glass. He wakes up, his friend is gone
11. All Is Lost
	Glass: Finds his friend dead and the French traders who are the villains here. He escapes with a horse but drops his kanteen. Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald wants to get paid for skinning even if they had to leave the pelts behind. Captains says they are waiting for some men to come and then they will go back and get those pelts. Until then no one gets paid.  Plus, Fitzgerald spent more than he would have made.
12. Dark Night of the Soul
	Fitzgerald: Drunk, passes out in the snow. Glass: Dreams of his wife (he gets his strength from her). But then is attacked. Flees on horse, goes over a cliff and horse dies. Now he's on foot in the snow. Almost mirrors Fitzgerald in the snow except Glass walks & Fitzgerald passed out. Nice opposing images here.
13. Break into Three
	French traders arrive at fort looking to deal. They have the kanteen. Fitzgerald knows Glass is still alive. The others think it's Glass' son (who they didn't know was murdered) Glass shortly arrives at the fort
14. Finale - Confrontation
	Fitzgerald is missing and he stole the money in the captain's safe. Bridger is arrested though Glass vouches for him. Glass and the Captain go after Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald kills the captain. Glass uses the dead body as a ploy and shoots Fitzgerald. Glass and Fitzgerald in a brutal battle. Glass bests him, but Fitzgerald is still alive (barely). Fitzgerald says "You came all this way just for your revenge, huh? Well you enjoy it, Glass...'Cause there ain't nothin' goin' bring your boy back."
15. Aftermath
	Indians show up. Instead of finishing off Fitzgerald, Glass pushes him down the river where the Indians finish him off--scalping. They let Glass live.
16. Final Image
	Glass' face as he looks out into the image of his wife smile and walk away.

REVIEW: Batman v Superman - Dawn of Justice

There’s a lot to discuss with this movie and I suspect people will be talking about it for years to come. I’m sticking to a spoiler-free review so I’ll probably do separate posts with more details and spoilers. But for now, I’ll avoid spoilers.

This movie didn’t work for the critics and was divisive all around. It’s not a perfect movie. But despite its flaws, I loved this film having seen it three times.

This is not your ordinary comic book movie. For me, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” is an emotional sci-fi drama that dares to explore the psychology of two of the most iconic superheros as it answers two intriguing questions:

How would you feel knowing there’s a powerful alien with the ability to destroy the world living alongside you?

How would you feel if you’re a powerful alien who wants to feel like you belong in the only world you've ever known while using your powers for good, but you’re met with fear, skepticism and god-like adoration?

Batman/Bruce

In a beautiful visual display, the film reenacts the destruction from “Man Of Steel” but from the perspective of Bruce Wayne. This sets in motion his anxieties. Batman has always been a paranoid superhero, who’s always prepared for the worse. And as the film proceeds we can clearly see his emotional descent that pushes him to want to terminate Superman.

On a side note: Can we please have a “Justice League: Tower of Babel”.

Superman/Clark

The object of Batman’s hate, Superman tries to navigate through a world in which everyone has an opinion of him. Unlike previous movies, this Superman’s actions have consequences. There’s a political element inserted into this film where people question whether Superman should get involved in world affairs. His Clark persona is idealistic and has issues with Batman’s brutality. This incarnation of Superman/Clark is compelling and relateable as he is set in the real world where he is viewed by many as a God.

Lex

Pulling the strings is Superman’s arch nemesis, Lex Luthor. And this version of Lex isn’t looking for beach front property. His hate stems from philosophical and religious feelings that date back to his past experience.  He has a high intelligence and a thirst for knowledge and power but ultimately Superman’s existence has exposed Lex’ own inadequacies which has him questioning just how much power he truly has.

The acting is top notch from every character. Ben Affleck has brought the dark knight to life—an older, more brutal Batman. Henry Cavill IS Superman. Jesse Eisenberg, the more controversial choice, really worked for me. You can see the crazed anger seething underneath the surface. There’s this scene on the helipad between Lex and Superman that is so brilliantly acted by both and the dialogue is fantastic.

As much as I enjoyed the film, there is room for improvement. The editing could have been better in some places. And as far as the structure, it would have benefited from a traditional stream lined method of story telling instead of the connect-the-dot method, particularly regarding Lex Luthor and the reveals surrounding his characters (as I tip toe around spoilers). 

The film was aesthetically beautiful, like pages from a comic book brought to life before my eyes. Superman was a sympathetic figure, given a lot of depth. While, the internal struggle of Batman as he is brought up from the depths of mistrust to one of hope because of Superman is wonderful to watch unfold. Superman ultimately saves Batman’s soul and I’m interested in seeing their relationship deepen in future films.

And I look forward to the 3 hour version blu-ray.


  Score: 9/10 stars

REVIEW: Preacher, Pilot

Season 1, Episode 1
spoiler free

“Preacher” is “Supernatural” on crack.

I didn’t know what to expect from “Preacher”. I had no pre-conceived ideas. After watching the pilot, I’m still not sure what I just saw but I know I’ll be watching the next episode.

Like many pilots, “Preacher” set up the main characters in the show, and gave us a clear picture of what kind of people they are even if I still don’t know what they are and what is going on.

Preacher

Not your ordinary preacher. He has a past that indicates he’s a tough guy underneath the white collar. How tough? So tough that even kids know about his reputation. A young boy asks the preacher to teach his father a lesson for beating up on his mother.

Cassidy

Watching him is going to be one hell of a fun ride. A spirited Irishmen with a bundle of energy, who seems to enjoy kicking butt. His introduction on the airplane was exciting.

Tulip

Gotta have a female who brings the edge. She’s cool and can take care of business. As exciting as that airplane scene was, her car scene might have been better.

This show brings some serious action fights and plenty of blood for those already missing “Banshee”. It has a great style, almost Tarantino like. With scenes filmed and cut for maximum adrenaline.

It’s officially on my dvr.

Game Of Thrones: Hodor… What’s In A Name?

(Season 6, Episode 5 titled "The Door")
**Spoilers**

An episode that demonstrated that even the seemingly extraneous characters can have a tremendous impact on the story. That was some impressive planning by George R.R. Martin.

I never thought I would cry at the end of an episode and that it would be over Hodor, the gentle giant of so few words.

The writers outdid themselves with this episode. It had everything: great set-up for future eps, action scenes with the Westeros version of the walking dead, an explanation to their origin and then the big reveal to questions I didn’t know I wanted to know nor thought the answers would bring me to tears…

Why does Hodor not utter much past the word “Hodor” and why the change of name from Wylis to Hodor?

Seems as though Bran’s time in the tree not only sheds light on the past but also shaped the past. We got a hint of this when young Ned heard Bran’s voice through time that echoed like a whisper.

Hodor is the way he is because Bran changed his life’s course. Hodor saw the future, he saw his own death like the one-eyed-cyclops. He saw that moment in time when he needed to "Hold The Door".

The parallels between the two frames was wonderfully done.

And so what would have been a different life. maybe one with a family and friends, was not to be. But being normal was not his purpose.

Let’s harken back to when Varys spoke to the red priestess and she had this to say.

“Everyone is what they are and where they are for a reason. Terrible things happen for a reason. Take what happened to you Lord Varys when you were a child, if not for a mutilation at the hand of a second rate sorcerer, you wouldn’t be here helping the lord’s chosen bring its light into the world. Knowledge has made you powerful.” - Red Priestess 

There are some similarities here with Hodor on how an event could change everything. On a personal level, it’s tragic but on the bigger scheme, Hodor’s purpose was to “Hold the door” and that knowledge condemned him to his mental seclusion that ultimately saved Bran and could possible save them all.

At the end of this, we lost the three-eyed-Raven to the White Walker insurgence. I wonder, could The Three-Eyed-Raven actually be Bran from the future? 

The Birth Of The White Walker

They were created with a glass shard through the chest. Of course, the problem with making demons is what’s to stop them from coming back to haunt YOU.

Fast forward to now, and those White Walkers came back. They’ve always been unable to enter the tree until Bran saw them in a vision, which put him face to face with one them. But unlike the people of the past, the White Walker saw Bran and touched him, leaving a mark that acted like a key into the tree.

And now the roosters have come home to roost… or in this case, kill. They fought the people of the tree which lead to Hodor’s death, along with another dire wolf and Bran escaping.

But prior to all that, we witnessed an exciting fight that had this in it…

Woah, what just happened?  I hope she took one of those spears on her way out that DOOR.

So why would anyone want to create White Walkers? To kill man.

Why do they want men killed? Because men were killing the trees. They are tree lovers after all.

The irony here is the new Lord of the Iron Islands wants his people to chop down trees to build new ships.

Speaking of which, where are Yara and Theon heading?

Could they be going North to Jon Snow OR are they heading to the Mother of Dragons.

“Across the sea there is a person who hates the great Lords of Westeros just as much as we do. Someone with a large army, three large dragons and no husband.” - Euron Greujoy 

I’m leaning toward the Mother of Dragons.

Another important question?

Is Brienne going to hook up with the red headed wildling? I sure hope so.

Legends of Tomorrow: Recap “Legendary”

This is the first episode without the oh-so-entertaining Captain Cold. How would the show fare without his coolness. Sadly, we had to find out.

The finale started off the way so many other episodes have started—the team separated as a left over from the previous episode.

Hawkgirl and Hawkman were held captive by Savage. And a part of me was saying, “Savage, you can keep them.” This trio were jumping back in time and ended up in Nazi Germany. Nothing like seeing a shootout with the Nazis on the wrong end of a weapon.

Hawkgirl crafted her own rescue. She slipped a note into the hat that Rip had. Jump to the future—or where the ship is—and Firestorm easily find the note in the hat. The note had her location. Now, this was a bit iffy. Would the note still be in there and not have fallen out? Plus, the hat just moved to a spot on the ship where Firestorm can easily knock it over. But… it’s a leave-your-brain-at-home show, so I’ll let that slide.

This is the finale, so I came in wondering what they were going to do with Savage. I had my finger’s crossed that they weren’t going to do one of those scenes where they have him cornered and for some inexplicable reason they let him live.

And I got my wish… But before I get there…

Savage’s Plan…

To destroy the world or create his own reality/world so that he can have absolute power. So how would he manage this? Easy… set off 3 meteors at the same time. Savage went back in time to give instructions to his other past selves.

The chosen moment was when Thanagar was in some astro-line with earth. 

Rip’s plan…

Separate the group into three to take out Savage, who would become mortal and completely killable

Outcome…

Teams of Heatwave, Hawkgirl and White Canary terminate their respective Savages.

“Savage is 3 times dead” - Heatwave

One of the cool things in this episode was when Heatwave and Ray went back 1958, the time where Ray and Hawkgirl lived for two years. On the side of the road, they got to Savage and the meteor and met up with one of those pesky human-animal hybrids created back at that past episode. I smiled. I love call backs like that.

The sad: White Canary learns about her sister’s death and we get a cameo from her father. Too bad they can’t figure a way to save her. Why can’t they? Because Rip says that no matter what they do to save her, it will make things worse and her father dies too. Not sure I really buy all that, but hey, if you want some Black Canary, check out this past Flash episode.

Conclusion…

The world is still in danger. They need to move the meteor far away for Rip takes it to the sun. It feels like a one way trip and so we get this from Heatwave…

“I don’t want to lose another friend” - Heatwave

He sure has come a long way.

But happily, we don’t lose another player with Rip making it back. And the team decides to stay together keep time intact.

But before that we get a Heatwave/Captain Cold scene. Back in the past, Heatwave talks to a Captain Cold who is still alive and in unaware of time travel.

Hawkgirl & Hawkman

They leave the team. I can’t say I’m upset about it. If only they had been written better. But what of the Ray/Hawkgirl romance… it seems like he’ll get over it.

Huge Reveal for next season…

The team is about to leave when a duplicate ship comes before them and out walks….

Who the heck is that? He knows them from the future. He reveals that Heatwave told him to meet them there and warn them not to go into their ship or they would all die.

His name… Rex Tyler, a member of the Justice society.

Oh Snap! Season 2 has just been saved.

REVIEW: The Curse Of Sleeping Beauty

A unique take on a fairy tale that steers away from the traditional in favor of a Penny Dreadful take, although not as satisfying.

“The Curse of Sleeping Beauty” centers on Thomas, the Prince Charming of the story, played by Ethan Peck. However, this version of “Sleeping Beauty” plays out in modern times and Thomas is just an ordinary guy with a really bad curse passed down to him through his bloodline. Proving, this is one family you don’t want to be born into.

Thomas is haunted by dreams of this beautiful woman, albeit with too much make-up, who he feels compelled to kiss. Doesn’t sound too bad—except there’s this evil entity pestering him as well.

Soon into the story, he inherits a home and things take a turn for the worse. This house has a life of its own and he goes from having a tough time when he sleeps to having a tough time when he sleeps and when he’s awake. Some inheritances just aren’t worth it.

Up to this point, the story had me curious. I wanted to  know more about this curse… how it started, how it related to him and what would that mean for sleeping beauty in this period of time.

But then things slowed down. Not much happened with Thomas meandering between dreaming and trying to figure out what it all means. A couple of characters are added into the mix, though one in a very convenient way.

The film is only ninety minutes and yet it’s not dense at all. There is very little story & character development stretched over this modest time frame. Thomas doesn’t even expand his search too far from a couple of rooms in the house, which shows the lack of budget. But they do use the dim lights and shadows well enough. It’s always dark but it works to effectively create a sense of edge to the creepy scenes.

I’m fifty-fifty on the ending. I appreciate that it looks to do something different and I’m all for originality. But it renders some of the previous events questionable, as well as highlights one of those annoying tropes:

Characters who purposely leave out really important information to make things harder for the hero.

I’m looking at you, Thomas’ uncle. 

Many films of this genre tend to take the route of isolating characters by having them rush into dumb decisions. And “The Curse of Sleeping Beauty” followed this trend as it fell victim to the curse of the horror genre tropes.


Score: 5/10

10 Cloverfield Lane: Who is the Monster?

After letting the movie sit, I pondered on the characters and I looked at the story from different perspectives. And I realized just how much the story changed depending on how I viewed their intentions.

Unlike MY SPOILER-FREE REVIEW, I will dig deep into plot points and major reveals. So this analysis is riddled with spoilers.

**spoilers**

The tagline for the movie reads as follows:

“Monsters come in many forms”

Although 10 Cloverfield Lane is related to Cloverfield; it’s only loosely. So the monsters aren’t of the same variety (until the end… sort of). Throughout the film, the tension is in the bunker, that’s the monster we’re talking about. So let’s start with the obvious and more considered monster…

Howard is the monster…

Howard is the character who is the clear first choice for the bad guy. After all, he had Michelle chained to the bed at one point.

Let’s trace his story:

Howard works with satellites. That’s how he knew of the existence of aliens. So he hired Emmett to build this bunker in preparation of that day.

Suspicious activity:

He has social issues so he may have some kind of problem here. Or maybe he’s just plain crazy. 

He runs Michelle off the road. He says it’s an accident but what if he did it on purpose to kidnap her?

He warns Emmett to not touch Michelle and can’t call Michelle a woman. This suggests that he sees Michelle as a girl. Seeing her as a woman ruins his illusion. The moment he sees her as a woman, she is in danger. This theory is based on him being some kind of serial killer.

Serial killer?…. Let’s rewind.

The word “HELP” is scratched into the window in that portion of the bunker (we’ll call it the “filter room”) that Michelle had to access via the vents. Michelle found that picture of Brittany, a girl whom Emmett said went missing a a couple of years back. But Howard had told Michelle that the Brittany picture was his daughter Meagan.

So Howard lied about the picture. Brittany was one of his victims that he had stashed in the bunker.

Emmett is the monster…

Now this is interesting. Emmett is the character that gets the least amount of focus. Because we see the movie through Michelle’s eyes, Emmett becomes the harmless one, the one who seems honest. Michelle trusts him and so do we since we aren’t given information beyond her perspective.

But what if Michelle has been trusting the bad guy all along? Let’s examine this scenario:

Howard contracted Emmett to build the bunker. That’s how Emmett knew about it.

Emmett saw the invasion and broke his arm trying to get inside.

But why didn’t Howard just let him in? Why does Emmett have to break his way in, especially since (in this scenario) Howard is the good guy? 2 reasons:

1. Howard may have thought Emmett was infected. This is  a possibility because Howard has social issues & is paranoid. Remember when that woman tried to get in and he kept yelling at Michelle to not let her in. But when Emmett tried to get in, it was at the start of the invasion and Emmett wasn’t infected.

2. What if Emmett having to fight his way in is related to the picture that Michelle found? What if Emmett dated Howard’s daughter (or had the hots for her) and because of this, Howard doesn’t trust or like Emmett. Notice how Howard doesn’t want Emmett to touch or get close to Michelle. What if Howard is watching out for Michelle? What if we go even further and say that Howard suspects Emmett of killing his daughter?

What… Emmett killed Howard’s daughter?

Let’s go back to what we know. “HELP” is etched on the window with blood on it. Someone was trapped in the filter room. We also know that the door to the filter room is blocked and can’t open. Maybe it was blocked on purpose.

That room has two exits: the blocked door and the window, which is shut with a lock.

Emmett wanted to crawl through the vents but his arm is broken. So Michelle went instead. Maybe Emmett wanted to go because he didn’t want Michelle to see the clues to what he had done.

But, but… Emmett said that the girl in the picture isn’t Meagan, so Howard is lying. But what if Emmett is lying and that is indeed a picture of Howard’s daughter. This changes the whole context of what’s to come.

Emmett says the girl’s name is Brittany, who went to school with his little sister. Brittany is a missing girl for the last two years. Body never recovered and everyone thought she left the town.

So let’s think about this. A girl goes missing and everyone assumes she left town? You mean her family didn’t call in a missing persons? Okay, maybe she had a bad relationship with her parents and had run away before. So they figured she was not coming back. Or maybe she’s an orphan. We don’t have details, but it does sound suspicious after some thought.

Summing up the theory:

The girl in the picture is indeed Howard’s daughter, Meagan.

Emmett worked with Howard on the bunker. During this time, he dated Meagan or wanted Meagan (maybe she wasn’t interested in him). Howard didn’t like Emmett dating or eyeing his daughter. So Howard wants nothing to do with Emmett.

Meagan goes missing or is found dead. Howard may suspect Emmett, but he doesn’t really know. Howard’s wife leaves him and moves to Chicago.

Emmett killed Meagan. Prior to the murder, he kept her in the filter room for some period of time (might not be too long).

Fast forward to now… aliens attack.

Emmett remembers Howard’s bunker. He tries to get in but Howard doesn’t like Emmett because Emmett dated his daughter. Emmett gets in, breaking his arm.

Emmett sees Michelle who has similar features to Meagan. So he gains her confidence and uses that to further Michelle’s paranoia about Howard. Maybe he planned to kill Howard if he had to so he can have the bunker with her or maybe he just wants to run away with Michelle.

Michelle is the monster…

This scenario is probably the least obvious to see. That’s because it relies on Emmett being the main monster. That’s the key.

So if Emmett is the main monster, how does that relate to Michelle?

Because Michelle inadvertently becomes a monster to Howard when she believes Emmett and let’s her paranoia destroy Howard. Of course, Howard’s social inadequacies didn’t help him.

Let’s look at it from Howard’s perspective:

Emmett dated Howard’s daughter, Meagan, and Howard doesn’t like this. Or Emmett was crushing on Meagan.

Meagan is missing or dead. Howard blames Emmett—either he thinks Emmett may have a hand in it or that he is somehow responsible, like he corrupted her.

Howard hears about the invasion, drives so fast that his car hits Michelle’s. She reminds him of his daughter so he takes her in to save her life.

Emmett and Michelle are getting along. Howard thinks back to his daughter and doesn’t like this. He gives the “no contact” rule to protect Michelle.

Howard notices the scissors and confronts Michelle and Emmett. Emmett confesses, mentions the gun and says he wanted to get Michelle to respect him like she respects Howard. This is his daughter all over again. Emmett is dangerous and will kill him & probably Michelle if he does nothing. He couldn’t save his daughter, but he will protect Michelle. So he kills Emmett.

Michelle turns on Howard and burns the place down.

Howard is dying and sees his safe haven burning down confused as to why she would do this to him after all he had done for her. For Howard, maybe he's come to the conclusion that Michelle corrupted Emmett since Emmet stole the scissors because of her. 

If only he hadn’t let anyone in. Both Emmett and Michelle ended up being evil.

REVIEW: The Invitation

 

“The Invitation” to a dinner party that serves up a plateful of foreboding that has you at the edge of your seat, wondering ‘do I want to stay for dessert?’ and the answer is ‘yes’.

The premise itself offers uneasiness as the film centers around Will—a divorced man who gets an invitation to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife and her new husband. And if that’s not uncomfortable enough for our hero, throw in the fact that he hadn’t seen her in two years. So they clearly weren’t close after the break up. This is sure to be one interesting get together.

However, there is a small reprieve in all this. He won’t be alone with them. Several of his friends also got an invitation. So it was like a reunion of sorts. Except for the new husband and the two weird strangers that had befriended his ex-wife during the past two years. Of course, Will goes albeit reluctantly but brings his girlfriend with him for support.

This sets the stage for a compelling night as we watch Will emotionally break down from memories that permeate his mind, which are shown to us in flashbacks. He descends into some kind of neurosis worsened by the confines of that house.



Depression fills his mind and as the night goes on he has an internal sense that things aren’t right. His ex-wife is acting strangely to him. And her husband and those two strangers he just met seem questionable.

Paranoia and mistrust sets in. And director Karyn Kusama brilliantly used the color schemes of the house to feed into our own anxiety. The walls are muted shades of brown mixed with shadows and dim lighting that generate a haunting effect. And what began as a sense of calm and coziness morphed into uneasiness as the night went on.

There’s an unnerving contrast from Will’s suspicious nature to that of his friend’s joyfulness and with that of his ex-wife’s pleasantness. He can’t relate to any of this and turns himself into an outsider.

And we the viewer follow him unsure of what is really going on. Is something sinister going on? Or is Will an unreliable narrator? Either way there is a sense of dread festering in every scene.

And so the journey builds, creating a roller coaster ride of emotions. Though it does feel like it goes on a tad too long at one point but course corrects itself.

Sometimes a thriller like this leaves me unsatisfied, unable to close out. But that wasn’t the case here. “The Invitation” ended on a high note.


Score: 8/10