2019 - Hannibal: season two

I'm all caught up!  Which sucks, 'cause my reward is having to wait and watch s-l-o-w-l-y upon the shows return.  I have to say, I liked the first season better than this one.  To explain why I'll have to get into some SPOILERS... so beware of the below...

I guess my concern is with the idea of having Will Graham ride the line - from a long-game perspective I suppose I get it - we want to know if he'll head over to the dark side or not and we want to draw that out as long as possible.  I guess, for me, I'm excited to see this play into the established stories of Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs and, I suppose, Hannibal itself (although feel free to re-imagine that one all you want!).  The introduction of Michael Pitt and Katherine Isabel as the Vergers was pretty damn delightful, and I hope that storyline comes back down the line as it's meant to.

This season ended on a pretty great cliffhanger that allows the show to reboot when it returns next year, which I think is what will help keep it interesting and alive.  It's a new chapter and so changes need to happen.  I'll be there for sure.

2018 - Hannibal: season one

Dear Producers of Dexter, this is how you make a show about serial killers.  Okay, that’s a bit unfair given that clearly they’re different tones.  So I’m late to the game on this show, part of the beauty of that is I’ve been able to binge watch it and really just enjoy immersing myself in this first season.  It’s so damn impressive to see a network doing this kind of material and really going full tork with it.  It’s a visual feast and the gruesomeness is pretty high for a show that airs on a main network.  Kudos to everyone involved for having the balls to do this.

The 2nd part of this that makes me really gitty watching is seeing some Toronto actors that I know in supporting and guest starring parts (it’s shot in Toronto).  I like that this is a re-invention of the Hannibal Lector story to some extent, and we aren’t just seeing someone trying to do an Anthony Hopkins impression.  It’s a wise move and it works so well.  I’m excited that I can dive into the second season right away.  I really hope this show can keep up the quality.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens we it moves into the years of the story in which movies already exist for them… 

If you haven’t seen this yet and you like horror, suspense, or really just strong television than this one deserves your attention.

1989 - The Departed

I'm on this kick of re-watching epic/long films right now that I'm working from home. I love this film - it has such an amazing energy to it - I think it's my favorite Scorsese film, and that might just be because this is one of the rare times that he actually tells a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.  If you don't know anything about this film - it's got a pretty fantastic plot - DiCaprio plays an undercover cop whose infiltrated the mob, and Damon is part of a crime family and has infiltrated the high-level of the police.  It's such a juicy story, and it's done SO well here.  The performances are top notch and a lot of fun.  Filmmakers studying awesome set-ups should check out the opening of this film - it's text book perfection.  Who knows if I'll ever make a crime film, but if I do this one will be a huge reference for me.  If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and make up for that.

1986 - Inception

It would appear that I'm on a Christopher Nolan kick at the current moment.  This is another film that plays with a lot of slight of hand - which is something that Nolan does in a lot of his films.  The imagination inside of this film is super exciting - dreamscapes are a fun playground to be within, and this one is done on a epic proportion.  It's got a super strong cast that are having fun playing within this playground.  Few films have set pieces on this scale, but the best part is that they aren't just mindless action, but they all contribute to a really complex and unique narrative.  This is easily one of the more heady thrillers ever made and just another in a line of proof that Christopher Nolan is one of our most exciting filmmakers - whether he's dealing with an original concept of his own or adapting someone elses - he knows how to keep an audience excited.  If you haven't seen this, dig in!

1971 - House of Cards: season two

If you haven’t caught up, stop reading now.  Spoilers abound.  I have to admit that it took me a while to get into the first season of this show, but the second one went down smooth as silk.  Kate Mara’s exit made my jaw drop - and that’s no small feat.  I respect a show that isn’t scared to fuck with the status quo.  It was a move that let you know that this season was going to take no prisoners.  This is character who has literally murdered his way into the most powerful position in the free world.  It’s Dexter with politics, although a stronger, fiercer show - and I just can’t imagine a show would have this title if it wasn’t going to start watching the house topple at some point.  The beauty of where the show is now, and having him on top of the world, is the joy it’s going to be watching him get his.  This is one of the things that make your Netflix subscription a no brainer.

1970 - The Privledged

Full disclosure - a producer I’m working with on various projects is one of the masterminds behind this bad boy.  It’s a thriller that tells the story of a young lawyer who chose to make an ethical choice in court and now it might cost him his job.  While visiting his boss at his up north cottage they are all attacked by a local family - and our hero is offered a chance to join the privileged 1% in return for siding with, arguably, the bad guy.  It’s a topical piece, and probably comes off a bit as a light thriller, but I dig it enough.  It’s not perfect, but if you like character thrillers where people dance with the darkness, and you’re a fan of True Blood’s Sam Trammel, then this might just be the ticket for you.

1965 - True Detective: season one

I have to be honest in that I struggled with this series.  I kept up with it more for reasons of pop culture than of any real interest.  It felt a bit like homework for the most part, like the vegetables on the side of the plate that you eat just to get it over with.  I was wow’d by the performances, and it’s visual panache, but I just never really got out of it what a lot of others did, or felt like it was special in any way.  So this will be short and sweet ‘cause you don’t need to read me going on and on about not digging something.  Bottom line - lots of people loved this - I thought it was merely okay.  I’d check out a second season based on what the new story was potentially.  

1917 - Breaking Bad: season five - part 2

What can I say here that hasn't already been said?  This show is universally loved, by myself as well.  There isn't a bad performance, a bad scene, hell I'd argue there isn't a bad episode in the entire run.  Perfect is a strong word, but Breaking Bad might be just that.  There was an interesting theory that the final episode was a dream of Walt's, and that he simply died alone, not accomplishing anything he wanted to - part of me likes that as much as I like the idea of the ending going down exactly as it happened.  Did it tie things up too cleanly?  Maybe.  It went down pretty much as I'd expected and thought - so I didn't have a lot of surprises in the final hour, but I had a lot of fun watching it. What I loved about the last run of episodes was that it really felt like Vince Gilligan was giving us a sample of every possible outcome.  We got to see what it looked like when Jesse turned the tables on Walt, what it looked like when Hank won, Walt running away with his tail between his legs, Walt dying alone, and then Walt making amends and doing what he set out to do: take care of his family.  I'd argue that if you didn't like the ending of the actual finale - then at least you were given something in that group that helped it.  

I'm really looking forward to picking up that big-ass boxset and delving into the materials and behind the scenes.  Shit yes.  It's a beautiful show that never stayed past it's welcome and went out absolutely on top.  It's inspiring.  Good on ya, Gilligan and company.  Thank you for giving us an amazing story to obsess over for several seasons.  You'll be missed.

1915 - Now You See Me

I am a sucker for a big flashy con-film - and throw together a cast like this and I'm all-in.  It's the story of four-magicians brought together - why?  They aren't entirely sure - but they're about to become Robin Hood-esque Magicians on a heist that even they don't understand.
To talk about this film properly requires me to go into SPOILER MODE.  But before that I'll say - I liked it - I will absolutely see a follow-up if they make it (although it felt like this whole con had been someone's life's work) - but I did find that the characters were a little one note - and it was almost entirely plot based - nothing wrong with that - I just think the film could have been a lot richer otherwise.

Okay.  Now SPOILERS...

You know that the film is going to end with the twist of us realizing that one of the characters is going be the mastermind - it's not going to be a new character - films don't do that.  They kept pointing at the French lady (also this film seemed to have a bizarre racist slant agains the French...), so it's too obvious to make it her - she's the assistant - and Morgan Freeman's character is too obvious as well.  Ruffalo seemed like the biggest twist, and so to me it only made sense to make it be him.  That said, I just don't know about this twist - I'd have to re-watch the film to make sure it fit and wasn't just parlour tricks.

All that said, it was good popcorn entertainment and I will, indeed, take second helpings should they come my way.

1892 - Blood Ties

Finally getting around to writing up my TIFF viewing!  I'm a good dozen or so behind, so bear with me :)
This is a re-make of a film I never saw.  Two brothers, one a cop and the other a hardened criminal and the cat and mouse game that they play.  The film takes it's time in setting up the family dynamics - and it really doesn't need to - we get it pretty quickly.  Clive Own and Billy Krudup are top notch here, but sadly the women are given very little to do.
The film could do well with some trimmings - it has several solid sequences including a phenomenal third act that really builds up up to a super solid conclusion.  I hope they cut it down a bit before it's final release.  Great performances for the guys, a real shame the amazingly talented women were short changed here.

1885 - Whodunnit

So I don't really watch "reality" shows.  I work in reality a lot, but I don't find myself watching a whole lot of it.  I don't know how the hell this happened but this show became my guilty pleasure.  It's sooooo cheesy - but that's also part of it's charm.  It plays out like a massive version of Clue where a dozen or so people are brought into a house and one of them is the killer and the others have to figure out who.  But as they go along one-by-one they're all "killed" (which is this show's version of them being voted off the island) and then the others have to solve the murder - whoever has the worst theory on the murder is the next one to die - so on and so forth.
So if you like murder mysteries, this one is a lot of fun if you can get past the schtick.  I believe you can stream it online.

1868 - World War Z

I never for a second expected much similarity to the book.  So there's that.  And, to be honest, given that the book takes place 10 years after the outbreak having it take place during it's inception makes a lot more sense.  Also we're so used to zombie stories that take place within small groups of regular people, it's fun to see a globe trotting zombie adventure and a different side of that tale.  Everyone's going to have their opinion on the zombies, but I thought they worked well for what they were going for.  The chattering teeth one was wonderfully creepy.  There's some really fun, smart, inventive things going on here on both sides of it.  A zombie action adventure film with a big old heart.  I liked it.

1849 - Orphan Black: season one

I'm going to be completely honest and say that I started watching this film for two reasons:
1) Patriotic Pride: I always try to give Canadian shows the benefit of the doubt
2) A friend of mine is on the writing staff.
But both of the above only buys you really one episode for sure, and the rest have to be earned by the show itself.  I was waiting with baited breath for each new episode.  The show follows the story of a group of women who learn that they are clones of one another - but the big question remains - why?!
Each episode brings us deeper and deeper into the world and the lives of the characters themselves - and it moves at such a cocky pace that you wonder just what the hell they're saving for the swim back.  The writing is pretty fearless in this regard and has no problem putting it's characters into terrible situations.  All of this is already a recipe for a pretty decent show - but then you throw in a powerhouse performance by Tatiana Maslany as all of the clones, and well, then you've got something absolutely special.  From the british street punk, to the suburban mom, token lesbian lab rat, and bat-shit-insane one, Maslany must be exhausted doing all these character so perfectly well and unique.  I can only imagine she's got a team to help her keep it straight.
I want to go into so much detail about so many things - but it's so much better for you to discover it on it's own.  The first season is ten episodes and it's already been confirmed to be coming back (thank you, TV gods!), so if you're a fan of sci-fi at all, or even just enjoy a fun thriller, or better yet - a phenomenal performance, then please get yourself in gear and catch up.
And for you Canadians, this is absolutely something you can be proud of.  Watch it.  Make it happen!

1819 - Ferocious

I'm just on a Canadian film rampage this week.  Huzzah for that!  I always find it a celebration when my friend's features get a theatrical release.  Last night I was lucky enough to check out this film while it's in its theatrical run.  Ferocious is the story of a small town girl who left and made a name for herself as a tv star, but has come back to tie up some loose ends.  It, largely, takes place in all one location and while I'm sure that was a budgetary consideration it never once feels like it.  They make an amazing use of their prime location and it feels like a world unto itself.  Kim Coates does what he does best and comes off as a dirty creepy son-of-a-bitch, and my buddy Katie Boland plays a fantastic comic relief (in a good way).  This film charmed me quite a bit, and it's easy to recommend it.  It's got a great vibe to it.  There are a few tropes that you just have to buy into with this sort of tale, but you do so easily and are able to just dive in and enjoy the ride.  If I had to give a complaint, I suppose I just wasn't all that invested into Amanda Crew's character - everyone else popped in a really great way, but her character was slightly under-developed for my liking - which sadly is easy to have happen when your character is meant to shoulder a film like this.  Over all, good stuff Robert Cuffley!

1787 - Homeland: season two

There are shows that you look forward to watching each week and then there are shows that you just absolutely can't wait to get to the next one.  Homeland is in the latter category.  Here's the thing - this show is immensely popular so if you're not watching it yet then you really just need to - it's got a great premise, solid cast, and fantastic storytelling.  So for all intents and purposes expect the rest of this blog posting to be SPOILER HEAVY - turn back now and catch up with this show.  You've been warned.

So I was pissed when they didn't kill Brody at the end of the first season - I thought it was a cop-out and didn't know how they would extend that character.  The brilliance of what they did was the first season you spent rooting to kill Brody, and they managed to flip it where here you're rooting for him to make it out alive. Very very strong reversal for us emotionally as an audience member.  For Claire Danes character this season has been a redemptive one, and she's as good as she ever was.  And so if they coped out with how they ended the first season they emptied the kitchen sink here.  This season was doing things in the second episode that I thought would take the entire season to get out - but they just plowed through a lot of great material with what seemed to be reckless abandon.  A risk that paid off in spades.
This season moved along like a freight train and made the world much bigger - I think some people preferred the smaller scale of the first season and, really, I like both and I think they can work together as well.  I love where this was left and how I can already see the seeds of the third season.  Clean slate for everyone in a really wonderfully heartbreaking way.  Hopefully the future seasons can sustain this quality, or they get out while they're still in fighting form.  I loved this and can't wait to return to it next fall.

1781 - Law Abiding Citizen

It's rare that you can spend 80% of a film more-or-less being entertained by it, only to have it's ending come and you become completely resentful of the damn thing.  I found the premise titillating and I was hooked enough to want to know how it would end.  I won't go into spoilers in case people still want to see it - but this is essentially about a man whose wife and daughter are murdered and the person responsible gets off on a light sentence by making a bargain, and about how the widowed husband decides to make the law learn a lesson.
Considering it's a message film I found the message to be buried a bit, and completely abandoned by the films final act.  I bought into the face that Gerard could make all of this work, but I don't buy into the ending - at all.  Feels like an awfully large cheat.   Again, no spoilers and judge for yourself.

If you're a fan of the premise (as I was) check it out, and hopefully you aren't as disappointed by it's ending as I was.

1778 - The Town

I haven't seen this film since it was at TIFF, and this time I watched the director's cut.  It's been a while since I saw it so it's hard to know the exact differences (I didn't select the nifty option on the bluray which tells you) but I think it seemed to flesh out the characters a lot more, especially the relationship between Rebecca Hall and Ben Affleck. 
I stated in an early posting about Argo that Ben Affleck directs Ben Affleck better than anybody, and it's true as hell here.  What's great about this film is that it's not just a cool heist flick, it's about an area - it's about people.  Sure they've thrown in the plot convulsions to keep the story going, but at it's heart there's a strong character piece inside of it.  It's intriguing in those moments, and thrilling when it gets into the action. 
I watched the Hollywood Reporter's director's roundtable today with Affleck and he doesn't seem the most confident of director's - which is fine by me, if humility is what allows you to be this good at your behind the scenes craft then keep it up.
If you like dramatic thrillers and haven't seen this, you're really doing yourself a disservice.  Check it out ASAP.  I love it. 

1769 - Argo

I don't care what anyone says - nobody directs Ben Affleck better than Ben Affleck.  Hell, few direct as well as him period.  In three films Affleck has announced himself as a real talent behind the camera, and I hope he's not through yet.  I've always liked him well enough as an actor, but never been drawn to a film just because he's in it - but as a director - I'm there on opening night.
I didn't know about this story at all, and I went to see it with an American friend whom had heard about the 444 held in captivity, but not abbot the 6 that got away, and the story of what happened to them - even though it had been declassified over a decade ago.
It's the story of an American embassy overthrown and how six people who got away and were being searched for, got away.  Canada got all the credit for the mission originally, but in the film come off as little more than inn-keepers - I think that there's something in the middle that's most likely truer of the actual events and both sides involvements.  In addition, in the thrilling climax, I'm sure that the majority of it was invented for the sake of pure entertainment - and entertaining it is!!! 
Here's the bottom line - don't go to see the film as if it's history lesson - so to see it because it's a very entertaining thriller with some fantastic performances from Ben, Bryan Cranston, Alan Alda, John Goodman, and many others.  It's entertaining as hell, and despite some creative allowances gives you a pretty good glance into how fucked up some stuff has to be.  The bizarre issues between nations in this world of ours.  Highly recommend it. 

1742 - Chloe

I'm late to this, but finally caught it on Netflix.  It's nice to see Egoyan use so much of Toronto and even name specific locations.  I swear I've say exactly where they did both at Cafe Diplimatico and Rivoli.  Very funny.  It seems to be the big trend now to cast big American stars in Canadian films, and I suppose that sadly, that's the only way to really get a bigger audience to pay attention to our films.  Seyfield and Moore are really great here and have an eye for picking good projects.  More than I can say for Liam Neison who seems happy to be in anything offered to him that comes with a paycheck (I'm looking at you, Battleship). 
This is a nice little thriller about a woman who is convinced that her husband is cheating on her and so she solicits a call-girl that she's recently met to put him to the test.  There's a nice little change-up near the end that's fun if didn't happen to figure it out half-way through - I'd actually be curious to know how many people were genuinely surprised by the ending. 
All in all it's a really nice psychological thriller and I think Atom did a damn fine job of it.  Give it a go.

11/22/63

I think that Stephen King doesn't get enough credit.  Sure he's an international best-seller but I still think that people often pass him off as a fluff writer, just cranking out books year after year.  Well if this book is any indication of a fluff writer than I say keep on fluffin!
With a title that might turn some off, this is the story of an english teacher who is given an opportunity to go into the past and change the course of history.  The event - the assassination of JFK.  But the beauty of the time travel concept is that the device only allows him to travel back to 1958 - and every time he leaves and comes back he's only gone for two minutes in reality, and every time returns to the past it's still 1958.  Which means that if he wants to stop the assassination of JFK he will have to live in the past for five years.  That in and of itself is a brilliant concept. 
At 800+ pages some of called this book longer than necessary.  I wouldn't cut a single page.  It's amazing how King finds a way to fill the time with such a massive ticking clock down the line.  In truth he's built in several ticking clocks that always keeps us guessing and moving forward.
It's a book that's very clever, integrating a wonderful theme of the past harmonizing with it's old and new self, and ultimately not really wanting to be changed.  It's heartbreaking and uplifting as well.  I don't want to give away a single plot point since this book is just a plethora of discoveries.  I'm not quite sure if this is the best Stephen King book I've ever read, but it's easily the best I've read in a long time.  I'll even go so far as to call it a masterwork.  King should be proud, and you should get your ass on reading it.  Apparently Jonathon Demme is in the process of adapting it.  If it's done properly, this could rank up there with another King adaptation, The Shawshank Redemption.  And honestly, this could even be better.