2028 - Louie: season four

This show continues to kick my ass.  Seriously, I might as well just start this with praise.  This is easily my favourite half-hour series of all time.  It blows me away with how wonderfully funny, honestly awkward and incredibly poignant it is.  This is one of the most unique shows there is, and it’s incredibly brave.  There was a big break between seasons, and given how fantastic this season was, I’m absolutely fine with it.  This season seemed to be about Louie’s relationship with women - with his ex’s, his daughters, and women he dates.  And it culminated in (SPOILER ALERT) he and Pamela Adlon starting to date and fall for one another.  I was so happy that it didn’t turn sour and that we’ll hopefully continue to see more of this relationship into the next season of the series.  This could have worked well as as series finale, but I need and want so much more!  I could go into great detail about all that I loved about this, my favourite season of my favourite half-hour series, but please just check it out for yourself.  If you trust my taste in stuff, trust this - Louie is worth your time.  My only complaint is that season 3 is not available yet on DVD/BluRay (please, oh please make it available - and season four).  Please watch this show.  It will make my heart happy.

2027 - Chef

Swingers remains one of my favourite films.  It came to me when I was a teenager and really fixated on wanting to become a filmmaker, and the story behind how it made, everything about it, was kind of intoxicating.  If you’ve never seen that film it’s absolutely worth hunting for.  The reason I bring up Swingers is because it feels like Chef is the first personal film that Favreau has made since - his career became fixated on blockbusters, so it’s nice to see him return to his roots.  Chef almost feels like Fav’s commentary on the current studio system and the film itself being his own personal food truck.  One can’t help but wonder of the food critic isn’t standing in for a group of film reviewers.

There’s something magical about this film - visually it’s a treat, especially the food porn.  At it’s heart it’s the story of a man finding his way back to his roots and becoming a real father to his son.  Story-wise the film is pretty light - but what it lacks that way it makes up in character and charisma.  It’s the kind of film where heavy-weights like Robert Downey Jr., Scarlet Johanson, and Dustin Hoffman show up to act the hell out of a scene and then let the film take over.  

Only issue was that the backstory of the marriage falling apart with Sofia Vergara seemed random - they never seemed to have any issue with each other and it almost felt forced to give him some kind of hurdle to get over… Her character was a bit too one-note and supportive - it would have been a good way to flesh out his character a bit more.  

All in all it’s a really fun and lovely little film, a nice palette-cleanser from the typical summer-studio-fare.  If you like character based films with a heart - and you’re a bit of a foodie, this one’s right up your alley.

2026 - Breaking Bad: No Half Measures

I treated myself to the BluRay box set of the complete series because it’s loaded to the tits with features and also because I think it’s one of the few perfect television series that exists and I look forward to revisiting and studying it further - especially with all of the features that are on it.  It’s television school in a box and I think anyone wanting to work in the medium owes it to themselves to pick this up.

So this is supposed to be about the documentary that came with the set.  It follows the production of the final eight episodes, and it’s largely a love fest as they go through it, but there’s a lot of insight into how it works and if you’re a fan of the show then there’s no better way to dive back in and enjoy the final pieces being put together.

I look forward to slowly going through the series all over again and all of the special features that this set contains - there’s, I believe, over 55 hours of bonus which is almost as much as the series itself.  What a great ride I’ve got ahead of me… 

Bigfoot

I really enjoyed this little coming of age story about a young man growing up right in the midst of the most humiliating experience of his life.  I really like Pascal's drawing style, and it's been interesting reading his books almost in reverse and seeing how he's progressed.  It's about a young teen in Quebec who just became a YouTube in sensation (not in a good way) and how he deals with that and a crush and life in general.  It's sweet and honest and well worth your time if you like coming of age stories in this medium.

2025 - Marie Antionette

I have to admit that I watched this in the background while getting some work done - and it was a first time watch - so I feel a little guilty about that, but I think it made me enjoy the film more.  A lot I've read and heard about this film is that it's beautiful to look at, but not a ton happens.  I found myself liking it a lot more than I expected to.  I don't love Kirsten Dunst - I don't have anything against her, but she doesn't overly excite me - so given that, I was really impressed here and surprised by how I liked her - it was like catching a glimpse of what I loved so much with her from Interview With a Vampire (still my favorite performance of hers).  I like how Sofia has modernized this in it's style with the music and the dialogue being more casual, it works nicely and is refreshing for that reason alone.  Glad to have finally caught it.  Now I'm only behind by 2 Sofia Coppola films :)

This One Summer

This is a really sweet coming of age story about a girl away for the summer stuck between a best friend whose younger and immature, and a teenage crush with an older bad-boy, and also stuck between her parents' own personal drama.  The artwork is gorgeous and once you've blasted through the story it demands another look through just so you can soak it all up.  If you're a lover of indie comics that are heartfelt and honest, this one is a must read.

2024 - Tower Heist

I don't have a heck of a lot to say about this film - it boasts a hell of a cast, sadly they've very under-used in a film that promises a lot of fun and it just kind of.... bland.  As far as heist films go this is pretty underwhelming - even the heist itself is kind of boring - and the scale we'd expect to see on a television show these days, hardly worthy of a big blockbuster action comedy.  I don't mean to crap on this film, I didn't hate it by any means - I was just hoping for something a little more entertaining.  Alas.

2023 - Mad Men - Season Seven: part one

Somehow I thought we had one more episode for this half-season.  I love how this season started up and worked - it was so refreshing to see Don working for something as opposed to just coasting and bossing people around - it did a lot for regaining sympathy for him with his head between his heels.  I loved the way his relationship with Peggy has changed in all the years we’ve known them - it’s pretty amazing and staggering.  If you’d told the Don of season 1 that he’d one day be answering to the girl who gets his coffee he’d have laughed you out of his office.  

I have to say that with the exception of Sally, I could do without ever seeing the adventures of Betty and family for the rest of the series.  No offence to those cast members involved, it just feels like such a wasted amount of time especially given that we’ve got so precious few episodes left.  It really feels like everyone is getting a chance to shine - Roger visiting his daughter on a commune, co-workers going, literally, insane.  The company coming into it’s own, and Joan finally getting the financial wealth she’s only ever dreamed of.  It was actually sad to see Don and Megan’s relationship disintegrate and I wonder what they’ve got planned for him in the final eight when it comes to romance.  I doubt they’d have him and Peggy hit the sheets, but stranger things have happened… Looking forward to the final episodes when it returns.

2022 - Smashed

A cinematographer I know showed me part of this film as a visual reference for something and I'd wanted to see it ever since and was happy to see it on Netflix.  It tells the story of an alcoholic couple and what happens when one of them tries to get better and the other just couldn't give a shit.  Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives a charmed performance and manages to keep her character human and likeable amidst all of the shit she puts herself through battling her addition.  Paul is fantastic as the passive aggressive husband who, in theory, wants his wife to get better, but really doesn't want her to realize that she can get more out of this life.  It's a really lovely and heartbreaking story.  Check it out if you can!

2021 - Spinning Plates

This was the film that beat out Sex After Kids for the audience award the year we played in Santa Barbara, so I was eager to check it out to see what the hype was about.  It's a charming documentary about the love food and the way it creates a community around itself, or at the very least a family.  From a restaurant with a two month waiting list, to another that can barely keep the doors open, it paints an interesting behind the scenes look.  I have to be honest in that it didn't blow me away or anything, it was entertaining, but as far as documentaries do it's pretty light weight.  If you're a foodie it's worth checking out how that it's on Netflix!

2020 - This Is The End

I don't know why I ended up throwing this in while I was trying to get some writing done.  Did I?  Of course not.  This is an entertaining tour-de-force and about as meta as it gets.  If you're unaware of this film it's a film about celebrities (playing themselves) during the apocalypse.  It's raunchy, funny, and surprisingly heartfelt.  Rogen and Goldberg handle a pretty effects heavy film pretty well for their first time out and the comedy feels tight when it could have just been one big inside joke.  If you like dark comedies and any of the people in this cast - this is pretty much a must see.

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.

Petty Theft

I really quite enjoyed this book.  It debuted at TCAF this year (Toronto Comic Arts Festival), so I snagged a copy from Pascal himself.  It's a cute story about a comic artist who spots a beautiful woman stealing a copy of his book and shoplifts it.  Fun set-up.  It's a bit of a love-letter to the love of books.  I dug it.

2016 - X-Men: Days of Future Past

What I think is really unique about the X-Men series is how they've opened up the world, and technically done a reboot, but all the while still being able to use it with what they've done before.  This film is the ultimate bridging of everything we've seen in X-Men up to this point and it starts to put other pieces together.  Having Striker be part of the mix was great fun, as was seeing pretty much everyone from this world together in one film.  The story was strong - it was a little heavy on over-the-top action towards the end - but it also featured one of the best sequences of the entire series with Quicksilver set to Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle.  I won't ruin it for you - it's fantastic.  The film is full of fun references, including one to JFK being a mutant himself - which got a laugh (in a bad way) from the packed audience I was in.
What I most love about this instalment is that it used a classic X-Men story to find a clever way of fixing the sins made by X3 and anything else they want to tidy up.  They're now able to move forward pretty much however they want - which is really quite refreshing.  Could be the best film of the series, actually.  I dug it a lot.

Drama

I was given this to see if I thought it could be turned into something in the vein of television or film, and I have to say that it really grew on me by the end.  It's quite charming and doesn't treat the teenage characters like stereotypes, and it's actually a pretty honest and modern look at teenagers that's quite refreshing.  It revolves around the production of a highschool musical and all the inherent drama on and off stage.  If you've got a teenager that's into the arts, I highly recommend it for them, and probably even you.

Reunion

This was one of the books I picked up at TCAF on the recommendation of others - I also grabbed Pascal's newest book Petty Theft and will be reading that sometime shortly.  This is self autobiographical about Pascal getting the nerve up to attend his highschool reunion.
I've passed the 10 year mark for high-school (holy shit...) and so far as I know there was no reunion - I almost feel like the age of facebook has made the whole thing moot anyway - if you want to know what people are up to it's not all that difficult these days. And if you fall out of touch with people given how easy it is to stay in touch, chances are you were never really that close to begin with.
There's a nice little character arc here, although I must admit that the character becomes quite grating towards the end - but I think that's largely intentional.  This is my first entry into the world of Pascal Girard, so I look forward to more of his work - it's quite funny in a delightfully awkward way.

2015 - Like Crazy

I'd been highly recommended this film so I thought I'd give it a whirl once I noticed that it was on Netflix.  It's the story of two young lovers desperate to be together, but torn apart by a Visa violation that keeps her from being about to move to be with him in L.A. and he can't be with her because... well, the plot is a bit weak in that area, but I'll let it go for the pure pleasure of watching Felicity Jones smile when they come together.  She and Anton Yelchin have created a really lovely, flawed, and honest look at long distance relationships.  Made on a low budget with a lot of improvisation, the film feels natural and lovely.  I love the way the filmmaker spans time with the jump cuts that can be months or more at a time, simple framing around those moments and a perfect use of score.
I don't want to give much away about this one - the plot is pretty simple, but the beauty is in the actors chemistry and how we connect to them.  It's a beautiful piece!

2014 - Louie: season one (commentary)

I love this show with all I've got.  I broke down and bought the sets because I just can't imagine not having them (where's season 3 though?  Come on people!).  I'd heard a lot of great things about the commentary tracks for the episode, so I decided to burn through the entire thing - and he does a lot for this season - it's a bit of a blur, I'm not entirely sure he did every episode, but there's A LOT - and he goes into really great detail about how he works comedy, actors, and right down to tech stuff like his use of lenses, etc... if you're a film nerd or just a big fan of Louis CK in general then this is a must listen to! :)

2013 - Godzilla

I have to admit that I'm not super familiar with the history of Godzilla in cinema outside of the pop culture stuff that most people know.  I have to say that I found this to be pretty darn entertaining.  What I think was really amazing about the direction of this film was how well the POV of various people was used super effectively during our set piece to ground us in something and show us what this really means to be people outside of it rather than just being destruction for the sake of it.  Having Godzilla pitted against other monsters and being more of a heroic role was a much more solid choice than having him be our villain.  As you can imagine this film has it's fair share of hokiness, as some of Cranton's over the top pleading can attest - but on the whole it's entertaining, and while teasing a fair share of them, doesn't fall into the cliche these films often live in.  I loved the subtle way Godzilla was shown, especially through fighting - keeping us in other characters POV was really important for those sequences as well. Over-all - really well done and entertaining!