Author Archives: Leonard Wilson

Quick Review: The Master (dir. by Paul T. Anderson)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

If I had a choice between watching the worst of Paul T. Anderson’s films and the best of Paul W.S. Anderson’s films, P.T. would win just about every time. Unless of course it’s about Event Horizon. I love that film, but that’s for a different review.

Sometimes, you walk into a movie expecting one thing, and are given something completely different. I decided to see Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master on a whim. It is as amazing as it is strange. Most of the movies I’ve seen lately have been event based, but it was nice to catch a film that seemed more character driven. The film’s protagonist, Freddy Quell is as unorthodox as they come, and I wouldn’t be shocked in the least to see Joaquin Phoenix get some major recognition for this. It’s not without it’s problems, though I’d see it again in a heartbeat.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not terribly qualified for a movie like this – it’s very “art house”, much like Refn’s Drive and Von Trier’s Melancholia (one of which I own and the other I love). A lot of it for me felt like the story wasn’t really going anywhere, though I loved the character interactions. Reviewing a film like this requires a bit more depth and understanding of cinema on a whole than what I currently have. For me,  there are moments where it almost feels like Anderson said..”Well, they did this…” with someone asking him “And then…?” right after every new point. By the time you’re done with the film, you may ask yourself just what it was you just saw (or what was the point of it, more or less). Then again, I had a similar feeling with the first half of Melancholia and adore that film because of it’s second half. What rescues The Master are the performances, particularly Phoenix’s, that help raise the movie when it threatens to sputter. This, along with the cinematography, really adds to things. The film is beautiful, especially when viewed in the 70MM format. There are some great wide-angle shots, the framing is sweet and the focus is brilliant considering you’re not watching a digital presentation. That’s at least what I took from it, visually. Anderson can make a film look beautiful.

If you can catch a 70MM showing, definitely try to do so.

Okay, that’s sweet, but what is the movie about? 

The Master is basically the story of Freddy Quell, a former Naval officer who doesn’t quite walk a straight road. He has a penchant for two things – an explosive temper and the ability to make moonshine out just about any liquid. From his first line, one gets the idea that something is just a little off with him, and it confused me a little in the opening scenes. I guess what I expected was a little different from what I got. Watching someone compulsively masturbate on a beach will do that to you.

Freddy, who finds himself in some odd jobs and situations, stumbles his way onto a boat and finds himself the next morning the guest of one Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the leader of a group that follow a movement called “The Cause”. Dodd asks Freddy to stay and make more of his special brew. This becomes the start of a journey for both individuals. Freddy comes to find that Dodd is quite the interesting person, being invited to have his entourage stay with different friends and share with them the way he’s found to improve upon the human condition. There is a beautiful 10 minute question and answer auditing session between Dodd and Quell that’s a great example of the acting and focus in the film. Everyone seemed to go all out with their performances, which comes to no surprise given how well There Will Be Blood turned out. Amy Adams also has a good role as Dodd’s wife, supporting him through his plans in a number of ways. Having worked with Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the past, they seem to have some great chemistry together. Much of what she did was a little shocking for me, but she handled her scenes very well.

In trying to save Freddy from himself and his reckless ways, The Master doesn’t quite lead the audience where they think it’ll go. Not that it has to, mind you. However, if you’re walking into the film expecting something grand by the end of the film, you may find yourself somewhat disappointed. At least, my audience didn’t seem to voice a lot of good words for the story, though most of what I did hear was praise for the actors. I loved it, but it was just started to lose me in the last 15 minutes. However, the performances are such a standout that you really can’t ignore the film. I’m almost certain that come awards time, The Master will be in the mix.

Video Game Review: Borderlands 2 (by Gearbox Software / 2K Games)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

2K Games and Gearbox Software have finally unleashed the sequel to it’s successful IP, Borderlands on game consoles, and wow, it’s wonderful to return to this universe. Some of my friends on Xbox Live introduced me to the original game and we had quite a bit of fun making our way through it. It was easy to have the sequel on our must play lists.

Here’s what you need to know about Borderlands. The game exists within a barren wasteland known as Pandora. In this place, we have The Vault. If found and opened, it will yield an unimaginable treasure, and as a result, Vault Hunters come from far and wide to seek it out. Along the way, you end meeting some strange characters and fighting against weirder ones. What set Borderlands apart was that it was something of a shooter / Role Playing Game and that it also contained a massive amount of weaponry. Working off of an XP system, you can upgrade your character by killing any enemies you find on the landscape, which is normal for any RPG, but the amount of different weapons in the game was massive.

It was rare to run into the same gun twice.

Borderlands 2 basically picks up where the last game left off in terms of development. Gearbox has introduced four new types of characters to work with, new landscapes and guns. Since the graphics engine is more akin to games like XIII and maybe even The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the game moves very fast and there’s little lag online when playing with 3 other players in a Co-Op battle.

The guns in the game all have attributes of their own, such a reload factors, damage strength and scope strength (if they have them). Some guns can be used as grenades when they use up a clip. Others have Elemental qualities (which I love), in that they can set enemies on fire, shock them with lightning or shoot corrosive acid. As you level up in the game, so the available weapons, so you’ll find yourself selling or discarding the ones you’ve carried along for more powerful upgrades – unless of course you happen to own one revolver or two that you just can’t part with. Trust me, that happens.

The four characters in Borderlands 2 are the Siren (my personal favorite), who has a focus on Elemental Ability and healing factors on the battlefield. The Gunzerker is pure brute force, can duel wield weapons and can beat an animal senseless with his melee tactics. The Commando can send out a sentry turret as a backup in battle. The Assassin, new to Borderlands, has tactics similar to Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, where he can blend in with the background and send out a decoy to confuse the enemy. His sword allows for massive melee damage when he’s out of ammo.

The skill tree system in Borderlands 2 has been upgraded from the first game as well. There are upgrade paths for every character with a limited amount of points to use, which help ensure that once you fully fill a skill tree – say one that allows you to cause elemental damage to everyone in the environment when using a Siren’s Phaselock ability – you’ll want to play the game over again to work on another path. It helps to shape just how you want your character to go, and is really fun when working in a team environment. One character can focus on healing the team, while another can be pure attack. If you have communication between your players, there’s no limit to how well you can do in a battle.

If Borderlands has any limitations, it’s that you can’t benefit from having your Single Player character work in a Co-Op environment. For example, if you have a level 20 Gunzerker, he can jump into a friend’s game who is only at the start and be a major effect on the battlefield, but it gives that high level character next to nothing in XP as they’re only fighting characters that are far weaker than them. Additionally, the high level character won’t benefit from any of the missions in the game (after all, they’ve already gone through them in their own game) In a way, it’s very smart, because it helps newer players level up, but the best way to go through a Co-Op game is to start from the very beginning together. This way, you all can level up around the same time and move forward as a group.

Overall, Borderlands 2 is a fantastic game to play if you have a team to work with, moves very quick and has no shortage of ammo or enemies to blast away to your heart’s content.

Quick Review: Premium Rush (Dir. by David Koepp)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

I have a love / hate relationship with David Koepp.

Loved The Shadow, Stir of Echoes, Angels & Demons, Panic Room, Jurassic Park and The Lost World (even to see him get eaten by a T-Rex while running down a busy street). I hated War of the Worlds (I’m sorry, but there’s no way Justin Chatwin’s character could have made it through that film), Mission: Impossible and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Sometimes he hits the mark, and other times he misses.

Premium Rush falls somewhere in between. I really don’t have a whole lot to say about it. It’s mostly very good, particularly the bike riding scenes, but overall, the story could have been a little stronger and Michael Shannon (to me, anyway) felt really out of place here. It’s one of those movies where you pluck your brain out of your head and place it in the seat next to you. As long as you don’t give the movie too much thought and just enjoy the ride that’s presented to you, you’ll do just fine. At only 90 minutes, it moves very quickly and you’ll find yourself at the end before you really know it. I’ve seen this type of film before with Thomas Michael Donnelly’s Quicksilver, starring Kevin Bacon and 1993’s Airborne, directed by Castle Producer and former X-Files alum, Rob Bowman.

Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is the best bike messenger around. He’s so good that he rides a ‘fixee’, a bike with no brakes, no sets of gears other than the basics and where the pedals always move (no cruising). Weaving in and out of traffic, he makes his way through each delivery with lots of style. There are these decision points that happily reminded me of both my bike riding times and motorcycle ones where Wilee has to find the next available angle to ride through. Scenes like that help to keep the action moving, when it happens. Premium Rush also showcases some great areas of Manhattan as they travel around. It’s a great looking film in that sense, with low cuts of bike wheels and jumps, but again, you’re either riding through the city and hoping they don’t hit, or you’re off the bike waiting to find out if they’ll jump onto another one again.

Basically, the story is that Wilee is given a special package that he needs to deliver, and a corrupt cop is on his tail, played over the top by Michael Shannon. That’s all there is to it. Get the package where it needs to go. Levitt does well in the film, as does Dania Ramirez and Aasif Mandvi. If there’s anyone in the movie who didn’t quite gel with me, it would be Michael Shannon. Shannon’s a good actor, and he’s not bad here, just really animated. It felt like a role that would have been better suited for Willem Dafoe or someone strange like that. I never felt any kind of fear or even worry when Shannon was around. He came off more like a bumbling crook in a film like Baby’s Day Out”, than someone who really needed what Wilee was carrying.

Koepp is getting better at directing, but some of the writing is a little off. The film suffers from the same problem that Green Lantern had with it’s climax or Tron: Legacy did with some of it’s parts. You have a few scenes where it could have been stronger had things moved in one direction, but then veers off. The impact just isn’t as great. I won’t go into detail on what they are, but for me, I saw a few things that could have been changed (or at least one in particular).

Overall, Premium Rush is a fun film that may get you wanting to ride after seeing it, but just don’t ask a lot of it. Just get your popcorn, sit back and enjoy where it all goes.

Quick Review: The Bourne Legacy (dir. by Tony Gilroy)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

After completing The Bourne Ultimatum, Director Paul Greengrass and Actor Matt Damon were probably asked if they’d ever come back to do another. When you look at the overall story, Bourne’s journey was pretty complete, and Damon voiced that he’d only consider doing another if Greengrass did. After Greengrass bowed out, the notion of another chapter in the Bourne saga was dead in the water.

Universal had other ideas, deciding on moving forward and having the trilogy’s screenwriter, Tony Gilroy direct The Bourne Legacy. No stranger to making films, Gilroy is more known for making “slow burn” features like Duplicity and one of my favorites, Michael Clayton. If he were working on a remake to “All the President’s Men”, I’d be certain it was a perfect fit. For Bourne, however, we get something of a different result. Not a terrible one, but possibly not the one that everyone was hoping for. This almost makes sense, considering that even the Bourne novels themselves were taken over by Eric Van Lustbader after Robert Ludlum’s death.

The Bourne Legacy takes place during the same time period as The Bourne Ultimatum. The story expands not on what happened to Bourne post Ultimatum, but what happened to the programs in place in the aftermath of Bourne’s visit to New York. We find Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), part of a separate program that goes beyond Treadstone and Blackbriar, making his way through a snowy Alaskan wilderness. The new breed of agents (assets, as they’re referred to in the Bourne Universe) are genetically augmented by way of meds they call “Chems”. The Chems give the assets the edge they need to do what they do.

This bothered me a little, because Jason Bourne got by with none of that for years, but I chalk that part of the storyline to the notion that Gilroy has this thing for Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals. Michael Clayton’s antagonist worked for a Chemical Company. Duplicity’s spies were trying to steal secrets from a pair of what seemed like pharmaceutical companies. The reasoning behind Cross’ need for the Chems is made clear through the story, but it was a strange angle to go on, I felt.

During the course of Aaron’s trip, the Powers That Be, played by, Stacy Keach, Donna Murphy and an underused Edward Norton decide that Bourne’s actions (along with Joan Allen’s Pamela Landy) are going to cause all of their programs some serious trouble and decide to wipe the slate clean. Cross needs to both escape this while still finding a way to get a hold of the Chems he needs to stay at peak performance. That’s the idea behind the Bourne Legacy in a nutshell.

On a casting level, The Bourne Legacy is actually very good. Both Renner and Rachel Weisz handle their parts well, I thought (for what they were given). A few of the cast members return from the previous Bourne films, but their appearances are so brief that it may leave you feeling as if they were just a piece of leftover film from the Original Trilogy. If there’s anyone who feels out of place, it would have to be Edward Norton. He comes across in this movie like he wasn’t sure what he wanted to take on and decided to just do this to pass the time.

The action in the Bourne Legacy is on par with the other films, but this being Gilroy, there’s more of a distance between the action and the drama.  When I really think about it, there’s about the same amount of it as there was in The Bourne Identity or Supremacy – neither one of those were die hard action films – but the potential to wish for more is greater with Legacy. This is especially true with the way it was advertised. Just about every action scene in the film is in the trailer. That said, Gilroy has gotten better at being able to handle these scenes. A few more films like this and he should do really well in the future.

Just like Michael Clayton, however, the movie ends so abruptly that you may blink a few times in protest. Gilroy needs to work on that part.

So overall, The Bourne Legacy wasn’t a story that was needed, nor does it really add too much more to the Bourne Universe over all, but it’s nice to return to the espionage that surrounds it. Here’s hoping that this could give something more for Renner, Gilroy and the rest of the team.

Quick Review: The Dark Knight Rises (dir. by Christopher Nolan)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

Note that the Shattered Lens gives multiple viewpoints on films. For more thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises, check out the following:

Leonth3duke’s Review on The Dark Knight Rises. 

TrashfilmGuru vs. The Summer Blockbusters – His Review on The Dark Knight Rises. 

After four years in the making and tons of hype, it’s hard to walk out of The Dark Knight Rises without some disappointment. Some of us won’t get the story we wanted, but that shouldn’t keep one from viewing it.

The Dark Knight Rises isn’t the strongest Batman film that Christopher Nolan’s made. It’s also not the cerebral tango that The Dark Knight was, but it does present a unique problem for Bruce Wayne and the city of Gotham that left me shocked that they went there. On top of that, the movie gives a sense of closure in such away in that you can almost forgive Nolan for every ambiguous ending he’s given us since Batman Begins.

The Dark Knight Rises takes place about eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, with Gotham City a better place after the creation of the Dent Act. Named after the fallen DA Harvey Dent, the Dent Act allowed for the Gotham Police force to round up most of the major mob bosses, based off the truths hidden by Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Batman (Christian Bale). The Act renders the Batman unnecessary (as he’s also considered a vigilante by the police) and Wayne himself has become a recluse, rarely venturing out of Wayne Manor. He keeps pretty much to himself with only Alfred (Michael Caine) to talk to. Both his body and business are wracked with damage, either by neglect or from the years of abuse.

When a new enemy appears, Wayne decides it’s time for the Batman to reappear, though he receives warnings from Alfred that his ego may be a little too much here. The theme of Batman Begins was Fear. I felt that the theme of The Dark Knight was Chaos. The theme of The Dark Knight Rises for me was more along the lines of Rebirth. Being the Batman, Bruce Wayne believes himself to be unstoppable, but that hubris gets him in more trouble than he plans, and he eventually has to get past that if he’s going to save Gotham and himself from the threat. That’s the rough plot, without giving anything else away.

Of all the characters / actors, I like that Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle is never really named as Catwoman. She may literally be the best Catwoman on-screen from a real world perspective. Truth be told, there was nothing cat-like about her, other than how graceful she was. We know who she is, but in Nolan’s universe, characters are given more solid backgrounds. Without making it a comic character type – like Batman Returns or going over the edge like in Halle Berry’s Catwoman, Hathaway’s Kyle was just right. She seems like she had so much fun working on this, and her scenes really worked well for me. Give this girl her own movie, please.

And then we have Bane. In the strangest role I’ve seen Tom Hardy in since Star Trek Nemesis, his Bane is like someone dressed up wrestler Kevin Nash, and gave him Blofeld’s voice from the Bond Franchise. Where Heath Ledger’s Joker was more about handling things with mind games, Bane’s approach is more in your face. While he lacks the finesse that the Joker had, he’s not the stupid grunting goon you’d come to find in Batman & Robin. This is a calculating villain that takes his crime seriously. He’s not perfect, or used nearly as well as he could, but he’s literally the first bad guy that had me worrying about Batman in every scene they shared. That’s a first.

Between all of the explosions, gunfire and mayhem, the story has to have a heart. The heart of the story comes from Michael Caine, who gives one of his best performances of the series. As someone who’s walked the road with Wayne and is pained by where it’s leading him, their relationship becomes further pushed by both Alfred’s actions in The Dark Knight, and Bruce’s ego on stepping back into the suit. He gives some of the best emotional parts of the story and without him, I don’t think the film would be as powerful. Gary Oldman also adds a sense of heart from the police side of things, as he’s wracked with guilt over having the carry the secret of what really happened to Harvey Dent. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s beat cop was the man on the scene, and for me felt like he was ushering in a new kind of cop in Gotham, one who followed the rules and wasn’t so corruptible (because let’s face it, some of those Dark Knight cops were dirty). Marion Cotillard rounds out the cast as Miranda Tate, who more or less plays the Vicki Vale of the series. Personally, I didn’t see the need for trying to give Wayne a would be love interest, but considering the character was still pained over the loss of Rachel Dawes, it made sense.

On a Cinematography level, Academy Award Winner Wally Pfister gives us some grand shots of Gotham city on a whole, from it’s streets during the evening to the daytime landscapes. Most of it seems larger than life, really. While I have yet to see the film in it’s IMAX format, I can’t imagine it’s not impressive. The editing has also been tightened in what seems like an effort to fix the problems from The Dark Knight.

If the movie has any weak spots, it’s not in the acting, the action or the direction. It’s the writing. The movie gives us an impressive challenge in presenting dangers that affect all of Gotham and that was downright incredible in what was presented, but in hindsight, it all boiled down to almost the same problem that was introduced in Batman Begins, save that its escalated to a higher level. I found that just a little annoying and disappointed, but understood why it went that route. One could say that it’s similar to Return of the Jedi in that you have another Death Star that could cause a problem, but the stakes in taking it out are that much greater. The same applies here. The performances surrounding the issue are greater, but you’re still dealing the same story arc, it felt like.

What ultimately saves the film is the closing. The Legend does indeed end, and in a way that gives some closure in a much shorter amount of time than Return of the King. The last twenty minutes of the film are worth the time it takes to get there. When I try to think of how the story could have been improved, I really can’t come up with anything.

Again, The Dark Knight Rises isn’t the strongest story of the Nolan Franchise – that’s still The Dark Knight – but it’s a better 3rd chapter than many of the ones out there and may end up being my personal favorite overall.

Scenes I Love: The Shootout from Michael Mann’s “Heat”.

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

The shootout in Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1995) remains one of the best ever filmed, in my opinion. Mann himself even tried topping it in Miami Vice (which is good in it’s own right), but this scene (which occurs some minutes in) is so loved, Rockstar Games actually developed a mission in Grand Theft Auto 4 to mimic it.

A group of bank robbers, led by Neal McCauley (Robert DeNiro) finally take down their score, only to find that the police squad out to get them has been tipped off. The video starts as the robbery begins. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), along with his team arrive just as the crew is coming out of the bank with the money. The rest is mayhem, with the gunfire sounds echoing all around. Elliot Goldenthal’s score for the piece sets the tone for the robbery, a piece called Force Marker (along with Brian Eno).

What I wouldn’t give to catch this in a theatre somewhere. Enjoy.

Review: The Newsroom S1:E4 – “I’ll Try to Fix You”

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

The key to Episode 4 of The Newsroom’s season really comes down to the last 10 to 15 minutes. The episode seems light and even and then by the end everyone is moving in a mad scramble to get the news out. Very nice to see that, honestly.

This episode, entitled “I’ll Try to Fix You” has the News Night 2.0 team closing out 2010 and celebrating the impending New Year. It’s more or less a lighthearted, fun episode. Mac approaches Will in his office, letting him know that her boyfriend Wade wants to speak with him on something. Wade informs Mac that he’s missing a major headline.

Neal appears to have this weird obsession over Bigfoot, which becomes a running theme in this episode. It’s cute in that it comes up a number of times here, very similar to the story about the Chicken in The Social Network. Maggie finds Jim still working to find any major stories they may have missed. After a little light flirting (well, it seemed that way), Don shows up and Maggie has to go. A lightly inebriated Don decides to set up Maggie’s roommate, Lisa, with Jim for New Year’s. In the middle of selling Jim, Lisa’s phone goes off with a Rod Stewart song. After what happened with the email fiasco, I found myself recalling that because sooner or later, that ringtone would need to come back into this episode. Maggie appears to have something of an issue with Lisa and Jim, but again, she’s with Don. I kind of wish she’d make up her mind already.

Wade tells Will that the House cut 80% of the DOJ budget, and the three go over whether this is a story to run with. When Wade leaves, Mac and Will have a slight argument over Wade. Mac’s a line in particular that made me laugh, “How do you introduce the Netflix queue of crazy divorced women with digitally remastered breasts you spend your nights with?”, which works in the argument between the two.

Will heads out to the party, and finds Sloan Sabbith. Eyeing the group, they have a short exchange on whether he should mingle and who he should mingle with. He heads out and speaks to Nina Howard and finds out she’s a Gossip Columnist. Rather than going with the New Year kiss, Will starts to lecture her on what she does, stating she “knows right from wrong” and that it’s “it’s a form of pollution.” The attempt to civilize Nina ends up with a drink in his face. Poor guy has no luck whatsoever.

Charlie and Will reconvene the following morning to find that he’s on Page Six of the New York Post. Will clears the air with Charlie on this and moves on to the morning meeting. Of the topics that weren’t discussed, they decide to run with both the notion that the Republicans believe that Obama is out to take away their guns or gun rights. The broadcast goes on to show that there really hasn’t been any kind of legislation to show that this is the current plan.

Maggie and Lisa have a brief discussion on Jim, and Maggie comes to Jim’s defense when Lisa points out that he’d think she’s dumb. Again, this is going to come to a head later on.

Mac, along with a woman named Carrie (played by Kathryn Hahn, who I haven’t seen since Step Brothers), head to his apartment. When she goes to change her clothes and informs him she has a joint in her purse, he discovers a pistol and they have words. I’m not sure if Hahn’s going to come back, but it would be interesting to have her come back as a foil to Mac.

As Will and Sloan go over the next broadcast, she beams and asks him how the night went. Will informs her that her friend was packing heat. Sloan tells him he has to stick with her because she’s a little obsessive. Olivia Munn has some great moments back and forth between Jeff Daniels in this episode, and so far her character still seems to be the only one without any romantic issues.

With Will’s chances in the dating scene spiraling downward and making headlines, Don proves how much of an ass he is by giving Maggie a news blip that causes her to call Jim. While she has Jim on the phone, Don calls Lisa, who’s phone rings in the background with the Rod Stewart song. I personally can’t wait for Don to get punched outright in the face. That will be the highlight of the season for me.

After being called in on Saturday, Will finds everyone in the office going over the particulars of the Bigfoot story. Will meets with Charlie and Mac over Will being in the newspapers when it comes to light that AWM (their parent company) has been flaming him the entire time. Charlie admits about the meeting with Leona and Mac blows up because the only way that the 3 Year no work clause could have taken effect would have been if it were changed in the contract. The contact that Will changed to allow him to fire Mac also allows AWM to keep him from working anywhere else.

Just when you think it’s going to keep going on, the story explodes into high gear with the iNews blip on the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. All hands are on deck as they race to get the story together and everyone prepped. It shines as easily the biggest highlight of the episode and smacked the complaining, “Not This relationship stuff again” sigh I had right off my face. During the broadcast, it comes out that CNN and NPR are going with the story that Giffords died that day. Ironically enough, CNN had the very same problem just a week or two ago, incorrectly reporting that the “Obamacare” Heath Reform vote didn’t pass before Justice Roberts’ vote came through.

When Reese shows up onto the floor and calls Will out to declare Giffords dead just as everyone else does, who shows up to actually save the day but Don of all people. Talk about jaw drop!! He’s the last person I would have expected to have come in to help this group. Will calls in Mac and Charlie to thank them in a cursing tirade, and gives Neal a chance on his Bigfoot story. With all of this done to Coldplay’s “Fix You”, it plays out so damn well that you may almost forget all of the other scenes you were watching beforehand. It’s a fantastic final few minutes that showcases what the Newsroom is about.

My only worry is that they’re moving so fast with these news reports that by the time the season is over, they could conceivably end up in the Present Time. How they’re going to come up with news after doing that is going to require a few rabbits and hats. Overall, a well done episode.

Review: The Newsroom S1:E3 – “The 112th Congress”

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

Though I’m a registered Democrat (which I did before realizing I could be Independent) and my family’s mostly Republican, Politics tend to make my eyes glaze over and a lot of it goes over my head. My reasoning is that no matter who you have in office, neither side has everything right and you’ll find corruption and/or underhanded deals no matter what side is chosen. It’s because of this that makes The Newsroom a little difficult for me to write about from a political standpoint, but on an entertainment standpoint, I’m having fun. This show is getting a little tighter with every episode.

This episode, titled “The 112th Congress”, opens with a statement taken from the 9/11 Commission back in 2004. Will makes an apology to the American viewing public on the way News Night has been, stating that they failed to give the right news – “A leader in an industry that miscalled election results, miscalled hyped up terror scares, ginned up controversy, and failed to report on tectonic shifts in our country”. Will stresses that they will be concentrating on giving the news, and opinions that also contrast his own. I liked the way this scene moved, jumping back and forth through the events of writing out the speech, getting everyone up for their morning meeting, cleaning it all up and providing it to Charlie before the actual broadcast. This is all while the speech is given. The opening editorial lays down the template to the News Night viewers on where it’s headed.

The following scene is a conference room with Charlie, Reese, another associate and Leona (Jane Fonda) in a debriefing meeting on the News Night changes. This takes place on November 3rd, 2010. The show moves to this location, the Bigwig Conference, a number of times as we go over the months since NN2.0’s inception. I have to admit I really liked the movement of the scenes back and forth here. Don approaches Jim and gives him a little flak on why he wasn’t in the loop on Will’s speech, given that his own show that comes afterward is also trying to be the one to move up to that treasured 8pm slot. Don also has something of an issue with Maggie on this as well, but it only lasts for a moment.

Reese goes on to mention that since the News Night change, Will’s lost about a good 7% of his audience. Though they’re doing what they feel is the right thing, it is costing them from a viewer’s standpoint. I liked how Leona really doesn’t speak up until the middle of the episode, her character just kind of taking in all of the information that’s given.

There’s a very interesting conversation between Will and Charlie, talking about the changes in the Tea Party’s progression. Granted, this all requires first level research for stronger opinions & statements to be formed, but from the way The Newsroom presents it (and my interpretation of it), the Tea Party kind of swooped in and changed the Republican landscape (or was at least trying to at the time) for their own pursuits. That Will, being a Republican himself, decides to make this the top story felt like it added to the “all the facts” angle the NN2.0 was shooting for. For the record, were he a Democrat, I’m pretty sure that they could have done the same thing for that party, using a story on gun control or something like that.

Getting back to the story, it’s revealed in the Bigwig conference that Will is treating his interview subjects like members in a courtroom and that at one point in his life, he was a prosecutor. I liked this, but the information seemed sudden to me, as if Sorkin and crew were in their writing room and the question came of “Well, how is Will so good at this?”, and they came up with the lawyer angle. Then again, to counter that, we learned 4 episodes into Mad Men that Don Draper’s name wasn’t his and his past wasn’t his either. I suppose it makes sense here too.

Mac meets one of Will’s new dates and overreacts a little with the compliments, inquiring on who she is. Turns out that the lady works for the New York Jets as a choreographer. Mac and Will move to Will’s office, where she berates him on his dating choice for the evening. There’s a bit of cute back and forth banter before she nearly storms out and Charlie catches her, telling them both the keep up what they’re doing with the Tea Party pressure. Will asks how the 44th floor (The Bigwig Conference) is handling this, and Charlie lies to him about it. Undoubtedly, this will end up being a problem later on in the season. The relationship angles still appear a little blurry. We learn that Maggie’s issues are attributed to Panic Attacks, which opens a nice scene between she and Jim on the terrace of the building. I already touched on the Sorkin Girls in the last episode. I’ll let it go here, but it does kind of show why she’s been the way she’s been. The problem here is that with the forward momentum the scene made, it takes two steps back in having her with Don still by the end of the episode. I’m not saying they should be in each other arms by now, but I wouldn’t mind seeing thing forward just a little more.

The story moves ahead to June 18, 2010, where Will goes after a senator regarding statements made on AIDS and it’s spread. The Bigwigs are not pleased at all on this. After the broadcast, Mac finds another date waiting for Will, who Will points out is an actual brain surgeon. That was actually worth a chuckle, indeed.

At the Bigwig Conference, Reese points out that there was a party every year he and his mother were invited to at Telluride that they didn’t receive an invite for this time around. Reese points out that Will’s broadcasts has cost them Koch Industries, which happens to be close to the Lansing’s (Reese and Leona).

Near the end of the Bigwig Meeting, Leona finally speaks up, letting Charlie know that Will needs to back off as the parent company, AWM has special interests with of the parties that Will has been attacking. Leona threatens to fire Will, which of course would be a problem due to a special clause in his contact that prevents him from working for 3 years. That was kind of cool, reminding me of what happened with Conan O’Brien when he left NBC. So now, the stakes are raised. Do they continue doing what they’ve planned and face being fired or revert back to the old format?

While I still have the same complaints as before (Sharpen up the girls, etc.), the episode ramped up things with some of the actual broadcasts that were done. The Bigwig Conference scenes were some of the strongest parts there, I felt. We’ll see where this all goes.

Video Game Quick Review: The Amazing Spider Man

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

Rocksteady changed things with 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum. As a brand new IP, it’s starting to become the template for a few popular games. Beenox has noted that the game was an influence on their “The Amazing Spider Man” game, and it really shows. Eidos’ Hitman:Absolution will also be working off the same engine (if not a similar one).

Before playing Activision and Beenox’s “The Amazing Spider-Man”, you should first know that it takes place after the events of the Marc Webb’s film that opened recently. Playing the game will give away major plot points from the film, but visually, it’s quite a treat. Unlike the other Spider-Man related tie in’s, this game doesn’t feature the voices of the movie cast. I was kind of hoping that it would, really.

Activision, along with Treyarch, created all of the movie related Spider-Man games (which I’ve owned), and by far, I’ve always thought of Spider-Man 2 as the best game in the franchise. The control in that game, which allowed you to shoot separate weblines from each hand, was amazing. It allowed you to pull off some incredible turns mid-swing and if timed just right, you could pull off sideways swinging. Beenox decided to change the style of the game, focusing on more of a Parkour-style swinging dynamic. This adds two great touches:

The “Web-Rush” system allows you to pick predesignated places for Spider-Man to go at any time. Once chosen, the game will take the quickest route to that target, even if it means Spider-Man has to bounce from Building A, hop off the fire escape of Building B and flip over some cars to get there. The Web Rush system also works similar to Batman’s Detective Mode in the Arkham games, allowing you to lock onto targets of attack, object to grab and use against your enemies. In flight (or fall, however you choose to look at it), it slows down time to allow you to select your destination. It makes it all look very beautiful and stylish, but also manages to take away the effort required to make it happen. It’s not a terrible thing at all, but I suppose it could be compared to Assassin’s Creed vs. Mirror’s Edge. Both games have you climb a building. Assassin’s Creed uses one button to get you to the top. Mirror’s Edge requires a number of calculated button presses to do the same thing. The reward is different, and I tend to prefer the latter. Still, it’s very fun to use, especially in close quarter interior battles. You can leap backwards to the ceiling and then advance right back to the enemy with a button press.

The controls are incredibly easy to access. Climbing a wall is as simple as pushing against it, and you can alternate between climbing and “perching” against any sideways wall. This turns the camera back to it’s original state to give you an idea of where you are as you move.

The camera is closer to Spider-Man overall, so you get a better sense of vertigo during swinging. You aren’t able to do any acrobatics while swinging, but that free fall experience is still there. It’s definitely beautiful. You can literally spend your time swinging all across the city all day. Note that the map is condensed, compared to Spider Man 2, which also contained part of Queens. Considering all of the graphical data that had to be generated, I can understand shrinking the map.

Collector Fiends will love that there are almost 700 comic book pages floating around the city, similar to the feathers in the Assassin’s Creed games. Collecting enough of these will unlock actual viewable versions of classic Spider-Man comics. XP gained from collecting these, along with taking out bad guys via the main storyline or the random crimes that occur in Manhattan will allow to unlock new moves and stealth actions for the old webhead. At one point, you’ll also obtain a camera that will allow you to take pictures around the city. It would have been nice if there was a way to capture screenshots of yourself swinging, but I’ll take it.

Stealth is a new factor in this game, a carryover from the Batman games. Spider-Man has the ability to now climb above and behind bad guys to web them up and get them out-of-the-way. It works to some degree, though some bad guys move in such tight nit groups that it’s hard to get them away from each other to take them out. You’ll be able to stealth eliminate two at a time (with an upgrade), but the rest of the group sees this, you’ll be under attack. Bad guys range from normal thugs to some monsters to even giant robots, which are pretty fun.

The problem with The Amazing Spider-Man is the same problem that plagued all of the other free roaming versions of the game. The mini crimes are so predictable and monotonous that you’ll probably end up getting bored doing them. They literally are all the same ones from the original Spider-Man game, though cleaned up a bit.The web swinging and comic page collecting will make up for it, but I’m not sure if any game developer can find a better way to make the city defending elements better than what they are.

Overall, The Amazing Spider-Man is a fun game to try out, and the reply value is okay in the sense that you can just pick it up and go, but like every other game in the series, it still requires a few tweaks. The game is available for all the console systems.

Scenes I Love: “The Orange Man” from Unbreakable.

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

There’s a part of me that really wants to see M. Night Shyamalan come back into his own again. I think somewhere between The Village and Lady in the Water, he started this strange descent. But back in 2000, he had “Unbreakable” which wasn’t bad at all. The story of a man who discovers he has abilities far beyond normal people, Unbreakable could be considered one of the first ‘every person superhero’ films. As with some origin stories, Unbreakable’s David Dunn has to come to terms with what he can do. Once he’s put on the path by a Comic Book aficionado (played by Samuel L. Jackson), he heads off to do some good.

The above is David Dunn taking down a home invader with a simple choke hold. Enjoy.

The first time I saw this scene was on DVD, with my little brother. This part in particular left us with smiles. It’s not so much what takes place, but the music behind it. James Newton Howard’s score takes what would normally be a quick action theme (for a story like this) and uses a dramatic piece to cover the scene. I thought it worked really well here. It also reminds me that as he wasn’t working on The Dark Knight Rises score with Hans Zimmer, you might not find a lot of those softer themes. Then again, with Gotham in turmoil, maybe that’s not the kind of music it needs right now.