Author Archives: Arleigh

Review: The Walking Dead S2E10 “18 Miles Out”

Posted on by Arleigh

“It’s time for you to come back.” — Rick Grimes

[some spoilers]

The Glen Mazzara era of The Walking Dead has done a very good job of speeding things along after an almost glacial pace that we got from the first half of the season. While the mid-season premiere with “Nebraska” continued some of the flaws which viewers and fans complained about in regards to the first half of the season it ended with a sequence which showed that Mazzara and his writers may have turned a corner from the more cinematic storytelling-style Darabont brought to the show. With last week’s episode, “Triggerfinger”, the show continues to make strides in adding a sense of desperation to the proceedings even when zombies are not involved.

Fans of the comic book and genre fans will always be thankful for Frank Darabont and his diligence in getting the comic book adapted to the tv screen, but with these last two episodes and then tonight’s “18 Miles Out” now in the bag we’ve begun to see that Frank’s style of drawing things out may have been hampering the show this season. Whether it was his vision for how the show was to unfold or just his style of storytelling, Frank’s first half of season 2 had lost that sense of danger that the show had built with a truncated first season. Tonight’s latest episode was a prime example of why it might have been the right call to let Darabont go and put a seasoned tv veteran on the helm.

We enter “18 Miles Out” in medias res just like episode 3 (one of the best episodes of this current season) and it’s a good sign of things to come for this episode. Before continuing I must say that anyone who still complains that the show was not showing enough zombie action need to sit down and just shut up or just stop watching a show that they’ve already decided to complain about no matter how good or bad each future episodes turn out.

With the past regime the issue with the character Randall recovering after his encounter with the spiked fence and Rick in the previous episode would’ve taken the rest of the season, but instead we’ve skipped a whole week in the show’s timeline as Rick and Shane drive 18 miles out of the farm to let the recovered kid go on his merry own way. This cold opening has Rick and Shane on the run from zombies with Randall still tied up and crawling his way towards a knife that could be his only salvation. For cold openings this one was actually pretty action-packed and full of tension that the episode will just continue to build on.

The episode switches back and forth between the adventures of Rick and Shane w/ Randall and the going’s on back on the farm with the youngest Greene daughter, Beth and her sudden crisis of of faith. Whenever scenes of the farm came on the screen in the past I’m sure there were much groaning and mumbling about how things were now about to slow down. For the first time in this season the farm without zombies was just as tense as the scenes with Rick and his group avoiding a group of zombies. The first season and some of the early parts of season 2 saw Andrea also go through the same crisis as Beth Greene goes through tonight. It’s a crisis born out of hopelessness about the situation they’re now in. Hershel has had to adjust to the revelation that what he thought about the zombies were all wrong and now his youngest must go through something same thing. Beth contemplates and even pleads with her older sister, Maggie, that there’s nothing left out in the world and just trying to persevere and move on was a wasted effort with the only guarantee was to be “gutted” by the very things they first thought were people who could be cured.

This situation back at the farm brings to a head what looks like the female version of the Rick and Shane power struggle. On one side we see Lori trying to raise Beth’s spirits and trying to bring what she calls a sense of “normalcy” in their chaotic new world. On the other side is Andrea whose has gone through what Beth is going through and doesn’t disagree with it. She sees it as an option that she was denied by Dale at the end of the last season and she won’t disagree and deny Beth the same choice. The confrontation between Lori and Andrea about this very subject matter brings to mind just how much Andrea has begun to see Shane as the leader of the group. While Lori still comes off across as somewhat of a shrew she does seem to be more in agreement with her husband’s way of thinking even in this zombie apocalypse.

This encounter between the group’s leading ladies just continues to highlight how much the show has moved to warp speed in abandoning the teasing of the first half of the season and just letting all the cards on the table in terms of each character’s motivations and agendas.

While the scenes at the farm were pretty good the highlight of the episode has to be the travails that Rick, Shane and Randall encounter 18 miles out. We see Rick finally have that “talk” with Shane about everything which has occurred while he was in a coma and since. There were several moments in this half of the episode’s story that showed not just Shane in a bad light but Rick as well as decisions have to be made to see who will survive the zombies. How things finally come to a head by episode’s end shows just how different Rick and Shane are and just how much Shane has been posturing trying to convince everyone that he’s the only one who could make the tough choices and decisions.

“18 Miles Out” goes to great lengths to make this second half of the show’s season 2 make up for the slow pacing of the first half and it succeeds. There’s still some little nitpicks and flaws here and there in terms of dialogue and how some of the characters come off, but it looks as if Mazzara and his writers have finally realized that subtlety might not be this show’s forte and, when handled accordingly, the show can succeed with being blunt. This show looks to be finally getting it’s focus down and we get one of the series’ best episodes since the pilot and I would say it’s best episode since.

Notes

  • Some great zombie make-up work by Nicotero and his gang over at KNB EFX for tonight’s episode. With the whole episode set in the daytime they don’t have the luxury of darkness and little light to hide imperfections in the make-up work. Every zombie chasing after Rick, Shane and Randall looked to have been given the “hero” treatment.
  • Some very good zombie kills tonight with the best one coming courtesy of Rick and using another zombie he’s already put down to help aim his third kill in a row.
  • Randall, played by Michael Zegen, comes off both as a scared kid who knows that his past associations may just be the death of him, but also as someone with a mean and sadistic streak in him as shown when he plays with the one zombie before he takes it out.
  • For may be the first time in this show’s short life, so far, the show doesn’t use the full cast in the episode. In the past we may have two or three cast members not making an appearance, but tonight we almost get a whole group. Not showing up tonight: Glenn, T-Dog, Carol, Daryl, Patricia, Jimmy, Dale. It made the episode feel so much more leaner.
  • We get some bit of fallout about Glenn freezing up because of what Maggie had told him before he went to town. I don’t know if Maggie should be going to Lori for advice but what she got was the right advice despite what people may think of Lori as a character.
  • While Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene has been the more vocal and active of the Greene girls this season it was nice to see Emily Kinney get more than just a couple lines. Her predicament and how she played the role of the little girl who has lost all hope was quite good. Her message about how things were hopeless and that there really was nothing left to live for came off better than when Andrea did the same last season and earlier this season.
  • Tonight we get to see someone come off even worse than Lori. Andrea as the show has portrayed the character was already not a fan favorite, but her channeling of her inner-Shane in regards to Beth’s situation won’t be making her any new fans. It’s ironic considering how she lectured Shane about how his presentation about the right decisions left much to be desired. Her own presentation about her viewpoints was very Shane-like.
  • It’s a small step, but Sarah Wayne Callies’ performance as Lori continues to improve. We get some reasoning why she’s acted the way she has since we met her back in the pilot, but she still retains some of the shrewness that has made her hated by fans. It’ll be interesting how Mazzara and his writers balance this two sides to Lori’s character.
  • Rick and Shane finally have it out and it was quite the throwdown. One would think that Shane would have the upper-hand in this dust-up between the two friends, but Rick showed different. He may not be as cold and calculating as Shane likes to show he is, but Rick definitely showed he could handle himself not just against Shane but zombies who get the drop on him.
  • For a moment the writers almost made it so that Rick was about to pull a Shane on Shane in the end, but we see why Rick is different than his erstwhile deputy by episode’s end.
  • Shane has been one-upped by the very person he has been hounding as weak and pathetic all season and the look of impotence on Jon Bernthal’s face when this epiphany finally hits him was a great moment for this series.
  • The show has finally shown some clues as to how quickly the zombie apocalypse turned the world upside down. Two or weeks if we’re to believe what Shane told Rick in the beginning of the episode. Also, noticing how the zombie guards they put down earlier had no bites on them which goes a long way in putting The Walking Dead into Romero-style zombies.
  • Rick telling Shane to deal with how things between everyone in the group are as of now or leave. Telling him in the end to come back shows how much Rick still sees Shane as a friend who has lost his way and to come back to them instead of continuing the darker path he has set on since everything went to hell and especially since Otis.
  • Last week’s episode didn’t have a song to end the episode but tonight we have Wye Oak’s “Civilian” which went well with Shane looking at the grassy field with it’s lone zombie walking towards nowhere in particular. It was a very strong scene.

 

AMV of the Day: Calling

Posted on by Arleigh

Time of a new “AMV of the Day” post and this time around it involves an anime which I thought was one of the best I’ve seen in the last ten years. This particular anime music video is called “Calling”.

The anime film Summer Wars (released in 2009) was quite a surprise for me. I haven’t really gotten into anime films unless it’s made by Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon, but this particular one by Mamoru Hosada became quite a favorite. During Anime Expo 2011 an amv by creator NekoKitKat25hug ended up winning AX2011’s Best In Show during it’s AMV Competition. While I wasn’t able to attend AX2011 I was still intrigued to check out the amv which ended up winning the con’s top AMV trophy.

“Calling” pretty much condenses Summer Wars into a four minute video to the tune of Shiny Toy Gun’s “Major Tom“. This wasn’t just a straight-up quick re-telling of the anime, but one that doesn’t really give away too much of the story like other amv’s who follow the same editing style. My favorite section of the video has to be final minute which still manages to make the film’s best scenes come off exciting and new.

Anime: Summer Wars

Song: “Major Tom” by Shiny Toy Guns

Creator:  NekoKitKat25hug

Review: The Walking Dead S2E9 “Triggerfinger”

Posted on by Arleigh

“So, let’s chalk this up for what it is…wrong place, wrong time.” — Rick Grimes

It looks like no matter what some viewers may complain about The Walking Dead moving as slow as the zombies that ended the world it still manages to surprise everyone with scenes of great tension and burst of quality that we all want the show to be. This was most evident with how the mid-season return episode “Nebraska” at first seemed like it was going nowhere once again, but actually moved the story along. The ending of the previous episode helped Rick as a character grow though it also manages to make his fairer half in Lori become even more hated by most everyone with her stupid decision to try and go into town by herself.

Tonight’s episode continues the two major storylines which ended the previous episode. We get a cold opening which is terrifying despite what people may think about Lori as a character. That scene of the zombie trying to pop it’s head through the crack in the car’s windshield while Lori remained out of it then just before we segue into Bear McCreary’s opening theme she wakes up to see the half-eaten face pushing through.

The title of this latest episode is “Triggerfinger” and for the first third of the night it’s quite a proper one at that. No sooner as Rick, Hershel and Glen gather the weapons of the downed Dave of Tony from the previous episode do the trio get penned in the bar by the very friends the “would be” raiders spoke of. The episode shows just how much a danger survivors continue to be toward other survivors as cooler heads rarely prevail. Soon enough both sides are trading fire like a scene out of Rio Bravo but this time with the added danger of zombies in the midst.

During this scene between two groups trying to just survive we see differing philosophies. Rick’s group tries to defuse the situation even once the bullets start flying and when casualties begin piling up we see Rick still trying to hold onto his humanity by trying to save one of the opposing numbers who have seriously hurt himself in an attempt to leave town. The other group was shown to be more willing to cut loose anyone too injured to save themselves thus leaving them behind to the mercy of the approaching zombies. Mercies that involve the very thing some fans have complained about and that’s not enough zombie carnage. For just the second time in this show’s short life we see someone still alive being set upon by a group of zombies and eaten while still alive and screaming.

The other continuing story from the previous episode has Lori trying to survive the night after crashing her car. No matter what people personally think about Lori as a character this sequence show’ that she can go into survival mode when circumstances needs for her to suck it up and survive. She doesn’t whine or appear helpless despite the precarious situation she put herself in. The fact that people back in the farm don’t even realize she’s been gone for hours must just add fuel to the fire fans have been fanning since the show first started. The series has a role for Lori and while it seems to be one of wet blanket for the most part the ending of tonight’s episode showed that she too will do anything to try and protect her family from dangers both zombie and human.

If the last couple episodes show’s anything it’s that Glen Mazzara’s turn as replacement showrunner has added much needed energy to the show. With last week’s episode and then tonight we’ve seen more action and character developlement than the first half of this second season. There now seems to be a feeling of desperation in how things have started to unfold. We still get some quieter moments between characters back on the Greene farm, but they’re not as prevalent as they’ve been in the past. Again I think this positive development has to be laid down at the feet of veteran tv show producer Glen Mazzara who understands that tv shows rely on keeping it’s audience’s attention focused on what’s going on the screen. So far, he and his writers have been doing a good job in moving the show with much forward momentum and keeping things that would slow it down to a minimum. As much as I love Frank Darabont for bringing this show to tv I think him being replaced was just what this show needed to succeed in the long run.

Notes

  • Now that is what I call a scary opening. I’m sure many people watching tonight’s episode were hoping the zombie got through the windshield and chowed down on Lori, but then we wouldn’t have seen how badass she can be when the chips are down. Her actions in this sequence and in the episode’s end was a nice bookend in helping grow this character beyond the harping shrew many have been calling her.
  • Her reaction to another Shane lie and then her own reveal to him about their relationship to Rick goes a long way in making her go beyond much-hated character to one that’s conflicted but set in trying to fix what she thinks was a mistake that should never have happened.
  • It doesn’t bode well for the rest of the group, especially for the Grimes clan, now that Shane looks to have been shot down once again by the woman he says he love and done so in a way that leaves him with no opening for redemption. The fact that Lori has repeated Dale’s own suspicions about Shane’s role in Otis’ death all the way back in episode 3 of this season show’s that Shane was losing the support of the very person he believes he’s protecting. With talk of actor Jon Bernthal being coveted by Frank Darabont to star in his police detective tv series it’s almost a foregone conclusion that Shane’s much-delayed demise will not have a clock counting down. Whether that clock strikes “zero” before or right at this season’s finale will be speculated on by fans for weeks to come.
  • I like how the show has made the little character details really stand out since Mazzara and crew took over from Darabont. I don’t know if anyone else picked up on it, but during the gunfight back in town we finally hear Hershel leave behind any notion of what he thought about the zombies as being people just sick when he began to call them walkers as he and Glenn tried to survive against the other group of survivors.
  • Tonight’s episode goes a long way in making Hershel the new right-hand man for Rick. While Hershel looks to still be upset by what Rick’s group did with the barn zombies he has at least begun to admit both in his language and mannerisms that Rick had been right all along and that he now needs to protect his own family and Rick’s group may be a key to their survival.
  • Love Hershel puts Shane in his place after Shane once again tries to kneecap Rick’s place as group leader. Tonight really was a coming out party for Scott Wilson and here’s to hoping his Hershel continues to back Rick.
  • On the Glenn and Maggie relationship front…we see Glenn becoming more gunshy and clumsy when it comes to taking care of business when away from the group. Seems Maggie’s professing of her love for him has muddled his brain. We see him make several mistakes tonight that’s damaged his confidence. It will be interesting how both he and Maggie deal with his crisis of confidence as the season moves along.
  • Daryl looks to be pulling himself back from the group emotionally and it’s good to see Carol trying to prevent that from happening. This subplot looks to be in it’s gestation period but if done right it could turn out to be a good sign in keeping Daryl from further isolating himself from the group and at least keeps Carol busy trying to be savior for the show’s resident badass.
  • T-Dog watch: one line of dialogue and not much else. Please, Mazzara and crew just kill him off and bring in Tyrese.
  • We see some great work from Greg Nicotero and his make-up FX wizards from KNB EFX with tonight’s zombie carnage. Whether it was the zombie peeling it’s face off in an attempt to get through the busted car windshield to get to Lori or the face ripping of the wounded shooter as they begin to eat him alive. I know shooting these scenes at night and in the dark helps in keeping the tricks if the trade from being more obvious, but I think even if the scenes were filmed in the daytime I believe the effects work would be even better and much more bloody.
  • Finally, the show ends with Lori channeling her inner Lady MacBeth as she tries to turn Rick into solving the Shane problem (by any means necessary) which looks to be a spark away from destroying everything the group has worked for since they left Atlanta.

Trailer: Mass Effect 3 “Take Earth Back”

Posted on by Arleigh

During one of the many commercial breaks for February 19th’s episode of The Walking Dead audiences were treated to the premiere of a trailer for one of 2012’s most-anticipated video games.

Mass Effect 3 is the final title in the series trilogy that first began five years ago with the Mass Effect title. The series has just gotten bigger since then with the second title selling even more and improving on the first game. This third title looks to tie-up all the storylines begun with the first two games and finish them off in the only way possible: EPIC.

This trailer is simply called “Take Earth Back” and we see just why it’s called just that. The Reapers (extragalactic robotic beings of extreme intelligence who scour the galaxy of all living life every 50,000 years or so and this time they’re returning with their sights set on taking on the homeworld of the person who has tried to stop them from returning: Earth. We see much in this trailer from major cities being destroyed by giant Reaper ships then to the arrival of Cmdr. Shepard and his allies to take on the possessed “Husks” of aliens the Reaper has turned against everyone.

The game has been hyped since the second game ended and this trailer just adds to that as we get nearer to the title’s March 6, 2012 release date. This trailer preaches to the loyal and should go a long way to helping convince those still on the fence to pick it up.

Quickie Review: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (dir. by Neveldine/Taylor)

Posted on by Arleigh

Ghost Rider has always been a niche character for Marvel Comics. The character was born out of an earlier Marvel character named Night Rider. After Marvel writers Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich and artist Mike Ploog had rein-visioned the character into Ghost Rider during the early 70’s it has always remained on the extreme fringes of the Marvel Comics universe. This wouldn’t stop Sony (which owned the film rights to the character) to go ahead and adapt it for the big-screen. 2007’s Ghost Rider by Mark Johnson was the first and failed attempt to turn the character into a film franchise. It still made enough money despite a near-universal panning of the film by critics and audiences alike. This turn of profit is why Sony once again dipped into the Ghost Rider well and come up with 2012’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

This “sort of” sequel ditches Mark Johnson and brings in the dynamic (and I’d say somewhat insane) directing duo of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor to helm the film. It brings back Nicolas Cage for the role of Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider. Working from a script by Scott Gimple, Seth Hoffman and David S. Goyer one would think the film had nowhere else to go but up especially with the wacky and frenetic filming style by Neveldine/Taylor. To say that this sequel failed to do anything but finally give this film franchise a final nail in it coffin would be an understatement.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance ditches pretty much most of what transpired with the first film and tries to retcon things for the sequel. I’d say this would’ve been a good idea seeing the first film was truly awful, but what the sequel ended up doing was confuse things even more. The film tries to turn the Ghost Rider persona from just a spirit of vengeance but an angelic being called the spirit of justice which had become corrupted. We get the Devil in the form of Roarke (played by Irish actor Ciaran Hinds) searching for the young boy Danny who is to be his perfect vessel.  Johnny Blaze comes into the picture after being recruited by a drunk French warrior-monk by the name of Moreau (Idris Elba whose performance was one of the lone highlights of the film) who promises to exorcise the demon from Blaze in exchange for finding and saving Danny.

This would’ve been a good premise if it had several more drafts of it worked on. Though there’s still a chance the film would’ve still sucked in the end. Even the direction from Neveldine/Taylor (Crank, Crank: High Voltage, Gamer) failed to add any heat to the proceedings. They come up with some unique camera angles and action sequences, but gone was the hyper-realistic and frenetic style they’ve become known for. Their previous films were not stuff to write to one’s film critic circles about but they at least had a sense of fun built into them even if their stories defied any sort of logic.

Even the performances by the cast seemed to be something that barely reached the level of one-dimensional. Nicolas Cage tries to channel his inner crazy by way of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, but it’s too little too late to save the film which never found any sort of footing on the side of competent. Really, the only good thing worth of note was my previous mention of Idris Elba as Moreau who chews the scenery every time he shows up on the screen like it was his last meal. This performance alone wasn’t enough to save the film or even make it somewhat entertaining.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was not worth seeing in the theater (especially in 3D though that part of the film was actually quite well done despite being a post conversion) and I’d be willing to admit that it’s still not worth seeing on video unless it was for free. What could’ve been a restart to the series with the inclusion of Neveldine/Taylor instead gives this franchise it’s death-knell and most likely help Marvel get the rights back from Sony. Here’s to hoping that the flaming skull rider stays on the fringes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for decades to come.

Review: The Shawshank Redemption (dir. by Frank Darabont)

Posted on by Arleigh

“Remember, Red. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” — Andy Dufresne

1994 was the year that men finally got their version of Fried Green Tomatoes and Beaches. We men we’re always perplexed why so many women liked those two films. Even when it was explained to us that the film was about the bond of sisterhood between female friends and how the march of time could never break it we were still scratching out heads. In comes Frank Darabont’s film adaptation of the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

Using a script written by Darabont himself, the film just takes the latter half of the novella’s title and focuses most of the film’s story on the relationship between the lead character of Andy Dufresne (played by Tim Robbins) who gets sent to Shawshank Penitentiary for the crime of killing his wife and her lover and that of another inmate played by Morgan Freeman. The film doesn’t try to prove that Andy is innocent even though we hear him tell it to the convicts he ends up hanging around that he is. The relationship between Andy and Red becomes a great example of the very same bond of sisterhood, but this time a brotherhood who are stuck in a situation where their freedom has been taken away and hope itself becomes a rare and dangerous commodity.

Darabont has always been a filmmaker known for his love of Stephen King stories and has adapted several more since The Shawshank Redemption, but it would be this film which has become his signature work. It’s a film that’s almost elegiac in its pacing yet with hints of hope threaded in-between scenes of men clinging to sanity and normalcy in a place that looks to break them down and make them less human. It’s nothing new to see prison guards abusive towards inmates in films set in prisons, but in this film these scenes of abuse have a banality to them that shows how even the hardened criminal lives and breathes upon the mercy and generosity provided by the very people who were suppose to rehabilitate them.

While the film’s pacing could be called slow by some it does allow for the characters in the film, from the leads played by Robbins and Freeman to the large supporting cast to become fully formed characters. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Clancy Brown playing the sadistic Capt. Byron Hadley to James Whitmore as Brooks Hatlen the inmate who has spent most of his life in Shawshank and whose sudden parole begins one of the most heartbreaking sequences in the film. The whole cast did a great job in whatever role they had been chosen to play. Freeman and Robbins as Red and Andy have a chemistry together on-screen that makes their fraternal love for each other very believable that the final scenes in the film doesn’t feel too melodramatic or overly sentimental.

The Shawshank Redemption was a film that lost out to Forrest Gump for Best Picture, but was a film that would’ve been very deserving if it had won the top prize at the Academy Awards. It was a film that spoke of hope even at the most degrading setting and how it’s the very concept of hope and brotherhood that allows for those not free to have a sense of freedom and camaraderie. Darabont’s first feature-length film remains his best work to date and one of the best Stephen King adaptations which is a rarity considering how many of his stories have been adapted. So, while the fairer sex may have their Fried Green Tomatoes, Beaches and the like, we men will have ours in the fine film we call The Shawshank Redemption.

Songs of the Day: Let’s Get It On and Sexual Healing (by Marvin Gaye)

Posted on by Arleigh

Well, finally reach Valentine’s Day and to the finish line of the romance-themed choices for “Song of the Day”. We’ve had quite a list of songs which looks at romance and love from many differing angles. In the end, all of the previous songs were just foreplay and led up to the choices made for today. I couldn’t decide which song from Marvin Gaye to pick so I went with both.

What better way to close out Valentine’s Day and Night but with the two songs which probably led to some exceptional endings to couples’ Valentine’s Day for decades since their release. So, here’s Marvin Gaye with “Let’s Get It On” and “Sexual Healing” and I hope everyone have a safe, exceptional and epic Valentine’s Day.

Let’s Get It On

I’ve been really tryin baby
Tryin to hold back this feeling for so long
And if you feel like I feel baby
Come on, oh come on, ooh

Let’s get it on, ow baby
Let’s get it on, let’s love baby
Let’s get it on, sugar
Let’s get it on, woo

We’re all sensitive people with so much to give
Understand me sugar
Since we got to be, let’s live, I love you
There’s nothin’ wrong with me lovin’ you, baby no no
And givin’ yourself to me can never be wrong
If the love is true, oh baby ooh

Don’t you know how sweet and wonderful life can be, ooh ooh
I’m askin’ you baby to get it on with me, ooh ooh ooh
I ain’t goin’ to worry, I ain’t goin’ to push, won’t push you baby
So come on come on come on come on come on baby
Stop beatin’ round the bush, hey

Let’s get it on, ooh ooh
Let’s get it on, you know what I’m talkin’ about
Come on baby, hey hey, let your love come out
If you believe in love let’s get it on, ooh
Let’s get it on baby, this minute, oh yeah
Let’s get it on, eeeeeeeeee
Please get it on, hey hey

Come on come on come on come on come on darlin’
Stop beatin’ round the bush, oh, gonna get it on
Beggin’ you baby I want to get it on
You don’t have to worry that it’s wrong
If the spirit moves you, let me groove you
Good, let your love come down, oh

Get it on, come on baby, do you know I mean it
I’ve been sanctified, hey hey
Girl you give me good feelings, so good
Somethin’ like summertime

Sexual Healing

Ooh baby, now let’s get down tonight

Baby I’m hot just like an oven
I need some lovin’
And baby, I can’t hold it much longer
It’s getting stronger and stronger

And when I get that feeling
I want Sexual Healing
Sexual Healing, oh baby
Makes me feel so fine
Helps to relieve my mind
Sexual Healing baby, is good for me
Sexual Healing is something that’s good for me

Whenever blue tear drops are falling
And my emotional stability is leaving me
There is something I can do
I can get on the telephone and call you up baby, and
Honey I know you’ll be there to heal me
The love you give to me will free me
If you don’t know the thing you’re dealing
Oh I can tell you, darling, that it’s Sexual Healing

Get up, Get up, Get up, Get up – let’s make love tonight
Wake up, Wake up, Wake up, Wake up – ‘cos you do it right

Baby I got sick this morning
A sea was storming inside of me
Baby I think I’m capsizing
The waves are rising and rising

And when I get that feeling
I want Sexual Healing
Sexual Healing is good for me
Makes me feel so fine, it’s such a rush
Helps to relieve the mind, and it’s good for us
Sexual Healing, baby, it’s good for me
Sexual Healing is something that’s good for me
And it’s good for me and it’s so good to me
My baby ohhh

Come take control, just grab a hold
Of my body and mind soon we’ll be making it
Honey, oh we’re feeling fine
You’re my medicine open up and let me in
Darling, you’re so great
I can’t wait for you to operate

(Heal me my darling)
I can’t wait for you to operate

When I get this feeling,
I need sexual healing
oh when I get this feeling,
I need Sexual Healing,
I gotta have sexual healing, Darling
‘cos I’m all alone
sexual healing, darling,
’till you come back home

Song of the Day: Let’s Stay Together (by Al Green)

Posted on by Arleigh

We’re now at the penultimate choice leading up to Valentine’s Day. With the previous “Song of the Day” speaking of just how difficult staying in love can be it’s only natural that this pick for the latest song deals with a much more hopeful version of “Love Is”.

“Let’s Stay Together” is one of the most iconic soul tracks one can ever be introduced to. It comes from the same named album by soul artist Rev. Al Green and has been a staple in the playlist for pretty much every fan of R&B, soul and gospel music. Even President Obama has been seen and heard belting out a verse or two from the song of recent. It’s the quintessential song about taking a chance and becoming a couple no matter circumstance.

This is definitely a song which would be on my Valentine’s playlist for the night which would lead up to the song which would end the night. A song I shall save for tomorrow which also happens to be Valentine’s Day and the final song in this week-long romance-themed list.

Let’s Stay Together

I, I’m so in love with you
Whatever you want to do
Is all right with me
‘Cause you make me feel so brand new
And I want to spend my life with you

Since, since we’ve been together
Loving you forever
Is what I need
Let me be the one you come running to
I’ll never be untrue

Let’s, let’s stay together
Lovin’ you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad

Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad

Why, why some people break up
Then turn around and make up
I just can’t see
You’d never do that to me (would you, baby)
Staying around you is all I see
(Here’s what I want us to do)

[Repeat to fade:]
Let’s, we oughta stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad

Song of the Day: Love Is (by Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight)

Posted on by Arleigh

The latest song as we get closer to Valentine’s Day has Vanessa Williams returning once again with some back-up in the form of R&B star Brian McKnight.

This one song surprised me when I first heard of it all the way back in 1993 when it was first released. What was surprising to me wasn’t how good it was, but that it was part of the Beverly Hills, 90201 soundtrack which came out the same year. That show was like the guilty pleasure for many people and the fact that they brought the show back with new pretty people for a new generation speaks volume toward it’s place in pop-culture history. But I’m not here to talk about that show. Instead I’m here to talk about “Love Is” sung as a duet by Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight.

“Love Is” is not your typical ballad in that it doesn’t just try to push love and romance as something that’s great and something one cannot live without. On the contrary, this song speaks about love as being something that is hard to keep let alone struggle through. While love is something that’s both beautiful and easy to fall int. That’s the easy part. True love requires constant struggle to keep it from turning into something stale and destructive.

I think everyone who has ever truly fallen in love can understand what this song is talking about.

Love Is

[Vanessa Williams]

They say it’s a river, that circles the earth
A beam of light shining to the edge of the universe
it conquers all, it changes everything

They say it’s a blessing, they say it’s a gift
they say it’s a miracle
and I believe that it is
it conquers all, but it’s a mystery

Love breaks your heart
Love takes no less than everything
Love makes it hard
and it fades away so easily

[Brian McKnight]

In this world we’ve created
in this place that we live
in the blink of an eye the darkness slips in
love lights the world
unites the lovers for eternity

Love breaks the chains
Love aches for everyone of us
Love takes the tears and the pain, and it turns it in-
to the beauty that remains

[Vanessa Williams]

Look at this place
it was paradise, but now it’s dying
I’ll pray forlove

[Brian McKnight]

I’ll take my chances that it’s not too late

[piano solo bridge]

[Vanessa Williams/Brian McKnight]

Love breaks your heart
Love takes no less than everything
Love makes it hard
and fades away so easily

Oh oh oh

Love breaks the chains
Love aches for everyone of us
Love takes the tears and the pain, and it turns it in-
to the beauty that remains

Review: The Walking Dead S2E8 “Nebraska”

Posted on by Arleigh

“Ain’t nobody’s hands are clean with what’s left of this world. We’re all the same.” — Dave

[some spoilers]

After almost three months in hiatus The Walking Dead returns with a brand new episode which brings us back to how we left the show after episode 7.

It’s a cold opening with us, the audience, looking up the barrel of Rick’s pistol with smoke still billowing out from him having to use it to put down Sophia. The awkward silence is only broken up by the sobbing by the youngest Greene daughter which soon turns into screams of horror and panic as not all of the walkers the group had massacred was fully and truly dead. But it’s a burst of adrenaline that doesn’t last long. We see the cracks opened up by Shane’s “live or die” outburst from the previous episode now out in the open as the revelation that Sophia was always in the barn and all the searching for her by the group has been for naught and has put many in the group in danger.

Whether Herschel and his family really knew that Sophia was already turned didn’t matter to some in the group who now look at the Greene’s with suspicious eyes. Some still cling to the hope that it was all a mistake and that the only person who knew Sophia was inside had died days before. We once again see that these two differing thoughts have come down between Rick and Shane. It’s a conflict that has been brewing since Rick’s return to the group all the way back in episode 3 of the first season. While its been quite a surprise and a treat to see the TV-version of Shane survive far longer than the one from the comic book source I do think that this conflict between the two alpha dogs will soon come to a head by season’s end. To continue having these two be at loggerheads beyond this season would be unnecessary and take away from any dramatic payoff this subplot has.

The center section of the episode is probably where some viewers will once again harp and complain about the show returning to it’s habit of being talky and spinning it wheels in place. I won’t say that I haven’t worried about this show when it came to it’s quieter and slower moments. There’s been times this season when the show has spun it’s wheels in place instead of moving forward, but as we saw with the Sophia reveal which ended the mid-season of season 2 there’s a crazy logic to what’s been going on even if we can’t see it when it first occurs.

This is not to say that the writers and new showrunner Glen Mazzara don’t have some work to do in improving the show’s pacing and quality. With the start of the second half of season 2 Mazzara and his crew have the opportunity to take what Kirkman and Darabont had laid down with the first 13 episodes of the series and create something that goes beyond the show just being a good show. While the middle section of the episode wasn’t a step in that direction I thought the final twenty minutes of the episode was something the show has been hit or miss with throughout this season. Maybe it’s the change of showrunners from Frank Darabont who’s experience has been mostly with film work while Mazzara has been a veteran of some very dialogue-heavy shows such as The Shield.

In the past episodes with Daradont in charge the scenes between Rick and Herschel in the town bar would’ve been a mixture of great writing but not something easily translated into spoken dialogue. This time around with Mazzara in charge the scene moved at a pace which didn’t equate to a scene being talky, but helped establish the changes in how two men used to a leadership role realizing that they’ve made mistakes which has led them to the growing tension back in the farm and within the two groups. Adding to this great scene was the arrival of two new characters which would ratchet up the tension in the bar from 1 to 11 with just a few lines of dialogue heavy with hidden meanings and agendas.

It’s this final scene with Tony and Dave of Philadelphia that gives me hope that the writers and Mazzara have seen some of the complaints from fans and realize that slowing down a scene with dialogue interactions between characters doesn’t have to be useless and an exercise in exposition dumps. Watching Andrew Lincoln (in his best performance to date) and Michael Raymond-James (Terriers, True Blood) interact with each other like it was some sort of verbal chess match was the highlight of the show. The tension created by the dialogue between the group of Rick, Glenn and Herschel with the two newcomers in Dave and Tony was so thick that it became palpable and like a powder keg just needing the merest of sparks to set off.

The final sequence with Rick finally making the hard decision to protect his group (now Herschel Greene and his brood included) over trusting the potential of other newcomers to either be a boon or a danger felt like the character making a turn from being a white hat of the show to one who now must travel this zombie apocalypse looking at things through shades of grey. Rick has always borne the brunt of fan criticism as being too noble and/or wishy-washy when it comes to making the tough choices. If this episode’s final moments was any indication Rick looks to be capable of making decisions without any hesitation if it comes to the safety of the group. He’s just not roided out in his execution of said decisions as his former deputy, Shane Walsh. Here’s to hoping this greying out of Rick is part of the new change in show leadership. If that is the case then the show may have finally found it’s stable footing for seasons to come.

Notes

  • I loved how quickly Shane tries to reassert himself as the “correct” leader for the group after he failed to put down Sophia and watches Rick make that tough choice. With each passing minute with this episode Shane comes off even more sociopathic, delusional and unpredictable
  • Another great scene is Rick pretty much telling Lori to shut up in no uncertain terms when she tries to argue that he should stay and not go off running to town to bring Herschel back. The look on her face as Rick tells her he’s doing this not just to save Herschel but their unborn baby was some good writing and acting.
  • For a moment during that scene one could almost see why Rick was so frustrated with Lori and their relationship before the zombie apocalypse interrupted the world’s routine.
  • Once again T-Dog has been relegated to being the one character on the show to say one or two lines and still not have any of it show any insight into his character. I still believe his days are numbered and won’t last this season into season 3.
  • The ‘ship growing between Glenn and Maggie continues with Glenn starting to show some doubts as to whether he should stay with Rick and the rest of the group. He seems to genuinely like Maggie, probably even loves her, though he still seems surprised that Maggie feels the same and actually mean it. In the comic book the relationship between the two seemed more like survivors clinging to something humane with love being an afterthought. This is why the tv version of this relationship has actually made these two characters even better than their comic boo counterparts.
  • I’m not sure if it was just me, but Glenn telling Rick in their drive into town about how the only people to say that they loved him was his mom and sisters made for a sad moment. Glenn has never mentioned anything about his life prior to the zombie apocalypse other than he was a pizza delivery guy. Knowing that he has no idea what has happened to his mother and sister or whether they’re still alive or turned into walkers was a very downbeat note in what was a quaint little scene.
  • Carol and Daryl look to be handling the revelation of Sophia from the previous episode in different ways. Carol trashing the Cherokee roses out in the field was very appropriate as was Daryl pulling back once again from the group as his hopes of Sophia being found alive has been dashed. It will be interesting to see whether the two will become assets to the group or more of a liability moving forward.
  • It was nice to see Michael Raymond-James from Terriers and True Blood appear on this episode. His verbal jousting with Rick at the bar was one of the best scenes of this series that didn’t include zombies or a roided out Shane. His performance in what turned out to be a cameo was so good that one couldn’t outright say that he was someone bad looking to waylay Rick and his group. He seemed like someone who was probably like Rick in the beginning of his own group’s travels, but has been weighed down by what he has seen and done to survive and protect his own that desperation has made him to do things that the regular world wouldn’t look well on.
  • All those who think Rick was a paper tiger of a leader and that Shane was the one who would best protect the group should think twice about that criticism. He showed backbone, initiative and some guile in trying to convince the two newcomers from Philadelphia that they need to look somewhere else for shelter. He definitely showed his inner-Raylan Givens with his final act of the episode.
  • I’m going to go all the way back to the beginning of Season 1, episode 5. Rick declared to everyone that they are not to kill the living. The fact that he has broken his own self-imposed rule on the group (already broken by Shane though unknown to most except a suspicious Dale) with what he did in the end of the episode should prove telling in how he behaves as he and his group of survivors continue to meet up with others on the road (hopefully) and with those within the group looking to supplant him as leader.
  • Finally, it’s been awhile since the show used a song to end an episode. It’s been a nice return to hear a particular song used this time and “Regulator” by The Clutch was an inspired choice to end “Nebraska” especially after such having such a down and dirty Old West showdown to end things: