Favorite TV Moments of 2013:

As 2013 winds down, I take a look back at some of my favorite TV moments. It was a great year of television and I couldn’t watch everything, but here’s what I came up with.

This post contains spoilers.

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5. Bob Benson on Mad Men

Wasn’t all the guessing surrounding the mysterious Bob Benson fun? He practically comes out of nowhere and begins working in accounts and slowly climbs the ladder until Pete Campbell gets in his way. But it was impressive, and very conniving (like Pete), how he went out of his way to impress those above him. Whether it was sending a deli platter to Roger’s mom’s wake or personally assisting Joan during her ovarian cyst scare, Benson was always around with a smile and a helping hand. But seriously, what was his deal?

Was he a serial killer? A secret spy for some agency? Would Mad Men insert an outrageous character like that into their story? Fortunately, those theories hold no truth to who Benson really is (or is he Draper’s son?!). He happens to be a chameleon of sorts, pretending to be a number of things and lying through his teeth all the way until he’s ready to leave behind that identity. Yes, it’s Don Draper style, but Benson’s season-long story is quite impressive the way he slithers in and out of the office, all the way to carving the turkey at Joan’s apartment. What’s left of Bob Benson? We’ll find out soon enough.

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4. The Office Finale

On May 16, 2013, The Office finally came to an end after nine seasons. The episode consisted of one last prank from Jim on Dwight that brought back Michael Scott to be Dwight’s best man. During Dwight and Angela’s wedding, Michael Scott comments, “I feel like all my kids grew up and then they married each other. It’s every parent’s dream.” Classic Michael Scott.

Pam sells the house so Jim can pursue his dream in sports marketing. Could there be a cuter TV-couple than Jim and Pam? But it was Jim with the best line of the night, giving thanks to his time at Dunder Mifflin with, “Even if I didn’t love every minute of it, everything I have I owe to this job. This stupid, wonderful, boring amazing job.”

One of the most memorable sitcoms of the past decade has come to an end. Goodbye Michael Scott, Dwight, Jim, Pam, Andy, Angela, Oscar, Kelly, Ryan, Toby, Creed, Erin, Phyllis, Meredith, Stanley, and whoever else. It’s been fun.

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3. The Returned

The biggest surprise to me (and best kept secret) was this French hororr-drama series on the Sundance Channel. A small town in France has a number of people returning from the dead that impacts the town unlike they could ever imagine. Sure, technically they’re zombies, but they’re not your typical flesh-eating, slow-walking undead. Those back from the dead look normal and talk fine. They just can’t remember everything, can’t sleep, and they’re always hungry.

The complicated stories that make up the first season of The Returned present plenty of questions and not enough answers. That doesn’t take away from the haunting eight episodes though, as it tackled situations and difficult decisions thought impossible to those involved. How would you deal with a beloved one coming back from the dead? All those years it took to move on would be useless to seeing them again. But how long are they going to stay? And why haven’t others come back from the dead with them? Hopefully, this is only the beginning.

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2. The Red Wedding

For those who read the novels, they knew this was coming, but for people like me who didn’t, this was a jaw-dropping episode. Game of Thrones has never shied away from killing off main characters (characters who we love nonetheless), so I guess this shouldn’t have come to such a surprise, but hell, it still did! “The Rains of Castamere” was easily the most powerfully emotional episode of television in 2013, as well as the most shocking.

Following Robb Stark since the beginning of the series, he’s grown to be a wise, powerful leader who we all would be happy to see as King. Well, Robb made some mistakes along his way and he paid for them during this episode. Robb, along with his pregnant wife and his mother, Catelyn, were all murdered during Catelyn’s brother’s wedding. And just like that in those few brief minutes, their story-lines are over. I just remember sitting in my room for minutes after the episode concluded, unable to move from the shock that my body and mind was going through after. It was twice as powerful as when Ned Stark was beheaded in season one. I felt confused, angry, and sadness all at once. When a television show can make me feel this way, then you know it’s a great show.

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1. Breaking Bad Finale

Arguably the greatest television series to go down in history, Breaking Bad gave a superb (yet predictable) series finale on September 29, 2013. “Felina” didn’t shock us or leave us hanging with questions we demanded answers to. It was just simply what we wanted to happen before saying goodbye to the series. We watch Walter White get his revenge on Lydia, Jack and his gang. We’re sure Walt’s money will get to his family once he’s gone and we see him say goodbye to Skylar, finally admitting the truth that he did it all for himself. We see Jesse kill Todd and speed away alive. And we see Walt lying in the middle of the meth lab bleeding out as the camera widens.

Breaking Bad is an extreme success for television. I remember laughing at the premise of the show when it first aired, but like all great shows it evolved to something that became must-watch-TV. The odd-couple between Walt and Jesse provided more than enough of the show’s comedy as they started cooking meth. Slowly, they climbed the ranks to drug lord, or as Walt said it, he became the one who knocks. Meanwhile, Hank and his investigation to bring down the mysterious and powerful Heisenberg. Everything about this show was top notch cable programming. Creator Vince Gilligan always had shows like The Wire and X-Files (which he wrote and produced) to live up to. Now, every show in the future will have to live up to the iconic Breaking Bad.

Movie Review: Her

Her (2013)
126 minutes
Rated – R
Directed by Spike Jonze
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara

Grade: A

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Spike Jonze never shies away from tackling projects that are challenging, unique, and risky. His most recent attempt is a film that surrounds itself with many romantic questions. The simplest of them is, what is love? When you pull the layers back you are face to face with questions like, what constitutes a real relationship? Sure, most romantic comedies ask these questions and offer up a Hollywood ending to the characters falling in love. But in the slightly futuristic world of Her, you can fall in love with an operating system. Or can you?

Theodore (Phoenix) is dealing with a divorce from his best friend and has been keeping to himself in a stubborn, lonely way. But he has a big heart and it’s put to good use at his job where he writes letters to clients’ loved ones, making it as heartfelt and genuine as possible for people he doesn’t know. He doesn’t truly wake up from his post-breakup coma until he meets Samantha. She’s the operating system that is paired up to Theodore once the new technology is revealed. She’s like a mix between Apple’s Siri and online dating, as she’s able to answer any questions Theodore asks her, but she speaks and acts like a person from a dating site with a real personality. To some, Samantha is only a computer program but to Theodore, she’s the real thing.

Her never considers the set-up a joke. It reminded me of Lars and the Real Girl with the online ordered sex-doll that Ryan Gosling passes off as his girlfriend. Here, Theodore becomes close with Samantha, closer than he’s ever felt since his wife (Mara). But is it real? That’s a question that Theodore and even Samantha asks. She’s just an artificial intelligence program, but she’s evolving and learning like any real person would. Does that make the feelings Theodore shares any less real? How could feelings be faked?

Jonze’s screenplay and direction gives Her just what it needs to be one of the most emotionally engaging films of the year. The conversations between Theodore and his operating system peak into the window of true romance and real feelings. This feat alone is something to marvel at. Joaquin Phoenix gives Theodore the vulnerability he needs to make every scene work. He’s quiet but with a lot to say. He craves human interaction, but isn’t entirely desperate. Phoenix injects the character with the kindness he needs for everyone to relate with and to feel for.

Not to be out-done, Scarlett Johansson gives a great voice-over performance as Samantha. With her natural raspy voice, she gives Samantha the playfulness that comes off attractive and inviting. She flirts with her frequent laughter and whispers during the most intimate encounters, as if she’s mouthing something right into your ear. All of these attributes add up and it’s easy to understand how someone like Theodore could fall for her.

While it’s easy to put Her into a romantic comedy genre, that doesn’t do it justice. Sure, at the surface it’s a coming-of-age film of a guy re-evaluating his life since he’s been heart-broken, and finding new ways to enjoy the world he lives in. But it’s also a commentary on the current technological world that is only growing to be more dependent on gadgets and further away from real human connection. The scenes that show hordes of people walking on the streets, talking with a bud in their ear and their eyes on their phone… sound familiar?

We’re all looking for that perfect match, and too often people resort to computers for doing the work for them. Dating sites try to match you up based on a lengthy survey. And has communicating in-person become completely invalid with texting, emailing, and phone calls? I’m not sure how the current generation can go without these crucial moments of learning simple communication skills with these distractions, but if Theodore can take something good out of his situation, then I guess there’s still hope for everyone. Plus, it all comes down to just finding that someone to share your life with. Who cares if a computer helps or not. Does it make it any less real?

Oscar Talk 2014: Best Actor Race

  

  

At this point of the awards season, we only have the SAG nominees and the Golden Globes nominees to fall back on how the Oscars might deal out their nominations. Frankly, that isn’t a lot and therefore it’s still all up in the air. Looking at the amount of quality films this year, I don’t remember a year that has quite this many amazing performances by actors in… maybe over a decade? Maybe even longer? Just take a glimpse at this list of potential nominees:

Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)
Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Robert Redford (All is Lost)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Joaquin Phoenix (Her)
Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Forest Whitaker (The Butler)
Christian Bale (American Hustle)
Hugh Jackman (Prisoners)
Idris Elba (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)

Those are eleven incredible leading performances this year and in my opinion they all deserve to be nominated for an Oscar. Unfortunately, that’s not how things work and here I am trying to predict which five are going to be nominated. This year, it’s much more difficult than usual.

Let’s start out with the definites, or those who I think are practically a shoe-in for a nomination. That would begin with Chiwetel Ejiofor with easily the most emotional performance of the entire year in 12 Years a Slave. I cannot imagine him being snubbed. It was just a masterful performance by an underrated actor.

And then that’s it. Honestly, I can picture any four actors from the list above to be in this category, and just because Ejiofor is a front-runner doesn’t mean he’s a favorite to win the award.

The way I see it, there are sub-categories these actors can be placed in. Bruce Dern and Robert Redford are the veterans of the game and will receive a lot of the elderly votes from The Academy, along with those who feel this might be their last opportunity to be recognized. Unfortunately, these two might split these votes and both might not make the final cut.

Then you have Tom Hanks and Forest Whitaker, two former winners who are both having a comeback to the awards circuit. They’re both lovable and are anything but new to the way things run this time of the year. This could prove to be very beneficial.

Next you have Leonardo DiCaprio and Joaquin Phoenix, two actors who have received a number of nominations but have never won. The Academy tends to reward actors like these, and it’s proven that they’re both very much liked in the community. While Phoenix was nominated just last year for The Master (a somewhat surprising nomination), DiCaprio hasn’t been nominated since 2007 for Blood Diamond. So he’s been snubbed for his performances in movies like Revolutionary Road, Inception, and Django Unchained. What gives?

Next you have The Prestige… well what I mean to say is that Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman have both received only one nomination each. Yes, Bale won but that was for a Supporting Role for The Fighter, while Jackman was nominated last year for Les Miserables. So while these two aren’t completely new to awards season, it’s still quite fresh and they’re both looking for their first Best Leading Actor award.

Finally, the newbie category. Oscar Isaac, Matthew McConaughey, and Idris Elba fall here because they’ve never been nominated. Also, I would put Chiwetel Ejiofor here as well since he’s never been nominated, but I already expressed my opinion about him. Isaac and Elba both have had stand-out performances in their respected movies, but can they really compete with the bigger stars?

I’d like to think that the voters are going to pick one from each sub-category that I’ve discussed. So putting in Ejiofor, we have four more spots. For the veteran category, that’s a coin flip. I guess if I had to choose, I’d go with Bruce Dern because of the SAG snub to Redford. Then for the comebacks, I’d take Hanks over Whitaker. For the overdue sub-category, I’ll go with DiCaprio over Phoenix. For the Prestige, well I don’t think I’m going to take either Jackman or Bale on this one. And for the newbies, I think The Academy will finally give McConaughey a well deserved nomination.

But hey, what the hell do I know? Probably nothing.

Oscar Talk 2013: American Hustle film to beat?

I’ve recently watched American Hustle and couldn’t help myself from shaking my head. It was a very good film and arguably the most enjoyable film of the year. It was funny, well-paced, and packed with an incredible cast. So why was I shaking my head? Because it seems that it’s gaining the much needed momentum to take this year’s Best Picture award come March, and that’s just unfortunate.

To me, films like 12 Years a Slave and Gravity are much better films. They’re daring, innovative, and tell engrossing stories about survival. But they lack the pure enjoyment that Academy voters seem to need and want to award during awards season. Last year, Argo won the big prize. It was a very good movie, but does anyone really argue that Lincoln was more important and factually correct? Does anyone argue that Life of Pi was the most powerful film of the year, or that Zero Dark Thirty was the most controversial?

Look back even further. The Artist, an extremely entertaining, colorless romantic comedy, beat out films like The Help (powerful), Hugo (innovative), and The Descendants. The year prior, The King’s Speech won Best Picture and it’s definitely a film you simply cannot dislike. But it beat out The Social Network (brilliant), Black Swan (daring), and Inception (innovative). Ever since the quantity of Best Picture nominations have increased from five, The Academy has been voting for the feel-good films and have been leaving behind the ones that really should be winning.

As of right now, this year’s Best Picture race is a three-way between 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, and American Hustle. They’re all critically acclaimed, have good or great performances by big actors, and have directors who are overdue for some recognition. In my opinion, that leaves the voters to lean towards the more enjoyable option, which is American Hustle. I could be wrong and as the guild awards keep rolling out, we’ll get a clearer picture as to which film will take the lead, but I can’t see American Hustle loosening its reigns on the Best Picture race from now until the ceremony.

Golden Globes Nominations 2014

Best Picture, Drama

• 12 Years a Slave
• Captain Phillips
• Gravity
• Philomena
• Rush

Best Picture, Comedy/Musical

• American Hustle
• Her
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Nebraska
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
• Alexander Payne, Nebraska
• David O. Russell, American Hustle

Best Actress

• Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Sandra Bullock, Gravity
• Judi Dench, Philomena
• Emma Thompson, Saving Mr Banks
• Kate Winslet, Labor Day

Best Actor

• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Idris Elba, Mandela
• Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
• Matthew McConaghey, Dallas Buyers Club
• Robert Redford, All Is Lost

Best Actor Comedy/Musical

• Christian Bale, American Hustle
• Bruce Dern, Nebraska
• Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
• Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Joaquin Phoenix, Her

Best Actress Comedy/Musical

• Amy Adams, American Hustle
• Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
• Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
• Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Enough Said
• Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

Best Supporting Actor

• Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
• Daniel Bruhl, Rush
• Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
• Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
• Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress

• Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
• Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
• Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
• Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
• June Squibb, Nebraska

Best Screenplay

• Her, Spike Jonze
• Nebraska, Bob Nelson
• Philomena, Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan
• 12 Years a Slave, John Ridley
• American Hustle, Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell

Best Foreign Language Film

• Blue is the Warmest Color
• The Great Beauty
• The Hunt
• The Past
• The Wind Rises

Best Original Song

• Atlas (Hunger Games)
• Let it Go (Frozen)
• Ordinary Love (Mandela)
• Please Mr. Kennedy (Inside Llewyn Davis)
• Sweeter Fiction (One Chance)

Best Score

• All is Lost, Alex Ebert
• Mandela, Alex Heffes
• Gravity, Steven Price
• Book Thief, John Williams
• 12 Years a Slave, Hans Zimmer

Best Animated Feature

• The Croods
• Despicable Me 2
• Frozen

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American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave both received seven nominations, leading all movies in the upcoming Golden Globes. Do we have a legitimate trio of movies competing for Best Picture? Possibly.

As we all know, the split for Drama and Comedy/Musical at the Golden Globes skews the way to perceive movies winning. It’s their way of having ten nominations, which used to double the five Best Picture nominations from a few years ago. So what can we take from the nominees? In the Best Picture, Drama category we will see the 12 Years a Slave vs. Gravity showdown. These two have been front-runners for months and this match-up is like the Yankees vs. the Red Sox. It’s what everyone expected and it’s what everyone will be watching come January 12, 2014.

In the Comedy/Musical category, it’s a lot more wide open, that is unless you expect American Hustle to be a top three contender. But there’s no reason to believe that yet. What we have here are five very very good films with great reviews, actors, and directors. At this point in the game, I don’t see one clear winner. American Hustle has the hot hand with David O. Russell’s recent success and Jennifer Lawrence as arguably the biggest actress, so I’d put that as a slight favorite. Is it really much better than the rest of the nominees though?

Her is creeping into a serious contender ranking on plenty top ten lists with Joaquin Phoenix and Spize Jonze. Nebraska has Alexander Payne and Bruce Dern who are very much due for some accolades. Then The Wold of Wall Street teams up Scorsese with DiCaprio, who might be the best director/actor combo in history. And never count out the Coen brothers with Inside Llewyn Davis. Needless to say, this is a tough category.

The Best Director category sheds some light to how the HFPA feels about the Best Picture nominees. From the ten nominations, they pick five for Best Director. Three are from Drama films and two are from Comedy/Musical. It’s strange to think of a year of movies where Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, and the Coen brothers have films nominated but were snubbed for Best Director. But that simply shows you how competitive this year is.

Now let’s get into some snubs. With an impressive showing at the SAG Awards nominations, Lee Daniel’s The Butler was ignored completely. That’s right. Nothing for Forest Whitaker and nothing for Oprah. And Saving Mr. Banks only received one nomination for Emma Thompson. Tom Hanks’s as Walt Disney was snubbed, which is having people question his chances when just a day ago it seemed like a lock.

We have the SAG and the Golden Globes nominations. For the record, the SAG Awards nominations mean a lot more when predicting the Oscars because they’re actually a part of The Academy. That being said, The Butler and Saving Mr. Banks is still very well in the picture. So is August: Osage County and Dallas Buyers Club. Meanwhile, Philomena is hovering right at the border right now. Judi Dench is a lock for a nomination, but can the film sneak in for Best Picture? There are still plenty of guild nominations to come.

 

SAG Awards Nominees 2014

The Screen Actors Guild Awards are chosen and voted for by the largest guild in the business: the actors. It’s always interesting to see which movies and actors the peers are leaning towards as the best from the past year. Should we take these nominees seriously when trying to predict the Oscars?

There are only five nominees every year for the SAG Outstanding Performance by a Cast award, so during the days when there were only five Best Picture nominees, it was fun to compare. Now with more Best Picture nominees, all of these guild nominations are just hints at what the Best Picture category can look like.

Let’s take a look at the past few SAG Ensemble winners and Best Picture winners:

2012: Argo (SAG) – Argo (Oscar)
2011: The Help (SAG) – The Artist (Oscar)
2010: The King’s Speech (SAG) – The King’s Speech (Oscar)
2009: Inglourious Basterds (SAG) – The Hurt Locker (Oscar)
2008: Slumdog Millionaire (SAG) – Slumdog Millionaire (Oscar)

So based on the past five years when matching the SAG and Best Picture, you can see a on-and-off pattern. If that pattern continues, then the winning SAG Ensemble won’t match this year’s Best Picture, but that’s pretty silly. It’s better off mentioning that there’s about a 50% chance that the winning SAG ensemble will also end up winning Best Picture.

Here are the nominees:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Dallas Buyers Club
Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Bruce Dern / Woody Grant – “Nebraska”
Chiwetel Ejiofor / Solomon Northup – “12 Years a Slave”
Tom Hanks / Capt. Richard Phillips – “Captain Phillips”
Matthew McConaughey / Ron Woodroof – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Forest Whitaker / Cecil Gaines – “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett / Jasmine – “Blue Jasmine”
Sandra Bullock / Ryan Stone – “Gravity”
Judi Dench / Philomena Lee – “Philomena”
Meryl Streep / Violet Weston – “August: Osage County”
Emma Thompson / P.L. Travers – “Saving Mr. Banks”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Barkhad Abdi / Muse – “Captain Phillips”
Daniel Brühl / Niki Lauda – “Rush”
Michael Fassbender / Edwin Epps – “12 Years a Slave”
James Gandolfini / Albert – “Enough Said”
Jared Leto / Rayon – “Dallas Buyers Club”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Jennifer Lawrence / Rosalyn Rosenfeld – “American Hustle”
Lupita Nyong’o / Patsey – “12 Years a Slave”
Julia Roberts / Barbara Weston – “August: Osage County”
June Squibb / Kate Grant – “Nebraska”
Oprah Winfrey / Gloria Gaines – “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”

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At this stage of the game, the two front-runners for Best Picture seem to be 12 Years a Slave and Gravity. Gravity’s absence for the SAG Ensemble award isn’t that big of a deal though, since it’s practically Sandra Bullock throughout. What I can make out from the five nominees is that American Hustle is making a push towards the top tier alongside 12 Years a Slave and Gravity as favorites. Also, Lee Daniel’s The Butler is doing very well and is on its way to making a serious push for Best Picture.

I am very surprised that Robert Redford wasn’t among the nominees for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for All is Lost. Also, Joaquin Phoenix didn’t get nominated while Her is receiving incredible raves from groups like the National Board of Review, the American Film Institute, along with many critic circles. But the Lead Actor category is stacked this year, so we’ll have to see how this all plays out.

Meanwhile, the Lead Actress category looks to be a lock for these five actresses, with Sandra Bullock leading the way. Some are making a case for Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine, and you should never count out Meryl Streep when she’s nominated. Rounding out the nominees, I’m glad that Daniel Brühl received a nomination for his excellent performance in Rush. It was also nice to see James Gandolfini nominated in the same category. And at the end, there’s Oprah nominated for her performance in The Butler.

While this doesn’t change the predictions all that much, it definitely benefits Lee Daniel’s The Butler.

Homeland – “Big Man in Tehran”

Season Three, Episode Eleven

Grade: B+

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Nicholas Brody has been a firecracker for Homeland. Ever since the first season where he was the U.S. Marine turned-into-terrorist, he’s been an extremely important character on this show. It made sense that soon he become the focal point, especially because Carrie became too whacky for her own good. Brody was absent during the beginning of the third season, for obvious reasons, but now he’s right back on the front line.

He meets with Javadi and everything is a go. Javadi has placed a meeting for Brody with Akbari and that’s when he’ll take him out. There’s a very shady extraction plan in the works as well, but that really seems like a long shot. If this was a cable show other than Homeland, I’d expect Brody to be killed off this episode, but I really doubt that Homeland wants to move on from the Carrie-Brody story.

That being said, Carrie’s involvement during this episode is pretty unrealistic. Why is she in Tehran again? She meets with Fara’s uncle to secure a phone to be the eyes on the street for the CIA, but I don’t understand why it HAD to be Carrie aside from the show possibly wanting one last Carrie-Brody moment. She’s too unpredictable and cannot be controlled by Saul or anyone else who has been working on this mission for months. The likelihood they would allow her to be in Tehran would be little to none, yet she’s in the middle of everything. Okay, I guess I’ll just have to live with that.

The meeting never happens, but Brody meets with Nazir’s wife. They share a brief moment with each other’s company and the dialogue is sweet and important. It establishes a close bond between the two when they talk about the difficulties of staying strong. She has lost her husband and Brody has lost his family. They both relate to these tough times and the main part about this scene is to establish doubt in your mind about Brody’s loyalties. Because as we remember, he’s not the most dependable person, bouncing back-and-forth from Marine to terrorist to CIA double-agent.

So what makes Brody click? What does he value? In the first season, his family is the thing that makes him snap out of his plan to wipe out many important people of the U.S. government (though he did press the clicker, it just malfunctioned). What’s going to make him come back from all of the hell he’s gone through? Is it another chance to see his family again? Another chance to prove to Dana he’s not a terrorist? To be with Carrie? For the record, Carrie hasn’t dropped the baby-bomb on Brody yet, so that’s not on his mind.

The episode engages us in the world of Tehran, and when Homeland does this it shows us why we loved this show from the beginning. There is an immediate urgency around every corner and not understanding the foreign culture enhances the intensity of every scene. In the end, Brody gets the job done. Inside Akbari’s office, Brody confesses that Javadi is working for the CIA and he also gives himself up that he was ordered to kill him. Akbari is surprisingly calm and interprets this as Brody’s allegiance. Hell, I sort of did too but something clicked in Brody’s mind that made him kill Akbari. Or was that his plan the whole time? You can never tell with him, but that’s what makes him such a unique weapon that Homeland has.

With only one episode left in the season, the big question seems to be whether or not Brody will make it out alive. I’m torn between this question. While Homeland isn’t the spy-suspense, CIA-procedure show it used to be in season one, they’ve done a decent job at exploring the Carrie-Brody plot. They’re really the only characters that you somewhat feel attached to, and for that reason alone I don’t think it’s going to be easy for the show to write Brody off, and in a way I don’t want to see him go. I want to see Brody succeed, I want to see his name to be cleared, and I want to see Carrie tell Brody that they have a baby.

But with all honesty, the show would most likely be better if they got rid of Brody and moved on. It’s something they should’ve done in season two when things just didn’t feel right. The whole conflict between Brody and Jessica felt natural in the first season when they dealt with the war hero coming home and dealing with the trauma. That turned into a lot of family drama with an increase role for Dana in the second and third season. I’m not blaming this entirely, but when you look at the big picture through Homeland’s three seasons, it’s the clear one you can immediately point out. So if Brody doesn’t make it out alive next week, I’ll be sad, but it’s for the show’s own good.

TV Reviews: Boardwalk Empire

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– Boardwalk Empire – “Ging Gang Goolie” (S03E06)
– Boardwalk Empire – “Sunday Best” (S03E07)
– Boardwalk Empire – “The Pony” (S03E08)
– Boardwalk Empire – “The Milkmaid’s Lot” (S03E09)
– Boardwalk Empire – “A Man, a Plan…” (S03E10)
– Boardwalk Empire – “Margate Sands” (S03E12)

Movie Review: All Is Lost

All is Lost (2013)
106 minutes
Rated PG-13
Directed by J.C. Chandor
Starring: Robert Redford

Grade: A-

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Survival is something embedded into each and every one of us. It’s a characteristic we all have no matter how fit we are to actually surviving. We know what is dangerous and we know what is healthy. We know how to take care of ourselves and certain things that jeopardize our safety. It’s a common theme lately in the cinema landscape. Survival. In All is Lost, this is exactly what our unnamed characters is clinging onto.

Robert Redford at 77-years-old is our only character we see on screen. It’s incredible how you can see him and your mind flashes to the many great films he starred in, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to The Sting to The Natural. He’s almost done it all and after All is Lost, I’d say he practically has done it all now. It’s a marvelous career to gaze at and it’s fascinating that he’s the starring actor in such a demanding role like this one.

The events that happen to Redford’s character are unfortunate but not necessarily unlucky. He’s traveling on his sailboat alone in the Indian Ocean when he crashes into a stray cargo container, puncturing the side of his boat. Calm and collected, Redford patches up the damage and pumps the water out of his boat. His radio is broke. He’s practically stranded by himself and to make things worse, a storm drives through.

We don’t get any back-story of his character, nor do we have any idea why he’s sailing by himself, but none of that matters. What we see of him is that he’s very prepared and has a way to keep his cool when others would have panic attacks. This also contributes to the lack of spoken words in the movie. Aside from the opening voice-over, there are barely any words spoken. He doesn’t talk to himself. He doesn’t read out loud. He just keeps his thoughts to himself, which may be the biggest clue to why he’s sailing with no one.

What ends up happening to him is just a series of one bad thing after another, but he never flinches. While he might not be ready for every disaster, he’s smart and is able to work his way out of situations, like a bonafide boy scout. Everything that happens is a hit to his motivation to keep on surviving. As humans, we can only take so many blows until we just finally give up. Redford displays great persistence by keeping focus on the one thing that matters in his mind: staying alive.

J.C. Chandor (Margin Call) directed the film and used the lack of words to his advantage during this survival tale. As you can imagine, the sound during the movie plays a huge part. With every creek and every gust of wind, you get a sense of what Redford is going through. Then you watch as he squints his eyes through the crashing waves and the blinding rain and you wonder how he’s doing what he’s doing. It’s a miracle how many disasters Redford is able to out-last with such minimal materials at his presence. It’s also incredible how engaging this movie is without much plot and zero dialogue.

And the ending! I won’t go into details here but it’s a perfect ending that will leave you breathless. It’s quite a feat to really feel for a character that you know nothing about. Why are we rooting for him? Maybe it’s because it’s Robert Redford, which would make it a great casting choice. But other than that, why do we really care if he lives or not? It’s because we’re able to relate to his experience of clinging onto life during the lowest moments, and blow after blow, we all just try to hold onto something so we can live another day. Despite the outcome, as long as you gave it your absolute best, that’s when you know you’ve won.

How I Met Your Mother – “The Rehearsal Dinner”

Season Nine, Episode Twelve

Grade: A-

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Episodes on How I Met Your Mother can range from many things, depending on which character it’s focused on. Barney’s episodes usually have a gimmick to them, whether it’s a bracket of which girl he slept with that’s spreading bad mojo, or him going through great lengths to accomplish one of his many challenges. “The Rehearsal Dinner” is a Barney-centric episode, so it’s expected that there will be some surprises.

Yet knowing that, I was still surprised at the end, and that’s what makes it a classic HIMYM episode. There are only 22 hours left until the wedding, and like the best episode of this season (“Platonish”) there are a lot of flashbacks. In the present, Barney is handcuffed to a pole in the laser tag security office and Robin is fuming because at this time they’re supposed to be at their rehearsal dinner. In the flashback, we relive the prank that Robin pulled on Barney for his perfect bachelor party, but learn that this started a dangerous game between the two. Barney pranks Robin back by pretending to break up with her, but at the last second reveals puppies!

Even though Robin insists they stop pulling pranks on each other, Barney suspects that Robin will get him back soon, and he tries to stay one step ahead of her by expecting their rehearsal dinner to be laser-tag themed. Despite constant reminders that his dream rehearsal dinner isn’t going to happen, Barney is still incredibly giddy. Why, you ask? At this point I couldn’t figure out who was playing a prank on the other.

During a flashback, Robin explains to Barney that marriage is about compromising, like when she wanted the wedding in Canada, but opted to have it in the United States. So even though Barney wanted a laser-tag rehearsal dinner, he should compromise by doing it her way. But the magician at work had something up his sleeve that provided the most heart-warming scene of the final season. Since they’re not having the wedding in Canada, he was going to bring Canada to her. The walls of the laser-tag office lifts up and they find themselves in the middle of an ice skating rink. Oh that Barney.

For me, this episode simply worked. It’s not a coincidence that this episode worked because the whole gang were seen together during the flashback-heavy episode, but I guess that just makes it more exciting that Marshall will finally be reunited with everyone soon during the wedding weekend.