It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - The Gang Broke Dee

When you look at the production values and the premise of this show - horrible cretins doing horrible things - it's remarkable that this TV series has enjoyed as long a run as it has. This is the first episode of the 9th season, and part of me finds it humorous that the gang is only breaking Dee now. As cruel as they are to each other, no one takes punishment from the group worse than Sweet Dee.

I found this episode enormously enjoyable. The episode begins with a laconic and broken Dee eating "trash cake" (a term that Dennis offhandedly used to describe old cake that Dee pulled out of the trash) and finishing off her friends' insults being hurled at her. They poke and prod at her looking for a reaction but she just walks away saying that she might as well throw herself in front of a bus. (Because, according to Dee, not even a bus would hit on her. )

The gang decides they need Dee back because a despondent Dee isn't nearly as fun to pick on as a wildly thrashing, tantrum-throwing Dee. They come up with two plans to pull her out of her funk. The first plan, offered by the group sans Dennis, is that Dee tries her hand at stand-up. The second plan, Dennis' plan, is to hook Dee up with someone that is average-to-below-average looking. Dee agrees to both plans.

What follows is a barrage of spectacularly awful stand-up consisting of machine gun noises and other sound effects accompanied by audience laughter. This is a rather amusing parody of the same type of bad stand-up comedy that actually has a legitimate following in the real world.

Soon, Dee gets so big that she's going to be on Conan. She shuns the group, her hubris getting to her head, and hops on a jet with her agent. By the time she arrives for the guest spot, she's drunk, nervous and fighting back the reflex to puke. She walks beyond the curtain and...

She's back in the bar. Turns out the whole thing was a hoax - the gang just wanted to teach her a lesson. She said she couldn't go any lower. Here's proof that she could. Also, it's not cool to talk about suicide.

Lecture over. Lesson learned.  Dee destroyed all over again.


9/10

Breaking Bad - Rabig Dog

LOTS of purple in the episode!

I'm still mulling over how I feel about Skyler telling Walt to kill Jesse. I understand her desire to protect herself and her family. But I would expect her to want to make a run for it or try anything else before attempting murder.

It's a small gripe, however, because the scene served a larger purpose. Before it, Walt was completely against hurting Jesse. The conversation with his wife made him more open to the idea and I think we needed to see that progression to make the phone call at the end of the episode possible.

Speaking of the phone call, the Walt/Jesse story here was nothing short of exceptional. We spent a lot of time with Jesse in the episode and we got to see what Walt has become to him. Once, Jesse thought of him as a friend and mentor. Now, after going through what he has with Walt and after all the lies and manipulations, Jesse thinks of him less as a person but more as a force of evil. He even calls him the devil when talking to Hank.

We know that Walt cares about Jesse and just wants to placate him and explain himself. So how ironic is it that Jesse spots a big man on his way to the meeting and instantly assumes the worst? I don't blame him but I felt surprisingly sad for Walt at the end of the episode. He accomplished the exact opposite of what he had intended even though he went about it the right way. He's in a crowded public place. Why should Jesse be afraid?

But we know exactly why. We've seen what Walt is capable of...


9/10

Avatar: The Last Airbender - Season One

For the past several years I've ventured into many retrospective series watch-throughs. It started years and years ago when I first saw Twin Peaks. A TV show which blew my mind in it's depth not in it's characters but in it's audacity. A TV show that was at first blush a simple mystery about the murder of a young woman, but unfurled into the realm of dreamscapes full of illusion and mystery in a way I had until then only seen on film.

Then I moved onto Six Feet Under. This, too, impressed me. This series was the polar opposite of Twin Peaks. Where Twin Peaks found it's footing in it's innovative storytelling, Six Feet Under was always more comfortable as it delved deep into the psyches of the Fisher family.

The most influential series watch of my life would come next in the form of The Sopranos. And after that I watched The Wire. Now I'm currently in the midst of a plethora of shows that are yet to wrap up - Girls, Justified, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Homeland, etc.

Oddly, this year may be the year I've found myself the most impressed by TV. I watched The Shield in it's entirety just a few short months ago. In December of last year, I began my watch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A show for teenagers. By the time I had finished it in February, I was calling it the best show of all time - dethroning The Sopranos from it's gilded position atop the TV show pyramid. 

And now I'm watching another show for a(n even) young(er) audience. Avatar: The Last Airbender. 

I've heard a lot about this show. Unlike Buffy, my expectations for Avatar have been a little on the high side. I've found myself rather critical of the show at times. Dramatic storylines are rushed, Aang and the gang are captured and escape so often that the hunt for the Avatar does not bring with it a sense of danger.

But the show consistently dazzles with it's action sequences. And while the village-of-the-week storylines are often played out far too quickly, the overall arc has been well paced and never rushed. There is a great deal of mystery evident in the abilities of not only Aang but in all the benders in the world. Katara, Zuko, Sokka, and of course Aang are all well-written and interesting characters.

As with Buffy, the most compelling element to the story is the hero's self-sacrifice in his/her quest to save the world. Neither Buffy nor Aang asked for their respective responsibilities, but watching them as they learn to accept their fate is what makes both these character's so enthralling.

Where Buffy excelled in part due to its metaphorical representations of real world problems, Avatar excels with it's old-time Squaresoft (or Square-Enix) RPG feel. The compelling minor characters, videogame-style plots and whacky-creature-inhabited world make for a rich viewing experience. The humor is often on-point as well.

One third of the way through Avatar, I'm giving the first season a big thumbs up. 

8/10

TV: Dexter S8E7

...And so, Dexter brings back serial killer ex-girlfriend Hannah. In case you've forgotten, she specializes in murdering others to get herself out of a jam. Usually this is a solid plan in Miami, where your police corp is made up of ineffectual guys like Quinn. So, why does Hannah come back to ask Dexter to help her kill her husband? Well apparently, she can't do it because it would look suspicious if he died. The hard part is not the killing. It's the body disposal. Dexter? Help me please? With your big strong arms to throw him into the ocean with?

Meanwhile, Zach Hamilton meets Dexter's cute neighbour. Dexter keeps telling Zach he's going to help him learn how to control his urges, but then he keeps blowing him off. Dexter's too busy dealing with older serial killer problems to deal with new serial killer problems (does Dexter attract serial killers, or does Miami?).  Anyway, Dexter's neighbour gets slaughtered because of his tardiness. Bludgeoned to death. And the guy that plays her boyfriend struggles to act like he knows how to cry on camera.

Masouka and his daughter continue to be boring. But, uh, boobies??

I'm going to guess what happens next:

-Dexter kills Zach. Because he has to.
-Deb goes after Hannah. She hires Kenny Johnson's character to go after her.
-Dexter kills Kenny Johnson's character.
-Hannah kills Deb.
-Quinn doesn't notice any of it.

Novel: NOS4A2

Starting in the past and jumping forward by years at a time, this is the story about a girl named Vic and a special ability that she has. Namely, the ability to make a bridge appear that will take her anywhere she wants. Only problem is, she isn't the only one with a special ability. There's this old man, you see, and he drives an old Rolls Royce with license plate NOS4A2. He ain't so nice. He kidnaps children and he takes them to Christmasland. They're never seen again, and their parents are usually found dead.

The story, which spans 20+ years, touches on a variety of themes but it does a particularly good job with loss of innocence and redemption. It's a wild Stephen King-esque ride. You never know where it's going, and where it ends up is completely satisfying (Hint: there is a showdown at the end).

9/10

The Shield - Series

This year, I watched the entirety of the cop show that wasn't like any other cop show. No, I'm not talking about The Wire, I'm talking about The Shield.

Today, I revisited the series finale. This was an episode that, when I last saw it, I had to pause to stop and get a drink. It was just that emotional. But while it's true that emotion is always the starting point for any good drama, it wasn't the only thing I loved about The Shield.

SPOILERS - Heavy spoilers follow.


The Characters

Vic Mackey - This character belongs in the pantheon of great TV anti-heroes. Not only that, but TV characters in general. By the end of the series, we know this man inside out. He's ruthless, selfish, and he won't bend to anyone's will. He cares about his family and his team. He cares about his job - about preventing crime and apprehending criminals. But he's not above committing any himself. And GODDAMN HIM for getting away with it (because after all, cubicle hell still sounds better than actual hell.)

Shane Vendrell - I cannot recall another TV show that accomplishes what The Shield did in it's final two seasons. Shane Vendrell was the Christopher Moltisanti of the show. The surrogate son of Vic Mackey, he looked up to him but continually demonstrated that he didn't have the brains to play the same game Vic did. But only in this show do we see a character like Shane commit heinous acts and find ourselves cheering for him two seasons later when he's on the run. His ending was tragic, brutal, unforgivable.... and, in a sick sort of way, honourable. I'm glad I don't know a Shane Vendrell, but I'm thankful to The Shield for bringing him to us.

Dutch Wagenbach & Claudette Wymms - The heart of the show. Simply put, without these two, we'd be watching bad cops vs bad guys and bad cops vs other bad cops. The banter and friendship between these two was always great.

Lem - Hey, did you hear Kenny Johnson (the actor that portrayed Lem) has been cast for the final 5 episodes of Dexter? The fact that I'm legitimately excited to watch them now should tell you how important this character was to the show.

Everyone else - Acaveda, Corrine, Dani, Julien, Ronnie, Mara, Kavinaugh, etc - You get it. The cast was strong.


The Adrenalin

Simply put, this was the most action-packed and inventive cop show I've ever seen ('dat camerawork!). Yes, sometimes the decisions made by characters were a stretch. Yes, sometimes the plots were ridiculous. But it was 100% entertaining, 100% of the time.


That Scene Where That Guy Did That Thing (OH MY GOD!!!)

The grenade at the end of the 5th season. The forced oral degradation. The series finale. Serial murderers. Serial rapists. Cat murder. Cop-on-cop murder. People murder. Placentas. Sawed off feet. Hate crimes.


Shades of Grey

Enough said. The characters were often well-meaning and well-intentioned, but they were often driven by selfish motivations and concerns. If you ended up loving any of the characters, you did it with the knowledge that they were not perfect human beings and could be downright awful. 


...And Goddamn That Finale Was Brilliant

"I guess enough painkillers can make even the worst kind of hurt go away. The thing you need to know is that Mara was innocent and Jackson was innocent; they didn't know what they were drinking and their last moments together were happy ones. They left the way I first found them, perfect and innocent. They were innocent and they are in heaven now and we'll always be a family. The guilty ones are me and Vic. Vic led but I kept following. I don't think one's worse than the other, but we made each other into something worse than our individual selves. I wish I'd never met him. I see it all now. There are no apologies I can make, no explanations I can give. I was who I was and I can't be that person any more. I can't let myself.." - Shane's note

Buffy the Vampire Slayer S6E12 - Doublemeat Palace

Review

There’s a lot to unpack here.

I think this episode does a lot of things very well, but core to them all is that very real fear of amounting to nothing. I find I'm personally dealing with this a lot more as I get older. When you’re young, you’re constantly being told how much promise and potential you have. You can be anything you want.

But there will come a time in your life when you've stagnated. It can happen when you’re 60, it can happen when you’re 20. You really never know.

When you get that first job, initially you’re pretty happy. You can start saving up to buy that shiny new car. Maybe you wanna move out. A movie ticket used to be expensive to you last week. Now, after a single 8 hour shift you can afford 4+ trips to the movies!

You become disenchanted with your job after a while. You stop looking at yourself as a difference maker and start seeing yourself as a replaceable cog in an enormous, greedy machine. But you don’t mind because in the back of your mind is always this assuredness - this idea that you could not possibly stay at your job for years and years and years, languishing for eternity. You’re not like those crazy people that have been working there for 10 years and are proud of it. You’re better than that! Besides, you’ll only be there for a few more months.

But then a few more months turns into a year. A year turns into 2 years. Soon this harrowing idea that you will be stuck there forever starts to creep into your mind. It’s likely totally irrational - you might just be working there because you’re paying for your schooling. Of COURSE when you graduate you’ll move on. But what if the economy is bad? What if you struggle to find a job? What if you become complacent? What if this isn't so much a stop along the way for you, but the end of the line? Failure begins to loom, constrict and crush you. It becomes so tangible that you can almost taste it.

We should remember that Buffy had good SAT scores. When she graduated from high school she had aspirations to do something with her life. Like many graduates, she didn't exactly know what that thing would be but she knew she would be able to figure it out. Time was on her side.

But now her mom is dead. Faith went bad. Slaying is a full time job and she doesn't have time to get an education. She arguably has the world’s most important non-paying job yet she has to keep it a secret from everybody. It’s not only possible – it’s LIKELY that she will rot in service economy hell for the rest of her life.

Let's explore how the episode captures and emphasizes this gloomy despair. 

Take a look at Buffy's co-workers  The guy flipping patties on the grill is resigned like you’d imagine an employee of the Doublemeat Palace could be – but he also talks about the horror of the grease and grime built up in his ears. Buffy’s manager is austere to the point of being a joke – but there's a very strange, robotic energy about him. You see an old lady who is so aloof and withdrawn that she might as well not even exist. All of these people have these strange idiosyncrasies because they appear as alien to Buffy. She can’t picture herself working in this world and associating with these people all the time so she sees them as excessively strange – perhaps subhuman, even.

Then there are the moments like the extreme close-up shots of the “10 YEARS” and “5 YEARS” pins as Buffy’s managers tell her to aim for those career goals. Take the claustrophobic anxiety of these scenes and throw in Buffy's hypnotic transfixion on the machinery and you're left feeling cold and distant... Trapped, just like her.

In this way, the episode is unrelenting. It does a good job creating a drab and dour atmosphere and it never lets up. But I think it’s highly watchable because the tone of the humor shifts to a darker, more twisted place. A place that this episode thrives in.

There are constant mentions of the secret ingredient being people or cats. Xander at one point gawks at Buffy with his mouth open and full of food. Buffy jokes about taking a piss test when told to fill up a cup for a customer. The training video Buffy watches shows graphic footage of cows getting slaughtered.

And then there's the rest of the episode. Willow, Xander and Anya all have actual character moments. In particular, the Anya/Halfrek scenes work very well as Halfrek plants seeds of doubt within Anya, leading to a pretty funny confrontation with Xander near the end.

9.5/10

Odds and Ends

• Spike tells Buffy she isn't happy and, in a moment, her resolute façade completely vanishes. We've seen a lot of this from Buffy of late.
• Willow dispatching the monster by beheading (castrating?) it and throwing it in the grinder was another highlight.
• I really did love the cheesy, phallic B-movie monster of the week.
• Xander: "Huh?"

Maron S1E05 - "A Real Woman"

Review

This was an excellent episode. A nice, taut, unexpectedly emotional story with a nice dose of comedy.

The episode opens in Marc's living room. A younger girl is with him and they've just committed the act. She puts on her clothes, says she could really do wonders re-decorating his place, and then leaves when her ride shows up. Marc is aghast. Why would she want to change how his home looks and why is she leaving without a hint of any desire to stay?

Pretty funny in it's own right, the big pay-off to this scene is actually the contrast between it and the interaction Marc has later on during his date with Alexa, played by the always beautiful Gina Gershon. She's an older woman and, unlike the younger girl, able to appreciate the "lived-in-ness" of the place. The suggestion is that she is this way because she's more experienced and in a stage of her life where a place that feels like it has a history also feels like a home. Also, she isn't so casual about the experience. She shows a desire to stay but leaves because she has a commitment.

What's really neat about these scenes - to me, at least - is that they do a good job of highlighting the complexities of later adulthood. The desires for youth and for settling down are conflicting ones and for someone Marc's age it's entirely believable that they could be issues that you would fight with day-to-day.

So, Marc decides to help out Alexa's son who is trying to get a podcast going by allowing the kid to interview him on his podcast. The kid, Zachary, is a huge Marc Maron fan. He isn't the greatest interviewer, though, and - as you'd expect in a podcast involving Marc Maron - they end up talking about Zach instead. It turns out he isn't such a popular kid.

Then we see his father, and he is negative and unsupportive of his son. This is where it all clicks into place, for both us and Marc. In Zach's sadness as an adolescent in a world where he feels like he doesn't belong, he's decided to identify with Marc. That's why he's such a huge fan of Marc Maron.

And why wouldn't he identify with him? Marc often speaks with a candid honesty in his podcasts that makes him easy to relate to. The whole purpose of "WTF With Marc Maron" is to interview the guest and for them to reveal as much about themselves as possible in the same candid, honest way that Marc does. Why wouldn't a kid like Zachary be drawn to it?

For some reason, I really connected with that kid when I understood his relationship with Marc's podcast. It feels all too real.

8/10

Odds and Ends

• Coffee shop girl leaves with Tony to go get shabu shabu. After she leaves, Maron asks aloud "What's shabu shabu?" 
• I don't know what shabu shabu is, either.
• Mark Duplass stops by to talk to Marc about how Marc has never met a child.
• Liked this line: "That was unreal. The bed has so much more traction than the couch" 
• Gina Gershon... Even the coffee shop girl would "totally hit that"
• Old people, on tapas: What next? A plate of crumbs? A plate with 4 lentils of some kind? Microtapas? 
• Marc's jeans are not vintage. He broke them in himself.

The Shield - S1E2 "Our Gang"

Review

Ah, The Shield. I was always under the impression that this series starts slow. I was wrong.

This episode follows David's search for answers as Terry dies in the hospital from a gunshot wound inflicted by Vince. The subplot is about a churro vendor who was shot by a Los Magnificos gang member, and the sub-subplot is about the initiation of a rookie into the police force.

I like the way the show is developing its characters and the way the writers were able to use the rookie cop's interactions with Danni in this episode to paint a picture of what it's like to be a cop in this police force.

First, there's the news about Terry's fatal gunshot wound. Here, Danni scolds the rookie for not coming to the hospital after she left a message for him on his answering machine the other night:

"What?" he says. "I've been on the job three weeks. I didn't even know that guy"
She replies "Rule number one. He was a cop. You're a cop. You knew him."

Right away we get a feel for the sense of camaraderie these people have. And it speaks to her character, as well, that she's able to respect the situation and treat a death in the unit with due solemnity.

Another scene with similar effect sees the strike force teasing the rookie about needing to get initiated. Walking away from the group, he tells Danni he doesn't want to partake. Her response is that those men may just be over-grown frat guys, but one day they could be all that is standing between him and a bullet.

And it's true. Their jobs are often hard. In the worst of times they're life-or-death. And in those crucial moments all they have is each other. That's not a lesson you want to learn the hard way.

Yet - and I want to stress this as much as I can - they're still normal people. They have lives outside of work. They have relationships; families. They do things that normal people do. In the previous episode it was revealed that Mackie occasionally sleeps with Danni. This episode, we see Mackie at home and interacting with his wife and daughter.

It's also Claudette's birthday. She's older and she's being teased about it. Someone anonymous gets her a gift: dental paste. She goes to celebrate with her friend and a potential love interest after work. Earlier, she harshly criticizes the rookie cop about his handling of a crime scene. Her partner tells the rookie, with a smile, "don't take it too hard. She's in a pissy mood because it's her birthday"

I love that this show is able to be serious when the story needs it to be and light and humorous when it doesn't. One of my major criticisms of modern drama is that hardly anyone is ever having fun. Not so, here.

I'm very interested to see what comes of the David vs. Mackie storyline. Will Mackie get caught? How is Mackie affected by what he did? Will there need to be more casualties as others get closer to the truth? Is Shane liable to break if David keeps pressing? Until episode 3...

7/10

Odds and Ends

• Why do cops always sit at the bar?
• Walton Goggins is a seriously great actor. The interrogation by David is the best scene here.
• I like the action shots in this series. Very active shaky-cam. They haven't overdone it yet.
• Does Mackie's wife have a JOIIIISEY accent? (Jersey)
• Liked this exchange:
• Claudette: "We're too old to be chasing men around." 
• Friend: "I'm not." 
• Claudette: "Neither am I." 
• I initially had issues with Mackie acting so shaken up after Terry died. Maybe this says more about how other shows and movies have conditioned me to see cops on the small screen. These guys do show emotion. Losing one of your own can't be an easy thing. Still, nice affectation there, Mackie! PUNK!
• Terry's story about oral sex at the poker game reminded me of the bullshit story in Reservoir Dogs that the undercover cop has to sell the rest of the criminals on.

Maron S1E04 - Dominatrix

Review

This is my first review of the show Maron. I'm a big fan of Marc Maron's podcast "WTF With Marc Maron" and I want to like this show and wish him all the best, but I don't think this series will last very long.

In this particular episode, Maron gets the news that his ex-wife is doing well and has a child. When he doesn't take the news as well as he could, a friend of his tells him he needs to move on and says she knows someone that she could set him up with. The girl in question is a bookstore owner named Megan and is a good ten years younger than Maron. They meet at a live reading at her shop and he hits it off with her rather well, but he's more drawn to another woman at the reading - a dominatrix. And thus begins the story.

The dominatrix's name is Justine and she's not particularly well written. This is a woman who is likely in her early 40's yet she tries to convince Maron to get kinky with her even when he has indicated that he's not comfortable with it. She calls him a coward and later goes as far as to lie in order to get him to show up to her day job while she's actively dominating a client. Then, once Maron has broken up with her, she sleeps with his dad to get back at him. Ugh. These aren't the actions of a forty-something adult.

What's more problematic is that Marc breaks up with her because she bakes him banana bread. To him, this spells commitment and he's not at all down with that. This would be fine, were it not for the fact that the episode didn't play out the way it did. This wasn't "Marc is afraid of commitment". This was "Marc is nervous about getting freaky with this cartoony dominatrix who publicly talks about putting her foot up a client's ass".

The commitment issues came out of left field and the break-up moment felt cheap even though it was played for laughs. Maron does eventually sleep with the nice girl. He also tells her he's bad for her. It's too bad that the show had to explore Maron's love-life in such a clunky way. An unsatisfying end to a very unsatisfying episode.

2/10

Odds and Ends

• Love the Maron theme song, or at least I think I do. It's a song by Reel Big Fish called "Sell Out"
• Is "The Jerusalem Syndrome" actually a book written by Marc? Now I'm curious...
• I'm surprised Marc is a recovering addict. I didn't know that about him.
• This episode made Marc really hard to like. I felt sorry for Megan throughout. She seemed so sweet.
• I liked Marc's acting when he and Justine were in bed and he awkwardly talked to her about being able to do the BDSM thing but not wanting to. I wonder if the episode would have worked better without this scene, though. It tricked me into thinking I was watching an episode about Marc's weird sex adventures. I shuddered at the thought of that. Maybe I would have preferred it.
• I really liked the previous episode. Don't watch this one. Watch that one.

2012 Year in Review - Top Ten Movies

2012 is almost at a close. Here's my full top ten for the year. Note that I have not seen Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained yet. If those two belong here, so be it. For now, this is my list. In no particular order:

Marvel’s The Avengers

For comic book fans there should be little doubt that a better comic book movie has never come out. For all the hangups that studios seem to have about making their superhero movies dark in recent years, it’s refreshing to see a superhero movie that flirts with that very darkness but maintains an almost youthful exuberance and is light-hearted for the full ride. The action sequences are terrific and the ‘Avengers’ are likable as a misfit crew that don’t get along - a dynamic which Joss is able to use to simultaneously build character and bring about immense comic relief.

Cabin in the Woods

At first blush, it might strike one as odd that Joss Whedon would be taking a crack at horror. But don’t be fooled, the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ creator is clearly well versed in the genre. He knows what he’s doing, and the movie is so lovingly made that it’s hard to find fault anywhere. Sure, it’s not all that scary, but that doesn’t matter. If self-aware and self-parodying horror flicks are your thing, watch this (right now!). I won’t give anything away here, but I promise this movie is not at all what you think it is. If you are at all like me, you will be as giddy as a 5 year old for the entirety of the last half hour.

Dredd 3D

A genre flick that is essentially Robocop in a dystopian future. Do you like blood and guts? How about blood and guts in 3D? This is a fun action B-movie that doesn’t rush the action sequences at the expense of character development. And oh boy, what about that scowl by Judge Dredd?!  Remember: You can’t spell Dredd without 3 D’s. *scowl*

Lincoln

I have to give credit where credit is due. I don’t count myself a Spielberg fan but this movie had me wearing a grin from start to finish. Sadistic, to be sure, since it’s 2.5 hours long. It’s a movie about Lincoln trying to pass the Thirteenth Amendment. We all know the eventual outcome, but the theory the movie posits about how we got there is what’s most interesting. There’s about 10-15 minutes of material in here that I don’t care for (the Spielberg-ian family stuff) but it’s just so much fun seeing democrats and republicans yelling at each other for two and a half hours. And I can’t help but wonder whether this movie is, on some level, trying to send Obama a message (no, I don’t mean it’s telling Obama to grow Lincoln-style facial hair but he should do that, too).

Amour

Amour is french for “love”. And this movie is very much about the strength of love and it’s endurance in life and death. It’s a sad film about an elderly couple where the man deals with the gradual decline of the health of his wife. Love conquers all, but death is always inevitable. It’s a Michael Haneke film so that alone should be reason enough to see it.

Beauty Is Embarrassing

I’m not a big documentary guy, but I figure that I needed to put one on here. It was made easier for me when I saw this at the 2012 CIFF. About an artist who was featured on Pee Wee Herman’s Playhouse as a prop-maker and puppeteer. The movie chronicles the man, Wayne White, and his various artistic ventures and family life. It’s truly remarkable to see someone that lives and breathes art. I saw the movie with a friend and once the credits had rolled he turned to me and said “This movie gives me faith in humanity and myself”. Yup.

The Master

Perhaps a more intriguing film than an enjoyable one. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed someone to pick you up so bad that you blindly gave yourself completely to them? This is the story of a man eternally lost after coming back from war and meeting the head of a cult not unlike Scientology that promises to save him. It’s not about religion - it’s about the relationship between the two characters. Joaquin Phoenix, as the war-damaged veteran Freddy Quell, puts in the best performance I have ever seen. Watch it just for that. 

The Loved Ones

Any other year, I would tell you that this is the funnest horror movie you will see all year. Alas, we had Cabin In The Woods this year, so I can’t say that about this movie. What I can say is that it’s truer to the genre than Cabin is. It’s filled with squirm-inducing torture sequences, moments of triumphant defiance, and a campiness that is deliberate and rewarding (how many movies have murderous psychopaths in glossy pink dresses!). The set pieces are claustrophobic and colorful which is a decision that I love. And the acting is very, very good. 

Argo

A terrific slice of filmmaking from Ben Affleck, this movie follows a group of American’s hiding in a hostile Iran and it’s up to a government agent (Ben Affleck) to get them out. Before the movie gets into the most nail-biting sequence you will see all year, it does a great job of depicting the fear of the stranded Americans. For example, there are encounters with locals and Ben wisely chooses not to give us subtitles. It puts us in their headspace - what is he saying? Why is he yelling at me? Is he going to try to kill me? I don’t think the movie ever goes into “us” vs. “them” territory. It certainly could have, and it’s a testament to Ben’s strengths as a filmmaker that he doesn’t let it.

Moonrise Kingdom

The year’s best film. You will laugh, cry, and poop your pants. A boy is at a camp (something similar to boy scouts) and meets a girl around his age. They hatch a plan to escape together. She will run from her home, and he from the camp. This story posits the notion that you don’t have to be an adult to be in love. Kids fall in love, too. And then adults chase after them when they run away. Ever wanted to see Bruce Willis play a pathetic, broken man? Yes? Well, you’re in luck!

"The Less You Know The Better" by DJ Shadow

I once read that DJ Shadow has the biggest vinyl collection of any individual person in the world. I don't know if that's true or not, but it isn't a stretch to believe it - he's been at this game for a long time now. He released the highly influential "Endtroducing....." all the way back in 1996. Those of you who know of the album will know that this was the first time someone ever released an album comprised exclusively of samples. A landmark release in music.

He followed that release up with the well-received "The Private Press" a half-decade later. The album was a departure from the 'Endtroducing.....' sound. Whereas the former was calm and soothing, 'The Private Press' was monolithic with louder productions punctuated with powerful drum samples. Still, just like 'Endtroducing.....' before it, the album had a certain beauty to it that was hard to describe as anything more than "just a feeling inside of you". Many were disappointed with the album but it's a crime to judge it on the merits of an album released 6 years prior.

Next came 'The Outsider', aptly named for making the listener feel - for the first time ever on a DJ shadow album -  as though they were on the outside looking in. It wasn't the immersive experience that every other Shadow album had been. On top of that, DJ Shadow decided to feature artists on nearly every track. This hamstrung the artist as he couldn't organically expand on his musical ideas into gorgeous numbers the way he was able to on career highlights such as 'High Noon'. What this meant for the listener was that the songs were all very conventional in structure. This album was shunned by critics and fans alike. 

Flash-forward to his latest album - "The Less You Know The Better". Was he able to make up for his previous misfire with this release?

Return to Form

This marks the first time in almost 10 years that DJ Shadow has released a good album - yes, that's right, it is a good album. It is not without its flaws, however. 

'The Less You Know The Better' works fine as an album. Most of the songs are fine as standalone tracks. The problem here, as with The Outsider, lies in the way that DJ Shadow jumps around from track to track. Here he doesn't feature artists on every track. But between the genuinely great tracks you will still find the 'The Outsider'-esque cuts sprinkled throughout.

The album alternately grooves, rocks, and taps emotional banks that you didn't know you had. It plays like a mixtape - boldly genre-hopping as if it's trying to show you that DJ Shadow is capable of doing anything. But it's all done so remarkably well that the tracks sound like they belong on entirely different albums. 


There are a variety of sub-standard songs here - "The Warning" features some nice atmospheric work by DJ Shadow but it's undone by some very uninspired vocal-work by Tom Vek; 'Stay the Course' featuring Talib Kweli on vocals fails to gain or maintain steam; 'I've Been Trying', while perfectly enjoyable on its own merits, lacks the emotion it strives so hard to create. One can also find fault in the album's layout, too. 'Tedium', for example, is a hidden gem of a track that you might not notice because of its placement on the album.

Now the good stuff: there are tracks here that remind you that, at the top of his game, there aren't many artists more evocative than DJ Shadow. Take for instance the track "Redeemed" with its looped riffs dripping with sorrow and fabulous crooning (really, the utilization of these sampled vocals is one of the high points of the album). Another highlight is 'Let's Get It (Bass, Bass, Bass)' with its decidedly 'The Private Press'-esque sound. Try not to groove to this song as it drops continental-plate-shifting beats. Seriously, I dare you. 

Other cuts that I would recommend to listeners include "Give Me Back The Nights", which is reminiscent of 'The Residents' with its dark atmosphere and imagery; 'Def Surrounds Us', a track that takes aspects of drum'n'bass and electro and molds it all together with the signature DJ Shadow sound; 'I Gotta Rokk', a chopped-up, groove-based ode to indie rock that adds and removes layers at whim; and 'Circular Logic (Front to Back)', which features some morbid vocal samples of what appears to be two people experimenting with psychoanalytic techniques on a confused patient. 'Scale it Back', 'Back to Front (Circular Logic)', 'Border Crossing' and both parts of 'Sad and Lonely' are also worth a listen.

I highly recommend everyone give the album a spin. There are tracks here you will love, and others that you will never warm up to. The album received mixed reviews because it is, after all, a mixed bag. But there is some first-grade material here. You would be doing yourself a disservice to skip this one.

7/10 


Odds & Ends: The score I gave is for the Deluxe Edition of the album. The Standard Edition is missing two of the album highlights. I would give that a 5/10. As well, the song 'I'm Excited' doesn't appear on either version because it was pulled due to copyright issues. Do give it a listen.