The Walking Dead 5.06: "Consumed" (2014) directed by Seith Mann
The adventures of Daryl and Carol in Atlanta. Despite diving into a huge city post-apocalypse, this is a pretty low-key episode that focuses on strengthening Daryl and Carol's friendship as they look for clues in their search for Beth.
In season 1, Atlanta was swarming with zombies. Now people waltz down the empty streets without too much concern. According to Wikipedia, Atlanta has 447,841 people in it. Let's try to make some reasonable assumptions about this. Ignoring the people in the metro area, let's say that Atlanta was like New Orleans during Katrina and 80% of the population managed to evacuate. That leaves about 90,000 people left in town. Judging by what we've seen in this series, I think it's safe to say that at least 80% of those people died and became zombies. That makes for about 72,000 zombies wandering around. Atlanta is 132 square miles in size, so this gives it a zombie population density of 545 zombies per square mile. Yeah, I don't think this is a place you'd want to walk around in...
The Walking Dead 5.07: "Crossed" (2014) directed by Bill Gierhart
One of those calm-before-the-storm episodes, due to the mid-season finale coming up next. Rick and company prepare a plan to rescue Carol and Beth, while Glen and company have fun fishing.
The Walking Dead 5.08: "Coda" (2014) directed by Ernest R. Dickerson
I think the TV-invented character of Daryl has given the showrunners more latitude with Rick. In a prior episode, Noah steals his and Carol's weapons. Facing the death sentence of being weaponless in a zombie-infested city, Daryl irresponsibly stops Carol from shooting Noah. Why? Because Daryl is the fan-favorite who they are ensuring they keep good-and-pure. They want to keep someone that the audience will always root for so that they continue to tune in.
No longer the only lead character of this tale, Rick doesn't need to be likable or identifiable. They can send him down as dark of a path as they need. Which I like. In this one, he kills an escaping police officer in cold blood. To Rick, Beth and Carol are so important that he refuses to let this outsider screw up their rescue. It also shows some of Rick's disgust will the entire world's condition: the poor guy is sick of the constant crises and tragedies. "Shut up," he tiredly tells the officer right before shooting him. He doesn't have the energy anymore to deal with things in a more civilized manner. Interesting.
Also, Beth dies in a stupid manner. Bah.
Friday the 13th: The Series 1.01: "The Inheritance" (1987) directed by William Fruet
Since I'm in the middle of watching the movie series, I thought I'd check out the first episode of the TV show as well. Aired right between Part 6 and Part 7, I was hoping maybe there would be some reference to Crystal Lake in here somewhere. Nope. The only connection to the film series this show has outside of the title is the fact that Frank Mancuso Jr. worked on it.
This wasn't something I watched as a kid, so the only other episode of this show I've seen before was the Cronenberg-directed one. The premise of the show is excellent: two cousins inherit an antique store. Unluckily for them, their deceased uncle had been selling cursed items at the behest of Satan himself. It's now up to the cousins to track down all of these cursed items and locked them in vault below the store where they can't hurt anyone.
That's an idea absolutely ripe for story ideas. Sadly, for this first episode, they went with the tired "killer doll" cliche. It's not even a killer doll good at its job. It takes two tries to kill its owner's step-mother and fails to do more than scratch the face of its owner's babysitter. I'm guessing this is why the network chose to air this episode fourth rather than first... it's just not very strong and has to spend a ton of time setting things up.
Showing posts with label Seith Mann. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seith Mann. Show all posts
14 October 2015
27 October 2014
October 27th
The Walking Dead 4.10: "Inmates" (2014) directed by Tricia Brock
A catch-up episode with most everyone we didn't see in "After." Daryl and Beth are camping in the woods; Maggie, Sasha, and Bob are wandering around looking for Glenn at Maggie's insistence; and poor Tyreese amusingly has ended up with a pack of little girls to take care of, including a screaming baby Judith. Towards the end, Carol emerges out of nowhere to join Tyreese and the girls. Is that what the otherwise pointless plague plot was all about? So that there would be a little extra drama when these two meet up again?
The Walking Dead 4.11: "Claimed" (2014) directed by Seith Mann
While Michonne and Carl hunt for supplies, Rick is surprised when he hears men entering the house and quickly hides under the bed. What follows is a handful of scenes brimming with tension as we wonder if Rick will be noticed by the men, who are so not-nice that one chokes another into unconsciousness over a bed to sleep in. It's been quite a while since the show had remembered that strangers in this post apocalypse can be just as scary as the walkers (and I'm not talking about ego-maniacs in tanks). Great episode.
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) directed by James Whale
My 4-year-old wanted to watch a movie, so I suggested this one. She'd been unfazed by The Mummy and I thought she might get a kick of of the best monster movie that Universal had to offer. Watching the movie through the eyes of a child is fun.
She had to hide her eyes at the beginning when Frankenstein emerges from the water and kills Maria's poor dad and mom, which is a pretty scary way to start the picture. She was enthralled by Dr. Pretorius' little creations, giggling at the silly king. She wanted to hide her eyes again when Frankenstein encountered the blind man, but I convinced her that the scene was not scary at all. She thought it was great when Frankenstein began to learn to talk. That, more than anything, humanized him for her, I think. At the end, we both enjoyed imitating the Bride's weird head movements to make each other laugh.
The Walking Dead 4.12: "Still" (2014) directed by Julius Ramsay
A character-building episode for Daryl and Beth. They fight, they learn more about each other, they become closer in the end. It's the Walking Dead version of a "Locked in a Room" episode and exists entirely to put more punch into what happens in the next episode.
The Walking Dead 4.13: "Alone" (2014) directed by Ernest R. Dickerson
Daryl and Beth settle into a mysteriously clean and well-stocked funeral home. They irrationally decide this is nothing to worry about and proceed to live there without a care. Somewhere else, Maggie irrationally decides to abandon Sasha and Bob and search for Glenn on her own. Sasha irrationally decides that living alone is a smart idea and abandons Bob, who is trying to catch up with Maggie. This show never fails to disappoint by making its characters -- who've lived in this world for years now -- make dumb choices in order to advance the plot.
A catch-up episode with most everyone we didn't see in "After." Daryl and Beth are camping in the woods; Maggie, Sasha, and Bob are wandering around looking for Glenn at Maggie's insistence; and poor Tyreese amusingly has ended up with a pack of little girls to take care of, including a screaming baby Judith. Towards the end, Carol emerges out of nowhere to join Tyreese and the girls. Is that what the otherwise pointless plague plot was all about? So that there would be a little extra drama when these two meet up again?
The Walking Dead 4.11: "Claimed" (2014) directed by Seith Mann
While Michonne and Carl hunt for supplies, Rick is surprised when he hears men entering the house and quickly hides under the bed. What follows is a handful of scenes brimming with tension as we wonder if Rick will be noticed by the men, who are so not-nice that one chokes another into unconsciousness over a bed to sleep in. It's been quite a while since the show had remembered that strangers in this post apocalypse can be just as scary as the walkers (and I'm not talking about ego-maniacs in tanks). Great episode.
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) directed by James Whale
She had to hide her eyes at the beginning when Frankenstein emerges from the water and kills Maria's poor dad and mom, which is a pretty scary way to start the picture. She was enthralled by Dr. Pretorius' little creations, giggling at the silly king. She wanted to hide her eyes again when Frankenstein encountered the blind man, but I convinced her that the scene was not scary at all. She thought it was great when Frankenstein began to learn to talk. That, more than anything, humanized him for her, I think. At the end, we both enjoyed imitating the Bride's weird head movements to make each other laugh.
The Walking Dead 4.12: "Still" (2014) directed by Julius Ramsay
A character-building episode for Daryl and Beth. They fight, they learn more about each other, they become closer in the end. It's the Walking Dead version of a "Locked in a Room" episode and exists entirely to put more punch into what happens in the next episode.
The Walking Dead 4.13: "Alone" (2014) directed by Ernest R. Dickerson
Daryl and Beth settle into a mysteriously clean and well-stocked funeral home. They irrationally decide this is nothing to worry about and proceed to live there without a care. Somewhere else, Maggie irrationally decides to abandon Sasha and Bob and search for Glenn on her own. Sasha irrationally decides that living alone is a smart idea and abandons Bob, who is trying to catch up with Maggie. This show never fails to disappoint by making its characters -- who've lived in this world for years now -- make dumb choices in order to advance the plot.
21 October 2013
October 21st
Cannibal Ferox (1981) directed by Umberto Lenzi
Better than Lenzi's forgettable Eaten Alive, and at least it contains all new footage. Still, I'm not a fan of the whole white guilt spin that started with Cannibal Holocaust and continues here. It gets even worse in this one. Now the natives aren't even really cannibals at all and learn all of their violent ways by watching the sadistic Mike. In the superior Last Cannibal World, falling prey to the cannibals is simply a matter of "wrong place, wrong time." Naively wandering into a part of the world you know little about is dangerous, be it the jungle or rural Texas. Would Texas Chain Saw Massacre be improved if Franklin had first tortured Leatherface's brother to death?
Also, I'm getting real tired of seeing real animals slaughtered in these things. Do Italians really hate turtles and crocodiles that much?
Watched: DVD from Grindhouse Releasing
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American Horror Story 2.05: "Asylum: I Am Anne Frank, Part 2" (2012) directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Legless, mutated Shelley, at the bottom of an elementary school stairwell, scaring the ever-loving shit out of children. For this alone, I'm glad I'm watching this season. Plus, another alien abduction. Plus, weird segments shot with a '60s TV camera. Plus, Thredson -- not really surprisingly -- turns out to be serial killer Bloody Face and chains Lana up Saw-like in his torture basement. Bundle all of this up into the show's consistently beautiful shooting and lighting and I find myself thoroughly entertained.
The Walking Dead 3.10: "Home" (2013) directed by Seith Mann
Well, that didn't take long for Daryl to wander back to the prison. Just in time to help save the day, too. Ugh. Lotta lazy writing in the show this year. Gotta love how everyone is a dead-eye, crack shot when it comes to putting bullets directly in the middle of zombie foreheads, but turn into Stormtroopers when real humans attack. There had better be a bigger battle between the prison and Woodbury at the end of the season. Maybe with that National Guard stuff the Gov stole? If this was it, I'm pissed.
Also, I'm getting real tired of seeing real animals slaughtered in these things. Do Italians really hate turtles and crocodiles that much?
Watched: DVD from Grindhouse Releasing
.American Horror Story 2.05: "Asylum: I Am Anne Frank, Part 2" (2012) directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Legless, mutated Shelley, at the bottom of an elementary school stairwell, scaring the ever-loving shit out of children. For this alone, I'm glad I'm watching this season. Plus, another alien abduction. Plus, weird segments shot with a '60s TV camera. Plus, Thredson -- not really surprisingly -- turns out to be serial killer Bloody Face and chains Lana up Saw-like in his torture basement. Bundle all of this up into the show's consistently beautiful shooting and lighting and I find myself thoroughly entertained.
The Walking Dead 3.10: "Home" (2013) directed by Seith Mann
Well, that didn't take long for Daryl to wander back to the prison. Just in time to help save the day, too. Ugh. Lotta lazy writing in the show this year. Gotta love how everyone is a dead-eye, crack shot when it comes to putting bullets directly in the middle of zombie foreheads, but turn into Stormtroopers when real humans attack. There had better be a bigger battle between the prison and Woodbury at the end of the season. Maybe with that National Guard stuff the Gov stole? If this was it, I'm pissed.
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