Blu-Ray Movie Review: MONEYBALL Starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill

My latest LOVEFiLM rental landed through the door earlier in the week and it’s a movie which has been sitting on my “to watch” list for quite some time now, Moneyball, the story of pro Baseball team the Oakland A’s and their general manager Billy Beane.  There are a couple of reasons I wanted to watch this movie which I will get into below but just in case you get bored before then, you should know that the main reason is because the Oakland A’s have a very similar policy to my team Newcastle United in how they scout players with future sustainability in mind.

Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt and Kerris Dorsey

The Plot

Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane the general manager of the Oakland A’s Baseball team, the movie picks up in the last game of the pro league 2001 season when the New York Yankees beat them in the World Series (I think). We then roll into the 2002 season with Beane loosing his star players and having to start from scratch in building up another team on a wage budget which is nowhere near big enough to compete with the teams at the top. Beane decides that conventional scouting methods are no longer working and after his latest attempt at a signing goes awry he employs Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) as his assistant general manager, stops listening to what the scouts are telling him and drafts players based on statistics. This leads to the Oakland A’s equalling the record of the most consecutive games won by any pro league Baseball team.

The Verdict

I have to be honest here, Moneyball is not generally the type of movie that I’d watch, a heavy drama with a lot of dialogue, not that I mind that I just think sometimes when a film is over two hours long I may get a little bored of sitting watching people talking. There are a couple of reasons I wanted to watch Moneyball, first off was the story, a very similar one in sporting terms to that of the football club I support in England. Newcastle United have done a very similar thing to the Oakland A’s Baseball team, not in using statistics to pick players but deciding on developing their own players as well as scouting out talent on the cheap that can be sold on for profit in future seasons.

I knew very little about what the Oakland A’s and their general manager Billy Beane (Bard Pitt) had done or achieved, that’s mainly due to the fact that I know absolutely nothing about the sport of Baseball, one of my old bosses went to see a Baseball game when he was in America, he told me if I ever wanted to be bored stiff for three hours then Baseball was a sure fired way of making that happen. I read the story of the Oakland A’s when the movie was due for release and I posted the trailer, right then I could see similarities between what they had done and what Newcastle United were doing. Objective achieved on both sides of the pond I suppose because Oakland A’s are now the model of how a pro league Baseball team should be run, same goes for Newcastle United. Other clubs in both professions are looking to adopt models set up by either club in order to obtain financial sustainability and a degree of success on the pitch.

As for the movie, I have to say I enjoyed it, I was toying with the idea of not watching it but decided to give it a go, before I knew it I was nearly an hour in. We all know Brad Pitt can act but it’s a while since I’ve watched him in anything and I have to say I was very impressed with his ability, even when just sitting in silence on the screen he really put across the stress he was going through, it was delivered brilliantly by Pitt who done an outstanding job of displaying a character who could at first see things unravelling before his eyes whilst at the same time remaining confident to his doubters, most notably the Oakland A’s manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who again done a brilliant job with his character, but even at the conclusion of the movie with the success the team have had he still does not agree with using statistics to draft players.

A massive nod is due here for Jonah Hill who plays Peter Brand in the movie, the Oakland A’s assistant general manager, a Yale graduate who designed the computer program that would statistically analyse every Baseball player in the league. Apparently getting on 1^st base is important, I have no idea what that means but clearly this young kid did. Jonah Hill is well known for playing hilarious comedy roles, which of course he is very good at but you have to take your hat off to the guy here as he proves that his acting ability goes far beyond that of a funny man portrayed in movies like Knocked Up.

I’d say that Moneyball can be enjoyed whether you’re a Baseball fan or not, clearly I’m not but the movie is based more on the characters, the dialogue and how the stresses took their toll before ultimately paying off in the long run. It should probably be noted that the Oakland A’s are yet to win the World Series in Baseball but the Boston Red Sox, who adopted their policy and offered Billy Beane $12.5m (which he turned down) to help them implement his model have now gone on to win the World Series. I only hope it pays off for Newcastle United and we go and win the Premier League, what do you think fellow Geordies?

Would I watch it again?

I’d have to say that I would be looking at other more action/thriller type movie options first, although the story and acting from all involved was very good, it was pretty tough going at over two hours long.

 

TV Review: DEXTER - Chemistry 2.7 - Do What You Do Dexter

“Chemistry” is perhaps the slowest episode we have had in season 7 so far, but don’t let that deter you interest, the developments in the story in  during this episode are simply mouth watering and right now I can’t even begin to think where season 7 will end up in four episodes time. How will they close out this season? What might roll into the eighth? All we can do is guess and speculate and as usual I’m going to do all of that below whilst also talking through some other points from this brilliant episode of Dexter.

First off I have to start off at what for guys may well have been the best bit, Yvonne Strahovski naked, you have to admit it guys, and girls actually she looks good. Now that I’ve mentioned her we should probably start there, Hannah McKay the ultimate Femme Fatale, we knew that Hannah was going to be romantically linked to Dexter during this season but what we were not expecting was for Dexter to fall in love with his murderous counterpart. As always Dexter got it right Hannah is a killer and she never stopped killing, now she just poisons people, very cleverly though so much so that it’s untraceable and she never gets caught. It’s going to be interesting to see where they take this story, especially now as Debra has ordered that Dexter treats Hannah to a date on his table, will he do it? I doubt it.

Debra has had an interesting journey, from being utterly horrified on discovering that her step brother and love of her live is a serial killer she moved onto trying to help him, realising he was beyond help she moved onto allowing it to happen as long as she had nothing to do with the rituals, now she has stepped up one more, she wants nothing to do with it but after Hannah escaped justice yet again she has told Dexter to kill her. It’s unlikely I think, that Dexter will kill Hannah, she is the first of all the female partners in his life who accepts him for what he is on both sides of the law, what’s more likely to happen is that Debra will turn full circle herself and kill Hannah when Dexter refuses to do it. any thoughts?

What has been bubbling away brilliantly in the background is the story of Ukrainian Mob boss Issak Sirko (Ray Stevenson), one of the most convincing bad guys I have seen in Dexter and someone who poses a real threat to Dexter. I absolutely love this character and the two coming together in the restaurant was probably my favourite scene during this episode, you could liken it to the sit down between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in Michael Bay’s Heat, that’s how powerful it was as Dexter described crushing Vincent’s scull with a fire extinguisher, the clearly shaken Issak replied with “your going to regret you ever shared that with me”, just after Dexter explained that he would be dealt the same had give or take the fire extinguisher.  

Things are really racing towards what is surely going to be one of the best season finale’s ever with season 7 of Dexter. What is going to happen? Well, we don’t know of course but right now I think that Hannah will be killed by either Debra or Issak, especially if Issak learns of Dexter’s love for her as he took away Vincent. What ever way they do it you can be sure that the last four episodes are going to be nail biting, especially in relation to the Dexter and Issak story, not only are we being taken back to season 2 with nods to Lila but now Dexter and Doakes, as Dexter finds himself with a worthy adversary who will stop at nothing to get to him.

Just to top all of that off Dexter now has another problem, La Guerta refused to leave the Bay Harbour Butcher case alone, even after her and Debra had talked about it not having any fresh leads. She reviewed the evidence one more and came across the boat moorings at the marina, and whose name is on the list? Of course, Dexter’s, if she wants to do this properly though she can’t go screaming Dexter’s name from the roof tops, she need to do it quietly. For this reason I think this is one story line which will be rolling into the eighth season with maybe even the FBI and Agent Lundy getting brought back into the show to investigate Dexter without the knowledge of Debra.

I can’t believe that after the summer we had of eager anticipation waiting on the start of season 7, we are sat here already talking about possible outcomes of it already and debating what may just keep rolling. Season 7 has been the best one of Dexter for a long time barely coming up for air and the writers have stopped at nothing to continually deliver problems for Dexter to deal with. It would seem the net is finally closing on our favourite serial killer and I can’t wait to see how they are going to wrap things up. La Guerta on the table anyone?

TV Review: PERSON OF INTEREST - The High Road 2.6

Well it would seem that Person of Interest is back to its best, if your interested more in the bubbling background story than the weekly procedural side of things then "The High Road" probably won't have interested you all that much, unless of course you are interested in the flashback story of how Finch met the love of his life Grace Hendricks (Carrie Preston, his wife in real life). The bubbling back story wasn't actually that bad but I really enjoyed this week’s procedural drama as Person of Interest went a little Sons of Anarchy with an Opie look-alike in Graham Wyler (David Denman). Person of Interest was back to what it does best, delivering a brilliant weekly procedural whilst letting the story unfold in the background.

“The High Road” was kind of no different to what we have seen in the last couple of week’s in that it didn’t really deliver any story of the Machine, reveal any past truths about Reese, Finch, Carter or Fusco, deal with the bubbling HR problem or anything of the sort. But, what Person of Interest done a whole lot better this week was the seemingly procedural story line. Graham Wyler, a seemingly legit business man and doting father living in the New York suburbs, his number has come up, but why? Cue the weekly twist, Graham is not Graham, he changed his name in order to go straight after a couple of his safe cracking friends got busted and done 15 years in prison, now they want him back for one final job before killing him in return for the time they have spent in prison. From then on in you just knew Reese was going to be kicking some ass.

What was good in the story this week was the back story of Finch and Nathan Ingram developing the Machine, I’m not sure if Finch wrote the code in a way where the Machine would adapt and learn or whether it was purely by chance that he realised that the Machine watched all the time, learnt Human behaviour and developed itself into what it is know. At first I thought the lady in the park painting was going to be a display of how Finch figured the machine could detect things before they happened. Turns out I was wrong (as usual) and the Machine was acting like a dating website matching Finch up with the perfect woman for him, that woman was Grace Hendricks the woman who Finch had to leave behind to protect her from what he knows. I touched on this during the first season of the show, but it does seem that Finch’s Machine is kind of like Terminator’s Skynet, only way cooler.

If you weren’t really interested in Finch and the love story side of things then “The High Road” certainly wasn’t going to let you down as the weekly procedural was just brilliant. Taking Reese out of the city and fighting for an “every man” was a brilliant move from the writers and also gave them the opportunity to bring Zoe Morgan (Paige Turco) back into the story. Her and Reese have brilliant chemistry and they bounce off each other (not in that way) really well, fancy moving into the suburbs and pulling your gun on the first girl scout who come knocking trying to sell some cookies! If this was Dexter then Reese would have been in their with Zoe already, the urges would have been to much. Who knows? Maybe Reese and Zoe will get together some day.

There was no Fusco this week, obviously keeping him self busy with HR issues, you know? Trying to keep his name out of certain documents in order that he does not get sent to prison, no worries though I’m pretty sure he will be back to his ways before long. If you hadn’t guessed already I thought “The High Road” was one of the best episodes of this second season so far, especially since Root has been done with for now, after two lesser weeks this was a real action packed episode with all the usual wit and excellent story. Reese and Zoe should be making more trips to the suburbs in my opinion. Roll on this weeks episode “Critical”, I can’t wait.

Richard Zanuck: A Retrospective (Guest Post)

Many would agree that if television is a writer’s medium, then the theater is an actor’s medium and that film is a director’s medium.  By this, I don’t mean to imply that the acting, writing and directing aren’t all crucial aspects in the performing arts; I’m just meaning to say that for each of those mediums, the importance of a certain component becomes somewhat heightened.  In the cinema, it’s the director’s vision that sees a project through from its infancy stage until the final product is shown on silver screens around the globe.  However, film didn’t always used to be a director’s medium.  Back in the formative days of Hollywood, the producer was king.  These were the days of the studio system, and men like Jack Warner and Louis B. Mayer lorded over the industry.  But ever since the studio system was broken up, the producer’s role in the creative process has steadily decreased.  Indeed the celebrity aspect of being a producer has been thoroughly diminished, save a couple of exceptions.  Producers like Robert Evans, Harvey Weinstein and Jerry Bruckheimer have attained some notoriety over the course of their respective careers.  One of cinema’s most famed producers of any era passed away last July.  His name was Richard D. Zanuck, and the influence he had on American cinema was indelible. 

If the name Zanuck rings a bell, it may be because of him and because of his lineage.  The Zanuck family has long been a powerful clan in Hollywood, starting with patriarch Darryl F. Zanuck.  He was one of the founding members of what is now 20^th Century Fox.  Richard’s career certainly benefited from his surname; ask anyone and you’ll find that Hollywood is a town built on nepotism.  But again, ask anyone in Hollywood, and they will surely tell you that Richard had a special talent and dedication that made him truly special among most ordinary film producers. 

Even though he was studying at Stanford University, Zanuck interrupted his studies to take a position at his father’s studio in the story department.  His rise to the top was speedy to say the least.  He produced his first film, “Compulsion,” in 1959, and was president of the studio only a few years after that.  His reign at Fox was short-lived however, due to flops like “Doctor Doolittle” and “Star.”  Zanuck would later say about these flops, “’The Sound of Music’ did more damage to the industry than any other picture. Everyone tried to copy it.  We were the biggest offenders.”  

Jaws: 1975

Whereas many others may have not survived a similar firing (his father didn’t), Zanuck took other jobs around the town, including at Warner Bros.  He started to find his biggest success in 1972, when he and friend David Brown partnered up to form their own company, the Zanuck/Brown Company.  The two men discovered a young, upstart director who agreed to make a couple of films for them.  That director’s name was Steven Spielberg, and one of those films was the 1975 blockbuster/masterpiece “Jaws.”  Despite all of the problems that plagued the production of that film (a faulty mechanical shark, an unfinished script), “Jaws” went on to be the highest grossing film of all time, and has largely been attributed as a game changer in studio filmmaking along with “Star Wars.”  Zanuck and crew had pioneered the Hollywood blockbuster.  His filmography would go on to include several more, including “Cocoon,” “Road to Perdition” and a bevy of Tim Burton films.  He also won the elusive Best Picture Academy Award for his work on “Driving Miss Daisy.”

 

It was on July 13, 2012 that Richard Zanuck died from complications due to a heart attack.  The tributes came pouring in, via press releases and twitter.  “He taught me everything I know about producing,” Steven Spielberg said.  “He was one of the most honorable and loyal men of our profession, and he fought tooth and nail for his directors.  Dick Zanuck was a cornerstone of our industry, both in name and in deed.”  His funeral proceedings featured more stars than a red carpet for the Academy Awards.  I guess it’s fitting that so many stars would show support for one of the last stars of his kind.

Zack Mandell is a movie enthusiast and owner of www.movieroomreviews.com and writer of movie reviews about movies such as Road to Perdition. He writes extensively about the movie industry for sites such as Gossip Center, Yahoo, NowPublic, and Helium.

TV Review: PERSON OF INTEREST - Triggerman 2.4 & Bury The Lede 2.5

I have some catching up to do with Person of Interest, I haven’t reviewed any of the episodes since “Masquerade” which I actually really enjoyed, it really took the show back to what was so good during the opening season, it dealt with a weekly procedural story whilst the main plot involving the machine bubbled away in the background. Since “Masquerade” I have watched all the episode’s including “Triggerman” 2.4 and “Bury the Lede” 2.5 and have to say that I found them very forgetful, not what we have been used to of late with Person of Interest, I think since season one’s “Wolf and Cub” this show has continued to deliver brilliant episodes that we have come to expect it week on week. The first season didn’t go by without its offering of poorer quality episodes, I even debated whether or not I would be reviewing it week on week but thanks to “Mission Creep” any doubts I had were surpassed.

I suppose we can’t expect brilliant story developing episodes week on week, I still think Person of Interest is a brilliant show with a brilliant story that I’m sure still has many layers to be developed and I can forgive it for delivering a couple of poorer quality episodes at the beginning of the season. Although they have been poorer in quality I have still enjoyed the story which has been delivered, Reese has been kick ass as usual and what the show has done well is deal with the aftermath of Finch being kidnapped, he took that harder than even he thought he would. Finch has been frightened to leave the office, a fear that in “Bury the Lede” he finally seems to be making some strides to get over.

I’ll start with the fourth episode “Triggerman”, it’s been a while since I watched it and its no longer on my DVR so I think this will be more of a recap than a review, you can count the above as a review if you like. “Triggerman” was actually an ok episode but it did nothing in relation to moving on the story of the machine, as always a new number was delivered, that of Riley Cavanaugh, an Irish Mob enforcer who worked for a mid level gangster named George Massey. At first it was obvious to Reese and Finch that he would be the perpetrator, and they needed to stop him doing something, but then hold up! The usual Person of Interest twist came to the front and it turned out that the guy was actually going to be the victim thanks to his love of Annie Delaney, one of Massey’s former partners, Massey knows and was going to be dealing with him and Reese needed to stop him. Problem was that Riley saw Reese as a threat, so needed his ass kicked before he realised that Reese was actually there to help him. A decent episode like I say but nothing involving the machine just your weekly procedural to see here.

Onto last week’s “Bury the Lede” a good episode I thought, again nothing here about the machine but a real comeback for a problem that we thought had been dealt with by the end of the first season. HR was supposedly done with after Elias went to prison but if “Triggerman” proved anything then it was that Elias reach far extends the bars of his prison cell, after his sit down with Finch he called off the hit that Massey was planning so I guess it was a given that HR would be coming back into the story. What is sad about that is the corruption of Fusco, he was corrupt to start with until Reese got him cleaned up but it seems that HR’s secrets and what he’s done in the past are just going to be too much to keep covered up if he remains legit. Now that Fusco has once again stepped over to the dark side you can’t help but thing that is going to scupper what Reese and Finch are trying to achieve, but I’m pretty sure Reese will figure him out before he gets to out of hand. It’s a shame because I actually quite like Fusco, he’s does provide some laughs in the show, hopefully he will stick to his new morals for a little longer.

“Bury the Lede” was helped in its weekly procedural in that it tied in with the story of HR, the latest number to be delivered by the machine was Maxine Angelis, a New York investigative reporter who is currently looking into HR, trying to expose the head of its operation and the other names involved, that of course would include Fusco so whilst Reese is trying to help Maxine, Fusco is trying to help HR in keeping her from finding out their names. It was a good episode which I enjoyed and hopefully it will serve as a stepping stone to getting the story up and moving again.

It will be back to normal for me with Person of Interest this week, with “Bury the Lede” I was confused as it had not been uploaded to where I normally get it from, I actually thought it had not been on because of a Presidential debate, it was only when I saw a review and checked CBS’s website that I figured I had missed an episode, ISOHunt saved the day and I managed to get it from there, at least I know it is on this week so hopefully normal service will resume with me watching it on a Friday night. Roll on “High Road”.

TV Review: REVOLUTION - Who Turned Out The Lights? I Don't Think Anyone Cares Anymore!

So, who turned out the lights? Problem is for Revolution and NBC I really don’t think me or many other people care any more. Revolution started with an impressive “Pilot” episode but has failed to deliver since that point for me, with the exception of “The Plague Dogs” this really has been a poor showing with the last three episodes “Soul Train”, Sex and Drugs” and this weeks “The Children’s Crusade” serving up very little in the way of story or any excitement. I’m not even going to bother recapping what went on in all of those episodes as I really don’t remember but it’s fair to say that they have been poor.

What Revolution has achieved is hiring Tracey Spiridakos who plays Charlie in the show, easily one of the worst actors on TV right now, it’s a good job she’s pretty hot really, although she is not my cup of tea, so to speak I’m sure there are guys watching this show solely because she is on screen every week. I actually think her brother Danny is going to become more prominent to the story and the guy who plays him is a lot better actor than what she is, they really should focus on giving him a little more screen time. On saying that it looks as if that will be the case going into the fourth episode as in the latest we spent a little more time at Monroe HQ with Rachel, the mother of Danny and Charlie who is of course still alive, shock horror, I don’t think anyone really cared all that much.

In all honesty it did bring a little something to the dynamic of the show when it was revealed that Rachael was still alive, especially when we found out that she knew a little more than she was letting on about how the electricity went out. The latest episode has explained via flashbacks that Ben was working on something with a group of other people including his wife Rachael which would provide clean energy, problem is that back fired and what they discovered was that their device actually inhibited energy and caused all electronic devices to stop working, it actually wasn’t a bad bit of the story to come out especially as it has yet to give away who is actually responsible for the power going out. Ultimately it’s down to Ben I guess for creating whatever the little pendant thing is but the government gave him a contract the moment the discovered what he created, why? Even Rachael was a little suspicious of selling off their invention to higher powers, fearing they would use it as a weapon. Turns out she may just have been right.

I’m really not into the story of Miles, Charlie and the dude with the beard heading across America (although it has a new name in the show) to find her brother, they keep stumbling across little problems which mainly see them battling with their emotions, none of which I have found all that impressive up to now. I wouldn’t even say I enjoy it that much when Miles (Billy Burke) kicks ass, don’t get me wrong he is pretty good at it but the action kind of reminds me of that Will Smith movie Wild Wild West (yes the one he turned down the part of Neo in The Matrix for), believe it or not I actually turned that movie off after 20 minutes, but for some reason I keep watching Revolution week on week.

Miles even discovered during this episode that the power is able to be turned back on, thanks to the guy with the beard who this week decided to power up an entire light house, quite why he done it wasn’t really explained, well if it was I didn’t get it, but all I can think is that he done it because Miles and Charlie were in a bit of quandary and needed a shock factor to help them get out of it. Now that Miles knows that the power can be turned back on it will be interesting to see if his attitude changes any towards what the group are trying to achieve.

We are now approaching the eighth episode of Revolution and I find myself stuck in the same quandary I did with Awake, Alcatraz and Terra Nova, I have watched it this far so why stop now? There are only four episodes left of its debut season, may as well watch them I suppose. What will follow though? Will Revolution get a second season order at NBC? I think they are going to have to come up with some major goods in the next few episodes in order for that to happen. Who knows, J.J. Abrams may well already have one in the bag, but I’m not holding my breath, if it does get a second season then I’m not entirely sure I will be watching it. What you can be sure of is that I will watch the remaining episodes of this season and will let you know what I think when it’s done.

TV Review: DEXTER - Do the Wrong Thing 7.6

As always after watching Dexter I turn to some reviews of the episode, in this case that episode was “Do the Wrong Thing”. Another solid episode of season 7 which continues to get better and better, one of the reviews I read actually says that this season may be even better than the fourth with John Lithgow’s now almost legendary Trinity killer. I haven’t seen season 4 so I can’t compare, but what I am getting this season especially after this episode is shades of both seasons 2 and 5, why? Thanks to Miss Strahovski of course, the beautiful Hannah McKay who Dexter got to grips with this week in a rather hands on moment. Lila (season 2) or Lumen (season 5)? I have said in reviews all along that she would probably turn out to be a loony like season 2’s Lila, I still stand by that but Dexter unwrapped her from his table in this episode after around forty minutes of dialogue between them which now puts her more in the light of Lumen.

Lumen (Julia Stiles) even got herself a mention in this week’s episode as the great “chats” between Dexter and Debra continued with her grilling him on moving Lumen into the house where the Trinity killer killed Rita. I still think that Hannah is going to prove more of a Lila type who Dexter will eventually have to deal with, lets just hope its another good few episodes yet because lets be honest guys we wouldn’t mind seeing that every week would we? She was in that TV show Chuck apparently, never seen it but feel a box set coming on!

Going back again to last weeks “Swim Deep” I said that I was going to miss Ukrainian Mob boss Issak Sirko (Ray Stevenson), the guy is a real power house actor in my opinion and he has certainly brought some intensity to scenes which involve him and Dexter. Last week it looked like his story was all done and dusted, but the writers have thought up something even better, keep Issak Sirko, get him off at trial and get Joey Quinn to help, finally something for Quinn to do other than meaningless stories which are not involved in the plot, he had that in season 5 remember? With his theory that Dexter is odd, whatever gave him that idea?

I actually like that they have done that because Dexter now has a whole host of problems coming at him from different angles, the Bay Harbour Butcher case, Debra, Hannah, Issak and now Quinn who doesn’t seem to know what he’s getting himself into. I don’t like it because I want Dexter to get caught, I like it because Dexter is best when he is having to think fast. Like I mentioned above I have read other reviews one which states that the writers are giving us a nod during this episode that they will be killing off Angel Batista, I hope their wrong but you can’t help but think that Quinn is going to go and do something stupid resulting in him being responsible for Batista’s exit from the show.

There has not been an episode yet that I have thought was just ok, all of season 7’s offerings up to now have been brilliant episodes leaving you wanting more every week. I can’t wait for Issak Sirko to come back into the main story fold and at this point Dexter is so unpredictable its hard to see where they are going to be when we get to the season finale, we know there is an eighth season of course but Dexter certainly has some holes to get out of by the time we get there. Roll on season 7 and next week’s “Chemistry”, I can’t wait.

TV Review: DEXTER - Run 7.4 & Swim Deep 7.5

I wouldn’t say that I’m quite over the distinct lack of enthusiasm just yet (I’m not talking about Dexter, go read the link) but lets just say I was very bored the other day and decided that I owe it to my main commenter Ruben to get my thoughts down on paper in relation to Dexter’s fourth and fifth episode “Run” and “Swim Deep” respectively. I am really enjoying season 7 of Dexter a comment I’ve made in just about every review up to now but for me 7.4 “Run” has been one of the most exciting so far, I know 7.5 “Swim Deep” was also very good but I’ll get to that in a moment. I suppose the Speltzer (Matt Gerald) story line would not be something that was just allowed to go away when he escaped during “Buck The System”, but I didn’t expect it to come back so quick and in such an action fashion, I’m glad it did though as Speltzer is the story which is going to help Debra understand about the gaps in the American legal system.

“Run” actually started in a completely different way to what I imagined it would, with Speltzer being captured by Crockett and Tubbs aka Quinn and Batista and then sent to prison for his crimes when Debra wound him up during an interview, a very satisfying little scene I thought. However, no sooner was Speltzer in custody he was released thanks to some over zealous policing methods and him failing to say that he understood his rights. That was all sufficient to prove Dexter’ point though, and now he had Speltzer all to himself.

It didn’t go where I expected it to from that point as Dexter was the one who found himself captured and having to “Run” through the maze as Speltzer played a game of cat and mouse with him, this was really good and was probably just a little reminder to us all that Dexter is a worthy physical adversary for anyone.

When Dexter offed with Speltzer I thought it was a great scene, one of the best Dexter kills scenes that I have seen. The way Dexter mimicked Speltzer as he lay on his table screaming, I thought it was brilliant, last time I saw Dexter that un-composed was during season 6 when he drowned Brother Sam’s (Mos Def) killer. Not only did Dexter get rid of a problem in Speltzer but he has also decided to do away with one of his own rituals, his trophy blood slides were incinerated along with Speltzer. A way for Dexter to be more careful, I’m pretty sure that’s the idea. I don’t even remember him calling Debra but she was there to pick him up very happy that her brother has just committed another murder.

“Swim Deep” was another brilliant episode, now that Dexter’s done with Speltzer he had Ukrainian Mob boss Issak Sirko (Ray Stevenson) to deal with, and deal with him he did, even without killing him, it was brains instead of brawn for Dexter on this occasion in a move that will pay off for a very long time. I was expecting a brilliant scene to come our way as Issak lay in wait for Dexter returning to his apartment, but instead what I got was still a brilliant scene just not how I’d imagined it. Dexter noticed instantly that his curtains had been messed with, left a message on his voice mail and lured Issak out into the open, “Hello handsome” were Issak’s words when he finally came face to face with Dexter.

It was a brilliant move from Dexter which saw Issak brought over to the wrong side of town and walked straight into a rival drug cartel’s bar. The likely outcome, they will kill Issak, Dexter has done nothing wrong and his problem is rid of. Problem is Mr Sirko can kick some serious ass, or shoot some, whatever but I’d say it’s a good job he’s in prison now as Dexter may have found this guy a handful.

Clearly from this episode Hannah (Yvonne Strahovski) is going to be the main character this season, I see another Dexter/Lila thing going to happen here. Dexter has already figured out that the story she is telling in relation to her involvement in various murders is lies, what we don’t know yet, is she still doing it? Maybe she is, either way I can see her involvement in the show growing in the next few episodes. You can’t help but think that Debra will become involved in the story between them at some point, she did with Lila but at that time she didn’t know her brother was a killer, maybe Debra will have to kill Hannah to protect Dexter, I guess we will wait and see.

I am still loving season 7 of Dexter, it really has been brilliant up to now and I’ve no doubt that will continue. La Guerta is on the verge of having the Bay Harbour Butcher case reopened and now that Debra has herself involved in that she can feed Dexter with the information he needs to protect himself. I wasn’t expecting the Louis and Issak stories to be done with so quickly and you know what? Like Brother Sam in season 6 I’m going to miss Issak Sirko.

A Distinct Lack of Enthusiasm

You may have noticed recently that I have not been doing much writing, the reason for this? Well, as stated above I am suffering from a distinct lack of enthusiasm right now. Truth is, I have not really been enjoying writing lately, my latest Person of Interest review was a real trawl for me, not because I didn’t enjoy the show I just could not be bothered to sit down and come up with 800 words (which I eventually did) to say something about the show. Even Dexter has suffered lately as the last two episodes “Run” and “Swim Deep” have not been reviewed, again I feel no real desire to go and write anything.

If you come here often then you’ll know that I make no secret of the fact that I’m not a writer, I feel I do a decent enough job but I’m realistic and know that I won’t be getting calls to do anything on a professional level anytime soon. I set up this blog/website whatever you want to call it two years ago now, initially like many other bloggers that was to make money, I didn’t really care to much about writing. As it went on I actually enjoyed the writing side of things more, that enjoyment has slipped in recent weeks/months and I just don’t feel as if it’s worth my time putting in as much effort as I do. As for the money, well that’s just laughable really especially after two years of doing this. You want know? Ok, in two years this website has earned me the grand total of £35, that’s it people, now do you see why I’m suffering from this distinct lack of enthusiasm?

I have actually had an excuse, as I have a lot going on right now in relation to my job and due to some commitments I had no time to write anything for the site. That is now done though and I find myself with the time to write, only problem is I just don’t feel like it. That’s what they say right? If you’re not enjoying it then don’t do it. That of course relates to hobbies as some people don’t actually enjoy their jobs but have to do it for money. For me I’m not enjoying blogging right now, and I’m not exactly needing it as a source of income, good job huh!

Am I going to give up writing? I wouldn’t say that, I keep getting things in my head but then open up my laptop and decide against it, but I haven’t given up just yet and I will be writing probably just not as often. I of course have not given up on this website, I am really proud of what I have built here at Movies Music & Television and don’t feel like I should give up on it. I will be renewing the .COM address as it is worth something, so unless I get a decent offer money wise I won’t be selling it.

I am currently considering my options, looking around at a few things (online of course) and deciding what I am going to do and how I am going to move forward with the site and writing in general. I’ll keep you posted and may try to garner up some discussion following this weeks Person of Interest.

TV Review: PRESON OF INTEREST - Masquerade 2.3

Person of Interest really is one of the best shows on TV right now, right? The first two episodes of this second season were a little out of the norm for POI, although no less outstanding in story and development. “Masquerade” saw Finch back to the controls and Reese with his latest number to track down, the POI episode which we are all so used to, kick ass and witty comments from Reese and some hilarious moments involving Finch and dog, whilst all the time the main story / conspiracy of what Person of Interest is essentially about kept bubbling away nicely in the background with what looks like more worries for Finch on the horizon.

Person of Interest is well known by now for being quite witty but I have to say, this is one of the funniest episode’s I have seen and at times it even had me laughing out loud. First off, I loved the conversation between Reese and Carter before he charged off into that gang bar, “just give me three and a half minutes”, “please John there are at least 10 guys in there”, “ok, four minutes”, that was a brilliant little scene between Jim Cavizel and Taraji P. Henson and what topped it off was Carter saving his ass just as he’d finished kicking ass. Reese’s parting line, “This guy hit me over the head with a neon sign, it was just un-sportsman like”, ha. Then you have all the moments with Finch and his new furry pal Bear, some of the facial expressions from Michael Emerson were brilliant and I got a real laugh out of it, but what was also great to see was the relationship grow between the three of them, three is not a crowd.

I’ll talk a little about Finch now, the normally cool and confident man behind “the machine” seems to have been affected by his kidnap ordeal at the hands of Root (Amy Acker). Attempting to leave his “office” Finch took a panic attack and rushed back wondering what’s going on, it would seem his new pal Bear could not have arrived at a better time, at least he can feel safe whilst Resse, Carter and Fusco are out doing there thing. That “thing” is also something else which has been so good about the return of Person of Interest, Carter and Fusco are now actively involved with everything that happens when a new number is delivered and it really adds a whole brilliant new angle to the show. Resse is still the brawn of course but Carter is a though cookie too whilst Fusco is his usual bumbling self, he’s a really good guy though and it’s hard to remember the corrupt cop who initially tried to kill Resse in the opening episodes of the first season, Reese and Finch have given the guy a whole new reason to be a decent person and good law abiding cop.

I also enjoyed this weeks procedural, and no, it wasn’t just because that Brazilian diplomat’s daughter Sofia (Paloma Guzman) was extremely hot, it was actually because it sent you in a completely different direction other than where you would have thought, she was a real pain in the ass and it wasn’t hard to imagine why someone who is high up in politics may want her out the way. The story however took us in another direction, her sleazy ass rich boyfriend, who thanks for his efforts was hung off the edge of a balcony by Reese towards the end of the episode. Reese also showed his commitment to Finch here, as the hot Brazilian wanted him to relocate and become her full time body guard, I know it would have ruined the story of POI but if that was me….. Just sayin Reese.

All this was going on whilst like I mentioned above the main story was bubbling away in the background. The Alicia Corwin investigation, who killed her? And probably more importantly who was tracking her? The assassin from the opening episode of this first season (the one who shot Denton Weeks) was back to retrieve the tracking device from Alicia’s arm and I’m pretty sure that we have only scratched the surface of how deep this story line goes. Reese’s former CIA partner Cara was also back in this episode, if you remember we found out in last seasons “Matsya Nyaya” that she is not dead as Reese thinks, what does she know or want to know? She has a great way of finding out, strapping some explosives to corrupt FBI Agent Snow who she has running around doing her dirty work into Alicia Corwin. Some real depth still to be added to this show from all of this and none of it is to complicated, it’s slotted in nicely along with the action which keeps Person of Interest so fresh.

Needless to say but Person of Interest continues to just get better and better and this really is one of my favourite shows on TV right now, it is essential viewing for me and I love it, with the people involved behind the scenes and the cast working so well as they are it’s hard to see anything other than POI just continuing to get stronger, roll on next week’s “Triggerman”, no more Presidential debates please CBS.

Side Notes;

Sorry about the delay, this should have been out over the weekend but I have been having computer trouble, hence no updates for the last five days.

TV Review: DEXTER - Buck the System 7.3

Dexter would get boring awfully quick if Debra wasn't to release him from her constant watch, and I'm pleased to report that "Buck the System" went all out with what may well be a very important showdown between Dexter and Deb. Dexter is a serial killer, she knows that now, but can she accept it? This episode was brilliant in exploring the question (for Debra) is Dexter a necessary evil? The code ensures that Dexter satisfies his urges by only killing people who have slipped through the justice system, his ways may be illegal but it is a lot more effective and in this episode Debra saw that, as the girl killed at the end would have been saved had she let Dexter act earlier as he had suggested. The thing which I really liked here was Deb's realisation when Dexter told her about all the hunches he had passed onto Miami Metro in the past. Maybe from here we can move onto Deb always taking his advice in murder cases, she would become the most successful lieutenant Miami Metro have had in a while.

What is Debra going to do about it though? I'd say there is not really a great lot she can do now, she has not said she agrees with what Dexter does but she understands why he does it. Would she really blow him in now? I don't think she would, she has known about it to long and stands to loose a lot, her job obviously but more importantly the man she trusts and cares about more than anyone. What I also really liked about this episode was Dexter taking Deb along to the bar where he was stalking his next victim, explaining his process on how he must be sure that the person has committed the crimes they were suspected of. Without any real action season 7 really has started well and now that Mob boss Issack Sirko (Ray Stevenson) knows the name Dexter Morgan who works for Miami Metro things look like they are only going to get better.

It was good to see the back of Louis this week, since the season 6 finale I have been wondering what his problem was with Dexter, does he know? Nope he didn't know a thing, turns out he was just a dick. Had they kept him in the show it would have been interesting to see how Dexter would have dealt with him, he's not the usual bait that Dexter would go for, but that's not a concern now, because thanks to Mr Sirko we won't be seeing him again. It was really good the way Dexter dealt with him in the beginning, seeing the violent approach didn't help Dexter posted the hand from the Ice Truck Killer Investigation back to Masuka whilst also posting his video diary to Jamie, thanks to Dexter Louis lost his job and extremely FIT girlfriend in one swoop, then to top it off as he tried to sink Dexter's boat "Slice of Life" Issack put a bullet in his head, I had one of those moments when I saw the mob heading for the boat, "is that Louis?" "Yeah it's Louis" "Great he's going to get shot".

Now with Dexter free to roam as he pleases and his name known to Issack I think things are going to get really interesting, I wouldn't imagine that Mr Sirko is the type to walk into Miami Metro and say to someone, excuse me, that chap Dexter who works here, he killed my friend, you know? The who shot your colleague? Of course that's not going to happen, a good game of cat and mouse is going to ensue and for the first time (I believe) Dexter is going to find himself up against an organised crime group, one where more than one person will be in search of his head. A note on the mobsters, Ray Stevenson is a pretty convincing gangster wouldn't you agree?

We also got moved onto what will be the love story side of things this week when we met Hanna McKay (Yvonne Strahovski). There was a clear attraction between her and Dexter and all that remains to be seen now, is she the new Rita? Or, maybe another Lila the pshyco from season 2. I think for now I will go with the latter, it may well turn out that she was actually the brains behind the outfit back when she went with last week's murderer who wanted some "Sunshine and Frosty Swirl". It was a brief meeting and the lines she had were limited but I have a pretty good idea that Dexter may be back for some gardening advice when off duty next week.

So, to cap off another solid episode from Dexter and no signs that it will be returning to poor form, which even when it was "poorer" it was still good. As always I am waiting with baited breath for next week's episode "Run" and I can't wait to see what it's got to offer. How about you? What do you think of Dexter season 7 so far? Your comments are welcome as always.

TV Review: ARROW - Pilot 1.1

Having never even read a comic book in my life would it be ok of me to go and say that Arrow is one of the most kick ass shows I have seen? Honestly, as far as “Pilot” episodes go this one really got me, right from the off I was thinking, this is just like watching a movie, would it work better as one? I’m not sure it would when you see Oliver Queen’s little note book. Arrow premiered on America’s CW network and will be coming to UK TV later in the year, back in August Arrow featured on my Fall TV show preview, it actually just managed a little mention at the bottom below Vegas and Last Resort, turns out it’s better than both of those and I think I may have found a new show to add to my weekly reviews.

Arrow follows the story of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), the son of a billionaire who has been missing and presumed dead for the last five years, that is until one day when he is discovered on a deserted island and brought home to a hero’s welcome. However, Oliver is not the billionaire playboy he was when he left all that time ago, he is now clearly in love with Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), the girl who’s sister he was sleeping with on the boat before the storm. Oliver’s time on the island hasn’t been fully explained as yet but some “bad stuff” happened to him whilst he was there, his father left him a mission, a list of names for the people who had wronged Starling City and he needed to kill. Returning to America there are a couple of interested parties, including his own mother who want to know what he was told by his father, thing is he can never reveal his secret and that’s why he must maintain in appearance his playboy lifestyle and keep Laurel at arms length, at least for now anyway.

I really think if Arrow is worked right the CW could have themselves a little runaway hit on their hands. I know we have only seen the “Pilot” so far but Arrow is showing some real promise for me and I thought it was great. The characters are good and there is enough mystery to keep me going for now, what I especially liked were the flashbacks to Oliver’s time on the island as the story develops week on week it would be nice to see them tell that story as well as the one which we are seeing in the present day. With shows like Arrow there is always a question as to whether it would serve better as a movie instead of weekly TV format, I think Arrow could work as a movie (haven’t read the comic remember!) but there are a lot of people to get through in that space of time and for that reason I think weekly TV will serve this better. What will also be interesting to see, is if they can make Arrow last for more than one season, but again people who know comics may know more about characters than I do.

I think what I loved most about this was all of the comparisons to Batman, or The Dark Knight, whatever you want to call him. A billionaire who is pissed at greed and corruption from people in power, and he has decided that he is going to do something about it, sounds familiar! So, yeah the backing story of why Oliver wants to do what he does is the same but so is the main story, yes he is a superhero, but if you remember me and Ruben (the main commenter on this site) had a conversation in The Dark Knight movie review that the reason Batman is so good is because he does not have any real super power, he is just a very tough guy who can kick major ass when required.

I’ll mention it for the ladies but one thing Arrow has that Batman does not are the sickest abs I have ever seen, I gotta get me some of those, and when I learn to do pull ups like Stephen Amell, maybe I will get a part in a TV show. I think even Gerard Butler would be looking at those abs and saying “Man, I gotta get back the gym”. Oilver is also pretty handy with a bow and arrow, and again like Batman his kit is really high tech, he has the office space and now just needs a car, if I could give him any advice it would be buy a McLaren Mercedes like his best friend has, because that car is almost as kick ass as he is.

Finally, if you hadn’t guessed already I really enjoyed Arrow and I’m really looking forward to seeing how it pans out, sure parts were cliché but I can over look that because the story so far both modern day and flashbacks have me interested. How about you? What did you think of Arrow? Your thoughts and comments are welcome as always.  

Side Notes;

If the CW wanted to use me as a body double for Stephen Amell, then they should have just asked.

How HOT are Thea Queen (Willa Holland) and Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy)?

If you have had no lady action in the last five years then that roughly equates to 1839 days, according to Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell)

TV Previews: DEXTER 7.3 - Buck the System, HOMELAND 2.3 - State of Independence, REVOLUTION 1.5 - Soul Train

Dexter 7.3 - “Buck the System”

I have been hugely impressed with Dexter since its return to our TV screens a couple of weeks back, last weeks “Sunshine and Frosty Swirl” saw Debra taking on babysitting duties in an attempt to rehabilitate her serial killer brother, of course we knew that would never last and this week Dexter is at breaking point wanting Debra to back off before something bad happens, I can only presume he means him killing her as apposed to drugging her food. “Buck the System” looks like another great instalment with Louis getting creepier than ever and Dexter's new love interest Hanna (Yvonne Strahovski) joining the cast.

Homeland 2.3 – “State of Independence”

If you didn’t see Homeland last week then boy did you miss a treat, that reveal at the end with Saul Bresnan finding out that his paranoid partner Carrie had been right about the loyalties of Sgt Nick Brody all along, wow. This show really is brilliant but so far I’m not really feeling the need to write about it every week (think I’ll leave that to real writers). This week’s “State of Independence" like all the other shows looks like a brilliant episode which can’t be missed as the net will surely be closing in on Brody, but, where does the story go from here?

Revolution 1.5 “Soul Train”

You may remember from my review of “The Plague Dogs” that I have a new found desire to watch this show, it delivered its best episode yet as far as story line and character development goes with the previous episode. The story of Miles Matheson was one of those stories that was looking continually promising as the group made their way across America in search of Danny Matheson, currently being held captor by Militia Captain Tom Neville. “Soul Train” looks like it will be delivering that story line a little further as Neville and Miles Matheson come face to face in what looks like another classy episode of Revolution which will be packed with action.