C.J. Foxx's Blog, page 3
February 24, 2015
Walking Dead Episode Review 5.11: The Distance
I apologize for the delay, been battling the flu mixed in with allergies.Trust is a tricky item to utilize. Too little and you’re Paranoid Rob Lowe who has cable. Too much and you’re Manti Teo with a fake girlfriend. For a multitude of different reason, trust is hard to come by these days.
Aaron Wroggers arrives with promise of shelter and a town where they can all safely live the remainder of their days. He shows pictures of the steel walls that protect them from the zombies. What does Rick do, he punches Aaron square in the jaw. Now put yourself in Rick’s shoes. Last time he put his faith in someone outside of his group, they turned out to be cannibals. This whole episode is basically a vetting process for Aaron and the team gradually realizes that maybe, just maybe Aaron is a good guy.Aaron wants to help but Rick keeps threatening to kill him if anything he says goes awry. I understand both sides, Rick is trying to protect his group from a potential false prophet and Aaron is trying to do and say everything he can think of to show them that he is telling the truth about Alexandria. I like how during a firefight with Zombies, Aaron offers to let Rick tie him up again. The exchange between Aaron and Eric seemed to seal the deal that he is an on the level person. They exuded the same types of exchanges that members of Rick’s crew would have with each other. Aaron is out collecting the license plates from every state. Eric injuries himself trying to get a plate for Aaron, but then Aaron loses the car with the plates. They both have human qualities still, like Rick and his crew. The episode ends with everybody arriving at the gates of Alexandria and hearing the sounds of children playing on the other side of the fence. This not a bad episode by any stretch, but it’s a long job interview for Aaron and a trust building exercise for everyone else, Simple but effective.
Aaron Wroggers arrives with promise of shelter and a town where they can all safely live the remainder of their days. He shows pictures of the steel walls that protect them from the zombies. What does Rick do, he punches Aaron square in the jaw. Now put yourself in Rick’s shoes. Last time he put his faith in someone outside of his group, they turned out to be cannibals. This whole episode is basically a vetting process for Aaron and the team gradually realizes that maybe, just maybe Aaron is a good guy.Aaron wants to help but Rick keeps threatening to kill him if anything he says goes awry. I understand both sides, Rick is trying to protect his group from a potential false prophet and Aaron is trying to do and say everything he can think of to show them that he is telling the truth about Alexandria. I like how during a firefight with Zombies, Aaron offers to let Rick tie him up again. The exchange between Aaron and Eric seemed to seal the deal that he is an on the level person. They exuded the same types of exchanges that members of Rick’s crew would have with each other. Aaron is out collecting the license plates from every state. Eric injuries himself trying to get a plate for Aaron, but then Aaron loses the car with the plates. They both have human qualities still, like Rick and his crew. The episode ends with everybody arriving at the gates of Alexandria and hearing the sounds of children playing on the other side of the fence. This not a bad episode by any stretch, but it’s a long job interview for Aaron and a trust building exercise for everyone else, Simple but effective.
February 22, 2015
C.J. Foxx Movie House Reviews #6: Kingsman: The Secret Service
Have you ever seen a movie that from the moment the production companies credits roll that you know you’re going to like it? I’m not talking about something like the Avengers, Fifty Shades of Grey (for our female fans) or some other flick you’re really amped up about. I’m talking about a movie you really don’t know anything about before you go in a watch it. The last one of those I had was when I saw American Hustle. When Duke Ellington popped on I knew I was in for something special. The same feeling came over me when I heard Money for Nothing blare over the retro production titles and I was not disappointed.
Kingsman is a James Bond movie if you gave it the Super Soldier serum. It accentuates all of the action with amazing hand-to-hand and gun play sequences, The eccentricities of the characters, the villian’s treacherous plot and the comedic elements the Bond Franchise is known for. Kingsman does this in such a way that still feels like its own movie and not a Bond knock off. I think part of reasoning comes from the fact that this movie is a Hard R loaded with violence and language. None of the bond films ever uddered the type of language used or displayed the level of graphic violence on display. It also has a distinctly British feel to it, which is absent from the Bond franchise.
The talk going into this picture is that it’s a bond meets X-men movie, but I don’t think that’s entirely accurate. I doesn’t help that director Matthew Vaughn’s last picture was X-Men first Class. Kingsman simply goes into territory that the bond franchise never did: the recruitment of the spy. The story begins with a mission that results in the death of a Kingsman, who happened to be Colin Firth’s protégé. He leaves a medallion for his protégé’s son Gary. Flashforward to the present where the son now known as “Eggsy” has grown into a malecontent, Firth gets him out of jail and auditions to be a member of the kingsman. The bond movie franchise never really established an arc about how James Bond became 007. They did a teensy one in Casino Royale, but Bond was already a full on government agent before hand, not a little-car-stealing squirt with a smart mouth.
On to the Characters: The kingsmen are all named after characters in King Arthur’s court which is a cool touch. And the new recruits are trying to be the next “Lancelot” as he was killed by the female version of Oscar Petsorious during the opening scene while trying to save Mark Hamill of all people. (No seriously he’s in this movie) Colin Firth plays Galahad who is an elite agent of the Kingsmen, Mark Strong is Merlin the trainer of the new recruits and a former field agent himself and Sir Michael Caine is Arthur. Firth and Eggsy share a Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn type relationship from My Fair Lady.
Samuel L. Jackson plays the villain and he deserves his own paragraph. The villainous Valentine is basically Spike Lee, if he was a Bond villain. He dresses in bright colors (including Knickerbocker Orange) and always has a baseball cap on his head even if he’s wearing a suit (usually of the NY Yankees) He’s afraid of blood for some reason and they gave him a lisp, which is incredibly awkward like Danny Glover’s was in Shooter. Valentine is a billionaire movie mogul/lobbyist who has this plan of getting everyone in the world a free sim card that gives everyone free internet forever.
While the recruits are being thinned out Firth is investigating Valentine who they believe is responsible for Lancelot’s death and eventually Firth has dinner with Valentine eating McDonalds burgers and fries of all meals. This is one of the many times the movie discusses its love of spy movies and the clichés within. Teamwork is a major theme in Kingsman which is notably absent in Bond films. The most teamwork you’ll see in a Bond movie is when Bond is shagging his girl.
During the training each of the recruits is assigned a dog and Eggsy’s is named J.B. but as he explains it not after James Bond or Jason Bourne but rather Jack Bauer. Nice touch.
Firth follows the clues to a church in Kentucky where Valentine does a test of his device on the church goers and the action sequence that ensues is amazing. I’m glad to see that there are some film makers that are willing to step up the bar when it comes to action scenes. This scene is on par with the two Raid films and the Red Circle Sequence in John Wick. The scenes are frenetic but not shaky to where you can’t follow along like in Captian Americathe Winter Soldier. This is another place where the R rating helped.
This film did not waste any of the two hours and change in screen time. Many subtle points are referenced in later acts of the picture. It may seem like I’m glossing over much of the picture, but this one is well worth the watch and I really don’t want to spoil anything big. It’s not without faults as I found the fight scenes to be a bit CG heavy and a bit exaggerated for my liking, but this goes along with the over the top feel of the movie. You have to suspend your disbelief a bit on this one, as it’s more like the Roger Moore era, than the Daniel Craig era of bond films. the “Star Wars part” of the third act is a bit goofy. This is the best movie I’ve had the pleasure to review thus far and I give it 8.5 out of ten spy movie clichés.
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
Kingsman is a James Bond movie if you gave it the Super Soldier serum. It accentuates all of the action with amazing hand-to-hand and gun play sequences, The eccentricities of the characters, the villian’s treacherous plot and the comedic elements the Bond Franchise is known for. Kingsman does this in such a way that still feels like its own movie and not a Bond knock off. I think part of reasoning comes from the fact that this movie is a Hard R loaded with violence and language. None of the bond films ever uddered the type of language used or displayed the level of graphic violence on display. It also has a distinctly British feel to it, which is absent from the Bond franchise.
The talk going into this picture is that it’s a bond meets X-men movie, but I don’t think that’s entirely accurate. I doesn’t help that director Matthew Vaughn’s last picture was X-Men first Class. Kingsman simply goes into territory that the bond franchise never did: the recruitment of the spy. The story begins with a mission that results in the death of a Kingsman, who happened to be Colin Firth’s protégé. He leaves a medallion for his protégé’s son Gary. Flashforward to the present where the son now known as “Eggsy” has grown into a malecontent, Firth gets him out of jail and auditions to be a member of the kingsman. The bond movie franchise never really established an arc about how James Bond became 007. They did a teensy one in Casino Royale, but Bond was already a full on government agent before hand, not a little-car-stealing squirt with a smart mouth.
On to the Characters: The kingsmen are all named after characters in King Arthur’s court which is a cool touch. And the new recruits are trying to be the next “Lancelot” as he was killed by the female version of Oscar Petsorious during the opening scene while trying to save Mark Hamill of all people. (No seriously he’s in this movie) Colin Firth plays Galahad who is an elite agent of the Kingsmen, Mark Strong is Merlin the trainer of the new recruits and a former field agent himself and Sir Michael Caine is Arthur. Firth and Eggsy share a Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn type relationship from My Fair Lady.
Samuel L. Jackson plays the villain and he deserves his own paragraph. The villainous Valentine is basically Spike Lee, if he was a Bond villain. He dresses in bright colors (including Knickerbocker Orange) and always has a baseball cap on his head even if he’s wearing a suit (usually of the NY Yankees) He’s afraid of blood for some reason and they gave him a lisp, which is incredibly awkward like Danny Glover’s was in Shooter. Valentine is a billionaire movie mogul/lobbyist who has this plan of getting everyone in the world a free sim card that gives everyone free internet forever.
While the recruits are being thinned out Firth is investigating Valentine who they believe is responsible for Lancelot’s death and eventually Firth has dinner with Valentine eating McDonalds burgers and fries of all meals. This is one of the many times the movie discusses its love of spy movies and the clichés within. Teamwork is a major theme in Kingsman which is notably absent in Bond films. The most teamwork you’ll see in a Bond movie is when Bond is shagging his girl.
During the training each of the recruits is assigned a dog and Eggsy’s is named J.B. but as he explains it not after James Bond or Jason Bourne but rather Jack Bauer. Nice touch.
Firth follows the clues to a church in Kentucky where Valentine does a test of his device on the church goers and the action sequence that ensues is amazing. I’m glad to see that there are some film makers that are willing to step up the bar when it comes to action scenes. This scene is on par with the two Raid films and the Red Circle Sequence in John Wick. The scenes are frenetic but not shaky to where you can’t follow along like in Captian Americathe Winter Soldier. This is another place where the R rating helped.
This film did not waste any of the two hours and change in screen time. Many subtle points are referenced in later acts of the picture. It may seem like I’m glossing over much of the picture, but this one is well worth the watch and I really don’t want to spoil anything big. It’s not without faults as I found the fight scenes to be a bit CG heavy and a bit exaggerated for my liking, but this goes along with the over the top feel of the movie. You have to suspend your disbelief a bit on this one, as it’s more like the Roger Moore era, than the Daniel Craig era of bond films. the “Star Wars part” of the third act is a bit goofy. This is the best movie I’ve had the pleasure to review thus far and I give it 8.5 out of ten spy movie clichés.
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
February 15, 2015
Walking Dead Episode Review 5.10: Them
First Beth, now Tyreese who is next? Are we going to go for three Major cast member deaths in a three consecutive episodes, Let’s dive in and find out!
Nope, this episode is one of the dullest I’ve seen since Beth quest to get drunk. Basically they’re walking down a road to Washington, hungry and thirsty, weary of the existence they’re forced to live, frustrated and grieving from the continual death of their comrades. While I appreciate the allegory of the throes of combat, it does not make for entertaining television.
This is a show about Zombies and yet they make these entirely sappy and pointless episodes. For many of us these TV shows are the heroin that keep us drudging through our lives until next week’s episode, till the next season. It’s escapism and we don’t need to be reminded of what we are escaping from. If I want to watch people crying and grieving, I’ll watch a New York Knicks game.
Sasha is raging after losing Tyreese, almost stabbing Michone during a fracas near a bridge. Daryl is using cigarettes to burn his hand, Everyone is dealing with the harsh reality in their own way. Michone of all people is the voice of hope.
So it starts raining and everybody is happy for a bit then they go to a barn because Daryl found one somehow. During storytime at Uncle Ricky’s, he calls the group "The Walking Dead."
Zombies come to the barn blah blah, they hold them off. This review is short because the producers needed a filler episode, this is the kinda crap that makes me love real shows like Breaking Bad.
Maybe we'll get lucky and get something good from the arrival of Aaron,
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
February 13, 2015
C.J. Foxx Movie House Review #5: Fifty Shades of Grey
Holy Crap! This is exactly why I love writing, and why I love my new writing lifestyle. Never in a skillion years, would I ever go to this flick under my own accord. Because of my new circle of friends, and my new existence, I found myself doing the icebucket challenge of movie reviews. Attending this showing, I felt like that one, singular dude in a yoga class or Meathead Rob Lowe with Cable. During every second of the night the young ladies in this 100% female audience refused to take this seriously, giggling and gabbing (Actually, in many instances, making this better). I wondered about Charlie Hunnam and how he was the original cast as Christian Grey, because my loving sister has a serious crush on him, drooling over his days as Jackson Teller from Sons of Anarchy. I was more into Venus Van Damme but to each their own.
This movie is 50 shades of Beautiful. The sets and cinematography are ravishing. They accented the 'grey' nature of Seattlein the opening shots of the picture and didn't let up with any of the other locations they visited throughout. Seattle is now on my list as a place I want to visit on vacation, even if they require you to compost your trash if more than 10% of it is food.
A detail I noticed was that every person who associated with Christian Grey had blonde hair (except for two people, his mother and our female Protagonist Anastasia Steele). Between Dakota Johnson’s character name, the fluke that she works in a hardware shop, where it’s a bondage cornucopia, I had understood how the book version could use this to its advantage. The movie, on the other hand, the way they chose to convey all of this and the timing of the dialogue was so laughable.
If I had to point the blame, the problems lie primarily on the script. It wasn’t how the words were delivered, it was the words themselves. It turned this movie from a possibly bold, controversial and sophisticated piece of art into a flimsy, flavor of the week, gimmick. So like in every other “chick flick” the leads single, a sexually liberated roommate Kate and Grey’s driver, Taylor owned moments of needed comic relief. Jamie Dornan took some horribly plotted dialogue, doing what he could with it. Handsome and looking all decked out in some nice costumes/suits I thought how it may have different with Jax Teller, looking equally as swag. Regardless, no one could save this joke.
Dakota Johnson still climbs higher a star, her talents as an actress shined through the dilapidated and seemingly broken project. How ironic that her mother, Melanie Griffith, was in rather sexual explicit roles herself at a younger age. She was doing provocative nude scenes at age 17 in movies such as Night Moves and The Drowning Pool. Her breakout role was in an underrated Gem called Body Double (aka the film Brian De Palma did after Scarface) in which she portrayed porn star Holly Body. I saw many moments where Crockett’s Daughter had the same looks as her mother
This film reminded me of another sexual explicit film from the 80s called 9 and a 1/2 weeks. The plots are near mirror images of each other where the innocent and sexually inexperienced woman meets a mysterious gentleman, turning her into a submissive… reluctant until she warms up to his hidden exploits. Eventually he pushed her past her boundaries, and she splits. Fifty shades dove deeper into the bondage world but the films had the same feel.
Fifty shades was too worried about pushing the sex scene envelope, but should’ve shelved one of them to explore a little more of who these people were. I was kinda bored waiting for the final shoe to drop... An extremely sexy billionaire dude rolls into town, because he’s so rich and powerful, he’s the guest speaker at your commencement ceremony. He chooses this random, hardware shop working girl, showing off his toys and his crazy top secret “eyes wide shut” kind of hobby. Everybody is screwed up, especially behind closed doors, you know what helps look the other way…? a bottle of Dom in your private jet, that turns into a yacht, that turns into a space shuttle.
In the end this film was a piece of trash and basically an exploitation of the book that grabbed the fascination of many and falls short of this film’s predecessors. Go out and see this one, live a little, get spanked. I give this one 3 and a half out of 10 possible Catwoman whips “Mee-ow”.
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
C.J. Foxx Like us on Facebook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
This movie is 50 shades of Beautiful. The sets and cinematography are ravishing. They accented the 'grey' nature of Seattlein the opening shots of the picture and didn't let up with any of the other locations they visited throughout. Seattle is now on my list as a place I want to visit on vacation, even if they require you to compost your trash if more than 10% of it is food.
A detail I noticed was that every person who associated with Christian Grey had blonde hair (except for two people, his mother and our female Protagonist Anastasia Steele). Between Dakota Johnson’s character name, the fluke that she works in a hardware shop, where it’s a bondage cornucopia, I had understood how the book version could use this to its advantage. The movie, on the other hand, the way they chose to convey all of this and the timing of the dialogue was so laughable.
If I had to point the blame, the problems lie primarily on the script. It wasn’t how the words were delivered, it was the words themselves. It turned this movie from a possibly bold, controversial and sophisticated piece of art into a flimsy, flavor of the week, gimmick. So like in every other “chick flick” the leads single, a sexually liberated roommate Kate and Grey’s driver, Taylor owned moments of needed comic relief. Jamie Dornan took some horribly plotted dialogue, doing what he could with it. Handsome and looking all decked out in some nice costumes/suits I thought how it may have different with Jax Teller, looking equally as swag. Regardless, no one could save this joke.
Dakota Johnson still climbs higher a star, her talents as an actress shined through the dilapidated and seemingly broken project. How ironic that her mother, Melanie Griffith, was in rather sexual explicit roles herself at a younger age. She was doing provocative nude scenes at age 17 in movies such as Night Moves and The Drowning Pool. Her breakout role was in an underrated Gem called Body Double (aka the film Brian De Palma did after Scarface) in which she portrayed porn star Holly Body. I saw many moments where Crockett’s Daughter had the same looks as her mother
This film reminded me of another sexual explicit film from the 80s called 9 and a 1/2 weeks. The plots are near mirror images of each other where the innocent and sexually inexperienced woman meets a mysterious gentleman, turning her into a submissive… reluctant until she warms up to his hidden exploits. Eventually he pushed her past her boundaries, and she splits. Fifty shades dove deeper into the bondage world but the films had the same feel.
Fifty shades was too worried about pushing the sex scene envelope, but should’ve shelved one of them to explore a little more of who these people were. I was kinda bored waiting for the final shoe to drop... An extremely sexy billionaire dude rolls into town, because he’s so rich and powerful, he’s the guest speaker at your commencement ceremony. He chooses this random, hardware shop working girl, showing off his toys and his crazy top secret “eyes wide shut” kind of hobby. Everybody is screwed up, especially behind closed doors, you know what helps look the other way…? a bottle of Dom in your private jet, that turns into a yacht, that turns into a space shuttle.
In the end this film was a piece of trash and basically an exploitation of the book that grabbed the fascination of many and falls short of this film’s predecessors. Go out and see this one, live a little, get spanked. I give this one 3 and a half out of 10 possible Catwoman whips “Mee-ow”.
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
C.J. Foxx Like us on Facebook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
February 8, 2015
Walking Dead Episode Review 5.9: What Happened and What's Going On
So we’re back after a couple months hiatus on the Walking Dead. A new Arc is beginning so it's like a season opener all over again, what do they have in store for us this time?
The show didn’t even make it to the opening credits before a mission was established: get your ass to Mars, I mean Virginia. Everybody Hates Chris has family there and it’s supposed to a well fortified and protected place ala Woodbury. When they arrive, they discover that it was burned to the ground, no survivors. Everybody Hates Chris is devastated.
Tyreese who I can’t erase out of my head as Z from It’s always sunny in Philadelphia, has become a surrogate father to EHC. I like this angle until Tyreese gets bit in the arm while being entranced by photos of EHC’s twin brothers who ironically enough are the ones who bite him.
Then we go to cameo land where get appearances by the hunter he spared at the beginning of the season, then Bob, and the two girls he was traveling with Lizzie and what’s her face, the normal one. The Governor even shows up. The radio goes crazy and starts talking about the events. The theme here is of regret, wondering if taking a different course would have changed anything, but in the end we all have earn our keep. Oh FMS, Beth even shows up, singing a diddy no less. I should have known she’d pop back in again, she has nothing better to do.
I’m kinda disappointed at the painting by the numbers being done here. Cameos like this are extremely common in opening episodes. The first one that comes to mind is when Rita showed up in flashback form in the first episode of the next season after she was killed off on Dexter but it’s a common occurrence. Also, things tend to happen in these episodes, like when they killed off T-Dog, had Herschel bit and killed off Carol in the opening of season three. I did say that right, Carol was written out of the show before they changed their minds and had Daryl find her a few episodes later. I kinda wish they’d just make these cast members a bit more unpredictable and spread them out over the course of the season rather than at the beginning or ends of an arc. They did that with Lori but that’s about it, they don’t kill off ancillary characters midseason.
My gripes aside, this is a strong episode, it reminds me quite a bit of the film Jacob’s Ladder. There was some clever misdirection done since they made you think at the beginning of the episode they were burying Beth since her death was fresh on everybody’s mind, when they were really burying Tyreese. Also I enjoyed how they did the shifts between Cameo land and real life. These were done quite well, especially the one where they amputate Tyreese’s arm. In the end, they teased Tyreese’s death at least three times before and now he finally paid the bill.
I’m Glad better Call Saul is on next, because I need something upbeat after this downer of an episode.
The show didn’t even make it to the opening credits before a mission was established: get your ass to Mars, I mean Virginia. Everybody Hates Chris has family there and it’s supposed to a well fortified and protected place ala Woodbury. When they arrive, they discover that it was burned to the ground, no survivors. Everybody Hates Chris is devastated.
Tyreese who I can’t erase out of my head as Z from It’s always sunny in Philadelphia, has become a surrogate father to EHC. I like this angle until Tyreese gets bit in the arm while being entranced by photos of EHC’s twin brothers who ironically enough are the ones who bite him.
Then we go to cameo land where get appearances by the hunter he spared at the beginning of the season, then Bob, and the two girls he was traveling with Lizzie and what’s her face, the normal one. The Governor even shows up. The radio goes crazy and starts talking about the events. The theme here is of regret, wondering if taking a different course would have changed anything, but in the end we all have earn our keep. Oh FMS, Beth even shows up, singing a diddy no less. I should have known she’d pop back in again, she has nothing better to do.
I’m kinda disappointed at the painting by the numbers being done here. Cameos like this are extremely common in opening episodes. The first one that comes to mind is when Rita showed up in flashback form in the first episode of the next season after she was killed off on Dexter but it’s a common occurrence. Also, things tend to happen in these episodes, like when they killed off T-Dog, had Herschel bit and killed off Carol in the opening of season three. I did say that right, Carol was written out of the show before they changed their minds and had Daryl find her a few episodes later. I kinda wish they’d just make these cast members a bit more unpredictable and spread them out over the course of the season rather than at the beginning or ends of an arc. They did that with Lori but that’s about it, they don’t kill off ancillary characters midseason.
My gripes aside, this is a strong episode, it reminds me quite a bit of the film Jacob’s Ladder. There was some clever misdirection done since they made you think at the beginning of the episode they were burying Beth since her death was fresh on everybody’s mind, when they were really burying Tyreese. Also I enjoyed how they did the shifts between Cameo land and real life. These were done quite well, especially the one where they amputate Tyreese’s arm. In the end, they teased Tyreese’s death at least three times before and now he finally paid the bill.
I’m Glad better Call Saul is on next, because I need something upbeat after this downer of an episode.
December 20, 2014
C.J. Foxx Movie House Reviews # 4 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Well, he did it. Peter Jackson successfully spread The Hobbit The books are such a huge influence on our youth. It is a benchmark piece of literature (like The Giver) that every aspiring child should get a chance to enjoy. Taking a winter weekend in my Hobbit-hole, by the fire, going on those adventures alongside Bilbo and Frodo, those were moments as I heralded as precious moments I wouldn’t trade for anything else. The cartoon represents pretty much the same. I remember conning my mother into thinking I was sick, right before school. Watching TV all day in bed was obviously why I put on this one man audition of “sickest boy in the world.” That is when I recollect adoring The Hobbitcartoon, finding it worth all the pathetic antics it took to get there. As you can see, with the favorable memories attached, the bar could be set so high (for me and as well as for others).
Looking at The Lord of the Rings movies and trying to judge by comparison is impossible. In the mind-blowing success of the LOTR movies, it turned these classic, semi-obscure, literature specimens into giant, mainstream box office killers. The whole reason why one could make The Hobbit such a celebrated story was because of LOTR films. The whole reason why you didn’t scoff so hard when you heard that story was going to be stretched over three extended films; it was because of LOTR. The whole reason why you would bring a character into a storyline that previously never existed (Legolas, which I understand. Duh, it’s Orlando freakin’ Bloom a.k.a. sexiest thing alive on Middle Earth) was because of LOTR. So trying to say that The Hobbit movies were as good as Lord of the Ringswill just never happen.
What it all boils down to; to all the general movie goers, The Battle of the Five Armies was the best of The Hobbit trilogy. One could say, after watching all three that they felt stretched out (especially the first two). Unlike the LOTR, they dragged on at points, and you knew before it transpired that the endings were going to be lackluster. Being aware that you were going to have to wait all that time for the grand finale war… then… at the end of the second find out that you’ll have to wait to the third for the death of Smaug… the audience had to be so extremely patient (and can’t help think you could’ve done a better job of keeping the attention with only two Hobbit movies) waiting for the payoff.
In this flick there were slo-mo scenes (maybe a little too much, especially for this fantastical showing. Maybe not, judge for yourself) but I couldn’t help but think “Jackson, trying to stretch this over three movies has resorted to crazy slow-motion dialogue scenes.” Albeit, for the most part, it… was… worth all that wait! The action/fighting scenes were fresh, creative… and there was a slow motion sequence where Legoas runs up falling stones… overall, the portrayal of every passage was beautiful to say the least. Each character played out their development perfectly, the acting/actors were spot on.
The beginning of this final chapter was visually awesome. The entire opening segment, while Bard the Bowman slayed Smaug with the “black arrow”, I was enveloped in utter bliss watching that unfold on the big screen. It made me fear a mythological creature, like it had actually existed. I literally took a second to thank the higher powers that humans never had to face something as terrifyingly tremendous as dragons like Smaug. Then, as we snapped out of it and we were brought down to Middle Earth, I couldn’t help but ponder about the small change made for the film. In the book, Bilbo after Smaug reveals his weakness, he passes the info over to a bird. A nod is even given to the bird in The Desolation of Smaug. While in the novel version the bird is the one who shows the man how to bring the beast down, it is nowhere to be seen in the cinematic version. I do not know if that is where the term “a little birdie told me” originated but every time it’s said it reminds me of this reference. During the melee, the bowman coincidentally noticing the weak spot in the exoskeleton made me, in a small manner, wish that it hadn’t been left out.
The interesting depiction of when Oakenshield battling with his inherited insanity was unsettling and the golden nightmare has never made the burden of wealth seem so unappealing. As the first of the three armies (the man, dwarf and elf army) standoff at the Misty Mountain, the suspense built and the line of events progressed to a trademark Peter Jackson-CGI-war-orgy. The oddest stroke happened again and again; when did it become decapitating become such a trend? The choice of beheading the foe occurred time after time. If you took out every shot that used slo-mo or had a decapitation, it might have been a full hour shorter. The one part where Thranduil’s moose picked up about a half dozen Orcs, and he decapitated the lot of them in one swipe of his sword; that was a pretty cool thing to watch (the only silver lining of this chopping the heads off fetish).
Minor trifles set aside, it was so fun to watch. I wish the past two packed as good as a punch as this did. If the first two were in any manner able to satisfy as good as the finale, I feel as if it would’ve helped silence some of the critics, claiming this trilogy was “overkill”. The final battle between Azog, the White Orc and Thorin was everything you could hope for, utilizing the frozen waterfall for a clever and chilling conclusion.
None of these Peter Jackson films has fallen short of my expectation, and since I have a different standard looking at his pieces of work, I was pleased to see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies exceeded them. I give it seven and a half dilithium crystals out of a possible ten.
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
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Looking at The Lord of the Rings movies and trying to judge by comparison is impossible. In the mind-blowing success of the LOTR movies, it turned these classic, semi-obscure, literature specimens into giant, mainstream box office killers. The whole reason why one could make The Hobbit such a celebrated story was because of LOTR films. The whole reason why you didn’t scoff so hard when you heard that story was going to be stretched over three extended films; it was because of LOTR. The whole reason why you would bring a character into a storyline that previously never existed (Legolas, which I understand. Duh, it’s Orlando freakin’ Bloom a.k.a. sexiest thing alive on Middle Earth) was because of LOTR. So trying to say that The Hobbit movies were as good as Lord of the Ringswill just never happen.
What it all boils down to; to all the general movie goers, The Battle of the Five Armies was the best of The Hobbit trilogy. One could say, after watching all three that they felt stretched out (especially the first two). Unlike the LOTR, they dragged on at points, and you knew before it transpired that the endings were going to be lackluster. Being aware that you were going to have to wait all that time for the grand finale war… then… at the end of the second find out that you’ll have to wait to the third for the death of Smaug… the audience had to be so extremely patient (and can’t help think you could’ve done a better job of keeping the attention with only two Hobbit movies) waiting for the payoff.
In this flick there were slo-mo scenes (maybe a little too much, especially for this fantastical showing. Maybe not, judge for yourself) but I couldn’t help but think “Jackson, trying to stretch this over three movies has resorted to crazy slow-motion dialogue scenes.” Albeit, for the most part, it… was… worth all that wait! The action/fighting scenes were fresh, creative… and there was a slow motion sequence where Legoas runs up falling stones… overall, the portrayal of every passage was beautiful to say the least. Each character played out their development perfectly, the acting/actors were spot on.
The beginning of this final chapter was visually awesome. The entire opening segment, while Bard the Bowman slayed Smaug with the “black arrow”, I was enveloped in utter bliss watching that unfold on the big screen. It made me fear a mythological creature, like it had actually existed. I literally took a second to thank the higher powers that humans never had to face something as terrifyingly tremendous as dragons like Smaug. Then, as we snapped out of it and we were brought down to Middle Earth, I couldn’t help but ponder about the small change made for the film. In the book, Bilbo after Smaug reveals his weakness, he passes the info over to a bird. A nod is even given to the bird in The Desolation of Smaug. While in the novel version the bird is the one who shows the man how to bring the beast down, it is nowhere to be seen in the cinematic version. I do not know if that is where the term “a little birdie told me” originated but every time it’s said it reminds me of this reference. During the melee, the bowman coincidentally noticing the weak spot in the exoskeleton made me, in a small manner, wish that it hadn’t been left out.
The interesting depiction of when Oakenshield battling with his inherited insanity was unsettling and the golden nightmare has never made the burden of wealth seem so unappealing. As the first of the three armies (the man, dwarf and elf army) standoff at the Misty Mountain, the suspense built and the line of events progressed to a trademark Peter Jackson-CGI-war-orgy. The oddest stroke happened again and again; when did it become decapitating become such a trend? The choice of beheading the foe occurred time after time. If you took out every shot that used slo-mo or had a decapitation, it might have been a full hour shorter. The one part where Thranduil’s moose picked up about a half dozen Orcs, and he decapitated the lot of them in one swipe of his sword; that was a pretty cool thing to watch (the only silver lining of this chopping the heads off fetish).
Minor trifles set aside, it was so fun to watch. I wish the past two packed as good as a punch as this did. If the first two were in any manner able to satisfy as good as the finale, I feel as if it would’ve helped silence some of the critics, claiming this trilogy was “overkill”. The final battle between Azog, the White Orc and Thorin was everything you could hope for, utilizing the frozen waterfall for a clever and chilling conclusion.
None of these Peter Jackson films has fallen short of my expectation, and since I have a different standard looking at his pieces of work, I was pleased to see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies exceeded them. I give it seven and a half dilithium crystals out of a possible ten.
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
November 30, 2014
Walking Dead Episode Review 5.8 Coda
In musical terms, a Coda is a passage that ends a particular piece of music. It is fitting that tonite’s midseason finale is given this name.
It begins on a brutal note with Rick running “Bob” over with a car and then shooting him in the head. While I love this scene because I am all for Cold-blooded Rick, it just adds to how pointless last week’s ending was since he didn’t even survive past the opening credits.
The good Father Gabriel gets a taste of his own medicine being trapped outside the church facing a swarm of Zombies. Unlike those he actually left outside to die, he is rescued by Carl and Michone,. He appears to be finally able to accept his role in the new undead world and to continue the circle, the Washington Gang came back in style actually saving the day.
Dawn stood up to a psycho cop who was berating one of the hospital survivors. The two have a quick fight in a horribly shot sequence where you can’t really see what’s going on because it’s shot too close, much like the fight scenes in Batman Begins were. I had to watch it a couple of times to see what happened! Beth delivers the finishing blow, knocking the cop down the elevator shaft.
We’re about ¾ of the way through the episode before the trade begins. We get some tilted camera shots for some reason, I didn't realize I was watching Battlefield Earth. The hostages get traded. Everything is good until Dawn tries to muck it up by wanting “Everybody Hates Chris” back. Noah agrees and then Beth goes up to Dawn. Beth stabs Dawn with a pair of Scissors and gets shot in the head.
Daryl kills Dawn and the standoff ends peacefully when the former hostage is able to say that is it over. The Washingtongang arrives at the hospital just in time to watch Daryl carry Beth out. Maggie flips out end of the episode.
Well not quite, we also get a coda featuring Morgan who arrived at the church and sees Abraham’s apology note where they’re going to Washington.
Remember when I had mentioned episode title, “Coda“at the top? That was a serious tell for the outcome of this episode. Beth sang on a few occasions primarily on her trek with Daryl in season four. For those without a background in music, there was another more noticeable tell as the “whole let’s bring Maggie to go get her sister bit” was another tell. Why make the effort to bring her back unless you’re going to do something with it. There is only so much time the writers have to tell a story and every moment needs to have purpose. It was rather obvious Beth was going to get it.
I had read an article where Norman Reedus (Daryl) had mentioned that the ending was going to be a tearjerker. Well, I gotta say there were no tears here because I‘m as giddy a school girl because Beth is finally dead!
I have been actively rooting for her demise for a season and a half now (You’re next Glenn!). My venom got to the point where I was excited to see Emily Kinney’s character killed when she made a guest spot on “The Following.” Beth as a character, was a whiney-little-ice-princess who showed no remorse when her boyfriend was killed on a run, nearly got Daryl killed because she wanted to have a drink and had “dear diary” voice-over sequences that made fingernails scratching a chalk board sound more appealing. She was by far the most irritating and useless character on the series. Judith is more useful and she’s just a baby!
As James Bond once said: “The Bitch is dead.”
I realize I’m probably in the minority about this but boo hoo. If you want a real tearjerker watch How I Met Your Mother, where they spent nine seasons building up The Mother as an awesome character, then actually delivering when we finally do meet her, only to have her get incurable chick cancer in the series finale, just so that the writers can put Ted and Robin back together again. The Mother’s was a senseless death, Beth’s was well deserved and I commend the writers of TWD for finally pulling the trigger. About bloody time!
See you in February!
Agree? Disagree? Post a comment below!
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
C.J. Foxx Like us on Facebook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
It begins on a brutal note with Rick running “Bob” over with a car and then shooting him in the head. While I love this scene because I am all for Cold-blooded Rick, it just adds to how pointless last week’s ending was since he didn’t even survive past the opening credits.
The good Father Gabriel gets a taste of his own medicine being trapped outside the church facing a swarm of Zombies. Unlike those he actually left outside to die, he is rescued by Carl and Michone,. He appears to be finally able to accept his role in the new undead world and to continue the circle, the Washington Gang came back in style actually saving the day.
Dawn stood up to a psycho cop who was berating one of the hospital survivors. The two have a quick fight in a horribly shot sequence where you can’t really see what’s going on because it’s shot too close, much like the fight scenes in Batman Begins were. I had to watch it a couple of times to see what happened! Beth delivers the finishing blow, knocking the cop down the elevator shaft.
We’re about ¾ of the way through the episode before the trade begins. We get some tilted camera shots for some reason, I didn't realize I was watching Battlefield Earth. The hostages get traded. Everything is good until Dawn tries to muck it up by wanting “Everybody Hates Chris” back. Noah agrees and then Beth goes up to Dawn. Beth stabs Dawn with a pair of Scissors and gets shot in the head.
Daryl kills Dawn and the standoff ends peacefully when the former hostage is able to say that is it over. The Washingtongang arrives at the hospital just in time to watch Daryl carry Beth out. Maggie flips out end of the episode.
Well not quite, we also get a coda featuring Morgan who arrived at the church and sees Abraham’s apology note where they’re going to Washington.
Remember when I had mentioned episode title, “Coda“at the top? That was a serious tell for the outcome of this episode. Beth sang on a few occasions primarily on her trek with Daryl in season four. For those without a background in music, there was another more noticeable tell as the “whole let’s bring Maggie to go get her sister bit” was another tell. Why make the effort to bring her back unless you’re going to do something with it. There is only so much time the writers have to tell a story and every moment needs to have purpose. It was rather obvious Beth was going to get it.
I had read an article where Norman Reedus (Daryl) had mentioned that the ending was going to be a tearjerker. Well, I gotta say there were no tears here because I‘m as giddy a school girl because Beth is finally dead!
I have been actively rooting for her demise for a season and a half now (You’re next Glenn!). My venom got to the point where I was excited to see Emily Kinney’s character killed when she made a guest spot on “The Following.” Beth as a character, was a whiney-little-ice-princess who showed no remorse when her boyfriend was killed on a run, nearly got Daryl killed because she wanted to have a drink and had “dear diary” voice-over sequences that made fingernails scratching a chalk board sound more appealing. She was by far the most irritating and useless character on the series. Judith is more useful and she’s just a baby!
As James Bond once said: “The Bitch is dead.”
I realize I’m probably in the minority about this but boo hoo. If you want a real tearjerker watch How I Met Your Mother, where they spent nine seasons building up The Mother as an awesome character, then actually delivering when we finally do meet her, only to have her get incurable chick cancer in the series finale, just so that the writers can put Ted and Robin back together again. The Mother’s was a senseless death, Beth’s was well deserved and I commend the writers of TWD for finally pulling the trigger. About bloody time!
See you in February!
Agree? Disagree? Post a comment below!
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
C.J. Foxx Like us on Facebook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
November 24, 2014
Walking Dead Episode Review 5.7 - Crossed
The calm before the storm.
The Walking Dead has been historically sharp in these episodes. Whether or not they succeed in next week’s mid-season finale is another matter. How did they do Tonite?
Tonite’s episode is defined by the two different approaches one civil and the other savage. The efforts to rescue Beth and Carol are crossed between these two approaches. Rick lays out an extraction plan much like a Navy Seal team would and it would involve the deaths of the enemy after luring a couple of the “cops.” Tyreese still in his pacifist mode, wishes to accomplish this goal through a hostage trade. Daryl surprises Rick by agreeing to this strategy and Rick reluctantly goes along.
This decision creates a tension between Daryl and Rick, two of the fan favorites. Rick has long since gone into Shane-Land and is fully-equipped to do whatever is necessary to rescue his comrades. I believe Daryl was swayed into this decision by Carol, as evidenced by the fact that he was ready to leave “Everybody Hates Chris” to die last week. After Daryl gets ambushed by the psycho cop, Rick comes to the rescue and pulls his pistol on the cop. Rick has this look in his eyes that made me think he was going to kill that man, and in fact he should have pulled the trigger. Instead, we get a bit of predictable and unnecessary drama to build to next week.
There was also the irony when the “cops” asked Rick if he was a cop. I wonder if Rick even remembers that he was a cop before the cataclysm?
There were some really cool melted zombie effects in this one. Reminds me of that guy from Robocop after getting the Toxic waste poured on him…
Daryl grabbing a zombie skull by his eyes and using the detached head as a weapon was sick. Practical effects beat CGI 10 times out of 10.
We finally got back to the Abraham Eugene group. Nothing really happened here outside of Tara getting on peoples nerves (and acknowledging it to everyone doesn’t excuse it.) Eugene survived his vicious beating and Abraham ended his self-imposed punishment by drinking his water. Rosita showed a water filtration technique she learned from Eugene, proving that he isn’t worthless. I’m not exactly sure where this is heading going into next week since they are the “B” Plot line right now. I’m going to say goodbye for now to them since I have little reason to believe they will even appear in mid season finale, See you in February.
Another interesting developing story line is that of character of Father Gabriel. He’s guilt-ridden after barricading himself in the church and leaving everyone who sought shelter at the church to die outside. He’s essentially a child and I chuckled seeing the Child-Soldier Carl offering to teach Father Gabriel how to use weapons to defend himself. Carl commenting about the skull structure of a zombie is a subtle touch by the writers. Like a child, Father Gabriel runs away from the church and faces off with a Zombie. He’s successful in fending it off, but is unable to deliver the finishing blow. Could this be a possible way to bring Morgan back into the picture? He was teased at in the opening episode, so there has to be plans in the works to bring him in.
Back at the hospital, Beth attempts to save Carol only to have Dawn authorize them pulling the plug on her and then have the gall to blame Beth for it. Dawn is an interesting character, who has a look in her eyes that makes you just despise her instantly. She talks about how people are weak or strong but she is the one who is actually weak. It’s pretty apparent that she enrolled into the Ryan Leaf School of leadership. I hope she gets one in the head by Rick, but for some reason I think she’s going to survive. The writers have created her in a manner where I can see her fate going multiple ways.
Sasha is a complete moron and I know the actress portraying her must have rolled her eyes when she read the last few pages of the script. Especially when the cop who duped her just happened to be named "Bob," the name of her recently deceased lover. Weak, weak writing, guys.
BTW I think I know what she was looking at through the sniper’s lense at the end…
What a gahhh-awful way to end the episode, I’d be ashamed if I wrote that finish.
If you can overlook the ending it was a C+ episode. See you next week for the Midseason Finale!
Agree? Disagree? Post a comment below!
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
C.J. Foxx Like us on Facebook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
The Walking Dead has been historically sharp in these episodes. Whether or not they succeed in next week’s mid-season finale is another matter. How did they do Tonite?
Tonite’s episode is defined by the two different approaches one civil and the other savage. The efforts to rescue Beth and Carol are crossed between these two approaches. Rick lays out an extraction plan much like a Navy Seal team would and it would involve the deaths of the enemy after luring a couple of the “cops.” Tyreese still in his pacifist mode, wishes to accomplish this goal through a hostage trade. Daryl surprises Rick by agreeing to this strategy and Rick reluctantly goes along.
This decision creates a tension between Daryl and Rick, two of the fan favorites. Rick has long since gone into Shane-Land and is fully-equipped to do whatever is necessary to rescue his comrades. I believe Daryl was swayed into this decision by Carol, as evidenced by the fact that he was ready to leave “Everybody Hates Chris” to die last week. After Daryl gets ambushed by the psycho cop, Rick comes to the rescue and pulls his pistol on the cop. Rick has this look in his eyes that made me think he was going to kill that man, and in fact he should have pulled the trigger. Instead, we get a bit of predictable and unnecessary drama to build to next week.
There was also the irony when the “cops” asked Rick if he was a cop. I wonder if Rick even remembers that he was a cop before the cataclysm?
There were some really cool melted zombie effects in this one. Reminds me of that guy from Robocop after getting the Toxic waste poured on him…
Daryl grabbing a zombie skull by his eyes and using the detached head as a weapon was sick. Practical effects beat CGI 10 times out of 10.
We finally got back to the Abraham Eugene group. Nothing really happened here outside of Tara getting on peoples nerves (and acknowledging it to everyone doesn’t excuse it.) Eugene survived his vicious beating and Abraham ended his self-imposed punishment by drinking his water. Rosita showed a water filtration technique she learned from Eugene, proving that he isn’t worthless. I’m not exactly sure where this is heading going into next week since they are the “B” Plot line right now. I’m going to say goodbye for now to them since I have little reason to believe they will even appear in mid season finale, See you in February.
Another interesting developing story line is that of character of Father Gabriel. He’s guilt-ridden after barricading himself in the church and leaving everyone who sought shelter at the church to die outside. He’s essentially a child and I chuckled seeing the Child-Soldier Carl offering to teach Father Gabriel how to use weapons to defend himself. Carl commenting about the skull structure of a zombie is a subtle touch by the writers. Like a child, Father Gabriel runs away from the church and faces off with a Zombie. He’s successful in fending it off, but is unable to deliver the finishing blow. Could this be a possible way to bring Morgan back into the picture? He was teased at in the opening episode, so there has to be plans in the works to bring him in.
Back at the hospital, Beth attempts to save Carol only to have Dawn authorize them pulling the plug on her and then have the gall to blame Beth for it. Dawn is an interesting character, who has a look in her eyes that makes you just despise her instantly. She talks about how people are weak or strong but she is the one who is actually weak. It’s pretty apparent that she enrolled into the Ryan Leaf School of leadership. I hope she gets one in the head by Rick, but for some reason I think she’s going to survive. The writers have created her in a manner where I can see her fate going multiple ways.
Sasha is a complete moron and I know the actress portraying her must have rolled her eyes when she read the last few pages of the script. Especially when the cop who duped her just happened to be named "Bob," the name of her recently deceased lover. Weak, weak writing, guys.
BTW I think I know what she was looking at through the sniper’s lense at the end…
What a gahhh-awful way to end the episode, I’d be ashamed if I wrote that finish.
If you can overlook the ending it was a C+ episode. See you next week for the Midseason Finale!
Agree? Disagree? Post a comment below!
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
November 17, 2014
Walking Dead Episode Reviews 5.6
This will not be a Walking Dead love fest. If that’s what you want, reach out to all of the other sycophants. I’m just here to provide an unbiased opinion on what I think about this show, which is based off of the popular comic series of the same name.
I started watching this show at the behest of my lovely sister, one of the millions of fanatics out there. I caught up through Netflix and first observed the show to bond with my sister. Some siblings bond over shopping, others through sports, arts, or culture, we bond over zombies. I had been viewing Zombie movies long before their most recent glory, but my preference still resides with the initial George A. Romero Trilogy and his initial assessment of this show being a soap Opera with Zombies in it. There is no new territory ‘seen it all before’, just a extension of what has already been done in film.
So we can get caught up I’ll provide a brief recap of my thoughts of the first few seasons.
Season 1 was a solid start. Introduced the characters developed two strong leaders in Rick and Shane and the tension between them and Rick’s wife Lori. It was a bit short in episodes but a solid start.
Second season builds off of the first one, we meet some new characters at Hershel’s farm. Carl, Rick’s son gets shot, Shane turns “evil”, yada yada yada if you’re reading this you probably don’t need a blow-by-blow on what happens in these early seasons. Great finish, but the big reveal that everyone is infected and will become a zombie err walker regardless of how they die is rather meaningless and carries no weight.
They served time in the third season spending the bulk of it in the prison. Daryl becomes the prominent number two to Rick and The Governor emerges as a viable antagonist. This was a strong season and superior to the other two except the season finale which was a total cocktease. They built to a climax where the Governor would fight rick and blood would be shed and more people will be shot in the head than in John Wick. But nope, we got the Governor going into an Empty prison, Andrea dying and the only interesting angle, Carl killing an unarmed person. I nearly quit watching the series because the ending was such a waste.
Season four, much like season three, is a tale of two halves. The whole first half lead to the Governor leading a new group of folks against Rick after the prison gets the bubonic plague and everyone who they brought over from the Governor’s previous crew was killed off solely for plot convenience. The first half finalie was the ending the season three should have been. The second half was slow paced and meandered around while everyone got on the road to Terminus. The revelations about Michone’s past were good, but she still is horrible at swinging a katana and there were far too many wasted moments and little direction. That said, Lizzie’s story arc came to a gripping conclusion.
The best part of this season is the introduction of Abraham and Rosita, two tough as nails soldiers who are safeguarding Eugene the man who could flip the switch and make things like they were. Awesome! Finally we’re going to get somewhere. Much like in Planes Trains and Automobiles there were detours. The ending united the groups at Terminus with a savage Rick. The only thing that was missing was, Beth and Glenn getting killed, but I’m still waiting on that…
Season five thus far has been the best of the entire series. Even the Beth episode was good! Carol has become the female Snake Pliskin, a one woman wrecking crew that saved everyone and an even bigger bad ass than her partner in crime, Daryl. The cannibals were killed off a bit too quick for my liking. I liked the character Gareth and wanted to see more of him. On the Road to Washingtonnow, we end the last episode finding out that Eugenelied about being a scientist and that Eugene’s mission prevented Abraham from killing himself.
SO Now we come to tonite and what do we get, a Carol episode. We are just left hanging after the nuclear bomb that got dropped last week. This is a sort of fill in the blank episode. We find out about what happened to Carol after her being exiled from Rick’s camp in the first half of season 4 and realize how much her character has evolved since the series began. She started off being a weak person worn down by years of abuse by her husband, then slowly evolved into a tough woman after enduring the death of her daughter Sophia. She killed and then burned two survivors who became infected with the plague.
But she’s still a vulnerable person underneath the new armor she has created for herself. She is clearly still affected by having to put Lizzie down and being reunited with Rick’s crew. She nearly ran once more before Daryl saw the White-Crossed-Car which has lead them back to Atlanta. Everything keeps getting burned around her and the smoke is a constant motif for her character. Even her hair has a smoky hue! My problem with tonite’s episode is that not that it told us a few new things about Carol, but the fact that we’ve already seen what happens to Daryl and Carol. It was a filler episode plain and simple. I really wanted to see aftermath with Eugene but I can see why they didn’t from a writer’s perspective. I can’t really complain when I’ve done the same thing!
During the “Beth” episode Carol, ends up at the hospital on a stretcher and in a earlier episode Daryl comes back with someone who we know now is Noah or the grown up version of the “Everybody hates Chris” kid. It defeats the purpose to see what happens if we already know the ending.
They wrote themselves into this corner by trying to out think the room. This is a Zombie show and it should be told in a more linear fashion. It’s starting to take plays from the Lost playbook (including the Virgin Mary in the van that takes a nose dive off the bridge) and that isn’t for the better. The show used to be straightforward. Once the prison was destroyed in Season 4 and the group got separated, the writers really started to explore the ideas of mixing timelines as they told what happened to the survivors afterwards. In that instance, it was a good move, because you didn’t know what happened to the survivors as they crossed paths. It was also done subtly like with a pan down to see what shoes someone is wearing or a piece of a candy wrapper on the train tracks. Now, though it has caused more problems.
It ruins the surprise that Carol got hit by a car at the when you see her already being dragged into the hospital on a stretcher with obvious injuries. Now if you didn’t see the earlier scene where Beth sees her being brought in, you’d actually be shocked seeing her get hit by a car. It really comes down to what makes someone want to watch the next episode or read the next chapter. Do they want us to have our theories about something that has already happened and then have those theories confirmed or denied after being filled? Or do they just want to tell a story where and surprises are lurking around every corner and we see them as they happen?
What do you think?
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
C.J. Foxx Like us on Facebook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
I started watching this show at the behest of my lovely sister, one of the millions of fanatics out there. I caught up through Netflix and first observed the show to bond with my sister. Some siblings bond over shopping, others through sports, arts, or culture, we bond over zombies. I had been viewing Zombie movies long before their most recent glory, but my preference still resides with the initial George A. Romero Trilogy and his initial assessment of this show being a soap Opera with Zombies in it. There is no new territory ‘seen it all before’, just a extension of what has already been done in film.
So we can get caught up I’ll provide a brief recap of my thoughts of the first few seasons.
Season 1 was a solid start. Introduced the characters developed two strong leaders in Rick and Shane and the tension between them and Rick’s wife Lori. It was a bit short in episodes but a solid start.
Second season builds off of the first one, we meet some new characters at Hershel’s farm. Carl, Rick’s son gets shot, Shane turns “evil”, yada yada yada if you’re reading this you probably don’t need a blow-by-blow on what happens in these early seasons. Great finish, but the big reveal that everyone is infected and will become a zombie err walker regardless of how they die is rather meaningless and carries no weight.
They served time in the third season spending the bulk of it in the prison. Daryl becomes the prominent number two to Rick and The Governor emerges as a viable antagonist. This was a strong season and superior to the other two except the season finale which was a total cocktease. They built to a climax where the Governor would fight rick and blood would be shed and more people will be shot in the head than in John Wick. But nope, we got the Governor going into an Empty prison, Andrea dying and the only interesting angle, Carl killing an unarmed person. I nearly quit watching the series because the ending was such a waste.
Season four, much like season three, is a tale of two halves. The whole first half lead to the Governor leading a new group of folks against Rick after the prison gets the bubonic plague and everyone who they brought over from the Governor’s previous crew was killed off solely for plot convenience. The first half finalie was the ending the season three should have been. The second half was slow paced and meandered around while everyone got on the road to Terminus. The revelations about Michone’s past were good, but she still is horrible at swinging a katana and there were far too many wasted moments and little direction. That said, Lizzie’s story arc came to a gripping conclusion.
The best part of this season is the introduction of Abraham and Rosita, two tough as nails soldiers who are safeguarding Eugene the man who could flip the switch and make things like they were. Awesome! Finally we’re going to get somewhere. Much like in Planes Trains and Automobiles there were detours. The ending united the groups at Terminus with a savage Rick. The only thing that was missing was, Beth and Glenn getting killed, but I’m still waiting on that…
Season five thus far has been the best of the entire series. Even the Beth episode was good! Carol has become the female Snake Pliskin, a one woman wrecking crew that saved everyone and an even bigger bad ass than her partner in crime, Daryl. The cannibals were killed off a bit too quick for my liking. I liked the character Gareth and wanted to see more of him. On the Road to Washingtonnow, we end the last episode finding out that Eugenelied about being a scientist and that Eugene’s mission prevented Abraham from killing himself.
SO Now we come to tonite and what do we get, a Carol episode. We are just left hanging after the nuclear bomb that got dropped last week. This is a sort of fill in the blank episode. We find out about what happened to Carol after her being exiled from Rick’s camp in the first half of season 4 and realize how much her character has evolved since the series began. She started off being a weak person worn down by years of abuse by her husband, then slowly evolved into a tough woman after enduring the death of her daughter Sophia. She killed and then burned two survivors who became infected with the plague.
But she’s still a vulnerable person underneath the new armor she has created for herself. She is clearly still affected by having to put Lizzie down and being reunited with Rick’s crew. She nearly ran once more before Daryl saw the White-Crossed-Car which has lead them back to Atlanta. Everything keeps getting burned around her and the smoke is a constant motif for her character. Even her hair has a smoky hue! My problem with tonite’s episode is that not that it told us a few new things about Carol, but the fact that we’ve already seen what happens to Daryl and Carol. It was a filler episode plain and simple. I really wanted to see aftermath with Eugene but I can see why they didn’t from a writer’s perspective. I can’t really complain when I’ve done the same thing!
During the “Beth” episode Carol, ends up at the hospital on a stretcher and in a earlier episode Daryl comes back with someone who we know now is Noah or the grown up version of the “Everybody hates Chris” kid. It defeats the purpose to see what happens if we already know the ending.
They wrote themselves into this corner by trying to out think the room. This is a Zombie show and it should be told in a more linear fashion. It’s starting to take plays from the Lost playbook (including the Virgin Mary in the van that takes a nose dive off the bridge) and that isn’t for the better. The show used to be straightforward. Once the prison was destroyed in Season 4 and the group got separated, the writers really started to explore the ideas of mixing timelines as they told what happened to the survivors afterwards. In that instance, it was a good move, because you didn’t know what happened to the survivors as they crossed paths. It was also done subtly like with a pan down to see what shoes someone is wearing or a piece of a candy wrapper on the train tracks. Now, though it has caused more problems.
It ruins the surprise that Carol got hit by a car at the when you see her already being dragged into the hospital on a stretcher with obvious injuries. Now if you didn’t see the earlier scene where Beth sees her being brought in, you’d actually be shocked seeing her get hit by a car. It really comes down to what makes someone want to watch the next episode or read the next chapter. Do they want us to have our theories about something that has already happened and then have those theories confirmed or denied after being filled? Or do they just want to tell a story where and surprises are lurking around every corner and we see them as they happen?
What do you think?
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
November 11, 2014
Mantra of the Foxx #2: Peter Parker's Silver Metal
Foxx's Log,
Entry Num 96 dash 7
If you are going about your day, and perhaps you let out a fart. If then you say to yourself: “deep down, from the depths of Morodor…” then we need to exchange information. After that you will be hunt down. My theories are right; there’s a clone out there! Made by the government, with telepathic powers and you steal my dreams, feeding them to dragons. Tread lightly my friend, I’m on to you, and there is nowhere you can hide.
On to business; I trust you are doing fine. I hope that your… Iron-Man has found his arc reactor, I hope your Superman finds a planet that doesn’t eventually blow up… and I hope your Peter-Parker finds your Mary Jane Watson. If the last line went: I hope your Peter Parker finds your Gwen Stacy, it wouldn’t fit, or made of as much sense (…or even less sense, due to your perspective). Mary Jane is pop culture’s most famous silver metal (a strong argument could be made for Ron Weasly). Yeah, I said it. Peter Parker wanted Gwen, he couldn’t have her (due to Mr. G. Goblin), he settled for Mary Jane. For yearsafter, Mary Jane was the numero unocomic book mistress. The connection between fans and the “get em’ tiger” girl was legendary, only being cemented by the success of the Spider-Man movies and cartoons a decade and a half ago. She became the beautiful, moderately famous actress (some may say a little self-absorbed…) girlfriend all comic book nerds dreamt of swooning.
The story of an iconic hero losing his love to the arch nemesis, while still being tangled amidst one of the most iconic back story webs, would at first glance, make Ms. Stacy an ideal poster girl for the “damsel-in-distress” role (a title owned solely and supremely by Ms. Lois Lane). Until recently, (basically, the last pair of movies) the recognition of Gwen was at a somewhat minimum, it was like Marvel, in the beginning, handled the general fan with kid gloves. They waited for them to get a little more familiar to the protagonist and when they were deemed “mature” enough, Marvel unveiled the truth. This is what Peter really had to go through all those years ago.
Comic fans were used to Gwen for a long time. Accustomed to her, she was the constant, steady girlfriend. Years went by before the shock of her death. All fans, no matter how dedicated, had to wait a long time to see those line of events to unfold on the big or silver screen. Before that, in Spidey’s “back in the day” MJ was the quirky, cute friend you enjoyed the company of but never took seriously. In no way are any of these observations complaints, I merely think it is interesting the turn of events that led us to this moment in the post-Gwen/ Mary Jane/ post-post-Gwen/ pre-Mary Jane era. Gwen was cool, humble, down to Earth, a science major… Simply put, a blonde beauty with a big brain; the full package, his one truelove. Which leads me to:
#3 (continued from last post) Collect and Respect
Stay tuned for the final chapter: Mantra 3: The Black Album, and remember, you cannot escape the sun!
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
C.J. Foxx Like us on Facebook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
Entry Num 96 dash 7
If you are going about your day, and perhaps you let out a fart. If then you say to yourself: “deep down, from the depths of Morodor…” then we need to exchange information. After that you will be hunt down. My theories are right; there’s a clone out there! Made by the government, with telepathic powers and you steal my dreams, feeding them to dragons. Tread lightly my friend, I’m on to you, and there is nowhere you can hide.
On to business; I trust you are doing fine. I hope that your… Iron-Man has found his arc reactor, I hope your Superman finds a planet that doesn’t eventually blow up… and I hope your Peter-Parker finds your Mary Jane Watson. If the last line went: I hope your Peter Parker finds your Gwen Stacy, it wouldn’t fit, or made of as much sense (…or even less sense, due to your perspective). Mary Jane is pop culture’s most famous silver metal (a strong argument could be made for Ron Weasly). Yeah, I said it. Peter Parker wanted Gwen, he couldn’t have her (due to Mr. G. Goblin), he settled for Mary Jane. For yearsafter, Mary Jane was the numero unocomic book mistress. The connection between fans and the “get em’ tiger” girl was legendary, only being cemented by the success of the Spider-Man movies and cartoons a decade and a half ago. She became the beautiful, moderately famous actress (some may say a little self-absorbed…) girlfriend all comic book nerds dreamt of swooning.
The story of an iconic hero losing his love to the arch nemesis, while still being tangled amidst one of the most iconic back story webs, would at first glance, make Ms. Stacy an ideal poster girl for the “damsel-in-distress” role (a title owned solely and supremely by Ms. Lois Lane). Until recently, (basically, the last pair of movies) the recognition of Gwen was at a somewhat minimum, it was like Marvel, in the beginning, handled the general fan with kid gloves. They waited for them to get a little more familiar to the protagonist and when they were deemed “mature” enough, Marvel unveiled the truth. This is what Peter really had to go through all those years ago.
Comic fans were used to Gwen for a long time. Accustomed to her, she was the constant, steady girlfriend. Years went by before the shock of her death. All fans, no matter how dedicated, had to wait a long time to see those line of events to unfold on the big or silver screen. Before that, in Spidey’s “back in the day” MJ was the quirky, cute friend you enjoyed the company of but never took seriously. In no way are any of these observations complaints, I merely think it is interesting the turn of events that led us to this moment in the post-Gwen/ Mary Jane/ post-post-Gwen/ pre-Mary Jane era. Gwen was cool, humble, down to Earth, a science major… Simply put, a blonde beauty with a big brain; the full package, his one truelove. Which leads me to:
#3 (continued from last post) Collect and Respect
Stay tuned for the final chapter: Mantra 3: The Black Album, and remember, you cannot escape the sun!
C.J. Foxx Author of Super-Hero Bowl VI
@CJFoxxAuthor on Twitter
C.J. Foxx Like us on Facebook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GGTL79M
