I’ve got a thing for documentaries, especially ones that ask uncomfortable questions and address controversial topics. The Unbelievers is a documentary, available on Netflix, that follows scientists Lawrence Krauss and Richard Dawkins as they travel around the world holding public conversations about their debate that science is more logical and factual than religion. I, myself, struggle with this idea, but I enjoy seeing both sides of the argument eloquently explained. There’s no one out there who can better argue their point than Richard Dawkins, and the idea of a documentary focusing on him and one of his colleagues is fascinating subject matter. The movie itself…meh. The conversation is fascinating, and the movie is mercifully under an hour-twenty, but it does drag. I love watching TED talks but those last a maximum of 30 minutes. Hearing someone drone on to a crowd who has showed up just to hear a dry seminar…it’s only entertaining for so long. Good subject matter, average delivery, 6 on 10 from me.
I’m happy to report Boardwalk Empire hasn’t missed a beat. Moreno and I spoke about it during the commentary this week but Boardwalk is, as it always has been, marching to the beat of its own drum. If you love the show, you’re a fan of atmosphere and character development, because the action scenes here are few-and-far-between. I loved the season opener and am really happy to be here for the end. I know Sons is getting a ton of attention for taking its final bow this year, but Boardwalk, hopefully, will have the more meaningful impact. HBO will have a serious hole in their schedule to fill once this is gone, but here’s to hoping the season continues down this path.
There was a time when I would have tempered my week based off whether or not the Pats won. Fantasy football has completely broken me of that, much to my pleasure as I can appreciate the gamesmanship more than my undying loyalty to New England football. Yes, the Pats stumbled horribly, but anyone who watches this sport will tell you that one game doesn’t tell you the story of an entire team, or season. Losses are a tough pill to swallow, especially one so embarrassing as this one was, but hopefully next week is a more complete game for my boys in blue. At least Gronk is smashing things again.
Stay tuned this week to hear me twice (movin’ on up!) on our commentaries for The Strain and Boardwalk Empire, and don’t forget to check out our daily blogs. Binge on!
Borderlands 2, Parks and Rec, The Wire, Patriots Football and
Jim Lawlapalooza Reflections (From the Outside)
Have I mentioned that Steam is, literally, the greatest thing ever done for video games? Well it is, and one of the amazing byproducts of my revitalized love of PC gaming is revisiting games that I initially may have rushed through. Case-in-point: Borderlands 2. I don’t know how, but my first play-through of this game left me wanting a lot more. I think that was probably due to the fact that, because my brothers aren’t into the games I am I was playing solely by myself. What a mistake, as multiplayer Borderlands 2 is like a completely different game. It’s incredible how high the replay value becomes once you have three other people participating in the mayhem. Again, if you’re on steam, hit me up and let’s play.
I’m happy to report I’ve officially jumped on the Parks and Rec bandwagon. I added the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness to this article because it is literally the moment in this show where I finally got it. The comedy here is solid, layered and full of good characters. I’m now on season 3 and the inclusion of Rob Lowe and Adam Scott is really enjoyable, particularly Rob Lowe, whose comedic chops are on full display here. Once again, glad I stuck it out for this one as it’s becoming a staple in the house.
For those of you keeping track at home, I’m rounding out season 2 of The Wire in prep for our upcoming commentaries. I said it on the BingeCast earlier and I’ll say it here again; give season 2 a break. David Simon went in a totally new direction and gave viewers something radically different than anything done on TV before or since, but that’s far from a bad thing. Frank Sobotka is a great character and provides a strong connection to the normal working class in Baltimore, something very important to the overall journey of the series. I’m actually looking forward to the season 2 commentaries more than season 1, call me crazy.
I can’t believe football is finally here. I’m so ready for this season I can’t stand it, and at 1:00pm this Sunday my ass will be planted firmly in front of a gigantic TV, hopefully with a nice brew and some great company. I’m over the moon for my boys’ roster this year, and the (surprise) announcement that Gronk is good to go for game 1. While Gronk seems to be the lynchpin for the offense in the eyes of many analysts, I try to remember that last year, with a core of rookie receivers and a decimated defense, the Pats still made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game. The consistency of this team is, at this moment, unrivaled across the league, and I’m ecstatic because of that. I’m also glad that Jimmy Garoppolo is getting the backup job this year behind Brady, as I’ve never been too impressed with Ryan Mallett’s production whatsoever. Garoppolo already looks like he understands the mechanics and timing of a football game better than Mallett ever did. I’m not saying the kid is the next Aaron Rodgers, but he looks solid and willing to learn, two traits that made Tommy Touchdown the champ he is today. I’m calling it now, AT LEAST 14-2 this season.
I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge this past weekend’s Jim Lawlapalooza. First of all, thank you gents for the call during the show, it was great to be there in spirit. Second of all, and to all my fellow BingeFans/Staff, how fucking FUN did that look/sound? I’m there next year, by hook or by crook, no doubt. Here’s hoping the boys come out to New York so we can go get drunk outside the New York Public Library and quote Ghostbusters lines. Check back later this week for our daily blogs and a new Strain commentary (which kicked major ass this week!). Binge on!
Robin Williams, Sound City, Fallout New Vegas and Chef
There’s no getting around it, this is a difficult blog for me this week. On the one hand, the death of Robin Williams is a tragedy that I shouldn’t feel too badly about. Willliams was, after all, someone I didn’t personally know, and there’s nothing worse than the cavalcade of sympathy that gets thrown a celebrity’s way once they experience a bit of bad luck. Especially in our digital age, social media makes it seem as though our voice needs to be heard in order to be validated with everyone around us, and I too struggle with this problem from time to time. I just want to make it known that I never met him, but through his career he made me feel like I did.
My first introduction to his work was when I was a young kid watching Aladdin. Aladdin was my favorite Disney movie for a long time, in large part due to the Genie. Genie was hilarious, full of life and created an energy that I absolutely loved when I was younger. Like any good artist, Williams’ career spanned many genres of entertainment, including family films, dramas, stand-up comedy, sitcoms and even satire. Whether it was his brilliant turn as Mr. Keating, his earnestness in Hook or his horribly underrated turn in The Fisher King, Williams was a mammoth of my world, a guy who simultaneously could make you crack up and break your heart in the same film. My heart is broken today as I feel like a piece of my childhood ceased to be today. I’ll always love the guy and his immense talent but I’m absolutely torn up that I will never see the man do anything else. The news said his death was ruled a suicide, which is altogether shocking, sad and surreal. I simply can’t believe it. While Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death earlier this year was tragic, he was a guy I discovered in my adult life. Williams was with me from the beginning, and I can never thank him enough for that.
Earlier in the week, I got an opportunity to check out Sound City, a documentary directed and spearheaded by Dave Grohl. Sound City is exactly what I want out of a documentary: informative and interesting content, an entertaining presentation and a desire for more once the credits roll. Basically, any documentary that starts with a story about Neil Young evading the cops and I’m fucking in. I was surprised when, looking through the list of albums, a lot of my favorites were recorded on the famous Neve board. After The Gold Rush, Nevermind, Rage Against The Machine and Damn the Torpedoes are all formative albums for me, so learning they were all recorded on the same equipment made sense to me. While the documentary did a great job making me interested in the story of the studio as well as the artists who recorded there, but there was a severe downside to this doc, and that downside was:
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Fleetwood Mac forever. I’m one of those guys who loved the original incarnation of the band, before the Nicks/Buckingham addition for Rumours. Simply put, Rumours has some great tunes, none of which get played on the radio. I can’t fucking stand Don’t Stop, Go Your Own Way, The Chain, Gold Dust Woman Dreams, or You Make Lovin’ Fun. They’re overplayed and all about the same fucking thing, someone breaking up with someone in the band, or someone who’s about to break up with someone in the band, or someone who just started dating someone who just broke up with someone in the band. The whole thing feels ridiculously incestual and seems like a ton of unnecessary baggage that I can’t keep out of my head when giving the album a listen. I don’t know why, but all I can think about when I hear these tunes is A) Who is singing and B) Who are they singing about. I don’t get that feeling with Springsteen, The Who or The Beatles, so I think I’m officially tapping out of these assholes, even if I do jam the fuck out to Second Hand News like it’s my fucking job.
I’m learning a lesson about PC gaming with my replay of Fallout New Vegas: it’s better than consoles. It’s incredible what mods can do to enhance an already stellar experience. Ever wanted to fight Thomas The Tank Engine inside Skyrim? There’s a mod for that. No good Spider Man games on the horizon? There’s a GTA mod for that. New Vegas was already a kickass game, but adding new weaponry and difficulty to the game adds a ton of replay value that I’m loving the hell out of. If anyone can find me a mod that turns my character into Batman, let me know.
Finally, I saw what might end up being my favorite movie of the year in Jon Favreau’s Chef. This movie was an absolute delight and taps into the same sensibilities that The Blues Brothers does for me. Chef is, when you boil it down to the bones, a film about a father passing on something great to his son, and that struck a chord with me. Favreau uses all his favors to put together a solid cast, using ScarJo, Tony Stark, RainMan and John Leguizamo (how this guy gets work is beyond me) to tell a simple, positive story about a guy trying to make his life better by being a truer version of himself and a better father. It has been a long time since I’ve seen a film so filled with positive vibes, and it goes without saying the food in this flick is insanely good looking. For all I know this guy could have been deep frying rubber tires but I’d fucking eat it. Amazing movie that is currently vying for my favorite film of the year.
That’s it people. I would bore you with my C++ learnings but at the end of the day, who the fuck cares. Check back for some Strain commentary up in your earholes and maybe a special review before the end of the week, as well as our daily blogs. Binge on!
Monty Python, Sons of Anarchy, Birdman and Guardians!!!
Occasionally, time seems to fly by. The past week definitely feels like it was gone in a blink, but in some ways that was a great thing. While I didn’t see too many new flicks, I got a chance to catch up on a show I’d been putting off for some time, level my toons in Diablo 3 and properly enjoy my one theatrical visit of the week.
I’m not going to mince words here; you should know who these guys are. For those of you that don’t, that is (from left to right) Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle, all six of the members of Monty Python, arguably the most influential comedy sketch group in history. I’m not going to recount the history of the Pythons, but I do understand their humor isn’t for everyone, I just don’t want to know those people. Anyone who doesn’t laugh within the first three minutes of the Holy Grail is either soulless or a ginger.
Anywho, the Pythons ended their career quite unceremoniously with 1983’s The Meaning of Life, an odd but overall successfully funny film that audiences didn’t exactly embrace upon the release. I will admit my first viewing left me less than impressed, but it seems like over time this film just keeps getting better, with sketches like Mr. Creosote being one of the standouts. In 1989 Graham Chapman died and the group didn’t do anything else up until this year. As a farewell to the fans, the Pythons held a limited stage production at London’s O2 Arena called “Monty Python (Mostly) Live: One Down Five To Go”.
I can’t imagine how expensive tickets might have been but I would have loved to have been there. Thankfully, the event was televised and as a result, I was able to catch it. Ever wonder how awesome it would be for guys like Michael Jordan or Larry Bird play on the Harlem Globetrotters? That’s what watching this show was like. This show was the Pythons’ way of taking a victory lap and saying goodbye to the fans properly. The Pythons put on a comedy clinic, offering the audience essentially a greatest hits of some of their most popular sketches. While a few were omitted (how could there not be, too many greats), the show was, in my opinion, a rousing performance, offering a rare glimpse into these guys’ comedic process through a few flubs throughout. There was something very bittersweet about the whole thing, seeing Gilliam and Cleese do the “Crunchy Frog” sketch for the last time and absolutely nailing every punch-line. If you guys are fans of the Pythons, get on this, it was incredible and a fitting conclusion to an amazing career.
Ammon, if you’re reading this, consider this my confirmation that yes, I completed my TV homework and caught up to Sons. My verdict? Well overall, this show is just way too complicated. I honestly hate how much loyalties shift and twist throughout this show. One minute Jax is clearly playing somebody, the next he’s on the other team, fighting for them. That, coupled with the fact that I find the idea of a motorcycle club doing the shit they do in this show ridiculous, and I think I can safely say this show is mediocre at best. Some episodes were decent, but overall I don’t give a fuck about anything to do with this show. That being said, I’ll be watching Season 7. Also, why doesn’t everyone love Happy the most? He’s way more badass than Tig, hands down.
Birdman looks like it will be a combination of several things I love, the most obvious being Michael Keaton. This guy is having a nice little career resurgence and I am all for it. Also, I don’t know if you were aware, but he was fucking Batman, so, you know, I’m down. The trailers make this look like the film is shot all in one take which looks like a blast. I love when filmmakers use a technical style to add extra dimensions to a story and if these trailers are to be believed this flick looks like it will, at the very least, be intriguing. Here’s hoping this gives me something entertaining when it comes out.
Finally, I have to talk about what may very well end up being my favorite film of the year, Guardians of the Galaxy. This movie exceeded expectations by delivering something fun, hilarious and surprisingly adult. The cast nails it, the special effects are incredible, and despite still suffering from the weak villain syndrome so many Marvel movies can’t seem to remedy it still works like a charm. However, the absolute best part of this film is the inspiring soundtrack. Every couple years a soundtrack comes along that so fittingly complements the film it is a part of that it elevates the movie into the spectrum of greatness. From Redbone to The Raspberries, this soundtrack is unique, fun and makes sense in the context of the story. Guardians is an easy 9.5/10 for me, and I love the fact that at this point, Marvel’s subsequent releases all become their best film. Here’s hoping the trend continues.
Above is the Tyler Stout Mondo poster for Guardians, an incredible piece of movie art. I’ve just got to say my piece about Mondo’s website here: it sucks major ballsack. I was online and ready with my credit card info for two hours the morning this dropped, but as soon as it was available, the website slowed down. I managed to get the poster into my cart but while checking out I was told it was sold out. This is easily the most defeating, upsetting and frustrating thing about their website. The art is worth the wait but their website fucks you out of the best posters. Over the year I have gotten lucky and bought a few, but this one slipped through my fingers. I know the world isn’t fair, but these assholes really should get their shit together. Have any of you had this problem before?
If you take anything away from this week’s blog, it should be how much I can complain at times. What can I say, if I have a captive audience, I will exploit that. Does that make me a douche? That’s for you to decide. Enjoy some classic comedy below and Binge On!
Tusk, Sons of Anarchy, Patriots Training Camp and the Batman V Superman Teaser
It’s Tuesday again. I can’t believe July is gone already. I work on a 6-day work/school week every week, and when a new month starts I can hardly believe it. Needless to say, this summer will most likely be considered a wash, but that’s not the worst thing since the schoolwork is paying off in spades. This week was relatively light on flicks and shows but in spite of that I did manage to carve a chunk out of the TV Homework Ammon gave me from our podcast last week, as well as a few other things. Kevin Smith remains one of the most interesting fanboys in pop culture. The guy changes his mind on a dime but he has a pretty direct connection to a lot of franchises and movie stars that are on the A-list, not to mention the great podcasting work he’s made his primary function these past few years. Smith was someone I used to love as a director, mainly for Clerks, Clerks II and Chasing Amy. Since he’s strayed from Jay and Silent Bob, his work has been spotty at best, but I absolutely love Red State. I think the film is a unique take on a genre, has a pretty solid cast for what it sets out to do and is entertaining in a darkly cynical way. Color me excited for Tusk, Smith’s next horror-thriller hybrid. In fact, if Smith only made horror from here on out, I think I would be alright with that. The story seems weird but the mere fact that Smith is giving Michael Parks some scenery to chew on is enough for me to be all in. September can’t come soon enough. As per the final season coming up, I decided to pick up where I left off on Sons. I had stopped somewhere at the beginning of Season 4 almost a year ago, but luckily Netflix saved my place and I started up again without any confusion. I’m two episodes from finishing Season 5, which by the time this posts I will have probably finished. Rather than give you a summation of my feelings in paragraph form, I’ll give you my bullet points:
Jax is a tool
The plot is way too complicated for a biker show. Seriously, this is a moody soap opera where guys sometimes go and beat people up for “turf”
Loyalties bounce back and forth so quickly I have no idea where a lot of the characters stand
Tig is way too ok with the shit that gets thrown at him in this season (so far)
Walton Goggins is a comedic demigod
I will be finishing this soon. I think I’m hate-watching this the same way Jim Law does, but you could do a lot worse on TV these days. This week marked the birthday of the guy I consider to be the greatest director of all time, Stanley Kubrick. If you aren’t familiar with his work (you don’t know Stanley Kubrick? WTF?!?!), just watch 2001: A Space Odyssey and get into it. Seriously, the guy made classic, challenging films with each outing. How many directors can even get one of those throughout their career? From the brutality of A Clockwork Orange to the innovation of Barry Lyndon, Kubrick was and, to me at least, always will be the most innovative filmmaker of the century. Here’s hoping Nolan rises to this level of greatness with Interstellar (something I see as a distinct possibility). Comic-Con came and went without too much fuss this year. The Marvel panel told us nothing we don’t already know and Star Wars didn’t even make their presence known. Warner Brothers, however, severely rocked my socks with the Batman V Superman teaser. I have made it known on this site in the past that Zack Snyder is a toolbag of epic proportions. He severely fucked up Man of Steel and, despite the visual greatness, shit all over Watchmen. That being said, Affleck looks incredible in the armored Batsuit. This teaser told me two things right away:
Affleck may pull this off
Snyder may be poised to give us the truest incarnation of Batman we’ve seen yet
I know this is a bold statement to make, but this 30-second teaser was very satisfying. I am still hesitant that this is going to work out well, but if it does it could be the most comic-bookey (is that a word?) flick we’ve seen yet. I love Nolan’s trilogy for it’s ability to take Batman and put him in the real world, but hopefully this gives us a different, more comic-centric approach to the character. I still don’t give a fuck about Superman though. The fact that August is already here means Patriots football is very close to being back. Pre-season, whatever, I’m in. There’s an energy with the reports coming out of camp this year that most of us fans can really feel. This time of year is always full of optimism for football fans, that’s true. Hell, social media lit up when Sammy Watkins made a smooth, one-handed catch after recovering from a trip at Bills training camp last week despite it being completely undefended. The fact that we’ve got Edelman coming off a career-high season, Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner being added to the secondary along with the return of Patrick Chung and a healthy, hopefully non-buterfingered Steven Ridley, there’s a lot of hope this year. My fingers are firmly crossed we can contend with the Broncos on a more even playing field this time around.
Finally, I’m leaving you with the spectacular Mad Max Fury Road trailer that premiered at Comic-Con. This thing looks really great and very Road Warrior-esque. Check back this week for our next Strain commentary (sorry about last week, schedules didn’t quite permit), as well as a possible BingeMusic Cast and our daily blogs. Binge on! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akX3Is3qBpw
Because of my school schedule and Law vacationing in France/Canadian France-Land, we couldn’t get a podcast going this week. Instead, I’m covering the episode with a little review, because we here at BingeMedia pride ourselves on service above all else, and if we can’t shove some opinionated aural into your ear holes, we’ll write this shit down and make your eyes beg for more (puns intended). Episode two was, noticeably, a lot of setup for later arcs, and that is to be expected in a show like this. Much like The Walking Dead before it, The Strain is, in my opinion, our first real foray into vampire gore/drama, and there are certain concessions that need to be made to get this stuff on the screen, namely all the human drama littered throughout this episode.
While the book took its time mulling over the details of the airplane, there was something that irked me about this episode’s investigatory scenes. I know we are following people on the hunt to discover whatever caused this incident, but there was something much more procedural about it in this episode, which is a turn for the worst. Also, I have to say, all the time spent on Ef’s family life, his awkward handshake with his wife’s new boy-toy, and his explosion at his boss all seemed way out of character. While Corey Stoll seemed like a great choice in the season opener, he delves into the cheesier side of things in this episode, which could be a bi-product of the fact that Guillermo DelToro didn’t direct this. If this pattern continues with the series, I’m legitimately worried that the finer details and nuances of the book won’t be covered properly. I’m not jumping the ship on the series yet, far from it actually, but the writing is really going to need to shine moving forward for all the characters, not just Abraham. Speaking of Abraham…
What a great scene he and Eichorst had this week. Stories that can describe and call upon a lineage or history always catch my attention, and the way this conversation was handled was really something special. It takes great actors to elevate the standard “conversation-through-a-pane-of-glass-scene”. Luckily, Bradley and Sammel are those guys. In watching the scene, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the great Christoph Waltz from Inglourious Basterds, the way Sammel’s German accent juxtaposes some truly satisfying diction with cold and sinister content. While Ef’s scenes were a good example of what the showrunners shouldn’t do going forward, this scene was a great template of what they should do from here on out. Let’s hope they’re smart enough to see the difference.
We were also introduced to Kevin Durand’s Vasiliy, someone who will play a larger role as things play out. I have a cat so I’m partial to any tough-guy character that has a cat. In fact, my cat brings dead mice inside all the time, an act he gets treats for as a reward for protecting our homestead, so I can totally relate to this guy. We don’t get much from him outside of that, save for a scene where he clears out a restaurant with some dead rats, but the casting is good and somewhat how I pictured him in the book.
The episode ends on a high point, showing some brutal carnage from our favorite undead little vampire girl killing her father. The shot of the cloudy water filling with blood was a cool effect and something I look forward to seeing more of. My only hope going forward is that we don’t take too long to reveal The Master. I know how he’s handled in the book but I hate when shows like this tease us for 9-12 episodes only to reveal the big baddie in the finale. That’s way too long a wait and I just want to see what he looks like, get a sense for what we’re dealing with. Overall, I’m still aboard the Strain-train, I just have a little trepidation about it. There’s enough good here for me to keep the faith, and keep the faith I shall.
