**Massive spoilers for every Godzilla movie, with the exception of the 2014 reboot, and Mothra follow** August 6th and 9th, 1945 forever changed the course of history. When the first nuclear bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, World War II ended, but a new fear was born that dominated the thoughts of all …
Though there is much to admire in ‘Trumbo,’ it never quite sparks to life
The same faces are joining Wes Anderson again on his next project. A few days after it was announced that the next movie by Wes Anderson would be a stop-motion animated movie about dogs, The Nerdist spoke with Jeff Goldblum and revealed that the actor would be joining a few other Anderson regulars for the …
Following in the footsteps of Samuel L. Jackson, giving voice to Adam Mansbach’s international best seller, Go the F**k to Sleep. Emmy-winning actor Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Malcom in the Middle) has narrated author Adam Mansbach‘s tongue-in-cheek bedtime story You Have to Fucking Eat (which was released today after being announced last September). Watch a clip …
The 2014 Primetime Emmy Awards are now less than a week away, and everyone is excited to see if the final season of Breaking Bad can beat True Detective – and also – if Veep can stack up against Modern Family. In anticipation of the broadcast, the Television Academy has put together a fun 6-minute …
It is always a little special when a film that on the surface bears no signs of ulterior motive becomes the subject of mass deconstruction by a plethora of critics, casuals and the insane. Case in point would be Sound on Sight’s film of 2011, Drive.
Godzilla Written by Max Borenstein Directed by Gareth Edwards USA, 2014 It’s been almost 16 years to the day since Roland Emmerich attempted and failed to bring Godzilla to a wider American audience, a mistake almost as gargantuan as the monster itself was an accident of nuclear radiation and mutation. Surprisingly, the concept of making …
RoboCop Written by Joshua Zetumer & Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner Directed by José Padilha USA, 2014 Paul Verhoeven’s science-fiction films RoboCop and Total Recall take place in different environments and eras, but share a similarly raucous, ramshackle, satiric attitude. These films are products of their time, filled with garishly practical effects and grimy, tactile …
In theory, “Platonish” is an episode about Ted dealing with his feelings for Robin – not only does the title give it away, but the numerous Ted voice overs and longing looks at Robin made it pretty clear early on they were planning to beat the dead Ted/Robin horse for twenty minutes. However, the episode quickly snaps its attention to Barney, focusing in on a disgusting night of woman-chasing to lead him to a completely contrived resolution introduced by a character – the Mother – we still don’t know yet. It’s a messy episode, rehashing old material and retconning pieces of the past, all for the sake of superficial drama that doesn’t matter, a relationship that feels more forced with every episode – and in the specific case of “Platonish”, an A-list cameo that unfortunately fails on every level.
Breaking Bad, Season 5, Episode 16: “Felina” Written by Vince Gilligan Directed by Vince Gilligan Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC – “I did it for me.” – After Walter White utters these words, the rest of “Felina,” the final episode of Breaking Bad, almost doesn’t matter. It’s a definitive punctuation mark, the ultimate …
Breaking Bad is not a series generally noted for its lightness of tone, but Vince Gilligan and his collaborators have always managed to wring humor and quirk out of what would seem to be a hopelessly grim set of story beats. That’s what makes “Granite State,” the series’ super-sized penultimate episode, so hard to watch. Save for a few passing moments of sewer-downhill-from-the-gallows “humour,” “Granite State” is a relentlessly bleak hour of TV, wherein even the glimpses of “hope” are really just (in all likelihood) presaging more carnage.
Note: This article contains spoilers for Breaking Bad’s “Ozymandias”. It’s been a long time coming and oh so bittersweet, but Walter White has finally reached a point where even his loyal supporters can no longer justify his actions. The series has certainly provided its viewers with poignant examples before of why Walter isn’t a good …
Breaking Bad, Season 5, Episode 13: “To’hajiilee” Written by George Mastras Directed by Michelle MacLaren Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC – Remember a couple of weeks back, when it seemed like Breaking Bad couldn’t milk its cliffhanger tendencies any more than it already had? Those days seem so quaint now. “To’hajiilee” puts that …
Over the course of the next three weeks, leading up to the series finale of Breaking Bad, I will be posting capsule reviews of my 20 favourite episodes from the series, all listed in chronological order. Click here to see the entire list, posted thus far.The complete list will be published on September 30th. Season …
With casting news about Ben Affleck donning the capped crusader’s spandex and rumours of a possible Lex Luthor appearance drifting in cyberspace, it only seems logical to compile a list of the top five people we’d like to see in the upcoming Superman and Batman team-up film slatted for 2015. While it’s highly unlikely that …
Breaking Bad, Season 5, Episode 12: “Rabid Dog” Written by Sam Catlin Directed by Sam Catlin Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC – “He’s smarter than you. He’s luckier than you.” – “Rabid Dog” is more or less all talk, no (explicit) action, but as the Breaking Bad endgame begins in earnest, it does …
Some series offer neat, tidy payoffs week-to-week, making sure to leave viewers satisfied while leaving them with enough plot and/or character movement to satisfy while leaving them eager for the next piece of the bigger picture. Not so with Breaking Bad; it’s impossible to imagine anyone getting to the final moments of “Confessions” and not cursing the television gods for not granting them immediate access to next week’s “Rabid Dog.” This right here is some next-level viewer-directed cruelty of the most effective sort.
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It’s important to keep expectations in check at all times, but especially with beloved TV series. There are so many variables at work, so many moving parts operated by so many individuals, that even with the smartest showrunners, the best writers’ room, and the most stellar cast, things can go off the rails when you’re least expecting it, often at the worst possible time. So it’s with a sense of relief that “Blood Money” opens with what might be one of the two or three cold opens the series has ever pulled off (and that’s saying something). And yet it’s the end of the episode that easily slides into the all-time Breaking Bad Holy Shit Canon.
Style oozes from every frame of Only God Forgives, tinged in red, like the blood that so frequently sprays across the screen and lands in artfully designed splatters. Writer-director Nicolas Winding Refn and star Ryan Gosling, reuniting after the cult success of 2011’s Drive, have collaborated on a truly baffling, bizarre, and gory crime drama that’s wall-to-wall striking, pretty images. Unlike Drive, however, Only God Forgives is hollow underneath all the model-like posturing and the flashes of excessive, gratuitous violence.
Argo Directed by Ben Affleck Written by Chris Terrio USA, 2012 Improbably, Ben Affleck has turned his career around in the last few years from the pit where such cinematic embarrassments as Gigli and Daredevil forever reside. He’s essentially transformed himself from a tabloid cover-star into a poised actor-director who subscribes to the “Hollywood doesn’t …
Argo Directed by Ben Affleck Written by Chris Terrio USA, 2012 Ben Affleck’s latest directorial effort Argo is a tightly woven anecdote to history that utilizes a stranger than fiction preposterousness to strong crowd pleasing effect. The declassified true story reveals the unorthodox ingenuity involved in the unlikely coordination between Hollywood and the CIA as …
Breaking Bad, Season 5, Episode 8: “Gliding Over All” Written by Moira Walley-Beckett Directed by Michelle MacLaren Airs Sundays at 10pm ET of AMC At this point in its run, it’s plain that there is no better-made show around than Breaking Bad. In terms of its distinctive visual universe, its brilliant performances, its clever, ticksy …
Breaking Bad, Season 5, Episode 7: “Say My Name” Written by Thomas Schnauz Directed by Thomas Schnauz Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on AMC Death, and endings: let’s talk about them. Even before we see the gun in Mike’s getaway bag, it seems inevitable: Mr. Ehrmantraut is not much longer for this world. Mike spends …