Kevin Bacon

Watching Jack Nicholson in The Departed it would be easy to think “Wow, this guy can’t be real” but that would be incorrect.

Cop Car is the type of movie that knows exactly what it is as well as how to press the right buttons to excite the audience. On first glance, the concept sounds rather far fetched. Then again, kids, because of their nature, do incredibly stupid things. If some chap is foolish enough to leave his or her car unattended and a couple of bored 10 or 11-year olds creep up, who knows what preposterous ideas their imaginations will conjure up.

10. Waterworld Directed by: Kevin Reynolds It could be the flop of all flops. At the time, “Waterworld” was the most expensive film ever made. Starring Kevin Costner, “Waterworld” is a science-fiction/fantasy film taking place roughly 500 years after the polar ice caps melted in the beginning of the 21st century, effectively covering the entire …

If someone was to pick the perfect word to describe season 2 of The Following it would be exhausting. Exhausting on every level to be more precise.

When The Following began its second season it seemed like it had fixed its previous issues. But those old problems eventually began to resurface and season two was faced with unnecessary plot twists, important characters with nothing to do, and countless storylines that didn’t seem to go anywhere.

“The Reaping” has one central issue and that’s Kingston Tanner (Tom Cavanagh). When he was introduced in “Betrayal” it was an interesting choice. On one hand, the idea of Joe (James Purefoy) fighting a religious war with a man who doesn’t exactly seem on the up and up and who represents what Joe viciously hates is fascinating. At the same time, it’s problematic that the writers have introduced a new character this late in the season. Two of the biggest issues with this season have been its multiple storylines and new characters who have hardly anything to do with the story as a whole. It’s been very messy and Kingston only makes this more obvious. As a character he’s not all that interesting; after all he’s no Mark and Luke (Sam Underwood). What he represents to Joe means so much more.

When The Following is good, it’s really good. At the beginning of its second season, it seemed like the show had finally found its footing. It had accepted the fact that it was kind of insane and unrealistic and had resigned itself to the fact that it could just be really dark, devilish, guilty pleasure fun. And then it happened; it slipped right back to season 1. The reveal that Claire (Natalie Zea) was still alive seemed like a false note and frankly, there hasn’t been enough Joe (James Purefoy) to hold the show together. The show’s other most compelling characters, like Mike (Shawn Ashmore) and Emma (Valorie Curry), just don’t have a lot to do. New characters like twins Luke and Mark (Sam Underwood) always impress but never really seem to have anywhere to go. Last week’s “Freedom” was an uneven mess with some truly great moments but “Betrayal” is a great improvement.

The beginning of The Following’s second season was ultimately a great improvement over the first season but over the last several episodes the show has fallen back into the issues that plagued the show the first time around. Freedom, like most of the later episodes of season 2 has its good moments, but it’s mostly a tedious affair.

The reveal that Claire (Natalie Zea) survived her stabbing changes everything for The Following. That moment at the end of “Unmasked” last week was a great surprise but more importantly, it challenges what we know about our characters.We’re suddenly aware of what Mike (Shawn Ashmore) is willing to do for his job, her survival will undoubtedly alter Joe’s (James Purefoy) “epic plan”, and how exactly it effects Ryan (Kevin Bacon) remains to be seen, though it can’t be good.

The Following, Season 1, Episode 15: “The Final Chapter” Written by Kevin Williamson Directed by Marcos Siega Aired Mondays at 9pm (ET) on FOX As just an episode, “The Final Chapter” of The Following is a slight step up from the past many (inevitably, since everything set up in the pilot has been saved for this entry); …

The Following, Season 1, Episode 14: “The End is Near” Written by Adam Armus & Kay Foster Directed by Joshua Butler Airs Mondays at 9pm (ET) on FOX Death is the only thing that matters in the cult philosophy of Joe Carroll. In death there is life, love, and “everything,” according to his prayer chants. …

Still, we can’t really blame The Following for at least being what it is. It’s been a long road with many melodramatic detours to even get to this point. So, when we get an episode that deals with the show’s actual preoccupations—the cult itself and Ryan and Joe’s past/present/history—we have to be thankful. It’s not good, but it’s not like last week’s actively bad, and no character comes off like a complete dunce for the sake of tension in the episode (well, except Parker, but they’ve been dumbing her down for a while now).

So far, there are three major types of episodes in The Following: the big conflict episodes where the main characters face off, the psycho-of-the-week episodes to fill FOX’s “x-treme” body count quota, and the table setting episodes for those previous two types—by far the worst of them all.

The Following, Season 1, Episode 10: “Guilt” Written by Kevin Williamson & Shintaro Shimosawa Directed by Joshua Butler Airs Mondays at 9pm (ET) on FOX “Guilt” proves, more than any episode thus far, that The Following can only be defined in one exceedingly simple image: Kevin Williamson at his computer, choosing to use his powers …

The Following, Season 1, Episode 9: “Love Hurts” Written by Adam Armus & Kay Foster Directed by Marcos Siega & Adam Davidson Airs Mondays at 9pm (ET) on FOX “Love Hurts” acts as a kind of sequel to The Following‘s most campy episode, “Mad Love,” the themes of both being revenge, self-sacrifice, being punished for …

The Following, Season 1, Episode 8: “Welcome Home” Written by Amanda Kate Shuman Directed by Joshua Butler Aired Mondays at 9pm (ET) on FOX Ryan: “Nobody likes me.” Mike: “Well, you’re inconsistent and extreme.” The Following takes the one baby-step forward and two giant leaps back approach this week, addressing many inconsistencies in the show, …

The Following, Season 1, Episode 7: “Let Me Go” Written by Seamus Kevin Fahey Directed by Nick Gomez Aired Mondays at 9pm (ET) on FOX So, let’s get this straight. Joe broke out of prison in the pilot episode, but then committed another murder to mess with Ryan and get caught again (which always did …

The Following, Season 1, Episode 6: “The Fall” Written by Shintaro Shimosawa Directed by Marcos Siega Airs Mondays at 9pm (ET) on FOX Is it horrible or amazing that the random joke made at the end of last week’s review, the one about the horny cop (with her wandering eyes) possibly being one of Joe’s …

The Following, Season 1, Episode 5: “The Siege” Written by Rebecca Dameron Directed by Phil Abraham Airs Mondays at 9pm (ET) on FOX Dammit, dammit, dammit for speaking too soon. Last week’s episode of The Following impressed by transforming its serial killers with mopey Dawson-faces into libidinous psychos worth fearing—but here the experiment ingloriously fades, …

The Following, Season 1, Episode 4: “Mad Love” Written by Andrew Wilder and Kevin Williamson Directed by Harry Bronchtein Aired Mondays at 9pm (ET) on FOX In the best episode so far, The Following finally serves us some fun this week. It’s hard to tell how, maybe because the dreary, serial killer love triangle story-line …

The Following, Season 1, Episode 3: “The Poet’s Fire” Written by Adam Armus & Kay Foster Directed by Liz Friedlander Airs on Monday at 9pm (ET) on FOX As written before, there’s so much wrong with this show it hurts. Its commitment to proving its characters are only wearing human suits is so remarkable, really, …

The Following, Season 1, Episode 2: “Chapter Two” Written by Kevin Williamson Directed by Marcos Siega Aired Mondays at 9pm (ET) on FOX It’s the second episode of The Following, and now we are beginning to learn the rules of the alternate universe. In this world, anyone can be a serial killer: prison wardens, detectives, …