Momoa as Aquaman

Momoa as Aquaman in Batman vs Superman (2016)

Unfamiliar faces in pop culture are like crops that haven't burned yet. Our understanding of Aquaman will change once again in the upcoming Batman vs Superman film which is expected to be released in 2016.

Momoa isn't a Hollywood poster star like Ben Affleck however, it could be a breakout role for him in mainstream films. He began his career as an actor for television series; Khal Drogo, his most notable role in hit HBO series Game of Thrones. Fans believed he was exceptional as the violent and brooding character from George RR Martin's book series. Given the evidence of the actor's work, its possible the writers are aiming for an Aquaman that relies on brute strength; a hero that can take out an entire army with his bare fists. That similar type of Aquaman DC illustrated in the mid 90's carried a trident and had a hook for a left hand. The biggest difference with Snyder's Aquaman is that he won't have the blonde hair, which, was one of the hero's most prominent, physical features.

No one would expect Eisenberg to play the villainous Lex Luthor before watching him in The Double (2013) which, has just recently gained him credibility for the role. Momoa on the other hand, was an excellent choice upon hearing the news. Theirs  certainly been many surprises with the casting, and theirs no mistake that DC is going all out in trying to do a better job than Marvel studios in feature-length filmmaking. Meanwhile, The TV series "Gotham" and "The Flash" are soon to air on television

A Dame to Kill For is a Film to Kill for

The Sin City Sequel has over 2,000 VFX shots. That means we'll be watching a visual effect about every 4 seconds. Thanks to Prime Focus World, the sequel looks amazing.

More VFX Shots

The Sin City 'sequel' makes a profound leap in technologywith more hyper-stylized imagery to accommodate it's poetic dialogue. With top-of-the-line compositing, the Sin City 'sequel' is sure to bring a unique twist to the canon of film noir.

Sin City Trailer #2

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) Review

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) Review

(5/5)

“How to train your Dragon 2” is the animated movie to watch this year, stretching some technological boundaries for feature-length animation filmmaking.

Dean Deblois has become one of the most successful animation directors in the world, having directed “Mulan” (1998), and “How to Train Your Dragon” (2010), the film’s predecessor. This year, the sequel to “How to Train Your Dragon” soars. In fact, it flies higher than the original with some of DreamWorks’s best animation to date.

Five years after the Viking village of Berk has made peace with the dragons, dragons now live amongst the villagers as working animals and companions, and even take part in racing sport. Hiccup goes on adventures with his dragon, Toothless to stop the villainous Drago from a massive invasion.

As for the story and characters, it’s pretty decent; however, it doesn’t get much thicker than the whole “people controlling dragons to fight other people controlling dragons” thing. Therefore, it can, as a whole feel a little too straightforward. It would definitely benefit the story if there were more off-putting subjects to make us feel curious about the world Deblois has created for us.

Then again, the animation is simply stunning. High flying dragons corkscrew their way through perilous attacks and also make for friendly, occasionally cute companions. The animators used focal length on there subjects to create a greater sense of depth during the battle sequences. You can tell the most time spent was on texturing each dragon; the skin textures were insane.

The animation isn’t like any other I’ve seen neither by this studio nor, by an animated film I've seen thus far. ITs masterfully executed like a live-action superhero film; the water being the most realistically rendered piece. My only critisicm regarding our technological advancements in 3-d animation is the movement of the hair and clothes. I still think its being succeeded more in traditionally animated films like “The Wind Rises” (2013). It will probably be the next improvement in 3-d animation. Regardless, it’s a very rare and fresh medium since it’s a very expensive one to produce.

Overall, “How to train your Dragon 2” stretches some technological boundaries for feature-length animation filmmaking. Its a sure hit, and the animated movie to watch this year.

Dragon Sanctuary - CLIP

Noah (2014) Review

Noah (2014) Review

 (3.5/5)

"I'm more concerned about getting non-believers into the theater or people who are less religious. A lot of people are thinking, 'Oh. I don't want to go see a Bible movie, but we completely shook up all expectations and people will see that as soon as they sit down and watch the movie. That is kind of what this art show is all about."

-Darren Aronofsky

The 2014 biblical drama is as experimental as we came to expect from the one and only auteur Darren Aronofsky. Noah (Russell Crowe), the man commended by God is destined to save the animals of Earth from the flood that will wash away all evil. As the story continues, we see how Adam and Eve's sins have passed down to their descendants.

Noah's Creation Myth

Unfortunately, blockbusters are really the only sources of entertainment where we truly get to see the full potential of clean, frame-by-frame CGI. This is because the medium is so damn expensive and can only be achieved with an entire studio of artists working on it. However, for the first time ever there was a film that came out this year that completely decimates it. It took a hell of a lot of time animating this and then it was animated on top of that in the post-production. Although this film is said to be one of the auteurs weakest works, I would defend this clip by claiming it to be one of the best sequences he’s ever directed.

"In the beginning, there was nothing." The creation myth is hands down the most successful scene and, perhaps the most powerful tonal montage we’ll see all year. This is an incredible sequence combining Aronofsky’s style with mainstream action.No visual effects were necessary.

Overall, you could tell when Aronofsky was at his best and when he struggled. His work is extreme enough to look at even without the effects. Just look at "Requiem for A Dream" (2000)—no visual effects were necessary. He’s been renowned as one of the best independent film directors for rhythmic montages and split screens. But in 2006, he directed his first mainstream film, “The Fountain” which didn’t receive much positive acclaim. The biggest flaws in Noah are the extreme-close-ups of uninteresting subjects that would have normally done well in his independent work. That isn’t to say he isn’t improving. Noah is much better than the Fountain, and will even please the non-believers as well.

Showtime renews Penny Dreadful for Season 2.

Coming 2015.

"It's Album Time with Todd Terje" Review

"It's Album Time with Todd Terje" fuses the nostalgic excitement of disco, funk, latin, jazz, retro film scores, and... elevator music??? - all with synthesizers from outer space.

4/5

What's wrong with elevator music? It's relaxing, it subconsciously elevates your mood, it helps cover up those awkward silences between you and that one other weird guy in the corner. Though, comparing something to elevator music has become somewhat of an insult. It might sound like it, but it really isn't a main influence on "It's Album Time with Todd Terje." I had to mention it though, because the music reminds me of the album art on Smash Mouth's "Astro Lounge." Its cover shows a big circular observatory towering from a red planet into the outer reaches of space. It must have one crazily awesome elevator ride to the top. There's a lounge inside the observatory complete with futuristic furnishings, bright colored cocktails, and waitresses with glowing silver skin. Terje's cover instead shows something of the past. He wants to bring back the forgotten styles that once ruled the nightclubs of the 70's and 80's and the classiness of the lounge piano before the pop/rock explosion of the 60's. But after just a few minutes in Terje's fantasy, we are transported into a future where all genres are mashed up and exuberantly celebrated.

The first track, "Intro," starts off with a descending, arpeggiated cosmic glitter that cleverly repeats out of sync with the rhythm. It reverberates around as if we were in a bio-luminescent cave that reflected shimmering light off its rippled pools of water. The straight 16th note beat that comes in uses shakers, snares and soft bass drum hits. Then, the chordal strums from an electronically-processed guitar turn what felt like a chilled out trip-hop groove into a Daft Punk-influenced electro-disco rock. Sirens in the background get turned up and build energy for the inevitable lift off. A whispered chant, "it's album time, it's album time, it's album time...," builds with the other layers in rousing anticipation. The sirens reach their peak and a gigantic voice bellows, "IT'S ALBUM TIME!" BOOM! There's a huge explosion. This is kind of not what I was expecting. It's strange that such an expertly mesmerizing sound peaks with such a clichéd DJ sound effect, but that's Todd Terje for you. He explores emotionally dense compositions, but he's also very playful and has a sense of humor mixed with the notion to not take things too seriously. Most of all, he just wants you to dance.

The next three tracks may be the most compositionally impressive. While "Leisure Suit Preben" may not be a good follow up to the hype that was built up on "Intro," it's still oddly engaging. A retro bass awkwardly struts along an alien chord progression with occasional turntable whips and scratches. It uncomfortably goes on for a full minute and then drastically changes to what sounds like a sort of 60's Star Trek soap opera theme. Yet again, it changes back to the retro bass but this time with bossa nova style bells and xylophones.

"Preben Goes to Acapulco" is a continuation, which takes us to the 70's. It has a funky disco beat under some jazzy synth riffs. It's suggestive of a disco competition where all sorts of ridiculous dance moves would be demonstrated for the first time. Acapulco, by the way, is a city in Mexico full of beach resorts and wild nightlife where Hollywood stars and millionaires would retire to back in the day. However, this track really just travels all over the place, feeling like an expert improvisation over an ever-changing chord progression.

If you haven't danced enough, in comes a jazzy salsa on "Svensk Sås," which translates to "Swedish sauce." This track as well as a later track, "Alfonso Muskedunder," could be the greatest moments of the album. It's a revitalization of the Latin fusion that hasn't been touched by a whole lot of artists for a long while. And with an expert DJ like Terje taking on the job, we couldn't be happier. Both are fast-paced, syncopated and melodized with instrumental vocals that could be reminiscent of jazz flute humming. While they sounds very similar to regular Latin jazz, Terje still personalizes it with his background electronic basses and textures. "Svenk Sas" is a smooth mambo that, towards the end, utilizes a heavy whirring sound effect in its background vocals (a sound most commonly found in dubstep). "Alfonso Muskedunder" is a highly rhythmic latin rock with insanely fast and complex percussion parts and a melodic style similar to 60's film scores.

Four of the twelve tracks on this album were already released in 2012. "Strandbar," "Swing Star (Part 1)," "Swing Star (Part 2)," and "Inspector Norse" were part of Terje's "It's the Arps EP." For those who are already familiar with this EP, the album will be somewhat of a letdown, seeing as a third of it is recycled works. Anyway, they're fascinating because they were made using only the ARP 2600, a semi-modular analog subtractive audio synthesizer, which was a popular tool for many notable artists of the 70's and 80's such as David Bowie and Herbie Hancock.

"Inspector Norse" was a big hit in 2012 among followers of the house music dance scene and was considered one of the best tracks of the year by a number of critics and magazines. It inspired a 15-minute mockumentary called "Whateverest," in which Terje says he dedicated the song to a Youtuber who called himself Inspector Norse. This character that Terje made up represents a part of himself and the kind of fan he wishes to make music for. Inspector Norse is a lonely and failed musician who has to take care of his sick father and run a tanning salon to make money. In his spare time he dances around his hometown with his iPod, not having a care in the world what others might think of  him. At night he cooks up a drug he calls, "The Inspector Norse Special", and raves by himself in his own living room. But eventually, he slips into a drug-influenced depression and wanders around aimlessly in the streets searching for some kind of salvation. In the end, he will always have music to dance to, and that is what frees him from his troubles. Without it, he would have nothing. "Whateverest" is alluring in the simplistic beauty of its tragic scenario. Watch the "Inspector Norse" music video, which is a shortened version of "Whateverest," below.

The two other hits on this album are less impressive than many of the aforementioned tracks. "Delorean Dynamite" and "Johnny and Mary" venture into pop territory as they seem to be composed for the purpose of baiting listeners into listening to the rest of the album. They are both extremely well crafted, but their simple, slow-moving chordal themes repeat tediously past the 6-minute mark. The Delorean was made famous in the 80's "Back to the Future" trilogy, so "Delorean Dynamite" is probably made to feel like a high-speed trip through time or maybe even the cosmos in general. "Johnny and Mary" is a cover of Robert Palmer's 1980 synthpop hit single of the same name. It is instead slowed down into a pop ballad with heavily reverberated, tone-morphing synth chords and arpeggios, and the soft-spoken vocals of Bryan Ferry, the lead singer of the legendary Roxy Music.

There is one other track on this album, "Oh Joy," but it isn't worth talking about. The album hits a lengthy 59 minutes and cannot justify its length when it has tracks that reuse similar ideas and sounds. Its strengths are in its diverse exploration of several different musical styles and cultures while sometimes using daring but genius transitions to string them together. However, the album as a whole is unfortunately not as coherent. The lackluster opening in "Leisure Suit Preben" that follows "Intro" is self-defeating, and "Johnny and Mary" is an extremely off-putting and lyrically plain snooze-fest that sits in the middle of a very complex and imaginative instrumental album. Even the expert Latin tracks feel somewhat out of place. I think Terje realizes these faults though. The album title is indicative that it was simply just time to put out an album that compiled works he had previously created in his spare time when he wasn't so-often producing music for other artists. Despite this, "Its Album Time..." could most likely be the best electronic album of the year. I would not be surprised if Mr. Terje finds even greater success in the future. He is certainly a unique and important talent to look out for.

Some Latin-flavored fun...

My personal favorite...

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The Place Beyond the Pines Review

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

4/5

An ambitious action thriller that has just as much depth and power as some of the top Oscar-nominated films that come out every year.

Jason, Luke's son is riding his bicycle to meet Robin to learn more about his deceased father. Robin hands Luke the pair of sunglasses his father wore.

Robin says, "He was the best motorcycle driver I had ever seen.”

Jason puts them on.

The scene cuts to a bird’s eye view of Jason riding his bicycle on the same street his father once rode on—the place beyond the pines.

Its very rare do we ever get to see a film so bold, so ambitious writing wise.

Gurren Lagann Review

Gurren Lagann (2007)

(4.5/5)

An engaging and curious world where two 'bros' set out on a journey to control Gunmen

I feel for 90s Gainax fans. They must be hitting their heads on a desk as the "Panty and Stocking" enters one ear and exits out the other. Luckily, they've got some redemption here with the new show "Gurren Lagann", a mecha by the makers of FLCL that has an unusual story cast of characters

I think the term 'unusual mecha' might also mean that it could be very accessible to the non-mecha fan like myself. I entered Gurren with some skepticism that I'd like it as much as I did. The focus is not just on robots or the fights that are conventionally involved in this kind of anime. It relies a lot on other aspects and has a very intriguing antagonist that feels sort of abstract at times, mixing in well with the abstract backdrops of Gurren's design.

It really has three big acts. The first one (eps. 1-8) being the best, the second, (eps.9-15) and the third (17-27) both being very good. Episode 16 is a recap.

Where most of humanity is trapped underground, two orphans, Simon and Kamina, find there way towards the surface, along side Yoko Littner, a girl who has lived there for some time team up with a large group of friends they meet along the way. Together they are determined to defeat "beastmen", non-spiral beings who are capable of controlling Gunmen, the robots that make this a mecha . The "beastmen" are lead by Lord Genome, (Spiral King). He was the guy who created them, and was the main antagonist for most of the time in the series.

In the second act, Theres a lot of good drama. We see Simon being very confident in what he has to do and Yoko being very sad. Also, Simon kind of has a love interest as well with a mysterious new character Nia, who is suppose to be Lord Genome's (Spiral King) daughter. The big and best battle begins when Simon fights against the Spiral King.

Towards the end of the series, things get a little weird but still maintains its awesome-ness. There is a time lapse where our Simon has grown into a man. His girl Nia turns into a psychotic android who wants to destroy all of the spirals, the fictional energy that everybody has. Rossiu is an idiot and Viral, a beastman, turns good and fights with Simon. And best of all Yoko is a teacher!!

This is definitely one of my favorite s of all time. I loved the characters, the relationships, and most of all the story. The only criticisms I'd give it is that the music could of used some improvement and the animation may be hard to follow for some. But again, it was amazing. Even if you don't like mecha , you should watch it.

Highschool of the Dead Review

Highschool of the Dead (2010)
(3.5/5)

A great, stylistic hodgpodge of zombies and teenagers

Animes like Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop and Afro Samurai do a great a job in the "pure entertaininment" category. Likewise Highschool of the Dead shows us that a high budget anime can do a lot of things to attract a larger audience.with spectacular animation. Although its ridiculous overload of fan service and risque humor will displease some viewers, sometimes the element works for its quirky and strange characters.

Throughout the series, you notice a strange parallel with the George A. Romero's 1978 horror flick "Dawn of the Dead". Surely the zombie genre has been done so many times but HOTD surprisingly had anentertaining story in each episode. In addition, it is animated. It differs from the live action experience and certainly creates a new name for itself.

It's all about the entertainment. This show is definitely second on my list for anime of the year in 2010 right behind "Durarara!". Since the fan service can get a little over the top at times, its best to laugh at than to take it seriously.

The Mill and the Cross Review

The Mill and the Cross (2011)

(3.5/5)

Visually lush, 'The Cross' is successful in depicting Brueghel's masterpiece

Since the filmic language involves capturing a 3-dimensional space, I found “The Mill and the Cross,” a 2011 drama film, directed by Lech Majewski, a unique envisioning of Pieter Brueghel’s 1564 painting “The Way to Calvary.” Throughout the film, the theme of Christ’s suffering is set in contradiction of the religious persecution in Flanders.

Pieter Brueghel's "The Way to Calvary," y. 1564

The film magnifies the painting with a different set of lens. In the opening shot, the camera pans from left to right showing the large cast of characters from Brueghel’s painting. Scholars in film often times criticize horizontal panning; particularly when the camera loses a greater sense of depth, however, Brueghel’s painting—being a 2-dimensional piece of art causes us to think otherwise about the film. With the exception of subjects moving within the frame, I believe this opening shot gave us the illusion we were seeing his actual painting.

However, there were also some parts which I was confused, in particular, the transitioning of each scene. While there are some amazing techniques used in the film to mimic the painting, I believe that some of them were not properly used.

This makes the film surprisingly more ambiguous, and therefore offers several interpretations of Brueghel’s painting. One is how Brueghel‘s thought process on the composition and applied brush strokes constructs each scene. When he is sitting alongside his patron, he is the omniscient narrator of the film and he has absolute control over plot development. The other interpretation is that each part of the film either correlates to a religious or political message. Christianity and politics were two major subjects expressed in Brueghel’s painting, but the film had to get extremely close-up on each character’s emotional reactions to the persecution in order to convey a similar meaning to Brueghel’s. Certainly, Majewski’s “The Mill and the Cross” is an unusual reworking of Brueghel’s “The Way to Calvary.”

Gladiator Review

Gladiator (2000)
Classic Movies

5/5

Hands down, the most accurate portrayal of Ancient Rome, and for that reason, will especially be appreciated by the history buffs

The 2000 film “Gladiator,” directed by Ridley Scott, is about Maximus Decimus Meridius, a general who becomes imprisoned and forced to fight as a gladiator. After the unexpected death of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, Marcus’s son Commodus becomes the new emperor. When Maximus gains popularity and recognition from his victories in the games, Commodus fears that Maximus could use this power to possibly overthrow him. Maximus continues to use his fame as a gladiator to cause damage to Commodus's power and control, but only to inspire the Roman people in such a way that will help them rediscover what was lost as a result of the cruelty and corruption in Rome. This causes Commodus to fight Maximus in the Coliseum at the end of the movie.
Compared to other portrayals of ancient Rome, this movie captures it through a very realistic lens. The most notable aspect was the enormous coliseum where many of the close-up battles take place in. After the battles are over, there are grand views of the space, which, must have been done in CGI to give the viewer a greater sense of how big the actual coliseum might’ve looked like.

After researching many of the Roman marble and bronze busts, it was interesting seeing Marcus Aurelius portrayed as an older man in the film. Actor Russell Crowe efficiently plays the brooding gladiator Maximus quite well while Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix, is menacing and unlikeable. The two strikingly different personalities make for an interesting face-to-face confrontation at the end of the film.

A stifling encounter between Commodus (Jaoquin Pheonix) and Maximius (Russel Crowe)

Certainly, a well-executed feature-length film that tries to stay historically accurate as possible to Ancient Rome is a challenging and ambitious project for any filmmaker, considering the limited amount of documentation there is to work from. When writing a detailed script, some things have to be exaggerated for historical, and as well as for entertainment purposes. For instance, scholars don’t believe that Commodus was killed in battle by a gladiator, but this modification certainly made for a climactic scene at the end. Scott obviously took a unique approach by staying as true as possible to what happened while also putting emphasis on the engaging battle sequences within the coliseum. My favorite aspect of it was identifying the different body armor and weapons each character used; one in particular was the lorica segmentata—segmented body armor which Crowe wore for the majority of the film.

My 3-d segmented body armor compared with Maximius's segmented body armor

My 3-d model of the lorica segmentata.

Image of Maximius wearing the segmented body armor.

There have been many attempts in trying to portray Ancient Rome on screen, but none come close to the quality and consistency of “Gladiator.” It’s an exhilarating film that will appeal mostly towards action fans, and especially those who are quite familiar with the history of Ancient Rome.

How Richard Linklater will go from accomplished film director to cinematic God in just a few small, simple steps this summer

Even if "Boyhood" recieved less than a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes critics would have still been drooling over Linklater's new film. There will come a day where there won't be a first but Linklater's "Boyhood" is certainly the first film to do what it was set out to accomplish: a realistic  drama depicting a young boy's life between the ages of 6 and 18...... Literally.

Sofia Coppola to Direct "The Little Mermaid"

Great news came in a few weeks ago. The most talked about female director in the world  is said to direct the live action film adaption of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid."

Why should we be excited? Coppola is the best choice. She is a very unique auteur with films about women being treated unfairly and, sometimes unlawfully. This will be Coppola's sixth feature-length.film and will rest assuredly be her most ambitious one to date.

Funny or Die's parody trailer has smacks of "Somewhere" (2010) and "The Bling Ring" (2013)

"Top of the Lake: Season 1" Review

Top of the Lake is an underrated, dreary, slow-burning crime drama that makes for one of the best shows of 2013

4.5/5

Rape and sexual assault are the two most unreported crimes in our society. According to RAINN (Rape Abuse and Incest National Network), 44% of all sexual assault and rape victims are below the age of 18. The saddest part is that only 6% of all rapists will spend a day in jail.

12-year-old Tui Mitcham quietly rides her pink bike out the driveway a ways down to the nearby lake. The day is grim, there is a fog in the distance, her face is blank, void of emotion. Welcome to Queenstown, New Zealand. Tui slowly glides deeper and deeper into the lake's ice cold water until she is shoulder deep. "The water will kill you!" says a concerned teacher, racing off the school bus that passes by. A suicide attempt? No. She just wants to feel numb.

Tui is four and a half months pregnant. How on earth could this have happened? An expert in child protection, Detective Robin Griffin (Elisabeth Moss) is called in to take the case, and when it comes to children, Robin is our favorite kind of female detective. Driven by pure empathy and her own traumatic childhood experiences, she will stop at nothing to preserve a child's innocence. She is driving a dangerous course though, as Queenstown is the very birthplace of her hellish scars. When Tui goes missing, Robin is not only forced to rediscover her past, but to uncover the small town's long-buried and extremely unpleasant secrets.

There isn't a whole lot of evidence to uncover here, but rather an extreme depth in several characterizations. And that is the show's ingeniously sensitizing way of unfolding the mystery. There are several people we naturally stereotype when we are first introduced, but through each episode, we are constantly realizing there is something more to consider in order to solve the crime. Tui's father, Matt Mitcham (Peter Mullan), is old, mean and sexist. He lashes out several times at a group of women who have moved to a piece of land where his mother was buried, called Paradise. He abusively worships his mother's grave and takes his anger out on any female he encounters. He must have committed the crime. His henchmen-like sons are quite suspicious as well. And then of course there is the local but alienated town pedophile. In today's society, pedophiles are considered the scum of the earth, but after Robin engages in an emotionally riveting confrontation, we can't help but empathize with this troubled man. He only wants to "love child, not hurt him."

There is really only one place that we feel is safe in Queenstown, and that is the women's recovery camp in Paradise. The women here are broken and troubled, most of them from relationships with men. Naturally, these weakened women have gone to Paradise to follow a spiritual leader, GJ (Holly Hunter), whom they look to for all the answers. Ironically, GJ gives off a more pessimistic and arrogant vibe than we would expect from such a figure. She gives advice and claims prophecies through a sort of depressive, existential belief. Yet all this is meant to be enlightening. And it is. Give up, let go, who cares, stop thinking, just be, just do. Though perhaps it is the uncompromising surety of herself that makes her so admirable. Her confidence is inspiring.

Top of the Lake puts under the microscope an excellent commentary of the modern-day nuclear family and the disturbing sexual encounters involved. The husband, the wife, the mother, the father, and the children are all at war. It is up to us to break free from the never-ending cycle of abusive family relationships. Our family is what we make it.

Elisabeth Moss won the 2014 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television for her portrayal of Detective Robin Griffin, and the show was also nominated for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. It was nominated for several Emmys and justly snagged one of them for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie. In my opinion, Top of the Lake is one of TV's best productions of 2013.

Top of the Lake is available to stream on Netflix Instant.

"You know there's a Maori legend about this lake that says there's a demon's heart at the bottom of it. It beats, it makes the lake rise and fall every five minutes...It was this warrior that rescued a maiden from a giant demon called Tipua. And he set fire the demon's body while it slept and burnt everything but it's heart. And the fat melting from the body formed a trough. And the snow from the mountains ran down to fill it to form this lake." -Johnno Mitcham (Thomas M. Wright)

"Arrow: Season 1" Review

"Arrow" proves to be one of the best comic book to TV adaptations to date.

3/5

"You have failed this city," exclaims Starling City's vigilante, The Hood a.k.a. Oliver Queen, as he aims his bow and arrow at his victim's heart. These are the last words his victim will hear. Oliver Queen is a murderer but only in the interest to save those who are innocent. Perhaps he isn't as cool as Batman, who can serve justice without taking a life, but Arrow accomplishes a better sense of realism in the fact that sometimes, people must die for the greater good.

For five years Oliver Queen fought everyday for survival on a remote island in the Pacific after the boat he was on shipwrecked, killing his father, Robert Queen and his girlfriend's sister, Sara Lance. He returns home with a mission to right the wrongs committed by his father and to make amends for the immature and selfish playboy he once was. Halfway into the pilot episode, Oliver jumps right into his Robin Hood-like getup and starts cleaning up the streets, which is unorthodox in a superhero story because it skips over the vital information of how he came to be. Though it's tolerable for now because the action scenes are very well choreographed and keep us wanting more.

Arrow suffers from a very slow start. There are many characters to get to know in the beginning, and their interactions involve many discussions of the changes and tragedies that took place while Oliver was gone. It's hard to care about such things when we are just starting to get to know these people. The first few villains are uninteresting as well. They are merely rich folk whom have gained from other people's losses, and besides that, they are barely characterized. Like always, The Hood warns them to change their ways, and if they don't, they receive an arrow in the chest.

Arrow picks up steam after a few episodes once we start getting flashbacks of Oliver's struggles on the island. They are cleverly paralleled with the events taking place in present time and provide more than one plot to get excited about. In addition, questions of morality and law are debated throughout the show as police detective Quentin Lance will stop at nothing to arrest the murderous vigilante. Everyone agrees The Hood needs to be brought to justice, except for a select few, whom eventually realize The Hood's identity to be Oliver and decide to join his fight to make a difference. This is when things start to really get exciting. Finally Oliver has people to converse with about his plans to save the city. His sidekicks not only aid him on his missions but provide him with wisdom and the show's much-needed comic relief.

Oliver Queen is portrayed by actor Stephen Amell. He is a decent actor but plays the part particularly well because he is good looking and extremely muscular. He performs many of his own stunts, which are often better than movie quality and end up being one of the high points of the show. He takes out hordes of enemies that wield guns and knives with nothing but arrows and mixed martial arts. Believe it or not, a bow and arrow proves to be an excellent choice of weapon for it's stealth, accuracy and it's creative ability to carry explosives, fire, nets, voice recorders and many other gadgets.

The characters of Arrow are based on the characters of the DC Comics series Green Arrow. It's a great start so far for DC Comics in their attempt to turn their stories into live-action television. Be on the lookout for possible upcoming DC Comics-based shows such as Gotham, The Flash, Constantine, Hourman and Amazon.

Arrow Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix Instant.

"Guns are weapons of emotion and unpredictability."- Oliver Queen

"Under the Skin" Review

"Under The Skin" is one of the creepiest, saddest, yet most honest and beautiful studies of human nature.

5/5

It gets in your brain first. A sonic wall of deeply-layered, cosmic winds and pulsating, shriveled strings binaurally wither away all outside awareness. Celestial figures, polished in light and dark, entrance the mind. This is some other dimension or universe, where something alien begins to seamlessly creep into form as we know it to be. A nameless being takes on the shape of a woman's body, of which, we do not know the origin.

This body is played by Scarlett Johansson, a brilliant, charismatic actress, who has taken on some very diverse and popular roles as of late. From romantic comedy box office hit, "Don Jon," to the Oscar-winning computer romance, "Her," to the superhero blockbuster "Captain America: Winter Soldier," and now the experimental sci-fi art house film, "Under the Skin," she is winning fans of every genre. It doesn't stop there. She's set to appear in Jon Favreau's new comedy, "Chef," and the upcoming action/superhero movies, "Lucy," "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Black Widow." She is also turning heads because she appears nude for the first time in "Under the Skin," but perverts be warned, there is nothing desirable about her here.

This alien has no emotion or empathy of any kind. It simply has an objective: to lure men back to its apartment using their weakness of lust, to trap them and eventually harvest them. Why? For what purpose? I suppose that's open for interpretation, but ultimately, it doesn't matter. What matters is what we experience through her night-to-night attempts of trying to pick up these men. There are so many different types of people we have the pleasure of observing, while the unbiased alien drives through the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It's a peaceful meditation, but it isn't a joy ride. The alien eventually spots it's perfect prey and plays the part of a beautiful, innocent woman looking for directions. Then comes the moment of truth- "Are you going the same way? I can give you a ride." Some say no, but of course, some say yes. There's the man who wants to party all the time, the man who is so lonely and depressed, and the man who just wants to get laid.

Each succeeding harvest ritual becomes more haunting and revealing than the last, while concurrently, each victim is more and more undeserving of his eradication than the one before him. Composer Mica Levi's music plays a big part in these sequences. A spiritless, two-step sway of tribal drums and a slow-burning, three-note melody of cacophonous, crepitating strings creep up on you, while low-pitched cymbal rolls and electrified buzzes and hums sustain the eerie tension in the background. It clearly takes influence from the disturbing, chaotically insane string and percussion segments of Kubrick's The Shining, and the staticky, industrial clouds of noise that reverberate around the dreamscape of Lynch's Eraserhead. This isn't just music, it's atmosphere and narration in substitution for the otherwise lifeless and often wordless alien being.

The alien is like a psychopath, except, it is perhaps completely unaware of itself or its actions. This is truly sad. Who can we blame then? The most distressing moment is when she picks up a man with a deformed face. Just like each other man before him, she flirts and compliments him on his good looks. Not just as a male, but as a human being, I felt so violated and offended in this scene. Here is someone who is so lonely and hurt, and the nicest, most gorgeous woman invites him into her home. To him, it's a dream come true. Only, she, of course, is faking it, and the heartfelt sorrow we feel for this man is crushed into nothing. It's like a comet hitting the earth and decimating everything and everyone we love. Naturally, the universe does not care about us. But this careless thing is disguised as a human. It's insulting and perverse.

Similar to master surrealist, David Lynch, director, Jonathan Glazer, effectively pushes his dreamlike landscapes into our field of reality. This makes certain scenarios more relatable, thus more horrifying. This is partly due to the fact that a portion of the dialogue between Scarlett Johannson and her victims was completely improvised. In fact, some of them didn't even know they were being filmed. I guess it's hard to recognize her with black hair at nighttime. Even more amazing, is first-time actor Adam Pearson. He plays the disfigured man, as mentioned above, but prosthetics aren't actually used here. Pearson has a real condition called neurofibromatosis. It comes in many forms, but for him, it causes non-cancerous tumors to grow on his face. It is a liberating moment in the history of film. Pearson teaches audiences to be more comfortable and sympathetic, rather than afraid or unkind, and helps others with similar conditions to be more confident with how they look. It's what's under the skin that counts.

Eventually, by some miracle, an anomalous error occurs within the alien's programmed thinking. It starts to wonder, it starts to feel, it can see itself. How did she become self-aware? And how does life really become self-aware anyways? No matter. The point is, she observes for the first time many of life's greatest pleasures: food, music, TV, walking through nature, but most importantly, being loved and making love. Is any of this really making her more human? Her mental state isn't really implied, but we begin to sympathize with her now. The being that was once a lifeless antihero has now become something endearingly innocent.

Many may complain about the movie's ending seeming unavailing, but it's meant to leave you hanging in a quandary of reflective despair. The movie is a meditation told through a seamless blend of dismal visuals and freakishly haunting music that parallels it's story arc. No matter what happens in the end, the most important thing is the journey, and Under the Skin's journey is one of huge complexity that's worth every bit of examination and interpretation it is bound to receive in the many years to come. It is without a doubt one of the most unique studies of human nature to ever hit the big screen.

I highly recommend seeing this movie in theaters. If you are unable to, watch it in the dark with headphones when it comes out on Blu-ray.

Mica Levi's "Love" is dementedly beautiful.

Man of Steel Review

Man of Steel 4/5

“…spend money on the spectacle rather than the visual effect.” - Christopher Nolan 

Christopher Nolan and Jonathan's films (The Dark Knight) continue to have more substance than the amount of what filmmakers nowadays have in big, summer blockbusters. They’re with a small group of writer/directors who don’t stick to the standardized norms behind the scenes. Given the pictorial extremes superhero films have gone for in recent years (The Avengers, Iron Man) former TV ad director Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300) directed this film with an elite team of writers and producers including Nolan and comic book aficionado David S. Goyer. Obviously, these movies aren’t supposed to be anywhere near ‘groundbreaking’ in terms of writing and subject matter, but compared to other accomplished superhero films “Man of Steel” is infectious and, sometimes even has essential film making.

The first 45 minutes is without a doubt, the most ambitious scene I saw all of last year. As mentioned above, Snyder has assembled an incredible team of some of the best artists the entertainment industry has to offer. One concept artist in particular was Christian Scheuer, who did some incredible illustrations for the film using Zbrush and Photoshop.

Snyder may have taken cues from recent arthouse films including Malik’s “Tree of Life” (2011). Incorporating some of those unique looking elements prevented it from becoming another generic blockbuster.

Take Shelter and Man of Steel Comparison

Tree of Life and Man of Steel Comparison

Palo Alto Review

Palo Alto 4/5

Beneath its colorful surface is a lot of depth.

One of James Franco’s dreams came true last year, and it was to have his novel get a film adaptation. Gia Coppola, the daughter of Gian-Carlo Coppola and granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola writes and directs "Palo Alto," a high school drama with a young and talented cast of actors that is similar in potential to the young cast of actors in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

But Palo Alto isn’t light, nor really all comedic. It’s a drama based around a group of rebellious high school kids in an urban environment and their experiences with drugs, alcohol, sex, and violence.

What stands above all is the acting. I was most impressed by Nat Wolff who plays Fred, a heavy smoker who is out control and gets his friend Teddy (Jack Kilmer) in a lot of predicaments. Apparently Wolff was the lead singer for the Naked Brothers Band which also had a television series that premiered on Nickelodeon some time ago. I would have never guessed the child star then would grow up to become some such a confident and talented young actor.


After playing a basketball game with students from school, Fred (Nat Wolff) sits down to talk to Emily (Zoe Levin) who, is offering sexual favors.

Like Wolff, Emma Roberts is a former Nickelodeon star who is showing lots of potential early in her career. Her character is April, a virgin soccer player who is coached by Mr. B (James Franco). Problems begin to surface for her as she struggles to cope with the pressures of school work and her sexual insecurities.


The Camera pans across a chain-linked fence and reveals April smoking a cigarette outside the school's soccer field. This shot is enough to conclude that Gia is a naturally skilled filmmaker, just like her relatives.

Joining Francis, Carmine, Roman, and Sofia, Gia is further proof of the Coppola family’s innate musical ear. Not only does she carefully use music that is relevant and accurate to what today’s youth listens to, she also complements it with scene and tonal montage. Gia has taken a similar approach to what Sofia did back in the late 90’s when she adapted the novel and had Air compose the original soundtrack for the feature-length film “The Virgin Suicides.” In “Palo Alto,” a scene where the central teenage protagonists attend a house party, Die Antwoord’s “Enter the Ninja” is used to energize the scenario and stress a tone of rebellion, helping to develop the theme of adolescent frustration and restlessness. “I am your butterfly. I need your protection.” Like her Aunt, Gia explores the world where women are treated as slaves and that they need the ‘protection’ at the house party they attend.

Blood Orange makes the most contributions to the soundtrack. Lead vocals Devonte Haynes writes and composes a stellar song “Palo Alto” that will soon get much attention by underground music critics in the coming weeks.

Beneath its colorful surface is depth which, most viewers won’t be able to acknowledge unless they take the time to find it. This is similar in viewing Sofia Coppola’s films which include “Marie Antoinette” (2006) or her most recent film “The Bling Ring” (2013) With a deeper analysis, you'll acknowledge the quality and execution.

Best Films 2014

1.      Pompeii (5/5)

2.      300: Rise of an Empire (5/5)

3.      Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

4.      Big Eyes

5.      The Grand Budapest Hotel (4/5)

6.      Noah (3.5)

7.      When Marnie Was There

8.      Exodus

9.      Interstellar

10.   The Pirates

11.   Happy Christmas

12.   White Bird in a Blizzard

13.   How to Train Your Dragon 2

14.   Transcendance (2.5/5)

15.   Lego Movie (1/5)

16.   Inherent Vice

17.   Boyhood

18.   Maps to the Stars

19.   Suite Francaise

20.   Black Sea

21.   Madame Bovary