Strap in, loyal readers, as I've got a lot in store for this pre-Thanksgiving post, including thoughts on PRISON BREAK and a review of the $70 million + behemoth known as TWILIGHT.
TV STUFF:
- Whoah momma, last night's PRISON BREAK was, in fact, a barn-burner. It was a crazy episode, in that it really almost felt like a series final of sorts. And given that I wasn't even quite sure how many episodes of the season were even left (I now hear there's actually about 10 more to go ...), I almost thought that this could, in fact, be all she wrote for Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows. For most of the episode, there was that real air of finality. And it was a strange feeling. Because in the world of serialized TV drama, it's rare to see an episode where the good guys actually win - especially in the typically bleak world of Prison Break.
But come on, what Prison Break fan wasn't cheering as Michael Scofield and his blue collar wrecking crew once again stuck it to the Big Bad? You kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but mostly, it never really came. Because, ladies and gentlemen, this episode delivered something that few serialized shows ever do, and it's called PAYOFF. It's a simple concept - that after following our heroes through thick and thin, through all manner of danger and villainy - that at that point we as an audience finally get the satisfaction of resolution, of seeing the good guys win. And Prison Break got to this point in a mere 12 episodes. Nothing was overly dragged out. Last night's ep was only episode 12 of 22, but man, it was a BIG one.
So many great scenes here - the centerpiece of course being Scofield's step-by-step outsmarting of The General and the entire Company, a Batman-like display of planning and forethought. Each time Michael seemed to be cornered, he pulled a fast one on the supposedly all powerful Company, including a great scene at an airport in which Michael and Lincoln brilliantly pulled a variation of the ol'-switcheroo.
I also have really enjoyed what's been done with T-Bag these last couple of episodes. While his role as corporate sales guru Cole Pfeifer was a bit cheesy at first, the new element of pathos these last few weeks has been a lot of fun to watch develop. I legitimately felt bad for T-Bag in this ep, as he lamented the life on the straight and narrow he could have led. It gives a new element of tragedy to his character, and when he eventually does commit his next vile act, it will be all the more dramatic because of the scenes in last night's episodes.
So then, as Michael procured Scylla and we seemed poised for a prematurely happy ending, I think all of us PB fans were beginning to wonder -- "so ... what happens now?" The answer seemed to be in the hints that the General had dropped about Michael's father and his previously unrevealed role as a Company hitman. The General ominously warned that the very men his father had trained would soon be coming for Michael. There was also the dangling thread of Michael's health - would he get the treatment he needs? Would there be further complications? Was there more to his illness than meets the eye?
Instead, when the other shoe finally dropped, it came waaaaaaaay out of left field. The big twist was that Agent Self, who had been portrayed as increasingly likable and trustworthy over the last several weeks, was in fact not so "selfless." He brutally shot the FBI agent who had been posing as T-Bag's secretary, took Scylla for his own, and set in motion a plan to betray his mission and sell the Company's secrets to the highest bidder.
To this I say: WTF? This is one of those twists that really makes little sense from what we know of Agent Self, and seems pretty illogical to boot. Here's a guy who's on the verge of being a national hero, almost singlehandedly exposing a vast global conspiracy, and he's going to throw that away for some cash? It just doesn't seem to fit, and they have also NOT shown any hints that Self was capable of cold-blooded murder. Plus, it's just a pretty annoying twist, as Michael Rappaport was becoming a fun addition to the Prison Break cast and his fidgety awkwardness was a nice counter to Scofield's cool and collected nature. Self as a villain? I'm still hoping that this is some kind of red herring, because it just doesn't seem to make all that much sense.
In any case, this was still an AWESOME episode aside from the final minute or two, so I don't want to harp too much on the final twist until we see how the aftermath is handled. The fact remains that PB is still kicking ass and, if this is in fact the end, it's going out in style.
My Grade:
98% of the Episode: A
2 % of the Episode: C+
- Alright, time to move on to my movie review, of one of this year's biggest and most buzzed-about films ...
TWILIGHT Review:
- Twilight is kind of a tease. No, not like that. What I mean is, a lot of us guys, and maybe some girls, may go into the movie thinking "hey, sure, it looks like it's sort of a sappy romance, but it's got vampires, so it can't be *all* bad, right?" But the truth is, Twilight pretty much only works as a movie when it's focused on being a teen romance. Truth be told, it actually does a nice job of fleshing out our main character, Bella, and creating an entertaining, sometimes even pretty intense vibe of emo-style teen angst and longing. As a teen drama, the movie holds your attention and gets you invested in its main characters and their star-crossed romance.
But in almost every other way, the movie falls short. The action is pretty pathetic and it's poorly directed and edited to boot. The plot, well, there's not a whole lot going on here. There are some generic villains who seem to have to stepped out of an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess, there's some vague hints about clan rivalries between the vampires and a Native American tribe who may or may not be werewolves, and there's a couple of hints that Bella is in some way special in that she is the only human whose thoughts her vampiric BF, Edward, is unable to read. But epic storytelling, this is not. The more plot-heavy elements tend to feel tacked-on and glossed-over. It's clear that director Catherine Hardwicke would much rather skip over all of that stuff and get back to sparkly scenes of Edward and Bella exchanging lusty gazes while on a romantic hike in the woods.
And yeah, despite being about a romance between an ordinary teen girl and a 90 year old vampire, the whole vampire thing seems almost an afterthought. There's not really a lot of mythology here to sink your teeth into (pun intended). The vampires are basically pale-faced goth kids who mostly happen to be stuck in teen bodies despite being in various stages of immortality. They also have super-strength and speed, for some reason, and some have random other X-Men-like powers (Edward can read minds, pixie-ish Alice gets precognitave flashes). The townspeople don't seem to question them much, not realizing they are vampires, just looking at the pale-faced Cullen clan as a bunch of strange, possibly inbred weirdos who are still likable enough. And oh yeah, for some reason, the Cullens really like to play superpowered baseball, especially in montage-form set to trendy rock music. Yes, you heard me.
There are a few fun and foreboding scenes of Bella slowly unraveling the mysteries of vampiric legend - going to creepy old bookshops and performing Google searches by lamplight to find out more about the secrets that Edward won't tell her. But again, we only get a few brief flashes of info that actually give weight to the Twilight mythos. Before we know it, Bella not only is hopelessly in love with Edward despite knowing he's a bloodsucking vamp, but wants to become undead herself so that she can spend all of eternity with the creepy guy she's known for like a week.
What keeps Twilight from flat-out sucking is a really great performance from Kristen Stewart as Bella. She makes ever furtive glance from Edward, every conversation with him, crackle with teenaged tension. And she really does sell the idea that this redheaded vampire guy basically owns her soul, and that nothing else matters to her but being with him. Stewart does a great job, even if she gets a little too mumbly at times ... but she does an amazing job in presenting Bella as this girl caught between two worlds - you see her slowly drifting away from her more normal friends as she gets increasingly caught up in the strange world of Edward Cullen.
Speaking of her friends, that's another thing that really kept Twilight entertaining. There's a fun group of high school friends that help ground the film and provide some decent comic relief. Anna Kendrick as Jessica is definitely a stand-out - she's giggly and nervous and awkward and kind of provide's a normal-girl's window into this whole goth world of vampires.
As for Robert Pattinson as Edward - I personally didn't think he brought much to the movie other than an uncanny ability to make girls and women visibly swoon while watching Twilight. He does have a good chemistry with Kristen Stewart - no doubting that. But from a guy's perspective he's not really the kind of lead that you really ever get behind or root for. He's just this kind of creepy dude who's just kind of there and never seems all that interesting or likable.
I thought there was some potential in the various other members of the Cullen clan, but we barely spend any time with them or really dive into them as characters, except in a very two-dimensional manner. We get the sense that there's the jock / frat boy vampire, the bitchy / ice queen vampire, the cool pixie chick, and the tortured emo kid. And then there's the "father" of the clan, who is a doctor and pale, and, um, yeah ... that's about it.
As far as the direction goes, well, I have mixed feelings. I thought Hardwicke actually did a nice job of giving the movie a dark, dank, moody atmosphere - she does a great job of capturing the grey skies and ominous forests of real-life town Forks, WA. There are times when the movie really does have a cool, creepy vibe. But it also tends to lack style - for a movie about vampires, it almost feels *too* grounded. And whenever there's action or f/x, and whenever the ultra-lame group of villainous vampires appears, the movie grinds to a halt and looks and feels like a really bad episode of Smallville. Hardwicke nails the more personal moments and establishes a generally creepy ambiance, but beyond that, there are simply too many ultra-hokey scenes that take you out of the movie or elicit unintentional laughter. It doesn't help that a couple of the actors, from the guy playing Bella's father to the three vampiric antagonists, are unfortunately pretty dreadful.
But I will say this - as many faults as I found with the film, it got me caught up in Bella and Edward's romance to the extent that, yeah, I am at least curious to see where the story goes from here. I can't comment on how the film compares to the novels, but I can see from the film alone how the story does such an effective job of creating a palpable intensity with regards to Bella and Edward's fateful romance. That romance, though, is the one aspect of the narrative that actually feels epic and substantive. And perhaps future sequels will address this - but, at least for now, Twilight lacks the creative vision or narrative imagination to live up to all its enormous hype.
My Grade: B-
- Alright -- stay tuned for more news and reviews soon - have a good one everyone.
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