Pacific Rim

Overall, this was one fun movie, but it had several logic problems. The disbanding of the Kaiju program makes no sense. In a situation like that, you’d want to diversify your defense strategy.
And, after 12 years of the Kaiju program, you’d think they would have a way to test out a pair’s drift without putting them in a gigantic weapon.

The casting in this movie was brilliant. From Idris Elba to Clifton Collins Jr. to the man who looked like Rick Moranis and Christian Slater had a love child – I am looking at you Charlie Day – Everyone was perfect. I was ecstatic with the additions of Burn Gorman, Max Martini and Ron Perlman. It was just… wonderful. The only thing I would have appriciated, was if there had been more of a female cast.
Speaking of casting, little Mako was amazing! She was heartbreaking, and utterly believable, and I’m still flabbergasted by her performance.

There was good 3D in this movie – the computers make more sense in the 3D version and they’re more fun to look at. The kaiju with their glowy-ness are a little more exciting. But mostly the the 3D takes the depth of field to a much higher level and I found myself noticing things I hadn’t when we watched the regular version.
But, there was also bad 3D. In the first kaiju fight scene, the rain was an issue. In the “filming” and animating process, something got muddled, and the rain – which is fine in 2D – made the scene muddled and it was just distracting. The other bad thing about this movie’s 3D is it is not the sort of movie that needs the cheesy “throw things at the camera” effects.

If there is one reason to watch this movie, it is definitely for the visual masterpiece they created. The color palate and setting evoked the neon grunge I love in movies like Blade Runner, and the artfully created backdrops were only augmented by the grotesquely beautiful creatures.

The biggest problem I had with the movie, actually, was the sound mix for MCs voice. It was like they singled out his audio, changed it (augmented it maybe?), and put it back in, but when they did that, they put it back in on top of everyone else’s. It pulled me out of the story on several occasions.

Prometheus

Overall:

It’s a decent enough movie – when removed from the Alien universe – but overall disappointing. I left the theater feeling rather unfulfilled. The cinematography and visual effects are beautiful… but the storyline felt hollow.  I’m not sure what you should expect from the lead writer of Lost… and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by the incoherent feeling of something unfinished.

What It Had Going For It:

It bridged the gap (visually) between this new set of films and the old. There is a distinct “clean” quality to the ship – which makes sense as Vickers says, they did spend a trillion dollars getting there – and it speaks to what I think Human society sees as that best possible future. Clean, crisp and orderly. And as they venture further into the complex, from the rough hewn rock to the engineers’ ship, we start to see more of the classic H. R. Giger inspired architecture. Things aren’t crisp white, they aren’t smooth… they’re organic looking and yet, they’re so far beyond our scope of technology.

The first “alien” on screen was pleasantly creepy, and I’d hoped that the progression would continue on in an escalating manner until we hit the big payoff of the iconic Alien (In the next section, you’ll see I was disappointed.)

Set conceptualization was glorious and would have leant itself to an immense amount of tension building (had it not been for the score).  There is something to be said for creating a setting that is massive… and yet claustrophobic all at the same time.

Michael Fassbender as David. There’s something incredibly beautiful about the childlike portrayal of David. He’s curious – often doing what he’s told not to for no other apparent reason than scientific exploration. He seems to seek acceptance, dying his hair to look more emulate his favorite character, Peter O’toole, in Lawrence of Arabia. He is retaliatory, seemingly punishing a character for being mean to him – though he does ask for permission first. All the while he does this without displaying emotion… or in the case of the latter, remorse. He is eerily human and not human all at the same time.

The Problems:

Smart people making horror-movie decisions. (That’s all I’m going to say about that for now.)

The beginning and end. I feel like the middle of this movie was pretty awesome. But it was dragged down by the bookends. The movie has two pointless beginning scenes including an engineer dying (I guess to create life on Earth? maybe) and an archaeological dig – the gist of which is adequately explained ten minutes later during the mission briefing. It feels almost as though there are three endings: a sacrifice, a vendetta, and an Alien. And I feel that they could have had one shot after Janek and the two other crew sacrifice themselves, to ground the film and ended on a much more poignant note (and still kept the story line open for the sequel they’ve obviously tried to make apparent).

There was no tension. A lot of this was the heavy handed orchestral score. The original movies were very quiet… and the moments of silence served to amp up the tension, where the soundtrack for Prometheus, while stunningly beautiful, doused any chance for push-you-into-your-seat-back tension. Part of the reason there was so little tension is also resultant of my next point.

The “aliens” weren’t scary. When you go back to the original xenomorphs from Alien… you have a super-scary antagonist. If I came across one of those in the middle of a corridor (no matter how well lit), I’d be scared to widdling. The progression to the xenomorph in Prometheus… is alien after alien that would eat me, but not before I’d laughed at it. And that was disappointing. And the “Engineers”… well, they make me think someone from a Tool music Video got lost, wound up on set and the production team rolled with it.

Outside of stylistic choices, the surviving character isn’t going to make it to her destination before she dies of sepsis or internal bleeding. There is a portion of the story where Noomie Rapace’s character gives herself what basically amounts to an emergency cesarean, and while, the surgery itself is believable, and was a decent way to deal with the problem… she goinks the umbilical cord out and the machine doing the surgery does nothing to seal that up before it’s stapling her stomach shut again. She then proceeds to spend the rest of the movie running about, giving herself one pain stim (or at least I assume). While she does exhibit random “ouch, that was painful” faces, nothing else seems to be a problem. And let’s face it: running away from an alien launch pad is bound to knock something loose.

I actually have quite a few more things to say about this film… but the post was getting long, so this is where I’m going to leave you.

Run Time: 124 minutes

Buy the Film

Luther Season 2, Episode 4

With the identical twin on the loose, Luther tries to make a deal with the devil to get one step ahead, but the dice don’t land in his favor. As he tries to track down the next move of his suspect, he also must help Jenny dispose of Toby’s body and dodge Toby’s bludgeon man. When they realize this is really just a game for the brothers, it’s too late, and the loose one walks through London proper with a bomb strapped to his chest, and Luther will have to put himself in the line of fire if he hopes to save them.

My Thoughts:

The shaky cam chaos in the beginning is pretty fun. It almost feels like found footage, but at the same time, it’s clean enough not to fool anyone. And can I just say, Good on that guy for going after him. I know it didn’t do him any good in the end, but that’s the sort of person you should be… and if there had been more like him, he probably would have survived.

You know… I’ve never thought of driving ranges in London. I guess I just associate them with America too much. Not sure why. But that did distract me.

Luther 101: Disposing of a body – I called the trunk switcheroo rather early on. But I do like the plan there. I kind of feel like he’s taken some pointers from Alice in his handling of the situation.

I’m a little sad that Mark North is fazed out of this episode set. She could easily have gone to chill with him instead of her horrid mother. Also, Jenny’s apparently a big fan of gaudy eye makeup and atrocious sweaters…. But her hair is cute.

I’m really happy with how this season ended. I’m dying for season 3, but not staring into a black abyss waiting for the resolution of the last season. And I always appreciate that.

Luther Season 2, Episode 3

With Jenny at his flat, Luther leaves to investigate an incident in which, a roll of the dice seems to have determined the perp’s actions. As the crimes escalate, with the man entering an office building and killing/maiming dozens, Luther finds him trying to hide in plain sight. Seeming to have everything under control, Luther returns home to find Jenny’s killed Toby when he tried to rape her, and somewhere else in the city the perpetrator’s identical twin rolls the dice in a crowd.

My Thoughts:

This has to be the weirdest pre-credits scene to date for the show… It felt completely other, which was fine, because the main plot of this episode (the part not including Jenny) was extremely different from the feel of any of the other episodes so far.

I actually really love Jenny. I’d love to see her and Alice interact somehow (fingers crossed for season 3). Her snark is adorable and her mother is atrocious. I called her killing Toby – it wasn’t hard with the previous week’s previews.

Something I love about Toby – He’s proof that you don’t need to be big to be intimidating.

Luther’s posture is quite enjoyable. Hands in his pockets, hunched… like he’s self conscious. It seems entirely opposite of what it should be.

The perp is interesting. His notebook is really cool – and the intricacies of the game make me think it’s possible he could be brilliant. I do love how twitchy he gets when Luther rolls the dice in front of him.

Question for any science kiddies out there: Wouldn’t the acid erode the inside of the squirt gun?

Luther: Season 2, Episode 2

Having kidnapped Ripley, the killer tortures him, trying to find out what Luther and the police know about his final crime – a finale he’s planned intricately. Ripley manages to keep himself alive – though battered – by playing on the killer’s vanity.

Luther’s personal life crisis starts to affect his professional life when Baba, a woman who claims to own Jenny, forces him to intimidate a man in witness protection so he won’t testify against her grandson. 

Meanwhile, Schenk interrogates a master forger, who’s procured a large amount of supplies for the killer and they get wind of what he’s doing. Sadly, it’s too late for the bus of 14 primary school children, he’s already abducted.

They find the bus abandoned on the side of the road and it looks like they’ve lost again, until Ripley manages to crawl out of the sewer he was being kept in and with the help of Luther, they use the killer’s car’s GPS to figure out that he’s been to an industrial park 8 times in too short a time to be a coincidence, and with the amount of chemical he’s bought they’re not sure what he’s planning.

Luther and Ripley get to the industrial park in time to get the kids out of the van, the killer was gassing them in and because the kid he’s holding his knife to the throat of pulls off his mask, he can’t follow through with his threats, and Ripley takes him down.

Luther get’s Jenny back from Mark and takes her home to her mother, who tells him that they won’t leave, and that Jenny is her property, so she can’t go on her own, and Luther claims he’s done enough, leaving her there, though Jenny begs him not to.

Alice, broken out of the hospital (thanks to Luther, last episode) comes to see him and tries to convince him to come away with her. He tells her he can’t because he is who he is. And then he goes back and get’s Jenny.

***

I think this is the last we’ll see of Alice, at least for a while. I didn’t think I’d say this (back when we first met Alice in episode 1), but I’m going to miss her. I have a feeling they’re trying to put Jenny in as his next unlikely accomplice and I’m not sure how that will pan out if they do.

I enjoyed Mark as a sidekick, he’s a little too taciturn to show up often within the series, but I definitely like him, as an almost reluctant advocate for Luther.

There is something intriguing… and yet disappointing about the killer in these two episodes. I think it’s that his MO is absence… so I just felt let down by his grand finale. Even if he had managed to pull it off, it felt hollow, and I have a feeling that’s what they were going for, but I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Luther: Season 2, Episode 1

After last season’s finale, the cast is in a bit of shambles. Luther’s recovering from Zoe’s loss, by playing Russian Roulette before he leaves the house, Alice is in a secure hospital for killing Reed, and Ripley is dealing with the dregs of society in his demoted position. But Schenk is there to bring the team back together, well, not Alice, because she’s still a sociopath, and she’s tried to kill herself a few times.

Source -

Back on the job, Luther and Ripley, along with the new DS Grey, are faced with a brazen murder who kills on camera, and out in broad daylight, in a grotesque mask. 

Meanwhile, Luther’s personal drama doesn’t tone itself down. A woman, whose husband Luther put away for killing a prostitute (on accident, but then he freaked out and cut up her body) comes to him for help. Her daughter, Jenny, has gotten on into dealings with a group of people who are ne’er do wells and are forcing her to do necro-porn. He more or less kidnaps Jenny just as filming has started and drops her off with Mark, who is really a great chap, considering everything that’s gone on.

In trying to find their killer, who’s name they know and who’s apartment they’ve been to, they speak to his ex-girlfriend, and when Grey and Ripley take her home, the killer kidnaps Ripley.

(And it’s a to-be-continued)

***

This review will be light as I’ll save most of my thoughts for the next episode’s post, but here are a few thoughts:

The mask reminds me quite a bit of the puppet from saw – or a Bavarian-style painting of a fairy-tale witch. 

This is the first episode of the second season and I’m really happy they brought Schenk on in a more permanent role. But this season has a completely different feel from the first. The series has always been dark, but I think this season is a much dirtier dark, whereas the first season was a rather clean dark, and I think that’s reflective of Luther’s demeanor. I like it.

Luther Season 1, Episode 6

With his wife dead and Reed turning everyone on the team but Justin against him. Luther has to enlist some unlikely assistance from both Alice and Mark. On the run, and looking for a way to exonerate himself and punish Reed for what he’s done, Luther’s choices bring his innocence further into question, and a confrontation with Reed turns out far from the way he’d planned it.

My Thoughts:

Someone needs to slap Rose straight across the face. I have no idea how she – or any of them, really – could believe Luther capable of killing Zoe. Good on Justin for trusting the man. And good on Schenk for looking past what was being put in front of him. Also, I’m really pleased with the growth in Mark’s character – he started out the show, hating Luther (or at least extremely disliking him) and now he knows enough of the man to realize he could never kill his wife.

The pacing of this episode is kind of amazing. It’s exhilarating but not so fast paced that you get lost in what’s going down. And just when you think the stakes couldn’t get any higher, there’s one more thing added to the precarious stack and you’re certain it’s about to topple.

The ever quickening descent into madness for Ian reed is kind of delightful. What started in the previous episode has quickly devolved into pure terror at being caught, and it’s making him jumpy. I really enjoy when a character can put the antagonist on the ropes like this… but no one else understands how mental he is.

I do love Luther, Alice and Mark as a team. I really hope they find a way to work together again. Also, I was not expecting Alice to kill Ian. But I am happy there was a small amount of closure to this season (though this was technically a cliff hanger).

I am really happy with Alice’s progression through the series. She’s not what I expected, and I think that makes me like her more…

Luther Season 1, Episode 5

When an art dealer’s wife is kidnapped and the demand is set for the diamonds the kidnappers don’t know are in the woman’s stomach, Luther and the team work quickly to save her. Unbeknownst to them all DCI Ian Reed has been helping London’s underbelly for a cut of the profit, and when the possibility of being outed becomes too real, he decides he needs to take matters into his own hands, and Luther’s wife may be the one to pay the price.

My Thoughts:

Note to self, never swallow diamonds. (I don’t think I’ll ever need that disclaimer, btw). This is an interesting episode, because the show’s normal held together-ness starts to shatter and the fact that people Luther thought he could trust, can’t be is a scary thought.

I’m really weirded out by the fact that DCI Reed turned out to be a baddy.  He seemed so unassuming at first. And I’m flabbergasted by the fact that he actually killed Zoe. It should be really interesting to see how this plays out – especially with the amount of blood on his hands now.

It is quite telling, that Zoe still loved Luther enough to risk her own life to keep him safe. And it’s incredibly sad how that turned out. (Were this any other genre of show, I might hold out hope that she’d survive… but this isn’t that sort of a show.)

(More in the next Episode – since this one leads into it)

Luther Season 1, Episode 4

Three women have turned up dead in a month’s time and the killer’s timeline seems to be escalating. When the killer takes a necklace from his latest victim, giving to to his unfaithful wife, he unknowingly seals his fate. As Luther investigates, he realizes the only way a young woman would get into a car with a man she doesn’t know is that the killer is a taxi driver. When they bring in the suspected man’s wife for questioning, the necklace in the picture of his third victim – and subsequently around her neck – proves to be more than the woman can handle. But nabbing the man is going to be trickier than he’d suspect.

My Thoughts:

I have a problem with the man’s wife, because she felt too weak to be likable. I understand that she didn’t want her husband to kill himself, but honestly, if you’re in a situation you need to get out of, you find a way to do it. Leaving someone does not make you responsible if their cowardly enough to take their own life.

The wife braining the husband with the hammer was not that much of a surprise. Afterall, her reaction to the necklace was particularly violent, and it was apparent that she loved the man she was having an affair with – where she didn’t love her husband – so another, more violent, reaction was the most plausible outcome there.

Luther Season 1, Episode 3

When a woman goes missing, her newborn asleep in the crib upstairs and her walls covered in satanic script written in blood, Luther knows a killer who’s been silent for 10 years is back. Knowing who the killer is isn’t enough, and catching him doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be able to save his latest victim.

My Thoughts:

The setup for this episode almost feels like something you’d see on Criminal Minds. It’s interesting how they’ve portrayed such a violent-seeming crime, so you get the effect, without giving away that the woman taken, wasn’t the woman who’s blood is on the walls – at least not before you’re meant to know.

The fact that he leaves the baby is odd to me. I suppose the writers didn’t want to make him into too much of a monster, but still.

I do love Luther’s not-by-the-book detecting. There’s something incredibly comforting in someone who’ll do what it takes to get the job done, because he truly wants to save a life.

The call DCI Reed makes to the killer was a little worrisome at first – I honestly thought there was a possibility the man was a dirty cop. ETA: Damn. Now I wonder if he didn’t do this by himself, and then when Luther needed it, he offered…

ETA: The exchange: “What you’re doing is wrong.” “Yeah, I know.” “Why do it then?” “Cause it’s right.” Is probably my favorite bit of dialog from this entire series… because it explains the heart of what Luther is about.

Luther Season 1, Episode 2

As police officers are killed by someone who appears to be military trained. As the death toll rises, and the attacker puts out a video, demanding his father be released – or more will die – Luther and the rest of the team scramble to get a hold on the situation before anyone else has to die. Knowing where the killer is, Luther confronts him alone and unarmed.

My Thoughts:

I understand the reasoning behind the hurry up and catch the bastard mentality this episode has… and I get that, as the audience, we have that dramatic Irony of knowing what’s about to happen before it does, but at the same time I feel like there were a lot of cock ups in this episode that could have been avoided, had the higher ups taken a breath and evaluated the circumstances.

Pretty much hate that dude’s dad right now. What a wanker. I think the thing about him I dislike the most, though, is that he’s a reality. And that is utterly depressing. And the son is a tragic case, but if he’s been so brainwashed by his father, then it’s really not safe to turn him loose.

This is one of those episodes where I am struck with the reality that guns are illegal in England and therefore the police don’t carry them… (As the daughter of a police officer, I’m used to seeing the standard issue strapped to a hip – even for detectives)

Luther Season 1, Episode 1

DCI John Luther returns to duty after a seven month suspension because his arrest of a serial killer puts said serial killer in a coma. His first case back concerns the home invasion and deaths of Douglas and Laura Morgan, found by their daughter Alice.

At first, it seems as though it might be a perfect crime, but with the help of DS Justin Ripley, Luther works a hunch and is convinced Alice killed her parents, but evidence is lacking and means are hard to prove. And while she doesn’t admit it, Alice enters into a psychological game with Luther, threatening his wife and keeping Luther on his toes.

My Thoughts:

At this point, I feel as though Alice is setting up to be Luther’s Moriarty… and at the same time, I don’t think they’re going to go that route. I’m just not sure about her. She’s feisty, I’ll give her that, but her motivation for killing her parents is off for me – and that makes her less than likable at the get go… I guess we’ll see how that progresses.

I don’t know how I feel about his wife. Indira Varma is a pretty amazing actress, so I’m hopeful that she’ll take the character in a direction I’m not expecting. (Also, how awesome is it that her boyfriend is the 8^th Doctor?) So far, I only care about her because Luther cares about her, and I feel pretty stabby about the fact that she’s having her affair.

This is a wait and see series. I’m not sure how things are going to evolve, and that makes me want to watch more, but as of yet, I’m not completely enthralled.