reviews!!!

Allright. Here we go with some movie slash TV reviews!!!

I saw Public Enemies over the weekend. Well, I quote/unquote saw it. I had a long and crazy day with only 2 hours of sleep max the previous night, so by the time we rolled into the theatre for the last showing of the Johnny Depp vehicle, I was pretty beat. Honestly, after the first fifteen minutes or so, I started dozing every 2 minutes. I know nothing of John Dillinger, other than what the trailers for this very movie have divulged, so about halfway through the movie I absolutely had no clue what the hell was happening.


I think I like Michael Mann, I think. He's one of those directors that's considered to be "good", but really, has he done anything truly stellar? Within his given genre, I suppose he's tops, but does that make one a great creator?


The one qualm I can actually legitimately have against this movie that I slept through, was the extensive use of digital, as opposed to film. Mann has been doing this with all his recent films. There's a distinct, seeming low budget look to his recent work like the Miami Vice movie, and Collateral, due to the digital cameras, and the appearance of using only existing light sources (I dig the lighting for this fact alone). This aesthetic is perfect for a film like Collateral, adding to the grit and grime, giving the film an almost cenema verite sort of look.


However, for a gangster period piece, a time when there were no digital cameras, the look is a fail, IMHO. Some scenes felt like we were looking at Dillinger through the lense of a papparazzis camera. This totally ruined the immersion of the film.


All this said, the movie could be fucking great. Who knows? LOL

I've been marathoning the second season of Breaking Bad the past few days. For those unfamiliar, BB follows Walter White, an aged high school science teacher who, due to cancer, has been given but months to live. Walter's been dealt a horrible hand in life, with his former business/science partner stealing his work and screwing him out of a massive fortune.


So, in order to make some money to leave his family when his number is up, Walter uses his chemistry skills to cook meth, and with the help of a former student who is now a small time drug dealer, he enters the seedy under belly of the meth trade and Mexican gangs.


The show is gut wrenching, but incredible. Even if the subject matter isn't your cup of tea, the characters are fantastic. Seeing Walter balance the life of crime and his family woes is brought to life with some exceptional acting.


Recommend Breaking Bad for shizzle.

ADC