Reviews
The Following - Whips and Regret [TV Review]
The Following seems to be coming up with one surprise after another. The show has been doing a really good job at creating suspense as well as evolving the characters. Which is why this week's episode, Whips and Regret, feels very out of place. It’s not a bad episode, but it just doesn’t really seem to mesh together with the rest of the series. With only a handful of episodes remaining, this particular story seems to want to rush things.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation [Movie Review]
Last year, Paramount released Battleship, hoping that it would bring in the sort of money they were making with Transformers. Not only was it panned critically, it was also a giant flop domestically. It’s a bit convenient that a week later, they decided to hold back on releasing G.I. Joe: Retaliation until this year, saying that they wanted to convert it to 3D. With the extra time to wash away the bad taste of the other Hasbro product out of the world’s mouths, Retaliation has arrived as a surprisingly fun movie.
The Following - Guilt [TV Review]
While not exactly explosive, things are really intensifying moments with this episode of The Following. While it moves the plot into a direction where there must soon be a confrontation, we get a good look into the background and inner psyche of certain characters. There were plenty of scenes where the danger felt real for every character, which is always good for a show like this.
Rob Zombie's Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor [Music Review]
A few weeks ago I stumbled across a cute little blog in the online version of a St Louis rag in which the author declared that the only people that respect Rob Zombie records are, "bad strippers;" and that Zombie hasn't made a good record since fucking Soul Crusher, his debut with White Zombie way back in 1987. The title of the piece was "Ten Bands You Never Thought Used to Be Good," and it's predictably cheeky, clever, and for the most part, well informed. But what planet does this kid live on where Rob Zombie has ever released a bad record? I certainly have never heard such a thing, and that goes not only for his solo work, but also for his goddamn classic White Zombie records, and even his latest release, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor, due to be release in late April.
Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren't They? [Anime Review]
One of the most “out there” shows of this season has to be Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They (Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sō Desu yo? In Japanese), but they use that to its advantage. The world in Problem Children is very imaginative, taking a new take on classic fairy tales and legends. There are plenty moments that are outrageous as well as indulging, which can keep any seasoned anime fan satisfied while enticing new comers to the genre.
Olympus Has Fallen [Movie Review]
Patriotic movies are a really niche genre of film. In examples such as Battleship or Act of Valor, they decide to focus very little on basic things like plot, characters, or even story structure, knowing that there are people who will come to see it simply because of all the American symbolism. You almost feel obligated to like it or else you would be deemed “unpatriotic” because you pointed out all of the gaping flaws in it. Olympus Has Fallen does try to stand out from the rest of its counterparts, but decides to fall into the same over done cliches at the end.
Bates Motel - Nice Town You Picked Norma [TV Review]
It is honestly surprising by how exciting Bates Motel is, especially coming off from the second episode. Many shows such as this would have a great first episode simply to hook the audience into keeping them watching, only to drop the quality in the second episode. There is none of that here; instead, we get an episode that is filled with tension and probably much more gripping than the pilot.
The Americans - Mutually Assured Destruction [TV Review]
For many of the characters in this week’s episode of The Americans, it is now the tine for them to pay for their actions, both good and bad, that they have made over the past season. In many scenes, this creates for some interesting drama, which may have a huge effect on the final outcome when we reach the finale. While it’s not a very powerful episode, it was one that didn’t lose any interest during its run time.
Chelsea Light Moving Rocks the Echoplex [Concert Review]
On the Tuesday night, at LA’s lovely Echoplex-under-the-bridge, Chelsea Light Moving frontman Thurston Moore wished us all a belated happy St. Patrick’s day, which he said he partially spent in Torrance at a Goodwill, shopping for a pair of shoes. Let the absurdity of that statement soak in: Torrance … Goodwill … shoe-shopping … Thurston Moore. It made perfect sense though, it constellated perfectly with what I saw at that show: an unassuming man with a penchant for devastating sound.
First Impressions: Bates Motel
Considered Alfred Hitchcock's best work, Psycho is a 1960 film telling the story of a man named Norman Bates who lives with many secrets, the biggest one having to do with his mother. It's a classic horror movie, and several sequels have gotten a bit deeper into his life, but very rarely have they ever discussed what he was like as a teenager, and how he became the character we know. Bates Motel, the new series on A&E, tells the story of a young Norman Bates and his loving mother, Norma.
