Archives for February 2013

Body of Proof is Back for its 3rd Season: And It’s Even More Fun!

Posted on February 23, 2013 Written by ripitup

Body of Proof Season 3 Cast — From left: Mary Mouser, Elyes Gabel, Jeri Ryan, Dana Delany, Windell Middlebrooks, Mark Valley, Geoffrey Arend.

Body of Proof is a crime/drama/thriller starring Dana Delany and it is back for a 3rd season. It’s one of my favorite shows to tune in. Before moving on, you can refresh your memory with my initial review for the show.

Why I’ll Always Appreciate Another Body of Proof Season

When you like a show purely for its concept, and it doesn’t attempt to lure you in with serial story lines, it has a higher chance of keeping you interested.

There’ve been shows that I initially liked more than Body of Proof, but while some of those shows produced entire seasons I didn’t enjoy (Supernatural, Alias, Fringe), there hasn’t been one episode of Body of Proof that bored me. Sure, some episodes are better than others, and some two-parters (Going Viral, Season 2, Episodes 18 & 19) have been great. But all in all, to me, it is better to be entertaining all around than to be awesome for a while (e.g. Supernatural Seasons 1,2,3) and then bore me to death (Supernatural seasons 6 & 7).

Story Background with Some Major Spoilers for Season 2

If you are new to the show, you can read my review for the first season. But I prepared a quick fix for you anyway:

You don’t have to watch an entire season to catch up. All you need to know is that Megan Hunt (Dana Delany) is a brilliant surgeon-turned-medical examiner. She’s divorced with teenage daughter Lacey (Mary Mouser), and a total workaholic; with an addiction to finding the truth no matter what. Nope, she’s not the easiest person to work with.

Yes, she acts like examiner/detective, driving a lot of people crazy in the process. But just like Lightman (Lie to Me) is the best at reading faces and bodies, Megan reads dead bodies like no one else can. And as much as her friends and colleagues complain, she’s the best, and there’re tons of killers who wouldn’t have been caught if it weren’t for her.

And like most brilliant and unorthodox TV characters, she’s really fun to watch.

Season 3 brings in 2 new characters, after killing off the second main character, Peter Dunlop (Nicholas Bishop), Megan’s friend/MI and potential love interest. Unfortunately season 2 ended with a cliff-hanger Megan panicking next to a bleeding Peter, whose survival chances seemed slim. The two cops (played by (John Carroll Lynch, Sonja Sohn) Megan collaborated with were also change. Apparently the show was suffering from low ratings, so the producers decided to vamp up the show with new blood.

While I liked Peter’s character and her dynamic with Megan, I didn’t have to worry about his departure when Mark Valley was brought in. And instead of being the new MI, he is one of the two cops Megan will be working with. Oh, and to make things more complicated, they do have a history, which ended with him screwing up and annoying Megan to no end.

His partner Adam (Elyes Gabel) is also likeable, young, capable and not above teasing Valley’s Tommy Sullivan about his past relationship with Megan despite Sullivan’s death threats.

Season 3, Episode 1

Megan comes back to work 3 months after Peter’s death, bored from having stayed away from work but still shaken up. She has to put up with a rookie MI, and finds out that she has to work with 2 new cops, one of them being her ex flame….

The case they are working on however is bigger than any of their issues: someone is kidnapping veterans, removing their spleens and killing them later. While “the why” haunts them, the brains of the operations find the perfect way to eliminate Megan-through her daughter Lacey.

Episode 2 will serve as the second part of season opening. You can watch the promo for 3×02 here.

In Time starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried & Cillain Murphy: Fast, Fun, Romantic

Posted on February 18, 2013 Written by ripitup

In Time -Justin Timberlake- Amanda Seyfried — In Time starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried & Cillain Murphy. A 2011 film. Written & directed by Andrew Niccol. Image via northernarizonanews.com

Jerry Maguire might have had Dorothy Boyd from hello; Andrew Niccol got me from Gattaca. He then got me again with Lord of War, with bigger impact. And while Just in Time isn’t as painfully effective and emotionally disturbing as Lord of War or as highly rated as Gattaca, it doesn’t lack in the entertainment department. It also has a lot to show about societies and human nature.

Let’s go over the plot before I list why it is good entertainment:

Will (Justin Timberlake) lives in a world where time is the only currency. Keep getting it, and you might as well be immortal. Unless someone kills you, you’re golden – if you are rich. Oh, and you stop aging at 25. One can argue that at least you get to die pretty regardless of how.

But just like in the world there are different classes classified as zones. One of the unluckiest is where Will has lived his whole life. His father has died when he was a kid, and it is just him and his mother (Olivia Wilde) working hard, barely making through each day.

But when, in a twist of fate, Will saves the life of the suicidal rich (and old) man Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer), he awards him his time. Unfortunately, his mother dies, which sends Will on a quest of revenge instead of living a happy, long life with his mom.

He does, however, enjoy a few perks before he can figure out a plan, including having met and attracted the beautiful & rebellious daughter, Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), of the wealthy Peter Weis (Vincent Kartheiser). But before he gets to live life to the fullest for a little more, the time-keepers are on to him-thinking he has murdered Henry.

Time-keepers are the cops of this world, ensuring the balance. Unfortunately, led by Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy), they are more concerned about the balance than justice. Making it his sole mission to catch Will, he leaves the young man no choice but to go on the run, taking Sylvia hostage.

While Sylvia hates her situation at first, she teams up with Will when she realizes that he only wants to live a normal (mortal) life and help out as many under-privileged and overworked people as he can.

But unfortunately, Raymond isn’t their only obstacle: “crime” boss Fortis (Alex Pettyfer) is after them, hell-bent on getting the reward put on their heads…

The good, and the better

For an action/sci-fi film with romantic elements, it is not a shallow ride at all. This is not Fast and Furious (though I do appreciate that series’ entertainment value). It tackles immortality, unfair distribution of income, friendship, morality, doing things by the book vs. doing the right thing, greed, love and beyond. It just does it at a satisfying speed, with enough decent one-liners and a good cast.

Who doesn’t want to be immortal, stuck at the beautiful (apparent) age of 25? I know I would. I also wouldn’t mind stopping aging now at 28, or 10,20,30 years later. The issue here is how you get the “immortality”. You have as many years as your money can afford. Sure, you can die if someone kills you or you kill yourself. But watch your diet and you’re golden. But would you want to earn those years through the lives of others?

Everyone automatically gets a year after 25. Work, steal, borrow…if you can’t collect time one way or the other, you are dead as soon as time runs out.

The rich are afraid to be reckless and impulsive. The poor barely see the next day. It’s unfair, just like the real world. Money can’t buy happiness (for some), but it sure improves your living conditions.

Crime rate is higher in the ghettos, and the rich are well-protected.

It’s a little look into our world, with a twist on our genetics and the replacement currency.

Niccol is great at looking into human nature, and combining a few different natures in his films. He gives us the good, the bad and the grey (Timekeeper Raymond, Will’s best friend). He can shock and entertain as much as he wants. He doesn’t have a problem a set of famous and capable actors.

Yes, I loved Lord of War, despite it was an emotionally disturbing and thought-provoking experience. I loved Gattaca for it was a great sci-fi with substance about how far we can go with genetics and In Time is the movie to remind you that you don’t have forever. But even if you could, you need to be able to more than just breathe and look nice to feel alive.

I want to see it again, but I’m torn. Maybe I should cash in those 109 minutes for a different experience. I mean I don’t live forever right?

Mad Love: The Following Episode 4 Review – The Mad Get Madder

Posted on February 16, 2013 Written by ripitup

The Following Epsiode 4 images — The Following screenshots from episode 4, Mad Love. Image via andyl.org.

I know I’ve posted only about The Following for the last couple of weeks, but it is the first time I’ve kept my promise (to myself) for writing regularly of a TV show that I really like. But worry not, a non-Following related post is on its way.

Until then, let’s take a look at another exciting episode:

(*Yes, there’ll be spoilers!)

MAD LOVE: EVENTS

To catch up with the episodes or refresh your memory, you can start with ……………

The kidnappers/Joe’s followers Emma (Valorie Curry), Paul (Adan Canto) and Jacob (Nico Tortorella) still have Joe’s son Joey, to the increasing panic of his mother Claire (Natalie Zea). After all they sent her an email showing him how to kill animals.

Ryan (Kevin Bacon) gets distracted, however, when Maggie, the lunatic wife of the Poe-masked killer Ryan killed, kidnaps his sister Jenny (Susan Misner) and tells him that she’ll let him go if he shows up unarmed and alone. Ryan’s biggest fan, and possibly only friend, Weston (Shawn Ashmore) convinces him to go along with, proving to be the sane and sensible person of the episode.

In the meantime, Jacob is left with the task of killing the girl Paul brought in, and Paul finally lets in Emma on Jacob’s secret: It’s not that they were actually having an affair when they were “pretending to be gay” – something Emma is already aware of. But that Jacob hasn’t killed anyone. This makes Emma more determined that it should be Jacob who kills the girl. But he isn’t ready so he lets her go. Unfortunately, she can’t run far without being wounded and recaptured by Paul and Emma-who seem to have formed a creepy new alliance over their killing experience and love for Paul.

Over in Brooklyn, as Weston tries to find a way in, Maggie has Ryan tied up, lying on makeshift table across her tied-up sister Jenny. Her plan is to make Jenny watch while her brother dies. There’s nothing that Ryan can do as she places magnetic fields on his chest, making his heart batteries stop.

Thankfully Weston comes in on time, saving Ryan and Jenny. Unfortunately, he ends up killing Maggie too, but now at least he has her phone and emails.

We get a few more flashbacks to Ryan and Claire relationship where Ryan decides to leave her for her own good. From what we can see, they are still in love with each other. But Ryan, being the good guy that he is, he doesn’t spend time with her other than to ask her how she’s doing and update her about the case.

MAD LOVE: Thoughts

Ryan is being a boy scout for no good reason

It might be just me, but I can’t wait for Ryan to follow his heart and reignite his affair with Claire.

What’s the point of staying away from Claire when Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) is back in their lives with a vengeance and doesn’t seem likely to be leaving any time soon? Besides, Ryan is a bit too optimistic in thinking that a woman can leave her past behind just because the FBI agent related to the case broke up with her. Hello? A serial killer ex active again from prison, with followers all over the country, with her son kidnapped by 3 of them…Where fake backgrounds are professional enough to fool the FBI.

Will Ryan smarten up?

Glad he’s armed again and all that, but what’s with trusting a lunatic to save his sister? Yes, it is the mistake every cop has ever done in pretty much any situation where the villain tells them “show up alone unarmed or he/she dies.” Right, because villains have always kept their word about not killing an innocent person. Please…

And this is not any villain, it is the psycho, revenge-seeking, Joe-following wife of the guy Ryan killed an episode ago.

OK, so even if we excuse Ryan’s panicked behavior, what the hell was he thinking not having his sister placed in protective custody? He has only one person to protect, so it’s not like FBI would deny him such a request. And since neither Carroll would play without Ryan, or they could crack the case without Ryan, all Ryan would have to do is to threaten to walk away.

But then again, I guess we should be lucky Ryan only really screwed up this time. Up until now, FBI was driving us crazy with their mistakes.

The mad get madder- The Threesome

Well, considering Emma was OK with Paul and Jacob having played house for 3 years and she was already dating Jacob, it wouldn’t have been that hard for her to do some stuff with Paul. He is the hot one, after all.

And hey, since Paul and Jacob seem to be more bi than gay, being in a three-way relationship could be a better option than Paul or Emma killing the other one in her/his sleep.

Let’s add one more thing to the things poor Joey will need to solve in therapy.

There’s a smart boy: Joey finds the phone

Claire’s son is smarter than he’s letting the kidnappers believe. He makes a mental note of where the cell phone is, which he’ll be using in the next episode where we are probably getting a confrontation between the FBI and the kidnappers.

Mad Love wasn’t that gory or disturbing. But it added some decent developments to the story. We got rid of another Joe follower, found out an interesting secret about Jacob, we had a scene where Emma and Paul made out other than fight or insult each other…We also got a creepy little information about Joe: he doesn’t mind if his following hasn’t killed anyone yet…They can join, and do the deed when they are ready…

What is your favorite episode so far?

The Following 1×03 The Poet’s Fire Review: What’s with the FBI?

Posted on February 6, 2013 Written by ripitup

The Following episode three- the poet's fire — James Purefoy and Kevin Bacon. Image via screenrant.com.

The Following’s third episode aired, and it’s still as addictive as ever. But the problem is, the writers keep presenting us some really ridiculous scenarios along with all the cool and exciting. Let’s go over the storyline, and then point out the good and the bad.

The Poet’s Fire- The Following 1×03- Some main stuff

– Claire’s (Natalie Zea) son is still with the two neighbors and his nanny, seemingly happy and playing around.

– FBI has smartened up a little, and has given Hardy (Kevin Bacon) a gun- who now canvasses the crime scene with other agents, complete with his bullet-proof vest, decreasing the possibility of being hit at the back of the head by one of Joe’s (James Purefoy) followers (aka episode 2).

– A follower’s MO is fire, as depicted in the end of this episode and we are shown more about his relationship with the others.

If you don’t want spoilers, stop here, please bookmark this page and come back after you’ve watched the show!

If you have seen the episode, let’s roll:

The Poet’s Fire- The Cool:

– The setting-on-fire scene. It’s creepy, the victim is chosen for a reason that is revealed by Carroll a bit later and we’re given a good reason on why a guy dressed as Poe and reciting his lines isn’t perceived as strange.

– We get another potential victim, the fire guy’s wife. Sure, we can suspect her, but there’s also the possibility of she’s a victim just like Carroll’s wife. She’s appropriately traumatized.

– The first meeting of Joe and Ryan-and how reassuring and normal Joe seems.

– The expected unraveling of one of the neighbors, and confirming our guess about how the gay pretense wasn’t exactly pretense

– The very ending – the e-mail to Claire.

The Poet’s Fire-The (really) bad:

-After knowing how well Emma and neighbors forged their backgrounds, Ryan and the cult expert (though more she, than Ryan) buying into the Poe-masked killer’s wife’s background, leaving her alone in the office with the computer), and then sending her to her home-with one agent as protection!!!! And the demise of the agent…

Now you’d think that with all the screw-ups since episode 1 (not giving Ryan a gun, not taking him seriously and not listening to him-leading to Sarah’s death…), the leading agent would be smart enough not to buy into the wife’s story, and not send her with one agent. Even if she was telling the truth, one man wouldn’t be enough. They don’t know the number of killers the husband might be working for, and what if that one agent went to the bathroom for crying out loud?? Who’d protect the woman then?

While the bad is really bad, thankfully the cool outweighs it. Maybe later we’ll be given a moer reasonable explanation to the lead agent’s behavior, such as her being a follower of Joe!!

Still, my addiction level remains the same, and I’m loving how the show keeps it all about Joe and Ryan episode after episode without straying from what makes the show, with only adding to it.

Let’s hope the good guys make smarter calls in the fourth episode…

Favorite Line: “I slipped.”

While talking to Jordy, the nutjob guard-turned-psycho, Ryan repeatedly asks him where Claire’s son is. When he doesn’t answer, Ryan elbows him really hard, and when Parker (the leading agent) says “Ryan”, Ryan casually says: “I slipped.”

Looking forward to episode 4!

Suggested Reading

The Following starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy: Epic Start

The Following 1×02 Chapter Two Review: Still cool, and yes, Hardy Needs to Toughen Up. But how?