Category Archives: Entertainment

The Killing – TV Series

I recently started watching a newly airing TV series titled: The Killing.

Based on a Danish series by the same name, The Killing can be summed up with its tagline: who killed Rosie Larsen?

Set in Seattle, Washington, the show follows the series of police investigations revolving around the murder of a teenage girl, Rosie Larsen, found dead in the submerged trunk of a politician’s car. When the city of Seattle is at the brink of mayoral elections, every twist in the Rosie Larsen murder case has more ramifications than that of a simple investigation. Some people want the truth to be hidden forever, while others long for it.

The first season is made up of thirteen episodes, each chronicling one day of the investigation. The show is highly absorbing. The overall tone is very dark, and it shows. The city is almost always gloomy and so is the whole ambiance. You delve into their world. You live the sorrow of the Larsen family and the frustration of the police department and the political bickering of candidates trying to score points against each other using Rosie’s murder.

The Killing is highly addictive as well. With each episode ending on a revelation regarding the investigation, it keeps you coming back to know what will happen. And unlike other murder investigation TV shows, this one is realistic. It is authentic. It is not about the death of Rosie Larsen, per se, as it is about the psychological aftermath.

Starring Mireille Enos as lead police investigator Sarah, The Killing has very strong acting. None of the actors and actresses in it underperform. They actually blow you away at certain points Michelle Forbes, whom I know from True Blood, gives a powerhouse performance as Rosie’s mother. At one point, when she learns her daughter died by drowning, she tries to mimic the feeling by submerging herself in the bathtub. Not able to continue through it, she emerges, weeping, clutching the side of the tub. And it is in moments like this that The Killing gives you chills.

Overall, this is a series that you must watch. Why? because it’s real, raw and sometimes gut-wrenching. The series does not shy away from ripping the bandaid while the wound is still fresh. On the contrary, it relishes in the idea of doing so. And I honestly really want to know who killed Rosie Larsen.

Edge Of Glory (Single Review) – Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga has been what you would call pretentious in her “Born This Way” era so far. In what way? well, she calls people to embrace who they are and yet, her image is fake, her covers are filled with prosthetic additions to her face  that make you cringe and her songs are anything but a simple manifestation of artistry.

More often than not, she writes songs that serve as a vehicle for her shock value entertainment, follows them up with a video that has nothing to do with the song, extends the video to about ten minutes and people go gaga over it. And it has been working for her except Judas isn’t doing as well as they thought it would, especially on pop radio.

Now, as part of an iTunes countdown to her album, Lady Gaga has released Edge Of Glory. I have mixed feelings about this. While I like the departure from the “religiously-controversial” and “born this way” themes to much less controversial stuff (such as love), I feel the song is simply deja vu.

Has Lady Gaga lost her touch? This is a song that doesn’t rely on techno music and electronic beats as much as it relies on simple pop music and it’s simply not as strong a tune that you would expect from someone who has given the masses hit after hit, some of which are quite good quality-wise.

Now, I’m not the best person to consider when it comes to Lady Gaga. I have yet to immediately get hooked on her songs. They usually get “stuck” so to speak due to radio overplaying them. But that’s not to say that “Edge Of Glory” isn’t catchy. After all, Lady Gaga knows how to write a crafty hook. And I especially like how the saxophone goes into play there. But I think when Lady Gaga tackles the issue of love for the first time in a single, I thought it would be more like this song (Captivated) before she went all gaga:

Regardless of what I think, her fans will eat this up. Watch it become #1 on iTunes in a few hours and debut high atop the Billboard Hot 100 next week. But selling truckloads of singles isn’t always a sign of quality. And I think Lady Gaga has become too indulgent.

Listen to Edge Of Glory here:

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Blake Shelton’s Anti-Gay Tweet. Overreaction Much?

For those who don’t know him, Blake Shelton is currently one of the top male country stars. He’s a judge on the new US TV Show “The Voice” and he’s currently engaged to country star Miranda Lambert.

Blake Shelton is also very candid on his twitter timeline. He tweets whatever he pleases and doesn’t care about the repercussions. In other words, he tweeted PETA about his love for hunting.

However, it looks like one of his latest tweets has sparked some controversy, by getting it labeled as an anti-gay tweet and gay rights group asking for an apology. What was the tweet? here it is:

A little research led me to the original Shania Twain lyrics: “Any man of mine better walk the line/better show me a teasin’, squeezin’, pleasin’ kind of time.”

The gay rights group said that this reflected “poor judgement” on Shelton’s part and said his tweet is “unacceptable”.

As a result, Blake tweeted the following apology:

Now honestly, I don’t think there’s anything anti-gay in Blake Shelton’s tweets. You could say they’re anti-harassment tweets. And I think the gay rights group need to get a grip. I’m sure they wouldn’t allow any man to have his “behind” grabbed without him wanting to.

Overall, gay rights groups need to tone it down on the oversensitivity.

The Vampire Diaries – The Sun Also Rises

Those who know me are well aware that The Vampire Diaries is, currently, my favorite TV show – by far. It combines all the elements that I like in a TV show: suspense, twists, shockers and a fantasy storyline.

Say all you want about the whole vampire obsession which spread like wildfire with Twilight, but The Vampire Diaries is not Twilight. Let me put it this way, The Vampire Diaries is so much better than the Twilight books and movies that they are rendered more useless than they already are. They are rendered irrelevant.

I hadn’t blogged before about The Vampire Diaries because I didn’t know what I was supposed to write. After all, you can’t really write a synopsis of the show without giving too much away and you can’t review episodes because they would contain spoilers.

But don’t worry, this is pretty much spoiler free.

The latest episode, aired yesterday, of The Vampire Diaries (titled “The Sun Also Rises”) is one of the most epic TV episodes I have ever watched. It is an episode that doesn’t let down for 45 minutes, constantly escalating an already red-alert level storyline. You are basically taken to adrenaline stratosphere level – and no, I am not exaggerating.

This could have easily served as the season finale. It had everything you could ask for as a conclusion to a TV show season. But it’s such a big episode that the writers probably thought the viewers would be morally scarred if they left the season at that. After “The Sun Also Rises”, we need some form of resolution.

But “The Sun Also Rises” starts setting up the pace for season three. And by the looks of it, it will be even better.

Finally, have you ever watched something and it got so stuck in your head that as you walked around and remembered parts of it, you basically got goosebumps? That was me today as I headed towards an exam and the only thing I could think of was how epic the episode was. And yeah, I basically aced the exam also.

Fast Five – Movie Review

Fast Five is the latest installment in the Fast and Furious movie franchise. It stars regulars of the past four movies: Vin Diezel as Dom, Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner as well as introducing Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs, a DSS agent, specialized in finding wanted criminals.

Former FBI agent Brian O’Conner, along with Mia, Dom’s sister, help Dom escape a 25 year prison sentence while being taken to jail on a prison bus. They split up and agree to meet in Rio De Janeiro. However, Mia and Brian run low on cash and agree on doing a job for their friend. The job turns out much complicated than expected, however. The train on which the cars are found are seized property by DEA agents. And among the three cars to be taken, there’s only one in which those running the operation have special interest. Why? because it contains information about the location of $100 million, drug money, that Dom and co decide to steal and use to buy their freedom. But the money belongs to the most corrupt man in Rio and they’re being haunted by Luke Hobbs.

The fact that this movie is meant to entertain more than garner awards does not excuse the horrible performances you have to bear with for about two hours. There’s a sheer amount of melodrama in the way the actors react to what they have to do that is just mind blowing. At some points, you can’t but sit and look at the screen and go: “are they kidding me?”

Moreover, the script, especially most of the dialogue, is garbage material. I cannot conceive how the actors actually agreed on uttering some of the lines that were said. Some of those include: “I like my dessert first” when asked if they wanted good news or bad news first, followed by “now give me the vegetables”, among other lines spread throughout the movie that are completely ridiculous.

And even though you’re expecting to go into a movie with lots of cars, don’t be too disappointed when you see little car action sequences. At one point, they basically set up a race and jumped into the next scene with the race already done. There is an emphasis on the “furious” part though. The characters are almost angry all the time.

The final sequence of the movie, however, was well done. Even though it defied every law of physics that I know, it was still an enjoyable watch. And the overall resolution is quite smart, even though you might have seen it coming.

Overall, the movie should have been more accurately titled “Furious Five” but I guess that would have gotten some people confused with Kung Fu Panda. Why? because the amount of anger in the movie is unbelievable and always over the top. Although the cars and women that are featured are quite awesome, the movie fails. Why? simply because it’s too indulgent. The movie makers know this will be a hit financially and that’s all they cared about: deliver action sequences that keep a viewer entertained (hate them or like them, you cannot but watch action sequences) and that viewer would forget about all the other silly and ridiculous stuff. I’m not saying you won’t enjoy it, after all, it is a movie about cars and weapons and women, but it could have been done in a much, much better way. And watch out for The Godfather reference at the end.