Gone Baby Gone

So I've reached my 200th review. Since I'm in a little bit of a crime mystery thriller genre splurge, I thought I'd watch and review a movie that is probably on one of my Top Ten favorite movies of all time list. And I said I would review this movie a long time ago when I did my review of The Town, so I thought it was time I reviewed this film.

Gone Baby Gone is the story based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. Now this is a book to film adaptation that I actually read prior to watching the movie a long time ago. I'm not sure how I decided to read this book but like the movie, it has to be one of my favorite books as well.

Little known fact, (or maybe its a well known fact) but this was Ben Affleck's first feature length film debut.

The same way Matthew McConaughey had a revival with the McConaissance, Gone Baby Gone began the thread of movies that suddenly made Ben Affleck a credible name again. This was the film that made me actually start to like Ben Affleck again.

Now, does that mean he can play Batman? I still don't know.

In all seriousness, something about this film and directing in general gave Ben Affleck some actual direction into how to act because suddenly he started being good again.

Now, I personally think that the guy is better at directing than he is at acting, but it definitely helped his career incredibly.

He actually just starred in a movie with a similar name called, Gone Girl. I haven't seen the film but its been haunting me the past few weeks so I'm thinking I might give in and make my way to a theater to go check it out. I've seen Argo, I've seen the Town, but I don't feel as though I've really seen Ben Affleck in enough to really tell whether or not I like him as an actor. I think I do, I just need reassurances every once in a while.

I'm hoping that Gone Girl will put my faith back in him as an actor. But this film, this film gives me all the faith I need in him as a director. The man kills it.

Gone Baby Gone follows the story of Patrick Kenzie (played by Casey Affleck), a private detective in Boston. He and his girlfriend Angie (played by Michelle Monaghan) are hired by the aunt and uncle of a recently missing child. They are hired to help the investigation into the missing Amanda McCready.

Kenzie joins the investigating officers, Remy Bressant (played by Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (played by John Ashton) in finding the little girl. Patrick and Angie believe they can help the investigation by asking around to people in the neighborhood, a neighborhood Patrick grew up in, and find people who may not talk to the police and may know something about the disappearance.

The part that makes this investigation difficult is that when they meet the mother, suddenly its obvious that the household little Amanda was growing up in was not the greatest environment.

Amy Ryan plays Helene McCready. Now there's a reason Ryan was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress because by god, she's phenomenal in this film.

Honestly the only other thing I know Amy Ryan from is being Holly from the Office and that's a very different role.

In this film, Helene McCready is a white trash drug mule who at first doesn't seem at all slighted by the fact that her daughter has been missing for three days. Its realized that the reason Amanda may have been taken was because Helene and her boyfriend stole drug money from a drug lord named Cheese (played by Edi Gathegi).

While Helene probably isn't the best mother on the planet, there's a moment where it suddenly kicks in and Helene suddenly realizes that her daughter might be gone for good. Prior to this scene she was joking around, being very carefree and then the change is subtle, but she realizes her child may not be coming back, and its phenomenal.

The sequential storyline zig zags in and out, making you wonder who actually took Amanda McCready and is she still alive?

The movie is a gritty, incredibly in depth Law and Order SVU episode, and its just so damn good. It also deals with some heavy shit. Its very heavy into crimes against children and its the kind of stuff that is hard to swallow sometimes. Ed Harris gives a great monologue on anybody who would ever hurt a child in the way they discover later in the film and he lays it out, if you hurt a child, if you molest a child, you better start running when you see me because you will be put into the ground.

And I guess while I'm on him, Harris blows it out of the water. Besides Amy Ryan, he probably gives the best performance of the entire cast, and the best performance I've seen him do in a long time. Remy Bressant is not a nice cop. He's not exactly clean either but he will do whatever it takes to take down people who hurt children.

Morgan Freeman is in this film. He rocks it as usual. He plays the Captain of the Police. The man can act. There's moments where I see this guy see something he doesn't like or you can tell he's hurt and its just heartbreaking. While his part isn't as big as others, he steals the show every time he's on screen.

I've already talked about Amy Ryan in this film. She's just this white trash, coked out, mother, and yet she's charming.

Now I'm not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing but not only does Amy Ryan give a great performance as white trash stereotypical Bostonites, but so does almost everyone in this film.

The uncle (played by Titus Welliver) the aunt (played by Amy Madigan), Helene's friend Dotty, they all make me want to avoid Boston as much as I humanly can.

I don't know what Ben Affleck's thing is with Boston and the accents. A part of me thinks its a cool accent but watching this it just makes me want to punch everyone with that really deep and thick Boston accent.

But you know... go Pawk The Caw! (That was my best impression of a Boston accent through typing)

Michelle Monaghan though...

I talked about Ms. Monaghan in my True Detective review, I also talked about her in my Mission Impossible 3 review.

In both I wasn't the biggest fan of her. I liked her in True Detective enough and I think its about the same in this film.

Let me be clear about something. I don't think Michelle Monaghan is a bad actress. They obviously see something in her that brings her back to great films like this and great shows like True Detective. However, I feel like, without seeing more, I have only seen her in good movies, movies that are not good because of her, movies that she's just in.

That was my thought process with Ben Affleck when he started being in good films, I was wondering if I actually like Affleck, or did he just pick a film that I liked? I'm kind of wondering the same thing with Michelle Monaghan. She's not a brilliant part of the film, she's just kind of there. Still undecided on her but its films like this and True Detective (not a film I know) that makes me reconsider her. Maybe I'm wrong about her, but I'm not convinced yet.

Then you have Casey Affleck. Now I think I've seen Affleck in enough to really give me a good picture into whether or not I like him as an actor and I think I do.

The big problem I have with Casey is how mumbles almost every word he says. And this isn't just for Gone Baby Gone, this is in every film he's in. Oceans 11-13, The Assassination of Jesse James. Its just the same mumbled barely audible talk he does.

He's entertaining and he makes a really good lead in this film, but he's not perfect. That's really the only complaint I have with the film and its not even that big. Cause while he mumbles, the guy can act. Its a similar case to what I said about McConaughey in True Detective that he's this stoic quiet spoken character, but there is so much more and he really does it well in this film.

This again is a case that I don't have that much to say about the film that I didn't like. Again, I can't be that objective just because there's so many things that are great about this film. There's action, there's great dialogue, there are moments that made me cry, the characters are good, the actors are good playing them, its just too damn good and its very hard for me to point out things that are "wrong" with it.

So again, I'm asking you, what did you think of Gone Baby Gone? For me, its one of my favorite movies of all time and I'm glad its my 200th review. Comment and Discuss below!

I'll leave you with this. I was trying to find something really great to put on the 200th review... but I really couldn't find anything that monumental. So instead, I'm gonna give you the trailer of the movie I'll hopefully be reviewing soon. It looks fascinating, its got Batfleck in it. I'm excited to see it. Here's the trailer for Gone Girl. Enjoy!

True Detective

Holy shit... If that wasn't a different turn than Veronica Mars...

So while Mud was the first movie I saw in full of the McConaissance, True Detective was the first thing I watched of the McConaissance and the first thing that made me want to explore the comeback.

I watched a couple of episodes, was slightly impressed, especially with how dark and introspective a character like Rust Cohle was and how likeable and yet how much of an asshole Woody Harrelson's character Marty was. The show was interesting from the get go. And then I had limited wifi, I wasn't able to watch it consistently until today... and then I binge watched the other half of the season.

True Detective follows the uneasy relationship between Marty Hart (played by Woody Harrelson), a state police detective who hasn't seen much action and and describes himself as pretty normal and average, and Rust Cohle (played by Matthew McConaughey).

The two of them investigate the murder of a young woman who was killed in a ceremonially, satanic manner. Both Rust and Marty are deeply affected by the murder and they continue on a path to discover who the serial murderer is, and stop him before he kills again. This investigation spans over almost two decades, and a lot of it is told in flashbacks. Marty and Rust are being investigated in 2010 and reflect on their careers leading up to that point.

And that's not even a good synopsis.

I would like to explain this further but I'm running into spoiler territory. So if you haven't seen this, SEE IT! Usually I disclaim that spoilers are coming up and they're at your own risk but this is a situation where I insist you go and watch True Detective. DO IT!

By god, if these two aren't one of the best team ups I have ever seen, I don't know who is.

As I said before, Marty is a pretty average detective. He's in good standing and he knows how to properly investigate. At the beginning of the flashbacks, its been about 3 months that they've been partners and Marty is still getting used to Rust's abnormal behavior.

And when I say abnormal behavior... I just that Rust Cohle is quite simply put, just one of the craziest mother fuckers you will ever see on television.

Its not an outward crazy though. Rust is introspective, quiet, and calculating.

They call him the Tax Man at the beginning because of his giant ledger he takes to crime scenes. He has these moments where he's talking to Marty and he's just spewing off these monologues that are just introspective and quiet honestly, depressing. But these are the kinds of rants you'd find in Fight Club and other hippy BS like that. There's no doubt you'll find T-shirts sooner or later of things Rust Cohle says trying to make better meaning out of it that it already is. But I digress.

What is better than Rust's rants of depression are Marty's reaction to them. Marty is the vehicle of sanity and at first, he's what we can relate to as we watch this character do his thing. Marty, at first, seems like the normal character... but that soon changes.

Its quickly discovered that Marty is having an affair behind the back of his wife (played by Michelle Monaghan). And then you have all of Marty's drama with his family and dealing with alcoholism, and children who eventually grow up. And by god if that isn't some of the best personal drama I've seen in a long time.

I feel like I might be overselling this show but the same thing was done to me when I first heard of it.

This was one of the many shows my good friend and fellow movie/TV watcher was hyping up for a long time. It was this and Dexter. Now I watched Dexter... and I wasn't impressed. So you can imagine why I was a little hesitant to watch this show.

Now I was planning on watching this show, I mean its two hollywood actors doing a crime thriller, why wouldn't I watch this. But it wasn't on my list of priorities. Well this show has put my friends credibility back up because this is one of the best pieces of work that I have ever seen on HBO. The story is just so rich, the characters are just so well established and interact with each other perfectly. There is literally very few things that I can say bothered me or were things I did not love in this show.

And this show was intense. I mean we're talking occult stuff with crazy symbols and antlers being used as crowns for victims of murder. Not to mention we're in the bayou of Louisiana and there is some fucked up shit going on down there.

Lets talk individual performances.

Woody Harrelson - By god the man can act. At first I thought Harrelson was going to have more of an observation role, he was going to be the one marking the behavior of Rust Cohle. But no, second episode you figure out he's having an affair and they delve into that vice and how he copes as a guy who is knowingly cheating on his wife. And then they bring in alcohol and that just makes things even more messy. And later there's him being a father and how his temper can get the best of him.

Marty Hart is a really, really interesting character. Woody Harrelson knocks it out of the park. You want to despise him for hurting his wife, being an all around asshole but at the same time he acknowledges that he's fucked up. He's likeable and yet incredibly fallible.

I'll get to Matthew McConaughey in a second but in correspondence with Woody Harrelson's character, I want to talk about Michelle Monaghan.

I haven't seen Michelle Monaghan in a lot of stuff. One of the first things I saw her in was Mission Impossible 3. Here's my review for that in case you're interested. I wasn't wild about her in that film but that was a totally different kind of film.

Her in this... is alright. I'll give it, she's a lot better than I originally thought she was, because honestly I wasn't that wild about her being in it to begin with. But she brings it in this show. Is she phenomenal? No. But she's pretty good considering.

She does a good job of a woman just getting sucked into the bullshit that Marty Hart is going through. One way or another, she sticks around despite his bullshit (at least for a while). And she does a pretty good job.

Again, I'm not wild about her but I feel like she's a good part of the awesomeness that is True Detective and completes the circle, even if its a small piece.

But the largest part, by far is in Matthew McConaughey's Rust Cohle.

This show would be your run of the mill crime drama if it wasn't for Matthew McConaughey and his dark, introspective, cold interpretation of Rust Cohle.

Now it could be argued that this performance is not good at all, its just stoic and doesn't show off McConaughey's acting skills, especially if he's just monotone and stoic the entire time. And that would be true if not for two reasons.

First, the character kind of calls for it. This is a man who has nothing in his apartment at the beginning but a bed and a stack of books. He's been divorced because of the death of a child, he's been so far undercover its painful.

Oh and you want to talk about being undercover. There's an episode where he goes undercover, does a line (mulitple lines) of cocaine. McConaughey looks like shit in that scene. Its just a phenomenal performance.

The second reason that argument doesn't work is because it only really happens in the first episode. He's very stoic and introspective in the beginning but either I get used to it, or it becomes more complex and intriguing as the story goes on. And I'm certain its the latter.

Rust Cohle is not just stoic, he's fascinating. The shit that comes out of this guys mouth is actually really hilarious and yet it kind of makes you think. And same as Marty, this guy isn't a good guy. He's later known as the guy who can get a confession or get people to talk and he's just bluntly honest with them. There's a point where they're getting information out the ex-boyfriend of the diseased about the man who they think murdered her. As they're leaving the ex-boyfriend asks if he might have been responsible for his girlfriends death, Rust just flat out says, yeah you could be.

And that's a really great element of the show. Its deeper than most crime mystery dramas. This could be obvious since its not an episodic serial and instead a mini series from HBO.

But that's the great thing about this show. As much as Rust Cohle can be an asshole, he's honest with people. They say he's got integrity. And a lot of the rants he goes on, you can chalk it up to depressing thinking or over simplification of a more complex issue, but at the end of the day, he's not wrong.

He talks about existence, consciousness, all that crazy introspective things and it makes you think.

Do you have to come out of this show with a change in personal beliefs or way of life? Of course not. But its a great comparison especially with the two characters of Rust and Marty.

The comparison between the two's monologues and words said in the investigations in 2010 are great antithesis to each other.

In case I haven't said it enough, this show is just too damn good. As far as the McConaissance goes, its probably the best I've seen. It blows Mud out of the water, that's for damn sure. Its a shame that McConaughey is not coming back for the second season of True Detective but I think the show ended his storyline really well and McConaughey himself was satisfied with the end of the show. No need to overstay a welcome.

There's a lot more I can say about this show but its obvious that I love it too much to really find anything critically wrong with it. If you can, please let me know. I'm more than willing to hear other opinions of the show. There's not too many shows that I want to buy the entire season right after I just watched it, but this is one of them.

That's my opinion on True Detective. What do you think? Comment and Discuss below.

I'll leave you with this. You want a good example of the kind of shit that comes out of Rust Cohle's mouth? Watch this, Pete Holmes hits it on the head. Enjoy!

Veronica Mars: Season 1

This honestly was not how I imagined I would spend a week of doing absolutely nothing. I had it in mind that I would be watching more TV, but at the beginning of the week I didn't have any wifi and I had borrowed this season from a friend I'm living with. And thus came the binge watch of Veronica Mars.

I had heard of Veronica Mars of course. Kristen Bell's breakout role, a neo noir about a high school girl working as a private investigator. It was something that I had heard really good things about it but could never find the reason to actually go out of my way to watch it. Well, as the circumstances I described above unfolded, I started it and ended up forcing myself to get through it so I can just move on with my life. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I'll describe in a little bit.

Veronica Mars follows the title character who is your average high school girl... except that she's a private detective.

Right from the get go, Veronica paints herself as an outsider, a social outcast. But whats more is that she used to be a part of the popular crowd. That was until her best friend Lily (played by a very young Amanda Seyfried) is murdered, her father(played by Enricio Colantoni), the former Sheriff of the town, botches the investigation, and her and her boyfriend Duncan (played by Ted Dunn) breaks up with her.

Suddenly, Veronica is shamed as a slut, thrown out of any popular circles, her mother skips town, and is possibly drugged and raped at a party.

As you can see, this show is foaming over with high school drama and bullshit that you know I really can't stand. Its telling that the final season of this show was aired on the CW.

The mother fucking CW.

I've wrote a lot on the CW. You can read my DC TV rant, or my review of the Pilot of Arrow. But you might just get the picture if I just tell you that the CW is a horrible place where people think that just because you're pretty, you can act. Its not true. Just because you accentuate the stereotypes we all apparently saw in high school, doesn't mean that you're entertaining television.

And yet, the CW does not leave. One way or another I end up writing reviews of television shows from the CW and it might not cease quite yet. I still have to finish the 1st season of Arrow, and I may have promised my girlfriend I would start watching Vampire Diaries when I get back...

Now to be fair, the first two seasons of Veronica Mars were on the UPN network... I don't know what the UPN network was like back in the day its just a shame because this show does not feel like your run of the mill CW highschool bullshit.

The people in this show can act. I'm not saying they should win an Oscar (or an Emmy if we're being correct) but its entertaining and I don't feel patronized. I don't know why Veronica Mars was cancelled after the third season but my uninformed self blames the CW.

But enough about that. I say that this isn't like your typical CW show because while it has its highschool bullshit moments, the show has another side.

Along with being a high school student, Veronica works with her father as a private detective. A usual episode has about three threads to it. One is a job Veronica is doing for her friends in highschool, one is work Veronica is helping her father do as a private detective, and the third thread is more of a season wide thread. Something having to do with the murder of Lily Kane, her rape, or her mother.

The latter two are where things get really good for the show and it just gets interesting.

I have to give Kristen Bell credit. She has talent for making a petite blonde girl look at least a little bit intimidating. Veronica is smart, she's sassy, and she's just down right entertaining. From the very beginning, you feel for the experiences this character has gone through, but its not pity, its the persona she builds for herself that tries to make Veronica that strong independent woman that everyone wants to root for. She doesn't need to be popular, she doesn't need to be the most gorgeous, she's got her brains and her personality.

That being said, I don't always buy it.

There's a line near the beginning of the season where she's talking with Weevile (played by Francis Capra), the leader of a biker gang who is poor, has a criminal record, and just isn't in the popular circles as well. He says, you come down here and act like we're the same but at the end of the day, you're just like the other popular kids. You like to paint yourself as a loner, but you're really no different from them.

And that's not really developed that much. He has a point. Veronica, while cast out of popular circles and slut shamed, never seems to really have a problem working with all the people who say they hate her. Sure, Logan Echolls (played by Jason Dohring) and the other popular kids make fun of her but its really out of no context whatsoever. They're just assholes... because they're assholes.

I guess the idea is that her father was so set that Jake Kane, Duncan's father, killed Lily Kane, that Veronica chose her father over her friends and created herself as a social pariah...

I don't know, there isn't a lot of consistency with that line. Maybe its looking into the effects of peer pressure and high school drama and how people don't actually hate Veronica, they are just following the trends? I don't know.

Its also a matter of, as much as Kristen Bell wants to tell me that she's unpopular and nobody likes her... I just can't always buy it.

They have all these flashbacks to when Veronica was a part of the cool kids crowd and she's got her long hair and her trendy outfits, and then you look at her in the present day...

 I don't know. I just don't buy it all the time.

Kristen Bell is adorable. You'll see in the video I post at the end of this review. How can anybody not like her?

Quick side note: The way they make fun of her and all the unpopular kids is really, really funny. Not in its stuff I'm laughing at but more like who in gods name would tease someone like this?

For example: There's an episode where a girl accuses a teacher of sleeping with her. So she becomes unpopular. People start making fun of her. You want to know the way they do that? The way they make fun of her is sing Don't Stand Too Close To Me from The Police...

Anyway, I've gone on a long rant about Veronica, let's talk about other characters and the plot of the show.

The other characters are alright. For some reason I really like Enricio Colantoni. He was the main reason the show was intriguing to me in the first place. Honestly, him and Kristen Bell just steal the show. You've got Percy Daggs III, a new kid who becomes Veronica's best friend. You've got Duncan... Teddy Dunn is kind of a shitty actor honestly.

Francis Capra is fun... enough. He's not the greatest actor but he does fill a fun role. A part of private investigator story lines is that they tend to work with people that the law wouldn't usually work with. Now I think they really just gave Francis Capra a leather jacket and a motorcycle and suddenly he's suppose to be Mr. Badass, but what really could they do? It was a shot and it paid off... sorta.

The big kicker is Logan Echolls. From the beginning, Logan is described as a psychopath, a bully, an asshole. Now his family life is shown and its not exactly the best upbringing. But where the show got it right with making Veronica have a fucked up past but getting through it, I almost feel like I'm suppose to like Logan because I feel bad for him. And it doesn't really help that Jason Dohring isn't that great of an actor. Maybe its the script, and maybe he gets better in later seasons, but I had too many times where I wasn't impressed with Logan Echolls as a character. I think he gets slightly better as the show goes on and perhaps he got a lot better as they kept him around, but I wasn't really impressed with him overall.

The fun part about this show is all the cameos and early work this show provided for people who have really become successful since.

There's Kristen Bell of course, but Paris Hilton, Leighton Meester, (okay those weren't the best to start off with.) But Adam Scott, Amanda Seyfried, Alyson Hannigan, Tina Majorino, Aaron Ashmore.

Hell, Aaron freaking Paul had a guest role in this show, well before Breaking Bad.

I know this show isn't nearly as old as I'm making it out to be, but it is fun seeing a lot of these characters, and cameos, and guest appearances, and laughing to see where they are now. Some of them have been very successful... and some of them haven't. Its like watching old episodes of Law and Order. Every once in a while, you see an actor who was just starting out show up as a guest in the episode. Its a fun game of where's Waldo.

On top of that, its a fun ensemble. While not everyone is the greatest actor or actress, the whole of the show works well together and the characters really play off each other well.

But what about the story?

A lot of the show focuses on the investigation of the murder of Lily Kane. This murder is surrounded by lots and lots of different characters and suspects. All behind it theres a cover up, affairs, secrets, the works. As much as I've had my criticism of Amanda Seyfriend in the past, she's a great center point for the entire show. They lay it out in the first episode that everything fell apart for everyone after the murder of Lily Kane.

And then there's the Kane family and the secrets they have and you keep guessing every episode who could have done it. Now I just watched the finale of it about an hour ago and I'm still out on whether or not I think it was a good reveal.

It's something you won't expect, and yet it makes a lot of sense. Even watching this knowing they made a movie and seeing who is in that movie and deducting from who was in later seasons, I still had doubts on who it could have been.

And that's where the show gets really, really good.

I love the idea of Private Detectives. I think its a kind of old fashion idea, but whether its Phillip Marlowe, Sherlock Holmes, Liam Neeson in A Walk Among The Tombstones, Casey Affleck in Gone Baby Gone, or Veronica Mars, Private Detectives have the potential to be one of the greatest TV/movie professions ever.

The investigating, the mystery, not just in Lily's murder but throughout the show is just good. Lukcily, this is the meat and potatoes of the show and it only gets better as the season goes on. The show gets bolder, showing more high profile cases. People are actually in danger, all culminating to the murder of Lily Kane.

Now is it as grisly and edgy as Gone Baby Gone or A Walk Among the Tombstones? Not at all. Even the episode where they go after a serial killer was a very mediocre episode and not really that great. The episode where someone is kidnapped and the father doesn't want to go to the police doesn't really amount to much.

But it is really interesting. And it kept me coming back for more. And that's the struggle I had with this show.

I would never want anybody, especially a guy, to think that he couldn't watch this show because the main character is a female. And I would hope that we've gotten to a point where that's not the case. However, the show is not exactly marketed to me as a guy.

I'm not saying guys can't watch a show like this. But it reminds me, in many ways, to the Nancy Drew novels. There is nothing saying guys can't read Nancy Drew novels. In fact guys should probably read Nancy Drew novels, and they would probably enjoy them.

But were Nancy Drew novels written for men?

In many ways Nancy Drew was written as a female counter part to The Hardy Boys.

Now I have read neither so a lot of this is based off of the cultural impact of both books and what I can deduct from both of them. To me there's not much of a problem with Nancy Drew written with girls in mind and The Hardy Boys written with boys in mind.

The problem I have is when people think that one cannot read the other one. Like I've said before, there's nothing wrong with boys reading Nancy Drew or watching Veronica Mars. The fact of the matter is, if you're going to watch it, and you're a guy, expect some "girly" elements to it. You're going to get your highschool bullshit, you're going to get your relationships that kind of convolute the plot a little bit. These are not necessarily things that only girls will enjoy, but by what has been created as a norm, these things are considered "girly".

On the same hand, you get a murder mystery, scandal, and fun dialogue that both men and women can enjoy.

I should really do a comparison between this and the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Both had a little bit of the same problem. Its really interesting most of the time. The plot is intriguing that you just keep coming back and yet, for me, there was always something holding me back from saying this show is my shit and exactly what I'm looking for.

Maybe its the primetime content that doesn't allow the show to be edgier. Maybe its the acting, or maybe its stereotypes that subconsciously tell me I shouldn't be watching this show, its a girly show.

I don't think that's the case, mainly because the show is really good. I know that for a fact. And while I had my doubts about it and wondered if I should be watching something else, I had to binge watch it, as fast as I could. Mainly because I wanted to move onto something else, but I knew that would still have questions burning, like who killed Lily Kane, what are the answers to a lot of the secrets Veronica Mars handles so perfectly.

Is it a perfect show? No. But its pretty damn close. The show is entertaining, its fun, its got a great cast, a great heroine, and I won't be surprised if I track down the second season and binge watch that as well. I mean I have to finish the show before I review the movie... right?

Man it has been a while since I have reviewed an entire season of a show. I understand why, I haven't really had the time, for a long time to sit down and binge watch a television show. This was not a bad one to start off on.

That's my review of the first season of Veronica Mars. Have you watched it? Without spoilers (of the later seasons, or the movie) what did you think? Do you think its a show everyone should watch? Comment and Discuss Below!

I'll leave you with this. Like I said before, Kristen Bell is freaking adorable. Especially when she sees Sloths. Enjoy!

Mud

So I've begun to witness the strange phenomena that has been happening over the last few years but I was too stubborn to acknowledge. Its called the McConaissance.

Matthew McConaughey...

What a strange man.

Not long ago, the only thing you could find McConaughey in was sappy chick flicks like Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, or How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

I never really hated the guy. I just didn't take him seriously. I liked him in Sahara (a movie a lot of people apparently didn't like) but I never saw him as a serious actor.

And when he started showing up in new movies, I was very skeptical. I didn't think the guy had it in him to be anything other than eye candy for women. I mean you could do a drinking game to how many time this guy goes without a shirt in his movies (even the new ones) but you would probably die of alcohol poisoning.

But suddenly he starts showing up in these new movies and by god, the man actually has some talent beyond that (Ill admit) gorgeous smile and shirtless scenes. This new wave of movies and acting has been entitled The McConaissance. But is it all its cracked up to be?

I've started my observation of the McConaissance watching the first few episodes of True Detective.

Never have I ever wanted to buy a season on ITunes so quickly than I have with True Detective. I haven't even finished it yet and I already have a feeling its going to be spectacular.

I will get to True Detective, don't you worry. There is a shit load that I can say about that piece of wonder.

I'll start my series on the McConaissance with a little indie film simply titled, Mud. This is not totally by choice. It just happened to be a film I got from a friend's computer and I didn't feel like I should go balls to the wall with Dallas Buyers Club. I haven't seen it yet. I'm going to go into it with an open mind, say all you want about it but I'm remaining objective. I'm still slightly skeptical of this phenomena.

But onto Mud.

If you think this movie is about Matthew McConaughey, you're wrong.

Mud is actually a coming of age tale about two young boys by the name of Ellis (played by Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (played by Jacob Lofland)

These two are two simple kids from Arkansas who come across a stranger by the name of Mud (enter McConaughey).

Mud tells them that he is waiting for his girlfriend to come so they can run away together. But the boys figure out that Mud is actually a wanted criminal for murdering someone. Mud says it was somebody who was hurting his girlfriend, Juniper (played by Reese Witherspoon)

What follows is a complex, and quite frankly strange series of twists and turns that make up this coming of age tale.

While this is all happening. Ellis's parents are getting a divorce. He has this weird fling with a girl who is quite older than him. And Ellis holds onto this strange concept of love, a concept that is only strengthened by his relationship with Mud. The boys begin helping Mud with his escape. All the while the cops and bounty hunters are hunting Mud for the murder he committed.

I'm not gonna say McConaughey blows it out of the water with this film. He's good, don't get me wrong. But there's nothing about his performance that absolutely blows my mind.

I think its just more of the part that intrigues me. What I've found from True Detective and this movie is that McConaughey is trying to shed the pretty boy status he's had for years and show us a gritty, more introspective McConaughey. The kind of guy who is a loner and yet has that charismatic tongue with the Texan accent that just says words in a very specific way.

I don't know, its hard to explain. Both in this movie and in True Detective, he has these rants that are just beyond anything that people should actually be talking about.

Its not over the top in this film like it is in True Detective (again, we'll get to that in another review) but there's something strange about McConaughey. Something just oddly unpredictable...

Oh and there goes the shirt!

Now as far as the kids go, these actually aren't child actors. At least not in the way it used to be. While this kid is suppose to be 14, he's actually 17. But he looks younger... which was weird.

But he did a good job. Tye Sheridan may not be the best actor ever but he did a good job with the script. I wasn't wild about this movie being about a kid at first but I do care about the characters throughout. I don't want anything to happen to Ellis or Neckbone. I don't like seeing them get in trouble. And that's really what good story telling is. It makes the characters relatable

Like I said before, there's a weird thing going on with Ellis and this girl who is much older than him and he thinks she is his girlfriend. It all works together with the relationship between Mud and Juniper, the relationship between Ellis's parents, I don't know there's this great message of love and relationships that all come with a coming of age tale. The one thing I was bummed about was that when things don't go well with him and his "girlfriend" I was waiting for a scene like this.

Being the action and thriller junkie I am, things get really good when bounty hunters come and mess with Juniper and Mud. These are the moments you get to know more and more about Mud and thats the great part. You can't tell if he's a con man or a sucker. And it all connects, which makes this movie really good. There are so many themes and such spread throughout the film that even though there's only one or two action scenes, that's not what the movie is about.

Mud is a great film that shows off McConaughey's acting.

Again, while it doesn't completely sell me on the idea that McConaughey is a great actor and a force to be reckoned with... yet. It does tell me the guy can do more than Rom Coms.

There's a complicated side to McConaughey's acting and Mud shows that side of him in a great way. Its something totally different than what you've seen of him and I personally think it was a great way to start off the McConaissance for me.

But those are my thoughts on Mud. What did you think? What are your thoughts on the McConaissance and what are the movies that I need to watch in order to sell me on this idea. Comment and Discuss below!

I'll leave you with this. So Matt Damon does a really funny impression of Matthew McConaughey. I only thought it was necessary for that to be the video I put up. Enjoy!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I'm sorry if I'm short about this movie but this is a review I really don't want to write. I may have had a slight urge the other day but with other developments and movies/shows I've been watching, this movie just isn't a top priority.

And the same can be said about me wanting to watch it.

If you don't recall, I did a review of this movie's trailer a while back. Why? I'm not totally sure. But if you recall, I said this movie was another Transformers movie with Turtles... Well I wasn't totally wrong, but not totally right either. But I'll get to that in a second.

Honestly, this movie came out and I had no interest in seeing it. I remember it was a choice, do I see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... or Guardians of the Galaxy? You know what I chose and I to this day stand by that decision.

So this movie has not been on my list of priorities. Its only because I got it for free that I watched it.

So what happens in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The film centers around April O'Neil... or Megan Fox trying to be April O'Neil. I'm no Turtles master but I would be kind of sad if this was the best representation of April O'Neil they could give us and I was a big turtles fan.

Let's get this rant out of the way and then I can talk about the things that were actually good about this film... sorta.

The fact of the matter is, this movie could have been a lot better had Megan Fox not been in it. Again, I don't know much about April O'Neil but she's a big part of this film. If you don't have a good actress in this role and its just someone they put in for eye candy, its just hard to enjoy the film.

Also, while I thought Will Arnett was a great part of the movie, I wasn't quite sure why he was so interested in her. I'm not sure if they tried to make Fox look older or Arnett look younger but for some reason they thought that was a good couple... or something. Nothing happens, thank God, but its just weird. I'll talk more about Will Arnett later but I want to say one more thing about O'Neil in this movie.

She's fucking dumb!

This isn't about Megan Fox anymore, its more about the character. She wants to be this crack reporter and she starts this trail towards finding the turtles. But she goes to her boss with no evidence! Whoopi says it very clearly, you haven't a lick of evidence to prove there is a vigilante. And then when she goes to Whoopi again, she still doesn't have any evidence! All she says is that the turtles she raised are now vigilantes who are ninjas. I would fire her too if I were in her place!

After that... there's really not much else she does. She's kind of the human vehicle that we can view the Turtles through but she's just so bad. Again, I feel like the character could have been better if Megan Fox wasn't the one playing her. Someone a little more relatable and not just eye candy would have made this film a lot better.

Put all that aside, the film does have a lot going for it.

The Turtles were really really fun. Michelangelo, Hilarious! All the others really had their own spirits to them and made the entire thing really fun. While I'm bummed Leonardo was not that interesting of a character and kind of went down like a bitch, he was still cool (in case you didn't know he's my favorite).

I take back what I said about them looking dumb. I don't know what changed, maybe it was seeing them in action but I thoroughly enjoyed these guys. They had a lot of funny moments, they were witty, they were fun. They definitely were brothers. While there wasn't an incredible theme of family in the movie, or at least to the level they we trying to go for. But I genuinely started to enjoy these characters.

But back to the plot, as I kind of jumped to characters a little quickly.

A group called the Foot Clan is terrorizing New York City. April O'Neil wants a story and she ends up running into the Turtles. Turns out they are the result of a science experiment that her father and Erik Sacks (played by William Fichtner) did to develop a crazy cure... or something.

Its all logistics but to cut it short. William Fichtner, like always is the bad guy.

Something about this guy just makes him the bad guy in every film or TV show he's ever been in. Yeah he was kind of a redeemed hero in Prison Break but he was still an asshole and the antagonist. At least for a long time.

In this he was... alright. Its nothing phenomenal. Especially since he wasn't really the main bad guy.

Of course Shredder is the main bady and Fichtner is more of his front man.

Shredder in this... was not that great. Sure he was menacing and I liked that they didn't show his face or have William Fichtner play a white Shredder like everyone thought he was going to, but overall Shredder was just a giant robot machine man. He wasn't a diabolical bad guy. He was just the thing that the Turtles fight.

Sure he's kind of bad ass but I have a hard time remembering Shredder in this film.

Back to the plot... its kind of thin so I'm sorry I keep diverting.

Shredder has an evil plan to dispurse a disease over New York and use the cure they developed in the blood of the Turtles to save everyone and make a shit load of money... Not a really original or really interesting plot honestly... wow this movie has a really shitty plot.

Damn, usually I can pick up on this shit...

I think the action in this film was just so over the top and a lot of the scenes were really good. But they just weren't really story driven and just kind of masked the lack of story.

...Splinter was cool though. He's played by Tony Shalhoub which I find kind of funny.

I think overall, the Turtles were the best part of the film. I don't really think its a horrible thing that I was duped into thinking there was at least a simple story. If the action is good and I'm entertained, yeah the movie won't be deemed good but at least I'll find it entertaining. And I did find this movie entertaining... except for Megan Fox.

She needs to go away.

As for Will Arnett... He was good.

Honestly, I like the man in almost everything he's in so there's no much point in belaboring the point.

But I'm not quite sure why he's here.

I get it, Megan Fox can't do this alone and she needs someone in her corner. I'm not saying O'Neil should have unfriendzoned this guy but I'm not quite sure why Will Arnett had a thing for Megan Fox...

It was just strange thats all. I don't feel like it worked. Again... just weird.

I don't know. There are really great things about this movie and then there's Megan Fox. I'm not saying she's the only thing wrong with this movie but she's a big part. I really don't want to see her in the sequel but I have no doubt she will be.

Otherwise, the movie is alright. I think I like many other people went into it with such low expectations that we were surprised when it didn't suck total donkey dick. Its still not that great at all and it in no way makes me want to put a sequel on my list of priorities, but if I got it on my computer for free from a friend again, Eh I'd watch it.

Those are my thoughts on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What did you think? Comment and Discuss below.

I'll leave you with this. This was a part I liked a lot. I didn't laugh hard, it was just silly and fun. Way to go. You got me. Enjoy!

Let's Be Cops

Oh really, you want to dress up as Cops... That should have its funny hijinxs right?

WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THIS MOVIE?!?!

Sorry, I just don't really like when a movie insults my intelligence and that's what this movie does.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's be Cops is a comedy about two friends who go to LA to make it big. Ryan (played by Jake Johnson) wants to be an actor... sorta. And Justin (played by Damons Waynes Jr.) wants to be a video game designer. Both of them are just losers. Justin is too timid to go out and get what he wants, and Ryan is, well sort of a has been, doesn't take responsibility... I guess.

Well when going to a costume party, they get their hands on some legitimate police uniforms. And who would have guessed it, they actually look like cops.

And then Ryan takes it WAAAAAAAAY too far.

Now I could chalk it up to the fact that Ryan is just the goofy character, but this guy is just dumb. At first it seems like he's just doing this to pick up women, but for some reason he just gets WAY into it. He starts responding to police calls and while they start pretty harmless, they suddenly get wrapped up into a mafia and illegal arms trafficking.

This only exacerbates the worst part of the movie, and that is Dayman Waynes Jr.

I'm just realizing now that both Johnson and Waynes were in New Girl... This is just an extension of these two characters from New Girl in their own movie... that sucks. What was Zooey Deschanel and the other guys busy?

But Waynes is the worst in this movie because he's the most nagging person I have ever met. I think its the fact that Ryan is not a real character and gets into this whole Let's Be Cops thing WAY too much that suddenly the normal amount of saying this idea is horrible just gets annoying and whiny. But Justin is just horrible at saying no. He's always saying, this is a bad idea. We shouldn't do this. We could get arrested. We're going to die. I shouldn't dress up like a Jamaican Drug dealer. (Actually happens) and yet no matter what, he still does. After the first three times this happens, you just know he's not going to win over Ryan. Ryan does whatever he wants and that's just it. So why bore us with this character?

Cause he needs to be the guy who gets the girl...

For all the slightly racist stereotypes this movie does... and there are a lot of them, I will say its the first movie in a long time that I've seen a black guy get with a white girl. Not something you see very often.

I've put a video about this before, I think the friends over at Cracked did a good job at explaining this before, so I won't beat a dead horse.

But even the relationship is garbage. Nina Dobrev's character gets involved with Justin because she thinks he's a cop. He says he's going to tell her and he thinks its super important and while most times when this cliche happens, there's a good reason he can't tell. In this, he just doesn't. There are plenty of opportunities to tell her, its really just a phone call and Hell he could have even made a joke out of it after the first time he runs into her ex boyfriend the gang member. But no, he doesn't. And it just overplays a cliche we've seen over and over again.

This is my usual time when I saw Nina Dobrev is fucking gorgeous but... that's really all she has going for her in this movie. Its very cliche and she doesn't do anything except put makeup on Justin once so I'm gonna say she's a shitty character and I was bored with her.

Now I like Jake Johnson. I like him in New Girl, I liked him in Drinking Buddies, but I don't think the guy can pull his own movie. He makes the good goofy character getting into hjinxes. But at the same time they try and give him problems and his own personal demons he has to get over, which I think could work in a better script, but he's sharing with Justin and so I'm not sure what I'm suppose to see this guy as. The goofy protagonist has been who needs to take responsibility, or the goofy friend pulling Justin into crazy hijinxs?

I can't really decide.

Again, a part of me thinks that Jake Johnson is really funny and honestly the parts I loved the most were with him.

But the fact they couldn't decide whether or not Ryan was a charicature or a serious character made it very hard for me to like him and it made it very hard for me to take him seriously.

The funny thing about this movie is that it sounds like a really funny concept.

Honestly, I saw the trailer, I thought it looked really funny. While I said the movie insults my intelligence, it is a funny concept that I feel could have been really fun, if it has surprised me at all or had been at all original.

And usually I'm not one to press for originality. I know it can be difficult to come up with new shit that blows peoples mind. Sometimes its good to get the same shit just done a little bit better every time.

But the reason I'm harping on this movie is that it is full of cliches and its something that I swear I could have written in high school. In high school I was in speech. I did a category where I wrote original speeches/stories that I would perform and compete against other works. These performances lots of times were really funny but they were full of cliches and at the end of the day really weren't that good.

Let's Be Cops reminds me of the performances I've seen at these speech tournaments. Funny, but not creative or movie worthy in anyway. And yet some how this movie was made.

And honestly, this movie didn't really know what it wanted to be. Buddy Cop comedies are not difficult. They've been doing them for years. Beverly Hills Cop, Bad Boys, Rush Hour.

But those movies knew that if you were going to be making a comedy out of police work, you have to make it serious enough for it to be believable but not too grisly that it loses the comedy feel to it.

Yet Let's Be Cops takes so long to actually be a buddy cop comedy like so many movies before it. Mainly because they're not cops!

I feel like this movie was trying to ride on the coat tails of movies like 21 Jump Street, a film about police work but done well to a level that is both funny and has the action in it to make the film interesting.

This movie is just too cliched and confused about its existence that its hard to really enjoy it. In fact a lot of times it just feels like its insulting my intelligence. They make it this big moment when Justin figures out that impersonating a police officer is a crime. And yet they continue to keep the charade up and police officers actually believe them!

I was originally going to say that Rob Riggle was one of the better parts of this movie... but the more I think about this movie the more I realize, he's a fucking dumbass!

I'll concede that he has his moments where he's pretty funny in that Rob Riggle way but he's freaking dumb in this movie. There is a level of unbelievability that I just cannot handle out of this movie and Rob Riggle only makes it worse.

Now I've been shitting on this movie for the entire review and I was going to list off the few things that I actually liked about this film... but that list is getting smaller and smaller the more I think about it. I'm going to do my best but I won't be able to come up with much.

The first thing is the villains. James D'Arcy plays this just crazy mother fucker leader of a gang. Now I realized just now, days after watching the film that D'Arcy was Sixsmith in Cloud Atlas. Isn't that an awesome range right there?

And then you have Andy Garcia. And I swear, even though he's probably phoning it in for this role and he didn't even shave his beard... I loved Garcia in this movie.

Its a shame because I'd love to see Garcia as a corrupt cop because he's daunting. He's a little scary and incredibly underplayed in this movie. He was probably way too expensive and could have been in more scenes if they could afford him... but he wasn't.

I don't know. I liked him and I could see an awesome movie being made there. Not a comedy but a dark police thriller. I think it would be awesome! If that movie exists let me know but I would love to see that before I die.

Also, Keegan Michael Key.

He's not the best part of the movie, he's not even incredibly funny. But it was fun to see someone who actually gets comedy in this film. I in no way think Keegan Michael Key is the most hilarious man in the world but at least he's been funny for me in the past. I feel like he's a veteran of comedy at the very least.

I feel like he should have had a much bigger role and this movie would have been a hundred times better. He could have helped Ryan and Justin find petty crime, build up their reputation as the "new sheriffs in town" and make the reveal that they're not cops even better... but no. I think my point of bringing him up was that while the script was really shitty, he did what he could with it and gave me a couple laughs along the way.

Also... I thought that calling Justin Officer Chang was kind of funny. Not incredibly but I got a chuckle out of it... that is all...

Overall, the concept was decently funny. I like the idea of making a comedy out of two guys pretending to be cops. Its just a little ironic because there's a video game designer who has this idea for a video game. He builds it up, he hypes the shit out of it and when it comes out he's disappointed because he knows its shitty. He says, it sounded so good on paper.

And I think that's what happened with this movie. It sounded so good on paper but the end result was just kind of childish and not nearly the movie I thought I was going to get.

I went on much longer than I expected but the more I think about this movie, the more I don't like it. What do you think? Let me know, Comment and discuss below.

I'll leave you with this. There's probably a better video for this... but I don't care enough to find it. Here's an SNL skit with a cop in it. Laugh. Enjoy!