Reviews

I found the story engrossing, and SCB's dramatic turn showcases his acting potential. While he stays downplayed because he is playing a spy (almost a super-spy, though I bet he had a lot of input backing him) who has quite an inordinate amount of luck, the groundwork that is needed for a successful spy is played out with some liberties, I assume.

Set in the past, the recreation of three - four major places (Israel, Syria, Argentina and Switzerland) mostly hits the mark. Some episodes are slow, but important to the transformation of a patriot into an alias who almost loses his identity before he is caught by a superbly played villainous character.

A good limited series, and as Leonard from Community would say, definitely worth a watch.

Ricky Gervais goes all-out meta, portraying himself in a fictional character role he created to let out his angst at the world. Probably born from a discussion he had with Jane IRL. The characters are setup to invite outbursts, indifference and even violence (or threats of it) from Ricky's character, Tony.

Superb performances by the cast in its entirety, perhaps because of the always-depressed script which is funny enough to stand on its won as a disgruntled man's way of dealing with the death of his beloved.

The production quality is great, and the milieu of characters is held together by the pairing of Harrelson and McConaughey as state police officers. The setting is Louisiana; more specifically, along the coast. The bayou is green, lush and cinematically appealing. The skies are usually overcast without raining down, thereby avoiding the cliché of adding rain for melodrama that some noir-istic series may be guilty of including in their episodes. Grisly graphics are more shocking because of their weirdness instead of gore.

The narrative is a tri-timeline: 1995, 2002 and the present. Season One catches is up to the facts and mindset of the characters. I'm looking forward to watching (and reviewing) Season Two.

Breaking Bad is iconic in the way it altered the lead character Walter White (played excellently by Bryan Cranston) in appearance, both physically and metaphysically. Jesse Pinkman (played as unreliably as the character itself by Aaron Paul) lends himself to Walter's increasingly atrocious plans with the zeal "totally" becoming of a drug user. Giancarlo Esposito deserves the next mention for pulling off the hidden-behind-pastel-shades evil character with aplomb. The cast is exceptionally talented and the performances match up to their status, if not elevate it. Directors from Mad Men etc. give certain episodes their own spin, sometimes literally, and point-of-views and tracking shots complement the excellent cinematography, making full use of the dreary, dry, impersonal setting of the desert.

As for the story, watch it! :) I personally fast-forward through Skyler/Marie sister talks, but that's just my anxiety to see the action ASAP. I have ticked the "Contains spoilers" button just so first-time viewers may watch without preconceived notions, as that sets up the plot twists and random coincidences very well.

Frasier reminisces over memorabilia - in this case, a crock pot.

The episode is a good performance in terms of acting, dialog, a watertight storyline, and above-par make-up.

The time chosen is Thanksgiving Day, and rewinds to the day in the years 1. 2003 2. 2002 (with Niles and Daphne returning from a trip) 3. 1999 (with an Uncle Sam impersonation by Frasier on the occasion of the Fourth of July, and him, Roz, Daphne, Niles and Frasier getting locked out on the balcony) 4. 1998 (Daphne has just joined the Crane household just as Frasier and Roz are unemployed, and Niles has taken to drink while staying at the Shangri-La due to his bitter divorce with Marris. Roz has gained employment as an explicit call-line voice attendant. Daphne is trying to be on the good side of everyone (especially Niles), while fretting over the possibility of getting sacked) 5. The last flash is to 1996, with another good act pulled off by the cast, going back to the roots of the (then) newly-united main cast of Frasier, Martin, Niles, Daphne and Roz. The setting for all of these flashbacks is Frasier's apartment's living room and kitchen.

A theater director, middle aged, is going from bad to worse in terms of health scares which ominously remain non-fatal, his wife is disappointed in him; his little daughter is a spot of sunshine for him.

The movie floats ahead in time, months, seasons at a jump, and his ambitious, magnum-opus-feel play (afforded to him by the MacArthur grant he wins) takes on qualities of his own life even as he craves two women in succession.

A well-meaning stalker of the protagonist auditions for the role of Caden (the protagonist, played brilliantly by Philip Seymour Hoffman), and is accepted. From this point on, Caden's life takes on drastic changes; the loss of his parents in uncomfortable ways, the total degradation his daughter has been led into by a lover of his wife; a breakdown of his second marriage...yet he exists.

That, for me, is the point of this movie: you are your own to deal with, and no matter how you wish things were different or regret your mistakes, in the end you have to deal with them alone.

Good acting and direction, and a plausible storyline.

Since IMDb demands 10 lines of text, I'll check mark the "Contains Spoiler" box.

A salesman feels hard done by when he's asked to mug up medical equipment to sell. At breakfast, his son has caught a strain of the flu, a funny name mentioned by his wife amuses him, and he misses his similarly aged colleague saying "Mayonnaise" non-sequitur.

As he comes home, language starts to disintegrate, culminating the next morning as soon as he reaches his workplace. Escaping homewards, his car flashes the warning "Fasten Stepdad". At home, his son's condition is way worse, requiring him to take him and his wife to the hospital, where he understands nothing of what the rest of the world is saying (brilliant scripting/acting by the supporting cast).

His son is saved, and (in a Deist moment) speaks a prayer to God, thanking Him for his son.

After dinner with his wife some time in the future (their lodgings are much better), he resumes his learning his 'new language', e.g. a puppy is now Wednesday. The narrator concludes.