Boardwalk Empire - Season 2

When the first season of Boardwalk Empire aired last year, I was impressed by the quality of its production and enjoyed its variously interconnected characters and sense of humor. I was less enamored by the plot, which was mostly fine but a bit slow-going and nothing too new. That hasn't exactly changed too much this year, but the show definitely felt more confident and original in what it wanted to be, and that along with an extra year of time to deepen and explore the show's ideas and themes resulted in something ultimately more satisfying and exciting to watch. At the very least, my anticipation for what would happen next was more breathless, and the big moments packed a bigger punch.

Although the ending of season one wasn't exactly a complete upheaval in the show's world, it did provide a number of developments which played out over the course of season two. Nelson Van Alden's upright, do-gooder image was tarnished when he started committing crimes of his own and got someone besides his wife pregnant, and this year we spent a lot of time watching that veneer peel away in public, which made him more sympathetic despite him still being a self-righteous bastard. Jimmy and Eli joined forces with the Commodore and other influential men to challenge Nucky's supremacy in Atlantic City, and their back and forth along with the other organizations in other cities that get dragged into it makes up a lot of the season's most overt conflict. Margaret decided to stay with a man she knew was a criminal in order to provide for herself and her children, and this year she definitely struggled with her own feelings on the matter.

On top of these, the show piles on even more little struggles and battles. Chalky's operation is attacked by white supremacists, and he has to manage both his duties to the black community and his loyalty to Nucky. I thought Chalky had the weakest arc of any that really lasted a significant amount of time this season; Michael K. Williams' performance is strong but they just didn't put the time into making me buy how hamstrung he appeared to be. Perhaps most significantly, Nucky himself is charged with a number of crimes, and finds out who his real friends are as he struggles to keep himself out of jail. He was pretty put upon all season, with the law and a lot of his former friends working against him, and really only having the Irish and Arnold Rothstein (still a fun character even if he doesn't have much to do) on his side consistently. By the end of the season though, he's cemented his ability to fight his way out of jams and win some allies when he needs them.

They've done a good job of building him up from a shrewd manipulator of men and money into more of a complete criminal mastermind, not exactly invincible but smart enough to find a solution most of the time. We do see though that there are still chinks in the armor, and I look forward to the continued development of the character. As far as the content itself goes, it seems like they definitely cut back on unnecessary nudity this year, but they increased the violence to compensate. Boardwalk Empire's first season drew a little criticism for being mellow now and then, a complaint that seems weird to me since The Sopranos and The Wire are two of the best crime dramas ever, and aren't exactly dripping with blood from week to week. Boardwalk was definitely more brutal this year though, and I won't deny that the unflinching nature of the violence enhanced the intensity of the show's most shocking story moments. Maybe just a bit over-the-top though, I was watching the show at the same time as The Walking Dead and it was often the former than was the most disgusting. In any case, I still don't think Boardwalk is quite the classic drama it wants to be just yet, but it's still a very fun and often poignant one, using its period setting to highlight issues that cut across centuries, and always trying to get better. I'm easily on board for season three.

Entourage - Season 8

I'm not really sure who Entourage's final season was for. If you watch television critically and hope for consistent character development and well-considered, intelligent plotting, Entourage is too far-gone to provide that and too poorly written to attempt to salvage it in eight episodes. If you like shows that have funny lines and swearing and boobs, you won't find much of that at all here either. In fact, the whole season can be seen as a betrayal of what the show fundamentally is in an attempt to provide an emotional resolution and closure for these characters, which doesn't even succeed at doing so. It's not painful to watch, because as always, the show is slickly produced, features solid chemistry among the core characters, and is easy just to have on the TV. But I have to imagine they failed at whatever goal they were trying to reach by ending the show on their own terms.

The show has always been about poking fun at Hollywood while somewhat believably depicting the ups and downs of someone's career while living in that system. That's not really here though, Vince puts a little effort into helping Drama's acting and Turtle's business ventures, but for the most part the season is about him, E, and Ari trying to get the women of their dreams, or getting them back. And of the five central characters, only Ari comes close to having a satisfying arc in this final season. The rest of the subplots either have resolutions that are too easy and unearned, or merely stop once they reach high points rather than coming to a natural finish. It's obvious that they're leaving in the opportunity for a movie down the line, a movie that I will probably rent once it's on home video, if only because I felt slightly cheated out of seeing the parts of Entourage that are at least mildly enjoyable one last time. Entourage was never a great show, but it used to be a fun one, and that's been missing for a while. I would compare Entourage's final season to a quiet little fart right before you fall asleep.

The Fighter

I sort of have issues with both of this film's Oscar wins for supporting performances. In Christian Bale's case it's because I don't think he really has a supporting role, and in Melissa Leo's case it's because I don't think she's even the best supporting actress in the movie. Leo does a good job as Micky's controlling mother, but Treme shows she's capable of much more subtle and effective work, and the character is the kind of horrible woman that doesn't require a ton of talent to pull off. It's not really a character that's hard to pull off. I thought Amy Adams was better playing against type as Micky's bartending girlfriend, obviously caring for him but having enough rough edges to make her seem more real than his mom and especially his awful sisters, who felt like burdens on the movie.

Back to Bale, I think the film as written and shot is more of a story of two brothers, one who failed at boxing and one who still has a shot, rather than a typical biopic about a boxer. I'd consider him and Mark Wahlberg to be dual leads if anything, because while the main arc of the plot is the rise of Micky's career, a huge part of that is how Dicky's hometown hero status looms over him despite his subsequent career failures and crack addiction. It's really an amazing performance by Bale, too, the kind that at times takes over the movie. If he was nominated in the lead category I still would have given him the win even over Colin Firth in The King's Speech. They're actually kind of similar roles despite the vast gulf in the characters' statuses. They both play real people with distinctive speech patterns that are a huge aspect of the role. I thought Bale's work was more mesmerizing and interesting to watch, though of course he got to actually meet and interact with the person he was playing, so it's an interesting competition.

The movie in general hangs on the acting of the main characters. Even Wahlberg, who I'm not always the biggest fan of, is good, mostly because he concentrated on looking the part and let the more natural actors in the cast carry many of the scenes. The main thing I know about David O. Russell is that he frequently leaves projects and clashes with his actors, but he seems to be a perfectly fine if not terribly inventive director. I do think he did an especially good job with the fights, which had the right mix of believable grit and energizing climaxes. A lot of the best actual sports scenes in sports tend to be in boxing movies, because there's not too much to organize; you just have two actors, a ring, and a camera. Russell mostly went with emulating what actual televised fights would look like, and I like how they felt real while still having good impact. Beyond the acting and the fights, there's not a whole lot that distinguishes The Fighter. But those two things go a very long way.

The Other Guys

Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay continue their fruitful partnership of serviceable and occasionally brilliant but often flawed comedies with The Other Guys, a send up of buddy cop movies (which are themselves already pretty silly in nature) with an odd sense of humor and an even odder political stance against the seedy nature of big money in America. The bad guys in the story are basically using fraud to cover up losses, and the entire end credits of the film feature animated information about things like how Ponzi schemes work and the average salaries of CEOs in comparison to regular workers over time. This is probably the wrong movie to throw an issue like this into, though I appreciate the effort.

The movie starts out bombastically with a ridiculous car chase through New York City as Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson attempt to stop some drug dealers. It's one of the most wonderfully absurd action scenes played for laughs I've seen, and it's a great start for the movie. I would watch a whole film about Johnson and Jackson as these superhero cop characters. But it's not about them, it's about the other guys, played by Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. Ferrell plays a number cruncher and paperwork doer who'd rather stay in the office than chase bad guys, and Wahlberg was a promising young cop who had his career derailed after he shot a famous athlete. They're mostly the subject of ridicule, but they see an opportunity to make a big case after they arrest a businessman played by Steve Coogan and he is then kidnapped by armed thugs. People with money don't like Ferrell and Wahlberg sniffing around their affairs, and they are harassed at every turn by their fellow cops and other things working against them.

The structure of the story could have pretty much just been a regular buddy cop movie, but it's the specific weirdness of the situations and dialogue that make it a Will Ferrell comedy. The film just comes up with a ton of running gags and lets them ride, and some of them end up being pretty funny. Some of the better ones include all the horrible things that happen to the interior of Ferrell's Prius, his dark past, and Wahlberg's habit of studying fine arts so he can make fun of people who enjoy them. Some bits are weirder; Ferrell's innate attraction to beautiful women is cute but offset by what's basically an emotionally abusive marriage that's played for laughs.

Ferrell's mix of low key and very loud methods of being funny are in full effect and enjoyable as usual, and while I would say Wahlberg definitely isn't a natural comic actor (or a natural actor at all, really), his hit rate on one liners is generally pretty decent. Michael Keaton is great as the police captain, and his role is another I'd love to see revisited in a Rock/Jackson prequel. The movie is overstuffed to the point of bursting with recognizable comedic talent, and most of the cameos usually have at least one decent joke attached instead of just being their for their own sake. Ice-T's narration in particular is memorable. Not every joke is a success and I would have preferred a less self-serious plot, but it was a pretty fun movie.

Boardwalk Empire - Season 1

The most remarkable thing about Boardwalk Empire might be that its main cast features two Steves and no fewer than four Michaels. Besides that though, the first season, while not quite living up the billing of the great crime dramas of HBO's past, was still a very good show with loads of potential going forward. It was created by Terence Winter, who wrote frequently for The Sopranos, and was executive produced by Martin Scorsese, who also kicked things off by directing the pilot. So it has a strong legacy, and it's no surprise that is was a success out of the gate. It doesn't quite have the magic of a true classic series yet, but I still feel like it could be one. What's most interesting so far is how it mixes together all its elements of politics, business, and crime. Other shows have covered all of these topics, but they're all brought together at once by the central figure of Nucky Thompson, and it's a twist we haven't quite seen before. There's just something intriguing about a man who can influence candidates for national office and then turn around and order an execution, and Steve Buscemi is great in the role. He doesn't have the fire or passion of someone more charismatic, but there's something equally compelling in his cold and calculating demeanor. He rarely lets anger get in the way of a good deal, and its this that makes him powerful yet also keeps him alone. The show might not work without him.

Nucky is just one part of it though, as there's a whole world revolving around him. If I'm being honest, the show feels less like it takes place in 1920 and more like a modern series about what 1920 is like, which isn't really a complaint, just an observation. It takes place mostly in Atlantic City, but also partly in the New York and Chicago of that time, and likes showing a lot of the corrupt politics and criminal dealings that happen around Nucky, as well as rooting a lot of the story in history. Obviously prohibition is the major subject of the show, but there's also women's suffrage, the presidential election, and all sorts of miscellaneous events that come up. It's a wonderful looking series, with its own boardwalk set and endlessly gorgeous cinematography that helps the period feel. The sets and costumes look great, and it all adds up to something prettier than just about any other series. Again, I didn't believe I was watching 1920, but it helps a lot when your series is enjoyable even in moments where very little is happening. This being HBO, of course there's plenty of violence and nudity. There's an almost comical amount of naked women around, and I thought the show might have been going for some sort of record for consecutive episodes with nudity before they broke the string late in the season. The violence serves the story a bit more, and it's usually visceral and shocking when it shows up. There are of course a few Scorsese-esque moments where things get operatic and there are montages of death set against more mundane events, but they are rare and well-earned.

The cast is great, featuring a mix of fictional characters and notable figures from history like various politicians and infamous criminals. I don't want to go through everyone, but I'll mention a few that were particularly interesting. Michael Shannon plays Nelson Van Alden, a prohibition agent and one scary, psychotic son of a bitch. Stephen Graham proves again he was born to play crooks, portraying a perversely likable Al Capone. Michael Stuhlbarg was perfect in A Serious Man, but he proves he has a lot of range as elite criminal moneymaker Arnold Rothstein. Michael K. Williams was underused as Chalky White, and I hope he gets more moments like the tools scene in season two. And while it's kind of a silly character, Anthony Laciura playing Nucky's German butler was always fun. There are plenty of supporting members as well, the most notable probably being Jack Huston's Richard Harrow, a veteran of the war missing half his face who becomes a useful and completely terrifying member of Nucky's network. Most of the characters get a nice arc over the course of the season, as everyone has grown up a little and accepted more of what world they live in by the finale. The set up for next year isn't made too explicit, but it's pretty obvious what the major story ideas going forward will be, and I can't wait to see them play out.

Entourage - Season 7

I'll just say I'm glad that next year will be the final season, and that it will be shorter than usual. Entourage was fun for the first few years, but it's slowly lost appeal with time as more people have fallen off the bandwagon and it fails to grow creatively. It's just reached the point where nothing interesting is happening to the characters. Turtle has another girlfriend who's way too hot for him, and gets involved in a business that results in the show's most absurd string of pointless celebrity cameos yet. Drama's still having trouble getting a job. E still has a job... and he's still getting married to Sloan... and that's it.

The other two main threads are a bit more interesting, but not handled with much originality or panache. Ari's anger finally starts to get him in trouble, both publicly and with his wife. It could be an interesting story, if watching Ari explode at people wasn't one of the only things still entertaining about this show. And we come to the big one, Vince's fall from grace. It starts when he becomes an adrenaline junkie after an accident on set. Then he starts dating a porn star (actual porn star Sasha Grey playing herself), then he gets into way heavier drugs, and then he becomes a total jerk and alienates everyone who likes him. It's a typical Hollywood tale, told with no real grace and hard to care about with Vince unable to either sympathize himself or at least make the downfall look compelling. Didn't this show used to be fun? I can hardly remember anymore. I'll watch it limp to the finish line, but I'm not too excited to do so.

Entourage - Season 6

So, the show continues. I've seen a lot of backlash more recently about how the show constantly repeats itself and how nothing really happens. I don't know if the writers took that to heart or what, but this season felt somewhat different from the last couple. For one thing, Vince's career is not an issue this time. There's no worrying about his next payday or getting another project off the ground. They've jumped forward to the premiere of the Scorsese movie, and yay it's a hit. And he already has another film lined up. The story this time is about E's renewed passion for Sloan and attempt at legitimizing his managing, Turtle's relationship with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Drama continuing to assassinate his own career, and Lloyd getting Tired of Ari as he goes possibly more power-mad than ever.

While it does thankfully cover new ground, some of the other issues are still there. Episodes will often begin and end with nothing really changing. There's a stalker plot that goes nowhere, E wasting time with an insane, not very attractive girl (which probably suits him realistically but oh well), and an episode where they go golfing with Tom Brady and Mark Wahlberg and that's about it. Occasional celebrity cameos as themselves are still funny, like Jeffrey Tambor being a dishonest prick and Matt Damon strong-arming Vince into helping his charity for kids. The season ends on a pretty happy note for most of the characters, though I still have some trouble seeing what's the long-term goal for the show. There's been 78 episodes now, and they haven't done much with them besides basically say "Yo, check it out, Hollywood!" I still enjoy watching it usually, I'm just curious about why I am bothering.

Entourage - Season 5

Is it just me, or is the season when I catch up on an HBO show always the worst? Season 5 of Entourage isn't bad, but it's still easily the weakest. There are still some standout moments, and the episode where the gang does mushrooms in the desert is probably the funniest in the series. The cast is solid as always, especially... wait for it... Ari! He's still loud and insensitive. I can't tell if Drama's continuous spiral downward after a breakup was good or bad for his character, but he always provides some entertainment. Turtle gets involved with the series' most ludicrous hookup, and that's just the start of the hard to believe parts of the season.

The problem is that they go too far showing Vince's career go down in flames after the disastrous failure of Medellin. A bomb can hurt your career, but it was only a $30 million project (I love how they don't even bother showing what happens to the financier by the way even though that was basically all his money), and he's starred in some very successful films previously, so it shouldn't have been enough to make him virtually unemployable even if he does have an uncooperative reputation. And if you're going to say his career's that far gone, at least don't let him bounce back with one of the most desirable projects possible based on some dailies from a $100 million canceled movie that he helped tank. It always seemed like the show was trying to show what the business was like, but this time I didn't buy it. Still, watching it from moment to moment was still fun and I'm ready for more.

Entourage - Season 4

Entourage continued to slightly tweak the formula in its fourth season, although not everything changed, and not everything that changed was for the better. The first episode is a departure, showing the production of Medellin as a mockumentary like The Office instead of its normal form. Whereas earlier seasons always focused on securing a new project for Vince, this time Eric's career gets the spotlight as he attempts to expand his managing business beyond just his best friend. There's a lot of worry about Medellin, with Eric worried that it sucks despite it getting accepted into Cannes and having a good looking trailer get leaked on the Internet. For a while things are looking good, with a new film from the same team close to becoming a reality, but ultimately the season ends on a lower note than any of the first three.

It seemed like some characters stepped forward and others stepped back. Piven won his third Emmy and first Golden Globe for this season, and he was great as usual. It wasn't just the angry rants this time, he actually showed a little more emotional depth. Eric has an entertaining story arc with Anna Faris, although it ends the way things usually end for him. I was hoping the success of his new show would make Drama evolve a little as a character, but he and Turtle continue to be stuck in the mire of the typical sex and drug antics they're always involved in. It makes me wonder whether the show really wants to be an accurate portrayal of Hollywood life or just a silly, vulgar comedy. I didn't mind any of that too terribly though.

Entourage - Season 3

The third season of Entourage is a bit weird in that it's the longest in the show's run by quite a bit and took a break halfway through that lasted for half a year. In fact, the second half aired much closer to season four that it did to its own first half. Still, you can tell that it's all part of the same story arc; the long arduous process of creating Medellin. It's the movie that Vince and Eric have wanted since the beginning of the series, and it's failed repeatedly as numerous things seem to be conspiring to stop it from happening. The length allows the season to be more tumultuous than the first two, as project after project falls apart before they get off the ground, and Vince and Ari even split for a while at one point.

It seems like they're trying to show a different side of Hollywood, a slightly uglier one. It's not all making money and partying, there's lots of backstabbing as people who don't really like each other have to come to delicate agreements. It doesn't lose its spirit though, as the gang still has time to have some fun, and Johnny Drama finally gets a break. It's not quite as carefree and fun as before, but Piven's great in his second straight Emmy-winning performance, and it's still a nice, fast watch.

Entourage - Season 2

The second season of Entourage picks up a few months after the first one ended, with Vince and the guys coming back from filming Queens Boulevard. Then unfolds the epic story of Aquaman, as every possible thing that could go wrong does as they try to put a movie together. Worries about whether Vince actually has the job or not, conflicts of interest with other projects and actors, trouble getting James Cameron on board when the director of Boulevard won't screen it for him, and so on. I don't know how accurate a picture of the Hollywood business it really is, but it's easily entertaining enough to keep watching.

The characters develop as much as the plot, too. Vince and Eric butt heads some more, but come out as friends in the end anyway. Johnny Drama continues to try to get his career back, although pretty often his storylines devolve into really awkward humor. Turtle's also a little more likable when things occasionally don't go his way and he actually works for a thing or two. Ari really comes into his own too, and I can totally see why Piven gets so much love for his work, he's completely the most consistently funny and interesting character in the series. His angry rants and the way he bounces off of everyone he works with and against are always fun. I still think he's the only truly humorous character on the show, but there's enough there to make it worth watching.

Entourage - Season 1

Entourage is the kind of comedy that isn't terribly humorous, but still has likable enough characters and goes by fast enough to be an enjoyable use of time. I can't really think of anything else that fits that description, but that's basically what it is. Based on producer Mark Wahlberg's life as a young guy in Hollywood, Entourage is about the charmed life of Vince Chase, an up and coming actor. He lives with some people from back home; there's Johnny, his brother who's trying to get back into the acting game himself; best friend and manager Eric who's in just as much of a starring role; and Turtle, another friend who drives him around and contributes very little to the show. They get along pretty well, often playing tricks on or cracking jokes about each other, but still long-time companions who support each other. Ari Gold is Vince's Agent, played by Jeremy Piven, and judging by his four straight years of Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and four statues, people really like him as this character.

And he's been the funniest part of the show so far, but it's only been eight episodes, so it's too early for a real judgment. In the first season, Vince's new movie with Jessica Alba comes out and does pretty well in the first weekend, and then he agrees to do an indie film back in New York with an eccentric director. And that's about it. Eric has some girl problems. Eight episodes breezed by pretty quick, and this is really the sort of show that you can just consume immediately without realizing it. It's like television junk food, not terrible fulfilling but easy to eat. There are a lot of cameos by famous actors playing themselves or weird characters, like Val Kilmer as a pot growing Sherpa. I feel like saying too much more about eight episodes would just be repeating myself so I'll stop.

We Own the Night

James Gray's crime drama set in 1980's New York drew a few comparisons to The Departed, but I don't really see it. Everything about that movie was more entertaining, from the characters to the dialogue to the twists to the violence. We Own the Night does a few things right, but it was just generally inferior. It's about the two kids of a police chief played by Robert Duvall, one who followed in his footsteps and one who became involved in the seedy business of running a night club. The latter is the main character, played fairly well by Joaquin Phoenix. He wants to become a big player in the city's night life but things change when some Russians who frequent his place cross the police. Mark Wahlberg is the other brother, but he had a smaller part than I expected, absent for a significant chunk of the film and not playing that significant a role in the plot in general.

I'm not sure quite what kind of movie it wanted to be. It was a crime story, with drugs, sex and violence, but it just felt kind of small. There weren't a lot of notable characters, and it felt like a study of Phoenix' character at times. It wasn't bad, it was just a bit dull. Eva Mendez plays his girlfriend, but her part is also of little consequence as she just disappears after a certain scene. The climax wasn't very exciting either, resolving pretty quickly. There was one significant twist, but it was entirely expected. There was one scene that was very good, a car chase that was unlike any other that I've ever seen. It took place during the rain, and it just had a much more realistic and unsettling atmosphere than you usually see in parts that usually try to be loud and crazy. Other than that, it just seemed a bit off in general. I don't think this is really Gray's wheelhouse.

Invincible

Another Wahlberg movie? Just looking at his list of credits, I've seen a lot of his work (seven movies). Not that I mind. He's a solid actor and seems likable enough. His performance here is nothing special, you root for his character but he never really stretches out. It's a Disney sports movie, so maybe we shouldn't expect that many dramatics from it. Kinnear has a nice little career comeback going, and does a decent job as the coach who believes in underdogs. Banks seems to be good in everything she does, and this is the biggest part I've seen her in. Although again, there wasn't much there for her to do. The rest of the cast is rounded out by a bunch of bit actors playing believable Philadelphians, even if their dialogue is unrealistic. Am I supposed to believe sports fans from a city this famous for its vitriol can boo for over a minute without swearing once?

The movie itself is decent, for what it is. It's the true story of Vince Papale, who broke into the NFL at age 30. Details are changed to make it more inspirational and exciting, with plenty of little subplots mixed in to add a bit of a depth. It's generally filmed well, with some nice football scenes, although the cinematography is a bit odd at times. A little too yellow. It does seem a little hokey at times, like it's trying too hard to be uplifting. The story's good enough that they don't have to try to exaggerate it as much as they do. You know the kind of movie it is; it's really not very good, but it's difficult to hate. I'll admit I had a smile on my face in the climactic moments. I wouldn't really recommend you pay money to see it. But sometimes it's nice just to feel happy.

Shooter

Shooter was a bit of an erratic movie. It had some cool ideas and interesting situations, but a lot of its overall structure and pacing as a film just seemed off. If you're interested in snipers, then it's a pretty enjoyable and apparently accurate idea of how a lot of it works. It stays technically truer than a lot of dumber action moves do, although sometimes it gets hard to follow since Wahlberg tends to mumble through a lot of his lines. I don't know if it was part of his character or just lazy acting, but I know he can do better than this. He does a competent job of looking jacked and messing up fools, though.

The side characters aren't terribly interesting or likable. Glover doesn't really work as a bad guy. I'm so used to him being the good guy that he'd really have to work hard to make me hate him, and he just ends up annoyingly smug. He and the other villains are a little heavy-handed representing the corruption in our current government, and a movie called Shooter probably just isn't the right vehicle for social commentary. Kate Mara looks pretty without adding much substance, and Michael Peña is the vaguely sympathetic sidekick who avoided the plot cliché I expected to see with him.

The plot is interesting if a bit typical of the genre, although it tends to wander and I felt myself losing interest. I was very tired at the time, so I'm not laying all the blame at the movie's feet. All of the scenes are directed well by Fuqua who seems to know what he's doing, and pretty much each individual scene is fine, it just doesn't fit together quite well, with climaxes in the wrong place and a bit of a strange ending that's a bloodbath without being satisfying to the resolution of the characters. There's a lot to like happening, it just seems like the script could have used a lot more tightening. It could have been better, and it could have been a lot worse.