Burial - Untrue

I'm not a big listener of dubstep or anything close to it, and I only got this because of its wide critical acclaim. I wasn't disappointed, because as far as minimalist dance music you can't actually dance to goes, it's pretty enjoyable. The best thing about the album is the atmosphere. It's definitely meant to be listened to with headphones or in a car. Simple beats and well placed bass make up the backbone, while sparse but gripping, haunting ambient elements creep in and wrap the tunes into a sometimes off-putting, sometimes comforting cocoon. There are a lot of vocal elements, but they're all played with in some way, changed in pitch, interrupted, distorted, so that the normally beautiful singing turns into something different that only enhances the strangeness of the music.

There's a good flow to the album. Most tracks sound similar, but different enough to distinguish them while listening. It may be difficult to remember which one is which, but while it's playing through, every song has some unique element or hook that will make you think "Oh yeah, that's in this song. I like it." Variety isn't exactly the record's strength, although someone more into the style might see more to it, and it doesn't have to be. It's definitely not something I'd recommend individual songs from, it really should be listened to all the way through. Some of my favorite songs are "Archangel" for its vocal melody, "Etched Headplate" for the dissonance of the bass with the rest of the beat, "Shell of Light" for its relatively uplifting nature, "Homeless" for its awesomeness, but really every track has something making it worth listening too. Check it out if only for something different.

24 - Season 5

Yay for the two hundredth post.

Season 5 embodies what 24 is as well as any other yet. Important characters start dropping like flies right from the outset, terrorists have captured special weapons to attack Los Angeles (again!), and some people in the government aren't as forthright as they should be. It starts with some missteps (again!) and just seems to be stretching itself out for the sake of its gimmick by the end (again!), but somewhere in the middle it hits that stride of highly entertaining action and political thrills.

There's not much new for me to say about 24. It's the same as it always was. Jack Bauer is a badass special agent who usually doesn't play by the rules. He tortures lots of people, and at some point, one is likely to be a supposed ally. He kills lots of bad guys, and at least a few per season are either too hilarious or too awesome to not rewind and watch again. By the end, the main bad guy, who has usually escaped four or five times by this point, is finally brought to justice, usually by Jack-related death. And something dramatic is likely to happen to him right before it ends. You either like the formula or you don't, and I happen to like it. There's always the chance it just gets too silly, and I've heard some bad things about the sixth season (although I like it so far), but what it is is a pretty enjoyable drama. What I like about it is how they have season-long story arcs (more rewarding than one-shot episodes) yet they're mostly self-contained (you can jump into the beginning of any season without problems, only missing why certain events with old characters are dramatic). It's a good time.

Prison Break - Season 1

Prison Break is a solid, entertaining thriller with a fairly good, complex story running through the whole way. I don't think it's saying too much that they break out at the end of the first season, considering they say as much with just a glance at the cover art of the second. After all, how long can you really stay in jail before the show gets boring? Michael is a genius engineer who gives up his normal life to save his falsely accused brother Lincoln from the electric chair, a job that is made easier by the fact that he happened to help design the place. He schemes and prepares before he purposefully gets caught attempting robbery to make his way in, and starts to working. That's not all it is though, as a big part of the show is the huge conspiracy that landed Lincoln on death row in the first place. While their friends on the outside try to prove his innocence, they get chased by government agents and men who work for the "Company" (real original there, guys), who will do anything to keep things quiet. Despite all the planning, pretty much everything that can go wrong does, and the brothers have to recruit several hardened criminals to their cause.

The show does a good job of ratcheting up the tension, carefully laying piece after piece of the puzzle into place as things go wrong and time starts running out. Despite the unsympathetic nature of many of the characters, they're all at least interesting in some way, even if it's just how really messed up they are. I honestly much prefer the prison break aspect to the conspiracy aspect, because they treat everything in the jail so deliberately and realistically while all the lies and backstabbing on the outside seem a little unbelievable in contrast. Also, Lincoln's son is a gigantic idiot. I don't understand half the things he does. I also don't like how they don't give the audience much credit for remembering plot details. I get the need to keep people who can't watch every week in the loop, but most of it can be followed without that much help, and when every somewhat-obscure scene is accompanied by a glaringly obvious flashback, it seems cheap and unrewarding for people who watch closely. Despite some minor issues, it's a very promising first run of an enjoyable show.

Goodfellas

As far as "true stories" go, Goodfellas' is a pretty entertaining one. A little too much of it is narrated, although I'm sure that was less of a complete cliché at the time. It's a winding tale of growing up as part of the mafia, and how instantly things can change or go wrong. Henry Hill grew up envying and eventually joining a family, although he was always on the outside because of his non-Italian blood. The biggest obstacle to his success is Tommy, a guy he came up with who's friendly with him but a little too insanely violent for his own good. Tommy's played expertly by Joe Pesci, who won an Oscar for his efforts. I've seen better acting, but his embodiment of the roll is complete and there are tons of legendary scenes showcasing the real-life personality. Ray Liotta and Bob De Niro are also very good with their parts, more level-headed counterparts to Pesci and apparently very true to the people they mimicked.

I recognized several actors from the little I've seen of The Sopranos, including the therapist, played by Lorraine Bracco, who is also very good as Hill's wife, innocent at first but drawn into the world of crime. The movie as as much about Hill's home life as his work, and the development of their relationship along with his advancement in the ranks make an interesting story. This is one of the multiple occasions where many believe Martin Scorsese was robbed of the Best Director Oscar, which he eventually won with my 2006 movie of the year The Departed, and I can definitely see their argument. The construction of each scene is excellent, with some really great extended shots fleshing out the realistic vibe. There's also artistic handling of key moments, like the subtle perspective shift in an important diner scene late in the film I might not have noticed were it not point out to me, and the whole cast does great work for him. I really should have seen it sooner, but it's never too late to watch a good film.