INSOMNIAC SONG
MOVIE AND TELEVISION REVIEWS
TELEVISION
White Collar
Starring: Matt Bomer, Tim DeKay, Willie Garson
Genre: Crime, Drama, Comedy
Synopsis: A white collar criminal agrees to help the FBI catch other white collar criminals using his expertise as an art and securities thief, counterfeiter, and conman.
Language: English
Status: 5 seasons
This show was recommended to me by two friends. One has questionable taste, but good intentions, while the other usually has impeccable taste. It turned out that they were both right. White Collar is the right amount of drama and comedy in a crime series to keep it being easily watchable and memorable. Matt Bomer is effortless in his portrayal of the intelligent, smooth and sexy criminal, Neil Caffrey. He’s the handsome rogue that you can’t help rooting for no matter which side of the law he’s on. Tim DeKay lives his character, FBI Agent Peter Burke, so much that his performance feels real. He’s the dedicated husband with a firm sense of the weight his career carries. The supporting characters each carry their own personalities with a style that’s often neglected in television series. Mozzie, Neil’s criminal friend, and June, Neil’s landlady and former wife of a criminal, are two that simply light up any scene they’re in. In five seasons, there weren’t any cases that had me feeling as if I’d seen it all before. The show is highly watchable, standing up to repeated viewings quite well. That’s the mark of a truly good series.
Rating: 4.5/5
TELEVISION
American Horror Story
Starring: Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Drama
Synopsis: An anthology series that centers on different characters and locations, including a haunted house, an insane asylum and a witch coven.
Language: English
Status: 3 seasons, 4th season announced
American Horror Story had the potential to be an amazing show. The anthology aspect of the show ideally means that it could be a series with longevity. Each season could tackle a new horror idea even if it’s one we’ve seen before. Season 1 tackled the haunted house tale in a fairly good way. It was intriguing enough that I kept watching and hoping it would get better. The problem was simply too many characters to really care about them all. How many ghosts were in that house? I think if my count is correct there was over 20 of them. Season 2 brought us an insane asylum which once again ran into the problem of far too many characters. It was equally muddled with far too many plots to cover in the season. There were aliens, mad scientist, angels, demons and a serial killer among others. When Season 3 rolled around, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stick with it. Ideally, a show about a coven of witches could have been quite simple. The whole fight between the voodoo witches and the pagan witches would have been interesting on its own. Instead, they had to add in useless subplots. All of the seasons have huge flaws. The biggest of these is simply Ryan Murphy being unable to simplify things and create a cohesive end to his stories. I won’t be tuning in to Season 4 as it’s reportedly in a circus. That means clowns, my friends, which means this lady changes the channel.
Rating: 2.5/5
TELEVISION
Hemlock Grove
Starring: Famke Janssen, Bill Skarsgård, Landon Liboiron
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Synopsis: A teenage girl is brutally murdered, sparking a hunt for her killer. But in a town where everyone hides a secret, will they find the monster among them?
Language: English
Status: 1 season, 2nd season announced
When Netflix announced that it was producing a horror show, I got a little excited. That excitement quickly faded when I watched the first episode of Hemlock Grove. There was so much about this show that went horribly wrong. The source material, a novel of the same name by Brian McGreevy, can’t possibly be as jumbled as this show is. Was it a prerequisite to read the book before you watch the series? I’m not sure if that should be a requirement before you begin watching. Ultimately, the show has far too much going on. There are two main families, Rumancek and Godfrey, plus a whole town of random people that you don’t really get too much information about. Girls begin turning up dead and the suspicion falls on the town’s new arrival, Peter Rumancek. He’s rumored to be a werewolf and teams up with Roman, the prodigal son of the Godfrey family, to try to solve the crimes. This could have been interesting if all the side plots were cut out. Roman’s sister, Shelley, is a giant, monstrous, but very kind and intelligent young woman. What made her this way? What is the Godfrey’s company, the Institute, actually doing? Why is Roman obsessed with his cousin? Why is his mother going around calling him an ‘upir’ and a ‘dragon’ like it’s a normal thing to call your child? These were only some of the questions that came to mind while trudging through a very slowly-paced show. Ultimately there was too much going on that couldn’t be spiced up with sex and Famke Janssen chewing scenery in her fancy dresses.
Rating: 1/5