I went into “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” with the lowest of expectations. I found “Man of Steel” to be ultimately boring and was not excited that that film and the Zack Snyder tone was going to be the building blocks on which a DC cinematic world was to be based. Each released preview of “Dawn of Justice” made me have less and less hope, and by the time I went into the movie theater, the best I was hoping for was to watch something to make fun of.

However, this film was actually very entertaining. Every 10 minutes I assessed my feelings, and every time I was shocked that I wasn’t hate-watching this movie. That does not mean that this was a perfect film. There is a lot to nitpick about. The plot only kind of makes sense, there are way too many dream sequences and Oscar-nominee Amy Adams has nothing to do in this film.

The movie also feels both too long and too short. There are so many different plot threads that it seems like they weren’t sure what movie to make, so they decided to just make all of them. There seems to be a good “Man of Steel” sequel movie in there, as well as a decent Batman reboot and Justice League prologue. The problem is that none are able to have enough time to be satisfying.

The same thing happened with “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” It’s par for the course with movies that are made to forward a cinematic universe, but this film makes much more interesting storytelling choices than those films so that even when they don’t work, they are at least fun to watch.

This film introduces one of the best cinematic Batman we’ve ever seen, with Ben Affleck being able to make Bruce Wayne feel like an actual person who has grown obsessed after his parent’s death. Affleck has just the right mix of smarts and insanity to make Batman work as a character.

Henry Cavill was fine as Superman in “Man of Steel,” but here his character is able to deepen and grow into more of the hero we know. This film is able to at least grapple more with the idea that Superman is an outsider who has to decide whether to be a hero or god.

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor is unlike any Luthor seen before, and will probably be the most divisive performance of the film. I found him to be great in the role and his weird ticks really added to the idea that Lex always has a plan, but that the plan could change any moment.

One of the most exciting aspects of the film was the cinematic debut of Wonder Woman and this film does her justice. Gal Gadot is great in the role, and though she only has about 15 lines in the entire film (I counted), she instantly makes the idea of a solo Wonder Woman film a success.

Other standouts are Laurence Fishburne as Clark’s boss Perry White and Jeremy Irons as a Alfred who has grown snarky after a lifetime of taking care of Bruce.

Snyder’s skill with visual storytelling led to a couple of spectacular Batman sequences and a Batman/Superman battle worthy of being the title fight. Snyder’s lack of storytelling finesse does rear it’s head when Batman and Superman obviously have to team up but, unlike in “Man of Steel,” that final sequence doesn’t have to last more than 10 minutes.

Before this film, I wasn’t at all excited about a future Justice League and although I can find a lot of faults with the film, I’m now looking forward to seeing more adventures with Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, ect. So if these type of movies are now just trailers for future films, this one at the very least does its job.

“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” has had a lot going against it. Between it being on the CW, having an ironic title and unequivocally being a full-blown musical, it shouldn’t still be on the air.

But if this show is for you, it will instantly be one of your favorite shows on television. The songs are phenomenally funny and real at the same time. My favorites are “The Sexy Getting Ready Song,” where our main character, Rebecca, sings about how women prepare for a date, and “Settle for Me,” a love song where a guy asked a girl to give up on her crush and date him instead.

Also, the characters have been fully formed and relatable from the first episode. You have Rebecca, the lawyer who is finally trying to be happy in her life; Josh, an Asian former jock who sees the best in everyone; Greg, a bartender who desperately wants to leave West Covina but can’t find a way to do it; and Paula, who lives vicariously through Rebecca instead of focusing on her own family.

The show has been able to tackle sexism, mental health, bisexuality and modern dating in its first 14 episodes. It has also created the most balanced love triangle in the history of television, where both of the guys make Rebecca a better human being in different ways.

The show has always been on the bubble and may not be renewed, but for now it is great television. Only the past few episodes are streaming, but if you have a way to catch up, I highly recommend it. If you can’t, go to YouTube and listen to the songs over and over again until the show is available on Netflix or DVD.

I am not a horror fan. I don’t get the appeal of getting scared. However, there are some horror movies that I love. They have to be more than just pure horror (I will never watch “The Human Centipede”). So I enjoy sci-fi horror films like “The Terminator” and “Alien” and horror comedies like “Scream.”

The “Scream” series is an interesting one. There is the first film that is able to be both a perfect slasher film and a great satire of the genre. The second two are also good, with “Scream 2” going to college, and “Scream 3” going meta inside a movie set. But it is “Scream 4” that holds a place in my heart.

“Scream 4” goes back to the high school from the first movie 10 years later. The movie follows Sidney Prescott (aka Neve Campbell) and her niece Jill Roberts (played by Emma Roberts.) The characters we know and love from the first three films are back, but we are also introduced to a new crop of doomed teenagers through Jill’s group of friends.

So yes, it sounds like a retread, but it shows how flexible the slasher tropes really are, and gives great twists to all of them. The opening sequences is not one, but three scenes of famous young actresses facing Ghostface and each one is more ridiculous and shocking than the last. Hayden Panettiere (who is by far the stand out of the cast) fills the “slutty friend” role but slowly is revealed as the true horror expert.

And when [SPOILER ALERT, SERIOUSLY I AM GOING TO REVEAL THE KILLER] the mastermind is shown to be Emma Roberts’ character, we see our assumed protagonist have the greatest evil turn in the history of cinema. Seriously, stop what you are doing and watch this YouTube video (https://youtu.be/j6VN8i1K6ZM). And after she’s the ‘final girl,’ she has to fake her injuries. It’s amazing.

Honestly, the twist at the end makes the movie thematically interesting and is the best example of a modern slasher film that I can think of. Here’s a girl who wants to be the final survivor to become famous, and she will do anything to get there. Emma Roberts, who at the time was most known for “Nancy Drew,” sells both sides of the character masterfully, and the deaths range from funny to intense to actually emotional. It’s a perfect capper to an amazing series, and it shows the brilliance that was Wes Craven in his last directorial film.

It’s as sharp and witty as the old slasher classics, but has been forgotten because it’s a sequel that didn’t really perform well at the box office. And while “Scream” was able to put a twist on slasher films, “Scream 4” had the harder task of putting a twist on the “Scream” franchise. I believe it did that masterfully, and I would be happy to lend any of you my DVD copy.

Let me know if you’re a fellow “Scream 4” fan at @jay4ness, because I honestly don’t know anyone else that is.

I would like to recommend a little show on the CW called “The Flash.” For those of you who don’t know, Flash is a DC Comics character who can run faster than anyone else on the planet (yes, even faster than Superman). The TV show is also a spin-off of the much darker “Arrow.”

It has just started its second season, and is definitely the show I most look forward to watching every week. The main reason I recommend it to you all is that the show is just plain fun. Yes, there is the dramatic hero backstory, but the characters joke around and the villains can be goofy. It is pure popcorn television, but done in the best possible way.

At the center of the show is Barry Allen, a 20-something forensic scientist working for the local police department. One day he is struck by lightning, goes into a coma and when he wakes up he has super speed. By Barry’s side, you have Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow as both the comedic relief and emotional heart. And I haven’t even mentioned that “The Flash” has one of the best father/son relationships with Barry and his surrogate father, Joe.

If I haven’t convinced you yet, there has been a rampaging talking gorilla, time travel, a villain called Captain Cold and an alternate dimension. It’s a great show. The first season is now on Netflix and the first three episodes of season two are on Hulu.

Okay guys. This is my first recap for an episode of television, so be kind. I did it by character, not by how it aired in the episode, as that isn’t always important with Game of Thrones. Also I haven’t read the books, so no book spoilers here. Enjoy.

Cersei

This season started off with a flashback of two pre-teen girls, one of whom is a slightly-less-pissed-at-the-world Cersei, in the middle of the forest. Cersei leads the two into a creepy-looking cabin with an emo witch. Cersei, always thinking she is smarter than she is, asks the witch to tell of her future. The witch warns the will-be queen that “Everybody wants to know their future, until they know their future.”  Cersei pushes and the witch tells her that (1) she won’t marry Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, (2) that she will still be a queen “for a time” and that another younger girl (Margery or Dany?) will cast her down and take everything Cersei holds dear, and (3) that the king would have 20 children, Cersei would have three with “gold crowns” and that “gold would be their shrouds.”

When the flashback ended, my first thought was ‘really… just that.’ We had gone four full seasons without a flashback, and then this is what they chose? We knew that Cersei wouldn’t marry Rhaegar, we knew that Cersei would have three Lannister children and we knew that at least one of them dies young (RIP you little bastard.) But then we zoomed to present time. Continue reading →

When the Academy Award nomminations were announced on Jan. 15, it was the biggest entertainment news so far that year. What was interesting, looking at the coverage in various platforms was how it was covered and the discussion that was formed because of it. But let’s start with it’s coverage that morning live on CBS.

What was cool about watching the nominations on TV was that you actually got to see the announcement ceremony, which I find interesting if only for hearing the press in the room sometimes ooh or aww if something got nominated they didn’t expect. CBS bookended the live coverage of the ceremony with round table discussions with the CBS This Morning hosts and a commentator from Fandango about what got nominated and what didn’t. They also talked about who are the frontrunners for many of the awards. The television medium was able to transport you to the announcement ceremony, but the discussion was more rushed and less thorough than the next two presentations.

The Washington Post’s coverage. It’s initial coverage of the nominations gave a complete list of the nominees with some initial thoughts after each category. It lacked some of the “Oscar buzz” of the television segment because you only got the list of nominees but where the print format was more useful was the ability to re-read and analyze the nominations yourself. Also, this article listed how many nominations each movie received, giving readers more information that the television broadcast did not.

Lastly, social media took a different angle than that of television or print. It was almost immediately became clear that the Academy Awards had a diversity problem when people started commenting on the apparent snubs of the movie “Selma,” along with other movies including both racial and gender diversity. None of the twenty acting nominees were people of color, and none of the fifteen directing, screenplay or cinematography nominees were women. And while there were tweets about the snubs for “The Lego Movie” and Jake Gyllenhaal, most were about the lack of diversity using the hashtag, #OscarsSoWhite.

https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/555728579464413184
https://twitter.com/Awkward_Duck/status/555742165662728193
https://twitter.com/curlyheadRED/status/555740958244233216

https://twitter.com/thetrudz/status/555750460293144576

The hashtag and social media movement led to additional news coverage at both CBS and Washington Post, creating a dialogue that wouldn’t have occurred before Twitter. It brought attention to an aspect of the story that may have remained unspoken about. However, social media coverage of news is not perfect. It lacked in overall coverage of the nominations. Knowing who all got nominated solely from Twitter would be difficult, at best.

Every medium had its own successes and failures in trying to tell the complete story, but it was the overall media coverage that made the Oscar nominations an interesting and compelling story this year that will continue to be discussed till the award show and beyond.

Okay, so this video is made by the Portland, Oregon-based animation studio known as House Special, who are best known to me as doing that really awful fake M&M movie that runs in movie theaters. It is just so breathtakingly simple while still saying something about the world we live in. It keeps your attention, you feel for a rock and you can’t help but smile at the end. Trust me, I’ve been showing this to a lot of people this past week and no one has been able to resist the grin.

Full disclosure: Lost is my favorite tv show of all time. I don’t think it is the best show, the best written show, the best visual show or even the best show featuring flashbacks. But it remains to be my favorite. The heart wants what the heart wants. It its the show that got me to think critically about what they were doing, trying to do, and planning on doing in the future. And I, along with a huge section of the shows audience decided it was up to us to figure the show out.

And that is why, when it ended, it caused such a commotion. Because while we as an audience were trying to solve the mysteries, the writers of the show were just trying to tell an interesting story about this group of people stuck in a situation where crazy shit happens around them all the time. The show was never about the mysteries. It was about the characters ( and yes, I do know how cheesy that sounds.)

So when the show went into it’s final season, Lindelof, Cuse and company decided to do something crazy. They were going to spend a good portion of the time they had left on “flash-sideways.”

The show had been known for using flashbacks (to fill in the backstories of the main characters) and had briefly used flashforwards (to show the time some of the characters spent of the island without the show ever having to leave the island.) But these were different.They seemed to not really connect with the island story in any way, plot wise.

The flashbacks made us look at the characters differently and the flashforwards made us look at the characters decisions differently, trying to connect the dots. But no one knew how to look at the flash-sideways.

They were showing what originally seemed like an alternate timeline where none of the main characters ever stepped foot on the island. Some things were the same (Kate was still arrested, Clare was still pregnant) and others were the complete opposite (Sawyer was a cop, Whitmore loved Desmond.) The questions on everyone’s mind were “What does this mean?” and “How does it fit with the island storyline.”

The answers were “Not much to the plot” and “After they all die, they created a world together so that they could all ‘move on’ together.” Let’s just say not everyone was pleased. From a plot perspective, it added basically nothing except provide a very confusing and spiritual epilogue to the show.

And so we are at the point where I tell you of my experiment. I decided to watch every flash-sideways in order without any of the other parts of the episodes over the course of two days. Now it practice, I did end up watching a few of the island scenes (including a scene toward the end of Mr. Dr. Linus where Ben breaks down about Alex) and I did accidentally watch some of the scenes out of order (I missed the Sayid/Shannon scene in the finale originally and had to go back to find it.) But I found the “experiment” really interesting.

First, it took me back to the show instantly. When I was watching LAX and they were all on that plane, it felt like I had been watching the show week-to-week just a few months ago. It was almost like I never left. I wouldn’t recommend starting a rewatch in the sixth season of a show (and I’m sure if I had watched more of the plot-heavy island scenes, I would have been more confused,) but in this case it really worked.

What worked, I think, was that the Flash-sideways were almost void of all plot. Now of course this is Lost, so there is some plot involving Desmond getting everyone to remember, but it is so extraneous to the point of the flash-sideways. They seemed to be a way to get everyone closure.

What made Lost interesting to watch was that as soon as someone hit a life-altering moment in his/her life they seemed to die. So this was the way that the show was able to give everyone a bit of closure, in at least the afterlife.

Watching it knowing that it is all an afterlife really changes the way you see it. For one, Jack’s fake son seems weird, but it works to show Jack (finally) getting over his daddy issues. Jin and Sun get to make the decision to run away together, Locke gets to both come to terms with his father, Sayid is able to get past his relationship with Nadia, and Charlie and Claire actually getting to be together (I just started tearing up.)

But the most impactful part of this was the sideways journey of Ben Linus. He originally seemed very different in the flash-sideways as a history teacher who was one of the most moral people at the school. But through the course of the episode “Dr. Linus,” he slowly becomes the power-hungry man we all love to hate. But then there is Alex. And Ben gives up his power for her in a way he never could in real life (full on crying mode activated.)

I hadn’t watched his character in years, but that decision affected me so much. It was the episode in my rewatch that I got why the show decided to do this crazy experiment. It got us to care for these characters one last time before the end. It showed why the show worked so well for so many people. We loved these characters. Not all of them, but enough of them to keep us coming back every week. And when these characters were able to be happy, even if it was only in their minds, we were able to find some closure at the end of this show.

So what if the island ended up being a MacGuffin and no one knows who was on the other outrigger. We got character closure over plot closure, and personally I can deal with that. The sideways felt like another question to be answered the first round, but now seems like the perfect encapsulation of what the show always did right.

Plus more time with Charlie, which is never a bad thing.