House of Cards and Discourse

House of Cards

From watching the first episode of House of Cards, there were many unique elements of the show, but the one that stood out was the quality of discourse and careful intent that some of the main characters possess.  Frank Underwood and his wife, Claire Underwood, both particularly exhibit a fashion of speaking that communicates intent in a cutthroat fashion.  The effects of their discourse is clearly evident on the effect it has on characters and the relationships that exist.

Beginning with Frank Underwood, his ability to control conversations, speak with intent, and make every word carry meaning is noteworthy.  When he speaks to the audience of the show, he does so in a manner that makes it seem as if he is completely sure of the events that will occur later on in the show.  One key example, is right before Linda Vasquez walks into his office, he speaks to the audience and mentions that she will bring up David Blythe, and as soon as she walked through the door, she immediately brought up the aforementioned topic.  In reference to the lack of wasted moments and words, Frank’s meeting with Zoe is also noteworthy.  When Frank asks Zoe to have an impromptu meeting with him, he begins talking about the main focus of the recent presidential campaign, which was American education.  After Frank handed over Blythe’s education reform bill to Zoe, Zoe begins to bring up the grey-area on legality that they are teetering on.  Frank cuts her off and references the painting that they are sitting in front of.  The painting depicts two people, sitting in a slim boat.  Frank states that he is fond of the painting, and then tells Zoe that they are now in the same boat, and that Zoe should be careful not to tip it, because he would only be able to save one of them from drowning, hence legal backlash.  Frank’s ability to fully examine a situation and choose the correct words to convey his thoughts is somewhat unnatural when viewed through a real-world lens, but also plausible considering that his political skills may have substantially sharpened his innate speaking skills.

Claire Underwood, shares many qualities with her husband, but also has some slight differences.  First, her ability to speak with purpose and intent is impeccable.  During one shot, she is seen speaking with one of her employees.  In an extremely direct and concise manner, she communicates that they need to cut staff salary in half by laying off many employees.  Claire recognizes the ramifications of her decision, but also states that she has planned all of this, which is also a trait that she shares with her husband; they both have the ability to carefully plan events and predict their outcomes.  In a smiliarly cutthroat manner, near the beginning of the show, Claire confronts her husband when she realizes that he is not being upfront with her about how business is going at Frank’s job.  She makes it clear that they work together as a team, and soon after, Claire and her husband begin to plan an elaborate plot in order to shift future events in their favor.  Claire’s cutthroat and direct method of leadership is effective and adds an additional dynamic to her character.  

The use of public and private discourse in House of Cards appears to be a key focus, set in place by the original writer.  Considering how heavily clever discourse influences the relationship between Frank and Zoe, future episodes may continue on the same trend.  Additionally, Claire’s ability to be a cutthroat leader may propel her through different situations in the future, as well.  The husband and wife combination of Frank and Carrie, and their combined ability to shift events through speech is certainly an aspect of the show that could stir the plot in future episodes.  

Orange is the New Black

     Orange is the New Black is a popular series that released a new season three months ago on Netflix. A prisoner, Poussey was killed in the previous episode by a guard and her friends, Tasha, Cindy, Suzanne, and Janae are willing to protest until she gets justice. Therefore, until justice is served, there will to be an uproar in the Litchfield Penitentiary.
      The setting of the prison is rather dark and gloomy. With the prisoners taking over and guards being held captive, it's an unsettling moment. It becomes even more unsettling knowing that the prisoners got their hands on a gun.
     Orange is the New Black does a great job of displaying real world stereotypes one might have about those of different descent than theirs. The episode begins with Daya, a Dominican female, holding a gun to guard Humphrey's head. Humphrey trying to calm and appeal to Daya by speaking Spanish, only results with him being shot in the thigh. Humphrey made an inference that since Daya is Dominican, she clearly speaks Spanish but she does not. Which happens in the real world too, no matter the race.
    This show is one of many shows that portray real life events such as the injustice for Poussey's murder. Suzanna, another inmate known as crazy eyes got into a fight with guard Bayley and while Poussey was trying to resolve the conflict, it resulted in Bayley depriving her of oxygen. It's upsetting that Poussey had to fall victim to this type of abuse, considering that she was a caring women, all the way up to her death. Even though her death was unintentional, that does not mean Bayley shouldn't get punished. Many African Americans face the same fate as Poussey and I think it connects the audience on an emotional level. The producers using Black Lives Matter to emotionally appeal to the audience, makes the show that much better.

     Throughout this series, African Americans, Dominicans, Caucasians, and etc, have only bonded amongst those that had the same skin color as them. However, nearly all of that changed when the riot began. The producers used something undeniably dangerous that turned out to be an advantage for the prisoners. The prisoners were now collaborating more and trusting each other even if the matter was considerably small. Groups such as the homosexuals were interacting with the drug addicts. Before the riot, that never would've happened. Additionally, at the end of the episode, a meeting for all the prisoners was held to humiliate the guards, not separately but together.
     I think Orange is the New Black is a wise show to watch because it uses real life events. The show is emotional because of the factors that the females actually do face in prison, most of it is unbearable. With that, it forces the prisoners to be rebellious, it makes you wonder what other connections the show has with the real world. Consequently, I've made a personal connection with the show and I will continue to watch the rest of the season. 

iBoy

After Tom got a shot in his head, some of his smart phone fragments have been embedded in his head. This gave him the ability of hacking any electron simply by his thought. He could not live in a normal way again, and his decided to be a hacker named iBoy, who tried to carry out revenge and end the crime.

The director set up the film with a proper environment. Characters lived in old blocks. Old blocks was a symbol of poor and crimes in many movies. There was noisy and screaming when the main character Tom was sitting in front of his laptop at the very beginning of the film. This shadowed the unpeaceful of the block.

The main actor acted pretty well to portray Tom’s character. In the beginning, Tom always walked with his head down, which indicated he was not strong and kind of coward. When he came to visit Lucy, the girl who he liked, he found someone was carrying out a crime on her. He choice to leave, which might be a correct decision when facing with criminals with gun.

After he recovered from the gunshot, he came to visit Lucy. In the elevator, he met with his classmate Eugene. Eugene was chewing gum and holding a toothpick in his mouth.He leaked his back on the wall with his head aslant and mouth up. He talked to Tom with a tone of sarcasm and smile unkindly. Eugene had an unfriendly appearance which was a reflection of his inner side.  Tom was not dare to say much whenever he met with Eugene and other people who raped Lucy. His speechless reflected his cowardice.

Lucy was a nice and kind girl in the movie. She had a confident and happy smile before she was raped. She conveyed a outgoing school girls to the audience. Even after the crime, she still presented her beautiful smile to Tom and never blamed for Tom’s leaving . But her eyes were not as bright as they used to be. She used her eyes to deliver her sadness to the audience. When she was carrying a gun against rapers, who grew up with her, she changed her facial expression to a determined looking. But her kindness stopped her from killing these people.  

The director used low angles and high angles shot throughout the movie to depict the character. The director used low angles shot when Tom was standing in somewhere, watching the criminals, and using his special ability. The low angle shot made Tom strong and powerful. Eugene had supervisors. In his supervisor's’ house, Tom found a lot of drug. Tom hided these drugs in rapers’ house and called the police. In the scenes of catching people who had drugs in house, the director used high angles shot. Shooting from the sky, Eugene and other people ran like rat in the street. The high angles shot made them weaker.

In all, I think this movie was a good example for me to study the acting. These characters were vivid, and the performers’ performances were good.

Bojack Horseman: Christmas Thymezzz

I have just finished watching the christmas special episode of Bojack Horseman. The episode gets meta fairly quickly, as a reluctant Bojack and his eager friend are watching a christmas special episode. It can be hard to understand the essence of a show from a single episode, especially a contrived christmas special. However, Bojack Horseman plays off this, and becomes in on the joke. In a tongue in cheek fourth wall break, Bojack mentions to his friend how, “special holiday episodes are always stupid.” This episode actually felt like a pretty appropriate microcosm of the rest of the show.

The lead character, Bojack, was actually the star of the hit sit-com he and his friend are watching, Horsin’ Around. This episode goes back and forth between the Horsin’ Around episode and Bojack and his friend watching it. We see Bojack in the sitcom having a typical but endearing family christmas, but this only emphasizes the reality we flash back to; he is actually getting drunk with one of the few people that tolerate him, without any family in sight. Bojack remarks that he typically skips the christmas episodes, to which his friend responds, “Because the themes of family and togetherness are a chilling reminder of your own isolation?” Isolation is one of the recurring themes of the show.

Bojack barely even begins watching the episode. He says terrible things about his only friend to try to get him to leave him alone, but eventually begrudgingly accepts. This is typical of his character.  He hates himself and he hates being alone, but he shoves that hate onto the people around him. This show is actually very depressing at times. Just when you think he will change, he doesn’t. However, the constant cynicism and apathy of the show make the rare endearing moment that much more impactful, similarly to Rick and Morty. Yes, Bojack is incredibly self centered and self serving, but he is capable of good. It’s in these relavatory moments that the brilliance of the show shine through.

By the time the meta sitcom comes to its tired “meaning of christmas” ending, Bojack is completely invested. He realizes he wants to spend this time with someone, even if it’s only his half-wit friend. He lets his friend know that Horsin’ Around actually has eight christmas specials, and the episode comes to a thoughtful end as the viewer can imply they spend the day together watching these episodes.

While Bojack Horseman can be a very heavy show for a comedy, this happy christmas ending is actually reflective of the true themes of the show in total. Flawed characters that only change marginally making the best of their current situation is so touching because it rings true to life. The reason the happy sitcom ending feels so stupid is because it’s obviously fake. None of the characters have the real, crippling problems that the characters in Bojack Horseman do. Their problems are resolved basically as soon as they’ve happened. Bojack Horseman is a much more intricate, incremental show than this. It’s truly more than meets the eye. Not every problem is solved, but good moments do shine through.

The Keepers

Okay, guys, I just watched the first episode of this show called The Keepers. Initially I chose it because of the odd cover art they chose-- a simple black and white head shot of a nun with the face peeled and under it a white space with the name of the show. At first I was like wait, what? Keepers of what? Our sins? Is that even what nuns do? Is it about keeping secrets? Is it one of those religion-gone-rogue kind of deals? After about the third question I was like okay I'm done scrolling, I have to find out what the heck is going on with this show.

If you're somebody who is still intrigued and a little stressed about the Kurt Cobain death, you generally enjoy watching killers get caught (or at least the process because *spoiler* you don't find out exactly who did it in the first episode), or you think watching badass grandmas try and figure out who killed their favorite teacher from the 60's is slightly interesting, you should check out the show. I, myself, am one of those people I described up there that loves murder mysteries; I can really get into a good James Patterson and Taken movie. This show is not only interesting because it's from an odd perspective, but it's about a person that you don't always expect to be in the headlines in a 45+ year open case... in other words, it's cool.

In class the other day we watched that CineFix video about the camera angles and what they said about the low angle vs. high angle stuck out to me particularly in the opening part of the episode. It starts out at a low angle of this old guy in an ancient looking grey sweatshirt heading up some creaky and creepy stairs into some sort of attic. Following that, there were various types of zoom that looked like the camera was coming from the point of view of someone who snuck up there and was trying to video him for evidence. That whole combo got my brain on hyperdrive like oh shit this is the killer, we're totally seeing a reenactment of the killing or something. The next shot was an interview-like frame and his name popped up and also his job title... He was the lead journalist... Turns out I was just super excited/paranoid/nervous. Oops.

Anywho, as the episode continues I became less and less focused on the editing and style of the piece (AKA essentially what we're supposed to be doing for the class) and before I knew it I was fully into trying to find out what on Earth happened to Sister Catherine. That being said, I recognized some amateur-looking shots and techniques in the beginning (like the odd zoom and misleading point of view) but as the show went on it either transitioned into something really professional or I was too into the show to pay attention to the effects, or perhaps both. Who knows, that's kind of cool too if they did shift into more professional shots because it might have been their goal to make you pay attention and blend the effects into the back of your mind. It's a must see and I will be watching the rest of it (and hopefully paying more attention to the techniques) so let me know your thoughts if you decide to give it a try!

Ozark

This week I watched the first week of Ozark and I instantly fell in love for it. My friends and I instantly were hooked on it.  This show is based off of a family with two children, Charlotte and Johan and parents Martin and Wendy Byrde. Marty Byrde played wonderfully by Jason Bateman a financial adviser working for a firm in Chicago with his partner, Bruce.

 Marty is conveyed as a very smart man whom is great at his job but along with that he also likes to hold onto his money. This is shown well when he denies a $10 donation to his daughter’s friend for charity and his short rant following about how the daughter needs to learn how to save her money.  Jason Bateman does a great job of conveying this character’s emotion in his face and voice as well as the way he carries himself in the scenes. This man is confident in his job but when it comes to his daily life with his cheating wife he acts as he’s beaten down. This differentiation is great for really connecting with a character and the different aspects of their life.

This show starts off by showing the murder of Marty’s business partner, Bruce. Del, the son of a drug lord suspects his money launderers are stealing money in the process, which we later find out is a bluff. He shares with Marty in the episode that it was off a whim, he acted as if he knew and Bruce fell for it. This aspect of the movie pushes you more towards your relationship with the Marty and making you feel more connected to him. The man that he is dealing with killed another man off of a whim. That’s enough to scare anybody, and on top of it Marty had no knowledge of his partner’s illegal operations. This puts anyone who has had someone stab them in the back able to put themselves in his shoes. This lesson is reinforced again when Wendy his wife tries to flee with her lover after finding out about the incident involving the cartel. She takes as much money as she can and tries to flee, but Del thinking that Marty is trying to escape finds out and murders the lover. These moments all establish tension and fear.  All of this is terrifying but we are all intrigued by his willingness and want to live and not give in.

Throughout this episode we are constantly drawn closer to him and feel more intrigued and on his side. We want to see him live and succeed. There are so many factors against him at this point but for his family he refuses to give in. I intend to come back and watch more of this season and hopefully love it as much as the first episode. And I recommend it to anyone who wants a thrilling intense new show to watch.

BoJack Horseman

BoJack Horseman follows the life of ex-TV star and anthropomorphic horse, BoJack, as he attempts to regain his former fame and glory.. Going into the show, I expected myself to find it completely unfunny and unnecessarily vulgar, much like many adult cartoons (Mr. Pickles, Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon). However, I found myself chuckling consistently at the various puns and ridiculous scenarios. At some point towards the end of the episode that I was watching, my Student Advisor entered the lounge and excitedly informed me that he was a fan of the show and that watching the full series would be rewarding. Considering that information, I was excited that I had made a seemingly right choice. I started the series at the first two episodes of season one and after forming my own opinions about the show as well as having read positive reviews for it, I would like to go ahead and attempt to watch the entire show  in my free time.

I’ve seen commercials for BoJack Horseman on Adult Swim while watching staple adult cartoons such as Bob’s Burgers or King of the Hill. I never had any interest in it, as I always grouped it into the type of strange, late, late night Adult Swim shows that I decided I would never watch (Squidbillies, Full Metal Alchemist, Relocated…) However, during my weekly desperate attempt of finding a Netflix Original by aimlessly scrolling through titles, I said “Why the heck not?” and also, “I’ve been searching for about ten minutes now and I need to settle on something.” Long story short, I was pleasantly surprised by BoJack Horseman.

One aspect of the show that I found extremely enjoyable was the sense of humor. The typical self-destructive behavior of BoJack was something that I feel most people can relate to on some level (for example, BoJack eating twelve muffins in one sitting because he “has no self control” and “hates himself”). His auto-calamitous behavior paired with the self-depreciating humor makes for quite the lamentable spectacle. Another thing that I appreciate about the show is the animation. The animation is basic and isn’t necessarily a unique art style, but it isn’t unpleasant to look at (Problem Solverz). The stark contrast of the bright color scheme with the dark subject matter draws the viewer in and nearly makes them question the comedy presented in such a sad life.

I would definitely go back and watch more of BoJack Horseman. The vibrant and pleasant animation style, the (typically) classy jokes, and the promising story line are all key factors into what makes BoJack a unique and pleasant viewing experience. It definitely is not a show for everyone, but those who enjoy self-destructive humor paired with cheesy puns would have a field day with this animation.

Ozark: A Knockoff

I sat down this weekend to watch the show “Ozark”. Set in the Lake of The Ozarks, the main character Marty works as a financial adviser who also takes part laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel. I really hadn’t heard much about it going in, other than it took place in Missouri and involved meth. A classic Midwestern story. The intro begins and I can tell right off the bat I’m in for a dark drama. Or should I say, another, typical dark drama. Last week, my friend Anna Mercer posted a review of this same show. As she put it, the show is “not new. As the plot of the show continued to unfold, I felt like somehow, I’d already seen this before”. And I have to say, I couldn’t agree more.

One of the best aspects of the show is the thriller side of it. The main character Marty is involved with money laundering, as is his business partner and friend. His friend, however, gets caught in stealing some of the money. After multiple people are shot because of what he’s done, Marty quickly must figure out how to prevent being the last victim. After stealing his friends idea of moving business to the Ozarks, he is given 48 hours to get the money back and start the move to Missouri. The viewer is left wondering how Marty will get out of the situation. However, the problem is then solved before the end of the episode, and the pilot doesn’t seem to leave much hype for more after that.

By the end of the episode, the biggest problem is already solved, and the only question we are left with is “how will Marty launder money in the Ozarks”. No other deep questions that leave the viewers thinking for very long. Rumor has it that Marty will start making meth in order to have a large income. If that is the case, I can’t help but view this show as a Breaking Bad knockoff. A father of a broken family, making meth in order to stay afloat. While I’m sold on it taking place in Missouri, one of the major Meth Capitals of the US, the idea seems overdone and bland. As a cross between Breaking Bad and Winter's Bone, it should be a hit. But it offers up nothing new.

While this is not the worst show I’ve ever seen, it strikes me as pretty predictable. While I’m curious to know where Marty ends up, I can only imagine episodes will involve him trying to escape the police a few times, and troubles in his marriage and home life. Therefore, I'll let myself remain curious until I start a new series and forget about this one. While I feel as though I'll let this show be, I would, however, hesitantly recommend this show to a Breaking Bad fan who is looking for a very similar show.

Gypsy------->This show messes with your mind

Gypsy is a show that makes the viewers reintegrate their way of thinking. Every line that is spoken can be interpreted through a billion different ways. 

The director captures the viewers in the introduction scene by the epic and intense music choice. The first image that actually appears on screen is a blurred background that then fades into a crowd of people walking about a train station. Not only is this shot interesting for the eye, but the monologue said by Jean Holloway (main character, who is also known as Dianne) is one to make you think deeply of your existence here on this planet, and your relationships with those who surround you. Secondly, the camera crew and the set managers set up each scene in such a surreal light that some viewers may even question is this real life or not. The angles and lighting set a theme for each scene and those two things work wonders when trying to persuade the viewers on who everyone is and what characteristics are important. Foreshadowing plays an enormous role in setting a “feel” for the show Gypsy; but in order for the viewers to notice the foreshadowing that occurs they would have to rewatch the episode again, and after I rewatched the first episode, I noticed so many new ques that I had missed the first time around. Jean/ Dianne oddly speaks of, “us all having secrets” and then goes into saying “you never really know a person truly bc people hide things.” Even right there I feel as if that is foreshadowing for her life, because I know she is hiding something. To support that statement, Jean goes to the coffee shop and orders a drink by the name of Dianne, later one of her psychiatric patients point out, “who’s Dianne” and she then quickly replies, “ohhh i must have picked up someone else's coffee.” There are a ton of miniscule details that Gypsy is built on, and it’s the viewer's responsibility to connect all the dots. Another interesting choice that the set director made, was the fact that every single one of Dr. Holloways patients outfits happens to be color coordinated to the backdrop of where they are sitting in the office. Also, when talking to the patients, the angles they are shot in are obscure. The backdrop is weird and unevenly faded behind them, it’s almost like half of the backdrop is in focus and the other half is not. Something that intrigues the viewers to want more from each is that all of the patients eyes have something special and mysterious about them. All the eyes seem to be hurt but yet they still have this bright and glossy feel to them. I can only think to describe these eyes as “lost eyes” or having “lost souls”. If you hate a show that has no consistency, Gypsy is not for you. Although one thing that does have consistency throughout the scenes is color. For example the colors of the set, clothes, and accessories are all centered around shades of blue and white. I have not yet uncovered what significance these colors have, but perhaps the white could be a representation of the pure and innocent life Jean claims she’s living. 

If you need something in your life to make you think about your conscience mind, and what’s real in this world or not, Gypsy is the show for you.

Mise-en-Scene in Cartoons?

Dear Barton,

For my blog post today, I decided to try to replicate the activity that we did for Mise-en-Scene. I found this rather challenging. In class, we used stills that you had selected. The one aspect that was the same with every still you choose was that they were all live action shows with actors, props, and costumes. We didn’t broach the topic of can Mise-en-Scene be applied to a cartoon or animation. In LEGO Elves: Secrets of Elvendale, the artists have a lot less they need to manipulate to get their point across. I choose a random still where it looks as if a dark green haired male elf is talking to two human girls. The girls seem like they might be siblings, one bigger than the other but the same hair color. A purple haired female elf looks like she wants to speak with the dark green haired one. And the bodies of three other elves are visible, one red and orange with tanned skin female, one dark blue and light blue with light skin female, and one green and brown with light skin male. The female with tanned skin has an outfit that seems based off of fire. The blue one probably water and the green one probably earth. The purple haired girl is in all purple which leads me to believe that she is in some sort of group with the others. The dark green haired male elf previously mentioned is wearing mostly brown. The red, blue, and green ones are all standing next to one another. I would guess just because of the general nature of fantasy that they have powers that involve the elements previously mentioned. The dark green haired male might be a leader, friend, or there for helping everything go smoothly. The two human girls are both wearing stripes with their backs to the audience perhaps to show the dark green haired elf speaking or the purple one talking to him. The ground has mostly grass and some rocks but somehow we get the feeling it is set in the forest.

So after watching the episode, a good number of my guesses were accurate. I didn’t really like the episode too much. The characters were too trusting and naive but I guess that is to be expected with a kids show. I was right about the guesses when it came to the powers of the elves. The purple one controls wind though. Apparently, with the group, they are friends that all live together.  I think that Mise-en-Scene is more for live action pieces but I wanted to see if I could apply it to this piece. Perhaps in pieces that are more creative like Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle, this would have been a more interesting and applicable exercise. In those pieces, there are a lot more details and unique scenes. I am really excited to apply this exercise to some of the Hayao Miyazaki films I have not seen.  

Til next week,

happylittlepenguin

The Themes of Castlevania

The Castlevania anime is a fantastic adaptation of the original game series. The story follows Trevor Belmont through a dark and dying Western styled fantasy world. Although far too short, remaining unresolved, and holding some minor hiccups. The story sets up an interesting dynamic between both faith and science while using demons and vampires as a backdrop. This post will focus less on the series and more of some of the underlying themes that I believe to be the intent of the creators. If you have not watched the series and do not wish to be spoiled, leave now. This is your spoiler warning.

The world of Castlevania is a superstitious and run seeming solely by the church. Much of what goes wrong was caused by the church. The entire plot of the show is kicked off by the Church burning the wife of Dracula for witchcraft. She was only a simple medicine woman who sought to aid those in need, but whose methods did not line up with the churches.

While this seems like an open and shut case for what Castlevania is trying to tell us it becomes more muddled. The Church may be this season’s primary antagonist Dracula remains the current villain of the series. Dracula has access to both magic (a seeming science in this world) and actual scientific marvels of his own. It can be argued that almost all that has gone wrong in this world has been a result of man lost to madness and his sciences.

The show does not take a side however, rather it seems to believe in a middle ground. That both should be accepted and neither is evil. While the Church is the antagonist, Trevor Belmont uses holy weapons, the aid of a priest to create holy water, and not at all subtly references The New Testament. Using salt to fight demons and saying to spread it around. Sypha Belnades and Alucard both use magic, and Alucard is surrounded by technology. Both characters remain on the side of Belmont.

The story will most likely not deny one or the other, but it certainly has much to say on fanaticism and the consolidation of power in a single entity. The Church in this story is corrupt and using people’s faith to control them. The bishops use holy words and ideals to push their will upon the world instead of Gods. Turning the entire world astray. This idea is most blatantly stated in the fourth episode when the bishop, who proclaims himself as the Church, is confronted by demons. They say, “Your god's not here, this is an empty box”, the bishop replies saying that all he has done he has done for the lord. This is shows that the bishops do not even recognize that his blind fanaticism has led him astray. The demons reply in many ways to reveal his folly, “Your life's work makes him puke”, “God's love is not unconditional, he does not love us, nor does he love you”, and “He knows we can not be here without you”.

Castlevania focuses on the dangers of fanaticism from any source. It also warns about putting too much power in one corruptible being. Much of what happened was caused by an unwillingness to expand horizons while they internally rot. This is a story and idea told time and time again, but always seems to need to be repeated.

So how did I do? Was there something I missed or did I get it all. Was I way off, hit it on the head or somewhere in between. Leave me your thoughts in the comments.

Ozark

As a proud Missourian and an avid Jason Bateman fan, the Netflix show Ozark seemed like the perfect fit for me. I was excited to see what picture these Hollywood hotshots would paint of Lake of the Ozarks, and I was surprisingly impressed. They affectionately termed it “The Redneck Riviera” and made it seem like a pleasant place to be.

The show opens with an off-screen monologue given by Marty, the businessman turned criminal that the show is centered around. He discusses America’s perverted relationship with money: we always want to obtain more, but we can never seem to hold onto it for very long. He gives a frightening statistic - only 15% of Americans are prepared for even one year of retirement, much less the average 13 years of retirement.

Stepping a little further into the show, we see that Marty himself has an interesting relationship with money. His wife reveals that she bought groceries earlier that day, and Marty questions why that’s the second time she’s bought groceries this week. When his 15-year-old daughter asks him for $10 for a fishy sounding fundraiser, he firmly refuses to give it to her. He seems deeply unhappy in his suburban life, but we don’t see him making an effort to seek something better.

There was one element of the show that I was surprisingly impressed with: the script. I’ve already mentioned the monologue that the show opens with. In my opinion, that is one of the best written scenes in the episode. Near the end of his speech about America’s relationship with money, Marty ends with a statement that I found worth sharing:

“Money is not peace of mind. Money’s not happiness. Money is, at its essence, that measure of a man’s choices.”

This theme of choices that Marty refers to is one of the central ideas throughout the episode. He makes many questionable choices, including agreeing to help a Mexican drug lord, all in the interest in doing what’s right for his family. I found this interesting, because for a man who’s willing to elude the federal government, he doesn’t actually seem that invested in his family. I think that Marty is a man who wants a life he doesn’t have, and his way of coping with that is by giving in to his inner desires (for money and power) and then covering it by saying that he’s doing it for his family.

Overall, I won’t watch this show again, and here’s why: it’s not new. As the plot of the show continued to unfold, I felt like somehow, I’d already seen this before. I’m almost tempted to call this a Netflix Unoriginal. It seemed like a recycled storyline set with new characters. It had all the basic elements of a movie that you watch at 3am when you can’t sleep: an unsatisfied wife, two disgruntled kids, and trouble with the law.

I will continue to be proud of Missouri (and Jason Bateman, for that matter), but until a more enthralling drama set in my home state is produced, I’ll have to be content with this one.

Another mystery: The OA

What really caught my attention, besides the fact that I really liked this show, were the time jumps being made at the end of the first episode and the mystery that surrounds this storyline. I don’t want to give anything away in case anyone decides to start watching The OA. What I can tell you is: one, the time jumps are needed to dispose of some of the mystery and two, it makes the scenes more impactive. Without those scenes, you would be left hanging, which you still partially are (but it is a good hanging), and the impact of the storyline they are pulling you into would be partially lost.

You start this journey in the middle of the story. The result is suspense from the beginning, as you have no idea what is happening next, or what HAS happened before in the timeline, which not only pulls you in, but leaves you on the edge of your seat. You get more information little by little, but those scenes at the end are there to connect the information together.

The time lapses specifically pertain to the backstory of the main character who remains a mystery while the people around her are starting to open up. In this timeline you specifically find out more information about her relationship with her parents, and find out how she became impaired. Sorry, for the spoiler but you find that out pretty early.

Another thing to pay attention to is the effect the time lapses have on the other characters. Watching the flashbacks and the ‘real time’ characters reactions shows just how skeptical they are of the main character and whether they can truly trust her. The characters are already having issues with how they feel about our protagonist because she doesn’t have the clearest path, and what is happening seems very var fetched. This skepticism has already played a part in the actions of the characters and I expect this skepticism will show later in the show as well.

At this point in the show I have realized that my feelings have been directly affected by the mystery surrounding the show. To only add on to the mixture of feelings I had these scenes are continuing to pull at my heartstrings. My feelings are being intensified by the minute strictly because once you see something in the flashback, you are then thrust into the present when all you want is to find out what happened next to our mysterious protagonist. The desperation to continue this elaborate back story is real, and I will admit I had a hard time not fast forwarding to ease my burden.

When the end of the episode approached, I found that I didn’t want it to. Not only because I still have so many questions, but also because lately I cannot find a show or movie that captures my interest the entire time, and The OA is one of the best I have found that keep my attention and interest. So, if my analysis of The OA hasn’t convinced you to watch it, which I understand if it hasn’t, let me tell you that I am very hard to please apparently and between this show and Hemlock Grove (which I wrote about last week) I have found enough mysteries to last me a while. This will be added to the list of shows that I will have to try to find the time to watch but I will definitely be back to it, and the time lapses that have pulled me in deep.

House of Cards II

For my second weekly blog post I decided to take another look at House of Cards. I was intrigued by the first episode that I watched last week and I decided it would be good to give the show another try and see if other episodes kept up the quality that I saw in the first show.  After reading about mise-en-scene in class and from the book I thought that since it's such an important part of House of Cards I would write about that this week.

Bojack Horseman

After being recommended this animated show multiple times, I decided that I would watch something a little different this week with Bojack Horseman. Bojack Horseman is an animated netflix original, with Bojack Horseman being the main character. The shows revolves around Bojack and his life as a washed up actor from a not-so-amazing sitcom. We follow Bojack as he goes through his life with different misfortunes accompanying him, from being broken up with, to vomiting out cotton candy because he can’t control himself around it, especially at parties. From his “roommate” who is a human, to his on/off girlfriend who just happens to be his manager and a cat, and other character, the show boasts a diverse cast from the start. While we’ve only been through the first episode, the show so far, to me, has an incredible mix of jokes, characters, and an interesting plot.

One of the most important things to note is that in this show's universe, people and animals live equally. Animals aren't pets, and humans aren’t above any animal. Both animals and humans are doing similar things, like working together, eating together, or even sleeping together. The show introduces this idea of interspecies right at the start, where it begins with the sitcom Bojack was in named Horsin Around. This intro does two things. First, it shows that this show's universe has humans and animals interacting as equals. Secondly, the show sets a welcoming and simple tone to the show. It lowers the viewer's expectation to assume it's just a sitcom, and that the show will be family friendly, as one expects animated shows and sitcoms to be. It certainly tricked me. However, the show transitions into a nightly talk show, with Bojack being drunk and parking in a handicap spot. This transition helps show that this won't be a children's show, and it is aimed at adults.

One more example of the creator's intelligence in creating the show is the opening sequence. When the show goes through the opening sequence, we follow Bojack, while the world around him goes from normal to disaster, only to wake up in the morning with everything okay. It is almost as to show that Bojack is just repeating his mistakes, with no real repercussion, as in the first episode. His girlfriend breaks up with him because of everything he does, even throwing her out the car, only for her to call him as his agent, and then later on, make breakfast because she’s slept with him once more. He even talks about having cheating on his girlfriend, yet there are still no repercussions for Bojack. One more thing to note is that to Bojack, his world is a mess because that is just how life is, it isn’t because of his own choices and actions. The opening sequence helps portray this attitude even more when Bojack stands idly by while his world is falling apart around him. He thinks he’s helpless, but he is in full control of his life.

Death Note the Movie Vs Death Note the Anime

Death Note is a popular anime series on Netflix, in which I enjoyed and absolutely loved watching. Recently, there's been an uproar about the new American version that has reached Netflix and I decided to watch it. I must say, I am not satisfied with the movie version at all. While there may be a few things that were executed fairly well within the movie, the overall theme of the movie did not compare to the anime in any way.

One of the many things that the American version failed to incorporate was an enormous amount of Japanese characters. The characters chosen to be played in this movie were mostly American and did not give the movie a cultural vibe. The producer, Roy Lee claimed there was an extensive search for Asian actors but none spoke "perfect English" and the characters had been rewritten. Actor Masi Oka, also explains that being Asian-American doesn't mean you should get the role but the actor has to be good, talented, and actually fit the role of the director. While Masi Oka does make valid points, the movie as a consequence lacked diversity and a Japanese cultural atmosphere without Asian actors.

Another failure of the movie is that the story line progressed too quickly. The movie instantly begins with the death note falling out of the sky without the main character being introduced to the audience first. Within the first few minutes of the movie, a death occured before the rules of the Death Note were explained whereas in the anime, special scenes were panned out. The anime gave the audience time to understand how the book was used, while the movie continuously throws action at you the entire time. For instance, the character L, who is helping with the investigation of Kira, suspects the detectives son, Light, to be the killer. L then goes after him most of the movie without evidence. There is a fued between both Light and L in the movie, however, the anime has the two working closely together. The character L in the anime suspects Light as well but he did not physically attack him every opportunity he had because L was aware he needed more edvidence to prove his claim.

The characters in the movie are completely different than those in the anime. Light in the anime was in the top of his class and so was L. They were both very intelligent people, almost identical if it wasn't for L's peculiar traits. For example, L sits oddly in a chair and eats an excessive amount of candy, which was depicted in the show. However, the cleverness and critical thinking that both L and Light used during the anime was not present in the movie. Both characters in the movie acted reckless and did not portray the characters in the anime whatsoever.

On the contrary, the music selection used in the movie was outstanding. For example, the song "Take my Breath Away" plays when Light in the movie discovers that Mia, Light's girlfriend, wrote his name in the Death Note, meaning he would die. The song title speaks for itself, but changes when Mia continues to say that she plans to burn his page so he would live. Continuing with their love fest, "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" plays when both Mia and Light are dangling from a ferris wheel. Finally, Mia slips away and so does Light. For that reason, the song was great because it displayed how Light was willing to die along with Mia.

The movie had ideal music selections but besides that, it was completely different than the anime. The anime was more complex and followed a more specific and detailed story line, therefore, in my opinion, made it the better version of the two.

Win It All: The Silver Linings Playbook for Gambling

For my blog entry this week, I decided to watch Win It All directed by Joe Swanberg and staring Jake Johnson. The film revolves around Johnson's character Eddie, who has a massive addiction to gambling. We see that Eddie lives off of doing odd jobs such as working a parking lot for Wrigley Field in Chicago. With the money he makes, Eddie goes drinking with his friends and gambles the rest away. The very nature of Eddie is that of a destructive personality, always destroying the good things in his life. This personality, in addition to his lazy and man-child lifestyle, make for a character who in most cases would be unlikable. After all, why should the audience become invested in a character who can't even take care of himself? Unlike the norm however, Eddie is immensely likeable, mainly due to the incredible performance and charisma from Johnson as well as the great writing of the character. Eddie feels real, something of a dreamer who always seems to have all the right answers while actually having none, all at the same time. One day however, Eddie's way of life is flipped upside down when an acquaintance of his gives him a job to watch a bag full of money for about a year. Of course, Eddie can't resist and starts to gamble the money, soon enough losing over 50,000 dollars’ worth of it. While the rest of the film details Eddie's attempts to earn the money back, we also see him begin to grow up and become a true adult.  

In a lot of ways, I found the film to be a coming of age tale, except instead of following a teen, the audience follows a character in either his late 20s or early 30s. This is an interesting outside-the-box idea that works perfectly in my opinion. As I mentioned, Eddie somehow feels very real and reminds me of people I know and even a little of myself. While I don't have a gambling problem nor does anyone else I know, it's Eddie's mindset and dialogue that is just immensely relatable. Most of his decisions, both good and bad, are largely due to his strong emotions. Even though Eddie is this negative personality, he begins to see the errors in his ways and tries to correct them. Over the course of the film, Eddie begins to spend more time with his family, he gets a job and a girlfriend, and finally even attempts to quit gambling. The basic premise of having to win the money back is merely the overall structure for the film to give it a narrative as much of the focus is actually placed on Eddie becoming more of an adult. Because of his charisma and the fact that he does try to improve, this makes for a film much deeper than the simple premise that explores addiction and maturing.

While Johnson is the main focus of the film, several other actors get to shine in roles as well such as Keenan Michael-Key, Joe Lo Truglio, and especially Aislinn Derbez as Eddie’s girlfriend. Like Eddie, these characters are all likeable, seem very real, and have good motivations.

The realism of the characters in the film are strongly due to the fantastic writing by Swanberg and Jake Johnson himself. Because of the realism, the jokes also feel more natural and like something I would hear on a normal day, making them much more funny in my opinion. Most comedy nowadays fails miserably due to the reliance on cursing, toilet humor, and gross outs. Also, the jokes in most comedies are things that real people never actually say. Here, the jokes are all real world and mix perfectly with the overall dramatic and sometimes even intense tone of the film. It reminds me heavily of the 2012 film Silver Linings Playbook, which also was a fantastic comedy-drama dealing with a mental illness.

Honestly, there was nothing actually bad about the film. The film could have had a less anti-climatic ending perhaps, or maybe the climactic scene could have been tweaked slightly, but these are all relatively small flaws. Aside from those flaws, this really is a fantastic small budget film. Because it is small budget, the film isn’t exactly extravagant. There is no fancy camerawork nor are there any extravagant costumes or sets, but in my opinion, that just added to the realism of the film. I definitely would recommend this film and would have to say that, so far, it is in my ten favorite films that I have seen so far this year.

Control

I watched season 3, episode 5 of Black Mirror, “Man Against Fire”. The primary theme was control. The first thing that I noticed was the drab, washed out colors of the outside world. Buildings are splotched with algae and vines. Interiors feel dank and moldy. The effect is a world that seems in general disorder. This stands in stark contrast to the scenes in the military complex, where the environment is sterile, white; controlled. The viewer is shown by interactions amongst soldiers that the enemy and cause of the disarray are disgusting beings called “roaches”.

This episode does a good job of showing, not telling. This is particularly impressive in a sci-fi show, where the technology and setting are unfamiliar. The main technology showcased in this episode is called Mass, a brain implant with which soldiers can receive intel briefings into their brains, improve their targeting, and communicate with one another. This device also controls all of their senses to varying degrees, and is used to reward soldiers for killing roaches. The mass gives them sexual dreams the night after they get a kill. This gives soldiers the positive association of sex when killing, giving the military never before seen psychological control. This is all showcased in action, whereas a lot of sci-fi technology is explained through cheap dialogue. The viewer knows intuitively when the protagonist’s Mass begins malfunctioning, due to a high pitched whir and distortion coupled with images of him in pain, or seeing his systems go offline. Once this is introduced, any time the whirring begins the viewer is easily clued in.

The Mass gives the military even more control, however. It is revealed that the roaches are actually just humans, and the Mass alters their appearance and voice in the mind’s of the soldiers. Thus, they can commit horrible acts without remorse. This dehumanization of the enemy is often found in the military today. This is one of the intriguing aspects of Black Mirror: while it can at times be far fetched, it really is a dark look in the mirror of society today, socially as much as technologically.

Suspense is spot on in this episode. Build up is accumulated as the viewer is shown a knife clutched in the hands of a man protecting the “roaches” as he is being drilled by soldiers. The camera narrator shows us what is going to happen wordlessly. The action was unfortunately unsatisfactory to me, as it was disjointed by overuse of camera cuts and shaky cam. I imagine the idea was to give the sense of chaos to the action, but I think it subtracts more than it adds.

Oftentimes in Black Mirror episodes, the ending is not happy. This is no exception. However, it’s kind of refreshing to not have the expected “good guys win” ending. It subverts typical expectations. The power of controlling information was the overwhelming theme throughout. Control of information is dangerously powerful. This is why documentaries that control exactly what does and doesn’t get put into them can be exceptionally misleading. This is why Trump’s cry of “fake news” to discredit the media is troubling. When you control the flow of information, you control everything.

Easy

For this week I watched the first episode of Easy, unfortunately it wasn’t that easy to watch, in fact some of it actually made me uncomfortable. The first episode is about a middle age couple with two kids that are having issues within their sex life. Throughout the episode you get a very graphic inside look on how their lives were. After doing some research I discovered that all 8 of the episodes in this season are about a different relationship and focus on a different aspect of the relationship. Even though they are different I personally could not go back and watch any more. This would be a great show for an older couple that was for a middle age person whom could relate a lot but for me it was almost disturbing to watch this episode especially the sex scene. But my question is why I am bothered by watching this. .. Is this society affecting my opinions?

Most sex scenes in movies are thought of as raunchy and sexy, normally you would think of this happening between two younger people. So why when we see a couple that does not fit does it bother us? In my opinion younger people relate better to younger people having sex along with the fact that this is what is shown to us making us much more familiar to this scene rather than to older people. Along with the fact that sometimes when we see a couple older than us we associate that with our parents or grandparents which in return makes us feel uncomfortable about the content. This then brings up another question; do older people feel uncomfortable when seeing the younger generation in this manner? They could relate someone younger to their kids or they could put it in a different point of view and think about it as those being the “golden days”. There’s a lot of different ways to look at it and a lot of different factors that come into play when talking about a subject like this but like many other things media plays a role.  Like I talked about earlier with younger people being depicted as more sexualized we become comfortable with this and often you even forget that older people have sex too and that there is no difference between the two.

Most of this all basically came to is that everybody has a different opinion and many different factors that go into opinions in a show. I may not have really liked this show but I also can tell you that someone out there likes it or maybe even can relate to it. This is overall the most important thing to keep in mind and to remember that just because someone likes something you don’t they may have been exposed to other things in their life that change their opinion. And in the end and no matter if it’s right or wrong society will always affect us but that just makes us a little more unique.