True Blood Season 5

In juggling shows the excitement leading into the kick off of True Blood season Five was not as feverish as previous season. While the show has succeeded in bringing blood-splatter to small screen ans some suspenseful moments , like the Harris books it rides the line of dark fantasy rather than horror, but these days we take what we can get.

Spoilers Ahead...



This season picks up where it left off even recapping slightly as to the logistics of the killings that ended last season. Pam is really being stepped in her dialogue and will be a show favorite by the middle of the season if she isn't already. Lafayette goes from a break down to having an attitude all in the span of taking a bath. Sookie is well.. the least developed in the this episode and the tone of the show seems the sub plots take more precedence over her , namely her brother Jason as his interactions with the turn preacher now scorned gay lover of sorts as well as Jessica's fleeting affections. So there soap opera element is dialed up in this regard.

Bill and Eric seem like they are going to be juggling the big bads and leaving Bon Temps to deal with Vampire Tara, which like the Vampire Diaries both shows seem to be falling into the trap of turning every one into something , which makes being a monster less unique, granted Vampire Diaries is jumping the shark with it where Ball is still holding the back woods charm and knows the human element is the shows bread and butter ...up to a point.

If you are expecting Russell or any of the big bads to come busting into this season guns blazing don't hold your breath as the tone is basically being set here.

Sam and the were-wolf thing is so far re-moved from the book I could careless and while I like his character makes it more appropriate to go grab a diet coke and check my email , much like some of Tara's subplots in earlier seasons.

Jessica doesn't have any competition as to being the hottest character on the show by far, Bill doesn't seem to be aging a gracefully as a vampire should, Eric is too thin and appears to have lost substantial muscle tone, and Sookie has become increasingly bland as the series continues. Even Ball himself has stated the aging actors as a reason for the show to wrap by next season. Right when it seems the writing finally got where it needs to be . My hopes for the season aside from Jessica getting naked is some of the threads from the books are realized like Lafayette getting killed,the witch room mate and aren't we supposed to have the were- tiger by now? Not to mention Bubba.

Prometheus

Prometheus is the pre-quel of sorts to the "Alien" movie, though a little connect the dots is needed and we are looking at the "Space-jockey". The familiar tone of the whole things aren't going as we planned in space is also similar to the Alien franchise. There is the almost human android, but over all it feels more Isaac Asimov and the first hour and`5 minutes is hard sci-fi. The horror elements creep in with a pitter patter and the movie never goes for the throat like "Alien", which creeped you out before any chest bursting. It's o.k that in space no one can hear you scream, because the screams are minimal. The tension and sense of claustrophobic danger from the first films isn't present, even when people go wandering off it caves. The almost Tangerine Dream like soundtrack doesn't help with it's blips and groans to build tension.

Fassbender despite his nefarious programming is the most likable character.I like his study of movie to learn to be a human, sure "Short Circuit" did it as well but unlike Five he does not want to be alive. However some of the characters ambiguity leaves you to expect things to no be as they seem.
I can where the appeal of seeing it it 3-d on the big screen would have its appeal is the first twenty minutes or during the observatory simulator.But the actions scenes are so quick I don't think the manner in which they are presented benefits from 3-d. There are even some cgi elements that make me suspect it would even cheapen it. So do you go to see movies for the spectacle of it ? Are you easily lured by bright shining things that go boom? If so then I'm surprised you are reading if not more surprised you are still reading this blog. But similar to Inception , I going to to question the cinema savvy of any one who says this is the most amazing movie ever or anything paralleling that moronic view point. This is not to imply the film is not well crafted , it is and the acting accomplished what it seeks to do, you find yourself disliking Charlize Theron as intended.

There are some well did I how did he just figure that out holes, but they are more or less forgiven, though one of the more glaring reveals at the end may or may not irk you depending on the size of the magnifying glass you are holding the movie up to. This is going to be one of the main hurdles the movie has , it living up to the first to films. The expectations leave it in a place to do damned if they do damned it they don't, distancing it's self from the other films is not the movies strong points, yet in comparison to the other films it drags depending on what you want it to be. A good question to ask yourself before throwing down the 12 bucks is "did i Like 2001 Space Odyssey?" Because it closer in pacing that those films,The closest to horror isn't when the creature appear, their first appearance remind me of the trash compactor monster from Star wars, but when Noomi Rappace's character induces surgery on her self in a device that is heavily foreshadowed.

While my hopes were perhaps a little elevated, I wanted more from the films front end, though the agnostic questions the premise asks were enjoyed , in the same way I see the His Dark Materials series as the agnostic answer to the Chronicles of Narnia. Lets face it a lot of quality sci-fi that's not a big dumb Will Smith vehicle targeted for a simpleton audiences shoveling the pop corn away are few and far between so we should be thankful for what we get here. So it's a mixed bag, I feel it's success is in asking the more philosophical questions for most great sci-fi asks these...Ender's Game, Stranger in a Strangeland, Neuromancer. But I wanted a horror movie.

Either torture porn has jaded me or this just doesn't seem as repulsing as "From Beyond" when it comes to the creepy crawling, though I love Stuart Gordon and would like to see what he could be if given this kind of budget...can we say "At the Mountains of Maddness"?...Ridley Scott knew what to do with the budget and after the trailer for Agento's Dracula 3-d , this will be the only "Horror" movie (and I use the term loosely) worth seeing. The craftsmanship is the only quality that keeps the first half from being a bogged down bore. The bottom line is it's excellent work that could have used the same balance of horror the first film benefited from to be the classic it wants to be.