House of Cards: Season 2, Episodes 1 and 2

Season 2, Episode 1:  9.5

The first episode of Season 2 is the best episode of House of Cards yet, and might be the best episode of the entire series.  For a season premiere episode, I was surprised at how much plot developments there were in the first hour. 

Things go right back into action, with Frank scheming his rise to Vice Presidency, Stamper cleaning up loose ends, and Zoe and her crew continuing their search for the truth.  Oh Zoe, poor Zoe…I did not see that coming.  It was a bold move by the showrunners, one that I hope pays off as I found her character one of the highlights of the show.  From the first episode, she was presented as a main character.  Killing her off was a risky move, but one I respect if the writers believed we couldn’t get much more out of her character.  My only worry is that her story will be taken up by Lucas and Janine, two characters I’m not particularly fond of. 

Worries aside, this was an exciting and shocking episode.  We see sides of Frank, Claire and Stamper that are darker than we’ve ever seen before.  I like that this season already feels different; the show has developed from Season 1.  Can the show maintain this kind of pace and edge?  I don’t know, but if any future episode surpasses this one, I will be pleasantly surprised. 

Notes:

-Season 2 picks up literally where last season left off, with Frank and Claire jogging.

-“Are you finished? I’m good”.  Looks like Zoe isn’t as into Lucas as she was into Frank.

-Deputy Jackie is very attractive for her age.

-Frank’s computer desktop is just four files with people’s names on it and an icon for a scanner.

-Claire’s work story slows the pace of the show down.

“-Use a condom the next time you fuck someone’s husband”.  Who’s this woman again?

-Stamper is cold.

-Secret service guy got owned.

-Zoe and Lucas text with correct capitalization and punctuation.  If it was me, it would be like “dude was found on passenger side of his car wahhhhhhhh lol”.

-Did Zoe just die?!  What the crazy.

-Frank is cold.  Was he planning that? 

-That was unexpected.  I always took her as a main character.  R.I.P.

-“Did you think I’ve forgotten you?”  Frank’s monologue to us at the end is pretty great.

Season 2, Episode 2: 8.0

The second episode follows up the season premiere shocker with a more typical narrative about where the plot is heading.  Frank is up to some serious scheming, this time involving the president himself. 

The theme of this episode seems to be revenge and knowing when to take it or to not take it.  Frank’s two candidates for replacement start off the episode arguing and then agreeing to shake hands and work together.  Later, they let their rivalry get in the way of progress.  Claire advises Frank to pin a medal on a man who raped her in college.  Lucas delves deeper into his investigation/revenge, risking his job and mental health. 

All the plots come together thematically, making a solid table setting episode.  Although less of an exciting episode than the season premiere, the second episode finds the show getting back into its familiar rhythms of manipulation and deceit. 

Notes:

-Dark and stormy opening scene, set to images of saws and the security ramp up of Frank’s place.

-Of course Frank would stop to monologue us in the middle of the swearing in.

-Zoe’s death footage looks pretty brutal, especially in “frame by frame” mode.

-Jackie is pretty cunning; she made that guy think funding her campaign was his idea.

-Ha, a framed pic of Frank and Bill Clinton looking bored on their phones.

-Frank is on dat vape though.

-The return of Tom the editor, he looks miserable. 

-Theme about shaking hands, pinning medals, standing down.  Revenge; equity.

-Why does Frank need the internet to play God of War?  It’s a single player game…

-Lucas’s employee looks like he might be into some weird internet stuff.

The House of the Devil

Rating: 9.0

“Talk on the phone.  Finish your homework.  Watch TV.  Die.”

Ti West’s homage to 1980’s babysitter in peril horror films is one of the best genre films of the last decade.  What sets it apart from other horror films today is the tone and the pacing.  The film engages you with its atmosphere and slow burn lead up.  Jocelyn Donahue plays the title character with a natural sympathy; you care about her and her situation as the film progresses.  When the film takes a turn for the shocking, it is well earned and hard to forget.  Notes  below:

-Love the freeze frame that goes into the opening title, followed by the great 80’s music.

-The bulletin board has the important “Baby$itter Needed” flyer, as well as flyers for “Eclipse Viewing with the Astronomy Society” and “Lost Cat”.

-Samantha’s roommate’s boyfriend gives her a very satisfied/smug smile.

-Greta Gerwig!  Officially makes this movie “mumblegore”.

-Pizza portrayed as being from the 1980’s somehow looks a lot tastier than pizza today. 

-Tom Noonan is great; his voice is soft and alluring. 

-Samantha drives a hard bargain, $400 a night!

-Megan’s lighter scene is amazing, one of the best shocks of recent memory.

-Samantha is reminded three times that there’s a number for pizza on the refrigerator.

-Pizza guy on the phone: “Extra anchovies?” 

-Walkman music + pool = cool and badass.

-The Volvo is still there…

-Where did he actually get the pizza from?  It must be cold.

-Not a great time to watch “Night of the Living Dead”.

-Closet show reminds me of “Halloween”.

-One creepy family.

-Tom Noonan looks like he’s sexually climaxing.

-Get em Samantha.

-Friend revenge #bff.

-Both of you…

The Act of Killing

Rating: 9.0

There is a scene early on in The Act of Killing where Anwar Congo, a notorious former death squad leader, describes going to the movies in the 1960s.  He loved going to see American musicals, and after seeing them, would be in a happy mood and sing songs that were stuck in his head.  The documentary then follows Anwar as he demonstrates that sometimes after the movie he would go to across the street to the building where his death squad held their executions.  At times, the songs would still be stuck in his head while he was strangling people to death with wire.  

Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing is filled with such scenes, where the horrifying acts Anwar Congo and his death squad have committed are described or recreated with bone chilling details.  The movie is the most harrowing film/documentary I have seen in a long time; giving me a view of events so horrible that every detail I can relate to or understand terrifies me.  Similar to the scene I described above, I have also experienced watching a musical and then feeling uplifted and humming the songs.  The fact that a notorious death squad leader beautifully described that feeling both terrifies and engages me.  

Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver

Rating: 2.0, for the absurdity and the fact that this movie exists.

What the hell did I just watch?  The Netflix description:  The Gingerdead Man stumbles upon a time machine and is sent back in time, where he slaughters the contestants of a 1970s roller boogie contest.

Well, you get exactly what you expect.  Cheap, crude, and weirdly watchable.  I have not seen any of the other Gingerdead Man movies but followed the plot of this one fine.  Notes below. 

·         Opening location title card: The Scientific Research Institute for the Study of Homicidal Baked Goods

·         The security guard is dramatically eating a giant sub sandwich during her scenes.

·         Homicidal French baguette: “Hello baby, do you like it long and hard?”

·         Prostitute Pie: “Get me out of here, I’m not a whore.  I just needed the dough.”

·         The beginning is a parody of Silence of the Lambs, complete with a dramatic walk toward a muffled Gingerdead Man.

·         Gingerdead Man knows he transported into exactly 1976 with one only one glance.

·         At 12:16, a random shot of the only two kids at the skate rink, right after the Gingerdead Man utters “ooohhh pussy!”

·         Dimwitted girl: “Maybe we could hold a roller disco bikini carwash in the parking lot tonight!” 

·         Gingerdead Man masturbates to the girls during the car wash.  During this scene, I wondered “How?”  Later, he is shown to have a gingerbread penis.

·         The Carrie White knockoff gets a makeover montage.

·         Why was Gingerdead Man get in the toilet while the lady was pooping?

·         “Looks like everyone around here is looking to get nailed!”, followed by death by nailgun.

·         “Do a little dance, make a little love, commit homicide tonight!” 

·         The title of the film is fulfilled at 51:36.

·         A moment later, Gingerdead Man does coke, DJ’s, then says “Welcome to Saturday Night Cleaver!”.

·         The Carrie reference is fulfilled, as expected, along with Gingerdead Man waving around a gun and cracking jokes while it happens.

·         Adolf Hitler, Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer make appearances at the end, each with an introductory quip.

·         The Gingerdead Man is defeated by being crumbled into a cookie jar.

·         What the hell did I just watch?

Pain and Gain

Rating: 7.5

Michael Bay does the Coen brothers, and mostly succeeds.  Pain and Gain is a welcome departure from the director’s usual action spectacles, applying his talents in telling a dark comedy about the American Dream gone wrong. 

Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie pull off tricky performances as the three incompetent leads.  They commit to their material by attempting to provide motive and reason for their dimwitted plot, which is where most of the comedy in the film comes from.  Their performances are effective in the way that they don’t seem to be in on the joke; they seem to have no clue on how dumb they are. 

The tone of the film shifts between satirical funny to darkly comic.  Cleverly, the film simultaneously employs and mocks Bay’s overblown directing style for a purpose.  You get the sense that the main characters think of themselves as part of a Michael Bay film as they engage in their dimwitted and morally corrupt behavior.  The camera goes along with them and the contrast is both darkly comic and highly critical.  Pain and Gain may be the most artistically interesting film of Michael Bay’s career.

Her

Rating: 9.0

Film critic James Berardinelli described Her as “iRomance” and I agree. There’s something about the look of the movie that reminds me of the iPhone interface, in a good way. The movie is gorgeous to look at, painting the near future with light pink and light blue hazes. The first thing that captured me about Her is how lightly colorful it is, using soft and sun basked lighting to achieve a lush transcendental quality about it.

As for the romance itself, Her is complicated in its appeal. The relationship between Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) and the operating system Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) is ambitious and challenging. If you don’t buy into their relationship, the movie will not work for you. There are times that the romance is beautiful and genuinely touching. There are also scenes where the romance didn’t work for me, but this may have been intentional. Samantha is a tricky character. I found myself switching gears between being happy for Theodore and being sad for him for falling in love with a technological advancement.

Ultimately, Her is a thoughtful and innovative film about romance and technology. The fact that I feel I need to watch it again is a compliment about its genius. It’s a film that seduces you in its ideas. A beautiful looking and intellectually stimulating movie.

The Spectacular Now

Rating: 6.0

The Spectacular Now is a high school romantic drama that attempts to be honest and realistic. Although I admired its ambitions to treat its characters and story with sincerity, I was mostly bored with the film.

Miles Teller plays the protagonist Sutter as a lovable and funny wanderer. His performance is good in the way it portrays Sutter’s likability despite his constant alcoholism. Shailene Woodley is also good as Aimee, who is a sweet and good natured character through and through.

My main complaint with the film is its overly serious tone and predictable plot. Although the film is commendable for avoiding the usual high school clichés, it didn’t hit any notes of excitement or joyfulness that I would associate with young love. The second half is also overtaken with a predictable subplot about Sutter’s biological father that felt like an unnecessary character explanation. The film wants to be deep; yet its message about the dangers or alcoholism isn’t necessarily thoughtful or insightful.

Random notes while watching the film:
-The framing story is a letter to a Dean where the first paragraph contains talk about "fucking" a girl.
-All these crazy high school parties, I think the students in my school were too poor to afford anything like this.
-I'm sure they missed a couple of houses during their newspaper throwing.
-"She paid for popcorn and everything". Dream girl right there.
-Aimee's shirtless Xbox playing brother reminds me of a kid I used to know.
-Aimee reads Manga, instructs Sutter that the pages flip left to right.
-Sutter litters his red cups; is not environmentally friendly.
-"Mom, get off of my motherfuckin back"
-10 minutes to get ready for a date?
-"My dad died" is awkward dinner conversation...
-Her flask comes full.
-The first time I've seen Kyle Chandler as a bad guy.