The Walking Dead Season 7 Premier

by admin | Oct 24, 2016 | Media Rants, Reviews | 0 comments

The Walking Dead Season 7 Premier

The Walking Dead Season 7 premier starts off where season 6 ended. Negan has captured Rick and several others. Negan has promised to kill on of Rick’s group in the season 7 premier we sadly discover who was chosen.

Director: Greg Nicotero

Writers: Greg Nicotero, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard

Cast: Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Chandler Riggs, Dana Gurira, Michael Cuditz, Sonequa Martin-Green, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Ross Marquand, Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Last night AMC aired The Walking Dead season 7 premier and this review/opinion is going to have some spoilers so if you continue reading, it’s on you. I also want to say that my review of this episode starts off expressing my disappointment in last season’s finale. Then I dive into my mixed emotions on this episode of The Walking Dead. One hand, I am truly disappointed in it for cheating me out of the emotional punch it could have had. On the other hand, there were so many things I truly enjoyed about the episode. I start with the bad things before I get to the good, is what I am saying.

I wrote another review/opinion on the season 6 finale way back when it aired and it wasn’t very positive. I am still fucking pissed off at the way they handled the cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers, they are designed for stupid people. Cliffhangers are a shows way of saying, “We don’t trust and respect you enough to come back and watch next season so we’re going to leave you hanging until then.” It’s this kind of bullshittery that usually keeps me from watching any TV live. Normally, I wait until the season is over and the next season has begun. This way I avoid cliffhangers altogether.

Unfortunately, I work online. Social media is a big part of my work. The Walking Dead is too big a show. Each week the shows title is trending and it’s guaranteed that some asshole will tweet a spoiler. Beth’s death for example, AMC tweeted that shit out before the fucking show even aired in my goddam time zone. I learned then, I have to watch this show week to week like everyone else.

Anyways, to get back on topic here. I was fucking furious at the way they handled the season 6 finale and their ridiculous excuses for why they did it. Their excuses made no sense at all. Part of me lost interest in the show. I was almost okay with never watching the show again. If I never watched the show again, all the characters I love would never die. Everyone would be safe. I seriously considered that. However, social media would fuck that up. Someone would spill the beans and ruin the happy little bubble I would have created. Knowing this, I decided to watch season 7 of The Walking Dead last night.

It was odd watching it because I had a detached myself from the show. It had been several months without the gang in my life. I wasn’t as emotionally distraught over the tragic deaths of two beloved characters. Had those deaths occurred in the finale last season, as promised, I would have been devastated. All season leading up to a powerful finale with the death of Abraham and Glenn. I would have been in tears. Watching last night, it just didn’t have the emotional impact for me.

I think maybe it’s because I had done my morning all summer long. I’ve had months and months to come to terms with the fact that someone is going to die. I even sort of expected more than one person would die in the episode because there was no way everyone in Rick’s group would sit still and let a friend die. As I reflect on it, I don’t know if the writers did me a favor or not. In some ways I am thankful. In others, I am still very angry about it and maybe even a little more so now. I feel as though I was cheated yet again. I missed out on that epic emotional outcome because of that detachment.

Don’t get me wrong, it was still devastating and heartbreaking but it could have been more powerful. In stead, what last night’s episode did for me was drag on. It spent half the episode still teasing us with who may have died. It took me out of the moment because I felt I was being manipulated again. I understand that’s the point of every show, I really do. It’s just that the best shows manipulate you in ways that flow. The Walking Dead just seems to have given up on that. Instead if letting the stories flow, they are resorting to cheap manipulations.

Getting all of the above out of the way, I have to say that it was a strong episode. The acting was perfection. Greg Nicotero’s direction was impeccable and his special makeup effects were incredible. Glenn’s death makeup was so haunting and disturbing, it will stick with me forever. Not only was it so incredibly real looking, having dabbled in effects makeup in my youth, it was an inspired and brilliant piece of work. If that doesn’t win Greg Nicotero an Emmy, then I will lose all respect for them.

Maggie (Lauren Cohen) The Walking Dead Season 7 Premier

I chose not to show the makeup for Glenn. I don’t want to ruin it on the rare chance anyone hasn’t seen it yet. So, Maggie’s reaction will have to suffice.

Though it is regrettable that the deaths last night didn’t have the full emotional impact on me that they should have, maybe that’s a good thing? I’d probably be walking around today completely depressed over the loss of Glenn and Abraham. Having no life, I take my movies and TV very seriously.

In conclusion, I am still pissed off at the way the producers and writers chose to handle the finale last season. Though I wasn’t thrilled with the way they continued on with obvious manipulation in the season 7 premier of The Walking Dead. It was, otherwise a well made and well thought out episode. I got where there were going with it. I understand why they did what they did in this episode.

Though I have mixed emotions about this episode. I am trying to separate what I wanted to see with what I did see. What I wanted to see I believe would have made for a better and more emotional episode. What I did see was still a strong show with plenty of emotion and gore on a level that was simply heartbreaking and tragically gruesome.

I highly recommend watching it to anyone that has night seen it.

Special Note, you can watch the full episode on AMC’s site right now. No need to login or sign up for anything. Watch the Season 7 Premier of The Walking Dead here.

One last thing. I’d like to make note of Talking Dead hosted by Chris Hardwick. I truly believe the man is my spirit animal. I always watch Talking Dead. It’s like a much needed therapy session after the sometimes emotionally difficult episodes. It sounds silly but it’s so true. It’s obvious he is a true fan of the show and cares about the characters as much as we do. It helps knowing that no matter what transpires on The Walking Dead we will all be able to get through it together during Talking Dead. He hosts the show with compassion while still managing to make us smile and even laugh. It’s like a pallet cleansing we need so desperately.

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6 Horror and Sci-fi Shows I lost Interest In

by admin | Jul 26, 2016 | Media Rants, Rants, Reviews, TV | 0 comments

6 Horror and Sci-fi Shows I lost Interest In

There are actually more than 6 horror and sci-fi shows I lost interest in but these are the top that have been on my mind lately. Though I’d like to make it clear that any show featuring aliens or monsters in it I consider them to be part of the horror genre.

There have been so many times I have started to write a post like this. Sometimes it’s because I saw someone’s post on social media mentioning a show I had lost interest in and it made me want to tell the world why I don’t watch it anymore. Other times it’s because a show got cancelled and I wanted to rant about what I believe really killed the show.

What I came to realize is that it’s mostly the same thing time and time again that causes me to lose interest in a show. Below are the 6 shows that stand out the most to me at the moment. As you will see, for the most part each show made the same mistake.

6. Lost
I didn’t start watching Lost until the first season came out on DVD but I was hooked on it! The first few episodes were riveting, fascinating and a pure joy to watch. Then around the middle of season 3 it started to lose its way and by the final season, it was just so wrapped up in its own bullshit that it was completely laughable. I still watched it to the bitter end but it became grueling.

Lost seemed to start out as a story about a people tapped on a mysterious island. There was something fucking huge and scary in the forest and there were Polar bears too. This made the show magical, scary and a lot of fun. Then the Dharma Initiative came along and ruined it. I didn’t think Dharma had ruined it at first. But, it did. Instead of them being some strange organization with answers to the islands mysterious nature it was just a tool take us further away from islands mystery. Then there were the Others. Another dive down the rabbit’s hole of nonsense.

So much potential to create something amazing and fascinating and instead it got turned into fucking weird show about conspiracies and corporations and two immortal guys in the last season that seemed to control everything and then it all ended with a big, “WTF was that about?!” A good show that lost its way because it got too wrapped up in its own mythology.

5. Supernatural
I know, I know, how can anyone not like this? Well, it’s easy. I gave this show about 4 and a half seasons and I just couldn’t take it anymore. It started off so strong. Good scary stories that were interesting. However, it very quickly became silly and lacked any kind of sophistication in its storytelling. It committed the ultimate sin in my eyes. Supernatural became more about the backstories and the characters than about the content. Once that happens it turns into a soap opera and I don’t like soap operas.

In the beginning it told really fun and haunting stories. I don’t mind the occasional backstory but that’s all the show became about. It got lost in its own mythology and never seemed to come out of it. Instead of the leads investigating and solving supernatural shit each week it turned into a never ending story about the brothers and the ghosts and demons took a backseat to the storytelling.

Instead of a show about two brothers fighting evil each week it became about long drawn out stories about their dad. About being stuck in Hell. It lost its focus of telling really good ghost stories and instead became a show about two brothers and everything else took a backseat.

Supernatural became a show that was no different than any teen drama. What I mean by that is you could plug the two brothers into any other teen drama and they would fit. It just as easily could about two brothers struggling survive in a world of competitive weight lifting or mixed martial arts. If you replace the ghosts and demons with Baseball or football and it’s pretty much the same show. That’s the problem. And, because of that, I stopped watching it.

4. The X-Files
I own every season of the X-Files on DVD. I have seen every episode and many of them I have seen twice. I love the idea behind the show. But, again, this is another show that lost its focus. It was a great show about investigating some really fun and creepy shit. Aliens, monsters, ghosts all kinds of fascinating stories. I liked the character’s back stories. I didn’t mind the occasional dive into them. Those stories can make for a good arc. But, when they never get resolved and go on season after season with bullshit conspiracies that never lead anywhere, I grow tired of it.

The X-Files all too soon became about Fox Mulder’s search or his sister and government conspiracy crap. It ruined the show. The only reason I kept watching was because at least every once and a while they would offer up a great standalone episode about some weird shit and Fox Mulder and Dana Scully would go all Scooby Do and solve the mystery or not solve it and leave some doubt. Either way those few and far in-between episodes were always fun and always interesting.

When they recently came out with another season, I was thrilled! Couldn’t wait! I barely made it through the first episode. It wasn’t interesting. It started out in full on Alien government conspiracy bullshit. I have all those epodes saved and I plan on watching them but I am in no hurry. The first episode gave me no reason for me to look forward to the next episode.

3. Stargate SG-1
I loved this show so much. I don’t have it all on DVD but my kids do and I have borrowed it many times. That being said, it too turned into a soap opera. It’s a whole show about having this amazing Stargate that can take them to the most amazing places and yet they spend way too much over season dealing with the fucking Goa’uld. They were the most boring, insignificant characters ever and season after season was about having to fight off these moronic, immature and pathetic fake gods. Drove fucking nuts.

It eventually got the point where I considered just skipping episodes that dealt with the Goa’uld but I didn’t, just on the rare chance I might need to know about this turd of an episode in a future episode. Such an opportunity for them to explore the galaxy but instead they kept writing stories about the fucking idiotic Goa’uld. Those episodes were so boring and they really kept that show from becoming the next Star Trek. Sure SG-1 was successful but it won’t have the longevity that Star Trek did. We won’t be talking about it 40 years from now.

2. True Blood
I have read several of the books and love them! I really enjoyed the first season of the show. In fact, I managed to stay with the show up until about halfway through season 4. It just seemed to be getting so ridiculous. It’s been so long since I watched it, I can’t honestly list the exact reason I stopped watching it. All I can really say is that it just seemed to stop capturing the heart and soul of the books.

When a show or movie is based on a book, I expect there to be some changes. You just can’t put everything that’s in a book onto the screen. I loved the first season of True Blood and it deviated in many ways from the book. For example, as I recall, Lafayette dies at the end of the first book. He didn’t die at the end of season 1. I am okay with that. TV shows need to do their own thing to keep it as fresh as possible. I get that. As long as the can capture the spirit of the show, I am happy. It just seemed to me that True Blood had lost its way.

I plan to finish watching the remaining seasons of True Blood someday. But, there’s a whole lot of other shows I will go through first.

1. The Walking Dead
I never read the comics. I was never big into comics. They always bored me. What sold me on The Walking Dead originally was that Frank Darabont was involved. With the exception of The Mist, I’ve loved everything he’s done.

I was okay with the series at first. I tolerated their ridiculous cliffhangers because I always wait for the first episode of the following season to come out before I dive into the previous season. I even stayed with the show when Frank Darabont departed the show. I was hooked.

But, over the last few seasons, it seems to me that the show has become more about dicking with the viewer’s emotions instead of telling good stories. I fucking hate cliffhangers but as mentioned I can tolerate them as long as the story promised is completed. Season 6 of The Walking Dead didn’t complete the story. They promised a conclusion that never came and then left us all to wonder in fucking disgust as to whom just met their tragic end.

The writers tried to defend their bullshit manipulation by saying it was never about who Negan killed with his bat. I believe it was Scott M. Gimple who tried to say the ending was about coming full circle with Rick’s storyline. That was such a fucking hot, steaming pile of bullshit. They advertised and teased us all season long with the reveal of Negan and who dies at the end of his bat and left us fucking hanging.

To make us suffer through that 80 minutes of slow building doom and then fade to fucking black leaving us with no answer? It was nothing more than hearty “Fuck You!” to the fans. I can appreciate a good cliffhanger. I hate them, but I can appreciate it when it’s done well. This wasn’t done well. This came off like they had no idea who to kill off so they decided to take a few months off and think about it. I call bullshit.

Sadly, I will probably still turn back into the show next season though I know I shouldn’t. But, I’ve invested years into these characters now and the best I can hope for is that the writers do something to make up for that steaming fucking turd they laid for us with that season 6 finale.

Sure dragging storylines out can keep a showing on the air for a longer time. But, in most cases it doesn’t. People grow tired of that shit and it kills the shows. If you’re going to turn your show into a soap opera, then kindly wrap it the fuck up at the end of the season so you can then start a new next season. Heroes did that at the end of the first season. They started a storyline and they finished it at the end of the season. Then the left us with a tease into the second season. Very well done. Of course the show kind of went to shit after that but they nailed that first season. That’s how you do it.

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Some Thoughts on the The Walking Dead

by admin | Oct 15, 2015 | Good Horror Movies, Media Rants, Rants, TV | 0 comments

Some Thoughts on the The Walking Dead…

Just yesterday I sat down and watched the the final two episodes of last season’s The Walking Dead. I of course followed each episode by watching Talking Dead. I see Talking Dead as good therapy. I then went on to watch this season’s premier of both The Walking Dead and Talking Dead. It’s been a few days since the new season started and I don’t normally watch it until the season is over. All of this made me want to share some thoughts on The Walking Dead thus far.

I make it a habit to wait until the season is over and sometimes I wait until the next season has premiered before watching it. I do this for several reasons. One reason being that I hate commercials so I like being able to FF through them. The primary reason though is that I hate cliffhangers, I think they’re an insult to the audience. If I wait until the season is over, I can binge through them all and only suffer one cliffhanger at the very end of the season.

This has become increasingly difficult to do in a social media driven world. The past two seasons have been ruined by idiots on social media throwing huge graphics out there with massive spoilers. (Spoiler Alert). Last season at the mid-point before the show had even aired on the west coast AMC went and shouted out with a graphic announcing that Beth was dead. If I could have reached through the TV and slapped the living shit out of the people who thought that was a good idea, I would have.

I really, really enjoyed the last two episodes of The Walking Dead last season. Well, I enjoyed the whole season really. My anticipation of this season premier was over the top. There’s a certain sense of excitement in watching it along with everyone else. Sure I didn’t watch it live but close enough. The premier was well worth the wait and I look forward to seeing the season unwind with everyone else.

However, there were a few things that bothered me just a little with the season premier and a couple of episodes from last season that I just have to address. First, it’s just a small problem but the CGI effects are really starting to bother me. I understand the use of CGI effects to enhance the practical effects. I’m okay with that. However, some of the effects in the season premier were laughable. The effects of the zombies falling over the cliff were so cheesy looking. So cheesy that I actually thought, “This is like the B movie Syfi channel crap.” A lot of the rock quarry was just bad. Special note, I love Syfi’s cheesy crap. I just don’t want to see it on The Walking Dead.

There was earlier effect that was ruined by CGI effects from last season. The noose through the neck, last season, the CGI effect took me out of the scene completely. It should have stood out as powerful and gross. Instead, I was disappointed in it. I don’t care about budgets. It could have been better and when you start skimping on these things, it’s eventually going to turn into a joke if not corrected. Obvious clouds of dusts and zombies falling. Good enough, just isn’t good enough for the The Walking Dead.

I have no doubt that the digital experts on the show could have done an amazing job on these scenes and it either just came down to a lack of time or someone not wanting to spend the money to make sure the effects were done properly to perfection. I don’t blame the artists at all. Unless it truly was their fault. But, I seriously doubt it. The effects have to be every bit as good as the story and the acting. The effects are figuratively characters in the shows and if they aren’t done to their best, it brings the whole show down. The Walking Dead makes millions and millions of dollars. If the reality of the effects don’t match the acting and writing in the long, it will become an issue.

My critique is not to say that the show is now trash or is anywhere close to becoming trash. It’s just an observation because I’ve seen it happen in other shows. You let one aspect of quality go and soon it can become the norm and when that happens, the show always dies. I just feel that when I watch the show and think, “Not bad for TV.” it’s a failure on some levels by the producers.

This next critique goes back to last season and Rick’s fight scene with Porchdick. Sure it was a good fight scene but it was poorly thought out. First of all, Rick had become near animal like. He has literally fought off man and beast time and time again and come out on top. The mere thought that this fight would have lasted more than a few seconds is completely absurd. Let us not forget that Porchdick is a coward. He was also drunk or hungover and in no shape at all to fight someone like Rick. Rick would have beaten his ass in seconds, it would have been fast and brutal. It was absolutely unrealistic to have Porchdick dick be any king of challenge for Rick at all.

It never would have gone down like this.

As I wrote earlier, these are minor issues. I think the CGI effects is definitely a concern but hopefully will be corrected if enough people bring it to their attention. As for the fight scene. I think it was just a case of the writers wanting to create drama from the action instead of just letting the story create the drama. It’s going to happen I just hope it doesn’t become the norm. Sure the scene was talked about and popular but not everything talked about and popular are good things. The Kardashians would be a good example of that.

I look forward to this season, I think it’s off to a great start and overall I am thrilled with most of the character development. The story lines are compelling and certainly entertaining. I still think it’s one of the very best shows on TV.