My Saturday Night - and a Conversation Regarding Prisoners

For those wondering about part two and three of the previous post, and you're actually reading these in reverse. November 8, and either December 13, or 20 will be the approximate dates for the two parts respectively. If you'll recall in the first blog post ever I posted a link to the CTFxC YouTube channel, they just yesterday posted an update giving the test results, and it's a bit heart breaking.

The best part of the video, is when Charles say's "Fuck Cancer" because that is just pure emotion put on screen for us to see. It's a raw moment, that we usually don't see anywhere else. Their channel has been filled with so many of these moments that I have since I've started to watch their videos, am now forced to watch each daily video. I don't really do much else with my day's. I watch the abundance of shows that run from Sunday to Wednesday, and become easy to handle in the remaining three days of the week. Yet somehow I manage to include a YouTube video, or two, or six. nearly every day due to the amount of channels I'm subscribed to where I am forced to watch each update just because of my love for them.

Here at the college Twitch seems to run terribly, so I'm not able to watch Roll Play live, with ease. if you're unfamiliar with Roll Play, it's run by itmeJP and is basically just him and four other people (DM included) playing dungeon's and dragons - he also has a Warhammer 40K series, which is quite enjoyable that features the lovely TotalBiscuit - and he is starting a third campaign, which I believe to be another D&D game which he is calling Ehbon starting Tomorrow October 6th at 2PM EDT. Aside from them I am forced to watch everything Dodger and Jesse Cox do. I'm not going to link to the other channels I subscribe to that everyone else watches on YouTube. I just felt the need to share the wealth of quality YouTube gaming content. TableTop on the Geek & Sundry channel, is also fantastic by the way, Wil Wheaton looses a lot, and that's always fun to watch - maybe not for Wil though.

This is probably my favorite picture of Wil Wheaton. Mainly for Sara Underwood's existence in it. But also the hover hand. It shows me that Wil Wheaton, despite having a wife, and constantly being around women like Felicia Day, and other's he has had on Table Top, he's still a socially awkward mess like me. And I love it. I also apologize to Mr. Wheaton, for the use of this image and all the harm it has caused him in the past, and will continue to cause in the future. I could have used a different picture, yes, but this is the best one. Ever.

So I am currently watching Supernatural season eight right now. As it was added to Netflix on Thursday, and I have until this coming Tuesday to finish the entire season. Needless to say, it's been a strenuous task, but I am on episode 11 of the season now. So I have like... 12 episodes after this one left. And I started yesterday, so I made some decent progress. Episode 11 is a LARP, Live Action Role Play for all you non-nerds out there, episode. If LARP episodes of shows has taught me anything, they are the best episode of those shows. Those and D&D episodes. Community being the main example. This episode also has Felicia Day reprising her guest role in the show, it also has this:

I've only really discussed my issues about Supernatural with my other TV addict suite mate. He used to be worse than me, but I have surpassed him, like any true addict does. But I can explain my issues quite easily. The show is just too long. As I said, season eight has 23 episodes. With the combined totals of the other 7 seasons (22, 22, 16, 22, 22, 22, and 23) that brings the total episode count for the eight seasons to 172. Now a lot of shows are able to make the 22 to 24 episode count work to their favor. Recently I went through both seasons of Once Upon a Time on Netflix (44 episodes total), and not once did the seasons plot not enter some part of the episode.

Don't get me wrong, Supernatural is a great show, it's smart, it's funny, and the characters are fantastic. But very seldom, does each episode deal with the continuation of the plot. This episode in particular has nothing, at least so far, to do with the rest of the season. The big bad isn't in it, they aren't working to find a hell gate, they are just sitting in a LARP camp trying to rid it of supernatural events. That and there are fairies. So that's my real issue. Some of the episodes end up having "issue of the week" syndrome where they just find a monster, get rid of it, and then in the next episode, or in a future episode remember they have a plot to resolve. Granted, I don't watch many hour drama's that do the whole 20 episode thing. This, Once Upon a Time, and Elementary are pretty much it right now. Elementary suffers from the same syndrome Supernatural has. Lets talk about that movie I watched last night, number 1 of 107.

Hugh Jackman actually looked a bit older than he did in The Wolverine, and gave what I believe to be the performance of his career. If the movie is nominated for anything at all, it's best male performance. Seeing a man, go from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye is so hauntingly fantastic performance wise that it deserves the nod at least. There were a lot of great performances Paul Dano, who plays Alex Jones has surprising immersed himself so deeply in the role that it's practically terrifying. Terrance Howard does his typical Terrance Howard thing, and is just present in a narrative because a good actor that people would recognize was needed to fill his 35 minute screen time role. Most of the movie is spent with Jackman and Gyllenhaal as they both try to solve the mystery.

Gyllenhaal didn't steal the show this time around, but he wasn't just there like Howard and the wives were. Jackman's wife however, plays the mom suffering from PTSD exceptionally well. It was good performances all around, with a few greats, and a few spectaculars. The movie was 153 minutes long, but honestly it felt shorter. At no point did I feel as though it was dragging on. The suspense was dealt with perfectly, keeping people on the edges of their seats so to speak when they needed to be. Aaron Guzikowski, who wrote the film couldn't escape a few easily predictable moments, or maybe not so predictable for your average movie goer. I don't think my suite mate was able to predict everything I was. I only became certain about things when certain subtle things popped up in the narrative. But that didn't take anything out of the film for me, Hell I'm able to predict the outcome of most movies now, it isn't very often that a film is able to surprise me anymore.

Let's talk cinematography. Roger Deakins is the fucking man. He is my favorite modern cinematographer. The guy has lit and colored some of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen, this one included. Some of the shots in this, The close ups of the candles, the shots of Alex when he is held up, the slow forward tracking in broad daylight that just makes you feel uneasy. It's the haunting visuals that make this film. Perhaps it isn't all Deakins doing, and lies a bit on the director, Denis Villeneuve, but I honestly haven't seen most of Villeneuve's work. He hasn't done any contemporary work, this is his first major picture, and most of what he does are indy/foreign projects. But I was watching the movie the whole time just thinking,

I can't safely mark out like that in a theater, so I have to keep the thoughts trapped in my head, so I am not judged by the other viewers who aren't nearly the cinephile I am. Let's talk more Roger Deakins. The last movie that got me purely on it's visuals was Skyfall, guess who was the cinematographer, Roger Deakins. That remake of True Grit, also Deakins. Revolutionary Road, Deakins. Doubt, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, No Country for Old Men, Jarhead, all Deakins. O Brother, Where Art Thou? Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and The Shawshank Redemption, I can't possibly be making all of this up, it's all Roger fucking Deakins. Look, I even have proof.

I think I'm in love with this man's work.Him as well as the fantastic duo of David Fincher and Jeff Cronenweth - there is no greater team in the modern era. I have ten episodes of Supernatural left to go now, and in spirit of that, here's a video to tie you over until my return on Monday or Tuesday.