All posts by Amanda Broyles

Amanda is amazing. Amanda is spectacular. Amanda is humble. Amanda is also a full time college student so take pity on her and don't complain when her TV reviews aren't up immediately following an episode.
TV

Boardwalk Empire: 3.11 – “Two Imposters”

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So last week’s episode was divine. Van Alden is working for Capone (is Torrio all but gone now?), Eli heads off to meet up with them, Mickey is sent to Mellon’s defunct distillery, Richard Harrow gets the girl, Gyp beat a man to death with a shovel, Owen gets himself killed, and Margaret reacts exactly how you’d expect a woman who just saw the father of her unborn child dead in a box would. It was epic.

This week? I’ve said it before (last week even) but seriously, this was the best episode of television I think I’ve ever seen. At one point I realized that I’d been holding my breath when I got that panicky “you need oxygen now!” feeling. From the first scene to the last, I was just a big ball of tension. Whew.

Even though there were obviously more tense moments this week, knowing what I do of history, the bit with Lucky and “Sam Moceri” had me on the edge of my seat. Just a few days ago I had looked up when Lucky got arrested for the drug deal, and when he first met with the Buffalo mute I immediately thought this might be it. Of course, I was right, but that didn’t make it any less surprising for some reason. I can not wait to see Rothstein’s reaction. No, wait- I can not wait to see Meyer’s reaction. It will probably be a lot about “you should have listened to me you dipshit”.

One of my absolute favorite parts of this show is the background noise and music. The ominous drumbeat when someone is about to end up dead, the conversations of nearby people, and most especially the sounds of the boardwalk while in Nucky’s office. There’s just something incongruous about it all. Coming from a humor writing background, I’ve mainly used incongruity as a comedy tool, but here it seems to be more of the writer’s acknowledging that it is such a ridiculous situation.

Case in point: Gyp sitting at Nucky’s desk, reading the copy of Ragged Dick given to Nucky by his mother on his birthday, all while children are laughing and playing down below and carnival music fills the air. Of course, Nucky would keep that book on hand. I’m sure part of it is because it was from his mom, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t relate at all to the story of the sort of “rags to riches” story. As for Gyp? He’s probably heard of the story (the book was published in 1868 and was wildly popular) and could also see a bit of himself in the main character. Dear Boardwalk Empire writers- I love you.

Another bit of incongruity that ended up being more humorous than perhaps it was initially intended?

A grown man being spanked like a child by a broom in the drawing (?) room of a not-a-whorehouse by the madam of said not-a-whorehouse while he was going at it with a not-a-whore. I bust out laughing at this part thanks to its complete ridiculousness. Gillian is either the smartest woman alive, or she’s the most delusional sociopath that ever walked the Earth. If she survives the finale (which she will), then maybe she’ll realize next season that she is running a WHOREHOUSE, not some high-class entertainment venue. Of course, I wanted to beat her ass with that same broom when she was such a bitch to Richard. I was sitting at my desk, mouth agape when she pointed out that Julia “doesn’t look blind”. WTF bitch.  However, unlike the rest of the internet, I think she has a plan.

Surely she knows about Richard’s small arsenal. Of course, she knows about Richard’s willingness to kill. I think Gillian was trying to goad Richard just enough to piss him off and send him running to the box under his bed. She wants him to come back to the not-a-whorehouse and shoot his way to Tommy, getting him out of Dodge. Takes out two birds with one stone; gets rid of Gyp and “saves” Tommy. Then again, maybe she saw Richard trying to steal Tommy away from her and he’s the only link she has left to Jimmy. Maybe she’s just a horrid bitch. Yea, that’s the more likely situation. What I really want to know though is what Richard meant by the “not afraid of camels” caption on his happy family scrapbook picture. There are some who posted that it is a throwback to season one with the episode about Gillian and the tarot reading but I don’t know, that’s a bit of a stretch for me.

What’s not a stretch is saying that Michael Kenneth Williams had perhaps his best episode to date. This week almost made up for an entire season with limited Chalky White. Not only that, but it seemed like every bit of dialogue out of his beautiful mouth was meant especially for my language loving self. When you are busting out words like ‘mite‘ and ‘gabble‘, oh be still my beating heart. However, the best one was ‘nonce‘.

Chalky sitting there like a king with his court, busting out great words left and right, ’twas perfection. Not to mention, his total dedication and loyalty to Nucky. The same Nucky who was sort of a complete ass to him with the whole club thing. Then there was the “Nucky is concussed” bit. Yikes, I daresay if someone called me uppity, concussion or not, I would not be so willing to lie to the psychopath Gyp Rossetti for them. Again, if Chalky survives the finale, there better be a club run by him on the Boardwalk.

This entire part of the episode was epic. While the banter between Gyp and Chalky was fantastic (I seriously would never have guessed that the idea of “paging” someone was so old) it was the parts with Nucky that were the best. Last time Nucky was hiding, he was with the kid and Owen. He killed the kid and sent Owen to his death so now he’s alone. Even the lighting was similar. It was just so well done that I felt the need to clap.

Steve Buscemi brought his A-game in this entire episode. Nucky ran the gamut of emotions this week. From the despondency of realizing that Margaret and Owen had a thing going and Margaret leaving and taking the kids (where did she go?!?! But I did love the overturned toys and general feeling that they left in a hurry.), to the panic of realizing that Gyp was at the Ritz and then the adrenalin-fueled drive through Atlantic City as Eddie sat bleeding and muttering in German only to finally realize that this person that has stood by his side for how many years is basically a stranger because he was too wrapped up in himself to notice him. Seriously, it was amazing to watch. I was damn near in tears as Eddie was able to be lucid enough to tell Nucky about a poem.

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same

Of course anyone who has taken AP English (in the 90’s at least), or just keeps up with poetry, in general, knows the poem as If by Rudyard Kipling. It is an extremely well known and often quoted poem so it’s not that surprising that Eddie would quote it. However, what is amazing is that is a poem that is usually told as a father to son perspective. So here is Eddie, dying (if he dies I will be so pissed, screw Owen and Jimmy, it’s Eddie that needs to live) and he’s mustering up strength and mental acuity to try and give Nucky a life lesson! The same Nucky who doesn’t even know if he has a family or not! My poor heart just can’t handle this.

Thankfully there were a few little things to draw my attention long enough that I didn’t dwell on the possibility of Eddie dying, which would send me into a fit of hysterics. One being the billboard of “Krueger’s Special” behind Chalky and Dunn as they shot the guys trying to search their truck for Nucky. Much like Bevo for Anheuser Busch, Krueger’s Special was a non-alcoholic beverage brewed mainly so breweries could stay open and try to make a profit during Prohibition. If it tasted anything like O’Douls, there’s no question as to why Prohibition was eventually repealed. That crap tastes like piss in a can.

This is my favorite one though, perhaps of the entire season. If you look closely at those bottles, that is none other than Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda. That shit is so good. I have not come across a bottle of that in over a decade, but there was a place that sold it down the street from an old house of mine and it is one of the best drinks there is. Especially with a deli sandwich. Yum.

As awesome and fabulous and wonderful everything in this entire episode was, nothing tops the last scene. Eli returns and he has struck a deal. Much like when the “crowds” parted to reveal Chalky sitting in his throne, this time they made way for Mr. Al Capone himself to make another Atlantic City appearance. And boy did he ever.

Holy shit folks. It’s about to get real. So we’ve got Capone and Chalky with Nucky vs. Gyp and Masseria (if he comes to fight). The question remains what side Rothstein will end up on. All we know, whoever ends up on whatever side, people are going to die. A lot of people are going to die. I can’t wait.

I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but shit this episode was perfect. For real. I think to give it anything but a 5 would be a crime.

The season finale is next week and it promises to be as amazingly epic as we could ever hope for. Until then Boardwalk fans!

TV

Hugh Laurie, Pirate of the High Seas?

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In what appears to be quite the “get”, Hugh Laurie is in talks with NBC to star as Edward Teach in their upcoming pirate drama, Crossbones. Who is Edward Teach? Well, he is none other than the infamous pirate, Blackbeard.

Laurie, fresh off House, has not made any announcement, nor has NBC, so it’s all speculation at this point. Fun speculation, but speculation all the same. If nothing else, it will be nice to hear Laurie in his native tongue once again. Perhaps that is why the Emmy voters snubbed him for so many years as Gregory House, they just didn’t like his American accent. Hogwash. Could he take home an Emmy as Blackbeard, a la Kevin Costner in Hatfields & McCoys? We’ll have to see.

“But wait, what is this Crossbones of which you speak?” You have questions, I have answers, as limited as they may be. NBC, who is leading the charge so far this season when it comes to viewers 18-49, for the first time in a very long time, is in development for a 10 episode mini-series about Blackbeard and his “rogue nation of thieves, outlaws and miscreant sailors” (Deadline). Set in the 1700’s on the island of New Providence, Crossbones will hopefully deal with Teach’s transformation from student pirate to the most notorious and recognizable pirate we know today.

Crossbones is written by Neil Cross, creator of the fabulous Luther (if you haven’t watched it, head over to Netflix and remedy that, post-haste) who has written for MI-5 in recent years as well. With a seasoned BBC man at the helm, one has to wonder, is NBC willing to further their 10 episode experiment into more similar projects in the future?

One has to hope that reality TV will someday fall out of favor and people will return to scripted television. Problem is, 22 episodes is too long. It just is. I enjoy a long season of a show just as much as anybody else, but in terms of coming up with material and funding and just the investment that needs to be made ahead of time, 22 episodes is too long. Not only are there financial issues, there are creative issues. Perfect example is Life on Mars.

Life on Mars had two seasons (series) on the BBC each consisting of 8 episodes. It was met with critical acclaim and after the first series, the creator (Matthew Graham) announced that the story was finite and there would only be one more season. There was a total of 16 episodes that told the story from beginning to end, quite nicely. ABC decides to remake show here in America. Same concept, better budget, arguably better production value, 17 episodes. Difference? It was canceled after 17 episodes due to waning viewership. Instead of controlling its own destiny like the BBC version and having the chance to write out the ending in a way that made sense and wrapped things up to viewer’s satisfaction, the US remake falls somewhat flat. It was a great show! Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, but it wasn’t a concept that was built for many seasons of 22 episodes each. This is where American network television and it’s stubbornness has sunk itself. Boardwalk Empire is getting ready to wrap up their third season, with its 12 episodes each season. Are there people out there complaining the season is too short? Of course, as a society we like to get more, but by the same token, are there many people complaining that the quality of the show is less because it is shorter? No. And if they are, well they are wrong.

All that to say, I hope Crossbones is successful and it heralds in a new age of network programming in America. One that doesn’t revolve around teenagers singing and getting pregnant. Oh what a happy day that would be.

Because we’ve discussed shows being canceled and NBC, I feel obligated to further my one woman campaign to resurrect my favorite canceled show. Bring back Kings! If nothing else, let’s just hope Crossbones doesn’t suffer a similar fate.

Movie News & Opinions

Transformers 4: News-A-Pooloza

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Don’t call it a comeback reboot. Even though Michael Bay has said that the next incarnation of Transformers will not be a reboot, but rather a continuation, it’s looking quite a bit like a reboot. The only thing listed in the “not a reboot” column is apparently they are not restarting the story, rather they are just advancing ahead in the future four years after the end of Dark of the Moon. Everything else? Up for grabs.

Continue reading Transformers 4: News-A-Pooloza →

TV

Chevy Chase Leaving ‘Community’

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Polar bears like the cold. Superman goes out of his way to avoid kryptonite. The Kardashians are one big Attention Whore. In the movie Titanic, the ship sinks. In other completely unsurprising news, Chevy Chase is leaving Community.

If, by chance, you are surprised by this news, please come out completely from that rock you’ve been under and let’s do a brief history of Chevy Chase’s involvement in Community so far.

In February of this year, he gave an interview to Huffington Post UK, in which he described the decision to take the Community job “a mistake.” He also talked about the difference between television and movie saying that “hours in this kind of show are not commensurate with the actual product”. Granted, this is a long-standing tit for tat between movie actors and TV actors but come on, TV is paying your bills, how about not putting it down?

In March, there was a very public, and profanity laced feud between Chase and then showrunner, Dan Harmon. As the entire story came out, there were many who agreed with Chase, on principle at least but perhaps not execution, which prompted Harmon into sort of apologizing later.

In May, Chase gave an interview to Vulture in which he said that if he were writing the show it would be funnier and that he was tired of playing Pierce. I don’t know about anyone else, but if I hadn’t started wondering how on Earth he was still employed by this point, this one certainly turned the tide in that direction.

In October, after staying out of the headlines for a few months, Chevy Chase got back in the news after dropping the n-word in frustration would be a good idea. It was reported that he was frustrated over dialogue and the direction Pierce was taking and said something akin to “What are you gonna have him say next – “.

I beg to differ Pierce.

So now that everyone is on the same page, anyone surprised that Chevy Chase has decided to leave the show? He’s been saying, in public, for about nine months now exactly how much he doesn’t want to be a part of Community anymore. At this point I think it’s for the best. Apparently the finale has already been recorded but when the new season premieres on Feb. 7th, there will be at least two episodes that have no Pierce. I’ll try to miss him.

Uncategorized

Comics in the Digital Age

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Congratulations are due for DC Entertainment on account of them fully embracing the future. It was announced a couple of weeks ago that DC is now offering their new releases (and some back library) through Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes and Noble. Not only that, but it was announced recently that starting this week DC is also releasing digital content to these outlets on the same day as print. Amazingly enough, they are the first publisher to do so.

Even though print sales are up 12%, it is obvious that we live in the digital age. Between January and September of 2011, digital sales were up 197%. That is not a typo. Digital sales rose almost TWO HUNDRED percent in nine months. When DC launched the New 52, it was met with resistance, as is to be expected, but combined with their digital outlook, it has been wildly successful. Whether you agree with their move or not, you can’t deny that it has worked.

So why isn’t everyone else jumping on this bandwagon? Mainly, what is Marvel’s deal? They have a subscription service already, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, that at first blush seems like a great idea. All the comics you can read for $50 a year? Yes please. As the saying goes, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. That “Unlimited” part of the title? Not so unlimited. In order to read the comics, you have to be on a computer, on the internet. There is no way you can download to your computer to read at a later date, and if you happen to not have internet service? You are screwed. Surely they are watching DC’s numbers surpass their own, for the first time in quite a long time, and have to be asking themselves where they are going wrong.

Perhaps they should take a look at the music industry as a cautionary tale. People don’t buy CD’s any more. It is rare that the average consumer purchases an entire album (I’m an album girl but I realize that I’m in the minority) anymore, choosing instead to pick and choose single tracks to build their music libraries. The music industry refused to recognize this in time and as a result, is hurting. Had they been a little less cocky and had a bit of forward thinking, they could have introduced digital platforms of their own instead letting piracy take over and then having iTunes pick up their fumble and run it in for a touchdown. Unless Marvel realizes the path they have chosen is not the most fitting to the times, they will find themselves in the same situation.

But what about the local comic shop? What about it? Look, I love a print comic just as much as the next girl. There’s something about going in and having that human connection (as awkward as it might be- let’s be honest, we geeks aren’t really the most socially suave people out there) and feeling the actual paper in your hands. Seeing the stack of books to be read on your desk and the collection of carefully preserved editions in boxes lining your dining room walls. I get it. If nothing else, it provides a link to our childhood  and past that we are reluctant to give up. Think about it this way though, I am 34 years old and vividly remember going to a record shop and searching through the stacks of CD’s looking for that one that a friend of mine mentioned was good. I’ve spent countless hours with a pair of headphones worn by countless others before me on my head as I sampled whatever the store had on tap that day. People who are even just a few years younger than I, have absolutely no idea what that experience even looks like. Does that make me sad? Of course it does. Much like I imagine people older than I miss the times where you’d go into a soda shop and sit at the counter and the ordering a malted. Does anyone even know what a malted is anymore? Not I. It is the nature of the beast and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

A practice so old, it’s only available in stock photos.

Nostalgia aside, there simply are not that many comic shops around anymore. I live in south Georgia and there is one shop in town. That’s it and there is never anyone else in there when I go in so sadly, I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be around. There are plenty of people who might read comics but have zero outlet to them. Until now. The digital age has opened up the world of comics to such a wider population and surely that’s a good thing right? I think so. The more the merrier and all that. No, I don’t want anyone to go out of business. I want everyone to be able to man a comic shop if they so desire and do so until their dying day, or until they retire, whichever comes first. Frankly, that isn’t a reality anymore. DC recognizes that the print stores still (for however long) have a place in the world though and they have set up a digital storefront that enables those brick and mortar places to place that on their site and then receive 30% of the sales. Better than a sharp stick in the eye I guess.

Another good thing to the digital revolution in the comics world? It has allowed smaller publishers to find success. Even on Comixology you can find small publishers but it’s the small vendors that are finding a small bit of success as well. Sites likes Dark Horse, an outfit that pulls double duty of publishing and sales, are becoming more popular. Dark Horse has a variety of comics, including a personal favorite of mine- The Guild, and has in the last week announced that they too are going to be offering their graphic novels (Hellboy for example) through Amazon. Not only that, but individual artists have set out their own shingles.

Mark Waid, of The Flash fame (at least that’s where I know him most from), has set up a site of his own called Thrillbent and it is comprised solely of digital content. He even makes a point of saying that it isn’t his intent to bury print media but rather that he believes that print and digital can coexist in peace. If someone of his caliber and experience believes so, then who are we to doubt? Want to hear more of his thoughts on the matter? Head on over to GEEK for an exclusive Q&A where he discusses his new site and his current work on Daredevil.

As with so many things today, we find ourselves in a situation where the “future” has collided with the present time. Now if only those hoverboards were to come to fruition, I’d be a happy woman. For now I’ll just have to settle for reading Batman on my iPad.

TV

Boardwalk Empire: 3.10 – “A Man, A Plan…”

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Last week had Nucky trying to rally the other bootleg bosses to his cause, but they all said thanks but no thanks and this week we get to see the beginning of the fallout from that. Thankfully there was no Gillian involved in this one.

I just don’t know where to begin. This was such a roller coaster of an episode that it’s difficult to even find the words to put together in a coherent fashion. Well, I’m one of the “pick the good news first” type of gals so let’s start with Richard Harrow. Oh, Richard, you’ve found yourself a girl and things just couldn’t be peachier!

Seriously this was just about the sweetest thing ever. When he was standing there looking at them playing in the sand my heart melted just a little bit. Yeah, he’s a killer, but killers deserve happiness too right? At least on TV, they do. I am so glad that Julia decided to side with Richard as opposed to staying with her dad. The man is an ass. He’s got some depression issues and still mourning his son, but that doesn’t give him carte blanche to treat his daughter like shit. Kudos to Richard for standing up to him. You can only imagine how many times he’s been called a freak that he just let roll off his back, but Daddy was the last straw and I can’t really blame him.

Julia baring her soul with a story that might seem like no big deal to tell in today’s world but was probably quite scandalous back then. I think her telling Richard that she for sure was choosing him in her life. It comes as no surprise that his response is “I wish I could kiss you.” Oh Richard, you always know the right thing to say to a gal.

I am curious as to what the King Neptune thing was they were doing when the whiskey started rolling in. Was it the same festival that The Commodore first saw Gillian? Inquiring minds want to know.

I also want to know if Eli knew Nelson Van Alden at all. Can you imagine the look on his face when he shows up in Chicago (I have a feeling that Nucky had a sixth sense that shit was going to get bad with Masseria which is why he sent Eli to Chicago) and finds Nelson there helping Capone? When they first had Van Alden move to Chicago I will admit that I could not think of a reason as to why on Earth they would do that. Now, of course, it’s obvious, he is (hopefully) going to be quite a player in the O’Bannion and Capone/Torrio war that is going to be coming to a head here soon.

I can not believe that the restaurant guy reported Van Alden to Capone. After he brought him lefse even. How rude. When they first came in I totally thought he’d called the prohie’s in. I’m sure that Van Alden would maybe prefer the prohie’s after it’s all said and done. I probably shouldn’t have, but I laughed when he started talking about Job. That is such a Van Alden move. Of course, I also laughed at the above picture because his face looks exactly like Mr. Demartino from Daria. A quick perusal of the internet shows me that I’m not the only one. I love the internet.

I’m sort of surprised that Nucky didn’t take Chalky up on his offer for the new club. I mean, I’m not, because that doesn’t seem like something Nucky would get in on and I don’t think he’s ready to have that site be rebuilt, but I thought if he was going to accept anyone’s idea for Babbette’s, it would be Chalky’s. We’ll have to see.

I don’t know why I continue to be surprised by Gyp and his gross overreactions. The moment Franco opened his mouth about the rogue waves, his time was limited. Sinbad (this Sinbad, not this Sinbad) was new so he didn’t know any better about keeping your trap shut. However, even he couldn’t have seen how his life would end. It was bad enough that Gyp buried him in the sand, intending for him to drown in the incoming tide, but to then go ahead and bash his head in with a shovel as a “favor” to Tonino? Seriously, why am I surprised by this? It seems like Gyp is in a one-upping contest with himself. This will not end well for anyone involved.

Such is the nature of hysterics. -Gaston Means

In case you were wondering, Jess Smith of history also killed himself. Granted it probably wasn’t due to Gaston Means standing in his room ready to kill him, but it is widely believed that he committed suicide because he couldn’t deal with all he knew about Daughtery’s dirty dealings. Forget all that because I need to just marvel at Gaston Means. He’s never killed a man himself but he believes that he can do it so strongly that he gets Daugherty and Nucky to each pay him $40K to kill Jess. That’s a lot of money for one person. That Means is a shrewd businessman.

While Means is a good businessman, Rothstein is the best. Even though Lucky thinks Rothstein won’t get into the heroin business because he’s bored, I think it’s because he knows that he is in a good place right now and that perhaps with all the unrest between New Jersey and Tabor Heights, maybe he should lay low? He even tells them, in metaphor form, that he needs to play the situation in a way to put his enemies in a place they can’t escape. So, of course, that means that Lucky and Meyer head over to the South Village to partner up with Masseria. Seriously, guys, this is michegas, not anything Rothstein was planning on not doing.

So with all that out of the way, Owen.

My mom always has said that if the phone rings after 10 pm, it is bad news. I think we can all now agree if something is delivered at 4 am, it would be better to just go ahead and refuse delivery.
Even though I knew Owen’s days were numbered, I was 100% positive it was going to be at Nucky’s hand. Surely he knew what was going on between Owen and Margaret right? RIGHT? Given his reaction to Margaret’s reaction, I’m not so sure he did. Speaking of Margaret, this was so not her episode. Her vagina class is canceled (although she had to feel some sort of victory when the nun agreed that the class was helpful), she’s going to St. Louis but Owen isn’t following until at least a month if not six weeks, then Owen is dead, and she’s pregnant with his baby. I have this strange feeling that Margaret is going to be spending a lot of time in dark rooms for the rest of the season. I think the internet would like the darkroom as well because you would not believe the number of people rocking in the corner thanks to this episode. Who am I kidding? If you are a person seeking out and reading Boardwalk Empire reviews/recaps then you probably are in the corner as well.

I don’t watch previews because I like to be surprised (especially with shows like this one) but I almost want to seek out next week’s preview because I want to know the fall out of Owen’s death. Is Margaret going to tell Nucky she’s pregnant? How can she though because surely he will know right away whose baby it is, but I think he’s always wanted to have another child so maybe he’ll just forgive and forget and raise the baby as is own. We’ll just have to see. Only two more episodes left this year!

This episode had it all; Chalky, Nucky not moping around with a floosie, the New York crowd, Capone, Van Alden (who would have thought he’d become a favorite?), and most importantly, no Gillian. It was a wonderfully written episode that drew you in and unlike other episodes that have felt disjointed when so many groups are involved, it flowed quite well. As awful as Owen being dead is, it was perfectly done and as much as I loved the Easter dinner episode, this one was even better. I might have to step out on the limb and give it a five out of five.

It takes a lot to make an episode where a major character dies a favorite, but I think this one did just that. Now if Mickey had been the one who died instead, this episode would be a 17 out of 5. How is he still alive?!?!?!

Until next time Boardwalk fans, here’s some Kleenex to dry your tears and get some Gatorade to replenish your lost fluids. We will get through this together.

Image: HBO