The Toad's Burrow

      Well, I have to admit. I had heard good things about this film, but I didn't realize it would be this good. Maybe it's because I was skeptical with having an actor play two characters at once. Maybe I was just concerned I wouldn't enjoy this sort of film since it is described as horror. But damn once this film hits about the halfway point it really kicks in and leaves you with a pretty satisfying film altogether. I mean I wouldn't call it perfect, I do think this film gets a little messy, playing it fast and loose by the end, but it knows how to keep itself together just enough to make it satisfying. Let's talk about it.     Sometimes, movies are just about the experience, and I'd argue that this film understands that, and makes sure to make it a priority. Do I think it's hyper realistic to life in the 1930's? No. Is the scene where they randomly start talking about the power of music and show different generations pretty jarring? For sure. But thi...

      You know some things you make fun of as a kid because as a 10-year-old boy you don't really know any better and you just think that it sounds really stupid. And you know, eventually as you mature that opinion slowly fades away, and you even try and go into things with an open mind, hoping to shed that narrow-mindedness and immaturity, thinking that you've grown as a person and simply saw things differently. Sadly, when it comes to Twilight  10-year-old me was right. This movie sucks. I mean deep down a part of me kind of had an inkling of an idea it was going to be bad, I watched this with my sister begrudgingly, but it was worse than mediocre, it was just plain bad. The worst part is? I'm kind of tempted to watch the rest just to see how much worse it gets?     I will state for the record that I do have some idea of what happens in Twilight  the series, or at least eventually, but apparently all of that information only matters/is relevant after...

      Well, I safely say for sure that this movie certainly lives up to it's title. It's a bit crazy, in the sense that it's audacious enough to try this unorthodox plot. The plot twist I would say is unexpected and warranted enough that I'd call it crazy. And yes it has a lot of love in it, but the movie also feel's so stupid. Like not just that there's a cringy scene that makes you as a viewer groan kind of stupid, but like this movie tries to intertwine three different love plots and one of them is so legitimately stupid and weird that frankly it threatens to tank the entire score for the rest of this film. Let's talk about it.     There's just no way to slice around it, this movie is messy. The first hour is fine, if a little confusing and perhaps not as interesting as you'd hope it to be. I think I can safely say the most fun I had in the first hour or so of this movie was just watching Ryan Gosling fuck around and basically do his best sigma ma...

      Look, I kind of get what they're doing? But to be honest this season can be described perfectly by a conversation between two characters, Herc and Carver. All they say is that they're not respected, and they're just asking what the hell they're doing here? And honestly? It's easy to say the same for much of this season. Don't get me wrong, it's not enough of a drop off that I'd call it disappointing, but it's just really messy and all over the place. In another twist of irony, a perfect comparison also happens this very season, where Major Valcheck asks what the hell the detail is doing, and why original target is just in the small corner of a piece of a board. Let's talk about it.     Frankly, this season is messy, not in the sense that it's hard to follow, but it feels like a show that's trying to serve two masters, keeping the original cast of season one around on retainer, while also trying to explore a new aspect of Baltimore i...

     Well I'll be damned. They actually did it. The Wire  cured my attention span, at least for a season, and I have to admit it was great. I have constantly seen this show listed up there with some of the best TV out there, and I have to admit I was skeptical. I mean I did very much like Breaking Bad and The Sopranos , so how was this going to compare? But honestly, it's pretty damn good. Let's get this straight, it doesn't have really any flashy moments, you're not going to see some big moment of triumph where everything is right in the world. It's just a damn good police show, full of a lot of nuance, characters and some real moral quandaries. Let's talk about it.     First of all, I'm no expert on Baltimore or the drug trade, but if you told me this show was as realistic as it gets, I'd believe you. The cops in this drama aren't just your typical good guys. A large aspect of this season was showing just how harmful the police/legal system can...

      Did it take me way too long to actually watch this movie? I mean yeah a little bit. But, can you blame me? I mean I knew this movie was popular when it came out, but for it to have enough staying power that the songs have stayed littered at the top of the charts has genuinely surprised me. So it was really a matter of time that I finally got around to watching this movie. While I am tempted to write a regular full five paragraph review of this film, I don't have much to say about it honestly. I mean it wasn't meant for me, it's about a subculture I don't really participate in, but it was enjoyable enough.     I will say this, it's honestly not that bad. I mean yes, I most certainly did cringe at parts of this film, but that's mostly because I didn't relate to them at all. I'm sure if you made some movie about like pop-punk or emo music I'd be fawning all over it. Even still, if you can get past them, I'd say it's a pretty good kids film...

    I was tempted to start off this review with the entire lyrics to Wonderwall,  which would be pretty funny, and I'm still contemplating doing it, but also I think that perfectly describes exactly how I feel about this band. I know nothing about them other than Wonderwall , and like one other song I heard in a TV show somewhere. Actually I know that they broke up because this band is two brothers who just always constantly fought with each other, and one of these Gallagher blokes is pretty funny on twitter. Either way, that's why when my friend Omaid suggested this album I groaned as one does, especially considering how people have rated this album. And frankly, I listened to the first track and just don't get it at all. Even still, I'm in a good mood, which gives this album a fighting chance, so without further ado, my track-by-track review. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants - Oasis Fuckin' in the Bushes - 25/100 I listened to about 80% of this song before reali...

      Rewatching Whiplash  for the first time in ages, basically since I was a child, I can't help but point out the fact that frankly the only scenes I remembered was the yelling, the bloody ones, and the one where he puts raisinets in popcorn (because I've never had raisinets or seen them and thought it was pretty weird and still do). Basically, what I'm saying is that to many people, this movie is frankly a lot of style over substance, it's technically a film about jazz, but if you come in with that mindset you're going to be disappointed. There's no love letter to the greats, there's no homage to the beauty of music, or freestyling, this movie is entirely about the pursuit of greatness and the idea that friction and pressure are the tools used to mold diamonds in the rough.     And for the most part it's pretty compelling. I'm not saying I agree with the teaching styles of Terence Fletcher, far from it. I mean when the cost of "doing busines...

     I'll be the first to say, my brother has been recommending this manga to me forever. I mean he loves it, he has stickers from this series, shirts from it, and as someone with a background in music he just loves the idea of a manga about jazz. Me on the other hand, well frankly I'm not the biggest jazz guy, but what I did need was something to read while I donated plasma, and honestly I was hooked. I'm a big slice of life guy when it comes to stories. I don't constantly need big events or crossovers, I just need characters to get hooked onto. And I'll be damned, Blue Giant did it for me. Really, the only thing I hated was the ending, I just felt like considering all they built up this band to be, the fact that it turned out the way it did really frustrated me. So let's talk about it.     I would consider at the very least this arc of the series two halves. The first on involves Dai in his hometown of Sendai, trying to prove that he is more than just someone ...