“Still” is filler, but really good filler. It essentially feels in place this season to give Daryl more to do, while also focusing more on Beth. If you suspected Beth is nothing but a spoiled little shit since season two, than you’d be correct. Granted, she’s sweet, kind, and strong, but she’s also a sheltered little girl who’d rather do nothing than have a drink, than survive. She’ll go through walkers, and risk being eaten just to have her first drink. But then after spending the night in the trunk of a car in the middle of a herd, who can blame Beth for wanting to have her first drink before she croaks?
Paper and Plastic (2014)
Director Mike Clarke’s film could have easily worked its way in to a feature length adaptation, but on its own it’s a very fine and sweet drama. Director Mike Clarke is very adept at switching genres this time around, providing a very heartfelt and utterly interesting character drama that involves a disjointed family finding solace in life, before it runs out. Star Anthony Quinlan plays Thomas, a successful businessman whose spent his entire childhood with a dad that insisted he do nothing but work. Work was all that counted, and getting a good future is what mattered.
Philomena (2013)
Stephen Frears’ drama about a woman touching down on her roots and seeking some sense of purpose is a sweet and simple dramedy that really reaches emotional lengths beyond its quaint story. Based on a true event, Steve Coogan is fantastic as a jaded and somewhat disgraced political journalist Martin Sixsmith who decides to leave his world in exchange for writing about Russian history. He’s approached by Jane, a waitress, at a party who offers him a chance to help her mother Philomena search for her long lost son. At first he’s put off by the idea of the search but soon sees it as his opportunity for a best seller.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
One of the main aspects about “The Wolf of Wall Street” that I loved is that through and through Jordan Belfort is an unapologetic amoral hedonist. When we see him in the opening, right until the final moments of the film, he’s barely apologetic and really misses the days when he swam in money, women, and recreational drugs. Because deep down he felt be earned what he sewed, and right until his downfall, he loves the man he was. Deep down no matter how much he changes, he’s still the same Jordan Belfort, a man who is addicted to satisfying his base pleasures no matter who he hurts.
Hidden Horror: A Celebration of 101 Underrated and Overlooked Fright Flicks [Paperback]
There’s nothing more annoying than books and lists that promise movie fans movies they’ve never seen or should see, only for you to find a list of the same old titles. The good thing about “Hidden Horror” is that it promises 101 movies you likely never saw, and surely enough as someone whose seen it all, I found some interesting gems in this book. To make things better, the underrated films really are some of the most under appreciated films I’ve seen in a long time.
Out of the Furnace (2013)
Much of Scott Cooper’s revenge drama is based heavily around themes that set our characters down a path where they’re doomed from the moment we meet them. Harlan DeGroat, played Woody Harrelson who is terrifying in the role, is a man that stains everyone that he runs in to. And he becomes especially a stain on the pair of brothers, both of whom struggle to find some way out of their pitiful go nowhere lives. Everything in “Out of the Furnace”: leads right in to DeGroat, who isn’t just a villainous scum, but also revels in being a violent monster.
Boiler Room (2000)
It’s a shame to see a movie filled with so much talent all to add up to absolutely nothing. “Boiler Room” trots out a who’s who of really good actors, many of whom were in vogue performers that eventually got their due. I’m especially a fan of Nicky Katt. That said, “Boiler Room” is a crummy retread of “Glenngarry Glenn Ross” sans the plays on “Death of a Salesman.” Ben Affleck appears twice to give a really raucous and loud speech to perspective stock brokers, and really you can’t help but think that Alec Baldwin did it better.