Newlyweds Molly and Tim move into Molly’s deceased father’s house in the countryside. Unexplained disturbances in the night unnerve the couple, and when her husband goes away for business, Molly is left in a house that holds many painful memories. Her isolation is soon shattered by a mali­cious presence that unleashes a physical and mental assault. As she struggles to regain footing in her simple existence, Molly’s grip on reality begins to waver. Her erratic behavior is a warning sign to her friends and family, whose interventions drive her further into solitary torment and spur a deep, dark infidelity within her.

Besides directing, Sanchez also co-wrote LOVELY MOLLY along with Jamie Nash. The film stars Alexandra Holden, Johnny Lewis, and Tony Ellis. Here’s the official trailer:

Looks pretty solid. What do you think? LOVELY MOLLY is hitting theaters on May 18, 2012. Check out their Facebook page.

Stay Bloody!!!

99% of all movies have the same plot line. It’s true. Somebody or something wants somebody or something. I challenge you to challenge me. So it is no secret that shit get regurgitated. Mmmmmmmm, my mouth waters thinking about that. In 2006, Michael Rapaport stared in a movie known as Special. In 2008 Marvel Comics released the Kick-Ass comic series and eventually in 2010 the masses were introduced to the film adaptation. Now I never read the comics and probably never will, but all that is mentioned about Kick-Ass is solely based on the movie.

1. Life Sucks. Comics are Cool Though. Am I Right Guys?

Chew it over and spit it out, both of these dudes are the same dudes. Aside from a few cameos, who the hell is Aaron Johnson? I’m sure his career will pick up and we’ll all say “Oh, it’s that dude from Kick-Ass”. Just like when the Woman in Black came out and we found out that Harry Potter was the main character. Michael Rapaport on the other hand is a huge star, not really though… He has done some voice overs for video games and is sort of well known.

Rapaport was along side Tom Jane in Deep Blue Sea. Mmmmmm Tom Jane. My mouth waters thinking about him. Each character in their respective roles of point, both love comics so they become real life superheroes, based on influence and misfortune in their lives. One’s origin is a single meter maid who has it rough and is depressed with his life; overall a defeated ordinary older man. The other is a teenage boy with a dead mom who isn’t popular in school.

2. I Love a Man in Uniform.

I personally think the square on Kick-Ass’s face makes him look like a total wiener. There is no wiener on Special’s face however. Bad word play. When it comes down to it, I’ll let you decide which costume is cooler. Kick-Ass has nightsticks and eventually a jetpack. Special has a hood. Later in the future he does get a badass eyepiece though.

Rapaport’s suit looks way more resilient. I mean really, he gets hit by a car and shit. Yes, I know that scene has greater meaning than the badassary of his suit. Kick-Ass is more hero in that he conceals his identity well. Spcecial isn’t too concerned with that. He just wants to do good stuff! Kick-Ass thought about getting a cape, that’s just dumb. Special represents himself, the same way Batman or Spider-Man does. Johnson falls short. Ha, Johnson falls short. Penis innuendo.

3.What Really Matters: the Powers.

Although Special doesn’t really have any powers, he kicks Kick-Ass’s ass in this department. Kick-Ass can take a beating because he was hit by a car and didn’t get back up right away like Rapaport does when a car hits him. That’s the only power he has. Special, can do a whole bunch. He can fly, disappear, read minds, walk threw walls, float in air, and time travel.

4. The Dame.

Maybe it’s just me but other than these two movies, neither Lyndsy Fonseca of Kick-Ass or Alexandra Holden of Special are familiar faces. Both of these women are sexable however, as all superhero dames are. But which one is more sexable? That’s the question. And by sexable I mean good actress, role suiting, and plot importance of course. They both serve their curve in each movie, one gets kidnapped, and the other rings out groceries. One gets sexed, the other gets robbed. Both are moral support for the hero.

5. The Baddies.

The tangled interrelation of the villains to Kick-Ass’s allies is smart and intriguing. All of it boils down to father issues, mother issues, and broken families. Red Mist is a product of his father. Kick-Ass is a product of his imagination. Not to say that Hit-Girl is a villain but, she is the product of her father. What I like about Special is that both the hero and the villains are the product of the same thing. A dream.

6. To Friend an Ally

So every hero needs a confidant. Kick-Ass chooses not to go by this route but he keeps his friends close. He spends much of his non hero time with them talking about things relevant to his alter ego to pool information about things he cares about regarding Kick-Ass and his love life. Special on the other hand, who also keeps around two friends, shares his alter identity. Kick-Ass spends time around the kid from Sex Drive, Clark Duke, who has an awesome name. While Josh Peck hangs out Rapaport. If you see this movie, you get to watch Peck make a hysterical sad face. It’s priceless.

7. Comics and Comics

In both cases, people influenced by the glory of comics wrote these stories. The fantasy of turning your life around in an instant as if the lottery was won serves as the same theme. Both characters see the misery that life can be. Both make separate attempts at what they view as their calling.

Probably the cheesiest movie I’ve seen in ages … The only thing missing in this is that every one of the cheerleader was a blonde as they sure as hell had the personality for it. I’m not really in the right target group for this flick but hey, lots of eye candy (tho as soon as they open their mouth that feeling faded). I like Melissa George’s character Cleo with her Conan fetish tho … I guess if I were a teenage american girl I might find this movie hilarious… but I’m not, way to cheesy and stupid. So …

..I rate this movie 4/10 stars..

LOVELY MOLLY is written by Sanchez (who also directed) and Jamie Nash and stars Gretchen Lodge, Alexandra Holden, and Johnny Lewis. Here’s a teaser clip and a trailer:

Stay Bloody!!!

Directed by Frank Oz, Howard Brackett’s high school English students are astonished. Is it really true that their favorite high school teacher may be gay? But hey, he can’t be gay; he’s about to get married! Then again, he also teaches the drama class and boy, does he love those Barbra Streisand records…It all happened to Howard faster than you could say “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” One of his former students became a Hollywood superstar, and clumsily called Howard’s sexuality into question–on the Academy Awards telecast, no less.Instantly Howard’s tranquil life in Greenleaf, Indiana has turned upside down. Greenleaf has now become the scene of a media-feeding frenzy with Howard as bait.

Image is not the property of Entertainment Maven

Lovely Molly is the continuation of director Eduardo Sánchez’s experiment with first person horror, the initial part of the experiment being The Blair Witch Project. However, the majority of the film is not shot from the first person point of view, unlike Blair Witch. The technique is used sparingly and primarily for time spent alone by the main character in and around a creepy country home. The experiment is hit and miss, as Lovely Molly has enough genuinely scary moments to make it worth a view for horror fans, although the first person moments tend to detract rather than add to the film. I felt lost in the narrative during many of these moments, perhaps it is my fault for not engaging the film enough. The importance of these scenes became apparent near the end of the film, but served only to confuse before that.

The film tells the story of Molly (Gretchen Lodge) and her new husband Tim (Johnny Lewis), as they move into Molly’s childhood home to start a life together. It isn’t long before unsettling events, possibly supernatural in origin, begin to happen in the home. Molly finds it harder and harder to spend time alone in the home at night.  Truck driver Tim is constantly on the road for days at a time, and Molly’s sister Hannah (Alexandra Holden) tries to help, but can’t hold her hand every step of the way. Add to this, disturbing forgotten memories that begin to surface in Molly’s mind and a struggle with a serious drug abuse problem from the past, and it is apparent that Molly faces a battle for her sanity that may be impossible to win.

SPOILERS

I don’t know why Sánchez is so enamoured with the first person POV. These scenes were interesting at times during the film, but I thought he did a much better job with the traditional views comprising the rest of the film. Sánchez did a wonderful job building the tension of the suspenseful scenes, waiting just enough time to be exciting, but not so long that the tension was unbearable. Also, ghastly sound effects were used masterfully to indicate a potentially malevolent presence in the house. A deep resonating voice calling to Molly was accompanied by the buzzing of flies made me wish I was elsewhere at that particular time.

Another strength of Lovely Molly is the treatment of the real and the imaginary. Out of all the films that I have seen at this year’s festival that have tried to blur the line between fantasy and reality (Intruders and The Moth Diaries), Lovely Molly does the best job of it. I was flip flopping back and forth the entire film as to whether I expected the horror to be a result of mental illness or an actual supernatural haunting. Unfortunately, this also lead to one of my biggest gripes about the film. The end of the film feels rather ambiguous, despite some clear evidence regarding the nature of the horror. This is a legitimate way to end a film, but some of the storyline decisions that lead up to the finale felt kind of clumsy. It feels like many scenes in Lovely Molly were included because they would look cool or be scary as hell, rather than fit in nicely with the ambiguity of the story. It feels like 10-15 minutes of narrative were cut from the film that would have helped to explain some aspects of the storyline and set the scene for a successful ambiguous ending. Why the discovery of the sigil beneath the floorboards? Why the horse head imagery? During the Q & A session Sánchez said that the goal of the ending was ambiguity, although I think this choice of path could have been the result of a somewhat weak script.

Finally, the performances turned in by the cast were quite good, with Gretchen Lodge as Molly taking centre stage. Sánchez called Lodge his discovery and I would agree with him. Lodge turns in a masterful performance, transforming from a happy newlywed into a deeply disturbed individual. Lodge should consider some H.P. Lovecraft adaptations if they ever make it onto the big-screen. She also impressed with her bravery standing on stage during the Q & A. Brave, considering her character had a strong dislike for clothing for a large portion of the film.

Lovely Molly is a genuinely scary horror film, although it feels a little more like an experiment than an actual story, and the ending feels like a bit of a cop-out. I’m sure there are some people out there that thought the ending was brilliant, and maybe it is, I’m just relaying my feelings after one viewing of the film. Despite it’s flaws, I would recommend Lovely Molly for the scary moments delivered by Sánchez and for Lodge’s performance. It’s not very often that horror films have acting of this quality.

But to be honest, not all of it was bad. Minor things were working, and there is something with this show that I want to go back to it, hoping it will get better. The friendship between Ben (Ryan Hansen) and Sara (Danneel Ackles) is such a thing. While I think that Ryan is completely miscast for the role and has absolutely zero comedy timing, I kinda like that the writers are probably going into relationship mode after a while with this couple. They started off the series as fuckbuddies, they are the main characters of the show, and the question was already asked, if he might be in love with her. And after all the standards of the genre, it is a must that Ben and Sara will get together as a real couple sometimes later in this show (if it should even survive past the fall). Just think about Chandler and Monica here – Ben and Sara are basically the same couple, just with less sense of humor. But that’s it. That was the only good thing about FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, the TV show.

Because the rest wasn’t working. Fitz (Andre Holland), Aaron (Zach Cregger) and Riley (Jessica Lucas) are clichéd best friends, and the hook-up between Aaron and Riley was predictable (after all, this show is called FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS), when they started talking in the bar. Even more, Riley seemed to be the sex-crazed girl in this show, after she hold her tits into the camera for numerous moments. Yeah, she’s sexy, but it shouldn’t be so obvious that the producers and director have the hots for her. It was like Doug Ellin wanting to have sex with Sasha Grey in ENTOURAGE, that obvious was it. And finally, there’s Fitz, who didn’t have to do anything, because he barely had screentime. His scenes in front of the mirror were ludicrous and embarrassing, and it can be seen as a writing mistake to not give him any kind of material during the pilot. Damn, that’s the pilot, the episode you introduce your characters in, and one of the doesn’t get anything? That’s so wrong.

With it, the stories of the pilot were lame. Starting with the dates between Sara and Rich (Tug Coker), as well as Ben and Dakota (Alexandra Holden). Both were unfunny and completely stupid. Rich brings Sara in a swinger club (where was the humor in that? It seemed like a cheap sex joke), while Dakota licks like a hungry bird, instead of kissing (where was the humor in that? it seemed like a stupid-blond joke). And in the meantime, Aaron’s girlfriend breaks up with him, because he doesn’t see her as a bitch. Seriously, that was nothing. I don’t even know if I’m gonna watch the whole season, when the second episode is like that. 3/10

Split-screen with three awkward, naked characters

Ugly tongue kiss in ugly TV comedy

And the case involving Carter (Jason Alexander) was actually interesting during minute 20, when it was revealed he wasn’t dying after all, and all his litigating actions were for nothing. Well, at least not in the first half, when both Franklin (Breckin Meyer) and Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) didn’t know how crazed Carter really was. The “twist” was a nice way of getting into the story, eventually having a case based on false medical information. But instead the writers made something horrendous out of it: a personal fight between Carter and Stills (Patrick Fischler), just between Stills was about to get Carter’s job. Very lame. Likewise were the last bits of the case, when Carter was actually trying to blackmail his lawyers, and they returned the blackmailing in favor against Carter in court in front of the jury. Totally lame. And so not funny. I was even thinking about the tanked case in HARRY’S LAW and Harriet being disbarred because of it. I have to say that Kelley made a much more logical story out of it, and the FRANKLIN & BASH writers didn’t even make a story about it for two seconds. Super lame.

At least Pindar’s (Kumail Nanjiani) story was a bit amusing, but only because I think that Abha (Sarayu Rao) was genius. I loved her in her couple of stints in SONS OF TUCSON (and I believe I was the only one on this planet), and even though Damien’s (Reed Diamond) plans of getting her company to the law firm were fake as hell, and the whole story was pushing for the humor, I’ll take anything with Pindar in it, because we finally have a series, which takes its rest of the main cast and puts them in separate storylines. How tiring would it be to always see those two bro-lawyers all the time? Now I only wish for Pindar getting some serious storylines, but since he isn’t even really involved in all the legal business (seriously, Damien and Hanna [Garcelle Beauvais] only took him, because they knew him from Franklin and Bash), I don’t even start to think that it might happen some time.

The toenail art was disgusting by the way, and please give Alexandra Holden more screentime. Though she got a stereotypical story for a secretary, at least it was something. Other than that, I don’t know if I should give this show a very last chance, or cancel it for RIZZOLI & ISLES. 4/10

Yes, it's a naked guy in a blanket

No, it's not a hidden camera

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Her main competition in the early stages comes from the richest girl in town, ‘Becky Leeman’, who also happens to be the daughter of ‘Gladys Leeman’, head of the pageant organising committee! Becky is played by Denise Richards, who used to be a favourite of mine as a teenager… I mean, I haven’t seen her in very much since the glory days of Wild Things and Starship Troopers… but this movie reminded me that aside from being stunningly beautiful and smokin’ hot, she can also be very entertaining in the right role. Becky is quite a compelling character actually… a proud, gun-carrying Christian, who masks her ruthless ambition behind a cute, chipmunk grin and corny, sentimental sound-bites. I think Richards plays the part perfectly, but sadly she doesn’t score an equal amount of screen time with Dunst. Meanwhile, her mother, Gladys, is played by Kirstie Alley, who seems to be doing a spookily prescient impersonation of Sarah Palin. Actually, her character’s probably slightly saner than Palin, but I’m sure they’d get along famously if they ever bumped in to one another down at the shooting range. Gladys’s second-in-command, ‘Iris Clark’, is played by Mindy Sterling (of Austin Powers trilogy fame), while her husband’s mute, mousy assistant ‘Jean Kangas’ is played by the movie’s writer, Lona Williams (her character also doubles as one of the pageant’s totally impartial judges).

As for the other contestants, the late Brittany Murphy (of Clueless fame) appears as the adorably cute and giggly ‘Lisa Swenson’, who gets some fun scenes to herself, and makes a very sweet sacrifice for Amber in a moment of crisis. This movie also introduced an impressively assured Amy Adams (of Enchanted fame) to the movie-going public… and it’s amusing to see a future “Disney Princess” playing such a bawdy character as ‘Leslie Miller’, the cheerleader who can’t stop making-out with her boyfriend long enough to record a coherent to-camera introduction. In one of my least favourite “gags”, the local pageant’s former-winner is depicted as a feeble, wheezing anorexic, played by Alexandra Holden… who is probably best known now for appearing in Friends as Ross’s college-age girlfriend, ‘Elizabeth Stevens’. Other notable cast members are Ellen Barkin as Amber’s mother, and Allison Janney (of West Wing fame) as her mother’s sweary best-friend… who becomes something of a surrogate matriarch, when Amber’s actual mom is incapacitated, in circumstances I won’t spoil. Oh, and there’s a very brief cameo by Mo Gaffney (of AbFab fame) as one of the organisers of the state pageant finals.

Overall, I find the plot a little muddled (for instance, the unfortunate “accidents” that plagued the local pageant continue, long after the culprit has been unmasked and arrested), and it isn’t a patch on similar “black comedy” classics like Heathers and To Die For… but, as I said before, it still keeps me laughing, even while I’m cringing at the (intentional and unintentional) tackiness of it all.

Director – Jean-Baptiste Andrea, Fabrice Canepa

Cast – Ray Wise, Lin Shaye, Mick Cain, Alexandra Holden, Billy Asher, Amber Smith, Steve Valentine

Release Year – 2003

Reviewed by John of the Dead

Dead End is a film I had heard/read many positive things about, so I was pretty stoked to give this one a watch.  I was surprised at the film’s high level of comedic content, which I did not see coming with the film’s plot and poster, but what really surprised me was that I did not enjoy this film as much as I wanted it to, and found it a borderline-positive watch in the end.

Ray Wise(Jeepers Creepers 2, Swamp Thing, One Missed Call remake) stars as Frank Harrison, who is taking his wife, son, daughter, and daughter’s boyfriend on a weekend trip to his in-laws for the Christmas holiday.  It is late, and Frank is having a hard time staying awake and decides to take a short-cut for the first time after making this trip on numerous occasions.  What started off as a harmless and justifiable move turns out to be a regretful one for Frank when they come across a strange girl on the side of the road and offer her a helping hand.

The film is simple and of low-budget proportions, which usually amounts to a great watch due to the filmmakers being forced to get creative(such as Sam Raimi in his epic The Evil Dead) or suffer delivering a terrible watch.  In the case of Dead End it seems the creators got creative enough for this one not to suck, and I can appreciate them doing what they can with very little.

Two directors deliver this watch to us, Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa, and for the most part their direction is on the positive side.  We get a fun tone from the film in the form of some wit and smartass-ness from a few of the characters, and despite not showing much we do get some fair tension as well.  Our directors do a good job of executing the scene involving the antagonist of the film, the strange girl, and they manage to deliver some fairly cool girl, although much like everything else in the film…we don’t see much of it.  On numerous occasions you are left with “what you don’t see is scary” scenarios, which I did not find scary but did find some joy in.  I did however absolutely hate the execution regarding Frank’s wife Laura Harrington, portrayed by the usually awesome Lin Shaye(A Nightmare on Elm Street, Critters, Critters 2, 2001 Maniacs, Snakes On A Plane, 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams, Driftwood, Hood of Horror).  I will not say that her acting was bad because I am sure that her performance is what the directors wanted, and that is what left me disappointed.  I found her character horribly executed in regards to her performance, which was so bad I was losing much interest in the film when her character really took off in the latter half of the flick.

Story-wise the film is quite simple to begin with, which is the area of the film that I enjoyed the most.  We are left in the dark for quite some time as the carnage ensues, which I found to be a great idea and a good way to get things going.  We get the majority of the film’s real humor during this first half, and it also comes with the most satisfying kills as well.  Speaking of kills, the first few were downright awesome in nature, but sadly that is where the storyline positives end.  The latter half of the film lost the feeling the first half set up, and we were instead given some very stupid scenes involving Laura Harrington(yes, I said it again), stupid usage of the other characters, and way too many unanswered questions left at the film’s climax.  I normally do not mind an ending that leaves me asking questions about the film, just as long as I am given enough information to ask the questions and enjoy them.  With Dead End we are given a climax that I found very unsatisfying because I really did not know what questions to ask regarding it because so little information was given involving the back story.  We have seen it time and time again where a film starts off awesome and completely collapses during the latter half of the runtime, sadly that is the case with this one.

Overall, this is a film I really wanted to like and did find a few positives in thanks to the flick‘s awesome first half, but sadly the story takes a turn for the worst and gives us some unforgivable silliness thanks to some dumb story ideas that also came with negative direction.  The positives the first half delivered weight in over the negatives we get in the second half, but barely, resulting in just an OK watch in the end.

Rating: 6/10

you don't mind, right? I mean, I lay my head on the lap of all my male friends...

PG-13?

Joey Kern, Alexandra Holden, Richard Roundtree

Alison: Such a boring day to die, Tuesday.  I wanna die on a Friday.
Wes: Anything but Monday…

Wes (Kern) and Alison (Holden) have been best friends for a few years.  While Wes wishes they could be more than friends, Alison has had a boyfriend the entire time.  The night before Alison flies back to Tokyo, she and Wes get together and talk about their lives.

Doesn’t sound like much of a plot description, but that’s because it’s not much of a plot.  Not that that is necessarily a bad thing.  It’s basically just a conversation movie, and that can be great if the conversations are interesting.  I guess I just didn’t find them very interesting.  There’s an occasional moment of wit or insight, but mostly it’s just two people talking about themselves.  Go watch Before Sunrise or Before Sunset if you want to see a good conversation movie.

I enjoyed the odd dream sequence interludes more than the rest of the movie I think.  Richard Roundtree is always in them as some sort of dispenser of wisdom for Wes.  Those were more creative and thought provoking.

Another problem is that Alison is supposed to be this charming, full-of-life sort of girl, but I found her to be antagonizing, self-centered, and somewhat annoying.  It seems like Wes is just putting up with her most of the time rather than pining for her.

It looks good, has some nice music, and contains a few glimpses of interesting material, but I didn’t have much interest in the characters or their stories, which made the ambiguous ending even more of a non-event.

If you’re pining for someone who has a significant other and only likes you as a friend, don’t worry, just keep hoping they’ll eventually come around…year after year…and one day, just maybe there’ll be a slight chance that they could possibly start to have stronger feelings for you…maybe.

10 – 2.2 because I wasn’t a big fan of the characters – 2.2 because they didn’t have much interesting to say = 5.6

Based on rare crime scene footage of the (unpublicized) 1958 murder of Actress Scarlett May. A supernatural Horror/Mystery based on actual events.

Mais um filme com o monstro sagrado Lance Henriksen. Devem estar a pensar onde nós conseguimos todo este tipo de informação. É claro que Mario Augusto é amigo cá da malta e de vez em quando manda uns presentes como este aqui para o pessoal. A verdade é que nós compramos DVD piratas ali ao coxo do Rossio, que vende atrás da barraca das bifanas ou será que nós mandamos vir de sites obscuros da Internet? Descubram. Bem , falando de Dark Reel, é mais filme do género de slasher movie daqueles que estamos habituados, com mais voltas do que um moinho de café. Mas aquele filme Gnome Killer 2, a sério, até que estava a gostar daquilo. Bem isto foi feito por Josh Eisenstadt, com Lance Henriksen, Daniel Wisler, Edward Furlong, Tiffany Shepis, Rena Riffel, Tate Hanyok, Alexandra Holden, Mercedes McNab, Brooke Lyons, Matt Bushell, Emmanuel Xuereb, Jake Grace, Kate Orsini, Whit Hertford e Rouhi Savoji.

Lance, meu amor. Por ti até perco a cabeça

Mais vale ver o programa do Goucha

Tru Davies (Eliza Dushku), a medical grad student in Boston whose grant is suddenly pulled out from under her, takes a job at a local morgue and starts to work for Davis (Zach Galifianakis). There, she discovers that she has the power to “re-live” the previous day over again to help the people who wrongly ended up dead. She uses this gift not only to save lives, but to help her trouble-plagued family – her older sister Meredith (Jessica Collins), a lawyer and drug addict in denial; and her younger, irresponsible, slacker, gambling brother Harrison (Shawn Reaves).

Episode 01: Pilot
Haha, that was extremely cheesy. And somehow very bad. I am saying nothing against the whole plot, because I liked it; it is a nice mixture of Early Edition and Ghost Whisperer. But this was… not good. For a pilot I don’t know anything about the characters, except that Tru’s mother was murdered ten years ago; her sister Meredith taking drugs; her brother Harrison having bad influence with bad people – yeah, great, that is all? For a pilot there was a lot of story going on, you can actually think this is the tenth episode in the season. No reaction what soever from Tru while listening to dead people? No reaction what soever from Tru being send back in time for one day? She asks herself no questions about that? Seriously, that is just bad writing. That is clearly not a way to start a new series.
But a techno style, which reminded me of “Run, Lola, Run”, and Eliza Dushku making some points for watching the show, so I give it 3/10.

Episode 02: Putting Out Fires
This was actually better than the pilot episode. But still no answers, why Tru has the gift and still no scenes, how she wonders about having the gift. Few screen seconds for the other characters and a lot of time for Eliza to show that she is not a good actress.
The story was good, a little bit predictable, but with a very nice and emotional ending. But the love story between Tru and Nick (Michael Trucco) was very crude: falling in love only in a few hours… Well, this must be the big love
Oh yeah, despite I like the fact, when somebody dead asks Tru for help doesn’t mean to save the dead’s life, but why didn’t the girl ask for help, when she was it to be saved the whole time? 6/10

Episode 03: Brother’s Keeper
For the first 35 or so minutes this episode was predictable, badly written and badly executed. I can’t get along with Tru’s character, because I don’t feel anything, when I see Eliza playing Tru. Harrison is not interesting enough to thrill with his story. And the rest of the characters are practically not in the story and completely unnecessary. Why does Tru get the corpse, before her brother gets arrested? Why is Meredith at the scene at that time? The timeline is completely… utter stupid. Just two things were great in this episode: Cobie Smulders and the little twist after 35 minutes. The rest was just plain idiotic. 3/10

Episode 04: Past Tense
Ehm, what was that? Do the authors regard the timeline of their stories? There is nothing right, just really bad writing and a lot of implausibilities. And why is Tru so smart getting into the bachelor party as a barkeeper, but didn’t found out fast enough that they were poisoned? Tru and the stripper meet at the party, after Tru came to her at work – and the stripper said nothing???
And who the hell is Lindsay (A.J. Cook)? A main character, seen for maybe eight minutes in the last four episodes, and now we have to feel sorry for Tru, because she forgot Lindsay’s birthday? WTF? And Tru’s sister: Wow, she takes drugs again, how interesting (not!).
At least they introduced a new guy, Tru’s love interest Luc (Matthew Bomer) Let’s see how that works out. 2/10

Episode 05: Haunted
The episode was alright. No visible mistakes in the timeline, an alright story (copied from the movie Flatliners), an alright performance from the actors (I missed Tru’s sister though) and a nice cliffhanger: Davis knows about Tru’s talents. It is nice that this storyline is coming so early in the season; gives the series a little bit of a serial arc. Yeah, I was actually pleased to see this episode, I have hope that the writers learned from their mistakes. But the series is still boring in its own way. 6/10

Episode 06: Star Crossed
The episode was okay. A lot of Tru, some moments between Lindsay and Harrison (is she going to have more screentime, or what?), no Tru’s sister (why is she in the main cast?), an upcoming relationship between Luc and Tru and Davis knows about Tru’s gift. The “Help Me” of the week was interesting, but the twist in the middle of the episode is getting on my nerves. It is always the same one – case solved, Tru has an idea and the case is not solved, Tru gets back to saving the lives – and it gets boring every time. But the little “Juliet and Juliet” twist was nice and was a good moment, but the rest of the episode was boring. 5,5/10

Episode 07: Morning After
Did I miss something? Tru and Luc are kissing, are they already a couple? I can’t remember that :/ And I believe that Lindsay has more screentime in this episode than in all the previous episodes. The “Help Me” of the week was alright, finally no already known twist in the middle of the episode (well, at least not a big one), but the ex boyfriend story sucked balls. Mark (Kristoffer Polaha) is back after he was there in the pilot and after ten minutes he is dead and Tru has to save his life. I bet we will never see him again. So, what necessity had this storyline for Tru or for her relationship with Luc?
A typical Tru Calling episode, I am still waiting for a big one. 5,5/10

Episode 08: Closure
Oh wonder, call all TV critics, we have a good Tru Calling episode. Nice “I need you” of the week, nice guest actors, nice story with a nice emotional touch. With the exception of the beginning (The soldier dies, Tru wakes up. After the jump back: Tru wakes up, the soldier should die) it was a really nice episode. Lindsay was missed (well, her relationship with Harrison isn’t building much, eh?), but we had some Meredith instead. Even Davis had his little storyline (a date with Meredith? Seriously?). 7/10

Episode 09: Murder in the Morgue
The episode was okay. The first half was boring and just looked like another one of these stereotype episodes, but the second half was actually thrilling. The story had some nice little twists with some big plot holes – like every episode (minus the nice twists), but this time more better than the previous episodes. By the way: It is nice to see that Meredith’s drug addiction came up again (for that Lindsay doesn’t have a second screentime), and Harrison’s little “save the day” story was boring. And what does the ending mean? Now he believes Tru and thinks he can do anything, because she can save the day? That sounds just stupid. 5,5/10

Episode 10: Reunion
In the middle of the season the stories aren’t crap, aren’t boring, the plot holes are smaller than usual… I think the writers landed on their feet and tried to pull of some good stories, with success I might say. Okay, the flashbacks at the beginning and at the end were completely useless and it was clear again in the middle that the case wasn’t over, but what the hell – it was good this time. Okay, the wannabe killer is a total loser, after he could not kill, but what the hell – it was good this time.
The episode was good, what the hell The series improves, I never expected that. 6,5/10

Episode 11: The Longest Day
Oh my surprising god, what a great episode – the best so far. Okay, the story is not new and I was waiting for it in this series, but the authors did a nice job. All the time the episode gave some new info about the case and the ending was just nice – because everything happened for this one reason, I didn’t see one big plot hole. Well, except that Tru and Davis are talking like Davis knows everything. And Luc should finally know about Tru’s gift.
Another thing: I saw seven names in the opening credits and I saw just four in this episode (Tru, Davis, Harrison, Luc) and with Meredith and Lindsay we have two more. Who is the seventh guy in the main credits? :/ 8/10

Episode 12: Valentine
An average episode. The story is okay, it began good, but the ending was just shitty as usual. The twists with Kevin (Devon Gummersall) being the murderer/not murderer/yet murderer was good, but his sister killed him after all? How shitty is that conclusion?And how often do I have to hear that Tru can’t tell Luc her secret? She told her brother real fast, why not him? Just so they can break up at the end to make Tru’s non-existent love life more miserable? This is just bull.
But it was interesting, how Lindsay survived the story. She almost was a real main character, I was pleasantly surprised. 5/10

Episode 13: Drop Dead Gorgeous
A good episode. I liked the case (not only because of Alexandra Holden in it, beauty contests are good sources for seeing how shitty writers can be), I liked the little plot twist that Jackie wasn’t the planned victim, but I didn’t like how Tru found out that the judge’s wife was behind all of this… Well, she didn’t find out, it just was in the screenplay that Tru put all the pieces together. On the stage she was okay, not really a competition (Eliza Dushku isn’t that hot), but why is Tru so damn good to draw all the attention to her – it was not necessary that she ran from the stage and had to tell that she is on a tight schedule.
The side plot with the reporter Michelle (Michelle Harrison) and Davis was real interesting. Somebody knows that Tru saves lives and there was another one before Tru. And Davis knew it… That makes his character even more necessary, because now Tru can find out more about her mother. And FINALLY we have some background in Tru’s gift. A little mystery. But a little too late… 7/10

Episode 14: Daddy’s Girl
Wow, I am impressed. Ten minutes typical stereotype procedural “Save Me” case, 30 minutes family drama, mystery and thrill – kind of the best episode so far, because the story actually involves. Tru’s father got his wife killed and Tru has a new colleague. She doesn’t know anything. Jason Priestley had a nice entrance, I already know that his role is a big one and I started already to see the connections. I want to know if his story about the near-death experience is true or if he has more dirt on his fingers. And the mystery around Tru and her gift evolves and I like it that way.
The episode itself was very good in the way it told the story, it just needs more seriousness. And way more better actors. 7/10

Episode 15: The Getaway
A good episode. Just too predictable. That the girl with the sunglasses and red hair would be the accomplice was obvious from the beginning. That Harrison has troubles with Lindsay again was obvious, too. Only the appearance of Michelle was surprising, and she probably will be back soon in one of the next episodes.
The fate speeches were interesting and brought another view of Tru’s gift, especially with Jack at her side, even though nobody knows yet, what Jack is up to. I just want to know if he is living the same timeline as Tru or if he has his own ones. Now I am excited to see the next episode. To bring Jack in as Tru’s nemesis was a great choice. 7,5/10

Episode 16: Two Pair
Interesting episode, but only at the beginning. What would happen, if Tru isn’t reliving the day, but someone asked for her help? But it was only the reason to get Tru to save another life. Two in a day – lots of work? When I remember correctly, she had to save four or five lives at once. But it was nice how both cases were connected and it showed that even Harrison can be a good written character. Even though his little breakdown at the end was totally bad acted. And I loved the mirror theme – murder and suicide changed places; I wished to see more about that in the series.
The side plot with Jack investigating about Davis’ past (interesting: Now we have another character in, the writers can put in side plots – very good development) was good, now we know something about Davis. And Jack’s face at the end of the episode – almost a cliffhanger and so creepy. This is the latest point for knowing that something isn’t right with him. 7/10

Episode 17: Death Becomes Her
An average episode. I so didn’t like Tru’s case, but I totally liked the side plot with Jack and Harrison. Before the rewind: A nice day with a nice outcome for Harrison. After the rewind: A terrible day with a different outcome. Now it would be nice to know if Jack rewinds his days, too, or if he just knows, what happened and what happens. He definitely knew that the burglar wouldn’t shoot, maybe he knew that nobody would die in that place at that particular time. The whole scene was awesome and the best I saw in this series so far.
The rest (especially Tru’s case) was too predictable and boring, but it is enough for 6/10.

Episode 18: Rear Window
An average episode with too much of twists to surprise the viewer, but there were actually boring. The episode was too much of a setup to introduce us Jack as one of “them” – guys who can relive days. Though he kind of is the opposite part (a fact, which is a big topic in the season finale) and the writers didn’t pull that stunt in this episode, it is totally obvious that he is Tru’s opposite. It takes too much time with Jack getting into the mystery story about reliving days and so on.
The case was boring – identity theft, uninteresting. Well, at least Tru and Davis know now that Jack can relive days as well. 5,5/10

Episode 19: D.O.A.
A good episode. The case was actually pretty good and surprising. Tru and Jack working together was nice, too. But why is Jack so dumb and tells Tru that he is not there to save somebody’s live. That little twist (which was already known btw) was just a cheap plot device to draw the battle lines for the season finale and the second season. And it was boring. The little side plot with Harrison and Lindsay was boring, too. She wants to marry somebody she knows for one week now? WTF? How stupid is that? Do the writers have to split Harrison and Lindsay that fast? This is completely unreliable. 6,5/10

Episode 20: Two Weddings and a Funeral
The finale was okay. It was the right one for the series and had a nice outcome. So, Tru’s father was one of the guys who make sure that the people die. At least we now know why Tru’s mother had to die; it just would be interesting to know if she knew about her husband. And how he found Jack. Is it really so that the people who have this give, can give it to somebody (Tru’s mother to Tru, Tru’s father to Jack)? Hopefully a question, which will be asked in the second season.
Harrison was a stupid character in this episode. He knows he is going to die and he makes jokes about it? Well, he was a stupid character in the whole season, so I wasn’t really surprised. Luc was stupid, too. Why did he go to the woman in the first place? Only because Jack told him so? Another dumb plot device to get Luc killed at the end. Oh yeah, Luc’s death wasn’t surprising and Eliza Dushku’s acting at the funeral left a lot to be desired. But I kind of like the upcoming story: Tru versus Jack – life versus death. And with Tru’s father (a bad guy like Jack as well) in the back, the last six episodes could be very interesting.
Could be. 7/10

Season average is 5,83. The season improved in the second half and Jack Harper was just an interesting opposite part to Tru. But the tryouts to save the series before it gets canceled by FOX just came too late. The first season half was shitty, full of plot holes and boring as hell. I don’t have the six episodes of the second and last season, but I try to get them, so I can finish this show and forget it real fast. Maybe I start rewatching Dollhouse…

In the small town of Dillon, Texas, one night matters: Friday Night. Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) has recently been hired as the head football coach for the Dillon High School Panthers, the town’s pride and joy. Friday Night Lights displays the stress that the town gives the high school players to win, and the hope that the team gives to a small town, and how a team has its low points, its high points, and how they come together as a team on their way to victory.

Episode 01: Pilot
It is pretty much the very short version of the movie with same name. But nevertheless the right pilot for a great series. Because it shows from the beginning, what you have to expect from it: real and authentic drama, great and likable characters. The documentary character of the show sets the rest – shot on location, hand camera, interview style (at the beginning). The cast is wonderful, the characters feel real, the setting is real, the soundtrack is great, the storytelling is wonderful. But the pilot has the problem to jump directly into the story without introducing the characters properly. And a few people who don’t know anything about football could be disappointed, because the last third only is football.
But for me, it is a great start to one of the best network TV shows after The West Wing ended. 9/10

Episode 02: Eyes Wide Open
Not as good as the first episode, but still a high level screenplay and high level actors and characters. The conflict between Tim (Taylor Kitsch) and Smash (Gaius Charles) is very interesting, but Tim’s relationship with Tyra (Adrianne Palicki) is somehow not existent enough in the first episodes, so it is not really believable. Matt (Zach Gilford) had a great character development in this one: He is working, taking care of his grandmother, almost doing everything on his own. And now he struggles being QB1, but he is a really nice and emotional character and Zach Gilford is perfect for this role. 8/10

Episode 03: Wind Sprints
The Panthers are losing the game and two people got the blame: Matt, although he played a good game, and the coach. And it is quite interesting how both are handling it. Some great character development with great actors (I could say that after every episode). The Jason/Lyla (Scott Porter and Minka Kelly) relationship and Tim’s feelings of guilt are a bit stereotype, but it is okay, because it all feels real. Just the kiss between Lyla and Tim may be a little bit too much – that stinks for drama.
But it was a good episode and we did see Voodoo (Aldis Hodge) for the first time. 7,5/10

Episode 04: Who’s Your Daddy
A good episode, nothing really much happened. ‘Vodoo’ was just third row, Lyla and Tim are loving each other. But the main storyline belonged to Matt. He against Voodoo as QB1, Matt against Arnett’s QB1, Matt and Julie (Aimee Teegarden), Matt and Coach Taylor, Matt and his grandma (Louanne Stephens), Matt and is father. A lot of character development for him, which was very welcomed, because he is a really likable character. Shy, not much of a people person, but he makes jokes, before he gets beaten up. 7,5/10

Episode 05: Git ‘Er Done
A good episode with some unused story. ‘Voodoo’ Tatum has so much potential as a character and he is just a guest character – a real shame. Tyra gets her own little love story in this episode with the start and the end of it; Jason gets back into sports real slow, thanks to Herc (Kevin Rankin) and the Panthers, especially the coach, have a big game coming up. Interesting how the Dillon folks react after the win. And more interesting is the “cliffhanger” of the episode. Another storyline with a big potential. The rest was as usual – good for the episode, but played very well. 7,5/10

Episode 06: El Accidente
Another good episode with some average story arcs. Jason finally knows about Tim and Lyla, the friendship between the three short before breaking. Matt with remorse telling the coach the truth and his really slow growing relationship with Julie. And then the whole situation with Voodoo, which isn’t really good now, because it didn’t take much time in the episode, just a few scenes. The episode arc was boring and a bit stereotype, it shows even in FNL that football players are the “kings” in high school – at least it was a storyline for just one episode, so forget about it real fast. 7/10

Episode 07: Homecoming
One of the better episode of this season. Even a show like Friday Night Lights has a homecoming episode and Jason’s return onto the fields of the “battle place” was really good and emotional. Even the side plot (Tyra and Billy [Derek Phillips] throwing a party and an old QB is looking for a job) were good and not useless. Only the relationship between Matt and Julie could be told a little bit faster, this story rested in this episode. 8,5/10

Episode 08: Crossing the Line
A wonderful episode with some great character moments and scenes. Lyla/Tim/Jason – okay, this story is total stereotype, but I don’t care when the actors are really great in performing their characters, which is the case here. Lyla’s little breakdown beneath Tami (Connie Britton): wonderful played. Jason’s little heater with Tim at the end: wonderful played and totally realistic. I just don’t understand why Tyra was interested in Tim for that day. I don’t think that was a necessary part for a big story. At least the Riggins boys fight was great executed – no fists, just a realistic fight of two brothers who can’t stand each other for a few minutes… I totally liked that scene.
The date question and Taylor’s talk with Julie were cute and brought some smiling moments into the episode. Only Smash’s story was a bit too much and over the top. So suddenly he tries to save his future with drugs? I don’t like that story and fortunately it was on for just a few episodes. 8,5/10

Episode 09: Full Hearts
A good episode, which gave Smash some good character moments and a little look into his past. It was nice to learn more about him. And it shows once more that Gaius Charles is one of the great younger actors in this time.
The stories with Tim and Lyla is really good as well, I just feel sorry about them. But you can kind of understand the others. The date/not date of Matt and Julie was also cute and wonderful executed. Not just that Julie saw some real Matt, we saw some real good acting and writing in this episode. Because even the guest characters have some great talents. Smash’s mother, Matt’s grandma – if they are in the center of the scene for just a few minutes, they are totally breathtaking. 7,5/10

Episode 10: It’s Different For Girls
Another solid FNL episode and I quite like the fact that the stories don’t concentrate much on football, but the characters. The whole drama about Lyla is just excellent. Stereotype, but still very good written and played. And with a really nice ending. Lyla has her pride back and another little chance to get back with Jason, who gets back to his old life, step by step.
I have just one problem with this episode: Why isn’t Coach Taylor trusting his daughter with Matt? He one told Tami that Matt is a good boy, and now he wants to not bring them together? This looks like a cheap plot device to lengthen the relationship between Matt and Julie and put some stones on their way. 7,5/10

Episode 11: Nevermind
And another real good episode. This time we see a lot of Matt and the family drama around him. The scene at the end where he is sitting with the coach was just awesome played (once more, FNL has the luck to have one of the best TV casts of all time). But I have a little problem with Jason: Why wants he to be with Lyla again all of a sudden, after her little adventure with Tim? But his new story (the upcoming lawsuit) is very interesting and could trouble the coach in future episodes. 8/10

Episode 12: What To Do While You’re Waiting
A good episode, but nothing really much happened. Just a whole episode with the question if the Panthers are going to the playoffs and a lot of really great character drama. I loved Tyra and her mother in this episode. Especially the scene in which Tyra throws her mother’s abusive boyfriend out of the house. There was such authentic power behind that scene, it gave me goosebumps. Smash in love is kind of cute and it is nice to see that he has to work for something besides football. But I don’t know what to make of the lawsuit story, because I know it brings absolutely nothing – not for the involved characters, not for the on-going story. It only shows that Jason is now at the brink of the “likability” of Dillon – he suits the Panthers, he is no more friend of the town. Maybe it would be better to show more about that and Jason’s trouble about that problem, but so it is just lame. And Matt and Julie coming more and more together – for the both you have to be a shipper, they are a really cute couple. 7,5/10

Episode 13: Little Girl, I Wanna Marry You
An average episode with nice stories here and there. After I missed Smash’s drug story in the last episode, it came up back here and this time with more drama. But the lawsuit story is gone now, for good – without a proper conclusion btw, but I don’t care about a lost story, when this one was actually a bad and/or boring one. The departure of Matt’s dad was heartwarming; though he only was a guest character, his last scene was a bit of a tear breaker, Brent Smiga showed some great acting skills. I just don’t like Jason’s proposal to Lyla – for what? And I really can’t get Jason’s love for her, especially after what she did. It is not believable enough for me. 6,5/10

Episode 14: Upping the Ante
Every major player of Dillon gets his own storyline eventually, this time it is Tim Riggins and his quest for a signature from his estranged father. Not that I needed this storyline and it was kind of useless, but it was good. The rest of the episode was a bit over average; except for the storyline around Smash, everything was not interesting enough to keep up my interests. It was obvious that Matt and Julie have their first couple problems (and they kind of aren’t together yet) and it was obvious that Jason’s proposal was not really serious for the story. 6/10

Episode 15: Blinders
Race as a big topic in a football drama – for sure, black players versus white players. If there’s time, writers can pull off this story. And it was pretty interesting. Not too much, not too silly. And it gives another view of Smash, so short after the problems he had with the coach. And he makes new ones. Even the rest of the episode, especially the Powerpuff game, was really interesting and very good. And it was nice to see that Julie has a lot of knowledge about the plays of her father, I didn’t know before that she eventually had some interests in football – or she wouldn’t know the play. Maybe Tami’s “conference” was a bit too stereotype; obvious that the students are hacking each other after a short while… 8/10

Episode 16: Black Eyes and Broken Hearts
Another really good episode. McGill’s (Blue Deckert) words have some real bad aftermath, with Smash and his buddies kind of quitting the team and giving the coach a real hard time. And it gives Blue Deckert the first real chance to give his character more deeper lines. Like I said before, if there is one of the guest characters in the front row of the story, they are having a blast. Great acting and a really great story.
And finally this episode is the start of the Landry (Jesse Plemons)/Tyra story and Matt and Julie are now officially a couple (that took some time). I wished to see more about the aftermaths of the game, there was some real potential in it. But it was just like the athletic guy said: “I call the game. Dillon wins.” – very short. But I don’t know what to make of the scene with the police, that was kind of bull. 8/10

Episode 17: I Think We Should Have Sex
Not only that the title sentence, spoken by Julie, was kind of a surprise, Matt still calls Tami “Miss Coach” – that is really funny. And Tami seeing Matt buying condoms was a bit stereotype, but I don’t care when this was the beginning of a great mother/daughter scene, which is probably the best scene in FNL so far. The whole story around Julie and her parents was really interesting; the story was totally stereotype and you can probably see it in all teen drama series, but here you have some authentic and real acting, which makes this episode a highlight of family scenes in network shows. Tami’s face when Julie came home in the middle of the night: This is material for the Golden Globe!
Only one story was lame though: Tim and his father (Brett Cullen). For what reason took Tim the beating after all? Well, at least Walt is gone now, he was kind of boring in the story… 8,5/10

Episode 18: Extended Families
Another good episode. Less football (the Panthers went to the semifinals before the intro), lots of character drama. I loved the situation of Tyra’s mom (Merrilee McCommas), even if it was uninteresting at the beginning and brought nothing to the major characters. But it showed that Tami is a great character, loving, caring, sentimental.
The story with Smash and Waverly (Aasha Davis) is boring, because I don’t like her character, I don’t know why. Maybe too uninteresting. Buddy’s (Brad Leland) drama is more interesting though, it gets Lyla more in the center again. Oh yeah, Lyla and Jason… It is over very soon. And the coach getting a new job offer: the season finale is prepared an it promises some drama in the Taylor family the next episodes. Julie won’t leave Dillon (interesting, she wanted to in the beginning), Buddy won’t let Taylor go and the rest of the crew… I don’t know. And then Tim befriends with the little neighbor boy and the writers prepare a little love story for him. It’s nice. 7,5/10

Episode 19: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Another good episode with another good character drama. Tim and his neighbor mother is just cute, it gives a whole different side on the character of Tim and I like it. He even makes final peace with Jason and both are on “Texas forever” again. The little training session in the nigh shows some great friendship between the big Dillon players. Taylor’s little takes with Julie was awesome, too. Another great scene for Aimee Teegarden, where she can show her acting abilities, even she is just sitting around. Only Jason’s story is a bit uninteresting: That he won’t be part of the rugby team was obvious, so no thrill about tat; that he is making out with Suzy (Alexandra Holden), was obvious as well, so no thrill in here, too. Buddy’s storyline is great, though. I loved the scene, where his wife screamed at him and Lyla afterwards was pissed as well. Great acting. 7,5/10

Episode 20: Mud Bowl
A wonderful episode. Football is in the center of the story again and it is an unusual game. The episode would be better, if the game had more thrill.
I didn’t think that the lawsuit would come up again, I thought it was already done, and it was a shitty storyline. Fortunately the scene was short and the story was over real fast. But it brings Jason back to the Panthers. After he “coached” Saracen in the last episode, I hope he takes the “job offer” from the coach. The story about searching for another field to play on was very interesting, but I wished to see more about the players building this field with their own hands.
I don’t understand why the writers put the story about the money in Mat’s locker in the episode. I never saw the meaning of it. But Tyra’s “almost raped” story: wow. There is a source for a lot of character development, especially the relationship between Landry and Tyra. 8,5/10

Episode 21: Best Laid Plans
A good episode. A finale before the finale – without football. The story with Tyra and Landry was the interesting one, even though their relationship still isn’t settled. But I loved Landry’s struggle about telling somebody about the assault. It makes him more of a real character and not just a funny line he was before. Suzy and Jason was alright. It was obvious that she will be the reason why he and Lyla are breaking up for good and that she will be the reason why Jason and Lyla will be other persons next season. So, she is just a little plot device, but I like Alexandra Holden. And the coach accepted the offer from TMU and his family is not really appreciated by that… very interesting, because there was a high possibility that he will take the offer in the season finale. But I am a little bit sad that the relationship between Jackie (Brooke Langton) and Tim is now over, even though I saw it coming. 8/10

Episode 22: State
The best finale for the season. The Panthers win state (they should have lost it, it would be a great story opener for the second season), Tami is pregnant (nice twist, Taylor is going to Austin now and his wife is pregnant…), the team learns about coach’s department (and they don’t take it very well, especially Matt, who seems really shocked) and almost all of the main characters had their little cliffhanger.
Even though the game was totally stereotype (the Panthers took some serious hits in the first half, losing 0-26, and coming back in the second half, winning the game), I loved coach’s speech during half time. How he spoke about the loved ones of the players and the camera showed every single one of them sitting (or staying) in the stadium, hoping that a miracle will happen. It was nice to see Voodoo back, finally he has found his team, where he is loved and so on (LOL).
You can see it that way that this episode might be the right series finale. Panthers win State, Taylor’s job is “done”. Jason and Lyla are over for good, bot can start new. Tyra might be good again, after what happened to her, and the relationship with Landry is growing – at least they have a friendship now. Maybe there wasn’t even one cliffhanger. Just one question: Are we seeing Eric Taylor next season?
8/10

Season average is 7,75. I love this show. Currently one of my top 3 favorite TV shows. I have the second and third season here as well, so I can rewatch it right now. But for now I have to finish some shows which are rotting in my schedule right now.

The viewer, however, understands Rapaport’s having a unique reaction to a trial drug and is hallucinating everything. Special shifts from humor to drama quickly–often so fast, laughing at Rapaport’s more outlandish behaviors immediately causes guilt when reality becomes clear. The film sets up a strange relationship with its audience, one where it’s inviting laughs after it seems like it should have gone full drama.

Rapaport also narrates a lot of the film and that narration, his delivery of it, is fantastic. The narration really compliments the onscreen action, it’s unexpectedly successful (since narration’s usually such a misstep).

But when Special becomes about the human condition, instead of a misfiring brain on a drug trial, things start to fall apart. The film doesn’t have an ending–going through two or three false ones before finally stopping. That lack is intentional, to embrace the filmmaking style–Special‘s a little vérité, I really do think they just had Rapaport walk around in a goofy suit and filmed people’s reactions–but it isn’t honest to the characters.

Special has a great bunch of actors working in it. The entire cast–Paul Blackthorne (who gets a great close), Ian Bohen, Josh Peck, Robert Baker, Jack Kehler and Christopher Darga–is excellent. But the best surprise is Alexandra Holden, who spends most of the film in a cursory role, only to play a crucial part in the conclusion–it’s practically a melodramatic plot development, but it doesn’t quite qualify because it’s just a detail–and Holden pulls it off. She doesn’t just make it work, she makes it wonderful.

The film only runs eighty minutes. It’s subplot free–Rapaport’s character is defined through his voiceover, since there’s barely any time for the viewer to get to know him before he starts going crazy. It just loses itself in the last twenty minutes.

Technically, it’s solid. Directors Haberman and Passmore combine comedy and lyricism–Special‘s not a commentary on the new superhero genre, which isn’t just a pleasant surprise, it’s also essential to the film working. There’s no fetishistic attitude, no references to famous films. The music, from Tom Wolfe and Manish Raval, accounts for a good deal of the film’s success.

Special needed another ten minutes, an ending instead of a stopping, but it’s got a lot of great acting and, even though the concluding sentiment is a tad trite, it’s a fine viewing experience.

CREDITS

Written and directed by Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore; director of photography, Nelson Cragg; edited by Mike Saenz; music by Tom Wolfe and Manish Raval; production designer, Nathan Amondson; produced by Frank Mele and Edward Parks; released by Fabrication Films.

Starring Michael Rapaport (Les), Paul Blackthorne (Jonas Exiler), Josh Peck (Joey), Robert Baker (Everett), Jack Kehler (Dr. Dobson), Alexandra Holden (Maggie), Ian Bohen (Ted Exiler) and Christopher Darga (Steve).

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