The Movie Journal

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 8 "A Boy and His Dog" May 06, 2013 As we move towards the finale (two episodes away), I was really surprised how subdued this episode was. The episode was designed for character-building and I’ll take that any day of the week. Some fans were disappointed because there are really no big horror shocks or intense action scenes, although there is a satisfying cliffhanger. As I said, this episode is all about relationships. Norma vs. Norman, Norman vs. Emma, Norman vs. Emma’s father, and Dylan vs. his new partner Remo. Each relationship I mentioned moves the story dynamic in one way or another. I really liked the Norman vs. Will Decody relationship. Last episode, Norman’s dog was killed in an abrupt and manipulative way. So the taxidermy scenes should not have worked well as they did. But Norman has great chemistry with Will Decody, played by Ian Hart. Will teaches Norman the art of taxidermy while also giving him some insight on love. It was...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 7 "The Man In Number 9" April 29, 2013 After the explosive events of the previous episode, Bates Motel switches gears with “The Man in Number 9.” There is a lot of good stuff here, even if the episode is somewhat subdued. There are also some perplexing events that make it seems like the show is rushing towards the end. This episode continues the trend of making Norman even more unstable. This time, Bradley is important in that regard. Yes, she is back after missing the last few episodes. The acting remains consistent and the addition of Jere Burns as the titular character with unknown motives made me wonder what the show has in store for us next. After the last episode ends with the murder of Deputy Shelby, Norma calls for Sheriff Romero and explains everything that happened since episode one. Romero calls it “water under the bridge” and said he has been suspecting Shelby. A strange man named Jake Abernathy (played by Jere Burns) c...

Excalibur (1981) I remember the first time I laid my eyes on Excalibur . It was my high school freshman year English class. I thought the movie was incredibly boring. Flash forward a decade later, I took the opportunity to revisit the movie. Thankfully, my opinion changed. This film is a solid take on the King Arthur mythology with hammy (although enjoyable) acting, great special effects and costume designs, a rather violent screenplay, and character development/dialogue that could have been better. Based on that last sentence, you can see that I thought of this film as a mixed bag. In the end, it is a fun fantasy adventure. Ever since learning about the legend of Arthur in grade school, I was always fascinated by this legend. Is this story real? The only thing anthropologists have discovered regarding this legend is some Celtic texts. It is apparent that Arthur was a real person, but I do love all the fantasy stuff added to the story. The Knights of the Round Table, the...

Atlantic City (1981) 1981’s Atlantic City is a tender, subtle film about two people accustomed to the traditions of old and trying to adjust to a newer, more complicated world. That statement is envisioned throughout the movie with those exterior shots of decaying buildings of old and the sky cranes building grander, newer palaces to attract the crowds. I was expecting a flashy picture based on the title of the movie, but it’s a smaller, more subtle film that boasts very fine leading performances from the great Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon. This is a Canadian-French production, so we are introduced to Canadian actors such as Kate Reid. Through my eyes, this film acted like a mini history lesson. I grew up in New Jersey, and I have been to Atlantic City several times. I remember the casinos, the boardwalk, and the food. From what the old-timers say and based on this movie, times were different not even forty years ago. By 1975, the city was in decay. Buildings were crum...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 6 "The Truth" April 22, 2013 SPOILERS AHEAD! Let it be known that the truth has been revealed! In this aptly-titled episode of Bates Motel , “The Truth” is one adrenaline-laced episode. The Chinese sex slave story, which many viewers found to be a silly subplot, comes to an abrupt end here. I love the interplay between Norman, Norma, and Dylan. Norma manages to become even crazier and I love the new protective attitude that Dylan developed for his little brother (but I am not sure if that is going to last long). Those who stayed to the end got treated with a bombshell that will affect the relationships of these characters moving forward. I will discuss that further in my last paragraph. This episode is briskly-paced, features great character development, and has some great action pieces. Dylan is forced to confront his boss, Gil to recount the story of what happened to his partner. Gil lauds Dylan for his actions and rewards hi...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 5, "Ocean View" April 15, 2013 I seem to be in the minority, but I liked this episode, “Ocean View.” Granted, many plot developments are thrown at us but I was more interested in the character development in all of our characters. In this episode, Norma is even loonier than usual, Norman continues to fall out with his mother but furthers his relationship with Emma (and moves further away from Bradley?), and Dylan decides to act brotherly towards Norman. As we progress farther into Season 1, Freddie Highmore is becoming more and more like Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga continues to shine as Norma. After an eventful night with Bradley, Norman returns home to see that Norma has been arrested for the murder of Keith Summers. The judge posted bail for one-hundred grand, so Norman decides to post the motel as collateral. Norma, still salty over Norman opening up to Dylan, tells them both to stay out of her business. Dylan mentions to Norman...

1941 (1979) Every filmmaker has their own flops or mediocre movies, no matter how great the directors are. Martin Scorsese has New York, New York, Francis Ford Coppola has Jack , and the list goes on. In this instance, the great Steven Spielberg has 1941 . It was crushing for critics and audiences because Spielberg wowed them with Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind , so everyone was eagerly anticipating his next project. I liked the idea behind the movie, but I felt it to be a misfire. The movie, of course, satires World War Two and the military, but it was not funny at all and that is the biggest failure of all. Jokes are thrown at you at the speed of light, but everything feels so forced. I merely chuckled from time to time, but I wonder if I did that out of respect. In addition to poorly-written jokes, the movie is loud, obnoxious, and has way too many explosions for this type of movie. Well, I had to get the bad stuff out of the way first. However, there were s...

Halloween (1978) 1978’s Halloween is the definitive horror film. Without this classic, there wouldn’t be the 80’s slasher flicks we come to know and love today (or do we?). There would be no Nightmare on Elm Street . Genre films are important in today’s cinematic world, but would they be if John Carpenter decided not to direct this little tiny horror film? This film went on to spawn endless amounts of sequels and reboots and they practically all failed quality-wise when compared to this film (although the 2018 sequel that ignored the previous movies was very good). Honestly, it amazes me how John Carpenter was able to create one of the scariest movies ever made. The movie was made on such a low budget, $300,000 to be exact. The movie ended up grossing 47 million dollars domestically and an additional 23 million worldwide thus making the movie the most successful independent movie of all time. The film was well-received when it first appeared onscreen. In fact, esteemed c...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 4 "Trust Me" April 08, 2013 The fourth episode of Bates Motel really has me pondering about how I truly think about this episode. On the surface, I think it’s a great hour of television that is creepy, tense, and focuses on the unstableness of Norma. Regardless, Vera Farmiga is fantastic here and her line deliveries remain a thing of beauty. That said, I was perplexed about a few things. 1.) The cliffhanger from last episode was essentially swept under the rug. Norman being trapped in Deputy Shelby’s house with the sex slave as Shelby arrived home was a great way to end the episode. But, Dylan (perhaps too coincidentally) happens to be in the area and saves Norman in time. All of this within the first five minutes. 2.) Bradley and Norman hook up and bond even further after Bradley’s father died. The resulting action is a rather horrid sex scene. That sex scene was the worst thing about the episode, but it was also so memorable. That said...

Bates Motel: Season 1, Episode 3 "What's Wrong with Norman?" April 01, 2013 What is wrong with Norman, indeed? A mighty fine question in an episode so aptly titled and one that features Freddie Highmore’s Norman Bates showing his psycho tendencies even more. I enjoyed this episode very much, even if not everything makes a whole lot of sense. Freddie Highmore’s portrayal as Norman Bates has been growing on me and I think he finally makes his break in this episode. The whole mystery of the Chinese sex slaves got an added twist here and it results in one heck of a cliffhanger. The show does well depicting the mental breakdown of Norman’s, but the sexual overtones of the show continues. As you might remember, the premiere showed a very gruesome rape scene to Norma and here, we have Norman fantasizing his English teacher in various forms of bondage. Yeah, Norman is messed up. The relationship between Norma and Norman continues to get weirder and the relationship betwee...