The Movie Journal

  iZombie: Season 1, Episode 6 "Virtual Reality Bites" April 21, 2015 iZombie is on all a roll! It looks like I’m in the series for the long haul after the delightful “Virtual Reality Bites.” Even though I am not familiar with Rob Thomas’s Veronica Mars , I see why that show was so popular. Thomas and Diane Ruggiero plus the writers develop interesting, creative ideas to inject in their characters each episode. This episode, Liv embraces an agoraphobic persona and she allows Ravi to help her with this episode’s case because he is such a gamer. The look on his face as he becomes immersed in the world of gaming, which I do not know much about myself. Also, Blaine! He is prevalent here and if no one caught he is the main evil guy yet…well it becomes public now. His conversations are light but menacing with almost everyone he interacted. Clive almost became Blaine’s next menu item with his poking and prodding. Yeah, things are going well!   In the previous episode, Major was ...

  iZombie: Season 1, Episode 5 "Flight of the Living Dead" April 14, 2015 While the first four episodes of iZombie’s first season are good, solid fun, the show comes into its own with its fifth episode, “Flight of the Living Dead.” How does it come into its own? Liv is given a personal connection in more ways than one, which ups the stakes. While the cases of the week have been good but nothing fancy, having Liv know this week’s deceased person adds some emotion. There was a nice moment when Liv was holding the victim’s hand as Ravi procured the brain for Liv to eat. Also, Liv is finally given another love interest…and not just any love interest. Lowell Tracey (played by the charismatic Bradley James) is a musician…and a zombie. The first “good-guy” zombie outside of Liv we met! Also, Major is given more to do this episode as he sheds the image of the thankless role that is Liv’s former lover.   In this episode, a former sorority sister of Liv’s dies when her parachute fa...

  Shane (1953) George Stevens, the film auteur behind Giant and A Place in the Sun , revolutionized the ‘Western” genre in his 1953 feature, Shane . Like many westerns, it follows the tropes which gives it a level of predictability at times. However, the film was different in other ways. Do you think you would get the graphic violence from Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch without this film? I think not. Stevens came up with ways to show how horrid violence can be from gunshots, so the intensity factor increased. Also, he developed the main character in a unique way. Shane is not your typical, masochist leader. He is a more mysterious, feminine type which of course goes against Western mythology. All of the changes allowed for changes to be made in a dying genre.   At the time of release, the movie was the most expensive Western ever produced. A miniscule budget by today’s standards, but it did carry a hefty three-million-dollar price tag which it did eventually recoup at the...

  Children of a Lesser God (1986) 1986’s Children of a Lesser God spoke volumes to me. The film’s subject moved me deeply in ways that other subjects do not, mainly because I can relate…to a degree. The film centers around a woman who is deaf. People are surprised when they discover that I am hard of hearing myself and always has been. I understand the struggles of what its like to live in a functional society despite not having perfect hearing skills. For the most part, the film captures what life can be like. It is an extremely well-acted film with instantly believable characters. Some people may find the love story trite, but I found it heartwarming. Even disabled people can still find love!   The idea for the movie came it fruition in 1977 when playwright Mark Medoff wrote the play as a star vehicle for a deaf Broadway actress. The curtain opened in 1980 and the play became a rather big hit on Broadway. Medoff decided to adapt his play into a movie. He changed the stor...

  Stand by Me (1986) Rob Reiner’s Stand by Me is a wonderful, inspiring coming-of-age drama. Do not expect this film to be like a Disney film as it truly earns its R-rating. But you know, Reiner captures the essence of the teenage spirit. Humans, especially teens, curse all the time. Thankfully, Raynold Gideon’s screenplay is incredibly realistic when it comes to depicting teenage friends with different personalities. I cried, I laughed, and I embraced the film. Although I was not yet born when the film was released, nostalgia hit me like a train. I was reminded of my own childhood and in particular could relate to the movie’s main character, Gordie.   The film was adapted from Stephen King’s novella “The Body.” The film’s title was changed because it felt like the name of a raucous comedy or a horror film from King himself. Rob Reiner came up with the title and it stuck. King himself believed this is the first work of his that was adapted to the screen the right way. Ever...

  iZombie: Season 1, Episode 4 "Live and Let Clive" April 07, 2015 “Live and Let Clive” is a solid episode. iZombie is about to get pretty complicated in a hurry. The episode moves at a brisk pace but keep in mind that this episode is jam-packed with some goodies. The episode turns its gears and pays more attention to Blaine and his schemes of extortion. It is made clear that Blaine is definitely evil despite his charm. The episode starts off with a riveting sequence where we see how zombies hide themselves; spray tans, hair dye, and brain smoothies (bleh). Blaine has a zombie army in charge of his business which is selling brains for more money; he even has a restaurant to use as a store front. This is all very interesting and descriptive. This moves Liv to the back, where she has some interesting moments herself.   Of course, we finally see the extent of Blaine’s business. We also learn that zombie henchmen need to be wary of him because they can easily be replaced. For...

iZombie "Season 1, Episode 3 "The Exterminator" March 31, 2015 “The Exterminator” continues iZombie’s strong first season in an emotionally-layered episode that gives us more insight on who these characters are and how they are connected to one another. With Liv eating the brain of a cold-blooded contract killer, her personality becomes emotionally numb which is helpful to have when she learns that Major is seeing someone else. Major continues to play the “typical hunk” dude, but his charisma is earning him points and I feel like he may be a major player in episodes to come. We get to learn more about Blaine and see what his evil plans are. We see more insight in Liv’s relationship with her roommate, ADA Peyton Charles (played by the wonderful Aly Michalka). The case of the week is interesting, but the characterization is more interesting.   In this week’s episode, Liv eats the brain of an emotionless sociopath which dulls her senses of humanistic feelings. He was al...