Welcome to Me (2014)

This movie was very strange. Just listen to the premise: a woman with borderline personality disorder wins the lottery and uses her winnings to buy a talk show.  She basically aspires to be Oprah. How do you make a personality disorder funny? Leave that to Kristen Wiig.  This movie has the same feel as The Skeleton Twins--it is sort of slow, has its moments, but drags in the middle. Wiig lives in a casino for some reason, has some weird obsession with swans, and she silently, uncomfortably stares into the camera a lot.  Basically, her character is pretty crazy and Wiig just runs with it. It's so ridiculous that it just barely works. This only works because of her, and Joan Cusack is pretty funny too.  

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

The Avengers seems to get more and more confusing with each film in the series. This is mostly because they keep adding more characters. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The movies are trying to get closer to the source material comic books, which are quite convoluted. There are so many characters in the Marvel universe, and by that standard, the movies actually only feature a small fraction of them. And Gwyneth Paltrow and Natalie Portman weren't even in this one.

The Avengers has always been about action first and comedy second.  Compare that to last year's Guardians of the Galaxy which is just one long joke.  The Avengers does have its comedic moments. The best is Hawkeye acknowledging his uselessness.  That is a brilliant moment of self awareness, and the joke is ongoing.

The central plot of Age of Ultron revolves around artificial intelligence.  Artificial intelligence is interesting because it isn't just a technology/engineering feat, but there are philosophical and ethical issues that are addressed as well.  Avengers doesn't dive very deep into these debates, but it is an interesting plot point that provides for a formidable foe for the Avengers.

Mad Men (2007-15)

Perhaps one of the greatest shows ever on television, Mad Men had excellent writing, phenomenal actors, and glamorous costumes. This is a look inside the rich lifestyles of 1960s-era advertising executives, so called mad men for their Madison Avenue offices. This is a world that I was not very familiar with, but Matthew Weiner painted such a gorgeous and intriguing portrait that you can't help being sucked into this glitzy world of luxury.  Everyone drinks and smokes a ton. They're all having affairs with beautiful people. They eat and drink and stay at the finest restaurants and hotels, fly first class, live on Park Avenue and attend elite schools. The bigwigs show up to work whenever they feel like it and live the life, and yet happiness and satisfaction eludes them.

The sixties was a great era for fashion, and throughout the seven seasons we watch the fashion evolve (that's costumes and hair styling).  The show soars in its use of history as a period drama.  Some of the most memorable depictions are of the milieu of the time, especially when it comes to gender roles, JFK's and MLK's assassinations, and the Vietnam War.  The personal and professional lives of these characters took place in the context of a broader (well-researched) history, a society and culture undergoing change during the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of counterculture.  For many, I suspect this show evokes nostalgia, but for me it is a reminder that we once lived in different times--rotary phones, pay phones, black-and-white television, typewriters--it's actually kind of funny.

Don Draper will go down as one of the best characters ever (and it's a mystery how Jon Hamm, nor any actor from Mad Men, has yet to win an Emmy). He has a very thoroughly fleshed out background that gives reason to his existence as an ad man.  He is complex and brilliant--his Kodak pitch was phenomenal.  Peggy is a lead too, paving the way for herself against the force of sexism as the only female copywriter . She works her way up the ladder and you find yourself always rooting for Peggy.  Amidst all of the affairs, the central relationship in the show is actually Don and Peggy's non-sexual relationship.  It starts out as a mentor-protege relationship, but it evolves as they learn that they are the only ones that really understand each other.  Some of the most important episodes (The Suitcase, The Strategy) thrive with just those two characters in a room together.

The finale provided a very satisfying ending.  The final seven episodes are really one long finale that culminates in the last hour.  All of the main story lines are resolved with room left for some interpretation as to where they will end up in a year's time as they continue their lives.  

True Detective: Season 2 (2015)

I feel like I wasted over 8 hours of my summer watching this. Season 1 was such a revelation, an incredible feat of storytelling. That made Season 2 all the more disappointing.  It lost all the magic, the surprise, and just everything really.  Cary Joji Fukunaga didn't come back to direct or executive produce this season, and maybe that was part of the problem.  But the biggest problem for me was in the writing and story.  The story was severely lacking in anything remotely interesting nor manageable.  The story is impossible to follow and I found myself unsure of anything going on after Episode 1.  It moves slowly and it was just plain boring.

There are four main characters, compared to two from last year. All four of them are extremely messed up and they just keep getting less and less likable with each episode.  Their dialogue is uninspired and unintelligible unlike the brilliant and memorable musings of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in the car.  The actors try, but they are not given much to work with.  And as much as I like Vince Vaughn, I don't really like him when he is too serious.

The setting of California isn't nearly as spooky as the Bayou of Louisiana.  There was an atmosphere in the first season that was supplemented by the creepy cults.  California, despite the factories, suburban sprawl, and mansions is just a little too sunny to give us the same feeling.  

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

Tom Cruise is the quintessential action star.  In the very first scene, Tom Cruise literally jumps onto a plane and hangs onto it from the outside as it takes off.  And this is just the beginning!  There are chase scenes galore, on foot, on motor bikes, in cars, you name it. There is constant action and non-stop adrenaline to keep this movie going.  There is another formidable action star to complement Cruise's performance.  Rebecca Ferguson kicks ass.  The two of them together are extraordinarily fun to watch.  Fun is the best way to describe this movie.  The plot is easy to follow meaning there are no hindrances to enjoying everything this movie has to offer.

I particularly liked the opera scene, in which a production of Puccini's Turandot is interrupted.  It is beautifully shot at the incredible Vienna State Opera.  I appreciated that motifs from Calaf's aria Nessun Dorma from Turandot reappeared in the score several times amid the famous Mission: Impossible theme.  The best known tenor aria and the best known movie theme all rolled into one.

St. Vincent (2014)

This was a pleasant surprise.  Aside from being funny, it was charming.  There is something that audience's love about unlikely relationships--this time between a schoolboy and his elderly curmudgeon of a neighbor.  And of course the setting is Brooklyn; where else would this happen?  It is not your typical Melissa McCarthy fare.  There is a serious and sentimental side to this comedy.  The cast is outstanding with Bill Murray in the lead in fine form.  The movie is predictable but that doesn't detract from the quality of the movie.  

Cymbeline (The Public Theater) (2015)

Cymbeline is a very strange play--must be why no one ever reads it at school or produces it.  It certainly is not one of Shakespeare's best.  Is it a comedy, a tragedy, a history?  It defies proper categorization.  It is a romance that doesn't end in marriage, a tragedy that ends happily, a history that depends on legend. It seems the director wasn't sure what to do about this.  There are lots of comedic moments that are refreshing and much needed in a three-hour play.  But it has just as many dramatic moments.  And it isn't until the end until the director makes a firm decision.  Because the play ends with a jig, complete with a fiddle and synchronized dancing.  It is seemingly out of place, but then you realize it's actually a perfectly fitting ending to a bizarre piece of theater.

The play is redeemed by good actors.  They interact with the first few rows of the audience and have a jolly good time on stage.  There are a few songs--the best sung by Tony nominee Raul Esparza.  He has a smooth voice that totally destroyed the admittedly out-of-place Vegas-y number.  Hamish Linklater and Lily Rabe have a great chemistry as the two leads that has been proven several times.   Linklater pulls double weight, playing two polar opposite characters.  He puts on silly wig and leaves on just one button of his shirt and puts on a ridiculous voice to play Cloten.  And Cloten is the easiest name to pronounce among the plethora of impossible names.

The plot is also pretty unbelievable.  There is a lot going on and it is all sort of convoluted.  A couple of the characters change clothes and suddenly they are unrecognizable to the other characters.  It is almost comically ridiculous.  The ending is a big reveal where everything magically turns out right and they live happily ever after.  It's a strange ending to a bizarre play.