Review: The Walking Dead (AMC Sundays @10/9c)

The Walking Dead premiered Sunday, October 31st.

Some friends of mine had been talking nonstop about how much they wanted to see the new zombie apocalypse television drama for the past couple of weeks, waiting in excitement for a new zombie genre obsession.

I finally got around to watching it tonight, and my feelings are mixed. The show is based off the graphic novel series The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore. I have never read the graphic novels, but have heard that the series is quite popular. I did take a glance at the Wikipedia version of the basic summary of what happens in the graphic novels in the beginning. The show does follow the graphic novels pretty well, so many fans of the graphic novels should be happy with the premiere episode.

Walking Dead Graphic Novel Volume 1

As a person who has not read the graphic novels, I found this show to be quite similar 28 Days Later. Obviously, both shows take place during a zombie apocalypse. But both main characters wake up in the hospital to discover their world has changed, both characters are taken in by strangers who at first think they are zombies,  and both characters listen to a broadcast which leads them to trouble.

Putting these similarities aside, there were some very unique characteristics to this show that I found very interesting. The most notable would probably be that the main character suits up in his deputy uniform (which looks a lot like a ranger uniform, I thought it made him look pretty badass—like The Lone Ranger), and rides into Atlanta on his noble steed. I may be giving away spoilers here–but peta may get a little upset with the content that follows.

Scene from AMC show, The Walking Dead starring Andrew Lincoln

There is also a minor twist in the typical zombie apocalypse quest– Is his family alive? Little does our main character know, they are. Why is this revealed to us so early? Because of the dramatic twist that will follow when they are united. (I’m trying not to give away the minor twist, but now you probably think it’s something epic when really just a small minute thing…but once again, I digress…)

The premiere episode leaves us with a cliffhanger, as our main character is in quite a pickle. I’m definitely someone who is going to be tuning in next time, despite the resemblances with my favorite zombie apocalypse film.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

Review: Daniel & Ana (Directed by Michel Franco)

Daniel & Ana Movie Poster, Directed by Michel Franco

Today, I was browsing the choices on Netflix, and discovered Daniel & Ana had been added to Watch Instantly. I had heard of this film before a year ago, via the gossip site ONTD, which I have a guilty pleasure addiction to… but I digress. From the post about the film, I could infer that the movie would be displaying some very uncomfortable scenes. Although I’d been warned, I decided to go ahead and watch the film because after all, no one can really form an opinion on a film unless they have seen it themselves.

The film is based on a true story, about the kidnapping of two siblings in Mexico, Daniel and Ana. Their kidnappers forced them to have sex with each other and filmed it. Then their kidnappers let them go and left them deal with the consequences of what had happened between them.

This independent film focuses on the aftermath of the kidnapping more, which makes the viewer explore the psychological aspects of what had occurred. The sister, Ana, stays in her room for a long time, breaks up with her fiancé, and eventually seeks help from a therapist. The brother, Daniel, barely speaks a word and refuses to talk to a therapist. As Ana gets over what happened and gets back with her fiancé,  Daniel only digs deeper into a dark psychological hole.

The film includes a pretty graphic scene of the actual rape, and lingers maybe too long on it. I think maybe Franco wanted to make the viewers feel uncomfortable just as the victims did, but nonetheless, the scene seems a few minutes over. The film seems to relate Ana’s feelings about the situation, while Daniel’s are unemotional. The last couple scenes with Daniel seemed to really confuse me.  I’m not sure whether these scenes really happened, but the film does not explain why Daniel behaves the way he does.

Michel Franco’s choice in cinematography sometimes felt too empty. I found myself watching a scene over, because I was not sure what it was I was watching. He plays with light and dark colors in the background, which I thought expressed the mood of the overall film. I could tell his lack of much artificial light was intentional, maybe to reflect the characters’ situation. But sometimes the scenes were so dark that I could not see what was happening, and instead of being symbolic, it was just annoying.

Scene from Daniel y Ana starring Darió Yazbek Bernal & Marimar Vega

Acting wise, the actors were magnificent. The younger brother of international Mexican Actor Gael Garcia Bernal (star of notable films such as …Y Mamá También, The King & The Science of Sleep), Darió Yazbek Bernal makes an excellent film debut as Daniel. I think the true star of this film though, was Marimar Vega. Her character called for the most range of emotion, and Vega was fully into her performance.

The film is really more of a think film then what you would originally think upon hearing it’s based off a true story. It’s kind of disturbing in a way that you can’t help but find interesting.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review: Breaking Upwards(Directed by Daryl Wein); Red, Yellow, And Blue by Born Ruffians

Breaking Upwards movie Poster, starring Daryl Wein & Zoe Lister-Jones

This week I’ve had the chance to take a look at Breaking Upwards, a film I’d heard a couple things about through tinymixtapes. I finally got an opportunity to watch it, and I can only ask one thing: What else has Daryl Wein done? He directed this movie, but also was the star of it. Sometimes this does not work out, having the director split his focus between directing and acting. But somehow Wein gets the job done, and he gets it done well. The writing was done by Wein, along with his co-star Zoe Lister-Jones and Peter Duchan.

Co-stars Daryl Wein & Zoe Lister-Jones in Breaking Upwards

The film follows a couple as they decide to take days off in their relationship. They pick 4 days of the week where they are still boyfriend and girlfriend, and decide to take the other 3 days living the single life. This lifestyle works out for them, until one of them is offered a job in another city. How does this affect their relationship? What is their relationship? And the age old question: What is love? The film poses many questions while also dropping a few comedic moments.

My overall rating: 3 out of 5.

Born Ruffian's debut album Red Yellow, and Blue

I was watching an episode of Skins this past summer, and in one of the scenes, one of the characters was at a concert. The band at said concert was playing a song titled “Hummingbird,” which I found to be stuck in my head. So I typed the song lyrics into Google (as many of us music folk do) and found the band Born Ruffians, and a wiki check later I found out they were a Canadian band originating from Ontario who had just debuted their sophomore album, Say it.

The song “Hummingbird” came from their first album, Red, Yellow and Blue, so I decided to listen to this album, since I already knew one song on it was good. I found myself listening to Red Yellow and Blue nonstop. The music had a folk rock sound to it that was perfect in the car on the roadtrip I would later take. Some standout tracks are “Badonkadonkey,” “Litle GarYon,” “Foxes Mate For Life,” and “Hedonistic Me.”

Luke LaLonde‘s vocals have a rough, almost country sound to them, that paired with his own guitar playing and the rest of the band’s mellow instrumentals, sounds perfect. Many of the songs have an upbeat feel to them, and leaves the listener with a smile on their face.

Red, Yellow, and Blue is definitely a feel-good album. I recommend it to the listeners out there who like folk and indie rock. Or even to some listeners making a roadtrip mixtape.

My overall rating: 4 out of 5

My Relationship with Music & Film

There’s this moment I have every time I listen to a song where a line just hits me hard. I feel an emotion that can be connected with the artist who wrote it and to the audience that’s listening to it. There’s this feeling of unity, no matter where I am, as long as I’m listening to that song. Sometimes a song makes me smile, sometimes it makes me cry, and other times it makes me angry. But music as a whole inspires me. It fills my lungs and makes me believe in something beyond myself. (This coming from an agnostic, it’s a pretty intense feeling)

Then there’s that moment where I watch a film, and there’s a scene that I will not forget for the rest of my life. It may be comical, dramatic, or action packed. But there is a chill I get when a scene comes on that I know is going to stick with me. Just like a song, a movie can make me feel emotions that aren’t being provoked by people around me.

One of the most immersive forms of media are books. I am constantly reading, allowing myself to be sucked into a new world, or maybe even given new information about my own world. I’ve always been a bit of a bookworm. Yes, I was that kid, sitting in class, reading a book instead of listening to the teacher throughout middle school and high school. Reading books opened something new for me. It made me feel less alone, less misunderstood, and sometimes it simply just gave me an escape.

There’s something relatable in these three forms of media. I see myself in every song I hear, scene I see, and even in the words in a book. I may not be the person seeing that song, or the person in that situation, but I am a person who feels it. Music, film, and books are all about connecting with another human. Because honestly, isn’t that all we are looking for?

A connection?

This is ultimately why I’m starting this blog. I want to share with the world my opinions and emotions when it comes to music, film, and books.