This Sunday, we tuned into The Killing on AMC and The Borgias on Showtime. Maybe it’s because our expectations were so low after the abysmal pilot, but we enjoyed The Borgias this week. In fact, we would go so far as to say that if you are interested in this show but were put off by our review, you should watch the most recent episode, The Moor, to see if you like it. It’s only 50 minutes long, the pacing is better, there is more story than sex (in fact, there was no sex), the characters are starting to develop, and stuff actually happens. There is also a…er….stuffed people last supper. It’s pretty gross, but awesomely so. If the show continues to improve at this rate, it might actually become watchable. It looks like one of us is sticking with it for a while.
The Borgias Episode Grade: B
The Killing is yet another great show that AMC can add to its impressive catalogue. It’s a dark, subtle murder mystery that packed a wallop of an emotional punch in its first episode and continues to intrigue. Let’s just say it’s a little better than your average Bones episode. We recommend it.
The Killing Episode Grade: A-
Then, one of us saw the new Arthur. Let's just say that the funniest parts were in the trailer. Not recommended, even though we liked its handling of the alcohol addiction issue. Just not enough laughs, even with a decent cast and Russell Brand's amusing accent.
Arthur Movie Grade: C-
Is it, like, Titus Andronicus-level cannibalism (i.e., baked into a revenge pie) or just crazy Italian decadence?
ReplyDeleteGlad you guys liked The Killing! I'm excited to see another quality cable slow-burn (that isn't Mad Men).
Russell Brand = HURL
Uhhh, it's more Titus than the other thing. But not cannibalism.
ReplyDeleteOk, we'll just tell you. A man took his enemies and had their bodies stuffed after he killed them and set them around a long table, Last Supper-style. Judas' seat has yet to be filled.
Ominous.
Did you ever see that Julie Taymor Titus, btw?
And Russell Brand has a LOT of haters. We can see why, but we saw him in Forgetting Sarah Marshall first, and he was just fine in that, so he won us over early. Run on sentence there. Oops. And that's all for this comment, folks.
HA! I've GOT to watch that show now. Pulling out all the stops in the early episodes, eh?
ReplyDeleteThe Taymor Titus is all over the place, but not bad. I think it's gutsy to make *that play* into a film, and I like her artistic ambitions, but it goes off the rails around the beginning of act 4 (not unlike the play itself). What did you think of it?
I think I am a RB hater, but I don't have a good reason for it. I just think he's kind of a chav, and his particular brand (heh) of humor ("look I'm English and my trousers are tight") grates on me.
Ok, you took the words right out of our brains with that Titus assessment. Maybe the Act 4 going off the rails bit felt weirder than it was because by then you were in your THIRD HOUR of that movie.
ReplyDeleteWe thought the movie, overall, was better than Shakespeare's play though. We felt like it elevated it into something more interesting. Sacrilege, we know. But it's not our favorite by him.
Whoa -- fightin' words! I much prefer the play itself because I've seen it really work in production, but it's definitely nutso. Lost of Romantic and Victorian critics came up with strange justifications for this play to not be a part of Shakespeare's canon at all. I tend to think it's just an misunderstood genre piece (revenge tragedy was CRAZY popular in the early 1590s), and a funny one at that!
ReplyDeleteCan of worms. I'm a Shakespeare scholar-in-training by trade ;)
We know about your love of Shakespeare. We've never seen it live. Just read it.
ReplyDeleteWe DO believe he wrote it, if that's any comfort. And we appreciate how the king devolved from good man into...well, you know. But compared to his other stuff? Meh.