20130612: 4 mini Reviews

20130612, mercredi

A. House at the End of the Street

1. 2012, 100 minutes, horror, thriller, mystery
2. Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot, Elisabeth Shue, Gil Bellows
3. I rated it three stars of five.
4. Jennifer Lawrence was the center, and did reasonably well.  Neither Elisabeth Shue nor Gil Bellows had many good lines.  Max Thieriot was OK but not great as the evil doer.

B. The Glades (TV series, CSI meets romantic comedy)

1. I finished the first three seasons this weekend.
2. Had a good time watching it: the visuals were nice, the actors congenial, the writing mostly fun and not too unlikely.
3. Three seasons was enough, though.  I will likely not watch any of the fourth season.

C. Soul Eater (TV series, anime, horror, the supernatural, comedy)

1. The anime series comes in 4 parts, for a total of 13 + 13 + 13 + 12 = 51 episodes.
2. The underlying manga has run from June 2004 to at least September 2013.
3. I'm about half way through the third part.
4. For writing, humor, and visuals, this is the best anime series I've ever seen.

D. Hemlock Grove (TV series, live action, Netflix original, 2013, horror and the supernatural)

1. I'm in the ninth episode.  Each episode runs about 43 minutes.
2. So far, good writing, good acting, good plots, and wonderful visuals. 
3. Dougray Scott and Famke Janssen are great as the adult leads.  In general, the acting is excellent.  Bill Skarsgard and Landon Liboiron were particularly engaging.
4. This series is not for the faint of heart.  There is more than enough butchery of the human form, self-mutilation, alcohol abuse, generalized anger and mistrust, nightmares, and horrid corporate goals.
5. I hope the conclusion of the series is as good as its progress to the ninth episode.