American Horror Story: Asylum
I was not crazy
about the debut season of “American Horror Story,” perhaps because I find ghost
stories to be somewhat tiresome. Although there are elements of American Horror
Story: Asylum” which I found less enjoyable than others, I found the intensity
level and the mysteries far more compelling this time around. There are many
elements or horror being utilized in this season, with a pilot that combines an
alien abduction and a bloody serial killer into the storyline, with demonic
possession and mad-scientist experiments to be folded into the fray as well.
While the main
portion of the initial season of “American Horror Story” took place in the
present with revealing flashbacks mixed in, “Asylum” places the majority of action
in the past with the occasional flash-forward to frame the storyline. We open
with a bookend present day segment in which a couple breaks into the abandoned
mental institution for kinky sex and thrills, only to discover there remains
something deadly within the hospital walls. The remainder of the storyline
takes us back to the period in the early 1960s when an infamous serial killer
was brought into the hospital for evaluation.
There are no
narrative connections between the seasons of American Horror Story, but the one
consistency through each of the three variations has been in the casting.
Though a majority of the actors change from season to season, a few have
remained predominantly present, with Jessica Lange being the greatest example.
She was fantastically diabolical in “Murder House,” and I was not surprised to
see her playing another type of villain in “Asylum,” but was blown away by her
performance.
Too few opportunities have been given
to actresses over the age of 40 onscreen, so thankfully there have been
advances in the cinematic qualities of television in the last decade or so, a
place where seasoned actresses have long been welcomed. Lange’s performance is
astounding, to the point where one of her speech’s stopped me dead in my tracks
at one point. With a perfect Boston
The Blu-ray release includes all
thirteen season two episodes on three discs, along with a handful of special
features. There are deleted scenes, as well as four featurettes on the season’s
creation. There is one of the creatures of the season’s mad scientist design,
as well as features that delve into the story aspects of the mental hospital.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 8/10
Historical
Significance: 7.5/10
Disc Features: 7.5/10
Bones: The Complete Eighth Season
Genius
comes with a price of social handicap, and while House MD had an insensitive
cripple with emotional issues, “Bones” features Dr. Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan
(Emily Deschanel), a brilliant forensic anthropologist who is completely
disconnected with the outside world. She can read the bones of a corpse and
know facts about their lives but lacks the knowledge to understand even the
simplest pop culture reference. To make matter worse she was emotionally
crippled by her parent’s unexplained death, and buries herself in work as a way
of escaping living human contact. Brennan is partnered with F.B.I. agent Seeley
Booth, played by David Boreanaz (Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The result
is a show not unlike a cross between House and CSI, with just as much medical
mumbo-jumbo as there are criminal investigations and romantic entanglement
between the co-workers.
Each
episode there is another mystery to solve inspired by the real-life forensic
anthropologist Kathy Reichs and actual criminal investigation procedures, but
it is the relationships between the well developed characters that the show
remains interesting. Each episode we are given a little more insight into the
workings of these characters, including the bug expert who is actually an
extremely wealthy man that just wants to work and be left alone, the young
protégé without much of a social life, and the free-spirited artist who puts
faces on the corpses. Each are given their moments, allowing for unique
relationships in a particularly strange work environment.
The
other half of the entertainment comes from the mysteries themselves, which are
not unlike those fans of other medical or investigative shows might be used to,
but I suppose one cannot get enough of a good thing. Season eight has elevated
the drama to absurd new heights, opening with Bones in hiding after being
framed for murder. It gets even more action-packed with a finale that has
deaths and another unresolved mystery to wrap up in the next season. This
series is still going strong, likely to last several additional seasons, though
it requires a dedication to the characters and an increased suspension of
disbelief.
The Blu-ray
release of season eight includes all twenty-four episodes in a five-disc set.
It also has the exclusive video of the cast answering fan questions, as well as
an additional featurette about the fandom of the series. More traditional
features include a gag reel, deleted scenes and a commentary for one episode.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 5/10
Disc Features: 7.5/10
Hart of Dixie : The Complete
Second Season
Josh Schwartz
has made shows that take place in a variety of extremely specific locations,
from the beachside cities of Orange County (“The O.C.”) to the upscale sections of Manhattan (“Gossip Girl”), and now there is “Hart of
Dixie,” which takes place in a fictional small town in Alabama
In tradition of
most CW shows, our leading character Dr. Zoe Hart is played by an unbelievably
young and attractive looking actress, Rachel Bilson of “The O.C.” fame. Zoe
spends less time convincingly acting like a doctor, and far more time gossiping
and becoming involved in the romantic melodrama of the town’s over-sexed
population. The first season dealt with the romantic affair between the mayor,
Lavon Hayes (Cress Williams) and Lemon Breeland, who is engaged to lawyer
George Tucker (Scott Porter). Zoe has feeling for George, but also has a sexual
attracting to her bad-boy next-door neighbor, Wade Kinsella (Wilson Bethel). If
it weren’t for the town’s other doctor, Dr. Brick Breeland (Tim Matheson), it
would appear that only the extras aren’t in their 30s.
There are
twenty-two episodes in season two of
“Hart of Dixie,” all fit onto five discs in this set. There are no
special features to speak of, or any reason that this DVD is superior to simply
watching the episodes on television or Instant Netflix. Then again, I wouldn’t
recommend this show to anyone over the age of seventeen.
Entertainment Value:
6.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Disc Features: 0/10
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Robot Chicken: Season 6
Irreverence from
the minds of people who clearly grew up in the 1980s, “Robot Chicken” is
pop-culture spoofs in the perfect medium of the ten-minute Adult Swim episode.
I don’t know of many stations that utilize the quarter-hour format, but it
clearly is enough with a high energy series such as “Robot Chicken.” It never
stops moving, allowing for an alarming amount of material to be fit into that
ten minute spot. Sometimes it moves so fast that I don’t even realize what I
have seen before the sketch is over and the series has moved on to the next
bit, which could last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.
Stop motion
animation is used to create the effects in Robot Chicken, which ultimately
looks like the series came from simply playing with action figures and making
jokes up about the source material in the process. Though many action figure icons from the 80s
seemed to be the inspiration, there are also many modern pop culture figures
who make it into the series as well. This season pokes fun at everything with
high-speed accuracy.
Season six on Blu-ray includes
commentary tracks on every episode, as well as enough deleted animatics,
scenes, channel flips and chicken nuggets to make up nearly another season.
There are also featurettes on the making of specific episodes.
Entertainment Value:
8.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Disc Features: 8/10
White Collar: The Complete Fourth Season
The initial premise for “White Collar” showed a great deal of
promise. Though highly unlikely, the escape of con man Neal Caffrey (Matt
Bomer) from a maximum-security prison is a clever start to the series, also giving
good reason for the premise. The series quickly slips into a predictable
formula after this initial episode, however, and the creativity is drained away
by the end of the first season. By season four we have reached the first real
break from the formula that has encased this series in every episode since that
pilot. Unfortunately, that break only lasts a few episodes, before our initial
plot is crammed back into place and everything is business as usual in the
crime-stopping business.
Neal Caffrey agrees to work with the FBI agent that caught
him twice, eventually building a friendship of mutual respect and hesitant
trust. Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) takes Caffrey under his wing as a consultant,
while always remaining suspicious of his criminal ways. Tracked by an ankle
bracelet and confined to a two-mile radius, Caffrey still manages to do a great
deal of sneaking around. Each episode focuses on a criminal to bust, typically
involved in some type of white collar crime, though not exclusively. This formula
of standalone episodes is very common, but it ends up weighing the entire
series down with predictability.
Season four begins with Caffrey in hiding on a tropical
island after the threat of being owned by the FBI at the end of the third
season. Burke must find a way to get him back while also making sure that the
jail time is replaced with the convenient punishment which was the basis for
the first three seasons of the series. The fourth season of this USA Network
show has sixteen episodes, all included in this four-disc DVD set. Special
features include a gag reel, deleted scenes, a featurette about Tim DeKay’s turn
at directing, and select commentary track on episode “In the Wind,” with Bomer,
DeKay, Jeff Eastin and Willie Garson.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5.5/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Disc Features: 6/10
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