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Breaking Bad: Gray Matter (2008)
Perhaps the most pivital episode of the entire series
SPOILER WARNING
Like no other series I have ever watched, almost every single episode Breaking Bad had a set propose. The series is considered by many to be the greatest of all-time because it is almost a perfect tapestry from start to finish. And while Gray Matter might seem like a simple slow, dialogue-filled episode for somebody watching the series for the first time, it is one of the most important episodes of all of Breaking Bad as a whole. It's the episode that Walter White makes his decision to take it one step further. It's the episode that showcases his pride as a contributing factor to his decision-making. It's also the episode where we finally start to get a look into Walter's past, and we can start to understand why a person of his exceptional intellect never made anything of himself.
Life is funny in how some very gifted people never find success, while others with far less skill fly high. Opportunities come and go, but for some the ones that go make all the difference. Walter White had success in his pathway and he opted for a simpler life. He regrets this decision, and you can see it in the way he handles his affairs and relationships. Hell, in the pilot episode Walter doesn't even check to see if his son needs help out of the car when they arrive at the school in the morning. He's egotistical, fairly selfish and prideful from the start. And his resentment towards his family is clear. His resentment towards his old friends is made even clearer in Gray Matter.
All of the important parts of what make Walter White perhaps the greatest character in the history of television are shown in this episode. And it's these tiny implications that make Vince Gilligan such a profound storyteller. It was all there. We just didn't realize it our first times through the series. But going back and rewatching the "boring, filler" episodes like Gray Matter only serve to remind how incredible this show is!
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
The Best Superhero Film I Have Ever Seen
Let me just say before I get in depth here that I thoroughly enjoyed the original Spiderman trilogy. Spiderman (2002) is a classic superhero film that understandably so gets put right in line with Superman (1978) and Batman (1989), and for good reason. The film was fantastic. It had humor, great special effects, action, good acting, and an incredible story. It truly was one of the greatest superhero films up to that point of time. Then, Spiderman 2 (2004) came along and shocked the world as possibly the greatest superhero film ever made. It outdid the original with the same corny humor, the same effects, the same action, same good acting as the original, but an even more incredible story. The dual characterization of whether Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) truly wanted to be Spiderman or not took the thrill right out of all of us for a superhero, solely, and put us right in the middle of a very well done drama. Spiderman 2 was one for the ages in the class of superhero films. Then, came Spiderman 3 (2007), which was not as good as either the first two , or even in the same league. However, despite the heavy criticism that Spiderman 3 has received over the years, I was somewhat used to the format which it took, following that of it's two predecessors, in terms of its humor and reaches for an epic climax to the franchise, and enjoyed it for what it was.
The original trilogy really did it for me. I was sorely convinced that the idea of even doing another Spiderman film, let alone with 10 years of the original, was a horrible idea. What else could we expect? I walked into the movie theater to see The Amazing Spiderman with that attitude, expecting to see a movie that would not even come close in terms of the original. The attitude that I walked out with was far beyond unexpected.
The Amazing Spiderman immediately takes it's audience into the back story of Peter Parker, showing him as a child searching for his father in a game of hide and seek, a very subtle reference as to what Peter originally sets out for in this film. As we all know, he is taken to live with his Aunt May (Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen), but in doing so also gives us something we didn't originally know, the perception that Mr. and Mrs. Parker seem to be running from something. They die in a plane accident and what was thought to be a temporary living condition for Peter ends up becoming the household that he is raised under, all the way up until his older teenage years (Andrew Garfield). Peter develops into a socially awkward young man, quite noticeably choosing to exclude himself from the norms of his fellow classmates at Midtown Science Highschool.
The story really begins when Peter stumbles upon a briefcase that once belonged to his father, and in a hidden compartment inside are long forgotten documents... documents that point to some mysterious scientific experiments that his father worked on a long time ago with another man, Dr. Curtis Conners (Rhys Ifans). Peter takes it upon himself to visit Oscorp Industries where his father once worked, and where Conners still remains. He does not reveal who he is to Conners, but during his visit curiosity overwhelms him and leads to his finding of a room filled with genetically enhanced spiders, bred by his own father coincidentally. Peter is bit by one and begins to experience some extreme changes and enhances in terms of his physical capabilities. During his phase of change, his Uncle Ben tries desperately to help Peter become the man that he is capable of being. And after an argument with Peter, which leads to the young man storming out of the house, Uncle Ben is shot and killed while looking for him. The loss of his only real father figure leads Peter to begin searching for the shooter.
But, in the midst of all of this, love begins to slip its way into Peter's mind as well when a classmate of his, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) begins to show interest in him. "He's second in his class," Gwen tells Dr. Conners during Peters visit to Oscorp. "Second?" Peter asks, smirking from her gloating, to which Gwen flirtatiously grins and responds, "I'm pretty sure". And aside from the girl, Peter also visits Dr. Conner's at his private residence and finally reveals himself to b Richard Parker's son, shocking Conners from being reunited with his long lost colleague's only child. The two hit it off immediately, and using his father's notes from the briefcase, Peter helps Dr. Conners develop a serum to try and regrow limbs, influenced by Conner's missing right arm. However, the serum develops side effects and begins to turn Dr. Conners into a vicious lizard monster, battling Peter as he develops into the Amazing Spiderman.
This film did many things for me as a viewer. I literally sat back and watched as a very good love story for a adolescent character in a superhero film was shown before me. And the acting was far superior to that of the original trilogy. Also, the characters are developed far more smoothly and emotionally, taking the humor the original trilogy had out of their growth and replacing it with serious backgrounds and story lines. This film really overwhelmed me, and surprised me in every way. I had walked into that movie theater thinking that I was in store for a crappy reboot, and in the end gave me a movie that outdid the entire trilogy of original Spiderman films. This film may in fact be the best overall superhero film I have ever seen.
Meet Joe Black (1998)
Larry King said it best, "what great movies are all about."
Meet Joe Black might just be my favorite film of all-time, and I say this with confidence, despite there being so many great films made over a long span of movie history. So, that is saying something about this one. Meet Joe Black is a film that focuses more on looks from its characters than the dialog actually spoken. Yet, this screenplay is also fantastic because of some of the amazing lines that are spoken.
When describing to his daughter what love is truly about, William Parish (played by Anthony Hopkins) describes it as "forgetting you head and thinking with your heart". Now, how more true of a definition of love is there? I surely can't think of one. He also tells his daughter Susan (played by Claire Forlani) to keep her options open rather than marry her fiancée by saying, "lightning could strike". And lightning does strike, within a few hours coincidently, as Susan meets The Man in the Coffee Shop (played by Brad Pitt), who completed blows her mind away and causes her to go weak at the knees for one whom she has only just met. But, when Mr. Lightning is suddenly killed in a car accident and shows up at Susan's home, he informs her father that he is in fact Death, having taken the body of the man Susan met so that he can experience life before taking William. "What matters is that I stay interested... and in return you get TIME." William takes Death, who is using the name Joe Black as a disguise, under his wing to show him the world. Susan is confused by the sudden change of personality from the man she met in the coffee shop to Joe, not knowing that the man she met has died or that the body before her is Death, planning to take her father when the time comes. But, Susan falls for Joe, and he even more so for her. And when Joe threatens to take Susan with him, William attempts to protect his daughter by informing Joe that it is not he that Susan is in love with... it is the idea of the man he once was before his untimely demise... that she is still in love with the Man in the Coffee Shop, and that everything since has been nothing but aftermath. He also tells Joe that he doesn't truly love Susan. "To take whatever you like because it pleases you, that's not love. It's missing everything that matters."
Aside from the incredible acting in this picture, Meet Joe Black has emotion behind the looks that the actors give to one another, that says everything that needs to be said without dialog even being needed. Meet Joe Black is a 3 hour movie, with a third act and ending that takes up almost 45 minutes of time. But, the payoff is spectacularly well-done, with a finale that'll pull at the heartstrings of any true story lover. You come to realize that to Meet Joe Black is nothing quite out of the ordinary. After all, everyone eventually does.