Alan Rapp

Fifty Shades of Grey

Alan Rapp / February 13, 2015 / Movie Reviews

Title: Fifty Shades of Grey
IMDb: link

Well, at least the foreplay was mildly entertaining. The attempt by director Sam Taylor-Johnson and screenwriter Kelly Marcel to adapt E.L. James‘ novel of the same name feels every inch a Hollywood adaptation of a trashy romance novel.

Fifty Shades of Grey, which could just as easily been titled “Porn for Women” or “Wild Orchid 3: The Seduction of Anastasia,” offers us the ridiculously named duo of college student Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and businessman Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). Despite their initial attraction through a random plot device involving Anastasia’s roommate and an article for a school paper Ana doesn’t work for, the pair struggle to get together because of Christian’s aloof manner and odd sexual proclivities.

Through a mix of celebrated bad dialogue and nonerotic and unromantic sex scenes shot like music videos we, along with Ana, learn of Christian’s sadomasochistic tendencies as he offers her a way into his world. Overwhelmed by the attention of a hunky millionaire, Ana fights back her doubts in order to be with a man she’s quickly fallen for.

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Two Days, One Night

Alan Rapp / February 13, 2015 / Movie Reviews

Title: Deux jours, une nuit
IMDb: link

There’s a little bit of Don Quioxte in Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne‘s French film Two Days, One Night. Marion Cotillard stars as a factory worker ready to return to work following a nervous breakdown only to discover that her coworkers, after being given the option by their boss, have decided they would rather have their yearly bonuses than her return.

Allowing Sandra to plead her case, her boss schedules another vote on the following Monday giving her two days to convince a majority of her 16 coworkers to change their minds and allow her to return. Championed by her husband (Fabrizio Rongione) and best-friend (Catherine Salée), Sandra begins a series of heartwrenching conversations with coworkers who, like her, need the money.

There are no real heroes or villains (with the exception of Sandra’s boss and one angry young man) in the film. Many simply are relying on their bonus to make ends meet and others simply don’t wish to give up money they feel they earned during her absence.

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Person of Interest – Guilty

Alan Rapp / February 12, 2015 / Television Reviews

Title: Person of Interest – M.I.A.
wiki: link

Following Shaw‘s (Sarah Shahi) apparent death and Root‘s (Amy Acker) departure Reese (Jim Caviezel) and Finch (Michael Emerson) get down to basics agreeing to spare anyone else from the fallout of their enterprise. The latest number comes in the form of a member (Blair Brown) of a jury which Finch gets assigned to as well. Given the high-profile defendant is on trial for what looks like an open-and-shut case for the murder of his wife, Finch assumes he’s the one pressuring their latest number into forcing a verdict in his favor. With some coaching from Zoe Morgan (Paige Turco), whose help Reese can’t turn down, Finch learns all he needs to help sway the jury to a guilty verdict… except that’s exactly what the people blackmailing their latest number want.

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Marvel’s Agent Carter – A Sin to Err

Alan Rapp / February 12, 2015 / Television Reviews

Title: Agent Carter – A Sin to Err
wiki: link

Three-fourths of the way through its up-and-down eight-episode run Agent Carter finally turns a corner by catching Peggy (Hayley Atwell) and the various agents of the SSR on events and plotlines the audience has been fully aware of for weeks. Last week’s episode returning the Howling Commandos from Captain America: The First Avenger shuck a bit of the rust off the show by giving Peggy an opportunity to prove herself in the field far from the oppressive confines of the SSR. It also introduced Dottie (Bridget Regan) as an agent of Leviathan which is further explored here.

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Pretty Little Liars – Out, Damned Spot

Alan Rapp / February 12, 2015 / Television Reviews

Title: Pretty Little Liars – Out, Damned Spot
wiki: link

With Aria (Lucy Hale) obsessed with finding out what Mike (Cody Allen Christian) is up to, she and two of the other Liars will eventually uncover a secret meeting between Aria’s brother and Alison‘s (Sasha Pieterse) patsy Cyrus Petrillo (Jake Weary) raising even more questions as to whose side Mike is on. The fact that he delivered vials of blood from Aria, Spencer, and Hanna (Ashley Benson) which could be used to frame them for having a hand in Mona‘s (Janel Parrish) definitely seems to suggest that Mike is now working for A (who we see begin to make use of the blood in the episode’s closing scene).

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