Rami Malek

Mr. Robot – eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc / eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Mr. Robot – eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc / eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc
  • wiki: link
  • wiki: link

Mr. Robot - eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc / eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc

The two-part opening to Mr. Robot‘s Second Season features Elliot‘s (Rami Malek) attempts to ignore Mr. Robot‘s (Christian Slater) influence by sticking to a stringent regiment that offers him little temptation to return to the world of computers and his hacking past. The question the first two episodes ask is how long can someone run from themselves? And how long can Elliot continue to ignore his driven ID who continues to force his hand during Elliot’s down time? And why is Mr. Robot so adamant about not letting Elliot know where Tyrell Wellick (Martin Wallström) is now in a disagreement where serial murder (of the mind) is somehow a better option than cluing Elliot in on the truth?

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Mr. Robot – eps1.0hellofriend.mov

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Mr. Robot – eps1.0hellofriend.mov
  • IMDb: link

Mr. Robot - eps1.0hellofriend.mov

There are inherent strengths and weaknesses in any story presented from the point-of-view of an unreliable narrator. In that vein, USA Network’s latest stars Rami Malek as cyber-security tech Elliot Alderson who spends his off-work hours as an expert hacker. Struggling with social anxiety disorder, a contempt for corporations, a morphine habit, and a history of mental illness that includes hallucinations, Elliot is approached by a stranger (Christian Slater) who offers to make all of Elliot’s dreams come true by inviting the hacker into a select group whose target is to bring down one of the world’s largest corporations (which Elliot’s day job just so happens to offer a way in).

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I Feel No Need, No Need for Speed

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Need for Speed
  • IMDB: link

“This ain’t just about racing.”

Need for SpeedNeed for Speed is no Cannonball Run II. You could even argue it’s no Speed Zone (which replaced Burt Reynolds and company with SCTV vets John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Joe Flaherty along with a host of lesser-known stars for a forgettable third Cannonball Run film). Loosely based on the popular video game franchise, Need for Speed stars Aaron Paul as kick-ass small-time racer and mechanic Tobey Marshall whose rivalry with his old girlfriend’s (Dakota Johnson) new boyfriend (Dominic Cooper) ends with him serving two years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Recently released, and with the help of his friends (Scott Mescudi, Rami Malek, Ramon Rodriguez) and a new love interest (Imogen Poots) providing a top-grade car, Tobey will try to settle the score on the road by breaking parole (and dozens of traffic laws) to earn a spot in a super-secret race on the West Coast held annually by a reclusive millionaire (Michael Keaton). To get there, however, he and Julia (Poots) will have to survive the trip across country after his rival posts a bounty to make sure Tobey never makes it to the starting line.

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Short Term 12

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  • Title: Short Term 12
  • IMDB: link

Short Term 12Written and directed by Destin Cretton, Short Term 12 is a little rough around the edges but delivers a compelling tale of supervising staff members and kids at a foster care facility for troubled children and teens. Brie Larson stars as Grace, a supervisor with a troubled past which is reawakened by Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever), the newest addition to the facility who reminds Grace of issues she’s done her best to suppress over the years.

Limited to mostly the locations of the foster care facility and Grace’s home with her boyfriend and co-worker Mason (John Gallagher Jr.), Cretton’s film focuses on the challenges Grace and Mason face every day as well as Grace slowly going off the rails due to an unexpected pregnancy and raw emotions and memories Jayden’s presence cause to resurface.

Cretton isn’t interested in making a mainstream Hollywood film. There are no easy answers. No one is fixed or healed completely as the credits roll. But despite the subject matter the movie is far from bleak.

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Phoenix & Hoffman deliver a pair of Masterful performances

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Master
  • IMDB: link

the-master-posterIt’s only September, but it’s quite possible the latest film from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson may be the best collection of acting seen in theaters this year. The Master, inspired (in part) by L. Ron Hubbard and the rise of Scientology, is a terrifically produced look into the life of a disturbed young man and his relationship with the leader of a cult.

The film is less concerned about the specific inner workings of a cult than what kind of life it’s leader might live and how he might react to those around him and those in need of his help.

When we meet Naval Officer Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) in the final days of WWII it’s obvious there’s something very wrong with the man whose violent and blunt interactions with everyone he meets fail to earn him friends. After the war, Freddie travels around the country in various jobs, including a department store photographer and field hand – both of which he’s forcibly removed from due to his poor judgement.

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