American Horror Story: Asylum "Madness Ends" ★★☆☆☆

When Lana (Sarah Paulson) says: "It's not your fault, baby. It's mine.", and she shoots her own son Johnny, we are not surprised or shocked. We find it...funny. 

After 13 episodes, we have learned quite a bit about the Briarcliff institution, including the corrupted Catholic Church, the Nazi doctor, the Devil in a young nun, the Angel of Death,  the psychiatrist serial killer, aliens, monsters, interracial relationships, homosexuality...and honestly, we are getting a bit weary towards the last few episodes. (There's even a crazy Glee-like musical sequence in one episode!!). The final episode "Madness Ends" manages to tie things up (or at least most of the story) and tells us that the whole story is about parent and children, a reunion of a mother and her abandoned child, and is about revenge and forgiveness. 

This does not turn the show into a serious emotional drama. The whole series has been clustered with shock, blood, stylish camera works to prevent itself from being a conventional horror series. But it is too much to make us stay emotionally connected to the show or take any of it seriously. That doesn't mean the characters are unlikeable. To the contrary, I really like Sister Jude. My friend, B, likes Sister Mary Eunice. The acting is good and each character has such a unique personality. Nevertheless they are unable to redeem the show's confusing storylines and contrived scare devices. The show has been an interesting ride, but once the thrill of the ride is over, there's nothing memorable or meaningful left for us to hold on to. (perhaps except the beautiful song "Dominique" that played in almost every episode). 

Struck by Lightning ★★★★☆

When the Alzheimer's-afflicted grandmother says "I'm worried about my grandson", my heart starts to break and this terrible feeling lasts until the end of the movie. 

Struck by Lightning begins with the 17-year-old protagonist, Carson Phillips (played by Chris Colfer) getting killed by a bolt from the sky in the parking lot. As he recounts and narrates his final days when he was still alive, ambitious and walking around blackmailing his fellow classmates in school to contribute in his literary magazine with the help of his best, and only friend, Malerie (Rebel Wilson), we learn about his plans to get into Northwestern University and become the editor of the New Yorker and writer of the NY Times and LA Times, or even win the Nobel Peace Prize. Mainly, he just wants to leave this town he never leaves, or live a life he never lives. 

Carson lives with his divorced mother, Sheryl (Allison Janney) an alcoholic who tells her son that she wishes she had an abortion in the 90s. His father, Neal (Dermot Mulroney) is about to remarry a pregnant local pharmacist, April (Christina Hendricks) who does not know the existence of his ex-wife and his son. There's also the adorable and aging grandmother (Polly Bergen) who no longer recognizes Carson, but still remembers the first story he wrote her "''Once upon a time there was a boy who wanted to fly'." 

The movie is about Carson wanting to fly away from this hell hole he lives in, with almost no friends or no family that cares and loves him. It is heartbreaking to see him fail in the end, despite all his effort. He never reaches any of his goals, never says any goodbyes, and never even graduates highschool. But he did actually manage to escape from all the pain in his life: when he drives to see the sunset and ocean for the first time towards the end; when he gets killed by the lightning; and when he completes his final story to his grandmom  ("Once upon a time there was a boy who flew.") 

Everyone wants to say goodbye to him even when they know it's impossible. His mother repeatedly calls him when she finds out he is dead; Malerie wipes her teary eyes with tissue when she watches the old videos of Carson; grandmom leaves the scarf-blanket she has been knitting on the coffin; and every classmates he blackmailed attended his funeral.  They are all witness to his struggle to leave and a boy who does not gives up until his last breath, leaving an emotional void in everyone's hearts. 

This movie is a realistic lesson on life and growing up and captures the hardships involved. It may not be smart to kill off the central character in the opening scene but this is not a cheesy happy high school coming-of-age feel-good comedy. Chris Colfer, 22 years old, also wrote the screenplay and he proves himself that he can write and act when he is not singing and dancing as Glee's Kurt Hummel  The story is random and nevertheless entertaining most of the time. The film is fast-paced and witty but the narrative does not fully explores the potential of the relationships. However, I understand the reason with all the unfilled gaps because it's just life. We can't always expect to get what we want: closure, development, good-byes. 

I am glad I watched this movie and it moved me so many times. In the end our tragic anti-hero Carson becomes the boy who flew but never flew away but what's more important is that he has had a meaningful journey in this insightful movie about life, future, hopes and dreams that never end. 

Les Misérables ★★★☆☆

There's plenty to enjoy in the latest movie version of the musical Les Misérables about a group of beautifully sad and tragic people. But ultimately it leaves me feeling disappointed and not as gaga over the performance of Anne Hathaway or the songs as some of my fellow musical lovers. I feel that the movie could have been so much better. 

I have heard people complaining about the movie being too long. But I thought the movie was a bit rushed. The musical production is 3 hour-long and it was perfect. The movie introduces and cramps many characters and story lines together and drags on the scenes of the revolution and the battles. My friend, B, said the second half is too long and boring. A lot of the scenes transitions are very abrupt and sudden. The change of tone really hurts the flow of the story and makes me really hard to get into the drama. 

The relationships between the characters are underdeveloped. I did not feel the strong emotional bond between Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) and Cosette (Amanda Seyfried). This may be why I was not moved when Jean Valjean died in the end. Some characters are also significantly marginalized. There is very little interaction between the characters to make me feel their feelings for each other. Each musical number seems to appear too close to the one before, and there's no room for the song to sink in. The songs are sung very over-the-top at times too when a more subdue simple approach would suffice. 

There are, of course, plenty of things to appreciate about Les Misérables. The fantastic cast. The breathtaking, albeit fleeting, performance and voice that fly from Anne Hathaway's mouth. The way Jean Valjean sings to a sleeping Cosette in the carriage. The strong performance of Eponine (Samantha Barks) singing "On my own", the way all the characters try to maintain a sense of honor and principle in a world, except for the Thenardier couple (even the Thenardiers are very likable). The amazing set, scenery and costumes are really more appealing on a big screen than onstage. For most of us, I can see that the movie would be a fine and powerful entertaining adaptation.

But as a fan of the musical? I can't make myself care about what drives the characters in this movie version. When I read reviews by people who really, really love the movie, I feel like an ultimate outsider. It's so gorgeous! I cried! I wanted to clap after every song! The costume! And if you do, good for you! You are probably capable of a more sophisticated attitude toward this Les Misérables than I can manage. I, on the other hand, miss the impact of each songs sung by the live actors and the sense of the French revolutionary period captured by the stage production. 

I do think it is a must-see for the musical lovers. The movie itself is a great effort that has its moments but never fully connect to the beauty of the musical.  

Pitch Perfect ★☆☆☆☆

There is no good reason for Pitch Perfect to fail especially since Glee has done an amazing job in introducing high school musical with significant success on TV. There is not even a practical reason to do a copy-cat version of Glee, beyond extending the entire school singing competition genre onto the big screen and adding "buzz" to an otherwise bland storyline. 

I have had high expectation for this with the talents attached and hope to see how a feature-length film can better Glee's achievements. The story centers on Beca (played by Anna Kendrick) who joins the university all girls A Cappella singing group where they take on their male rivals in the national competition.  

I thought I would see a meaningful story about growing up and friendship mixed with some great songs. I was wrong. None of the characters are fully developed.  The entire movie pushes and pulls its pacing in order to suit the musical numbers. The jokes are cheap and trying too hard. Even projectile vomit is more disgusting than funny.There is nothing about the story that we should find exciting, and not a single important climatic moment in the entire movie.

Fat Amy (played by Rebel Wilson) is the only likable character. She proves herself to be hilarious and talented at the same time, and she totally steals the spotlight of the movie. The songs are great, and probably some of the best songs I have heard this year, but they can't cover up a weak, fake and forced storyline. It was painful to watch at times. Perhaps the writers and director should watch a few episodes of Glee and they will know the better ways to do it. 

American Horror Story: Asylum ★★★☆☆

Initially I wonder how a horror movie could be turned into a long-running tv series, but American Horror Story is currently in its second season. While I am not a fan of the first season, and I did not bother to finish all the episodes, the second season has entirely new characters, a new story and a new setting, and I am interested again. 

The first season centers around a family in a haunted house and the over-the-top "eventful" history behind it, it feels like American Beauty with a lot of scary ideas and domestic issues, but without any character development or any logic. American Horror Story: Asylum is just like that, except, it works better focusing on this 1960's Catholic institution for the criminally insane.  Every resident in the nuthouse can potentially be the main focus and the setting is more suitable and believable to host a lot of strange events. 

This time, we have the authoritative and scary Sister Jude (played by Jessica Lange) running the facility, the righteous Dr. Thredson (played by Zachary Quinto) trying to help, a lesbian reporter (played by Sarah Paulson) aiming for a Pulitzer Prize, an innocent killer Kit (played by Evan Peters) and a lot more in the house, and each character has a somewhat serious backstory. But you won't learn much about them to care because there is a lot more things stuffed in one episode: masked serial killer, exorcism, Frankenstein-ish zombie-like creatures, Saw-like tortures, Prison Break plans, Schindler's List Black-and-white WWII scenes, and even aliens! 

                           

Season one still pretends to be a domestic drama in the disguise of a horror genre, but season two just wants to fill up each single scene with scary moment, and each episode is one weird thing after another that we've seen a hundred times before. Combining elements in every single horror genre does not mean real suspense or tension, but it does create enough shock-value to keep us entertained and wanting more. It is like a horror movie marathon where the story steals or cramps all the iconic horror moment into each episode with no rest. 

We sometimes laugh at its theatrics, like the Psycho-esque shower scene in episode two (see picture on right). I was also moved by the backstories of the lonely characters and how they come to end up in the asylum. However, the show is anything but serious. Its tone is jumpy - one moment you have Sister Jude having a serious reflection of her guilt, and the next moment, two patients are having sex in the kitchen. The mystery is forced into the show and pieced together, and it is suffocating because that happens every 5 - 10 minutes. As my friend, B, said, "it's a parody of all the horror movies." Thankfully, we are not bored of it, yet. 

The Mindy Project - In the Club ★★★☆☆

One beef I often have with sitcoms episodes nowadays is that they often move too fast, go in too many directions, and try to cram in too much at once. You might say that about the new show The Mindy Project, but in the episode "In the Club", this approach perhaps works. 

The plot is simple and the entire episode revolves around what is happening when the characters go to the club. The simplicity of the story generally works well for The Mindy Project and it allows for more comedy to crack up at unexpected moments or Mindy dropping a lot more comedic one-liners and gags ("I told you-- Black guys LOVE me!"). 

The problem with making too much room for the jokes is that the episode lost focus on the logic of the events and is literally going all over the place "in the club". Although we might find Mindy's "foray" into the VIP world with the NBA players and their sports attorney cute, or that her failed attempts to hook up with the guys in the club funny, it is not clear where this episode is heading. 

It was predictable that Mindy didn't leave for the VIP "after party" and chose to spend her night with her friends/coworkers, but when we were watching it, we couldn't help but wonder, "Isn't that what she wants?" My friend, B, asked "What changed her mind?" 

It is difficult to understand how Mindy would decide to ditch the celebrities and stay with her friends when her character is not fully developed, her motivation unclear. It is still refreshing that we know that she is a girl who--let's put it nicely--likes to have a lot of second thoughts. 

Another example would be when Morgan, the nurse, tried to persuade Jeremy to stop sleeping around. It is definitely entertaining, but without understanding why Morgan gives a damn about another person's business, it wasn't quite enough and left us clueless. 

We still enjoyed the episode and the humour came from each character themselves having a lot of random moments, but more importantly, we did laugh out loud. 

The New Normal - Pilot ★★★★☆

Here comes a brand new show called The New Normal. I have had a blast watching the first episode. 

The show focuses on a gay couple, David and Bryan, who think that the only thing that could make their life perfect is to have a baby. Enter Goldie, a single mother, who decides to start her life over and to become a lawyer (so that she can wear "expensive suits like Juliana Margulies in the Good Wife but without the disgraced husband"). To be able to get into law school, she agrees to be the surrogate mother for the boys. 

I was actually pleasantly surprised with the first episode. There are plenty of jokes here and there, despite some very random scenes (including a sex scene with an Asian girl saying "United States is the most powerful country on Earth"), it is still hilarious and funny. The acting is decent and solid. My friend, D, had to ask me if the actors are actually gay in real life. 

The dialogues are fast and smart ("These pants were very expensive." "To me...they don't look like that.") and the characters are very likable overall. 

D said that this show is like a parody of Modern Family. I think this show makes a bold choice to use two gay men as the lead and centre of the plot. The people here are actually relatable and genuine, instead of being stereotyped and cliched. Although we are not sure what the storyline for the rest of the show would be, it is a good start for a new show. 

The show even includes a segment of interviews (similar to Modern Family-style) in which random couples on a playground with different "abnormalities" talk about why they are not "normal" and how they still manage to have a happy life with their children. Knowing that all is staged, it still seems pretty sweet and new without being excessive and preachy. 

For the most part, every single person in the show is adorable and happy. There are also some genuine touching moments when the characters talk about what their dreams are. 

I must say that this show has a lot of potential and I will recommend it to anyone who wants to take a 20-minute break and watch something funny, smart and light. 

Great Acting: YES. 

Entertaining: VERY!!! 

Coming back for more episodes: Definitely!