Breaking Bad Review

Breaking Bad Season Five Episode Eleven Review

     

     If you are not up to date with "Breaking Bad" do not read this. I am warning you now. If you continue major spoilers will follow. For anyone who has ever doubted the extent of Walter White's manipulation what I'm shore will become known simply as "The Confession" scene laid bare what this man is truly all about. Walt is a cold, ruthless, and extremely calculating narcissist and everyone is fair game when it comes to his survival. Once again give the writers at "Breaking Bad" all the credit in the world for truly understanding the character that they have in Walter White and showing us how he is truly a mad genus who has no emotional center. 

     Hank and Marie's reaction to watching the confession was some of the most brilliantly restrained acting in recent memory. Where the shocked, angry, or just downright scared of their once seemingly innocent brother in law. "Breaking Bad" may have started as the story of a seemingly hapless individual who was going to turn to a life of crime for altruistic reasons but over the course of time we realized that this man has always been narcissistic sociopath who was simply biding his time. Better writers then me have raised that point but I would like to say that this last episode of the show did an excellent job of bringing Walter's manipulation to the forefront. 

     In this episode besides brilliantly begin able to turn the tables on his DEA brother in law Hank, we see Walter use different types of emotional manipulation to twist the people in his life to his will. He brilliantly and shamefully tells his son that his cancer has come back only to keep him from going to visit his uncle and aunt, he gets Skyler to go along with his confession tape, he has Saul Goodman eating out of his hand, and of course he gets called out by Jesse about his very nature and in a second when you think that this man whom we once thought to be a decent human being (how wrong we were) was going to admit the truth to Jesse for once he pushes Jesse further over the edge. 

     Everything seems to be once again going in Walter's favor and that is certainly no accident. Then those brilliant writers give us Jesse making the connection that Walter turned him against Gus and poisoned Brock. How refreshing is it to see Jesse react the way a person in this situation would most likely react to this news and go on a one man rampage ending with him about to burn down Walter's house and not so metaphorically burn down Walter's empire. It is episodes like this that make "Breaking Bad" continually stand out from the pack and rise above pretty much everything else on television. Well done indeed.

By Matthew Giordano

Malcolm McDowell

"Malcolm McDowell"

What a truly wonderful experience it was to meet Malcolm Mcdowell. He was a true gentlemen and it was absolutely remarkable to meet him!

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas

     If The MatrixT, Forrest Gump and 2001 A Space Odyssey were combined into a movie Cloud Atlas would be the product that you would get. It is unfair of me to deny the originality that exists in this film and as such in my opinion this is the defining science fiction film of it's era. Having so many different narratives unfold over the course of an almost three hour movie is pretty much an impossible feat to pull off and yet somehow all of the stories do connect and relate to each other in both abstract and concrete ways. A lot of people hated this film and I can understand why. The narrative structure places great demands on the viewer to try to connect the different stories together and it is very hard to decipher at what point in time each of these events is taking place. As such this makes the film rather unique. 

     

     Additionally, this film deals with some serious philosophical and moral issues that do connect across generations. Such key concepts that are brought up throughout the film are why humans never seem to rid themselves of such horrendous institutions such as slavery. How rigid class systems always seem to instill their will upon society. How religion is too often a tool that is used for manipulation instead of it's intended purpose. It also examines how wealth produces greed which in many ways can have much longer repercussions for people then they might initially realize. Their are tales of personal responsibility, and quests for social justice found throughout almost every segment of this film. There are so many more issues within this film add well that this film demands multiple viewings which again is against the standard norm of Hollywood movies.

    

     This film does what the very best of science fiction can and always does. That is it makes question our basic essence as a species and makes us examine the future. Are we going to evolve as a species that deserves to survive and can we be a species that can achieve things that no other species could even safe to dream or are we doomed to fall into our animalistic natures and simply destroy each other. Lastly, this film takes a much more substantive and in depth look at Hinduism and the idea of Karma. The idea being that everyone lives multiple lives and that a person is either rewarded or punished in their next life based on their actions in the previous one. Part of my disappointment with the movie The Life of Pi was that it had a chance to examine Hinduism and other world religions in much greater depth then it attempted to do but instead choose to champion Christianity as the only true religion as so many movies tend to do in Hollywood. 

     

     This is why it becomes problematic for American audiences to understand different viewpoints because they are never presented with alternatives to their standard way of thinking. So while I think Christianity can be a beautiful religion it is just wonderful to see a hollywood film attempt to teach us about one of the worlds most popular religions and prevent the American public with an insight into the idea of Karma. This film also has a great message of redemption that certainly is one of the key concepts of any of the major religions. Tom Hanks plays multiple characters throughout the film and he starts out as an exceptionally cruel and vile human being. Yet throughout his multiple lives he is eventually able to become a better person and it is in that where a great hope lies for all of us. 

     

     The idea that we can transcend our surroundings and become better then what we are is a truly wonderful concept and this film executed it beautifully. Cloud Atlas is an exceptional film and I would dare anyone to try and deny the sheer technological wonder of it. This is a film for the ages!  

Written ByMatthew Giordano

Breaking Bad Finale

Breaking Bad Finale

With the return of Breaking Bad it is easy to for fans of the series to forget a very important aspect of the show that has been with it form the very start. The show would initially lead you to believe that Walter White is a good man who is down on his luck who through a series of unfortunate events begins a downward spiral that less to him becoming a drug kingpin. When you watch the show closely something becomes very apparent even form the beginning. Walter has been a psycho from the start of the series! That is part of the real genius with Breaking Bad. Walter was never a good guy and his pathetic life was always a fabrication. Right from the start you see that Walter is burning with extreme resentment and rage. He hates his ex-partners for stealing his glory, he hates his pretty much every member of his family, he resents working at a car wash and he truly seems to hate being a middle school teacher. Walter is probably the most narcissistic character to ever be on television. He has nothing but contempt for all of those around him whom he sees himself as being better then. He never truly sees the good that he does have in his life. 

The world owes Walter White and somehow over the course of the series it becomes apparent that "helpless" Walter was always a vicious narcissistic psychopath just waiting for an opportunity to strike. Ironically, in many ways Walter is no different then many successful businessman who also inhabit this kind of behavior. Does anyone remember Bernie Madoff? Additionally, Walter's life can be seen as being symbolic of any capitalistic venture that allows people to profit off of products that harm and kill people. Tobacco and alcohol anyone? I am very excited to see how this series wraps up in the end and I think there have been enough clues left along the way to show us where it is going to go. However, I will make one bold prediction and just say that everything seems to point to Walter dying or being destroyed. Somehow I think that Walter is going to be the only one standing at the end. But we shall see. This is one of the few shows that I am truly confident will end in a truly satisfying way. Remember my name!