Oscars 2015: The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Grand Budapest Hotel had the honors of not only being the first of this year's Oscar-nominated films I've watched but also the first Wes Anderson film I've seen, ever. After finishing it, I'm definitely looking forward to watching more of Anderson's work.

"Delightful" isn't a word I use very often, but there's no better way to describe The Grand Budapest Hotel. From its pastel coloring that makes it resemble one of the cakes featured in the film to Anderson's use of symmetry and long, static shots, it's very pleasing to the eye. Almost everything in Zero's story of the past is tinted pink, making audiences see it literally through rose-colored glasses and showing how the past is so often romanticized even when things aren't going quite so well.

The script is fast-paced and quick-witted with a quirky sense of humor that matches the film's candy-sweet appearance but gives it a bit of a bite, too. (As a side note, I hate the word "quirky;" it reminds me of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope and people I can't stand, but that's a rant for another day). It's weird, but in an endearing way, and the jokes landed every time. I can't vouch for anyone else, since I watched this alone on my laptop, but I thought it was hilarious and would have loved to see it in a theater.

Grand Budapest's ensemble cast was the icing on the cake. Ralph Fiennes was just fabulous as Gustave H. (although it's very possible that Ralph Fiennes could be in anything and I'd love it; so far I've only seen him in the Harry Potter movies, Red Dragon and Grand Budapest but wow) and he made what could have potentially been an over-the-top obnoxious character endearing. Not to say Gustave H. isn't over-the-top, because he absolutely was, but it's part of his character instead of being his only personality trait, which I've unfortunately seen happen in other media.

Newcomer Tony Revolori as Zero matched Fiennes word for word and beat for beat. He deserves to get more roles and I very much hope they come his way. Jude Law, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton (who I'm looking forward to watching in Birdman), Adrien Brody and Saoirse Ronan were all enjoyable in their somewhat smaller parts as well. As a whole, it's one of my favorite casts I've watched; they all played off each other so well and it made for a fantastically entertaining film.

Though the ending was bittersweet, it was true to the rest of the film. Continuing the dessert comparisons, it's like having a tart jam in between layers of a very sweet cake that complements and enhances the other flavors in the cake. If the movie had a completely happy ending, the cake would be cloying and overpoweringly sweet. I have the biggest sweet tooth ever, but that would have been too much, even for me.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is probably my favorite movie from 2014, though I still have to watch a bunch for the Oscars nominations. Next on my list is Birdman, which I'm hoping to watch tonight. I'm just going to come out and say it: I'm not looking forward to Boyhood. Hopefully it can prove me wrong.

Channel Surfing: AND ANOTHER THING

Me to Freak Show about two weeks ago.

The finale of American Horror Story: Freak Show aired tonight.

"Displeased" is not a strong enough word.

I think I mentioned how wary I was of this season when its theme was announced because of various reasons. However, the thing managed to win me over - not completely, but a good deal - with Twisty the clown and my second favorite scum of the earth* Dandy Mott. Their B-plot was so much more interesting than whatever was going on in the A-plot at any given moment; I barely cared what happened at the freak show but I was overly invested in the events at the Mott mansion.

Oddly enough, it wasn't until Dandy found Twisty's bus and joined him that he really caught my attention for himself. I was watching for Twisty and thought Dandy was going to be obnoxious and another boring character. Then when the girl ran into him in the woods as she was escaping the bus, I thought he was going to help her and be the hero of the story, because predictability is a key feature of this show.

Of course, Dandy proceeded to sling her over his shoulder and carry her right back to the bus with the homicidal clown, and I remember thinking "this just got interesting." His exact line was "You're going to have to do a much better job of confinement if we're going to have any fun." Thus 1950s Patrick Bateman was born.

Then they killed Twisty two episodes later, which pissed me off; why hype this killer clown so much if he's not even in half the season? But Dandy was still around, and somehow he became the best-written, most fascinating character of the season (and possibly of the entire show, if you ask me).

Before I go any further, I will admit that I think Finn Wittrock is very attractive, A+, 10/10, would watch in pretty much anything. But that's not why I liked Dandy so much; I liked him because he was literally the only one with any development whatsoever.

For everyone else, there was nothing. Even with their secrets and back stories, there was nothing about any of them that made me interested. I liked the actors well enough and there were moments where each character shone, but overall? Beyond their physical appearances, there was no meat to the vast majority of the cast. I was barely upset when most of them died because the show never gave me a reason to be upset. Oh, Amazon Eve is dead? What a shame; I really enjoyed those 20 minutes of screen time she had.

The show also has a problem of introducing too many characters and doing nothing with them. I loved Neil Patrick Harris' character (I nicknamed him Neil Sander Patrick Harris Cohen because of his uncanny resemblance to the Bioshock character) but he was used very, very poorly and introduced far too late. Why was Pepper even in this season? She served no purpose.

The penultimate episode set up the finale to be incredible, but the finale itself was a huge disappointment. We're just not going to acknowledge the fact that Dandy found Stanley with all his limbs cut off? We're going to have everything wrap up nice and neat with a little bow on top? We're going to follow the same exact pattern as the other seasons?

Obviously I'm pissed about them killing Dandy. Not that he didn't deserve it - he was an absolute bastard - but just once I'd like to see the villain get away with it on this show. It would shake up the viewers and keep them interested instead of falling into the same pattern over and over. That gets boring, just like typecasting your actors.

Ideally I would have liked to see Dandy win the Game of Thrones, but there was never really any chance of him getting out alive. This is American Horror Story. Still...I could dream.

The pseudo-epilogue, where we saw the surviving freaks watching Elsa's show in what we can guess are normal 1950s lives, really got on my nerves. Jimmy and the twins had a contrived romance to begin with and I really, really don't think they would logically have ended up together. Desirée's boyfriend was barely even introduced so I don't care about them together at all.

I think horror is an inherently tragic genre; very rarely do we get truly happy endings. There's always another monster or killer, always more danger. Victories are short and often Pyrrhic. American Horror Story seems to think that everyone has to have a happy ending, except the bad guys who are punished, always, without fail. Changing the show's theme once a year isn't going to be enough; the team needs to change other aspects too. Like maybe not casting Jessica Lange as a total bitch for once. I'd like to see her as the kindly grandma while someone like Sarah Paulson or Lily Rabe took over the "villain" role.

I'd also love for Finn Wittrock to come back; he carried this season and he carried it well. I wouldn't necessarily mind seeing him in a role similar to Dandy, but I'm afraid they'll typecast him and he won't get anything else on this show.

I'm just really disappointed in this season. I used to love AHS so much, but it's getting worse and worse. If Finn Wittrock and/or Jessica Lange aren't back for season five I don't know if I'll watch it.

And I didn't even touch on the awkward musical numbers. You're welcome.

I wish I could just copy and paste my entire Twitter rant here, but it's very incoherent and I was very angry while tweeting it. I think this is the jist of it though. I'll try and have a review of the new Fall Out Boy album up soon, along with a review of the first Oscar nominee I watched, The Grand Budapest Hotel.

*In case you were wondering, my favorite scum of the earth is Hannibal's Mason Verger, formerly played by Michael Pitt and soon to be played by Joe Anderson. If there was ever a great time and character for an actor switch, this is it.

Talk Derby To Me: Failing Assessments

Like I mentioned a few posts ago, I joined a roller derby team in September 2014, so I'm probably going to be talking a bit about that as well here. Hey, I said I'd talk about things I like, not just pop culture, and derby is a thing I like very, very much.

Except when I get a cramp in the middle of assessments and can't move my right leg and, as a result, fail completely.

If you're guessing that's exactly what happened at last night's assessments, you've nailed it. I got off to a rough start in derby because I decided that the middle of my last semester of school was a great time to add something else to my plate on top of newspaper editing duties, my senior capstone project and the classes from Hell. But sure, add in a sport where you have to drive an hour three times a week for practice, that makes sense.

In hindsight this was not the smartest idea, but at the same time derby kept me from going completely insane and maybe physically harming my classmates from Hell. We'll never truly know but I'd bet on it.

Anyways, because of my schedule in school, I had to miss several practices and my skating suffered for it. I got three points on my first assessment, didn't complete my second because I was late and I got sick halfway through practice (eat before exercising, kids!), eight points on my third assessment and I'm almost positive I got a zero or a one on last night's. For reference, I'm on level one and you have to have 23 points to pass.

It's just frustrating because I know I can do these things, I know I have these skills, but my legs wouldn't cooperate and actually do the things. I've done 20 laps in five minutes, I can do a killer plow stop, I'm great at falls, but that didn't show last night and it was embarrassing. Most of the rest of my boot camp class has passed their level two assessments, and I'm afraid I'm going to be the last one stuck on level one.

I want to be good at derby, I really do. I want to be able to play in bouts and have a derby name and paint my face and be part of the team for real. Thankfully the other girls are super helpful and supportive, which is still just incredible to me. I did swim team for years and you didn't get nearly the same level of encouragement from your teammates.

In other news, we have our first bout this month and I'm really excited for it. I joined the media team and volunteered to do pre- and post-bout write-ups, so I think that'll be fun.

If you haven't been to a roller derby bout or if you've never even heard of roller derby until now, definitely go check it out. Find a team close to you and watch one of their bouts; it's so much fun and everyone - rollergirls and fans - is super cool and helpful if you need explanations of what's going on. It's different, but it's awesome.

Film Club: The Babadook

I have one more list, I promise, but I just watched The Babadook last night and lemme tell you.

Just to get this out of the way first, I do think it was a bit overhyped, but that doesn't make it any less of a fantastic movie. It was familiar but at the same time refreshing on so many levels. The core plot of the film is a widowed mother, Amelia, dealing with her difficult son, Samuel, who was born the same day her husband died - in fact, he died driving her to the hospital to deliver their son. Despite her protests to her sister, Amelia hasn't dealt with her husband's death very well, if at all, and the events in the film show the consequences of her actions or lack thereof.

Samuel has a very strong, very obvious fear of monsters which is only worsened by the pop-up book he finds on his bookshelf and gives to his mother to read aloud. He insists that the Babadook is in their home and that the monster is responsible for various happenings, including shards of glass in soup, car wrecks and so on. For her part, Amelia suffers from frequent nightmares and a subsequent lack of sleep, and these both take an additional, considerable toll on her relationship with her son. Their clashes escalate further and further until something snaps and all hell breaks loose.

The Babadook is not a subtle movie. The titular monster very clearly stands for Amelia's grief and anxiety that she's swept under the rug and refused to deal with for seven years; by the end of the film she's finally facing her demons, both literally and figuratively. That said, the film doesn't rely on jump scares, thankfully (though the stop-motion Babadook definitely gave me goosebumps). Instead the fear comes from the suspense and situations that feel real and can hit incredibly close to home. I was never scared out of my wits, but I was afraid for Amelia and Sam both throughout the movie. However, I do know a few people - mainly parents - who would be terrified. That's not to say The Babadook isn't an effective horror movie; it absolutely is, and I'd recommend it to any horror fan looking for something new to watch.

I really loved the Babadook's design as well. The monster himself is rarely seen for very long, but what we catch of him wouldn't feel out of place in a movie from the early 20th century. Director Jennifer Kent seems to have drawn inspiration from German Expressionism for her monster, as Mr. Babadook would fit right in with Nosferatu and Dr. Caligari's sleepwalking Cesare.

Earlier I mentioned that The Babadook is familiar but refreshing, and a lot of the "refreshing" part lies in the ending. Horror is typically a tragic genre in that most or all of the characters die and those left standing have a Pyhrric victory. Examples include The Silence of the Lambs, in that Clarice Starling has killed Buffalo Bill and earned her rank as an FBI agent at the cost of letting Hannibal Lecter toy with her mind (also, he's escaped and living quite nicely in the Caribbean too), Psycho, where Norman Bates has been caught but he's completely succumbed to his alternate, evil "Mother" personality, and Marble Hornets (yes I'm counting this and you can't stop me) when the last man standing is still standing, technically, but his future is up in the air and it's very likely nothing will change for him.

In contrast, The Babadook gives us a happy ending: Amelia has dealt with her grief over her husband's death - for real this time - and she's learning how to handle Sam's quirks. The future is bright for the two of them, despite the skeletons in their closets or monsters in their basements.

While it's not necessarily the most terrifying movie I've ever seen (that goes to Eraserhead, which I never want to see again), The Babadook is a fantastic horror movie. It's well written, beautifully shot, wonderfully acted. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it already.

Sidenotes: Top Ten, TV Show Edition

Alright, I know I promised top ten lists all close together, but between the holidays, job hunting, derby starting back up and my internet mysteriously cutting off each night, I've had limited time to write. Please, please forgive me.

Also I've been playing The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches DLC for Dishonored and let me tell you, it's hard to put down. I've been so immersed in this game for so long I don't know what I'm going to do when I finish it (this has also happened with Bioshock, Mass Effect, not so much Borderlands but one time I did play that one for so long that the scenery was literally seared into the backs of my eyelids). Recommendations are very, very welcome, especially if the remedy in question is free.

Anyways, my top ten TV shows. Honorable mention goes to Bob's Burgers and more specifically the "don't feed a guy a sponge" scene; I could watch that clip for hours.

10. Supernatural

Oh, Supernatural. Where do I start with you? My freshman and sophomore year of college, I was in love. I mainlined all the seasons that were out at the time in seven months, finishing the seventh season finale a couple months before season eight debuted. I was sold. I loved the Winchester brothers, Castiel, I loved everything about the show. And then season eight happened. Why, season eight? Why?

In fact, I'd soon come to realize that it wasn't necessarily a "season eight happened" situation; it was more like a "season everything-after-the-season-five-finale happened" situation. Up until the very, very end of season five, Supernatural was a fantastic show, and it's because of these five seasons that it's on this list. It had a coherent storyline that built up to the grand showdown in the season five finale, and there's a definitive moment in that episode where the show should have ended. It would have gone out on the highest of high notes.

But that was not to be. The creator and original showrunner left, leaving Supernatural in less-than-capable hands, and everything went downhill from there. Season six was abysmal, season seven was marginally better, but when a certain angel killed a certain other angel in season eight, that was when I was done. Part of me wants to pick back up on the show, but part of me is saying it's just not worth it anymore. In the meantime, I'll watch my season five box set and consider it the end.

9. Twin Peaks

I don't like David Lynch movies. I'll just be straightforward about it. With Mulholland Drive, I fell asleep and couldn't tell what was the movie and what was a dream, which was slightly disorienting and a bit frustrating. It rubbed me the wrong way, it really did, and under other circumstances I might have liked it. Eraserhead was another story. It felt like a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from; I love horror movies and scary stuff, but I can safely say Eraserhead was the most unsettling thing I've ever watched. I don't think I could get through any more Lynch movies, but he does a dream-like style very, very well, I'll give him that.

That being said, I love Twin Peaks. It's taken me a while to get into it, but once I did, the show earned its spot on this list. I can't get enough of Dale Cooper and the weird people living in Twin Peaks. (It also helped that my friend Hillary pointed out that the reason it felt like a 90s soap opera is because it was a jab at 90s soap operas. Thanks, Hillary!)

I haven't been into this show for very long, but I'm definitely looking forward to the revival coming out next year.

8. American Horror Story

American Horror Story and I have a somewhat complicated relationship. I binge watched the first season just a few days before the second, Asylum, started and I liked both of them. Coven came around and I liked it, too. Then there was Freak Show.

I never liked the theme, especially since it's set in the 1950s, but it's been surprisingly good. We're two episodes out from the finale and I've more or less enjoyed this season. It's not because of the theme or because of the regular cast members or the writing. Honestly, the writing on American Horror Story has never been fabulous. It's been good, but not great, you know what I'm saying?

The part I've enjoyed this season was something I didn't think I would when it first started, but I'm totally into Dandy's storyline. He came off as a spoiled brat in the pilot and first initial episodes he was in, and I was really into this season only for Twisty the clown. Then when Dandy decided to team up with the clown and go on a murder spree, that's when he caught my attention. He's easily the most interesting part of Freak Show, much more so than the actual plot, unfortunately.

This happened in Coven, too, and I can only see the writing getting looser and sloppier as the show goes on. I've also got a problem with how dependent the series is on sex and the shock factor. That's not how you make a horror show; sex and shock don't equal scary. It's not going to change any time soon, though, so I think after this season ends I'm done. Jessica Lange is leaving, so I don't really have a reason to watch season five. Unless Finn Wittrock comes back; then I'm 100% on board. He's been fantastic this season and he's kept it from being completely boring.

7. Constantine

Disclaimer: I was already a huge Hellblazer fan before this series started. It got off to a rough start, but with the Mnemoth episode and the promise of the "Dangerous Habits" storyline in the future if we get a second season (fingers crossed!), Constantine has a lot of potential.

Matt Ryan is the most perfect actor for the character of John Constantine. He's got the mannerisms and attitude down; even in the lesser episodes he's still got it down. Hopefully the show will get another season so he can keep playing this role. It really suits him well and I enjoy watching him perform.

6. The Office (U.S.)

This show is such a classic; I don't even know where to start. Its humor was great, but I think where this show shone brightest is the relationships it built over its run. Of course it was funny and sharp, thanks to a combination of great writers and an even greater cast, but the moments that showed the friendships and romances between all the Dunder Mifflin employees gave it a heart that made it such a hit. These characters seemed like real people you could potentially meet, even with how weird they were.

I mean, there were flaws, too. Michael Scott was often so over-the-top in the beginning that I physically cringed, but as time went on he was either toned down a little or I got used to it. I also wasn't a fan of Jan, but I'm not really sure we were supposed to be. The seasons after Steve Carrell left were weaker, too, I'll admit that, but I still like them a whole lot.

I also really love the faux-documentary style it was filmed in, but that's just a side note. I love The Office a whole, whole lot.

5. Marble Hornets

I'm counting this as a show and you can't stop me.

This is really the show/extremely extended movie that cemented my love of the horror genre. It's an amateur production that's better than so, so many movies I've seen in the same style and genre with substantially bigger budgets. Paranormal Activity, I'm talking about Paranormal Activity. Also Grave Encounters but mostly Paranormal Activity.

The finale happened five years to the day from when the series started, and it was a long, tiring, emotional ride for everyone. The story started out so simple - the character Jay is looking for his friend Alex after finding some old tapes in his closet - but over the five years, it turned into so much more and got bigger than even the creators thought it would. It got slow and a bit boring in some places, usually towards the middle of a season, but man, if it didn't pay off.

A lot of people complained about the end and how we didn't really get any answers. I don't think we should have expected any answers in the first place. The disadvantage of a found-footage series is that your point of view is extremely limited. Jay isn't omniscient; he's actually a little on the dumb side. Of course he's not going to have all the answers - you're on equal footing with him, actually - so this complaint has always seemed really silly to me when it comes to found-footage, especially with Marble Hornets.

Overall, it's a very well-done series and I highly recommend it to anyone who's a horror fan. The less I say about the plot, the better; it's honestly best to go in completely blind.

4. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

I honestly couldn't tell you why I find this show as funny as I do. Every single character is a horrible, horrible person and they do awful things with zero regrets - and it's hilarious. It's a weird show for weird people and I recommend it to almost everyone looking for a comedy to watch.

Actually, I do think I know why I like it: it's the polar opposite of a typical sitcom. There are no lessons to be learned, no characters to identify completely with (you wouldn't be a Charlie or a Dennis like you would be a Monica or a Rachel, you understand?) and, like I said, no regrets whatsoever. If it can't be done on network TV, Sunny has probably done it (advantages of being on cable HEYYO).

My other favorite thing about the show is technical, but it has no laugh track and I couldn't be happier. There's exactly one thing consistent across the comedy shows I like and that's that they all lack laugh tracks. I don't want to be told when to laugh; I want to laugh at things that are actually funny. I could go on about this but I won't.

3. Arrested Development

I actually got to do a presentation on this show for one of my classes my junior year of college and it was one of my favorite projects I ever did. My professor was the best, okay.

From the puns to the insane continuity to the tiniest details to the long-running jokes, there's almost nothing I don't love about Arrested Development, and what I don't love I at least like a good bit. Following the misadventures of the Bluth family was the highlight of summer 2013, season four included. I know a lot of fans didn't like the fourth season, but I think it fit fairly well. It's not my favorite, but it's very good all the same.

The attention to detail on this show is unreal. Just the foreshadowing of Buster's hand is awesome to me. I love its self-aware jokes in season three, when they knew they were being canceled and were trying their best to save the show, and the nonlinear storytelling of season four, which let fans catch up with each Bluth (or Funke) individually instead of taking the normal route and potentially ending up with a crammed plot and overfull season.

Season four's also home to one of my favorite Arrested Development jokes of all time, in G.O.B's episode with the recurring "Sound of Silence" clip playing in the background. The version with the mariachi band actually made me fall off my couch; the timing was just so perfect combined with Will Arnett's facial expression and Ron Howard's narration. This show is incredible.

2. Gravity Falls

I'm really trying not to sound like an over-obsessed fan on this blog, but I'm afraid it's already happened or it's going to happen eventually. This would probably be my downfall if I ever got a job reviewing things; I just love these things too much and can find the good in almost everything.

Anyways, Gravity Falls.

I'm not one of those people who says things like "oh, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel and Cartoon Network are all garbage now, bring back the 90s shows;" I recognize that these networks are for children and contain content aimed at children. (So-called 90s kids bother me a whole lot, actually, but that's a rant for another day.) But Gravity Falls is different.

It's a weird show for a kids' network. Alex Hirsch and his gang definitely get away with a lot, especially considering it's on the Disney Channel, which has kind of become known for playing it safe lately. I remember a lot of the cartoons that I grew up with didn't have continuing storylines; I know of a few that do now (Adventure Time, sort of, and the Avatar series, to name a couple) but I generally get the feeling that many don't. Obviously I don't know for sure, because I'm 21, so this is more of a guess than anything. Gravity Falls does, though, and it's got an intense one to boot.

There's more attention to detail in this show than I've seen even in the Avatar series. Codes in the credits, backwards messages (my favorite of which comes to us courtesy of Li'l Gideon close to the end of season one) and the journals Mabel and Dipper find and try to decode all contribute. In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm a very detail-oriented person, and it makes me really happy when shows pay close attention to details.

Gravity Falls also has some material I'm kind of surprised made it past Disney's censors (for lack of a better word). For example, Bill Cipher. Just Bill Cipher in general. Some of Stan's comments, too, and some of the imagery as well. It kind of catches you off-guard if you go in just expecting a typical cartoon.

I like to call Gravity Falls my "desert island" show, as in "if you were stuck on a desert island and could only bring one TV show with you what would it be?" Mine would most likely be Gravity Falls, and if it wasn't the only reason would be because there's not enough of it. I can't tell you how much I love this show, but I can tell you that it's so much that I painted Bill Cipher and a quote from the show on my graduation cap.

1. Hannibal

This would come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, but since no one reading this knows me yet, I love anything related to Hannibal Lecter. Movies, books, the TV show, everything. When I get my derby name, it's going to be a Hannibal Lecter pun. Everything Hannibal-related, I automatically love on principle (another disclaimer: I have not yet read Hannibal Rising on a warning from my former roommate, who loves Dr. Lecter almost as much as I do and told me to stay far away, but I think I have a moral obligation to do so at this point).

My love for Hannibal - the series - is kind of a funny story, actually. It was premiering around the same time as Bates Motel was, and I planned on watching both with the roommate I mentioned above. We're both big fans of Psycho, too, and based on the casting and what we'd seen of the series from trailers, we thought Bates Motel was going to be incredible and Hannibal was going to be a train wreck. I even remember the night Hannibal premiered I walked out to the TV in our dorm's lobby and thought "well, this isn't going to be impressive, but it's worth at least a watch of the pilot."

The minute the opening scene started, I knew I was wrong.

Hannibal's cinematography is beautiful, no doubt about it, and before anything else that's what sold me on the series. The cast, crew and writers sealed the deal, both with the show and with their awesome, awesome interaction with fans on social media. The writing is consistently incredible and it's layered with references to classical works and art as well as Thomas Harris' books.

Right now, the show's gearing up for season three, which will be the last one set before the events of the first Hannibal book, Red Dragon. We've already met the Verger family in season two, who will be so very important when we get to the plot from the last book, and this year we'll finally see Francis Dolarhyde, better known as the Tooth Fairy, the killer in Red Dragon. I cannot, cannot wait to finally see him. I'm planning on taking a similar strategy to the one I took when they announced the actor who would play Mason Verger: I didn't look up any pictures of Michael Pitt either in or out of character as Mason because I wanted to be completely surprised, and it was worth the wait.

(Side note: I'm very sad Michael Pitt isn't coming back this year because he absolutely killed it, but I believe Joe Anderson can do just as well. Besides, if they had to replace any character, it would be Mason, and if it had to happen, it's best it happens now, considering that face-off he had with Hannibal last season.)

Long story short, Hannibal is easily one of the best if not the best show on TV right now. Its short seasons lend themselves to better, tighter storytelling than a full 22-episode season would, and I think a lot of shows could take notes from it (looking at you, American Horror Story). If you're not into horror or if you're squeamish, I totally understand, though. This show isn't for everyone, but you can't deny that it's good at least.

Sidenotes: Titlegore Title Update

Yeah, so "Titlegore" isn't working for me. I think it's going to be "Texts From The Void" for now. That's "texts" in not the text-messaging sense, though, like in the other sense, like longer-form writing. I don't want to say books, but.

Someday I'll find a suitable title for this blog. Someday.

Also, I'll post something else soon. Promise.