Margin Call is a night in the life of a group of poor schmucks who work at multi-billion dollar investment firm. Set in the early stages of the 2008 crisis, the film revolves around the events following the discovery of an error in a predictive algorithm (or whatever) the company has been using to package stocks to trade as a single entity (or something). We enter the film on a downsizing day, … [Read more...]
When The Mentalist first arrived on the scene, I had serious doubts that it would make it past the first few episodes. Apart from the general idea that my love for a show is often the kiss of death, I just wasn't sure this show was going to connect with audiences. It's just one of those shows. It's either going to work very well, or people are going to hate it, but there isn't a lot of middle … [Read more...]
Back when The Mentalist first aired, I called it, "The best new show on TV... by a mile," and it went on to solidify its status as one of the most worthwhile, entertaining shows in years. That it performed solidly in the ratings is actually less a testament to the quality of the show than it is a somewhat curious surprise with regard to the viewing public. The show is a tremendously fun and … [Read more...]
The Mentalist is bold, brash, and snarky, and by far the best television has offered in quite some time. There have been countless efforts down the general Sherlock Holmes road, and few of them have managed even to be bearable. In recent years a couple of movies took a shot at reviving a "real" Sherlock Holmes. One close to the man in the original books, not what people have come … [Read more...]
