We are not going away, but becoming the more unified J1 Studios that were supposed to be. In the next coming weeks this blog will be moving over to the new home for all J1 Studios sections. There's good news and there's bad news. The bad news is that we won't have our specific section names. The good news is that what we post will stay the same quality if not better, and we will be able to post more often than specific times a week, so that way you can come back at any time and find more and more news and reviews. We will also truly be under one roof. If you are looking for a specific subject when you get there, you can use our new search bar, or our Categories section on the right. Thank you for your cooperation. Come see us at www.j1studios.com

Avengers Review

The Avengers

From X-Men in 1999 to Iron Man in 2007, comic book adapted movies have come back into the limelight, long after Christopher Reeve first took to the skies as Superman back in the 70’s.  Most of the recently released movies have gone on to smash the box office and set records.  Spiderman 2 set the bar high for the highest grossing comic book movie ever. Just last year, the last Harry Potter film took the highest grossing movie of all time title. This year, a new “highest grossing movie” may be crowned.

The Avengers brings together four Marvel franchises on the big screen - Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America.  Each of the aforementioned characters’ individual movies hinted at the possible team-up, teasing fan-boys about the alliance like waving a steak in front of a hungry dog. I have to say, Marvel and Disney truly delivered. The Avengers starts out slow, as all origin movies do, despite the movie’s explosive opening sequence. Nick Fury, who has shown up at the end of the previous franchises respectively, seeks out people with unique abilities to become members of a special team whose goal is to recover a mystic artifact known as the Tesseract.  He contacts Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, to locate and gather Bruce Banner. An early fight scene where she takes out bad guys while strapped to a chair showcases Black Widow’s agility and combat expertise, just as she is depicted in the comics.

 

As mentioned, Avengers starts out a bit slow, but I prefer call this the “developmental” stage in the movie.  Some people in the theater were getting a bit anxious; they wanted to see all the good stuff hard and fast - fight scenes, explosions, etc. However, a film that takes time to build up the plot, without running out of time, and truly forming into an effective climax makes for a better experience. In one scene, Marvel used just the right amount of time when everyone is on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier to develop interaction between the four main characters and give a better sense of what’s going on. Nick Fury disclosing so much yet revealing so little is well played out, as Tony Stark and Bruce Banner discover the espionage group’s true intentions.  A real scenario that also plays out is distrust, especially amongst a team of strangers. Thor, Tony, Bruce, and Steve—these guys know so little about each other that it drives a nail between them before they even try to fully come together.  This leads to conflict and banter amongst them that is oftentimes noteworthy of an evening sitcom.

Speaking of which, comedic moments are blended well here and fit the personalities of the characters, especially Tony Stark, who is as eccentric as always. There’s even a bit of banter between Thor and Black Widow regarding Loki. Widow bad-mouthed Loki, and Thor came to his defense stating that the Mischief God is still his brother.  But when he is told that Loki killed eighty people in two days, Thor withdraws his objection and states that his brother is adopted.  Just this small comedic moment, small as it is, will stay with fans for some time. Full of action, very comedic and very much talked about on Facebook.

The action in this film is over the top.  Loki has the Tesseract and he has opened a portal to another world.  An army of beings called Chitauri begin pouring through the portal, ready to conquer Earth.  There’s panic in the streets and mayhem everywhere. The Avengers finally get their act together, come together and clean house.  As much as I like the Transformers movies, Michael Bay’s got some competition in the large-scale action department. The special effects and action scenes were great!  Marvel and Disney really upped their game for this. Guess making all those “Pirate” movies helped. Thor’s got his hammer, zapping invaders out of the sky. Hawkeye is on the roof plucking them off like flies with assistance from Iron Man. The Hulk is doing his thing, bashing anything and everything non-human.  He took down a giant creature easily larger than a nuclear sub with one punch. And Captain America, he handled everything like a soldier does, getting people to safety and taking out a few Chitauri while doing so.  I don’t read Marvel comics much but the last half of the movie definitely appeared like it was pulled straight from the pages.

The acting was excellent. All the actors pulled off their roles without a hitch.  Since Marvel Ultimate Universe’s Nick Fury is based off of Samuel L. Jackson, it was likely for him to be the right man for the character. He didn’t get much air time before so it was nice to see him get more fleshed out for this. Though I have yet to see “Thor” or “Captain America”, I’ve enjoyed Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth in these roles. Mark Ruffalo takes over as Bruce Banner and all I have to say is: why didn’t Marvel acquire this guy for the previous “Hulk” films? But not to worry, word is that the Hulk series is getting rebooted, likely with Mark at the helm.  Scarlet Johansson and Jeremy Renner were great as Black Widow and Hawkeye.  Maybe we’ll see them in their own movies. Who knows?  Tom Hiddleston makes evil look good as Loki.  And Robert Downey Jr. is dead on as Tony Stark/Iron Man.  He is just as entertaining here as he is in Iron Man 1 & 2.  I can’t wait for part three.

Again, kudos to Marvel for bringing us this awesome movie; it was a real delight.  Hopefully we receive the same experience for the sequel where they take on…whoa, that was close. Wanna know? Then go see this movie to find out the next baddie for the next movie.

Definitely seeing this one again,

Brian M.

The River

The River
Channel: ABC
Date/Time: Tuesdays @ 9pm, Eastern Time
Creator: Oren Peli & Michael R. Perry

We are introduced to a family whose father, renowned explorer Dr. Emmet Cole, played by Bruce Greenwood, has gone missing in the Amazon. His son Lincoln, played be Joe Anderson, meets up with his mother six months after his father went missing, who proposes that they return to the Amazon, where Lincoln spent much of his childhood, to continue the search for his father. His mother Tess, played by Leslie Hope, despite the length of time since their last communication with his father, and despite having just gone through the memorial service in his honor, suggests that Emmet must still be alive since his emergency beacon just went off.

Dr. Cole was renowned for his television series about the adventures he'd go on in the great outdoors, the Amazon in particular. Lincoln and Tess experienced the intense nature of the business and Lincoln mentions that although he knew his father loved him, at a certain point in his life, he felt his father loved what he was working on more, and seemed to pull away from Lincoln when he needed him. Despite the resentment, Tess and Lincoln had great love for Emmet, and we will discover how far they will go to find him.

Emmet's former producer, Clark, played by Paul Blackthorne, agrees to pay for any expenses on this expedition, as long as he can film the adventure in a documentary-type filming style. The newly developed team consists of Lincoln, Tess, Clarke, Lena (Lincoln's childhood friend), played Eloise Mumford, the captain and mechanic Emilio, played by Daniel Zacapa (along with his teenage daughter), and bodyguard Captain Kurt Brynildson, played by Thomas Kretschmann.

What was Emmet looking for? In videos the group discovers, Emmet was in search of some source of magic, and they glimpse the other-worldly matters he was in his continued search for. In one film bit, he's in front of a fire, amidst the jungle, with natives surrounding him, cross-legged, and is holding fire - physically holding fire in his palms. He looks to the camera in awe - you could see both the amazement, reverence, and desire for more in his eyes.

Strange things start occurring when the crew discovers Emmet's boat, and they unintentionally unleash something into the surrounding jungle. So much happens in this first episode: violence, lies, discovery, magic, spirits etc... I'd rather not give much of it away and suggest you check it out for yourself.

Now why though, with all this, would you stay in the Amazon with all the craziness that's going on? While some may say that they'd find a way out, it's not so simple. If someone you loved dearly were missing, in an unknown condition, and there was a chance you could find them, rescue them, would you give it a shot, as dangerous or eerie the circumstance? With some of the freaky circumstances they encounter, one could also ask how the crew stays on board with the idea. While there's always a skeptic, there's less a sense of disbelief in the crew, and more a desire to capture phenomenon on film that will bring them success.

I WILL tell you that someone dies in the first episode... you have to watch to find out who!

Two fun facts:

1) This show is by the creator and director of the Paranormal Activity series, Oren Peli, along with the co-writer of Paranormal Activity 2, Michael R. Perry.

2) According to an interview on WMMR, a local radio station here in Philadelphia, the idea for a Paranormal-type TV show was brought up by Stephen Spielberg (who is a producer for the show) in a meeting with Oren! It was Oren's first experience meeting the great film maker, with Stephen mentioning that he enjoying the movie and asked if Oren had ever thought about turning the idea into a television series.

There were so many progressions in the first episode, I was uncertain as to how the series could continue, however, there are 6 more episodes left for now, and the preview of the upcoming season seen last week was amazazazazing (Yes, just made up a word).

I give the season premiere four and a half of five frames!



Here's a promo and what had me spellbound:



Did you check out the premiere? Will you check it out? Email me or post on our facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/j1studios AND go to the site to browse more reviews.

Danae signing off!

source: imdb.com; youtube.com, wikepedia.com

2012 ComiCinema

Hey there readers! Guess what! We have ourselves a guest writer this week. He is a very knowledgeable young man by the name of Doug Beaver. He is more up to date on movies that are based on comic books than either Danae or I would ever hope to be. I trust his opinion on these things. So read on to see what he has to say about the upcoming comic book centered movies.


2012 ComiCinema
By Doug Beaver

There are a ton of movies that are going to make 2012 a much better movie year than 2011 turned out to be: this year, we can look forward to The Hobbit, The Woman In Black, Casa de mi Padre, The Hunger Games, Expendables 2, MIB: III, Prometheus, Brave, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, among others.

And then there are this year’s comic book movies, or “ComiCinema”. There are really only five that stick out this calendar year; one immediate-looking bomb, one that may not qualify for the category and three others that will compete for this year’s top spot. Here they are in order of anticipated box office:

5. Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance
Some questions come to mind: Why was this made? What is Nick Cage even doing in the Marvel Universe when he was formerly auditioning to be the man of steel in a failed Superman movie? Why not go balls-to-the-walls with the “Marvel Knights” brand films?
All the PG-13 Rating does for Ghost Rider is water down the potential for great content, and guarantees an “Unrated Blu-Ray Edition” when it arrives in stores. The Punisher movies have also been a disappointment (though they carried the R-Rating) because the grittiness and darkness they were trying for just felt forced. Marvel Knights could learn a lot from the only great Punisher film, 1989’s “The Punisher” starring Dolph Lundgren; that is a classic that can really be credited as a forefather of the style that Christopher Nolan has now with the latest incarnation of Batman films.
Marvel Knights has not yet produced a real hit, and it doesn’t look like this sequel to the 2007 disappointment will change that trend. The original Ghost Rider is a decent enough movie, but it did not gain a large enough fanboy following or word-of-mouth appreciation to garner this follow-up.
This movie will not make much of a splash at the box office, and unless you are a diehard Ghost Rider fan, the first time you will see this is when you switch your PS3 over to stream Netflix and see it come up under “New Releases.”

4. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Whether to include this as a ComiCinema movie is debatable , because G.I. Joe is a trademark of Hasbro, and yet the product’s love affair with the comic book medium runs deep. Not many other franchises can claim to have been represented by DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Devil’s Due, and IDW. Therefore, it’s been included.
Though it’s technically a toy movie like Transformers, it’s not as bad as making a movie about a board game (Battleship – Really?? Don’t aliens know Liam Neeson can’t be defeated? Didn’t they see “Taken”?).
After viewing the trailer, this appears to be the opposite of what happened with the Transformers first two movies. Where the first Transformers film was really good, the second one was just shy of franchise suicide. Transformers 2 was the most incoherent piece of film garbage that made its money based on the goodwill that audiences gave it based on the original. The second G.I. Joe installment looks like it will earn its wings DESPITE the negative perception garnered after G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra, which received poor critical and audience reviews.
This movie will be a hit as long as Paramount continues a strong marketing push with The Rock, Bruce Willis, and shots of the Cobra banners flapping from the roof of the White House.

3. The Amazing Spider-Man
While many people not familiar with comics think that this is too soon, most fans of Spider-Man are optimistic about a reboot. Spider-Man is rebooted in the comics fairly often, also with multiple series happening simultaneously (There has been “Spider-Man”, “The Spectacular Spider-Man”, “The Amazing Spider-Man”, “Web Of Spider-Man”, etc.). So this is actually a good thing for Spider-Fans out there, and a good thing for a new generation of moviegoers that can relate a lot more to Emma Stone being more desirable than Kirsten Dunst.

There is no question that all comic fans will see this movie. The only thing that remains a mystery is if Andrew Garfield will be able to pull off being Peter Parker. He did an excellent job in The Social Network, but this is a different genre with the most critical fanbase, and there is A LOT of pressure to restart the franchise, as Spider-Man is easily Marvel’s most recognizable hero. If this is a “one and done” for Marvel, it could depress the whole company.

2. The Avengers
It’s time to “Make Mine Marvel” with the culmination of a set up that has been building audience’s anticipation for years. This could either be the best thing a production company has ever done, or the biggest letdown in film history (Star Wars Episode I and II included).
Pairing Joss Whedon with the characters of Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Loki, and Captain America (aka the same guy that played The Human Torch in two other Marvel films) seems like a match made in fanboy heaven. Whedon has proven he is trustworthy with characters – but in the past those have been mostly characters he has created himself. Firefly and Buffy were both series that depended on interactions between personalities that were strong and often butted heads, so this seems like a natural fit. The only caveat that remains a question is whether Black Widow could play a bigger role due to Whedon’s historical love for strong female characters. It’s not a problem, but more of a point of intrigue.
The audience for this is also widened by the incorporation of all the characters. People that didn’t like Captain America but enjoyed Iron Man will go to see their favorite character, and vice-versa. It’s almost like all of the individual heroes’ movies get a sequel all at once. So this will definitely be the second highest grossing ComiCinema movie of the year, if not the top spot.

1. The Dark Knight Rises
For people who like their ComiCinema with a bit of social relevance, this movie hits the mark. The trailer has Anne Hathaway espousing rhetoric reserved for the self-proclaimed “99% percent.” And coincidentally enough, the Occupy Wall Street crowd was very close to the filming of one of the film’s final scenes.
Would this final act of the Dark Knight trilogy have had a different crescendo if Heath Ledger had lived? Regardless of the answer to that, Bane makes an interesting villain to close this series on. Christopher Nolan could have gone with the Riddler as an obvious choice, but Bane was selected to challenge Batman “both mentally and physically.”
The main draw to this whole series has been that it looks cool, and treats beloved characters seriously as its fans do. This great series has raised the bar for all ComiCinema, but for Batman fans this could also be a double-edged sword. What directors or actors could touch the franchise again without appearing to be meddling, or failing to live up to this new standard?
This movie will be watched and enjoyed by all audiences – including people who never see movies based on comic books. This series transcends particular audience groupings, and will probably be considered for the next Academy Awards if it even approaches the previous two films’ level of excellence.


I hope you all enjoyed our guest reviewer this week. I know I did.
Until next kids, this has been Hava (and Doug)!

Give it a Chance!

Going through withdrawal! We won't hear from True Blood, Season 5 until June of 2012, the second season of American Horror Story doesn't premier until.... we don't know, they haven't started filming yet, The Walking Dead doesn't return for its 3rd season until February 12th 2012 (I believe), and Dexter just ended its sixth season (which was "meh" however the finale was AWESOME). Still have Modern Family, Community plus a few others yet I felt something was missing due to my series-watching reduction. If you initially offered me another comedy, I wouldn't necessarily be that excited as I'm watching a few already however, never judge until you at least check it out and I'm glad I did...

You NEED to be introduced to this new series, Happy Endings, which airs on ABC Wednesdays at 9:30. Currently in its second season, it is a comedy about six friends... wait wait! I know, your initial comparison, naturally, will be to the hugely popular series Friends, however, simply because there are six friends who have/had some sort of relationship between them and remain friends does not then entail that it's a duplicate. Don't numerous sets of friends maintain (or evolve) a friendship that involves a derivation of a relationship between varying parties? That certainly does not mean that each set of friends is like the other! Before we find out what's unique about this series, check out the first season's promo:



We are introduced to the set of friends by discovering that Dave Rose (played by Zachary Knighton) is left at the alter abruptly by his bride, Alex Kerkovish (played by Elisha Cuthbert). He is completely torn and his set of friends, also friends to Alex, assume that all six of them will no longer be able to hang out. Dave & Alex insist this is not the case... and so we have just one piece of the fun drama all will encounter along the way. Alex is a fun loving, sometimes very simple girl who, although flighty, maintains a business of her own. Her sister, Jane Kerkovich-Williams, (played by Eliza Coupe), is quite the opposite as an OCD-type, super achiever and is married to Brad Williams (played be Damon Wayans Jr. Yes, Damon Wayans' son, there's no denying the stark resemblance), a whipped hubby however, also a pun-throwing businessman. Their exchanges tend to be quite sweet but as Brad is married to a control freak, the need for him to exert his independence arises. Typical to this type of series, we have to have the friends who either date like there's no tomorrow and/or have to be single struggling through the fun and not-so-fun aspects of not having a companion and so we have Max Blum (played by Adam Pally), the non stereotypical gay guy as he likes sports, is a bit chunky, doesn't care much for responsibility as he simply wants to have fun. Lastly there's Penny Hartz (played by Casey Wilson), an eager to please gal who must always be at the center of attention.

Here's a pic of Damon Wayan's Jr by the way, yeah.....



The premise given could certainly fail (good plots can be bombed by bad writing or a poorly chosen cast) yet this set of "friends" cannot! The hilarious competitions, exchanges, quips and goofiness given by the whole cast is, even if cliche, laugh out loud. Ugh, I said it but it's true. In particular, Eliza Coupe, Damon Wayans Jr., Adam Pally and Casey Wilson win every time they appear. Timing is perfect, depiction of the character is more than believable, and the quick witted back an forth is on point. Example: I intended only to watch one or two episodes to give it a shot. I ended up watching seven, and the only reason I couldn't continue was because I'm old and needed to sleep.



I screeched a few times out of glee and pure entertainment - this show is brilliant. I am still catching up on all the episodes - out of the 11 or 12 that I've seen, I give this fun series a 4.5 out of 5 frames!



Go watch some episodes online and then tune in. Everyone needs to have a great laugh and this series will do it!!

Danae signing off... ;)

sources: youtube.com, wikepedia,com, imdb.com, abc.com

Reviewing while pregnant

It is a well-known fact that when you are pregnant you get tired a lot. You can fall asleep at any time almost. Well, this reviewer is pregnant. You can’t imagine how hard it is to be a TV and movie reviewer when you are falling asleep at 8:00pm and waking up at 10:30pm. You are missing all of the prime shows. I miss all of my favorite shows. I have been sitting there in the midst of a great episode and boom I’m asleep. It’s rough. Thankfully I have been able to get a better grasp on this whole sleeping thing. That means I have been able to catch up on some shows I was missing.

To start, I was sleeping through or just only saw parts of my beloved Vampire Diaries. Since it went on hiatus at a ridiculously early date I have been able to catch up. The love Elena has for Stefan has persisted through some of his darkest moments this season. At the season break it seemed as if we had him back. While he wasn’t staying in Mystic Falls, he was no longer under the control of Klaus, and he had stolen all of his dead relatives that he carts around with him wherever he goes. We also learned a lot about the originals this season. It is all very interesting stuff.

A show that I got to see which I had been missing from either sleep or watching Supernatural was Grimm. I was very hype for this show when the upfronts came out and I got the glimpse of it. I must say that I am very happy with this show. I was hoping that it wouldn’t be hokey and it has delivered. The premise is that this cop is a descendent of the Grimm family. That all of the Grimm’s fairy tales were actually real and not just stories. He has the ability to see things in people. He can see who the “monsters” are. There are a lot more than you would think. Also, not always the people that you would think. The best part is the unlikely friendship between the cop and the “big bad wolf.” Yes, he does exist.

I have even been catching up on Criminal Minds. Last season was somewhat predictable in the way that they had to fake kill off Agent Emily Prentiss because of issues from her past work. I thought we were done with her. Imagine my surprise when she shows back up this season. I wasn’t okay with that. On most shows when they fake your death it takes them a few seasons before they can believably bring you back. It only took them one. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Besides that the show is just as good as ever. I like the psychological aspect of it. I love Joe Montegna. There is also something wonderful about the way that Shemar Moore’s character does stuff. I like to think of it as his justification for everything is that he is Shemar Moore. It makes things more entertaining.

Now I will be watching various and other sundry shows and desperately trying to stay awake. I will also take the advice of my fellow reviewer and watch the first season of American Horror Story. I may even see a movie or two. I have already seen Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol. A little short review on it. It is a must see. I absolutely loved the first in the series. I hated the second one. The third one was just meh. This one definitely revived the franchise and actually has me looking forward to another installment. It is worth the money. Go see it folks.

Until next time kids, this has been Hava.

TV Season Finales.. Part I

American Horror Story



Channel: FX
Time: Wednesdays at 10pm

American Horror Story premiered in October 2011. We are introduced to a family who is moving into a haunted house. The family, consisting of Ben (Dylan McDermott), Vivien (Connie Britton), and their daughter Violet (Taisaa Farmiga), moved there with hopes of renewing their family structure, amidst Vivien's miscarriage and Ben's infidelity.

**SPOILER ALERT**

Moving at an incredible pace, this season was comprised of learning about all the atrocities that have occurred in the "Murder House". From a drugged-up doctor who reassembled his baby, to a gay couple murdered by "Rubber Man", the actual deaths are only a tip of the whole story. It doesn't take long for Vivien in particular, to notice that strange things have been occurring in the house, along with the discovery that the realtor who sold them the house failed to reveal most of the previous monstrosities. Not long into the season, Vivien gets pregnant. Yet, her marriage with Ben continues to be strained by his dishonesty and continued relationship with previous patient, Hayden. Much of Vivien's distress due to the ghosts, are attributed by Ben to be due to Vivien being unstable, potentially from the pregnancy/hormones etc... Along with the broken marriage, a valid question one could ask would be, "If the house is haunted, why not just move out?". My thoughts exactly! Their reasoning is, as Vivien is pregnant and her previous pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, she must stay put as any unnecessary stress could potentially lead to endagering the baby. While initially this is a good point, if some of the events that occured in the house happened to me - you'd see a cloud of dust as I fled down the street - warnings or not. Nonetheless, Violet also desires to stay as she is tired of her parents trying to remedy their failed relationship by moving. More importantly, she desires to stay close to her (future) boyfriend, Tate. Tate is an incredibly troubled young man, who is later revealed to be dead. Ben, a psychiatrist, is hesitantly seeing Tate, upon Tate's insistence, and only gets glimpses of the true extent to which he is disturbed.

This first season has moved along speedily, and has left me perplexed as to how they can continue into season 2 at the current pacing. Episodes 11 and 12, "Birth" and "Afterbirth", combined should be considered the finale. While I have given away some of the season's revelations, I'll leave the results of the last 2 shows secret, in case one should desire to go back and watch the series. What I WILL say, post-finale, is that I continue to believe that the series should end here. Yes, after just one season, and an insane one at that, the creators should wrap it up and keep fans holding close to the thrilling season it was. Why? Ryan Murphy, the creator of the series, who also created Nip Tuck (one can see the relation), JUST made a statement that Season 2 would consists of new characters, with the possibly of particular characters reappearing as new ones.

In my opinion, after the finale, it appeared that either a) they'd have to declare this a miniseries, leave it at one, solid season or b) do just as Murphy proposed (which apparently he mentioned prior to the official statement, was a possibility), that there be all new characters in season 2. While certainly there is potential for great things to come of season 2, firm fans of series are such fans partially due to the connections they have with the existing characters. If, in each season, all the main characters get replaced, where does that leave its' followers? Yet in its' first season, the show was received with rave reviews including a Golden Globe award for Best Drama Series. With this success, naturally, they will continue as long as it is successful. In contrast to my opinion, particular writers have ways of amazingly bringing about a series in a direction one would never have imagined, or continued where it seemed there could only be an end, so, in all, I wholeheartedly suggest that those who have watched, tune into season 2, and those who have not, catch up!

This season's Winning Characters:

Tate - played by Evan Peters. Tate is a truly disturbing individual. The son of nosy neighbor Constance, Tate had an odd upbringing considering his family (all his siblings have had a physical disability and in response, Constance made the household a manipulative and heavy home) and is deemed by Ben, a psychopath. Yet amidst the frightening actions he's taken such as murdering numerous high school kids, of which he does not recall and raping his girlfriend's mother, the viewer has a sense of relation, a bit of pity, as it seems he desired simply to be truly loved and to be considered normal by someone.

Constance - played by Jennifer Lange. She is a complex character played by a quality actress. The card that Constance was dealt was a burdensome one, and it is easy to feel for her. However, she is not helpless nor innocent herself, and the ease at which she makes life-changing/life-ending decisions, along with intricate and potentially self-serving planning is enjoyable.

This season's Losing Characters:

Vivien - played by Connie Britton. Both the character and the actress are irritating. Do moms of teenage daughters really let their kids talk to them the way she lets Violet talk to her and just let Violet's moodiness slide? (Same to Ben, he gets a D for being a father). I don't believe you have to grow up in a restrictive household to feel like these parents are just observing as opposed to parenting. In addition, Connie Britton as an actress is just so-so. Not horrible, yet a few of her reactions were emotionless where they truly required much emotion. 'Tis possible that it is simply next to Dylan McDermott and Jennifer Lange, her acting appears more so as a novice.

Hope for a Great Next Season?:

Yes! Although my recomendation is to end the series here, of course the creators/studios are looking to make money and will continue until they have pulled every interesting ounce out of the writers and characters.

Note: although "horror" is in the title and there are ghosts in very episode, the series is less a horror story and more so a disturbing family story. I can be a big chicken, but if I can watch this at night, alone, anyone can!

The Finale: 3.5 out of 5 frames.



The Series: 4.5 out of 5 frames.



In case you haven't seen it - a trailer for season one:



Danae signing off!