Written by guest contributor Cameron Gallagher
After having watched Hotel, and just coming from Coven, I skipped Freak Show, because I was waiting for it to come to Netflix. Coven, has been my favorite of the entire shows run so far with the magical sense of horror and a compelling plot to go along with it, but after watching Freak Show, I have a new favorite.
Freak Show follows the story of a Freak Show (obviously) and their leader, Jessica Lange, and basically it is all of the insane things that come with a new addition, Sarah Paulson, a two-headed human, and how she basically creates the fall of the beloved Freak Show. This show had a lot of things going against it. Coming off a season like Coven, there is a lot the show would have to accomplish in order to not push away its viewers.
I think this show really flourished in its storytelling and visuals. In previous seasons like Asylum and Murder House, the stories seemed to be sewn together, just barely hanging on by a thread and seeming a little too convenient for my liking, but Freak Show raised the bar for really bringing in multiple stories, and having them all fall nicely together, and being not only coherent, but VERY entertaining.
This is by far the best visually of the series. Everything from camera movement to the color palette of the series blew my mind. The style was pushed so heavily by the production team, you can feel the authenticity in its costumer design, sets, and cinematography. Every time I would see the circus tent, I would imagine what it was like to be there and the warm and hot feeling the Florida air had. It created a very surreal feeling.
The acting was phenomenal, as most of the seasons have been. Particularly the character of Dandy Mott. The psychological depth and hatred you had for this character… made you love him. You basically watched the beginning and formation of a serial killer, and it was incredible to watch how his character would justify things and his recklessness. I was very impressed with Finn Wittrock’s performance in the role.
Jessica Lange’s narcissistic backstory seems to be getting a little repetitive, considering all of the seasons have really had that same message behind her character, and the show can be a little slow at some times, but it was made up for in its acting and production value. AHS gets it’s well deserved 4/5. Make sure to check it out yourself and enjoy!
Score: 4/5
American Horror Story: Freak Show Directors: Various Writers: Various Studio: FX Episode Total: 13
As their parents sell their childhood house, the two decide to revive their high school parties and create the Project X of their generation. BUT… this movie did none of that excitement for me. This film felt like a jumble of party scenes mashed together by “compelling” dialogue and exposition. This movie was so bad I honestly don’t have a lot to say about it. The cinematography was very boring.
The new “Daisho” Darth Vader figure depicts the Dark Sith Lord as a Samurai General, clad in sinister black “Death Star” armor, and debuts with an MSRP of $92.99 from authorized Bluefin retailers nationwide and also from a variety of leading online outlets. The figure is constructed with hybrid materials and features 15 points of articulation to create endless posing possibilities
The first issue introduces us to our key characters. This is an ensemble cast of characters because that’s what wrestling is. We have our baby face champ that’s all about the U.S. of A. We have his heel challenger that spits venom at the fans and other wrestlers. We have the vaguely offensive foreigner that is the direct challenge to the USA, the other undefeated challenger with a manager that speaks for them and of course the Lucha inspired wrestlers that are boiled down to stereotypes. Lastly, there’s the announcers and interviewers which are painfully accurate. If you watch wrestling… none of this is that far from actual reality.
The story goes on and both girls discover that they’re extremely horny… or maybe they both just happened to have fallen in love again and want to suck the blood of their love interest. Read it how you will, but I took it as Vampires are horny all the time. Kelly’s love interest turns out to be a Vampire hunter which puts the girls into an interesting position.
It’s straightforward, but very funny. One of the qualities that makes it humorous and charming is that Ballisto treats it like a bygone era’s raid of a kingdom and yet balances that with the modernisms of his weapons. The balance is razor thin and if creator Ben Hutchings had gone more one way than the other it would have been hacked apart. Instead the jokes hit perfectly for both aspects.
Unable to reach Red Rock due to the snowfall, they stop over at a cabin called Minnie's Haberdashery, which is in the temporary control of a mysterious Mexican named Senor Bob (Demian Bichir). There they meet others bound for Red Rock and beyond - the hangman of Red Rock, Oswald Mobray (Tim Roth), ex-Confederate General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern) and sullen cowboy Joe Gage (Michael Madsen). Ruth soon deduces that one - or more - of the inhabitants of the haberdashery are in league with Domergue and plotting her escape. He forms an uneasy alliance with Warren to find out who's plotting against him. In the meantime, there's also a rescue plot staged by Domergue's brother Jody (Channing Tatum) to deal with.
But, one fateful day recently, I was browsing listlessly through Netflix when my fiance suggested that we watch American Horror Story to "see what the fuss is about". I agreed, and it's a decision I will always regret.
American Horror Story's second season, Asylum, is much the same. It's worth mentioning that American Horror Story is an anthology series like True Detective and Fargo. Each season is distinct, following a different story and a different cast of characters, albeit with a revolving cast of actors playing different roles. So Asylum takes place in, well, an asylum. Unlike Murder House, it isn't set in the present day but in the 1960's. The season follows the lives of the nuns, doctors and patients who occupy Briarcliff Mental Institution. Again, the setting is interesting. Given the horrors that were seen inside the walls of mental institutions during this period in history, the potential was there for some really creepy, unsettling television. Creator Ryan Murphy even said the season was "based largely on truth and truth is always scarier than fiction".
The first half of the book is spent with Midoriya and the other students going through All Might’s first training class in which they’re broken off into teams and one side is the hero and the other side is the villain. Here we get to see the student’s powers and this plays into the second story. We also see Midoriya beat his rival who is still a little super villainous if you ask me. This could go the way of Xavier and Magneto or they could just be two heroes that never get along. I’m hoping for the former myself.
As good as the anime looked, it can’t touch the level of quality the manga has. Yusuke Murata and his two supporting art members bring a level of detail that is just incredible. But it’s not just the detail though I have a hard time finding any other art in the entire comic/manga industry that’s as good. There is impressive storytelling as well. One-Punch aka Saitama is often drawn with less detail. It’s humorous, but then when even that style is changed and changed again you realize that Murata’s style is so impressive and so adaptive that he can really do any style of manga he wants. The fact that he chooses to put so much detail on every page, but then restrain that same style for Saitama is incredible. The balance and the patience that must take is something I will never know and that few readers will likely appreciate.
The second issue manages to be fairly consistent with the first. In some slight ways it’s better and in other ways it has the same stumbles. The robot helper feels like a worthless character. Our main character doesn’t listen to him and all of their conversations are generic. Meanwhile, the secondary character’s dialogue improves and provides real content to the issue.
The backup story is actually way better than the main story. We learn how Magpie and Ember came to be a team and it’s actually a solid story. It also reveals Magpie’s motive, but continues to paint him as this prisoner acting against his will.
As for the story, well it has some fun character moments. When Clay and his friend are shopping for records it’s a cute conversation that builds the world. When we meet the villain of the issue, it’s longwinded and void of context making him not really threatening. He’s more looney than threatening which probably wasn’t what the creators were going for.
We do get some background on our supreme leader and overall rude dude Killian Grey. Killian has been wildly inconsistent throughout the story up to this point. At first he was the dictator of Lantern City and the single cause for everything bad. Then he was a leader bereft of any good intel, nobly sneaking around in the depths of Lantern City to experience the true suffering of his subjects. Now he’s back to being just the son of an asshole who was the son of an asshole who’s in charge. How he is still alive is anyone’s guess.
After that we check in with our pseudo family of freaks as they’re adjusting to each other. Our fire starter is the one that begins the inquiry into the room and we learn that their benefactor is a very rich and powerful man. It’s a quick check in as we meet another new character. His story and background is very different from the rest of the group. For instance, when he comes home to find his parents dead he takes the cash and jewelry and gets the hell out of there at their request. As if they knew it would happen one day. Eventually these three stories come crashing together and we learn a little about the bad guys that are hunting them down.