Sunday, January 15, 2012

The Weinsteins Controlled the Film Winners While the Golden Globes did Pretty well by TV

Tonight was the anything unpredictable could happen, and not much really did.  Ricky Gervais started out the evening with a lot of laughs, which included jokes at the expense of Jodie Foster and her beaver, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.  To me this show is not always about host, while Gervais does add to evening.  This award show is about the celebrities being able to drink and giving entertaining speeches.  Gervais hosting does add to that mentality.

On to why I watch these shows, the awards themselves.  My friend Keith and I decided to do shots every time we did not predict the right winner, I only had to do 5 shots (most of them because of the TV categories).  While the game was not as much fun, partly because I did not have to drink as much.  I wish the show provided a few more surprises in the film categories.  It seems as though the Weinstein company is putting a lot of weight behind its films, especially The Artist for Best Picture.

Ricky Gervais may have been right all along about the HFPA taking bribes or being crooked because the Weinstein Company has seemed to have a hold on the winners for the last two years.  This year the Weinstein Company had six major wins in the film categories.  The Weinstein's swept the Comedy/Musical category with The Artist taking Best Comedy/Musical and its star Jean Dujardin winning Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical, and the film won for Best Original Score. The Artist won the most trophies for the night.  Michelle Williams took home the trophy for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical.  Williams was not the only person who benefited from the Weinstein name, Meryl Streep beat out her tight competitor Viola Davis for Best Actress in a Drama.  I am predicting Davis will still win the SAG thus making predicting the best Actress category incredibly difficult.  The Weinstein's did also help cause another upset in the Best Song category, Madonna won the prize for her film W.E., the song is ruled ineligible for the Oscars.

While The Artist was a solid film and it is the clear front runner with its win tonight, I can not see mainstream movie audiences embracing a silent film.  With a lack of popular audience appeal (this influences voters to an extent)  I have a hard time believing this film will win the Best Picture award, btu I could be wrong.  I also have a hard time believing The Descendants can win.  The Descendants won the award for Best Film (Drama) and Best Actor in Drama.  While I think Clooney will win, I also think Brad Pitt has a strong shot.  Clooney and Pitt seemed to show more affection for each other than I have ever seen two actors show.  Clooney has his Oscar and may champion for his friend to get his first win.

The biggest  surprise came in the Best Director category, although I predicted it, Martin Scorsese won for Hugo.  This will help Hugo a lot!  This film could be a major spoiler.  Midnight in Paris also could be a spoiler, it wont Best Screenplay Award.  The reason why I do not think Paris will win is because its director just does not show up to award shows.  Meanwhile the winners in supporting categories were cemented tonight and they will be Christopher Plummer for Beginners and Octavia Spencer from The Help.  The only thing I predicted wrong was the Best Song winner.

In the TV world the Globes stuck to mainly honoring new shows.  In the Drama categories the brilliant new Showtime show, Homeland won Best Drama Series and Claire Danes won for Best Actress.  Meanwhile Kelsey Grammer won Best Drama Actor for the Starz show Boss.  The comedy categories picked two winners from shows in their first year on HBO and Showtime.  Laura Dern won for Enlightened which was the only show picked up by HBO recently because of their Globe nominations.  Matt LeBlanc won for basically playing himself in the Showtime show Episodes.  Modern Family was the only returning show that won a prize at the Globes, it won Best Comedy Series.

In the movie/miniseries category, Downton Abbey won the top prize.  Kate Winslet won the trophy for Lead Actress in a movie/miniseries for Mildred Pierce, and Idris Elba won the Lead Actor Prize for Luther.

My one pet peeve about the Globes is that they lump the supporting actors from everything in one category, mainly in order to cutdown on awards to present.  I would not have them do this in the film categories, but the TV and movie/mini-series awards should be separate.  In recent years the stars of TV series have dominated.  This year continued that pattern Peter Dinklage won for Game of Thrones and Jessica Lange won for American Horror Story.  I did not predict Dern, Lange, Grammer, or Homeland to win.

Overall the show and the winners were predictable, but it was worth a drinking game.  I have to start getting worse at picking or my friend and I need to come up with a better game while watching this show.

My one pet

Golden Globe Winner Predictions (TV)

I decided to post my television predictions in a different post, namely because this website was being difficult-I will not give any rationale to the winners here.  The HFPA has their own weird way of picking winners in the TV categories, but here are my best guesses.

Best Drama
American Horror Story
Boardwalk Empire
Boss
Game of Thrones
Homeland

My Prediction-Game of Thrones

Best Actor in a Drama
Steve Buscemi-Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston-Breaking Bad
Kelsey Grammer-Boss
Jeremy Irons-The Borgias
Damien Lewis-Homeland

My Prediction-Bryan Cranston-Breaking Bad


Best Actress in a Drama
Claire Danes-Homeland
Mirielle Enos-The Killing
Julianna Marguilles-The Good Wife
Madeline Stowe-Revenge
Callie Thorne-Necessary Roughness

My Predictions-Claire Danes-Homeland

Best Comedy or Musical Series
Enlightened
Episodes
Glee
Modern Family
The New Girl

Prediction-Modern Family

Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin-30 Rock
David Duchovny-Californication
Johnny Gallecki-The Big Bang Theory
Thomas Jane-Hung
Matt LeBlanc-Episodes

My Prediction-Matt LeBlanc-Episodes

Best Actress in a Comedy Series
Laura Dern-Enlightened
Zooey Deschanel-The New Girl
Tina Fey-30 Rock
Laura Linney-The Big C
Amy Poehler-Parks and Recreation

My Prediction-Zooey Deschanel-The New Girl


Miniseries or Movie-Downton Abbey
Best Actor in a Miniseries or Movie-Idris Elba-Luther
Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie-Kate Winslet-Mildred Pierce
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Movie-Peter Dinklage-Game of Thrones
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Movie-Maggie Smith-Downton Abbey

Golden Globe Winner Predictions (Film)

Well I am in New York City for a long weekend, but I need to take time to predict the winners for tonight's Golden Globe ceremony.


Best Picture (Drama)
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse
My Predictions-The Descendants, with reservations.  The Globes tend to pick their most nominated films, but from what I have heard the Globes loved Hugo.  I think Hugo has a shot here, but I will stick with the safe bet of The Descendants. 
Best Picture Comedy or Musical
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight In Paris
My Week with Marilyn
Prediction: The Artist- I think they will want to rubber stamp this film, but this is not a done deal.  Midnight in Paris has a shot, but I think if the Globes pick a different film from The Artist they will pick Bridesmaids.
Best Director
Woody Allen, Midnight In Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

My Prediction-Hugo-I think they they will give this to Marty, I am a little torn on who they will pick for best Drama between Hugo and The Descendants.  I do not think people like The Descendants as much as we think.  I pick Marty here, but I did that for the Critics choice too and Hazanavicius won, which is the other option.
Best Actress, Drama
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
My Prediction-Meryl Streep-The Iron Lady-I think the Globes will rubber stamp Streep.  Davis could win, but I have a feeling she will win at SAG, while Meryl and Williams winning here, thus making this a tougher race to predict
Best Actor, Drama
George Clooney, The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio, J Edgar
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
My Prediction-George Clooney-The Descendants-They will honor George Clooney here, but I still have a sneaking suspicion Brad Pitt is going to creep up and potentially take away the win from his best pal.
Best Actress Comedy or MusicalJodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Kate Winslet, Carnage
My Prediction-Michelle Williams-My Week with Marilyn-Easiest category to predict, but Theron is the one with the real comedic chops.
Best Actor Comedy or Musical
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Joseph Gordon Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris
My Prediction-Jean Dujardin-The Artist-Another near lock, but if anyone will spoil is Joseph Gordon Levitt, a name the HFPA know is on the rise in Hollywood.
Best Actor Supporting
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
My Prediction-Christopher Plummer-Beginners-This is another easy prediction, Plummer is poised to finally win the Oscar.
Best Actress Supporting
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain , The Help
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
My Prediction-Octavia Spencer-The Help-I think the supporting categories have their winners sewn up, Spencer is solid in this film, but I do wish Chastain would pick a different film.
Best Foreign Language Film
A Separation (Iran)
The Flowers Of War (China)
The Kid With The Bike (Belgium)
In The Land Of Blood and Honey (USA)
The Skin I Live In (Spain)
My Prediction-A Separation (Iran)- While this category is always a wild card, I think they will pick the obvious choice.
Best Animated Feature
TinTin
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
My Prediction-Rango-This is the best in the category, and it will win.
Best Screenplay
Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
The Ides of March, George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
Moneyball, Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin
My Prediction-Midnight in Paris-They love Woody Allen!  I think this is where this film will be honored.  Moneyball has a shot, it's the second best screenplay in this category, but they will go with Woody.
Best Score
The Artist, Ludovic Bource
W.E., Abel Korzeniowski
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Hugo, Howard Shore
War Horse, John Williams
My Predictions-The Artist-Ludovic-Bource-This won at the Critics Choice and I think it will win here too, but I would like to see Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross win (from this group).  I think this is an award this film will win at the Oscars too.
Best Original Song
“Hello Hello” – “Gnomeo & Juliet – Elton John
“Lay Your Head Down” – “Albert Nobbs” – Sinead O’Connor
“The Living Proof” – “The Help” – Mary J. Blige
“The Keeper” – “Machine Gun Preacher” – Gerard Butler
“Masterpiece” – “W.E.” – Madonna
My Prediction-"The Living Proof"-The Help-Mary J. Blige-No Idea here, but the song from The Help seems to make sense.

Friday, January 13, 2012

The Critics Choice Movie Awards Pick a Wide Array of Winners with The Artist and The Help standing out Slightly

Last night's award show was interesting, and we could be in for a mirror image of the entire award season, but I honestly hope not.  As far as the show goes I was entertained by the the host Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel.  Hubel ended the show with one of the funniest lines ever, the show is over now tweet how bad we did.  While I had lowered expectation for these two guys, they were pretty damn funny.  The production value on this show needs to improve if they want to be the better than the eighth biggest awards night in Hollywood.  I know critics don't make that much, but come on guys.

On to the award winners.  To be honest, I do not really respect this group, in fact I respect them less than the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).  The Broadcast Film Critics unlike the HFPA release a films overall rating and in the end it ranks the films by giving them a numbered score out of 100.  Here is the overall ratings of all of the Best Picture nominees.

Tomboy - 100
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 - 93
Martha Marcy May Marlene - 92

The Descendants - 91
The Artist - 91
Drive - 91
The Ides of March - 91
The Guard - 90
Win Win - 90


Within reasonable thought there should have been no mystery about revealing the top ten nominees.  The above listed films had the highest ratings and they should have been the Best Picture nominees, and since Tomboy had the highest score, and a perfect score, shouldn't it have won Best Picture?  This is not the case.  The Broadcast Film Critics have appeared to trade in their personal rating system to become another group that rubber stamps films, performances, and other various crafts on their way to the Kodak theater for the Academy Awards.  Listed below is the actual Best Picture nominees from this group and their ratings. 

The Artist-91
The Descendants-91

Drive-91
Moneyball-91
The Help - 89
Hugo - 87
Midnight in Paris - 85

War Horse-80
The Tree of Life-78
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close-66


While I disagree with the The Tree of Life's low rating, this list of nominees is baffling to me.  How did Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close get a Best Picture nomination with such a low rating?  I think the Critics expected this to still be an Oscar contender, but they gambled wrong with this film.  This list looks like the Critics trying to guess the top ten contenders for Best Picture and the major players at the Oscars this year.  


With regard to the actual winners they seemed so confused by what they liked and what they did not like.  The list of winners makes it look they were taking a check mark and making sure that each Best Picture nominee received an award, except The Tree of Life.

The Artist was honored with the most prizes, Best Picture, Best Director, Costumes, and Score.  This could be how Oscar night looks, although I do not think this film will take the Best Original Score, especially with Kim Novak bringing about some controversy for the film using a piece of the score from Vertigo.  Right now this film is in the lead for Best Picture. Since this award show has been around 9 of the 16 winners have gone on to win Best Picture.  Last year's winner was The Social Network, which lost at the Oscars to The King's Speech.  Yet in 2006 this award show was one of the few to predict The Departed winning in a competitive Best Picture race.  At the moment I still think this film is vulnerable.

George Clooney won Best Actor for The Descendants, while I am not sure the Oscars will crown him a two time Academy Award winner.  I think Brad Pitt has a real shot taking the Globe and creating a two person race.  The other interesting fact is that Pitt's film Moneyball won the Adapted Screenplay award, beating The Descendants.  The Descendants losing that award proves my point that while people this this is a solid film, no one loves it enough to push it towards a lot of wins.  Clooney does have statistics in his favor, this group has picked 11 of the 16 Oscar winners in this category.  For the last 7 years they have matched up, this may be a sign Clooney may be the only win for this film.

Both Viola Davis (Lead Actress) and Octavia Spencer (Supporting Actress) won for The Help.  The cast also took home the Best Ensemble prize.  The Help did well last night, and boosted its chances to be a major contender.  I think both of these women have a strong chance of winning at the Oscars but their categories are still highly competitive. Davis and Spencer both gave great speeches that could launch them into further wins.

Davis could still face stiff competition from Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams.  Just like with Best Picture only 9 of the last 16 winners have gone on to claim the Oscar in this category.  Last year Natalie Portman won for the Black Swan and won the Oscar.  Meryl Streep has won this award twice this decade and I think either they tired of having her win, or they tried to rubber stamp her before and that back fired.  I would love to see her win her third trophy.  Which is possible.

Octavia Spencer could face competition from her co-star Jessica Chastain.  They have only helped honor 8 of the last 16 Best Supporting Actress winners.  I think if Chastain were to be nominated for a different film she would have a better chance, but I think Spencer is going to be a clear favorite this season.

Christopher Plummer may finally step up to Oscar podium this year.  Plummer has only been nominated for one Academy Award in his long career, and this was only two years ago in 2010 for The Last Station.  Plummer won last night for his role in Beginners as a man who comes out late in life, but also finds out he is dying from cancer.  Like with Spencer in Supporting Actress this group has gone fifty percent in this category, but Plummer will win the Oscar on overdue status alone.

Woody Allen paved his way to win a third Oscar in the Original Screenplay category last night for Midnight in Paris.  I just hope he shows up for future award shows, so this screenplay can be honored, sometimes voters will passover people who do not like to show up.  I am curious to see if he shows up at the Golden Globes on Sunday.

The technical categories were all over the place!  My only negative rant is that War Horse won Best Cinematography over The Tree of Life.  While I have not seen War Horse, I just can't believe it was even better than any of the other four nominees.

Overall this could be an interesting award season, or pretty boring.  I hope the Golden Globes and Screen Actor's Guild mix things up a bit so there can be some excitement come Oscar Sunday.

Best Picture-The Artist
Best Actor-George Clooney-The Descendants
Best Actress-Viola Davis-The Help
Best Supporting Actor-Christopher Plummer-Beginners
Best Supporting Actress-Octavia Spencer-The Help
Best Director-Michel Hazanavicius-The Artist
Best Adapted Screenplay-Moneyball-Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin
Best Original Screenplay-Midnight in Paris-Woody Allen
Best Animated Film-Rango
Best Foreign Language Film-A Separation (Iran)
Best Younger Actor/Actress-Thomas Horn-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (annoying voice)
Best Art Direction-Hugo
Best Cinematography-War Horse
Best Costume Design-The Artist
Best Editing-The Girls With the Dragon Tattoo
Best Score-The Artist
Best Make-Up-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Best Sound-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Best Visual Effects-Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Best Action Film-Drive
Best Comedy-Bridesmaids
Best Song-The Muppets-Life's a Happy Song
Music in Film Award: Martin Scorsese
Joel Siegel Humanitarian Award-Sean Penn

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Moneyball is Home Run!

Moneyball (4 out of 5 Stars)
Directed by Bennett Miller (Capote)
Written by Steve Zaillian (Schindler's List) and Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, The American President)
Starring: Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill


I wanted to see this movie when it was out in theaters, but no one would go see this with me.  They missed out!  I do not know why this film was not a hit.  The story is about America's past time, baseball, and it stars Brad Pitt.  While I am a baseball fan, I am a Yankees fan, and I honestly did not know or remember the story of the 2002 Oakland A's and their General Manager Billy Beene.

Moneyball is the story of the Oakland A's and their General Manager Billy Beene.  In 2001 the A's lost in the postseason to the New York Yankees,I remember being happy.  This was post September 11th and the Yankees winning was a symbolic win.  At the time of this playoff game the A's had three clutch player Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, Jason Isringhausen.  After the A's lost they lost each of these players-Damon to the Red Sox, Giambi to the Yankees, and Isringhausen to the St, Louis Cardinals, because each player was a free agent.  After the season ended the A's General Manager Billy Beene (Brad Pitt) went to Cleveland to try and negotiate to get a stellar team.  The problem is that unlike the New York Yankees and many other ball clubs is that the A's do not have as much money to spend on players.  While in Cleveland Beene meets Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) a Yale educated economist who convinces Beene to use a different strategy to beat dynamic in baseball.  Beene and Brand's strategy is met with a lot of opposition, including head coach Art Howe (Phillip Seymour Hoffman).

Bennet Miller's precise direction makes this more than a film about a team or even a specific baseball game.  This film tackles an issue the plagued baseball for many years, teams that paid for their teams so they could be winning ball clubs.  Like within his film Capote, Miller uses autobiographical material to tell an intricate tale about a man who works to understand things on a deeper level.  Miller's direction is complemented well by the brilliant screenplay from Zaillian and Sorkin who weave real life images into their work.  These men are two of the best screenwriters working today, and it is no surprise that their collaboration has yielded one of the best scripts this year.

The words on the page are given life but strong performances from Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  Pitt has grown as an actor throughout the years, and as he takes on roles like this one, and The Tree of Life it is great to see him flex acting muscles he has never shown before.  Hill always plays someone who provides cheap laughs, but in this role he not only makes you laugh a little, but his acting grounds Pitt.  This is the best role Hill has ever had and I am glad to see him challenging himself.  Pitt and Hill have a terrific dynamic on screen, their teamwork appears effortless.  I would like to see them work together more.  Hoffman, who has worked with Miller before; he won an Oscar for his starring role in Capote, displays, albeit brief, an evolution of understanding the game of baseball.

The film made me smile, laugh, cry.  I hit every emotion in the two hours.  There is something to be said about how infectious this film can be.  The movie uses sports as a metaphor for life, and knocks it out the park with a grand slam.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the Most Proper, Well Mannered and a Near Perfect take on the World Britain During the 1970s and the Cold War

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (4 out of 5 Stars)
Directed by Tomad Alfredson (Let the Right One In)
Written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan 
Starring Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Collin Firth, and John Hurt



Tinker Tailor Solider Spy  is based on the 1974 spy novel by John le Carre.  The interesting thing about this will be that this may be the shortest review I have ever done for a film.  Yet this was a brilliant film.

The film itself centers around an intelligence expert named George Smiley (Gary Oldman).  Smiley is forced into retirement but then is brought back secretly to investigate the presence of a mole in the "Circus" the highest level of the Secret Intelligent Service in Britain.  Explaining more about the film would be difficult because one there are specific details and key plot points I do not want to give away and also because of the complicated structure in understanding British intelligence during this period.

After seeing the film I decided that I wanted to learn more about the novel the subject material was based on, and British Intelligence.  I was also a history major in college so understanding the basic history and time period was important to me.  I think understanding the historical context and British intelligence is an important element of this film.  So many films like the Bond series capture a vantage point that details things as well as this film. This is one of the flaws that is not the films fault.

 The film at times was so meticulous and precise then if you looked away or sneezed you could become lost in the films subject matter.  The script is sharp, and well written, and adapts one of the largest books that was once a mini-series into a well made two hour film.  That is no easy task.  Tomas Alfredson who directed the Swedish film Let the Right One In was the perfect choice to direct this film.  Alfredson is an expert at taking the world of espionage and creating such a dark and twisted journey that involves sex, intrigue, and one intense ride.

The real star of this film is Gary Oldman.  Oldman is one of my favorite actors working today.  This man can take a role and we can lose site of the actual actor.  Oldman has done this flawlessly in films like The  Contender, Hannibal, the most recent Batman series, the Harry Potter series, and Air Force One.  This is his best performance; he is stoic, yet incredibly powerful in every interaction he has on camera.  Whether Smiley is trying to get Tom Hardy's character to divulge his source for knowing there was a mole, or using his expert knowledge to make the actual mole (not divulging who) reveal there sordid plan.

The film's message is one of loneliness. These men and women who work for this agency have no where to turn, and no one they can share their secrets with.  Friendship, marriage, and any form of relationship goes out the window, and all in the name of love of one's country.

Dexter Slowly Becomes Unhinged in Character and Quality

This past Saturday evening I finished the sixth (most recent) season of Dexter on with my friends.  I remember reading about Dexter back in early 2006 when the show was announced.  I remember thinking the premise of the show was brilliant, and casting Michael C. Hall was a great choice.  The show had a slow start ratings wise, but drew in a cult following, and with strong word of mouth has become one of Showtimes highest rated series ever!  As my friends and I watch the entire season together (in only two sittings) two things became apparent to me, and to some of my friends. 1) Dexter has started to become sloppy and has become less precise in his work 2) the show's quality has followed the same pattern as Dexter.

Personally speaking Dexter has taken me on more of roller coaster ride throughout all six seasons.  I thought season one started a path.  Season one had the ice truck killer, and there was this back story to understanding who Dexter was.  Season one ended strong and created an incredibly interesting second season (the best season of the show-in my opinion), where Dexter was forced to question himself, his code, and his deceased father.  This season was about Dexter confronting his own past and not a "big bad" throughout the whole season.  With a strong build up at the end up of season two, the third season of this took some dips in quality, but it was also fun to watch Jimmy Smits unhinged and crazy.  Season four was incredibly strong, the "big bad" was the best the show has ever seen, I never knew John Lithgow could be so scary outside of telling teenagers they could not dance.  Then there is the twist at the end of the fourth season which is a jaw dropper.  The show hit its peak and of course there were high expectations after but season five and six took a big plunge in quality.  Season five focused on Dexter as a father, and connecting with Lumen through her traumatic experience.  As season five came to a close Dexter's emotions started to make him much sloppier, and this continued throughout the season six where faith became the central story.

Season six started to focus on Dexter understanding why people believe in God, and how religion and faith influence their life.  Dexter has never had faith, and while bringing his son Harrison to a pre-school in Miami a nun asks him "What do you believe in?" Dexter believes in avenging the deaths of people.  This sounds noble, but Dexter is a bit of a sociopath, and his double life as a blood spatter expert for Miami Metro by day, and a killer by night, causes him to remain robotic.  This most recent season involving religion and the role it plays with the context of this show makes perfect sense.  Even though Dexter has never seemed to care about anything, having a son has changed his character.

The show has moved forward, and I like that the show has not kept Dexter one note.  The problem with this season was the fact that the one character who made Dexter question his faith left mid season.  Mos Def played Brother Sam, and his role was one that created a disturbance in Dexter's life.  Brother Sam was meant to be one of Dexter's victims because at one point he was a criminal who got away with a crime.  Dexter changed his mind as he got to know Brother Sam, and found out that this man's faith helped him to change his dark ways.  Mos Def was the best part of this season and his character provided interesting context the help develop Dexter's character.  The other problem with with this season was the episode "Nebraska" where Dexter finds out some interesting information about the Trinity Killer's (Season 4 big bad) family.  Dexter shucks his responsibility to his sister, and listens to the Ice Truck Killer from the first season and heads on a road trip to Nebraska.  The episode was out of place, and was the worst the show has ever produced.  Season 6 did have a few high points of course, the killers this season were interesting, and the last five minutes of the season were jaw dropping.

While don't mistake the fact that I will still watch season seven this show has started to rely on gimmicks, and tells fans to hold out for the last episode where they around to get a shocking surprise.  I remember an interview where michael C. Hall talked about the this last season being the last.  Now Showtime has a huge hit on their hand and they like basic cable networks just are not saying no like they used to.  The network has the same problem with Weeds, the show that lost its oomph many seasons ago.  As much as I would hate to say goodbye to the team from Miami Metro Dexter has appeared to overstay his welcome and this upcoming season should be the shows last.  With season six's big reveal at the end there is no reason the writers should not be able to reign in this show, and end on more of a high note.

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