American Horror Story: Coven by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk - FX, 2013 (TVMA)

Exploring humankind's unsettling capacity for evil, this darkly twisted drama plays upon the power of supernatural fears and everyday horrors. Each season brings back familiar faces, but they're playing different characters in an all-new setting.
Coven tells the secret history of witches and witchcraft in America. Over 300 years have passed since the turbulent days of the Salem witch trials and those who managed to escape are now facing extinction. Mysterious attacks have been escalating against their kind and young girls are being sent away to a special school in New Orleans to learn how to protect themselves. Wrapped up in the turmoil is new arrival, Zoe, who is harboring a terrifying secret of her own. Alarmed by the recent aggression, Fiona, the long-absent Supreme, sweeps back into town determined to protect the Coven and hell bent on decimating anyone who gets in her way.



This third season has a lot of interesting elements, but in the end, it feels a little too light, there is nothing about the characters that helps us empathize, feel that the story is coherent. It feels like some sort of Harry Potter with all the voodoo culture of the South packed together. We forget about the neighbors, the Beowulf, and even most of the witches are not as relevant. Somehow, also, the empathy for Evan Peters is limited to his performance of an irrelevant character. Jamie Brewer is great but same happens to her, because the meaninglessness of her existence in the script. The freshness come from the new cast made of Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates and most of all Gabourey Sidibe, although somehow, they are simplistic and exaggerated. The only characters that are somehow intriguing are the ones performed by Denis O'Hare and Sarah Paulson, still with an expected outcome. Jessica Lange's characters are now a continuous performance of the same, but simplified more and more. Anyway, the third season is always a more challenging one, and they pulled it off ok.

Currently watching Season 4: Freak Show. Will keep you posted.

with Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange (Tootsie, The Vow), Sarah Paulson (Game Change, Mud), Emma Roberts (We're the Millers), Evan Peters, Lily Rabe (All Good Things), Taissa Farmiga, Jamie Brewer, Denis O'Hare (The Normal Heart, Dallas Buyers Club, True Blood, Milk, Duplicity, Michael Clayton), Angela Bassett (This Means War), Kathy Bates (Valentine's Day), Gabourey Sidibe (Tower Heist, Precious), Patti LuPone, Danny Huston (The Congress, Hitchcock, You Don't Know Jack, Robin Hood, The Conspirator), Stevie Nicks

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Season 1: Murder House
Season 2: Asylum

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American Horror Story: Murder House by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk - FX, 2011 (TVMA)

A Boston family makes a new start by moving cross-country to Los Angeles ... only to find that their new home might already be "occupied." As the house's dark secrets come to light, creepy characters come out of the woodwork. Exploring humankind's unsettling capacity for evil, this darkly twisted drama plays upon the power of supernatural fears and everyday horrors. Each season brings back familiar faces, but they're playing different characters in an all-new setting.

This is a very particular way of looking at haunted house. The beginning of the season was giving you great scare, but it would seem that the producers were more interested in getting to know the monsters, and somehow unveil the real monsters, who don't correspond to the cliches of monsters. The story twists in itself making you less and less fearful, and more interested about what really happened in that house. The performances are great, the characters completely and sometimes absurdly realistic. You might even think of the series as a comedy. Anyway, hard not to spoil the suspense. I got into watching the next one right after!

Read more about Season 2: Asylum and Season 3: Coven



with Dylan McDermott (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Connie Britton, Taissa Farmiga, Jessica Lange (Tootsie, The Vow), Evan Peters, Denis O'Hare (The Normal Heart, Dallas Buyers Club, True Blood, Milk, Duplicity, Michael Clayton), Frances Conroy, Kate Mara (127 hours, House of Cards), Lily Rabe (All Good Things), Alexandra Breckenridge, Zachary Quinto (Heroes, Star Trek Into Darkness, Margin Call), Sarah Paulson (Game Change, Mud)

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Hereafter by Clint Eastwood, 2010 (PG-13)

with Matt Damon (Invictus, Margaret, True Grit, We Brought a Zoo, The Informant!), Cécile De France (L'auberge Espagnole), Frankie McLaren, George McLaren, Bryce Dallas Howard (50/50, The Help), Jay Mohr, Marthe Keller, Thierry Neuvic, Mylène Jampanoï
From the director of Invictus, J. Edgar, Million Dollar Baby...

Clint Eastwood directs this supernatural thriller about three very different people and their responses to death, including a hesitant American psychic named George (Matt Damon) who may be able to help the others find answers and peace. Marie (Cécile De France) is a French journalist caught up in the aftereffects of the devastating 2004 tsunami, while in London, young Marcus (Frankie and George McLaren) seeks to contact his deceased twin brother.

It is said people who experienced death and came back to life experienced something similar. I don't know that this is the afterlife or just something in between, or something else. But definitely, it is fascinating. And the parallel stories of this movie makes you long for something unique, and it is pretty well built. You want them to meet to see the "something special" happen. It does happen, but I think the climax happen too much towards the end, with no continuation and a cheesy happy ending that made me upset. Too bad for a movie that was so enjoyable until the last five minutes.

The Other Man by Richard Eyre, 2008 (R)

with Liam Neeson (The Next Three Days, Chloe, The Grey, Love Actually), Antonio Banderas (Ruby Sparks, La Piel Que Habito, Haywire), Laura Linney (Love Actually), Romola Garai (One Day), Laurence Richardson, Amanda Drew, Abigail Canton

Over dinner, Peter's (Liam Neeson) wife, Lisa (Laura Linney), essentially reveals that she's been cheating on him -- and then disappears the following day. Obsessed with learning the details, Peter tracks down Ralph (Antonio Banderas), Lisa's lover. Believing Ralph doesn't know who he is, Peter plays little games with him in an effort to quell his own despair.

By the same director as "Note on a Scandal". A much softer story tho. Still, it has this darkness surrounding each scene, as if there was something we were missing all this time. And the obsession of Liam Neeson becomes more and more complicated, as you see the other characters taking a different journey, the only one following his obsession being Ralf, which we do not really understand. The end has a great twist to it and the storyline is well built. But please, I found Antonio Banderas so bad, it was traumatic.