The Blacklist

Hey folks. It has been a strange week. Working on my new video review has eaten up a lot of my time and for that, I apologize for not putting up some blogs. Today we foray into TV. I know, I know. You were expecting a cheesy Sci-Fi or a Horror film that would make you queasy from description but I thought I could find something unsettling in TV and I was right. This is The Blacklist.

Thinking a plug job. Thoughts?

FBI Special Agent Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone of Law & Order: LA, Blue Bloods, Robot Chicken, Welcome to the Jungle, The Blacklist and Family Games) starts her first day as a profiler. A day of significance for her as this marks all the hard work required as a young woman to be in such a position of authority... as it also marks the day a notorious man, Raymond Reddington(James Spader of Less than Zero,Mannequin, Jack's Back, Stargate, Wolf, Boston Legal, and Avengers: Age of Ultron) number 7 of the Most Wanted List wanders in the D.C. Branch to surrender himself to the FBI. This man has been in operation for 20 years, wining and dining some of the most elite, ruthless and unscrupulous people on the planet.

Deputy Director Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix of Dollhouse, Emily Owens, M.D.,Evidence, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, MacBeth Unhinged, Transformers: Robots in Disguise and The Blacklist) is feeling rather smug until he finds out that Reddington has a proposition for the FBI, his little black book. Names of the most powerful and vicious creatures that wear a flesh suit. No, no supernatural angle there. Human made monsters that profit of others' suffering through drugs, sex trade, espionage, terrorism and king making. The power behind the power. Those that lurk in the shadows but operate in plain sight. One of many catches is, he will only work with Elizabeth Keen.

According the records, that is 18 terabyes of porn. That's a lot.

Case worker Agent Resseler (Diego Klattenhoff of Falling Skies, Longmire, After Earth, Homeland, Radius and The Blacklist) has poured 5 years of his life into catching Red is a bit pissed when newcomer Keen is allowed to take point with Reddington. And yes we can all jump to the conclusion he's a dick or we can watch the series unfold itself and bring about a better picture as no one character on this series feels one or two dimensional.

A character that fascinates me outright is CIA Meera Malik (Parminder Nagra of Bend It like Beckham, ER, Ella Enchanted, Alcatraz, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Blacklist and Fortitude). With the look of someone's favorite aunt or cousin with the sharp mind and conviction of an Eastwood character, she comes off commanding, courageous, calculating and charismatic.

To that end, Red holds up his end but must be allowed to continue being the bad guy, moving around and behind the scenes or no one will trust him as a bad man. With much reluctance, The FBI has a substantial and costly "black site" pulling ops on the soil and in foreign countries along side the CIA as support. Now John and Jane tax payer would probably be extremely pissed when footed with that bill but cannot deny the effect it is having on the criminal and corporate empires around the globe.

I mean the implications of the CIA working in our backyard aside from being tactical or investigative is dicey at best. Surely the NSA alone are going to have problems with this.

Why is Red doing this? To level the playing field?   What is his interest in Keen?  Is the irony of her name just someone having fun with puns?

Starting in 2013, we are up to six seasons now. To be honest, I expected this to drag as many series starting this clever would normally do. That the writers can't keep my interests and I would be solely depended upon the development of the characters but seriously, watch Season 1 and draw your own conclusions. James Spader is in his element. Coming off as charming, witty, devious and crafty it brings something you rarely see in TV. A cop drama with a key criminal element.

I haven't seen writing like this executed well since The Wire or Burn Notice and you know they each had a few episodes that were hit or miss. I look forward to seeing this go further, taking us down the rabbit hole of darkness in the hopes of being able to see the light once more.

I know you drank my smoothie, Agent Kesseler.

The Watcher

Hey gang. I have been busy with recording, editing and trying to give Rotten Reelz Reviews video reviews the love it deserves so yes I have been very laxed in my blog. I beg for your forgiveness and shall provide you with some much needed reading material. PLEEEEEASEEEE DON'T LEAVE MEEEEEE!!!!

Okay, with that slap at dignity, today's film is actually a thriller hailing from the far forgotten time of 2000. Yes 17 years and 4 months ago... Simpler times then. A sadistic game of cat and mouse for our hero and villain as both learn too much each other and leading to a final confrontation.

This is The Watcher.

Keanu a bad guy? NO WAY! Yes Keanu Reeves as a psychotic killer, David Allen Griffin who knows Kung Fu and exorcism, or maybe I am confusing a few movies. Any rate, our villain enjoys throttling the life from his victims. Typically sweet, innocent naive girls that are swept up in the moment of this handsome guy paying attention to them, caught unaware of the danger they are in until it is too late.

Careful, I know Kung Fu.

His nemesis, Joel Campbell (James Spader of Mannequin, Less than Zero, Jack's Back) is a guilt ridden, cluster migraine sufferer living on disability, regret and a fair amount of Vietnamese take out. Prior to that, he was an FBI serial profiler. Able to get in the heads of serial killers and catch them. Three years prior in L.A. He was hot on the trail of Griffin and a tragic death happened on his watch. He burned out and moved away from it all.

Living on a steady diet of bad food, pills,Coke and self-condemnation, Campbell left his job, handles his bills and stays out of police work...until he finds his old enemy followed him to Chicago to start "the game" again. Worthy of his attention, Griffin and Campbell have a relationship of give and take. Yeah this is how Griffin's sick ass mind operates. With a knowledge of police procedure, forensics and murder, Griffin is a predator stalking young women for days even weeks before his kill. His murder bag of tricks at the ready, his rituals to be adhered to and his victim completely terrified, he gets off on this every time.

FBI and Chicago PD are not thrilled with the idea of working with Campbell given what has happened in his past, but our Keanu has invited him to play and hopefully he can outwit, outguess or outclass him and take him down.

To take away from this film, well Keanu is actually quite creepy in it. Love the warm behavior to the potential victims. He comes on strong but not in an unappealing way. His grin and smile would easily put women off their guard and allow them to believe there are decent guys out there. He comes off charming and eccentric rather than a stalker plotting his next murder.

Spader as a brilliant burn out, showing all his former training and analytical thinking through waves of depression, pharmaceutical abuse and rattled nerves is compelling. One hand you want this poor wreck of a man to go home and just forget about this psycho. Then you realize, with Spader on the case; it stands a better chance of catching this nut.

Veteran character actors Chris Ellis and Ernie Hudson bring a lot to the table with their range of emotions and humor or darkness. The only one I felt wasted was Marisa Tomei. This capable, intelligent woman stuck in a shrink role on a couch gives decent drama but I swear they just didn't give her enough to do in this role. The hell, man? This is a talented woman and ya pissed her away.

Bottom line, I was a bit surprised the killer's reveal so soon in the film but given the story makes for an interesting history between Campbell and Griffin it works. The adrenaline for the chase, can he be stopped or will there be more bodies in the water?

This is a solid enough film, good pace so no drag factor but my other gripe is I wonder what even made Griffin who he is or was he simply born evil? Cue the Halloween Carpenter music!

The killer POV camera work was starting to hurt my eyes and head a bit though, so keep this in mind, photophobics. It isn't Uwe Boll territory but still hurt my eyes. Tomei wasted aside, I would have to say a fair 7 out of 10, decent story, excellent performances and awesome soundtrack.

Mood lighting always makes a Spader look cuckoo.