Jack the Ripper: DNA analyst thinks he's got his man.

The most famous cold  case in history may have just been solved. I know, I know, "with a grain of salt" and all that, but still.

This is really fuggin' cool, even if it's just  an extremely well educated guess. I don't know, Kominski was never the most convincing suspect to me. But maybe this will encourage other theorists to use actual expatriation instead of speculation to prove their hypothesis. Though starting with your conclusion is kind of a huge problem too... 

Blue Ruin Review: I hear its best served cold.

I went into Blue Ruin cold... and a little buzzed. I knew it was a bit of a critic darling and I knew it was about bloody revenge. If you want to avoid spoilers, and I suggest you avoid spoilers, stop reading right now and Netflix it. If you enjoyed Breaking Bad at all, I know you'll at least like it.


Still not convinced? Lemmie break down the beginning for you. We see a homeless man breaking out of a small house naked, stealing clothes off a line (who has clothes lines anymore?) as he runs back to his beach campsite. A fabulously sh**y immobile sedan with a tarp propped up out of it like a tent. He seems innocent enough, likable, even. Is he in hiding? Is this what the villain of the piece winds up becoming in the story's aftermath? Nope. He's the "hero."

A man who's parents were killed by a small time Dixie mafia family after his dad fooled around with the crime boss's wife. But really, the back story is just a jumping off point. Blue Ruin is all about atmosphere and action first with character development second. Dwight is the only 3 dimensional character, and even then, most of that is because of Macon Blaire's gloriously subtle performance. He's so quiet and sweet, yet so broken and crazy. This is the kind of movie that character work would have only bogged down. This movie is all about the stealth attacks and stakeouts. A micro budget Die Hard that gives the best of the genre a damn good run for it's money.

It's impossible to explain why the stealth scenes are so good without absolutely ruining them. Blue Ruining them. So here's the deal: Indie atmosphere good. Acting good. Action good. Movie good.

Give it a shot.

One of my favorite comedians has written his thoughts on Robin Williams. And you should read it.

The first comedian I ever loved has said his piece on the first comedian I ever knew. It's wonderful stuff. Heavy, pitch dark, yet electrically charming. If you're still reeling from the man's death as I was, I think this will help. And if you're starved for a thoughtfully produced comedian roundtable podcast, I think this will help.

Bojack Horseman Review: Dark Horse Comic.

I gotta say, I did not expect to write a review about this. I only liked the show, usually I need a stronger reaction than that to get me tuh' writtin'. But the critical reaction being as tepid as it is, I feel the need to wade in amongst the "mehs" and shine a light on what this show does well. Which is plenty.

Will Arnett plays an anthropomorphic horse who's trajectory in the entertainment business went from struggling comedian, to long running sitcom lead in "Horsin' Around," to a solitary has-been who's self aware enough to want to change, but too much of a coward to do anything about it. Yeah, this show gets existential. Darkly so.

You can blink and miss 4 second gags about Bojack waving his hand over a stove top muttering "nothing on the outside, nothing on the inside" that are just fast enough to be funny, yet manage to add just a touch more character depth. Like the director just dropped an ice cube down your back. It's surprising in the moment, and it's funny in retrospect. But if he just held the ice to the back of your neck, it'd be painful. In some respects this method works a hell of a lot better than most straight dramas I've seen. Bojack does this again and again. It lured me into thinking it was another Mission Hill (the most thunderously boring animated series yet unleashed upon the world) but would routinely sneak in either clever anthropomorphized animal gags (maggot morticians, paparazzi birds, penguin publishers, middle aged women as lap dogs, a wolf in a bar wearing a t-shirt that just says SHEEP while hitting on one, I could go on... it's marvelous.)  or decent story beats and dialogue.

This is a show meant to be paused and savored.

The voice cast is talented enough that footage of the taping session would almost be enough for me. Seriously, where has Amy Sedaris been? If nothing else, her character guaranteed a Colbert cameo. But as Bojack's agent Princess Caroline (did you guess she's a cat?) she gets more depth in one season than Lois Griffin has had in 5. In fact, her boyfriend near the end of the season is my favorite running gag in a long time. Aaron Paul is, unfortunately, playing a slightly more well adjusted Jessie. But he plays it so well I didn't mind. And while most of the time the show struggles to find something for him to do, they usually pull it off. Just wait until "Boreanaz house" before passing judgment.

What else? Stanley Tucci is great as Bo's old showrunner/back stabbed best friend. Paul F. Tompkins tears it up as golden retriever, Mr. Peanut butter. He's dim, over eager, stupendously vain, yet you can't stop loving him. There is simply no better analogy for a dumb, pretty boy, actor than a golden retriever.  Which  brings us to Alison Brie's, Diane. As well as a great low key performance from her. There's not a lot to say about her barring spoilers, except she's Bo's ghostwriter as well as the near central source of conflict for the season. For those of you that think she could never really swim in the deep waters of mad men, I say that you should watch what she does here. A charming, three dimensional, love interest that could carry the show on her own.

Intellectually I can accept this show will be rule 34'd... but emotionally I cannot.

I don't think I'm overselling how damn good the acting is, but there are serious issues that hold it back. Small, but consistent things. It's true there's a lot in common with this and Californication, and in terms of basic structure I don't think it branched out enough. It's also true it never got a real "belly laugh" from me either. Just bemused snickering, not that it's a bad thing, I just wish it went for bigger laughs a few times.

But unlike Californication, where there must have been a clause in Duchovny's contract that forced his character to always be at least slightly badass, Bojack is allowed to be pathetic. It's depths of pathetication is the single most interesting thing the show does. The monologue at the end of episode 11 cut through me like butter. A passionate demand that the person on stage "like" him. Not "marry" him, not "love" him, just think highly enough about his capacity for humanity to simply enjoy being around him. It's a spectacular monologue. One that exempts this show from a low score entirely on it's own. It was more moving that anything Zach Braff has ever managed to cobble together... but that's not selling my point much, is it?  

Let me leave you with this. There's a lot in this show that have been done before as well as a few things in there that have been done to death. But what it does well (the acting, the story, the relatable existentialism) is so well done, by the end of the season I could barley notice the warts anymore. Remember how irritating it was on Family Guy when Brian would just unleash a diatribe or whiny monologue out of nowhere? Bojack Horseman is structured to earn those moments. It even writes them more coherently. Simply put, clinical depression has never been more entertaining. 

...That's praise.

Also I love the opener just... so much:

Mr. Stewart's Opus.

Remember last year when John Stewart left the Daily Show for the summer and made that movie? I've been trying to put it out of my mind for some time now. I the show and I love John Stewart. I feel like he's a pretty good judge of character and has a spectacularly minimal tolerance for bullshit. So I'd hate to see his heart break over all this.

I can't find the exact clip, but a few months ago I remember him just riffing off on how something you think is going to be pretty good, ends up being embarrassing. He was joking, but it was obvious that the post production prognosis did. Not. Look. Good.

No one really tries to make a bad movie, it just something that happens. Making anything that gets released is incredibly difficult. So the trailer for Rosewater was released and... I can see it. I can see  the inkling of grandiose hokyness (the last thing this story needs) in some of the lines.

But there's something else too. The lead is acting his ass off. The interrogator isn't some slobbering sub-human. I could see this being pretty good.

See for yourself:

The agony and the ecstasy of the getting the perfect entertainment system set up.

Apparently in some places internet can be set up over the phone! My new apartment complex is one such place. After hearing horror stories of my west coast friends dealing with Comcast, Time Warner was shockingly, shockingly, friendly and helpful. This was a refreshing change of pace from my simple internet life out in the sticks. Apparently being a stone's throw away from Duke University has it's perks... 

I've also been meaning to get back to the crackpot, but I've also been busy moving in/getting pimp slapped by Best Buy/Best Buy employees just doing their job. And I am just this close to a comfortable living room set up that's also physically attached to the monster PC in the other room.

You see, I pride myself on not being a dick neighbor, and last night while testing out my new TV with The Winter Soldier (at 11:00) I failed miserably. As soon as I heard the first angry out-of-bed foot stomp I knew I fu**ed up. I can change that. I want to change that. It should be stupefyingly simple to change that.

Not so.

Radio Shack had only half the parts I needed, the rest have to be ordered special. All to plug my PC into a TV in the next room and have headphone capability. It's taken an extra $80 and 6 trips to Best Buy and Radio Shack collectively. Granted half of that is negligence on my part, but I can't be the only person that wants this... can I? 

Yet seeing a maxed out Far Cry 3 at 1080p on a 32 inch screen for the first time makes up for all of it.

ALL OF IT.

And soon my rig can stay comfortably perched on my desk while I switch screens and furniture with ease.

The Crackpot has gone dark....

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to set up an internet connection at my new apartment. And while I know some of you out there can write novels on your damn i-phones, it's almost physically painful  for me.

I like my new digs though...