Thursday's Shows - Modern Family (Ep. 6)

This show is, in my opinion, the best televisive surprise of this year. With a great cast, a good concept and loads of humor it gets impossible not to like it. And this show is so aware of its humor that you get no laughter tracks everytime a something funny occurs, it makes this series natural and not pressurably enjoyed. In this episode - "Run For Your Life", we get laughing with tears funny moments from Claire and Phil teaching Haley to drive and later in a race for glory, another high-pitched baby crisis with Cameron and Mitchell and a cultural shock between Jay and Manny. As usual this episode delivers not only great humor, but also great family moments, that make this a show that can be watched by the whole family not only for the familiar context of the show but also for the heart-warming moments, like this episode's "bumpy circumstances", that remind us what it means to be in a family and the importance of it. This is entertainment and the next episode can't come fast enough.

10/10

Wednesday Sounds - The Resistance

I love Muse. I've been a fan of them for a long time. And one of the reasons I like this band so much is because of their capacity to surprise me with new rhythms and new experimental sounds every album. The Resistance is Muse's greatest example of that. After Black Holes and Revelations, Muse try a new sonority that makes this album an original masterpiece. With simple yet detailful musics like United States Of Eurasia, songs with prologue and brilliant crescendos with great vocals, Muse give us an album that constantly reminds me of Queen's A Night At the Opera, for its catchy lyrics and masterfully composed tunes. And while we still get songs like Uprising and MK Ultra that are classic Muse all the way, we have also Undisclosed Desires, a small step into electronic that might be a prelude for things to come. Finally we are met with Exogenesis, a genius three-parter composition that reminds us that music these days doesn't always have to sound the same and that originality is not dead. It's a final stroke of genius that makes of this album one of the best of this year, and while the die-hard fanbase might argue that they wanted more of the same, nobody can deny Muse didn't put out one hell of an album.


9/10

Tuesday's Titles - The Lost Symbol

Oh, Dan Brown, it's so hard to quit your books. You realize how he does get you addicted to the story, you get that the chapters are way too small and you've heard a similar story before already, but damn it, you just can't stop reading it. Once again, Dan offers a story that brings up the Freemasonry and usual conspiracy theory it always brings, which, quite frankly, is starting to get a little repetitive. With bits of science fiction and classic references to actual people and institutions this is a book that is able to get you gripped easily. What I've found most interesting in the it was the fact that it takes the city of Washington as a character, constantly evolving and developing it with all its symbols and masonic history to advance the story to its culmination. While it doesn't take its place as my favorite Dan Brown book, which is Deception Point, its definitely one of Brown's best efforts.

7/10

Monday Matinée - Saw VI

Well, I'll be damned. After two weak movies, the saw franchise comes back with a bang this year. And for that successful are a wide range of reasons. The first one would be the return (kinda) of the original cast, with Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith in their respective roles as Jigsaw and Amanda, who bring back the early franchise mythos and make this movie relevant to the continuity of the franchise. Secondly there's the good story. Detective Hoffman keeps the Jigsaw tradition going although are a few twists in his path, while we get a few good glimpses of the past between Hoffman and John. Finally there's the critic implied in the movie, which for me is what defines this one as one of the best Saw movies. While we still get the good ol' gratuitous bloody gore there is a good dose of the morality on the subject of health insurance and how much a life's worth. But then again this is Saw, right? Insured or not, everybody dies.

8/10