Defendor

Defendor ~ Insomnia does crazy things to you sometimes, besides keeping you from sleeping of course. With me, it makes me methodically peruse the OnDemand menus. One such search brought me to Defendor.

Now other than "True Detective" and some scenes in Zombieland, I have never been able to stand Woody Harrelson, and yet here I am watching him playing superhero. Of course, the Woody factor (as well as the comedy factor, dark or not) is kinda outweighed by it being in the broadest sense a superhero movie, and also starring Sandra Oh and Kat Dennings, both serious movie crushes for me.

Harrelson plays a functionally special needs man who takes to the streets to dish out vigilante justice as Defendor. Sandra Oh is the doctor examining him as he tells the tale of the film in flashback, while Kat Dennings is a prostitute who befriends him. There's also Elias Koteas as one of the bad guys. All put in better than expected performances.

Defendor is nowhere near as bad as first impressions or the trailer makes it look. It's actually more Kick-Ass than Blankman, and worth a look. I wanted it to put me to sleep, but I wanted to see how it ended. Yeah, a bit predictable, but I liked it. And there you go.

True Detective Reborn

Let's face it, we all loved the first season of "True Detective." We loved the murky quirky mystery, the bizarre danger, the insane villains, and the wild chemistry of the two unconventional leads. Nic Pizzolatto created some of the greatest television ever made in just eight hours. It was genius.

And then when we heard "True Detective" was to be an 'anthology' series, that a second season would not feature Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson (an actor that TD finally made me respect), but a new cast, story, and setting - we were suddenly tentative and lukewarm. When we saw previews, we were even more shaken. This second season didn't feel like the "True Detective" we knew and loved at all. Hardcore fans were worried.

Then we watched the season premiere last week. I'll be the first to admit this, it was not holding my attention. Political corruption, in my opinion, is boring fodder for a police drama, let alone the amazing story that preceded this one. Vince Vaughn badly channeling Vincent D'Onofrio's baby-man Kingpin from Netflix's "Daredevil" did not help one bit. He is almost a joke at some points.

The rest of the cast appears to be not only too many but not quirky enough for my "True Detective" tastes. Colin Farrell's Ray Velcoro comes closest to what we expect from the show, but he does far too much reacting than acting for my tastes. Rachel McAdams barely registered on my radar, and Taylor Kitsch, who was brilliant as both John Carter and Gambit, yet criminally rousted by Hollywood, barely has anything to do either. Along with Vaughn, it felt like far too many, and far too uninteresting, characters.

Many of us fans may have decided to give up on the show after that first episode. If you did, don't. The show definitely got its vibe back last night with the second episode. And I have a feeling it's going to get even better.

Vince Vaughn got a bit more desperate and dangerous. Both McAdams and Kitsch became far more twisted and interesting. Nic Pizzolatto revealed his more familiar dark side, and they took care of that too many characters thing. If you checked out, check back in. This is going to be a wild ride.

And if you'd like a different view on the second season of "True Detective," check out my buddy Jim Knipp's recaps and reviews at Biff Bam Pop! right here.

The Return of Penny Dreadful

The Showtime series "Penny Dreadful" by John Logan returns to the air on May 3, 2015, even though the first episode of the second season is currently available OnDemand and on YouTube.

The series, taking on its titular genre much the same way as the films Pulp Fiction and True Romance, and the HBO series "True Detective," is a mad cross between The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and The Monster Squad with a strong steampunk sensibility. Taking its cues from classic Victorian monsters and turn of the century pulps, we get to see the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and others at odds with other forces of evil and shades between.

John Logan has an awesome pedigree over and beyond this series, including providing scripts for Hugo, Gladiator, one of my favorites RKO 281, The Last Samurai, Any Given Sunday, Skyfall and the upcoming Spectre. He also pens the season two opener, which picks up the story seamlessly from the year before.

The stellar cast returns as well, all amazing and compelling. Demons and witches are stalking about, Billie Piper from "Doctor Who" presumably will be adjusting to her new role as the monster's bride, and a wax museum of horrors has been added to the mix for atmosphere. This should be an intriguing second season.

For another view of the series, check out the recaps of "Penny Dreadful" by my friend Marie Gilbert over at Biff Bam Pop! right here.

Bosch

I never would have believed it when I first got my Kindle Fire, but it's true. Amazon Prime has been a wonderful source of quality entertainment. Amazon, like Netflix, is producing some amazing television. One of these is "Bosch."

Based on the Harry Bosch book series by Michael Connelly about a homicide detective in Los Angeles, this Amazon TV series is overseen by both Connelly and one of the folks behind one of the best shows ever done for television - "The Wire" - Eric Overmyer. I've never read any of the Bosch novels (but now I will), but with just Overmyer's name I was sold on this.

The story is pulled from several of Connelly's Bosch books and is very rough and slick at once, a police procedural that doesn't feel like a police procedural. It has qualities of both the aforementioned "Wire" and HBO's "True Detective." Yeah, it's that good, and folks who know me know that I do not heap praise like that lightly.

Titus Welliver, a character actor perhaps best known for playing the Man in Black on "Lost," brings Harry Bosch to life in the first season, which pulls storylines from three different novels. Welliver is surrounded by an excellent ensemble cast in this series more focused on storytelling than the characters. I dug this a lot, and cannot wait for the second season. Check it out.