The Wire (2002-2008)

One of my primary goals involving entertainment in this already fast-moving new year was to catch up on a lot of classic television shows I've never watched before. To kick off a new year also meant to start strong, and what better way to begin that journey with what many people call "the greatest television show of all-time" The Wire. HBO has the well-deserved reputation as the most successful and profitable premium cable network in the entertainment industry, and shows like The Wire are one of many examples to back up that proclamation. Thriving off brisk, gritty realism, supremely well-developed characters, and deep sociopolitical themes of a city that is far more idiosyncratic than it may seem on the outside, this is a show that demands to be seen as both a cultural and learning experience.

But before I really go in-depth with my praising thoughts on this exceptional gem of a television show, I thought I'd do this review in a different format (a format I'll also do for future "series" reviews), because writing a full review on this series would dive into an essay that would cover aspects that could get too far into spoiler territory. Instead, I'm going to lay out the framework of this show in five parts: Summary, Best Season, Best Episodes, Best Characters, and Dear Creator (A letter to the creator(s) of the show reflecting on the series). With that now out of the way, here's my "review" of HBO's The Wire.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Every few years in Hollywood, there is a film that defines a generation. In 2009, “The Hurt Locker” illustrated the intensity and paranoia of scouting for IEDs during the Iraq war. In 2010, “The Social Network” dramatized a new generation of youth that became consumed both positively and negatively by the rapid rise in online social networking. Now in 2012 we have “Zero Dark Thirty,” a film that recounts a ten-year period of time where America was on edge with various nations in the Middle East, and the determined confidence of a young female CIA agent that led to the conclusion of one of the greatest manhunts in world history.

Revolution (Pilot)

Since the conclusion of various shows including "Jericho" and "Lost", numerous projects that followed their conclusions have tried to cash in on the post-apocalyptic genre craze set upon an ensemble of characters that live in a society of little hope and surrounding dangers at every corner. Being that the aforementioned genre has been such a popular one to toy with over the past decade, cliches and stock characters have risen to their highest peaks where the possibilities of innovation have been downgraded to their scarcest levels. However NBC has decided to take on that high risk challenge with their latest series "Revolution", created by Eric Kripke, which is also his first series since leaving showrunner duties from his breakthrough CW hit "Supernatural". Along with big name figures like J.J. Abrams and Jon Favreau who had key involvement in the pilot, does "Revolution" give off a glimmer of hope that the post-apocalyptic genre can be reignited with a fresh spark, or does it foretell its doom as yet another typical one-and-done show for NBC? Hit the jump button to find out!

Looking Ahead: Fall Movie Preview 2012

As we near the end of the August in a matter of days, the fall movie season is about to be bestowed upon us. After a summer season that was full of flops and disappointments, the upcoming fall lineup is very promising as it is composed of potential Oscar contenders and highly anticipated blockbusters. Nonetheless, this year's summer movie season looks strong with what it has to offer, so I'm going to break down my Top 10 Anticipated films for the forthcoming movie season.

Premium Rush (2012)

January and August. What do both of the those months have in common with each other? Well for starters, you can easily take similar climate out of the equation. However, something that these two months do share is releasing movies that are mostly either mediocre or just plain bad. "Premium Rush" fits that example since it was a film that was originally set to release in the second week of January way earlier this year, but then got pushed to the second-to-last week of August. Now that right there folks, is definitely not the wisest of moves to glimmer any hope that a film would be good. So does "Premium Rush" prove that decision wrong, or does it highlight why the two aforementioned months are known to release relished within mediocrity and sometimes more? Hit the jump button to find out!