True Detective

As you may surmise from the title, today I want to talk about the show TrueDetective.

I became vaguely aware of the show through the internet, but I started watching after being encouraged to do so by a good friend.

I was hesitant going in, mainly due to the main cast namely MatthewMcConaughey and Woody Harrelson, but also because I'm a bit bored with police procedurals and serial killer shows.

Now, I like Mr. Harrelson well enough, but his roles tend towards either hippie weirdos or macho uber-men. Mr. McConaughey on the other hand is very well known for his many romantic comedies, which I really can't watch. His role in U-571 was pretty non standard for him at the time, but my friend urged me to put Mr. McConaugheys romcoms in the past and give True Detective a shot.

Boy am I glad I did. There is no romance or indeed any comedy anywhere to be seen.

Mild Spoilers Ahead

At it's most basic, True Detective is about two police detectives in Louisiana hunting an occult serial killer. The story is told in two time frames, 1995 and 2012. The main characters Rust Cohle (McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Harrelson) are being interviewed by other detectives in 2012 concerning their work hunting the killer back in '95. This is an unusual (at least for me) technique but it works very well, in a sense allowing the same characters to speak with two voices. Both Rust and Marty change considerably during the show, and this juxtaposition showcases the changes without resorting to info-dumping or leaving the viewer behind.

Another thing I should point out is that we have a strong case of Unreliable Narrator here. Both characters tell things from their perspectives and this can confuse things, particularly when they lie.

Now, you can watch True Detective just like any other cop show, but that would be foolish. This is not a show that should be watched casually. There are clues and foreshadowing aplenty throughout the season, and the more you notice the scarier it gets. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a horror show, but it's damn close.

You see, the occult part of the show concerns the Yellow King and Carcosa. If you've never read Robert W. Chambers book The King in Yellow and/or read the expanded Cthulhu Mythos started by H.P. Lovecraft, these names will mean nothing to you, but if you have, this show quickly gets really unnerving.

I'm not going to explain it all here, but the creator Nic Pizzolatto has created a show that works both as a regular TV show, but also as a “Cthulhu Investigation” familiar to fans of Lovecraft and Call of Cthulhu in all it's forms and shapes.

True Detective runs on two levels. One one hand it's about deranged people in a cult “just” molesting children and committing horrible murders, but on the other hand the whole cult part is real. They really are sacrificing people to otherworldly entities. Basically it's up to you what is true and what's not.

This reality blur is mainly expressed through Detective Cohle who sees things due to a damaged nervous system from his days deep under cover as a narcotics cop. In order to keep his cover intact he had to take copious amounts of drugs, which has either damaged his brain enough to make him hallucinate, or the drugs have enhanced his mind enough to see hidden things like ancient shamans. Again it's your call which reality is true.

This is a show that I'm going to have to re-watch just to see what I missed. Even a cursory search on this show will net you several pages of analyses and Easter eggs that are easily over looked.

As an example I completely failed to grasp the possible meaning behind Marty’s oldest daughter and the drastic changes she goes through, even though they are pretty text-book.

The over all feel of the show is oppressive, gloomy and spellbinding. The score is at times truly haunting and at no time did I get the feeling that I'd rather be doing something else. That said, this is a very heavy show, and not one to be taken lightly.

So, if this sounds appealing, go watch True Detective. Hell, even if you think I've just written seven-hundred plus words of complete drivel, go watch it anyway. Just keep kids away. This is Adult Country and not just for the nudity.

Until next year, take it easy!

Some holiday entertainment

Greetings and salutations! Today we're going back in time to look at two movies from the nineties. Both are pretty damn good and well worth your time.

First up is Suicide Kings (1997).

The story of a group of collage age, well to do guys who kidnap a “retired” mafia boss, played by the unique Christopher Walken.

Walken spends nearly the entire film duct taped to a chair and yet he still manages to completely dominate the whole thing. Despite his mostly calm demeanor he's scarier than his main henchman Lono (Denis Leary), a man who shoots people with the same emotional response as someone scratching his nose.

The story unfolds beautifully and with great pacing so you never get bored, but it's not an action piece in any way. Nor is it a typical mobster movie. Suicide Kings stands on its own with no need for any excuses.

Great acting tops it off from all involved parties. Top notch movie in my opinion.

Our second entry for today is The Ref (1994).

What we have here is actually a Christmas movie, but one with a twist. Denis Leary (yup, him again) is Gus, a cat burglar forced to spend x-mas eve with a family he kidnaps in order to evade the police.

Although The Ref also stars Kevin Spacey, it's Leary's enraged and frustrated rantings that makes this film so funny. If you're a fan of the mans stand-up, it's a must-see.

It's not in any way a “Great Film” but none the less a surprisingly warm holiday movie with out any of the typical cliches that saturates the x-man market.

Other highlights include a wildly inaccurate “Scandinavian Christmas Dinner” and I do mean inaccurate, and possibly the nastiest woman found anywhere in film outside of serial killer and holocaust movies. This hag is truly vile.

If you're in the mood for some holiday fun, and it is Christmas this week after all, do check it out.

That's it for this week, happy watching and have a great Holiday you all, where ever you may be!

Peace out.

Blacker than Black

Tonight here on Eccentric Spheres we're going to talk about SCIENCE!

OK, maybe not talk so much as look at this awesome documentary I found. A documentary about black holes, in fact.

I've always found them fascinating but I had no idea how crazy they are until I watched this.

One of the things that makes black holes so cool is that we, as in humanity, don't yet understand how they work. Because they shouldn't.

The best and brightest minds we have can not explain how they function. You see, Einstein's Law of Relativity explains how physics works just fine, until you get to the black holes. Then the laws of physics break down, we get things like infinite gravity that stops time itself and light traveling faster than itself. How can that not be interesting.

As a bonus, you don't have to feel uneducated or dumb since these scientific geniuses are just as stumped as you and me. In fact, they haven't even seen a black hole. No one has, but we do know they exist, and without them, you and I probably wouldn't.

So without further ado, I present The Ultimate guide to Black Holes, enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3U0vjSUhOA (<- direkt link)

Until next week, take it easy!

Blood and Bone

When you find a movie called Blood and Bone, the content should be pretty obvious. And in this action film from 2009 starring Michael Jai White, Julian Sands and Eamonn Walker, the title is pretty well spot on.

I discovered it one evening whilst feeling bored and in the need of some brainless entertainment. I was completely satisfied 93 minutes later.

But that's not to say that it's a bad movie. Quite the contrary, in fact.

What we have here is a film about illegal underground fights. That's the core of the story and that's what we get. There's more, sure. A basic revenge plot that thankfully does not get in the way of what you came to see. And to top it off, no real romance subplot! I was very pleasantly surprised about that.

These films tend to have a sexy female character who's job it is to get into trouble, get rescued and get the bad-ass hero into bed. Not in Blood and Bone. No sirree!

Now before you get any funny ideas, I should point out that this is not a “good movie”. It's raw entertainment, nothing more. The dialog is stilted at best and both Julian Sands and Eamonn Walker are pretty much wasted here.

The real star here is Michael Jai White and his incredible martial arts skills. It's a pleasure to watch that man move. And kick copious amounts of ass!

That said, at no point did I feel like I was actually wasting my time. If you on the other hand are in a hurry, you can find a compilation of just the fight scenes. You won't need to know the plot to enjoy yourselves. But be warned, some fights are pretty rough if you're feeling sensitive.

Bottom line, if you like martial arts movies and you're bored with Steven Seagal, check out Michael Jai White, and Blood and Bone is as good a place to start as any.

That's all he wrote this time. Until next time, take it easy.

Gentlemen Bastards!

Today we're going to talk about literature. Fantasy literature to be exact. Today's post is all about The Gentlemen Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch.

To date there are three books on the series; The Lies of Locke Lamora, Red Seas Under Red Skies and The Republic of Thieves.

I finished the third book last night, and I've read the two other books twice, so I feel qualified to talk about them.

Together with A Song of Ice and Fire (George R.R. Martin) this is my favorite fantasy series, hands down. It does have magic and some fabulous beasts, but otherwise no classic fantasy tropes like elves, dwarfs, dragons and giant burning eyes perched on dark towers. No, The Gentlemen Bastards are thieves, con-men and criminals extraordinaire. But in a world with mostly gray on gray morality they come out as pretty nice people. Mostly because their targets are rich jerks and a lot of people are much worse then the Bastards.

I'm sitting here struggling to explain to you why these books are so good without either spoiling anything or going into a long rant about everything, but the most important point has to be the way Mr. Lynch writes. He paints vivid scenes filled with great characters you can actually sympathize with. The entire world comes alive and is tremendously believable. Not a mean feat considering it's fantasy after all.

Also, Mr. Lynch does not shy away from unpleasant themes. Violence is nasty, child thieves are hung and tons of bad things happen, but without any scene descending into a needless gore-fest.

The main characters are criminals yes, but the books don't moralize. Sometimes things go well, other times they really don't, but the causes and consequences speak for themselves without you getting preached at. Neither are the characters ever really let of the hook just because they happen to be the main characters. A tricky balance Mr. Lynch handles terrible well.

The Lies of Locke Lamora had me hooked completely after only the prologue, and I would not hesitate to give it five out of five stars anywhere.

Red Seas and The Republic are easy four star novels, with the only reason they weren't as good being, well, hard to explain. Perhaps they're lacking some of the joy you feel leaping at you from the pages. Otherwise they are magnificent.

If you like your fantasy, or indeed any genre, liberally coated with intrigue, mystery, charm, wit, adventure, romance and suspense you absolutely can't go wrong with these books.

Start reading The Gentlemen Bastard Sequence as soon as you can!

That's all he wrote, dear readers. Take it easy, gather some energy in this dark December and keep on trucking!