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  • Spotlight Review

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    Spotlight is an understated film. It’s not flashy, it doesn’t have a constantly peaking score begging you to feel, and the actors aren’t trying to steal every scene they’re in. Instead, director Tom McCarthy created a film that shares the same journalistic spirit as its lead characters. For most of its runtime, it feels as impartial as it could possibly be, intent on getting to the bottom of things without manipulating the viewer emotionally. It lets the facts speak for themselves, and keeps us engaged with the thrill of the chase.

    Visually, it’s all fairly old-school. It employs lots of wide shots and the takes are typically longer than your average 2015 release. But again, this is very appropriate for the film. Set in 2001, this particular story about the discovery of the Catholic church’s institutional child abuse centers around a method of journalism based on researching, building a story, and not publishing until it’s ready. It’s the kind of vital reporting that used to be the cornerstone of the profession and is sadly disappearing today, with the desire to be the first to break a story on the internet outweighing the need to research and fact-check. The film rarely outright decries the coming pitfall of journalistic integrity, but it does subtly hint that we are watching the end of the era.

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  • Jessica Jones Review

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    When placed next to Marvel’s other Netflix series, Daredevil, Jessica Jones is a bit messy. Multiple major plotlines lead to dead ends, it’s structurally unbalanced, and characters seem to come and go on a whim. Like Jessica herself, the series doesn’t always seem to know what it’s doing, but it’s always trying to find its way.

    But also unlike Daredevil, which treads a fairly well-trodden “dark super-hero” path, Jessica Jones takes on several controversial subjects in its examination on how people control each other. The key relationship in this first season is between Jessica and her ex-boyfriend, Kilgrave, who is kept in the shadows for most of the first half. Kilgrave can, and often does, control others with his voice. During Jessica’s time with him, she only had a few moments of full, conscious control over herself.

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  • The Hateful Eight Review

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    The Hateful Eight is Quentin Tarantino’s most indulgent film yet. Depending on how you feel about his past films and idiosyncrasies, such a statement can be read as either a strict warning or a raving endorsement. Personally, I really like Tarantino’s voice as a writer and his distinct directorial footprint. Despite jumping between genres with almost every picture, his presence is always notable in every aspect of his films, from the writing, to the performances, to the staging, cinematography, and even soundtrack. So if his indulgences are the key to making his films unique and enjoyable, The Hateful Eight should be a sure-fire success in my eyes.

    And yet, Tarantino’s inclinations and his willingness to fly by the seat of his pants do get in the way of The Hateful Eight at times. There is A LOT of content in this film that, at 2 hours and 47 minutes, probably could have been trimmed down or cut altogether. Lots of plot and character backgrounds get repeated in different conversations throughout the movie, subplots are included with no bearing on the central conflict, and an entire chapter of the film is ultimately insignificant because the same information is passed on in a few lines of dialogue in the next chapter. Hell, an entire character exists solely because Quentin Tarantino had a killer monologue that he wanted Samuel L Jackson to deliver that necessitated his presence.

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  • Medium Mashup’s Best Video Games of 2015

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    It’s been a terrific year for video games. The current-gen consoles finally have enough of an install base to warrant dedicated AAA game development, so we’re starting to see some really impressive-looking titles like The Witcher 3, Star Wars Battlefront, and Bloodborne. Meanwhile, despite all the nay-saying that occurred about the PC’s coming obsolescence in  the early-2010s, the PC has proven to be the most enduring gaming platform of all, still capable of pumping out visuals that even the new consoles can’t handle.

    Aside from visual improvements, 2015 continues the trend of huge, 40-hour plus titles. Playing everything worthwhile is hardly an option anymore, as enormous games like The Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 are practically the norm now. Even annual games like Assassin’s Creed are completely packed with things to do, and games centered around multiplayer like Call of Duty are expected to be loaded with separate features and modes to justify their $60 price tags. The linear, 8-hour games that were all the rage 5 years ago are becoming more difficult to justify, and when games lack the content players hoped to get out of them (like, say, Star Wars: Battlefront), word is getting out and sales are being affected.

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  • Medium Mashup’s Best TV of 2015

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    Now that 2015 is coming to an end, we can look back on a year of great programming and begin to put it all into perspective! 2015 was a remarkable year not only for the quality of a few stand-out shows, but for the sheer breadth of great television. Unlike the aughts, in which one or two shows tended to dominate the discussion, there are simply too many great shows to simply pick a winner or two.

    So instead of choosing the absolute best shows on TV, I’ve split things up into “Network” and “Cable/Streaming” sections and added more categories. In addition to the mandatory comedy/drama, I’m also naming a best animated series, action series, and sci-fi/fantasy series. Finally, while I won’t be rewarding any specific performances or writers/directors, I will be giving a few nods to noteworthy individual episodes.

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