Breaking Bad.

Bryan Cranston is the man.  You cannot get cooler than a chemistry teacher with cancer turned criminal cooking meth.  He rocks bald better than anyone, in fact it makes him look even more bad-ass.

If you don't already know the greatness I am talking about, it's Breaking Bad.  Breaking Bad is a series created and produced by Vince Gilligan and first premiered in January 2008.  The show is set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico and follows the story of chemistry teacher Walter White and former student Jesse Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul. Walter discovers he has lung cancer and wants to secure his families financial future before he dies.  So, with the help of drug addict Jesse the two manufacture and sell methamphetamine.  Like all television shows, this shit gets dramatic.  Very dramatic.

The show features a stellar cast, music, settings, storyline, and just overall awesomeness.  It's a show I did not think I would like but was talked into watching.  I breezed through the first two seasons on Netflix like it was nothing.  Then I got stuck in season three.  Apparently that happens, or so I was told.  It took me a long time to get through it and I took a hiatus from watching the show.  Finally I got back into season four and hope to catch up soon to the final season which is currently running on AMC.

Breaking Bad has some great characters and actors.  Anna Gunn plays Skyler White, Walters wife.  Betsy Brant plays Marie Schrader, Hanks wife and Skyler's sister.  And then there's the talented Dean Norris who plays Hank Schrader.  Schrader has been in a number of television series including the current Under the Dome, which is a mini-series by Stephen King.  If you have Amazon Prime you can watch all the current episodes of Under the Dome for free.

Breaking Bad is one of those programs where you cheer for the bad guys.  Walter and Jesse are the main characters, we all root for them but they are breaking the law big time!  They cook crystal meth!  Yet, they make you understand their feelings and the show can be a real roller-coaster of emotions.

Series creator Vince Gilligan was afraid his show would be too similar to Weeds but I think it stands independently on it's own.  Weeds always felt more like a comedy to me and Breaking Bad is definitely a drama.  The series, with its writing and characters, feels unique and the show becomes addictive.

Gilligan uses the help of Dr. Donna Nelson at the University of Oklahoma to check chemistry facts and make sure the scientific information is all correct.  Dr. Nelson will write down chemical equations and structures that the show uses as props.  While the show does not have a full-time person on to assist checking facts, Gilligan wanted to be sure all the information was correct so Dr. Nelson is on call when an expert is needed.

Here's a bunch more neat facts from IMDB:

• The actor who plays Walt Jr., RJ Mitt, actually has cerebral palsy in real life.  Mitt's condition is much milder than Walt Jr's, so he learned to walk with crutches and slow his speech for the part.
•  Characters on the show who are smoking meth are actually smoking sugar or rock candy but do not inhale
•  In the beginning of each episode, the chemical formula C10H15N along with the number 149.24 and the word "Meth" can be seen just before the title Breaking Bad appears. C10H15N is the formula for methamphetamine, which has the molecular weight of 149.24.
• Bryan Cranston stated in an interview that the term "breaking bad" is a southern colloquialism and it means when someone who has taken a turn off the path of the straight and narrow, when they've gone wrong. And that could be for that day or for a lifetime
• Betsy Brant was pregnant during season two. Whenever she reached the point in the pregnancy that Skyler was supposed to be, the producers would do pick-up shots with her as the fake bare belly on Anna Gunn.
• 10 actors cast on the show have previously appeared in the Vince Gilligan produced The X-Files.
• Sony and AMC were initially reluctant to cast Bryan Cranston because of his previous comedic roles and considered both John Cusack and Matthew Broderick for Walter White. When they both declined, Vince Gilligan got to cast Cranston.
•  Bryan Cranston has a Breaking Bad tattoo on his ring finger.
•  The first episode to the second half of Season 5 is dedicated to Kevin Cordasco, a teen Superfan of the show who died of cancer in March of 2013. Before his death Kevin was able to meet Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan, and other prominent members of the Breaking Bad family, and he was even offered the chance to read the final scripts of the series so he would know how the show ends. Kevin denied, as he didn't think he could keep the secret

So, basically, Breaking Bad is awesome.  I am super glad that Cranston was cast as Walter White because I cannot even imagine Cusack or Broderick in that role.  I love both of them but this role needed a slightly lesser known face.  As I've stated before, I love when unknown actors (even if they're just unknown to me) are cast in movies and shows.

If you haven't already, please go check out the first four and half seasons streaming on Netflix right now.  Netflix is on it and offers the most up-to-date season of the series.  Season five, the final season, was broken up into two parts and the first half is available on Netflix.  If you get bogged down in season three just press on!  You will get through it!  If you are already a Breaking Bad lover then enjoy the new episodes of the final season.

One of my favorite things about Breaking Bad is Jesse Pinkman and his mouth.  He ends most sentences with "bitch" so please enjoy the video montage of Jesse using his favorite word.

AAADVENTURE TIME!

What time is it? Adventure time!  Adventure Time is the most glorious of all cartoons.  Starting in 2010, this hand-drawn cartoon created by Pendleton Ward on Cartoon Network has gathered an impressive following.  It's almost like a cult-hit, the fans are hardcore about the show, people dress up as the characters at Comic-Con.  I even dressed up like Princess Bubblegum for Halloween last year!

The series follows the sweet adventures of Finn the human and Jake the dog.  Together in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo, Finn and Jake have fun, battle bad guys, make friends, and learn plenty of lessons.  The show is really geared more towards teenagers and adults, it's not exactly kid-friendly.  So give it a try!  The first season is available to stream on Netflix, there are three other seasons you'll probably end up wanting to find elsewhere.  The fifth season is currently playing on Cartoon Network, so if you have cable then flip on the television!

Along with Finn and Jake are a few more fun recurring characters like Princess Bubblegum, The Ice King, Marceline the Vampire Queen, and my favorite Lumpy Space Princess.  Most of the voicing actors are people I am unfamiliar with but Cloris Leachman and George Takei voiced a couple episodes and they're both mega cool.  Below is George's character, the very creepy Ricardio the Heart Guy.

Each episode of Adventure Time is only about twelve minutes long but apparently it takes about nine months to complete just one.  It's like growing a baby!  I think one of the reasons I love this show so much is that it's hand-drawn.  Computers are neat and all but I love some good old fashioned hand-drawn hard work.  Also, the actors all do their lines together in one room, rather than recording separately as many cartoons do.  That just makes it all the better!  This show is obviously made with a lot of love, laughter, and hard work.  The writing is hilarious, the animation is fantastic, and the show is unique.  What more could you ask for?

So please, check this one out!  If you like weird and good then this the animated series for you!  Check it the math out, okay?!

Here's some most excellent LSP moments.  Like, what the lump?

The Reef.

It's still Shark Week right?  Well, I decided another shark movie would be a good idea.  I came across The Reef last night while browsing Netflix and decided to give it a try.  It was a good decision because the movie was great!  I've seen it around on Netflix but thought it looked stupid; you know, just another dumb college kids giant shark film.  Luckily, it was none of those things.
 

I was happily surprised to see actual adults!  They weren't partying, naked, or drunk.  Already, within the first 10 minutes I was happy.  The movie is about four friends coming together in Australia to go on a boat when it capsizes!  The main dude decides the best option is for them to all swim back to an island they were at the day before.  Ten miles away.  In the open ocean.  In Australia.  Sounds like a horror movie to me!  The captain decides to stay behind on top of the capsized boat while the four friends swim their way to the island.

It was even before this point that I had predicted the order of which everyone would die.  I was almost correct!  I think it's fun to predict what's going to happen when watching movies or television shows.  It keeps me from getting bored and losing interest.

The Reef is an Australian horror film directed by Andrew Traucki and was released in 2010.  The Reef was Traucki's second film and his filmography includes all Australian horror.  Being an Australian film, I was unfamiliar with the cast but sometimes that can be a good thing.  Especially in horror, it is nice not to see familiar faces in movies because some big names are too well-known to see eaten by a shark.

Unlike 2-Headed Shark Attack, this movie is not hokey and is much more realistic.  It's a regular shark eating regular people.  They even used shots of real sharks which is super awesome and does not usually happen.  I guess because shark movies are often about giant sharks, two-headed sharks, dinosharks, or octosharks to name a few.  I mean, you can't really use real footage of that!  So kudos to the filmmakers for finally giving us a real shark movie.

The one thing that is silly about The Reef is that probably a shark won't eat people or follow you while you swim in the ocean.  The only reason sharks ever bite humans is because they're curious creatures and think we're something else.  In this movie, when the shark bites the first guy in half it comes back and eats the rest of him.  I'm pretty positive that would not actually happen.  Of course, if the movie were totally realistic then it wouldn't be very entertaining.  Poetic license is a very useful tool.

To celebrate this last day of Shark Week, the cool people's favorite week of the year, please turn on Netflix and stream this excellent shark movie.  Enjoy the movie trailer below, it was the only clip I could find!  Also, apparently this movie is based on some true events.  I have a feeling it was pretty loosely based.

2-Headed Shark Attack.

Nothing says Shark Week better than watching 2-Headed Shark Attack!  This movie is hilariously bad.  It's one of those B-horrors that is so bad it's good.  First of all, it stars Brooke Hogan.  That should say it all.
 

The tagline for the movie is "1 body, 2 heads & 6,000 teeth!"  Um, it that supposed to be scary? This movie is just ridiculous but I enjoyed it!  It's like watching all the Tremors movies.  The first one is good, the second one is good, and the rest are awesomely bad.  It's almost as if they know the movie will be bad so they make fun of themselves.  Also, if you haven't watched the entire set of Tremors than you should. Numbers two and three are available to stream on Netflix.

Along with Hogan are such actors like Carmen Electra, Charlie O'Connell, and a host of young unknowns who should probably stay away from acting.  As you may have already guessed, I found the acting quite terrible.  The film came out in 2012.  I had heard about the movie in 2011 while watching a SyFy show called Monster Man where Cleve Hall created the puppet form of the two-headed shark.  It was Cleve's idea to give the shark two separate heads, as the movie creators originally wanted a second head coming out of the forehead.  That episode of Monster Man showed the creation of the shark head and even the filming of a scene where the shark eats two characters.  The scene was shot in a pool, Cleve was behind the shark puppet controlling its movements, and the two actresses had fake blood in their mouth to spit out when the shark bit them.  Apparently that left an impression on me as I watched the movie about a month ago on Netflix, a couple years after first hearing about it.

Only a few scenes used the puppet, the rest was CGI (Computer Generated Imagery), which I'm not a huge fan of in horror movies.  CGI can do many cool things but often times it looks so fake that a puppet would be cooler.  I  watch a lot of horror and I'm more entertained by puppets and more impressed by the overall feeling it gives to movies.  Yes, of course there are times when CGI is mega awesome and looks so real you think, how did they do that? In this particular case, the puppet shark has way more impact than the computer animated shark.

As a monster movie, and more specifically a giant shark movie, 2-Headed Shark Attack is a great one to watch in celebration of Shark Week!  I enjoyed the movie, the good and the bad.  I made fun of it, I laughed, gasped, and probably even hid my face a time or two.  I was completely enthralled the entire movie and I get bored fairly easily.  If you like monster movies where a giant two-headed shark attacks a boat of college age kids in bathing suits then this is the flick for you!  Enjoy!

Here's a clip of the body count for 2-Headed Shark Attack.  It's very graphic and bloody but remember that it's all fake.  Please notice how much better the close-ups of the puppet look over the full-body CGI shark.  Happy Shark Week!

Big Fish.

Big Fish is one of my all-time favorite movies.  The film is directed by the incredible Tim Burton, whose filmography includes Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Edward Scissor Hands, and my favorite movie ever Beetlejuice.  Burton is known for his weird and wacky settings, stories, and writing.  The term "Burtonesque" is sometimes used to describe movies that resemble a Tim Burton film.  The dark humor of his movies are probably what draws me to his work as an artist.

Big Fish is both different from other Burton films and the same.  The movie is not as dark and deathly as much of his other work but it has that same feel to it.  It was only recently, after having seen the movie for probably the sixth time, that I learned that Burton directed this movie.  That made it all the better!

The film was released in 2003, which was ten years ago by the way.  The film in no way feels outdated yet, because most of it is set in flashbacks and stories of when the main character Edward Bloom was a young man.  Edward Bloom, as an old man, is rehashing his life to his son Will through tall tales.  Edward senior is played by Albert Finney and Edward junior is played by Ewan McGregor.  Two talented men share the spotlight of playing the strange role of Edward Bloom.

Along with Finney and McGregor are plenty more big and talented names. Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi, and Danny Devito to just name the big ones.  Jessica Lange stars in American Horror Story right now, an excellent show even though it was hard for me to get into.  Helena Bonham Carter is married to Tim Burton, has acted in many of his movies, and of course is well known for her role in the Harry Potter films as Bellatrix Lestrange.  Steve Buscemi has appeared in just about everything!  My favorite is The Wedding Singer but more recently he was in the movie Grown Ups.  Danny Devito is a big name and he currently stars in the comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

The favorite character from Big Fish is definitely Karl.  Karl is a misunderstood giant until young Edward Bloom talks to him, cleans him up, and helps him join a circus run by Devito's character.  Karl is played by the late and great Matthew McGrory who died in 2005.  McGrory was 7' 6" in real life but in Big Fish was meant to look over ten feet tall so a lot of camera tricks were used to make him look extra large.  There is so much trivia on this guy!  Apparently, he holds the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest shoe size not caused by Elephantiasis.  He wore a size 29 1/2.  He is also listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as "The Tallest Actor."  He was born fifteen pounds! Also, he was friends with Bam Margera and would hang out with his crew.  How cool is this guy?  HE WAS FRIENDS WITH BAM.

Also! Miley Cyrus has a very small role in the beginning of Big Fish.  I am not a fan of Miley but I still think it's cool that this was one of her first roles on the big screen.  She plays Ruthie, one of young Edwards friends who goes to see the witch.  It's very brief but she made a big enough impression on fans who realized it was her.  Check out the clip below of her cameo!

This movie is a tear-jerker, just to warn you if you have not yet seen it.  It's available to stream on Netflix right now, so make sure you watch while you have a chance.  It's so amazing.  Just the director and cast should be enough to make anyone want to watch this film.  The story is great, too!  All his life Edward Bloom told tall tales and in the end Edward became what he always was: a very big fish.  I want to cry just thinking about it.  The ending is so perfect.  If satisfying endings are important to you then you'll like this one.

"Did you ever think that you're not too big and that this town is just too small?"  Check out the first sighting of Karl below when he meets Edward for the first time.  What a gem this gentle giant is!

Now, "let's get out of here!"

Netflix Original Series.

In 2009 Netflix starting creating their own original programs.  I hadn't heard of anything until House of Cards came out in February 2013.
 

House of Cards is a thirteen-episode long political drama.  It stars none other than the talented Kevin Spacey as the conniving genius Francis Underwood.  This show is fantastic.  It's well made, acted, casted, and written.  The settings and scenes are gorgeous!  Everything is placed just so.  I hate politics but this show is too good to pass up.  So if you haven't checked it out yet then I suggest you do.  You'll love it, trust me.

Then on May 26, 2013, the next (semi) Original Series by Netflix was of course Arrested Development.  Originally the show aired in 2003 and ran with a serious fan base! It was those same fans who convinced Netflix to bring the series back.  The show is in a totally different format.  Each episode is about one cast member specifically and all the episodes end up tying together.  It's still funny and I still love it but I do not laugh the same as I did at the original show.  However, MAJOR KUDOS to Netflix for giving the hardcore fans what they wanted.  And remember: There's always money in the banana stand.

Most recently Netflix released the first thirteen-episode long season of Orange Is The New Black.  This show rocks.  Everything about it is wonderful.  If you haven't already then go read this to learn more about the show.

Those three series are it for what I've watched of the Original Series.  There's Hemlock Grove but I heard it's kind of strange and I didn't feel like wasting my time.  But I'm sure I'll end up watching it anyway and I'll let you know how it is.  Oh! There is the new Mako Mermaids series which is based off the Australian show H2O.  Even though H2O is played on Teen Nick and I'm technically too old, I still watch it and like it.  So, of course, I watched the first episode of the Netflix re-boot Mako Mermaids.  It appears to be a prequel to H2O, except it doesn't quite work because it's set in modern time.  It's still well made, though.  I'm impressed with how well made Netflix Originals are.

Looks like there are at least four new series to look for on Netflix late this year and next year: an animation, another drama, a sci-fi drama, and some sort of stand-up comedy which doesn't interest me.  So keep your eyes peeled for all the goodness coming to Netflix.

Netflix was established in 1997, started distributing in 1999, and now in 2013 Netflix has over 33-million subscribers.  2013 saw the real rise of Netflix as a competitor of cable and network television.  Netflix became a streaming service and apparently "hopes to one day revolutionize TV by making television ratings obsolete."  That literally made me laugh out loud but they are definitely on the right path to making that goal a reality!

The company is the first to have a web series earn a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Series for House of Cards (which earned a total of nine nominations, by the way).  That nomination is definitely deserved!  Arrested Development and Hemlock Grove also earned nominations.

Netflix is doing incredibly well right now.  Almost everyone I know has a Netflix subscription.  If you don't, then you can't rent movies! Unless you have a RedBox near by, but those don't always have what you want inside.  Netflix completely demolished video rental stores like Movie Gallery and Blockbuster.  I don't have any in my area anymore.  It's sad but at the same time, go Netflix!  It's impressive what one company can do.

I wasn't sure what kind of video would go along with this post best.  So on a completely unrelated note, here's a song by the talented Caleb Orion.