Breaking Bad, Dexter, and Woman in Black film review

1. Finished watching The Breaking Bad S5 Part I Season Finale. And loved the ending.
This season reminds me a little of S2 in its slow pacing, and uneven writing.

( spoilers )

2. The problem with watching Dexter after Breaking Bad is you realize how slow and poorly written it is. I liked S4 with John Lithgow's Trinity Killer. Season 1 wasn't bad. The other seasons...sort of plodded along, then got really suspenseful, then just sort of fizzled out at the end.

First episode of S6 bored me. We'll see if they get better, if not. I'll give up on Dexter and rent something else instead. My flist, well the majority of it at any rate, was not fond of S6 Dexter and appears to have given up on the series. So far, I'm agreeing with their analysis. (Granted they were also watching Breaking Bad, which may be part of the problem.)

3. Rented the film The Woman in Black from netflix. It's the film that Daniel Radcliff did off of the psychological ghost story written by Susan Hill (I think it is Susan Hill). It's okay. Has the haunting...not happy/not unhappy ending. The ghost wins and loses at the same time.) Reminded me a little of those old school gothic horror films, except with a more contemporary twist.

Has some chills. I jumped at various points during it and hollered, but I'm an easy sell.
Someone who has been watching the Paranormal Activity flicks probably would find this dull.
I avoid the Paranormal Activity flicks like the plague. Have enough troubles sleeping thank you very much. I do not require help.

This film is tame. You'll be able to sleep after it. And Ciarian Hinds as well as Radcliff are actually decent in it. Watching Radcliff made me think - this guy would make a great gothic hero or 19th Century literary hero - he looks like them. Reminds me a great deal of a young Montgomery Cliff but with an English Accent. Those haunted eyes. I can see him playing the Jonathan Harker in Dracula, no problem. Good actor, Radcliff. Just needs better material. Same goes for Hinds.

4. Another overcast day. Somewhat glad I nixed the meetup group exploration of Governor's Island this morning. Since I slept until 9:30...didn't have much choice. It was raining, I wanted to sleep. Something I can't do on most week days, where I must drag my sorry ass out of bed at the crack of dawn (6 am) and trudge to the train station by 6:50/7 am, and in work by 8. I envy people who work 9-5 hours. I work 8-4, leave for work by 7, and get home by 5, since I have a 48 minute to hour commute depending on the trains. If I drove, it would be a lot longer - probably 2 hours, due to traffic alone, not to mention lack of parking. And a lot more expensive. (I won't bore you with why.)

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LJ has been dead lately.

Spent time on Good Reads playing the Never Ending Book Quiz. My favorite question and answer bit?

What did Camus Satre consider hell in No Exit? [My bad, not Good Reads, remembered it wrong. I get the two authors confused in my head.]

(the correct answer is other people, but one of the options:

"answering endless questions in a literary book quiz about Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Twilight."

LOL! So true. At least I haven't seen a 50 Shades of Grey question yet, but give it time, I'm only 1.5% of the way through. They repeat some of the same questions too, so if you get it wrong on the first try...rest assured it will pop up again.

Should add Christopher Paolini's Eragon series. And a lot of YA novels I've never heard of.
On the Catcher in the Rye discussion thread, a teacher asks if she should teach this to high school students. One 15/16 year old replies: "As long as you don't call it a coming of age story - people call EVERYTHING that is YA - a coming of age story." I had to physically restrain myself from replying: "That's because all YA fiction is a coming of age story, seriously, name one YA tv show, book or film that isn't? I can't think of any."

I don't remembering reading YA fiction that much as an adolescent or teen. I was reading Lord of the Rings, Dune, Advise and Consent, Leon Uris novels, and various adult novels. There wasn't that much out there...or there was, but it got really repetitive after a bit.
In school? We read Edith Wharton. And in Boarding Schools and Prep Schools - kids read Faulkner, Hemingway, Cather, etc.

The public schools need to spice up their act. [ETC: Some public schools need to. Clearly not all are created equal.]

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Dexter definitely improves as the season moves forward. The first episode had issues but I've liked the later ones. ( spoilers )