Loitering with Intent Written by Michael Godere and Ivan Martin Directed by Adam Rapp USA, 2014 Although the profession of the screenwriter has been highlighted on the big screen many times before (Adaptation, Barton Fink, and Get Shorty), Loitering With Intent makes a valiant effort to strip away bombastic plot devices in order to showcase …
So far this season, being a new viewer of Boardwalk Empire has not been a hindrance. While there are undoubtedly depths to character motivations and emotional shadings that have gone unremarked upon over the past five weeks, on the whole the storylines have been fairly clear. This changes with “The North Star”, with a solid chunk of the episode dedicated to characters those of us who jumped in at season four barely know. This is the risk of jumping in mid-series, one this critic believes is worth taking, but which becomes difficult to deal with none the less.
As many viewers will no doubt be aware, Der Erlkönig is a poem by Goethe based on Danish folklore that was adapted by the great (early) Romantic composer Franz Schubert into one of his most famous lieder, or art songs. To set the mood for the discussion of by far the best episode this season, so far:
Jumping into a series partway through its run can be a tricky endeavor. There’s a lot you miss- nuances of meaning in character interaction, thematic development, and stylistic callbacks to previous significant moments, to name a few. It does, however, provide an often underrepresented perspective, that of the more casual viewer, and sometimes, fresh eyes are useful in examining a show’s strengths and weaknesses.