With “Falling” the show presents the dark side of Kara with great performances and promising development that poises Supergirl to make amends for her actions that resulted in significant penalties to her image and relationships with her allies in another solid well-crafted episode.
“Solitude” broadens the mythology and the world of the series by introducing a new character, visiting a place of note, and closing an arc of secrecy that had been tearing Team Supergirl apart with an emotional confession of truth that in the end mended fences.
“For the Girl Who Has Everything” could have easily been a season finale as it served as a smart reminder of the series progress, reinforced the reoccurring themes of family and what makes a hero, had a significant death, and reset the status quo to some key relationships.
“Strange Visitor from Another Planet” keeps it simple with streamlined storytelling, attention to character, and strong setpieces.
A mostly-strong episode hones in on relationships and character development.
The presence of several storylines causes some to be handled poorly and not given the time they warrant, but the character motivations of two of Supergirl’s key antagonists are further fleshed out, leading to potentially exciting developments.
How a show with such a clearly drawn main character fails so greatly in focusing on a specific theme or story every week is truly baffling. It’s a telling sign about how badly Supergirl needs to work on its focus that an episode objectively about how Kara deals with not having powers on a day when National City goes through a massive crisis barely deals with that subject at all. “Human For A Day” is instead content to look towards a plethora of other action that barely has to do with Kara, if at all. “Hostile Takeover” too is more focused on the titular hero for only a fraction of the time, making the B-plot more of a co-A-plot for no real reason. What’s the fun in bringing back Astra if the episode is only going to commit more than half the time to a ripped-from-the-headlines Sony hack storyline? There is a way to balance a big bad enacting her master plan while she tries to once again convince the hero to come to her side with a more personal story for one of the tertiary players, and this isn’t it.
Supergirl doesn’t shy away from this method in the least, as “Stronger Together” is an almost exact replica in many ways to the pilot. Some slight advances in the story, and one big advance that could have been saved for at least another cluster of episodes without issue, but the main emotional beats are more or less in sync with the pilot.
Holy exposition, Batman! Or, as is more appropriate here, that exclamation should end with Supergirl. After all, that is the hero whose past most of the episode spends time unfurling.
Originally birthed as an 18-minute short, premiering at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Whiplash went on to garner enough attention to become a feature full-length film. Thank God it did. The feature-length version of Whiplash masterfully showcases the pressures of perfection in a tightly plotted, beautifully shot, soberly performed package. From the creative genius of sophomore director Damien Chazelle comes a semi-autobiographical experience just as exhilarating as it is shocking. Whiplash tells the story of Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller), a promising young drummer who enrolls at an elite music conservatory, where his dreams of greatness are mentored by Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), a ruthless music conductor who will stop at nothing to realize his student’s potential talent. With the audience on the edge of their seats, the question constantly being taunted is thus: how far is too far for pushing a student towards greatness?
Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, now conquering New York after wowing audiences at film festivals all the way back to Sundance last winter, opens with a title card over black while a few taps on a snare drum build into a furious drum roll. It’s a fine way to symbolize the conflict at the center of the film, which accelerates to “furious” so quickly and easily that it’s barely perceptible. Tension builds slowly in an empathic crescendo, before snapping over and over again like the repeated pounding of a cymbal. Whatever arguments this film may inspire, it’s clear that there is no other film in existence which makes music so thrilling.
What began as a short film seeking funding at last year’s Sundance has come to fruition as one of 2014’s best films. A must-see at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Damien Chazelle’s magnificent Whiplash offers stellar performances and a powerful, morally ambiguous plot. It concerns young Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) is in his first year at the top music institution in the country. Picked for one of the school’s most competitive bands by its relentless conductor, Terence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons), Andrew finds himself desperately fighting to prove his worth.
