Top Ten Most Anticipated Films of 2015

Honorable Mentions: The Hateful 8, Ant-man, Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, and Pan.

 

10. The Revenant - A man is left for dead after getting attacked by a bear. Recent Oscar winner Alejandro González Iñárritu directs with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.

9. Mission Impossible 5 – Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt and I can’t wait to see what high-flying stunts he and director Christopher McQuarrie have in store for us. I can hear the theme song now.

8. Crimson Peak– Guillermo del Toro. Enough said.

7. Ex Machina – I’ve only seen the image of a female robot without skin cover her body and that’s all I need to see. Alex Garland writes and directs.

6. In the Heart of the Sea – Ron Howard’s period piece based on the true events that inspired Moby Dick. Who wouldn’t want to see a group of sailors be attacked by an anger whale?

5. Mad Max: Fury Road – I loved Road Warrior and with George Miller coming back to direct all I can say is I know we’ll have a crazy fun time with this one.

4. Inside Out – Pixar’s back and it sounds like they’re making something special with this film about a girl’s emotions.

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whendon returns as director and co-writer to shakes things up for Marvel’s premium super team. This is going to be huge.

2. Tomorrowland – I know very little about this but Brad Bird directs it and George Clooney is in it. Something about that combination with a science fiction film makes me really excited.

1. Star Wars The Force Awakens –  Could any other film be more anticipated?  Nope.  If this is as good as I hope I will be a very very very happy man. We need a good Star Wars film, please be a good Star Wars film.  Don’t let me down J.J?

87th Academy Awards (Commentary)

In the year of being a dad for the first time, watching movies has taken a back seat. So this year when they announced the nominees I knew I wasn’t going to be able to pull off my usual feat and watch every best picture nod before the ceremony. I had hoped to have seen at least a couple but at last this year I’ve only seen one. As it turned out it was the one that won the big prize. Cool. Below is my overall impression of the awards.

Ceremony: Already I’m reading very mixed reviews of Neil Patrick Harris’ performance as host. I disagree. What do all of these naysayers want? I don’t need the host of an Award Show to be a comic genius or a show biz wunderkind. He or she just needs to open up the show well, to get me excited for the upcoming nominations, and spice it up with some added humor here or there. Mr. Harris was just fine. His opening monologue was very entertaining. I loved it when Anna Kendrick and Jack Black joined him. It was visually magical and exactly what I wanted. Sure not all his jokes worked but they didn’t spoil the show. And for those who think the host is the one responsible for keeping the show going, that’s just stupid. Blame the producer if you don’t like how fast the show feels. I personally never understood why people complain about how long the Oscars are. They’re the Oscars, they should be long. It doesn’t happen every weekend like a sporting event. It’s a one year event. I never hear people complain that the Super bowl was too long. It’s a celebration in film. It’s not brain surgery. I sometimes think Billy Crystal is to blame. Everyone wants the host to be like Billy. I liked Billy, of course. But what’s wrong with someone different. If I have any complaint about the hosting of this show is that they don’t take enough chances (the James Franco/ Anne Hathaway disaster excluded).

Diversity: There’s a lot of talk about the lack of diversity this year. And while there are certainly some snubs (clearly at least two), I don’t think this is because the voting body is racist. Let us not forget that 12 Years a Slave won last year. (Although there are those who theorize they were forced to make that vote.) I never want to live in a world where someone is nominated purely to appease one minority. Everyone nominated should earn the vote because they did great work. If the five nominees just happen to be all black or all white or all Latino, I don’t care as long as they’re all great. I think this year’s lack of diversity says more about the industry than the people handing out awards. The industry is to blame for not making enough diverse films, that’s who should be getting criticized here. Why are we attacking the messenger?

BEST PICTURE

American Sniper

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Winner: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Since I was unable to see any of the others I can’t really say anything but awesome! I kind of thought Boyhood might take the prize, but I’m glad that this one did because it keeps my personal streak alive. So far since Dances With Wolves I’ve seen every best picture winner before the ceremony. I thought my streak would end this year. Nope. All of these films look great and I’m excited to someday watch them. Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Whiplash are the ones I’m most excited about. As for snubs this years, I can only wonder why Interstellar and Gone Girl didn’t get more love, both films I really liked and I felt were deserving of a nomination.

BEST DIRECTOR

Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

Winner: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

I’m so happy for Mr. Iñárritu. He is so deserving of the award. He’s been doing such great work for so long and this is certainly my most favorite. Bravo. As for snubs, Ava DuVernay should have been nominated for Selma. Yes, I haven’t seen the film yet but it was obvious she should be on this list of five. I might change my mind after watching the other four films but ultimately I can see why people are calling her exclusion a snub. I would have loved to have seen Christopher Nolan get a nod here but I guess people don’t take his brand of brilliant film making serious.

BEST ACTOR

Steve Carell – Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper – American Sniper

Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game

Michael Keaton – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Winner: Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

I was disappointed by this one. I’m certain that Mr. Redmayne deserved the award but I wanted so badly to see Michael Keaton win this one. It was such a brilliant performance and I doubt he’ll have another opportunity to get the Academy’s attention again. I mean, the guy was Birdman. Very disappointing. As for snubs, clearly David Oyelowo should have been nominated for playing Martin Luther King Jr. Having seen Jake Gyllenhaal’s electrifying performance in Nightcrawler I’d mention him if only I knew who else I’d have taken out. I’m skeptical that Bradley Cooper or Steve Carell gave better performances but I won’t know for a while.

BEST ACTRESS

Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night

Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore – Still Alice

Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Winner: Julianne Moore – Still Alice

I’m so thrilled for Mrs. Moore. She finally has the Oscar she so long ago deserved. The only snub this year was Jennifer Aniston but I’m not 100% sure of this. I’d have loved to have seen her get a nomination but I’ll need to check out the films.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Robert Duvall – The Judge

Ethan Hawke – Boyhood

Edward Norton – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Winner: J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

This was the easy choice. No one was surprised. Great speech by Mr. Simmons too. I don’t think there were any snubs here.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Laura Dern – Wild

Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game

Emma Stone – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

Winner: Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Clearly Arquette was going to win this. I’m so happy for her. As a fan of her work on Medium it’s cool to see her succeed here. The talk about this award was mostly that Meryl Streep was nominated again and it is kind of shocking. Not that she doesn’t deserve it, it’s just becoming kind of silly that she always gets nominated. Proof that she really is the greatest actor (non-gender specific term) on the planet. I am surprised Jessica Chastin wasn’t nominated for A Most Violent Year but I don’t know who would be less deserving at this point.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

American Sniper, Written by Jason Hall

The Imitation Game, Written by Graham Moore

Inherent Vice, Written by Paul Thomas Anderson

The Theory of Everything, Written by Anthony McCarten

Whiplash, Written by Damien Chazelle

Winner: The Imitation Game, Written by Graham Moore

I was surprised about this one. I thought certain with the success of American Sniper it would take home the Oscar. I’m certainly happy for Mr. Moore and can only wonder if The Theory of Everything is better. Whiplash should have been nominated as an Original story. The short film it’s based on was made to get funding for the feature. The big snub that I see for this one is the exclusion of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. I loved the movie and would have loved to see her get nominated, a female to break up the male dominated category. Move Whiplash to Original Screenplay and replace the spot with Gone Girl.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolas Giacobone, Armando Bo

Boyhood, Written by Richard Linklater

Foxcatcher, Written by Dan Futterman and E. Max Frye

The Grand Budapest Hotel, Written by Wes Anderson

Nightcrawler, Written by Dan Gilroy

Winner: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolas Giacobone, Armando Bo

How did so many writers come together and successfully write such a brilliant script? Wow. This was my choice for Best Original Script so I was overjoyed. To continue with my breakdown with Whiplash above, take out Foxcatcher so Whiplash can go there (I’m basing this on the one that was actually nominated for best picture, so not fair but that’s what I did.) Many complained that Selma didn’t get a spot here and they have a case. But which one do you take out? None of them; they all look too good.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Ida (Music Box Films), Poland, Pawel Pawlikowski

Leviathan (Sony Pictures Classics), Russia, Andrey Zvyagintsev

Tangerines, Estonia, Zaza Urushadze

Timbuktu (Cohen Media Group), Mauritania, Abderrahmane Sissako

Wild Tales (Sony Pictures Classics), Argentina, Damián Szifrón

Winner: Ida

Stupid me. I started watching this film on Netflix (the only one available to watch) and stopped. If I had watched it I would have seen the winner. I will see it but all of these look good.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Big Hero 6

The Boxtrolls

How to Train a Dragon 2

Song of the Sea

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Winner: Big Hero 6

What a win for Disney, to beat out Dreamworks again. I didn’t see any of these yet but they all look great. The talk of the web of course is The Lego Movie Snub. I’m sure when I see all of these I’ll agree that the Lego Movie should have been nominated but you can tell that the Animation branch of the Academy has always been interested in celebrating all varieties of animation, especially from the independents. It still feels wrong though.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock

The Imitation Game – Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald

Interstellar – Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis

Into the Woods – Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock

Mr. Turner – Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel

This was an easy choice. The visuals from this film are incredible. I would have loved to have seen The Hobbit 3 here but no one wants to praise that film. Been there done that, I guess. Yeah for Wes Anderson.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Robert Yeoman – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski – Ida

Dick Pope – Mr. Turner

Roger Deakins – Unbroken

Winner: Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

I love that Birdman won here. You’d think The Grand Budapest Hotel would win another technical award but Birdman was just too cool looking.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Milena Canonero – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Mark Bridges – Inherent Vice

Colleen Atwood – Into the Woods

Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive – Maleficent

Jacqueline Durran – Mr. Turner

Winner: Milena Canonero – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Easy choice. I do think Mr. Turner looks good but Anderson’s film is just so vibrant with costumes.

BEST FILM EDITING

Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach – American Sniper

Sandra Adair - Boyhood

Barney Pilling - The Grand Budapest Hotel

William Goldenberg – The Imitation Game

Tom Cross – Whiplash

Winner Tom Cross – Whiplash

Who thought a film about a drummer would win an award the same year a film made over the course of 12 years was made. I do think Whiplash deserved it though.

BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

Citizenfour (RADiUS-TWC)

Finding Vivian Maier (Sundance Selects)

Last Days in Vietnam (American Experience)

The Salt of the Earth (Sony Pictures Classics)

Virunga (Netflix)

Winner: Citizenfour

The one that I least want to see wins. That sucks. I just can’t get behind a guy who betrayed his country. Even if what the government was doing was that awful, there were other ways to do what he did. He broke his word and the law. Hero worship like this worries me.

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard – Foxcatcher

Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White – Guardians of the Galaxy

Winner: Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier – The Grand Budapest Hotel

This was a no-brainer. Let the Wes Anderson design love fest continue.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game

Hans Zimmer - Interstellar

Gary Yershon – Mr. Turner

Jóhann Jóhannsson – The Theory of Everything

Winner: Alexandre Desplat

I loved what Hans Zimmer did in Interstellar but the fact that Alexandre Desplat earned two nominations means he is the guy in my book. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes score by Michael Giacchino is the only one I can think of that could have been nominated too but I won’t call it a snub, yet.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Everything Is Awesome” from The LEGO Movie Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson

“Glory” from Selma Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn

“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond

“Lost Stars” from Begin Again Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Winner: “Glory” from Selma Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn

Now it’s time to be controversial. I know everyone in the audience was moved to tears to “Glory”, the song that would go on to win best song, but I just didn’t think the performance nor the song was that good. It might be possible that the song works magically with the film, a very real possibility. But for me it was a bunch of people chanting “glory” over and over again while one guy rapped and another one sang. It’s a good song but for me the clear winner should have been “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” by Glen Campbell, a song from a man with Alzheimer’s disease communicating to his loved ones before he no longer remembers them. It was a beautiful song that blew me away. Also wasn’t the performance for “Everything is Awesome” . . . let me think for a second . . . I can’t think of a word that describes it.

BEST SOUND MIXING

John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin – American Sniper

Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten – Interstellar

Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee – Unbroken

Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley – Whiplash

Winner: Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley – Whiplash

The film deals with drumming, jazz and yelling: I’m glad it won. These sound awards are too subjective for me.

BEST SOUND EDITING

Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman – American Sniper

Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Brent Burge and Jason Canovas – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Richard King – Interstellar

Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro – Unbroken

Winner: Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman – American Sniper

It makes sense; the war film, with explosions and bullets flying, wins this. I’d have rather have had Interstellar win but that’s just me.

Visual Effects

Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould – Guardians of the Galaxy

Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher – Interstellar

Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer – X-Men: Days of Future Past

Winner: Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher – Interstellar

I’m overjoyed that Interstellar one this award. The wormhole effect alone was deserving of the prize. I thought it was a foregone conclusion that Apes on Horses would win but for me the better one picked up the little gold guy. No snubs here. I loved the third Hobbit film but the special effects weren’t as good as with actual nominees.

BEST SHORTS: I don’t have any clue what should have won and I can’t comment that much on these. Here’s just the nominees and winners for the record.

Documentary (Short Subject)

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 – Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry

Joanna – Aneta Kopacz

Our Curse – Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki

The Reaper (La Parka) – Gabriel Serra Arguello

White Earth – J. Christian Jensen

Winner: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 – Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry

Short Film (Animated)

The Bigger Picture – Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees

The Dam Keeper – Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi

Feast – Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed

Me and My Moulton – Torill Kove

A Single Life – Joris Oprins

Winner: Feast – Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed

Short Film (Live Action)

Aya – Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis

Boogaloo and Graham – Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney

Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak) – Hu Wei and Julien Féret

Parvaneh – Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger

The Phone Call – Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Winner: The Phone Call – Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Kingsmen: The Secret Service (2015)

So you want to watch something cool. You’re looking for an exciting, funny action film with a nod to James Bond films. You don’t care if the story is outlandish and violent and down-right silly at times as long as the characters are cool and likeable. You want to embrace a young hero who is on a journey to become a badass but not the kind of badass you’d expect, the kind of British badass that Alec Guinness would play. Well, here’s the movie for you, a non-stop, roller coaster ride of a spy film from director Matthew Vaughn based on the comic by David Gibbons and Mark Millar. It’s just pure fun on a stick. The only reason someone might be offended by it is if you hate violence in movies (understood, skip this one) or you’re easily offended (again, skip this one). Yet for the rest of us, this is a great times at the cineplex. It’s so good that I actually want a sequel. Both Colin Firth and Samuel L. Jackson are fantastic. Firth is a certified action hero and Samuel is a villain unlike any we’ve seen. Taron Egerton, our main hero, gives a star-making performance. And on the topic of violence; yes, it’s very violent but in a sort of cartoony, don’t take very serious way. See this movie, folks, it’s a great way to open up this new season of film. Grade: A-

Nightcrawler (2014)

Dan Gilroy’s darkly cynical look at the media and those deadbeat freelancers chasing anything sensational that can be sold to news outlets. I’ve heard many say Jake Gyllenhaal was snubbed for an Oscar nomination this year for his performance as Louis Bloom; and while I can’t say this is true since I didn’t watch all the nominees this year, I will say this is his best performance to date, which is saying something. He creates a truly creepy, off-centered characer that is like an eel in a bathtub. Basically he’s a psychopath and here he finds a way to succeed at doing what he does best. This thrilling film is one of the best of the year, it really is an unpredictable journey into the mind of a man intent on showing the world the darkness of man. Don’t let this statement scare you away. While it has a cold message it’s such an enjoyable film with moments of dark humor that makes it so worthwhile. Grade: A

 

Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (Novel) [Revisited]

We come to the eighth book in the Wheel of Time and again it feels like Jordan is slipping just a tad. While certainly a very entertaining book and I don’t have any major problems with it, it’s getting clear that we’re in a setting up phase. Elayne and Nynaeve use the Bowl of the Winds to fix the weather and then must escape with their number of channeling women before the Seanchan can capture them. Perrin is back in this book and is on a mission to find the Prophet Masema Dager and bring him to Rand so Masema can be put in check. Then Rand goes on a crusade with his armies to drive the Seanchan out of Altara.  I did like this book but without Mat’s humor I felt something missing. The best part of the book for me was Rand’s obsession to win a battle that he probably doesn’t need to win.  Also I loved how Queen Morgase is hired by Faile as a maid. While not as overlong as the seventh book, not a lot happens when you compare it to other books in the series. Still I’m as excited as ever to keep going, knowing that once the set-up is over it’s going to get really interesting. Grade: A-

Ernest and Celestine (2013)

One of the nominees for Best Animated film for the 86^th Academy Awards, this wonderful adaptation of the famous French Children book characters created by Gabrielle Vincent entertains on so many levels. It’s magical to look at with its watercolor rendered drawings. It is clever both in story and character design. And it is the kind of film that would entertain all ages. It’s a world where the mice live in an underground city, telling their children the horrible stories of the dangerous bears that live above ground. And then there are the bears above ground who fear the mice. Yet orphan mouse Celestine doesn’t understand and draws pictures of befriending a bear. Finally she sneaks out above ground and runs into a one-bear-band in Ernest. Before you know it they’re on the run from the police and become very close, like best friends. This is silly and heartwarming and the perfect kind of film to show a young one.  When my son is old enough I bet he's going to love it.  Grade: A

Batgirl Vol.1: The Darkest Reflection (Comic)

Yes, I'm reading a lot of comics right now if you couldn't tell.  In this one, Barbara Gordon’s back is healed and she’s returned to fighting the good fight in the streets of Gotham. Gail Simone and Ardian Syaf reinvent the character in an exciting and enduring way. I loved reading this book, the art work is great and I really felt I understood Barbara’s journey which is rare sometimes in these compartmentalized superhero tales. Here she must fight the Mirror as well as prove herself ready to the task to Nightwing and of course Batman. This is a great addition to the Batman family mythology. Grade: A-

Green Lantern: Wanted (Comic)

Hal Jordan takes on the world and becomes a wanted man by the Global Guardians (the United Nation’s answer to the Justice League). The ever rebellious Hal invades Russia to save an air force pilot from a Russian terrorist group who had once made Hal a prisoner of war (when he didn’t have his ring with him at the time). But it appears there’s a cabal set to kill Jordan and have his ring be transferred to another. This is a very fun comic with a few twists that I didn’t actually see coming. Grade: A-

Broadchurch (Series 1)

This BBC murder mystery drama stars David Tennant as a disgraced police detective who moves to the British coastal town of Broadchurch to escape the intensity of the city and his past demons only to head the investigation of a young teenage boy found dead on the beach. His new partner played by Olivia Colman is a local who knows the victim’s family very well and had hoped to be promoted to the position he took. Now that I’m a father I was thunderstruck with sadness by the first episode, especially from Jodi Whittaker’s performance of the grieving mother. What I really enjoyed about this show was that it’s a real head-scratcher; it’s not an easy mystery to solve. Also the small town drama is very well-crafted with many wonderful real performances by everyone involved. If I had to find one critique is with the visual style. It looks great certainly but they use some of the same techniques over and over again which can be distracting. The first episode was so raw and simply but then later, with melodramatic music ,there were times I felt they were trying to hit me over the head with emotional cinematic techinques. Still as television mysteries go this is a winner. Do check it out if you like solid writing and the kind of acting that can lift a series to new heights. Grade: A-

Locke & Key Vol.2 Head Games

Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s first volume in this surreal horror comic about a family living in their deceased father’s childhood home that contains magic keys is a sensation. It contains the kind of storytelling that actually makes you say “Wow” as you’re reading it. This second volume is even better and I kept laughing with giddy enjoyment with each surprise. Lucas Caravaggio continues to delve deep into the Locke family while also screwing with people from his past. The magic key in this one is just awesome. Cleverness this good doesn’t come around very often. Mr. Hill is a great talent for coming up with great ideas and making them work. Rodriquez’s art acts as the perfect complement to the project. Each page I slowed down so I could treasure every still. What makes this story so thrilling is that we, the audience, knows that Lucas/ Zack is a monster yet the Locke family actually think he’s a friend. I found myself practically screaming at the page for them to open their eyes and stop trusting the little creep. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next volume. If it keeps getting better I might have declare this the greatest comic series ever. Grade: A