EdYerkeRobins

I'm a long-time horror fan. My wife & her mom aren't. We all enjoyed "American Horror Story".

The setup is fairly standard: a feuding family moves cross country, only to find that they can't run from their problems, and may in fact run into even worse ones. Of the supernatural kind.

It's wonderful to see well-produced horror on TV. As much as I want to like shows like "American Gothic" & "Masters of Horror", these shows just feel cheap. While "American Horror Story" is a touch over-indulgent on camera tricks, it's got a wonderful atmosphere that truly unsettles. That being said, the show so far resembles more of a Lynchian melodrama than a straight-up spooktacular.

Much of this has to do with the personalities. Connie Britton & Dylan McDermott feel like a real couple going through real hard, awkward times, although I hope they lose their habit of YELLING EXPOSITION AT EACH OTHER. Their conflict is deep, yet their devotion feels real; while I can't say I agree with their courses of action, it isn't a "white hat, black hat" scenario. As for the rest of the leads, Jessica Lange was already on my nerves by episode's end, and I could take or leave Taissa Farmiga as the couple's daughter (that being said, I'm interested in where their threads take them). Luckily, there are top-shelf supporting cameos from Frances Conroy ("Six Feet Under") & Denis O'Hare ("True Blood"). Then, of course, there's the menagerie of ghouls & ghosts, from the bondage-suited "Rubber Man" adorning all the ads to bloody twin boys & the Down's syndrome girl next door.

"American Horror Story" isn't the greatest thing I've ever seen. But it shows great promise. A common criticism of the horror film (unfortunately for good reason) is underdeveloped characters. The TV season format allows for deeper connection & taking time to draw out characters, motivations & stories. For now, count me in for the ride.

It's a sad but true fact that the majority of sequels are made not to continue any stories, but to cash in on the success of the original. With a film as popular as the original "Men in Black", a sequel of some sort was guaranteed, the only question would be when, and whether it would be any good. Five years later, it's come, and it's terrible.

"Men in Black II"'s biggest problem is its profound lack of originality. With the exception of a new villain, everything else is the same. There are no new major agent characters, and the explanation for this phenomenon being so is lame. The majority of the jokes are either directly ripped off from the first film or "spin-offs" or "reversals" of those jokes that aren't only incredibly stale, but not even slightly funny. Since no new aliens other than the villains are added, and there is little of the Men in Black headquarters expanded on, there isn't even the wonder of new dazzling summer blockbuster special effects or fun alien characters provided by the first film. The film's just so bland and boring, offering nothing that can't be found (for much cheaper) in an episode of "Men in Black - the cartoon series". When a cartoon shown before the feature and the intro to the film, a mock low-budget cheesy film, are more entertaining than the rest of the film, that's usually a bad sign.

Even the actors in "Men in Black II" must have realized this, because they put no effort into their characters. An opportunity for romance between Will Smith's J and a witness to an alien attack lacks both chemistry and screen time. A hinted at reversed dynamic between J and Tommy Lee Jones' K, which (unlike the rest of the rehashed plot details) is somewhat interesting, is totally scrapped, leaving us with the exact same relationship as in the first film. In an unsurprising event, "Jackass"' Johnny Knoxville shows in a lackluster co-starring villain role that not only are his 15 minutes long up, but that nobody even cares who he is if he's not trying to kill himself. Were it not for Lara Flynn Boyle's Serleena, there'd be no laughs or interesting moments in the movie at all.

"Men in Black II" is just sad. The first movie wasn't great, but had parts that were enjoyable. This is just a disappointing waste of time and money, which in due time will no doubt influence another, equally disappointing and uninspired "Men in Black III".