All Forms of Art

Supernatural was the first American show that I actually following and watched throughout. I discovered it one fateful night, amidst some zapping on Portuguese TV, on a channel that usually didn’t have anything interesting. I stopped for 10 seconds and I just couldn’t change the channel. Then, every week I stood in front of that TV for a whole new episode of monsters, mystery and plenty of weird stuff until the very last episode of the first season. I hated it! I  recall it being mentioned at the end of  the last episode,  in the top right corner of the screen, and I thought it would be the very last one, ever. Dean (Jensen Ackles, also known for his role  in The Boys ' 3rd season) was dead! Endless Seasons The years went by, and there was always a new season. Some were great, some good, and others not so much, including some “What the hell is this?” moments.  I think, somewhere along the way the producers went too far, and nowada...

After watching three full seasons (and a few episodes of the fourth), I can say this much about House of Cards : it’s brilliant — and unbearable. It’s a rare mix of exceptional writing, superb acting (despite some now- infamous controversies ), and a plot so sharp it cuts through your comfort zone.  Yet, I simply couldn’t keep watching. Not because it was bad — quite the opposite. It was too good . So good that it started stirring something violent inside me, the kind of primal frustration that comes from staring too long into the abyss. The Evil That’s Not Fictional What makes House of Cards terrifying isn’t its violence — it’s the calculated cruelty . Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) don’t shout or explode; they whisper and manipulate . Their evil isn’t cartoonish like a comic-book villain’s; it’s believable, rational, and disturbingly human. It reminded me of Breaking Bad — another masterpiece about moral decay — but where Walter Whit...

A zombie movie! Yes, I love zombie movies even when they’re terrible. This one had a good premise; it was much about the humans and their own kind of evil, rather than the zombies. They were just the excuse the humans need (or don’t) to make stupid mistakes and do bad deeds. Far From a Masterpiece I must admit the movie wasn’t good, but it could’ve been. Well, at least a little bit better. I mean, we have a post-apocalyptic world with a zombie infestation, where everything is rebuilt and everyone is trying to find a way to live and achieve normality again and go back to their daily lives.  It’s new; usually in this sort of story, things don’t come back to what they were. Usually, they build a new world, totally different, like in The Walking Dead , but here, humanity wins. Maybe. I think they mean to show us that what truly happens is that mankind never learns. Vacation and Trauma Instead of finishing off all the zombies, they decided to create a beautiful place t...

Black Mirror is one of those shows where we say, “This is weird,” from the very first minute. Not a bad kind of weird though!  Tech For Bad It depicts a highly technological future with some disturbing technologies and applications.  In that sense, it often feels like a modern continuation of The Twilight Zone , which also wrapped social critique inside strange and unsettling scenarios. Some of these pieces of technology are clearly an upgrade to existing things; others are new, but we can see where the author drew inspiration to conceive of them.  However, this show isn’t just about technology; it’s much deeper than that. The Monster Is Us What you’ll see on the screen is the technology being used in the service of the darkest side of humanity.  This is reminiscent of Westworld , where human cruelty finds a playground in artificial beings, or even Ex Machina , where the line between progress and manipulation becomes disturbingly thin. Somet...

If Zombieland taught us that rules keep you alive and Shaun of the Dead proved that slacker humor pairs beautifully with the undead, then Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse lands somewhere in between—a silly, over-the-top ride where the Boy Scouts unexpectedly step up as humanity’s last hope. Ridiculousness Wins Again This isn’t the kind of zombie movie that wants to scare you; it wants to make you laugh, often with ridiculous gags that feel like a mashup of teen comedy and creature feature.  The kids are goofy, the story doesn’t take itself seriously for a second, and that’s exactly the point. Even if you’re in a foul mood, this one has enough absurdity and charm to get at least a chuckle out of you. Think of it as a late-night popcorn flick—the kind you put on when you don’t want to think too much, just laugh at some outrageous situations and maybe catch a nostalgic reminder that even scouts can be heroes. It’s no Walking Dead , but it never tries to be. Just fo...