American Horror Story: Asylum - 2x13 Madness Ends (season 2 finale)

Madness Ends marks the conclusion to American Horror Story season 2. Very cinematic and at times moving finale was infinitely better than the one we got last year. We began as Johnny, modern day Bloody Face and Lana and Thredson's son walks around the Asylum where his parents met. We also got another look at the opening of the season when two unlucky newlyweds met Bloody Face.

Through the entire finale we were going back at forth to modern times when elderly and now very famous Lana Winters is being interviewed. We saw parts of her documentary that exposed the abuse in Briarcliff. One of Lana's best memories was fabricated - Atonement style - when she said she rescued Sister Jude from the Asylum. We also see how much the things in Briarcliff deteriorated when the patients were basically left alone as there wasn't enough staff to take care of them.

Saturday TV Special - AHS: Asylum 2x10 The Name Game / 2x11 Spilt Milk / 2x12 Continuum

My threshold for crazy is pretty high up. It takes chicken drumstick fellatio or telepathic sex with Nicole Kidman's ripped stockings in her panties area to disturb me. But damn if Ryan Murphy didn't come close to those levels in the last three episodes of American Horror Story. But what's even more astonishing is that for the first time in the history of the series he made an episode that was such a baffling mess, I understood maybe 50% of it. But before we get to dissect Continuum, let's start with The Name Game.

Saturday TV Special - AHS: Asylum 2x08 Unholy Night / 2x09 The Coat Hanger

What would Christmas look like in the asylum? Well, we know it now, thanks to episode 8 of season 2 of American Horror Story. The episode starts with a prologue featuring brilliant Ian McShane as a demented killer - Lee - dressed up like Santa Claus. During one Christmas Eve he massacred 18 people and it results in him ending up in Asylum. But now, when sister Jude is no longer in charge and Sister Mary Eunice aka the Devil calls the shots, he will have the opportunity to determine who was naughty and who was nice yet again. Mary Eunice also gets to decorate the Christmas Tree. Now how would Satan decorate the Christmas Tree? With all sorts of disturbing stuff found in the Asylum, of course.

Saturday TV Special: AHS: Asylum - 2x06 The Origins of Monstrosity / 2x07 Dark Cousin

In the last two weeks in American Horror Story we had another series of delightful gore filled scenes and fucked up occurrences. Lana is now the unluckiest character on TV, while people are coming up with new theories each week what could happen to Dr Arden for justice to be served. Being eaten alive by raspers? Getting his dick cut off? Being forced to watch Honey Boo Boo?

Saturday TV Special - American Horror Story: Asylum - 2x03, 2x04, 2x05.

Nor'easter, I am Anne Frank part 1, I am Anne Frank part 2

In the last three weeks on American Horror Story: Asylum we had a lot of craziness - in fact, it seems like with each episode Ryan Murphy is raising the bar of messed up shit - just when you thought things can't possible go worse for the characters, they do. In episode 2x03, which aired just as hurricane Sandy was hitting on Halloween, big storm hit Briarcliff. The very same night it was a movie night in Asylum and Shelley, Lana, Kit and Grace tried to escape.Of course, they failed. And Shelley got the worse of it.

The episode was very good from start to finish - we got to see a glimpse of possessed sister Mary Eunice, who killed a patient with scissors and tried to seduce Dr Arden. Mad and distraught after innocent sister Mary acted like a "whore," Arden wrecked a statue of sister Mary. As all of this was going on, Sister Jude fell of the wagon and got drunk, overwhelmed by everything that was happening in the Asylum. Then, completely drunk she introduced the movie in one of the finest scenes Jessica Lange has given us in the show yet.

Saturday TV Special: American Horror Story 2x02 Tricks or Treats

This week's episode changed the game a little bit - we didn't get aliens - we did however get an exorcism scene. We also discovered Sister Jude's secret, met a new doctor who seems to be a worthy opponent for sister Jude, got a quick glimpse at Bloody Face in the 60's and were shown a scene that is hopefully a red herring. Let's get specific:

Saturday TV Special: Nip / Tuck

Plot: Dr Sean McNamara and Dr Christian Troy run a private practice - they are plastic surgeons in Miami, filled with people who are obsessed with perfection and physical beauty. Sean has a family - wife Julia and two kids, he is organized, professional and cares for his family. Christian on the other hand is a playboy, who has been in love with Julia for many years.
Structure: Each episode has the title taken from the main patent's name in the episode we are watching. Patients stories usually wrap up during one episode, but there are also people we see more than once. In addition, each season has big story arc, the most impressive being in season 3, were serial rapist, The Carver, terrorizes Miami.
Verdict:I remember watching this show years ago and now that I'm rewatching it, it still remains one of the boldest, sickest and most disturbing series ever to air on television.
What makes it so great? The amount of debauchery is overwhelming, the performances are amazing, we get to see inside look behind close doors during plastic surgeries and the music selection is amazing.

Saturday TV Special: American Horror Story

Plot: Cheating husband, resentful wife and their teenage daughter move to a new house. But the house has secrets - last owners died, there is a kinky latex suit in the attic, the neighbors are strange, the wallpaper covers creepy paintings and the basement...don't even get me started on the basement.
Structure: The story takes place in haunted house and in the beginning of each episode we see one of the horrible things that happened there. Then there is creepy opening sequence and after that - let the scary begin! 
Verdict: I'm so happy.Horror is my favorite genre and I love TV series - and apart from "Twin Peaks" which isn't even a horror series nothing on TV scared me. Until I saw first two episodes of American Horror Story. It's certainly the best new show and I haven't waited for next episode that badly since "Lost" was on air. Scary, edgy, unique and interesting "American Horror Story" is horror at its finest. I'm not often scared - but if I watch the show in full daylight and still have to switch off full screen and turn down the volume, then you know it's surious.

Eat Pray Love

(133 min, 2010)
Director: Ryan Murphy
Writers: Ryan Murphy (screenplay), Jennifer Salt (screenplay), Elizabeth Gilbert (book)
Stars: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem and Richard Jenkins

Real problems? Banish!

A married woman (Julia Roberts) realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to "find herself".

"Eat Pray Love" is a boring version of "Under the Tuscan Sun" - here, same as in the movie with Diane Lane after emotional turmoil and personal drama a woman leaves everything she knows and starts her journey through strange land. Except this time, the main character is not interesting nor nice enough for the audience to sympathize with her. I never liked Julia Roberts, the only movie she didn't annoy me in was "Notting Hill" and that was probably thanks to how good the movie was, not to her. This time her character is already irritating, so casting Roberts didn't help.

Here is a woman who is successful, has nice husband and then hot lover, yet she still doesn't have enough. I don't have half of that and I'm content. And what about people who are sick, who have actual problems, not a bunch of high school meaningless crap? Well, I guess this is the kind of movie where real problems are forbidden. Roberts makes feeble attempts at acting and her prayer scene has got to be the most embarrassing moment of her career. Surprisingly, her character and performance aren't the biggest fails of the movie - that honor goes to many failed attempts of making the audience laugh, usually involving Liz's ex husband (Billy Crudup, for whom I felt genuinely sorry when he had to say all those pathetic lines).