Palidan400

Agh, this is frustrating. I love Arrow. When they do well, they do amazingly well. This finale has a lot building up to it, a lot of characters coming together, all the twists being revealed. All of this sets up for an exciting and intense finale.

With each fight, each moment of life or death, each rush to figure out the next move against Ra's, the suspense builds. Yet suddenly, annoying and useless bits of drama interrupt the mood. I wish I could say this finale is perfect, but the writing just brings it down. Constantly we are barraged with all the characters and their drama, as if they were all children - perhaps the show should be called "Ollie and his 8-year-old Friends"...

They manage to make even John, who has consistently been a likable favorite, turn into an irritating character to hate. Add Felicty, Laurel, Lance, etc. to that list. We understand, for the 100th time, the angst they feel over the smallest things, and their inability to focus on what's important - the city is about to die, yet their selfish, personal needs come first apparently. And Oliver has to suffer to that because he is the hero.

Frustration aside, it's a great episode. Once again, they manage to handle an abundance of characters well, giving everyone a decent amount of time to develop themselves. And they are great at throwing hints at future options, or just comic teases in general. One other complaint I would have is how they mostly give villains such anti-climactic and easy exits from the show. The "use my hand to take the blade and surprise you" move has been done a lot, to say the least. The bits with Tatsu and Maseo I actually enjoyed a lot, their arc I found to be much more mature and refreshing. Unfortunately, they are not the protagonists so they are brushed off quickly. That being said, it's an interesting finish to the season. A lot is building up for the next season with many characters stepping up into the light. Let's just hope they don't keep introducing senseless and repetitive drama into the show, which they will.

Jake Gyllenhaal fits perfectly in "Nightcrawler", an intense, twisted and darkly comedic directorial debut by Dan Gilroy. The film starts with the premise of a young man struggling to find work, following the common idea: "If you want something, go get it." While that may seem trite and uninteresting, the extra mile is taken here into making a very interesting and sometimes disturbing two hours.

The film develops a distinct visual style, casting a lot of its characters into the darkness of the night, accompanied by all the bright lights of the city and the story - the cameras, streetlamps, TV studio lights. Along with James Newton Howard's score, it gives off a very eerie mood that fits the night life of the film.

Throughout, we follow Gyllenhaal's character Louis Bloom, and right from the beginning we get a good sense of who he is, and what he will do to achieve his goals. He's brilliant and deranged, making for a very funny yet frightening character. As he delves deeper and deeper into his new work, the stakes get higher and higher, until the closing, which I personally enjoyed very much. Along the way, we are given intense action scenes and incredible performances by Gyllenhaal and the rest of the cast.

If you want to something refreshing and engaging, "Nightcrawler" comes highly recommended. Gyllenhaal succeeds in playing a man so despicable yet likable, and it is thrilling to watch him progress through the film. RATING: [8.5/10]