American Horror Story: Asylum-Episode 1

So, I saw the pilot episode, and I really want to do that episode by episode blogging thing that some people have done since I feel like I can't get enough stuff into a summary post of an entire show. It's really different with movies because, as Foldable Human of Folding Ideas said, movies are self contained viewing experiences. Video games and tv shows have to be viewed/experienced over a period of time.

I need to preserve what few braincells I have left after seeing Quest for Camelot, so that one's gonna wait. I NEED TO RECOVER FROM THE F****** POS OF A MOTHERF****** MOVIE!!!WHAT WAS I THINKING? GODDAMN MOTHERF****** S*** STORM THAT IT IS I... that one's gonna wait, sorry guys. Just saying, NC's got nothing on me with this review.
So, episode one. I'm kind of surprised that AHS is an anthology series, but at the same time, I feel like it makes sense from a writing standpoint.

Well, Evan Peters and Jessica Lange are back which is great, but it's kinda giving the "seeing your ex again" vibe as they played mother and son in the previous season, and now she's a nun that rules a mental hospital with an iron fist and he's a "sane" mental patient who is a lot like Angelina Jolie in Changeling as a character. I really wish Dylan McDermott was back but he's in Hostages now, which isn't bad, but can feel like a snore fest at times...

 Um, and that chick who was the Clairvoyant in the previous season is back. And she's a lesbian. And her partner is...

ding ding ding! you win the prize for remembering stuff I did when I started this blog. It's Sophie from Carnivale, and damn this chick can play literally ANY role.

Maybe it's because I have geek cred that this kinda excites me. For knowing who the actress is, that is   because I haven't seen her in anything since Carnivale. Moving right along...

I think for me, super A-list actors will always look like themselves regardless of the roles they play

A-HEM...

Matthew  Broderick fans can all lynch me.  But my point still stands. Anytime I see Brad Pitt in a film, all I think is, yeah that's Brad Pitt. Big woop. It used to be if I saw Kelly Macdonald onscreen I would just see her character. Now I just see Kelly Macdonald, but that's because I've seen her in too many things.

And I think that's the problem with anthology TV series in general. It's hard to suspend your disbelief that much, when you already see an actor as one character. And I think I'm going to have a hard time with the next few episodes since my brain will need to accept that different characters = same actors.

But for me, the biggest problem is that a couple of years ago, I watched Murder in the First and Shutter Island in the span of a week. And this episode reminded me way too much of those movies in tone, characterization etc.

I think that's the problem with the pilot of this season. It's too much like everything else. I know that'll probably all change, like it did in the first season, but it's annoying none the less. Hopefully the rest will get better.