Last year, Jessica Lange won her second Emmy Award for playing the devious, delicious Constance Langdon in “American Horror Story.” This year, the two-time Oscar winner earned another Emmy nod for the same show—though in a completely different role. In “American Horror Story: Asylum,” Lange transformed to play Sister Jude, a.k.a. Judy Martin, a washed-up lounge singer turned nun who rules the Briarcliff Mental Institution with an iron fist—and a sharp cane. The season took a big twist when Sister Jude ended up a patient in her own hospital, highlighted by a memorable scene in which she sang “The Name Game,” backed by her inmates. It was fascinating, hypnotic, and wildly entertaining—not unlike Lange herself. Congratulations on your fifth Emmy nomination. Is it still as exciting every time that you get one? Or is it old hat by now?No, no, it’s very, very,...
- 8/6/2013
- backstage.com
It seems like American Horror Story: Asylum’s thirteen episodes absolutely flew by. The season was wild and creepy and rich and satisfying, and an absolutely excellent follow up to the exquisite Season 1, American Horror Story. As I reported previously, I was lucky enough to attend a screening of the Asylum finale before it aired, followed by a Q&A session with the showrunner, Ryan Murphy. He was full of information about the just-completed season, the season to come, and the series in general.
Although I dashed out most of the Season 3 information immediately for your consumption last month, I had to hold back on the finale talk and anything that might have been associated with it; to be safe I waited on most all of the Season 2 discussion other than what was included in my season finale review.
Before we get to Mr. Murphy’s thoughts, here’s a quick reminder about the finale,...
Although I dashed out most of the Season 3 information immediately for your consumption last month, I had to hold back on the finale talk and anything that might have been associated with it; to be safe I waited on most all of the Season 2 discussion other than what was included in my season finale review.
Before we get to Mr. Murphy’s thoughts, here’s a quick reminder about the finale,...
- 2/2/2013
- by Erin Willard
- ScifiMafia
Review Ron Hogan Jan 17, 2013
American Horror Story: Asylum is approaching its season two finale, and rapidly tying up loose ends...
This review contains spoilers.
2.12 Continuum
I thought that last week's episode of American Horror Story, for all its oddly-placed seriousness, was a very good episode. It moved the story forward and got into some really creative camerawork in the process. I thought that it was going to be one of the better episodes in terms of cool set-ups and editing tricks, but I was wrong. Continuum took the show in an entirely new direction with an entirely new, very well-done shift in style thanks to director Craig Zisk.
And that direction, before you can ask, is upside down and hanging off a crane. We've seen a lot of tonight's tricks before - unusual shot framing, Dutch angles, time-jumping smash cuts and match cuts - but nothing has been quite as...
American Horror Story: Asylum is approaching its season two finale, and rapidly tying up loose ends...
This review contains spoilers.
2.12 Continuum
I thought that last week's episode of American Horror Story, for all its oddly-placed seriousness, was a very good episode. It moved the story forward and got into some really creative camerawork in the process. I thought that it was going to be one of the better episodes in terms of cool set-ups and editing tricks, but I was wrong. Continuum took the show in an entirely new direction with an entirely new, very well-done shift in style thanks to director Craig Zisk.
And that direction, before you can ask, is upside down and hanging off a crane. We've seen a lot of tonight's tricks before - unusual shot framing, Dutch angles, time-jumping smash cuts and match cuts - but nothing has been quite as...
- 1/17/2013
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
American Horror Story: Asylum – 2×12 “Continuum”
Stars: Jessica Lange, Chloe Sevigny, Joseph Fiennes, James Cromwell, Evan Peters, Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Zachary Quinto, Clea DuVall, Sarah Paulson | Written by Ryan Murphy | Directed by Craig Zisk
‘Continuum’ continued the strong trajectory that American Horror Story has been on since it returned from its brief winter break. I don’t feel like it hit the heights of last week’s stunner, but it did nearly hit the mark. The structure of the episode gave it a linear feel, which felt strange when separated from the rather disjointed narrative that has permeated through the rest of the season. It had a laser-precision focus to it, telling the stories of our three leads rather than the all-encompassing world that they had been in which they were incarcerated in the cold, unforgiving world of Briarcliff. Now, that they’re out, the world is chewing them up.
Stars: Jessica Lange, Chloe Sevigny, Joseph Fiennes, James Cromwell, Evan Peters, Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Zachary Quinto, Clea DuVall, Sarah Paulson | Written by Ryan Murphy | Directed by Craig Zisk
‘Continuum’ continued the strong trajectory that American Horror Story has been on since it returned from its brief winter break. I don’t feel like it hit the heights of last week’s stunner, but it did nearly hit the mark. The structure of the episode gave it a linear feel, which felt strange when separated from the rather disjointed narrative that has permeated through the rest of the season. It had a laser-precision focus to it, telling the stories of our three leads rather than the all-encompassing world that they had been in which they were incarcerated in the cold, unforgiving world of Briarcliff. Now, that they’re out, the world is chewing them up.
- 1/17/2013
- by Nathan Smith
- Nerdly
We begin with Son of Bloody Face (Dylan McDermott) - or "Darksided Charlie Day", as I now like to think of him - sparking up in a sh*thole apartment. But wait a second - I recognize the angle of that davenport leg ... It Can't Be. This is what became of Oliver Thredson's impeccablely appointed bachelor's abbatoir?!?! Omg I'm seriously gonna barf - this is by Far the most horrifying thing the show has pulled on us this year. So much midcentury goodness wasted! So many ottomans and cocktail sets never to be recovered! And let's not even talk about the nipple lamp - it was a two-of-a-kind!
Anyway.
"Johnny" Face welcomes an extremely voluptuous vixen named Pandora into his criminally undertidied abode. Sadly, it's not:
It's another Padora altogether - although she's kind of amazing in her own right. She's just had a baby and has been saving it...
Anyway.
"Johnny" Face welcomes an extremely voluptuous vixen named Pandora into his criminally undertidied abode. Sadly, it's not:
It's another Padora altogether - although she's kind of amazing in her own right. She's just had a baby and has been saving it...
- 1/10/2013
- by brian
- The Backlot
There's nothing like having the tables turn on you from a power position to one of servitude and imprisonment in TV drama twist land. Poor Sister Jude / Judy Martin (Jessica Lange), correct in all her summations of the sorry state of Briarcliff, but bested by a devil in nun's habit. Lange endured the unthinkable last night. Ryan Murphy's visual jewel "American Horror Story" combined a surreal dance fantasy montage to the famous American ditty "The Name Game" as we witness our Jessica Lange blanked out by a near lethal jolt of Electric Shock Therapy thanks to her underling Sister Mary Eunice, possessed by Satan. Dr. Arden turns his back on the devil and the devil socked it...
- 1/3/2013
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
Well hello there, fellow inmates! I hope that you all enjoyed the break and have entered 2013 with a renewed spirit and appetite for the crazy - because American Horror Story: Asylum is back and dishing out extra helpings.
To recap where we left off: Alien babies, demonic nuns, killer Santa, Dr. Pepper. I think that about covers it.
We begin this week's episode with an advertisement for the new Kit Walker Blow-Up Doll:
Finally, Doctor Arden has produced something worthwhile in that lab of his!
No, seriously - Arden (James Cromwell) makes good on his word to bring Kit (Evan Peters) back from his medically-induced death. He stabs Kit in the heart with adrenaline, then slaps him back to life. Or as we call it in our house, "the Saturday Morning Special". Kit asks if the aliens came like they had hoped, and Arden lies, telling him that they didn't.
To recap where we left off: Alien babies, demonic nuns, killer Santa, Dr. Pepper. I think that about covers it.
We begin this week's episode with an advertisement for the new Kit Walker Blow-Up Doll:
Finally, Doctor Arden has produced something worthwhile in that lab of his!
No, seriously - Arden (James Cromwell) makes good on his word to bring Kit (Evan Peters) back from his medically-induced death. He stabs Kit in the heart with adrenaline, then slaps him back to life. Or as we call it in our house, "the Saturday Morning Special". Kit asks if the aliens came like they had hoped, and Arden lies, telling him that they didn't.
- 1/3/2013
- by brian
- The Backlot
Review Ron Hogan Jan 3, 2013
The quality of performance in American Horror Story continues to impress. Here's Ron's review...
This review contains spoilers.
2.10 The Name Game
One of this season's themes on American Horror Story: Asylum is the fluidity of memory and perceptions. From Kit's alien hallucinations that turn out to be more honest than first imagined, Dr. Arden's fictional personality, Lana's fun with electroshock therapy and illusions of Stockholm Syndrome, Dr. Thredson's dual sides and the way he apparently hovered off-screen for most of the first episode, and even the is-she-or-isn't-she-deathstravaganza of Grace, American Horror Story's second season is a show proving that you can't trust what you see, even when you see something definitive.
Even the opening credits contribute to this uneasiness. Every week, they're different, but not so different that you immediately pick out what's changed. It's subtle, as far as this show can be subtle, and...
The quality of performance in American Horror Story continues to impress. Here's Ron's review...
This review contains spoilers.
2.10 The Name Game
One of this season's themes on American Horror Story: Asylum is the fluidity of memory and perceptions. From Kit's alien hallucinations that turn out to be more honest than first imagined, Dr. Arden's fictional personality, Lana's fun with electroshock therapy and illusions of Stockholm Syndrome, Dr. Thredson's dual sides and the way he apparently hovered off-screen for most of the first episode, and even the is-she-or-isn't-she-deathstravaganza of Grace, American Horror Story's second season is a show proving that you can't trust what you see, even when you see something definitive.
Even the opening credits contribute to this uneasiness. Every week, they're different, but not so different that you immediately pick out what's changed. It's subtle, as far as this show can be subtle, and...
- 1/3/2013
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
American Horror Story: Asylum – 2×10 “The Name Game”
Stars: Jessica Lange, Chloe Sevigny, Joseph Fiennes, James Cromwell, Evan Peters, Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Zachary Quinto, Clea DuVall, Sarah Paulson | Written by Jessica Sharzer | Directed by Michael Lehmann
Unpredictability is the lifeblood of a long running series. It’s the thing that thrill-seeking audiences thrive for, week in and week out. After all, isn’t that what television is good for? The Vampire Diaries practically plays every single card in the deck that way. It’s good television, unless that aforementioned unpredictability is done with a willy-nilly aplomb. If the writers are just throwing strands of story at the wall like an artist who doesn’t know how to paint, then it’s just bad business storytelling. And unfortunately, there is that sense of throwing things in the pot to try and cook a good meal. Some of it goes down smooth,...
Stars: Jessica Lange, Chloe Sevigny, Joseph Fiennes, James Cromwell, Evan Peters, Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Zachary Quinto, Clea DuVall, Sarah Paulson | Written by Jessica Sharzer | Directed by Michael Lehmann
Unpredictability is the lifeblood of a long running series. It’s the thing that thrill-seeking audiences thrive for, week in and week out. After all, isn’t that what television is good for? The Vampire Diaries practically plays every single card in the deck that way. It’s good television, unless that aforementioned unpredictability is done with a willy-nilly aplomb. If the writers are just throwing strands of story at the wall like an artist who doesn’t know how to paint, then it’s just bad business storytelling. And unfortunately, there is that sense of throwing things in the pot to try and cook a good meal. Some of it goes down smooth,...
- 1/3/2013
- by Nathan Smith
- Nerdly
American Horror Story: Asylum has portrayed it all — from murders to amputations, Ryan Murphy leaves nothing to the imagination. Still, we are used to many of these graphic scenes just from visiting our local movie theater during Halloween season. As gruesome as it is, we are accustomed to the blood spewing, the white-tiled basement filled with murderous tools, and the exorcisms. We love Murphy’s wink to the horror genre and his dramatic flair, but this week’s episode seemed more disturbing than the usual stabbing. Lana Winters finds out she’s pregnant with Dr. Thredson’s baby and is determined to have an abortion — hence the title of the episode “The Coat Hanger.” The titular scene was probably one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen on this show so far. Now that they’ve depicted such a thing, what else can really be portrayed? Have we overcome the shock factor?...
- 12/13/2012
- by Shara Morris
- TheFabLife - Movies
The expected was revealed in American Horror Story: Asylum's "The Coat Hanger," but there were a few surprises as well: Two presumed dead patients are very much alive.
Dylan McDermott is playing Modern Day Bloody Face, also known as Johnny. McDermott went from playing a psychiatrist last year to needing one here. And he believes he is the son of Dr. Thredson, the original Bloody Face.
With the multiple pregnancies at Briarcliff, I wouldn't put money on Johnny being Thredson's son. Besides finding out that he was the one who made the 911 calls, his comments to Dr. Gardner showed that at some point in the past, Dr. Thredson's true identity was uncovered.
Lana and Kit were impressive in their manipulation of Thredson to get his confession on tape. While Lana was talking to him, I hoped they were recording it, but given the time period wasn't sure how they would pull it off.
Dylan McDermott is playing Modern Day Bloody Face, also known as Johnny. McDermott went from playing a psychiatrist last year to needing one here. And he believes he is the son of Dr. Thredson, the original Bloody Face.
With the multiple pregnancies at Briarcliff, I wouldn't put money on Johnny being Thredson's son. Besides finding out that he was the one who made the 911 calls, his comments to Dr. Gardner showed that at some point in the past, Dr. Thredson's true identity was uncovered.
Lana and Kit were impressive in their manipulation of Thredson to get his confession on tape. While Lana was talking to him, I hoped they were recording it, but given the time period wasn't sure how they would pull it off.
- 12/13/2012
- by carla@tvfanatic.com (Carla Day)
- TVfanatic
This is a wonderfully heart-warming story about a boy who lives out the dream of becoming a superhero for a day. Erik Martin, a thirteen year-old boy living with liver cancer, got his wish answered with the help of the Make-a-Wish Foundation and hundreds of volunteers in Bellevue and Seattle, Washington.
For Erik, April 29th started like any other, but his day took an extraordinary turn when Spider-Man called on him at school. Spidey was one of the few people on earth to know Erik’s secret identity as a crime-fighting superhero called Electron Boy, who “fights the powers of evil with light”. On this day, Spider-Man needed Electron Boy’s help.
Here was the predicament: Villains named Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy had taken the Seattle Sounders football (that’s soccer, not pigskin) team prisoner in a locker room at Qwest Field.
Donning his red and blue superhero costume,...
For Erik, April 29th started like any other, but his day took an extraordinary turn when Spider-Man called on him at school. Spidey was one of the few people on earth to know Erik’s secret identity as a crime-fighting superhero called Electron Boy, who “fights the powers of evil with light”. On this day, Spider-Man needed Electron Boy’s help.
Here was the predicament: Villains named Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy had taken the Seattle Sounders football (that’s soccer, not pigskin) team prisoner in a locker room at Qwest Field.
Donning his red and blue superhero costume,...
- 5/9/2010
- by Lillian 'zenbitch' Standefer
- ScifiMafia
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