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Just a word about the Emmy nominations first. I'm glad for the 13 nominations the show got, and of course I firmly believes that at least the series, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, should win for best drama, best actor and best supporting actor. I'm sorry but the others just can't compete with such brillance.

Still, a bit sad that Justified was mostly snubbed and Timothy Olyphant overlooked. He's such an underrated actor.

But this post is about "Live Free or Die". I've re-watched the episode since the review I posted, and I have new thoughts.

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ETA: via boingboing found this street art:

Remember my macabre posts from March-April?

I never got to answer the meme for Breaking Bad. I think it's time. Don't look if you haven't seen the show up to season 4's finale!

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I am not sure this is exactly the post I had in mind but this is the one that got written.

Breaking Bad comes back in three days so there are many interviews and articles showing up here and there. Yesterday I read an interview in which Bryan Cranston talked about Water White and said interesting things about the way he saw him and decided to play him at first, physically. Cranston echoed once more the infamous "from Mr Chips to Scarface" journey but also said that he thought of his own father and decided to make Walt look older through his posture, the way he carried himself. Little details like that are indeed meaningful.

I also read this article, in which Gilligan said, about Walter, that he "pretty much lost sympathy for him long ago. He’s a damaged individual.” before adding “More than ever, we can let Walter White get as dark as he could possibly get”.

Me? I love Walter White and I probably love him more now than I did when the series began. I think he's the perfect tv character. It works in my opinion because of the paradoxical mix of hyper-realism and pure fantasy that the show provides and that Walt, himself, embodies.

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I can't believe the finale is next week!

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Still in Marking Hell. 21 History papers to go and then I'll have left only 30 Geography papers (quicker to mark as it was just a test not essays).

If the sore throat is any clue, I'm coming down with a cold. Not really surprising given how tired I've been feeling lately. I must have worn a red sign to all the viruses and bugs around saying "welcome guys!".

I watched the finale of Homeland yesterday in the evening, and was torn about it for there are things that I loved and others that were just hugely convenient, contrived and clichesque plot devices. Might post about it later, when I have time...maybe next week.

I got warm and fuzzy feelings from reading this interview with Aaron Paul, especially when he said about Jesse and Walter: "I’m sad seeing it from the character’s point of view, because you know they both have love for each other. But they don’t trust one another sometimes, and they really should".

I haven't been to the cinema for a couple of weeks (M. and I were supposed to go and see J. Edgar last week but it fell through)so despite feeling like I could spend the rest of the day in bed, I'm going to see The Descendants.

Speaking of movies, looks like John Hawkes stroke again in Sundance Festival with The Surrogate. And I have yet to see playing that cult leader in Martha Marcy May Marlene -- that will be released at the end of February over here--, in which everybody says he's also excellent to the point that he should have been nominated again for best supporting role (btw he totally should have won last year for his work as Teardrop in Winter's Bone).

Leaving both Michael Fassbender and John Hawkes out of a nomination list, these days is a just ridiculous, period.

David Lavery is upset and Huffpost TV says it so.*

The fact that the Golden Globes nominated Bryan Cranston but ignored the show he is in is simply ridiculous! There's nothing better on tv writing-wise and in terms of cinematography. Cranston and the other actors' terrific performance are only one gem among others.

As much as I enjoy Boarwalk Empire it is not even close to the brilliance that is Breaking Bad.

Oh well.

*PS: that said, I don't consider season 4 to be the finest BrBa season. I think that season 3 had a strong second half.

Since I work on my thesis during the week days, I have decided to have real week ends. When this break is over, I will resume the busy weekends filled with preparations and marking.

So I'm treating myself with movies-- I saw Clooney's last movie, starring Ryan Gosling (who is in every films these days)--, books and tv shows.

Except that, when the week end comes I'm running out of tv shows!

Of course someday I'll have to watch the third and final season of Deadwood that I own on DVD, but I'm still postponing it, to keep it a bit longer, to save it for when I will have nothing really good left to watch. It's like having a great bottle of wine aging in your cave and wanting to keep it for the perfect day.

The fact that it's the second week sans FRINGE doesn't help, though. Not that FRINGE is in the same league, but it's one of those tv shows I'm hooked to and follow, like a good tv slut, so they make the Breaking Bad withdrawal easier.

BTW, do we know when the third season of Justified is supposed to start? I'm longing for my Raylan and Boyd. :-(

But I've received my DVD box of Caprica, so I spent yesterday evening (after watching the Bolshoi thing on ARTE), and today's grey and rainy afternoon, re-watching the series and listening to the episode commentaries (basically the podcasts they recorded when the series was on). I'm surprised to like some scenes I didn't like much when I saw the series in 2010 (like the dancing robot scene) and I don't think it's only because watching it on my big flat screen is better than on my laptop.

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Here are my first reactions!

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Oh the tension and the possibilities in that penultimate episode! I'm both thrilled and exhausted!

Is it next week yet?

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That show gives me tachycardia! How are they going to top that?

The last 10 minutes were just WOW. Better than most thrillers...and that last shot. One of the best things ever filmed on tv. Unbelievable.

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ETA: I checked the T.V/ A.V.Club, there are already 1408 comments for that episode of Breaking Bad! Sheer craziness.