Dead Like Me

I discovered this series completely by accident.  There was a free online video of the pilot episode, so I gave it a watch.  After all, the incarnation of Death has always been cool.

I loved it.  The premise was a humorous take on the whole personification of death, but they managed to get some good stories and emotions going.  The short of it is that some souls, for whatever reason, don't move one.  Instead they get recruited to assist in the whole dying process, by manually retrieving souls before the actual body dies, thereby saving the bodies a bunch of discomfort.  The series focus on the group that handles accidental deaths (including murder) and the problems a bunch of lost souls encounter trying to do their jobs without a help manual.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Brave One

Ok, I must admit, I only watched this one because Jodie Foster is cool. Reading the box sort of gave me the impression it would be a retooling of Death Wish. And what can you do with that concept that Charles Bronson hasn't already done.

Well, turns out I was only partially right. It's definitely a vigilante movie, and the theme was pretty close, but I ended up enjoying it more than Death Wish. Foster puts in the human element that is often missing in the genre, showing a troubled, tormented woman driven to do what she does by a pain she can't control. It's more than just an excuse to shoot people, although most of the people who get shot are fairly one-dimensional baddies. But the point of the movie is not to focus on them, but on how the violence impacts the main character.

I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.