Tonight’s episode of FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum not only wrapped up our favorite characters’ arcs, it concluded the show’s entire second season.  Things were tied in a neat little bow with massive character deaths done in the most tasteless possible way…for the most part.  After the jump, we’ll talk about how Ryan Murphy and the creative team of AHS:A explored and resolved the theme of insanity, who will return next year and just where the show might be headed for season three.

American Horror Story: Asylum stars Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe, along with newcomers Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, Lizzie Brochere and Clea Duvall.  Hit the jump for the recap and review of tonight’s finale, “Madness Ends” and a look back at the second season.

We’re getting down to the wire and running out of living characters on FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum.  Tonight we bid fond farewells to three more souls: one was a surprise, two of them died a second time and one of them was simply brushed aside with nary an explanation.  This episode was also a bit more toned down than we’re used to (well, for this show anyway) so I’m expecting them to lay it all on the table in next week’s season finale.

American Horror Story: Asylum stars Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe, along with newcomers Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, Lizzie Brochere and Clea Duvall.  Hit the jump for the recap and review of tonight’s episode, “Continuum.”

With only two episodes left after tonight, it’s nice to see American Horror Story: Asylum wrapping up the myriad plotlines in favor of bringing the major arcs to a satisfying conclusion.  We’ve already said goodbye to a few of the main players but more and more characters just keep popping up.  Also returning for this episode is my favorite stand-out director of the series, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.

American Horror Story: Asylum stars Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe, along with newcomers Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, Lizzie Brochere and Clea Duvall.  Hit the jump for the recap and review of tonight’s episode,”Spilt Milk.”

What better way to kick off 2013 than with a return to FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum?  Tonight’s episode spent a little bit of time getting us reacquainted with our favorite patients and caregivers of Briarcliff, but quickly got back into the crazy head games, battle between good and evil and even threw in a few surprises.  If you were sharp-eyed, you may have even picked up on a teaser about the plot line in the third season of American Horror Story. 

American Horror Story: Asylum stars Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe, along with newcomers Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, Lizzie Brochere and Clea Duvall.  Hit the jump for the recap and review of tonight’s episode,”The Name Game.”

Well, we’ve reached the mid-season finale of FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum and what a bloody and cliff-hangery way to end 2012! Not only did we get some carryover from guest star Ian McShane (who was phenomenal last week), but Frances Conroy also featured in tonight’s story. But those weren’t the biggest surprises as we were left with a shocking cliff-hanger that will have to wait until 2013 for a resolution.

American Horror Story: Asylum stars Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe, along with newcomers Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, Lizzie Brochere and Clea Duvall. Hit the jump for the recap and review of tonight’s episode,”The Coat Hanger.”

No one does Christmastime quite like FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum. The first season featured quite the climax with the Harmon family gathered round the Christmas tree; the feel-goods are not so joyous this time around. Featuring Ian McShane (Deadwood) as a deranged Santa Claus, tonight’s episode wasn’t just a fantastic addition to the series so far, but a stand-alone dark holiday classic.

American Horror Story: Asylum stars Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe, along with newcomers Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, Lizzie Brochere and Clea Duvall. Hit the jump for the recap and review of tonight’s episode, “Unholy Night.”

I may be crazy, but tonight’s episode of American Horror Story: Asylum might just be the best yet. It was pulpy, it was soapy, it was creepy and gory; everything you want this show to be! Perhaps it was the demise of one of this season’s characters or the continuing downward spiral of everyone else on the show. Maybe it was the return of one of my favorite actors from season one, in a bold role that looks like one hell of a lot of fun to play! Whatever the trigger, it worked.

American Horror Story: Asylum stars Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe, along with newcomers Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, Lizzie Brochere and Clea Duvall. Hit the jump for the recap and review of tonight’s episode, “Dark Cousin.”

Last week on FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum, we closed out the two-part episode of “I Am Anne Frank,” featuring guest star Franka Potente. Now, we’re getting into the fallout from that episode as more truths and origins are revealed, forcing some alliances to be forged within the confines of Briarcliff Asylum to the exclusion of others. Plus new characters, dead characters and a spooky little girl!

American Horror Story: Asylum stars Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe, along with newcomers Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, Lizzie Brochere and Clea Duvall. Hit the jump for the recap and review of tonight’s episode, “The Origins of Monstrosity.”

Set in 1964, the FX drama series American Horror Story: Asylum takes viewers into Briarcliff, a haven for the criminally insane, ruled with an iron fist by Sister Jude (Jessica Lange), a nun with a troubled past.  Inside this locked down facility, danger lurks around every corner, whether it’s a doctor who loves to torture, flesh eating creatures in the forest, alien experimentation or the serial killer Bloody Face, and no one is safe.  From co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, the show also stars Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Zachary Quinto, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Lizzie Brochere and Chloe Sevigny.

During this recent interview to promote her guest appearance on the show, actress Franka Potente, who played a character convinced she’s Anne Frank, talked about how she got involved with the show, what it was like to play such a historical figure, working with co-stars Jessica Lange and James Cromwell, how eerie the asylum set is to shoot in, what sort of research she did on people admitted to asylums, the biggest challenges with this role, and how she hopes she’ll get to return to the show, at some point.  She also talked about how she chooses her roles, that she’s writing her first novel, and what she’d like to see from her character in Season 2 of the BBC America drama series Copper.  Check out what she had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are spoilers.

Tonight’s episode of American Horror Story: Asylum wrapped up the two-parter with character developments across the board, fun cameos and a satisfying reveal at the conclusion. I prefer it when the showrunners get to slow things down a bit rather than cramming all the crazy into an hour. Somehow, they managed to share the wealth and screen time in this round to produce the best episode so far this season.

American Horror Story: Asylum stars Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe, along with newcomers Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, Lizzie Brochere and Clea Duvall. Hit the jump for the recap of tonight’s episode, “I Am Anne Frank: Part 2.”

Last week’s episode of FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum featured a nor’easter just as the East Coast was being slammed by Hurricane Sandy.  Things were a lot quieter on the show this week which means there was time for some ::gasp:: character development!  Along with some shocking revelations about current characters, we were introduced to a new character by way of Franka Potente (Run Lola Run) playing the title role in the first installment of this two-parter.

American Horror Story: Asylum stars Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe, along with newcomers Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, Lizzie Brochere and Clea Duvall. Hit the jump for the recap of tonight’s episode, “I Am Anne Frank: Part 1.”

If Labor Day signals the unofficial end of Summer, then the premiere of American Horror Story: Asylum should suffice for the unofficial kick-off for Halloween.  To get an early jump on the festivities, we have a handful of new images and teaser promos to share with you today.  The marketing isn’t providing a whole lot of context or even showing any of the cast.  What they’re doing is giving us a look at the aesthetics of season two and teasing the bejesus out of us for what we can expect to see.  Perhaps newcomer Franka Potente (The Bourne Identity) can shed some light on that subject.

American Horror Story: Asylum, from creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, stars Zachary Quinto, Lily Rabe, Evan Peters, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Sarah Paulson, and of course, Jessica Lange.  The anthology show’s second season debuts on FX October 17th.  Hit the jump for a look at the new images, teasers and more on Potente’s role.

[With The Bourne Legacy set to open this Friday, we'll be taking a look back at the original Bourne trilogy.  These reviews will contain spoilers since the movies have been out for years.]

In the years following his breakthrough success with Good Will Hunting, Matt Damon‘s career had hit a snag.  He was a talented actor who had made a series of bad choices in terms of leading roles.  Furthermore, he had never taken on the role of an action hero, but Universal took a chance on the actor, and had him star in the thriller The Bourne Identity.  Director Doug Liman has also never done an action film before, and had made his name on the indie features Swingers and Go.  Strangely, neither the director nor his star does a particularly great job with the film, but it was a hit and led to two excellent features once Paul Greengrass took over the franchise.  I didn’t care much for The Bourne Identity when I saw it back when it was released in 2002.  I hadn’t revisited the movie until today, and unfortunately, it still has a lot of problems.  Thankfully, these problems then serve to illustrate what makes the character works and separates him from other action heroes.

Jason Bourne, a man born of the 1980s, undergoes a spot-on big screen update.  Matt Damon supplies the body and Doug Liman (Swingers, Go) and Paul Greenglass (United 93, Bloody Sunday) put it to work.  You should know, if someone offers you twenty thousand dollars to drive them somewhere, only do it if you want to fall in love with that irascible spy.  More after the jump: