I'm so glad this movie is not going to be affected by the writers strike. 8 months and counting...
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
New Joker pic
I'm so glad this movie is not going to be affected by the writers strike. 8 months and counting...
Monday, November 26, 2007
Lost without Lost??
If you've been struggling these past six months without any new episodes of Lost and can't bare the thought of waiting another 3 (or more depending on how the strike plays out), there may be a little hope for you. The show is currently releasing webisodes on a weekly basis. These are short movies which give a little bit more info on our favorite castaways. These aren't deleted scenes from old episodes, but rather new content which is meant to fill in some holes about these characters. There are currently two up, one involving a Jack flashback and the other related to Hurley. They aren't much, but I guess they are better than nothing. I believe new ones will be posted every Monday. You can view them here: Lost webisodes
Oh, the Yumanity!
With Thanksgiving now behind us, it means crunch time for me once again with school. Knowing I won't have much free time over the next few weeks and seeing that 3:10 to Yuma was out at the budget theater right now, I made sure to squeeze in a viewing tonight. And it's a good thing I did because this thing delivered.
The movie is a winner and that is thanks in large part to the terrific acting by its two primary leads. We've known for quite some time that Russell Crowe is talented and he gives another fine performance as the murderous Ben Wade. Opposite him in Christian Bale, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors of all time. The last few films he's done have been outstanding with him doing a great job playing very different characters. Here, he's the down-on-his-luck, Dan Evans who's doing his best to provide a good living for his family.
We also get some strong performances from the supporting cast. Peter Fonda does a nice job as an aging bounty hunter. Ben Foster is all sorts of creepy and slimy as Ben's second in command. And I really enjoyed Alan Tudyk as the doctor. This is a guy who most won't recognize, but has had solid performances recently in Knocked Up, Arrested Development, Dodgeball, and voicing Sonny in I Robot.
Going back to Bale and Crowe, though, the film works because it does a wonderful job of establishing the relationship between their two characters. As they travel together to put Ben on the prison train heading toward Yuma we see how they are two sides of the same coin. Ben is a villain with a side of humanity while Dan is a hero with hints of a dark side. We learn more about each of them throught their interactions with the other.
I'm not sure what it is about westerns that brings out these themes so nicely, but they do. The ideas behind what is good or bad, black or white, are emphasized when they are placed in such a shades of grey world like the old West. We see, this fall especially, how modern political dramas attempt to achieve the same thing but failing to do so. Perhaps its because the ideas surrounding those themes are more simple in the Western genre. Or maybe its because when it comes to modern political thrillers everyone is afraid to step on somebody's toes that those themes become muddied.
While this genre works at getting these themes across, the one flaw I found in the film is associated with the genre. I personally did not feel the director did enough to give this film the look of an old western. Everything had too much of a Hollywood feel for me and at times it took me out of the film. Thankfully everytime I started thinking about it, I was drawn back in by the performances of the actors.
The film is based on a short story by Elmore Leonard, who, along with Stephen King and Philip K. Dick, is becoming one of Hollywood's go-to guys for source material when making films. It's also a remake of a 1957 film, starring Glen Ford. Based on what I know, this version seems pretty faithful to the original. One aspect that does remain the same is the ending, which I'm sure will be debated by all who see this film. Without giving anything away, I will say that the ending doesn't confuse me, but I have no doubt that others won't get it. I think because the ending isn't conventional the director could have done more with the final scenes. The finish is a little too succinct for the action it involves. There is certainly plenty of evidence throughout the film to explain why it ends in that manner, but it's not necessarily spelled out for the audience. For this reason, you're going to have a lot of people who may not care for the ending.
While there may be room for improvement on how things wrap up, it did not ruin the film for me. This is a really good film and I would have no qualms if it or the actors were nominated in the upcoming awards season. I'm not typically a Western fan, but if the films in this genre continue to be as good as this one, I may become a convert. When this one makes it out onto DVD (which probably won't happen until after the holidays), make an effort and check this one out. Grade: A-
The movie is a winner and that is thanks in large part to the terrific acting by its two primary leads. We've known for quite some time that Russell Crowe is talented and he gives another fine performance as the murderous Ben Wade. Opposite him in Christian Bale, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors of all time. The last few films he's done have been outstanding with him doing a great job playing very different characters. Here, he's the down-on-his-luck, Dan Evans who's doing his best to provide a good living for his family.
We also get some strong performances from the supporting cast. Peter Fonda does a nice job as an aging bounty hunter. Ben Foster is all sorts of creepy and slimy as Ben's second in command. And I really enjoyed Alan Tudyk as the doctor. This is a guy who most won't recognize, but has had solid performances recently in Knocked Up, Arrested Development, Dodgeball, and voicing Sonny in I Robot.
Going back to Bale and Crowe, though, the film works because it does a wonderful job of establishing the relationship between their two characters. As they travel together to put Ben on the prison train heading toward Yuma we see how they are two sides of the same coin. Ben is a villain with a side of humanity while Dan is a hero with hints of a dark side. We learn more about each of them throught their interactions with the other.
I'm not sure what it is about westerns that brings out these themes so nicely, but they do. The ideas behind what is good or bad, black or white, are emphasized when they are placed in such a shades of grey world like the old West. We see, this fall especially, how modern political dramas attempt to achieve the same thing but failing to do so. Perhaps its because the ideas surrounding those themes are more simple in the Western genre. Or maybe its because when it comes to modern political thrillers everyone is afraid to step on somebody's toes that those themes become muddied.
While this genre works at getting these themes across, the one flaw I found in the film is associated with the genre. I personally did not feel the director did enough to give this film the look of an old western. Everything had too much of a Hollywood feel for me and at times it took me out of the film. Thankfully everytime I started thinking about it, I was drawn back in by the performances of the actors.
The film is based on a short story by Elmore Leonard, who, along with Stephen King and Philip K. Dick, is becoming one of Hollywood's go-to guys for source material when making films. It's also a remake of a 1957 film, starring Glen Ford. Based on what I know, this version seems pretty faithful to the original. One aspect that does remain the same is the ending, which I'm sure will be debated by all who see this film. Without giving anything away, I will say that the ending doesn't confuse me, but I have no doubt that others won't get it. I think because the ending isn't conventional the director could have done more with the final scenes. The finish is a little too succinct for the action it involves. There is certainly plenty of evidence throughout the film to explain why it ends in that manner, but it's not necessarily spelled out for the audience. For this reason, you're going to have a lot of people who may not care for the ending.
While there may be room for improvement on how things wrap up, it did not ruin the film for me. This is a really good film and I would have no qualms if it or the actors were nominated in the upcoming awards season. I'm not typically a Western fan, but if the films in this genre continue to be as good as this one, I may become a convert. When this one makes it out onto DVD (which probably won't happen until after the holidays), make an effort and check this one out. Grade: A-
Monday, November 19, 2007
Who Ya Gonna Call??
New Ghostbusters Video Game
The timing is a bit odd, but yes, there is going to be a Ghostbusters game coming out on all platforms next fall and will include voice work from all of the original cast.
Clearly, I was sold on the game based on the fact that I loved the movies and it sounds like they're committed to make this to be almost like Ghostbusters 3. But, being a Wii owner, I see a lot of added potential with this game using the unique gaming features of Nintendo's system; namely using the Wiimote and nunchuk as the proton pack and trap.
Unfortunately, we have to wait until Fall 2008 until we can have a chance to tangle with Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
The timing is a bit odd, but yes, there is going to be a Ghostbusters game coming out on all platforms next fall and will include voice work from all of the original cast.
Clearly, I was sold on the game based on the fact that I loved the movies and it sounds like they're committed to make this to be almost like Ghostbusters 3. But, being a Wii owner, I see a lot of added potential with this game using the unique gaming features of Nintendo's system; namely using the Wiimote and nunchuk as the proton pack and trap.
Unfortunately, we have to wait until Fall 2008 until we can have a chance to tangle with Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
TV Week in Review
Amazing Race: High(Low?)lights of the week included Donald stripping to his undies to pole vault in the mud and Ronald's brutal browbeating of his daughter throughout the leg, culminating in his telling her that she always disappoints him. I said that I would like to see a family team last long, but given their performances this past week, I don't see that happening again. As usual, the unique teams (goths, hippies, etc) are more interesting and likeable than the dating couples, yet most of the couples finished near the top of the pack this week. But have no fear, each of them is one girlfriend meltdown away from getting Philiminated.
Chuck: Leave it to some good ol' truth serum to get some stories moving forward. Of course, the most interesting tidbit actually came from a lie; we learned Sarah really does have feelings for Chuck. And it comes at a time when Chuck has decided to move past her and try things out with sandwich maker Lou (played nicely by Rachel Bilson). Once again, I see Chuck having more chemistry with anyone but Sarah, but I don't think the Chuck/Lou pairing will last. Next week promises some big surprises and I have a feeling I know what they are, but I'll wait and see if I'm right.
Heroes: See my nagging Heroes questions post to get my thoughts on yet another uneven effort from this show.
How I Met Your Mother: The whole idea behind not seeing the flaws in a friend/lover until someone points them out to you was done perfectly and as Homer Simpson says, "It's funny, cuz it's true". As nice as this episode was, next week is the one I'm waiting for as the slap countdown finally hits zero. Barney beware!
Aliens in America: A stronger effort than the past few weeks if for no other reason than Justin and Raja were fighting this week. I think the value in this show will to have these two outcasts bond with each other in a world "against them" rather than making this The Odd Couple: The High School Years. The direction the show takes them over the next few episodes may be what determines whether I stick with this show or not.
House: I hate repeating myself, but the same gripes I've had about this show this season remained this week. The show still has its strong points, namely its great one-liners (usually from House) and gross out ailments, but the structure under which they're currently being provided is not one that I'm enjoying.
Reaper: Many interesting little things came out of this week's episode: Loved the Gladys subplot and her messing with Sock's dreams. We got to see the Devil's nastier side this week with his leaving Sam the bill for dinner and having the cop's last arrest be his own. The "Get Out of Hell Free" card is also very intriguing, but you can bet Sam won't use it for himself. The likely recepients right now would be Sam's dad or Andi. If it's the latter, lets hope she won't turn it down like she did Sam's birthday gift. BTW, loved the slap fight between Sam and Andi's now ex-boyfriend/douchebag.
Back to You It finally struck me this week how similar this show is set up to Murphy Brown. While both shows have similar characters, there is a key difference between them; MB was a sitcom that had its characters deal with topical issues of the day, while Back to You simply involves their characters in cliched sitcom plots. Take for instance this week's episode which involved the gang trying to get a raccoon out of Kelly's attic. Let the hilarity ensue! If this show has aspirations of keeping the standard sitcom alive, it needs to take things to another level.
Mythbusters: I might as well include this too since it was a new episode this week. I liked the idea of the supersized myths, but was a little underwhelmed by the choices they made for the myths to supersize. Both the shark and waterski myths were pretty anticlimatic (and shouldn't Jaime and Adam have done the waterski one since they did the original). However, I really enjoyed the jet cab one. The results weren't surprising but the visuals were awesome to watch. Finally, there was the jet car myth. I always found the original jet car myth to be boring, but since it was their first, I know this show loves it. It was a shame to see their efforts and not the myth busted on this one. I was not expected the car to blow up like that. Given what happened, I have no doubt that they'll try that one again in the future. I'm curious how recently that one was done though considering Scottie was involved with it. If it was new, I'm not sure why they brought her back for help on it.
Survivor: It's a good thing this week's show didn't air next week or else I probably would have thrown up my Thanksgiving dinner watching Courtney and Frosti canoodling. Thankfully that little showmance had the kibosh put on it when they booted Frosti off this week. There were other annoyances on this week's show like the fact that Phei-Gee's immunity win was seen coming a mile away. Between her "I haven't won anything" speech and Erik's "As long as Phei-Gee's doesn't win immunity, I'll be fine" line, you knew exactly what was coming. The one cool thing about this episode was Probst keeping the castaways at tribal council for an unknown twist. But be forewarned, it won't come this week as they're airing a clip show this week instead.
C.S.I.: So this was the big farewell Sara episode and I have to say I was left relatively unmoved. I get the idea of the job becoming too much for her to take, but I didn't buy that this was the case that would do her in. Maybe part of the problem was that I somehow missed the earlier episode that involved the potential suspect. Disappointment aside, I doubt that this will have too much of a negative impact on the show. There's still cases to be solved and the rest of the crew is intact to deal with them just fine. I would worry that too much time would be spent with Gil being depressed about Sara's leaving, but this is Grissom we're talking about and he doesn't show emotion. They actually will have a new episode this week and it looks to be a fun episode involving the lab tech people playing a mystery game.
My Name is Earl: Hooray Joy had the baby. Now let's get Earl out of the clink and have the show return to normal. And when that happens, hopefully they'll be able to find some way to keep Craig T. Nelson's warden around in some capacity.
30 Rock: The show certainly had plenty of laugh out loud moments, but I'm a little uneasy whenever they try and bring political themes into the show. This show so unapologetically leans to the left that it becomes a bit annoying. It ends up coming off more preachy than funny. Despite this I still enjoyed plenty about this week's show including Northax, Liz's new neighbors trying out for the Amazing Race, and Tracy's crude Cyrano de Bergeac routine.
The Office: It was tough to truly enjoying this one given that it is the last new one for the foreseeable future and because of its more dramatic tone. What I did appreciate was Steve Carell's terrific performance in this episode. You could really empathize with the situation he was being put in. The very fact that he managed to seemingly keep both his girlfriend and his job at the end of it all is impressive. The funniest sequence of the episode though once again involved Michael's use of "That's what she said". The court reporter's deadpan repeating of the dialogue just added to the hilarity. As for the pingpong subplot, it was just all right. I think I would have liked it better had it had a better payoff. Instead, it sort of limped to a finish with Pam and Kelly pathetically settling their issues on the table. Although, having the episode end with Dwight and Mose's epic ping pong battle was awesome.
Is this post long enough yet? :)
Chuck: Leave it to some good ol' truth serum to get some stories moving forward. Of course, the most interesting tidbit actually came from a lie; we learned Sarah really does have feelings for Chuck. And it comes at a time when Chuck has decided to move past her and try things out with sandwich maker Lou (played nicely by Rachel Bilson). Once again, I see Chuck having more chemistry with anyone but Sarah, but I don't think the Chuck/Lou pairing will last. Next week promises some big surprises and I have a feeling I know what they are, but I'll wait and see if I'm right.
Heroes: See my nagging Heroes questions post to get my thoughts on yet another uneven effort from this show.
How I Met Your Mother: The whole idea behind not seeing the flaws in a friend/lover until someone points them out to you was done perfectly and as Homer Simpson says, "It's funny, cuz it's true". As nice as this episode was, next week is the one I'm waiting for as the slap countdown finally hits zero. Barney beware!
Aliens in America: A stronger effort than the past few weeks if for no other reason than Justin and Raja were fighting this week. I think the value in this show will to have these two outcasts bond with each other in a world "against them" rather than making this The Odd Couple: The High School Years. The direction the show takes them over the next few episodes may be what determines whether I stick with this show or not.
House: I hate repeating myself, but the same gripes I've had about this show this season remained this week. The show still has its strong points, namely its great one-liners (usually from House) and gross out ailments, but the structure under which they're currently being provided is not one that I'm enjoying.
Reaper: Many interesting little things came out of this week's episode: Loved the Gladys subplot and her messing with Sock's dreams. We got to see the Devil's nastier side this week with his leaving Sam the bill for dinner and having the cop's last arrest be his own. The "Get Out of Hell Free" card is also very intriguing, but you can bet Sam won't use it for himself. The likely recepients right now would be Sam's dad or Andi. If it's the latter, lets hope she won't turn it down like she did Sam's birthday gift. BTW, loved the slap fight between Sam and Andi's now ex-boyfriend/douchebag.
Back to You It finally struck me this week how similar this show is set up to Murphy Brown. While both shows have similar characters, there is a key difference between them; MB was a sitcom that had its characters deal with topical issues of the day, while Back to You simply involves their characters in cliched sitcom plots. Take for instance this week's episode which involved the gang trying to get a raccoon out of Kelly's attic. Let the hilarity ensue! If this show has aspirations of keeping the standard sitcom alive, it needs to take things to another level.
Mythbusters: I might as well include this too since it was a new episode this week. I liked the idea of the supersized myths, but was a little underwhelmed by the choices they made for the myths to supersize. Both the shark and waterski myths were pretty anticlimatic (and shouldn't Jaime and Adam have done the waterski one since they did the original). However, I really enjoyed the jet cab one. The results weren't surprising but the visuals were awesome to watch. Finally, there was the jet car myth. I always found the original jet car myth to be boring, but since it was their first, I know this show loves it. It was a shame to see their efforts and not the myth busted on this one. I was not expected the car to blow up like that. Given what happened, I have no doubt that they'll try that one again in the future. I'm curious how recently that one was done though considering Scottie was involved with it. If it was new, I'm not sure why they brought her back for help on it.
Survivor: It's a good thing this week's show didn't air next week or else I probably would have thrown up my Thanksgiving dinner watching Courtney and Frosti canoodling. Thankfully that little showmance had the kibosh put on it when they booted Frosti off this week. There were other annoyances on this week's show like the fact that Phei-Gee's immunity win was seen coming a mile away. Between her "I haven't won anything" speech and Erik's "As long as Phei-Gee's doesn't win immunity, I'll be fine" line, you knew exactly what was coming. The one cool thing about this episode was Probst keeping the castaways at tribal council for an unknown twist. But be forewarned, it won't come this week as they're airing a clip show this week instead.
C.S.I.: So this was the big farewell Sara episode and I have to say I was left relatively unmoved. I get the idea of the job becoming too much for her to take, but I didn't buy that this was the case that would do her in. Maybe part of the problem was that I somehow missed the earlier episode that involved the potential suspect. Disappointment aside, I doubt that this will have too much of a negative impact on the show. There's still cases to be solved and the rest of the crew is intact to deal with them just fine. I would worry that too much time would be spent with Gil being depressed about Sara's leaving, but this is Grissom we're talking about and he doesn't show emotion. They actually will have a new episode this week and it looks to be a fun episode involving the lab tech people playing a mystery game.
My Name is Earl: Hooray Joy had the baby. Now let's get Earl out of the clink and have the show return to normal. And when that happens, hopefully they'll be able to find some way to keep Craig T. Nelson's warden around in some capacity.
30 Rock: The show certainly had plenty of laugh out loud moments, but I'm a little uneasy whenever they try and bring political themes into the show. This show so unapologetically leans to the left that it becomes a bit annoying. It ends up coming off more preachy than funny. Despite this I still enjoyed plenty about this week's show including Northax, Liz's new neighbors trying out for the Amazing Race, and Tracy's crude Cyrano de Bergeac routine.
The Office: It was tough to truly enjoying this one given that it is the last new one for the foreseeable future and because of its more dramatic tone. What I did appreciate was Steve Carell's terrific performance in this episode. You could really empathize with the situation he was being put in. The very fact that he managed to seemingly keep both his girlfriend and his job at the end of it all is impressive. The funniest sequence of the episode though once again involved Michael's use of "That's what she said". The court reporter's deadpan repeating of the dialogue just added to the hilarity. As for the pingpong subplot, it was just all right. I think I would have liked it better had it had a better payoff. Instead, it sort of limped to a finish with Pam and Kelly pathetically settling their issues on the table. Although, having the episode end with Dwight and Mose's epic ping pong battle was awesome.
Is this post long enough yet? :)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Nagging Heroes questions
So after last night's middling flashback episode, it seemed more questions than answers were producers. To wit, here's a list of things, of varying importance, that are still bugging me:
- How was Nathan able to grow that Grizzy Adams beard in just three weeks?
- We saw that container Peter was trapped in was empty in New York, so where did those iPods go?
- The commercial last week told us that we would learn what happened to Sylar, so what gives?
- How did HRG and Mohinder hook up in the first place to try and take down the company?
- So much happened to Parkman in those four months, yet not one word about him last night?
- Are the writers incapble of telling us ANYTHING different about the Wonderless Twins?
- For someone as powerful as Adam, didn't it seem like he should have been in a more secure cell, especially considering how easy he and Peter broke out?
- So, DL could react to a split second punch, but not the gun shot?
- Didn't it seem that Bob took over control of The Company awfully fast, considering Thompson would have only been killed by HRG a few hours earlier?
- Finally, would things have been better off had they just started the season with this episode?
- How was Nathan able to grow that Grizzy Adams beard in just three weeks?
- We saw that container Peter was trapped in was empty in New York, so where did those iPods go?
- The commercial last week told us that we would learn what happened to Sylar, so what gives?
- How did HRG and Mohinder hook up in the first place to try and take down the company?
- So much happened to Parkman in those four months, yet not one word about him last night?
- Are the writers incapble of telling us ANYTHING different about the Wonderless Twins?
- For someone as powerful as Adam, didn't it seem like he should have been in a more secure cell, especially considering how easy he and Peter broke out?
- So, DL could react to a split second punch, but not the gun shot?
- Didn't it seem that Bob took over control of The Company awfully fast, considering Thompson would have only been killed by HRG a few hours earlier?
- Finally, would things have been better off had they just started the season with this episode?
C.C. wins Cy Young
Sabathia captures pitching award
It's wonderful to see C.C. get recognized for the great season that he had. This, on top of Grady winning the Gold Glove last week are good signs that the national media is finally willing to give us the national recognition that we deserve. Now if only we could turn these great performances into a World Series victory. Is it time for Spring Training yet?
It's wonderful to see C.C. get recognized for the great season that he had. This, on top of Grady winning the Gold Glove last week are good signs that the national media is finally willing to give us the national recognition that we deserve. Now if only we could turn these great performances into a World Series victory. Is it time for Spring Training yet?
It's time to come clean
Controversial Tell-All Book Reveals Wrestling Fans Are Fake
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I guess I always knew I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret forever. I just never expected it to come out this way.
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I guess I always knew I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret forever. I just never expected it to come out this way.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Disappointing football weekend
Both my Browns and the Buckeyes let me down this week. First, you had OSU ruin their chance for another crack at the National Championship by getting upset by Illinois on Saturday. Then the Browns go up early on the hated Steelers today and then fail to close things out. As tough as each of those losses were, in some regard, I'm not overly surprised by either outcome. While the Bucks were #1, it was more a situation of them falling into that spot rather than earning it. And with the way top teams have been upset this year, it was almost bound to happen to them as well. As for the Browns, they just played an overall better team, as much as I hate to admit it.
Despite these loses, there is still some positive things to look forward to. OSU plays Michigan next week, which is always a HUGE game and the Big Ten title will be on the line in it. A win against the Wolverines and the Buckeyes will be playing in the Rose Bowl, which isn't too shabby. The Browns also have some things to remain positive about. First off, they played the Steelers much more competitively today than in Week 1 and it's always good to see marked improvement. Second, they have a pretty soft schedule for the rest of the season, which means they still have a very good shot at the playoffs, which would be a great accomplishment for this team.
So I guess the moral of the story is stay positive and hopefully someday something good will come to the state of Ohio.
Despite these loses, there is still some positive things to look forward to. OSU plays Michigan next week, which is always a HUGE game and the Big Ten title will be on the line in it. A win against the Wolverines and the Buckeyes will be playing in the Rose Bowl, which isn't too shabby. The Browns also have some things to remain positive about. First off, they played the Steelers much more competitively today than in Week 1 and it's always good to see marked improvement. Second, they have a pretty soft schedule for the rest of the season, which means they still have a very good shot at the playoffs, which would be a great accomplishment for this team.
So I guess the moral of the story is stay positive and hopefully someday something good will come to the state of Ohio.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
What a week of TV
All of the stars must have been aligned properly this past week because practically all of my favorite TV shows delivered a home run. The conspiracy theorist in me says that the writers planned it so that their best episodes would air the week they went on strike so that the viewers would side with them even more. But we can speculate about that more at a later date; for now, let's review what went down on the boob tube...
Chuck: After producing solid episodes the past few weeks showing Chuck evolving into a spy, we got a good episode this week that provided some answers to some of the overarching questions of the show. Seeing Chuck's days at Stanford via flashbacks was neat. It also gave us the first indication that perhaps Chuck was born to be a spy, what with his memorization skills. We still don't know exactly why Bryce sent Chuck the images, but I'm sure that will come in due time. On the flip side of things, we got to see the Buy More gang try to mutiny against new assistant manager Harry Tang (talk about a name designed for dirty jokes). The best part about this was an extended role for Nerd Herder Anna. As I've said before, I can take or leave Morgan, but they've got to keep giving more to the rest of the co-workers. They're all solid.
Heroes: Finally! It's about time they started to give us a unifying storyline and have everyone take sides. So glad to see Hiro back from Japan. No real surprise to see Kenzo turn out to be Adam Monroe, but that's ok because that was the right move give how everything's played out so far. I'm so happy HRG learned about West and decided to put his foot down. I guess poor Caitlin is stuck in 2008 (Does she just vanish if they prevent the virus from spreading?) The nightmare man stuff was ok, but they could have done more with it (should have spent more time with that than having to force us watch Parkman weep over Molly's bed. Ugh) Bob continues to be an awesome morally ambiguous character. I loved him giving Nathan some juicy info and then calling out Mohinder for his confession (BTW, Mohinder just needs to die. He serves no purpose for anyone). Next week is the flashback episode, so hopefully it'll do a good job of providing all the missing pieces of the puzzle.
How I Met Your Mother: Another hilarious episode this week. The "what he should have said" running gag was used perfectly. My favorite part of the episode had to be Ted doing his best David Caruso impression while trying to figure out the details of Marshall and Lily's fight. I also liked the divorce fake-out and how the gang reacted before and after they knew the true story. I can't wait to see how Marshall and Lily handle living in their new apartment which is the heart of that new New York hot spot, Dowisetrepla.
House: About the only 'miss' this week. Just when I thought we were finally going to start trimming the fat of this intern candidates, they go and bring in yet another new cast member this week. The cast is just too bloated right now and it's taking away from the original appeal of the show. I did enjoy House getting to showcase his antics for the CIA, but the case he was dealing with wasn't particularly interesting. One of the primary problems with this large cast is the continued shafting of screentime for Cuddy and Wilson. I respect them for trying to think outside the box this season, but it's not working. The prescription for this show is get back to basics.
Reaper: Once again, the best parts of this show had nothing to do with the 'soul of the week'. I savor the moments each week that focus on the devil or at the Work Bench. For instance, I was doubling over in laughter hearing the devil talk about new girl Taylor's erogenous zones. Then we had the introduction of Russ (Booger from Revenge of the Nerds!), who was all sorts of creepy. I really hope they bring him back in future episodes. I loved Sam and Sock telling Ben not to be too friendly with him, yet he couldn't resist not taking Russ up on his offers. Perhaps best of all was Andi's fort/entertainment center (aka the Ted-free zone). How amazing was that thing?!? I want to marry her right now. At this point, I don't care if Sam dates her, he just needs to have her part of the soul capturing team. She is all sorts of awesome!
Back to You: Even this show produced an above average episode. This will never be a classic, but if the humor content stays at this level, I'll stick around. I must admit though that I missed the last few minutes of the show because of a DVR error, so the finish may have been lousy. But for now, the show has earned a stay of execution. The same cannot be said for Journeyman which I abandoned last week.
Survivor: I was watching this live and got a phone call during it, so I missed the last 10 mins. I know who got booted and can't say that I'm particularly upset over it. The only thing that bugs me about it is that it proves that there are very few smart players this season. A lot of them are trying, but their plans are terrible/poorly executed. Todd isn't comfortable if he's not making some grand scheme. Dude, you just have to pick off the Zhan Hus. It's not that difficult. Trying to shake things up will only bite you in the ass later on. James continues to come out of his shell and deliver some hilarious lines. I guess I'll be rooting for him, but he certainly has a big target on his back. Finally, both challenges were pretty lame this week. Is there any surprise that Courtney won immunity? A barrell can't roll around if there's nothing on it to make it unbalanced. BTW, was anyone else curious if she was going to wear the immunity idol as a belt instead of a necklace?
The Office: This was probably my favorite episode of the season. And dare I say it, this episode felt the closest to a season 2 episode than I've seen in a while. I always love when it's Michael out of the office, leaving everyone else to play. Although there wasn't much playing going on thanks to Jim's terrible birthday party plan. It should have been obvious that that plan wouldn't have worked, but it was fun to see Jim endure the error of his ways. Meanwhile Michael's antics in the woods provided a number of laughs (most involving his various uses of his pants to survive). But I think best of all was Dwight. First we got to see that great montage of Dwight's hidden office weapons (file that under Mr. A. Knife). Then his watching over Michael provided some additional funny moments. His tackle of Michael was wonderfully reminscent of him slapping the coffee out of Stanley's hand last season. The final scene involving Michael and Jim was that perfect blend of emotion and humor that this show has always excelled at.
30 Rock: Another wonderfully absurd episode. Their handling of NBC's "green week" was easily the most overt, but it produced some hilarious results. David Schwimmer did a great job as the increasingly delusional Greenzo. And credit to Al Gore for his small role that poked fun at himself. Easily the best part of this week's show was everything related to Kenneth's party. First, there were the great flashback clips of past lame parties. Then we got the awesome scene involving the post-party meeting that had spliced in clips of the out-of-control bash. This did just a great job of showcasing the show's great cast while providing consistent LOL moments.
My Name is Earl: An improved effort over last week's uninspired COPS episode. But this one can't truly be evaluated until we see part 2 next week. I was glad to see Craig T. Nelson back as the warden. I also thought the tryouts for Earl's Scared Straight performance delivered some good laughs. I'm glad that Joy's finally going to have that kid. She hasn't been able to truly be herself while having that kid inside her. Hopefully we'll continue to see more episodes like this throughout the rest of the season.
CSI: Didn't get a chance to see this yet this week. But considering this post is probably way too long already, it's for the best that I don't have anything to say here.
With the way things are playing out, it looks like I'm going to have to savor the greatness of this week, because there may not be too many more of them like it for a while to come.
Chuck: After producing solid episodes the past few weeks showing Chuck evolving into a spy, we got a good episode this week that provided some answers to some of the overarching questions of the show. Seeing Chuck's days at Stanford via flashbacks was neat. It also gave us the first indication that perhaps Chuck was born to be a spy, what with his memorization skills. We still don't know exactly why Bryce sent Chuck the images, but I'm sure that will come in due time. On the flip side of things, we got to see the Buy More gang try to mutiny against new assistant manager Harry Tang (talk about a name designed for dirty jokes). The best part about this was an extended role for Nerd Herder Anna. As I've said before, I can take or leave Morgan, but they've got to keep giving more to the rest of the co-workers. They're all solid.
Heroes: Finally! It's about time they started to give us a unifying storyline and have everyone take sides. So glad to see Hiro back from Japan. No real surprise to see Kenzo turn out to be Adam Monroe, but that's ok because that was the right move give how everything's played out so far. I'm so happy HRG learned about West and decided to put his foot down. I guess poor Caitlin is stuck in 2008 (Does she just vanish if they prevent the virus from spreading?) The nightmare man stuff was ok, but they could have done more with it (should have spent more time with that than having to force us watch Parkman weep over Molly's bed. Ugh) Bob continues to be an awesome morally ambiguous character. I loved him giving Nathan some juicy info and then calling out Mohinder for his confession (BTW, Mohinder just needs to die. He serves no purpose for anyone). Next week is the flashback episode, so hopefully it'll do a good job of providing all the missing pieces of the puzzle.
How I Met Your Mother: Another hilarious episode this week. The "what he should have said" running gag was used perfectly. My favorite part of the episode had to be Ted doing his best David Caruso impression while trying to figure out the details of Marshall and Lily's fight. I also liked the divorce fake-out and how the gang reacted before and after they knew the true story. I can't wait to see how Marshall and Lily handle living in their new apartment which is the heart of that new New York hot spot, Dowisetrepla.
House: About the only 'miss' this week. Just when I thought we were finally going to start trimming the fat of this intern candidates, they go and bring in yet another new cast member this week. The cast is just too bloated right now and it's taking away from the original appeal of the show. I did enjoy House getting to showcase his antics for the CIA, but the case he was dealing with wasn't particularly interesting. One of the primary problems with this large cast is the continued shafting of screentime for Cuddy and Wilson. I respect them for trying to think outside the box this season, but it's not working. The prescription for this show is get back to basics.
Reaper: Once again, the best parts of this show had nothing to do with the 'soul of the week'. I savor the moments each week that focus on the devil or at the Work Bench. For instance, I was doubling over in laughter hearing the devil talk about new girl Taylor's erogenous zones. Then we had the introduction of Russ (Booger from Revenge of the Nerds!), who was all sorts of creepy. I really hope they bring him back in future episodes. I loved Sam and Sock telling Ben not to be too friendly with him, yet he couldn't resist not taking Russ up on his offers. Perhaps best of all was Andi's fort/entertainment center (aka the Ted-free zone). How amazing was that thing?!? I want to marry her right now. At this point, I don't care if Sam dates her, he just needs to have her part of the soul capturing team. She is all sorts of awesome!
Back to You: Even this show produced an above average episode. This will never be a classic, but if the humor content stays at this level, I'll stick around. I must admit though that I missed the last few minutes of the show because of a DVR error, so the finish may have been lousy. But for now, the show has earned a stay of execution. The same cannot be said for Journeyman which I abandoned last week.
Survivor: I was watching this live and got a phone call during it, so I missed the last 10 mins. I know who got booted and can't say that I'm particularly upset over it. The only thing that bugs me about it is that it proves that there are very few smart players this season. A lot of them are trying, but their plans are terrible/poorly executed. Todd isn't comfortable if he's not making some grand scheme. Dude, you just have to pick off the Zhan Hus. It's not that difficult. Trying to shake things up will only bite you in the ass later on. James continues to come out of his shell and deliver some hilarious lines. I guess I'll be rooting for him, but he certainly has a big target on his back. Finally, both challenges were pretty lame this week. Is there any surprise that Courtney won immunity? A barrell can't roll around if there's nothing on it to make it unbalanced. BTW, was anyone else curious if she was going to wear the immunity idol as a belt instead of a necklace?
The Office: This was probably my favorite episode of the season. And dare I say it, this episode felt the closest to a season 2 episode than I've seen in a while. I always love when it's Michael out of the office, leaving everyone else to play. Although there wasn't much playing going on thanks to Jim's terrible birthday party plan. It should have been obvious that that plan wouldn't have worked, but it was fun to see Jim endure the error of his ways. Meanwhile Michael's antics in the woods provided a number of laughs (most involving his various uses of his pants to survive). But I think best of all was Dwight. First we got to see that great montage of Dwight's hidden office weapons (file that under Mr. A. Knife). Then his watching over Michael provided some additional funny moments. His tackle of Michael was wonderfully reminscent of him slapping the coffee out of Stanley's hand last season. The final scene involving Michael and Jim was that perfect blend of emotion and humor that this show has always excelled at.
30 Rock: Another wonderfully absurd episode. Their handling of NBC's "green week" was easily the most overt, but it produced some hilarious results. David Schwimmer did a great job as the increasingly delusional Greenzo. And credit to Al Gore for his small role that poked fun at himself. Easily the best part of this week's show was everything related to Kenneth's party. First, there were the great flashback clips of past lame parties. Then we got the awesome scene involving the post-party meeting that had spliced in clips of the out-of-control bash. This did just a great job of showcasing the show's great cast while providing consistent LOL moments.
My Name is Earl: An improved effort over last week's uninspired COPS episode. But this one can't truly be evaluated until we see part 2 next week. I was glad to see Craig T. Nelson back as the warden. I also thought the tryouts for Earl's Scared Straight performance delivered some good laughs. I'm glad that Joy's finally going to have that kid. She hasn't been able to truly be herself while having that kid inside her. Hopefully we'll continue to see more episodes like this throughout the rest of the season.
CSI: Didn't get a chance to see this yet this week. But considering this post is probably way too long already, it's for the best that I don't have anything to say here.
With the way things are playing out, it looks like I'm going to have to savor the greatness of this week, because there may not be too many more of them like it for a while to come.
Friday, November 9, 2007
These laughs are made for Walken
Seeing Christopher Walken in Balls of Fury today made me nostalgic for some of his great work on SNL. He's a classic clip of him with Tim Meadows from a 2000 episode.
via videosift.com
via videosift.com
Truth be told, I can't think of nothing I'd rather do on a cold, wintry night than curl up with a leathery, musky old Ballsac
After having a busy few weeks, I finally managed to find some time to head out to the movies. I only wish now that I could have seen something better. The only films at the budget theater right now are the end of summer dregs. As a result, I ended up seeing Balls of Fury. I had a feeling it wouldn't be great, but there was enough comedic talent in the cast for me to hope that I might be wrong.
The film pretty much delivered what I expected. This is due, in large part, to the fact that the trailer gave away quite a lot of the movie. Not only had the trailer shown most of the funny moments, it also pretty much told me how the entire story would go.
As I said, there is a lot of comedic talent in the cast and for the most part they each get a few moments to shine. There's a reason they're called 'talent' and it's because they can rise above mediocre writing and still provide the audience with a laugh or two. Christopher Walken, Patton Oswalt, Thomas Lennon, Aisha Tyler, and Terry Crews each bring their unique comedic style to the film, which I appreciated.
The same praise cannot be given to the film's star, Dan Fogler. I found him to be grating and unfunny. This guy has been in three or four different films within the past few months, and I can't understand why. Let's hope Hollywood doesn't confuse this guy for any big talent. Certain people, like Jack Black, can pull off the fat and sweaty look and make it funny. This guy isn't one of them. I found it uncomfortable just to watch him on the screen.
And speaking of uncomfortable, I felt bad for the attractive Maggie Q, who had to play the love interest for this guy. She made not be a household name yet, but she's certainly done a number of high profile movies and doesn't deserve to be slumming it in a film like this.
The story of the film, however, may have been the most disappointing thing. The way everything develops is so familiar and overdone that I thought they were maybe trying to parody other films. But everything is played so straight that I think it was just lazy storytelling instead. On top of the hackneyed plot, too much time is spent on uninteresting or inconsequential matters like the FBI sting and male sex slaves. As odd as it may sound, I would have actually liked for them to focus more on the ping pong. I think they could have had a lot of fun developing creative and funny moves for the players to perform. In a lot of ways, it reminded of Dodgeball. My favorite part of that film is the montage of the tournament. I would have rather seen an extended version of that than the training scenes. The same holds true for this film.
What's interesting is that the writers of the film are Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, both of Reno 911 fame. These two have written a number of films recently (including Night at the Museum) and I haven't found any of them to be particularly good. I find it hard to believe that Reno 911 can be so enjoyable, yet so many of their feature films have been so lackluster. Given their history on the sketch show The State maybe it's just that these two are incapable of writing something that is funny for longer than 3 minutes.
Balls of Fury isn't as insultingly bad as say The Brothers Solomon or License to Wed but it sure doesn't succeed at what it aimed to do. I think I would probably have more enjoyment and laugh more playing ping pong with my friends than I did watching this. If you enjoy a lot of the comic actors found in this film, you'll probably continue to enjoy them watching this movie, but you would be better off just watching some of their older, better material. Grade: C-
The film pretty much delivered what I expected. This is due, in large part, to the fact that the trailer gave away quite a lot of the movie. Not only had the trailer shown most of the funny moments, it also pretty much told me how the entire story would go.
As I said, there is a lot of comedic talent in the cast and for the most part they each get a few moments to shine. There's a reason they're called 'talent' and it's because they can rise above mediocre writing and still provide the audience with a laugh or two. Christopher Walken, Patton Oswalt, Thomas Lennon, Aisha Tyler, and Terry Crews each bring their unique comedic style to the film, which I appreciated.
The same praise cannot be given to the film's star, Dan Fogler. I found him to be grating and unfunny. This guy has been in three or four different films within the past few months, and I can't understand why. Let's hope Hollywood doesn't confuse this guy for any big talent. Certain people, like Jack Black, can pull off the fat and sweaty look and make it funny. This guy isn't one of them. I found it uncomfortable just to watch him on the screen.
And speaking of uncomfortable, I felt bad for the attractive Maggie Q, who had to play the love interest for this guy. She made not be a household name yet, but she's certainly done a number of high profile movies and doesn't deserve to be slumming it in a film like this.
The story of the film, however, may have been the most disappointing thing. The way everything develops is so familiar and overdone that I thought they were maybe trying to parody other films. But everything is played so straight that I think it was just lazy storytelling instead. On top of the hackneyed plot, too much time is spent on uninteresting or inconsequential matters like the FBI sting and male sex slaves. As odd as it may sound, I would have actually liked for them to focus more on the ping pong. I think they could have had a lot of fun developing creative and funny moves for the players to perform. In a lot of ways, it reminded of Dodgeball. My favorite part of that film is the montage of the tournament. I would have rather seen an extended version of that than the training scenes. The same holds true for this film.
What's interesting is that the writers of the film are Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, both of Reno 911 fame. These two have written a number of films recently (including Night at the Museum) and I haven't found any of them to be particularly good. I find it hard to believe that Reno 911 can be so enjoyable, yet so many of their feature films have been so lackluster. Given their history on the sketch show The State maybe it's just that these two are incapable of writing something that is funny for longer than 3 minutes.
Balls of Fury isn't as insultingly bad as say The Brothers Solomon or License to Wed but it sure doesn't succeed at what it aimed to do. I think I would probably have more enjoyment and laugh more playing ping pong with my friends than I did watching this. If you enjoy a lot of the comic actors found in this film, you'll probably continue to enjoy them watching this movie, but you would be better off just watching some of their older, better material. Grade: C-
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Happy Election Day!
Not crazy about the Demorcratic or Republican frontrunners in the upcoming '08 Presidential election? Well check out this video of fringe candidates and see if you're willing to back any of them...
Monday, November 5, 2007
And they're off...
I can't say how glad I am to see the Amazing Race back on TV. It truly is an underrated reality show (although not in terms of Emmys, of which it has won 5 in a row). And as one team put it last night, it's also a love letter to the planet. Even in this, it's 12th season, they're still exploring new places that are fun to view as the watcher. For instance, last night's episode spent most of the time in Ireland and showcased it in all its emerald glory.
But of course, the show lives and dies by its team. It's clear we have another ecclectic group of racers this time around, but I'm not sure if there's anyone I immediately wanted to root for. There are your requisite bickering couples, (Nathan looks like he's going to be particularly brutal to his partner) as well as your eccentric couples (Goths! Lesbian ministers!!) The ones I find most interesting though are the familial pairings; this season has a brother/sister, father/daughter, and a grandfather/grandson. These teams never seem to do well, so I'll be quasi-rooting for them to at least go far.
While I can't get a beat on most of the teams, I can say with certainty that I was glad to see Ari and Staella be the first team eliminated. I've grown tired of the catty homosexual reality show contestant, so seeing Ari get the boot is fine by me.
So am I the only one watching this show or does anyone else have thoughts on the new season. Share anything you want, even if it's to bitch about how football is once again constantly going to screw with trying to DVR this show.
But of course, the show lives and dies by its team. It's clear we have another ecclectic group of racers this time around, but I'm not sure if there's anyone I immediately wanted to root for. There are your requisite bickering couples, (Nathan looks like he's going to be particularly brutal to his partner) as well as your eccentric couples (Goths! Lesbian ministers!!) The ones I find most interesting though are the familial pairings; this season has a brother/sister, father/daughter, and a grandfather/grandson. These teams never seem to do well, so I'll be quasi-rooting for them to at least go far.
While I can't get a beat on most of the teams, I can say with certainty that I was glad to see Ari and Staella be the first team eliminated. I've grown tired of the catty homosexual reality show contestant, so seeing Ari get the boot is fine by me.
So am I the only one watching this show or does anyone else have thoughts on the new season. Share anything you want, even if it's to bitch about how football is once again constantly going to screw with trying to DVR this show.
Are the Browns for real?
It sure seems that way after they were able to defeat a capable opponent (the Seahawks) in overtime yesterday. Right now this offense is firing on all cylinders and just can't be stopped. I still have a lot of concerns about the defense, but kudos to them for making the stops when they counted yesterday. I figured we were sunk when Seattle won the coin toss in overtime, but low and behold the Browns got a rare spot of the ball call overturned and then made a huge stop on 4th down.
If the Ravens are able to beat the Steelers tonight, that would put the Browns in a three-way tie for first place of the AFC North. It would also set up a huge matchup between us and Pittsburg next week. And after the beatdown they gave us in Week 1, you better believe we've got payback on our minds.
Just to show you how well the team is playing now, this is the first time since 2001 that the team has won three games straight. And we should be 6-2, had the Raiders not pulled that cheap tactic in the closing seconds of the game against us in Week 3. I don't want to get too overconfident, but this team is looking like it really is for real. Now let's just hope they don't have to give interviews saying they're "for real" over and over again (like a certain Canadian wrestler were supposed to forget ever existed) in order to prove it to the rest of the country.
If the Ravens are able to beat the Steelers tonight, that would put the Browns in a three-way tie for first place of the AFC North. It would also set up a huge matchup between us and Pittsburg next week. And after the beatdown they gave us in Week 1, you better believe we've got payback on our minds.
Just to show you how well the team is playing now, this is the first time since 2001 that the team has won three games straight. And we should be 6-2, had the Raiders not pulled that cheap tactic in the closing seconds of the game against us in Week 3. I don't want to get too overconfident, but this team is looking like it really is for real. Now let's just hope they don't have to give interviews saying they're "for real" over and over again (like a certain Canadian wrestler were supposed to forget ever existed) in order to prove it to the rest of the country.
The day the pen stopped moving
So as of today, the writers' strike is officially on. If you haven't heard, the primary issue of the strike revolves around the writers wanting more money from DVD and Internet revenues. I'm not sure who I'm exactly siding with here, but the most important thing is that it gets resolved ASAP.
The most immediate changes you'll see is the late night talk shows will all be in reruns for the time being. If this strike lasts for any length of time, scripted TV shows like Heroes and The Office will be affected around the beginning of the new year. If things really get out of hand, we could see it have an effect on the movie industry as well.
To keep you updated on all the latest develoments, I've put a couple of links on the sidebar of blogs that will be posting regular updates related to the strike. The TV Guide link in particular does a nice job outlining what changes we'll see in the major networks as the strike plays out.
The most immediate changes you'll see is the late night talk shows will all be in reruns for the time being. If this strike lasts for any length of time, scripted TV shows like Heroes and The Office will be affected around the beginning of the new year. If things really get out of hand, we could see it have an effect on the movie industry as well.
To keep you updated on all the latest develoments, I've put a couple of links on the sidebar of blogs that will be posting regular updates related to the strike. The TV Guide link in particular does a nice job outlining what changes we'll see in the major networks as the strike plays out.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Thursday TV
Just some quick thoughts on what I saw last night while I have a few moments of free time up on campus:
Survivor: Oh man, what an awesome conclusion to last night's show. After the disappointment of no one finding Yau Man's fake immunity idol last season, the fun of watching someone hand Jeff a bogus idol at tribal council was realized last night. As soon as Jaime found the faux idol I was praying that everything would fall into place for her to foolishly play it; and lucky for us the gods smiled upon us and delivered exactly that. I guess this is karma's cruel way of punishing Jaime for her giggle-fest two weeks ago while throwing that challenge. Probst made the whole event even better with the cavalier way he threw the fake idol into the fire and proceeded to tally the votes.
As for the rest of the episode, it was a typical merge episode. Gorging at the feast, faux friendliness between merging tribes, cockiness amongst tribe who has numbers advantage, etc. It seems that the original Zhan Hus will be picked off one by one now, but when you have wild cards like Jean-Robert, Frosti, and Courtney in the mix, I'd say it's anything but a given. BTW, can a human skeleton be a member of the jury? Because it looks like one stiff wind will blow away the remaining skin and meat left on Courtney's torso. That girl is vile to look at and listen to. What's Frosti thinking nuzzling up with that. He certainly can't be doing it to keep warm.
My Name is Earl: I was actually pretty disappointed with this hour-long effort. I missed the first COPS episode that they did, so I really can't compare the two. I just thought that a lot of the jokes either fell flat or were blatantly obvious. I enjoyed having an episode that got to utilize a lot of the other Camden weirdos, but their presence wasn't enough to salvage this. I also thought from a production standpoint that it could have looked a little bit more like COPS. Instead, it just came off as a bad, neutered version of Reno 911.
The Office: I enjoyed the episode and liked the story they did, but I didn't find it to be a very laugh-out-loud filled show. It had it's moments ("I think I cut my penis on the lid"), but didn't do as much as it could with the story. I also felt that the "finer things" club could have been executed better. With the way it was done, it just seemed odd and out of place. Given that Karen became branch manager of Dunder Mifflin: Utica, I wonder if that is their plan for the spin-off, especially if they think Rashida Jones' midseason sitcom isn't going to succeed. I have high hopes for next week's episode as its going to take Michael out of the office, leaving his underlings on their own. That setup has usually yieled some great episodes in the past (Office Olympics, The Client, etc), so hopefully they'll be able to do that again.
Didn't get a chance to watch CSI yet. If anything notable happens, I'll be sure to comment on it later.
Survivor: Oh man, what an awesome conclusion to last night's show. After the disappointment of no one finding Yau Man's fake immunity idol last season, the fun of watching someone hand Jeff a bogus idol at tribal council was realized last night. As soon as Jaime found the faux idol I was praying that everything would fall into place for her to foolishly play it; and lucky for us the gods smiled upon us and delivered exactly that. I guess this is karma's cruel way of punishing Jaime for her giggle-fest two weeks ago while throwing that challenge. Probst made the whole event even better with the cavalier way he threw the fake idol into the fire and proceeded to tally the votes.
As for the rest of the episode, it was a typical merge episode. Gorging at the feast, faux friendliness between merging tribes, cockiness amongst tribe who has numbers advantage, etc. It seems that the original Zhan Hus will be picked off one by one now, but when you have wild cards like Jean-Robert, Frosti, and Courtney in the mix, I'd say it's anything but a given. BTW, can a human skeleton be a member of the jury? Because it looks like one stiff wind will blow away the remaining skin and meat left on Courtney's torso. That girl is vile to look at and listen to. What's Frosti thinking nuzzling up with that. He certainly can't be doing it to keep warm.
My Name is Earl: I was actually pretty disappointed with this hour-long effort. I missed the first COPS episode that they did, so I really can't compare the two. I just thought that a lot of the jokes either fell flat or were blatantly obvious. I enjoyed having an episode that got to utilize a lot of the other Camden weirdos, but their presence wasn't enough to salvage this. I also thought from a production standpoint that it could have looked a little bit more like COPS. Instead, it just came off as a bad, neutered version of Reno 911.
The Office: I enjoyed the episode and liked the story they did, but I didn't find it to be a very laugh-out-loud filled show. It had it's moments ("I think I cut my penis on the lid"), but didn't do as much as it could with the story. I also felt that the "finer things" club could have been executed better. With the way it was done, it just seemed odd and out of place. Given that Karen became branch manager of Dunder Mifflin: Utica, I wonder if that is their plan for the spin-off, especially if they think Rashida Jones' midseason sitcom isn't going to succeed. I have high hopes for next week's episode as its going to take Michael out of the office, leaving his underlings on their own. That setup has usually yieled some great episodes in the past (Office Olympics, The Client, etc), so hopefully they'll be able to do that again.
Didn't get a chance to watch CSI yet. If anything notable happens, I'll be sure to comment on it later.
WikipediaVision
While surfing my usual message boards, I came across a link for one of the neatest and craziest things I've seen online. It's an real-time map showing every single edit that is being made on Wikipedia. If you're looking for a good time-waster, this is it. You'll find yourself becoming engrossed with what's being edited and from where. And as silly as the whole thing is, I think there is the potential for some research to come from something like this. I'm sure someone could make some correlations between topics being edited and the areas of the world that are editing them. Check this out for yourself: WikipediaVision
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