Midseason TV report (Sundays)

Let's close out the year with a look at the final day of TV recaps, Sunday.

The Amazing Race: This easily was the worst cycle of this show in quite a while. While still heads and tails above most reality shows, TAR stumbled a bit this season as a result of some poor casting. There were very few likeable teams this time around. Even worse, most of the teams were terrible at playing the game. I've never seen so many misread or misunderstood clues in one season. The locales were nice, but then again, the show always does a nice job of finding unique places each time that truly represent this beautiful planet. The show will return again next spring and I'm hoping they'll have a better group of racers next time out.

The Simpsons: 20 years in, the show is what it is. It can't possibly be as good as it was in its glory days, but it seems they've brought some fresh blood in to help things feel fresh again. This season has had some ups and downs, but each episode still manages to yield some laughs from me. I particularly liked the most recent episode that involved Mr. Burns buying a basketball team. It was nice to see a full episode devoted to a character outside of the family. This show has created this wonderful world of characters, yet has reduced most of them to one-note jokes. Here's hoping with the new writers, new aspects of these fun characters will be explored.

Family Guy: You know, considering the fact that this show didn't return with new episodes after the strike ended last spring, you would have thought they would have had a ton of episodes brimming with good ideas coming into this new season. Instead, the show seemingly became even lazier, not even trying to cobble coherent plots together. If the pop culture references worked, then the show remains amusing, otherwise it's just a muddled mess. The standout episode of the season had to be the Surfin Bird episode, which I go back and forth on as to whether it was the funniest thing ever or the most annoying half hour of television ever made.

American Dad: It seems apparent that either Seth McFarlane has put most of his focus on this show or has much more capable running this one than Family Guy because it continues to be a much better show with intelligent humor and clever plotlines. Consider this had the stigma of being the bastard son of Family Guy for so long, it's funny to see how it has surpassed it in quality now. The biggest problem area for this show is Roger, who is great in small doses but grating when he takes over the show. It will be interesting to see how this show's quality is affecting once Seth's third show, The Cleveland Show makes it's debut next year.

Looks like my New Year's resolution will have to be to read more

To read more about Time Warner customers losing so many of these popular cable channels, read this.

Midseason TV report (Thursdays)

I was thinking this would wrap up my TV reviews, but then I realized I watch quite a few shows on Sundays as well, so I'll do a post for them in the next few days. By the way, don't think I forgot about Wednesdays; I didn't, there's just nothing decent on that night.

My Name is Earl: I'm beginning to consider giving up on this show. It's not that the show is bad, but compared to so many other sharp, intelligent sitcoms out there, this sticks out like a sore thumb. Each episode makes you feel nice with their uplifting themes, but I just don't find myself laughing a whole lot. All of the main characters have become stale and whenever they try to give the characters new developments, it never is for the better. The highlight of the show is still Jaime Pressley's Joy, who continues to find new levels of being hilariously trashy. If the networks try and squeeze anything else on this night, this is likely the first to go.

Kath and Kim: I gave the show a look and for some reason have stuck with it. The show really isn't very good or funny, but I can't seem to give it up. Part of it is that I know there is potential there because of the funny cast. The other part is that train wreck mentality where you know what you're watching is horrific, yet you can't look away. Along with Earl, this one needs to shape up quickly if it has any chance of surviving on my DVR.

The Office: This season has definitely been an improvement over the unnecessarily dour season 4, but still has not returned to complete greatness. I think I've resigned to the fact that the show simply cannot live up to the awesomeness that was season 2. That season focused on the nuances of working in a dull office, whereas now, too much focus is on the characters and their relationships. There have certainly been some highlights though, including the development of Michael and Holly's relationship. I hope she can return at some point down the line. I also have enjoyed how they've thrown these potential stumbling blocks in front of Jim and Pam, yet have resisted to have them breakup over some cliched conflict. I'll be looking forward to seeing what they do with the post-Super Bowl slot in a few weeks. The early reports sound like we'll be in for a big treat.

30 Rock: I think the praise and accolades have hurt this show a bit. Not that I think the writers or stars are getting big egos, but rather it has caused them to try and create episodes that abandon the show's original concept in order to generate more viewers to justify in remaining on the air. There were too many episodes thus far stuffed with guest stars and there was hardly any time spent on the TV show that the characters work on. The highlight for me this season was the subplot involving Kenneth and Tracy trying to film an appropriate ending to Night Court. In an episode focused on Jennifer Aniston's appearance, seeing the reunion of Harry Anderson and Markie Post was the real treat for me. This show remains funny, but they need to start remembering what brought them to the dance.

Survivor: This was not one of my favorite seasons. Of course, it would have been tough to top the crazy and exciting Fans vs. Favorites season, but this one came in way under expectations. This is mostly to blame on a lousy cast. Anyone that was remotely interesting was booted early and we were left with a handful of unworthy or egotistical characters. It became difficult to root for anyone near the end, however I was thrilled to see that Bob won as he proved himself out there. Unlike their last visit to Africa, locale wasn't a major issue this time. True, there wasn't a whole lot of water, but they made up for that with the beautiful jungles and wildlife, which I'm sure looked amazing in HD. Having watched every season, I know that some are better than others, so I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us when they travel to Brazil next season.

CSI: We knew going into this season that Grissom wouldn't be sticking around and as sad as that is, I think the show has done a wonderful job of depicting how this job has broken him down. Most of the cases themselves have been nothing extraordinary, but Grissom's performance has been top notch. I would love to see him actually get some recognition come awards season, something that typically eludes him being on a serial show like this. I really enjoyed the cliffhanger episode that introduced Laurence Fishburne. The Dick and Jane killer was very interesting and Fishburne character already has enough mystery surrounding him to make us curious about him. I may not always get to this show immediately on Thursday nights, but it never fails to entertain me whenever I do get around to watching the episodes.

Man-datory viewing?

I Love You, Man has a stellar cast and the trailer seems funny, but opening in March makes me worry this may not be as good as it seems. Still, check it out and see if you can tell whether this will be a winner or not.

Midseason TV report (Tuesday)

House: While the show still doesn't feel the same with these new doctors, things are slowly improving. I'm at least to the point where I accept them as House's new team, even if I still don't like them as much as the original trio. When the episodes are straightforward cases, things are fine. What I don't like is when the episodes try and delve into these new doctors' personal lives. I liked the House/Wilson 'breakup' that began the season, but felt they could have done more with it. And as for the ongoing issue of Cuddy wanting a baby; how she finally got one was done in a too far-fetched and unrealistic manner. Ultimately the show remains about everyone's favorite cranky doc, and he remains as good as ever, which keeps me turning in every week.

Fringe: This is the only new show that I've watched, so it may not seem like much to say it's the best new show this season, but I am truly enjoying this show. It has a great combination of science fiction, cop drama, and comedy. I love all of the inventive fringe sciences that are explored each week on the show, like the episode where a group of bank robbers had figured out a way using sound waves to walk through walls. The other strength of the show is the cast. Usually it takes a season or two before a cast really gels together, but the actors on this show banter with each other like they've been working with each other for years. Given that J.J. Abrams is behind the show, there is some mythology here, but it's not too deep yet that you couldn't start watching this show now and pick up what's going on. They do a good job of still making each episode as self contained as possible. If you haven't checked out this show, do so when it returns in January.

Adamantium pandemonium

Here's the first full trailer for next summer's Wolverine prequel...



After seeing it, I've only have one thing to say: Gambit!!!

Midseason TV report (Mondays)

I've been neglectful in my commentary on my favorite TV shows this fall, so I've decided this week to give a summation of my feelings on these programs now that most of them are on break over the holidays.

The Big Bang Theory - This is quickly becoming one of my favorite sitcoms, which I know isn't saying much given the crop of comedies out there, but this show truly has become something special. To think that a year ago, I wasn't even watching it; I regret waiting so long to come on board. The writers have done a wonderful job fleshing out these characters. They're real people who still remain funny as well. And while the regular cast is great, I'd just like to add how much I enjoyed Sara Rue's recent arc as Leonard new girlfriend. I hope they intend to bring her back again as she's been a nice addition to the cast. My only concern is that the show doesn't turn into The Sheldon Show. He's had a lot of exposure thus far this season, which has been fine. But if the writers aren't careful, it could get out of hand. Still, this show consistently produces the laughs and is a great way to start the night.

How I Met Your Mother - The season has been a bit uneven so far. When it's on, it's as good as any other sitcom out there right now. But sometimes it flounders into sitcom cliches and cheap laughs, which is disappointing. I think the most frustrating thing is that most of the characters have been stuck in neutral for most of the season. I truly think the producers never thought the show would last this long. It's becoming particularly cruel to the fans to keep making us become invested in Ted's love interests only to learn they aren't the mother. They'll get to a point where they'll reveal the mother and the person won't be able to stack up against the previous contenders. On the plus side of things, I've liked how we've gotten to know more about Robin. Whenever they deal with her Canadian roots, it's comedy gold. Finally, I'm disappointed we've gone so long without Barney being slapped by Marshall. There have been a couple of great opportunities to do it that have already gone by. Let's hope the writers haven't forgotten about this plot detail.

Chuck - No sophomore jinx here as this show continues to be a fun romp. You can't really provide the show with a lot of superlatives, but the show is able to consistently entertain me, while naturally progressing their stories. I like how we're moving forward with the Fulcrum story and how they're getting closer to realizing Chuck is the intersect. I also think that the Chuck and Sarah relationship is progressing at the level it should. A lot of the fun of this show though comes from the surrounding cast of characters. Ellie and Awesome are just great and seeing more of the Buy More staff has been great; although Anna has been somewhat underutilized lately. The show has also had some great guest stars including Tony Hale's annoying Emmitt, Gary Cole as Sarah's con artist dad, and Reginal Veljohnson (Carl Winslow!!) showing up this week to play a cop who's also Big Mike's cousin. It may not be the best show out there, but it rarely disappoints.

Heroes: Oy, where to begin with this one. I could do a whole rant/post just on this show alone, but I'll try to be as succinct as possible. This show was all over the place this year from a narrative perspective and proved that it does not have the same caliber of people working on it than on a show like Lost when it comes to planning and storytelling. Each episode as a whole can be exciting to watch, but when you then look back and try to make sense of everything your head begins to hurt. There are just too many plot holes and continuity errors to ignore. In addition, it seems they can't seem to figure out what their audience wants. Characters that are cool or interesting are quickly killed off, while some of the dumbest characters ever written for television remain on the show 3 years later. Again, not to make comparisons to Lost, but when fans hated Nikki and Paulo, they were killed off and when they enjoyed Desmond and Ben, they found ways to make them a part of the regular cast. The one postive about Heroes is that they have set up their next chapter in a manner that seems like it could be an interesting plotline. Plus Bryan Fuller, one of the intelligent people working on the show back in Season 1, is back and helping to right the ship. The premise of the show remains solid, so if they can begin to figure out how to write compelling, episodic television, they may be able to win some of their fans back.

Price is Right history

What should have been a significant moment, however, was a bit marred. Turns out the guy got his bid from someone in the audience who is a big nerd over at Golden-Road.net who had the prizes' prices memorized. While not illegal, it certainly takes the fun out of it. Apparently, there was a 45 minute tape delay between when the contestants gave their showcase bids and when they revealed the actual retail prices. The delay was for Standards and Practices to make sure their hadn't been any cheating. So the long lag time, plus the knowledge of how he got that price I think diminshed Drew's reaction when he revealed the price. In reality, Drew should have been going crazy over this as I was when I first saw it. It's a shame it turned out that way, but it's still a pretty good moment, nonetheless.

Riding the bullet train

I just saw Wanted through Netflix, but decided to do a full review anyways since it's still a major release from this year and because I gyped everyone out of full reviews for The Rocker and Journey to the Center of the Earth.

This was a film that just never generated much interest from me earlier this year. I'm not sure if it was the generic title, vague plotline, or underwhelming cast, but nothing about this screamed 'must-see summer film'. However, it did moderately well at the box office, so I figured I would see if I was off the mark on this one or if it was another example of the stupidity of America.

Wanted is based off a comic book, but unless you're really a hardcore comic book nerd, you're probably unfamiliar with the story. The plot centers Wesley Gibson (played by James McAvoy), an office drone who is suddenly recruited into a group of assassins called the Fraternity, who tell him that his recently deceased father had been a member of the group. Morgan Freeman plays Sloan, the leader of the fraternity and Angelina Jolie is Fox, the assassin assigned to train Wesley.

Sadly, the acting here isn't of a high caliber. I felt McAvoy was miscast here as he was neither convincing as the downtrodden working for the weekend employee nor as the badass assassin he becomes. McAvoy underplays both roles to the degree that you never get emotionally wrapped up in what he's doing or what's happening to him. Freeman and Jolie are fine, but these are both roles that are so familiar for them, they could play them in their sleep. In the end, nobody's performance in the film feels very inspired.

Some inspiration and creativity could also have been needed for the film's story. Every plot point from the movie feels like a retread from other better action films. You pretty much know where the story is going from the beginning. About the only unique thing about the film from a story perspective is the Fraternity's magic loom, which informs the assassins of their next target. However, as you can probably tell just from reading that sentence, that plot point is more silly than creative.

It appears that all of the creativity needed in the story was instead invested in the action sequences. This is an adrenaline-fueled film that provides several action scenes not found in most films of the genre. Even without the luxury of a big screen or high-definition, I was impressed by the visual style of the film and the way in which the stunts were depicted. Sure, most of the action defies the laws of gravity and plausibility, but sometimes that is ok. It's nice to have that escape from reality and just be amazed by the inventiveness of the scenes unfolding before your eyes.

Now there have certainly been some other films recently that have just tried to go all out with their action and violence, but this one does it more successfully I feel. Unlike a film like Shoot 'Em Up, where the violence just seemed so senseless and depressing, Wanted succeeds at turning their action scenes into an art form. I feel most will be like me and marvel at the lengths these Fraternity members go in order to complete the kill.

I'm going to go ahead and give this one a mild recommendation. I think you have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it, but if you are, you should have a lot of fun watching the gun play and car chase scenes. This may not have the most original story, but unlike so many other films that suffer from a lack of creativity, I wasn't bothered by it. The film is like a 4th of July fireworks display; sure, they may not offer anything new each time, but you can't help and watch them every year and appreciate their sheer beauty. And in that sense, I guess that makes it the perfect summer movie. Looks like my first impressions aren't always right. In this case, I'm glad I was wrong. Grade: B-

Moroccan Christmas deleted scenes

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NMR: Triple threat

Managed to get in a few Netflix movies over the past few weeks...

Confidence: This was a film with a decent cast that somehow received little attention a few years back. This is your typical con movie. They tell you right up front that they're con men, so you know that whatever is happening in the movie is all part of a con too. From that perspective, the film is a disappointment because you feel like you're always two steps ahead of it when it should be the other way around. However, the acting is solid here, especially Dustin Hoffman playing a sleazy mob boss. If you enjoy these types of films, give it a rent; otherwise, there's nothing special here. Rating: ***

Jackass 2.5: I was looking for something short that I could watch through Netflix online and this fit the bill. This consists of a series of stunts that the guys couldn't fit into Jackass Number Two. While a couple of the bits are typical Jackass fun, like Human Golf Tee, it's clear why most of the stuff didn't make the cut. If you're a true Jackass fan, you've probably seen this already and if you're not, then there really isn't any reason for you to watch this. Rating: ***

Bad News Bears: This is the 2006 remake starring Billy Bob Thorton. This has a handful of decent laughs, but this is a surprising faithful remake to the original, which leaves it devoid of many surprises. I'm not sure who this is meant for, which was proven by the fact that not a lot of people saw in the theaters. If it's on TV, it's entertaining enough to keep on. But there's no real reason to seek it out, especially if you've already seen the original film. Rating: ***

Real Life Mario Kart

MARIO KART (REMI GAILLARD)
by nqtv

This was cute, but had the potential to be so much better.

Wanna see my Golden Globes?

Golden Globe nominations came out today as the awards season is now in full swing. While there were no major surprises, it's hard to read much into the Globes since they do the goofy split of films into drama and comedy categories.

The nominees for Best Drama were: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, The Reader, Revolutionary Road, and Slumdog Millionaire

The nominees for Best Comedy/Musical were: Burn After Reading, Happy-Go-Lucky, In Bruges, Mamma Mia!, and Vicky Christina Barcelona

An eccelectic mix if ever there was one. I still think this is a wide open race right now, but at least we're beginning to see who the familiar faces are going to be when it comes time for the Oscars.

To see the full list of nominees, go here: 2008 Golden Globe Nominees

Terminator Salvation trailer

I'm not sure what to make of this one yet. I've never been a big fan of the Terminator franchise, but adding Christian Bale as John Connor instant improves the credibility of this film. I'll probably see this, but I doubt this will be an opening weekend viewing for me. What do you think?

Cleveland sports roundup

I haven't talked much about Cleveland sports lately since things have been so dreary, but there's finally some good news to share.

Wood expected to sign two-year deal with Tribe

So it looks like the Indians have got themselves a closer for next year. I'm cautiously optimistic about this deal. Wood was great as a closer for the Cubs last season, but has been known to have injury problems. If he can stay healthy, I think this is a very good move for the Tribe and helps bolster the back end of that bullpen.

Sabathia to accept Yankees' offer

I know this isn't really Indians' news, but I wanted to talk about it anyways. I am really disappointed to hear this. Not just for the fact that the Yanks got a really good pitcher, but because it seems like this was a move done out of greed. C.C. has talked about nothing but playing back in his home state of California and in the National League so he can bat. Last I checked, New York doesn't meet either of those criteria. I know the economy is tough, but for C.C. to forego his dream for big money is disappointing. And it sickens me to see so many people struggling financially, yet Steinbrenner can give out $160 million like it's nothing. Ugh.

Browns eye Schottenheimer for 2009

Speaking of disappointing, the Browns certainly have had a disappointing season. And as a result there is a lot of talk of Romeo Crennel getting fired at the end of the year. While I can understand that move, I don't necessarily think Romeo deserves to get fired. If anyone deserves to go, it's GM Phil Savage. But if Romeo does go, I'm very interested by this news of Marty ball possibly returning to Cleveland. I think he got the shaft out in San Diego and could possibly provide the spark that this team needs. I know a lot of the new, inexperienced coaches have done well in the NFL this year, but I think Schottenheimer is a proven commodity that could take the talent that is on this team and turn them back into winners. But again, this is all speculative at this point, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Finally, I just want to applaud that Cleveland Cavs for their fine start to this NBA season. I typically don't cover the Cavs because I am not a big fan of pro basketball, but you have to be impressed with this 9 game winning streak where they are just crushing their opponents. I'll enjoy it now, but we need them to play like this in the playoffs before I'm truly convinced. Let's face it, if we have even the slightest chance of keeping Lebron, it's going to take us being a championship-caliber franchise. For now, let's just hope they keep this up.

Heroes' saving hero?

I reported a couple weeks ago about Pushing Daises' Bryan Fuller returning to Heroes later on this season. For those unsure about the move or curious as to what impact he'll have, here's an interview he conducted with EW, which reveals his analysis of Heroes' season thus far and what changes they're looking at making.

Exclusive interview with Bryan Fuller

Reading his comments, makes me very hopeful that they still have a chance to right this ship and bring the show back to the promised land.

The Surplus deleted scenes

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Gentlemen, start your projectors

The Oscar race is officially underway as the first major awards were handed out last night. The National Board of Review announced winners in several categories. In addition to the individual winners, they also list a top ten, which for some reason, doesn't include their winner for best film; so I guess you can consider it a top eleven list. Anyways, the winners are listed below. From the looks of things, this year is going to be very wide open.

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director: David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Best Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, Milk
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Foreign Language Film: Mongol
Best Documentary: Man on Wire
Best Animated Feature: Wall-E
Best Ensemble Cast: Doubt
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Viola Davis, Doubt
Best Directorial Debut: Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Best Original Screenplay: Nick Schenk, Gran Torino
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire and Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Spotlight Award: Melissa Leo, Frozen River and Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
The BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom of Expression: Trumbo

Top Ten Films:
Burn After Reading
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Defiance
Frost/Nixon
Gran Torino
Milk
Wall-E
The Wrestler

Don't adjust your set!

So this week on Price is Right, it's been the infamous "purple wheel" episodes. Apparently, they accidentally painted it purple while the show was on a taping break. They had a week's worth of episodes with this funky wheel before painting it back. When I heard about it, I thought it would look terrible, but it's not that bad. I'm still glad they decided to change it back though. Check it out for yourself below.

As Daisies wilts, Heroes creative staff gets Fuller

From comingsoon.net:

"Pushing Daisies" creator/executive producer Bryan Fuller is close to a two-year overall deal with Universal Media Studios, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Fuller will rejoin the UMS-produced drama "Heroes," which he left after the first season to launch ABC/WBTV's "Daisies," and will develop new projects for the studio.

Fuller, who is wrapping post-production on the final episodes of "Daisies'" 13-episode second-season order, is expected to officially come on board "Heroes" starting with Episode 20.

His exact role on the sci-fi drama has not been determined, but he is expected to play a key role in the writers room alongside "Heroes" creator/executive producer/showrunner Tim Kring.

This is definitely good news. I never watched Daisies, so I'm not really mourning over its cancellation. And Fuller definitely is a creative mind and his return can only help the struggling Heroes. Suddenly, I have a reason to continue watching the show.

New Office webisodes: The Outburst

Episode 1:


Episode 2:


Episode 3:

Summer leftovers

I've been away from the blog too long, so I'm going to try and make up for that with a post explosion today. First up is a pair of short movie reviews for a couple of movies I saw recently.

The Rocker: I actually saw this as part of my 5 movies in 5 days stunt a few weeks ago, but I just never got around to posting a review for it. Now with so much time passed, it will only get a mini-review. This is an amiable film that really doesn't break any new ground. Rainn Wilson does a nice job as Robert 'Fish' Fishman, a hair metal band drummer who gets kicked out of his band right before they hit it big. Now he's middle-aged and still trying to rock out, this time with his nephew's high school band. This one has neither the sweetness nor the rock appreciation that a film like School of Rock had, nor the edgy comedy of the Apatow films. You can see how everything will play out, but you don't mind since the story works. Although I will admit that the comeuppance that Fish's old band receives at the end of the movie doesn't seem plausible or realistic. I think the best part of the film for me is that a lot of it takes place in Cleveland and they show several scenes involving the city landscape. I wish I could have been at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when Rainn was filming his scenes there. This one probably isn't worth actively renting, but when its eventually on cable and its a rainy Saturday afternoon, you may want to give it a look. Grade: C+

Journey to the Center of the Earth: This one I caught as I was flying back from San Diego. If you're unfamiliar, it's the modern update of the classic Jules Verne story; this time with Brenden Fraser, his nephew, and a cute tour guide somehow finding their to the center of the Earth and then trying to find a way to come back home. Again, this film is not terrible, but not great either. Then again, I probably didn't get the full experience of the film. This film is clearly designed to be seen in 3-D. Not only did I not see it in 3-D, but I didn't even see it on a regular size screen. A lot gets lost on that tiny airplane screen. And watching a film meant for 3-D on anything but, can be really annoying. Especially when they do things like spit or throw something at the camera that you can tell was meant to utilize the technology but just looks dumb if you watch it in 2-D. Fraser is good in these visual-laden adventure films, but the other two actors don't provide a whole lot. Kids will probably really enjoy this, but I thought they didn't do enough to fully explore the landscape of the mythical center of the Earth. I'm glad the film did well though since they went out of their way to set up a sequel at the end of this film. I think with the 3-D format becoming so popular lately, that film will almost certainly get made. If you didn't see this one yet, try and find a way to see it in 3-D; otherwise you can probably skip it. Grade: C

Frame Toby deleted scenes

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Quantum of Solace (2008) - WARNING! Major spoilers ahead

Plot: Daniel Craig reprises his role as Ian Fleming's James Bond in Quantum of Solace, the 22nd feature in the 007 film franchise. Fueled by the betrayal of Vesper, the woman he loved, Bond's determination to track down the mastermind behind the sinister organization that blackmailed her takes him to Haiti, where he finds an unlikely ally in the beautiful and feisty Camille (Olga Kurylenko). The trail quickly leads to the ruthless Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), but with the British Government and the CIA working against him, Bond must kill or be killed on his mission to uncover the truth.

Firsts: Direct sequel of a previous Bond film, gunbarrel sequence appears at the end of the movie

Gadgets: None besides the fancy wall and table computers used in the MI6 offices

Girls Bond slept with: Agent Fields

Elaborate murder attempt that Bond escapes: There's plenty of attempts to kill him, but all are pretty straight-forward

Personal review: After all the hype, would you expect anything less than for me to have seen this at the midnight showing last night? So what's the verdict? Well, if I had to sum it up it's not a great Bond film, but a necessary one. There is plenty to enjoy here, for sure, but it is also a significant step down from the amazing Casino Royale. I have a feeling you'll be seeing me use the word 'but' a lot in this review because there are so many aspects of the film that left me divided.

Let's begin with a few Bond mainstays that I wanted to see in this film that were missing from Royale: 1) Q, 2) Moneypenny, 3) the traditional gunbarrel sequence. Well there was no Q or Moneypenny, but that was ok. The Bond producers have said they will return when it fits the story. And since this was a continuation of Royale, I perfectly understand why they aren't here, but I would like them back at some point. As for the gunbarrel sequence, yes it's here in its traditional form but they put it at the end of film. WHY?!? Director Marc Forster said he wanted it as a surprise, but I thought that was a dumb move. You're going to have traditional Bond fans, like myself, upset throughout the beginning of the film thinking that they got rid of it altogether. I'm glad it wasn't scrapped, but putting it at the end didn't make sense to me at all. Hopefully that gets changed next time out.

It appears from some of the stuff that I've read that Marc Forster was responsible for a lot of the changes that I did not care for in the film. I don't know if it was really him, but if it was, I hope he does not get asked back to direct another Bond film. Another example is with the credit sequence. Instead of sticking with Daniel Kleinman, who's done the past five Bond films, they go with a production crew that has worked with Forster on his previous films. I liked the concept that they went with in the credit sequence, but something just felt off about it.

The action sequences are another area of the film that I did not care for Forster's approach on. The actual action that was going on was very cool. Some excellent concepts in both hand-to-hand fights and vehicular chase sequences. However, Forster felt the need to shoot everything so close up and intimate that you lost a lot of the time, what was actually going on. He tried mimicking Paul Greengrass' style used in the Bourne flicks, but I just didn't care for it here. I know a lot of people cheered Royale for making the Bond franchise more like the Bourne films, but I don't want a carbon copy. Let Bourne be Bourne and Bond be Bond.

Of course, the one constant that remains solid here is Craig. I continue to love the approach he is taking with the character. I've read a lot of critics who feel the character is too angry and unapproachable, but I didn't get that. Sure, the film centers around his revenge mission, but I felt there to be plenty of glimpses of his lighter side and there were several moments throughout the film that garnered laughs from the crowd. So the whole criticism of the film being too somber doesn't fly with me.

I also really loved the locales that they chose for the film. I thought they once again did a great job of picking out events and locations that seemed new in a Bond films and added something to the action around them. I particularly loved the Tosca scenes, both for exhibiting the beautiful performance and for showcasing Bond being an awesome prick to the bad guys. However, I do wish they could have made the locales a bit more varying. The film had a consistent brown, black, white motif, which looked dirty and got monotonous. I also didn't care for the cutesy title cards indicating the new location. They seemed out of place and unnecessary, especially when they just said in the previous scene where they were going.

As for the rest of the cast, I enjoyed them but I thought they were all underutilized. Mathieu Amalric is decent, but doesn't get to truly exhibit pure evil. I also found it odd as to how hands-on he was in his evil plans considering how supposedly secret his organization was (a point stressed early on in the film). I also enjoyed both Bond girl and thought both were absolutely gorgeous. They also had some interesting characteristics about them, that weren't fully explored. I loved the Goldfinger homage involving Agent Fields though. But for Bond not to have slept with Camille at any point in the film just seemed wrong on many levels.

Finally, I thought the film really could have used to expanded its ending. There are two seperate scenes were Bond confronts a key villain, yet we do not get to see the conversations between them. Instead, we just see the aftermath. Given how much time we've spent over these two films on the betrayal of Vesper and the organization behind it, I really thought it was a ripoff not to see Bond interact with these characters more and let us hear the information that we want to know. The film is under two hours, a rariety for Bond films, so there was no reason why those scenes shouldn't have been included.

Overall, in a vaccuum, the film is a very entertaining action movie. For Bond fans, there is no doubt going to be some disappointment. As I said at the beginning, while this may not have been a great film, it was a necessary one. It has closed the chapter on Vesper and I think now they are ready to have Bond truly be Bond again. There have been some interviews already indicating this, so I'm anxious to see if they are good on their word. Definitely see this movie, just don't expect the same quality that you got with Casino Royale. 8.5/10

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An Exercise in Stupidity

Day 3 and still going strong (I feel like I'm in a prescription medicine commercial). Last night's film was Burn After Reading, the latest film from the Coen brothers. To call a film like this odd, would seem like a negative critique unless you are the Coens. It is amazing how these two continue to produce such diverse and quirky films and be successful at it. If you didn't know any better it would be hard to tell that this movie was made by the same people who did No Country For Old Men.

While the Coens' quirkiness has prevented me from seeing some of their work (I'll probably get stoned for saying this, but I've never seen The Big Lebowski), I found this one to be much more accessible, thanks in part to the all-star cast. Aside from headliners like George Clooney and Brad Pitt, the film boasts an amazing lineup of great character actors including Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, JK Simmons, Richard Jenkins, and David Rasche. All of them are wonderful here.

What is particularly fun to watch in all of these performances is how spectacularly stupid each character is. In a lot films, dumb characters can become real annoying. You sit their frustrated, watching them do one stupid move after the next. But in this case, it's actually pretty exciting. You know that their stupidity is eventually going to cost them, but you don't know exactly how and therein lies the fun. It's also fun to see so many of these great actors play against type to be so stupid. Each one seems to relish in this game of 'can you top that' idiocy?

As good as everyone is, I must single out Brad Pitt. He often gets dismissed as an actor because of his celebrity status, but he is really great in this film. He is the dim bulb who shines the brightest. He steals every scene he is in and I wish he would have been in the film more. Seeing his performance here, makes me all the more interested to see what he'll do next month in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

I'll try my best to explain the film's plot if you're not familiar with what it is about, but it is somewhat complicated. Pitt and McDormand are employees at a local Washington DC gym and happen to find a disc that potentially has government secrets belonging to Osbourne Cox (Malkovich), a CIA agent who recently quit/was fired. Malkovich is married to Tilda Swinton, who's having an affair with Clooney. As the film progresses the lives of these five people become intertwined as they stumble through life trying to get ahead. There's a lot more to that, but that's the basic gist.

I found the film was a bit slow early on. I give them credit for trying to establish these characters. But because the film is only 96 minutes long, that early character development short changes the rest of the action once the film's plot really kicks into high gear. The early parts aren't boring, just a bit frustrating because you're anxious to see where everything goes.

At times, the story may seem inconsequential. However, any concerns about that are allieviated in the final scene of the film. The scenes provides the perfect coda for everything that has happened in the film and it's damn funny to boot. It's interesting how both this and No Country For Old Men end with a scene of dialogue when you would expect something more action-oriented. But unlike No Country, this ending is way more satisfying. Its ending is as brutally honest and straightforward as No Country's was random and ambiguous.

Now just because the film ends with dialogue doesn't mean there isn't some violence thrown in. If you've seen any Coen brother film, you know that they can produce some violence scenes that are equally gruesome and realistic in their depiction and this one is no different. I knew going in that I could expect to see some pretty shocking deaths, but it still wasn't enough preparation for when the murders actually took place.

In case it hasn't been made clear, this is truly a Coen brothers movie. If you're a fan of their work, I easily can recommend you see this film. Then again, given their cult status, I'm sure most fans of the Coens have already seen this. Fro everyone else, I feel this is a more accessible film than some of their other works and I would recommend you watch it. If for nothing else, then you can enjoy a lot of A-list stars having a lot of fun playing off-the-wall characters. And if you're not laughing during that final scene, something is wrong with you. Grade: B

Time to start thinking about summer

The first snow is falling in parts of the U.S. around now (More in some places than others, sorry South Dakota), but if you're Hollywood, you're all ready to start talking summer movies. Here are a couple of new trailers slated for next summer.

First is Up, the latest entry from the people at Pixar:


And then there's Roland Emmerich's 2012, which might as well be called The Day After Tomorrow 2:

Hybrid cartoon

Day 2 of my week of movies rolls on as I saw the latest entry from the folks at Pixar yesterday. After the underwhelming Ratatouille, Pixar has rebounded nicely with the beautiful WALL-E. This is an amazing piece of animation that at times makes you forget you're actually watching a cartoon.

WALL-E is about a trash compacting robot who is left to clean up a now uninhabitated Earth. One day he comes across EVE, a robot sent to analyze the planet's conditions. WALL-E quickly becomes smitten with EVE, or at least as smitted as robots can be. Without giving too much of the plot away, the two embark on an adventure that could potentially save the planet and make it safe to live on again.

What is surprising about this film is that it actually has a very strong political message. Themes of environmentalism and activism are very prevalent, although they're likely lost on the younger audience. I wasn't bothered by it, especially since it's a positive message for all of us to remember, but it was surprisingly nonetheless. The folks at Pixar have never really been this political before, so it will be interesting to see if this trend continues or if they just felt it fit nicely in with the story they were trying to tell here.

While the themes of the film may catch people off guard, what's not shocking is the quality of the animation. Pixar continues to raise the bar with each film they produce as it relates to the animation. The textures are rich and precise, the action is seemless, the characters finely detailed; everything is just a wonder to the eyes. And because a large portion of the film takes place on the uninhabitable Earth, there is a gritty, realistic feel to the movie. A lot of the landscape made it seem like this was any other live action postapocalyptic film.

There is one new element added into the animation here; live people. There are a few scenes which actually show video of real human beings. For instance, WALL-E is seen watching a video of Hello Dolly. Even more interesting is Fred Willard doing a cameo as the CEO of a large Wal-Mart-like corporation. He speaks via video to the captain of the ship that is currently housing all of the remaining Earthlings. This was an odd choice because the rest of the human beings are computer animated. I'm not sure why they decided on this break in continuity, but it didn't really negatively affect my opinion of the film; especially because Fred Willard's brief appearance provides some decent laughs. I'll be curious to see if they continue blending live action and computer animation in their future films.

As I just mentioned, Fred Willard's character does provide some humorous moments in the film. But sadly, there isn't a whole lot more laughs beyond that. That's not really a fault of the script though. This film is a bit more serious and focused on the "love story" between WALL-E and EVE. So while I would have liked a few more laughs, they probably would have negatively changed the tone of the film. WALL-E's antics do provide some smiles, but this isn't like Toy Story where you have characters constantly wisecracking.

Having a film try to create a love story between two robots could have been extremely difficult, but the Pixar people manage to pull it off. Even though these robots have a very limited vocabulary, they are still able to communicate with each other and to the audience the connection they've formed. You'll become invested in these character and want to see them succeed in their quest. It's the mark of a good film when you can ignore the absurdity of a premise like robots establishing a relationship and simply get wrapped up in good storytelling.

For adults, I'm not sure if this one has the replay value that some of the other Pixar films have. As much as I enjoyed this, I'm not going to make any special effort to see it again. Kids, of course, are different and will likely gobble this up with a spoon like they do with most computer animated films. But everyone should do themselves a favor and at least see this once. Since this will be arriving on DVD soon, you'll probably really enjoy this if you have a quality television to play it on. Once you watch it, you'll agree with me that Pixar has created yet another masterpiece that they can add to their ever-growing library. Grade: A-

Reno's finest shall return

Big news on the return of Reno 911 for season 6...

Comedy Central announced Monday that its law enforcement comedy Reno 911! is returning for a sixth season along with two new cast members, Ian Roberts (Sergeant Jack Declan) and Joe Lo Truglio (Deputy Franky Rizzo).


Production on the series will resume this month, and the new 10-episode season will debut on March 12, 2009.


The creators of the half-hour comedy, Robert Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney-Silver and Thomas Lennon, also star in the series as cops on the beat in Reno, Nevada.


“We could not be more excited to have Ian Roberts and Joe Lo Truglio join the cast of Reno 911! We’ve taken the show up a notch,” said Garant, Lennon and Kenney-Silver in a statement.


La Truglio previously worked with Garant, Kenney-Silver and Lennon on MTV sketch comedy series The State, which was canceled in 1995.

If you're not familiar with these two new additions, Roberts was the literal doctor on Arrested Development and Truglio was the guy who hit Jonah Hill with his car in Superbad. In my opinion, both sound like great additions to the cast.

Meta is betta

This may be a bit ambitious on my part, but there are a handful of movies I want to see right now at the budget theater and this is the last week I'll have before things get really hectic with school and the holidays, so I'm going to try and have a week of big movie reviews here, culminating in seeing Quantum of Solace this Friday. But for today, we kick things off with the last of the big summer comedies I had yet to see, Tropic Thunder.

Directed by and starring Ben Stiller, this film is about a bunch of primadonna actors who are filming a war movie. Fed up with their attitude, the director leaves the actors out in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle to toughen up, all the while telling them that they are out there to shoot scenes for the movie. Don't worry, the movie is more straight-forward than I'm making it out to be.

Of course, one of the most talked about aspects of this movie before it was released was Robert Downey Jr.'s controversial role. He plays Kirk Lazarus, an award-winning Australian actor who undergoes a radical surgery in order to turn his skin black so that he could play the African-American sergeant. No doubt, you saw him featured prominently in the commercials for the film. Not only does he have the funniest moments in the trailer, but that is true of the whole film. This has truly been one amazing summer for Robert Downey Jr. and it is capped off with this masterful performance. He not only does a great job portraying a black man, but he has a really good Australian accent too. Seeing his performance is probably worth the price of admission alone.

But if you're looking for more beyond Downey's performance, the film ends up being a bit more hit and miss. I found this to be very similar to Zoolander, which not surprisingly, was also directed by Stiller. When the film is focused on satire, whether it be Hollywood here or the fashion industry in Zoolander, the film is extremely funny and smart. Stiller is very good at picking up on the nuances of the target of his satire and pointing them out in very comedic ways. This film opens with a series of trailers featuring the various actors in the film. Each are completely different, but they all perfectly capture the style and look of real trailers in that genre. There is also an Access Hollywood segment in the film which could easily have been about a real film; it is spot on.

However, once the film moves beyond satire and settles into its own actual story things start to fall apart. I just felt that the narrative wasn't strong enough here, even though I really liked the concept. For starters, most of the actors realize pretty quickly that they aren't filming a movie anymore and are in actual danger. While it's realistic, it took away a huge part of the film's humor. Only Stiller's character maintains the illusion that it is all part of the movie and a lot of his humorous interactions with the real environment are wrapped up in a montage. But for the rest of the characters, it just becomes a survival story which isn't all that interesting. Part of the problem there is that they've spent the first part of the film establishing that these actors are primadonnas, which doesn't make the audience really become invested in seeing them make it out alive.

A prime example of this is Jack Black's character, who is an overweight comedian with a heroin addiction. Personally, I didn't really enjoy the character or his portrayal of him. Now I realize the role was originally meant for Owen Wilson until he ran into his own personal problems, so I'm not sure if my attitude would change if he had actually been in the movie. Overall, I felt Black's portrayal was too real to be funny and too funny to be taken seriously, if that makes sense. I guess what I'm saying is that he needed to take it to one extreme or the other.

While the film lags in the middle, it does somewhat redeem itself in the end. There are some nice parrallels between how this movie ends and how their fictional movie was supposed to end; although this again seemed confusing because it appeared that they were mocking the ending of the Hollywood film, but wanted you to treat the end of this film seriously. Like Black's performance, the entire film needed to do a better job of seperating the meta references from their own actual plot.

One thing I would be remiss if I didn't point out is that there are several fun cameos throughout the film; something that is becoming the norm in today's comedies. There's Danny McBride, last seen in Pineapple Express, as an overzealous pyrotechnics expert. I previously had not found him particularly funny, but he has a lot of good lines here and his wardrobe is hilarious as well. Matthew McConaughey shows up as the agent to Stiller's character and has a funny running gag regarding TiVo. And finally, an unrecognizable Tom Cruise plays a crass executive. Cruise has some funny moments, but I wish the character would have played things a little bit more straight (no pun intended). Seeing Cruise as a balding, pot-bellied guy would have been funny enough. However, they added on some odd character traits that weren't as funny. It was as if the movie was trying to hard to make everyone think "Wow, look at how funny and cool Tom Cruise is being". It's a fun cameo, but they would have been better off with the 'less is more' mantra there.

There is one other small criticism I have with the film that may not matter to most people. But for some reason, I found it difficult to understand a lot of the lines that the characters were saying. Either they were too softly spoken or said so quickly, I couldn't process what they said. When you have a comedy where half of your jokes are of the verbal kind, this isn't a good thing. There may have been even more humor I missed just because of their delivery. Perhaps, this would have been avoided with a more polished director.

I think there is enough here to give this a recommendation. The Hollywood satire is top notch and Downey gives a hell of a performance that gives him an outside chance at an Oscar nomination. The film suffers from some story problems, but if you're just looking to be entertained, then that probably won't matter to you. Comedy is such a subjective concept as it is, that it is difficult to properly evaluate these films. I personally didn't find this as funny as some of the recent Apatow comedies, but I know that won't be true for everyone. That's why I made the Zoolander comparison earlier in the review. That's probably the best barometer for you. If you enjoyed that film, you'll likely have a good time with this one as well. Grade: B

Casino Royale (2006)

Plot: Casino Royale introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no less dangerous and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to '00' status. M sends the newly-promoted 007 to his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas, and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre, a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attempting to restore his funds in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on Bond and Treasury official Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in a way that he could never imagine and he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one.

Firsts: Craig as Bond, appearances by Mathis, Mr. White and Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, gun barrel sequence does not appear at the opening of the movie

Gadgets: Tracking device implant, personal defibrillator

Girls Bond slept with: Vesper Lynd; Would have slept with Solange had business not gotten in the way

Elaborate murder attempt that Bond escapes: Spiked martini, tortured with a knotted rope to the balls

Personal review: After 22 weeks, we've finally reached the end, which is ironic because this is the film that brought us back to the beginning. The Bond producers decided to reboot the franchise and the decision seems to have worked. I absolutely love this movie and have found Daniel Craig to be an excellent Bond thus far, even though many people weren't very confident in him when the announcement was originally made.

Not only is Craig a good Bond, but this is a really good movie too. Who knew Martin Campbell, who directed Goldeneye, could create such a beautiful and exciting picture? The action sequences are top notch, the locations are stylish and the movie manages to still have some fun too.

Part of what makes Craig such a good Bond is the way the character is written. Instead of being portrayed as some sort of superman, the character approaches situations in a way most people would. Take for instance, the opening chase sequence with the parkour artist. That guy leaping around like a frogman, but they have Bond slip and stumble in his jumps or just bust through walls instead of being able to leap over them. There are a lot of small touches like that which just make this an above average film.

Another one of the little things that I love about this film is how they withold many of Bond's trademark stuff until the end of the movie. If you notice the Bond theme and the 'Bond, James Bond' line are not used until the scene with Mr. White, as if to say he truly didn't become 'Bond' until after the Vesper incident. The way the film ends is just an amazing scene. The fact that this next film will start right where this one ends, makes me even more excited Quantum of Solace.

Speaking of the villains, Le Chiffre is all right, but not within the top eschelon of Bond villains. He's got the cool bloody tears and has some fun torturing Bond, but isn't truly significant. But knowing he was just a minor player within a larger organization makes it all right that he wasn't more memorable or evil.

And as for Eva Green as Vesper, she's certainly not the sexiest Bond girl. However, she brought an important vulnerability to the role which worked and made it believable as to why Bond would fall for her so hard. It appears that while she may not be the best Bond girl ever, she's likely to have the most significant impact on the franchise.

The lone common complaint about this film is that some feel it drags a bit and is too long. Those who believe this, typically point to the poker scenes as the parts that could have been cut. I don't really agree with this argument, but if there was an area that I would edit, it would be the Bond/Vesper scenes that occur after the tortune scene. I understand their purpose to advance Vesper's storyline, but they brought the film more to a halt than the poker scenes in my opinion. But like I said, in general, I really don't think the movie drags in the least.

I really feel like I could go on and heap more praise on this one, but I don't think its necessary. With it being the most recent and also likely seen by most people who read this, it seems like I don't really need to go into great detail as to why this is a good movie. Most will agree that Craig has been the right choice to take over the franchise after delivering such a knockout debut performance. I think all Bond fans are anxious to see what he now does for an encore. 10/10

Lost sets its premiere plus casting news

From EW.com...

We don't know where the Island went -- but now know when we'll be seeing it again. ABC insiders say that the fifth season of the Emmy-nominated cypto-drama will premiere with a two-hour event on Jan. 21, 2009, at 8 p.m. That's a Wednesday, in case you don't know next year's calendar by heart, which means that Lost will be returning to its original day-of-the-week slot. (Last season, it aired on Thursday nights.)

While plans are still being finalized, sources indicate Lost will launch with its first two episodes aired back-to-back, not a single, two-hour opus like its season finales. (Should ABC reconsider the plan, look for the first hour of the two-hour event to be some kind of recap special.) Still TBD: if Lost will be making 8 p.m. its weekly Wednesday berth. An 8 p.m. start means the show will be competing against (gulp) Fox's American Idol. At 9 p.m., Lost will be tangling with Fox's new House-meets-The Mentalist procedural, Lie To Me, which will premiere the same night as Lost's return. When we get the regular time slot thing nailed down, we'll let you know. -- Additional reporting by Michael Ausiello and Lynette Rice

UPDATE: Look for Lost to make 9 p.m. its regular time slot, according to a source, albeit with the caveat that plans aren't 100 percent finalized.

NEW UPDATE: The Lost season five premiere will actually be a three hour event! An hour-long recap special will air at 8 PM, followed by the first two episodes from 9-11 PM. The series will air thereafter at 9 PM on Wednesdays.

And this comes from Yahoo news...

Reiko Aylesworth is in negotiations for a major recurring role on "Lost," which returns to ABC in early 2009.

She will play Amy, a smart and successful professional woman with a love for the outdoors who is looking for the right man. The actress played ill-fated federal agent Michelle Dessler on "24," recurred on NBC's "ER" last season.

This is all good news from my perspective. Let the countdown to January begin!

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RIP Michael Crichton

From CNN.com...

Michael Crichton, the best-selling author of Jurassic Park and creator of the TV series ER, has died at the age of 66, according to a statement from his public relations firm. The release said the author died unexpectedly after a "courageous and private battle against cancer."

Wow, that is sad and terrible news. I always loved his books and Jurassic Park was one of the first adult novels I read when I was growing up. It's a shame we'll won't get a chance to read another tale from this inventive and intelligent author.

Heroes bombshell

and I don't mean Sylar going nuclear like we saw a few weeks ago.

From Comingsoon.net:

Variety says there was a big shakeup behind the scenes of NBC's "Heroes" on Sunday as writers/co-executive producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb were fired.

The duo had been with the show since its first season and were known to have led the day-to-day production operation under the direction of creator/executive producer Tim Kring.

"Heroes," produced by Universal Media Studios, has struggled in the ratings its third season. It's understood that Alexander and Loeb were let go because of NBC executives' frustration with the creative direction of the show.

The trade added that the show is also said to have been dealing with hefty budget overruns this season that are going well beyond its already sizable $4 million per-episode pricetag.

I haven't really spoke on here this season about my thoughts on Heroes. But in general, I've felt the show's been wildly uneven. I think the best comparison would be to Vince Russo's writing tenure in the WWF(E). At the moment when you're watching the show, there's a lot going on and things are very exciting. But once you've been away from it for a few hours, you realize a lot of things don't make sense and are a narrative disaster. Characters don't act based on who they are, they act based on what the storyline needs them to do. In addition, everything is kept very superficial, so you never really learn anything about these character or get to care for them in anyway. I have really hated how they have casually killed off so many villain characters this season with no fanfare, yet continue to have too many heroes that nobody wants to see (coughMattParkmancough).

I'm not sure if this firing was warranted, but if it can help bring some focus to the show, I'm all for it. Of course, we won't see the effects of this move for a while as they have quite a few episodes already done that haven't aired yet. As for the two guys that were fired, I wouldn't shed a tear for them. Both are accomplished writers and will easily find other work. For now, we just need to hope this show is able to find its mojo and return it to season 1 greatness.

Howard's End

Here's more news from EW.com on why Terrance Howard won't be back as Col. Jim Rhodes in Iron Man 2:

When a summer blockbuster grosses more than $300 million, putting together a sequel is typically as simple as throwing buckets of money at your stars and signing a few pieces of paper. That hasn't been the case with Iron Man 2. It took months for Marvel Studios to lock in director Jon Favreau for the sequel. And reports that Don Cheadle will replace Terrence Howard as Col. Jim Rhodes — a supporting character who seemed poised for a big role in the follow-up after he muttered ''Next time, baby'' to Iron Man's steel suit — hint that IM2 isn't quite as infallible as the superhero at its center.

Hollywood insiders believe the exit stems from Terrence Howard's difficult behavior on the set of Iron Man. But those with intimate knowledge of the situation suggest a far more dramatic backstory: Howard was the first actor signed to the film and, on top of that, was the highest-paid. That's right: more than Gwyneth Paltrow. More than Jeff Bridges. More than Robert Downey Jr. And once the project fully came together, it was too late to renegotiate his deal. It didn't help that, according to one source, Favreau and his producers were ultimately unhappy with Howard's performance, and spent a lot of time cutting and reshooting his scenes. (Favreau could not be reached for comment, while Howard's publicist says: ''Terrence had a tremendous experience working on Iron Man.'')

As such, when Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux went to map out the sequel they found themselves minimizing Howard's story line. Once Marvel learned that Favreau was thinking of curtailing the role, the studio went to the actor's agents with a new and drastically reduced offer — a number that's similar to what supporting cast members were paid for the first movie. The agents, according to sources, were so taken aback by this new figure — estimated at somewhere between a 50 and 80 percent pay cut — that they questioned it. Why did they blanch? Multiple sources say that Marvel execs never told Howard's reps that they had issues with the star's on-set conduct. (Marvel would not comment for this story.)

It's unclear whether Howard's team walked away first, or if Marvel ended the discussion at that point. Either way, the studio moved quickly to secure Cheadle and the story leaked out the next morning, Oct. 14. And alas for Howard, there will be no next time.

Die Another Day (2002)

Plot: When his top-secret mission is sabotaged, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) finds himself captured by the enemy, abandoned by MI6 and stripped of his 00-license. Determined to get revenge, Bond goes head-to-head with a sultry spy (Halle Berry), a frosty agent (Rosamund Pike) and a shadowy billionaire (Toby Stephens) whose business is diamonds...but whose secret is a diabolical weapon that could bring the world to its knees!

Firsts: Bullet coming at you in gun barrel sequence, story being told during opening credit sequence, singer of Bond theme having a role in the film

Gadgets: Surfboard with stowaway weapons, wristwatches with lasers and detonation devices, fully loaded Aston Martin with invisibility, ring with sonic agitation

Girls Bond slept with: Jinx and Miranda Frost

Elaborate murder attempt that Bond escapes: Chased by a laser harnessing the sun's power

Personal review: This is a very polarizing film, which may be appropriate given the large role ice plays in the film. Get it, polar, ice. Oh never mind. Anyways, in what would turn out to be Brosnan's last film as 007, there is a lot to like about this entry, but also a lot cringe-worthy aspects as well.

I really dug the opening sequence and the concept of Bond getting caught and tortured. It made the character a bit more falliable without ruining his credibility or reputation. Associated with that, even though it was far-fetched, the whole gene therapy to give the primary villain a true extreme makeover worked for me. It was just over-the-top to work in the Bond universe, plus it provided an added level of animosity between Bond and Moon/Graves that typically isn't found in these films. All of the scenes in Cuba were fun and did a nice job of calling back to older Bond films. Finally, Graves' ice palace was a great addition in the pantheon of classic Bond villain lairs.

In general, this is another action-packed adventure that is enjoyable to watch. However, as I said there are a few things that really drop the film a few notches. First off, I cannot stand the Jinx character. There was no reason to try and create a female Bond. The one-liners and bad-assery just don't work coming from Berry. It may be misogynist of me, but the Bond girls should remain eye candy and as damsels in distress to me. Unless, they're a villainous Bond girl, like Rosamund Pike's Miranda Frost, who I thought was awesome in this film. Sexy and evil in one little package. But back to Jinx, for a second; as sad as I was to see Brosnan leave before I thought he was done as Bond, if it meant putting the kibosh on the rumored Jinx spin-off movies, then I'm glad he chose to hang it up.

Now I mentioned before about the gene therapy being a bit over-the-top, but it's nothing compared to some of the gadgets and stunts in this film. First, there's the invisible car. Now I'm not as critical as some are of it, but it is pretty ridiculous. Still, I can only imagine how people in the 60s reacted to Bond's ejector seat car in Goldfinger. So maybe we shouldn't be too critical of that. The worse offender though is the chase scene with the Icarus laser that ends with Bond turning a jet car into a parasail. Bond has done some extreme stunts before, but this one was not only over-the-top but also looked really bad from a visual standpoint. Take for instance, the scene in Goldeneye where leaps off the cliff and somehow freefalls into the plane. Completely ridiculous, but it was filmed in a way to make it look like it actually happened. Compared to this parasailing scene which looks completely computer generated and phony.

Speaking of the look of the film, I was not fond of Lee Tamohori's direction as all. It seemed like he tried to infuse a Matrix-style of filmmaking into this movie and it just didn't work at all. Shots like the one with Zao (who by the way looked awesome with his 'world's most expensive acne') flipping his jacket in slow-motion as he prepares to torture Jinx was just silly and unnecessary.

In the end, this film really tried to merge old-school Bond with modern filmmaking and it ended up clashing instead of coming together harmoniously. There is enough fun and action in here to not call this a bad Bond film, but there are too many unlikeable aspects in it to consider it one of the best entries either. This one isn't as insulting as The World is Not Enough, but falls below Brosnan first two attempts. 7.5/10

First look at Tom Hanks' second try at Robert Langdon

Here's a look at the first teaser trailer for next May's Angels & Demons (the prequel to The Da Vinci Code; although the film may treat it more like a sequel):

I'm tired of the waiting game...let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos!

So my first round of job applications went out a few weeks ago and now all of my reference letters have been sent as well. At this point, the ball is in their court now as I nervously await to hear back from them. It's been a long time since I've had to do the whole job application scene, so it's been a stressful time, but I'm now excited about all of my prospects. If you haven't heard, here are the seven schools that I've applied at:

Hiram College (in Ohio)
Muhlenberg College (in Pennsylvania)
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
The Catholic University of America (in Washington D.C.)
University of Puget Sound (in Washington state)
Colorado State University
DePaul university

I'll hopefully be meeting with representatives from all of these schools when I attend the NCA conference in San Diego in a few weeks. As soon as I hear more from any of these schools I'll be sure to share it with you here.

Employee Transfer deleted scenes

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Clip #1:

NMR: Word Wars

This is another documentary along the lines of Spellbound, which focuses on people involved in a hobby competition. In this case, it's a film about four people competing in the National Scabble competition. These film are an easy thumbs up for. I love seeing these little slices of life and the passion displayed by the people involved. This one isn't quite as good as other similar documentaries though for a couple of reasons. 1) The narrative isn't as strong in this film. While it primarily focuses on these four guys' quest to be Scrabble champ, the film frequently takes these diversions that produce interesting information, but take away from the film's main concept. 2) Related to this, there really isn't a clear cut hero or villain amongst the profiled players. These guys each have winning and unlikeable characteristics about them. Still, if you're like me and you enjoy these types of films, you should definitely give this one a look. Rating: ****

It's better than nothing

I'd rather having the new Harry Potter film opening this Nov. like it was supposed to, but since it's been pushed back until next July, this new trailer will have to tide us over in the meantime.

The World is Not Enough (1999)

Plot: When the suave Agent 007 (Pierce Brosnan) is assigned to protect a beautiful oil heiress (Sophie Marceau), he is catapulted into a passionate, adenaline-charged adventure that pits him against one of his most deadly adversaries: Renard (Robert Carlyle), a ruthless anarchist whose total imperviousness to pain makes him a virtual unstoppable enemy. The unrelenting suspense, breathtaking action and sly wit never let up in this explosively entertaining thriller.

Firsts: Appearance of R, main villain is a female

Gadgets: Fully loaded BMW, eyeglasses with detonation device, amphibious jet boat, jacket with inflatable shield, x-ray sunglasses, credit card with lock pick, wristwatch with grappling hook

Girls Bond slept with: MI6 doctor, Elektra King, and Christmas Jones

Elaborate murder attempt that Bond escapes: Chased by helicopters with logging saws, trapped in an ancient torture chair

Personal review: We're getting close to the end now folks. In Brosnan's third outing as 007, things unfortunately take a turn for the worse. After a fun adventure in Tomorrow Never Dies, this one is a muddled mess.

It didn't appear that way initially. The pre-credit sequence involving the money pickup and the jet boat chase is just phenomenal. It also harkened back to the old Bond movies involving the typical scene of flirting with Moneypenny before entering M's office. This was just classic Bond all around.

But then once we get into the main plot, the excitement dies down. There are certainly plenty of good action sequences like the ski chase sequence and the scenes involving Bond being attacked by the logging helicopters. However, all of the business with oil and plutonium was too confusing and uninteresting.

The film's greatest weakness is the two female leads. There's no sense going on in detail about how ridiculous it was to have Denise Richards playing a nuclear scientist named Christmas Jones. There have been less likeable Bond girls than her, but she probably was the worst actress to play a Bond girl. Then you have Sophie Marceau as Elektra King. I give them credit for finally having a female lead villain, but she just doesn't pull it off very well. She had the sexuality needed for a Bond girl, but there wasn't enough of a mean streak shown by her to make her a worthy villain.

The weakness of Marceau's Elektra is only emphasized by the hokey Renard. The whole bullet lodged in the brain preventing him from feeling anything would work for a Bond henchman, but he's meant to be the co-main villain. He just doesn't have enough gravitas for his standing within the film. Two weak co-villains do not equal one good villain.

Thank goodness for the return of Robbie Coltrane as Zukovsky. He provides some decent comic relief; emphasis of relief. His scenes are a welcome break for the rest of the film's inanity. As an aside, I also loved his cane that doubled as a rifle. That's pretty badass.

And since there isn't a whole lot of positive things to say about the movie as a whole, let me take the opportunity to say how nice it was to see Q get a proper send off. They had no way of knowing Desmond Llewelyn would die in a car accident before the next Bond film, so they were fortunate enough to include a wonderful scene that would ultimately be his final moment as the classic Q. The character had become synonymous with this franchise and Llewelyn's portrayal of the character is a main reason for that. I'll be curious to see if the character ever reemerges and in what capacity now that the Daniel Craig era has begun.

In the end, this was in my opinion, the worst film from the Brosnan era. But let's face it, they can't all be winners. Sometimes you need a dud in order to truly appreciate the good ones. 6.5/10