Fall TV Report: Freshman shows

I am WAY behind on a lot of my blogging. There's several things I could post, but I'll begin with a discussion of the few new shows that have caught my eye.

Elementary - I'm a big mystery fan and there's no greater sleuth than Sherlock. He's very hot right now with the Robert Downey Jr. film franchise and a successful BBC series as well. This latest entry, starring Johnny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as a female Watson has not been the slam dunk that I had hoped for and I think part of the problem is the network its on. CBS has a slew of succesful shows, but they are all very familiar and routine. In the first few episodes, the stories told haven't been anything that couldn't have been used on CSI, or NCIS, or The Mentalist, or... shall I go on? I want more brain-testing mysteries and more idiosyncrasies on display by Holmes. I do have some hope that things can improve as this past week's episode was the first one that felt like Holmes and Watson were an actual team instead of making Liu completely superfluous to the story. True Holmes fans will likely be disappointed, but for everyone looking for another solid crime series, this will do just fine. It's been picked up for a full season so look for this to stick around for a while.

Go On - It's the lone new sitcom that has appealed to me in the least and had any success (moderate though it may be) in the ratings. The premise for the show (Matthew Perry attends weekly group therapy sessions to deal with the death of his wife) is relatively fresh and unique. It's also has an amazingly talented cast of comedic actors including Julie White, Brett Gelman, John Cho, Bill Cobbs, and a few others who you'd likely recognize if you saw them. But for all that this show has going for it, I feel like it really hasn't maximized its potential. Some shows struggle initially until it finally finds its voice. I'm hoping that's the case here. I enjoy seeing these characters, I just don't laugh as much as with some of my other favorite sitcoms. Given the lack of other options, I'll stick with this one for now.

Revolution - I had some serious reservations about this one. I've been burned by one too many Lost clones in recent years and feared I would do the same with this one. Shows like this have great setups and no follow through. Then the audience erodes and the series gets cancelled before the viewers who stuck around can get any answers. Well I'm happy to report that thus far this show has bucked that trend. From a viewer standpoint, it's been a huge hit for NBC and has already received a full season order. From my perspective, the show is far from perfect, but solid enough to have captured my interest. Instead of having everything hinge on one singular mystery, the writers have created a lot of different stories that are each intriguing. I'm also pleased that I don't really hate any of the characters to the degree that I want them killed off each episode. The show has so far also done a decent job of keeping the story moving so that you feel like you learn or accomplish something new each episode. I think the success this show has seen will allow the people behind this show to have the confidence to continue to move forward at an appropriate pace and deliver quality entertainment that can last beyond just one season.

Those are the only new shows that I'm regularly watching. Last Resort is one that I still hope to catch, but I'll have to do so through On Demand because I have too many other things airing at the same time that it does. I watched the premiere of Animal Practice and it is disappointingly awful. Everyone else seemed to agree because NBC has already cancelled it. I've seen parts of The Mindy Project and Ben and Kate, but neither of those seemed to be targeted for me. If you've seen any other new show, feel free to chime in and offer your thoughts.

2012 Fall Television Schedule Announcement (CBS)

This will wrap up the fall TV posts. I won't bother with the CW's lineup since I don't watch anything on that network and hardly anyone else does either. But if you're dying to see what they have in store, you can check it out at this link.

2012 CBS Fall Lineup

CBS has sat atop the ratings throne for several years now and the moves they made for the fall suggest they don't plan on losing that crown anytime soon. They cancelled the few deadweight shows that they had (adios CSI: Miami) and kept most of their hits in their same timeslots. The biggest change was moving Two and Half Men to Thursday nights and pairing it with The Big Bang Theory. Given that Men is getting a bit long in the tooth, it's a shrew decision to not rely it as the Monday anchor and instead have it along side the very popular Bang. That will no doubt further solidify CBS's hold on Thursday night programming. While I gave up on 2 Broke Girls, it's clear the CBS has enough confidence in it to make it the new anchor on Monday nights. Given how successful CBS has been, they really don't have too many new shows coming out. Of the ones that did make the fall lineup, the most intriguing one for me is Elementary - a modern day take on Sherlock Holmes with a female (Lucy Liu) in the Watson role. It'll take some time for me to wrap my head around the gender switch, but otherwise it looks like it could be another solid procedural for CBS.

Nobody's Holmes

When I did my 2011 movie preview, two of the films that I ranked high on the list were The Hangover Part II and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Both merited their spot because of how much I enjoyed each of their original films. However, in my preview of both of these sequels, I questioned how good they could be given that each of them were coming out only two years after their predecessor. Earlier this year my suspicions were proven correct as most people agreed that the second Hangover was nothing but a pale imitation of the first. Sadly, the same turns out to be true for Sherlock Holmes

2009's Sherlock Holmes was one of the most pleasant surprises I had had at the movies in recent years. What could have been awful turned out to be an extremely engaging and entertaining film. I loved the way director Guy Ritchie had woven the more violent aspects of the film into Holmes' cerebral nature. And of course, the casting of Robert Downey Jr. as the titular gumshoe and Jude Law as his faithful sidekick, Watson was inspired. They had even managed to nicely sow the seeds for this sequel with the introduction of Holmes' arch-rival, Professor Moriarty.

Fast-forward to this sequel and hardly any of what made the first film so appealing can be found. The biggest absence is a central mystery. Instead of having Sherlock track down the clues of Moriarty's latest elaborate crime, they turn the professor (played by Jared Harris) into a Bond-esque villain, who's out to start a world war. The elements of Moriarty's plan that are left to mystery are not very engaging, nor do they truly test Holmes' intelligence. Late in the film, the two rivals play a literal game of chess to represent the supposed metaphorical one that they've been playing the entire movie, but I think dodgeball would have been a more apt analogy. The film spends way too much time on gunfights and/or people trying to escape a hail of gunfire. While the action that was incorporated into the first film fit, here it feels excessive and unnecessary.

A lack of mystery is not the only thing missing from the film. This sequel was also in need of more snappy dialogue. While Downey and Law are still able to exchange a number of clever and witty barbs at each other, there is no one else here for them to play off of. A lot of the fun from the first film came from Holmes' interactions with both Inspector Lestrade and Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams). The globe-spanning plot of this film forced Holmes out of London, thus Lestrade was limited to a mere cameo. Meanwhile Irene briefly shows up at the beginning of the film only to have her appearance be ended rather abruptly. Both of their presence were sorely missed throughout most of the film.

It doesn't help that the female substitute for McAdams' Adler is Noomi Rapace, a gypsy woman who has connections to Moriarty's plot. Rapace is a charisma vacuum in this film and weighs down every scene she's in with the film's leads. Why the writers felt the need to have her stay with the detectives throughout the movie is baffling to me. She added nothing to the audience's enjoyment of the film and she added nothing to help Holmes and Watson solve the case. I can only hope that if a third film is made (and it will be) that her character is nowhere to be seen in it.

Had this been a generic action movie set in this time period, I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more. The film keeps the story moving along and there's plenty in it to keep your attention. But because of the Sherlock Holmes name and the quality of the first film, there were certain expectations that I had for this sequel that simply were not met. This just reeked of a cash grab instead of taking the time to create a good story. Downey and Law's talent can only take things so far. And while they did their best to make this enjoyable, there were just too many other variables that weighed this film down. I can only hope that more time and effort goes into making the third film. I'm not ready to give up on this franchise, but this was one of the biggest disappointments I had this year at the movies, and sadly there were a lot of them this year. How they managed to botch this film so badly is a mystery that not even Holmes himself could solve. Grade: C+

Holmes run

The latest trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows hit the web yesterday and I continue to be stoked for this new film. And hooray for the brief Rachel McAdams appearance in this trailer. Check it out for yourself.

Fall Movie Preview (December)

CARNAGE (December 16)
Plot: Set in contemporary Brooklyn, New York, "Carnage" centers on two pairs of parents one of whose child has hurt the other at a public park, who meet to discuss the matter in a civilized manner. However, as the evening goes on, the parents become increasingly childish, resulting in the evening devolving into chaos.

Quick thoughts: The story may be simplistic, but that's because of it being adapted from the stage. What it lacks it setting, is more than made up for in the acting talent. With four supremely talented actors working off of each other in a very dark comedic story, I'll be very interested to see if director Roman Polanski can successfully turn this into an engaging film.


SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (December 16)
Plot: When the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead, the evidence, as construed by Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan), points to suicide. But Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince has been the victim of murder, a murder that is only one piece of a larger and much more portentous puzzle, designed by Professor Moriarty. The cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead of Holmes as he spins a web of death and destruction, all part of a greater plan that, if he succeeds, will change the course of history.

Quick thoughts: I absolutely loved the first venture into this franchise by Downey and co. so I am immediately on board for a second go-round. The fact that this one will feature Holmes' greatest nemesis, Professor Moriarty, only sweeteneds the deals. Let's just hope than unlike some of this year's sequels, this one is able to still feel fresh on its own.


THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (December 21)
Plot: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is the first film in Columbia Pictures' three-picture adaptation of Stieg Larsson's literary blockbuster "The Millennium Trilogy." Directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, the film is based on the first novel in the trilogy, which altogether have sold 50 million copies in 46 countries and become a worldwide phenomenon. The screenplay is by Steven Zaillian.

Quick thoughts: I'll be honest - I haven't read these books and I really don't know too much about what the plot involves. Having said that, the fact that it stars Daniel Craig and is being directed by David Fincher, who has made some of my favorite films in the past five years is enough of an incentive for me to at least give this (anticipated) trilogy a look.


MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL (December 21)
Plot: The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.

Quick thoughts: Unlike so many people, I really enjoyed the third entry in this franchise. And while J.J. Abrams isn't directing this one, he's still worked on it and left the director's chair in good hands with Brad Bird (who directed The Incredibles). In amongst all of the films vying for an Oscar, this will serve as a nice entertainment diversion come the Christmas season.


WE BOUGHT A ZOO (December 23)
Plot: "We Bought a Zoo," a memoir by Benjamin Mee, tells the true account of how the author and his family used their life savings to buy a dilapidated zoo, replete with 200 exotic animals facing destruction, in the English countryside. Mee, along with his children, had to balance caring for his wife, who was dying of brain cancer, with dealing with escaped tigers, raising endangered animals, working with an eclectic skeleton crew and readying the zoo for a reopening.

Quick thoughts: In the past, I've never really been a big fan of director Cameron Crowe's work, but they've been undeniably successful, especially come awards season. This one intrigues me mainly because of a solid cast (Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson) and a story that is true and hasn't been done a thousand times before. I have a feeling this will be infinitely better than The Zookeeper.


OTHER POSSIBLE FILMS OF INTEREST:
The Sitter (December 9)
Young Adult (December 9)
The Iron Lady (December 16)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (December 23)