Yes, I know the episode aired over a week ago, but I figure this way I ensure that I'm not spoiling anything for anyone who hasn't seen it yet (really I've just been lazy).
Anyway, I thought it was a nice capper to an excellent season, but maybe not as good as last year's finale. Part of the problem with this one is that due to the flashforwards, some of the drama was taken away. We already knew the fate of nearly everyone so you knew how things would turn out. That doesn't mean that the show didn't have its share of surprises and of course, has left us with a lot of questions. Here are some of the big questions we're left pondering:
1. Where is the island?
2. What will be the time frame that will dominate the storylines next year; 2004 or 2008?
3. What happened to Faraday and the people on the raft?
4. When Ben says everyone has to return that does include people like Aaron and Walt?
5. Why did Christian Shepherd and the whispers show up on the freighter?
6. Is Jin really dead?
7. How did Locke get in the coffin? And is he really dead?
Speaking of Locke in the coffin, here's an interesting video of some alternative endings that were shot for the finale:
8. What did Sawyer whisper to Kate?
Actually, that one has seemingly been answered:
And for one other interesting tidbit, here's a quality photo of the newspaper clipping regarding "Jeremy Bentham's" death.
Finally, here is my own LOST theory after seeing the finale. Some others may have already speculated on this, but I did not get it from anywhere but my own mind.
Ben says that by moving the island he cannot return to the Island. We also know that he is strongly pushing Jack to have the Oceanic 6 return to the island. Why? I feel that if they return, there is a way for him to return as well.
In addition, I believe all of the freighter folk had been to the island before too (there was hints of that already with Charlotte). What if Widmore needed the freighter folk to return to the island for the same reason that Ben needs to Oceanic 6 to return.
You all can chew on that, and for quite a while too, since Lost won't be returning until Jan. '09. *sigh* I hate the waiting game.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Hollywood R.I.P.s
The entertainment industry was hit hard this past week with the passing of a number of well known people, including funnyman Harvey Korman (The Carol Burnett Show) and two composers; the man who created the Star Trek theme and the man who created the theme for the Andy Griffith Show.
But the biggest loss this week had to be actor/director Sydney Pollock. His name may not be immediately recognizable, but you've no doubt seen his work either in front of or behind the camera. I could try and list all of his credentials, but instead, I would suggest you click on the link below to see a good example of some of his work.
Sydney Pollock: A retrospective
And in a weird way, we also mourn the loss of some classic Hollywood artifacts as earlier today there was a fire at the Universal studios which caused damage and/or destroyed several sets (including the Back to the Future clocktower) and thousands of videos and film reels. Luckily, there are duplicates of most of the videos and film reels stored elsewhere. Still, it's a shame to see so much cinematic history go up in smoke like that. You can read more about the blaze here.
But the biggest loss this week had to be actor/director Sydney Pollock. His name may not be immediately recognizable, but you've no doubt seen his work either in front of or behind the camera. I could try and list all of his credentials, but instead, I would suggest you click on the link below to see a good example of some of his work.
Sydney Pollock: A retrospective
And in a weird way, we also mourn the loss of some classic Hollywood artifacts as earlier today there was a fire at the Universal studios which caused damage and/or destroyed several sets (including the Back to the Future clocktower) and thousands of videos and film reels. Luckily, there are duplicates of most of the videos and film reels stored elsewhere. Still, it's a shame to see so much cinematic history go up in smoke like that. You can read more about the blaze here.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
NMR: Double Feature
Cloverfield: I never had the time or energy to check out this monster movie from J.J. Abrams when it came out earlier this year, so I decided to rent it now. I will give the movie credit for not following the normal monster movie conventions (you barely see the monster, and the focus is on a few individuals and their attempts to escape the danger). I'll also say that the film delivers a number of decent thrills. But for all that it does right, the movie doesn't work due to its high level of implausibility. The actions that the main characters choose to do are so unrealistic that I couldn't sympathize with their situation. In addition, the movie was filmed as if one of the main characters was recording it all on their own camera, documentary-style. As I'm watching it, I'm yelling at the screen, 'put the f'ing camera down and save yourself!' Despite trying to give this a very 'real' feel, it felt like one of the fakest movies I had ever seen. Still, if you're looking for a cheap thrill, this is probably better than most of those cheesy horror flicks that come out every three weeks. Netflix rating: **
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: After being so impressed with Robert Downey Jr.'s work in both Iron Man and Zodiac, I decided to seek out some of his other recent work. This relatively unknown film came out 2-3 years ago and is an homage to film noir and detective movies. Downey (again delivering a good performance) plays a small time crook who ends up getting a job as an actor and then becomes a detective to prepare for the role. It sounds confusing, but it (sort of) makes sense in the film. The film has a lot of good laughs and the central mystery is fun. It also has fun at being unconventional with Downey also being the film's narrator and making snarky comments throughout. However, the film at times acts cuter than what it really is. There are also some slow moments in the film that could have been cut out. I couldn't take a steady diet of this, but it offered a nice change of pace. Netflix rating: ****
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: After being so impressed with Robert Downey Jr.'s work in both Iron Man and Zodiac, I decided to seek out some of his other recent work. This relatively unknown film came out 2-3 years ago and is an homage to film noir and detective movies. Downey (again delivering a good performance) plays a small time crook who ends up getting a job as an actor and then becomes a detective to prepare for the role. It sounds confusing, but it (sort of) makes sense in the film. The film has a lot of good laughs and the central mystery is fun. It also has fun at being unconventional with Downey also being the film's narrator and making snarky comments throughout. However, the film at times acts cuter than what it really is. There are also some slow moments in the film that could have been cut out. I couldn't take a steady diet of this, but it offered a nice change of pace. Netflix rating: ****
OMFG!!! Pictures from the Sex and the City premiere!
What a fab event this was...
Check out Kristin Davis in her gold dress...
and there's Cynthia Nixon with her "girl"friend...
and the moment we've all been waiting for, here comes Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Catrall. Aren't they looking lovely?
Ugh! After seeing this movie have a better opening day than Indiana Jones, I have lost all faith in humanity.
Check out Kristin Davis in her gold dress...
and there's Cynthia Nixon with her "girl"friend...
and the moment we've all been waiting for, here comes Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Catrall. Aren't they looking lovely?
Ugh! After seeing this movie have a better opening day than Indiana Jones, I have lost all faith in humanity.
EPIC FAIL - Sports edition
I don't know how a prestigious organization like the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League will ever be able to live down such an embarassing incident.
I'm surprised a diva like her couldn't throw that further. I'm sure if that had been a bottle of the wrong brand on mineral water she would have been able to hurl it all the way to the plate.
I don't know what's more shocking - the announcer calling Danika Patrick the biggest name in her sport when she's only won one race in her career or the nonplussed reaction by the guy in the headphones to this terrible incident.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Eerie Indiana
It's funny, I never saw any of the Indiana Jones movies until about 10 years ago and never was a huge fan of the series, yet I ended up seeing the new film on opening day.
Now having seen the fourth installment, I can say that it was just an ok film. But since I thought the other three were just 'ok' too, I'm not sure that tells you a lot about the quality of the film, so let me try and provide some further analysis of the film's strengths and weaknesses.
The film wastes no time in getting right into the action and heart of the story, which is pretty typical of this franchise. However, after the initial action sequence, the film really gets weighed down with a series of pointless scenes. There are several moments early on where Spielberg unnecessarily hammers home the point that the film is taking place in the 50s (Oooh, greasers! Eeek, the Red Scare!) Yet, despite inundating us with the film's temporal context, he never really says anything about the decade. The Russian villains here could have just as easily been Nazis again. I give the film credit for advancing the film's chronology to match Harrison's actual aging, but they don't do anything significant with the era that they place the film in.
Speaking of Harrison Ford, despite the nearly twenty year layoff between films, he picks up the fedora and bullwhip without a hitch. He remains the same presence on-screen that he was when he made the character so engaging in the first place. Yes, he may be greyer on top, but that doesn't mean he doesn't still bring the energy here. For many, just seeing him back as this beloved character will make this film a thumbs up for them.
Ford's surrounding cast is a mixed bag. On one hand, it's nice to see Karen Allen back as Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the reunion between her and Indy somewhat fell flat. Part of the reason is that not enough time was given to let them banter and squabble to exhibit the chemistry they had in the first film. The other reason is that it seemed odd to bring back a former flame when it seemed that the women in the Indiana Jones films were similar to Bond girls; one and done. I never got the vibe in Raiders that Marion was Indy's soul mate, even though they try to make it seem that way here.
The film, also includes one of my least favorite actors, Shia LaBeouf. In this film, he actually doesn't bother me all that much, which is probably the best compliment I can give him. Rather I was more annoyed by Spielberg's apparent man-crush for him and the way he exhibited it in the way his character's portrayed. There were too many scenes that attempted to make you believe he is the heir apparent to the Indy franchise and they just came across as ludicrous to me.
Finally, Cate Blanchett is here as well as the villainous Irina Spalko; a Russian who wants to to use mind control to take over the world. Frankly, I thought her talents went to waste here. She's a quality actress, but really any woman with a halfway decent Russian accent could have done this role. Again, it's really more of a fault of the writing and directing rather than anything that she did poorly.
There are several other side characters here(John Hurt, Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent), who could have been interesting, but again the film spends so much time focusing on the action, that they never have a chance to shine or truly explain why they're being included in the film at all.
I suppose I should also mention the titular crystal skull; the desired chotchkee that both good and evil are seeking. For me, the skull doesn't have the same gravitas as say the Ark or the Holy Grail from previous films. That's probably unfair though as in some cultures the crystal skull is just as highly revered as the Ark is to Christianity. However, since the cultures in which the skull is revered probably are the minority of the viewing audience, I think more could have been done to emphasis what a great treasure it truly is.
The action surrounding the procurement of the crystal skull is all good fun and on par with the action of the previous films. You have several scenes where key items are exchanged back and forth between both sides. You have the trademark creepy scenes involving some sort of critter (in this case, big, nasty ants). And you have a finale that involves a special-effects laiden death scene. I would explain more about what is the significance behind finding the crystal skull, but I don't want to spoil too much here. Needless to say, the events are likely to make fans devisive over whether or not they belong in an Indiana Jones film.
Where the filmmakers falter in creating a coherent story, they equally succeed in providing a number of easter eggs related to the previous films. There are several references to characters, objects, and events from the earlier films that will be appreciated by all of the fans of the franchise. The scene which calls back to Indy's fear of snakes is probably my favorite of the film.
Given the goodwill that these films have built up over time, this new film will probably get a pass from most people, including myself, despite some glaring weaknesses. If this were a stand alone film, I'm not sure how kind most people would be to it. But because the action is acceptable summer fare and because they throw enough bones to fans of the franchise, it receives a marginal recommendation for all. There's likely to be something for everyone to enjoy about this film.
And despite the problems I saw here, I would still be ok with seeing another film made if everyone is up for it. In particular, I would really like to see them attempt Indy 5 as opposed to trying a spinoff franchise involving LaBeouf. If nothing else, this film proved that Harrison Ford can still swashbuckle with the best of them. Grade: B-
Now having seen the fourth installment, I can say that it was just an ok film. But since I thought the other three were just 'ok' too, I'm not sure that tells you a lot about the quality of the film, so let me try and provide some further analysis of the film's strengths and weaknesses.
The film wastes no time in getting right into the action and heart of the story, which is pretty typical of this franchise. However, after the initial action sequence, the film really gets weighed down with a series of pointless scenes. There are several moments early on where Spielberg unnecessarily hammers home the point that the film is taking place in the 50s (Oooh, greasers! Eeek, the Red Scare!) Yet, despite inundating us with the film's temporal context, he never really says anything about the decade. The Russian villains here could have just as easily been Nazis again. I give the film credit for advancing the film's chronology to match Harrison's actual aging, but they don't do anything significant with the era that they place the film in.
Speaking of Harrison Ford, despite the nearly twenty year layoff between films, he picks up the fedora and bullwhip without a hitch. He remains the same presence on-screen that he was when he made the character so engaging in the first place. Yes, he may be greyer on top, but that doesn't mean he doesn't still bring the energy here. For many, just seeing him back as this beloved character will make this film a thumbs up for them.
Ford's surrounding cast is a mixed bag. On one hand, it's nice to see Karen Allen back as Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the reunion between her and Indy somewhat fell flat. Part of the reason is that not enough time was given to let them banter and squabble to exhibit the chemistry they had in the first film. The other reason is that it seemed odd to bring back a former flame when it seemed that the women in the Indiana Jones films were similar to Bond girls; one and done. I never got the vibe in Raiders that Marion was Indy's soul mate, even though they try to make it seem that way here.
The film, also includes one of my least favorite actors, Shia LaBeouf. In this film, he actually doesn't bother me all that much, which is probably the best compliment I can give him. Rather I was more annoyed by Spielberg's apparent man-crush for him and the way he exhibited it in the way his character's portrayed. There were too many scenes that attempted to make you believe he is the heir apparent to the Indy franchise and they just came across as ludicrous to me.
Finally, Cate Blanchett is here as well as the villainous Irina Spalko; a Russian who wants to to use mind control to take over the world. Frankly, I thought her talents went to waste here. She's a quality actress, but really any woman with a halfway decent Russian accent could have done this role. Again, it's really more of a fault of the writing and directing rather than anything that she did poorly.
There are several other side characters here(John Hurt, Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent), who could have been interesting, but again the film spends so much time focusing on the action, that they never have a chance to shine or truly explain why they're being included in the film at all.
I suppose I should also mention the titular crystal skull; the desired chotchkee that both good and evil are seeking. For me, the skull doesn't have the same gravitas as say the Ark or the Holy Grail from previous films. That's probably unfair though as in some cultures the crystal skull is just as highly revered as the Ark is to Christianity. However, since the cultures in which the skull is revered probably are the minority of the viewing audience, I think more could have been done to emphasis what a great treasure it truly is.
The action surrounding the procurement of the crystal skull is all good fun and on par with the action of the previous films. You have several scenes where key items are exchanged back and forth between both sides. You have the trademark creepy scenes involving some sort of critter (in this case, big, nasty ants). And you have a finale that involves a special-effects laiden death scene. I would explain more about what is the significance behind finding the crystal skull, but I don't want to spoil too much here. Needless to say, the events are likely to make fans devisive over whether or not they belong in an Indiana Jones film.
Where the filmmakers falter in creating a coherent story, they equally succeed in providing a number of easter eggs related to the previous films. There are several references to characters, objects, and events from the earlier films that will be appreciated by all of the fans of the franchise. The scene which calls back to Indy's fear of snakes is probably my favorite of the film.
Given the goodwill that these films have built up over time, this new film will probably get a pass from most people, including myself, despite some glaring weaknesses. If this were a stand alone film, I'm not sure how kind most people would be to it. But because the action is acceptable summer fare and because they throw enough bones to fans of the franchise, it receives a marginal recommendation for all. There's likely to be something for everyone to enjoy about this film.
And despite the problems I saw here, I would still be ok with seeing another film made if everyone is up for it. In particular, I would really like to see them attempt Indy 5 as opposed to trying a spinoff franchise involving LaBeouf. If nothing else, this film proved that Harrison Ford can still swashbuckle with the best of them. Grade: B-
Friday, May 23, 2008
FOX pilots
So as you probably gathered if you read my posts about the networks' fall lineups, there is not going to be a lot of new shows as a result of the strike. And of the new shows that the networks did announce, not a lot of information was given. However, FOX has recently released teasers for a few of their new shows; a couple of which I'm interested in. One is the Family Guy spinoff devoted to the Cleveland character, and the other is Fringe, the latest offering from J.J. Abrams. You can check both of them out below.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
NMR: Quick recap
So with as much as I've been doing for school lately, plus being up in Cleveland all last week, I haven't been able to watch much through Netflix lately.
However, in preparation for the new one coming out this week, I did rent the first three Indiana Jones movies again recently. I had not seen them in a long time, so I'm glad I watched them again. Overall, I'm not a huge fan of the movies. I'm not sure what it is, but this franchise doesn't captivate me like a lot of others ones do. Having said that, I think, oddly enough, that Last Crusade is the best of the bunch. It includes everything that should be in a film like that and Sean Connery was a welcome addition to the cast. It's a shame that he's retired now and couldn't be lured into making a cameo for the new one. Raiders is solid, but because so much of that movie has been parodied in other shows and films, it's hard to appreciate it in the same way as when it first came out. The worst of the bunch was Temple of Doom, which it seems is the consensus dud. We never see the professorial side of Indiana in that movie and both the female lead and Short Round are really annoying. There are a few decent action sequences, but not enough to put it on par with the other two films. Given their classic status, I'll grade these higher than I might have if they were new films.
Raiders: ****
Temple: ***
Last Crusade: ****
I also saw United 93, which is a terrific film, subject matter aside. But because it deals with such a horrific event, I could never in my right mind watch it again. If you feel you can handle it, I would definitely recommend you see it. Netflix rating: *****
However, in preparation for the new one coming out this week, I did rent the first three Indiana Jones movies again recently. I had not seen them in a long time, so I'm glad I watched them again. Overall, I'm not a huge fan of the movies. I'm not sure what it is, but this franchise doesn't captivate me like a lot of others ones do. Having said that, I think, oddly enough, that Last Crusade is the best of the bunch. It includes everything that should be in a film like that and Sean Connery was a welcome addition to the cast. It's a shame that he's retired now and couldn't be lured into making a cameo for the new one. Raiders is solid, but because so much of that movie has been parodied in other shows and films, it's hard to appreciate it in the same way as when it first came out. The worst of the bunch was Temple of Doom, which it seems is the consensus dud. We never see the professorial side of Indiana in that movie and both the female lead and Short Round are really annoying. There are a few decent action sequences, but not enough to put it on par with the other two films. Given their classic status, I'll grade these higher than I might have if they were new films.
Raiders: ****
Temple: ***
Last Crusade: ****
I also saw United 93, which is a terrific film, subject matter aside. But because it deals with such a horrific event, I could never in my right mind watch it again. If you feel you can handle it, I would definitely recommend you see it. Netflix rating: *****
Friday, May 16, 2008
Tropic Thunder red band trailer
Here's the new 'restricted' trailer for the Ben Stiller comedy due out this August. Man, this thing looks like it will pull no punches when it comes to mocking the Hollywood industry. And it looks damn funny to boot!
Red band trailer for Tropic Thunder
Red band trailer for Tropic Thunder
The Office deleted scenes (Goodbye Toby)
In addition to the deleted scenes, I've added a link at the bottom of a review from last night's truly excellent season finale. I agree with virtually everything this guy says, so consider reading it as the equivalent to hearing what I had to say about the episode. Ryan's arrest video, which the Dunder Mifflin crew watching on YouTube in last night's episode has also been added for your enjoyment.
Time.com review of The Office season finale
Time.com review of The Office season finale
The return of OO
I mentioned a few backs that the wrestling website that I wrote a column for, Online Onslaught, seemingly went away. Well after abandoning the previous hosting company, Rick, OO's webmaster, has a new site up that looks just like the old one. You can check it out here.
And while you're there, you can check out my new column which is featured on the front page. This one reviews Summerslam 2002, which is most notable for Shawn Michaels return match after being semi-retired for four years with a back injury.
And while you're there, you can check out my new column which is featured on the front page. This one reviews Summerslam 2002, which is most notable for Shawn Michaels return match after being semi-retired for four years with a back injury.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Upfronts Update (CBS and Fox)
Here are the remaining schedule announcements from CBS and Fox. Again, not a lot of shakeups in their lineups and only a few new shows debuting.
CBS:
Fox:
CBS:
CBS has sent out its fall lineup, and in addition to adding five new series, the Eye is shuffling around three returning favorites.
Old Christine, which to the surprise of many was plucked from ABC's anxious grasp and kept on at CBS, now will lead off Wednesday nights. That sets the table for Project Gary, a new comedy starring Jay Mohr as a recent divorcé. With Rules of Engagement on hold until midseason, Worst Week (Jericho's Kyle Bornheimer and Kitchen Confidential's Erinn Hayes are newly engaged) will join the Monday comedy block.
CBS Tuesday still starts out with NCIS, but then continues with The Mentalist (starring Simon Baker) and Without a Trace (landing on a new night).
Claiming Trace's Thurday-at-10 spot is Jerry Bruckheimer's Eleventh Hour. One of the perhaps oddest fits has The Ex List, a big ol' romantic dramedy, filling the Friday gap between Ghost Whisperer and Numbers.
The Unit now calls Sundays-at-10 home. Harper's Island, a murder mystery, debuts midseason.
Fox:
For those who've been keeping an ear to the tracks, Fox's fall plan didn't shake out exactly as expected. Perhaps waylaid by CBS' decision to program Wednesday's 8 o'clock hour with comedies, Fox has opted to counterprogram with Bones. Leading out of House on Tuesdays at 9 is Lost creator J.J. Abrams' much-anticipated Fringe.
On Monday, Terminator and Prison Break have swapped places, with Sarah Connor now opening the night. Wednesday's 9 o'clock hour features 'Til Death and the new comedy Do Not Disturb (née The Inn). Thursday's reality twofer now features Moment of Truth and Kitchen Nightmares, with 5th Grader and Lyrics airing Friday.
Prison Break, Fringe and Bones each will return with two-hour episodes, airing Aug. 25, 26 and 27 (respectively).
Sunday maintains the status quo, with the new animated series Sit Down, Shut Up and The Cleveland Show premiering in spring '09.
Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, as expected, won't open until midseason. 24, Idol and Hell's Kitchen all return in January.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Upfronts Update (ABC and CW)
As I mentioned before, the announcements of the network's fall schedules has taken on a different light this year. Since the strike went on for so long, very few pilots for new shows were made. So most of the networks' new schedules look eerily similar to their current lineup.
Yesterday, NBC gave their schedule. I talked about most of their big moves a few weeks ago because they had already revealed a lot of their plans (i.e. The Office spinoff debuting after the Super Bowl). I didn't mention their new shows, so I might do that in a different post if I have the time and/or energy.
Today, ABC and the CW gave their schedules. Since I don't watch much on either network, I'm just posting TV Guide.com's reporting of their schedules. Enjoy!
ABC
the CW
Yesterday, NBC gave their schedule. I talked about most of their big moves a few weeks ago because they had already revealed a lot of their plans (i.e. The Office spinoff debuting after the Super Bowl). I didn't mention their new shows, so I might do that in a different post if I have the time and/or energy.
Today, ABC and the CW gave their schedules. Since I don't watch much on either network, I'm just posting TV Guide.com's reporting of their schedules. Enjoy!
ABC
ABC has announced their new fall schedule and it looks promising. (That's right, no shows based on Geico commercials!) Let's break down the schedule starting with new shows.
New ABC Series
• Life on Mars (airing Thursdays at 10 pm/ET)
David E. Kelley's version of the BBC series, it revolves around a modern-day police detective (Jason O'Mara) who, after a car crash, mysteriously finds himself transported back to 1973 and still working as a cop.
• Opportunity Knocks (Tuesdays at 8)
This game show is going on the road, arriving the doorsteps of everyday Americans to test how well they know their family. The mobile team will stop by any small town in America in a semi that is flush with flat-screen TVs, new furniture and cash prizes that the family can win right there.
New Midseason Series
• The Goode Family
Mike Judge brings ABC this animated series about a family obsessed with doing the "right" thing, whether it's environmentally, politically or socially. Their efforts, however, often have accidental (and comic) consequences.
• Scrubs
J.D., Turk, Carla, Kelso, Cox and all your other Sacred Heart favorites resurface on ABC to truly finish their story.
• Untitled Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks Project
Besides that duo making me cringe, the show is described as "a beauty pageant unlike any you've ever seen."
Of course, Lost, According to Jim and The Bachelor will also be back midseason.
Shows on the Move
• Boston Legal moves to Mondays at 10.
• Eli Stone's sophomore run unspools Tuesdays at 10.
the CW
The CW is the latest network to spill their fall slate, and two nights — Monday (Gossip Tree Hill) and Thursday (Smallnatural) — remain unchanged.
Tuesday will offer some "zip" in the form of 90210, the BH follow-up featuring an occasional drop-by from "guidance counselor" Jennie Garth. Leading out of that is Surviving the Filthy Rich (fka How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls, and starring Reba's JoAnna Garcia).
Wednesday, as usual, kicks off with Top Model, now followed by Stylista, a Devil Wears Prada-esque reality series from Tyra Banks. Everybody Hates Chris and The Game, having lost their Sunday-night home, have been moved to Friday.
Speaking of CW's Sunday... that's "TBA." Media Rights Capital, the firm network "outsourced" the evening to, will announce its offerings (two dramas and two comedies) at a later date.
Reaper will return midseason.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Three the easy way!
Sadly, despite this and Cliff Lee pitching 9 innings of shutout ball, the Indians still lost this game 3-0 in extra innings.
TV Comings and Goings
The network upfront meetings are taking place this week, which usually means the announcements of the Fall TV schedules. Because of the strike, they aren't being run as usual. Right now, we're getting announcements here and there about what's going on. If they actually announce full TV schedules, I'll announce them here and provide some comments. But for now, here is the fate for some of the bubble shows...
The lucky ones:
How I Met Your Mother - renewed for a 4th season, thanks to it's recent upswing in the ratings. I guess Britney Spears was good for something after all.
Reaper - picked up for a second season, but it'll only be for 13 episodes and as a mid-season replacement.
Scrubs - officially moving to ABC this fall for another season.
Boston Legal - renewed for a 5th season
Eli Stone - renewed for a 2nd season
The New Adventures of Old Christine - renewed by CBS for a 4th season
Rules of Engagement - renewed for another (3rd?) season by CBS
Shows that will RIP
Shark
Moonlight
Aliens in America
Miss Guided
Women's Murder Club
Cavemen
Big Shots
Carpoolers
Men in Trees
Cashmere Mafia
October Road
Back to You
Canterbury's Law
New Amsterdam
The Return of Jezebel James
Las Vegas
Journeyman
Bionic Woman
Cane
Welcome to the Captain
The lucky ones:
How I Met Your Mother - renewed for a 4th season, thanks to it's recent upswing in the ratings. I guess Britney Spears was good for something after all.
Reaper - picked up for a second season, but it'll only be for 13 episodes and as a mid-season replacement.
Scrubs - officially moving to ABC this fall for another season.
Boston Legal - renewed for a 5th season
Eli Stone - renewed for a 2nd season
The New Adventures of Old Christine - renewed by CBS for a 4th season
Rules of Engagement - renewed for another (3rd?) season by CBS
Shows that will RIP
Shark
Moonlight
Aliens in America
Miss Guided
Women's Murder Club
Cavemen
Big Shots
Carpoolers
Men in Trees
Cashmere Mafia
October Road
Back to You
Canterbury's Law
New Amsterdam
The Return of Jezebel James
Las Vegas
Journeyman
Bionic Woman
Cane
Welcome to the Captain
Heroes Season 3 trailer
It's not much, but I guess we'll take anything we can get at this point.
By the way, don't be fooled by their promise of a "3-hour premiere". It's really a 2-hour premiere with a season 2 recap episode airing before it.
By the way, don't be fooled by their promise of a "3-hour premiere". It's really a 2-hour premiere with a season 2 recap episode airing before it.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Stark raving
Even with as busy as I have been, I still managed to keep my yearly tradition (dating back to 1998!) of seeing the first big movie of the summer box office season in its opening weekend. And if the first movie is any indication, we should be in for a great summer. This year has gotten off to a great start (much better than last year with the underwhelming Spider-Man 3), both in terms of quality and financial success (Weekend box office numbers)
And unless you've been trapped by Afghanis in a cave, you'd know that I'm talking about Iron Man. The film, which is latest adaptation of a Marvel comic superhero, is about Tony Stark, playboy weapons developer, who, after being attacked by terrorists using the weapons he created, decides to do something good with his life and destroy the very weapons he made. In order to do so, he creates a special suit and thus becomes Iron Man. And that is about as crude of an explanation of the story's background as you'll ever see.
What clearly makes this film as good as it is, is Robert Downey Jr. playing Stark/Iron Man. He, moreso than any other actor currently portraying a superhero in film, is the perfect embodiment of the comic book character. Not only is he a perfect fit for the role, but he also makes the character really appealing and entertaining. Playing an intelligent, yet sarcastic playboy billionaire could be offputting or too familiar (comparisons to Bruce Wayne/Batman perhaps), but Downey rises above those potential problems and delivers an outstanding performance. It's wonderful to see a guy who's dealt with so many personal problems in his life, finally start to get things together and provide a performance that is likely going to be enjoyed by so many.
Luckily for Downey and the film as a whole, he doesn't have to carry the film on his back, as he is surrounded by a very capable cast of characters. Gwenyth Paltrow plays Stark's dutiful assistant/potential love interest Pepper Potts. I've never been crazy about Paltrow's work, but she's really great here and has some wonderful chemistry with Downey. I'm glad to see they casted someone who was a little bit older and mature, like her, because I think the dynamic would have been off if they would have chosen pretty, young, flavor-of-the-week actress instead.
Rounding out the cast is Terrance Howard as James 'Rhodey' Rhodes who is Stark's friend and military liason and Jeff Bridges, playing Obidiah Stane, Stark's business partner, who clearly doesn't share Stark's newfound oppositional viewpoint on war profiteering. I would have liked to seen more from them (a lot of time is spent solely focusing on Stark and his creation of the Iron Man suit), but in the time that they are given, they provide solid performances.
The film follows a typical origin storyline. While the variables are obviously different, the basic remains familiar here. In addition, the film uses a handful of movie cliches that I could have done without (false drama created through computer download counter, scenes setting up later plot points being hammered home, etc.). The overall sense of familiarity/cliche I think is a result of director Jon Faverau. This is Faverau's first foray into the big budget action flick territory and it is apparent. He doesn't quite have the ability yet to rise above these overused tactics, in the way that Christopher Nolan has. Still these are minor problems with the film and don't really detract from the film's enjoyability.
I mentioned earlier how I felt the Rhodes and Stane characters could have gotten more screentime. The Stane character in particular could have been more fleshed out, I felt. Without spoiling too much, I felt many of his actions needed more explanation. Also, Iron Man's final battle with the film's villain could have gone on longer as well. The film takes its time in having Stark not only design the suit but also perfecting how to use it as well. If it weren't for the fact that those scenes are so damn enjoyable, I might be more critical of the time management issues of the film.
I will say that for as good as the film is, I left the theater not feeling as amped up as I have been seeing that I absolutely loved. And what's bugging me is that I'm not sure why I didn't feel a stronger connection to the film. It could be that the final battle scene wasn't as cathartic as it could have been. It may be that I'm not as familiar with the Iron Man character as I was with other comic book heroes and thus don't have as strong of an emotional attachment to the character. It may have been the people I saw the film with (I ended up going with a bunch of CRDM students). I'm not sure what the explanation is. I can't really pinpoint a major problem with the film, so I don't know why I'm not embracing it more. I'm thinking though that maybe another viewing of the film will hopefully either make me appreciate it more or give me some clarity on a flaw that I'm missing.
Despite, what I'm saying here, I wholeheartedly recommend everyone check out this movie. The film never drags and it provides an excellent balance of action and comedy. The nagging issues I mentioned will not and should not affect your enjoyment of this film. Downey alone makes the film worth the price of admission and I definitely think we have a new comic book franchise on our hands. But we can look to the future at another time, for now, go out and see this movie and pray that everything else this summer will be as good as this.
One final recommendation...please do yourself a favor and stick around past the credits. There is one final additional scene that includes a surprise cameo and is very tantalizing. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. Grade: B+
And unless you've been trapped by Afghanis in a cave, you'd know that I'm talking about Iron Man. The film, which is latest adaptation of a Marvel comic superhero, is about Tony Stark, playboy weapons developer, who, after being attacked by terrorists using the weapons he created, decides to do something good with his life and destroy the very weapons he made. In order to do so, he creates a special suit and thus becomes Iron Man. And that is about as crude of an explanation of the story's background as you'll ever see.
What clearly makes this film as good as it is, is Robert Downey Jr. playing Stark/Iron Man. He, moreso than any other actor currently portraying a superhero in film, is the perfect embodiment of the comic book character. Not only is he a perfect fit for the role, but he also makes the character really appealing and entertaining. Playing an intelligent, yet sarcastic playboy billionaire could be offputting or too familiar (comparisons to Bruce Wayne/Batman perhaps), but Downey rises above those potential problems and delivers an outstanding performance. It's wonderful to see a guy who's dealt with so many personal problems in his life, finally start to get things together and provide a performance that is likely going to be enjoyed by so many.
Luckily for Downey and the film as a whole, he doesn't have to carry the film on his back, as he is surrounded by a very capable cast of characters. Gwenyth Paltrow plays Stark's dutiful assistant/potential love interest Pepper Potts. I've never been crazy about Paltrow's work, but she's really great here and has some wonderful chemistry with Downey. I'm glad to see they casted someone who was a little bit older and mature, like her, because I think the dynamic would have been off if they would have chosen pretty, young, flavor-of-the-week actress instead.
Rounding out the cast is Terrance Howard as James 'Rhodey' Rhodes who is Stark's friend and military liason and Jeff Bridges, playing Obidiah Stane, Stark's business partner, who clearly doesn't share Stark's newfound oppositional viewpoint on war profiteering. I would have liked to seen more from them (a lot of time is spent solely focusing on Stark and his creation of the Iron Man suit), but in the time that they are given, they provide solid performances.
The film follows a typical origin storyline. While the variables are obviously different, the basic remains familiar here. In addition, the film uses a handful of movie cliches that I could have done without (false drama created through computer download counter, scenes setting up later plot points being hammered home, etc.). The overall sense of familiarity/cliche I think is a result of director Jon Faverau. This is Faverau's first foray into the big budget action flick territory and it is apparent. He doesn't quite have the ability yet to rise above these overused tactics, in the way that Christopher Nolan has. Still these are minor problems with the film and don't really detract from the film's enjoyability.
I mentioned earlier how I felt the Rhodes and Stane characters could have gotten more screentime. The Stane character in particular could have been more fleshed out, I felt. Without spoiling too much, I felt many of his actions needed more explanation. Also, Iron Man's final battle with the film's villain could have gone on longer as well. The film takes its time in having Stark not only design the suit but also perfecting how to use it as well. If it weren't for the fact that those scenes are so damn enjoyable, I might be more critical of the time management issues of the film.
I will say that for as good as the film is, I left the theater not feeling as amped up as I have been seeing that I absolutely loved. And what's bugging me is that I'm not sure why I didn't feel a stronger connection to the film. It could be that the final battle scene wasn't as cathartic as it could have been. It may be that I'm not as familiar with the Iron Man character as I was with other comic book heroes and thus don't have as strong of an emotional attachment to the character. It may have been the people I saw the film with (I ended up going with a bunch of CRDM students). I'm not sure what the explanation is. I can't really pinpoint a major problem with the film, so I don't know why I'm not embracing it more. I'm thinking though that maybe another viewing of the film will hopefully either make me appreciate it more or give me some clarity on a flaw that I'm missing.
Despite, what I'm saying here, I wholeheartedly recommend everyone check out this movie. The film never drags and it provides an excellent balance of action and comedy. The nagging issues I mentioned will not and should not affect your enjoyment of this film. Downey alone makes the film worth the price of admission and I definitely think we have a new comic book franchise on our hands. But we can look to the future at another time, for now, go out and see this movie and pray that everything else this summer will be as good as this.
One final recommendation...please do yourself a favor and stick around past the credits. There is one final additional scene that includes a surprise cameo and is very tantalizing. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. Grade: B+
The Office deleted scenes (Did I Stutter?)
Also, I had to include the pics of Dwight's organization plans because they are so brillantly hilarious that they deserve to be observed up close:
Regular chart
Dwight's Emergency Overlay
Sunday, May 4, 2008
TV catch up
Let's run down the lineup as quickly as we can.
Big Bang Theory: Really funny episode this week that saw the main nerds geeking out over their inadvertant purchase of The Time Machine from the 1960 movie. I thought this would turn out to be a spoof on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, with them making it a time-share time machine, but it ended up producing a nice Leonard/Penny storyline forcing Leonard to question his geeky habits, something all of us nerds must go through at some point in our lives. More episodes like this will keep me watching on a regular basis.
How I Met Your Mother: The two CBS comedies flipped this week as this was the lesser of the two. A solid episode, but lighter on the laughs than normal. With it being Ted's 30th birthday, you would have thought there would be more, but instead it dealt with some major storyline issues involving the fallout between Ted and Barney after Barney slept with Robin. Seeing Ted not want to be Barney's bro anymore was tough, but you know they'll be back as friends soon enough. So, not my favorite episode, but a necessary evil in terms of storyline development. Oh and the lack of resolution on 'the goat story' was frustrating, but I'm sure they never thought that the show would still be going 3 seasons in, so they felt the need to prolong it. I'm sure we'll hear that story someday.
House: Good to have Dr. Crankypants finally back and up against a worthy patient - a man who is eternally nice. Actually, the 'patient of the week' story wasn't all that interesting in comparison to some of the other stuff going on. Such as House and Cutthroat Bitch fighting for 'custody' over Wilson. You just know whenever someone tries to tell House no, that he's always going to retalliate big time. I didn't care for the 'House has syphilis' fake out because they've done the cry wolf thing before and it's beginning to lose impact. The performance review stuff produced some decent moments, particularly between House and Cuddy, but then again, when aren't their scenes together good. In case you can't tell, there was a lot going on here. *sigh*, such is life in a post-strike world.
Reaper: So the cat's finally out of the bag and Andi finally knows what Sam has been up to these past few months. Funny, it was not as cathartic a moment as I would have liked. Probably because of the fact that she's still pretty creeped out by it and because you know this will probably mean more problems, rather than happily ever after for those two. And we are already seeing it play out somewhat as the Devil has cashed in on his favor for allowing Sam to tell Andi; he wants Sam to be a mole in Tony's organization. Frankly, I think Sam got off easy here and if all I had to do to stop telling my hot girlfriend secrets was to help the Devil stop a gay demon from starting a revolution, I'd do it in a heartbeat. So, you'll forgive me if I don't sympathize with Sam for feeling like he's in a bad situation. At least we're finally getting some advancement on this show. Let's just hope it isn't a case of too little, too late in terms of a second season renewal.
Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular: A fun show, but nobody won a million, so no need to talk about it anymore.
Mythbusters: There was no new episode this week, but I stumbled upon something called the "Mythbusters Young Scientist Special". It was an episode where some junior high kids had won a contest and got to be on the show. They all helped with environment myths. I actually saw this on something called The Science Channel and not Discovery. I never saw it on Discover and I'm not sure if it's because it never aired on there or if my TiVo just never caught it because it went by a special title. If you've never seen this episode and you're a fan of the show, you may want to see if you have The Science Channel and see if it's still airing on there.
My Name is Earl: Once again an NBC Thursday sitcom has some questionable content during it's supposed 'family hour'. This episode saw all sorts of different characters pining over one another in an episode aptly titled 'Love Octagon'. Despite all the loving going on, most of it wasn't all that interesting. In fact, the few scenes involving Joy and Darnell having to live at the Crab Shack produced more entertainment than the main plot did. Still, this one gave us a major development as Earl got hitched again, this time to Billie (Alyssa Milano). Go Earl!
The Office: An excellent episode this week that finally had them staying put in the office. Seeing Michael deal with a quasi-realistic situation (Stanley's insubordination) was a lot of fun. I loved seeing him once again go to Darrell for some help about the 'urban lifestyle'. The cold opening involving Michael wanting to do something with the wet cement outside was hilarious (If you didn't see it, the office workers convinced him to put his whole face in the cement. Ha!) I was disappointed that they introduced a couple of subplots and then didn't resolve them, but I have a feeling this is a case of 'more to come later...' That definitely has to be the case with Ryan and Toby teaming up to give Jim a formal warning. The Dwight flipping Andy's car for profit, may just be a one-off thing, but their battle for Angela's affection certainly won't be. By the way, if you actually want to buy Andy's Xterra, the show is actually selling it on Ebay. Bid now here.
30 Rock: A somewhat meh episode as they seemed to just be biding time here until their season finale next week; a theme common in a lot of show's this past week. I enjoyed the return of Floyd and some more Cleveland references, but they weren't as good as the ones from his episode last year. I'll have to call my parents to see if we finally got that IKEA up there yet or not. The drinking game between the TGS staff and the teamsters was good, but could have been a lot better. Jack's demotion and subsequent hiring in the White House wasn't all that exciting, but maybe it'll have a good payoff next week. Frankly, this show is a lot better when they focus on random humor instead of trying to do long-term cliched sitcom storylines.
Survivor: A fantastic episode that finally saw the smug women's alliance get dropped down a peg this week. Probst said it best at the end of this episode, this group of castaways has become the masters of the blindside. The only real negative of the episode was seeing James get eliminated from the game due to injury. It's a shame that stellar personalities like him and Jonathan had to be removed prematurely. I can only imagine how much this game has been changed as a result of their injuries. I thought the challenges were a little weak, especially since they weren't anything we haven't seen before. I'm glad the time spent showing the reward challenge winners and their loved ones enjoying jellyfish lake was brief, since I wouldn't have been able to stomach seeing Alexis, Natalie and Cirie basking in their happiness for very long.
Lost: Not a lot happened this week, which made for maybe my least favorite episode of the season (Not surprisingly, the other candidate also heavily involved Kate and Aaron). The flashbacks didn't really provide us with a whole lot beyond sowing the seeds for the destructive turn that Jack's life takes. On one hand I felt he unnecessarily forced the issue with Kate and what she was doing, but on the other hand, it is so like Kate to continue playing both men and also never being content with being happy and in one place. These two main characters have such unlikeable flaws and this episode only magnified them that much more. Maybe that's why Jack got sick as was hinted at via Rose, who questioned why Jack got appendicitis. Speaking of Jack's ailment, that provided no drama since we all knew he would be fine. The Sawyer/Claire/Miles stuff was somewhat interesting, but left a lot of questions. Did Miles actually see Christian and if so, did he see a real person or a ghost? For that matter, could Claire be a ghost, which is why Miles took such a keen interest in her? Hopefully we'll get more clarity on that next week. Speaking of next week, it definitely looks like it'll be a return to excellence as we finally get some advancement on what's happening on the freighter and it's the return of Horace Goodspeed!
CSI: Still haven't seen it yet. It always gets the short end of the stick as a result of Thursdays being such a crowded TV night.
Big Bang Theory: Really funny episode this week that saw the main nerds geeking out over their inadvertant purchase of The Time Machine from the 1960 movie. I thought this would turn out to be a spoof on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, with them making it a time-share time machine, but it ended up producing a nice Leonard/Penny storyline forcing Leonard to question his geeky habits, something all of us nerds must go through at some point in our lives. More episodes like this will keep me watching on a regular basis.
How I Met Your Mother: The two CBS comedies flipped this week as this was the lesser of the two. A solid episode, but lighter on the laughs than normal. With it being Ted's 30th birthday, you would have thought there would be more, but instead it dealt with some major storyline issues involving the fallout between Ted and Barney after Barney slept with Robin. Seeing Ted not want to be Barney's bro anymore was tough, but you know they'll be back as friends soon enough. So, not my favorite episode, but a necessary evil in terms of storyline development. Oh and the lack of resolution on 'the goat story' was frustrating, but I'm sure they never thought that the show would still be going 3 seasons in, so they felt the need to prolong it. I'm sure we'll hear that story someday.
House: Good to have Dr. Crankypants finally back and up against a worthy patient - a man who is eternally nice. Actually, the 'patient of the week' story wasn't all that interesting in comparison to some of the other stuff going on. Such as House and Cutthroat Bitch fighting for 'custody' over Wilson. You just know whenever someone tries to tell House no, that he's always going to retalliate big time. I didn't care for the 'House has syphilis' fake out because they've done the cry wolf thing before and it's beginning to lose impact. The performance review stuff produced some decent moments, particularly between House and Cuddy, but then again, when aren't their scenes together good. In case you can't tell, there was a lot going on here. *sigh*, such is life in a post-strike world.
Reaper: So the cat's finally out of the bag and Andi finally knows what Sam has been up to these past few months. Funny, it was not as cathartic a moment as I would have liked. Probably because of the fact that she's still pretty creeped out by it and because you know this will probably mean more problems, rather than happily ever after for those two. And we are already seeing it play out somewhat as the Devil has cashed in on his favor for allowing Sam to tell Andi; he wants Sam to be a mole in Tony's organization. Frankly, I think Sam got off easy here and if all I had to do to stop telling my hot girlfriend secrets was to help the Devil stop a gay demon from starting a revolution, I'd do it in a heartbeat. So, you'll forgive me if I don't sympathize with Sam for feeling like he's in a bad situation. At least we're finally getting some advancement on this show. Let's just hope it isn't a case of too little, too late in terms of a second season renewal.
Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular: A fun show, but nobody won a million, so no need to talk about it anymore.
Mythbusters: There was no new episode this week, but I stumbled upon something called the "Mythbusters Young Scientist Special". It was an episode where some junior high kids had won a contest and got to be on the show. They all helped with environment myths. I actually saw this on something called The Science Channel and not Discovery. I never saw it on Discover and I'm not sure if it's because it never aired on there or if my TiVo just never caught it because it went by a special title. If you've never seen this episode and you're a fan of the show, you may want to see if you have The Science Channel and see if it's still airing on there.
My Name is Earl: Once again an NBC Thursday sitcom has some questionable content during it's supposed 'family hour'. This episode saw all sorts of different characters pining over one another in an episode aptly titled 'Love Octagon'. Despite all the loving going on, most of it wasn't all that interesting. In fact, the few scenes involving Joy and Darnell having to live at the Crab Shack produced more entertainment than the main plot did. Still, this one gave us a major development as Earl got hitched again, this time to Billie (Alyssa Milano). Go Earl!
The Office: An excellent episode this week that finally had them staying put in the office. Seeing Michael deal with a quasi-realistic situation (Stanley's insubordination) was a lot of fun. I loved seeing him once again go to Darrell for some help about the 'urban lifestyle'. The cold opening involving Michael wanting to do something with the wet cement outside was hilarious (If you didn't see it, the office workers convinced him to put his whole face in the cement. Ha!) I was disappointed that they introduced a couple of subplots and then didn't resolve them, but I have a feeling this is a case of 'more to come later...' That definitely has to be the case with Ryan and Toby teaming up to give Jim a formal warning. The Dwight flipping Andy's car for profit, may just be a one-off thing, but their battle for Angela's affection certainly won't be. By the way, if you actually want to buy Andy's Xterra, the show is actually selling it on Ebay. Bid now here.
30 Rock: A somewhat meh episode as they seemed to just be biding time here until their season finale next week; a theme common in a lot of show's this past week. I enjoyed the return of Floyd and some more Cleveland references, but they weren't as good as the ones from his episode last year. I'll have to call my parents to see if we finally got that IKEA up there yet or not. The drinking game between the TGS staff and the teamsters was good, but could have been a lot better. Jack's demotion and subsequent hiring in the White House wasn't all that exciting, but maybe it'll have a good payoff next week. Frankly, this show is a lot better when they focus on random humor instead of trying to do long-term cliched sitcom storylines.
Survivor: A fantastic episode that finally saw the smug women's alliance get dropped down a peg this week. Probst said it best at the end of this episode, this group of castaways has become the masters of the blindside. The only real negative of the episode was seeing James get eliminated from the game due to injury. It's a shame that stellar personalities like him and Jonathan had to be removed prematurely. I can only imagine how much this game has been changed as a result of their injuries. I thought the challenges were a little weak, especially since they weren't anything we haven't seen before. I'm glad the time spent showing the reward challenge winners and their loved ones enjoying jellyfish lake was brief, since I wouldn't have been able to stomach seeing Alexis, Natalie and Cirie basking in their happiness for very long.
Lost: Not a lot happened this week, which made for maybe my least favorite episode of the season (Not surprisingly, the other candidate also heavily involved Kate and Aaron). The flashbacks didn't really provide us with a whole lot beyond sowing the seeds for the destructive turn that Jack's life takes. On one hand I felt he unnecessarily forced the issue with Kate and what she was doing, but on the other hand, it is so like Kate to continue playing both men and also never being content with being happy and in one place. These two main characters have such unlikeable flaws and this episode only magnified them that much more. Maybe that's why Jack got sick as was hinted at via Rose, who questioned why Jack got appendicitis. Speaking of Jack's ailment, that provided no drama since we all knew he would be fine. The Sawyer/Claire/Miles stuff was somewhat interesting, but left a lot of questions. Did Miles actually see Christian and if so, did he see a real person or a ghost? For that matter, could Claire be a ghost, which is why Miles took such a keen interest in her? Hopefully we'll get more clarity on that next week. Speaking of next week, it definitely looks like it'll be a return to excellence as we finally get some advancement on what's happening on the freighter and it's the return of Horace Goodspeed!
CSI: Still haven't seen it yet. It always gets the short end of the stick as a result of Thursdays being such a crowded TV night.
Cleveland Indians Week in Review (Week 5)
Yeah, I didn't do one last week. You may have noticed I didn't post anything last week. It's the end of the school year, 'nuff said.
I'm not going to dwell much on the Tribe because I have other catch up posts to make and frankly, there isn't a whole lot of positive things to say right now about this team. They ended up going 2-4 this week and probably could have gone 6-0 had our offense did anything, and sometimes I mean, literally anything, in those 4 losses. The best thing right now is our starting pitching. Everyone seems to be in top form right now, which is great to see and you hope it lasts. However, their brilliant performances are getting wasted because we are just not scoring any runs. It's getting to a pretty ridiculous point right now. When our own TV announcers are pointing out clear, consistent problems that our batters are having, you wonder why the batting coach isn't picking up these things and helping our guys correct those problems. I really think we need to fire batting coach Derek Shelton at this point. There needs to be a shakeup with this team at the moment and Eric Wedge using the random generator machine to produce a starting lineup isn't the answer. So so frustrating to see a team with so much potential not making the most of it. Let's move on before I get any more upset.
I'm not going to dwell much on the Tribe because I have other catch up posts to make and frankly, there isn't a whole lot of positive things to say right now about this team. They ended up going 2-4 this week and probably could have gone 6-0 had our offense did anything, and sometimes I mean, literally anything, in those 4 losses. The best thing right now is our starting pitching. Everyone seems to be in top form right now, which is great to see and you hope it lasts. However, their brilliant performances are getting wasted because we are just not scoring any runs. It's getting to a pretty ridiculous point right now. When our own TV announcers are pointing out clear, consistent problems that our batters are having, you wonder why the batting coach isn't picking up these things and helping our guys correct those problems. I really think we need to fire batting coach Derek Shelton at this point. There needs to be a shakeup with this team at the moment and Eric Wedge using the random generator machine to produce a starting lineup isn't the answer. So so frustrating to see a team with so much potential not making the most of it. Let's move on before I get any more upset.
Friday, April 25, 2008
TV Euphoria
Man, it almost seems surreal to have so much new television on the air right now. If there was any silver lining to the writer's strike, it's that it forced these shows to cram as much goodness as they could into the few shows they could still do for this year. Let me share some thoughts on everything from this glorious week and be prepared for a long post:
Monday:
How I Met Your Mother - The return of Robin Sparkles! Need I say more? Probably, since most people I know don't watch this show. So, Robin is one of the five main characters on this show and we learned last season that she used to be a teenage pop sensation in Canada under the name Robin Sparkles. She was just like any U.S. pop star of the 80s (Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, etc.) except that her fame happened in 1993 because Canada is so behind the times. To see what I mean, check out the hilariously awesome music videos the show created (here's the first from last season, and the new one from this past week's episode). Seeing another song from her was great, but wasn't as shocking as the closing moment when we saw Barney and Robin making out. Totally torn on this issue, as there is some good chemistry between the two characters, but I like Ted and we he learns this, it's gonna kill him. Mark out moment of the episode, besides Robin's video was Ted wearing a Chief Wahoo t-shirt!
Big Bang Theory - I decided to give this another chance after it changed timeslots. It definitely has it's moments, but is also a notch below most of my favorite sitcoms (i.e. My Name is Earl vs. The Office). I think I would like this better if they made Sheldon just a little bit more likeable. He typically has the best lines of the show, but I don't like that he's egotistical to everyone. I can understand him having a superiority complex against dumb people, but I'd like him to be more friendly with his fellow nerds. This week's episode involving a Physics Bowl was entertaining enough to keep me around, but this hasn't yet been cemented as Must-See TV for me.
RAW - I'll just briefly touch upon this, since it was a special 3 hour show. I would be really excited about the fact that they made William Regal the new King of the Ring if it weren't for the fact that I'm pretty sure that this will lead to nowhere. I would love to see him get a push and they easily have enough Brits to create a nice stable for him, but I doubt it will happen. So while it was a cool moment to watch this past week, my cynicism prevents me from enjoying it more. On an unrelated note, +10 points to the WWE from scoring taped interviews from all three presidential candidates, which came off, as it should, as a big deal, but -100 for then still going through with their fake Hilary vs. Obama fight. Thankfully the fake Bill Clinton and an Umaga run-in saved it from being a complete disaster.
Tuesday:
Reaper - The show actually seemed like it was trying to move forward this week, but at the end of things we're really not that much further along. The Tony and Steve story arc (gay demons banished from Heaven, but not hellbent on destroying the devil) certainly had possiblities, but like everything else just seemed to ultimately be another con by the Devil to keep Sam frustrated. It was nice to see Sam and Andi heat up their relationship, but you know that if this show is going to last, that it will be a long time before those two have any true happiness. It just seems so contrived in a Hollywood way that the Devil would allow Sam to have Sock and Ben in on his secret but prevent him from telling Andi. Wouldn't everything just be more awesome if Andi knew and helped the guys kicking escaped souls' asses every week?
Wednesday:
Back to You - Meh. What can I say, Wednesday is a slow night for TV.
Thursday:
My Name is Earl - The whole story arc with Earl in his coma finally ended this week. While it didn't provide a lot in the way of laughs, it did offer some solid emotional moments. And while that's not the greatest quality in a sitcom, having it hear does a nice job of offsetting the raunchy hilarity found in some of my other favorite comedies. One thing that's been nice about this coma storyline is that it's allowed Alyssa Milano to be on for multiple episodes, which in my book, can only be considered a good thing. Hopefully now with this storyline over, they can go back to some solid episode involving the list.
The Office - A bit of a letdown after last week's spectacular episode, but solid nonetheless. I'm growing frustrated with so many episodes this season taking place outside of the actual Office. When the show began it did episodes that were hilarious takes on universal experiences of working in an office. Now there too focused on situations that are only specific to these characters; and depending on what those situations are the comedy has been more hit-or-miss. But despite this complaint about the direction of the show, let's point out the funny stuff from this episode. I can't say that I'm surprised by Ryan's coke addiction, as there have been signs of that since he took the job in NY. Dwight provided a number of great moments throughout this episode including his fascination with Ryan's hobbit friend/dealer (see the deleted scene for confirmation of that), his story about weevils, his refusal of a drink from a lady and then subsequent makeout with an 'Amazon' (member of the Jersey State basketball team), and then trying to help Ryan out once they were back at his place. As for the B-story, we once again saw Jim trying his best at taking charge and failing. One of the cool developments this season, has been seeing Jim unwittingly becoming more and more like Michael. A lot of his actions here after causing everyone to get locked in at the office seemed like stunts Michael would pull (not knowing the security guard's name, assuming the cleaning women only spoke Spanish, etc.). The other interesing moment involved Toby coping a feel on Pam. I'm not sure if he got caught up in the moment or decided to grow a pair. His subsequent announcement about going to Costa Rica was interesting as well. Was this just a throwaway line, or could he perhaps be the character that's leaving the show to start up the Office spinoff. Hands down the best part of this episode though was the staff meeting to talk about the failures of the company's website. It not only provided a number of laughs from the minor characters (Creed, Kelly, Phyllis) but it also made a great commentary on the typical corporate naivete when it comes to the implementation of technology.
30 Rock - We had some wonderful returning guest stars back in this one as Will Arnett and Rip Torn were back in the ongoing storyline with Jack trying to become the new head of GE. Thinking he has the job, Jack appoints Liz to his old position, which allows us to see her becoming a 'suit' which has some hilarious results. The other storyline involved Tracy trying to invent the first pornographic video game, which Frank claims can't be done (hilariously explained using a graph to show how the more realistic a computer generated charcter becomes, the more creepy he also gets ala Tom Hanks in The Polar Express). Somehow this storyline then turns into a very funny Amadeus spoof. But clearly, the best part of the episode and the mark-out moments for me was the return of Dr. Spaceman (that's pronounced Spa-Che-Mun). Chris Parnell as the clueless doctor is always excellent and he added to his awesomeness this week by now sporting a cape. Of course, at the end of the episode, Jack didn't get the job, which should mean trouble for him, and more laughs for us.
Survivor - What an oddly frustrating season this has been. Each episode thus far has been solidly entertaining and should make it one of the best seasons ever, except for the fact that who's been ousted and who still remains is the complete opposite of what I want. Given who's left, there are very few that I want to see win and there are a couple that I will be very angry if they become sole survivor. Namely, Cirie and Natalie. In this episode, we saw Parvati have to do damage control for her masterminding of Ozzy's elimination last week. During this we hear Amanda naively (a recurring trait of hers) comment on how Parv has Cirie wrapped around her finger; which couldn't be further from the truth. Cirie remains smug as ever about he gameplay, yet no one seems to realize that she's been pulling the strings since very early on in the game. I don't see how everyone can be so blind to this. Then there's Natalie, who couldn't have spoken more than two words the entire season before this week's episode, yet just had this look of bitch about her. Well that look became manifested into an actual personality this week as she took such glee over her plan coming together to get rid of Jason. You know, Jason has been so stupid and self-centered this entire season that his blindside should have been a great moment, but when the people conducting the blindside are so gleefully evil about it, the moment is ruined. As a side note, I absolutely loved Probst's verbal beatdown of Jason when he told him that maybe this time he would find a real idol when going to Exile Island. Ha! Anyway, this season is starting to shape up like Vanautu with a girl alliance intending to go all the way to the end. Let's hope this one ends like that season did and one of the remaining males can somehow breaks things up and pull out a victory.
Whew, that's a lot of TV and I still have a new CSI and Mythbusters to go. All this, plus trying to keep an eye on the Indians has been daunting. It's a good thing I got as much work done before the strike ended in order for me to enjoy this now. And now that I've gotten a chance to say my piece on all my favorite shows, I turn the floor over to all of you. I've talked for long enough, so now you can have a chance to spout off on all of your returning favorites, if you like.
Monday:
How I Met Your Mother - The return of Robin Sparkles! Need I say more? Probably, since most people I know don't watch this show. So, Robin is one of the five main characters on this show and we learned last season that she used to be a teenage pop sensation in Canada under the name Robin Sparkles. She was just like any U.S. pop star of the 80s (Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, etc.) except that her fame happened in 1993 because Canada is so behind the times. To see what I mean, check out the hilariously awesome music videos the show created (here's the first from last season, and the new one from this past week's episode). Seeing another song from her was great, but wasn't as shocking as the closing moment when we saw Barney and Robin making out. Totally torn on this issue, as there is some good chemistry between the two characters, but I like Ted and we he learns this, it's gonna kill him. Mark out moment of the episode, besides Robin's video was Ted wearing a Chief Wahoo t-shirt!
Big Bang Theory - I decided to give this another chance after it changed timeslots. It definitely has it's moments, but is also a notch below most of my favorite sitcoms (i.e. My Name is Earl vs. The Office). I think I would like this better if they made Sheldon just a little bit more likeable. He typically has the best lines of the show, but I don't like that he's egotistical to everyone. I can understand him having a superiority complex against dumb people, but I'd like him to be more friendly with his fellow nerds. This week's episode involving a Physics Bowl was entertaining enough to keep me around, but this hasn't yet been cemented as Must-See TV for me.
RAW - I'll just briefly touch upon this, since it was a special 3 hour show. I would be really excited about the fact that they made William Regal the new King of the Ring if it weren't for the fact that I'm pretty sure that this will lead to nowhere. I would love to see him get a push and they easily have enough Brits to create a nice stable for him, but I doubt it will happen. So while it was a cool moment to watch this past week, my cynicism prevents me from enjoying it more. On an unrelated note, +10 points to the WWE from scoring taped interviews from all three presidential candidates, which came off, as it should, as a big deal, but -100 for then still going through with their fake Hilary vs. Obama fight. Thankfully the fake Bill Clinton and an Umaga run-in saved it from being a complete disaster.
Tuesday:
Reaper - The show actually seemed like it was trying to move forward this week, but at the end of things we're really not that much further along. The Tony and Steve story arc (gay demons banished from Heaven, but not hellbent on destroying the devil) certainly had possiblities, but like everything else just seemed to ultimately be another con by the Devil to keep Sam frustrated. It was nice to see Sam and Andi heat up their relationship, but you know that if this show is going to last, that it will be a long time before those two have any true happiness. It just seems so contrived in a Hollywood way that the Devil would allow Sam to have Sock and Ben in on his secret but prevent him from telling Andi. Wouldn't everything just be more awesome if Andi knew and helped the guys kicking escaped souls' asses every week?
Wednesday:
Back to You - Meh. What can I say, Wednesday is a slow night for TV.
Thursday:
My Name is Earl - The whole story arc with Earl in his coma finally ended this week. While it didn't provide a lot in the way of laughs, it did offer some solid emotional moments. And while that's not the greatest quality in a sitcom, having it hear does a nice job of offsetting the raunchy hilarity found in some of my other favorite comedies. One thing that's been nice about this coma storyline is that it's allowed Alyssa Milano to be on for multiple episodes, which in my book, can only be considered a good thing. Hopefully now with this storyline over, they can go back to some solid episode involving the list.
The Office - A bit of a letdown after last week's spectacular episode, but solid nonetheless. I'm growing frustrated with so many episodes this season taking place outside of the actual Office. When the show began it did episodes that were hilarious takes on universal experiences of working in an office. Now there too focused on situations that are only specific to these characters; and depending on what those situations are the comedy has been more hit-or-miss. But despite this complaint about the direction of the show, let's point out the funny stuff from this episode. I can't say that I'm surprised by Ryan's coke addiction, as there have been signs of that since he took the job in NY. Dwight provided a number of great moments throughout this episode including his fascination with Ryan's hobbit friend/dealer (see the deleted scene for confirmation of that), his story about weevils, his refusal of a drink from a lady and then subsequent makeout with an 'Amazon' (member of the Jersey State basketball team), and then trying to help Ryan out once they were back at his place. As for the B-story, we once again saw Jim trying his best at taking charge and failing. One of the cool developments this season, has been seeing Jim unwittingly becoming more and more like Michael. A lot of his actions here after causing everyone to get locked in at the office seemed like stunts Michael would pull (not knowing the security guard's name, assuming the cleaning women only spoke Spanish, etc.). The other interesing moment involved Toby coping a feel on Pam. I'm not sure if he got caught up in the moment or decided to grow a pair. His subsequent announcement about going to Costa Rica was interesting as well. Was this just a throwaway line, or could he perhaps be the character that's leaving the show to start up the Office spinoff. Hands down the best part of this episode though was the staff meeting to talk about the failures of the company's website. It not only provided a number of laughs from the minor characters (Creed, Kelly, Phyllis) but it also made a great commentary on the typical corporate naivete when it comes to the implementation of technology.
30 Rock - We had some wonderful returning guest stars back in this one as Will Arnett and Rip Torn were back in the ongoing storyline with Jack trying to become the new head of GE. Thinking he has the job, Jack appoints Liz to his old position, which allows us to see her becoming a 'suit' which has some hilarious results. The other storyline involved Tracy trying to invent the first pornographic video game, which Frank claims can't be done (hilariously explained using a graph to show how the more realistic a computer generated charcter becomes, the more creepy he also gets ala Tom Hanks in The Polar Express). Somehow this storyline then turns into a very funny Amadeus spoof. But clearly, the best part of the episode and the mark-out moments for me was the return of Dr. Spaceman (that's pronounced Spa-Che-Mun). Chris Parnell as the clueless doctor is always excellent and he added to his awesomeness this week by now sporting a cape. Of course, at the end of the episode, Jack didn't get the job, which should mean trouble for him, and more laughs for us.
Survivor - What an oddly frustrating season this has been. Each episode thus far has been solidly entertaining and should make it one of the best seasons ever, except for the fact that who's been ousted and who still remains is the complete opposite of what I want. Given who's left, there are very few that I want to see win and there are a couple that I will be very angry if they become sole survivor. Namely, Cirie and Natalie. In this episode, we saw Parvati have to do damage control for her masterminding of Ozzy's elimination last week. During this we hear Amanda naively (a recurring trait of hers) comment on how Parv has Cirie wrapped around her finger; which couldn't be further from the truth. Cirie remains smug as ever about he gameplay, yet no one seems to realize that she's been pulling the strings since very early on in the game. I don't see how everyone can be so blind to this. Then there's Natalie, who couldn't have spoken more than two words the entire season before this week's episode, yet just had this look of bitch about her. Well that look became manifested into an actual personality this week as she took such glee over her plan coming together to get rid of Jason. You know, Jason has been so stupid and self-centered this entire season that his blindside should have been a great moment, but when the people conducting the blindside are so gleefully evil about it, the moment is ruined. As a side note, I absolutely loved Probst's verbal beatdown of Jason when he told him that maybe this time he would find a real idol when going to Exile Island. Ha! Anyway, this season is starting to shape up like Vanautu with a girl alliance intending to go all the way to the end. Let's hope this one ends like that season did and one of the remaining males can somehow breaks things up and pull out a victory.
Whew, that's a lot of TV and I still have a new CSI and Mythbusters to go. All this, plus trying to keep an eye on the Indians has been daunting. It's a good thing I got as much work done before the strike ended in order for me to enjoy this now. And now that I've gotten a chance to say my piece on all my favorite shows, I turn the floor over to all of you. I've talked for long enough, so now you can have a chance to spout off on all of your returning favorites, if you like.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Indians Week in Review (Week 3)
With the Indians off yesterday, it slipped my mind to do this post then. Although with the way the week went, I wasn't really motivated to talk about them in general. The Tribe went 2-5 in another disastrous week.
It began with two losses against Boston where we had leads late in the game then coughed it up. That led to closer Joe Borowski (aka 'Joe Blow') to go on the DL, which is fine by me since he was doing nothing for us.
Then we had the two game series with the Tigers where we split and each game was a blowout. So that gave neither of the struggling Central division teams any sort of edge or momentum.
Finally, we had a three game set with the Twins that began promising with a masterful pitching performance by Cliff Lee and then ended with us losing the last two thanks to more of our inept performance.
At this point, I just can't figure out what's going on with this team other than we can't seem to get any momentum. Every day it seems like another facet of the team is letting us down. But if anything can help us get out of this funk, it's our favorite whipping boys, the Kansas City Royals. We've got a 4 game series there and we really need to take at least three of them to get back on track, especially because afterwards is a weekend series with the Yankees. We never seem to do well against NY, so we can't allow us to get too far behind before they arrive. Let's hope when I post next week, I'll have more positive results to report on. And as always, Let's Go Tribe!
It began with two losses against Boston where we had leads late in the game then coughed it up. That led to closer Joe Borowski (aka 'Joe Blow') to go on the DL, which is fine by me since he was doing nothing for us.
Then we had the two game series with the Tigers where we split and each game was a blowout. So that gave neither of the struggling Central division teams any sort of edge or momentum.
Finally, we had a three game set with the Twins that began promising with a masterful pitching performance by Cliff Lee and then ended with us losing the last two thanks to more of our inept performance.
At this point, I just can't figure out what's going on with this team other than we can't seem to get any momentum. Every day it seems like another facet of the team is letting us down. But if anything can help us get out of this funk, it's our favorite whipping boys, the Kansas City Royals. We've got a 4 game series there and we really need to take at least three of them to get back on track, especially because afterwards is a weekend series with the Yankees. We never seem to do well against NY, so we can't allow us to get too far behind before they arrive. Let's hope when I post next week, I'll have more positive results to report on. And as always, Let's Go Tribe!
Monday, April 21, 2008
On Your Mark, Get Set, Go Kart!
Here's the IGN review for the first Mario Kart title for the Wii:
I'll probably end up getting this regardless, but it sure would be nice if some of my friends would get a Wii so we could take advantage of this game's online play (hint, hint).
I'll probably end up getting this regardless, but it sure would be nice if some of my friends would get a Wii so we could take advantage of this game's online play (hint, hint).
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Got the munchies?
Happy 4/20 everyone. In honor of the day, here's a list of 20 of the Craziest Breakfast Cereals ever made. Looking over the list, it looks like most of them were made by stoners for stoners. So everyone grab a bowl and enjoy!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Deleted scenes from 'The Chair Model'
Here are the deleted scenes from this week's episode of The Office, which I thought was just fantastic. Even better than last week's Dinner Party episode. I would have liked for them to have included clip one into the actual episode as it tells us how much time has passed between the Dinner Party episode and this one (6 weeks!) Enjoy!
NMR: Quiz Show
Had I been older when this was released, I likely would have seen it then. As it is, I'm just now getting around to seeing this film dealing with the Twenty-One game show scandal of the late 1950s. This is a very well-made film on a subject that I find fascinating. I particularly am struck by the fact that Charles Van Doren became the scapegoat in the whole scandal and the network escaped from the situation virtually unscathed. I really like Ralph Finnes' portrayal of Van Doren as he does a good job of making you understand his actions in this complicated situation.
As good as this film is, I can't help but think how much better, or perhaps more authentic, this movie would be if it were made today. While it is an enjoyable film, I was always cognizant of the fact that it was a movie. I never felt like I was taken back to the 1950s with this film. I think with today's visual effects and perhaps a more visionary director (this was directed by Robert Redford), this could have been even more impressive. Still, this is a film that is a must see for anyone who is interested in this subject and highly recommended for those who simply enjoy good films. Netflix rating: ****
As good as this film is, I can't help but think how much better, or perhaps more authentic, this movie would be if it were made today. While it is an enjoyable film, I was always cognizant of the fact that it was a movie. I never felt like I was taken back to the 1950s with this film. I think with today's visual effects and perhaps a more visionary director (this was directed by Robert Redford), this could have been even more impressive. Still, this is a film that is a must see for anyone who is interested in this subject and highly recommended for those who simply enjoy good films. Netflix rating: ****
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
NMR: Double Feature
I've got nothing in terms of an intro, so let's get to this...
No Country For Old Men: This is probably the last movie from 2007 that I wanted to see. And as you probably know this won Best Picture this year. While I enjoyed this, I'm not sure if I would agree with giving it top honors. For the first 2/3rds of the film, this was phenomenonal. I can't remember the last time I was this consistently tense while watching a film. Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh is one of the creepiest movie villains in a long time and was well deserved of his Oscar for Supporting Actor. In addition to being a great thriller, the film is gorgeous looking and does a good job of capturing the Texas landscape.
It's in the final third of the film that they lost me and, as I've read, a lot of the audience. The Coens decide to start playing fast and loose with the narrative, which makes things very confusing. Although I'm not sure if they should be faulted since it seems that they remained pretty faithful to how the story unfolds in Cormac McCarthy's novel. By the end, I guess I understood everything that had happened and I could see the symbolism that they were going for, but it felt unnecessarily unconventional. Knowing how everything played out, I may want to watch it again and see if I see the whole film differently. With a second viewing, this has a chance at being part of my top ten for 2007. But for right now, it just misses the cut. And since this was the last film I needed to see from last year, I'll officially call my Top Ten list finalized. Netflix rating: ****
This Film is Not Yet Rated: I was recommended this documentary by one of my students who felt it was applicable to a lot of the topics we're dealing with in my Media History and Theory course. This film takes a hard look into the MPAA and how ratings are given to films. This process has been under scrutiny for sometime, so it was nice to see a film finally made on this subject.
While I enjoyed a lot of the information that was addressed in this film, I felt the film itself wasn't really that well made. The director is really all over the place here and doesn't provide a strong narrative. At times he wants to expose the hypocrisy of the MPAA in the way they focus too much on sex and not enough on violence. At others times, he'd rather be playing junior detective in trying to find out who the secret members of the ratings board are. While it's clear that changes to the MPAA's methods need to come, the film doesn't provide a strong enough attack on them. If you know nothing on this subject, but are interested in it, then I'd recommend you give it a look. Otherwise, you'll just end up being frustrated at being reminded how pointless the ratings system truly is. Netflix rating: ***
No Country For Old Men: This is probably the last movie from 2007 that I wanted to see. And as you probably know this won Best Picture this year. While I enjoyed this, I'm not sure if I would agree with giving it top honors. For the first 2/3rds of the film, this was phenomenonal. I can't remember the last time I was this consistently tense while watching a film. Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh is one of the creepiest movie villains in a long time and was well deserved of his Oscar for Supporting Actor. In addition to being a great thriller, the film is gorgeous looking and does a good job of capturing the Texas landscape.
It's in the final third of the film that they lost me and, as I've read, a lot of the audience. The Coens decide to start playing fast and loose with the narrative, which makes things very confusing. Although I'm not sure if they should be faulted since it seems that they remained pretty faithful to how the story unfolds in Cormac McCarthy's novel. By the end, I guess I understood everything that had happened and I could see the symbolism that they were going for, but it felt unnecessarily unconventional. Knowing how everything played out, I may want to watch it again and see if I see the whole film differently. With a second viewing, this has a chance at being part of my top ten for 2007. But for right now, it just misses the cut. And since this was the last film I needed to see from last year, I'll officially call my Top Ten list finalized. Netflix rating: ****
This Film is Not Yet Rated: I was recommended this documentary by one of my students who felt it was applicable to a lot of the topics we're dealing with in my Media History and Theory course. This film takes a hard look into the MPAA and how ratings are given to films. This process has been under scrutiny for sometime, so it was nice to see a film finally made on this subject.
While I enjoyed a lot of the information that was addressed in this film, I felt the film itself wasn't really that well made. The director is really all over the place here and doesn't provide a strong narrative. At times he wants to expose the hypocrisy of the MPAA in the way they focus too much on sex and not enough on violence. At others times, he'd rather be playing junior detective in trying to find out who the secret members of the ratings board are. While it's clear that changes to the MPAA's methods need to come, the film doesn't provide a strong enough attack on them. If you know nothing on this subject, but are interested in it, then I'd recommend you give it a look. Otherwise, you'll just end up being frustrated at being reminded how pointless the ratings system truly is. Netflix rating: ***
Happy Anniversary!!
Adam's Sound Blogic in this current incarnation turns 1 year old today. A lot has gone down in the past year and I've done my best to document it all. Here's hoping to many more prosperous years of ranting and raving about everything that's on my mind. Although, if I'm to believe the scholars at the conference I attended last weekend, I should shut this site down right now because I have no chance of ever getting tenure if I'm a blogger. I try to tell myself though that they are just old fashioned and need to catch up with the times.
Anyways, happy anniversary to the blog and I'll drink a beer to that. And with the way the Indians are playing tonight, I'll probably could use more than one. Ugh.
Anyways, happy anniversary to the blog and I'll drink a beer to that. And with the way the Indians are playing tonight, I'll probably could use more than one. Ugh.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Indians Week in Review (Week 2)
A thoroughly frustrating and depressing week that saw the Indians only go 2-4. In those 4 losses, absolutely nothing went right. The starting pitching was terrible and our offensive continued to struggle to score runs.
Tops on the list of concerns right now is the starting pitching, particularly C.C. and Paul Byrd. Neither man has had good control of their pitches and the end result was short starts for both of them. Then Fausto added to the worries with a shaky performance himself (he gave up a career high 8 walks!). These guys have been around long enough to know what it takes to pitch well, so hopefully they can work through these mechanincs issues and get back on track. Thankfully, we've had a saving grace in Cliff Lee, who had another stellar outing yesterday. It's weird that the biggest question mark coming into the season has been our most consistent performer thus far.
On the offensive side of things, I'm worried, but not as concerned as I am with the pitching. I think a lot of the problems we're dealing with stem from the fact that Wedge keeps tinkering with the lineup. I don't know if we've had the same lineup in back to back games yet this season. If we're to expect consistent hitting, we need a consistent lineup. The Tribe finally showed some sparks of offense yesterday by scoring 7 runs, but it's not enough to convince me that our problems are over with. We really need to start scoring more in the first few innings, something we did so well last year. It's amazing what getting out to an early lead will do to both your offense and defense.
The one bright spot this week was the signing of Fausto Carmona to a new 4 year deal at a super cheap price. Locking him up long-term and not having to pay that much could make this the steal of the century if he consistently pitches like he did last year.
Despite our performance and subpar record, we're only 2.5 games out of first place, so it's not like anybody is going to be running away with this division. I don't want to push the panic button yet, but this will be a critical week for us as we have a short two-game series with Boston and then a couple of series with division rivals, Detroit and Minnesota. Getting wins off of each of those teams will be critical in helping us get back on track and reaffirming our status as the team to beat in the Central Division. Until then, Let's Go Tribe!!
Tops on the list of concerns right now is the starting pitching, particularly C.C. and Paul Byrd. Neither man has had good control of their pitches and the end result was short starts for both of them. Then Fausto added to the worries with a shaky performance himself (he gave up a career high 8 walks!). These guys have been around long enough to know what it takes to pitch well, so hopefully they can work through these mechanincs issues and get back on track. Thankfully, we've had a saving grace in Cliff Lee, who had another stellar outing yesterday. It's weird that the biggest question mark coming into the season has been our most consistent performer thus far.
On the offensive side of things, I'm worried, but not as concerned as I am with the pitching. I think a lot of the problems we're dealing with stem from the fact that Wedge keeps tinkering with the lineup. I don't know if we've had the same lineup in back to back games yet this season. If we're to expect consistent hitting, we need a consistent lineup. The Tribe finally showed some sparks of offense yesterday by scoring 7 runs, but it's not enough to convince me that our problems are over with. We really need to start scoring more in the first few innings, something we did so well last year. It's amazing what getting out to an early lead will do to both your offense and defense.
The one bright spot this week was the signing of Fausto Carmona to a new 4 year deal at a super cheap price. Locking him up long-term and not having to pay that much could make this the steal of the century if he consistently pitches like he did last year.
Despite our performance and subpar record, we're only 2.5 games out of first place, so it's not like anybody is going to be running away with this division. I don't want to push the panic button yet, but this will be a critical week for us as we have a short two-game series with Boston and then a couple of series with division rivals, Detroit and Minnesota. Getting wins off of each of those teams will be critical in helping us get back on track and reaffirming our status as the team to beat in the Central Division. Until then, Let's Go Tribe!!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Blue Hawaii
Last Monday, they had a special advanced screening of the new Judd Apatow produced comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, at NC State's campus theater and I was lucky enough to check it out. I'm just sorry that it's taken me so long to write up my review for it. At this point, it's barely an early review (the film opens this Friday).
If you haven't seen the ads for this yet, the movie stars Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother, Knocked Up) as Peter,who's recently broken up with his girlfriend of five years, the titular Sarah Marshall, played by Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Heroes). Depressed over the break-up, Peter tries to find solace by going on vacation to Hawaii, but ends up staying at the exact same place that Sarah is staying at with her new boyfriend, a British, pretty-boy rocker named Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). And awkward hilarity ensues.
Now while the set-up may sound cliched or sitcom-y, the humor is anything but. This is a flat-out hilarious film. Virtually every scene that is intended to be humorous scores. Segel and Bell play well off each other as the exes who can't seem to get away from each other. But a number of the film's funny scenes come from a whole host of side characters, many of whom are Apatow regulars. Guys like Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, Jack McBrayer all show up and bring the funny. Jonah Hill, who I find to be very hit and miss, also has a few good lines as well (although he once again plays a character that gives off homosexual vibes, for some reason).
Mila Kunis, who's no stranger to comedy (That 70s Show, Family Guy) plays a hotel worker, who Peter begins to fall for. Looking tan-tastic in this film, she has very good chemistry with Segal and plays a nice romantic foil. And I have to give credit to relative unknown Russell Brand. He easily could have played the character as the Euro-trash boyfriend that everyone hates, but he provides a number of funny scenes as well that actually make him quasi-likeable.
While all the actors I have listed above are funny, their inclusion in the film makes things a bit crowded. I would not consider any of these people to have cameo roles. Each have developed characters and have several scenes devoted to them. Unfortunately, many of these characters are completely unnecessary and really do nothing to move the plot along. Aside from the four characters involved in the love rectangle, no one else in the film has a bearing on the primary storyline. They are just there simply to add laughs.
This brings us to the film's primary problem. With each scene I found myself laughing hysterically at what's happening and then when it ends, I think, 'wait, what did that have to do with anything?' I felt that maybe these side characters and subplots would have some callback as the film reached a conclusion, but that never happened. When the film reaches it's conventional conclusion, it comes as somewhat of a disappointment because I expected something more outrageous given the oddball scenes that preceded it.
So what Forgetting Sarah Marshall ends up being is your standard cheesy romantic comedy wrapped in the raunchy humor you've come to expect from an Apatow production. Now some will say that this is true of all his films, but there is definitiely a difference in quality in his films. This movie doesn't hold a candle to the The 40-Year Old Virgin (an unfortunate comparative burden that Apatow will now have to face with each new movie he produces and/or directs). While Virgin was consistenly funny, it also had a story that logically flowed from scene to scene, whereas this movie is consistently funny but meanders around for a while before reaching its conclusion. As has been typical of most Apatow films, this one could have used to lose a few minutes from its runtime.
I would be remiss if I also didn't give everyone a fair warning that this film certainly earned its R rating as there are multiple full frontal shots of Jason Segal in this movie. Are they funny scenes? For the most part, yes. Could I have done without them? Absolutely. You may be best served with having your hand shield your eyes, particularly in the film's opening moments.
If you are looking to laugh, then I whole heartedly recommend this film. You will not be disappointed. And really, this film wouldn't be seen as a disappointment at any level if it didn't have the Apatow name attached to it. Unfortunately at this point, the bar has been set so high that it will be tough to match, let alone surpass it. If you can allow yourself to watch it without making those comparisons, you'll likely do yourself a favor and really enjoy this movie.
One final disclaimer...please make sure you watch through the credits as there is one final scene somewhere in there that is especially funny and includes a cameo from one of my favorite comedic actors. Grade: B
If you haven't seen the ads for this yet, the movie stars Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother, Knocked Up) as Peter,who's recently broken up with his girlfriend of five years, the titular Sarah Marshall, played by Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Heroes). Depressed over the break-up, Peter tries to find solace by going on vacation to Hawaii, but ends up staying at the exact same place that Sarah is staying at with her new boyfriend, a British, pretty-boy rocker named Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). And awkward hilarity ensues.
Now while the set-up may sound cliched or sitcom-y, the humor is anything but. This is a flat-out hilarious film. Virtually every scene that is intended to be humorous scores. Segel and Bell play well off each other as the exes who can't seem to get away from each other. But a number of the film's funny scenes come from a whole host of side characters, many of whom are Apatow regulars. Guys like Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, Jack McBrayer all show up and bring the funny. Jonah Hill, who I find to be very hit and miss, also has a few good lines as well (although he once again plays a character that gives off homosexual vibes, for some reason).
Mila Kunis, who's no stranger to comedy (That 70s Show, Family Guy) plays a hotel worker, who Peter begins to fall for. Looking tan-tastic in this film, she has very good chemistry with Segal and plays a nice romantic foil. And I have to give credit to relative unknown Russell Brand. He easily could have played the character as the Euro-trash boyfriend that everyone hates, but he provides a number of funny scenes as well that actually make him quasi-likeable.
While all the actors I have listed above are funny, their inclusion in the film makes things a bit crowded. I would not consider any of these people to have cameo roles. Each have developed characters and have several scenes devoted to them. Unfortunately, many of these characters are completely unnecessary and really do nothing to move the plot along. Aside from the four characters involved in the love rectangle, no one else in the film has a bearing on the primary storyline. They are just there simply to add laughs.
This brings us to the film's primary problem. With each scene I found myself laughing hysterically at what's happening and then when it ends, I think, 'wait, what did that have to do with anything?' I felt that maybe these side characters and subplots would have some callback as the film reached a conclusion, but that never happened. When the film reaches it's conventional conclusion, it comes as somewhat of a disappointment because I expected something more outrageous given the oddball scenes that preceded it.
So what Forgetting Sarah Marshall ends up being is your standard cheesy romantic comedy wrapped in the raunchy humor you've come to expect from an Apatow production. Now some will say that this is true of all his films, but there is definitiely a difference in quality in his films. This movie doesn't hold a candle to the The 40-Year Old Virgin (an unfortunate comparative burden that Apatow will now have to face with each new movie he produces and/or directs). While Virgin was consistenly funny, it also had a story that logically flowed from scene to scene, whereas this movie is consistently funny but meanders around for a while before reaching its conclusion. As has been typical of most Apatow films, this one could have used to lose a few minutes from its runtime.
I would be remiss if I also didn't give everyone a fair warning that this film certainly earned its R rating as there are multiple full frontal shots of Jason Segal in this movie. Are they funny scenes? For the most part, yes. Could I have done without them? Absolutely. You may be best served with having your hand shield your eyes, particularly in the film's opening moments.
If you are looking to laugh, then I whole heartedly recommend this film. You will not be disappointed. And really, this film wouldn't be seen as a disappointment at any level if it didn't have the Apatow name attached to it. Unfortunately at this point, the bar has been set so high that it will be tough to match, let alone surpass it. If you can allow yourself to watch it without making those comparisons, you'll likely do yourself a favor and really enjoy this movie.
One final disclaimer...please make sure you watch through the credits as there is one final scene somewhere in there that is especially funny and includes a cameo from one of my favorite comedic actors. Grade: B
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Deleted scenes from this week's The Office
I enjoyed finally seeing my favorite Dunder Mifflinites back for the first time in 5 months(!!), but I think I actually laughed harder at the stuff in these deleted scenes than I did anything in the episode. If more get posted over on NBC's site, I'll be sure to add them here.
NMR: Double Feature
Greetings from Rochester!! If you're unaware, I'm up here for a conference this weekend. As April continues to be a hectic month for me, it appears the 'double feature' aspect of my Netflix reviews is here to stay for a while. So let's take a look at what I've caught recently in my limited spare time.
The Terminal: This is one of those movies that just kind of slipped through the cracks with me when it initially came out. The fact that a summer movie with Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg slipped through the cracks, just goes to show you what an awesome crop of movies there was in the summer of '04. Given that this underperformed at the box office indicates I wasn't the only one who let this slide. Now having seen it, I see why it didn't do as well. While it's a pleasant film, it's also kind of meaningless. A simple (albeit unconventional) story that you'll easily forget the next day.
Initially, I thought Hanks' non-descript foreign accent would be grating to hear for an entire movie, but his 'man without a country' grows on you throughout the film and you do want to see him have a happy ending. Most of the other characters are find additions that provide some flavor to the mix, although I felt Hanks' companionship with some of the airport employees could have been developed further. The weak spot is probably Catherine Zeta Jones character, who has no chemistry with Hanks. I felt he actually had more of a connection with Zoe Saldana, who played an airport cop. In the end, there's little to complain about this movie except for the fact that it's utterly forgettable, which should never happen when Hanks and Spielberg team up.
Glengarry Glen Ross: I've heard it argued that this is a classic film that does not get enough recognition. After seeing so many references/parodies of the film (the Alec Baldwin elves skit on SNL, the Gil character on the Simpsons, etc.), I felt I needed to check out the actual movie. This film boasts one of the most impressive casts ever, even if they weren't all big names when the film was made. You have Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin, and Jonathan Pryce. In a word, wow. Netflix rating: ***
So now that I've built it up, how is it. Oh so close to being perfect. On top of that great cast given great performances, it has a unique story about struggling, sleezeball real estate agents who are put into a sales content where the man who sells the least will be fired. There are two flaws that I see with the film, however. At times, the David Mamet dialogue can get a little annoying (rapid fire conversations where no one ever completes a sentence). Also, the ending is a little frustrating. While the events do make sense, I felt there could have been one or two scenes added in, to make it more logical. As it is, the film expects you to fill in too many gaps to figure out how it reached its conclusion. Despite these flaws, this is a powerkeg of a movie filled with tenion and drama that is very entertaining. Check it out if you haven't done so already. Netflix rating: ****
The Terminal: This is one of those movies that just kind of slipped through the cracks with me when it initially came out. The fact that a summer movie with Tom Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg slipped through the cracks, just goes to show you what an awesome crop of movies there was in the summer of '04. Given that this underperformed at the box office indicates I wasn't the only one who let this slide. Now having seen it, I see why it didn't do as well. While it's a pleasant film, it's also kind of meaningless. A simple (albeit unconventional) story that you'll easily forget the next day.
Initially, I thought Hanks' non-descript foreign accent would be grating to hear for an entire movie, but his 'man without a country' grows on you throughout the film and you do want to see him have a happy ending. Most of the other characters are find additions that provide some flavor to the mix, although I felt Hanks' companionship with some of the airport employees could have been developed further. The weak spot is probably Catherine Zeta Jones character, who has no chemistry with Hanks. I felt he actually had more of a connection with Zoe Saldana, who played an airport cop. In the end, there's little to complain about this movie except for the fact that it's utterly forgettable, which should never happen when Hanks and Spielberg team up.
Glengarry Glen Ross: I've heard it argued that this is a classic film that does not get enough recognition. After seeing so many references/parodies of the film (the Alec Baldwin elves skit on SNL, the Gil character on the Simpsons, etc.), I felt I needed to check out the actual movie. This film boasts one of the most impressive casts ever, even if they weren't all big names when the film was made. You have Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin, and Jonathan Pryce. In a word, wow. Netflix rating: ***
So now that I've built it up, how is it. Oh so close to being perfect. On top of that great cast given great performances, it has a unique story about struggling, sleezeball real estate agents who are put into a sales content where the man who sells the least will be fired. There are two flaws that I see with the film, however. At times, the David Mamet dialogue can get a little annoying (rapid fire conversations where no one ever completes a sentence). Also, the ending is a little frustrating. While the events do make sense, I felt there could have been one or two scenes added in, to make it more logical. As it is, the film expects you to fill in too many gaps to figure out how it reached its conclusion. Despite these flaws, this is a powerkeg of a movie filled with tenion and drama that is very entertaining. Check it out if you haven't done so already. Netflix rating: ****
Monday, April 7, 2008
Indians Week in Review (Week 1)
I would prefer something better than a 3-3 record to start the season, but hey, at least we're not the Tigers at 0-6 (Ouch!).
It's tough to truly assess our performance since we only had our true lineup for one game. Victor Martinez's injury on opening day seemingly put our offense into a funk as we had back-to-back games where our guys had 10 strikeouts. Victor is set to return to the lineup tonight, so let's hope that sets everything back in order and allows us to start producing runs again because we won't get as lucky as we did yesterday in winning with only two runs.
From the pitching side, it was another mixed bag. Fausto, Westbrook and (surprisingly) Cliff Lee all had strong outings. Byrd, however, was very erratic on Friday, which is atypical of him. My guess is that it was a one time thing and he'll be back to his normal stuff in his next start. And then there's C.C. who had two lackluster starts. I know he's got the goods, so he better start showing them soon. Then again, if he keeps pitching this way, his asking price may plummet and we may actually be able to resign him next season.
This week we've got the Angels for a three game set in LA and then back home for another series with the A's starting on Friday. The Angels are facing injury problems and the A's aren't very good (despite just taking two out of three from us). If we get back on track, we should have a very good week. Until next week, let's go Tribe!
It's tough to truly assess our performance since we only had our true lineup for one game. Victor Martinez's injury on opening day seemingly put our offense into a funk as we had back-to-back games where our guys had 10 strikeouts. Victor is set to return to the lineup tonight, so let's hope that sets everything back in order and allows us to start producing runs again because we won't get as lucky as we did yesterday in winning with only two runs.
From the pitching side, it was another mixed bag. Fausto, Westbrook and (surprisingly) Cliff Lee all had strong outings. Byrd, however, was very erratic on Friday, which is atypical of him. My guess is that it was a one time thing and he'll be back to his normal stuff in his next start. And then there's C.C. who had two lackluster starts. I know he's got the goods, so he better start showing them soon. Then again, if he keeps pitching this way, his asking price may plummet and we may actually be able to resign him next season.
This week we've got the Angels for a three game set in LA and then back home for another series with the A's starting on Friday. The Angels are facing injury problems and the A's aren't very good (despite just taking two out of three from us). If we get back on track, we should have a very good week. Until next week, let's go Tribe!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Never to early to start thinking about Fall TV
In an unprecedented move, NBC made its upfront presentation last week. Typicaly, networks unveil their fall lineups during the first week in May, but because of the craziness that the strike brought about, things aren't normal this year. NBC's big thing this year is their whole "52-week programming plan" where they intend to have original content being shown all year round. Below, I'll list the important points from their schedule, but if you want to learn more you can read about everything they announced here.
- Chuck and Heroes will each begin the fall season with 13 straight new episodes and will remain in their previous timeslots (Mondays at 8 and 9pm).
- The planned Heroes: Origins has been scrapped.
- SNL will have three live half-hour specials on Thursday nights that will be particularly focused on the upcoming presidential election.
- The coveted post Super Bowl spot will go to The Office AND the upcoming spinoff to The Office.
- No word yet as to who or what The Office spinoff will be about, but it will air after The Office on Thursdays starting in January.
- Knight Rider will become a weekly series in the fall airing Wednesdays at 8.
- They have 7 new drams that will debut at some point over the next year including ones about Robinson Crusoe and Merlin.
- Season 2 of American Gladiators is schedule for Summer '09.
- Chuck and Heroes will each begin the fall season with 13 straight new episodes and will remain in their previous timeslots (Mondays at 8 and 9pm).
- The planned Heroes: Origins has been scrapped.
- SNL will have three live half-hour specials on Thursday nights that will be particularly focused on the upcoming presidential election.
- The coveted post Super Bowl spot will go to The Office AND the upcoming spinoff to The Office.
- No word yet as to who or what The Office spinoff will be about, but it will air after The Office on Thursdays starting in January.
- Knight Rider will become a weekly series in the fall airing Wednesdays at 8.
- They have 7 new drams that will debut at some point over the next year including ones about Robinson Crusoe and Merlin.
- Season 2 of American Gladiators is schedule for Summer '09.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
How to win a million dollars in under 10 seconds
I really need to head out to California for a taping if that's all it takes to win.
Friday, March 28, 2008
It's time for 'Mania baby!
Yes, once again the grandaddy of 'em all, Wrestlemania, is upon us again. And yes, while the WWE is far from at it's best as it relates to storylines and top stars right now, there's still something about the big show that has me excited every year. As sad as it is, the thing I may be looking forward to the most this year is the venue. I can't wait to see how they pull off having an outdoor Wrestlemania with 70,000+ people. It should make for an awesome visual, no doubt. And it could be even more interesting if the forecasts of rain come true. So to prepare for the big event this Sunday, here are my fearless predictions for winners:
Triple Threat for the WWE Championship:
Randy Orton (champ) vs. John Cena vs. Triple H
(A real pick 'em here as Cena or HHH have a viable shot of winning. I'm picking HHH just because Cena has won the main event at the last three 'Manias. However, it will not surprise me one bit if they once again give us the stomach churning finish of Cena coming out on top.)
World Heavyweight Championship:
Edge (champ) vs. The Undertaker
(They could have done so much more with this feud than they have. Starting all the way back at last year's WM by not having Edge lose in the Money in the Bank match so that this could have been a battle of the undefeated men. Still, what matters is what they do in the ring. I think this will be a very solid match between two guys who have never really had a big one-on-one match. The Undertaker's streak is too valuable to throw away here, so I'm picking the Dead Man to win.)
No Holds Barred Match:
Big Show vs. Floyd 'Money' Mayweather
(I really don't know what to expect here. The build for this match has been at it's best intriguing and at it's worst eye-rolling. Altogether it's been downright confusing as they can't seem to figure out who they want as the heel. This could be bowling shoe ugly or mildly amusing. The rule of Wrestlemania says that the celebrity always goes out on top, so I'll choose Mayweather.)
Potential Retirement Match:
Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
(They've been running this storyline with Flair where the next time he loses, he has to retire. The whole thing has been booked backwards and really doesn't have the emotional weight behind it that it should. With Flair getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this weekend, I'm pretty sure he'll lose here. Whether he does hang them up for good or not is another story. It would have been nice to give a big win like this to an up and comer, but there was no one really right for the role, so I have no problem with them having HBK do it, since it should at least give Flair one last good match.)
Money in the Bank Ladder Match:
Chris Jericho vs. MVP vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. CM Punk vs. Carlito vs. John Morrison
(Jeff Hardy was not only supposed to be in this match, but he was the odds-on favorite to win it, but that all got ruined when he got suspended for a wellness violation. Now this thing is really a toss up. I can't see them wasting it on a Smackdown/ECW guy since they are the lower brands and this match is meant to elevate someone. Mr. Kennedy could win it, but he won it last year and he's proven himself to unstable to be trusted with something like this. By process of elimination, I'll go with Jericho and pray that it means they do something interesting with him. However, virtually everyone here has just as likely of a chance to get that briefcase.)
Belfast Brawl:
Finlay vs. JBL
(An potentially interesting match between two legitimate brawlers that has been marred with the ludicrous Hornswoggle storyline. They'll only redeem themselves by having a good, lengthy, bloody brawl. Otherwise this is just a waste of everybody's time. Since he won't be forgotten completely, I'll predict Hornswoggle returns here and helps Finlay pick up the win over the 'Wrestling God'.)
Battle for Brand Supremacy:
Batista vs. Umaga
(Matches between RAW and Smackdown guys have not had any intrigue to them in a long time, if ever. This is basically a case of throwing two relatively big names together in a match because they couldn't think of anything else for them. If they're motivated, these two could have a decent power match, but I'm not holding my breath. My coin flip tells me Batista will win, so that's who I'll go with.)
ECW Championship
Chavo Guerrero (champ) vs. ???
(Before the show, there wiil be a 24 man battle royal and the winner faces Chavo on the actual show. The guys involved pretty much consist of everyone else left off the card. Since Chavo isn't really feuding with anyone, it makes picking his opponent all the more difficult. Kane is the biggest name that's a babyface in the match, so I'll say him. However, I think it would be a nice gesture if they gave Tommy Dreamer the title shot and show that they don't completely hate everything about the original ECW. No matter who gets the title shot, though, Chavo is likely to win as it doesn't make sense to do all this and have him lose. If they were going to have that happen, they would have actually built up a feud between him and the person they wanted to have win the belt.)
Bunnymania Tag Team Match:
Maria and Ashley vs. Melina and Beth Phoenix
(I could care less about the women fighting, but there are two elements that make this slightly appealing. First, Santino Marella is bound to make his presence known at some point during the match which is always a comedic highlight of any show. Second, Snoop Dogg will also be involved in some capacity with this match as well and how can you not love Snoop-a-loop. With no title on the line here, the Playboy girls (Maria and Ashley) should easily get the win in this one.)
And that's the show. Interested yet? Maybe not, but I'll be watching regardless. If you'd rather reminisce about the "good ol' days" well then I'll help you out with that as well. In honor of this year's boxer vs. wrestler match, here's a classic Wrestlemania moment from another boxer vs. wrestle match from 1999:
Triple Threat for the WWE Championship:
Randy Orton (champ) vs. John Cena vs. Triple H
(A real pick 'em here as Cena or HHH have a viable shot of winning. I'm picking HHH just because Cena has won the main event at the last three 'Manias. However, it will not surprise me one bit if they once again give us the stomach churning finish of Cena coming out on top.)
World Heavyweight Championship:
Edge (champ) vs. The Undertaker
(They could have done so much more with this feud than they have. Starting all the way back at last year's WM by not having Edge lose in the Money in the Bank match so that this could have been a battle of the undefeated men. Still, what matters is what they do in the ring. I think this will be a very solid match between two guys who have never really had a big one-on-one match. The Undertaker's streak is too valuable to throw away here, so I'm picking the Dead Man to win.)
No Holds Barred Match:
Big Show vs. Floyd 'Money' Mayweather
(I really don't know what to expect here. The build for this match has been at it's best intriguing and at it's worst eye-rolling. Altogether it's been downright confusing as they can't seem to figure out who they want as the heel. This could be bowling shoe ugly or mildly amusing. The rule of Wrestlemania says that the celebrity always goes out on top, so I'll choose Mayweather.)
Potential Retirement Match:
Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
(They've been running this storyline with Flair where the next time he loses, he has to retire. The whole thing has been booked backwards and really doesn't have the emotional weight behind it that it should. With Flair getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this weekend, I'm pretty sure he'll lose here. Whether he does hang them up for good or not is another story. It would have been nice to give a big win like this to an up and comer, but there was no one really right for the role, so I have no problem with them having HBK do it, since it should at least give Flair one last good match.)
Money in the Bank Ladder Match:
Chris Jericho vs. MVP vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. CM Punk vs. Carlito vs. John Morrison
(Jeff Hardy was not only supposed to be in this match, but he was the odds-on favorite to win it, but that all got ruined when he got suspended for a wellness violation. Now this thing is really a toss up. I can't see them wasting it on a Smackdown/ECW guy since they are the lower brands and this match is meant to elevate someone. Mr. Kennedy could win it, but he won it last year and he's proven himself to unstable to be trusted with something like this. By process of elimination, I'll go with Jericho and pray that it means they do something interesting with him. However, virtually everyone here has just as likely of a chance to get that briefcase.)
Belfast Brawl:
Finlay vs. JBL
(An potentially interesting match between two legitimate brawlers that has been marred with the ludicrous Hornswoggle storyline. They'll only redeem themselves by having a good, lengthy, bloody brawl. Otherwise this is just a waste of everybody's time. Since he won't be forgotten completely, I'll predict Hornswoggle returns here and helps Finlay pick up the win over the 'Wrestling God'.)
Battle for Brand Supremacy:
Batista vs. Umaga
(Matches between RAW and Smackdown guys have not had any intrigue to them in a long time, if ever. This is basically a case of throwing two relatively big names together in a match because they couldn't think of anything else for them. If they're motivated, these two could have a decent power match, but I'm not holding my breath. My coin flip tells me Batista will win, so that's who I'll go with.)
ECW Championship
Chavo Guerrero (champ) vs. ???
(Before the show, there wiil be a 24 man battle royal and the winner faces Chavo on the actual show. The guys involved pretty much consist of everyone else left off the card. Since Chavo isn't really feuding with anyone, it makes picking his opponent all the more difficult. Kane is the biggest name that's a babyface in the match, so I'll say him. However, I think it would be a nice gesture if they gave Tommy Dreamer the title shot and show that they don't completely hate everything about the original ECW. No matter who gets the title shot, though, Chavo is likely to win as it doesn't make sense to do all this and have him lose. If they were going to have that happen, they would have actually built up a feud between him and the person they wanted to have win the belt.)
Bunnymania Tag Team Match:
Maria and Ashley vs. Melina and Beth Phoenix
(I could care less about the women fighting, but there are two elements that make this slightly appealing. First, Santino Marella is bound to make his presence known at some point during the match which is always a comedic highlight of any show. Second, Snoop Dogg will also be involved in some capacity with this match as well and how can you not love Snoop-a-loop. With no title on the line here, the Playboy girls (Maria and Ashley) should easily get the win in this one.)
And that's the show. Interested yet? Maybe not, but I'll be watching regardless. If you'd rather reminisce about the "good ol' days" well then I'll help you out with that as well. In honor of this year's boxer vs. wrestler match, here's a classic Wrestlemania moment from another boxer vs. wrestle match from 1999:
NMR: Double Feature
I've fallen behind again, so here's another two-fore of Netflix films I've caught recently:
Gosford Park: Nominated for a Best Picture in 2001, this film plays like a who's who of British acting royalty. That's probably why I ignored it in the past, but have since come to appreciate a lot of their talents. Mostly due, oddly enough, to the Harry Potter films (Gosford Park includes Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon). This is also directed by Robert Altman; a director who has great acclaim, but I've never seen most of his film. The story here is an upstairs/downstairs murder mystery that occurs when a bunch of wealthy British people get together for a hunting weekend.
Overall, this is really well done and provides enough solid drama and comedy. Two major points drop this down from a perfect score though. First, while I can't fault them, I found it terribly difficult to follow the film at times because of the British accents. Given that the film is so dialogue-driven, this was very frustrating. Second, it takes too long for the actual murder to take place. I understand that you want to establish character and motive, but I felt some of that could have been trimmed or established after the fact. Still, if you're looking for a bit of sophistication in your movie-going experience, this is a perfectly good choice. Netflix rating: ****
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: I had really wanted to see this when it was initially released, but it only got a limited number of screens to open on and by the time it hit DVD I had forgotten about it. This is a depiction of Chuck Barris' autobiography and was directed by George Clooney in his directorial debut. If you aren't familiar with Chuck Barris, he created a number of notable game shows including The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show (which he also hosted). However, that's just half the story as Barris claims that he also was an assassin for the CIA.
This is a very stylish and engaging film, particularly for someone's directorial debut. Sam Rockwell does a good job playing the eccentric Barris (although I could have done without the numerous bare ass shots). Barris' CIA stories are likely bogus (they've never been confirmed or denied), but the film does a great job of making you not care whether it's true or not. This guy supposedly lived my dream life; a spy and a game show host!! Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts show up in supporting roles and do a nice job with the characters they have. The film is about too obscure of a person to truly considered significant, but I found it fascinating nonetheless. If you're looking for something a little different, I'd definitely suggest this one for you. Netflix rating: *****
Gosford Park: Nominated for a Best Picture in 2001, this film plays like a who's who of British acting royalty. That's probably why I ignored it in the past, but have since come to appreciate a lot of their talents. Mostly due, oddly enough, to the Harry Potter films (Gosford Park includes Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon). This is also directed by Robert Altman; a director who has great acclaim, but I've never seen most of his film. The story here is an upstairs/downstairs murder mystery that occurs when a bunch of wealthy British people get together for a hunting weekend.
Overall, this is really well done and provides enough solid drama and comedy. Two major points drop this down from a perfect score though. First, while I can't fault them, I found it terribly difficult to follow the film at times because of the British accents. Given that the film is so dialogue-driven, this was very frustrating. Second, it takes too long for the actual murder to take place. I understand that you want to establish character and motive, but I felt some of that could have been trimmed or established after the fact. Still, if you're looking for a bit of sophistication in your movie-going experience, this is a perfectly good choice. Netflix rating: ****
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: I had really wanted to see this when it was initially released, but it only got a limited number of screens to open on and by the time it hit DVD I had forgotten about it. This is a depiction of Chuck Barris' autobiography and was directed by George Clooney in his directorial debut. If you aren't familiar with Chuck Barris, he created a number of notable game shows including The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show (which he also hosted). However, that's just half the story as Barris claims that he also was an assassin for the CIA.
This is a very stylish and engaging film, particularly for someone's directorial debut. Sam Rockwell does a good job playing the eccentric Barris (although I could have done without the numerous bare ass shots). Barris' CIA stories are likely bogus (they've never been confirmed or denied), but the film does a great job of making you not care whether it's true or not. This guy supposedly lived my dream life; a spy and a game show host!! Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts show up in supporting roles and do a nice job with the characters they have. The film is about too obscure of a person to truly considered significant, but I found it fascinating nonetheless. If you're looking for something a little different, I'd definitely suggest this one for you. Netflix rating: *****
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
War, what is it good for?
There are slim pickins at the budget theater these days, which is fine since I should be studying for my comps anyways. But I did manage to head over there and catch Charlie Wilson's War, since it's one of the last few notable films from the '07 holiday season that I had not seen yet.
It's actually been a few days now, since I've seen it, so I hope I can remember everything about it. I make that caveat in particular with this film, because of how shockingly unremarkable the film ended up being. I was stunned that a film that boasted a cast of Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman and had a politically charged plot could be so forgettable.
For the unaware, the film is about a Texas democratic congressman (Hanks), who manages to get our government to supply Afghans with weapons, so that they could defeat the Soviets during the Cold War. Charlie Wilson may not have been a well known figure before this film, but given how his efforts have had such an impact on global politics, it is easy to understand why a film would be made about him.
The film moves along briskly as we see Wilson scheme and schmooze people in order to get these weapons to Afghanistan. As I watched the events unfold I was struck by how easy everything seemed to fall into place. By the way things were portrayed in the film, he never really faced any true conflict in getting this done. I have no problem with this (for all I know, it really was that easy), except that the director then opts not to hammer home the significance of Wilson's actions. There are a few scene at the end which show Wilson having some mixed emotions about what he's done, but I didn't find that sufficient.
The tone of the film just felt off to me. The director seemed more content with having the characters engage in witty banter rather than give any thought to the implications of their actions. Instead of trying to depict Wilson as a political hero or villain, they opt to instead focus more of the fact that he's a drunk and a womanizer.
This is not a well-known chapter of U.S. history, so if you're going to make a film about it, why trivialize it more than what it already is? If you want your audience to reflect on Wilson's actions and realize how different things would have been had he not been successful, then do a better job of giving these events some significance. Frankly, I think it would have been better had they opted for a fictionalized version of this story. A lot of the same points would have been made without the burden of doing any injustice to the people you're portraying.
I will say that while I think the tone of this movie is way off, it is still somewhat enjoyable; mostly as a result of the lead performances. Tom Hanks can't deliver a bad performance and he's entertaining here in a sleezier than normal character. Julia Roberts is also delightful in a small role as a Conservative lobbyist (plus she still looks damn good in a bikini). What surprised me, though, was the excellent performances by two actors that I typically don't care for. Amy Adams (who's typically too saccharine for my liking) is actually really good here playing one of Wilson's many secretaries. And Philip Seymour Hoffman (who I've slowly started to come around and see his brilliance) is just fantastic as Gust, who works for the CIA and helps Charlie know what type of weaponry will be needed to defeat the Soviets. I fully agree with him getting an Oscar nomination for this role.
At 97 minutes, the movie never overstays it's welcome and keeps you engaged the entire time. However, that engagement only works if you're there to watch a light political farce. If that suits you, you should enjoy this just fine. However, if you're interested in finding deeper meaning behind Charlie Wilson's actions, you'll have to rely on yourself to provide them because the film offers none. At a time when so many in Hollywood seem all too enthusiastic to espouse their political opinions, it is stunning that this film decides to ride the fence between escapism and making a statement. Grade: B-
It's actually been a few days now, since I've seen it, so I hope I can remember everything about it. I make that caveat in particular with this film, because of how shockingly unremarkable the film ended up being. I was stunned that a film that boasted a cast of Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman and had a politically charged plot could be so forgettable.
For the unaware, the film is about a Texas democratic congressman (Hanks), who manages to get our government to supply Afghans with weapons, so that they could defeat the Soviets during the Cold War. Charlie Wilson may not have been a well known figure before this film, but given how his efforts have had such an impact on global politics, it is easy to understand why a film would be made about him.
The film moves along briskly as we see Wilson scheme and schmooze people in order to get these weapons to Afghanistan. As I watched the events unfold I was struck by how easy everything seemed to fall into place. By the way things were portrayed in the film, he never really faced any true conflict in getting this done. I have no problem with this (for all I know, it really was that easy), except that the director then opts not to hammer home the significance of Wilson's actions. There are a few scene at the end which show Wilson having some mixed emotions about what he's done, but I didn't find that sufficient.
The tone of the film just felt off to me. The director seemed more content with having the characters engage in witty banter rather than give any thought to the implications of their actions. Instead of trying to depict Wilson as a political hero or villain, they opt to instead focus more of the fact that he's a drunk and a womanizer.
This is not a well-known chapter of U.S. history, so if you're going to make a film about it, why trivialize it more than what it already is? If you want your audience to reflect on Wilson's actions and realize how different things would have been had he not been successful, then do a better job of giving these events some significance. Frankly, I think it would have been better had they opted for a fictionalized version of this story. A lot of the same points would have been made without the burden of doing any injustice to the people you're portraying.
I will say that while I think the tone of this movie is way off, it is still somewhat enjoyable; mostly as a result of the lead performances. Tom Hanks can't deliver a bad performance and he's entertaining here in a sleezier than normal character. Julia Roberts is also delightful in a small role as a Conservative lobbyist (plus she still looks damn good in a bikini). What surprised me, though, was the excellent performances by two actors that I typically don't care for. Amy Adams (who's typically too saccharine for my liking) is actually really good here playing one of Wilson's many secretaries. And Philip Seymour Hoffman (who I've slowly started to come around and see his brilliance) is just fantastic as Gust, who works for the CIA and helps Charlie know what type of weaponry will be needed to defeat the Soviets. I fully agree with him getting an Oscar nomination for this role.
At 97 minutes, the movie never overstays it's welcome and keeps you engaged the entire time. However, that engagement only works if you're there to watch a light political farce. If that suits you, you should enjoy this just fine. However, if you're interested in finding deeper meaning behind Charlie Wilson's actions, you'll have to rely on yourself to provide them because the film offers none. At a time when so many in Hollywood seem all too enthusiastic to espouse their political opinions, it is stunning that this film decides to ride the fence between escapism and making a statement. Grade: B-
Sunday, March 23, 2008
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