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9-28-2009
MyTube
Last week was the premier week for most of the networks to show off their new shows and start up returning shows and it was a mixed bag. I'm gonna break down what I saw in new and old just to put some thoughts out there.
What's New
The first new show I watched last week was "The Forgotten" which debuted on Tuesday night at 10. This show features Christian Slater as a former cop who, along with several volunteers, helps to track down unknown crime victims when the cops can't do it. The show was fine, well written and acted, but it's not unlike "Cold Case," only with more recent victims. If there's nothing else on Tuesday's at 10, and you like crime procedurals, check it out.
Although we were treated to a great sneak peek last year, Tuesday was the debut for the new "NCIS: Los Angeles." Backing up "NCIS," this show makes for a solid 2 hours of TV on Tuesdays. I'm fans of both L.L. Cool J and Chris O'Donnell and they make great anchors for this show about the under cover division of NCIS. I can't wait to see where this show goes.
"Cougar Town." Yes, this is the show I picked on back in June, but I had no interest in anything else on Wednesday night so, why not. Other than Courtney Cox showing off her still-decent body, this show was kind of frenetic and didn't do anything to really introduce the characters well. There were some funny gags and one-liners but I doubt I'll watch it each week.
"Eastwick" was another show I picked on but also watched. Lindsay Price looked pretty hot and after her stint on "Eureka," I now know who Jamie Ray Newman is...she's also hot. But the show was kind of boring and predictable. Kudos for bringing back Paul Gross (who will always be Constable Benton Fraser as far as I'm concerned) and Matt Dallas and giving the talented Sara Rue something to do. Pass.
"Flashforward" was the second of the new shows that I found interesting. This is the show where everyone in the world passes out at the same time, for two minutes and 17 seconds, during which they see a flash forward glimpse of their lives six months in the future. Then they woke up. Lots of death and destruction and the FBI is freakin' out, but it's intriguing. I think Joseph Fiennes is going to make a good lead for the show and it's great to see John Cho do something a little more serious. Plus, you can't go wrong with the hot-as-hell Sonya Walger. While you would think this would be another show from J.J. Abrams, it's not. But don't worry, the sci-fi show is in the capable hands of Brannon Braga and David S. Goyer. This will be a weekly watch for me and while it's up against "Bones," I hope there's enough audience at 8:00 on Thursday's for them both.
Initially I had plans to watch "Mercy" but when it came down to it, I couldn't be bothered. I'm also slightly interested in "Trauma" which starts this coming week on Monday night. I may tape it and catch it later before making a call but honestly, I think this will also be a pass for me.
Oh, I almost forgot. "Community" started the previous week, on 9/17, and since nothing else was on after "The Office," I watched it. It was actually pretty funny, but not funny enough for me to keep watching. I would rather have had another season of "My Name is Earl." Anyway, I skipped the second show, it just wasn't worth the time when "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" was coming back.
What's old(ish)
Returning shows was where it mostly was at last week. Actually, the week before kicked it off as both "Bones" and "The Office" started on 9/17. "Bones" is in decent form with Booth recovering from his operation, but the vibe between him and Bones is a little different due to the dream Booth had at the end of last season. It's more of the will they or won't they hook up, but that's not new. Unless something is radically altered this season, I expect it to be as good as previous years.
"The Office" was okay last week but this show is still hit and miss for me. Sometimes I love it but other times I can't stand to watch Michael's hijinks. I'll stick with it for now. If you are an "Office" fan you're going to be happy with the show. Not sure what to tell new viewers.
Last Monday was a busy night with three shows kicking off; "House," "Heroes," and "Castle." Both "House" and "Heroes" had 2-hour premiers while "Castle" took up it's slot at 10, opposite "CSI: Miami." Since I refuse to watch "Miami" any more, and because "Castle" was a big surprise for me last year, naturally I went in that direction again. Nathan Fillion is always brilliant and the premier of "Castle's" second season was more than I was hoping for. Seeing Stana Katic in her sexy Russian outfit was just bonus.
"Heroes." How I love to hate this show. Two things to note about this season; Robert Knepper and Ray Park. Genius casting. Head scratching moment; how did Claire go from hunted outcast to college student in six weeks? Also, how did Noah end up divorced and his wife is already shacking up with some other dude in the same time frame? Yeah. Whatever. I'll sum up the 2-hour season premier: Boring.
"House," on the other hand, was pure genius. The full show was about his time in the psych ward that he checked himself into at the end of last season. There were some brilliant House moments but the real thing that brought it home was the glimmer of realization in his eyes when he finally owned up to all the shit he put other people through. Can't wait to see where this goes this season.
Tuesday night's debut of "NCIS" was probably the one I was most looking forward to. Last season they ended it with our favorite crew split up (again) and Ziva a prisoner in an African terror camp. Told partly in flashback, the season opener kicked off with Tony in the same chair we last saw Ziva in and we had to wait for the hour to unfold to find out how he got there. Being able to see Gibbs in his element as a sniper was the perfect ending to the whole ordeal. I'm really psyched for the new season of this show!
Before the Thursday premier of "CSI," we were told that the first 2 minutes of the show were not to be missed. They weren't. It was one of the most visually stunning pieces of TV I may have ever seen as the camera panned through a lab in chaos. Bullets flying, glass breaking, bodies dropping, bad guys speeding off in cars! Excellent TV. Jorja Fox was back, and may be on for a few episodes, but Lauren Lee Smith, who joined last year as Riley Adams, was noticeably missing. She was mentioned, but I have to wonder why the actress left. One thing is certain, after they hyped her last season as the replacement for Fox, she was completely underused, almost to the point of being left out on purpose. I don't know if the addition of Laurence Fishburn had anything to do with that, by needing to establish his character, or if the writers just couldn't find anything interesting for her to do. I'm not a big Smith fan but I'd rather have her than Fox, who I don't like either as an actress or as Sara Sidle. If Smith had to go, I'd have voted for a bigger role for Liz Vassey's Wendy Simms.
Friday night only ended up having two debuts that I was interested in. Originally "Southland" was scheduled to kick off but it's been dropped back for a few weeks. Ben McKenzie has assured us that nothing nefarious is going on. I hope not, I really dig this show and hope good things for it. More on this after it airs.
The first of the two new shows was "Dollhouse" on FOX. I had mixed feelings on this last season, I never really felt that it was up to Joss Whedon standards. To make matters worse, the uneven first season only showed 12 of the 13 episodes filmed. The thirteenth, "Epitaph One," was put out on the DVD (along with the unaired pilot, I believe) but if you didn't pick that up you wouldn't have seen it. Apparently this episode gave more vision to the series and explained a lot of the missing "stuff" that was needed to draw the first season together. I haven't seen it. That's probably why, when watching the season premier, I couldn't help but utter the phrase, several times, "what the fuck is going on?" I'm disappointed in this show. I'm not sure if I'll stick with it or not seeing as how it's going to be on opposite "Southland" and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," as well as the 9:00 shows that run in the winter on SyFy and USA. I may relegate this to tape and make it a Saturday show.
The last of the new (old) shows was "Numb3rs." This show is just a steady performer as far as I'm concerned. I'm as much interested in the family dynamics between David Krumholtz' Charlie and Rob Morrow's Don as I am the weekly mystery. The supporting cast is excellent, though, and that makes the show fun to watch. The season premier ended with the announcement that Charlie and Amita are getting married and was a nice cap to last season's finale with Amita's kidnapping and Charlie's proposal. Plus, Charlie wrote his letter for his eventual successor.
The Overview
If you're still reading this you have less of a life than I do! Ha! Real quick, most of the new shows kind of suck or are such obvious retreads of previous shows that they aren't worth it. I look forward to finding out how "Flashforward" works out, though. The returning shows are all pretty much hitting the ground running, except for "Heroes" and "Dollhouse" which both need to find a spark, quick, fast and in a hurry. Plus we still have "V" (November 3rd) and "Southland" to look forward to. Oh, and a hearty "fuck you" to Time Warner because I still can't watch "Smallville," "Supernatural" or "One Tree Hill" live...and I'm missing out on "Vampire Diaries."
9-27-2009
Five Guys
When my cousin Mika was pregnant she told me that she couldn't get enough of the burgers at Five Guys and asked if I'd even eaten there. I actually had never heard of Five Guys at the time but found that they started out in the Washington, DC area before expanding.
Since then I've looked at their website a few times to see if I'd be near a restaurant when I was travelling, but never made it. Till yesterday. Last week Five Guys opened in Ithaca and on Saturday I decided to go check them out for dinner.
The full name of the store is Five Guys Burgers and Fries. And that's about all they serve. They offer four burgers; hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon burger and bacon cheeseburger. They also offer a couple hot dog options and a grilled cheese sandwich, but let's face it, you go to Five Guys for the burgers. All of their toppings are free and they have everything from lettuce and tomatoes to jalapeno peppers and mushrooms. You can get bbq sauce, A-1, hot sauce, ketchup or mustard on your burger as well.
I picked up a bacon cheeseburger with onions and bbq sauce and it was one of the tastiest burgers I've ever had. Everything is cooked well done, but it doesn't matter, it still rocked. The normal burgers have two patties on them (they do offer LITTLE burgers with only 1 patty) and both were juicy and tasty.
I also ordered fries, which also happen to be some of the best I've had. One thing about their fries, though, is that I ordered a large and that amount could have fed 3 people. I think I tossed about half the order. So, if you go by yourself, get the small size.
Everything is fresh, nothing is frozen, and it tastes like it. They even have bags of potatoes stacked in the restaurant, and were pulling off the stack to cut more fries while I was waiting for my order.
Waiting is one of the downsides. At least on Saturday. Sure, it's a new store so that might have added to the crowd, but I was also there during the dinner hour and it was packed. I waited about 10 minute to put my order in and although the hot girl working the register told me it would be 7 - 10 minutes, I waited nearly a half hour. I'm not going to hold that against them, though, because of the newness of the place. If you're hungry while you wait, they also offer in-shell peanuts. Just grab a plate and serve them up from the boxes stacked on the potatoes along the wall.
Prices aren't cheap, but they aren't bad. I ordered the bacon cheeseburger and large fries and it was about $10. But as I mentioned, there were enough fries to feed three people so if you go with a couple people you can cut that price down. The burgers range from $3 and change to about $5.7-something for the bacon cheeseburger. The LITTLE burgers, which only have one beef patty, are a little less than their 2-patty counterparts. The fries come in regular and cajun (I had regular) and come in small and large sizes. You can also get soda in two sizes or bottled water. But that's about it. They do have the hotdogs but really, they concentrate on one thing, burgers, and they do them extremely well.
I will definitely be going back to Five Guys but I think next time I may skip the fries and just indulge in a tasty burger. If you like hamburgers, and you have a chance to stop at Five Guys, take it!
9-26-2009
Hoop Dreams
I've never been a huge college basketball fan, and I didn't go to Binghamton University (although I did attend a SUNY college and took a class at BU), but earlier this year when the BU men's basketball team made it to the NCAA tournament I was hoping for them to pull out some upsets.
The BU team has had its problems in the past. Miladin Kovacevic beat a fellow student into a coma back in 2008 before escaping to his home country of Serbia. Then just before last season, Malik Alvin got caught stealing a box of condoms at the local Walmart. But the team overcame those setbacks and DJ Rivera and Tiki Mayben were two of the shining stars that helped with that.
Thursday everything turned. First the arrest of Mayben in Troy for cocaine possession and now word is the university has cleaned house; booting five more players from the team, including Rivera and Alvin.
Talk about a mess. I'm guessing we'll get some more news over the next few days including more info on why the other five players were kicked, although it might be obvious why Alvin was on the list. What's worse is that BU is one of only four SUNY schools in the NCAA Division I and, academically speaking, has always been a crown jewel in the SUNY organization. Now it has a national black eye.
I guess I won't be looking forward to next year's NCAA tourney now.
9-24-2009
Fire Breather
I've never been to Dragon*Con but my buddy Bill has, a couple of times. Every year when he comes back he shows off the photos he took and talks about the awesome panels he sat in on or the actors and actresses that he got a chance to meet or the costumed hotties that were running around.
And every year I'm a little jealous. Then this year came around and Bill posted new photos and told new stories and, like before, the thought hit me that I need to go to D*C sometime. Then I looked at a couple of photos that he posted and realized that not only am I probably too old, I don't think I'm geek enough. But I'll be damned if Bill didn't give me two of the most convincing reasons ever to go to Dragon*Con.
If I go, I'm going to be naughty. Very, very naughty...
Oh, and if anyone knows the girl with the paddle, point her this way. I think I want to marry her.
9-19-2009
Body of Work
Jennifer's Body opened last night and, unlike Whiteout, I wasn't deterred in my goal of seeing the film on opening day. It stars Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried in a thriller about a hot high school girl that is possessed by a demon.
But let's face facts; they could have just called this film "Megan's Body" and put up two hours of a naked Megan Fox crossing and uncrossing her legs and it would have done a $100 million opening weekend.
The film is set in the fictitious town of Devil's Kettle, Minnesota which has a famous waterfall that drains into a bottomless pit and never comes out (there really is a Devil's Kettle waterfall, but it's in Grand Marais, MN). Jennifer Check (Fox) and her best friend Anita "Needy" Lesnicky (Seyfried) head to the local watering hole to see a new band called Low Shoulder. It's headed by Nikolai Wolf (Adam Brody), who Jennifer wants to hook up with. It turns out that Nikolai and his band are in town to sacrifice a virgin to Satan for fame and fortune. Little do they know that Jennifer isn't the virgin they think she is and a demon is released during the sacrifice, inhabiting Jennifer...and it's hungry.
The film was penned by Diablo Cody of Juno fame, and while it's billed as a horror/thriller type film, it has as much humor thrown in as gore. There are some bloody scenes, and Jennifer vomiting blue gunk is gross enough, but the humor helps bring the film to a different level. The same type of witty banter and funny twists on phrases that Cody introduced with Juno help give Body a unique feel and will help multiple viewings stay fresh as you catch things you missed previously.
The plot of the film, while not overly involved or original, is helped by the acting of Seyfried. Anyone who has seen "Veronica Mars" will remember her as the dead Lilly Kane from the first season, and the same presence she had there comes to this role. While Megan Fox' acting is fine in the film, Seyfried does most of the heavy lifting.
Filling out the cast of the film are Johnny Simmons as Needy's boyfriend Chip, Kyle Gallner as Colin Gray, and Amy Sedaris as Needy's mother. J.K. Simmons has an awesome role as a teacher, Mr. Wroblewski, and steals most of the scenes he's in.
The director, Karyn Kusama, does a fine job with enough spooky shots to keep you guessing when something is going to jump out at you. The film doesn't break any ground on cinematography or CGI but it's not needed here. Buckets of fake blood are more then enough to get the job done.
As I said, the plot isn't groundbreaking, it's the humor, acting and overall story that make this film enjoyable. It's also not a film that you need to see on the big screen but if you have a free two hours, and you haven't seen District 9 yet, this is probably the best thing in theaters right now. Jennifer's Body may not make a $100 million or win Cody another Oscar but I'm pretty certain most of you who see this in the theater will be quoting it to your friends for months. Can't wait for the DVD to see this again. Four wheels of cheddar out of five for Jennifer's Body.
9-16-2009
Geek Chic
A Norwegian film fan has changed his name from Andreas Jankov to "Julius Andreas Gimli Arn MacGyver Chewbacka Highlander Elesar-Jankov."
"Czar Lord Professor J-Ass Rod Mac the Ass Knife Donkey -Tron Plus Shoe Esquire the Third Sr. PHD.OBGYN al-Tikriti v 2.0.4.69.1 build 40oz" is unimpressed.
9-14-2009
Blackout
I had every intention of seeing Whiteout this weekend but when it came down to it, I couldn't be bothered. Apparently, neither could anyone else. The newest Kate Beckinsale vehicle did a paltry $5.1 million over the weekend to finish in seventh place behind thrillers The Final Destination and Sorority Row, and romantic comedy All About Steve. The top three were Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself with $24 million, 9 with $10.9 and Inglourious Basterds with $6.5 million.
One thing that I didn't do last week was post my review of Basterds but I did, in fact, go see it over it's opening weekend. I liked it well enough but it definitely wasn't up to Tarantino's standards. I liked Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction a lot more than Basterds.
As I posted the other day, I really enjoyed 9 but it doesn't look like it would have won the weekend even if had opened Friday night. Too bad the animated film couldn't pick up some better numbers. I have a feeling that it will pick up on DVD when it comes out. I think it may be more of a slow burn type film that gains fans over time. Plus it debuted during a week when most high school students, at least around here, were starting back to class.
I think one of the biggest missteps that Whiteout made was putting Kate Beckinsale in so many layers of clothing that you can't see most of her best assets. Beckinsale should be required to wear outfits by Victoria's Secret not North Face.
Anyway, I'm skipping Whiteout in the theater, but I will probably check out the DVD. Next up, Jennifer's Body. And let's not be dishonest why that film is on the list; it's all about Megan Fox' body.
9-11-2009
9-10-2009
Count Down
In 2005, Shane Acker wrote and directed an animated short film called 9 which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film, Animated. He didn't win but it was enough to get the ball rolling on a feature length version of his film, and the result opened last night in theaters.
9 tells the story of nine sentient dolls created by a scientist to survive a man-made apocalypse. The same technology that brings all nine of the dolls to life is the legacy the Scientist leaves after his original work was used to create the machines that eventually killed all life on the planet.
The film has a 50's war movie meets steampunk sci-fi aesthetic to it and you'll probably find many reviews comparing this film to The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Iron Giant. It's only fitting that Tim Burton is a producer on the feature length film.
Burton isn't the only big name on this film, however. While Acker's short film didn't have any voice work, a long list of stars were rolled out for the feature film including Elijah Wood as 9, Jennifer Connelly as ass-kicking 7, Crispin Glover, John C. Reilly, Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer as the leader of the ragged bunch, 1. Star Wars fans can also catch veteran voice actor Tom Kane lending his voice to the Dictator.
While the characters and settings in the film have that steampunk vibe that I mentioned, Acker uses modern animation tools to create a fully realized world for his characters to live in. The film is very stunning to see, unfortunately the theater I watched it in didn't have one of the better screens.
The original short film has a running time of about 10 minutes while the feature length film runs about 75. It would be easy for a film with a short running time like that to leave out important plot and/or character development and this film does to a certain extent. As the film progresses we are treated to some of the back story via flashbacks and through the characters 3 and 4 who, while mute, are the historians of the nine.
Unfortunately, even with that information, there is a lack of character development. I don't know if a longer film would have fixed that or if it could have been included in the 75 minute version. While there are cautionary themes about war and technology in the movie, if you look at it as just an action adventure film then you can forgive its lack of character development.
The pace of the film is fast and even if it were longer you wouldn't have been bored. As I mentioned, the visuals were stunning in the film even though they depicted a desolate wasteland. The short film established Acker as a talented animator and the additional people working the feature only added to his vision.
The voice acting was excellent on the film and while the overall tone was somber, there were humorous moments. The film is rated PG-13 and probably deserves it, this isn't a Disney movie where everything turns out happy and cheerful in the end. The story and its themes are sophisticated and adults will be entertained by the film.
I enjoyed 9 more than I did Gamer even though some of the commentary on the current human condition ran parallel in both films. Plus, sometimes, watching a 10" tall burlap doll kicking ass is just as much fun as watching Gerard Butler...although less hot than Amber Valletta even if it is Jennifer Connelly speaking.
I don't know if this film needs to bee seen on the big screen but the visuals are well done and you will definitely appreciate them at that scale. The acting talent fit the film well, there was plenty of action and the plot of the story was interesting. We could have used some more character development but in the end the story didn't suffer. 9 easily take three and a half wheels of cheddar out of five.
9-7-2009
Game on!
Earlier this year when I was looking at the movie releases for the year, May looked like the most loaded month. Then September came along and suddenly it looks to be another full month of films worthy of viewing.
Well, except maybe for Gamer. Since 300 I've been a fan of Gerard Butler, even giving Reign of Fire, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and Timeline another chance, so when I started reading some early info on Gamer I decided to catch it in the theater.
I probably could have skipped it and waited for the DVD. The trailers for the film make it look as if there is more in-game action then there really is and while that's not necessarily a bad thing for a good drama, this film seemed to waste time on flashy cut scenes (a fitting analogy for the video game themed film) rather than build a better plot.
Okay, let's step back just for a second and summarize this film before I get into breaking it down.
The premise behind Gamer is that in the near future Ken Castle, played by Michael C. Hall, has developed a technology that allows live human beings to be controlled like avatars in a game. His first foray into the commercial application of this technology is a game called "Society" which is basically The Sims meets Second Life. With more porn. The next incarnation is "Slayers," which is a first person shooter only with live combatants. The combatants are criminals on death row that are played by gamers, and if they make it through the game 30 times without being killed, they get to go free. Butler's Kable has won 27 games in a row and if he makes it through three more he could be the first Slayer to win.
The potential for Kable to win the game has generated huge ratings numbers around the world as citizens tune in to watch the games progress ala The Running Man or The Truman Show. Making it more acceptable is the fact that Castle was able to create a deal with the US government that makes it legal for prison inmates to volunteer to play in the game.
Through the entire film you feel like the writers and director wanted to make some commentary on today's society and the future it could lead to if we let our digital and online technology rule our worlds. That concept is an admirable goal, but this is an action flick first and overreaching only does a disservice to the entire film. They should have stuck with the balls out action promised in the trailers and left the commentary for someone else.
Anyway, it's not like the film sucks. It doesn't. It just could have been better. On the plus side you have Amber Valletta, Kable's wife Angie, looking hot as fuck in a lot of skimpy outfits as she plays an avatar in "Society," and watching Alison Lohman's Trace call Kyra Sedgwick's Gina Parker Smith a media whore was good for a chuckle. Sedgwick, by the way, has a rockin' body of her own and the formfitting little black dress she wore early on in the film looked great on her.
As I mentioned, Hall plays the game creator Ken Castle and actually does an excellent job as a psycho genius. It's almost like he's practiced that or something. Milo Ventimiglia has a cameo as Rick Rape, a "Society" avatar that gets schooled by Butler's Kable, and Ludacris takes a turn as Brother, the leader of a hacker group called the Humanz who are dedicated to fucking with Castle's gaming empire. Logan Lerman has a cool role as Simon, the gamer behind Kable and Maggie Lawson and James Roday of "Psych" are excellent as cursing pop culture TV pundits (think "Attack of the Show" with less Kevin Pereira).
There are also a long string of cameos through the film including Michael Weston, John de Lancie, Zoe Bell, John Leguizamo, Noel Gugliemi, Keith David, Terry Crews, Aaron Yoo and even UFC veteran Keith Jardine.
As Kable, played by Simon, closes in on his 30th win in "Slayers," the truth behind why he's in the game become more clear. As he asks Simon for more control over his play, his desire to get out of the game and back to his wife and daughter become the driving factor. Brother, Trace and even Gina Parker Smith all play a roll in Kable's inevitable game exit and payback as he goes after Castle to expose him for the maniac he is and put an end to his games.
The production values on the film are really top notch. The film looks great, whether it's in the cut scene type "Society" segments or the "Slayers" gritty run and gun battles through a cityscape right out of Counter-Strike. Even Simon's computer room interface is a game nerd's wet dream.
Unfortunately some of the action suffers from quick cuts, shaky cameras and frantic pacing; this will always be a pet peeve of mine. Some of the in-game "Society" scenes were unnecessary to the advancement of the plot; Angie was whoring herself out as an avatar because it was all she could do while her husband was in prison. We get it, move on. The Humanz suddenly having a way into the prison where Kable was, and helping provide his escape, was tacked on with no explanation and someone, please, tell me exactly what was John Leguizamo's reason for being in this film? And did you really need to cruddy up Zoe Bell just to blow her head off? Couldn't she have been half naked with Valletta in a "Society" segment somewhere?
In the end I guess you could think of this film as Gerard Butler's Johnny Mnemonic. Or, maybe more accurately, if Keanu Reeves' Mnemonic had sex with Angelina Jolie's Hackers and the bastard offspring was raised by Luc Besson as his home school teacher.
As action films go, this wasn't bad. But leave all higher brain functions at the door and don't stare to hard at the plot because it'll just make your brain hurt. Better yet, rent it from Redbox sometime around February. I'll slice off two and a half wheels of cheddar out of five, mostly for the gratuitous assplosions...and the ass. Let's hope Butler's Law Abiding Citizen is better.