And here lies the dangers of anticipation. I wanted American Gangster to be one of the best movies that I have ever seen and that is just a completely unfair level of expectation. What I was left with when I walked out of the theater was an inexplicable level of disappointment over seeing a great film. What the hell is wrong with me? This has a great story, great direction, and great acting, and it wasn’t enough for my greedy ass.
Is there a better genre than cops and gangsters? If I was forced to choose a movie completely based on genre, this is what I would choose. It is such a solid base for a film that once the names Ridley Scott, Denzel Washington, and Russell Crowe appeared I couldn’t help but get excited. And honestly I have been following American Gangster through all of its iterations over the last few years, Don Cheadle and Joaquin Phoenix directed by Terry George and then Denzel Washington and Benicio del Toro directed by Antoine Fuqua, but the final trio probably allowed for the biggest and best version of the story.
The problem, if you want to even call it a problem, was that American Gangster did not become my favorite, Ridley Scott, Denzel Washington, or Russell Crowe movie. The three of them all delivered exactly what you would expect. It hovered near greatness but never truly stepped over the line. The movie looked authentic and never felt long. Ridley kept everything moving even if it meant that many of the great actors were there for just a line or 2 and never fully explored. Denzel turned Frank Lucas into a Denzel character. That has its good and its bad aspects. For one it’s Denzel and he is as consistent as you get but the bad is that he never truly transcends here like he did in Training Day. As for Russell, well the man is game for anything and he takes the lesser of the 2 roles and turns Richie Roberts nearly into Frank Lucas’ equal. Washington and Crowe’s one-on-one scene almost reached the level of DeNiro and Pacino at the coffee shop in Heat and I know no greater level of praise. Oh and before I move on, I want to complement Josh Brolin. That man has truly raised his game this year and was pitch-perfect as the bent cop leaning on Lucas.
Fine, there was all that important stuff to deal with but lets get to the real goods of American Gangster. Should I start with RZA? Because he was there and he had the 70s clothes, and hair, and he was just the RZA except not so much. Plus I would assume the clothes and the hair were all Bobby Digital and there was no wardrobe or wig action going on there. Or how about Joe Morton with the wispy mustache and smoking a pipe? A PIPE! If that doesn’t do it for you then I’ll give you Stringer Bell transported 30 years into the past and acting like Stringer Bell in the late 60s. Okay fine you want more, well maybe you can tell me how with all the Italian actors out there the name that was pulled for American Gangster was Armand Assante. Has he been in a major motion picture since Stiptease? And of course Lucas’ heroin connection would be Ric Young. He is a go-to guy for that role. Just tons of great periphery stuff going on here.
There is a chance that when I look back on American Gangster I will reevaluate my grade. I brought such a high level of anticipation into the theater that I'm unsure that I am grading it with a level head at the moment. There is not much to criticize here but at the same time I am not giving this a 10 out of 10. So I must have wanted something more and I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. I should go back and see it a second time, maybe that will clarify things.
9 out of 10
Sunday, November 11, 2007
TV from 11/4 - 11/10
Sunday (11/4)
Dexter
This show delivers like nobodies business. The previous Doakes storylines come to the forefront now because LaGuerta assumes Doakes is stalking Dexter because Doakes is crazy not because Dexter is actually the Bay Harbor Butcher. That was a nice plot point. Dexter, Rita, and Lila blow up in a spectacular fashion. This is fun because the only reason Dexter went to NA was to please Rita but now through working with Lila he has made some realizations about himself that have pushed him away from Rita. That and he got back to killing for the first time in a few weeks. And he no longer fully believes in Harry’s code so this kill was the first he chose to do instead of fulfilling some kind of need. Plus his conversation with his copycat was more topnotch work by Michael C. Hall. Dex also sleeps with Lila and breaks up with Rita which has been building for weeks. And there was a nice storyline with Deb and Lundy where Deb mistook Lundy working with Dex as replacing her instead of him just hating Masuka because he is an ass. Now that Damages is gone, Dexter has slid right into the best show airing right now.
9 out of 10
Monday (11/5)
Prison Break
Aw man, 2 hours? Alright lets get this over with. First things first, after all the advertising and 2 hours of the show, there was no prison break. There was an attempted break but in the end Michael is still behind bars and Lincoln is still without his son. The only changers were Michael now has to work with his new partner Lechero while finding a way to deal with the two-faced Whistler plus Linc has to deal with lying to his brother. It does look like they found a way to free the entire cast next week with what looks like a military strike on Sona. And Sarah looks to really be dead with continues to be just an awful decision no matter what type of friction it causes between Michael and Linc. I can’t wait for the writer’s strike to stop new episodes of this.
5 out of 10
Chuck
Um, what happened here? Chuck had to go back to Stanford and it was really painful for him. We learned that Bryce may have actually been a good friend to Chuck and that there are many heavily armed Stanford students who actually work for the CIA. That’s good to know. I’m still bored.
5 out of 10
Heroes
Now that was what I was waiting for. The show may be spinning its wheels this season, but at least David Anders gets to be Sark again as the newly revealed big evil Adam Monroe. Does it make up for the interminably long Hiro in ancient Japan storyline? Hells no but at least its over. The other highlight this week was more Professor X style telepathy between Parkman and his dad. I love the idea of locking someone inside their worse memory. That is such a badass power. And so ends the good stuff this week. The rest included Claire turning into every annoying teenage television stereotype, Mohinder becoming spineless, and Peter finds out that he has to stop the end of the world again. And he compounds that by ditching his girlfriend in the apocalyptic future, you suck dude.
6 out of 10
Weeds
Weeds has definitely reestablished itself as the show that I loved during the first 2 seasons. As is the norm for Nancy, every thing goes to shit this week. She runs out of the good weed, the new supplier’s weed sucks, the new supplier then beats the shit out Silas to warn Nancy, and Shane has gone insane. So we now get to switch back to the other great part of Weeds, Nancy scrambling to keep everything afloat. I am pissed that they made Celia enjoyable this week but that was bound to happen when she gets to play scenes against Heylia. I hope the rest of the season continues to have multiple Heylia scenes because she delivers every single time. Nancy’s U-Turn tattoo makes my mourn his passing all over again.
8 out of 10
Tuesday (11/6)
Bones
A George Mason sighting automatically makes this a worthwhile episode. And playing completely against type, he is a jackass in a suit. Please bring him back throughout the season. The other highlights were Angela’s magical abilities kicking in allowing her to see the murder victim immediately after looking at a skull, Booth going on about his gift of a universal remote, and all the Gormagon jokes. Good episode.
7 out of 10
House
Well that was interesting. Definitely one of the lesser episodes this season mainly because when you remove House from the hospital you also remove all of the great scenes he can be having with the rest of the cast. We still got another great House/Wilson conversation with House letting the government know about Wilson smuggling heroin in from Afghanistan. House working with the CIA was fun but it concentrated more on him hitting on Michael Michele than him pissing off G-Men. The Foreman story was weak but had a great ending with House actually supporting him and the random minion without a personality was revealed to be crazy about polio before departing the show. Michelle showing up for a job at the end was weird and I wonder where that will lead. Meaning the cast is already bursting at the seams.
7 out of 10
The Unit
What the hell? After 2 plus seasons without killing any significant cast members, now they start killing folk? If it is followed up on it can improve the show by adding that level of danger to their missions but I highly doubt Jonas, Bob, or Mack will ever be on the chopping block. Goodbye secondary black guy, I never knew anything about you. I fast forwarded through all the stuff back at the base so I have no idea what the wives were doing.
6 out of 10
Reaper
What the hell? Is Andi MacGyver’s daughter? Of all the characters to build a hidden lounge inside all of the television boxes in storage, I would never have guessed Andi or guessed at all because it was just stupid. At least this week’s episode was funnier than last weeks with all the 70s jokes. Still, I don’t really have a lot to say about Reaper.
5 out of 10
Wednesday (11/7)
Bionic Woman
Ah well, I knew this was where the show was going but it still disappointed me. I miss Sarah Corvus and replacing her with Jaime whining about her new boyfriend is not an equal trade. The Paris plotline just grinded to a halt with all of her annoying actions but once again she whips out a version of a hurricarana and I can’t stay all that mad. Jonas signing out her sister after she was caught drunk driving was fun because Jonas rules. Please get back on track.
5 out of 10
Life
Nina Myers! I love you Nina, come back to 24. So it was great to see Nina pop up but an extended scene where people play Prince of Persia? Really? That was just odd. And once again the overarching investigation by Charlie is sidelined and it hurts the quality of the episode. The little that is revealed is interesting because it implicates his partner’s father. That could be fun down the line. Plus next week looks to be heavy into that story instead of the crime of the week.
5 out of 10
Thursday (11/8)
Smallville
God, I knew this was coming but evil Lana is just awful. The whole episode collapsed once she started wearing dark clothes and stalking Lex with her new powers. There was some fun stuff around the edges. Clark and Lex having a nice moment talking about who Lana has become. Plus there was more Lionel out-acting the entire cast. And Chloe gets to have a nice moment where she threatens Lana if her actions hurt Clark. The Lois subplot is just a waste of Erica Durance even if it does lead to her walking out of a hospital with her gown open in the back. Hey, but at least Brainiac will be returning soon.
4 out of 10
Well that was the first bad week. Only Dexter and Weeds deliver quality episodes while everyone else range from bad to okay. Man, Showtime has become a really good channel for original programming. Once this season of The Wire airs, HBO will lose its place as the best pay channel.
Dexter
This show delivers like nobodies business. The previous Doakes storylines come to the forefront now because LaGuerta assumes Doakes is stalking Dexter because Doakes is crazy not because Dexter is actually the Bay Harbor Butcher. That was a nice plot point. Dexter, Rita, and Lila blow up in a spectacular fashion. This is fun because the only reason Dexter went to NA was to please Rita but now through working with Lila he has made some realizations about himself that have pushed him away from Rita. That and he got back to killing for the first time in a few weeks. And he no longer fully believes in Harry’s code so this kill was the first he chose to do instead of fulfilling some kind of need. Plus his conversation with his copycat was more topnotch work by Michael C. Hall. Dex also sleeps with Lila and breaks up with Rita which has been building for weeks. And there was a nice storyline with Deb and Lundy where Deb mistook Lundy working with Dex as replacing her instead of him just hating Masuka because he is an ass. Now that Damages is gone, Dexter has slid right into the best show airing right now.
9 out of 10
Monday (11/5)
Prison Break
Aw man, 2 hours? Alright lets get this over with. First things first, after all the advertising and 2 hours of the show, there was no prison break. There was an attempted break but in the end Michael is still behind bars and Lincoln is still without his son. The only changers were Michael now has to work with his new partner Lechero while finding a way to deal with the two-faced Whistler plus Linc has to deal with lying to his brother. It does look like they found a way to free the entire cast next week with what looks like a military strike on Sona. And Sarah looks to really be dead with continues to be just an awful decision no matter what type of friction it causes between Michael and Linc. I can’t wait for the writer’s strike to stop new episodes of this.
5 out of 10
Chuck
Um, what happened here? Chuck had to go back to Stanford and it was really painful for him. We learned that Bryce may have actually been a good friend to Chuck and that there are many heavily armed Stanford students who actually work for the CIA. That’s good to know. I’m still bored.
5 out of 10
Heroes
Now that was what I was waiting for. The show may be spinning its wheels this season, but at least David Anders gets to be Sark again as the newly revealed big evil Adam Monroe. Does it make up for the interminably long Hiro in ancient Japan storyline? Hells no but at least its over. The other highlight this week was more Professor X style telepathy between Parkman and his dad. I love the idea of locking someone inside their worse memory. That is such a badass power. And so ends the good stuff this week. The rest included Claire turning into every annoying teenage television stereotype, Mohinder becoming spineless, and Peter finds out that he has to stop the end of the world again. And he compounds that by ditching his girlfriend in the apocalyptic future, you suck dude.
6 out of 10
Weeds
Weeds has definitely reestablished itself as the show that I loved during the first 2 seasons. As is the norm for Nancy, every thing goes to shit this week. She runs out of the good weed, the new supplier’s weed sucks, the new supplier then beats the shit out Silas to warn Nancy, and Shane has gone insane. So we now get to switch back to the other great part of Weeds, Nancy scrambling to keep everything afloat. I am pissed that they made Celia enjoyable this week but that was bound to happen when she gets to play scenes against Heylia. I hope the rest of the season continues to have multiple Heylia scenes because she delivers every single time. Nancy’s U-Turn tattoo makes my mourn his passing all over again.
8 out of 10
Tuesday (11/6)
Bones
A George Mason sighting automatically makes this a worthwhile episode. And playing completely against type, he is a jackass in a suit. Please bring him back throughout the season. The other highlights were Angela’s magical abilities kicking in allowing her to see the murder victim immediately after looking at a skull, Booth going on about his gift of a universal remote, and all the Gormagon jokes. Good episode.
7 out of 10
House
Well that was interesting. Definitely one of the lesser episodes this season mainly because when you remove House from the hospital you also remove all of the great scenes he can be having with the rest of the cast. We still got another great House/Wilson conversation with House letting the government know about Wilson smuggling heroin in from Afghanistan. House working with the CIA was fun but it concentrated more on him hitting on Michael Michele than him pissing off G-Men. The Foreman story was weak but had a great ending with House actually supporting him and the random minion without a personality was revealed to be crazy about polio before departing the show. Michelle showing up for a job at the end was weird and I wonder where that will lead. Meaning the cast is already bursting at the seams.
7 out of 10
The Unit
What the hell? After 2 plus seasons without killing any significant cast members, now they start killing folk? If it is followed up on it can improve the show by adding that level of danger to their missions but I highly doubt Jonas, Bob, or Mack will ever be on the chopping block. Goodbye secondary black guy, I never knew anything about you. I fast forwarded through all the stuff back at the base so I have no idea what the wives were doing.
6 out of 10
Reaper
What the hell? Is Andi MacGyver’s daughter? Of all the characters to build a hidden lounge inside all of the television boxes in storage, I would never have guessed Andi or guessed at all because it was just stupid. At least this week’s episode was funnier than last weeks with all the 70s jokes. Still, I don’t really have a lot to say about Reaper.
5 out of 10
Wednesday (11/7)
Bionic Woman
Ah well, I knew this was where the show was going but it still disappointed me. I miss Sarah Corvus and replacing her with Jaime whining about her new boyfriend is not an equal trade. The Paris plotline just grinded to a halt with all of her annoying actions but once again she whips out a version of a hurricarana and I can’t stay all that mad. Jonas signing out her sister after she was caught drunk driving was fun because Jonas rules. Please get back on track.
5 out of 10
Life
Nina Myers! I love you Nina, come back to 24. So it was great to see Nina pop up but an extended scene where people play Prince of Persia? Really? That was just odd. And once again the overarching investigation by Charlie is sidelined and it hurts the quality of the episode. The little that is revealed is interesting because it implicates his partner’s father. That could be fun down the line. Plus next week looks to be heavy into that story instead of the crime of the week.
5 out of 10
Thursday (11/8)
Smallville
God, I knew this was coming but evil Lana is just awful. The whole episode collapsed once she started wearing dark clothes and stalking Lex with her new powers. There was some fun stuff around the edges. Clark and Lex having a nice moment talking about who Lana has become. Plus there was more Lionel out-acting the entire cast. And Chloe gets to have a nice moment where she threatens Lana if her actions hurt Clark. The Lois subplot is just a waste of Erica Durance even if it does lead to her walking out of a hospital with her gown open in the back. Hey, but at least Brainiac will be returning soon.
4 out of 10
Well that was the first bad week. Only Dexter and Weeds deliver quality episodes while everyone else range from bad to okay. Man, Showtime has become a really good channel for original programming. Once this season of The Wire airs, HBO will lose its place as the best pay channel.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
TV from 10/28 - 11/03
Sunday (10/28)
Dexter
We got lots and lots of revelations in another great Dexter episode. I don’t know if I am in support of Harry maybe being Dexter’s biological father, but the journey taken to get there is well worth it. The confrontation between Dexter and the surviving killer of his mother was another fantastic scene. Numerous great scenes supported this with Dexter and his sponsor on their road trip to this meeting. There was a good story for Deb this week with her flipping out on her boyfriend when she misconstrues the title of his next book. They even calmed some of my annoyance over LaGuerta screwing her way to Lieutenant by having Doakes call her out. Doakes rules. There looks to be some great Bay Harbor Butcher stuff this week.
8 out of 10
Monday (10/29)
Chuck
Let’s get this over with. We get Chuck messing around with his evil counterpart while being annoyed with both his handlers. There was also another Morgan storyline where he needs to grow up which at least had a ridiculous scene with him and Captain Awesome. Best part was using Bond movies as a running joke; that will always get you on my good side. I'm still no caring about Chuck.
5 out of 10
Heroes
Damnit. I thought that having a strong Bennet storyline would create badassness again, but it just can’t overcome my lack of caring for other arcs. Bennet torturing his Russian mentor was as good as I hoped it would be. There were a bunch of great moments with the Haitian just being such a great weapon and it was topped off with the excellent final moments where Bennet acknowledges what he is doing before killing the guy. After Bennet, I’d go with Sylar as the next best arc in the episode. I may not care about the eyes bleeding black siblings, but I will always get behind using the brother’s inability to speak English as an excuse to just tell him that he will be killing his sister soon. Hiro in ancient China is still dragging ass. Mohinder choosing not to poison the New Orleans mimic is not a big reveal at all. Plus that is one magical iPod if it contains any action that she will ever want to learn. And Peter jumps to the future so we can finally learn what needs to be stopped this time around. Maybe this big revelation will lead to stronger and more focused episodes. Where’s Electro Mars?
6 out of 10
Weeds
Now we are freaking cooking with gas. Outside of way too much Conrad ass, I have absolutely zero complaints with this episode. This show is so much better when Nancy at least has the allusion of control. I’ve been waiting years for her to put that knife to Celia’s throat, but the wait was worth it. This was made even better when Nancy had to go back to Celia in order to use her home as a grow-house. Celia’s a punk. It was great how just about every secondary character on the show ran into each other at Celia’s. And once again the formula works, multiple scenes of Heylia and Conrad equal a great episode. I even liked the Andy storyline because it is obviously leading to the next hurdle for Nancy to jump. Fantastic episode.
9 out of 10
Californication
Californication definitely redeemed itself with quality episodes down the homestretch and then delivering a better than expected finale. There were some obvious choices that could have been made, but they avoided having Hank making a scene or Mia sending Hank to jail so I was all in favor of this episode. Hank’s dreams at the beginning were weak because they were obvious but they did get rid of the Hank sweeping Karen away at her wedding scene. Instead Hank was awesome at the wedding, putting the ball in Karen’s court, dealing with Becca’s first period, putting Charlie and his wife back together, and defusing Mia’s breakdown. Mia still sucks and I am still annoyed that she is going to get away with stealing Hank’s book but at least she is not sending Hank to jail. The ending was fun because it easily leads into the second season since Karen did marry Bill even if she runs off with Hank. Bill sucks almost as much as his daughter.
8 out of 10
Tuesday (10/30)
Bones
Bones in a Wonder Woman costume, Angela in whatever her costume was, and Cam dressed as Catwoman automatically make this an improvement over last week. Throw in a Rider Strong appearance and we have the makings of a great episode. Azura Skye bounces from House to Bones this week and acts completely insane as usual. Bones, Hodgins, and Zack sending everyone out of the room to use logic in peace was a great moment which got even better when Zack recognizes Einstein as an acceptable source when they start making assumptions. This was one of the better Bones episodes of this season
7 out of 10
House
I was prepared to be letdown with this week’s episode. The return of Foreman could have ruined the great chemistry that this season had but for now everything is still working smoothly. I actually like the idea that by the end of the story Foreman has accepted the fact that he is House Jr. and this is where he belongs. As long as House can continue to manipulate his new minions this season will continue with its greatness. The magic patient revealing everyone’s inner truth was weak, but it did lead to the best moment of the episode where House and Cuddy use the guy to test who has the power in their relationship. This comes after the great conversation House tells Cuddy that he knows when she swaps his Vicodin but does she know when he switches her birth control. House rules. I am starting to get annoyed with the lack of Wilson in these episodes hopefully this will be rectified before it causes a shitty episode.
8 out of 10
The Unit
Now that was just a weird story. Crazy pop singer secretly performs in Iraq? Is this based on something that really happened? If not, this was not that good especially when Jonas changes her life with the power of his convictions. Bah. The other main storyline did work. Bob and Randy Couture were amusing if only for Couture running around in a suit. That’s just funny. And once again we dilute the episode even more by having a third arc going on with Hector getting a girlfriend. This is acceptable only for the big reveal at the end where he sees Mack’s wife leaving a hotel room with Robert Patric. Hey that storyline began back when I was watching this show during the first season!
5 out of 10
Reaper
This would have been the worst episode of the season if it weren’t for Patton Oswalt at least making it amusing. Or it could be that only I will like it because he was the man who shot President McKinley. I love historical humor! And from that point Patton is just making as many jokes as he can possible fit into an episode. This covers the fact that the other escaped soul wasn’t even developed and the rest of the time Sam was snapping at everyone. It was a boring hour and was probably the worst episode so far.
4 out of 10
Wednesday (10/31)
Life
The Dani storyline bored me to the point of fast forwarding about half of the episode. I think I only stopped to watch Charlie on a stakeout with Lt. Calamity Jane and Adam Arkin reading the book about his crimes. And since those were about 5 minutes of the episode, I can’t say that I liked this episode. Drunk Dani should work as a character arc but I just don’t seem to care.
5 out of 10
Thursday (11/1)
Smallville
How the fudge did Clark get the crystal? And why the hell is he keeping it from Kara? I will never be able to buy Clark as evil. Plus they are going full steam with this shifty Lana stuff and it is killing me. Its also shaping up to be the major story for the season. Kill me now. Hey except for these 2 points, I liked this episode. Lionel shows up for another episode and continues to be the best thing on the show. He has great scenes with Clark, Lex, and gets to kill the wacky federal agent. Helen Slater gets to be another Super-returning star as old school Supergirl gets to be Clark’s mom. As for keeping track of the girls, lots of Kara, normal amount of Lana, minimal Chloe, no Lois. Bah.
6 out of 10
I should cut the amount of shows I review down to 10 because this was 11 and it was much easier. 10 would be a walk in the park. We'll see how I feel about Chuck, The Unit, Reaper, and Life in the next few weeks. Weeds was easily the best show this week and I'll put Californication in second place since it is the final episode of their season.
Dexter
We got lots and lots of revelations in another great Dexter episode. I don’t know if I am in support of Harry maybe being Dexter’s biological father, but the journey taken to get there is well worth it. The confrontation between Dexter and the surviving killer of his mother was another fantastic scene. Numerous great scenes supported this with Dexter and his sponsor on their road trip to this meeting. There was a good story for Deb this week with her flipping out on her boyfriend when she misconstrues the title of his next book. They even calmed some of my annoyance over LaGuerta screwing her way to Lieutenant by having Doakes call her out. Doakes rules. There looks to be some great Bay Harbor Butcher stuff this week.
8 out of 10
Monday (10/29)
Chuck
Let’s get this over with. We get Chuck messing around with his evil counterpart while being annoyed with both his handlers. There was also another Morgan storyline where he needs to grow up which at least had a ridiculous scene with him and Captain Awesome. Best part was using Bond movies as a running joke; that will always get you on my good side. I'm still no caring about Chuck.
5 out of 10
Heroes
Damnit. I thought that having a strong Bennet storyline would create badassness again, but it just can’t overcome my lack of caring for other arcs. Bennet torturing his Russian mentor was as good as I hoped it would be. There were a bunch of great moments with the Haitian just being such a great weapon and it was topped off with the excellent final moments where Bennet acknowledges what he is doing before killing the guy. After Bennet, I’d go with Sylar as the next best arc in the episode. I may not care about the eyes bleeding black siblings, but I will always get behind using the brother’s inability to speak English as an excuse to just tell him that he will be killing his sister soon. Hiro in ancient China is still dragging ass. Mohinder choosing not to poison the New Orleans mimic is not a big reveal at all. Plus that is one magical iPod if it contains any action that she will ever want to learn. And Peter jumps to the future so we can finally learn what needs to be stopped this time around. Maybe this big revelation will lead to stronger and more focused episodes. Where’s Electro Mars?
6 out of 10
Weeds
Now we are freaking cooking with gas. Outside of way too much Conrad ass, I have absolutely zero complaints with this episode. This show is so much better when Nancy at least has the allusion of control. I’ve been waiting years for her to put that knife to Celia’s throat, but the wait was worth it. This was made even better when Nancy had to go back to Celia in order to use her home as a grow-house. Celia’s a punk. It was great how just about every secondary character on the show ran into each other at Celia’s. And once again the formula works, multiple scenes of Heylia and Conrad equal a great episode. I even liked the Andy storyline because it is obviously leading to the next hurdle for Nancy to jump. Fantastic episode.
9 out of 10
Californication
Californication definitely redeemed itself with quality episodes down the homestretch and then delivering a better than expected finale. There were some obvious choices that could have been made, but they avoided having Hank making a scene or Mia sending Hank to jail so I was all in favor of this episode. Hank’s dreams at the beginning were weak because they were obvious but they did get rid of the Hank sweeping Karen away at her wedding scene. Instead Hank was awesome at the wedding, putting the ball in Karen’s court, dealing with Becca’s first period, putting Charlie and his wife back together, and defusing Mia’s breakdown. Mia still sucks and I am still annoyed that she is going to get away with stealing Hank’s book but at least she is not sending Hank to jail. The ending was fun because it easily leads into the second season since Karen did marry Bill even if she runs off with Hank. Bill sucks almost as much as his daughter.
8 out of 10
Tuesday (10/30)
Bones
Bones in a Wonder Woman costume, Angela in whatever her costume was, and Cam dressed as Catwoman automatically make this an improvement over last week. Throw in a Rider Strong appearance and we have the makings of a great episode. Azura Skye bounces from House to Bones this week and acts completely insane as usual. Bones, Hodgins, and Zack sending everyone out of the room to use logic in peace was a great moment which got even better when Zack recognizes Einstein as an acceptable source when they start making assumptions. This was one of the better Bones episodes of this season
7 out of 10
House
I was prepared to be letdown with this week’s episode. The return of Foreman could have ruined the great chemistry that this season had but for now everything is still working smoothly. I actually like the idea that by the end of the story Foreman has accepted the fact that he is House Jr. and this is where he belongs. As long as House can continue to manipulate his new minions this season will continue with its greatness. The magic patient revealing everyone’s inner truth was weak, but it did lead to the best moment of the episode where House and Cuddy use the guy to test who has the power in their relationship. This comes after the great conversation House tells Cuddy that he knows when she swaps his Vicodin but does she know when he switches her birth control. House rules. I am starting to get annoyed with the lack of Wilson in these episodes hopefully this will be rectified before it causes a shitty episode.
8 out of 10
The Unit
Now that was just a weird story. Crazy pop singer secretly performs in Iraq? Is this based on something that really happened? If not, this was not that good especially when Jonas changes her life with the power of his convictions. Bah. The other main storyline did work. Bob and Randy Couture were amusing if only for Couture running around in a suit. That’s just funny. And once again we dilute the episode even more by having a third arc going on with Hector getting a girlfriend. This is acceptable only for the big reveal at the end where he sees Mack’s wife leaving a hotel room with Robert Patric. Hey that storyline began back when I was watching this show during the first season!
5 out of 10
Reaper
This would have been the worst episode of the season if it weren’t for Patton Oswalt at least making it amusing. Or it could be that only I will like it because he was the man who shot President McKinley. I love historical humor! And from that point Patton is just making as many jokes as he can possible fit into an episode. This covers the fact that the other escaped soul wasn’t even developed and the rest of the time Sam was snapping at everyone. It was a boring hour and was probably the worst episode so far.
4 out of 10
Wednesday (10/31)
Life
The Dani storyline bored me to the point of fast forwarding about half of the episode. I think I only stopped to watch Charlie on a stakeout with Lt. Calamity Jane and Adam Arkin reading the book about his crimes. And since those were about 5 minutes of the episode, I can’t say that I liked this episode. Drunk Dani should work as a character arc but I just don’t seem to care.
5 out of 10
Thursday (11/1)
Smallville
How the fudge did Clark get the crystal? And why the hell is he keeping it from Kara? I will never be able to buy Clark as evil. Plus they are going full steam with this shifty Lana stuff and it is killing me. Its also shaping up to be the major story for the season. Kill me now. Hey except for these 2 points, I liked this episode. Lionel shows up for another episode and continues to be the best thing on the show. He has great scenes with Clark, Lex, and gets to kill the wacky federal agent. Helen Slater gets to be another Super-returning star as old school Supergirl gets to be Clark’s mom. As for keeping track of the girls, lots of Kara, normal amount of Lana, minimal Chloe, no Lois. Bah.
6 out of 10
I should cut the amount of shows I review down to 10 because this was 11 and it was much easier. 10 would be a walk in the park. We'll see how I feel about Chuck, The Unit, Reaper, and Life in the next few weeks. Weeds was easily the best show this week and I'll put Californication in second place since it is the final episode of their season.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The 2007 List (12)
- Into the Wild
- Michaal Clayton
- Zodiac
- Gone Baby Gone
- Eastern Promises
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
- The Lookout
- 3:10 to Yuma
- Talk to Me
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- In the Valley of Elah
- Grindhouse
- Breach
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- The Kingdom
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- Hot Fuzz
- Stardust
- Reign Over Me
- Rescue Dawn
- 300
- Black Snake Moan
- Superbad
- Hairspray
- Ocean's Thirteen
- Live Free or Die Hard
- The Simpsons Movie
- The Brave One
- We Own the Night
- Spider-Man 3
- The Darjeeling Limited
- Rendition
- Mr. Brooks
- Smokin' Aces
- 30 Days of Night
- Transformers
- Shoot'em Up
- Resident Evil: Extinction
- DOA
- Shooter
- Halloween
- Blades of Glory
- Reno 911!: Miami
- 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
- The Condemned
- Ghost Rider
- The Pathfinder
And so ends what has to be the best month of 2007. I do not see how November or December can surpass these past 31 days. After making the same complaint after every summer month, October comes through and rearranges my top 5. I would be completely happy with either Into the Wild or Michael Clayton as showpiece for 2007. Still, I am hungry for more and I hope to be floored by American Gangster this weekend.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Now that is a goddamned movie title. Don’t worry; I am willing to wait 2 years. I believe I may still have been in college when I first heard about The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Here we are years later and it is obvious why this movie would sit on a shelf for an extended period of time. Two hours and forty minutes of a talky Western may not have been for the wider audience, but it sure as hell was right up my alley.
This is a Western only insofar as it takes place in the West. There was one robbery and horses were ridden and guns were fired but this was a different animal. Instead The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was a detailed character study of Jesse James and Robert Ford in the months leading up to the inevitable. And by inevitable I mean Ford kills James, hopefully that doesn’t ruin the movie for you. This was a beautifully shot film. The scenery, the interiors, the weather, every tool was used to establish the unique tone of the story. On top of that, there was a reoccurring voiceover that felt like the introduction to each new chapter in the film. Even the music wasn't your typical Western style, it felt more whimsical and was another correct choice. I can’t really even compare this to another movie and I appreciate that kind of breath of fresh air.
There were 2 equally phenomenal performances that highlight this movie. Since Jesse James’ name is listed first in the title, I’ll start off with Brad Pitt. These are the roles that solidify his status as a top-shelf actor. All of his skills are on display. To play Jesse James he had to have the right mixture of charisma and menace to make it believable that this man would drive people to follow him while at the same time scare people just with the mention of his name. There were always wheels turning when he was in a scene. Everyone would be reacting to his presence and Pitt played the notes perfectly. Every conversation he had was a contest that he was winning. On the same level was Casey Affleck. The role of Robert Ford was just as difficult because the entire movie would fall apart if the audience turns on Ford. This was something that has to be seen to believe. You can clearly see each change that he goes through on his road from hero worship to assassin. From his first scene in the forest sucking up to both James brothers to the dinner scene where he and Pitt square off after Wood is killed to his ego when he walks into the Governor’s mansion, there are nuances on top of nuances in Affleck’s performance. The supporting roles may not have been filled with heavyweights, but Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner, Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt, and Mary Louise Parker all do fantastic work. The conversation between Pitt and Dillahunt was just an amazing piece of work. In a movie that was all about the characters and less about shoot-outs, everyone took care of business.
I am very glad that The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford finally landed in theaters. It may not have been what I originally thought it would be, but that does not stop it from being a thing of beauty. Very few movies could accomplish what was done here and I appreciate that Andrew Dominik pulled of his vision for this story. Hopefully this finds an audience because the work done by Pitt and Affleck should be seen by more than me and the three other guys in the theater with me.
9 out of 10
This is a Western only insofar as it takes place in the West. There was one robbery and horses were ridden and guns were fired but this was a different animal. Instead The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was a detailed character study of Jesse James and Robert Ford in the months leading up to the inevitable. And by inevitable I mean Ford kills James, hopefully that doesn’t ruin the movie for you. This was a beautifully shot film. The scenery, the interiors, the weather, every tool was used to establish the unique tone of the story. On top of that, there was a reoccurring voiceover that felt like the introduction to each new chapter in the film. Even the music wasn't your typical Western style, it felt more whimsical and was another correct choice. I can’t really even compare this to another movie and I appreciate that kind of breath of fresh air.
There were 2 equally phenomenal performances that highlight this movie. Since Jesse James’ name is listed first in the title, I’ll start off with Brad Pitt. These are the roles that solidify his status as a top-shelf actor. All of his skills are on display. To play Jesse James he had to have the right mixture of charisma and menace to make it believable that this man would drive people to follow him while at the same time scare people just with the mention of his name. There were always wheels turning when he was in a scene. Everyone would be reacting to his presence and Pitt played the notes perfectly. Every conversation he had was a contest that he was winning. On the same level was Casey Affleck. The role of Robert Ford was just as difficult because the entire movie would fall apart if the audience turns on Ford. This was something that has to be seen to believe. You can clearly see each change that he goes through on his road from hero worship to assassin. From his first scene in the forest sucking up to both James brothers to the dinner scene where he and Pitt square off after Wood is killed to his ego when he walks into the Governor’s mansion, there are nuances on top of nuances in Affleck’s performance. The supporting roles may not have been filled with heavyweights, but Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner, Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt, and Mary Louise Parker all do fantastic work. The conversation between Pitt and Dillahunt was just an amazing piece of work. In a movie that was all about the characters and less about shoot-outs, everyone took care of business.
I am very glad that The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford finally landed in theaters. It may not have been what I originally thought it would be, but that does not stop it from being a thing of beauty. Very few movies could accomplish what was done here and I appreciate that Andrew Dominik pulled of his vision for this story. Hopefully this finds an audience because the work done by Pitt and Affleck should be seen by more than me and the three other guys in the theater with me.
9 out of 10
Sunday, October 28, 2007
TV from 10/21 - 10/27
Sunday (10/21)
Dexter
Well, there was bound to be a letdown after the previous week. This was my least favorite episode of the season. There were a couple points that I just didn’t like. The main one was the revelation that LaGuerta was sleeping with Pascal’s fiancée just to screw with her mind so she will get fired. That is just too soapy for me. The other revelations with Dexter and Rita’s mom and Dexter and his sponsor were fine. Dexter is at its best when he is scrambling to cover his ass. The side story of Doakes killing a fellow soldier felt like they just wanted to give him something to do since he isn’t involved with the Bay Harbor Butcher. There is always time for naked Deb.
7 out of 10
Monday (10/22)
Prison Break
More of the same, there really isn’t much to distinguish between episodes of Prison Break. Michael schemes for a way out, Linc schemes of a way out, T-Bag schemes in general, and all the other characters pop in and out. I did like how even though he is out of his mind; Mahone finds the information that Michael needs to escape. Mahone and Michael working together will be fun if they go in that direction. I have no idea where T-Bag’s arc is heading. The previews for the next episode show Linc manhandling that chick that has been giving him orders which is about time. Plus it means that maybe there is going to be some overall movement on the season’s story.
5 out of 10
Chuck
I really wish I like this show more. It seems like it has everything I would want but I just don’t get excited to watch new episodes. This week we get Chinese food and Chinese spies. There is some nonsense with Morgan being and awful salesman along with Chuck not being there for his sister or his friend. But everything works out in the end and Sarah gets to here how important Mother’s Day is to Chuck and his sister. Monday at 8 o’clock is not delivering the goods.
5 out of 10
Heroes
Oh my god does the show need to cull about half the cast. I am starting to doubt if this show can be great again if there continue to be 5 separate storylines in every single episode. This week we get the mimic of New Orleans, Mohinder and Molly, Matt’s evil Dad, Ando and ancient Hiro, and Veronica Mars as Electro. That means we had no movement on the Bennets or Sylar. There were a few good moments this week. Matt’s dad pulls a Professor X so that was fun to see how far they will push the power of telepathy. It was nice to see Kristen Bell since she is a great actress and I wonder if that was Keith Mars on the phone. Peter is going to Canada now? That is his big journey this season? Micah and his cousin were boring me but with Mohinder showing up we will finally see some movement with that arc. The Hiro stuff is plodding along and losing steam. All of this will be forgotten if next week is all Daddy Bennet rolling with Haitian.
7 out of 10
Weeds
It is nice to hate a character as much as I hate Celia. The writers have to be doing this on purpose and the previews show Nancy putting a knife to her throat so they understand what will pop their audience. After a season of Nancy scrambling, it is fun to see her in control and being comfortable in her drug dealing shoes. Watching her admonish her son as an employee then switch and console him as his mother was fantastic. Celia and Heylia together were awesome and I pray it leads to Heylia kicking her ass at some point. Best episode of the season.
9 out of 10
Californication
What a great recovery for Californication after that craptastic episode a couple of weeks ago. Mia and Dani are still awful to the point that it has to lead to a huge confrontation. Although it looks like Mia may actually regret what she is doing to Hank even thought no matter what she is Hank is screwed over the whole sex with the underage daughter of your wife’s fiancée thing. Becca moving in with Hank was done well and it led to some good scenes with Hank and Karen. I also liked that Charlie wasn’t an idiot and recognized that Mia was selling Hank’s book. The nice comeback has made me look forward to the season finale.
7 out of 10
Tuesday (10/23)
Bones
Hey look its Tasha Yar! You can’t get much better than that. Well, there was a nice interrogation moment where they got to reveal to the killer that she didn’t kill her father’s lover instead she killed her half sister. That was good times. I don’t know about Bones and Booth going to a psychologist but at least it lead to a bunch of good lines. Not much more to say, this was your basic Bones episode.
6 out of 10
House
This is shaping up to be my favorite season so far. I never would have thought that the show would still be great if you removed Chase, Cameron, and Foreman as House’s minions. But here we are and there hasn’t been a bad episode yet. Giving House all of these doctors to abuse has given the writers new opportunities to show House at his manipulative best. Sadly this week had about 5 seconds of Wilson, that is not enough time for he and House to work their magic. In his place we have Foreman getting his comeuppance for ever thinking he was better than House. Watching him get denied for every position he applied for was fun but Cuddy hiring him back makes no sense. It is clear that House is putting together a new team, which is what she wants, but now she hires back Foreman without talking to House first. We’ll see how things work out. It is also great that all of the newbies are starting to gain personality before their eventual firing. As for this week, the patient was in the last season of Buffy so that was cool and who doesn’t like a diagnosis of hallucinations caused by poisoning? Plus they dug up a corpse and the Mormon punched House … great episode.
9 out of 10
The Unit
It was bound to happen so I am not shocked to watch an episode of The Unit where much of it was in fast forward. There were multiple stories back at the base, which means that I can skip Bob trying to be dad and husband and Tiffy needs a job. Though Tiffy stripping could be fun. The unit in action was decent but nothing all that memorable. It was more about Mack than Jonas so that is a step down. Hopefully it can back up to speed next week.
5 out of 10
Reaper
Neon green slime soul was the bad special effects monster of the week. This was decent because the vessel was bad Christmas sweater and the 3 guys had to go dumpster diving to find the missing sweater. There was some nice movement on the overall storylines, with Sam’s dad acting nefarious and Andi growing tired of Sam’s disappearances. The way this show goes, she must truly love him for her to even speak to him after all the times he has no-showed her. On top of all that, we got a nice menacing final scene where the Devil actually acts like the Devil.
7 out of 10
Damages
Ah, I wouldn’t call this a letdown but this was not where I thought things were heading. I should have seen it once they showed that the older lawyer that Ellen trusted was working with some unknown party. The whole compass of the show changes if Patty really ordered a hit on Ellen which is clear she did with Uncle Pete letting the killer in and Patty breaking down at the cottage over it. But then again, The Shield has survived having Vic kill a fellow cop in cold blood in the initial episode while not even turning Vic into the bad guy. I also don’t know if there was a need to introduce Patty’s dead baby unless it was just to compare how her baby died and now she tried to kill daughter-like underling. The flipside was how great the scene between Patty and Frobisher. Close and Danson did some unbelievable work throughout this season. I hope they find a way to keep Frobisher alive if there is a second season. Even though I am not completely behind the plot-twist, Ellen working for Patty again so that she can prove who killed David while trying to bring down Patty could work.
8 out of 10
Wednesday (10/24)
Bionic Woman
Now I am not so sure about this show. I knew Sarah Corvus was not going to be there for much of the first season because Katee Sackhoff has the more important Battlestar Galactica to film. What that means for Bionic Woman is that they have to go in another direction and they chose Jaime gets a secret agent boyfriend. That is definitely a step down. If it wasn’t for great scenes with Antonio and Nathan, this could have been an outright bad episode. And how the hell did Jaime go away to college for what looks like at least a week without her sister wondering what the hell is going on? Worse than that, it looks like next week will be more of the same. Still, there was a great fight scene with Jaime getting jumped by the mind-controlled guy and that is what I ask from this show.
6 out of 10
Life
Yes! Garret Dillahunt is one of my favorite actors coming out of Deadwood. If his Roman character becomes reoccurring, Life has just jumped up a bunch of rungs on the ladder. For his scenes alone this was a fantastic episode. You had the scene where they bring him in while he sits alone eating in his club’s kitchen, all of his interrogation room scenes, and his phone call to Charlie at the end. Charlie tracking down and beating the guy who attacked his lawyer was okay but I prefer Charlie going after the conspiracy as his side story. And it looks like Roman’s phone call will lead to something next week.
7 out of 10
Thursday (10/25)
6 out of 10
This is a little disappointing because I would have hoped that that the season finale of Damages would be the best episode of the week. But that is not the case. I'll give Weeds the top slot with House falling into right in the second slot. With Damages ending with Weeds and Californication following soon and the World Series screwing things up, this should be the last week of insanity (14 reviews) until the new year.
Dexter
Well, there was bound to be a letdown after the previous week. This was my least favorite episode of the season. There were a couple points that I just didn’t like. The main one was the revelation that LaGuerta was sleeping with Pascal’s fiancée just to screw with her mind so she will get fired. That is just too soapy for me. The other revelations with Dexter and Rita’s mom and Dexter and his sponsor were fine. Dexter is at its best when he is scrambling to cover his ass. The side story of Doakes killing a fellow soldier felt like they just wanted to give him something to do since he isn’t involved with the Bay Harbor Butcher. There is always time for naked Deb.
7 out of 10
Monday (10/22)
Prison Break
More of the same, there really isn’t much to distinguish between episodes of Prison Break. Michael schemes for a way out, Linc schemes of a way out, T-Bag schemes in general, and all the other characters pop in and out. I did like how even though he is out of his mind; Mahone finds the information that Michael needs to escape. Mahone and Michael working together will be fun if they go in that direction. I have no idea where T-Bag’s arc is heading. The previews for the next episode show Linc manhandling that chick that has been giving him orders which is about time. Plus it means that maybe there is going to be some overall movement on the season’s story.
5 out of 10
Chuck
I really wish I like this show more. It seems like it has everything I would want but I just don’t get excited to watch new episodes. This week we get Chinese food and Chinese spies. There is some nonsense with Morgan being and awful salesman along with Chuck not being there for his sister or his friend. But everything works out in the end and Sarah gets to here how important Mother’s Day is to Chuck and his sister. Monday at 8 o’clock is not delivering the goods.
5 out of 10
Heroes
Oh my god does the show need to cull about half the cast. I am starting to doubt if this show can be great again if there continue to be 5 separate storylines in every single episode. This week we get the mimic of New Orleans, Mohinder and Molly, Matt’s evil Dad, Ando and ancient Hiro, and Veronica Mars as Electro. That means we had no movement on the Bennets or Sylar. There were a few good moments this week. Matt’s dad pulls a Professor X so that was fun to see how far they will push the power of telepathy. It was nice to see Kristen Bell since she is a great actress and I wonder if that was Keith Mars on the phone. Peter is going to Canada now? That is his big journey this season? Micah and his cousin were boring me but with Mohinder showing up we will finally see some movement with that arc. The Hiro stuff is plodding along and losing steam. All of this will be forgotten if next week is all Daddy Bennet rolling with Haitian.
7 out of 10
Weeds
It is nice to hate a character as much as I hate Celia. The writers have to be doing this on purpose and the previews show Nancy putting a knife to her throat so they understand what will pop their audience. After a season of Nancy scrambling, it is fun to see her in control and being comfortable in her drug dealing shoes. Watching her admonish her son as an employee then switch and console him as his mother was fantastic. Celia and Heylia together were awesome and I pray it leads to Heylia kicking her ass at some point. Best episode of the season.
9 out of 10
Californication
What a great recovery for Californication after that craptastic episode a couple of weeks ago. Mia and Dani are still awful to the point that it has to lead to a huge confrontation. Although it looks like Mia may actually regret what she is doing to Hank even thought no matter what she is Hank is screwed over the whole sex with the underage daughter of your wife’s fiancée thing. Becca moving in with Hank was done well and it led to some good scenes with Hank and Karen. I also liked that Charlie wasn’t an idiot and recognized that Mia was selling Hank’s book. The nice comeback has made me look forward to the season finale.
7 out of 10
Tuesday (10/23)
Bones
Hey look its Tasha Yar! You can’t get much better than that. Well, there was a nice interrogation moment where they got to reveal to the killer that she didn’t kill her father’s lover instead she killed her half sister. That was good times. I don’t know about Bones and Booth going to a psychologist but at least it lead to a bunch of good lines. Not much more to say, this was your basic Bones episode.
6 out of 10
House
This is shaping up to be my favorite season so far. I never would have thought that the show would still be great if you removed Chase, Cameron, and Foreman as House’s minions. But here we are and there hasn’t been a bad episode yet. Giving House all of these doctors to abuse has given the writers new opportunities to show House at his manipulative best. Sadly this week had about 5 seconds of Wilson, that is not enough time for he and House to work their magic. In his place we have Foreman getting his comeuppance for ever thinking he was better than House. Watching him get denied for every position he applied for was fun but Cuddy hiring him back makes no sense. It is clear that House is putting together a new team, which is what she wants, but now she hires back Foreman without talking to House first. We’ll see how things work out. It is also great that all of the newbies are starting to gain personality before their eventual firing. As for this week, the patient was in the last season of Buffy so that was cool and who doesn’t like a diagnosis of hallucinations caused by poisoning? Plus they dug up a corpse and the Mormon punched House … great episode.
9 out of 10
The Unit
It was bound to happen so I am not shocked to watch an episode of The Unit where much of it was in fast forward. There were multiple stories back at the base, which means that I can skip Bob trying to be dad and husband and Tiffy needs a job. Though Tiffy stripping could be fun. The unit in action was decent but nothing all that memorable. It was more about Mack than Jonas so that is a step down. Hopefully it can back up to speed next week.
5 out of 10
Reaper
Neon green slime soul was the bad special effects monster of the week. This was decent because the vessel was bad Christmas sweater and the 3 guys had to go dumpster diving to find the missing sweater. There was some nice movement on the overall storylines, with Sam’s dad acting nefarious and Andi growing tired of Sam’s disappearances. The way this show goes, she must truly love him for her to even speak to him after all the times he has no-showed her. On top of all that, we got a nice menacing final scene where the Devil actually acts like the Devil.
7 out of 10
Damages
Ah, I wouldn’t call this a letdown but this was not where I thought things were heading. I should have seen it once they showed that the older lawyer that Ellen trusted was working with some unknown party. The whole compass of the show changes if Patty really ordered a hit on Ellen which is clear she did with Uncle Pete letting the killer in and Patty breaking down at the cottage over it. But then again, The Shield has survived having Vic kill a fellow cop in cold blood in the initial episode while not even turning Vic into the bad guy. I also don’t know if there was a need to introduce Patty’s dead baby unless it was just to compare how her baby died and now she tried to kill daughter-like underling. The flipside was how great the scene between Patty and Frobisher. Close and Danson did some unbelievable work throughout this season. I hope they find a way to keep Frobisher alive if there is a second season. Even though I am not completely behind the plot-twist, Ellen working for Patty again so that she can prove who killed David while trying to bring down Patty could work.
8 out of 10
Wednesday (10/24)
Bionic Woman
Now I am not so sure about this show. I knew Sarah Corvus was not going to be there for much of the first season because Katee Sackhoff has the more important Battlestar Galactica to film. What that means for Bionic Woman is that they have to go in another direction and they chose Jaime gets a secret agent boyfriend. That is definitely a step down. If it wasn’t for great scenes with Antonio and Nathan, this could have been an outright bad episode. And how the hell did Jaime go away to college for what looks like at least a week without her sister wondering what the hell is going on? Worse than that, it looks like next week will be more of the same. Still, there was a great fight scene with Jaime getting jumped by the mind-controlled guy and that is what I ask from this show.
6 out of 10
Life
Yes! Garret Dillahunt is one of my favorite actors coming out of Deadwood. If his Roman character becomes reoccurring, Life has just jumped up a bunch of rungs on the ladder. For his scenes alone this was a fantastic episode. You had the scene where they bring him in while he sits alone eating in his club’s kitchen, all of his interrogation room scenes, and his phone call to Charlie at the end. Charlie tracking down and beating the guy who attacked his lawyer was okay but I prefer Charlie going after the conspiracy as his side story. And it looks like Roman’s phone call will lead to something next week.
7 out of 10
Thursday (10/25)
Smallville
Unless evil Lana turns out to be her clone, this may be the storyline that gets me to stop watching. That’s a shame because outside of that horrendous plot point this was a decent episode. The evils of comic book geeks was a little on the nose, but the Lionel, Lex, and Lois scenes more than made up for it. Lionel is always money and this week he beats his captor to death then has a great scene menacing evillllll Lana. It is still fun to see Clark and Lex interact so Lex the Warrior Angel fan was amusing. Lois got to play dress-up to snoop on Lex and that was awesome. The crazy fan trying to force Clark into being a true superhero was a lot better than him being given a red cloak. The fan was made even better because he wouldn’t give Clark up to Lex.6 out of 10
This is a little disappointing because I would have hoped that that the season finale of Damages would be the best episode of the week. But that is not the case. I'll give Weeds the top slot with House falling into right in the second slot. With Damages ending with Weeds and Californication following soon and the World Series screwing things up, this should be the last week of insanity (14 reviews) until the new year.
The Darjeeling Limited
I think it is about time for Mr. Wes Anderson to change up his style. It feels like we have seen him make The Darjeeling Limited before and it was better the first, second, and maybe even the third time. For me, the cast was also a handicap since I am not a fan of Owen Wilson or Adrien Brody. Combining those points and you can see why The Darjeeling Limited falls into the okay bracket.
Guess what? The Darjeeling Limited is about the relationship between family members and it’s quirky and it includes an elaborate set and there are numerous familiar faces and just feels like a Xerox of a Xerox. This time around we have three brothers who haven’t spoken to each other since their father died. Each of these brothers has their own personal issues, suicide attempt, child on the way, bad relationship, and all of them act off in some way. The first half of the film takes place on a cramped train, the Darjeeling Limited, so Anderson gets to have a nice elaborate set to shoot in. Who are the regulars popping up? This time it’s Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston, and a quick cameo for Bill Murray. It is still funny in parts and touching at other times, but none of it feels fresh or new.
I will admit that my dislike of Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody probably prevented me from ever becoming a champion of the film. It is also didn’t help that Wilson just attempted suicide in real life so you get to have those uncomfortable moments where you think life and cinema are becoming indistinguishable. That and I just don’t find him funny. As for Adrien Brody, I had no opinion of him before The Village but since that point in time I will continue to hold that movie against him until he has a performance that forces me to rethink my position. That movie will probably be The Brothers Bloom since it is Rian Johnson’s first movie since Brick. Brody did fit into the Anderson style since he was quirky enough with the glasses and whatnot. The third brother is played by Schwartzman and this is the type of movie that he excels at. It really comes down to whether you like these three and you enjoy Wes Anderson, if so then this was a great time.
Sadly, I would like to say that the best part of The Darjeeling Limited was naked Natalie Portman but I can't. She is getting thin enough to see her internal organs. I can't support that. It was still nice to see her for the 10 minute short before the main film but I would have preferred her to play a significant role in the feature. It may have improved my opinion of The Darjeeling Limited. But she wasn't and we got what we got.
6 out of 10
Guess what? The Darjeeling Limited is about the relationship between family members and it’s quirky and it includes an elaborate set and there are numerous familiar faces and just feels like a Xerox of a Xerox. This time around we have three brothers who haven’t spoken to each other since their father died. Each of these brothers has their own personal issues, suicide attempt, child on the way, bad relationship, and all of them act off in some way. The first half of the film takes place on a cramped train, the Darjeeling Limited, so Anderson gets to have a nice elaborate set to shoot in. Who are the regulars popping up? This time it’s Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston, and a quick cameo for Bill Murray. It is still funny in parts and touching at other times, but none of it feels fresh or new.
I will admit that my dislike of Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody probably prevented me from ever becoming a champion of the film. It is also didn’t help that Wilson just attempted suicide in real life so you get to have those uncomfortable moments where you think life and cinema are becoming indistinguishable. That and I just don’t find him funny. As for Adrien Brody, I had no opinion of him before The Village but since that point in time I will continue to hold that movie against him until he has a performance that forces me to rethink my position. That movie will probably be The Brothers Bloom since it is Rian Johnson’s first movie since Brick. Brody did fit into the Anderson style since he was quirky enough with the glasses and whatnot. The third brother is played by Schwartzman and this is the type of movie that he excels at. It really comes down to whether you like these three and you enjoy Wes Anderson, if so then this was a great time.
Sadly, I would like to say that the best part of The Darjeeling Limited was naked Natalie Portman but I can't. She is getting thin enough to see her internal organs. I can't support that. It was still nice to see her for the 10 minute short before the main film but I would have preferred her to play a significant role in the feature. It may have improved my opinion of The Darjeeling Limited. But she wasn't and we got what we got.
6 out of 10
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Gone Baby Gone
And here is the hat trick for the month of October. Gone Baby Gone comes in third behind Into the Wild and Michael Clayton but that is not a knock on its quality. This was a strong film on par with Mystic River that, if not for a couple missteps in the final act, could have been the best of the year. At its worse, Gone Baby Gone was another great film with some sweet sweet Boston accents.
For the first two thirds of Gone Baby Gone, it felt like something that would immediately become one of my favorite movies of all time. It is very rare for me to get that feeling, in the last 5 years that has only happened when I walked out of the Kill Bills and The Departed. This started off so strong. All of the elements were in order. You had the setting, the characters, the acting talent, and the story all working up until the point where I got seasick from all the twists and turns. When Gone Baby Gone was moving in a straight line it couldn’t be topped.
First you had the classic movie magic Boston family, the McCready’s with Silas from Deadwood and Beadie from The Wire. Both of their performances were perfect and that is even with Lionel McCready’s badass Civil War style mustache. And Helene McCready was walking such a razor thin line, because she had to be believable as a complete dope fiend while still not turning the audience against her. I mean it is her baby that is taken and even I can’t actively root against her. Well I can but I try not to.
Next you had Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan as the detective couple brought in by the McCreadys to augment the work of the police. I’m not sure how I will feel at the end of the year but I will wager a guess that this Casey Affleck performance will be somewhere at the top of the list. After years of supporting and character roles, he just takes the lead and runs with it. He is in control of each and every scene no matter whom he is going head to head with. You can feel the weight of every decision that he makes. Monaghan doesn’t wilt when she is up against Casey. She ends up with nearly as strong an arc by the end of the film.
The last group of players is the Boston police working the kidnapping case. And here is where the heavy hitters are located. Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris throw their hats in the ring with Harris delivering what may be my favorite performance of his career. Every one of his scenes is powerful without relying on the usual dick cop tactics. And then Morgan is Morgan; he really isn’t in Gone Baby Gone enough to heap more praise for the man. 2 other cops that do great work are fricking Omar from The Wire and Taggart from Beverly Hills Cop. Yeah that’s right, Omar as a cop and he isn’t even bent or gay. How can I not praise this movie?
Just a quick part about what annoyed me about the ending. The final act was in no way bad in fact it worked and the story stayed strong. I just did not enjoy getting knocked back and forth with revelation after revelation. If the story ended with the scene in the quarry, I would have been completely satisfied if a bit horrified by how bleak of an ending that would be. After repeated viewings I will grow to accept the final act and just concentrate on the power of these final scenes and work that was done by Casey Affleck.
I am starting to wonder if extensive use of Boston accents somehow magically improve the quality of a film. Maybe it was having Ben Affleck at the helm, but Gone Baby Gone looks, sounds, and feels authentic to its setting. There were moments were I thought this was the best film of the year. But for the reasons that I listed earlier, I am dropping this down to a 9. I'm not comfortable with so I will have to reevaluate at the end of the year.
9 out of 10
For the first two thirds of Gone Baby Gone, it felt like something that would immediately become one of my favorite movies of all time. It is very rare for me to get that feeling, in the last 5 years that has only happened when I walked out of the Kill Bills and The Departed. This started off so strong. All of the elements were in order. You had the setting, the characters, the acting talent, and the story all working up until the point where I got seasick from all the twists and turns. When Gone Baby Gone was moving in a straight line it couldn’t be topped.
First you had the classic movie magic Boston family, the McCready’s with Silas from Deadwood and Beadie from The Wire. Both of their performances were perfect and that is even with Lionel McCready’s badass Civil War style mustache. And Helene McCready was walking such a razor thin line, because she had to be believable as a complete dope fiend while still not turning the audience against her. I mean it is her baby that is taken and even I can’t actively root against her. Well I can but I try not to.
Next you had Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan as the detective couple brought in by the McCreadys to augment the work of the police. I’m not sure how I will feel at the end of the year but I will wager a guess that this Casey Affleck performance will be somewhere at the top of the list. After years of supporting and character roles, he just takes the lead and runs with it. He is in control of each and every scene no matter whom he is going head to head with. You can feel the weight of every decision that he makes. Monaghan doesn’t wilt when she is up against Casey. She ends up with nearly as strong an arc by the end of the film.
The last group of players is the Boston police working the kidnapping case. And here is where the heavy hitters are located. Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris throw their hats in the ring with Harris delivering what may be my favorite performance of his career. Every one of his scenes is powerful without relying on the usual dick cop tactics. And then Morgan is Morgan; he really isn’t in Gone Baby Gone enough to heap more praise for the man. 2 other cops that do great work are fricking Omar from The Wire and Taggart from Beverly Hills Cop. Yeah that’s right, Omar as a cop and he isn’t even bent or gay. How can I not praise this movie?
Just a quick part about what annoyed me about the ending. The final act was in no way bad in fact it worked and the story stayed strong. I just did not enjoy getting knocked back and forth with revelation after revelation. If the story ended with the scene in the quarry, I would have been completely satisfied if a bit horrified by how bleak of an ending that would be. After repeated viewings I will grow to accept the final act and just concentrate on the power of these final scenes and work that was done by Casey Affleck.
I am starting to wonder if extensive use of Boston accents somehow magically improve the quality of a film. Maybe it was having Ben Affleck at the helm, but Gone Baby Gone looks, sounds, and feels authentic to its setting. There were moments were I thought this was the best film of the year. But for the reasons that I listed earlier, I am dropping this down to a 9. I'm not comfortable with so I will have to reevaluate at the end of the year.
9 out of 10
Rendition
I wouldn’t go so far as to call Rendition a disappointment, but at the same time I am completely unwilling to defend the film. There was a good story somewhere lost in the middle of this. Plus there were good performances next to forgettable performances here. The mixture just never came together and the final product does not hold up to the great films in theaters right now.
The idea of basing a movie on American torture and the rendition of suspects was strong, but the story that was told here didn’t get the job done. When the story was based on the D.C. machinations of Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, JK Simmons, and Peter Sarsgaard the movie shined. It was passable when it concentrated on angry wife Reese Witherspoon and in over his head CIA agent Jake Gyllenhaal. But when it was about the secret love between the terrorist and the torturer’s daughter everything fell apart. On top of that, they threw in the always annoying screwed up timeline at the end. I hate that and I hate it even more when you don’t know about it till the conclusion. It didn’t help the story; all it did was piss me off.
Rendition shined whenever Meryl Streep or Alan Arkin was onscreen. The two of them were just working on a different level then everybody else. Streep was completely believable as the Senator signing off on extraordinary rendition. She wasn’t menacing or mwahaha evil, this was her job and sending suspects to foreign countries to be tortured is just a tool at her disposal. The other political side was shown with Arkin. He clearly doesn’t agree with rendition but is not going to risk his political career to fight it. The best scene of the movie involves Arkin explaining why he will not be opposing rendition. This speech is given to Peter Sarsgaard who is his usual solid self. It helps that many of his scenes are with Streep and Arkin but I’m not going to hold that against him. It was also nice to see J.K. Simmons show up because he is good in everything he does.
Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gylenhaal do the heavy lifting on Rendition. Neither of them drop the ball but they are the main reasons why there was just something missing from the film. Reese plays pregnant hysterical wife and that’s about it. The weight that there should have been when she is confronting Streep just isn’t there. In fact her screeching was kind of funny. On the other hand you have Gylenhaal who does the best he can but it is just really hard to believe him as a CIA agent. Yeah he is supposed to be an analyst so he shouldn’t been in the field like he ends up but it is still Gylenhaal and I still don’t see him as any sort of commanding presence. Since these two are in the majority of Rendition, well if they are mediocre then you can see where the movie is going to end up.
The worst part of Rendition is the completely unnecessary time-twisted secret love affair. This wasn’t needed for the story and it just distracted from the main plot. I understand that they wanted to tell a story with the non-American characters in the foreign country whose name I can't remember, but this forbidden love story between terrorist and the daughter of Gylenhaal's contact was weak. Worse than that was the fact that it was obvious what was going on. So this took away from any real shocking revelation. The whole movie would have been better if the who thing was completely removed from the movie.
There was a moment in time where I thought Rendition would be one of the great movies of 2007. Well, that did not come to pass. I've gotten over it. There were a couple good performances but the storyline did not hold up and caused Rendition to be just another film. Ah well.
6 out of 10
The idea of basing a movie on American torture and the rendition of suspects was strong, but the story that was told here didn’t get the job done. When the story was based on the D.C. machinations of Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, JK Simmons, and Peter Sarsgaard the movie shined. It was passable when it concentrated on angry wife Reese Witherspoon and in over his head CIA agent Jake Gyllenhaal. But when it was about the secret love between the terrorist and the torturer’s daughter everything fell apart. On top of that, they threw in the always annoying screwed up timeline at the end. I hate that and I hate it even more when you don’t know about it till the conclusion. It didn’t help the story; all it did was piss me off.
Rendition shined whenever Meryl Streep or Alan Arkin was onscreen. The two of them were just working on a different level then everybody else. Streep was completely believable as the Senator signing off on extraordinary rendition. She wasn’t menacing or mwahaha evil, this was her job and sending suspects to foreign countries to be tortured is just a tool at her disposal. The other political side was shown with Arkin. He clearly doesn’t agree with rendition but is not going to risk his political career to fight it. The best scene of the movie involves Arkin explaining why he will not be opposing rendition. This speech is given to Peter Sarsgaard who is his usual solid self. It helps that many of his scenes are with Streep and Arkin but I’m not going to hold that against him. It was also nice to see J.K. Simmons show up because he is good in everything he does.
Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gylenhaal do the heavy lifting on Rendition. Neither of them drop the ball but they are the main reasons why there was just something missing from the film. Reese plays pregnant hysterical wife and that’s about it. The weight that there should have been when she is confronting Streep just isn’t there. In fact her screeching was kind of funny. On the other hand you have Gylenhaal who does the best he can but it is just really hard to believe him as a CIA agent. Yeah he is supposed to be an analyst so he shouldn’t been in the field like he ends up but it is still Gylenhaal and I still don’t see him as any sort of commanding presence. Since these two are in the majority of Rendition, well if they are mediocre then you can see where the movie is going to end up.
The worst part of Rendition is the completely unnecessary time-twisted secret love affair. This wasn’t needed for the story and it just distracted from the main plot. I understand that they wanted to tell a story with the non-American characters in the foreign country whose name I can't remember, but this forbidden love story between terrorist and the daughter of Gylenhaal's contact was weak. Worse than that was the fact that it was obvious what was going on. So this took away from any real shocking revelation. The whole movie would have been better if the who thing was completely removed from the movie.
There was a moment in time where I thought Rendition would be one of the great movies of 2007. Well, that did not come to pass. I've gotten over it. There were a couple good performances but the storyline did not hold up and caused Rendition to be just another film. Ah well.
6 out of 10
30 Days of Night
I’m tired of all this classy award-winning type movies; it is time for a genre picture. Thank you 30 Days of Night. There will be no nominations for this. It may have been a standard vampire flick but it stood out just enough because of its sweet ultra-violence. There is not much else to talk about except blood, axe-wielding, and child decapitations.
Lets get this out of the way as soon as possible. There is a cookie-cutter story for many vampire, zombie, infected, and whatever else type of monster movies. First you introduce the setting; this time it is a crazy northern Alaskan town that goes without sun for a month. Then here come the evil folk; we get the old standby of the vampire just vampires no science to blame here. Once the killings start the plucky band of survivors come together; 30 Days of Night has Josh Hartnett and a bunch of other fodder to be killed. From that point on people are being picked off one by one while the survivors find a way to win the day; this part of the movie is where the extreme violence lifted this above the rest. The ending will include the big showdown and usually a sacrifice; 30 Days of Night included a big showdown and a sacrifice. That was nice of them.
So the story is basic and there is nothing really worth talking about, why doesn’t this movie suck? The creators decided that they were going to push the R rating as far as they could. And since this is America, violence is good and sex is bad. What that means for 30 Days of Night is that there are just numerous scenes that took me by surprise. When the violence starts with dog carcases, I know I’m in for a ride where there will be no shying away from disturbing images. This is taken to another level once Hartnett picks up the axe halfway through the movie. Since it is a small hand-axe and Hartnett isn’t a superhero, each beheading takes multiple swings. Which would be okay except the camera does not turn away. It’s awesome. If that wasn’t good enough, eventually you get the typical kid monster meant to shock you. Well instead of ending it there, the survivors pin this child against the wall and decapitate her onscreen. I nearly lost my mind with that one. There were a bunch of other scenes that were just shot well and were able to build mood without resorting to scare tactics. That especially pleased me because this was David Slade’s follow-up to Hard Candy. I wanted this to at least look good even if it is just a vampire movie. There are only a couple of actors that I want to mention, neither of them being Josh Hartnett. Ben Foster pops up as the first vampire to hit town and he is creepy as hell … again. He is building himself a nice laundry list of characters. The other actor is Danny Huston as the lead vampire. He was able to make his character both funny and menacing even while speaking the weird vampire language. Hey look it’s the chick from the season of Alias that killed the series.
I have no regrets about seeing 30 Days of Night. There may be handfuls of vampire flicks every year, but this one distinguished itself enough to make it worthwhile. They wen that extra mile with the violence and I really appreciated it. Beheadings are always good times.
6 out of 10
Lets get this out of the way as soon as possible. There is a cookie-cutter story for many vampire, zombie, infected, and whatever else type of monster movies. First you introduce the setting; this time it is a crazy northern Alaskan town that goes without sun for a month. Then here come the evil folk; we get the old standby of the vampire just vampires no science to blame here. Once the killings start the plucky band of survivors come together; 30 Days of Night has Josh Hartnett and a bunch of other fodder to be killed. From that point on people are being picked off one by one while the survivors find a way to win the day; this part of the movie is where the extreme violence lifted this above the rest. The ending will include the big showdown and usually a sacrifice; 30 Days of Night included a big showdown and a sacrifice. That was nice of them.
So the story is basic and there is nothing really worth talking about, why doesn’t this movie suck? The creators decided that they were going to push the R rating as far as they could. And since this is America, violence is good and sex is bad. What that means for 30 Days of Night is that there are just numerous scenes that took me by surprise. When the violence starts with dog carcases, I know I’m in for a ride where there will be no shying away from disturbing images. This is taken to another level once Hartnett picks up the axe halfway through the movie. Since it is a small hand-axe and Hartnett isn’t a superhero, each beheading takes multiple swings. Which would be okay except the camera does not turn away. It’s awesome. If that wasn’t good enough, eventually you get the typical kid monster meant to shock you. Well instead of ending it there, the survivors pin this child against the wall and decapitate her onscreen. I nearly lost my mind with that one. There were a bunch of other scenes that were just shot well and were able to build mood without resorting to scare tactics. That especially pleased me because this was David Slade’s follow-up to Hard Candy. I wanted this to at least look good even if it is just a vampire movie. There are only a couple of actors that I want to mention, neither of them being Josh Hartnett. Ben Foster pops up as the first vampire to hit town and he is creepy as hell … again. He is building himself a nice laundry list of characters. The other actor is Danny Huston as the lead vampire. He was able to make his character both funny and menacing even while speaking the weird vampire language. Hey look it’s the chick from the season of Alias that killed the series.
I have no regrets about seeing 30 Days of Night. There may be handfuls of vampire flicks every year, but this one distinguished itself enough to make it worthwhile. They wen that extra mile with the violence and I really appreciated it. Beheadings are always good times.
6 out of 10
In the Valley of Elah
Finally dragged my ass to the see this. I knew In the Valley of Elah would be worth the effort and it still was able to exceed my expectations. It was going to be very difficult for Paul Haggis to follow-up Crash and yet he delivered a film that I liked even more than the Oscar winner. This was a very well made and well-acted murder investigation using the Iraqi war as the backdrop.
When comparing In the Valley of Elah and Crash, one of the best improvements for my tastes was that there was one storyline. Instead of having to take notes in order to keep track of all the characters, this is a Tommy Lee Jones movie. All of the other characters revolved around Jones’ investigation. The story of who murdered Mike Deerfield is very well done and kept me guessing right along with Jones and Theron. It did help that this movie was telling a story that was as much about the condition of the soldiers that come back from Iraq, as it was a whodunit. Even with the heavy topic, In the Valley of Elah never felt like it was preaching to the viewer. It was able to make all of its points through the murder investigation. By the end of film, you may know who killed Mike but that knowledge doesn’t make you feel anything approaching well.
When comparing In the Valley of Elah and Crash, one of the best improvements for my tastes was that there was one storyline. Instead of having to take notes in order to keep track of all the characters, this is a Tommy Lee Jones movie. All of the other characters revolved around Jones’ investigation. The story of who murdered Mike Deerfield is very well done and kept me guessing right along with Jones and Theron. It did help that this movie was telling a story that was as much about the condition of the soldiers that come back from Iraq, as it was a whodunit. Even with the heavy topic, In the Valley of Elah never felt like it was preaching to the viewer. It was able to make all of its points through the murder investigation. By the end of film, you may know who killed Mike but that knowledge doesn’t make you feel anything approaching well.
Tommy Lee Jones is someone that when I look at all of his movies, there are just not enough films of the quality of In the Valley of Elah. He is such a good actor but there are just as many Volcanos as there are The Fugitives. Well now In the Valley of Elah gets to take its place near the top of his resume. He is the center of the whole movie and delivers in each and every scene. Jones is note-perfect as the career military policeman who uses every tactic in his arsenal in order to find out who killed his son. There is this matter-of-factness to his entire investigation that shows how important this is for his grieving process. Most of his investigation is done in tandem with a local detective played by Charlize Theron. Is this really the first Charlize Theron movie sighting since Aeon Flux? It makes sense since it has taken me nearly 2 years to get over that abomination myself. Anyways, this was a great performance by Theron. Of all the ridiculously hot actresses working today, she probably as the most talent or maybe I have a thing for females detectives in pantsuits. That could also explain how much I like Dexter's sister in Dexter. The rest of the cast also gets the job done. Susan Sarandon does what she can in her few scenes as Jones’ wife. Jason Patric is fun as the MP who is not exactly helping Jones and Theron. And freaking Josh Brolin is excellent again even though he has about 3 scenes. He is in the middle of the best year of his career and yes that includes 1985 and The Goonies. First Planet Terror, now In the Valley of Elah, plus he still has American Gangster and No Country for Old Men to go.
I may not have looked forward to In the Valley of Elah like other movies this fall, but it still delivered the goods. It is always good to see Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron in something worthwhile. This was a fantastic movie that was able to rise above the glut of movies about the Middle East that seem to be showing up over and over now.
9 out of 10
Sunday, October 21, 2007
TV from 10/14 - 10/20
Sunday (10/14)
Dexter
This is the first episode that I have reviewed of any show this season that is getting full marks. On top of this being a great episode, Michael C Hall delivered the best performance of the year in his speech at the end of the episode. It was a truly amazing speech about his addiction and the dark passenger that he lets take control was mesmerizing. Plus it lead to the great moment where Doakes thinks that Dexter is a drunk or drug addict and no longer suspects him for anything more devious. There was also a great storyline of Dexter hunting and killing a car salesman that included great moments where he ends up buying a minivan and doesn’t know why. Plus there was some good Bay Harbor Butcher detecting by Debra and Keith Carradine. Sweet episode.
10 out of 10
Monday (10/15)
Chuck
This was the first episode of Chuck that I really liked. I’m still not totally sold on the show, but for one night I was fan. Could it be because the rogue agent kept taking off her clothes throughout the episode? Maybe. On top of that fantastic plot point, there were some decent action scenes with the heist and then the showdown at the hotel. Until I actually choose to like the show, I don’t have much to say.
7 out of 10
Heroes
And the bloated cast makes itself known once again. This was a whole episode with nothing on Hiro or Peter, who are probably the 2nd and 3rd storyline behind Claire. Because of this we have too much Mohinder/Molly/Parkman and Mexican adventures. Both of these arcs at least delivered some good moments. The Molly plotline moved forward the whole previous generation of powers story so that’s good even if it means that Parkman’s dad is one of them. While Sylar is now rolling with the bleeding eyes siblings so at least he will break things up by killing folks. Micah’s new life in New Orleans also happened and if it weren’t for Rey Misterio I would have tuned the whole thing out. I am still unsure about where the Bennet story is going because Daddy Bennet should always see right through lies and Claire is just lying to his face now. Well Kristen Bell shows up next week so things are looking up. Hopefully Powers Boothe doesn’t show up and have her skull cracked because it is that and not Veronica Mars that I remember her for.
7 out of 10
Weeds
Well this episode finally started to clarify where this season was leading towards. Nancy royally pisses off 2 people by the end of this episode, and living the life that she does it is not good to give people a reason to mess with you. Having Celia see Nancy and Matthew Modine in action was cool since I hate Celia, but the whole pension argument between Nancy and Peter’s ex was annoying. This has all been thrown together so fast so I just don’t care about that woman yet. There was a nice Conrad/Silas scene and Doug getting audited was cool. We’ll see how the season finishes up.
6 out of 10
Californication
This is 2 in a row that has severely disappointed me. I think I watched the entire thing on fast forward and that was before I knew that there was a threesome involving Hank and his wacky bald agent. That never needed to happen and I don’t think it really did. Plus now not only is Mia pissing me off but also the agent’s Suicide Girl assistant is flying up the annoying scale. There was a little Hank and Karen at the conclusion so hopefully we can get back to that next week.
4 out of 10
Tuesday (10/16)
The Unit
Another solid effort by The Unit and for once the dual storylines both delivered the goods. Now this probably happened because Jonas was holding down the arc back on base. Actually Jonas’ story was really good with him boot-camping his daughter to get her ready before she enlists. The story with the rest of the team was interesting because people were lost and Bob, Mack, and Hector all got to have their moments to shine. I am starting to like this show a lot more than when I first watched it 2 years ago.
7 out of 10
Reaper
I still don’t have much to say about Reaper. There is usually amusing dialogue between Sam, Sock, Ben, and Andi so each episode goes by quickly. This week had a bunch of good scenes involving Spanish and the bird that Sam needed to capture the escapee. The Sam and Devil interplay over his contract was all right but not the best the show has done. Overall this was just a decent episode.
6 out of 10
Damages
This is building towards one helluva conclusion. This week’s episode was the first that actually made me think that there will be a second season. I had no idea how they were going to reconcile the Patty and Ellen relationship but they cleared that up with one conversation; Ellen never thought Patty played any part of her fiancée’s death, she was just saying that to get Patty back into the city. The final scenes between the 2 of them were great because after the entire season Ellen had flipped their roles and was completely using Patty. We also got to see just how and why David was killed which also revealed just how far Frobisher will go. On the other hand I am not too sure about Patty’s son showing up randomly but I will trust the show to make it all work. I am definitely amped for the finale this week.
9 out of 10
Wednesday (10/17)
Bionic Woman
This is just clipping along. There was just some serious information dropped this week. Jaime has an expiration date and Jonas has no answers at the moment. There was a real good fight scene between Jaime and Antonio, which capped off a decent little Central American journey for the 2 of them. I’ve seen the whole lying to the people you care about on Alias but the relationship between Jaime and her sister hasn’t annoyed me yet so that’s a positive. We are a bunch of episodes in and Sarah Corvus is still a more interesting character than Jaime Sommers; its not so much a problem but eventually that needs to switch.
7 out of 10
Life
I wouldn’t call this the first bad episode but it definitely was the first one that I didn’t care for. It was probably because there was more time spent on the case of the week than on Charlie searching for answers. There was a good scene with Charlie and the cop that arrested him but that it was short. The stuff was his lawyer was passable but I am more interested in the mystery. The case was the case and I don’t have much to say about it.
5 out of 10
Thursday (10/18)
Smallville
Hooray! This season will have at least one episode that I truly liked. Like many things in life, I give all the credit to Dean Cain. Whether or not his immortal will actually be Vandal Savage doesn’t matter at the moment, this was a real strong story. There were great scenes between Clark and Chloe and Clark and Lex because of the evil doctor. On top of that, we got some decent Martian Manhunter versus Supergirl scenes. This even included a horribly forced attempt at getting the name Martian Manhunter out there. No Lois 2 weeks in a row along with another wacky Lana storyline coming up still shows that there is not such thing as a flawless Smallville episode.
7 out of 10
Dexter and Damages go 1 and 2 for the second week in a row. This time they flip flop though because the Dexter episode was incredible. No Fox shows mean that there is no clear cut show to be in slot number three. Next week should be the last of the insanity with Damages concluding and I believe the Monday Showtime shows at their penultimate episodes.
Dexter
This is the first episode that I have reviewed of any show this season that is getting full marks. On top of this being a great episode, Michael C Hall delivered the best performance of the year in his speech at the end of the episode. It was a truly amazing speech about his addiction and the dark passenger that he lets take control was mesmerizing. Plus it lead to the great moment where Doakes thinks that Dexter is a drunk or drug addict and no longer suspects him for anything more devious. There was also a great storyline of Dexter hunting and killing a car salesman that included great moments where he ends up buying a minivan and doesn’t know why. Plus there was some good Bay Harbor Butcher detecting by Debra and Keith Carradine. Sweet episode.
10 out of 10
Monday (10/15)
Chuck
This was the first episode of Chuck that I really liked. I’m still not totally sold on the show, but for one night I was fan. Could it be because the rogue agent kept taking off her clothes throughout the episode? Maybe. On top of that fantastic plot point, there were some decent action scenes with the heist and then the showdown at the hotel. Until I actually choose to like the show, I don’t have much to say.
7 out of 10
Heroes
And the bloated cast makes itself known once again. This was a whole episode with nothing on Hiro or Peter, who are probably the 2nd and 3rd storyline behind Claire. Because of this we have too much Mohinder/Molly/Parkman and Mexican adventures. Both of these arcs at least delivered some good moments. The Molly plotline moved forward the whole previous generation of powers story so that’s good even if it means that Parkman’s dad is one of them. While Sylar is now rolling with the bleeding eyes siblings so at least he will break things up by killing folks. Micah’s new life in New Orleans also happened and if it weren’t for Rey Misterio I would have tuned the whole thing out. I am still unsure about where the Bennet story is going because Daddy Bennet should always see right through lies and Claire is just lying to his face now. Well Kristen Bell shows up next week so things are looking up. Hopefully Powers Boothe doesn’t show up and have her skull cracked because it is that and not Veronica Mars that I remember her for.
7 out of 10
Weeds
Well this episode finally started to clarify where this season was leading towards. Nancy royally pisses off 2 people by the end of this episode, and living the life that she does it is not good to give people a reason to mess with you. Having Celia see Nancy and Matthew Modine in action was cool since I hate Celia, but the whole pension argument between Nancy and Peter’s ex was annoying. This has all been thrown together so fast so I just don’t care about that woman yet. There was a nice Conrad/Silas scene and Doug getting audited was cool. We’ll see how the season finishes up.
6 out of 10
Californication
This is 2 in a row that has severely disappointed me. I think I watched the entire thing on fast forward and that was before I knew that there was a threesome involving Hank and his wacky bald agent. That never needed to happen and I don’t think it really did. Plus now not only is Mia pissing me off but also the agent’s Suicide Girl assistant is flying up the annoying scale. There was a little Hank and Karen at the conclusion so hopefully we can get back to that next week.
4 out of 10
Tuesday (10/16)
The Unit
Another solid effort by The Unit and for once the dual storylines both delivered the goods. Now this probably happened because Jonas was holding down the arc back on base. Actually Jonas’ story was really good with him boot-camping his daughter to get her ready before she enlists. The story with the rest of the team was interesting because people were lost and Bob, Mack, and Hector all got to have their moments to shine. I am starting to like this show a lot more than when I first watched it 2 years ago.
7 out of 10
Reaper
I still don’t have much to say about Reaper. There is usually amusing dialogue between Sam, Sock, Ben, and Andi so each episode goes by quickly. This week had a bunch of good scenes involving Spanish and the bird that Sam needed to capture the escapee. The Sam and Devil interplay over his contract was all right but not the best the show has done. Overall this was just a decent episode.
6 out of 10
Damages
This is building towards one helluva conclusion. This week’s episode was the first that actually made me think that there will be a second season. I had no idea how they were going to reconcile the Patty and Ellen relationship but they cleared that up with one conversation; Ellen never thought Patty played any part of her fiancée’s death, she was just saying that to get Patty back into the city. The final scenes between the 2 of them were great because after the entire season Ellen had flipped their roles and was completely using Patty. We also got to see just how and why David was killed which also revealed just how far Frobisher will go. On the other hand I am not too sure about Patty’s son showing up randomly but I will trust the show to make it all work. I am definitely amped for the finale this week.
9 out of 10
Wednesday (10/17)
Bionic Woman
This is just clipping along. There was just some serious information dropped this week. Jaime has an expiration date and Jonas has no answers at the moment. There was a real good fight scene between Jaime and Antonio, which capped off a decent little Central American journey for the 2 of them. I’ve seen the whole lying to the people you care about on Alias but the relationship between Jaime and her sister hasn’t annoyed me yet so that’s a positive. We are a bunch of episodes in and Sarah Corvus is still a more interesting character than Jaime Sommers; its not so much a problem but eventually that needs to switch.
7 out of 10
Life
I wouldn’t call this the first bad episode but it definitely was the first one that I didn’t care for. It was probably because there was more time spent on the case of the week than on Charlie searching for answers. There was a good scene with Charlie and the cop that arrested him but that it was short. The stuff was his lawyer was passable but I am more interested in the mystery. The case was the case and I don’t have much to say about it.
5 out of 10
Thursday (10/18)
Smallville
Hooray! This season will have at least one episode that I truly liked. Like many things in life, I give all the credit to Dean Cain. Whether or not his immortal will actually be Vandal Savage doesn’t matter at the moment, this was a real strong story. There were great scenes between Clark and Chloe and Clark and Lex because of the evil doctor. On top of that, we got some decent Martian Manhunter versus Supergirl scenes. This even included a horribly forced attempt at getting the name Martian Manhunter out there. No Lois 2 weeks in a row along with another wacky Lana storyline coming up still shows that there is not such thing as a flawless Smallville episode.
7 out of 10
Dexter and Damages go 1 and 2 for the second week in a row. This time they flip flop though because the Dexter episode was incredible. No Fox shows mean that there is no clear cut show to be in slot number three. Next week should be the last of the insanity with Damages concluding and I believe the Monday Showtime shows at their penultimate episodes.
Michael Clayton
Well, October has delivered at a level that has surpassed even my wildest dreams. Although, even I don’t dream about whether or not movies are going to be awesome so the previous sentence was a lie. Following on the heels of Into the Wild, Michael Clayton is another damn near perfect movie. This has become a weekly occurrence for October. This was an incredible character study with what may be the best performance of George Clooney’s career.
Scheming lawyers is just one of those bread and butter stories that show up all the time in movies. What separates Michael Clayton from the pack is that the movie is not centered on a whodunit or whether or not the prosecution will win the case; this is about who Michael Clayton is and what Michael Clayton does. And if there is a better actor to slip into the role of the fixer for a law-firm than George Clooney, I would be impressed by that man too. Clooney has made a career out of fast-talkers with all the answers and this is like the culmination of all those roles. Right from his entrance in the film playing in an underground poker game then traveling out to clean-up a client’s hit and run, you can see the type of man he is and the world that he works in. Before he is sent out to the Midwest to deal with the main problem of the movie, you see Clayton as the divorced dad who sees his son a couple days of the week, his complete financial failure over working with his brother to open a restaurant, along with what he deals with at work which is constant phone calls from people that need him sort shit out. Through all these scenes you can see Clooney’s growing disillusionment with what his life is which only gets worse once he thrust into the middle of the U-North lawsuit. At first Clooney is trying to work the U-North situation like any other problem he has fixed in the past, but as the truth comes out you can see him start to question what he is doing. Watching him work to find and help Arthur then move on to his confrontation with U-North, Clooney is completely in his element. And the credits sequence was a fantastic way to end the story.
Once U-North comes into the picture Clooney starts playing his scenes off of some heavyweights like Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack. During nearly every minute of Michael Clayton there is some topnotch dialogue being thrown back and forth. Swinton is amazing as the head of U-North’s legal department who is desperately trying to protect her guilty company by whatever means available. There are multiple scenes showing her rehearse her speeches, spend significant amounts of time making sure her appearance is acceptable, and there is just the right amount of breathlessness to all of her decision-making. And forget it when she and Clooney match-up. There is something amazing about the way that Swinton is constantly on the attack while Clooney is just deflecting everything till he completely destroys her at the end of the movie. From the initial voiceover that starts off the film, Wilkinson’s Arthur Edens is obviously unhinged. Being the lead attorney defending U-North has beaten him down and brought out his psychological issues. But from that point on, you see Clayton putting everything together and finding out that Arthur wasn’t as crazy as he was acting. Wilkinson has some incredible speeches, the opening voiceover, in the alley with Clooney, and the phone call to U-North, and he delivers on each and every one of them. Lastly there is Sydney Pollack. He may have made his name as a director and he may only pop up every once and awhile, but the man is made for these types of roles. He is able to be both Michael’s friend along with cold bastard who is comfortable with people that he defends. There are no weak links in the cast and it pushes Michael Clayton to that top level.
Although I may have seen hundreds of lawyer movies in my lifetime, there was just something special about Michael Clayton. The story was airtight even though it was dependent on a mystery to keep you guessing. This was all about the characters and the performances by George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, and Sydney Pollack made the whole package something special. Michael Clayton completely blew away my expectations by being nearly flawless.
10 out of 10
Scheming lawyers is just one of those bread and butter stories that show up all the time in movies. What separates Michael Clayton from the pack is that the movie is not centered on a whodunit or whether or not the prosecution will win the case; this is about who Michael Clayton is and what Michael Clayton does. And if there is a better actor to slip into the role of the fixer for a law-firm than George Clooney, I would be impressed by that man too. Clooney has made a career out of fast-talkers with all the answers and this is like the culmination of all those roles. Right from his entrance in the film playing in an underground poker game then traveling out to clean-up a client’s hit and run, you can see the type of man he is and the world that he works in. Before he is sent out to the Midwest to deal with the main problem of the movie, you see Clayton as the divorced dad who sees his son a couple days of the week, his complete financial failure over working with his brother to open a restaurant, along with what he deals with at work which is constant phone calls from people that need him sort shit out. Through all these scenes you can see Clooney’s growing disillusionment with what his life is which only gets worse once he thrust into the middle of the U-North lawsuit. At first Clooney is trying to work the U-North situation like any other problem he has fixed in the past, but as the truth comes out you can see him start to question what he is doing. Watching him work to find and help Arthur then move on to his confrontation with U-North, Clooney is completely in his element. And the credits sequence was a fantastic way to end the story.
Once U-North comes into the picture Clooney starts playing his scenes off of some heavyweights like Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack. During nearly every minute of Michael Clayton there is some topnotch dialogue being thrown back and forth. Swinton is amazing as the head of U-North’s legal department who is desperately trying to protect her guilty company by whatever means available. There are multiple scenes showing her rehearse her speeches, spend significant amounts of time making sure her appearance is acceptable, and there is just the right amount of breathlessness to all of her decision-making. And forget it when she and Clooney match-up. There is something amazing about the way that Swinton is constantly on the attack while Clooney is just deflecting everything till he completely destroys her at the end of the movie. From the initial voiceover that starts off the film, Wilkinson’s Arthur Edens is obviously unhinged. Being the lead attorney defending U-North has beaten him down and brought out his psychological issues. But from that point on, you see Clayton putting everything together and finding out that Arthur wasn’t as crazy as he was acting. Wilkinson has some incredible speeches, the opening voiceover, in the alley with Clooney, and the phone call to U-North, and he delivers on each and every one of them. Lastly there is Sydney Pollack. He may have made his name as a director and he may only pop up every once and awhile, but the man is made for these types of roles. He is able to be both Michael’s friend along with cold bastard who is comfortable with people that he defends. There are no weak links in the cast and it pushes Michael Clayton to that top level.
Although I may have seen hundreds of lawyer movies in my lifetime, there was just something special about Michael Clayton. The story was airtight even though it was dependent on a mystery to keep you guessing. This was all about the characters and the performances by George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, and Sydney Pollack made the whole package something special. Michael Clayton completely blew away my expectations by being nearly flawless.
10 out of 10
We Own the Night
We Own the Night landed right about where I thought it would land. You had cops and gangsters and the guy they needed to go undercover, we’ve been here before. Whether or not it would sink or swim was dependent on the performances and if the story brought anything new to the table. Well you could call out each plot point before they occurred so that’s not good, but the names on the top of the poster all busted their asses to raise We Own the Night to a decent level.
Although many names were advertised, Joaquin Phoenix carried this movie from beginning to end. This is his character’s story and Phoenix does not disappoint in showing the journey from the guy who runs the gangster’s bar to undercover to actual cop. All of these turns make sense and you can follow Joaquin’s thought process through each part of the story. In the beginning he just wants to run the club, party, and not deal with his family. Then his brother gets shot and you can see him take the first tentative steps to help the police. After losing his father, the only thing that matters to Phoenix is bringing down Vadim along with whomever he is connected to. This is just a great performance by Joaquin. Mark Wahlberg and Robert Duvall fill out the roles of his brother and father. The both of them are solid here. Although Wahlberg’s name has grown in recent years, his role is very much a secondary one in We Own the Night. He has a couple of good scenes where he goes at Joaquin in the beginning of the film plus a couple of really good ones at the end after everything has gone bad. Robert Duvall is Robert Duvall. When he shows up on screen, you instantly respect him. There is no reason every to question the man. The last name that was advertised was Eva Mendes and this is probably her best performance to date. In the grand scheme of things, that is not a high compliment. Still she is fine here as Joaquin’s girlfriend who does the annoying movie girlfriend turn of leaving once Joaquin decides to go all in and become a cop to bring down Vadim. It’s always nice to see Oleg Taktarov show up in his standard thug role. Good for him.
What held We Own the Night back was that there is nothing new here. This was a very by the numbers undercover police story. It was done well but there were only a few memorable moments. Setting it in the 80s was nice but after laughing at the clothes and hair that really can’t carry the whole film. The car chase and shootout in the driving rain was a nice action beat but it wasn’t Ronin or to bring to 2007, Death Proof. The big problem was that you could call out the turning points well before they happened. Start of with the easy life, family in peril, change of heart, life in danger, loss of someone close, its go time, roll credits.
I can't really say that We Own the Night disappointed me. It could have been better, but I wasn't basing the entire fall on whether or not this delivered on the promise of it's great cast. What you ended up with was another fantastic performance by Joaquin Phoenix but it was nearly wasted on your standard undercover police story.
6 out of 10
Although many names were advertised, Joaquin Phoenix carried this movie from beginning to end. This is his character’s story and Phoenix does not disappoint in showing the journey from the guy who runs the gangster’s bar to undercover to actual cop. All of these turns make sense and you can follow Joaquin’s thought process through each part of the story. In the beginning he just wants to run the club, party, and not deal with his family. Then his brother gets shot and you can see him take the first tentative steps to help the police. After losing his father, the only thing that matters to Phoenix is bringing down Vadim along with whomever he is connected to. This is just a great performance by Joaquin. Mark Wahlberg and Robert Duvall fill out the roles of his brother and father. The both of them are solid here. Although Wahlberg’s name has grown in recent years, his role is very much a secondary one in We Own the Night. He has a couple of good scenes where he goes at Joaquin in the beginning of the film plus a couple of really good ones at the end after everything has gone bad. Robert Duvall is Robert Duvall. When he shows up on screen, you instantly respect him. There is no reason every to question the man. The last name that was advertised was Eva Mendes and this is probably her best performance to date. In the grand scheme of things, that is not a high compliment. Still she is fine here as Joaquin’s girlfriend who does the annoying movie girlfriend turn of leaving once Joaquin decides to go all in and become a cop to bring down Vadim. It’s always nice to see Oleg Taktarov show up in his standard thug role. Good for him.
What held We Own the Night back was that there is nothing new here. This was a very by the numbers undercover police story. It was done well but there were only a few memorable moments. Setting it in the 80s was nice but after laughing at the clothes and hair that really can’t carry the whole film. The car chase and shootout in the driving rain was a nice action beat but it wasn’t Ronin or to bring to 2007, Death Proof. The big problem was that you could call out the turning points well before they happened. Start of with the easy life, family in peril, change of heart, life in danger, loss of someone close, its go time, roll credits.
I can't really say that We Own the Night disappointed me. It could have been better, but I wasn't basing the entire fall on whether or not this delivered on the promise of it's great cast. What you ended up with was another fantastic performance by Joaquin Phoenix but it was nearly wasted on your standard undercover police story.
6 out of 10
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Into the Wild
I’ve been waiting and waiting for a movie to knock me upside the head and tell me that this is now the best thing you have seen this year. I did not expect that movie to be Into the Wild. The reviews told me it would be good, but this went well beyond good. This was a flawless film. You can credit the story, or Emile Hirsch’s performance, or Sean Penn’s direction, or just about anything associated with the creation of this movie. I just credit the fact that this smartass kid spent 2 years preparing to ditch society and live in the Alaskan wilderness ... 2 months later he starves to death. That is my kind of story.
First things first, Into the Wild is a beautiful film. Throughout the story, there are moments where the scenery is just breathtaking. This kid journeyed through much of the western half of the United States and Penn makes sure to capture each of his stops along the way. The Southwestern desert, the California coast, Midwestern cornfields, the Colorado River, and finally just some of the best shots of Alaska you will ever see. I could have watched this movie without sound and just relaxed and watched the scenery fly by. Also want to at least mention the soundtrack/score of Into the Wild. I may not be a Pearl Jam fan, but I can recognize Eddie Vedder. So the film had a nice mixture of songs that you have heard before in these types of stories plus a handful of original music by Vedder. All of it worked to just enhance the entire experience.
First things first, Into the Wild is a beautiful film. Throughout the story, there are moments where the scenery is just breathtaking. This kid journeyed through much of the western half of the United States and Penn makes sure to capture each of his stops along the way. The Southwestern desert, the California coast, Midwestern cornfields, the Colorado River, and finally just some of the best shots of Alaska you will ever see. I could have watched this movie without sound and just relaxed and watched the scenery fly by. Also want to at least mention the soundtrack/score of Into the Wild. I may not be a Pearl Jam fan, but I can recognize Eddie Vedder. So the film had a nice mixture of songs that you have heard before in these types of stories plus a handful of original music by Vedder. All of it worked to just enhance the entire experience.
Seeing as I want to highlight just about every significant performance from Into the Wild, I will try to keep it short. Obviously Emile Hirsch needs to be applauded first. He is the rock of the film. This was a role that in a lesser actor’s hands could turn the audience against the film. Christopher McCandless was stubborn, idealistic, and abandoned everyone that cared for him but Hirsch is able to make you still pull for him. This kid is teaching and learning at the same time throughout his journey. You believe every relationship that he develops along the way because they feel real. All of this is leading to his time alone in Alaska. These were amazing scenes to watch; especially once every thing starts spiraling out of control. This was definitely worthy of award recognition. Every other performance is a character whose life was affected by McCandless. The most memorable is Hal Holbrook who comes to love Chris so much that he offers to adopt him. Watching this stubborn old man climb a hill because of Chris’ mocking was unbelievable. I have to move on to my man Vince Vaughn next. Even in this serious movie, you can’t keep the man down. He is pretty much Vince Vaughn here but you can see how he becomes a real mentor to McCandless. The hippies come next. This is probably the best thing Catherine Keener has ever done. All of her scenes with Chris are heartbreaking because of how much he reminds her of the son she is no longer in touch with. Kristen Stewart kicked ass but then again she was in Panic Room so of course she rules. Finally we get to the McCandless family. His sister and the movie’s narrator was played by Jena Malone. Her relationship and love for her brother is one of my favorite parts of the film. As for the parents, wow do they suck. Of course William Hurt is just amazing as the father. How could this kid have grown up normal with that as his environment? Top to bottom, this was one of the best-acted movies of the year.
I don't feel that I am adequately explained the power of Into the Wild. There have not been many films that actually made me stop and think when they are end. Usually I stop and think why I just sat there for the last 2 hours. I sure as hell hope that it isn't cause I relate to the story, because I don't want to be anything like that idiot. There isn't a high enough recommendation that I can make. See Into the Wild.
10 out of 10
TV from 10/7 - 10/13
Sunday (10/7)
Dexter
I finally found the right price to purchase the first season of Dexter, so I was able to speed through it then watch the first couple of episodes of the second season. This is definitely a show that I regret not watching last year. I don’t really have a good reason other than I don’t even remember when it debuted so by the time I found out about it the season was half over. Still, this is a show that is meant for my viewing pleasure. A serial killer that works for the police and only kills bad people, that is my kind of premise. This week’s episode has Dexter reeling from the authorities stumbling upon where he sinks his victims along with trying figure out his inability to kill since offing his brother in first season finale. Lots of good stuff, Dexter’s attempts to kill Little Chino, all of his scenes with his sister, Keith Carradine showing up, Dokes’ maniacal stalking of Dexter, this is a great show.
9 out of 10
Monday (10/8)
Prison Break
Well I think I have to be kind to this week’s episode because they did insinuate that it was Sara’s head in the box. I don’t believe it because she is too important of a character to kill off screen, but that is what has been said so far. Nothing else really relevant to talk about it is just the regular stuff, Michael scheming, Linc scheming, T-Bag scheming, Sucre whining, whatever. The whole thing is repetitive.
4 out of 10
Chuck
Blah. This is not growing into a show that I will follow through to its conclusion. I am already watching the whole thing in fast forward. There doesn’t seem to be any emphasis on a show or season long storyline. Instead we get secret agent plot of the week. This time Chuck dances and that’s about all I remember. The action isn’t good enough to make up for the show’s deficiencies so I am starting to sour.
5 out of 10
Heroes
This is still moving at a snail’s pace, which is just a conceit of the show. The highlights for this week were some movement with Mohinder’s story, Jack finding out what is in store for him, the return of Sylar, and another Star Trek cameo. The Mohinder/Jack taking on the Company is probably the best thing going right now. I will remove my support for this plot if Jack dies; there is no Heroes if Horn-Rimmed Glasses man is not around. I was also a big fan of Sylar murdering the illusionist because she deserved it for screwing with Sylar. I have nothing to say about Grandma Uhura. On the other hand; Maya boring, Irish Peter boring, no Haitian, no Nathan, and ancient Japan is not all that interesting. But that is just the way Heroes go, some good, some bad.
6 out of 10
Weeds
This has been such a weird season. It isn’t building to anything, yet there is only a few episodes left. Peter’s death is still hanging around ready to screw Nancy’s life, but it seems like the show is waiting for Nancy to put her business back together before the DEA comes knocking. Well, this week started putting all of those pieces in place. Nancy is going full steam with selling weed again, the 38-pound Olson twin joins the team while Silas becomes Conrad’s bitch. I have high hopes for that arc because it hopefully means more Conrad and maybe even Heylia in every episode. I hate Celia so I don’t care about Dean becoming an invalid. The Nancy and Peter’s ex-wife may end up being worthwhile. I hope they are building to something decent to end the season.
7 out of 10
Californication
Damnit. This was not a good follow-up to last week’s fantastic episode. It could be that the show is better without Mia or Bill involved. Hank losing the material he had written because he was carjacked is a really lame excuse for making sure his life stays screwed up. The Hank and Karen scenes were painful because Hank is more fun when he is being a dick or when he is trashed. Charlie’s wife is a lesbian now? Huh? I do not look forward to the revelation that Hank slept with Mia because it is wrong that I am supporting the adult. But man Mia is an awful person.
6 out of 10
Tuesday (10/9)
Bones
Horse fetish? Is that what Bones has become? My hope that the cannibal society from the premiere episode would turn into a season-long arc was stupid and I should have known better. At least the chick that murdered her pony/guy/lover was hot. The Angela hypnosis story was fine but forgettable. All and all in was a rather dull hour.
5 out of 10
House
Have I mentioned how much I am loving this season? After last year became too serious, it seems like the mood has lightened. This has righted the House and Wilson relationship so that their interactions are back to being the best part of the show. This week it was Wilson’s saying “Good times” after being invited to an eye removal, plus Wilson fixing up then stepping in for House after he stuck a knife in the light socket. The Foreman B-plot was just more confirmation that he belongs with House since he is House Jr. or maybe Black House. The potential hires subplot is still holding up so I have no complaints.
8 out of 10
The Unit
I knew that we were going back to the usual episode structure this week, so I was just hoping that the first one would be strong enough to keep me interested. Surprisingly, this was still fun. The flying scenes include some cool maneuvers. Watching the Colonel and Mack abuse the guy trying to rebuild the command center was amusing. And Jonas in the Hazmat suit worked. I am still at a loss about what is going on with Mack and his wife, so that drags in every episode. Plus Bob’s wife at the radio station was fast forward material. Still, the whole package was good enough.
6 out of 10
Reaper
I don’t have much to say here. It is fun enough to bring me back week after week, but it is not excelling at anything. Ray Wise is the best part every week. But once the Devil disappears it becomes just a kind of funny buddy show. The bounty this week was chick made of bugs so we got some bad CG. Kind of drawing a blank, so that tells you how memorable this show is to me.
5 out of 10
Damages
Another freaking fantastic episode, I am going to feel the loss of this show a couple of weeks from now. There are just 2 episodes left and I still have no idea how this season or series is going to conclude. If there is going to be a season 2 then there has to be some sort of the reconciliation between Patty and Ellen but that seems very unlikely. This week we got to see enough of Patty after the fiancé’s death that I doubt she had anything to do with it. It looks like her breakdown may have been caused by Ray blowing the back of his head off right in front of Patty. I did not see that coming at all. Not much Frobisher this week, but with Ray’s suicide we are building to something with Frobisher and his lawyers. That is made even more obvious with Jack McCall from Deadwood showing up to replace Ray, that dude is a menace. Damages kicks ass.
9 out of 10
Wednesday (10/10)
Bionic Woman
I really like where this show is heading. Everything seems to be falling into place and the structure looks to be more about moving Jaime’s story along instead of dealing with a threat of the week. That makes it the style of show that I enjoy. The Jaime Sommer/Sarah Corvus interactions were great this week. Lots of information was revealed and it is nice that Sarah seems to be a grey character instead of pure evil. Plus we got a couple more sweet training sequences with Jae and even got attacked by a pipe-wielding Isaiah Washington. I hope they can keep it up and build something memorable here.
7 out of 10
Life
I’m still here and I am starting to like this more than Chuck or Reaper. This is very unexpected but I am really digging Charlie tracking down who ruined his life. The cop procedural stuff doesn’t really interest me, but shows like House and Bones have overcame my bias to that stuff so it is not unheard of. Charlie confronting the detective who worked his case was by far the best scene of the episode. But it was still fun to seem him purchase that tricked out car, pull over the man who married his ex-wife again, and the coyotes were amusing too. Maybe this show will stick around.
6 out of 10
Thursday (10/11)
Smallville
Aw yeah. This is the craptastic show that I fast forward through week after week, year after year. No Lois is an automatic deduction. Limited Chloe also hurts the cause. Extensive Lana makes it the worst possible combination of the three. I guess I can be nice and say that I was expecting much worse out of this Supergirl plotline. Nice Guy Lex can only work if they stick with it long enough. Hey look Jimmy came back! Well, at least there were bikinis but bikinis with out Lois seems like someone screwed up.
Dexter
I finally found the right price to purchase the first season of Dexter, so I was able to speed through it then watch the first couple of episodes of the second season. This is definitely a show that I regret not watching last year. I don’t really have a good reason other than I don’t even remember when it debuted so by the time I found out about it the season was half over. Still, this is a show that is meant for my viewing pleasure. A serial killer that works for the police and only kills bad people, that is my kind of premise. This week’s episode has Dexter reeling from the authorities stumbling upon where he sinks his victims along with trying figure out his inability to kill since offing his brother in first season finale. Lots of good stuff, Dexter’s attempts to kill Little Chino, all of his scenes with his sister, Keith Carradine showing up, Dokes’ maniacal stalking of Dexter, this is a great show.
9 out of 10
Monday (10/8)
Prison Break
Well I think I have to be kind to this week’s episode because they did insinuate that it was Sara’s head in the box. I don’t believe it because she is too important of a character to kill off screen, but that is what has been said so far. Nothing else really relevant to talk about it is just the regular stuff, Michael scheming, Linc scheming, T-Bag scheming, Sucre whining, whatever. The whole thing is repetitive.
4 out of 10
Chuck
Blah. This is not growing into a show that I will follow through to its conclusion. I am already watching the whole thing in fast forward. There doesn’t seem to be any emphasis on a show or season long storyline. Instead we get secret agent plot of the week. This time Chuck dances and that’s about all I remember. The action isn’t good enough to make up for the show’s deficiencies so I am starting to sour.
5 out of 10
Heroes
This is still moving at a snail’s pace, which is just a conceit of the show. The highlights for this week were some movement with Mohinder’s story, Jack finding out what is in store for him, the return of Sylar, and another Star Trek cameo. The Mohinder/Jack taking on the Company is probably the best thing going right now. I will remove my support for this plot if Jack dies; there is no Heroes if Horn-Rimmed Glasses man is not around. I was also a big fan of Sylar murdering the illusionist because she deserved it for screwing with Sylar. I have nothing to say about Grandma Uhura. On the other hand; Maya boring, Irish Peter boring, no Haitian, no Nathan, and ancient Japan is not all that interesting. But that is just the way Heroes go, some good, some bad.
6 out of 10
Weeds
This has been such a weird season. It isn’t building to anything, yet there is only a few episodes left. Peter’s death is still hanging around ready to screw Nancy’s life, but it seems like the show is waiting for Nancy to put her business back together before the DEA comes knocking. Well, this week started putting all of those pieces in place. Nancy is going full steam with selling weed again, the 38-pound Olson twin joins the team while Silas becomes Conrad’s bitch. I have high hopes for that arc because it hopefully means more Conrad and maybe even Heylia in every episode. I hate Celia so I don’t care about Dean becoming an invalid. The Nancy and Peter’s ex-wife may end up being worthwhile. I hope they are building to something decent to end the season.
7 out of 10
Californication
Damnit. This was not a good follow-up to last week’s fantastic episode. It could be that the show is better without Mia or Bill involved. Hank losing the material he had written because he was carjacked is a really lame excuse for making sure his life stays screwed up. The Hank and Karen scenes were painful because Hank is more fun when he is being a dick or when he is trashed. Charlie’s wife is a lesbian now? Huh? I do not look forward to the revelation that Hank slept with Mia because it is wrong that I am supporting the adult. But man Mia is an awful person.
6 out of 10
Tuesday (10/9)
Bones
Horse fetish? Is that what Bones has become? My hope that the cannibal society from the premiere episode would turn into a season-long arc was stupid and I should have known better. At least the chick that murdered her pony/guy/lover was hot. The Angela hypnosis story was fine but forgettable. All and all in was a rather dull hour.
5 out of 10
House
Have I mentioned how much I am loving this season? After last year became too serious, it seems like the mood has lightened. This has righted the House and Wilson relationship so that their interactions are back to being the best part of the show. This week it was Wilson’s saying “Good times” after being invited to an eye removal, plus Wilson fixing up then stepping in for House after he stuck a knife in the light socket. The Foreman B-plot was just more confirmation that he belongs with House since he is House Jr. or maybe Black House. The potential hires subplot is still holding up so I have no complaints.
8 out of 10
The Unit
I knew that we were going back to the usual episode structure this week, so I was just hoping that the first one would be strong enough to keep me interested. Surprisingly, this was still fun. The flying scenes include some cool maneuvers. Watching the Colonel and Mack abuse the guy trying to rebuild the command center was amusing. And Jonas in the Hazmat suit worked. I am still at a loss about what is going on with Mack and his wife, so that drags in every episode. Plus Bob’s wife at the radio station was fast forward material. Still, the whole package was good enough.
6 out of 10
Reaper
I don’t have much to say here. It is fun enough to bring me back week after week, but it is not excelling at anything. Ray Wise is the best part every week. But once the Devil disappears it becomes just a kind of funny buddy show. The bounty this week was chick made of bugs so we got some bad CG. Kind of drawing a blank, so that tells you how memorable this show is to me.
5 out of 10
Damages
Another freaking fantastic episode, I am going to feel the loss of this show a couple of weeks from now. There are just 2 episodes left and I still have no idea how this season or series is going to conclude. If there is going to be a season 2 then there has to be some sort of the reconciliation between Patty and Ellen but that seems very unlikely. This week we got to see enough of Patty after the fiancé’s death that I doubt she had anything to do with it. It looks like her breakdown may have been caused by Ray blowing the back of his head off right in front of Patty. I did not see that coming at all. Not much Frobisher this week, but with Ray’s suicide we are building to something with Frobisher and his lawyers. That is made even more obvious with Jack McCall from Deadwood showing up to replace Ray, that dude is a menace. Damages kicks ass.
9 out of 10
Wednesday (10/10)
Bionic Woman
I really like where this show is heading. Everything seems to be falling into place and the structure looks to be more about moving Jaime’s story along instead of dealing with a threat of the week. That makes it the style of show that I enjoy. The Jaime Sommer/Sarah Corvus interactions were great this week. Lots of information was revealed and it is nice that Sarah seems to be a grey character instead of pure evil. Plus we got a couple more sweet training sequences with Jae and even got attacked by a pipe-wielding Isaiah Washington. I hope they can keep it up and build something memorable here.
7 out of 10
Life
I’m still here and I am starting to like this more than Chuck or Reaper. This is very unexpected but I am really digging Charlie tracking down who ruined his life. The cop procedural stuff doesn’t really interest me, but shows like House and Bones have overcame my bias to that stuff so it is not unheard of. Charlie confronting the detective who worked his case was by far the best scene of the episode. But it was still fun to seem him purchase that tricked out car, pull over the man who married his ex-wife again, and the coyotes were amusing too. Maybe this show will stick around.
6 out of 10
Thursday (10/11)
Smallville
Aw yeah. This is the craptastic show that I fast forward through week after week, year after year. No Lois is an automatic deduction. Limited Chloe also hurts the cause. Extensive Lana makes it the worst possible combination of the three. I guess I can be nice and say that I was expecting much worse out of this Supergirl plotline. Nice Guy Lex can only work if they stick with it long enough. Hey look Jimmy came back! Well, at least there were bikinis but bikinis with out Lois seems like someone screwed up.
3 out of 10
Damages holds on to the top spot but Dexter shows up and bumps House out of the second slot. Thankfully next week all the Fox shows are skipped for baseball so this won't have to be so much damn work. Then once October ends, Weeds, Californication, and Damages seasons finish so I might be able to get the reviews under 10 a week.
Monday, October 8, 2007
The 2007 List (11)
- Zodiac
- Eastern Promises
- The Lookout
- 3:10 to Yuma
- Talk to Me
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- Grindhouse
- Breach
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- The Kingdom
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- Hot Fuzz
- Stardust
- Reign Over Me
- Rescue Dawn
- 300
- Black Snake Moan
- Superbad
- Hairspray
- Ocean's Thirteen
- Live Free or Die Hard
- The Simpsons Movie
- The Brave One
- Spider-Man 3
- Mr. Brooks
- Smokin' Aces
- Transformers
- Shoot'em Up
- Resident Evil: Extinction
- DOA
- Shooter
- Halloween
- Blades of Glory
- Reno 911!: Miami
- 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
- The Condemned
- Ghost Rider
- The Pathfinder
September was another freaking dynamite month. I'm still without a showpiece for 2007, but I will take a couple 9 out of 10s at just about any time of the year. Starting to get pumped for what will be coming out over the next 3 months. Hopefully the disappointment will be minimal.
The Kingdom
When it was all said and done, The Kingdom was a damn good action movie that had delusions of grandeur. There was a real attempt being made to tell a deep story about the relationship of the United States and Saudi Arabia, but it never really delivered at the level that was intended. In fact it distracted me from the real strong final act of the movie. The Kingdom started fast then slowed down so that the FBI agents could actually do their job then blew everything up for the final 30 minutes.
The best part of The Kingdom and the reason I will watch and rewatch this movie for years to come is the kidnapping then rescue of Jason Bateman’s character. This was just one of those adrenaline on overdrive scenes that didn’t slowdown until all the bad guys were dead. There was a sweet car pileup to start with, then shifted to a decent car chase, an insane shootout outside and inside the apartment complex, some Jennifer Garner hand-to-hand, then big climatic showdown. While all this was going on you are constantly shown Bateman scratching and clawing to keep himself alive and all of his teammates flipping out over the situation. This was just a fantastic sequence created by Peter Berg.
Although this is not his greatest performance, The Kingdom is just another movie for Jamie Foxx to shine in. His meteoric rise is astounding. Foxx is now at the level where greatness is expected every time I see him onscreen. Dude, this Jamie Foxx and I kind of want to list all his work in the 90s and then say this man is one of the best actors working today. Jamie ended up doing some of his best work side-by-side with Ashraf Barhom who played the Saudi Colonel working with the FBI agents. The 2 of them were able to craft a real friendship in their scenes together, starting as adversaries then building to partners trying to avenge the bombing. Although Foxx and Barhom did the best work, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman all had their moments. Bateman may have seemed like a weird fit in this movie, but that didn’t stop him from constantly dropping one-liners whenever he was onscreen. He paid for his jokes by having the shit-kicked out of him during the kidnapping sequence. And Cooper is one of the steadiest actors working today. There is no such thing as too many movies with Chris Cooper. All that talent and Jeremy Piven shows up to act exactly like Piven does in all of his roles. It is going to get old soon but it worked here.
Just to explain where The Kingdom’s reach exceeded its grasp. It seemed like they were trying to tell this deep story about how when it comes down to it, we are no better than the people we call terrorists. A big flashy action movie didn’t seem to be the place for a final scene that was supposed to make you rethink your view of the world. I just had a 30-minute adrenaline rush; don’t try for deep thoughts after that.
I know that The Kingdom was originally meant to be released in the Spring and I get the feeling that they moved it to the Fall so it could get award buzz. That really makes no sense to me. I don't think it affected box office because this was going to make R-rated action movie money no matter when it dropped. In the end, The Kingdom was a good action movie that had a fantastic ending sequence.
8 out of 10
The best part of The Kingdom and the reason I will watch and rewatch this movie for years to come is the kidnapping then rescue of Jason Bateman’s character. This was just one of those adrenaline on overdrive scenes that didn’t slowdown until all the bad guys were dead. There was a sweet car pileup to start with, then shifted to a decent car chase, an insane shootout outside and inside the apartment complex, some Jennifer Garner hand-to-hand, then big climatic showdown. While all this was going on you are constantly shown Bateman scratching and clawing to keep himself alive and all of his teammates flipping out over the situation. This was just a fantastic sequence created by Peter Berg.
Although this is not his greatest performance, The Kingdom is just another movie for Jamie Foxx to shine in. His meteoric rise is astounding. Foxx is now at the level where greatness is expected every time I see him onscreen. Dude, this Jamie Foxx and I kind of want to list all his work in the 90s and then say this man is one of the best actors working today. Jamie ended up doing some of his best work side-by-side with Ashraf Barhom who played the Saudi Colonel working with the FBI agents. The 2 of them were able to craft a real friendship in their scenes together, starting as adversaries then building to partners trying to avenge the bombing. Although Foxx and Barhom did the best work, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman all had their moments. Bateman may have seemed like a weird fit in this movie, but that didn’t stop him from constantly dropping one-liners whenever he was onscreen. He paid for his jokes by having the shit-kicked out of him during the kidnapping sequence. And Cooper is one of the steadiest actors working today. There is no such thing as too many movies with Chris Cooper. All that talent and Jeremy Piven shows up to act exactly like Piven does in all of his roles. It is going to get old soon but it worked here.
Just to explain where The Kingdom’s reach exceeded its grasp. It seemed like they were trying to tell this deep story about how when it comes down to it, we are no better than the people we call terrorists. A big flashy action movie didn’t seem to be the place for a final scene that was supposed to make you rethink your view of the world. I just had a 30-minute adrenaline rush; don’t try for deep thoughts after that.
I know that The Kingdom was originally meant to be released in the Spring and I get the feeling that they moved it to the Fall so it could get award buzz. That really makes no sense to me. I don't think it affected box office because this was going to make R-rated action movie money no matter when it dropped. In the end, The Kingdom was a good action movie that had a fantastic ending sequence.
8 out of 10
Sunday, October 7, 2007
The Brave One
Alright, it is about that time for another vengeful Jodie Foster movie. The Brave One probably falls somewhere in between the superior Panic Room and the unnecessary Flightplan. There were a few hiccups along the way, but this was still a good movie. Jodie is able to do these types of roles over and over because she is able to pull of these characters. Having a better storyline than Flightplan helps The Brave One and it’s that depth in character that makes the difference.
There is just something about Jodie Foster that makes it seem okay that we have gotten three variations on same story in the last five years. She is able to create different characters for each of her journeys from peril to vengeance. The Brave One goes much farther than Panic Room or Flightplan. Erica Bain steps way over the line and enters Death Wish territory. But the difference is that the process destroys Erica. She knows Detective Mercer will catch her and she even encourages it. Jodie has the ability to start the story as a happy radio host who is soon to be married, shift to broken woman scared to leave her home, then slowly becomes the female Punisher, before the rather disappointing conclusion. I will get to the ending later. Although this is Jodie Foster’s movie, Terrence Howard is still able to shine in his supporting role. He took advantage of the handful of scenes he was given to create his character; the way he talks to the little girl in the hospital, the way he deals with his ex-wife, and all of his detecting scenes. Then once his relationship with Erica begins, Howard is able to show how Mercer slowly starts to realize that the vigilante he is looking for is right in front him. Once again, the ending nearly throws all this away. And come on since Boiler Room has there been a bad Nicky Katt performance? I don’t know if The Brave One needed a comic relief character but he was funny enough that I’ll take it.
I may have enjoyed The Brave One but it was not without its faults. The ending just didn’t feel right. I’m not so worried about people cheering about cold blooded killings because I know the world I live in; I just don’t think that the characters in this movie would have done that and just gone on to live their lives. It seems like they wanted almost a happy ending when this movie did not call for one. Plus the climatic scenes included some awful one-liners that actually turned Jodie into a cheap action hero. That really annoyed me.
The Brave One turned out to be nearly exactly what I thought it would be. I was wary of another Jodie Foster avenging woman role but thought that this might spin it enough to make it worthwhile. And that is how The Brave One turned out. There was some good performances and decent story, but the ending held this back from being something great.
7 out of 10
There is just something about Jodie Foster that makes it seem okay that we have gotten three variations on same story in the last five years. She is able to create different characters for each of her journeys from peril to vengeance. The Brave One goes much farther than Panic Room or Flightplan. Erica Bain steps way over the line and enters Death Wish territory. But the difference is that the process destroys Erica. She knows Detective Mercer will catch her and she even encourages it. Jodie has the ability to start the story as a happy radio host who is soon to be married, shift to broken woman scared to leave her home, then slowly becomes the female Punisher, before the rather disappointing conclusion. I will get to the ending later. Although this is Jodie Foster’s movie, Terrence Howard is still able to shine in his supporting role. He took advantage of the handful of scenes he was given to create his character; the way he talks to the little girl in the hospital, the way he deals with his ex-wife, and all of his detecting scenes. Then once his relationship with Erica begins, Howard is able to show how Mercer slowly starts to realize that the vigilante he is looking for is right in front him. Once again, the ending nearly throws all this away. And come on since Boiler Room has there been a bad Nicky Katt performance? I don’t know if The Brave One needed a comic relief character but he was funny enough that I’ll take it.
I may have enjoyed The Brave One but it was not without its faults. The ending just didn’t feel right. I’m not so worried about people cheering about cold blooded killings because I know the world I live in; I just don’t think that the characters in this movie would have done that and just gone on to live their lives. It seems like they wanted almost a happy ending when this movie did not call for one. Plus the climatic scenes included some awful one-liners that actually turned Jodie into a cheap action hero. That really annoyed me.
The Brave One turned out to be nearly exactly what I thought it would be. I was wary of another Jodie Foster avenging woman role but thought that this might spin it enough to make it worthwhile. And that is how The Brave One turned out. There was some good performances and decent story, but the ending held this back from being something great.
7 out of 10
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