2007 is just getting better and better as the year goes on. I don’t like to throw out rankings of 10 out of 10 but No Country for Old Men deserves it and so that is what it is going to get. Everything was on display here, acting, story, scenery; this was just a pleasure to view.
I may not be the biggest Coen Brothers fan but the quality of Fargo is something that cannot be questioned and No Country for Old Men is the equivalent or the better of that all-time great film. Not even sure where to start. Let’s go with Tommy Lee Jones. Is there an actor out there that looks more weary, worn-down, and seen it all than Mr. Jones? His narration to begin the film is pitch-perfect. Then you can see how draining it is for him to follow the aftermath of Llewelyn and Anton’s actions. I was definitely behind Tommy Lee for his performance in the movie In the Valley of Elah, but this was on a different level. Easily the greatest work of his career. Even saying that, Javier Bardem will definitely be the one that is remembered in No Country for Old Men. That haircut is enough to burn Anton Chigurh forever into your memory and that doesn’t even touch on him walking around killing folk with a slaughterhouse air gun. Chigurh is the essence of violence. There is no stopping him. There is no negotiating with him. Either he kills you or you escape … for the time being. It was just an awe-inspiring performance. Finally we come to Josh Brolin who completes his 2007 tour de force. His work here surpasses American Gangster, In the Valley of Elah, and Planet Terror. It may not be as showy as Bardem or as spot-on as Jones, but what Brolin did was give the viewer a rooting interest. You follow him on his journey to keep the money while staying ahead of Chigurh. He has the right about ingenuity and desperation in each and every one of his scenes. Props to Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, Stephen Root, and Garret Dillahunt (there’s that name again) all of them pop in and out of the story filling out the edges of the cast.
There is not much to say about the story. It is incredibly structured and engrossed me to the point where I wasn’t even anticipating the next steps; I was just along for the ride. The sick, twisted, violent, and bloody ride. There is such inevitability to Chigurh’s actions, that there is very little hope in No Country for Old Men. And it sure isn’t like the ending was upbeat in any way. That is my kind of story.
It was nice to know that all the hype for No Country for Old Men was not a lie. This film delivered the goods. At some point in life, everyone needs to witness Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh. His character and the movie itself is an instant classic.
10 out of 10
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
The Mist
I like to dip my toe into the horror genre every once and awhile and for this go around The Mist steps up to the plate. With Stephen King, Frank Darabont, and Thomas Jane I thought it was a decent choice. I was wrong but it is the thought that counts. There was nothing memorable about The Mist; it came through and delivered the usual without breaking any new ground.
Should I credit The Mist for creating such a despicable character that the crowd cheered at her death? Cause if I were to pick out the best part of the movie it would be the deserved death of Marcia Gay Harden’s character. I’m not entirely sure if this is a positive because Mrs. Carmody was so unlikable that everyone just began counting the moments until she was disposed of. From the moment she started preaching you knew it wasn’t going to end well for anybody. Then sacrificing folks? What the hell is that?
Thomas Jane may have been the star of the movie but Toby Jones delivers the best performance. The Mist won’t bring nominations but Jones is a lot of fun as the grocery bagman who ends up rolling with Jane and being the best shot of everyone in the store. As for Jane, he was fine but nothing to write home about. The same goes for Andre Braugher as Janes litigious neighbor. This is a horror movie and everyone has his or her basic parts to play before dying horribly.
One of the main problems for me were the bug-monsters because they never scared me. They seemed too colorful and fake looking. Everyone is cowering in fear and I’m laughing to myself. That’s not good. Add to that the completely irrational ending. It was awesome that they did what they did but it just doesn’t make sense. Why resort to that so fast? Couldn’t you have waited a couple minutes before doing the deed? At least it meant that the movie had ended.
So hey, I'm not a fan of horror movies. I am more than willing to give them a shot once and awhile but I usually end up disappointed. And that is what The Mist did. I went in with very little expectations and yet it didn't even deliver on those. Ah well, I took a shot.
5 out of 10
Should I credit The Mist for creating such a despicable character that the crowd cheered at her death? Cause if I were to pick out the best part of the movie it would be the deserved death of Marcia Gay Harden’s character. I’m not entirely sure if this is a positive because Mrs. Carmody was so unlikable that everyone just began counting the moments until she was disposed of. From the moment she started preaching you knew it wasn’t going to end well for anybody. Then sacrificing folks? What the hell is that?
Thomas Jane may have been the star of the movie but Toby Jones delivers the best performance. The Mist won’t bring nominations but Jones is a lot of fun as the grocery bagman who ends up rolling with Jane and being the best shot of everyone in the store. As for Jane, he was fine but nothing to write home about. The same goes for Andre Braugher as Janes litigious neighbor. This is a horror movie and everyone has his or her basic parts to play before dying horribly.
One of the main problems for me were the bug-monsters because they never scared me. They seemed too colorful and fake looking. Everyone is cowering in fear and I’m laughing to myself. That’s not good. Add to that the completely irrational ending. It was awesome that they did what they did but it just doesn’t make sense. Why resort to that so fast? Couldn’t you have waited a couple minutes before doing the deed? At least it meant that the movie had ended.
So hey, I'm not a fan of horror movies. I am more than willing to give them a shot once and awhile but I usually end up disappointed. And that is what The Mist did. I went in with very little expectations and yet it didn't even deliver on those. Ah well, I took a shot.
5 out of 10
Sunday, December 9, 2007
TV from 12/2 - 12/8
Sunday (12/2)
Dexter
Oh my lord does Lila suck ass. This has been building all season and it is only going to get worse before the end. And I still doubt that Dexter can kill her without exposing himself. Why she got to mess with Angel? Doakes is still caged throughout this episode, which leads to multiple great scenes between him and Dex. When Dexter butchers a drug dealer at the end, the effect on Doakes was fascinating to watch. This also played into the revelations about how Harry actually died. Dexter realizing that it was Harry seeing Dexter in action caused him to end his own life was a sweet twist. There was more Deb and Lundy uncomfortableness so we can move past that as quick as possibly. For the final 2 episodes it will be interesting to see how Dex does not get pinned as the Bay Harbor Butcher while dealing with both Doakes and Lila. Not the best of the season but still a solid hour.
7 out of 10
Monday (12/3)
Heroes
Finale time. I don’t think I have been impressed with a single Heroes finale yet. That’s not to say that this was a bad episode but they build and build and build but it gets difficult to deliver on all the promise. Of course the Bennet part for the episode was the highlight. Bob treating Elle like dirt, Elle turning to Noah, Noah showing up alive freaking his family out, and the badassness of Noah returning to the company. Hopefully he rolls with the Haitian and Elle now. Elle has the emotional development of a 7 year-old so all her scenes are fantastic and there needs to be more. The next best part was Sylar shooting Maya. That was therapeutic. I’ll even accept that she was brought immediately back to life because that moment was so great. Sylar does get his powers back but it was obvious because they showed the scene in the previews last week and then it was held off all the way to the preview of the next chapter but it wasn’t a shock. Peter and his buddy Adam was amusing because Peter got to whip out all his powers then use the force to open the safe that he could have phased into in 1 second. Peter is an idiot and it was annoying to watch him beat on Hiro then go so far as to force choke him on Adam’s instructions. Nathan saves the day and Hiro buries Adam alive, which is a phenomenal fate for him. I don’t care about the New Orleans storyline even if Nikki ends up dead. Nathan getting shot was a bit telegraphed for my tastes but I am hoping that the twist is that it was Noah who pulled the trigger as his first job back with the company.
7 out of 10
Life
We are running out of new episodes of good shows so thankfully NBC gives us 2 episodes of Life this week. It was a 2-parter but it was a 2-parter that still had 2 separate crimes of the weeks to solve so Life takes a couple of steps forward but still takes a step back for my taste. We get a murder in a spiritual center on Monday so Charlie gets to be completely in his element learning about whether he is actually here in the physical world. Mike Novick pops up which was nice even if he may have been the killer at one point. I don’t really care about the murder investigation, it turns out that Mike’s wife killed the man who got her pregnant, what a twist. The meat of the episode was Charlie no longer being the main suspect in Ames’ murder and then finding the name of the man who committed the murders he was sent to prison for. And Charlie gave his ex a horse.
7 out of 10
Wednesday (12/5)
Life
The second Life episode of the week was the better episode. Mainly because Charlie spends the whole hour dealing with the conspiracy against him while his current and former partners deal with the murder of the week. The man who committed the murders 12 years ago, Kyle Hollis, is played by Titus Welliver. Welliver is another Deadwood transplant, which means his performance is awesome. Charlie works him over then scares the crap out of him by digging what looks to be a grave right in front of his eyes. This causes Kyle to admit to the murders that Charlie’s lawyer hears over the phone. This allows Charlie to bring him in and completely clear his name. There is also a nice scene where Charlie lays it all down for Jack Reese while his own daughter is arresting Kyle. Jack doesn’t break though and we get the next layer of the conspiracy revealed which is that Kyle was raising the missing girl and now she is in Jack’s custody. I am always for more conspiracy and it was a great end to a great episode.
8 out of 10
When there are so few shows, there is no real reason to rank them against each other. I'm going to miss TV when its gone.
Dexter
Oh my lord does Lila suck ass. This has been building all season and it is only going to get worse before the end. And I still doubt that Dexter can kill her without exposing himself. Why she got to mess with Angel? Doakes is still caged throughout this episode, which leads to multiple great scenes between him and Dex. When Dexter butchers a drug dealer at the end, the effect on Doakes was fascinating to watch. This also played into the revelations about how Harry actually died. Dexter realizing that it was Harry seeing Dexter in action caused him to end his own life was a sweet twist. There was more Deb and Lundy uncomfortableness so we can move past that as quick as possibly. For the final 2 episodes it will be interesting to see how Dex does not get pinned as the Bay Harbor Butcher while dealing with both Doakes and Lila. Not the best of the season but still a solid hour.
7 out of 10
Monday (12/3)
Heroes
Finale time. I don’t think I have been impressed with a single Heroes finale yet. That’s not to say that this was a bad episode but they build and build and build but it gets difficult to deliver on all the promise. Of course the Bennet part for the episode was the highlight. Bob treating Elle like dirt, Elle turning to Noah, Noah showing up alive freaking his family out, and the badassness of Noah returning to the company. Hopefully he rolls with the Haitian and Elle now. Elle has the emotional development of a 7 year-old so all her scenes are fantastic and there needs to be more. The next best part was Sylar shooting Maya. That was therapeutic. I’ll even accept that she was brought immediately back to life because that moment was so great. Sylar does get his powers back but it was obvious because they showed the scene in the previews last week and then it was held off all the way to the preview of the next chapter but it wasn’t a shock. Peter and his buddy Adam was amusing because Peter got to whip out all his powers then use the force to open the safe that he could have phased into in 1 second. Peter is an idiot and it was annoying to watch him beat on Hiro then go so far as to force choke him on Adam’s instructions. Nathan saves the day and Hiro buries Adam alive, which is a phenomenal fate for him. I don’t care about the New Orleans storyline even if Nikki ends up dead. Nathan getting shot was a bit telegraphed for my tastes but I am hoping that the twist is that it was Noah who pulled the trigger as his first job back with the company.
7 out of 10
Life
We are running out of new episodes of good shows so thankfully NBC gives us 2 episodes of Life this week. It was a 2-parter but it was a 2-parter that still had 2 separate crimes of the weeks to solve so Life takes a couple of steps forward but still takes a step back for my taste. We get a murder in a spiritual center on Monday so Charlie gets to be completely in his element learning about whether he is actually here in the physical world. Mike Novick pops up which was nice even if he may have been the killer at one point. I don’t really care about the murder investigation, it turns out that Mike’s wife killed the man who got her pregnant, what a twist. The meat of the episode was Charlie no longer being the main suspect in Ames’ murder and then finding the name of the man who committed the murders he was sent to prison for. And Charlie gave his ex a horse.
7 out of 10
Wednesday (12/5)
Life
The second Life episode of the week was the better episode. Mainly because Charlie spends the whole hour dealing with the conspiracy against him while his current and former partners deal with the murder of the week. The man who committed the murders 12 years ago, Kyle Hollis, is played by Titus Welliver. Welliver is another Deadwood transplant, which means his performance is awesome. Charlie works him over then scares the crap out of him by digging what looks to be a grave right in front of his eyes. This causes Kyle to admit to the murders that Charlie’s lawyer hears over the phone. This allows Charlie to bring him in and completely clear his name. There is also a nice scene where Charlie lays it all down for Jack Reese while his own daughter is arresting Kyle. Jack doesn’t break though and we get the next layer of the conspiracy revealed which is that Kyle was raising the missing girl and now she is in Jack’s custody. I am always for more conspiracy and it was a great end to a great episode.
8 out of 10
When there are so few shows, there is no real reason to rank them against each other. I'm going to miss TV when its gone.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Beowulf
Beowulf has completely shutdown my ability to review movies. I’ve been sitting on this for nearly 3 weeks and I just have nothing to say so this one will be short just so I can get it over with. It was alright. I have no idea if it stayed true to the original story because I’m fairly certain that Beowulf was one of the those English assignments that I “read” before taking a test based completely on my class notes. The animation is weird and not at the level that I believe moviemakers want it to be at. I guess what I’m saying is that this felt like I was watching an extremely long video game cut scene with a decent story.
How the hell wasn’t Beowulf rated R? This was a seriously violent movie but its still PG-13 because what? Animation? Violent towards monsters? The naked Angelina Jolie didn’t have nipples? That wasn't Anthony Hopkins actual bare ass? Strange rules we live by.
If I had my choice, I would rather not watch movies with this style of animation. Everybody looks off. They are shiny, the words don’t seem like they are coming from their mouths, and the eyes look like they are staring off into space half the time. It did allow for monsters, dragons, and naked demon Jolie, so I can see why they went with it. I would just prefer to see live human beings doing stuff.
Lots of folks provided voices and movements but is it really a great performance by Ray Winstone or Anthony Hopkins? It was definitely quality voice-over work by the lot of them. I don't know what else to say.
This was probably the best 3D movie that I have seen so far. But saying that puts at at the top of a very small list. The movie was filmed that way so all sorts of stuff flies at the camera even if there is no reason for it. Much like the animation I don't see this as a huge improvement in moviemaking.
Beowulf will soon be forgotten by me. In fact I am having a difficult time remembering it right now. This was a decent action movie that used animation tricks and 3D to make it seem more than it was.
6 out of 10
How the hell wasn’t Beowulf rated R? This was a seriously violent movie but its still PG-13 because what? Animation? Violent towards monsters? The naked Angelina Jolie didn’t have nipples? That wasn't Anthony Hopkins actual bare ass? Strange rules we live by.
If I had my choice, I would rather not watch movies with this style of animation. Everybody looks off. They are shiny, the words don’t seem like they are coming from their mouths, and the eyes look like they are staring off into space half the time. It did allow for monsters, dragons, and naked demon Jolie, so I can see why they went with it. I would just prefer to see live human beings doing stuff.
Lots of folks provided voices and movements but is it really a great performance by Ray Winstone or Anthony Hopkins? It was definitely quality voice-over work by the lot of them. I don't know what else to say.
This was probably the best 3D movie that I have seen so far. But saying that puts at at the top of a very small list. The movie was filmed that way so all sorts of stuff flies at the camera even if there is no reason for it. Much like the animation I don't see this as a huge improvement in moviemaking.
Beowulf will soon be forgotten by me. In fact I am having a difficult time remembering it right now. This was a decent action movie that used animation tricks and 3D to make it seem more than it was.
6 out of 10
TV from 11/25 -12/1
Sunday (11/25)
Dexter
The last 5-10 minutes were incredible. The rest of the episode was the usual greatness, but when Doakes shows up in the swamps to confront Dexter everything went to a whole new level. Doakes becoming the main Bay Harbor Butcher suspect was a thing of beauty. I may have complained about Doakes getting his own story arcs earlier in the season, but everything has come together nicely. Now we have a few episodes left and Dexter has to deal with Doakes while not exposing himself. You have to assume that Doakes will end up on the table for dissection but I am not even certain of that. Plus Dexter now has a bullet in his leg and how is he going to explain that? Lila pops up again and I have no idea how Dexter is going to deal with her. Deb and Lundy move along with their relationship that makes me go hysterically blind. I don’t even want to speculate about Dexter, I just want to watch new episodes as soon as possible.
9 out of 10
Monday (11/26)
Heroes
Well, there had to be a letdown after last week. On one hand they are building towards a nice conclusion for this chapter but on the other hand these are some of the dumbest mofos on television. Peter, Maya, and Mohinder are all calling out to be smacked upside the head. I can’t stand any of them right now. David Ander’s Adam is awesome but Peter blindly following him is just unacceptable. Adam shoots someone dead and Peter just shrugs his shoulders. Hiro shows up and tells him what he is doing is wrong and instead of listening he fights him. If he weren’t the star of the show I would hope that he is one of the characters on the chopping block for the finale. Maya has been an awful character with an awful power from the get go. Since Sylar is so damn awesome this whole storyline is not holding the show down. Hopefully he cuts her head open next week and takes her powers. As for Mohinder … screw that guy. I shot and killed you in front of your daughter for your own damn good. There is nothing worse than an idealist, but on the other hand he is just the right level of character that can be bumped off as a shocker for the finale. The magical iPod shows up in New Orleans again even if that whole storyline is weak. And Elle is still awesome with her busted arm. Should be a sweet finale this week.
7 out of 10
Tuesday (11/27)
Bones
And another episode of the Bones happened, there was nothing remarkable and there was nothing horrible. It was just a good episode.
5 out of 10
House
This may end up being my favorite season so far. They were able to get 9 episodes out of House choosing his new staff and pulled off a worthwhile conclusion to the whole process. Cuddy forces House’s hand but House works Cuddy so that he gets 3 of the final 4 instead of 2. Kumar, the plastic surgeon, and the chick known as 13 survive while the bitch finally walks the plank. House plays all sorts of the games with the 4 of them throughout the episode; it was fun to watch everyone squirm over his insane scoring method. Hopefully now that everything is settled, when the show returns Chase, Cameron, Foreman, Wilson, and Cuddy can now be brought back to the forefront. There was a rather weak Wilson storyline this week but at least it got some House and Wilson sparring with each other. Cameron and Chase get little more than a walk-on this week. I’ve put up with it and even praised the show but everything is settled and I want my old favorites to shine once again.
9 out of 10
The Unit
I made it to the end of the fall but I don’t think I will make it any farther. The show is a classic story of the week style and there isn’t much to write about from week to week.
Reaper
Much like Chuck, I am giving up on Reaper. I may still watch it but I don’t feel like reviewing it.
Wednesday (11/28)
Bionic Woman
Hooray, it came back. But sadly there is still no Sarah Corvus and Antonio looks to be really dead which is confusing as hell. What is left is a so-so show. It is still fun when her powers kick on, like when she rips the door off the car and throws it across the parking lot, but the rest of the show lacks. Maybe not all of it, the Berkut folks are constantly entertaining. The pieces are still there but they just haven’t been put in the correct order yet.
5 out of 10
Life
Hey, this came back this week. Shockingly this has become the most consistent of the new shows. I don’t think it will ever be able to overcome the one and done episode structure like House has, but it is still pretty damn strong. The conspiracy to lock Charlie up is still in the background so we do get movement on that nearly every week. There was some fun stuff between Charlie and Reese’s father, Charlie and IAD, and Charlie and Calamity Jane all revolving around the conspiracy. The murder of the week was a bit odd with the kitten-loving murderer and the child stealing fake father. Still, Charlie is fun to watch as he acts off and disturbs everyone around him.
6 out of 10
Dexter and House are clearly the head of the pack for the week. Dexter is flying towards some sort of insane finale. And I believe this is pretty much it; next week is about half of this week and then everything fades into the Writer's Strike wind.
Dexter
The last 5-10 minutes were incredible. The rest of the episode was the usual greatness, but when Doakes shows up in the swamps to confront Dexter everything went to a whole new level. Doakes becoming the main Bay Harbor Butcher suspect was a thing of beauty. I may have complained about Doakes getting his own story arcs earlier in the season, but everything has come together nicely. Now we have a few episodes left and Dexter has to deal with Doakes while not exposing himself. You have to assume that Doakes will end up on the table for dissection but I am not even certain of that. Plus Dexter now has a bullet in his leg and how is he going to explain that? Lila pops up again and I have no idea how Dexter is going to deal with her. Deb and Lundy move along with their relationship that makes me go hysterically blind. I don’t even want to speculate about Dexter, I just want to watch new episodes as soon as possible.
9 out of 10
Monday (11/26)
Heroes
Well, there had to be a letdown after last week. On one hand they are building towards a nice conclusion for this chapter but on the other hand these are some of the dumbest mofos on television. Peter, Maya, and Mohinder are all calling out to be smacked upside the head. I can’t stand any of them right now. David Ander’s Adam is awesome but Peter blindly following him is just unacceptable. Adam shoots someone dead and Peter just shrugs his shoulders. Hiro shows up and tells him what he is doing is wrong and instead of listening he fights him. If he weren’t the star of the show I would hope that he is one of the characters on the chopping block for the finale. Maya has been an awful character with an awful power from the get go. Since Sylar is so damn awesome this whole storyline is not holding the show down. Hopefully he cuts her head open next week and takes her powers. As for Mohinder … screw that guy. I shot and killed you in front of your daughter for your own damn good. There is nothing worse than an idealist, but on the other hand he is just the right level of character that can be bumped off as a shocker for the finale. The magical iPod shows up in New Orleans again even if that whole storyline is weak. And Elle is still awesome with her busted arm. Should be a sweet finale this week.
7 out of 10
Tuesday (11/27)
Bones
And another episode of the Bones happened, there was nothing remarkable and there was nothing horrible. It was just a good episode.
5 out of 10
House
This may end up being my favorite season so far. They were able to get 9 episodes out of House choosing his new staff and pulled off a worthwhile conclusion to the whole process. Cuddy forces House’s hand but House works Cuddy so that he gets 3 of the final 4 instead of 2. Kumar, the plastic surgeon, and the chick known as 13 survive while the bitch finally walks the plank. House plays all sorts of the games with the 4 of them throughout the episode; it was fun to watch everyone squirm over his insane scoring method. Hopefully now that everything is settled, when the show returns Chase, Cameron, Foreman, Wilson, and Cuddy can now be brought back to the forefront. There was a rather weak Wilson storyline this week but at least it got some House and Wilson sparring with each other. Cameron and Chase get little more than a walk-on this week. I’ve put up with it and even praised the show but everything is settled and I want my old favorites to shine once again.
9 out of 10
The Unit
I made it to the end of the fall but I don’t think I will make it any farther. The show is a classic story of the week style and there isn’t much to write about from week to week.
Reaper
Much like Chuck, I am giving up on Reaper. I may still watch it but I don’t feel like reviewing it.
Wednesday (11/28)
Bionic Woman
Hooray, it came back. But sadly there is still no Sarah Corvus and Antonio looks to be really dead which is confusing as hell. What is left is a so-so show. It is still fun when her powers kick on, like when she rips the door off the car and throws it across the parking lot, but the rest of the show lacks. Maybe not all of it, the Berkut folks are constantly entertaining. The pieces are still there but they just haven’t been put in the correct order yet.
5 out of 10
Life
Hey, this came back this week. Shockingly this has become the most consistent of the new shows. I don’t think it will ever be able to overcome the one and done episode structure like House has, but it is still pretty damn strong. The conspiracy to lock Charlie up is still in the background so we do get movement on that nearly every week. There was some fun stuff between Charlie and Reese’s father, Charlie and IAD, and Charlie and Calamity Jane all revolving around the conspiracy. The murder of the week was a bit odd with the kitten-loving murderer and the child stealing fake father. Still, Charlie is fun to watch as he acts off and disturbs everyone around him.
6 out of 10
Dexter and House are clearly the head of the pack for the week. Dexter is flying towards some sort of insane finale. And I believe this is pretty much it; next week is about half of this week and then everything fades into the Writer's Strike wind.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
TV from 11/18 - 11/24
Sunday (11/18)
Dexter
I keep trying to figure out how Dexter is going to stay one step ahead of the Bay Harbor Butcher investigation, but this episode seemed to guarantee that he would at least become a legitimate suspect. I can see him turning it on Doakes since he wasn’t apart of the force and anything he removes from Dexter house can’t be proved. Still, the end of this episode wasn’t cheery for Mr. Morgan. I am trying to conveniently forget about Deb and Lundy because it is impossible to think about without having my skin crawl. The Lila disaster didn’t take long and this is only a problem for Dexter because he can’t kill her because it can be easily traced back to him. This wasn’t my favorite episode because the first half of the episode was downright boring but I am completely intrigued with where they are going next week and beyond. I just don’t understand how they can possibly catch Dexter and still have a show but I’ll wait and see.
7 out of 10
Monday (11/19)
Chuck
I officially don’t care anymore.
Heroes
And that is why I follow this show even when it bores me to tears. This was the second best episode in the shows history; I don’t know if any episode will ever beat Company Man with the explanation of Bennet’s back-story and the ridiculously badass scene where Claire walks out of the burning house with no skin. And shockingly, Bennet is the main player in this great hour. I cannot tell you how much I wish Heroes was just about him and him alone. From turning West into his running buddy in about 5 minutes, to beating the hell out of Mohinder because he deserves it, to his scene with a trapped Elle, to the prisoner exchange where he shoots Elle and was about to shoot Bob before Mohinder finally makes a decision and it is the wrong one, to Claire finally realizing that her dad rules, to me contemplating never watching the show again for 10 minutes before he pops up in the final scene, Bennet elevates this show. Of course there were 2 other arcs going on but thankfully 1 of them was really good and the other was short enough not to hinder the whole episode. Hiro trying to stop Sulu’s death was nice because it was another step in Hiro’s journey plus he finds out that Adam killed his father. Parkman becoming an asshole that bends people’s will to his own was boring as usual but it is fun that he practices his mind control on Molly who he supposedly loves. His scene with Mama Petrelli was good because her character is a helluvalot more fun than his. If only all Heroes episodes were this good. Plus Elle needs to be a main character because Kristen Bell is unbelievable in every one of her scenes.
10 out of 10
Weeds
That was a disappointing finale. It wasn’t a bad episode by any means but the show was building and building for the last month and this was a letdown. There is a very obvious method to every Weeds season, it starts with Nancy’s life in turmoil, she gets her shit together, only to have the season end with her back into another pile of shit. The 3rd season ends with her losing all her product, burning down her house, packing the family up, and Celia giving her up to the DEA. Celia sucks and I'm glad that we got back to that because not hating her over the last episode and a half was making me nauseous. There was a cool conversation between Nancy and Guillermo that was the highlight of the episode but that is all that is worth mentioning. I’m sure the 4th season will come back strong, see ya next summer.
6 out of 10
Tuesday (11/20)
Bones
It was nice for them to actually move on the cannibal storyline that they began the season with. And because of that connection, this episode felt more important than most. There were a bunch of revelations about the cannibal or cannibals as the story went on. Plus having Sweets running around the lab was a nice change. More nonsense with Bones and her family is always fun and this had a nice conclusion with Booth helping them out. Weird ending since it felt like a cliffhanger but I doubt that next week will be a true continuation of the cannibal plot. There will be another skeleton of the week.
7 out of 10
House
This was another great episode that completely ignores Chase and Cameron. On top of that, Wilson gets about 2 scenes and Foreman just hangs around in the background and worse of all Cuddy is a major part of the story but she barely gets any screen-time. This is going to get old but at the same time they are eliminating all the new faces so hopefully everyone can get back onscreen soon enough. Since there are only 5 hopefuls left, all of them get their time to shine. Kumar repeatedly defies House but is proven right and keeps his job, the dog killer may have a terminal disease but she drugs House and gets to keep her job, and the Mormon works a backroom deal with Cuddy and gets fired for it. House asking for Cuddy’s panties in order to gain immunity was good enough but it was made even better by Foreman telling them that that is how he got hired and House’s way of finding out if the Mormon actually got the real deal. And the answer to everything was lupus, which has been 4 years coming. It was nice to see House makes a big deal about it.
8 out of 10
The Unit
Williams is dead lets move on and not even bring it up. And with that, I can slip back to barely paying attention to the hour. There was some decent gang stuff with Grey but the highlight of the main story was Bob and Jonas working the investigator already on the case. The scene where Bob acts like Jonas’ superior was cool. The other side of the episode was Tiffy getting beat up and Mack seeking revenge with the Colonel at his side. Yawn but at least it seems like it will be bring that triangle to a conclusion. Oh well, I can’t love every show I watch.
6 out of 10
Now that is a manageable week. Heroes is a clear number 1 with their best episode of the season. House takes second again because I love the new season even if I am the only one. Television armageddon is quickly approaching so soon there will be no reviews a week.
Dexter
I keep trying to figure out how Dexter is going to stay one step ahead of the Bay Harbor Butcher investigation, but this episode seemed to guarantee that he would at least become a legitimate suspect. I can see him turning it on Doakes since he wasn’t apart of the force and anything he removes from Dexter house can’t be proved. Still, the end of this episode wasn’t cheery for Mr. Morgan. I am trying to conveniently forget about Deb and Lundy because it is impossible to think about without having my skin crawl. The Lila disaster didn’t take long and this is only a problem for Dexter because he can’t kill her because it can be easily traced back to him. This wasn’t my favorite episode because the first half of the episode was downright boring but I am completely intrigued with where they are going next week and beyond. I just don’t understand how they can possibly catch Dexter and still have a show but I’ll wait and see.
7 out of 10
Monday (11/19)
Chuck
I officially don’t care anymore.
Heroes
And that is why I follow this show even when it bores me to tears. This was the second best episode in the shows history; I don’t know if any episode will ever beat Company Man with the explanation of Bennet’s back-story and the ridiculously badass scene where Claire walks out of the burning house with no skin. And shockingly, Bennet is the main player in this great hour. I cannot tell you how much I wish Heroes was just about him and him alone. From turning West into his running buddy in about 5 minutes, to beating the hell out of Mohinder because he deserves it, to his scene with a trapped Elle, to the prisoner exchange where he shoots Elle and was about to shoot Bob before Mohinder finally makes a decision and it is the wrong one, to Claire finally realizing that her dad rules, to me contemplating never watching the show again for 10 minutes before he pops up in the final scene, Bennet elevates this show. Of course there were 2 other arcs going on but thankfully 1 of them was really good and the other was short enough not to hinder the whole episode. Hiro trying to stop Sulu’s death was nice because it was another step in Hiro’s journey plus he finds out that Adam killed his father. Parkman becoming an asshole that bends people’s will to his own was boring as usual but it is fun that he practices his mind control on Molly who he supposedly loves. His scene with Mama Petrelli was good because her character is a helluvalot more fun than his. If only all Heroes episodes were this good. Plus Elle needs to be a main character because Kristen Bell is unbelievable in every one of her scenes.
10 out of 10
Weeds
That was a disappointing finale. It wasn’t a bad episode by any means but the show was building and building for the last month and this was a letdown. There is a very obvious method to every Weeds season, it starts with Nancy’s life in turmoil, she gets her shit together, only to have the season end with her back into another pile of shit. The 3rd season ends with her losing all her product, burning down her house, packing the family up, and Celia giving her up to the DEA. Celia sucks and I'm glad that we got back to that because not hating her over the last episode and a half was making me nauseous. There was a cool conversation between Nancy and Guillermo that was the highlight of the episode but that is all that is worth mentioning. I’m sure the 4th season will come back strong, see ya next summer.
6 out of 10
Tuesday (11/20)
Bones
It was nice for them to actually move on the cannibal storyline that they began the season with. And because of that connection, this episode felt more important than most. There were a bunch of revelations about the cannibal or cannibals as the story went on. Plus having Sweets running around the lab was a nice change. More nonsense with Bones and her family is always fun and this had a nice conclusion with Booth helping them out. Weird ending since it felt like a cliffhanger but I doubt that next week will be a true continuation of the cannibal plot. There will be another skeleton of the week.
7 out of 10
House
This was another great episode that completely ignores Chase and Cameron. On top of that, Wilson gets about 2 scenes and Foreman just hangs around in the background and worse of all Cuddy is a major part of the story but she barely gets any screen-time. This is going to get old but at the same time they are eliminating all the new faces so hopefully everyone can get back onscreen soon enough. Since there are only 5 hopefuls left, all of them get their time to shine. Kumar repeatedly defies House but is proven right and keeps his job, the dog killer may have a terminal disease but she drugs House and gets to keep her job, and the Mormon works a backroom deal with Cuddy and gets fired for it. House asking for Cuddy’s panties in order to gain immunity was good enough but it was made even better by Foreman telling them that that is how he got hired and House’s way of finding out if the Mormon actually got the real deal. And the answer to everything was lupus, which has been 4 years coming. It was nice to see House makes a big deal about it.
8 out of 10
The Unit
Williams is dead lets move on and not even bring it up. And with that, I can slip back to barely paying attention to the hour. There was some decent gang stuff with Grey but the highlight of the main story was Bob and Jonas working the investigator already on the case. The scene where Bob acts like Jonas’ superior was cool. The other side of the episode was Tiffy getting beat up and Mack seeking revenge with the Colonel at his side. Yawn but at least it seems like it will be bring that triangle to a conclusion. Oh well, I can’t love every show I watch.
6 out of 10
Now that is a manageable week. Heroes is a clear number 1 with their best episode of the season. House takes second again because I love the new season even if I am the only one. Television armageddon is quickly approaching so soon there will be no reviews a week.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
TV from 11/11 - 11/17
Sunday (11/11)
Dexter
A whole lot of stuff went down this week. I would say that the best point of the episode was Dexter playing Doakes like a fiddle and getting him suspended from the force. Of course this isn’t going to stop Doakes from digging into his life, but watching Dexter antagonize Doakes into attacking him the middle of the office was a thing of beauty. On the other end for Dexter is Lila going into full-on crazy girlfriend mode which was great in that she was naked again but not so great in that the more you screw with Dexter the better chance he is going to kill you. And since Dexter is a complete psychopath he has already seen through her manipulations. I’m still not comfortable with what is going on with Deb and Lundy. Thankfully Rita booted her lunatic mother. All of those character moments were going on along with some nice movement on the Bay Harbor Butcher investigation. It was just another great episode.
8 out of 10
Monday (11/12)
Prison Break
What a surprise! Lots and lots of stuff was teased but in the end barely anything has changed. The formula of Prison Break drives me insane. The evil shadow company assaults Sona and nothing happens. Michael stops Whistler from escaping and then the helicopters leave. The big change is Michael is taken out of Sona and the end of the episode … ooooh what could that mean? All the other characters are still in Sona, do you think we’ll never see them again? I don’t care. Lincoln and Sucre do stuff but since no one escapes it doesn’t really amount to much. They did buy a shack so maybe they will live happily ever after together. Thankfully Prison Break is going on hiatus but sadly it will come back before 24 so I won’t get my Fox Mondays back for many more months.
5 out of 10
Chuck
Marshall is an evil ex-gymnast who now poisons people for a living? Well if that’s what it takes to get Kevin Weisman some work, fine. He was the threat of the week which existed merely to give everybody truth serum so that the revelations could commence. In the end all that will matter is that Sarah was able to lie to Chuck and hide her feelings for him so that he will now get a real girlfriend. Or something like that, I was fast-forwarding without fear. Harry Tang looks to have been written off the show, which was weird even if he is a part of the Dexter cast. He’s better on Dexter so I’ll take it. It was another ho-hum episode.
6 out of 10
Heroes
What a surprise this episode did not live up to all of its hype. I am shocked. The problem for me is that when it wasn’t about the Petrelli family the whole thing lost steam. There was too much time spent on the bleeding eyes siblings and what happened to D.L. Who cares about either of those things? Maya and her brother have been the absolute worst storyline in the show’s history and that includes Parkman’s marital problems last season. And the D.L. arc just annoyed me because he survived a shot to the gut in order to die later by being shot in the gut. But the whole episode wasn’t a waste because there was plenty of good stuff with Peter and Nathan. That was a nice twist to have the burnt face Nathan kept seeing early in the season be his own face instead of him thinking about Peter. But still if he was healed magically like that why has he turned to the bottle over the fate of his brother? Wouldn’t Peter be the first person he thought of after he is mysteriously cured? Peter in company prison with Adam was fantastic. David Anders is great in this role and Kristen Bell finally returns and kills it with her interactions with Peter. And the Haitian pops up again and even speaks! There is always enough to keep me interested and this week had more good than bad.
7 out of 10
Weeds
Weeds keeps on rolling to another crazy finale. I don’t even know where to start. Should I go with Conrad and Vaneeta dealing with an annoying neighbor blaming Jews and talking about how cute little black babies are? Or maybe Celia turning to Heylia in order to use her new drug money? Or better yet Nancy turning to Guillermo for protection and keeping up her drug business-negotiating tactic of drinking an iced coffee during the meetings? There was also Silas stealing Conrad’s gun, Shane still talking to his dead dad, Heylia finding out about Nancy and Conrad, and Andy actually showing some backbone for his family. And the episode ends with Guillermo setting fire to the biker’s crops causing a wildfire. Awesome.
9 out of 10
Tuesday (11/13)
Bones
Alright, an episode full of 80s jokes. That is about it; some funny jokes and cute moments with Booth and Bones in therapy but nothing groundbreaking. It is really hard to review this show since I have nothing to say about it. I enjoy it then I forget it.
6 out of 10
House
Well that was encouraging. Michael Michele doesn’t join the show instead she pops up for another episode to destroy House’s mind before getting fired at the end. House having to depend on Foreman because he doesn’t trust himself when she makes suggestions was sweet. It is still obvious that all of the new faces will be slowly eliminated throughout the season but at least it looks to be a season-long storyline. This week we got the spotlight on the plastic surgeon and there are revelations aplenty before he impresses House by constantly disagreeing and working against him. They all get some funny moments when being filmed by the documentary crew and even that has a great conclusion with all of the House footage edited to make him look like a nice guy. They were somehow able to fit in Cuddy, Wilson, Chase and Cameron around the edges of the main storyline. Who the hell knows where Cameron’s admittance of love towards House will lead if it leads to anything at all. Not the best of the season but still another good episode.
8 out of 10
The Unit
This was probably the best episode of The Unit that I have seen. They actually made Williams’ death mean something. And it wasn’t even having Jonas go after the man whose soldiers kill Williams; it was the last segment of the episode where each character was shown preparing for his funeral then showing the funeral itself. This was all very well done. I have to take some points off for Jonas turning into a one-man A-Team by building a super truck to invade the enemy’s compound. Really? This was balanced with solid storylines for Mack and Bob, one dealing with William’s autopsy and one breaking through a journalist’s Stockholm syndrome. It would be nice if all The Unit episodes were this good.
8 out of 10
Reaper
This is one of the better episodes of Reaper just because of the Sock/Gladys storyline. This allowed for plenty of great Sock moments but culminated with the hilarious dream of them going at it on her couch that Gladys put in his head. His reaction to find this out at the DMV was perfect. There was more Sam and Andi nonsense that is just more stalling before putting them together. The main storyline was good because it lead to a nice moment where the Devil shows Sam what happens at the end of a deal with the devil. Not good for Sam’s future.
7 out of 10
Wednesday (11/14)
Bionic Woman
Well that was just completely unexpected. On one hand this was the first good episode without Sarah Corvus but it ended with the death of Antonio. And that sucks because Isaiah Washington was creating one of the best characters on the show. Maybe he isn’t dead or maybe he’ll become bionic or maybe he is moving on to a different show. Who knows? Jaime and her CIA boyfriend is still dragging down the show but it didn’t kill this episode and even had a couple of nice moments where she whips on some CIA folks who were spying on her. It was nice to see Curtis Manning show up even if only for an episode. So it looks like I won’t be abandoning Bionic Woman yet.
7 out of 10
Life
Well that was a bit of a disappointment. With the way that the episode was previewed I thought the whole thing would be about the murder of the detective who arrested Charlie, but instead we got half of that and half investigation of the week. The usual was the usual and I don’t have much to say about it. While the other half of the episode was as good as I hoped it would be. There were great scene after scene with Charlie and Calamity Jane, Charlie being questioned by IAD, Charlie meeting Reese’s dad, Ted clearing out Charlie’s closet of paranoia before it was searched, and Charlie finding out how bad the DA wants to take him down. Damn this episode could have been great if it was only about Charlie.
7 out of 10
Thursday (11/15)
Smallville
It is nice to see that Smallville can suck even without concentrating on Lana. Clark is an idiot and resurrects his mother even though he knows its going to lead to something bad and even after it starts turning to shit he is blind to it because he has his fake mother back. Zor-El was decent but not good enough to carry the episode. Lionel only got a scene and a half so that’s a disappointment. There was also some extended nonsense with Lois and the editor, which leads to Lois taking her job seriously and Lex hiding his brother from Lionel. Yeah okay fine. And worse of all Clark takes his mom to Oliver Queens’ old place and all it does is remind us of another decent character who is not around anymore.
4 out of 10
This will be the last big week until the writer's strike ends. Next week is Thanksgiving so half the week is shot. This week saw the end of Prison Break and the Weeds ends next week. These are all good things. I'll give Weeds the top slot and put Dexter in right behind it.
Dexter
A whole lot of stuff went down this week. I would say that the best point of the episode was Dexter playing Doakes like a fiddle and getting him suspended from the force. Of course this isn’t going to stop Doakes from digging into his life, but watching Dexter antagonize Doakes into attacking him the middle of the office was a thing of beauty. On the other end for Dexter is Lila going into full-on crazy girlfriend mode which was great in that she was naked again but not so great in that the more you screw with Dexter the better chance he is going to kill you. And since Dexter is a complete psychopath he has already seen through her manipulations. I’m still not comfortable with what is going on with Deb and Lundy. Thankfully Rita booted her lunatic mother. All of those character moments were going on along with some nice movement on the Bay Harbor Butcher investigation. It was just another great episode.
8 out of 10
Monday (11/12)
Prison Break
What a surprise! Lots and lots of stuff was teased but in the end barely anything has changed. The formula of Prison Break drives me insane. The evil shadow company assaults Sona and nothing happens. Michael stops Whistler from escaping and then the helicopters leave. The big change is Michael is taken out of Sona and the end of the episode … ooooh what could that mean? All the other characters are still in Sona, do you think we’ll never see them again? I don’t care. Lincoln and Sucre do stuff but since no one escapes it doesn’t really amount to much. They did buy a shack so maybe they will live happily ever after together. Thankfully Prison Break is going on hiatus but sadly it will come back before 24 so I won’t get my Fox Mondays back for many more months.
5 out of 10
Chuck
Marshall is an evil ex-gymnast who now poisons people for a living? Well if that’s what it takes to get Kevin Weisman some work, fine. He was the threat of the week which existed merely to give everybody truth serum so that the revelations could commence. In the end all that will matter is that Sarah was able to lie to Chuck and hide her feelings for him so that he will now get a real girlfriend. Or something like that, I was fast-forwarding without fear. Harry Tang looks to have been written off the show, which was weird even if he is a part of the Dexter cast. He’s better on Dexter so I’ll take it. It was another ho-hum episode.
6 out of 10
Heroes
What a surprise this episode did not live up to all of its hype. I am shocked. The problem for me is that when it wasn’t about the Petrelli family the whole thing lost steam. There was too much time spent on the bleeding eyes siblings and what happened to D.L. Who cares about either of those things? Maya and her brother have been the absolute worst storyline in the show’s history and that includes Parkman’s marital problems last season. And the D.L. arc just annoyed me because he survived a shot to the gut in order to die later by being shot in the gut. But the whole episode wasn’t a waste because there was plenty of good stuff with Peter and Nathan. That was a nice twist to have the burnt face Nathan kept seeing early in the season be his own face instead of him thinking about Peter. But still if he was healed magically like that why has he turned to the bottle over the fate of his brother? Wouldn’t Peter be the first person he thought of after he is mysteriously cured? Peter in company prison with Adam was fantastic. David Anders is great in this role and Kristen Bell finally returns and kills it with her interactions with Peter. And the Haitian pops up again and even speaks! There is always enough to keep me interested and this week had more good than bad.
7 out of 10
Weeds
Weeds keeps on rolling to another crazy finale. I don’t even know where to start. Should I go with Conrad and Vaneeta dealing with an annoying neighbor blaming Jews and talking about how cute little black babies are? Or maybe Celia turning to Heylia in order to use her new drug money? Or better yet Nancy turning to Guillermo for protection and keeping up her drug business-negotiating tactic of drinking an iced coffee during the meetings? There was also Silas stealing Conrad’s gun, Shane still talking to his dead dad, Heylia finding out about Nancy and Conrad, and Andy actually showing some backbone for his family. And the episode ends with Guillermo setting fire to the biker’s crops causing a wildfire. Awesome.
9 out of 10
Tuesday (11/13)
Bones
Alright, an episode full of 80s jokes. That is about it; some funny jokes and cute moments with Booth and Bones in therapy but nothing groundbreaking. It is really hard to review this show since I have nothing to say about it. I enjoy it then I forget it.
6 out of 10
House
Well that was encouraging. Michael Michele doesn’t join the show instead she pops up for another episode to destroy House’s mind before getting fired at the end. House having to depend on Foreman because he doesn’t trust himself when she makes suggestions was sweet. It is still obvious that all of the new faces will be slowly eliminated throughout the season but at least it looks to be a season-long storyline. This week we got the spotlight on the plastic surgeon and there are revelations aplenty before he impresses House by constantly disagreeing and working against him. They all get some funny moments when being filmed by the documentary crew and even that has a great conclusion with all of the House footage edited to make him look like a nice guy. They were somehow able to fit in Cuddy, Wilson, Chase and Cameron around the edges of the main storyline. Who the hell knows where Cameron’s admittance of love towards House will lead if it leads to anything at all. Not the best of the season but still another good episode.
8 out of 10
The Unit
This was probably the best episode of The Unit that I have seen. They actually made Williams’ death mean something. And it wasn’t even having Jonas go after the man whose soldiers kill Williams; it was the last segment of the episode where each character was shown preparing for his funeral then showing the funeral itself. This was all very well done. I have to take some points off for Jonas turning into a one-man A-Team by building a super truck to invade the enemy’s compound. Really? This was balanced with solid storylines for Mack and Bob, one dealing with William’s autopsy and one breaking through a journalist’s Stockholm syndrome. It would be nice if all The Unit episodes were this good.
8 out of 10
Reaper
This is one of the better episodes of Reaper just because of the Sock/Gladys storyline. This allowed for plenty of great Sock moments but culminated with the hilarious dream of them going at it on her couch that Gladys put in his head. His reaction to find this out at the DMV was perfect. There was more Sam and Andi nonsense that is just more stalling before putting them together. The main storyline was good because it lead to a nice moment where the Devil shows Sam what happens at the end of a deal with the devil. Not good for Sam’s future.
7 out of 10
Wednesday (11/14)
Bionic Woman
Well that was just completely unexpected. On one hand this was the first good episode without Sarah Corvus but it ended with the death of Antonio. And that sucks because Isaiah Washington was creating one of the best characters on the show. Maybe he isn’t dead or maybe he’ll become bionic or maybe he is moving on to a different show. Who knows? Jaime and her CIA boyfriend is still dragging down the show but it didn’t kill this episode and even had a couple of nice moments where she whips on some CIA folks who were spying on her. It was nice to see Curtis Manning show up even if only for an episode. So it looks like I won’t be abandoning Bionic Woman yet.
7 out of 10
Life
Well that was a bit of a disappointment. With the way that the episode was previewed I thought the whole thing would be about the murder of the detective who arrested Charlie, but instead we got half of that and half investigation of the week. The usual was the usual and I don’t have much to say about it. While the other half of the episode was as good as I hoped it would be. There were great scene after scene with Charlie and Calamity Jane, Charlie being questioned by IAD, Charlie meeting Reese’s dad, Ted clearing out Charlie’s closet of paranoia before it was searched, and Charlie finding out how bad the DA wants to take him down. Damn this episode could have been great if it was only about Charlie.
7 out of 10
Thursday (11/15)
Smallville
It is nice to see that Smallville can suck even without concentrating on Lana. Clark is an idiot and resurrects his mother even though he knows its going to lead to something bad and even after it starts turning to shit he is blind to it because he has his fake mother back. Zor-El was decent but not good enough to carry the episode. Lionel only got a scene and a half so that’s a disappointment. There was also some extended nonsense with Lois and the editor, which leads to Lois taking her job seriously and Lex hiding his brother from Lionel. Yeah okay fine. And worse of all Clark takes his mom to Oliver Queens’ old place and all it does is remind us of another decent character who is not around anymore.
4 out of 10
This will be the last big week until the writer's strike ends. Next week is Thanksgiving so half the week is shot. This week saw the end of Prison Break and the Weeds ends next week. These are all good things. I'll give Weeds the top slot and put Dexter in right behind it.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Fred Claus
Is Vince Vaughn strong enough to carry a PG movie? No, he is not. And really what the hell man? Of all the topline comedic actors out there right now, he is the last one that I would look to tone his act down to PG level. Yet here is Fred Claus to undercut his skill and deliver a by-the-book family oriented holiday film. And those last 7 words means I am not a fan.
In the end Fred Claus felt like the outline was written, Santa’s sketchy older brother runs amuck, then the cameras were turned on and Vince was expected to do all the work. He tried hard and gets a couple of those Vince Vaughn scenes, his first scene berating the girl after repossessing her television and … I can’t think of anything else. It is all just a blur of bland jokes that you see all the time. If it weren’t for the couple of truly interesting moments, Siblings Anonymous with Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton, and Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Spacey wearing a Superman cape, Elizabeth Banks’ outfit, and that’s about it. There was some chemistry with Vaughn and Paul Giamatti as the Claus brothers. In fact I liked Giamatti as the worn down Santa who is trying to hold on to his job. And that is Kevin Spacey lending his credibility as the man trying to shutdown the North Pole. All of the roles are filled by talented folks; John Michael Higgins, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, Ludacris, and Miranda Richardson all do fine. Its just that there wasn't anything to work with.
Overall the casting was not the problem, it was the story and the jokes. Nothing really made sense, not that the story needed to be airtight, but how does Spacey have the power to end Christmas? Why is Rachel Weisz a meter maid in Chicago with a British accent? Do people really emigrate from England for that profession? And, damn, Kathy Bates was just about the worse mother ever and she never learns her lesson. What the heck is that? And after about the third normal sized guy in an elf’s world joke I checked out. Plus I don’t think I need to elaborate how I am just not a guy who enjoys PG rated comedies.
So, yeah, Fred Claus is not a good movie. I am a Vince Vaughn fan but I am not a blind loyalist to anyone and I cannot honestly say this was worthwhile. There is a reason why I ignore PG movies like the plague and Fred Claus just reinforces that rule in my head.
4 out of 10
In the end Fred Claus felt like the outline was written, Santa’s sketchy older brother runs amuck, then the cameras were turned on and Vince was expected to do all the work. He tried hard and gets a couple of those Vince Vaughn scenes, his first scene berating the girl after repossessing her television and … I can’t think of anything else. It is all just a blur of bland jokes that you see all the time. If it weren’t for the couple of truly interesting moments, Siblings Anonymous with Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton, and Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Spacey wearing a Superman cape, Elizabeth Banks’ outfit, and that’s about it. There was some chemistry with Vaughn and Paul Giamatti as the Claus brothers. In fact I liked Giamatti as the worn down Santa who is trying to hold on to his job. And that is Kevin Spacey lending his credibility as the man trying to shutdown the North Pole. All of the roles are filled by talented folks; John Michael Higgins, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, Ludacris, and Miranda Richardson all do fine. Its just that there wasn't anything to work with.
Overall the casting was not the problem, it was the story and the jokes. Nothing really made sense, not that the story needed to be airtight, but how does Spacey have the power to end Christmas? Why is Rachel Weisz a meter maid in Chicago with a British accent? Do people really emigrate from England for that profession? And, damn, Kathy Bates was just about the worse mother ever and she never learns her lesson. What the heck is that? And after about the third normal sized guy in an elf’s world joke I checked out. Plus I don’t think I need to elaborate how I am just not a guy who enjoys PG rated comedies.
So, yeah, Fred Claus is not a good movie. I am a Vince Vaughn fan but I am not a blind loyalist to anyone and I cannot honestly say this was worthwhile. There is a reason why I ignore PG movies like the plague and Fred Claus just reinforces that rule in my head.
4 out of 10
American Gangster
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
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
