I'm Not Paranoid, It's Just That Everyone Is Out to Get Me!

Oh man, the updates have been sparse lately in old blogland, but hey, what can I say, I'm a busy man.

The job search continues, and in the process many a dead end has been reached. Amazing how in this age of lightspeed communication and instantaneous exchange of ideas and information, hearing back from people can still be such a long, drawn-out process. Of course, I am now living on borrowed time so to speak, as my time as an NBC page is all but up and any further time I spend here at the 'Peacock is really like extra innings. Of course, when all is said and done, NBC has been very good to me, and in many ways I feel like I'm just getting started here. I finally feel more settled into my assignment, am finally meeting the newer page classes, and am more than used to the fact that I live so close to work, which for non-morning persons like myself is really, really key.

So yeah, it's mostly been dead ends in the job search for the most part. I can't help but feel like I'm sitting on a treasure trove of opportunity in my current assignment - everyday I interact with writers, agents, execs - who all have access to all types of info about staffing and hiring. The question is really how willing are they to help and how willing am I to press the issue. This is an industry where everyone and I mean everyone is thinking about what their next job will be, so few people are really willing to spill the beans if they have any inside info about hiring or job opportunities. Plus, a lot of it is luck - being in the right place at the right time, during the right season. So we'll see what happens, but as always whatever happens, it probably won't come easy.

TV STUFF:

Whoah, I am waaaay behind in my reviews, and there is just so much to say. Let's run down the list of the usual suspects:

24: AWESOME ep last night. Everything was very tightly scripted and the kickass moments were carefully woven into a tangled web of high drama, as a number of storylines came to a cresendo of resoultion with surprising speed. We've got Walt outed as a ultra-right-wing ideaologue, and then in an amazing display of pure Bauer-power intensity, we see him given the hardcore torture threat by Jack - RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE PRESIDENT. Wow, great moment, making one wonder if Jack was going to tell the FCC to go to hell and take out the man's right eye then and there. Good stuff with Mrs. Logan, and also even more good stuff with the Prez, who is doing a great job at being so slimey that you love to hate him. Of course, he seems like he's starting to come around, which will make his eventual, inevitable moment where he finally grows a spine all the more awesome. Good stuff at CTU, good use of all the players, and even the soap-y Audrey stuff was handled pretty well. I'm not really sure where the show goes from here, but hey, that's par for the course. My grade: A

Smallville 100th Episode -- Well, they had everyone going there for a minute. We all thought that, contrary to all established Superman mythos, Lana Lang was a goner. And even though I am somewhat of a Superman purist ... you know what, it would have worked, and been very effective storytelling, within the framework that Smallville has set up. Why? They've made Lana into a completely unlikable character ... one who whines and complains at every chance, and who we begin to think is untrustworthy, and, well, kinda a bitch. So killing her off would have been a good move - it would have rid the show of its most annoying character and given a lot of advancement to Clark's own arc. But no, WB must have deemed that all the Superman franchise's stars allign, and Clark's deux-ex-machina comes in the form of Jor El suddenly giving him the ability to turn back time ala the first Donner movie, save Lana, but then in the process lead events so that ol' Pa Kent bites it, from a heart attack no less - just like in the first movie. My verdict? LAME. This episode had a good thing going in the beginning, but soon it lost all momentum and became a tired variation on Groundhog Day. In the past, Smallville has always come through in the big episodes, even when the season ahs been bad in general. This season has been good in general, even great. But this ep was a HUGE disappointment. It was everything that is BAD about Smallville. Plots so cheesy they'd make Schuster and Siegel cringe, characters that act out of character (Clark is going to save Lana KNOWING that someone else will die in her place? No WAY, not even close), and lack of satisfying resolutions to any plotlines. Just to drive home my second point, there was a controversial issue of the Superman comics in the mid 90's in which the Joker has poisoned Lois Lane. He hides the antidote in his bloodstream, and has engineered it so that the only way it will become viable is if he is dead. Thus, the only way Superman can save Lois is by killing the Joker. And you know what? He REFUSES. Why? Because Superman does not kill. Ever. No matter what. Now sure, this was an extreme example designed as a a kind of moral what if?, but it makes a point that you'd have to be kind of, not Super, to sacrifice one person's life for another. Anyway, I'm rambling, but this plot point really bothered me. In any case, this was not that great of an episode, and at this point who cares about Lana and Clark's forever on again off again romance? What worked? Lex's continual downfall is great, as always. Lionel's villainy is fun to watch week after week. The cinematography, as always, was great and epic and sweeping as well. And hey, kudos to Jon Shneider who was really the heart and sould of this show for 5 years - it will be sad to see him go. My grade: C

Veronica Mars -- Shocking turn of events in this week's ep, and it was an interesting ride, for sure. But while this show usually has me amazed at how well all the pieces fit together as its mysteriesare revealed, I have to say this past week's ep really had me scratching my head and wondering what was going on. Maybe one of my fellow Mars fans out there can clarify? Ie, who was the blonde girl at the end of the episode? And, did this episode jump in time from the last new episode? I don't know, something just seemed off. And while they've always done a good job of making Veronica a teen prodigy yet still fallible, this ep really pushed things to the extreme, with Ms. Mars outsmarting not just the local authorities, but the FBI as well. Stretching things just a bit there ... Still, can't beat this show for character, dialogue, wit, and atmosphere, and even a somewhat outlandish ep like this one was decent quality. My grade: B -

The OC: Well, looks like I can't quite write this show off yet, as some interesting plot developments this past week shook things up just enough to pique my curiosity. Okay, so this show is still a shell of its former self, but at least the return of Kaitlin Cooper, now all grown up so to speak, is somthing we haven't quite seen before. The Seth Cohen as pot-smoker plotline was a bit melodramatic, but hey, at least they are doing SOMETHING with Seth, who it is hard to believe was once by far the show's breakout character. Oh, and Johnny is easily one of the worst and most horribly acted characters ever on this show, and that's saying a lot. My grade: B -

The Office -- Hilarious stuff once again this past week. Michael and Dwight "raiding" their officemates was funny stuff, and while he's no Finchy, Todd Packer is in and of himself a pretty good character. My grade: A-

Family Guy: Sunday's ep was pretty damn funny ... Stewie going all Joe Pesci, repeatedly, on Brian was great, and the whole, um, shower scene with NE Patriots star Tom Brady was just wrong, but hilarious. My grade: B+

Moving on ...

MOVIE REVIEW ....

MATCH POINT:

Saw this one on Friday and I must say that I really enjoyed it. Would I call it a candidate for movie of the year? No, I wouldn't put it in the top tier of 2005 movies like Munich or A History of Violence. But this was a smart, entertaining, tense, and yes I'll use the word -- taut -- take on the thriller that kept me pretty glued to the screen even though I was crazy tired while watching it. For one thing, the acting is all-around great. John Rhys-Myers is very good as the fiendish lead character, and Scarlett Johanson does Woody Allen meets Marylin Monroe, if you can picture that, extremely well. Yeah, I know, quite an image I just put forth there. Now even though this is a Woody Allen movie, it doesn't quite feel like what you might expect from him, as aside from hints of himself in of all people Scarlett J, there is no Woody Allen character in this movie, and the man himself is nowhere to be seen. There's hints of comedy, but they are small, and the movie is mostly played straight, in a very old-school, classical way that almost reminded me of some of the old film noirs like Double Indemnity and whatnot, because the whole focus of the movie becomes: Man falls for unattainable woman, and will go to any lengths to be with her .... so the question is -- will he or won't he get caught? In fact, that is really the theme of the film - will the plan work or won't it? Will he get away with it or not? In film noir, the answer is always no. Here, Woody Allen poses the question (kind of SPOILER warnings I guess) ... what if it's not set in stone that the plan is going to fail? What if it really does just come down to luck, a flip of the coin, and what if the leading man could really get away with it, how would THAT work? So yeah, Allen poses some interesting questions here. And in between the big scenes we get all the hallmarks of a Woody Allen film -- awkward conversations in restaurants, even more awkward double dates, serious parental issues, uncertainty about one's future, women who drive men crazy, and people who are fish out of water in a big city. So there's lots of interesting little moments, social observations, etc. that make the movie very enjoyable - as always in a Woody Allen movie, each character becomes a fascinating psychological profile, seemingly begging to be put in a psycho-analysts's chair and thoroughly analyzed. As a movie, as a whole, is it a masterpiece? No, wouldn't go that far. But some excellent performances and lots of cool little moments make this a very, very good movie. My grade: B+

NBA Stuff:

Man, pity the Boston Celtics, who cannot make a trade that will actually help them to save their lives. So in a deal with Minnesota, they trade a bunch of supporting players and one pretty good role player - Ricky Davis - and get basically the exact same thing in return. Sure, they may benefit from Wally Sczerbiak's long range prowess, but ultimately they are still in the same lower-tier as a team that they've been stuck in for years now. The Celtics need to make the move and trade Paul Pierce, who has worn himself out from endless failed playoff runs and lack of good teammates. Get a fresh star for your team, and start over beginning with your best player.

Speaking of the NBA, who else misses the glory days of the dunk contest? Looks like this year we will once again be treated to a lineup of C-list aerialists competing for the crown, and not the Kobes, Carters, and LeBrons going at it, which is what everyone wants to see. Come on, at one time Jordan and Dominique were going at it every year in the dunk-off, why should it now be relegated to a showcase for not-ready-for-primetime players?

POLITICS:

Well not gonna go on a huge rant on this now, but suffice to say it is a sad state of affairs when the "democratically elected" government of the Palestinian people turns out to be terrorists who advocate the destruction of Israel. How did we let it come to this? Luckily most world governments seem opposed to holding any kind of diplomacy with Hamas, but now this notoriously violent and fanatical group holds some form of political legitimacy? That is downright scary. Hopefully Bush will address this and pledge to take an active involvement in regulating this new regime in its early stages. I'm writing this before the State of the Union, so we'll see what Bush has to say. Hopefully he will get his head in the game and start establishing a positive international presence, because between this and the whole Iran going nuclear fiasco we have a lot to worry about. Let's hope W has his head in the game.

Alright, on that note it is time to sign off once again, until the time comes when the blogging gods will once again summon me to spread my great wisdome to you, the loyal readers. Until then, heed the words of the great one: Train, Say Your Prayers, and Kick Some Ass.