Welcome back, ladies and gents. What's new, what's new.
If you're a fan of VERONICA MARS (and if not, why?), then these last few days have been a rollercoaster ride. I mean, up until a few hours ago, there existed a new spark of hope that the show could survive thanks to the passionate outcry of its loyal fanbase. I mean, if a second-rate show like JERICHO could get a new lease on life, then surely, the brilliant VM was eligible for a similar second-look by the CW brass. So following in the footsteps of the fan campaign to save Jericho, thousands of erstwhile Mars fans ordered up Mars Bars by the boatload (literally, since they're no longer available in the US ...), to send a message to CW head Dawn Ostroff. In addition to the piles of candy, tommorow was scheduled to see "The Bitch Is Back," the show's season / series finale, downloaded en masse from iTunes. Now, as someone more than a little familiar with iTunes, i'd estimate that it'd take a few thousand downloads to skyrocket "The Bitch Is Back" to the #1 spot on iTunes for the day. It seemed like a great plan, and, as someone who works with iTunes, it would have been cool to see the platform used in such a way where it reflects fandom so intimately.
Just hours ago though, TV Guide's Michael Ausiello reported that according to VM showrunner Rob Thomas, VM is 100% dead at the CW.
Damn.
This being despite the fact that the reported deadline for CW to make a final call on the fate of the show was 6/15, hence all the last-minute effort by fans to drum up support for the cause.
So what does all this mean? Well, it's looking more and more like VM is dead as a doornail, at least for now. Sure, there could be TV movies or something, but even that feels like a longshot. But wait. I mean, sure, Rob Thomas SAYS the show is done, but as great a showrunner as he is, it doesn't seem like he's been in the CW loop this whole time, so why assume he's in the know now? What I'm saying is - don't give up yet! Tommorow, go on iTunes, and make Veronica Mars the #1 show! It's $1.99, you're getting a great ep of TV, and you're sending a message in a pretty unique way that could set some interesting precedents.
So - Tommorow (Tuesday, 6/12) - go on iTunes, shell out $1.99 for Veronica Mars, Season 3, "The Bitch Is Back," and let's see what happens!
- PS - as much as I am all for this Save Veronica Mars effort, I honestly don't get the lengths that ppl went to to save JERICHO. I feel like that type of effort should be reserved for those rare, once-in-a-lifetime shows - series like Veronica Mars, like Arrested Development, like Futurama, like Freaks and Geeks, like Undeclared - shows whose greatness was cut short due to terrible management by their parent networks. Now, I've heard that Jericho got better as it went on. But the fact is that the first several episodes were totally mediocre, and I don't get how anyone can stick with a freshman show through several episodes of crap on faith alone that it will improve. Jericho was not that great a show as far as I can tell, and I think it's a tad bit absurd that THIS is the shining example of a show that was resurrected from the brink, when there have been FAR more deserving prematurely-cancelled series in recent memory.
OCEAN'S THIRTEEN Review:
- So this weekend I went to the movie with the intent of seeing Knocked Up, which I've been dying to see for a while. Somehow, Knocked Up was totally sold out, so we went to Plan B and got tickets for Oceans 13 instead. I had been mildly anticipating this one, if only for the addition of Pacino to the cast, but at the same time, this franchise has always rubbed me the wrong way for the way it tends to coast along on the strength of its star power.
I was actually a big fan of Ocean's Eleven, but I had zero desire to ever see a sequel, and I avoided Twelve thanks to that lack of interest coupled with a flurry of negative reviews. Thirteen on the other hand has received pretty decent reviews, but honestly, I don't see why. To me, this was far inferior to Eleven and basically came off as a lazy, bland film that seemed all about posturing with little substance to make me care about the characters or plot.
I will point out that I was slightly soured in my opinion of the movie thanks to the two moronic women sitting next to me in the theater. EVERY time Clooney or Pitt came onscreen, they were loudly giving "mm-hmmm's" and "ooohs", to the point where I had to turn to them about 25 minutes in and politely tell them to STFU. I'm tellin' ya - men will see an attractive lady onscreen and give a quick nod to their buddy next to them, while women can just be incapable of staying quiet when they see one of their favorite leading men onscreen. Who's with me on this?
Anyways ... I felt that the real saviors of Oceans Thirteen were the senior members of the cast. Carl Reiner for one was really great, and he gave a stellar performance full of zip and humor - truly one of the greats who you never see phoning it in. Similarly, Elliot Gould has been one of my favorite actors since a professor in college showed us The Long Goodbye, and he's once again great here - charismatic and funny as Ruben, who is, early on, betrayed by Pacino's character - a betrayal that serves as the impetus for Clooney to reassemble his gang and avenge their compadre.
Meanwhile, a lot of the new additions to the cast come in with a ton of potential, but never have a chance to do anything of note thanks to a breezy script that is short on characterization and big on random attempts at humor and short, self-contained scenes. Ellen Barkin is a welcome addition as Pacino's right-hand woman, but she quickly devolves into a cartoonish cougar-on-the-prowl, whose only real purpose is to be seduced by a pheremone-sporting Matt Damon. Another welcome face was Super Dave Osborne himself, Bob Einstein, as Matt Damon's father. Thansk to recent stints on Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm, I have a newfound appreciation for Einstein's comedic talents. Here though, he was very underused and barely got off a good line or two.
Then there's Pacino himself - basically, the man was wasted here, plain and simple. It's like the producers thought it'd be enough just to have the legendary actor APPEAR, and never bothered to give his character any substance, any memorable dialogue, nothing. Pacino is just there, playing Pacino-lite, bugging his eyes every so often and playing a totally stock character - corrupt Casino Owner #8. If you were excited about the great Pacino being in this movie and mixing it up with other bigtime stars, trust me, there's little to get excited about.
And as for our main crew of stars that make up Ocean's band of thieves ... I mean, more than ever I felt like most of the people here were simply on screen playing themselves. If you went into this film not having seen the previous entries, you would have little reason to believe that Clooney was playing a character other than George Clooney. In Eleven, the movie was anchored by the central romance between Danny Ocean and Julia Robert's character. Here, there is only the flimsiest of plots holding the movie together, and only scattered bits of characterization that seem thrown in like afterthoughts. I THINK there was some loose thread about Clooney and Pitt growing older and more mature, but I couldn't tell you for certain. There was a semi-amusing plotline about Damon and his father, but again, never fully developed. Casey Affleck has some good moments, Bernie Mac is good for a laugh or two. Bu then people like Don Cheadle and Andy Garcia seem totally useless.
So yeah, there really isn't much to this movie unless you get off on scenes of Clooney and Pitt standing around and getting choked up at Oprah. If that's your idea of humor, you might get a kick out of Oceans Thirteen. For me, the whole thing just felt bland and half-assed, and basically, this wasn't much of a movie.
My Grade: C+
- NBA Finals: Well, Cleveland is now two in the hole and has dug itself into a pretty massive ditch to climb out of. It might be an impossible task. Tommorow's game is definitely do or die. Should be interesting ...
- Great article in this month's Rolling Stone about Rudy Guliani. It speaks to the concerns I've always had about the guy - that he is a publicity-hungry guy who has been ver, very lucky to be in the right place at the right time, and has inexplicably achieved favorable public opinion despite a history of being a bully, a guy of questionable moral character (VERY questionable), and a guy who has REPEATEDLY done everything he can to use naitonal tragedy to further his own agenda and fatten his own wallet. Anyone who is blindly supporting Rudy needs to read up on him and seriously consider if THIS is the guy they want in office.
Read the implicating article here: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/14952564/giuliani_worse_than_bush
- Alright, I'm out -- keep fightin' the good fight and break on through to the other side.
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