And I'm back. It's been a long time, I know, but ever since I got back from my East Coast trip a couple of weeks back I've simply been in catch-up mode, in more ways than one. Plus, it's just been a hectic couple of weeks. But hopefully I'm now back in the saddle and ready to write more regular blog posts. There's nothing I hate more than an un-updated blog, so let's get to it.
First off, this past weekend was essentially Week 2 of my trifecta of Halloween-themed October weekends. Last weekend, as has been documented here on the blog, saw yet another successful annual Halloween Horror Movie Marathon go down at The House That Baram Built, as well as a trip to the El Capitan theater to take in The Nightmoare Before Christmas in spooktacular 3D. Now, this weekend cranked things up yet another notch, as it was once again time for our annual trek to KNOTT'S SCARY FARM. I'm not quite sure what it is about Knott's that I like so much, but I think it's just that it is unabashadly goofy. It has that old-timey amusement park feel, yet is packed to the brim with Halloween haunts, with mazes with names like 13 Axe Murder Mansion, Club Blood, and Killer Klown Kollege. If that doesn't push your "awesome" buttons, then my friend, we are not quite on the same wavelength.
Anyways, myself, the G-Man, Seth E, his gal-pal Sarah, and Meghan B. piled into Seth's car and drove down the 5 on our quest for Halloween thrills, down south towards TouristLand. What followed was a night of haunts new and old (classics like The Doll Factory and Killer Klown Kollege were joined by new attractions like The Slaughterhouse and The Labrynth - I did miss Lore of the Vampire, though!). We even took in an undead-themed stage show dubbed "Fangs," a musical revue featuring pop hits performed with a paranormal twist. And of course, just walking through the fog-engulfed theme park means running into all manner of axe-wielding killer klowns, grizzly ghouls, and inbred mutants with an axe to grind.
All in all, it was another successful trip to the Scary Farm.
Now, the countdown begins to the annual giant Halloween celebration, which has evolved from its humble beginnings as "Page-O-Ween" into Carlos M's own personal Pasadena party madhouse. I look forward to seeing faces old and new on Friday, and hope to get many horrific photo-ops.
- And by the way ... this week I can't stop listening to Werewolf Bar-Mitzvah over and over again. This hilarious gem of a fake pop song from 30 ROCK is seriously a legit contender for Funniest Thing Ever. I am seriously pumped for the Funniest Show on TV's sure-to-be-glorious return to TV this Thursday. There's been a marked lack of great TV comedy of late and new episodes of 30 Rock are just what the doctor ordered.
- But, as one quick addition / plug, why wait until Thursday to check out an all-new ep of 30 Rock? If you run RIGHT NOW over to your local grocery store or newsstand, pick up a copy of TV Guide - the one with Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin on the cover. Included with each issue is a promotional code that's good for one FREE download of 30 Rock's season premiere, effective immediately - so no need to even wait for Thursday. Check it out - even if you're a lapsed TV Guide reader like me (never liked the change from the classic format ...), this is one issue that's a must-have.
- Now, I didn't see any new movies this past weekend although there are a couple that are definitely on my list. I still really want to see Sex Drive, as I'm always up for a good teen comedy and I've heard pretty positive things about that one. I kind of still want to see Body of Lies just because it's Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe. And at some point soon, I definitely need to see Charlie Kaufman's latest journey into weirdness, Synecdoche, New York. I've seen VERY mixed reviews, but can't help but be extremely curious, as I'm a huge fan of Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine. Not to mention that Phillip Seymour Hoffman has been on a total tear lately.
- After Friday though, my most-anticipated '08 movie may just be Clint Eastwood's GRAN TURINO. Yeah, the title makes it sound like a race-car movie or something, but the trailer shows that this might be one of the best movies of the year and potentially one of the most badass movies that Clint Eastwood's ever done. And that's saying something. Basically, it looks to be the story of Eastwood as a tough and mean old bastard who decides that, before he goes, he's going to kick ass one last time and use his power of badassity to clean up his crime-ridden neighborhood with nothing but a shotgun and a scowl. Suffice it to say - holy $#%&, this looks awesome. See for yourself: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/grantorino/. This could definitely be a stealth conteder for an Oscar, no doubt. Meanwhile, the trailer put me on such an Eastwood kick that I finally got around to watching the second Dirty Harry movie, MAGNUM FORCE. While not quite as sharply made as the original Dirty Harry, the movie still kicks a fair amount of ass.
- Finally, I'm really looking forward to seeing ZACK & MIRI this weekend. I felt that Kevin Smith made an underrated and pretty hilarious movie in Clerks II, and am eagerly awaiting what could be his best comedy since Mallrats. Smith hasn't exactly been prolific these last several years, so there's always a high expectation that comes with each of his movies. Here's hoping this brings back those same feelings of genius lowbrow humor that first put Smith on the map with Clerks way back when.
- As far as TV stuff goes ... yikes, I am still playing catch-up on a number of my favorite series. I am still 100% enthusiastic ans supportive of both CHUCK and PUSHING DAISIES for example, but somehow I am now a couple of episodes behind on both series. As far as HEROES goes, I have only seen the first two eps of the season thus far, and have barely any motivation to keep up. To me that season premiere was really make or break, and I just couldn't believe how little had been fixed from the mostly-broken Season 2. I was surprised to see that Entertainment Weekly went so far this week as to slap Heroes on its cover with a negatively-slanted story on how to fix the ailing drama. But the fact is that I agreed with many of EW's suggestions. I've heard that things have picked up a bit the last few weeks, and I believe that tonight's ep marks the return of the one and only Kristen Bell ... so I may yet have to get myself back in the loop. But when each episode simply becomes an excercise in frustration, I have to wonder why I'm even making the effort to stay current with a show that I rarely actually enjoy.
- I felt similarly last year about SMALLVILLE, but so far this year has seen a number of episodes with surprisingly sharp writing and a bit of a darker edge. Still, after a promising start, Smallville now seems in danger of slipping back into its old ways. I thought last week's ep, for example, was a heavy-handed and sloppy story that wasted a lot of potential inherent in bringing in a badguy as huge and well-known as Doomsday. It's bad enough that the comic book monster's origin is now tied into Smallville-style teen drama and angst, but worse yet is the lengths that the show now has to go to to push Clark to the brink of superhero-dom only to pull back and keep him as regular old Clark Kent for yet another week. At this point, having Clark operate as a stealth, superpowered vigilante in bustling Metropolis is really pushing things to the brink of believability, and making it all the more frustrating that he isn't yet, you know, Superman. How much longer can they tease viewers without any payoff?
- Still, the primetime drama that has been getting better every week is Stephen King's favorite action-adventure hour, PRISON BREAK. For a couple of weeks running, Prison Break positively kicked ass, bringing the love-to-hate-her villainous Gretchen back into the fold, bringing revenge-bent Mahone ever closer to the edge, and creating a nice dynamic between Scofield and his new boss / ally, the smart-alecky Agent Self. I felt that last week's episode was a slight step down in that it saw the capture of The Company's hired hitman in a somwhat anticlimactic fashion. For weeks, we'd been anticipating a mano e mano confrontation between the Assassin and Mahone, and it wasa bit frustrating to see that angle dropped or delayed for the time being. Hopefully we stil lget the epic badass showdown we've been waiting for. But on the other hand, the Gretchen vs. Sarah grrlfight almost made up for things, with an ultra-intense showdown between the two enemies that saw Sarah go nuts on her former tormentor. In the end, the show has a lot of momentum at this point and has really picked up after a so-so season premiere. Despite a misstep here or there, Prison Break is back, and I can't wait for new episodes to resume. It's currently my #1 must-see show on TV.
- Overall, there's no doubt that THE OFFICE has been pretty great since it made its Fall return. Amy Ryan has been positively stellar on the show, and it will be a real shame when she makes her inevitable exit. Ryan and Steve Carell have been comedic gold together, the highpoint being the Ethics episode from last week which was pretty much a classic. This past Thursday's ep again had a little too much of the soapiness that sometimes weighs down the show. Especially seeing Dwight involved in more serious stuff, it felt like a little much. I dont mind Dwight being a well-rounded character, but let's face it - he is there for comic relief. I want a ton of clasic Dwight-isms in each episode, not Dwight moping around about losing the love of his life. Similarly, enough with all the Pam and Jim angst. Again, that stuff often feels too contrived when it is pushed into the spotlight rather than being kept more subtle and in the background. That being said, the last few eps have really been carried by the Michael-Holly interactions. The opening five - ten minutes of Thursday's ep, with Michael speculating on how his upcoming date with Holly would go, were downright hilarious.
- I know, I know, some people still see it as a guilty pleasure, but I still love GOSSIP GIRL. Each week without fail, the hilariously over-the-top Chuck Bass has at least a couple of gloriously smug lines that have me laughing nonstop.
- I actually did watch, after ultimately just wanting to get it off my DVR, the entire 2-hour pilot of CRUSOE. I give the show credit for being something different, but in the end it really fell flat. It seemed like, on one hand, it wanted to capture the over-the-top action 90's-era shows like Hercules and Xena, but on the other hand was trying to borrow some of the epic mystery and intricate flashback structure of Lost. What it missed was fun characters, compelling storyarcs, and edge-of-your-seat pacing. The 2 hours seemed to really drag, and there weren't enough characteres to care about or mysteries to get invested in to really keep one's attention. The show had some really stunning cinematography, and I enjoyed its wholly British cast, but roles for greats like Sean Bean and Sam Neil were woefully small. The lead actor came off essentially like a poor man's Sean Bean, and without any cool supporting players to really root for, the whole thing was just very vanilla and bland. It made me wish we could return to the days when a show like Hercules wholly embraced its silliness.
- Part of me was happy to see TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES get a full-season pickup from FOX. If nothing else, it's a fairly well done scripted action-adventure show, a rare commodity in this day and age. Still, it's a show that often feels like its merely spinning its wheels. For a show about killer robots from the future, it's remarkably slow-paced at times. Still, Brian Austin Green has been great on the show, and Shirley Manson has been a nice addition to the cast as well. I would just like to see business really pick up, with some truly epic action scenes and a bit more bite to the plotlines.
- Finally, there's the ever-present giant that has been SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE this season. As much attention as the show has gotten for its political sketches, I'd say that, overall, it's been another fairly uneven season for the comedy insititution. The cast is uniformly talented, but so far this year they've been upstaged and outshone by guest stars like Tina Fey and Will Ferell. The reality is that the showdesperately needs some new cast members who can do decent impersonations. Darell Hammond can only do so much, and Fred Armison's high-pitched Obama gets more painful to watch with each passing week. Meanwhile, on the rare occasions when a guy like Bill Hader gets a chance to showcase his unique abilities, you'll get a real bright spot or two. You've gotta love the randomness of this past episode's Vincent Price sketch, for example - it felt like the kind of absurdist humor that SNL was built on. Same goes for Andy Samberg's awesomely insane Mark Wahlberg sketch from the other week. Even so, in general - enough with sketches that are the __(Insert Random Celebrity Here)___ Show. It's been waaaaaaaay too long since the show delivered a string of sketches built on a simple yet funny comedic premise, that had a beginning, a middle, and an end. Great sketches like that are hard to come by these days, as are truly funny recurring characters. Is there a single great one on SNL right now? Tim Calhoun and McGruber are enjoyable, but their comedy has already been run into the ground. Even the political sketches - there have been flashes of brilliance, particularly with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, but this week's Biden opener exposed the fact that, without any special guest stars to rely on, the writing needs to really be on point to make up for the fact that Jason Sudekis only does a so-so Joe Biden. Personally, I'm happy that SNL is in the spotlight, but I hope the show realizes that a lot of that is due to it simply becomign a part of the political-pop culture machine in an election cycle. It gives the show a nice, temporary boost when it's being watched and scrutinized by every 65 year old pundit out there, but SNL became SNL by being cool and rebellious and anti-establishment. In a few short weeks the presidential race will be done with and we'll see what this cast and writing staff are really made of.
- Alright, that's all I've got for now. Good to be back on the blog and stay tuned for more, coming soon.
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