Okay, some quick thoughts tonight as I sit here, still reeling from an INSANE Veronica Mars finale. A quick note that for whatever reason, I've been a writing machine lately, so make sure to catch up on all my previous posts from the last few days before reading here, if you haven't already. Scroll down for in-depth reviews of MI:3 andUnited 93, early pre-E3 thoughts, NBA playoff commentary, my usual post-24 rants, and a whole host of other goodness. But now, I've got some more writing to do, and you've got some more reading, so read on ...
VERONICA MARS Season Finale:
Wow, just wow. A standing ovation is deserved, because this is an example of a truly rare breed - 5-star TV. They just don't make 'em like this very often. For the second straight year, Veronica Mars delivered one hell of a season finale. And really, this finale was just a triumph of good storytelling. Because on paper, it looked like the only way to wrap up all the labrythine plotlines of the show's season-spanning mysteris was to all but draw a roadmap. But despite it all, this finale was less about unraveling mysteries for the sake of the big reveal, and more about what is really most important - character, character, character. Oh, don't get me wrong, the big reveals were there --
SPOILERS
-- I mean, sure, I and others figured out that Cassidey "Beaver" Casablancas had a bigger part in everythign than meets the eye. We surmised he was on the little league team coached by Neptune's fugitive mayor, and that he'd had some unpleasant encounters with his dishonorable Woody goodman. We even deduced that he had been the one who raped Veronica. But wow - turns out he was the one behind the bus crash as well. Damn. Wow. Holy crap. And that rooftop scene - sonofa, I really thought Keith Mars was dead as a doornail. Unlike 24, they actually did it, they actually BLEW UP THE FRIGGIN' PLANE.
And it's a credit to how amazing the characters are on this show that I got chills at the thought of Keith Mars having been killed. That I cheered when Logan made it up to the roof on time. That I practically applauded when I found out that Mr. Mars was in fact alive and well.
Just amazing plotting overall. All the characters, all the storylines, had their moment to shine. Aaron Echols' chilling encounter with Veronica - talk about trapped in an elevator. Wallace's desperation to go after his girlfriend. The heartbreaking scene of Weevil being arrested mere seconds before he was set to graduate. Kendall Casablanca's cliffhanger proposition to Kieth - what was in the briefcase - what did she want from him, and why did he accept the offer? (Please let their be a third season so we find out). And how about the cameo by Duncan Kane, ordering the murder of the man who killed his sister, as Aaron Echols finally got his just desserts. And how about that little in-joke as Duncan checked in on the situation -- "All set, CW?" "Yeah." You had to feel for Mac as Veronica finds her shivering in the hotel room -- "he took everything from me" - wow, just chilling. Gotta love Vinnie Van Lowe bartering with Kieth from his jail cell - The State lives on! And who made Steve Gutenberg a star? This show did - consider a career reinvigorated.
Awesome dream sequence to open the ep - re-emphasizing the show's central theme of high school as a kind of purgatory not all that different from the bleak, inescapable cityscapes of the old film noirs, with Veronica as a fallen angel of sorts, who ironically is a much better person for her hardships. "A long time ago, we used to be friends" indeed.
And man, Kristen Bell just elevated her game for this ep. Give her an Emmy - she has made Veronica Mars one of the single best characters on TV, maybe ever.
Like I said, this is a rare breed of TV show. Smart, funny (how about the Saved By The Bell reference as Veronica accepted her diploma - "stay cool, Mr. C"), clever. Dark, stylish, well-acted, brilliantly-written, tightly-plotted, rewarding, and in no way pandering to the audience. No wonder nobody watches.
If this is the end, Veronica Mars joins the ranks of the brilliant but cancelled - the Freaks and Geeks and My So-Called Life's et al - but really, in two seasons, this is plainly and simply one of the best shows to ever air. Hopefully it lives on at the CW, and gets a good timeslot and great marketing and builds a bigger audience. But man, what a run it's had already, and what an episode this was.
My Grade: A+
One more quick review before I'm out ...
GILMORE GIRLS Season Finale:
Well, like Veronica Mars, this episode, likely the last to be made with the involvement of show creator Amy Sherman Paladino and her husband Dan, was well-written, well-acted, and full of emotion. But did I LIKE it? No, I didn't. It was hard to stomach. It was depressing and sad and almost difficult to watch, because while, as always I loved the style, the wit, the humor, the sharpness of the show, I HATED where this episode left us. I hated that Lorelia ended up sleeping with Chris, and how bitchy and overly emotional she acted throughout the entire episode. I hated how Logan left for London with Rory pining for him as if he was her one true love. As I said in my last Gilmore-related installment, any fan of this show knows where the characters are SUPPOSED to end up. But this episode just threw a huge dagger in that master plan, with no assurances that they will be steered in the right direction next season without the guidance and singular vision of the show's creator.
Can't really grade this, because I can't take away from the sheer talent evident in the making of this show. Because I realize that when I write these reviews it sounds, to the unitiated, like I'm talking about the biggest chick show ever, just another lame soap. But thanks to the creative people behind Gilmore, the show is much more - it's a nuanced character study, a hilarious comedy of absurdity, and a virtual crash course in intelligent, loaded, and brilliantly-written dialogue.
It's just too bad it had to end an era with such depressing and kind of revolting twists in the lives of the main characters. I mean, when both main characters are left crying and in tears and miserable with themselves and their lives as we cut to commercial and fade out into an uncertain future for the show - well, come on, that is just depressing and terrible.
- Anyways, funny how both of these shows are poised to join each other on the CW next season. One that is kind of being extended past its ideal lifespan, and another that fans are praying for it to return because it seems like it's only just getting started.
- And I'm out - PEACE.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Wiiiiiiiiiii Have A Situation! - 24, Prisonbreak, E3, and More!
Oh man, intensity overload. Last night, between Prisonbreak, 24, and a tight game between the Suns and Clippers, I was totally on the edge on my seat. I camped out with a bag of chips, a bottle of soda, and an extra dose of gravitas as I strapped in for a night of pure televised intensity, and I wasn't disappointed. So let's get to it ...
24:
And so the endgame begins. Last night's 24 was kind of two episodes in one. We had the blockbuster movie opening half, with Jack doing his best to land his hijacked plane before Prez Logan could SHOOT IT DOWN. Then we had the more psychologically-bent second half, which focused on Logan's continuing descent into the abyss, only to be pulled up at the absolute last second by a snake in the grass. Great stuff overall, and the whole plane-landing-on-the-freeway scene had me on the edge of my seat, and Logan's desire to shoot down the plane vs. his lack of pretext to do so as Jack brought it into a landing formation ... awesome stuff.
- Heller lives! The man is impervious to DEATH ITSELF. And he doesn't even need to appear in the episode to PERMEATE THE SCREEN WITH GRAVITAS.
- Okay, I thout we had reached the maximum allowance for CTU moles in one season of 24, but now we get some rent-a-cop driver who is in league with Bierko? Come on, that was kind of pushing it. While it was nice to see them address the whole situation, the setup for Bierko's impending mole-enabled escape from custody was a bit much.
- Friggin' awesome stuff from Logan in this episode though. Gregory Itzin who plays Logan is just so good - he just makes you squirm along with him as he wrings his hands and scrunches his face and confronts his own mortality. Emmy nom, anyone?
- And how about Mike Novick? Give this guy some credit, he's been persistently advising and "strongly imploring" the president with unwavering waveringliness for five years now.
- Curtis Manning is clearly next in line to Jack Bauer in the realm of sheer omnipotence. I mean the guy can traverse Los Angeles County in mere minutes, defying all laws of space-time. Stephen Hawking would be proud. Or just very, very perplexed.
- Okay, I might be wrong on this, or just being naively optimistic, but I just gotta believe that TONY ALMEDA yet lives. Anyone else getting this vibe?
- And yeah, I wonder if the Bluetooth Brotherhood of Evil is going to be just the behind-the-scenes cabal of this season ala that bearded guy in season 2 ... or does their presence hint at a larger storyline for next season or even for ... THE MOVIE?!?! In any case, they sure do drink a lot of, um, what is that stuff anyways, Diet Coke? Would be appropriate if it was, I guess. And as for their true identity ... isn't it obvious from their mild-mannered facades that conceal a ruthless hidden agenda? I mean, clearly, they are NETWORK TV EXECS!!! Can't you see the resemblance between the main guy, Graham I believe his name is, and a certain chrome-domed peacock-net head? Coincidence, or something more ...?
- And about Miles, the sniveling ass-kisser who unsurprisingly rats out CTU to the Prez ... who didn't see this coming? On one hand, the scene of Logan finding an ally in Miles just as he is about to be, to quote Shinedown, "starin' down the barrel of a .45" - well, that was an awesome scene, insanely good acting from Itzin. On the other hand, come on, Karen was actually going to trust Miles after it was obvious he was only out for number one? On the OTHER hand, Miles being so friggin' annoying of a character is going to make it all the more satisfying when someone, preferably an incensed Jack, gives him the ass-whupping his momma should have given him a long time ago.
- Yeah, weird note to end things on with Chloe's confusion at having her data swiped. And PLEASE tell me they made copies. And how many times in 24 history has Chloe been removed from her CTU post and brought back?!?!
- Overall this was another great ep, but my problem wasn't so much with the ep itself but where it left things -- it just feels like there is a lack of momentum going into the final three hours, and that things have kind of been artificially extended. But I hope I'm wrong, and I am looking forward to seeing what twists this show can throw out there before the season wraps up. And hey, the previews at least hint at one more Jack vs. Robocop showdown for good measure. Daaaaaaaaaamn.
My Grade: A -
PRISONBREAK:
Now this one deserves a "daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!"
Just an all around off the hook episode. Great, if long-inevitable character moments (ie DB Cooper not being able to make it - we all knew it was coming but it was still cool). This show is just so over-the-top crazy, I love it. Gotta love Wade Williams as prison captain Bellick howling for help while tied up beneath the prison. And Stacey Keach as the Warden brings the infusion of gravitas each week. This show is just filled with classic genre actors who really make their characters larger than life. I mean, T-Bag waving his tongue around like a snake upon hearing the dying DB Cooper mention his buried trasure ... just pure evil hamminess at its best. Oh man, they HAD to know that the fat guy was never going ot make it across that pole. And I have my doubts that the old man could have done it either, even if he had been healthy. But wow, I was definitely on the edge of my seat throughout this entire episode. And did the lawyer guy really tell his would-be murderer to "suck it" right before getting capped? Kind of an annoying character, but hey at least he had a great death scene. Great stuff, this show is just a lot of fun - it's like watching a serialized John Carpenter movie every week. Can't wait for the season finale, and curious if and how they set up Season 2.
My grade: A
TONIGHT ON TV: Last ever Palladino-written Gilmore! AND, Season finale of the best show on TV not called 24, VERONICA MARS, in what is sure to be one for the ages.
E3 THOUGHTS:
So this week is E3, basically the biggest event of the year in the world of videogames, where all the new companies trot out their new hardware, peripherals, and of course, games. But this year in particular is pretty bigtime, because Sony and Nintendo are both debuting their respective and long-awaited entries into the next-next-gen console market that will compete with Microsoft's still-fresh X-Box 360 - the Playstation 3 and the, wait for it ... the Nintendo Wii.
Yep, Nintendo's new system is called the Wii. As in We. As in "Wheeeeeeee!"
So yeah, what were they smoking? Look, I realize that they want to be like Google or Yahoo or whatever and have a name that is innovative and momorable and easily understood worldwide. But come on, Wii? It just ain't right, too many negative connotations.
But anyways, the name is different, and the console is different too - foregoing the usual quantum leap in graphics that comes with each console generation, instead focusing on an inexpensive pricepoint and a new motion-sensitive remote controller that you can swing around like a sword or a baseball bat or a golf club, or point like a gun or what have you. But we've known all that for awhile. What about the new info revealed at today's varius press conferences? The rundown:
SONY / PS3:
- Okay, first off - $500 for a PS3? Okay, kids, better start saving yesterday for this thing. I mean, that price point is unprecedented save for the NEO GEO and the 3DO, both of which FAILED as home consoles, in part due to being affordable to no one not named Bill Gates. Sure, the PS3 is tricked out with a nifty state of the art blue-ray disc player (will make your DVDs look like Betamax), but still. I mean, BluRay and HD-DVD do NOT look poised to make the same impact DVD's have anytime soon, it's just too soon post-DVD, the market is not ready and there is no real perceived need for higher movie quality save from hardcore movie fanatics. So yeah, the Blu-Ray is cool, but this is still a gaming console and $500 is VERY steep. I don't know, this price point MAY = Sony just shot itself in the foot.
- But, on the other hand, the games look SWEET so far. All this talk about nintendo being about the games and not Sony is crap. Compare the amount of 5-star games on the PS2 to those on Gamecube and that right there says it all. Metal Gear Solid 4, of course, looks amazing. And oh. damn. Final Fantasy 13. Check out the trailer. I must have it. Also, the new game, still untitled, from the creators of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter, Naughty Dog, looks RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME. The new SONIC looks friggin sweet. Sony has GOT to lower that pricepoint so people will be able to afford all this. The games ARE there, but the price is going to kill 'em if they don't reevaluate.
- PS - why get upset over them keeping the Dualshock controller design? Personally I approve - it's the best, most comfortable design ever for a console and much better than the boomerang prototype.
NINTENDO / WIIIIIIIIIIIIII:
- Great design on the system and controller. Very I-Podish. Very sleek. Pricepoint still unknown but suposedly it's cheap, which is good. But on the other hand ...
- Graphics look basically equivalent to a Gamecube, PS2, or PSP. While I'm sure Mario Galaxies will be amazing, it LOOKS like Mario 64 with its simple geometrics and blurry textures. And the fact that they are porting the new Zelda from Gamecube says that the two systems are not much different in terms of horsepower.
- But, damn, that controller DOES have some potentially super-fun uses. Sword fighting, light-saber wielding, tennis, etc. But is it just a gimmick? Kind of, is what I am thinking. I mean do you always want to be waving your arms around like an idiot and jumping around every time you sit down to play with your Wii? (LOL). Still though - Mario, Zelda, Metroid. Those are the big guns, and they will likely rule it. But what else is there? Are other companies even supporting this thing? Well, if the price is right ... anything can happen.
MICROSOFT / 360:
- And look who is suddenly looking better and better. Good pricepoint sure to drop at any moment, already-established online presence, and some big games on the way like Gears of War and Halo 3. Personally I hate first person shooters though so I could care less, and that's why there's nothing that makes me desire a 360 right now or in the pipeline. A total lack of Japan-developed games and zero platformers, RPGs, fighters, or adventure games makes me unenthused. But again, this could change. It's all in the games.
Alright, enough nerd talk. I've been working on this blog entry all day on and off since the morning so it's time to post it already.
Back later with more. For now, it's game over.
24:
And so the endgame begins. Last night's 24 was kind of two episodes in one. We had the blockbuster movie opening half, with Jack doing his best to land his hijacked plane before Prez Logan could SHOOT IT DOWN. Then we had the more psychologically-bent second half, which focused on Logan's continuing descent into the abyss, only to be pulled up at the absolute last second by a snake in the grass. Great stuff overall, and the whole plane-landing-on-the-freeway scene had me on the edge of my seat, and Logan's desire to shoot down the plane vs. his lack of pretext to do so as Jack brought it into a landing formation ... awesome stuff.
- Heller lives! The man is impervious to DEATH ITSELF. And he doesn't even need to appear in the episode to PERMEATE THE SCREEN WITH GRAVITAS.
- Okay, I thout we had reached the maximum allowance for CTU moles in one season of 24, but now we get some rent-a-cop driver who is in league with Bierko? Come on, that was kind of pushing it. While it was nice to see them address the whole situation, the setup for Bierko's impending mole-enabled escape from custody was a bit much.
- Friggin' awesome stuff from Logan in this episode though. Gregory Itzin who plays Logan is just so good - he just makes you squirm along with him as he wrings his hands and scrunches his face and confronts his own mortality. Emmy nom, anyone?
- And how about Mike Novick? Give this guy some credit, he's been persistently advising and "strongly imploring" the president with unwavering waveringliness for five years now.
- Curtis Manning is clearly next in line to Jack Bauer in the realm of sheer omnipotence. I mean the guy can traverse Los Angeles County in mere minutes, defying all laws of space-time. Stephen Hawking would be proud. Or just very, very perplexed.
- Okay, I might be wrong on this, or just being naively optimistic, but I just gotta believe that TONY ALMEDA yet lives. Anyone else getting this vibe?
- And yeah, I wonder if the Bluetooth Brotherhood of Evil is going to be just the behind-the-scenes cabal of this season ala that bearded guy in season 2 ... or does their presence hint at a larger storyline for next season or even for ... THE MOVIE?!?! In any case, they sure do drink a lot of, um, what is that stuff anyways, Diet Coke? Would be appropriate if it was, I guess. And as for their true identity ... isn't it obvious from their mild-mannered facades that conceal a ruthless hidden agenda? I mean, clearly, they are NETWORK TV EXECS!!! Can't you see the resemblance between the main guy, Graham I believe his name is, and a certain chrome-domed peacock-net head? Coincidence, or something more ...?
- And about Miles, the sniveling ass-kisser who unsurprisingly rats out CTU to the Prez ... who didn't see this coming? On one hand, the scene of Logan finding an ally in Miles just as he is about to be, to quote Shinedown, "starin' down the barrel of a .45" - well, that was an awesome scene, insanely good acting from Itzin. On the other hand, come on, Karen was actually going to trust Miles after it was obvious he was only out for number one? On the OTHER hand, Miles being so friggin' annoying of a character is going to make it all the more satisfying when someone, preferably an incensed Jack, gives him the ass-whupping his momma should have given him a long time ago.
- Yeah, weird note to end things on with Chloe's confusion at having her data swiped. And PLEASE tell me they made copies. And how many times in 24 history has Chloe been removed from her CTU post and brought back?!?!
- Overall this was another great ep, but my problem wasn't so much with the ep itself but where it left things -- it just feels like there is a lack of momentum going into the final three hours, and that things have kind of been artificially extended. But I hope I'm wrong, and I am looking forward to seeing what twists this show can throw out there before the season wraps up. And hey, the previews at least hint at one more Jack vs. Robocop showdown for good measure. Daaaaaaaaaamn.
My Grade: A -
PRISONBREAK:
Now this one deserves a "daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!"
Just an all around off the hook episode. Great, if long-inevitable character moments (ie DB Cooper not being able to make it - we all knew it was coming but it was still cool). This show is just so over-the-top crazy, I love it. Gotta love Wade Williams as prison captain Bellick howling for help while tied up beneath the prison. And Stacey Keach as the Warden brings the infusion of gravitas each week. This show is just filled with classic genre actors who really make their characters larger than life. I mean, T-Bag waving his tongue around like a snake upon hearing the dying DB Cooper mention his buried trasure ... just pure evil hamminess at its best. Oh man, they HAD to know that the fat guy was never going ot make it across that pole. And I have my doubts that the old man could have done it either, even if he had been healthy. But wow, I was definitely on the edge of my seat throughout this entire episode. And did the lawyer guy really tell his would-be murderer to "suck it" right before getting capped? Kind of an annoying character, but hey at least he had a great death scene. Great stuff, this show is just a lot of fun - it's like watching a serialized John Carpenter movie every week. Can't wait for the season finale, and curious if and how they set up Season 2.
My grade: A
TONIGHT ON TV: Last ever Palladino-written Gilmore! AND, Season finale of the best show on TV not called 24, VERONICA MARS, in what is sure to be one for the ages.
E3 THOUGHTS:
So this week is E3, basically the biggest event of the year in the world of videogames, where all the new companies trot out their new hardware, peripherals, and of course, games. But this year in particular is pretty bigtime, because Sony and Nintendo are both debuting their respective and long-awaited entries into the next-next-gen console market that will compete with Microsoft's still-fresh X-Box 360 - the Playstation 3 and the, wait for it ... the Nintendo Wii.
Yep, Nintendo's new system is called the Wii. As in We. As in "Wheeeeeeee!"
So yeah, what were they smoking? Look, I realize that they want to be like Google or Yahoo or whatever and have a name that is innovative and momorable and easily understood worldwide. But come on, Wii? It just ain't right, too many negative connotations.
But anyways, the name is different, and the console is different too - foregoing the usual quantum leap in graphics that comes with each console generation, instead focusing on an inexpensive pricepoint and a new motion-sensitive remote controller that you can swing around like a sword or a baseball bat or a golf club, or point like a gun or what have you. But we've known all that for awhile. What about the new info revealed at today's varius press conferences? The rundown:
SONY / PS3:
- Okay, first off - $500 for a PS3? Okay, kids, better start saving yesterday for this thing. I mean, that price point is unprecedented save for the NEO GEO and the 3DO, both of which FAILED as home consoles, in part due to being affordable to no one not named Bill Gates. Sure, the PS3 is tricked out with a nifty state of the art blue-ray disc player (will make your DVDs look like Betamax), but still. I mean, BluRay and HD-DVD do NOT look poised to make the same impact DVD's have anytime soon, it's just too soon post-DVD, the market is not ready and there is no real perceived need for higher movie quality save from hardcore movie fanatics. So yeah, the Blu-Ray is cool, but this is still a gaming console and $500 is VERY steep. I don't know, this price point MAY = Sony just shot itself in the foot.
- But, on the other hand, the games look SWEET so far. All this talk about nintendo being about the games and not Sony is crap. Compare the amount of 5-star games on the PS2 to those on Gamecube and that right there says it all. Metal Gear Solid 4, of course, looks amazing. And oh. damn. Final Fantasy 13. Check out the trailer. I must have it. Also, the new game, still untitled, from the creators of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter, Naughty Dog, looks RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME. The new SONIC looks friggin sweet. Sony has GOT to lower that pricepoint so people will be able to afford all this. The games ARE there, but the price is going to kill 'em if they don't reevaluate.
- PS - why get upset over them keeping the Dualshock controller design? Personally I approve - it's the best, most comfortable design ever for a console and much better than the boomerang prototype.
NINTENDO / WIIIIIIIIIIIIII:
- Great design on the system and controller. Very I-Podish. Very sleek. Pricepoint still unknown but suposedly it's cheap, which is good. But on the other hand ...
- Graphics look basically equivalent to a Gamecube, PS2, or PSP. While I'm sure Mario Galaxies will be amazing, it LOOKS like Mario 64 with its simple geometrics and blurry textures. And the fact that they are porting the new Zelda from Gamecube says that the two systems are not much different in terms of horsepower.
- But, damn, that controller DOES have some potentially super-fun uses. Sword fighting, light-saber wielding, tennis, etc. But is it just a gimmick? Kind of, is what I am thinking. I mean do you always want to be waving your arms around like an idiot and jumping around every time you sit down to play with your Wii? (LOL). Still though - Mario, Zelda, Metroid. Those are the big guns, and they will likely rule it. But what else is there? Are other companies even supporting this thing? Well, if the price is right ... anything can happen.
MICROSOFT / 360:
- And look who is suddenly looking better and better. Good pricepoint sure to drop at any moment, already-established online presence, and some big games on the way like Gears of War and Halo 3. Personally I hate first person shooters though so I could care less, and that's why there's nothing that makes me desire a 360 right now or in the pipeline. A total lack of Japan-developed games and zero platformers, RPGs, fighters, or adventure games makes me unenthused. But again, this could change. It's all in the games.
Alright, enough nerd talk. I've been working on this blog entry all day on and off since the morning so it's time to post it already.
Back later with more. For now, it's game over.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Milhouse Doesn't Do Clingy: MI:3 Review, NBA, Family Guy and More
Well, I must say that that was a good weekend. Friday me, Scott, and Brian hit up Old Town in Pasadena and had a great time. Why have I not gone there before in all this time? It's close and is a lot of fun. We kicked off our Cinco De Mayo celebration at Moose McGillicuttys, which really hit the spot with some quality food and a very festive atmosphere. We then pretty much just walked around and explored the scene, and we even ran into, totally randomly, our NBC friend Akhila, who was also out enjoying the Old Town scene. Saturday the same crew from the night before as well as some friends from BU headed out to see Mission Impossible 3, which I'll talk more about later but was pretty damn enjoyable. And of course it was great to see the BU peeps, as it had been waaay too long since I've gotten together with any of my fellow Boston U grads who have also made the life-changing leap from East Coast to West. And Sunday, well I FINALLY got out and played some basketball with Dan K, which I had been itching to do because a.) watching the NBA playoffs has really given me a "basketball jonez" and b.) it was about time that i got some legit excercise. So, even if I lost out to Dan and his "Kaiser role" in 2 out of 3 games (all 3 were hotly-contested though), it was very fulfilling to get back on the courts and play some B-Ball. And hey, even Family Guy was pretty funny for once, so I have gotta call it a weekend well-spent.
MI:3 Review:
So yeah I don't think there's much of a need to really drag this one out - this of course is not exactly United 93. But what Mission Impossible 3 WAS was a damn good action movie, containing pretty much everything you'd want out of a mostly-mindless summer blockbuster.
First let's talk Tom Cruise. Sure, the man may be pretty nutty in real life, but let's face it - he's an excellent action-movie leading man and his big-budget film performances rarely disappoint. I mean do we have to run down the list? The guy has been above-average to great in everything from Top Gun to Risky Business to Last Samurai to War of the Worlds. And the thing is, if you start dismissing movies or TV shows because their stars are loopy in real life? Well, that severely limits your entertainment options. Guess you won't be watching any more movies with Kevin Costner - he is apparently a sketchball if recent reports are true. And John Travolta, Beck, the girl from That 70's Show - all card-carrying Scientologists. No more My Name is Earl - Jason Lee is also one of "them" as well, the few, the proud, the crazy - Scientologists. Sad, I know, but what can we do? Charlie Sheen seems like a pretty sleazy guy as well. We all know about Hugh Grant. Hell, even the almighty Kiefer Sutherland is far from a model citizen.
The sad truth is that most of these Hollywood people are nuts. Trust me. In an ideal world, our movie stars would be as great in person as the heroes they play on screen. But it just is not that way. So Tom Cruise, as an actor, is excellent here. It's not worth it to me to focus on his real-life antics with regards to this particular movie, and the weird Scientology stuff was definitely not going to prevent me from seeing the first big action movie extravaganza of the summer season.
But yeah, Cruise is very good as always as Ethan Hunt. But what about Philip Seymour Hoffman? Damn, he plays a great cold-hearted, bad-ass villain here. I only wish he had a little more screen-time. Former Felicity girl Keri Russel shows her secret-agent side in a nifty turn. Vhing Rames, Jonathan Rhys-Myers, and Michelle Q all do a great job of filling out Ethan Hunt's Team Impossible - and the team aspect of the movie is really fun and adds a cool new element to the franchise. Laurence Fishbourne is pretty much playing Badass Authority Figure #1 here, but who better to play such a role? And Michelle Monoghan as Ethan's newlywed wife is good as well, even if her main job is either to nod and smile or squirm in horror after she becomes the defacto damsel in distress.
And congrats to JJ Abrams - the Lost and Alias creator busts out some kickass action scenes. Helicopter chases, kung-fu fights, death-defying leaps from tall buildings - he delivers everything but the kitchen sink. His decision to play around with time a bit and open with a great scene that occurs towards the movie's END really pays off and sets up a lot of tension for the rest of the film, as we all wonder how Tom Cruise is going to get INTO, and OUT OF the deadly predicament we see him in as the movie opens. JJ also makes sure to throw in plenty of cool gadgets, intricate disguises (yes! after all those NBC Studio Tours where I talked about the "Mission Impossible effect" off ripping off a latex mask, I finally see it in action on the big screen ...), and exotic locales (cool, the Vatican! Shanghai! Sweeet.).
As far as the plot, it's a pretty standard Search-For-the-McGuffin-and-Beware-of-Traitors-in-the-Ranks a to b to c deal, but hey, it works. And the emphasis on the characters rather than the details of some overly complicated destroy-the-world plot is a nice change of pace.
Overall, this is your basic action movie fare. But it's done really well, has a great cast, and never lets up for a minute in the action department. So while I may not remember all the details of the movie in a few week's time, I can say that seeing this movie in the theater on the big screen was one of the most purely enjoyable, "oh-damn-did you see what just happened" experiences I've had watching a movie in a while. This was definitely a great way to kick off the Summer movie season.
My grade: B+
MOVIE-TRAILER TALK:
- So before MI:3 we saw a number of hyped-up trailers - here's my take:
- Nacho Libre: Looks hilarious, I can't wait. I think like Napoleon Dynamite it's going to be hard to appreciate the humor out of context in trailer form, but I am very enthusiastic, and Jack Balck in a lucha libre costume, sporting a bad mustache and Mexican accent is just instantly hilarious. Outlook: Excellent
- X-Men 3: Seen this trailer a bunch of times now, but I have to give credit and say it's a damn good trailer, even if other footage (ie from Leno) looks crappy and script reviews are not good. Stewart and McKellan kickass in the trailer, and that bridge scene looks pretty epic, but will the movie suck or not? Hard to say at this point, but lowered expectations may make for a pleasent surprise: Outlook: Probably mediocre with a few cool scenes, but hoping to be surprised.
Superman Returns: You know, it shows you the pure power of the Superman character that people will applaud the moment they realize that they're watching a trailer for a new Superman movie. But man, that enthusiasm begins to fade as we see some fairly bland action scenes, Spacey doing his used-car-salesman Lex Luthor, and Super Man-boy flying around in what looks to be the highest-budgeted CHICK FLICK of all time. Yikes. Outlook: Making me super-nervous that it will suck, hoping it somehow won't.
- The Breakup: Hmm, this DID actually seem kinda funny. May have to reevaluate prediction that it will be terrible. Outlook: More optimistic than before ...
- Over the Hedge: As much as this movie may or may not be good, how many freaking CGI-animated talking-animal movies can they make? Seems like a good voice-cast and nice animation, but still ... Outlook: Maybe .. but c'mon - enough already!
- Horror Movie Starring Kristen Bell: Cool, a horror movie starring Kristen Bell, aka Veronica Mars. Will probably suck though. Outlook: No thanks, but please let this somehow help Veronica Mars stay on the air!
OBLIGATORY SUPERMAN RETURNS MINI-RANT:
- Reading some interviews this weekend, it became clear that one major factor contributing the apparent suckiness of the new Superman flick is that Bryan Singer and his writers seem to have no appreciation whatsoever for the source material - aka the comics. With X-Men, Singer was forced to look at the comics and draw from them, even if he did end up morphing the colorfully-clad mutants into a bunch of generic-looking vigilantes in black leather. But apparently, NO comics were used as a reference for the writers and director of Superman Returns - the main source of inspiration was the first two Donner movies. Hence the fact that Returns looks and feels like a tired retread of the same themes as those films. But those movies were made in the late 70's and early 80's, and they DON'T hold up all that well with age, save for the remarkable performances of Christopher Reeves as Superman / Clark Kent. With Batman Begins, despite its faults, it was clear that David Goyer and christopher Nolan were combing through Batman's history and picking out some of the best stuff - Ra's Al Ghul, Batman: Year One, etc. AND, they were clearly going for a NEW direction for the big-screen franchise. Goyer was a legit comic book guy, so at least you knew you were getting a certain authenticity there in the writing - it was a flawed script, yes, but it got the essence of the hero right. We don't have those same reassurances with Superman. Were Singer and co legitimately fans of the character and his history, or just of the Donner movies? Did he look at the works of John Bryne and Dan Jurgens and Jeph Loeb and Mark Waid and Joe Kelly and Alan Moore? Apparently not, and what we are left with is a watered down adaptation of an adaptation. And in that filtering process, much is lost. Kinda sad, and that's my Superman rant of the day.
Anyways ... now let's veer into the wonderful world of television, with my Monday staple, the ...
FOX SUNDAY NIGHT QUICK REVIEWS:
- No MALCOLM this week, and next week is the LAST ONE EVER! Very sad, very sad.
KING OF THE HILL: Pretty good ep, but probably one of the weaker episodes of the last few weeks. The main Hank-as-Mr. Wilson plot was kind of amusing, but that new kid was so annoying that he got on my nerves as a viewer. And the Peggy-Dale taxidermy subplot was just ,well, weird. My grade: B -
THE SIMPSONS: As per usual lately, a decent ep that was kind of funny by recent standards but pretty amateurish compared to the classics. A few good laughs were had in the Marge-has-amnesia subplot, but rather than try something different with it the writers made this "a rift forms between Homer and Marge But Then They Finally Realize How Much They Love Each Other Part 1,903,852. " And of course that seems to be the basic plot of the show now every other week. Still, like I said, it had some good laughs and was decent overall. Oh yeah, funny chalkboard in the opening: "I will not leak the plot of the movie." Bwahaha. My grade: B -
FAMILY GUY: What? Is Family Guy back on its A-game? Not quite yet, but this ep was definitely a step in the right direction, reminding me of some of the crazy plots of the early years with much fresher humor, for the most part, than the show has had of late. While Meg's ass as otherworldly entry point was retarded, many of the other big gags were hilarious. The LOTR Gandalf falling down the abyss parody was hilarious, as was Peter randomly turning into Hank Hill. All the gags revolving around the Indian skull were pretty funny, and even the prerequisite random pop culture gags seemed to work better than usual this week - ie Dick Cheney's hunting trip and Statler and Waldorff from the Muppets (what can i say I have a soft spot for those guys). Still not at the level of Seasons 1 and 2, but a HUGE improvement from the last few weeks of awfulness, and that's nice to see. My grade: B+
OTHER TV STUFF:
- 24 tonight! What more needs to be said other than I am chomping at theb it to see Jack Bauer unleash his weekly dose of gravitas on President Logan and his cronies.
- And man, this is a big week for us TV nerds. 24 counts down to its season finale, as does Prisonbreak which should freakin' rock tonight as, finally, the prison break actually happens~! Daaaamn. Tommorow it's the season finale of Gilmore Girls, aka the last "real" episode of the show before the Paladinos call it quits. And then right after it's my most anticipated episode of anything in a while - Veronica Mars' sure-to-be-amazing S2 finale (and please lord not the last ever episode!). Wednesday, Lost has some BIG questions to answer from last week's crazy final seconds, and Thursday, That 70's Show ends its never-ending run forever as Fez and co say their final goodbyes. The Office sees a Steve Carell-penned season finale, and on Smallville's season-closer, Clark Kent must prevent the coming of ZOD~! Yep, my VCR shall be workin' overtime in the next few days.
- Still haven't watched The OC from Thursday - gotta get on that.
NBA PLAYOFFS:
- Go Suns and so long Lakers! I knew the Suns were the better team, but the Lakers have shattered my favorite teams' playoff dreams too many times by now for me to not have pangs of doubt about whether the Suns could do it. But wow, the Suns just decimated L.A., and while it was nice in a way to see Kobe and his crew utterly annihilated, I was kinda hoping for an exciting game. Oh well, nice to see The Suns live to fight another day, and I think Steve Nash validated his 2nd consecutive MVP trophy with the outcome of that series - by elevating his ENTIRE TEAM, not just his own game, with his amazing play.
- Ouch, that had to hurt for LeBron and the Cavs. Detroit is looking nigh unstoppable right now.
- I'd love to see Dallas topple to Spurs but I don't know if it can happen. Dallas has always been pretty soft in the playoffs and the Spurs tough as nails.
- Interested to see New Jersey-Miami tonight though, could be a good one.
- BTW, yet another example of Bill Walton's hilarity -- in the pregame show before Spurs-Mavs, when everyone is going through the keys to the game, Bill Walton immediately chimes in with "For the Spurs, it's all about Robert Horry" or something along those lines. Oh man, Walton always has a select few players who he champions as the best thing since sliced bread, and he has always been obsessed with Robert Horry for some reason. Yes, the man is a great clutch player, but the key to the Spurs' victory? Shyeah ...
OTHER STUFF:
- In the morning when I get up I usually blast songs from my computer set to random. So why do the WEIRDEST songs always come up? For some reason, it feels like every morning I get a song from Rent or Les Mis, a rap song from Nelly or Sisqo or something similarly terrible, and a random TV theme song. What gives?
- Stamps = an underrated commodity.
- Can't say I'm a fan of double-rims when playing basketball.
- And that's it. Prisonbreak and 24 tonight, and Foley-Edge II. Gravitas, intensity, and steel chairs. Bang bang.
MI:3 Review:
So yeah I don't think there's much of a need to really drag this one out - this of course is not exactly United 93. But what Mission Impossible 3 WAS was a damn good action movie, containing pretty much everything you'd want out of a mostly-mindless summer blockbuster.
First let's talk Tom Cruise. Sure, the man may be pretty nutty in real life, but let's face it - he's an excellent action-movie leading man and his big-budget film performances rarely disappoint. I mean do we have to run down the list? The guy has been above-average to great in everything from Top Gun to Risky Business to Last Samurai to War of the Worlds. And the thing is, if you start dismissing movies or TV shows because their stars are loopy in real life? Well, that severely limits your entertainment options. Guess you won't be watching any more movies with Kevin Costner - he is apparently a sketchball if recent reports are true. And John Travolta, Beck, the girl from That 70's Show - all card-carrying Scientologists. No more My Name is Earl - Jason Lee is also one of "them" as well, the few, the proud, the crazy - Scientologists. Sad, I know, but what can we do? Charlie Sheen seems like a pretty sleazy guy as well. We all know about Hugh Grant. Hell, even the almighty Kiefer Sutherland is far from a model citizen.
The sad truth is that most of these Hollywood people are nuts. Trust me. In an ideal world, our movie stars would be as great in person as the heroes they play on screen. But it just is not that way. So Tom Cruise, as an actor, is excellent here. It's not worth it to me to focus on his real-life antics with regards to this particular movie, and the weird Scientology stuff was definitely not going to prevent me from seeing the first big action movie extravaganza of the summer season.
But yeah, Cruise is very good as always as Ethan Hunt. But what about Philip Seymour Hoffman? Damn, he plays a great cold-hearted, bad-ass villain here. I only wish he had a little more screen-time. Former Felicity girl Keri Russel shows her secret-agent side in a nifty turn. Vhing Rames, Jonathan Rhys-Myers, and Michelle Q all do a great job of filling out Ethan Hunt's Team Impossible - and the team aspect of the movie is really fun and adds a cool new element to the franchise. Laurence Fishbourne is pretty much playing Badass Authority Figure #1 here, but who better to play such a role? And Michelle Monoghan as Ethan's newlywed wife is good as well, even if her main job is either to nod and smile or squirm in horror after she becomes the defacto damsel in distress.
And congrats to JJ Abrams - the Lost and Alias creator busts out some kickass action scenes. Helicopter chases, kung-fu fights, death-defying leaps from tall buildings - he delivers everything but the kitchen sink. His decision to play around with time a bit and open with a great scene that occurs towards the movie's END really pays off and sets up a lot of tension for the rest of the film, as we all wonder how Tom Cruise is going to get INTO, and OUT OF the deadly predicament we see him in as the movie opens. JJ also makes sure to throw in plenty of cool gadgets, intricate disguises (yes! after all those NBC Studio Tours where I talked about the "Mission Impossible effect" off ripping off a latex mask, I finally see it in action on the big screen ...), and exotic locales (cool, the Vatican! Shanghai! Sweeet.).
As far as the plot, it's a pretty standard Search-For-the-McGuffin-and-Beware-of-Traitors-in-the-Ranks a to b to c deal, but hey, it works. And the emphasis on the characters rather than the details of some overly complicated destroy-the-world plot is a nice change of pace.
Overall, this is your basic action movie fare. But it's done really well, has a great cast, and never lets up for a minute in the action department. So while I may not remember all the details of the movie in a few week's time, I can say that seeing this movie in the theater on the big screen was one of the most purely enjoyable, "oh-damn-did you see what just happened" experiences I've had watching a movie in a while. This was definitely a great way to kick off the Summer movie season.
My grade: B+
MOVIE-TRAILER TALK:
- So before MI:3 we saw a number of hyped-up trailers - here's my take:
- Nacho Libre: Looks hilarious, I can't wait. I think like Napoleon Dynamite it's going to be hard to appreciate the humor out of context in trailer form, but I am very enthusiastic, and Jack Balck in a lucha libre costume, sporting a bad mustache and Mexican accent is just instantly hilarious. Outlook: Excellent
- X-Men 3: Seen this trailer a bunch of times now, but I have to give credit and say it's a damn good trailer, even if other footage (ie from Leno) looks crappy and script reviews are not good. Stewart and McKellan kickass in the trailer, and that bridge scene looks pretty epic, but will the movie suck or not? Hard to say at this point, but lowered expectations may make for a pleasent surprise: Outlook: Probably mediocre with a few cool scenes, but hoping to be surprised.
Superman Returns: You know, it shows you the pure power of the Superman character that people will applaud the moment they realize that they're watching a trailer for a new Superman movie. But man, that enthusiasm begins to fade as we see some fairly bland action scenes, Spacey doing his used-car-salesman Lex Luthor, and Super Man-boy flying around in what looks to be the highest-budgeted CHICK FLICK of all time. Yikes. Outlook: Making me super-nervous that it will suck, hoping it somehow won't.
- The Breakup: Hmm, this DID actually seem kinda funny. May have to reevaluate prediction that it will be terrible. Outlook: More optimistic than before ...
- Over the Hedge: As much as this movie may or may not be good, how many freaking CGI-animated talking-animal movies can they make? Seems like a good voice-cast and nice animation, but still ... Outlook: Maybe .. but c'mon - enough already!
- Horror Movie Starring Kristen Bell: Cool, a horror movie starring Kristen Bell, aka Veronica Mars. Will probably suck though. Outlook: No thanks, but please let this somehow help Veronica Mars stay on the air!
OBLIGATORY SUPERMAN RETURNS MINI-RANT:
- Reading some interviews this weekend, it became clear that one major factor contributing the apparent suckiness of the new Superman flick is that Bryan Singer and his writers seem to have no appreciation whatsoever for the source material - aka the comics. With X-Men, Singer was forced to look at the comics and draw from them, even if he did end up morphing the colorfully-clad mutants into a bunch of generic-looking vigilantes in black leather. But apparently, NO comics were used as a reference for the writers and director of Superman Returns - the main source of inspiration was the first two Donner movies. Hence the fact that Returns looks and feels like a tired retread of the same themes as those films. But those movies were made in the late 70's and early 80's, and they DON'T hold up all that well with age, save for the remarkable performances of Christopher Reeves as Superman / Clark Kent. With Batman Begins, despite its faults, it was clear that David Goyer and christopher Nolan were combing through Batman's history and picking out some of the best stuff - Ra's Al Ghul, Batman: Year One, etc. AND, they were clearly going for a NEW direction for the big-screen franchise. Goyer was a legit comic book guy, so at least you knew you were getting a certain authenticity there in the writing - it was a flawed script, yes, but it got the essence of the hero right. We don't have those same reassurances with Superman. Were Singer and co legitimately fans of the character and his history, or just of the Donner movies? Did he look at the works of John Bryne and Dan Jurgens and Jeph Loeb and Mark Waid and Joe Kelly and Alan Moore? Apparently not, and what we are left with is a watered down adaptation of an adaptation. And in that filtering process, much is lost. Kinda sad, and that's my Superman rant of the day.
Anyways ... now let's veer into the wonderful world of television, with my Monday staple, the ...
FOX SUNDAY NIGHT QUICK REVIEWS:
- No MALCOLM this week, and next week is the LAST ONE EVER! Very sad, very sad.
KING OF THE HILL: Pretty good ep, but probably one of the weaker episodes of the last few weeks. The main Hank-as-Mr. Wilson plot was kind of amusing, but that new kid was so annoying that he got on my nerves as a viewer. And the Peggy-Dale taxidermy subplot was just ,well, weird. My grade: B -
THE SIMPSONS: As per usual lately, a decent ep that was kind of funny by recent standards but pretty amateurish compared to the classics. A few good laughs were had in the Marge-has-amnesia subplot, but rather than try something different with it the writers made this "a rift forms between Homer and Marge But Then They Finally Realize How Much They Love Each Other Part 1,903,852. " And of course that seems to be the basic plot of the show now every other week. Still, like I said, it had some good laughs and was decent overall. Oh yeah, funny chalkboard in the opening: "I will not leak the plot of the movie." Bwahaha. My grade: B -
FAMILY GUY: What? Is Family Guy back on its A-game? Not quite yet, but this ep was definitely a step in the right direction, reminding me of some of the crazy plots of the early years with much fresher humor, for the most part, than the show has had of late. While Meg's ass as otherworldly entry point was retarded, many of the other big gags were hilarious. The LOTR Gandalf falling down the abyss parody was hilarious, as was Peter randomly turning into Hank Hill. All the gags revolving around the Indian skull were pretty funny, and even the prerequisite random pop culture gags seemed to work better than usual this week - ie Dick Cheney's hunting trip and Statler and Waldorff from the Muppets (what can i say I have a soft spot for those guys). Still not at the level of Seasons 1 and 2, but a HUGE improvement from the last few weeks of awfulness, and that's nice to see. My grade: B+
OTHER TV STUFF:
- 24 tonight! What more needs to be said other than I am chomping at theb it to see Jack Bauer unleash his weekly dose of gravitas on President Logan and his cronies.
- And man, this is a big week for us TV nerds. 24 counts down to its season finale, as does Prisonbreak which should freakin' rock tonight as, finally, the prison break actually happens~! Daaaamn. Tommorow it's the season finale of Gilmore Girls, aka the last "real" episode of the show before the Paladinos call it quits. And then right after it's my most anticipated episode of anything in a while - Veronica Mars' sure-to-be-amazing S2 finale (and please lord not the last ever episode!). Wednesday, Lost has some BIG questions to answer from last week's crazy final seconds, and Thursday, That 70's Show ends its never-ending run forever as Fez and co say their final goodbyes. The Office sees a Steve Carell-penned season finale, and on Smallville's season-closer, Clark Kent must prevent the coming of ZOD~! Yep, my VCR shall be workin' overtime in the next few days.
- Still haven't watched The OC from Thursday - gotta get on that.
NBA PLAYOFFS:
- Go Suns and so long Lakers! I knew the Suns were the better team, but the Lakers have shattered my favorite teams' playoff dreams too many times by now for me to not have pangs of doubt about whether the Suns could do it. But wow, the Suns just decimated L.A., and while it was nice in a way to see Kobe and his crew utterly annihilated, I was kinda hoping for an exciting game. Oh well, nice to see The Suns live to fight another day, and I think Steve Nash validated his 2nd consecutive MVP trophy with the outcome of that series - by elevating his ENTIRE TEAM, not just his own game, with his amazing play.
- Ouch, that had to hurt for LeBron and the Cavs. Detroit is looking nigh unstoppable right now.
- I'd love to see Dallas topple to Spurs but I don't know if it can happen. Dallas has always been pretty soft in the playoffs and the Spurs tough as nails.
- Interested to see New Jersey-Miami tonight though, could be a good one.
- BTW, yet another example of Bill Walton's hilarity -- in the pregame show before Spurs-Mavs, when everyone is going through the keys to the game, Bill Walton immediately chimes in with "For the Spurs, it's all about Robert Horry" or something along those lines. Oh man, Walton always has a select few players who he champions as the best thing since sliced bread, and he has always been obsessed with Robert Horry for some reason. Yes, the man is a great clutch player, but the key to the Spurs' victory? Shyeah ...
OTHER STUFF:
- In the morning when I get up I usually blast songs from my computer set to random. So why do the WEIRDEST songs always come up? For some reason, it feels like every morning I get a song from Rent or Les Mis, a rap song from Nelly or Sisqo or something similarly terrible, and a random TV theme song. What gives?
- Stamps = an underrated commodity.
- Can't say I'm a fan of double-rims when playing basketball.
- And that's it. Prisonbreak and 24 tonight, and Foley-Edge II. Gravitas, intensity, and steel chairs. Bang bang.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Don't Mess With the "S"
So the summer season is beginning to set in, and once again that means little to me as its business as usual in the working world. Dammit, what happened to the glorious days of summer vacation? Oh well, as I wrote in one of my Daily Free Press columns in college, the Spirit of Summertime must live on. Read about it HERE.
But yeah, I am definitely looking at this summer as a time to finally make some time for the things I've been putting off in the fall and winter. It's going to be a time to get some real writing done. A time to get some decent excercise. A time to try to get together with some friends I haven't seen in a while. So viva summer - I may still be going to work every day like usual, but it's still going to be fun, dammit all.
SMALLVILLE / SUPERMAN RETURNS rant:
Wow, last night's ep of Smallville was perhaps one of the all-around best ever installments of this show. And as a hardcore Superman fan, it was just a HUGE relief to sit for an hour and watch a tale of heroism, villainy, adventure, danger, romance, and excitement. A fun superhero story. Characters you were rooting for. A twisting plot. Great build-up to the next installment. Because as I hear more and more about Superman Returns, it honestly feels like its going to be more of EVERYTHING that Superman fans have wanted to see go away over the last few years. Anyone who's read many Superman comics over the last few years began to notice a trend of a seemingly neverending parade of stories about a mopey, self-doubting, emo version of Superman. A Superman that totally was NOT gelling with the zeitgeist, NOT befitting a time when we yearn for a hero who will kick ass and take names, who will boldly face down his enemies and stand as a moral compass that inspires and awes us. IF you are a comic fan, you probably know of Batman's line to superman in Infinite Crisis #1: "The last time you inspired anyone was when you were dead." Ouch. But it had a ring of truth.
So WHY does someone like Bryan Singer think that NOW is the time to reintroduce the Superman franchise to the big screen with this same mopey, conflicted, self-doubting Superman that so many have wanted to see go away for YEARS now? I want a Superman who is going to save us from the terrorists, who isn't going to take crap from no one, no how.I want a Superman who stands against impossible odds, the most horrible of super-villains, but who never wavers, never doubts. And if there is a doubt, is a hesistation, it is quickly overcome by the strength of his convictions - you know, Truth and Justice.
But once again, Superman Returns seems to be poised to present to us, a nation in need of a Hero, a Superman whose primary conflict is that his wife has left him and that the world doesn't accept him after a long absence. Of course they accept him, he's Superman!
So with all the hype and speculation about Superman Returns, who would have thought that the most relevent, fun, and action-packed Superman tales outside of the comics can now be found on SMALLVILLE?
Yes, the season, and the show in general, has had its ups and downs - it's had eps that made me nearly give up on the show altogether for being so freaking cheesy and wrong - but last night's ep delivered bigtime.
The cast really came through, and of course the shining stars as always were Jonathan Glover as Lionel Luthor and Michael Rosenbaum as Lex. James Marsden as Milton Fine / Braniac makes a great villain, and it was nice to see Jon Schneider back as Jonathan Kent, even if it wasn't REALLY him. Anyways, I am pumped for the season finale, and kudos to the show for coming through at a time when I really wanted to be reminded what a good Superman story was all about. My grade for Smallvile: A
THE OFFICE:
Something just didn't click with me during last night's episode. I was trying to figure out what was off, and I think the problem was actually pretty simple -- it just wasn't funny. Now I know there are those who are somehow as much into the newly-emphasized soap-opera elements of the show as they are the comedy. But I'm not. I don't like the lack of subtlety in the Jim-Pam relationship, or the predictability of it. I don't like Jim's character as a whole. While in the British version Tim and Garreth had a kind of grudging friendship despite how much they antagonized each other, here, Jim is just plain abusive towards Dwight, who despite his eccentricity is probably the most likable character on the show. Whereas Gareth was often the instigator in his relationship with Tim, Dwight is just kind of a hapless guy who never really means to offend anyone. I don't know, I just found this episode to be short on laughs and in this kind of weir, dark area that made me feel detached from the characters. Dark is good when it comes to this show, but something just felt off here, and the emphasis of the plot seems indicative of this show's lack of direction. My grade: C+
NBA:
- Suns! Great game by Phoenix last night - I really had a sinking feeling they were going to lose, but it was great to see players like Tim Thomas step up and make huge contributions in the clutch. I will grudgingly say that Kobe last night was freaking off the hook. The shots he was making were just of the type that only a select few can pull off - those clutch buckets that inevitably go in simply because the player has that intangible, I-Will-Not-Be-Denied killer instinct. But one man a team does not make, and Nash played an amazing game and brought out the best in his supporting cast, which can't necessarily be said of Kobe. Game 7 is gonna be crazy.
- So long Chicago Bulls and my once-favorite-team the Pacers. My heart was just not behind Indiana this year, as the Reggie Miller-less team just did not inspire me to root for them like I used to. Jermaine O'Neal has just not shown me that he is a winning player, and too often he disappears in the clutch. Nets vs. Heat should be interesting though, and I hope that we get some spectacular showdowns between Vince Carter and Dwayne Wade. If Shaq can play like he did last night though, then, well, it's not going to be easy for the Nets.
FINALLY:
- Well that's about it for now. Have a good weekend everyone. Good luck with finals for those in school, and thanks for reading.
But yeah, I am definitely looking at this summer as a time to finally make some time for the things I've been putting off in the fall and winter. It's going to be a time to get some real writing done. A time to get some decent excercise. A time to try to get together with some friends I haven't seen in a while. So viva summer - I may still be going to work every day like usual, but it's still going to be fun, dammit all.
SMALLVILLE / SUPERMAN RETURNS rant:
Wow, last night's ep of Smallville was perhaps one of the all-around best ever installments of this show. And as a hardcore Superman fan, it was just a HUGE relief to sit for an hour and watch a tale of heroism, villainy, adventure, danger, romance, and excitement. A fun superhero story. Characters you were rooting for. A twisting plot. Great build-up to the next installment. Because as I hear more and more about Superman Returns, it honestly feels like its going to be more of EVERYTHING that Superman fans have wanted to see go away over the last few years. Anyone who's read many Superman comics over the last few years began to notice a trend of a seemingly neverending parade of stories about a mopey, self-doubting, emo version of Superman. A Superman that totally was NOT gelling with the zeitgeist, NOT befitting a time when we yearn for a hero who will kick ass and take names, who will boldly face down his enemies and stand as a moral compass that inspires and awes us. IF you are a comic fan, you probably know of Batman's line to superman in Infinite Crisis #1: "The last time you inspired anyone was when you were dead." Ouch. But it had a ring of truth.
So WHY does someone like Bryan Singer think that NOW is the time to reintroduce the Superman franchise to the big screen with this same mopey, conflicted, self-doubting Superman that so many have wanted to see go away for YEARS now? I want a Superman who is going to save us from the terrorists, who isn't going to take crap from no one, no how.I want a Superman who stands against impossible odds, the most horrible of super-villains, but who never wavers, never doubts. And if there is a doubt, is a hesistation, it is quickly overcome by the strength of his convictions - you know, Truth and Justice.
But once again, Superman Returns seems to be poised to present to us, a nation in need of a Hero, a Superman whose primary conflict is that his wife has left him and that the world doesn't accept him after a long absence. Of course they accept him, he's Superman!
So with all the hype and speculation about Superman Returns, who would have thought that the most relevent, fun, and action-packed Superman tales outside of the comics can now be found on SMALLVILLE?
Yes, the season, and the show in general, has had its ups and downs - it's had eps that made me nearly give up on the show altogether for being so freaking cheesy and wrong - but last night's ep delivered bigtime.
The cast really came through, and of course the shining stars as always were Jonathan Glover as Lionel Luthor and Michael Rosenbaum as Lex. James Marsden as Milton Fine / Braniac makes a great villain, and it was nice to see Jon Schneider back as Jonathan Kent, even if it wasn't REALLY him. Anyways, I am pumped for the season finale, and kudos to the show for coming through at a time when I really wanted to be reminded what a good Superman story was all about. My grade for Smallvile: A
THE OFFICE:
Something just didn't click with me during last night's episode. I was trying to figure out what was off, and I think the problem was actually pretty simple -- it just wasn't funny. Now I know there are those who are somehow as much into the newly-emphasized soap-opera elements of the show as they are the comedy. But I'm not. I don't like the lack of subtlety in the Jim-Pam relationship, or the predictability of it. I don't like Jim's character as a whole. While in the British version Tim and Garreth had a kind of grudging friendship despite how much they antagonized each other, here, Jim is just plain abusive towards Dwight, who despite his eccentricity is probably the most likable character on the show. Whereas Gareth was often the instigator in his relationship with Tim, Dwight is just kind of a hapless guy who never really means to offend anyone. I don't know, I just found this episode to be short on laughs and in this kind of weir, dark area that made me feel detached from the characters. Dark is good when it comes to this show, but something just felt off here, and the emphasis of the plot seems indicative of this show's lack of direction. My grade: C+
NBA:
- Suns! Great game by Phoenix last night - I really had a sinking feeling they were going to lose, but it was great to see players like Tim Thomas step up and make huge contributions in the clutch. I will grudgingly say that Kobe last night was freaking off the hook. The shots he was making were just of the type that only a select few can pull off - those clutch buckets that inevitably go in simply because the player has that intangible, I-Will-Not-Be-Denied killer instinct. But one man a team does not make, and Nash played an amazing game and brought out the best in his supporting cast, which can't necessarily be said of Kobe. Game 7 is gonna be crazy.
- So long Chicago Bulls and my once-favorite-team the Pacers. My heart was just not behind Indiana this year, as the Reggie Miller-less team just did not inspire me to root for them like I used to. Jermaine O'Neal has just not shown me that he is a winning player, and too often he disappears in the clutch. Nets vs. Heat should be interesting though, and I hope that we get some spectacular showdowns between Vince Carter and Dwayne Wade. If Shaq can play like he did last night though, then, well, it's not going to be easy for the Nets.
FINALLY:
- Well that's about it for now. Have a good weekend everyone. Good luck with finals for those in school, and thanks for reading.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Normal People Read No Further - All-Fanboy-Rant Edition (Almost): LOST, Infinite Crisis, and MORE
Alright alright, no point in delaying it, let's talk about last night's shocking episode of LOST:
LOST:
Okay, I was as shocked and as surprised as anyone when I saw the closing 30 seconds or so of last night's Lost. And I think you pretty much HAD to be shocked, as ...
SPOILERS
... Michael killing Ana-Lucia and Libby in cold blood was totally random and out-of-nowhere. Certainly, it was not something that was built up in any way shape or form. And sure, I knew somewhere deep in the back of my mind that Michelle Rodriguez, with her various legal problems and apparent issues on the set had basically forced the producers' hands and put her character on the chopping block. And I also had heard that Cynthia Waitrose had some similar issues and had already signed up to be in an upcoming fall TV pilot. But nothing in this episode led me to believe that THIS is where they'd bite it, and of course nothing really foreshadowed HOW it would go down.
Now, the question is whether the writers will provide a satisfactory motive for Michael to have gone postal, or will the explanation be as random and confusing as the mursers seemed last night? It appears that Michael shot HIMSELF in the shoulder at the episode's end, and the likely inference is that he is going to frame Henry Gale for the murders and claim he was also attacked. But to what end? The obvious answer is that Michael's hand is being forced, and that he is somehow doing what is necessary to save his son. But still, why kill Ana? Okay, so maybe she was considered a danger to the Others since she had killed one already. And then, was the shooting of Libby an accident? Must have been. But then why frame Henry rather than free him or something? Well, I guess he is kind of the sacrificial lamb at this point to the others, no point in keeping him alive when he's already said too much, right? See, this show just writes itself.
Anyways ... aside from the CRAZY ending, I was pretty bored with this episode. Sure, the bried Ana Lucia - Sawyer, finally-giving-in-to-animalistic-lust-hookup piqued my interest for a minute, but man, those flashbacks were just so useless, other than to continue the seemingly pointless "look, see, they're ALL CONNECTED" theme that has permeated many of the flashbacks as of late. The other subplots or whatever just kind of dragged, with the exception of the always-interesting Locke and his interaction with Henry Gale, which seemed to actually shed some light on some of the show's mythology, with Locke being called "one of the good ones." Could this be code for "one of the ones with some kind of crazy, semi-latent meta-ability?" If so, my theory I presented a while back was so money - check it out:
http://dannybaram.blogspot.com/2006/04/lost-okay-now-im-kinda-lost-myself.html
Yes, I am the man. But I digress ... So yeah, decent if not totally decompressed and slowly-paced episode, with a few interesting tidbits of new info, somewhat saved by what is, admittedly, one of the most shocking, if not totally random, cliffhangers in a while. Sure, those of us who are fans of 24 and Veronica Mars are accustomed to awesome cliffhangers, but hey, I guess the Lost fanboy deserve a cool ending every so often as well. Okay, okay, it was a friggin' cool ending, one of the craziest I've seen - I give credit where it's due. Now next week, well, it had better be DAMN good.
My grade: B+
OTHER TV STUFF:
- Saw a bunch of new NBC Pilots yesterday. Won't go into detailed reviews, but instead I'll throw out a few bits of tantalizing info that focuses on the good of what I saw:
1.) Aaron Sorkin fans saddened by the departure of West Wing, don't get too upset, you have A LOT to look forward to.
2.) Arrested Development fans still in mourning - Jeffrey Tambor is back, paired up with another comedic veteran, and while their new show is traditional, it's also pretty hilarious.
- So long Commander in Chief. Didn't watch it, but I must root for Geena Davis, one of my favorite BU alums.
- Speaking of ABC, awesome how you can now watch the newest eps of shows like Lost on their website, for free no less. Hope that NBC follows suit.
NBA PLAYOFFS:
- Great game last night between the Wiz and the Cavs. LeBron and Gilbert each had spectacular offensive games, but in the end the Wizards total lack of D killed 'em in OT. You let Lebron beat you with a baseline LAYUP at the buzzer, after waiting to get a shot off with 3 seconds left to play? What? Bad strategic decisions and loose defense killed the Wizards last night. Looking forward to Game 6 though.
- Speaking of which, it's gonna be a slobberknocker tonight between the Lakers and Suns - can't wait. Go Suns!
- RIP Michael Redd and the Bucks - put up a decent fight but no real match for the Pistons, who are firing on all cylinders and are going to be tough to beat.
COMICS:
- So yeterday, the biggest comic book event in years reached its conclusion. I'm talking ...
INFINITE CRISIS -- final wrap-up review:
- I can liken Infinite Crisis, especially in its last few issues, and MOST especially in its final issue, #7, to a kid getting the keys to the toystore and pretty much having no idea what to do with himself. All he knows is that he wants to play with every toy at his disposal. That is pretty much my thought on this final issue in the seven-part series. It's like "oh look, there's Bane breaking someone's back!" (but didn't he forsake villainy and retire to the Himalayas?). "Oh, check it out, there's Nightwing getting nearly-killed by Alex Luthor!" (But he's healed up and fine a few pages later ...). "Hey, let's have TWO different Supermen fight Doomsday! Wouldn't that be sweet?" (I guess, except they utterly decimate him in one page - and wasn't he controlled by the conspicuously absent Dr. Psycho in Villains United, which leads directly into this issue?).
Geoff Johns' superhero epic is just all over the place by this point, and any pretension of a coherant story is pretty much thrown out the window. This series was supposed to be about "the worst day in the history of the DCU." But instead of making us believe that it really was the worst day ever organically from the magnitude of the story, we are simply told, over and over, how bad things are. The story NEVER reached a point where there was an "aha" moment and everything came together in a logical way. Sure, we knew that Alex Luthor was the mastermind behind the Society, the Omacs, etc - but what his motivation was, who this character was and why he was no longer a benevelant hero but a would-be evil conquerer was never satisfactorilly explained in a clear manner. Neither was the conversion of Superboy Prime from an innocent hero in the original Crisis to an utterly deranged, all-powerful killing machine. And the Superman of Earth 2 - essentially THE hero, the prototype that all others would follow -- WHY would he ever have fallen in league with those two, it just wasn't justified well enough.
So there's one problem - characters' motivations never made clear or coherant. Here's another: the scattershot nature of the plot made each story beat get totally lost in the fray, for the most part. All the big moments - Superboy's death last issue, E-2 Superman's death here, the final fates of Superboy Prime and Alex Luthor - did not make the impact they should have. Why? Because there was not the proper build up for these events to make a real EMOTIONAL impact on the reader. I mean, in the Villains United special, writer Gail Simone did a great job of building up the battle in Metropolis as being pretty huge. A ragtag band of second-string heroes, regular cops, and other assorted B-listers, was going to have to face hundreds of the most vile villains ever, including all the big guns of the Society - Dr. Psycho, Sinestro, Deathstroke, and the beast that once killed Superman - Doomsday. And yet in IC 7, the battle is just a bunch of random punches and kicks. Where are the great moments of heroism, the brave sacrifices, the fighting by cops and D-listers against impossible odds? The whole fight takes mere pages to complete. The aforementioned Doomsday fight is limited to one page. Batman, Robin, and Nightwing taking on Deathstroke occurs OFF-PANEL. There is just too much packed into this issue, and it means that everything feels very rushed, and also that the plot never quite comes together into a clear, coherant, overarching story. To this end, many of the series' subplots just come off as being random and useless. What real purpose did Donna Troy and her space-faring team really serve to the story? What was the point of GL Kyle Rayner changing into Ion, again?
Because of all that is happening, the art also suffers. While DC has been pretty good up until now about having great artists do the necessary fill-in work for regular penciller Phil Jiminez, issue 7 definitely has the series' most jarring artistic transitions to date, with a number of key scenes sporting very noticable shifts in art. For the first time in the series, a numberof pages just looked sloppy, noticeably the last big splash page that served as a preview of the "new" DCU, which looked very rushed and not up to the usual standards of Jiminez, Ordway, Perez, Reiss, and co. Of course, the majority of the artwork was dynamite as usual. The pages the Jiminez DID actually pencil were simply beautiful as always, and Ordway and Perez's work, and the covers by Jim Lee and George Perez, were top-tier as usual.
I also have to question the random bits of changed continuity that are expositionally explained here in a pretty awkward manner. Alex Luthor explains that in this new earth, things are different. Superman was now Superboy again in his early career. Wonder Woman was now a founding member of the JLA. Batman knew who killed his parents ala Batman Begins. What?!?! Okay, the necessity of these changes is questionable, as they negate a number of excellent stories like John Bryne's Man of Steel and Mark Waid's JLA: Year One. But also, why shoehorn this exposition into the story like this? Ugh, just awkward storytelling there. One other big example of crowded exposition - the return of Bart Allen as The Flash. While a nice tribute to the original Crisis, with Kid Flash inheriting his mentor's mantle, this was SO random and confusing. Bart comes back, is aged ten years, tells Jay Garrick that the old-timer is now the fastest man alive, and that Wally, Linda, and their twins are in some other dimension? Whaaat?Oh yeah, Bart and Jay play no other part in the story, so their appearance serves no real purpose. I'm curious to see what's going on with the Flash's, but, this was just a bit much.
And speaking of awkward storytelling - I don't know, I mean the overarching theme of this series was supposed to be the nature of heroism - can heroes be flawed or is it preferable to go back to the infallible heroes of the Golden Age. But was this them ever really organically woven into the story, from issue to issue? To a degree, yes, and Issue 1, when the Big 3 had their summit and Batman delivered his insta-classic line to Superman ("The last time you inspired anyone was when you were dead.") was a promising start to the exploration of this theme, kicked off by Wonder Woman's murder of Maxwell Lord in the Sacrifice storyline.
But where did it really go from there? Nowhere really - just a bunch of vague exclamations from Superboy Prime about how this world's heroes were corrupted and impure, with a bunch of events taken out of context to emphasize the fallibilty of the heroes onthe post-Crisis earth. And then there was the coda in Issue 7, which was just kind of out there. Batman, who of all heroes refuses to kill under any circumstance, holds a gun to the head of Alex Luthor? What?!?! The same Batman who refuses to kill The Joker time after time is going to murder, in cold blood, another in a long line of would-be world conquerers who he has thrown down with? No way. So then WW comes along, looking menacing, but smashes her sword in a symbolic way of saying that she ain't a killer no mo'. Not bad, but the Batman thing was pretty out of character - Alex was already beaten, why would Batman of all people consider killing him?
So yeah, a lot of cool moments this issue, but also a lot of stuff that felt rushed, random, or just off. Numerous continuity errors have popped up in this series as well, even discontinuity between this and other IC-tie in issues, which is pretty annoying. Also, people who SHOULD have been major players given the story and characters involved, ie Lex Luthor, were mostly absent. Sure, the Joker-Lex Luthor (they always seem to team-up at times of crisis ...) scene at the end of the issue was sweet, but also pretty random and a somewhat anti-climactic end for the big-bad Alex Luthor.
What DID I like in Issue 7? Lots of stuff. The aforementioned Joker-Luthor scene was fanboy goodness. Guy Gardner vs. Superboy. Robin's angst at seeing Nightwing then Batman getting beaten before his eyes. The final scene between the Big 3, especially the happier, old-school depiction of Bruce Wayne. Superboy Prime and his bloody S-shield. All the random characters popping out of nowhere - I mean, Wild Dog? The New Blood? Cool! The assembly of the Green Lantern Corps and the wall of sheer green willpower. Mogo, the planet GL, playing an unexpected role - and he socializes! Nice little character moments from Guy, Hal Jordan, Booster Gold, and others. The red sun idea was pretty cool. As always, Johns packed in the little "cool" moments, and the fanboy geek-out scenes were in no short supply.
But as a series, that was pretty much what Infinite Crisis turned out to be -- a 100 mph, bursting at the seams collection of cool moments. Those were plentiful, even when a coherant plot and impactful, emotional ressonance were not. And the excitement and promise of Issue 1 definitely lessened as the series failed to live up to its full potential to be a modern classic with each passing issue. And in the end, I can't say it was any better than less hyped event comics from throughout the last decade, like Final Night, for one. Was it a good read? Yes. Was it a page-turner? Definitely. Was it filled with great art, numerous geek-out moments, and big changes to the status quo? Yes, without question. But was this all it way hyped up to be, the comic book epic to end all comic book epics? Not really - it just never quite came together.
My Infinite Crisis Issue # 7 Grade: B -
My Infinite Crisis Series Grade: B
OTHER STUFF:
- It wouldn't be a geek edition of my blog without a comment on the announcment of the new Star Wars DVD sets that will finally feature the ORIGINAL, old-school theatrical versions of the oriinal trilogy, without the CGI enhancements or added scenes from the 1990's re-releases. Personally, I don't have that much sentimental attachment to the original versions as opposed to the newer ones, and I don't mind most of the enhancements. My biggest complaint with the new ones is that Greedo now shoots first, and we all know that Han shooting first is waaay cooler and more befitting of his character. So kudos to Lucas and co for finally releasing these unaltered versions, but finger of shame for not justp utting these on the original DVD release and making fans shell out a ton of extra $$$, just to get the original cuts. In any case, fanboys everywhere can now cease their complaining about not being able to buy these, and can focus on complaing about how Superman and X-Men 3 will suck.
- On that note, it's time for some lunch and I'm outta here. Until next time, may the Schwartz be with you.
LOST:
Okay, I was as shocked and as surprised as anyone when I saw the closing 30 seconds or so of last night's Lost. And I think you pretty much HAD to be shocked, as ...
SPOILERS
... Michael killing Ana-Lucia and Libby in cold blood was totally random and out-of-nowhere. Certainly, it was not something that was built up in any way shape or form. And sure, I knew somewhere deep in the back of my mind that Michelle Rodriguez, with her various legal problems and apparent issues on the set had basically forced the producers' hands and put her character on the chopping block. And I also had heard that Cynthia Waitrose had some similar issues and had already signed up to be in an upcoming fall TV pilot. But nothing in this episode led me to believe that THIS is where they'd bite it, and of course nothing really foreshadowed HOW it would go down.
Now, the question is whether the writers will provide a satisfactory motive for Michael to have gone postal, or will the explanation be as random and confusing as the mursers seemed last night? It appears that Michael shot HIMSELF in the shoulder at the episode's end, and the likely inference is that he is going to frame Henry Gale for the murders and claim he was also attacked. But to what end? The obvious answer is that Michael's hand is being forced, and that he is somehow doing what is necessary to save his son. But still, why kill Ana? Okay, so maybe she was considered a danger to the Others since she had killed one already. And then, was the shooting of Libby an accident? Must have been. But then why frame Henry rather than free him or something? Well, I guess he is kind of the sacrificial lamb at this point to the others, no point in keeping him alive when he's already said too much, right? See, this show just writes itself.
Anyways ... aside from the CRAZY ending, I was pretty bored with this episode. Sure, the bried Ana Lucia - Sawyer, finally-giving-in-to-animalistic-lust-hookup piqued my interest for a minute, but man, those flashbacks were just so useless, other than to continue the seemingly pointless "look, see, they're ALL CONNECTED" theme that has permeated many of the flashbacks as of late. The other subplots or whatever just kind of dragged, with the exception of the always-interesting Locke and his interaction with Henry Gale, which seemed to actually shed some light on some of the show's mythology, with Locke being called "one of the good ones." Could this be code for "one of the ones with some kind of crazy, semi-latent meta-ability?" If so, my theory I presented a while back was so money - check it out:
http://dannybaram.blogspot.com/2006/04/lost-okay-now-im-kinda-lost-myself.html
Yes, I am the man. But I digress ... So yeah, decent if not totally decompressed and slowly-paced episode, with a few interesting tidbits of new info, somewhat saved by what is, admittedly, one of the most shocking, if not totally random, cliffhangers in a while. Sure, those of us who are fans of 24 and Veronica Mars are accustomed to awesome cliffhangers, but hey, I guess the Lost fanboy deserve a cool ending every so often as well. Okay, okay, it was a friggin' cool ending, one of the craziest I've seen - I give credit where it's due. Now next week, well, it had better be DAMN good.
My grade: B+
OTHER TV STUFF:
- Saw a bunch of new NBC Pilots yesterday. Won't go into detailed reviews, but instead I'll throw out a few bits of tantalizing info that focuses on the good of what I saw:
1.) Aaron Sorkin fans saddened by the departure of West Wing, don't get too upset, you have A LOT to look forward to.
2.) Arrested Development fans still in mourning - Jeffrey Tambor is back, paired up with another comedic veteran, and while their new show is traditional, it's also pretty hilarious.
- So long Commander in Chief. Didn't watch it, but I must root for Geena Davis, one of my favorite BU alums.
- Speaking of ABC, awesome how you can now watch the newest eps of shows like Lost on their website, for free no less. Hope that NBC follows suit.
NBA PLAYOFFS:
- Great game last night between the Wiz and the Cavs. LeBron and Gilbert each had spectacular offensive games, but in the end the Wizards total lack of D killed 'em in OT. You let Lebron beat you with a baseline LAYUP at the buzzer, after waiting to get a shot off with 3 seconds left to play? What? Bad strategic decisions and loose defense killed the Wizards last night. Looking forward to Game 6 though.
- Speaking of which, it's gonna be a slobberknocker tonight between the Lakers and Suns - can't wait. Go Suns!
- RIP Michael Redd and the Bucks - put up a decent fight but no real match for the Pistons, who are firing on all cylinders and are going to be tough to beat.
COMICS:
- So yeterday, the biggest comic book event in years reached its conclusion. I'm talking ...
INFINITE CRISIS -- final wrap-up review:
- I can liken Infinite Crisis, especially in its last few issues, and MOST especially in its final issue, #7, to a kid getting the keys to the toystore and pretty much having no idea what to do with himself. All he knows is that he wants to play with every toy at his disposal. That is pretty much my thought on this final issue in the seven-part series. It's like "oh look, there's Bane breaking someone's back!" (but didn't he forsake villainy and retire to the Himalayas?). "Oh, check it out, there's Nightwing getting nearly-killed by Alex Luthor!" (But he's healed up and fine a few pages later ...). "Hey, let's have TWO different Supermen fight Doomsday! Wouldn't that be sweet?" (I guess, except they utterly decimate him in one page - and wasn't he controlled by the conspicuously absent Dr. Psycho in Villains United, which leads directly into this issue?).
Geoff Johns' superhero epic is just all over the place by this point, and any pretension of a coherant story is pretty much thrown out the window. This series was supposed to be about "the worst day in the history of the DCU." But instead of making us believe that it really was the worst day ever organically from the magnitude of the story, we are simply told, over and over, how bad things are. The story NEVER reached a point where there was an "aha" moment and everything came together in a logical way. Sure, we knew that Alex Luthor was the mastermind behind the Society, the Omacs, etc - but what his motivation was, who this character was and why he was no longer a benevelant hero but a would-be evil conquerer was never satisfactorilly explained in a clear manner. Neither was the conversion of Superboy Prime from an innocent hero in the original Crisis to an utterly deranged, all-powerful killing machine. And the Superman of Earth 2 - essentially THE hero, the prototype that all others would follow -- WHY would he ever have fallen in league with those two, it just wasn't justified well enough.
So there's one problem - characters' motivations never made clear or coherant. Here's another: the scattershot nature of the plot made each story beat get totally lost in the fray, for the most part. All the big moments - Superboy's death last issue, E-2 Superman's death here, the final fates of Superboy Prime and Alex Luthor - did not make the impact they should have. Why? Because there was not the proper build up for these events to make a real EMOTIONAL impact on the reader. I mean, in the Villains United special, writer Gail Simone did a great job of building up the battle in Metropolis as being pretty huge. A ragtag band of second-string heroes, regular cops, and other assorted B-listers, was going to have to face hundreds of the most vile villains ever, including all the big guns of the Society - Dr. Psycho, Sinestro, Deathstroke, and the beast that once killed Superman - Doomsday. And yet in IC 7, the battle is just a bunch of random punches and kicks. Where are the great moments of heroism, the brave sacrifices, the fighting by cops and D-listers against impossible odds? The whole fight takes mere pages to complete. The aforementioned Doomsday fight is limited to one page. Batman, Robin, and Nightwing taking on Deathstroke occurs OFF-PANEL. There is just too much packed into this issue, and it means that everything feels very rushed, and also that the plot never quite comes together into a clear, coherant, overarching story. To this end, many of the series' subplots just come off as being random and useless. What real purpose did Donna Troy and her space-faring team really serve to the story? What was the point of GL Kyle Rayner changing into Ion, again?
Because of all that is happening, the art also suffers. While DC has been pretty good up until now about having great artists do the necessary fill-in work for regular penciller Phil Jiminez, issue 7 definitely has the series' most jarring artistic transitions to date, with a number of key scenes sporting very noticable shifts in art. For the first time in the series, a numberof pages just looked sloppy, noticeably the last big splash page that served as a preview of the "new" DCU, which looked very rushed and not up to the usual standards of Jiminez, Ordway, Perez, Reiss, and co. Of course, the majority of the artwork was dynamite as usual. The pages the Jiminez DID actually pencil were simply beautiful as always, and Ordway and Perez's work, and the covers by Jim Lee and George Perez, were top-tier as usual.
I also have to question the random bits of changed continuity that are expositionally explained here in a pretty awkward manner. Alex Luthor explains that in this new earth, things are different. Superman was now Superboy again in his early career. Wonder Woman was now a founding member of the JLA. Batman knew who killed his parents ala Batman Begins. What?!?! Okay, the necessity of these changes is questionable, as they negate a number of excellent stories like John Bryne's Man of Steel and Mark Waid's JLA: Year One. But also, why shoehorn this exposition into the story like this? Ugh, just awkward storytelling there. One other big example of crowded exposition - the return of Bart Allen as The Flash. While a nice tribute to the original Crisis, with Kid Flash inheriting his mentor's mantle, this was SO random and confusing. Bart comes back, is aged ten years, tells Jay Garrick that the old-timer is now the fastest man alive, and that Wally, Linda, and their twins are in some other dimension? Whaaat?Oh yeah, Bart and Jay play no other part in the story, so their appearance serves no real purpose. I'm curious to see what's going on with the Flash's, but, this was just a bit much.
And speaking of awkward storytelling - I don't know, I mean the overarching theme of this series was supposed to be the nature of heroism - can heroes be flawed or is it preferable to go back to the infallible heroes of the Golden Age. But was this them ever really organically woven into the story, from issue to issue? To a degree, yes, and Issue 1, when the Big 3 had their summit and Batman delivered his insta-classic line to Superman ("The last time you inspired anyone was when you were dead.") was a promising start to the exploration of this theme, kicked off by Wonder Woman's murder of Maxwell Lord in the Sacrifice storyline.
But where did it really go from there? Nowhere really - just a bunch of vague exclamations from Superboy Prime about how this world's heroes were corrupted and impure, with a bunch of events taken out of context to emphasize the fallibilty of the heroes onthe post-Crisis earth. And then there was the coda in Issue 7, which was just kind of out there. Batman, who of all heroes refuses to kill under any circumstance, holds a gun to the head of Alex Luthor? What?!?! The same Batman who refuses to kill The Joker time after time is going to murder, in cold blood, another in a long line of would-be world conquerers who he has thrown down with? No way. So then WW comes along, looking menacing, but smashes her sword in a symbolic way of saying that she ain't a killer no mo'. Not bad, but the Batman thing was pretty out of character - Alex was already beaten, why would Batman of all people consider killing him?
So yeah, a lot of cool moments this issue, but also a lot of stuff that felt rushed, random, or just off. Numerous continuity errors have popped up in this series as well, even discontinuity between this and other IC-tie in issues, which is pretty annoying. Also, people who SHOULD have been major players given the story and characters involved, ie Lex Luthor, were mostly absent. Sure, the Joker-Lex Luthor (they always seem to team-up at times of crisis ...) scene at the end of the issue was sweet, but also pretty random and a somewhat anti-climactic end for the big-bad Alex Luthor.
What DID I like in Issue 7? Lots of stuff. The aforementioned Joker-Luthor scene was fanboy goodness. Guy Gardner vs. Superboy. Robin's angst at seeing Nightwing then Batman getting beaten before his eyes. The final scene between the Big 3, especially the happier, old-school depiction of Bruce Wayne. Superboy Prime and his bloody S-shield. All the random characters popping out of nowhere - I mean, Wild Dog? The New Blood? Cool! The assembly of the Green Lantern Corps and the wall of sheer green willpower. Mogo, the planet GL, playing an unexpected role - and he socializes! Nice little character moments from Guy, Hal Jordan, Booster Gold, and others. The red sun idea was pretty cool. As always, Johns packed in the little "cool" moments, and the fanboy geek-out scenes were in no short supply.
But as a series, that was pretty much what Infinite Crisis turned out to be -- a 100 mph, bursting at the seams collection of cool moments. Those were plentiful, even when a coherant plot and impactful, emotional ressonance were not. And the excitement and promise of Issue 1 definitely lessened as the series failed to live up to its full potential to be a modern classic with each passing issue. And in the end, I can't say it was any better than less hyped event comics from throughout the last decade, like Final Night, for one. Was it a good read? Yes. Was it a page-turner? Definitely. Was it filled with great art, numerous geek-out moments, and big changes to the status quo? Yes, without question. But was this all it way hyped up to be, the comic book epic to end all comic book epics? Not really - it just never quite came together.
My Infinite Crisis Issue # 7 Grade: B -
My Infinite Crisis Series Grade: B
OTHER STUFF:
- It wouldn't be a geek edition of my blog without a comment on the announcment of the new Star Wars DVD sets that will finally feature the ORIGINAL, old-school theatrical versions of the oriinal trilogy, without the CGI enhancements or added scenes from the 1990's re-releases. Personally, I don't have that much sentimental attachment to the original versions as opposed to the newer ones, and I don't mind most of the enhancements. My biggest complaint with the new ones is that Greedo now shoots first, and we all know that Han shooting first is waaay cooler and more befitting of his character. So kudos to Lucas and co for finally releasing these unaltered versions, but finger of shame for not justp utting these on the original DVD release and making fans shell out a ton of extra $$$, just to get the original cuts. In any case, fanboys everywhere can now cease their complaining about not being able to buy these, and can focus on complaing about how Superman and X-Men 3 will suck.
- On that note, it's time for some lunch and I'm outta here. Until next time, may the Schwartz be with you.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Rocket to Mars: Veronica M, NBA, and 10,000 Hits!
Hey guys, just want to take a minute and say thanks for reading. As of this morning the blog has reached a milestone of 10,000 + hits, and sure it's not like I'm posting Google numbers or anything, but not bad for a humble blog about a regular Joe from Bloomfield, CT. Okay, so maybe it's obvious that people just can't get enough of my oh-so-insightful rants about TV, movies, politics, and everyday life. So that is why I will continue to strive to keep this thing updated and basically use it as a mechanism for convincing the world to appreciate the good stuff - basically, spreading my own personal gospel to an ever-growing legion of followers. So until everyone sees things my way, I will be compelled to keep writing and telling it like it is and fighting the good fight. Which means, well, I've got a lot of writing to do ...
VERONICA MARS:
Exhibit A in the fun of writing this blog -- spreading the word about underappreciated shows like this one, becaue: holy freaking crap, Veronica Mars last night was AMAZING. So much awesomeness from start to finish - this episode had me in the palm of its hand last night. I mean, how about that opening ten minutes? Wow! I think just about every VM fan was holding their breath, thinking that our boy Wallace was about to get blown away by the gun-toting crazy janitor with a vendetta with a capital V. I for sure was convinced for that moment that Wallace had just sacrificed himself and gone out like a hero, but luckily he survived. And you know, the character of Wallace really is one of the best on TV when you look at him and where he's come from. In a way, he really is the true hero of the show - a lone example of a guy who came from nothing (his introduction to Neptune High was being strung up on the flagpole by his boxers), and worked his way up the food chain (got into college, made it big on the basketball team, got the girl) on sheer will, talent, and smarts, and never compromised his morals or character to do so. The true heart and soul of the show. Anyways, man, this episode didn't let ANYONE off the hook. Well, except Aaron Echols. Man, I can't believe he was found not guilty. What an evil bastard. And whoah, who thought that Steve Guttenberg could be so menacing and creepy. Okay, I guess it's not THAT out of left field.
So yeah, we all pretty much figured that his character of Woody Goodman was a sketchball, but the question is - did he cause the bus crash? Seems to obvious to be the case at this point, and we know how much this show likes its twists. There's still a lot we don't know about Terence Cook - we know he fixed a game, but how does that tie into the bus crash, if at all? Okay, maybe his story is mostly resolved (looks like he's gonna be the mafia's bitch for a while ...), but what about everyone's favorite gold-digging femme fatale, Charisma Carpenter as Kendall Casablancas? We definitely have not gotten her full story yet either. It stands to reason that Beaver C (poor Alex!) suffered a little molestation at the hands of GoodWood, but I don't think he'd crash the bus, would he? No, but could he have been the one who actually raped Veronica way back when, as a way of somehow trying to get over his little league trauma? Could be - man that Beav has some baggage. As does his brother, Dick, who was absent in tonight's ep but seemes due for an appearance before all is said and done. Doesn't seem like he really had much involvement in the crash - but could THAT be the big twist? Then there's Gia Goodman, who has been portrayed as slightly loopy but not exactly a murderer. Still, she COULD be trying to protect her daddy's rep by offing one of his victims before the "outing of all outings" could take place. There's always the sleazy sheriff, but he's more of an antagonist to Keith Mars than a likely mastermind. Aaron Echols had to be involved SOMEHOW, but what his part was we don't really know, yet. Hey, did they ever find Lynn Echols' body? Man, I cannot wait for next week's inevitable revelations. Something tells me Gia Goodman is going to be involved in a huge twist, but I don't know. Predictions? Anyone?
Overall though, this episode had it all. They really piled on the tragedy, setting the stage for a truly epic finale next week. But there's so many loose ends, I can't see how they are going to wrap it up satisfactorilly next week in one episode. I haven't even mentioned Logan's ongoing saga, his relationship with Veronica, the issue of Veronica's mysterious sexual history, her collegiate prospects (I can't believe she blew off that test!), and so much more. And what about Weevil's tragic tale? Sure, he's a thuggish murderer and deserves to get caught and suffer, but who didn't want to see him ace that test and make his grandma proud?
Damn, this show is so freaking good. Everyone should check out the Season 1 and 2 DVD's this summer and if, please lord, it comes back for Season 3, you MUST get on this bandwagon. It's provided two of the best seasons of TV EVER thus far, and man, next week we are in for one hell of a finale.
My grade: A+
GILMORE GIRLS:
You know, after the superlative episode from a few weeks ago that featured Lane's wedding, this show just seems to be in a downward spiral as it prepares for the Palladinos' departure at season's end. I just am not a big fan of what is going on with the characters right now, and with a creative regime change next season, I don't really have faith that these issues are going to be resolved to the fans' satisfaction. I mean, okay - the show has, for a long time, been fated to go in a certain direction. That direction is Luke and Lorellai getting married and having a kid and starting a life together, and Rory dumping Logan, maybe finding a more down to earth guy, and going off on her own towards a promising career as a journalist. And yet, this season has been one giant bump in the road towards that ending, which is fine, to a degree. At this point, Luke and Lorellai have had their quarells, patched things up, and should be ready to face anything together. Now though they are on the rocks due to this stupid kid issue which is not convincing as a plot device that would drive such a wedge between them. And by all accounts, Rory should have dumped Logan a long time ago, in fact, she DID. And yet now she's back with him playing the role of doting nurse after he pulls yet another asshole move. So yeah, still love the voice of this show and the quirky characters and the humor, but when all the lead characters are being portrayed as so unlikable and unsympathetic, and as straying so far from the path they had been headed on for years, it really is kind of depressing to watch. Anxious for next week's finale, but the thought of the ep ending with Lorelai and Chris together is kind of nauseating. My grade: B -
Okay, now that I've totally made everyone question my masculinity, it's time for some NBA talk ...
NBA OUTSIDE STUFF:
- Rajah Bell lays the smack down on Kobe! Okay, so a small, small part of me was kind of smirking as Kobe got Bubba-bombed to the floor last night by Bell. But the less bitter and Kobe-hating side of me says: Rajah Bell, you seriously f'd up. Barkley put it best in his post-game commentary - all Rajah Bell did was help hand the Lakers the series. He's going to have them fired up for Game 6, which should be a thriller, and, he has likely taken himself out of the game as well, which is too bad as he's pretty much the only Sun who has proven that they can defend Kobe. So bad move, Bell, you should have kept your emotions in check, especially with the game long-since won.
But, come on, all you Lakers fanboys. Don't even try to pretend that Kobe is an innocent in this situation. He was elbowing and chipping away at Rajah all night, and his cocky attitudes when it comes to the refs, with EVERY call being met with complaints, is just grating.
Looking forward to Game 6, as is, of course, David Stern and his cronies. Hmm, how convenient that Rajah acted when he did, totally changing the outlook for the next game in the blink of an eye ... let the conspiracy theories continue ...
- Big win for Miami. Gotta admit I do kind of want to see the Heat take on the Cavs in Round 2 ... Wade vs. James = daaamn.
- And for those of you who put too much stock in Rajah Bell's Stone Cold-esque move last night, it's not that big a deal - what, have we all turned into a society of anti-hard foul wimps? Yes, it was bad, but nothing Bill Lambier wouldn't have approved of back in the day. And I can't think of a more deserving recipient of a little rough justice on the court.
Okay, maybe that was a tad bit harsh. But as Bill Walton might say: "Come on, this is the playoffs."
BLOCKBUSTER SUMMER MOVIE TRAILER THOUGHTS:
- Some great trailers made the rounds on the net yesterday, including an amazing visual tour de force for PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN 2. Wow, looks awesome. I love the visual creativity and the crazy CGI f/x. It looks like what was once an underdog, sleeper hit is now THE franchise to beat this summer. Can't wait.
- Of course, the other big, nay, supersized trailer was for SUPERMAN RETURNS. Finally, some footage to sink our teeth into - it's about time. Okay, so visuals looked great, the whole thing LOOKS like one giant Alex Ross painting brought to life, which is cool. But, I still don't like a lot of what I see. I hate Lois being married and having a kid. Routh still looks too young and effeminate to be Superman, let alone a Superman supposedly returning after a long absence. And Bosworth as Lois looks way too young as well. Now, I WAS really excited for Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, but here he seems to be doing his best Gene Hackman impersonation, which in my mind is really a bad sign. I was anxiously anticipating Spacey bringing the cold, calculating, badass Lex of the comics and animated series to life. Now it seems we get crazed loony Lex ala the original movies. Dammit. Ugh, this is just so depressing. I want a big superhero epic and it looks like we are getting a nice looking but dull Donner homage that is straying too far from the mythos and not providing the action-adventure extravaganza that I and others were hoping for.
- As for X-3, I HAD been pleasently surprised by the trailers, but damn if the new footage shown on Leno doesn't look like crap. Cheap looking Sentinel head - I can't believe they don't even show the whole body - what a cop out! And the whole fastball special scene, while a nice idea, just looks cheesy as hell, as does Collossus. Lame dialogue and questionable f/x = starting to re-lose my faith in this movie. Still, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan are sure to bring the gravitas ...
On that note, I'm outta here - keep the hits coming. 10,000 and counting. Stay tuned - because how else are you going to know what's cool if not from this blog? Whooooooooo.
VERONICA MARS:
Exhibit A in the fun of writing this blog -- spreading the word about underappreciated shows like this one, becaue: holy freaking crap, Veronica Mars last night was AMAZING. So much awesomeness from start to finish - this episode had me in the palm of its hand last night. I mean, how about that opening ten minutes? Wow! I think just about every VM fan was holding their breath, thinking that our boy Wallace was about to get blown away by the gun-toting crazy janitor with a vendetta with a capital V. I for sure was convinced for that moment that Wallace had just sacrificed himself and gone out like a hero, but luckily he survived. And you know, the character of Wallace really is one of the best on TV when you look at him and where he's come from. In a way, he really is the true hero of the show - a lone example of a guy who came from nothing (his introduction to Neptune High was being strung up on the flagpole by his boxers), and worked his way up the food chain (got into college, made it big on the basketball team, got the girl) on sheer will, talent, and smarts, and never compromised his morals or character to do so. The true heart and soul of the show. Anyways, man, this episode didn't let ANYONE off the hook. Well, except Aaron Echols. Man, I can't believe he was found not guilty. What an evil bastard. And whoah, who thought that Steve Guttenberg could be so menacing and creepy. Okay, I guess it's not THAT out of left field.
So yeah, we all pretty much figured that his character of Woody Goodman was a sketchball, but the question is - did he cause the bus crash? Seems to obvious to be the case at this point, and we know how much this show likes its twists. There's still a lot we don't know about Terence Cook - we know he fixed a game, but how does that tie into the bus crash, if at all? Okay, maybe his story is mostly resolved (looks like he's gonna be the mafia's bitch for a while ...), but what about everyone's favorite gold-digging femme fatale, Charisma Carpenter as Kendall Casablancas? We definitely have not gotten her full story yet either. It stands to reason that Beaver C (poor Alex!) suffered a little molestation at the hands of GoodWood, but I don't think he'd crash the bus, would he? No, but could he have been the one who actually raped Veronica way back when, as a way of somehow trying to get over his little league trauma? Could be - man that Beav has some baggage. As does his brother, Dick, who was absent in tonight's ep but seemes due for an appearance before all is said and done. Doesn't seem like he really had much involvement in the crash - but could THAT be the big twist? Then there's Gia Goodman, who has been portrayed as slightly loopy but not exactly a murderer. Still, she COULD be trying to protect her daddy's rep by offing one of his victims before the "outing of all outings" could take place. There's always the sleazy sheriff, but he's more of an antagonist to Keith Mars than a likely mastermind. Aaron Echols had to be involved SOMEHOW, but what his part was we don't really know, yet. Hey, did they ever find Lynn Echols' body? Man, I cannot wait for next week's inevitable revelations. Something tells me Gia Goodman is going to be involved in a huge twist, but I don't know. Predictions? Anyone?
Overall though, this episode had it all. They really piled on the tragedy, setting the stage for a truly epic finale next week. But there's so many loose ends, I can't see how they are going to wrap it up satisfactorilly next week in one episode. I haven't even mentioned Logan's ongoing saga, his relationship with Veronica, the issue of Veronica's mysterious sexual history, her collegiate prospects (I can't believe she blew off that test!), and so much more. And what about Weevil's tragic tale? Sure, he's a thuggish murderer and deserves to get caught and suffer, but who didn't want to see him ace that test and make his grandma proud?
Damn, this show is so freaking good. Everyone should check out the Season 1 and 2 DVD's this summer and if, please lord, it comes back for Season 3, you MUST get on this bandwagon. It's provided two of the best seasons of TV EVER thus far, and man, next week we are in for one hell of a finale.
My grade: A+
GILMORE GIRLS:
You know, after the superlative episode from a few weeks ago that featured Lane's wedding, this show just seems to be in a downward spiral as it prepares for the Palladinos' departure at season's end. I just am not a big fan of what is going on with the characters right now, and with a creative regime change next season, I don't really have faith that these issues are going to be resolved to the fans' satisfaction. I mean, okay - the show has, for a long time, been fated to go in a certain direction. That direction is Luke and Lorellai getting married and having a kid and starting a life together, and Rory dumping Logan, maybe finding a more down to earth guy, and going off on her own towards a promising career as a journalist. And yet, this season has been one giant bump in the road towards that ending, which is fine, to a degree. At this point, Luke and Lorellai have had their quarells, patched things up, and should be ready to face anything together. Now though they are on the rocks due to this stupid kid issue which is not convincing as a plot device that would drive such a wedge between them. And by all accounts, Rory should have dumped Logan a long time ago, in fact, she DID. And yet now she's back with him playing the role of doting nurse after he pulls yet another asshole move. So yeah, still love the voice of this show and the quirky characters and the humor, but when all the lead characters are being portrayed as so unlikable and unsympathetic, and as straying so far from the path they had been headed on for years, it really is kind of depressing to watch. Anxious for next week's finale, but the thought of the ep ending with Lorelai and Chris together is kind of nauseating. My grade: B -
Okay, now that I've totally made everyone question my masculinity, it's time for some NBA talk ...
NBA OUTSIDE STUFF:
- Rajah Bell lays the smack down on Kobe! Okay, so a small, small part of me was kind of smirking as Kobe got Bubba-bombed to the floor last night by Bell. But the less bitter and Kobe-hating side of me says: Rajah Bell, you seriously f'd up. Barkley put it best in his post-game commentary - all Rajah Bell did was help hand the Lakers the series. He's going to have them fired up for Game 6, which should be a thriller, and, he has likely taken himself out of the game as well, which is too bad as he's pretty much the only Sun who has proven that they can defend Kobe. So bad move, Bell, you should have kept your emotions in check, especially with the game long-since won.
But, come on, all you Lakers fanboys. Don't even try to pretend that Kobe is an innocent in this situation. He was elbowing and chipping away at Rajah all night, and his cocky attitudes when it comes to the refs, with EVERY call being met with complaints, is just grating.
Looking forward to Game 6, as is, of course, David Stern and his cronies. Hmm, how convenient that Rajah acted when he did, totally changing the outlook for the next game in the blink of an eye ... let the conspiracy theories continue ...
- Big win for Miami. Gotta admit I do kind of want to see the Heat take on the Cavs in Round 2 ... Wade vs. James = daaamn.
- And for those of you who put too much stock in Rajah Bell's Stone Cold-esque move last night, it's not that big a deal - what, have we all turned into a society of anti-hard foul wimps? Yes, it was bad, but nothing Bill Lambier wouldn't have approved of back in the day. And I can't think of a more deserving recipient of a little rough justice on the court.
Okay, maybe that was a tad bit harsh. But as Bill Walton might say: "Come on, this is the playoffs."
BLOCKBUSTER SUMMER MOVIE TRAILER THOUGHTS:
- Some great trailers made the rounds on the net yesterday, including an amazing visual tour de force for PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN 2. Wow, looks awesome. I love the visual creativity and the crazy CGI f/x. It looks like what was once an underdog, sleeper hit is now THE franchise to beat this summer. Can't wait.
- Of course, the other big, nay, supersized trailer was for SUPERMAN RETURNS. Finally, some footage to sink our teeth into - it's about time. Okay, so visuals looked great, the whole thing LOOKS like one giant Alex Ross painting brought to life, which is cool. But, I still don't like a lot of what I see. I hate Lois being married and having a kid. Routh still looks too young and effeminate to be Superman, let alone a Superman supposedly returning after a long absence. And Bosworth as Lois looks way too young as well. Now, I WAS really excited for Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, but here he seems to be doing his best Gene Hackman impersonation, which in my mind is really a bad sign. I was anxiously anticipating Spacey bringing the cold, calculating, badass Lex of the comics and animated series to life. Now it seems we get crazed loony Lex ala the original movies. Dammit. Ugh, this is just so depressing. I want a big superhero epic and it looks like we are getting a nice looking but dull Donner homage that is straying too far from the mythos and not providing the action-adventure extravaganza that I and others were hoping for.
- As for X-3, I HAD been pleasently surprised by the trailers, but damn if the new footage shown on Leno doesn't look like crap. Cheap looking Sentinel head - I can't believe they don't even show the whole body - what a cop out! And the whole fastball special scene, while a nice idea, just looks cheesy as hell, as does Collossus. Lame dialogue and questionable f/x = starting to re-lose my faith in this movie. Still, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan are sure to bring the gravitas ...
On that note, I'm outta here - keep the hits coming. 10,000 and counting. Stay tuned - because how else are you going to know what's cool if not from this blog? Whooooooooo.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Jack Bauer on a Plane: 24, Prisonbreak, and more!
24:
Well 24 was back once again this week with another edge of your seat installment. Let's get right down to it ...
- Awesome stuff with Jack on the plane, him going NINJA on the air marshall sitting next to him was an insta-classic nugget of Jack-attack.
- Chloe with the DOUBLE TAZER-SHOT OF DOOM in the hotel bar. What looked to be another groan-inducing 24 subplot was quickly turned into a brief but hilarious moment of comic relief.
- If anyone brought the GRAVITAS this week, it was Bill Buchanan, sporting the UNDERSHIRT.
- Don't those pilots know what happens when you piss off Jack? He SHAKES YOUR PLANE AROUND.
- You've gotta love the sheer political incorrectness of having Jack HIJACK A PLANE, ward off rebellious passengers, and force an emergency landing, oh yeah - AND prompt the President to order the plane to be SHOT DOWN in the interest of protecting his own agenda --all in the SAME WEEK that United 93 is released in theaters.
- When is Novick finally just going to up and give Prez. Logan the ol' what-for?
- Speaking of which, unintentially hilarious moment when Mrs. Logan asks Mike something like "Is there anything else ...?" and Mike kind of looks at her semi-lustfully, gulps, and says "Yes ...".
- No further insight into the SECRET CABAL OF BLUETOOTH-SPORTING PREPPIES this week ... hmm are they being set up as the Big Bads of Season 6?
- Overall, an excellent episode this week as we've come to expect from this always-intense show. Sorry, haters, but 24 at this point is more than just a TV show -- it's an experience. Nay, a way of life even.
My grade: A
PRISONBREAK:
Damn -- AWESOME EP this week! The sheer over-the-top intensity as the inmates prepared for their escape was mind-boggling, and every character got their moment to shine. But the character moments, and even the closing montage never seemed annoying or forced - instead everything reached its logical climactic moment of truth after months and months of build-up. Ya just gotta love Scofield entering the Warden's office in the closing minutes, trademark smirk intact, demanding for his aid in the impending prison break. Just awesome stuff here - I think I even enjoyed Prisonbreak more than 24 this week, it was that intense. My grade: A
OTHER TV STUFF:
- Finally caught last week's SMALLVILLE, and it was, in fact, one of the better episodes of the season. Clark, for once, was pitted against a rather cool villain, and got to play hero rather than chump. The Lex-Lana-Clark stuff was actually handled well, and Lois was great and Erica Durance has really, um, come to embody that character (in more way than one, fellas). Let's just say the ante is upped a bit for big-screen Lois, Kate Bosworth, come June. Good stuff here, glad to see this show on the rebound after a few weeks of disappointing installments. My grade: A -
- On last week's THE OFFICE. Finally, a new episode. I have to say though, this show, which was enjoying a creative peak earlier in the season, is now becoming a tale of two shows. We have the hilarious, random bits of oddball humor from Dwight and Michael, and we have the increasingly cheesy, out-of-place flirtations between Jim and Pam. Now of course, many of my female friends just love the doomed not-quite-tomance between the two office-mates, but that's almost the problem. The whole thing seems like its been played up to satisfy some market research or somethign rather than being a natural part of the show. Any fan of the superlative British Office knows that the poignancy of Tim and Dawn was ALL in the SUBTLE moments - the little glances, the awkward hellos, etc. Jim and Pam is anything but subtle lately, and it's really annoying in my book and is really throwing this show off its game. Still, as long as we get classic bits of dialogue each week from Dwight, and as long as we get Steve Carell bringing the funny, this is one of TV's only current must-see comedies. The whole drug-testing plotline this week was just side-splittingly hilarious. That's why I watch the show. So focus on the humor, and evolve the subplots subtlely and naturally. But yeah "My father's name was Dwright Schrute. His father's name was Dwight Schrute. HIS father's name was Dwighd Schrude. Amish." = hilarious. My grade: B+
- Huge props to STEPHEN COLBERT. I've always been a fan, but I have a newfound appreciation for the man after he delivered a biting keynote speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner this past weekend (check out YouTube if you've not yet seen it!). With Bush sitting mere feet away, Colbert stuck to his cocky, far-right wing character, which is of course one giant satire of the whole conservative talk show host thing. So basically, Colbert proceeds to ruthlessly mock the president, the press, and everyone in between with all of them right there up close and personal. Sure, some of his jokes bomberd and he appeared to be, justifiably, a bit nervous, but Colbert stuck to his guns and showed a lot of balls in mocking prez not really known for his sense of self-deprecating humor, especially when it comes to his policies. Sure, those Correspondents' dinners are always basically a roast to the president, but this was a pretty unique meeting of pop culture's number one conservative satirist with or ocuntry's number one conservative figurehead. Pretty interesting, and once again, props to Colbert.
- JOEY STYLES! Best RAW promo in a long while delivered last night by the voice of ECW, as the geeky voice of the E-C-Dub purist told it like it was. Too bad it was the one bright spot in a consistently lackluster program of late. But still, hardcore, extreme, and worthy of one of Joey's trademark "OH MY GOD!'s."
- Watch Veronica Mars tonight, dammit all!
OTHER STUFF:
- Congrats to the Clippers, moving to the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time in 30 years! Their team is looking pretty stacked lately, and if the hated Lakers DO manage to make it an LA-LA series, I will eagerly anticipate the Clips delivering a humility-inducing beat-down to the second best team in LA. But, until that series is confirmed: GO SUNS!
- Forgot to mention that this weekend, at the Improv, one of the openers was none other than former SINGLED-OUT host Chris Hardwick. So THAT's what he's been up to all this time ...
- Some new SUPERMAN footage is up on the net, part of an international soft drink ad. Oddly, this is the best footage from the movie I've yet seen ,with some sweet but brief footage of Supes flying around and saving a plane. Hmm, the jury's still out on this one ...
- They are making a new Red Sonjia movie? Hmm, the original kicks ass though!
- I understand why United 93 didn't tear up the box office, but losing to RV?!?! Wow that says something right there. What it say I'm not sure, but it can't be good. Seriously though, I think good word of mouth will give 93 some longevity at the box office - it's not exactly one where people are rushing out to see it opening weekend.
- Okay, may Jack be with you. And remember, if you ever need to disarm an air marshall on a small, crowded plane without being seen - a quick elbow-strike to the back of the head should do just fine. See, you learn something new from 24 every week. Amazing, innit?.
Well 24 was back once again this week with another edge of your seat installment. Let's get right down to it ...
- Awesome stuff with Jack on the plane, him going NINJA on the air marshall sitting next to him was an insta-classic nugget of Jack-attack.
- Chloe with the DOUBLE TAZER-SHOT OF DOOM in the hotel bar. What looked to be another groan-inducing 24 subplot was quickly turned into a brief but hilarious moment of comic relief.
- If anyone brought the GRAVITAS this week, it was Bill Buchanan, sporting the UNDERSHIRT.
- Don't those pilots know what happens when you piss off Jack? He SHAKES YOUR PLANE AROUND.
- You've gotta love the sheer political incorrectness of having Jack HIJACK A PLANE, ward off rebellious passengers, and force an emergency landing, oh yeah - AND prompt the President to order the plane to be SHOT DOWN in the interest of protecting his own agenda --all in the SAME WEEK that United 93 is released in theaters.
- When is Novick finally just going to up and give Prez. Logan the ol' what-for?
- Speaking of which, unintentially hilarious moment when Mrs. Logan asks Mike something like "Is there anything else ...?" and Mike kind of looks at her semi-lustfully, gulps, and says "Yes ...".
- No further insight into the SECRET CABAL OF BLUETOOTH-SPORTING PREPPIES this week ... hmm are they being set up as the Big Bads of Season 6?
- Overall, an excellent episode this week as we've come to expect from this always-intense show. Sorry, haters, but 24 at this point is more than just a TV show -- it's an experience. Nay, a way of life even.
My grade: A
PRISONBREAK:
Damn -- AWESOME EP this week! The sheer over-the-top intensity as the inmates prepared for their escape was mind-boggling, and every character got their moment to shine. But the character moments, and even the closing montage never seemed annoying or forced - instead everything reached its logical climactic moment of truth after months and months of build-up. Ya just gotta love Scofield entering the Warden's office in the closing minutes, trademark smirk intact, demanding for his aid in the impending prison break. Just awesome stuff here - I think I even enjoyed Prisonbreak more than 24 this week, it was that intense. My grade: A
OTHER TV STUFF:
- Finally caught last week's SMALLVILLE, and it was, in fact, one of the better episodes of the season. Clark, for once, was pitted against a rather cool villain, and got to play hero rather than chump. The Lex-Lana-Clark stuff was actually handled well, and Lois was great and Erica Durance has really, um, come to embody that character (in more way than one, fellas). Let's just say the ante is upped a bit for big-screen Lois, Kate Bosworth, come June. Good stuff here, glad to see this show on the rebound after a few weeks of disappointing installments. My grade: A -
- On last week's THE OFFICE. Finally, a new episode. I have to say though, this show, which was enjoying a creative peak earlier in the season, is now becoming a tale of two shows. We have the hilarious, random bits of oddball humor from Dwight and Michael, and we have the increasingly cheesy, out-of-place flirtations between Jim and Pam. Now of course, many of my female friends just love the doomed not-quite-tomance between the two office-mates, but that's almost the problem. The whole thing seems like its been played up to satisfy some market research or somethign rather than being a natural part of the show. Any fan of the superlative British Office knows that the poignancy of Tim and Dawn was ALL in the SUBTLE moments - the little glances, the awkward hellos, etc. Jim and Pam is anything but subtle lately, and it's really annoying in my book and is really throwing this show off its game. Still, as long as we get classic bits of dialogue each week from Dwight, and as long as we get Steve Carell bringing the funny, this is one of TV's only current must-see comedies. The whole drug-testing plotline this week was just side-splittingly hilarious. That's why I watch the show. So focus on the humor, and evolve the subplots subtlely and naturally. But yeah "My father's name was Dwright Schrute. His father's name was Dwight Schrute. HIS father's name was Dwighd Schrude. Amish." = hilarious. My grade: B+
- Huge props to STEPHEN COLBERT. I've always been a fan, but I have a newfound appreciation for the man after he delivered a biting keynote speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner this past weekend (check out YouTube if you've not yet seen it!). With Bush sitting mere feet away, Colbert stuck to his cocky, far-right wing character, which is of course one giant satire of the whole conservative talk show host thing. So basically, Colbert proceeds to ruthlessly mock the president, the press, and everyone in between with all of them right there up close and personal. Sure, some of his jokes bomberd and he appeared to be, justifiably, a bit nervous, but Colbert stuck to his guns and showed a lot of balls in mocking prez not really known for his sense of self-deprecating humor, especially when it comes to his policies. Sure, those Correspondents' dinners are always basically a roast to the president, but this was a pretty unique meeting of pop culture's number one conservative satirist with or ocuntry's number one conservative figurehead. Pretty interesting, and once again, props to Colbert.
- JOEY STYLES! Best RAW promo in a long while delivered last night by the voice of ECW, as the geeky voice of the E-C-Dub purist told it like it was. Too bad it was the one bright spot in a consistently lackluster program of late. But still, hardcore, extreme, and worthy of one of Joey's trademark "OH MY GOD!'s."
- Watch Veronica Mars tonight, dammit all!
OTHER STUFF:
- Congrats to the Clippers, moving to the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time in 30 years! Their team is looking pretty stacked lately, and if the hated Lakers DO manage to make it an LA-LA series, I will eagerly anticipate the Clips delivering a humility-inducing beat-down to the second best team in LA. But, until that series is confirmed: GO SUNS!
- Forgot to mention that this weekend, at the Improv, one of the openers was none other than former SINGLED-OUT host Chris Hardwick. So THAT's what he's been up to all this time ...
- Some new SUPERMAN footage is up on the net, part of an international soft drink ad. Oddly, this is the best footage from the movie I've yet seen ,with some sweet but brief footage of Supes flying around and saving a plane. Hmm, the jury's still out on this one ...
- They are making a new Red Sonjia movie? Hmm, the original kicks ass though!
- I understand why United 93 didn't tear up the box office, but losing to RV?!?! Wow that says something right there. What it say I'm not sure, but it can't be good. Seriously though, I think good word of mouth will give 93 some longevity at the box office - it's not exactly one where people are rushing out to see it opening weekend.
- Okay, may Jack be with you. And remember, if you ever need to disarm an air marshall on a small, crowded plane without being seen - a quick elbow-strike to the back of the head should do just fine. See, you learn something new from 24 every week. Amazing, innit?.
Monday, May 01, 2006
From Behind The Three Point Line: The NBA Rant of Doom, and More!
Okay, so check out my previous posting about United 93 if you have not done so already. But after you've read that, come back here because I have some important stuff to talk about.
Namely, the NBA Playoffs.
Okay, now I know that LA fans are still spasming in glee over what transpired yesterday, on national TV, in the Lakers vs. Suns game. But I have to say, even though I am kind of over the whole thing, that game still left a very bitter taste in my mouth that has still not completely gone away. Why? Because I am a lifelong NBA fan, don't get me wrong - I love this game, indeed. But the NBA, more so than many other sports, has always been a marketing machine that takes great pains to protect its stars, because the NBA has never really been built around TEAMS, but around the promotion of its superstars. And whenever the NBA does become dominated by rather bland teams, like the Pistons and Spurs, overlord David Stern gets antsy, because ratings go down and interest dwindles. Sure, sure, it's "good for the game" to have teams big on fundamentals in the top spots, but is it good for the NBA? Where's all the kids walking around with Rip Hamilton or Manu Ginobli jerseys? Yeah, it doesn't happen. So okay, I'm not saying the NBA is RIGGED, I'm just saying the same thing that I and numerous other fans have been saying for YEARS: The NBA goes out of its way to "help" various stars take the spotlight. And lo and behold, this year we have top All-Star vote-grabbers Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant back in the playoffs, and hey look, there's old standby Phil Jackson magically back with the Lakers. We have Lebron making his post-season debut. We have a marquee matchup in the two top MVP candidates, Kobe and Steve Nash, going at it in the first round.
Yeah, David Stern was a happy man come playoff time.
So a familiar feeling of anger came over me yesterday, as I watched Steve Nash fouled and calling for T.O., and yet receiving a jump ball call from the refs, who were inconsistent the entire night. And I watched a lot of NBA coverage yesterday, and you know how many replays I saw of this botched call? Practically ZERO. And suddenly every analyst, even those who don't usually hesitate to criticize the refs, are simply saying that the Suns had some "unfortunate" calls.
WTF?
Look, all I'm saying is that the NBA protects its marquee stars and its marquee teams. The Suns without Amare are no longer a marquee team, but the underdog Lakers, heading into a possible Lakers / Clippers series, have now shot through the marquee roof. The NBA is frothing at the mouth over a Lakers / Clips series - everyone in LA will be watchign anf national curiosity will surely be piqued. Or, let me put it this way - Suns vs. Clippers = somewhat boring prelude to either team getting swept in the conference finals. Lakers vs. Clippers = bigtime mid-card feud. Now I personally have no desire to see these teams do battle, as it will be pretty much one big excuse for even more self-congratulation here in LA. No, this is not the Suns year, but I just want to see the better team win this series, without crazy finishes that have the air of being manufactured by the refs.
The fact is that the "steal" from Nash at the end of regulation had none of the grace of say the classic Larry Bird steal against the Pistons in the 80's. No, it was a bunch of guys swarming the ball and getting away with it. And that jump ball call? Same thing. All I know is it reminds me of various Jordan plays in the latter part of his career, when he was so protected in the playoffs that he could get away with practically any foul. It reminds me of Shaq when there was practically no consensus on when to call him for an offensive foul. It reminds me of the infamous Milwaukee-Philly series from a few years back when EVERY call went against the Bucks, and then-poster-boy Allen Iverson and his Sixers inexplicably ended up going to the Finals.
So Lakers fans, bask in your moment of glory. You are the Yankees of basketball, and your moments of glory come often - so to most of the NBA fanbase it's just another reason to despise the Lakers. As for me, I will be rooting for The Suns to take this series, to REALLY defy the odds, because lord knows every NBA suit is against them.
Otherwise, this has been a surprisingly sweet playoffs, with major upsets looming from the Bulls, Kings, and hey, even Milwaukee won one against Detroit. And don't get me wrong, I have no desire to see Spurs vs. Pistons Part 3, so I'm all for some new blood going all the way.
OTHER NBA THOUGHTS:
- Okay, who's idea of a joke is it to have former All-Star Jalen Rose doing these sideline reports for TNT? Nothing against the guy, but he has the most droning, monotone voice I've ever heard and listening to him justifies the invention of the Mute button.
- How funny is Bill Walton? "The crowd rises as one!" I credit the man with being one of the main influences in speaking-style, he is so freaking hilarious.
- I wonder what happened between Payton and Wade? Miami had better get their act together, or they are going to fall victim to da Bulls like it's 1998.
- What's funnier than Charles Barkley's head superimposed on some fat white guy's dancing body and singing "Peanut Butter Jelly Time?" Bwahahaha ...
TV STUFF:
FOX SUNDAY NIGHT QUICK REVIEWS:
KING OF THE HILL: Best Show of the Night. Very funny episode - I love Bobby and Joseph's oblivious conversations about being cool. This show always picks up on obscure but rising trends, and does a great job of satirizing them. This week the target was hippie panhandlers, and it really was a funny look at this weird subculture, which of course goes against everything Hank Hill stands for. "I hate those jeans more than life itself, but since you paid for them I can't say anything." LOL. My grade: A
THE SIMPSONS: Decent idea for an episode, and actually, this was probably the best-plotted ep in a while, though some of the humor did fall flat. Overall, this was a pretty decent ep and it was nice to see the focus on Bart and Lisa and their classmates for a change. Nice Milhouse humor, which is always appreciated. My grade: B
FAMILY GUY: Somewhat of an improvement over the last few weeks of awfulness, but still not that great. Mostly lame, unfunny cutaways this week, and the gay marriage plot was preachy and not very good satire - the whole thing had a played-out feel to it. As per usual, some funny moments, but stil la shadow of the Family Guy of old. My grade: C
OTHER TV STUFF:
- Just want to point out yet again how amazing VERONICA MARS is. Last week's ep was an A+ quality installment, with just so much amazing characterization that it makes me hurt to think about how great it was. Aside from the phenom that is 24, Mars has been head and shoulders the best show on TV this season, and it has only gotten better as it heads into the home stretch. The stuff between Logan and Veronica last week was just so well done, the mystery of the bus crash continues to grow more and more compelling as the layers of the tapestry unfold, and the writing and dialogue continues to be top notch. And seriously, Kristen Bell has really stood out lately as an actress - just showing a ton of range and just kind of reclaiming the show that for a while had come to be domianted by its supporting characters. Check out Veronica, I'm telling you.
- Haven't had a chance yet to watch last week's SMALLVILLE or OC. Stay tuned, as Smallville definitely seemed promising.
- Can't wait to check out a few of the upcoming NBC pilots which I should hopefully get to see in the next few weeks. It should be no surprise that my most anticipated offerings from my network are Heroes and Andy Barker, P.I. Let's hope they are good!
OTHER STUFF:
- Had a fun weekend. Aside from the mind-trip that was United 93, also paid my frist ever visit to the LA Improv, where I saw a bunch of cool comedians, the most prominent of which was Air America host Mark Merron, whose neurotic-Jewish-intellectual brand of humor was pretty hilarious.
- 24! Yes! Tonight, it's: JACK BAUER ON A PLANE! Daaaamn!
- Still plugging away at the job. Not much I will / can report though. Man, with sumemr coming around though I long for the days of summer vacation!
- On that note, it's back to work. Check out my previously posted United 93 review, and also take note of my first-ever use of pictures in the blog! I know, i know, it's a big step. Cya.
Namely, the NBA Playoffs.
Okay, now I know that LA fans are still spasming in glee over what transpired yesterday, on national TV, in the Lakers vs. Suns game. But I have to say, even though I am kind of over the whole thing, that game still left a very bitter taste in my mouth that has still not completely gone away. Why? Because I am a lifelong NBA fan, don't get me wrong - I love this game, indeed. But the NBA, more so than many other sports, has always been a marketing machine that takes great pains to protect its stars, because the NBA has never really been built around TEAMS, but around the promotion of its superstars. And whenever the NBA does become dominated by rather bland teams, like the Pistons and Spurs, overlord David Stern gets antsy, because ratings go down and interest dwindles. Sure, sure, it's "good for the game" to have teams big on fundamentals in the top spots, but is it good for the NBA? Where's all the kids walking around with Rip Hamilton or Manu Ginobli jerseys? Yeah, it doesn't happen. So okay, I'm not saying the NBA is RIGGED, I'm just saying the same thing that I and numerous other fans have been saying for YEARS: The NBA goes out of its way to "help" various stars take the spotlight. And lo and behold, this year we have top All-Star vote-grabbers Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant back in the playoffs, and hey look, there's old standby Phil Jackson magically back with the Lakers. We have Lebron making his post-season debut. We have a marquee matchup in the two top MVP candidates, Kobe and Steve Nash, going at it in the first round.
Yeah, David Stern was a happy man come playoff time.
So a familiar feeling of anger came over me yesterday, as I watched Steve Nash fouled and calling for T.O., and yet receiving a jump ball call from the refs, who were inconsistent the entire night. And I watched a lot of NBA coverage yesterday, and you know how many replays I saw of this botched call? Practically ZERO. And suddenly every analyst, even those who don't usually hesitate to criticize the refs, are simply saying that the Suns had some "unfortunate" calls.
WTF?
Look, all I'm saying is that the NBA protects its marquee stars and its marquee teams. The Suns without Amare are no longer a marquee team, but the underdog Lakers, heading into a possible Lakers / Clippers series, have now shot through the marquee roof. The NBA is frothing at the mouth over a Lakers / Clips series - everyone in LA will be watchign anf national curiosity will surely be piqued. Or, let me put it this way - Suns vs. Clippers = somewhat boring prelude to either team getting swept in the conference finals. Lakers vs. Clippers = bigtime mid-card feud. Now I personally have no desire to see these teams do battle, as it will be pretty much one big excuse for even more self-congratulation here in LA. No, this is not the Suns year, but I just want to see the better team win this series, without crazy finishes that have the air of being manufactured by the refs.
The fact is that the "steal" from Nash at the end of regulation had none of the grace of say the classic Larry Bird steal against the Pistons in the 80's. No, it was a bunch of guys swarming the ball and getting away with it. And that jump ball call? Same thing. All I know is it reminds me of various Jordan plays in the latter part of his career, when he was so protected in the playoffs that he could get away with practically any foul. It reminds me of Shaq when there was practically no consensus on when to call him for an offensive foul. It reminds me of the infamous Milwaukee-Philly series from a few years back when EVERY call went against the Bucks, and then-poster-boy Allen Iverson and his Sixers inexplicably ended up going to the Finals.
So Lakers fans, bask in your moment of glory. You are the Yankees of basketball, and your moments of glory come often - so to most of the NBA fanbase it's just another reason to despise the Lakers. As for me, I will be rooting for The Suns to take this series, to REALLY defy the odds, because lord knows every NBA suit is against them.
Otherwise, this has been a surprisingly sweet playoffs, with major upsets looming from the Bulls, Kings, and hey, even Milwaukee won one against Detroit. And don't get me wrong, I have no desire to see Spurs vs. Pistons Part 3, so I'm all for some new blood going all the way.
OTHER NBA THOUGHTS:
- Okay, who's idea of a joke is it to have former All-Star Jalen Rose doing these sideline reports for TNT? Nothing against the guy, but he has the most droning, monotone voice I've ever heard and listening to him justifies the invention of the Mute button.
- How funny is Bill Walton? "The crowd rises as one!" I credit the man with being one of the main influences in speaking-style, he is so freaking hilarious.
- I wonder what happened between Payton and Wade? Miami had better get their act together, or they are going to fall victim to da Bulls like it's 1998.
- What's funnier than Charles Barkley's head superimposed on some fat white guy's dancing body and singing "Peanut Butter Jelly Time?" Bwahahaha ...
TV STUFF:
FOX SUNDAY NIGHT QUICK REVIEWS:
KING OF THE HILL: Best Show of the Night. Very funny episode - I love Bobby and Joseph's oblivious conversations about being cool. This show always picks up on obscure but rising trends, and does a great job of satirizing them. This week the target was hippie panhandlers, and it really was a funny look at this weird subculture, which of course goes against everything Hank Hill stands for. "I hate those jeans more than life itself, but since you paid for them I can't say anything." LOL. My grade: A
THE SIMPSONS: Decent idea for an episode, and actually, this was probably the best-plotted ep in a while, though some of the humor did fall flat. Overall, this was a pretty decent ep and it was nice to see the focus on Bart and Lisa and their classmates for a change. Nice Milhouse humor, which is always appreciated. My grade: B
FAMILY GUY: Somewhat of an improvement over the last few weeks of awfulness, but still not that great. Mostly lame, unfunny cutaways this week, and the gay marriage plot was preachy and not very good satire - the whole thing had a played-out feel to it. As per usual, some funny moments, but stil la shadow of the Family Guy of old. My grade: C
OTHER TV STUFF:
- Just want to point out yet again how amazing VERONICA MARS is. Last week's ep was an A+ quality installment, with just so much amazing characterization that it makes me hurt to think about how great it was. Aside from the phenom that is 24, Mars has been head and shoulders the best show on TV this season, and it has only gotten better as it heads into the home stretch. The stuff between Logan and Veronica last week was just so well done, the mystery of the bus crash continues to grow more and more compelling as the layers of the tapestry unfold, and the writing and dialogue continues to be top notch. And seriously, Kristen Bell has really stood out lately as an actress - just showing a ton of range and just kind of reclaiming the show that for a while had come to be domianted by its supporting characters. Check out Veronica, I'm telling you.
- Haven't had a chance yet to watch last week's SMALLVILLE or OC. Stay tuned, as Smallville definitely seemed promising.
- Can't wait to check out a few of the upcoming NBC pilots which I should hopefully get to see in the next few weeks. It should be no surprise that my most anticipated offerings from my network are Heroes and Andy Barker, P.I. Let's hope they are good!
OTHER STUFF:
- Had a fun weekend. Aside from the mind-trip that was United 93, also paid my frist ever visit to the LA Improv, where I saw a bunch of cool comedians, the most prominent of which was Air America host Mark Merron, whose neurotic-Jewish-intellectual brand of humor was pretty hilarious.
- 24! Yes! Tonight, it's: JACK BAUER ON A PLANE! Daaaamn!
- Still plugging away at the job. Not much I will / can report though. Man, with sumemr coming around though I long for the days of summer vacation!
- On that note, it's back to work. Check out my previously posted United 93 review, and also take note of my first-ever use of pictures in the blog! I know, i know, it's a big step. Cya.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
United 93 Review
Well, I thought I'd keep this entry focused on one topic, that being Paul Greengrass' new film, United 93, which I saw this weekend at a screening at Universal. So here are my thoughts - if you too have seen the film, let me know what you think.
UNITED 93 REVIEW:
Up until recently, I was in the camp of people who thought it was way too soon for Hollywood to start cranking out the 9/11 movies. I remember last year, when I attended NBC's upfront presentations as a member of the NBC Page Program. At that time, NBC rolled out a huge preview for 9-11 - the TV miniseries - and the reaction in the room said it all. As the bombastic music played and the list of big-name Hollywood players rolled - Ron Howard was set to exec-produce - the room was filled with groans, head-shakes, and murmurs of "I can't believe they're doing this." Since that time, NBC scrapped the project, and it was probably a wise move. Nobody wanted to see the still-fresh horror of that day made into an over the top, melodramatic TV show. And you know, it's tricky, because in the current political climate people are so skeptical of Hollywood. IT's too liberal, it's too focused on the profits. Nobody looks to Hollywood anymore as a source of real art, of real politics, of real food for thought. And that is pretty sad. Because what we have in United 93 is not like ANYTHING that Hollywood has ever produced. This is WORLD'S APART from the bombastic WWII movies of old, miles away from the head-trip stylings of the Vietnam films like Apocalypse Now. This is a YOU-ARE-THERE movie, totally removed from what one expects from a typical movie or television show. No real politics, no artificial melodrama, no scenery-chewing actors or overly scripted dialouge.
And that's why, as I read more about the movie, I saw that the questionable marketing campaign of United 93 betrayed the true importance of this movie. In general, I agree with many others that it IS too soon to make 9/11 into a typical Hollywood movie. I have little desire to see Nicholas Cage running around playing the hero in wartorn New York City. Cage had better give the absolute performance of his life for that one to be watchable. But United 93 is different. It's a wake up call, almost a reminder of how REAL those events were and how they were NOT merely the biproducts of some screenwriter's imagination. And that, in my opinion, is an important message that is not too soon to put out there - in fact, I'm glad it's been said before it's too late ...
After 9/11, one of the first big media responses actually came from the comic book industry, when Marvel put out a commemorative magazine called HEROES - basically a collection of pinups by top artists and a few short text pieces. There were some amazing pieces of art in that magazine, and seeing some of those works really was an amazing catharsis following the events of 9/11. We were all looking for heroes in the wake of the tragedy, and books like this one and the subsequent volumes produced by DC and other companies transplanted these comic-book derived heroic ideals from the realm of fiction into the real world. In any case, that magazine HEROES had this one amazing piece of art, by a guy named Igor Kordev, that imagined what the passenger-led revolt against the terrorist hijackers might have looked like, and I remember at the time how that picture blew me away.
It was a powerful reminder of the capacity of an ordinary person to be a hero in the face of an extreme situation. And United 93 brought with it a huge jumble of emotions, but aside from everything else, it brought back that same feeling of pride mixed with terror as that picture evoked. Pride that ordinary people could be so brave, and terror that unlike the movies or the comic books, their story did not have a happy ending even if their heroism did help to save the day.
That is the power of the movie - it so perfectly captures the everyday experience of flying on a plane - it puts you right there. The camera captures the little details, it notices the little quirks, that you yourself might notice when at an airport. The guy next to you is dressed well. The girl across from you is really immersed in her music. That elderly couple looks stressed out, that one guy is talking too loudly. By the time flight 93 took off into the air in the movie, I literally felt like I had just taken off with it - I even had the slight queesiness in my stomach from liftoff and eveything. That's how immersive this movie is -- it really is amazing.
A similar feeling of immersion occurs when the film focuses on the crew at the FAA or in the military. Everything feels so real, every detail is so natural, that you begin to imagine yourself at your own workplace, and then you transplant that experience into the movie. You see yourself working at the FAA - how would YOU react to the news that plane was possibly hijacked? How would you react to the news of the World Trade Center collapsing? How DID you react? This movie forces you to transplant your own experiences into the movie due to its naturalism, and that is why it is so effective. The lack of name actors is a huge asset to achieving this immersion, as is the inclusion of actual people playing themselves in key roles rather than using actors. There is chaos, confusion, overlapping dialogue, messiness - the way people look, talk, act - it's all natural seeming, no hint of hair stylists or makeup people or the like. It really is a complete 360 from what you've come to expect from a movie, especially one of this magnitude.
And man, Paul Greengrass is just awesome. I had never seen a Paul Greengrass movie before this one, but I had followed his career a bit due to his involvement in the Watchmen movie that now won't happen with him as the director. After seeing this, I would love to see Greengrass tackle Watchmen, not because he shows anything in particular here that would translate into that movie, except maybe for a keen eye for little details. But from this point on I will have a vested interest in anything this guy does, because his direction here is simply astounding. The tension this movie creates is almost nauseating in its power, if that makes sense. The movie is utterly naturalistic, and yet the way Greengrass shifts from scene to scene, from plot point to plot point, the way he contrasts the ordinary realities of day-in-the-life minutae with the extradordinary, ripped-from-the-movies unreality of 9-11 - well it is almost too much to take at times. This movie will make you want to leave your seat at times - to get up and yell at the FAA officials to get with the program and realize the magnitude of the threat. You'll almostbe hoping against hope that the day will be saved, that the inevitable tragedy will somehow be avoided with a touch of Hollywood magic. You'll wish that Jack Bauer or Superman or your hero of choice would magically insert themselves into the reality of this movie and bend the rules to conform to the typical hero-saves-the-day-at-all-costs expectations we have of a typical Hollywood drama. Watching this movie though, you are forced to ride this ride that has one inevitable ending - it really is like watching a nightmare play out, a nightmare that you know the ending to that you can't change no matter how hard you try.
When the passengers on the plane finally decide to unite to take down the terrorists, everything to that point has been played so realistically that the ensuing chaos is like no other "action" scene you've ever seen. By that point you've been put on the plane - you're one of the passengers, and you're sitting there thinking about how you're going to attack this knife-wielding hijacker without getting stabbed in the gut.
And I think that that is why this movie is not too soon. That may not be true for other 9/11 movies, but United 93 is a poignant, wrenching reminder of the true terror of that day. It's the oppossite of escapism, which really is quite jarring. Even a fact-based movie like Munich had enough cinematic flair to provide a certain wall between the viewer and the action on screen. Paul Greengrass shatters that wall. And it's funny how all of a sudden, a MOVIE of all things becomes a more shocking reality check than what we encounter in actual life. In a culture where we quickly in a mtter of years try to pretend we're NOT living in a world filled with terorrists and murderers and that we're NOt still reeling from the unprecedented attack against our country and ideals on 9/11, this is a necessary reality check. Sure, some people don't need it. Some don't want it. But for me this was a valuable reminder that this isn't the same world as is depicted in the early part of United 93. We pretend to be, but we're not as innocent anymore. Osama is still out there. Iran has nuclear weapons and talks of destroying Israel. Thousands have lost their lives in a bleak war in Iraq. Our patriotism has turned to cynicism, and maybe rightfully so. But here is a movie with no real politics, no real agenda, except to simply remind us of what happened. And I think I and a lot of others needed that, needed to be taken back momentarily to a time when we were shocked into reality by the events around us. Well, prepare to be shocked again.
And one other thing -- I know that we don't know exactly what happened on that plane. The 9-11 Commision report is sketchy, and yes, there is the contingent who believes that the plane was actually shot down by our government rather than grounded by the heroics of the passengers onboard. Well, all that is debatable, and I don't give much credence to most 9-11 conspiracies, as most of what happened on that day is fairly well-documented. But I think that it's not really important in the context of this movie - it's not a documentary, it has the right to take some artistic license when necessary. And while i don't know exactly how each passenger on the flight 93 actually reacted during the flight, I want to believe that the narrative of this movie is close to the truth. Because there's a huge power in that. That these were ordinary people, forced to go into fight or flight mode, forced to kick into survival mode. And Greengrass puts us there, so that one passengers' squint of the eyes, one guy's look of determination, one man's decision to play the odds and make a go for it, the sheer desire to fight in the face of death itself -- wow, that's powerful stuff there. I think in those passengers' determination is the embodiment of what everyone felt on 9-11 - we can't just sit around anymore, we have to DO something.
So I know that there are those too cynical and fed up with Hollwood's tendency for sensationalism to give this movie a chance. And more importantly I know there are some who will not want to subject themselves to the sheer brutality and realism and immersiveness of it all. But if you can stomach it, I really do recommend United 93. It's an amazing movie. It latches on to your subconciousness and says there. It is life-changing, mind-altering cinema. If it hadn't been this good, it would have been a creative failure, and yes, it likely would have been too soon - but it is really that good and that powerful and that well done that the movie is an unquestionable artistic milestone, and I have to commend those involved for doing right by this difficult subject matter.
My grade: A
UNITED 93 REVIEW:
Up until recently, I was in the camp of people who thought it was way too soon for Hollywood to start cranking out the 9/11 movies. I remember last year, when I attended NBC's upfront presentations as a member of the NBC Page Program. At that time, NBC rolled out a huge preview for 9-11 - the TV miniseries - and the reaction in the room said it all. As the bombastic music played and the list of big-name Hollywood players rolled - Ron Howard was set to exec-produce - the room was filled with groans, head-shakes, and murmurs of "I can't believe they're doing this." Since that time, NBC scrapped the project, and it was probably a wise move. Nobody wanted to see the still-fresh horror of that day made into an over the top, melodramatic TV show. And you know, it's tricky, because in the current political climate people are so skeptical of Hollywood. IT's too liberal, it's too focused on the profits. Nobody looks to Hollywood anymore as a source of real art, of real politics, of real food for thought. And that is pretty sad. Because what we have in United 93 is not like ANYTHING that Hollywood has ever produced. This is WORLD'S APART from the bombastic WWII movies of old, miles away from the head-trip stylings of the Vietnam films like Apocalypse Now. This is a YOU-ARE-THERE movie, totally removed from what one expects from a typical movie or television show. No real politics, no artificial melodrama, no scenery-chewing actors or overly scripted dialouge.
And that's why, as I read more about the movie, I saw that the questionable marketing campaign of United 93 betrayed the true importance of this movie. In general, I agree with many others that it IS too soon to make 9/11 into a typical Hollywood movie. I have little desire to see Nicholas Cage running around playing the hero in wartorn New York City. Cage had better give the absolute performance of his life for that one to be watchable. But United 93 is different. It's a wake up call, almost a reminder of how REAL those events were and how they were NOT merely the biproducts of some screenwriter's imagination. And that, in my opinion, is an important message that is not too soon to put out there - in fact, I'm glad it's been said before it's too late ...
After 9/11, one of the first big media responses actually came from the comic book industry, when Marvel put out a commemorative magazine called HEROES - basically a collection of pinups by top artists and a few short text pieces. There were some amazing pieces of art in that magazine, and seeing some of those works really was an amazing catharsis following the events of 9/11. We were all looking for heroes in the wake of the tragedy, and books like this one and the subsequent volumes produced by DC and other companies transplanted these comic-book derived heroic ideals from the realm of fiction into the real world. In any case, that magazine HEROES had this one amazing piece of art, by a guy named Igor Kordev, that imagined what the passenger-led revolt against the terrorist hijackers might have looked like, and I remember at the time how that picture blew me away.
It was a powerful reminder of the capacity of an ordinary person to be a hero in the face of an extreme situation. And United 93 brought with it a huge jumble of emotions, but aside from everything else, it brought back that same feeling of pride mixed with terror as that picture evoked. Pride that ordinary people could be so brave, and terror that unlike the movies or the comic books, their story did not have a happy ending even if their heroism did help to save the day.
That is the power of the movie - it so perfectly captures the everyday experience of flying on a plane - it puts you right there. The camera captures the little details, it notices the little quirks, that you yourself might notice when at an airport. The guy next to you is dressed well. The girl across from you is really immersed in her music. That elderly couple looks stressed out, that one guy is talking too loudly. By the time flight 93 took off into the air in the movie, I literally felt like I had just taken off with it - I even had the slight queesiness in my stomach from liftoff and eveything. That's how immersive this movie is -- it really is amazing.
A similar feeling of immersion occurs when the film focuses on the crew at the FAA or in the military. Everything feels so real, every detail is so natural, that you begin to imagine yourself at your own workplace, and then you transplant that experience into the movie. You see yourself working at the FAA - how would YOU react to the news that plane was possibly hijacked? How would you react to the news of the World Trade Center collapsing? How DID you react? This movie forces you to transplant your own experiences into the movie due to its naturalism, and that is why it is so effective. The lack of name actors is a huge asset to achieving this immersion, as is the inclusion of actual people playing themselves in key roles rather than using actors. There is chaos, confusion, overlapping dialogue, messiness - the way people look, talk, act - it's all natural seeming, no hint of hair stylists or makeup people or the like. It really is a complete 360 from what you've come to expect from a movie, especially one of this magnitude.
And man, Paul Greengrass is just awesome. I had never seen a Paul Greengrass movie before this one, but I had followed his career a bit due to his involvement in the Watchmen movie that now won't happen with him as the director. After seeing this, I would love to see Greengrass tackle Watchmen, not because he shows anything in particular here that would translate into that movie, except maybe for a keen eye for little details. But from this point on I will have a vested interest in anything this guy does, because his direction here is simply astounding. The tension this movie creates is almost nauseating in its power, if that makes sense. The movie is utterly naturalistic, and yet the way Greengrass shifts from scene to scene, from plot point to plot point, the way he contrasts the ordinary realities of day-in-the-life minutae with the extradordinary, ripped-from-the-movies unreality of 9-11 - well it is almost too much to take at times. This movie will make you want to leave your seat at times - to get up and yell at the FAA officials to get with the program and realize the magnitude of the threat. You'll almostbe hoping against hope that the day will be saved, that the inevitable tragedy will somehow be avoided with a touch of Hollywood magic. You'll wish that Jack Bauer or Superman or your hero of choice would magically insert themselves into the reality of this movie and bend the rules to conform to the typical hero-saves-the-day-at-all-costs expectations we have of a typical Hollywood drama. Watching this movie though, you are forced to ride this ride that has one inevitable ending - it really is like watching a nightmare play out, a nightmare that you know the ending to that you can't change no matter how hard you try.
When the passengers on the plane finally decide to unite to take down the terrorists, everything to that point has been played so realistically that the ensuing chaos is like no other "action" scene you've ever seen. By that point you've been put on the plane - you're one of the passengers, and you're sitting there thinking about how you're going to attack this knife-wielding hijacker without getting stabbed in the gut.
And I think that that is why this movie is not too soon. That may not be true for other 9/11 movies, but United 93 is a poignant, wrenching reminder of the true terror of that day. It's the oppossite of escapism, which really is quite jarring. Even a fact-based movie like Munich had enough cinematic flair to provide a certain wall between the viewer and the action on screen. Paul Greengrass shatters that wall. And it's funny how all of a sudden, a MOVIE of all things becomes a more shocking reality check than what we encounter in actual life. In a culture where we quickly in a mtter of years try to pretend we're NOT living in a world filled with terorrists and murderers and that we're NOt still reeling from the unprecedented attack against our country and ideals on 9/11, this is a necessary reality check. Sure, some people don't need it. Some don't want it. But for me this was a valuable reminder that this isn't the same world as is depicted in the early part of United 93. We pretend to be, but we're not as innocent anymore. Osama is still out there. Iran has nuclear weapons and talks of destroying Israel. Thousands have lost their lives in a bleak war in Iraq. Our patriotism has turned to cynicism, and maybe rightfully so. But here is a movie with no real politics, no real agenda, except to simply remind us of what happened. And I think I and a lot of others needed that, needed to be taken back momentarily to a time when we were shocked into reality by the events around us. Well, prepare to be shocked again.
And one other thing -- I know that we don't know exactly what happened on that plane. The 9-11 Commision report is sketchy, and yes, there is the contingent who believes that the plane was actually shot down by our government rather than grounded by the heroics of the passengers onboard. Well, all that is debatable, and I don't give much credence to most 9-11 conspiracies, as most of what happened on that day is fairly well-documented. But I think that it's not really important in the context of this movie - it's not a documentary, it has the right to take some artistic license when necessary. And while i don't know exactly how each passenger on the flight 93 actually reacted during the flight, I want to believe that the narrative of this movie is close to the truth. Because there's a huge power in that. That these were ordinary people, forced to go into fight or flight mode, forced to kick into survival mode. And Greengrass puts us there, so that one passengers' squint of the eyes, one guy's look of determination, one man's decision to play the odds and make a go for it, the sheer desire to fight in the face of death itself -- wow, that's powerful stuff there. I think in those passengers' determination is the embodiment of what everyone felt on 9-11 - we can't just sit around anymore, we have to DO something.
So I know that there are those too cynical and fed up with Hollwood's tendency for sensationalism to give this movie a chance. And more importantly I know there are some who will not want to subject themselves to the sheer brutality and realism and immersiveness of it all. But if you can stomach it, I really do recommend United 93. It's an amazing movie. It latches on to your subconciousness and says there. It is life-changing, mind-altering cinema. If it hadn't been this good, it would have been a creative failure, and yes, it likely would have been too soon - but it is really that good and that powerful and that well done that the movie is an unquestionable artistic milestone, and I have to commend those involved for doing right by this difficult subject matter.
My grade: A
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
METAL GEAR: BAUER -- 24, Prisonbreak, More!
Well, it looks like the producers of both Prisonbreak and 24 have been playing the Metal Gear Solid lately. How else to explain how in the same week, both FOX shows unveil sinister cabals of "patriots" who are secretly manipulating a vast web of world affairs, including our own American government? Pretty interesting, but hey, I am pretty much a sucker for any and all "secret conspiracy of men controls the world" storylines, so you won't hear me complain. I mean, who needs Solid Snake when you've got Jack Bauer -- hey he's even got his own Revolver Ocelot in arch-rival Henderson and his own Otacon in the form of steadfast tech-geek Chloe O'Brien. All we need is for Jack to seemingly perish after being spotted by enemy thugs and hear Chloe yell into her headset: "Jack? JACK! JAAAAAAAAACK!"
24:
Like I said, even if we've seen it before I am pretty much a total sucker for all storylines about secret syndicates controlling governments. So even if they are kinda ripped from Metal Gear, among other things, and even if the exact same reveal occurs on both 24 and Prisonbreak in the same night (!), I still marked for it, I admit. And the plot thickens ...
But anyways .... DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN~!
This ep of 24 FRIGGIN' ROCKED!
Possibly my favorite overall episode of the year after the pilot, this one had it all. Jack mano y mano with Henderson. Henderson being utterly Robo-like in his cold-hearted ruthlessness, with one last desperate attempt to pull at the strings of Audrey. Jack vs. Robocop has just been an awesome cat and mouse game throughout this season, and it finally came to a head right here, with Jack being forced to simply break down after Heller's death and scream to Henderson and to the 24 gods above: "WHY?!?!"
And what about "SECRETARY OF GRAVITAS" HELLER? Holy crap - best death scene ever! We know from last season that the man is not afreaid to take one for his country, and this time he did, pretty much exonerating himself from his betrayal last week (ps - how kickass was Jack saying to Heller "With all due respect Sir, you betrayed me!"). Heller went all Thelma and Louise on us in the name of true patriotism, and though we never saw a body we must assume that everyone's favorite crusty old ass-kicker is no longer among the living. RIP Mr. Heller - you went down fighting.
And howsabout Mrs. Logan's INTENSE scenes with her increasingly insane husband? Pure greatness, and we can only wonder where SUPER-AGENT PIERCE is and if he can return soon to kick ass Secret Service style. Hmm .. could he be aboard the plane ...?
The plane! The plane! Jack is about to freaking hijack a plane! No snakes on this MF'n plane, just Jack by-God Bauer! Jack Bauer doesn't give two craps about political correctness when he's trying to save our country!
Speaking of snakes, sweet John Carpenter-style music to open the episode. "Call me ... Jack." Dammit all, get Kurt Russell to guest star, with eyepatch please.
And speaking of eyepatches, who else wants Henderson to get transported back to CTU only to be met by a eye-patch sporting, near-zombified TONY ALMEDA ready to exact some sweet soulpatch vengeance?!?! Make it happen!
And speaking of prisoners at CTU, WTF ever happened to Bierko?
Oh yeah, great RETURN by one bad motha CURTIS as he saved Audrey and saved the day from Henderson's robo-squad.
Hmmm ... who was the incriminating tape of Logan handed off to ... coudl it be ... CHASE?!?! Nah, wouldn't happen. Or would it ...?
Bill Buchanan may not have a decent computer setup in his Hall of Justice, but he takes orders from Chloe like a champ!
Is there anything Jack's P.D.A. of D.O.O.M. can't do?!?!?!
Jack flips on his HOOD while boarding the plane and apparently it's a HOOD OF INVISIBILITY! Sweet!
Aww .. a tender moment between Jack and Audrey. Hmm .. he had a bad feeling about leaving her ALONE WITH HENDERSON ...? Duh!
Man, I think Novick may be a goner next week. But dammit all, let him at least land a punch on Logan before he bites it. With one last "This is for David Palmer, bitch!" for good measure.
BTW, what happened to Wayne Palmer?
- Overall, 24 was simply awesome this week. The story built to a magnificent crescendo, business has long since picked up, and all the players are in place for an amazing last few episodes. This is dramatic TV at its best.
My grade: A
PRISONBREAK:
Very nice episode this week, and again, although it's pretty out of left field, I am intrigued by the new developments regarding Lincoln's father and his involvement in some crazy conspiracy that controls the government (obviously the creators of the show have been drinking the same Kool Aid as those behind 24 ...).
Oh man, how crazy was it when the rat guy tries to make a deal with his man-loving cell-mate, only for Big Bubba Love to close the curtain and say something like "Sorry son, but I ain't got but one use for you." Geez ...
Awesome confrontation between T-Bag and the returning Abruzzi - intense!
Pretty good stuff with Michael and his rock n' roll nurse ... hmmm I wonder what he did to make sure he can enter the infirmery even though they changed the locks ...?
Nice standoff with Lincoln and the prison guards / the VP's right hand man.
Overall this ep not only set up the imminent prison-break, but also seemingly planted some seeds for a possible second or third season by introducing the whole government conspiracy angle. Very good stuff, can't wait for the next few episodes. My grade: A -
OTHER STUFF:
NBA -- See, I told you that the Bulls might put up a good fight, but would still mostly be dominated by the Heat. MAYBE they will get one game, but even that is looking doubtful at this point. Wow though, the Clippers looked awesome last night - could they make it to the Western conference finals? A few more dominating games like that one and I may be a believer.
- You know, you'd think that being on the Universal lot here there'd be some excitement going on around me, but not really. It's pretty dead here, and all the exciting stuff is going on inside giant enclosed wherehouses that serve as movie and TV studios.
- Veronica Mars tonight @ 9 pm -- catch it!
- That's it for now -- check back soon for more.
- Final thought: I want to see a modern day League of Extraordinary Gentleman with like Jack Bauer, Michael Scofield, Snake Plissken, Quinn Mallory, Fox Mulder, Frank Black, La Femme Nikita, and Robocop. That would rule.
24:
Like I said, even if we've seen it before I am pretty much a total sucker for all storylines about secret syndicates controlling governments. So even if they are kinda ripped from Metal Gear, among other things, and even if the exact same reveal occurs on both 24 and Prisonbreak in the same night (!), I still marked for it, I admit. And the plot thickens ...
But anyways .... DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN~!
This ep of 24 FRIGGIN' ROCKED!
Possibly my favorite overall episode of the year after the pilot, this one had it all. Jack mano y mano with Henderson. Henderson being utterly Robo-like in his cold-hearted ruthlessness, with one last desperate attempt to pull at the strings of Audrey. Jack vs. Robocop has just been an awesome cat and mouse game throughout this season, and it finally came to a head right here, with Jack being forced to simply break down after Heller's death and scream to Henderson and to the 24 gods above: "WHY?!?!"
And what about "SECRETARY OF GRAVITAS" HELLER? Holy crap - best death scene ever! We know from last season that the man is not afreaid to take one for his country, and this time he did, pretty much exonerating himself from his betrayal last week (ps - how kickass was Jack saying to Heller "With all due respect Sir, you betrayed me!"). Heller went all Thelma and Louise on us in the name of true patriotism, and though we never saw a body we must assume that everyone's favorite crusty old ass-kicker is no longer among the living. RIP Mr. Heller - you went down fighting.
And howsabout Mrs. Logan's INTENSE scenes with her increasingly insane husband? Pure greatness, and we can only wonder where SUPER-AGENT PIERCE is and if he can return soon to kick ass Secret Service style. Hmm .. could he be aboard the plane ...?
The plane! The plane! Jack is about to freaking hijack a plane! No snakes on this MF'n plane, just Jack by-God Bauer! Jack Bauer doesn't give two craps about political correctness when he's trying to save our country!
Speaking of snakes, sweet John Carpenter-style music to open the episode. "Call me ... Jack." Dammit all, get Kurt Russell to guest star, with eyepatch please.
And speaking of eyepatches, who else wants Henderson to get transported back to CTU only to be met by a eye-patch sporting, near-zombified TONY ALMEDA ready to exact some sweet soulpatch vengeance?!?! Make it happen!
And speaking of prisoners at CTU, WTF ever happened to Bierko?
Oh yeah, great RETURN by one bad motha CURTIS as he saved Audrey and saved the day from Henderson's robo-squad.
Hmmm ... who was the incriminating tape of Logan handed off to ... coudl it be ... CHASE?!?! Nah, wouldn't happen. Or would it ...?
Bill Buchanan may not have a decent computer setup in his Hall of Justice, but he takes orders from Chloe like a champ!
Is there anything Jack's P.D.A. of D.O.O.M. can't do?!?!?!
Jack flips on his HOOD while boarding the plane and apparently it's a HOOD OF INVISIBILITY! Sweet!
Aww .. a tender moment between Jack and Audrey. Hmm .. he had a bad feeling about leaving her ALONE WITH HENDERSON ...? Duh!
Man, I think Novick may be a goner next week. But dammit all, let him at least land a punch on Logan before he bites it. With one last "This is for David Palmer, bitch!" for good measure.
BTW, what happened to Wayne Palmer?
- Overall, 24 was simply awesome this week. The story built to a magnificent crescendo, business has long since picked up, and all the players are in place for an amazing last few episodes. This is dramatic TV at its best.
My grade: A
PRISONBREAK:
Very nice episode this week, and again, although it's pretty out of left field, I am intrigued by the new developments regarding Lincoln's father and his involvement in some crazy conspiracy that controls the government (obviously the creators of the show have been drinking the same Kool Aid as those behind 24 ...).
Oh man, how crazy was it when the rat guy tries to make a deal with his man-loving cell-mate, only for Big Bubba Love to close the curtain and say something like "Sorry son, but I ain't got but one use for you." Geez ...
Awesome confrontation between T-Bag and the returning Abruzzi - intense!
Pretty good stuff with Michael and his rock n' roll nurse ... hmmm I wonder what he did to make sure he can enter the infirmery even though they changed the locks ...?
Nice standoff with Lincoln and the prison guards / the VP's right hand man.
Overall this ep not only set up the imminent prison-break, but also seemingly planted some seeds for a possible second or third season by introducing the whole government conspiracy angle. Very good stuff, can't wait for the next few episodes. My grade: A -
OTHER STUFF:
NBA -- See, I told you that the Bulls might put up a good fight, but would still mostly be dominated by the Heat. MAYBE they will get one game, but even that is looking doubtful at this point. Wow though, the Clippers looked awesome last night - could they make it to the Western conference finals? A few more dominating games like that one and I may be a believer.
- You know, you'd think that being on the Universal lot here there'd be some excitement going on around me, but not really. It's pretty dead here, and all the exciting stuff is going on inside giant enclosed wherehouses that serve as movie and TV studios.
- Veronica Mars tonight @ 9 pm -- catch it!
- That's it for now -- check back soon for more.
- Final thought: I want to see a modern day League of Extraordinary Gentleman with like Jack Bauer, Michael Scofield, Snake Plissken, Quinn Mallory, Fox Mulder, Frank Black, La Femme Nikita, and Robocop. That would rule.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
