The following list of my favorite things from 2008 is for your eyes only. Also, people who are not you can read it as well. You may feel free to read it to others nearby, or over the phone if you feel so inclined.
Big laughs: Step Brothers is the funniest movie I have seen in ages, and Big Bang Theory makes me chuckle every week and Hamlet 2 is the new Napoleon Dynamite. SNL had a few great moments (most courtesy of Anne Hathaway) and Jizz in my Pants will be around for a while. Eddie Izzard is incredible live, and I am lucky to still be breathing after his performance. I am also hilarious. You are welcome world.
Braid: Play Braid. Complete Braid. Send your gratitude.
Dr Horrible: I met Neil Patrick Harris. I actually met Dr Horrible. The DVD arrived this week, and "Commentary! The Musical!" is fantastic. More music was written for the all signing commentary track than for the actual movie, features most of the cast, and contains a rock ballad about an online flash game, a song about a guy with a lisp, and a tune on how there are no Asian actors/actresses in movies and TV. Also, I want to have Felicia Day groomed by Tycho...
Rock Band: I have spent more time with Rock Band (and now Rock Band 2) than I have with any game since Tetris. I have played with different people ranging from 5 year old children, to classy "I don't play video games" girls, to senior citizens, and everyone found immense pleasure from the experience. I currently own 203 songs, and with more coming every week, including the just released No Doubt pack (sadly lacking "New"(but containing "Running!? WHY?!)) and March's release of Pearl Jam's "Ten". Harmonix has an amazing IP on their hands. Now if only they can get the whole Beatles thing right...
New music: 2007 was an amazing year for music, and while 2008 wasn't as great, there was a lot to love. Kings of Leon now have some fame, and Sex on Fire was a great way to introduce them to the world. Viva La Vida is a great album, with the title track being one of the best songs of the year. Death Cab for Cutie's Narrow Stairs struck a unique chord with its finely tuned mixes and wonderful I Will Possess Your Heart. My favorite lyric of the year is courtesy of Katy Perry with "the taste of her cherry Chapstick" even if she hasn't struck a permanent chord with with me quite yet. With solid releases from Weezer and The Killers and Vampire Weekend, not a lot to complain about.
Prince of Persia: Stop your whining you whiners! Who cares if the game is very simple, easy to pick up and play, simple to master, and if it steals/borrows the main conventions of superior titles like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. IF IT IS FUN, THEN SHUT UP AND ENJOY YOURSELF. While I am not as enamored as certain people like IGN's Hilary, I had a lot of fun with the Prince. Simple yet great flowing gameplay, wonderful story with a solid ending, and the best visuals and artistic style since Okami. I am looking forward to a sequel.
Comic book movies: Between Iron Man, Dark Knight, Hellboy 2 and now The Spirit, this has been a great year for the comic book movies. Even the previews, like Watchmen and Wolverine, have made the year better. While I might only read the occasional comic nowadays (Buffy) they were a large part of my youth and I keep up with the big news. I still don't care for anything Hulk related, though.
Me: Yes, I am one of my favorite things this year. I have found an incredible group of friends, made dramatic self improvement by losing another 30lbs on top of building up my muscles, and I love my job. I also have a nicer TV than you... unless yours is nicer... in which case, gimme.
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Only the Good Get Cancelled Young- Part 2...
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace: Darkplace is a show within a show, and sadly, only lasted 6 episodes back in 2004. Here is the premise; Garth Merenghi (played by Matthew Holness) is a horror writer with a giant British ego (the rest of him is British too) who describes himself as a "dream weaver" and "shaman" among other things. Garth decided to adapt his books into a TV series based in a hospital, where strange and horrific incidents happen. It is a cheesy, cheaply produced, poorly written (by Marenghi himself) 80s drama. Sadly, the show Garth Marenghi created never made it to air. What we as viewers watch is Garth Marenghi (Holness) airing his lost 80s TV drama, which stars himself as the lead doctor Dr Rick Dagless (Holness plays Marenghi who plays Dagless), producer/costar Dean Leaner (actor is Richard Ayoade) who plays hospital admin Thornton Reed, costar Todd Rivers who plays Dr Lucien Sanchez (also played by Holness...) and Madeline Wool playing Dr Liz Asher (Alice Lowe in real life). We not only watch these characters play these characters, but they also do commentary of the original show, with exception of Lowe/Wool/Asher, who mysteriously disappeared after Darkplace was produced. Go ahead and re-read those last 2 sentences again, I understand.
The show is a spoof of itself, and makes no apologies. Imagine if Mystery Science Theater 3000 had the cast acting as other characters... that is the best way to describe Darkplace. It takes place in modern times, with Marenghi showing his failed 80s TV series, and complimenting himself and his "art" all along the way. Marenghi's ego is what really makes the show work, with his name appearing in nearly every credit, including the music "based on melodies originally whistled by Garth Marenghi." You can find the majority of the show on YouTube (HERE YA GO). This is one of those rare shows that may BENEFIT from a short lifespan, but I would love to see a few more hours of what Dr Rick Dagless, aka Garth Marenghi, aka Matthew Holness had in him.
Dead Like Me: Any TV show that has it's title based on a classic novel written by John Howard Griffin must be a winner, and Dead Like Me is no exception. This Showtime program aired in June 2003 through October 2004, for 2 seasons. We follow 18 year old Georgia Lass. George, as she prefers to be called, is a slacker who cares about nothing, lives with her parents and sister, and is being forced to get a job by her mother now that she is no longer taking classes. While on lunch at her first day of work at the Happy Time Temp agency, a toilet seat falls from the sky from Mir space station, incinerating young George where she stands. Instead of dying, George finds herself wandering around, and learns she must become a grim reaper. Her task is to take the souls of those who are about to die in painful and gory situations, and escort them to the other side. She must also lead a "normal" human life, however she cannot be harmed or killed again.
Georgia works with several other reapers. The incomparable Mandy Patinkin plays Rube, the eldest and leader of the reapers. She is also joined by Mason, a British stoner, Roxy, a hard skinned traffic enforcer, Betty, an upbeat woman who quickly befriends George, and later Daisy, a starlet from the 30s. George returns to her Happy Time job as her new persona Millie, and finds herself living life for the first time despite now being dead. She works with the wonderful Delores Herbig played by the hilarious Christine Willes. The show lost a lot of the zest that made it unique in the first season, especially after creator Bryan Fuller left due to arguements with MGM. While some reports say that the ratings were over three times higher than the average show on Showtime, the full numbers, and reason for cancellation, have never been released. A direct to DVD movie has been commisioned, but is now 18 months behind schedule. Dead Like Me remains one of the most petitioned shows online and continues to have a very strong fan base.
PART 3 COMING SOON....
The show is a spoof of itself, and makes no apologies. Imagine if Mystery Science Theater 3000 had the cast acting as other characters... that is the best way to describe Darkplace. It takes place in modern times, with Marenghi showing his failed 80s TV series, and complimenting himself and his "art" all along the way. Marenghi's ego is what really makes the show work, with his name appearing in nearly every credit, including the music "based on melodies originally whistled by Garth Marenghi." You can find the majority of the show on YouTube (HERE YA GO). This is one of those rare shows that may BENEFIT from a short lifespan, but I would love to see a few more hours of what Dr Rick Dagless, aka Garth Marenghi, aka Matthew Holness had in him.
Dead Like Me: Any TV show that has it's title based on a classic novel written by John Howard Griffin must be a winner, and Dead Like Me is no exception. This Showtime program aired in June 2003 through October 2004, for 2 seasons. We follow 18 year old Georgia Lass. George, as she prefers to be called, is a slacker who cares about nothing, lives with her parents and sister, and is being forced to get a job by her mother now that she is no longer taking classes. While on lunch at her first day of work at the Happy Time Temp agency, a toilet seat falls from the sky from Mir space station, incinerating young George where she stands. Instead of dying, George finds herself wandering around, and learns she must become a grim reaper. Her task is to take the souls of those who are about to die in painful and gory situations, and escort them to the other side. She must also lead a "normal" human life, however she cannot be harmed or killed again.
Georgia works with several other reapers. The incomparable Mandy Patinkin plays Rube, the eldest and leader of the reapers. She is also joined by Mason, a British stoner, Roxy, a hard skinned traffic enforcer, Betty, an upbeat woman who quickly befriends George, and later Daisy, a starlet from the 30s. George returns to her Happy Time job as her new persona Millie, and finds herself living life for the first time despite now being dead. She works with the wonderful Delores Herbig played by the hilarious Christine Willes. The show lost a lot of the zest that made it unique in the first season, especially after creator Bryan Fuller left due to arguements with MGM. While some reports say that the ratings were over three times higher than the average show on Showtime, the full numbers, and reason for cancellation, have never been released. A direct to DVD movie has been commisioned, but is now 18 months behind schedule. Dead Like Me remains one of the most petitioned shows online and continues to have a very strong fan base.
PART 3 COMING SOON....
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Only the Good Get Cancelled Young- Part 1...
For those of you who don’t remember (AND HOW DARE YOU!) I purchase a nice new big screen back in May. Don’t believe me? HERE YA GO. Since then, I have had a lot of fun. I have played some great Xbox 360 games, watched some Blu-Rays on a borrowed PS3 (Speed Racer is the movie equivalent to dropping acid) and watched lots of TV in HD. Sadly, most of the TV I have watched has sucked.
For some reason, this year’s crop of new TV shows has been below my normal TV viewing standards. The only shows I look forward to watching are House, Big Bang Theory, Fringe and The Office. Chuck is fun on occasion, but Heroes and other former favorites (and anything new) have been big let downs. What have I done instead of watching new TV programming? I have dug back into the TV archives with some great DVD collections. So which shows do I think were cut loose before their prime? 6 great series come to mind right off the bat.
Firefly: I will say very little about Firefly, because so much has been said, and so much has been done in regards to this instant Joss Whedon classic. Fox hopefully learned its lesson for the most part after manhandling this show, giving Whedon another chance with this fall’s Dollhouse. Firefly is clever, wonderfully written, atmospheric and deep. Thankfully we got a taste of what was to come with the movie Serenity, but Firefly will long remain the number one “cancelled before its time” show for many of us.
Carnivale: Carnivale premiered on HBO in September 2003 with a critically acclaimed first season, but after a slow start to the second season, the show was cancelled before the 3rd season went into production. Set in the 1930s dustbowl, Carnivale follows the story of Ben Hawkins as he loses his mother and joins a travelling carnival of freaks and weirdoes. Ben has the power to heal people, but does not understand how his power works, or the consequences it brings. He slowly learns about his past, and how he is connected to those are the carnival, and why he has this power. We also follow the story of Methodist preacher Brother Justin Crowe and his sister Iris in
The show focuses on magic and mystery, the stories of the fellow carnies, and the ultimate battle that is to come. The story is told in flashbacks that the main characters suddenly have, as if their destiny is magically written for them. Sadly, due to a very slow 2nd season start, the show was cancelled just as things became truly interesting. Ben has found his boon and inherited new powers, we learn how sick and twisted Justin truly is, and even the secondary and tertiary characters shine bright. I would love to follow the story in any medium, either film or television or book or comics or anything. They planned a total of 6 seasons, and many small clues that appeared since the first episode will continue to remain mysteries now and forever.
PART 2 COMING SOON!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Satellite, In My Eyes...
I tend to be pretty brand loyal. I drink Coke products 99% of the time, Burger King over McDonalds, Microsoft over Apple, Trojan over Durex, soap and water over rolling around in a small bowl of dust, you get the point. One product, or type of product, I have been behind for a long time is cable TV over satellite service. While satellite has a superior base technology (it uses friggin satellites!) I have been a proponent for cable service over the dish. I have even worked for the cable industry, quite proudly I might add. Heh, look at that, I added it. With my recent move, however, satellite has found it's way into my life. Seems like a great time to compare services!I have had every type of cable service imaginable. When you work for the cable company, they treat you good, or treat you well, if you follow those 3rd grade English lessons. In order to best know the product, and properly trouble shoot it, the cable company will give you every channel and as many boxes as you need for free, or deep deep discounts. While I cannot say it is true for the entire industry, it certainly is for the company I worked for, for when I worked there. I have had an HD-DVR, non Tivo variety, since 2004. I have had 4 different types of cable HD-DVRs, different cities and generations and now I have an HD-DVR from DIRECTV.
In terms of picture quality, there seems to be absolutely no difference that I can see between the service offered by cable and DIRECTV for 99% of programming, but there are some minor differences. Cable has a slighty more blocky "digital" look to their standard def broadcasts on many stations, while DIRECTVhas a softer "broadcast" look to the picture. On the HD side of things, the only difference I have seen is that the DIRECTV does a better job at preventing noise in night shots. Normally, in a night setting, the darkness will look staticy and noisy, and this is improved in the DIRECTV broadcasts. Switching from SD to HD signals on cable was seamless, but the DIRECTV box takes an extra 2 seconds to go from one to another. Audio seems a little off on DIRECTV as well, much louder and bassier, with a low treble. This could have something to do with the much larger and more open room I am in, but I have a feeling it's the service. The only other difference I have seen so far is the lack of "digital tearing" you see when the signal drops for a split second. This is those blocks that will appear and the sound goes away for a split second. So far, none of that with DIRECTV. DIRECTV has a slight edge here
The biggest difference so far is the options offered by the digital converters and DVR services. Both let me record 2 shows at once, and have interactive digital guides. All cable DVRs I use have had a superior and much quicker guide, while the DIRECTV guide is slower to respond and takes a few extra clicks to get to some menus. Cable also offers different guide styles, while DIRECTV has only given me a single guide with no variation. The big positive here is that I can create a custom favorites list with DIRECTV, so when I click on Guide, only the channels I select will appear. No more scanning through 800 channels in the guide, I can look at just the 25 channels I watch the most. Overall, the cable DVRs are superior in my opinion, mainly because of the speed, customization and ease of use, but I love having the ability with DIRECTV to load only the channels I want.
I still believe that cable is a better product overall. It is easier to repair, less prone to being damaged or broken, and because so much of it is based locally where you live, can offer a more refined product experience. DIRECTV definitely uses superior technology, and seems much more "high-tech" overall. It is also more costly (gotta buy the equipment, yuck) and generally tougher to repair, but it does offer more channels. At the end of the day, I still prefer cable, but I think I will enjoy my satellite service once I get used to it.
EDIT: Day 3, realize during the Eagles game that there is no picture in picture. Big negative for DIRECTV....
Monday, August 25, 2008
I Was Getting Listless...
Things have been slow here at the Vegasadelphia camp, but that should change soon. Another move (the other side of town), lots of games and new TV shows should keep me occupied. Let us discuss it in list format!
Favorite summer movies:
1) The Dark Knight
2) Iron Man
3) Hellboy 2
4) Step Brothers
5) Kung-Fu Panda
Summer movies I still need to see:
1) Wall-E
2) Wanted
3) Hancock
4) Speed Racer
5) The Dark Knight again...
Most anticipated upcoming games in 2008:
1) Tales of Vesperia (picking it up tomorrow)
2) Prince of Persia
3) Tomb Raider Underworld
4) Guitar Hero World Tour
5) Rock Band 2
6) Mirrors Edge
7) Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
8) Fallout 3
9) Star Wars: Force Unleashed
10) Infinite Undiscovery
Most anticipated returning TV shows:
1) House
2) Heroes (keepin' my fingers crossed...)
3) Big Bang Theory
4) The Office
5) Chuck
6) Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles (best season finale of last season besides House)
Most anticipated NEW TV shows:
1) Dollhouse (yeah yeah, not til 2009...)
2) Fringe
3) Damn... pathetic list...
Favorite summer movies:
1) The Dark Knight
2) Iron Man
3) Hellboy 2
4) Step Brothers
5) Kung-Fu Panda
Summer movies I still need to see:
1) Wall-E
2) Wanted
3) Hancock
4) Speed Racer
5) The Dark Knight again...
Most anticipated upcoming games in 2008:
1) Tales of Vesperia (picking it up tomorrow)
2) Prince of Persia
3) Tomb Raider Underworld
4) Guitar Hero World Tour
5) Rock Band 2
6) Mirrors Edge
7) Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
8) Fallout 3
9) Star Wars: Force Unleashed
10) Infinite Undiscovery
Most anticipated returning TV shows:
1) House
2) Heroes (keepin' my fingers crossed...)
3) Big Bang Theory
4) The Office
5) Chuck
6) Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles (best season finale of last season besides House)
Most anticipated NEW TV shows:
1) Dollhouse (yeah yeah, not til 2009...)
2) Fringe
3) Damn... pathetic list...
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Special Deliveries...
This weekend has blessed me with two beautiful bundles of joy. Two gifts that are as special and wonderful as any gift imaginable. One came out of a large cardboard box, and the other from my sister's stomach. I will let you figure out which is which.
Click to embiggen
First is my new HDTV. It is a Samsung LN-T4069F, 1080P 120hz 40" LCD. Yeah, a 40" at 1080p, I know, not usually necessary on a TV this size, but there is a noticeable difference on this set compared to others of its ilk. Also, 120hz, so yay! I got an incredible deal, 42% total off at Best Buy during their Memorial Day sales. A buddy let me borrow his 360 HD-DVD drive (I would buy one if I could find one cheap) and the picture quality is amazing. I will be getting a PS3 soon so I can take advantage of this baby and the Blu-Ray drive soon, but want to find a nice deal first. So far my only complaint is that standard def programming is quite blockier than my old HD set, and some small writing is very hard to see in 480i/p.
Click to embiggen
The other big happening was my sister had her first baby, my first nephew. His name is Adam, he is 5lb 13oz, very small even at full term, and was born Friday, May 30th at 7pm. There are plenty of more pictures up on my MySpace, and I will keep adding, so check them out there.
Click to embiggenFirst is my new HDTV. It is a Samsung LN-T4069F, 1080P 120hz 40" LCD. Yeah, a 40" at 1080p, I know, not usually necessary on a TV this size, but there is a noticeable difference on this set compared to others of its ilk. Also, 120hz, so yay! I got an incredible deal, 42% total off at Best Buy during their Memorial Day sales. A buddy let me borrow his 360 HD-DVD drive (I would buy one if I could find one cheap) and the picture quality is amazing. I will be getting a PS3 soon so I can take advantage of this baby and the Blu-Ray drive soon, but want to find a nice deal first. So far my only complaint is that standard def programming is quite blockier than my old HD set, and some small writing is very hard to see in 480i/p.
Click to embiggenThe other big happening was my sister had her first baby, my first nephew. His name is Adam, he is 5lb 13oz, very small even at full term, and was born Friday, May 30th at 7pm. There are plenty of more pictures up on my MySpace, and I will keep adding, so check them out there.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Spring 08 recap....
SPOILER ALERT! THAR BE SPOILERS HERE!!!
So what have I been up to lately? I have been keeping quite busy as a matter of fact. Here are some highlights and opinions on what I have been up to:
Iron Man: What a way to start the summer movie season! Iron Man is up there with Batman Begins and Spider-Man and X-Men for the best movie adaptation from a comic book. Top 3 over X-Men actually. RBJr did an amazing job of being himself, which brought, albeit a different take, on the Tony Stark character to life. No alcoholism, and now everyone knows (or thinks) he is Iron Man, so there are some differences.
The fan service stuff was fantastic too! Rhodey commenting "next time" on the silver/grey armor, the Ten Rings terrorist syndicate, the whole SHIELD thing (which I figured out literally as the dude was about to say it) and of course, the after credits "Avenger Initiative" scene was just pure unadulterated fan service.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall: Another good movie from some of the Apatow crew. Jason Segel did an excellent job for his first script, and finding out how it so closely reflected many of his real life failures and experiences made it better. It takes real balls to put yourself out there like that, but anyone who has seen the movie could tell you that Segel has no trouble there. My favorite line? The "and now I have the freshest cereal" line still has me giggling, mainly for it's delivery. Also, Maria Thayer in a major motion picture, you go girl! I would actually go so the Dracula puppet musical by the way.
Walk Hard- The Dewey Cox Story: This movie should have been called LAUGH HARD! HA! Seriously, go watch this movie. When it came out in theaters (pronounced thee-ay-tears) it got passed over quickly, and no one wanted to see it with me. Finally on DVD, I got to see it. I love movies that don't even try to take themselves seriously and consistently break the fourth wall. Most parody movies as of late (meaning anything since Scary Movie) have been utter crap, but this one aced it. Oh, and without a doubt, Jenna Fischer is one of the most funny and beautiful women ever. Go rent it already, it costs a freakin dollar at Red Box!
House: Can House do any wrong? No, I think not! Am I biased? Well, yeah, duh. The final two episodes of the season, especially the first of the two, House's Head, were excellent as usual. House's Head really broke free from the mold, and created a very trippy and fun ride, and the finale was genuinely moving and well played. It was nice to let the show be about the characters more than the medicine, just like in the first 2 seasons. Wilson has been House's single support system since their college days, and having that not only taken away, but having House be the reason, is very interesting storytelling. And props to the writers for the fan service "you can't always get what you want" line. It brought a big smile to my face.
GTA4: What can I say that hasn't already been said? Grand Theft Auto 4 is a lot of fun, and has an amazingly detailed and living world. Am I having fun though? Well, yes and no. I am at the age now where I do not always have 3+ hours to sit and play a game, and GTA4 requires quite a bit of dedication. I am about 8 hours in, and am finally at the point where I can start doing single missions without having to worry that my phone will be ringing every 2 seconds with another mission that I am practically forced to take, or penalized for ignoring.
Oh, and for those of you who don't know, you can turn off the phone and the story mode! There is an option in the phone that lets you turn off messages and calls so you can freely roam around and have wacky car jacky fun. The manual and even in game tutorials (which I am still going through... there is a LOT to learn) never mention this feature, making it extremely difficult to pop in for a quick 30 minute session. Now that I have Little Jacob as a friend, have email access and can take cab fares, I can play for 45 minutes before going to bed instead of worrying about getting stuck in the game an hour passed the time I want to get into bed.
Are there issues other than that? Sure. Like the cops will stop chasing you when a mission ends, taking away from the realism and suspense. Trees are made of solid steel, which lamp posts and poles are made of ply wood. And I suck at free aiming when using weapons, the characters are usually too small on screen to make this useful.
But again, am I having fun? For the most part, definitely. I love that I now know the city and its streets well enough that I actually know where I am (at least on the main island) and the story is really done quite well. I still have a very long way to go, but so far, now that I have learned how the game works, I am looking forward to getting to the end of this one.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Greatest Gift of all...
This past week was that one week each year that my birthday happens to occur during. Also, screwy sentence structure reared its ugly head. I know, wacky. So what did I get? Other than a kick ass party with a large number of beautiful women (some dudes were there too....) and the prerequisite mommy made bday cake, a few good things happened on or around my big day.
Smash Bros: My Wii has been rather lonely lately. Mario Galaxy has long laid dormant... ok, lie, it has been borrowed by 2 people so far. No Virtual Console titles have merited my hard heard Nintendo points. Super Smash Bros Brawl's arrival, despite delayed, is perfectly timed. I have put in at least 20 hours so far, both solo and in hilarious multiplayer matches. No other game in memory other than Rock Band can bring out such utter joy and glee. The controls are fully customizable, and everything runs much closer to the N64 original over the GameCube speed fest (which I popped back in this afternoon for comparison). I absolutely hate playing as some characters (Donkey Kong, Ganondorf, and yes, Mario) but have found perfect balance with Link, Pit and Meta Knight (fallen out of love with Samus for the moment). Only negative? A week in and I still cannot play online against strangers. Quick message to Nintendo: stop being so freaking stupid about online. Oh, and Mario Kart Wii comes out in like a month.... yay? Yeah, didn't think so.
Paramore: Hey, so, good news and bad news! Paramore has added one of their songs to Rock Band for the bargain price of 80 points ($1 to us normal folk). Bad news? It wasn't Misery Business. Crushcrushcrush would be the song. While still a great song, when I read Paramore as one of the bands for the week, my heart skipped a beat thinking the next words would be Misery Business. Clearly, not the case. Misery Business would be one of the greatest songs to have in Rock Band. Everyone cross their fingers, mkay?
Lewis Black: My favorite comedian's new TV show premiered this week, and it isn't half bad! Root of all Evil pits 2 pop-culture items against each other, with 2 comics arguing for why their topic is the true root of all evil, with Lewis Black being the final judge. Only complaint? Not enough Black! He opens and closes the show, and quips here and there, but this is a show WRITTEN and CREATED by Black, not starring him. While his writing is one of the things that makes him so great, I want to see more of the man doing his thing, and less of the actor.
Serenity: Wuzzat? The Angel: After the Fall and Buffy: Season 8 comics are doing so well that Joss is going back to do more Firefly/Serenity comics too? Ya heard that right. And the first issue came out on Wednesday. And is it as good as the aforementioned amazing comic comebacks? No, actually. A tad disappointing.... not bad by any standards, but the show/movie has lost something in the translation to the comic world, something both Buffy and Angel have done quite well. I will wait until all 3 issues are released before making any final judgments, but so far, a comic about 9 characters (10, including Serenity herself) needs more time to marinate. The previously released Those Left Behind was a great example of how to do it, so let us hope the next 2 issues are worthy of the Whedonverse.
Top Chef: Hey, do you like reality shows? Me neither! But I love Top Chef. And what's that, Top Chef, season 4 is back only 4 months after the last seasons finale? Isn't that great? Well? Isn't it? Yeah, not TOO psyched either. Need some breathing room sometimes between shows... but, proved me wrong season 4 has! A good number of interesting characters are already showing their true colors, and I will make my calls now that Richard, Stephanie, Andrew, Dale, and Mark will be top contenders. Sorry other ladies, none of you have stood out quite yet like the last 3 years. Early call overall, Richard for the win. And no, having 2 of the women being in a relationship is not an advantage, it will be harder for them both, having to decide whether or not to help each other or look out for #1. So far so good, despite my early attitude about the show coming back on WAY too soon again.
Smash Bros: My Wii has been rather lonely lately. Mario Galaxy has long laid dormant... ok, lie, it has been borrowed by 2 people so far. No Virtual Console titles have merited my hard heard Nintendo points. Super Smash Bros Brawl's arrival, despite delayed, is perfectly timed. I have put in at least 20 hours so far, both solo and in hilarious multiplayer matches. No other game in memory other than Rock Band can bring out such utter joy and glee. The controls are fully customizable, and everything runs much closer to the N64 original over the GameCube speed fest (which I popped back in this afternoon for comparison). I absolutely hate playing as some characters (Donkey Kong, Ganondorf, and yes, Mario) but have found perfect balance with Link, Pit and Meta Knight (fallen out of love with Samus for the moment). Only negative? A week in and I still cannot play online against strangers. Quick message to Nintendo: stop being so freaking stupid about online. Oh, and Mario Kart Wii comes out in like a month.... yay? Yeah, didn't think so.
Paramore: Hey, so, good news and bad news! Paramore has added one of their songs to Rock Band for the bargain price of 80 points ($1 to us normal folk). Bad news? It wasn't Misery Business. Crushcrushcrush would be the song. While still a great song, when I read Paramore as one of the bands for the week, my heart skipped a beat thinking the next words would be Misery Business. Clearly, not the case. Misery Business would be one of the greatest songs to have in Rock Band. Everyone cross their fingers, mkay?
Lewis Black: My favorite comedian's new TV show premiered this week, and it isn't half bad! Root of all Evil pits 2 pop-culture items against each other, with 2 comics arguing for why their topic is the true root of all evil, with Lewis Black being the final judge. Only complaint? Not enough Black! He opens and closes the show, and quips here and there, but this is a show WRITTEN and CREATED by Black, not starring him. While his writing is one of the things that makes him so great, I want to see more of the man doing his thing, and less of the actor.
Serenity: Wuzzat? The Angel: After the Fall and Buffy: Season 8 comics are doing so well that Joss is going back to do more Firefly/Serenity comics too? Ya heard that right. And the first issue came out on Wednesday. And is it as good as the aforementioned amazing comic comebacks? No, actually. A tad disappointing.... not bad by any standards, but the show/movie has lost something in the translation to the comic world, something both Buffy and Angel have done quite well. I will wait until all 3 issues are released before making any final judgments, but so far, a comic about 9 characters (10, including Serenity herself) needs more time to marinate. The previously released Those Left Behind was a great example of how to do it, so let us hope the next 2 issues are worthy of the Whedonverse.
Top Chef: Hey, do you like reality shows? Me neither! But I love Top Chef. And what's that, Top Chef, season 4 is back only 4 months after the last seasons finale? Isn't that great? Well? Isn't it? Yeah, not TOO psyched either. Need some breathing room sometimes between shows... but, proved me wrong season 4 has! A good number of interesting characters are already showing their true colors, and I will make my calls now that Richard, Stephanie, Andrew, Dale, and Mark will be top contenders. Sorry other ladies, none of you have stood out quite yet like the last 3 years. Early call overall, Richard for the win. And no, having 2 of the women being in a relationship is not an advantage, it will be harder for them both, having to decide whether or not to help each other or look out for #1. So far so good, despite my early attitude about the show coming back on WAY too soon again.
Monday, January 7, 2008
It's Been One Week....
One week into the new year, and honestly, not that much has happened at all that is good and happy. However, I felt like updating, so I figured I would just start typing and seeing where it led me. So what have I been up to this year? In alphabetical order:
Bleach: Bleach is coming back in March! This Saturday, Adult Swim started airing the reruns from about 8 episodes back from where they last aired new episodes. Doing the math, I figured out that new episodes would start airing on March 1st. I then looked at Adult Swim's schedule and confirmed it. I am often curious why certain shows only get dubbed to a certain point in the series, for example, directly in the middle of a huge plot segment, but such is the anime industry I guess.
Brownies: Long story short, my family was given several slabs of professionally made brownies. Now, I thought it impossible to tire of brownies, but I have been proven wrong. Please, keep your brownies away from me... ya know, for a week or two at least.
Death Note: I apologize, Death Note. When first I watched you about 5 months ago, I hated you. Thought you were too weird and cheesy/dramatic to be any good. Out of pure habit, I accidentally watched your 3rd episode because Bleach used to be on in your time slot. I liked it. I like it a lot. I am now humbled before your tension filled convoluted plot. Please don't disappoint me!
Rock Band: My office is obsessed with Rock Band. It doesn't hurt that we have a big media room with an HD Sony projector and 120" screen. Even the young women of high class, who would rarely dabble in the video game world, are addicted. On a personal note, I am about half way through the solo drum tour on Hard (because it is really hard) and about 75% of the way through guitar on Hard. Yes, I play guitar on Hard now, and I don't do too bad to be honest :) Pretty soon I hope to play Hard exclusively, but we will see how I fare in a group atmosphere compared to the solo aspect, because I have found myself the appointed "leader" and must watch other players play to help out a bit, namely sing along with the songs and let people know when to use Overdrive. I see it as a compliment, but I would like to take a backseat and just play sometimes.
Sweeney Todd: Finally got a chance to see Sweeney Todd, and I was both pleased and disappointed. Pleased in how well the movie worked and how well it was done. Depp did a great job with the character, and I often forgot it was him playing Todd, quite a feat for such a famous face. Disappointment showed up from the lack of music. While there was plenty of music and singing in the movie, some of my favorite songs, especially The Ballad of Sweeney Todd, were not included in the film. Yes, I am slightly biased in that Tony Head and Christopher Lee were to play the singing ghosts, but I would have still loved to see the songs and heard them performed by these extremely talented men. Overall, a good movie and very very well done.
Witchblade: I finally found the time to get back into the Witchblade anime. The 2nd volume has been sitting on my shelf since November. It still is nothing special, a lot (and I mean A LOT) of gratuitous butt and boob shots and silly dialogue, but it is fun, and is weaving a good tale. I am very curious to find out about Masane's past, if Rihoko is really her child, if she picks Tozawa or Takayama romantically, etc. I am picking up the 3rd volume tonight, and will probably watch it this week.
Bleach: Bleach is coming back in March! This Saturday, Adult Swim started airing the reruns from about 8 episodes back from where they last aired new episodes. Doing the math, I figured out that new episodes would start airing on March 1st. I then looked at Adult Swim's schedule and confirmed it. I am often curious why certain shows only get dubbed to a certain point in the series, for example, directly in the middle of a huge plot segment, but such is the anime industry I guess.
Brownies: Long story short, my family was given several slabs of professionally made brownies. Now, I thought it impossible to tire of brownies, but I have been proven wrong. Please, keep your brownies away from me... ya know, for a week or two at least.
Death Note: I apologize, Death Note. When first I watched you about 5 months ago, I hated you. Thought you were too weird and cheesy/dramatic to be any good. Out of pure habit, I accidentally watched your 3rd episode because Bleach used to be on in your time slot. I liked it. I like it a lot. I am now humbled before your tension filled convoluted plot. Please don't disappoint me!
Rock Band: My office is obsessed with Rock Band. It doesn't hurt that we have a big media room with an HD Sony projector and 120" screen. Even the young women of high class, who would rarely dabble in the video game world, are addicted. On a personal note, I am about half way through the solo drum tour on Hard (because it is really hard) and about 75% of the way through guitar on Hard. Yes, I play guitar on Hard now, and I don't do too bad to be honest :) Pretty soon I hope to play Hard exclusively, but we will see how I fare in a group atmosphere compared to the solo aspect, because I have found myself the appointed "leader" and must watch other players play to help out a bit, namely sing along with the songs and let people know when to use Overdrive. I see it as a compliment, but I would like to take a backseat and just play sometimes.
Sweeney Todd: Finally got a chance to see Sweeney Todd, and I was both pleased and disappointed. Pleased in how well the movie worked and how well it was done. Depp did a great job with the character, and I often forgot it was him playing Todd, quite a feat for such a famous face. Disappointment showed up from the lack of music. While there was plenty of music and singing in the movie, some of my favorite songs, especially The Ballad of Sweeney Todd, were not included in the film. Yes, I am slightly biased in that Tony Head and Christopher Lee were to play the singing ghosts, but I would have still loved to see the songs and heard them performed by these extremely talented men. Overall, a good movie and very very well done.
Witchblade: I finally found the time to get back into the Witchblade anime. The 2nd volume has been sitting on my shelf since November. It still is nothing special, a lot (and I mean A LOT) of gratuitous butt and boob shots and silly dialogue, but it is fun, and is weaving a good tale. I am very curious to find out about Masane's past, if Rihoko is really her child, if she picks Tozawa or Takayama romantically, etc. I am picking up the 3rd volume tonight, and will probably watch it this week.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
Mid-season Report Card...
Alright children, before you run off and enjoy the Chrismahanakwanzakah break, it is time to hand out report cards. Some of you did very very well this semester, and some of you are Heroes. A lot of you are not that unique, but do what you do so well that you stand out. Some of you have finally hit your stride and couldn't be doing better. So many of you are doing such a great, wonderful and incredible job. And again... some of you are Heroes. So let me hand out your report cards and see who is doing well, and who is sucking big time *cough* Heroes *cough*.
Subject: Sundays
Overall Grade: C
Mediocrity, thy name is Fox
Family Guy, Simpsons and American Dad (Fox) C- Yes, I lumped these 3 together, because they are all performing the same. A good episode peppered with 3 or 4 turds in between. American Dad is the most consistent of the bunch, but unlike Family Guy and Simpsons doesn't have any big standout episodes. Nothing to write home about, but nothing terrible either. Each gets a C.
Subject: Mondays
Overall Grade: B
Two surprises and one huge disappointment start my weeks off with confusion.
The Big Bang Theory (CBS) A- Holy crap, where did this one come from? TBBT is the Super Mario Galaxy of TV: nothing that new, nothing that unique, and nothing that original, but done so spectacularly well, it shines through the muck that surrounds it. For those out of the know, take 1 big hearted physics nerd, add 1 Aspergers roommate, a spoonful of Gynephobic Indian, a dash of smarmy Jewish gamer, and finish it off with a sweet, naive young blonde, and you get the best written dialogue this side of a Joss Whedon WGA speech. No question, an A.
Chuck (NBC) B- Chuck has surprised me. While nothing amazing yet, it has managed to capture my attention. The acting is what makes this so good, especially Zachary Levi, Joshua Gomez and, of course, the incomparable Adam Baldwin. A good action/comedy movie in TV format, and just a fun ride.
Heroes (NBC) D- What the f*&k happened here? To agree completely with another friend and fan of the show, Peter is a moron. Peter is like my pug Inky. He follows those around him blindly if treated nice, and doesn't realize his potential or what he is capable of, and will sooner piss on the floor than take the time to think about his actions. Hiro's storyline sucked just as badly. While the last 3 episodes before the finale were pretty decent and well done, it doesn't make up for the other 8 or 9. I enjoyed the ultimate Adam/Kensei storyline ending that came around, but there were just too many other issues with this season to make it salvageable. Tim Kring has promised a completely revamped 3rd chapter, as was clear by the rushed finale. Let us hope he can bring back the magic. Oh, and I could care less if Nikki is dead or not.
Subject: Tuesdays
Overall Grade: A
Tuesday nights are, as they have been since Full House aired in 1987, my favorite night of TV each week.
Reaper (CW) B- Reaper has been a mixed bag full of one trick ponies. I want to love this show more... Almost every episode follows the same formula, something that is usually reserved to children's shows. Each episode, although very similar to the last, has enough in it that is unique and special to make me look forward to this every week, but the writers better start showing something more if I am to keep watching.
House (Fox) A+ - House is currently the best program on television. 'Nuff said... but when have I been known to keep quiet? The competition that House put the applicants through was a great idea, and a lot of fun. And, not to brag, but 2 of the 3 people I said he would pick, he picked. Sometimes change is good, and House has gone through some great changes this year.
Subject: Wednesdays
Overall Grade: B-
Further proof that NBC really knows what it is doing this year.
Bionic Woman (NBC) B- -Bionic Woman is another Chuck. Nothing overly great, but just a lot of fun and a good time. It also doesn't hurt that Michelle Ryan is not only absolutely gorgeous, but a genuinely good actress. And to confirm my suspicions, she is British, and doing a nearly flawless American accent. I would like to see more of the secondary characters get fleshed out more, and completely rid of the horrible acting of Katee Sackhoff/Sarah Corvus (sorry Battlestar fans!).
Subject: Thursdays
Overall Grade: B
Swan songs and dead ducks.
CSI (CBS) D- To quote myself, from September, "Why do I still watch this show?" I wish I was kidding when I say that EVERY episode has AT LEAST one "big boobs" joke... I love boobs as much as the next guy (maybe more) but grow up and be a drama with good writing, not childish jokes.
30 Rock (NBC) B- This show has yet to disappoint. A Scrubs meets the Office style show, I am sad to say I missed the first half of the first season. Tina Fey is the best, Alec Baldwin is still legitimately funny, not forced, and no character is useless or not funny. Good job 30 Rock!
The Office (NBC) A- Consistently the best written show on television, despite my early whining. A true character based sitcom that is as close to perfection as you can get. I am disappointed to say that Pam's character has plateaued and is no longer a lot of fun to watch, even though she is now always forced into tight sweaters. Now that she is with Jim, she has blossomed, but has become dull. That is, however, my ONLY complaint.
Scrubs (NBC) B- Thank goodness the writers came to their senses here. Scrubs doesn't have to be one crazy and goofy joke after another. They have yet to find that magical 2nd/3rd season magic they once had, but this is a large improvement over last year's super goofy attitude. The characters are adults this year, and are realizing that themselves. It's nice to see Scrubs mellow out and go back to what made it fun in the first place.
On a serious, closing note, I just wanted to add that, despite that so many shows will not be returning to TV as soon as I would like, I completely agree with the current writers guild strike. These extremely talented men and women should be paid for everything they create, regardless of whether it airs on national TV, a website, additional DVD content, and should be paid proper royalties without question. How Hollywood has not signed a deal yet is beyond me, but I will enjoy these shows much more knowing that the amazing talent behind my favorite shows are being compensated for their amazing body of work.
Subject: Sundays
Overall Grade: C
Mediocrity, thy name is Fox
Family Guy, Simpsons and American Dad (Fox) C- Yes, I lumped these 3 together, because they are all performing the same. A good episode peppered with 3 or 4 turds in between. American Dad is the most consistent of the bunch, but unlike Family Guy and Simpsons doesn't have any big standout episodes. Nothing to write home about, but nothing terrible either. Each gets a C.
Subject: Mondays
Overall Grade: B
Two surprises and one huge disappointment start my weeks off with confusion.
The Big Bang Theory (CBS) A- Holy crap, where did this one come from? TBBT is the Super Mario Galaxy of TV: nothing that new, nothing that unique, and nothing that original, but done so spectacularly well, it shines through the muck that surrounds it. For those out of the know, take 1 big hearted physics nerd, add 1 Aspergers roommate, a spoonful of Gynephobic Indian, a dash of smarmy Jewish gamer, and finish it off with a sweet, naive young blonde, and you get the best written dialogue this side of a Joss Whedon WGA speech. No question, an A.
Chuck (NBC) B- Chuck has surprised me. While nothing amazing yet, it has managed to capture my attention. The acting is what makes this so good, especially Zachary Levi, Joshua Gomez and, of course, the incomparable Adam Baldwin. A good action/comedy movie in TV format, and just a fun ride.
Heroes (NBC) D- What the f*&k happened here? To agree completely with another friend and fan of the show, Peter is a moron. Peter is like my pug Inky. He follows those around him blindly if treated nice, and doesn't realize his potential or what he is capable of, and will sooner piss on the floor than take the time to think about his actions. Hiro's storyline sucked just as badly. While the last 3 episodes before the finale were pretty decent and well done, it doesn't make up for the other 8 or 9. I enjoyed the ultimate Adam/Kensei storyline ending that came around, but there were just too many other issues with this season to make it salvageable. Tim Kring has promised a completely revamped 3rd chapter, as was clear by the rushed finale. Let us hope he can bring back the magic. Oh, and I could care less if Nikki is dead or not.
Subject: Tuesdays
Overall Grade: A
Tuesday nights are, as they have been since Full House aired in 1987, my favorite night of TV each week.
Reaper (CW) B- Reaper has been a mixed bag full of one trick ponies. I want to love this show more... Almost every episode follows the same formula, something that is usually reserved to children's shows. Each episode, although very similar to the last, has enough in it that is unique and special to make me look forward to this every week, but the writers better start showing something more if I am to keep watching.
House (Fox) A+ - House is currently the best program on television. 'Nuff said... but when have I been known to keep quiet? The competition that House put the applicants through was a great idea, and a lot of fun. And, not to brag, but 2 of the 3 people I said he would pick, he picked. Sometimes change is good, and House has gone through some great changes this year.
Subject: Wednesdays
Overall Grade: B-
Further proof that NBC really knows what it is doing this year.
Bionic Woman (NBC) B- -Bionic Woman is another Chuck. Nothing overly great, but just a lot of fun and a good time. It also doesn't hurt that Michelle Ryan is not only absolutely gorgeous, but a genuinely good actress. And to confirm my suspicions, she is British, and doing a nearly flawless American accent. I would like to see more of the secondary characters get fleshed out more, and completely rid of the horrible acting of Katee Sackhoff/Sarah Corvus (sorry Battlestar fans!).
Subject: Thursdays
Overall Grade: B
Swan songs and dead ducks.
CSI (CBS) D- To quote myself, from September, "Why do I still watch this show?" I wish I was kidding when I say that EVERY episode has AT LEAST one "big boobs" joke... I love boobs as much as the next guy (maybe more) but grow up and be a drama with good writing, not childish jokes.
30 Rock (NBC) B- This show has yet to disappoint. A Scrubs meets the Office style show, I am sad to say I missed the first half of the first season. Tina Fey is the best, Alec Baldwin is still legitimately funny, not forced, and no character is useless or not funny. Good job 30 Rock!
The Office (NBC) A- Consistently the best written show on television, despite my early whining. A true character based sitcom that is as close to perfection as you can get. I am disappointed to say that Pam's character has plateaued and is no longer a lot of fun to watch, even though she is now always forced into tight sweaters. Now that she is with Jim, she has blossomed, but has become dull. That is, however, my ONLY complaint.
Scrubs (NBC) B- Thank goodness the writers came to their senses here. Scrubs doesn't have to be one crazy and goofy joke after another. They have yet to find that magical 2nd/3rd season magic they once had, but this is a large improvement over last year's super goofy attitude. The characters are adults this year, and are realizing that themselves. It's nice to see Scrubs mellow out and go back to what made it fun in the first place.
On a serious, closing note, I just wanted to add that, despite that so many shows will not be returning to TV as soon as I would like, I completely agree with the current writers guild strike. These extremely talented men and women should be paid for everything they create, regardless of whether it airs on national TV, a website, additional DVD content, and should be paid proper royalties without question. How Hollywood has not signed a deal yet is beyond me, but I will enjoy these shows much more knowing that the amazing talent behind my favorite shows are being compensated for their amazing body of work.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Once More, Once Again
Certain events stand out in people's lives. Weddings. Funerals. Births. We look back on these moments and remember, the details permanently etched into our minds. Graduation. First date. First kiss. Sometimes, these events are so powerful, they effect the way you live your life. The moon landing. Tearing down the Berlin wall. The original airing of the Buffy episode Once More With Feeling.
Ok, so some events are bigger than others. But when it comes to the greatest piece of entertainment ever created, be it theater, TV, movie or music, you will always remember the first time you experienced it. Once More With Feeling was that experience for me.
Once More With Feeling was the seventh episode of the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It aired on November 6th, 2001, on UPN. It ran for an amazing 50 minutes, 8 minutes longer than the average 1 hour TV series is allowed for air time. If there was ever any doubt that UPN wanted to give Joss Whedon anything he wanted, those extra 8 minutes are proof. Compare that to what Fox did.
There is so much good in OMWF, I can't even get into it. From the flawless music and lyrics, to the deep and meaningful metaphor, everything is as close to perfection as I could ever expect to find. Some of the most powerful imagery, from the opening Going Through the Motions scene (perfect ironic lyrics mixed with dusted vamps and demons) to Walk Through The Fire (the firetruck passing by is the best moment in TV history (and I felt an immense fan-boy moment when Joss himself admitted it was his favorite moment from the series) makes this the best 3000 seconds ever produced. Go and watch it already!
Ok, so some events are bigger than others. But when it comes to the greatest piece of entertainment ever created, be it theater, TV, movie or music, you will always remember the first time you experienced it. Once More With Feeling was that experience for me.
Once More With Feeling was the seventh episode of the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It aired on November 6th, 2001, on UPN. It ran for an amazing 50 minutes, 8 minutes longer than the average 1 hour TV series is allowed for air time. If there was ever any doubt that UPN wanted to give Joss Whedon anything he wanted, those extra 8 minutes are proof. Compare that to what Fox did.
There is so much good in OMWF, I can't even get into it. From the flawless music and lyrics, to the deep and meaningful metaphor, everything is as close to perfection as I could ever expect to find. Some of the most powerful imagery, from the opening Going Through the Motions scene (perfect ironic lyrics mixed with dusted vamps and demons) to Walk Through The Fire (the firetruck passing by is the best moment in TV history (and I felt an immense fan-boy moment when Joss himself admitted it was his favorite moment from the series) makes this the best 3000 seconds ever produced. Go and watch it already!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
The best thing to happen on Halloween, EVHAR!
I will use as few words as possible here in order to convey my excitement, because there are too many words swirling through my head to put down on paper... or on a digital form through a keyboard... whatever. Here is the news folks: Joss Whedeon will be returning to TV, and he is bringing actress/producer Eliza Dushku and writer/producer Tim Minear along with him!
The show will be on Fox (the bad news in this story) and will be called Dollhouse. The long and short of Dollhouse is that Echo (Eliza) is one of many individuals kept in a secure laboratory. She and the others have no memories. When important or rich people need someone to fulfill a fantasy or goal, Echo and cohorts and injected with talents and memories, and thrown into the field, but remember nothing about the adventures. Echo starts remembering though, and wants to find out more.
Looks like the writers strike will make this one not come out until next fall, unless it's a short strike (extremely doubtful) and it will show up as a mid-season replacement.
E! has the full story (looks like an exclusive so far) and you can check it out by CLICKING HERE!
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go run through the streets screaming elated overtures, and join Numfar in the dance of joy.
The show will be on Fox (the bad news in this story) and will be called Dollhouse. The long and short of Dollhouse is that Echo (Eliza) is one of many individuals kept in a secure laboratory. She and the others have no memories. When important or rich people need someone to fulfill a fantasy or goal, Echo and cohorts and injected with talents and memories, and thrown into the field, but remember nothing about the adventures. Echo starts remembering though, and wants to find out more.
Looks like the writers strike will make this one not come out until next fall, unless it's a short strike (extremely doubtful) and it will show up as a mid-season replacement.
E! has the full story (looks like an exclusive so far) and you can check it out by CLICKING HERE!
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go run through the streets screaming elated overtures, and join Numfar in the dance of joy.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Seasons change, seasons begin
Do you know the best part about moving? Yeah? Me neither. But that is what I have been up to for all of September, and it is finally over. The moving is, but the unpacking is far from finished. The networks have also unpacked their new fall shows and season premiers. I am going to keep my opinions brief considering how much information there was. So here we are, my week in review for the season premiers!
Sunday, 09/23:
Family Guy (Fox)- Star Wars parody episode. Very very very well done. A few jokes made absolutely no sense, or fell flat, and normally I love the irreverent dance routines, but the one at the end here was stale. Overall, the best Family Guy episode since 2005.
Monday, 09/24:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)- Cute new sitcom about a bunch of high IQ geeks meeting the hot new neighbor. It is not laugh out loud funny, and may only appeal to people like me who act like this and are friends with people like this, but the show is clever and doesn't shove it's characters in your face like other shows. A good start, and I hope to see this one do well.
Chuck (NBC)- Hard to gauge Chuck. Between TV commercial previews, online ads and previews, and before the movies previews, I have basically seen the entire first episode already without actually having to watch it. But when put together in a cohesive package, Chuck was fun, clever, funny, and a nice surprise. This show could get old fast, but I will reserve my full judgment for the new episodes.
Heroes (NBC)- Oh Tim Kring, what is your evil plan? I love Heroes, easily my favorite show last year. But when it comes to the big episodes (premiers, finales, etc) you fail to impress. Heroes was best after the first few episodes last year, and failed at the finale. The premier was just as dull as last seasons finale, with the only cool points being that Kensei being British (I think the true Kensei will end up being Hiro, which the videos on http://yamagatofellowship.org have made me believe more than anything, or, the British dude has powers) and the end with Peter having no memory and the Haitian's necklace on. Heroes is best when you are wondering what is going to happen next, what the mystery is, and admittedly, the premier is not the place to confuse new viewers. I hope and pray that Heroes can deliver a 2nd season as good, or better, than the last.
Tuesday, 09/25:
Reaper (CW)- This is my favorite new show for the season, beating out Bionic Woman. Reaper is about 21 year old Sam Oliver. He works with his best friend at a Home Depot style store, and has a huge crush on his female coworker, Andi, played by the wonderful Missy Peregrym from Heroes. Sam's parents sold his soul before he was born, and it is now Sam's task to collect souls that escaped from Hell. Reaper is a blend of Buffy and Dead Like Me especially with DLM's Delores Herbig, Christine Willes, as someone who looks to be a minor ongoing character. With Kevin Smith and Mark Gordon behind this, expect good things. Catch this show.
House (Fox)- Has House really been on for 4 seasons now? Doesn't feel that long. Ok, enough random thoughts for now. As a whole, the premier wasn't that fantastic, but had some wonderful pieces found in it. Wilson's role in this episode was wonderful, and the fact that House relied on a janitor was great. The rest of the episode felt a little flat, like I was waiting for something good to happen. Something good DID happen when House realized he was treating the wrong patient. I rarely get surprised by the final diagnosis, but this one had me stunned. And in the end, isn't House about the mystery of the patient? In this way, this was a great episode. However, just as Cuddy and Wilson are trying to tell House, the show seems like a lot less without Foreman, Cameron and Chase. Yes, I know they will be back, they are still in the credits, but between now and when they return, the writers better have something better than a crazy cops to work with.
Wednesday, 09/26
Bionic Woman (NBC)-I wasn't disappointed with Bionic Woman, but I think this should have been a 2 part premier, or at least 90 minutes. The beginning was good, the ending was good, but they didn't flesh out Jamie's character while at the facility. The other characters said out loud what she was feeling, instead of seeing Jamie go through the emotions and thought processes herself. I think Michelle Ryan is not only absolutely gorgeous (very much my type) but seems very capable of making more out of a character a lot of us think we already know. This show has the most potential of the other shows premiering this year, but I want to see a little more character development, and less reliance on 2nd tier characters telling us what the main characters are doing or feel and less reliance on special effects. And yes, I could compare this one to Buffy, but other than the "strong woman" aspect, I have yet to see much else to make them comparable to each other.
Thursday, 09/27
CSI (CBS)- Hey, remember when CSI was about the crime committed and the technology used to solve it? Yeah, me too. I knew this episode would be a thriller, and I honestly believed Sarah would die considering her trimmed down role last year, but this episode left me bored. I was reading while it was on. Why do I still watch this show?
The Office (NBC)- Next to Heroes, I was most disappointed with the Office premier, but that is probably because I had such high hopes after the fantastic season finale, and watching the season 1-2 DVDs this summer. The episode wasn't bad, just not great. The Dwight/Angela storyline felt forced and poorly acted, but the Pam/Jim storyline was dealt with very well. I think this would have been better as a 30 minute show instead of a whole hour. It is VERY rare to hear me say "I wish the show was shorter" but a sitcom should be short and concise, not filled with lots of fluff. I still love The Office, but NBC needs to rethink the shows format.
I have yet to watch Moonlight from Friday night, which is CBS's version of Angel. It is literally about a vampire running a detective agency. This week we will see 30 Rock premier, and I am looking forward to that as well. Overall, the fall premiers and season premiers were above average, better than most years, but with some low points in there. Here is hoping a great year of TV is waiting ahead.
Oh, yeah, also, I finally bought a 360 yesterday. Go me.
Sunday, 09/23:
Family Guy (Fox)- Star Wars parody episode. Very very very well done. A few jokes made absolutely no sense, or fell flat, and normally I love the irreverent dance routines, but the one at the end here was stale. Overall, the best Family Guy episode since 2005.
Monday, 09/24:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)- Cute new sitcom about a bunch of high IQ geeks meeting the hot new neighbor. It is not laugh out loud funny, and may only appeal to people like me who act like this and are friends with people like this, but the show is clever and doesn't shove it's characters in your face like other shows. A good start, and I hope to see this one do well.
Chuck (NBC)- Hard to gauge Chuck. Between TV commercial previews, online ads and previews, and before the movies previews, I have basically seen the entire first episode already without actually having to watch it. But when put together in a cohesive package, Chuck was fun, clever, funny, and a nice surprise. This show could get old fast, but I will reserve my full judgment for the new episodes.
Heroes (NBC)- Oh Tim Kring, what is your evil plan? I love Heroes, easily my favorite show last year. But when it comes to the big episodes (premiers, finales, etc) you fail to impress. Heroes was best after the first few episodes last year, and failed at the finale. The premier was just as dull as last seasons finale, with the only cool points being that Kensei being British (I think the true Kensei will end up being Hiro, which the videos on http://yamagatofellowship.org have made me believe more than anything, or, the British dude has powers) and the end with Peter having no memory and the Haitian's necklace on. Heroes is best when you are wondering what is going to happen next, what the mystery is, and admittedly, the premier is not the place to confuse new viewers. I hope and pray that Heroes can deliver a 2nd season as good, or better, than the last.
Tuesday, 09/25:
Reaper (CW)- This is my favorite new show for the season, beating out Bionic Woman. Reaper is about 21 year old Sam Oliver. He works with his best friend at a Home Depot style store, and has a huge crush on his female coworker, Andi, played by the wonderful Missy Peregrym from Heroes. Sam's parents sold his soul before he was born, and it is now Sam's task to collect souls that escaped from Hell. Reaper is a blend of Buffy and Dead Like Me especially with DLM's Delores Herbig, Christine Willes, as someone who looks to be a minor ongoing character. With Kevin Smith and Mark Gordon behind this, expect good things. Catch this show.
House (Fox)- Has House really been on for 4 seasons now? Doesn't feel that long. Ok, enough random thoughts for now. As a whole, the premier wasn't that fantastic, but had some wonderful pieces found in it. Wilson's role in this episode was wonderful, and the fact that House relied on a janitor was great. The rest of the episode felt a little flat, like I was waiting for something good to happen. Something good DID happen when House realized he was treating the wrong patient. I rarely get surprised by the final diagnosis, but this one had me stunned. And in the end, isn't House about the mystery of the patient? In this way, this was a great episode. However, just as Cuddy and Wilson are trying to tell House, the show seems like a lot less without Foreman, Cameron and Chase. Yes, I know they will be back, they are still in the credits, but between now and when they return, the writers better have something better than a crazy cops to work with.
Wednesday, 09/26
Bionic Woman (NBC)-I wasn't disappointed with Bionic Woman, but I think this should have been a 2 part premier, or at least 90 minutes. The beginning was good, the ending was good, but they didn't flesh out Jamie's character while at the facility. The other characters said out loud what she was feeling, instead of seeing Jamie go through the emotions and thought processes herself. I think Michelle Ryan is not only absolutely gorgeous (very much my type) but seems very capable of making more out of a character a lot of us think we already know. This show has the most potential of the other shows premiering this year, but I want to see a little more character development, and less reliance on 2nd tier characters telling us what the main characters are doing or feel and less reliance on special effects. And yes, I could compare this one to Buffy, but other than the "strong woman" aspect, I have yet to see much else to make them comparable to each other.
Thursday, 09/27
CSI (CBS)- Hey, remember when CSI was about the crime committed and the technology used to solve it? Yeah, me too. I knew this episode would be a thriller, and I honestly believed Sarah would die considering her trimmed down role last year, but this episode left me bored. I was reading while it was on. Why do I still watch this show?
The Office (NBC)- Next to Heroes, I was most disappointed with the Office premier, but that is probably because I had such high hopes after the fantastic season finale, and watching the season 1-2 DVDs this summer. The episode wasn't bad, just not great. The Dwight/Angela storyline felt forced and poorly acted, but the Pam/Jim storyline was dealt with very well. I think this would have been better as a 30 minute show instead of a whole hour. It is VERY rare to hear me say "I wish the show was shorter" but a sitcom should be short and concise, not filled with lots of fluff. I still love The Office, but NBC needs to rethink the shows format.
I have yet to watch Moonlight from Friday night, which is CBS's version of Angel. It is literally about a vampire running a detective agency. This week we will see 30 Rock premier, and I am looking forward to that as well. Overall, the fall premiers and season premiers were above average, better than most years, but with some low points in there. Here is hoping a great year of TV is waiting ahead.
Oh, yeah, also, I finally bought a 360 yesterday. Go me.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Touched by an Angel; you'll be hearing from my lawyer
The Buffy comics have been out on shelves since March (see my thoughts on the first two issues by CLICKING HERE) and I had myself a nice little Buffy DVD marathon back in March to celebrate 10 years of Joss Whedon giving us the true Buffy on TV. I have the Chosen collection of the Buffy DVDs, all 144 episodes in a single large box. I have been waiting and waiting for a similar release from Fox for the Angel DVDs, but 3 years and a month (1126 days, but who's counting) after the series finale of Angel, no box has been released, announced, or even rumored as far as I have heard. So after watching the TNT reruns lately, I finally decided to purchase a few seasons. I decided on seasons 4 and 5, as the 3rd season was just wrapping up on TNT.
In case I never mentioned this before, TNT has the WORST HD quality (picture is literally warped) and their editing of the show, both in scene editing (where the commercials air) and the visual editing (why get rid of the widescreen?) is something that could have been done by a high school student with free editing software, and that student would have failed his editing class. Yes, I am assuming his school had an editing class of some sort. Either way, TNT sucks at editing. They quickly kill the pacing set up by the episode's director, and some people's faces are half in the shot, or entirely gone in many scenes. Not wanting to deal with this horrible version of the show, I had Amazon send me the 4th and 5th seasons. New slim sets are out now (smaller boxes, less fancy) and only cost me $25 a piece. Great deal.
Let me start of by saying that my most favorite to least favorite seasons of Angel are 1, 2, 5, 3, 4, with 4 being my least favorite. After watching all 5 seasons again the past month or so, that order has changed. The 5th season is easily my favorite now, with 1 being 2nd favorite, then 2, 3, and finally 4 again. Let me say that I did not DISLIKE the 4th season, and absolutely loved that they were able to take EVERY single event from the previous seasons (mainly everything that happened to Cordy) and make it into a single plot device for bringing out the big bad. I did not dislike any season, but now realize how incredible the 5th season was compared to the others. This probably had a LOT to do with Buffy having ended, Firefly cancelled, and Joss being able to pour more of himself into the season compared to others. His lack of handsonedness is very clear in the 4th season.
The 5th season of Angel starts with Angel becoming the new CEO of Wolfram & Hart, the evil law firm that has been the thorn in his side since the first episode of the show. Angel and company sorta ended world peace at the end of season 4, long story short, and Wolfram & Hart decided to give Angel control of the LA office because of this. Almost everyone comes along for the ride as well, with Fred in charge of the science/R&D department, Wesley in charge of prophecies and mystic information, Lorne becomes head of the PR and entertainment side of W&H, and Gunn becomes a lawyer (they pump his head full of the law during his first week there). The deal Angel made before taking the job was that Connor be given a new life, a normal life, and his existence erased from everyone's memories. Hoping that they can make a difference by "changing things from the inside" the team jumps right into their roles at the law firm. Finally, Spike joins the crowd when the talisman he used to destroy the Hellmouth on Buffy shows up in a package for Angel. He starts off as a "ghost" but is recorporealized by mid season.
For the most part, the show goes back to it's "monster of the week" theme of the 1st/2nd season instead of the serialized storytelling from the 4th season. This is a welcome change, as the show flows much smoother than it did in the late 3rd and all of the 4th season. Yes, storylines carry over from episode to episode, but each episode is unique and can easily be enjoyed without having to know exactly what happened the episode prior. The writing for this season is superb. No character is ever "out of character" like in the 3rd and 4th seasons, and there is an equal focus on everyone on the show. The relationship between Angel and Spike is fun to watch re-evolve (they realize how alike they truly are, and have a good father and son chemistry) and everyone falls into their roles very nicely. There are also some incredible episodes in here, like "Smile Time", "You're Welcome", "Hell Bound" and of course, "Not Fade Away." Yes, there are one or two less than stellar shows (I am looking at you "Why We Fight") but there is nothing bad in sight.
It is hard for me to describe exactly what it is about the 5th season that is so spectacular. It is just like every other season, but everything about it is tight and done exceptionally well. Other than the story itself, there is nothing truly new here, it is the same show as the last 4 years, but everything is written, performed, and shown so well, that it quickly becomes the best of the series. This season has a certain "Firefly" quality about it, in that everything looks, sounds, and is done to perfection, with very little that is not enjoyable. The 5th season of Angel truly perfected the formula that Joss and David Greenwalt were after in the series' concept. The show not only went out on top, but it went out in a blaze of glory, fighting whoever else was trying to get to the top. Joss has said he wants to do a Season 6 comic in the relative future, and that brings me great joy (I do the dance of joy!). This season is just more proof that networks really has absolutely no grasp over what is quality programming and what is utter crap. Cancelling the show during it's best season could be viewed as some as a good thing (go out on top) or a bad thing (we want more). Either way, Season 5 of Angel is easily the best of the series.
Amazon.com: Angel Season 5 Slim set
In case I never mentioned this before, TNT has the WORST HD quality (picture is literally warped) and their editing of the show, both in scene editing (where the commercials air) and the visual editing (why get rid of the widescreen?) is something that could have been done by a high school student with free editing software, and that student would have failed his editing class. Yes, I am assuming his school had an editing class of some sort. Either way, TNT sucks at editing. They quickly kill the pacing set up by the episode's director, and some people's faces are half in the shot, or entirely gone in many scenes. Not wanting to deal with this horrible version of the show, I had Amazon send me the 4th and 5th seasons. New slim sets are out now (smaller boxes, less fancy) and only cost me $25 a piece. Great deal.
Let me start of by saying that my most favorite to least favorite seasons of Angel are 1, 2, 5, 3, 4, with 4 being my least favorite. After watching all 5 seasons again the past month or so, that order has changed. The 5th season is easily my favorite now, with 1 being 2nd favorite, then 2, 3, and finally 4 again. Let me say that I did not DISLIKE the 4th season, and absolutely loved that they were able to take EVERY single event from the previous seasons (mainly everything that happened to Cordy) and make it into a single plot device for bringing out the big bad. I did not dislike any season, but now realize how incredible the 5th season was compared to the others. This probably had a LOT to do with Buffy having ended, Firefly cancelled, and Joss being able to pour more of himself into the season compared to others. His lack of handsonedness is very clear in the 4th season.
The 5th season of Angel starts with Angel becoming the new CEO of Wolfram & Hart, the evil law firm that has been the thorn in his side since the first episode of the show. Angel and company sorta ended world peace at the end of season 4, long story short, and Wolfram & Hart decided to give Angel control of the LA office because of this. Almost everyone comes along for the ride as well, with Fred in charge of the science/R&D department, Wesley in charge of prophecies and mystic information, Lorne becomes head of the PR and entertainment side of W&H, and Gunn becomes a lawyer (they pump his head full of the law during his first week there). The deal Angel made before taking the job was that Connor be given a new life, a normal life, and his existence erased from everyone's memories. Hoping that they can make a difference by "changing things from the inside" the team jumps right into their roles at the law firm. Finally, Spike joins the crowd when the talisman he used to destroy the Hellmouth on Buffy shows up in a package for Angel. He starts off as a "ghost" but is recorporealized by mid season.
For the most part, the show goes back to it's "monster of the week" theme of the 1st/2nd season instead of the serialized storytelling from the 4th season. This is a welcome change, as the show flows much smoother than it did in the late 3rd and all of the 4th season. Yes, storylines carry over from episode to episode, but each episode is unique and can easily be enjoyed without having to know exactly what happened the episode prior. The writing for this season is superb. No character is ever "out of character" like in the 3rd and 4th seasons, and there is an equal focus on everyone on the show. The relationship between Angel and Spike is fun to watch re-evolve (they realize how alike they truly are, and have a good father and son chemistry) and everyone falls into their roles very nicely. There are also some incredible episodes in here, like "Smile Time", "You're Welcome", "Hell Bound" and of course, "Not Fade Away." Yes, there are one or two less than stellar shows (I am looking at you "Why We Fight") but there is nothing bad in sight.
It is hard for me to describe exactly what it is about the 5th season that is so spectacular. It is just like every other season, but everything about it is tight and done exceptionally well. Other than the story itself, there is nothing truly new here, it is the same show as the last 4 years, but everything is written, performed, and shown so well, that it quickly becomes the best of the series. This season has a certain "Firefly" quality about it, in that everything looks, sounds, and is done to perfection, with very little that is not enjoyable. The 5th season of Angel truly perfected the formula that Joss and David Greenwalt were after in the series' concept. The show not only went out on top, but it went out in a blaze of glory, fighting whoever else was trying to get to the top. Joss has said he wants to do a Season 6 comic in the relative future, and that brings me great joy (I do the dance of joy!). This season is just more proof that networks really has absolutely no grasp over what is quality programming and what is utter crap. Cancelling the show during it's best season could be viewed as some as a good thing (go out on top) or a bad thing (we want more). Either way, Season 5 of Angel is easily the best of the series.
Amazon.com: Angel Season 5 Slim set
Monday, June 4, 2007
Week in review: May 27th - June 2nd
SPOILER ALERT! THAR BE SPOILERS HERE!!!
Another wacky week this week was! Work was crazier than usual (long, sad story there) and the rest of life was no less crazy. Event wise, it was a big week though.
Sunday, May 27th: We saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End today. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but it was not nearly as good as the first, and just a little less fun than the second. My biggest complaint for the movie is it's flow. The movie just didn't flow well. Some scenes were long and drawn out, and did not flow smoothly into the next plot point. Also, the whole magical aspect of the movie (Calypso specifically) felt very Deus Ex Machina to me, and just having Tia Dalma be Tia Dalma, and not some supernatural force, would have been a better plot line in my opinion. The movie was very fun though, and a good ending to the first trilogy (don't tell me Disney won't be making 100 more). Don't leave until after the credits roll for a sweet final scene! I would give it 3 stars (out of 5).
Monday, May 28th: Memorial day, so I had the day off. Started playing Tales of the Abyss today. You can read my review of it by CLICKING HERE!!! I miss the days of sitting around all day, doing nothing but playing video games. There is not much I miss about childhood, but this is one thing. There is nothing more fun than just playing a game for 10 straight hours, not a care in the world.
Tuesday, May 29th: The House season finale aired tonight. This episode did not feel like a season finale to me, more like a November/December mid season cliff hanger. Yes, the end of the episode had Cameron, Chase and Forman all quitting or fired, and it was up in the air if and when ANY of them would return. But this didn't feel very dramatic or emotional to me. The episode mainly concerned House's resistance to change, which is something that I see 100% reflected in myself. I hate change and do not tolerate it well. Other than the cynicism and how rude/mean he is to everyone, I am EXTREMELY similar to House. I know that change is very hard and almost feels like a physical force for him to go against, so I am curious to see how things will turn out next season. None of my predictions for the season end came true, and while House is still my 2nd favorite show, it has lost some of it's charm. Let us hope season 4 is less like 3, and more like 1+2.
Saturday, June 2nd: We went to see Knocked Up tonight, the new film by "40 Year Old Virgin" creator/director, Judd Apatow. (CLICK HERE for IMDB info) I liked Knocked Up better than 40YOV, but I should point out I wasn't a huge fan of 40YOV like many. It was a good movie (40YOV) and Steve Carell is an incredibly gifted comedic actor (Daily Show-The Office, everything is great) but I never understood where the huge love from critics and fans came from. Knocked Up, however, is a fantastic movie. The long and short of it is this: an out of work stoner has a one night stand with an up and coming on air hostess for E!, and she winds up pregnant. They live completely different lifestyles and have next to nothing in common, but decide to have the baby, and even let their relationship blossom. Similar to 40YOV, this is not a joke-after-joke-after-joke style movie like Austin Powers or Anchorman. There is quite a bit of drama to be found, and it blends perfectly with the humor. There are 3 scenes that are an instant classic for me, one starring Ryan Seacrest, one in a hotel room here in Vegas, and one in the couples bed halfway thru the pregnancy. The cast is always wonderful. I was nervous about Seth Rogen handling a starring role, but he proved himself right off the bat. Katherine Heigl has always had star power, and I have respected her since her Roswell days (looking for those DVDs on the cheap, btw). Small roles by some great actors like Harold Ramis and Alan Tudyk round out the cast, with Apatow's own wife in the secondary female role. This may also help Paul Rudd get off the "that actor from that movie" list and get some name recognition. I highly recommend this movie to everyone... everyone over a certain age that is, because there should not have been 20+ 12 year olds at this film. 4 stars (out of 5).
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Even the smartest person you know can be the dumbest person you know. Even the changes in life sometimes change. Bad waiters/waitresses can ruin the meal, even if the food was amazing. Dunkin Donuts is FINALLY coming back to Vegas!!! I miss Rita's Water Ice. While walking to my car, I bumped my head on the sun... it is a little warm out there.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Week in review: May 20th - 26th
Still not over whatever has been kicking my butt. Couldn't eat lunch all week, and when I do eat, I cannot tell when I am full, so I either eat too little, or too much (Saturday night...). Hopefully I will be back to normal soon.
Monday, May 21st: Heroes season finale was both great and disappointing. The build up was great, but the actual ending was a bit of a let down. One of my theories came true, that Nathan would wind up doing the right thing and the bomb would not go off. That part I liked about the finale, but it was the most anticlimactic ending ever. Nikki just slamming Sylar once, and then Peter punching him a lot. Hiro showing up last minute, and everyone else just hanging around. This could have been a hectic scene, a huge battle with everyone's powers going ballistic. Claire could have been the tank and taken hits for everyone (when bullets and glass fly), Nikki could have been the bruiser and wailed on Sylar before Peter picked up her powers, Parkman on the sides yelling out what Sylar is thinking next to everyone else, and Peter finally pulling all the powers out at once and really getting into it with Sylar.
I still love the show, don't get me wrong. The themes in the show are pretty clear to me now, at least for the first season. Tim Kring clearly had a "what if we could have prevented 9/11" moment and wrote at least this season with that in mind. 5 years later (when series started) disaster in NYC with terrorists in the future, Guilliani being valorous in the face of disaster (now in line for White House), showdown in the plaza between two large buildings in Manhattan are all pretty clear themes to me. Also, paying homage (not ripping off) a lot of themes from famous comic series. Peter Petrelli/Peter Parker, Hiro a member of the MMMS, Stan Lee on the bus halfway thru the season, and many many allusions to things from Superman to Sandman to Watchmen (no, this is not a rip off of Watchmen!) I also like how all of the older characters (Hiro's dad, Petrelli mom, Shaft... I mean Mr Deveaux) know each other and have a connection to the powers. The preview with Hiro for the next season was a good tease, and I can't wait til this show comes back next season.
Wednesday, May 23rd: American Idol finale.... as I mentioned before, I never watched Idol much before this season. I watched the last season finale and a few episodes here and there with friends, but this was my first season watching the show. Last years finale seemed fun and wild to me, but this year, it sucked. And anyone who TiVo'd this show was pissed, as it ran over 5 minutes past the hour before revealing the winner. Not sure I will watch this again next
Short but long week this week with being sick. Let's hope this week turns out better.
Monday, May 21st: Heroes season finale was both great and disappointing. The build up was great, but the actual ending was a bit of a let down. One of my theories came true, that Nathan would wind up doing the right thing and the bomb would not go off. That part I liked about the finale, but it was the most anticlimactic ending ever. Nikki just slamming Sylar once, and then Peter punching him a lot. Hiro showing up last minute, and everyone else just hanging around. This could have been a hectic scene, a huge battle with everyone's powers going ballistic. Claire could have been the tank and taken hits for everyone (when bullets and glass fly), Nikki could have been the bruiser and wailed on Sylar before Peter picked up her powers, Parkman on the sides yelling out what Sylar is thinking next to everyone else, and Peter finally pulling all the powers out at once and really getting into it with Sylar.
I still love the show, don't get me wrong. The themes in the show are pretty clear to me now, at least for the first season. Tim Kring clearly had a "what if we could have prevented 9/11" moment and wrote at least this season with that in mind. 5 years later (when series started) disaster in NYC with terrorists in the future, Guilliani being valorous in the face of disaster (now in line for White House), showdown in the plaza between two large buildings in Manhattan are all pretty clear themes to me. Also, paying homage (not ripping off) a lot of themes from famous comic series. Peter Petrelli/Peter Parker, Hiro a member of the MMMS, Stan Lee on the bus halfway thru the season, and many many allusions to things from Superman to Sandman to Watchmen (no, this is not a rip off of Watchmen!) I also like how all of the older characters (Hiro's dad, Petrelli mom, Shaft... I mean Mr Deveaux) know each other and have a connection to the powers. The preview with Hiro for the next season was a good tease, and I can't wait til this show comes back next season.
Wednesday, May 23rd: American Idol finale.... as I mentioned before, I never watched Idol much before this season. I watched the last season finale and a few episodes here and there with friends, but this was my first season watching the show. Last years finale seemed fun and wild to me, but this year, it sucked. And anyone who TiVo'd this show was pissed, as it ran over 5 minutes past the hour before revealing the winner. Not sure I will watch this again next
Short but long week this week with being sick. Let's hope this week turns out better.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Week in review: May 13th - May 19th
Not a fun week folks. Got really sick Wednesday night/Thursday morning and it's still not gone away. Long story short, missed the Third Eye Blind concert Saturday. I have not had a good week here folks... but there were some highlights.
Monday, May 14th: Heroes was good again this week. The episode was a little predictable, as I could always tell what was going to happen next or later on in the show to some extent, but very well told and a good lead up to the season finale. I really like how all of the characters have finally come together and how some things have turned out much differently than I had expected. Lots of foreshadowing here too, especially where Hiro is concerned. And the similarities between the show and 9/11 are no longer subtle, they are outright blatant. More on that after the finale.... Can't wait for the finale.
Tuesday, May 15th: House annoyed me for the first 20 minutes, because it felt like a copy of last week's episode where he kept spouting off the same exact diagnosis over and over without even considering everything else. Yes that is House, firm in his beliefs, but it was annoying that it was the exact same attitude as the previous episode. Then, 20 minutes in, he gets proven wrong, and I understand why the first 20 minutes were done that way. As for the Forman issue, I liked Cuddy's offer to him, that was a nice surprise, but he still appears to be leaving. As for the whole episode, the whole whodunnit storyline was fun with figuring out who cancelled Forman's interview, with Chase once again at the end ending up being Mr Insightful. Season finale in 2 weeks (after the premier of On The Lot and Tuesday finale of Idol) so we will see what happens there as well.
Wednesday, May 16th: Criminal Minds season finale aired tonight, and I have mixed feelings about it. It felt too soon, time wise, to bring back Frank, it's only been a few weeks, not enough time for his getaway to really sink in. The fact he went after those that Gideon has saved was a good twist though, and finally explained some of the time I felt was wasted in past episodes with exchanges between Gideon and Hotchner. I also liked the fact that all the issues the agents have been having this year (Reid's drug problem and Morgan's issue in Chicago) were brought up to Hotchner and used to force him out of his position. This would have been a great season opener or next season finale, but it all felt too soon for this season.
Thursday, May 17th: Good night of TV (thank you DVR)! First, The Office. Great episode overall, and lots of great moments: Michael's reaction to Jan's surgery, everyone else's reaction, Pam playing along with Dwight, everything Dwight did, Jan's reaction to the news of what the interviews are for, and Ryan getting the call at the end. The best part though was the Schrute bucks scene, and the back and forth between Stanley and Dwight that had me rolling in laughter:
Dwight: Don't you want to earn Schrute Bucks?
Stanley: No. In fact, I'll give you a billion Stanley Nickels if you never talk to me again.
Dwight: What's the ratio of Stanley Nickels to Schrute Bucks?
Stanley: The same as the ratio of unicorns to leprechauns.
The Scrubs finale was more of the same, but a good episode overall. It felt more like a 2nd or 3rd season episode, but my complaint remains the same: the JD and Elliott love storyline is over and done with. I will be happy if they end up together, but it annoys me that they have played at this so much. Shows like The Office will play at people eventually hooking up, but they don't put them together and then rip them apart again constantly like these two.
Finally came the CSI season finale. This was another mixed bag for me. The whole angle of someone singling out a specific CSI and kidnapping and trapping them was done 2 years ago, albeit quite differently this time. I am very convinced that Sarah is dead or will die, because they have BARELY shown her all season, and I had a feeling for 6 months now that she was being written out in some way. Grissom losing Sarah would be a very different Grissom, and could take the 8th season to a few different places, something CSI needs desperately. The episode was a decent ride, nothing special at all, with the ventriloquist act being the dumbest thing I have ever seen on TV, and can't compare to the mid season Keppler episodes (especially "Law of Gravity") and I would love to see Liev Schrieber join the cast in Sarah's place, even if she is my favorite of the CSIs.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: No matter how old you are, when you get sick with a fever, you revert to a 5 year old. People who eat at Claim Jumpers for the first time say "WOW" and "OOH" a lot. NEEN JA GUY DEN! It is apparently illegal to park anywhere in my neighborhood. "The I am bigger than you game is fun! You can play it with anyone who's smaller than you!" It takes longer to put an elliptical together than it does to manufacture it in the plant. Old southerners speaking Yiddish is hilarious (thanks Christopher Guest!)
Monday, May 14th: Heroes was good again this week. The episode was a little predictable, as I could always tell what was going to happen next or later on in the show to some extent, but very well told and a good lead up to the season finale. I really like how all of the characters have finally come together and how some things have turned out much differently than I had expected. Lots of foreshadowing here too, especially where Hiro is concerned. And the similarities between the show and 9/11 are no longer subtle, they are outright blatant. More on that after the finale.... Can't wait for the finale.
Tuesday, May 15th: House annoyed me for the first 20 minutes, because it felt like a copy of last week's episode where he kept spouting off the same exact diagnosis over and over without even considering everything else. Yes that is House, firm in his beliefs, but it was annoying that it was the exact same attitude as the previous episode. Then, 20 minutes in, he gets proven wrong, and I understand why the first 20 minutes were done that way. As for the Forman issue, I liked Cuddy's offer to him, that was a nice surprise, but he still appears to be leaving. As for the whole episode, the whole whodunnit storyline was fun with figuring out who cancelled Forman's interview, with Chase once again at the end ending up being Mr Insightful. Season finale in 2 weeks (after the premier of On The Lot and Tuesday finale of Idol) so we will see what happens there as well.
Wednesday, May 16th: Criminal Minds season finale aired tonight, and I have mixed feelings about it. It felt too soon, time wise, to bring back Frank, it's only been a few weeks, not enough time for his getaway to really sink in. The fact he went after those that Gideon has saved was a good twist though, and finally explained some of the time I felt was wasted in past episodes with exchanges between Gideon and Hotchner. I also liked the fact that all the issues the agents have been having this year (Reid's drug problem and Morgan's issue in Chicago) were brought up to Hotchner and used to force him out of his position. This would have been a great season opener or next season finale, but it all felt too soon for this season.
Thursday, May 17th: Good night of TV (thank you DVR)! First, The Office. Great episode overall, and lots of great moments: Michael's reaction to Jan's surgery, everyone else's reaction, Pam playing along with Dwight, everything Dwight did, Jan's reaction to the news of what the interviews are for, and Ryan getting the call at the end. The best part though was the Schrute bucks scene, and the back and forth between Stanley and Dwight that had me rolling in laughter:
Dwight: Don't you want to earn Schrute Bucks?
Stanley: No. In fact, I'll give you a billion Stanley Nickels if you never talk to me again.
Dwight: What's the ratio of Stanley Nickels to Schrute Bucks?
Stanley: The same as the ratio of unicorns to leprechauns.
The Scrubs finale was more of the same, but a good episode overall. It felt more like a 2nd or 3rd season episode, but my complaint remains the same: the JD and Elliott love storyline is over and done with. I will be happy if they end up together, but it annoys me that they have played at this so much. Shows like The Office will play at people eventually hooking up, but they don't put them together and then rip them apart again constantly like these two.
Finally came the CSI season finale. This was another mixed bag for me. The whole angle of someone singling out a specific CSI and kidnapping and trapping them was done 2 years ago, albeit quite differently this time. I am very convinced that Sarah is dead or will die, because they have BARELY shown her all season, and I had a feeling for 6 months now that she was being written out in some way. Grissom losing Sarah would be a very different Grissom, and could take the 8th season to a few different places, something CSI needs desperately. The episode was a decent ride, nothing special at all, with the ventriloquist act being the dumbest thing I have ever seen on TV, and can't compare to the mid season Keppler episodes (especially "Law of Gravity") and I would love to see Liev Schrieber join the cast in Sarah's place, even if she is my favorite of the CSIs.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: No matter how old you are, when you get sick with a fever, you revert to a 5 year old. People who eat at Claim Jumpers for the first time say "WOW" and "OOH" a lot. NEEN JA GUY DEN! It is apparently illegal to park anywhere in my neighborhood. "The I am bigger than you game is fun! You can play it with anyone who's smaller than you!" It takes longer to put an elliptical together than it does to manufacture it in the plant. Old southerners speaking Yiddish is hilarious (thanks Christopher Guest!)
Monday, May 14, 2007
Week in review: May 6th - May 12th
Monday, May 7th: Heroes finally disappointed me big time. I understand the need to have Sylar and his mom go thru what they went thru, but did she have to be freakin crazy?!? All of her scenes felt like they were written two minutes before they started rolling film, it just felt awkward. The whole episode kind of felt like a waste of time to be honest. I kept waiting for the episode to get good, and it never did. I expected to be disappointed like this with the 5 years in the future episode, but instead the disappointment is here. Two more left, let's hope they clean up for the finale.
Tuesday, May 8th: Pretty descent episode of House this week. My prediction that House would try and find a hot replacement for Forman was confirmed, but I still can't decide how exactly they will end the storyline of Forman leaving and when/if he will return. The scenes with Wilson were fantastic, and the fact that he out-Housed House was great. Insightful Chase was also a nice change, but it made him forget to do his weekly confession to Cameron.
Thursday, May 10th: The Office was great tonight! Andy falling into the river was very funny. Seeing Michael act very human was a nice touch, you can tell he doesn't really want to leave these people. And Pam was great, loved her freak out at the end, and just her reactions to everything the whole episode. She was the one giving looks to the camera and making remarks instead of Jim. I think that showed how much she really loves him because she acted like him this week. As for Scrubs, it was great to see JD show some real emotion, and truly seem lost, instead of making jokes and just being immature. I can't remember seeing him act this hurt before. On the lighter side, his comment of "You have a problem sir! Seek Help!" to Old Young MC was hilarious. And the episode on the whole felt more like a previous season.
PLANS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD: Heroes tonight (Monday), House and AI tomorrow, elliptical machine arrives tues/wed, Third Eye Blind concert Saturday night, mom's birthday Sunday.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Cooking chicken on the grill is not as easy as some people make it seem. Marco's pizza is still freakin awesome, and Cane's is the best food in existence. Swimming at night with no lights in the pool is creepy. Firm mattresses make my arms numb when I wake up. My car is filthy. TNT has the worst HD quality of any channel in history, like watching thru a fun house mirror. My mother shouldn't eat salads. The 80 year old miniature version of Dolly Pardon shops at Costco, and her hair frightens children (and some 25 year olds too). My car's air conditioner only works well when its below 90 degrees. $2 a pint ice cream tastes much different than $4 a pint ice cream, and not in a good way.
Tuesday, May 8th: Pretty descent episode of House this week. My prediction that House would try and find a hot replacement for Forman was confirmed, but I still can't decide how exactly they will end the storyline of Forman leaving and when/if he will return. The scenes with Wilson were fantastic, and the fact that he out-Housed House was great. Insightful Chase was also a nice change, but it made him forget to do his weekly confession to Cameron.
Thursday, May 10th: The Office was great tonight! Andy falling into the river was very funny. Seeing Michael act very human was a nice touch, you can tell he doesn't really want to leave these people. And Pam was great, loved her freak out at the end, and just her reactions to everything the whole episode. She was the one giving looks to the camera and making remarks instead of Jim. I think that showed how much she really loves him because she acted like him this week. As for Scrubs, it was great to see JD show some real emotion, and truly seem lost, instead of making jokes and just being immature. I can't remember seeing him act this hurt before. On the lighter side, his comment of "You have a problem sir! Seek Help!" to Old Young MC was hilarious. And the episode on the whole felt more like a previous season.
PLANS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD: Heroes tonight (Monday), House and AI tomorrow, elliptical machine arrives tues/wed, Third Eye Blind concert Saturday night, mom's birthday Sunday.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Cooking chicken on the grill is not as easy as some people make it seem. Marco's pizza is still freakin awesome, and Cane's is the best food in existence. Swimming at night with no lights in the pool is creepy. Firm mattresses make my arms numb when I wake up. My car is filthy. TNT has the worst HD quality of any channel in history, like watching thru a fun house mirror. My mother shouldn't eat salads. The 80 year old miniature version of Dolly Pardon shops at Costco, and her hair frightens children (and some 25 year olds too). My car's air conditioner only works well when its below 90 degrees. $2 a pint ice cream tastes much different than $4 a pint ice cream, and not in a good way.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Week in review: April 29th - May 5th
I decided I would start doing a short week in review post to talk about the little things like TV show episodes, small things that may have happened that day, and what I have coming up next.
Monday, April 30th: Heroes aired the "5 Years Gone" episode tonight. Loved this one. Hiro and Ando wind up 5 years in the future, where the "bomb" went off, and now "special people" are treated as terrorists. Normally I dislike episodes where the story doesn't progress forward in shows like Heroes, but they do such a great job with the characters that I really enjoy them here. The Sylar twist at the end was great, and I like how they are handling the time travel aspect, something that can open more plot holes than many writers could deal with (see Spider Man 3). Only 3 more episodes left before the big finale, and I can't wait!
Tuesday, May 1st: I never watched American Idol before this year, and I was REALLY into it at the beginning of the season. Now I am not into it as much, and I don't know why. Long story short on this topic, I hope Blake wins, followed by Jordin, even though I think that Melinda will go all the way. Next was House, my second favorite show after Heroes. I like that they are back to the basics here, no more Tritter storyline, although I did like some of the gags and scenarios from that part of the season. The whole Forman storyline is a bit weak IMO, because I liked that he was becoming more and more like House, without being a misanthrope. I don't believe he will actually leave in the end. The last episode of the season may be his last day, and he may leave in that episode, but I fully expect him to come back. The farthest I expect the writers to take it is that he leaves at the end of the season, and House hires a new guy, or they go thru several new guys. The new guy(s) either fits right in or sucks the life out of the group. It may also be a super hot chick, that another theory I have. But somehow, Forman comes back to save the day and rejoins the cast. Or he never leaves.
Wednesday, May 2nd: Picked up the new issue of the Buffy season 8 comic. Loved it of course! Joss showed up in Buffy's dream sequence, a slayer was reading Fray, and Andrew is DEFINITELY gay. Only complaints are about the artwork so far. Sometimes I couldn't tell if it was actually Buffy on page, or another character, and with the Willow vs Amy scenes, I had some difficulty figuring out who did what. Other complaints are that we don't know who actually kissed Buffy, and that there is not more Giles! Overall, another GREAT read!
Thursday, May 3rd: The Office and Scrubs aired tonight. The joke of Dwight hanging up the "pervert" posters everywhere was great, as the picture was him with a mustache. The fact that Pam played that prank just convinces me more that she and Jim will eventually get close again. As for Scrubs.... what a mixed bag there! Yeah, the season has been lacking, save for the musical episode. Scrubs is suffering from the Buffy season 6 syndrome I guess, where everything is depressing, a major character dies, and the best episode is a musical. Keith proposes to Elliott in this episode (started to at the end of the last one). Elliott is still Elliott, and crazy as ever, and along with Dr Cox, the best part of the episode. I miss Carla though, it's like she is a 3rd string character all of a sudden. The episode ends with JD realizing he wishes he was the one marrying Elliott, and this both annoyed me and made me happy. I want JD and Elliott to be together, but this storyline is over! He told her he didn't love her YEARS ago, but now he suddenly does?!?!? No, I don't think so. It's JD wanting what he can't have, something I understand VERY well, but just drop it already! You can't keep going back and forth with these two! Either they WANT to be together or they DON'T! Oh, and with CSI... what is up with this show now? It has lost it's charm, no question. It has gotten weird lately. And the end, Grissom a murderer? Maybe.... we will see.
Friday, April 4th: A part of me died today. My boss surprised us and took us all to Spider-Man 3. I will be posting further impressions next week, but to put it briefly, I was severely disappointed. Between the horrible first hour, huge plot holes (and the attempts to fill them) and a total disregard for what made the first two movies so great, this one is best left unwatched. Full review next week.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Shigeru Miyamoto made Time's 100 most influential list of 2006, YAY!. The power went out at my house on Thursday night/Friday morning. Marco's Pizza FINALLY opened by my house and its as yummy as ever. My car will NEVER be clean. I am both very sad and very happy that a coworker has left my company. I like Gamefly's new availability system. Tales of the Slayer is a good read, but only for 2 or 3 of the 10 stories. The weather and temperature in Vegas is the weirdest in the world: it rained in half my yard, all of the neighbor's yard, not at all in the other neighbor's yard, and it was completely sunny out. Pugs still don't know how to shut up. I HATE doing laundry. My sister discusses metabolic system theories while her husband discusses Sesame Street at the same time... literally... he also won't stop yelling "AMERICA! F**K YEAH!" I blame Allofmp3 for that....
Monday, April 30th: Heroes aired the "5 Years Gone" episode tonight. Loved this one. Hiro and Ando wind up 5 years in the future, where the "bomb" went off, and now "special people" are treated as terrorists. Normally I dislike episodes where the story doesn't progress forward in shows like Heroes, but they do such a great job with the characters that I really enjoy them here. The Sylar twist at the end was great, and I like how they are handling the time travel aspect, something that can open more plot holes than many writers could deal with (see Spider Man 3). Only 3 more episodes left before the big finale, and I can't wait!
Tuesday, May 1st: I never watched American Idol before this year, and I was REALLY into it at the beginning of the season. Now I am not into it as much, and I don't know why. Long story short on this topic, I hope Blake wins, followed by Jordin, even though I think that Melinda will go all the way. Next was House, my second favorite show after Heroes. I like that they are back to the basics here, no more Tritter storyline, although I did like some of the gags and scenarios from that part of the season. The whole Forman storyline is a bit weak IMO, because I liked that he was becoming more and more like House, without being a misanthrope. I don't believe he will actually leave in the end. The last episode of the season may be his last day, and he may leave in that episode, but I fully expect him to come back. The farthest I expect the writers to take it is that he leaves at the end of the season, and House hires a new guy, or they go thru several new guys. The new guy(s) either fits right in or sucks the life out of the group. It may also be a super hot chick, that another theory I have. But somehow, Forman comes back to save the day and rejoins the cast. Or he never leaves.
Wednesday, May 2nd: Picked up the new issue of the Buffy season 8 comic. Loved it of course! Joss showed up in Buffy's dream sequence, a slayer was reading Fray, and Andrew is DEFINITELY gay. Only complaints are about the artwork so far. Sometimes I couldn't tell if it was actually Buffy on page, or another character, and with the Willow vs Amy scenes, I had some difficulty figuring out who did what. Other complaints are that we don't know who actually kissed Buffy, and that there is not more Giles! Overall, another GREAT read!
Thursday, May 3rd: The Office and Scrubs aired tonight. The joke of Dwight hanging up the "pervert" posters everywhere was great, as the picture was him with a mustache. The fact that Pam played that prank just convinces me more that she and Jim will eventually get close again. As for Scrubs.... what a mixed bag there! Yeah, the season has been lacking, save for the musical episode. Scrubs is suffering from the Buffy season 6 syndrome I guess, where everything is depressing, a major character dies, and the best episode is a musical. Keith proposes to Elliott in this episode (started to at the end of the last one). Elliott is still Elliott, and crazy as ever, and along with Dr Cox, the best part of the episode. I miss Carla though, it's like she is a 3rd string character all of a sudden. The episode ends with JD realizing he wishes he was the one marrying Elliott, and this both annoyed me and made me happy. I want JD and Elliott to be together, but this storyline is over! He told her he didn't love her YEARS ago, but now he suddenly does?!?!? No, I don't think so. It's JD wanting what he can't have, something I understand VERY well, but just drop it already! You can't keep going back and forth with these two! Either they WANT to be together or they DON'T! Oh, and with CSI... what is up with this show now? It has lost it's charm, no question. It has gotten weird lately. And the end, Grissom a murderer? Maybe.... we will see.
Friday, April 4th: A part of me died today. My boss surprised us and took us all to Spider-Man 3. I will be posting further impressions next week, but to put it briefly, I was severely disappointed. Between the horrible first hour, huge plot holes (and the attempts to fill them) and a total disregard for what made the first two movies so great, this one is best left unwatched. Full review next week.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Shigeru Miyamoto made Time's 100 most influential list of 2006, YAY!. The power went out at my house on Thursday night/Friday morning. Marco's Pizza FINALLY opened by my house and its as yummy as ever. My car will NEVER be clean. I am both very sad and very happy that a coworker has left my company. I like Gamefly's new availability system. Tales of the Slayer is a good read, but only for 2 or 3 of the 10 stories. The weather and temperature in Vegas is the weirdest in the world: it rained in half my yard, all of the neighbor's yard, not at all in the other neighbor's yard, and it was completely sunny out. Pugs still don't know how to shut up. I HATE doing laundry. My sister discusses metabolic system theories while her husband discusses Sesame Street at the same time... literally... he also won't stop yelling "AMERICA! F**K YEAH!" I blame Allofmp3 for that....
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