++ VIEW ONLY with Firefox or Safari ++
Monday, November 24, 2008
The Cool Crowd: November Sweeps and everything since the last go'round.
Wow, it's been a long time. I guess a good way of keeping my typing in order is to keep my head in order. And to do so, I should list what I've been watching or have watched since September. (Sunday to Saturday with no headings per day...)
Entourage
True Blood
Gossip Girl
How I Met Your Mother
Heroes
CSI Miami
90210
Fringe
Eli Stone
South Park
Bones
Life
Dirty Sexy Money
Smallville
Supernatural
Life on Mars
30 Rock
Okay. So, let's start with the sitcoms.
Entourage
Entourage was supposed to be "back" this season. Early on, you could tell the show was taking the characters on a more serious run. I was irked early with the tiredness of Johnny Drama's "quirks" and thankfully those ran their course early. It did give an opportunity for Turtle to develop his character though and it's nice that they're allowing him to expand from being their fat, stoner, scrub friend. It's been a very fun season, though, seeing Vince struggle and Ari and Eric having to deal with it. It's been unnerving to end episodes with loose ends fraying even looser, but that's the beauty of this season.
How I Met Your Mother
The last time I said anything about HIMYM, I wasn't too pleased with the beginning of the season. But since then, they've let last season's stories run their courses, sorta, and we're back to more friendly shenanigans. I thought the first few episodes continued on the seemingly forced growth of the characters as they moved beyond the early 30s or late 20s. They're still growing, but I think the increased stability of their ratings has helped the producers slow down the race to resolution and have allowed them to focus on the funniness of "here". I thought the last few episodes have been their HIMYM-Flashback best of the season.
South Park
It's only a few episodes in, but we've already seen..
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas as rapists..
Obama's victory spoofed just a day or week after winning (they knew he was going to win, obviously)..
The Goth-Emo kids get mad that the Vampires were stealing their kool-aid..
A two-parter about the safety we receive from Peruvian Pan-Flutists...
and what else...
Just crazy. I love it.
30 Rock
What can I say? It's been on fire, like usual!
NOW... for the ones I've dropped...
True Blood
At lot of people whose opinions I respect seem to dig this show a lot, but I never really got on board. I was excited for a vampire-based drama done by HBO, but I wasn't all that hooked from the start. I feel like I may be overdone with vampire stories. I've been on the various vampire mythos-based comics and movies and shows and I think any interesting takes on them are somehow redundant for me. Maybe I'm just turned off to the vampire thing since I was into it before. I dunno.
Dirty Sexy Money
I think I covered this in my last post. But, ultimately, it just lost interest for me. There was a zest of satire in the early episodes of the series and although there remained some camp it just generally was expendable given the rest of the shows on the DVR along with the start of the NBA and NHL seasons.
Fringe
When push came to shove.. and when I mean push, I mean time.. and shove I mean Warriors basketball and other DVRed goodies.. Fringe lost. Watching Fringe began to be a chore. If I wasn't watching much else, I'd still probably keep on my radar. If we had a bunch of extra receivers at the house, it might still be on the dvr. But, at this point, I don't care if I watch it or not. It's not that I hated the show or found it too ludicrous like others. It's just that I'd rather watch other things.
... now.. before I get to the mainstays, I'll just comment on CSI: Miami.
It's still the goofiness or badness of David Caruso that entertains me so.. but I still only watch it when the premise is interesting (aka the murder).. and I have nothing else to watch. So, it really doesn't belong on any list really.
... oh.. and before I get to the mainstays, I'll just comment on HEROES.
Heroes
In the middle of last week's episode.. maybe in the first quarter.. I realized I didn't know what was going on, that I didn't care what was going on, and that I was done. So I stopped the show (I was watching it on a DVR-delay), and erased it without finishing it. I. Am. DONE. They say they're going to clean up the storytelling once the "Villains" arc is finished, and I'll watch a few episodes then, but I am DONE with VILLAINS and this waste of potential show.
We can vote on various reasons why this season was a complete waste of time, but I'll just throw a few out there..
- the excessive time traveling just made each story and character convoluted
- each character acting on limited motives or flawed reasoning
- the redundancy of Season 1's "everything's gonna blow the fuck up cuz of some superpowered badness and we have to get everyone together to stop it" story
- the time spent building bit characters and losing grip of the main characters
- having us choose to care for characters, then having us choose to not care for them, then having us choose to care for them again, then having us choose not to.. then.. then.. then.. bleh
Stupidity. I only complain cuz I wanted and expected more. I'm not the only one.
okay.. enough of that.. the mainstays..
Gossip Girl
I've been down with the show throughout and it's one that I usually can't stop watching once I've started playing it back on the DVR. Now, I have to watch it all online too since it's competing with HIMYM and it's no longer repeated on Sundays. Little's changed with Blair. She's still the stone called.. bad and devilish brat. Serena's still the heart of the upper east side. Nate's obviously going through more this year and we're seeing that he's a nice guy.. not just the rich jerk that was best friends with Chuck Bass... was waiting to de-flower Blair.. and somehow got drunk and instead did her BFF instead. Dan's still the pompous "integrity" of the show.
The two stars of Season 2 so far have been Chuck Bass and Jenny Humphrey. Chuck, as I stated before, is the current MVP of the show. He has the BEST storylines run through him and or turns every storyline that involves him into the most compelling. By virtue, Blair becomes an essential part, but Chuck carries the plot.
Jenny has also emerged as the most troubling of all characters and thus the owner of the baton of the other plot. We all thought that her stint as the Queen Bee wannabe that ended would bring her back to the goodness of the Humphrey name, but instead she's gone major bonkers this year with her youthful impetuousness and short-sightedness. But, as a strong youth advocate and one who deals with challenging my patience with them most days, Jenny's just plain annoying right now and the fact that Dan suggested that his dad give-in this time irks the heck out of me. Jenny's not being a normal rebelious kid, she's being a bratty spoiled sweet-16-esque orc and I'll be disappointed with the show if they make Rufus succumb to her.
With that said.. it's Gossip Girl.. it's a soap opera.. and I shouldn't think about it this much.
90210
I still haven't seen anything all that special with the show, but I still watch. Don't ask why. It hasn't been anything that completely makes me convulse out of stupidity or so boring I fall asleep anytime I try to watch it. Actually, it's perfect to watch while I'm doing other meaningless stuff on laptop. Annie, though, is supremely annoying. Everything else is nothing special or nothing terrible.. Annie, though, is SUPREMELY annoying.
Eli Stone
I mentioned this on my last post, but I still enjoy the show every week, but I'm worried about the direction of the storytelling. No worries though, I guess, since I'm only going to see one or two more episodes before it's run is done, right? I'm big on all the main attorneys minus Maggie. Maggie's character was much better last season.
Bones
This is still easily one of my joys every week. It's funny how they're rotating the anthropological intern, the role that Zack played in the lab, now that he's in federal prison. It was great to see him help out once - a great way to salvage his character seeing that the Gormogon twist didn't do much for the show. Sweets has become an essential part of the show and his scenes are my favorites besides the regular Bones and Booth exchanges.
Life
I tried this show out just because I had room on my DVR, because it's in HD, and because Sarah Shahi is super super hot. I like this show though because Damian Lewis, the lead, is great as a quirky detective, because the shows mood isn't too heavy, the cases are always interesting, there's an overarching story (that I honestly don't keep up with), and Sarah Shahi's super super hot. Okay, to be fair and not so male-horny, she does a wonderful job playing the straight-edge to Damian's quirk. I think what Life has proven to me is that I prefer to compliment my super heavy shows: BSG and Lost, with lighter fare. I hope the ratings improve or they find a good home for it.
Smallville
The show of shows. I haven't been thrilled with Smallville since the middle of last season and have been lukewarm to most of this season although I still find watching every episode exciting no matter how disappointed I may be after watching. What I've realized is that although I was tired of the hyper-Kryptonian based stories of last season, the worst part was the loss of the charm of Smallville, the town (the set) itself. Metropolis in the earlier seasons was real - it reflected the mood of show. Now, Metropolis is plastic - it's all indoors, it's dark, it's very "Birds of Prey", and is just not as interesting as Vancouver was (because the characters were different). Before, although there were the season long stories to develop, the character development was more important. The relationships and the story about a town and it's ultra-special citizens were the core elements of the show. I can't say the same now. The Metropolis of Smallville now is about an overarching story that happen to plug in our long-enamored characters. But, yet, I still watch.
I loved the cameo from Lana last week, sorta, and I'm excited to see how they'll end Lex's existence in the Smallville Universe.
Life on Mars
It took me a long time to tap this show. I've had it DVR'ed since the beginning of the season. I've watched pieces of the original BBC pilot and liked the premise (just couldn't hang with the accents). But, for some reason, it took me a while to get into this show.. so long, in fact, that I didn't watch more than the pilot until.. last night. But, I watched ep. 2, 3, 4, and parts of 6 last night. And, I like it. I don't love it. It's pretty much a regular cop show with some funny moments when Sam, the character that got warped into 1973, mentions the future or refers to the change of time zones unintentionally, but still it's a solid show to keep interested.
Supernatural
The big winner of the season is easily Supernatural. I loved Season 3. This show almost lost my interest in Season 2. I stopped watching Season 3 because of it's time conflict with LOST. But, this show, this season, is on fire with its mix of comedy, storytelling, character development, and mythology. I've been there and done that with Heaven and Hell stories, but since this show focuses more on the characters it works. This consistently has the best 44 minutes of network tv each week with Dean easily being one of the most entertaining characters to follow each week.
With that said..
I still am so excited for BSG and LOST. So excited!
Friday, November 21, 2008
The Cutteroos..
It looks like the Writers' Strike is still taking a toll on the world of television.
A bunch of the Sophomores (that are actually still Freshmen) shows are struggling and now have been officially canceled. Each of which, the ones on ABC at least, were part of my viewing pleasure last year.
Pushing Daisies:
The WORST part of this show being cut is that its another blow to crazy imaginative and different shows finding a home on network TV. It would be great if Pushing Daisies could be picked up by AMC or some other basic cable network, but I think it's too expensive. Not sure though. They're predominately filmed in a studio so that should cut down costs. Maybe their cast is too expensive? I'll miss Chuck and the Piemaker - but honestly, I had to choose against Pushing Daisies this season since it was competing against Bones.
Dirty Sexy Money:
I tried this one out last year mostly to follow Samaire Armstrong. Then she had to leave due to personal issues. Then the writers struck. I thought the show was fun through it's first go last year. When it came back after the strike, I wasn't all the interested anymore. I think they had quirk and some level of interesting satire at the beginning, but eventually it became just another high-life nighttime soap. Unfortunate since it's always fun to see New York in HD. I'm not all that sad to see this one go. The cast was fun, though. I hope most of them find good landing pads in other ongoings.
Eli Stone:
This one will hurt the most - but not really. Eli Stone's in the "Cool Crowd". I intend to watch it every week. I like the cast for the most part. I liked the lightness of it, the hippie-ness of it, and that it was in San Francisco (although filmed OBVIOUSLY and IRRITATINGLY in la. How the hell do you film a "san francisco" baseball game in obviously chavez ravine????) It's always good to see Victor Garber in a role that he can play various tones. I also loved their shoutout to Credit Dauphine/Alias earlier in the season.
Why it won't hurt is that with the new storylines - post-Eli's surgery arcs - is that it too has turned into the run-of-the-mill legal dramedy a la The Practice. Maybe it always was, but I was blinded by the quirk and the gimmick, but it was definitely fun. Now, I'm not so confident they would've ran in the direction I would've followed.
****
January, though, may be my favorite month ever...
BSG returns.
LOST returns (I think).
Flight of the Conchords returns.
Scrubs returns!!
AHhhhh.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Cool Crowd: End of September 08
Lots of TV the past few weeks and lots of totally unimportant thoughts on my end, but I'm still going to write about them. Finally.
FRINGE and EUREKA
Not sure why I didn't make this connection off the bat, but FRINGE is very very very similar to Eureka - except that they're worlds apart. Both delve into the art (and darkness) of science. The core of the expansion of science is urged on by the creation of weapons. Fringe has "Massive Dynamic" - a super corporation that is developing weapons and using fringe science to be a step ahead of the game. Plus, there's obviously the interwoven relationship with the government. Eureka has "Global Dynamics", a Department of Defense funded experimental facility again developing various technologies including weapons. Each cake on layers of scientific jargon, that for my simple mind, can only take for what its worth and hope they're saying something legitimate.
And they're entirely different products.
Eureka is obviously a dramedy - a show built on its characters and quirks with science as a plot pusher. I love Eureka. Now that it has arrived at the midseason finale, I still love it. The formula of the show can get tiring: new scientist, various red herrings, Jack using simplicity in the face of complex science, more red herrings, someone facing death until Jack and Henry figure something out, and BAM - resolution. Yes, it's formulaic, but I still love the show because its entertaining, light, funny, dedicated to its characters, and deep enough to discuss if there were more people I knew that watched it. (As of now - just one other person. Maybe I should buy the dvds and pass them along.)
Fringe, on the other hand, is not Eureka. And, I'm not sure what I think of it yet. Well, I do, actually. I want to like it and I'm hoping that it'll get better. As of now, there are interesting moments but also many moments when I feel disconnected (and somewhat bored). I still haven't warmed to the lead. I still see Pacey. I'm slowly understanding Walter a bit more (I think they're intentionally lessening the density of his lines). It's super dark. It's pretty graphic. It's scored beautifully (the fears that the composer would produce Lost 2.0 aka Alias 3.0 should be diminished. The music is different.)
There was a moment in episode 2 that I greatly appreciated. When Walter admonished "Pacey" for not believing that the Iris Slideshow could happen, he asked him when he stopped imagining or having faith. It's interesting because, in the other Bad Robot show, LOST, Locke and Jack represent faith and science as opposing forces. In Fringe - particularly with Walter - science is the venue where faith gets to play and be expanded. Earlier in the episode, Walter referred to Jules Verne. I think that was a nod to original science fiction when technology really was theoretical and the concepts of hard science fed the fluffiness of imagination. So, I appreciated that moment and what I THINK they want this show to be: and old school science fiction jaunt masked in very very heavy drama.
Episode 3 didn't hit on any underlying theme like this, so maybe I'm totally wrong.
Heroes: Villains
The two-hour season premiere was exciting and interesting. I thought the first hour worked much better than the second. In fact, I don't remember much of the second hour. The third hour of the season was also very action packed.
Now, does that make the show good? I guess it's up to you.
I have always had problems with Heroes and its drastically HUGE ensemble cast and ultimately its difficulty in producing solid character movement for each character per episode. The first half of season one was super messy and lacked direction (and was super slow). The second half, for whatever reason, was damn good.
Anyway. Enough about the history.
My initial thought after the 2nd hour was: "I've seen this before. It's 'X3: XMen United'" - and I really didn't like that installment of the X movies. Oh no.
As I was watching episode 3 last night, I was engaged with all the characters. I like Tracy Strauss much more than I ever did Niki/Jessica Sanders. I thought Clare's desire for vindication/vengeance was exposed well. I thought Sylar and Noah as partners was interesting. So, on a superficial level, the plot is moving along and gaining traction. Hour 3 was about self-exploration - and it worked as an episode - but I thought the identity exploration of their selves and their powers already happened.
At the same time, I laughed a few times in the episode for the absurdity of what was happening (I think mostly regarding Sylar). Look, people with powers is absurd. I know that. I'm talking about how the characters were evolving.. or devolving.. or just generally being tweaked.
Although I thought it was cute how the Hiro and Ando story was interplaying with the old movies and music, the goofiness of it had me thinking "Charlie Chan". And, as most Asian American Studiers would feel, that wasn't a welcome feeling. Hiro's been goofy, yes. But he's established himself with a high level of passion, ingenuity, and heroism in the past. Tiptoeing around a movie theatre? Not so much. In fact, I'm worried that they actually deliberately attached the Charlie Chan caricature to Hiro in the episode (see old movie.. see old music). That would be very disappointing.
With Parkman's story: I'm not sure what's going on. But, the caricature I couldn't help but see was Rafiki in Lion King. Parkman was in Africa. He was following, blindly, someone who apparently knew his history and destiny. And, when Parkman followed the man to the boulders, the man started to paint - just like Rafiki did. All of this.. with the actor (not sure if he's African or not because Rafiki was voiced by an American) speaking in an African accent and in cryptic phrases. Um. Am I the only one?
Finally, the Sylar comedy was interesting to see, but it's SYLAR. He's been serial killing "special" people due to an envious hunger. Seriously! And, then, all of a sudden, he found a personality?
Overall, I'll keep watching as long as the story is interesting, but I'm generally disappointed that certain details/fundamentals of the show's cannon aren't handled more cleanly. Some powers have been interesting. Most are excessively over done. Did we need another super fast being playing ultimate pickpocketer in Daphne (see Bart in Smallville)? Do we need more fire throwers? More telepaths? In fact, the young lady that Mama Petrelli fed to Sylar at the beginning of the episode had a similar power to the tv version of Black Canary on Birds of Prey. Why did certain people get their powers? Why are a bunch of the powers seemingly arbitrary to the character harboring them and created to advance the plot and or the "cool" factor? Fantasy is a delicate device to manage on TV. On Smallville, the earlier seasons, the "meteor freaks" received powers but they were metaphors to their youthful angst.
Other stuff
I'm still watching 90210. Not sure why. It hasn't been anything special, but I still am.
I'm sad that Serena's turning into old Serena, but it makes sense to see. I hope it last just for a mini-arc because, as they are now, there are absolutely NO upper-eastsiders that act upon their integrity. Chuck Bass is still my favorite character on the show (still trying to wish that they never wrote in that possible date-rape scene in the pilot). Dan's an idiot.
I was wholly underwhelmed with last night's burger "How I met your mother" episode. I thought we already saw Marshall have to sell out and work with Barney. Oh, that's right. We did! I do want a damn hamburger now, though.
I thought most of the Anna Faris SNL episode was much better than the prior two episodes. Again.. I've supported Keenan since Good Burger.. but if they're going to tokenize a black comedian, there's definitely more out there that would be a better asset than Keenan is. Seriously.
What else.. what else..
Oh. I was underwhelmed with the Smallville Season Premiere. I was almost disappointed with the second episode due to the "dude, this was done in season 3" until the twist at the end. I'm liking Tess Mercer.
Supernatural's still a tour de force. I literally dropped my jaw in the season premiere when Sam.. well.. Sam did something.
Okay. I heart my DVR.
Friday, September 05, 2008
The Cool Crowd: Premiere Week 1!
It's that time of the year again, baby!
By the way, the new season started with Eureka.
Anyway, so here comes the network shows.
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl came out blasting - primarily with Dan, the good boy, going player with two girls at the same reading, no less, and with Nate going Cougar hunting.
It's weird how they flipped the season finale with Blair getting her heart broken by a flippant Chuck Bass that found his badside - and came back with an ultra-weak, sappy, and vulnerable Chuck. "I was scared you'd see me" - or whatever he said - felt really out of character. It's something they could've saved at least until later in the season. Unless, as it seems, they're going to build a vindictive courtship done only the way Chuck Bass, that sappiness completely missed. But, now as I think of it, seeing how the two ultra-petty and weak-inside-so-they're-ultra-mean-outside kiddos go about romance in their ways will be pretty damn fun.
Serena and Dan getting back together? It was sweet, but sure seemed a bit dubious.
Overall, we know where most of the kids are and they've set the table for the first part of the season. As it seemed to me last year, they set up the soap run, Topic A, B, C, and D. So, we don't know what E is yet, but it should be fun.
By the way, the show was much more tame than their hype-machine made it out to be..
and with that said..
90210
BJ in the car within the first 20 minutes? Really?
That seemed a bit much.
Then again, Chuck almost date-raped Jenny in the GG series premiere, and that's way worse.
So, did 90210 live up to the hype? I'm not too sure exactly. I never really watched the original with regularity so I don't know how it was made and how this new rendition would play off of it. The small shoutouts and tongue-in-cheek moments were nice for those who recognized them. They were definitely expecting the late 20s and early 30s crowd that grew up on the original to show up and test the waters.
What I liked:
- the humor - here's to hoping that the show wont' take itself too seriously (like the OC).
- Hmm. Is that it?
What I wasn't so hot for:
- Although Lori Loughlin's pretty damn hot at her age, she nor Rob Estes look like legitimate parents of two high school kids (one who's adopted, no less). Seriously.
- two of the 3 main girls are WAAAY skinny - like unhealthy looking arms skinny. Yes, Leighton Meester's slim, but she's had a "normal" hollywood body for a young lady since I first saw her in Surface. I'm not saying they have eating problems, but c'mon.
- the mean "blogger" thing is topical, yes, but also done in Veronica Mars.
- I liked the first hour better than the second, but they did throw a lot in for each character and it was sort of too everywhere... I'm sure they're just feeling out their way, but why not just focus on the family and run hard with the family til the surrounding community finds its role?
Will it survive? I think so. It has pretty people, it has drama, it has all the "hopes" of the CW riding on it, and because of that can throw on some crazy stuff to keep people interested.
But, does it really bring anything different to the teen drama world? I think the fish out of water story that was essential in the original, in The OC, and in Gossip Girl is covered obviously in Gossip Girl. The sexual mystique? Yes, Gossip Girl. It's glitzier than Gossip Girl. But, in the end, the writing and character building will tell the truth from the hype.
Bones
What can I say? It was classic 2-hours worth of Bones: humor, forensic science, Booth and Bones chemistry and romantic teasing, and humor!
I thought that the aloofness of the drama during the investigations was a bit looser than normal, but I guess they wanted to clean up some stories to open up the room for future developments.
My favorite moment in the 2 hours was when Hodgins started the fight with Angela's "ex"-husband and Sweets, while longing for belonging as he might self-assess, tried to jump in. Before he could, he was tripped by Angela. Perfect "Bones" moment.
My second favorite moment came at the end. Throughout the episode, Clark, who we first saw as Zack's "replacement" in the Season 3 premiere who subsequently got booted when Zack came back later in the episode, felt uncomfortable with all the aloof personal life infusion at the research lab. Clark, who returned in Season 4's premeiere because of Zack's "involvement" with the gormogon, didn't seem like he was going to make it through a second season premiere. And, I was right! But, instead of how he was abruptly booted in last season's premiere, this year he took control of his own situation and resigned from his position at the lab because he was just a scientist and couldn't hang with all the drama at the lab. Beautiful. Beautiful retribution for Clark and beautiful laughing at oneself as the show did with that statement.
The episode also felt like it was being written for a new audience. Makes sense. If FOX is giving it a 2-hour premiere, then I guess we can expect FOX to push it forward as one of its flagship dramas.
Good return. I love this show!
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Kitty, Wall-E, and the Revolution.
Giant Sized Astonishing X-men
Finally got a chance to pick up and read "Giant Sized Astonishing X-men" and it was, by george, giant sized. Lots of redemption in this supersized issue and a significant farewell by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday. Just as badassedly did Whedon reintroduce Kitty Pryde into leading lady status did he say goodbye to her. I was thinking to myself, "no he's not. no he's not. no he's not." He didn't - but.. well, Kitty dope ass and Whedon really had a good time playing with her phasing power. It was a grand way to say goodbye to everyone - Agent Brand revealing that she's not all that she is (and more), Furball getting some potential love, Ord redeeming himself, and Kitty. KITTY!
Wall-E
I really had no interest in watching Wall-E. It never appealed to me in the trailers, but friends were going to see it so I watched it. Plus I wanted to see the bay area easter eggs. I thought it was a little dark to be a pixar movie. I think it was a good film in general, but something about it wasn't Pixarish. Most of the folks in the car felt underwhelmed by it. I think I may have walked away with the most pleasant experience. I mean, I didn't love it, but I thought the story was worth the visuals and the $10.
The Revolution
Okay. History nerd alert. I wanted to watch The Revolution when it first came out on History Channel a few years ago and with July 4th, History decided to run a marathon.
Now, the series itself is okay - pretty typical History Channel style. It wasn't too deep, but it was informative. It revealed sides of the main players: George Washington, Ben Franklin, Benedict Arnold, and various British Generals that were new, fresh, and surprising at times. I think, playing off of this would be enough, but the delivery of information and style really left much to be desired. Primarily, the narration wasn't terrible, but I was tired of the pre-commercial tease that I heard over and over: "and [enter historical figure/nation] was about to make a decision that WOULD CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE WAR". Seriously. It was repeated numerous times.
What was worse was the use of quotes and the reading of them. First, most of the voices seemed generic. Two, the use of accents is all nice but when some of the voices they used were so thick in an accent (like a French one) I couldn't understand what they were saying. But really, the worst parts were some of the quotes used and how they were introduced. it was very simple - like a high school essay. Okay. Fine, make it consumable. But what's up with shit like:
Narrator: "And george washington knew the winter would be rough"
Voice: "Winter is going to be a struggle. George Washington."
Many of the quotes were short and lacked impact. Most of the quotes didn't add to the emotions or depths of the situation. And almost ALL of them lost any of their meanings because the narration prior to the quote already said the same thing!
Okay. Fine. I watched the marathon the whole way through. Guess what?
It didn't finish! I'm sure those episodes of Gangland could've been superceeded with the last 1 or 2 episodes of the Revolution. And, if not, couldn't they clear out their retreads on Saturday, July 5th, to finish the series if they had an immense amount of episodes left? I don't get the programming History Channel! WTF?
Okay. Done.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Favorite New Characters of 07-08
Yes, hella late, but I've been sick, busy, and uninspired.
So, without over thinking this, because, that means I'm just forcing it..
Number 1: Chuck Bass - Gossip Girl
Okay, so first thing you see this dude do was almost date rape a 14yo fish out of water - the little sister, even - of our prototypical Teen Show Stalwart (the guy who doesn't belong because of he's not rich, etc. etc.)
He slimed his way through the first half of the series - eventually proving his worth to the depth of the show when he did his best friend's girl and resident queen bee, Blair.
But, somewhere along the line, he transcended sleazeball and became one of the more root-on-able baddies out there - you know, like The Rock when he was coming into his fame. "This ain't sing-a-long with The Rock!" But we kept singing. Not because we were in favor of him beating our favorite face, but because we knew something good would happen. Same with Chuck. Chuck's an A-hole and I'd hate him in real life, but for the good of the show, I'm all for him getting into trouble.
Number 2: Bela - Supernatural
Not sure where she goes in the second half of the season since I haven't seen it yet, but what I saw of her up to "Red Sky at Morning". But, her mix of sass, irreverence, sexiness, and vulnerability was a fun - especially in her interactions with the Winchester Boys, specifically Dean. She's sort of like Dean.
Anyway, like Chuck, she's not necessarily someone we're cheering on to succeed, but the reaction the boys have from her is just wonderful.
Anyway, I think she's gone for season 4, so I'm assuming she bit it, got lost, or was a demon. Vampire.. for Bela? Angel? Bela?
Okay. When do those damn S3 dvds come out?
Friday, May 30, 2008
I AM IRON MAN!
Well. I'm not. But, here are my thoughts on the movie:
Despite the rave reviews from my friends, I actually thoroughly enjoyed Iron Man. Usually, when people come back from movies and exclaim their excitement for it, I tend to experience a let down. I definitely did not. I wanted the movie to excel because I like Jon Favreau and I also want comic book based movies to be good movies. I was not disappointed. Who would've thought that Jon Favreau, who hasn't been in any big budget action movies, could deliver with great pacing, playful shots, an homage to Michael Bay, and Star Wars sweep transitions. I know I'm not using proper technical speak. Anyway, you know the obvious: the movie was big, it had great effects, it was generally very fluffy, and it didn't try to be Apocalypse Now or Lord of the Rings. It was what it was meant to be: a fun romp through the Marvel Universe through the eyes of Tony Stark. But, it was well written, funny without being off-puttingly campy (*ahemtransformers*), and it didn't mire itself in origin story.
It's interesting to me that many comic book sequels (part 2s at least SM2, X2, FF2) far surpass their originals. I think the need to base the "first" movies on origin stories take away from sometimes more compelling blends of action and storytelling. Yes, you need the first to set the table, but sometimes I feel there is too much joy spent in setting the table and less so much in perfecting the food. I thought Iron Man didn't do that. It jumped in while establishing characters, a commitment to the core characteristics of the Iron Man mythos, and recontextualizing relationships (like Jarvis who is the butler in the comics but was the "Cerebro" of sorts in the film).
There were the typical shout outs to fanboys/girls and I think Stan Lee's cameo in this was the most clever so far.
I wasn't sure about Robert Downey Jr when he was first cast, but I'm very glad it was him. Although all the other 3 main characters were done well, whenever I some them on screen I saw the actor not the character.
I also think that the adjustments of Iron Man's mask in the film and scenes of RDJ's face helped eliminate that "disembodied voice" effect that occurred with the Green Goblin.
Another part that I did appreciate was that there was enough "social commentary" in the movie to add global depth and relevance. Yet, it didn't get preachy or forced. Look - arms dealing especially to terrorists just isn't right. We can all agree to that. (I have my own qualms about the arms industry but that's not really... nevermind.)
The recurring symbol of the ring or the circle also was appreciated. That energy-providing chest plate is, as far as I know, a film-version mytho. Rings represented power in the film - and hey, maybe Favreau was paying homage to Lord of the Rings. [Okay, update: the chest plate was true, but the modern day Tony Stark is without chest plate. For more, go HERE.
Lastly, as part of my support of its depth, was the simple internal conflict of Tony Stark. What is Iron Man? A mechanical, robotic weapon. Who is Tony Stark? A man in search of his soul. It was touched upon in the movie and was pretty much shouted at by Pepper's gift to Tony, but this internal conflict is a good reminder that our classic American funny book heroes have been rooted in symbolism like any other culture's mythology.
Anyway, it's obvious that I enjoyed it. Go Iron Man!
*side note* I'm not so much of a fan of the comic book Iron Man at this time.. you know with him and his whole "Superhero Registration Act aka Patriot Act" push.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Cool Crowd Musings: End of April
I am so happy that BSG is back. But this whole month, I haven't had time to watch the episodes on time. Even with Dish finally adding SciFi in HD last week, I still couldn't lock myself in to watch. No, it's not an indictment on the show. It's just a bit wacky right now with time since...
I've been in Washington DC, San Diego, Las Vegas, participating in at least 2 nighttime meetings per week in April, the NBA playoffs, the NHL playoffs, the A's, and and and and and...
So anyway. I love BSG.
But in a post this week on SF Chronicle/SFGate.com columnist Tim Goodman's The Bastard Machine, he pitted his regular readers to vote for either LOST or BSG since, in a prior email, some sparring for the two "factions" arose.
They aren't parallel shows, but they do have cult followings. Anyway, I chose BSG's topical relevance and thought provocation on such topics over LOST's dynamic storytelling and overall more generally digestible style. But, in the end, I wouldn't choose any over the other. I love TV for its unique craft, but I'm not a TV elitist. I prefer to take things for what they are and enjoy them in that state.
With that said, I'm a bit disappointed the Smallville's been picked up for Season 8. Last year, when they said Season 7 would be the last, I was sad, but I knew it was best for the soul of the show because you could see what was happening. Every show has to evolve, but this isn't the Smallville that most of us have grown and loved. I know as we get older everything in the world gets much darker. We become much more cynical - and thus our favorite high school-based characters must evolve also. And of course, I understand that the endgame was Lex's manifest destiny to becoming the most evil man ever. But, this show has seemed extremely wayward this season and parts of season 6. Given, we can only see the on again off again Lana and Clark dynamic and the meteor freak of the week, but is it really "Smallville" without those elements? What we have now is "Metropolis" or "Krypton". Even the Kent farm looks like it's been traded in for green screen.
Maybe the stories that encompass "Smallville" have been told. So, let's stop forcing stories? Let's stop plucking DC Universe characters out of the blue and sticking them into a Metropolis that is quickly devolving into the Joel Schumacher Gotham.
Anyway. Next year there's no Lex. There's no Lana. There's gonna be Doomsday (the guy who killed superman for a day.. or a few months.. enough to sell extra comics..)
Just stop. C'mon. We loved you when... but c'mon. Even Chris Webber retired.
The show I had to cut off because of schedule conflicts was Supernatural. Although it sometimes was pushed to the end of the watch list.. and their episodes that are more big story than contained arent' as strong.. I really miss that show. I watched the "Ghostfacers" episode which was intended as a One-shot in the overall scheme of things and it was great. Some scares. Some great Dean-isms. Enough of a touching story (they usually pluck those living with dying heartstrings well). I'm excited to marathon it when the S3 DVDs come.
ISNTCUOGG: I still need to catch up on Gossip Girl. Sucks that it competes with Bones.
It also competes with How I Met Your Mother. Funny that they keep throwing Red Herrings at us about "the mother". They have one season left of patience so I think that'll help the writers focus is and get as many jokes as possible and end the stories at their terms. (*ahem* Smallville *ahem).
Monday, March 10, 2008
Dave Chappelle - "Killing Them Softly"
.. wait.. is it "them" or "me"?
Anyway, this was filmed in 2000, I think. It's interesting to see who Chappelle's core audience was then (aka Black) and who it was by the time he came out with the one at the Fillmore AFTER Chappelle Show blew up (in the good way).
Dude's always been really keen analytically. I guess most comics are supposed to be, but I've always respected his level of understanding racial dynamics and how he can get raw yet still be sharp with his satire.
I thought it was funny towards the end when he claimed that chivalry was dead and it was the women's fault - a bunch of the guys cheered. One of them, in the front row, at the foot of stage right, was clapping and then you see his date/his lady do something and he completely stops. Maybe he got the, "oh, I know you ain't clapping at that bullshit" look.
At the end, there's a dude, looked totally light skinned (aka white from a distance) who jumped up emphatically - more emphatically than anyone else and subsequently started doing a fist pump in the vain of Arsenio Hall and I started hearing the dog barks. Not sure if it was him or if he was even white - but if he was.. this thought would be much more appropriate:
Someone's overcompensating. Someone's also badly misinformed that the Arsenio Hall dog bark with fist pump thing is not only really a whole decade late, but it's also not going to make you more "black".
Watching the audience is almost as amusing as listening to Chappelle himself.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
The Gary Radnich and Tony Bruno Show on KNBR 680 AM
[[okay. I usually don't like to double post within prosemonkeyverse, but I thought this fit here also because it is part of pop culture. so, there you go.]]
Gary Radnich and Tony Bruno have 30 minutes of the best radio daily at the 10AM hour on KNBR, THE Sports Leader. (Toot the Sleep Train whistle.) KNBR listeners will know what I'm talking about. Anyway, Gary from the beloved KRON and the classic "SIT DOWN, with Gary Radnich" and the days of BayTV has been covering the election campaigns for KRON and has been enthralled with the Obama-Clinton Race. So, to honor both Gary and Tony, like they have at That's Good Knowledge dot com, I made them some campaign bumper stickers:
The show is anchored with great producers like Dan Dibbly, Mike, and Patrick Conner. There is a great chemistry on there. Yes, they do the same gags everyday, but we love it. They know how to set up each others' drops and catch phrases. That's what I mean about the Sleep Train whistle.
When Tony got screwed by Sporting News radio a few weeks ago, the fans of the show felt a significant void in their daily dose.
That's KNBR 680AM.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Reflection and a promise
Again, this is a promise to all of my 2 1/2 readers out there - and more, to myself and the little nano-imps breaking their backs everyday to color the prosemonkeyverse.
I realized as I was writing a viewer-diary of each American Idol episode last week that all I was doing was writing bull shit reaction versus, at the least, cheap ass self-indulgent (and self-gratifying witty) responses to pop culture in the effect of craft analysis.
I could look at the American Idol viewing in a more critical lens where I'm analyzing the progress of each contestant on the basis of image formation and public sentiment (and prejudice), but why bother? I haven't watched American Idol much since a few years ago when it was great conversation tool with a good friend (found), but the ideal of it was lost.
Yes, I wrote a long analysis of why reality tv makes sense for the sake of consumption, but there was no way I wanted to look back at my 15-20 posts on this blog and realize almost half of it is littered with stupid comments on a useless show.
I could've wrote my piece about wondering if the nation (suburban nation, to be particular) was mental healthier during these weeks of Idol. My reason being that usually it seems like people are happier when they're singing to themselves - no matter how bad they are. I suppose, this is why karaoke rocks the souls of so many. Like in Elf, the best way to spread [xmas] cheer is to sing loud for all [or yourself] to hear.
I could've also continued my diatribe during the early years of Idol when I swore to anyone around that there was no way THE american idol would ever be black. Well, Ruben Studdard and Fantasia proved my cynicism wrong - partly. But then, looking at the final 24, you've gotta ask yourself where mass commercial appeal and strong voice did not converge. There's talk of being memorable and relevant, but less talk about being essentially a dope ass singer.
I could've also discussed the essential silliness of the Vote for the Worst campaigns that take their liberties at the overall structure of the show. I decided to take a gander at the site a few weeks ago. It sure seems immature in its nature. I mean, I read an interview that the creator gave to (I think) TVguide.com or Eonline.com that sort of showed the site in a different light, but I thought that their interest in "outing" the "authenticity" of the competition was nearsighted and really a bit condescending. I akin it to the bastion of haters of Pro Wrestling who scoff at fans with insults about how stupid we are for watching something fake. We all know it's fake. We watch it for many other things but not for the in-ring competition. I loved watching a well-crafted match - yes, that means well choreographed and even better performance. When you go to Vote for the Worst, it's like they think the rest of the world assumes that American Idol is 1) an actual SINGING competition and 2) a fair one. Trust me. We are not that dumb.
Anyway, there are a lot of stories to write about anything - even in silliness like American Idol. Instead, I just participated in it, which, isn't all that bad in my eyes, but terrible for a blog like this. So, I'm officially done with AI (on prosemonkeyverse).
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Stuff: Blade Runner, ESPN, and other stuff as they come up.
Blade Runner
I finally watched Blade Runner yesterday. I say finally, not so much because I've always wanted to watch it, but more because it's such an essential piece in the lexicon of scifi film. I've never been all that intensely in love with scifi until the last decade of my life - actually the last 5.
I really wish I had seen the movie earlier in my life. The visuals obviously cannot hold a candle to our technology, now, but the story still persists. Stories of artificial intelligence have been told throughout science fiction. But recently, with the maturation of visual effects and story telling in both tv and film, these stories that require immense aesthetic representation have called for more of these types of films.
Anyway, it's always strange to see what the future looked like in the eyes of the generations before our pocket-pc lives. Who knows? Maybe we're still headed towards a post-apocalyptic future where tech gear is more salvaged than evolved.
I also think it's funny that, in the 80s, so many people were convinced that "synthesizer" equaled futuristic music - almost as much as the keyboard tie, or in that same sense, the keytar.
Skinjobs = toasters.
ESPN
I think I'm pretty much over ESPN except for 5% of its on-air and on-line products. I'm done with Sportscenter because it has no life like it had before. I'm done with Sportscenter becauase I'm tired of the Red Sox and Yankees always being the top story even when it's not baseball season. I didn't hate on Steven A. Smith from the beginning like most people. Though I never loved him, I surely wish he'd just go back and stay in Philly. At least ESPN finally realized that NO ONE took Sean Salisbury seriously.
I rarely ever check ESPN.com anymore. Except for Bill Simmons, I rarely read any of their exclusive writers. What's worse is their incessant need to charge for the info that their "marquee" personalities write. Sorry, y'all. Yahoo! Sports has all of that information for free, without the excess busy-ness on their webpages, and has a lot of great columnists give or take an Adrian Wojnarowski. (Okay, that's mean. He, like many of the Yahoo! Sports columnists write a lot per week and are expected to do such at a high level. I'm just singling him out for one article, in particular, that he sounded so completely naive to the depth of racism in the country that I haven't really given him back and due.)
The Yahoo! Sports site is easier to navigate than ESPN's. It has optional video (not necessary like on ESPN's front page). It also is customizable and completely compatible with their fantasy leagues.
As for TV, I'll still watch Sportscenter when there's nothing else to watch and I want sports scores. I don't like Fox Sports Net's nightly sports telecast because it is waaay too busy. It doesn't have any character like Sportscenter (at least TRIES to have - not with the hosts, but with their investigative pieces) and I can get all that info cleanly done on ESPNEWS.
I do like the ESPN late night talk radio hosts better than Fox Sports. But, I rarely do late night driving like that anymore.
Until ESPN gets over themselves, they're going to continue to slip.
Disturbia
I haven't watched a movie on HBO just because it was on in a while. Of all movies, why Disturbia? Well, I thought it was supposed to be a horror movie. I really didn't know much about it.
When I read the blurb, it said that the main character (Shia Lebouf) was convinced that his next door neighbor was a serial killer. I thought, oh, it's supposed to be about a neighbor who's a possible serial killer. It sorta was about that - then sorta not. There was a lightheartedness to the movie even though there was a serious plotline about a tragic death of a parent and the mourning that comes from it - and then there's that whole story about a serial killer. So, this movie obviously had some very serious points that made it just a terrible movie.
BUT - it was entertaining. I was doing other things - on my laptop, checking laundry, eating, etc. but it wasn't bad as background entertainment. I'd never want to watch it again. I won't ever suggest it to anybody to spend their time on.
AND - now it reminds that, sometimes, I miss being a kid. I'm pretty sure that, even as a teenager, I would've thought this movie was really, really stupid. But, I'm pretty sure it would've been a fun 90 minutes to kill with the friends on a Friday night. There was the obligatory swooning over a hot girl. There were the good moments of tension. And, as a reminder to all of us nowadays, it didn't really take itself so seriously.
I mean, don't get me wrong. After the end of the movie, I was asking myself how the hell that movie got produced, who the hell would support that (and in this case, one of them was Ivan Reitman), and what the hell other movies had DJ Caruso directed? So, it is what it is.
LOST
LOST has been off the hook in Season 4. The latest episode, the one centered on Desmond and the time-trippin', was pretty good. I, again being one who HATES time-travelling stories because of their inseparable logic problems, could only love this so much because of such issues. Am I the only one who cares that none of these time travel stories makes sense? At least LOST tried to cover those loose ends, and there's a HUGE piece connected to time-warping that is still barely being uncovered. The greatness of this episode though had to do with Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond). Like in Gossip Girl, when I called Chuck the back-up point guard, so is Desmond in LOST. There are A-plots going on with Jack, Kate, Lock, and Sawyer. Desmond is the star of the B-team that consists of Sayid, Hurley, Sun, Jin, and formerly Charlie.
Eli Stone
I'm glad that the moments when Eli's lost in the middle of huge dance numbers that I should have pointed out would get old (fast), has now really brought him to the brink of major danger. Somehow, they have to get that piece worked on because, even though they are characters on their own now, a dude dancing on top of tables at work will eventually get our very short-memory having background characters suspicious.
BTW, if I didn't write it before, I'd like to apologize to Victor Garber for including he and Natasha Henstridge in the same sentence.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Was I that bad? Gross. (quarterlife)
Yes, blogs are pretty self-indulgent. And, shit, my prior email was in fact indulgejohn@. But, really, I never meant to make my ramblings, as well as my bloging buds' everyday ongoing bullshit, into a nationwide cryfest meant for mass consumption. (I mean, it would've been fun for us, but pretty much not for anyone else.) Who the hell thought creating characters about "bloggers"?
NBC! That's who!
Okay, to be fair, quarterlife was created by the producers who also brought critically acclaimed television on "My so-called life", "Once and Again", and "thirtysomething". And, quarterlife was initially an internet show: shown streamed, chopped, and basically not really meant to be considered a coherent television drama.
I never watched the show online. I'm as much a techhead as the next person, but the only videos I like to watch on the net are old videos, funny gags, and sports highlights. (Okay, okay. Something else, but.. nevermind.)
The first half of the "pilot" started out, I dunno, regular enough. We get the point: 20somethings who are lost. I turned off the show to either sleep or watch something else and just came back to it a few days later. What ensued was cringe-inducing. The shots seemed overindulgent, as you know - and I know, like blogging is. But I hardly doubt I should give them credit because I'm SURE that was purely coincidental.
Matt Roush, from TVguide.com DUMPED ON the show and was pretty on-point with what's all wrong with that 44 minutes I just completely can not recoup. Dylan, the lead and main blogger (well, none of them are bloggers but Dylan) was sensational as a prettier, real Earth version of Smeagol. Who's her precious? She's new at a magazine company. She's a "writer" even though she referred to bit of sarcasm as irony. What? Her friends comprise of an actor/bartender, a filmmaker making arthouse Toyota/Scion dealership commercials, a smarmy best friend of the "filmmaker" who has family money, a girlfriend of smarmy guy who is pined over by "filmmaker", and there's some tech nerd who's helping the guys make the commercial.
Okay. Caught up? Are those our 20-something archetypes? Woe-be-me creatiphiles? Okay, okay. That makes sense.
The creators/writers really miss in this show since we ARE generally okay with those archetypes for this show. People will always be empathetic to watching lost people find their way. We're all lost. We really are. We're all in a state of flux or fearing one around the corner. We'll watch others who are wading in our own current. So how'd they miss? All these stupid kids do is whine! No one's happy. And yeah, that's the point of a mid-20s angst type of show, but do that in lieu of any real redeeming everyday qualities? Geez, these characters make the One Tree Hill characters look like surviving citizens of Caprica.
These 20somethings are not adults. Dylan, as Matt Roush wrote, is easily the most annoying character to hit television in a long time. Her discussion with Lisa outside of the bar that turned into some hit-and-run conversation about an orgasm was like listening to any of the adolescents in any of our favorite teen dramas but far more immature. The conversation that the two best friends had in the basement where they made up was surreal. If they had an Enhanced/Pop-up-video version of the show like they do with LOST, I'm sure it would've read, "Look! Finally a 3 Dimensional male character with real emotions... Uh, hello? Why aren't you crying yet?" At one point, I was grumbling to myself about the shortcomings of pretty people.
When I was watching those scenes I thought about whether my adverse reaction to them was due to the characters' supposed adulthood (like I wouldn't mind if I saw it in Gossip Girl), and it really wasn't that. Gossip Girl, though having "high school" characters have such more substance than their (I guess) pre-professional counterparts in quarterlife. The whine was as bad as Dawson's Creek, but that was a 10 YEAR OLD SHOW and it had a heart and soul to the stories, if nothing more than a soap.
For a pilot episode, it had 3 of its 6 main players shed tears for completely different incidents. quarterlife is stock full of tears and completely no real emotion. Lisa, the very pretty actress, was berated by her acting teacher for not knowing herself and not exuding any real sexaulity because she wasn't real to herself. She's a fitting metaphor of the show.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
AI: Elimination #2
Okay, seeing their sadness and disappointment.. and I'm scoring myself on who gets booted. I'm an A-hole, yeah?
Okay. Well. I am.
Jason: 1 point
Alexandreia: 1 point (She's not THAT good. Prolly doesn't deserve to go in the 2nd episode, though.)
hence...
Amanda: 0 points
(Did Carly get extensions?)
Wow, Kady knew she should've left, too.
Alaina: 0 points
(Okay, Kristy Lee, Amanda, and Kady better feel lucky... and like SHIT!)
(Wow. Are they desperate for ratings? I gotta see what they're getting. Is Idol losing steam? I wouldn't mind.)
(Oh, wait, did Daughtry get NO love? Haha. Nice.)
Robbie: 1 point
This week's points: 3 of 4.
Total: 4.5 of 8.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Scripted stuff..
Eli Stone is still good. It's a lawyer show so you get what you expect in that department, but the strength of the show still relies on the lead and the supporting cast. Let's just assume that people in big firms go nutrs sometimes, with the pressure, that Eli's weirdness is everyday culture.
I just watched the first quarter or quarterlife on NBC. If the lead character's a writer, why did she refer to someting as irony that was totally NOT irony?
Anyway, it's alright... so far..
AI: Top 10 Girls
Okay... here we go..
Carly - A little pitchy. I totally wanna get a new tattoo. She definitely has command of her voice..
See, Randy said what I already said. I should be a judge. I'd like to coach Kristy Lee Cook. Hmm. Okay.. singing... competition..
Simon's spot on. Song choice.. yeah.
It's cool that she's panting.. and sweating.. NO NO, not like that. It just shows how much she threw in. Cool.
Syesha - Sounds good. If she comes up with a good ending, she'll do herself justice. Hmm.
I don't think it was "indulgent". Maybe a bad song choice, but there was nothing wrong with it. Simon's definitely stretching for something.
Brooke - (Pre video: I'm already rolling my eyes.) Well, she definitely sounds better than last week. Her facial expressions are a bit too much. She looks uncomfortable.
Yes, I agree that the song choice was good. Good performance.
Ramielle - (Wow, what a surprise. A filipina that danced polynesian.. naks. BTW, Ryan, I bet her native language is English.) Cool that she's doing something more lively. She does sing a little old school. She does have a strong voice, though. She needs to stop doing that cutesy thing, btw. She already looks younger than she is.. and she has more talent than having to rely on that.
Kristy Lee Cook - (Hmm. Get dirty. Yay.) Oh no. Well, she's more alive this week. I just don't think her voice compares to the other girls. You get nothing out of this.
I love that shirt, though.
Oh, there are two cooks.
WOW, classic rock from Amanda? Another surprise.
BTW, I watched Paradise Hotel 3 the other night.. since when I was younger I totally enjoyed the stupidity of the first one.. and the girls were hot. Okay.. so, it totally did nothing for me. On the other hand, Real World/Road Rules this week it REALLY did get nasty.. and Danny attacking Johanna (wrongly) and yelling at her that he "didn't speak Spanish" was uncalled for and Racist. I can hear someone say he wasn't racist.. it was just a bad moment. Well, what he said was racist. And, well, if he's NOT racist.. he's definitely okay with it. I'm sorta.. okay. Nevermind.
Okay..
Amanda - that was bad. C'mon. Pitchy.
I don't understand when Simon says "indulgent song".
Alaina - (uh, wtf was that? strange food habit? that's all you have?!!?) When the first thing that comes out of your mouth when you're singing is a breath.. not good. It sounds sorta disjointed. All over the place.. Super pitchy. Not so good.
Alexandria - I love this girl's grandma from the audition show.. cute lady. I can't say she's created any interest for me, though. She can sing.. but this is a bit pitchy.. and whiny..
Yeah, safe choice = BORING. I said Boring before Simon did. What?
Yes, I liked that, "wtf are you talking about Paula" look. Btw, Paula loves that "relevant" word. She needs to shut it up.
Kady - Woah.. watch that step. She looks really uncomfortable. Bad song choice. She needs to stop singing songs she just wants to sing, and start COMPETING. I think she really has a nice and strong voice, and this does nothing for her. Felt very contained.
This would be an interesting story.. like short story. The conflict's not very unique, but there's something there. She's full of talent and personality, but she's hitting a ceiling in her creativity when she's on stage. Hmm.
Asia'h - Soft notes.. oversinging soft notes. Not going well. Hmm. Oversinging everything. =/ Rough, Simon, but true. She's not THAT good.
Winners for the week:
Brooke - she showed a lot this week
Kristy Lee - she bounced back
Carly - so did she
Losers:
Kady - she wasn't bad, but she needed to bounce back and didn't.
Amanda - she tried to show some range and it didn't do much.
Alaina - she can really sing, also, but didn't do much.
Honestly, almost everyone was pretty bland.
Top 3:
Brooke
Ramielle
Carly
Getting the boot:
Amanda
Alexandria
Alternate:
Kady
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
AI: Top 10 Dudes
This week's...
Winners:
David Hernandez - I agre. Dude just sounded good. Performed much better.
Chikezie - He was in his groove this week. He should stay in that zone to do himself justice.
Luke Menard - He's got an interesting voice. He's not Top 3, but he's a winner this week since he sounded and performed much better than last week.
David Cook - okay, I was rough on him last week, but he definitely sounded in his comfort zone this week. He definitely has a rock voice (as opposed to Robbie). He sounds better when he's not doing that irritating breathy thing with his voice. I disagree with Simon that he doesn't have charisma. Last week Simon would've been right with that! I thought he performed really well today.
David Archuleta - A bit bold with the new arrangement.. started off slowly.. but I think he again showed his voice and command. Yup, he ripped it. Again, started off slowly, but really blew that shit out. "Maturity"/Command. Cool.
Losers:
Jason Yeager
Danny Noriega - Okay, really bad start. He sounded better as it went on.. but still..
Robbie - Now he has two of them questioning his rockhood. Well.. one way or another, I don't think he's all that great. He wasn't bad this week, but..
Subpar to their best:
Michael Johns - wasn't his best, but he's safe.
Jason Castro - wasn't his best, but he's safe.
Guys did a much better than week.
Top 3:
David Archuleta
David Hernandez
Chikezie
Getting the Boots:
Jason Yeager
Robbie
Alternate:
Danny Noriega
Monday, February 25, 2008
SNL: 2/23/08 - Tina Fey
I've noticed that SNL episodes after a long hiatus usually fall very flat. This episode with everything involved: a whole season's worth of unused sketches, writers having a long time of wacky ideas to rummage their brains, and Tina Fey making her return begged for letdown. I thought it was pretty good overall.
Sketch 1: CNN Democratic Debate (As with most of their political sketches since I've been a regular watcher, this was pretty underwhelming. Fred Armisan, who I think is very undervalued, was not very good as Obama. The gist of the sketch was there and was relatively funny, but it wasn't anything special.
Sketch 2: Tina's Monologue was great. Having Steve Martin didn't hurt, but I knew that Tina was pretty much going to cover the strike and then play awkward/low-confidence girl like Liz Lemon on 30 Rock and it was fun. I loved her rendition of the oldtime movie "I can do it."
Sketch 3: Annuale commercial was pretty funny. I thought it was one of their better spoof ads.
Sketch 4: Rock of Love was pretty bad. Nothing special excpet for bagging on the girls and the show. Could've been better.
Sketch 5: Digital Short: A Message for Old People - this was pretty funny overall. Nothing crazy outstanding, but it was pretty good. W'sup with "The Transforming Robots"? Did Universal not want to allow them to use it? Wait. Paramount/Dreamworks. Hmm.
Sketch 6: What that Bitch Talking Bout? wasn't anything special, but I thought it hit where it was supposed to.
Performance 1: Carrie Underwood. Okay, as much as I could watch her HD all day, she sure doesn't do much on stage but stand in front of a mic stand and sing. She also started out sorta pitchy. Oh, wait, wrong show. Ironic.
Sketch 7: Weekend Update was alright. I thought some of the stuff missed. I gotta say, though, that Mike Huckabee's little piece was pretty funny. Nice to see somebody being able to laugh at himself. Now, for real, just go away. (Btw, Mike Huckabee Biopic - totally unnecessary but probably would be good just to see Kevin Spacey do it.) Nice to have Tina back behind the desk even though, as much as I agree with the gist that Hilary definitely gets discredited for various things because she's a woman, I just don't trust her.
Another interesting note on Huckabee is that he's received high publicity on comedy shows that are obviously left-leaning.. or swimming (Daily Show, Colbert Report, and the current SNL) - when he's probably the most "conservative" of the top 3 or 4 Republican candidates.
Okay, watching this portion again, it definitely did it better as it went along. Some of the first few "news" articles didn't hit.
I love Amy Poehler.
Sketch 8: NBC's Thursday Night: Celebrity Apprentice Overload was alright, but it went too long. It was cool to see everyone doing impersonations, though. Kristen's really good in a lot of what she does. Bill Heder rocks! Okay, this was better than I thought the first time. I think I'm done with The Donald routine, though. Darrell Hammond's got major talent elsewhere. Let's retire The Donald, yeah? Thanks!
Sketch 9: Inappropriate Best Man Toast was pretty good. Nothing new or spectacular, but it was funny.
Sketch 10: Virgania Horsen's Hot Air Balloon Rides - I really liked this sketch. Kristen was so good with her "blandness" and I LOVED the low-quality cheap ad effects.
Sketch 11: I Drink Your Milkshake: Okay, dude, Bill Heder's Daniel Plainview was spot on! I loved the credit scene too. Lots of work for a seemingly one-time skit. Being that I heard the There Will Be Blood soundbytes everyday on KNBR, I really gotta repeat that Heder was good.. obviously since I posted it earlier. "I abandoned my BOY! I abandoned my CHILD!"
Performance 2: Again, in a totally HD-worthy black/biker get-up, Carrie Underwood's looking great... standing behind that mic stand. At least the guitarists are allowed to move. I'm sure this would've looked the same with a still image.
Sketch 12: Lady Business - this was okay. True in its satire, but wasn't anything all that great.
Oh, I was worried that Don Pardo wasn't going to make it past 90 after trying to blow out those candles. At first, I thought that they put on those trick candles. I was thinking, "dude, that's not just mean, but that's life threatening." I was really really worried. Were you?
