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Sunday, September 30, 2007
I was Sylar the First time when I answered some of the questions as a joke instead of my real answers.
Find out what heroes character are you at LiquidGeneration.com!
But When I took the quiz Seriously I was Matt Parkman, which I'm totally cool with.
Find out what heroes character are you at LiquidGeneration.com!
Then when I answered everything the exact opposite I got:
Find out what heroes character are you at LiquidGeneration.com!
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Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Monday Night
How I Met Your Mother
Hilarious, as usual. I laughed so hard I chocked a couple of times. Robin has come back from a summer abroad after her breakup with Ted, and she's brought back a souvenir, her new boyfriend Gael (Enrique Iglesias). Ted meanwhile has been getting over Robin by growing his "break-up beard" but after meeting her new boyfriend he realizes he's "losing" the break-up and goes out looking for the first girl he can meet. Meanwhile Marshall and Lily are on a double date with Robin and Gael, and both quickly fall for his charm.
The episode featured some amazingly hilarious stuff, such as Ted ranting about Robin in various stages of shaving his beard off. But the best moment comes after Ted awakens form his druken night of revenge with a Tattoo, but not just any tattoo, no this is a butterfly located in the small of his back just above his buttocks. Yes Ted has gotten a "Tramp Stamp" and as Lily, Marshall, and Barney find out and then make fun of Ted before letting him know about it I was in tears.
I'm so happy HIMYM is back as I can once again look forward to my Monday Nights and my weekly dose of hilarity.
Heroes
Back for it's second season, Heroes had a lot to set up in its first episode, as four months has past. We learned that Peter is assumed dead, Nathan is a drunk and despises his mother. Hiro is still stuck in ancient Japan and learns that his hero, Takezo Kensei, is really a drunk Englishman, just before realizing he's drastically changed history and Kensei's legend.
Claire and HRG (AKA Noah) have moved from Texas to Southern California (Their version of Texas had already looked like southern California, so why not) and are trying, albeit not very hard, to appear normal. It's not long before Claire meets another powered teen, he appears to have the power of flight, which he apparently uses to look in on girls, can you say creepy!
MAtt has recovered from his gun shot wounds and has finally passed his detective's exam, and is taking car of human tracking system Molly, with Mohinder. Seems Molly is having nightmares about her Boogeyman, who can apparently see her as well. And Mohinder is working with HRG to infiltrate "The Company" to take it down from the inside.
And if that wasn't enough someone is hunting down the older generation of Heroes, such as Hiro's dad and Nathan and Peter's Mother and killing them. Seems there was a group of 13 who went separate ways when they couldn't agree on how to save the world. Now there are only 9 left and it may be one of their own that's hunting them down (before the end of the episode the group looks to be down to 8).
Oh and they introduce 2 new characters, a brother and sister team trying to reach America so they can seek out Mohinder's (deceased) father and find a cure for their powers. Her Power appears to be someway of causing everyone around her to die some awful death that involves bleeding from the eyes (Also known as the worst power ever!) and her brother's power seems to be the ability to keep her in check.
Overall the episode was good and worked to set up the season, oh yeah and Peter apparently he is alive, in Ireland or Scotland, chained up in a shipping crate, with a new power (electric energy bolts, last seen in his fight with Sylar in the future episode) and apparently Amnesia (possibly the lamest, most played out plot device in years, although if anyone can make it work it's the Heroes crew)
Tuesday
Beauty and the Geek
Just a little on this show, I was impressed with Sam's performance at the debate (still think he's a tool though) and I was sad to see Tony go as I think he could use the experience the most of anyone in the house.
Reaper
I've reviewed it before, just a few days ago in fact, so I'm just gonna say a couple of things. First off I love Missy Peregrym as the replacement love interest. But you could easily tell the scenes with her were reshot as Sam looked completely different (don't beleive me look at his hair (it's lighter) and his stubble (it's thicker) Overall I still loved it.
Also I love Ray Wise as the devil, he does a fantastic job, and comes across as a bit of a father figure, even more so than his real parents. Plus I think the best part is one simple line from the Devil:
"Don't worry I've seen how this all ends, God wins."
This is a line, I don't think I've ever seen in anything before but it's a great line, so great in fact that I wrote the first issue of a comic book based around this simple idea. I don't want to give much away, but basically it's about Satan realizing he's lost the war, but there's still battles between here and there. It's my favorite line of the pilot, and may be my favorite line of the week.
Well that's what I watched the last two nights what about you?
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Monday, September 24, 2007
Fall, the time when the temperature drops, leaves begin to change colors, the movies in theaters change from the summer blockbuster to the smaller Oscar caliber movies, and the new fall shows premiere on television. It's a time when my DVR goes into overdrive as I always try to check out some of the new shows while keeping up with my old shows. Sure some of them get dropped by the wayside within a few weeks, but you never know which ones. So here below is my television schedule for this fall, along with my best bets for most nights. All Times are Pacific.
Monday
8:00 - How I Met Your Mother (CBS) / Chuck (NBC)
8:30 - Aliens in America (The CW) or The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
9:00 - Heroes (NBC)
10:00 - Journeyman (NBC)
Best Bet(s):
How I Met Your Mother - Easily the funniest show on tv. NPH (Neil Patrick Harris for you non-HIMYMers) steals every scene he's in, but the entire ensemble does an amazing job. Seriously you have to watch it, it's gonna be Legen - wait for it - dary!
Heroes - One of the best shows on TV. The show is serialized and mysterious, but gives you answers almost every week. In it's first season it was almost perfect, although it's finale lacked some punch, But this season they came up with a way to make the show even better: First, split it up into multiple story arcs, and Second, hire Kristen Bell. Seriously you can't go wrong with KB in your corner.
Tuesday
8:00 - Beauty & The Geek (The CW)
9:00 - Reaper (The CW) / House (Fox)
Best Bet:
Reaper - My second favorite of the new pilot I've seen. It's a supernatural, action comedy, and if it holds on to the fun of the first episode it's got a real potential.
Wednesday AKA Busy Night
8:00 - Pushing Daises (ABC) / Kid Nation (CBS)
9:00 - Private Practice (ABC) / Gossip Girl (The CW) / Criminal Minds (CBS) (maybe is we don't like PP or GG) / Bionic Woman (NBC) - (Bionic Woman will be reshown Fridays @ 7 on Sci-Fi)
10:00 Life
12:00am - Ghost Hunters (catching the replay since it's on at 9:00pm)
Best Bet:
Pushing Daises - Easily the best new show of the year. It's a whimsical, beautiful "forensic fantasy" on the outside with a wonderful romance of two people who can't ever touch hidden at the heart of the show. If the show can keep the beautiful whimsy of the pilot it will be a hit. It'll either last less than 13 episodes of 5 seasons.
Thursday:
8:00 - Ugly Betty (ABC) / My Name is Earl (NBC)
8:30 - 30 Rock (NBC)
9:00 - Grey's Anatomy (ABC) / The Office (NBC)
9:30 - Scrubs (NBC)
Best Bet:
30 Rock/The Office: A dream comedy line-up! Laugh for an hour straight and give 30 Rock a chance. These two put up quite a fight with HIMYM just narrowly beating them for funniest show on TV.
Friday:
7 - Bionic Woman
9 - Woman's Murder Club
Sunday:
8 - Viva Laughlin
iTunes:
Supernatural - One of my favorite shows on Television. It's consistently well written, with great new takes on old legends and new ghosts and it's the scariest thing on network tv. So why's ot on my iTunes list? Because it's on against several shows Jeri likes, and I'd rather watch those with her.
Smallville - I haven't yet decided if I'll d/l this one or not. It's a decent show but half the time I just find myself not caring. We'll see how it goes.
And there you have it, my TV viewing schedule for the next few weeks, before cancelations and realization of awfulness change it.
What will you be watching this season? And does the fact that some shows are available online either for free or through iTunes change what you watch? Let me know.
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Wednesday, September 19, 2007
WARNING: The Videos posted below do have some profane language.
Every once in a while some news comes out that just pisses me off and this is one of those times.
I'm sure by now most of you have either seen or heard about Chris Crocker, the kid whose video of him throwing a hissy fit because people were making fun of Brittany and her horrendous performance at the VMAs (Pictured at left in a picture from Youtube).
I'll admit I watched the video and it made me laugh and feel bad for this kid at the same time. He's a sad 20-something living with his grandmother who clearly is far to obsessed with Brittany Spears (one earlier video had his room completely plastered in Brittany memorabilia) The video has spawned numerous parodies, the best of which stars Seth Green. All in all it's become an internet phenomenon, one which should pass as all the others have.
But, according to this TVGuide story, Chris Crocker has just signed a TV Development deal which will develop a show around him. The proposed show will be a "Docusoap" focusing on Crocker's apparently fascinating life.
Who are these people willing to throw money at something that no one will watch? Yes it was funny to watch and laugh at his rant, but does anyone want to watch a 30 or 60 minute show about this kid? And if so why? What makes him different from any of the other kids out there throwing their videos up on the web? I understand that his video got over 8 million hits, but one internet video, does not a TV Star! He's an unproven talent and anyone willing to throw money his way deserves to have the show they develop crash and burn.
I throw this one in the Idiotic Ideas box right next to ABC's Cavemen, which up until this point was the stupidest idea of 2007.
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Monday, September 17, 2007
It's been a week since I foretold the coming of some new reviews so I figured it was time to actually write some of them up. So here's my review of the 3 CW pilots we saw as well as my opinion on the show the Emmy's named the Best Comedy Series, last night.
Reaper
This is one of my favorite pilots of the season (falling right behind Pushing Daises). I think it's because it combines the supernatural with slacker comedy, two of my favorite genres, with such ease. The pilot, directed by Kevin Smith, introduces Sam (played by The Loop's Bret Harrison) a 20 year old slacker still living at home and working at a home depot type story, the same job he's had since high school.
We meet Sam on the day of his 21st Birthday and his parents are acting awfully strange, telling him how much they love him and treating him better than they normally do. As his day goes on his parents aren't the only ones acting strange, neighborhood dogs chase him, and he seems to have some kind of telekinetic power.
Turns out Sam's parents, prior to his birth, sold the soul of their first born to the Devil (The always evil Ray Wise) and he's come to collect. But rather than take Sam to hell, he's employed him as a bounty hunter. His job is to collect those that have escaped hell and returned to their evil ways.
Luckily Sam's not alone, as his best friend Sock is on hand to help him battle the forces of evil, and his love interest, Andi, has no idea any of this is going on.
One note, in the version we saw Andi was not played by Missy Peregrym (Heroes), the role was recast and reshot with Missy, and for some reason they showed us the old version of the show, so I'll be there for the first episode to see how different it is with Missy now in that role (although I think she'll do great)
Gossip Girl
I'd like to say that this show was amazing, fantastic, and a must see, mainly because I'm a fan of two of the actors and the narrator (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' Blake Lively, John Tucker Must Die's Penn Badgley, and Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell, respectively), but I simply can't. The best I can say is that it's a decent show which should at least get a second look.
Maybe it's because I went in looking for The OC, East Coast addition, and didn't get it, but for some reason it didn't meet my expectations. But it's not really a bad show, it's just not what I expected, which is why I will probably rewatch the pilot (which airs this Wednesday) and at least the 2nd episode.
The show follows Serena (Lively) as she comes back to her old private school after a mysterious year away. Her best friend has taken her place as the top dog in school and is not happy to see her return. The boys all love Serena including Dan (Badgley), the son of an aging Rock Star whose always been a loner, and always secretly had feelings for Serena.
Through a serious of circumstances Dan takes Serena on a date and there's lots of Gossip! Most of which comes through a website run by "Gossip Girl" the titular narrator voiced by Bell.
Overall I think it could go one of two ways, it could be a wonderful soap opera-y guilty pleasure or it could be tedious drama which struggles to capture viewers. Only time will tell, but I'll be there to find out.
Aliens in America
I thought this was a wonderfully funny satire, and Jeri thought it was an offensive unfunny waste of 22 minutes. And I think that's the fine line this show will have to walk.
Aliens is about Justin a nerdy high schooler with hardly any friends, he's socially awkward and it's made all the more obvious by his sister, whose very popular. Justin's parents are made aware of his status when he's listed on the Jocks list of the ten most "Bonable" girls in school, apparently a loser is always put on the list as a joke, and this year it's Justin.
In order to get Justin a friend his mother signs up for the foreign exchange program, after being promised a kid from London. But the family is shocked when Raja, a student from Pakastan, gets off the plane at the airport and says he's their exchange student.
At first the entire family is upset and wants nothing to do with Raja, but one by one they all overcome their prejudice and upon getting to know Raja, accept him. For instance, once Justin gets to know Raja he learns that they have much in common and are both outcasts and quickly become friends.
The show deals with the idiotic stereotypes Americans have for all people from the Middle East and this is where it walks the fine line between satire and racism. While some will see it as being an way to show ignorance, some will see it as racist to a class of people. Personally I think the show has a good base, but it all depends on what it does in its first few episodes. If it continues to just hit on the one gag of Raja being Pakistani it will get real old real fast.
Also I must be clear we didn't see the broadcast version of the pilot, they recast the dad with Gilmore Girls' Scott Patterson taking over the role, but they showed us the old version.
30 Rock
Last season featured 2 shows which dealt with the behind the scenes lives of the cast and crew of a SNL-type show. One of them survived into a second season, the other crashed and burned. I have to admit I choose the wrong one last season. I loved Studio 60, but once NBC took it off the air I lost interest. Of course by that time I had made it through the first 16ish episodes.
On the other hand I dismissed 30 Rock almost from the beginning, I had no interest in it, and only have watched the pilot, turning it off halfway through. Boy was I wrong. After constantly reading Jace's (The Televisionary) praise for the show for the past few months I broke down and rented the first disc this week. Thursday night I popped the disc in the player and by the end of the night I had watched 6 episodes. I finished the season today on my lunch break.
I don't know how I survived last season without having Tina, Jack, Tracy Jordan, Kenneth the Page (Above), and all the rest of the colorful cast in my life. The show is hilarious, quirky, and so far out there that there wasn't a single episode where i went more than 3 minutes without laughing out loud, and I don't laugh out loud often.
The show in the simplest of terms is about Tina (Tina Fey), the head writer of "The Girlie Show," whose new boss, Jack (Alec Baldwin), has demanded she add a new star to her show. The new star? Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) a loud mouthed black movie star, whose a little but crazy.
I'll say right out, I'm not a fan of Baldwin, but he's amazing in this show, and consistently makes me laugh. But he's not the only one, Fey is brilliant, and Jack McBrayer as Kenneth the Page is the best onscreen character since NPH's Barney over on How I Met Your Mother (who himself may be the best onscreen character since Bill Haverchuck of Freaks & Geeks). Kenneth is a sweet, country bumpkin whose dream it is to work in tv, but for now he'll settle for being a Page, running others errands, and basically being pushed around. McBrayer's portrayal of Kenneth is amazing, he's always smiling and seems so perfectly innocent.
But something must be said about Tracy Jordan, in the beginning Tracy was probably my least favorite character on the show, now he's second only to Kenneth. Here's just a few of the highlights from Tracy; one episode he constantly sees a giant blue blob chasing after him, in another he discovers that Thomas Jefferson is his ancestor and decides to make Thomas Jefferson: The Movie, with himself playing every single character, He goes on the run because "The Black Crusaders", including Bill Cosby, Oprah, Condoleezza Rice (Jack's ex) and other prominent black figures, are trying to ruin his career. Tracy is the single most idiotic, crazy character on TV, yet it works somehow. Also, the show has some of the best recurring characters and guest stars on TV, including my favorite Tracy's doctor, Dr. Spaceman (pronounced Spi-CHEM-in, except Tracy who simply call him Dr. Spaceman)
So I was rooting for 30 Rock to win the Best Comedy Series award last night, and was thrilled when it beat out such stiff competition as The Office and Ugly Betty (Both Shows I love). I honestly think the funniest show won, even if I am a recent convert to said show.
I'm looking forward to the second season premiere with guest star Jerry Seinfeld as himself. And I recommend everyone go out and rent the DVDs or Watch the show on NBC.com and catch up. I promise it's worth it, and only gets better the more you watch.
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Wednesday, September 12, 2007
So here's my new background on my computer, featuring one of the greatest characters ever to grace the TV screen (If only for one, short season)
If you don't recognize Bill Haverchuck, I recommend you go rent/buy "Freaks and Geeks" right now, as it's one of the funniest shows ever, and it's only about 19 episodes.
Enjoy the picture.
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Monday, September 10, 2007
This weekend I saw three of the new Pilots of the CW (Reaper, Gossip Girl, & Aliens in America) and two movies (3:10 to Yuma & Shoot 'Em Up) and will be bringing reviews of them soon. But right now it's class time, so I'm gonna get back to that.
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Saturday, September 8, 2007
NY/NJ Trip
Last week Jeri and I went on a trip to New York City and Princeton, New Jersey to have some fun and see some friends. While there we took in 2 Broadway Musicals and my friend Kenny and I saw a movie, War starring Jason Statham and Jet Li.
On Thursday morning we got up to go to TKTS to see what shows we could get half price tickets to. Unfortunately it wasn't open and so we just walked around Time Square instead. But we found our way to the Neil Simon Theater where Hairspray was running and we went in and managed to get two second row center tickets for that night.
The musical was Amazing and had a fantastic cast including *NSYNC's Lance Bass as Corny Collins, O Town's Ashley Parker Angel as Link, and Leave it to Beaver's Jerry "The Beav" Mathers as Wilbur Turnblad.
The show was very different from the movie, but it was very fun. The best part was the song "Timeless to Me" between The Turnblad parents, in which the actors apparently improvise and were constantly making each other laugh. I in turn laughed so hard I cryed.
Friday night we went to see Grease featuring the winners of last spring's reality show "Grease: You're the One That I Want" Our seats were not anywhere near as good (we were in the balcony) but it was still great to see on stage. You could tell that the run had only begun recently as the cast seemed to still be finding their parts, but it was still fun to watch and the songs were as good as always.
Saturday night in New Jersey my friend Kenny and I went to see War. Unlike the typical Jason Statham movie, this one had actual character development and plot. There wasn't as much action as I had hoped (although I assume I'll get my fill in Shoot 'Em Up this weekend) but what action there was was still pretty amazing. The story revolves around a mysterious Asian Hired Gun who turns the two big Asian lead gangs against each other and starts a gang war. It featured some great twists and of course Jason Statham, who is the best action hero around these days.
While in the city we also saw Central Park, spent several hours in FAO Schwartz, had dinner with some of our friends who recently moved from Malibu to New York, and of course walked far to much.
While in New Jersey we toured Princeton, both the town and the school, went to an Orchard to pick apples, went to the Jersey Shore (much prettier than Malibu), and spent alot of time playing games with Kenny and Jennifer.
New Fall Shows
So I've had the chance to watch several of the Pilots for this year's new fall season. So far I've seen ABC's Pushing Daises, NBC's Bionic Woman (the first cut), Life, and Journeyman, and CBS's The Big Bang Theory. Tomorrow Jeri and I are going to a special screening of the CW pilots and plan to see Reaper, Gossip Girl, Aliens in America, and Life is Wild.
Here's my thoughts so far.
Pushing Daises
This was hands down the show that I was most excited to see this season and it didn't disappoint. The show centers on Ned a young man who finds out at a young age that he can bring life to the dead with one simple touch. Unfortunately he soon also finds that this power comes with a couple of caveats, one of which is that if he ever touches the person again they dies immediately and can never be brought back, another keeps him from letting anyone come back for more than one minute.
Ned, now grown up owns a pie shop and uses his power to bring back murder victims to find out who killed them and collect the reward money. But when the newest murder victim is Ned's first love he decides to keep her alive.
The show is a mixture of a forensics, murder mystery show, and the romance between two people who can never touch each other. The show is too hard to place in one genre, put really has something for everyone. It's my top recommendation for the new season. Mark your calendar's for Wednesdays on ABC.
Definitely one to set up for a "Season Pass"
Bionic Woman
Another show I was really anticipating. This is a pretty straight forward action show. For those of you who don't know it's about a girl who has some of her body replaced with "bionic parts" which make her better, stronger, faster. I enjoyed what I saw, but look forward to seeing the final cut. I plan on watching the first couple of episodes to see if it's one to keep.
Life
This is one show I will admit I had no desire to watch. The premise didn't entice me and I only watched it because I had nothing better to do. The story follows a policeman who was wrongly convicted of murder and has spent 12 years in prison. Upon his release he goes back to being a detective. It sound pretty straight forward and honestly like nothing special. But the lead is a very bizarre character and it's enjoyable watching him adjust to the changed that the world has gone through in 12 years (such as cell phones, OnStar, and Instant Messaging) Plus there's a great conspiracy about who framed him. All in all I'll give it two or three episodes before I decide.
Journeyman
This is another one whose concept sounded great. A man starts to travel through time waking up in different periods and then coming back with no explanation. Apparently he follows the life of certain people and has to try and change their lives in certain ways, although he's not sure how. It's kind of like Quantum Leap with out Al, and with everyone thinking he's crazy and on drugs since he keeps disappearing for days. (apparently being gone for a day or a few hours for him can equal much more time to his family and friends) There's a great twist partway through that completely threw me for a loop, and made the show one I will definitely be watching this season.
Big Bang Theory
It's funny, but seems forced. Two socially awkward nerds, one very beautiful girl, and a slew of hilarity ensues. At least I'm sure thats what the creator's thought. As it is it's mediocre at best but does have some potential. It's on against Chuck (Which I plan to watch soon and plan to be watching this season) and Aliens in America, so depending on how much we enjoy Aliens tomorrow this one may fall off my schedule.
That's what I think so far, I'll post my thoughts on the CW shows later this weekend, and at some point put up my fall viewing schedule.
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Friday, September 7, 2007
This just my be my favorite Movie Review of all time, if only for the last line:
The Hottest State (2007)
