Summer Show Wrap-Up

I know, I know, it seems a little late to be talking about shows that premiered over the summer, but one of the shows just had its finale last week. So in this blog, I’m talking about three awesomely original series that debuted this summer. Over the summer, I also caught completely up on Battlestar Galactica and Weeds, which are great, great shows but I want to focus on the newer stuff. Here are the three shows that rocked my summer.

Flight of the Conchords was one of the most awkwardly funny things I saw this summer. The premise is basically two folk singers from New Zealand trying to make a name for themselves in New York City. Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie pull off the dead-pan humour brilliantly. They can go round and round in circles with the most mundane topics and still make you laugh out loud. Rhys Darby who plays their incompetent manager, Murray, is the most pathetic man, you’ll ever meet. Steve Carrell creates awkward situations in the US Office, Ricky Gervais goes even farther in the UK Office, but Darby trumps them all with his blind devotion and inexperienced professionalism when dealing with the Conchords’ future. Their lone fan is also creepily portrayed by the overly-enthusiastic Kristen Schaal. This small cast has amazing chemistry and the plots will definitely make you laugh and cringe. Of course, the highlight of this half-hour comedy series are the bizarre music videos that seamlessly enter the narrative. Crappy video clichés are lampooned as Jermaine and Bret sing their folk songs that are filled with non-sequitors, strange metaphors and technical definitions. This series was on HBO and Movie Central but it’s coming out on DVD in a couple of weeks. You should definitely try this series out.

I started watching Mad Men when it premiered on AMC in July but stopped after a couple episodes due to pacing. Luckily, I came to my senses and caught up with this well-crafted series. The show is about a Madison Avenue advertising agency in the early sixties with a primary focus on the lead creative director, Don Draper, played by the dashing Jon Hamm. The first thing you notice when watching this show is the amount of smoking that goes on. It was definitely a different time. Through some of the creative ad campaigns and the delving into the businessmen’s lives, there are some fun sixties references for the audience to enjoy. The acting in this show is phenomenal. Jon Hamm plays his conflicted role so effortlessly. It’s also a treat to see Vincent Kartheiser (Connor on Angel) in such a layered and slimy role as the man wanting Draper’s job. It took me awhile to remember Elisabeth Moss, a secretary on the way up, as kidnapped Zoey Bartlet from The West Wing. January Jones and Christina Hendricks are also perfect portraying the women in these men’s lives. But the standout in this series (besides Hamm) is the role of the big boss, played by John Slattery (Ed, Desperate Housewives, Jack & Bobby). Even though this character is an absolute pig, you are drawn in by Slattery’s charm until you start feeling for the guy. I mentioned that the pace was a little slow, but that makes sense when you find out that this series was created by Matthew Weiner, a writer from The Sopranos. So even though, the episodes seem to drag a little, there are definitely some powerful moments, clever dialogue, beautiful cinematography and meaningful messages. AMC will probably be rerunning the first season soon and it was also picked up for a second season next summer. This series is a bit of a challenge but surely worth your time.

The show that just ended last week was a brilliant lawyer series by the name of Damages. Talk about intriguing. This show deals with a lawyer who joins a powerful firm that is trying to take down a corrupt business tycoon. Oh yeah, and that lawyer is being accused of murdering her fiancée. This show has the formidable task of weaving three and eventually four timelines seamlessly together. Through the color tinting of the images and timestamps, the audience is treated to multiple stories at once, while trying to piece the mysteries together. There are twists, turns, red herrings and more and I loved every minute of it. What added to the plot was the flawless acting of its cast. Glenn Close shines as the ruthless lawyer Patty Hewes. This chick makes James Wood’s Shark look like a little puppy. Hewes is a master of manipulating people and Close does a great job not revealing her cards until it’s necessary. Ted Danson plays the corrupt Arthur Frobisher and shows his dramatic skills as an actor. There is no way you would confuse Arthur with Sam Malone from Cheers. Rose Byrne does a great job as the new lawyer who starts the series running down the street covered in blood. Stealing scenes from Close and Danson is the impeccable Zeljko Ivanek (24, Oz) as Frobisher’s slick attorney, Ray Fiske. This guy better get an Emmy nomination this year. His character is so compelling I can’t even describe it. This show had me guessing to the very end and I’m praying that it gets picked up for a second season. Each week I eagerly waited to download it off the internet because it was airing on FX, which we don’t get here in Canada. I hear that Showcase will be running it next month so keep a watch out for that. This show was fantastic. I wish more people could have seen it.

My next blogs will return to the movie reviews. I have Dan in Real Life and The Darjeeling Limited coming up. I’ll also be watching the eagerly anticipated American Gangster and Bee Movie soon. Stay tuned.

Michael Clayton

It all comes down to this question: Is it the story or the acting that makes a film great? Ideally, you want both, but if you had to choose. I guess you have to factor in dialogue as well. I mean look at Star Wars, the story was great and Harrison Ford did the best he could with the cheesy lines written by George Lucas. I’m sure some will disagree. But is the plot that important? In any case, I bring this up because of the acting quality found in Michael Clayton. I found that the story dragged and was not that compelling but the performances were nothing short of awesome.

I find myself constantly impressed with the work of George Clooney. Maybe because of his television roles on Roseanne and ER and even early films like The Peacemaker and One Fine Day, I always peg him as just a pretty-boy actor with a great deal of charm. I think it was his role in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, that made me reconsider my position. And now it just seems that George Clooney can do no wrong (I’m thinking of films post-Batman & Robin). I don’t think it’d be much of a stretch to say that Clooney does some of his best work in Michael Clayton. He does an excellent job of playing the title role, a law firm “fixer” whose life is falling apart. Clooney portrays a perfect blend of confidence and weakness in many of his scenes. It’s not an over-the-top powerhouse performance that usually garners Oscar nominations but it certainly is a study in subtlety and I hope it does get recognized during this year’s award season.

Tom Wilkinson (Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, In the Bedroom) seems to be the go-to guy for older characters that are both quirky and intense. Wilkinson has the ability to grab you from his first line. He is able to show such vulnerability in his character almost forcing the audience to empathize with him. I wish he had more scenes in this film, especially considering his chemistry with Clooney. And he’s not the only one who works well with George. If you need a wealthy, no-nonsense mentor in a movie, you can always count on Sydney Pollack (Eyes Wide Shut, Changing Lanes). While Pollack is more known for his strong directing (The Interpreter, The Firm, Tootsie, Out of Africa), he is just as strong in front of the camera. I love watching him on the screen.

The last of the big performances in Michael Clayton, is the face of the evil corporation, played by Tilda Swinton (Chronicles of Narnia, Constantine). I find that Swinton has a very interesting face. In most movies, she conveys such cold-heartedness, and while there are some scenes like that in this film, there are plenty of moments where we can see her Karen Crowder character at the end of her rope. I found she had to walk the same line between confidence and weakness as Clooney had throughout this film. As one of the only females in the film, she definitely held her own among the strong male performances.

My only issue with Michael Clayton is the dragging storyline. Considering this film was written and directed by Tony Gilroy who is responsible for writing the Bourne screenplays, I was expecting a little more action. However, the plot involving some shady business dealings just meanders along as Clooney’s character tries to get to the bottom of the scandal. I had no problem with the plot being simple; it just seemed too long to get to the point. Luckily, I was distracted by the rich dialogue Gilroy gave to his characters. This is definitely a talky film. And that is just fine with me in the hands of these gifted performers.

In conclusion, I would recommend Michael Clayton as a study guide for some great acting. At the same time, I think you should wait for it on DVD and enjoy this drama at home. Of course, if this film should get some Oscar recognition, you may want to see it in the theatres so you can see what everyone is talking about. It may not get screenplay honours but I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple acting nominations arise. We’ll have to wait and see.

New Fall Shows WrapUp

Since most new shows have finished airing their first three episodes, I thought I would let you know how they are doing in my opinion. I have already dropped some of the shows that I wasn't sure about and I am pretty pleased with my top five choices. I thought I would put them in order of preference and give some quick reasons to back them up.

THE SHOWS I'M LOVING RIGHT NOW

PUSHING DAISIES
What I Like: beautiful cinematography; likeable characters; sweet and charming atmosphere; great voice over voice by Jim Dale, the descriptions that begin with “the fact are these . . . “ it’s not afraid to have Kristin Chenoweth break out into song at any given moment, Digby the dog, the fascinating premise, the music cues just before the commercial breaks, quirky dialogue like “this is how we do”, pie, it’s the most clever, imaginative thing on television right now
What I Could Do Without: the years:days:hours:minutes with every character’s life (unless they plan on doing something significant with it)

DIRTY SEXY MONEY
What I Like: Peter Krause’s mix of self-righteousness and utter shock; Donald Sutherland’s scenes with Krause; Samaire Armstrong’s brilliant portrayal of the emotional Juliet; Seth Gabel’s bad boy image; the way Karen keeps outrageously flirting with Nick; the bitter pettiness of Brian the priest; the mockery of rich people and tabloids, the ring tones, the cat fights; the Dynasty meets Arrested Development vibe
What I Could Do Without: the scenes at home and the investigation of Dutch’s death take away from the fun times; some of the meaningful speeches are a little sub-par

CHUCK
What I Like: Chuck’s sheer innocence; the sexy Yvonne Strzechowski as Sarah; the comic timing of Adam Baldwin; CS Lee as the villainous Harry Tang; just the name Harry Tang; the Lone Gunmen meets Andy Barker PI meets Alias vibe; the fact that they have a character named Captain Awesome; the new opening credits; the use of the Buy More store to stop crime; the sexual tension between Chuck and Sarah; the rest of the Nerd Herd; the overall fun factor
What I Could Do Without: Chuck’s best friend Morgan who just isn’t funny; Casey threatens Chuck a little too much; the sister’s concern is overdone; that they could probably do the same show in thirty minutes and it would be utterly fantastic.

REAPER
What I Like: Ray Wise as the devil who also happens to be very helpful; Sock who steals most of the scenes he’s in (I’d actually want to be friends with this guy unlike Morgan from Chuck); the lameness of The Work Bench store; that it’s filmed in Vancouver; the mystery of how to use each new vessel; the believable friendships; the one-liners; the supernatural aspect
What I Could Do Without: the family is downer; Sam is retarded to not realize that Andi is into him; the plot seems to drag when Sam keeps doubting himself and running away from his duties

BACK TO YOU
What I Like: it’s nice to have a traditional sitcom on the air; every scene Ty Burrell is in; the flustered character of Ryan the news director; the quick exchanges between Grammar and Heaton; Fred Willard’s line delivery; the poppy opening title sequence; the way news is mocked and anchors are ridiculed; it’s timeslot is pretty non-competitive with Pushing Daisies being on Tuesdays at 8 on CTV.
What I Could Do Without: it’s humour hasn’t been at the level of The Office, Arrested Development or even Just Shoot Me (hopefully it will in time); the whole father-daughter stuff makes Heaton resort to her Debra persona; there's not enough scenes with Ty Burrell

THE SHOWS I'M STILL ON THE FENCE ABOUT

BIG SHOTS
What I Like: I like the four main characters; Josh Malina is fun to watch when he’s not in control; Christopher Titus is surprising good at being the whipped husband; Michael Vartan and Dylan McDermott have this natural charisma on the screen; I like the camaraderie between the four guys
What I Could Do Without: the obvious Desperate Housewives vibe; the ironic names of their businesses; the tired plot of the transsexual hooker that is being done a lot better on Dirty Sexy Money

SAMANTHA WHO?
It debuts next week, we’ll see how it goes.

THE SHOWS I GAVE A CHANCE TO BUT HAVE NOW DROPPED

BIONIC WOMAN
What is Lacking: I don’t like the actress playing Jamie Sommers; the special effects are not all that special looking; the music choices are terrible; the conspiracy angle isn’t working for me; the dialogue is pretty bad; the opening title sequence is just plain awful with it’s silhouetted mime trapped in a glass box; I just don’t care about the characters
What I Do Like: Katee Sackhoff is an awesome villain; Lucy Hale does a great job and is believable as Jamie’s bratty younger sister

THE BIG BANG THEORY
What is Lacking: nerdy language isn’t always funny; the laugh-track is way too forgiving; while Kaley Cuoco is cute her character is pretty one-dimensional; most of the characters are one-dimensional; the broken elevator isn’t working for me; the situations are predictable
What I Do Like: The Barenaked Ladies theme song; Jim Parsons (Garden State) and Johnny Galecki (Roseanne) do play well off each other

THE SHOWS I DROPPED ALMOST INSTANTLY

MOONLIGHT
Why I stopped after one episode: there are no classic vampire rules (Mick is able to withstand garlic, holy water, crucifixes and even sunlight); it reminded me of Beauty and the Beast with Ron Perlman; the vampire has no motive to help the helpless; it made me miss Angel all the more
The only reason I watched the whole episode: Jason Dohring (Veronica Mars) and Kevin Weisman (Alias) were in the pilot.

GOSSIP GIRL
Why I stopped after one episode: I couldn’t get past all the text message shortcuts of “BFF” and “L is so into K”; it was a little too girly; they didn’t seem to having the same fun as the kids on The OC; the characters were to boring; the setting reminded me too much of Cruel Intentions
The only reason I watched the whole episode: Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) was doing the voice over

LIFE
Why I stopped after one episode: Damian Lewis’ Charlie was a little too quirky; the fruit thing turned me off; his outside-the-box methods are not justified; I don’t care about how Charlie got framed; the others cops are pretty boring; the house set looks way too big to be useful
The only reason I watched the whole episode: Adam Arkin as Ted Early

So here's my current television viewing schedule. (Don't worry about my absence of a life, I am marking tests, writing scripts, prepping classes, video editing and such while I watch. I'm great at multi-tasking. I am also taping a lot of shows since many nights will be spent directing plays.) Bear in mind that with digital cable I am able to catch the eastern feeds of numerous shows.

Sunday: 5pm Simpsons 6pm Family Guy/American Dad 8pm Dexter
Monday: 5pm Chuck 6pm Heroes 8pm How I Met Your Mother
_______9pm Two and Half Men (Tape Prison Break)
Tuesday: 6pm House 7pm Law & Order: SVU 8pm Pushing Daisies
__________9pm Reaper 10pm Boston Legal
Wednesday: 5pm Back to You 7pm Dirty Sexy Money
Thursday: 5pm My Name is Earl/30 Rock 6pm The Office/Scrubs
____________7pm Big Shots 8pm Smallville 9pm CSI:

So that's about it with my televison blogs for awhile. I'll be getting back to movie reviews and such in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

The Heartbreak Kid

Love hurts? That’s not the only thing hurting. The Heartbreak Kid is brutal. I usually don’t have the urge to walk out of theatre while a movie is playing but I was seriously tempted during this un-funny travesty from Ben Stiller and The Farrelly Brothers. Walking into this film was a serious lapse of judgment on my part. I’m still shocked that Rotten Tomatoes gave this piece of crap 30%! I found myself groaning aand not laughing in this poorly-made remake. I’m going to try and remain brief because I don’t really want waste much time reviewing this gong show.

The Farrelly Brothers did some fun stuff with Dumb & Dumber and There’s Something About Mary, but the magic is definitely gone. It took five people to write the screenplay and the clunkiness shows. The story is mean-spirited. Ben Stiller is a jerk, I don’t care one iota about him. I felt sorry for his bride played by Malin Akerman (The Comeback) especially near the end when her character is grossly exposed. Jerry Stiller plays the same old horny father he usually does. Watching Carlos Mencia and his un-funny self is pure torture. The plot is lazy and predictable with most of its ‘funny moments’ found in the trailer.

There were only two things that kept me watching the movie. Rob Corddry is fun as Stiller’s best friend Mac who is a seriously whipped husband. Mac’s ring-tone for his wife’s incoming calls did make me chuckle. I also found Stiller’s new object of affection, played by Michelle Monaghan (Mission Impossible III), easy on the eyes. The character is poorly written but I liked looking at her. Yep, pretty lame reasons for staying and watching a film.

I kept hoping The Heartbreak Kid would get better but it never did. If you like fart jokes, this may be the film for you, and even still I’d warn you to stay away. I want those two hours of my life back. And the money I spent on drinks.

The Kingdom

I think my main issue with The Kingdom, is that director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Rundown) can’t decide what type of film he wants to make. For the most part, this film is a procedural drama, then it becomes a big-budget action flick, and there is some sprinkling of a morality play thrown in for good measure. For me, The Kingdom seemed a lot like CSI: Saudi Arabia. A bomb goes off, a crew is sent in to find evidence, they are kept at a distance and slowly figure out what happened. The only things missing are the high tech labs and music from The Who. Of course, Berg want to go a little more political with his film. I think A.O. Scott of The New York Times said it best by calling the movie “Syriana for Dummies”. While there are some moments of political interference, there is not enough to make much of a difference to the story. That brings it to the popcorn action flick, a brave endeavor considering the location of the movie and that pesky war that’s going on. The ads that mention that the last half-hour will keep you immovable are not far off the mark. The big action sequence is done pretty well its shaky cameras, flying bullets and race against the clock. Unfortunately, this is followed by some ‘deep’ closing thoughts.

Three times throughout The Kingdom, Peter Berg focuses on fathers and the love they have for their children. Who would have thought that Americans love their sons just as much as Saudis love theirs? Why can’t we all just get along? As sappy as those images were, I was more annoyed with the crappy music being played underneath. I love the work of composer Danny Elfman. He is often connected with Tim Burton’s masterpieces and has definitely branched out (including The Simpsons theme) and even in The Kingdom, some of his music is captivating. This is why it is so sad to hear such lame music being played under these parallel images. I would have rather had a love ballad ripped off one of the more emotional moments of Grey’s Anatomy.

The acting in The Kingdom is adequate. Jamie Foxx does some fine work showing both charisma and concern but is not given meaty lines to work with. Chris Cooper almost seems wasted in a film like this even with his amount of screen time. Jeremy Piven is just channeling his Entourage Ari Gold persona, so it’s been there, done that for him. I found Jennifer Garner’s acting fine but her character was poorly written. You would think that an FBI agent would know a little bit about Middle East culture (not mention being able to speak the language) so as not to wear such tight, revealing tank-tops in public. I also found her lollipop sucking annoying, even though it serves an easily telegraphed purpose. The only standout for me in this film was Jason Bateman. Granted, I didn’t know why he came along in the first place. I guess the rest of the team didn’t know how to find things on the internet. Anyway, Bateman gets some fun lines but also get to play some intense moments in The Kingdom. Ever since Arrested Development, Jason Bateman can do no wrong, he has sure come a long way from Silver Spoons and The Hogan Family. I guess I should also mention the great work from Ashraf Barhom who plays the officer/tour guide for the group. I’ll admit his acting and role were quite compelling.

In short, this film was just okay in my books. I think The Kingdom could definitely wait for rental. While the last half-hour is nicely suspenseful, it doesn’t need a large screen to get the impact. The bullets flying will sound just as good from your own surround sound system. Which brings me to the question of why the Saudis aren’t more accurate shots in this film. Aren’t they trained at a young age? You’d think they were better at sharp-shooting than flailing their guns in all directions. It’s a mystery. Call Grissom.

Pushing Daisies Reminder

For those who missed it this week, you can still catch the first episode of Pushing Daisies! They are re-airing the “Pie-lette” tonight at 8pm on ABC. This show is fantastic. You have to give it a try. For Canadians who don’t want to miss Kid Nation on Wednesdays, you are in luck because CTV shows the new episodes a day early at 8pm on Tuesdays. The second episode airs next week so you haven't missed anything yet. Pushing Daisies is awesome. Trust me.

By the way, I'll be giving my thoughts on the new television season in the next week or so. I have already given up on a couple shows, I'll tell you why soon.