Month: September 2009 (Page 2 of 29)

Hell’s Kitchen: final four revealed

September 30, 2009 /

I don’t know about you, but I get the feeling watching this season of Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” that Gordon Ramsay would prefer to scrap this batch of contestants and start over again. Last night’s dinner service surely was evidence that this is how he’s feeling. But maybe it’s just Ramsay being Ramsay–that he’s as hard on even his best employees. Anyway, here is how it went down…

At the start, Dave was pissed off at Tennille for throwing Van under the bus last week, leading to Van’s elimination. Dave wasn’t pissed that she chose Van, he was pissed that she chose Van after saying she wouldn’t.

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External TV, Hell's Kitchen, Reality TV, TV

A Farewell to Gene Hackman

September 29, 2009 /

Don’t worry, Gene Hackman, is still very much amongst the living. It’s just that the 79 year-old Hackman casually discussed his retirement from acting in favor of writing historical novels while talking to Taylor Antrim of the Daily Beast today. (H/t Anne Thompson) Of course, there’s always the chance some great director can lure the Hemingway-loving Hackman out of retirement for the right role, but I’m going to assume he’s for real about giving up acting and thank him for all the great  — sometimes better than great — work.

Without ever really being an Alec Guinness or Peter Sellers-style acting chameleon, Hackman had one of the most amazing ranges of any actors of his era. He played thoroughly screwed up antiheroes, serious and comical villains of innumerable types, and ocasionally simply nice and/or likable guys. He was equally interesting playing all of them — even the nice ones. No doubt one of the best ever.

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Action Movies, Actors, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, News

Sons of Anarchy 2.4 – Eureka

September 29, 2009 /

If there’s one thing that continues to impress me about the Sons of Anarchy, it’s the way in which these guys conduct their business. The whole idea of participating in a charity ride as a cover to do their gun runs is pure genius. Not only do the cops stay out of their way, but they also look like heroes to the community. Nevertheless, something was bound to go wrong, and when Bobby brought out his worse for wear Fat Boy to ride on the job, it was pretty much a given that it would play a part in the incident. No sooner had the Sons picked up the guns and started north to drop them off when Bobby’s bike kicked back a cloud of smoke, forcing Tig off the road and into a ditch. The accident wasn’t as bad as it looked, but Tig was still busted up enough to require medical attention.

Unfortunately, his insurance plan didn’t cover him at the hospital, and while they were all waiting around for transport to a hospital that would stitch him up, a van full of bounty hunters swung by to pick him up. As it turns out, Tig has an outstanding warrant in Oregon (one that even he’s forgotten about), and while Clay and Jax butt heads over whether they should continue with the drop or rescue their captured comrade first, Tig buys them some time by provoking the bounty hunters to beat him up, knowing that they can’t turn him in until he’s patched up. The rivalry between Clay and Jax has been heating up ever since the death of Donna, but this is the first time that it’s directly affected everyone else in the club. Fortunately, Piney could care less about Clay’s orders these days, so he grabs a flatbed truck and, with the help of Jax, Chibs, Juice and Half-Sack, busts through the motel where Tig is being held to rescue him.

sons_of_anarchy_2-4

Clay isn’t at all happy about their recklessness, but what’s most upsetting to him is that Jax refuses to be a team player. When your stepdad orders the murder of your best friend, only to kill his wife, however, you can kind of understand why Jax may still be holding a grudge. I cannot wait until he finally exposes what really happened to the rest of the club – especially now that Opie is acting all hunky-dory around Clay – but the chances of that happening anytime soon are pretty slim. Of course, the fact that Clay has threatened to kill Jax if he brings it up again certainly isn’t going to change his feelings on the matter. Quite the contrary, really, since it only goes to show that Clay will take out anyone who gets in his way. My guess is that Clay and Jax will continue to butt heads until Gemma is left with no other option but to unite them by exposing her secret.

For the time being, Gemma is trying to deal with the situation on her own. When her attackers send a taunting message through the mail in the form of a Michael Myers mask, however, Gemma decides to confront them by returning it to the store on the name of the bag that it came in. Apparently, she doesn’t realize that the store has since been replaced by Ethan Zobelle’s cigar shop, which means that she never actually knew who attacked her in the first place. I find that a bit implausible since they made a point of showing AJ’s tattoo during the rape scene, but regardless, Gemma definitely knows the truth now, and so does Chief Wayne, who had the best scene of the night when he confronted Ethan in the cigar shop. Gemma, meanwhile, follows AJ to some sort of meeting with the intent of killing him when she hears him talking to his kid on the phone. Conscience is a bitch, but just because Gemma isn’t willing to shoot someone with a family doesn’t mean Clay feels the same way. In fact, if he’s willing to kill his own stepson, shooting AJ should be a walk in the park.

Sons of Anarchy, TV, TV Dramas

Zombies, Ondie, Polanski, and a neglected cell phone

September 29, 2009 /

Movieland abides.

* Anne Thompson thinks “Zombieland” just may break the horror comedy curse — given the success of “Shaun of the Dead,” there may be something about zombies that just somehow outweigh today’s horror fans’ fear of anything remotely humorous. Anyhow, the short clip and others (Ms. Thompson has some more) looks good. Still, as Mr. Squeamish guy who had to get dead drunk to watch the original “Dawn of the Dead,” every time a movie with a certain amount of gore gets good enough word-of-mouth/reviews, I get conflicted. Not easy being me. Right now, though, I’m thinking this one might be worth sneaking the contents of my bar into the theater for, even if I’m already concerned the “nut up or shut up” catchphrase could get very old very quick.

* Ondie Timoner’s terrific and ominous new documentary, “We Live in Public,” opened in L.A. last week. I wrote a mammoth interview post on it, it did good business this weekend according to Box Office Mojo and, dang it, I’m claiming I gave it the PH bump! (If it’s good enough for Colbert….) Anyhow, you still have time to check it out before the run ends Thursday.  With some decent luck, many more engagements all over the country may follow.

* If you’re a member of the “lock ’em up now and show no quarter” side of the Roman Polanski debate, you’ll be happy to know that the 76 year-old director is likely to be in a Swiss jail for a period of weeks as he fights extradition.

* The video of Hugh Jackman skillfully dealing with the incessant ringing of some fool’s cell phone during a live performance as co-star Daniel Craig waits patiently has been everywhere. Since “here” is part of “everywhere,” here it is, via Cinematical.

Actors, Documentaries, External Entertainment, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

Dancing with the Stars 9.4 — Round Two

September 29, 2009 /

DeLay

Along with millions of high school girls, single women, wives, and complacent husbands, I’m currently in front of my television awaiting the newest episode of “Dancing with the Stars.” I find it more enjoyalbe to write about this type of show in the moment, rather than trying to piece a recap together the day after airing. Isn’t “Dancing with the Stars” more exciting than thought-provoking, anyway? Oh, I see lots of tan flesh. Here we go.

“Moulin Rouge” director Baz Lurhmann is serving as a guest judge tonight and the live audience is thrilled. Unfortunately, my current favorite elderly Brit, judge Len Goodman, is absent. I hope he’s not gone long as he’s the funniest part of the show.

Joanna Krupa with Derek Hough

This performance, the first of the night, was pretty sloppy. I didn’t know “jive” was also a dance — I thought it was just a type of trash-talking. Funny enough, judge Bruno Tonioli says the dance is supposed to be “clean.” Joanna’s rendition definitely was not. Wait…what’s with the high scores?

Natalie Coughlin with Alex Mazo

Hell yeah. The couple is dancing to “I Want You Back,” made famous by the Jackson 5. I love this song. Natalie Coughlin is, without a doubt, the cutest celebrity on the show. Against “I Want You Back,” I thought this dance looked pretty fun.

Chuck Lidell with Anna Trebunskaya

Chuck Lidell and a cute Russian woman dancing the Tango to “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes. I’m positive this will never happen again on television.

Melissa Joan Hart with Mark Ballas

More. Good. Music. I don’t know who gets to pick the songs, but the choices have been consistently great. Melissa and her partner are dancing the Jive to “Long Tall Sally,” popularized by Little Richard, the Beatles, and the Kinks. Sometimes, I lose focus on the dance in front of me because the music is so good. This was one of those times.

Michael Irvin with Anna Demadova

Well, Irvin was atrocious last week, but he looks comfortable with the Tango. The judges are being much nicer tonight, so that’s good for guys like him. Man, I miss that unpleasant prune of a Brit.

Debi Mazar with Maksim Chmerkovskiy

This is one of the few couples with visible chemistry. I liked their version of the Tango as they brought a sense of back story to the dance. They just got “7”s across the board. Looks like they’re staying.

Louie Vito with Chelsie Hightower

I’m not sure what the judges are talking about. This was the most impressive dance thus far. Since Louie Vito is very athletic, these two kids were jumping all over the place and having a blast. The home audience better keep them alive as this dance was actually entertaining. Anybody know what song was just playing? It’s really bothering me that I can’t figure it out.

Aaron Carter with Karina Smirnoff

The judges were really impressed with Carter — dressed like a leprechaun from Southern California — and his pretty partner. I didn’t think much of it, but what do I know?

Kelly Osbourne with Louis Van Amstel

Is her head supposed to keep turning side-to-side like that? I would definitely get whiplash. I want Kelly to win this silly show, but I doubt she’ll get high scores for this dance.

Kathy Ireland with Tony Dovolani

Kathy and her partner had to do the quick-step. I don’t know. I was a bit bored by their performance. As this is the second week, it was imperative that she improve, and she didn’t. She might be going home fairly soon.

Mark Dacascos with Lacey Schwimmer

Although this couple doesn’t exude the same level of excitement as some of the others, they excel in the technical aspects. Considering each team is only given four days to prepare, nobody has been horrible. Dacascos is definitely staying.

Mya with Dmitry Chaplin

Wait. Wasn’t Mya in a music video with Christina Aguilera for a song from “Moulin Rouge?” She certainly picked the season to compete. After this nearly flawless performance, Mya has
to be the favorite, right? She used to dance in her music videos, so she has at least some experience.

Tom DeLay with Cheryl Burke

Despite the hurt foot, DeLay did a great job. It’s a shame he almost dropped his partner at the end. Like Carrie Ann said, they are an odd, yet perfectly-matched couple. Their attempt at the Tango was graceful and interesting — much better than the bulk of dances tonight.

Donny Osmond with Kym Johnson

Man, he nailed it. From a simple viewer’s perspective, I didn’t see any mistakes. Mya vs. Osmond in the finals?

Check back tomorrow for my thoughts on tonght’s Results Show.

Reality TV, TV, TV Reality

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