Month: January 2007 (Page 7 of 14)

Rome: “Son of Hades”

January 22, 2007 /

About a month passed between episodes and Lucius is still mired in guilt over the deaths of his wife, children and Caesar. Titus continues to be a good and loyal friend, but it’s clear that his new wife doesn’t want to stay with Lucius any longer.

Mark Antony has bit off more than he can chew and is quickly finding that the day-to-day responsibilities of consul are more than he can bear. He has to deal with Octavian, who justifiably wants his inheritance, with Cleopatra, who wants her son proclaimed to be Caesar’s, and with the gangs, who have all tried to fill the power vacuum present after Lucius’ antics last week. For the last bit, Antony enlists Lucius’ help, giving the soldier a swift kick in the ass in the process.

Lucius takes to his new mission with vigor and declares himself a “son of Hades.” Titus continues to worry about the dark path that his friend is taking, but hasn’t shown any signs of leaving Lucius’ side.

Atia’s loyalty to Antony has more to do with her underestimation of her own son than any true affection she has for the consul, though she did throw out a unreturned “I love you” early in the episode. She is still distracted by her hatred for Servilia, but has a new foil in Cleopatra, who has certainly caught Antony’s eye.

Towards the end of the episode, Octavian made his move by promising to deliver the money that Caesar originally pledged to the plebes. He decided to borrow against his inheritance, which caused the throw down between he and Antony. Octavian has decided to leave Rome, and will no doubt return with an army and loads of support from the citizens of Rome.

Now, for a few of the best lines from this episode:

Atia: (to Antony) “I love you.”

Antony: (to Cleopatra) “Your son will eat shit and die before I make him legal.”

Antony: (to Lucius) “Look at the fucking state of you.”

Cleopatra: (to Atia) “I have made a friend for life.”

Lucius: (at the parlay) “I am a son of Hades and I fuck Concord in her ass!”

Cicero: (to Servilia) “I doubt [Octavian] will be more than a nuisance to Antony.”

External TV, Rome, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Box Office Roundup: Everybody loves Bill

January 21, 2007 /

Based on Sunday’s estimates, courtesy of boxofficemojo.com:

1) Stomp the Yard: $13.3 million, $41.5 million to date (owner: Bill Clark, A Don’t Call Me Shirley Joint)
Bill Clark’s whites-of-their-eyes strategy pays off in spades, owning four of the top five movies in the second to last week os the season and vaulting into first place after spending the bulk of the year in seventh.
2) Night at the Museum: $13 million, $205.8 million to date (Will Harris, What’s All This, Then?)\
Will rides Ben Stiller’s unfunniness into fourth place, knocking Punch and Pie and their can’t-miss “Charlotte’s Web” into a measly fifth place. Dakota Fanning is already plotting to have Will’s entire family erased from history.
3) Dreamgirls: $8.7 million, $78.1 million to date (Bill Clark: A Don’t Call Me Shirley Joint)
And I’m telling you that Bill’s not leaving the top five.
4) The Hitcher: $8.2 million (Bill Clark, Don’t Call Me Shirley)
Even he will tell you that he feels guilty about this one. Was that CGI rabbit the worst looking special effect in years or what?
5) The Pursuit of Happyness: $6.7 million, $146.5 million to date (Bill Clark: A Don’t Call Me Shirley Joint)
The public’s thirst for syrup and mush, it appears, is endless. And Bill is only happy to capitalize on it.
6) Freedom Writers: $5.5 million, $26.8 million to date
I like hanky panky. Nothing like a good Swank-y.
7) Pan’s Labyrinth: $4.7 million, $10.1 million to date (Mark Pfeiffer, Reel Times)
When they say ‘don’t eat the fruit,’ and you see a hideous beast sitting next to a pile of dead children’s clothes, don’t eat the fruit.
8) The Queen: $3.7 million, $35.8 million to date: $5.9 million (Jason Zingale, Seven Strangers Productions)
Slowly, quietly, “The Queen” is outselling third round picks like “Deck the Halls,” and is about to overtake first round pick “Stranger than Fiction.” Helen Mirren: a bigger box office draw than Will Ferrell?
9) Children of Men: $3.7 million, $27.4 million to date (David Medsker, Scary Clown Studios)
Our favorite bit: the over-the-counter suicide drug. “Because only you know when the time is right.” Heh heh, suicide is funny.
10) Arthur and the Invisibles: $3.1 million, $9.2 million to date
Props for putting Mirwais’ “Disco Science” in an animated movie.

Current standings:
1) A Don’t Call Me Shirley Joint: $339.8 million
2) Reel Times Pictures $301.3 million
3) TSSU Productions: $283.9 million
4) What’s All This, Then?: $278.9 million
5) Punch and Pie Pictures: $274.4 million
6) Seven Strangers Productions: $211.5 million
7) Scary Clown Studios: $190.4 million
8) Nights and Weekends: $178.2 million

This week, the final week of the season: What’s All This attempts a left field sneak attack with “Epic Movie” and “Smokin’ Aces,” while Nights and Weekends and Scary Clown prepare for next season.

Action Movies, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News

Let the light shine in

January 20, 2007 /

Sunshine

With the winter movie season already proving a disappointment, and the summer season looking positively clogged with unneccesary three-quels, it’s come to my attention that Spring 2007 looks to offer the best selection of films of the year. Along with soon-to-be cult classics like “300,” “Hot Fuzz,” and “Grindhouse” in the books for March and April release dates, the latest flick to join the ever-growing laundry list of promising features is the sci-fi thriller, “Sunshine.”

Directed by Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting,” “28 Days Later”) and starring a great cast including Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Chris Evans and Rose Byrne, the film is set 50 years in the future where a team of astronauts are sent into space to reignite the Sun. The first trailer just hit the net a few days ago and I already can’t wait to watch it again. Of course, it always helps to have that killer Clint Massell tune (which was also used in “Requiem for a Dream,” “One Hour Photo” and the trailer for “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towes”) in the background.

Check it out here, and then come back to speak your mind.

External Movies, Movies, Trailers

TV DVD QT Special Edition: 2 Miniseries and a Movie

January 19, 2007 /

Another posting to clean house of 2006 releases in this, the first month of 2007. This time, it’s a trio of DVDs that didn’t fit properly into my last posting, since those were / are regular weekly series.

Broken Trail: A 2-part Western – 184 minutes – that originally aired on American Movie Classics, starring Robert Duvall, Thomas Haden Church, and Greta Sacchi, among others. Not everybody enjoys a good Western, but make no mistake, this is a good Western. Then again, it’s not exactly the first time Duvall has been in the saddle (he was fantastic in Kevin Costner’s “Open Range”), and although he was still pretty much a nobody at the time, Church was actually in “Tombstone,” playing Billy Clanton. It also doesn’t hurt “Broken Trail” any that it was helmed by Arthur Hill, who also directed “Wild Bill” and “Geromino: An American Legend.” I mean, hey, who better to tell a cowboys and Indians story, right? Anyway, it might feel a bit long at times, but the performances and scenery make “Broken Trail” absolutely worth renting for fans of the genre.

The Hades Factor: Stephen Dorff and Mira Sorvino take you on a journey through a Robert Ludlum novel that, on occasion, feels much longer than 165 minutes. Blair Underwood, Colm Meaney, and Anjelica Huston are around to class up the joint a bit, but somebody should’ve done some serious streamlining; as it is, “The Hades Factor” is a drag.

Mrs. Harris: And I’m almost ashamed to admit that I feel much the same way about this made-for-HBO film starring Ben Kingsley and Annette Bening. It just did nothing for me, despite the fact that it won an Emmy. Sorry, I just found it to be a snooze.

External TV, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV DVDs

Scrubs: My Musical

January 19, 2007 /

After five weeks of mostly mediocre episodes, “Scrubs” finally bounced back to form last night with the long-awaited musical show that enlivened the cast so much that it actually convinced star Zach Braff to rethink his position on sticking around for another year. That’s news that any fan loves to hear, and it’s easy to see why the actor feels the way he does after watching last night’s episode.

Written and composed by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx of the cult Broadway hit, “Avenue Q,” the show begins when a patient (played by “Q” original cast member, Stephanie D’Abruzzo) is admitted to Sacred Heart after fainting at the park. Initial tests don’t offer much help and much of the staff fear that she just may be a little crazy – mostly due to the fact that everyone is singing and dancing around her.

And so sets the stage for the musical to begin. The numbers (which include titles like “Everything Comes Down to Poop” and “Guy Love”) range from comical to serious, and though there wasn’t a single one that could be considered forgettable or greatly superior, I did really enjoy the Turk and Carla duet, “She’s Dominican.”

Overall, this was the perfect episode for anyone contemplating not watching “Scrubs” anymore (it has gotten a bit droll these past few weeks) and it makes me seriously wonder whether the creators didn’t just do this on purpose so that the musical episode was a far greater success. Regardless, they pulled it off with flying colors, and while I know that this wasn’t the first show to attempt a musical episode (I’ve yet to see the highly regarded “Buffy” episode), this was certainly a breath of fresh air for a show in dire need of a surge of originality. My only question is this: where the heck was Jordan?

Oh, and one more thing: Sarah Chalke, please please please never sing again. I still love ya, babe, but your voice sounds like a teenage boy who’s going through maturity.

External TV, TV, TV Comedies

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