Author: Jason Zingale (Page 69 of 154)

The Shield 7.6 – Animal Control

October 7, 2008 /

After last week’s surprisingly boring show, it was nice to get things back on track tonight with what might just be one of the best episodes of the season. Okay, so Corrine is still a major pain in the ass (and apparently on downers now), and Tina, Julian and Danny continue to prove worthless as part of the big picture, but that’s old news. The only thing that really worries me is that Dutch has sort of fallen by the wayside as a character.

His more recent run-in with the teenage serial killer seemed to offer some hope that he might finally be getting a good storyline, but that died off last week when he was, as Billings put it, “burned” by the kid. This week, he caused a suspect to commit suicide when he forced his conspiracy theory on the poor guy during interrogation, and now that he has blood on his hands, it’ll be interesting to see what happens. Asking Billings for help was a huge step when you consider their history together, but if he’s just going to keep working unrelated murders through the end of the season, well, the writers are going to have to do a lot better to keep me interested.

Thankfully, that isn’t the case with the Strike Team. Vic, Shane and Ronnie’s storylines this season have been captivating since Day One, and their relationship was taken to new heights (or should that be new lows?) this week when Vic – desperate to kill three birds with one stone – designs a plan that will ensure his family’s safety from the Armenians, put Pezeula behind bars, and pay back Shane for killing Lem. He’s only got one day to get it done (since Aceveda has decided to turn in the blackmail box before he suffers any blowback), but when Shane begins working an old case with Tavon (welcome back Brian White) on the side, Vic is worried that he’ll miss the meet. It’s not helping that Shane is making it really hard to hate him these days. The guy clearly knows that he’s done something wrong, and he’s made sure Vic and Ronnie know about it every chance he gets.

Vic decides to go through with it anyway, and had it all gone according to plan, the Mexicans would have killed Rezian and Shane and left the $100,000 that the Armenians brought to the meet. Unfortunately, Shane’s luck saves his ass once again, and when the Mexicans stop by to tear up the place with some Uzis, he just happens to be away at the moment. When Vic gets there worried that Shane was killed in the firefight, Shane assures him that he got out just in time. The money is missing, but Vic figures the Mexicans must have taken it with them after the hit.

What he doesn’t realize is that Shane is the one who took the money, and he now knows that Vic and Ronnie set him up. What’s a little unsettling is that he seemed okay it. Does Shane even want to fight back any more or will he just transfer out like he suggested earlier in the episode? I personally can’t see Shane backing down from this fight, but then again, he seems to have changed, so maybe he’ll be the bigger man and walk away.

External TV, The Shield, TV, TV Dramas

Feast II: Sloppy Seconds

October 7, 2008 /

Never has the title of a movie said so much with so few words than “Feast II: Sloppy Seconds,” the clumsily made direct-to-DVD sequel to the 2006 cult film. Whereas the original “Feast” worked because it so boldly defied horror conventions (both in plot and tone), the second installment is an unequivocal failure because it falls right back into them. It’s the morning after the attack and the monsters have already begun to invade a nearby town. Some of the locals (including a tag team of midget wrestlers, a sleazy car dealer, his slutty wife, and the man she’s having an affair with) have bunkered themselves inside of a building, while Honey Pie (one of the original survivors) is disappointed to discover her nightmare is far from over. Meanwhile, Harley Mom’s twin sister, Biker Queen, pulls the old bartender out from the wreckage looking for answers. When he tells her that it’s Bozo who was responsible for her death, she takes the bartender hostage and heads to town with her all-girl biker gang to seek revenge.

Feast 2

How the bartender is still alive after having a heart attack and having his throat slit is beyond me, but it probably has something to do with the fact that he’s the director’s father. Unfortunately, that little tidbit is the least of your worries when it comes to “Feast II.” While the first film made the most of its limited budget, the sequel looks every bit as cheap as it probably cost to make. What’s worse, however, is that for all the comedy and gore that made watching the original “Feast” a blast, it’s mostly MIA in this installment. Instead, we get an entire sequence dedicated to a monster penis urinating on biker chicks while they vomit in disgust, and it’s every bit as absurd as it sounds. You can’t even look forward to cool death scenes, either, because with the exception of a handful of characters, no one dies until the final scene – which, of course, you don’t actually get to see. It’s all a big ploy to get you to watch the third chapter scheduled to be released next year, but honestly, if “Sloppy Seconds” is this bad, what’s the point?

Click to buy “Feast II: Sloppy Seconds”

External Movie DVDs, Horror Movies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

GQ chats with Megan Fox, Hollywood’s new favorite temptress

October 7, 2008 /

Megan Fox in GQAs if we weren’t already drooling at the thought of Megan Fox in our beds, GQ has just made the fantasy seem that much more possible. In their interview with the actress for their October 2008 cover story, Megan spills the beans about her former obsession with a female stripper, why her inner geek makes her perfect girlfriend material, and how a guy like Brian Austin Green managed to bag the defending Sexiest Woman in the World.

To view her full magazine layout, watch video coverage of the shoot, or read more about Megan’s experience working with Diablo Cody, what to expect from “Transformers 2” (hint: more explosions), or how she really feels about Disney, click here.

Actresses, Celebrities, Interviews, Movies

Pathology

October 6, 2008 /

Though it spends much of its time dealing with the dead, you’d expect a movie like “Pathology” to have a little more life to it. After all, it was created by the writing team behind “Crank” – quite possibly the most over-the-top movie ever made. Of course, with Milo Ventimiglia headlining the cast, it’s no wonder the film feels a lot duller than it should have been. The “Heroes” star does his best Hayden Christensen impression as Ted Grey, a brilliant medical student who’s just joined the nation’s most prestigious pathology program. When he arrives, however, he’s seduced into playing a twisted game with some of the other interns that involves them taking turns murdering strangers, while the others figure out how it was done. Think of it as Medical Clue, but much more boring than it sounds, because there isn’t a single horrific or suspenseful moment in the film, despite the fact that that is how it’s being marketed. Even worse is that the audience has no one to root for. Sure, Ted is supposed to be the good guy in the movie, but are we really supposed to forgive all of his faults (cheating, killing, using, etc.) as someone who’s simply taken a wrong turn in live? Puh-lease. Only Michael Weston is given a role with any real meat on it, but even his crazy antagonist is never given the attention it deserves. Now, if the film followed him around instead of Milo, maybe we’d have something interesting to watch. It might not be “American Psycho,” but it would definitely be better than this.

Click to buy “Pathology”

External Movie DVDs, Heroes, Horror Movies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

Entourage 5.5 – Tree Trippers

October 5, 2008 /

Call me a cynic, but tonight’s show might have been the worst in the history of the entire series. I’m all for filler episodes where the “Entourage” crew runs around town getting into all sorts of shenanigans, but what in the world was the point of them tripping on some shrooms in the middle of the desert? If you think it was to help Vince decide on whether or not he should do the Benji movie, I have some bad news: Vince was never going to make that movie, no matter how much they paid him. He was always going to hold off for “Smoke Jumpers,” and though Alan Gray has made it quite clear that he will never work with Vince again, next week’s previews suggests that might not be the case.

As for their trip to the Joshua Tree, well, there’s not a whole lot to say. Eric Roberts’ cameo was probably the best part about that whole storyline, and even that felt like a rehash of previous episodes involving Gary Busey and Val Kilmer. There are only so many times you can invite B-list celebs on to the show to prove that they’re hip, and between guys like Busey, Kilmer and Bob Saget, we’ve already had our fill over the last few seasons.

Entourage 5.5

Perhaps worse, however, is the fact that none of the main actors are very good at playing high – to the point that Eric’s big trip-out moment was that he was literally speechless and Drama thought Arnold the bulldog was a rock. Jeremy Piven came the closest to nailing the experience (or at least what I’d expect that sort of experience to be like), but it’s virtually impossible to play Ari stoned since one of his main character traits is that he always appears in control, even when he’s not.

So why would the writers even produce such an episode? You got me. They probably thought it would be fun to watch the gang act all philosophical while under the influence of Eric Roberts’ homegrown magic mushrooms, but it wasn’t. I sat around waiting for something to happen, but with the exception of a mildly entertaining sequence involving Lloyd coaching Ari through his trip, nothing ever did. You’d think that between the “Smoke Jumpers” fiasco, Eric’s aggressive new clients, the bidding war with Amanda, Bow Wow’s comedian character, and plenty of other discarded ideas (like that Ramones biopic), there’d be plenty to talk about. Instead, we get this, and while I was more than willing to forgive the writers a few weeks ago for abandoning all story development to have a little fun, after tonight’s episode, they’re officially back in the doghouse.

Entourage, External TV, TV, TV Comedies

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