Category: TV (Page 127 of 595)

Blu Tuesday: Gamer, Magnolia and Whiteout

January 19, 2010 /

It’s another busy week in Blu-ray, but despite the wide selection of titles to choose from, there aren’t too many standouts. In fact, two of the films I’ve decided to highlight wouldn’t even make the final cut most weeks, so before I talk myself out of finishing today’s post, let’s jump right into it.

“Gamer” (Lionsgate)

Fans of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor’s “Crank” series will no doubt enjoy their latest film, but despite a pretty cool premise that shamelessly steals from cult classics like “The Running Man” and “Death Race 2000,” “Gamer” fails to impress. A big reason for that is the script, which is definitely more restrained than the “Crank” movies but still pretty batshit crazy. (Case in point: “Heroes” star Milo Ventimiglia cameos as a “Sims”-like character named, wait for it, Rick Rape.) One thing that does work is the look of the film. Neveldine and Taylor may not know how to censor their own twisted imaginations, but they’re talented filmmakers with a great visual style. They also put together some great extras for the Blu-ray release, including an audio commentary, a making-of featurette, and a behind-the-scenes look at the RED camera technology used on the film.

“Magnolia” (Warner Bros.)

Paul Thomas Anderson might not be as prolific as his fans would like him to be, but whenever he does decide to make a film, they usually turn out pretty well. “Magnolia” has been called overrated by some, and whether or not that’s true, it’s hard to deny the brilliance behind it. For starters, Anderson reportedly wrote the movie in only a few weeks, which is quite the achievement when you consider the complexity of the narrative. It also boasts a great cast including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Tom Cruise in his Oscar-nominated role, and some of the best editing of the last decade. Clocking in at just over three-hours, “Magnolia” may be Anderson’s longest movie, but it glides by faster than any of his films. Warner Brothers’ Blu-ray release delivers a solid HD transfer, while the included video diary offers an intimate look at the making of the film.

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Action Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movie DVDs, Movies, TV, TV Comedies, TV DVDs

24 8.3-4: Baby, did you forget to take your meds?

January 18, 2010 /

George Harrison: “Hey guys, don’t mind me. I’m just going to slip behind this pillar to make a private phone call right in the middle of an emergency evacuation.”
Moscow Mike: “Hey guys, don’t mind me. I’m just going to speak on the phone in my native Russian accent shortly after replacing another cop on U.N. security detail.”

Jesus.

Seriously, have these people heard of text messaging? Are they worried about lingering evidence? If you’re willing to call an assassin on your phone, there’s no reason to be bashful about texting. It would have looked a lot less conspicuous for both parties. “Slumdog in 3rd car. Make boom boom.” Problem solved, and he wouldn’t have to hide behind a pillar to do it.

All right, Rule #1 for home invasions: if someone is willing to shoot your wife in the leg as the first step in the “I’m not fucking around” dance that captors and hostages take, you can safely assume that neither you nor your wife is going to live through said encounter. So why not die with your boots on? I understand the cop’s desire to protect his now-crippled wife, but he lost me the second that the phone rang, and Moscow Mike looked away to the phone…and the cop didn’t take Mike’s gun and shoot him with it. He had a good second and a half. That may not sound like much, but in TV time, it’s an eternity. It goes even slower for the viewers. Any cop worth a damn would have made a move for the gun.

Which is why, while I knew that Buffy was putting his life in grave danger by entering that evacuated building looking for Moscow Mike – and sure enough, Mike got the drop on him, but inexplicably did not shoot him in the head on sight – I was thrilled to see Buffy not make the same mistake as the cop in Queens. He knew he was doing to die either way, but if he had a chance to stop the assassin, it would be worth it. As it turned out, Jack was there to take Moscow Mike down, though I’m still a little perplexed how he was able to shoot Mike twice in the back without hitting Buffy. There were exit wounds in Mike’s chest, and from what I could tell, it looked as though any pass-through bullet would have gladly made a home in Buffy’s flesh. But still, major props to Buffy for being willing to die for the cause.

As for the vengeful cop that tied up Jack as retaliation for the dead cop and his wife: ha ha ha ha ha ha! I know you needed something to keep Jack from getting to Buffy sooner, but that was just silly. You know what would be a perfectly reasonable way to delay Jack from arriving somewhere on time? Traffic. New York has a lot of it, not that you would know from these first four episodes.

24-ep804_Sc427_027

“You can tell from the state of my room that they let me out too soon.”

Holy fucking shit, what has happened with Jacqueline Bauer? She’s positively unhinged, pulling stunts that rival Jack at his most unstable. Remember when he shot the federal witness and cut off his head to use as currency to infiltrate a weapons gang? That actually pales in comparison to what Renee pulls here. Cutting off a guy’s thumb while he was still conscious? The girl has issues, to say the least…and I love it. It’s like Jack being partnered with himself – his dark, evil self. I’m sure we’ll reach a point where Jack has to pull a gun on Jacqueline and tell her she’s Gone Too Far. But for now, I am totally loving Crazy Jackie.

Likewise, I’m loving Slumdog President, too. He isn’t at all predictable, or perhaps more accurately, he’s not playing the stereotypical slimy politician game. Of course, we still have 20 hours to go, which means there are surely some skeletons that George Harrison will gladly hurl out of the closet in order to buy either time or leverage. I’m not sure what those skeletons would be worth to the Russians – they just want George’s money – but we’ll see. It’s nice to see David Anders, a.k.a. Sark from “Alias,” on the show. Hopefully he gets to do a little more than say “Yes, sir” to the big baddie.

Oh, and I love scenes of empty restaurants at 7:00. How very “Godfather” of them. And for the record, a guy stashed away in a meat locker with the sniffles is not irrefutable proof of the possession of nuclear weapons. What a gulli-bull.

On the Starbuck front, her blackmailer Kevin dropped a line about seven years of hard time. Did he do jail time for a crime that she committed? And even if he did, he’s the convicted felon, not her, and the law favors the innocent, or at the very least those without criminal records. One anonymous call to the police should take care of him, yes? I mean, if she’s willing to work for the government despite being an alleged fugitive, why would she be afraid of the police? And doesn’t he know how bad it looks that he’s been caught on security cameras shaking down a government employee? Just rat the guy out already. He’s wasting time.

Still, for all my complaining, I just love what they’re doing with Renee. It doesn’t speak well for her long-term well-being – I’m thinking she has a tollbooth and a hailstorm of Russian bullets in her future – but it’s good to see that Jack isn’t the only good guy that’s willing to be bad. How has he not proposed to her by now? She completes you, Jack.

As for the blog’s title, Placebo, take it away.

24, Actors, Actresses, External TV, TV, TV Action

TCA Tour: Breaking Bad

January 17, 2010 /

AMC may have broken its streak of perfection in late 2009 when their miniseries remake of “The Prisoner” met predominantly with either indifference or annoyance, but there’s plenty of reason to expect that the network will regain its good name in full in 2010.

For one thing, there’s the announcement that Kurt Ellis, the screenwriter behind HBO’s “John Adams,” is setting his sights on Warren Harding and developing the miniseries “Black Gold: The Teapot Dome Scandal.” Then, of course, there’s the fact that we’ve been chomping at the bit for Season 4 of “Mad Men” ever since the dissolution of Sterling-Cooper back in November, which means that we’ll pretty much forgive the network anything when the series returns later this year. Joel Stillerman, AMC’s Senior Vice President of Original Programming, Production, and Digital Content, gave us this one-liner: “Betty is off to Reno, Don is shacked up in the village, Sterling Cooper is held up in a hotel room, but maybe most importantly, Joan is back, and it should be another great season of one of the best shows ever.” Sounds good to me. More details are also emerging about the latest addition to AMC’s slate of original series, “Rubicon,” which Stillerman describes as “an incredibly compelling mystery that pays homage to the great conspiracy thrillers of the ’70s like ‘The Parallax View’ and ‘Three Days of the Condor,’” adding, “We thought, if we could find a way to take that style of storytelling that has stood the test of time so well and spin it off into a serialized drama, we would have something really great.” Let’s hope they do.

But enough about the new kid on the block. Let’s talk about the network’s other high-profile series: “Breaking Bad,” which will kick off its third season on March 21st.

It will, I’m sure, not surprise you that there will be little in the way of revelations in this piece, what with the season premiere still more than two months away as of this writing, but I can tell you that, within the first five minutes of the panel, the discussion had already veered between a religion called Santa Muerte and a teddy bear’s eyeball, so, y’know, make of that what you will.

Like many dramas on TV, the cast members of “Breaking Bad” have almost as little idea what’s going to happen next as the viewers do, rarely knowing how things are going to unfold until they get the script for the next episode.

“That’s what makes it exciting,” explained Bryan Cranston, who plays the show’s cancer-ridden meth dealer, Walter White. “Just like you watching it, we are reading it, and the feeling has the same impact, as much surprise as you have. We often comment to each other, ‘Did you read it yet? Did you read it?’ ‘Yeah, don’t tell me. Don’t tell me. Don’t tell me.’ ‘I’m only halfway through it.’ ‘Oh, yeah. Oh, my goodness. You are not going to believe it. You are not going to believe it.’ So you have that kind of anxiety and anticipation of what’s about to happen, so it’s never boring and always a surprise and a turn here and there.”

As expected, Cranston wouldn’t offer specifics about what Walt would be going through in Season 3, but he was willing to speak in general terms, at least. “There are actually a couple turns that happen emotionally, some physically,” he said. “I’m starting to completely accept the metamorphosis of my character. I’m breaking out of the cocoon and ready to become a different person, and that transition over time is one of the things that was the most compelling for me about wanting to do this show is that (creator) Vince Gilligan said he wanted to do something that he’s never seen before, and that’s, as he famously puts it, turn Mr. Chips into Scarface. And it hasn’t been done on television before unless someone can cite an occasion where you actually see a person completely change who he is by the end of the series or near the end of the series. I will be a completely different person from the milquetoast person you saw in the pilot.”

(You may recall that Cranston spoke to this issue when he chatted with Bullz-Eye in conjunction with the most recent TV Power Rankings.)

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External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, Mad Men, News, TCA Blog 2010, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Dramas

TCA Tour: Live from (the same state as) the Golden Globes!

January 17, 2010 /

Since I’m currently sitting in southern California with a bunch of TV critics and watching the Golden Globes, it seems a little ridiculous for me to do anything other than live blog the thing…well, the TV portion, anyway. I wouldn’t dare take away anything from Mr. Westal’s coverage of the film portion. With that said, however, I can’t exactly ignore the show’s host, Ricky Gervais, so I’m definitely planning to give him a shout-out whenever he offers up a great line.

I’ve never done this before, so be gentle with me…

8:01 PM: Gervais suggests that most people probably know him as the guy from the original British “Office,” then shakes his head and says, “No, you don’t, do you?” The highlight comes when Gervais suggests that “quality, not quantity” makes his version of “The Office” the better one, which results in Steve Carell’s mouthing of “I will break you” to Gervais.

8:02 PM: “I’m not used to these sort of viewing figures. Then again, neither is NBC.”

8:03 PM: “Actors: they’re just better than ordinary people, aren’t they?” Hugh Laurie seems amused by Gervais’s remarks about he plays a doctor on television better than a real physician would, while Kiefer Sutherland is perhaps less so by the suggestion that some of the fights on “24” aren’t scripted.

8:04 PM: “Let’s get on with it before NBC replaces me with Jay Leno.”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy: Toni Collette, “United States of Tara.” Although I’m a little surprised that Tina Fey didn’t take home the award, I acknowledged in my nominations piece that I figured a lot of people might favor Collette. I guess it was an easy pick. It just wasn’t mine. I still think it’s John Corbett and the kids who are the real stars of that show.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television: John Lithgow, “Dexter.” I still haven’t seen his performance yet, and yet I still picked it. That’s how strong the buzz was. Glad to see it paid off.

8:29 PM: “We’ve seen some worthy winners…aaaaaaand we’ve seen some not so worthy winners.”

8:30 PM: After observing that one can’t officially buy a Golden Globe Award, Gervais concedes that he’s probably never going to be allowed to do the show again.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama: Michael C. Hall, “Dexter.” I think that, at three (TV) awards in a row, you can officially begin to suggest that Showtime is dominating the proceedings. Given the acclaim that this season has received, I’m not surprised that Hall beat out my pick (Hugh Laurie), and once you’ve factored in the fact that he’s battling back from lymphoma, who could complain, really?

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama: Julianna Marguiles, “The Good Wife.” Holy crap! My dark horse pick took home the win! What an awesome line from Julianna about CBS keeping the faith by continuing to air quality drama at 10 PM. I announced to my fellow critics that I’d gotten this pick right, and I was accused of being Nostradamus. Somebody cue up “We Are The Champions,” please. I’d like to enjoy this victory as long as possible.

8:43 PM: Gervais bashes Paul McCartney by claiming that he shared a flight with the former Beatle, with Gervais in first class and Macca in coach because he’s “saving money.” After receiving several boos for his trouble, Gervais assures the crowd, “Uh, I think he’s still doing all right!”

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: “Grey Gardens.” No complaints. I picked “Taking Chance” for this category, but I picked Drew Barrymore for her performance in the film, so I can hardly argue with this selection.

8:59 PM: Gervais decries the boozing, brawling Irish stereotype, then introduces Colin Farrell. (Farrell admits, “When I heard Ricky Gervais was gonna be introducing me, I said, ‘Oh, balls…'”)

9:09 PM: When Helen Mirren said, “Life,” then paused, I was really hoping she was going to follow it by saying, “Don’t talk to me about life.” But she didn’t.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Kevin Bacon, “Taking Chance.” Same situation as above. I wanted to see Chiwetel Ejiofor take it home for “Endgame,” but given how much I loved “Taking Chance,” I’ve no complaints.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Drew Barrymore, “Grey Gardens.” Exxxxxxxcellent. Someone here just referred to the performance as “her first acting award,” and there’s a certain amount of truth to that, as she offered up more in “Grey Gardens” than most people would’ve expected that she had in her. You know, I’ve watched “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” a lot of times, but that reference to “Jeff Spicoli’s girlfriend” flew right over my head. Anyone…?

9:22 PM: Gervais notes how actors want to be ever-changing and constantly moving, then says, “Please welcome Rachel from ‘Friends’ and that bloke from ‘300.’”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock.” You can never go wrong with Alec Baldwin, I guess. But I still wanted Steve Carell to win it, if only to hear what Gervais had to say about it.

9:36 PM: God love Zachary Levi and Amy Poehler, but…really? Those were the best jokes you could provide for the stars of two of NBC’s best shows? The network needs all the help it can get!

Best Television Series – Drama: “Mad Men.” This is a category where there were no losers, but with that said, I really couldn’t imagine any other series than this one taking home the win. Look at the beard on Jon Hamm..and the breasts on Christina Hendricks! I couldn’t believe the music kicked in so quickly on Matthew Weiner, but as someone here said, it’s a basic-cable network. That doesn’t buy you much time, no matter how much acclaim your show gets.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television: Chloe Sevigny, “Big Love.” The only thing more upsetting than her win is her dress. I kid. Well, about the win, anyway. (I love Rose Byrne, but after seeing her today at the TCA panel for “Damages,” I was beginning to wonder if she was even capable of smiling anymore.) Seriously, though, that dress is horrid.

9:48 PM: Gervais sips from what is almost certainly a glass of real lager, then struggles to get a laugh from his “Catwoman” joke…which is probably almost as much of a struggle as it took to get Halle Berry into that dress she’s wearing.

9:57 PM: Am I the only one who was just creeped out by DeNiro’s bit about Scorcese having sex with film?

10:00 PM: Great clipfest for Scorcese. Methinks it might be time to go order a copy of “The King of Comedy” from Amazon.

10:12 PM: The lager’s back, as Gervais admits, “I’ve had a couple, I’m not gonna lie to you.” He then blames the alcohol for anyone he might’ve offended, after which he quickly offers up the most incredible introduction of the night: “I like a drink as much as the next man…unless the next man is Mel Gibson.” And just like that, Ricky Gervais is officially the best host of the Golden Globes EVER.

10:16 PM: James Cameron wins for “Avatar,” and Dileep Rao’s Golden Globes party suddenly gets kicked up a notch. I only mention this because he went to that party instead of having dinner with me. You got lucky, Rao!

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy: “Glee.” That’s going to be one happy set when I go visit it tomorrow. Nice shout-out from Ryan Murphy to Miss Barbra Streisand and the show’s “fake sexy teen cast,” as well as the dedication to everyone who ever got a wedgie in high school. Aw, that’s so sweet of you to include me, Ryan…

Well, that’s it for the TV awards, but I have to hang in there to see if Ricky Gervais has anything else left to say…or anyone else does, for that matter. Like, say, the governor of California…

10:34 PM: Damn, even Schwarzenegger can’t resist getting in a jab at NBC!

10:35 PM: Gervais really must be scared of Mickey Rourke if the best he can offer up is, “I haven’t gotten a bad word to say about him, mostly because he’s got arms as big as my legs.”

10:42 PM: I hope the kazillion ads they’ve shown for “Parenthood’ actually earn the show some viewers. I really liked the pilot. I can’t say the same for “The Marriage Ref,” partially because they haven’t produced a screener for us yet, but mostly because of my feud with Jerry Seinfeld. But that’s a story for another time.

10:52 PM: Do you get the impression that, were it not for Chrysler, we might’ve been stuck listening to the Golden Globes on the radio?

10:55 PM: What? Straight into Julia Roberts and Best Motion Picture – Drama without a last appearance from Gervias? Gyp! Oh, well, at least “Avatar” won. Congrats again, Mr. Rao. I just hope that party was worth it…

10:59 PM: Ah, there we go. “If I had one wish, it would be for peace on earth. No, wait, can I change that? It would be for everyone to watch ‘The Ricky Gervais Show,’ on HBO on Feb. 19th.” Way to end on a plug, sir.

So there you go: my first-ever live blog. I hope it made for at least a semi-entertaining read, and stay tuned for Bob Westal’s movie portion of the proceedings, coming soon!

Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, News, TCA Blog 2010, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

24 8.1-2: Fairytale of New York

January 17, 2010 /

Man in room: “Hi, my name’s Farhad.”
Rest of room: “Hi, Farhad.”
Man in room: “And I’m a villain.”

Hiding in plain sight: it’s the new twist ending.

From the moment they set up the white she-devil reporter Meredith (who, of course, is blonde) as the supposed inside person that will take out Slumdog President – they even had her doing the shifty-eyed thing, gawd – I’m thinking, “Nope, it’s the brother.” And that’s fine: there have been several transparent baddies in the past on “24.” But how many of them were revealed in the second hour? Seriously, we’re only two hours in, and we already know that Slumdog’s brother (official 24 blog nickname: George Harrison) has brought in the Russian hit man Davros (nickname still pending, though I’m leaning towards Moscow Mike, after watching him slip into New Yorkese without a moment’s hesitation when he took that cop and his wife hostage) to kill his brother, and he plans on using Slumdog’s indiscretions with said white she-devil as leverage to keep him in line. That’s usually a late reveal, isn’t it? They might spend the next 22 hours fleshing out the story in colorful ways, but I feel as though they’ve already played their biggest card.

Unless…

Perhaps Slumdog’s wife is Sherry Palmer in disguise, and she’s the driving force behind George Harrison’s plot. The Hassans are as estranged a couple as you’re likely to find, so it’s safe to say that Slumdog’s death would not crush her. She was just a little too still, too calm. I don’t trust her any farther than I can throw her. And that’s good; the show could use another villainess along the lines of Sherry Palmer and the late, great Lady MacBeth that was Shohreh Aghdashloo. Does anyone have a better voice than Shohreh Aghdashloo? Seriously, they should make a computer program that enables people to speak like her. It would end war.

24-Ep801_Sc155_0175

“I’m Jack Bauer.” “That’s nice. My wife kills vampires. You’re picking up the check.”

So let’s take a look at the fast-talking clowns that call themselves CTU New York. They’re led by two guys, CTU director Brian Hastings (nickname: Bubba) and ex-Marine Cole Ortiz (nickname: Buffy) who are clearly in over their heads. Their head systems analyst Dana Walsh (nickname: Starbuck) is hiding some shameful past that, from the looks of her country bumpkin blackmailer, might involve tube tops and pole dancing. Lastly Arlo Glass, the man in charge of the drones, or something, uses satellite feeds to spy on hot women (nickname: Merv the Perv). Stuck with these idiots is Chloe, who is having a hard time adapting to their “Minority Report” technology, but seems to be the only one who knows a trap when she sees one. The lack of field experience and instincts with this crew is galling. How many useful leads will Jack and Chloe have to provide before they’re deemed helpful?

Speaking of Chloe, I love Mary Lynn Rajskub as much as anyone, but she has been terrible so far, reading her lines like she has a plane to catch. There is no rhythm or real emotion behind what she says – it’s just chatter. Elisha Cuthbert, on the other hand, has turned in her best work yet in these first two hours. She also looks fabulous.

Madame President didn’t play too large a role in these first two hours, other than being the level-headed, middle-of-the-road President that we will never see in real life. Her new chief of staff Rob Weiss is a pushy little fucker though, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Ethan Kanin throw a roadblock or two his way.

For as much hype as the season premiere of “24” generates, this was not their best first step. Bad guys busting off shots in the middle of the street, but there are no witnesses. (It’s New York. Someone is always watching.) A compromised CTU employee, a la Samwise Gamgee from Season 5. On the plus side, the writers appear to be playing the ‘damn it’ drinking game again, so that’s fun. Still, hours three and four, to quote Hard-Fi, better do better than this.

And, in a new wrinkle to the 24 blog, I’m including a video to the song that inspired each week’s title. Take us home, Shane and Kirsty.

24, Actors, Actresses, External TV, TV, TV Action

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