Charles in Charge

2009-04-03 3:02:48 am

So, after getting Xbox Live I went through and added a TON of movies and TV shows to my list, everything from classic movies that I have or haven't seen to TV shows I fondly remember or have always wanted to check out. One of those shows was Charles in Charge. After doing some digging online and through my memory, I remembered there being two families, the original Pembrokes and the latter day Powells. Apparently, the show didn't get picked up after the first season, there was a two year gap and then it started up in syndication. I remembered both families from childhood (the first season which had the Pembrokes was from 1984-1985, the Powells from 1987-1990). So I figured what the heck, let's check it out.

And you know what? I freaking LOVE the first season of Charles in Charge. It's got boatloads of heart, it's funny and, though sometimes corny, the performances are great. You really get the feeling that Charles and the Pembrokes really get along. All in all, it feels real. Well, mid-80s sitcom real. And Scott Baio (who plays Charles) is really freaking charming.

The basic idea is that Charles is a freshman in college who takes care of the Pembroke children (Douglas, Lila and Jason) in exchange for room and board in New Jersey. There isn't really an overarching, season-long storyarc, which is fine, but each episode the basic format of Charles trying to live his life while juggling the Pembroke childrens' problems, his own problems and his friends Buddy and Gwendolyn.

Now, while the Powells may be the more well-known family (as it includes a pre-Baywatch Nicole Eggert), but, as I sit here watching the first episode of the second season, I can't help but like the Pembrokes better. Sure, it might just be bias, but I just find the Pembroke children and parents (the dad is played by James Widdoes who was Hoover in Animal House) more convincing.

This is rambling, definitely, and I kind of wish I would have made notes as I went along watching the episodes. A few highlights include a young Meg Ryan showing up a couple of times, Charles helping the teenage Lila deal with growing up (surprisingly honest, though also kind of hokey) and Douglas the nerdy Pembroke boy being a big time nerd in the 80s.

Normally this is where I'd tell you to do yourself a favor and check out Charles in Charge's first season on Netflix (and I do), but I've also got to throw in a few thoughts on the first episode of the second season. Charles comes back from the summer trip he left for at the end of the first season. He comes into the Pembroke house to find different people living there. Mrs. Pembroke (though it's not the same actress, blarg) informs Charles that Widdoes' Stan Pembroke got transferred to Seattle and they moved (all of this took place in two weeks in the show's time, but two years in real time, so everyone who was actually on the first season looks different). Jason, the youngest Pembroke is there as well and definitely looks more grown up. It's actually a pretty sad moment when they leave and then Charles has to decide if he's going to stay with this new family that the Pembrokes sublet their house to or move into an apartment with Buddy. We get to know the three Powell kids a little, there's a boy who doesn't do much, Nicole Eggert who's pretty much a vapid, popular jerk and then Sarah who is a sensitive book lover who's verging on maturity with no real direction. Her and Charles spend some time together and Charles decides to stay. Oh yeah, their mom is married to a guy in the miliitary and her dad lives with them, the grandpa isn't too fond of Charles right off the bat. We'll see where it goes from here, but season's 2-5 (only up to 3 is on DVD so far) have a lot to live up to, as watching the first season has been one of the more enjoyable shows I've watched this year.

My Top 5 TV Shows Right Now

2009-03-13 8:35:13 pm

When the new season began I said a few words about the shows I'd been watching. Well, now the season's been on it's merry way for a while now and I figured I'd lay out my top five shows right now. They're in no particular order except #1, but they're rocking my world right now.

5. How I Met Your Mother

4. Big Bang Theory

3. 30 Rock

2. Real World

1. LOST

Unfortunately, HIMYM and BBT weren't new for a while, which has been a huge bummer as we don't really watch anything else on Mondays. I still really enjoy both shows and can't wait to see where the further new episodes take me. After watching the first season of 30 Rock all the way through I gained an all new appreciation for 30 Rock and they haven't been disappointing this year (though it is interesting to see how the dynamics have shifted by now). I don't think I laugh harder at anything more than 30 Rock. The Real World: Brooklyn has been surprising this year. I think the producers thought that, by combining a transgender woman, a gay guy, a Mormon, a girl who used to date girls but now dates guys, an Iraq War veteran, a girl who's kinda engaged, a body builder and a hip hop dancer they'd have LOADS of conflict. Instead, we're treated to the most thought provoking, yet still fun season since Las Vegas (SO MANY pranks!). And finally, Lost. I freaking love this show. I've actually found that Lost gives me something to really look forward to (my new catchphrase of late has been "Life is better with Lost"). I was close to devastated when I walked into work Wednesday morning and Justin told me it wasn't new this week. If you're not watching you should be and if you don't like it, you're crazy.

They Can't All Be Winners

2009-02-25 2:06:36 am

I haven't been having a ton of luck lately when it comes to watching movies. Aside from falling asleep about a half hour in exactly no matter how cool the movie, I've been picking some duds (though still a few good ones). I couldn't even get into watching Repo: The Genetic Opera for some reason. I'm not going to pass judgment on that one now because I was really tired, but I wanted to keep our Netflix queue going so I sent it back.

I did not however like an action movie I tried watching last night called Kiltro (2006). I made it about a half hour into that one before I fell asleep. I was hoping for an awesome action movie (as advertised), but instead I got a story about a guy who likes to fight and has a crush on a girl who blah blah blah. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I want my action movies (and my giant monster movies for that matter) to be less talking and more destruction, unless they happen to be actually funny like Police Story 1 and 2. Again, I don't really consider this a review, because I didn't watch the whole movie, just letting you action fans out there know not to waste your time.

I also watched most of a movie called Hickey and Boggs (1972) which has a lot going for it in that The Warriors writer Walter Hill wrote it and Bill Cosby stars as a tough guy private detective along with Robert Culp who also directs. I didn't have any problem with this movie, though it is a bit slow, I just haven't finished it yet because it's kind of long and it expires from Netflix on March 1. It's in the same vein as Dirty Harry and is pretty cool, so I might finish it up today. Oh, and if you were wondering, yes it's kind of weird seeing Bill Cosby as a tough guy, but he also pulls it off really well. It's fun to watch. Again, not a real review, but just some thoughts.

That being said, I do have four ACTUAL reviews:

POPCORN (1991)
Man, the 90s were a weird time for horror movies. You're looking at a time after the slasher glut greatly hindered the genre, but before Scream made them cool again. Popcorn is kind of a weird movie. The basic premise is that a college film club decides to hold a movie marathon to raise some money. But this isn't any movie marathon, they're showing movies with a gimmick like smell-o-vision or shock-o-rama. As such, they need an old movie theater to show their flicks in and a crazy old guy to help out (and then completely disappear) in the form of Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian). If you really liked the beginning of Scream 2 where there's all kinds of craziness happening in a movie theater, then this is right up your alley as it seems as though a counterculture guy from back in the day wants his weirdo movie to be seen so much he's willing to kill people for it (that's not exactly the plot, but I don't want to give too much away). There was enough quirky charm to keep me watching even though the movie isn't awesome by any means. So, if that sounds interesting (oh and the fact that someone gets killed via giant fake mosquito), check it out.

THE ROCKER (2008)

I was really surprised with how much I liked this Rainn Wilson flick. I was also surprised with the huge number of cast members I not only recognized, but knew by name (for the most part). Wilson stars as a drummer who got kicked out of what became the biggest band of the 80s right before they blew up. Now, in modern times, Rainn's down on his luck, but ends up joining his nephew's band, which garners its own huge levels of success. Aside from the cast that includes Christina Applegate, Emma Stone, Jeff Garland, Jane Lynch (from 40 Year Old Virgin and a hundred other things), Jason Sudekis, Will Arnett, Fred Armisen, Jane Krakowski, Bradley Cooper, Lonny Ross (30 Rock), Demetri Martin and Aziz Ansari, I was really impressed with how well they pull off some moments that could have come off as cheesy. There's also one part where Rainn offers up the emo lead singer some songwriting advice (paraphrase "let's speed it up and switch it to I'm NOT bitter) and he actually takes it without flinching. Sure it's kind of similar to a scene in That Thing You Do, but in this case the lead singer just decided to go for it instead of being a d-bag. The Rocker is one of those flicks that seems like it either went up against some huge other movie or their producers didn't have the juice to put much/any advertising cash behind it, because there's no reason that this shouldn't have done way better (though I said the same thing after seeing Speed Racer, which I still really enjoyed, so what do I know).

I also watched a couple movies all the way through that I wasn't really into and those were Bangkok Dangerous (2008) and The Crazies (1973). I'll be honest, the only reason I wanted to watch BD is because I've laughed a million times at the Best of The Wicker Man video on YouTube starring BD's Nic Cage. Man that's a funny video. You can get to it here after reading an AWESOME article I wrote about horror movie remakes for ToyFare. Unfortunately, BD was no where near as ridiculous as I was hoping it would be (I mean, COME ON, it's Nic Cage as an assassin!). Instead, it's a pretty run-of-the mill story about an assassin who has all kinds of rules, but is starting to not want to be an assassin anymore. You've seen it a million times and this doesn't really offer up anything new, unlike Grosse Pointe Blank which is completely awesome.

The Crazies (1973) is the first non-zombie George Romero movie I've ever seen. It was okay, but not all that interesting. Instead of focusing on characters and how they react to these crazy situations, it seemed like Romero was more focused on showing a lot of dudes in white hazmat-type suits rounding people up after a virus that makes people go bat-poop nutso, gets released in a small town. There's nothing all that wrong, really, it just didn't grab my attention like my favorite Romero (and horror) flick Dawn of the Dead does.

Four Movies I Dug

2009-02-21 5:28:59 am

It may come as a bit of surprise, but my movie intake has almost trickled to a crawl lately. The movies in this post have been vied over a period of almost months. I've been a lot more tired lately and haven't been staying up as late, but I'm still watching for you, my faithful readers (also because I'm half-addicted to movies, I think). So, here we go:

NICK AND NORA'S INFINITE PLAYLIST (2008)
I didn't LOVE Nick and Nora, but I liked it about as much as I thought I would. I'm a sucker for told-in-one-night movies like Can't Hardly Wait and the like. Plus, this one stars Michael Cera and Kat Dennings who is crush-worthy in my book (don't tell Em). The basic story isn't all that mindblowing, it's your basic "two people who are dating other people meet each other, fall for each other, have a few difficulties, but SPOILER get together in the end" flick, but what's fun for me is in the details. Aside from the solid performances and guest spots by the likes of Andy Samberg, Seth Meyers, Jay Baruchel, I like the New York club setting and the smaller details like Nora's dad SPOILER owning Electric Ladyland studios. I have no idea if the club/band life the movie puts forward is accurate, but I think the idea of following a mystery band around town to be really cool, though familiar (I can't quite put my finger on why/where from). I also had music geeksplosions when they went to Electric Ladyland. And, I gotta say, I was surprised that this movie, which is based on a book that I haven't, but now want to, read not only had a sex scene but also a number of gay characters (oh, and the creepiest stripperish dance scene involving an actual girl that I can remember). I guess teen movies have changed a bit and I think it's pretty cool.

THE HOUSE BUNNY (2008)
I can't exactly say The House Bunny surprised me, because, well, I kind of thought I would like it. You've got Anna Faris starring in a Fred Wolf (SNL, DIRTY WORK!!!) directed movie that mixes Playboy and sororities on a college campus in which the main point of the flick is to turn nerdy sorority girls (including Kat Dennings, Rumor Willis and Emma Stone) into hot chicks. I'd say that's a pretty killer combination. And, as far as I'm concerned, it lived up to my expectations. Oh, plus it had Colin Hanks who I haven't seen in anything but Orange County, but I liked that flick and he's good in this too. Really, if the above description doesn't tickle your fancy, you won't dig this movie. If it does, dive on in and have a good time. I wouldn't rank it in my top five comedies or anything, but it's still worth a watch.

ALIEN RAIDERS (2008)
Alien Raiders is one of those movies that makes its way into the Wizard building and somehow found it's way to my hands, probably because everyone knows I'm the horror guy in the offices. Anyway, I knew nothing about this movie and had absolutely no expectations (in fact, I can't even remember why I watched this instead of something else like, say, Triloquist, which is in my "to be watched" pile). So, I was pleasantly surprised by this mix of Thing and The Mist (basically, "who's the alien in a grocery store"). I was surprised with how in to this movie I got (I even put a comic down to watch it). For a much better review than I could give, check out my favorite blog on the web Horror Movie a Day. Also check out the comment section for what will be a now reduntant comment, plus a comment from the screenwriter!

DISTRICT B-13 (2004)
Compared to the rest of these flicks, B-13 here is an oldie, but it's still a goody. Man, I had a great time watching B-13. It's directed by the guy who just did Taken which I hear is pretty rad and want to check out. Anyway, the story is set in the near future, something about a ghetto in France where undesirables live. The intricacies of the plot escape me at the moment, but there's an undercover cop and a crook working together to both get a bomb back and save one of the guys' sister. The story itself isn't the cool part though, I was a fan of the action scenes, many of which involved my personal favorite YouTube search of free running (or parkour if you're nasty, or French). I caught this on Netflix's amazing instant watch and can't recommend it more to action fans. Seriously, go check it out NOW.

Okay, hope you enjoyed these brief movie reviews. Look for more trade and movie reviews soon!

Book vs. Movie: The Real Animal House/Animal House

2009-02-18 8:41:32 pm

I must admit, I have not seen Animal House (1978) as many times as I should have. My dad was always a big fan, but I'm guessing he didn't want me to watch it considering the questionable moral content. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have wanted me to read one of the Animal House writers Chris Miller's book The Real Animal House (2006).

The story is that Miller wrote a bunch of stories about his fraternity experiences at Dartmouth for National Lampoon (yes, it used to be a magazine). At some point the NL folks wanted to make a movie so Chris, Harold Ramis and Douglas Kenney pooled every story they ever experienced or heard about fraternities and created Animal House, one of the greatest comedies of all time.

Well, Miller's The Real Animal House collects all of his memories and stories. Part autobiography, part oral history, Miller switches from first to third person as he gets to college and becomes Pinto. The shift is a bit distracting, but once you really get into the tales of Adelphian lore, you don't really notice it anymore.

And let me tell you, there are some gross stories in here. If you thought the movie had some risque moments, you might not want to check the book out, but if that kind of stuff doesn't bother you, I really recommend this book. Aside from being highly entertaining and funny, it's really interesting to be transferred to the wild world of fraternity life in the early 60s as rock and roll was really taking root and students were trying everything they could to make the cold New Hampshire winters pass in the at-the-time all male world of Dartmoth. I'm not saying this was necessarily how all college life was in the 60s, but it's a cool look. Plus, it reminded be a little of my fraternity days back at Ohio Wesleyan. We were never as crazy as either the book or movie fraternities, but there are definitely some characters and moments that echoed my experiences, though, luckily I never got stuck with a flattering nickname (we pretty much called everyone by their last name all the time, with a few exceptions).

Anyway, if you haven't seen Animal House you really should. It's the rare movie that doesn't really have one central character and yet you never really seem to notice. All the actors deliver stellar performances and there's something new to laugh at every time you check it out. I also recommend viewing the special features, one of which catches up with the characters, the other interviews many of the actors a few years ago about their experience with Animal House, even Kevin Bacon.

I picked the book up at my local Barnes and Noble in hardcover for around 6 or 7 bucks and I highly recommend it if you can find it for that price, otherwise the hardcover is $24.99. I tend not to buy new, full price hardcovers because I'm pretty cheap, but the low price, the subject matter and the super cool cover (Google it, uploading pics is a pain) all encouraged me buying it and I recommend you do too.

13.5 Quick Movie Reviews

2009-01-17 5:32:32 am

Hey gang, sorry again about my complete lack of posts lately, things have been crazy. I have been keeping myself busy with movies though, so here are 13 short reviews about some flicks I've seen lately, plus one movie I didn't watch.

SIX STRING SAMURAI (1998)
I really liked this post apocalyptic-like road trip movie with a samurai Buddy Holly. The howler-monkey kid got annoying fast, but the action and snappy dialogue kept things moving along at quite a clip. Much better than I thought it would be.

OUR MAN FLINT (1966)
Flint's a swinging secret agent int he 60s more worried about having a good time than stopping an international incident (at first at least). Great, campy 60s spy fun, that both pokes fun at but also sets itself up in the same universe as James Bond. A lot of fun, can't wait to check out the sequel.

THE MAJORETTES (1986)
I don't actually remember too much about this movie other than it involved some maniac hunting down and killing high school cheerleaders. It's a way lower budget movie and apparently very little of the money went to snag actors who can, you know, act. Skip this one unless you're a horror completist or you're looking to cross another movie off in your copy of Creature Feature (like me).

DAY OF THE DEAD (2008)
I was actually pretty impressed with this remake-in-name-mostly of Romero's Day of the Dead. I'm not a huge fan of the original or anything, but I wasn't expecting much out of this flick and was surprised. The story moves along the same speeds as the fast Zack Snyder/28 Days Later-like zombies, but my favorite part is seeing actual people I recognize like Mena Suvari, Nick Cannon and Ving Rhames killing and becoming zombies. When was the last time you saw a non genre actor semi-famous person in a horror movie after they became famous? Hopefully it's a trend that will continue. I'm actually kind of surprised that they didn't release this movie in theaters. Oh well, a pretty good zombie movie all said and done, though not a classic.

THE SHADOW (1994)
In my opinion, it's hard to go wrong when you populate a movie about a pulp hero with actors like Alec Baldwin, Peter Boyle, Tim Curry, Ian McKellen, James Hong and Jonathan Winters and luckily The Shadow held up my opinions. I'm not all that familiar with pulp heroes, especially the Shadow, but I like the idea of him having a network of people all over the city (usually people he has saved) who help him out. There's all kinds of cool stuff like secret labs and ancient forces of good and evil. Oh and for 30 Rock fans, I highly encourage you to think of these as the early days of Jack Donaghy.

LAST MAN STANDING (1996)
A pretty cool story about a gangster-era hitman (Willis) holing up in a ghost town populated by two rival gangs, gets slowed down with a little too much back and forth back stabbing. I definitely don't remember all the details about this one, but I'm a Willis fan. Michael Imperioli plays pretty much the same role he always does and Walken stars as Willis' main competition and they fight which is cool. Can you imagine Walken fighting now? Aside from a dance fight I mean. Oh, also Walter Hill of Warriors fame directed LMS, so it's gotta be pretty good, right?

FOXY BROWN (1974)
So far my experience with blaxploitation films as been hit or miss, but luckily Foxy is enough of a hit. In the plus column, Pam Grier cuts quite the figure, plus she kicks ass. I also like the idea of a group of inner city dwellers taking the law into their own hands and creating their own kind of police force. I'm not a big fan of the sexual assault stuff, but I guess that's all part of the exploitation riff. Too bad Foxy and Shaft never got together. That would have been a great flick.

LEATHERHEADS (2008)
I'm not sure if I've professed my heterosexual man love for George Clooney on the blog before, but I'm a big fan. I think we'd get along smashingly. I do know that I've talked about how much I like the American Office, so you probably know I'm a John Krasinski fan. So, Leatherheads was a good flick in my book. It doesn't make my top 10 sports movies of all time (well, maybe, I'd have to come up with that list actually), but it's fun and it offered up a look at a period in professional football that I am completely unfamiliar with, so that was cool. Of course, it's a comedy, so I'm not sure how accurate it was, but who cares? Like I said it was fun. Has similar story elements to League of the their Own (which probably would make my top 10 because I'm a huge softy). Not groundbreaking by any means, but worth a watch.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (2008)
I liked Leatherheads more than Journey, but it's not a terrible movie (even if it is very predictable). The special effects bounce back and forth between boderline okay, pretty good and not so great, but the effort is there. I really wish I would have been able to see this bad boy in 3D. I missed out on the phenomenon in the 80s and have gotten a taste for it by watching Superman Returns (ugh) and Nightmare Before Christmas in lame separate the background from the foreground 3D. I can't freaking wait to see My Bloody Valentine 3D!!!

KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE (1988)
Holy crap I loved this movie. Rickey got me a subscription to a horror movie mag called Horror Hound that's not expertly edited, but still offers up tons and tons of horror goodness. One such bit of goodness was a whole feature on Klowns. The movie is just so much freaking over the bigtop fun. I really can't believe that a studio made this movie. Please, do yourself a favor and check it out. Also of interest on the DVD is the Chiodo brothers' home movies from when they were making monster movies as kids. Pretty impressive stuff for pre-teens with a 16mm camera.

VAMPIRE EFFECT (2003)
The combination of Hong Kong action and vampires drew me to this flick pretty quickly on Netflix. Heck, it's even got Jackie Chan in a roll that's more than him just walking on and being called Jackie (which he is). As with a lot of movies like this that I've seen, the special effects and fight scenes are sick, but the story itself is nothing new. I did really like the cool retractable whip/sword weapons they used. I think I designed something very similar what I was younger.

LICENSE TO DRIVE (1988)
If you thought Corey Haim could have been a little bit smoother, though still pretty spazzy in Lost Boys and Corey Fledman from the Burbs could use a little mellowing out, then License to Drive is the perfect 2 Coreys vehicle for you (puns!). Haim fails his driving test, but still tells a young (though still 18 by my math) Heather Graham that he can pick her up. It's basically like an episode of a sitcom, but stretched to 90 minutes and definitely edgier than your average Saved By The Bell. Good stuff. Next up from the Coreys? Dream a Little Dream (which I have absolutely no knowledge of).

LEGEND (1985)
Legend is one of those movies that I don't remember at all, but have since come to find that it's kind of a big deal (to some people). I knew that Tim Curry was in it, but had no idea Tom Cruise was. I thought it might be kind of a funny movie, but when I saw Tom prancing around the forest or whatever I clicked this badboy off and deleted it from my queue. I am no fan of fantasy movies.

JOHNNY BE GOOD (1988)
I'm becoming a pretty big fan of Netflix's recommendations. I started watching Johnny after digging License and wasn't disappointed. It's got an older and more confident Anthony Michael Hall and a completely goofy Robert Downey Jr.. There's a good deal of goofiness to this movie, which focuses on Hall as a football star getting courted by and visiting different colleges that want him. Downey plays his wacky best friend, but what struck me about the movie is how real it can be at times. Hall and Downey sell their characters like they're up for an award. Oh, it's also got Uma Thurman as Hall's girlfriend and Jennifer Tilly has a quick role. If you're an 80s movie fan, or just curious to see what Downey might have been like back in the late 80s give Johnny a look.

AUGUST RUSH (2007)
Sometimes you've got to add a movie for your lady to the ol' queue. I was pleasantly surprised with August Rush, not because the story is all the unique (you've seen the broad strokes before plenty of times), but because of it's view of music. The way they show the young boy experiencing music in everyday life, what it means to him and how he's eventually able to play it in his own unorthodox way really struck me. If you've got to watch a chick flick with your girl and you're a music fan, this is a good choice. Also, Keri Russell is in it and looking good.

KING OF KONG (2007)
If you haven't seen this documentary about the surprisingly competitive world of classic arcade high score competitions, please stop reading and watch it right now. This one makes it into my top 10 movies of 2007 (should a list ever actually exist). First off, it shows off a world I've never seen, which you know I love. Also, that world is full of deceit, greed, cowardice, heroics, villainy, triumph and defeat. The way the story is put together feels like a really well scripted feature film, though the events and the ups and downs are completely real. If you've ever liked anything I've written about on here, watch this movie.

SUPERMAN/DOOMSDAY (2007)
Seeing as how The Death and Return of Superman is the story that got me collecting comics in the first place (and how deeply and utterly I bought into the idea that any of the four subsequent people could be the real Superman), I was very excited when I heard a few years ago that DC/WB was going to make an animated movie about that very event, I was psyched. I figured it probably wouldn't have EVERYthing that made the comic so cool (Superman turning back to save a family instead of finishing Doomsday off, that very 90s JLA facing off against Doomsday, an eyes-swollen-shut Guy Gardner asking his teammate to aim his fist at Doomsday so he could blast it, not to mention the four other "Supermen"), but that it could offer up a cool new look on the idea. And it's definitely a different look. I would have preferred them either go straight with the established look and continuity of the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini-verse or have a drastically different art direction on the project as little things like Superman's cheek lines become distracting. I was also distracted by the different voices for these characters that I recognize from a specific other incarnation that looked very similar but sound completely different. Even at 77 minutes it felt kind of slow, but the fight scenes are pretty great (though they don't hold a candle to JLU). I still hold on to my dream of one day seeing an epic, animated incarnation of the Death and Return of Superman though. A boy can dream, right?

Wild(er) and Crazy Flicks

2009-01-10 5:19:22 am

One of my favorite aspects of Xbox's watch instantly option is that I can go through every movie offered online and add whatever looks even remotely interesting to my queue. Which is a great way to watch flicks by some classic directors. Within 24 hours, Em and I watched two movies by acclaimed director Billy Wilder (check him out if you've never heard of him, he's probably most famous for Sunset Blvd. which is worth your time). I actually didn't even realize that two movies I had already added were directed by him. I added Seven Year Itch because it's regarded as a classic and Marilyn Monroe's in it. Kiss Me, Stupid grabbed my attention because Dean Martin stars.

I'll start with the movie that was...less good, which is Kiss Me, Stupid. There are two huge problems with this movie. The first is that it's one of those stories where everyone's lying to each other to make things easier and the whole time you're yelling "just tell the truth" at the screen. Of course they never do till the end, because that would be the end of the movie. The other problem is that it's just kind of creepy as the guy who played My Favorite Martian (and was also on Picket Fences) lets stranded crooner Dino (Dean Martin if you couldn't figure out) hit on his pretend wife while he's in the room. It's even worse that Dino does it! It's well acted and all that and they even incorporate some of Dean's actual on stage antics in the movie, but, like I said, there's just too many things taking me out of the movie. Em and I watched it while we took the Christmas decorations down and were both completely weirded out. Skip this one unless you're a HUGE Dean Martin, My Favorite Martian, needlessly confusing story or Billy Wilder fan.

Luckily, The Seven Year Itch was awesome. The story follows a pocket book editor as his wife and kid leave New York City to summer somewhere only to head home and find out that the gorgeous Marilyn Monroe is living in the apartment above him. I've never seen Marilyn Monroe in anything but pictures (speaking of which, this movie has the famous subway/white dress scene (the the full-on image never appears in the flick). I freaking loved this movie. First off, it showed me a time period/practice I've never seen before. I had never heard of wives and kids leaving for the whole summer. Plus, I'm a sucker for anything set in New York City in the past. Next, the acting is fantastic. Marilyn doesn't just seem like the dityz blonde (though she is both), there's still some depth there without getting int he way. Also, the male lead Tom Ewell had some experience with the character as he played him in the original stage version. Even the smaller parts are all great. But what I really like about the story (and the basic story is very interesting as Tom tries, at the same time, to both be with and stay away from his neighbor) is that Tom gets to imagine all these different scenarios that we then see on screen. You know, kind of like Scrubs, but it doesn't make me want to punch someone in the face. I highly recommend this flick.

Now a few general points of interest/thoughts. Just for the record, Wilder wrote and directed both flicks, though he didn't write the play that Kiss is based on. I was surprised by the large amounts of sexuality and innuendo in both movies. I'm not sure if this was something that Wilder specifically dabled in, or if things were a little but more acceptable back then than we think, but there's all kinds of sex bubbling around the surfaces (most obviously in the "will he have an affair" plot of Seven Year Itch). I was also surprised to see that Kiss Me came out nine years AFTER Itch (Kiss is from 1964, Itch 1955). First off because Itch is so much better, but also because Kiss is in black and white while Itch is in color. Just some interesting things.

Next up on my Billy Wilder list? Probably The Apartment from 1960 which stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray.

30 Rock and Roll All Night

2009-01-08 4:31:26 am

I've got to apologize again for my lack of posts. Things have been crazy, but I've been spending most of my free time watching movies and reading comics, so hopefully that will translate into more posts (if I don't fall asleep first).

So, one of the first things I did when I started watching Netflix stuff on Xbox Live was add the first season of 30 Rock. When 30 Rock premiered I wasn't all that into the show, which is strange because most of you know of my love of Saturday Night Live and I also watch The Office and My Name Is Earl which are on the same channel at the same time. I think part of the reason is that I started watching and REALLY liked Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip which is basically SNL on the west coast (as written by Sorkin). So, for whatever reason, it was hardly on my radar and I missed out on most of the first season. But I've been watching it since then and am a huge huge fan (I think it makes me laugh more than The Office now).

The one thing that struck me the most is that I had no idea how the series started. I just assumed it was an SNL-like show with a smaller cast and more dancers and that Liz and Jack were always friendly. Well, that's not the case, as the first episode shows Jack's first day, coming in and changing the Jenna-starring The Girl Show into TGS Featuring Tracey Morgan. Even though the series has been a lot of fun anyway, this made everything make a lot more sense.

There's a lot of great episodes, including the one where Tracey goes on Conan Obrien's show, but my favorite episode of the season has to be the one about Cleveland. As an Ohioan, it's always great to see one of our cities on TV (especially Cleveland where my mom is from and my Grandma still lives). It's what hooked me to the Drew Carey Show too. Anyway, I like that they kind of flip the script and make Cleveland out to be this cool, great place to run away to. The funny thing is that, according to Grandma (mine, not a character on the show) Cleveland and its suburbs used to actually be the hot spot for wealthy New Yorkers to summer at because of Lake Erie and it's relative proximity to NYC. Go figure, huh? It's kind of like hearing how many people went on their honeymoon to Niagra Falls. But anyway, I laughed for pretty much the whole episode and all the rest. If you're a fan of smart comedy, you can't go wrong checking out the first season. Some people say it's a little slow in the first disc, but I'm not one of them. Definitely give it a disc, though, to see if you'll like it. I ended up burning through the whole series in about three days.

Oh, also, I love Tina Fey. She's the cat's pajams as far as I'm concerned.

Brotherly Love: Step Brothers (2008)

2008-12-19 4:52:25 am

We had a few DVDs waiting for Em and I to watch from Netflix (which is what happens when I put movies we both want to watch on the queue so close to each other). Wanted was one of them and Step Brothers the other.

I wasn't blow away by this Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly comedy, but it was funny enough to keep me laughing for most of its run time. The story is that the aforementioned man-children come together when their parents (Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins) meet and get married. Will and John don't get off to a very good start, but eventually do. The plot is kind of similar to that of a romantic comedy, but with a lot more swearing, dirty jokes and fake testicles. Yup, watch out for that.

It's only been a day since we watched the movie and I can't really think of too many specific scenes that really made me laugh, but like I said, I laughed most of the time. Will and John have a dynamic that comes off as a lot funnier than their previous collaborations in my opinion. Director Adam McKay who wrote for Saturday Night Live and also directed those awesome web videos starring his daughter Pearl and Will, like The Landlord, which you can check out at the bottom of the page if you haven't already seen. I do remember that I thought Mary Steenburgen was really funny and yet still retained that gentle mom-ness that I remember from Back to the Future 3 and Elf.

I would recommend watching the theatrical version instead of the director's cut for the first time, though, if you're wavering between the two. If you really dig the movie the first time around, maybe give it a shot, but, from what Jim Gibbons, tells me, they kind of go crazy with the improv stuff that goes on for too long. Again, a lot of fun, even if not all that memorable. Now, check out The Landlord:

The Landlord by Will Ferrell

Last Weekend Roundup

2008-11-24 4:58:28 am

Whew, it's been a busy few weeks. I was pretty exhausted for most of last week, but Em and I did watch a bunch of movies last Sunday to celebrate the new TV. Instead of watching special effects heavy movies like Iron Man or Transformers we went in the opposite direction and watched a pair of romantic comedies. Not exactly my usual, but I did enjoy both flicks.

The first was a movie that had been sitting near our TV for a few weeks along with Drop Dead Gorgeous which Em borrowed from her friend Lee (hey Lee). It's called The Sweetest Thing (2002) and stars Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, Selma Blair, Jason Bateman and The Punisher, er, Tom Jane. I'll be honest, it's been over a week and my memory's definitely fuzzy, but basically Diaz falls for Tom Jane in a club and then tries to go after him at what she thinks is her brother's (Bateman) but is really Jane's. Plot-wise, it's a pretty standard romantic comedy, but it's the flourishes that make this a pretty good flick. Diaz and Applegate have some pretty over the top scenes and they often sneak into annoying territory with their catch phrases and Diaz's mugging for the camera. But all in all, if you've got to watch a RomCom, it's a pretty good one.

We also checked out Run Fatboy Run (2007) which also falls into the romantic comedy genre and follows a lot of the standard tropes, but I'm a big Simon Pegg fan and David Schwimmer did a great job directing him, Hank Azaria and Thandie Newton. Pegg plays a dude who ran out on his pregnant fiance (Newton) on their wedding day. Now it's five years later, they've got a kid, he works as a security guard at a clothing store where he runs down bra-stealing trannies and Newton's dating the super succesful Azaria who likes to run marathons. Pegg realizes how big of a mistake he made and now wants to made good by showing people (mostly her, his kid and himself) that he can run a marathon in England (where he lives).

What I do like about RFR is that, even though it is kind of paint by numbers, Schwimmer uses a few different colors than you might expect. Like a lot of other RomComs, we see that Azaria's maybe not the greatest guy and we do feel good when Newton finally realizes this. But, and this is a SPOILER at the end, after Azaria's out of the picture and Pegg's proven he's a good dude, it's not like he and Newton just fall in love again. I appreciate that.

So far, I haven't seen Pegg in anything that I didn't like, except for the flick that he co-starred with Schwimmer in called Big Nothing which really didn't do anything for me. He's even the reason I'm looking forward to Star Trek, though now that I've seen the previews, that movie is really making me want to see it, so kudos to the marketing team.

Yeah, I know romantic comedies probably aren't what you expected to read about in this first post after a slow week, but I'm trying to catch up on what I read and watched over the week. Until next time...

Weekend Roundup

2008-11-10 5:12:26 pm

Wow, what a weekend. It was kind of busy with a wedding and both my football teams losing, but I was also able to squeeze in far more movies than I should have.

On Friday, Em went to bed early, so I ran up to Blockbuster and did a trade in for a double feature of Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi (1992) and Desperado (1995). I'd seen Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico before, but had never seen the original piece of the Mexico Trilogoy, plus I'm a sucked for a 2-for1 and traded it in. I did not know that Mariachi is completely in Spanish and it seems as though the version I had rented didn't have an English dub, but it did have an awesome commentary by Rodriguez. So I listened to that and put subtitles on and enjoyed the heck out of myself. Turns out he made the movie for $7,000 and most of that cost went towards film. He worked with mostly no crew and local people who'd never acted before. And while I can't understand what they're saying on screen, they really seemed natural. Rodriguez gives a play by play of how he did everything on screen which is super informative and then, in the special features, offers up a segment called "10 Minute Film School" showcasing how he did some of the more complex stunts and basic stuff like shooting scenes with editing in mind. I've never been to film school, but I feel like I got a heck of an education from just listening to the commentary. It was worth the rental for the feeling of "heck, I can do this too." Who wants to make a movie with me?

So, I was pretty hyped up after Mariachi and put Desperado on immediately after. It definitely looks and feels like a different animal with it's slicker look, bigger actors and crazier action sequences, but Rodriguez maintains the feel of the original which is impressive. This time Antonio Banderas plays El Mariachi and Salma Hayek plays his love interest. You've also got Quentin Tarantino, Cheech Marin, Steve Buscemi and Danny Trejo (my personal favorite interviewee so far). What stuck in my head from my previous viewing of Desperado was how bad ass it was. And that still holds up as Banderas leaps around shooting dudes from all kinds of awesome camera angles. I also love how cool the guitar case full of weapons is. It's like Rodney Dangerfield's golf bag from Caddyshack 2! Anyway, I also really dug the final scene where Mariachi calls in his boys who also have guitar cases concealing weapons (machine guns and a rocket launcher!). It's an awesome revenge story with tons of action and plenty of bad ass characters walking around looking bad ass, but none as bad ass as Mariachi. BAM!

After that I was pretty exhausted (it was 3AM), so I went to bed. The next day Em took a nap in the afternoon and I started tinkering with my VCR and actually got the dumb thing to start working again which meant I could watch some of the tapes I've picked up at work and garage sales lately. So I popped Don't Answer the Phone (1980) on. It wasn't very good. The story follows a serial killer as he calls in to a radio psychologist and taunts her. The video tape quality added to the atmosphere of the film, but it was overall just kind of uncomfortable and I didn't even both finishing it. What I did find interesting was the fact that we as the audience spent a good deal of time with the killer even when he wasn't killing. We see him walking along the street and calling into the radio show. I've often thought it would be interesting to see a slasher movie done like this, where you really get to see things from the killer's perspective. If Don't Answer the Phone is any indicator, maybe it's not such a good idea.

After giving up on that flick, I still had a little more time, so I popped in F/X2 (1991), which is a tape I grabbed from Em's parents when they were cleaning out all the tapes. They used to own a video store back in the day, so I can only assume it's a leftover from those days (how I wish I was around when they were getting rid of their boxes and boxes of movies!). I actually thought F/X2 was a horror movie, so I was confused when I couldn't find it in my Creature Features book. It turns out that it's more of an action thriller than a horror movie, though. Bryan Brown (Cocktail!) stars as a Hollywood effects man who gave up the game after the events of the first movie (which I haven't seen). This time, the woman he's dating's ex husband asks him to help out with a case (making him look like a woman), but it turns out that the ex gets killed and Bryan stumbles upon a much bigger plot involving cops killing cops, mobsters and the Vatican. Bryan calls in his buddy from the previous flick Brian Dennehy and now they're on the case. It's a fairly standard plot from here, but what I really liked about the movie is how Brown uses his crazy special effects talents to go after the bad guys. At one point, a dude breaks into his house to kill him, but Brown's able to slip into this motion control suit that coincides with a robot clown, so anything Brown does, the clown does. Then there's this amazingly hilarious fight scene with Brown and the clown vs. the assassin. There's also all kinds of craziness at the end. Definitely worth checking out if you want to see the kind of movie that will never get made nowadays, one with a sense of humor about itself, but also takes itself seriously.

The aforementioned wedding interrupted my movie watching (it's okay, I forgive them). On Sunday, I caught part of Bad Boys II (2003) on TV and you know what? That movie's awesome. I think Michael Bay gets a bad rap. I don't know much about the guy aside from what he puts on the screen, but I definitely appreciate his love of big crazy movies with lots of action and explosions. Some people call him a hack for that, but I don't buy it. I've liked Armageddon, The Rock, Bad Boys I and II (though definitely II better) and Transformers. I haven't seen The Island yet and I didn't really like Pearl Harbor at the time, but would definitely give it another shot. I didn't get to see the entirety of BBII (I've seen it before though) and man, there are some awesome scenes in there. The 360 degree scene of Will Smith on one side of a room and dudes with machine guns on the other. The chase scene where the bad guys throw cars at them. You can't beat that kind of stuff. And, I didn't get to see it this time, but the absolute disregard for human life while driving through Cuban homes! This is what movies used to be like back in the 70s and 80s and it's awesome to see that again. (NOTE: I in no way support the ACTUAL disregard of human life in Cuba, just in the movies!) Also, I forgot how cool Will Smith can be when he wants to (and when the camera angels make him look so). There were a lot of fun similarities between how Rodriguez shot Banderas and how Bay shot Smith. Fun stuff.

Finally, I ended my weekend movie watching with the original When A Stranger Calls (1979). I've got a bit of a history with the remake. My first year here in New York, before I got married, I didn't really have a lot going on, so on my birthday Rickey, Ben and I (sorry if I forgot anyone else, my memory's fuzzy at best) I thought it would be awesome to go see a horror movie (Em was still in New Hampshire). WASC had just come out and Rickey and I had just seen the main girl, Camilla Belle, in Chumscrubber and had school boy crushes on her so it seemed like a great idea. It was not and I still get reminded of how bad of a movie it was. Soon after, I looked the original up in Creature Features to find out that the original actually split it's time between the babysitter getting terrorized story and then a seven years later story when the killer breaks out of an asylum. No wonder it felt like it was way too drawn out.

So, last night I finally watched the original and was even more surprised to find out that the babysitter portion only takes up about 15 minutes of screen time! Oh remake people, you're so crazy. Anyway, it's a pretty effective movie, the babysitter stuff in the beginning is definitely creepy and spawned the line "The call is coming from inside the house." You've also got a pretty creepy killer, he killed the kids she was babysitting in their bedrooms with his bare hands while she was downstairs. After the 7 year jump we end up splitting our time between the escaped killer as he wanders around New York trying to hit on (or kill?) some woman and the private detective who's on his trail. Here's another movie where we get to see things from the killer's perspective for a significant part of the movie. I'm not sure if we're supposed to feel sorry for him or what, which adds to my not loving this movie, but eventually he finds the babysitter, who now has two kids and a husband and starts screwing with her again. There are some creepy moments and the killer definitely walks the line between total creep and somewhat not-hateable. It's not a great movie, but definitely not as bad as the remake, though this kind of makes me want to watch it again. Somebody stop me...

What I'm Thankful For: Kevin Smith

2008-11-06 4:22:18 am

So I'm starting a new recurring element for November. It's called What I'm Thankful For and it's pretty self explanatory. First up, I decided to do Kevin Smith. I've been a fan of his since my freshman year in high school and just saw Zack and Miri so it seemed like a natural place to start.

It's kind of funny because I almost wrote Kevin Smith off early on in my high school career. I remember going over to a girl named Erin Sullivan's house and she tried putting on Clerks, but everyone was pretty grossed out by the snowball conversation and we turned it off (oh how young and prudish we were). Later, I was at someone else's house (Chad Yates, I believe) and he put on Chasing Amy which got turned off pretty quickly for whatever reason (it's not really a good party movie).

Now, I'm not sure when I actually started watching his movies, but whenever that was, I was hooked. I do remember seeing the Mallrats Magic Eye ads in the back of comics, but I'm sure that had nothing to do with it. There was something about the way he had his characters talk that seemed to echo how I thought (though not necessarily how I talked). And the themes were completely original too me. Clerks showed me what the world can be like. Mallrats gave me a comedy that seemed to speak to my generation (or at least the one slightly above mine) and Chasing Amy broke my heart with it's unorthodox love story and less than happy ending.

I want to say that I saw Dogma in the theater, but I really can't remember. I do remember that I was freaking in love with it. I grew up Catholic and went to Catholic grade school and high school, but it wasn't the ultra-strict kind of thing that tend to spring to mind for a lot of people. I actually learned a great deal in those schools about everything from history to sex ed, which kind of blows my mind after talking to other people who went to Catholic schools. Anyway, Dogma basically started pointing out a lot of the kind of crazy things about organized religion around the same time the thoughts started kicking around in my own head so it was great timing.

Somewhere around here I discovered Kevin Smith's Viewaskew site. I wasn't really down with the whole message board thing but I really appreciated how open he was with his fans. Smith was one of the first director's I discovered and really followed in my younger years (Tarantino was another) and I really appreciated how he interacted with people. He seemed like a new kind of director.

I do remember when I saw Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back though. It was the day before I went off to college and my buddy Eric Toth got screener tickets for Randy Lemle and myself, which was great because I had to go down on a Wednesday I believe and would have missed the normal Friday release. It was pretty great timing really as I was leaving my own weird cast of characters for a completely new one (just like Smith was supposedly leaving the View Askewniverse behind. Yes it's a love letter to the fans, but being such a big fan I gladly accepted it.

Somewhere along the line I saw Jersey Girl on DVD and while it's definitely not your average Smith flick, I thought it had a lot of heart and he got great performances out of Ben Affleck, George Carlin, Liv Tyler and everyone else. And, if nothing else it lead directly to the 10-years-later sequel to Clerks which I freaking loved in the theaters and watched again with Em back when we didn't have cable and laughed like crazy. Again, the timing was right as I was feeling older, I'd moved away from home and I wasn't really around my good close friends from either home or college. So, while my life didn't reflect the events on screen (no donkey shows for me), I could definitely relate to the scariness of the next steps of life along with questioning what the heck I'm supposed to do with my life. And, of course, I like seeing these characters over and over, it's the comic book fan in me.

When I started getting into podcasts a few years back Smith and Scott Mosier's Smodcast was one of the first ones I subscribed to and it's still one of my favorites. It's just two dudes talking and it's great. I, of course, also have the Clerks cartoon on DVD even though I didn't watch it when it was on. I do have all the DVDs (except Jersey Girl) and have actually watched Mallrats with commentary more times than without. I bought the first round of Clerks Inaction figures and the Jay and Bob figures. Oh, and I got super jealous when Rickey, my roommate at the time, got to go to Smith's house to take notes during a big poker game with comic talent like Jim Lee and Geoff Johns for a feature in Wizard. I was able to contribute the headline of that feature though, "The Royal Flush Gang." Hey, it's something, I guess. The closest I ever personally got was interviewing Walt Flanagan and Bryan Johnson about their rad monster horror comic War of the Undead via E-mail.

So last Saturday I found myself in the theater with Em watching Zack and Miri Make a Porno. I dug the movie. I do have some problems with the plot (they SPOILER never finish the porno or go back and explain what's up with the other characters), but I laughed hard and got to see some familiar faces (maybe a few too many Apatow familiars for my personal preference). Mostly I liked how Seth Rogen's character so closely paralleled Smith himself when he was making Clerks. It's not a necessary piece of information to fully enjoy the movie, but it was kind of cool knowing he was using his own experiences. I've got no problem with the porno thing, I guess it would be kind of hard to be a Smith fan by now and actually have a problem with it, but whatever.

I fully recognize that my relationship with Smith's movies has been very "right place, right time." I've got no idea if I'd be such a big fan if I was a few years older or younger, but hey, that's how it works. I'm excited to see where he goes from here, especially with Red State, his in-progress horror movie (two great tastes that will hopefully taste great together). Until then, I'll keep my ear to the Smodcast to see what historical and factual inaccuracies the boys can come up with next.

Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

2008-11-02 12:52:13 am

Just when I think my tolerance for mockumentaries has ended a movie like 1999's Drop Dead Gorgeous drops into my lap (really DVD player) via Em's friend from work. I remember when this movie came out, I don't think it was out for too long, but a few of my friends went to see it when I was working or something and they reported back that it wasn't very good. Sorry friends, you're wrong.

DDG has a very Christopher Guest-like feel to it, but with a crispness that his films tend to lack. And you can thank writer Lona Williams (who also plays the third pageant judge) and director Michael Patrick Jann who directed a bunch of State and Reno 911 episodes. The story takes a documentary look at a small town beauty pageant that's very clearly rigged. There also seems to be a high mortality and injury rate for any contestant who isn't Denise Richards.

Our hero is Kristen Dunst who is just a sweet young lady. Too bad for her she's competing against Denise Richards, whose mom (Kirstie Alley) won back in the day. She's also married to one of the richest dudes in town, so they kind of run things.

A big part of the humor comes from the small town atmosphere, kind of like Napoleon Dynamite, but way less out there. There's also a great amount of black humor as the slowish townsfolk don't catch on to the incredibly obvious murder plot unfolding around them. Even the cops.

Another big source of fun for me was checking out all the stars in the flick. Aside from Kirsten and Denise, you've also got Ellen Barkin, Allison Janney, Brittany Murphy, Nora Dunn, Will Sasso, Thomas Lennon and ADAM WEST! The girl who played Bruce Willis' daughter who also dated Ross on Friends is in there as well (yeah, I'm a closet Friends fan). Everyone really sold their roles and seemed to have fun doing this really funny movie.

I've never been a fan of Denise Richards, but even she's pretty good in this and Dunst freaking shines. I'm a huge Bring It On fan and love her in that. And I checked out Virgin SuicidesVirgin Suicides earlier this year which she was amazing in and of course Interview With a Vampire. Man, what happened to her? Maybe my intense dislike of Spider-Man 2 and 3 has tainted my view of Ms. Dunst, which is really too bad because she's awesome. I also really dug Brittany Murphy. Her roll was small, but she played the crazy local girl with awesome flair and abandon. She freaking steals the show every time she's on screen.

It's also satisfying as our hero eventually gets what's coming to her as do the villains. But it doesn't have a typical Hollywood ending, it's actually pretty funny. All in all, this movie is definitely worth checking out. It's funny and actually does the mockumentary genre justice unlike a lot of movies nowadays. If you're into Reno 911, Christopher Guest movies or dig any of the above actresses, this is definitely the movie for you.

The Best Show of All Time

2008-10-01 3:10:20 am

Yup, I said it. In my opinion, The Office (the original BBC series) is the best TV series of all time and it only lasted 12 episodes with a two hour special capping things off.

The series started in 2001, dropped 6 episodes, then came back the next year for another 6 and then left fans hanging for a little over a year until they released the two hour Christmas special. The concept is similar to the American version in which a reality TV crew follows a group of officemates, focusing specifically on David, the obnoxious boss, Tim the everyman, Dawn the secretary and Gareth the office weirdo. David's the kind of guy who doesn't realize how out of touch he really is, while making uncomfortable jokes bordering on racism and sexism at various times. He also fancies himself a comedian, but his timing is awful.

Tim has a crush on Dawn who's engaged to a brute of a fellow called Lee. Lee sucks, but then again he's supposed to as you're constantly rooting for Tim and Dawn to get together (he even asks her out twice with disastrous results). They're really the big draw to the show, but it wouldn't be what it is without Gareth who they often tag team to wind up.

At it's heart The Office is a love story, though often of the unrequited sort as you root for Dawn to realize she's making a huge mistake with Lee and run off with Tim so they can both go onto their dream jobs (Dawn wants to be an artist, Tim...well he doesn't want to work at a paper company). Which brings up another soul-punching aspect of the show: growing up and what that can mean to your dreams. Both Dawn and Tim mention that they started their jobs at Wernham Hog to make some money and get a job while working on other things. Now it's a few years later and they're all still doing jobs that were supposed to be temporary. As someone in my 20s, I can really relate to the subject and I'm sure it'll mean something completely different to me when I watch it again in 5 and 10 years.

I have to thank my good friend Rickey Purdin for turning me onto this version of The Office. When I moved out to NY and we moved in together I was watching the US version and he asked if I had seen the original (and not even in that pretentious way that a lot of people ask, even though he wasn't a big fan of the US show at the time). I said I hadn't even heard of it, but I was interested and within a few days we watched the whole thing in 2-3 days. It's so funny on a moment to moment level that you get absorbed and the late hours don't seem to matter as you move on to the next episode.

To fans of the UK version who got turned off by the US version's first season, I have to say give it another shot. The first season of the US series was made up mostly of remakes of the original series, so it seems a little played out if you've seen the original. I hadn't at the time, but its taken on such a life of its own (especially with the background characters) that it's a completely different animal right now.

I'm not sure if this convinced anyone to really go out and rent or buy The Office box set (which I highly recommend), but I can't recommend this show enough to anyone. I don't think there's anyone reading this blog that wouldn't love The Office and very few people in the world who wouldn't like it. In addition to the US version, there's also Office TV series' in Germany, France, Chile and Quebec, so it's got a universal appeal. Also, if you've ever worked with other people, you can relate to some of the things on the show and Tim actually plays the pranks on his office nemesis that you want to (like putting his or her stapler in Jello or moving all of his possessions out of the office). Great stuff. Seriously, just go check it out.

What I'm Watching Part 2

2008-09-28 7:39:54 pm

One thing I recently realized is that there aren't a whole lot of new shows coming out that I'm looking forward to. The new Christian Slater show looks pretty cool, so does Life on Mars, but they don't start for a while. Mostly I'm excited for all the shows I dug last season to be back on.

THURSDAY

8:00-9:00

MY NAME IS EARL (NBC)

Earl started off the season with an hour long episode (just like The Office) and it was a good one. Earl ended up helping Seth Green, who, a few years ago was on the Make a Wish program. Earl stole the horse he was supposed to ride in a parade. Thinking Seth's character had died, he tries to make it up to his mom, but she reveals that Seth is still alive. So, to cross Seth off his list, Seth asks if Earl will help him film his awesome action movie, to which Earl agrees and everyone in town does too. There's a great scene where Randy (Ethan Suplee) does a number of different impressions, including a dead-on Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. Great stuff. There's a lot of fun, on the fly super low-budget filmmaking and Seth Green was fantastic as the excited filmmaker. There's a pretty sad ending (which you can probably guess if you think about it, though I didn't see it coming until about 2 seconds before). But man, what a great episode to a great show.

9:00-10:00

THE OFFICE (NBC)

The Office is probably my favorite comedy on right now and definitely up there in my all time favorites (though the original is up there as well). As far as I'm concerned they're pretty much separate animals by now. If you're a fan, check out the deleted scenes on the DVDs for even more interviews with your favorite background characters (mine is Creed). The season premier had a lot of excellent moments. Spoilers ahead. The through story is that corporate offered the branch that loses the most weight three extra vacation days, so everyone's trying to loose weight in different ways. So, unlike most episodes, this one takes place over a month instead of a day or two. Also during this time, Pam's in New York for the summer for art school and Angela (who got engaged to Andy and caught banging Dwight in the season finale last year) continually gives Andy trouble in planning the wedding (though he's so in love with her that he doesn't care) and pages Dwight for secret trysts in a room in the warehouse. And the final, fist pumping super-spoiler is that Jim asks Pam to meet him halfway at a rest stop for lunch and proposes to her. I get giddy when stuff like this happens, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the season plays out.

SATURDAY

11:30-1:00

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (NBC)

As I mentioned before, I missed the previous two SNL episodes, but I was in last night and got to check it out. Anna Faris hosted and Duffy was the musical guest. As can be expected there were a number of political sketches, but I was impressed with the debate sketch because it didn't seem to lean too much one way or the other. I think my favorite sketch involved Anna Faris and Keenan Thompson in a rowboat. I would link to it on Hulu, but it's not on there unfortunately. I will say that there is singing, which I always enjoy.

I picked up Duffy's record soon after it came out based solely on her first single "Mercy" which has been played to death on the radio (which is why I don't listen to the radio anymore). Her performance was kind of weird. Her singing and her band were right on, but she had these weird sorta doo wop dance moves that came off as kind of robotic. Not sure what the deal was, if she was nervous or something, but it reminded me of when I saw Black Sabbath on their first reunion tour and Ozzy would do the same three or four things on stage over and over again.

I think this has been a pretty good period for SNL. The last few years have seen a bit of a shift in the kind of comedy they're going for (thanks in large part, I think to Seth Meyers, Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis, Andy Sandberg and plenty of writers I don't really know about), so I'm looking forward to seeing what else they've got planned this year.

Newer Movie Round-Up

2008-09-28 3:42:25 am

Just wanted to say a few quick things about three movies that I've seen recently and really enjoyed.

Sometime last week or the week before Em and I watched Baby Mama, starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Steve Martin, Romany Malco and more. I am a big fan of Tina and Amy first from their work on SNL and later Fey on 30 Rock, Romany was awesome in 40 Year Old Virgin and I can't wait for him to star in something on his own and Steve Martin is funnier in this as an aging hippy mogul that he's been in anything I've seen in a while. The basic plot is that Tina Fey wants to have a baby, but she can't so she goes through an agency and ends up with Amy Poehler as her surrogate. The plot itself is VERY formulaic (I had it nailed down about 20-ish minutes in), but it's the performances that really make this movie worth watching. If you're a fan of Poehler and or Fey, then it's definitely worth checking out.

Then, just today we watched Speed Racer. I know it bombed in the box office, but I can't for the life of me understand why. The Wachowski Brothers took a tired old cartoon that I generally disliked and turned it into this crazy mix of action and drama in a really effective live action cartoon. Oh, it also stars Christina Ricci who I've had a crush on since Casper. But really, I laughed and called out "Oh [bad word for poo]" off and on so many times during the 2 hour movie. Don't believe the bad hype and check this flick out on DVD. Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox and Shaft himself Richard Roundtree all offer up fantastically believable performances even against the backdrop of this cartoony world. Plus, the chimp scenes in this movie are my second favorite next to Any Which You But Loose and its sequel. Big ups to the Wachowskis, I think there's some kind of Hollywood conspiracy that kept this movie from doing well. A CONSPIRACY I tells ya!

Finally, tonight Em, her mom and I went to see the Coen Brothers' latest flick Burn After Reading. It was 97 minutes of pure delight. Definitely more Lebowski than No Country. It was much funnier than I expected it to be (I actually didn't really know what it was about going in, just that it was some kind of spy thriller). It's also a pretty hard movie to summarize, so I won't bother. Two of my favorite actors George Clooney and Brad Pitt were awesome, JK Simmons made me laugh so hard I almost watered up. And of course John Malkovich brought his A game. The Coen's really wove an interesting yarn with this one, keeping me guessing as to what was going to happen next, but also challenging me to keep up with the story. Oh, I also really liked the poster. Well done, what a great week for movies.

What I'm Watching

2008-09-25 3:39:54 pm

As you know, a new TV season is upon us once again. I'm halfway through the week that one of the networks is calling "National Stay At Home Week" so you can watch all their shows. And I tell you what, I love when the new TV season starts. I really do feel like a kid about to run into the toy store, there's all kinds of potential, but then, most of the time I run in and the toys aren't as cool as they looked on the commercials. So far, though, I've liked what I've seen so far.

Here's a brief rundown of what I've been watching by day.

MONDAY

8:00-8:30
Big Bang Theory (CBS)

I'm not sure how many of you guys out there are watching this show, but it's my favorite new show from last season. After moving over to ToyFare I was able to push for a feature based on it and had the pleasure of talking to a few people from the show (check out the finished product in ToyFare #134). It's about these four geeky scientists and their interactions with their hot neighbor girl across the hall. At the end of last season Leonard asked Penny (the girl) out and she said yes, but this new season seems to be starting off with Penny's insecurities dating someone who's so smart. I really dug the season premiere and hope that they don't get into a prolonged Ross and Rachel kind of thing, but I don't think it'll happen after talking to Executive Producer Bill Prady. If nothing else, just keep your eyes peeled for all kinds of great nerd gear in the background on the sets (especially DC-related products).

8:30-9:00
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

Em and I got into HIMYM a little late in the game but went back and got caught up on DVD and it's another great comedy show. The hook is that Bob Saget's telling his kids in the future about how he met their mother, but it's way more than just a gimmick as we weave in and out of main character Ted's love life. Towards the end of last season Sarah Chalke of Scrubs fame joined the cast as Ted's latest love interest-with-a-kid and now they're engaged. But she's not the kids' mother, so there's this fun sense of impending doom (trust me, it makes sense). Anyway, this season opened with Ted talking to his buddy Marshall (Jason Segel of Freaks and Geeks and Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and realizes that Ted doesn't really know that much about his new fiance, chiefly that she's never seen Star Wars. So Ted sits her down and makes her watch it because it's his favorite movie and he's not sure if he can marry a woman who hates Star Wars. The show also stars Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders (Joss Whedon's pick for Wonder Woman if his version would have been made) and the fantastic Neil Patrick Harris. They're a fantastic cast and are a real joy to watch. Rent the DVDs, get caught up and check this show out.

9:00-10:00
Prison Break (FOX)

Thanks to FOX's early start of their season, I've been enjoying new episodes of Prison Break for a few weeks now. A lot of people give me crap for liking Prison Break with the usual "are they STILL breaking out of a prison?" I've been completely unsuccessful in getting anyone I actually know to actually check the show out, but I can't recommend it enough. The thing I love the most about Prison Break is that more happens in one episode than whole seasons of other shows. This season has had more game changing moments that I can't even think of them all. The basic premise of this season is that the surviving guys who broke out of the prison in the first season are kind of a Dirty Dozen/Suicide Squad group of dudes who have been picked by the government to help them take down the shady Company. It's pretty hard to sum up what's going on, but I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves complex action stories where whole seasons' worth of plot points happen over the course of a few episodes.

10:00-11:00
Boston Legal (ABC)

Em got me watching Boston Legal a season or two back and it really is a great show. William Shatner and James Spader star along with Candice Bergen and a slew of other super-talented folks. It's a law show, but not your standard one as it balances between the lawyers' interactions and the cases they're working on. The relationship between Shatner and Spader is the kind that really embraces the idea of heterosexual lifemates and one that I can relate to. They end every episode smoking cigars and drinking out on their law office balcony. Sounds like a great way to end a day to me. Anyway, this season opened with Spader's character going up against big tobacco and a lawyer that he used to have a relationship with. As usual, Spader makes a very compelling closing argument at the end of the episode that makes you think regardless of what side of the issue you stand. It's worth checking out, especially because, even though storylines tend to weave throughout the season, you can catch random episodes and still usually know what's going on.

TUESDAY

9:00-10:00
Fringe (FOX)

So far I'm digging Fringe. There's been a lot of X-Files comparisons, but that doesn't bother me much because I never watched X-Files regularly. Sure it's the standard regular person teamed up with a federal agent scenario, but J.J. Abrams and Co. do a great job playing with the format and the actors are pretty fantastic. I've never seen Anna Torv in anything before, but she's been pretty convincing as the person thrown into a crazy world roll without being a full-on Scully. Josh Jackson is fantastic as the fast talking smart guy, but there does seem to be potential for them to over do it. We shall see. Lost alumn Lance Reddick is great and creepy and John Noble plays the eccentric old man scientist to great effect. The show is centered around these weird occurrences that keep happening in the Boston area, most of which are related back to the old scientist's experiments from back in the day. I find a lot of the pseudo science to be really interesting, plus the underlying mystery behind John Noble's past and how it relates to mega-company Massive Dynamic will keep me coming back for the rest of this season.

WEDNESDAY

8:30-9:00
Gary Unmarried (CBS)

I became a fan of Jay Mohr a few months ago when I read his autobiography about his time at Saturday Night Live (which I have an unnatural love for) so I was pretty excited when I saw that he's starring in a new sitcom. He plays a dude (Gary) who's been divorced for three months, but his (SPOILER WARNING) wife is actually getting married to their marriage counselor played with great hippy dippy precision by Ed Begley Jr. He's got two kids and is starting to date Jaimie King who also has a kid. I'm not 100% sold on this show and when Pushing Daisies comes back, I'll probably switch back over to that, but if the next few episodes really bowl me over I'll tape (yes TAPE) them.

10:00-11:00
The Island (MTV)

I am an immense fan of The Real World. It started when I was a kid and really got into the Miami and Boston seasons. Back then all I wanted was to get on the show and live my incredibly interesting life out in front of millions of people, which would have been great as I was a borderline agoraphobe back then and crowds still make me a little freaked out to this day. Anyway, I stuck with it and still watch every season and especially love the challenges. This season's challenge is called The Island and it's weird because there aren't any group challenges, just three people competing against each other for a key to get them on a boat to sail to a smaller island where a treasure lies. The real reason I like these shows is because you get to keep seeing these crazy people years after their original shows. And yes, they've become characters to me in the same way that any other TV show has characters. I know they're real people in the sense that they physically exist somewhere, but they've all become such charicatures that it's really fantastic to keep getting glimpses into what's become their lives: living for a few weeks in a rad topical place, backstabbing their friends, making alliances and getting absolutely sh!t faced (even when on an island with very little water, brilliant!). It's like a soap opera but with real people! Oh, also, almost everyone in the game is terrible at playing the game. Put me on there and I'd run that island (assuming I could pull myself away from staring at Kellyanne and Robin, hey ladies ;))

And, this week, whenever I haven't been watching the above shows I've been watching the British Office for the third time. I think it might be the perfect TV show. I'll do a review when I finish (which will probably be tonight or tomorrow). I'm also excited about tonight's American Office and My Name is Earl premieres nd can't wait for 30 Rock to come back. Also, I've missed the first two SNLs, so I'm actually looking forward to this Saturday when nothing is going on and I can watch it (and for the eventual rereuns of the first two episodes, something I usually dread).

Number One With A Bullet

2008-08-15 3:50:32 am

Hey Gang, so, I'm not a big werewolf movie fan. It's one of the many things I share with Brian over at
Horror Movie a Day. So, when I read about how much he liked the Stephen King-based Corey Haim, Gary Busey, Terry O'Quinn, Lawrence Tierney werewolf movie from 1985 called Silver Bullet. I'm actually going to let his
review speak for me as I essentially agree with him completely.

I will say, that I really enjoyed seeing Terry O'Quinn in something besides Locke (and the boss from Old School) and Tierney as someone besides Joe from Reservoir Dogs. It's fun seeing these guys in other rolls when you're so used to seeing them as specific characters.

Also, I gotta say that I found this to be a pretty effective movie. The werewolf effects weren't great, but there was a Jaws-like sense of suspense by not showing him all too much. The mystery of who the wolf really is isn't the main thrust of the flick, but it is a pretty tense moment when you find out who it really is.

And finally, you just can't go wrong with Busey. He basically plays a slightly less crazy version of himself now and even adlibbed a lot of his lines, which King himself approved (if IMDB is to be believed). Good stuff.

Go Go Gadget Rave

2008-08-08 3:58:38 am

As you can tell, I've been on something of an off and on '90s kick lately. Mostly I'm just finally getting around to checking out flicks I never got to see when I was younger. I remember seeing the ads for Go (both TV and comic book, remember those?) and was curious (mostly because my fellow Christ the King grade school attendee Katie Holmes was in the flick). Anyway, I realized it was on my Blockbuster queue, bumped it up to the top and here's what I thought.

Go (1999)

Written by John August (Charlie's Angels 1 & 2, Big Fish, Corpse Bride)
Directed by Doug Liman (Swingers, Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Jumper)
Starring (deep breath) Sarah Polley, Katie Holmes, Scott Wolf, Jay Mohr, Timothy Olyphant, William Fitchner (Prison Break), Taye Diggs, Breckin Meyer, James Duval (Donnie Darko) Jane Krakowski (30 Rock) and Desmond Askey as the British guy

First off, it MUST be said that Go owes something to the films of Quentin Tarantino. Now, I'm not saying it's a rip off or anything like that, but you definitely get a similar feel, especially with how the dialog is delivered by some the actors (especially Polley). There's also the whole thing where the movie is told in non-linear segments. Again, not a direct lift, but considering Tarantino borrows a lot of elements for his films, I doubt he'd be too upset.

Okay, so onto the story. We start off with this chick Ronna who may or may not be 17, but is also getting evicted from her place and needs some money so she works an extra shift for her British co-worker. She gets caught up with drug dealers and cops and ends up getting hit by a car and left outside a rave to die. But that's not all we see of her as we then hop back in time and follow a few other folks' adventures and eventually see how they all tie together.

In general I like these kinds of movies. The kinds in which a few dumb mistakes lead to all kinds of crazy shit happening. Ronna doesn't have enough money to pay for the ecstasy (or X as the kids call it), so she leaves Katie Holmes there as collateral. But it turns out that the guys who wanted it (Jay Mohr and Scott Wolf) are actually cops so she flushes the pills and then puts stolen aspirin in the bottle and trades the fake pills for Katie Holmes. She then goes to a rave with her friends (one of whom took TWO of the real pills, which Olyphant strictly forbade) and sells off the rest of the aspirin and allergy pills she stole from the grocery store at a rave. Olyphant (who's freakin' terrifying and funny at the same time) shows up, hears everyone talking about how this girl is selling the best X, chases her down and then she gets hit by the care. Holy crap, right? Right.

And that's just part one. I gotta say, that, even as convoluted as the story may be, it's a fun one and I definitely appreciate writer John August's ability to keep so many characters straight and intertwine their stories so well. There's characters that show up in this segment that show up in the next and everything ties together nicely. From what I hear, Crash is like this too, but I haven't seen it yet. Plus, it's crazy to go from this to Charlie's Angels to working with Tim Burton multiple times.

The next section features the British guy (who works with Ronna and is her usual drug dealer, which is why she jumped up in the food chain and went to Olyphant himself), Taye Diggs, Brecken Meyer and James Duval going to Vegas, shooting a strip club bouncer and implicating Olyphant in said shooting (the British dude swiped his credit card which they used at the club). They head back to LA, which is apparently where the story takes place.

Holy cats, it turns out that Jay Mohr and Scott Wolf weren't cops themselves, but working off a drug charge by helping Fichtner catch drug dealers. I think they might even be TV stars, but I kind of missed that part (that's what happens when I get to the part of the movie I'm blogging about, I miss things). Hey Jay Mohr even invokes the title, nice work Jay. Okay, giving a play-by-play from here on out might get a little crazy, so I'm actually going to watch the movie for a while, Be right back...

Okay, movie's over and it turns out everyone's okay for the most part. There's some weird scenes with Mohr and Wolf in Fichtner's house, he's married to Jane Krakowski and both he and his wife hit on the dudes (who turn out to be a couple). Anyway, they find out that they were cheating on each other with the same guy who's at the rave. They're the ones that hit Ronna with the car, leave and then head back to see if she's dead and she's not so everything ends up being okay. Even the British dude gets amicably shot in the arm by the bouncer whom he shot in Vegas.

So, I know I said I wasn't going to summarize the movies so much, but Go seemed to fit the old style. Otherwise you'd have even less idea of what I'm talking about than I do and that doesn't make for a very good blog post.

As you can see by this long summation, there's a LOT going on with this movie and I love that. They don't slow things down, you've just got to keep up or lose, which I like. I assume that's what this blog can be like at times, especially after I've had a few and am on my third day trying to watch something. I also like the moral ambiguity of the ending. All these people who do relatively bad things end up fine and dandy (though I'm not sure if it's physically possible to get hit by a car and left in a ditch for part of the night and still go into work the next day, but whatever).

In the end I recommend this movie to anyone who likes Tarantino flicks, X, Katie Holmes, crazy intertwining stories and raves. Side note, I've never done X, but if it makes you wear day glow pantaloons and dance around with glowsticks like a d-bag, I'm OUT. Just say no to lame, kids.

Getting Smarter

2008-08-06 3:08:53 am

I was a big big fan of Get Smart as a kid. I assume I watched it on Nick at Night or some other daytime syndicated re-rerun channel. (I think Nickelodeon played The Monkees at some point, but the old memory is fuzzy.) Anyway, I was pretty excited about the Steve Carrel remake that came out earlier this summer because he seemed like a really good replacement for the inimitable Don Adams. Of course, Anne Hathaway doesn't hold a candle to Barbara Feldon's Agent 99 (sorry Anne, no hard feelings).

Well, I heard the movie wasn't so good from a few sources, but the main one was the guys over at Totally Rad Show who I tend to agree with at least 51% of the time and especially when they say they don't like a movie.

So, I was looked towards a Get Smart-less summer until I checked the Best Buy ad online yesterday and say that they had the first season on DVD for $20. Score! So, I made sure to head to the Palisades Mall today and picked up this Mel Brooks and Buck Henry-created show. If you don't know who Buck is, I highly recommend checking out the first three seasons of Saturday Night Live on DVD (though you can skip the first few episodes). Anyway, I told three people about my plans to pick the set up. Rickey was for it. Emily said something like "couldn't we just rent it." And Dave of Indie Jones fame went so far as to say he'd actually stand in my way so I couldn't by that. Well, I left him badly beaten in the Best Buy and am now enjoying the hell out of the first two episodes.

The first is in black and white, but all the classic gags are there. Shoe phone? Check. "Woudja believe?" The cone of silence. The Chief. And of course the dreamiest of all spies, Agent 99. As far as spoof work goes, Brooks, Henry and Co. do a killer job of skewering '6os spy movies and pop culture in general. Watching 99 show Max how to dance like the kids do, was both hilarious and pretty sexy for the day. I can't wait to check out the rest of this season and all the others. Thanks to HBO for getting their stuff together and putting these bad boys out on the non-Time Life Books set (those things get pricey).