Maybe We Missed It

Welcome to the first episode of "Maybe We Missed It," a section I want to use specifically for older media that I still want to write about despite how untimely a topic it may be. I will also be doing a review of what I have been watching on television this fall season, but right now I just want to mention a couple of specific episodes. First, the season premiere of House, which was one of the best episodes I have seen. I watch the show only occassionally, sometimes as background noise, despite my enjoyment of the character and the dialogue, and recently watched the first episode of the new season hulu and was very impressed. It was wonderful to see a House take on a mental ward. I am a huge fan of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and this was a House version. The titular character for makes for an interesting McMurphy. As much as the subject has already been tackled in previous media (Girl, Interrupted being another I would recommend, I felt that this episode didn't rehash much of anything, and was simply a House take on that kind of environment. Watch it. 5/5

The other show I want to mention is NBC's Community, which had its best episode, its Halloween episode, last Thursday. If you have'net been watching the show, I suggest you start tuning in, as this episode the beginning of the show truly coming into its own. Also, be sure to watch the last few minutes, as the interactions between Abed and Troy is often one of the best parts of the show. 4/5 Read more…

Movie Trailers

This is an exciting post for me because I have intended for a movie trailers post to be one of the main regular posts on this blog. I actually wanted to start with some older trailers, but I have waited too long and now some of those films are getting decent press or are already in theaters. So, I have decided to just jump right in. I will admit that mostly I just go to Apple's trailer site and watch all the trailers that look interesting and then come here and write about them. If you want to do that on your own, I encourage it, but the point of this blog is to filter down content, so hopefully someday some people will come here for movie trailer reviews among other things.

The other thing you need to know is that I get insanely excited about movie trailers. Of course, this is what they are meant to do: excite people. I will often watch a trailer over and over and then miss the movie or even decide not to see it (an example is Farce of the Penguins, which looking back i am not sure why I was so excited about it, except for the pretty incredibly cast).

The Apple site seems to be really good about posting trailers early on, which I really like and makes me feel like I am getting some kind of advanced view, when really anyone can go there. The other great way to look for upcoming films is by going to Wikipedia's list of films by year. They seem to have articles, or at least mention, movies through 2013. Of course, there is also IMDB, though I do not usually use them to check on upcoming releases.


1. Splinterheads - 3/5

This movie looks quirky and cool, but that could be its biggest problem. It seems like it might be trying too hard to be quirky and cool (examples are a segment on geocaching and the lettering and style of the trailer). It does look like it has potential. If I enjoy the movie as much as I enjoyed the trailer, it will have been time well spent.

3. Disturbing the Universe - 4/5

Looks like a great documentary on someone I have not heard of before. The clips of William Kunstler speaking are powerful in their own right, he has a commanding oratory presence. This film is made interesting by the fact that it is about both sides of his legacy and that it is made by his two daughters. If I am understanding the trailer correctly, it seems the major theme of the movie, and this mans life, is about remaining true to the phrase "justice for all," even if they are people who do not seem to deserve a just trial.

4. The Other Side of Paradise - 3/5

Looks weird and like it may have the sense of humor I enjoy. Has potential I guess. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of substance to the trailer, just random clips set to music, but clips and music I liked. I know you may be asking, isn't that what a trailer is? I guess in some cases, but I feel like most good trailers show off specific parts to great effect in a more coherent or meaningful manner. The actors in this look interesting. I would personally want to see this for the weirdness and the actors, but who knows if it will turn out to be a good movie.

5. Uncertainty - 2/5

I enjoyed the editing of this trailer. The part where it appears the two characters are going to kiss and they instead run past each other got me very excited. I chose to watch this trailer because I saw that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who I liked in 3rd Rock from the Sun (a great 90's sitcom) and more recently 500 days of Summer and 3. I was also Thirilled to see Olivia Thirlby (Hahaha. Ha. I promised myself I would never use puns or similar wordplay in my writing if I could help it. Sorry.) It is definitely a cheesy conceit and I am not a fan of movies where there is someone coming to get the main characters and that is all the plot really relies upon. Like I said, I do get excited by theatrical trailers. I would consider watching this as something mindless.

6. Humble Pie - 4/5

Humble Pie seems like more legitimately quirky and weird film, instead of something deliberately engineered to be quirky and weird as a primary goal from the beginning. I love seeing the actress from 24and who was great in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia this season.

7. Valentine's Day - 2/5

A positively stomach-turning cast. I shut off the trailer part way through.

8. Red Cliff -

What a trailer. I am a huge fan of the PlayStation series Dynasty Warriors and this looked like an awesome movie version of that. It appears to be war on an epic scale similar to 300 set in ancient China. Sign me up. It is directed by John Woo, who I am not particularly familiar with, but appears to be making a Rainbow Six Movie.Rainbow Six is easily my favorite Tom Clancy novel that I have read and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes international/action books.

9. Until the Light Takes Us - 4/5

Appears to be about the relationship between black metal and violence in Scandinavia. As someone fascinated by media and the claims people make about the effects of violent media on society I found the trailer very interesting. I couldn't tell if it focused on any one particular incident. I firmly believe that violent media doesn't cause violent behavior, so I am interested to find out what the premise or angle the film takes on this genre of music. I don't know much about black metal, but I do know I enjoy Nightwish.

I hope you found something that interests you. I personally think I will try to see Humble Pie and Red cliff. If I can see Red cliff in theaters, I think it would be worth it. I will try to update this section once a week.

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The Nightman Cometh - 5/5

I was fortunate enough to catch the touring cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in the Broadway performance of "The Nightman Cometh," the musical from their fourth season finale, at the Beacon Theatre on September 16. It was hysterical.

The cast managed the transition from television to stage seamlessly. Danny DeVito (who plays Frank Reynolds) looked great in his troll costume and it was a genuine joy to hear Charlie (Charlie Day) freak out live. Although the stage show itself doesn't seem to offer anything new, it doesn't get much better than seeing one of the best shows on television live, especially with these particular actors.

One of the greatest surprises was the sneak preview the audience was given of both the new season and the upcoming Christmas special. Both had me constantly laughing out loud. I can honestly say this does look like this will be the best season of Sunny The Christmas special has one of Charlie's best moments yet, an encounter with Santa Claus that was over the the top in that terrifically funny Sunny way. Read more…

News

Not much going on to report. I still have high hopes for this web blog, but I haven't had the time to dedicate to it that I had hoped. I mean to post every day, and twice on Wednesdays and Mondays, but I am not sure when that will happen.

I have a long list of things I would like to right about, some of them slightly obscure and others not so. Tomorrow night is my favorite night of television, NBC's comedy night. Although it won't get really awesome until 30 Rock starts again. I will probably review and/or discuss the shows sometime on here.

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Modern Family - 4/5

This was very close to getting a 3, but there were some lines that actually made me laugh out lod, and some of the acting, that put it just over the line. Definitely has potential in the longer term. Each of the families seemed to be as equally developed, which is an excellent sign.

Each family also has areas of contention and issues that were introduced well and I am already interested to see how they develop. The hope know is that the development is not predictable, as it very well may be, as none of the issues are that unique. I also found that not many of the jokes fell flat, even if some were clearly better than others. Line delivery seemed to be above average with all actors.

The biggest disappointment, and something I will now be watching closely for, is the outright stolen "come on" line, used twice in the episode, which is clearly from 30 Rock. It is used in the same manner. The actors deliver it correctly, which is less a testament to their acting ability and more a testament to downright mimicry of Liz Lemon.

I will be watching next week.

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Man on the Moon - 3/5

Kid Cudi's first studio album came out today and I just finished listening to it. This is not normally the kind of hip-hop I listen to, but I did enjoy it. The best parts of the album involved other people, however.

The tracks with Ratatat are great, and MGMT and Common made worthy contributions as well. I also think Cudi and Kanye used the Lady Gaga samples really well in "Make Her Say."

Honestly, the lyrics were kind of simplistic and the rhymes were a bit weak. I guess I just prefer what I see as true language artistry from rappers like Eminem or Notorious B.I.G.

I think that Rolling Stone describes the album best, I agree with the entirety of their summary.

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The Jay Leno Show - 2/5

I can confidently say that I thought I would be giving the show only a 1, but it was better than I expected. Even though I will never be watching it again, I felt strongly that I wanted to make a brief comment on a historical television event.

I was glad Jerry Seinfeld gave Jay a hard time about the new show, it seems pretty ridiculous for people to have talked about Leno leaving... when he hasn't left anything at all. It seems like a prime-time version of the Tonight Show.

I am still in shock that NBC would set up three of the exact same style of show in a row. Apparently there are financial reasons why this works out though, I guess? Seinfeld had a few good jokes, but the majority of the show's humor fell flat. The moment with Kanye West was weird, because he didn't seem to have any straight reply to Leno's questioning. I'm still not sure if any of what he said was coherent. He seemed to bumble through an apology and whatever else he was saying.

I was surprised that the thing I enjoyed most on the show was the performance at the end. I guess I never realized that Rhianna is actually talented. I even liked her voice. The other two weren't bad either. Read more…

New Indiana Jones

The fourth one was fun, but ultimately not a true successor to the epic trilogy. However, if the fifth one turns out to be another fun adventure, I won't be too upset. I guess I feel the same way about the Indiana Jones franchise as I do about Star Wars: I will watch the new ones, but they aren't on the same level.

As weird as it was to see Shia LaBeouf, I think I actually enjoyed his character. The Wild Ones allusion to Marlon Brando's iconic costume was awesome, and he didn't do terribly.

I remember George Lucas' thoughts on what to expect. I am actually happy he was able to admit his feelings, and was realistic about the situation, even if I would have liked him them to make something more worthy of the Indiana Jones title.

I thought someone said that LaBeouf was taking over as Indy in the next one?

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/09/14/harrison-ford-ready-for-next-indiana-jones/ Read more…

Inglourious Basterds – 4/5

I want to start with the title. I understand that Tarantino doesn’t really explain the odd spelling changes to both words in the title, but I like it. In fact, I really like it. I am a little surprised he had to pay for the rights of the original when they are both, apparently, very different films. Although the topic of this post, Quentin Tarantino’s most recent film, Inglourious Basterds, is not as topical as I might like, it is still in theaters.

This is certainly not history’s second world war, and, rightfully, it’s not the “King’s” spelling. The creative take on fact demands a creative title. To me, and this may sound silly, the spelling, “inglourious” seems to exude more ingloriousness, and “basterds” does evoke a grittier, possibly mispronounced version of the word. This is the sort of mispronunciation Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) would certainly spit out with abrupt fervor. Perhaps this is also the sort of spelling mistake a hillbilly like Aldo might make, basing his letter choices off of said mispronunciation (think about it: “inglourious basterds” as, in-glau-ri-aus bas-terds. I can see Aldo annunciating that).

The plot is not simply guys-on-a-mission doing their thing. It is less of that and more of a postmodern bombardment of plot episodes. The reflexivity of the film is part of this as well. From one character’s introduction, with giant text of his name filling the screen, and a scene with a surprise gun shot, there are places where the film seems to acknowledge it is a film. Having the narrator also emphasized that I was watching a film, multiple views of the same story, and I loved every second of it.

For an action film, it definitely has its comedic moments. The genius of portrayal of the wily SS officer Hans Landa (Chrisoph Waltz) offers most of these laughs, and Pitt’s Raine, particularly the character’s hysterical attempt at speaking Italian, offers others. In fact, there is a whole scene that, while pushing the audience’s suspended disbelief (it seems obvious that the "basterds" stick out, but that seems to be another pomo element: it is so ridiculous that it works), has a three of the “basterds” attempting to pass as Italian. It is one of the funniest scenes in the film.

At the end, despite having a general feeling of satisfaction, I couldn’t help but feel that maybe something was missing. Perhaps it didn’t quite reach the epic proportions that the trailer had me pumped for. Or perhaps it was that the chronology was messed about with in a way I wasn't expecting. Instead it was a smart, tight Tarantino film. Maybe I was expecting to see a band of soldiers brought together in comradery as they make their way through France, with the eventual goal of Paris. Instead it felt jumpier: we get the plot in bits and pieces.

This is not necessarily a bad thing at all; Tarantino uses this process to his advantage and makes powerful bursts interspersed with masterfully developed tension.

Not enough Stiglitz. Read more…