Suggestion Box (Sept. 28 - Oct. 4)

Up in the Air Trailer – George Clooney traveling a lot. Sounds like an amazing premise, right? But it still looks great. Check it out here.

The Crazies Trailer – Zombie-like rage filled victims, government quarantines suppressing both the infected and the healthy, and an amazing song. Check it out here. And if you want to know, the song it’s “Mad World” by Michael Andrews & Gary Jules.

V – this season a new show is starting up about aliens moving into earth’s atmosphere, with the appearance of living in peace. But as these thing go, there is probably a lot going on under the surface. Check out some videos about it here.

And if you want to know what I am watching this fall, here you go:

Mondays: House, Heroes, The Big Band Theory, Castle

Tuesdays: So You Think You Can Dance, V (Premiering Nov. 3, 2009)

Wednesdays: Cougar Town, Modern Family, Glee, So You Think You Can Dance

Thursdays: Bones, Parks and Recreations, The Office, Fringe, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, 30 Rock, Community, The Vampire Diaries

Fridays: Dollhouse, Smallville, Sanctuary

Saturday: Saturday Night Live

Rental Review - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a really fun children’s film, but for those of us who grew up with The Lion King, the obvious comparisons between the two make this movie come up seriously lacking.

Madagascar 2 picks up where the first ends, with Alex (the lion), Marty (the zebra), Melman (the giraffe), and Gloria (the hippo) getting ready to take their bon voyage form Madagascar. The problem is, they are taking off in some rink-a-dink plane that has no hope of making it back to New York. Sure enough, the plane falls from the sky, deserting the animals in Africa.

Something that Madagascar 2 does right is keeping what made the first one special. The animation style, though not my favorite, still fits well with the world that it is creating, the personification of the animals adds for some great moments (especially Melman’s psychological issues), etc. However, the best parts of this film, by far, involve the penguins and lemurs, which supply most of the humor where it falls short elsewhere. It’s no wonder they got their own show.

However, what starts out as a strong film, especially when considering everything involved in the plane portion, quickly begins to wane. Additionally, when the film fails to meet the standards set by a lemur being startled by a shark, then clearly it’s not trying hard enough. The problem is, the callbacks to the previous film in this sequel become a crutch later in the film. The biggest example of this is the grandma that hits Alex with her purse in the first film, who comes back in full force this time around. What could have been a humorous, one time cameo becomes a go to, and eventually a nuisance. On a similar note, when the Madagascar 2 isn’t stealing from its own history, then it is stealing from other movies. As I said before, a lot of it references The Lion King, from the singing birds and exiled son, to the evil, scarred uncle that leads to a drought. And the problem with this is that there comes a point where a film moves past an homage and becomes a blatant copy of many elements from another movie.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is sure to please the children in the audience, but for the rest of us, it’s best to go back to the classics. And I have to say it: the cross species relationship between Melman and Gloria is just gross.

Final Grade: B-

Suggestion Box (Sept. 21-27)

Legend of Neil: Season 2 Episode 5 posted. Kind of a space filler episode, but he does learn to use his inventory. So that’s something. Check it out here.

The Guild: Season 3 Episode 4 available. Check it out here.

Really cool video with these guys who paint different things in this courtyard, with the individual images being animated together. That explanation is horrible, so just check it out, it’s amazing. Click here!

Premieres of Fall's New TV Comedies

Community – “Pilot” (Thurs. @ 9:30/8:30c – NBC)

Community follows a group of people who, for various reasons, find themselves at a community college. Though I have to wonder what different situations they can go through from episode to episode, I doubt this is going to be the main concern. Instead, like The Office, as random as the plots will probably be to liven up these semi-boring settings, this is going to be a character driven comedy more than anything else. As it is said in the opening speech: “What is community college? Well, you’ve heard all kinds of things. You’ve heard it’s loser college, or remedial teens, 20 something dropouts, middle age divorcees, and old people, keeping their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity…” These are just a few of the characters presented in this first episode, and though most fill a stereotypical role of the many students found in this learning setting, their representation is anything but boring in this show. Each character has been realized so strongly already, which is why I hope they stick to this core group of students for the remainder of the show. Though not all of the actors are as well known as Chevy Chase, each performance promises great things to come in the future, especially in their interactions, which is exemplified perfectly during Jeff Winger’s (Joel McHale) “everyone has good inside them” speech. However, as awesome as this speech is, McHale’s character is going to have to work a little harder to move past his personality of douchebaggery. Well, at least slightly. It is entertaining after all.

Final Grade: A-

Modern Family – “Pilot” (Wed. @ 9/8c – ABC)

Another film sampling from The Office is Modern Family, a show following three different branches of a family tree as they go about their lives (as well as in an interview setting). Furthering the comparison to The Office, they are very similar in how they draw from believable situations, like having a daughter bring a boy over for the first time, and then exaggerate the moment (yet in a simple way), such as when the father accidentally shoots him in the neck. Though this is closer to deadpan comedy than laugh-out-loud comedy, it works really well for this show.

The advertising for this show has been very intense leading up to the premiere, and I was a little disappointed that a lot of the best moments were ruined by the countless times I have had to sit through an in depth look at the show while waiting for my movie to start at the theater, there is so much more that in the end it doesn’t really matter. For example, all the previews show Phil (Ty Burrell) taking his son out into the back yard to shoot him, but they don’t show how prior to this the family has to look through the events on their calendar to schedule it in. Another great moment worth mentioning involves the gay couples The Lion King inspired presentation of their adopted, Vietnamese baby girl to the rest of the family. Suddenly, “The Circle of Life” begins to play as Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) walks slowly into the room, thrusting the child into a spotlight, bringing about this interaction:

Mitchell: Turn it off.

Cameron: I can’t turn it off. It’s who I am.”

Mitchell: The music.

As I said before when talking about Community, this is another example of a show about the characters, with the plots just adding great opportunities for ridiculous character interactions. And though all of them seem really strong, the two standing out most for me are Phil, the oblivious father who just wants to be cool to his kids, and Gloria (Sofía Vergara), with her strong motherly instinct to protect her son, whether it is berating another mother at his soccer game or pushing him to express his emotional side.

If you haven’t checked Modern Family out yet, you should really give it a chance because it is promising to be one of the better new shows of the season.

Final Grade: A-

Cougar Town (Wed. @ 9:30/8:30c – ABC)

Of these three new comedies, this is by far the weakest. Cougar Town follows Jules (Courteney Cox) as she readjust to life as a cougar (or an older woman who likes younger men), and though Cox has promised this show will be so much more than just that, so far it has not done so.

The main problem stems from the subject matter. Because it is about what is deemed as appropriate behavior for men and women by society, there are bound to be some mentions of double standards. However, what is preachy enough with Jules’s first speech about this later becomes worse when she rants to her neighbor about how scary it can be for older women to put on a brave face as they realize they may remain unmarried. Yes, these are real concerns for a lot of women, and are important issues that Jules will be dealing with, but these off-putting, big sermons should have been avoided, especially in the first episode. Later they could have been introduced more gradually, as to not completely scare away any chance of having a male audience to go along with the bitter women that this show seems to be aiming at right now.

The second issue I took with Cougar Town is the comedic style, which does not really fit into any of the categories on TV today, such as sitcoms or the more subdued comedies that are very prominent today (The Office, Parks and Recreation, Community, Modern Family). I am afraid that this show is not up to the competition that the others provide; especially considering Cox’s main character is slightly obnoxious with her exaggerated acting. Though it worked for Monica in Friends, it needs to be brought down here because it ends up being a little annoying, not a quality you want with the character the audience is supposed to sympathize with and relate to.

As I have hinted at, if this show is going to succeed, some changes need to be made. First, the comedy needs to be rejiggered because right now the jokes are very hit or miss. Something they should keep (and make stronger) are the relationships between the characters, especially with Jules and her high school aged son, Travis (Dan Byrd), as well as with her business partner Laurie (Busy Philipps). Also, if her interactions with her neighbor, Grayson (Josh Hopkins) become more than preaching time for Jules, then these have the potential to be some of the better parts of the show as well.

Though the pilot failed to live up to my expectations, I will give it the benefit of the doubt because of the potential it has, especially with the cast it was able to pull together.

Final Grade: B--

Suggestion Box (Sept. 14 - 20)

Dollhouse: Season 2 is starting Friday. In order to get excited, you should check out some of your favorite episodes or other clips about the show here. My suggestion? The "Jossverse: Scream" clip.

The Guild: Season 3 Episode 3 – Check it out here. And if you haven't seen any of the previous eps from the other seasons, you can find those on this site as well.

Dorian Gray Trailer – Not much to say other than “ooo, interesting (and gross).” Check it out here.

Assassin’s Creed 2: Developer Diary #3 – A short video about some more ways the game has bettered itself by moving away from the more repetitive gameplay that was found in the first game. Check it out here.

Rental Review - X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Though I cannot take the same stand that I am sure many comic book fanatics are taking against this film, I will say that I feel slightly cheated by X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

As the name states, Wolverine is an origin story for the beloved X-Men character, so let’s start at the beginning. The character of Wolverine was born through a very traumatic night when the young boy, Logan, learns that the murdered body he is mourning over is not really his father, his mother pulls the “what are you” card, and he is hunted. But the good news is that he gains a brother in Victor Creed (who eventually becomes Sabertooth), who is more than willing to spend the following slew of decades fighting in war after war until the present day. However, Logan is not satisfied in this lifestyle, nor does he have the bloodlust of his brother, so he turns his back on this world. Unfortunately, Victor sees this as an act of betrayal and decides to seek revenge on Logan for the rest of the film, killing anyone who stands in his way, including Logan’s girlfriend, which sends Logan along the path to becoming the not so organic Weapon X (AKA he trades his bones for metal).

With all the hype that has been built around this favorite comic book hero, it’s hard not to find this film disappointing. It starts out strong with the opening credit sequence showing Logan (Hugh Jackman) and Victor (Live Schreiber) transitioning through the world by partaking in different wars; however, once the movie shifts to a revenge story, it loses something that I can’t quite put my finger on. But what I do feel is that most of this film seems really half-a**ed, as if it was a sure hit going in, and therefore didn’t need to try so hard. For starters, Logan’s character seemed off from what I have come to understand about him in the last three X-Men films (though this could be because Wolverine is about the man before he joined the X-Men), and he was surrounded by other’s that I just couldn’t really care about. For one thing, Victor’s motivation towards ruining Logan’s life is really vague, with sibling rivalry being the best guess of a source, making him no more than an incredibly lame character in serious need of a nail file. And speaking of his power, overall, the variance of mutant abilities doesn’t seem to branch out as far as once might hope, but instead, sticks to the indestructible / strong / weapon oriented types for the most part. Furthermore, in concern to character range, certain characters seemed to be thrown in just because they would be cool to do the CGI for (Cyclops, Gambit, Emma Frost, etc), and each death does not have resonance that it should.

But the thing that I really found odd was that for a character so filled with rage, I was never really impressed with a lot of the action. Instead, it just seemed like filler, especially considering the best moments came from Deadpool’s (Ryan Reynolds) sword prowess and from when Cyclops’s accidentally rips his school in half (both of which were shown in the previews).

One thing that I can say this film did well was the visual effects, however, this is hardly enough to keep this weak story from becoming more than just an empty summer blockbuster, full of more questions than it answers. And because of this, I would recommend trying to find a descent origin story in the comics instead, because hopefully it will do better at explaining the character of Wolverine than this.

Final Grade: C

PS – (SPOILER ALERT – THOUGH I AM NOT REALLY SURE IF IT IS CONSIDERED A SPOILER SINCE THIS SHOULD BE COMMON KNOWLEDGE BY NOW…) the way that Logan loses his memory in this film Is completely lame and seems to be one of those things that they almost forgot, so they just tack it on at the end of the film. It could have still been handled in a better way.

PPS – Can someone tell me why Logan and Victor stopped ageing when they got to this age? Or more importantly, why they don’t age at all? I understand that they are more or less immortal, but clearly they were kids in the beginning of the film (and Logan was sick), so what changed this?

Rental Review - Fighting

I remember back when I first saw the trailer for Fighting and thought to myself: “Ugh, this looks kinda lame. But ooo! Channing Tatum! Well I have to see it now…” Yeah I know. But trust me, sitting through this movie was punishment enough for that mistake.

The problem with Fighting is that the only silver lining is there are a lot of shirtless guys, which only works for part of the audience. Everything else that matters to good filmmaking is horrible, the most obvious being the dialogue. Weak cannot even begin to describe how bad it was. Instead, I would even say that it would have been much better if the actors just improvised all of their lines. The best dialogue actually comes from a character’s grandma, who speaks with such a thick accent that only half of what she says is understandable. I understand that there have been some horribly written films that have still had good stories, and/or are at least entertaining to watch (Star Wars: Episode III anyone?), but Fighting doesn’t have anything to fall back on.

The story follows Shawn MacArthur (Channing Tatum), a poor young man stewing in daddy issues, who peddles umbrellas, fake books, iPods, etc, on the streets of New York. Early into the story, an opportunity punches him in the face when Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard, giving an incredibly underwhelming performance) sees fight club potential in Shawn. He is quickly thrown into the world of underground fighting, winning fights after fight, which can only be thanks to pure luck (especially considering the expected training montage is never supplied. I don’t think punching thin air on a subway counts). Furthermore, what is probably trying to become some sort of social commentary on the rich living off of the poor, and/or a look at the depths people will sink to in order to survive, fails miserably as the film progresses through this story of hot temperaments and revenge.

Fighting moves from bad to worse when considering the other aspects of the film. Not only are the character’s poorly developed, but also, the romantic element of the film is just as horrible. What starts as a cute attraction between Shawn and Zulay quickly becomes an unrealistically fast-paced love story, which fails horribly as Shawn tries to live up to the gallant knight in shining armor that his last name alludes to, making Romeo and Juliet’s love more believable. And to round it all up, the film appears to be shot by a lazy and/or blind camera operator, as the film is riddled with awkward angles and even worse shot compositions.

To put it simply, don’t see Fighting because you will wish you were the one being knocked out.

Final Grade: D