Friday Night Lights - this show has been so strong this season, but one episode in particular makes this show the best on television right now. The 5th episode of the 4th season entitled "The Son" which deals with one of the main characters as he reacts to the death of his father overseas in Iraq. Episodes about death on television are usually bogged down by scenes of melodrama and actors just screaming for an award, yet here Friday Night Lights tones that down to a realistic portrayal that doesn't hit you over the head but still absolutely breaks your heart. So well done and shot in a handheld style that gives it a documentary feel that it doesn't even seem like you're watching a TV show, you're watching life unfold. And the shameful thing is that you aren't watching it! Buy the DVDs, they're cheap!
Dexter - The serial killer who murders serial killers came back in what was my favorite season of Dexter yet. This year saw Dexter as he hunted down "The Trinity Killer." Perfectly played by John Lithgow who delivered an absolutely frightening portrait of a serial killer who is also a family man. I say this because there was one moment where the Trinity Killer confronts Dexter that startled me and made me want to take a step back (even though I was sitting down). The scenes between his family offered some of the most awkward but compelling moments in the show. It all builds up to a great and shocking final episode that makes me dread the next 9 months or so until the next season begins.
Community and Parks & Recreation - if there's one thing NBC did right this year, it was the introduction of these 2 new shows. Both ensemble single-camera comedies that are consistently funny with some really quirky but likable characters. Both feature lead roles that are absolutely perfect, Joel McHale in Community and Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation. Add in some great supporting characters, and general insanity and wackiness, make these 2 shows a great addition to the already hilarious 30 Rock and The Office.
Dollhouse - yeah the first half of the first season was crap, and honestly, after watching the first episode, the only reason I stuck it out was because it was a Joss Whedon show. As people who know me know that I love his work, Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Serenity, and you might not know him but you've probably seen some of his work, for instance, he wrote Toy Story. Well Fox just wouldn't get their grubby hands off of Dollhouse and kept tampering with it and the result is that the first half of the first season is just so watered down and so un-Joss-like. After they finally let Joss do his thing, wow what a show this became.
What's great about Dollhouse is that it packs everything that Joss is good at into 2 short but oh so sweet seasons of television. There's action, comedy, drama, sometimes all in the same scene! There are tons of twists and surprises. People you think are good are bad, people you think are bad are good. And it wouldn't be a Joss Whedon show if there weren't a lot of deaths. People you love will die, and you will hate Joss for doing it. But it's how Joss makes you love the character in the first place is what's important. They knew that Season Two would be it and it's like they packed all the ideas they would have done if the show ran for 5 years into 1 year. As a result, those final episodes were entertaining as hell.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
My Favorite Films of 2009
Inglourious Basterds - there are 2 scenes in this film that just may be 2 of the greatest scenes ever put to celluloid. The opening scene and the Tavern scene. Any of these 2 scenes alone would have made this my favorite movie of the year. These 2 scenes featuring just a handful of characters but have such intricately written dialogue, spoken perfectly by the cast. It's just so compelling and edge of your seat, you don't know what's going to happen, and you can't wait for it to happen. So well-written and the actors so perfect, this is truly Tarantino's masterpiece. And can I also say, a movie where Germans speak German and not English with poor German accents, how crazy is that?
(500) Days of Summer - it just gets better every time I see it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, easily the best actor his age in Hollywood, the only other actor that comes close to his pure acting ability is Ryan Gosling. A romantic comedy from the point of view of the guy this time, Levitt portrays Tom, the everyguy, with Zooey Deschanel playing Summer, the everyguy's dreamgirl. Both are perfect in their roles and have to be for this movie to work. The narrator warns you at the beginning that "this is not a love story" and Tom believes in the whole "one true love" bit while Summer doesn't want anything serious. Remember what the narrator said? Well things don't end well.....or do they?
I was hooked from the beginning with simple text explaining:
The following is a work of fiction.
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Especially you Jenny Beckman.
Bitch.
And how can you say no to that musical sequence?
Up - Another year, another of the year's best movies. If the opening wordless married life segment didn't tug at your heart then you have no heart. What else can I say about Pixar? They just deliver every time, they aren't just on another level in terms of animated film, but filmmaking in general. Their focus on story ensures a great time every time you watch their films. They don't rely on cheap jokes or catchy pop songs. The very definition of a perfect family film, there's something in it for everyone.
The Hurt Locker - this movie about a Bomb squad technician works both as an action-thriller with tense bomb defusing segments and also as a condemnation of war. The opening quote that says that "war is a drug" is something that haunts modern times. It's a sad thing when a man feels the need to abandon his newborn baby boy to defuse bombs halfway across the world, not because he doesn't love his son, not because he needs to help others, but because it's an addiction. War is a drug in the worst way.
(500) Days of Summer - it just gets better every time I see it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, easily the best actor his age in Hollywood, the only other actor that comes close to his pure acting ability is Ryan Gosling. A romantic comedy from the point of view of the guy this time, Levitt portrays Tom, the everyguy, with Zooey Deschanel playing Summer, the everyguy's dreamgirl. Both are perfect in their roles and have to be for this movie to work. The narrator warns you at the beginning that "this is not a love story" and Tom believes in the whole "one true love" bit while Summer doesn't want anything serious. Remember what the narrator said? Well things don't end well.....or do they?
I was hooked from the beginning with simple text explaining:
The following is a work of fiction.
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Especially you Jenny Beckman.
Bitch.
And how can you say no to that musical sequence?
Up - Another year, another of the year's best movies. If the opening wordless married life segment didn't tug at your heart then you have no heart. What else can I say about Pixar? They just deliver every time, they aren't just on another level in terms of animated film, but filmmaking in general. Their focus on story ensures a great time every time you watch their films. They don't rely on cheap jokes or catchy pop songs. The very definition of a perfect family film, there's something in it for everyone.
The Hurt Locker - this movie about a Bomb squad technician works both as an action-thriller with tense bomb defusing segments and also as a condemnation of war. The opening quote that says that "war is a drug" is something that haunts modern times. It's a sad thing when a man feels the need to abandon his newborn baby boy to defuse bombs halfway across the world, not because he doesn't love his son, not because he needs to help others, but because it's an addiction. War is a drug in the worst way.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
How About Some Love for Books?
It's occurred to me that I haven't written much about books here. So let me make up for that.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon - one of the best books I've ever read. The story follows two jewish kids who create comics and spans several decades from the Depression era all the way through the Second World War. The writing is just top-notch, with the setting pitch perfect and all the characters feel real. While this is a work of fiction, many real-life incidents are reproduced that give it that extra sense of realism.
I was interested in this book because I'm a comic book fan, but this book is by no means only for that group. It's won some deserved awards such as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. So take that for what it's worth. Interestingly enough, a real comic book has been created based on the comic that Kavalier and Clay create in the book. Even better is that it's a pretty good read too! There have been rumblings of a movie, but I have no idea how a 2 or even 3 hour movie could do this book justice. It seems the wheels started spinning but have completely stalled, and that's probably for the best. Although the rumoured casting of Natalie Portman as one of the leads would be absolutely perfect.
Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling - having grown up as a big wrestling fan, my favorite wrestler in the world was Bret Hart. He seemed to be the perfect package, great on the mic, great in the ring, and he was Canadian.
This is an absorbing book which drew me in and broke my heart. Surely you've all heard of all the deaths of so many wrestlers in the past couple of decades. Hart is frank and reveals everything, the funny side, the bad side, the egos, the politics, and everything in between. He is brutally honest about himself, his many infidelities and the behind the scenes workings of the wrestling business. Unlike the many other wrestler biographies, this isn't being published by the WWE, and doesn't have the filter and ass-kissing attitude that the other books sometime have, because let's face it, those wrestlers need money and WWE is pretty much the only game in town now, and they don't want to go around badmouthing their boss.
This is one of those reads that is of most interest to wrestling fans, but would be a good read for anyone.
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk - fans of Fight Club (the movie or the book) will love this. It's by the same author, so it has the same twisted, dark sense of humour that is Palahniuk's trademark. This book was such a scintillating read I found myself reading it loud because the dialogue was so rich.
There was a recent movie made of this book that more or less remains faithful to the book, but it just isn't on the level of the Fight Club adaptation. While it has it's own merits, it just lacks that spark the book has. Stick with the book here.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon - one of the best books I've ever read. The story follows two jewish kids who create comics and spans several decades from the Depression era all the way through the Second World War. The writing is just top-notch, with the setting pitch perfect and all the characters feel real. While this is a work of fiction, many real-life incidents are reproduced that give it that extra sense of realism.
I was interested in this book because I'm a comic book fan, but this book is by no means only for that group. It's won some deserved awards such as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. So take that for what it's worth. Interestingly enough, a real comic book has been created based on the comic that Kavalier and Clay create in the book. Even better is that it's a pretty good read too! There have been rumblings of a movie, but I have no idea how a 2 or even 3 hour movie could do this book justice. It seems the wheels started spinning but have completely stalled, and that's probably for the best. Although the rumoured casting of Natalie Portman as one of the leads would be absolutely perfect.
Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling - having grown up as a big wrestling fan, my favorite wrestler in the world was Bret Hart. He seemed to be the perfect package, great on the mic, great in the ring, and he was Canadian.
This is an absorbing book which drew me in and broke my heart. Surely you've all heard of all the deaths of so many wrestlers in the past couple of decades. Hart is frank and reveals everything, the funny side, the bad side, the egos, the politics, and everything in between. He is brutally honest about himself, his many infidelities and the behind the scenes workings of the wrestling business. Unlike the many other wrestler biographies, this isn't being published by the WWE, and doesn't have the filter and ass-kissing attitude that the other books sometime have, because let's face it, those wrestlers need money and WWE is pretty much the only game in town now, and they don't want to go around badmouthing their boss.
This is one of those reads that is of most interest to wrestling fans, but would be a good read for anyone.
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk - fans of Fight Club (the movie or the book) will love this. It's by the same author, so it has the same twisted, dark sense of humour that is Palahniuk's trademark. This book was such a scintillating read I found myself reading it loud because the dialogue was so rich.
There was a recent movie made of this book that more or less remains faithful to the book, but it just isn't on the level of the Fight Club adaptation. While it has it's own merits, it just lacks that spark the book has. Stick with the book here.
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