It’s been a while since my initial Fall TV reaction but a few more shows have debuted that are worth noting. After this we will examine new shows as part of the Winter television season. So, on we go with the New Fall Season Part IV.
Terra Nova – This show has really grown on me. It has the type of adventures that I would expect from a television version of Jurassic Park. It’s surprising how quickly I have started to care about the family members so that the mystery isn’t what is driving the show. It’s the characters and that always makes for good television. It’s a little unfortunate that we only get half a season this year, but hopefully the ratings stay good enough to warrant a return in the future.
American Horror Story – I hated the premiere episode and was prepared not to watch it again. But, then I heard that the episodes were getting progressively better. So I checked them out. And they were better, much better. In fact this has become one of my favorite new shows. It is so creepy and campy and that makes it fun. True, it makes no sense for these people to be in this house and to stay there, but there is enough fun going on that I almost don’t care.
Chuck – Back for the final season. Chuck is just silly fun spy stuff. And that is all I want from it. The show has been near cancellation so many times and so much has had to happen that it feels right for this to be the end. Obviously it is a little late to jump on now. But give this show a chance on DVD or in syndication. You won’t regret it.
Fringe – Back again in the Friday night slot of doom. The season has created a new world for us, and while it has been fun getting to know this world, much like when Olivia was kidnapped last year, I’m ready to move on and get something going. The problem with focusing on the disappearing Peter is that we know he will eventually come back. Removing a lot of tension from the storyline. So him coming back isn’t satisfying we need something else to really move the story along.
Once Upon a Time – From some people connected to Lost comes an okay television show. The show is interesting. It’s fun to see a twist on fairy tales, but the plot seems to be to stagnant at the moment. We have a town full of these characters and we want to see them be these characters not regular people. Move it along Once Upon a Time or you will start losing viewers.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
The Greatest Show on Earth - The Oscar Project Part XXV
“The Greatest Show on Earth” is often referred to as one of the worst winners of the Best Picture Oscar, so it wasn’t something I was really looking forward to watching. Released in 1952 the movie was the 25th picture to win the big award. Half of the movie is a thrown together story and the other half is an exhibition of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus. It makes for a very different movie than what people today are used to.
The movie focuses on Brad Braden as he tries to keep the circus in the black by hiring a big name star, Sebastian to take the center ring over Holly. A love triangle develops between Brad, Sebastian and Holly that also involves both Sebastian and Holly adding more dangerous elements to their routine until Sebastian is hurt. Also going on is a story about crooked carnival games and a doctor that mercy killed his wife and is now on the run as a clown. All of these stories come to a head when the circus trains crash into each other. The movie ends with a big show out in the open. Overall the movie just isn’t good. The plot that is there is just used to move us from circus act to circus act with little motivation to move the actual plot forward. The circus acts were interesting to watch, but don’t compare to the circus acts that we see today.
From a production standpoint this is also the tale of two movies. The circus acts were well presented but just outdated and the plot part of the movie was just filmed as a lazy side note. Each scene was just point a camera and have them act. Then there are the special effects, I realize it was the 1950’s, but they could have done some better cuts to make them more effective. I found Sebastian’s fall where we see the ground give way like a net would to be pathetic and the train crash looked so much like a toy train crashing that I couldn’t take it seriously. With a cast featuring Charlton Heston and James Stewart I would expect the acting to be above par but there was so little for them to work with that you could have thrown the all of the world’s best actors in there and it wouldn’t be special.
This movie just does not work in today’s world. If a similar movie were made it would not be an Oscar picture. It would be either a summer blockbuster if they went over the top or it would be made into one of those 3D concert type films. Don’t waste your time watching this go to the real circus instead. It gets 1 out of 5 stars.
The movie focuses on Brad Braden as he tries to keep the circus in the black by hiring a big name star, Sebastian to take the center ring over Holly. A love triangle develops between Brad, Sebastian and Holly that also involves both Sebastian and Holly adding more dangerous elements to their routine until Sebastian is hurt. Also going on is a story about crooked carnival games and a doctor that mercy killed his wife and is now on the run as a clown. All of these stories come to a head when the circus trains crash into each other. The movie ends with a big show out in the open. Overall the movie just isn’t good. The plot that is there is just used to move us from circus act to circus act with little motivation to move the actual plot forward. The circus acts were interesting to watch, but don’t compare to the circus acts that we see today.
From a production standpoint this is also the tale of two movies. The circus acts were well presented but just outdated and the plot part of the movie was just filmed as a lazy side note. Each scene was just point a camera and have them act. Then there are the special effects, I realize it was the 1950’s, but they could have done some better cuts to make them more effective. I found Sebastian’s fall where we see the ground give way like a net would to be pathetic and the train crash looked so much like a toy train crashing that I couldn’t take it seriously. With a cast featuring Charlton Heston and James Stewart I would expect the acting to be above par but there was so little for them to work with that you could have thrown the all of the world’s best actors in there and it wouldn’t be special.
This movie just does not work in today’s world. If a similar movie were made it would not be an Oscar picture. It would be either a summer blockbuster if they went over the top or it would be made into one of those 3D concert type films. Don’t waste your time watching this go to the real circus instead. It gets 1 out of 5 stars.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Take 5 - 11/11/11
Each week I take 5 news items from the current week from the entertainment industry, list them out here and then give my take on them. This is Take 5.
1. Brett Ratner Quits as Oscar Producer – Yay! Due to the disparaging remarks that mister Ratner made last week he has stepped down as the producer for the 2012 Oscars. All I can say is, thank you. The man is not a good fit with Oscar, in fact this was probably as close as he was ever going to get to getting one. I mean the man is responsible for X-Men 3: The Last Stand.
2. Eddie Murphy Quits as Host of the Oscars – This one I have mixed feelings on. It really depended on which Eddie we were going to get. The funny comedian of the 80’s or the family comedy man of the past 20 years. I was hoping that the Oscars would bring back the comedian side, but with him gone I don’t have to worry about him showing up in a fat suit.
3. Billy Crystal Returns as the Host for the Oscars – Yay! Billy was the Oscar host I grew up with and I have never felt that anyone has been near his level of greatness since he stopped hosting. This will be good for Oscar and I am sure ratings will improve because of it.
4. Groups Don’t Work on X-Factor – So apparently people don’t like groups. Both weeks only groups have occupied the bottom two on this show. Why? Because people like stories and with groups you don’t get to connect with one person and learn their story. A two person group might work but that is probably the limit.
5. Howard Stern to Replace Piers Morgon on America’s Got Talent – Had a hard time typing that, my fingers didn’t believe me.
1. Brett Ratner Quits as Oscar Producer – Yay! Due to the disparaging remarks that mister Ratner made last week he has stepped down as the producer for the 2012 Oscars. All I can say is, thank you. The man is not a good fit with Oscar, in fact this was probably as close as he was ever going to get to getting one. I mean the man is responsible for X-Men 3: The Last Stand.
2. Eddie Murphy Quits as Host of the Oscars – This one I have mixed feelings on. It really depended on which Eddie we were going to get. The funny comedian of the 80’s or the family comedy man of the past 20 years. I was hoping that the Oscars would bring back the comedian side, but with him gone I don’t have to worry about him showing up in a fat suit.
3. Billy Crystal Returns as the Host for the Oscars – Yay! Billy was the Oscar host I grew up with and I have never felt that anyone has been near his level of greatness since he stopped hosting. This will be good for Oscar and I am sure ratings will improve because of it.
4. Groups Don’t Work on X-Factor – So apparently people don’t like groups. Both weeks only groups have occupied the bottom two on this show. Why? Because people like stories and with groups you don’t get to connect with one person and learn their story. A two person group might work but that is probably the limit.
5. Howard Stern to Replace Piers Morgon on America’s Got Talent – Had a hard time typing that, my fingers didn’t believe me.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
An American in Paris - The Oscar Project Part XXIV
After a long run of serious dramas examining political intrigue, the aftermath of World War II and human emotion the Oscar movies return to the song and dance genre with “An American in Paris.” With Gene Kelly dancing and George Gershwin music the movie was a lot lighter than I have gotten used to with previous films and was much more about spectacle than plot.
The plot of the movie focuses on an American living in Paris after the war trying to make it as a painter. He also happens to be a fantastic dancer. He is friends with a great concert pianist and a great singer. How convenient. Eventually he becomes involved with a rich American woman but falls in love with the fiancé of his singer friend. He tells the fiancé of his singer friend, who the singer friend then takes away. After he just dances it out. The woman he loves returns and the movie ends. What a lame boring plot. Pretty disappointing.
From a production standpoint, the acting was nothing to write home about, but the actors didn’t get much to work with. The dancing scenes were well choreographed and the film was shot well. Nothing to really complain about, but nothing to really celebrate either. The big take home from this movie is the song writing from Gershwin with such classics as “I Got Rhythm” and “Our Love is here to Stay.”
After a bunch of great movies, this was a letdown. I love musicals, but you’ve got to have a decent plot to tie it all together. This just sat there. It gets 2 out of 5 stars.
The plot of the movie focuses on an American living in Paris after the war trying to make it as a painter. He also happens to be a fantastic dancer. He is friends with a great concert pianist and a great singer. How convenient. Eventually he becomes involved with a rich American woman but falls in love with the fiancé of his singer friend. He tells the fiancé of his singer friend, who the singer friend then takes away. After he just dances it out. The woman he loves returns and the movie ends. What a lame boring plot. Pretty disappointing.
From a production standpoint, the acting was nothing to write home about, but the actors didn’t get much to work with. The dancing scenes were well choreographed and the film was shot well. Nothing to really complain about, but nothing to really celebrate either. The big take home from this movie is the song writing from Gershwin with such classics as “I Got Rhythm” and “Our Love is here to Stay.”
After a bunch of great movies, this was a letdown. I love musicals, but you’ve got to have a decent plot to tie it all together. This just sat there. It gets 2 out of 5 stars.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 1
As an admitted geek there has always been one badge missing from my nerd uniform. The Star Trek badge. I’ve seen the movies, a few episodes of The Next Generation and most of Voyager. But I’ve never seen The Original Series. The episodes never aired on a regular basis for me to catch on television and the DVD sets were always too expensive. But thanks to Netflix I can stream the entire series, and except for Enterprise the entire Star Trek television group can be viewed. I recently finished watching the first season and wanted to post my thoughts here.
Netflix has the original unaired pilot available for viewing. After watching it, all I could think of was how the hell did NBC greenlight this for a series. It had little action focused on a captain that was not played by William Shatner and was a very cerebral episode. The only cast member to be brought over from the pilot was Spock. Everyone else was replaced creating a very multi-ethnic group. The first several episodes followed a similar pattern to the pilot episodes. They focused on more cerebral adventures. Everything involved people manipulating the mind and not on physical danger of the ship. The first half also featured a two part episode that incorporated the pilot to display it as an adventure of the previous captain of the Enterprise.
The second half of the season really picked up the action and the story telling. I found three episodes from this half to be really good. The first is “Space Seed,” which is the prequel to Star Trek II. It introduced Kahn and now knowing the history of that character has upped my appreciation for the movie, the episode was also fun to watch. The next is “Balance of Terror” which featured the crew going up against a Romulan ship. It reminded me of the cat and mouse chase at the end of Star Trek II. The episode was great and I loved watching the crews of the two ships go head to head against each other. Finally “The City on the Edge of Forever” told a story that is very similar to Star Trek IV. Time travel is always fun when done in moderation and this story was fantastic.
Overall the season lives up to the myth that it had built upon itself. It really helps you understand the friendship that exists between Bones, Spock and Kirk. The season is 30 episodes but it was well worth watching and if you have ever been interested in the Star Trek series it is defiantly worth checking out. The first season gets 4 out of 5 stars
Netflix has the original unaired pilot available for viewing. After watching it, all I could think of was how the hell did NBC greenlight this for a series. It had little action focused on a captain that was not played by William Shatner and was a very cerebral episode. The only cast member to be brought over from the pilot was Spock. Everyone else was replaced creating a very multi-ethnic group. The first several episodes followed a similar pattern to the pilot episodes. They focused on more cerebral adventures. Everything involved people manipulating the mind and not on physical danger of the ship. The first half also featured a two part episode that incorporated the pilot to display it as an adventure of the previous captain of the Enterprise.
The second half of the season really picked up the action and the story telling. I found three episodes from this half to be really good. The first is “Space Seed,” which is the prequel to Star Trek II. It introduced Kahn and now knowing the history of that character has upped my appreciation for the movie, the episode was also fun to watch. The next is “Balance of Terror” which featured the crew going up against a Romulan ship. It reminded me of the cat and mouse chase at the end of Star Trek II. The episode was great and I loved watching the crews of the two ships go head to head against each other. Finally “The City on the Edge of Forever” told a story that is very similar to Star Trek IV. Time travel is always fun when done in moderation and this story was fantastic.
Overall the season lives up to the myth that it had built upon itself. It really helps you understand the friendship that exists between Bones, Spock and Kirk. The season is 30 episodes but it was well worth watching and if you have ever been interested in the Star Trek series it is defiantly worth checking out. The first season gets 4 out of 5 stars
Friday, November 4, 2011
Take 5 - 11/04/11
Each week I take 5 news items from the current week from the entertainment industry, list them out here and then give my take on them. This is Take 5.
1. Do a Barrel Roll – If you use Firefox or Chrome, do yourself a favor type in “Do a Barrel Roll” into Google for a sweet reward. You can also type in “Z or R twice.” For those video game players that remember both of these phrases it is an awesome little Easter Egg that Google put in. Go try now.
2. Joss Whedon does Much Ado About Nothing – So instead of taking a well earned vacation after filming Avengers, Joss Whedon’s wife convinces him to film in 12 days a modern black and white version of Much Ado About Nothing featuring a cast from all of his cult TV shows. Umm. . . Awesome!!! Whedon is about to go super big with the Avengers, its nice to know that he will still do the little stuff. Even more awesome though is the fact that he gets his actor friends together to read Shakespeare at his house. Must break in.
3. James Bond in Skyfall – Finally the next James Bond film is announced. Helmed by Sam Mendes and with Javier Bardem as the villain this could make up for the disappointment that was Quantum of Solace. I enjoy Daniel Craig as Bond and I am a little sad that this may be his last time out due to the licensing of the franchise postponing this movie for so long.
4. Grand Theft Auto V Unveiled – Rockstar Games have built themselves on this franchise and each one of the games in the series has been fun. This installment returns to San Andreas and will feature another former criminal trying to turn a new leaf. I’m sure the game will be massive and have a lot of fun elements, but I would like something new. Maybe set it in the future or in a new city that they haven’t covered yet. It will be interesting to see what they do to make this game fresh.
5. Kim Kardashian Gets Divorced – Don’t care. I just don’t care and neither should you.
1. Do a Barrel Roll – If you use Firefox or Chrome, do yourself a favor type in “Do a Barrel Roll” into Google for a sweet reward. You can also type in “Z or R twice.” For those video game players that remember both of these phrases it is an awesome little Easter Egg that Google put in. Go try now.
2. Joss Whedon does Much Ado About Nothing – So instead of taking a well earned vacation after filming Avengers, Joss Whedon’s wife convinces him to film in 12 days a modern black and white version of Much Ado About Nothing featuring a cast from all of his cult TV shows. Umm. . . Awesome!!! Whedon is about to go super big with the Avengers, its nice to know that he will still do the little stuff. Even more awesome though is the fact that he gets his actor friends together to read Shakespeare at his house. Must break in.
3. James Bond in Skyfall – Finally the next James Bond film is announced. Helmed by Sam Mendes and with Javier Bardem as the villain this could make up for the disappointment that was Quantum of Solace. I enjoy Daniel Craig as Bond and I am a little sad that this may be his last time out due to the licensing of the franchise postponing this movie for so long.
4. Grand Theft Auto V Unveiled – Rockstar Games have built themselves on this franchise and each one of the games in the series has been fun. This installment returns to San Andreas and will feature another former criminal trying to turn a new leaf. I’m sure the game will be massive and have a lot of fun elements, but I would like something new. Maybe set it in the future or in a new city that they haven’t covered yet. It will be interesting to see what they do to make this game fresh.
5. Kim Kardashian Gets Divorced – Don’t care. I just don’t care and neither should you.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
All About Eve - The Oscar Project Part XXIII
“All About Eve” is another one of those movies that is always in the discussion of classic movies. Released in 1950 the movie takes an interesting look at a young actress trying to replace an older actress and what she will do to get the older actress out of the way. The real power in this movie comes from the acting of its two leading ladies. Both of whom give a master class in acting, not only through their lines but through the emotion that they wear on their face.
The plot of the movie focuses on an older actress currently in a play on Broadway. She meets a younger woman claiming to be her biggest fan and invites her to work for her. Eventually the young woman becomes an understudy and arranges it so that she gets to perform while many reviewers are in the audience. From here we learn that the young actress has been lying the whole time and this has all been a scheme to become a famous actress. At the end of the movie she has achieved fame but is hated by all those who helped her get there. The end of the movie also suggests that a young actress is already in line to replace her. The plot of the movie has a lot of potential, but the confrontation is missing. There is no big dramatic moment between the two stars; these moments are instead had with their lesser male counterparts. The entire film builds up to a confrontation that never happens.
This movie was all about acting. Both Bette Davis and Anne Baxter put in monster performances. This was an epic battle between two heavyweights. In the end I think age beat out youth and Bette Davis put in the stronger performance. But it is great watching these two dive so deeply into their characters. Baxter’s Eve made you very sympathetic for her before turning on her and then feeling sorry for her by the end of the film. But Davis just owned the screen with every scene she was in. I can’t say enough about the acting job that these two did. It is unfortunate that the script didn’t give them a final confrontation scene. Having these two fully go at each other would have been something to watch. The rest of the production efforts were good but nothing to really marvel at. The director, Mankiewicz, last shot of the young actress in the room of mirrors was terrific, but the rest of the film was fairly standard from a directing standpoint.
This movie could work today but it would need more closure between the two female leads than what we got in the film. Otherwise it was solid. 4 out of 5 stars.
The plot of the movie focuses on an older actress currently in a play on Broadway. She meets a younger woman claiming to be her biggest fan and invites her to work for her. Eventually the young woman becomes an understudy and arranges it so that she gets to perform while many reviewers are in the audience. From here we learn that the young actress has been lying the whole time and this has all been a scheme to become a famous actress. At the end of the movie she has achieved fame but is hated by all those who helped her get there. The end of the movie also suggests that a young actress is already in line to replace her. The plot of the movie has a lot of potential, but the confrontation is missing. There is no big dramatic moment between the two stars; these moments are instead had with their lesser male counterparts. The entire film builds up to a confrontation that never happens.
This movie was all about acting. Both Bette Davis and Anne Baxter put in monster performances. This was an epic battle between two heavyweights. In the end I think age beat out youth and Bette Davis put in the stronger performance. But it is great watching these two dive so deeply into their characters. Baxter’s Eve made you very sympathetic for her before turning on her and then feeling sorry for her by the end of the film. But Davis just owned the screen with every scene she was in. I can’t say enough about the acting job that these two did. It is unfortunate that the script didn’t give them a final confrontation scene. Having these two fully go at each other would have been something to watch. The rest of the production efforts were good but nothing to really marvel at. The director, Mankiewicz, last shot of the young actress in the room of mirrors was terrific, but the rest of the film was fairly standard from a directing standpoint.
This movie could work today but it would need more closure between the two female leads than what we got in the film. Otherwise it was solid. 4 out of 5 stars.
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