What do you get when you combine the musical stylings of Robin Sparkles with Doctor Who? Magic!
Community fans, you might be surprised to find out the identity of one of the writers of the much-hyped The Descendants.
Guess which Big Brother couple is rumored to be on the cast of The Amazing Race next season.
Office fans, Dunder Mifflin paper is now a real thing.
This list of common movie poster cliches is fabulous and hilarious. My favorite has to be "Tiny People On the Beach, Giant Heads in the Clouds." You can also visit the site where these examples originated for more of them (I included the first link because much of this site is in French).
If you love Once Upon a Time as much as I do, you should check out this first look of Emilie de Ravin as my favorite Disney princess, Belle. Maybe I can finally forgive her for what Tess did to Alex on Roswell.
Speaking of Once Upon a Time, I'm disappointed in myself as Lost fan for failing to catch this Apollo candy bar reference.
While I'm on the subject of references I missed, this one from Community is both brilliant and ridiculously subtle.
Bringing these links back around to Doctor Who, you'll never guess (okay, you might) which cartoon of the 90s contained a Dalek reference.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Trailers of the Week Roundup: The Hunger Games, The Vow, and More
Movie trailers and Breaking Dawn seem to have invaded the Internet this week. I'm not going to touch the second topic at the moment, but due to some extreme Spanish-studying procrastination, I would like to share my thoughts on the first. Here's this week's trailers in order from the movie I'm most excited about to the one I'm least excited about.
1) The Hunger Games
If you've been on the Internet much this week, you've probably either seen the trailer for The Hunger Games movie or have least heard that the trailer has been released. I just finished the Hunger Games books about a month ago. So I was pretty excited to see a preview of the film, and I must say, it didn't disappoint. I was initially a bit dubious about Jennifer Lawrence being cast as Katniss, but after watching the trailer, I'm convinced that she'll be great in the role. From the casting to the sets to the costumes, most everything in the trailer fits how I'd imagined it, and I can't wait to see to see this in March.
2) Brave
The Hunger Games trailer isn't the only trailer featuring a female archer that was released this week; a trailer for Pixar's upcoming movie Brave also shows a girl who's handy with a bow and arrow. I think Pixar is pretty fantastic, and I'm a sucker for princess movies. So I'm pretty excited for this upcoming release. I adore the Scottish accents in the trailer, and I just realized while writing this that Craig Ferguson's voice is among those accents. So there's another reason to be excited about Brave.
3) Gone
I like Amanda Seyfried (although it's hard to think of her as anything other than Lily Kane or Karen Smith) and maybe this is just a bad trailer, but Gone just doesn't grab me or strike me as particularly original. Still, it looks like a possibly-entertaining, mindless thriller that I wouldn't mind seeing eventually, particularly if it were on Netflix streaming.
4) The Vow
Since when is Hallmark able to snag stars like Rachel McAdams? Oh wait, this isn't a made-for-tv movie? You could have fooled me. Look, I can enjoy some sappiness from time to time (shout out to both the Walk to Remember book and movie), but this movie does not look good. The Taylor Swift song, the falling in love all over again montage, the brief glances at scenes featuring tears and dramatic outbursts followed by lighthearted moments, the tagline "Can the love of a lifetime find a second chance?" slowly appearing across the screen, and Channing Tatum's (or is it Tatum Channing? I can never remember.) "acting" are just too much for me handle. I think Rachel McAdams is fantastic, but she can do much better than this.
5) Mirror, Mirror
I love fairy tales and princesses as much, if not more, than the next person, but this looks 20 kinds of terrible. To be fair, I've never been much of a Snow White fan (although I'm loving Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White on Once Upon a Time), but even if I were that wouldn't excuse dialogue such as "Snow White. Snow Who? Sno-way." Plus, Julia Roberts' performance as the evil queen looks absolutely dreadful. Visually, the movie looks pretty (which shouldn't be a surprise given that it's directed by Tarsem Singh who directed The Fall), but that's about the only nice thing I can say about it. I can definitely enjoy some campiness (which Mirror Mirror seems to provide in spades), but this looks like campiness of the worst kind.
Did I miss any of this week's trailers? Which of these trailers are you most excited about? Whether you agree with my opinions or think I'm way off base, I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments, as always.
1) The Hunger Games
If you've been on the Internet much this week, you've probably either seen the trailer for The Hunger Games movie or have least heard that the trailer has been released. I just finished the Hunger Games books about a month ago. So I was pretty excited to see a preview of the film, and I must say, it didn't disappoint. I was initially a bit dubious about Jennifer Lawrence being cast as Katniss, but after watching the trailer, I'm convinced that she'll be great in the role. From the casting to the sets to the costumes, most everything in the trailer fits how I'd imagined it, and I can't wait to see to see this in March.
2) Brave
The Hunger Games trailer isn't the only trailer featuring a female archer that was released this week; a trailer for Pixar's upcoming movie Brave also shows a girl who's handy with a bow and arrow. I think Pixar is pretty fantastic, and I'm a sucker for princess movies. So I'm pretty excited for this upcoming release. I adore the Scottish accents in the trailer, and I just realized while writing this that Craig Ferguson's voice is among those accents. So there's another reason to be excited about Brave.
3) Gone
I like Amanda Seyfried (although it's hard to think of her as anything other than Lily Kane or Karen Smith) and maybe this is just a bad trailer, but Gone just doesn't grab me or strike me as particularly original. Still, it looks like a possibly-entertaining, mindless thriller that I wouldn't mind seeing eventually, particularly if it were on Netflix streaming.
4) The Vow
Since when is Hallmark able to snag stars like Rachel McAdams? Oh wait, this isn't a made-for-tv movie? You could have fooled me. Look, I can enjoy some sappiness from time to time (shout out to both the Walk to Remember book and movie), but this movie does not look good. The Taylor Swift song, the falling in love all over again montage, the brief glances at scenes featuring tears and dramatic outbursts followed by lighthearted moments, the tagline "Can the love of a lifetime find a second chance?" slowly appearing across the screen, and Channing Tatum's (or is it Tatum Channing? I can never remember.) "acting" are just too much for me handle. I think Rachel McAdams is fantastic, but she can do much better than this.
5) Mirror, Mirror
I love fairy tales and princesses as much, if not more, than the next person, but this looks 20 kinds of terrible. To be fair, I've never been much of a Snow White fan (although I'm loving Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White on Once Upon a Time), but even if I were that wouldn't excuse dialogue such as "Snow White. Snow Who? Sno-way." Plus, Julia Roberts' performance as the evil queen looks absolutely dreadful. Visually, the movie looks pretty (which shouldn't be a surprise given that it's directed by Tarsem Singh who directed The Fall), but that's about the only nice thing I can say about it. I can definitely enjoy some campiness (which Mirror Mirror seems to provide in spades), but this looks like campiness of the worst kind.
Did I miss any of this week's trailers? Which of these trailers are you most excited about? Whether you agree with my opinions or think I'm way off base, I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments, as always.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
A request to Hollywood: Please stop killing Matt Bomer
Warning: This post contains spoilers about deaths in movies and television.
Dear Hollywood and Other Entertainment Industries,
In July, Pajiba put together a death reel for Sean Bean's characters, proving they die quite often. There's another actor who seems to suffer from this syndrome. His death count can't compete with Sean Bean's, but it's too high for my taste. This fellow frequent death sufferer is Matt Bomer.
(Fun fact: Matt Bomer and Sean Bean both appear in Flightplan, but neither actually die in the movie.)
This realization came from my watching the trailer for the upcoming movie In Time. I was excited to see Matt Bomer included in the cast, but just over a minute into the trailer, he dies. Seriously? This was a disappointment but, sadly, one with which I'm familiar.
I first saw Matt Bomer, then credited as Matthew Bomer, in the wonderfully cheesy Tru Calling, a show in which the dead are often saved from death. His character Luc (yes, these spellings are correct) was an absolutely adorable romantic interest. When it first aired, I watched Tru Calling from time to time, but I never managed to see the first season finale. The promo toted that someone would die without coming back, but it wasn't until years later, upon receiving the DVD set, that I realized who this unfortunate character was. Any guesses? That's right; it was Matt Bomer's Luc. The series only ran for another six episodes, but those were six episodes in which he was sorely missed.
As I often do with attractive actors (don't judge me), I looked up Matt Bomer's IMDB page to find out what else he was in. I decided upon watching Chuck. I'd heard some positive buzz about the show, so it seemed like a good choice. All was going well until his character died in the opening scene. Again, I repeat, seriously? I couldn't even get a full episode's worth of Matt Bomer. I think he had some flashbacks throughout the course of Chuck, but that just wasn't enough. Despite my disappointment, I tried watching Chuck for several episodes, but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it just wasn't my kind of show, but perhaps my disappointment clouded my judgment of the show.
Now, I haven't seen more than five minutes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, but according to its Wikipedia page, Matt Bomer dies in that as well. I don't watch Guiding Light, but Soap Central reveals that his character commits suicide. I can't vouch for any of the other works that he's appeared in, but even if those are his only character deaths, that's still 5 out of 13 characters of his that have died. Not cool, Hollywood. Not cool.
I guess I should make a small admission of truth here. Matt Bomer's biggest role is that of Neal Caffrey on White Collar. As this is a USA show and he is one of the main characters, I doubt he'll fall victim to Hollywood's scythe in this role. However, I never got into into White Collar. I loved the pilot, but the next few episodes lost me, and I didn't keep up with the show.
Even so, please stop the madness. I have to ask you, Hollywood: Could you please stop killing Matt Bomer's characters? I'd be ever so grateful.
Signed,
A Matt Bomer fan
Dear Hollywood and Other Entertainment Industries,
In July, Pajiba put together a death reel for Sean Bean's characters, proving they die quite often. There's another actor who seems to suffer from this syndrome. His death count can't compete with Sean Bean's, but it's too high for my taste. This fellow frequent death sufferer is Matt Bomer.
(Fun fact: Matt Bomer and Sean Bean both appear in Flightplan, but neither actually die in the movie.)
This realization came from my watching the trailer for the upcoming movie In Time. I was excited to see Matt Bomer included in the cast, but just over a minute into the trailer, he dies. Seriously? This was a disappointment but, sadly, one with which I'm familiar.
I first saw Matt Bomer, then credited as Matthew Bomer, in the wonderfully cheesy Tru Calling, a show in which the dead are often saved from death. His character Luc (yes, these spellings are correct) was an absolutely adorable romantic interest. When it first aired, I watched Tru Calling from time to time, but I never managed to see the first season finale. The promo toted that someone would die without coming back, but it wasn't until years later, upon receiving the DVD set, that I realized who this unfortunate character was. Any guesses? That's right; it was Matt Bomer's Luc. The series only ran for another six episodes, but those were six episodes in which he was sorely missed.
As I often do with attractive actors (don't judge me), I looked up Matt Bomer's IMDB page to find out what else he was in. I decided upon watching Chuck. I'd heard some positive buzz about the show, so it seemed like a good choice. All was going well until his character died in the opening scene. Again, I repeat, seriously? I couldn't even get a full episode's worth of Matt Bomer. I think he had some flashbacks throughout the course of Chuck, but that just wasn't enough. Despite my disappointment, I tried watching Chuck for several episodes, but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it just wasn't my kind of show, but perhaps my disappointment clouded my judgment of the show.
Now, I haven't seen more than five minutes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, but according to its Wikipedia page, Matt Bomer dies in that as well. I don't watch Guiding Light, but Soap Central reveals that his character commits suicide. I can't vouch for any of the other works that he's appeared in, but even if those are his only character deaths, that's still 5 out of 13 characters of his that have died. Not cool, Hollywood. Not cool.
I guess I should make a small admission of truth here. Matt Bomer's biggest role is that of Neal Caffrey on White Collar. As this is a USA show and he is one of the main characters, I doubt he'll fall victim to Hollywood's scythe in this role. However, I never got into into White Collar. I loved the pilot, but the next few episodes lost me, and I didn't keep up with the show.
Even so, please stop the madness. I have to ask you, Hollywood: Could you please stop killing Matt Bomer's characters? I'd be ever so grateful.
Signed,
A Matt Bomer fan
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Cream of the Crop: Raising Hope
With each new television season, there's a giant new crop of television shows. Some of them are rotten, others are just okay, but a few shine as the cream of the crop. In this series of posts, I'm going to share with you the three new shows from the last year that I've watched and enjoyed.
Well, it's time for the last installment of Cream of the Crop, for this year at least. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed this series, and maybe even decided to start watching one of my selections. I apologize that this last installment is a little late. I was hoping to have this series done before the new television season began, but that just didn't happen.
For my last but certainly not least pick of the year, I've chosen the FOX comedy Raising Hope. Last year, Raising Hope aired right after Glee (this year it's Glee, New Girl, then Raising Hope), so I caught a few minutes of it here and there. I decided to check it out on Hulu, and I found myself watching all of the available episodes in one sitting.
Would you like a synopsis of the show? It's about raising Hope. Ba dum ch. I'm just kidding; I can go into a little more detail than that. The show centers around the Chance family: Jimmy, his parents, and his grandmother. Jimmy has a one night stand with a girl, only to realize the next morning that she's a serial killer. She ends up getting pregnant and has Jimmy's baby before being electrocuted. Jimmy decides to raise the baby with the help of his family. He also has a crush on his friend Sabrina. Now, all that I just told you is about to become irrelevant because it's much more entertainingly summed up in this song from Raising Hope's second season premiere (found via Entertainment Weekly).
Raising Hope works for several reasons. One of the reasons is that it doesn't look down on its characters. Sure, it sometimes mocks their blue-collar craziness, but it treats them as real characters rather than one-dimensional stereotypes. Secondly, it has heart. I know that's one of the oldest cliches that can be said about a story, but it's really true in this case. The Chase family may bicker, but at the end of the day, they're a family that cares about each other. The show often veers into dark comedy (Hope's mother is electrocuted while Hope and Jimmy watch), but it has really sweet moments. Thirdly, the twins that play Hope are among the cutest and most expressive babies on television right now.
While the characters may not be the brightest people in the world, Raising Hope is surprisingly pretty clever. It occasionally uses easy jokes (there was a vomit gag early on that really grossed me out), but many of its jokes are witty and current. On the second season premiere, there was a storyline that reminded me of a plot I'd seen on Happy Endings, another one of my Cream of the Crop picks. Not only did Raising Hope subvert the plot, but they even referenced the episode of Happy Endings (and subtly, not even by name).
Raising Hope is a surprisingly funny, sweet comedy that is well worth checking out. You might be surprised at how enjoyable it is. You can watch season two of Raising Hope Tuesdays on FOX at 9:30/8:30c. If you want to check out its first season, it's currently streaming on Netflix.
What are your thoughts about Raising Hope? Do you think it's worthy of the "Cream of the Crop" title? Are there any shows that I missed that you would have chosen as part of the "Cream of the Crop?" As always, I'd love for you to share your thoughts below.
Well, it's time for the last installment of Cream of the Crop, for this year at least. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed this series, and maybe even decided to start watching one of my selections. I apologize that this last installment is a little late. I was hoping to have this series done before the new television season began, but that just didn't happen.
For my last but certainly not least pick of the year, I've chosen the FOX comedy Raising Hope. Last year, Raising Hope aired right after Glee (this year it's Glee, New Girl, then Raising Hope), so I caught a few minutes of it here and there. I decided to check it out on Hulu, and I found myself watching all of the available episodes in one sitting.
Would you like a synopsis of the show? It's about raising Hope. Ba dum ch. I'm just kidding; I can go into a little more detail than that. The show centers around the Chance family: Jimmy, his parents, and his grandmother. Jimmy has a one night stand with a girl, only to realize the next morning that she's a serial killer. She ends up getting pregnant and has Jimmy's baby before being electrocuted. Jimmy decides to raise the baby with the help of his family. He also has a crush on his friend Sabrina. Now, all that I just told you is about to become irrelevant because it's much more entertainingly summed up in this song from Raising Hope's second season premiere (found via Entertainment Weekly).
Raising Hope works for several reasons. One of the reasons is that it doesn't look down on its characters. Sure, it sometimes mocks their blue-collar craziness, but it treats them as real characters rather than one-dimensional stereotypes. Secondly, it has heart. I know that's one of the oldest cliches that can be said about a story, but it's really true in this case. The Chase family may bicker, but at the end of the day, they're a family that cares about each other. The show often veers into dark comedy (Hope's mother is electrocuted while Hope and Jimmy watch), but it has really sweet moments. Thirdly, the twins that play Hope are among the cutest and most expressive babies on television right now.
While the characters may not be the brightest people in the world, Raising Hope is surprisingly pretty clever. It occasionally uses easy jokes (there was a vomit gag early on that really grossed me out), but many of its jokes are witty and current. On the second season premiere, there was a storyline that reminded me of a plot I'd seen on Happy Endings, another one of my Cream of the Crop picks. Not only did Raising Hope subvert the plot, but they even referenced the episode of Happy Endings (and subtly, not even by name).
Raising Hope is a surprisingly funny, sweet comedy that is well worth checking out. You might be surprised at how enjoyable it is. You can watch season two of Raising Hope Tuesdays on FOX at 9:30/8:30c. If you want to check out its first season, it's currently streaming on Netflix.
What are your thoughts about Raising Hope? Do you think it's worthy of the "Cream of the Crop" title? Are there any shows that I missed that you would have chosen as part of the "Cream of the Crop?" As always, I'd love for you to share your thoughts below.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Link Roundup: Volume 8
Vulture's article "Six Ways Glee Can Turn Things Around in Season Three" is spot on and addresses many of my major issues with Glee.
Spoiler alert for How Met Your Mother fans! The slutty pumpkin has been cast.
Speaking of How I Met Your Mother, Big Brother 8's Jen Johnson made a "jenius" cameo on the seventh season opener. You can see her in the fourth picture in this set of photos from EW.
TV.com's list of "Community's Five Best "Tricks" From Season 2" is an interesting read for Community fans.
This parody of Zooey Deschanel isn't new, but with the premiere of New Girl, it seems relevant.
Really, the CW? Really? I mean, really? I was hoping that this was going to be an article from the Onion.
Spoiler alert for How Met Your Mother fans! The slutty pumpkin has been cast.
Speaking of How I Met Your Mother, Big Brother 8's Jen Johnson made a "jenius" cameo on the seventh season opener. You can see her in the fourth picture in this set of photos from EW.
TV.com's list of "Community's Five Best "Tricks" From Season 2" is an interesting read for Community fans.
This parody of Zooey Deschanel isn't new, but with the premiere of New Girl, it seems relevant.
Really, the CW? Really? I mean, really? I was hoping that this was going to be an article from the Onion.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
New Fall Pilots You Can Watch Right Now
It's getting to be that time of the year when the new fall television shows are premiering. I believe that Ringer kicked off the premiere of the pilots last night (which I've yet to see any of other than its much-ridiculed boat scene but sadly haven't heard great things about). Tonight, the CW is premiering H8R (yes, that's actually the show's title). On Thursday, NBC is airing the pilots of Up All Night and Free Agents, and the CW is airing the pilot of The Secret Circle.
While Ringer may have been the only pilot to air so far, there are a few other pilots you can check out now.
As I mentioned in my last post, New Girl is currently available on Comcast ON Demand. I've since learned that it's also available as a free download on iTunes. I wasn't extremely impressed with New Girl, but I think it might have some potential. For a more detailed description of my thoughts on the pilot, you can check out my post specifically about New Girl.
Also on iTunes, you can download the pilot of CW's new show The Secret Circle. I haven't watched this pilot, so I can't give you much of a recommendation as to whether you should watch it or not.
Finally, the pilot for ABC's soapy drama Revenge is currently available online. If you download a free script for the show off Amazon's Kindle store, you'll find a link to pilot. I'd wholeheartedly recommend this pilot. It's definitely soapy, but it's much less cheesy than I thought it would be. It was really enjoyable, especially for a pilot. Revenge is a fun, vengeancey show, and I'm excited to see where they're going with it.
Have you seen any of the pilots of the fall season yet? Are you planning on watching any of this weeks' premieres? Do you know of any other available pilots? As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
Edited to add: I've just come across another new pilot that's available online: Showtime's Homeland. I haven't heard much about it, to be honest, but I thought I'd share the link for anyone who's interested. You can check it out on Vulture.
Edited to add: I've just come across another new pilot that's available online: Showtime's Homeland. I haven't heard much about it, to be honest, but I thought I'd share the link for anyone who's interested. You can check it out on Vulture.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
New Girl: My Thoughts on the Pilot
As I was browsing through the Comcast ON Demand offerings, I saw Fox’s upcoming comedy New Girl listed. I figured it was just a short featurette, but to my surprise, they had the complete pilot available. Intrigued, I decided to give it a shot.
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| Credit: FOX |
Before I get too far into this review, I have to make a disclaimer; I went into New Girl with negative expectations. I was somewhat curious about it, but I didn’t like the previews. My biggest issue with New Girl’s pilot is something that had already bothered me in the trailer: I found Zooey Deschanel’s character to be annoying. I’ve enjoyed Zooey in other movies like Elf and 500 Days of Summer, but I thought her performance in New Girl was too over-the-top in its quirkiness. It’s not just Zooey’s fault; the script practically begs viewers to see her character, Jessica, as adorably quirky because she sings a lot and wears glasses. There were a few brief moments where I bought into her character and thought her to be funny. It’s possible that these brief moments could be glimmers of improvement in the future. However, I currently find the character annoying for the most part. I could see some viewers finding her endearing, and I think most people’s opinions about New Girl are going to depend on if Zooey’s character and performance works for them.
I enjoyed her male counterparts a bit more. They form a fun little group and were well cast. However, I was a little disappointed at how one-dimensional the male characters are. Damon Wayans Jr.’s aptly named character, Coach, is portrayed simply as the tough, sometimes insensitive coach, and Max Greenfield’s Schmidt is the girl-obsessed toolish guy. Jake Johnson’s character, Nick, is the closest to having more than one dimension, but he’s still just the guy who’s not over his girlfriend. To be fair, it’s hard to develop characters in a short thirty minute pilot, and I feel like this flaw will be quickly overcome. The three actors have a nice chemistry together. Unfortunately for New Girl, that chemistry is going to be disrupted. Damon Wayans Jr. is currently working on the second season of Happy Endings, so his character has been written off after the pilot. I’m curious how the replacement of his character will affect the group dynamic.
Plotwise, I wasn’t really impressed with New Girl’s pilot. If you’ve seen the show’s trailer, you’ve seen the whole plot of the first episode. There’s just not that much to it, and it’s far from original. Again, this is somewhat forgivable because this was a pilot. Pilots often have scanty plots because they have the difficult task of setting up a series. I did really enjoy the series’ premise. The idea of three guys adjusting to living with a girl may not be an out-of-the-box idea, but it's a fun one. There's a lot of interesting ground that the show could cover.
New Girl's pilot definitely had that pilot feel to it. I see this as both a bad and a good thing. It’s a bad characteristic because it gave it an raw and slightly unfinished mood. As an episode, this pilot just didn’t work that well for me. The writing wasn’t particularly unique or witty, and the main character annoyed me. As a pilot setting up a show, however, it did a decent job. This pilot feel could be a good thing because it gives some hope that New Girl will improve over time and just needs to find its footing. Plenty of great shows have had mediocre pilots. Plus, there were a couple of moments that I enjoyed, and the premise has a lot of promise. I think New Girl will instantly charm a lot of people. It has that hipstery, Zooey Deschanel vibe going for it, and some people will be drawn to that. Personally, however, pilot just didn’t work for me, I’m probably not going to seek out future episodes unless I hear that it’s improved, but I might stop and watch another episode if I found it while flipping through channels.
If you’re interested in checking out New Girl, you can watch it on Comcast ON Demand like I did, or you can watch it Tuesdays on FOX at 9/8c starting September 20.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on New Girl in the comments. Do you plan on watching pilot? If you've seen the pilot, what did you think? Do you think you'll watch regularly?
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