New Movie Friday!

Gosh, it's been weeks since I've been to the theater. Work plus vacation and now catching up on all this TV has kept me away for way too long. I'm going to have to rectify that shortly. Anyway, this is a slow week at the beginning of a slow month so I should have time to catch up on all the relative goodness September had to offer.

"The Social Network" - Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake
David Fincher ("Se7en", "Fight Club") brings the story of Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg) and the monster he created (Facebook) to the big screen. The buzz for this movie has been mostly positive but I've seen a few reviews that lead me to believe it could fall short of its Oscar aspirations. I'm very interested to see what the audience response will be. Regardless, it's an engrossing story and it has very little competition so the top spot at the box office looks likely. Can't go wrong with Timberlake, either.

"Let Me In" - Chloe Moritz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Richard Jenkins
This remake of a Swedish horror flick ("Let the Right One In") that made a lot of top 10 lists a couple of years ago, "Let Me In" focuses on a young vampire (Moritz) whose connection with a mortal (Smit-McPhee) threatens to bring them both down. I'm not a horror movie fan but I've heard extremely good things about "Let the Right One In." It won't get me to a screening for this one but it has a strong pedigree nonetheless.

"Case 39" - Renee Zellweger, Bradley Cooper, Ian McShane
A social worker (Zelwegger) brings a young patient home after her parents are caught planning to murder her. Soon, however, she discovers that the intentions of the parents may have been the right call. This thing has been on a shelf somewhere for years and none of the parties involved seem real keen on helping to promote it. A limited release in Spain and Mexico, however, brought a reasonable amount of success so now we're getting a domestic release. Yippee. Seriously, though, Renee Zellweger is in my top 5 most unlikeable actors. I just don't get her appeal on any level.

"Freakonomics" (Limited)
A documentary about "incentive-based thinking" (whatever that means) based on the best selling book. I love documentaries but I'm not sure I even understand what this thing is about. Maybe I'll do some research and be more prepared to discuss this top- Oh look! A new episode of "Community"! I'm out.

DVR Guide - "Blue Bloods"

Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) is the chief of police in New York City. His daughter, Erin (Bridget Moynahan), is an assistant district attorney. His oldest son Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) is a seasoned detective who's not above violating some civil liberties in order to get the job down. Another Reagan son was recently killed in the line of duty, which prompted the youngest child, Jamie (Will Estes), to drop out of Harvard law and become a patrol cop. And then they all do...cop stuff.

The pilot for "Blue Bloods" is pretty formulaic and not the most exciting hour of television. Okay, in all honesty, I just saw a report that tagged "Blue Bloods" with the highest median average age (60.4 years) of any show on TV. So, yeah, you can imagine how slow this show can get. No need to disturb the geriatric demographic. But, for all its lack of movement, I was actually relatively impressed with the quality of the characters and the tone the show takes. While I expected the typical CBS schlock, instead "Blue Bloods" touches on a slightly grittier, edgy note that could potentially set it apart from the rest of that networks programming. It's not gritty enough to play on FX or anything like that but it's got enough sense to stay out of the painfully campy crap that plagues the average CBS show. And, hey, can you really go wrong with Tom Selleck? Selleck is one of those actors who transcends demographics. He's just too awesome. I'm a big fan of Wahlberg, too, and the Selleck-Wahlberg combination make up for the complete lack of talent that is Bridget Moynahan. We'll see where "Blue Bloods" goes in the future but for the time being, I guess I'll join the nursing home crowd for one hour a week.

Verdict: Week-to-Week

Move News Today

I may be the only one who's a little excited about "Men in Black 3," but regardless, Emma Thompson has joined the cast.

Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep together? Can we just give out a couple of Oscar nods right now and save ourselves some time?

Darren Aronofsky ("The Wrestler") seems hell bent on cashing in his Indie credit to nab one, two, even three comic book movies, having now begun discussions concerning "Preacher."

I'm not into the whole zombie apocalypse craze. I seem to have missed that Nerd Gene. But, I have plenty of nerdy friends who are. To those friends, please enjoy this zombie survival guide. Quite funny. 

Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire have been rumored as possible leads in a "Great Gatsby" adaptation. I'm torn because, while I feel DiCaprio can play just about anyone and while I count "Gatsby" as one of my all time favorite books, I think it might be unfilmable. There's a great chance this dies in pre-production and I'm not sure that wouldn't be a good thing. Just sayin'.

DVR Guide - "Running Wilde"

Steven Wilde (Will Arnett) is the screw up, do-nothing of his oil business family. He spends most of his days drinking, competing with his equally worthless neighbor in who can waste the most money, and occasionally giving himself humanitarian awards for work he has not done. Think Billy Madison with a little more wit. His one weak spot is Emmy (Keri Russell), an environmental activist who grew up in the Wilde household as the house keepers daughter. When Emmy shows up to the fake humanitarian presentation to appeal to Steven's conscience, her daughter Puddle (Stefania Owen), seizes the opportunity to get out of the Amazon and into a normal childhood. Before long Emmy and Puddle are living on the Wilde estate where shenanigans take place.

"Wilde" is the brainchild of Mitch Hurwitz, the genius behind best-TV-show-ever "Arrested Development." Reuniting Arnett and Hurwitz is a dream come true and provides a precursor for the upcoming (please, oh please, let it actually happen) "Arrested Development" movie. This certainly isn't up to the quality of "AD" (because nothing is) but after a rocky start, the pilot episode more than holds its own. Arnett plays the man-child quite well, crossing Gob Bluth (again, "AD") with his take on Will Ferrell, and the dynamic between he and Russell has potential. "Wilde" isn't as quick witted as some of the better comedies on television these days but there's enough of it to balance out the slapstick ridiculousness, creating a pleasant combination. My only complaint is the off screen narration, done through the perspective of Puddle. Part of what made "AD" so great was the BRILLIANT narration by Ron Howard. When "Wilde" opens with a similar style of narration, (keeping in mind the people involved) I was primed for an "AD"-like revamp and really the two shows are very dissimilar. It took me a few minutes to adjust my expectations to what was actually happening on screen and I wonder if my fellow "AD" loyalists tuned out early on. Regardless, "Wilde" is very funny and has me on the hook until Fox inevitably kills it off.

Verdict: Season Pass

DVR Guide - "Outsourced"

When Todd Dempsey (Ben Rappaport) returns to his Kansas City office after a manager training seminar, he discovers that the entire work force has been outsourced to India. In order to keep his career on path, Todd has to head to India to manage a new office full of locals who have no understanding of the novelty crap they are now selling. "Jokes" take place.

Before I completely blast this disaster of a sitcom, I feel compelled to say one thing. "Outsourced" had already earned a strike or two in my book before it even premiered. At some point last year, the focus of my excitement for NBC's Thursday night lineup shifted from "The Office" and "30 Rock" to "Community" and "Parks and Recreation." By the end of the year "Parks" was, in my book, the second funniest show on TV behind only "Modern Family." Coming into the Fall season, "Parks" is slated as a midseason replacement. So it stands to reason that the sooner "Outsourced" hits the bricks, the sooner we can get back the good people of Pawnee, Indiana.

With that said, if the likely replacement for "Outsourced" was a small screen adaptation "Bride Wars," I might become a Kate Hudson fan for the occasion. Nothing is worse than a comedy that fails to make you laugh. Heck, forget laughing. I smirked ONCE during the 22 minute runtime and even that was forced on my part. This is easily the worst new show on network television and one of the most unfunny sitcoms I've ever sat through. Every joke is based on cultural misunderstandings and lowest-common-denominator stereotypes that border on offensive and routinely cross into groan inducing, painful territory. Here's hoping NBC has a little Fox mentality in there somewhere and a cancellation notice is on the way soon.

Verdict: Two Week Special

Movie News Today

Movie Muse provides us with an archive review of a documentary called "Jesus Camp" that I watched a couple of years ago. An interesting read and a well balanced critique.

I haven't had a chance to go to the movies recently. Sad, considering there's actually a couple I want to see. So until I do, please enjoy Insight Into Entertainment's coverage of "The Town."

I really don't want to report this next story but it is my job. But I don't have to enjoy it. "Star Wars" is headed for 3-D in 2012.

Jared Harris is the choice for Moriarty in the upcoming "Sherlock Holmes 2." Not a sexy choice by any means but a good one. His work on "Fringe" proved the ability to play a cerebral villain, a vital skill when going up against RDJ's Holmes.

Empire delivers the 33 greatest movie trilogies of all time. Don't let the first entry fool you, this is a pretty solid list.

In "Duh, But Finally" news, Chris Nolan has confirmed that "Batman 3" is a go. 'Nuff said.

Finally, Paramount has released a teaser trailer of sorts for the Cohen Brothers' "True Grit." Great trailer, big expectations for the film as a whole.

DVR Guide: "Detroit 1-8-7"

I know, I know, I'm a little late to the party. My vacation happened to coincide with both the beginning of the Fall TV season and my beloved Texas Rangers clinching their first playoff berth in 11 years. So I'm behind. But I'm committed to this thing, yo, so here goes.

"Detroit 1-8-7" follows a squad of homicide detectives in the rough and tumble city of Columbus. No, sorry, Detroit of course. Detective Louis Fitch (Michael Imperioli) is the top dog, a guarded, edgy cop with his own way of doing everything. Pretty much everyone else in the "Detroit" cast takes on the roll of backup singer to Imperioli's soloist (at least in the pilot). It's a fairly generic set of characters including the rookie cop, the veteran on the verge of reitrement, the pretty boy trying to make a name for himself, etc. "Detroit" is a cross between "NYPD Blue" and the NBC-turned-TNT drama "Southland." Originally intended to be a single camera, mockumentary-type show, "Detroit" had to change its direction (and reshot some of the pilot) when a child was actually killed during the filming of a real life cop show that happened to take place in Detroit. As a result, the first episode is part "real life action" complete with bouncing camera and bleeped curses, part standard cop show.

I actually quite enjoyed the pilot. Imperioli is a great actor, an intimidating presence on the screen no matter what role he plays, and this is right up his alley Fitch is a strong lead, the classic hard-edged loner with unorthodox methods that seem to work no matter what. The rest of the cast is completely unrefined but the characters have room for growth in future episodes. There is, without question, a certain amount of cliche to "Detroit" that could end up ruining the show. Cop shows are a dime a dozen and every new season brings a few new guests to the table and it's a bit difficult to be completely original. The show's concept and main character, though, are good enough to bring me back a few more times.

Verdict: Week-to-Week

DVR Guide - "Glee"

In case you’ve just escaped from a Cold War era bomb shelter and haven’t been caught up in the madness that is “Glee,” I offer a very brief synopsis of Season 1. It’s about a glee club at an Ohio high school where no one cares about glee club except for the glee club’s sponsor, Will Schuster (). Each week, the group fights against the perils of high school, including bullies, intolerance, a rival glee club, and a teacher who wants them gone (Jane Lynch). Every week they almost fall apart and every week they sing and everything gets better.

This is BY FAR the worst show that I enjoy on a weekly basis. For one thing, it is an insanely depressing program. Once in a while “Glee” throws out a positive, emotional, enlightening episode but the vast majority of them are super negative. Nothing good ever happens except the big musical numbers that seem to unite the school for about 12 minutes. I went to a very tough, difficult high school and even I find “Glee” to be extremely heavy handed and generic. In addition to all of that, the storylines are cliché, boring, and reused. Sure, some funny stuff happens along the way but essentially every episode revolves around a threat to shut the club down if they don’t win the next competition or finds the group on the brink of a breakup. Plot wise, it’s one of the worst written shows on TV, which is odd because the dialogue usually ranges from above average to quite good. The writers just have no idea how to write for story.

Every episode begins with me thinking to myself, “This is the last time I watch this thing” and ends with me thinking, “Man do I like classic rock.” Seriously, I blame my viewing of “Glee” on the power of Journey and the other bands the glee club covers. With that said, Season 2 opened strong with a funny mockumentary-style open and provided the usual musical numbers that seem to work no matter what. Still, however, at some point the downright genius one liners and exciting song choices are going to be swallowed up by the rest of the junk that comes along as part of the package. I can already tell that I’m going to grow tired of at least one of the new characters and many of the others are becoming one-dimensional, so well defined as to become caricatures of themselves. If “Glee” could promise me refined plot points along with my Queen cover songs, then I could get invested with more certainty. As it is, however, I fear I’m always going to be riding the fence until I finally give up for good.

Verdict: Week-to-Week

New DVD Tuesday!

Iron Man 2 (2010): Robert Downey, Jr., Gwenyth Paltrow, Don Cheadle
The sequel to 2008's "Iron Man" has been even more successful at the box office, if not from a critical standpoint. This installment finds Tony Stark/Iron Man (Downey) up against a sadistic Russian (Mickey Rourke) out for blood and revenge, a rival weapons developer who wants him out of business (Sam Rockwell), and an illness that is quickly draining his life away. While "IM2" is not quite as strong as the first movie (which could be the second best superhero movie ever), I still liked it an awful lot and very much enjoyed the near-campy dialogue. Also, there are no less than four versions of this movie available for purchase. So it's got that going for it.

Get Him to the Greek (2010): Jonah Hill, Russell Brand
A lowly record label employee (Hill) must get a hard partying rocker (Brand) to Los Angeles in time for a big concert. Two things will probably keep me away from this one altogether (or at least until I'm very bored). 1.) Hill is just like Jack Black: he's good, even great at times, as a supporting actor. He borders on unwatchable in the lead. 2.) I don't get the Russell Brand love fest. This guy is absolutely taking off and I would like to know why. He just isn't funny. I mean, maybe in that "he had five lines in the whole movie and two of them were funny" kind of way but nothing more. If he didn't have a British accent he'd be working on one of the low-rent movie lot rides that I'm currently enjoying on my Disney World vacation. Anyway, I'm not running out to get this one tomorrow.

Scrubs - Season 9 (2009): Donald Faison, John C. McGinley
The final season for the doctors and interns of Sacred Heart. I was a huge, huge, HUGE fan of "Scrubs" for about the first five and a half seasons. At one time, there was no show on TV that could make me laugh out loud in one minute and then bring me to the verge of tears in the next like "Scrubs" could. However, when NBC and the show's creators started wavering back and forth on whether or not they were going to continue to run "Scrubs" or let it have the respectful death it deserved, the show lost its way. I haven't seen Season 8 or 9 which is unfortunate given how much I loved the show once upon a time.

DVR Guide - "Lone Star"

Bob Allen (James Wolk) has a girlfriend he truly loves in Midland. He also happens to have a wife he truly loves in Houston. He also happens to have a father he truly loves who has pushed him into a life of a con man. The three worlds all begin to collide as he nears the biggest take of his life and his wife's family begin to become suspicious of his motives.

I'm a big fan of the con. My love affair with this often attempted, rarely mastered plot line started with "The Sting" and was rekindled with the "Ocean's" movies. If you tell me a movie or show is about a grifter, you can literally see my ears perk up. I just love the con. Add in a Texas setting and I'm definitely in. "Lone Star" is one of those "good enough to keep watching, not good enough to get excited about" shows that take over my DVR year in and year out. The plot, while far from original, moves fast enough to keep me from focusing on the cliche. It tries to trip itself up from time to time with unnecessary melodrama but the pilot was good enough to bring me back again. I'll say three more things about "Lone Star"; two good, one bad.

1. James Wolk does an excellent job of charming both his surrounding characters and the audience while at the same time allowing some space for Allen to become a sympathetic figure. In short, he's extremely likable which is an absolute must for a con man.

2. Jon Voight, who plays Allen's father-in-law, is bordering on becoming completely useless. Everything he does these days is just one giant living and breathing cliche after another. He's a caricature of what he used to be and he needs to give it up.

3. I want to commend the makers of "Lone Star" for (so far) excelling in the music department. I was quite confident, that, seeing as this is a Texas-based program, the pilot would be filled with mindless pop-country or jug blowin' porch band music. (After all, ridin' horses, beatin' women, and playin' country is all we Texans do, isn't it?) Instead, the soundtrack for the pilot sounded more like something out of an episode of "Scrubs" when "Scrubs" actually care about putting a quality program on the screen. Kudos for the decision to skip the Nashville drivel in favor of a catchy, folk-pop sound.

Verdict: Week-to-Week