24 May 2010, early morning
I suspect the series finale might be a bit contentious. Certainly season 6 was much weaker than those that proceeded it. Still, I have to say i’m in the, “Oh hells yes,” camp when it comes to the show and that finale. The last couple shots were great. Every time a character remembered their actual life you were reminded once again of how awesome the show was. The finale makes you want to watch the show all over again. It’s strange to read my thoughts on the show back in 2005, a little while after it had started. (And season 2, 3, 4, and 5.) Lost is certainly one of the best shows ever made.
[11] Television
19 May 2010, terribly early in the morning
I finished watching The Corner yesterday. The mini-series is about a drug addled street corner of Baltimore. The series was based on a book written by The Wire creator David Simon, and his colleague Ed Burns. The series was directed by Charles S. Dutton. Each episode begins and ends with Dutton interviewing a cast member, as if the series was a documentary, but the episodes themselves proceed like your typical drama. The show features 3 key protagonists: Gary, a father; Fran, his ex-wife; and DeAndre, their son; the parents are both heroin addicts. If you’ve seen The Wire, you will recognize much of the supporting cast of The Corner. It’s a little bit strange, as the drug addicts in The Corner end up playing respectable citizens in The Wire. Like The Wire, the writing for The Corner is top notch, as is the acting. I liked the way it was filmed. It’s a well put together show.
The Corner’s main theme, to me anyway, seems to be about the disintegration of the Black community (in Baltimore). Dutton examines how family ties are broken and warped, how the community no longer care for one another, how they are quick to turn on each other, etc. The Corner is an amazing look at the destruction wrought on Baltimore and cities like it by drugs, in more or less one generation. Throughout the series he uses incredibly short flash backs to hint at a more idyllic time, or to give the viewer insight into how a character’s fall may have come about. Like The Wire, the corner also can be seen as a critique of institutions. In this case, the “corner” and the destructive life of drugs and gangs that it represents is something the characters can not escape. Throughout the series characters make moves to try and remove themselves from their current circumstances, but more often than not those very same circumstances are what pull them back to the corner.
If you are a fan of The Wire, it’s well worth watching The Corner.
Television
24 March 2010, terribly early in the morning
We used to make shit in the country. Build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guys pocket. — Frank Sobotka
Apparently the second season of the Wire is the least popular of the lot. It’s definitely a big change of pace from the first season. All the gansters you’ve come to know and love are in the background for the most part, while the focus shifts to the plight of the blue collar American. The themes of the show seem to be very much the same. Good people are forced into bad situations. Everything is just out of reach. People in high places are usually dicks. I thought the second season was amazing. The writing is just as good as the first season, and it’s even more bleak. The four men playing the members of the Sobotka family all do an amazing job with their rolls. The second season is like a Greek tragedy.
[4] Television
14 July 2009, terribly early in the morning
Degrassi Jr. High and Degrassi High ended on an incredibly bleak note with the School’s Out TV Movie. The film came out in 1992, when I was in grade 6. I remember watching it then. Shima and I watched it again last night. We have been watching the entire series over the last couple weeks. It’s interesting to compare the earlier episodes of the show with the later ones. When the show began, it was pretty obvious only a couple of the kids were actual actors. By the end, it seems that even those kids who couldn’t act took lessons. This is good, because some of the storylines in School’s Out would have been painful to watch with Degrassi Jr. High era wooden acting. School’s Out takes place a year after Degrassi High ends. There are lots of characters from the series notably absent, and some characters appear in the background, but don’t really have lines. (In this respect, it isn’t unlike a very long episode of the TV show.) The film’s main plot follows a love triangle between Joey, Catlin, and Tessa. A subplot involves Wheel’s fixing up a car so he can drive off to Calgary. If you haven’t seen the film, I’ll leave things at that. The movie is bleak. Some of the last scenes in the film seem particularly dark. School’s Out was a really scorched earth way to end the show, especially since the series finale for Degrassi High was fairly up beat. If you haven’t seen the original Degrassi series you’re missing out. It’s some of the best television ever made. Seriously. Well, maybe anyways.
[1] Movies | Television
19 May 2009, early evening
Season 5 of Lost was phenomal. I know I say that after everyone season concludes. This season in particular was something else: it was all kinds of inspired. My god. Lost continues to be one of the best shows on television — and i’m talking in the history of TV. I can’t believe people can put out a show that damn good. Holy shit. And what an ending. What are they going to do next season?
[3] Television
29 April 2009, terribly early in the morning
I started watching Degrassi Jr. High with Shima yesterday. For each episode, I’d write a little twitter message about what we were watching and send it off. For the series premier:
Damn it Steph the boys are only voting for you because you skanked out. They don’t respect you. You sold out Voula for Joey!? #degrassi
The second episode is about Voula wanting to go to the school dance:
Oh Voula and your stereotypical vaguely ethnic immigrant father. He’s only strict because he loves you. You’re to young to do the dancing.
I’ve seen most if not all of Degrassi Jr. High several times now. Still, if you asked me about the specifics of this episode I’d be at a loss. The show was on so long ago, it’s hard to remember the details. Sometimes the Internet pisses me off. Stuff like this makes me happy:
@funkaoshi but it’s for the foster child
And it was!
Degrassi Jr. High is amazing. I had forgotten how well put together it was. Despite some bad acting and 80s cheesiness, it’s still very compelling and smart. Also, I love Catlin. (Who, surprisingly, has no lines 3 episodes in.)
[1] Television | Life
21 March 2009, early evening
Battlestar Galactia ended its run on such a high note. The second half of season 4 was absolutely inspired. The series finale was great — except for the very very very end. And even that, I think I can forgive. Battlestar Galactica is excellent television. You need to watch it already.
I have no idea what to do with my life now.
My cousin thinks I’m a BSG apologist. So there are definitely mixed feelings over the finale.
Update: If people want to discuss the series in the comments, go nuts. So to all of you who haven’t seen the show or the finale yet don’t go reading the comments.
[16] Television
7 February 2009, early afternoon
Battlestar Galactica is one of the best shows on TV. And anyone who doesn’t think so probably hasn’t sat and watched the show. Battllestar is finishing up this season. Clearly, the writers want to go out with a bang. 4 episodes in, and the show has gotten even more dark and depressing. God damn. My heart is beating a little faster.
[4] Television
15 September 2008, terribly early in the morning
I’ve watched a few episodes of Mad Men now. The show is great, which I’m sure anyone who has heard mention of the show is well aware of. The show is about the people working at a Madison Avenue ad agency during the 50s. Like the Sopranos, what’s it’s actually about is a fair bit deeper than that. The whole show has a very bleak and depressing feel to it. Characters seem to feel trapped in their circumstance. Again, this is very reminiscent of the Sopranos. I quite like the show, but I have no idea how it isn’t being shut down for being essentially one long cigarette commercial. There must be money from the tobacco industry funding Mad Men. If not, they need to start asking for some. It really is all I can do not to go buy a pack midway through an episode.
I also have the biggest crush on Miss Joan Holloway.
[9] Television
2 September 2008, early evening
I love Battlestar Galactica. My god it’s so good. Season 4 started off a bit slow, but really does build to a great climax. The (half) season ended faster than I thought they would, and looked to end on a very high note. And then you have that last shot, and you remember what show you’re watching: bleak is the name of the game.
Television
30 August 2008, mid-afternoon
Holy fucking shit. Update: Maybe I should have fleshed this post out a bit more. 3 more episodes to go and i’ll finish the first half of the 4th season of Battlestar Galactica. I have found season 4 thus far to be a bit slow, and not nearly as stressful as the prior seasons. There are a lot of interesting plot points, and the story is definitely still very good, but the sheer panic of the first few seasons is lost in the 4th. And then we get to this episode, episode 7, and you’re all, holy fucking shit.
Television
13 August 2008, late afternoon
I have to say that I had very few ‘oh my god what am I watching?’ moments as I made my way through Season 6 of Smallville. I’m not sure if my standards have sunk so low for the show, or if it actually was an interesting and entertaining season. I’m going to have to hope for the later, but I think i’m too close to the show to offer any informed opinion. There were a few standout episodes, but I don’t think they reached the highs of the earlier seasons. Lex continues to be the real star of the show in my eyes, and this season the writers seemed to have figured out how to set things up so he’s evil and yet sympathetic. There are a few unresolved plot points at the end of the season that could take his character in a couple directions. The whole Green Arrow subplot was enjoyable, although I suppose it was also cheesy at times. (I guess a show about teenage Superman is going to be cheesy no matter what you do.) The season finale was good, though not as totally insane as those of seasons past. Lots of death and destruction, but it wasn’t as over the top as Season 4 or 5, and not as intense as Season 2. (I liked how they introduced Bizarro Superman at the very end of the show, though.) The take away from all this is that Season 6 is a big step up from the last two seasons. Now I just need to wait for Season 7 to make it to DVD.
[6] Television
6 August 2008, early morning
I started watching Smallville Season 6 yesterday. I got through 4 episodes before calling it a day. Season 5 ended with a fair amount of craziness, but this craziness was resolved fairly quickly in the season premiere. The premiere sets up a lot of hopefully interesting subplots for the season. Episode 2 features Erica Durance jogging in a sports bra and short shorts, and Chloes also does some h8×0ring in Episode 3, so they definitely aren’t trying to break new ground in season 6. One of the best parts of the show was Lex’s internal conflict with himself. So far he hasn’t been as one dimensional as he was last season, but he certainly isn’t as interesting a character as he was before. His relationship with Clark is antagonistic now, which is also boring. Luckily there are a couple new characters that have been introduced to the cast that may make things interesting. I’ll have to wait and see how it goes. Till then I can count on Erica Durance to keep me going.
Television
3 June 2008, terribly early in the morning
Sick at home yesterday, I took some time to watch the season finale of Lost. I’d spend the next new paragraphs swearing, making gunshot noises, and otherwise causing a ruckus, but none of that really works over the internet. Suffice it to say, I really liked this season. I can’t wait for next season. It’ll be interesting to see how they do things now that – well, I guess I should stop right there.
[3] Television
26 February 2008, terribly early in the morning
The new Terminator show is great. If you liked the first two movies, I can’t imagine you not liking the new show. The show features a bunch of familiar faces: hot lady from 300 and Imagine Me and You, the Cheerleaders gay friend from Heroes, Summer from Firefly, and, most recently, Brian Austin Green from 90210. He shows up in episode 5. I thought to myself, “Damn, that dude totally looks like Brian Austin Green.” In fact, it was Brian Austin Green.
[1] Television
3 January 2008, mid-afternoon
Shima and I finished watching Heroes Volume 2 a few days back. Volume 2 consists of the first half of Season 2, episodes 1 through 11. I’m not sure if this was intended, or if the writers strike caused them to cut the story short. From speaking to my friends, I wasn’t expecting much from the season. Tyler’s comment when I wrote about season 1 was particularly damming:
the start of season 2 is so bad that it retroactively ruins season 1. it’s kinda like Weezer’s 2005 release Make Believe, it’s so bad that it makes you re-evaluate the quality of their previous albums.
Harsh. I’m not sure season 2 is as bad as Tyler thought it to be, but it certainly isn’t very good. For starters, pretty much every single new hero they introduced is really annoying. I really was hoping they’d all be dead by the end of the season; sadly, this wasn’t to be. The season as a whole doesn’t really get going till episode 6 or 7. That’s kind of dumb pacing on their part. With season 1 you knew what the heroes were all fighting to stop by the 2nd episode. More than that, season 1’s ending was really exciting. Season 2 just didn’t end with that sort of drama; it was a bit of a let down. I still like the show, and i’m hoping for the second half of the season (assuming the show comes back) they do more with it. I like Heroes.
[1] Television
3 December 2007, terribly early in the morning
It was my destiny to finish watching Heroes without Shima, so I spent most of the weekend finishing up the first season. When Shima and I watched the first episode a few weeks back we had no desire whatsoever to keep watching: the acting was bad, the dialog was bad, and the story went nowhere. Everyone else on the planet seemed obsessed with how awesome the show was, so Shima and I watched another episode: the second episode is much cooler and the ending is great. If the premier of the show was the first two episodes, then the pacing of the first episode would make a lot more sense. By the 4th or 5th episode the show starts to feel pretty solid. By then the actors all seem to have a good grasp of what their characters are about, so there are fewer awkward scenes to watch. The first season on the whole is very entertaining. By the last episode the overall story for the season is nicely resolved, with enough loose ends to start off the next season. (This is in contrast to a similar show like Lost, where the finales are exciting, but each season hasn’t resolved much of anything.) Heroes is good, contrary to what Mezan might tell you.
[7] Television
26 November 2007, terribly early in the morning
Shima and I watched the last two episodes of Firefly last night, and then stayed up a bit late to watch Serenity. I still can’t believe Fox canceled that show. (Well no, I can, but it still bugs me.) Firefly is so kick ass it’s such a shame it ends so abruptly. (That the last episode is particularly good is all the more painful.) Serenity does a reasonably good job of tying up some loose ends, but still leaves so many questions unanswered. I wish someone would give Josh Weadon a buck of money so he could make a couple more films. Or a mini-series. Anything really. There is so much good material in that show, and so many good characters, it’s a shame its all left untapped. Saffron? Early the Bounty Hunter? It’s such a classic show. If you haven’t seen Firefly you really need to.
Television | Movies
20 October 2007, lunch time
I just finished watching Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica. Man, I didn’t see that ending coming. Season 4 won’t start soon enough. Maybe one day whomever owns the rights to the show will put Season 3 out on DVD. For the time being it’s pretty easy to find on the Internet. Man I love this show.
Television
15 October 2007, mid-afternoon
Shima and I finished watching the first season of Ugly Betty last night. The show is actually quite entertaining. It’s a very over the top soap opera of sorts: most of the time its quite funny, with the occasional poignant moment thrown in for good measure. There is a long and convoluted story arc for the first season with tons of twists and turns: like any good soap the show features plenty of love triangles, murder, etc. This also makes it difficult to sum up the show in one line. I enjoyed Ugly Betty much more than I thought I would. The characters on the show are all really good, which is what makes it work. (I think I like Amanda the most. She’s hot which is a plus, and she has a cool accent.) The season ends with what feels like a million different cliff hangers. I can’t wait to start Season 2.
(The show originated in Colombia. It was brought to the US market by Salma Hayek and some other dudes.)
[2] Television
1 October 2007, terribly early in the morning
I just finished watching Intelligence Season 1. The show really is kick-ass. I can see why Rishi was going on about it so much last year. If you can track down a copy on the Internet you really should. It’s full of intrigue and murder and double-crossing and all sorts of good stuff. I can’t wait to start watching Season 2.
I watched the last half of the last episode on the ride in to work. Watching television on the iPhone works well enough, but i’m not sure it’s something i’d do normally. Getting stuff onto the phone involves converting it to an iPod friendly format. In my case, I used iSquint to do this, and it worked quite well. The only issue is the time it takes to convert from DivX to h.264. The iPhone tracks where you are in the various videos you are watching (it does this for podcasts too) so you can watch them piecemeal. I can’t imagine watching a video on the ride to work on a regular basis, but it’s a nice feature nevertheless.
Television | iPhone
21 September 2007, terribly early in the morning
Rishi would rave about CBC’s Intelligence to anyone who would listen. It’s pretty much the only show he watches: no Lost, no Prison Break, just Intelligence. (I know, I thought he was crazy too.) I finally started watching the show yesterday: it’s very good. There are basically two lead characters for the show: James Reardon who is a mob boss, and Mary Spalding who runs the organized crime unit. Intelligence is basically about the intersection of their two lives. The show looks at Canadian spy and law enforcement agencies, and the power struggles that take place between them and within them. It also looks at the issues Reardon has running his “business”, dealing with the law, and dealing with his rivals. A big part of the show is the interplay between the intelligence agencies and their informers. The entire cast is quite good, and you’ll recognize a few faces I’m sure. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Reardon’s ex-wife is hot (but crazy), and Cristina the Stripper is perhaps even hotter. (She has an accent: meow) So yeah, it’s a really good show.
[3] Television
11 September 2007, early evening
I love the Office. It’s so damn good. Shima and I blitzed through Season 3, watching everything over the course of 2 days. I’ve started watching the commentaries to get an Office fix. I’m hoping the writers can keep things up in Season 4. The way Season 3 ends really doesn’t leave them many options. It’s not as subtle as the British show, but it’s funny and poignant in its own right.
Television
18 July 2007, early morning
I finished watching Smallville Season 5 last night. I’ll probably buy Season 6 when it comes out on DVD. I have to admit that Season 5 is certainly a step up from Season 4, but on the whole, it was still pretty disappointing. You can put Erica Durance in a bikini, or you can put her in a shower, but that isn’t enough to carry a whole season. In the earlier seasons, Lex Luther was constantly conflicted about the choices he makes and the things he does. This conflict makes his character interesting, and warms the audience up to the character. By the 5th season this internal conflict is all gone, and with it one of the best things about the show. The relationship between Clark and Lex is purely antagonistic for most of the 4th and 5th season, which also removes one of the more interesting elements of the show. Lana and Clark get together and break up for what must be the billionth time, which is fast becoming a very tired plot point, and one the writers can’t seem to get over. I’ve already talking about how stupid Chloe’s character has become. Season 5 took me ages to get through. There was no real drive for me to finish it. I feel like I’m going through the motions with the show. Smallville used to be a really great show. I think the first three seasons were really solid television; at times it was melodramatic, but for the most part it was very enjoyable, and the plot and characters were interesting. I love the show so much I’m willing to put up with 2 seasons of mediocrity in the hopes they’ll turn things around in Season 6.
Television
17 July 2007, terribly early in the morning
Shima and I finished watching the first two seasons of the American version of the Office last night. I was skeptical at first about how good the show could be — the original is beyond excellent — but was pleasantly surprised to find it is actually a very entertaining show. The premise is exactly the same as the original version: the show is set in an office with a horrible, but well meaning, boss; there is a smart dorky witty sensitive guy in love with the receptionist, who happens to be engaged; it’s filmed the same way, as a sort of faux-documentary. That said, the supporting cast for the American show play a much larger role in the story, and there are a lot more side-stories than in the British version of the show. The plot of the American Office moves in the same general direction as the British Office, but is distinct enough to not feel like a rehash of things you have seen before.
After the first few episodes, one really feels that the American characters (Michael Scott, Jim, Pam, and Dwight) are in fact fairly distinct from their British counterparts (David Brent, Tim, Dawn, and Garret). The characters are essentially the same archetype, but they aren’t played the same way. There are moments when the dialog coming out of Carrel’s mouth matches something Gervais would say, but for the most part Carrel’s “boss” and Gervais’ “boss” are different. Dwight manages in someways to be even more ridiculous than Garret; they are both funny in their own ways. The people doing the American show were smart to not try and duplicate the British show verbatim. In addition to the original main cast of characters, the other characters on the show are great — in particular Angela, the uptight Christian accountant. I think she’s my favourite character on the show. (I’m also a big fan of the temp, and his bizarre relationship with Michael.)
The show was very funny, and just like the British version of the show it could be quite poignant and touching at times. The actors all do a really amazing job. Season 2 of the American Office ends with quite the cliff hanger, so I am dying for Season 3 to show up on DVD. The show is well worth watching. I’m not sure if I like the American Office more than the British version, but I like it quite a lot.
[My opinions on The Office: Series 2, and The Office Christmas Special. You need to watch the British version of this show if you haven’t; it’s amazing.]
[5] Television