Completely Random Movie Review: No Country for Old Men

Back and in the flesh after a 2 month hiatus, aren't you excited?!

Yea, I know no one is (haha...?) but i haven't had access to a computer for those 2 months, (which I'll be referring to from here on out as 'The Dark Time') so i haven't been able to post any of my unique brand of rambling reviews.

This little diddy is going to be on a newer movie, still out in theatres, the new Cohen Brothers flick 'No Country for Old Men'. Now this is a lot unlike any other Cohen movie I've ever seen, and seeing how they wrote, directed, and produced what might just be my favorite movie of all-time (The Big Lebowski), I will trust the Cohen's to dazzle me every time they put pen to paper or eyes to a camera, and No Country was no exception.

It was violent, dark, everything Cohen Brothers movies usually aren't, and featured a merciless and entirely creepy killer by the name of Anton, played by the fantastic Javier Bardem, who, I learned afterwards, is apparently a star in the international market, and deservedly so.

The whole movie just had this air about it that stood out, from the shots, to the dialogue, to the characters, it was all just, in a word, awesome. I found it was written in an odd way, where none of the major points that would be traditionally shown in a plot were actually shown. The death of a main character was seen afterwards, not when it actually occured, and another death we were entirely unsure of at the end. The major plot driver (Millions in drug money) was never really addressed in the end either, and was left somewhat in the air.

Normally, I would hate ambiguous things like this, but for some reason, maybe the Cohens, maybe Javier Bardem, I don't know, it worked very, very well in my mind. And when the ending came, it was at a point where part of me expected and hoped the credits would roll, but thought the movie could easily go another 15-20 mins.

I would recommend this movie to anyone that loves great acting, great dialogue and great shots, but I can also easily see why No Country could turn people off.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing it again, as there are little things that I'm sure I didn't pick up along the way, but that's generally true for any great movie, to be able to pick everything up it takes at least 2 runs through and maybe more.

Javier Bardem is going to be, and should be, breaking into the North American scene more now, and is actually getting Oscar buzz for his portrayal of Anton, which is surely justified, as a creepier killer doesn't easily come to mind.

Tommy Lee Jones was at the perfect time in his career for this role as well, the aging cowboy that just doesn't understand the world anymore, and Josh Brolin was fantastic as the man who randomly runs across the money and then lays his life, and the life of his wife, on the line to save it as if it was his child.

To sum everything up, No Country for Old Men was one of the better movies I've seen in 2007, and I would recommend it to anyone visiting a cineplex in the next few weeks.

Until next time (Hopefully not 2 months) this is your random, rambling reviewer, Red Star, signing off...

Completely Random Movie Review: Kung Fu Hustle

Wow this completely random thing is growing pretty quickly...

I was intrigued when this movie first came out, mostly because it looked like nothing else I had ever really seen. I do love anything that's unique, so I had wanted to see it for a while, but never actually got around to it, until a few days ago, and man, wow, am I glad I did.

It was AMAZING, so off the wall funny, weird, with some great kung-fu thrown in to boot. The story and dialogue and everything was just so perfectly cheesy and strange, I couldn't take my eyes away.

Steven Chow is a seriously groundbreaking director, and I would recommend this to anyone that loves kung-fu and quirky humour, which I sincerely hope is many of you, because if not, I recommend going to the doctor, and I mean right now, because something is wrong there...

Completely Random Book Review: The Hobbit

This may turn into a new section here at the Review, where I recap something I read, saw, heard about, etc, that essentially has very little to do with what I normally write about here, i.e., television.

I just finished reading, for the first time actually, The Hobbit, by Tolkien, and I must say, it was an immensely, and surprisingly, entertaining read. Now generally, I'm not much for wizards, and magic, and goblins and such, but it is my lady friend's favorite book. And she had just come off of reading one of my all-time favorites, Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut (If you want a great, quirky read, I can't recommend anything better) So I felt as if I owed her one and grudgingly picked up the tale of the wizard and the goblins and the magic...and I loved it.

Tolkien has such an amazing style, like he's telling you the story personally, and the way he brought everything to life was just amazing. It was like you could tell that he took a very long time to perfect this little world he had created, and knew everything about it so perfectly, and relayed it in such a way that you felt as if it were real.

As I said, I've never been one for this type of fiction, and I never even watched the 2nd and 3rd Lord of the Rings movies, because, it just didn't do it for me. But now, I'll be cracking into the Fellowship of the Ring before I can even snap my fingers, because Tolkien just drew me right in, and I really can't say I'm sad about that...

Prison Break Season Three Preview

Prison Break wasn’t supposed to be here, and we all know it. It was supposed to be a one-off, one season gimmick show…but then it blew up. People started watching, ratings and ad buys went up, and Wentworth Miller was known as ‘Pretty’ to many more people than just T-Bag.

So, we got a 2^nd season that was radically different from the first, that seemed to come in a lot of main chunks of stories, with an overarching one that seemed to come in a bit late.

We had the race for the money, then the aftermath, with everyone splitting up, the failed escape from the country, which segued nicely into the political/conspiracy part, then another escape from the country that went surprisingly smoothly, a courtroom drama, then everyone gathered inexplicably in Panama of all places for the coup de gras.

I just hope there’s more of a bigger picture type of story this time around, as Season One was, with a clear endpoint in sight that we slowly and agonizingly build towards. Not that I think the writers were making it up as they went with S2 or anything, just needed a more fluid story that didn’t jump around so much…but I guess when you cover that many miles with that many characters, the jumpiness is bound to happen.

Now that coup, of the de gras variety I was talking about before, was absolutely beautiful. It was ironic, poetic, however you want to put it, but really, everyone kind of got what they deserved.

And it set an unbelievable stage for Season Three.

The whole Sona prison concept sounds dynamite, with no guards, prisoners running everything…and just how the prison itself looks. That final scene where Michael walks down the hallway and sees what he really has gotten himself into was one of the more chilling and absolutely wicked scenes of TV I’ve seen in a long time.

Also, one of my favorite parts of Season 1, the prison politics, are back, and this time, they’re a lot deadlier.

I’ve read a few spoilers, which I of course, won’t just go into out of nowhere, wouldn’t do that to you non-spoilery people, wouldn’t want to muck up those squeaky clean minds, but it seems as though there is a few really well-rounded stories right off the bat that involve everyone in a good way.

I hope we can get more into the Company, and the whole conspiracy portion of the show, but I feel like that's coming. Hell, they may just be waiting for Paul Adelstein to come back from the pretty-sure-to-fail Private Practice and seek his revenge (you do have to admit, his death was a tad ambiguous last year, no?)

I for one, cannot wait, as Prison Break will be one of the few shows I really look forward to during the week, on that Lost/Heroes level, and I know it will be an absolute rollercoaster…of one kind or another…

Heroes Season Two Preview

Heroes was easily my favorite new show from last season, and burrowed its way deep into my cold, dark, heart, right alongside Lost, 24, and Prison Break as pure TV gold…Gold Jerry, GOLD! (Sorry I’ve been watching Seinfeld repeats all weekend)

Although the finale of Season 1 of Heroes did leave quite the bitter, unsatisfied taste in my mouth, I’m expecting big things this time around. I do have some concerns about the tightness of the story, with so many added characters, and the semi-cop out of jumping three months ahead, but I have faith in Tim Kring to pull it all together, even if he did fail spectacularly at doing so with the end of the first year. (The bitterness will fade ppl, just give it time).

There is set to be some big changes. A new, scarier Sylar-type character, a quick death, a resurrection, and some Petrelli amnesia tossed into the mix, all in the first ep… not to mention our Japanese friend that has tumbled backwards in time to feudal Japan…going to be a quite the ride…

But, lets go back to something I touched on above, the slew of newer characters. Heroes last year already had a large cast, and we found ourselves going large blocks of eps without seeing some people (Isaac Mendez and Matt Parkman come to mind) and I just don’t want to see that kind of thing happen even more this year.

I was never a big Veronica Mars fan, but I know Kristen Bell and her snappy, witty talents will be well-appreciated here (Still wish she had gone to Lost though…)

Anyways, onto my other main concern, the jump-ahead gimmick.

This is basically just something that buys time, as you have to go through and piece things together from the point of the jump to where you’re at now, then go forward from there, prolonging the main story. As an author I’ll admit freely I’ve done this, because it can be beneficial to if a story has stalled, it lets you refresh everything and tweak people a bit. You have sort of a blank slate instead of one coherent, expanding story.

I only complain about this technique because I have come to believe it is nothing more than what I referred to it as above, a cop out, and I have actually stopped using it, because of that very problem. A good story should unfold in one long strand, getting more complex and layered as it goes, and I’m fearing with Heroes, it might not be as deep as I first thought, as I know Tim Kring talked about renewing the show in this sort of way every year. Just shows that the Heroes story isn’t as tight as it should be, or I guess, as much as I wish it would be.

All in all, I know Heroes is going to be good this year, spectacular even, and I know it will draw me in like it did before, because Tim Kring is a good storyteller, but the real question I’ll be looking to answer this year will be if Heroes is going to become something deeper, something fantastically unique, something to pore over, study and somewhat obsess about (Lost, you guessed it ) or is it going to be just brain candy like everything else…?

The Fall Season

Ahhh, a new Fall TV season beckons…time to shutter the windows and jettison the humans, because its time for some good action/drama/comedy/dramedy…whatever your flavour.

In light of this great time of year, I’ll be going over a few shows I’m looking forward to that are coming back in the near future. (I’ll keep Lost out of it for now, as it still is months away, and if I think about the length of time too much, I may just cry...)

I won’t be able to do any reviews the first few weeks due to a craptacular work schedule that is going to force me to miss the premiere’s of Heroes, Prison Break and Survivor: China, but I’ll do what I can to at least post some thoughts on those fine programs.

For now, the Red Star Review slips into Preview mode...enjoy...

Last Comic Standing - Final 3

I've only been able to catch bits and pieces of this season, which has been so radically different from all the last, although this show does seem to morph a bit in some way every year. With the new format, we at home get more of a say, instead of watching comics try to knock each other out every week Survivor-style…

And every time I have tuned in or been able to catch it, one comic always seems to stand head and shoulders above the rest, and that is, of course, Gerry Dee. Now this could be due to a few things that have little to do with comedy itself, the fact that Gerry is a Canadian (I always support my countrymen, consciously or subconsciously), and also that this is his 3^rd or 4^th try through the LCS warpath, and his success, or lack of it, on this show, will determine his future in comedy…But that all being said, Mr. Dee is one funny guy.

Maybe its just his style, or the reasons I mentioned above, but it seemed like this guy was going to cruise to the end of this competition, grasp that cheesy LCS trophy and ride off to a ‘comedy club near you’. But…that just didn’t happen. Gerry was booted last night, in favor of a clichéd redneck and a clichéd, joke stealing black guy…and I’ll tell ya, I almost cried…well, not really, but it sure did suck.

Every season, it seems like the person that should win almost never does…and in the past, we could have blamed it on the Survivor format, but not this year, when we had full voting powers pretty much from the get-go…and we still get someone in the end that wasn’t the best or funniest from the competition.

John Reep, funny guy, really funny, but it all seemed like it was the same sorta thing, all about Hhhhhickorrrry, and Lavell is all about being black, or being fat, something that has worked for comedians, either fat, or black, or both, for a loooooooong time.

Gerry just seemed to bring something more, something quirkier, but maybe his brand of comedy wasn’t for everyone, I don’t know…but it damn sure worked for me…and Gerry, if you ever do visit a local comedy club near me, I’ll be there…

In terms of John Reep or Lavell Crawford, I think Lavell will win, but I think John has the funnier stuff…I guess we’ll have to wait with bated breath…or y’know, just regular waiting, with regular breath...either way...

The Red Star has returned...

Hello to anyone out in the interweb actually reading my little blog, because by all accounts, I appear to be back and raring to go on a new season of TV, a summer of TV and movies, and plenty more.

I've been away for a few months as some of our favorites went dark for the summer, and kept myself extremely busy, but did manage to watch Big Brother and Last Comic Standing, two of my only favs in the reality show gauntlet I wrote about before going on hiatus...

Just wanted to post a quick hello to anyone or everyone , and just throw it out there that the Red Star Review is alive and kickin' again...hope you enjoy...

Apologies

Sorry for not posting, for anyone that actually looks at this site, I don't think its even a soul, but if there is someone, somewhere, reading my little blog, than I'm sorry .

I've gotten a new job, which isn't going to leave me alot, if any, time to post new lil bits on here, I'll do my best to get a few books and movies out there, but the prospects aren't looking great...

Again, probably no one readin this, lol, but hey, a guy can dream...

Studio 60: Burning it Off

Oh Studio 60, such promise...

Loved this show, loved it when it came out, loved it when it got crammed in a crappy timeslot and I still loved it when it got put on a mega-hiatus.

Then the rumors started to fly that the show was done, canceled, that Matt Albie and Danny Tripp were not long for this world.

When the axe finally came down, I was disappointed, mostly because I felt this show had so much promise, even if it took itself waaaaay too seriously. Every week we were faced with these moral dilemmas that somehow dovetailed into comedy sketches. The heavy worked on West Wing, because what those characters were doing was actually important, running the free world and all. But on Studio 60, it just felt very contrived.

Last year, around this time, we all learned that there were going to be two behind-the-scenes comedy sketch shows. One run by Aaron Sorkin, Emmy winning writer and producer, the other by Tina Fey (who I love btw) who used fart and poop jokes on a regular basis for the last few years on SNL.

Seemed pretty clear cut that Tina was going to get her fifteen minutes in the primetime sun and be back to writing romantic comedies for the teenage set by now, but somehow, that didn't quite happen.

And it was because 30 Rock didn't take itself so seriously, it jabbed at everything in the right way, and Tina (God love her) made herself the butt the majority of the jokes, humanizing her even more than she already was.

So here we are, a year later, Tina's show has been picked up for a second season, and the sets of Studio 60 are sitting out back in the dumpster, the remaining episodes being burned off at a time when everyone is completely TV'd out.

A sad ending to a show that I still like, and a show I really wished they had tried to shift around the schedule and find a good place for. Monday at 10 clearly wasn't a good fit, but nothing else was tried. Kind of like Andy Barker, almost felt like they gave up on it before it even got started.

With the star power they had, the names behind the camera, and putting pen to paper, it could have been so much more. But maybe that was the whole problem, the money it took to make this show didn't pay off with ratings or ad buys...and that's what it really comes down to.

And I don't want to get into this too much, at the risk of offending people, but I honestly think on top of the money, the star power, the expectations it fell short of...Studio 60 was just too damn smart for popular consumption...

Aaron Sorkin will be back, somewhere, sometime, so will Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, so will most of the rest, but for Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan and the gang over at 30 Rock, this was kind of their only shot, and they nailed it.

I'll enjoy watching you burn off Studio 60...hopefully something like you comes along again, but the next time, I hope people are ready...

After the Seasons are through...

Well all the major finales have come and gone, some were absolutely stellar (Lost, The Simpsons 400th episode special) and some were not so stellar (Heroes, Grey's Anatomy).

Either way, the schedule is clear until at least September, and for Lost (sob), February. We are about to be run through the gamut of reality television for the next few months, with the only really appetizing shows being, in my opinion at least, Last Comic Standing and Big Brother. I will most likely be reviewing both, but I did try to make a pledge not to watch BB this year, as it generally ends up completely overtaking my life in the summertime, but we'll see how that goes.

What this really means though is that I'll be diversifying things a bit here, adding more book and movie reviews, as well as any crazy ramblings fir for public consumption.

To anyone that has been to this page (all one of you lol), hopefully you like the changes and are still interested by what I have to say.

Lost: The Lack of Locke

John Locke is by far, I think at least, the most central and important character to this show.

So the fact that we saw all of about 5 minutes of him in the last 2 episodes of the season was a bit of a tragedy. But he did the 'work' that WALT, yes WALT told him he had to do. Was this Jacob, the Smoke Monster, actually Walt? Who knows.

Anyways, Locke buried his trusty knife right into Naomi's skull, but not before the satellite phone begins to dial. It was the showdown we had been waiting for, and Jack won, defying the (completely right) opinions of Locke, and Ben, seeing nothing else but escape.

Locke had the gun pointed at Jack, and as much as many of us wanted him to pull the trigger, you knew he wasn't going to. If he couldn't kill Anthony Cooper, after all that man has done to him, he's not going to kill Jack.

He could walk, but he was still holding his side, so we're not sure if Walt/Jacob/Smokey actually healed him, or his legs were just the power of positive thinking.

After he couldn't pull the trigger, Locke just went back into the jungle, sad, alone, defeated, as he has been for much of his life. He is such a tragic, conflicted hero, doing what he thinks is best, and finding all he has done means nothing.

Who knows what next season holds for any one of the castaways, but for Mr. Locke, it may be more complicated than the rest, no matter what the last few minutes meant for the path this show is set to chart.

Lost: Through the Looking Glass: Review

Seeing how the last post was kind of a restless rambling, I'm going to give this episode a more thorough blow by blow type of review.

There was three major storylines and one MAJOR twist. I wish i could write major in even bigger letters, and even then it wouldn't really do it justice.

First, The Looking Glass.

Freakin' amazing to see Penny show up like that, and Des was so close, yet so far, once again. Charlie died, semi-needlessly, although he did shut the door to stop the flooding. If that equipment is waterproof, They could theoretically repair the window, open the door, let the water out and use it, but, that's besides the point of everything I mentioned in the previous post. Who even knows who will be there next year. And what was that, like 3 deaths for Mikhail now? And don't really know if he is dead again anyways. Looks like it, but the guy took a spear to the chest and kept rollin, so who knows. Thought one of the women in the Looking Glass might have been Annie, but seems like they were just dispensable Others.

The Beach

We had to know that plan wasn't going to go down well. I was surprised that it was Jin that missed the shot, as he's supposed to be ex-military, and as Rose said, all Bernard did was go hunting. I was also surprised that they did put three shots into the sand, but like Tom said, they're starting to think Ben is out of his mind. Hurley coming out of nowhere to redeem himself was pretty cool, and the Dharma van, which he just had to get running, played the pivotal role, nice. Juliet seems to actually be with the Losties, and although you can never be sure, everything seems to point to Juliet actually turning on the Others.

The Tower

I haven't liked the Jack character in a long time, but tonight I really did. Although as we found out in a jaw dropping, stunning last few minutes, he really did make the wrong decision, and Ben was right. Rousseau and Alex seemed to bond pretty quickly, having their first 'awww' mother-daughter moment when Danielle asks her if she'll help tie Ben up. Awww. I disliked the lack of Locke, which I will get back to in a full posting later on, but he proved yet again that he wasn't a killer, even though I was yelling at the TV for him to pull the trigger.

The Twist

My god, did this change everything. Obviously we were meant to believe this was sometime after Jack's divorce, when he was teetering on alcohol and pain pill addiction, but wow, it sure wasn't. This was an absolutely fantastic idea, and I applaud Lindelof and Cuse for taking such a step. Matthew Fox played this brilliantly, and it was by far the best Jack flashback (or I guess it would be forward) there has been to date. When Kate stepped out of that car, my jaw dropped further than I think it ever has with this show. Too bad they didn't get into who Kate had to get back to or exactly who was in the coffin, but it could easily be Sawyer on both accounts.

Amazing episode, mostly amazing season, can't wait for February.

Lost: Through the Looking Glass: Thoughts

It's been about half an hour, and I'm still a bit breathless after that ending. Snake in the Mailbox for sure.

I don't know if it was Cuse or Lindelof that said "After the finale, you'll wonder how this show can go on." Either way, it's completely true. Obviously it's going to go on, but in what form? Are we going to flash forward a few years until everyone's off the island, and do flashbacks to fill in the gaps? Or are we just going to know that somehow they get off at the end, and keep going on the Island still after some kind of screw job on the escape?

Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh, so many questions...And it's going to be 9 months until we get anything resembling an answer.

I was watching the Lost: Answers special on the second run through before the finale, and noticed that Damon made a quip about how if they get off the Island, the show was over. These two are always so coy about everything, that when he said something straight like that, I smelled a foiler. And boy was I right.

I think we may start to see either a mix of flash-forwards with flashbacks, or just completely a flash-forward type of format. I hope the Island doesn't take a back seat to the after-Island events, but I think after this kind of game-changer, they're going to be expanding on this after-Island timeline, they kind of have to.

We have to some extent run out of flashbacks, so a switch in formats may be due. It is a crazy idea, but I put nothing past Damon and Carlton, and the Island and post-Island stories running in parallel, instead of pre and present running parallel as we have seen up to now, would be just fine with me.

There's so many different ways they can go, and it really opens the story back up.

Can't believe that Sawyer's dead in the future...or was I wrong on that one? And who was Kate going back to, maybe Sawyer and I was wrong on that one. If so, could be anyone from Locke to Ben, but someone Kate seems furious at. Sawyer seems logical to me, but you never know.

All in all, I think this was a fantastic finale, although I would have liked a bit more resolution on Naomi's people, that's a pretty decent cliffhanger to leave us with. Can't wait till February, I'm sure someone's already got a clock going somewhere...

Heroes: How To Stop an Exploding Man: Review

Wow, what a complete and total letdown.

The entire season of this show has been stellar. But the last two episodes, they were just so forced. There was so many things wrong with this finale I don't even know where to start.

Peter can fly on his own, he doesn't need Nathan.

How is Peter punching Sylar, and how is Sylar letting him? How does Peter let Sylar choke him out while he fights off everyone else? Why does Sylar let Hiro run about ten feet and stab him in the chest while doing nothing more than saying 'You...' ? SUPERPOWERS people, superpowers.

If Claire had shot Peter, would he not have had to regenerate, and therefore calmed down a bit?

Did Bennett break his back or something, making it impossible for him to get off a shot?

What purpose did Nikki really serve, other than doing something that any one of Peter's numerous superpowers could have done?

We've been waiting all year for the Peter-Sylar showdown, and it consists of a few punches, Peter getting hit with a parking meter, and a choke move. WEAK.

Now the ending, it was really cool, with the mysterious symbol making an appearance and Hiro being in Imperial Japan. It set the stage pretty well for next year, but even the eclipse at the end seemed like a forced way to tie the Heroes opening into the show in a meaningful way.

I really liked the part on the roof with Charles and Peter. I wish they explained just what it was, time travel, mind trick, etc, but even without it, it was nice to see things come full circle, and we see that Peter really is viewed as the anti-Sylar, the yin to his yang, lightness to his darkness, etc...

Peter and Sylar are linked, and this better not be their last fight, there better be something epic coming, because Sylar's not dead, and neither is Peter.

It seemed like the ending was totally and completely avoidable, and not destiny at all. Everyone was forced to NY to get this meaningful ending that really didn't have to be.

I must say though, learning Bennett's first name, Noah, was pretty nice after all this time, might have been the highlight of the episode, and the only thing that seemed to make logical sense.

I love this show, it's among my favorites, and I loved the entire season, but this ending just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Brothers & Sisters Season Finale: Review

This show has been a pleasant surprise all year, and I've found over time, as I'm sure a lot of people have, that's the appeal, that the Walker family is a lot like mine.

It's always well written, and the star quality, Calista Flockhart, Sally Field, Rob Lowe, Balthazar Getty, Rachel Griffiths, never seem to outshine each other, as can be the case when there are plenty of 'names' on a show.

I think we ended off very well, finding out a few things, leaving some cliffhangers, and seeing the family come full circle from the pilot episode. I'll get back to the circle in a second.

First off, of the things we found out, Saul has to be the most intriguing. Some might say they didn't see this coming, but I think most had a little bit of suspicion, but buried it under the Holly relationship. Well it's all out in the open now, at least to us, and it gives a ton of fodder for next year.

I found it a bit strange that Rebecca was accepted back so readily and easily by the family, but I guess Nora's stare has more power than I give it credit. And speaking of the youngest (half) Walker, what a revelation. It did seem overly heavy, and something like that, you think the girl would learn her lesson about the older, married guys, especially the ones that are married to her sister. Maybe, just maybe.

Justin's story was very touching, and I liked how he tried to include everybody with their own interests into his goodbyes. I wonder if we'll actually get a Justin element next year, or whether he will return shell-shocked, be injured, killed, it could go a lot of different ways.

Speaking of Justin, I think he's changed the most out of all the Walkers, going from a selfish druggie to a thoughtful, caring member of the family. His character's evolution was great to watch this year.

Nora struggling with Kitty's engagement/moving out/Justin leaving was very true to life, and struck a chord with me, and I hope the same for anyone else reading.

Back to the circle. Seeing the entire family jump into the pool that their father collapsed into in the pilot was a perfect way to pull everything together and show how far they came from that point to where they are now. William Walker's death unleashed a tidal wave of secrets amongst his family, but it ultimately pulled them closer together than they had ever been.

The Simpsons 400th Episode Spectacular: Review

I was seriously digging the 24 format of the first half hour. It was fantastic in the way it was done, and Kiefer Sutherland was very good in his Bauer cameo. I wish they had it go the entire hour, in the real 24 format, which I actually thought was the plan, but even the half hour was very impressive.

Homer and Milhouse in the dumpster had me cracking up, as did Martin in his 'mole' role, the bullies playing the role of the terrorists, Lisa as a quasi-Chloe, the big red cancel button on top of the stink bomb, Jack cringing as the nuclear bomb went off, after diverting all resources to get Bart for his prank call, it was all great.

My one question though, they were trying to stop the smoke bomb to save the Bake Sale, didn't they kind of ruin it anyways with the hot dog water flooding?

Either way, this was probably one of the best Simpsons episodes I've ever seen, right up there with 'Behind the Laughter' and 'The Computer Wore Menace Shoes'.

I'm going to completely gloss over the second half hour, because the first 30 minutes completely overshadowed it in my mind, but I will say that they really kept that 24 vibe going with Marge's sprint back to the house didn't they?

Finales

Its that time again, where all our favorite shows head out to pasture for the summer. Some finales have been great, others, meh. Some have yet to air, but in a week or so, we should all be prepared to shut off that TV and actually get off the couch.

A shock to the system? Definitely, but there is a world out there, I promise. A world without regular people finding out they have superpowers, creepy islands and Jack Bauer yelling 'Dammit!'.

Some shows are saying goodbye for a few months, others, forever. Some we're not sure about.

Of the dearly departed, Gilmore Girls definitely takes a bit of me with it, but it ended where it should have, and the end was just...perfect. Jericho deserved another season, if for nothing else than to keep proving that Skeet Ulrich can actually be compelling in a lead role. (Although there is an online campaign for the show to be picked up by TNT, so fingers crossed all you Jerichoites)

Of those that we know are coming back, some are hitting highs, and some are hitting the blahs.

Lost and Heroes are closing out their seasons with a bang (literal on both cases).

The Office and My Name is Earl both had fantastic finales, and 30 Rock looks to be poised for (hopefully) a long run into the future.

Grey's Anatomy, usually one of the best shows out there, went out with a bit of a whimper this year. Some will disagree, but I just found it to be predictable and fairly underwhelming for something of its caliber.

24 needs a serious retool, but I'm sure the finale will be as compelling as ever, and apparently we're going foreign next year, which will be a breath of fresh air.

In a few months, the productions will pick up, the rumors will begin to flow, spoilers will make their way onto the boards, and everything will be back to normal. But until then, all that's left is the burn-off episodes of Studio 60, Big Brother and the. gasp, outside world...

Welcome

Hello and welcome to anyone that manages to stumble across this page in its infancy. I'll be reviewing any TV shows, books, movies or anything else that piques my interest.

I'll keep this first post short and sweet, but I hope you enjoy, and please comment as much as possible.