Tuesday

Let me start off by saying how disappointed I am this weekend that "Terminator: Salvation" and the "Night at the Museum" sequel are getting really bad reviews.. I was really looking forward to "Terminator" and I wanted to see "Night" for the Amy Adams factor.. I'm sure I'll still end up seeing both of them eventually... but all my desire to run out and see them quickly has gone. I have high hopes for "Up" and "Drag Me To Hell" both which as of this typing are rated 100% at Rotten Tomatoes. Don't let me down.


On the the fact that I watch too much TV.. Tuesdays didn't have a ton to watch this season.. But "Fringe" the new J.J. Abrams sci-fi show was on now and again.. "Fringe" started out a little slow for me.. I liked watching it but was never enamored with it.. But as the season went on I started to enjoy it more and more.. It's still no "Lost" but perhaps it could be.. I will be sticking with it. The season finale.. had some cool #$%@ in it so... yeah.
Season grade: B
Season finale grade: B+


"Scrubs" ended this season.. or so I thought.. I thought it was a little more grounded this year.. which I think was an improvement.. It got a little too silly for it's own good the previous few seasons.. I thought the finale was great and a good sendoff for the characters... But wait.. what is this I hear? They're bringing the show back.. Bad idea. Bad idea. Let this show die in peace.. Sure it will be filled with new characters.. and some of the old one's will drop by from time to time.. but it's time to let this one end. Please!
Season grade: B
Series finale? grade: A-
Series renewal: F



I would like to mention a show that I won't review but needs attention: "Better Off Ted." The show is really funny and quirky.. I definitely recommend it. It's not for everyone but anyone who's a little twisted will enjoy it. Plus it comes from the creator of the wonderful "Andy Richter Controls the Universe"... one of the best (short lived) sitcoms of all time! The DVDs came out last month.. Do yourself a favor and check them out... You won't regret it.. If I were reviewing "Andy" it would get an A+. Anywhoo like I said check out "Better Off Ted" which somehow was miraculously renewed for another season. Yay!



Finally I need to mention a Monday show I neglected to review.. It was brought to my attention by Rice.and.Mr.Pudding. "Chuck"... I really enjoy "Chuck".. in fact I'm going to try to write a spec script of the show for a contest I'm entering.. I have a good outline.. I won't share it for fear my loyal readers may steal it... Anywhoo "Chuck" was also somehow miraculously renewed another season.. Let me just say this.. any show that brings in Scott Bakula.. is okay in my book.. It's such a great cast.. I of course love Adam Baldwin... of "Firefly" fame. I know a number of people who think this is one of the best shows on TV... and you know they're probably not wrong.. I thought the second to last episode was darn near perfect.. The finale lacked a little bite but was still good.. Anyone who just loves a good action, comedy, romance, with superb shout outs to superb 80's movies will like this show.. My only complaint is the show isn't serialized enough for my taste.. but other than that... who can't love a show that does an entire episode homaging the brilliant "King of Kong".... anyway I realize this review was a little scattered... but that's how it came out.. Since I neglected reviewing it earlier.. I will grade it a little different than the other shows..
Use of Scott Bakula: A
Use of Huey Lewis music: A
Use of Adam Baldwin: A
Second to last episode: A
Soundtrack in general: A
Renewal: A

Until next time... when I review the only Wednesday show worth watching: LOST! As if I don't talk about it enough..

The Television Season (Monday Edition)

All right... first off. "Star Trek" gets an A. I've seen it twice now.. and I can't come up with any noticeable flaws. Go see it!

Okay now on to my latest project.. I am going to evaluate this past season's television shows. A warning to everyone... SPOILER ALERT! If you do not want to be spoiled on certain shows do not read their reviews.


And we're going to start with Monday.. We kick the night off with "House".. I enjoy watching "House" but I only get really interested when there are changes in the lives of the characters.. I could really care less about the "patient of the week." And this season.. there were a few really good episodes where characters went through dramatic things cough Kutner's death cough.. but for the most part they were average episodes.. In the finale they made it look like a lot of things happened that actually didn't happen.. A device I'll fall for once.. but they've gone down this road before.. Call me back when something actually happens between House and Cuddy.
Season grade: B-
Season finale: C-


"How I Met Your Mother" had a pretty good season. There were a couple less than funny episodes but.. I really enjoyed the Barney & Robin story line.. As well as some of the more random story lines about Lilly and Marshall.. The finale had some problems.. most notably the "goat hype" didn't live up to its potential.. Plus did they even have a slap bet episode this season.. If they did I don't remember it.. It's been too long.. Feel free to remind me..
Season grade: B+
Season Finale B


"24" got good again this season.. Last season almost made me give up on the show.. This season the show moved to D.C... I'm not sure if that's why it's better but the change of venue definitely helped.. The episode set in the White House was awesome.. I couldn't breath for portions of it.. I only have two complaints about the season.. First the novelty is wearing off a bit.. It's not as exciting as the first few seasons.. We're too familiar with it.. It's nothing producers or writers can really fix but.. it lessens my initial excitement about the show... And second: Tony!!! How could you? I trusted you.. I would've let you babysit my pretend children.. I'm so disappointed.
Season grade: A-
Season Finale grade A-


My hopes for "Heroes" was high this year.. There was all kinds of buzz after they premiered the finale at Comic-Con... So I was excited that they might rebound from a boring season 2.. My hopes were dashed.. I made it through the first half of the season.. hoping things would change.. they did not.. I did the unthinkable.. I quit the show... The characters I once loved had become parodies of themselves.. I heard the show got a little better after Bryan Fuller (of "Pushing Daisies" fame") came in.. So maybe I'll check it out on DVD.. We'll see... So sad.
Season grade: C-
Season finale grade: didn't see it

Next time.. we'll cover Tuesday...

The time has come

So anyone that reads my wife's blog knows that last weekend she and I got to go see an early preview of "Star Trek." I got the tickets from work.. the only catch was that the premiere was at ten in the morning.. which isn't so bad for normal people but I work the night shift. Anyone that knows me though, knows that I can make big sacrifices if geek things are involved. So I got up at 7AM in order to get to the theaters by 8AM... to make sure we got in..

Turns out we were like tenth in line. There was no real need to get there so early. The crazy thing is that a lot of people at the front of the line were not "Star Trek" fans. That kind of caught me by surprise... Then I started remembering all of the people who had told me throughout the week that they had never seen a "Star Trek" movie or TV episode. Many considered it a matter of pride. Boo!! I say to them. Boo!! What if I had done the same thing with "Harry Potter." I considered it a matter of pride for a while to not have read any of the books. But eventually with some strong encouragement I gave in... and now my life is better for it.

So my point is that even though some people may think "Star Trek" carries a stigma.. that shouldn't stop people from giving it a try.. I held out watching the original series because I thought it looked cheesy and outdated.. But I started watching the show last year to prep for the new movie.. And let me tell you it's worth watching.. Sure there are some ultra crappy episodes.. But the characters are just cool.. and they are fun to get to know.. And some of the plots would make good movies.. So check it out..

I won't even talk about how good "The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine," or some episodes of "Voyager" were... I'm reserving judgement on "Enterprise"... haven't seen enough episodes. And the movies.. some awesome, some not so awesome.. Check out the even numbered ones... except for 10... eh.

Finally... now I come to the good part.. The new movie.. It's very good. I think it's a movie for fans and non fans alike. As the time of this writing "Star Trek" has a 100% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Not a bad sign.. The casting in the movie was impeccable. Pine embodies everything that is Kirk.. Quinto isn't exactly an unemotional Spock... but the script necessitates that. Karl Urban is perhaps my favorite.. he becomes Bones.. Everyone else was great as well. Once the movie starts it doesn't really stop.. Great movie.. I will give it an official grade after I see it for the second time on Friday in IMAX.

Also I saw "Wolverine" over the weekend.. Not a great movie.. but worth a matinee or dollar theater.. Not a lot of substance to it.. But some fun action scenes.. and special effects.

2 More Movies

Since I last wrote I saw two more movies.. The first was a DVD rental that was free thanks to the beauty of Red Box promo codes.

"Yes Man" is the latest movie from Jim Carrey... who's getting a little old. I was particularly intrigued by this movie because of the beautiful Zooey Deschanel. She play Carrey's love interest in the movie.. When previews for this movie started coming out it looked like this was a variation of "Liar Liar." It looked like Carrey was hypnotized say yes to everything.. Well turns out, that's not true. There are no supernatural/magic/hypnosis story lines in this movie.. Carrey just decides he wants to say yes to everything... so he does. I thought it was a pretty good rental. I laughed out loud a couple times.. So like I said a worthwhile rental. I give it a B.

Also I'd like to plug Deschanel's music group called "She and Him." It's her and indie artist M. Ward. Check out the website.. It's fun and light.. and there are Beatles covers.. you can't go wrong. I give the bands album "Volume One" an A.



The second movie I saw was "State of Play" starring Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck and Jason Bateman. I really enjoyed this movie.. We don't get a lot of films like this anymore.. It's an old fashioned thriller about a journalist who is trying to get to the bottom of some murders. I don't want to say more than that because it would give too much away. But the performances are great and there are some fun twists and turns. I would recommend people check it out before the summer movie season hits in a couple weeks because it will get buried soon. Also I don't think we'll see many more movies like this... old fashioned newspaper journalism is unfortunately dying a slow death... and the topic is actually addressed in the movie. I give it an A-.. Check it out.

The Calm Before The Storm

So it's April.. and that means it's less than a month until summer movie season. In May alone we have "Wolverine," "Star Trek," "Angels and Demons," "Terminator: Salvation," "Night at the Museum 2," "Up," and "Drag Me To Hell." I'm saving up the money now. And I'm sure some of those movies may end up being awful.. but at least they are movies I want to see.. There's been so little worth going to the theaters for... that it's a bit depressing. Only a few more weeks to go.

On the positive side some really good DVDs have been coming out. I finally got around to seeing both "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Doubt." Both really good and both worth a rental.

As most of you probably know "Slumdog Millionaire" was this years best picture winner at the Oscars. Now I haven't seen all of the films that were nominated so I can't say whether it deserved the win.. but it's definitely worth watching.. The movie follows the story of a kid who grew up in the slums of India.. and gets to be on their version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire".. but he's not there to win the money.. He's there to find someone. I don't want to give more away than that. It's a very uplifting and enjoyable movie.. It's not as good as I thought it would be. I think my expectations were too high because of all the praise it received. But I certainly enjoyed it and am glad an uplifting positive story can win an Oscar. B+


"Doubt" is an adaptation of an award winning stage play. The writer of the play wrote and directed the movie. I wasn't sure if I'd like this one because of the subject matter... basically a nun suspects a priest of having inappropriate relations with a male student at the school. But everything is discussed in a very puritan way. I didn't find myself uncomfortable or grossed out by the conversations in the movie. I was really impressed with this one... I find myself still thinking about it days later. I don't want to give anything away but I will say the performances are superb.. You put Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and the beautiful Amy Adams in a room and you can expect some high quality drama. I listened to a "Creative Screenwriting Podcast" that interviewed the writer.. He gave some good insight into where he was coming from when he wrote the story. He was really fascinated with the concept of "doubt" and now I am too. Excellent movie. A

PS. Interesting side note: apparently the author also wrote and directed "Joe vs the Volcano." Odd.

I Saw a Movie This Weekend

And what did I see? "Monsters vs Aliens."... in IMAX 3-D. It was pretty fun.. I think I'd probably give it two and half to three stars.. A B+ rating. It wasn't as funny as "Kung Fu Panda" but its worth seeing.. especially if you're willing to cough up the extra five bucks to see it in IMAX 3-D.

So what was good about the movie? The voice actors. Stephen Colbert plays the President of the United States.. I don't think I need to say more than that. But I will because this blog isn't long enough yet. Reese Witherspoon did a good job playing the 49-foot-11-inch-tall woman... she was able to bring across emotions.. in a plastic face.. Will Arnett of "Arrested Development" fame plays The Missing Link.. and Hugh Laurie plays this movie's version of "The Fly." It was good to see Laurie back in his comedy roots. Kiefer "24" Sutherland plays a military type person.. but it's definitely different from his usual voice. But the scene stealer is probably Seth Rogan as BOB. I think if the only thing Seth Rogan ever did was voice cartoon characters he would have made his mark in history. "Kung Fu Panda," "Horton Hears a Who?" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles" should be all I have to type. Also listen for John Krasinski who has a small cameo.

The movie basically spoofs/plays homage to the monster/alien picks from the fifties. I'm not as familiar as I should be with that genre.. but I still appreciated the love the writers had for the material. There's also a shout out to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".. but I won't give it away.. It's too good.

So that's all I have. See it if you want to see it in 3-D.. otherwise wait for the dollar theater or DVD... Stay tuned for my next post where I will hopefully review "Slumdog Millionaire".. finally.

Pop Culture Blogs

So I know many of you stay up late at night wondering.. what pop culture blogs/websites does CrOW (me) read? Well I have the cure for you insomnia this morning.. My list of favorite pop culture websites... in no particular order.


Pop Candy
I discovered this USA Today blog a few years ago.. and now I can't live without it.. It's written by the ultra cool, ultra savvy, Whitney Matheson. She covers a wide array of pop culture.. Everything from cool indie music to the latest graphic novels.. She's really cool and fun to read. She even has a podcast where she shares free music and interviews the very cool. She has very similar taste in movies and television.. She's a fan of "Buffy" and "Lost." In fact she does a weekly lost post where people comment about that weeks show and she posts the 10 most interesting comments. Oh and her graphic novel guide.. is a must. Also she reads a lot of books and has good recommendations.. Please check it out... because perhaps one day I will be the featured reader of the day.. If I ever get around to sending my profile.


Aint It Cool News
This is a great site for movie and tv news and rumors.. My only piece of advice.. completely avoid the talkbacks.. Everyone that post comments has the maturity level of a seven year old. They can't post without insulting someone or something. My favorite person from the site is Herc.. he monitors the TV section.. and has for the most part great taste.. If you read anything from Harry be aware that he loves to hyperbolize his movie reviews... but it's still a lot of fun to read because he has such a passion for movies..


Dark Horizons
This is actually one of the very first movie news sites I found when the Internet was just a young new thing. Garth Franklin runs the site and he's pretty cool.. My only complaint is he only updates the site once a day or two.. all at once.. Whereas Aint It Cool updates whenever there is a new story.. I also really like the site's calendar section for upcoming movies, dvds, etc.. Also the movie trailer section is great. Well worth a bookmark.


Entertainment Weekly
This is the official website for Entertainment Weekly.. The wonderful magazine of which I subscribe to and read cover to cover every week.. There are a lot of reviews.. and articles.. and tv/movie scoop to be found in the site. If your a "Lost" fan be sure to check out Doc Jensen's weekly column.. and web video.. A lot of fun. A definite must for fans of... well... Entertainment.

There are a few more sites I visit frequently.. Whedonesque, TV Guide, and E Online's Watch with Kristen.. All worth your time.. and perhaps worthy of their own blog post.. But until then... go watch the "Battlestar" finale.. and this week's "Dollhouse" which finally got really good.