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Friday, November 16, 2012

666 Park Avenue and Last Resort cancelled

We're not surprised about 666 and we think it deserved cancellation, but we're bummed about Last Resort. It was our favorite new show of the season and it should have had more viewers. One commenter blamed the time slot and we agree.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Modern Family makes a familiar joke, we can't look away from AHS, Arrow makes us snore. Supernatural brings back our sweet hottie, and Nashville picks up the pace

By Rubenstein  Uploaded by MyCanon (Ty Burrell) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Modern Family- Mystery Date
Phil's plot should have been gold, but we've already seen the same mix up situation on Frasier, and it was funnier on that show. The whole straight man on a date with a gay guy plotline is best left in the past. We think TV should move on from that joke. Gloria and Jay's new mural was a wonder to behold. It was so ugly! And hilarious. We enjoyed Jay and Mitchell's interactions. Alex and Claire had the least funny plot, but it had substance. Manny and Luke crashing Bar Mitzvahs could have been mined for more jokes. That felt like a wasted opportunity. Gloria and Cam probably shouldn't be paired. They are both cartoonish, and sometimes you need a straight man when you have two big, loud personalities. This episode was pleasant, but forgettable.
Episode grade: B-

Arrow- Legacy
After a good episode last week, this week's was a little boring and run-of-the-mill for this show. Oliver fought bank robbers, blah blah blah. Too bad Carter and Tommy look so much alike. We can't keep them straight. We have to say, Thea is prettier than Laurel. Tommy should give that a second thought. We don't like that Thea might be jealous of Laurel in subsequent episodes. Catty girl-fighting characters give us all a bad rep. We thought Tommy and Laurel had agreed to date. When did she go off him? We missed Laurel's cop dad.
Episode grade: C+

Supernatural- A Little Slice of Kevin
Clever title there, no? This was one of the most enjoyable episodes of this current season. We were surprised, since it was a Kevin episode. This just goes to show that Supernatural is always better when Dean and Castiel are together again. We liked the sinister heavenly office woman, Naomi,s and the possible wrenches it could throw in the brothers' paths. We've always thought that a really big Big Bad needs to come onto this show in order to top the Devil. If it's God, part of us will be thrilled and interested (the other half will still be Christian and Catholic, respectively, and will make us feel like the show is attacking a loved one). It kind of needs to be God though. Seriously, how else are you going to top the apocalypse and Satan? We love Mrs. Tran. She's one of the best female characters on this show in a long time. Kevin's a little whiner though.
Episode grade: B+

Nashville- You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)
Thank goodness Juliette has a new love interest who is age-appropriate, sweet, and not Deacon. He's a football player, he's not great, he's a quarterback, he's a goodie two-shoes, and he doesn't drink. Basically, she's dating Tim Tebow. We doubt Tebow can sing though (in fact, one of his teammates said Tebow has a bad singing voice, haha). It's nice to see Juliette be nice, not be dealing with her Crack Mom, not be all weepy and vulnerable, not be throwing her body at older men, and not be stealing. We like what's going on with Rayna, her new album, and her new producer. The election stuff is even starting to get interesting. We so hope that Teddy loses. Scarlett finally dumped Avery. Marilyn is gross. Overall, this episode moved a lot of things forward and didn't struggle creatively as much as previous weeks.
Episode grade: B+

American Horror Story- I Am Anne Frank part 2
Leeard and Ern were discussing how much better Ryan Murphy's shows have been lately. We like this season a lot better than last year. It's scarier, more creative, more fun, more disgusting, and less predictable. We really thought that was Anne Frank last week. We're glad it's not though. "Anne" should buck up. Her husband is hot. We knew she had come across Arden in her research even before the final shot. What we didn't predict was Thredson being Bloody Face, having Wendy in a cooler, and taking Lana to his nasty underground kill room. Nasty.

We have to know what that schoolteacher did about the Shelley situation. We love Demon Eunice for dropping her off at an elementary school. We hope that's not the last we see of Shelley. Or Tio Salamanca. YES, the Nazi hunter was our favorite bell ringer from Breaking Bad. He just needs to give the Nazis one of his hateful looks, and they'll surrender. Sister Jude is back to her old ways?! Intriguing and surprising. It seems that she's more into that asylum than Catholicism. Poor Kit. And Alma's alive? Maybe that will spell a happy ending for Kit.
Episode grade: A-

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Julia makes a good choice on Parenthood, New Girl brings at least two big laughs, Happy Endings turns in a typical episode, and The Mindy Project improves a little

By David Shankbone (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
New Girl- Menzies
The two big laughs we mentioned were Nick in the Asian guy's serenity pool (the first time, when the Asian guy was holding him), and Jess having a meltdown over the dog in the cup. We didn't appreciate a few of the PMS jokes. It's not THAT overpowering for most women, some women just get irritated quicker, and it's not that irrational. Most of the time, women get upset over actual things, but any other time of the month, they would just ignore it and be able to let it go easier. Sometimes the PMS is the straw that breaks the camel's back and something has been building for a while. It's not like people should just go, "Oh, it doesn't matter/I don't have to watch that, because it's just PMS." The problems aren't imaginary; the reaction is just exaggerated.

Aaaaanyway...teaching creative writing is a lot different from teaching elementary school. You usually have to be able to write. Has Jess ever written a book? Had a short story published? Does Jess even like to read? We think she's woefully unqualified, but this is TV. Schmidt's new sex buddy should provide some awkward laughs. Moises Perdue? Who even thinks of a name like that? Cece is NOT a nice girl. Poor Robbie! Cece kissed Schmidt, and we're glad she backed away. Maybe she's nice than she thinks she is. There were a few good lines in this one.
Episode grade: B

The Mindy Project- Danny Castellano is My Gynecologist 
The best part of this episode was the opening where Josh was wearing Mindy's pants. "Leave your tie; I'm going to use that to hang myself." Ha! She flipped the whole "wearing your boyfriend's clothes" thing on its head by swapping it and having it be self-deprecating humor rather than sexist "oh, it's so funny that a guy would demean himself by wearing something feminine" funny. Man, we're feminists today. The second-funniest part was Mindy proving to Danny that she's not just a lamp. Gwen is still underused, but this episode was a step up from the previous weeks.
Episode grade: B

Happy Endings- Boys II Menorah
We love Max's weird jobs. It would be cool if we saw a new weird job every couple of weeks. Our favorite part was when Jane got tased the first time and said, "That only makes me stronger." We're starting to think there will never be a year of Penny. The show never gives her a break. She's always a loser and a butt of a joke. We'd like to see something nice happen to her, but other than that, this show is pretty good as it is.
Episode grade: B

Parenthood- Together
Ryan and Amber hit the hay. Did you guys see his body? Mazel tov, Amber. However, we don't see this going smoothly. There was foreshadowing all over the place letting us know that Ryan's problems are going to start showing themselves even more. We feel for the guy and all others in his situation. We loved Sarah's reaction after Amber cancelled breakfast. Beyond cool indeed. We like Amber and Ryan together, so we hope they make it. Kristina's storyline brought the misty eyes, especially in her last scene with Camille. So sweet. Is Monica Potter going to shave her head? We're going to hell for saying this, but we don't think she'll look good bald. You pretty much have to be Natalie Portman to pull that off though.

Julia starting Spanish Rosetta Stone made us cringe with sympathy. One of us is on level four of that very program (and that language). It's an easy and helpful program, but it's time consuming and it takes a while to get through it. We love the way Julia handled her new son this week. We agree that inviting Miguel over was a good choice. He needed a friend, and we're sure he'll still be able to adjust to his new home if he stays in touch with his old buddy. Having a friend might give his social skills a work out too so that he could make new friends. We liked that the episode was light on Crosby. He was only in the episode long enough to be an excellent brother. That guy really grew up.
Episode grade: B+

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Revolution, Homeland, and The Good Wife

By 20 Minutos [CC-BY-SA-2.1-es (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.1/es/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
Revolution- Ties that Bind
We didn't suspect Mia, so that was a surprise. Someone would have gotten shot in this episode, especially when they were running from the machine guns on the bridge. We like Strausser, the new sociopathic villain. The Captain Neville plot was interesting. The forward movement this week (yes, there is a little every week) is Monroe getting the necklace. Also, Grace is in some compound with power. Revolution is entertaining enough, but it won't be LOST's heir. This show has none of LOST's eeriness, heart, and creativity. It's on our least-crowded night, so it should get a season pass just for lack of company. If it were on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday nights, it would get dropped.
Episode grade: C+

Homeland- The Clearing
Quinn is fine and alive! Yay. Just when this was the best show on right now, Homeland added a snarky hot guy we love. The Dana hit-and-run finally turned into something. We feel really bad for her. She wanted Finn to turn around. She did a brave thing this week, but Carrie and national security stood in the way of her peace of mind. We're feeling bad for Brody too. Aileen is back. We kind of forgot her, but her parts of the episode turned out to be some of the best. We felt bad for her.
Episode grade: B+

The Good Wife- Anatomy of a Joke
This is the most appealing we've seen Christina Ricci in a long, long time. Maybe it was the hair and makeup. They were really working for her. Maybe it was the way her part was written. You may have gotten frustrated at her self-destructive behavior, but clients often do and say stupid things that make their lawyers roll their eyes and groan. It's realistic! She wasn't funny though. Cary's father is such a jerk. He only calls his son to mend the relationship when he wants something? Cary handled it fine. But poor thing. At least he got kissed by a celebrity this week. Oh, and we've heard that rape/clown joke before. Was it George Carlin? We're not positive. We loved Amanda Peet getting the job with Peter. Does that mean we'll see her more? Will he sleep with her since she's pretty? The Hayden Clarke stuff is heating up. How will this affect Cary? Maddie is making feminists everywhere look bad. We hope Alicia dumps her as a friend, pronto. The birthmark shape could have been funnier.
Episode grade: A-

Monday, November 12, 2012

Movie Madness Monday (not that this is going to be a weekly thing)

Caroline Bonarde Ucci [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Skyfall (the new James Bond 007 movie)
We haven't been to the theater in a while, but the ads for this one (calling it one of the best Bond films ever) drew us out. We agree that it's one of the best Bond films, but we've never been huge fans of those. This was your basic action film, only it was pretty smart, well-acted, and part of a well-known franchise. The movie acknowledged Daniel Craig's rapid aging, so is it possible that this might be his last Bond movie? If so, he went out well. This movie was so much better than Quantum of Solace. It was about as good as Casino Royale. Our only complaint was that it was too long. It should have stopped at two hours. Javier Bardem's bond villain was great. He can bring the scariness. If you like nonstop action and James Bond, you'll like this movie. We're sure this isn't news, but we thought we'd throw in our agreement with everyone else anyway. The bond girls were almost insultingly thin though. Skin on bones. It sends the message that because Bond is the ultimate man who only enjoys the finest women, the finest women are all size 0.
Movie grade: A-

Machine Gun Preacher
We were forced to watch this, and we aren't happy. Why don't people just let us pick the movies when we watch instant netflix? We know what we are doing. We have an entertainment blog. Ughhh. This movie was about a drug addict who found God and started fighting for Sudanese orphans. There was much mention of Kony. For an inspiring story laden with plot points that should have been touching (orphans, heroism, fatherhood, redemption, faith, and a strong marriage), the movie was emotionally barren. Also, it couldn't decide between having its main character being a vengeful, manly bad ass with a machine gun and having him be a brave, loving Christian who believes everyone is a child of God.

Since the movie was based on the book written by Sam Childers, the main character, the movie made us wonder if Sam was torn between being seen as a strong hero and actually giving glory to the deity he claims to worship. It's difficult to get rid of a love of violence and a view of power as the ultimate good when trying to move into a peaceful religion (see: the crusades). Sam is struggling with that. The movie doesn't reflect reality either. It, and Sam Childers, are controversial because of lies and neglect. In view of the whole truth, this movie just ended up depressing us. It wasn't well made and the characters were flat. It got boring and trite quickly. We should have known not to watch a Gerard Butler movie (only 300 was tolerable).
Movie grade: D-

Margin Call
This star-filled movie about the stock market crash would have benefited from writer Aaron Sorkin. This could have been the financial "Social Network," but it ended up not being as clever. As a result, it wasn't that entertaining. It was nice to see Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany Penn Badgley, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci and Demi Moore do something different. If this is what happened in 2008, we're ready to storm Wall Street too. However, we doubt it was that cut-and-dry and evil. Certainly greed was at work, but we think this movie gets its good reviews because of its message rather than its actual quality.
Movie grade: C+

Battle Royale
We finally watched the Japanese movie that so resembles The Hunger Games...in basic plot device only. This movie has more central teen characters, less emotion, less message, and more teen drama. It's also a lot funnier. That painting at the end had us reeling with laughter. Our favorite character was obviously Mitsuko. If you like violence and action, and you also don't mind a laugh with the two, or if you're a teenager, you'll like this movie. We'll stick with Katniss, but this was fun.
Movie grade: B

Once Upon a Time goes back to Red, The Walking Dead emphasizes that Rick is a Man's Man, Revenge gives us what we want, and Dexter makes LaGuerta more important

Angela George [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Once Upon a Time- Child of the Moon
We love that Red didn't stay with the pack for very long. She learned what she needed to know, and then she picked "herself" and Snow. King George is pretty cold. Killing Billy the Mouse, framing Red, and burning the hat? He's about to top Rumpy and Regina, who are bad guys we actually like and feel for. King George is the most one-dimensional villain on this show. It's fine to have one though. Charming is a much better leader and man this season, because David is pretty dead. We have yet another realm: the realm between the living and the dead. Aurora and Henry can go there, and Henry can kick ass there. Why does Rumpy like Henry? Because he's a kid? Hopefully the diamonds and fairy dust lead to mroe characters being able to use magic. We love the loyal, friendly females on this show. Snow, Red, Belle, Emma, Aurora, Mulan...They keep popping up. Take THAT, "women are catty and two-faced stereotype."
Episode grade: B

The Walking Dead- Say the Word
After Rick cried last week, he has to make it up to he-man viewers by expressing his grief by chopping down some zombies. Sorry Rick, we'll never forget that you were the pretty boy from Love, Actually that made everyone with ovaries swoon with those signs. The manlier thing to do would have been to help everyone deal with the aftermath and the baby. Could we love Daryl more? No. He saved the baby, gave her the first bottle, and...named her? We hope Lil' Ass Kicker sticks. At first, we thought the zombie Rick had found was Lori and the bullet didn't do its job. But then he stabbed it in the stomach, which probably means it was a zombie that had eaten Lori's remains. Nasty. This show is having trouble topping the bloated zombie in the well (as far as grossing us out goes). We could not love Michonne more. EW the Governor's yucky daughter!! That was sick. This episode was anything but boring, just like the rest of this season.
Episode grade: B+

Revenge- Penance
Things are too convoluted on this show. Conrad should have been killed off a long time ago. Someone finds out which Amanda is the real one, and he isn't even shocked enough for it to feel satisfying. Mason thought Emily and Amanda were lovers? We wish he had just jumped to the right conclusion immediately. This show is stalling for time. Nolan proves his devotion to Amanda; Daniel proves he isn't useless. We are so bored with both Padma and Ashley at this point. Kara the mom amounted to nothing. Amanda is taking way too long to get revenge. But none of our complaints thus far matter, because Aiden is back in with Amanda. He was snogging her at the end, as he would probably say. Yay for hotness!
Episode grade: C+

Dexter- Chemistry
The big development for us was LaGuerta associating Dexter's name with the Bay Harbor Butcher. After Deb dropped the subject, LaGuerta is probably wondering why. What a twist! The other big development was Deb asking Dexter to kill someone. Unfortunately, it's Hannah, and we all know how that's going to go from the previews. Poor Deb. One of the fun things about Dexter is that he lives and works near us. One of us actually lives ten minutes away from where the criminals kept Nadia for a while. It's fun to hear references to the familiar, and the show is true to Miami. Poor Price. That death came out of nowhere. Deb has the worst luck with men. Dexter needs to be careful. If he sticks around Hannah for long enough, she will probably try to kill him too.
Episode grade: B+