The TV and Film Guy's Reviews

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

I am Hereby Enchanted
2008-03-13 00:34:00
Spoofing one's self is always a dangerous proposition. If you don't poke quite enough fun at yourself you will be seen as soft; poke too much at yourself and you risk destroying all your previous work. Magically, wonderfully, Disney managed to get the balance just right in one of their latest releases, Enchanted .Directed by Kevin Lima (Tarzan), the film stars Amy Adams as Giselle, a cartoon woman from a fairy tale, who, naturally, is destined to marry a prince (James Marsden). The prince's wicked stepmother, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), fearing loss of control of the kingdom, sends Giselle to the real world. After some misadventures in New York, Giselle is found by Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and his daughter, Morgan (Rachel Covey). Reluctantly, Robert takes Giselle in and tries to help her find her way in the wiles of New York City. At the same time that Giselle learns about this new land, she tries to explain to Robert and Morgan they way things are where she co...

Bugatti! I Like Top Gear
2008-03-12 03:41:00
I know very little about cars, I can admit that. In fact, I happily admit it. I think there's no shame in not knowing about cars. I can drive a stick and have been known to go 88 MPH on occasion (just to see if it would work without a flux capacitor), but before last night I had no idea what a Bugatti Veyron was. My life has now changed forever.Not because I'm now aware (as Wikipedia informed me) that money is lost by Bugatti on every Veyron made, but because I watched a Bugatti Veyron go head to head with a Eurofighter Typhoon in a two-mile drag race on Top Gear . That's right, it's Tuesday so we're talking Monday night television, and Monday night television is Top Gear. I don't know what I did before I became aware of Top Gear, and I certainly don't know what I'm going to do when its season ends. Sure, How I Met Your Mother is going to come back next week, and I can't express my joy at that, but Top Gear is, well, as I've said before,...

...And Justice For All? I'd Watch it, but I Wouldn't Believe in it
2008-03-11 02:52:00
Perhaps at the time best known as the director of In The Heat of the Night or Fiddler on the Roof, in 1979 Norman Jewison directed Al Pacino in the legal drama …And Justice For All. The film, though at times very interesting, wildly oscillates between comedy and drama. While it succeeds at both, it doesn't always succeed at melding the two.…And Justice For All stars Pacino as Arthur Kirkland, a defense attorney who tries to do his best for all his clients, no matter how rich or poor. The film follows Kirkland as he works on the cases of a myriad of clients, some guilty and some not. The film interweaves the stories of his various clients in an attempt to show how justice is, routinely, perverted. It's not just the rich who have an easier time than the poor; in this film everything depends greatly on the judge who tries the case. The film also spends a good deal of its time and energy on the lawyers and judges who surround Kirkland. First, there is Jay Por...
More About: Watch

Which Old Witch? The Wicked Witch of The Celebrity Apprentice
2008-03-08 01:56:00
I feel as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I woke up this morning and the air seemed fresher, the sky brighter, and all the birds were chirping. I felt as though I'd entered a new, better world today. Why is that? Isn't it obvious? Omarosa was booted off The Celebrity Apprentice last night.Okay, that may sound like a small thing, and something that we all knew was coming down the line anyway, but it was still wonderful to actually see it happen. Just knowing that it was on the way wasn't really enough for me. I had to see her go down in flames with my own eyes. And it was even better because it was Piers Morgan, her nemesis, who helped usher in her firing. It was a beautiful thing. Sadly though, I could imagine a scenario in which the firing would have been even better. Omarosa knew even before she entered the boardroom last night that she was going home. She didn't really try to fight it; she took a couple of shots at Piers and made a hal...
More About: Wicked , Celebrity Apprentice , Witch

How I Met Your Mother is one of the Funniest Shows on TV... and You're Kill
2008-03-07 00:22:00
To clear up a misconception, not only do I watch an inordinate amount of television, I read an inordinate amount about television. After all, how can one fully stay up on the television news if one does not read about it as well as watch it? Well, one of the things I've read recently has troubled me, troubled me greatly. One of the best shows on television, perhaps the funniest comedy on television, may not get renewed for next season; it is, as the people say, "on the bubble." I'm counting on you, dear reader, to watch the show when it returns next month, to get all your friends to watch the show, and to get all their friends to watch the show. A world in which How I Met Your Mother does not get a fourth season is not necessarily a world I want to be a part of.Oh sure, you've heard me rant and rave before about How I Met Your Mother is one of the funniest shows on television, about how Neil Patrick Harris is deserving of an Emmy for his portrayal of Barney Stinson, and about ho...
More About: Kill

Balki is Back as Perfect Strangers Comes to DVD
2008-03-06 04:56:00
Everyone has their favorite television shows from years past. Some shows from our childhood will always hold a special place in our hearts. Watching some of these programs on DVD years later can be a depressing experience. Well, the television show Perfect Strangers , which has just released its first two seasons onto DVD, is just such an experience.The show, launched as a mid-season replacement in 1986, was a success and aired through August of 1993. It followed the story of Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) and his (very) distant cousin, Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot). The show starts out with Larry, a mid-20-something man from Wisconsin having moved to Chicago to live alone and pursue his dreams of becoming a photojournalist. One day (the day the show begins) Larry answers a knock on the door to find out that a cousin he never knew, Balki, has arrived from the island of Mypos to live with him. The culture clash is instant as Balki has little to no idea about U.S. customs other...
More About: Back

Oh That Top Gear, I am Smitten
2008-03-05 01:49:00
Okay, I've only seen two episodes so far, but Top Gear is quickly becoming my favorite show on television. I'm contemplating TiVoing the old episodes that BBC America is airing along with the new ones so that I can see more of it. Frankly, truth be told, I'm considering re-watching last night's episode because I enjoyed it so much.But why is that? What about the show is just so wonderful that I'm falling in love with it? Well, it's not the supercharged cars. I'll give you that the cars are very cool, but I'm not someone obsessed with cars, so that's not why I'm tuning in. It's the hosts. It all comes down to those three brilliant, wonderful, wacky, zany men. For those of you who don't recall, they are Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond. I don't care what they pretend to be or not be, these are three smart men who go out and act like complete and total buffoons, and that's funny.Last night the men were char...

I Hope Fox and The Simpsons Never Get Unhitched
2008-03-04 05:28:00
I was sitting there last night watching The Simpsons , when a thought struck me (the same thought that usually strikes me when I watch The Simpsons) -- how have these guys been doing the show for so many years and still manage to keep it funny? Do you realize that the show started in 1989 (and was on Tracey Ullman before that)? That is a long time. A long time. There are students in college who were born after the show started its run. Do you see what I'm saying? Bart has been in the fourth grade for 19 television seasons. Nineteen. Sure, he got moved back to third grade for one episode, but that doesn't really count (as it also doesn't count that Lisa advanced from second to third grade for that episode). I know that there has been a huge turnover in staff, including show runners, the style of comedy has morphed repeatedly, and the animation has improved, but through it all it's still The Simpsons and that's truly amazing. Plus, they don't show any s...
More About: Hope

I Think The Celebrity Apprentice may be Lost
2008-03-01 22:41:00
Ah Lost , how do I love thee, let me count the ways…First, the intricacy of the plot amazes me.  In a world in which so many shows seem to operate on an episode-by-episode basis, where things seem to be invented from week to week and new links to old stories that don't really work are magic-ed into existence, I feel as though you have actually thought through in advance what you want to happen.  I know that sometimes that's not always the case, external factors are always a concern, but you guys seem to have it all planned out and I appreciate that.  Second, you actually seem to answer questions in the series.  I know that it's true that you haven't answered the huge underlying questions of the series, and I actually don't hold out much hope for a nice pat resolution, but you have answered a ton of questions.  In season one everyone wanted to know what was in the hatch.  Now we know.  You've answered questions about th...
More About: Celebrity , Celebrity Apprentice , Apprentice

Digging Up Some Dirt with Courteney Cox
2008-02-28 19:48:00
The fallout from the writer's strike is going to continue to last for some time. Premiering this Sunday, March 2, is the second season of FX's Dirt , which, due to the strike, ended up only producing seven episodes instead of the initially ordered 13. This shortened season is a shame for the show, which I found too pointlessly dark and depressing in its first season, which seems to have a hit a wonderful stride in season two. Season two starts off with Lucy Spiller (Courteney Cox , who also serves as an executive producer on the show) in the hospital after her fateful run-in with an attacker's knife at the end of season one. The stabbing has left Spiller a changed person, as Cox put it in a recent interview: She definitely has a different outlook on life. She doesn’t take it quite so seriously. I think she’s a little more appreciative of what she has… I think she just likes her job more as opposed to needing to tell the truth for some personal rea...

Top Gear Runs Hot, but quarterlife Leaves Me Cold
2008-02-28 00:39:00
I know I'm a day late with this one, but hopefully I'm not a dollar short… Top Gear . The new season started on Monday night on BBC America, and though I'm not a gear head, I'm an instant fan. I'd heard prior to the new season starting that the show was fun, but for some reason I'd never really got around to watching it. But, what with my usual weekly fare on hiatus there was a 45-minute window in my viewing schedule and I slotted Top Gear in. Now, frankly, I'm not quite sure what I did without it. Okay, that's an overstatement. It's fun, but it's not the be all and end all of television. I'm going to continue watching for the rest of the season, though. For those of you who haven't seen it, Top Gear focuses on driving and all things remotely relevant to it. They test cars, they talk to celebrities about cars (and make the celebs run the Top Gear course in a car), and last night they went searching for the best driving ro...
More About: Cold , Runs , Quarterlife

Justice League is Back... Again.
2008-02-27 04:27:00
It seems as though the number of "origin stories" in the comic book world vastly exceeds the number of superheroes. It feels as though every few years the origins of our favorite heroes and groups are reexamined, rethought, and retold. Taking these comic book legends and putting them on film (either animated or live action) allows for yet another telling of these ever-popular tales.Releasing direct-to-DVD this week is a new look at the founding of Justice League (a group of the most popular DC comic heroes). Based on Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel, Justice League - The New Frontier provides origin stories for several superheroes as well as the founding of the League. The animated feature boasts an impressive voice cast including David Boreanaz (Angel), Brooke Shields (Lipstick Jungle), Miguel Ferrer (Bionic Woman), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Kyle MacLachlan (Desperate Housewives), and Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess). However, with the incred...
More About: Back

Well Feather my Velociraptor and Call me Shirley (Nova Sure Does)
2008-02-26 05:57:00
While in no way belittling those who study dinosaurs, it feels as though anytime a science documentary series is not quite sure what to do their next episode about dinosaurs are trotted out.  Dinosaurs are the "go to" animals.  People love them – they terrify, they awe, and for some reason, they inspire.  Though they've been extinct for millions, there seems to always be something new and different happening in the world of dinosaurs. This week, Nova trots out dinosaurs in their latest episode, the aptly titled "The Four-Winged Dinosaur."  The episode follows the discovery and discussion surrounding a discovery of Xu Xing, a Chinese paleontologist who, upon receiving a fossil of a four-winged dinosaur recognized it as such (no one before him had seen, or perhaps recognized, such a creature). Xu Xing named the creature a Microraptor.  No sooner had Xu Xing named the creature and written up a paper about it than alternate theories...
More About: Call , Feather , Shirley

The Cashmere Jungle's Lipstick Mafia
2008-02-23 04:04:00
This was the week it finally happened. I confused Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle. I was watching both last night, one after the other, which probably had something to do with it. It's a mistake that I would not make again even if Cashmere Mafia wasn't done for the season.Here's exactly what happened. Caitlin was in trouble with her boss for their makeup company having been dropped completely from the Fashion Week lineup. Caitlin was tasked with finding a designer in need of help. "Oh perfect," I thought "Victory is in trouble with her fashion designing and could surely use the boost." It was so simple. It was so easy. I thought it was a little too obvious for the producers of the show to have concocted such a scheme; Victory has been in trouble for weeks and there Caitlin is, all of the sudden tasked with helping a designer during fashion week. The only problem with my thought is that Caitlin and Victory are on two different shows. When I...

Hacking and Slashing Through Zemeckis's Beowulf
2008-02-22 23:19:00
In the motion picture industry it seems that technological improvements never cease.  Sometimes they lead to amazing and wonderful things (the original Star Wars) and sometimes they don't (Star Wars:  Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace).  A few years ago Robert Zemeckis directed the motion capture animated film The Polar Express.  It looked… different.  At moments it appeared amazing, but there was an almost inhuman look to the characters that was disturbing.  Just released to DVD is Zemeckis's next foray into the world of motion capture motion pictures, Beowulf .  This new movie has a much improved look to it, and while not all the characters always look quite alive, it is still a spectacular visual experience.Based on the old English epic poem, the movie follows the hero Beowulf (Ray Winstone) as he battles Grendel (Crispin Glover), Grendel's mother (Angelina Jolie), a dragon, and his own internal conflicts.  The main sta...

What the Television Networks will do to Spite Me
2008-02-22 02:37:00
Fine, I get it, I see where I stand. Week after I sit here and tell people how great the cast is on Law & Order, how it's really gelled once more, how it's fun to watch again, how I'm impressed story after story. So, what's the result? Jesse L. Martin is leaving the show. I tell you that it's finally great and wonderful again, so it has to be changed. Of course it does. In honor of that, let's take a look at what else will could make my television viewing life complete.First, Omarosa could be given her own show, and I mean really her own show rather than her just co-opting Trump's. Every week could feature Omarosa picking someone off the street and hurling epithets at them. She could look at someone, size them up, decide whether a personal attack aimed at the individual's mother, brother, or receding hairline would best throw them for a loop and begin yelling. For Sweeps I imagine that she could be sitting in a security office somewhere, ...
More About: Television , Networks

Highlander - The Source Makes Me Wish the Franchise Wasn't Immortal
2008-02-20 23:50:00
Some franchises never seem to go away. They may ebb and flow, but they do not disappear. Some franchises appear to be immortal.Such has been the case with Highlander , a franchise that started with a film in 1986, has had three other theatrical releases, no fewer than three television series, animated features, novels, comic books, and last fall a made-for-television movie that is being released on DVD on February 26.This latest feature film to enter the canon, Highlander: The Source (directed by Brett Leonard), follows the story of Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul), the lead character in the Highlander television series. Without a basic knowledge of the other movies or television series (the latter helps far more than the former), everything that takes place in this film is wholly indecipherable. A bigger problem is that even if one is aware of what happened in the various series and films, there is little present to care about here.The movie picks up an unspecified number of years ...
More About: The Source , Franchise , Immortal

The Spring of my Televisual Discontent
2008-02-20 01:22:00
It's a weird feeling.  The writers' strike is over and I feel like television is now starting to wind down, when instead I ought to think it is spooling back up. American Gladiators is done.  Las Vegas is done.  Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles is winding down.  There's a lot of TV out there that just isn't going to come back until September at best.  I know, there are a bunch of things that are going to be coming back (How I Met Your Mother for one), but it's all left me feeling very empty inside.  Sure, The Riches (which I complain about but enjoy) is due to start up soon on FX, but the season is only going to be 7 episodes instead of 13.  The same is true of Dirt which starts in about a week and a half.  There's this notion that the TV season is going be "salvaged," to some extent anyway, but I just don't see it.  Or, more accurately, I just don't feel it.  A lot of series wi...
More About: Spring

An American Gangster Comes Calling
2008-02-19 04:30:00
Packed with star power, American Gangster entered theaters late last fall. With Ridley Scott at the helm and Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe on screen together for the first time in a dozen years, the film was sure to receive decent box office returns. More importantly than that though, the "based on a true story" gangster film is great fun to watch. The film is really two separate stories, one with Washington and one with Crowe; the two actors do not even share a scene together until the final minutes. One of the stories follows a crime boss, Frank Lucas (Washington), and the other a cop, Richie Roberts (Crowe), who is out to take drugs off the streets. Roberts doesn't set out to get Lucas -- he doesn't even know Lucas exists when he begins -- but his investigations eventually lead him there.At the outset of the film, Lucas is working for "Bumpy" Johnson, a gangster in Harlem, who teaches Lucas everything he knows about the right and wrong way t...
More About: Calling , American Gangster

Nova Goes Ape (and not the Grape Variety)
2008-02-18 01:01:00
In Nova 's latest episode, the series makes it quite clear that we still have a lot to learn about the world in which we live.  Specifically, the show focuses on apes, and how they act differently than we once thought they did.  For instance, some like to go swimming and can use sticks to poke at things.  Others have the ability to learn how to count and operate simple machines.  They still don't learn in the same way as humans, but they do learn.The whole episode is, nominally, interesting, and some of the experiments are intriguing, but, as a whole, it leaves the viewer wondering why they bothered watching, or why the producers bothered putting the whole episode together.  Watching an ape learn that if they spin a disc and pull on a lever they can get a grape is all well and good, but the episode fails to really paint a larger picture.  It makes some stabs at establishing a grandiose theory or opinion, but nothing that really satisfies. Th...
More About: Variety

Lipstick Jungle and Celebrity Apprentice Rile Me Up
2008-02-16 04:03:00
I shouldn't be -- I know I shouldn't be -- but I'm just completely infuriated. Last night I watched The Celebrity Apprentice, which I know I've ranted about before but am about to do so again, and Lipstick Jungle (okay, I watched Lost too, but that I just loved, it didn't upset me at all).On The Donald's show, which is becoming more ludicrous with every passing episode, Omarosa and Piers Morgan butted heads repeatedly last night. Piers is no saint, that's true, but Omarosa's attacks were beyond personal. Her attacks didn't just go after Piers, but went after his family as well. It was inane, it was childish, and they were even on the same team for this task. Now, amazingly, their team won. Despite Omarosa's interrupting the entire task repeatedly and bringing in no money whatsoever on her own, the team won. In the boardroom, Piers explained exactly what Omarosa had said about him and how it was unacceptable. He was right. There's ...
More About: Lipstick Jungle , Celebrity Apprentice

Law & Order all About Content, Cashmere Mafia all About Clothes
2008-02-15 01:23:00
If you're like me (and really, who isn't?), you stopped watching Law & Order a couple of seasons back. Figuring that its best days were behind it, that the new cast was simply no good, and that the "ripped from the headlines-ness" of the show had run its course, we found better things to watch on Wednesday nights (like maybe Lost twice in a row in order to pick up all the little things we missed the first time around). Well, Lost is now on Thursdays and the cast is far improved from what it was a short while ago, so there's no reason to not be watching Law & Order again. Jack McCoy is now the D.A. (on an interim basis right now, but he's going to run once the current term is over, I'm sure), and the new crew of folks is just incredible. I've said it before, but it bears repeating: Jeremy Sisto and Linus Roache bring an edge to the series that has been missing in recent years (and, both are from the vastly underrated series Kidnapped, which was on NBC briefly in the fal...
More About: Clothes , Content , Mafia , Cashmere Mafia

American Gladiators' Filler (and Commercials) Far Less Delicious than a Jel
2008-02-12 23:20:00
So, it seems as though the writers will be heading back to work soon. There is not yet a complete list of which shows will resume production for the spring, will shows will just opt to return in the fall, and which shows will never be heard from again. Partial lists have been compiled, but until the writers vote to return to work it's all relatively speculative anyway. Therefore, let's ignore all of that for now and focus on what matters, namely, American Gladiators .You think I jest, but I do not. We're talking about American Gladiators whether you like it or not (admit it, you like it, you just don't want anyone to know). I like it too, but I have some reservations. The 90 minute editions NBC has been airing for the semi-finals add in one more event, which I think is better for the show, but the longer edition also sports an extra 15 or 20 minutes of commercials. No joke. I started watching it on my TiVo about 10 minutes late last night, had caught up before...
More About: Commercials , Delicious

Affleck and Affleck Manage to Get Gone Baby Gone
2008-02-12 19:56:00
Sometimes, when all else fails, one has to stop, assess the situation, and come up with a new strategy. It might cost a lot emotionally, mentally, and physically to do so, but the pause might lead to better things down the road, possibly even a happy ending. Even if things don't work out perfectly for the protagonist of Gone Baby Gone, things seem to be looking up for its director, Ben Affleck . For the past few years, Affleck's acting career seemed in peril as movie after movie performed below expectations at the box office. So, the star took a break from being in front of the camera and decided to go behind it for a change. Along with Aaron Stockard, Affleck adapted Dennis Lehane's novel, Gone Baby Gone , and turned it in to a solid feature film directorial debut. The movie is a gritty thriller that follows private detective Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and his partner Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) as they search for a missing young girl. The two are helping (and som...
More About: Manage

The Great Astrospies Space Race
2008-02-11 17:30:00
Imagine for a moment orbital space stations that house astronauts and have telescopic lenses not pointed towards the stars, but rather down onto the earth. Maybe some of these space stations have guns mounted to them so as to ward off possible enemy attacks. It may sound a little out there, possibly even like the plot of a James Bond film (in reality it's similar to a couple of James Bond film plots), but the ideas were drawn up during the height of the cold war. The Soviets even launched their gun-mounted space station and managed to take some photos. This week's Nova episode delves into the story of the Soviet and U.S. "astrospies." According to the episode, the United States came up with the plan for their astronaut-spies after processing a roll of film that came back from a camera up in space and rather than seeing Soviet missile sites saw the tops of clouds. The theory was that a person in space would have had the good sense not to photograph the clouds ...
More About: Space , Great , Race , Space Race

Words of Caution to The Celebrity Apprentice and Donald Trump
2008-02-09 00:40:00
There is a basic contract that exists between reality TV show watchers and reality TV show producers - we, the watchers, will accept the rules as you set them forth, ludicrous though they may be, provided that you (and the cast) do, too. Sure, a couple of tricks and surprises are fair, but if we're given the criteria by which people will be booted from the island, house, boardroom, or whatever it is, we expect it to be upheld. Look at last night's Celebrity Apprentice and the ever-growing embarrassment that is Donald Trump . A few weeks ago Gene Simmons was fired because he brought two people back into the boardroom who did nothing wrong during that task. Trump explained to Gene that he was making a mistake, that Nely Galán ought to be brought back, and that Trump couldn't fire the people Gene wanted to bring in because he wouldn't base his decision on past transgressions. Okay, fair enough, Trump will only fire based upon the task at hand. Good to know....
More About: Words

Train Wreck Television Rules on Wednesday Nights
2008-02-08 05:09:00
What is wrong with Wednesday television? If you ask me, there is some sort of drastic, major, monstrous, huge problem with it.First, The Moment of Truth. People watch this. It's as close as television has ever gotten to televising a train wreck and apparently we're all rubber-neckers. Seriously. These depraved, money-hungry individuals go on the show and reveal their deepest, darkest secrets, or they would if any of them went far enough along in the competition to where the questions were actually personal. I think that in last night's hour of television (44 minutes or so without commercials) something like 12 or 15 questions were asked, and virtually none of them were personal. Reality television as a whole seems to have decided that pauses are the same as creating tension, and they're not. In The Moment of Truth not only does the host pause before asking the question, the guest pauses before answering it, and then the pre-recorded voice pauses before statin...
More About: Television , Train , Rules , Nights

Charlie Brown Sends a Valentine to All of Us
2008-02-06 23:13:00
In this day of South Park and The Simpsons, there is something refreshing about going back and watching a couple of Peanuts specials.  With Valentine 's Day on the way people will have the chance to do just that with the recent release of a remastered edition of Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown .  The DVD release includes not just the titled program, but two others, You're in Love, Charlie Brown and It's Your Fist Kiss, Charlie Brown, as well. Watching all three titles it becomes clear that there is a reason why Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown is the most famous of the episodes included.  The story follows Charlie Brown as Valentine's Day approaches, and passes, without him receiving a single valentine.  Most notably, of course, he wants one from the little red-haired girl, not that she notices him at all.  The rest of the Peanuts appears in the episode as well, and their trials and tribulations with love are simultaneously funny and heartfelt.&nb...

The Gladiators Get Terminated
2008-02-06 04:26:00
Let's face it, no matter how much we wish it were different, life's not fair. It just isn't and it never will be. I just wish that television reality shows could be more fair. Maybe "even" is a better word for it.Take a look at last night's American Gladiators . I know that it can't be easy to establish any sort of parity between the contenders. They may all perform spectacularly in whatever tests and trials they are given before being on the show, but that doesn't ensure a close match (not everything, after all, can be as spectacularly even an event as my Giants taking down the "perfect" Patriots this past weekend). Evan was just head and shoulders better than his competition, Anthony, last night. It wasn't remotely close. As much as I may have wanted Anthony to win (and I did), I'm not sure that Evan is beatable. He flies through the Eliminator unlike everyone else in the competition. Evan doesn't look like anything ...

Helping to Prop Up That Last Restaurant Standing
2008-02-05 01:52:00
By now the conventions of reality television contests are well understood.  Even when shows in the genre hop across the pond they are quickly understood and digestible.  Minor differences may exist here and there, but anyone tuning in to BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing which premieres on February 12 (with a special sneak preview on February 7) will easily recognize virtually everything they see.  Better than that though, they'll enjoy it.Last Restaurant Standing is one of those truly enjoyable reality shows.  There are nine teams of two, each vying to open a restaurant with chef Raymond Blanc.  Though all the teams live together, every team operates a different restaurant.  The three teams that perform the worst during a week square off one more time in order to determine which team will be eliminated.Rather than using the Hell's Kitchen-style quick, down-and-dirty competitions, things on Last Restaurant Standing are far mor...
More About: Prop