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If We Own the Night Together, Will You Buy Me Out?
2008-02-02 01:38:00
Sometimes sitting down to watch a movie one gets the impression that the director was sticking to a straight paint-by-numbers ethos. Police dramas dealing mainly with a single family are particularly easy to do in this matter. One only has to show the good policeman son, the wayward son, the disappointed policeman father, and their love interests to know exactly where everything is headed. One can practically determine exactly how much is left of the movie based solely on the number of times the brothers have fought. Once the inevitable car chase occurs, the timeline becomes even more clear.The James Gray (The Yards) directed We Own the Night is just such a movie. While it boasts a good cast that includes Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, and Robert Duvall, the film never strays from showing exactly what the audience expects to see exactly when they expect to see it.Phoenix stars as Bobby Green, a nightclub manager who has eschewed the bosom of his family, and has even started to...

Hey, Tootsie!
2008-02-01 03:08:00
The notion of men wearing women's clothes has been a part of comedy for decades. Sometimes it works wonderfully (Some Like it Hot), other times it doesn't (White Chicks), but no matter the results it is a virtually certainty that the genre will continue. Tootsie, one of the best films to utilize this trope, is getting a DVD release in "25th Anniversary" format. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Teri Garr, and Jessica Lange (among others), the Sydney Pollack film doesn't only go for the cheap laugh, it attempts to garner a deeper understanding of gender relations. It is a comedy that is at turns serious and funny, and almost always successful at both. In the film, Hoffman is Michael Dorsey, a down-and-out actor who can't seem to land a role. Anytime he does actually succeed in getting a part he ruins it by arguing about his character with the director. After his agent informs him that no one in either New York or Los Angeles wants to work with him, he comes up ...

George W. Bush and Presidential Politics go Toe-to-Toe with American Gladia
2008-01-30 00:01:00
Listen, the President was on TV last night, ruining most of what the writers' strike left intact, and I don't really talk politics here, so I'm going to pretty much avoid any discussion of what he said. Let me just say, though, that I believe nothing any politician has to say, ever. The reason this entire electoral process is so depressing is that we, the television watching public, get told nothing but lies for months on end only to be told that the "other side" prevented what we wanted from getting done being done after the election. The egos involved are just too massive and no matter what any politician tells us, they're not going to work for bipartisanship, it would cost them too much face. Okay, there, I said I wasn't going to talk about the President ruining my television watching, but I did. The one thing I could cling to last night was American Gladiators, that bastion of entertainment which looked like a game of touch football compared wi...
More About: Politics , Bush , Presidential , George W Bush , George W

Nova Knows a Secret (of the Parthenon)
2008-01-29 04:49:00
The Parthenon, which has existed for 2500 years, just may be the largest jigsaw puzzle ever created. Despite the fact that all its columns look perfectly straight, as does the floor, and just about ever other piece of marble in the building, none of it is. Thus, the massive restoration project currently underway at the top of the Acropolis in Greece is an incredibly slow and painstaking one.Nova 's latest episode, "Secret s of the Parthenon," uses the restoration project as a stepping stone to discuss the original construction of the building and the Athenian way of life 25 centuries ago. It is an at times fascinating look into an ancient culture that has greatly influenced our society to this day.The Parthenon itself was built during Athens' "Golden Age," and despite its immense size and weight (many of the marble pieces weigh several tons) it took less than 10 years to construct (historians are unsure whether it was 8 or 9). From that time to this, th...

It's Good to be the King of California
2008-01-28 04:09:00
There seems to be an emerging niche genre in Hollywood - quirky, off-beat dramas featuring eccentric characters. The movies try to be funny and smart, tearful and hopeful at the same time (Sideways and Little Miss Sunshine come to the fore immediately). Many of the films tend to succeed, but they all have a similar feel to them, one that allows you to know the ending before it happens and gives you the sense that you've seen the picture before.King of California , written and directed by Mike Cahill, stars Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood in just such a movie. To be sure, it's good and it's sweet and fun, but it has a terrible feeling of repetitiveness to it. Douglas's role in the movie is that of Charlie, a relatively harmless but less-than-sane individual who has just been released from a mental hospital. Evan Rachel Wood acts opposite Douglas as Miranda, his nearly 17-year-old daughter who has had to grow up too quickly because of her father's childish...
More About: The King , Good

NBC Chucks out a Couple of Episodes on Thursday Night
2008-01-26 01:56:00
We live in an odd world. Last night NBC aired what it referred to as a "Chuck sandwich." It was an episode of Chuck followed by The Celebrity Apprentice followed by another Chuck. In my world I'd call that a Celebrity Apprentice sandwich (you wouldn't call turkey on rye a "rye sandwich," would you?), but apparently NBC does things differently. The exact goal was unclear; some have referred to NBC's tactic as simply "burning off" the last new episodes of Chuck that were produced before the WGA strike. Others have suggested that NBC's plan may, at one time, have been to leverage the good ratings the new Apprentice received to bring new fans to Chuck as the execs had faith in the scripted spy comedy. The precise thoughts that would have gone into this second option are decidedly murky. It is true that Chuck may have garnered new fans had the Celebrity Apprentice's ratings maintained the level that the show premiered at, but to wh...
More About: Night , Episodes , Couple , Thursday

A Look at Some British Television on DVD
2008-01-25 00:27:00
As we all know by now, the television and film writers are on strike. One of the things they're requesting is an increase in the residuals from DVD sales. This can put the consumer in something of an awkward bind - there's not much on TV right now and there's a whole lot you want to watch that's out on DVD, but you don't want to buy something now and cheat the writers of out the larger residual that they may end up getting if you bought the DVD in a couple of weeks or months. What are you to do? I think I have an answer: go British . There is a ton of really good, really fun British television out there on DVD; it's stuff you probably haven't seen but is all well worth your time. I'm in no way advocating not buying American shows, I'm just providing an alternative to the consumption of a product at this moment that may benefit the workers if it is consumed at a later date. This is just a suggestion of some recent and not-so-recent releases o...
More About: Television

Boston Legal Tackles Abortion
2008-01-24 01:39:00
Did you watch Boston Legal last night? No? You missed out. It was one of the best episodes the series has done in a long time, maybe ever. Last night, they tackled abortion, and managed to do it in a way so as to attempt to get in everyone's point of view and avoided getting preachy on the subject. The closest the show came to preaching was suggesting that rather than the legality of abortion being decided by the Justices of the Supreme Court, it ought to be determined by popular vote. The case in question specifically dealt with a woman who engaged in oral sex with a man, placed his semen into a test tube, and brought it to a fertility clinic so that she could be impregnated with it. The man did not wish to have a child with this woman; he in fact specifically ensured that the two did not engage in the traditional baby-making sort of intercourse so as to avoid just such a problem (condoms not being 100% effective). He wasn't distressed with the notion of having to h...
More About: Abortion , Boston Legal

Terminating the Idea of Sportmanship
2008-01-23 05:08:00
Over the last few weeks somehow Mondays have become a night of terminating.  First there was American Gladiators, which is all about terminating the competition, and now there's Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles, too.  If there's ever been a show more about terminating I can't imagine it.Except of course that last night Sarah Connor didn't terminate anyone.  She had this perfectly good guy, Andy, who ought to have been terminated, but she didn't do it.  Andy, you see, developed this awesome computer that was really swell at playing chess and had apparently developed "moods" and the ability to think for itself.  There Sarah was, trying to work out who was going to create Skynet now that Miles Dyson is dead, and she had a great candidate.  Andy had even worked as an intern for Dyson at Cyberdyne.  Sarah ought to have ended him then and there, but she didn't do it.Listen, stop your foolishness, it's no...
More About: Idea

George, George, George of the Jungle
2008-01-22 01:17:00
Jay Ward is responsible for putting on television numerous beloved cartoon characters, characters that have found a life far longer than their initial television run. From Rocky and Bullwinkle to Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman, to Dudley Do-Right, the characters he helped create have continued to please audiences in new and different incarnations.The latest character up for rebirth is George of the Jungle , whose new cartoon series began this past weekend on Cartoon Network. Sticking with the title of the character and the original series, this new George of the Jungle is a fun little cartoon which, while it may not live up to the original, still provides ample amusement. The series follows George, king of the jungle and general goofball, as he gets into and out of various scrapes. Ape is still around as George's right-hand simian, and the theme promises that Shep the Elephant will make an appearance (though he was absent from the premiere). Each 30 minute episode is compr...
More About: The Jungle

Gene Simmons's Kiss of Death
2008-01-19 00:56:00
I fear that The Celebrity Apprentice just took a major turn for the worse. Last night -- and don't read this if you don't want to know what happened -- poor Gene Simmons got fired. Scratch that, stupid Gene Simmons got fired. Scratch that, the brilliant Gene Simmons got fired. Last night during the boardroom sequence, Simmons practically begged to be fired. He wanted to be fired. He seemed to need to be fired. Trump told him that he was bringing the wrong person (Omarosa) back into the boardroom, but Simmons insisted on doing it. Trump told Simmons to bring Nely Galán into the boardroom, but Simmons wouldn't. Trump practically told Simmons that Nely would be fired and that Simmons could save his own skin, but Simmons didn't.Gene Simmons is a smart man, so the question becomes why he acted in this way. Every week it was Simmons who did a better job than the other team and won the task for his team. This week, Simmons ran a better campaign, but the c...
More About: Kiss , Death , Mons

Cashmere Mafia Doesn't Upset Me (and There May be Something Wrong With That
2008-01-18 00:45:00
Heaven help me, I didn't hate Cashmere Mafia yesterday.  I know, that should be a good thing, but for some reason it isn't.  I went into the episode fully expecting to be just as displeased with it this week as I was last week (you may recall I was quite displeased).  Sure there were still moments that irked me, irked me mightily, but there were actually some vaguely interesting things in there too.Bonnie Sommerville's character, Caitlin, the make-up PR person, is so far one of the most interesting on the show.  She has apparently, relationship-wise, been a mess her whole life and is now contemplating whether or not she might be homosexual.  She says, I think truthfully, that she is more interested in finding a good relationship with someone that she cares for than concerning herself with whether she is gay or straight.  I like that attitude.  She wants to be happy and be with someone who makes her happy.  If it's a woman, it&#...
More About: Wrong , Upset , Cashmere Mafia

Boston Legal and I get Connected
2008-01-17 01:30:00
I think the scripted shows that networks have in the can are nearly eliminated. Sure, there are a couple of extra episode here and there that are going to be aired in the coming weeks (NBC is throwing up the last two filmed episodes of Chuck next Thursday).Last night there was a new Boston Legal (and I think there's another new one next week), but "new" for Boston Legal seems to be a relative term. The episode last night centered around Denny being crazy and insisting on doing a trial by himself. Assuming that there have been about 85 or 90 episodes of Boston Legal on the air, I think it's safe to say that no fewer than 40 of them have dealt with Denny's being crazy and no fewer than ten of those have featured Denny insisting that he could handle a trial all by himself. This is to say that while the episode was technically "new" it was really just the same story with some of the specifics change around. It was still fun, it was still amusing, an...
More About: Connected

Terminators and Gladiators Kill - One with Bullets, the Other with Kindness
2008-01-16 00:29:00
Do you know what I like?  I like good television.  It's just who I am.  I think that Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles represents good television.  I'm not convinced of it, I may yet be proven wrong, but after two episodes it seems like a pretty solid show to me.  Frankly, the main quibbles I have with the series are all continuity ones that go back to the films on which the show is based.  Once one accepts, if one can, that the producers of the show are making the myth their own rather than simply building on what came before, most of those worries go away.  Look at the good in last night's episode.  There were some decent action sequences including one featuring Summer Glau as Cameron, our good guy Terminator, attacking some random new bad guy Terminator.  Cameron also shot a man on the presumption that he may have been lying and she was also a hair's breadth away from taking out a cop.  Sure, she'...
More About: Kindness , Kill , Bullets , Gladiators , Terminators

Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau, and Scott Baio Make for a Golden (Globes Free)
2008-01-14 21:39:00
Well, it's Monday and there you are thinking to yourself, "Golly, I wonder if Josh watched TV last night." Come on now, what kind of a silly question is that? Obviously I watched TV. It's what I do. I sat there and I watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles last night. I sat there and watched the new season of Scott Baio is 46… and Single, too. What I didn't do was watch the Golden Globes press conference. What sort of foolishness was that anyway? I completely understand the need of the Hollywood Foreign Press to put out their awards, but I don't understand why NBC tried to make a three-hour special out of it. Two hours of Dateline is almost always too much, and then an hour of awards being announced that took about half the time if you chose to watch it on CNN, or E!, or TV Guide, or wherever else it was shown. Yeah, I can't imagine it.Okay, Sarah Connor and my thoughts (you're reading this so it's kind of implied that y...
More About: Summer , Free , Thomas

Funny, I Would Have Called it International Treasure
2008-01-13 19:09:00
The incredible success of Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code spawned innumerable copycats.  One of the most successful of these, released before The Da Vinci Code film, is the Nicolas Cage adventure caper, National Treasure .  Directed by John Turteltaub (Phenomenon), the film went on to gross over 170 million dollars at the box office and has spawned a very successful sequel that is currently still in theatres.  The original National Treasure has also recently been released to DVD in a 2-disc "collector's edition."The film follows the story of Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage) as he quests to find a massive treasure hidden by a group of Masons who were among the  founders of this country (and descendants of the Knights Templar).  As the story goes, the last of the founding fathers to hold one of the clues to the location of the treasure, Charles Carroll, passed the clue onto Gates's great great great great grandfather. From that generati...
More About: Funny , International

Earl Celebrates Christmas in January While The Apprentice Lies
2008-01-12 00:09:00
Do you know what bothers me?  I mean, what really, really bothers me.  Ridiculously over-the-top promos for decidedly dull moments bother me.  No show on television is better at putting together a ridiculously over-the-top moment than The Apprentice .  All week long The Apprentice teased us with the upcoming fight between Ivanka Trump and Gene Simmons.  "What did the dirty old rock star say to boss's daughter?  Tune in and find out."  Well, I tuned in, and what did I find out?  I found out that Simmons gave the daughter a little bit of a hard time, that Simmons was more interested in winning the competition than taking time out of his schedule to explain to Ivanka what his team was doing.  Then, he teased her about whether or not she would inform the women's team about what the men were doing. Ivanka was pissed at being treated that way, after all, don't you know who she is?  She apparently ran crying to daddy fo...
More About: Christmas , January , Lies , Earl

Sarah Connor Chronicles Her Running Into More Terminators
2008-01-11 02:55:00
In 1984, Arnold Schwarzenegger starred as the title character in a movie that would turn into a massive Hollywood franchise, Terminator. Schwarzenegger's character is a cyborg covered in human skin, a killing machine. The film went on to have two sequels over the next 20 years, and now is about to start a new chapter on television as a series titled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles .As the name indicates, the series will not focus on Arnold's model of cyborg, who in the first movie is sent back in time to assassinate Sarah Connor , but rather on Sarah herself. In the original film, Sarah was informed that she was destined to give birth to the savior of mankind, John Connor (something Arnold was sent back to stop from happening). Sarah, understandably, struggled greatly with that knowledge and with learning that machines were going to wipe all but a small percentage of humanity off the face of the Earth. By the second film Sarah had changed significantly. She had g...
More About: Running

Cashmere Mafia vs. Law & Order
2008-01-11 01:09:00
I love television.  Have I made that abundantly clear yet?  Because, I do.  I really, really do.  I do not however love Cashmere Mafia .  Sure, I watched it last night, not in place of the also airing at 10pm Law & Order , but in addition (thank God for dual-tuner TiVos).I know that the show isn't trying to do anything new, it seems, very consciously, to just once again be telling the plight of rich middle-aged and how its oh-so-hard for people making somewhere in the mid-six figures to possibly be happy.  People make choices in life, lots and lots of choices.  It seems to me the major plotlines with these women involve all of them not having thought through the choices, not having considered the consequences.  It's hard to be sympathetic towards them.Take Miranda Otto's character, Juliet, for example.  In the first episode Juliet found out  her husband was having an affair, not just an affair, but an affair with someon...
More About: Cashmere Mafia

Those Desperate Housewives go up Against American Gladiators (in my mind an
2008-01-09 01:24:00
Mea culpa. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. In yesterday's piece I didn't mention Sunday night's Desperate Housewives . I've slammed the show so much over the last year and a half that I should really talk about the bits and pieces I like when there are bits and pieces I like, and this week I liked the bits and pieces.First off, kudos to the show for not making us wait the whole hour to find out that Lynette's kids were alive. You don't kill kids in a show like Desperate Housewives, so there was no real tension associated with Lynette's standing outside the rubble that used to be McCluskey's home. So, kudos to them for not pretending like maybe, just maybe, Parker had kicked the bucket. They could have kept us in suspense the entire hour and it would have made Lynette's life bad and possibly gotten Felicity Huffman another Best Actress Emmy nomination, but it wouldn't have been hugely compelling for the audience. Then, they blinded Car...
More About: American , Mind , American Gladiators

Nova Gets Cold... Damn Cold
2008-01-08 03:33:00
Most people have the good sense to stay away from the extreme cold. The temperature drops below a certain point, and people do their best to warm up. Maybe they drink some hot chocolate, maybe they throw on a sweater, maybe they huddle together to preserve bodily warmth. Whatever it is they do, you can bet that trying to make the temperature even lower is not involved.Then, there are scientists. Specifically, there is a select group that takes a look at a cold temperature and thinks to themselves "-270 degrees Celsius? We can make the temperature drop by at least another three degrees." Literally. Absolute zero is the hypothetically lowest temperature possible, approximately -273.15 degrees Celsius, or 0 K (Kelvin). To this point in our history, scientists have been unable achieve this temperature, but they have come within a hair's breadth of doing so (one has to go out to more than nine decimal places to see how far from 0 K scientists are).Over the next two episodes, PBS...
More About: Cold , Nova , Damn

American Gladiators take on the Cashmere Mafia
2008-01-07 23:49:00
Oh, I'll admit it, I'll admit it happily: yes, I sat there for two hours last night and watched American Gladiators . What's more, I liked it. Well, mostly liked it anyway.Sure, I was a fan of the original Gladiators back in the day, and yes I was once a Hulkamaniac, but those days are behind me. Now I'm just a TV-aholic, not that I'm seeking help (or believe I even have a problem, take that. First Step). Seriously though, I sat there last night as contestants and gladiators pummeled one another, thinking to myself, "man, if only they didn't go to commercial every other second this could be really fun." The male gladiators were ridiculous, repeatedly taking part in over-the-top antics before giving up tons of ground to the contestants. The women gladiators were far more businesslike, they went in, pounded the contestants, and walked away. It may not have made for as good entertainment, but as far as the sport aspects go it was a big improvement.My main disappointment th...
More About: Mafia , American Gladiators , Cashmere Mafia

The Celebrity Apprentice and Omarosa
2008-01-04 23:36:00
I have long held my tongue on my views about The Apprentice . I sat back and said nothing during the inanity that was the Los Angeles season. I watch in silence as candidate after candidate after candidate embarrassed themselves and pretty much anyone that ever even considered looking in the general direction of a television that was showing The Apprentice. Frankly, there were moments that I felt dirty for even having The Apprentice on my TiVo Season Pass list.And then, last night happened. The Celebrity Apprentice began. I've already commented on the broad definition that allows many of the people on the show to be termed a celebrity, but I don't think that's the point. The point is the clash of egos, and boy is the show loaded with them. Not surprisingly, but sickeningly, the biggest ego belongs to the smallest celeb, Omarosa . Omarosa, the evil queen of The Apprentice's first season. Omarosa, the Dragon Lady to which all other reality show Dragon Ladies are...
More About: Celebrity Apprentice

Conan, Letterman, & Co. Return!
2008-01-04 01:15:00
For years I've been able to give Jay Leno the benefit of the doubt, that all ended last night.You see, I've always been a Letterman person.  I never really liked Leno's brand of humor.  But, I thought to myself, maybe it's not him, maybe it's his writers that I don't like.  Last night, Jay did a show without his writers (they are, of course, on strike).  Naturally, I gave him another chance.  I had to see if maybe it was in fact the writers, maybe Jay I really did in fact like.  Nope.  Not the case.  It's not that I think Jay isn't a smart guy; it's just that his brand of humor is not mine.  Now Conan on the other hand, who was also without writers, was great. Both Conan and Leno did give nods to the writers, stating their support for the WGA and the strike.  They also both did monologues (Leno explained, possibly incorrectly, that they were allowed to if they wrote the monologues themsel...
More About: Return

Television Mid-Season Replacements and a Shameless Plug
2008-01-03 01:43:00
The new year is upon us, the WGA is still out on strike, and yet a lot of new scripted programming is going to start airing in the next few weeks.  Watching some college football yesterday on ABC made it seem as though they 're going to have no difficulty filling time slots.  I think it's just posturing, but it doesn't really matter, that Lost ad was great (but not as great as the one that aired just before the ball dropped on Dick Clark the night before) and Cashmere Mafia is coming too.  Let's not forget Fox, which has Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles starting the middle of this month.Then, there's NBC.  Sure, they've got Law & Order coming back tonight, and who doesn't love Jeremy Sisto (why you people did not watch Kidnapped I'll never understand).  But, they also have The Celebrity Apprentice starting tomorrow night, and let's face it, their definition of "celebrity" is a broad one.  I ...
More About: Television , Season , Plug , Replacements

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 or, I Wish I was Little bit Taller, I W
2008-01-02 21:23:00
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is a stellar example of what a fighting game on the Nintendo Wii can be. The graphics are clean and crisp, and look cartoon-like. There are over 150 playable characters, 10 game modes, and an online component. Best of all though, it is incredibly fun to play. Due to the vast number of characters and modes of gameplay, users may be intimidated at first, but the game's wonderful use of the Wii remote and nunchuk, make everything easy to get the hang of. Not very long after picking up the game one becomes skillful enough to play decently, yet there are always more move combinations for a long-term player to master. By selecting any one of the available game play modes and a character, a user can quickly jump into a battle and learn on the fly exactly what is required to win. Those that prefer a tutorial before jumping however will not be disappointed, as the game sports such a section in order to teach the various move combinations. The major...
More About: Dragon Ball , Dragon , Dragon Ball Z , Dragon Ball Z Budokai

Superbad - Yup, That's Me
2007-12-31 04:05:00
Every few years a brand new teen coming of age (sex, drugs, and/or drinking) comedy comes along. They range from the true classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High to the far less amusing Can't Hardly Wait. The recently released to DVD Superbad happily falls far closer to the former than the latter.Directed by Greg Mottola (The Daytrippers) and produced by Judd Apatow and his merry band of misfits (the folks that brought you Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin), the story follows Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) as they embark on a quest for liquor. By obtaining the liquor they will gain admittance to a party that has the potential to allow them to both lose their virginity before parting ways and heading off to college. Seth and Evan, along with their friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), spend the vast majority of the movie getting into and out of trouble as they try to obtain liquor. Along the way they encounter a menagerie of loons, including two police office...

The WGA Strike, AMPTP, and Me
2007-12-29 03:34:00
I'm not going to lie to you. I'm unhappy. I've been out of the country and/or away from home for three out of the past four weeks. I thought, I hoped, I prayed that at some point during my travels I would hear that the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) had worked out their differences and that production on scripted television shows was going to ramp up once more. I was hoping to hear that everything had been solved in term for cast and crews to return to work come the beginning of the New Year.Sadly, my wish did not come true. The groups haven't even talked to one another for more than two weeks. It's somewhat disgraceful. How will this get sorted out if they aren't even talking to each other?Now, to be clear, I'm not putting the blame on any one side. Both groups have valid concerns. Neither group wants to make a bad deal and be stuck with it. Even so, shouldn't they be talking a...
More About: Strike

What do the Grim Reaper and Jimmy Smits Have in Common?
2007-11-15 01:05:00
What is it about Cane that I like, can someone explain it to me, but I can't figure it out.  Partly it's Nestor Carbonell, it's more Jimmy Smits, but a lot of my reasons are wholly unknown.  Look at last night's episode.  They started off with the most hackneyed, over-used addicted to gambling clichés ever, even poor Frank's (Carbonell) Ferrari was taken from him.  Threats were made.  Soon there was even talk that it was quite possible for Frank to wind up with some broken bones. I wonder when such things appear on television if writers have a catalog of recycled scripts and plots that they're allowed to use without paying royalties.  You know, like one can buy canned music to use on TV, radio, film, web, etc., without paying any royalty fees. It seems to me there ought to be a set of scripts writers can buy for just such an occasion.  That way they can talk in the writers' room, decide that this week they need a ...
More About: Common , Grim Reaper , Reaper , Grim

Kristen Bell, Heroes, and a Few Bad Ideas
2007-11-13 21:52:00
Were we supposed to be surprised last night on Heroes when it was revealed that Kristen Bell 's character, Elle, is working for Bob?  The way the two of them were shown together it felt as though we were supposed to be shocked and surprised by the revelation.  However, it was telegraphed from the moment we saw Elle on the phone back in Ireland.  Was it also stated outright at some point?  Frankly, I can't remember.  That's really the problem with this Heroes this season - it's been so dull and all the reveals so boring that one can't quite tell if they're reveals at all or something the audience has known from the beginning.  Frankly, I don't understand the reasons the show is progressing the way it is.  D.L. died.  We all knew that.  Yet, last night D.L., we find out, didn't die at Linderman's as we had suspected, but rather was killed by some random schmo in a nightclub while trying to rescue Niki.  What was possibly the po...
More About: Ideas