This Week in Television - Feb. 21-25, 2011

The Cape
I have to admit, I was bored. This episode was trying to be creepy and unsettling with the Orwell/Lich stuff, but it just didn't work out that way, and I almost thought they were trying to rip off Inception with Orwell's dream sequences. At one point she mentioned that she didn't remember how she got there, and she kept looking over at a door that I assume all of her secrets would have been behind if someone was pulling an extraction job on her. Also I am realizing that Trip is kind of a spoiled kid. If you look at all the moments with him, he bosses his parents around and always gets what he wants. No wonder I don't care for him.

Glee
Rachel's headband song was kind of funny once I realized what it was, and this actually turned out to be one of the better episodes. I attribute the principal referring to Ke$ha as "Key Dollar Sign Ha" not to his ethnicity but to being an uncool principal. It's funnier and less racist to think of it that way. I laughed when Blaine kissed Rachel for the second time and said "Yup, I'm 100% gay", because it felt like a cheesy and blatant way for the writers to say "Don't worry, Kurt fans, Blaine's experimentation is over forever! Already!" If Mr. Schue starts dating Coach Bieste, that'll just be...gross.

V
I enjoyed this episode, but my one problem was when Erica and Hobbes let the doctor jump out the window. They both have guns, and neither of them think to shoot her in the legs to stop her from running away? But I liked Lisa playing a larger role in this episode, because after discovering her grandmother and turning completely against her mother, she has become one of the more interesting characters on the show. Ryan shouldn't be alive, though - okay, a second problem I just thought of. He was inside the building that exploded last week, and this week he just shows up all "I survived!" without even a throwaway explanation like "V's are resistant to fire" or something.

Survivor: Redemption Island
Phillip may not go on about warriors and samurais like Coach, but he does love to talk about animal instincts and manliness. So weird that there was a blindside and an immunity idol played in the second episode though. Who does that?

Community
Not necessarily the funniest episode, but an accurate representation of how fickle school politics are (or even regular politics, but school politics especially). The DVD will be good for catching the myriad of written jokes flashed all over the screen in the Troy/Abed coverage segments. Jeff's Real World audition tape was brutal because even in 1997 the George Michael impersonation would have been too late to be cool. Giving Abed a possible love interest who may also have Asperger's was interesting. Maybe they can double date with Troy and the librarian.

The Office
Todd Packer can be funny to have around once in a while, but if Michael's going to be leaving then so should he, and as Holly turns Michael into a better man, it feels right that he would outgrow that sleazebag. Jim and Dwight working together is always fun, as is Andy and Pam, who has fallen into a cute version of corruption that basically only screws the company but benefits her co-workers, so it's not an evil corruption. I didn't agree with Andy taking Erin's computer, but it may have been the way it was edited, because they made it look like he only wanted a better computer to watch internet videos, not to do his job. Perhaps he did.

Parks and Recreation
Poor Ron. By now they've built up his love of food - especially meat - to make his agony believable and effective when the steak house closed down. Also poor Tom for being shut out by the arrogant fragrance guy, even if "Tommy Fresh" did smell terrible. But Andy and April's first date was really fun and sweet, and the Chris/Ann break-up plot twist was a smart resolution that worked perfectly because of their characters. Another strong episode!

30 Rock
I liked the social commentary about female comedians, and there is some truth that some sitcoms probably hire certain actresses for their looks and not their comedic talent. Cirie on this show probably would be one of them, except her character actually is supposed to be the hot one and was never meant to provide humour beyond a few lines about believing Liz to be a married mother, so they snuck by on that one. But a woman (or anyone, really) doing baby talk is not sexy, it's just creepy/weird. And Chloe Moretz continues her coolness streak by getting into childish arguments with Jack Donaghy (“I hate the ocean; it’s for tools.” “The ocean is awesome and for winners. You’re for tools.”)

Fringe
I don't really like the idea that Peter and Olivia met as children. It's something The Simpsons did more than once in later episodes with Homer and Marge that undercut and destroyed the great original story of their meeting in high school. You could say it makes it more romantic because it's like they were fated to be together, but that kind of thing just has the opposite effect on me, especially since there is no explanation for why they don't remember each other. Peter didn't even remember his kidnapping. But that being said, I do like when Fringe goes back to the 80's, and there was at least an explanation for how Walternate found out about the other universe.

Hero of the Week: It's a tie! April and Andy from Parks and Recreation, for giving the money back at the end of their wonderful date.

Douchebag of the Week: Trip from The Cape. That passively spoiled brat.

Martyrs

Impressions before seeing it
An old friend mentioned this French flick on Facebook (thanks, Aaron!) a little while ago. I looked it up and it sounded interesting, but he warned me about blood, gore, and violence.

How was it?
Yeah, if you can't handle a lot of violence then this definitely isn't your thing. Martyrs is one of those brutal torture movies with a bit of horror thrown in, but it's not really that bad if you've seen violent movies before. I actually found it fascinating in the way that Saw is fascinating; I wanted to see what twisted things would happen next and why. And there isn't really a "why" until maybe the last 20-30 minutes, so for most of the movie it just seems exploitative and needless, but I was okay with that because I've always liked those movies that give you no answers up front.

The acting was solid, though due to the torturous nature it was mostly a lot of crying and screaming. The ending was not what I would have guessed, and I'm not sure I really found the conclusion meaningful or likable, but it was interesting, anyway.

Recommendation
If you can stomach the violence - you'll probably be fine if you could handle the Saw movies - then it's a dark and interesting trip of a film that I suppose is worth watching at least once, though I can't promise you'll find it profound.

Despicable Me

Impressions before seeing it
I liked the concept, and opinions were generally positive, so I was hoping for a cute, fun family movie.

How was it?
What bothered me about Despicable Me is that it felt like more of a kid's movie than a family movie. It tries really, really hard to stuff in a lot of jokes and be a comedy, but most of those jokes were of the very simple slapstick variety. In other words, child humour. That's fine if it's your sense of humour, but I have always found slapstick to be better in small doses, and I prefer jokes that require some thought. This movie doesn't have any of that for the grown-ups. Also, not all of it is original: I was especially rolling my eyes at the "guy who wants to prove he is a good parent by not missing his kid's ballet practice" story, which is done in almost every movie that has a deadbeat parent in it (had the kids been boys, it surely would've been baseball practice).

What I did like about it was some of the designs, like the supervillain vehicles of both Gru (Steve Carell) and Vector (Jason Segel), and the overall look of everything. As expected, the animation looks amazing on Blu-ray. In other words, my positive thoughts about this movie are mostly superficial. It's kind of cute and entertaining, but not as much as it could have been, and the repetitive physical humour was distracting me from the story. It's a shame, because the concept had a lot of potential (Pixar would have done it so much better), but instead of making it more accessible they just wanted to please the kids, and only the kids.

Recommendation
If you get to see it on Blu-ray, it might be more enjoyable just to watch it with the sound down and dub in your own dialogue. Or if you have a very simple sense of humour and/or are six years old, you'll probably like it the way it is.

This Week in Television - Feb. 14-18, 2011

The Cape
This episode just ended up feeling like a Fringe rip-off, with Orwell playing Olivia, Cape playing Peter, and the circus folk playing Walter. And I would think it would be a really bad idea to seek the help of a man who betrayed you and now works for your nemesis. Even if he is chief of police.

Glee
Wow, were they hinting that Glee is finally going to do an original song for once? They should really consider it; the combination of the Justin Bieber tributes and Lauren's TERRIBLE performance (she really can't sing) in this week's episode made my ears die a little inside. And I can believe that Sue might enjoy singing with the sick kids at the hospital, but having her perform a song with the glee club was a stretch. But I like the idea of her coaching the third team, and I hope she crushes the other two at Regionals.

V
I liked that we got a snippet of back story on Hobbes with the mention of a mysterious woman he apparently cares a lot about, but I don't like that they pretty much just recycled the Ryan blackmail arc and applied it to him. And I don't like that they killed Tyler's dad. Not because I liked the character, but because it's just going to make Tyler even whinier and less likable, and because once again I was hoping it would be Tyler as the collateral damage (alas, he arrived on the scene after the gunfire ended). But Erica going into raging assault mode at the end was cool, and I hope it makes the next episode decent.

Survivor: Redemption Island
Wow, only the first episode and Phillip is already the new Coach. I can see those two being good buddies in a future All-Stars season. I like how they put a question mark after the "Former Federal Agent" in his description. And I feel like the only reason they added the "redemption island" twist is for an inevitable Rob/Russell showdown on that island after they're both voted off.

Community
I knew this week was going to be an episode revolving around Pierce in the hospital, but I didn't know it was going to be a documentary parody. And I thought it might get too sentimental, but instead they turned it into Pierce using the opportunity to mess with everyone, which was great. Last season Abed used his knowledge of the group to predict everyone in his films, and this is sort of Pierce's version of that, knowing exactly how to push everyone's buttons, though I guess he has no beef with Annie or Abed. All of the LeVar Burton stuff was hilarious too, and I loved the shout-out to "the unjust cancellation of Firefly". Awesome episode.

The Office
Oh. My. God. I never would have predicted that season 7 would produce one of the funniest episodes of the entire series. The table reading of the script in a past episode was another of the season's most memorable moments, but seeing it produced as a "so stupid its epically awesome" movie directed by Michael Scott and starring his co-workers? Please tell me the full, uncut version of Threat Level Midnight will be on the season 7 DVD. Loved all of the stupid little details, like the newspaper clippings that only seemed to establish Michael Scarn as someone who saves sporting events; the photoshopped pictures of him with "Catherine Zeta-Scarn"; Darryl leaning into it as Michael smashed the Abe Lincoln painting down on his head; the terrible "Go PUCK yourself!" line, and various misused hero catchphrases; Scarn's "emotional" moments as he remembers dead loved ones; Toby's head repeatedly exploding for Michael's own personal satisfaction, etc. Every bit was fantastic.

Parks and Recreation
Nice to see Ben getting a chance to go crazy for once instead of playing the straight man. Didn't really like the Ira and the Douche gag though, because the shock jocks with sound effects thing was already done on Family Guy, and possibly even an old episode of The Simpsons but I don't remember for sure because it's been a while. The Andy and April stuff was, again, sweet, and Ron typing out every word he knows on the annoying typewriter was classic.

30 Rock
Though I find Tracy hilarious, him being gone gives more screen time to the often benched supporting characters like Pete and Frank, in an amusing little shout-out to famous band feuds. Glad Liz's storyline worked out the way it did, because her boyfriends always lead to funny stuff, and Jack's was only good in the payoff scene where he does his best impression of his daughter's nanny at an NBC/Kabletown negotiation.

Fringe
As much as I love Fringe's ongoing serialized storyline, I didn't really like that this episode's "monster of the week" story took a back seat to the Peter/Olivia romance. Actually I guess what I mean to say is niether of the two parts really interested me. I like that Olivia is making an effort to have a good time with Peter, but much like last week's pregnancy reveal, it didn't really have to take the entire episode. Or maybe it did, might've been too fast without this one step.

Hero of the Week: Michael Scott (or perhaps I should say Agent Michael Scarn) from The Office, because Threat Level Midnight was, for me, the best thing all week.

Douchebag of the Week: Phillip from Survivor. At least Coach's ridiculous personality was amusing, but this guy is a dick.

Once

Impressions before seeing it
The little indie movie that everyone seemed to love, and I remembered it winning an Oscar for Best Original Song. Saw it was coming on TV and jumped at the chance.

How was it?
To describe it simply, Once is like Lost in Translation, only Irish and with music. It's two very likable characters who meet, hang out for a few weeks writing and playing music, and then part in spite of the bond they've formed. It's part of that "hangin' out" genre of movies that I've expressed love for in the past, but it's also a musical and a romance. A nontraditional romance - the kind I like best - because there's no physical affection involved and the ending is far from Hollywood, but the sparks are clearly there. The two leads are really natural and have wonderful chemistry, and that combined with a handheld camera style gives it a realistic documentary feel that totally works for a movie about lower class characters like these. I got so into it that I didn't even realize until the end of the movie that the main characters don't have names.

I would also like to mention briefly that the music, while not normally my kind of thing, is so full of emotion that it is the physical love between these two characters. The harmonies in some of the vocals were so beautiful that they became emotionally moving - at least to me - particularly in "Falling Slowly", the song that won the Oscar.

Recommendation
If you're looking for a movie that is cute and beautiful (you can choose to view it as either a friendship or a romance) and will probably make your heart smile and weep at the same time (mostly smile), look no further. I think the genius of Once is that it's not as sentimental as it could be; rather than throw tons of heart at you like Hollywood romances often try to do, it just puts these two wonderful people out there and lets you feel it for yourself.

This Week in Television - Feb. 7-11, 2011

The Cape
I liked the idea of Fleming hiring a duo to kill The Cape, and how Goggles and Hicks were like a bizarro Cape and Orwell, but they seemed like amateurs. I don't see the point in tagging The Cape with a tracking device when they could've just sniped him (and Scales) in the face. It was a secluded location and everything, it's not like the timing was bad. Then Hicks tries to fight The Cape (who has broken ribs) hand-to-hand and, from what I could tell, does not a scratch of damage. Come on, guys, I get that your hero needs to win at the end of every episode, but you could at least make it look like there's a chance the villain might prevail. But in spite of my complaining I did like this episode more than some of the others, for the Goggles and Hicks characters.

Glee
Not realistic that Puck would want to date the heavy girl. Not in high school, anyway. In real life she would be one of the least popular students in the entire school, no one would want to date her and everyone would make fun of her. That's just how high school is. It's not a place where people throw slushies on you for singing even though you're good looking; good looking people are NEVER unpopular. It's not even a place where all of the cheerleaders and football players are automatically popular. That's like a 1950's high school. They should call Glee a fantasy instead of a comedy. Maybe I'm just ranting because there was no Sue Sylvester in this episode.

V
I actually liked this episode. Finally they make a plan to assassinate Anna, even though I knew it wasn't going to pan out. But I was pleading with my TV for them to accidentally shoot Tyler when Marcus called him up on stage. The fact that they didn't was the biggest disappointment of the week. I did really like Chad getting a partner so that he can play devil's advocate and let the other person attack the Vistors while he stays under Anna's trust by pretending to defend them. But Ryan is being too much of a tool. Was the phrasing not suspicious when Anna said "only my bliss, and my bliss alone, can ease her pain?" There's probably some other cure she's keeping from him.

Community
The Troy and Abed story felt a little underdeveloped, but I did enjoy them yelling "BOOKS!" at the hot librarian. The Britta storyline worked the only way it could have worked: because the other girl was exactly as self-righteous as Britta, and because it tied well into Pierce's ongoing assumption that she is a lesbian. And now that Pierce has OD'ed, everyone will probably forgive him for being a douche in the last couple episodes. Nice to see "streets ahead" used again, too.

The Office
The cold opening with Andy pummeling Darryl's stomach as Darryl looks into the camera with a tear in his eye is something that should be made into an animated GIF and passed around the internet. Michael and Holly varied from gross to funny, and Jim and Pam being drunk and looking for a place to have sex was much more fun than all of the baby stories they've been having lately.

Parks and Recreation
"Ron and Tammy" was one of the standout episodes from last year in my opinion, so I was happy to see another episode involving their ridiculous PDA (as opposed to Michael and Holly's slightly more lovey-dovey PDA on The Office, Ron and Tammy's is just wildly sexual). Ron in cornrows and a dissected mustache was funny, but my favourite part was the return of Burt Macklin, Andy's FBI alias whom I'd forgotten about until his name was mentioned in a sweet attempt at a favour to April. And calzones are awesome, dammit!

30 Rock
The exchange between Jack and Liz in the cold opening was amazing, from Jack stating he doesn't sleep on planes because he "doesn't want to get Incepted" to Liz and Jack predicting each other with handwritten notes in envelopes, to Liz having a pencil sticking out of her fly. The rest of the episode was just okay, but the epic beginning makes up for that. The Liz and Carol story didn't have much room for jokes and only served as a way to end their relationship, and the one quick line explaining the delay (traffic on the runway) didn't seem enough to justify what I assume was an extremely long wait for the passengers as Carol strung them along. The joke about the "Gals on the Town" sitcom pilot, and its theme song and B-list cast, was really funny though.

Fringe
I wasn't expecting to have an episode in the alt-universe again so soon, and at first there didn't seem to be a reason for it, until the reveal that Fauxlivia is pregnant, increasing the stakes for Peter's future decision. But while Fauxlivia is probably a little more interesting than Olivia, the other universe has kooky Walter, Peter, and Broyles (and I suppose Nina, because I don't recall an alt-Nina), and thus is more entertaining overall.

Hero of the Week: Jack from 30 Rock, for predicting Liz's prediction in the opening and letting his daughter be born in Canada.

Douchebag of the Week: Ryan from V. Just grab your daughter and run already!

Winter's Bone

Impressions before seeing it
I thought Winter's Bone was going to be like a young girl's journey through the harsh wilderness with her family. Not sure why I thought that, because it was wrong.

How was it?
For some reason I was expecting adventure and excitement, but this is not that kind of movie. Basically - and this is an oversimplification - it's a teenage girl asking around her backwoods neighbourhood if anyone knows where her father is. There's more of a story than that, of course, but most of the scenes are exactly that. Definitely not a film for those with ADD. It sounds really boring, and to most people it might be, but what makes it good is Jennifer Lawrence's very natural performance as main character Ree, the 17 year-old girl struggling to take care of her family and not lose the house. She was easily likable for her braveness, work ethic, and responsibility, and thus very easy to root for. But there's not much else to say, because it was a slow movie.

Recommendation
Winter's Bone is like this year's Junebug: It would be incredibly lifeless without its lead actress. Actually, all of the acting was strong, but out of the eight Best Picture Nominees I've seen, I think this one's my least favourite.

The Reader

Impressions before seeing it
Still doing the Oscar 2011 tour, but going back to an Oscar movie from a couple years ago for this one. Mostly just wanted to watch this for Kate Winslet's Oscar winning performance; she is quickly becoming one of the most talented actresses out there.

How was it?
I started off worried because I didn't really like the first part. The development of Hanna (Kate Winslet) and Michael's (David Kross as the young version, Ralph Fiennes playing the older version) relationship felt a little rushed and uneven, and consisted of a lot of sex, reading aloud, and arguments about insecurities. Not to mention the taboo nature of their affair - Michael was 15, Hanna was probably at least 30 - that didn't seem to be an issue, even when Hannah seduced him right away before any "I've fallen in love with you and can't help myself" story could serve as at least some kind of excuse for the pedophilia.

But after all that had passed, The Reader got really, really good. The two go their seperate ways, and Michael grows up and goes to law school. As a student, he observes a court case where one of the defendants turns out to be Hanna, guilty (well, somewhat of a grey area) of a terrible crime, and he realizes something that could absolve her or at least reduce her sentence. But if he tells the court, it would shame her greatly. That's all I'll say without spoiling it, but the last three quarters of the movie and Kate Winslet's performance (she is always fantastic) more than make up for the unfortunate first quarter. Nice save, guys.

Recommendation
Definitely see it if you're a fan of Kate Winslet. Or are interested in historical pieces involving Nazi Germany. But, yeah, I loved it and other than the first act, as I mentioned, it's nearly flawless.

The Social Network

Impressions before seeing it
The trailers didn't do a very good job of drawing me in. What I saw in all the promos was a lot of partying and rich kids and Justin Timberlake saying "This is our time!" and it looked like the type of schlock that fans of The OC would love. But now it seems like it has a very good chance of winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards this year, so I gave it a shot.

How was it?
I kind of already knew that Mark Zuckerberg was a douchebag. I remember an e-mail that got leaked years ago where he was bragging about having access to tons of university e-mails and such because, as he put it, "people trust me for some reason." I guess there's a chance it wasn't real, but then this movie was made and that personality still came through. Zuckerberg comes off as apathetic most of the time, caring more about his programming than the people around him, but at the same time I feel like it's trying to flaunt his achievements and portray him as the heroic rebel we all wish we could be, or something like that. The weird effect it had was that I didn't really like or dislike the character, he was just there - but played convincingly by Jesse Eisenberg.

While I'm sure many parts were dramatized, I found the story interesting because it went into Zuckerberg's hacking of university websites and how he took the idea for Facebook from someone else and improved upon it, then expanded it to more schools and subsequently got slapped with two different lawsuits. I was on Facebook back when it was only for colleges and universities, and that exclusivity was cool but opening it up worldwide allows everyone to connect to each other. There were and are plenty of other social networking sites, but Facebook just seems like the friendliest and most intimate one. Unlike its creator.

Recommendation
I still don't think it should win Best Picture, but I will agree with the nomination. It's a solid and engrossing movie, and you don't really have to be a fan of Facebook to enjoy it, nor do you have to be expected to like Zuckerberg's character.

This Week in Television - Jan. 31-Feb. 6, 2011

The Cape
I didn't find Dice to be a very interesting villain. Ironically, I knew she was going to tell Fleming "You're the one who's going to kill my father" before she even said it, just because it seemed like an obvious plotline. And I didn't like that The Cape and Orwell were somehow "blind spots" in Dice's predictions, because there was really no reason or explanation for it. Just a really easy deus ex machina for the writers to make her lose in the end, because otherwise she would always be a step ahead of them and thus undefeatable. If you're going to include a character like that, you have to either explain their defeat better, let them win, or not include them at all. Also The Cape should've just ziplined across the rope or something instead of going through the trouble of trying to master tightrope walking in a short period of time.

V
This episode was boring (not to mention aggravating thanks to the massive tool that is Tyler Evans) but it got a little more interesting toward the end. Don't really like when V goes into religion, but I kind of enjoy the stuff with Anna and her mother, and anything involving Visitors killing each other, even if the special effects are distracting because they're so cheesy.

Community
Wow. I knew they were doing a Dungeons and Dragons episode, but that was even better than I thought it would be. It was like the equivalent of South Park's World of Warcraft episode, with everyone teaming up to take down an enemy who was ruining the game. The sound effects and music were a nice touch to fill out the scenario rather than going into fantasy sequences where we actually see everything acted out (though Chang did apply some hilarious makeup for his character). I wonder how long they can keep casting Pierce as the villain in this type of episode though, because after this and the trampoline episode, they should know by now that he gets pissed off when you exclude him.

The Office
The joke about Erin not liking Holly is getting old. She's already expressed it to the cameras several times, I don't see why it needs to continue. The caption contest had potential but then everyone's captions weren't really as funny as they would have been if that were done a few seasons ago, or if Michael was involved. I guess it was all filler for the real purpose of this episode, which was to show how well Holly knows Michael. It would have been sweet, but then I remembered it had been done before on The Simpsons when Homer went off looking for his soulmate and Marge found him by using her knowledge of his habits and interests. Kind of a disappointing episode after the last few were getting good again.

Parks and Recreation
The last thing I expected Will Forte's character to be was an obsessed Twilight fan, but I think they did a good job of representing the phenomenon. The books aren't really relevant in any historical context, nor are they "good" in the critical sense, but they're like pop fiction because people still love to read them (and, apparently, argue over their values without having an actual opinion on the books themselves). But putting the video of the meeting in the time capsule was a good idea. Has anyone ever put a video recording in a time capsule before? Loved Andy listing his best qualities ("I'm nice... I'm in a band... and that's it!") and Tom's line "Twilight is DOPE." But I was sad to see Tom and Lucy break up so soon, because they were awesome and we didn't get much time with them together.

30 Rock
It may not have been the funniest episode this week, but it was interesting seeing Jack try to adjust to the Kabletown boss's methods because he is used to a system where classes are seperate and nobody is equal. The Tracy/Jenna story seemed incredibly small and irrelevant, and the Liz pretending to be pregnant story didn't really lead to a lot of good jokes, except when she claimed to be eating for two and ordered "two egg sandwiches...times two is four!"

Fringe
Nice little easter egg when a book with "Dr. Spock" written on the spine was found among William Bell's things. I don't know if I like the idea of the universe's fate resting on Peter having to choose an Olivia, because unless the genre is straight up romance, love stories should always be more of a subplot than that kind of plot device. And the mind reader being overwhelmed in public places thing has been done to death on other shows, and they didn't do anything new with it here, so I was disappointed by that, too. But it was cool to see the mysterious bowling alley guy again, I wasn't expecting that. And we got another classic Walter moment, getting excited at spotting a "punch buggy".

Glee (Superbowl Episode)
Being the Superbowl episode, I knew this one had to be football heavy, but I don't buy that a bunch of chauvinist, homophobic jocks would join glee club (even temporarily) just to play football, or that wearing zombie makeup and chanting "brains!" would do anything at all to freak out the other team. I also don't buy that Sue would win "loser of the year" just for having to forfeit the cheerleading competition. I mean a bigger loser than Mel Gibson or Dina Lohan? Please. The Thriller halftime show was decent though.

Hero of the Week: Annie from Community as Hector the Well-Endowed. She satisfied that maiden real good. Lemme see those notes, Troy.

Douchebag of the Week: Pierce from Community. I actually like Pierce because I think he's funny, but this week he just seemed like more of a relentless dick than usual. But still funny.

Eastbound and Down - Season One

When I reviewed the pilot episode a while back, I said that Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) was basically a big jerk but we root for him because he's a jerk at rock bottom. I don't think his character necessarily has any redeeming qualities, we just pity him because of his situation. Throughout the rest of the first season, Kenny tries his hardest to build hype around himself by making public appearances and a demo video and selling Kenny Powers memorabilia, then he fails to understand why nobody seems to care. "Why doesn't anybody want this shit?" he says in defeat when his collectibles fail to bring large quantities of cash on eBay. I felt like that was the moment when I really understood him. I already knew he was arrogant, but there is a slight difference in thinking you're awesome and thinking everybody thinks you're awesome. Maybe he's not arrogant at all, he just believed it when he was praised during his prime, and now that that praise is fading he's realizing that he's not so great after all. While I did feel bad for Kenny in the season finale, it doesn't really matter if you like him or not, because he is funny to watch. He is often the guy who makes the wrong choice and makes a fool of himself, which is obviously a lot more amusing than someone who makes the right choice and is a hero. I guess, in a way, that is his redeeming quality.

Best episode: "Chapter 5". After Kenny finally decides to give up his attempts at getting back into the majors, sleazy car salesman Ashley Schaffer (Will Ferrell in shades and a white wig) proposes a showdown at his dealership between Kenny and his baseball nemesis Reg Mackworthy (Craig Robinson).

Dexter - Season Four

Everyone says that season four is the best season of Dexter, and I can see why. While Dexter kills dozens of people every season, there is always one main villain, one high profile and exceptionally dangerous killer each year that takes him all season to catch. I don't know if I would say the Trinity Killer (season-long guest star John Lithgow) is the most dangerous so far - Lila and Miguel would duke it out for that title, I think - but he is certainly the most fascinating. Lithgow brought a multi-faceted performance that showcased the different sides of his character: sometimes he's creepy, sometimes he's outright scary, sometimes he's sad and pathetic, and sometimes he's surprisingly warm and pleasant, even if that last one is just an act. I know he got some awards for this performance, and now I know they were well deserved.

As for Dexter, I am enjoying the slow transformation of his character. When the series began, he apparently felt no emotions, ever, and was always faking everything, including his relationship with Rita. Now, after marrying her and having a son, he's realizing that he actually does love his family and even wants to become a better person. Perhaps even get rid of his "dark passenger", although after the finale I don't know if I see that happening now. Speaking of the finale, I had the ending spoiled for me, so it kind of ruined the impact, but I did shed some tears when Deb admitted how much Dexter means to her. Some people hate Deb because she's so emotional, but I like that she wears her heart on her sleeve. It contrasts well with Dexter's introversion.

Lastly: not a fan of Batista and LaGuerta together. Sorry, still hate her. The only good part of that whole story arc was when she confronted Captain Matthews about why he doesn't like her. "What is it about me?" she asks. "Is it my gender, my race, what?" He looks her in the eye and says "Your arrogance." Cue me on the couch, smiling and nodding in satisfaction.

Best episode: Pretty much every episode was top notch and had a cool reveal or twist, but I think I'd have to go with the second last episode in the season, "Hello, Dexter Morgan", in which Dexter and the Trinity Killer are at war with each other, Matthews calls LaGuerta arrogant, and Trinity finds out Dexter's real name. I might have picked the finale if it hadn't been spoiled for me, but again, the effect was lost on me because of it.

Y tu mama tambien

Impressions before seeing it
Heard it was good but knew nothing about it.

How was it?
I think I would describe this movie as a teen sex road trip dramedy...for adults. The protagonists are a couple of horny young guys (whom I had trouble warming up to at times because of their immaturity) who like to have fun, taking a slightly older woman they are both attracted to on a road trip to a beach they made up, with several sex scenes along the way. Definitely the formula for an American Pie or a Road Trip, but I added "for adults" to the description because it's much more dramatic than that type of film and contains that whimsical voiceover that foreign cinema is often fond of doing.

The title, which means "and your mother too", is kind of cool because the part of that sentence that isn't said is the more interesting and relevant part, as secrets and adultery are prominent themes. This is one of those movies where the plot doesn't need to be complicated and we just spend a lot of time hanging with the characters and observing their relationships with each other. I love that type of movie...if I feel like I could be friends with the characters. In this case I don't think I could be. The guys were too giggly and immature for me (not to mention a little morally ambiguous); the woman, more likely, but she did ask a lot of very personal questions that would probably make me uncomfortable. Still, I liked Y tu mama tambien more than I disliked it, but I probably would've liked it more with different characters and less sex.

Recommendation
I know a lot of people generally like this movie, and I'm not knocking it, but the characters didn't quite match my personal taste. As far as "hanging out" movies go, I prefer something like Dazed and Confused or Lost in Translation. But it's not a bad piece of work, so take a look if you're into road trip movies.

The King's Speech

Impressions before seeing it
To be honest it looked a little boring, but watching this puts me at 6 out of the 10 best picture nominees at the Oscars this year. And I knew it at least had a capable cast.

How was it?
The title misled me somewhat, because I didn't realize it could be read two ways until I started watching the movie. There's "the king's speech" as in a speech given by the king, and there's "the king's speech" as in the king's way of speaking. I figured the title referred to the first one, but it's actually both. The King's Speech is about King George VI's (Colin Firth) problem with stammering and having to overcome it in order to give speeches, particularly an important one addressing the nation as the world heads into World War II. His wife (Helena Bonham Carter) finds him an elocution teacher (Geoffrey Rush) to help him speak properly.

So, yes, it can be boring to some people because it's one of those classy period pieces, but I found the elocution lessons to be interesting because I don't think I've seen that before, and Colin Firth was very good at making it look as if he were genuinely having trouble spitting words out. However I also got a little annoyed because it can be somewhat unpleasant listening to nearly two hours of someone talking with a lot of mid-sentence pauses, so watch out if that's something that bothers you. Also, for a little while I thought Guy Pearce's Prince Edward was gay because he showed flamboyant mannerisms and had a girlfriend named Wallis who was mentioned by name before she was revealed to be female. I guess he was just a prissy Englishman, or perhaps Pearce went a little over the top.

Recommendation
Personally it's not something I really need to see a second time, but it's worth watching once for the performances and the historical story, which you may or may not enjoy, depending on your interests and attention span.