Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Impressions before seeing it
Except for the last one, I enjoyed the original five films in the series. The trailer looked like this one sort of takes place between the third and fourth ones. Plus, any movie where Andy Serkis does mo-cap creature performance is usually gold.

How was it?
As it turns out, Rise is more of a series reboot. Except for a few minor things, there isn't really anything connecting it to the original series. Thematically, it's the same: intelligent apes growing increasingly aggravated at being treated like dumb, inferior animals, and the leader of the ape revolt is still named Caesar. They even threw in Heston's famous line from the first movie ("Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"). I didn't really like that idea for about half a second, because even though it was a callback, it also felt outdated (it is a 43 year-old line of dialogue, after all), but then they cleverly set it up so that the response to that line created the same reaction as in the first movie, and it magically worked.

The biggest difference to note is that the apes were nowhere near as humanoid here, though this is the movie where they only begin to become abnormally intelligent so there's no need for dudes in ape suits yet. But being more animal than human, I actually found them more sympathetic than the full-on sapient apes from the original films. I guess because animals have a certain innocence or naivety to them, not fully understanding that their actions might have consequences, so to oppress them for it is not right. Caesar was a good monkey; he only started doing bad things after being treated poorly, and therein lies the problem with positions of power. As spoiled humans, we sometimes like to be douchebags and provoke the less fortunate (both humans and animals), and then when they fight back we act like they're the bad guys. This is one of the biggest dick moves anyone could make, but it does happen in real life.

Recommendation
It helps your enjoyment just a little if you've already seen the others in the series, but it's not a requirement since this is not a direct sequel or prequel. However, if you're curious to see how the apes started talking and how that progression came about, this is the movie that explains it, because I don't think the old ones ever did. And it's a good piece of action-drama, which will hopefully lead to a better war than Battle for the Planet of the Apes.

THX 1138

Impressions before seeing it
I'd been curious about it for a while. Outside of Star Wars, George Lucas really hasn't directed that much in spite of being around for over 40 years, and I wanted to see what his one non-Star Wars sci-fi film was like.

How was it?
To be honest, I was kind of bored. Like the original Tron, it was probably revolutionary for its time, but becomes uninteresting in today's film era, and I've already seen Equilibrium and that movie put THX 1138's concept to much better use. I felt no sympathetic connection whatsoever to the characters. I understand that the society depicted mostly lacks emotion and personality due to the mandatory medication everyone takes, but even when certain characters went off it and began to feel again, there wasn't enough there for me to start finding them interesting. Where Equilibrium has its defectors enjoying art and music, all we really get here is THX and LUH lusting each other, with no concrete examples of why this attraction would or could exist because they still don't have very full personalities. It actually plays, surprisingly, like a Stanley Kubrick film - 2001: A Space Odyssey, to be exact, which similarly has little characterization and minimal dialogue.

But that being said, 2001 is a visual feat, and THX 1138 is not without directorial prowess. Lucas' camera work and editing produce some interesting effects that create claustrophobia, surveillance awareness, and mechanical viewpoints. It almost feels like this movie was directed by a robot - and given its characterization, perhaps written by one, too.

Recommendation
In a purely technical, directorial sense, THX 1138 is superior to any Star Wars movie, but Star Wars is way more entertaining, and Equilibrium way more effective in its execution of the "stunted emotion society" concept. I think THX 1138 is only worth watching if you are a student of film looking to observe as many types of filmmaking as you can. It's a good one for the study list, not so good for a fun night at home.

This Week in Television - Dec. 11-18, 2011

Once Upon a Time
I think it was too early to kill off Graham. Because of all the time spent on a weekly fairy tale character, there hasn't been that much time for chemistry to brew between he and Emma, and it was really only this episode that they started trying to force it down our throats that the two of them might be in love. I barely even considered them friends given how much more time Emma spends with Henry than with him.

Glee
The black and white Christmas TV special was kind of fun because it was so awfully cheesy, but I think it would have served them better to just make that the entire episode. No need for the farfetched frame narrative about how a local TV station decided to not only give some high school kids a bunch of airtime, but trust one of them to direct the special. And there's no way it cost less than $800, either. The ending when they showed up at the soup kitchen to give Sue a hand was very easily predictable, but I did like Sue's scene at the beginning when she was asking Artie, Kurt, and Blaine for help, because Sue Sylvester monologues remind me why I keep watching this mostly garbage show.

New Girl
I don't know why they always stick Winston with kids at parties, but this time he befriended one and it led to a possible job opportunity for him, so it wasn't exactly the same as his rivalry with the kid at the wedding, but if this becomes a common thing then it will get weird quickly. Kind of sad to see Paul go, but in TV land these things have to happen since guest stars can't stick around forever. The ending with the Christmas lights was a nice note to go out on, though I think people usually leave them on all night. Doesn't make sense that every house on the street would have turned them off, but for the purposes of the show it made for a nice moment.

Survivor: South Pacific
Too much religion in this episode. Do religious people not realize how extremely arrogant and self-centered it is for them to keep saying that God does things specifically for them? Or even to ask God to do things specifically for them? As if, out of the billions of people on the planet, a mighty omnipotent being would be greatly concerned about a game on a reality show. Anyway, it was stupid of Brandon to give up immunity, but since I don't like him I didn't mind seeing him pay for it.

Survivor: South Pacific (Sunday Finale)
I thought Ozzy was going to win it, but once he got voted out I figured it would be Sophie. I would have voted for Sophie too if I was on the jury; Albert has that fake used car salesman quality, and Coach disappointed me when he voted out Ozzy. I understand he was stuck between two promises, but why break one when you can leave it up to fate with a firemaking challenge, thus breaking neither? But I'm glad Sophie won, I'd been rooting for her the last few episodes. And I'm pretty sure Ozzy does have the record for most torches snuffed now: three times in one game, four times total.

Hero of the Week: Jess from New Girl, because "eating cookies and avoiding confrontation" is pretty much my strategy at parties, too.

Douchebag of the Week: Albert from Survivor, because he's sneaky and immoral, and thinks he's more charming than he is.

And that concludes our 2011 television year. See you in 2012!

The Muppets

Impressions before seeing it
I'm not necessarily a Muppets fan, but I'm not not a Muppets fan. I mean I sort of grew up with them, like most people who were around in the 90's or earlier, but I wasn't completely absorbed in them. What interested me is that Jason Segel co-wrote it with the director of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and I subsequently heard it described as one of the greatest pieces of fan fiction ever made. Plus, just look at that poster!

How was it?
This turned out to be one of the warmest, sunniest, most loving movies I've ever seen. It was very clearly made out of much love, respect, and awe for the Muppet characters, and frankly any movie that is made out of love and not just for money is a rare thing. Segel and Adams play such cheery, wholesome characters (but not annoyingly so) that it's hard not to get caught up in their enthusiasm even if some of the actual Muppet characters (especially Kermit) are radiating undertones of sadness. This movie had me smiling a lot, occasionally from the humour but mostly out of sheer charm.

The plot was nothing close to new, but what made it work was its clever metafictional references to the Muppets franchise. New puppet Walter may play Segel's brother in the movie, but as he idolizes and then becomes a part of the Muppets, it seems that he is actually Segel's on-screen persona, as his journey reflects Segel's crafting of the script from a fan's standpoint and then joining the characters that he, too, grew up loving in the filming of this movie. The story itself muses on the dwindling popularity of the Muppets after being out of the spotlight so long (which is not entirely true, although my understanding is that the last several movies were movies starring the Muppets rather than movies about the Muppets), and Walter - again, like Segel - is the one who brings the old gang back together to put on a variety show telethon to save the franchise. All of the behind-the-scenes preparation for the big show, and especially the build-up to a duet between Kermit and Miss Piggy, reminded me of A Mighty Wind, which is not bad because I love that movie as well, and I think they share a similar sentimentality for their respective subject matter. I did think a couple of the musical numbers felt...awkward, maybe, but my taste in music is sporadic anyway so what do I know? Two bonuses: first, there are a number of fun surprise cameos, all of whom can be seen again during the end credits chipping in to the famous "Manamana" song, and second, seeing the movie in theaters treats you to a Toy Story short before the movie.

Recommendation
This is a great one to bring kids to, because it's something the whole family can enjoy and not one of those eye-rollingly bad kids movies that only children could like. But if you have any positive feelings at all toward the Muppets, it's pretty much a must-see. You're not going to find better fan service than this, and I know this is a cliche line, but The Muppets is so satisfying that it may be "the feel-good movie of the year."

Weeds - Season Three

This season of Weeds took the spirit of the previous season's finale - all conflicts crushing Nancy from all sides at once - and extended that throughout most of the season, as we see her under the thumb of scary drug dealer U-Turn and being blackmailed and threatened by several people for money she often doesn't have. But what makes Nancy so fun to watch is her ability to adapt. Somehow, she always makes it through these crazy and scary situations. Where season two improved on season one by writing better story arcs and cliffhangers, season three improved on season two by making the annoying characters less annoying. Heylia receded toward the background of the show as Nancy had less direct contact with her, and Silas was less of a rebellious, angsty, teenage douche once he started working with his mother instead of against her. As for Celia, she remains the antagonistic bitch that she is, and probably always will, but she is a very entertaining (and often funny) one, so she doesn't bother me too much.

Some other random thoughts: The Hodes' divorce, as well as Dean becoming severely injured, opened up a lot of funny stuff for Celia when she had to actually start taking care of her daughter and ex; Mary Kate Olsen is a slightly better actress than we all thought she was; I was actually looking forward to Nancy being friends with Peter's ex-wife, but I suppose that's out now; Andy starring in "foot porn" had just the right amount of weird hedonism in it to be the perfect storyline for him; Doug seemed somewhat underused this season in that he spent most of it complaining and protesting things; Shane seeing the ghost of his father (or pretending to, it's unclear which one) was really the only thing that didn't feel right to me. This show just didn't need that supernatural element, because while it does get wacky sometimes, ghosts are a whole different ballpark and that's not what Weeds is about.

Best Episode: "The Two Mrs. Scottsons", in which Isabelle and Shane become friends, Andy does foot porn, and Nancy stalks Peter's ex-wife.

Peep World

Impressions before seeing it
I never would have heard of it if the trailer hadn't shown up on one of my blu-rays, but it looked like another fun ensemble indie comedy.

How was it?
Peep World is like... well, the idiot brother of Our Idiot Brother. Nathan (Ben Schwartz, better known as Jean-Ralphio on Parks and Recreation) outs all of his siblings' secrets and flaws when he writes a book about his dysfunctional family, and they get pissed about it. Sort of the same premise as the recent Paul Rudd flick, only Nathan is not someone who does things by accident so neither we nor his family have much of a reason to forgive him.

My biggest problem with this movie is that it was too short. It doesn't even crack 80 minutes, let alone a standard 90. Now when you're making a movie about a family with four adult siblings living separate lives, plus their parents - who are divorced, so that's six different households - you either need the time to make sure all of the characters are fleshed out, or you have to write well enough to be able to do it in a shorter amount of time. I felt that Peep World failed at this. The characters were very nearly one-dimensional because there were too many of them, and the family members don't really share scenes until later in the movie, which is just lost opportunity to develop multiple characters at once. And then it leaves us with an ending that is unsatisfying because it feels rushed, forced, and unearned. The abrupt cut to black had me saying "that's it?", not necessarily because I wanted to see more, but because I should have already seen more. On top of that, it doesn't do anything new or funny comedically; its biggest joke, which the filmmakers clearly thought was way funnier than it really is, consists of a boner that won't go away. And this isn't even a raunchy, low-brow type of movie.

Recommendation
It's marginally fun just for the performances from the ensemble cast (though to me it felt like Michael C. Hall was still playing Dexter), but I can't recommend it because it is lacking in every area except the acting. I didn't completely hate it, but I was highly disappointed.

This Week in Television - Dec. 4-9, 2011

Once Upon a Time
I really liked this episode, although I have trouble not rolling my eyes when someone pulls out the "secret twin sibling" twist. But I think it may have been the absence of Henry that made this one more enjoyable. Not that I dislike him, but it gets a little tiring to have him keep speaking in fairy tale terms every week while Emma and everyone else continue to be concerned for his sanity. And I do root for real world Charming and Snow White, not because they really have much of an emotional connection, but because it pisses off the mayor/queen. Bonus points for having both Mr. Widmore and a bottle of McCutcheon's Whiskey in this episode. I will never not love Lost references.

Glee
Not only has Sam never previously been described as having "star power", but after going to the trouble of recruiting him, they didn't even give him any solos at Sectionals, making his return totally unnecessary (though the one thing in this episode I liked was Santana's list of trouty mouth insults). Mr. Schue should've been arrested and fired for giving champagne to underage students on school grounds. Unless I missed somebody clarifying that it was non-alcoholic or something, which is possible because I was busy laughing at the illegality of it, but I doubt it. And, really, another song about a cup? Why didn't they just sing Brittany's version? I'm not even going to get into how annoyingly one-dimensional Quinn has been about her baby. About 98% of this episode sucked.

New Girl
I was surprised to see Schmidt get his own story where we see him at work, because we haven't really gone away from the apartment to isolate a character yet, and for some reason I wasn't expecting it to happen. But I don't like Schmidt enough to want to watch him independently of our regular cast. But Jess and Paul awkwardly trying to have sex was funny, because Jess being weird is always funny, and Zooey Deschanel in her underwear is always awesome.

Survivor: South Pacific
Not much happened this week. Just Brandon's dad showing up to boss everyone around and Edna complaining about being on the bottom. I'm not a fan of either Brandon or Edna, so I would've been fine whichever way the vote went.

Up All Night
I liked Ava's pronunciation of "diamonds" and Reagan's reaction to the bracelet. The Christmas decorations stuff and Chris' adventures at the mall have been done before, but I guess there are only so many Christmas stories you can do.

Suburgatory
Sorry, but this episode was lame. The gay principal's little arc at the party didn't seem to go anywhere or serve much of a purpose, Zoe's exaggerated reaction at finding out Noah was married seemed like something out of a bad children's movie, and Tessa realizing she'd made a mistake in inviting Zoe seemed like something out of a bad laughtrack sitcom - at that point I actually imagined a studio audience going "ooohhh", and even in my imagination I still hate studio audiences.

Community
The music didn't really wow me (though Alison Brie's Bettie Boop impression was accurate), but I'm always down for Community making fun of Glee, like the bearded piano player who randomly shows up in the music room and the overly wholesome sweater vest-wearing teacher. And Britta's song and dance at the end, terrible in true Britta fashion, was hilarious. Sadly, this was the last episode before Community's hiatus, which may last until Spring but hopefully it will be shorter than that - ideally in the opening of a timeslot after Whitney is canceled. Please cancel Whitney, NBC.

Parks and Recreation
For me, this was the best episode of any show all week, and a very strong contender for best Parks and Recreation episode of the season. Leslie's Christmas gifts to her friends and co-workers managed to be both funny and perfect, and it was an interesting flipside look at Leslie doing pretty much her usual job, but on the other side as a regular citizen. Plus it was bursting with loads of hilarious moments, like Marshmallow Ron Swanson (including both April's explanation of it and Ron trying not to show how incredibly pleased with it he was); the guy at the PCP meeting who tried unsuccessfully to start up a "her daughter is an idiot!" chant; Leslie warning Ann not to touch her pickles at the restaurant; Dennis Feinstein's scapegoating of Eddie the accountant at Ben's interview; and to top it all off, an appearance by one of my favourite guest characters, Jean-Ralphio, whose hair seems to get bigger every time he shows up. I found myself getting a little teary-eyed by the ending, too. I'm starting to love these characters almost as much as the cast of Community.

The Office
The show has been using the Jim/Dwight pranks a little less often than they used to, but I like that they found something new to do with it by having Andy place a "no pranking" rule on them, leading to the two of them trying to frame each other. Andy is still coming off too much like Michael - "my ex is meeting my sex", for example, is totally a Michael line. It's like the writers are just continuing to use stories and/or jokes they had planned for Michael rather than write new stuff that is more suited to Andy. But I did enjoy this episode. The gift-opening montage was fun, though not as awesome as Parks and Recreation's gift-opening montage.

Hero of the Week: Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation, for her truly uncanny gift-giving ability. It's not easy to make Ron Swanson emotional!

Douchebag of the Week: The evil queen/mayor from Once Upon a Time. Since when is the mayor of a town allowed to tell someone who they can't fall in love with?

Cyrus

Impressions before seeing it
Another indie comedy that went very quietly under the radar, but aside from the cast the reason I wanted to see it was because it made Quentin Tarantino's list of his favourite movies of 2010, intriguing because it was the only "best of 2010" list I saw it on.

How was it?
I've watched a few indie comedies in the last several weeks (there's at least one more coming), so I don't want to go into the whole "it was more dramatic than I was expecting" thing again, but there is that, and it's not a complaint.

The most notable thing, first of all, is how different a role this is for Jonah Hill. He's already almost been typecast as the loudmouthed wise-ass, but as the title character here, he is like a brooding, passive-aggressive supervillain. It's actually a layered and seamless dramatic turn. Cyrus and his mother (Tomei) have a relationship that is creepily close and makes one almost suspicious of incest, but it became apparent to me that this was necessary for the entire premise of the film and Cyrus' character to work. Cyrus is a lonely and pathetic kid. His mom is literally his only friend, so any and all love that he has to give as a human being can pretty much only go towards her (and from what I gathered, the same is just about true for her). Enter John (Reilly) to threaten all of this by dating his mom. If Cyrus were a normal guy, he might be a little peeved but anything more would feel excessive. Seeing as he is not, I can buy that he would become so antagonistic and aggressive in clinging to his only source of love in the world.

The fun of this movie is in the war between Cyrus and John. A lot of it is done in subtext, because neither one wants to alert the mother to his darker side by letting her see that they're fighting, so there are things like passive-aggressive pleasantries, backhanded comments, and hidden agendas in her presence. It reminded me of the kind of interactions you might see on Dexter towards the end of a season when his major target is on to him and they're both trying to get each other. John C. Reilly is one of my favourite actors, so throwing him up against a surprisingly good Jonah Hill in a battle of wits equals a good time for me, though I do have to say that it was kind of predictable. According to the blu-ray extras, they shot this movie in order so that the actors could improvise and change the plot if necessary, and that places a lot more value on the performances, which are what make Cyrus worth watching anyway.

Recommendation
I can't recommend it as a comedy, but as a drama the characters make it interesting. While the concept is simple, I can't really think of too many movies that use it, or at least not in the same way, so I suppose it can be called original as well.

30 Minutes or Less

Impressions before seeing it
The trailers looked like fun and I liked the people involved.

How was it?
It's a shame that this movie seemed to bomb at the box office and then sneak under the radar, because I thought it was really funny. Supposedly there were a lot of improvised jokes from the cast (the four guys in the poster plus Michael Peña), so most of the laughs just come out of the dialogue, and the action part of the movie is mostly allowed to be action rather than slapstick. I think 30 Minutes or Less gets a lot of mileage out of splitting the main four characters into two duos who play well off each other: Eisenberg with Ansari and McBride with Swardson. I already enjoy him on Parks and Recreation, but Ansari has a certain energy about him that always gives him a fun screen presence, and Eisenberg has bothered me in the past due to a history of playing characters with an air of pretense to them, but as an average pizza delivery guy he was toned down here to someone much more bearable for me. As for McBride and Swardson, they were basically just playing Kenny and Stevie from Eastbound and Down, something fans of that show shouldn't have a problem with.

I know in my last few posts I've been mentioning some things I like seeing, and another one for the list is that I enjoy characters trying to deal with a really, really big problem, and watching them trying to process what's happening and come up with a plan. So I loved the scenes with Ansari and Eisenberg freaking out over the bomb strapped to the latter's chest. McBride and Swardson's scenes were enjoyable simply because their characters are idiots and conversations between them were always funny. One complaint I have is that this movie tries to shoehorn in a small romantic subplot, but it's not fleshed out enough to genuinely raise the stakes in the climax as it was intended to do. I don't think there was actually any point where I worried for a character's life, and that's a problem. I mean I liked the characters, but mostly just because they were funny; they didn't give me enough of a reason to seriously care about them.

Recommendation
If you're sick of comedies with heart or a message then this might be one for you, because 30 Minutes or Less is just funny, entertaining fluff and nothing else. It does rely on the comedic senses of its actors though, so if you don't find any of those guys funny then there's probably nothing for you here.

Our Idiot Brother

Impressions before seeing it
The trailer was mildly amusing, but mostly I liked its cast of really cool comedic actors.

How was it?
The title of this movie (and to a certain extent, the trailer) is misleading, as it connotes a zany comedy about a bumbling fool ruining his sisters' lives when it would be more accurate to call it a dramedy about the most naive person on the planet. He does ruin his sisters' lives, but everything he does is done with such good intentions that we can't help but like him even as he strolls through the movie spilling everyone's biggest secrets. He is an idiot, but he really doesn't know any better. Besides, Our Naive Brother doesn't have the same ring to it.

Rudd has already worked with Banks, Deschanel, and Rashida Jones on other projects (playing their boyfriend in all of them), and I like to think it facilitated the screen chemistry here even though he's now playing their brother, or closer to a brother in-law in Jones's case. I believed them as a family because the love/hate dynamic was well balanced. However, I felt like the characters may have been too generic or something... They weren't boring, but they didn't jump out and command my fascination, either. They lacked pizazz.

With such a great comedic cast - which also includes Adam Scott, Steve Coogan, Kathryn Hahn, and up-and-coming comedian T.J. Miller - Our Idiot Brother pulls a Funny People with an unexpectedly distorted comedy/drama ratio. Miller's was probably the next funniest character after Rudd's, and that was only because they were both playing two versions of the same character. It may be a personal thing, but if I go into a movie thinking that it's going to be a comedy, I tend to expect a fairly high number of jokes, and as a result I'm sometimes let down by dramedies. But once in a while, they shoot up to my top three, like Little Miss Sunshine. Our Idiot Brother wasn't bad, but it's no Little Miss Sunshine.

Recommendation
I love it when a bunch of cool people are all in the same movie (has anyone ever made a "top 10 ensemble casts" list? Maybe I should get on that someday), so on some level I probably would've enjoyed this movie no matter what. If it were done with unknown actors it probably would be almost completely mundane, but it has a little humour and a little heart, and that's not too shabby.

Funny People

Impressions before seeing it
I like Judd Apatow, and I heard this one was good, but more dramatic than funny.

How was it?
What I enjoyed about Knocked Up and The 40 Year-Old Virgin was the scenes involving the guys just goofing around with each other. I think this is what Funny People lacks. I mean Ira (Rogen) has his roommates that are sort of his friends, but they kind of hate each other so we don't really see them having fun. Most of the humour in this movie comes from the actual standup comedy, which may be Apatow's excuse for having the rest of the movie be almost a drama. Well, actually, the other part I found amusing was George Simmons' (Sandler) filmography, which consists of a bunch of really bad, gimmicky family comedies that would not be the least bit funny if they were real movies, but are hilarious when used in that ironic way as movies within movies parodying real movies that are actually that bad or worse. If you look it up online, you can find fake posters for every movie on George's resume that were used for viral marketing. I imagine they're on the DVD as well, but I watched Funny People on TV so I wouldn't know.

My guess is that the role of George was written specifically for Adam Sandler, not only because he is a friend of Apatow's, but because the character basically is Adam Sandler, albeit perhaps a sadder, lonelier version of him, and a version whose career is worse because where George is nothing but low-brow comedies, Sandler at least has some respectable dramatic performances like Spanglish and Punch-Drunk Love. This gives the movie an interesting meta undertone and makes me wonder whether Sandler ever feels ashamed of his career or burdened by his fame. Anyway, while it does have its funny parts, Funny People is more dramatic than it probably should be coming from Judd Apatow, and I would say longer than it should be, but I just realized that many Apatow films hover around the two hour mark so it's not unusual, though this one verges on two and a half. There was a lot of relationship drama that took a while to get wrapped up.

Recommendation
If you're going for laughs, pick another Apatow movie. Not that it's entirely unfunny, it's just so lengthy and full of drama that after it's over, your recollection of it is that it was a drama. In fact, it might be accurate to say that it is a drama about comedy. If you have any interest in a behind the scenes look at comedy-writing or fame, though, this might be worth a look for you. I did like the movie, thanks to the talented cast, but yes, it could have been shorter and funnier.

This Week in Television - Nov. 27-Dec. 2, 2011

Once Upon a Time
Loved the Lost shout-out with Henry breaking out the Apollo bars. This episode felt a little too "Hallmark", though. Actually many of them do, now that I think about it, but this one especially.

Glee
Well, they actually did have Brittany win the school election, but I'm afraid I still can't give Glee the proper credit for accuracy, because due to Kurt's silly ballot-stuffing scandal and subsequent disqualification, they made it seem like Brittany won on a technicality. And it's funny that they used "I Kissed a Girl" (and named the episode after it) in an episode about Santana's sexuality, because that song is about fake lesbianism; it's not actually a song about loving women, so it's not entirely relevant to Santana. Sue Sylvester writing in her journal always makes for a good scene, though.

New Girl
The bell stuff wasn't the greatest source of comedy, but it gets a pass because, again, I like Winston, and because of Jess doing the robot while playing the bells, which was the real highlight of those segments (actually, probably the highlight of the whole episode). I think Nick and Schmidt play well off each other, perhaps because Nick has always been the one most vocal about Schmidt's douchiness. It was interesting to take it that much further in this episode and have them outright fighting.

Survivor: South Pacific
Funny how Coach told Cochran that one of them would win the challenge because they were doing Tai Chi (which was crazy Coach talk to begin with), and neither of them won but they both got the reward anyway. Cochran is weaselly, though. Apparently, according to an interview with Jim and Keith, Cochran was never bullied by his tribe at all and only flipped for selfish reasons. Not the first time Survivor has distorted the truth.

Community
I'm not really a fan of shows giving us flashback reveals to characters meeting as children when we've already seen their "first" meeting earlier in the series, because to me it feels like a cheap undercut; nor am I big on Shirley-heavy episodes, because she is the least funniest character on the show. But on the other hand, Shirley is also the most underused, and for equality's sake a part of me was glad to see her have something to do this week, and we did get that awesome and completely-out-of-nowhere anime sequence from the foosball story, complete with an even more random anthropomorphic cat. As Troy pointed out, the replacing a broken item story is a sitcom cliche (funnily enough, I saw a rerun of Married With Children earlier that same day where they used it), but pointing it out and then going in another direction is how you get away with it, even if building a web of ridiculous lies is probably even more common. It worked largely thanks to Annie's Christian Bale impression and nervously lengthy squeaking noise, the callback to the conspiracy episode, Troy being touched that Abed was using the grappling hook he gave him for Christmas, and of course, Abed as Batman, which I guess is official if Christian Bale's DVD message said "Abed is Batman now."

Parks and Recreation
Whereas last episode, Poehler and Scott nailed their big romantic moment, this time they only had to react to it while the courtroom stenographer objectively read all the romantic stuff aloud for them. What an ingenious way to not repeat the previous episode's scene, which was so good it needed no repeating. And some good jokes too, as always: Chris' excessive methods for keeping negativity out of his body, Ron throwing out his computer (city property) after discovering internet privacy invasion, Jerry's real name blowing his chance on the witness stand, and the stories of both the frozen "whore" who exposed her elbow and the man who blew his face up. Pawnee's violent and unjust history is always funny.

The Office
Another strong episode, I thought - in terms of humour, anyway. It seems far-fetched that Andy would be unable to pick up that Robert was going to act contrary to his own instructions while his wife was in the room. At times Robert can be hard to read, yes, but this was not one of those times. His one frantic line at the beginning of the episode was enough to explain the entirety of the subtext between he and his wife. But Dwight and Darryl at the makeshift gym was funny (those two are not a common pairing as of yet), as well as Creed inexplicably flying a remote control helicopter on the roof during work hours.

Hero of the Week: Jess from New Girl, for doing the robot...WITH BELLS!

Douchebag of the Week: The European foosball guys from Community, because they were loud and obnoxious.

Paper Man

Impressions before seeing it
I thought it was interesting when it said it was about a writer with an imaginary friend, so I grabbed it during Amazon's Black Friday sale.

How was it?
Paper Man has some weirdness to it, but not in an off-putting way. It's sort of a Lost in Translation-type story about a middle-aged man (Jeff Daniels) bonding with a young woman (Emma Stone) over their mutual outsider aimlessness. I can only name a handful of movies that are about imaginary friends, but I'm not sure if this one even qualifies for that list because I felt it was more about the budding friendship between two people with issues. Or at least that's what I cared about most while watching this. Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds) is there, and he occasionally helps Richard with advice and/or moral support, but I don't feel that this movie would have lost much if he had been left out.

I really like watching characters just being friends on camera - when they're likable characters, at least - and Daniels and Stone turn in strong enough performances to have the required charming chemistry, so I had a good time. However, the biggest strike against Paper Man is that I found it largely predictable. I had already figured out the film's biggest reveal fairly early (at least I assume it was supposed to be a surprise when the reveal happened), and there were other things that I expected would happen, that did. So what I will say is this: on a story level, this movie is disappointing, but on a character (and acting) level, it is satisfying, and sometimes that's good enough.

Recommendation
Worth checking out if you, too, are into friendship movies, but maybe watch Lost in Translation first, because it is a better version of this movie.