This Week in Television - Feb. 22-26, 2010

EVEN SHORTER WEEK (technically).

Lost
I think Jack having a flash-sideways son is a strong implication that the island/Jacob has been influencing our characters for their entire lives, because what we're seeing in these alternate timelines is, I think, a world where that influence does not exist or is at least changed because of the island being lost under the sea. In other words, mysterious island fate pushed Jack to marry Sarah, but the "natural" course was that he instead had a son with someone else (at least I assume it is someone else). I don't think Jack's role on the island was ever supposed to be leader, and a father is a type of leader so he probably wasn't meant for that either. The crazy lighthouse wheel was really cool. It might just be meant for observing, but I got the feeling Jacob somehow used it as transportation too, so that he could visit everyone at the proper times and places in their lives. P.S. Kate is a secret candidate because she was on the wheel at #51 but not on the cave wall, so evil fake smoke Locke probably doesn't know about her. That will be his downfall, and it will be awesome.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
I don't like Randy (or most of the other Villains, for that matter), but I still would have preferred to see Parvati go home. Even the way she talks annoys me because she has one of those airhead popular girl voices. I hope people are going to start stepping up their games though, because it seems like there are only a few of them actually strategizing when they should all be sharper than that. It could just be that there are too many players right now and they aren't given enough screen time for us to see what they're doing. Russell's plan to hide the machete didn't work because no one seemed to care that much, but if he manages to take Boston Rob's hat like he suggested, it could make him go psycho on the rest of the tribe. However Rob hardly ever takes his hat off.

Kenny vs. Spenny
Kenny vs. Spenny wasn't actually on this week because it appears the season has finished, but I discovered there was an unaired online episode, so I watched that. The competition: Who is the bigger idiot? This was a fun one because Spenny claimed right off the bat that he was a huge idiot and throughout the episode proceeded to reenact idiotic anecdotes from his life, which were interesting to hear. Kenny's strategy was just to dress bizarrely and act like a retard, but he does that in most of the episodes anyway. The crew being the judges, they already know these two quite well, so Spenny won due to 5 previous seasons of idiocy. Kudos to him for finally creating a gross humiliation that really had Kenny squirming.

Hero of the Week: The entire Heroes tribe from Survivor, for completely dominating the sumo challenge. Although the producers probably put that one in to induce a win from them since they are generally stronger than the Villains and work much better as individuals. But still, an 8-0 win is pretty awesome after losing like two immunities in a row.

Douchebag of the Week: Parvati from Survivor. I've already explained why I don't like her and there wasn't much to choose from this week, so she gets the thumbs down.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Impressions before seeing it
I'm a big fan of Wes Anderson's directing style and of stop-motion animation. Also I did read the Roald Dahl book a long time ago, but I can't really remember it.

How was it?
I thought the animation was awesome, and there was something unique about it that is worth bonus points. I enjoyed the look of the human characters and the way the fox fur sometimes seemed to wiggle like there was a breeze. Things like that.

The story was similar to that of Chicken Run, and George Clooney (as Mr. Fox) even plays the same suave character type that Mel Gibson played as Rocky the rooster. The difference is that instead of escaping the confines of a farm and some nasty farmers, Fox and his team of amateur bandits are breaking into three farms to steal loads of food for their families. There is a subplot about how his wife disapproves of his dangerous thievery, which I wasn't too into because it seemed so standard, but I did like the subplot about Fox's son Ash being jealous of his cousin Kristofferson - although that was somewhat typical as well, I enjoyed it more.

I think what I liked about this movie (aside from the aforementioned beautiful animation) was the characters. Even Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, the three nasty farmers trying to kill our heroes. It was fun watching all of them interact, and Mr. Fox's handling of the thefts and his sidekick Kylie almost reminded me of Anderson's earliest effort Bottle Rocket. One thing I can say, however, is that in spite of liking the characters I wasn't really feeling the movie's most emotional scenes. I don't know why, they just didn't affect me the way they wanted to.

Recommendation
Fantastic Mr. Fox is very much worth watching because it's fun and it's nice to look at. But I don't really see it winning the Best Animated Picture Oscar against Up. And if you're a huge Owen Wilson fan, the trailer was somewhat misleading because his part was small enough that he shouldn't really have been included in the promos except for the fact that people know who he is.

Valentine's Day

Impressions before seeing it
As soon as I saw the long list of familiar names in Valentine's Day, I immediately thought, "Oh, they're making another Love Actually and centering it around a different holiday." I enjoyed Love Actually so it made me want to see this. Plus big casts are kind of fun.

How was it?
First off I have to admit that of all the actors in this movie, I only like about half of them. It didn't really affect my viewing experience though, because this movie has so many characters that nobody really gets tons of screen time, except for maybe Ashton Kutcher. I don't know if it was just me, but it felt like he showed up a little more than everyone else. I would also like to point out the sly marketing ploy of excluding the faces of Shirley MacLaine and Hector Elizondo from the poster. I guess they weren't young and hot enough despite being just as recognizable as everyone else in the movie.

Anyway, Valentine's Day does play a lot like Love Actually. They even stole a couple of story arcs, like the little boy in love, the cheating married guy, and the couple who fall in love while at work. Where it differs is its attempt to throw in some surprise reveals to avoid being a predictable rom-com. While those surprises weren't mindblowing or even exciting, I do appreciate the effort. For example, there was one pair (I won't spoil which one) that I was hoping would not end up together because it would just be too easy and obvious, and thankfully it did not happen. But most of them did hook up simply because we expected them to. That is sometimes a problem with romance movies and sometimes not - I suppose it depends on how much we like the characters and how adorable of a couple they make. There were some cute moments in the movie, but some of the characters don't get enough screen time to be likable, and for a film called Valentine's Day it could have been more romantic. I still enjoyed it because I'm a sap sometimes, but I was hoping for better.

Recommendation
Love Actually is a better and sweeter movie, but if you've already seen it then Valentine's Day would be the closest thing to a sequel and you might want to look into it.

This Week in Television - Feb. 15-19, 2010

Short week to due to Olympics hiatuses.

Lost
This week's episode had some of those awesome moments that make the show so great: Flocke throwing away the white stone as an "inside joke"; Hurley saving the day in Locke's flash-sideways like a swanky businessman; Ben complaining about the coffee filter in the teacher's lounge. It's those little things that make us love the characters so much. I thought Flocke was actually going to kill Sawyer via the broken ladder trick, because of a certain shot of him switching over to the second ladder with a grin mere seconds before Sawyer's snapped. I'm still not convinced that he didn't do a little work on it with his machete, even if it was just to save Sawyer and gain his trust. Interesting that a little blond boy scares the hell out of him though.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
What really annoyed me about this episode was the whole scene with Boston Rob passing out. First of all, they threw in a cheesy POV shot with the camera falling down, which shouldn't have been included because Survivor is supposed to be a documentary series (in theory anyway), and you don't use POV shots in documentaries. My second pet peeve was the reality TV staple that makes me hate reality TV, which is to show someone crying and play sappy music to blatantly coax tears of sympathy out of viewers. The close-up on Rob's tear-streaked face combined with his cheesy speech and thick Boston accent over "emotional" music actually made me laugh because it came off as more of a parody of an Oscar clip than anything else. What also made me laugh was Randy's "Roll it over Rupert's toe!" line at the challenge. He seems much less grumpy this time around (though no less malicious I'm sure), probably because he's enjoying being surrounded by other douchebags.

Kenny vs. Spenny
Who can survive on an island the longest? This episode was kind of lame because neither of them were really doing anything and then they threw in another cop-out victory. This is an old strategy of Kenny's, as there have been other episodes where it seems as if he is fooling around and not competing, only to spring a surprise victory on Spenny due to some loophole he had planned all along. It's not really believable that Spenny is naive enough not to have realized this by now, but then there have been plenty of moments throughout the course of the series that seemed fake and most likely were. As I said in an earlier post, I watch the show for the fun competitions but Kenny's stolen victories get tiresome.

Hero of the Week: Hurley from Lost, for being a really cool guy by helping Locke out of a jam and recognizing that Randy is indeed a douche (I do think he had a legitimate reason to fire Locke, he just has a dick personality).

Douchebag of the Week: James from Survivor. He may have been right about everyone having to listen to one person in order to succeed in the challenge, but he was rude and abrasive in his attacks against Stephanie, and "she forced everyone out of her tribe until she was the only one left" is not really a valid argument because it isn't true.

Eros

Impressions before seeing it
For those who don't know, Eros is not a traditional movie, but three short films by three different directors. One of those directors was Wong Kar-Wai, hence my interest.

How was it?
Wong's short opened the film, but I have to admit I found it a little boring. I do respect what he was going for though, because while the three shorts are meant to be about sex, he takes a more subtle approach. There is no nudity or raunchy sex except for some implied off-camera stuff, and in classic Wong Kar-Wai style he focuses more on the romance aspect. I just wasn't able to muster up much interest or enthusiasm for his story about a tailor's relationship with a client. But I suppose it was good aside from that.

The second short came from Steven Soderbergh and had almost nothing to do with sex except for a lot of talking and some footage of a naked woman getting dressed. However I did find it to be the most entertaining of the three thanks to Robert Downey Jr. and Alan Arkin. Arkin plays a psychiatrist and Downey is his patient, but it's done with kind of a 40's/50's look and Arkin humoursly scrambles in the background to make contact with someone in an adjacent building while Downey is droning on about his thoughts. Unlike the other two, it was light and funny.

The third and final short is courtesy of Michelangelo Antonioni. I have seen Antonioni's Blow Up, so I'm not entirely unfamiliar with his work, but this one just went right over my head. I think it was one of those artsy films where the story isn't as important as all of the visual metaphors and read-between-the-lines dialogue, and it just left me confused. And I'm not sure if it was just the version I saw, but for some reason it looks like the actors spoke their lines in English, but then it was dubbed into Italian and subtitled back into English. I don't know if it was intentionally symbolic of something or if Antonioni just really wanted to use English speaking actors, but it looked really stupid. It was also the most sexually gratuitous of the three and had some really beautiful landscapes - I'm not sure if it was filmed in Italy or not, but I was impressed with that part at least.

Recommendation
To recap: Wong's is the most romantic, Soderbergh's is the funniest, and Antonioni's is the most pornographic. The first two are worth watching if you have any interest in them, but the third is not unless you really love beautiful landscapes... and softcore porn. As a whole, though, Eros is just kind of average and I was expecting better.

This Week in Television - Feb. 8-12, 2010

Heroes
Kudos to whoever cast old Charlie, because they managed to find an actress with the exact same eyes as Jayma Mays. It was a little eerie, actually. I figured it was going to be Doyle forcing Emma to play her cello. I don't know where they're going with the whole worldwide reveal thing, but I hope they don't copy X-Men too much. I can't believe the season is already over though, February is an odd time for a network show to end a season. But if NBC is going to end the series I think now would be a good time, because all of the loose ends are fairly wrapped up and it didn't really leave us with that big of a cliffhanger.

Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town
I like how Heather interrupted Corrinda's "Last Egg" musical number. I thought we were going to get a big majestic number similar to the "Every Sperm is Sacred" song in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. Dusty is one messed up detective, but taking the mayor's corpse fishing in the park in broad daylight was funny. Second victim: Heather Weather in the courtroom with a remote control, the killer's weapon of choice it seems. Too bad Rampop only sees people as butterflies and thus cannot identify the murderer.

Lost
I wonder if Dr. Ethan is still evil if he spent his whole life off the island. I think the torturing of Sayid might have been to test for the black smoke - we already know it doesn't like ash or electricity (the sonic fence). Not sure about the hot poker though... Maybe that was just testing for general pain sensitivity. For some reason it didn't even cross my mind that Claire had turned into Rousseau until I read other people saying it online, but it seems so obvious now with all of the traps, the rifle, and her dirty, wild look. That could be trouble.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
The idea of Coach and Jerri as a couple is vomit inducing. But perhaps they are perfect for each other for precisely that reason. Looks like Russell is already trying to start another "dumbass girl alliance" - his words, not mine. I think he might be voted out early this time though. Sounds like JT is planning to be a villain this time around, and maybe Tom as well. Probably a good idea though, because playing with past players puts you at a disadvantage in that everyone already knows who you are and how you play, so to escape that you gotta play differently.

Parks and Recreation
I'm glad April broke up with her gay boyfriends, not only because I support the idea of April and Andy as a couple, but because they were really only a funny gag once and their subsequent appearances mostly just involved snide remarks and insults that I didn't find funny at all.

The Office
Cool, they added Ed Helms to the opening credits! This was a fun episode - Michael has often been driven by greed in the past, but you would think he'd learn his lesson because it always seems to backfire on him. This week's episode reminded us (and him) of how spoiled he is as a manager with the perks of his own office and Erin catering to all of his unusual and ridiculous whims, so in the end it looks like Michael prefers power over money. He even referred to himself as "head salesman", which I'm pretty sure was made up to make himself feel better. I don't know why Andy can't tell Erin that he likes her, or even why she can't tell him. It's not as if it's a Jim/Pam situation, because they're both single. The dogs sure do love Andy's man meat though.

30 Rock
I liked the characterization in this episode - one or two lines about everyone's Valentine's plans really said a lot about them. Or reinforced, rather, because I don't think we learned anything new about anyone. Also it was fun to see Liz's three former boyfriends acting like black women due to her hallucinations. And Elizabeth Banks is always cool.

Kenny vs. Spenny
Who can put on a better play? I think they made it obvious that Kenny was going to win. Spenny's was a boring 16-act historical drama in which the judge could be seen playing with her phone near the end of it, and Kenny's was funny and made the judge laugh. The idea of a Jew who enjoys concentration camp is hilarious though.

Hero of the Week: Sugar from Survivor, for bringing her A game during the first reward challenge. Sandra tried to sabotage her by removing her top, but she ran for it anyway sans top, scored the point, then flipped Sandra the double bird. Awesome.

Douchebag of the Week: Jo Bennett from The Office, because even though she owns Dunder Mifflin now, I don't like her smarmy, condescending attitude.

Avatar (In Glorious 3D!)

Impressions before seeing it
I love fantasy and sci-fi. The trailer didn't really explain much about the plot, but it looked cool.

How was it?
With the inclusion of 3D images and a long running time, I would describe Avatar as more of an experience than a movie. I can't rave enough about how amazing this movie looks in 3 dimensions. Especially when in deep focus, allowing you to see many, many layers popping out at varying distances from the screen. Also it was my first time seeing a movie in 3D (not counting the Spongebob Squarepants 3D short film at Canada's Wonderland) so I suppose I was bound to be amazed anyway. I also have to say that the animation was impressive. I was skeptical of the blue creatures at first because after all of the promotional boasting about groundbreaking technology, they didn't look believably photorealistic. I guess it takes a big screen to really see the difference, because the Na'vi do have pores and skin texture and some great motion capture performances, and all of it works. Grace's avatar even looked like Sigourney Weaver, but Zoe Saldana's performance is the one that stood out for me. I hope she did the motion capture and not just the voice, because I found her character quite compelling.

But enough about the visuals. The popular opinion seems to be that, while Avatar looks amazing, the story is sub-par. I agree, to an extent. The metaphors and symbolism are obvious to the point that they can barely be called metaphors and symbols, and there are some scenes that feel familiar because they are common in most movies, but I don't feel that those things subtract from the experience. I thought the concept was neat, a little bit like The Matrix or, even more relatable to most, World of Warcraft, the way Jake spent so much time in the Na'vi world that Grace had to play his mother and force him to do necessary daily tasks like eat and shower. As the movie went on, I almost felt like I was Jake - in the sense that I became so engrossed in the movie that no other thoughts entered my mind and I completely forget about who I am and that I have a life outside of the movie. I'm not sure whether that's scary or awesome, but I suppose it is a major credit to Avatar's entertainment value.

Recommendation
It isn't often that I'll be speaking this strongly, but I have to say it: SEE THIS MOVIE. You will only have a limited number of opportunities to witness Avatar on a big screen in all of its 3D glory. Don't pass it up; this is a piece of movie history.