The Back-Up Plan

There are fluffy romantic comedies and that's fine. I can understand the appeal of a mindless romantic comedy that's mostly about the wish fulfillment of an audience. What I can't understand is a movie as offensively stupid as The Back-Up Plan. This movie was the worst romcom I've ever seen. The main character was the most unlikeable character ever. The couple was the most unromantic and unbelievable one I've ever seen. At times, I wondered how anyone in the movie could stand each other. Most of the characters were rude and unrelatable--except for Stan, the love interest, and he was just boring.

Suggestion Box #6: Zoe Saldana

Glee

This show’s pilot really took me by surprise, because I was thinking that a show about a high school glee club would be too silly to be funny. It is definitely silly, but seems to be self aware enough that you feel like you’re in on the silliness. I think that’s how a lot of people were drawn into the show, the characters are over the top and yet easy to relate to. And the comedy, and frequent song and dance interludes, is absurd yet believable in it’s own little universe. This is like a serial musical, I’m not sure if there’s been another show like it. Another television series that’s at least half musical. It seemed so quirky and engrossing in the pilot that I decided to wait until the first season was over to watch any. Mostly I wanted to make sure that the show’s popularity would stick before I got involved, because Fox has a terrible habit of not realizing when they have great shows. Fox has betrayed my trust and broken my television heart too many times. But, the coast seems clear and I decided that I would watch the newest episode. Which appropriately enough was a tribute to Madonna, queen of all entertainment, at least as far as the show choir students are concerned.

South Park

Well, happy 200th episode-day South Park! I never thought you’d make it to this point. There were some funny times, and some shaky decisions, but your place in television culture is secure. Astonishingly. In the early days, I couldn’t imagine that your style of humor would stick around and avoid being banished. Then as I watched more and more I didn’t think the hilarity could last. How long could a show go on and still be funny and fresh, despite the main characters remaining in elementary school? After a couple of seasons of not having television, I got back to watching to see that the show I had found so funny before wasn’t that great anymore. Maybe it was me, or maybe they just ran out of jokes. But I watched a couple of episodes of last season randomly, being too lazy to change the channel, and was surprised to find that it was funny again! Imagine my excitement.

Suggestion Box #5: Lost

Date Night

Had I gone into Date Night knowing nothing about the careers of Tina Fey and Steve Carell, I would've come out of it believing that these two actors had appeared in movies together for years. Certainly long enough for the two of them to develop the kind of comedic chemistry that allows them to play directly off of each other to the point that, in many occasions, the laughs are generated more from their reactions to each other than the words they're speaking. That's certainly a testament to the ability of those two, and its the real enjoyment in this film. Date Night doesn't provide a very funny script, a particularly compelling plot, or anything remotely original. What it does provide is a large dose of Fey and Carell, and to be honest, it could have given me more of them and I would've been perfectly happy.

The Vampire Diaries

Oh vampires, how interesting you used to be. I used to be all about vampires, but lately things have just gotten out of hand. They have super-awesome powers, but also limitations so that they’re not just all powerful. But things have been changing, now they can go out on cloudy days or even sunny days if they have a magical ring. This causes them to take advantage of their eternal youth to pose as teenagers in high school. Pretty much the only drawback to being a vampire nowadays is that you have to be polite about getting into peoples’ houses. That doesn’t seem fair at all. In that case, I say everyone in a vampire related storyline just become one already, it’ll be fun. Because of this trend towards vampires that are pretty relaxed about the rules, I expected to not be wowed by this show. After watching a couple of episodes, I had this strange feeling. The feeling that... I liked it.

FlashForward

In the wake of Lost ending, it seems like ABC is trying to find another addictive and seemingly deep show to replace it. I think this is one of their replacements. I missed the first few episodes that were aired before the hiatus, but watched the recap special when it came on after Lost. Sometimes I just don’t feel like getting the remote from the other couch. So I kind of knew what was going on when I watched the two episodes that aired after the break. Mostly it sounded like something someone thought up while they were stoned.

‘People are so much like zombies, they’re just sleepwalking and going through life on auto-pilot.’
    ‘Yeah...’
‘What if everyone, like, took a nap all at the same time?
    ‘Heh that’d be crazy...’
‘And what if they all saw the future while they were knocked out?
    ‘Uh...’
‘And it changed their lives in strange, profound, and immeasurable ways?
    ‘You have smoked yourself retarded.’

Suggestion Box #4: Clash of the Titans/World of Warcraft

Fly Girls

Really I didn't have very high hopes for this show, but I even had a hard time making it past the painfully stupid opening 'meet and greet' sequence. Reality television shows aren't usually my thing, but I've seen enough of The Soup and random episodes of popular shows to grasp the general idea. It's silly to think that there will be much 'reality' in any of these kinds of shows, but this one in particular is filmed in a style that stretches the imagination. I haven't seen a whole episode of The Hills, but it would still be my closest comparison to this show. While I haven't seen many television shows of this genre, I have been a flight attendant. The depiction of the job in this show is vastly disconnected from my personal experience. I worked for a regional airline, and am aware that working for a national carrier, especially a newer one, would be a very different time. However, I still feel confident saying that this show is still way off.

The Last Song

   
    Did anyone seriously think that I would like this movie? Did anyone think anyone would like this movie? I mean, at the end of the day when the film makers looked at what they created, did they see a quality piece of work or did they see a money maker with a famous name attached? I'm guessing the latter. I'm going to guess that the producers were giddy at the idea of combining the commercial powers of Nicholas Sparks and Miley Cyrus. I have to admit, I don't understand the appeal of either. I've never met a Nicholas Sparks movie that didn't bore me. This isn't because I'm not a fan of romance films. This is because I'm not a fan of uninteresting characters in melodramatic films created by a guy who is misguided enough to put himself in the same sentence as Cormac McCarthy. As for Miley Cyrus, I was hoping The Last Song would help solve that mystery. It didn't.

United States of Tara

This show wouldn't be notable if it didn't have such great actors. It interested me because it was created by Diablo Cody, and I enjoy her dark-quirky-cheesy sense of humor, but that's definitely not for everyone. There is a lot going on in the show, and it can be a tad overwhelming. And all shows that are so busy risk people losing interest, but this one has held mine just because everyone is so good at acting their part. Everyone just pitches in there and gets the job done. It has the spirit of improvisational theater. The writing is really good too, mainly because the writers seem to know when to understate things. In a show about someone with Dissociative Identity Disorder, playing down the perpetual drama is a strength. It also adds to the sense of unpredictability that matches the subject and character's lives. The viewer never knows what will happen, just like the characters they're watching.

She's Out of My League

Guest Writer: Andrew Roble

As a guest writer to this site, I would like to thank the powers that be for giving me this opportunity to spread my wealth of knowledge about all things entertainment. Everyone that reads this site should thank them. But seriously, I’m just a dork that enjoys watching movies and giving my opinions on them. So that’s what I’m going to do with regards to She’s Out of My League, a movie that I saw last night.

Clash of the Titans

I don't mind remakes of old properties, and that's a fortunate thing for me. If I disliked them on principle, there wouldn't be very many movies being made that I would actually enjoy. I absolutely think that there's a place for a remake of 1981's Clash of the Titans, a movie that was so cheesy and over-the-top bad that it's fun. That movie has a sense of humor about itself and its B-movie caliber special effects that makes it endearing, and it couples it with a script that's just terrible enough that it almost feels intentional. So modernize the special effects, give it a competent script, and add in a little humor and flair and this is a movie that could work well and make a ton of money. Sadly, while the 2010 remake certainly looks better than the original, it actually takes a massive step back in the script and humor departments.

Suggestion Box #3: Lost

Just click on the picture to view it in all its crunchy goodness!

The Office Baby Episode

This show won me over at long last. I avoided it like the plague, as I do most shows that are really popular. I suppose it's in my contentious nature. At some point a few months ago I watched all of the previous seasons and wasn't disappointed. This latest season's been pretty good too, though I haven't found it to be as funny as the others. It's let me down a bit, as if I missed the best parts and have come in on the waning end. I started the season excited for new episodes and somewhere in the middle just began forgetting to watch. I think some of that came from NBC's random breaks in airing episodes, which I don't understand but I suppose there's a good reason. I'm no network CEO.