I missed the premier yesterday of the Sarah Connor chronicles, but I picked it up today, and I a little reading got me up to speed. So here’s my quick review:
As a ginormous Terminator fan, I’m not totally offended. Entertained, even.
TV
Season Finales
** Needless to say, spoilers abound below. **
First off, I just finished watching the season finale of Lost. That was how a season finale is done! Everything about the episode was great. The pacing, the action, the suspense. The flashback-that-wasn’t had me riveted. I’m dying to know whose obituary Jack had found! I was a little sad to see Charlie go, as he was the reason why I started watching the show to begin with, but someone had to go. (And is he really gone anyway? You never know with the Island) Everything about this episode was great. I had let my Lost viewing lapse a few months ago, but I’m glad I picked it back up.
As a stark opposite of the greatest that was the Lost finale, the Heroes finale demonstrated how not to end a series. I was deeply disappointed with the Heroes finale. Everything up to the last ten minutes was shaping up great, but the ending was a huge “meh.” I had hoped that all the “good guys” would finally gang up on Sylar, with Peter or Hiro delivering the final blow, but they didn’t go that route. I was glad that some loose ends were tied up, but I was wanting a little more super-hero action. And who was the really bad guy the little girl was worried about?
Even though they ended a couple weeks ago, My Name is Earl and The Office both ended strongly. This season of Earl was lacking something, but the last couple episodes were great and the finale was pretty sweet. The scenes with Randy and the two little Hellions were great. The Office is starting to get a little too “soapy” for me, so I hope they go drop some of the Pam/Jim drama and go back to the practical jokes on Dwight and more episodes like the Pretzel Day episode. That’s TV comedy at its finest.
Finally, I don’t know if 30 Rock had a finale, but that show is quickly becoming my favorite show on Thursday nights. I used to hate Tina Fey on SNL, especially when she did Weekend Update (is that all she did?) with Jimmy Fallon, but I may have just been projecting my white-hot hatred of Fallon onto her and not giving her a fair chance. I do, however, have much love for Tracey Morgan and anything he does, so I’m glad I stuck around with 30 Rock. I’m hoping that weirdness that happened with Alec Baldwin doesn’t spell an early end to the show, as he’s crucial to its success.
Now that all my shows have wrapped up for the season, I’ll hopefully have more time to play some video games. I don’t know why I let myself get caught up in TV shows, but I do. I even go as far as letting them dictate my schedule. It can’t be healthy. I don’t know what I’ll watch now. At least I still have Iron Chef America to keep me company.
(BTW: I don’t know if 24 has wrapped this season up yet, but if you survived to the end, I’d love to hear what happened. I stopped watching when Jack was going to save his girlfriend from the Chinese. It got too hooky for me after he strung up the bad guy in chains.)
Breaking out again?
I wanted to post this Monday after the season finale of Prison Break, but the Ohio State/Florida game was on (and didn’t end well) so I never got around to commenting on the last episode of my (currently) favorite show. (Spoiler Warning)
So for my fellow Prison Break fans, what did you think? The finale certainly left quite a few storylines wide open. What happened to Kellerman? Was he gunned down in the back of the police van, or were his escorts? Is Sucre going to buy the farm on a Panamanian street corner? And what’s the deal with the crazy old man and Sona? Is there something more to Michael than meets the eye? My theory? He’s some kind of super-soldier genetically enhanced by the government, and the whole frame-job of his brother was to get his training kick started. Far fetched? Of course. But things certainly got wierd in this last episode.
And who else will be in Sona with Scofield? It’s obvious that Mahone is in there. Bellick, too, right? I’m assuming Bagwell will find his way in there somehow, and will hopefully meet an ignominious end. I think his time has finally come.
So it looks like we’ll be breaking out of prison again in the fall. I can’t wait!
Questions for you 24 junkies
Okay, fellow 24 junkies, I’ve had a chance to digest the four-hour season premier of 24. (If you were wondering, yes, 24 kicks some serious butt in HD). So far, I have mixed feelings about the way this season has started. There are some things I like and some things I have a problem with. I do, however, have a few questions (– SPOILER ALERT –):
How did Wayne Palmer become President that fast? I thought he had no interest in serving in office? Maybe I missed something.
And what about his sister? Years have elapsed in the “24 Universe,” yet there was never a mention (that I can remember) of a sister. Sounds Star Wars-esque.
Where are Aaron Pierce and Mike Novick? We all know that Jack and Aaron are the only ones that will survive the apocalypse. Curtis is obvious proof of that. Jack and Aaron are like cockroaches. They can survive fricken nuclear winter. So where is Agent Pierce?
Speaking of Curtis, Holy Crap on Stilts! Who saw that coming?! I thought Curtis was, like, a Jack Junior or something. Mrs. buttonMasher was very disappointed to see Curtis buy the farm so early.
I’m not as steeped in 24 Lore as some of you may be, so if you can enlighten me, I’d appreciate it.
Video Games in “The Office”
Did you catch last night’s episode of “The Office“? If so, what did you think about using Call of Duty as a prop?
I thought they did a good job. It looked like they actually used the real game (though I’m not sure, since I don’t play CoD) and they recreated the noob (Jim Halpert) perfectly. The shot of Jim’s guy running hopelessy into a corner while another player watched was perfect. Then when he turned around he was lined up perfectly for a head shot. Classic.
They even tweaked the geek psyche even more when they used a cute girl as one of the players. One of the better players.
Well done, NBC.
Ricky Bobby and other man-crushes
(NB: This post is about a couple man-crushes of mine, Will Ferrell and Wentworth Miller. Proceed with caution.)
I had a chance to catch Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby over the weekend. Wow, talk about bringing the funny! Let me start by saying I am a huge Will Ferrell fan. While his portrayals of Alex Trebek and George W. Bush are awesome, his Harry Caray skits always leave me in tears. So I may a bit biased when I say that Talladega Nights is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. I have never laughed as hard as I did during the “Grace at dinner” scene. You’ve seen parts of it in the trailers and previews, but those short glimpses do no justice for the scene as a whole. Holy-crap-on-a-crutch did that scene make me laugh.
I am not what you would call a NASCAR “fan.” I’m a casual observer of the “sport”, but Mrs. Buttonmasher’s parents live down the street from a NASCAR driver and is friendly with his family, so by extension I have some connection to NASCAR, if only peripherally. But I get the NASCAR (redneck) culture and the movie skewers it pretty well. I’m sure there were some inside jokes that I missed, but most were hard miss. The product placements were a bit obvious, but I see that as just another jab at NASCAR’s rampant love with its sponsorships. On a whole, though, the movie was enjoyable, with more than one more side-splitting scene. But the prayer scene alone was worth the price of admission. If you like Will Ferrel and his shenanigans, TN:tBoRB is for you.
I can resume another man-crush of mine tonight, as Prison Break‘s second season premier is tonight. I loved the first season of PB and I’m hoping the show continues its awesomeness. I can’t help if the lead character exudes 138% more manliness than anyone else on TV (except maybe this guy). I was a little disappointed with the ending of the first season but I see no reason why the show can’t pick up the action that it did so well in the first season.
“I get weak in the knees…“
Finally, college football season is right around the corner. Don’t even get me started on my college football man-crush!
You?!
(**24 Spoilers Below. But honestly, you missed the season finale? Shame on you!**)
Wow, what a finale!
“You?!” That’s the question (or was it resignation?) Preisdent Logan asked Jack as he took his helmet off and took control of the Marine 1 helicopter. It’s also the question Jack was probably asking as the final minutes of his day came to a close and Cheng Zhi came into focus. So where does this go next year? Will Jack be a double agent? Will he simply work for the Chinese government? Or will we simply follow Jack as he tries to escape? I had no idea what the direction the next “day” would take, but it’s already looking intriguing.
I thoroughly enjoyed the 24 finale. I was surprised to see that Jack shot Henderson, but let’s be honest, he had it coming. I was also surprised to see that Rooney (I don’t remember his first name, he was the guy on the submarine) didn’t bite it, considering the fate of others that have crossed Jack’s path. Good for him. I also liked the contrast of President Palmer’s body being ceremoniously loaded into Air Force One, en route to Arlington Cemetary, while President Logan was unceremoniously loaded into a limo, mostly likely on his way to jail. Palmer was a man of honor and integrity, Logan a whiny little weasel.
So yeah, no complaints here. The show ended with a cliff-hanger which means you know I’ll be tuning in next January!
How not to break out of Prison (Spoiler Alert)
So last night was the season finale of Prison Break. All things considered, I enjoyed it. What did you guys think? Was that how you thought things would go down? Me either.
SPOILERS BELOW, so if you haven’t seen the episode yet, don’t read any further. But you’ll have to reevaluate your TV viewing priorities. I mean, come on!
So first off, I wasn’t exactly happy to see the plane take off without its cargo. I know if they safely made it on that plane then the series certainly would lose excitement in season two, but I’ve long thought this series could only be good for two or three seasons, top, so I thought them getting to Mexico would have been interesting.
I will say that watching Abruzzi (or as I like to call him, Zydrunas Ilgauskas) hacking off T-Bag’s hand with an axe was one of the most gruesomely satisfying moments this season. I don’t think anyone could have watched that scene and not wince. What makes it better is that the wincing wouldn’t be for T-Bag. It was simply for the pure brutality. There is no sympathy for Theodore Bagwell. They did such a good job developing Bagwell’s character that you couldn’t help but hate him. He was such a conniving weasel! He got what he deserved. It was equally satisfying that Abruzzi did it, as Peter Stormare has been one of my favorite actors since he was Lev Andropov, Russian Cosmonaut, in Armageddon. “I’m a very important person in Russia!”
I was disappointed how quickly Dr. Tancredi was discarded. I honestly thought she and Scofield had a future together, helping out the orphaned children in Mexico or something, but she was definitely much more unstable than I thought. Her demise wasn’t pretty and Scofield will shed a tear when he finds out.
Overall, I enjoyed the finale and I really liked Prison Break as a whole. A good show, interesting premise, decent character development and enough action to keep everything going. I am definitely looking forward to next season!
Survival guide for coming into contact with Jack Bauer
As I was watching today’s episode of 24, I got to thinking about why some characters have to get whacked. Why can’t at least some of the good people make it? Like the bank manager from last week’s episode. He didn’t have to die, did he? Evidently there’s some Grim Reaper-pheromone that surrounds Jack that, when you absorb it, the sickle is coming down on you. Maybe not this hour, but it’s going to happen. So I thought of a few survival tips for finding yourself in Jack’s path. It will at least help you determine whether or not you’re going to become a Jack Bauer meat shield:
- Did you just come into contact with Jack Bauer in the last five minutes, having previously never met him? Is your utility come to an end? Sorry, you’re going to bite it
- Are you a terrorist with a really good accent? Kiss your Jihad bye-bye.
- Have you survived at least two other 24-hour periods with Jack (and you’re not his daughter)? I hope you said goodbye to your loved ones
- Are you or have ever been romantically involved with Jack and not betrayed your country? Congratulations. You may survive but you’ve bought yourself quite a few painful hours of torture and agony. Possibly at Jack’s hand
- Are you chubby (or otherwise unattractive) and talk with a lisp (*cough* Edgar *cough*)? Sorry, but your end is going to be exquistely painful.
- Is your name Aaron Pierce? Lucky you. You’re like a Bauer-in-training or something. But I still worry that you’re going to go the way of the Edgar. In a patriotic, selfless manner. With lots of blood.
That’s just a friendly survival guide from a guy who knows. Just don’t ask me how I know. I just do.
Mr. Monk and friends
I know I’m not alone in my enjoyment of the TV show “Monk“. It’s usually a funny show with enough quirkiness to make anyone laugh. I think they cut some corners today in the set department.
In the episode, Monk is trying to find a stolen diamond and claim a big reward. He’s being followed by a group of wanna-be detectives also after the money. One of them, played by DJ Qualls, is a nerdy detective with all sorts of spy gadgetry. Things were going good until he pulls out a PSP and calls it his “stress detector” (or some such thing). Huh? Is that all the prop people can come up with? Did someone say, “we need something high tech looking. Oh, and black!” and a stage hand pulled his PSP out of his backpack and said, “how about this?” Come on, USA! You can do better than that!
And what does this say about the PSP? It’s already been relegated to bad props on a TV show? That can’t be good.