Quick Birthday Post

Remember when Buffy turned 19? I'm the same age today... give or take a decade.

I'm currently out of town, but this is as good a time as any to remind y'all that while I don't regularly post here, I'm always on twitter and also have a tumblr.

Looking Forward To...

12 Years a Slave
Release: October 18, 2013
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Alfre Woodard, Paul Giamatti, Adepero Oduye, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bryan Batt, Quvenzhané Wallis, Scott McNairy, Taran Killam, Michael K. Williams, Garret Dillahunt, Lupita Nyong'o, and Michael Fassbender

Happy National Coming Out Day

Today was National Coming Out Day and the Human Rights Campaign put together a short video to honor its 25th anniversary. Be out and proud!

Looking Forward To...

Kill Your Darlings
Release: October 16, 2013
Distributor: Sony Classics
Director: John Krokidas
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane BeHaan, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ben Foster, Elizabeth Olsen, Jack Huston, Kyra Sedgwick, David Cross, and Michael C. Hall

Pilot Thoughts: Super Fun Night and The Millers

Didn't really have time to write about any TV this past week, but here are my quick thoughts on two new shows I saw...

Perhaps it was the severely low expectations I had prior to seeing the premiere or maybe because they decided to skip the presumably awful pilot and show the second episode instead, but I didn't actually think Super Fun Night was too bad. Broad? Severely. Cardboard characters? Certainly. Stupid? Many times. But at more than a few moments, it did resemble something kind of fun. It even reminded me of Miranda, a hilarious and wonderful show across the pond starring comic genius Miranda Hart. Like Miranda, Super Fun Night mines a lot of its comedy from the awkwardness, socially and physically, of its main character, in this case Kimmie Boubier played by the totally game Rebel Wilson. Unlike Miranda, however, Super Fun Night isn't as interesting, its supporting characters are flat, and the jokes are a mess. I like Wilson (even more when she uses her regular accent and not trying to pull off an American one like she does here), but this show doesn't deserve her. C+

The Millers is the kind of show that I'm willing to give some time to find its footing mostly because I'm a big fan of Greg Garcia's last show, Raising Hope, and because the cast is pretty great including the always fantastic Margo Martindale. The pilot itself wasn't terrible, except for the one pivotal scene where Tom (Beau Bridges) spurred on by the news of his son Jack's (Will Arnett) divorce decides to finally divorce his overbearing and controlling wife (Martindale). I was shocked I didn't go deaf during the scene from all the loud yelling. It wasn't pretty. But as I said, I'm willing to give it some leeway. I actually like the premise of each parent living with a different kid. In the pilot, we got lots of Arnett and Martindale, so I'm looking forward to seeing how Bridges and Jayma Mays play off one another. Oh and did I mention they also did Dirty Dancing? How can I hate a show that does this? B-

Looking Forward To...

Gravity
Release: October 4, 2013
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, and Ed Harris

Pilot Thoughts: The Crazy Ones and The Michael J. Fox Show

Premiere week ends tonight with what some critics are calling Dramageddon headlined curiously enough by the series finale of Breaking Bad. Before I wrap my head around tonight though, just some brief thoughts on a couple of pilots from the past week.

Here's the thing about The Crazy Ones. Even if its pilot was the worst thing ever (it's not), I would have loved it for the prominent Kelly Clarkson storyline alone, not to mention the return of Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy!) and Josh Wolk (Benson!) on my TV screen. The show takes place at a Chicago advertising agency where Robin Williams plays executive Simon Roberts. His character is quirky, a little nuts, and has a penchant to do voices so Williams isn't really stretching himself here. Gellar plays his more serious-minded daughter and their different personalities and ways of doing business is part of the DNA of the pilot (and presumably the show). Both do okay work, but are outshone in the first episode by the easy refreshing charm of Wolk and the unassumingly funny Clarkson. These latter two were enough for me to really enjoy the pilot, but I'm very curious how the show holds up in the coming weeks when I'm watching it without my Kelly Clarkson-tinted glasses. Furthermore, how long will it be until Williams' schtick gets old? B

The Michael J. Fox Show is better than its bland title implies. It features the return of Michael J. Fox in a regular TV role since he was diagnosed with Parkinson's (he's appeared in guest roles in the meantime including great work on The Good Wife). Inspired by Fox's real-life experience, the show revolves around his character Mike Henry, a popular local news anchor who had to give up his career when he's diagnosed with Parkinson's, and how his family and friends deal with him going back to work. Fox and his ability to mine comedy from his illness is the show's strength. The supporting characters, however, with the exception of Breaking Bad's Betsy Brandt, needs a bit more work, but all of the elements are there for a worthy show. The opening credits are laughably horrible though. B/B+

Pilot Thoughts: Back in the Game

Haven't heard much about Back in the Game, but I decided to check out the pilot based on my slightly positive reaction to its trailer a few months back and the show is pleasant enough. The problem for me is that there seems to be a bunch of "pleasant enough" shows popping up this season and as much as I want to watch everything, I just can't so it'll be interesting to see how many of these new shows I'm still watching in a few weeks.

With that said, I will give this show a shot mostly because Lenora Crichlow, who was amazing on Being Human, plays the supporting friend character and is a riot in all of her scenes. Plus her character's obviously gay son is one of the reasons why the early trailer gave me positive vibes so I'm hoping this family gets a sufficient amount of air time. As for the rest of the show, it's pretty much Bad News Bears for TV. Recently divorced and single mom Terry Gannon (Maggie Lawson) is forced to live with her father Terry "The Cannon" Gannon, Sr. (James Caan). Her son tries out for the Little League, mostly to impress a girl, but probably also to follow in the footsteps of his mom and grandfather. He doesn't make it and in the quest to find a new adventure, Terry decides to coach a separate team consisting of her son and all of the other rejected kids. Saying this show has plenty of heart is kind of obvious since it's about a bunch of misfit kids playing America's favorite past-time. Seems like the focus of the show will be in the contentious father-daughter relationship, which could be good, but the show will do better once it develops the ensemble more, especially the rest of the kids. While they do that, I'll just be hear laughing at everything Chrichlow says. B-

Pilot Thoughts: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Trophy Wife

To say I was highly anticipating Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would be seriousy understating it as evidenced by a post I wrote a few months back. My anticipation just grew after the pilot was screened at Comic Con over the summer and I've been counting down the days ever since. Finally, I saw the pilot last night and well... it was fine.

As the TV spin-off of the third highest grossing film ever, there was a lot riding on the first episode and while I think it was mostly successful in introducing us to its world and its characters, it was less successful in making me care about them. Most of this could be attributed to some of the cast, namely Brett Dalton and Chloe Bennett, not being quite ready to shoulder a big show like this and unfortunately in the pilot their characters served as the audience surrogates to the inner workings of SHIELD. Even Agent Coulson himself, played by the wonderful Clark Gregg, seemed a bit more overwhelmed headlining a show versus acting as a small supporting character in a movie. A part of me wishes that the episode had less to do about SHIELD and more about getting to know the people their seeking, in this case, Mike Petersen played by Whedon alum J. August Richards. It would've been great to have seen more of his struggles about the post-Avengers world everyone now find themselves inhabiting.

The show itself does feel cinematic at times, whatever that means, but by doing so also amplifies the moments when it feels like TV. The set design in the opening scene for example and subsequent scenes in that same set felt cheap and almost an afterthought especially compared to some of the on-location shots they were able to get. But I think at this point I'm bit overly nit-picky, because even with all its flaws, I know it will get better. Whedon has proven himself way too many times already for me to really worry at this early stage. I just wished I was more blown away by it. One thing I realized though, as much as I like How I Met Your Mother, I'm now counting down the days that is over so Cobie Smulders can be in this show full time. B-

I wasn't going to watch Trophy Wife, but a few positive notices from critics swayed me into checking it out and there's certainly more to the show than what its title suggests (reminds me of Cougar Town in that way). Malin Akerman plays Kate, the titular wife to Bradley Whitford's Pete, his third wife to be exact. He has been married twice previously and has three kids resulting from those prior marriages. His relationship with his ex-wives are friendly enough that he still keeps in constant contact with them. It's in this weird modern family unit that previously single and carefree Kate finds herself in. Akerman, full of innate charm and a knack of physical comedy, is my favorite part of the episode, but the whole ensemble shows a lot of promise. B-

Looking Forward To...

Don Jon
Release: September 27, 2013
Distributor: Relativity
Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Brie Larson, Tony Danza, Glenn Headly, and Julianne Moore