Eastbound & Down - Season One (2009)

Eastbound & Down (2009-????)

Created by: Ben Best, Jody Hill, and Danny McBride

Season: One (2009)
Genre: Comedy
Number of Episodes: 6
Episode Running Time: 30 Minutes
Viewed: Owned DVD

Every kid has a great ballplayer they look up to. Kenny Powers is not
  that guy.

[IMDb]

Comments: The first season of Eastbound & Down is a mixed bag. While there's only six episodes, they almost all have a bipolar quality about them. Episodes dramatically shift from gut-busting humor to complete awkwardness to being severely depressing. The series fits right in with co-creator Jody Hill's recent film Observe and Report, as both are depressingly funny. One of the main drawbacks in the early episodes is the complete unlikeability of Kenny Powers. There's really no one to identify with and since Powers is a complete dickhead it's hard to root for him to make it back to the big leagues. Fortunately, in the last few episodes he becomes a bit more likeable (which coincides with the show getting much better), and there's a bit more warmth to Eastbound & Down. The show also has some quality directors, which is impressive (but not surprising given the connections). Among those helming episodes are David Gordon Green (Undertow and Pineapple Express) and Adam McKay (Anchorman and Step Brothers), but overall it still retains the flavor of Jody Hill. One of the most disappointing aspects (for me) has to be the final episode, where Katy Mixon bares the goods, and it's so obviously a body double. Mixon has a great Southern charm and large tracts of land, so that was a major disappointment. Other than that, I'll leave you with the best way to differentiate between a gold credit card and a black one: "Gold might get you Jonas Brothers tickets. Black involves all three of them sucking your dick."

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Screenplay by: Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, and
  Simon Kinberg

Genre: Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller
Running Time: 128 Minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Viewed: Theater

Nothing escapes him.

[IMDb]

Comments: Well, this is certainly not your father's Sherlock Holmes. The same thing was said earlier this year about Star Trek, but there is a difference here. The reboot of Star Trek was actually good. I'm not saying Sherlock Holmes is a horrible film, but it's a generally muddled motion picture with several flaws. Robert Downey Jr. is fine as Holmes, and he's both charming and funny in the role. However there are several problems, including the convoluted plot, which take away from the film. My biggest complaint is that Sherlock Holmes feels like a Guy Ritchie film rather than a Sherlock Holmes film. To be fair, the trailers present Sherlock Holmes as an action-packed Vin Diesel-fest, and while it certainly has more testosterone than anything Basil Rathbone did, it's not continuous action. And while parts of the film stay true to the Holmes philosophy (the amateur boxing, for example), Sherlock Holmes failed to live up to my expectations (and most likely Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's as well). It's worth a rent, but that's about it.

Curb Your Enthusiasm - Season Seven (2009)

Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-????)

Created by: Larry David

Season: Seven (2009)
Genre: Comedy
Number of Episodes: 10
Episode Running Time: 30 Minutes
Viewed: I plead the fifth.

Deep inside you know you're him.

[IMDb]

Comments: While the seventh season of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm has yet to be released on DVD, I was treated to watching all ten episodes last night and this morning of this amazingly funny show. I've never seen the show before, and I never was a Seinfeld fan, but I was immediately drawn to Larry's ridiculous character, who says out loud what everyone is thinking. The supporting cast is terrific and often features guest spots from various celebrities (as caricatures of themselves). I am very excited now to explore the last six seasons of this show. In Larry I trust.

Roswell - Season Three (2001-2002)

Roswell (1999-2002)

Created by: Jason Katims

Season: Three (2001-2002)
Genre: Drama | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Number of Episodes: 18
Episode Running Time: 60 Minutes
Viewed: Owned DVD

There's truth to every rumor.

[IMDb]

Comments: Well, I've finally made my way through the entire series of Roswell. It's completely disrupted my movie watching schedule, as I knew if I started watching films that I would never get back to the show. Roswell completely underwhelmed me and was generally a disappointment throughout. I did like parts of the first and most of the second season, but the third season was rather horrible. While inconsistency was a main theme through the series, it shines brightly in Season 3. Characters act and do things only to serve the plot for that episode, and then act differently for the next episode. Nothing is thought out. It's a big mess. And you know what, I don't even care enough to keep writing. I'm done with Roswell.

Avatar (2009)

Avatar (2009)

Directed by: James Cameron
Screenplay by: James Cameron

Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Running Time: 162 Minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Viewed: Theater

[IMDb]

Comments: Well, I can probably say that Avatar is the most visually impressive movie I've ever seen. It's rather amazing how the movie looks; everything is top notch. However, I was disappointed in the actual story of the film. Just about everything in regards to the plot and characters is very run-of-the-mill, and if it wasn't for the outstanding visuals I would have been a bit bored during the first half of the film. The second half was more entertaining, and despite the amazingly predictable finale, I was thoroughly engrossed in the ending. I can't say enough about the movie "experience," however, and I strongly recommend seeing the film in theaters if you have any desire to watch Avatar at all. But beyond the spectacle, there's not much in terms of quality dialogue or story arcs. But, Avatar is definitely something fresh and new in the movie-making world, and I'm sure we'll start to see more grand spectacles in the future. Oh, and Neytiri is the hottest 10-foot-tall computer generated blue alien I've ever seen before. And that's saying something.

Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek (2009)

Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Screenplay by: Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman

Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
Running Time: 126 Minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Viewed: Owned DVD

The future begins.

[IMDb]

Comments: Yeah, I watched it again. Actually, I watched Star Trek with my father as he hadn't seen it before. But it's still an awesome movie. The more comprehensive review is somewhere around on the site.

Roswell - Season Two (2000-2001)

Roswell (1999-2002)

Created by: Jason Katims

Season: Two (2000-2001)
Genre: Drama | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Number of Episodes: 21
Episode Running Time: 60 Minutes
Viewed: Owned DVD

There's truth to every rumor.

[IMDb]

Comments: So I finally finished the second season of Roswell. I struggled to get through the season even though it is much better than the first (more on that later). I haven't been watching any movies because I really wanted to finish the season, and it's happened to me in the past where I've just stopped watching shows altogether if I'm not totally immersed. I wanted to get through the season so I could go back to a normal viewing schedule, but as with the end of the first, I've become slightly attached and probably will dive into the third season soon to finish out the series.

Roswell's second season is definitely much more entertaining than the first, but as I mentioned, I struggled to watch more than one episode a day. If I am totally engrossed in a show, I can watch eight or so episodes in a row if I have nothing to do (it's sad but true). But Roswell never fully captured my attention. The episodes are much more serious and compelling, rather than the soap opera-esque storylines from Season One. Sure, there's some lovey-dovey shit, but it's kept in control. There's also some incredibly outlandish storylines along with plots that feel as though they were added last minute. Not many plotlines are thought out in the long term. For example, when the revelation of what happens to Alex occurs in the final episodes (where he actually was and what happened while he was gone), it doesn't match up at all with what happened in prior episodes. When he returns from Sweden, he shows off his photos and has "grown up" much to the delight of Isabel. And then the writers decided Alex never really went to Sweden, and this very manufactured storyline was thrown in for the final episodes of the season. To explain the fact that the writers hadn't thought of this before, the characters "discover" things about Alex that obviously weren't in place when the earlier episodes were written. It's pretty fucking annoying, but still better than Season One.

I think my biggest complaint about Roswell is that there's not that one character that transcends the show. Everyone's fine and dandy, but no one character ever takes over the show and becomes the embodiment of it. There's no Chuck Bass, or Tim Riggins, or a Logan Echolls (+1 if you get that last reference, and a -1 for me for listing Chuck Bass, but it's the truth). The role is set up perfectly for Michael, but he doesn't have the charisma nor does the writing really let him become a tour de force on the show.

While I am glad to finally finish the second season of Roswell so I can feel free to watch films again, I'm probably going to dive into the third season soon. I do want to see the show's ending, but I'm thinking around episode nine I'll wish I hadn't, because I'll feel pressured to watch the second half of the season before moving onto something else. But at least there's no Season Four.

Brothers (2009)

Brothers (2009)

Directed by: Jim Sheridan
Screenplay by: David Benioff

Genre: Drama | Thriller | War
Running Time: 110 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Theater

There are two sides to every family.

[IMDb]

Comments: Well, it's been awhile. I've been watching episodes of Roswell here and there, and I've cleaned off my DVR of all House and Mythbusters episodes, so I haven't been watching movies of late. There are a few cinematic releases that have caught my eye in December, including Brothers, Up In the Air, and Sherlock Holmes, so I jumped at the chance to see Brothers on its release date. Brothers is a remake of Susanne Bier's Brødre, which I now really want to see. The only other film of Bier's I've seen is Things We Lost In the Fire, which has similar plot lines as Brothers, but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, Brothers is a very good, well-acted, and surprisingly realistic film. I worried originally after watching the trailer, as the police stand-off at the end looked like a giant cop-out that's been used so many times in films: the writers can't think of a realistic solution to the film, so they decide to have someone flip out and get killed. Fortunately, that's not the case. Brothers features a very "adult" script, where nothing is over-romanticized (despite my wish that it was... Jake and Natalie, so dreamy together...). Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman are excellent as they always are, and Tobey Maguire surprised me. I've never been a big fan of his (he was decent in the Spider-Man series, but they could have found someone better), but he was solid throughout Brothers. What surprised me was how excellent he was at the end of the film when he lost his shit. I was amazed at how well he portrayed his character.

Brothers is a good film that's just shy of a great one. Jim Sheridan does a good job considering his last film was 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Trying (to be fair, he's made some excellent films before that, but it's always fun to poke fun of the failures). But I definitely would recommend Brothers to those looking for a drama not made for the Twilight generation.