Life - Season Two (2008-2009)

Life (2007-2009)

Created by: Rand Ravich

Season: Two (2008-2009)
Genre: Crime | Drama | Mystery
Number of Episodes: 21
Episode Running Time: 60 Minutes
Viewed: Owned DVD

Life was his sentence. Life is what he got back.

[IMDb]

Comments: After taking my time finishing up the second and last season of Life, I must say that I'm a little unsatisfied. The show has a solid cult following, but I can't say that I'm fully on board. The season-long arc of the season felt very haphazard and scatterbrained. Several secondary characters are written off out-of-the-blue, and the full conspiracy behind Charlie Crews' (Damian Lewis) imprisonment is never really explained completely. The leads (Lewis and Sarah Shahi) work well together and have great chemistry, which makes it all the more painful that Crews never brings his partner into his own investigations (like how Scully became completely involved in Mulder's work). It's not until the last episode that the two come together outside of investigating a case, and it's not much at that (seeing how Shahi was pregnant at the time and was pretty much written out of the last part of the season). Life was a good show that could have been great with a few adjustments, but it's hard to blame the creators seeing as how they barely got a second season to begin with. But, that's how good TV shows are treated now, anyway.

The A-Team (2010)

The A-Team (2010)

Directed by: Joe Carnahan
Screenplay by: Joe Carnahan, Brian Bloom, and Skip Woods

Genre: Action | Adventure | Thriller
Running Time: 117 Minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Viewed: Theater

There is no Plan B.

[IMDb]

Comments: I really had no interest in seeing The A-Team when I originally heard about it. I've never seen the TV show, so the remake did virtually nothing to grab my attention. However, the film got half decent reviews, and so The A-Team seemed like some perfect afternoon escapism, which is pretty much exactly what it was. There's some humor, lots of explosions, and root-for-'em good guys that couldn't get hurt if they were strapped to a nuke. Some of the fight scenes were poorly shot, as the "shaky cam" was so close I had no idea what the hell was going on. Beyond that, there wasn't anything particularly terrible about The A-Team. There just wasn't anything particularly great, either.

Life - Season One (2007)

Life (2007-2009)

Created by: Rand Ravich

Season: One (2007)
Genre: Crime | Drama | Mystery
Number of Episodes: 11
Episode Running Time: 60 Minutes
Viewed: Owned DVD

Life was his sentence. Life is what he got back.

[IMDb]

Comments: I've been relatively busy the last few weeks, and haven't been home each of the last two weekends. But in between, I've started watching Life, a good show that lasted only two seasons on NBC. My interest in the show was piqued after I saw Damian Lewis in Band of Brothers, as that show made me a big fan of his. Life itself is a solid TV show that features Lewis as detective after being released from prison after serving twelve years for a crime he didn't commit. Thus, the episodes are usually divided between the "case-of-the-week" scenario and Lewis' search for the true perpetrator of the crime and who set him up. The "case-of-the-week" is definitely the weakest part of the show, as the cases are often bizarre and used to match Lewis' bizarre personality on the show. However, the show's still good and it's mostly do to Lewis' solid acting; his character is sympathetic and easy to root for despite his strangeness. Life is a good watch and worth your time, especially since you should be able to pick it up for under $15.

Predator (1987)

Predator (1987)

Directed by: John McTiernan
Screenplay by: Jim Thomas and John Thomas

Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Running Time: 107 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Owned DVD

If it bleeds, we can kill it...

[IMDb]

Comments: I ain't got time to bleed.

Scream 3 (2000)

Scream 3 (2000)

Directed by: Wes Craven
Screenplay by: Ehren Kruger

Genre: Comedy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Running Time: 116 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Owned DVD

The final Scream is going to be the loudest!

[IMDb]

Comments: Scream 3 focuses a lot more on the comedy aspect, and in turn all of the horror elements are the clichés that the first film of the series poked fun of. The "mastermind" behind the mask in this film orchestrates the crimes in such a way that they would only occur if the characters do certain things exactly correct - which, of course, they all do. This is one of the bigger issues in horror films today that really annoys me. I first noticed this in the Saw series, but then I see it films now regardless of how old they are. Still, the three main characters (Sidney, Gale, and Dewey) are all rather entertaining and make the film just a bit better than it should be. But beware, Scream 4 looms around the corner... in 2011.

Scream 2 (1997)

Scream 2 (1997)

Directed by: Wes Craven
Screenplay by: Kevin Williamson

Genre: Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Running Time: 120 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Owned DVD

Someone has taken their love of sequels one step too far!

[IMDb]

Comments: Scream 2 is a decent follow-up to the original film, even if it displays many of the pitfalls of the genre. There's a ton of notable actors in the film, and the dialogue is mainly sharp. However, there are many decisions made in the film simply to keep the film going. The ease with which is the killer moves around is generally laughable, and the reasons for why characters do things is questionable at best. But still, Scream 2 is mistly entertaining and a decent companion piece with the original.

Scream (1996)

Scream (1996)

Directed by: Wes Craven
Screenplay by: Kevin Williamson

Genre: Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Running Time: 111 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Owned DVD

Someone has taken their love of scary movies one step too far!

[IMDb]

Comments: This is actually the first time I've seen Scream the entire way through. I've seen bits and pieces of all three films over the years (I think I may have seen Scream 3 all the way through back in the day, however I don't remember), but it was fun to watch the film that reinvigorated the slasher genre in the mid '90s. Scream starts out great, but it soon gets a bit bogged down in the second half by all of the clichés that the film made fun of in the first part (or was that the point?). Still, it's a fun film and rather original for the most part and worth a watch.

Supervixens (1975)

Superixens (1975)

Directed by: Russ Meyer
Screenplay by: Russ Meyer

Genre: Comedy | Thriller
Running Time: 106 Minutes
MPAA Rating: X
Viewed: Owned DVD (Region 2)

Too much... for one movie!

[IMDb]

Comments: Oh Russ Meyer, you crazy bastard. Despite an ending that takes entirely too long to complete, Supervixens is a strangely entertaining and another very bizarre film. I'm pretty lazy right now, so if you are in the mood to watch an enjoyable film where every woman has gigantic breasts, Supervixens just might be up your alley (that's what she said). Oh, and if I wasn't before, I'm definitely in love now with Uschi Digard (very NSFW). I think all my reviews from now on should end with naked pictures of Uschi.

Vixen! (1968)

Vixen! (1968)

Directed by: Russ Meyer
Screenplay by: Robert Rudelson

Genre: Drama
Running Time: 70 Minutes
MPAA Rating: X
Viewed: Owned DVD (Region 2)

Is she woman... or animal?

[IMDb]

Comments: I've seen bits and pieces of Russ Meyer's films before, but this is the first time I've sat down and watched a film of his the whole way through (I recently picked up his R2 box set; it's awesome). Vixen! was definitely a crazy movie to start off with, as they certainly don't make 'em like this anymore. It's funny that Vixen! was one of the first films to receive an X rating - it's generally harmless. But it's the other content in it that takes the film a notch above crazy: Vixen is this crazy sociopath that sleeps with everyone, including her brother. However, she takes great interest in hating her brother's friend, who's black. The film's over-the-top racist, but I'm partially convinced that Meyer is trying to show how fucking crazy people are moreso than simply exploiting the race factor. Or he's a communist, which is discussed in length in the final act (but ultimately dismissed). Either way, Vixen! is a bizarre film that's a fairly entertaining watch as a sign of the times. Or for some voluptuous racist women.

Get Him to the Greek (2010)

Get Him to the Greek (2010)

Directed by: Nicholas Stoller
Screenplay by: Nicholas Stoller

Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 109 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Theater

Arriving this summer (hopefully).

[IMDb]

Comments: I was feeling pretty lazy when leaving the theater, so I was simply going to use this for the comments: "Surprisingly funny." But now I feel like expanding a little bit. When I first heard that Nicholas Stoller was going to spin-off Forgetting Sarah Marshall with Aldous Snow, I wasn't really interested. I like Russell Brand, but the Aldous Snow character for a full two hours? I wasn't sure about that. Plus, while Jonah Hill's pretty funny, his character in FSM was awful. Luckily he was given a new character, and it worked out pretty well (I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a "haven't I seen you before?" joke thrown in there, although Sarah Marshall makes a quick appearance). Anyway, the trailers looked half decent, plus it got fairly good reviews. Luckily, Get Him to the Greek made me laugh pretty often (which is always a plus), although it wasn't quite as deep as its predecessor. Still, the movie works well and should be worth your time (if you're a fan of the other Apatow-styled comedies). If you aren't interested, you should at least go to see Jonah Hill have random shit shoved up his ass (like heroin and a dildo). That's why movies are magical.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Directed by: Nicholas Stoller
Screenplay by: Jason Segel

Genre: Comedy | Drama | Romance
Running Time: 111 Minutes (Theatrical Cut)
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Owned DVD

A comedy about getting dumped, and taking it like a man.

[IMDb]

Comments: I first watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall when it was originally released on DVD, and I was very disappointed. I found the movie to be slowly paced and funny only in certain spots. Granted, I watched the unrated version, so I figured that was part of the problem. I planned on watching the theatrical cut, but never got to it before today (and the only reason I watched it today is because I'm going to see Get Him to the Greek tonight). And I definitely feel the footage added in was the problem, as I found Forgetting Sarah Marshall to be much, much better this time. The pacing is improved, and it's truly amazing how taking seven minutes out impacts the film. Plus it's hard not to like a film when Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell are this gorgeous. I must admit, I should have watched the theatrical cut sooner.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Directed by: Jon Favreau
Screenplay by: Justin Theroux

Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Running Time: 124 Minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Viewed: Theater

[IMDb]

Comments: I finally got around to watching Iron Man 2 today. After not expecting it to be up to par with the first film, I found myself pleasantly surprised. Iron Man 2 is filled with both the action and comedy of the original, and while it may not be quite as good, it's pretty damn close. The movie gets off to a bit of slow start, but picks up the pace soon after and is certainly entertaining. There's a nice little reference to Captain America in the film (next summer), and there's a reference to Thor after the credits (also next summer; The Avengers is in 2012). Iron Man 2 certainly lives up to its billing and is an enjoyable way to spend two hours. Count me in when the DVD is released.

Bad News Bears (2005)

Bad News Bears (2005)

Directed by: Richard Linklater
Screenplay by: Bill Lancaster, Glenn Ficarra, and John Requa

Genre: Comedy | Sport
Running Time: 113 Minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Viewed: Owned DVD

The bases are loaded... so is the coach.

[IMDb]

Comments: The remake of the Bad News Bears is a horrible hodgepodge or about 20 other sports movies, including the original. The script is plotted poorly, and there were times where I was sure I missed something. When Billy Bob goes to ask his ex-girlfriend's daughter to pitch for them (which is about 40 minutes into the movie), I was positive I missed a scene earlier with them because the characters spoke like they've been on screen before. But they weren't. So why did I enjoy the film? Dialogue! It's always funny to hear kids swear, and Billy Bob Thornton jumps back into a role he's been working on the last few years: drunken asshole. I laughed pretty hard a few times, and that's really all I ask out of something like Bad News Bears.