Castle - Season Three (2010-2011)

Castle (2009-????)

Created by: Andrew W. Marlowe

Season: Three (2010-2011)
Genre: Crime | Drama | Mystery
Number of Episodes: 24
Episode Running Time: 60 Minutes
Viewed: Owned DVD

Solving murder has never been so much fun.

[IMDb]

Comments: I am so glad that I decided to pick up Season Three of Castle and not just put it off as something I'd watch down the road. After a mediocre first season and second season that steadily improved, I can definitely say that Season Three was excellent - well, as excellent as a "case of the week" show can be. There's certainly a fair share of filler here - episodes that only serve to pad out a 20+ episode season (which is why I love channels that prefer 13 episode seasons; it's a great number). But when the episodes of Castle were on target, the show was awesome. The Castle-Beckett dynamic was superb; granted, there's not too much longer they can delay the inevitable romance without annoying viewers. And once that occurs, shows tend to lose a step if the whole thing isn't handled properly. Here's hoping that it is.

Anyway, it's time to catch up on Season Four so I can start watching the show on a weekly basis. Often, that ruins the spark the show had for me - not being able to feast on multiple episodes on a nightly basis. But after the awesome season finale, I just have to see how everything plays out. So... I'm done here.

But one last thing: My immense lack of posting is due to the fact that I've been watching Castle instead of movies. However, I have a backlog of Blu-rays to watch that I picked up over Black Friday... but I also have the complete series of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel that I picked up. So... posting may be rather infrequent at times. Not that it matters anyway, because who reads this shit to begin with?

Bridesmaids (2011)

Bridesmaids (2011)

Directed by: Paul Feig
Screenplay by: Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo

Genre: Comedy | Drama | Romance
Running Time: 125 Minutes (Theatrical Cut)
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Owned Blu-ray

Save the date.

[IMDb]

Comments: Just a few quick thoughts, because I'm not really in the blabbering mood at the moment:

- I definitely see why many called Bridesmaids a "female Hangover." It has a few of the outlandish and gross-out moments that made The Hangover such a funny film, but it's just not as funny. However, there's a ton more depth to Bridesmaids - so much so that I enjoyed the dramatic aspects much more than the comedic elements.

- Chris O'Dowd FTW. It's great to see my boy from The IT Crowd get such a big role in a feature film. He has a smaller performance in Dinner for Schmucks, but he's clearly the male lead in this film. And he's awesome.

- Speaking of awesome, I'm pretty sure Jon Hamm is the best character in the film - even though he's in it for a grand total of about five minutes.

- Kristen Wiig tended to annoy me before, but I really enjoyed her performance in the film (she also co-wrote it). Like I mentioned before, I really enjoyed the more dramatic moments, and Wiig was great in them.

- Also, I realize Wiig doesn't want to do any nude scenes, but as a male viewer all I noticed was that she was wearing a bra in every sex scene she had. I didn't notice it because I wanted to see her topless (which I certainly did); rather, it just looked so awkward during the course of the scene. I know this is somewhat of a sexist argument, but it just annoyed me.

- I'm sure that women will probably enjoy Bridesmaids more than I did, but I still had a fun time. It's certainly a fun watch and a much better follow-up to The Hangover than The Hangover Part II. The dramatic elements are well done and for me, the best part of the film. But there's a little something for everyone, including people who like to see fat chicks taking shits in sinks.

Castle - Season Two (2009-2010)

Castle (2009-????)

Created by: Andrew W. Marlowe

Season: Two (2009-2010)
Genre: Crime | Drama | Mystery
Number of Episodes: 24
Episode Running Time: 60 Minutes
Viewed: Owned DVD

She's armed. He's dangerous.

[IMDb]

Comments: Granted, it took me nearly two months to watch Season Two of Castle, but it took me awhile to completely warm up to the show. I love Nathan Fillion, I love the chemistry he has with Stana Katic, and I love their witty banter and unending flirtations, but the "case of the week" aspect drove me crazy. Around two-thirds of the way through the season I took a break and went back to watching other stuff (including The Walking Dead, which is awesome). When I started watching episodes again, it happened to coincide with the show runners really amping up the sexual tension between Fillion and Katic, including the love triangle-esque plot that ran over the last few episodes, which immediately piqued my interest. As everyone knows, I'm a sucker for television romance, so I'm finally understanding why everyone else loves the Castle-Beckett dynamic. I'm sure I'll start to get weary during the middle of Season Three (which I'll likely dive into this weekend) with every goddamn by-the-books "case of the week" episode, but if they can maintain the high level of romance between the leads, I can overlook that.

Speaking of Season Three, I picked it up this weekend at Target for $20. They have a number of ABC shows on sale, and all of them came with $10 coupons for the other recently released ABC seasons. So with the $10 coupon, I picked up Season Seven of Grey's Anatomy for $10 (don't fucking judge me), and with that $10 coupon I picked up the first season of Body of Lies for FREE (it was on sale for only $10; I've never seen the show, but what-the-fuck-ever, it's free), and with that $10 coupon I bought the complete series of Off the Map also for free (it too was on sale for $10; it's a mid-season 13 episode drama about doctors in the jungle that got cancelled, but what-the-fuck-ever, it was free). So yeah, that's what I do with my weekends.

House (1977)

House (1977)

Directed by: Nobuhiko Ohbayashi
Screenplay by: Chiho Katsura

Genre: Comedy | Fantasy | Horror
Running Time: 88 Minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Viewed: Owned Blu-ray

[IMDb]

Comments: I have no idea what the fuck I just watched. It was pretty awesome, that much I can tell you. But really, I can't even begin to comprehend how much acid was dropped while making this film.

Also Known As: Hausu

Braveheart (1995)

Braveheart (1995)

Directed by: Mel Gibson
Screenplay by: Randall Wallace

Genre: Action | Biography | Drama | History | War
Running Time: 177 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Owned Blu-ray

What kind of man would defy a king?

[IMDb]

Comments: I loved Braveheart growing up. It was one of, if not my favorite movie at the time. It was one of the few VHS tapes I owned, and one that got plenty of use (come to think of it, it's only one of three films I've owned on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray - the other two are American Beauty and Fight Club). I just loved everything about the film. However, it's been several years since I've laid eyes on Mel and company, so I decided to give it a whirl this afternoon, and holy fuck, do I still love this movie. Braveheart is emotion. Every scene, every note in the score, every look the actors give - emotion just pours out. If you can't tell, I love this movie as much as I ever did.

Repulsion (1965)

Repulsion (1965)

Directed by: Roman Polanski
Screenplay by: Roman Polanski and Gérard Brach

Genre: Drama | Horror | Thriller
Running Time: 105 Minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Viewed: TCM HD

The nightmare world of a virgin's dreams becomes the screen's
  shocking reality!

[IMDb]

Comments: I've heard so many good things about Repulsion over the years that I jumped at the chance to record the film on TCM, which was played on Halloween evening. But I won't lie - I found this film very difficult to get into during the first hour. It's extremely slow, none of the characters are particularly likable, and nothing of note really occurs. We just see Catherine Deneuve slowly slipping into madness. Speaking of Deneuve, I had a hard time believing her early on, as she seemed more mentally retarded then psychotic (I realize that's not the PC thing to say, but that's what I kept thinking while watching her). However, once we get into the "meat" of the story, I started to understand why Repulsion has such a devoted fanbase. The last half of the film is excellent, from the portrayal of madness to Polanski's camerawork. Once the final image of Repulsion leaves the screen, the viewer begins to understand why Deneuve is how she is, and why she acts like she does early on. If I ever watch Repulsion again, it will definitely be to my advantage to have this knowledge of her character. It may make the film the masterpiece for me that it is for many.

The Walking Dead - Season One (2010)

The Walking Dead (2010-????)

Developed by: Frank Darabont

Season: One (2010)
Genre: Drama | Horror | Thriller
Number of Episodes: 6
Episode Running Time: 60 Minutes
Viewed: Owned Blu-ray

[IMDb]

Comments: I've been kind of slacking this month in terms of what I've been watching. Granted, that means I've been up to date with my DVR (except for Season Two of The Walking Dead), but I haven't been venturing to the theaters much or delving into my growing Blu-ray collection. (But seriously, my theatrical options for films this weekend are Immortals and A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas... I'll pass. I would have seen In Time, but that shit got yanked from my theater already.) So anyway, I really wanted to catch up on The Walking Dead during my three-day Veteran's Day weekend. I caught two episodes when it first premiered last year and loved it; however, the remaining four episodes were condemned to rot on my DVR because I'm an asshole. Eventually, it got to the point where I ended up deleting them because it had been months since those first two episodes, and I knew I'd end up buying it on Blu-ray anyway.

The show itself? It's fucking awesome. After watching episodes of Castle on and off for the last few weeks, it's so refreshing to watch a television show that isn't a "case/monster of the week" type deal. Granted, there's only six episodes, but they're wonderful and totally worth your time. I watched four Thursday night and the remaining two this morning, as soon as I woke up. Plus, I've already burned through three of Season Two's four episodes this afternoon, and I just love how the show plays out. Nothing's rushed, and everything takes it's time, but never to the point of boredom. This shit rules.

Red State (2011)

Red State (2011)

Directed by: Kevin Smith
Screenplay by: Kevin Smith

Genre: Action | Horror | Thriller
Running Time: 88 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Owned Blu-ray

Fear God.

[IMDb]

Comments: I've been so excited to see Kevin Smith's Red State for months now. I'm an unabashed Kevin Smith fan (I skipped Cop Out, but love everything else) and I love horror films. So what's not to love about this film? Plus, you add in the great talents of John Goodman, Stephen Root, and Melissa Leo? Sold.

- First things first: this is NOT a horror film. Not even close. There's a few elements of horror at the beginning, and pretty much every character in the movie is horrible, but that's where the similarities end.

- Michael Parks and John Goodman completely own this film. The other actors were very good too, but these two just swept the floor with everyone else.

- I can't be the only one that was reminded of No Country for Old Men, can I? The whole second half of the film reminded me of the unpredictability and stylistic changes of the Coen Brothers' masterpiece. Don't get me wrong, Red State isn't nearly as good as that film, but it has a very similar feel.

- Another reason that I wanted to watch Red State is because it was the main film discussed on the Filmspotting podcast last week (which I'll be listening to on my drive into my hometown this weekend). I can't recommend Filmspotting enough; it's a great podcast.

- This is the first film I've seen Kyle Gallner (Jennifer's Body, A Nightmare on Elm Street) in where he didn't completely annoy me. Dude showed off some great acting chops in this film.

- Did I mention John Goodman owns?

- I definitely am recommending Red State. Hardcore Kevin Smith fans may not like it; hardcore cinema fans may not like it. But fuck them, because I liked it. Kevin Smith may be a bit douchey, but he makes some great films (the ones that he writes, at least). Go see it.