A Couple More

Couple more movies to catch up on.

Hollywoodland - Not a good movie. Couple decent performances by Ben Affleck and Diane Lane but, those are the only good things about the movie. There isn't enough story to make a movie out of. Sure it sounds like it would be a good movie but, once put together there just isn't a movie. I'm not even sure this is worth the money at the video store.

The Black Dahlia - Good movie. A lot of good performances and a very good story. Even though the real murder was never solved and this is based on a novel based on that murder it works really well. It had the potential to be really heavy almost too heavy but, a couple comedic scenes really lightened the whole thing up. And made the movie. A little too much back story involving one of the characters that dragged the pace down in a few places. Other than that it was good. If you didn't see it in theaters it's totally worth picking up on video.

Catch Up

I am way behind so I'm going to try and do a quick catch up. These are in no particular order.

The Quiet - Good story and a well constructed movie. Have to give tons of credit to Camilla Belle for going from being the only person in the room while delivering dialogue in When A Stranger Calls to be silent in rooms full of other people. Girl has shown a huge amount of talent and range in a matter of two films.

Running With Scissors - Didn't have high hopes for this movie. Mainly I was going to see it for the cast. And that cast did not disappoint. The movie was better than I was expecting it to be. I thought it was going to be pretty heavy on the drama but, it was actually very funny. Which was good it really wouldn't have worked as a major drama.

The Prestige - Wow good movie. I had a good chunk of stuff figured out but, not all of it. I didn't like the very end of the movie but it was still a good movie. Great performances all around. Anyone who missed this in theaters really missed a fantastic experience. Do not miss it on video.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning - I always need a horror film for Halloween and it was not going to be Saw 3. This wouldn't have been on my list of films to see if it weren't for Jordana Brewster and she did not disappoint. It's always a nice bonus when the actor or actress you go to see something for gets the best damn line of the whole movie. Truly the best moment of the whole film. The film over all was actually better than I anticipated and far more gory than I was expecting.

All The Kings Men - Good cast that was top notch. Except for James Gandolfini he over did it. The movie was okay. Night quite was I was hoping for but it was still worth viewing. It just seemed like it could be more powerful.

Okay I think that gets me caught up. At least for the most part. If I remember any other movies I'll be sure to post them.

Quinceanera

This movie wasn't exactly what I was expecting it to be but, that isn't a bad thing. It was still quite good and funnier than I expected it to be.

The story was very good and different. I really like the message it sent about how even within families you can make seperate non-traditional families.

I wasn't familiar with anyone in the cast. They all did a great job though.

I paid full price and it was worth it for me. Most people would probably want to pay matinee price. It's going to be hard for most people to find in theaters though. I do recommend checking it out on video.

The Illusionist

This movie was really good. Very well put together and the acting was pretty good. I'm really glad Jessica Biel fought to get this role. While not a huge role it is a pivotal one and it shows she is more than just a pretty face. Again I found myself wondering why people insist on giving Paul Giamatti so much work and top roles. He's not that good of an actor. Edward Norton was as good as he always is.

I don't really think it's as good as the critics seem to think it is but it is still a good movie. I paid full price and wasn't disappointed. I think most people would be okay paying that much.

And The Emmy Goes To...

So the Emmy's were pretty lame this year. I wasn't really impressed with the nominees so there were a lot of categories I didn't care much about. I actually ended up being really disappointed when Jaime Pressley didn't win. And the best part of the night was when Mariska Hargitay won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama. I really did think that award was going to Kyra Sedgewick. Although if you went just on the episodes they submitted Mariska was the person who deserved to win.

Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

It's been several weeks since I went to see this one so this won't be the most indepth review.

This movie was a lot better than I thought it would be. I saw the first one more because I liked the cast than for the movie itself and I'm always worried about sequels anyway. However, they did a fantastic job with this one. I certainly was not expecting to be as funny as it was. I laughed really hard at a lot of the movie, both the dialogue and the action.

All the actors were great. I really like that Kiera Knightly got a lot more screentime and that they didn't go insane and make her all girly-girl all of a sudden. Orlando was good again as well. And I swear Johnny Depp was even better than he was in the first one. I don't know how he manages to walk that line between good comedy and hamming it up so well. If this character was in anyone elses hands it would be awful. It would be way over the top and annoying.

The only downside to the movie was that it was a little to long. There were some action sequences that they could have cut a bit to tighten it up. Other than that it was a great movie and well worth seeing.

Paid full price and would pay that much to see it again.

Pulse

This was actually a pretty good movie, that I have to see again on account of the fact that like half the theater felt the need to talk during the movie. And don't even get me started on the guy who felt the need to whistle after every scary part. I hate when horror films get PG-13 ratings it only invites stupid people who don't really like them to go. And it keeps real fans away which hurts box office. In case any body in charge of movies out there hasn't noticed this in recent months, PG-13 ratings hurt horror movie box office. You should not be aiming for anything less than an R.

Okay as I said the movie itself was good. There were several scary parts and Kristen Bell was so on her game. One thing that I know really helped this movie was the fact that one of the people responsible for the script was Wes Craven. It's to bad he didn't direct it as well. That would have taken it from a good horror film to a great one.

Considering that I couldn't focus on the movie as much as I would have liked I'm going to skip the spoiler section.

I paid full price to see this one and it was worth it despite the annoying people. I would be willing to pay full price to see it again.

Emmy Time

With the Emmy's just around the corner I figured I better get my reaction to the nominations posted. Let me just say though how stupid the time frame for this years Emmy's is. NBC knew long before they got Sunday Night Football that they had the Emmy's this year. The NFL could have lived with one less Sunday Night game.

Over all the nominations weren't horrible but they weren't great either. The new system seemed to work a bit but not a lot. And as much as I love Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls these shows are never going to be recognized until the producers and other executives start throwing fits like they did to get reality programming their own categories. The reason they don't get nominated is quite simple they are dramedies and until there is a third set of categories for dramedies these shows are going to find it nearly impossible to be nominated. Do I think the shows and the people in and behind them deserve nominations? Yes I do. However, I'm very realistic about this and instead of throwing fits about it I just accept what it is. Now Best Dramedy and so forth categories no nominations for them.

If you don't believe me on this subject you need look no furth than the comedy nominations this year. Where they were dominated by Desperate Housewives (also technically a dramedy) last year this year they are all about true comedies. In other words, sitcoms. With the exception of Alfre Woodard (who did not deserve a nomination) all the comedy nominations were for half hour comedies.

As far as the comedy categories go I really wasn't that thrilled with them over all. There were a few high points. Very pleased that Arrested Development scored a couple nominations. My favorite nomination for comedies has to be Stockard Channing for Out of Practice. I'm still pissed off at CBS for cancelling. My next favorite comedy nomination is Jamie Pressly for My Name Is Earl. I have been a big fan of hers since Jack & Jill. Ever since then I've kept my eye on her work and really touted how talented she is. I know people probably thought I was completely cracked at times but, now I have been proven correct.

In the drama categories. The number one thing that had to happen this year for the to be any hope for the new nominating procedures was for Kyra Sedgwick to get nominated for The Closer. And she did. Unfortunately people must not have watched the screeners for the rest of the cast or the show over all becuase I'm not sure how a couple other cast memebers got over looked. And I am a little miffed that the show didn't get nominated for best drama. I was very surprised to see Mariska Hargitay get nominated again. I really didn't think she could pull it off this season. Yes they had that episode early in the year that was designed to get her another nomination, if not the win, but those tend to backfire. And since they copped out on the ending of that episode I really thought it would hurt her. I'm glad she managed to sneak in there though. Unfortunately, odds are she'll be going home empty handed again.

I was also very pleased that Christopher Meloni finally got nominated. When I found out which episode they submitted for him I was like, yup that'll do it. Have to give the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit peopl a lot of credit. Some how they managed to go two for two in the episode designed for a nomination department.

A little upset by the fact that James Spader wasn't nominated again. Although the nomination for Candice Bergen was very nice to see. She totally deserved it.

And on one final note. The Ellen Burstyn nomination is complete and total crap. If that doesn't show the show them that there are still some serious issues and that people are voting based on name rather than work nothing will. How the hell do you get nominated for 15 seconds of screen time? Come on people snap out of it. Clearly people weren't watching their screeners to put her in the top 10. But, the real question is how did the so called blue ribbon panel decide that 15 seconds was worthy of a nomination?

Scoop

I really don't like Woody Allen and the two movies of his I had seen previously were rather boring. I was very worried about this one but figured Scarlett and Hugh would make it worth it and I was right. I was actually quite surprised at how well written and funny it was. A lot of that had to do with Scarlett's perfect delivery. It's official that girl can do anything.


Major Plot Point Ahead:


The over all story was very fun except for the part where Scarlett and Woody didn't end up figuring out who the real killer was. And while the little twist at the end where Hugh's character did kill one of the women led to a rather funny, yet obvious final moment between him and Scarlett I would have prefered he not be a killer.



I saw this at a matinee and it was well worth that price. I wouldn't have felt ripped off if I had paid full price but, because Woody annoys me so it was a better value for me at matinee.

The Descent

I was in the mood for a fun no brainer of a movie and horror films usually fit that bill. I was intrigued this one because of it's all female cast. That's just never done. I didn't have very high hopes for this movie because it really looked like The Cave with an all female cast. And it was very much like it but it was better written and the creatures where better.

I didn't have very high hopes for this movie aside from being a couple hours of entertainment. As I told me good friend Liz Taylor's House it was not the craptastic gorefest I was anticipating it to be. It was rather gory but it wasn't bad. The dark setting made the gore a little less gory which was cool.

The cast was really good as well. None of them phoned it in and they took it seriously. No trying to make it campy or anything like that.



Spoilers Ahead:


The movie was very well put together and the story was good as were the characters. However, there were a couple of flaws that hurt my overall enjoyment of the movie.

One was when Juno hit I think it was Beth with her ice ax after having just faught off two of the creatures. I had a feeling a moment like that was coming but I didn't think it would play out quite like that. She hits her right square in the throat and then leaves her there to die. Not entirely cool leaving her like that but there was no way they were going to be able to save her. But then later Sarah finds Beth in the creatures food pile and she's still alive. Come one, that was so stupid there was no way she was still going to be alive that much later. She would have bled to death within minutes. And not only was she alive she was able to give Sarah important info about Juno.

Which sets up my major problem with the movie and it happened right at the end. Sarah and Juno are the only two left alive and they are almost to the opening and safety. There's a bunch of the creatures closing in. Turns out that Juno was having an affair with Sarah's husband (who was killed at the beginning of the movie) a fact which Sarah learned from Beth. Beth also told Sarah that Juno was a danger and that she had to find her own way out. So right there at the end Sarah takes her ice ax and puts it through Juno's knee leaving her there to die. Total character problem. I get your mad she had an affair with your husband, your best friend made it sound like Juno killed her on purpose, but no true horror film herione would leave someone behind unless they absolutely had to.

When it came to the creatures it was cool how they could only find their prey by sound. And that worked very well for the story except for one part. One of the characters was hanging from the top of the cave over some water. Her sister and Juno were trying to get her to come back and they were yelling at her. So the creature that was there next to her should have gone after them. Only he just starts swinging and clawing for the one hanging there until he finally gets her. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how he knew she was there or where she was exactly.



I went to a matinee and it was well worth that price. I don't think it is really worth more than that.

John Tucker Must Die

I love a good teen comedy but, they usually don't turn out to be any good. This one looked amusing but my primary reason for seeing it was Sophia Bush and Brittany Snow. I was very much impressed with Brittany when I had to endure the hell that is Nip/Tuck last year so I was really looking forward to seeing what she could do comedically. I was very impressed.

The movie itself turned out to be very good. Way, way better than I was expecting. It was smart rather than stupid. The girls themselves were good characters and very different. A lot of times what you get are the same character with slightly different quirks. These were four very different characters with one thing in common John Tucker. Their differences is really what makes this one stand out from the pack. I laughed so hard my abs hurt afterwards. Not to mention that I was laughing so hard I missed some of the jokes and now have to see it again.

The entire cast was top notch. Great job of casting.



Spoilers Ahead:


I think my favorite character was the one played by Sophia, Beth the vegan activist. I liked how they didn't make her way over the top and that she was allowed to be pretty. And liked being pretty. This particular character is usually stereotyped as not caring about their looks or anything else like that it was a nice change of pace. I was also intrigued by the fact that in this movie vegan activist was code for slut. That was a nice change for the usual stereotype of lesbian or proceived lesbian for that type of character.

When they got stuck on the boat and she whipped out her cell phone and said "this is what triple A was invented for" I almost died. You just have to see it to understand.

But far and away the best part of this whole movie was the boob cam. Pure genius. The whole thought of it gets me laughing again.

The stuff with putting estrogen in John's supplements was funny except when he was wondering if he looked fat in his shorts. That was a little stupid. The emotional stuff and his nipples being tender was great though.

A lot of the stuff that stands out in my mind right now is dialogue stuff and I don't feel like typing all that so that concludes this portion of the review.


I actually saw this at a matinee hoping the smaller crowd would keep me from wanting to hurt someone who couldn't keep their mouth shut. And it worked. It was totally worth the matinee price and I would gladly pay full price to see it. And I just might do that when I see it again.

A Prarie Home Companion - again

This was so fun the first time around I had to see it again. Most of the time when I see stuff a second time it is either the same or a tiny bit better. This however was even funnier the second time around. I can't even explain why it was so much better it just was.

Click

This turned out to be a very disappointing film. I did laugh a few times but over all it was just not good. Even Kate Beckinsale couldn't save this one. She wasn't in it enough to level things out. Adam Sandler seemed to just be going through the motions for most of the film. It really seemed like no one had any real idea of what they should be doing.

And it was way to long. If it had been a bit shorter it wouldn't have been as bad. Really it just seemed to spend at least an hour just beating you over the head with it's family before work message.

One nice surprise in the movie was the couple small scenes with Jennifer Coolidge. Always a riot in anything she's in. And that flash back scene when she had a mohawk was priceless.


Spoilers ahead:


Really just one important plot thing here. The reason the lenght of the movie was to much was not just because they were beating you over the head with the message but because you knew from just before he got the remote that the damn thing was a dream. He lays down on a bed and then suddenly sees the door where he ends up finding Christopher Walken. Come on it's bad enough when a movie turns out to be a dream but, to give it away and then drag it out for what seems like an eternity is just stupid. Sure they tried to save it there at the end when the remote returns and he throws it away but that was even dumber.



I saw this at a matinee and it so wasn't worth it. It is really only worth seeing on video.

Poseidon

I had seen the original Poseison Adventure several years ago so I figured what the hell why not check this one out. It had a decent cast that would make it worth the time. The original was a fun movie to watch if you keep in mind when it was made. (I didn't see the tv remake.) Unfortunately they didn't really do a very good job updating it. It just wasn't very exciting.

I did enjoy it for the cast. Although in the small moments that any cast member had to shine I feel the director really failed them. The person in the cast that most impressed me was Jacinda Barrett. This is not really unusual though. She impresses me more with each thing I see her in. Seriously folks people generally come off The Real World and do stuff to look like idiots, they don't go on to have pretty decent film careers. And hers seems to be going nowhere but up.

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail on this one because it's really not worth it.

I saw this at the discount theater for $2 and I would have paid the evening rate there of $3 for it but it wasn't worth more than that. It will be perfectly fine to rent when it hits dvd but, don't be expecting anything spectacular from it.

The Devil Wears Prada

A few years ago I was not a big fan of Meryl Streep. In fact I was always like what's the big deal. Her performances always seemed so boring to me. That is with the exception of Death Becomes Her. Then came The Hours and for once I actually kind of understood what everyone saw in Meryl. However, during all the press stuff for The Hours and the woman was a riot. If she wasn't such a successful actress she could be a top notch stand-up comic so now while I will see most stuff she does I won't miss her comic stuff.

The Devil Wears Prada was terrific movie. It wasn't a laugh a minute comedy but, it was still very funny. Anne Hathaway was great as always. I didn't know sometimes if I should be afraid of Meryl's character or amused by her. Which was exactly how that character had to be played. If it was too funny then Anne's character would have come off all wrong and the movie wouldn't have worked. If the character had been to scary then the it would never have been funny.

Emily Blunt who played the first assistant Emily would have stolen the movie if she had more screen time.


Spoiler Warning Stop Reading You Don't Want To Know Specific Things From The Movie:


Yes, Andy (Anne) did kind of put her friends second after awhile including her boyfriend but, no way would he have not done the samething if he had been given a chefs job at a high profile restaurant. The part towards the end at the gallery when her friend Lilly (Tracie Thoms) laid into her about how she'd been behaving pissed me on beyond belief. It aggreviated me because she had no problem with Andy and her job when she was scoring a $1500 purse as a result. Andy was already starting to slip away from them at that time so if she had a problem with it she shouldn't have taken the bag.

I loved it when Andy had to take the book over to Miranda's (Meryl) house along with the dry cleaning and Emily told her where to put each of them. Only problem was there were two closest across from the stairs and three tables with flowers on them. And then when she took the book upstairs the way she coward after being caught was perfect. But, then Miranda punished her by making her get a steak from a restaurant when it wasn't open and find the unpublished manuscript for the next Harry Potter book just to see if she could do it was the most evil thing ever.

And I soooo did not see Emily getting hit by the taxi coming. I was so shocked by that I don't think I took a breath for like ten seconds or more.



I paid full price to see this movie and it was well worth it. I'd gladly pay full price to see it again.

The Omen

It's been awhile since I've seen the original. I remember it being rather creepy though and I really didn't see a need to remake it. Casting however to draw me in because despite the fact that he is seriously under used Liev Shreiber is a top notch actor and Julia Stiles is amazing as well. The fact that they got those two, especially considering Liev has more than fulfilled his horror film requirements, really had me intersted in seeing what they could do to make it better.

I don't really think they ended up making it better but, they didn't dishonor the original and they made a film that was decent for its time. It wasn't ask creepy as the original but, somehow they did manage to get me to jump several times. I never screamed and my heart rate never seemed to go up but, I did jump a bit 4 or 5 times. That is actually quite an accomplishment and it does speak well for the directing. It means the director set it up so that you weren't expecting it. One of the ways that was done was not changing the music or the background sound leading up to a scary moment. To often today horror films give away the scares by increasing the music to much. Big mistake the key to scaring people is to lul them into thinking it is safe. Even when they know something can't be that easy you have to find away to make them think it just might be that easy. That's how you get the scares and that's exactly what the director did with this film.

As for the performances. The were all strong as you would expect. The Omen is one of those rare horror/scary films that gives more importance to the male lead rather than the female lead. That isn't a bad thing it just unfortunately means not as much screen time for Julia. She did a great job with what she was given and did have a couple big emotional scenes. Liev was spot on perfect casting. There's just something really amazing about the way he goes about his job. I can't put my finger on it but he really draws you in and it seems like he's not even trying. Mia Farrow was strong. She played the line between sensister and caring perfectly.


Spoiler Alert:


Not a lot of things I want to touch on in regards to the actual movie.

First though it was interesting that they decided to change one of the scariest moments in the original. In the original they don't go to the zoo Damien and Kate (Julia) drive through an animal sancturary and a bunch of them attack their car. That is far more frightening than the apes throwing themselves at the glass in the zoo. That really wasn't a very smart thing to change.

Also at the end I was a bit confused as to why the cops where already in their riot gear when they came into the church and shot Robert (Liev). That was very odd they wouldn't have know what was going on until they got into the church so they had no reason to be in riot gear.



It was a good remake. Although I think they could have made it a bit more interesting if they had done a update and made it so the female character was the lead. Would be really interesting to see the mother go through the termoil of coming to terms with what must be done.

I did pay full price for it and I don't feel like it was a waste of money or time. However, I think I would recommend just waiting for dvd.

The Lake House

Yes, there is a bit of a hopeless romantic inside me. It usually shows itself in the movies I will watch. Overall it was a good movie. It had a few moments that didn't work but, otherwise if you can let yourself go enough to believe in the story it's good. If you can't let yourself go in that way you won't enjoy this movie at all.

Sandra and Keanu were both strong. I would have liked to see Sandra get a little more emotional variation but, she did get a couple of strong moments so it was okay. Keanu's character was a little more flat. Not flat in a bad way just that is character was on the same emotional plain the whole time. There's a lot of voice over in the movie and luckily both Keanu and Sandra have the ability to portray so much with just their voices.

The way the director put the film together was very nice. I really like the parts where they were shown to be in the same place and it was as if they were talking to each other but they were in different times so they really weren't. Going in I was worried about how the movie would work if they were never on screen together but they solved that problem brilliantly.

There was one weak part in the casting and that was Dylan Walsh as Sandra's on-again-off-again boyfriend. He is so dull on Nip/Tuck I don't know how he got in this movie. He wasn't even in it that much but most of the time he was in it he was with Sandra and it was just a miss cast all the way.


Spoiler Alert:


The one real flaw in the story was that they gave away a key story point to early in the movie. When Kate Sandra) is having lunch with her mom and a man is hit by a bus it is blatently obvious to the audience that it is Alex (Keanu). Unfortunately this ruins a moment later in the movie. As a result you also spend to much of the movie wondering when Kate is going to figure it out.

That early scene completely destroys the moment later in the movie when they are to finally meet at a restaurant. You know that he's not going to show up so it takes away all the emotional empact of the movie. Even Sandra can't save a moment that the audience knows is coming ten minutes in.

The other problem with it is that she should have known the minute she found out Alex's full name that he was the man killed that day. She's a doctor for crying out loud she would have found out the name of the man she couldn't save.

I did like the part though that he orchastrated for them to meet without her knowing it by meeting her at her surprise birthday party. That was a really great portion of the movie.



I paid full price for the movie and it was totally worth it for me. Anyone with a strong since of romance (hopeless or not) especially for whimsical romance will enjoy this movie and won't feel gypt by paying full price. Otherwise you're probably better off just waiting for video.

The Da Vinci Code

I am not a big reader and have not read The Da Vinci Code as a result I really enjoyed the movie. It was put together fairly well. It was a bit long which wouldn't be a problem if it hadn't slowed down so much towards the end. If Ron Howard could have found a way to tighten the end up and keep it moving more it would have been more enjoyable.

While there was nothing wrong with any of the performances there also was nothing special about the either. The characters were good but, they just didn't have a lot of emotional range to work through. I found that a bit odd for a Ron Howard film.


On the off chance someone who hasn't read the book and does intend to see the movie reads this I will put some stuff in the spoiler area to not ruin it for them.


Part of the problem with the pacing towards the end is probably that I had figured out all the little twists. I figured out no later than half way through and probably soon that Sophie (Audrey Tautou) was next in Jesus's bloodline. I also figured out pretty quickly once his character was introduced that Leigh (Ian McKellen) was the mastermind behind the whole thing to expose the secret.

I don't really know why I was able to figure those things out. It's not like they did something that just made it glaringly obvious. What I do think might have been the case is that they figured so many people had read the book that there was no need to really hide it. They didn't really take into account the portion of the audience that didn't read the book.



I paid full price to see this one and it was worth it for me. I'd say if you have read the book though that you should only pay matinee price or just wait for dvd.

The O.C.

All I really have to say about this show, the season, and the way it ended is WHAT THE...(insert whatever word you want).

I knew this show was in deep trouble halfway through season 2 when they sent Alex packing. She was the best thing to happen to the show. I don't know exactly what it was that Olivia Wilde brought with her but whatever it was made the show soar to new hights. And it wasn't just the relationship between Alex and Marissa either. It was her interaction with all the characters. Everyone that came into contact with her had to raise their game and everything fell apart when she left.

Without Alex they had no new storylines which became very clear in the second of half of season 2 and even more obvious in season 3. Josh Shwartz says that they hightened the storytelling in the second half of season 3. Okay Josh if you say so. My definition of hightened storytelling does not involve repeating pretty much every single story arc some for the 3rd or 4th time.

While I wanted them to wrap up the whole Theresa story to drag it out the way they did with him taking her to prom wasn't necessary. The contant on-again-off-again relationship between Seth and Summer is wearing on me. Leave the together. I don't like hating Seth for making Summer sad. (Major props to Rachel Bilson for making those sad Summer moments so crushing.) Not to mention Seth's totally off the mark supposedly well intentioned antics are starting to get very old. The fact that they had to bring Anna back to fix things does not speak well for the shows ability to develope good stories. Liked Anna in season one but bringing her back the way they did was stupid and showed they had no real idea of what to do. If that's the only way to cause more tension between Seth and Summer then there are two choices available to them, 1) leave them together for good or 2) split them up for good.

Love Dr. Roberts and Julie getting together. Although that storyline isn't half as much fun with Marissa being dead. Bringing Kaitlin back is not a good move. No one is sitting around going oh please we don't want to move on from Harbor. This was never designed to be a show about the kids that went to that highschool. Rather that was just the high school the kids happened to go to. And could they have done a worse job with casting?

And the biggest mistake of all this season was killing Marissa. They have offered up all kinds of reasons for it and none of them fly. The Marissa and Ryan story had runs it course there was nothing else to do with them. Okay that doesn't mean you kill Marissa. And if you are going to kill her at least give her something real to work with. That was the most pathetic death scene ever and only really served to highlight how much Ben McKenzie has no idea what he is doing.

As for how they led up to Marissa's death. Seriously people pay attention to your entire season of stories and how they arc. After month's of not hearing from her dad Marissa decides to join him on a yacht when asked. Not going to happen. Clearly they forgot about the fact that Marissa was the one who told her dad to get out of town and not come back. That man has wounded her way to many times no way does she just say okay I'm off to Greece with my disaster of a father.

The stuff with Volchock was so dumb. When Marissa said the thing to Ryan about how she brought Volchock into their lives she might as well help get rid of him I wanted to scream. Clearly the writers weren't paying attention again. Johnny brought Volchock into their lives and Ryan made it worse by putting his nose in where it didn't belong. Yes, Marissa had her stupid fling with him but, she walked away from it and Ryan was the one who was to stupid to call the cops and beat Volchock up. He caused the problem and as usual wasn't man enough to fix his own mess and it cost Marissa her life.

The people behind the show are under the dilusion that killing Marissa is going to save the show. WRONG, killing her will kill the show. There fan base exists because of Misha Barton and they are going to lose viewers over this. Clearly they think they will have a reaction much like that of NCIS after killing Kate Todd and see their ratings shoot up. That's misquided for a couple reasons. First the NCIS thing happened because killing Kate was unbelievably shocking not only in that no one thought they would kill her but also because of the way they killed her. Killing Marissa was not shocking in anyway. From about three episode into the shows first season anyone would have told you that if anyone was going to find an early grave it was Marissa there by actually killing her is not shocking. And again the way she died was just pathetic.

Not to mention that because of the way they orchestrated it they robbed Rachel Bilson of some truly great material. She could really shine dealing with all that grief. There better be a moment in season four when something great happens to you and she goes to call Marissa only to realize she can't.

People are unbelievably harsh on Mischa and it is unwarranted. Those of us her are her fans know that the only reason she never shined on this show is because she was never given the material to do so and wasn't given a character that grew there by she could never change what she was doing. The only time she really shined was when Marissa was dating Alex because it was the one time she was given something to work wtih. The writers got confused and forgot that Marissa didn't have a bad boy complex, bad boys had a Marissa complex. The one goodthing that comes from this is that Mischa still has time to salvage her career.

If they wanted to change the dynamic of the show they could have done it without killing Marissa. The way they should have ended the season is like this. Marissa continues to spiral down hill after Johnny's death and gets in way to deep with Volchock. Knowing there was only one way to save Marissa, Summer makes a fateful phone call. And on graduation day Marissa would leave town only not to be with her father but with Alex.

The show may have gotten a fourth season pick up but it is only for 16 episodes. And say it's because of baseball all you want people but FOX starts shows after baseball all the time and still gives full season orders. It will take a miracle for those not to be the shows final 16 episodes. It's over in May 2007.

A Prarie Home Companion

After the mind numbing boringness that was Gosford Park and the general disappointment that was The Company I was a little nervous about seeing another movie directed by Robert Altman. Even with that cast it was a bit scary. I mean the man always puts together a great cast but, he doesn't always deliver. I was overwhelmingly pleasantly surprised by this one. It delivered on every level. The directing was good and the acting was top notch.

This is probably the best most honored cast assembled this year and they all worked so marvalously together. Most notably Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep. They could make a movie where those two where just sittin' around telling crazy stories and it would be worth the price of admission the way they play off each other. It's no wonder their presentation at the Oscars was such a gut buster.

Virgina Madsen probably had the most interesting part playing "Dangerous Woman" but more to the point she was the angle of death. There was just something about the way she played the role that was really interesting to me. Especially the way she moved. To walk as though you are gliding is not easy and she made it look effortless.

I know a lot of people aren't keen on Lindsay Lohan being in this movie. She deserved this role and I honestly don't know who else would have even worked in it. She fit in so well. There wasn't a single moment where it felt like she wasn't sure of what she was doing or that she didn't belong amongst all that talent. If she was intimidated by anyone in the cast she never let it show in her performance and that is the truest test of anyones talent. Her talent belonged in this movie and it showed in the end when she sang that crazy song.

Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly as the comic singing cowboys were the perfect pairing. No where in my head would I have ever considered pairing them together like that but it was a genius move.

Kevin Kline was halarious as always.

And having been the stage manager in my high school theater how I did feel for Maya Rudolph's character. Things are always a mess back stage no matter how many times you have done something.

I paid full price for this movie and it was totally worth it. If you get the chance to see this movie you must do so.