Brokeback Mountain

The closing night movie for the Starz Denver International Film Festival was the much anticpated Brokeback Mountain. It's a good movie but not really the movie it could be. It just didn't all come together. I felt it could have been more powerful especially at the end. All the credit in the world to Ang Lee and his production staff for doing such a good job with most of the cowboy elements. The parts with them showering or washing their clothes out in the wild with nothing more than their hats and boots on, so true. It's that incase you die at this moment in time you better do it with your hat and boots on mentality. There were a few things that they seemed to get wrong but no movie is perfect.

As for the performances. Jake Gyllenhaal was fantastic. His desire to live the life he truly wants running smack into the wall of how he had to live his life came through so great in every aspect of his performance. He is the one who deserves all the hype that is for some crazy reason going to Heath. Now don't get me wrong, it's not that Heath's performance was bad it's just that it wasn't that moving either. Yes he did a great job of playing the one desperately wanting to deny his feelings. The quite one who barely speaks and when he does he mumbles more than anything. There in lies part of the problem. In some of the more intimate moments you could not understand what he was saying. Luckily you knew the jist of the scene but I want to hear the dialogue and know what he is saying. There was just no emotional connection to him. If he ends up with nominations that's fine but there is just no way he should be winning anything.

As for the ladies. I don't like Michelle Williams and I will never understand why people insist she is such a good actress. Everything she does is so dull. Unfortunately she got the bigger role in this film and so she's getting all kinds of undue attention. Seriously what movie are people watching that she deserves any credit for her performance. Anne Hathaway didn't get enough work if you ask me so she really couldn't show a lot. The differences in the wifes was very intersting. Anne didn't really get to show what she might be capable of until the very end. See red area for details.


Spoilers ahead!


Okay I have read on more than one occassion that Heath plays the traditionally female role in this movie. The one who is pursued and all that. How the hell do you figure that? Jack (Jake) is the hopelessly romantic one. The one who will do anything for one moment with the man he loves. Come on Ennis (Heath) has this perfect little life but will sneak off to have a few nights with someone else and then return to his family like nothing ever happened. Jack however, wants to leave his wife and get a little place somewhere so him and Ennis can live happily ever after. Which one of those seems more the typical female character to you? Jack puts himself out there for these little rendevous hoping someday that Ennis will come around and run off with him. It's the he'll leave his wife for me someday scenario.

Unfortunately even though Ennis ends up divorced they never end up together. Jack is killed and sadly Ennis only finds out when he gets a post card returned. He calls Jack's wife, Lureen (Anne), and finds out what happened. This is when Anne gets her one big moment. She tells Ennis how Jack was killed in a mishap envolving a flat tire while we see a flashback of what really happened. He was beaten to death by three or four other guys. The lies people will tell themselves and the world are amazing at times. Lureen is the wife who knows somewhere deep down why her husband runs off to Wyoming a couple times a year. And what he may be doing with another man in town but chooses to ignore it and live the life she has created. That's where the lie about his death comes in. But while telling the lie to the man he husband ran off to see she has a quite breakdown. It is the most heart breaking moment in the whole movie to me.

I really didn't buy into the holiday scene with Ennis, Alma (Michelle), their kids and her new husband. While yes, they might invite him over for dinner and all that I really didn't buy into her finally having it out with him over what him and Jack really do up in the mountains. Plus her whole thing about putting a note in his tackle box to see if he was really fishing didn't seem real. Sure we all know what they were doing up there but considering the era in which the film took place they still would have been fishing so they had something to eat while up there. Plus it seemed like them having that fight would have been the last thing that happened before the divorce not that weird bedroom scene.

Jack's dad was true to form. Being so mean that he wouldn't let his son's last wishes be carried out. That was sadder to me than the fact that he died.



Had to pay more than double the price of a regular evening admission to see this screening. Getting to see it a head of the general public and the fact that Ang Lee was there made it worth that. But it is worth a full price admission.

The Matador

The second film I saw at the Starz Denver International Film Festival was The Matador. Overall I was disappointed with the film. I didn't care much for the directors style. He was also the writer and the writing was good as was the basic story. There were some things in the story I would have liked to have explained better. I thought it was rushed a bit towards the end. And while I normally don't mind Greg Kinnear (he's not way up my list of actors though either) I really did not care for him in this role at all. He was not the right compliment to Pierce Brosnan. Pierce however was great. This was such a different role for him. I loved seeing him play someone icky. It was a great role for him that will hopefully show people he is more than just the sauve guy in a suit.

The writer/director Richard Shepard was present and did an audience Q&A following the screening. Nice guy. It's also worth noting that Greg's character lived in Denver and he said he did that because his wife is from Denver and he loves the area. However, due to budget constraints he was not able to shoot in Denver. (I won't even go into my tirade about that right now. That is a seperate entry all together.) It was interesting to learn that he ended up making this film because Pierce and his production company requested a sample of his writing because they were considering hiring him to write another project. Then when pierce read the script for The Matador he wanted to make it. Also he's worked on a couple movies with the always wonderful Maura Tierney. He wrote and directed a movie with her and Adrian Brody called Oxygen and produced a movie with her called Scottland, PA. He is also working on another movie for her. Always worth keeping an eye on someone who will give that woman work.

I had to pay more than a usual full price ticket to see this movie and it was not worth that price. Truth is it is really only worth matinee price and the only reason it would be worth more is for Pierce.

Walk The Line

I know I am way behind. I saw Walk The Line the day it opened. It was a really good movie. Reese Witherspoon is hands down my front runner for all best actress awards. She was simply amazing. I think do to all the fun light hearted stuff she has done people are always a little tentative on giving her the credit she deserves and acknowledging her talent but she showed it all off here. Arguments can be made for her deserving more nominations (at the very least) for some of her past performances and now it is time for everyone to step up and give her the respect she deserves. And believe me with the also long overdue attention Claire Danes deserves it is some what painful for me to accept that she will have to wait to take home anymore statues. (Remember she has a Golden Globe for My So-Called Life.) Anyway Reese was dead on with everything in the movie. From the comedy to the drama she did not miss a beat.

And the same goes for Joaquin Phoenix. He has also given several terrific performances in the past and he is dead on perfect here. While I am a country music fan I have never really had a take on Johnny Cash but what I did know was that he would have to give the performance of his life and it would live and die by his singing. Needless to say he nailed it. Even my Grandmother says both Joaquin and Reese nailed it. When people who knew the entire span of June and Johnny's careers are saying this you know they did something right. And I saw Brokeback Mountain the same weekend and no way in hell does Heath Ledger deserve any awards over Joaquin. This is what it comes down to. If Jaime Foxx won last year and he lip-synced then there is no excuse for Joaquin not winning when he did the singing.

I'm not going into the spoiler area on this one because it has been so long since I saw it.

I ended up seeing it at a matinee but I would have been more than happy to pay full price for this movie and probably will pay full price when I see it again.

Transamerica

I had my first film festival experience this weekend at the 28th Starz Denver International Film Festival. It was very cool. Saw Transamerica starring Felicity Huffman. What a good film. Felicity totally deserves the slowly building Oscar buzz she is getting. If she gets nominated that would be great but I would still vote for Claire Danes if I had a vote that is. Considering it is usually the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender films that are dark and tradgic that get any real buzz it's nice that this funny, dramatic, heartwarming one is getting any attention. Hell it's just nice having a film with a storyline with a central character that is transgender that doesn't end in some sort of tradgedy.

Felicity isn't the only highlight of the films cast. It also features nice performances from Elizabeth Pena, Fionnula Flanagan, and Graham Greene, in small supporting roles. Again if I were a voting member of any award giving comittee I would have to at the very least nominate Fionnula Flanagan for supporting actress. Kevin Zegers who played the son of Felicity's character was amazing. He's been around since he was a small child but I'm not familiar with him.. He should have a big career in front of him.

As an added bonus to all of this Duncan Tucker the films writer and director was present and did an audience Q&A following the screening. It was great to hear some of his stories and how everything has come together for his little film. Especially an interesting one about Dolly Parton writing a song that will play during the end credits when the film is officially released next month. Always have liked Dolly, like her even more now.

I think I will skip the extended review with plot details for this one. I encourage people to go see this film if you have the chance. It's a roadtrip movie as different and funny as you will ever find.

Shopgirl

Waiting for a movie with Claire Danes can be as tormenting as waiting for one with Jodie Foster. But as with Foster it is always worth the wait and for some reason with Claire they always come in groups. I am not a Steve Martin fan so I'm never looking forward to him in anything and in a drama I was a bit worried. I was pleasantly surprised though. Perhaps it's because he wrote the novella and the screenplay so he was very in touch with the character. Whatever it was I don't know if anyone else would have done justice to the role. Jason Shwartman was very good in his role.

While their performances were good and exactly what the movie needed it really lived and died on Claire's performance. No way this movie gets the attention it is if not for Claire. Doesn't matter who it was really if she had phoned in even a single moment the film was in trouble. Claire didn't and if anyone doesn't understand why she's getting all the buzz it's as simple as this, in subtlety does Claire's greatness lie. It is not just in this film that that is true. Claire's true greatness has always been in what she brings to the small often silent moments of her projects. Anyone episode of My So-Called Life will prove that.


Spoiler time:


The part when he was talking to his therapist and her to her friends about their relationship was really great. It was very intersting to see a scene that shows so perfectly how completely different two people can hear something. It was very funny how he thought what he said was so clear and to the point when it wasn't and how much more she read into it. Perspective really is everything at any given moment in a relationsip.

Along those same lines it was a nice character turn for him in that even though he didn't want anything to serious and committed he still felt torn by certain things. And clearly felt that their relationship was a little more than what he initially thought or he wouldn't have felt the need of telling her about sleeping with that other woman over Thanksgiving.

Jason's goofiness was refreshing for the film. When he was out on the road with the band and still couldn't stop being weird was great. A lot of times in movies he would have come back this whole different person who was all mature and groan up. Basically the younger version of Steve's character. I liked that, that didn't happen. Sure he had his moment when he ran into her in the parking lot in his suit but that was really just a mask. He was still the guy whose really awkward around woman and never manages to say the right thing but isn't ever saying the wrong thing either.


This movie was worth the full price I paid and then some.

NCIS

As I said in my post earlier I was very upset with Kate's death and worried about her replacement both actress and character. They through some nice twists in there with Ziva in the beginning making you wonder what she was up to and if she should be trusted. The whole story with Ari wrapped up nicely and really gave you a good feel for Ziva.

So far I love her character and am very impressed with Cote de Pablo, an actress that I had no knowledge of prior to her joining the show. Tony continues to annoy and get more annoying almost by the episode but she is a very good counter too that. Not only in the sameway as Kate was but also in her own way. I also like how there is a bit of Gibb's in her. Her being a more dangerous driver than him is halarious. They do a great job with her not understanding thing's about American culture and sayings. Like when she saw a yard sale sign and wanted to know why some one would sell their yard.

While I hope Abby will evenutally warm to her I like that she is hostile towards Ziva at the moment. I'm hoping they will have to work together sometime soon. The hostility and abbrasiveness between the two will be good for quite a few laughs I think.

The Fog

It is my tradition to go to a movie on Halloween. (Yeah I know I'm way behind.) So this year I choose The Fog. Some of you might be asking why that and not say Saw 2. Well the answer is timing. While I probably will see Saw 2 I chose to wait because if I go to scary movies to soon I always end up with those annoying people (usually girls/women dragged there by their boyfriends) who don't like being scared and thus don't like scary movies and do aleaviate their fear they start talking when ever it gets tense so they won't be scared. So while seeing them with a big audience is nice because you can since everyone elses tension and fear it's not an option for me any more.

As for the movie itself. I wasn't expecting very much and got even less. They spend to much time showing the back story which totally killed the movie. The ending was the dumbest horror ending I've seen and I've seen some bad horror films. On the upside Selma Blair and Maggie Grace gave nice performances which is probably the only thing that saved this movie.

I'm not going to go into a big huge review like I have with other films. So I'll just get to the end. Paid full price and it wasn't really worth it. Matinee price would not be a waste of money. It's pretty late into it's run so at this point unless you have a two or three dollar theater in your area you should just save the money and wait for dvd.

Prime

This was a pretty good movie. It did have one big problem which you can read about farther down in the red spoiler area. All the acting was good which was vitally important to the movie. Sometimes with comedies they can still play well with subpar acting this was not one of them. This was one where you had to pay attention and keep up with the dialogue to catch the jokes. You also have to keep up with everything that's been happening because it isn't one of those set up the one-liner kind of scripts. A lot of it just came from natural dialogue that was made funnier by knowing what came before it or was quite possibly coming after it. I have a tendancy to laugh so hard at stuff that I miss some of the follow up laughs. This moive had everyone laughing so hard at times that even if I had stopped laughing it would have mattered because you couldn't hear the dialogue over the laughter.


Don't read if you don't want to know what happens this will give away a major plot point.


First off while the thing with David's friend throwing pies in the faces of women who don't want to go on a second date was mildly amusing it was also very lame. That was the only time you saw any of his friends just that one guy and his immaturity. Of course when it came to the friends and age stereotypes the movie didn't do much to dispel them. David had one friend who was very immature and that did eventually rub off on him. Rafi on the other hand worked in the fashion industry and had three gay male friends and one heterosexual female friend who were all very mature and wanted to settle down.

Rafi had her immature moments. She wants to see other people and then throws a fit when she found out he had a one nighter with one of the models she works with. They never established that her and the model had anything but a working relationship so she had no business getting so pissed about it.

Loved when he brought her to his place, which was his grandparents' place. Uma did a a great job of collapsing in shock and embarrassment over that.

Now to the movies big problem to me and that was the ending. I don't mind that they didn't end up together, but the way they orchastrated it was awful. Rafi spends all this time whining about him not being able to give her what she needs (when what she really means is what she wants a a baby and a family) and then when he's finally getting on track with his career and willing to give her what she wants she tells him no because he will regret it. I can't stand taht whole telling someone what they want and feel thing. While it didn't completely destroy the movie it did make me dislike Rafi a lot.


Despite my one issue with the plot it was still worth the full price of admission.

Reunion Returns

On the eve of it's return from the baseball imposed hiatus I thought I'd do a little recap.

1986

We meet the six friends. Will Malloy, Jenna Moretti, Carla Noll, Samantha Carlton, Craig Brewster, and Aaron Trumball.

Samantha and Craig are dating but apparently broke up for a bit and her and Will (who is Craig's best friend) got together and now Sam is pregnant. The only person who knows this is Carla.

Will takes the fall for a car accident that Craig caused while drunk that killed a father of three.

Aaron finallyy gets his chance with Jenna.

Carla and Samantha head off for London.

In the present day of this episode we learn that a necklace of Carla's (scene in the flashbacks) was found on the body.

Also at some point Carla must have been married as her last name is now Holland, although she does not have a wedding ring on. So clearly she isn't married anymore (whether by divorce or death) or there is the other option that perhaps she just changed her name for some reason in the past 20 years.

1987

Sam has her baby (a girl) in London and gives it up for adoption.

Having served 9 months of his 12 month sentence Will returns to Bedford.

Sam and Carla return from London.

Sam goes to visit Jenna in New York and finds Aaron also staying with her. Later he tells Carla that he has dropped out of school.

Poor Aaron also gets his heartbroken when he learns that their summer together meant far less to Jenna than it did to him.

Will runs into his cellmate who gets him to help in robbing Craig's house. They get caught by Craig. In the end Craig ends up with the gun that is later used to kill one of the six friends.

Will also takes a job with Craig's dad's real estate development company.

Aaron heads for Seattle.

In the present day Carla throws the gun into the river. And we learn that Will is still alive and is now a priest.

1988

Sam locates the people who adopted her daughter and contacts them unfortunately they want nothing to do with her.

Not knowing what it's for Will offers to give her the money she needs. Unfortunately for him the project he was relying on to get that money in a bonus falls through and he ends up bribing the guy at the EPA to make it happen.

Carla takes a job as a nanny for the people who adopted Sam's daughter.

Will gets busted for his EPA payoff and can save himself by ratting out Mr. Brewster.

Will gives Sam the money and she promptly returns it and he pushes her back into Craig's arms.

In the present day we learn that Detective Marjorino is the stepson of the man killed in the 1986 car accident caused by Craig. And that Aaron is still alive and has become enormously successful.

Now it's on to 1989 and by 1990 we will know who for sure the murdered friend is.

North Country

Overall a decent movie that could have been a lot better in the hands of a better director. Luckily the directors inabilities with the story and how to show it did not destroy the movie completely which is mostly due to Charlize Theron. She definitely proved that Monster was not a fluke. All the acting was good. Even Woody Harrelson who I normally don't care that much for was on the mark.


Spoilers To Follow:


While most of the stuff at the mine was done pretty well it was all the in between stuff that wasn't handle very well all the time. The scene at the bar when we first meet Bill White (Woody Harrelson) was way to long. It could have been half as long or shorter and still served its purpose. The part when Sherry (Michelle Monaghan) hit on Bill was completely unneccessary and helped show another part of the problem with the movie. It was like Niki Caro didn't want you to feel to sorry for the woman. Like she wanted you to kind of feel like they invited some of it on themselves.

I liked the difference in how the woman saw stuff and were torn with what to do. Should they side with Josey or just keep quite. Especially Glory (Frances McDormand) being the union rep. She was trying to fix the small things perfectly content to try and be one of the boys maybe hoping the others would follow her lead and that would slowly start to make things better only none of them really knew how to do that. It was also interesting to see how she was still basically afraid or unwilling to help the cause when she had nothing else to lose fearing it might only make the problems worse.

Interesting the difference in the laws and courts today though. If they tried something like they did with that teacher and trying to make her out to be a slut for having sex with a teacher nowadays the judge would most likely fine them beyond all belief. That was so out of control. And that guy was the most despicable person ever for lying about what he saw.

I did like the scene at the union meeting when she tried to speak. I did really care for her father until that point. And I couldn't figure out why he was being such a jerk to her and that scene answered it. He didn't really believe her because he hadn't seen it until then. But when he actually saw how bad it was he realized he had been the jerk and his daughter wasn't lying. Not that, that totally made up for his behavior but at least he came around to her side a bit.

You know that this movie wouldn't have been made if Josie and the others hadn't won their case so I was wondering how they were going to give the end any dramatic impact. That was probably the only thing the director nailed. Having everyone slowly stand up and show their support for Josie, starting with Glory's boyfriend reading that letter for her was really powerful.


Paid full price and despite my issues with the directing it was still worth that price.

The Season So Far

First just a couple thoughts on my last few new shows. I am actually quite surprised with The Night Stalker its stories are better than I was expecting. With stars Gabrielle Union and Stuart Townsend the acting was bound to be good so the stories and how they were told was the big question mark with this show. They are no longer a question mark. The only real problem with the show is that they shoot it too dark. It's way to hard in some scenes to see what's going on and I get that it's suppose to be spooky but when you can't even see the expressions on the actors faces sometimes you just don't know if what's going on is suppose to be spooky or just surprising. It's in a bad time slot and is suffering in the ratings. Not really expecting it to make it through the season.

I am also really enjoying Related it's a lot funnier than I was expecting it to be. The relationship between the sisters is great. I don't have any siblings but can still relate very well to the characters and their connections. Hopefully it will start getting some better ratings and get a full season pick up.

As for other shows I am no longer watching Kitchen Confidential (Just wasn't grabbing me and there was nothing special about it.), Sex, Love, & Secrets (Which I stopped watching before it was officially cancelled.), and My Name Is Earl (It's a fun show but nothing that really keeps me interested.)

Into The Blue

The main reason I saw this one is because I am a Jessica Alba fan. I know a lot of people just see her as another young pretty face but there is so much more there. My expectations for the movie weren't very high and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it turned out. There was some under water stuff with the actors that was a little weird and just didn't look right but, otherwise the over all look of the film was very good. There was some cheesy dialouge but I have to give credit to all the actors for doing their best to sell those lines. No one just phoned it in. Some of the diving footage could have been shortend up which would have helped because of the times when the story seemed to lose focus. Jessica and Paul Walker were both good which isn't a surprise. Felt Scott Caan over did it a couple times but other than that he was pretty good as well. Josh Brolin wasn't very good which also isn't a surprise. But Ashley Scott was just bad. I've seen her in a couple things so far and people just need to stop giving her work.


Spoilers Ahead! Skip the red if you don't want to risk having anything ruined.


I knew pretty early that Josh Brolin was one of the bad guys but I did not anticipate that cop friend of Jessica and Paul's characters being a bad guy. I figured he'd just end up still going to the wrong cop for help.

I was so glad when they finally got rid of Ashley Scott's character but it just was not dramatic at all. It almost would have been better if the drug guys had just kept her hostage and her get killed when Josh's character killed everyone on the boat. The thing with the shark for all the basic build up to it just didn't work really well. That was also one of the things that bothered me about Scott's character, how unfeeling he was. Yes they had only known each other a matter of days but come on that was just a bit ridiculous.

And at the end when they used the sharks to their advantage to help kill the bad guys I have to say having the shark come up from underneath and bite that guy between the legs was rather fun. Yes I'm sure it wasn't so fun for all the guys in the audience but it was different than most shark bites so points to the director for that one.


Saw this one at a matinee and it was well worth that price and I would not have been upset had I paid full price for it.

Domino

Good story a little loose in places. The acting all around was pretty good but Tony Scott's directing style nearly killed it. He needs to learn how to edit stuff tighter. And if there was one more shot of those gold fish in that bowl I may have thrown something at the screen. It didn't drag as badly has some of his other work but useless shots really kill the overall flow. Since it was in the previews I can put it here without doing it in the red spoiler area. While the part with Mo'Nique on The Jerry Springer Show was fun and a good laugh it was pointless to the overall story and another one of those things that if left on the floor could have helped the pacing of the film.


Now a few things that could be seen by some as spoilers so skip the red typing if you don't want anything ruined for you.


Kiera Knightly freaking rocked in this kickass role. I swear even if this movie had turned into a complete disaster it would have been worth it for the part when she broke Brian Austin Green's nose. How many of us would love to do that? And seriously how funny was it when he was telling her how her bad girl act couldn't fool him because he's an actor. He may be an actor but we all know he's a bad one.

The scene when they crash in the desert another example of Tony's bad editing. I am not one of those people who gets down on every sex scene in every movie for being pointless or gratuitous but come on this one was a bit ridiculous. Much better if the bus crashes and then the next morning they manage to flag down a passing motorist.

Also don't need the backstory on their driver/explosives guy. That was just pointless on all levels. It only serviced an ending that didn't need to be serviced by that much screen time.


Paid full price and do good acting and a decent story designed for no other purpose than a couple hours of fun in mind it was worth it. Luckily also the actors understood it was just a fun crazy movie and didn't take it or themselves too seriously. That would have killed the whole thing.

Proof

No more long breaks for Gwyneth. The girl doesn't like for courage on in the roles she takes. To not do anything for so long and then come back and do a role where if she is off the slightest bit it will ruin the whole movie is damn gutsy. And she totally nailed it. I know she played the same role on stage but that can sometimes lead to disaster. She could have tried to do play something slightly different to freshen it up and have it back fire. I don't know that she didn't do that as I never saw her on stage, clearly, but if she did do that it worked. Jake Gyllenhal was great as well. He had a less openly emotional role but he did a great job getting through what he needed to get through from his character. If he had let down the slightest bit to Gwyneth things could have been bad but he didn't. He's always done good work and he continues to show he's at the top of his generation of actors.

Saw it at a matinee and would have been happy to pay full price for it.

Boston Legal

I love this show. The character of Alan Shore was a great addition to the final season of The Practice and an even better one to use for a spin-off. He'd be a great character to base a show around spin-off or original series. David E. Kelley is a master of the quirky character. And in Alan Shore and Denny Crane he's created two of his best. The cases he's come up with so far are also some of his best. The only thing that has surprised me with this show is the female characters. David usually makes great female characters, no one writes women better than David does. But, he just hasn't gotten a real grasp on these women. Maybe that's his cast, perhaps their personalities just aren't meshing well with the characters.

His selection of actresses has been great. Monica Potter and Rhona Mitra, both great. I was worried about the shelf life of Tara (Rhona) once he decided to go ahead and hook her and Alan up. Monica's character never seemed to fit in real well. Lori Colson (Monica) was a little to tight and never got a ton of fun stuff or banter (althought that time when she told Tara she was "nasty hot" still makes me laugh when I think about it). Being the straight woman to everyone elses wackiness just wasn't working. Brad Chase (Mark Valley) being the straight man in that same wackiness works very well but I think that's because he has a very direct oppostion in Alan. Lori being the balance for the rest of the cast was to much to ask. In the first season I was very heart broken by the departure of Lake Bell. I think of all the casting changes that was the hardest to take. The actress and the character had so much potential in David's hands.

The addition of Candice Bergen was a stroke of genius though. She is a great opposition to Alan and Denny. And the perfect actress to go toe-to-toe with Spader and Shatner. Wasn't to thrilled with the addition of Julie Bowen over the summer. In the few times I watched Ed I was not that impressed with her. That has all changed in the first couple episodes of Boston Legal. She has been great. And love the fast one they seemed to have pulled in filming. I'm thinking they left a lot of Monica's scenes on the floor in favor of new scenes with Julie, Ryan Michelle Bathe, and Justin Mentell.

Don't believe me, look at the evidence. The guest appearances by Heather Locklear and Rupert Everett were announced early in the year. There were five episodes left unaired when the show was bumped for Grey's Anatomy, those episodes where then added to the season two run. It's reasonable to assume that by the time ABC made the decision all the episodes were pretty much in the can. (I'd say at least three of them were completely done the other two might have still been shooting or editing.) Add to that, that in the first episode Julie and the other newbies did not appear in any scenes with the established cast members. Julie appeared in one scene with Candice in the second episode, and how else would you explain her letting two pretty much straight out of law school associates handle her divorce? That's a lot of money to risk in the hands of people with very little experience.

As for the big case. Heather Locklear was perfect. Spader was on his game. That thing when he was stretching before pointing at and accusing the housekeeper of the murder was to funny. Freaking love David bringing Anthony Heald over as Judge Harvey Cooper from The Practice. Those were two of my all time favorite episodes and he was a big reason they were so good. Ranks as one of my all-time favorite tv judges.

But the end when Betty White whacked Leslie Jordan with the frying pan and killed him was the best part of the second episode. I absolutely love how David takes actors and actresses always associated with the nice character and has them do something so bad. Can't wait to see how this case plays out especially with Alan and Denny off in Canada fishing.

The Constant Gardener

This wasn't a movie I was initially going to see. It just didn't look all that good. But it was getting tons of critical praise (not something I pay a lot of attention to) and some of that praise was leaning towards award buzz. I do try to stay up on award stuff unless it's just something I can't stand. Unfortunately that buzz (and ultimately nominations) can lead to miserable hours of watching movies such as Lost In Translation and Sideways. But since I am a fan of Rachel Weisz I figured I'd see this one.

It was okay. Rachel and Ralph Fiennes gave nice performances. The story was pretty good unfortunately a lot of that was lost in not so great direction and way to slow a movie. The pacing was way to slow for a movie of this type. That slowness killed any suspense in the movie and the story needed the suspense. They easily could have shaved ten minutes off the film and that would have made a huge difference. I know to some people that may not seem like a lot but believe me with a movie like this it can make all the difference. I don't know what the director hoped to accomplish with some of the framing of certain shots but whatever it was it didn't work.


SPOILERS Ahead:


Considering all the people close to Justin (Ralph) who conspired in their own ways against Tessa (Rachel) and ultimately played some hand in her murder he never got mad enough for my taste. Yes he hunted down the truth but he never really got angry at anyone. I mean he looked two different men in the eye who admitted informing different parties about her where abouts and he just walked away from them. He never directly lashed out at them physically. And yes violence is not always the answer but come on we are suppose to believe her loved her so much that he would give up his career and ultimately his life for the truth but he wouldn't punch the people who made it easy for the bad guys to find her and kill her. Not buying it.

And that part about him giving up his life. Yeah, I didn't care for that much either. Exactly what was the point of him doing that other than to be with her. Fine he got the report and the letter off to the right people but why didn't he continue on then and make sure people were punished or something. I didn't like him just sitting out there in the middle of nowhere waiting for the bad guys to come kill him. And no I don't care if it is based on a book and that was probably the ending in the book it's still a stupid ending.


I saw this one at a matinee and that is what it's worth money wise, but, like I said it was at least ten minutes to long.

An Unfinished Life

The number one comment I have about this movie is, why, why can't she just be Jennifer Lopez the actress why does she insist on being J. Lo the star most of the time?

It was a pretty good movie. Good performances all around. I was especially impressed with Becca Gardner, the young actress who played Jennifer's daughter. She was in what could have easily been intimidating company every where she looked in every scene but she held her own. The whole movie was beautifully shot and well executed. The overall story was good rather subtle on it's exact theme but that was just how it needed to be. It was not something that should have been done in a a heavy handed way.


SPOILERS Ahead:


There was some stuff I didn't fully understand. Especially with the bear, at first anyway. I did like it but I didn't always get what it's emphasis on the movie was. I mean it was important to explain Morgan's character and what happened to him. It did turn out to be an intersting way for Redford and the girl to bond though. I was surprised though that after they tried to set the bear free that Jennifer didn't lose it when she found out what they had really been up to. I mean he did put the only good thing she really had left in her life in a rather dangerous situation. And man when Morgan had to stand there and let that bear charge him that must have been freaky.

Didn't really care for or buy that whole thing between Jennifer and the sheriff, played by Josh Lucas. I mean her basically using sex to get protection unnecessary. It's a small ranching town the sheriff doesn't have a lot to do and being friends and all with Redford he'd have been looking out for her anyway. That's what sheriff's in tiny towns like that do. If it had been played as more of a real relationship from the start it would have been more believable.

It was a different story than I was expecting. The previews lead you to believe there was more of a big mystery behind what happened to his son but it was nothing more than an accident and him just not being able to deal. Didn't hurt the movie made for a better movie this way really.


So over all it was worth the time and money of seeing this movie. That's basically how I rate movies by how much I paid. I pay full price for most things and then gauge if it was worth that much or not. And yes I paid full price for this one.

NHL Returns

Tonight's the big night play officially resumes in the NHL. Okay so yes they have been playing preseason for a couple weeks but that doesn't really count since they don't show those games. At least not here they don't.

I am so excited for this now red line for passing rule. That is really going to create some great stuff I think. I wonder if they will really stay tight with obstruction calls all season. They've said they were going to crack down on it for the past couple season but about 20 games or less in they suddenly don't see the hooking and grabbing going on. It's always good when they are calling it because powerplays can be really exciting and really stressful depending on which side your team is on and how close the score is.

Living in Colorado I am an Avs fan. Sad to see Peter go but since had he stayed there's a 90% chance Alex Tanguay would have been traded I'm not that upset about it. I'm sick of all my favorite players being the ones to go. And being that my eastern confrence team is the Montreal Canadians and my favorite player there has for years been Patrice Brisebois I was extremely happy when he signed with the Avs. He was the one player I thought they should go after.

Reunion writing

I do see some of the flaws in the writing for Reunion however, it seems some people are being a little to hard on it. I've been trying to figure out why exactly that is. I think I may have figured it out.

Us the viewer have become accustomed to very clever writing with these kinds of shows. A lot of that comes from pop culture references. Those references are usually very 80's-centric and now 90's stuff is in there a lot too. So we get Reunion a show that spans the mid 80's to now, and there by can not at this point make those clever references to stuff since it is either happening at that time or has yet to happen. Perhaps if everyone lays off a bit it will gradually get better as the years go by and these people can reference all that stuff. Stuff I might add that they will be able to reference in a different way than a lot of characters on tv since they will have actually lived it.

If you pay attention they are already doing a fun job in some ways. The first epiosde made reference to Carla being the Molly Ringwald of the group. Good reference that is usuable then, hell that reference will still be usable 10 more years down the road. And for those of us who 9 or so that thing with Jenna dancing on the cars in the music video priceless.

Veronica Mars

HOLY CRAP! It's back and better than it was last season.

I was so disappointed when the person at the door was Logan. Glad Veronica was too. He is a jerk and not worthy of Veronica. And even if he had the potential to be worthy of her he's done nothing to prove it. He has even more work to do now to redeem himself and that's just to get back to being friends. There may not be enough redemtion to make him worthy of more. Duncan however, is so much better for her. Yes, I know he was a jerk to her for awhile as well. But, he had reason to treat her like that. I mean possibly sleeping with your sister, and then her dad trying to destroy his family (with cause but he didn't know that) it's not exactly the makings of a good relationship. Now that, that's all worked out they can get back to being a happy couple. Of course if it weren't for how strange and icky things might be on account of their parents dating I'd like to see her with Wallace. And it would ultimately ruin their great friendship which would suck.

Anyway onto the real reason this show rocks, the mystery. Wow, first that thing with Logan being suspected of killing one of Weevil's boys. And then the crash. I think I may have actually stopped breathing for a minute. I had read the big mystery involved a bus accident but never anticipated it being why the bus plunged off a cliff. And with Meg on board, heartbreaking. What a great move by the writers having a vision of Lily lead Veronica to Weevil and off that bus. Guess someone had a guardian cheerleader.

Great to see the shows numbers were up. Not by a big amount for a show on a big four network but a huge amount for UPN. Now if all those poeople will just keep watching and help get more people to watch.

And to anyone whose reading this and contemplating watching the show who thinks it seems kinda lame and that's why you aren't watching. I was you last season until Alyson Hannigan's first guest appearance. Big fan and I read she was all mean so I wanted to see that. Watched one episode before her appearance to kinda get a feel for what was going on and I was totally hooked. It is well worth your time.