Remakes. Sometimes good, and sometimes completely unnecessary, unwanted, and absolutely dreaded. Movies that stand alone as their particular works of art, which cannot plausibly be recreated to contain the same zest and epic-ness as the original. I’m talking about the upcoming American remake of Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy.
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Showtime’s ‘House of Lies’ – Pilot Review
Recently, Showtime decided to give all of us a little nugget and release the entire pilot of their new show, House of Lies, on YouTube. I have been so entirely excited for this show to release. I’ve heard such amazing things about Homeland (I’m new to Showtime and haven’t watched it, don’t judge). Couple that with the cast, and you’re sure to have a winner. Don Cheadle is so versatile and amazing. Kristen Bell is a goddess. Jean-Ralphio is HILARIOUS, he has to be just ripping joke after joke.
These things, I thought, were obvious statements. It turns out obvious statements – straight to camera, no less – are exactly what I got.
I will preface the review I’m about to give with a statement. And that statement is this: this pilot was not terrible. Not a ringing endorsement I realize, but it’s important to remember that a lot of good shows have sprung from awkward pilots (such as America’s version of The Office). Sometimes shows can really hit their stride after a few episodes in, so it’s important not to throw a show completely out the window based on one episode.
However…
There isn’t a lot I feel like House of Lies has going for it. The characters seem overdone and cliche to the extreme. Marty is the asshole. Jeanie is the no-nonsense independent woman. Both are secretly lonely and it manifests itself in completely different ways. She swears they’ll never sleep together, which means they probably will. Marty refuses to be Dr. Phil’d by his retired shrink father when he has hate-sex with his psycho ex-wife, who happens to have his position in a competing consulting firm. He has a gender-confused son who tries to Kurt Hummell his way into a musical. Jeanie, of course, can take care of herself, and has frozen her own eggs to prove it. She is confident, self-sufficient, and married to her job.
The pilot leads us down the rosy path of redemption. Each characters flaws are displayed in detail, with a hint that we will get to their cores, learn more about them, grow to understand and care about them. The thing is, I don’t care. I’ve seen these people before, I wanted to see some new ones. So you’ve got a tired plot in one hand, half-ass character development in the other; and then you throw in the commentary. Of course, the common watcher may not know a thing about consulting jargon, so it would make sense to want to explain it. However, I really don’t think everyone watching ER is a doctor, or needs to have someone look into the screen and explain what an aortic dissection is.
I have no problem with Marty talking to the camera. In fact, the one part of the pilot I did really like was the presentation to the bank toward the end. Marty looks at the camera and says, “you’ve got the company that has the US by the balls… by the balls.” That’s the kind of commentary and humor that this show needs and that this pilot lacked. I felt like every time he looked the camera and explained a term like data dump, I was watching a cheesy training video about consulting on my first day at the firm. I don’t think a show needs to be dumbed down to that point. They should be relying on clever writing telling a story and this just felt lazy. Shows walk the line between correct and believable while still appealing to mass audiences.
I will give House of Lies an honest chance, a real one. The potential is just too great for me to ignore. And like I said, the pilot wasn’t terrible. It was just underwhelming. I was disappointed in the lack of depth and intelligence in it.
I give this episode 2.5/5 bears, so your rating glass can be half empty or half full. You pick.
Winter Classic Predicts Stanley Cup Winner for 2013?
There are a lot of interesting stories and intrigues surrounding the 2012 NHL Winter Classic, but perhaps the most significant revelation is the winner of the 2013 Stanley Cup. Before we get to the stone cold prediction however lets first examine some of the interesting bylines of this years contest and a brief recap of the action.
After the success of last years 24/7, series HBO has again been filming behind the scenes footage of this year’s Winter Classic participants for the month leading up to the game.
In addition to competing with Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers and Martin Scorsese for most F-bombs in a given minute, the series is also a fascinatingly entertaining look into NHL locker rooms, and the on and off ice lives of the players.
One of the “breakout stars” of the series is the enigmatically charming goaltender of the Philadelphia Flyers Ilya Bryzgalov who was at the center of a minor controversy this week as he was benched for the Winter Classic in favor of backup goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Apparently Flyers head Coach Peter Laviolette was trying to send a message to the star goaltender: “Focus less on the insignificance of you place in the Universe and focus more on the significance of a vulcanized rubber puck headed towards you face!”
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BBC’s SHERLOCK: Season 2 Premiere – “A Scandal in Belgravia”
Well, it took awhile, but the wait was worth it. With the new year came the new season of BBC’s Sherlock, and they wasted no time in delivering what I felt was their best episode to date. We picked up right where we left off, Sherlock and Watson in peril and for the first time, face to face with Jim Moriarty. As the first season ended all involved appeared to be in mortal danger, a Mexican standoff if you will. As A Scandal in Belgravia begins, there they all stand, at the pool and around an explosive vest when Moriarty gets a phone call. The woman on the other line inadvertently diffuses the whole situation and both sides are allowed to back down.
Now to some this might feel like a cop-out, but that’s what makes the relationship between Sherlock and Moriarty so interesting. Much like the Joker with Batman, Moriarty doesn’t really want to kill Holmes, it’s more fun just to play with him. And as Sherlock Holmes is half the original inspiration for Batman (along with Zorro), it’s no wonder that Batman and the Joker can be drawn in such a similar light.
Now in June we told you that the sophomore season would feature the likes of the infamous Irene Alder, and feature her it has. Behold, the only woman to ever set a flutter the heart of our robotically cold Investigator.
Adler (Lara Pulver) is the introduced to us not as your run of the mill damsel in distress, but instead the target of Sherlock’s most recent case. The treat of digital blackmail and royal scandal have the Crown spooked, and for this reason Sherlock is asked to handle ‘evidence retrieval’ from outside Buckingham Palace. In the modern setting this comes in the form of an encrypted phone.
Upon introduction between Sherlock and Ms. Adler, it becomes quite clear that the retrieval of the phone is about more than just some racy photos. Whatever the true nature of the case is, it’s dangerous enough to interest the Americans as well. Sherlock and Dr. Watson once again find themselves in for more than they bargained with CIA Spooks and kidnappers running amok.
The episode takes place over the course of several months, encompassing Christmas and New Year. It also once again shows that despite how brilliant he is, Sherlock can sometimes miss the most obvious of conclusions – namely the fact that coroner Molly Hooper is in love with him. As sweet and obvious as she can be with Sherlock, she constantly tries to display her feelings for him, but unfortunately for her, she is not Irene Adler and therefore remains near invisible to Mr. Holmes.
Sherlock instead prefers to have a one-sided text message relationship with Irene that goes on for months, and is a rather endearing to see, even if we do feel for Molly. His unwillingness to answer Ms. Adler’s texts though is simply proof that the man who often seems heartless, does in fact have a heart and his silence speaks volumes. Even upon learning of Ms. Adler’s death, it’s what Sherlock does not say that speaks the loudest.
At a certain point the whole case becomes less about getting the photos back for the crown, and more about figuring out what else is on the phone. It’s obviously important if the CIA is so interested in it, and for months Sherlock try to decipher an unlock code for which you’re allowed only 4 guesses before the thing self destructs Mission Impossible style.
Without spoiling how it ends, I will simply say the whole episode was excellent, and you should check it out. They’ve made Sherlock certainly more of a badass this year, and the involvement of Adler and Moriarty raise the stakes considerably. It is a little sad that the new Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr. can’t really compare to even the weakest episodes of this show in terms of quality writing. I give the premiere 5 of 5 Bears and wish that there were more than 2 more episodes coming this year…
Source for Several Pictures Used: Sherlock BBC
Grizzly Bomb 
