The ghost of Kevin Spacey will forever hang over this film.
This film has everything going for it. Beautiful cinematography by Dariusz Wolski. An engrossing score by Daniel Pemberton. Some wonderful performances from Michelle Williams, Romain Duris, Christopher Plummer and Charlie Plummer. But, the film just does not work. It feels shiny without any soul. It is a kidnapping film without thrill. It explores greed without substance. It is long, overbearing and in the end serviceable as a film, but not very entertaining. Mark Wahlberg is horribly miscast in his role and Scott could have done better there.
As for the Kevin Spacey thing, if I had not known about the history of the production of this film, I would not have even suspected the late recasting of his role to Christopher Plummer.
This is a comedy? It wasn't much on the funny side of things.
There's so much to love about this show. This pilot episode is just the beginning.
"Anger ruins joy, steals the goodness of my mind, forces my mouth to say terrible things, overcoming anger brings peace of mind, leads to a mind without regrets, if I overcome anger, I will be delightful and loved by everyone."
The first four episodes of this season of Agents of SHIELD have been a bit on the boring side, outside of the Fitz reveal in the last episode. This episode that takes place mostly in the current time was much more engaging and entertaining. I really enjoyed seeing the return of Lance Hunter (though, it is sad that Bobbi didn't make a comeback also).
I am a bit saddened to see that the next episode returns us to the future where things are bleak, dark and boring. This episode marks a high point for this season.
And hey, Marvel and ABC Studios, give Nick Blood's Lance Hunter his own show already. He has proven to be one of the most entertaining characters in Agents of SHIELD and things haven't been the same without him.
There's something that this show has that not many shows on TV has: A hopeful and optimistic worldview. And that worldview was best shown tonight with the Christmas episode. A heart-felt take on A Christmas Carol which was both funny and touching. Kudos to the cast and crew of this show.
Merry Christmas to us the audience. Excellent episode. I loved all the callbacks to the original film. Riggs in the red plaid shirt? Check. Riggs driving truck through Murtaugh's living room? Check. Christmas theme and music? Check.
Excellent episode. I loved the focus on Grayson. A while ago I was sad that Adrianne Palicki left Agents of Shield, but now I see it as a blessing in disguise! She is fantastic as Kelly Grayson and I can’t inagine anyone else in this part.
The ending was literally a deus ex machina ending, which is not a bad thing. It wrapped up the episode in a decent fashion.
This is the season finale and I am sad that it’s going away for a while, I can’t wait until season two.
Catch-come!
Another snore of an episode. The Clay Spencer and Beer thing was cute at first, but got old pretty quick. The mission this week was so underdeveloped that it was inconsequential. They introduce, very briefly, a Russian who is working for the CIA and defecting, the plane that he and his wife are on crashes and the team is called into save them. They crash on the Chinese side of a border and the Russians and Chinese are looking for them. The problem is that there is so little known about the Russian and his wife that I could care less if they die, get caught or get across the border. So, that made this episode about watching the guys hike and wait for night. The "brilliant" ending and the use of the thermite grenades was too convenient. I finished the episode half asleep. Meh.
Ugh, what a snore of an episode.
This week's episode was a bit gruesome -- specifically Rigg's father and the make-up. Outside of that, the Bailey / Bowman pairing continues to payoff. I love the two together. Bailey got the best line in the episode: "Dolphin Puncher. Flipper Slayer. Not not funny.".
A genuinely exciting and thrilling episode. The last act was superbly done with a real sense of tension running throughout. I love that the episode used the whole team in an organic fashion. The chemistry between the characters works well and I enjoy their back and forth quips. I liked the interaction between Dalton and Jaz: "We do not ever go off book."
This doesn't mean it was a perfect episode though. The show continues to rely too much on the home office staring at screens and reacting. A lot of the time it's not even for anything exciting, it's just them staring at screens. I do not want to watch people watching the action. Show me the action. This episode also had a heavy reliance on using clocks and time to try to build tension -- a lazy way of trying to build tension.
Overall though, it was a good episode and The Brave continues to improve as a show.
I loved the Pilot, but it seems like the premise and template for the show is quickly showing its age. At first, I thought the 30-minute run time was great for the show, but now that I have seen a few more episodes, I think it might not be enough. The episodes don't have enough time to do much more than try to squeeze a few laughs -- the paranormal stuff feels way too rushed and never develops past a basic idea.
Not as funny as previous episodes, but there was an interesting cameo in this episode. Sonya Walger appears in this episode, but only very briefly and for no real reason. Sure, it could have been a random cameo, but I think it's more. At the end of the episode Lafrey asks Annie who is is going to help her figure out who installed the evil AI. I am guessing that Walger's character is going to be the one behind the evil deed.
I have the show a good try, but it's really not good. The characters are all bland and unmemorable; the action is bland and unmemorable; the stories are bland and unmemorable... You get the idea. There's really nothing special separating this show for the dozens of other police procedurals. I'm out of this one, it's being removed from my DVR schedule.
Not the best episode and the ending could be seen from a mile away. There were still a few good laughs Bortus almost singing "My Heart Will Go On" and the elevator music.
Lethal Weapon continues to be my favorite show, it hasn't lost anything in its sophomore season. The writers always get the right balance of police procedural, action, comedy and heart. The best part of tonight's episode was Trish's reminder to Riggs about what home is: "Home isn't a shell you climb into. It's the people that are there for you. That leave the door open, even when you're at your worst."
Antonio Banderas enters his late life Liam Neeson action star era. This film is a B-film through and through. For what it is though, it is a damned entertaining film.
The premise is simple: Die Hard in a Mall. Antonio is most entertaining to watch and some of the action sequences he takes place in are reminiscent of his role in El Mariachi. The story was simple and enjoyable. Ben Kingsley chews through each scene he is in. The action, on what must have been a shoe-string budget, was well-done and memorable.
Well worth a watch.
What a sad excuse of a sequel to John Woo's Hard Target -- still Van Damme's best. As an action film, it is quite a snooze fest. The action in the film is bland and unmemorable -- there isn't a single standout action sequence in the whole film. The ending was particularly ridiculous.
Notes about the film: Doves/Pigeons? Seriously? Roel Reiné, you're not John Woo. There is an overuse of slow motion in the film in all the wrong places. And just because you can use a drone to film something doesn't mean that you should.
I'm guessing Robert Knepper, Temuera Morrison and Rhona Mitra really needed a paycheck. I am not sure how they ended up in this stinker.
Meh. And a bunch more "meh." There wasn't really anything that made this remake of the 1970s show (or the 2000s film) distinct from the endless amount of procedural cop shows on TV. The writing and dialogue for the show was quite cringe worthy also, including this nugget: "Lesson One Street, never be in a hurry to die."
The show tries to delve into the racial issues of police and community, but every time the writers go down that road, a car chase or shooting interrupts them. The police and community theme is completely glossed over and then forgotten by the end of this episode.
The action was TV-safe action that was a bit chaotic -- all coming from Fast and Furious director Justin Lin.
Even with all the action, this pilot episode was pretty bland and borderline boring. Want a more entertaining cop show that takes place in LA? Watch Lethal Weapon instead. I will give S.W.A.T. an episode or two more to see if they find their footing and find something to make the show standout. Otherwise, this one is going to be removed from my DVR schedule after that.
This episode was a bit misplaced and seemed like an episode more concerned about world building for a spin-off series than with the main plot line of this season.
This episode was interesting in its own way, but I think it was a mistake to put it in the season and it ground the season to a halt for nothing but a detour and distraction.
Yes, I liked the Star Wars reference and the bits of character development for El, but it was not enough to justify this episode.
The Nate arc continues to hinder the show. The Spencer romance thing also continues to hinder the show. I do like how they are using the Spencer character in other ways now, specifically in showing how dangerous SEAL training is.
The large portion of this episode focused on the mission and that was a good thing. The mission this week was tense and well-done. I liked Ray's interaction with the reporter. I also like the small things that are thrown into the show for authenticity. One of these things happened early on in the episode when Hayes meets the weaselly ambassador. The ambassador greets Hayes as a Lieutenant, but Hayes corrects him by letting him know he's a Master Chief and then saying "E-9".
Again, I wish the show would focus on the mission and drop the extraneous bits. The Nate arc needs to end or be forgotten about. The Spencer arc needs to lose the romance and focus on the rigors of SEAL training.
This episode shows why The Orville is such a wonderful show and my favorite of this season. The show is reflective of real-world issues while being entertaining at the same time. This episode was a tad preachy, but it still entertains and is thought-provoking.
I predicted it last week in my comment. The writers are really going down the road of Nate's burner phone woman being not a secret lover, but some big mystery. "What are you doing in Afghanistan?" Ugh. After two excellent opening episodes, this show has really lost its way. This week's Spencer thing put a lot of drag on an already slow field mission plot. The Nate's burner phone thing didn't help. And the "surprise" twist at the end with Ellis being hoodwinked was unnecessary and predictable from the start.
Seal Team is starting to lose me as a viewer, if it keeps going where it's going, I am going to remove it from the DVR schedule. What is ironic is that The Brave was the show that started off terribly and was going to be removed form my DVR schedule -- and Seal Team started off great and as going to stay. The opposite might happen as the last episode of The Brave was actually pretty good and this episode of Seal Team was a bit below mediocre.
This show continues to be my must-see show. Great show this week and it's building a new arc about Riggs and his parents. The ending "and this is the gun that shot" him was quite the cliffhanger. I can't wait to see what becomes of this see that the Lethal Weapon writers have planted.
Finally! A good, genuinely exciting and thrilling episode of The Brave. This episode benefits from the fact that the episode spent more time with the team in the field than the team back in the office. The field team is where the action and excitement is. The excitement is not in the office where we only get shots of people staring at giant screens and getting reaction shots when things happen to the field team.
I still think Anne Heche is horribly miscast for her character and having her in the field didn't buy much. I would have really loved to see NBC merge the two leads in Taken (Jennifer Beals and Clive Standen) with The Brave. Beals would carries more gravitas than Heche and would be much better in the role of Patricia Campbell. Standen would make a fantastic addition to the field team.
I have to give a shout out to the sound department for The Brave, the sound in this episode was fantastic. I love the sound of the sidearms indoors where they were more of a "pop" than a "boom", which for me sounded genuine.
Another good episode. I am really enjoying this new show. Amy Acker's character Kate is the best part of the show. The show is timely in the current social climate.
This episode was quite funny, but felt a little rushed. This is the first episode where I felt that the 30 minute runtime -- which was great for the first two episodes -- was a bit too little. The succubus plot feels unfinished and abruptly cutoff. It was neat to see Max's wife and it's great to see that the writers have something that looks to be a season (series?) arc.
I love the Build Team and was saddened when they were cut from the Mythbusters. So, I was very happy to see them on a new show. The positives first: This show is educational while being fun. I learned quite a few things from the show. Kari, Tory and Grant are as charismatic as ever and are fun hosts to watch. Now the not so good: The format of the show is not the greatest -- taking six things related to a central theme down a "rabbit hole" and then ranking them based on arbitrary metrics.
I still hope they get a second season and if they do, I hope they tweak the format of the show a little.
The movie was absolutely exhilarating during the action sequences, especially the car chases. But, the second the action sequences stop, the movie grinds to a halt with stereotypical writing and characters. What also doesn't help is the self-conscious need to be cool that the film has. Some would call it style, I would call it distracting.
One last job? Seen it before. And the characters in the film are cardboard cutouts. The worst of the bunch is Jamie Foxx's character Bats. Bats is a homicidal maniac who is hired by Spacey's Doc for a two jobs. Doc seems to be a very careful man who plans meticulously. Why Doc would pick an unhinged impulsive person like Bats to do a job is beyond me. The whole thing reminds me of the same flaw in Michael Mann's otherwise excellent heist film Heat where De Niro's McCauley hires a similarly homicidal and impulsive Waingro onto his team.
Did I like the film? Kind of. Yes, for the action sequences that are fantastically shot by Bill Pope and edited by Jonathon Amos and Paul Machliss. No, for pretty much everything else.
This season of Designated Survivor is absolute bizarre. This episode illustrates why perfectly. The series continues with it's aging framework of crisis-of-the-week. But, the tone of the show has gone sideways.
To illustrate: This week there is the possible pandemic that could wipe out most of America, there's the controversy over moving a monument and then there's the ongoing investigation headed by Hannah. But in the middle of all this -- remember there are thousands of people at risk of dying from an outbreak -- they introduce a frog that will be named after the President as an attempt at humor.
The attempt at humor is jarring and quite out of place when compared with the President dealing with a corporate executive more focused on profit than helping out a minority population. Any emotional investment from the audience is squandered when Paulo Costanzo shows up on screen -- don't get me wrong, I like Paulo, but this is not the show that he's needed in.
Tonally, this season of Designated Survivor is all over the place and that is not a good thing.
