It’s September and that means the new fall television season is upon us.  This year I’m introducing a new weekly column to the site called The Week In Review (unless I can think of something better).  It’s going to be a tv focused post once a week re-capping what I watched that week and brief thoughts on the new episodes and the direction of the shows.  They’ll be short and to the point.  And like I said they’ll be short musings almost based on single episodes.  Not full blown reviews.  Of course we’ll be doing reviews of as many new shows as possible (using the standard 3 episode rule), but this way I can constantly update with thoughts on how older shows are faring in my eyes.

 

These Week In Review posts will also be meant to be interactive.  I want people to react to what I’m saying about these shows in the comment and we can have a real discussion about these things.  I warn you I watch a lot of tv.

 

In other news I am sorry for the slight lack of updates lately.  I’ve been focusing a lot on the re-design and thus it hasn’t left much time to read/watch things to post about.  But I’ve got 2 great posts coming soon and hopefully some more content will get written this weekend.  Oh and also the re-design is gonna kick some ass.

 

 

Operation: Endgame is about an office filled with 2 teams of spies, Alpha & Omega, known as The Factory.  It’s a typical office, just top secret.  On Fool’s (Joe Anderson; Across The Universe) first day the boss (Jeffrey Tambor; Arrested Development) is murdered and Operation Endgame is started which leaves the agents with 2 hours till the entire office explodes and no escape.  It’s then that they start battling each other.  Oh and it doesn’t help that Fool’s ex-girlfriend (Odette Yustman; The Unborn) is a spy on the other team.  The movie can best be described as a sort of Office Space on crack.  It’s directed by Fouad Mikati from a script by Sam Levinson based on a script by Brian Wantanabe.

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Piranha 3D is the 3rd installment in the long dormant 70/80′s Jaws ripoff Piranha series.  The original movie and its sequel actually have some impressive pedigrees (the original was directed by Joe Dante and the sequel was where James Cameron got his start), but if you’ve ever been lucky enough to catch them then you know they’re pretty much nothing more than trying to cash in on the Jaws success.  Anyway following along the lines of Jaws this 3rd one (which has nothing to do with the other 2) is in glorious 3D.  Some say this is a re-make, but I think of it more as a sequel.  It doesn’t really fall into either category though so choose your word.  Anyway the plot is about a group of ancient Piranhas that had been trapped in a lake under a lake (just stay with me here) and are let out after an earthquake.  This coincides with spring break and the lake being full of spring breakers and a “Wild Wild Girls” crew.  The movie is directed by Alexandre Aja (Haute Tension) and written by Pete Goldfinger & Josh Stolberg (Sorority Row).

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No Ordinary Family is a new series from ABC about the St. Cloud family, a typical dysfunctional family with an unhappy dad (Michael Chiklis; The Shield, Fantastic Four), Overworked mom (Julie Benz; Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Dexter), peer pressured daughter (Kay Panabaker; CSI), and son with a learning disorder (Jimmy Bennett; Shorts).  They go on a vacation to Brazil and wind up in a plane crash.  All of them survive and they make it back to their normal lives.  Until they slowly learn that they all have superpowers, which they think are from an odd substance in the lake their plane crashed into.  The series is from Greg Berlanti (Eli Stone, Brothers & Sisters) and Jon Harmon Feldman (Tru Calling, Reunion).  Christina Chang (Live Free or Die Hard) is in a supporting role as a cop at Chiklis’ precent (he’s a sketch artist).  Also in supporting roles are Romany Malco (Weeds) as Chicklis’ best friend and the always awesome Autumn Reeser (The O. C.) as Benz’ lab assistant.

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Control Alt Delete is about a computer geek (Tyler Labine, Reaper) working for a company that fixes systems for Y2K. He’s got problems at work with a jerky co-worker, and he doesn’t have sex with his girlfriend anymore, just gets off to Internet porn. When she discovers this she leaves him and the porn stops being enough. That’s when he discovers he’s actually turned on by the computer itself. Yep he starts actually fucking his computer. It is written and directed by Tyler’s brother, Cameron Labine.

 

 

Although he’s responsible for holding the movie together, this isn’t Labine’s finest work. It’s kinda unfortunate, but it doesn’t bring down the film much, just doesn’t elevate it like it could. The other actors are all alright and so the movie doesn’t fail there.

 

As far as story goes this really is mostly a character piece and the computer fucking is more a gimmick than anything. The movie is basic indie fare and isn’t really anything special, but it’s not bad. Basically a so-so film. All of the tech lingo is comedically wrong though, so if that kind of thing bothers you I’d stay away from this.

 

But should you wanna check it out it’s on Amazon:

It’s also available for

 

 

Scott Pilgrim vs The World is about a young Canadian slacker (Michael Cera; Arrested Development, Superbad) who falls for the mysterious American Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead; Death Proof, Live Free or Die Hard) but in order to date her he’ll have to fight and defeat her 7 evil exes.  This movie is directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) who also co-wrote with Michael Bacall.  The movie is based on the series of 6 graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley.  The comics rely heavily on video game influences along with combining real locations and situations in with crazy sci-fi and action sequences.

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Fierce People is set in 1980′s New Jersey, a masseuse/coke head gets a wealthy man to hire her for the summer to get her life straightened out and to better her son’s life. The son uses this summer to make anthropological observances of the people of the town and estate.  While doing so he quickly learns many lessons about life, love, and wealth. It’s directed by Griffin Dunne (Practical Magic) and written by Dirk Wittenbornbased on his book of the same name.

 

The ensemble is great, especially a young(er) Kristen Stewart who plays the granddaughter of Donald Sutherland’s rich patron and love interest to Anton Yelchin’s lead character of Finn. Diane Lane is excellent as always as well. And Elizabeth Perkins puts in a great performance, although one not too off the mark from her Weeds character.  Also the usually not so great Chris Evans does a good job too.

 

There is a particularly memorable scene with Mya (Stewart) and Finn and some paint. And that’s only one in a series of wonderfully shot memorable scenes. But that’s not the only reason to see this film. It’s a well written, well acted, and well directed piece of work.

 

I definitely recommend checking this out.  It’s available on DVD:

Best Buy
Or via Amazon VOD or

 

I’m a huge Party Down fan and I am still reeling from it’s cancellation by the clearly retarded Starz, but BustedTees (a site who we are a part of their affiliate program to be upfront) just launched this awesome shirt.  I’m buying one and you should too. Show your Party Down love to the world.

Soup R’ Crackers Unlike Ron Donald?s business plans, this shirt is a sound investment.

 

The Joneses is a film about a fake family who are really salespeople, using things in their life and convincing people to purchase them.  Kind of like a marketing tool.  It’s written and directed by Derrick Borte and stars David Duchovny, Demi Moore, Amber Heard, and Ben Hollingsworth.

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Salt is about a CIA agent (Angelina Jolie) who is accused of being an undercover Russian spy.  She must run from her former friends (Liev Shreiber) and try to stop the assassination of the Russian president, the launch on nuclear missiles, prove her innocence, and save her husband (August Diehl, Inglorious Basterds).  The movie is directed by Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games) and written by Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium).

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