Tonight marks the beginning (at least for me) of the summer television season with the return of Burn Notice on USA. In accordance I am going to point out some shows you should watch this summer. I'll add some more later as their dates come closer.
Burn Notice Thursday 9pm USA
Michael Westen is a spy...or he was a spy before he got burned. What does being burned mean? Well, you lose your job, your assets, your identification...everything. According to your former employers, you no longer exist. This is the situation Michael Westen finds himself in at the beginning of season 1 when he wakes up in Miami with his ex, Fiona, telling him he is back in Miami. He meets up with his good friend Sam and together with Fiona they go around helping others in Miami with situations that the police won't or can't help with.
Jeffrey Donovan is great as Michael and brings a certain manliness, charm and humor to the character (plus, he's cute as a button...damn Irish blood). Bruce Campbell plays Sam Axe and he's, well, Bruce Campbell-great! Sharon Gless is hilarious as Michael's chain-smoking mother, Madeline.
BONUS: Royal Pains Thursday 10pm USA
I am including this because it is a new series premiering tonight after Burn Notice. I don't know much about it, but it appears to be about an ER doctor who moves to the Hamptons after he is blamed for the death of a patient. He then becomes a doctor for the rich &/or famous before being asked by a local doctor to help the less fortunate.
I'm not big on doctor shows but I do like Mark Feuerstein, who plays the main character, Hank Lawson and Paolo Costanzo.
True Blood June 14th (Sunday) HBO
Ahhh...True Blood. There is nothing quite like this show on TV right now. It combines a delicious blend of sex, violence, cheese, sex, story, sex, vampires and...sex. This is like the adult, grown-up version of Twilight (meaning that even in it's cheesiest moments, it's awesome). I couldn't quite get into Charlaine Harris' novels, even though I wanted to, I just don't like her writing.
True Blood is about Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) who moves back to her home town of Bon Temps, Louisiana and works at a bar, Merlott's, as a waitress. Her boss has a mean crush on her (and a shady/weird past/secret)and he doesn't make it a secret. In this universe vampires have come "out of the coffin", so to speak, and there is a product called True Blood which is a synthetic blood. She meets a man, Bill Compton, in the bar and he turns out to be a vampire. And he appears to have fallen for her.
The main focus for the first season revolves around Sookie's life and some strange and brutal murders around town. Seriously, a great and fun show. And Sam Trammell is mmmm-mmmm good.
Sorry about the mono-sound. Don't know why, but they uploaded it that way.
Hope you watch and enjoy these three shows and stay tuned for more in the coming weeks!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Literal Music Videos-I might be a Literal Music Video Snob...
Not to poo-poo this new 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' literal music video or anything, but seriously...it's not that good, funny OR well-done. If you want good literal music videos...stayed tuned, I'll point you there. You might ask if I am too harsh on this Bonnie Tyler video: The answer is no...if it was of a quality of the DustFilms videos, I'd love it...it has potential.
The person singing in the Bonnie Tyler one doesn't even sound like Bonnie Tyler and while the video itself is ridiculous, if the goal was to try to rip off the good ones, I say FAIL! EPIC FAIL! There are some funny parts, but overall it just doesn't have the perfection that DustFilms literal music videos have (they can be seen via DustFilms or DustFilms).
Let's review:
Bonnie Tyler 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'
Why isn't it good? Well the aforementioned bad singing. And it's too loud. And what makes a literal music video funny isn't just listing what's going on and then having someone talk funny while she's running through the halls. The whole 'I gotta pee' thing and fart sounds really makes this literal music video turn into lame-attempt-to-rip-off a good literal music video. A funny part: 'What the effing crap? That angel guy just felt me up"...check out the good ones below:
A-Ha 'Take On Me'
This is a great song to begin with, a cutting-edge (for the time, using rotoscoping) video, that was original and fun and the song still stands the test of time (as does Total Eclipse of the Heart). What makes this one SO much better? Well, the singer sounds like Morten Harket, for one. The part where they are talking as they are running through the halls is funny. And the words he used when he changed the lyrics flow.
Tears For Fears 'Head Over Heels'
One of my favorite songs. And again, he made himself sound like Roland Orzabal. Production quality-top notch. And...it's funny!
Billy Idol 'White Wedding'
Ditto...
And the last:
2:55 is the start of my favorite part...actually the whole thing is great. And, I love The Red Hot Chili Peppers, but for all I know these are the original lyrics because I don't have a clue what he's really singing in the real version of this song.
So...do you see the difference? Maybe I'm just a literal music video snob? If so, that's fine by me.
The person singing in the Bonnie Tyler one doesn't even sound like Bonnie Tyler and while the video itself is ridiculous, if the goal was to try to rip off the good ones, I say FAIL! EPIC FAIL! There are some funny parts, but overall it just doesn't have the perfection that DustFilms literal music videos have (they can be seen via DustFilms or DustFilms).
Let's review:
Bonnie Tyler 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'
Why isn't it good? Well the aforementioned bad singing. And it's too loud. And what makes a literal music video funny isn't just listing what's going on and then having someone talk funny while she's running through the halls. The whole 'I gotta pee' thing and fart sounds really makes this literal music video turn into lame-attempt-to-rip-off a good literal music video. A funny part: 'What the effing crap? That angel guy just felt me up"...check out the good ones below:
A-Ha 'Take On Me'
Take on Me: Literal Video Version - watch more funny videos
This is a great song to begin with, a cutting-edge (for the time, using rotoscoping) video, that was original and fun and the song still stands the test of time (as does Total Eclipse of the Heart). What makes this one SO much better? Well, the singer sounds like Morten Harket, for one. The part where they are talking as they are running through the halls is funny. And the words he used when he changed the lyrics flow.
Tears For Fears 'Head Over Heels'
Head Over Heels: Literal Video Version - watch more funny videos
One of my favorite songs. And again, he made himself sound like Roland Orzabal. Production quality-top notch. And...it's funny!
Billy Idol 'White Wedding'
White Wedding: Literal Video Version - watch more funny videos
Ditto...
And the last:
2:55 is the start of my favorite part...actually the whole thing is great. And, I love The Red Hot Chili Peppers, but for all I know these are the original lyrics because I don't have a clue what he's really singing in the real version of this song.
So...do you see the difference? Maybe I'm just a literal music video snob? If so, that's fine by me.
Moon clip
And now for something good! A clip, what appears to be opening credits, to Moon!
Written and directed by Duncan Jones, Moon is a story about a man, played by Sam Rockwell, who is nearing the end of his three year mission working for Lunar Industries mining rock on the far side of the moon. Strange things start to happen when he appears to find another man, himself, in an accident on the moon. This movie looks awesome and Duncan is a nice man...so, go watch this when it opens, hopefully near me, June 12th!
Written and directed by Duncan Jones, Moon is a story about a man, played by Sam Rockwell, who is nearing the end of his three year mission working for Lunar Industries mining rock on the far side of the moon. Strange things start to happen when he appears to find another man, himself, in an accident on the moon. This movie looks awesome and Duncan is a nice man...so, go watch this when it opens, hopefully near me, June 12th!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Twilight: New Moon teaser
Oh good...Emmerich-style CGI dog. Fantastic. If there is one thing I love above all else, it's the crappy-animal CGI. Well, over that I like crappy-human CGI. Color me not teased.
How is it possible that this movie looks even dumber than the last one?
Coming soon to blandly color your fall viewing...this.
How is it possible that this movie looks even dumber than the last one?
Coming soon to blandly color your fall viewing...this.
Transformers 2 clip
I couldn't drag myself to watch a show that made Twilight seem like the best movie ever, so I did not watch the MTV Movie Awards (which, as a small digression, makes no sense, since they are the MUSIC network...not the MOVIE network. Let's be honest though, they left "music" behind back in the early 90's, now they are the SHIT network).
They showed a clip for the new Transformers movie and I really hope they are still working on the CGI, because we are creeping into Emmerich territory on the awfulness scale, if this is the finished product.
And like I Watch Stuff reported, how damn hard is it for two giant machines the size of buildings and some robot animals to find two little people? You're giant, just smash them!
Here's the clip:
They showed a clip for the new Transformers movie and I really hope they are still working on the CGI, because we are creeping into Emmerich territory on the awfulness scale, if this is the finished product.
And like I Watch Stuff reported, how damn hard is it for two giant machines the size of buildings and some robot animals to find two little people? You're giant, just smash them!
Here's the clip:
Movie You Should See: Le Grande Illusion
Le Grande Illusion has apparently been called "The Greatest Movie of all Time", while I can see where that comes from, I don't completely agree. It is a great movie and the director, Jean Renoir (who has an awesome name) made quite an interesting movie using depth of field, an interesting storyline and location shots.
During World War I two pilots are shot down over German enemy territory and are taken to meet a German officer, von Rauffenstein, who welcomes them to lunch where they talk and are quite friendly. They are then taken to a POW camp where they live less like what you'd assume a POW camp to be like and more like they are just at a camp they can't leave. While they plot an escape via a tunnel they also put together a musical show. During the show they learn that Douamont has been taken back by the French, which earns one man, Marechal, a trip to solitary confinement.
After several more escape attempts they are moved to a POW camp that is notoriously impossible to escape from and meet back up with von Rauffenstein. By this time von Rauffenstein has seen a lot of battle and is quite a mess. He remembers the two men from before and becomes close with de Boeldieu, a fellow aristocrat that comes from a well-known family, and they strike up a friendship of sorts.
Unlike most "war movies", this movie is more about the characters and what it means to be human during war and about how class lines disappear during a war. It also features dialogue in three languages: English, at times, French and German. It's quite an interesting way to present other people and cultures.
I highly recommend this movie and this is why: If it was in color and released today, you would never know that it was made in 1937. It's made that well and it is highly enjoyable.
During World War I two pilots are shot down over German enemy territory and are taken to meet a German officer, von Rauffenstein, who welcomes them to lunch where they talk and are quite friendly. They are then taken to a POW camp where they live less like what you'd assume a POW camp to be like and more like they are just at a camp they can't leave. While they plot an escape via a tunnel they also put together a musical show. During the show they learn that Douamont has been taken back by the French, which earns one man, Marechal, a trip to solitary confinement.
After several more escape attempts they are moved to a POW camp that is notoriously impossible to escape from and meet back up with von Rauffenstein. By this time von Rauffenstein has seen a lot of battle and is quite a mess. He remembers the two men from before and becomes close with de Boeldieu, a fellow aristocrat that comes from a well-known family, and they strike up a friendship of sorts.
Unlike most "war movies", this movie is more about the characters and what it means to be human during war and about how class lines disappear during a war. It also features dialogue in three languages: English, at times, French and German. It's quite an interesting way to present other people and cultures.
I highly recommend this movie and this is why: If it was in color and released today, you would never know that it was made in 1937. It's made that well and it is highly enjoyable.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
