Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Best Of 2010 - Television

I normally do not watch a lot of TV, but things changed a tad in 2010. TV is now a great medium to get some original ideas and I started watching a few more shows since I got a DVR (if you do not know what that is, look it up and get one... now). So here is a list of my favorite shows from 2010, if you have some time check them out.(not listed in any order)


Lost (ABC) - Probably one my favorite shows of all time, Lost ended what was a great all around series. A lot of people I know who watched the show complained about how the ending did not answer all the small questions while others like me just enjoyed the show and all that it gave to the viewers. I can't say the show was ever predictable and the ending held true to the entire series while the finale left me with much sadness to see one of my favorite shows come to and end, I miss the characters and the island with all its mysterious. Goodbye Lost, you shall be missed.



How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - HIMYM continues to please the viewer with good running gags and some great comedy. This season did get a little off target with giving us the down-low on who the mother may be. They introduced a new character (a possible future love interest or just a new part of the gang?) who is a friend to the group. Overall the show continues to deliver to the 25-25 year old crowd and if you are in that age range this show is for you and you should be watching it.


The League (FX) - Quite possibly the best show about a fantasy football league ever! Okay possibly the ONLY show about fantasy football ever. Sometimes I feel this show is made for me. The humor can be crude yet also very well crafted. The cast continues to bring its A game. I hope this show can continue to build and last a few more seasons, I think its one of the best comedies out there today.


The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - I was not a huge fan of the show before this year, previously I had only seen a handful of episodes but this season really got to me. I like the jokes and the dynamic of the show. The writers really know how nerds think and they do their research when it comes to mentioning something small that only a few fanboys would know. I think acting is very well done and I am glad a show like this actually exists, who would of thought a show about nerds and outcasts would be a hit!



The Event (NBC) - A show that had some potential, I started to watch it in my post Lost haze, hoping that the show would have some mystery and intrigue. The Event started off well enough but towards the end it started to lose its luster. WARNING SPOILERS-- The show is about an alien race that crash landed in Alaska in the 30's and they are now trying to get back home-- END SPOILERS. The show sort of gave away too much to early and while I still enjoyed the episodes I am not sure if I will want to watch it unless it is able to step up in terms of story. As of now the show is on hiatus (never a good sign) for 9 months.


Pawn Stars (History Channel) & Hollywood Treasure (Syfy) - I group these reality shows together because they are somewhat related. Pawn Stars is about a pawn store in Las Vegas and all the dealing they do on a day to day basis. They show is great because they go into the history of the things people bring in and often time they show things you may never see. The personality of the 4 main people who run the shop is also very funny and entertaining.

Hollywood Treasure is similar reality show in which a group works for an auction house. The show is about making connections and finding old pieces of Hollywood memorabilia that they can auction off for a nice profit. I enjoy seeing the people on the show find these old film relics (like the golden ticket from Willy Wonka, Gremlins from the movie, and much more cool stuff) that interest a movie nerd like myself.


Saturday Night Live (NBC) - I still watch SNL but only because of the DVR, if it was not for that I would most likely skip the show. I often skip the musical acts (when I have no interest) and the show has a ton of commercials that I have no interest in waiting through. The show has some good cast members and will always delve into politics or current event. Of course it is very hit or miss and often the best parts of the show are the digital shorts and the weekend updates. I do enjoy seeing Bill Hader and a few other who always seem to do a good job.



The Walking Dead (AMC) - The Walking Dead is a new show which was based off a comic of the same name. I really loved this show, they have some great stories and the acting was really top notch. Of course the premise of the story is that zombies have taken over and only a handful of humans remain. We follow Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) as he searches for his family. I am not surprised the show became the hit series that it did and I like many other cannot wait to see what they do next, they only had a 6 episode first season and it will be interesting to see the stories they come up with next.


Well those or some of the best shows I saw in 2010, I hope you enjoyed the list and please feel free to comment below.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Childhood Favorites: A Second Look

I have been focusing a lot on sports in the blog but want to change things up. I recently viewed some movies that I always held in high praise because they were special to me when I was a child. Having not seen some of these movies for many years I felt like I was seeing them with new eyes and had some new feelings on these movies.




Major League (1989):
This was always a favorite of mine because it was a sports comedy. On my recent viewing I felt it held up very well. I enjoyed the swearing a tad more when I was a kid because saying fuck was hilarious, and I feel that why it was still funny it wasn't as hilarious as previously remembered. I think I did enjoy more of the scenes with Bob Uecker as the Indians play by play man Harry Doyle.

Now having more insight into baseball, as I watch in more now then I did when I was a kid. I can see the players the movie was making fun of like high priced free agents past there prime (Corbin Bernsen) like Mike Lowell of the Boston Red Sox, young speedsters (Wesley Snipes) like Michael Born of the Houston Astros, pitchers past there prime that rely on junk/craft rather then speed (Chelcie Ross) like Jamie Moyer of the Philadelphia Phillies, young pitchers who only rely on speed and can amass tons of strike outs (Charlie Sheen) like Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals, old catchers that have bum legs but are great team players (Tom Berenger) like Jason Varitek of the Boston Red Sox, and guys who can hit for power but not else (Dennis Haysbert) like Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox.



No matter I still think the ending of the movie is great, it holds up really well. I like that the Indians only get into the playoffs with the win and its not the World Series ( I believe that was touched on more in the disappointing sequel). I was happy to learn that many actual major league players watch this movie in the club house and appreciate it. I still think after all these years the movie is hilarious and makes me long to watch a baseball game.

Grade: A-




Back to the Future (1985):
With the 20th anniversary of the movie Back to the Future was getting a lot of press lately. I know Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd appeared together at an award show, Yahoo had a front page story about how Eric Stolz was originally cast and replaced by Fox and that they just released the trilogy on Blu-Ray, I guess all the talk made me want to go back and re-visit the original film.

It has been a few years since I last visited the world of Hill Valley and I must say besides some dated special effects (the fire between Doc and Marty's legs looks pretty bad) the movie is still as awesome as ever. The story once seemed confusing me to as a kid but now I totally get it and all the little jokes.



I was also noticing they say the word shit in the movie more then a few times and I was wondering how much I understood about terrorists shooting Doc Brown and how that seems pretty adult in nature. But besides those few things i just totally enjoyed watching Michael J. Fox at the top of his game back in 1985. Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson, and Thomas F. Wilson give great supporting parts as high schooler and adults. I don't really need to go on, this one is a classic for a reason.

Grade: A


The Goonies (1985) :
Seems like 1985 was a great year for long lasting movies. The Goonies, Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club, and Weird Science were among the movies released that year that I consider to be true modern classic movies. The Goonies is a movie that everyone I know that is 25-35 years old seems to love. I decided it had been a long time since my last viewing so it was high time to watch this one again.

Another movie that I could see easily getting a PG-13 rating today, you have some great humor and I think most people (including myself) love that Goonies doesn't take itself too serious. It really has a child's outlook and I believe that is the reason of it success. You feel like a Goonie when you watch the movie, you just enjoy the adventure just as much as it looks like Mikey, Mouth, Data, Chunk and the rest of the kids do.




Grade: A-

Monday, December 13, 2010

Power Poll - Week14

1. (-) New England Patriots (11-2)
2. (-) Atlanta Falcons (11-2)
3. (-) Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3)
4. (5) Baltimore Ravens (9-4)
5. (4) New York Jets (9-4)
6. (9) Philadelphia Eagles (9-4)
7. (8) New Orleans Saints (10-3)
8. (10) New York Giants (9-4)
9. (6) Chicago Bears (9-4)
10. (7) Green Bay Packers (8-5)
11. (12) San Diego Chargers (7-6)
12. (13) Jacksonville Jaguars (8-5)
13. (11) Kansas City Chiefs (8-5)
14. (-) Indianapolis Colts (7-6)
15. (-) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-5)
16. (18) Miami Dolphins (7-6)
17. (16) Oakland Raiders (6-7)
18. (17) St Louis Rams (6-7)
19. (20) Houston Texans (5-8)
20. (23) Washington Redskins (5-8)
21. (19) Cleveland Browns (5-8)
22. (21) Seattle Seahawks (6-7)
23. (22) Dallas Cowboys (4-9)
24. (26) San Francisco 49ers (5-8)
25. (24) Minnesota Vikings (5-8)
26. (25) Tennessee Titans (5-8)
27. (29) Buffalo Bills (3-10)
28. (30) Detroit Lions (3-10)
29. (31) Arizona Cardinals (4-9)
30. (28) Cincinnati Bengals (2-11)
31. (27) Denver Broncos (3-10)
32. (-) Carolina Panthers (1-12)

Monday, December 6, 2010

Power Poll - Week 13

1. (-) New England Patriots (10-2)
2. (-) Atlanta Falcons (10-2)
3. (5) Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3)
4. (3) New York Jets (9-3)
5. (4) Baltimore Ravens (8-4)
6. (7) Chicago Bears (9-3)
7. (8) Green Bay Packers (8-4)
8. (9) New Orleans Saints (9-3)
9. (10) Philadelphia Eagles (8-4)
10. (12) New York Giants (8-4)
11. (13) Kansas City Chiefs (8-4)
12. (6) San Diego Chargers (6-6)
13. (16) Jacksonville Jaguars (7-5)
14. (11) Indianapolis Colts (6-6)
15. (14) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5)
16. (20) Oakland Raiders (6-6)
17. (18) St Louis Rams (6-6)
18. (15) Miami Dolphins (6-6)
19. (21) Cleveland Browns (5-7)
20. (17) Houston Texans (5-7)
21. (23) Seattle Seahawks (6-6)
22. (25) Dallas Cowboys (4-8)
23. (19) Washington Redskins (5-7)
24. (-) Minnesota Vikings (5-7)
25. (22) Tennessee Titans (5-7)
26. (-) San Francisco 49ers (4-8)
27. (28) Denver Broncos (3-9)
28. (31) Cincinnati Bengals (2-10)
29. (27) Buffalo Bills (2-10)
30. (29) Detroit Lions (2-10)
31. (30) Arizona Cardinals (3-9)
32. (-) Carolina Panthers (1-11)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

November Screening Log





A large dip in moving watching was made possible for many reasons, most of which included Thanksgiving holiday and going out of town for five days. I was happy I was able to get out to the movies more then a few times, including getting to see Harry Potter at a theater built in 1942.


14) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1/ Theater / B
13) Best Worst Movie/ DVD/ B+
12) Back to the Future/ DVD / A
11) Ken Burns: Baseball: The Tenth Inning/ DV-R / A-
10) Cobra/ Netflix Instant / B
9) Unstoppable/ Theater / B-
8) Lost Boys: The Thirst/ DVD/ C
7) Get Him to the Greek/ DVD/ B
6) I Am Sam/ Netflix Instant/ A-
5) Batman: Under the Red Hood/ Netflix Instant/ C
4) L.A. Story/ DVD/ A-
3) Major League/ DVD/ A-
2) Due Date/ Theater/ B-
1) I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell / DVD/ B-

Stand out movie of the month was a tie between Best Worst Movie, a great movie about how Troll 2 is such a bad movie that people love it and Cobra, a total 1980's film starring Sylvester Stallone as a one liner machine who happens to kick ass.