 What Freaks & Geeks was to Dawsons Creek, Party Down was to Entourage.
What that insinuates is that these shows are the anti-shows of their more popular counterparts. While series like Dawsons Creek & Entourage found mainstream recognition, their dirty cousins did not for one simple fact: They were better and more realistic, and America doesn’t like realism in their TV.
And what do these two things have in common? Well, Martin Starr was in both, and is in league with co-creator Paul Rudd, who is friends with Judd Appatow who wrote for Freaks & Geeks.
Party Down follows 5 (4 always constant, as one role was later taken over in Season 2) people in the hollywood business just trying to make it or become ok with the fact that they didn’t make it, who work as caterers for the catering company Party Down. The funny thing is, it’s a lot like Freaks & Geeks where everyone who was in both shows is now famous. Adam Scott is now on Parks & Rec, Ken Marino is doing Childrens Hospital and Lizzy Caplan is ALL OVER THE GOD DAMN PLACE, as she should’ve been since her great role from The Class back in 2006.
Party Down is not only hands down one of the top probably 5 funniest sitcoms I’ve ever seen in my life, but it did something a lot of shows didn’t do and that is that it spend a lot of time in development. In fact, this show was developed for 6 years before it ever even got to air, making the characters feel entirely fleshed out and instantly relatable because the writers weren’t figuring them out as the show went along. It really does make a difference. But maybe I’m biased; because while, yes, the show IS absolutely 10/10 stars would watch again, it also hits home for me as someone who has been trying to be in the entertainment business for years myself. I mean, this entire blog is dedicated to tearing down and praising (but mainly tearing down because I’m a bitch) stuff IN entertainment, for god sakes. I went to film school for 2 years, I worked with crews, I created a cult webseries that ran for 19 episodes before a brutal falling out with most of the cast and I know the pain felt from failure after failure and FAILURE.
Party Down is looked down on because of that by mainstream audiences. It’s not about winners. It’s about PEOPLE. Who wants to watch people become successes? There’s nothing there to see. Now we’ve changed a bit in the last few years since this show’s been off the air, as you can see with Breaking Bad being so popular. Half the fun of that series was knowing you’d eventually witness the downfall of Walter White. But when this show was on, we didn’t want to watch people fail. Entertainment is escapism. We want to watch people be successful because we often times are not successful ourselves, so we lose ourselves and root for people we wish we were. That’s not what Party Down is. Shit, it isn’t even an underdog story. These people are FUCK UPS. They definitely have the means to be successful-hell anyone does-but it’s about reality. “Making it” is HARD. It’s 50% talent and 50% luck, honestly, and if the luck doesn’t factor in, you can’t rely on talent alone. That’s what Party Down does so well is prove that this is a difficult life to follow and these people may never become what they want to.
Just. like. us.
How many hopes and dreams have gone unfulfilled simply because it just didn’t work out? Party Down is the anti-entourage. It was bold and brave and had the balls to say “Sure, something like Entourage COULD happen, but here’s what actually happens to 99% of hollywood.” And what did we do, as a viewing society? We shunned it, because we didn’t want to watch people fail. The thing is, Henry (Adam Scott) seems pretty ok with the fact that he failed, because at least he tried. It’s why I’m pretty ok with being where I am, because at least I’m trying. Not only is it perfectly cast, hilariously written and has a super simple but brilliant premise (a different catering event every episode with slight serialization through characters and dialogue), but it just was REAL, man. It was REAL. It was as honest about hollywood as I think we’re ever going to get, and the irony coming from that stems from the fact that the men behind it are the men who are pretty successful IN HOLLYWOOD. Rob Thomas is a co-creator of this, and he made Veronica Mars. Paul Rudd is a successful actor/filmmaker. I mean, it’s nice to finally have people-famous people-stop and really tell us why being famous kind of fucking sucks.
The series used to be on Netflix but thanks to Starz getting dicks up their butts they canceled their contract and now it’s only available on digital delivery or DVD but I sincerely 100% recommend picking it up. Trust me. It’s 20 episodes of pure brilliance.
Are we having fun yet, Henry?
I certainly fucking hope not.
Today, this news article popped up from a friend in my facebook feed.His comment was that “even if you bought a Banksy original for $60 dollars, you still got ripped off”, leading me to believe once and for all that a good majority of people-even those who like Banksy-don’t understand what he represents. This story alone is about the fact that while it’s good publicity, he’s also making a statement that people don’t appreciate the art for the message. A lot of people-even art collectors-only like art because of the monetary value it’s assigned.Banksy is making a joke of everyone.Take for example his “documentary” from a few years back titled “Exit Through The Gift Shop”. The trailer alone (which you can view here) is a joke on trailers and the films. The reviews that are placed in the trailer are hysterical twists on the cliche review statements we often see thrown into trailers to get people to see the movie. It even has funny versions of cliche quotes, such as: In a world with no rules, one man broke them all
I mean for god sakes, look at this screenshot I snapped of one of them.
I mean right off the bat he isn’t even taking the trailer seriously. Exit Through The Gift Shop to me is his version of The Blair Witch Project. It’s a fabricated story they sold as “truth” because it proves if you put shaky cam and slap the label “documentary” on something, people buy it with no thought of where the proof is! Banksy created Mr. Brainwash as a joke on the public, showing what fools we all are to rush out and buy stuff only because it’s trendy. Popart sells. Lady Gaga is talented-I have no doubt of that-but she’s another person in a long line of people who fell into the “hey i’m famous for being weird, like me!” group. A lot of people who like Lady Gaga don’t actually like Lady Gaga, they like the IDEA of Lady Gaga and following something that’s “unique” and popular because it-by association-makes THEM unique and popular.
THAT is what Banksy is doing. He’s forcing us to take a step back and look at how we evaluate things in this world when it comes to art and media.
There’s an old saying that art is subjective, which is true. Everyone looks at a painting or reads a poem and we all take away something different from it. However, that’s what makes his statement that much better because he’s proving that even with how personal art can be to a person, it can be used as a tool to mass market produce products and sell them to an unoriginal and uninspired and unenlightened society who doesn’t actually understand or take art at what it’s supposed to say or be but instead take it at face value. Liking it because they’re told to like it. Pop music suffers from this BADLY. The people who hate Banksy-not all I’m sure-are the people who don’t get this.
We hold art-and I’m talking museum art now-up to this ridiculous standard because of the problem we’ve invented where stuff sells for higher prices after the artist is dead. It’s value increases. It’s the same problem we have where we berate people to death while they’re alive and force them to hear all these negative fucking things about themselves that make them hate themselves, and then as soon as they die they’re deified and forgiven of all their faults. If you like someone or like their work, tell them while they’re alive or appreciate them while their work is still fresh. The fact that artwork from dead artists sells higher is the problem. We’ve created a market that panders to people who don’t (and I’m sure the entire art world isn’t like this) actually buy art because they appreciate it, they buy art because art appreciates.
Big difference.
Monetary value does not equal personal value. That’s something we need to realize and change. I think what Banksy is doing is quite wonderful and I hope he continues to do it for years to come.
 Recently, the television series “Lucky 7” was canceled after 4 episodes. Tonight, the CBS program “We Are Men” was canceled after two episodes. The pilot of We Are Men pulled in a 6.8 million viewership-which ISN’T BAD-and I don’t know the numbers for Lucky 7. While We Are Men fell to 5.4 in its second episode, that still isn’t terrible enough to warrant cancelation TWO EPISODES into its run. This is one of the biggest things that makes me worried for the future of network television.
When Seinfeld premiered in 1989, the ratings for the 1st 3 seasons were basically abysmal and nonexistent. Still, NBC kept the show on the air and by it’s 4th season it became a landmark in tv, and ended up becoming the most famous sitcom of all time. How are we supposed to have character development in 2 episodes of a series, or 4? Shit takes time to build to. Because of these mega hits-that AREN’T GOOD-like Big Bang Theory it makes all other shows on the network have to live up to impossible expectations 2 episodes out of the gate, which, I’m sorry but it’s true, is basically impossible. Shows need to GROW. You can’t expect something to have an audience automatically, even if it’s associated with people who have a built in audience. You have to make reasons for viewers to tune in.
And this has history behind it. Bryan Fuller of the now popular Hannibal series had 3 different series-all critically acclaimed and some award winning-before Hannibal (all original too) that were canceled, one of which after 4 episodes. Hannibal comes on in 2013 and even IT struggles to survive even with his name attached to it. Here’s a guy who is known, who’s work IS popular after it’s gone and he STILL HAS TROUBLE ATTRACTING VIEWERS. Hannibal somehow missed the swing of the cancelation axe, despite pretty rotten ratings, and managed to eke out a second season for the 2014 lineup, but it proves that even with someone famous helming something, you’re not automatically guaranteed a smash hit. Shit, you want an even better example? JOSS WHEDON. Buffy was a smash and ran for 7 (?) seasons and nothing he makes after that stays on the air for more than 2 seasons outside of Angel, which ran for 5 and was canceled anyway. It’s proof. These network executives need to understand that people have to have time to get involved emotionally with characters. Nobody is able to connect to some character right out of the gate. I’m sorry. You can’t.
Granted, Hannibal may have had some trouble because of people being so fiercely loyal to the source material, but look at what’s happened here. Bryan Fuller and Joss Whedon, both very talented people with shows that are very well liked and win awards and neither of them can keep a show on the air. They both come back this year with new programs…and BOTH ARE BASED ON SOMETHING. Fuller now has Hannibal, which isn’t an original concept, and Whedon has SHIELD, again, not an original concept. Because of prior cancelations, the executives have scared creators of excellent original content into making a success off of STUFF THEY DIDN’T MAKE. So that’s where we are now. Granted, Lucky 7 was a remake of a foreign show (because we haven’t had enough of THOSE) but We Are Men was original! Were they good? Well that’s subjective, and I didn’t watch either of them but still, they were more original than SHIELD, or hell, even Hannibal which I’ll admit, for as much as I love it. The network says they want original content, they get original content (a lot of it VERY GOOD), it does moderately well to poorly depending on said content and alot of times on their lack of promotion of it (nobody to blame but themselves), they then PULL original content and blame the viewers for being too stupid to tune in.
There’s something fundamentally wrong with the television landscape right now.
Now factor in networks like FX or AMC. AMC gave Breaking Bad-a critically adored, award winning show with pretty low numbers until the final season-5 seasons. They just kept it going. Similarly, FX has done the same for Wilfred which shouldn’t have gotten a second season, a third and not the 4th they’re getting now purely based on the ratings. Now sure, there could just be the “president loves this program” thing goin’ on here at times, but both shows-especially Wilfred-did pretty damn poorly and still managed to eek out 5 and 4 seasons, respectively. That’s because they recognize there IS an audience for these programs. I said it a while ago, and I’m repeating it here: ratings aren’t the end all be all anymore, but the old networks still haven’t caught up that idea of digital delivery. Sure, they sell DVDS and episodes on iTunes/Amazon/their website players and do the DVR thing and whatnot but in the end they don’t stop and recognize those numbers (well the DVR I’m sure they do), not like FX and AMC do anyway or else these shows would be lasting much much longer. And for the record, 6.8 million viewers ISN’T BAD for a pilot. The blame for ratings doesn’t lie entirely on the executives, because-again as I’ve said before-pirating kills television. If you look at a list of the most pirated shows and how many times those shows were pirated, you’d go “Shit, if these numbers were RATINGS this show would go on INDEFINITELY!”. A lot of people don’t understand that for something to be on TV at ALL, you NEED TO SUPPORT IT, anyway you can. Tuning in live definitely helps that. They don’t count pirates views.
And then what happens? The internet throws a gigantic stink, gets a series renewed using the ol’ petition trick, the show comes back next year…AND NOBODY TUNES IN. They just continue to pirate it. Sure, you tricked the network into giving you another 13-24 episodes, but you can’t pull that trick twice, nor was it a good thing to do in the first place. All that time you spent pirating and petitioning you could’ve spent tuning into the live show. And you can’t say “Well I don’t have time to” because you’re clearly watching it, just at a different time. So if you can’t tune into the live show-which is a legitimate thing, people have work and whatnot-buy it on iTunes/Amazon or buy the DVD. DO SOMETHING. Otherwise your content goes the way of the dinosaur.
There’s a viewer/network disconnect. We need to find a happy medium. A balance. Otherwise pretty soon, we won’t have original content at ALL. If nobody tunes in, there’s no money to be made, and if there’s no money to be made, there’s no money to be spent making content that won’t make money, so why make anything at all is how they see it.
Yes, people should tune in and granted I got a bit off topic there but the overall point here is that networks need to give shows more time to grow and develop, otherwise nobody is going to tune into anything anymore because they figure it’ll be canceled anyway and the whole system is futile.
And where does that leave us? With Netflix original series, and outside of the 7/10 rated 4th season of Arrested Development, their shows are pretty bad I must admit. Hemlock Grove is a mess, Orange is the new Black is BORING AS ALL HELL (and this comes from a Mad Men fan, so you can’t say I don’t enjoy slow drama) and House of Cards was just weird, but at least decent. Fuck, their shows AREN’T EVEN ORIGINAL. Everything they have, outside LilyHammer, IS BASED ON SOMETHING.
Is that REALLY the world of content you want us to go to?
Think about that.
 Don Jon is like a college students psychological final essay on pornography and the effects it may have on a person or a relationship. That isn’t to say it doesn’t make some good points, because it does, but that’s all it is. A film sprinkled with bits of good points. There’s no real character development (there’s a bit but it’s very minor and subtle, which I praise actually because it’s almost more realistic that way; very rarely do people actually change in real life the way they do in films) and no real closure, and at times the film is meandering, aimless and unsure of where exactly it’s trying to go. It feels like Levitt wanted to make a film that really said something, but couldn’t find enough things to say that would warrant an hour and a half film that wrapped around those things.
That all being said, it’s a fairly confidently written/directed film from first timer Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and overall IS entertaining. It’s just another example of a trailer being better than the movie, and them knowing that and using the trailer to really fill seats. Guess it doesn’t work because there were only 6 people in the theater. The acting is pretty excellent, and the use of the sister was especially wonderful-I won’t give any spoilers-(especially Tony Danza and especially Scarlett Johansson) and the editing is god damned impeccable. I really hope whoever edited this film gets an award because it was phenomenal. All these things-and the overreaching conclusion that it is entertaining-do make the film a success. I just think it missed what it was ultimately going for. A lot of directors make a first film because they have something they want to say and that’s what it seemed like Levitt was going for. I just don’t think what he had to say was enough to fill an entire film. The subject matter was great but he got all his real points across in the first half hour or so through 2-3 minute voice overs.
He’s right too. Every single thing said in this film about pornography from his perspective is spot on, and I’m saying this as a woman. But the point that’s supposed to come from that is to find out what exactly is wrong with him that he likes porn better than real women. I don’t necessarily think (he even says a few times in the film “i don’t know what’s wrong with me” or some variant of) that there IS anything wrong with him because we’re human and we’re all different. That’s what makes us human is our differences. But apparently there’s supposed to be-as Julianne Moore points out-something wrong with him because you SHOULDN’T feel that way. It’s almost a tug of war. On one hand it seems as if the film wants you to root for Jon and his independence and love of freedom to watch pornography but on the other they want to make this statement that watching pornography ruins your idea of what a real relationship is.
And a few things he says are absolutely incorrect. As much as what he says about porn IS right, there’s some that’s not right at all. To say all women don’t enjoy some of the things that happen in porn or won’t do it (blowjobs, anal) is absolutely ridiculous. I have plenty of female friends who love doing these things, and if I myself weren’t a lesbian, I would too. Again, our differences is what makes us human. The film says some stuff very well and some stuff kind of poorly.
It isn’t that the film isn’t funny or isn’t serious enough to be taken in a serious manner. It does both things very well. It’s just that it didn’t know what to do overall, and a movie does need some sort of line to follow. I appreciate the realism involved (the small but subtle almost nonexistent character development and the lack of closure because people don’t change much and there really isn’t closure to a lot of things in life) but in the end…Don Jon unfortunately fails to live up to what I think they were aiming for, which was a great statement about pornography and relationships. Catch it on DVD or something.
FINAL GRADE: B
 I rarely write about music, but there are the exceptions and as of this post, Lxnnnie is one of those exceptions. This is the kind of artist who takes music as a thing and says “How can I make this art in my own way?” instead of just making music that’s generalized into a genre we all know with the same 3 chords and same boring cliche lyrics. The first thing that’s worth noting is that Lxnnnie is actually a certified schizophrenic, and this album is his 12 year opus of what it’s like to be inside his head. Musically, it’s what you’d get if you took Stereopathic Soul Manure era Beck and mixed it with Napoleon XIV, then added a pinch of Brad Sucks. Lxnnnie is the result, and….shit is it just wonderful.
It’s all over the place, it’s varied, it’s often times hard to comprehend what you’re listening to, but that’s probably what schizophrenia is like, so he probably succeeded in his attempt at what he was trying to accomplish musically. A large part of Lxnnnie I really love is his mysterious air. I can’t find his real name anywhere, nor a very good actual photo of him, nor any info about the guy outside of his music and you know what…I prefer that in cases like this. Like how he exists solely to create music, and that’s it. He keeps his life private and for all I know, he only exists as Lxnnnie, and he probably prefers it that way. Mystery makes someone much more intriguing (kind of a redundant statement but fuck it). At times, the album is acoustic and folky then switches to techno beats then goes to a little more low fi rock. It’s definitely unlike anything you’ve heard before.
This release is the psychological version of Girl Talks “All Day” in that you HAVE to listen to it from start to finish and not skip around.
Stand out tracks include:
- They Said It Would Be Fun
- Kill & Kill Again
- Wondering & Wondering
- Side Effects
- Paisley Rain
- Always Is All Ways
Is Lxnnnie mainstream, or even semi mainstream? Not one bit. I wouldn’t recommend Lxnnnie to anyone in high school, and probably not even anyone in college. Lxnnnie is for a specific niche of people. People who respect music as an art form, and people who enjoy watching someone hone their craft to the point where it’s actually audibly gorgeous and yet unnerving. Lxnnnie is for people who are unhappy, or at least constantly questioning every decision they make. Lxnnnie isn’t mainstream because it makes you think. That isn’t to say that he ISN’T deserving of attention. In fact, he’s deserving of attention more so than most mainstream artists, but he just can’t break into that group because of the work he creates. It’s almost hipster to say it’s too “deep”, but it is.I thoroughly recommend Lxnnnie and all his work (all of which are available right here) but especially this album. Be warned though, it’s weird, beautiful and tragic. It’s only for people of sound mind. He even states this on his website. If you’re looking for something different and unique, then Lxnnnie is for you.
 I’ve alluded to my hatred for this show in the past, but I feel that after tonight, it’s finally time to tackle this thing head on.
I ended up watching-because I’m staying with someone and they have horrid taste in media-the episode of The Big Bang Theory called “The Parking Spot Escalation” which is, from the research I’ve done, one of the most popular episodes of the series. I remember it being pretty funny 20 years ago when I saw it on Seinfeld, also called “The Parking Spot”, but cheap shots aside, let’s move on.
First thing is first, it’s 2013. I don’t need to be told what’s funny. Not only is the laugh track insulting to the audience viewing it but it also just grates your nerves. It’s a holdover from the safe comedy era of the 50s that we’re so close to breaking. It worked in the 90s, it just doesn’t work NOW. Even in the 90s we didn’t necessarily need it but it was tolerable. Now it just seems outdated. But the laugh track isn’t the worst part of the show, because a good number of other shows on TV (Hot in Cleveland for example) have a laugh track, so it’s mean to get down on one show for having it. It’s exclusionary and that’s not fair. The laugh track is not the problem with the show.
So let’s move on to my next gripe. It’s a live action family guy in the sense of every single joke is a reference. I mean, there’s barely a punchline, it’s just references to pop culture and often pop culture the mainstream audience probably doesn’t actually understand or fully comprehend because it does try and pander that true nerd audience at times but it can’t. And now, here, for your amusement, is my example of a Big Bang Theory joke:
SHELDON: Hey Raj, what’s the difference between Astrophysics and Particle Physics
RAJ: I don’t know Sheldon, what?
SHELDON: Iron Man
Partially because the writers aren’t actually that intelligent in their science based facts so not only can they not actually make good science jokes, but then the punchline is often just a reference to something, sometimes unrelated to the discussion itself, just to elicit laughter. But, to be fair, this is the culture age of the pop culture reference revolution. We are so in depth with shows relying on pop culture references-Arrested Development, Community and even older shows like Spaced for example-that I’m going to let this slide because while it’s not great writing (or writing at all) and it’s not done well, it’s just what comedy is today. So yes, it’s stupid but it’s not the problem with the show.
So let’s move on to my next issue. The girls. In this particular episode, I actually found the female characters to be quite charming in and of themselves and if this were not made by Chuck Lorre and was only about these women and shot in a different format with different writers and was an altogether different show, I’d watch them. They were the only part that ever made me almost crack a slight smile. But they aren’t characters. Sheldons girlfriend is a mere female representation of all of his worst traits (which are the only traits he has from what I can tell) and she’s annoying. While the actress is good at that role-I will give credit where credit is due-the character is a shell. She’s something, like all the female characters it seems, to merely pump in female lines for female laughs that aren’t even really funny outside of girls hearing it and going, “I’m a girl, I totally relate!”. There IS such a thing as smart female humor. But we’re debating the semantics of female humor on a Chuck Lorre show. For god sakes, we’re discussing SMART WOMEN ON A CHUCK LORRE SHOW. Women in Lorre’s programs are notoriously downright awful and never fleshed out, not even the ones they give a slight crap about like the maid on Two & A Half Men. They’re merely hollow vapid shells to dispense barely tolerable female quips into and only exist, as far as I’m concerned, to make the female audience not get mad that they aren’t portrayed at all. Instead, they’re just portrayed as STUPID. That’s even worse. They’re bad, but even then they’re not the worst part of the show.
So that’s 3 things. 3 major things that while are totally horrid, aren’t actually the worst part of the show…so then…what is? SHELDON. Dear god in heaven, I have never once wished a television character to be real purely so I can shove his fucking TI83 Calculator up his fucking asshole. While Jim Parsons may do a decent enough job portraying a character (he won an Emmy this year over way better actors, but that’s the Emmys. That’s a whole other situation I don’t even wanna get into), the character of Sheldon is the most unlikeable, miserable, putrid waste of a character with no redeeming qualities that I have EVER SEEN ON TV. And you are saying, “Well what about George Costanza from Seinfeld that you related earlier?” There’s a distinct difference between a character who’s motivations are selfish and FUNNY and a character who is just a downright fucking asshole. That’s what Sheldon is. Not only is he giving a bad name to actual nerds (like those exist anymore, amirite fauxnerds?), but I wouldn’t beat this character up because he’s a fucking loser. I’d beat him up because he’s a fucking douchebag. If I knew this character in real life, I would want to kill him. You can sit there and compare characters all day. Well, what makes Sheldon so terrible in relation to say, Walter White?
First of all, genres are entirely different. Characters react differently due to the genre of the show. Walter White may be just as bad as Sheldon-though not nearly as annoying, in fact, he’s actually a puppy dog rolling in daisies compared to Sheldons attitude-but because of his situation he’s in in the type of show that he’s in and has had actual character progression and has an ACTUAL CHARACTER, you understand him. Sheldon is nothing but a stereotypical idea of what writers think current day nerds are. We’re not mean. We’re not. In fact, I don’t know ANYONE like Sheldon. I also don’t know anyone like Walter White, but still, the fact remains. Someone said in best (and I quoted them on this blog before) that this show and these characters are popular because nerds are finally being “Accepted”, even though they know this shit is bad and inaccurate, but because it panders to them and introduces them to the mainstream audience, they allow it. It doesn’t get nerd culture. It just gets away with nerd culture. Sheldon is an awful fucking character who’s attitude I could not understand putting up with for one episode, let alone 7 seasons or whatever.
And the worst part is? This show pulls in 20 million viewers a week. A WEEK. Meanwhile we’ve got struggling brilliant comedies and dramas that barely pull in a million or 3 million and are on the verge of being canceled daily. Get your fucking priorities in order, America.
And that’s what’s even worse. I’ve read a few articles about people saying-intelligent people with well written articles and legitimate complaints-why this show is terrible and all the comments are “It’s a tv show, stop being so hypercritical” but the second THEY defend what they love, those same viewers say they’re being overly dramatic. You’re a hypercritical loser until you’re a hypocrite. You can’t. fucking. win. And while I agree that we’re too hypercritical about media these days-to the point of saying one finale 42-2 hour episode out of 100 episodes or less ruins an entire series which MAKES NO GOD DAMN SENSE-I have just as much of a right to tear this piece of shit a new asshole as the people who hate LOST do. The only difference is, a lot of the people who rip apart LOST are people who’ve either never seen it or are people who didn’t understand it. I’m not saying I’m smarter (cause trust me, I have no self esteem whatsoever) but it’s comparing apples to oranges.
I’ve watched this show, and seeing as it’s a laugh track comedy I’m pretty sure it’s hard to misunderstand.
At least other bad sitcoms are pretty watchable and at times entertaining, even in a “so bad it’s good” sort of way, like Married With Children. This isn’t even watchable as far as I’m concerned. I’ll be happy to never have to witness this abomination of what passes as entertainment again. This thing doesn’t pass as entertainment. It passes as a bowel movement.
And scene.
 Yesterday I sat down with my DVR and my “Impress Me” face and watched the pilot to Sleepy Hollow. My ultimate conclusion is that this is yet another show in a long line of shows that suffers from a slightly interesting (though not original) premise and has nothing else going for it. We saw a lot of these recently. Revolution, Once Upon A Time, Alcatraz and Terra Nova all suffered this same problem, and 2 of them have suffered cancelation for it. Somehow Once Upon A Time is still on-somebody fucking explain that one to me-and Revolution does have the possibility to get better because of who’s working on it, but ultimately they suffer from the Avatar effect. It’s all gloss and no substance.
Shows like this are watched because of shows like LOST. The success that had gave us these hyped up piles of garbage. That isn’t to say LOST was perfect (though it was damn near), but at least LOST was GOOD and knew how to make compelling television. NONE of these can do that. Thankfully, Sleepy Hollow has a few things going for it and a few things really against it.
- The lead actor is phenomenal. I mean that guy needs to be an enormous star right now. Somebody get him on a better program.
- The buy in factor: So many people don’t want to start watching a show because they don’t want some convoluted fantastical story to deal with but with a show like this, we all already know the premise. Familiarity is safe, and so we watch it.
- The fuck your familiarity factor: This is the major thing I HATED is that while the show took a nutty premise already with putting Crane in current time (which I admit was more entertaining than I expected it to be, probably thanks to the guy portraying Crane than anything else), it also turned everything we knew about Sleepy Hollow on its head…and NOT in a good way. The 4 horsemen? REALLY? Ugh.
- The horseman has no character. None. At all. The horseman was the best part of the Tim Burton Sleepy Hollow. He was hilarious. This guy is just generic badass unkillable bad guy stock character #31. Nothing interesting. Not even his arrow mark.
- It’s well shot, but in a typical network drama way. Nothing too fancy. Actually, it kind of gave me a visual ice cream headache. There was some cinematography I loved and some I really despised.
- Also, the dialogue at times was cringeworthy, and it did fall into a bit of predictability.
- Rolling Stones song at the beginning? Hell yeah.
It’s a mish mash. The show isn’t actually terrible, which is a wonderful thing, but it has the potential-especially with what it has working against it-to become terrible. But, it also has the potential to become-even with the stupid apocalypse shit-an actually pretty decent program too. It’s really 50/50 at this point (granted I have not seen episode 2 as of yet and that may sway me differently). I just don’t want yet another case of the week overarching story. I’m tired of that. Especially with scifi or supernatural stuff. Alcatraz had the potential to be fantastic and the case of the week thing just botched it all to hell.
Also, one thing that worried me immensely was the fact that the show was “created” by 4 people. I say “created” because technically it was created by Washington Irving back when he wrote the fuckin thing. I lived in TerryTown as a kid, so maybe I’m just protective of Sleepy Hollow. Anyway, 4 creators, and that screams problems. Each person no matter what is going to have their own vision for what they want the show to become, no matter how much they may agree on things or work together. It’ll happen. I guarantee it, and when it does, that will be a very interesting thing to watch.
Overall I wasn’t really impressed but I was at least intrigued. It has potential, and it has a lot going for it. I would at last recommend checking it out.
I’m giving the show-as of now-a rating (based off the pilot anyway) of a C+.
 WARNING: SPOILERS
I don’t normally do reviews on Breaking Bad but this thing was a masterpiece of cinema. It was all stuff I knew was coming, even from Season 2 to last weeks cliffhanger, I knew some of this would eventually be out in the open or happen and yet…I STILL wasn’t prepared for it. I still wasn’t ready to see Walt tell Jesse about Janes death, I still wasn’t ready to see Flynn learn about his fathers real job and I wasn’t ready to see Hank go, no matter how he went.
Hank and Skylar are two characters who I’ve never badmouthed like the majority of fans seem to have. I mean, put yourself in Skylars situation. She has EVERY RIGHT to be angry at Walt, just as her reactions have been realistic. Does that justify her? No. She’s just as bad as he is, as Flynn says at one point in tonights episode, and he’s right. As for Hank, I was all for Team Walt until he poisoned Brock. At that point I figured, ok, he did it to save his family and Jesse, but I still wasn’t fully against him.
Then he killed Mike.
FOR NO. DAMN. REASON.
THAT’S when I turned on him entirely. Brock was the start, and Mike was the finish. No matter what Walt says or does, he is beyond redemption at this point. I didn’t necessarily root for Hank either, but I didn’t want to see Walt win. At least Hank was trying to bring justice to light. Walt may have started this with the purest intentions-something that tonights episode was all about-but in the end the thing he did for his family is what destroyed his family. Hank was just doing his job. It all boils down to that, really. Even Marie didn’t deserve Hanks death and she’s the one character who HAS annoyed me endlessly. Hank didn’t deserve that. Marie didn’t deserve it. Gomez didn’t deserve it. Jesse doesn’t deserve this. Walt however…
Walt deserves everything that’s crumbling around him.
He brought this all upon himself, and as much as he’d like to blame others, I think he finally realizes he can’t. He’s clearly mad at Jesse for bringing Hank out there, because had he not, he may still be alive. But even Jesse can’t be blamed because had Walt not done any of what he’d done, Jesse never would’ve ratted on the tape they made. Which brings me to my next point…his family may be safe from the legal repercussions of the police through his alibi for Skylar on the phone, but they aren’t safe from Todd and Uncle Jack. Jesse states that tape was at Hanks, which leads to Marie, which leads to Walts family.
And as much as they are trying to show Walt having a bit of conscience left, it doesn’t matter because what’s done is done.
I’m glad they gave Hanks story more closure than last weeks “everyone shows up at once and they go out in a hail of bullets in slow motion set to sad music” or some stupid cliche shit. This was great. Breaking Bad is now in the point we always knew it would be; watching a man who always could get himself out of anything finally run out of options. He did it last week when he gave himself up. He knew this was it, and that’s why he called off the hit. Same thing goes here. Hank wasn’t leaving there and he knew it. No matter what, Walt or “Heisenburg” no longer had any tricks up his sleeve. Walt is finished. Heisenburg is finished. The empire is over.
And he’s left to watch it burn.
If anything, the only real people who deserve to get out of this clean are Flynn and Jesse. Jesse has only ever done what Walt made him do, and yet I’ve seen people get angry when he finally rats? Hell, after all he’s been through I’m shocked he didn’t rat sooner. If you’re still actually on Team Walt, you’re a FUCKING HEARTLESS, PSYCHOPATHIC LUNATIC. Jesse didn’t want to kill Gale. Jesse didn’t want to work for Gus. Jesse didn’t want to keep cooking. Now he’s basically sold into slavery, and people are angry? I guess the shows finally hit that mainstream “i’ll watch it cause it’s popular but i don’t understand it” audience.
But enough about that. This episode represented everything we knew it would build to. It ripped my heart out and shat on my soul.
And there’s still 2 episodes left.
M*A*S*H* is the #1 most watched series finale in television history, and also considered to be one of-if not the best-series finale in television history. Since then, it could be said that that show tricked people into believing that finales are important.
They aren’t.
At least, not in the way we seem to think that they are. Yes, they matter, but not to the degree that we hold them to. Once again, our hypercritical state of mind in 2013 puts us as the judge, jury and executioner. You have to understand that first of all…they don’t write this for YOU. Most of these shows-especially these serialized shows-are written by people who want to tell a story THEY THEMSELVES want to hear. They rarely do it for the audience. When you sign onto watching something, you’re almost signing a contract that says, “I know I’m not going to be happy with some of this, but let’s do it anyway”.
Art isn’t about making other people happy. Art is about making YOURSELF happy. Somewhere along the way people got lost and started thinking that series finales had to tend to their every whim and desire. No. If anything, all it really HAS to give you is closure, and it doesn’t even HAVE to do that. You’re not entitled to JACK SHIT. You’re watching THEIR show. You want to write an ending to something? Make YOUR show. For this reason, I am not letting myself get hyped about the series finale to Breaking Bad. Not because I’m not interested in what’s going to go down (because I AM) but because I’m sure I’ll love some stuff and I’m sure some stuff will just be sort of “meh”.
But stuff is sort of “meh” in shows even BEFORE a series finale, so why does the finale get all the hate when a show may have ticked you off or made enormous mistakes episodes or SEASONS earlier? Is it because it’s the last episode and they won’t be able to fix what they’ve done that you consider a problem? Honestly, I think a lot of it comes from the fact that they’re losing something they love and that’s it. They don’t want the program to end. A lot of people say “Man, if only this show could’ve lived on!” when a great series gets canceled, but do you REALLY mean that? Would you want to see it go downhill? Because it probably would happen.
I truly, honestly believe a lot of it stems from the fact that they’re just angry the show is OVER.
But on the other hand, it’s even stupider when you stop and realize that it really has no consequence to your life at all. It won’t affect your future or how you live day to day. And saying, “Well I stuck it out even though it got bad because I wanted to see how it ended!” is a cop out because you admit it ALREADY GOT BAD. Why stick with shit you HATE? At that point, you’re just LOOKING for a reason to be angry, as far as I’m concerned. I’m fine with the LOST finale, I’m fine with the ending of Harry Potter and I’m sure I’ll be fine with the ending to Breaking Bad as well.
Why? Because as long as it’s entertaining, it’s succeeded. That’s all they’re meant to do. Entertain. Even if it isn’t perfect, but is entertaining at least, it won. It succeeded. Game over. End of fucking story. And the next day I’ll get up, I’ll get dressed and go on about my life whether I loved the ending to Breaking Bad or not because dwelling on something as stupid as the ending of a fucking TV SHOW is absolutely INSANE.
People create petitions to change the endings to video games and they send death threats to writers, but nobody gives a FLYING SHIT that at any moment we could be 1 second away from another world war? Is THIS what we have come to? A society of hypercritical socialites, attacking any little thing that we hate JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO? Freedom of speech wasn’t put on the bill of rights just for YOU to be a whiny bitch.
Finales suck. Get fuckin’ over it.
The end.
 WARNING: SPOILERS
I have a boner for Simon Pegg.
That’s right. That’s how I’m starting this. Spaced is one of my favorite series of all time, and I consider it to be one of the best comedy series of all time. Shaun of the Dead is absolutely brilliant and Hot Fuzz is, well frankly their least successful I feel, but still decent! After 5 years of waiting, The Worlds End has finally been released, and boy…oh boy is it worth the wait. The first thing I should mention is that I felt The Worlds End was almost more serious than Pegg & Frosts other endeavors. Frost really had no emotional stake in Spaced, so outside of the mention at the start, Spaced is being removed from this review entirely. This is purely about their cornetto trilogy.
Shaun of the Dead kind of has a message I suppose, which would be the living and the dead aren’t really that different. If you think about it, Shauns every day life was the same. The same exact routine, so that’s almost being zombie like. Yes, the comparisons are there, but I don’t think they’re much to be made. To me, Shaun (and to a default Hot Fuzz) are both just comedies. But Worlds End seems different for some reason. It almost takes a large stance against technology in a way. I’m willing to bet if you’re reading this, you know what the film is about, so I’m not even going into that premise. But it’s true, it’s almost about being accepting of your mistakes and realizing that your flaws are what make you who you are, which is kind of what Shaun (and though I said I wouldn’t compare it, Spaced to an extent) also had going for it.
The Worlds End is about failure, first and foremost, which is what the majority of Peggs work seems to encompass, which is probably one of the reasons I connect to his stuff so much. The Worlds End is about just absolute failure as a human being, but how being a failure isn’t necessarily something to be ashamed of as it makes you human. It’s about being proud of being human.
It’s also about robots who look like people and are filled with blue paint.
The film is funny, yes, but-especially at the end-there seems to be a much more serious overtone than their other films. Even at its most serious moments, Shaun never got all that serious. The Worlds End DOES. I will say though, the first 30 minutes or so-and granted they’re setup-are pretty repetitive and almost…boring. I mean, it’s story building, and I don’t want to attack that because films are stories, but I feel it could’ve either been done better or been better written. I don’t know. They just fell flat for me really, even the comedy. But once the plot really kicks in, oh my god the film becomes phenomenal. Martin Freeman for me literally stole the movie for the short time he was in it, and I found myself really missing him once he was gone. Plus, he was the winning ticket to getting me to see the damn thing, on top of already loving their work, because, well…he’s Martin fucking Freeman.
But fangirling aside, the film is shot like their previous films and directed with the same Edgarness we’ve come to expect and love. The film is well written-serious and funny, which was nice-acted superbly and has a pretty great “message” to it, if you can gleam it. It also was really great with its effects. I really believed the stuff I was seeing on screen, which is a huge part of effects that we’re losing these days. This looked fantastic, so kudos to your effects team. Outside of my one little gripe-which may just have been a personal thing-about the slow beginning, The Worlds End was perfect from start to finish and I say 10/10 would view again.
The Worlds End Final Score: A+
|
RSS Feed