Law Abiding Citizen

This was a film that I wanted to see when it first came out. The premise seemed extremely interesting to me and the trailer really excited me that the film would be intense and action packed.

Well, it was.

Law Abiding Citizen was very interesting and kept me involved the entire time. It was very interesting because you didn't know how things were going to happen or how it would end up.

It was also one of those movies that, in the viewer's eyes, there might not be a villain.

Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is shown as an inventor. The film starts out with him making some sort of electronic device next to his daughter, who is making bracelets.

The doorbell rings, and right away you are thrown into the action. Two robbers break into the house and tie up Clyde and his wife. Clyde is stabbed, but survives - however, both his wife and daughter are killed.

In an effort to get the death penalty for one of the robbers, a deal is made by Clyde's lawyer, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), with the other robber/murderer. Clyde wants nothing to do with this deal, but Nick does it anyway.

This pushes Clyde over the edge - he has lost his faith in the American judicial system, and to prove how messed up it is Clyde goes on a spree.

And this is where you sort of feel odd, because I really didn't know who to cheer for. Clyde was obviously breaking the law in a number of different ways, but you sort of feel for him and understand his actions. So, you don't feel too horrible rooting for him.

The ending seemed a little forced to me, plus the whole tunnel system was a little unbelievable - but other than that it was a pretty good action/thriller that kept me pleased throughout.

Grade:

The Tooth Fairy

I have a difficult time watching any movies that have anything higher than a PG rating during the day anymore since my son has become very aware of what is on television - and is constantly repeating what he hears now.

So, my movie watching during the day time has been regulated to kid-friendly films.

This weekend, we tossed in the latest Rock masterpiece The Tooth Fairy.

This movie was the ultimate cheesefest. But, my son enjoyed it so apparently it did what it set out to do. For the adult, however, who has to sit through it - it was craptastic. I curse Julie Andrews and Billy Crystal for getting anywhere near this film.

So, to give a bit of a rundown. Derek Thompson (Dwayne Johnson) is a minor league hockey player who has become known as the Tooth Fairy because he is now an enforcer only, who occasionally knocks the teeth out of his opponents.

Thompson was a former star in the NHL before hurting his shoulder - as he was rehabbing he fell in love with being the enforcer and it had been nearly eight years since he even took a shot.

He is dating a woman, Carly (Ashley Judd) who has a pair of children - a young daughter who gets along with Derek and a guitar loving son who wants nothing to do with him.

Thompson begins to lose his faith that people can get what they work for. And, one night almost blurts out to Carly's daughter that the tooth fairy doesn't exist. With that, Thompson is pulled to the land of the Tooth Fairies - and is forced to become one for two weeks in order to regain his faith.

As unbelievable as that is - it actually looked worse. The wings they decided to give Thompson and the other fairies looked horrendous - in fact, Tracy (Stephen Merchant), who was Thompson's sidekick, was the lucky one who didn't have wings (despite the fact that he so very wanted them).

Anyway, I have nothing else to really say about this. I almost fell asleep (which I never do) until my son jumped on me. But, it worked in the fact that my son liked it - but I doubt he will be asking to see it anytime soon like he does with movies he really enjoys.

Grade:

The A-Team

There were very few movies that have come out this year that I absolutely wanted to see in the theater. I don't get to the theater as often as I would like, so it is imperative that I scan the summer movies and find the cream of the crop that I would like to see in the theater - and this is one of the few that stuck out.

I was a very big fan of the television series - through repeats - when I was a kid. And, I don't know how many theme songs are as iconic as the one that goes with this series. I remember taking my old cassette player and recording the theme song off of the television just so I could listen to it again whenever I felt like it. Now I can download it as a ringtone, crazy how far we have come.

Anyway, to me, The A-Team lived up to everything that I hoped it would be and more. It was downright entertaining from start to finish. There was unlimited action and humor - and the 'love story' was kept more in the background, which was great.

The casting of this film was stupendous - and I definitely had my doubts when they were all announced. Liam Neeson steps into the role of Hannibal and does so like he was doing it all along. The new it-guy of the past few years, Bradley Cooper, is the new Face and definitely handled those duties in stellar fashion.

The two names that I was not as familiar with are the two I had my doubts about - but was actually very impressed. Rampage Jackson takes on the iconic role of B.A. Baracus - stepping into Mr. T's shoes is hard to do, but Jackson did a pretty good job. The standout to me, however, throughout the whole cast was Sharlto Copley as Murdock. Hilarious the entire time and made a good film - a great film.

Is it an Oscar-worthy film? Heck, no. But that isn't what we come to expect with summer blockbusters (my apologies to The Dark Knight). The summer is for fun, popcorn flicks and this one did exactly what it set out to do - at least for me.

It was pretty interesting the way they handled everything - they show how the 'team' comes together and how they have become a pretty darn good secret mission team over the years. They also show their wrongful imprisonment and subsequent escape.

This gave me high hopes because, like I said, this was a pretty fun movie. I felt that they may have left us with the possibility of sequels - which I am hoping for.

It is actually pretty sad that this film has suffered domestically at the boxoffice. With so many uninspiring film releases this summer, this one was surely a hit. I hope that through DVD sells and foreign boxoffice it can make enough money to give us the sequels that it deserves.

Grade:

Chalk

I started watching a bunch of documentaries on Netflix Streaming and came across this one a few weeks ago.

I enjoyed Morgan Spurlock's Supersize Me and when I saw his name attached to this I was interested. Plus, I am on the verge of receiving my master's in elementary education, so this intrigued me for that reason as well.

However, I sort of got duped and not by the filmmakers, but by myself. Chalk was in the documentaries section for Netflix so I assumed it was a straight-up documentary - but as I was watching it, the film had a few red flags for me and I checked out the information about the movie and apparently this was a mockumentary.

Anyway, I kept on with it because a lot of (definitely not all) what one of the main characters was going through is what I could be going through very soon.

The film follows three teachers and an assistant principal. One of the teachers is brand new, the other two have been at it for a couple of years, and the assistant principal has just moved from teaching to this position.

I immediately focused on the brand new teacher. He was lost. He had no classroom management and the students controlled the classroom. He also didn't seem as prepared as one should be - especially when you are walking in on the first day of school.

His was the most important storyline in the film - and probably the most realistic as well. Another teacher's main focus was not really on being a teacher, but winning teacher of the year. It seemed pretty ridiculous and as a teacher he seemed buddy-buddy with his students (which is ok to a point) but I wasn't seeing too much teaching in his classroom.

The final teacher is best friends with the new assistant principal and she is hoping that now the teachers will have a voice on administration. But, things don't go as planned and the two fight more than hang out. She is also a bit of a disciplinarian and health nut - so much so that she scolds the other teachers if they let things slide.

If this was a full-on documentary I would have been much more interested, but it wasn't and even as I thought it was going in I could tell something was up. The one teacher's storyline was still interesting and useful for new teachers while the others were a bit more over the top - at least for me.

Still, it was a decent and quick watch at just about 85 minutes long. So give it a try - especially for the new teacher aspect.

Grade:

She's Out of My League

This was pretty interesting, and I apologize ahead of time because this movie may be getting a bit of a bump in grade due to it being filmed in Pittsburgh.

She's Out of My League was a pretty good film. I have been pretty adamant that I didn't feel Jay Baruchel could carry a film on his own - and well he technically didn't, but he was the lead - but I have to say he proved me wrong with this showing.

Baruchel plays Kirk, an average guy who works at the airport, but is pretty much the brunt of everyone's jokes (friends and family). His girlfriend, Marnie (Lindsay Sloane), even leaves him for another guy, but still does everything with his family.

Kirk also has a handful of buddies that work at the airport with him, Stainer (T.J. Miller), Jack (Mike Vogel) and Devon (Nate Torrence). They have the typical relationships as friends, always bagging on each other, but also having each others backs.

Miller was a standout to me. I really enjoyed him in the shortlived comedy Carpoolers as Marmaduke - and he continues to shine here.

One day a beautiful girl named Molly (Alice Eve) jumps on a plane and leaves her cell phone behind. Kirk is lucky enough to find it and gets to meet Molly at a museum function to return the phone.

Molly (at least to the guys) is considered a 10 on the hotness scale, while Kirk is a midlevel 5. Molly is also used to dating pretty good looking guys - but for some reason begins falling for Kirk.

Stainer explains that it will never work because you can't jump anymore than 2-spots in the hotness factor (meaning a 10 can only go as low as an 8).

So, Kirk is not only nervous as hell to be dating this gorgeous woman, he is now in his head that there is no reason she should be dating him.

I really enjoyed this film - it was funny and sweet all at the same time.

The Pittsburgh influence was also great as I saw a ton of Pittsburgh-centric stuff from my old stomping grounds.

Grade:

When in Rome

I have do admit, I am a sucker for a Kristen Bell movie. Add in some of the secondary characters and this film had the cast to be something special.

Unfortunately, When in Rome fell a little flat for me.

Bell plays Beth a young, career driven girl who has sort of put love on the back burner to get further with her career.

Her sister, Joan (Alexis Dziena), however, falls head over heels in love with a guy and decides to get married - just a few weeks after meeting him. And, the marriage is in Rome.

Beth flies out to Rome to be the maid of honor at her sister's wedding, where she meets Nick (Josh Duhamel), who is the groom's best man.

The night doesn't go according to plan as both the maid of honor and best man have serious issues throughout the wedding and the reception - but their goofiness and clumsiness actually brings them closer together, and they sort of hit it off.

So much so, that Beth runs out looking for Nick and sees him getting kissed by a very drunk party guest - but mistakes this kiss for something else and believes she has once again failed at love.

While sitting on a wishing fountain, Beth jumps in and grabs four coins and a poker chip from the fountain - this somehow makes each person that tossed the coins into the fountain to fall madly in love with Beth.

This could have been better than it was as the characters were a magician named Lance (Jon Heder), a painter named Antonio (Will Arnett), a model named Gale (Dax Shepard) and an older guy named Al (Danny DeVito).

Don't get me wrong there were some funny scenes that occur because of these guys, but it should have been a lot funnier. One great scene is amazing for Napolean Dynamite fans, which I won't ruin here - but I laughed pretty hard.

So, the rest of the film is Beth trying to get away from these guys before figuring out the reason they are all after - and believing that Nick is also under this spell once she sees that the poker chip she pulled from the fountain is the same he uses.

This was pretty good and a little different, albeit very crazy, than other romantic comedies - at least it was trying to be different. It had a few good laughs, but I still feel it could have been so much more.

Grade:

The Lovely Bones

Let me first start out by saying I have never read the book, nor did I know anything about the book (or movie) going into my viewing of the film.

I have heard grumblings of true fans of the book that the movie doesn't quite live up to the original story. Well, that is why I never read the book before the movie - with the possible exception of Where the Wild Things Are once I finally get a chance to watch it. But, I think I will be pretty safe in knowing that the book and movie will be a little different.

Anyway, The Lovely Bones (as a movie alone) was pretty decent. I thought that the story itself was very good and the performances were stellar.

I was especially enamored with the performance of Saoirse Ronan, who played Susie Salmon. She did a pretty wonderful job for someone I had never heard of, nor seen any of her work previous. And her eyes were amazing - perfect for this type of role.

The other standout was Stanley Tucci as George Harvey. Just a great and creepy performance from him.

The story follows young Susie Salmon, a high school student and budding photographer, who is sort of coming of age, and is asked out by her boy crush for the first time.

On her way home from school one day (the next few parts could be considered spoilers, but the movie shows everything so the viewer knows this information - up to you if you want to read it) and meets up with George Harvey in a corn field. Harvey has built an underground fort 'for the kids' and asks Susie to look at it with him. At first it seems pretty innocent - to her - but she slowly starts to get uncomfortable and tries to leave. But, George has no intentions of letting her leave - he built this fort to kill her.

The rest of the movie has some good and some bad parts. I really felt the "purgatory" that Susie is in was very over the top - although it was beautiful to look at.

The great part is the rest of her family. Her father, Jack (Mark Wahlberg), will stop at nothing to find out what happened to his daughter. I sort of relate the most to Jack as a father, because I feel I would act the exact same way as he did. Susie's sister, Lindsey (Rose McIver), also plays Sherlock Holmes, especially after getting a strange feeling about Mr. Harvey.

That leads me to the ending, which I thought was very odd and not exactly what I was hoping for as an ending. Again, I am not sure if this was by the book or something the filmmakers did on their own - but I was hoping for a better ending.

On the story and the performances I recommend the film. I could have done without the 'purgatory'-like state - and as often as it is used. Plus, a better ending would have lifted the grade for me.

Grade:

TV Meme: Day 30 - Saddest Character Death

Well, the final day of this TV Meme is here. It has been pretty difficult on some days, but also pretty fun to think back on shows I have watched. Unfortunately, my memory for older shows seems to have faded. I am sure a lot of these days could have been different if I could remember more of the television I have watched throughout my life - that being said I am happy with my decisions.

So, here we are. The saddest character death.

And, honestly, I pretty much knew from the start that eventually this character was going to die. However, the way he was taken out was just downright wrong - but knowing the character, probably the only way he could have been taken out.

The saddest character death for me is Omar Little (Michael K. Williams) from HBO's The Wire.

Omar was an amazing character - who didn't really have a side in a show that was basically all about sides.

Omar was a thief, but he robbed almost entirely from drug dealers. And, he was such a bad ass that the words "Omar's coming" would ring through the neighborhood as he walked up - whistling his tune. It got to the point that he really didn't even have to do much - just showed up and was given something, either drugs or money.

But, Omar was also a well-rounded character. He is in love with a man who is killed by Avon Barksdale's (Wood Harris) crew, because Omar and him robbed them. In order to get him back he becomes an informer to Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) and Bunk Moreland (Wendell Peirce).

Through five seasons you really got to know Omar and he became, quite possibly, the best character on a show full of great characters.

He was smart and always one step ahead of everyone, which is why the way that he died is probably the only way he could have. Heading into a convenience store, Omar gets shot in the head by Kenard (Thuliso Dingwall), a young member of Marlo Stanfield's (Jamie Hector) organization (probably between 8 and 12 years old). Omar felt no threat from Kenard, which is why he got the drop on him.

It was horrible the way he went out, shot in the back of the head. This was Omar - a warrior. As a fan I was hoping he would have went out in a blaze of glory or something. Although it made sense, to me this was one of the saddest character deaths.

30-DAY TV MEME RECAP:

Day 01 - An Unfairly Canceled Show (SeaQuest)
Day 02 - A Show Needing More Viewers (Fringe)
Day 03 - Favorite New Show From This Past Season (Community)
Day 04 - Favorite Show of All Time (Scrubs)
Day 05 - A Show I Hate (American Idol)
Day 06 - Favorite Episode of My Favorite Show ("My Screwup")
Day 07 - Least Favorite Episode of My Favorite Show ("My Quarantine")
Day 08 - A Show Everyone Should Watch (Breaking Bad)
Day 09 - Best Scene Ever (Dexter)
Day 10 - A Show I Thought I'd Hate But Ended Up Loving (The Office)
Day 11 - A Show That Disappointed Me (Joey)
Day 12 - An Episode I’ve Watched More Than 5 Times ("The One With the Embryos")
Day 13 - Favorite Childhood Show (He-Man)
Day 14 - Favorite Male Character (The Janitor-Neil Flynn)
Day 15 - Favorite Female Character (Annie-Alison Brie/Britta-Gillian Jacobs)
Day 16 - My Guilty Pleasure Show (Design Star)
Day 17 - Favorite Mini-Series (Tin-Man)
Day 18 - Favorite Title Sequence (The Big Bang Theory)
Day 19 - Best TV Show Cast (Community)
Day 20 - Favorite Kiss (Ross & Joey)
Day 21 - Favorite Relationship (J.D. & Turk)
Day 22 - Favorite Series Finale (ER)
Day 23 - Most Annoying Character (Calleigh Duquesne)
Day 24 - Best Quote (Homer Simpson)
Day 25 - A Show I Plan on Re-Watching (The Wire)
Day 26 - Biggest Season Finale Shocker (Grey's Anatomy)
Day 27 - Best Pilot Episode (Lost)
Day 28 - First Show Obsession (Friends)
Day 29 - Current Show Obsession (Pawn Stars)
Day 30 - Saddest Character Death (Omar Little-Michael K. Williams)

TV Meme: Day 29 - Current Show Obsession

It's the summer, so there isn't too much going on out there in the television world. However, I have been catching up on some shows I have never seen.

That being said, there are a few hidden gems that can be found during the summer months and one that Mrs. Kano and I enjoy watching is Pawn Stars.


If you haven't seen this show, it is shown on the History Channel and is basically a day in the life of a pawn star worker.

The show revolves around a trio of family members - Rick Harrison, his father Richard (The Old Man) and his son, Corey (Big Hoss). Another 'cast' member who has become pretty memorable is Corey's best friend, Chumlee.

The pawn shop is located in Las Vegas, which is pretty great for them as people will come hustling in to pawn or sell their items for fast cash to head back to the tables.

The best thing is the haggling. People bring in these very rare, and sometimes odd, items that Rick and the gang try to purchase - but to purchase in a way that they can make a profit on it when they sell it again.

The pawn shop also brings in experts on just about any item who can tell you the story, or even if the item is real. The reactions of both the seller and Rick (and gang) can be pretty great when the expert reveals if something is real or not, and how much it might be worth.

Another great part that happens occasionally, is when Rick purchases something that is pretty beat up and gives it to one of his buddies to fix up. The end result is usually so amazing that you wouldn't even be able to recognize it.

This is a pretty good, sometimes funny and sometimes interesting show. A great summer show while nothing else is on - and my current show obsession.

TV Meme: Day 28 - First Show Obsession

This could almost be a repeat of my favorite childhood show. But, I think I will try to mix it up a bit.

I have to admit I don't think I truly became infatuated or obsessed with a show until Mrs. Kano's aunt purchased me season four of Friends.

Until then, yes I loved television, and yes I frequently watched reruns of my favorite television shows.


But, once we had that season in our possession, I must say I not only became obsessed with watching Friends, but also in collecting the rest of the seasons.

We currently have all 10 seasons on DVD and I must say that during the boring times in my life (there haven't been too many of those in awhile) I have made it through a season in 2-3 days. I have probably watched he entire 10 seasons 2-3 times since we got all 10.

Although I have since moved on to more obsessions with Scrubs and now Community, Friends was probably my first overall obsession - and I hope that in time I can break out the DVDs and have a 10 season marathon - if I even find the time.

TV Meme: Day 27 - Best Pilot Episode

This one was actually pretty easy. The look of this had motion picture written all over it. And, from what I have heard, it cost about that to make it happen.

Lost had one of the best pilot episodes that I have ever seen. And even though I don't think the creators, writers or actors knew what would happen to this show or where they wanted to head as they were shooting it - it was one of the most brilliant episodes of the entire series.

This episode is what cemented me on watching the show as a whole. I didn't even want to watch it, but a friend at work had taped it (seriously a tape) and told me I had to watch it. And, eventually I did - and I was hooked.

From the moment you see Jack (Matthew Fox) awaken from his unconsciousness the chaos ensues. The plane has just landed on the island and people are going crazy, hurt and generally scared out of their minds. Jack, however, plays it cool and dives in as a leader to help those in need.

We don't know it yet, but we actually start sifting through some of the soon-to-be stars of the show. We are also introduced to the flashback, which would allow the viewers an in-depth view into the characters and their pasts.


The show that became such a phenomenon and such a topic of discussion, especially as it came to an end a few months ago, truly started with a bang.

TV Meme: Day 26 - Biggest Season Finale Shocker

This will be short today as I plan on doing two because I missed yesterday - these weekend posts are not my forte.

For the biggest season finale shocker from this past season I am going with a show that does season finales pretty darn well - and that is Grey's Anatomy.

For pretty much the entire time the show has been on the air it truly has mastered the season finale, so much so that you are craving that next episode (some four months later) to see how everything panned out.

A year ago, the show let George (T.R. Knight) pass away while Izzie's (Katherine Heigl) fate hung in the balance. We didn't know what was going to happen with her as the show came to an end.

This year, they ramped it up.

What appeared to be a bit of a throwaway story during the season, Dr. Shephard (Patrick Dempsey) made the call to take a woman off of life support. This crippled her husband, Gary Clark (Michael O'Neill).

However, as the episode came to an end it felt as though this story was complete. But, episodes later Mr. Clark was back, this time suing Dr. Shephard.

As the ruling came down and Dr. Shephard came away victorious - again you felt that this story was over.

But, the final two hour season finale (broken into two episodes "Sanctuary" and "Death and All His Friends") proved that this story line was not finished yet.

Mr. Clark walked through Seattle Grace with a plan - to kill Derek Shephard. Along the way, those not willing to help him find Dr. Shephard were taken out - and thus a shooting rampage began.


The losses began to pile up - and others hung in the balance, including major characters like Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) and Shephard himself.

There was so much going on in this episode(s). Even though I felt most of the season was sort of run of the mill, this showed just how good of a show Grey's Anatomy can be.

Kudos to once again keeping your viewers on the edge of their seats - you truly know how to make outstanding finales (now lets make the rest of those episodes equally as good).

TV Meme: Day 25 - A Show I Plan on Re-Watching

I had to eliminate many of my favorite comedy shows from this section because, honestly, I can watch those an infinite amount of times and really not get tired of them.

So, this really came down to a couple of shows for me, but in the end I decided to go with The Wire.

This show was created by David Simon and ran on HBO for five seasons starting in 2002. The premise of the show is the drug ring that resides in the city of Baltimore.

This was a pretty interesting show because it kept adding a different part to the series to show just how the drug pushing is effecting everybody.

If I can remember, the first season was mainly about the drug sellers and the police - but what is great is you see both sides and actually get to know each and every character.

The second season introduces the shipping yard and their crew into the mix. The third season I believe added the politicians. The fourth season took on the schools and the children. And finally, in the fifth and final season, the newspaper industry was looked at.

The drug kingpin in the beginning of the series was Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris) and his sidekick Stringer Bell (Idris Elba). We see inside their operation and how they do what they do to stay out of trouble and out of the reach of the police.

The main police detective is Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), who is a bit of a crazy and quite possibly an alcoholic - but who will do anything to bring down this operation. He is paired with both Kima Greggs (Sonja Sohn) and Bunk Moreland (Wendell Pierce). Cedric Daniels (Lance Reddick) leads them as lieutenant.

This show was not only interesting, but apparently very accurate when it came to portraying everything that is going on in the streets of Baltimore.

I watched all five seasons over the course of about 2-3 weeks, but I am definitely going to have to go back through them to catch some of the things I may have missed. It is one of the best written shows that was ever on television and the characters are simply amazing, and so well rounded.

It's amazing that it only lasted five seasons, but that is apparently all that Simon needed to tell his story. And the show went out on top.

Truly great show and one non-comedy I definitely plan on re-watching.

TV Meme: Day 24 - Best Quote

Simple, yet true (and hilarious) - Homer J. Simpson

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs / Planet 51

I am going to do a little double-dip with this review as I have gotten myself a little backed up, and really these two films sort of go hand-in-hand.

I will start with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I had only recently checked out the children's book - which is quite small by the way - and wondered how on Earth they could make a full-length film out of it.

It wasn't spectacular, but it was well worth a watch.

Swallow Falls has been well known for its sardines, and everyone eats them - even though nobody enjoys eating them.

Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) invents a contraption that can change water into any food that you can desire. As he is about to show his invention to the town, it is accidentally shot into sky.

At first, the town is amazed when it begins to rain food. They no longer have to eat sardines and it also puts Swallow Falls back on the map as Sam Sparks (Anna Faris), a weather reporter, announces to the world this amazing feat.

However, things begin to go a little haywire with the contraption and the food begins to get a little bigger - and then massive. And, finally the weather begins to turn and the food starts acting like a tornado.

It is up to Flint and his gang of misfits, including Sparks, a Gummi-Bear loving monkey named Steve (Neil Patrick Harris) and the town's former well-known celebrity 'Baby' Brent (Andy Samberg).

It was a pretty good watch and my son loved it. It is nowhere near the quality of say the Pixar films, but definitely give it a shot.

Planet 51, was also a pretty interesting watch, but I don't think I would give it a second look. Where as I would probably watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs again.

Planet 51 is sort of a bizarro-E.T. as instead of the alien landing on Earth - a human is the alien landing on another planet.

Captain Charles T. Baker (Dwayne Johnson) lands on Planet 51 and claims it in the name of the United States. As he turns around, however, he notices that he is not alone and becomes a fugitive on this alien planet.

The planet itself is a lot like Earth, however, 50 years in the Earth's past. The main character is Lem (Justin Long), a kid who is trying to become head of a planetarium and also has the hots for his next door neighbor, Neera (Jessica Biel).

As General Grawl (Gary Oldman) and the alien army try to capture Captain Baker - Lem and his buddy Skiff (Seann William Scott) do everything in their power to keep him safe and get him back to his spaceship.

It was a pretty good watch and it was fun to see a lot of other movies given some sort of homage in the film - like the Planet 51 dogs looking a lot like the alien from Alien.

Still, it could have been a lot better - but it was good for one watch.

Grades:
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Planet 51

TV Meme: Day 23 - Most Annoying Character

Wow, I have a lot of characters/actors that I would love to do away with in some of my favorite shows.

In fact, if I was doing this last year I would be going with the character Nikki Betancourt (Sophina Brown) on the series Numb3rs. Betancourt was a replacement for Diane Farr's character Megan Reeves, and the character was so annoying that Mrs. Kano and I actually wished that one of the many baddies on the show would take her out.

Unfortunately, no one ever did, but I didn't go with her for the lone fact that the show completed its run last year - so I decided to go with someone that is still out there and still annoying me.

The lucky winner is CSI: Miami's Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Proctor). Everything about her to me is like nails on a chalkboard. Her delivery, her voice, her expressions, even the way she walks.

The show has been on for seven seasons with season eight beginning in the fall, and Calleigh has been so close to death a number of times, but she always seems to pull through.

The show has gotten rid of an actor in the past who just didn't seem to cut it with the show in Kim Delaney. A great character Tim Speedle (Rory Cochrane) was killed off and now Jesse Cardoza (Eddie Cibrian) is leaving the show - but for some reason Calleigh keeps kicking.

And, it's not like she is a secondary character either. She probably gets more screen time than Horatio Caine (David Caruso), who is considered the star of the show. So, not only is she the most annoying character on a show that I watch, but she is in the bulk of the show at all times.

The original CSI is still alive and chugging away, so I doubt there are any plans for this series to end soon. So, for the love of God, let's make this show better and get rid of Calleigh - for everyone's sake.

TV Meme: Day 22 - Favorite Series Finale

This was difficult. I have a handful of shows that I have watched over the course of their run that had great and meaningful finales.

Just in the past couple of years shows like Scrubs (the main series) and Lost ended their runs with great finishes. But, this blog has been pretty heavy on the Scrubs (thanks, Mrs. Kano) and Lost I feel has been written about to death over the past few months since it ended.

For this category, I decided to go with a show and its finale that I blogged about when it happened right here and that show is ER.


A show that can run for 15 years, more than half my life at this point, must have been doing something right. So, it had to have a great finale to usher it out the door. Over the top, right? Nope, ER played it perfectly.

The show brought back a handful of the shows original members in small storylines throughout the final season - including heavy hitter George Clooney, and a touching flashback episode of Mark Edwards' Dr. Green. A handful of the other cast returned as Noah Wyle's Dr. Carter was opening up the Carter House - but that was really all of the fanfare.

Like I said in my previous installment - there wasn't a wedding, the hospital wasn't shutting down and people weren't coming together for a funeral, or any other cliche you can come up with for a season (series) finale. These peoples' lives will go on (technically speaking) without us watching.

The final scene had the camera pulling away from the hospital as an ambulance was pulling in - a great nod to say that life goes on, and we will be here saving lives even if you aren't seeing it.

I thought it was a pretty special finale - and although I didn't stay with the show through its entire 15 year run, I did manage to stay around for most of it. And I felt the finale was fitting to a pretty groundbreaking show.

TV Meme: Day 21 - Favorite Relationship

My apologies for this running a day late - 4th of July yesterday sort of ruined my computer time (in a good way).

Anyway, back to the meme. Today is favorite relationship - Mrs. Kano has gotten on me about the amount of Scrubs and Community love I have been giving on this meme. And she is right.

However, I absolutely must stick with my all-time favorite show on this category. My favorite television relationship is Turk (Donald Faison) and J.D. (Zach Braff) on Scrubs.


Their relationship is so great and so strong that nothing can truly come between it. They have been friends since college and remained tight through medical school - and that continued as both received jobs at Sacred Heart.

Even when it appeared that they could be drifting apart, like when Turk got close to, and eventually married Carla (Judy Reyes). Sure, their time together may have suffered, but they always remained close.

The running joke was that they were an old, married couple. And, they even got in on the act most of the time. They even sang a song called "Guy Love" in the musical episode professing their platonic love for each other.



Anyway, I have looked over the rest of these meme categories and I believe that this is my last official day consisting of Scrubs, but when I saw this category the only relationship that jumped out at me was this one. It is so strong of a relationship that even Carla realizes that Turk just may love J.D. more than her. J.D. tells her that Turk loves them both the same.

TV Meme: Day 20 - Favorite Kiss

There have been a ton of monumental kisses in television history. Kirk and Uhura; Ross and Rachel; Grey and McDreamy; Winnie and Kevin; and the list goes on.

My kiss selection is a little different because it really isn't the start of a relationship, or even sexual at all. It is just the true reason behind it that makes it so great.

I decided to pick - not Ross and Rachel, but Ross (David Schwimmer) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) in Friends.

Huh?

Well, there was an episode in in season two entitled The One With Barry and Mindy's Wedding. Joey was auditioning for a role in which he had to kiss another man and he asked Ross to help him rehearse. Ross was completely against the kiss the entire episode.

As he finally thinks it through, Ross rushes into Joey's apartment and plants one on him. It turns out that the audition had already happened and Joey didn't get the part, but it is this that makes Friends so true to real life (in relationship terms). They would do anything they can for a friend. In shows past Joey even helps Ross learn to talk dirty to a girlfriend - and gets completely embarrassed as Chandler walks in. But, that is what friends do - they do things completely off the wall if their friends need them, and Ross proved that in this episode.

Here is the kiss - it takes a while to get there, but if you want to see what I am talking about just check it out. This was the best clip of the part that I could find.

TV Meme: Day 19 - Best TV Show Cast

Wow. I have been back and forth on this one for a little while now. In the end I think I decided to go with the one that I did because the show is still on and is still just getting started, but already there is so much chemistry between the characters.

At first, my gut instinct had me selecting Scrubs as the best television cast. I mean, for eight seasons they delivered the laughs and the relationships between each and every character just seemed so genuine. That is something so hard to do. But, the cast was actually very close friends off of the set, and it clearly showed on the show.

That being said, I have (and will) be using Scrubs in a great many posts for this meme. Which is pretty obvious seeing as how it is my favorite show. So, I decided to select the show that is, I guess, currently becoming my favorite show - Community.


I seriously hope this show doesn't have a sophomore slump because I am really speaking so highly of it, but only after one season.

As I have said in previous posts the cast shakes down like this. Joel McHale stars as Jeff Winger, a lawyer who gets found out for having a fake degree and must return to community college to get his old life back. Gillian Jacobs is Britta Perry, a love interest for Jeff who is also a large feminist and activist - she has also been called the downer of he group. Danny Pudi plays Abed Nadir, a film student who converses through his knowledge of movies, mostly from the 80's. Donald Glover is Troy Barnes, a former star quarterback who loses his scholarship when he gets hurt tossing a keg. Alison Brie stars as Annie Edison, a brilliant girl who blossomed late in life, or after she overdosed on drugs and had to leave high school. Chevy Chase plays Pierce Hawthorne, the inventor of Hawthorne wipes. Finally, Yvette Nicole Brown plays Shirley Bennett, a mother of two who is freshly divorced and heads to college for the first time.

Also on the show in a smaller role are Jim Rash as Dean Pelton and Ken Jeong as Senor Chang - with John Oliver as Professor Ian Duncan also lending a hand in a handful of episodes.

It's truly amazing just how quickly the cast gelled together. The best scenes, much like Friends at Central Perk, are when the cast is alone in the study room. Without even saying words, but gestures at the table and sly looks they can have you rolling on the floor. But, the dialogue is just as great as the gestures - and the characters have blossomed there as well. Each character has found their niche and they slide together perfectly.

The best character interactions come between Troy and Abed. They have truly developed amazing chemistry together - they remind me a lot of J.D. and Turk (except neither of them is truly the star of the show). I have embedded their Spanish rap below - check it out. If you do watch the show, make sure to stick around for the credits - they usually do something off the wall crazy like this.



I urge you if you have not checked out this show yet and you like comedies (especially a show like Scrubs) then check this one out. Don't just watch a single episode because it might not show you everything you need to see - watch a few and you won't regret it.

TV Meme: Day 18 - Favorite Title Sequence

I actually believe that the title sequence has become a lost art. Nowadays shows sometimes bypass the title all-together (Lost), while others will make a great one and then shorten for no real reason (Community).

A theme song and a great title sequence can really get you excited for a show, it becomes one with the show. How many people hear "I'll Be There For You" and think of The Rembrandts? Not many, right? But, how many people hear that same song and think of Friends? I am guessing about 99% of them.

So, I almost wish that all shows would make the effort and create not only a great title sequence, but a great theme song as well. Right now I have multiple theme songs on my phone as ringtones, mainly because of my love for the show, and its theme.

There are so many out there I could name - Scrubs, Community (in its entirety), Friends, etc.

But, one of the few that I sit through during my TiVo watching is The Big Bang Theory. The title sequence is basically just a bunch of random (I say random, but it probably isn't) science-type things, but the theme song is sung by Barenaked Ladies and it is now synonymous with that show.

For your pleasure, below I have attached The Big Bang Theory title sequence. And as a bonus, Community as well.