NBC's The Office - TV Review

"Angry Andy" - Catherine Tate's Nelly has moved in, but we finally got the episode where Andy (Ed Helms) has returned and had to confront Nelly taking over his job and office. It had all the signature awkwardness of the series but it didn't get there in believable ways.

I get Angela taking Nelly's side, but all season long, Andy has been the underdog boss that the rest of the office rallies around. The group didn't rally around Andy this time. Even Robert California (James Spader) was baffled by Nelly and wound up taking her side. This did not feel right, especially since most of the office hates Nelly.

Now last week, Jim and Dwight got the dirt on Nelly, and so Jim decided to be nice about it, but this week, no, Andy was back, and the office should have stood up for him.

I did like Erin, seeing her man emasculated, deciding to stand up for him and show some anger. Andy - anger management graduate he - joined in, but in typical Erin/Andy fashion, they took it too far and Andy wound up punching the same wall he did a couple years ago.

And so Andy got fired.

Now we know that Robert California (Spader) will be gone by season's end, and we know that Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Kelly (Mindy Kaling) and Toby (Paul Lieberstein) are probably gone due to other projects the actors have. I also read somewhere that the contracts are up for John Krasinski (Jim), Jenna Fischer (Pam) and BJ Novak (Ryan) and they haven't signed new ones. If this was the last season for The Office, they're set up for it. Trouble is, NBC doesn't have anything on the schedule to replace it. Community and Parks & Recreation may be critical hits, but they can never muster the ratings.

So I would think they'll get Andy back as a Dundler-Mifflin employee by the season finale. In fact, my guess is Jo (Kathy Bates) will be back somehow to realign the universe. Nelly currently is one of those characters who's supposed to be an antagonist, but if she's still boss next season, it makes the already weakened Office that less appealing to keep on the DVR.

Starz's Magic City - TV Review

Showtime has done a good job establishing itself as the other HBO with hit series like Dexter, and Starz is trying to do the same.  Spartacus and Boss are semi-successful, and now we have Magic City, which plays like a hybrid of Mad Men and The Sopranos, but it's nowhere near as interesting as that description would suggest.

I watched the first episode, and while Danny Huston's mobster character was a highlight, the whole thing was too slow and assured in its "quality TV" sheen that it never really became interesting.  Also, when a show starts with a really cheap green-screen effect, I have a hard time getting invested.

I deleted the second episode off my DVR.  I'll watch season 2 of Boss, but that's the only Starz series I can say that about.

Random Movie Stuff - 4/18/12

- Michael Douglas and Robert DeNiro will play two of four 70-year-old buddies enjoying a bachelor party in Last Vegas.  Christopher Walken may be the third friend, and the fourth one's supposed to be an African-American Air Force vet (*cough!* Morgan Freeman? *cough*!)

- Darren Aronfosky (Black Swan) will direct The General, about George Washington, although they say it's more of an Unforgiven-type story than a straight biopic.  Aronofsky's currently in pre-production for his Biblical epic Noah, starring Russell Crowe.

- Dick Clark, the world's oldest teenager, is dead at age 82.  He's best known lately for hosting his New years Eve special every year, but also hosted American Bandstand and The $100,000 Pyramid.

And here's the trailer for People Like Us, opening June 29.

The Iron Lady - DVD Review

Starring Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Nicholas Farrell, Richard E. Grant, Anthony Head, Iain Glen, Harry Lloyd and Alexandra Roach.
Directed by Phyllidia Law.

★★½

This movie, despite all its problems, is still worth seeing for the showcase of Meryl Streep. Streep is fantastic here as Margaret Thatcher, embodying the tough, complex, bold leader who inspired so many punk rock songs. Wait, I mean...

The movie itself falls into one of the unfortunate traps of biopics. How shall we frame this? They opt to go for the flashbacks-within-flashbacks route, hopskotching from Thatcher's later years where she may be suffering from dementia (she is still alive, by the way). We go back to her idealized youth, where she was inspired by the stiff-upper-lipped leaders that led Britain to victory in World War II. We are able to watch her rise and fall from politics.

But almost half of the running time is dedicated to her old-age Alzheimerish speculation, as she's often visited by her late husband Denis (Jim Broadbent). Let's cover her in the 1960's. And here she is old. And here's how the 1970's went for her, montage-style, and here she is being old some more.

And despite all that, I assume Streep will be great every time in roles like these, and she is. It may not be terribly enlightening as a history lesson, but it's enveloping as an actress displaying her craft.

Sleeping Beauty (2011) - DVD Review

Starring Emily Browning and Rachael Blake.
Directed by Julia Leigh.

★

A perfect example of an artist thinking she's saying something by not saying anything at all. Emily Browning is even more objectified here than she was in Sucker Punch, as a cypher named Lucy who takes a job as a sleeping beauty, meaning she allows herself to be drugged and unconscious while creepy old men do whatever they want with her.

At one point we know Lucy needs the money. She's on the verge of getting kicked out of her apartment, but then she sets fire to a $100 bill she's earned to watch it burn. So what motivates her? We never know.  It doesn't work on any level, and if I redid my Worst Ten of 2011 list, it'd make the cut.

Saturday Night Live - Josh Brolin

Best skits of the night:

Cold Open - Mitt Romney (Jason Sudeikis) and Rick Santorum (Andy Samberg) head to a bar to commiserate/celebrate the campaign.  Rick orders a chocolate milk and Mitt orders a napkin.  They start singing "Time of Your Life"and one by one, past candidates come in to join the celebration.  Rick Perry (Bill Hader), Michelle Bachmann (Kristen Wiig), and Herman Cain (Kenan Thompson) each get their own verse, but they all hide when Newt Gingrich (Bobby Moynihan) walks in and steals nuts from the bowls.  (Noticeably absent was Ron Paul, as Paul Brittain quit/was fired in January.)

Piers Morgan - CNN's Morgan (Taran Killam) wants to talk about the Trayvon Martin case but can't get guests anywhere close to the situation, so he winds up asking people like Kim Kardashian (Nesrim Pedrad) and Kanye West (Jay Pharaoh) their opinions.

Worst:

Weekend Update - The jokes weren't good this week, and the singing group Garth & Kat (Fred Armisen and Wiig) ceased to be funny about four appearances ago.

Host:

Brolin wasn't given much to do, odd considering it's his second time hosting.

Hunger Games #1 for 4th week

1. The Hunger Games - $21.5 million ($337.07) - 4 wks (LG) -35.1%
. . . 3916 screens / $5490 per screen
2. The Three Stooges - $17.1 - 1 wk (Fox)
. . . 3477 / $4918
3. The Cabin in the Woods - $14.85 - 1 wk (LG)
. . . 2811 / $5283
4. Titanic 3D - $11.63 ($44.42) - 2 wks (Par) -32.7%
. . . 2697 / $4310
5. American Reunion - $10.7 ($39.9) - 2 wks (U) -50.3%
. . . 3203 / $3341
6. Mirror Mirror - $7 ($49.47) - 3 wks (Rel) -36.9%
. . . 3206 / $2183
7. Wrath of the Titans - $6.91 ($71.25) - 3 wks (WB) -53.1%
. . . 3102 / $2226
8. 21 Jump Street - $6.8 ($120.57) - 5 wks (Sony) -32%
. . . 2735 / $2486
9. Lockout - $6.25 - 1 wk (FD)
. . . 2308 / $2708
10. The Lorax - $3.02 ($204.48) - 7 wks (U) -40%
. . . 2112 / $1430

With more titles in the market, the wealth is getting spread a little more, but that didn't stop The Hunger Games from staying #1 for a fourth straight week. It's also passed $500 million worldwide.  The Three Stooges did about as well as one could expect since the original stars (Jim Carrey, Sean Penn, Benecio Del Toro) dropped out. The long-delayed Cabin in the Woods didn't take advantage of having Thor's Chris Hemsworth in its cast.

Opening next week are the bland-looking romance The Lucky One, starring Zac Efron and Atlas Shrugged's Taylor Schilling, and Think Like A Man, the ensemble comedy with Michael Ealy, Kevin Hart, Jerry Ferrera, Regina Hall, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if Hunger Games managed to stay #1 for a fifth week. DisneyNature's latest title, Chimpanzee, also opens this Friday.

The Muppets - DVD Review

Starring Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones and Jack Black.  Directed by James Bobin.

★★★

This movie embraces the old and makes it... not new again, but at least a return to form. It uses the tried-and-true "let's get the band back together" story with our old friends The Muppets.

Gary (Jason Segel) and Walter (a puppet) are brothers who love the Muppets, but the Muppets have since broken up and faded into obscurity. When they learn of a plan of an evil Texas oilman named Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to tear down the old Muppet theater, they spring into action to track down Kermit and the rest to save the theater.

There's humor and fun in seeing where they imagine each has wound up (loved Animal's subplot), and there are plenty of good cameos.

Random Movie Stuff - 4/10/12

- Gary Ross will not be back to direct the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire. The "tight production schedule" was touted as the reason.

- Colin Farrell will reunite with his Hart's War co-star Terrence Howard in Dead Man Down. Farrell will play right-hand man to Howard's crime boss, who gets seduced and blackmailed by a crime victim (Noomi Rapace), and then things spin out of control.

- Steve Carell is looking into starring in Alexander & the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, though not as Alexander.

- And in TV news, Fox has officially renewed Glee, New Girl, and Raising Hope for next season.

Man on a Ledge - Movie Review

Saw this at the $2 theater.

Starring Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris, Anthony Mackie, Edward Burns, Genesis Rodriguez, Titus Welliver, Kyra Sedgwick and William Sadler.
Directed by Asger Leth.

★★

This movie thinks itself clever, but it reminded of that old "If I Was An Evil Overlord" list, where one of the items was sojmething to the effect of "Hire a 5-year-old boy as my advisor. If he sees any flaws in any of my plans, correct them at once."

This movie, in its setup, violates that rule. We see the Man (Sam Worthington) got into a hotel and eat a fine meal. He then wipes anything he touched of fingerprints. Then he goes to the window, opens it, and climbs out on to the ledge. And my wife and I turned to each other and said, "What about his prints on the window frame?"

But later on, the "lab" couldn't find a single print in the room. Apparently they just assumed there wouldn't be in prints on the window he just crawled out of.

This is one of those grimy early-year thrillers that feels like it was made to be subtitled and played throughout Europe. The Man, named Nick, was once wrongly jailed for stealing a diamond from an evil businessman (Ed Harris, looking skeletal). Now he's on the ledge of a 21-story building, and he's willing to jump, but it's really a big distraction while his brother and girlfriend break into Evil Businessman's offices and crack his safe where the dimaond's been hidden the whole time.

The preview gave most of the movie away, so I had to wait patiently for it to get to the point where I didn't know what was next. The "twists" it has are all telegraphed, sometimes just by the very casting of a person ("Oh, that guy. He's always a bad guy"), other times it requires gigantic leaps of logic, but we know it's going to happen anyway because that's just the type of movie this is. And the final twists makes everything fall apart, although the movie doesn't think so.

It's interesting enough while it's happening, but the screenplay's half-baked, and Worthington's American accent seems to get worse in every movie he sports it. There's just way too many contrivances and coincidences to be able to recommend it.

Weekend Box Office - Hunger Games #1 - 4/8/12

1. The Hunger Games - $33.5 million ($302.84) - 3 wks (LG) -42.8%
. . . 4137 screens / $8098 per screen
2. American Reunion - $21.5 - 1 wk (U)
. . . 3192 / $6736
3. Titanic 3D - $17.35 ($25.71) - 1 wk (Par)
. . . 2674 / $6488
4. Wrath of the Titans - $15.01 ($58.9) - 2 wks (WB) -55.1%
. . . 3545 / $4234
5. Mirror Mirror - $11 ($36.47) - 2 wks (Rel) -39.3%
. . . 3618 / $3040
6. 21 Jump Street - $10.2 ($109.58) - 4 wks (Sony) -31.2%
. . . 3009 / $3390
7. The Lorax - $5 ($198.2) - 6 wks (U) -35.8%
. . . 3003 / $1665

The Hunger Games remains on top for a third week in a row, and if you add in foreign sales, it's passed $450 million.  I saw it again with my teenage daughter, and I still liked it the second time around.

American Reunion wound up being a sound investment by Universal, if not spectacular.

Speaking of foreign sales, John Carter's managed to gross its production budget ($250 million), but when you factor in the marketing budget and the theater owners' cut, it's still a huge money-loser.

Wrath of the Titans isn't doing near as well as the previous Clash, but foreign sales will probably make this one a break-even affair.

Straw Dogs - DVD Review

Starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard, James Woods, Dominic Purcell, Rhys Coiro, Billy Lush, Laz Alonzo, Walton Goggins, Drew Powell and Anson Mount.  Directed by Rod Lurie.

★★½

When Rod Lurie moved the setting of this remake from England to Mississippi, I was pretty sure what his intentions were. Our blue-state prtagonist is about to wander into red-state hell.

This remake is faithful to the beats of the original 1971 Sam Peckinpah classic, with fish-out-of-water David (James Marsden) accompanying his wife Amy (Kate Bosworth) back to her hometown for the summer. There she runs into ex-boyfriend Charlie (True Blood's Alexander Skarsgard) and his crew, and eager to please the locals, David hires Charlie's crew to fix up their barn.

From there we get a slow build of rising tension, with Charlie and co. passive-aggressively poking at David, testing him, and David holds to his pacifist ideals. Amy wants David to stand up to them; it's the Southern way. David just rubs the rednecks wrong. He drives a Jaguar, he doesn't like football, he goes to their church but then walks out on the pastor's sermon because he doesn't really believe in God.  Never mind these alleged Christians will shortly be engaging in rape and murder.

The rape scene isn't handled as ambiguously this time around. In the original, Amy seemed to like the rape on some level (at least before the second guy joined in). Here it's very clear that while Amy's been encouraging attention to get back at David, this was not what she wanted or bargained for.

The final half-hour is where everything must come to a head in a violent showdown, and here David lowers himself to their level, as that's the only level where he'll be able to stay alive. The third act is well done, full of suspense and tension.

By the way, even though it's supposed to take place in present day, other than a couple modern references (like cellphones), it more often felt like it was stuck in the 1970's.

Take Shelter - DVD Review

Starring Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Kathy Baker, Ray McKinnon and Lisa Gay Hamilton.  Directed by Jeff Nichols.

★★★


Michael Shannon has always been an interesting actor to me. His blocky features tend to get him cast as weird characters (Bug, Revolutionary Road) but he's been able to carve out some memorable, complex performances in films like Shotgun Stories, and then this one.

Here he plays Curtis, a man who keeps having apocalyptic nightmares, and with each one, he starts to wonder if they're prophetic visions, if he and his family and his town are truly in danger.

This plays against the backdrop of the working poor, where he already struggles to make ends meet, but against the wishes of his wife (Jessica Chastain) he builds a storm shelter. As the movie progresses, we realize we're not watching a supernatural thriller, but rather a drama about a man who's losing his grip with reality as he descends into mental illness.

Shannon's tremendous here, one of those movies where an Oscar nomination would have been well-earned.

30 Minutes or Less - DVD Review

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Michael Pena, Fred Ward, Dilshad Vadsaria and Bianca Kaljich.  Directed by Ruben Fleischer.

★★

Danny McBride has made a living playing self-centered louts, to the point that I wonder how annoying he is in real life. Has he ever played a nice guy? Here he plays a colossially amoral idiot, heir to a million dollars if his Vietnam vet dad (Fred Ward) would just die already. He decides he can't wait, so he's going to hire a hitman (Michael Pena) for $100,000 to whack his dad. But he needs the money first. So what do he and his dimwit friend do to get the $100,000?

They kidnap a pizza-delivery guy (Jesse Eisenberg) and strap a bomb on him. He has ten hours to get the money or the bomb will go off. So what's the fastest way to do get a hundred grand? Rob a bank.

As you can guess, this movie is overflowing with geniuses. And dumb people doing dumb things is often funny. This movie is scattershot in achieving those.

The director's Ruben Fleischer, and he and Eisenberg previously had wild comic success with Zombieland. Here, the characters never grow from their one-dimensional start-off points. I like Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari (Parks & Recreation) generally, and yeah, there's some fun parts, but ultimately this 78-minute caper is very skippable.

Friends with Benefits - DVD Review

Starring Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Woody Harrelson, Patricia Clarkson, Richard Jenkins, Jenna Elfman, Bryan Greenburg, Nolan Gould, Andy Samberg and Emma Stone. Directed by Will Gluck.
★★½

Yet another movie that tries to teach us that sex can be business-like between friends without any of that yucky emotional stuff. I'm sure nothing will get complicated.

Timberlake and Kunis start off with a professional relationship and then they become friends, actual friends. Somewhere in there they decide to have sex but make a promise that if either one starts to feel emotional about it, they stop it, because they like each other too much.

And for a while it works. And then they hit a point where they stop as they decide to see other people. And that works for a while. Ah, but those pesky emotions...

Kunis has the right rhythms for a rom-com lead without feeling like we're ever going to venture into sappy territory. She's a genuinely funny performer. Timberlake's been good in supporting roles (The Social Network) but here, he's just fine.

I didn't like the main plot at all. I did like some of the detours it took, like with Timberlake's father (Richard Jenkins) having signs of Alzheimer's and how the family deals with that. But really, this is basically the same movie as No Strings Attached.

Fox's New Girl - TV Review

Just wanted to say this show has steadily improved and is now one of the funniest network sitcoms on the air.  Zooey Deschanel's her usual quirky self, but the three guys have really grown into their roles.

The Hunger Games - Movie Review

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland, Toby Jones, Alexander Ludwig, Amandla Stenberg, Willow Shields and Paula Malcomson. Directed by Gary Ross.

★★★½

I went to see this with my wife. I'd read the books; she hadn't. The movie provided equal enjoyment.

Based on Suzanne Collins's best-selling dystopian YA novel, this movie takes us to a distant future where the rich and powerful live in a central Capital City in the country of Panem, while the 99% toil in districts under extreme poverty and working conditions. We learn that 74 years ago there was an uprising, and the might of the Capital slammed back hard. From that point on, each of the twelve districts, once a year, must send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12-18 to compete in a fight-to-the-death reality show called The Hunger Games. 24 go in, and 1 comes out, and that winner is able to bring extra food and rewards back to their district for the year. It's a way to keep those peasants under control.

In many ways, the movie hinges on the central performance of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, the resourceful girl from District 12 who volunteers to "play" in the Games after her younger sister is drafted. She's in almost every scene, and she's great. She had a similar role in Winter's Bone that garnered her an Oscar nomination.

The movie does keep its PG-13 by not being gratuitous with the violence, but it doesn't skimp on it either. Blood splatters and kids get killed, all for the entertainment of the colorful Capital dwellers, following the natural digression of reality TV.

Fans of the book can rest assured it's about as faithful to it as any adaption can be (no Avox though), and for those who haven't read it, you won't be lost.

Hunger Games #1, Wrath of Titans #2

1.  The Hunger Games - $61.1 million ($251.03) - 2 wks (LG) -59.9%
 . . . 4137 screens / $14,769 per screen
2.  Wrath of the Titans - $34.2 - 1 wk (WB)
 . . . 3545 / $9647
3.  Mirror Mirror - $19 - 1 wk (Rel)
 . . . 3603 / $5273
4.  21 Jump Street - $15 ($93.1) - 3 wks (Sony) -26.7%
 . . . 3148 / $4765
5.  The Lorax - $8 ($189.6) - 5 wks (U) -39.3%
 . . . 3264 / $2451
6.  John Carter - $2 ($66.21) - 4 wks (BV) -60.5%
 . . . 2397 / $836
7.  Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - $1.27 ($3.17) - 4 wks (CBS) +81.3%
 . . . 483 / $2638
8.  Act of Valor - $1.01 ($67.75) - 6 wks (Rel) -50.7%
 . . . 1239 / $812
9.  A Thousand Words - $.92 ($16.52) - 4 wks (Par) -53.1%
 . . . 1007 / $909

The phenomenon continues.  The Hunger Games will have no problem getting to $300 million domestic.

Wrath of the Titans opened lower than the original Clash and is receiving even worse reviews than the first one. Last I checked it was a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Mirror Mirror opened lower than Relativity would've hoped for.  Part of the problem may have been it's a kids-aimed comedy, and the grittier Snow White & the Huntsman has a stronger marketing campaign.