262 posts from 2007

Are you not Entertained!!

Dec 26, 2007
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Well, I guess technically, that quote doesn't really apply, but I thought it would be a good way to label this post. My mission, on that faithful Christmas evening, was to conquer the above turkey leg. Though I did manage to complete my goal, "we lost a lot of good men out there"...

Wanted: Robin Hood

Dec 26, 2007
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So in between various Christmas activities, I've been watching some assorted television on my iPod. I'm 3 episodes into two shows which I'd never seen before: BBC's _Robin Hood_ and a TNT series that lasted one season: _Wanted_.

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_Robin Hood_ has been okay through the first three episodes. It has some decent moments, and I like how they're giving some toughness to Lady Marian, however, there are some eye rolling, heavy handed moments. In the first 3 episodes the Sheriff has "created special laws to classify [Robin's men] as enemies of war and execute them without trial", has tried to "win the hearts and minds of the people" and has referred to fighting Robin Hood as waging a "war on terror". IGN had mentioned the "rudimentary political commentary" in their review so I wasn't exactly surprised, however, it is still mildly annoying. The show is entertaining enough that I'll probably watch the rest of the first season but not until I finish....

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Wanted. It's a procedural drama about an assortment of law enforcement officials (LA PD, DEA, ATF, Naval Intelligence, etc...) who have gathered together to hunt down the 100 Most Wanted criminals in LA. It's has a pretty solid procedural background with a little bit of prime-time cable edge (namely in some of the language and some of the enhanced violence.) There isn't an extensive psychological profile aspect (like in _Criminal Minds_), but there is a profiling aspect, and the action it quite solid. I fully intend to bang through the entire 13 episode run. If crime procedurals are your thing and you happen to stumble across this show somewhere in "the tubes", then I suggest you give it a shot, after all, it's is Jen Recommend & Approved.

TechCrunch Online Primary Starting Up

Dec 21, 2007
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If you follow online political trends at all, then the results aren't entirely surprising...

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Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Dec 21, 2007
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I'm not sure how long these guys can make the same movie, but I guess it's worth a shot...not sure how "Marshall" from _How I Met Your Mother_ will take to being a leading man, but Kristen Bell is usually pretty solid.

For some reason, Yahoo movies doesn't want me to embed the trailer, and I'm not in the mood to rip and re-post so, I'll just give a still shot, followed by the link:

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http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809859459/video/5586261

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Dec 20, 2007
3 comments

The 2nd installment in the Hellboy franchise is due out this summer. I was talking to my friend about it when he pointed out "you do realize that picture looks ridiculous right?". Now I can't stop both looking at the picture and laughing uncontrollably.

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iPod Travel Content

Dec 19, 2007
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Here's what I've got on my iPod Touch for the trip up to Maine:

- My Favorite 16 albums (since I only put full albums on my iPod touch, so the Coverflow is nice and concise)

- The first part of 2 audiobooks I've started or plan on starting (Namely, _The Amber Spyglass_ and _Ender's Game_)

- 5 Movies:

- Battlestar Galactica: Razor

- Blade Runner (The Final Cut)

- Casino Royale

- Stardust

- Superman: Doomsday

- Assorted Television Shows:

- 2 Episodes of _Damages_

- 2 Episodes of _Friday Night Lights_ (Season 1)

- 3 Episodes of _Robin Hood_ (Season 1)

- 3 Episodes of _Wanted_

- 4 Episodes of _24_ (Season 3)

That leaves me about 100 megs free, so I might try to fit another audiobook on there....in any event that should keep me entertained during my travels on Friday.

The Return of _American Gladiators_

Dec 13, 2007
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Last night, on NBC, they officially showed off the new cast of gladiators for their new American Gladiators series. With the writer's strike going on, this and _The Sarah Connor Chronicles_ are probably 1 and 2 on my "new shows for January" list.

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Venom - She's in the early running to be my favorite.

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Venom - Pre-Gladiator Days (since her Gladiator promo pics are horrible)

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Crush - Another Potential Highlight

The Best 43 Minutes in Scripted Television History

Dec 11, 2007
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Over the course of my years, I've watched a ton of television. Countless hours in front of my TV, computer, iPod, etc..soaking in shows. The propagation of DVRs and TV Shows on DVD added to the amount of programming I could consume at any given time.

One of the biggest "investments" into a television series game about after playing the _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ video game for the original Xbox. I thought the humor and wit were quite impressive and decide at that point to give the television show (currently in its 5th season) a chance. I started off with the Season 1 Box Set...which I finished in about a weekend. Followed up with the Season 2 Box Set...and then Season 3...and then I ran into a problem...there was no Season 4 boxset at the time. What was I to do? Thankfully, FX had started replaying all the episodes at some ungodly hour in the morning. I had only one choice...I bought my first DVR. Over the course of the next few months I caught up to the shows currently airing on the WB (or possibly UPN by that time) and watched the show until it's final episodes.

During that time, the first box set of _Angel_ came out. It got decent reviews and I figured I'd give it a shot. It turned out to be every good as Buffy, and as time grew on, I came to like even better. Some of the highlights include Elisabeth Rohm as a Detective (before she went on to _Law & Order_), the re-birth of Darla (Angels' sire), and one of the best character arcs have witnessed...that of Wesley Wyndam-Price. His growth from a goofy Watcher until his final death in the arms of...well...I'll leave that for another time...

Despite all the high points of _Angel_, one episode stands out in my memory. If you have never seen the show and plan on watching it, I suggest you stop reading now, because this is something you probably would not like spoiled...I'll provide some white space in case you want to eject....

The episode came in Season 5 of _Angel_ and was called _A Hole in the World_. In this episode, the sweet, adorable Fred (played by Amy Acker), who has finally united with Wesley after years of his pining...is infected with an ancient demon..

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The episode follows the group as they try and save her...a quest that the viewer follows closely, but never really feels there is much danger (I mean, after all, she's a lead character...what could happen...)...But as the episode draws on, it becomes clearer that Fred is in real trouble, as this demon will end up consuming her soul and her existence if no cure is found...In the end, Angel is left with the decision to save Fred at the cost of thousands of lives...an impossible choice...

The final scenes in the episode are Fred dying in Wesley's arms, as the demo fully consumes her. I can't do Joss' writing justice, but will say that it both beautiful and heart breaking simultaneously. After a volatile death, Fred's body rises..but Fred is gone...leaving only the ancient demon...Illyria..

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To this day, I still think it was the best 43 minutes of scripted television I've ever watched.

Monday without my _Heroes_

Dec 10, 2007
2 comments

It was a strange Monday, without _Chuck_ and _Heroes_ to take up multiple hours of my evening. Also, the Monday Night Football game was completely terrible, so I didn't even bother to watch. I have 3 or 4 posts I want to make to my Wordpress blog, but I seem to just stare at my moleskin unable to translate my notes into words. Also, I wanted to make a few quick comments since I recently finished _The Subtle Knife_ and _I am Legend_, but for some reason I just don't have the will. Maybe it's because I'm just so wrapped in WWE RAW's 15th anniversary special...Here's to 15 years Vince...

Oh, and since I couldn't get my Kristen Bell fix via _Heroes_...here's the picture that I've seen on at least 7 blogs today...

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Beelze-babe

Dec 4, 2007
1 comment

Probably the biggest guilty pleasure of the new television season has been the new CW show _Reaper_. It's not exactly "high-brow" by any stretch of the imagination, but it has some fairly hilarious moments. Take this latest episode, where they're trying to figure out whether or not the lead protagonist's new girlfriend is the daughter of the devil, and you'll get a reference to "Beelze-babe". As Jim Rome would say, "trust me, it was hilarious...award winning even..."

Plus, a couple of episodes ago, they busted out with a Buffy / Angel classic...Merceds McNab (a.k.a Harmony)

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Oh, and I'd be careful hitting up Google at work with her name...she has not been just acting since her last appearance in the offices of Wolfram and Hart.

As a side note, "Beezle-babe" is played by Jessica Stroup, who apparently is making her living on direct-to-video horror movie sequels...(Really..they made a _The HIlls have Eyes 2_...was there really a demand for this??)