Reviews and More

USA Network’s Burn Notice was back with a brand new episode again last night. So far the show definitely seems to be following a pattern of having two main storylines in each ep, one dealing with Michael’s burn notice and one consisting of an odd job that Michael takes on in order to earn money for living expenses. I still like this approach, so I’m not complaining at all! Here’s what happened in episode 1×06, called “Unpaid Debts.”

Odd Job of the Week: In need of some extra cash, Michael asks Sam to find a job for them to do. Luckily for them, it just so happens that Sam’s friend Virgil needs some help right at that time. Virgil is a former spy who now repossesses boats for a living. When he recently went after a Donzi 27 ZR from a group of Jamaican smugglers, he got beat up pretty badly. He needs someone who can go in, recover the boat, and deliver it to its intended destination. If Michael and Sam can complete this mission, they’ll get $2,000 each.

Michael agrees to take on the assignment, but soon realizes that the situation is far more complicated than that. The Jamaican smugglers aren’t the only dangerous people involved; there’s also a group of dirty cops to deal with. To make matters even worse, Michael discovers the real reason everyone’s after that boat when he finds $10 million in cash stashed under the floorboards.

Burn Notice Progress If you recall from the last episode, the FBI detail was removed and someone else was assigned to tail Michael. This guy doesn’t even make a pretense of being stealth, he just charges in and does things like tow away Michael’s car, search his apartment, and tear up Madeline’s house right out in the open. Michael plays the same game and has Fiona follow the operative back to his hotel room, after which point Michael breaks in and plants a powerful magnet that will destroy the operative’s computer files. It’s not until the end of the episode when Fiona lifts the guy’s wallet do we get a name: the new nemesis is Jason Bly of the Central Security Service in Washington, D.C.

Character Development: We learn a couple of nice snippets about the main characters throughout this episode. For instance, Michael’s dad died in 1998 and Madeline hadn’t been with anyone since then. I know they showed the father’s headstone back in episode 1×02, but I wasn’t paying close attention and didn’t make note of the date (or of the father’s name, for that matter). In addition, we discover that Michael left Fiona in the middle of the night with no warning, but that he did it because he truly thought it would be for her own good. I don’t know if I believe Michael about that point or not, but I guess spies would always be able to use that excuse! And finally, we learned that Sam wasn’t a squeaky-clean operative back in the day (no surprise there) and that Virgil saved his ass a time or two.

My Reaction: I thought this was another decent episode. While I’m not exactly overwhelmed with excitement about what’s happening on Burn Notice, I do find the shows to be entertaining. At least I can sit through the entire thing without looking at the clock or wondering how much longer ’til I can check my email!

I think this Jason Bly character could add a very interesting dynamic to the show, especially if he and Michael continue to engage in the type of cat-and-mouse games they got into in this ep. Their relationship sort of reminds me of Michael Scofield and Agent Mahone on Prison Break, two worthy opponents going at it. Let’s hope the writers make Bly an intelligent character and don’t dumb him down just so Michael can get the upper hand all the time.

I’m getting tired of the constant references to Fiona and Michael’s past relationship. How many times does she have to bring it up? I hope their conversation in last night’s ep is the end of it for awhile. Talking it out isn’t going to change things and have Michael go back to her, right? So spare us all and just let it go for now… please!!

I just finished watching Dreamgirls the other day and it got me to thinking about how many movies there are about music and real-life musicians. I’ve seen Ray and Walk the Line in the past six months, and before that there have been too many others to count, including Get Rich or Die Tryin’, 8 Mile, The Doors, and Purple Rain. I even remember that U2 documentary/concert film Rattle and Hum from the late ’80s.

I have to say that I don’t particularly enjoy these types of movies. Although I thought 8 Mile and Walk the Line were pretty good, they didn’t exactly make me want to buy concert tickets for an Eminem show or buy Johnny Cash CDs. In fact, besides those two movies, I found all the rest to be so boring that I’d be more likely not to support those artists in the future!

Anyway, what do you think of movies that focus heavily on musicians? Do you like them or not? Do you find that you become a fan of the film’s subject after watching?

More than anything else, I’m drawn to particular movies by the actors and actresses who appear in them. I think performances have a huge impact on films, and really determine whether or not the finished product turns out well. If you start with a great script but have mediocre actors, you risk losing the story. Conversely, great actors can sometimes (not always) elevate a mediocre script to something better than anyone hoped for. Unfortunately, there are also times when even good actors can do little with the source material, and that’s exactly what happened in the 2000 film Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her presents a series of five stories (most other reviewers call them “vignettes,” so I suppose I ought to do the same) that turn out to be very loosely connected because some of the characters overlap. Each vignette gives viewers a glimpse of the various challenges faced by the featured women. The stories begin in media res, in the middle of things, and don’t even provide any neat resolution. I guess they’re supposed to mirror real life in that way. Each vignette begins with a title card that tells us what the story will be about.

The first one is called “This is Dr. Keener,” with Glenn Close in title role. We see her at home, taking care of an aged parent and frequently leaving messages for another doctor. From her tone and look, it appears that she’s not calling the other doctor for professional reasons.

While at home that day, she has a tarot card reading with a woman named Christine (played by Calista Flockhart). Christine looks at the cards and immediately starts describing Dr. Keener’s life, as portrayed in the cards. We can see from Keener’s reaction that Christine’s reading is spot-on.

And then that particular vignette ends. (No, really.)

The second story is called “Fantasies About Rebecca.” Rebecca (Holly Hunter) is a bank manager who has been having an affair with a married man (Gregory Hines) for three years. When she learns that she’s pregnant, she thinks that the only thing to do is “take care of it.” Before doing so, however, she has a fling with a co-worker named Walter (Matt Craven) and strikes up a strange relationship with a homeless bag lady who hangs out in the neighborhood where Rebecca works. When Rebecca gets her abortion, we see that her surgeon is Dr. Keener. Afterwards, Rebecca is devastated about what she has done — even though she never for one second contemplated keeping the baby.

The third story is called “Someone for Rose,” and it features Kathy Baker as Rose, a single mother who works from home. She has what appears to be a very strange relationship with her son Jay (Noah Fleiss) and also becomes obsessed with a dwarf named Albert (Danny Woodburn) who moves into the house across the street. Rose stares at Albert’s house all day long (and sometimes at night, too) hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Jay jokingly tells Rose that Albert could be the man of her dreams, but she just laughs it off. However, when Albert shows up at her door with a bunch of flowers, she looks very happy. The end.

The fourth story is called, “Goodnight Lilly, Goodnight Christine” and brings us back to the Christine character from the Dr. Keener sketch. Christine is in a lesbian relationship with Lilly (Valeria Golino), and we see that Lilly is dying from cancer or some other terminal illness. The two spend a lot of time talking to each other, and Christine recounts the time they met. Yeah, it’s that boring.

The fifth story is called “Love Waits for Kathy,” and features several of the characters from previous vignettes. Kathy (Amy Brenneman) is a police detective who lives with her blind sister Carol (Cameron Diaz). Carol is beautiful and has the more active love life out of the two. In fact, she’s just beginning to date someone new: Walter from the “Rebecca” segment. Kathy is shown helping her sister get ready for her dates by putting on makeup for her, and then sitting forlornly at home while Carol has all the fun. Then Carol’s relationship with Walter ends abruptly just as Kathy starts dating someone from work.

My Reaction: I have to say that this was one of the most excruciatingly boring films I’ve seen in a long time! The characters from each vignette barely interacted with each other at all and their connections weren’t even important, so what was the point of overlapping them in the first place?

The vignettes themselves seemed utterly random and pointless as well. The only one that came even close to making sense was “Fantasies About Rebecca;” all the others just made me want to jab my pencil in my eyes to make the torture come to an end.

And what was up with Rose and Jay? Was their relationship creepy or what??? As soon as Rose grabbed Jay from behind and hugged him after she looked at his freckle or whatever I thought something was strange. Then that whole thing about smelling his breath? Huh??? And then when Jay called her into his room and he was sprawled out on his bed in just his boxers — with one hand halfway down his pants??? That’s a normal mother-son relationship? Uh, I don’t think so. It was gross and uncomfortable, and had me fast-forwarding so I wouldn’t have to endure that crap any longer.

Overall, Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her wastes the talent of its cast members and the time of its audience. I give it 2.0 stars out of 10 and beg you to skip it for your own good. No wonder this movie went straight to Showtime instead of being released to theaters!