Reviews and More

After a week off because of the baseball playoffs, House was back with an all-new episode last night. It was called “Mirror Mirror” and brought us the usual House formula — with a bit of a twist. Since I’m already late in getting this recap posted, let’s just get right down to the details. Here’s what happened in episode 4×05.

Patient of the Week: The show opens with two teenagers hanging out in an alley looking for someone to rob. They soon spot a promising candidate, but when they move in on him and take his money, the guy begins coughing like crazy. One of the teens gets worried enough to call an ambulance, which brings the vic to PPTH.

At PPTH, the competition for the three fellowship positions is still going on, with six candidates remaining. So once again, the bulk of the action revolves around watching the job candidates struggle to come up with the correct diagnosis in time to save the patient.

In the search for clues, House realizes that the patient, Robert Elliot, has Mirror Syndrome, which makes him mimic the personality of the most dominant person in the room. This leads to a series of scenes that give us some instant insight on a few of the regular players, as well as the candidates.

For instance, in an operating room that includes House and Wilson, Robert acts like Wilson, showing us that he’s actually the dominant personality in the friendship. We also learn that Grumpy (the Doctors Without Borders Guy) is there just because he’s bored; Kutner always needs to have something new going on, and that 13 is really a lot more scared than she lets on.

After a bunch of failed tests and treatments, House is finally able to figure out what’s wrong with Robert, thanks to his idea of pretending to be the patient in order to get him to talk about himself. It turns out that Robert was a salesman who regularly visited farms and regularly came into contact with pig feces. He contracted some kind of virus that way, but it’s fully treatable, so he’ll be fine.

Character Interactions: Foreman was back in almost-full capacity this week at PPTH. At first House objected, especially when Cuddy told him that Foreman was basically going to shadow House and be her “eyes and ears.” Of course, no one, not even Cuddy, has any real power over House, so he completely disregarded her. In addition, he told his candidates that if they want to continue to be in the running, they’ll pretend like the Foreman thing never even happened.

House and Foreman lock horns a few times early in the ep, but by the end, they come to some sort of understanding. Foreman has changed enough to be able to deal with House now, despite the fact that House hasn’t changed at all and still won’t be listening to anybody else.

On a side note, we see Chase running a betting pool on which candidate will be fired next. It seems like half of the hospital staff is in on the action, and they all show up at the lecture hall for the big announcement. That’s when House says that all the candidates sucked equally this week, so he’s not firing anybody. Chase wins the bet, and we then learn that he and House rigged the whole thing and will share the profits 50-50.

There were also some shenanigans between Cuddy and House, with Cuddy replacing House’s Vicodin with laxatives, and House threatening to replace her birth control pills with placebos.

My Reaction: I didn’t care too much for this episode. I’m really getting tired of having all these job candidates to keep track of and think the whole competition aspect of the show has already gotten old. Like I said two weeks ago, I just want House to pick his three people and be done with it so we can go back to the regular formula.

If I had to guess right now, I’d say that House ends up going with 13 and Kutner for sure, with the third spot being a tossup between Big Love and Cutthroat Bitch. It doesn’t seem like Grumpy will be around for the whole season and the other guy doesn’t really bring anything interesting to the table, so I think the four I listed are definitely the top contenders. We’ll see, I guess.

I thought I would hate Foreman’s return, especially since he was supposed to be watching over House — which, of course, is a storyline they tried in a previous season. But I found Foreman to be surprisingly tolerable (because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to control House at all), so maybe it won’t be so bad having him around again.

(Incidentally, I loved that scene where he stood up in the lecture hall and told the candidates that he hadn’t signed off on House’s latest treatment idea yet. Three out of the four people candidates just looked at him and continued walking out, while the fourth one flat-out told him that House is the only one they’re worried about listening to!)

I wonder what they’re going to do with Cuddy now that the writers have openly acknowledged that she has zero power over House. Even though she was never going to fire him in previous seasons, she still had ways of making his life miserable, like assigning him extra clinic duty or whatever. But even that doesn’t work now since all House does is send someone else to cover for him. So what is Cuddy’s purpose going to be? How can she keep House in check when he knows she won’t fire him?

Anyway, I didn’t like “Mirror Mirror” that much, but I’m hoping things improve as this very long, drawn-out job interview starts winding down. I heard the competition is supposed to last through episode 8, so just three more weeks!

Remember that Veronica Mars Season 3 DVD giveaway that I posted about last week? Well, the deadline was yesterday, so now it’s time to announce the winner. Molly C. of Boston, MA is the lucky fan who will receive the box set from contest sponsor M80.

Congrats to Molly, and thanks to everyone else for participating!

Last night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother was the sixth of the season, which means we’re already a quarter of the way through. This one was called “I’m Not That Guy,” and focused on Marshall for a change. Even though I love Marshall and thought there were a couple of great moments in the ep, I felt it was a big letdown after last week’s effort. Here’s a closer look at what happened.

Marshall/Lily: Marshall has two job interviews: one with the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) and one with a major corporate firm. The NRDC position is Marshall’s dream job, as the whole reason he’s becoming a lawyer is to help save the Earth. But Lily convinces him to at least listen to the pitch from Jeff Coatsworth (played by John Cho), one of the higher-ups in the corporate firm.

Marshall does meet with Jeff, and is instantly seduced by the offer of a big salary, the promise of representing one client only, and the fact that Jeff knows Patrick Swayze. Marshall then wrestles with the idea of following his dream or becoming a “sellout”. In the end, he chooses to go with the money because that will mean a better future for the four children that he wants to have with Lily.

Speaking of Lily, we see that she was secretly hoping all along that Marshall would take the big money. It turns out that she has been racking up credit card debt for years now, and the only way she’ll be able to pay it off is if Marshall helps her.

Ted/Barney: Barney finds a porn film with the name Ted Mosby in the credits. He later looks the guy up on the Internet and finds that the actor lists the same hometown as the real Ted Mosby, Shaker Heights, OH.

Ted is bewildered by the whole thing, so he and Barney go to a porn convention where this doppleganger will be signing autographs. The guy ends up being someone that Ted saved from an ass-kicking when they were kids. He never forgot what Ted did for him, and took on Ted’s name as his stage name as sort of a tribute.

My Reaction: I didn’t like the Barney/Ted subplot at all, even though Barney had some good lines (as usual). I don’t know… I guess I just don’t find porn to be as amusing as other people do!

The Marshall plot started off well, but I got bored with that pretty quickly too. I did enjoy the Swayze wave and the NYC walk of shame, but thought the whole thing was little more than a B-plot and didn’t deserve to be the focus of the ep.

I liked that Lily has a secret shame — especially because I see that it will be addressed again in the next episode instead of dragging out across several weeks.

Again, nothing about Ted’s future wife. No yellow umbrella, no dating, nada. Maybe next time?

There was a made-for-TV movie called A Smoky Mountain Christmas that came out about 20 years ago. It starred Dolly Parton, John Ritter, and Lee Majors, and, from what I hear, was actually a pretty good movie. I don’t know that it would want to make people rush out to book Pigeon Forge cabin rentals for the holidays or anything like that, but the movie does have a 6.6 rating on IMDB, which is not bad at all.

Anyway, I am putting together my Christmas viewing lineup already and will add this to the list. I just need to get ahold of the DVD somehow (hopefully I can rent it), which might be a bit tough considering that this film was made-for-TV.

I’m in the mood for watching different things this year, so no It’s A Wonderful Life, Love Actually, Elf, A Christmas Story, or any of my other yuketide standards this time around. Time to broaden my holiday horizons!

Last night’s episode of Desperate Housewives was called “Art Isn’t Easy,” and mostly served to push a few of the main storylines ahead. We got a bit of progress with Danielle’s baby, Carlos and Gabby’s affair, and Katherine’s big mystery, but I still didn’t think there was enough substance to keep the episode from being boring. Here’s a closer look at what happened to our favorite Wisteria Lane inhabitants.

Lynette/Susan/Bob/Lee/Katherine: Bob and Lee put up a custom-made metal sculpture/water fountain thing in their yard. It’s supposed to be art, but everyone else in the neighborhood thinks it’s an eyesore. And when they turn the fountain on at 6am so that it makes an unbearable drumming noise as the water splashes on the metal, all bets are off as far as Susan and Mike are concerned. The thing is right outside their bedroom window and they can’t sleep with that racket.

So several neighbors, led by Katherine Mayfair, decide to revive the defunct Homeowners Association. Katherine thinks she’s going to run for president unopposed, but when Lynette learns that her children’s tree house could be the Association’s next target, she decides to toss her hat in the ring.

At the vote, Susan ends up being the one to break the tie and determine which woman becomes president. She votes for Katherine, as she thinks her husband’s needs should come before Lynette’s kids.

After Katherine wins, her first stop is Bob and Lee’s house, where she tells them to get rid of the fountain at their earliest convenience. That’s when Bob says that they have a friend in Chicago who knows what Katherine’s husband did at the hospital. If Katherine makes them get rid of the fountain, they’ll tell everyone her big secret. She walks away completely defeated.

Bree/Orson/Danielle/Phyllis: Bree is livid when she discovers that Phyllis took Danielle out of the convent. She and Orson go to Phyllis’ to talk to Danielle, who insists that she’s staying with her grandmother, and, since she’s turning 18 soon, there’s nothing Bree can do about it.

Later on (with a little help from Andrew), Bree and Orson decide that the best way to deal with Danielle is to bribe her. They promise that she can go to college in Miami and have a convertible to drive if she’ll just follow along with the original plan about passing the baby off as Bree’s. When faced with the choice of spending time either with Florida frat boys or 75-year-old men, Danielle packs her bags.

Gabby/Carlos: Victor’s away on business, so Gabby and Carlos plan on hooking up at a hotel. Before she can get away, however, Gabby notices some guy in a van that’s been parked on her street for hours. She figures it’s someone Victor hired to tail her in his absence, so she disguises herself as a boy and slips out of the house that way.

While at the hotel, she runs into John the gardener. He’s there with his pregnant wife, and he’s pretty miserable. In fact, he wants to get back together with Gabby, but she wants nothing to do with him this time. Carlos overhears this discussion and has a change of heart about the whole affair. He thinks they should stop sneaking around, break up with their significant others, wait a respectable amount of time, and then get back together again.

Gabby reluctantly agrees with the plan, but wants one last kiss before they part. As they lock lips, the guy in the van outside starts snapping away with a camera. It turns out he’s working for Edie, and now she has indisputable proof of the affair.

My Reaction: While I thought this episode was an improvement over last week, it wasn’t entertaining enough to capture my full attention while I was watching it. I kept glancing at the clock wondering when it would be over, and wasn’t all that interested in seeing how any of the storylines unfolded.

I thought the whole Homeowners Association plot was a snooze, despite the fact that it gave rise to some funny one-liners. It seemed like that was a pretty elaborate setup just to reveal the fact that Bob and Lee are in on Katherine’s secret. I felt like there should have been a bigger payoff since almost half of the episode was devoted to that story.

Oh, and let me just go on record as saying that I can’t stand Lee. His meanness and pettiness bug me to no end. He’s not even one of those characters that I “love to hate.” He’s just annoying and adds nothing to the show. Hopefully Bob will break up with him and get a different partner soon. Ugh. (On the bright side, at least they’re not shy about blackmailing others. They fit right in already!)

I wonder what Edie is going to do with those photos of Carlos and Gabby. She’s already proven how pathetic she is, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see her try to use them to get Carlos to marry her ASAP. Why anyone would want to be with a man they have to coerce into marriage is beyond me, but like I said, we’ve already seen how pathetic she is where Carlos is concerned.

Anyway, not that great of an episode this week. I allowed myself to watch the promos for the next ep, and that one looks a lot better. At least we’ll get a resolution to the stupid fake pregnancy thing!

A couple months ago I was sent some samples of a product called Gloves in a Bottle. This is a shielding lotion that, according to the product description, bonds with the outer layer of skin in order to “keep the bad stuff out and the good stuff in.” Gloves in a Bottle is supposed to work well on dry, cracked skin, as well as on tougher ailments such as eczema and psoriasis, so I was excited to try it out — particularly with the colder weather coming on.

The lotion is very light and gets absorbed instantly without leaving a greasy residue. I usually hate the feeling of lotion on my hands precisely because of the residue that most of the cheap products leave behind, so I was glad to see that Gloves in a Bottle was different.

My hands felt smoother and softer after the very first application, and after several weeks of use, I noticed a definite improvement in their overall appearance. Specifically, I had fewer problems with my cuticles and no longer had cracked skin in the areas between my fingers, so it really worked for me.

The best part of using Gloves in a Bottle, in my opinion, is the fact that the lotion doesn’t wash off. As someone who washes my hands quite frequently throughout the day (because of dogs, kids, and, yes, a bit of OCD!), I appreciate not having to worry about reapplying my lotion each time I wash up. I just use a tiny bit of Gloves in a Bottle every four hours, and I’m all set.

I don’t expect you to just take my word for it about the effectiveness of Gloves in a Bottle, so go read some doctor testimonials on the official website and try the product for yourself!

I think I’m one of the few people out there who felt bad for Ben Affleck when he was going through that two- to three-year period where it seemed that every single move he made was bad for his career. From dating Jennifer Lopez to churning out box office bombs like Surviving Christmas, Gigli, Paycheck, and Jersey Girl, Affleck went from Oscar-winning golden boy to tabloid fodder in record time.

But in the past couple of years, he’s chosen to stay out of the limelight as much as possible. He has only appeared in a few films, has been spending time with his family, and, more importantly, has decided to get behind the camera for a change. Gone Baby Gone represents Affleck’s directorial debut, and the positive critical response to the film made me want to see this in theaters. I did, and wasn’t disappointed.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Four-year-old Amanda McCready (played by Madeline O’Brien) was apparently abducted from her Boston home one night. Her mother Helene (Amy Ryan) and her aunt Beatrice (Amy Madigan) make impassioned pleas through the media for Amanda’s safe return. The cops assigned to the case are getting nowhere in their questioning of the neighborhood residents, so Beatrice and her husband Lionel (Titus Welliver) turn to private detectives instead.

Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and his girlfriend/investigative partner Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) are from the neighborhood and should be able to get answers out of the people who are refusing to talk to cops. As official representatives of the family, Kenzie and Gennaro are entitled to get details of the investigation that aren’t readily available to the general public. After reminding police chief Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) of this right, Kenzie and Gennaro are promised the full cooperation of lead detectives Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton).

During the course of the investigation Kenzie and Gennaro learn some disturbing things about Helene McCready. Far from being a caring mother, she’s little more than a cokehead and drug mule who often left Amanda home alone at night so she could go to the corner bar to hook up with her boyfriend Skinny Ray. Moreover, it turns out that Helene and Skinny Ray had recently stolen $130,000 from the drug dealer they made deliveries for, a guy named Cheese (Edi Gathegi).

Helene confesses about the money and tells the detectives where she hid it. After making their way to the spot, they find that Skinny Ray has been brutally tortured and murdered — likely by one of Cheese’s minions out looking for the dough. The detectives recover the hidden stash, and then set up a middle-of-the-night meeting to exchange the money for the little girl.

But all hell breaks loose during the exchange, and things don’t go as planned. From there, the storyline takes several surprising twists and turns while showing us what really happened to Amanda (and why) before wrapping things up with a thought-provoking conclusion.

My Reaction: I thought this was an incredibly well done film, and shows that Ben Affleck has an amazing amount of promise as a director. True, he didn’t take any chances or try anything innovative in Gone Baby Gone, but he did display a knack for being able to set a convincing scene and populate it with real people. “Gritty” is an adjective that has appeared over and over again in other reviews of this movie, and that’s really the right word for it. This is not a visually appealing film; it gets down and dirty — where it belongs.

I also liked the choice of Casey Affleck in the lead role of Patrick Kenzie. Sure, he doesn’t have the screen presence of big-name stars, but I think that’s precisely why he worked out so well. Patrick Kenzie was an everyman, not a hero. He was just a regular guy who didn’t know what he was getting into when he agreed to help with the Amanda McCready investigation. As such, the audience gave him a lot of leeway: he was allowed to be scared, allowed to make mistakes, and allowed to second-guess his actions — things you don’t expect a hero to do.

There were lots of twists in this film, none of which I could have ever predicted since I hadn’t read the Dennis Lehane novel beforehand. I welcome these types of surprises that keep me guessing, as long as they are logical and fit in with the story as a whole. The ones in Gone Baby Gone definitely adhered to those guidelines, so I was pleased with that aspect as well.

And finally, what a question to leave the audience with. Was Amanda better off with a mother that barely paid any attention to her or would she have been better off with the Doyles? Everyone was talking about that as they exited the theater, which was pretty cool. It was definitely a tough call, but for the record, I think Patrick made the right one.

Overall, I thought Gone Baby Gone was a very good film that actually deserves all the critical acclaim it has received thus far. I give it 7.5 stars out of 10 and recommend that you watch it!

I caught a couple of scenes from the 1995 movie Casino earlier today. It had been forever since I’d last seen that movie, so I totally forgot a bunch of the details. For example, I didn’t realize that there was a character named Tony Spilotro in the film. Was that based on the real-life Chicago mobster of the same name who lived in my hometown of Oak Park for a time?

Also, I noticed that the casino name in the movie was the Tangiers — the same name used by the TV show CSI for the casino/hotel where a bunch of crimes take place. I guess it’s much safer not to use real Las Vegas hotels as settings for all that murder and mayhem!

I didn’t like Casino when it first came out in ‘95, and I still wasn’t very interested in it when it was on in the background today. Maybe if a director other than Scorsese had handled the material I would have appreciated it more!

I’m trying to get back into doing more movie reviews despite this being the height of my television viewing season. Towards that end, I went out to the theater to see not one, but two new releases over the last couple of days, with the critically-acclaimed Michael Clayton being one of them. From what I’d read of this movie beforehand, I expected to be treated to a tense, intelligent corporate thriller from first-time director Tony Gilroy. But while the film seemed headed in that direction, it never quite made it there, as far as I was concerned.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): George Clooney stars as Michael Clayton, a one-time prosecutor who for the past 17 years has had a far murkier job description (that of “fixer”) at the powerful law firm Kenner, Bach & Ledeen. It’s his duty to clean up any big messes that the firm’s clients, or, occasionally, the firm’s lawyers, leave behind.

In the opening scenes of the movie, we witness Clayton in action. He’s the guy who gets the 2am phone call telling him to go take care of a client involved in a hit-and-run. He’s also the guy who’s sent to Milwaukee when a high-ranking attorney, Arthur Edens (played by Tom Wilkinson) suffers a complete meltdown during an important deposition, suddenly deciding to strip naked and run through the parking lot.

It turns out that the Edens problem is bigger than it first appears. That’s because Edens is lead counsel in defending one of the firm’s largest clients against a multi-billion dollar class-action suit, and the case is finally on the brink of being resolved after several years of continuances, discovery, changes of venue, and other legal red tape.

When Clayton steps in to try to handle Edens, he learns that the man has developed feelings for one of the plaintiffs in the class-action suit and has probably been leaking sensitive information and/or documents to her side. News of Edens’ indiscretion reaches both Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack), one of the firm’s named partners, and Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), the client’s in-house counsel.

From there, things get even more complicated as each of the major players works to achieve his or her ends. Bach wants to sweep the Edens mess under the rug so the client doesn’t sue for incompetent representation and so that a merger with a London firm can go through. Crowder wants to settle the case favorably so she can keep her job. And Michael just wants to put in a day’s work so he can earn $75,000 to pay off his debts.

The film wraps up pretty much as you’d expect it to, with Michael Clayton coming out ahead in the game. There weren’t many surprises along the way, but the conclusion was satisfactory given the preceding events.

My Reaction: While watching Michael Clayton, I got the feeling that I was seeing a good film, but not a great one. While the dialog and performances by the four main characters were excellent, I felt the story was a bit weak in some places. The setup in the first hour dragged on, and the payoff wasn’t as big as I thought it would be (a hidden cell phone to capture the confession? Really?).

I was also expecting there to be a few more twists and unexpected events along the way. Usually whenever critics proclaim a thriller to be “smart,” they mean that the screenwriter throws a few curveballs that catch us completely off guard. That didn’t happen in Michael Clayton. I’m not saying the film was entirely predictable; it just wasn’t surprising in any way either.

That being said, I appreciated the fact that the story was clear enough to follow without needing to have every little detail spelled out. I think as a moviegoer you’ll agree that there’s nothing worse than being 45 minutes into a film and not having a clue what’s unfolding on screen (*cough* Syriana *cough*).

Overall, I thought Michael Clayton didn’t quite live up to all the high praise and Oscar buzz surrounding its release. Yes, it’s an engrossing story with interesting characters. But as far as corporate legal thrillers go, I had the feeling that I’d seen all these people and situations before, which is why I’m giving the movie just 6.5 stars out of 10.

I was doing some fact-checking for some old movies earlier this morning when I got sidetracked reading about Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. Besides the usual gossip, rumors, and speculation about their private lives, I discovered that each one has a Mont Blanc limited edition pen dedicated to them. How cool is that? I have never heard of another movie star who can make the same claim, but if I’m wrong, please correct me.

These are some very nice looking pens too. If there was some way I could justify spending a couple hundred bucks on a writing instrument, I wouldn’t mind trying one of these things out for myself!

Last night’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy was called “Haunt You Every Day,” and basically showed how nearly every single character’s life is pretty much a mess right now — including the usually steady Dr. Bailey. While there were a few good parts in there, I wasn’t particularly interested in what was happening to anyone, so I was just barely watching as I mostly got caught up on emails during the hour. Not a good sign…!

Meredith/Derek: There was hardly any Mer/Der interaction as a couple tonight, which of course makes both characters infinitely more tolerable. Meredith spent the ep dealing with two issues. First, she wanted to get rid of her mother’s ashes. They had been sitting in her closet, but she thought her mother was haunting her, so she decided to take them elsewhere (putting them in a Ziploc for easy transport). After some debate about where to dispose of Ellis’ remains, Meredith settles on washing them down one of the sinks that the surgeons use to scrub in for surgery, with Chief Webber digging in to help.

The second issue Meredith dealt with was setting up a pro bono surgery for a boy with no ears. She has to enlist the help of McSteamy, Bailey, a couple of nurses, an anesthesiologist, and also get the Chief’s blessing to use an OR. Everything comes together nicely and the surgery is a success, which was a surprise to Meredith because I guess she’s usually not that organized.

As for Derek: Meredith bumped into him in the hallway and told him that she’s starting to make some changes in her life. She was referring to positive changes that will allow her to have a normal relationship with him at some point. So how does Derek react to this news? By sitting down by the Chief at the end of the ep and saying, “I need to start dating.”

Callie/Cristina: Yes, this is the newest pairing on GA, as Callie and Cristina will now be roomies in Burke’s pad. At first Cristina was going to put Burke’s apartment on the market (and actually had a taker in the Chief), but then she changed her mind at the end and took in a roommate instead. I never got the feeling that these two liked each other before, so we’ll see how this works out.

Callie, meanwhile, continues to spew venom at Izzie while on the job. She tells Izzie to direct any questions to Dr. Bailey in the future, and when pressed for a reason why, tells a roomful of residents that Izzie slept with her husband.

Alex: Ava comes to visit him at the hospital, and two minutes later they’re ripping each other’s clothes off in the on-call room. Man, I hate them as a couple!

George/Izzie: They were expecting a day from hell since everyone now knows about their hookup. But, with the exception of Cristina, no one really said anything to them at all. In fact, Bailey actually came up with an excuse for George’s behavior and tried to make him feel better about the whole thing.

My Reaction: What the hell is up with Derek? He keeps saying how Meredith is the dysfunctional one, yet he’s every bit as wishy-washy as she is. Last week he said he wanted to marry her, have kids with her, and grow old with her. This week, he’s ready to start dating?? WTH? I’ve been against them as a couple since S2, but I’ve come to believe that they deserve each other. After all, misery loves company, and those are two miserable people right there.

Alex and Ava made me gag. Thank god I was watching this on my DVR so I could fast forward through the disgusting sex scenes. Don’t get me wrong: I think Alex is all kinds of hot, but Ava… not so much. How Alex could go from Izzie to her is beyond me. Oh, and how disturbing was it that Ava was wearing her wedding ring the whole time and talked about her child and husband immediately after committing adultery. Have some sense, please. I doubt your lover wants to hear about your home life. And leaving her shirt so Alex could inhale it? God, what is he, a puppy??

There were some funny lines in this ep (Cristina: “This is even more disturbing than your bag full of Mommy.” Sloan: “Lookin’. It sounds way dirtier without the ‘g’.”) but they weren’t nearly enough to redeem the hour as a whole.

Please let the next one be better. Just… please.

Am I the only one who squirms whenever celebrities make appearances on talk shows like Letterman, Leno, Oprah, Ellen, etc.? I keep waiting for them to say something stupid, and more often than not, they actually do end up doing something they regret later on. (Ahem, like Tom Cruise jumping around on Oprah’s couch or telling Matt Lauer how much he knows about the history of psychology.)

There are numerous other examples, of course. Like Adam Brody making a bunch of dumb jokes in an effort to be as glib and funny as his Seth Cohen character, or Kathryn Morris coming off as a bit ditzy by relating a story about how she drove to an audition with her dead cat in the car — only to come out later and discover it wasn’t dead after all. Huh?

And today I just read an article about how Halle Berry made a comment on Leno about how a bigger nose would make her look like her “Jewish cousin.” Nice.

Why can’t these celebs stick to talking about their work or mundane things like fashion, cars, or even tool storage? Seriously, anything would be better than having them try to be charming and engaging without a script to work with!

Last night’s episode of Private Practice was called “In Which Addison Finds a Showerhead.” I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of the unwieldy episode titles this show uses. Can’t they just have normal titles? Anyway, I’m already late in posting this, so let’s move on to the recap.

Addison: Addison confides to Naomi that she’s been having sexual fantasies about Pete. Naomi then tells Violet, who assures Addison that this sort of thing is perfectly normal. In fact, Violet herself has fantasies about… Bill Clinton!

At work, Addison’s patient of the week is none other than Maya, Sam and Naomi’s 13-year-old daughter. Maya called Addison because she thinks she has gonorrhea or some other STD, so Addison agrees to check her out. The lab results come back negative, but Addison still takes time to lecture Maya about the dangers of having sex at such a young age.

Addison then struggles with whether or not she should tell Naomi about this. On the one hand, as Cooper points out, California has very strict patient-doctor confidentiality laws, especially when the patient is a minor. On the other hand, Naomi is Addison’s best friend and probably needs to know that her child is having sex.

Later on, Addison gets another frantic call from Maya. This time it’s not about her, it’s about her friend Ruby who has collapsed. It turns out that Ruby’s the one who’s sexually active, and she is suffering from an ectopic pregnancy as well as gonorrhea.

Addison is able to treat Ruby in time, but Naomi finds out about the whole thing. She’s pissed at Addison for not telling her about this stuff from the beginning, and she’s also angry with Maya — despite the fact that Maya reveals she’s still a virgin and was just making that earlier stuff up in an effort to get her friend to talk to Addison.

Violet/Cooper: Alan finally makes an appearance, and instead of being some incredibly hot and charming guy that Violet would understandably be hung up on, we see that it’s just… Brett Cullen. What a letdown. Anyway, Alan shows up at the OWC because he wants to “be friends” with Violet. Cooper thinks this is a bad idea, but Violet believes she’s ready to handle this step.

They go out for coffee later, and when Alan lets it slip that he and Cami are trying to get pregnant, Violet realizes that he’s just messing around with her. He has no intention of leaving Cami, so he must have some other ulterior motive for wanting to see Violet.

She breaks down, but since Cooper won’t have anything to do with her, she has to turn to Sam for comfort. At the end of the ep, a distraught-looking Violet shows up at Cooper’s door saying, “Why didn’t you check on me?” Cooper looks frustrated as hell, but he lets her in.

Pete: Pete’s patient of the week is a college track-and-field star named Nicole who thinks she’s suffering from a common cold. She’s having trouble breathing and is getting winded a lot quicker recently, but doesn’t want to take meds because they could disqualify her from her meets.

Pete discovers a much bigger problem, and tells Nicole that she has to stop training and running for a while. Nicole won’t hear of it because she’s got an Olympic qualifying event coming up, which is what she’s trained for her whole life.

It turns out that Nicole’s coach goes behind Pete’s back to get some meds from a different doctor. Nicole takes the meds so she can participate in the meet, but then collapses while running. Luckily, Pete is on hand to save her.

Sam: Sam treats a woman named Beth Burton who was the victim of an attempted robbery in her home. The intruder threw her into a table, which left a long gash in her forehead. After getting stitched up by Sam, Beth makes an unusual request: she wants to take a drug called propranolol, which is often given to people suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder to help them “forget” the event.

Sam brings Violet in for a psych consult, and she discovers that the intruder did a lot more to Beth than just push her into a table. Violet also discovers that Beth isn’t worried about herself in all of this. She’s worried that her husband will be wracked with guilt about not being able to protect her, so that’s why she doesn’t want to remember/talk about the event.

But they all work through it in the end, and the couple will likely be fine without the drug.

Dell: Flies solo on pap smears for the first time.

My Reaction: I thought parts of this episode were decent, but on the whole felt that it was weaker than the last couple of weeks. I was supremely disappointed in the Alan character. Why spend four weeks (plus the non-pilot ep) building this guy up into some living god only to have him turn out to be a run-of-the-mill average-looking Joe in the end? I know this sounds shallow as hell, but all I kept thinking was, “That’s the guy that makes Violet barely able to function? Seriously?” Uh, hello!! You have Cooper right there!!!

I liked the Maya storyline and thought that was a very difficult dilemma for Addison. Do you stick with professional ethics or breach them for a friend? I can’t keep my mouth shut, so I know which route I would have taken, so I guess it’s good that I’m not a doctor, right? I can understand why Naomi is pissed, but once she calms down, she’ll see that Addy really had no choice in the matter.

Pete’s storyline was utterly predictable, and therefore boring. I was checking some of Tim Daly’s info on IMDB.com earlier when I noticed his biographical information. I’d never seen the actor in anything before PP, so I had no reason to research him in the past. Anyway, my jaw just about hit the floor when I saw that he’s 51 years old!!! I seriously thought that was a misprint, so I immediately went and checked several other sources as well to confirm. My god, he looks at least 15 years younger than that!

Anyway, not a great ep, but not a total waste of time either. Hopefully next week’s effort is more consistent!

Since I regularly recap the House M.D. series, I end up getting a ton of hits from people who are actually searching for info on a show called Run’s House. I’d never heard of that show before the title started appearing in my stats, but curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check it out.

It turns out that Run’s House is an MTV reality show that centers on the family life of former hip-hop star and current Phat Farm executive Reverend Run (aka Joseph Simmons from Run-D.M.C.). Regulars on the show include Run’s wife Justine, and their five children Vanessa, Angela, Jojo, Diggy, and Russy. The family’s friends and associates also get on camera from time to time, which serves to keep things interesting.

I’ve never watched Run’s House, but it sounds a lot like The Osbournes, a show that I did watch and enjoy a few years back. I think it’s cool to see how celebrity families deal with day-to-day life, so I will definitely check out the Season 4 premiere of Run’s House, which will air on October 25. I’ve also heard that the first episode of the new season will be shown on Yahoo TV — a great alternative for those who can’t catch the original broadcast on MTV.

Again, the Run’s House Season 4 premiere is tomorrow night at 10pm (9 Central), so be sure to tune into MTV!

After a week off because of the MLB playoffs, House was back with an all-new episode last night. It was called “Guardian Angels,” and dealt with some supernatural elements that we usually don’t see on this show. In addition, House had to get rid of one more job candidate, while a former colleague comes back with his tail between his legs.

Patient of the Week: The team gets another referral from Cameron in the ER. This time, the patient is a 20-year-old funeral home worker named Irene (played by Azura Skye) who was brought in after having a seizure. Seizures aren’t something that get House’s attention, so all the job candidates knew that there had to be more to the case than that. There was: Irene was also having hallucinations during which she saw and talked to dead people.

The seven remaining job candidates then go through the standard routine that we’ve seen developing since the beginning of the season. They try to come up with original ideas for what’s ailing Irene, propose tests, get their theories shot down by House, and then go do his bidding as he tries to point them in the right direction. This week, House’s bidding consisted of digging up a corpse without a court order so they could test for Mad Cow Disease.

Along the way, the candidates continue to mess with each other — especially Cutthroat Bitch (the Anne Dudek character, who tries to get inside 13’s head with a nice little stunt), while House chooses to mess with Cole (the Mormon) by trying to incite him to throw a punch, which he does.

Cutthroat Bitch comes up with the right diagnosis this time. It turned out that Irene was suffering from ergot poisoning brought on by eating rotten whole-grain bread or something weird like that.

Character Interactions: Once again, most of the episode was dominated by the candidates competing with each other for the three job positions. I mentioned above that one candidate was let go this week: it was Henry, aka Ridiculously Old Fraud. Even though House liked having Henry around, Henry’s thought processes were too much like House’s. The last thing House needs is someone to tell him what he’s already thinking.

By the way, I thought all the men were fired after the last ep since they lost the competition against the women? I am totally not understanding how this whole thing is supposed to work!

We saw some of Cameron again. She bet House $100 that Cole would stand up for himself and not remain the wuss that House thought he was. Then she basically egged Cole on by telling him that House wouldn’t respect him for just sitting back and taking all that crap, so Cole finally does pop House in the mouth.

13 drifted back into annoying mode this week. I’m not sure why she has to act so mysterious. There better be an excellent backstory there otherwise I’ll be pissed about the writers wasting all this time on her.

And Foreman is now back at PPTH. He was blackballed after word of his insubordination got around, so he couldn’t find another job despite his qualifications. Cuddy invited him back, but not before giving him a bit of a smackdown when he tried to make some salary and office demands.

My Reaction: I didn’t find much to like in this ep. I thought the PoTW and her hallucinations were pretty boring, and I’m really getting tired of the competition playing out for so long. I just want to get down to the final three people that will be on House’s team so the show can get back to the familiar formula that has worked so well for the past three seasons.

I’m not sure what Foreman’s going to do now that he’s back at PPTH. Is he going to be working with House again, or will he go in a different direction like Cameron and Chase? I’m unspoiled for this show, so I really have no clue here.

As for the candidates, I didn’t care that Henry got canned, and I now have no preference as to which three win the job. If I had to pick one, I’d say CTB is my favorite; but again, I’m not really impressed by any of them.

Overall, this was kind of a boring episode. I’m telling you, it’s a bad idea to have the job interview last this long!! Let’s get it over with once and for all. Next week, perhaps? I doubt it, but there’s nothing wrong with hoping.

Can you believe it’s been 20 years since The Princess Bride debuted in theaters? Wow! To celebrate this momentous anniversary, 20th Century Fox is preparing a special DVD re-release that will be available on November 13. The DVD will contain the original film in all its romantic (and humorous) splendor, as well as several featurettes and a video game.

In the meantime, they’re also running a very special Ode to The Princess Bride Contest where fans will compete for a chance to win some great prizes. Contest details can be found on the page I just linked to, but I’ll still give you the basic info here. On the official contest page, you’ll find clips from The Princess Bride and a special video maker tool that allows you to splice the clips together. All you have to do to enter the contest is choose your favorite clips, arrange them the way you want in the video maker, and submit your entry.

Two winners will be then be chosen by director Rob Reiner and producer Norman Lear. The Grand Prize winner will receive a Panasonic 42″ HDTV with Home Theater System, and the First Prize winner will receive a Panasonic 11″ Portable DVD Player. Both winners will also receive a Princess Bride script autographed by Reiner and Lear and of course a copy of The Princess Bride 20th Anniversary Edition DVD.

The contest ends on October 28, so hurry up and get your entries in!

Last night’s episode of Prison Break was called “Interference,” and seemed to set up all (or most) of the elements for Michael, Whistler, and Mahone’s escape. That being said, the ep moved incredibly slowly for me, and wasn’t as interesting or exciting as it should have been. Here’s a quick recap of what happened in 3×05.

Michael/Whistler: Michael spends a majority of the episode in scheming mode, which means that he asks for obscure items (two watches, binoculars, a microwave oven) without revealing what he’s going to use them for. We do eventually see that he uses the binoculars to observe the guards’ habits and he uses the microwave to cause interference that disrupts television and radio signals. Michael also spends some time looking out the window of his cell while tossing bits of chocolate to a rat that eventually gets shot by the prison guards.

Of course, no plan of Michael’s ever goes down without a hitch, and the pre-escape preparation was no exception. One of the guards caught sight of Michael looking out his cell through a single binocular lens, and mistaking the lens for a rifle scope, opened fire. The guard didn’t hit anybody, but the incident was enough to prompt the warden to make an unexpected appearance inside SONA.

On the warden’s orders, the guards search SONA looking for a rifle scope, and find the binocular lens in Michael’s cell. Michael admits it was his, but insists he wasn’t looking at the guards. When the guard in question puts a gun to Michael’s head, Scofield suddenly blanks out and doesn’t know what to say. Fortunately, Whistler comes to the rescue, piping up that it was actually his binocular lens and that he was just looking at birds. He whips out his handy bird reference book to prove his point, and that’s that.

Later on, Michael sees that his cell has been locked. That means he can’t get to the rope that he and Whistler were making, which will probably throw further wrenches into the whole plan.

Mahone: Mahone goes into debt with Teddy for more drugs. That’s apparently right where Teddy wants Mahone to be, which makes me wonder what T-Bag is up to here. When he’s not strung out, Mahone notices that one of the guards drinks coffee before his shift every day. He shows this to Michael and Whistler, who decide that they need to drug the guard’s coffee in order to have a better chance to escape.

Sucre: Sucre gets mixed up with some shady looking characters who pay him $5,000 to smuggle something into SONA via the food delivery crates. Sucre, you’ll remember, now has access since he’s the new gravedigger. He goes along with the plan the first time in order to make a quick 5k, but doesn’t want this to become a regular gig. Too bad the shady character has other ideas in mind. He (and his large bodyguard) force Sucre to take on another assignment.

We don’t get to see what’s in the packet, but we do see one of Lechero’s henchmen scooping it up once it’s inside SONA.

Linc/Sofia: They make preparations for the getaway once Michael. Whistler, and Mahone escape from SONA. This involves finding some mode of transport, which Linc puts in a cooler and buries on the beach near the prison. We don’t see exactly what’s inside the cooler, but it’s gotta be an inflatable boat, right?

My Reaction: I realize this was just a set-up episode that was required to lay the groundwork for the impending escape, but I still felt like it was incredibly boring. I mean, it highlighted the one thing I hate most about Prison Break: the way everything happens at a freakin’ snail’s pace.

For example, did we really need that whole subplot about the guards storming SONA to look for a rifle scope? Was it necessary for that long scene of the guard interrogating Michael and holding a gun to his head? While I admit I was wrong about the writers dispatching Sara, I think it’s 100 percent safe to say that they cannot kill off Scofield at this point! In short, there was zero tension in that scene, which made it feel like a big waste of time.

I’m only mildly curious about what Sucre is bringing into the prison. Knowing the way this show works, I’m sure it’s going to be something that comes back to bite Michael in the ass. Also, the new prisoner? Gah, do we need another one? If the writers took the time to put someone new in there, does that mean the escape isn’t going to go off as planned next week? Cuz the last thing I want is to see these people spending more time in SONA. Nothing happens there!!!

Oh, well. I guess PB isn’t going to be on next week (thanks to baseball), but will return with back-to-back eps two weeks from now. Gee, will I be able to hold out that long?

***EDITED on 10/24*** Entry Deadline Now Changed to 10/30!!

A couple weeks ago, I told you about the upcoming release of Veronica Mars: The Complete Third Season on DVD. Well, the wait is officially over, as the DVD box set goes on sale today!

To celebrate the release, the marketing team at M80 has generously agreed to give away one of these box sets to a lucky reader! How cool is that? As I wrote in my previous post, this is a 6-disc set containing all 20 episodes from Season 3, along with some exclusive bonus features that you won’t find anywhere else.

So what do you have to do to enter the giveaway? It’s simple: drop me an email at contest@reviewsandmore.net with the phrase “Veronica Mars DVD Giveaway” in the subject line, and I’ll put your name in a hat with the rest of the entries (limit one entry per person). Edit: I’ve been asked to shorten the time frame a bit, so the contest will end in one week not two. Then, on October 30 (7 days from today), I’ll draw a winner from all the entries. Simple!

If you don’t want to wait that long or don’t want to test your luck, you can go ahead and buy the DVD set today from various online or bricks and mortar retailers.

*Please note that your prize will ship directly from M80, so if you’re not comfortable with a third party getting your home address, don’t enter the contest. I will NOT ship the prize myself, so don’t even ask! **Only U.S. residents are eligible.

Last night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother was a throwback to the classic formula that worked so well for the show during its first two seasons. We had the entire gang sitting in the bar for the whole episode just interacting with each other and telling the same story from different perspectives. We had flashbacks and flashforwards, some great lines, and funny graphics from Barney. Episode 3×05, called “How I Met Everyone Else,” is easily the best of Season 3 thus far. Here’s what happened during the 30 minutes.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Ted brings a date to McLaren’s to meet the gang. The woman, whose name Future Ted has forgotten by the time he gets around to telling his kids the story, is simply referred to as Blah Blah the entire time. When Ted reveals that he met her over the Internet, Barney immediately assumes that she’s crazy. The reason? She’s hot, which means she shouldn’t have to “resort” to meeting people online unless she has some serious issues.

That’s when Barney starts air-drawing the Crazy-Hot scale to show demonstrate that a woman’s craziness is only acceptable if her hotness correlates proportionately. The graph is a bit difficult to explain in words here, but suffice it to say that when Barney was air-drawing, viewers could see his graph on the screen — in the same way that football commentators draw out a play on the telestrator during a game.

We get the first inkling that Barney is on to something when Blah Blah insists on telling the group that she and Ted met in cooking class. She didn’t know that Ted already told his friends the truth, so she had this whole elaborate story prepared.

After that, Lily and Marshall tell the story of how they met, and then everyone starts telling about how they met everyone else just to keep things from getting awkward. This is where the flashbacks come into play, and we see several scenes that we already saw in previous episodes (like Ted and Marshall meeting for the first time as roommates), but this time they’re extended to give us more details.

At the end of the ep, we get a flashforward to Ted, Lily, and Marshall’s 20-year college reunion, and at one point Ted says, “Where’s my wife?” but that’s the only mention we get of her.

As for Blah Blah, it became clear that she fell below the Mendoza line on the Crazy-Hot graph, so I’m sure she’s history!

My Reaction: There were so many great moments in this episode that I’m sure I’m going to forget to mention some of them. I haven’t liked the previous use of graphics in earlier episodes from this season (like the mini Barneys from last week), but the Crazy-Hot chart was awesome! In fact, Barney was excellent this whole ep — especially when he said,”Sixteen ‘nos,’ Robin? Really?” Those two have a ton of chemistry, and I’m betting that they hook up sometime soon!

Blah Blah’s psychotic accusations were hilarious! I cracked up when she said that Robin was laughing at her, and then the camera panned over to show Robin looking bored, not saying anything at all, and just eating peanuts. Ha!

Oh, and I’m so glad that it turned out that Lily and Ted did not kiss during freshman year. That would have just been wrong in so many ways!

Anyway, it was episodes like this one that got me hooked on HIMYM in the first place, so I hope the writers go back to this formula some more. As I wrote way back in January of this year,

I personally feel that this show works best when it shows the main characters interacting with each other — much like Friends used to be. Outsiders do not make the cast of HIMYM more interesting, unlike, say, Seinfeld where the characters’ strengths were making fun of other people.

Please keep the gang together like this more often and just have other people drop in once in a while. It’s much better than having an A, B, and C plot to try to keep up with!

I was away for the weekend, so I’m way behind with posting my recaps and movie reviews here. Actually, it feels like I’ve been saying that all season because I haven’t really settled into a good watching/writing routine yet. Hopefully that’ll come soon because I always feel like I’m under the gun these days!

Well, enough with the excuses… let’s move on to the recap of last night’s episode of Desperate Housewives, which was called “If There’s Anything I Can’t Stand.”

Susan/Bob/Lee: There’s a new couple on Wisteria Lane: two gay men named Bob and Lee have moved in next door to Susan and Mike. That particular fact set up the bulk of this episode, as we saw endless scenes of Susan trying to make a good impression on her new neighbors so that they would like her. But Susan being Susan, things didn’t go very smoothly.

First, she made a fool of herself by inadvertently bringing up a bunch of gay stereotypes during the introduction stage. Then, instead of leaving Bob and Lee alone or just buying them a set of pepper and salt shakers or some other housewarming gift, she worked overtime trying to make up for her previous blunders. She warmed up some store-bought cookie bars to try and tried passing them off as her own, but Lee called her out on it when she couldn’t tell him if there were nuts in the bars.

To top things off, when Raphael, the new couple’s dog, got out of the yard, Julie caught him and wanted to return him. But Susan viewed that as yet another opportunity to try to make a good impression. She kept Raphael in the garage, thinking that she would let Lee and Bob really worry before bringing the dog back like some sort of hero.

But Mike came home and opened the garage door, which allowed Raphael to get out and dash back to his owners, where he proceed to jump up on Bob and get yellow paint from Susan’s all over his $2,000 suit. That pissed off both the new neighbors and Mike, who told Susan to leave well enough alone after the first incident. Now Susan and Mike have to replace the suit when they don’t really have the money for it.

Bree/Orson/Andrew: Bree’s friends want to throw a baby shower for her, but of course she refuses. However, after she leaves, Andrew (who was mad because Bree wouldn’t let him keep a scooter that his grandmother sent for Danielle) meanders over to Lynette, Susan, and Gabby to help them plan a surprise party. As a finishing touch, Andrew invites Phyllis (Rex’s mother), who hasn’t ever gotten along with Bree.

Of course Phyllis and Bree go at it almost as soon as they see each other. One thing leads to another, and before long Phyllis discovers that Bree’s faking the pregnancy. Bree then tells Phyllis all about Danielle and the plan to save her daughter’s reputation. Phyllis almost reveals Bree’s secret at the party, but changes her mind at the last minute. Instead, she goes to take Danielle out of the convent.

Edie/Carlos/Gabby/Victor: Edie has an appointment with her gynecologist, at which point she’s told that she has crabs. She passes this info on to Carlos, who then realizes he has to tell Gabby so she can take care of Victor before he notices any symptoms. Gabby manages to put medicated cream on Victor by dressing up as a nurse for their next romp. But then at Bree’s shower, Edie notices that Victor smells sort of familiar. She thinks it’s his cologne, but then she pieces things together and realizes that it’s crab treatment she’s smelling, which confirms her suspicions that Carlos and Gabby are sleeping together.

Lynette/Tom: Lynette is in between chemo treatments now, so she finally is feeling up to having sex with Tom. But then he has issues with her being bald, she indulges his fantasies with role playing and a different wig, he doesn’t want to stop with the different wigs, they fight, and eventually make up.

Katherine:This ep only devoted a few minutes to the Katherine/Dylan mystery. Katherine’s aunt Lily comes home knowing she will die soon. Before that happens, she wants to tell Dylan everything, but of course Katherine doesn’t approve. Katherine goes out of her way to keep Lily and Dylan apart, and succeeds in doing so. But Lily was able to write something down on a piece of paper before she died. The paper dropped out of her hand and went under the bed, where it will presumably be discovered by someone other than Katherine later on.

My Reaction: I thought this episode was pretty boring. I wasn’t interested in any of the storylines tonight and felt it was a mistake to make Susan’s attempts at welcoming the new neighbors the main focus of the entire show. I mean, I could see where that whole thing was leading two minutes into the intros, so it was just boring to watch it play out on screen over the course of the hour.

I’m also getting really tired of Bree’s fake pregnancy. Either out her in front of the whole neighborhood or just make Danielle have the baby already so this farce can end. How long do we have to endure this crap? I’m not sure what the writers are thinking with this one. Is this fake pregnancy supposed to be building tension as we worry about whether or not Bree will be discovered? Well, that would only work if viewers actually cared, which I don’t think is the case (judging from general fan reaction on several DH message boards). Let’s move on, please!

And what was up with Andrew going ahead with the party just because his mom wouldn’t let him keep the scooter. What is he, 12? What a spiteful jackass. Why doesn’t Bree kick him out again, this time for good? He’s useless for this show anyway. The writers just trot him out whenever they need a bad seed, so he’s becoming a caricature at this point.

The Lynette/Tom scenes were disgusting. Sorry, but I have to say I was on Tom’s side the whole time — and I can’t even stand Tom! Lynette looks freakin’ horrid without a wig, so I can’t blame the guy for not being able to get it on with her.

The crabs storyline was dumb too. Couldn’t the writers come up with a more interesting way for Edie to find out about Gabby and Carlos? Yawn.

As I said, I didn’t like this episode at all. It was all just boring filler that I could have done without. Hopefully the next one will be better!