Reviews and More

Seinfeld is one of my favorite television shows of all time. I usually don’t have either the time or the patience to sit through repeats of movies or TV episodes that I’ve already seen before, but it’s totally different with Seinfeld. I can watch any of those eps over and over again without getting tired of them — which is why it’s high time I bought the Seinfeld — Complete Series Box Set for my personal collection.

The Complete Series Box Set contains every single episode of Seinfeld that aired during its tremendous 9-season run, which means I’ll get to watch classics like “The Chinese Restaurant”, “The Yada, Yada, Yada”, “The Marine Biologist”, “The Bubble Boy”, “The Contest”, “The Soup Nazi”, and so many more. There are 33 discs in all, and the set of course includes a ton of extra features like unaired scenes, cast commentary, and original behind-the-scenes looks at the show. Even though Seinfeld has been off the air for over a decade now (wow, has it really been that long?), I still miss it and can’t wait to see this fresh material.

Buy.com currently has the Seinfeld — Complete Series Box Set on sale for $184.88. That reflects a savings of 26% off the suggested retail price, and works out to about $20 per season, which is a pretty good deal. As I said, I know that I’ll watch these DVDs countless times, so the cost is definitely worth it to me. I’m going to go ahead and order the set just as soon as I can!

Criminal Minds 4×16 — “Pleasure is My Business”: I thought this was a pretty good ep. I haven’t enjoyed Criminal Minds too much this season, as the weekly killers are getting more and more repetitive and there aren’t any personal story arcs to speak of as far as the characters are concerned, but I enjoyed this week’s effort. They always talk about how rare female serial killers are, but this is the third or fourth one that has been featured on CM already. Still, this week’s murderer had a believable motive and was actually a bit sympathetic as well.

Speaking of character development, I really would like to see something happening along those lines. I think we’ve gotten a lot of backstory on Reid, Morgan, and Dave, but not nearly enough on Hotchner. He’s the clear leader of the group now and he’s so quiet and mysterious most of the time… I want to learn more about him, please!

House 5×16 — “The Softer Side” I have to say that I didn’t really like this episode very much. The patient of the week’s story felt unoriginal, perhaps because I just saw a baby with the EXACT SAME CONDITION on Private Practice the week before. So ho hum for that one. And to have the diagnosis be simple dehydration? Well, that was rather anticlimactic, to say the least.

I didn’t like the way the writers handled House on methadone, either. What were they trying to say there? That he can only be a great doctor when he’s in complete pain and is an asshole to people? Because otherwise his judgment is clouded and he caves in too easily to stupid ideas. Meh, whatever!

The 2008 comedy Ghost Town didn’t exactly tear up the North American box office, earning just $13.2 million during its run at theaters. But the film actually received pretty good reviews, and did fairly well overseas — particularly in the UK, which is not all that surprising since British comedian Ricky Gervais is far more famous over there than he is here. Despite the film’s lackluster performance in theaters, I decided to give the DVD a shot. And I’m glad I did, as Ghost Town turned out to be better than expected!

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Gervais stars as Bertram Pincus, a misanthropic New York City dentist who barely takes time to notice other people. He doesn’t say hello to anyone else in his apartment building, brushes past the doorman without a word, and shuts himself up in his rooms as soon as he returns from work. While at work, he doesn’t bother getting to know his patients at all, nor does he take time to interact with Dr. Prashar (played by Aasif Mandvi), the other dentist at the practice.

Pincus begins to change after undergoing a colonoscopy at the local hospital. He chose general anesthesia, even though it wasn’t necessary for the routine procedure, and later learns that he actually died for seven minutes as a result of a reaction to the drug. Pincus seems none the worse for wear after this experience — except that he can now see all the spirits of dead people walking around NYC. This includes a recently deceased man named Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), who used to live in Pincus’ building. All the dead spirits want Pincus to pass messages on to living loved ones, but he refuses. Frank, however, doesn’t give up so easily.

Frank wants Pincus to prevent Frank’s widow Gwen (Téa Leoni) from marrying her current boyfriend Richard (Bill Campbell). Frank thinks that something’s not quite right about Richard, and worries that he might be trying to take advantage of Gwen. Pincus at first doesn’t want anything to do with Frank or his problems, but after Frank makes it perfectly clear that he’s capable of annoying Pincus to no end, Pincus reluctantly agrees.

The rest of the film then shows Pincus trying to become a bit friendlier towards Gwen so she’ll listen to him about Richard. Along the way, he finds himself falling for her, but knows that he’ll have to truly change in order for her to reciprocate the feelings. This being a romantic comedy, you can be sure that everything falls into place by the end.

My Reaction: I was really surprised at how entertaining Ghost Town was. Ricky Gervais was a big reason for this, as he’s actually quite amusing in his role as Dr. Pincus. I don’t know if I can call him outright funny, because I don’t think there are any real laugh out loud moments in the film, but I definitely smiled a lot at many of the things he said. He seems like a pretty charming guy, and was able to carry the movie along just fine.

The plot of Ghost Town was rather average. If you’ve ever seen the television show Ghost Whisperer, then you basically know how the movie works. The ending was rather predictable too (except for Pincus’ second near-death experience), but that’s forgivable, since the standard rom-com formula calls for happily-ever-after.

Overall, Ghost Town is absolutely worth the couple bucks that it costs to rent it. I’m glad I finally learned what all the Ricky Gervais fuss is about (he won an Emmy for his work on Extras and is well-known on the stand-up circuit and from the UK version of The Office) and am open to seeing anything else he’s in from now on. Ghost Town won’t bowl you over, but it’s a good popcorn flick. I give it 6.5 stars out of 10.

With the rough economic times, traveling and going on a vacation may seem to be a distant hope that is so close, yet so far away. Vacations CAN BE expensive…but they don’t HAVE to be. With the recent economic crisis, people are reaching out to find inexpensive ways to still sneak in that spring break, family vacation, or romantic getaway that they have been looking for. Many people are turning to discount travel websites to make these vacations possible.

BestOfVegas.com has the discount traveling down to a science. Under the umbrella company of one of the largest privately owned travel companies in the country, they have been providing their specialized Las Vegas travel site for over a year now.

BestOfVegas.com provides great deals to the best Las Vegas shows, nightclubs, tours, and hotels. It is your one-stop shop for everything that Las Vegas has to offer, and the best part about it all is that it is all about great deals in Las Vegas! With BestOfVegas.com you are provided not only with great customer service, but great prices as well. Due to their strong working business relationships with the Las Vegas shows, nightclubs, tours, and hotels, they are able to provide the best tickets and products available to you, the customer.

Whether you are looking for tickets to see one of the Cirque du Soleil shows on the Strip, some of the best magic shows in the country, Grammy Award winners LIVE in concert, or a show for the family, they are sure to have something for you (and at a GREAT price at that). If you are looking to expand your horizons outside of the Vegas area, look into their reasonably priced Las Vegas tours to nearby attractions such as the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, dude ranches, and MORE! Looking to hit the local club scene? They can provide you with front of the line passes to the hottest nightclubs on the Strip. And, if you are looking for reasonably priced hotel rooms to some of the best Las Vegas hotels (as the icing on the cake), they have that too. Your vacation is packed all on ONE website!

They are a great resource for everything about Las Vegas. The site is packed with exclusive deals that are available only on this site alone and tons of resource guides on restaurants, attractions, spas, and more as well. Now the only thing left to do is to pack your bags and head to Vegas!

I’ve been taking a break from reading modern novels and mysteries in order to go back and enjoy some classics that I’ve missed over the years. And though I’ve never been a big fan of Rudyard Kipling, I thought I’d give Just So Stories a try, since I’ve heard that this is a terrific children’s book. Unfortunately, reading the stories in the year 2008 as an adult didn’t have nearly the same effect as the book must have had on children when it was published 100 years ago. I doubt that many of today’s kids would derive much enjoyment from Kipling’s stories now.

Plot summary Just So Stories is a collection of 12 short tales that are meant to explain the (fanciful) origination of things such as an elephant’s trunk, the alphabet, and a leopard’s spots. The tales are written for a child the author addresses as “Best Beloved”, and often carrying the tone of a parent talking to his offspring.

The 12 tales included in the collection are: How the Whale Got His Throat, How the Camel Got His Hump, How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin, How the Leopard Got His Spots, The Elephant’s Child, The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo, The Beginning of the Armadilloes, How the First Letter Was Written, How the Alphabet Was Made, The Crab That Played With the Sea, The Cat That Walked by Himself, and The Butterfly that Stamped. There are many illustrations throughout the book, and each tale ends with a poem that more or less summarizes the main point made in the story.

My Reaction: Frankly, I didn’t think any of the Just So Stories were particularly memorable, nor did I enjoy reading this book. I have read several children’s books as an adult (The Wind in the Willows, Watership Down, etc.) so I don’t think my dislike for these stories stems merely from the subject matter. I really think that I just don’t like Kipling’s style!

It’s only been a couple of days since I completed this book, but I’ve already forgotten most of the tales. I remember how the leopard got his spots, how the rhino’s skin became so loose, and how the elephant’s trunk became so long, but that’s about it. A twenty-give percent retention rate shows that my mind was clearly elsewhere while reading these tales, so I wasn’t invested in the stories at all.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to modern readers, as I don’t think today’s kids would find the tales entertaining. They were pretty boring on the whole, but at least they were short!

Putting Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino together in a movie seems like a surefire way to guarantee a hit — especially when the two play hard-nosed NYC cops on the trail of a serial killer. That’s the premise of Righteous Kill, the Jon Avnet vehicle that brought DeNiro and Pacino together on screen for the first time since 1995’s Heat. But unlike in Heat, DeNiro and Pacino failed to bring their “A” game to this project, and the weak, predictable script didn’t help matters much. Needless to say, I doubt that Righteous Kill will be remembered in the same light as Heat or Godfather II.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): DeNiro and Pacino star as Turk and Rooster (respectively), two New York City detectives who have seen more criminals walk due to technicalities and legal wrangling than they can handle. They reach the breaking point when a child killer goes free because of a procedural mishap, and Turk takes it upon himself to plant a gun in the killer’s apartment so that he would go down for a different crime.

Soon after that, more and more of these types of criminals — the ones who managed to evade jail because of the justice system — turn up dead around the city. Each one is found shot from close range and each is found with a short poem near the body. It becomes evident that Turk and Rooster are dealing with a serial killer, and later, clues point to the killer being a cop.

Turk and Rooster are joined on the investigation by Det. Perez (John Leguizamo) and Det. Riley (Donnie Wahlberg), who begin working the case from their own angle. Once Perez and Riley begin to suspect Turk, they set up surveillance in an attempt to catch him in the act.

The rest of the film then follows this investigation to its unsatisfying end, and includes a “twist” that alert viewers could probably see coming from at least the midway point.

My Reaction: Although I’m not exactly a fan of either DeNiro or Pacino, I never imagined that a film starring the both of them together could turn out to be this boring. There was absolutely nothing original in the Righteous Kill script, and it played out like the hundreds of other police procedurals that have preceded it.

And that “twist” that wasn’t a twist at all just had me rolling my eyes once the killer’s identity was revealed. As soon as the scenes started focusing on Turk’s actions, I knew that it wasn’t him. After all, the story was set up as a whodunnit, so the audience wasn’t supposed to be able to see who the killer was that early on. That left only one other plausible perp — even though the writers tried one last bit of misdirection with DeNiro’s too young, too hot (for him) girlfriend.

Overall, Righteous Kill doesn’t have much going for it. There’s a boring story, two acclaimed actors with subpar material to work with, and a decided lack of suspense throughout. I give this film 4.5 stars out of 10.

As expected, all the online entertainment/celebrity/gossip sites are chock-full of Oscars stories today, giving readers a nearly blow-by-blow account of the three-hour event. Want to know how everyone looked as they walked the red carpet? You can see endless photo galleries documenting all the top arrivals. Want to know who won awards and what the winners had to say backstage? Again, all of that is covered.

And don’t forget the Best- and Worst-Dressed lists, where fashion gurus chime in about stars’ gowns, hairstyles, accessories, shoes, handbags, and lip gloss.

Missed some of the broadcast and want to see highlights? Head on over to YouTube, type in the segment you want to see, and voila. From Hugh Jackman’s opening medley to Ben Stiller’s Joaquin Phoenix impersonation and Kate Winslet’s emotional victory speech, you can replay the best moments to your heart’s content.

But seriously, can you say overkill? It’s far too much for an awards show, isn’t it? Thank goodness it only happens once a year!

I only watched the last hour of the Oscars last night, since I was feeling sick and didn’t want to sit through the entire three-hour broadcast. Besides, all the big awards are given out last anyway, and I can always catch any highlights I missed on YouTube.

Anyway, I was thrilled to see Kate Winslet finally win an award for her work! She deserved it well before her sixth nomination, IMO, but hey, better late than never. After previously being nominated for Sense and Sensibility, Titanic, Iris, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Little Children, she finally ended up winning for The Reader. Winslet is one of my favorite actresses, and is always good in every film, so I’m glad to see her get the coveted award.

I didn’t really care about the other awards. I wasn’t surprised that Slumdog Millionaire won for Best Picture and Best Director and, what, 6 other awards?, nor was I surprised that Ben Button essentially got shut out, winning only two minor awards after garnering 13 noms.

And while I haven’t seen The Wrestler, I thought Sean Penn was a good choice for the Best Actor award. He was brilliant in Milk, and I ordinarily can’t stand him, so that’s really saying something for me!

The phrase “war on terror” is a very divisive and loaded one, with some people believing that the government has the right — and indeed the responsibility — to do everything in its power to prevent terrorist activity on U.S. soil. Others, however, believe that any civilian casualty or collateral damage is too great a price to pay. The 2008 film Traitor takes a unique angle on this question by presenting events from the perspective of a man whose religious and political beliefs are often at cross-purposes with each other.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Samir Horn (played by Don Cheadle) is a Sudanese-born American who makes a living as an arms dealer. While in the middle of a deal in Yemen, he’s arrested and imprisoned with Omar (Saïd Taghmaoui), who was the intended buyer. Samir and Omar realize that their ideologies match up pretty well, and, after breaking out, meet up again to pursue terrorist activities. When their first target is compromised, Samir takes matters into his own hands and bombs the U.S. Embassy in Nice, France.

Samir was already on FBI radar for his arms deals, so once he’s identified as the perp in the Nice bombing, agents Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) and Max Archer (Neal McDonough) go after him in earnest. What Clayton and Archer don’t know is that Samir is a deeply embedded agent himself, working with FBI contact Carter (Jeff Daniels) to infiltrate terrorist cells and root out enemy combatants. The Nice bombing turned out to be a setup, with no actual casualties, despite what was reported in the news.

As the film unfolds, we see Samir continuing to pose as a terrorist, setting up a massive attack on 50 buses while Clayton and Archer scramble to figure out the group’s next move. After Carter is killed, Samir is finally forced to make contact with Clayton, and together the two are able to minimize the damage and eliminate some of the bad guys.

My Reaction: I found Traitor to be a pretty boring film. I’m not sure if the audience was supposed to think that Samir was a bad guy or not, but I had him pegged as a mole right from the start. I mean, I hate to typecast actors, but Don Cheadle just gives off an air of being a good guy, so it’s difficult to buy him as a villain. If the reveal was supposed to be a shocker, it wasn’t.

Also, I thought the terrorist plots were too vague to generate any kind of tension while watching. I knew what the intended targets were and everything, but the motivation behind the terrorists actions was never made sufficiently clear. The American people have to pay for what their government has done? Yeah, that’s not very specific… and made me not really care what was going on. I know some people will say that the whole point was to show that motivations aren’t always clear, but while that is perfectly fine for “real life”, it doesn’t play as well on the silver screen.

Overall, Traitor was too dull to be engrossing or entertaining. Cheadle gave a good performance, but there wasn’t enough suspense or drama to make me pay attention to the plot. I give this film 4.0 stars out of 10.

Private Practice 2×17 — “Wait and See”: I thought this was a very good episode, and was frankly quite surprised by the quality. After last week’s rather boring effort, I wasn’t expecting much this time around. Glad I was wrong!

I have to talk about Cooper and Charlotte first, since they’re the main reason I even watch the show. As much as I love them, I thought Cooper’s reaction to Charlotte’s confession was kind of weird. I mean, it’s great that he ended up saying that he was sticking by Charlotte, but he got to that point far too quickly, IMO. It would have been better if he had stormed off, thought about things for a while, and then come back and made his speech to Charlotte. But seriously, what are they doing here? Are the writers trying to make Charlotte and Cooper the most dysfunctional couple on television?

I’m glad that Archer’s gone. Yes, he was good for giving us insight into Addie’s childhood and whatnot, but his character was so smarmy that he didn’t fit in with the rest of the docs. There’s no real “bad guy” on this show, so he just stood out like a sore thumb. I can’t believe he would do that to Naomi, especially after she stuck by him during the surgery. What a jerk.

The rest of the stuff in the ep was ok, but these were the biggies for me.

Grey’s Anatomy 5×16 — “An Honest Mistake”: This was another solid episode. I liked that Addison stuck around for another hour, and I loved how she stood up to Derek in the OR. Someone had to call him out, and she was the only one with the clout to do so. But poor Derek he really let that patient get to him, didn’t he? But I didn’t like him taking his frustration out on Sloan’s pretty face…. And when is he going to friggin’ propose??

I used to like Owen and Cristina, but Owen just seems to weird for me now. They’re not even officially dating and he’s telling her that he wants to be around for her 40 years from now? That’s kind of creepy to me. Save that kind of talk for when you’re in a serious relationship, ya know?

Finally some progress with the Izzie storyline. I think we all knew that Sadie screwed up the blood tests two eps ago, but it’s nice to finally get confirmation. I wonder what kind of cancer she has? Would cancer really cause these hallucinations? I thought she was supposed to have a neurological disorder?

Bones 4×15 — “The Princess and the Pear”: This episode was actually pretty decent, and far better than the last couple that I’ve seen. I didn’t like that Booth was out of commission for the whole thing because of his bad back. I don’t think they explained what happened, or else they did and I just missed it. Maybe he spent too much time on the FBI’s treadmills or weight machines and worked himself sore. At least Agent Perotta is a good character, so that’s about the best I could hope for in a replacement.

The mystery was kind of boring and I tuned out most of the geek stuff, but it was good to see Fisher contributing to the case in his own way. Sweets was more dorky than usual, though. Man, he should never wear that Star Trek shirt again. Like, ever!

All of these Bones episodes seem to be stand-alones. Are there any season-long story arcs that are supposed to be developing? Because if there are, I don’t remember any. That’s not a good thing….

House 5×15 — “Unfaithful”: I didn’t like this episode very much. The patient of the week was fairly interesting, but they didn’t show enough of him, choosing instead to focus on the doctors’ personal lives for the most part. This ordinarily wouldn’t be so bad in and of itself, but every single thing that happened seemed like a rehash. Firing Foreman? Happened before. Foreman and Thirteen arguing about how to handle their relationship in front of House? Been there, done that. Cuddy making weird reverse psychology requests of House? Ho hum. Seriously, how many times do we have to see the characters arguing about the same crap?

I found the Cuddy/House parts particularly distasteful. They are both grown adults well into their forties and yet they insist on playing these junior high games with each other? Cuddy really wanted House to come to her party, so she told him not to come because she didn’t want him to ruin everything? Give me a break. Do grown adults really act that way? I’m glad I don’t have to deal with any of that drama in my life.

The writers need to do something to salvage this show. It’s just wrong on so many levels now…. Please just make it like it was in Seasons 1-3!