Here are the weekend box office returns for the weekend ending 4/29/12:
The Good Wife 3×21 –”The Penalty Box:” I liked everything about this episode except the case of the week. Cary is FINALLY back at Lockhart/Gardner, and I’m really looking forward to seeing him and Alicia working the same side of the fence from now on. They had some stellar moments together in Season 1 that I think can be reproduced even now. And I was so happy to see Alicia offer Kalinda a seat next to her at the bar. I’ve been waiting the whole season for this moment. Too bad the episode ended right there instead of with them drinking together and talking. From what I hear, the scene picks up right from there next week, so there’s still hope.
Cougar Town 3×09 — “Money Becomes King”: This was not my favorite episode, but at least some things happened. Specifically, I like that Laurie is pursuing her dream in earnest. Maybe if she becomes a business success, that will earn some respect from Ellie. At the very least, it should give Busy Phillips something more to do than just flit in and out of Jules’ house in between walks of shame.
I also liked the house discussion between Grayson and Jules. It’s an important one to have, especially since they don’t want to be carrying two mortgages. I am totally on Grayson’s side for this one. As he pointed out, he’s always the one to compromise, so it’s Jules’ turn to give in on a big issue.
Plot summary (from the studio): In the comedy American Reunion, all the American Pie characters we met a little more than a decade ago are returning to East Great Falls for their high-school reunion. In one long-overdue weekend, they will discover what has changed, who hasn’t and that time and distance can’t break the bonds of friendship.
It was summer 1999 when four small-town Michigan boys began a quest to lose their virginity. In the years that have passed, Jim and Michelle married while Kevin and Vicky said goodbye. Oz and Heather grew apart, but Finch still longs for Stifler’s mom. Now these lifelong friends have come home as adults to reminisce about—and get inspired by—the hormonal teens who launched a comedy legend.
Warning: Spoilers below!
Liked:
Disliked:
Rating:
I had no illusions about what I would be getting from American Reunion, but it still managed not to meet my very low expectations. There were a few good parts and funny moments, but on the whole it was predictable, tired, and uninspired. I give it 2 stars out of 5.
After a one-month reign, The Hunger Games has finally been knocked out of the No. 1 spot by the ensemble comedy Think Like a Man. I’m surprised that movie did so well; I fully expected The Lucky One to open better.
Speaking of The Lucky One, my mom really wants to go see it. She has been recovering from minimally invasive spine surgery for the past week or so and spent almost the entire time reading Nicholas Sparks books. I’ll probably take her to this film next week — despite the fact that I usually hate Sparks movies. Maybe this one will be different!
The Three Stooges dropped all the way down to fifth place this week. That’s got to be disappointing for the Farrelly brothers. Remember when their name in the credits used to equal sustained box office success?
Anyway, here are the weekend box office returns for the weekend ending 4/22/12:
I was wasting time on YouTube last night and started watching some ’90s music videos. I came across the official Extreme channel, which really brought back a flood of memories since I used to love those guys. I can’t believe I’m admitting this, but More Than Words and Hole Hearted were two of my favorite songs ever!
I even used to have pictures of Nuno Bettencourt and his Washburn Bass or Washburn guitar or whatever plastered all over my room. I dreamed of learning to play the guitar just so I could play Extreme songs all day long, and even went so far as to pay for a few lessons. But I wasn’t any good, so I nipped that “dream” in the bud.
Even so, whenever I see anyone playing a Washburn guitar or when I come across an ad in a magazine, I start thinking of my high school years and all the great memories these Extreme songs evoke!
The Good Wife 3×20 –”Pants on Fire:” This was clearly a transitional episode, and though I understand the reason for having it here, that didn’t help me enjoy it. I thought this was rather boring overall, and didn’t have any truly gripping moments. I don’t really care about the constant Jackie/Alicia conflict. I mean, I think they occasionally have some funny moments when they’re trying to one-up each other, but otherwise I don’t see why Alicia lets that stuff consume so much of her time.
Although I personally don’t like the fact that Alicia is going to be at Peter’s side during his campaign, I think this move works within the context of the show. After all, it’s called The Good Wife, with the premise being a Clinton-like woman that sticks around despite numerous scandals. The show just wouldn’t be the same with Alicia completely divorced from Peter. In fact, a full divorce should only come (if at all) during the series finale.
NCIS 9×21– “Rekindled”: I liked this episode more for Tony’s backstory than for the actual case. I don’t care about that shady black ops group at all, so that part didn’t interest me in the least. But I liked learning that Tony saved a kid’s life while he was in college — an action that caused two people to become cops. That storyline played out well and allowed Tony to be serious and reflective instead of a goon for a change.
Cougar Town 3×08 — “Ways to be Wicked”: This episode was kind of “meh” for me. I liked that we saw where Ellie’s extreme meanness comes from, and I thought the bit with Laurie and her cakes was cute, but anything/everything involving Travis is just dumb. I don’t know if it’s the actor’s face or what, but I have never liked him and can’t bring myself to enjoy any of his storylines. Oh, well.
Modern Family 3×20 — “The Last Walt”: I enjoyed this episode, as all the storylines had some funny moments. I loved Phil’s line to Claire about how she looked like the Joker when she was breaking the news of Walt’s death to Luke. I also smile sometimes as a coping mechanism when telling bad news (though hopefully not as broadly or as creepily as Claire), so I could somewhat relate to her. But yeah, she looked weird.
I loved seeing Phil and Alex try to have a special day. We often see Phil interacting with Haley and Luke one-on-one, but he rarely has moments with Alex. Of course, the day didn’t go quite as planned, but that just makes it all the more memorable for them.
Jay and Merle’s chat was fantastic, too. I have to admit to wondering which of the men fulfills the “woman” or “wife” role more closely, but can’t come up with a conclusive answer. Cam and Mitch both have traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine attributes, so it’s kind of a wash in my mind. But I loved how both the fathers said it would make things a bit more easier to accept if they believed their son was the “man” in the relationship. That felt like an honest statement, even if it’s not the most PC thing to say.
Castle 4×21 — “Headhunters”: I really, really liked this episode! I know it wasn’t typical Castle, but maybe the complete departure from form was necessary to shake things up a bit. I thought this was more fun and certainly more action-packed than any other episode in a long time, and despite the lack of Castle/Beckett interaction, the formula worked for me.
Slaughter was a great (albeit cliched) character. You can just tell he has fast food wrappers in his car, doesn’t change his clothes every day, and splashes on discount fragrance in lieu of taking a shower. Yet he’s effective in his own way and he does manage to get things done. I thought this was an excellent contrast to by-the-book Beckett. It showed that Castle and Beckett really are well-suited to each other, both temperamentally and otherwise. Castle wasn’t cut out for riding along with a guy like Slaughter; Beckett is definitely more of a match.
I guess nothing is going to move forward on the relationship front until the finale. Way to ignore the problem for an entire season. Ugh.
The weekend box office results are in, so I decided to take a break from reading slimvox reviews to get this post done. There were no surprises this week, as The Hunger Games was able to hold off The Three Stooges to maintain its No. 1 ranking for the fourth week in a row. The Cabin in the Woods debuted at No. 3, while another newcomer, Guy Pearce’s thriller Lockout, opened in a disappointing 6th place.
Here is the complete top 10 for the weekend ending 4/15/12:
NCIS 9×20– “The Missionary Position”: I was bored by this episode. I don’t like it when the team splits up, particularly when half of them have to go to a far-flung location like Tony and Ziva did this episode. And I didn’t particularly like Ziva’s friend either. First of all, it doesn’t seem like Ziva would even be the type to have a BFF. Second, that actress (I know her from somewhere else, I swear) was just so goddamn annoying that I couldn’t stand any of the scenes she was in.
The Gibbs and Ryan stuff is okay so long as it doesn’t take up too much screen time. I just don’t understand why Ryan had to be so secretive about giving Gibbs information for the investigation. Did it really need to be written on the inside of a pizza box? What would have been the difference if she had just spoken the words??? They were ALL ALONE anyway!! And please, please don’t make them be at cross-purposes during every single investigation. That angle gets SO tiresome!
Cougar Town 3×07 — “You Can Still Change Your Mind”: Well, that relationship was short-lived! I don’t know that I buy Bobby being the one to call things off because he wants something more serious, but whatever gets Sarah Chalke off my screen is fine by me. The rest of the episode was ok. I liked getting an explanation about the Jellybean nickname, but wish Ellie had been a little nicer about the Simon game. Laurie just looked and sounded so sad when she realized that Ellie was serious about calling her dumb. As I said before, I really dislike that aspect of their “friendship”.
Criminal Minds 7×20 — “The Company”: I actually liked this episode a lot, despite it not being a typical CM-type storyline. It was more like a generic plot from any police procedural, but it still worked for some reason. Maybe it was just because the subject matter was so fascinating. It’s frightening to think there are men out there that completely subjugate women like that and make them believe that they’re indentured servants or whatever. That’s freakin’ insane — but apparently, this was based on a true ripped-from-the-news story, so…wow.