USA Network has announced their summer schedule during their Upfront this morning in New York City. The schedule can be seen below.
From the Press Release:
TUESDAY, JUNE 2 – CHRISLEY KNOWS BEST 9/8c
Season three of CHRISLEY KNOWS BEST promises even more over–the-top ToddChrisley moments, as he and his wife Julie continue to raise their two teenagers, Chase and Savannah, eight-year-old son Grayson and two-year-old granddaughter Chloe – all under one roof. The 18-episode third season will air in two parts with 12 episodes this summer.
TUESDAY, JUNE 2 – ROYAL PAINS 10/9 c
Season seven of ROYAL PAINS brings us back to the sun-drenched Hamptons with Hank (Mark Feuerstein) setting his sights on obtaining what’s been missing in his life, while Evan (Paulo Costanzo) juggles his promotion with his desire to start a family with Paige (Brooke D’Orsay) and Divya (Reshma Shetty) fights to keep her family together. The series also stars Ben Shenkman and Campbell Scott.
THURSDAY, JUNE 18 – COMPLICATIONS 9/8c and 10/9c
From the creator of “Burn Notice,” comes the fast-paced and unpredictable thriller, COMPLICATIONS. The series stars Jason O’Mara as Dr. John Ellison, a suburban doctor who, while still dealing with the emotional effects of his daughter’s death, intervenes in a drive-by shooting, saving a young boy’s life. The series also stars Jessica Szohr, Beth Riesgraf (“Leverage”), and Lauren Stamile (“Burn Notice”).
TUESDAY, JUNE 23 – WWE TOUGH ENOUGH 8/7c
WWE TOUGH ENOUGH is an action-packed competition reality show from the ratings juggernaut WWE. Featuring a new format, with live elements, the series gives unknown athletes a chance at being crowned the next WWE Superstar or Diva. Fans can expect harder challenges, fiercer competition and rivalries that are more dramatic than ever.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24 – SUITS 9/8c
In the fifth season premiere, Pearson Specter Litt has scored a hard-fought victory, but the fight has left the firm shaken. Although she avoided jail time, Donna (Sarah Rafferty) has left Harvey (Gabriel Macht), after more than a decade of working together. She is now working for his long-time rival Louis (Rick Hoffman). And while Jessica (Gina Torres) readjusts to being single, Mike (Patrick J. Adams) and Rachel (Meghan Markle) are giddy after his marriage proposal.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24 – MR. ROBOT 10/9c
This techno thriller follows Elliot (Rami Malek), a young programmer who works as a cyber-security engineer by day and a vigilante hacker by night. When the mysterious leader (Christian Slater) of an underground hacker group recruits him to destroy the firm he is paid to protect, he must make the decision of a lifetime. MR. ROBOT also stars Portia Doubleday (“Her”), Carly Chaikin (“Suburgatory”) and Martin Wallström (“Simple Simon”).
THURSDAY, JUNE 25 – GRACELAND 10/9c
Season three resumes after an attack on Mike (Aaron Tveit). Paul Briggs (Daniel Sunjata) gets coerced into a high-risk operation, while his pregnant counterpart Charlie (Vanessa Ferlito) is on a mission to find the person who nearly killed her. Joe ‘Johnny’ Tuturro (Manny Montana), Dale Jakes (Brandon Jay McLaren) and Paige (Serinda Swan) each seek normalcy as federal agents with the FBI, DEA and ICE living in an undercover world of their own.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4 – PLAYING HOUSE 10/9c
The critically acclaimed comedy returns for a season two with an innovative windowing structure that, each week, will allow viewers to preview next week’s episode on their Video-On-Demand platforms. Childhood best friends Maggie Caruso (Lennon Parham) and Emma Crawford (Jessica St. Clair) are in store for their biggest adventure yet — raising a baby. This season, Maggie and Emma navigate their way through life as co-parents to Maggie’s daughter Charlotte. The colorful residents of Pinebrook, CT also return, including Emma’s first love Mark (Keegan Michael Key).
As hard as it is to believe, the 2015 summer movie season is almost upon us and to kick things off the staff here at The Workprint each submitted their votes for their most anticipated flicks being released in the months of May through August. Now we just have to hope that these ten movies end up living up to the hype…
10. Trainwreck – July 17
Summer blockbusters tend to be big, action spectacles but every summer deserves at least one great comedy and this summer’s most likely contender is this latest effort from Judd Apatow. Starring Comedy Central goddess Amy Schumer, this tale of a commitment-averse young woman meeting her match in a straight-laced doctor (SNL’s Bill Hader) looks full of genuinely funny characters with a heavy dash of inappropriateness tossed in for good measure.
9. Fantastic Four – August 7
This reboot of 20th Century Fox’s previously loathsome series of films based on Marvel Comic’s Fantastic Four was strikingly mysterious throughout most of its’ production process but the initial trailer promises something a little more slickly made and mature than previous attempts at bringing these characters to the screen. Led by wunderkind director Josh Trank (Chronicle) and an impressive cast including Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell, this iteration of the classic characters may prove to be one of this summer’s biggest surprises.
8. Tomorrowland – May 22
Tomorrowland director Brad Bird has become one of the most reliable directors working in Hollywood today so when you also throw in George Clooney, science fiction, and a mysterious mythology that includes a futuristic world created by Walt Disney himself, how can you not want to see this movie?
7. Inside Out – June 19
Disney’s PIXAR promises a return to greatness with this latest animated effort that takes us inside the human brain to see our individual emotions at work. Have any doubts? Checks out this voice cast: Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Diane Lane, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, and Phyllis Smith. Yeah…I’m on board for that amount of funny.
6. Ant-Man – July 17
Marvel Studios has become a staple of the summer movie season since 2008 with its’ ongoing saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and this summer boasts no less than two new entries, but this particular film might be their riskiest yet. With an extremely drawn out road to production, a last-minute swapping of directors, and questions about the movie’s overall tone, Ant-Man has some people wondering if this will be Marvel Studio’s first big blunder. Regardless of how it turns out heaven knows we’ll be in those theater seats to find out!
5. Pitch Perfect 2 – May 15
Who woulda thought that a sequel to a relatively small film about an all-girls acapella group would be ranked as one of this year’s most anticipated movies? Hell, who even thought it would get a sequel?! Such is the power of the much loved original film and its’ immensely likable cast. This sequel gets bonus Interesting Points for being directed by co-star Elizabeth Banks in her first effort behind the camera. Here’s hoping she nails it!
4. Jurassic World – June 12
Reviving a series that has essentially been extinct for the past 14 years is a risky proposition but they brought out the big guns to bring this one back with a bang. The name of said big guns? Chris. Pratt.
Oh, and he is friends with raptors. What else do you want?!
3. Mad Max: Fury Road – May 15
The nominees for Most Bugnuts Batshit Crazy Trailer of 2015 are…only this film. Seriously. Just watch it.
And weep.
2. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation – July 31
Much like the currently explosive Fast and the Furious series, this particular franchise only seems to be getting better with age. Tom Cruise continues to be game for doing his own insane stunts and no matter how kooky he may be in real life, the man rarely lets us down on the big screen. We definitely choose to accept this mission.
1. Avengers: Age of Ultron – May 1
Expecting something else? I didn’t think so. Marvel Studio’s second big team-up film and their first flick of 2015 also happens to be the film that will kick off the summer movie season in just a few short weeks. We here at TheWorkprint gave this movie twice as many votes as any other film on this list and we know we’re not alone in our anticipation to see some of our favorite heroes together again on screen. Destined to break more box office records than Iron Man has gadgets, how can you possibly hope to resist?
Honorable Mentions
The following films may have missed making our top ten list but enough of us gave them a shoutout to be worth mentioning here:
There are some big movies coming out this summer that NONE OF US bothered giving points to and well…that might be cause for concern. Approach these five movies with great caution:
After months and months of waiting, I almost forgot Outlander was set to return. With Game of Thrones’ fifth season premiering next week and slew of other new shows in between Season One – Volume One and Season One – Volume Two (what a mouthful), I’m not surprised many others forgot about the show. Hopefully, Starz will take all this commentary to heart and eschew the mid-season break next year.
All that being said, Outlander did return on a good note, making sure to hit every emotional string possible. I have expressed my concern several times about how the writers would handle the story in “The Reckoning” but to be honest, I think it went rather well. Jamie started the episode with his narration this time around and while I’m still not a fan of narration, it was at least nice to have inner monologue about anything other than to “get home, or die trying.”
I want to take a moment here to discuss an overlooked character thus far on the show, and that’s Scotland itself. The Reckoning is rife with gorgeous shots of the Highlands, rushing rivers, rolling hills, rustic structures; I don’t think any show right now comes close to the natural scenery and fantastic cinematography of Outlander. That’s right, even you, Game of Thrones. There’s also something to be said for the amazing costumes each episode. Bonus! Today I learned how men (or maybe just Jamie) put on kilts.
After Jamie’s introduction into how he became a man, we retrace our steps through Jamie’s eyes, up until the moment he rescues Claire at Fort William from the clutches of Black Jack Randall. Tobias Menzies has taken Black Jack’s already sadistic persona and upped the ante. Much like Joffrey, you cannot help but love to hate him, wishing for his demise at every turn. It’s all made worse by the fact that in the show, I actually like Frank Randall. The entire scene at Fort William was beautifully laid out, exciting and emotionally intense, complete with a large explosion to sate action fans. Claire and Jamie’s leap into the dark water below was a beautiful metaphor for what’s to come for them.
Far and away the best part of the episode was the fight between Jamie and Claire after the rescue. Jamie expects and apology for not obeying his orders and Claire is having none of his bullshit. It was a raw glimpse into the shift from living for yourself to living for another person. As Jamie slumped to the ground, defeated by Claire’s stubbornness, I felt an empathy toward the character I never felt while reading the books. Stricken, he looked at his hands and choked out, “I went to you at Fort William, armed with an empty pistol and my bare hands.” And then the heartfelt, “The way you screamed.” Like Claire I went from furious that he would dare claim her as property to a gentle understanding that Jamie only acted the way he did out of fear.
Next came the scene, the one we’ve all been dreading. This was one of those situations where I wish I wasn’t a book reader and had no idea what was coming. Reading about Jamie’s “punishment” of Claire was difficult and at times, gruesome. History or not, I could not understand any of the reasoning. After, it was hard to care much about the romance between the two. However, in the show, it was almost comical. With light-hearted music matching the intensity of the couple’s fight, I found myself laughing as Claire threw objects at a smirking Jamie. The scene, while staying true to what was written and clansman rule, only solidified the warring forces that are Jamie and Claire. I still didn’t like it, but I understood it.
Their coming together is not an easy romance. Jamie is trying to live up to what the other clansmen expect of him, what they have always expected of men. Meanwhile, Claire, a modern and ferocious woman, fights back at every turn. Catriona Balfe is nothing short of phenomenal as Claire. Every look has meaning, every action laced with her strength.
While Jamie and Claire’s relationship is the sole focus of the episode (and get used to it because it’s the purpose of the entire series), there is some political dealing going on at Castle Leoch. In the books, many of these political scenes were a chore to read, as they were simply drenched in filler. However, Starz and its writers have streamlined the process and made it a joy to watch. Colum and Dougal’s familial relationship continues to spiral downhill, even with Jamie’s peacekeeping efforts.
It is the MacKenzie brothers’ compromise that spurns an idea within Jamie, making him realize that things not need be the way they’ve always been, and maybe when it comes to his relationship with Claire, tradition shouldn’t become a factor. It was a strong turning point for the character as he cast aside the values he’s also known and pledges his life and love to the woman before him. Claire accepts his change but ensures his loyalty with a knife at his throat in the midst of their romp on the floor. Not going to lie, I cheered a bit at her badassery. The episode ends with Claire finding an ill omen from the spurned Laoghaire and from the previews for episodes to come, it seems the young woman isn’t going away soon.
Overall, I am happy with Outlander’s returning episode. I don’t want to say it was worth the wait because I’ll be damned if I’m going to encourage this mid-season break nonsense, but it definitely pushed the show back into the my list of top shows for the year. Outlander continues to take what I would consider are mediocre books and turn them into something worth watching. That is a large part a credit to the two leads and the beautiful scenery highlighting their love.
Tale of the Tape: You can tell this was obviously taped before the Academy Awards because no one mentioned the Oscar that is now sitting in both of their trophy cases. Common is a rapper, John Legend is an R+B singer. John Legend is also of course, the doting husband of the (I’m assuming) intoxicated color commentator Chrissy Teigen. She of course, as asserted that she will remain unbiased, which means siding with Common the whole time. FAIR PLAY CHRISSY TEIGEN!!!
Round 1
Common – I Want You Back
Song Choice: 7/10
Safe, comfortable, nothing too serious here. This song always conjures good memories. Safe choice Common, way to bring the Jackson 5 back to the forefront.
Execution: 4/10
Common is not crooning when there are no words. You absolutely cannot lip-sync a Michael Jackson song if you’re not lip syncing the noises that he makes when he’s not singing words. HEE-HOO!!! Get your shit together Common.
Staging: 5/10
Some basic dancing, harkening back to the Jackson 5 days, with LL Cool J and John Legend playing background dancers in the back. Nothing too crazy, as is expected for the first performance.
The Teigen Score: 5 out of 10 Teigens. Completely average, run of the mill. Safe choices, I guess that post-Oscar invincibility hasn’t happened yet. Note: LL COOL J, NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND HAS ANYONE EVER REFERRED TO MICHAEL JACKSON AS “MIKE JACK”. Thank you for completely losing whatever shred of your street cred you had left.
John Legend – Slow Motion
Song Choice: 10/10
Completely out of character for John Legend. This song was also played at many middle school dances attended by the author in his halcyon youth. Completely and utterly inappropriate, but the DJs had no idea what it meant, and neither did we. No harm, no foul right?
Execution: 9/10
John Legend lip syncing perfectly while rapping about “outside dick”. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade lip-sync about outside dick.
Staging: 7/10
John Legend put in a grill and slow-motioned. In case you don’t get the image in your head, it’s John Legend pantomiming hitting it doggystyle while spanking an ass, in slow motion. However, there were no backup dancers, so points off.
The Teigen Score: 9 out of 10 Teigens. HOW DARE YOU NOT SUPPORT YOUR HUSBAND IN HIS TIME OF GLORY CHRISSY. I’m out Chrissy Teigen-ing Chrissy Teigen right now. Christ, what has happened to my life.
Round 2
Common – All Night Long
Song Choice: 6/10
Okay, it’s a classic, but again, it’s from too long ago. I just feel there’s a disconnect, but hey, Lionel Ritchie is timeless….right?
Execution: 4/10
Poor, just poor. You can tell that he was so focused on the production and staging of the song that he forgot about the core of lip-syncing, the actual syncing of the lips to song. It felt like he just kept singing “ALL NIGHT LONG”, but that could just be the fault of the song. All flash, no substance.
Staging: 8/10
LOOK AT THAT MAGNIFICENT JERICURL AND RED DEEP V. That, and Common breakdanced. He obviously cared more about how it looked. I guess he paid homage to the song. That might be enough for Chrissy, but it’s not enough for me Common. IT’S NOT ENOUGH.
The Teigen Score: 6 out of 10 Teigens. It’s all about the art Common. First you don’t make the Michael Jackson noises, and then you focus on your costuming and dancing. At least those two things you nailed. I’ll give you a bump for that.
John Legend – U Can’t Touch This
Song Choice: 5/10
Honestly? Not impressed, too predictable. Everyone and their mother knows that this was coming. After Slow-Motion, I expected so much more from you Mr. Legend.
Execution: 8/10
Ok, John Legend knows his lyrics. This is the second time where he’s just nailed it. Nothing much to say here.
Staging: 6/10
THE COSTUMING!! THE GLASSES!! THE HAREM PANTS!!! THE JACKET!!! And most importantly, THE HEADSET!!! So 80’s, so good. If it was costuming alone, he’d get a 10/10, but unfortunately, his dancing was just awful. His running man was off tempo, and when the breakdown hit, well, John Legend proves why he usually sits behind a piano.
The Teigen Score: 6 out of 10 Teigens. Predictable, vanilla, but solid. In short, John Legend.
Do We Agree With The Audience?
NO. NO. Round 2 was basically a tie, but John Legend just destroyed Common in Round 1 with Slow-Motion. UNACCEPTABLE STUDIO AUDIENCE. UNACCEPTABLE CHRISSY TEIGEN. DOES MY SCIENTIFIC* TEIGEN SCORE MEAN NOTHING TO YOU. Unforgiveable**.
*The Teigen Score has absolutely ZERO science behind it.
**Totally forgiveable, just take a selfie with me Chrissy, and we’ll call it even.
Tale of the Tape (old boxing term previewing fighters before a bout):
Listen, Jimmy Fallon started this whole lip-sync craze. He started the segment on The Tonight Show, and pretty much every time it’s on, the clip goes viral. I think we all reached a critical mass with the thing when Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart did it after the Super Bowl. On the other hand, we have the tower of charisma that is Dwayne Johnson. He somehow catapulted a career in the WWE to real A-list stardom on the back of his humor and self-aware persona. In short, we have the creator against a rookie, but is Fallon just a bit washed up? We’ll see.
Round 1
Dwayne Johnson- Shake It Off
Song Choice: 9/10
If there’s anything that people love in their lip-syncing, it’s a vast gulf between the singer and the lip-syncer. The Rock and Tay-Tay have nearly nothing in common, and the song choice is ridiculously amazing.
Execution: 5/10
Listen, I love Taylor Swift. You’re not going to mess up a word in the second line of the song and not have me dock you serious points on it. Yeah, I saw it.
Staging: 4/10
Boring stage. Yes, seeing The Rock bounce and bop to Taylor Swift is kind of funny, but have you seen the “Shake It Off” music video? Missed opportunities all over the place. Also, you can’t flip the bird during a Taylor Swift Jam.
The Teigen Score: 7 Teigens Out of 10. Sure, everything else was kinda meh, but the song choice in itself was pure brilliance. Also, Chrissy, I see you back there shaking a cocktail mixer. That subliminal messaging to teens, tsk tsk.
Jimmy Fallon – Jump in the Line
Song Choice: 2/10
Yo, Jimmy, pick a song from this century please. I barely know who Harry Belafonte is. I imagine this song is played in retirement homes when the elderly are getting frisky.
Execution: 3/10
I mean, sure? He knew the lyrics? He kinda got into the audience? Fallon was moving from manchild into awkward dad phase here.
Staging: 5/10
He got the crowd into it a little? I guess there was some sort of mini conga line? But like you said Jimmy, THIS IS SALSA. THERE IS NO CONGA LINE IN SALSA.
The Teigen Score: Two Teigens Out of 10. It was originally 1 Teigen, but I gave Jimmy a pity Teigen, because she said “breast-less”. That’s right Jimmy, you got a pity Teigen because she made a terrible boob pun. For shame Mr. Fallon, for shame.
Round 2
Jimmy Fallon – Like a Prayer
Song Choice: 7/10
Madonna is always a solid choice. Something iconic like that, especially with the possibility of other the top theatrics is always a good start.
Execution: 8/10
Nails it. But I’m sure everyone that was alive during that time knows the words to that song backwards and forwards, just like I know the Backstreet Boys, I mean, what?
Staging: 7/10
Bringing on the choir is always a power move, but come on Fallon, come up with something original. Show me more passion, more creativity. This is your last song, you couldn’t bring on the Roots as the choir or something? Weak sauce.
The Teigen Score (sponsored by Smirnoff®): Six Teigens Out of 10. A drastic improvement from his first song, but still, he has to hope the Rock screws up big in order to take home the belt.
Dwayne Johnson- Stayin’ Alive
Song choice: 6/10
I’m sure everyone knows the song, but I’m not sure if everyone is into it. Iconic, but not in the good way, everyone associates it with terrible 70’s disco cheese.
Execution: 8/10
Remember what I said about charisma? The Fleek Lord himself shows up, rocking an all white suit, with lapels the size of his biceps. The swag walk on stage didn’t hurt him either. Let’s be honest, the only line you have to nail with this song (and the only line that anyone knows) is “Stayin’ Alive” which he does, multiple times.
Staging: 5/10
Meh, dancers dressed the same as you. Way too many dick and ass shots, and c’mon Dwayne, the old take off the jacket move? Better moves my friend, better moves.
The Teigen Score (sponsored by Smirnoff®): Eight Teigens Out of 10. This is why the Rock is A-list. He just brings the swagger. No one else can touch that man when he decides to turn it on, awkward dick jokes with LL Cool J aside.
Do We Agree With the Audience: Yes, the Rock won, hands down. Fallon, Harry Belafonte? Get your shit together. Also, can we agree that LL Cool J is now the whitest rapper in America?
We left work and came rushing over, only to find that the gates hadn’t opened yet…and there was a line, about a mile long, to get in, with that classic “zig-zag” format you see in a line at Disneyland.
Luckily, we got in fairly quickly…and immediately got in the first signing line we saw.
It was rumored that Dolph Ziggler was signing at the station we stopped at. There was another rumor going around that Paige was supposed to be here again tonight and that she’d be at the station next door…Danielle really wanted to get her Paige T-shirt signed.
We waited for a few minutes to see who would end up where. When the first Superstars appeared, the crowd cheered…and they were headed for a booth across from us. It was Erick Rowan and Sin Cara.
Ok…we got Sin Cara yesterday. Rowan isn’t totally somebody we want to meet…we decided to stay in our line. Then, more cheers next to us — and out came Natalya. I was a bit bummed. Then her Dad, Jim, showed up. Man…
I asked Danielle if she wanted to move. She said, “No. Let’s see who we get.”
Suddenly, our line began to cheer…and out popped…
Dolph Ziggler.
Let me tell you something about Ziggler. The dude was performing for the entire line. Just like Paige, he played to the crowd and toed the line between cocky and incredibly charming. He gets up from his seat and says, “Sorry…I’m done. I have no time for ANY of you. See ya’.” He was only kidding: he left to go sign for the disabled guest line.
At one point, he came back from the empty disabled guest line, stopped to take pictures with the couple of people near the immediate area, signed their stuff real quick, then rolled his eyes at everyone else as they begged him to sign their stuff, too. With a hair flip, he went back to tend to the regular line.
When we got there, I asked if he would sign for our mutual friend, Tania, who couldn’t make it out.
I don’t know if it was the volume in the place or if Friday fatigue was hitting me…I spelled her name wrong. Ziggler could have just signed her name, as was spelled to him…but he notices and says, “Wait…T, A, N, A, I?! That’s ‘Tawn-ay’, bro! That’s not how you spell that. I don’t even know your friend and I know how she spells her name!”
So, we had some laughs and Ziggler says, “Let me spell it again…” So, he writes over the original spelling, then realizes that you can see a “T”, followed by some scribbling. He puzzles over it and asks, “I think that looks like ‘TANIA’…you think she’d be able to tell? I mean, maybe if I scribble all fancy and professional-looking, she’ll think it says, ‘TANIA’…right?” And we just laughed. He was just a great guy.
He shook our hands and we got our photo with him.
After this, we grabbed some quick food and drink and headed out to see what else we could see.
Turns out, some pretty good Superstars were signing that night.
Kane…who didn’t look happy to be there at all. Kinda strange. Maybe he was trying to be the “Corporate” character…but I took quite a few photos from a few rounds of fans and he didn’t smile once.
A strange choice to sign: The Bogeyman…
And he’d actually sign with Hornswoggle:
After that, I checked my WrestleMania App (an attendant told me it would give me signing schedules…huzzah!) and found out that JBL and Jerry Lawler were signing…so we went to take a pic with them.
Danielle and I stopped by the Elimination Chamber to take a couple pictures of Stardust and Miz-dow. One of the funniest things was watching Stardust freak out and shriek before he would hug the person getting into the ring with them.
We were just in time to watch a Q&A session with Howard Finkel and Booker T in the NXT ring. NXT was hosting some “house shows” all Axxess weekend, so things like this were awesome to watch.
In the Q&A, Booker praised former manager, Sherri Martel, and said that he misses her each and every day. When a fan asked if Harlem Heat would ever get back together, Booker’s response was, “In this business, I always have one response: never say never.”
We stayed around a bit to do the Gratuitous WrestleMania Sign Point…
We made one last trip to the museum as we’d heard that they had added the Andre trophy…
We visited a couple of our favorite wrestlers…
We invaded a Triple H signing and took some pics of him…
And we closed the night out by watching a really fun match between Heath Slater and Curtis Axel, in which Axel took bump after bump and sold everything Slater had — then came back like Hulk Hogan. It was truly great, crowd-pleasing stuff that the crowd around us loved.
Last, but not least, caught this excellent shot of Goldust being interviewed by our local media…
12 Monkeys Season 1, Episode 12 – “Paradox” Air Date: April 3, 2015 Grade: B+
Last week 12 Monkeys’ fans everywhere had their minds blown when they learned that Ramse was The Witness and was responsible for the apocalypse arriving on schedule. The series has been unfailingly good in keeping people hooked with its various twists and turns. While I find myself getting bored with filler episodes on other shows, “12 Monkeys” just doesn’t appear to have any and that is a pretty darn good accomplishment.
Truth be told I was a little apprehensive before watching “Paradox” because what could possibly follow all the craziness we’ve just seen? Thankfully, it wasn’t disappointing in the least. In the aftermath of “Shonin,” Cole, Cassie, and Jones’ resilience comes to surface in a way we haven’t seen yet. In the 2015 timeline, Dr. Railly shows up at the doorstep of the much younger German doctor and convinces her to help a dying Cole (she finds Jones via the address 2017 Cassie gave Cole). She is careful not to reveal too much because that could potentially alter things in the future. Meanwhile poor Cole is still experiencing visions and goes through a seizure with only Aaron there to help him. For a moment it seems the former political aid is going to just let him die, but he finally calls Cassie who instructs him to administer an adrenaline shot.
Why Aaron? Why??
The two women figure out that the only thing that might save Cole is for his body to undergo a paradox explosion that could undo the damage caused by time traveling. The idea is to get a sample of blood from young James and then inject into old James. I don’t really get that science part but that’s okay by me. They drive to a garage shop in Pennsylvania and meet Cole’s father Matt. At first he thinks they’re crazy and threatens them with a shotgun, but then Cassie mentions the Army of the 12 Monkeys and the man asks if Marianne sent them. This was Cole’s mom, who disappeared some years ago saying that Matt had to protect their son because she couldn’t. The virologist pleads with him to just come with them to look future Cole in the eye and if he didn’t believe them then they would never bother him again.
So Cole got to meet his dad again and we all got the feels because who knew that this reunion was going to happen?? But it was short-lived because Pallid Man shows up with some goons. And it’s no thanks to Aaron who decided that the plague was unstoppable and had to protect Cassie because she wouldn’t do it herself. He calls Olivia and asks for a deal to ensure that the two of them survive the plague. The guy even tries to take Cassie away before PM gets to Cole. But the virologist hits him and runs in to warn Cole, Jones, Matt and young James. We find out that Cole’s visions were a memory of this moment, when young James dropped a glass of milk in surprise after Cassie burst into the bookshop. His father tries to stop PM and his men and is killed.
Cole waits for Pallid Man and then injects his younger self’s blood into his chest. He rises from the ground and beams of light begin to emit from his body before a brilliant blast occurs (as we’ve seen in other paradox explosions). It’s likely that PM will survive it (since he doesn’t age and may have amazing healing powers, or I’m just making that up). Cassie returns to find a naked Cole, who is now stuck in 2015 with the time travel serum completely out of his system. Along with Jones, they take young James to a foster center where he meets young Jose. It only makes the events of last episode all the more tragic to see the two meet for the first time.
The former time traveler tells 2015 Jones that he could explain to her everything that they knew to give her a head start this time. She declines, saying that being given more knowledge could potentially make things worse and not better. While in the present timeline the German doctor still smokes her cigarettes and is just as blunt, she is a younger, softer and more idealistic version of herself despite already challenging circumstances. Her husband had apparently only stayed married with her for six days before leaving and now she was pregnant with Hannah, whom she initially was planning to abort. We also find out that this was when she actually first met Cole and so she had already known who he was in 2041. Jones saying that she had been waiting for him for a long time makes so much more sense now.
Team Casserole united!
Seeing two versions of Jones in “Paradox” is great fun to watch. In 2043 she’s not alone after all! Dr. Adler and some of the other scientists are still there and she tasks them with rebuilding their knowledge on all plague’s timeline. Even though they can no longer get Cole back, she is determined to move forward by re-examining the past. With Whitley gone however, their security is greatly lacking and by the end of the episode, he appears with the head of one of his men and says that they’re coming. We then meet a new group of men with extremely pale skin. Could these be mutated humans, perhaps the next step in evolution that Olivia was espousing? Helping this band of hooded brothers is the West VII leader Deacon. The Scav King is back!
In the aftermath of last week’s episode as well, Ms. Goines enacted a hostile takeover of Markridge in true Jennifer style while wearing a pair of killer heels. So at this point it would be safe to assume the 12 Monkeys control the company. From patient, hostage, daughter and then leader, Jennifer’s role in the storyline continues to be just as unpredictable as she is and it is an aspect of the show that keeps me guessing.
While Cole and Cassie are set up to be the main heroes of the series, the other characters truly hold their own as complex individuals. But speaking of the duo, shippers of Team Casserole can rejoice that the pair seem to be on their way to an actual romantic relationship. After Aaron’s betrayal and Cole’s near death experience, Cassie holds his hand at the end of “Paradox.” But things are certainly far from a happy ending for them as Aaron is unlikely to give up and the 12 Monkeys are still going to try to kill Cole. I wonder how Ramse is feeling knowing that his ex-best friend is actually alive?
With the season finale coming up next week, what kind of hair-pulling cliffhanger do you think we’re going to get? Whatever it may be, it’s gotta be real good.
Furious 7 was already highly anticipated simply because the awesome stupidity that was Furious 6 proved that Fast Five wasn’t a fluke and that the Fast and Furious franchise that was mocked or regarded as a guilty pleasure at first had heart and charm that kept people coming back for more. But in the aftermath of Paul Walker’s tragic death and the fact that the film was unfinished when it occurred, people have been wondering for months now how it would handle Walker’s death and his character, Brian O’Conner, in particular.
To answer that question upfront, Walker’s two brothers Cody and Caleb were used as physical actors while Paul’s face was CG’d on later. This is mainly noticeable at two quick moments around the second act, otherwise I was unable to tell the difference, though they do have some wide camera shots at the end as well. While the film does feel like it’s doing a bit of the Hot Tub Time Machine thing where it’s hanging Brian’s death over the audience like a sadistic joke, they ultimately pay tribute to him in a way that’s moving and perfectly done. Like Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto has said for the three or so films now, him and his crew are a family and the film overall, though most noticeably in the final moments, does a great job of showing that these people are a family.
Said family under attack is what gets Dom, Brian, and the rest of crew back into the game. Furious 6 ended with the group having defeated baddie Owen Shaw. This time around Shaw’s older brother Deckard (played by Jason Statham at his most Jason Statham-y) breaks into the DSS offices, brutally takes down the Rock’s Agent Hobbs and starts picking off the team one by one. The film picks up right around the time that Statham was killing Han in Tokyo Drift, and after a close encounter with Shaw, Dom and crew are recruited by Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody to retrieve a hacker and her powerful tracking program from a mercenary group led by Djimon Honsou.
Each Fast film has had their own feel and style; the first was an undercover cop drama, Tokyo Drift was about a stranger in a world completely foreign to him, and Five was an Ocean’s 11 bank heist caper, and so on. With Furious 7, things have gone to a more Mission Impossible affair, with tactical squads, the people in Dom’s team working like a unit with each person having their own objective, traveling to exotic locales, and the like. It certainly doesn’t make things boring, and the dynamic between the team and their various skills makes the whole affair entertaining. You have to respect a series that can switch up their style with every new film while also keeping its identity along the way.
Everyone who’s been around since the last one is basically doing the same thing they did the last time around, though it does feel like the dialogue between Tyrese Gibson’s Roman and Ludacris’ Tej could’ve been trimmed down a bit. Gibson in particular has a line during the crew’s trip in Abu Dabi that feels like it should’ve been cut because of how sketchy it sounds. Sadly, the film doesn’t have as much of the Rock as the last two films, though his natural charisma makes him awesome when he does show up.
The new additions to the cast are all entertaining, with the standouts in particular being Tony Jaa and MMA fighter, Ronda Rousey. Jaa in particular brings such power to his role that you wish he stuck around and joined the team. Kurt Russell is hamming it up as Mr. Nobody in the same way that Nicholas Cage was hamming it up as Big Daddy in Kick-Ass, and I really hope he comes around for another one of these.
Jason Statham’s role as Deckard Shaw feels similar to the Winter Soldier of the recent Captain America film, mostly showing up at random intervals as more of a force of nature with no real explanation as to how he ended up in the same area as Dom’s team besides maybe having some ability to track down Dom through his scent. He definitely makes an impression, even though the film does sort of cheapens the outcome of his and Dom’s fight at the end.
Djimon Honsou does alright as the villain, which is really all you can hope for with the villains in these films, and while Nathalie Emmanuel’s hacker Ramsey is mostly regarded as an object others want (Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty rightly calls out Roman and Tej for calling “dibs” on her), she does well with the material she’s given.
Rousey, Jaa and Statham being added to the cast also seem to have ramped up the action scenes and their brutality. While the fights don’t get anywhere close to The Raid’s level, there’s still plenty of times you’ll be going “oh shit!”. Also ramped up are the crazy stunts the series is now famously known for. The marketing for the film has annoyingly shown off the scenes with the parachuting cars and the building jumping, which lessens the surprise of them, but those are just small parts of those batshit scenes. James Wan certainly knows how to direct these big scale sequences, and he definitely is content with just letting them speak for themselves.
Overall, Furious 7 is a fun entry in a constantly entertaining series. It manages to stand out well enough on its own. There are some weird leaps in story logic and it feels like it’s hanging Walker’s death like a carrot on the end of the stick, but it deals with the latter in the best way possible and it’s more than satisfying of a way to put his character to rest. Sure, these films are stupid as hell and get more cartoonish with each one, but you can’t deny that these films have a lot more heart than you would expect from a series about people driving fancy cars.
Everyone knows Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, unless they’ve been living under a….. rock (sorry it just sort of happened) for the pass decade. The big man appeared on Spike TV’s Lip Sync Battle last night and performed “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift.
Yes, I know. The song has been everywhere the last few months, but if you’re looking for a good laugh from one of the stars of Furious 7, look no further than the video above.
Hey dudes and dudettes! Welcome to the first ever episode of UN-Boxing Match, where I put two subscription-based mystery boxes head to head, unbox them, and arbitrarily declare one a winner. This month our combatants are the March editions of Loot Crate and Arcade Block.
Videos not your thing? Well here’s a rundown of each box’s content:
Week 3 of Dancing With the Stars, kids! And you know what THAT means. (Okay, you probably don’t have a clue what that means, but just play along.) LATIN NIGHT!!! And with 11 couples left, the competition is getting fiercer than Bruno Tonioli’s glittery Tuesday night sex-romp parties. (What???) Let’s not miss one more second of the action. Oops. Too late. Cranky Len has already taken his first nap.
Rumer / Val : They danced a Disco Salsa, and yes, that’s a thing. The song was “Turn the Beat Around”, and they were all decked out in their best Saturday Night Fever get-ups, with Val’s white Travolta-type suit, and Rumer’s sparkly, gold tight-pants. Since this was technically the first week the couples were allowed to do lifts, lots of pairs took advantage, including these two, with a complicated set of cool lifts. Tom Bergeron commented: “That was so good, it made me crave polyester!” Bruno called Rumer a “playful kitten”, followed by some other nonsense nobody could understand as human-speak. Val was sweating profusely as Horny Carrie Ann and her pushed-together boobage said “Hot! That body!” Calm down, woman. Scores were 8/9/8/8, and Len seemed extra cranky this week. He must have missed his nightly reruns of “Wheel of Fortune.”
Charlotte / Keo: Boobs McGee and her sexy partner did the Rumba, but during rehearsals, Miss Boobs-a-Lot couldn’t stay off her cell phone. Texxting, texting, texting. “I’m a model and actress, these emails are important,” she said about constantly holding her phone during rehearsals. Keo was clearly upset with her and told her to please respect the process and put the phone away at least while he’s talking to her. The dance was nice but had mis-steps in timing. Bruno “I have no filter” Tonioli said, “Well you’re never going to win the Nobel Prize for quantum physics, but you are easy on the eye.” Bergeron retorted by telling Bruno “neither are you” winning that Nobel Prize. Horny Carrie Ann told her she has an incredible body, and then Len said weirdly: “You get out of this show what you put into it, and … well … I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” Alrighty then. Scores were pretty harsh at 6/5/5/6.
Michael / Peta: They had the Salsa, and during rehearsals, Michael was afraid of “breaking” Peta’s just over 100-pound frame while lifting her, because he is so used to lifting MUCH heavier. He had to learn to be less aggressive when lifting her body. During their dance, his green vest made him look like a giant mint-green Tic-tac. Bruno said the timing was off, and that “you can’t force hip action,” and Len called the dance “choppy – like my bladder.” Just imagine that he said that last part. It’s funny. Scores were 6/6/6/6.
Riker / Allison: Well, their Salsa blew Horny Carrie Anne’s mind away, and she practically jumped out of her seat with excitement for this dude, calling him “testerone-y” and giggling like a school-girl. The best was when Tom Bergeron pointed out her boobage by saying: “That’s the most cleavage I’ve ever seen from you in all the years we’ve been working together.” She took her hands and pushed her boobs more together while gushing “Oh! Thank you!” Len said, “you’ve got flair!” Flair? Who says flair?” Julianne said, “Now THAT was a salsa! ” Bruno stood up, freaked out, and rambled on and on about fast, energetic, and something about being “full-throttle.” He then kept talking and refused to stop, at which point Bergeron hilariously cut him off with, “Bruno, it’s over. We’re going to commercial now. Good Lord.” Scores were 9/7/9/9.
Suzanne / Tony: She wore a giant tall fruit hat. Their dance was the Samba, and they danced to the “Copa Cabana.” Len called it “juicy, fruity, and full of fun – unlike my dry and wrinkled-up nut-sac!” Carrie Ann wanted to see “more depth” (Oh, I’ll bet you did, Carrie Anne!), and Tony didn’t like that too much, feeling as if they had put every ounce of themselves into the dance already. Scores were 6/6/6/7, and Len fell head-first into his Quaker Oatmeal bowl.
Farmer Zzzzzzzzzz / Witney: Chris was bummed about not doing well last week, and so he was over-dramatic about that backstage and in rehearsals. “I’ve just never screwed up something so bad in my entire life. I just wanted to jump off a cliff!” Wow, really? That’s a bit drastic, don’t ya think? And you’ve REALLY never ever done anything else, in your whole LIFE, that was worse than making a few mistakes on a dance routine? Hmmmm …. In any case, they did the Argentine Tango, and Farmer Boy did much better this time around. Julianne called him “the comeback kid”, and Len called it his “best dance yet.” Scores were even at 7/7/7/7, and Chris’s fiance, the other Whitney, sat at home watching while sobbing into a generic brand tissue.
Robert / Kym: They did a Rumba that was quite pretty and very dream-like. While rehearsing, Guy Smiley got a bit solemn and began to cry because he thought the dance was so beautiful. Bruno called it “beautifully committed, like my mental state.” Carrie Ann made the weirdest comment ever about how she is “praying to the porcelain God.” Isn’t that the toilet? Why is she praying to the toilet? Doesn’t that mean she is vomiting? I was baffled by that comment. Julianne loved the rawness and vulnerability of the routine. Scores were 7/7/8/7.
Patti / Artan: They did the Cha-cha, and once again, Patti was cool and hip. She came out on a luggage cart, and she also had boob cleavage that was out of this world. What is with the cleavage this week? Len called it charming and fun, while Bruno said something about “5 star uptown funk!” and then spanked himself 2 times. It was rather disturbing. Scores seemed a bit low and harsh at 6/5/5/6.
Willow / Mark: Their dance was the Paso Doble, which Willow performed with a rib-cage injury. Her fiery red dress and the intense music made this dance one of my favorites. Len said, “it was fire and ice, gonna be hard to beat!” Scores were 8/8/8/8.
Noah / Sharna: During rehearsals, Sharna wanted Noah to try out using a prosthetic arm for the first time, so that he would finally have a full-frame when they dance. He began stressing out over it, because it kept falling off his shoulder, and it wasn’t comfortable. He felt pushed into it, and told cameras, “I hate the f**king arm, and I don’t wanna wear it.” In the end, Sharna respected his decision, and he didn’t wear it. Instead, she once again came up with some creative and brilliant choreography to work around his missing arm and leg. The lift in this dance is most impressive, because he is using the strength of one arm to lift her over his head and into the air. Unbelievable. Julianne says, “Your best dance yet,” while Bruno called the lifts “out of this world.” Scores were 7/7/8/8. Should have been all 8’s.
Nastia / Derek: They have very little time together each week, because of Derek’s 10-show-per week schedule at Radio City, in the Rockette Spring Spectacular. Somehow though, they keep pulling it off, coming up with amazing dance routines and making it look easy. This week was the Samba, and it was no exception to their dance history. Bruno stood up, flipped out, and yelled, “Exhilarating!” Scores were high at 9/8/9/8.
RESULTS: Going home this week from Dancing With the Stars were Boobs McGee (Charlotte) and Keo. Sad to see him go, because he is adorable and hot and cute and all that stuff. I hope that Madam Boobs-a-Lot finds her happiness in life, and in a good supportive bra.
Ah, Game of Thrones, a fantasy nerd’s wet dream. Thanks to the internet, there’s no end to fanart, fanfiction, cosplay, and fan…food? I’m grateful for that because some of the fan work is good. I mean, really good. And that’s where people like Grace Fong come in. Grace is an artist and huge fan of Game of Thrones. She had the idea to compile some of that fantastic fan art scattered about the internet and put it in a book for other fans like myself to hold and cherish.
Draw ‘Em With the Pointy End is a limited-edition, 160-page, full color, 8.5″x11″, softcover, tribute art book with over 100 artists from around the world sharing their original homages to G. R. R. Martin’s series, A Song of Ice and Fire (a.k.a. Game of Thrones).
Currently, Grace is running a Kickstarter to get the book funded. It’s not cheap to print full color, but she’s excited to share this work with everyone. With 15 days remaining, Grace and co. are only $6,000 shy of their $18,500 goal. And the rewards are pretty awesome, from posters, to stickers, to fan art right in your email, and even a Game of Thrones-themed party. I’d love to see this book funded so we reached out to Grace and luckily, even with her busy schedule, I had a chance to talk to her about the project. Here’s how it went down:
Tell me about yourself, Grace.
Well, I’m Grace. During the week I work full-time in the tech industry, which I enjoy, but I also like drawing so I do that on the side. When it comes to art, I guess I just try not to half-ass everything. I want to make things as good as I can really make them. This isn’t my first art book, I put one together while I was in college.
And now you’ve got a Kickstarter for your second book, Draw ‘Em With The Pointy End.
We ended up with a LOT of artists, over one hundred, which is really high considering most participation with art books. With so many people and the amount of color in the art, printing became a bit of a challenge, so we opted to go for Kickstarter as our main method of funding. It seemed the easiest way to share the work with everyone else. And a good way to give the artists a little bit of money for their time.
How did you choose who was going to be book? Did you put out a call for artists?
About 30% of the final group is people I’ve worked with before, either through anime conventions, previous art books, mutual friends, and so on. The other half or so–I’m sorry my cat is crawling all over me right now. She has decided that because I’m not paying attention to her she is going to MAKE me pay attention to her. She is a menace.
The interloper, Poutine
Anyway, I knew people who had a significant following of other artists they’ve worked with before, so we ended up getting involved with people who worked at Paramount, on Avatar: The Last Airbender. Kind of as a way to show this is the bar we’re looking to set, and then we put an open call out on Tumblr. We ended up with 2-300 portfolios to look at.
Obviously as an artist I don’t want people to be doing work for the book and then not getting paid for it. So instead of specific art, we looked at their existing portfolios. It didn’t make sense for anyone to have to create something new for this, taking up their precious time and energy. We decided to give each accepted artist a flat fee because the logistics of, “Okay, if we sell this many copies you’ll get this much” was a real hassle. Also, I wasn’t comfortable with the, “Yea you may or you may not get money” thing. So this is what each artist gets and anything above that will go to charity. Probably one of the charities George R. R. Martin backs.
Speaking of Martin, have you reached out to or heard from either him or HBO in regards to the book?
We reached out to both of them, but had a difficult time contacting HBO. We found out they’re doing a fan book compendium as well, but it’s not exclusively art. It’ll also have cosplay, food art, and all manner of other things. We did ask about rights to our art book and they said they’d let us keep them, but we haven’t been able to contact Martin himself.
What are the biggest challenges in starting a Kickstarter project?
I’ve done smaller Kickstarters before but none of them have been over $5000. The hardest thing is probably the advertising because people aren’t going to spend money on something they’ve never heard of. However, this has honestly been one of the most amazing collaboration projects I’ve worked on. The artists have all been self-motivated with trying to get the book out there. They took to Twitter, we started Facebook group, posted blogs, and to Tumblr. Some even made a QR code for flyers to hand out at conventions and what not. There’s no way we could even come close to achieving our goal without the amazing effort from all of these people and I’m grateful for that.
What’s it like working with so many artists?
You know, I work on a guilt system. Basically, I told them, “There’s a flat amount of compensation. You aren’t going to make a bajillion dollars.” So in order to help people get more out of it I started a system of critique and feedback. The artists would post their work and any time they did so and took that feedback, they’d receive part of their stipend. As other people saw fellow artists working and making their projects better, they were excited and pushed themselves to match those around them.
In terms of content, is the book mostly art based on the show or do you think book readers can also enjoy it? Does anyone cover say, Robert’s Rebellion or the Dunk and Egg novellas?
I envisioned the book as being a visual representation of what that artist sees in the series. If they only watch the show or read the book or both, it’s perfectly fine. It’s whatever the artists’ interpretation of the work is. Without the restrictions on the work I feel like we brought out some awesome creativity in the artists. We also didn’t limit them on which character they could draw.
Do you have a favorite piece so far?
Oh man, there are so many I like for so many different reasons. Grace Kim’s Nymeria with the huge eyes is adorable. Kara Phillips’ Brienne Oathkeeper, that girl can render some insane images. It’s like she took the show and made it better. Naomi Franq was doing this piece on Ellaria and Oberyn and I’m super proud of her because she took the feedback so well and looking from her rough draft to her final, it was completely different and so much better. That one is still making the rounds on Tumblr with sobbing hashtags.
It’s especially poignant to me because my favorite Game of Thrones character is Oberyn Martell.
I was going to ask who your favorite character was, but you beat me to it. Oberyn is obviously second to Cersei though, right?
Uhh….*crickets*
Yea, I love Oberyn. The morning after that episode aired, my friend texted me and was like, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Did you know it was coming?
*resigned sigh* No, I didn’t. I’m a really slow book reader. I had friends spoil the Red Wedding for me, but I didn’t see this coming. I guess that’s why they tell you not to love anyone too much.
I love to hate Joffrey though.
Oh, everyone does. I think he was made for that reason.
I never really liked children that much and I watched the show and was like, THIS IS WHY.
Well, on that happy note, do you have any final thoughts?
I know there’s a lot of controversy over why people draw fan art and I think a lot of people are forgetting part of being a fan of something is sharing in that common interest with someone else and then getting to know that person through that shared interest. Obviously I’ve been a part of a lot of fan circles in my life, going to back to loving Sailor Moon in the third grade and wanting to be a sailor scout with all my friends. I think what you get out of being a fan of something is a sense of community, and I wanted that with this book. The great thing about fan art is it’s not just relegated to the artist and the artist community. It’s something you can share with other people who aren’t artists and they, in turn, can interpret the art how they see it.
Fan art isn’t about trying to hop on a popular bandwagon to get attention. It’s about offering up this art as a tribute to another artists’ work as if to say, “This is what I feel, this is what I love.”
Archer Season 6, Episode 13 – “Drastic Voyage: Part II” Air Date: April 2, 2015 Grade: A-
Last week’s episode was mostly setup, but everything mostly pays off in tonight’s Archer finale. The team’s drastic, fantastic voyage into the body of Dr. Kovacs continues as they race to destroy a life-threatening blood clot and escape before they return to normal size. It’s a funny, exciting finale that continues most of the trends we’ve seen from the season overall, and leaves us with an intriguing cliffhanger for the show moving forward.
Season six of Archer was arguably more self-aware and took itself less seriously than any of the previous seasons–the “unreboot” following the Archer Vice reboot was bound to raise a few eyebrows, and creator/writer Adam Reed seemed happy to run with the show’s little existential crisis. Archer enjoys himself more and is cockier than ever, since he’s effectively immortal (“Lana, I’ve never had a death wish; it’s just that I don’t believe that I, personally, even can die”). Meanwhile, the week-to-week missions they’re assigned have little to no significance since all of the major story arcs this season have only involved character relationships. This has allows the writing to play with things like plotting and pacing in any given episode to better serve the characters and comedy. Sometimes it’s a little too flippant, deflating the stakes that a particular episode tries to build up, but it works well here.
The writing tonight was particularly eager to toy with expectations and gloss over contrivances. As our heroes are stuck in the foot of Dr. Kovacs, it turns out that they can travel along the circulatory system to the brain in about a minute, because that’s how long blood takes to circulate through the body. That provides them plenty of time, but to keep up the urgency of the episode, our heroes end up encountering a number of delays. Pam takes fifteen minutes to fit into her wetsuit (“Because who has an entire submarine with no damn talcum powder on board?”), and their departure is delayed because the ship can’t move while the airlock is being purged. The brief, wordless montage that played while the airlock was purging was especially great; Archer waits out the boredom while Pam slowly goes stir crazy and is eventually reduced to tears (it reminded me of one of the season’s best episodes).
The episode plays with expectations in other ways as well–Cheryl holds a pair of sharp tungsten knitting needles, and the ship experiences a jolt of turbulence whenever they’re raised near someone’s neck, but nothing ever comes of it (she ultimately ends up stabbing Ray in the leg, on purpose). There’s also a stowaway on board, of course, but it’s just TV’s Michael Gray again. He’s still in his Slim Goodbody body suit and taking up precious oxygen, but he’s ultimately harmless and it doesn’t actually end up impacting anything at all. When he slaps Archer, there’s a slow zoom in on Archer’s angry face, but Archer quickly laughs it off and apologizes. Cheryl whispers, “Will you explain that to me later?” “I was hoping you would,” replies Pam.
The big twist at the end is that they ultimately don’t make it out in time, and the ship expands, killing Dr. Kovacs and everyone in the surgery room. As promised, Archer and the rest of the group are blacklisted from ever working in espionage again. It’s a decision that makes sense–Archer laughs his way through everything, bristles against the CIA’s authority, and they’ve failed every mission they’ve been handed. As amusing as it would be to see Archer perpetually butting heads with Slater, the complete implosion of their professional relationship with the CIA feels like the right move. While they’re stuck on the side of the road contemplating their failure and what they’ll do for money, Archer confidently replies that he has a few ideas.
I have no idea what’s in store for a Archer next season, but I’m really excited to find out. Archer Vice was proof that the characters were strong and consistent enough to make for a great show no matter what the circumstances, and the possibilities are truly endless. With espionage work out of the question and the group having already attempted drug trafficking (and country music stardom), it’s actually pretty difficult to predict what sort of venture they’ll embark on next. Maybe they’ll open a food truck? I’d watch that.
C+ was a pretty harsh grade for last week’s episode but I think together, the finale averages out to a solid B+.
“She seems like a normal baby weight.” “Oh yes, and everyone deserves a trophy just for showing up and everyone’s Kickstarter has merit.”
“It’s basically the old ‘zirp and flirp.’”
I hope we see Slater again. “It’s not, I was just going to tell you that he’s had the clap so many times it’s more like applause.”
Oh yeah, and Ray’s crippled again. “Ugh, are you crippled again?”
“Now’s the perfect time. It’s not like you haven’t dreamed about it. Just crash the sub and kill them, Cyril…”
“It’s basically the old ‘float and gloat.’”
Krieger busting supercomputer, mic dropping the wrench
“We’re the outsiders, the scrappy underdogs! We’re Delta House, the Dirty Dozen, the Rebel Alliance, the Commitments! We’re the Bad News freakin’ Bears! And our lupus is an openly gay cyborg dying of sepsis in a wheelbarrow!”
Okay, so we’re 0 for 2 and I’m feeling the faint stirrings of concern.
Bones is currently in its 10th season and has been renewed for an 11th, but I’d hate to see them start to rest on their laurels. If they’re going to keep doing this thing they need to do it, and the show has needed a good punch in the arm ever since the abrupt departure of Sweets (John Francis Daly) at the beginning of this season.
I said when he left the show that it could be trouble. Sweets’s character had become the linchpin; he was the one that everyone else related through, not to as it looked, and to take him out of the equation could leave relationships awkward and floundering. Even Booth (David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel), who have always had fabulous chemistry and managed to defy the Moonshiners Curse by being even more compelling as a couple than as a will-they-won’t they-duo, have fallen as flat as a pancake.
They’re forcing the cuteness of their interactions and Booth’s fake-annoyance with her cluelessness has started to feel like actual annoyance. Hodgins misplaced his energy. Angela’s not interesting (and what happened to their kid?). We’re missing a much-needed kick from some of the best and brightest of the Squinterns and even Cam feels as though she’s tossing superfluous, random lines and appearances into scenes just to remind us she’s a character on the show. Poor Aubrey is trying his damnedest to be Sweets and it’s not really working; what he should probably do is just find his own character and play with that instead.
I think the main issue boils down to the fact that when the writers forget that this is an ensemble cast–and a capable one–the show suffers. We don’t know what’s going on with Angela and Hodgins outside of work. Bones’s family? No idea. Michelle? Wendall? Opie?
I have enjoyed seeing more of Caroline (Patricia Belcher). but even this week’s storyline, which might have had legs with any sort of oomph behind it, fell mostly on its face. The most inspired performances were handed in by guest stars Allan Maldanado and Allius Barnes, who play brothers struggling to support each other, finish school, and put food i their bellies at the same time.
The episode’s subject matter, young teachers forgoing better paying, cushier jobs to work in understaffed, inner-city schools for essentially no money, seems like it should have worked. They talked (and talked and talked) about how the deceased character had such passion for her work and for the kids, but we didn’t get to see any of it. I didn’t feel any passion at all, just a little bit bored and the slightest bit thoughtful. Instead of coming across as inspired it bled through the television as trite. Trite tripe.
I was glad they caught the killer (of course) but less-than-shocked over who it turned out to be. Perhaps the problem was that we didn’t meet a single person who seemed to really know and love the dead teacher, even though she helped plenty of people and everyone sang her professional praises…we need to know her in order to feel for her, and for the second week in a row, the writers left us in the dark eating mini Easter Kit Kat bars and waiting for our fingernail polish to dry.
Just me?
Not to mention, the side story of Brennan’s publisher asking her to get on Twitter and connect with her fans was almost painful. The quips about how social media is ruining the world, Brennan’s learning that good can also be accomplished, the clunky “but you’re ignoring the life in front of you because your face is in a screen” scene at the end. Blah. A bunch of recycled drivel that would be more at home on a contemporary remake of Saved By the Bell than a show that’s been blessed with a fan base that’s kept it going for a decade.
We’re going to need you to step it up, writers and stars and producers of Bones. Because you don’t want to be that show. The one people love, the one we stick through when we get those inevitable lackluster seasons, the one we’re so glad we did when it returns to its former glory…only to start phoning it in, week after week.
You don’t want to be the show people recommend with the caveat, “you can skip the last two seasons because they’re crap.”
Let’s use your considerable resources and get this ship back on course before we all voluntarily jump overboard into the icy, uncertain waters of new programming.
Bones (Season 10, Episode 12 “The Teacher in the Books”) originally aired April 2 at 8/7C on Fox.
Syfy unveiled the first official poster art for its upcoming “Sharknado” sequel on Thursday, and fans of the smash series will be happy to see their favorite D-listers bracing for another killer storm. New Englanders still climbing out from under multiple feet of snow, however, might not find the franchise’s location change refreshing.
This time, returning stars Ian Ziering and Tara Reid will team up to battle the titular tempest in Washington, D.C. alongside more unexpected co-stars Mark Cuban and Ann Coulter (yes, really) as the President and Vice President, respectively. The twister also heads south to wreak havoc in Orlando, but it’s American audiences’ insatiable thirst for White House demolition scenes that will likely secure the popular vote yet again.
Check out the forecast for yourself: “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!” will touch down Wednesday, July 22 at 9/8c on Syfy.
Are you ready to take another bite of this franchise? Sound off in the comments, and follow @TheWorkprint for all your pop culture needs!
Last night’s Arrow was probably the best episode of the season, and definitely the show at its most ambitious. It started with Ra’s al Ghul turning the Starling City police against Oliver with a few well-placed arrows. Thus began a manhunt for the Arrow, leading to Oliver Queen ready to be carted off to prison, only for Roy to don his costume and set himself up to go to jail for the Arrow’s “crimes”.
The show won’t return until the 15th, but in the meantime, here’s this lovely trailer of the final five episodes of the season, chock full of team ups, battles, and Oliver finally accepting Ra’s al Ghul’s offer. Things don’t look good for Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow, but then again, when does it ever?
Every day this week we’ll tackle the next movie in the Fast and Furious franchise, leading up to our review of Furious 7. Buckle up and join us as we all prepare for Furious 7 and that one last ride.
Can we just talk about how really fucking weird this all is?
I mean, isn’t it really weird the trajectory the Fast and Furious has had? This series has gone from undercover cop drama/race/thing to cops, to Japan for some reason, to soft reboot, to rigging a bank vault to the back of cars and using it as a wrecking ball in the streets of Brazil. The Fast franchise is basically for car enthusiasts what the Marvel films are for comic fans, and Furious 7 is shaping up to be this franchise’s Age of Ultron. But before we get there, we have to look at the absolute crazy that is Furious 6. Or Fast 6. Fast and Furious 6? I swear the title for this movie has changed more times than Sony’s plans for Amazing Spider-Man 3. All of this, alongside the series’ classic stupidity come together for the best stupid movie you’ll ever see.
Which one was this again?: The one that brought Michelle Rodriguez back into the fold after having been absent for two films and also has Gina Carano, for some reason that I can’t really recall. The basic “plot” is that Rodriguez’s Letty is alive and well after having been presumed dead in Fast Four and working with a new group of criminals. Hobbs, the world’s buffest baby oil user, tracks down Dom and offers him and his crew full pardons if they help bring down Letty’s crew.
Best Scene: C’mon, do you have to ask? It’s obviously the end fight in the plane where Luke Evans and his over-exercised henchman face off against Dom and Hobbs. It’s pure, unadulterated awesome, capped off by one of the best moments in action movie history.
Most Iconic Line: “Uh guys, they got a tank!”
Actual Best Line: This is the greatest line in all movies, ever.
Has fast is it? Totally fast, and stupidly awesome. You can’t deny the appeal at watching Vin Diesel grab Michelle Rodriguez in midair and crash landing on a car or Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson firing hooks into the wings of a plane getting ready to take off. Yeah it’s brainless, but it gives no fucks about it.
How furious is it? Please watch this scene as an example of how furious it is.
Thankfully, George R. R. Martin and Co. decided to wait a day to post a new excerpt from Winds of Winter. Had it or any other news of the book been released yesterday, I suspect there would have been riots in the streets. As has been the case in previous years, Martin has shared an early chapter from the book to at least keep fans sated during our long wait for the sixth installment.
I doubt this will be the last teaser chapter released, but Martin has said that he won’t be attending the larger Cons in order to finish the book. With internet speculation firing on all cylinders, it does seem likely he’s nearing the end. He still won’t give readers as a timeline, though, as that has burned him in the past.
In the meantime, let’s read and reread and throw all sorts of tinfoil on the fantasy flames.
It’s no secret I’ve been clamoring for a Captain Marvel appearance in the MCU for, oh…years. And obviously Katee Sackhoff has been the Carol Danvers of my heart for, oh…years. (Please see exhibit A to your right.) However, at this juncture, I would accept ANY concrete news about the character, whether or not it’s Sackhoff or Emily Blunt or Gina Carano or Tricia Helfer. However, I’m starting to feel like Marvel is pulling a Lucille Bluth and getting off on withholding information about this integral Avenger.
Take today’s news for instance: Disney published a press release.
Nothing really out of the ordinary. It’s cas, whatever. Oh, but wait. There are two new names on that list, Freaks and Geeks‘ Linda Cardellini and the Before trilogy’s Julie Delpy. For a movie that is adamant Captain Marvel won’t appear (even though really, this would be the best place to introduce her and I swear if Spider-man is in this even though Carol was in line first, I will cut someone), they sure are adding a lot of last minute female actors’ names to their roster. A week ago it was Aurora Fearnley being credited as a “Marine.” Then a source close to the production said, “Nuh uh. Ain’t happening.”
WHICH IS IT, MARVEL? My heart cannot take this internet hype anymore.
Stay tuned for…more Avengers: Age of Ultron news and the inevitable crushing of hopes and dreams.
For the second week in a row, I watched The Americans on FX without constantly warding off imminent panic attacks. Don’t get me wrong–I’m not complaining. The writers and cast manage to keep the tension at a low hum in the background and move certain storylines forward while letting the audience breathe a little. After the opening half of the season I think we all needed that. At least, I know I did.
On Episode 10, Stingers, some of Philip’s hard work with Kimmy pays off as their CIA mission kicks into gear. It’s mostly setup right now, along with some more moments with Kimmy that are more depressing than ever. The poor girl thinks no one cares anything about her and honestly. it seems like she might be right. It will be interesting to see how their relationship develops going forward and whether, given what he’s probably going to have to do to keep her on the line, Phillip (Matthew Rhys) will end up being that person who truly cares for Kimmy after all.
Note: I really, really don’t want him to sleep with her. I know it’s a silly thing to worry about or feel icky about, given what atrocities the Jennings’s have perpetrated over the past two and a half seasons, but there it is. I care.
Stan is struggling to deal with his divorce, so there’s nothing much new there–nothing except the fact that he and Henry seem to be forging a bond made out of what’s lacking for each of them at home. Stan’s missing his family, Henry’s parents are never around. It’s only natural that the two of them might find common interests and begin to spend time together but Philip and Elizabeth (Keri Russell) don’t seem too thrilled about the development.
We get a brief glimpse of Nina (Annet Mahendru) digging into her assignment to find out whether the repatriated scientist is actually struggling to make headway or if he’s bluffing in an attempt to be let go. Her storyline has become one of my favorite on the show and I’m so relieved that they didn’t let it unravel after she lost her connection to both Oleg and Stan. And America. She’s a wild card, an interesting one, and I hope the writers continue to explore it past her (let’s hope) completion and release.
But I mean, does the KGB ever let anyone go? No. Nina’s in the service for the long haul, a fact I suspect she’s more than aware of by this point in her career.
The most interesting (and yes, anticipated) moment of the show came when Paige (Holly Taylor) surprise her parents (and us!) by confronting them about what they’ve been hiding. She knows that they’re not normal parents and that something is going on that she’s not privy to. When she demands to know why, Philip and Elizabeth tell her the truth.
Even though they don’t use the word “spy,” Paige is a bright girl and she figures it out on her own. She doesn’t yell or scream, just goes to her room and lays down;. The next morning she stays home from school, which her parents allow her to do alone after some intense consideration. She asks them to speak Russian but poses no other questions. They remind her that if she tells anyone about them, they’ll both end up in prison.
Despite the warning, Paige places a phone call to Pastor Tim. He’s become a huge influence on her life and his appearance at the travel agency earlier in the episode (during which he gives unsolicited parenting advice to Philip) seems to point to the fact that he’s inserting himself into her life–into all of their lives. I can’t help but think this is going to be bad for his health, since we know things about her parents that Paige doesn’t.
Like, they’ll be far more likely to kill Pastor Tim if it comes to that than end up in prison.
We’re left with a lot of questions in the final scene, one in which Stan (Noah Emmerich) joins the Jennings for dinner. Paige watches him, a funny look on her face that suggests she’s just realizing the implications of this knowledge on her life–or maybe wondering if she’s going to tell someone, maybe Stan should be her first choice.
How is Paige going to react? We know Elizabeth, at least, plans to approach the subject of her joining the KGB at some point, and that looming on the horizon has to make everyone nervous. If I were writing the show I would have her go to the FBI only to have them recruit her and send her home as a counterspy. That would be awesome.
Another small tidbit related to Stan (one that’s far more interesting than his divorce moodiness, in my opinion)…he seems to have remembered something in relation to Martha and the bugged pen being planted in their boss’s office. That could go very bad, very fast and if we were worried about poor Martha a few weeks ago, the next few episodes could be rough.
Sound off in the comments with your own theories about how this season is going to play out – I’d love to hear them!
The Americans (Season 3, Episode 10 “Stingers”) originally aired Wednesday, April 1 at 10/9c on FX.
Back in October, I was able to attend Netflix’s Daredevil panel at New York Comic Con. The footage shown during the panel and the ensuing discussion with the cast and crew was nothing short of amazing. As we left the exhibition hall, I was incredibly excited by what I experienced and my expectations were through the roof for the series. As such, I went back and delved into the mythology and who Daredevil is at his core. Before you binge watch the series hitting Netflix on April 10th, this is what you should read to get a feel for the tone of a very different type of superhero.
Who is Daredevil?
Daredevil is Matt Murdock, a lawyer by day, crime fighting vigilante by night. His only super power is a ‘radar sense’ that substitutes for the sight that he lost when radioactive waste was spilled on his eyes as a child. Additionally, his hearing, touch, smell, and taste are incredibly heightened. As a child, he was bullied and harassed for his disability, but his father taught him never to retaliate, and to study hard. While doing so, he found a mentor, “Stick,” who has similar powers and trains him in martial arts. As if his childhood wasn’t enough, his father, a boxer, was murdered by the mob because he refused to throw a fight. Upon his death, the adolescent Matt Murdock used his skills to hunt down the men who did this with a vengeance.
Why You Should Read Daredevil?
Yeah sure, the Avengers are based in New York, but that’s not their main focus. Spider-Man has New York, too, sure, but it always just feels like he’s in a major city. Daredevil is based in Hell’s Kitchen, a neighborhood in the midst of being gentrified, but even in recent memory, the neighborhood was a cesspool. Hell’s Kitchen was the type of place you avoided if at all possible, and if you had to go, you made sure you went in broad daylight, looking over your shoulder.
Hell’s Kitchen is as much a character in Daredevil as anyone else. It defines Matt Murdock because he was born, raised, and orphaned there. Daredevil was then born from the taunts Murdock suffered as a kid, from the beatings endured, and ultimate the sense of justice that instilled. He tries to save someone every night, and that someone is sometimes himself. He deals with his own troubles, his love life, his work, his depression, and being a vigilante takes a toll on him.
Balance that with being a devout Catholic, and Matt Murdock is one of the most grounded characters in comics. His villains don’t try to take over the world, just his world. The Kingpin is to Daredevil as the Joker is to Batman, except the Kingpin brings the banality of the real evils we hear about in the news to life making him a much more believable villain.
This seminal work by Frank Miller redefined Daredevil’s origin story. In costume, Daredevil only appears maybe twice. Instead, Matt Murdock is the focus of this book, and Miller focuses on what defines him, and why he dons the mask every night. During the New York Comic-Con panel, this book was cited multiple times as the source material for the Netflix series. You cannot begin to delve into Daredevil unless you read this.
Again, Frank Miller at work here. You see the Kingpin against Daredevil, two arch-nemeses at each other’s throats, no holds barred. Matt Murdock is revealed as Daredevil, making both of his personas a living hell. Unfortunately for our hero, there is no magic in Hell’s Kitchen that makes people forget, only dire and real consequences for a vigilante where the law is pursuing him, and the criminals are one step ahead.
We’re going to take a quick detour here from the dour intensity, and work our way to the early part of his career, when Murdock meets Karen Page, a love interest before becoming well, let’s just say she becomes a lot of things. Think of this as a palate cleanser for all the darkness that is to come. The book follows Matt and Karen as they start to fall in love, when being Daredevil was new, and when Matt still had hope for a happy ending.
Hopefully, this will serve as a bit of a primer for those of you who want a bit of knowledge before diving into Marvel’s Daredevil. I believe this series will be groundbreaking and since it’s not on network TV, the series can be true to one of the most groundbreaking heroes that defined an era in comics. Forget Ben Affleck’s Daredevil, and get ready for one hell of a ride.
Every day this week we’ll tackle the next movie in the Fast and Furious franchise, leading up to our review of Furious 7. Buckle up and join us as we all prepare for Furious 7 and that one last ride.
Ah, one of the laziest films in the entire series. So far, we’ve had The Fast & The Furious: The Rise of Groot, 2 Fast 2 Furious 2: The 2-quel, The Fast & Furious: Season of the Witch, and Fast & Furious: The Search for the Word “The”. I mean, don’t get me wrong: they’ve been lazy. I’m pretty sure every sequel in this franchise is inspired by one of the producer’s kids playing with their Hot Wheels at the dinner table which, later, becomes a script where every three pages ends with “EXT. – THEY DRIVE OFF.”
If all that doesn’t sway you, compare the posters for the last two flicks. JUST LOOK AT THEM.
I can just imagine Universal all proud of themselves after this: “All right! We’ve got our title and our script and our poster and it only took five minutes! Time to hit the bar, fuckers!”
In any case, the story follows Brian (the late Paul Walker), who is “in trouble with the law”. For realz, this time. Not like two movies ago when he was just “in trouble with the law”.After his buddy, Dominic (Vin Diesel), was sentenced to prison in the last movie, Brian and Dominic’s crew manage to knock over his prison bus and save him. They don’t actually show the whole ordeal. All we know is that they knocked the bus over and Dominic’s missing. So, trust them. They totally did that.
Anyhow, Brian’s only friend is his girlfriend, and Dominic’s sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster). They’re hiding out in South America — but they’re also running out of money and, by extension, basic human necessities, which makes no sense being that these people can knock over prison buses and gas haulers and tanks but, ok, they’re fucking poor now. Brian figures that now would be a good time to pull a job: one that consists robbing a DEA transport train of some hot cars. Unfortunately, some DEA guys get killed during the heist and they send in their best guy to take Dominic and his crew down.
Which one was this again?
The one where The Rock joins the cast as the superhuman “DSS Agent Hobbs”, whose primary goal is to lay the smackdown on some car-stealin’ candy asses.
Best scene:
The opening train heist. It doesn’t exactly break new ground in the action genre, but it’s worth a view just for Vin Diesel not giving one actual fuck as he, willingly, drives a car off a 50-story cliff, which has an end result similar to when Wile E. Coyote’s ACME Rocket Skates malfunction.
Best (most iconic) line:
The Rock: “Hey, Toretto, you’re under arrest!” Toretto: “I don’t feel like I’m under arrest…”
Actual best line:
Roman Pierce: “Sexy legs, baby girl. What time do they open? Gisele (pulling a gun on him): “They open at the same time I pull this trigger. Want me to open them?”
How fast is it?
It’s pretty fast — and enjoyable. Despite the movie ditching its “race car movie” trappings for a heist flick formula, this movie works, even though it’s just as brainless as its predecessors.
How furious is it?
The Rock just chews scenery like Pac-Man. So, I guess he makes the movie kinda furious. Dealing with John Cena night after night will do that to you. Just give him the damn veggies, get him the girl who smiles all nice and stay the fuck out of his way.
The first five episodes of Marvel’s Daredevil were provided by Netflix for review.
While flipping through the pages of your favorite comic book, it is easy to forget how brutal the world of superheroes truly can be, especially for the street-level heroes. Up to this point, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been saturated with superhuman powers, Iron Man suits, and villains who seek to conquer or destroy worlds.
This led me to be skeptical about whether or not Marvel’s Daredevil would be able to take what made their super-powered Cinematic Universe so popular and adapt it to their human heroes. How big of a threat could Wilson Fisk be when compared to Ronan, Loki, or any of the other MCU villains? What makes Matthew Murdock, a lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen, so special?
After watching the first five episodes, I can safely say that Marvel’s Daredevil transcends the current offering of comic book shows on television, redefining the genre as we know it.
Set in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City, Daredevil finds a city still on the mend two years after the Chitauri invasion that occurred near the end of Avengers. With nearly half the city destroyed during the attack, the world opened its arms to aid in the recovery, but not everyone has had the city’s best interest at heart. Backroom deals and corporate greed has transformed Hell’s Kitchen into a hive of criminal activity.
“I’m glad to hear that there is some new blood running around out there. Heroes and their consequences are why we have our current opportunities.”
Matthew Murdock (Charlie Cox), a lawyer blinded due to a chemical spill as a child, has taken it upon himself to protect the city he’s grown up in. Donning a black face mask, Murdock takes to the streets to deliver the most ruthless justice the Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen. Only don’t call him Daredevil just yet. Society has dubbed him as “Black Mask” for the time being. He may not have the name we recognize, but he certainly has the fight.
The beautifully crafted action sequences are a joy to watch as they bring the brutality of the comics to life. Any time a gun appears, it’s a reminder of Murdock’s mortality. There is an actual risk of physical harm for being a vigilante and Daredevil does not skimp away from it. I lost count of how many times I’ve flinched at the sight of broken bones or savage beat downs both given and received.
Let me just add that Daredevil is a very violent and, at times, a gory show. Even though the series lacks cursing (very rare if memory serves me right), and nudity (though there is one incident of side-boob), it does depict stabbings, torture, and decapitations. I’d think twice before letting the young ones watch with you.
An excellent fighter, to be sure, but Murdock is still a blind man. However, his lack of sight has led to his other senses becoming enhanced. He can hone in on sound as well as feel shifts in the air around him. Nevertheless, fans expecting to see the hero’s red “vision” during action sequences will be slightly disappointed as only one glimpse is offered in a brief moment during the fifth episode.
Fighting crime isn’t the only way Murdock delivers justice. Fresh off passing the BAR exam, Murdock is joined by Foggy Nelson and together they open a law office in Hell’s Kitchen. Their first case introduces them to Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) who’s been framed for the murder of her co-worker. Don’t expect a case-of-the-week show when it comes to the cases tackled by Nelson & Murdock. Every job taken by the law firm is tied into the main narrative in one way or another.
The acting is fantastic all around. Every single character delivers in their role. Charlie Cox is both heroic and sadistic as a lawyer by day and a vigilante by night. Watching Cox and Rosario Dawson together on-screen together is a treat as Dawson’s character, Claire Temple, aids Murdock with medical attention for his wounds. Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll bring the much-needed levity when the series starts to feel dark and heavy. Vondie Curtis-Hall was born to play Ben Urich and John Patrick Hayden delivers one hell of performance as Jack Murdock that will likely leave a few people in tears.
However great these actors may be, in my eyes they can’t compare to Toby Leonard Moore’s Wesley and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk a.k.a. Kingpin. Watching Moore handle business as Fisk’s right hand man in a cool, collected manner is a blast. It’s hard to earn the trust of one of the most dangerous men in the Marvel Universe and Moore shows you just why he’s the man for the job.
D’Onofrio’s performance as Wilson Fisk is extraordinary, and by the end of the fourth episode, D’Onofrio cements himself as the only man for the role. He’s vulnerable with his love interest Vanessa (played by Ayelet Zurer), but when it comes down to business D’Onofrio’s Fisk is one of the most malicious villains in the MCU, and without a doubt in my mind, also the most compelling.
I can’t sing Marvel’s Daredevil’s praises enough. Visually the series is beautiful. The writing is smart, sharp, and leaves you on the edge of your seat. Fans looking for action will find the best choreographed sequences the MCU has seen to date – as well as the most ferocious. By capturing the human element, Marvel’s Daredevil proves you don’t need to be super-powered to be a superhero.
When Bobbi Morse showed up on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. earlier this season, she quickly cemented herself as a memorable and beloved character — thanks to her quick wit, amazing fighting skills, and chemistry with just about everyone on Coulson’s bus. “One Door Closes” finally dove into Bobbi’s backstory in a way that allowed us to understand the motivation behind some of her secrets, as well as the reason as to why she’s so loyal to Gonzales. And the result was my favorite episode of the season so far.
Like most Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode titles, “One Door Closes” plays very much into the themes of tonight’s episode: with the reveal of “the real S.H.I.E.L.D.” and Gonzales’ meeting with Coulson, the S.H.I.E.L.D. we thought we knew is no longer the only player in the game. And as for the door that opens? It’s an entirely new antagonist that’s creating drama and new conflicts for even the most loyal of Coulson’s team.
But first, a flashback: to the day of the events that happened in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, when Hydra came out of the woodwork. Mack is being held hostage on a ship, his team having turned on him, and despite trying to give himself up, Hydra’s not above killing innocent S.H.I.E.L.D. colleagues. Mack’s near-death is saved by BAMF Bobbi Morse, along with none other than Isabelle Hartley (Lucy Lawless)! Hi, Hartley! Fancy seeing your return to this show!
Bobbi tells Mack that Fury left her orders to save S.H.I.E.L.D. They find Gonzales, who is apparently also on the ship and has been injured, and then Bobbi passes off a medallion to Hartley that says “Franny’s Saloon.” She advises her friend to give it to Hunter, revealing that she has a second mission from Fury: she’s going to sink the ship so that the weapons can’t be abused by Hydra. Why, Bobbi Morse. How very Captain America of you. (Marvel really loves putting people in terrible situations based on Hydra weapons, doesn’t it?) Gonzales and Mack and Hartley refuse to let her go through this without help, though, and the solo mission unintentionally becomes a team effort.
But Bobbi still wants to follow Fury’s orders, even if it means killing innocent people. (Like Winter Soldier so aptly put it: “we have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is Hydra.”) Mack argues for her not to, and despite the fact that she’s conflicted, Bobbi’s good side wins out. She ends up siding with Mack – and they decide not to take down the ship after all, something that Gonzales seems to respect. It’s a really wonderful moment for Bobbi’s character, and if anyone was asking whether she was good or bad? Well, you can have your own opinions, but I think this sums it up.
In the present day, there’s a different kind of betrayal brewing. Bobbi blames Hunter’s absence on herself, right before Coulson figures out that Mack’s hiding something. And while Bobbi is taking measures to remove Fury’s toolbox from Coulson’s office, he gets clued in to her real agenda. May catches Bobbi red-handed, but refuses to believe that she works for S.H.I.E.L.D. – of course, as far as we (and our characters) know, S.H.I.E.L.D. is and has always been with Coulson. So begins an epic, amazing fight between two of my favorite females, and all the shout outs to fight coordinator Matt Mullins for an incredible sequence that left me open-mouthed yet again.
Bobbi escapes via some sort of EMP, while Fitz, who has managed to figure out Bobbi’s gadgets, discovers that the device she used to find the toolbox was made to find anything with vibranium. May’s not entirely convinced that Bobbi is Hydra because of the fact she didn’t kill anyone when she escaped, and Hydra always leaves bodies behind. They’re both still wary, however, of their teammates’ true allegiance.
Bobbi runs into Simmons, who is still having trust issues with Fitz about treating Skye like a science experiment. (A rather notable exchange: “I told you Leo, I’m only trying to help. Whatever, Jemma.” Seldom do we hear Fitz and Simmons use their first names with each other, and certainly not so formally. They’re FitzSimmons for a reason, and this is just further proof of their rift becoming more and more divided.) Bobbi seems a little uncomfortable with the whole situation, and it really drives home the fact that she doesn’t want to be the bad guy in this situation – she doesn’t even want to be the semi-bad guy. She doesn’t want to hurt her friends. But Simmons gets the upper hand and tricks Bobbi by distracting her. Fitz, on the other hand, isn’t so lucky – he’s found by Mack, who tries to talk to him, but Fitz ends up almost getting injured when the real S.H.I.E.L.D. storms in. Mack saves Fitz, but I’m guessing that there’s not really going to be a lot of happiness on his end about it.
Meanwhile, Skye is pretty much bored to tears in the healing cabin. She Skypes Simmons like good friends do, roasts marshmallows, and eventually puts on the special gloves-not-gauntlets, which make her feel slightly weird. She also finds what seems like a hidden door, but before she has time investigate it (bemoaning the fact that she should probably watch less horror films), someone comes calling. That someone? Gordon, the Inhuman who we last saw taking her father. Let’s just say he’s The Reader, okay? It hasn’t been officially confirmed, but I’m calling it while I can.
Anyway. Don’t talk to strangers, Skye! Not even if they have no eyes and promises of candy and magical fixes! But Skye lets him in against her better judgment, where he tries to talk to her about her powers, and about people who were affected by the Terrigan Mist. His mentor embraced him, he tells her – what has S.H.I.E.L.D. done? Locked her away in a cabin and made her things that suppress her powers, that’s what they’ve done. Skye can’t help but commiserate about her issues, especially when she feels like she’s found somewhat of a kindred spirit in this man.
Gordon basically tells Skye that she can become something amazing, if she realizes her potential. Which obviously involves getting away from S.H.I.E.L.D. and being with like-minded superheroes (and also, uh, her father. And Raina.) Skye’s clearly intrigued, though still torn on her loyalty towards Coulson and her found family. Gordon leaves ominously, and Skye discovers that she can do really cool things with her powers – like control liquid. She can control them, and it only cements the thinking that’s been implanted in her brain, about S.H.I.E.L.D. trying to keep her down.
Meanwhile, Bobbi (worried about the hostility Gonzales has displayed has been harmful to her friends) is now a hostage on her own team. While Simmons inquires about the contents of the toolbox, May looks in Bobbi’s locker, and Gonzales and his team take over the premises. She soon realizes where Coulson has taken Skye to: “the house that Banner built.” It’s really fun to see all these Marvel references thrown in without it being overdone – each one is carefully relevant to the narrative, but also provides a bit of imagination for what it could mean in a bigger context. May overhears Bobbi planning to get Skye, and stages an interception, warning her to get out because she’s in danger. And really, this is not doing much about Skye’s feelings for S.H.I.E.L.D. at the moment…
Bobbi and her crew search for Skye and Gonzales meets Coulson face to face in his office. It’s official: new S.H.I.E.L.D., meet old S.H.I.E.L.D.! He tells Coulson the story of what happened on the ship, and it’s clear they still blame Fury for all the death and destruction that’s been brought upon them. Theoretically, they blame Coulson, too, because he’s basically the second coming of Fury. Gonzales also confirms that he knows Fury’s not dead, and tries to find out what happened in the alien city…all so he can open the toolbox. BAMF May comes to his rescue before anything can happen, though.
As for Skye, things are going from bad for worse. Bobbi doesn’t want to really hurt Skye, she just wants to detain her. But the agents have other ideas, Skye becomes so terrified while being pursued that she freaks everyone out, causing them to attack her. Skye sets off her powers, realizing too late that she’s responsible for more destruction and hurt that she didn’t mean to cause. Again. Scared and alone, she calls out for Gordon – who arrives to take her away the same way he took Raina and Cal.
Odds & Ends:
The scene with FitzSimmons and Agent Weaver was a nice way to connect the dots from the S.H.I.E.L.D. world, as Agent Weaver was the duo’s old instructor at the Academy. I also wonder if it’ll sway them away from Coulson and his ideas.
The ending tag of Coulson at a Tiki Bar…did that remind anyone else of “Tahiti”? Just saying. But with Hunter giving him his contract by signing his name on a napkin, it looks like Coulson is back to square one of building up S.H.I.E.L.D. And maybe that’s not a bad thing. We’re heading into the home stretch of the season, and conflicts are definitely going to be brewing…and I kind of can’t wait to see where we go with this.
Oh, you don’t recognize the name, Sutton Foster? I’ll forgive you (this time) because unless you’re a fan of musicals or were one of the ten people who watched Bunheads, she probably isn’t familiar. However, she’s in a new show on TV Land, so I’m imploring you to watch Younger.
Here’s the thing: Younger isn’t a very good TV show. I mean, who even knew TV Land was making original content? Not I. Foster plays Liza, a 40-year-old stay-at-home, recently divorced mom who wants to get back into the workforce. Typical struggles occur and Liza can’t get a job with a fifteen year gap in her work history. After being hit on by a 20-something man at the bar who thinks she is much younger (heh, titles), Liza’s friend convinces her to lie about her age and after a hair and make-up montage, voila! She gets a job in publishing. She befriends Hilary Duff who teaches the positively antique 40-year-old about Twitter and together they ride off singing into the sunset. There’s an abundance of clichéd jokes about old people and how women in each respective age range should look, act, dress their vaginas, etc. You know, funny stuff. Nothing in the show is innovative or engrossing.
Except Sutton Foster.
Known for Broadway shows such as Anything Goes, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek the Musical, and Little Women, Foster deserves so much more than Younger. I could go on for hours about her Lorelai Gilmore-esque humor and wit, but I’ll spare you for now because you CAN STILL WATCH Bunheads over at ABC Family’s website.
So why am I pushing Younger so hard even when it seems so ridiculous? Well, my astute young friend, I want Sutton Foster in more things. If I support Younger and more viewers are exposed to the wonder that is she, then logic says Sutton Foster will be in more things. Ya dig?
Or so I naively hope that’s how things work.
Seriously, ABC Family, I’m still really bitter about Bunheads, especially with Pretty Little Liars still on air.
If you weren’t a fan of last year’s Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, you’re probably not too pumped to hear that it made enough money back to get a sequel due in 2016. Megan Fox will for sure be returning as April O’Neil, and Will Arnett will be back as well, but today Variety has reported that Arrow’s Stephen Amell will be in the film as none other than Casey Jones.
Casey is one of the few human allies other than April to know about the Ninja Turtles. In the original TMNT films from the 90s, he was played by Elias Koteas. He eventually becomes a love interest for April and bonds (and clashes) with Raphael. Variety reports that out of the half dozen actors that auditioned over the weekend, he had the best chemistry with Megan Fox. However, given the fact that April Fools Day is tomorrow, it’s extremely likely that this is a prank. So take this with a grain of salt.
But if this does end up being true, how does it make you feel? Are you hoping he’ll say “You have failed this city!” at least once? Let us know in the comments below.
Community Season 6, Episode 4 – “Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing” Air Date: March 31, 2015 Grade: A
We all know that the bane of modern conveniences is internet connectivity. Data plans are expensive, so free wifi is arguably the best amenity one can get on a somewhat regular basis. You can imagine the very real consternation when the wifi is down on the Greendale campus. When the study group complains to the Dean, he of course turns it immediately around and assigns the problem to the committee, which of course means that the group has to take care of it themselves, with Elroy as the new IT lady (the old IT lady was of course Paget Brewster in another role, who is now Frankie Dart).
As one storyline is set up, we move onto the next, where the school board frat brothers show up to ask the Dean to become part of the board. The catch is, he has to come out as openly gay to make the board seem accepting and tolerant, which is really the board trying to appease the public after another snafu. I would really like to know if Colorado has a board for community colleges, and if so, I’d like the minutes to their meetings. Either way, this leaves the pansexual enigma that is Dean Craig Pelton in limbo, to come out of the closet and get appointed due to his sexuality, or keep silent and stay just a dean.
As the new IT lady, Elroy appoints Abed as his assistant and seek to track down the source of the wifi problem. They end up finding the cause of the outage, which happens to be a bird’s nest full of baby birds. Abed’s mother issues pop up immediately as he firmly takes a stand, pleading against Elroy’s removal of the nest. Elroy then goes on a “baby bird murder monologue” citing evolution, humanity’s place in the preservation or destruction of the Earth, and how none of it can be done without wifi. Eventually, because Elroy isn’t a demon, he sides with Abed and decides to stall until the mama bird can get the birds to literally fly the coop, which means the wifi stays down a bit longer.
Let’s take a quick second to talk about the wildcard that is Ben Chang. He started off as a Spanish teacher, then became a student, then dictator, then a scheming amnesiac named Kevin, and finally, for now, just a regular student. At this point, there’s nothing that Community could do with Chang that would be completely out of the realm of possibility. So of course, the writers have Chang auditioning for the stage production of “The Karate Kid”. Jason Mantzoukas guest stars as the crazed director who is putting the movie on stage. I personally love Jason Mantzoukas on screen. He plays pretty much the same character across every show, but the manic intensity and crazed logic behind his motivations are hilarious. Of course, this fits in perfectly in Community, where he decides to blindly cast Annie as Daniel-san (the role that Chang was going for) and picks Chang to play Mr. Miyagi. Chang, disappointed that he’s typecast as the Asian, jealously looks at Annie for being picked out of the blue for the role he was auditioning for.
Meanwhile, Frankie, Jeff, and the Dean are in his office discussing the merits of him taking a position on the merit of sexuality. Being new at this, Frankie actually tries to make a serious discussion on the topic while the Dean and Jeff hold a silent sidebar conversation of glances wondering about Frankie’s sexual orientation. Of course, Jeff does the Jeff thing and convinces the Dean to take the position for advantage and place one of Greendale’s own on the school board, leading to a press conference where the Dean is placed front and center of the school board’s attempt to rehabilitate his image. The Dean and his faux partner Domingo are then sent into a full montage of fame set to ‘Jolene’, except replaced with ‘Gay Dean’, apparently only expressing about 2/7 of his sexuality.
Rehearsals have now started and while Annie is hamming it up on stage, Chang is being berated and verbally abused by the director. Annie obviously feels for Chang, but her ego at being cast keeps her from fully committing to helping Chang out. Annie’s belief in her own superiority is all for naught as she finally stands up for Chang, only to realize that she isn’t the focus of the play at all, but just a side character picked so they could save on the budget. The director’s focus on Chang is because he has the sadness and depth to play Mr. Miyagi (who upon thinking about it, is an incredibly tragic character in the film). What ends up happening, is Chang absolutely nailing the part of Miyagi on stage. I was genuinely amazed at how Ken Jeong has grown as an actor, and no lie, I wouldn’t mind seeing this play put with him in it. You can also watch Annie squirm as Annie Kim takes over her role and realizing that the play, even without her, is fantastic. So much of Annie is wound up in her believing that she’s special, and above others. It’s been a while since she’s been set back in her place, and this is a great subtle way to do it, as an audience reaction.
Finally, things come to a head while the school board realizes that while having a gay dean helps, it doesn’t substitute for competence. It ends up with Abed taping a confrontation between an unarmed black man, and an unarmed openly gay dean. Community’s own version of an unstoppable force and an immovable object. Heartbreakingly, it leads to two baby birds dying, but the restoration of the wifi. The Dean goes through an existential crisis because of this, and in doing so, comes out to the public, as a politician. In the end, the study group goes out to let the last surviving bird free, to scare it off wearing cat masks, but also flapping finger wings symbolically. The baby bird at last flies off, life-affirmingly, only to land and probably nest inside a transformer.
This is the Community that I’ve been waiting for in season six. Three separate storylines, but each able to hold water. When Community is at its strongest, each of the A, B, and C storylines are strong, but most importantly, each character has their own time to breath and come into their own. This episode delivers that in spades.
Oh, and Britta gets little to no screen time. Coincidence? I think not.
In this thrilling fourth season based on George R.R. Martin’s bestselling books, the Lannisters’ control over the Iron Throne remains intact, but can they survive their own egos as well as the ongoing threats around them? While an unshaken Stannis Baratheon continues to rebuild his army on Dragonstone, a more immediate danger comes from the south, as Oberyn Martell, the Lannister-loathing ‘Red Viper of Dorne’, arrives at King’s Landing to attend Joffrey’s wedding. At the Wall, the Night’s Watch seems overmatched against Mance Rayder’s advancing army of wildlings, which in turn is being trailed by an even more formidable foe. What’s more, Daenerys Targaryen, accompanied by her fierce trio of dragons and an Unsullied army, is poised to ‘liberate’ Meereen, the largest Slaver City in the east, which could provide her with an imposing force to execute her ultimate plan of reclaiming the Iron Throne for her family.
Cheo Hodari Coker will serve as the Executive Producer and Showrunner of Marvel’s Luke Cage, Marvel announced on Tuesday.
Coker, who has served as co-executive producer on season two of Ray Donovan, will be writing the first two episodes of the series. His previous work also includes serving as a supervising producer on the fourth season of Southland, which garnered the team a 2012 Peabody Award.
Coker’s writing credentials don’t end their either. He started his writing career as a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times an authored the book Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G..
Marvel’s Luke Cage will premiere in 2016 everywhere Netflix is available. Mike Colter will play Luke Cage.
Better Call Saul Season 1, Episode 9 – “Pimento” Air Date – March 30, 2015
For better or worse, family shapes your life. Such is the case for both Mike and Jimmy in “Pimento”, the next to last episode in the first season of Better Call Saul. For Mike they’re his raison d’etre, and out of love he does what he does. Alternatively, as James McGill discovered, family can be your worst enemy.
In order to provide for his granddaughter, Mike starts his criminal career with a low-level protection job, reminding us that he’s been a badass long before Walt even thought about the Meth biz. During the job we learn a bit about Mike’s “code” and how he’s able to transition from not-so-clean cop to stoic criminal. The speech he gives to his all too green boss “Price” (not his real name) boils down to evaluating a person based on their integrity regardless of what they do. It’s an important distinction to note for all the characters.
For the McGills, things at the beginning of the episode seem to be going well. “Seem” is an interesting word. It gives us an impression, and more often than not, that impression proves to be false. So despite their growing bond and friendship born from working together, the partnership in “RICO” made us wary. Partly because we noticed Chuck’s knee jerk reaction to his brother passing the bar, and partly because we know what Jimmy becomes. However, he clearly needed the help and Chuck was more than willing to give it. (In fact, he offered it.) There’s no denying Chuck has a sharp mind for litigation, he accurately predicted that Schweikart and Cokely would react with a restraining order. And Jimmy is more apt at arguing, which he does to successfully fend off said restraining order. But when Chuck suggests (and rightly so) that they need help, specifically the help of HHM, our collective “spidey-sense” went off.
For most of this episode Gilligan toys with the audience, forcing us to watch as Jimmy gets hung out to dry. His hints speak volumes, validating what we already assume. As Jimmy trudges off acquiescing to Chuck’s suggestion, making aside comments about getting an office and being out of the mailroom, we stay on Chuck and his expression. That night, we see the extent Chuck goes to to make a call behind his brother’s back. Even though we don’t hear any worthwhile moments of the conversation, we know what’s coming.
It’s apparent that Jimmy is losing control of his case when the two brother’s arrive at their old office. Jimmy is left carrying the two boxes so that his brother can bask in the fabricated glory of his peers. It comes as no surprise to us, when Howard tells Jimmy they just want the case and not him. Chuck’s reassuring manner as Howard clears the room and his “astonishment” when they’re given the news is hollow, and adds a new depth to why we dislike him. Still we don’t know. Not entirely, it’s just an inkling. When Kim goes to bat for Jimmy, we see Howard predictably acting like a hardass only to soften up ready to reveal…something. This revelation leads Kim to advise Jimmy to take the deal, and still, we as an audience are dancing around the edges but now Jimmy begins to connect the dots.
At the end of the episode, Jimmy corners Chuck with his own “I know it was you” scene, and finally we hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Despite all the hard work and talent, Charlie does not, has not, and will not ever see Jimmy as a real lawyer. He hides behind the need to defend “the law” and it’s sanctity, but it’s means to justify his ivory tower mentality where a diploma and not merit matter the most. Granted Chuck has his reasons to mistrust Jimmy, but the length he went to deceive and circumvent Jimmy’s success is earth shattering. He’s blind to all the good and caring he’s done (specifically for him) all he sees – all anyone sees – is a con-man, a joke, someone who can’t be taken seriously. And as Jimmy leaves Chuck’s house, supposedly for the last time, his look says “if Slippin’ Jimmy is all they see, well by God, Slippin’ Jimmy is what they’re gonna get.”
And so the road to him becoming a “criminal…lawyer” comes into clearer focus.
the internet, there’s no end to fanart, fanfiction, cosplay, and fan…food? I’m grateful for that because some of the fan work is good. I mean, really good. And that’s where people like 
