Summer TV Picks: Wednesday

Think? I know I can dance
but that's not the point.

Not much going on this evening. However, I am going to watch the entire So You Think You Can Dance? season. I’ve never seen an entire season from the beginning. I have a girlfriend who loves this show so I think I’ll give it a chance.

I might DVR the Hatfields and McCoys on Lifetime. It’s got a great cast led by Bill Paxton and Kevin Costner. It has that western feel to it. Since I grew  up watching reruns of Bonanza, Big Valley and Alias Smith and Jones with my dad, I have grown to appreciate a good western. Of course, I realize that the Hatfield and McCoy feud took place in West Virginia so it’s not really ‘western’ but you get the point.

My Summer Picks So Far

Loving MasterChef! I’m ready for them to get beyond the auditions and start cooking. Not so sure who I’m rooting for yet. I think I’ll figure it out when we get down to the actual group of contestants.

Loving the feisty group over on Hell’s Kitchen. NOT loving the fact that Barbie, the black woman, has already been set up to be this season’s villain. I’m going to have to re-watch last night’s episode to see why her entire team jumped on her back. I must have missed something while I was walking the dog because last I saw, she had helped them win the scallop challenge and was the first one to get an appetizer out of the kitchen during the dinner service. Reality TV always wants to play the Evil Black Woman card and I for one am getting tired of it.

Speaking of getting tired, I am no longer as stoked as I was for The Glee Project Season Two after the first episode. I get that Glee is about the underdog but they went totally PC for this group: the Muslim girl, the blind guy, a girl in a wheelchair, a boyish lesbian, a transgendered guy, overweight girl … as if there weren’t less visually obvious ways to be an underdog. Personally, I liked that during the first seasons of Glee we got to see how even the popular kids were flawed and sometimes felt like underdogs.

Once they announced the bottom three I knew immediately, before a note was sung, who was going home. It was that painfully PC and obvious. Aylin (the Muslim girl) versus Tyler (the transgendered guy) versus Maxfield (the white boy). From that alone, can you guess who’s going home? Aylin was really good with her version of David Guetta's Without You and I figured of the three she’d be a safe bet and she was. Then, it came down to Tyler versus Maxfield. Tyler was HORRIBLE. It was clear that the only reason he’d made it this far was because of his transgendered status. It pisses me off because someone with more talent could have taken his spot. 

His rendition of The Jackson 5’s ABC sounded like it was being sung by Steve Urkel from Family Matters. Maxfield, the country crooner, had Willie Nelson’s Always on My Mind. Comfortably in his wheelhouse, he killed it. However he’s not PC, so he was out – leaving Tyler alive another week to make my ears bleed.

Summer TV Picks: Tuesday Night

Okay, Tuesday, we have a problem. We actually have a two conflicts, one at 9:00 p.m., the other at 10:00 p.m..

8:00 PM is fine. For the second day in a row, I’ll be watching Hell’s Kitchen. Delicious!

The first conflict comes at 9:00 when MasterChef goes head-to-head with Rizzoli and Isles on TNT. I watched an episode of the first season somewhat reluctantly (nothing else was on) and I actually liked it. Angie Harmon (Jane Rizzoli) and Sasah Alexander (Maura Isles) have a great chemistry and it extends to the rest of the cast. Tuesday night on TNT is fun.

However, I think I’ll watch MasterChef and DVR R & I. Sorry ladies, Gordon Ramsey for the win!

At 10:00, it’s another TNT show. This time it’s TNT's Franklin and Bash. Mark-Paul Gosselar and Breckin Meyer are two attorneys living in a state of suspended adolescence who somehow manage to be pretty good lawyers (despite their courtroom hijinx). Okay, I don’t really know why I like this show, but I do. True, the leads have chemistry like R & I but otherwise it’s a pretty silly show. I’ll just file this one under guilty pleasures.

However, its up against the second season of The Glee Project … one of my favorite summer shows from last season. I’m a major Gleek so this really isn’t even a battle. The Glee Project wins hands-down. I’ll have to DVR Franklin and Bash. It’s entirely possible I might forget about it at all.

Summer TV Picks: Monday Night

Once upon a time, summer TV sucked. It was made up of re-runs of fall and winter TVs. One could argue that it was a good thing because you could actually go out during the long days of summer and actually do things without worrying about missing something good on TV. Of course, once upon a time, you didn't have DVRs and if you really want to go back, you didn't even have a VHS. Go back even further and you'll run into a time when kids were the remote control and TV went off at 1:00 in the morning.

I digress. Summer TV has really picked up. Now, you have an actual Summer Season with first run shows and some of them are actually good and not just cast-off shows that couldn't make it in the regular season. So this week, I'm going to share what I'll be watching over the summer. It's a mix of network but mostly cable shows. I watch a lot more cable in the summer.

Well, Hell’s Bells! It’s almost too good to be true. Starting tonight, Hell’s Kitchen comes on at 8:00 p.m. followed by MasterChef at 9:00 p.m. Two hours of Gordon Ramsey, back-to-back! I am definitely a Ramsey fan. In fact, his are the only cooking shows I watch.

First up, I can watch him go ballistic on a bunch of ‘professional’ chefs who can’t get their shit together. Then, I can watch a slightly-kinder, gentler Ramsey work with a bunch of talented amateurs on MasterChef. I can actually say that watching what these non-professionals can do, inspired me to reignite my passion for the culinary arts.

At 10:00, I might actually –gasp! – read a book. Or, what is most likely, I’ll probably watch Fatal Encounters on ID. Although I suspect the season for that show is wrapping up which will leave me with early news or reading (what a radical idea).

Movie Review Snow White and the Huntsman

Before seeing Snow White and the Huntsman, forget anything and everything you thought you knew based on the Disney film. The virginal, clean Snow White and her jolly band of elves are gone. This is not Walt Disney’s Snow White. Hell, it’s not even the Grimm Brother’s Snow White or even Once Upon a Time’s Snow.

This is Snow White: Warrior Princess. This is Snow White as an action hero. This Snow White kicks ass. The story starts off the usual way with young Snow White (Raffey Cassidy) losing her mother (Liberty Ross) and her father taking a new wife (The Evil Queen/Stepmother) (played by Charlize Theron). She banishes Snow (now played by Kristen Stewart) to a prison tower and she and her creepy brother (Sam Spruell) run the kingdom into the ground.

The Queen, however, is as vain as she is ambitious, and her ruthless quest to stay youthful has her sucking the youth out of young women and the hearts out of others. When her Mirror tells her that to attain immortality and eternal youth she must eat the heart of ‘the fairest of them all’ … and that would be Snow White.

When Snow gets her chance, she breaks out of her prison and the Queen hires a Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to find her. Later in the search, he is joined by Snow’s childhood friend Prince William (Sam Claflin). Of course, they eventually run into the decidedly unmerry group of dwarfs (including Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone and Ian McShane).

I don’t mind a ‘reinvention’ of an old tale and this is definitely that. Snow White may be the heroine but this is an action movie. With barely a hint of romance (which I kind of missed). However, they do take the time to set up a raggedy love triangle and, frustratingly, left it unresolved at the end.

Charlize was over-the-top, but in this case, the role calls for it. She was dripping with evil as the Queen. I’ve never seen any of the Twilight movies but Kirsten Stewart was good enough. I just wish they would have invested as much in feeling as they did special effects. When it came to the Dark Forest and The Enchanted Forest the effects were outstanding. If this movie is up for any award it will be for make-up (the Queen) or Special Effects (for both forests).

The action was hot and heavy too. Lots of visually stunning fighting, swordplay and battle sequences.

Yet, I found myself yearning for more of a connection with these characters. Yet, maybe you aren’t like me and would welcome a Snow White with no mushy stuff. In that case, you’ll really enjoy Snow White and the Huntsman.

Movie Review: Men in Black 3

The Men in Black are back and if you are worried about MIB 3, just knowing that it’s better than MIB 2 should ease your mind. The movie is far from perfect (it would take an alien to jump over some of those potholes) but it’s a lot of fun and that is the basis of a great summer movie!

An almost unrecognizable Jemaine Clement (star of HBO’s quirky Flight of the Conchords) is Boris the Animal a criminal, locked up on the moon, with an axe to grind against Agent K. Boris only has one arm and it seems that 40 years ago, Agent K was responsible for him losing it. Boris wants to travel back in time to the day before the unfortunate amputation and kill K.

At first, his plan seems to work. Agent J wakes up to a world without Agent K. With some help from Agent O (Emma Thompson) goes back a day earlier in time to stop Boris. In the process, he meets the young Agent K (played by Josh Brolin). This K isn’t the reticent, unfeeling K that J knows from the present. This guy has emotion. This guy has feeling.

Brolin’s Tommy Lee Jones impression is the best thing about MIB 3. It is so spot-on that you think he’s lip synching. Will Smith is back to playing the wise-cracking Agent J. The movie is fun and enjoyable. It even tugs at your heart toward the end. I missed Zed (Rip Torn) who is now dead and Frank (the dog), he could have at least had a cameo!

The problem I had was that as we left, we had a lot of questions that revealed a lot of major plot holes. This is definitely a movie that you can’t really think about because if you do, you’ll find yourself saying, “Hey, wait a minute…” at several junctures (especially at the end).

Men in Black 3 is a light, fun movie. However, if you go, check your brain at the door, you won’t need it.

A Winner I Can Get Excited About!

I called it during his audition!
I knew it was Phil Phillips for the win!

Well, American Idol Season 11 is over and Phillip Phillips is the new American Idol. After a disappointing Celebrity Apprentice, AI got it right!


Since his audition, I was a Phil Phillips fan! When compared to Jessica Sanchez, there really wasn’t a comparison. Yes, she is hands-down the better singer but to me they packaged her all wrong. She’s a 16-year old girl, not a pageant singer, not a Celine Dion wannabe. Yet, there was nothing about this girl that said teenager. From her song choices to her gowns, they chased away anything that was youthful about her. I think she suffered from it. No doubt the girl has a future, I just think the way she was portrayed, it wasn’t going to be as the American Idol.

However, why cry for the runner-up? Clay Aiken has had a much bigger career than Ruben Studdard. Adam Lambert has left Kris Allen in the dust. So, crying about Number Two doesn’t make much sense.

Phillip though, I loved his way of interpreting a song as well as the way he remained true to himself. From song choice to wardrobe, he always seemed to have a clear idea of who he was. Personally, I liked his take on Matchbox 20’s disease last week.

The thing I really respected about him was the way he kept the focus on the music. He’s suffering from a very serious kidney ailment and is having major surgery in the next day or so. The illness is so severe that he missed several Ford commercial shoots. He had a stent put into his kidney so that he could continue in the competition but now he’s headed for surgery and that would also require a six-week recovery period.

A lot of contestants would have milked the illness angle to garner a slew of sympathy votes but even when Ryan attempted to mention his illness, he also put it back on the music.

Anyway, I’m happy with this outcome. And when he got so choked up singing after his win and put down the guitar and went to embrace his family, I thought it was the best Idol finale ever!

 Now the only Idol question that remains is who will replace J Lo next season?