Sky Writing Isn’t Always Positive

For those of you wondering, Ryan won our Oscar pool. He went 15 for 24. I lost by one freaking category. I’ve never hated Randy Newman more.

Spoilers below.

Community – “Intro to Political Science” (A)

It surprises me a little that it took Community this long to tackle student politics. You’d think a show based in a community college would be all over that kind of easy episode premise. Well, “Intro to Political Science” may have been late, but it was well worth the wait, delivering a hilarious and subversive take on politics in general.

The episode started with the news that Joe Biden would be visiting local community colleges, and Greendale happens to be on his list. The only problem – he wants to meet the school’s student council president, a position that currently doesn’t exist at Greendale. This gives the college 7 hours to elect their new student council president.

The presidential debate was one of the shining moments of this episode. The writers have done a wonderful job of filling Greendale with a wide assortment of terrific background characters, and it’s moments like this week’s election where all that work really pays off. Star Burns dropping out of the election because it may shine a negative light on his drug dealing, Magnitude answering every question with Bop Bop, and Leonard changing his last name to Rodriguez to corner the Hispanic vote – all this was possible because the writers planted these seeds a long time ago (or two weeks in the case of Magnitude, but whatever).

But the election did eventually boil down to a two horse race between Jeff and Annie. Their rivalry produced a few good moments, my favourite being the conversation between the two of them where they forcibly smiled at the crowd while trading verbal barbs.

Ultimately though, Annie gets the upper hand on Jeff by playing his Real World audition tape from back when he was 19, embarrassing him enough to get him to drop out of the race. Although Annie to drops out of the race – ashamed  at what she’d done to Jeff in the name of politics – leaving only Magnitude and Leonard left in the race. Who won then you ask? The popular Comedy Central series South Park... with 7 votes.

But the election itself wasn’t even the funniest part – it was Abed and Troy’s coverage of it on the campus’ closed circuit television. From their hilarious profiles of each of the candidates to their terrible banter between segments (“You know you’ve gotta ask yourself right now Abed, what’s... up with politics”) this was definitely the highlight of the episode for me. I would love to see these two back on the closed circuit loop again some day, although maybe not with Troy and Abed in the Morning. I think that’s segment’s funnier because they don’t film it.

Abed actually had a busy week this week, because on top of his political coverage he also made time for a romantic connection... or whatever the hell that was. Eliza Coupe (who also played Denise on Scrubs) did a wonderful job of playing Abed’s secret service agent crush. If there is any one woman who Abed is meant to be with, it has to be her. Their interactions with each other were adorable, with both of them trying to flirt over their outwardly detached demeanours. And I loved their final date with each other! It was just so delectably weird.

Of course a lot of what made this episode great I couldn’t fit into the review, so here’s a list of some of my other favourite moments.

-          Abed’s “Classic Wingers” notches. Actually just all the notches in general.

-          Brita’s fail when it came to rousing the crowd – “I believe that human kind need not be governed... (as the room sits silently) I don’t care.”

-          Pierce’s feud with Vicky, ending with him getting stabbed in the face with a pencil.

-          Troy’s description of Garrett as they’re profiling the candidates – “That guys just a mess. It’s like God spilled a person.”

-          The assailant known only as the Ass Crack Bandit.

-          Troy embracing his television personality status – “Can I get an apple juice? Freshly squeezed this time or so help me God Maurice.”

-          How Jeff sees himself – “I’m sorry Annie, I’m not the worker bee type. I’m more of a silverback gorilla with the claws of a lion, the teeth of a shark, and the quiet dignity of a tortoise.” It’s true, those tortoises are pretty dignified.

The Office – “Todd Packer” (B)

Ever since Holly’s return in this season’s Christmas episode Michael has been going through a transformation as a character. I think it’s fair to say that a lot of the credit for Michael’s newfound maturity belongs to her. She really seems to bring out the best in him, and more importantly causes him to question some of his long held beliefs.

That’s exactly what happened in this episode. When Packer returns to the Scranton branch, and acts like... well Packer, he alienates most of the other employees in the office, most notably Holly. Michael originally tries to defend his friend, but when he insults Holly in the episode’s closing moments Michael finally wises up to the truth about Packer, and sends him on his way. I’ve made no secret my love for what the writers have done to Michael’s character, and this was just another great example of the spectacular job they’ve done of wrapping up his character.

This episode also brought back some great memories of Jim and Dwight back in their heyday. I don’t know why but it seems like it’s been a while since these two have had this kind of chemistry with each other. I loved their conversations as they plotted with each other over how to get rid of Packer. Dwight was in classic form, throwing out condescending insults left and right, and Jim’s response to it was understated yet hilarious. The drawer jamming scene was fantastic, as was Jim’s list of 400 ideas of how to prank Packer. This is really how the writers should be using these two characters.

Also good this week was the storyline between Pam and Andy. I didn’t like how Pam went about getting her office administrator position, but the way the show has used it this season has really reinvigorated her character. I loved how delighted Pam was at becoming corrupt. I don’t know if the writers will carry it past this episode – it could become problematic if they do – but the way she went about getting Andy a new computer, and her further cover up with Darryl was entertaining to say the least.

Only 3 more episodes to go until Steve Carell leaves the show. Let’s hope they can finish his run strong.

Parks and Recreation – “Indianapolis” (A)

I was a little worried going into this episode. It was going to be our first look at Andy and April as a couple, and as many of you know, chemistry in the build-up of a relationship doesn’t necessarily translate into chemistry as a couple. And early in the episode I felt as though my concerns may be warranted. Andy was talking about naming albums after her and the normally apathetic April couldn’t help but smile through an entire interview like a giddy school girl.

Luckily just as the two characters overcame their initial jitters about the relationship, so did I. If their club scenes are any indication of what I should expect from this coupling then I am very happy. I laughed out loud many time as they clamoured through the club looking for ways to get free stuff. I loved April’s demonstration of how she can get men to buy her drinks.

APRIL: Here you take this one. I will get myself a martini from that idiot.

And Andy’s bathroom attendant gag was priceless. When he helped the one guy wipe his hands on his shirt, and then got him to tip him I was practically rolling on the floor.

But as one relationship was starting on this show, another was ending – unfortunately for Ann she found out just a little late. Apparently after moving back to Indianapolis Chris had been acting distant, so suspecting him of cheating Ann sent in Leslie to snoop around his apartment for evidence of the affair. After Leslie finds a woman’s razor and a pink bathing camp in his bathroom, Ann storms down to Indianapolis to confront him, only to find out the embarrassing truth.

LESLIE: Yeah so here’s what happened. Sweet and beautiful Ann has never been dumped before, and Chris is such a positive person, when he broke up with her she just didn’t realize it. It’s kind of understandable. Although it does kind of make you wonder how good of a nurse she is.

Watching Ann slowly discover the truth about her misunderstanding was hilarious, and her recounting of all the embarrassing things she had done since the break up was great. My favourite part of the entire episode though was watching Leslie’s attempt to cheer Anne up by telling her all of the horrible ways she had been broken up with. I was laughing so hard for so long afterwards I decided to post the whole list of them as a tribute.

-          One time, while I was in high school, a guy’s mom called me and broke up with me for him.

-          There was another time where I was on a date and I tripped and broke my knee cap. Then the guy said he wasn’t feeling it, so he left and I waited for an ambulance.

-          One time I was dating this guy for a while, and then he got down on one knee and he begged me to never call him again.

-          One guy broke up with me while we were in the shower together.

-          Sky writing isn’t always positive.

-          Another time a guy invited me to a beautiful picnic with wine and flowers, and then when I tried to sit down he said don’t eat anything Rebecca’s coming... and then he broke up with me.

And last but not least I can’t leave without talking about Ron’s storyline this week. I honestly don’t even know where to begin here because pretty much every scene he was in was fantastic. I loved his reaction to his favourite steak joint closing down (he kept a scrap book of all the steaks he’d eaten there). It was like he was going into shock after he found out.

RON: What happened to the steaks that were in there when they closed? Do you think they got eaten?

I also loved how he collapsed on discovery Chris was cooking mushrooms instead of steaks. And of course his final scene at the diner where he asks for all of guy’s bacon and eggs was good too. Nick Offerman deserves a ton of credit here. If he didn’t play those breakdown scenes perfectly they could have been a disaster, so kudos to him.

30 Rock – “TGS Hates Women” (B+)

I really hope the writers of 30 Rock can find a reason to bring Chloe Moretz back. Her character’s rivalry with Jack is just too funny to get rid of. I loved their early scenes in the library, where Kaylie poked and prodded Jack, reminding him of all the things he used to love about oceanography.

But when the gloves finally came off between the two of them was when the real magic started to happen. It was really only one scene, which is why I hope they bring her back, but the two of them going at it was hysterical. Kaylie threatens to tell her grandfather Jack gave her alcohol, Jack threatens to seduce one of her teachers and have them fail her. It was such a warped scene you couldn’t help but laugh.

We also had Liz this week trying to salvage her show’s feminist reputation after a popular blog accuses TGS of hating women. She ends up hiring a new female guest writer named Abby, but is quickly dismayed by the new writer’s bimbo like status. I wasn’t a particularly huge fan of the bulk of this storyline, but I did like how it ended.

 With Liz unable to curb Abby’s behaviour, she posts an old stand up routine of the guest writer on the internet to show that she didn’t always flaunt her sexuality. As it turns out though, Abby had changed her voice and appearance to avoid her crazy ex-husband, not to get ahead in the business. Oops.

LIZ: Oh, because I thought it was pressure from society.

Hilarious.

Grey’s Anatomy – “Not Responsible” (B+)

With last week’s Grey’s being such a fantastic offshoot episode for the series, I wasn’t sure if the show could maintain its momentum when it went back to business as usual. Fortunately, “Not Responsible” was a thoughtful episode that moved the show’s story forward into some new and interesting directions.

I think my favourite new development was the relationship formed between Lexie and Avery. I figured some sort of friendship was developing between the two of them back when Lexie was complaining to him about her dad’s new girlfriend in “P.Y.T.”, but never did I think the two would be getting together any time soon, much less all in a single episode.

But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy watching them do just that. Grey’s conversation with her cystic fibrosis patient was really well done, and I liked what she had to say about worrying there won’t be anyone else and then feeling silly when there is. Of course, at the time, she herself may not have believed it. Cue my favourite scene of the episode – Lexie and Avery’s parking lot conversation. Avery attempts to comfort her by telling her that that there are no such thing as soul mates, and that when she was ready to move on there would be a line of guys waiting for her.

LEXIE: Oh would you be in that line?
AVERY: Yeah, I’m in the line.

And the rest is history. It was a great scene and I look forward to seeing where they take these two.

The other new development this week was Meredith’s fertility drug induced vision problems. It looked to be a set up for a much more drawn out storyline, but it still piqued my interest. I highly doubt the eye damage will be permanent. They can’t bench her forever. Probably more likely is she‘ll have to choose between being a surgeon and having a baby, and I don’t see Grey choosing the latter. At the moment I can’t really tell whether I like this storyline or not. I’ll have to wait and see what they do with it.

I also liked Christina and Owen’s storyline in this episode. Spurred on by Callie, Mark, and Arizona’s baby problems the two of them were thrown into their own baby discussion. Christina, of course, was adamantly against having kids, while Owen resented having the decision being made without him first getting a say in the matter. It’s a fairly standard kids or no kids storyline. What I thought set it apart though was Owen’s take on Christina’s state of mind.  “The idea that your career is the only thing that will ever matter to you is frankly a young person’s notion” counters Owen, another one of my favourite lines of the episode. It’ll be interesting to see how this little tiff affects their relationship in the future. As Christina lovingly pointed out, their marriage isn’t exactly built on a solid foundation.

The Big Bang Theory – “The Toast Derivation” (B+)

Sheldon's life is changing and he doesn't know how he feels about it. With Leonard dating Raj's sister, this episode focused on Sheldon’s reaction to changes in his routine. Leonard has decided to spend Thursday night at Raj's to be with Pria and Sheldon has concerns because, Thursday night is Pizza night at their place. He attempts to attend their tex-mex dinner, but finds it intolerable, so he puts together a new group of friends – Penny’s old boyfriend Zach, Barry Cribkey, and Stewart from the comic book store.

These four make a pretty funny quaterinty. But Sheldon can't deal with their way of doing things either. Stewart needs to shower in his place, and Barry and Zach want to sing karaoke. At the same time Leonard and the gang find themselves missing Sheldon and all the crazy facts he likes to share. So like any good story, the gang finds itself back together in the end. But Penny remains lonely and without Leonard.

It’s a short and sweet review this week, but I want to mention something I think I have noticed in shows on two different networks. CBS airs Big Bang and NBC airs Community, but it seems to me like the two shows have been trading some very subtle jokes. I don't know if this is already news or not so I’ll explain what I’ve noticed from the beginning. Basically it goes like this... The Barenaked Ladies sing the theme song for Big Bang and recently in Community there have been a couple BNL references. A few weeks ago, there was a large discussion around the study table as to the merits of BNL. Then this past week, on Pierce's bio on his campaign sheet there was another reference to him loving BNL. At first I thought maybe Community was taking a very subtle shot at Big Bang since the two shows are very, very different. Community is subtle and very witty. Big Bang is funny, nerdy and well... it uses a laugh track. So it seems like a subtle joke that those guys would make.

Now I don't know if I'm making this up or if it’s a coincidence, but it seems to me like the cameo of Levar Burton on Big Bang this past week is a reference to his cameo on Community the week before. I don't know. The post-production times on those episodes might make that impossible. But to me, with Community dropping two BNL references and Big Bang pulling the same cameo it seems like these two shows are either rivals or good friends dropping hints at each other's merit. Either way, it’s cool.

Song(s) of the week

Woo! Song of the week! Woo!

Alright, I couldn’t think of anything to say. It’s been what, like 6 posts in 6 days now. I’m running on empty.

This week’s picks:

“Young Hearts Spark Fire” and “Art Czars” by Japandroids

Where I found Japandroids: I first saw these guys on Last Call with Carson Daly. I’ve become a huge fan of Carson as of late. Ever since he switched formats (it’s like a talk show documentary now) his show has gotten way better, and it’s a great place to find new music, not to mention interviews with some really cool people who don’t typically get the spotlight. Seriously, if you’re up you should check him out.

What I like: Obviously I’m fan of their energy, but to be honest I think I like their lyrics even more. I really love the hook of “Young Hearts Spark Fire”. It’s probably not a good sign that at 23 I can relate to a line like “we used to dream, now we worry about dying”, but you try listening to that song without singing along with it.

The other thing I love about this band is their messy recording style. These sound like real recordings, not something produced to death in a studio and pieced together by a computer. And it’s all the imperfections that make these songs feel so raw, which is a huge part of what makes this band so fun to listen to.

Young Hearts Spark Fire - Japandroids


Art Czars - Japandroids

Oscar Picks 2011

It’s Oscar time and I am pumped! I’ve seen all 10 of the best picture nominees, most of the writing and acting nominees, and absolutely none of the documentaries. I’m ready for this thing.

For the record these picks aren’t who I want to win, these are who I think will win. For a list of my favourite movies of the year, go here.

If you want to play along with me you can find a list of the nominees here. Post your picks in the comments and I’ll tally up the totals and announce the winner (there will be no prizes) on Monday... or whenever I get around to it. Probably more likely though – I’ll play this game unopposed, win by default, and none of these picks will have mattered at all.

It’s gonna be a big win for me.

*** Update***

Ryan just sent me his picks so it looks like this is going to be a competition. You can find his picks below.

Brian’s Picks

Best Picture: The King’s Speech

Best Director: David Fincher

Best Actor: Colin Firth

Best Actress: Natalie Portman (woo!)

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo

Best Original Screenplay: The King’s Speech

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network

Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3

Best Foreign Language Film: Biutiful

Best Documentary Feature: Exit Through the Gift Shop

Best Animated Short: Day and Night

Best Documentary Short: Stranger No More

Best Art Direction: The King’s Speech

Best Cinematography: Inception

Best Costume Design: The King’s Speech

Best Film Editing: Black Swan

Best Live Action Short: The Crush

Best Original Score: 127 Hours

Best Original Song: “If I Rise” – 127 Hours

Best Makeup: The Wolfman

Best Visual Effects: Inception

Best Sound Editing: Inception

Best Sound Mixing: Inception

Ryan’s Picks

Best Picture:  The Kings Speech

Best Director: David Fincher

Best Actor: Colin Firth

Best Actress: Natalie Portman

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale

Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld

Best Original Screenplay:  The Kings Speech

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network

Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3

Best Foreign Language Film: In a Better World

Best Documentary Feature: Exit Through the Gift Shop

Best Animated Short: Day and Night

Best Documentary Short: Killing in the Name

Best Art Direction: True Grit

Best Cinematography: Inception

Best Costume Design: The Kings Speech

Best Film Editing: The Social Network

Best Live Action Short: Na Wewe

Best Original Score: The Kings Speech

Best Original Song: “We Belong Together” – Toy story 3

Best Makeup: The Wolfman

Best Visual Effects: Inception

Best Sound Editing: Inception

Best Sound Mixing: Inception

Happy Valenbirthiversary!

Posts 4 days in row! Way to go me. I don’t know what’s more impressive – that, or the fact that I’m still doing recaps of V. Probably the V thing. Well luckily I also have reviews of last night’s episodes of Modern Family and Off the Map.

And stay tuned again tomorrow when I reveal my Oscar picks for this weekend. I’m hoping to get a little competition going so get your own picks ready.

You know how this works... spoilers.

Modern Family – “Regrets Only” (A-)

The theme of last night’s Modern Family was communication. Claire and Phil have a fight, only Phil has no idea what over. Cameron thinks Mitchell doesn’t listen to him, which is exacerbated by the fact that Cameron forgot to mail the invitations to Cam’s big charity benefit. And Jay doesn’t have to heart to tell Gloria he wants her to stop using the Karaoke machine he got her for her birthday (she has a particularly great rendition of Angel of the Morning).

This episode had the kind of intermingling I love to see from Modern Family. I don’t know what it is about these odd couple pairings, but this show is almost always better when they break out of the familiar family dynamics. Phil and Gloria were perfect examples. I loved their hair cutting scene, where Phil goes through all the reasons why Claire might be mad, only to end with Gloria telling him “I kill you” if he were ever to do that to her.

And who would have thought pairing Cam and Luke together would be so hilarious (I guess probably the writers). The contrast between them was played for some great laughs, and Luke’s misunderstanding of pretty much every instruction given to him really highlighted how funny Cam is when he’s in party throwing mode. The head sets were a particularly nice touch here. But my favourite exchange between these two came as Cam was freaking out over how he was going to salvage his benefit.

CAM: What are we going to do?
LUKE: I could start a fire.
CAM: No... well keep that in your back pocket.

Everything of course ended on a positive note, starting with Phil and Claire. It turns out Claire was mad at Phil because she felt like he’d never taken any of her suggestions. So to show her that he does in fact value her opinion, he brought out a photo album and went over all the ways Claire has put her stamp on his life, including getting rid of a pony tail and changing his major away from forestry (one of the most hilarious of majors).

And just like Phil with Claire, Mitchell came through for Cam with some last minute party guests.  Their joyful reunion after the fact was hilarious, especially when Cam yelled at the harp players for not scoring the moment. I also thought it was great that despite more than half the seats in the room being empty it was still double what the music society got last year for “cello submarine”.

And I have to quickly mention Manny, who was relatively quiet throughout the whole episode only to come in and steal the show in the final minutes. His ending breakdown over the karaoke machine was great, but it was his final line during the ending credits sequence that absolutely stole the entire episode.

MANNY: (after unplugging the karaoke machine Jay was singing with) You keep this up and this won’t be the last plug I pull.

Off the Map – “Es Un Milagro” (B+)

When the chopper went down at the end of the last episode, you knew this one was going to be a good one. “Es Un Milagro” may not have been as intense as I’d envisioned – that exploding chopper didn’t do it for me – but what they gave us instead was equally enjoyable. I think it may be because they managed to focus on my three favourite characters in this episode that made it so enticing.

First off, how awesome is the Charlie/Tommy bromance? These two are hilarious together. Charlie in particular had a great episode. As unrealistic as it was for Tommy and Keeton to use him in that surgery, I couldn’t help but love the scene. I also love that he’s training himself to be a surgeon. It kind of reminds me of The Cider House Rules a little, and I wouldn’t mind seeing the writers delve a little more into this storyline. Also funny was the reveal at the end that Charlie basically lives in a mansion. It was way nicer than Tommy’s place, which makes his “I need to know you’re not living in a cardboard box” comment all the more funny.

Clark’s story this week was a good one as well, revealing a few more details about her looming health problems. Her scenes with the little girl were all really sweet, and in all honesty I’m absolutely falling in love with her character. Kudos again to Rachelle Lefevre for bringing such a wonderfully upbeat character to life.

The revelation at the end of the episode that she was going into heart failure really put the heat on this storyline, and I can’t see a quick resolution to it. Perhaps they put her on restrictive duty or something. Oh! But then for some reason she has to go out into the field, and it’s all dangerous and what not. Huh? I really should be writing these things. Well whatever they do they better not kill her off. Mark my words, I will not be happy.

Mina was also involved in a pretty heavy storyline this week, as she was forced to confront a similar situation to the one that got her kicked out of her previous residency. Her quiet desperation as she worked to save her patient only made the patient’s death all the more painful. Her final breakdown was well played by Mamie Gummer and I can’t wait to see the repercussions of this storyline in next week’s episode.

And of the course the episode concluded with Brenner finding out her new boyfriend Mateo happens to be a cocaine farmer. It wasn’t exactly a shocking turn of events considering he came into the clinic with a gunshot wound a couple weeks ago, but the reveal was still done well. It should be interesting to see the fallout from that discovery. I can’t imagine Mateo’s employers being too happy about Brenner finding out about the farm.

V – “Birth Pangs” (C+)

I know I ripped into this show pretty hard last week. I haven’t changed my mind about what I said either. I’m tired of the apparent lack of planning when it comes to the writing on this show. This week’s episode did a little better on the writing front, but not anywhere close to where it needed to be. I think it may be time for V to die a quiet peaceful death.

There was some hope for this show in last week’s episode, with Erica taking over the reins as the leader of the Fifth Column. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to capitalize on that momentum this week. With Eli’s contacts not confident in her ability to lead, Erica sets out to prove herself to them – by breaking into her former doctor’s apartment... for some reason.

These are the kind of sequences V does very poorly. They set up a bunch of seemingly random obstacles for our characters to overcome in an attempt to evoke some tension, but they do their set-ups so haphazardly that it completely defeats the purpose. The audience knows if you’ve hastily thrown it together within the episode, the characters are in no real danger of getting caught or having any permanent repercussions. And that’s exactly what happened here. Why would the police have video surveillance on an apartment building? Why do they only have 15 minutes before the camera resets? It’s all completely arbitrary, which makes the sequence feel arbitrary.

And speaking of Erica and Hobbes, was it just me or were the writers trying to set the groundwork for a future romance between them? I really hope not considering Erica’s ex-husband died LAST EPISODE, and that was already an incredibly forced romance in its own right. If they really wanted us to believe that her feelings for her ex-husband were real, instead of just an artificial way to make his death meaningful (which is what it was) then you’ve got to give her character time to mourn. Don’t just throw her into another forced relationship.

You know she's serious -- she's wearing sunglasses!

The other annoying thing about this episode, like every week, was the storyline surrounding Tyler. After spending the entirety of the first two season’s trying to take him from his mother like the survival of her species depended on it, Anna gets Tyler on board her ship permanently only to decide that he’s no longer useful to her (or some crap about phosphorus). You know, pretty much a complete betrayal of everything that came before this episode. If Tyler was completely replaceable all along, there is absolutely no reason for Anna to go to the lengths she did to get him to trust her. Really stupid.

The one saving grace of this episode was Lisa, who not only stood up to her mother for the first time this week, but delivered some actually interesting information to this series for the first time. According to the information she acquired for Chad, the Vs go from planet to planet taking the best genes from every species they encounter in an effort to speed up their own evolution. Finally you can see why the Vs care so much about human emotion. For a species that absorbs all the best genes of other species, which genes work and which don’t would be incredibly important. Although all of this is based on the assumption that out of all the species they have encountered in the universe, humans are the only ones with emotions.

Top Five Movies of 2010

by Brian

In honour of the Oscars this Sunday I’ve decided to give you a list of my favourite movies of the year. This is not a list of what I think will win awards (that’ll come later) nor is it a condemnation of anything that didn’t make the list. It’s simply the films I enjoyed the most over the course of the year. If anything, I want this list to spark discussion, so I’d love for you to share your own lists with us below in the comments. Enjoy!

5.       True Grit
Hailee Steinfeld deserves every bit of credit for that Best Supporting Actress nomination. When you think about it, she’s in a movie with two Oscar winners and an Oscar nominee (pretty weak Brolin), and more than holds her own against them all. It’s going to seem like I say this about all the movies, but True Grit has a wonderful assortment of characters who bring both wit and charm to the western. The movie may not stick with you that long after you see it, but it’s a more than enjoyable ride throughout.

4.       Easy A
When I sat down to write this list I realized that this wasn’t a good year for comedy. For the life of me I can only think of a handful of films that really made me laugh this year. Well surprisingly enough it was this little underdog of a film that I found the funniest. A loose adaptation of the Scarlett Letter, Easy A has a quirkiness to it you just can’t help but fall for. Combine that with a great performance by Emma Stone and a fairly astute message on sexuality, and you have what I consider the best comedy of 2010.

3.       The Social Network
Aaron Sorkin did a great job with this script. The dialogue in this movie is razor sharp and I loved the way he used the deposition to frame the events surrounding Facebook’s creation. You can definitely see why this film gets a lot of comparisons to Citizen Kane. The Social Network is a brilliant study in character and the corrupting nature of success, not to mention one of the better acted movies I’ve seen all year.

2.       127 Hours
I had vaguely heard the details of Aron Ralston’s story before, so going into this movie I was well aware I would be watching a man cut his own arm off. What I didn’t expect was how uplifting watching a man cut his own arm off would be. This is an absolute gem of a movie, made even better by the fact that it’s also a true story (and according to the film’s subject Aron Ralston, an extremely accurate one at that). It was very close to making the top of this list. Maybe 1b would be a more accurate ranking.

1.       Inception
I saw Inception twice in theatres, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time as I did the first. I love the world Nolan creates here. Sure he writes great action sequences – the spinning hallway scene was the best I’ve seen in a long, long time – but it’s the great characters and complicated dreamscape that makes this movie stick with you long after you’ve finished watching.

And that’s it! Please remember to share your own lists below.  Have a good one!

Yes, Limit Your Search To Men With Mustaches

Here are my reviews of last night’s How I Met Your Mother, Shameless, and House. The How I Met Your Mother review also contains an extended theory of where I think the show is going. It’s very scientific, and could be the most important piece of writing in a generation.

Oh and stay tuned tomorrow, as I’m going to post my (Brian) top 5 movies of the year. It should be fun.

Spoilers...

How I Met Your Mother – “Garbage Island” (B)

The Ted/Zoey relationship has only been around a few episodes now, and while I really enjoyed their humble beginnings, the writer’s haven’t really been able to figure out what to do with them yet. We’ve had two episodes in a row now that were more about the morality of Ted dating a recent divorcee than they were about the two of them being a couple.

This week it was Ted finding out that he stole Zoey from the Captain, rather than the two of them breaking up naturally. I can understand Ted feeling like the bad guy in this situation, and I enjoyed his final scene with Zoey, but his scenes with the captain weren’t particularly funny. There are only so many old English maritime jokes I can handle, and I’m pretty sure that’s all the Captain knows how to do. Well that and scare the crap out of Ted.

More interesting was Ted’s conversation with Wendy the waitress at the end of the episode. I’ve always liked Wendy – her appearances in the bar have always been funny – so I’m a little perturbed by her ending scene with Ted. If the last time she saw Ted was when he was with Zoey, does that mean we won’t be seeing Wendy the waitress anymore? I really hope the answer to that question is no, but it really did seem like they were writing her off a bit here.

Marshall’s story this week was a little better than Ted’s, but it wasn’t nearly as good as what we’ve been seeing from him over the past few episodes. Last week they had him coping with the loss of his father by regressing him back to a high school student. Well this week they had him on a quest to save the environment, leaving Lilly in the lurch when it came to matters of the bedroom. They’ve done the Lilly needs sex storyline before on this show, so the jokes from this aspect of the storyline weren’t exactly fresh. And as much as I’ve liked Marshall’s storyline over the past few episodes, they need to start moving forward with it or risk becoming stale. Still, I thought Lilly’s final scene with him in the dumpster was sweet, and I’m very interested in seeing whether Marshall moves on from Goliath National Bank considering we know that Lilly will be pregnant fairly soon.

The other storyline this week followed up on Barney’s new found crush on Robin’s co-worker Nora. Even though the story didn’t really progress past where we left off last week, I still thought that this was the funniest part of the episode. Robin and Barney have good chemistry with each other and their back and forth banter here was really strong. I loved Barney’s new found ability to tell exactly how long it’s been since a girl has had sex, and his subsequent eyeing of Robin was one of the highlights of the episode for me.

Alright, now let’s go back to Ted’s conversation with future Wendy. These days it seems like every time I mention this show to anybody all I hear is “when are they gonna show us the mother?”  Well Ted and Wendy’s conversation in this episode teased us with the identity of the mother again, which sparked a few theories/questions in my head. Not so much about who the mother will be but more about how the rest of the show will play out.

Okay, stick with me. So we know now that Zoey isn’t the mother, not a real shocker but it’s officially been confirmed. We were also reminded this week that Ted meets his wife at the wedding shown in the season premiere. We don’t know who’s wedding yet though. Now if you recall, a few seasons ago Ted alluded to a yellow umbrella story, which I took at the time to be the story of how he originally met the mother (he had the umbrella when he met Tony and Stella, but I’m hoping that’s not the story he was referring to as that would be a major cop out). Well if he meets her at this wedding they’ve been talking about, then what is this yellow umbrella story all about?

My guess is that they’re going to reveal the mother before the end of the series (I’ve read they have to do at least two more seasons because of their syndication deal). Now this could be done in two ways. First, they could reveal her outright, and she and Ted’s relationship could become a regular part of the show. The umbrella story would then be either how he proposes to her, or the two of them finally making up after some sort of falling out.

The other way they could do it though, which is actually my preference, is they do the wedding at the end of the season and instead of outright showing us the mother, they provide us with multiple candidates of who the mother could be. So Ted goes to the wedding, meets a few girls and we spend our time figuring out which girl it will be. Sort of like we’ve been doing all along, except this time we know at least one of them is the mother. The umbrella scene would then be the reveal of which girl he ended up choosing.

Whether I’m right or wrong about either of those two theories, I think revealing the mother early is a good move for this show. You can tell that Ted’s character is getting harder and harder to write for simply because it’s getting more difficult for the audience to become invested in relationships they know are doomed to fail. Revealing the mother, or at least who she could potentially be, would go a long way in remedying this, and more importantly would give Ted’s character the shot in the arm he needs.

Phew, that was a lot. What do you think they’ll do with the mother? Nerd out with me in the comments.

Shameless – “Frank Gallagher: Loving Husband, Devoted Father” (B+)

No, the title of this episode does not refer to Frank turning his life around.

Frank fakes his own death in this week’s Shameless, not exactly a shocking turn of events considering all the other scams he has going on. It’s all in an effort to get the two thugs he owes $6000 to off of his back. One of things I’ve really come to enjoy about this show is the Gallagher’s and their elaborate plans. Watching them throw an impromptu funeral for Frank this week was downright hilarious, from Carl stealing flowers to Kev and Lip stealing a Hearse. And then when the time came for the funeral itself, the whole family played it perfectly. My personal favourite moment was watching them all suddenly burst into tears at the mention of the word suicide. Hilarious.

Also this week, Fiona took a vacation from the family by spending a night in a hotel with Steve. Her initial reluctance produced a nice little scene between Steve and Kev that I really liked, where Kev tells Steve to stop asking her what she needs and just tell her.

KEV: When she says fuck you, it means I like you.

That conversation proved itself very important later in the episode, with Steve responding to Fiona’s “fuck you” with an “I love you”. It was a great way to develop their relationship, and it was nice step back from the usual heaviness between these two.

And with Fiona taking the night off, Sheila looked after Liam. It was actually a nice little story for Sheila, who seemed to absolutely adore the task of looking after Liam. More importantly though, she ventured outside for the first time in the history of the show. I’m hoping a baby step like that will help her start venturing further out into the world. Her story ended however, with her emptying her birth control into the toilet, so that may not be the direction the writers are taking her character.

Ian’s story this week was a little more on the bizarre side. He and Kash finally get caught in the act, but instead of Kash’s wife divorcing him, she decides to let the relationship continue with a few conditions. Even more bizarre though was Ian’s scene with Mandy’s brother Mickey. When he goes to Mickey’s house to retrieve the gun he stole, they get into an altercation that ends with them sleeping with each other. I’m not going to lie, I did not see that coming. This might be good for Ian though, as his relationship with Kash is somewhat uncomfortable considering their difference in age (and the fact that Kash is now buying him gifts, creepy). It also may cause some interesting tension between Mickey and his sister, who obviously likes Ian.

Last but not least, I just want to touch on Kev and Veronica’s decision to take in a foster child. I personally can’t wait to see this storyline play out as these two are consistently the funniest part of this show. And if Kev’s conversation with Lip is any indication, we can look forward to more of the same with this storyline.

LIP: Half of those foster kids are messed up.
KEV: (as he’s stealing a hearse) Exactly – that’s why they need a positive influence.

House – “Two Stories” (A-)

I really enjoyed this episode. They didn’t spend too much time of the medical side of things but that was fine with me, because what they gave us instead worked, and worked well. Of course this was the sequel to the phenomenal season 1 episode “Three Stories”, an episode that has to be among one of the greatest episodes of House of all time, so some of the ground work was already there.

While this episode may not have reached the lofty heights of its predecessor that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a fun watch. Pairing House with a group of school children was absolutely brilliant. The simplicity of the children was a perfect match for House and some of the backwards logic he uses, and his discussion with them was just downright hilarious. Throw in House’s usual offering of crude remarks and inappropriateness and you had a wonderful framing device in which to tell this week’s story.

The real strength of these episodes told through House’s eyes is that we get to peer into his weird demented mind. Now like I said, this can be pretty hilarious, but even more interesting are the details that House manages to gloss over in his retelling of the story. The way he would avoid talking about certain subjects with the young girl and boy revealed what he was uncomfortable talking about, a side we don’t often get to see with House.

And of course it was his retelling of the story under the critical eyes of those two young children that made him realize he had been taking Cuddy for granted. The scene where he finally talks to the principle of the school was a very big step in the development of his character. Saying that he “needs” Cuddy is very unlike House, and plays into the larger theme this season of House trying to break free of his old habits and finally embrace some sort of happiness.

 

This Is For Your Gizmo

What do Community, The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, The Big Bang Theory, and Grey’s Anatomy all have in common? Well if you throw them together in a question like that they all help our placement on search engines.

On a quick programming note, Ryan is away this week, so his reviews will be a little late. He was nice enough though to send me his Big Bang review for the week, so you can enjoy that in the mean time.

Spoilers ahead.

Grey’s Anatomy – “Golden Hour” (A)

I frequently use this show as an example of what medical dramas should not do, so it’s only fair that I give it the same acknowledgement when it does something right. This was an episode done right. Set in the emergency room over a one hour period, “Golden Hour” chronicles in real time Meredith’s experience running the ER.

Ellen Pompeo delivered a terrific performance here, carrying the audience along with her as she navigated through trials and tribulations of running the emergency room. And it was the immediacy of the real-time setting that made this episode so great. The focus wasn’t on some crazy patient of the week – at least not the kind we’re used to – it was on the medicine and the pressures of being a doctor.

What really pushed this episode over the edge for me though was the phenomenal sequence involving Meredith and Teddy’s attempt to save an aortic dissection patient. I got chills watching them ride up the elevator, preparing for what was likely going to be a chaotic and stressful surgery. When Grey pulled the Purell out of her pocket to sanitize her hands, they had me. I was hooked.

And the surgery only lived up to my expectations, with the two doctors working swiftly to try and quell the blood loss and put the patient on bypass. The intensity was absolutely tangible, and when Teddy finally turned to Grey and told her to call it, you knew exactly how she was feeling in that moment. It was a powerful scene, bolstered by great performances from the two leads.

It just goes to show how weird ERs can be. A guy can walk in with a knife sticking out of his head, and end up walking out the same day. Another guy can walk in with some mild chest pain and be dead within the hour. “Golden Hour” made that point perfectly.

We also got to see Teddy and Henry back in action again this week. I haven’t hidden my love for this storyline and this episode was no exception. With Teddy being called into the aforementioned emergency surgery, Henry spent some time talking to her date William. Henry sort of over steps his bounds here by telling her (as her husband) not to go on a date with him.

I like that they’re showing that Henry may be developing some feelings here, and I’m interested in seeing how Teddy will respond to this. She sort of gave him the cold shoulder in this episode, but I mean, come on. The guy was a professional baseball player. That’s gotta count for something.

Also this week we had the continuation of Karev’s budding relationship with Dr. Fields. I said it last week, these two are destined to hook up and this episode was definitely a step in the right direction. They spent most of the hour flirting, only for Karev to give up his prized basketball tickets to perform a surgery on a young boy in a lot of pain. With Lucy watching in the gallery at the end of the episode the writers all but assured us they would be getting together some time in the next few episodes.

Community – “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking” (B+)

Is it sad that I just realized Community names it’s episodes as if they were classes? Don’t answer that, I don’t think I want to know.

Well regardless, I liked “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking”. Seeing as this show has managed to tackle just about every other narrative form, an episode filmed like a documentary didn’t seem at all out of place for the series. They go together like peanut butter and jam, pizza and sports, or Ewoks and the toppling of intergalactic empires.

As is often the case with these theme episodes, it was Abed tasked with setting up the premise. After Pierce is hospitalized, Abed agrees to film his final bequeathments to the study group, not because he’s particularly interested in Pierce as a subject, but because he’s interested in the documentary form itself. His frequent observations as to what makes a documentary tick were a great running joke throughout the episode, and did a hilarious job of framing what was happening on screen.

Pierce of course uses his bequeathments to mess with each member of the group. My favourite gift here was Troy’s, who got a visit from his favourite actor LeVar Burton. His catatonic reaction to him was absolutely hilarious, as was his frequent freak outs between visits with the actor. I can understand where Troy is coming from too. It’s hard to meet your idols – what if you disappoint this person you love so much? Or even worse, what if they’re a jerk? And Troy’s right, “You can’t disappoint a picture!”

Anyways, I’m going to take a page from Abed’s book and list some of my favourite moments over a generic voiceover as if to suggest a grand thematic connection.

-          The frequent questioning of why the nurse was doing Pierce’s dirty work: Annie – “Do you have a regular job here?”

-          Troy and Abed’s agreement: “If one of us dies we stage it to look like a suicide caused by the unjust cancellation of Firefly.” I know Ryan would totally be up for this.

-          Complisults and explanibrags.

-          Troy singing the Reading Rainbow song in the fetal position.

-          Brita’s expression when the nurse says “Mr. Hawthorne is requesting sour face”.

-          Annie confusing Pierce’s gift as a lesson on why you shouldn’t pick favourites when in reality he gave her the gift because she was his favourite.

I do find it interesting though how prominently the writers have used Pierce over the last couple of episodes. They have not forgotten about his alienation sub-plot. To me this is somewhat of a double-edged sword. I really like that they’ve delved a little deeper into the character, and that they haven’t forgotten any of the show’s history (they had some good references all the way back to the trampoline episode this season). My concern is that while Pierce may have been underutilized earlier in the series, they may be overcompensating by over using him now. His story has been at the center of 3 out of the last 4 episodes. And that’s not to say that the episodes weren’t great, because they were – really, really great. I’m just saying that at this pace his character could become worn, fast.

The Office – “Threat Level Midnight” (B-)

I had very mixed feelings about this week's episode of The Office. On one side, I sort of hated the concept of this episode. I talked a lot last week about how this show has changed over the last few years, and one of my major complaints was in its lack of realism. Now don’t get me wrong – you’ve always had to make a few leaps in logic, but for the most part The Office was a show based firmly in reality. A lot of humour was generated because this felt like a real office, and you could relate to the character’s experiences.

So naturally, the premise of this episode – the airing of Michael’s now completed movie – lost me from the start. I found I was taking every joke with a grain of salt. On one hand, Threat Level Midnight was the perfect encapsulation of what Michael Scott would probably think was a good movie. On the other, I was witnessing the fabric that used to make this show great being slowly torn apart.

Which leads me to my next point – I hate it when shows (or movie sequels) change their own history. Now if you don’t remember, Threat Level Midnight was first introduced way back in the season 2 episode “The Client”. Back then no one in the office new anything about the project, and the discovery of the screenplay prompted an office wide table read. It was during the golden age of The Office, and I’m not gonna lie, I have some serious nostalgia for this era.

Now I’m sorry if I nerd out on you a bit here, but it bothers me that the writers have now inserted a video shoot into the chronology of the series. It’s the kind of event that would have been noteworthy enough for the documentary crew to be there when it happened, and while the writers do their best to skirt around this by providing an ambiguous time frame for the film’s production, it doesn’t really fit in with the timeline of the show.

You also have to remember that these big office wide group hangs are a relatively recent invention. Back in the day most of these characters, much like regular coworkers, didn’t spend much time with each other outside of the office save for a few work related functions.  I don’t see our character’s of past volunteering to be a part of a Michael Scott production. That’s probably what bothers me the most actually. The writers are inserting the current failings of the show back into an era when the show was in its prime.

Here’s the odd thing though. While I bash this episode on account of nostalgia, nostalgia is the very reason I enjoyed it as well. I loved seeing old faces like Karen, Packer, Roy, and Jan back on the show. They were great characters in their time (I guess Packer is still technically around), so it was nice to catch up with them again one more time, if only briefly.

The other thing this episode did a great job of was providing some character development for Michael. Up until this point Michael has never been able to laugh at himself – in fact it’s this very immaturity that makes his character tick – so in the end when he finally embraces how hilariously bad his movie is it’s a significant moment for him.

This period of The Office will undoubtedly go down as the final episodes of Steve Carell, so in my books any opportunities the writers get to provide some closure to the character they should use. I may not have liked certain aspects of “Threat Level Midnight”, but I fully support what they’ve tried to do with Michael over these last few episodes.

Parks and Recreation – “Media Blitz” (A-)

I am what you would call a hopeless romantic. There aren’t a whole lot of potential screen couple on television right now that I’m not cheering for, and up until “Media Blitz”, Andy and April were included in that mix too. So as you would expect watching the two of them finally get together in this episode was a big moment for me. But it wasn’t just that they got together, it was the way they got together that made the episode so special.

Watching Andy go through April’s list of things she hates to do was hilarious. The permits desk was great, especially the inpatient guy who needed his permit now because his lost bird could fly (you needed to hear how frustrated he sounded). Also incredible was watching Andy’s conversation with the security guard as he attempted to pick up April’s sister for him:

SECURITY GUARD: Are you trying to lure this young lady into your van?
ANDY: Yeah, but she’s being really difficult about it.

The other thing I loved about how they got together was Ron’s influence over the proceedings. Ron is obviously the most closed off member of the Park’s Department, which is why I’ve really been enjoying the friendship developing between him and Andy. His speech to April at the end of the episode was very un-Ron-like, which of course is what made it so special to begin with.

RON: Let me give you a piece of fishing advice. When you have a fish on the line, you don’t just drag it behind the boat. You either reel him in or you cut him loose. Especially if he’s a nice fish with a big lovable fish heart.

And of course it’s Andy’s willingness to go through hell just keep her around that impresses April enough to kiss him in the final moments of the episode. It was a great scene and the culmination of a romance started all the way back in season two.

The other great storyline this week was shared between Leslie, Ben, and Tom. When the media in Pawnee find out about Ben’s failed mayoral past, it puts him on the defensive, which is apparently not a good spot for him to be in. Watching him crash and burn on all the various Pawnee talk shows was quite entertaining, but this storyline really got its legs when Leslie and Ben went on Pawnee Today. It reminded me of the entertaining crackpot convention back in “Time Capsule”. From all the hilarious questions from the town’s people, to hostile attitude of the host, Joan Callamezzo, everything in this sequence was hitting. In fact, the most laugh out loud moment of the entire episode didn’t even come from its dialogue, it was the screen graphic that appeared under Ben just as was being introduced on the show – “Ben Wyatt: Human Disaster”.

As is usually the case with the show, there were a lot of other great moments I didn’t have room for above. Here are some of my favourites:

-          Tom getting angry with Ben: “You embarrassed me in front of the Douche!”

-          Leslie again trying to force her headlines on the newspaper reporter.

-          Andy’s thank you note to April’s grandmother (it was supposed to be her grandfather) where he attaches a Mouse Rat CD.

-          The frequent references to AltaVista: “Why does everyone in this town use AltaVista? Is it 1997?”

-          Joan Callamezzo response to Ben’s declaration that everybody’s done something stupid when they were 18: “I stole my gym teacher’s husband.”

-          Ron doing April’s photography class assignment: “It’s art. Anything is anything.”

30 Rock – “It’s Never Too Late for Now” (B)

Liz Lemon approaches full-fledged spinsterhood (which is apparently a word as it didn’t come up on spell check) in this week’s episode of 30 Rock. The episode was rather hit or miss, consistent with the rest of 30 Rock’s fair this season.

Liz’s aforementioned descent into spinsterhood certainly had its moments though. Her physical transformation was done remarkably well, and her new cat Emily Dickenson was played up for some pretty good laughs – my favourite being Liz’s comparison of it to Jack’s baby.

LIZ: Wow Jack, I could never pretend to hate my beautiful baby daughter... Emily Dickenson the cat.

The culmination of this storyline though was really the strong point of the episode. With Liz sensing something was fishy about the way she hooked up with Anders, she calls everyone into the room and goes about an Orient Express like (at least I think it was. I’ve neither read the book nor watched the movie) dissection of the previous night’s events. Watching the conspiracy unfold led to some pretty hilarious moments, including Jack’s briefing to the Swiss prostitute.

JACK: It’s white win, ice cubes, and Sprite. She calls it funky juice.
ANDERS: I don’t know if I want to do this.

Speaking of Jack, his story was fairly strong this week as well, however it brief it was. With the arrival of little baby Liddy, he’s forced to negotiate with his Nanny over the terms of her salary. The Nanny’s steadfast negotiation skills were incredibly entertaining, as was Jack’s negotiating failures.

JACK: Who has the leverage now Sheri... your move (the baby starts crying). Please stay, I’ll send everyone in your family to college.

His eventual realization that his situation was exactly the same one Cabletown was in with NBC (they had some sad, pathetic, useless thing that would die if left alone) led to another funny scene where he negotiated NBC’s licensing fees. I loved the way he used the Nanny’s negotiating techniques, including peeling an orange while they were talking to him and using her brilliantly stoic “So, what you want to do” after a long quiet pause. Alec Baldwin imitation of the Nanny was so perfect you couldn’t help but laugh.

The weakest storyline this week was Pete and Frank’s band. The revelation that Pete was in Loverboy was a funny one, as was his reason for leaving (“I had choose between staying in the band, or taking a college scholarship to study TV budgeting. I made my choice”). But after that the storyline devolved into a typical rock band parody, with a bunch of clichéd bickering between Pete and Frank (although I did laugh at the reveal of Frank’s girlfriend Yuki).

The Big Bang Theory – “The Cohabitation Formulation” (B)

This episode was really solid all around.  Raj’s sister was back in town leaving Leonard heart set on making amends for coming on too strong the last time she visited.  Meanwhile, Howard considers moving out of his mothers place and in with Bernadette. 

Neither situation was without its consequences.  Leonard manages to get back together with Pria only to have Raj be infuriated with him. Raj’s use of incorrect conjugations of the word “forbid” in an attempt to prevent Leonard and Pria from becoming a couple was a particularly funny running gag.

Leonard’s renewed love affair with the female Kuthrapali also had consequences with Penny.  Initially Penny didn’t seem to mind that Leonard had found someone, but after Amy Farrah Fowler made an appearance to try and console her, she ends up in tears over it.

Speaking of which, once again the highlight of the episode was Amy Farrah Fowler.  She’s really coming up big lately.  Her appearance with Penny this week was hilarious (while consoling her she also wanted to put electrodes on Penny’s head while she was crying to determine which part of the brain was active so she could stimulate that part of the brain in a monkey to make it cry… what an odd woman).  Also funny was her dinner with Sheldon… over webchat.

On Howard’s side of things, Bernadette expresses her concern that Howard still lives with his mother and can never spend the night. She forces him make a choice between his mother and her.  Howard initially isn’t sure, but decides on Bernadette.  The only problem is that he expects Bernadette to care for him just like his mother does, demanding she do the shopping, laundry and pretty much everything else just the way she does.  Howard really is a child. Needless to say, he ends up living with his mother again by episode’s end.

Overall it was a good episode but a slight drop from the fabulous run the show has been having recently.