Synopsis: The United States of America have long been gone. In its place, between the Appalachians and the Rockies, is now the country of Panem, consisting of 12 districts and the Capitol.

Many years ago the 13 districts rose against the Capitol and paid a high price for it. The riot-leading district was completely annihilated. And the 12 other districts have to endure a humiliation every year which proves the total superiority of the Capitol.
Every year each district has to send a girl and a boy between the ages 12 and 18 to the Capitol – where these 24 kids will fight each other until only one survives: The Hunger Games.

My Opinion: Originally I had planned to read the book completely before I watch the movie. Didn’t turn out that way. I just made it to the point where Katniss has her fiery ride into the Arena.
My problem with the movie was that there was no real suspense building up. Sure I didn’t know if Peeta was going to survive, but still. The book on the other hand was very interesting to the point where I read it.
And even the end left me hanging because there was no scene that hinted at what was coming next. Let me make the comparison to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring here: At the end of the movie it was clear that Frodo and Samwise would be travelling towards Mordor and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli would try to rescue Merry and Pippin from the Orcs. The question “What now?” didn’t come up. The Hunger Games on the other hand simply ended. Some viewers who are not aware that this is a trilogy will probably scratch their heads even more.
I don’t want to assume anything yet since it’s well known that movie sometimes interpret their original material rather freely but I wasn’t pleased with the actual ending of the movie either.
Spoiler (mark to read):
I would have wished that – when there were only three left and were standing on the transporter – they simply had refused to continue this farce. Now it’s more of a cliché ending where everyone from District 1 is simply a mindless killer. Also the closing interview would have been a good place to stir things up a little. Instead she played nice and did what her mentor told her to do. I hope her motivation is better explained in the book.

Categories: Cinema, Short Review
Tags: The Hunger Games · The Lord of the Rings
Comments: 2 Comments

Suits @ IMDb
Suits @ Wikipedia

Harvey Specter is the best closer of his law firm and he is about to be promoted to senior partner. But all senior partners must have a junior lawyer as associate. And he must come from Harvard. Unfortunately all the applicants are douches.
But then there’s this guy. After he wrote the LSATs for someone else to get some quick cash he needs a bigger payday. Despite his reservations he agrees to a drug run for a friend and almost gets busted by the cops. In order to escape he pretends to be one of the applicants.
And he’s the one to get the job. And no, he’s never been to Harvard. At least not as a student.

Usually shows about lawyers are about the final verdict from a jury of your peers with the big speeches at the end. This show tries to avoid that pattern and does a pretty good job. In contrast to David E. Kelley shows (e.g. Boston Legal, Harry’s Law) there’s no heavy-handed message. Specter even tries to avoid showing that he’s a good guy. He has always a reason why doing the right thing is just accidental and is just a by-product of making more money.
Both characters are free spirits, Harvey is fully aware that Mike has now law degree but he sees himself in his younger companion and he has reached a position where he can pull off such shenanigans.

Categories: Short Review
Tags: Boston Legal · Harry's Law · Suits
Comments: No comments

Let me start this by saying that it was better than LOST’s ending. But that isn’t saying much…

Smallville has always been an uneven show. It had good years, bad years and worse years. It never had great years. It rarely had great episodes. They were there but there weren’t as many as one would hope in a ten year run with a total of 217 episodes.

And yet: Ten years and 217 episodes. There aren’t that many shows overall and even fewer shows in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genre that can bring that much to the table.

For all its faults I love Smallville but I am also at peace with it ending now. I nearly gave up on it after what is commonly referred to as Failsday.
Seasons nine and ten became better again and quite a few episodes of season eight have grown on me.
But season ten and its finale also showed that even though they knew exactly how it was supposed to be ending they didn’t really have a clear idea of how to get there.

(more…)

Categories: Short Review, TV Season 2010/2011 Diary
Tags: LOST · Smallville · Superman
Comments: No comments

Actors:
Liam Neeson
January Jones (Mad Men)
Bruno Ganz (Downfall)
Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds)
Frank Langella (Masters of the Universe, Dave)

Plot:
Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) and his wife (Jones) arrive in Berlin to attend a bio-tech conference. He has to return to the airport because he left a briefcase there and his cab has a crash. When he wakes up in the hospital four days later he’s not Dr. Harris anymore. Someone else is Dr. Harris and even his wife doesn’t recognize him anymore. What the hell is going on?

My opinion:
I watched this in the theatre (german dubbing) yesterday. I liked that the whole picture took place in my hometown (Berlin) and that it actually was Berlin (and not just a canadian stand-in ). I found it amusing that in the dubbed version the only person speaking with an accent was Gina (Kruger) – a german actress.

When I first saw the character played by Bruno Ganz (I never saw Downfall and didn’t recognize him) I immediately said “I bet he was with the Stasi” (former east-german secret service) and I was proven right that very minute. What I also liked about this character was that he pointed out that the whole plot didn’t make much sense – until the reveal.

The Germans were a bit “too german” sometimes, like when Dr. Harris had to ID himself just to get into the conference room, even though he was on the guest list. The same thing with the cheap hotel just to keep him from getting a place to sleep. And the nurse: “Gretchen Erfurt”. Seriously?

When I saw Langella I also instantly knew that he was the baddie. Except for Superman Returns (Perry White) I can’t remember him not playing a baddie (He was Skeletor AND Nixon!!!).

The plot reveal had his ups and downs, for example
Spoiler (mark to read):
IMHO they didn’t really explain how they knew that these plants where the passwords to the files and why Jones’ character was so hell-bent on stopping the bomb that she risked getting herself blown up.

The other big plot holes I noticed where these:
Spoiler (mark to read):
1) Jones’ character was very cavalier about that briefcase at the airport. That makes sense for her character-in-character, the doctor’s wife, but not her actual character.
2) Neeson’s character inserted that mirror with basically four fingers and yet Jones’ character could not destroy it with a heavy iron thingy.

I found Jones’ character in general rather useless, which is kind of the same way I feel about her Mad Men character Betty Draper.

Everything considered it was an OK movie which I will watch on DVD again, mainly to watch it in english and check how they did the whole english/german mix.

Categories: Cinema, Short Review
Tags: Dave · Downfall · Inglourious Basterds · Mad Men · Masters of the Universe · Superman Returns · Unknown
Comments: No comments

The Almighty Johnsons @ Wikipedia
The Almighty Johnsons @ IMDb

Many years ago the people in the north began to rise up against their gods. So they did the brave thing: They ran. To New Zealand.
On his 21st birthday Axl learns that his mother, his father, his three brothers and his “cousin” Olaf are all gods. And today he will become one, too. They have lost much of their power and can do barely more than party tricks. But there’s a way to bring them back to full power. And Axl – or should I say Odin – is the key.

The first two episodes of the new series from New Zealand were really funny and I enjoyed watching them.
Though the characters know that they are gods they have no more memories than the ones they got in this life. And everyone is dealing with his powers differently.
Sometimes the NZ accent is a bit hard to understand but if you have watched British shows then you’ll get the hang of it.

Categories: Short Review
Tags: The Almighty Johnsons
Comments: No comments

No Ordinary Family @ Wikipedia
No Ordinary Family @ IMDb

The Powells are your run-of-the-mill slightly dysfunctional family. Jim works as a police artist who has not achieved what he had hoped for. Stephanie on the other hand is too successful and has barely any time for her family. And their kids have their own problems at school.
But when their plane crashes in South America something weird happens to all of them. Caching a baseball at 140mph? Running the mile in less than six seconds? Piece of cake… But where does one go from here?

I really enjoyed the pilot. It had the right mixture of fun and seriousness which could make for a very interesting dramedy show. And since I like the actors of both parents already (Michael Chiklis from The Commish and Julie Benz from Buffy, Dexter & Rambo) I think I will like this show very much.

Categories: Short Review, TV Season 2010/2011 Diary
Tags: Buffy the Vampire Slayer · Dexter · No Ordinary Family · Rambo · The Commish
Comments: No comments

$#*! My Dad Says @ Wikipedia
$#*! My Dad Says @ IMDb

Henry lost his job when his magazine went under and now he’s broke. He has no other option than to go to his father. And Ed is most definitively not the easiest person to be around with because he always says the wrong things at the right time.

The Shat is really great in this role. One has the feeling he’s once again just playing himself but that’s OK because The Shat has the right amount of self-mockery to pull it off. “Guts or nuts – your choice!”.

Categories: Short Review, TV Season 2010/2011 Diary
Tags: $#*! My Dad Says
Comments: No comments

Raising Hope @ Wikipedia
Raising Hope @ IMDb

Jimmy Chance is a young man with no plans for the future who works for his father as pool cleaner. But then a young woman jumps into his van, they have a one-night stand and she gets pregnant. Also – she’s wanted for murder and gets executed after giving birth. Jimmy is suddenly a single father.

This reads as weird as it’s coming across. But it is surprisingly appealing. It has a very surreal feeling but it also leaves a desire to learn how this odd thing is going to continue.
I’m not sure I’m going to watch it but I will at least watch one more episode (and maybe one more after that (and maybe …)).

Categories: Short Review, TV Season 2010/2011 Diary
Tags: Raising Hope
Comments: No comments

Hawaii Five-0 @ Wikipedia
Hawaii Five-0 @ IMDb

Steve McGarrett is a Navy Seal who resigns his offto work as a cop on his home island Hawaii. But just not as any cop and not just for some reason. His father was killed by the man he has been hunting for years and the HPD can’t be trusted to solve this case. His team works under direct authority from the governor and gets way more leeway to solve their cases. He’s supported by a not so ordinary team.

The cast reads intriguing: Scott Caan (Ocean’s Eleven, The Fast and the Furious), Daniel Dae Kim (LOST), Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica), Masi Oka (Heroes) and of course James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville).
The problem for me is that it is a straight-forward cop show like CSI or NCIS. There’s no special element in it. I’m sure it’s a good show that many people will enjoy but it’s just not my kind of show.
It doesn’t help at all that I’m partial towards the supposed baddie (Marsters).

Categories: Short Review, TV Season 2010/2011 Diary
Tags: Battlestar Galactica · Buffy the Vampire Slayer · CSI · Hawaii Five-0 · Heroes · LOST · NCIS · Ocean's Eleven · Smallville · The Fast and the Furious
Comments: No comments

Nikita @ Wikipedia
Nikita @ IMDb

Nikita is a trained spy and assassin who escaped from who escaped from her black ops division called, well Division. She was the best they ever had and she is still the best. Now they want her dead. And she wants to bring them down.

I was never that into the original movie by Luc Besson and I never watched the first series. But after Alias I thought I gave this new series a try. But it didn’t pique my interest at all; there was nothing special about it. And worse: It was not just not that interesting; I got bored while watching it. And the “twist” and the end was no twist at all. On a show like that a twist was to be expected. And the part where she was the one behind the pig mask was an non-twist for me because it was so blatantly obvious from the start.

Categories: Short Review, TV Season 2010/2011 Diary
Tags: Alias · Nikita
Comments: No comments