TAG | 24
7
Purchase Diary 2011 – September
Dieter Nuhr DVD Box
08 Sep – €23.99 @ Amazon.de
contains Nuhr vom Feinsten, Ich bin’s nuhr & Nuhr die Wahrheit
Volker Pispers … bis neulich 2010
08 Sep – €15.99 @ Amazon.de
24: Season 8
19 Sep – €28.61 (£23.18) @ Amazon.co.uk
Community: Season 2
19 Sep – €0.00 ($19.99) @ Amazon.com (paid via gift certificate)
The Goonies
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19 Sep – €8.32 (£5.94) @ Amazon.co.uk
Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, Purchase Diary 2011
Tags: 24 · Burn Notice · Community · Dieter Nuhr · Dirty Dancing · Smokin' Aces · Spaceballs · Superman · The Big Bang Theory · The Goonies · Volker Pispers
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Deutsche Version | CW 07 | CW 09-10
Chuck 3×08 Chuck vs the Fake Name
Chuck sad. The path of the hero is a lonely one.
I think Chuck made the right choice (even though it was cruel to her) but I’m also sad that Hannah is gone (at least I assume she won’t be there in the next episode).
What I personally would love to see would be an episode where Team Bartowski has to hunt random bad guy into a mall and Hannah is in one of the lanes. Casey is running behind bad guy, Chuck comes from the side, does one of his dorky moves and brings down bad guy. Casey cuffs him and when the Mall Cops arrive, Sarah IDs herself as CIA – with Hannah witnessing all this from afar and finally understanding (yes, I know the scenario is a lot like the one in Smallville’s Promise, but I loved that scene, too).
PS: Is it just me or does “Sam(antha) Lisa” not really roll off the tongue?
How I Met Your Mother 5×16 Hooked
Barney’s history of jobs for attractive women was very funny but the episode as a whole wasn’t as memorable (in fact, having it watched two days ago I’ve already forgotten most about it).
Smallville 9×14 Conspiracy
This is an episode I have some issues with. And all these issues are connected to Chloe, my once favourite character of the show. But since the Doomsday/Brainiac arc she has changed.
While it’s technically true that Clark has lost his moral compass at times, it’s always been when he was under influence of something (e.g. Red K) but I can’t remember him doing anything immoral when he was “normal”. He might not have done what was necessary (for example: before and during Zod’s first appearance) but that is a big diff from doing what’s morally right.
And why she is blaming him for the disaster that was Doomsday is beyond me; I’d say Clark is one of the least guilty in that whole affair.
I fear that when Zod finds the tracers in the ID that this will be the reason he convinces his people that Kal-El and the Earthlings are not to be trusted and he will use them against him.
The Big Bang Theory 3×16 The Excelsior Acquisition
Also an average episode. Granted the bit with the Restraining Order was funny but overall it was pretty predictable.
And let’s face it: DC also has it’s share of identical-initial-names: Lex Luthor, Lana Lang, Lois Lane, …
Two and a Half Men 7×15 Tinkle Like a Princess
This was a good sad episode that showed the door isn’t closed. And yet Charlie remained Charlie (with the church and afterwards). I like it that there’s hope after all (even though only he viewer can see it right now).
I also liked the opening theme spoof with the growing Jake – they either used it for the first time or I just didn’t notice it before.
Categories: TV Season 2009/10 Diary
Tags: 24 · Babylon 5 · Burn Notice · Chuck · How I Met Your Mother · Life Unexpected · LOST · Smallville · The Big Bang Theory · Two and a Half Men · White Collar
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Deutsche Version | Januar (Part 1) | February
January, 16th
Director: F. Gary Gray
Samuel L. Jackson … Lt. Danny Roman
Kevin Spacey … Lt. Chris Sabian
David Morse … Cmdr. Adam Beck
Ron Rifkin … Cmdr. Grant Frost
John Spencer … Chief Al Travis
J.T. Walsh … Insp. Terence Niebaum
Siobhan Fallon … Maggie
Paul Giamatti … Rudy Timmons
Synopsis: Danny Roman is a negotiator for hostage situations for the police and he’s one of the best there is. One day he gets framed for stealing money from the police pension fund and it looks like he’s going to prison for it. He sees no other choice than taking hostages himself, to force the issue and to find out what really happened and who was involved. His negotiator is Chris Sabian from the other side of the city and he’s also very good at what he does.
My Opinion: A fascinating thriller with an excellent cast. I’m not a big fan of thrillers but this is a movie I watch regularly. It’s very powerful and still has its funny moments – like the scene where we get introduced to Chris Sabian. I also like the selection of hostages and how they contribute to the case.
Spoiler (mark to read):
An interesting thing about these kinds of movies is that – despite them ending in a happy end – they don’t actually have a real happy end, because if you think it through he still will be charged of taking hostages, destroying a federal building and other stuff. Even if he gets only a slap on the hand, it’s unlikely that he’s ever going to work as a cop again.
But I think that falls in the category of Fridge Logic.
Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Movie Watchings 2010
Tags: 24 · Die Hard · Hero · Independence Day · Men in Trees · Spaceballs · Speed · The Fugitive · The Girl Next Door · The Negotiator · The Proposal · Under Siege · While You Were Sleeping
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23
TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 02-04
Deutsche Version | CW 01-02 | CW 04
Human Target 1×01 Pilot
The pilot episode certainly looked interesting. The action was well balanced above realistic and below unrealistic. It looks like as if it’s going to be Die Hard or Lethal Weapon in a series format and I certainly will watch more episodes of it.
“You wore a vest? Where’s my vest?” – “I’m your vest.”
24 8×01 – 8×04 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Dammit. I should have known better. I decided to watch the season en bloc when it is over. But I just had to peak a little and was already drawn back in…
I love Jack’s new “Are we done here? Can I go home now?” attitude. Of course they aren’t done and Jack can’t go home.
When I read that that Freddie Prince jr. (Wing Commander, Scooby Doo) – He married my Buffy, dammit!!! – would take the part of the leading CTU Field Officer I was a bit worried. But he has gotten older and looks like he can pull it off.
Of course there are again the typical 24 plot points like the incompetent CTU boss, the CTU member who has private problems and I am already wondering who the mole is – but that’s OK, it’s 24 after all.
What I also like is that – aside from the 24 alumni who have returned this season – these episodes feel like a huge School Reunion party: The aforementioned Freddie Prince jr., Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica) – looks gorgeous btw -, Paul Wesley (Stefan in The Vampire Diaries), Cliff Simon (Ba’al in Stargate SG-1), David Anders (Takezo Kensei / Adam Monroe in Heroes, Julian Sark in Alias), Jürgen Prochnow (Dune, Das Boot) and according to the CTU files Callum Keith Rennie (Ray in Due South, Leoben in Battlestar Galactica) will also appear anytime soon. 
Life Unexpected 1×01 Pilot
I was made aware of this series at least twice. The second time was a few days ago when blogs reviewed the pilot episode. But I’ve seen bits and pieces of this episode before – most likely in a trailer a few months back. And even though I had forgotten the show in the meantime I now remember that I decided back then that I’d give it a try.
I really liked the pilot. The characters are believable and down-to-earth. Even though the show runs on The CW this isn’t Beverly Hills 90210 or Gossip Girl, this is different. As with every show it now depends on what kind of storylines they are going to tell and how this triangle+attachments is going to work out.
Spartacus: Blood and Sand 1×01 / 1×02 The Red Serpent / Sacramentum Gladiatorum
Lots of nudity (male and female). Even more blood. Better you put a bucket below your telly in case it spills out of the screen. The optic leans more towards 300 than Gladiator, especially when there’s blood flowing. The problem is the story. These first two episodes show how Spartacus became a Gladiator but it didn’t give the viewer an idea what the entire show is going to be about. And that’s why I am not yet convinced. To quote Buffy’s Spike: “I love a good slaughter as much as the next bloke” but I also need a real story in between.
Time will tell … at least you now get the chance you never got with Xena: To see Lucy Lawless in the nude. 
Chuck 3×04 Chuck vs Operation Awesome
The only thing I’ve ever seen Brandon Routh in was Superman Returns but here he didn’t remind me of his character there. I like him as addition to the team because he could stir things up a little.
I don’t know if it’s just my imagination because they announced it but the show actually feels a bit less funny and a bit more serious. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an Action Comedy and there’s plenty of fun in it. But the general tone during the spy action seems to have darkened a little since last year. I’m not complaining – I like it.
Categories: TV Season 2009/10 Diary
Tags: 24 · Alias · Battlestar Galactica · Beverly Hills 90210 · Bones · Buffy the Vampire Slayer · Burn Notice · Cagney & Lacey · Castle · Chuck · Cougar Town · Das Boot · Die Hard · Due South · Dune · Gossip Girl · Heroes · House M.D. · How I Met Your Mother · Human Target · Lethal Weapon · Leverage · Life Unexpected · Scooby Doo · Spartacus: Blood and Sand · Stargate SG-1 · Superman · Supernatural · The Big Bang Theory · The Good Wife · The Vampire Diaries · Two and a Half Men · White Collar · Wing Commander · Xena: Warrior Princess
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17
TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 01-02
Deutsche Version | CW 50-01 | CW 02-04
How I Met Your Mother 5×12 Girls Vs. Suits
That was an awesome episode. In fact it was – dare I say it? – legen … Wait for it! … dary! I’d say it was without problem the best episode this season, especially the end of course. When the song is available on iTunes, I’ll buy it. I’m only wondering where Barney got that German T-Shirt…
The Big Bang Theory 5×12 The Psychic Vortex
Battle of the sitcoms tonight. This episode was even better than the HIMYM one. Raj’s and Sheldon’s dates were super cool and Sheldon’s behaviour made me laugh so hard. It’s curious: By now it’s pretty predictable what Sheldon is going to do next but when he actually does it, it’s still funny as hell.
Castle 2×12 A Rose for Everafter
That was a really nice and sweet episode. When I read that Alyssa Milano would play an Ex of Rick’s I thought they would play it more humorously with bickering and such but this way was also good. It made this episode different from the others.
Though I have to say this was the first time that I thought about Nathan’s age because they claimed Rick and Kyra had been going to college together. Nathan (1971) is actually only one year older than Alyssa (1972) but I thought he would be way in his 40s already.
Chuck 3×01 Chuck vs the Pink Slip
Chuck’s finally back. As the tag line says “No More Mr. Nice Spy”. While I don’t think that I will miss Anna I believe I’ll miss Emmit. He was Chuck’s (and everyone else’s) nemesis at the Buy More and unless they intend to drastically cut back on the Buy More storyline, they will have to find a new obstacle for them to overcome.
The only thing that bugged me about Anna’s departure was the “reason” why she left Morgan – especially after I re-watched the last episodes of season 2 a few days ago and from that POV it does not make much sense.
Chuck 3×02 Chuck vs the Three Words
Chuck’s new abilities are a genius idea of the writers, especially with the “problem” that they don’t emerge on command. I really loved it how he “found his way” through the laser security but I also loved his speech at the door. Yes, we are back to square one, but at least the three of them are back together as a team.
Categories: TV Season 2009/10 Diary
Tags: 24 · Castle · Chuck · How I Met Your Mother · Leverage · Star Trek VOY · The Big Bang Theory · The X Files · Two and a Half Men
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Since everybody seems to be starting to count at zero instead of one the first decade of this century and millennium is now over. So it’s time to recap these past ten years and take a look at the TV Shows it has given us.
Let me give my résumé at the beginning: Of the four decades I know TV Shows from (70s – 00s) this was without question the best decade for us TV junkies. When you read my review you might say in the end “Hey what about <insert your favourite here>?” (e.g. The Sopranos, Dexter, The Wire, Six Feet Under, …) but that’s exactly my point. This decade has given us so many outstanding shows that it was impossible to watch them all. Also, everybody has a different set of favourite genres but I’d say that every genre got their fair share of excellent series in the last years.
But let’s face it: There’s rarely any series (if there’s one at all) that could keep up the quality and its appeal for its entire run. Some had a bad year in between, some fell short at the end. But even in these “bad years” they had more quality episodes in it than entire shows from previous decades. So all the shows I am going to name have of course aspects that can be criticized and I invite you to do so.
For me the most outstanding characteristic of this past decade’s shows is that they are more often than not more about the “journey” of the character(s) than the actual events. It’s not the character who shines a light upon the unfolding events but it’s the events that shine a light upon the character and his development. I have to say that shows (hereby excluding comedy shows that work with stereo- and archetypes) that don’t have a real character development don’t interest me at all. But if the character development is interesting I might even watch shows from genres that usually don’t interest me at all.
If the character development is interesting enough I might even set the fact aside that my second favourite characteristic is missing: A real story-arc. The first TV Show in my TV universe that had a real story-arc, was Babylon 5. Later Star Trek: DS9 did the same albeit not in that quality and complexity. But these shows were two of the rare exception in the 90s (another famous exception would be Twin Peaks, but I never watched it). It seemed that viewers weren’t interested in either developing characters or story-arcs.
Categories: Short Review, Thought Storm
Tags: 24 · Alias · Angel · Babylon 5 · Battlestar Galactica · Being Human · Bones · Buffy the Vampire Slayer · Burn Notice · Chuck · Dexter · Doctor Who · Farscape · Firefly · Friends · Heroes · House M.D. · How I Met Your Mother · James Bond · Knight Rider · LOST · MacGyver · Six Feet Under · Smallville · Star Trek DS9 · Superman · Supernatural · The A-Team · The Big Bang Theory · The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy · The Sopranos · The Wire · Thursday Next · True Blood · Twin Peaks · Two and a Half Men · Veronica Mars
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15
TV Season 2009/2010 Diary, CW 46-50
Deutsche Version | CW 47-49 | CW 50-01
The Big Bang Theory 3×10 The Athens Recurrence
I do that very rarely but I watched the scene where Penny recites the physics stuff three times in a row. It’s so great to see her keep a straight face and the others get dumbfounded. Sheldon can be so proud of her. 
I also really liked the reference to the pilot when Penny explained why Sheldon sits where he sits.
Two and a Half Men 7×10 That’s Why They Call It Ball Room
This was a cool episode, it had many scenes that made me laugh, for example the couch incident or Alan’s wedding video or the dance lessons. I also liked that Jake had a few more scenes but I still feel they should make at least one entire episode about him again sometime soon.
Bones 5×10 The Goop on the Girl
“You look like sisters.” 
I really liked Zooey Deschanel’s appearance on the show, it was really funny. It also kinda answers the question why Brennan behaves the way she does even when she had a normal childhood until the age of 16. It must be a gene running in the family.
What I didn’t like was Booth dissing that radio man for having a negative opinion of the U.S.. But I think that’s a cultural difference. In Germany we’ve come to love criticizing our country and everything the parliament (we elected) does.
Castle 2×11 The Fifth Bullet
This one had a really nice assortment of guest actors: Marc Blucas (Buffy’s Riley), Anne Dudek (House’s Cutthroat Bitch) and Carlo Rota (24’s Morris O’Brian). I especially like Carlo because he often plays (he was recently on Stargate Universe, too) these somewhat grumpy character’s that aren’t really likeable (because they aren’t really supposed to be) and he does a great job with them because you actually don’t like the characters but you don’t transfer that to the actor.
But I also liked Marc Blucas in his amnesia role, he was a nice guy.
FlashForward 1×10 A561984
So Dominic’s character doesn’t actually belong to the evil bad guys. But he was still the most interesting character in this episode. I honestly don’t know if I will even remember this show when it starts to air again in 4(!) months.
Categories: TV Season 2009/10 Diary
Tags: 24 · Bones · Buffy the Vampire Slayer · Castle · FlashForward · Gossip Girl · House M.D. · How I Met Your Mother · Paradox · Stargate SG-1 · Stargate Universe · The Big Bang Theory · Two and a Half Men · V · White Collar
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9
Technological Overdose?
Let me start this post with a constraint. This post is not about science-fiction shows or shows that portray obvious über-equipment (like K.I.T.T.). This is about shows that at least try to pretend to display “reality”. I am of course aware that there’s a thin line but I hope than I can show my point during this excursus.
But first this College Humor video:
Technical equipment has always been part of TV shows that play in the “here and now”. And why shouldn’t it? It’s part of our every day life, so it should play a part in the TV shows we are watching. The questions are, what part, how big a part and how realistically the equipment is used. And – to give my conclusion at the beginning – I think the more modern a show is and the more real-world technologies there are the more unrealistic becomes its portrayal.
Categories: Thought Storm
Tags: 24 · Alias · Bones · Buffy the Vampire Slayer · CSI · Hackers · MacGyver · Riptide · Smallville · T.J. Hooker · The A-Team · The Fall Guy · The Net
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16
24: Season 7
Last weekend I watched the extended version of 24: Redemption and then the seventh season of 24.
The movie while still in “real time” was a nice change of pace with that african location and not having to save the world but just a group of orphans. That was a good idea and well done if you ask me.
The seventh season is a different matter. Don’t get me wrong, I did really like it. It was way better than the fourth and fifth season and I’d say the show has turned upwards again since the beginning of the sixth season.
Let me first describe what I didn’t like and then go to the good parts.
The season had many elements every previous season also had and that makes it somewhat predictable.
First and foremost, nobody trusts Jack and they only get in his way – everybody should know by now that Jack is always right.
Then there’s this huge threat by “the man” that is resolved precisely after 12 hours and is replaced by the threat of “the man behind the man”. So once the big bad is identified you know that he will be dead by half-time and the true evil will appear.
Then there’s Jack’s superior who makes always the wrong or the slow decision and is either killed this season or the next. The only exception to this rule was James Morrison’s character Bill Buchanan who was introduced in the fourth season as Jack’s new boss.
And then there are two conspiracies within the government, one on a political level and one on the personal level in close proximity to the president.
All the above applies also to the seventh season.
But they also made some changes. The two most important are the decommissioning of CTU and to give Jack a new (female) partner.
No one really knows why they did it – after all, CTU saved the day at least six times before, but they did. Bill was retired, Chloe a stay-at-home mom and Jack was on the run. Now he’s back and he has to testify about his actions in front of a Senate hearing – which of course lasts only until the next crisis arises.
Jack only works in an advising capacity with FBI agent Renee Walker who is totally against methods such as torturing that have been used by the CTU and Jack. But this wouldn’t be 24 if that resolution would survive the first contact with the enemy. Still she tries to restrain Jack and is actually getting through to him.
And we have a new president, a woman this time. And I really like her. She reminds me a lot of the late President David Palmer and that’s a good thing in my book.
I also think that this was the first time I liked Kim Bauer and her behaviour. She’s certainly grown as a person.
Another moment that I thought was impressive was when Jack changed his shirt and Renee could see all the scars that he has “collected” over the years and when it dawned to her what he himself endured (the scars the Chinese gave to his hands at the beginning of the sixth season were gone though – I assume it was a make-up decision to “forget” them or he would have to wear them all the time).
And the last thing I’d like to add is the topic of this year’s longest day: That they questioned the reasonability of private army companies like BlackStarckwater and pointed out the danger that they represent.
The seventh season had an end that could have served as series finale but since there will be an eighth sure I am sure that I will tune in.
Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon
Tags: 24
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2
Castle
Richard Castle is a successful bestseller author who just killed his main character in the last book. But now he has a writer’s blockage and isn’t able to write anymore. But then a copycat killer shows up who kills his victims in the fashion people were killed in Castle’s books. The New York police asks him to assist in the case and he agrees. He works with Detective Beckett und he begins to taste blood. He wants to make her his role model for his next character. She is not amused – but he’s buddy with the mayor.
I am normally not into cop shows (anymore), especially if they are of the run-of-the-mill kind. But this feels like a modern day version of Murder She Wrote and I loved that show. And Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) makes a great author and Stana Katic is good at being annoyed of him. Sometimes when she smiles he looks a bit like Sarah Clarke (Nina Meyers from 24) – not that this is a bad thing, just noticing. The premise also reminds me a bit of The Hard Way, but that isn’t bad either, since I liked that movie, too.
Categories: Short Review
Tags: 24 · Castle · Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog · Firefly · The Hard Way
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