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

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

Categories: Fun, Misc
Tags: LOST
Comments: No comments

There’s another question that has to be asked:

What have Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof done to the mystery genre as such?

Who is ever going to believe the next guy who comes along in fall 2013 claiming to have written THE mystery show and promising that it will all pay off in season five?

Everyone will throw them seven letters into his face: BSG + LOST. And nobody will believe that he can do it – even if he actually could.

Is LOST the “cry wolf” one too many?

Why don’t they hire someone like J. Michael Straczynski who has proven(!) with Babylon 5 that he can keep track of a five season arc and do modifications should the need arise (actor jumps ship, …)?

(Can you see that I’m a teeny-tiny bit pissed off? See here and here, too.)

Categories: Thought Storm
Tags: Babylon 5 · Battlestar Galactica · LOST
Comments: No comments

Deutsche Version | Those that came … those that went … those that did both … and those that did neither nor

Dollhouse

The Dollhouse is a place where you can rent an actual person which will be imprinted with anything one desires (from being a professional hit man to being an exceptional escort).
When this show went into its last intermission I kinda lost track of it. I always enjoyed it but somehow I never managed to come around and watch the last five or six episodes. Maybe I’ll do it in the summer.

Heroes

Certain people discover that they have abilities that would be described as “super-human”. They use them to protect us while living in secret.
Once this was a great show (in season one). But ever since then it has been declining and gotten more illogical with every season. I’m not sad that it was discontinued.

LOST

The plane Oceanic 815 crashes on a tropical island. The survivors have to fight against the island, a smoke monster, the Others and several other parties. Not only in their own time, but also in the past and in other realities.
“It’s all about the characters.” From now on I will understand this as “We have no plan were we are going and it will make no sense but at least you’ll see the characters in a lot of emotional turmoil.”. The more distance I get from watching the finale the more disappointed I become. I wasn’t too keen on the Battlestar Galactica end either but at least they had a physical voyage that leads them somewhere in the end. And here? We have only vague hints of what would have happened if Smokey had left or if the island had sunk. Where’s the re-watch value? Why bother to look for clues in the early episodes when you know that there won’t be any answers for which the clues could be useful?
In essence, J. Michael Straczynski is still the only person who actually can pull off a five season arc.

Supernatural

Sam and Dean Winchester fight all kinds of supernatural beings that kill or use people in their plans to bring the Apocalypse.
Technically this show isn’t over. There will be a sixth season and maybe more. But the big arc that has driven the show over the last five years is over now and I’m glad I was on board for it, even though my trip was shorter (I watched the pilot merely a year ago).

Categories: Short Review, TV Season 2009/10 Diary
Tags: Battlestar Galactica · Dollhouse · Heroes · LOST · Supernatural
Comments: No comments

Deutsche Version | CW 19-20 | CW 20-21

LOST 6×17 The End
I’ve been a fan of LOST but not a fanboy. But even I have a buttload of questions that remained unanswered. The most important of all: What’s the island?
Basically the only question the finale answered was what the Flash-Sideways are. But not why the island exists, why it has to be protected in the first place, why Smokey came to be, why it would be a bad thing if he had ever left, why Miles can communicate with the dead (a trait that isn’t connected to the island – in contrast to Desmond’s and Faraday’s abilities), why the time jumps, … and that’s just the questions from the top of my head.
So, the finale left me in two-minded state. I liked it for what it was but there are too many open questions. One could argue that it’s just like real life where things just happen and where there is no why but this is a scripted TV show and not just any TV show: A mystery show and it should have provided more answers. It’s like reading a thriller where someone ripped out the pages that reveal the murderer.

PS: It seems I’m not the only one who has mixed feelings: See Alan Sepinwall’s review.

CW 20-21

Categories: TV Season 2009/10 Diary
Tags: LOST
Comments: 1 Comment

Deutsche Version | CW 13-19 | CW 20 (LOST Finale)

The Big Bang Theory 3×22 The Staircase Implementation
It was a nice “origin story” that I enjoyed (The hair! The suits! The North-Korean spy-girl!).
But I like Babylon 5!

Chuck 3×17 Chuck vs the Living Dead
Even though Shaw might be back I enjoy this season 3.5 much more than season 3.0. I love how Ellie is getting drawn into the spy game and how his father figured out he still was the Intersect. My favourite scene was when Sarah “intercepted” the knife and Orion was wondering whether she also had an Intersect.

Gossip Girl 3×22 Last Tango, Then Paris
It wasn’t bad but a few things bothered me. For example Dan following Serena headlessly without thinking about Vanessa. And even though Jenny was “deported” I didn’t get the feeling that she was actually punished for what she did this year. And Chuck getting shot in a dark alley was a bit too clichéd for me.
But I loved the idea of Georgina returning (and her condition!). And since Mercy was axed she could play a larger role next season.

LOST 6×16 What They Died For
I loved Desmond as sideways-Mastermind, I really enjoyed these parts of the episode. But I also liked the parts on the island. I just don’t think that Ben has turned again (I think he’s conning Smokey) and I don’t think that Jack will actually become the lighthouse keeper; I think there will be yet another twist to this all.

10 Things I Hate About You 1×18 Changes
I was a bit disappointed of Kat’s behaviour. Patrick’s friendly banter didn’t feel out of place. But her reaction to it did.
I enjoyed the rest of the episode though.

(more…)

Categories: TV Season 2009/10 Diary
Tags: 10 Things I Hate About You · Babylon 5 · Bones · Castle · Chuck · Community · Cougar Town · Doctor Who · Gossip Girl · House M.D. · How I Met Your Mother · Justified · Kick-Ass · LOST · Mercy · Party Down · Superbad · Supernatural · The Big Bang Theory · The Good Wife · Two and a Half Men
Comments: No comments

Deutsche Version | CW 18 | CW 19-20

Chuck 3×16 Chuck vs the Tooth
I already like this new mini-arc (there are only three episodes left). My guess for the end is something like this: Ellie and Orion get caught by the Ring and Chuck and Sarah have to burst in to save them and thus revealing themselves.
I loved to see Christopher Lloyd in this episode and while I only know him as “elderly person” I was a bit surprised how old he actually looked now (he’s 71 after all…). On TV Tropes there’s a trope called “Running the Asylum”. It has a different meaning but I loved the idea that an inmate of the Cuckoo’s Nest is now the chief psychiatrist for an asylum full of spies.
Spoiler (mark to read):
Since I’ve read that they introduce yet another game-changer into the finale my guess would be that Orion removes the Intersect from Chuck’s head for good. Except for the Karate they didn’t make much use of it this season anyway (or at least I have that feeling). I think Chuck is ready to be a spy in his own right and they don’t actually need the Intersect as plot device anymore.

The Big Bang Theory 3×21 The Plimpton Stimulation
“You are my landlord and you are my movers. And I can’t pay any of you.” Great episode. It was a great fun in itself.
I’m still somewhat troubled over that whole break-up thing. I don’t have the feeling that they’ve actually explained why they’ve broken up. Penny just ran out on him and that was it. No real aftermath or real explanation. For me that makes it a bit unreal.

10 Things I Hate About You 1×16 Too Much Information
The first episode was a bit anvilicious (modelling & eating disorders…) but I liked that Kat tried to help Patrick open up.

10 Things I Hate About You 1×17 Just One Kiss
I liked the second episode better, especially with bringing Blank/William back.

Bones 5×21 The Boy with the Answer
I liked it that they brought the Gravedigger case again. I also liked that the writers and actors made me really hate her for attacking “my people” by questioning their integrity.
I also smell change coming. When characters start to question their own purpose and goals right before the season ends, most of the time they are going to change the concept of the show (at least for a while).

(more…)

Categories: TV Season 2009/10 Diary
Tags: 10 Things I Hate About You · Angel · Bones · Castle · Chuck · Community · Cougar Town · Doctor Who · Good Will Hunting · Gossip Girl · Happy Town · House M.D. · How I Met Your Mother · Justified · LOST · One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest · Party Down · Smallville · Spartacus: Blood and Sand · Supernatural · The Big Bang Theory · The Good Wife · Two and a Half Men · Veronica Mars
Comments: No comments

Deutsche Version | CW 13-17 | CW 13-19

Chuck 3×15 Chuck versus the Role Models
Again, I’ve enjoyed this episode very much. Loved the tiger even without Mike Tyson.
I also liked the hint to an oncoming arc in the end. I strongly suspect that the Chuck gang and the Awesome family will soon cross paths again.

And I loved this little spoof of Hart to Hart (not to mention the blink towards LOST at the end) (warning: contains spoilers if you’re not up2date):

And here’s the original:

LOST 6×14 The Candidate
Just like with Supernatural they seem to be cleaning up the game board for the Grand Finale.
What disturbed me most about the Kwon’s death was not that it happened after they reunited after being apart for three years (bad things happen…) but that neither Jin nor Sun thought about their daughter at that moment, a child that will now be raised without parents. I understand that a little more from Jin’s perspective since he never saw his child and it was three years since Sun had been pregnant but Sun should have said something!

The Big Bang Theory 3×20 The Spaghetti Catalyst
I loved it how Leonard and Penny behaved like divorced parents (IMHO with switched gender roles – she takes him to Disneyworld and he has to deal with his nightmares afterwards) and how Sheldon – who loves them both – has a hard time deciding of whom to hang with.

How I Met Your Mother 5×21 Twin Beds
This story was not well constructed. I get that Barney and Ted might have regrets but how it played out was not well executed IMHO – especially since Don is basically an unknown to me. How often have we seen this guy? Three, four times? And now I should care about him?
I also didn’t like the twin bed story, it felt contrived.

Community 1×23 Modern Warfare
I can’t even count how many references this episode alone had – and still was able to tell a fully fledged story: First there were the named references to Friends and Cheers then it seemed like a post-apocalyptic movie, then Abed quoted The Terminator and fought like in The Matrix (including bullet-time at a later point), then there was this doomsday movie scene where people are warming their hands over a burning barrel in the midst of destruction (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow), the mention of the Neutral Zone (Star Trek), The Prize (Highlander), the gun taped on the back (Die Hard) and I’m pretty sure Señor Chang’s golden guns were from some movie, too.
I’m also sure I did not mention every reference here nor do I think that I caught all of them. Two words: Absolutely hilarious.

(more…)

Categories: TV Season 2009/10 Diary
Tags: Bones · Cheers · Chuck · Community · Die Hard · Doctor Who · Friends · Hart to Hart · Highlander · How I Met Your Mother · Independence Day · LOST · Smallville · Star Trek · Supernatural · The Big Bang Theory · The Day After Tomorrow · The Matrix · The Terminator
Comments: No comments

Deutsche Version | March

April, 6th

Director: David S. Ward

John Goodman … Ralph Hampton Gainesworth Jones
Peter O’Toole … Sir Cedric Charles Willingham
John Hurt … Lord Percival Graves
Camille Coduri … Miranda Green
Richard Griffiths … Duncan Phipps
Leslie Phillips … Gordon Halliwell

Synopsis: After the entire Royal Family has been wiped out, England needs a new king and they find him – in America. Ralph is not what one would call born to be a representative of a nation but he has to do since there’s no one else – or is there? The parliament could decide to end the Windham line and re-establish the Stuarts as the royal line again. And Lord Graves – the next in line – does everything in his might to make this happen.

My Opinion: After watching so many Doctor Who episodes I wanted to watch the movie where I saw Jackie Tyler (Camille Coduri) for the first time again.
It’s not that good a movie but I still enjoy it very much mainly because it’s true what Cedric says in the end: Ralph is a good and decent man and he does what is right.
This movie has many funny scenes and still manages to not really mock the British monarchy.

Afterwards, I listened to this quite a few times:

(more…)

Categories: DVD / Blu-ray, DVD Marathon, Movie Watchings 2010
Tags: Doctor Who · King Ralph · LOST · Saving Private Ryan
Comments: No comments