What Did You Watch Today?

[Docpepper]

1x08 - Shrink Wrap - 8/10

This one you get to see Rita's boobs and that is all that matters. And you also get to see a more boobs, but those are from a dead women and yeah, that's hot. But seriously, the episode was quality with Dexter going to a shrink and it actually works on him as all his memories come back and then he rushes to Rita's house and has sex with her right there. Earlier she got all naked for him and he was too afraid and left quickly. Clearly he was gay at that time. And then he goes back and admits for the first time to someone that he is a serial killer, but it is okay as he kills the shrink anyways. Yeah, Dexter is great. And then we find out who really is the Ice Truck Killer.

I liked the part where Laguerta brings a decapitated head to see the "Ice Truck Killer" and he freaks out and admits to not being the real guy for he is a coward and didn't even kill his mom like he admitted to. All he is good at is hacking into the firewall. What a fag.

I liked the flashback part of Dexter getting all excited about stalking up on his father and choking him and then his father taps out and Dexter is all "I WIN~!" but he really wins nothing for he is a psycho. Then his dad later stalks up on him as he is about to kill some bullies.

[Fitzy]

Yes, clearly I'm the one who doesn't get good TV "Mr. Someone Link Me to the New Album From that Guy From American Idol".

[Timmoru Suzuki]

The Prestige 8/10

Good film, very enjoyable. Very good performances for the most part, Bale and Johansson are good, Hugh Jackman is very good, and Michael Caine is one again fantastic. David Bowie is actually good in his little role, and Andy Serkis is fine in his small part too.

Its overall a very enjoyable film, but be warned, the final twenty minutes or so are a total brain-f*ck with a sh*t-load of little twists and bigger twists and such. This is really good though as it all works and makes sense, and adds as a whole to the quality and the bizzare-quality of the film. Its all REALLY clever too. Its not THAT hard to follow, but trying to explain the end of the story to someone later will cause your head to explode (explaining the plot of the first 2/3rds of the film is straightforward enough).

I like how it changes who the 'good guy' and 'bad guy' are throughout the film as well (again mostly in the last act).

Overall, good story, great if mind-numbing (in a totally good way) twists, and fine performances. Not too long either, it ends when it should. So, recommended!

Edited November 21, 2006 by timmayy rave

[Ananas]

"How I Met Your Mother" and "Corner Gas" were both top shelf last night. They're both on a roll.

[Ananas]

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me - 8/10

I didn't really like the bits with Agent Desmond other than the fact that Kiefer Sutherland is awesome. That intro didn't really fit the spirit of the series, but everything that followed was top shelf. The Man From Another Place, Leland, Cooper in his bits and Laura were all great. It was weird seeing Moira Kelly playing Donna, but she's good so it was fine. They say a good story asks more questions than it answers, and if that's true, David Lynch is the best storyteller around. I'm sure I'll be pestering Ringo with my theories for weeks to come. >_>

[Guest Ringo Masterson]

8/10? Wow if you gave that 8 then you're gonna give Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive 4898490/10 .

God, it's been a while since I've seen this. Once I shift through the second season of TP I will watch it again >_>

[Timmoru Suzuki]

The Constant Gardener 8/10

A fucking good film. Thats my review of the good parts! Its just a great film with plenty of messages about Africa and giant corporations without being too 'in your face' about it. Its very well acted (Ralph Fiennes in particular is great), fantastically shot with a great story.... practically has everything a really great film needs. I would recommend it to anyone, its a great piece of work.

There are only a few things that stop it getting a higher rating. Firstly, it crams so much into the one hour fifty-five minute run-time (not so the story is rushed because its not, in the sense it crams SO much information in there and about 700,000 trillion scenes) it can feel like a film twice its length. The ending doesn't sit quite right with me either. Don't get me wrong, the ultimate destination of Ralph Fiennes character is brilliant, its more how the main plot ends that feels a bit flat, it just doesn't seem to end in a great way. Thirdly, the pregnancy story gets totally forgotten about, and I'm pretty sure it'd be a major part of anyone's life.... Finally, its not a movie to pop in and play anytime. Its not hard to follow, but its not a film to just watch anytime either.

Overall though, the main plusses, of which there are millions because practically everything here is great, do outweight the minor but noticeable problems. Recommended to all. Very recommended to all.

[TGC]

Daybreak - "Pilot" - 8/10

I'm about a week behind on this, but rather than keep taping a show that sucks, I decided to watch the first part of the two hour series premiere of Taye Diggs new drama Daybreak. Boy am I glad I did.

Now the premise is simple enough. Detective Hooper wakes up one normal morning in his gf's apartment, goes hom to see his place ransacked, has the police swarm in and arrest him for the murder of an ADA, is arraigned and held without bond, and before the day ends is attacked by a mysterious group who show him that his gf was murdered by them, his sister and her kids are being watched, and that he must confess to the murder he didn't commit or else. Then he wakes up...and it's the same day, except of course he has knowledge of having already lived it, while nobody else does. It's Groundhog Day meets The X-Files, as several publicity paclets and reviews called it, and it's so far very good.

Taye Diggs is a very good actor, and the show is filled with plenty of good to great supporting actors that help take the show and riase it up a notch. By the middle of the pilot you truly are rooting for Hooper to make some sense of it all, even though you know he's just going to wake up and have to live it all over again. Tiny bits are slowly being released and revealed, but for a show that has an initial 13 week committment from ABC, this is to be expected.

This isn't groundbreaking TV. It's not on the same level as Lost, whose timeslot it is taking over, or any of the other fabulous new season dramas such as Heroes or Studio 60, but it's a fun little escapist drama that has a nice little mystery and some fantastic acting, direction, and photography. It is far better, however, than the already failed Kidnapped, The failing fast Vanished, the boring as all hell The Nine, and the sappy Friday Night Lights. You could do far worse than to give the pilot 45 minutes of your time to try it out.

[Ananas]

"One Tree Hill" had an awesome song in it last night. That's about all I can say nicely. It was kind of funny when "The O.C." fucked with Marissa's shit all the time, because Marissa was a horrible character and seeing her go through all that shit was the only entertaining aspect of the parts of episodes she was in. But I dunno, Peyton is actually a pretty decent character and everytime they pull the rug out from her it just seems sad. Still, Jackson Waters - "Center of Attention" is an awesome song and you should all check it out.

[TGC]

Daybreak S1E2 - What If They Run - 9/10

So this is the second half of the two hour series premiere for Daybreak, and if the first hour and episode entitled Pilot was good, this one is great bordering on fantastic.

Day three of the same day opens with Hooper in the apartment of Rita, his gf, as daybreak hits. He's already awake, already dressed, and he tells her he loves her. They then attempt to get away from all of it by going "to visit her mother". Of course things don't work out, and by the end of day three he will learn a very important fact about how this is all working. To say more would spoil a lot, but suffice it to say before this episode ends we know a little more about the two cops who arrested him on day one, one of which is played by Mitch Pillegi aka Skinner on The X-Files, we know a lot more about Rita's ex husband, played deftly and excellently by Adam Baldwin, and we know whether Andrea, Hooper's partner who is suspected of being a dirty cop by Internal Affairs, is dirty or not.

This show has unlimited potential, but I can see why people might be worried about the whole "live the same day over and over and over" gimmick. However I can assure you, this gimmick is played out very well, the producers use it in the most realistic day possible, and it somehow actually leads to dramatic tension over and over.

One final bit, but it's a spoiler, so read at your own risk.

What if you were shot, got stitched up, and were doing okay when the day was reset? Would those wounds of the shooting remain? Somehow they do, but the work done to repair those wounds doesn't follow with them? Make sense? Absolutely not, but it does make you wonder, a lot, just what the hell is going on and how the hell it works.

Watch this show. Try the two hour series premiere of episodes one and two. Trust me, by the end of hour one, and most assuredly by the end of hour two, you won't be able to stop.

Edited November 23, 2006 by The Millionaire's TGC

[TGC]

The Lake House - 8/10

I think you either really like Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as actors or you don't. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground whatsoever with these two. As for me, I like Keanu and would just as soon shoot Sandra as look at her or see her films. That said, I adored this movie, and most of the reasoning is because of the awesome chemistry, the fabulous acting, as odd as it sounds coming from these two, and some really beautiful shots of Chicago.

The story, about two people two years apart communicating through a mail box outside of the lake house that she lived in just a few months ago and that he lives in two years prior, sounds pretty odd and doesn't sound like it could work, but it does and quite well. I will admit the big shockers at the end were things I figured out much much earlier in the film, but it still connected with me emotionally because I was able to invest so fully with these two characters. Sadly the end just sort of happens and you are left with some pretty big questions considering that much of the film seems to be ignored, but all in all it works.

The only thing keeping this film from getting a 9.5/10 was the ending that bothers me, otherwise this film is flawless.

[ROC]

The Great Gatsby - 3/10

How in the hell Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, and Sam Waterston acting on top of a Francis Ford Coppola script could produce a film a tediously boring and terribly uninspired as the adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel is beyond me. Perhaps the finger could be pointed at director Jack Clayton, who seems to practically suck any energy out of the effort and gets characters doing things like staring for a long time at something seemingly unimportant (I get the eyes, but sometimes we see Nick staring at things for what seems like no real reason). That and Mia Farrow comes off at best a dumb person and at worst completely wasted during the entire production. Just bad, bad, bad. I'm not too keen on the novel, but at least it had some redeeming qualities.

[TGC]

Daybreak S1E3 - What If He Lets Her Go - 7/10

So on the third episode Detective Brent Hopper, despite my previous misspellings calling him Hooper, makes the decision to let Rita go on about her day and not involve her with his problems, and is no doing he is able to change enough that he keeps her from being killed, but pushes her back into the arms of her ex husband, Chad. During all of this, and two more attempts to live the day out, he learns more and more regarding a potential dirty US District Attorney, ADA Garza's death and his role in it, his partner Andrea, and the mysterious person who looks to be pulling the strings on this entire frame.

The third episode isn't quite as good as the first two, and it does tend to drag a whole lot during the middle and second half, but valuable information is learned, and Hopper starts to get better and better at this. The clues are coming fast and furious, piece by piece as frustrating as that can be, but the show remains well acted, well written, well directed, and just all around slick and nice. Maybe it's due to all of The X-Files vets on the show, who surely know how to do thins kind of thing by now.

If you aren't watching you're still missing one of the better new shows this year. I can't recommend this thing enough.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Casino Royale

8/10

The best Bond for a very long time and *whispers* perhaps ever.

From the incredible pre-credits intro that was beyond phenominal, throught he excellent credits sequence and all the way up until the romantic quarter of an hour near the end it was EXCELLENT. Then it got a bit rubbish, then it got excellent again.

Oh, and Daniel Craig's at least the second best Bond (behind Connery) if not better. Blonde hair and blue eye for the win! My wife tells me that apaprantly he's the best looking Bond too.

So, they've saved it from the horror show of Die Another Day and Pierce Brosnan vanishing up his own anus and emerging as a dirty old man.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Thank You For Smoking

9/10

[Rashid]

Last night my cinema aired a double feature, so I saw bought. And my cinema only has 1 screen, which explains why they're just airing Saw III now.

Happy Feet

Most I ever laughed in my life, but I laughed at the unintentionally funny scenes. First of all, I don't care what people say, this isn't a kids movies. No one under 9 should watch this. It's bambarded with sexual innuendo. Most I've seen in a "childrens movie". And the movie itself was kinda stupid. During the second half, when the "Pimp" Penguin had the can holder around his neck, and was choking to death, I couldn't stop laughing. It was just so terribly funny. If you want to have a good time and laugh non-stop, you should watch this movie. If you wanna watch a sweet childrens movie, skip this.

5/10

Saw III

The goriest of the 3 movies by far. And I found that this one had the best storyline. I loved the 2 major storylines. The "Death Traps" were just as original from the ones in the first 2. I felt sympathy for the the main characters, even Amanda and John. I loved the conclusion, and it's the perfect ending. I have mixed reactions with them making Saw IV, but I'll watch it anyway. Saw III is my favorite of the 3.

8/10

Edited November 26, 2006 by Rashid

[MalaCloudy Black]

Click - 8/10

I thought it really could've done without the sappy ass ending, but was otherwise good.

[GoGo Yubari]

So, they've saved it from the horror show of Die Another Day and Pierce Brosnan vanishing up his own anus and emerging as a dirty old man.

Yes, but he was an AWESOME dirty old man in The Matador. Everyone needs to see The Matador.

Casino Royale - 8.5/10

Because I'm just a little bit easier to please than Hamster. The last half hour or so isn't very good but it's necessary so I can forgive it. And the title sequence is so awesome that I've watched it like six or seven times.

... using legal methods. Really.

[Rashid]

Gremlins

One of my personal favorite horror movies. A great mix of horror and dark comedy. And Gizmo stands as my favorite character/creature in movie history. This is much better than the mediocre Gremlins 2.

8.5/10

Creepshow

Just saw it for the first time. Much better than what I expected. 5 great tales of horror brought to you George Romero and Stephen King. The last one really got to me as I hate bugs.

8/10

Both these movies rank among my 20 favorite horror films.

[Pepsi]

The Fountain 8/10

I can't say I understood more than 70% of the film but what I got out of it was very heart wrenching.