Pixar Marathon

I rarely talk about movies on this blog if even at all but today I decided to have a Pixar marathon. It was actually a long time coming and something I’ve always wanted to do. I just had to procure “A Bug’s Life” which I had continually kept putting off. Not that I didn’t like it but I was hoping to find it for a little less then 20 dollars. Anyway I ended up splurging for it about a month or two to go and now I have all of them including the excellent Pixar Short Films collection.

I love these films. All of them (maybe minus Cars) are excellent films. They actually put together smart and clever stories that aren’t made for cheap laughs and money (well they are made for money but you know what I mean). Pixar prides itself in making films that at first have an excellent story. They have been influenced by classic Disney (when Walt was around), Miyazaki, and timeless themes. There is even an extremely strong adult following and each film looks better and better.

So with a whole day with nothing to do, and no much money to spend I decided today was the perfect day to do this. So this morning starting at ten I started with Toy Story and slowly going through all nine films on dvd (and the short films afterward). So I’ll be done a little early in the morning.

The best thing is watching the animation and stories mature as Pixar finds its footing and evolves. I kind of currently see Pixar films several generations. The first three are classic Pixar films. The animation and style in Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Toy Story 2 are all similar. The humor is the same and the themes are relatively simple. It is also amazing how much the animation and details improv from just Toy Story to Toy Story 2. These movies are really where Pixar founds its footing and proved they could make unique and strong characters with relatively similar themes like a Buddy Flick or an old Aesop Fable.

Pixar took the next step with Monster’s Inc and a huge incredible jump with Finding Nemo. The details and animation really improved plus the story has become even more incredible and heartbreaking. The storytelling really improved. Pixar took what they learned from Jessie’s song in Toy Story 2 and really liked to tug at heart strings and take a darker turn with more adult themes. The ending to Monster’s Inc and the beginning to Finding Nemo come to mind. Finding Nemo is continually at the top of most people’s favorite Pixar films. Finding Nemo deals with loss of life, friendship, and letting go. I’m sure the film spoke more to adults then it did to kids. However that is what Pixar does best it can cater to children as well as to adults.

I would put Incredibles and Cars in the same generation as Monster’s Inc. and Finding Nemo despite Cars having incredibly more advanced and detailed animation then Monster’s Inc. The Incredibles really is catered toward slightly older boys then any of the previous Pixar films and is a little bit more directed at a certain type of viewer. I think the best thing about it is how it deals with themes of despair and trying to relive glory days. Plus it the adult theme of infidelity at one point.  It was during these fours movies that Pixar earned its reputation as the leading animation studio and one of thew few studios with continually box office success.

With Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Up I think Pixar took an even bigger step in the story department. Ratatouille is an extremely strong film, that I unfortunately skipped over until DVD because of Cars. Like the Incredibles I think it works better with an adult audience then a children’s audience. The story is just a little bit to complicated for younger children. It still appeals to children but I think all of the restaurant politics go over their heads. Plus it doesn’t have the usual action climax that all the other movies have. It just has huge production values and took Pixar movies to the next level. Wall-E is the same thing dealing with adult themes and deals with love, loneliness, and even pokes at consumerism, obesity, and environmental issues. The first 30 minutes also don’t even have an words except for the occasional Hello Dolly song.

I haven’t even talked about Up which is a mix of Pixar’s new advanced storytelling but reminds you of the fun of Finding Nemo. Plus even the scoring has become more mature.

Anyway I am incredibly excited to continue to go through these films and I am so glad I did this marathon.

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here Season 2 Review

Well I think this statement from my inital review pretty much says it all.

“So with Heidi and Spencer gone, and they will gladly champion this, the ratings will go down and quite frankly the show won’t be worth watching. Janice has the upper hand after coming in second in the eighth series of the UK version but I can even see her getting eliminated early probably leaving us with an incredibly boring final week.”

And that my friends is what happened. Except I didn’t foresee Spencer and Heidi coming back a billion times and hating John Salley and Patti Blagojevich but that pretty much summed the show up. The ratings crashed and only Damien Fahey and the other host seemed to be enjoying the show. I found it repetitive and boring. Janice really was the only reason to watch and once she was gone well…the last few shows just weren’t worth it. I was intrigued eniugh to see how it played out but not enough to really pay attention to it while I had it on. I fast forwarded through all of the charity plugs and even fell asleep during a few episodes and never went back to rewatch. It was nice background noise and the occasional glance up did it justice. I just thought it was gimicky, outdated (yea reality shows have actually evolved in this decade, this should could’ve flied in the 2002-2003 year but even then it was a flop. I’m really only curious to see Janice Dickinson in the British version (which I hope is a lot better then the US one) but other then that I just was mainly un-amused. Which is sad because their can be shows you love to hate and you keep watching it because of that but when you don’t really have an opinion well…

And they said this would be back next year? Really?

DVD: Breaking Bad Season 1

Breaking Bad was one of the best shows last year. I think I even picked it to be one of my top three. The writing, the acting, the filming was all incredible. I remember seeing a few commercials for it and I found the whole thing to be very intriguing and interesting and not something I had seen before. Plus I always liked Bryan Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle and I personally love it when comedic actors take on more dramatic roles. Breaking Bad is also written and directed by one of the former writers of the X-Files so already it was in really good hands. Anyway the DVD came out way back in March right before the second season began and like most things this Spring and Summer I just kept putting it off. Not because I really wanted to but because of other commitments and such. However a few days ago I was able to marathon through the last five episodes and fell back in love with the series, especially near the end when it really began to show a lot of promise and fell into its groove.

It isn’t a dark comedy like Weeds but Breaking Bad definitely has a lot of comedy to it. The show can go from depressing, to happy, to funny very quickly. Like I’ve said before, that combination is usually the best formula for television.  When a show can take you from one emotion and suddenly bring you to a whole other feeling.

This show is Bryan Cranston. He does so much with his eyes and his face. He really embodies the character and Walt White is one of the most fascinating people on tv. He is stubborn and conservative and slowly becoming more and more of a liar and more and more of a badass. It is so iconic seeing him in the pilot out in the middle of nowhere New Mexico holding and gun and just standing in his underpants. Or in the sixth episode where for the first time we see him with his head shaved. Every other character plays a pivotal role to him and it is very interesting seeing the puzzle unfold.

The DVD was slightly frustrating to watch. Before you watch your first episode (no matter which one) on a disc you have to sit through five minutes worth of warnings and copyright information. They should have put it in the front of the dvd and sped it up a little.

I have yet to see any of the episodes of the second season (they are sitting on my tivo) but I am incredibly excited to see where they take the show next season and what happens with Tuco and Skylar’s sister stealing. So bring on season two!

Big Brother UK 10 – Week 2

Cairon is out which is fine with me. Right now this show is all about Halfwit. He could not be voted out. He could not go. I’m sure whatever twists are thrown in this week will also even help Halfwit and Angel.

Where to begin, what an good week. It really helped develop some of the lesser characters like Noirin and Marcus. Those two people really came out and I think became greater characters. However that was because of Sree. I thought I was aggravated with someone like Coach from Survivor but Sree takes most obnoxious reality show character. He just doesn’t get how he comes across. He seeks attention and then insults people but can’t take it if someone else does this. Look how aggravated he was with Marcus just fooling around with Noirin? He couldn’t handle it. He is immature, incredibly immature, for someone who is twenty five. I think he would be good for a few more weeks but if Sree somehow manages to get to the end? I think I might go crazy.

The task this week was good and much better then the diamond task from last week. However I am still not a huge fan “Watch the DVD and do it” tasks. It just comes off as weak and uninteresting. We did get gold though that somehow Angel, Halfwit, Marcus, and Sree all got together. If they hadn’t though there wouldn’t have been any drama in this task at all, except for Charlie somehow getting the lead when he just kind of sucked.

Angel continues to be a brilliant housemate but I am starting to really like Karly. Her confessionals are great and I think she can really shine once a few more people disappear. She is a great narrator. Both her and Halfwit both are great narrators for the series. I might have a hard time keeping Angel in my number one spot if Karly continues to amaze me. She hasn’t done to much, but when she is on she is fantastic.

Lisa has turned into a horrible person. She isn’t the bottom of the barrel but slowly is going to Tracey (Series Eight) territory. Her fighting and not listening just turns her into a horrible person. I have no problem if someone wants to argue, I wish there was more of it, but you have to listen to the person who is arguing with you.

Cairon leaving will be great for Siavash. He lost his comfort pillow so he is going to be a bit more mean and a bit more sarcastic. I don’t think he has really bonded with anybody else and I even think Siavash might even lash out at Halfwit blaming him. Cairon was immature and wasn’t very fun. He was cold and very standoffish during his eviction interview. I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it. He wasn’t an awful person he was just hard to like. I liked his bromance with Siavash but that was really all he brought to the table. He definitely was a long haul contestant.

I Survived A Japanese Gameshow 2 Premiere

I think I remembered this show a bit more fondly then I should have. Or otherwise I just hated how rushed the premier was. Way to much was going on and we didn’t get to meet any of the contestants. But I could say the same thing about last year because I only remember Meaghan, Bilenda, and Mary.

The whole whisked off to a gameshow in Japan without you knowing it ploy they used in the first season is gone. Now ISAJP is a phenomenon…which I don’t remember ever happening or anybody ever talking about this show. I know I loved saying Majide…as I watched this show by myself. Anyway I was delighted this was coming back and sat down with some friends and I was telling them how funny and cheesy this show was, but that it was okay because it was summer tv (and I thought it would suit them better then the first episode of revamped Doctor Who which they did not fall in love with).

Well of course they weren’t very enthusiastic about it because the episode did kind of suck. Even though the show is centered around the gameshow some of the best parts last year were the trips and in the house with Mama-san but all of that was extremely rushed so we could watch three games? The first game was only to win an advantage in the second game and it wasn’t even used so it was extremely pointless.

Also I hate sob stories on reality tv. I just didn’t feel bad for Yari and wanted faux-Omarosa Kimberly to come back and continue to cause problems. Plus what a dumb racist moved bald headed (at only 22) move Justin made. Kimberly was clearly stronger then Jamie (I had to look up her name btw) and showed it in the challenge. Plus what a bullshit call eliminating Kimberly since she didn’t have more complete butterflies. I hope they told them that was the tiebreaker beforehand.

I’ll keep watching because I am a sucker for competition reality shows but what an unfortunate start to a show I liked last summer.

Oh and more of this crazy girl please…she was the only saving grace.

DVD: Lois and Clark Season 4

I have to say season 4 might actually be the best season of the show. I know I know it is the last season and viewers dropped off very quickly. However this season they find their footing extremely well. It is just overall extremely solid. There is a mix of action, drama, love, and comedy all rolled into an episode.

Season 1 is good in its own rights. Deborah Joy Levine had done a ton of research in the characters and I thought she put together a pretty solid show. However it seemed that ABC wasn’t the biggest fan of it and got rid of Cat and the original Jimmy and even replaced the entire writing staff. Then I think the show had some trouble in season 2, the arc wit Mayson Drake was really the only rewarding thing about it. Now season 3 wasn’t as bad as season 2 but they really dragged out the whole Lois is a clone storyline a little long and the delaying of the marriage in hindsight was probably a mistake. I hear they the writers/producers even blamed the fans for the show being canceled because they wanted the marriage. However the fans didn’t want the actual marriage to keep getting pushed back and pushed back. That really killed the show.

So personally I think once Lois and Clark actually got married in season 4 all the episodes after that really worked and fell into place. Lois and Clark were dealing with problems at home (ie. pregnancy, fights, ghosts) and also worked on their case of the week. The show had a perfect balance of serialized story and whatever bad guy Superman had to face. The show even went into excellent territory with the whole Leslie Luckabee storyline and Lex Luthor’s son. Plus some of the standalone episodes were also creative. My favorites include “Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark” the Groundhog’s Day like “Twas the Night Before Mxymas” and the clever “AKA Superman.” The series finale was not the strongest episode, since it wasn’t intended to be the series finale, but the ending almost was okay. Lois and Clark were thinking of having children and then it looked like it wasn’t going to happen and then a baby ended up in their house. Clark had also just saved all of their parents as well. So it was kind of a perfect family ending. Heck even Perry and Alice had gotten back together in one of the final episodes.

I’m not sure how much longer this show could have gone. Perhaps a final season that dealt with Lois and Clark having their own child would have summed up the series better and leaving a show on a cliffhanger isn’t great either (not that the proposed storyline for the beginning of season five would have been great). I am curious to read the fan written seasons that are online and see where they went with the show. Overall I really like the fourth season of this show and I think I would rank it the best.

One final special recognition to K Callan who is clearly my favorite in this series. She did a great job as Superman’s mom.

Expedition: Africa Premiere

I’m a little behind putting this up and I haven’t watched any episodes yet since the first (sitting on my tivo). However I was surprised at how much I liked this show. I need to go and watch episode 2 and 3 though considering that the fourth episode will be on in just a few days. What I liked about this show was that it had some history, some Eco-Challenge, and some good reality show bickering. This was truly a Mark Burnett show. He did a great job casting our four explorers who are all very A-Type personalities and already seem to be getting on people’s nerves. I think the two that were probably the most aggravating were Pasquale and Benedict. Both seemed to want to be in charge but kept trying to be polite. Pasquale did definitely take the lead and Benedict let him but Benedict seemed to be a sour puss the whole time and complained the whole time. That is one that that could kill this show. Since it is all about traveling, if they get lost every single episode it could really bog it down and become extremely repetitive. Also how far away are they from each other. How did Kevin get lost so easily? If I was him, with the least experience, I would have stuck extremely close to the other people…I mean we are in Africa with a bunch of very dangerous animals.

I also loved the opening. Mark Burnett, for the most part, knows how to start a show. The four crossing the ocean from Zanzibar into the mainland was epic and very interesting to see.

At this point I really like Mireya but her whole “I can be just as strong as the boys” stick could get old very early. However she seems to be the only person who isn’t stupid and abrasive. Like really Kevin? You don’t think you should bring water? This is a Mark Burnett production they aren’t going to help you.

Pushing Daisies: The Final Episodes

So ABC this summer is burning off the episodes of three of their shows that didn’t make the cut. Pushing Daisies started at the end of May, followed by Eli Stone tomorrow night, and then in July they will air the final episodes to Dirty Sexy Money.

Either way I am still extremely disappointed that Pushing Daisies got cut. Why were people not watching this show? Why do television watchers prefer another version of CSI to something a bit different? I will never know.

I’ll be honest the second season was not as strong as the first season but it was still a hell of a lot better then most shows and these last three episodes really could have been the best thing on network tv this week.  When watching this show you always knew you were going to get a quality episode and it would leave you satisfied but still wanting more.

Anyway I enjoyed the final three episodes immensely. The first episode “Window Dressed to Kill” was very visually pleasing and had a great mystery to it. I loved the sets and the window dressing this episode. I was a little confused with some of the ongoing plots though. It was kind of hard to remember things from December. Olive stole this episode (mainly because it was Olive centric) and I loved the whole plot with her being faked kidnapped and her parents not knowing. Then having to hide her alleged kidnappers in Lily and Vivian’s house. Plus I love this show when they break the group up. The Emerson and Chuck duo was great and if it had been done they made it exciting and refreshing. Plus I loved Olive’s rendition of “Hello” by Lionel Richie…wish that was on the cd….

I didn’t enjoy the second to last episode as much. Maybe I’m stupid, I found the whole mystery of this episode to be extremely confusing and had to re-watch a few scenes to make sure I knew what was going on. I didn’t really understand the ending either or how Lila was able to sneak his daughter into the other car and then all she did was wave to him? I did like the return of Simone in this episode. She was a fantastic character and a great love interest to Emerson. Not my favorite episode though.

I did enjoy the series finale even if the ending was a bit rushed…I don’t think ABC gave them much time to come up with an ending. Regardless this episode revolved around Lily and Vivian returning to the waters as the Darling Mermaid Darlings after a shark ate a former rival. This in turn had Ned, Emerson, and Olive all pretend to be part of the Darling Mermaid Darlings group and dressed up as managers, trainers, etc. However after a fairly normal, but excellent, episode it ended up with Lily telling Vivian that Chuck was her daughter and Vivian getting mad and sending Lily away that is until Chuck comes to the door, with Ned, and announces that she is still alive and then we get a nice and quick epilogue with Jim Dale telling us what happened next. Emerson reunited with his daughter, Lily and Vivian returned to the water and toured through Europe, Olive gets together with Randy Mann and opens up her own restuarant The Intrepid Cow, and of course Chuck announces that she is alive.

Not a perfect ending but they tried to tie up any loose story lines they could. I would have loved if Ned and Chuck had kissed and Chuck hadn’t died or something to that extent. I’m also curious what the original ending was. I wonder if Chuck coming to the door was the original ending or if Lily leaving would have been the original ending.

I will greatly miss this show and I cannot wait to pick up the DVD in July.

DVD: Arrested Development Season 2

Like I said for the first dvd, there is not an episode on here I don’t like. I really could watch every single episode again and I would be just as satisfied. This is one of the most re-watchable shows ever created. It sucks that there isn’t like 5 or 6 seasons of this show because it might be one of the most brilliant comedies on tv.

Every character is a character. Everyone is great. What an ensemble cast. In most shows you have that supporting character you love. The person you want to see more of because they are so much fun. That is the entire cast. Everyone from Maeby to Gob to Michael. They all just add so much.

Maeby has one  of my favorite plots this season, pretending to be an executive at the movie studio. It was so brilliant and so original. It just made her really come to the forefront of the show.

I also wish they had more Portia this season. She is in it a lot I just felt she was slightly underused and really only at the beginning of the episodes or a quick little scene in the middle. This season though was another season of the brilliant David Cross. Tobias seemed to steal every scene he was in and the whole Mrs. Doubtfire plot was brilliant and hilarious.

Anyway another amazing season and I think they are all relatively cheap. I would go out and get them right away if you haven’t bought them. This season was a little bare on the extra features but that is ok because the commentaries more then make up for it.

Sad that I only have 13 episodes left, but very excited about the upcoming movie.

Big Brother UK 10 – Week 1

And with that we have our first week of the tenth series of Big Brother UK over and done with. What a week it has been. It really is to bad that the ratings suck because this could quite possibly be my favorite series since when I started watching the show back in 2006. The first twist was slightly a bust. It just didn’t come off as amazing as it could have been. They just cheapened it with some lame tasks. It really needed to be epic, and it needed extend it a bit more. I mean the whole thing was over in four days. Look how easily Marcus and Siavash were complaining about it, it would have been brilliant keeping people as non-housemates for the entire first week. Then maybe it would have been a bit better. Plus Big Brother needed to punish the housemates for calling Halfwit and Dogface by their real names. It just kind of took the fun away knowing that it wasn’t being enforced by any of the contestants. Usually Big Brother is quite good about that. I am glad that kept Noirin drawing on her face the whole week though.

I also really like the house. People were complaining about it when it was first shown but now seeing the final house I am very pleased. The bathroom, main area, bedroom, and living area are all great. The garden is a bit cheap and the kitchen is nothing fantastic but the rest of the house is awesome.

My favorites have really changed from my initial rankings. A lot.  More so I think then in any previous series. Plus I’m not sure if these rankings will even be the same by the end of the series. Usually I have a group of five or so people who stay at the top for most of the series unless they are eliminated. Right now that only looks like Karly and Angel. Everyone else I’m not to sure about or see new things about them that really change my mind. Good example is Rodrigo and Noirin. Sometimes I think they are great, sometimes they are useless and I want them to go, and other times I just don’t like them. My initial rankings are pretty much all wonky now. They shouldn’t even count. I love Karly and Angel. Even though we haven’t seen a lot of Karly I do really like her for some reason. Her VT was totally different then how she really acted. Siavash also really grew on me after he became a housemate. I’m not so sure I like his bromance with Cairon but as a person by himself he is pretty awesome.

I can’t say enough about Angel. She is such a sad character. She is lonely, doesn’t seem to really like people, awkward, and unique. She is generally a really nice person who is trying to be accepted. She is also quirky and a bit weird. But she is just so lovely. She means well and I think if she sticks it out will really go on a journey. She is my pick to win this thing and is very refreshing from anybody else in there. She also has a self made music video on youtube which is also quite hilarious and so totally Angel.

On the other hand, awkwardness doesn’t always mean they are charming and that is Sree. Completely unexpected character from what we saw in his VT. He is cringeworthy. I don’t like him. Unlike Angel who tries to be accepted but then kind of gives up when she doesn’t think something is working…Sree does the opposite. He tries way to damn hard to be relevant. The way he tries to flirt with girls after he basically tells them they are sluts and are immature and don’t respect themselves…what? He also thinks everyone likes him and doesn’t realize how annoying and aggravating he comes across. He is not self aware and is making a fool of himself. As soon as he goes the better, he makes for good tv but he is just awful to watch.

Sophia…what the hell happened? Her VT made her out to be this lovely bubbly person who I thought I could love but then she became obsessed….OBSESSED with Saffia. Even though Saffia was just playing the game and she randomly got to the door first and really who wouldn’t pick yourself in that situation? Sophia went crazy and made me really dislike her. The whole thing is though their arguments with one another were extremely aggravating. Not as annoying as Alexandra from last year but still annoying was that they didn’t listen to each other. Sophia totally deserved to go especially since I think Halfwit will continue to be a good character. Sophia could have been as well but without Saffia where did Sophia really have to go? She was annoying, shrill, and thought way to highly of herself. So I am happy that she is gone. Never have I totally loved someone and totally hated them so much.

The other person who left this week was Beinazir who became an extremely disappointing housemate. I’m not sure if she got overwhelmed or she didn’t feel comfortable but she kind of just seemed to shut herself out. She didn’t try to become a housemate. Though she seemed like a pleasant person she was just kind of their. I do think she could have been a brilliant house mate but she would have needed a couple of weeks to really start feeling comfortable. Which works well for some people but in the first week you want to see people comfortable right away. I do think she was kind of cheated out of an eviction and that they should have stretched this task out all week but I’m not to sad to see her go. Heck at the time I would’ve wanted Siavash to go before her but I am glad he is in. If only we had lost Sree at the time.

Our other housemate who left doesn’t deserve a picture….because she left. Saffia was a promising housemate and it is annoying she left. I have to give props to Davina at Big Mouth. I hate it when people quit. You just signed on to do this. Tough up please. But Saffia left and looked a hell of a lot worse on Big Mouth then Sophia did. Go see your babies and stop pretending it wasn’t about Kris.

Other then that a great first week. I am already on board this season, which I wasn’t last year for a long…long time.