I WANTS… The 80s Back

Once again, I’ve been an errant blogger. Well, not really. I’ve been blogging, but it’s been for my “nine-to-five.” So what better way to celebrate my return to mass media by highlighting the one thing that’s kept me sane during these past few weeks of intense work: online shopping. For this entry, I’ve chosen to focus on the two Blu-Ray releases I’m looking most forward to (besides the Toy Story trilogy, of course). It occurred to me that both choices showcase my love for 80’s family-friendly adventures, but that’s probably more out of my addiction to nostalgia rather than my love for the decade. The Goonies: 25th Anniversary Edition (out Nov. 2nd)

Oh man, the memories that I have attached to this film. Not only did this star my ONLY semblance of a role model in pop culture (Jonathan Ke Quan), but it absolutely captured my suburban boredom and secret desire for big adventures while growing up in Walnut, CA. (Hmmm… it’s kinda sad that Data and Short Round were the only people I could model my life after growing up.) This movie is chockfull of quotable lines (Baby Ruth!?) and reenactable moments (Truffle Shuffle!), so I’m glad it’s getting the royal treatment in its Blu-Ray premiere. I’m, of course, geeked out about the useless goodies (board game, storyboard reproductions, etc.) that are included in the collector’s edition.

Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy (out today, Oct. 26th)

Wow. It looks like everything’s turning 25. I guess that makes me feel better about turning 30 next year… sorta. Anywhoo, Back to the Future, to me, is one of the great trilogies of the 70’s and 80’s. Back then, you could count trilogies on your hand (the original Star Wars, the Godfather, Indiana Jones – not counting that Crystal Skull tranny-hot-mess). I always included Back to the Future in that bunch. Like I said, it’s mostly out of nostalgia and a love for family adventures of that time, but Marty McFly was a true every-man of the decade. Michael J. Fox was certainly more identifiable traveling through time in a Delorean than he was playing an uber-republican on “Family Ties.”

I look forward to my trip down memory lane, now enhanced by high definition, once I have my grubby little hands on both items listed above…

"I'm a collector... not a hoarder"

Shelf Porn: This is the physical manifestation of my Mass Media Addiction.

LOTR Minimates, Kidrobot Simpsons & Futurama, Buffy Palz

Marvel Graphic Novels

TV Shows

Movies

Mini Food & Clerks Figures

More Clerks Figures & Marvel Minimates

More Graphic Novels & Minimates

My genetic OCD prevents this collection from hiding rotting pumkins and dead cats.

First Impressions – Leftover Premieres

NEW SHOWS


No Ordinary Family – I predicted that this would be a live-action version of the Incredibles, and I was pretty much right on the money. There were plenty of inside superhero jokes to appeal to the nerdy side of me, but this is a show that I’m willing to give a few weeks before deciding if I like it or not. After the major disappointment that Heroes ended up being, I a bit more cautious of getting into “realistic” science fiction shows featuring people with superpowers. It’s always been a soft spot of mine, and with technology making shows like these more possible (and thus, more common), I need to learn to get past my love affair of comic-book-inspired serials to make sure I’m giving them the critical eye it deserves. But then again, this is coming from a guy that’s drudged through all ten seasons of Smallville…



The Walking Dead – So I know it doesn’t premiere until Halloween, but now that commercials are starting to air on AMC, my anticipation for this zombie-driven series has only grown exponentially.


RETURNING FAVORITES


The Good Wife – Another surprise favorite from last year, Julianna Margulies returns after a cliffhanger that had her making the choice between her boss and her unfaithful politician husband looking for redemption (both professionally and personally). SPOILER ALERT: true to typical television drama fashion, an important message of Will (the main protagonist’s boss and one-of-two suitors) professing his true feelings gets deleted by the slimey dude (played by Alan Cummings – soon to be onstage in the Spider-Man musical) trying to get the previously mentioned cheatin’ politician back into office. Love drama aside, The Good Wife has become my go-to lawyer show now that David E. Kelley doesn’t have one on (man, remember that strangely awesome Ally McBeal/The Practice crossover?!). I think this is the first one since Eli Stone was cut too short that I highly enjoy.

Stargate Universe – I can’t believe that I forgot to include this show in my Initial Picks. Other than Fringe, this is my other favorite sci-fi show currently on television. It was a slow start last year when it first premiered, but when the crew had something to fight against, it got a lot more interesting. It’s already two weeks in, and I think it’s a strong start. Even though it wasn’t on the season premiere, the scene of Colonel Young and the wounded Sergeant Riley was absolutely gripping. But the only thing that seems out of place are the commonly-used sad-song-music-montage closing scenes. They did use Mumford & Son’s “Awake My Soul” on the first episode this year, so I’m not really complaining. I’m just saying that device is more appropriate on Grey’s Anatomy, and I hope they don’t overuse the device this year like they did last year.

Human Target – Unfortunately its premiere has been pushed back. Oh well, it was kind of background television for me last season anyways.

V & Parks & Recreation – Even though these shows weren’t slated to premiere this fall season, now that shows are starting to get axed (sigh… Lone Star… single tear falls down cheek…), they may come back sooner rather than later. P&R is the one I’m looking most forward to.

Movie Musings – The Social Network

I know I’m a bit late with my thoughts on a movie that I watched on Sunday, but as proponents of third trimester abortions say: “better late than never.”

So let’s get this out of the way early. I loved it. Just in the first five minutes, you could already tell that it was written by Aaron Sorkin. As much as I LOVE his dialogue, I’m glad the movie wasn’t filled with rapid-fire back-and-forth. That’s what my Gilmore Girls dvds are for. I never read “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich (on which the movie is based), so I can’t speak to how faithful the adaptation was, but I thought it was a smartly written script. I’d have to say that my favorite line in the entire movie was said by one of the Winklevoss twins: “I’m 6’5”, weigh 220 pounds, and there’s two of me.” Ah Harvard; a land where douche bags can be witty and clever whilst being brutish all at the same time. Being a former resident of Orange County, I was more accustomed to the Bro Breed of dee-bags. This movie, however, put the spotlight on the East Coast, Ivy League educated variety.

I guess that leads us to the one of the main negative things I’ve heard about the movie: the fact that there weren’t many likeable characters. Being that this was a movie about Harvard students getting stinkin’ rich and then fighting over ownership, what did people really expect? If anything, I thought the characters were realistically human, flaws and all. Jesse Eisenberg did an excellent job of portraying the young Facebook CEO as a dense nerd that, at the end of the day, just wanted to be cool (as put perfectly in the last line of the movie). Actually, I thought all of the performances were great. Armie Hammer did an excellent job playing twins (although another actor stood in for his brother while his face was digitally added in – ah, the magic of movies). Even Disney-bred Brenda Song shined in her small part as Eduardo’s psycho girlfriend. The only weak performance, in my opinion, came from Justin Timberlake. He had the sliminess of Sean Parker down, but his machismo was severely lacking. I know girls (and guys) go crazy for the JT, but he seemed (as my friend Clark noted) unconvincing as a ladies’ man. To use the phrase correctly: his portrayal of the Napster founder was a little gay. Still, it was a very talented young cast they assembled.

Despite the darker tone of the movie (as highlighted by a great score from Trent Reznor), I thought that the exuberant energy of youth and their pursuit of new ideas was just as much of a message as the other themes. Facebook is something that sprung from my generation and affected pop culture on such a large scale. This movie revolved around undergrads making it big. Who wouldn’t make mistakes like them? I equated it to the time-old tale of Lotto winners and their habit of effing up the goodness that randomly landed on their laps. Zuckerberg didn’t go to school to be a billionaire, so I don’t disparage him for sucking at it. Was greed a constant them throughout the movie as well? Sure. But being the optimistic bastard that I am, I’m still inspired by the fact that Mark was able to maintain ownership of his big idea, even if he did lose his best friend in the process.

The Social Network was an entertaining film with a sharply written script, socially relevant subject matter, and great performances overall. I recommend it to anybody who has a Facebook profile… even you, passive stalkers.

I WANTS… DVD Box Sets

So now that premiere week has come and gone, I’m going to take a break and write about something else today. For those of you that have had the pleasure of ever visiting my place of residence in the past decade, you know that I have an uncontrollable addiction to DVDs (which has now expanded to Blu Rays as well). My old boss said that I should take up where Blockbuster left off now that they’re filing for bankruptcy. I’m pretty sure I have at least 20 movies and TV seasons out to people that I’m never getting back…

As a part of a new series, I’ll be blogging sporadically about things that I’m dying to buy. Here are two box sets that I cannot wait to get into my grubby l’il hands…
Toy Story Trilogy Blu Ray Boxed Set (November 2nd) – One of my other addictions (notice a pattern here?) is toys. My never-ending battle against growing up fully combined with my sickness for being an obsessive collector, Pixar’s first film franchise played to my sense of nostalgia as well as my overwhelming guilt for the countless amount of toys that remain boxed up in my closets and under my bed. The last two movies really dealt with that theme of growing up and leaving things behind that we once held dear. Fortunately, since I’m a certified Toys R Us kid, I don’t think I’d ever do what Andy did at the end of the 3rd film… but that’s mostly because I’m a selfish bastard. As for the box itself, it doesn’t look too fancy and seems like it could actually be filed with my other Blu Rays (unlike the weird box for the Lost series). My only problem is the Lotso is featured on the box to represent Toy Story 3. While I understand he was the main villain of that movie, with Woody and Buzz on the other sides, I would’ve preferred to see the other toys (Jesse, Bullseye, etc.) instead.

Golden Girls: The Complete Series (November 9th) – I know many of you cannot believe that I don’t already own the individual season (being that I’ve been known to perform the theme song with an accompanying dance during my drunken college days), but fancy box sets containing entire series started coming out at that time, and I decided to be strong and wait for the inevitable collection (especially for one of my favorite shows of ALL TIME). I was already screwed out of the Rambaldi collector’s box for the Alias series. And boy am I glad I waited. As a collector of useless junk, I now get to add a replica of Sophia’s trademark purse to the pile. I’ve always maintained that Golden Girls was the original (and far superior) Sex and the City. With 3 out of 4 Golden Girls in that big wicker-themed lanai in the sky, what better way to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary than by purchasing this awesome collection?

First Impressions – Sunday Night TV 2010

Jiminy Cricket that was a flippin' FULL week of television. So much so that it took me a week and a half to write about it all. Hopefully I can blog about something else now that premiere week is over. Again, there was a lack on new shows for me to dissect for Sunday, but luckily Fox’s Animation Domination is back in full effect. Unlike Adult Swim’s weekend line-up, I don’t have to be completely stoned out of my mind to find it funny.

RETURNING FAVORITES

The Amazing Race – Like Survivor, I can never get enough of this reality competition show. Unlike Survivor, though, Amazing Race is really more about the dynamics between the pairs racing together rather than their conflict with other teams (although the editors always manage to “find” a rivalry or two). But like most reality shows, it takes me a while to really get into them and start rooting for or against certain pairs. There’s always a douche or two in the mix that treats his girlfriend or wife like crap, and this year is no exception. Still, the moment of the episode has to be the clip of the girl being hit in the face by a watermelon via slingshot-gone-wrong. While they may have played the clip a kajillion times in the promos, I still replayed that HIGH-larious moment a few times on my DVR. Schadenfreude at its best!

The Simpsons – For a show that’s been on for 22 years, I still find moments of joy although people have been saying that it’s well past its Golden Age. At this point, I view the Simpsons more like a pop culture establishment. Like SNL, there are definitely certain seasons that are better than others, but I’m a sucker for routine, and shows like the Simpsons provide said comfort. This year, a couple of Glee Club members lent their voices as well as those two zany New Zealanders from Flight of the Concords. Their nonsensical song made me miss their now-cancelled HBO show.

The Cleveland Show – I’ll say it from the beginning: I’m a sucker for Seth MacFarlane. Besides his incognito vocal prowess and undercover handsomeness, he knows how to build an animated program that speaks to the adolescent boy in me. Sure, I may be a white-wine-drinkin’ Bay Area homosexual now, but the 13-year old comic book geek that thinks farts are hilarious is very much alive and kicking in the depths of my soul. In their first episode of the season, Kanye West returned as Kenny West. In a fashion that was present throughout all of last week, many self-referential jokes were made. A year later and people still talk about T-Swift-gate. Unfortunately, as topical as some animated shows try to be, the lag time between writing the scripts and getting them on film is usually too long for them to retain its relevancy. Only South Park, with its no-frills animation based on paper shapes, can stay reasonably concurrent with the issues of the moment.

Family Guy – We got a one-hour-long murder mystery as our season premiere this year. I always appreciate a TV show that looks and feels differently than it usually does. From the opening sequence leading up the long panning shot of the ominous mansion of which said mystery would occur, Family Guy stuck with the theme for the whole episode. SPOILER ALERT: with all of the craziness that happened with Quohog’s news anchors, I’m very excited to see how things play out. I know it’s stupid to be this geeked out, but these developments remind me of when the Simpsons killed Moll Flanders.

Brothers & Sisters – Thank JEEBUS they skipped ahead a year. After the big ol’ car accident that ended last season, we meet the Walker clan again after some time had slipped. I don’t know if I could’ve done a whole year of Calista Flockhard stuttering through her depression of losing Rob Lowe’s character (although the whole he’s-in-a-coma thing is a very convenient way to bring him back for a guest spot during sweeps). To be honest, as much as I enjoy the family melodrama lead by the awesome Sally Fields, I’m starting to get a little bored with them.

THE NIGHT’S WINNER

TV Executives.

Congrats, bitches. You have stolen my valuable time and will continue to do so until everything is in reruns during the holidays.

First Impressions – Friday & Saturday Night TV 2010

There aren’t many pickins on Fridays and Saturday (as it is the barren wasteland of television), so networks tend to bury shows in these timeslots rather than premiere them.

RETURNING FAVORITES

Smallville – Like Heroes, I feel a certain obligation to watch it based on the geek blood that flows through my veins. Both are/were mediocre at best, formulaic and predictable at its norm, and downright cheesetastic at its worse. Being that it’s the final season, things have amped up as Lois wises up the Blur’s identity. I guess on the CW, you don’t even need glasses to hide your identity, just a black t-shirt and coat.

SNL – The first show of the season was hosted by the fantastic Amy Poehler. As adorkable as Seth Meyers is, Weekend Update was at its best when it was co-chaired by Fey and Poehler. Still, seeing Seth and Amy’s “Really?!” skit is always a treat. Katy Perry sounded flat during one of her songs, but her boobs were anything but in the Elmo shirt she chose to wear during a skit (take that, PBS). Kristen Wiig continues to be the quarterback and shining beacon of the current cast, and Justin Timberlake’s obviously trying to get to Alec Baldwin or Christopher Walken status with his frequent appearances. I don’t mind it at all…

THE NIGHT’S WINNER

Vampire Weekend!

I went to go see them perform at the Greek at my alma mater. They sounded great live and the weather was absolutely beautiful for an outside concert.