TV REVIEW | Arrow Season 3 Episode 1

QUICK REVIEW

GOOD 

• The action sequences keep getting better and better
• They continue to advance each of the characters
• Roy wasn't annoying and seems to have a more defined role on the show
• No Thea and Roy teenage non-sense

BAD

• The Olicty love story seems a bit rushed.  In the time line of the show it probably makes sense, but as a viewer we jumped very quickly from subtleness to directness.
• This might not be a bad, but the specific plot seemed a bit routine for a season opener.  If this wasn't episode 8, the story would be perfectly fine villain of the week episode.  But as an opener it felt a bit disappointing.
• The handling of the big twist at the end of the episode seemed a bit weak.  The twist was good, but they didn't really work it into the plot of the episode particular well.  They could have tacked it onto ANY episode and it wouldn't have been any different.

THE AWESOME

• They cast Brandon Routh in a significant role this season

• Great final twist!  It's setting up would could be an intense season from the get go

RATING - The series looks to still be going strong!

TV REVIEW | Gotham Season 1 Episodes 1-3

MY QUICK REVIEW

GOOD

• I like the performances for Jim Gordon, Bullock, and Penguin
• The city itself is like a character in the show.
• The show feels like Law & Order: Gotham.  ...which is fine by me.

BAD 

• The show is packed with cartoony characters which clash with the performances of other characters.
• Alfred is kind of a jerk.
• There are WAYYYYY too many Batman references.

UGLY

• The tone is all over the map.  It switches between cartoony characters and gritty dark settings.  Well see a goofy moment where someone falls from the sky on another person, and a person getting their eyes clawed out.  
• Will Smith's wife is TERRIBLE! Just campy over-the-top over acting with a horrific accent.
• There's an absurd forced lesbian subplot that services no purpose other than to have a lesbian subplot.

RATING - I'm going to keep watching, but I'm worried.

TV REVIEW | The Flash Pilot

QUICK REVIEW

THE GOOD

• I like the lead actor
• The show was a lot funnier than I was expecting
• The on-going mystery arch surrounding his family is interesting.
• The small amount of Flash effects we saw looked cool.

THE BAD

• Some of the cast (specifically at STARR LABS) is just blah.
• The specific plot of this episode seemed like a boring throw away plot.

THE UGLY

• I'm not super excited about their plot device their using to give villains super powers.
• The climax of this episode was the Flash running into a storm.

RATING - I'm going to keep watching, I'm excited!

REVIEW | 24 Season 9 Episode 4

Here's my review of episode 4 of season 9 of 24.

QUICK VERSION:
I liked it more than last week's episode.  I like how they're having Jack behave, but once again it feels like we're just getting more of the same.

REVIEW | 3 Days to Kill

Here's my quick take on 3 Days to Kill.

GOOD:

• It's fun to see Kevin Costner in an action film
• The film has some really nice relational moments

BAD:

• This movie is a by the numbers cliche action film
• Some of the humor falls flat

OVERVIEW:

This is a light hearted action film that kids every plot point you're expecting.  The previews attempted to portray it as if it's like the movie Taken (they have the same writter, Luc Besson), but in reality the two films have very different tones.  They share a writer and aging lead taking a turn as a trained killer with a daughter.  That is where the similarities end.

RATING - 6.5 out of 10 - I liked the movie, but it's a cliche film you'll forget quickly.

REVIEW | Robocop (2014)

After much delay (being a responsible parent makes it difficult to go to the movies), I finally saw the remake of Robocop.


Here are my quick thoughts:

THE BAD

• The first two thirds of the movie feels a bit direction-less. It's unclear what the central conflict is.
• The PG-13 rating tempers down the brutality of the world they're alluding to.  
• While they attempt to hint at the satire and commentary of the original, they never fully pull it off.
• There are some really odd music, costume, and editing/flashback choices.  Why in the 80's were they able to make it look like a face was grafted onto a robot suit, but in the 21st century it just looks like he's wearing a helmet?

THE GOOD

• The final third of the movie picks up a lot of speed and momentum, but just as I was starting to get into the movie, it ended.
• The cast is great.  
• They found the right elements of modern culture to satire with the film, but they didn't fully pull it off.
• This really is a re-conceptualization of Robocop.  If you wrote a two paragraph synopsis of each film they would sound identical, but anything beyond that their are huge differences.  This is extremely important for a movie like this. The original was tied so closely to the cultural climate which created it.  It only makes sense to bring 21st century issues into the new film.  

IN CLOSING

I had very low expectations for this film. I assumed I would be disappointed, and I was.  At the end of the day, the movie had just enough good ideas that it was frustrating how close they came to a quality remake. If you're a fan of the original, this will disappointed you.

RATING - 6 out of 10 - It was an ok sci-fi action film with an outstanding cast, but it will disappoint fans of the original.

For my full review, watch below.

VIDEO REVIEW: 24 Season 9 Episodes 1-2

Jack is back!  After four years off the air, 24 has returned!  I'm a huge fan of the show, but like most, I thought it lost steam towards the end.  So the big question, does the new season restore the freshness of the early seasons or does it feel derivative like the later says?

Unfortunately, despite a new location, a four year gap, and a new visual style, at it's core the new season of 24 still feels like it's more of the same. As a huge fan of the show, I'm fine with more of the same, but I'm not expecting this latest season to win back any disenfranchised fans.

For my full review, here's my video review.

VIDEO REVIEW | The Amazing Spiderman 2 (Spoiler Free)

This is my spoiler free review of The Amazing Spiderman 2.  For my full review of the movie, watch the video.  Otherwise here's the quick version.

THE GOOD

• The cast is great, and they have great chemistry.  Any flaws with the characters came from the script and the direction.
• The relationships between the characters are amazing.  Even when the dialogue itself is on the goofy side, the actors manage to sell it.
• Some of the shots in the action sequences are pretty amazing.  

THE BAD

• The is way to complex.  By complex I don't mean complex in an Inception kind of way where the multiple plot lines intersect and are dependent upon one another.  This movie is complex like the knot of tables which are stuffed in a box in your garage.  It's a bunch of individual things crammed in a small space and coincidentally tied together, but they have nothing to do with each other.  It really feels like the script was written by a committee.  The director had some ideas, the studio had some ideas, the writer had some ideas, and they wanted all of it to setup a franchise.  The end result is a mess.
• The tone is all over the place.  The film starts with a thematically and dramatically series 10 minute prologue.  This feeds into a minute actions sequence filled with slap stick humor and goofy jokes.  The entire movie plays out this way.  One character is played very down to earth, and the next comes off like a cartoon.
• The music is strangely heavy handed.  Multiple times a song starts playing which is so over-the-top it pulls you out of the movie.  There's a romantic scene about a third of the way through the movie which comes off like a scene from the TV show Friends because of the music.
• The villains' motives make absolutely no sense. 
• Some of the action sequences feel more like boss fights from a video game than a realistic battle.
• The section after the climax doesn't work at all.
• There's multiple sequence where a super villain attacks a crowd of people with either explosive electrical bolts or bullets from a machine gun.  For some reason the crowds stand around waiting to be put in harms way rather than fleeing certain death.

THE WEIRD

• The Max character feels like he's from a different movie.
• They hired Paul Giamatti to play the Rhino. He's in the movie for may be 3 minutes. Why would you hire Oscar level talent for 3 minutes of yelling?
• Chris Cooper plays Norman Osbourne...for about 3 minutes.  He's covered in makeup, and he barely moves.  Why would you hire Oscar level talent for a 3 minute sequence?
• There's a scene with a child in a Spiderman costume which makes absolutely no sense.  You'll know what I'm talking about.

OVERALL

I enjoyed the film, but I can't imagine watching it again anytime soon.  It's a poorly scripted film, but the cast, humor, and action sequences keep things from ever getting boring.   I'd give it a 6 out of 10.

Christmas Movie Reviews From My Wife

Every day until Christmas my wife is reviewing either a Christmas movie or Christmas episode of a TV series on her blog.  Her selections are all over place. Some are Christmas classics. Others are children's cartoons, and occasionally you get a rated R action movie.  But they're all Christmas themed.

A Charlie Brown Christmas & Thomas the Train

Die Hard

The Polar Express

A Curious George Christmas

Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas

Justice League:  Comfort & Joy

The Holiday

Movie Review Roundup: Week of June 21st 2013

Here's this week's Rotten Tomato round up of new releases.

World War Z - 70%

It's uneven -- and fans of the book may be annoyed by how thoroughly it diverges from the source material -- but World War Z still brings smart, fast-moving thrills and a solid performance from Brad Pitt to the zombie genre.

Monsters University - 77%

It doesn't scale the heights of Pixar's finest efforts, but Monsters University is still funny and thoughtful family entertainment for viewers of any age.

The Bling Ring - 59%

While it's certainly timely and beautifully filmed, The Bling Ring suffers from director Sofia Coppola's failure to delve beneath the surface of its shallow protagonists' real-life crimes.

Maniac - 52%

Shocking and bloody. Maniac is smarter than your average psychological slasher, but it's often undermined by its excessive gore.

Movie Review: Fast & Furious 6

Just two years after Fast Five surprised audiences and critics, Fast & Furious 6 arrives continuing further down the new path paved by Fast Five. The stunts are bigger (and stupider), and the plot is thinner.  In most cases I would hold that against a film, but in this case, it just kind of works. 

Speaking of the plot...The Rock, who was an antagonist of sorts in Fast Five, tracks down Vin Diesel and his crew to ask for their help stopping an evil heist crew which contains someone Diesel long believed to be dead.  That's the setup, and it gives the film just enough plot to string together 2 hours of fun.

Personally I wasn't a big fan of the first three films in the series.  Some how this series took a turn towards awesome with the fifth film, and the sixth film is a great followup.  After the shocking increase in quality with the fifth film, there was a lot of potential for this film to disappoint, but this movie goer left satisfied. This franchise knows it's sweet spot, and it boldly plays to it's strengths with little concern for it's weaknesses.

On the negative side, this film makes no effort to add any real depth to the film.  It is a proudly superficial film with broad themes (i.e. family and loyalty).  Likewise, for a film with little plot, the small amount of plot didn't seem to make much sense. I didn't understand why the main villain was so evil or why anyone would choose to follow him.  They're written the way they are simply to act as the evil version of Diesel's crew.  Finally, this film really stretches the audiences suspension of disbelief.  This film exists in a world where the laws of physics have little bearing, and where a car's windshield is a nice cushion after a 60 mph crash. If that will bother you, this film will drive you bonkers.

But who am I kidding, I don't actually care about anything I just wrote about.  I like my Fast & Furious films big, bold, and a little stupid.

The producers have clearly chosen to embrace this franchises absurdity and just go with it. They know what the audience wants, and they work really hard to provide it.  

We get more one liners. 

We get more car chases.
We get more street races.

We get more hand to hand fights.

We get the craziest stunts yet.

This is a movie where a long chase sequence involving a tank is neither the most exciting sequences in the film or the most ridiculous.  The tank chase is only the build up for an even more exciting climax.

The inclusion of Gina Cerano (or as I first knew her, Crush on American Gladiators) is a nice addition to the cast. Once again they use The Rock greatly to the film's advantage.  In particular they did a really nice job of building the relationship between The Rock and Vin Diesel.

This cast may not be filmed with great actors, but they are great entertainers.  For this genre, that is exactly what I want.

In conclusion, this is exactly what I want from a popcorn film. If you're looking for pure escapism and don't mind a film which boldly ignores reality, this is a fun film.

Overall I give this film an 8 out of 10.

But that’s just my opinion.  What did you think?

***DISCLAIMER***

I review films based on what they aspire to be.  If a film has no pretentious aspirations and entertains me for two hours, I can forgive all kinds of plot holes.  However, if a film attempts to present itself as a grounded take on the subject matter, I will judge the plot more stringently. 

I can almost guarantee you that I will re-watch Man of Steel far more times than this film.  However, this film accomplished what it set out to do far better.

Movie Review: Man of Steel

After years of anticipation, this past weekend, Man of Steel finally opened. I was initially skeptical of the film after learning that David Goyer, Christopher Nolan, and Zach Snyder were working on the project.  I'm a fan of all three men, but they're also known for  making darker films with somber tones that I wasn't convinced fit the world of Superman.  In particular, both Nolan and Goyer had previously stated they had no idea what they would do with a Superman movie. However, as the trailers finally started to appear online, this film quickly became my most anticipated film of the year (bear in mind, I'm a HUGE Star Trek fan).

Now having seen the film twice, I can say they delivered a solid, but flawed Superman film for adults.  Just so we're clear, this is by far the most sci-fi Superman film we have ever been given.

To be fully honest, I left my first viewing of the film more than a little disappointed.  Based on the trailers, I didn't get the experience I was expecting. Of course, I'm not sure how the film could have fully delivered. The movie went in some directions I wasn't expecting, and the trailers gave away a little too much about certain parts of the film.  However, when I watched the film a second time, I went in with proper expectations, and I enjoyed the film for what it was rather than what I was expecting. I suspect many others will enjoy the film more upon a second viewing.

Overall, I found the cast did a fine job.  I'm not a great judge of acting, but I found the cast charming. No one stuck out as particularly off.  Cavil certainly portrayed a physically intimidating Superman, and in the moments we're given with him, we get a charismatic hero. Unfortunately, we don't get much of glimpse of his Clark Kent, in the traditional sense.  

Of the high caliber cast, I particularly enjoyed Michael Shannon and Kevin Costner.  I've always been a fan of Costner, and I was happy to see he was going to be in this film. The real treat for me was seeing several faces from some of my favorite TV shows get major screen time in this film (specifically Harry Lennix and Tahmoh Penikett of Dollhouse, Richard Schiff of The West Wing, and Chris Meloni of Law and Order: SVU).

As I mentioned earlier, while I really liked the film, it was highly disappointing in many ways. First off, the trailers highly emphasized certain character moments in the film (i.e. young Clark, or Lois with Superman in custody).  I was expecting to get more of those moments, and I didn't. I saw them in their entirety in the trailers. In particular during my first viewing, the character moments seemed to be far too short and rushed.  For a long movie, it seemed like they were rushing individual scenes in the film. 

Afterwards, I found myself speculating about a few too many ways they could have easily made the film better.  Specifically, I found myself reading reviews which offered some easy ways to make this film much more powerful. I wanted to side with the film, but the critics were right. 

On the positive side, this film works hard to deliver serious Superman action and explore Clark Kent's psychology.  Some of the action sequences are exactly what some of us have wanted for years.  For me, the Smallville sequence in particular stands out as precisely what I've wanted to see.  Technology has finally caught up with this particular character.  We can finally see what people have been writing for 75 years.

From the onset, they wanted to produce a Superman film created a world which seemed realistic. I think they accomplished that.  Some people see hope in Clark's existence, and others find reasons to be afraid. Throughout the film, they captured the confusion which Superman's existence would bring to humanity. 

Overall, this is a solid Superman film which could have been better with some minor adjustments.

I give the film a 7.75 out of 10.

 This is just my opinion.  What did you think of the film?

How I Rank the Episodes of Arrested Development Season 4

This ranking is based on my first viewing experience.  I assume I will ranking things differently upon future viewings.

BEST TO WORST:  Episodes Ranked

Episode 4 - The B. Team - Michael 2

This is where the season started to really click for me. This episode was jam packed with GREAT cameos and wonderful meta-humor. Finally things started to feel natural.

Episode 15 - Block Heads - George-Michael 2

The funniest episode of the season wraps up some of the story lines, but doesn't bring things to a fully satisfying conclusion.  But since this is comedy, if it's funny, I can forgive a lot.

Episode 5 - A New Start - Tobias 1

Much like the previous episode, they seem to have found their stride. The meta-humor is flowing naturally again.  I've always enjoyed Tobias.  This episode showed a more sympathetic Tobias. So it was enjoyable to me.

Episode 9 - Smashed - Tobias 2

Another solid Tobias episode with plot lines weaving in and out with one another. We even get a nice musical number.

Episode 13 - It Gets Better - George-Michael

At this point in the season there's enough backstory established that all of the episodes have plenty of pay off.  Perhaps if this episode came earlier in the season it wouldn't have been as strong, but this episode benefits from some of the weaker episodes earlier on.  Likewise making us wait to see the answers to some questions was probably for the best.

Episode 11 - A New Attitude - Gob 2

Tony Wonder finally gets some good screen time, and it pays off. Some early mysteries are starting to be answered.

Episode 14 - Off the Hook - Buster

I wasn't particular excited about this episode because I'm not a fan of Buster.  In small doses he's humorous, but typically he's a bit too over-the-top for my taste. To my surprise, this episode really worked.  I'm not sure why, but they found the right angle to make Buster relatable.

Once again we're starting to get more answers, but there's still a few more questions to be answered.

Episode 1 - Flight of the Phoenix - Michael 1

The Bluth's have returned.  The show is still funny, but the initial episode comes off a bit forced.  And the multiple story lines are more confusing than ever.

Episode 12 - Senoritis - Maeby

While not one of my personal favorite characters, they seem to keep her out of any annoying directions.  Her episode was solid, funny, and answered some questions. Though it didn't strive to the heights of some past episodes.

Episode 8 - Red Hairing - Lindsay 2

The first half was disappointing, but once things got moving this was a solid episode.  We're starting to see just how all the story lines will cross.

Episode 6 - Double Crossers - George Sr. 2

While this episode focused on George (who I am not all that interested in), the episode worked because it felt more like an ensemble.  Likewise, this episode was the first time they started to join the stories together more and show us wearing things were going.

Episode 7 - Colony Collapse - Gob

Gob's is a personal favorite.  Unfortunately they spent too much time on the Anne storyline. Obviously as a Christian I'm biased, but I didn't find any of the Christian jokes remotely funny.

Episode 10 - Queen B. - Lucille

I'm not a big fan of the character as a lead, but once the stories start tying together this is a solid episode.

Episode 3 - Indian Takers - Lindsay

I don't mind Lindsay and I find Tobias delightfully awful.  So I went into this episode pretty excited. Unfortunately this episode was pretty disappointing.  It was mildly amusing, but the Lindsay character in particular seems to most forced.

Episode 2 - Borderline Personalities - George Sr. 1

George Sr. isn't particularly interesting by himself, and I don't find his twin Oscar pleasant at all. Therefore, this episode is an example of why I was worried about the single character idea for the fourth season. I don't want to see an episode devoted to George Sr. Therefore, this episode had little appeal for me.

Arrested Development Season 4 Review

After years of anticipation of an Arrested Development film, this past weekend we were given a fourth season of the series.  The show was picked up by NetFlix, and the producers took full advantage of  the online format.  

Almost certain for budgetary and scheduling reasons, each episode of the season focuses on an individual character. In one of the most ambition seasons of program I've ever seen, the events of each episode happen at the same time.  With each character they tell us what that person has been up to since the end of the previous season (7 years ago), and all of their stories end at an event called Cinco De Quatro.  As the season progresses the stories start to intertwine, and we realize what we thought we saw was entirely incorrect.

Things are wacky as ever, but more complicated and confusing than ever.  With the new format the story lines become very confusing at times, and the timeline is virtually impossible to follow.  However, complicated plots and call backs are one of the things Arrested Development is know for.  The show is just as funny as ever, and it's great to see these actors playing these characters again.  Unfortunately at times their ambition out shines their ability.  

WHAT DOESN'T WORK

While overall I enjoyed season four, there were a number of big issues.

First off, by having each episode focus on individual characters, it makes each episode feel like a spin-off staring a different member of the cast.  To some extent, you really could watch most of these episodes as if they were the pilot to a different spin-off. Since the previous seasons focused so much on the ensemble, the shows relational dynamic is hurt.  There are very few scenes in the entire season which feature the entire family.  This gives the show a different feeling.

The biggest problem with the new format is that not all of the characters are interesting enough to carry an entire episode.  Episodes starring George Sr. or Lucille struggle to be funny or compelling.  Those characters work best when they're interacting with their family.  So when they're off on their own, they're not much fun to watch.  

With the new format, it also takes the season several episodes to really get going.  After the first three episodes I was scared they'd really dropped the ball on the season. However, in episodes four things changed drastically.  They started to find their comedic groove.  Likewise, since so much of the show's humor is based on callbacks, twists of perspective, and plot twists, the season takes several episodes of setup for things to start working.  I've already started re-watching the season, and the early episodes work better on second viewing.

Lastly, the season has far too many cameos.  When they make those cameos ironic and focus on meta-humor, they work really well.  However, too many cameos are far too forced.  In particular, the younger version of two characters are re-cast with celebrity cameos. The end result is both confusing and pretty awful.  One person makes no effort to act like the person they're playing, and the other simply comes off as parody.

WHAT WORKS BEST

Once the season gets going it becomes very clear the writers haven't skipped a beat on the humor.  It's just as funny and clever as ever.  These actors are great in these roles.

As I mentioned before, this is possibly the most ambitious season of a TV series I've ever seen.  The original concept for the season was to have one episode per character and they could be watched in any order.  Late in the game the creator admitted he was unable to pull it all together.  This is slightly disappointing, but the end result is still rather remarkable.

I can't imagine a scenario where this season could have worked on a network.  The plot is so twisted and interconnected, there's on way you can follow the plot watching one episode per week for 15 weeks.  This season opens the potential for all kinds of new story telling on television.

CONCLUSION

Season 4 of manages to remain as funny as ever, but it doesn't feel entirely right.  Instead of feeling like a fourth season of the show, it feels like 10 spin-off shows which all happen to have the same plot and cast.   It's unfortunate they were unable to reach their lofty ambitions. I'm glad they aimed high and came a little short rather than simply setting the bar low.

In the end, this is a comedy show, and I thought it was funny.  

RATING - 8 out of 10

But that’s just one man's opinion.  

Arrested Development Season 4 Episodes 11-15 REVIEW

Episode 11 - A New Attitude - Gob 2

Gob's second episode picks up at a point in the season which primes him for success.  There's plenty of room for Gob to be an clueless idiot in the midst of this complex story.

Tony Wonder finally gets some good screen time, and it pays off. Some early mysteries are starting to be answered.

RATING - 7.25 out of 10

Episode 12 - Senoritis - Maeby

While not one of my personal favorite characters, they seem to keep her out of any annoying directions.  Her episode was solid, funny, and answered some questions. Though it didn't strive to the heights of some past episodes.

RATING - 7 out of 10

Episode 13 - It Gets Better - George-Michael

At this point in the season there's enough backstory established that all of the episodes have plenty of pay off.  Perhaps if this episode came earlier in the season it wouldn't have been as strong, but this episode benefits from some of the weaker episodes earlier on.  Likewise making us wait to see the answers to some questions was probably for the best.

RATING - 7.5 of out 10

Episode 14 - Off the Hook - Buster

I wasn't particular excited about this episode because I'm not a fan of Buster.  In small doses he's humorous, but typically he's a bit too over-the-top for my taste. To my surprise, this episode really worked.  I'm not sure why, but they found the right angle to make Buster relatable.

Once again we're starting to get more answers, but there's still a few more questions to be answered.

RATING - 7.25 - out of 10

Episode 15 - Block Heads - George-Michael

This might have been the funniest episode of the season for me. By this point in the season they've set so much up, there's constant pay-off. My wife who has only seen episode 1 walked in while I was watching a scene.  I was rolling over laughing, and she was just looking at me like I was insane.

Finally we get the full view of what has been going on. Well kind of.  Even as the season comes to a close, many plot lines are left unresolved.  Perhaps due to how complex the story telling was, I suspect I simply lost track of when some points were resolved.

My biggest complaint is that I didn't feel like they brought the season to a satisfying conclusion.  There wasn't any type of resolution to what happened. We simply get the next day.  As the final scene was coming to a close, right before it ended I had the thought, "O wait...this is going to be it. This is the end." And then it was over.

Then again my problem with this episode wasn't so much the episode itself so much as what came before it. While the season built great comedic setups, the plot didn't follow suit.

RATING - 8 out of 10

Arrested Development Season 4 Episodes 7- Review

Episode 7 - Colony Collapse - Gob

I really wanted to like this episode.  Gob is a personal favorite. So I was highly anticipating this episode. Unfortunately I was let down.

THE NEGATIVE

The plot spends a lot of time focusing on Gob's romance with Anne.  The show portrays her as dull and forgettable for a reason. She's just not pleasant. Then to make matters worse, they played up her Christian background. As a Christian, I'm certainly biased, but I just didn't find it remotely funny.

THE POSITIVE

The rest of the episode was exactly what I was hoping for.  Gob getting into all kinds of clueless situations.  Tony Wonder makes a welcome return.

The season is in full swing, and the plot lines are starting to cross each other and making things interesting.  By this point in the season I'm convinced I need to re-watch the season as soon as I finish watching it.  That may be a first time I've felt that way.

RATING - 6.75 out of 10

Episode 8 - Red Hairing - Lindsay

The first half of the episode spent far too much time focusing on the things I don't like about this season.  Scenes about single old characters spending time with single new characters aren't terribly interesting. Those moments feel like they're just a spin-off.  So it was a bit dull to me.


However, once the episode got going things got much better. The last half of the episode actually moved the story forward, and we learned a bit more about what's going on. The call backs are in full swing and the cameos are paying off.  

On the flip, at this point we've barely seen Buster!

RATING - 7 out of 10

Episode 9 - Smashed - Tobias

Another solid episode. Perhaps it's because my expectations have reset, but the season seems to be getting much better as it goes along.  

Tobias continues to seem far more empathetic than ever before, and he's found a wonderful new role in life: MUSICAL DIRECTOR.

I think for the first time ever, I'm watching a season and wanting it to be over just so I can quickly watch it again.


RATING - 7.5 out of 10

Episode 10 - Queen B. - Lucille

Lucille like George Sr. is not a terribly interesting or funny character to me.   She's written to be unlikeable  and unrelatable. In the ensemble she serves a distinct purpose, but alone she's just her unpleasant self.  So an episode dedicated to her was always going to be an up hill battle with me.  

In the end my skepticism towards the episode was both affirmed and disproven.   When the episode focused on her alone I was usually disappointed.  When it tied together the web of story lines, I was hooked.  The episode was always enjoyable, but it works best when tying stories together.

By this point in the season I'm starting to wonder if I will like the early episodes a lot more upon a second viewing.

RATING - 6.5 out of 10

Arrested Development Season 4 Episodes 2-6 REVIEW

Episode 2 - Borderline Personalities - George, Sr.

This episode emphasized my fear about the new season.  New episodes about characters we don't care for as much will fall very flat.  I'm not all that interested in George Sr. and I really don't like Oscar. So an episode all about those two characters isn't particularly interesting to me.

Part of the problem with George Sr. is that since season 1, they've taken him in weird directions.  I don't want to watch him as a guru in a desert. It's just not interesting. Likewise, it added some weirdness that just didn't work.

RATING - 6 out of 10.

This show emphasizes the weakness of the new format.  But there's still some laughs to be found.

Episode 3 - Indian Takers - Lindsay

I enjoy Lindsay as a side character. Tobias always makes me laugh. So I had pretty high hopes for this episode. Unfortunately it left me pretty disappointed.  The jokes didn't work as well as I wanted.  The storyline was odd and moved too quickly.  But I still prefer these characters more than the others.

RATING - 6.5 out of 10

Episode 4 - The B. Team - Michael

Now that's more like it!

This is the show I fell in love with.  The jokes work. The meta-jokes finally feel natural, and there are some great cameos.  In particular I enjoyed Carl Weathers part.  There were lots of great little clever moments of the show commenting on it's self.

RATING - 8 out of 10

Episode 5 - A New Start - Tobias

I've always had a soft spot for Tobias.  He's just funny to me.  My wife doesn't enjoy him at all, but this is my review not hers.  What I loved about this episode is that it made Tobias more sympathetic.  Likewise, they built some great meta-humor which came naturally.

RATING - 7 out of 10

Episode 6 - Double Crossers - George Sr.

As I said earlier, George Sr. is not my favorite character. However, this episode seemed to deal with a George centered episode well.  In fact, it managed to be one of the stronger character specific episodes thus far by including more characters.  I didn't fee like I was watching a George episode. I felt like it was just an episode.

The advantage of this episode is that Gob and Michael were given a large amount of screen time. Seeing the ensemble makes it feel like how the used to feel.  Some of the other episodes have felt like spin-off TV shows about individual characters.    This episode features a good number of the characters from the show.

Likewise, this episode is starting to not just show story lines criss crossing but also starting to build the bigger story. We're starting to see how everything comes together, and the big call back jokes are starting to happen.

RATING - 7 out of 10

Arrested Development Season 04 Episode 01 - Flight of the Phoenix

I won't give each episode this through of a review.  This particular review is giving both my review of the episode and my first impressions about the season as a whole.

FOCUS - Michael

PLOT

Several years after the events of the previous season, Michael has hit his lowest moment. Everything in his life has fallen apart, and he's even struggling to connect with his son George Michael.

FIRST IMPRESSION

As the first episode of the new season, it affirmed some of my fears, assured me it's still funny, and sparked my interest in he new direction.

THE NEGATIVE

By focusing on a single character instead of the ensemble robbed the show of some of it's appeal. I want to see the Bluth family together.  This is almost certainly due to budget issues and the difficulty of working with the actors schedules.

Another problem with the new season is the humor and insanity feel forced for the first time.  In the past they were simply writing what they thought would be funny. However, in the shows seven year hiatus, it grew a reputation and legacy.  As the writers and actors have matured, the show must remain the same.  Thus, they're trying to write and act like a previous version of themselves.  They're trying to capture the magic of the past. It doesn't always work.

Lastly, not all of the cameos worked. I don't want to spoil anything, but certain celebrity cameos are playing some of the main cast at a different age.  The actors are fine, but since the cast are so distinct the performances come off as parody.

THE POSITIVE

With all that said, the show still works.  These guys have a knack for writing intricate, cross-crossing story lines. These actors careers were launched by these characters for a reason.

One of the nice things about the new season is there a sense of mystery throughout. We're not really sure where things are headed, and there are some genuine mysteries established. We're left waiting to for another characters episode to discover what was really happening.


RATING - 7.5 out 10

The show is still funny, but it doesn't flow as naturally as before.

Arrested Development Season 4: Why I'm Skeptical

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

My first exposure to Arrested Development came sometime in the middle of the first season.  I was visiting some friends in college, and they insisted that I watch a new show called "Arrested Development."  While I did enjoy it.  I didn't immediately suck me.  At this time I don't recall if we started with the first episode or not.

My buddies however went on to become rabid Arrested Development fans.  To put their fandom into perspective, two or three years ago they went to a statewide Arrested Development trivia contest, and won first prize and $1,000s.  To be entirely fair, they're somewhat infamous for being undefeatable at trivia contests.

A NEW DISCOVERY

Jump forward five or six years, and I re-discovered the show on NetFlix.  Arrested Development seems like one of the first shows designed for the NetFlix era. It just happened to pre-date the technology by five or six years.  If ever there was a show which benefits from watching episodes back to back and having the ability to re-watch earlier episodes, it may be Arrested Development.

Upon re-discovering it, I was immediately fascinated by the unique story telling, subtle humor, and the writers assumption the audience aren't morons.  They want you to really pay attention, and they assume you will pay attention.  Subtle actions or hints in one episode would become extremely important a few episodes down the line. Few TV shows have managed to do that without it coming off as forced or contrived.

One of the great joys of the show is introducing it to a new friend.  They're almost always instantly amazed by the number of TV and movie stars in it.  For a show which did poorly on it's initially release, it launched the careers of a number of big name stars and gave early cameos to many more.

A FOURTH SEASON...

After years of rumors of a movie and the cast dropping hints of a future, I was shocked when they announced a fourth season.  NetFlix was the perfect match for the show's unique style.

Then they gave a few more details about the season...

With season 4 of Arrested Development, they decided to dedicate each episode to a specific character, and focus on what each person was doing during a specific set of events.  I suspect that this was to accommodate the busy schedules of most of the cast.

I went into the season skeptical of the effectiveness of this approach. Arrested Development is inherently an ensemble show. The only character written to a lead is Michael, but by himself he's a fairly dull character. He's the voice of reason in a chaotic family.  When responding to their insanity, he's perfect.  Removed from their hijinks, he's not terribly interesting.  On the flip side, the rest of the characters weren't written to lead but to fill an ensemble.  Too much focus on them becomes overbearing. Everyone will end up having an episode they really don't care for because it focuses on their least favorite character.

Finally, much of the appeal of the show centers around the interactions of the entire family.  With the new format, much of what we love is lost.


With all that said, I will now start watching season 4...

VIDEO REVIEW: Now You See Me