Albums of the Year: 2008

Ok..well here's the deal. Instead of slaving-away trying to write something clever, I am gonna try something different this year.

Here's the list...k..cool
1. Apes and Androids - Blood Moon
2. Burst - Lazarus Bird
3. Ours - Mercy...(Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy)
4. Mutyumu - Il y a
5. The Stiletto Formal - !Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta
6. Marillion - Happiness is the Road
7. Bend Sinister - Stories of Brothers, Tales of Lovers
8. Sculptured - Embodiment: Collapsing Under the Weight of God
9. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
10. Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
11. King's X - XV
12. Woven - Designer Codes
13. Protest the Hero - Fortress
14. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
15. Demians - Building an Empire
16. Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
17. Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Not Animal
18. Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Animal!
19. Adebisi Shank - This is the Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank
20. Arsis - We Are the Nightmare
21. Annuals - Such Fun
22. The Stills - Oceans Will Rise
23. East of the Wall - Farmer's Almanac
24. She Said Destroy - The City Speaks in Tongues
25. Agalloch - The White (EP)
26. Anathallo - Canopy Glow
27. Gojira - The Way of All Flesh
28. Exotic Animal Petting Zoo - I Have Made My Bed In Darkness
29. Jeremy Messersmith - The Silver City
30. God is an Astronaut - God is an Astronaut
31. The Reign of Kindo - Rhythm, Chord, & Melody
32. Bloc Party - Intimacy
33. Black Mountain - In the Future
34. Hills Like White Elephants
35. Eluveitie - Slania
36. Mason Proper - Olly Oxen Free
37. Distrails - Virginia Creeper (EP)
38. Gloria Morti - Eryx
39. Big Fresh - Big Fresh Forever
40. Panic at the Disco - Pretty Odd
41. Opeth - Watershed
42. Ebu Gogo - Worlds
43. Russian Circles - Station
44. The Faceless - Planetary Duality
45. Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
46. Darla Farmer - Rewiring the Electric Forest
47. The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath
48. Brendan Canning - Something for All of Us...
49. The Big Sleep - Sleep Forever
50. Foals - Antidotes
51. Paper Route - All We Are Forgotten
52. Damiera - Quiet Mouth, Loud Hands
53. Genghis Tron - Board Up the House
54. The Jealous Girlfriends
55. Textures - Silhouettes
56. Klimt 1918 - Just in Case We'll Never Meet Again (Soundtrack for the Cassette Generation)
57. Opus Dai - Touch the Sun
58. Skeletons - Money
59. The Atomic Bomb Audition - Light Will Remain
60. Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
61. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
62. !Forward, Russia - Life Processes
63. dEUS - Vantage Point
64. Brain Drill - Apocalyptic Feasting
65. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
66. Nomia - Nomia (EP)
67. Roger Joseph Manning Jr - Catnip Dynamite
68. Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
69. The Arusha Accord - Nightmares of the Ocean (EP)
70. Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
71. Other Lives - Other Lives (EP)
72. Go-Neko! - Una Especie de Mutante
73. Andy Dixon - The Mice of Mt. Career
74. Metallica - Death Magnetic
75. Lehto and Wright - Between the Jigs and the Reels
76. Big Blue Ball - Big Blue Ball
77. Jenny Dalton - Rusalka's Umbrella
78. The Alps - III
79. Enslaved - Vertebrae
80. The Alps - Something I Might Regret
81. Tangled Thoughts of Leaving - Tiny Fragments (EP)
82. Pitchblend - Lines of Unreason
83. Braintoy - Vehicles
84. Blowing Trees - Blowing Trees
85. Shiny Toy Guns - Season of Poison
86. Radius System - Escape / Restart
87. Hate - Morphosis
88. Hieronymus Bosch - Equivoke
89. Eaten by Tigers - Solstice (EP)
90. Sleepin Pillow - Apples on an Orange Tree
91. The Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia
92. Hiromi Uehara - Beyond Standard
93. Janus - Red Right Turn
94. Mt.Helium - Faces
95. Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant (EP)
96. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
97. Evangelicals - The Evening Descends
98. National Bank - Come on Over to the Other Side
99. Cynic - Traced in Air
100. The Deer Tracks - Aurora
101. Tiger Lou - A Partial Print
102. Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
103. Black Milk - Tronic

Now that I've lost everyone with 100 albums, that seem like 2nd nature to myself, what I will do is provide in a near-future blog..some "highlights"..especially of course Apes and Androids.

But the other thing I want to try and do is instead of a novel-size write-up..A PODCAST or 2,3..it's MUCH EASIER for me to do..takes a lot less time I imagine. I will try and at least provide some little snippets..etc at least..even if it's in the background.

2008 Albums that need refreshing/more play

Marillion
Margot
Gutter Twins
The Stills
Gojira
Annuals
Hills Like White Elephants
She Said Destroy
Opeth
Panic at the Disco
Brendan Canning
Jeremy Messersmith
The Faceless
Bloc Party
God is an Astronaut
Foals
Big Fresh
Damiera

Big Sleep
dEUS
Reign of Kindo
! Forward, Russia
Deerhoof
Roger Joseph Manning
Sigur Ros
Eluveitie
Andy Dixon
Pitch Blend
Alps
Alps
Brain Toy
Tangled Thoughts of Leaving
Shiny Toy Guns
Eaten By Tigers
Go Neko!
Sleepin Pillow
Mt.Helium
Mason Proper (CD)
Deer Tracks
Of Montreal
Radius System (not heard)
High Dials (not heard)
Dresden Dolls
Hate
Hate Eternal

Ra Ra Riot (not heard)
Guns N Roses (not heard)
Immortal Technique (not heard)

2009 Album Anticipation List: a thought too...

2009 Album Anticipation List/Release Date Calendar

a note: 2008 has been a ton of fun, but also not entirely reciprocated on many of the forums and message boards about posting album after album with a list. So, that was an experiment that while saw some benefits I guess, probably is not worth repeating. At least to the extent of this year.

The rym thing, yeah that was fun and fine to do.

Cutting to the chase, what I propose my hope/plan to do for 2009 is just to keep that to a minimal or at least a lower frequency. Instead, I logically see transferring that work and effort here in this blog and fwd-ed to the other personal spaces I have online (myspace, cupid, etc).

What that will mean is this blog will be updated at a much higher frequency. And it may often be very vague, short, commentaries. Not that much different than Twitter actually.

I guess I'll see, but at least in that case, I won't have to go through the disappointment of many of the albums and bands not catching-on. Looking like a clueless fool bumping the topic multiple times in-a-row with little to no evidence of it doing any good.

Now, on to that current list of upcoming records for the final year (in the Christian Calendar) of this 1st decade of the 2000's. I.e. 2009.

Kevin Gilbert
Imogen Heap
Umphrey's McGee - Mantis
Modern Skirts - All of Us In Our Night (1/20/09)
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Kiss Kiss - The Meek Shall Inherit What's Left (2/10/09)
Malajube - Labyrinthes (2/10/09)
In Vain (being mixed right now)
The Appleseed Cast - Sagarmantha (Feb)
Pure Reason Revolution - Amor Vincit Omnia (3/9/09)
dredg (3/24/09)
Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
Mew
The Dear Hunter - Act III
The Decemberists - Hazards of Love
Scott Matthews
Neverending White Lights - Act III
Orphaned Land -The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR
Mute Math
OSI
Kaddisfly
Pain of Salvation
Necrophagist
Karnivool
Dream Theater
Maudlin of the Well
Revere
Doves
Between Two Skies
Oceansize
Thurisaz
Fair to Midland
House of Fools
Immortal Technique
Porcupine Tree
Between the Buried and Me
St. Vincent
The End
3
Born of Osiris
Muse
U2
Sufjan Stevens
Greg Herriges
The Mars Volta
Jimmy Gnecco

this is a nice list. But based on what's happened in recent years, I could easily see

a) not all of these albums making out. Mind you, some of them is purely speculation and guess-work just based on their schedules and how many years it's been since their last full-length record.

b) My favorite or what I get most into/excited about next year ain't there at all. Why?..the surprise/unknown/newness of those bands and albums that come out of nowhere each year. So I'm more *anticipating* or looking fwd to [unknown band] most. Apes and Androids, Kaddisfly..those 2 among many speak for themselves.

My 2009 AOY it's quite possible, heck I'd say it's probable ain't there and ain't a band I either

a) know yet

b) am not that into yet...or thought were good once, but their recent stuff hasn't been as good to me.

I guess since 2009 albums have already started leaking..the hunt has already begun. I hope I find the next Apes and Androids soon..as they kind of saved, esp the 1st half of 2008 from being mediocre. I guess this blog will be like a little news service for that and all those others as I track my 2009 album of the year race.

In the mean time, yes the 2008 aoy's are not far away. Short little blurbs about most as I am meaning to try and do. With the looming deadline for 1 board being Dec 19th/20th..I am gonna try and get them posted there by next week if not earlier. So in here, the timing likely won't be too different.

Packing/Moving is important. But still there is.

Amanda Palmer and Bruce Campbell's new movie on Friday and then Bruce again on Saturday.

Dean Magraw with John Williams on 12/13.

Also a note: Golden Globe Nominations are 1-week from Thursday 12/11/08. Wouldn't it be funny if PUSHING DAISIES got some..wouldn't surprise me. And now it's 86'ed of course, lol. Let's hope no SAG-strike happens.

2 movies in the latest Landmark email I wanna see including the new Catherine Deneuve French family x-mas picture. The other one is about time travel I recall, but the name escapes me at the moment.

New/mid-season/cable tv shows of course too are coming up. With some time available..I plan to elaborate some on that list I posted not too long ago of those shows. I think having an actual schedule will help, so it won't likely happen until the 1st or even 2nd week of 2009.

Synecdoche, New York and Quid Pro Quo

Synecdoche, New York imdb

Charlie Kaufman's latest work. Hmm, I guess I was thinking about this driving home how

a) this was a movie that very well would require multiple times seeing it to really understand well

b) there's a ton of elements to the story and perspective. And especially it being quite "introspective".

c) I've never seen anything quite like what Kaufman did with this movie in anything. I'm not certain any story has been told on-screen or even in writing, to what was explored here.

d) Charlie Kaufman should do something involving Metaphysics.

e) It would help to have watched Kaufman's movie "Adaptation" before or after seeing this just to grasp exactly where he's coming from.

f) I totally can see why this movie was not released for many years. I guess going back to 2005. It's to put it simply, a mindfuck, and one that many will either totally hate it, or totally love it. The IFP's will probably go to bat for it (although in recent years even they have let me down embarrassingly), but the Multiplex's I easily could see not touching this movie with a ten foot pole.

Enough about all that. This is one moving yet confusing movie. Over 2 hours in length. Phillip Seymour-Hoffman is his usual talented self playing the lead character, a man whose married and has an artist wife (played by Catherine Keener, who makes miniature-sized paintings) and 4 year old daughter. He is a stage director. His wife seems to lack passion for him and ends up going off to Germany with her daughter. Caden (PSH) believes he's dying. He also has clear advances from 2 younger women, 1 played by Michelle Williams, whose a lead in his current play. The other, whose job is to take tickets at the box-office, played by Samantha Morton.

When his wife goes away with his daughter, he then receives $500,000 Grant to make a new play. At that point he ends up mixing more with both of those younger women, namely Samantha Morton's character Hazel. That doesn't work out. She ends up moving into a house that is always on fire for some reason. He does hook up, gets married, and has another daughter with Michelle Williams's character Claire. Eventually it doesn't work through the process of making this huge production for a play of what is in effect his life, in this abandoned lot in a borough of NYC.

Confusion: He goes to Germany, which seems like not too long after, and they make note that his formerly 4 y/o daughter is now 11. Between that time they do flash a sequence of him at Claire's mom's funeral and then Caden and her getting married and having a daughter. But the way it looked, it very easily could have been imagination/dream sequence/fantasy.

Before you know it, 17 years have gone by. I would assume most of the same large ensemble of people working on his play are still doing it.

This is where it gets REALLY WEIRD. He then ends up casting people to play people who were playing him. Sort of like the chaos theory, a tv-inside-a-tv-inside-a-tv-inside-a-tv. He has a guy play him, and then a guy playing the guy playing him, lol.

Ya see perhaps why this was not released in 2005?..mind you, Kaufman not only WROTE this..but also for the 1st time DIRECTED IT.

So, not meaning to spoil..but I guess within the whole epic story, Caden ends up outliving all these women, including his daughter who somehow dies of ink-poisoning from her tattoo, or something, in Germany. His daughter Olive in effect grew up and was a German girl who became a young woman who ended up ultimately being tied to his ex-wife's best friend Maria played by Jennifer Jason Leigh.

But character after character dies, and while Caden does in fact age and takes a lot of meds. His medical problems seem to not be a focus as he gets older (which they are at the beginning of the film, being that he thinks he's having a mid-life crisis, and dying very lonely).

The play is still being written, rehearsed some 20+ years later. One possible idea is making the play is Caden's LIFELINE. As long as he is continuing to write, cast, and rehearse it, he is still around. But the people in his life are not ultimately of the same fate. The play is a metaphor for his life.

Getting past a few issues I have with using human waste (green poop? among others) and the way he derailed/faded-out both his 1st wife Adele (Catherine Keener) and their daughter's role in the story, this is as unique and memorable movie I've seen this year, this decade, or even ever. Like I wrote above, it definitely is one of those things if you are open-minded enough and have an imagination for, that will take your brain into a place I don't think you've gone before. Likely only someone like Charlie Kaufman could do that.

8.5/10



I am a fan of Nick Stahl. Namely movies like MAN WITHOUT A FACE, BULLY, and IN THE BEDROOM. And earlier this year, I thought he was quite good in SLEEPWALKING as well. In this, he plays a paraplegic who discovers an unknown population of wheelchair-admirers among other things. He also meets a woman, played by Vera Farmiga, who actually tips him off of this originally; but she claims to be different. She wants to get close to him, but also wants to share her desire to be like him.

The metaphors and characters were somewhat interesting, but the plot didn't go too far. I'm not sure if they found love, or just who they were. He ends up being able to walk and she ends up going through the charade of acting as if she was paralyzed as well.

The fetish and desire to connect via a handicap is not too known or typical as a basis for a love story; but I didn't entirely grow to connect to either of them even with their seemingly miraculous change in their physical lower-half's status.

5/10



Jeremy Messersmith - The Silver City

This is just a brief, early review. It's climbed to #43 on my list

This has been quite the good year for music from my home state of Minnesota. Cloud Cult put out perhaps a *breakthrough* record in "Feel Good Ghosts"..Jenny Dalton you could say the same about somewhat compared to her last LP. And then this guy, Jeremy Messersmith also made a really polished sophomore effort. Fans of Sufjan Stevens who are yearning for something new..perhaps another *state concept album*..well for MINNESOTA, a state Sufjan has yet to do, this record is very much of the caliber of those albums like ILLINOIS and MICHIGAN. Some nice Beatles-ish moments among other elements. I like every piece on it, and it definitely fills more when heard all at once.

7/10

Just out of shear laziness/lack-of-time I probably will end up posting many reviews (copy/pasting) from my rym account or forum posts. If I were being paid for this, I'd find the time (somehow!), but of course I'm not so it very well may be the best I can do. I will mention though, I think when the final "List" is written up in here, and there will be one again..and it will be finished of course unlike last year's draining-of-steam and time. I plan to at least write up stuff about the top 10 (esp #1 of course..hehe!) and I was thinking today, maybe the best thing to do with the others is to just link the myspace's, give artwork, and do "Twitter" length reviews (140-200 characters max). Maybe a few key tracks, etc. Probably will expedite the process and allow the mass of 50+ reviews to come out. Honestly, it very well may be closer to 75 or more again.

Early November Double Features

On back-2-back nights this week I caught 2 movies in theaters. Tuesday, in order to avoid the election, I saw a couple of movies in Uptown. The following evening I ended up catching 2 more in Edina.



What Just Happened? imdb

For the 2nd straight year, De Niro has been in something I might describe as a redefining or at least a different kind of a role for him. 2007's "Stardust" playing a gay flying-pirate captain. And in this, a Hollywood producer; who while has a strong personality, he ends up having to do a lot more psychological examination of his clients and his own personal life. The portrayal of a high-stakes, high-stress lifestyle. And I think overall it was pulled off well.

This will remind many of the Tim Robbins movie "The Player." I suppose the comparison is quite valid in that it's a look inside one part of Hollywood. At the same time, possibly due to the tone or time it was made, "The Player" seemed a lot more subtle and dramatic, while "What Just Happened?" had a lot more constant humor. De Niro reminds me of among others, of the late Sidney Pollack, who had those meltdowns that were always worth seeing. One of those guys that either he made you laugh just on how he spoke, his interaction with others, or his sense of priorities were funny due to how he would communicate with people. Also, generally just someone I would enjoy being around I guess.

While the ultimate fates of the different clients and people he invests so much into dealing with is not entirely a "happy-ending" ("Indie" I suppose in that way), seeing the portrayal of different experiences a producer like him goes through is rewarding enough. Bruce Willis and the whole "beard" predicament. To hear De Niro mouth-off about that alone was priceless. The ending of the Sean Penn picture with the dog and how the director manages to con the Studio head (Catherine Keener); which is evidenced when it gets into Cannes. Everything with his ex-wives and daughter and the side-plot with the producer who dies, and Stanley Tucci.

While I doubt it'll be a classic many years from now, I pretty thoroughly enjoyed this. Quite funny, and without much if any filler.

7.5/10



Happy Go Lucky imdb

This was uneven. The 1st 1/3 I'd say or maybe about 1/2 of this was a lot of silly antics from the characters, mainly the lead Sally Hawkins who plays "Poppy." Perhaps her accent at times made it slightly difficult to follow, the personality she presented as a free-spirited, jolly young woman who found it easy to smile or laugh at most of her daily life experiences. Maybe my favorite scenes being when she ends up going to Flamenco dancing class with a co-worker. Poppy, and I think actually even more, the instructor were quite funny. "Myyyy spay-sss...My-spaysss!" I kind of wished I had been in the class myself!

But the Poppy character (and Hawkins I imagine) reminded me a lot of the british female musician Imogen Heap. Partially in her colorful style of fashion (she always wore multicolored knee-high boots among other things), and maybe more-so in her cheery persona that Imogen Heap could be described as having when she does interviews, or especially in her Youtube video blogs. In fact, I think it wouldn't be too big a stretch if it came about, for Sally Hawkins to portray Heap on the screen, which begs my curiosity if Imogen Heap is aware of Hawkins or this movie (and vice-versa).

The 2nd portion of the movie ends up getting a bit more serious. Mainly with Poppy's relationship with her driving instructor played by Eddie Marsan. I imagine this was an influence in his character from real-life, but Scott, Poppy's driving instructor, almost every scene is very on-edge and stressed-out. Poppy contributes to that while he's trying to teach her, but he definitely comes across as someone who has anger-issues. I guess the whole "backseat driver" symptoms come up with anyone who rides in a car with a new driver; but it's his job after-all, so you'd think he'd had enough experience to avoid stressing out over it. Perhaps it also was some strange way of displaying his love or at least social interest in Poppy. But that's kind of the challenge. He's so strong-willed and short-fused, that even SHE can't lighten him up.

But I also credit the actor for that. While that may not be everyone's cup of tea in terms of dramatic performances, he does a very good job of adding a in-your-face, serious character to what mostly is a less-than-serious story overall. At the same time, I guess the previews and entirety of this film didn't end up being as moving as I hoped; but it was certainly one of the more memorable pictures I've seen this year. And it introduces Hawkins, which added reason to see it as well.

6.5/10



Slumdog Millionaire imdb

Caught an advanced screening of this picture which on the surface sounded like a modern-day Bollywood work or some common foreign-language movie that I often see nominated during awards season. Well, it very well may get nominated during awards season, but I wouldn't call it exactly run-of-the-mill. Very cleverly edited and flashback + present day storytelling of an 18 year-old phone-center assistant who ends up appearing and having great success in East India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." He gets taken-in by the show's security in suspicion of cheating to continually getting question-after-question correct, with having very limited education and only being 18 years old. He's even tortured, as the police don't believe his story. But HIS STORY is where it gets quite interesting.

His mother is killed when his village is raided when he is very young. Him and his brother flee, and they end up meeting a girl named Latika who he immediately befriends. Through turmoil and his older brother's influence, Jamal ends up losing Latika, who is of course his first and he believes true-love. Eventually when they get older, Jamal and his brother Salim end up seeking out and rescuing Latika from what would be considered a child-slave trader, whose primary interest in the kids is to find the one's who can sing well and then blind them. Blind singers apparently command(ed) more money to perform or trade there at that time it's set in. After they escape, it is shown how much all 3 of them have changed. Salim unfortunately falls prey to what I'd describe as a mob-businessman; and he's forced-in to taking Latika to him. Jamal loses both of them at that point.

A few years later, he starts working at the cellphone customer service office and stumbles upon their database and both Latika and Salim's whereabouts. He visits both of them, and learns that not a lot has changed. Latika is still more or less a slave to the same wealthy mobster; but he manages to see her and also learn that she watched the Millionaire show. Jamal gets the idea that if he went on the show, she would see him.

What transpires at that point I won't spoil. But it definitely worked on many levels. Logistically I suppose some things didn't necessarily seem entirely realistic, like how would Latika be listed in the cell provider's listing if she more or less was a slave? But the story, flashbacks, and the way it ended up being told was very moving. I particularly liked the youngest portrayals of the three main character most.

It may not be my film of the year, but I would say it's certainly one of the best I've seen in many months. "Transsiberian" and of course "Snow Angels" might be it's biggest competition. I hope more people get to see this. It won some festival awards recently in fact, as the girl from Miramax, who appeared at the theater mentioned.

8/10



Religulous Religulous

Bill Maher somewhat channeling Michael Moore with an agenda that religion is all fiction and fairy tales more or less. This definitely was worth seeing for the amount of comedic value and one-liners. I also liked a lot of the different unusual people from many sects and angles into different religions. The black fella who was a minister I believe, who had been involved as a singer on a pop hit that it escaping me now was a laugh-a-minute. Claiming he was in the Jesus-bloodline, lol. The satanic priest who was a born-again; Maher had a field-day with him. I imagine like Michael Moore and a lot of these cleverly edited documentaries, a lot of footage was shot and edited out, that Maher had no comeback or debate with. But like Michael Moore, it's for entertainment value 1st and foremost, so it didn't matter.

I suppose one thing I wished he'd been able to do is cover more religions, more obscure perhaps like Buddhism, and many of the ethnic religions. Time and resources (money) being factors I suppose. Maybe a 2nd picture will consider doing that. Id' also have liked to have seen Deepak Chopra or at least 1 modern theologist interviewed. I wonder if Chopra declined.

Unlikely the funniest movie of the year, but still one I'm glad I got to see. Maybe since Maher made it, Michael Moore now won't have to.

6.5/10

The Wicker Man

These are a couple of a handful of reviews I mean to add here in the next few days/weeks as I'm starting to consume a fair amount of new films now.

My background with "The Wickerman" is this. I know a fella on some message boards who goes by that screen-name for one, but if I'm not mistaken, he takes it from the song that Iron Maiden wrote. Perhaps the song itself was inspired/named-after the movie or story.


The band Agalloch released an EP earlier this year titled "The White" which takes samples from it. Very folky, dreamy, acoustic. It's really a moving album in fact, and it certainly always made me curious of the source of the samples until I found out they were taken from that 1974 picture, which honestly, reminded of something taken from The Twilight Zone or perhaps The Outer Limits. Even Mysterious Island..when the sample referred to an island, pagans, and a heathen.

Well I happen to be a pretty big fan of Christopher Lee. Mainly a nostalgia and lover of the british "Hammer Series" Dracula pictures. Many others, along with Peter Cushing. He always commands a presence on screen.

Cutting to the chase. I finally saw the 1974 supposed *Horror Classic* which I rented for Halloween. The best things I can say about it is, I liked it more than the remake (not surprisingly), the performances were good from Lee, Edward Woodward (who may be best known for playing the lead role in the 80's crime-drama "The Equalizer"), Ingrid Pitt, and Britt Ekland who among many of the female cast, is hardly shy for the camera (hehe).

The biggest criticism I have are about it is

a) What was up with ALL THE MUSIC? I felt like I was watching a Ken Russell film at times, lol. I mean I guess part of the intent of the director was to make it creepy, in a subtle, lack-of-a-sense-of-reality sort-of-way. I guess. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who kind of got lost watching girls sing while naked over bonfires. And at the same time, I think Woodward's meltdown at them also added to it's lack of suspense.

b) I wished they'd shown more background on how Sgt Howie or whoever on the mainland got word of the girl's disappearance in the 1st place. I suppose it's not something they care about, but logically, it doesn't make a ton of sense for them to call the cops to search for a girl in an entirely different portion of land. I mean, part of it is the society there, but my 1st reaction if I were receiving the notice would be to ask if they have any authorities on the island 1st and foremost for that sort of thing. But that would defeat the purpose of the whole story of course.

I also didn't love how un-poetic the ending was. Had I written it, I'd have had Woodward escape out of the Wicker Man and somehow caused Christopher Lee's "Lord Summerisle" to die either at the hands of the Wicker Man or just from shear shock. It definitely is a film that didn't include the most complete resolution. At the same time, Lee has claimed it's his best or favorite performance of his career (or it was the best film he was ever in, I forget exactly what the bio info said on the DVD)

7/10

Now the remake from '06 at least did give more background on the girl and the fact Nicholas Cage as the cop, comes over to see an old flame and learn it's his own daughter who became missing.

They did try to make it more suspenseful or horror-movie-like. Maybe the best or most creepy thing they had were these two twin ladies who really could have been the much older versions of the two creepy girls that are flashed so freakishly in Kubrick's "The Shining." I genuinely felt creeped out watching them; although the fact it was in daylight didn't help.

The other real head-scratcher that the filmmaker Neil LaBute put in this adaptation was this scene at the beginning with Cage on the highway stopping this lady and her daughter; which eventually leads to a Semi hitting them and Cage attempting but failing to save both the girl or the mother. They kept flashing back to it, which I thought could have worked well, but their never really was any explanation about the significance of it. Was that supposed to be his daughter, Rowan Woodward? (last name I imagine used a cameo sort-of to Edward from the original) Was the fire supposed to be a foreshadow for things to come? It really ended up just being a random event that gives you only your imagination as to what the point of that scene was.

The love story I guess added something, but I would agree with a lot of the comments and reviews online about it. Cage did a good enough job, it's just the material was so predictable and trying to be creepy just for the sake of it, that it didn't add much or have the out-of-left-field approach that the original at least did. At the same time, I probably wouldn't go as far as to think it's the worst movie this decade or anything. Some reviews totally panned it, and I guess for me, it was watchable at least, especially for someone who hadn't seen the original (although of course I would recommend seeing that one as well).

4/10

Mid-season TV Shows to Look Forward To

No time to elaborate, but this is why perhaps the loss of Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone might not be so bad if mainly these new ABC shows actually are 1/2 as good as they sound. Rob Thomas is involved with 2 of them afterall.

Cupid

Good Behaviour

Reaper

Trust Me

Castle

Dollhouse

The Unusuals

Better Off Ted

My Boys

Psych

Monk

Burn Notice

Kyle XY

Lost

Battlestar Galactica

More to come soon..

Writing blogs: while it can be satisfying and maybe not as much of a chore as I think of it to be at times, it always seems to come down to thinking to do it, motivation, and of course the all important time.

I'm in a tough spot now, especially after learning about the potential of my apartment perhaps being required to get shown as early as sometime next month. I am moving out of this, to put it mildly, less-than-satisfactory (esp. in terms of noise, paper-thin-walls) flat on December 31st, 2008 presumably. And of course from now til then, I need to find a better, more acceptable place to live. I have done some research this whole year for places, especially within the last month. However, I still may not have done half of what I need to do still. And of course, all the physical work/time I will require to get my current place in suitable condition.

Plus, sleep, and my regular weekly activities of lots of tv, some films off and on, and concerts, which 1 biggie is tomorrow night in Ours @ the Varsity Theater in Mpls.

here's what happened at the last Ours headlining show in Mpls for me.



However, to summarize, my life has been somewhat hijacked by many things (family events included) in order to even put up in here a fraction of what I could and really should.

2009 = if all goes well, a larger volume of blogging in the AllMediaReviews library should have a chance to be added to.

But I suppose just to add a few things.

wire/news/opinions (music and other media/pop culture notes)

-I love this Japanese modern-Classical/Post Rock/Jazz/Opera/Ambient group
Mutyumu..pretty much blown away and addicted..perhaps to the level of Burst recently and even Apes and Androids. With more time, some longer text should be added about both of those bands/albums. Along with some others which are overdue of course.

-I saw "Choke"..also overdue..and a decent number of films out, coming out, or I hope to see..deserve some space in here as well.

-"My Name Is Bruce" is finally happening in December..and late November supposedly "Fanboys" as well..if not the DVD around X-Mas.

-"Life on Mars" I am digging and may be my favorite new show so far.

-Annuals upstaged Minus the Bear last week at the Varsity Theater..and former local-MN band Themes I enjoyed a lot too.

-New albums from Marillion and Bend Sinister released either tomorrow (10/21)..next Tuesday (10/28) or in November like the 11th i have seen...

-I'm a bit more intrigued by the upcoming album from progressive tech/death band The Faceless now after hearing samples from "Planetary Duality" on their myspace.

-Steve Wilson's "Insurgentes" seems to be getting a lot of hype..I passed on the $40 or whatever the pre-order was for the 2-disc version. I like the guy, but sorry, I passed on the Marillion pre-order after-all. I will be checking the album out when it's available soon still of course.

-Pain of Salvation's new DVD I guess is released on November 25th and to be called "Second Death of"

-Anathallo's "Canopy Glow" is probably not that far away from surfacing I imagine. The thing that did a few weeks ago I liked a decent amount of. Scary, but I may actually prefer it over the new Margot albums actually. It drops next month no matter.

-and of course maybe the biggest remaining record's uncertainty this year is my beloved Soundscape's "Grave New World"..I played the myspace songs again the other day..it may have an outside shot at knocking on the AOY door..the nostalgia is so powerful for me.

-I read about Karnivool in the studio tonight..their new album it doesn't sound like is too far away.

-the 10th dredg "Leaflet" was posted on myspace/youtube..such an f-ing TEASE. 1 of the parts sounded like an Apes and Androids thing..with the "lie lie lie lie lie lie lie"..it sounded like. dredg plays the Varsity Theater on Monday November 17th, 2008.

-I want the Rays to win the World Series. Like Brandon Roy, it's just so like a Minnesota team to get rid of a star-in-the-making in Matt Garza. It was no secret, the guy was a stud. And no Mark Redman or even Mark Prior perhaps. Minnesota = the training ground for players to get traded away eventually and become stars for other teams. Maybe we need different coaching/managerial staff if Garza wouldn't listen to the current coaches here. David Ortiz?..there's no denying there's history and a pattern. It might be a miracle if Liriano remains with the club for the next 5 years. Too bad: a staff of Santana, Liriano, and Garza could have been a potentially historic group. But coulda, shoulda, woulda..as a fan of sports in Minnesota, I should know better. 2-good-2-be-true.

blech..okay..so that's my music/media wire..maybe something like that could be a regular thing here..pics perhaps added over time..

Expectations for veteran artists: MUSIC

I posted this on a journal on another site back in August..and it's been bugging me to expand upon it for quite awhile now.

I'm not sure if I should be sad...or moved. I put on TREOS's BETWEEN THE HEART AND THE SYNAPSE today and it occurred to me how I should really write-up some kind of extensive appreciation for that album. How it may have been lightning-in-a-bottle..their peak and a debut as well.

So then it donned on me how a lot of my favorite albums, bands, even tv shows and directors have a *Peak* or a short window of their top stuff and the rest of their careers they fail to recapture that level. In some rare cases they do or top it..or even come close, but in a good majority they never do. It may not just be 1, but 2 or 3 works. Rush maybe being a big exception.

But many of them had short stints..short catalogs of work.

and to MY TASTE of course.

So it occurred to me what makes a lot of sense is always consider if not assume this to be the case with ANYTHING..any kind of art or entertainment. And then the whole depression that happens about a band splitting up, or a tv show ending/getting canceled that was great is more acceptable, almost better in a way. Even when a celeb dies..they gave us their best..their peak..enjoy the peak.

more to add about this..

MUSIC:

So, okay, that is the deal I guess. Mindset, etc. When I discover a band from now on, get into their back catalog too, the biggest thing to try and remember is to not expect them to move me with their future work as they did with the work that I fell in love with initially. Could this be due to it being *new* to me? Perhaps. Could it also have to do with the common situation of a band/artist trying (or needing) to prove themselves? Maybe as well. Or is it partly due to wanting nostalgia?

I just notice over the last few years especially, my most addictive new albums are from bands that I am new to.

Some examples:

2008: Apes and Androids. Totally out-of-nowhere. Their style is like nothing I really had heard before. So in a way it's like discovering liking a new food.
2006-07: Pure Reason Revolution, Mew, Oceansize, Kaddisfly, The Dear Hunter, Fair to Midland, Kiss Kiss, House of Fools, The Receiving End of Sirens, Between the Buried and Me. All of them were new to me. Styles, and the albums they put out seemed to be cases of them trying to make their mark.

On the flipside, it seems there a lot of cases of bands who put out new records the last couple of years that were disappointing and don't seem to have what I loved about some of their previous work.

2008: Mt.Helium (The Apex Theory), Klimt 1918, and perhaps now Janus whose album leaked last week and I had been anticipating for a couple of years.
2007: Coheed and Cambria, Porcupine Tree, Pain of Salvation, Marillion, Dream Theater, and even Rush.

Then there are the bands whose follow-ups of late are good, but not quite the classic hoped for, or of the past.

2008: Ours, King's X, Woven, Demians..some others..Marillion, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's?
2007: Blackfield, Oceansize, Three

So the latest that I'm unclear where it'll go is the new Margot releases. HYPE HYPE HYPE..really since the middle, or late last year. And now having heard both albums, I'm still a little worried it won't be as big a deal as I hoped/thought. I've heard it enough times to know I like a lot of it; and it's a step up from RETREAT overall. But as just a comparison: the new Burst album I love right now and it's jumped all the way up to #3 on my list..but it was right from the 1st time hearing it, impressive. I was wondering if finally with all of the work on both NOT ANIMAL and ANIMAL!, a band could put some pressure on BLOOD MOON, but I'm becoming skeptical now. It really reminds me more of the situation with the new Marillion album. A LOT of material there, and none of it really bad, but as a moving, coherent, cohesive, body of work on 1 release, both of them don't seem to have the desire for repeated play and repeated discovery.

SET SAIL THE PRAIRIE demanded that (repeated play, and repeated discovery) because it had so many styles and flowed so well from beginning to end. And BLOOD MOON does too. It's also just 1 of those things, an album that you put on and your energy instantly is raised. It brings a smile to your face. It goes beyond hearing sounds through headphones. When something moves you, or is effective therapy enough where when you need a boost or something to help you forget something bad, you turn to it and it bails you out. That, to me, is what separates a classic or just addictive album, from just a really good collection of songs. And as much as I'm someone who finds still has boundaries with the avant-garde, Rock Operas, or just some highly conceptual work; for some reason most of my favorite albums of all-time seem to be the ones that have a great cohesiveness to them. Their story, mystery, etc is what drives me to enjoy them over and over. Maybe it's my love for imagination, I'm not sure.

So that all being said, what I thought I also could do is sort of give a list of upcoming veteran bands who have albums expected in the near future and how I'm going to try to keep the *peak* theory in mind.

2009 Anticipation List

Kevin Gilbert: In this situation, it's pretty much gravy due to the fact the stuff that's going to come out soon is material he made many years ago. But instead of expecting another SHAMING or even THUD, I want to hope these will be good enough to demand some repeated play. At least to the amount of THUD which I probably only play maybe a couple of times a year.

Mew: In their case, I still don't think they've made a classic record yet. But given some other bands like Klimt 1918 for example, I want to avoid hoping they'll top FRENGERS or KITES even. If they do, cool, but if not, at least those 2 records will seem all the more better.

The Dear Hunter: This one is a bit tough since both ACTS are great and seemingly Casey Crescenzo can do no wrong right now. But given that in 2007 this groups sort of came out of nowhere and them/Casey have fastly become my favorite current songwriter today, I am gonna have to really work to avoid expecting another 4.5 star record here. He's just so good and has an awesome knack for songwriting and telling a story, this one may be one of if not the most difficult ones to avoid being disappointed if I don't love it. But then again, Rush, The Beatles, etc..they did it for many records in a row. However, if another Apes and Androids comes along next year, it still may hurt the amount of time it gets. Hopefully not.

Imogen Heap Her last record has a lot of goosebump-worthy songs on it and no songs I ever skip. Something magical about "Speak For Yourself." She's great, but I guess I don't want to expect her to have that same impact again on me; because if I do, I will be sad and perhaps even not regard her as my favorite female artist today, which she is. So I suppose expecting the new album to have a handful of songs that good might be best..if there's more, well then it's just cherries on the sundae.

dredg: Considering the level of expectations for CWA I guess after EL CIELO put them on the map, their new album I want to just consider mild expectations with. Look at Coheed last year. I still really love those middle 2 albums, but they were coming off my favorite record of theirs. The next dredg album I don't want to expect EL CIELO part 2, but I somehow question how much like CATCH WITHOUT ARMS it'll be. Actually, in a way, CWA was more addictive due to the energy and pop-like element to it. I suppose this next album's fate will be partly due to how good the energy is. If the quality is of CWA's I don't think it'll fall into the disappointment category. But, the fact is, this is the 1st album by them I do expect something since back in 2005 I had not heard much dredg at all.

Mute Math: Based on the samples on the videos, this new album from them sounds like it could be really good. And to add to that, I don't consider their debut LP to be that amazing over time. They became a superior band live. So if we get much of the same, well their status as a studio band goes nowhere. I like their chances of not disappointing me.

OSI: FREE was a good example of this problem. The S/T debut was a very good record, and FREE just lacked so much of what I loved about the debut. I suppose I could see this a bit like Mars Volta; the bar has been lowered to the point where it's very likely the only place they go is up. Besides, Jim Matheos hasn't done much since FREE as from what I've read. Hopefully he's come up with some new guitar riffs and tones, as well as Kevin Moore. Maybe having Gavin Harrison won't hurt either, but also expectations won't be too high since this is the 1st time he'll have worked with either of them I guess.

The Appleseed Cast: I liked PEREGRINE a lot, but not to the point of addiction. So I guess I'm not likely to expect anything better than that. I read something about their being a very small percentage of vocals on their upcoming record titled "Sagarmantha."

Kaddisfly: Similar to The Dear Hunter. Their last work was just so damn good, and addictive, I may struggle with not wanting another 5-star work. I have felt for a long time now, there's no way they'll be able to shock me like they did again; but at least I can't get past wanting a lot of the inspiration that PRAIRIE gave me. This one will be hard, but maybe the best thing is just to believe their peak was so high it won't matter.

Pure Reason Revolution:Actually I have some optimism here just based on the samples and new work, and how much less demand THE DARK THIRD has had over time. Topping TDT I'm not wanting to expect, but at least going back to their new record as much I don't think is outlandish. The trip-hop and electro style I've only grown to like MORE, so there new album may be pretty safe not to worry.

Pain of Salvation: SCARSICK lowered their bar. If they make another album like that though, they probably will be into Dream Theater's expectation area then. The issues could be the new bass player and drummer, and what Daniel Gildenlow really hopes to accomplish with their next work. I guess unless they go off the deep-end entirely into avant-garde styles, I don't really foresee why their next album may disappoint me. At the same time, I don't expect another record of the level of REMEDY LANE or THE PERFECT ELEMENT PART 1. Or even their 1st 2 records. I'd love a solid 4-star record honestly. If they go higher, well maybe it'll be considered a comeback.

Karnivool: THEMATA became an addictive album the last 12 months for me. Although, a bit like Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, it's not a perfect record or anything. But an impressive debut for sure. I suppose like Margot, if there's a lot of hype, the danger of high expectations might happen. But outside of Australia, this band is not well-known enough for that amount of hype. At least from what I've seen. So I guess at this point, an album that is at least of THEMATA's quality is all I will regard as an expectation. If it does not go that high, I suppose my feeling on them may be more of like Apex Theory or Brazil. One nice record, but that may be it. Hopefully not as they seem to standout among all those other alt-prog bands from down under. Dead Letter Circus might be the only one that could be in their league at some point.

tbc...

Film: Transsiberian and Burn After Reading. Music:Small Update

Transsiberian imdb link

Forget how much I saw on this prior to reading the summary and seeing it. But the premise sounded like my kind of Indie flick anyway. A couple choose to trek across much of the Russian territories via train instead of flying home to presumably their native USA. They meet another couple through their bunk who seem inviting enough to keep them company along the way; except quite early-on in that time amongst that couple their seems to be way too much more than meets the eye.

Emily Mortimer is very convincing as a woman in more than enough unstable situations involving death, deceit, and a few types of investigations on foreign soil. Ben Kingsley eventually shows up as a Russian detective whose ultimate motivations are not known until the climax of the film.

Woody Harrelson provides reasonable, but not spectacular comic-relief and naivete throughout. And Eduardo Noriega who plays Carlos is both creepy and charming. I guess the things that stand out about this film most are:

a) how dark the plot and story is.

b) Partial spoiler: but why the Jessie character was so paranoid, and time after time with the detectives, to not explain what exactly happened with Carlos. Self-defense among other things you'd think a normal person would consider, especially after all the questions. The guilt and lying seemed like it was eating her up. I suppose the writers did that intentionally; and perhaps the uncertainity of what could happen to her by explaining that in of all countries, Russia, was a big risk itself. But when they are torturing someone, you have no shoes and socks on and gun to your head..um, most people would break under that pressure I imagine.

c) Carlos and Roy ..when Roy disappeared, my 1st suspicion when Carlos picked up the crowbar or whatever it was, was, he was going-to and then did take out Roy then and there. Why he tried to act like he did not care at all when Roy disappeared.

d) the Carlos character, while he was clever in ways, he definitely came across as having alterior motives for many things he did. I suppose that is part of his character, but if the writer/directors of this picture wanted him to be more devious and masked, I guess he didn't really pull that off. Just his relationship with his girlfriend seemed half-assed to a point. But if that was the intention, it worked well since he seemed pretty untrustworthy throughout. But Jessie of course seemed to trust him more than I expected. Also what led to his demise, really, was one of those unrealistic events, that liberties I suppose a film fan can let slide. The effect still worked really well though.

Concluding that this was definitely in the vein of my top film of '08 "Snow Angels" and maybe moreso, the other Woody Harrelson film I saw this year in "Sleepwalking." Dark, character study; and one that has the characters changing/growing and enduring a lot to get past a current predicament. Also it does explore a bit of a theme I thought was interesting in Drug Mules. It reminded me of how they used that work as a plot element in the film "Maria Full of Grace." Dark, dangerous, business, that those who get involved don't always know how risky it is.

7.5/10



Burn After Reading
imdb link

I've never been a HUGE Coen Brothers fan, but I still have enjoyed stuff like "The Big Lebowski" and "Fargo," for example. I guess my impressions of this based on the trailers were it looked a bit contrived and OVERCAST especially. You'd find yourself looking at the ACTORS and many of them left and right in a matter of seconds; instead of the characters they are playing. I suppose this movie didn't entirely avoid that, but it had enough mystery and love trapezoids (not a triangle..not a square even) to allow it to pull me in. The plot(s) were silly, but I didn't find myself taking each situation too seriously to care enough for it to hurt the overall impact.

George Clooney, John Malkovich, and Richard Jenkins I guess are worth watching in most work they do anyway. The loose ends were for the most part tied up save for Tilda Swinton and Clooney's wife. I also found it kind of ironic how Clooney and Swinton end up in so many scenes together, just after they were at huge odds in last year's Oscar nominated "Michael Clayton." Not intentional, but ironic, and ironic how the film up against that one at the Oscars was also a Coen Brothers in "No Country For Old Men."

The best Coen Bros movie? no. Film of the Year? no. Oscar Worthy? I wouldn't think so. Entertaining? Yes, if you don't expect huge comedic or dramatic genius. Coen Brothers I have never found to be nearly as brilliant as they are made out to be, but they are relatively consistent, so I don't imagine even the stack full of casting and the goofy twist the plot takes kills this one for me. Really, it's about on par with many of the recent Apatow films. Decent, but not brilliant.

6.5/10

Upcoming: Choke..more tba as I've caught some previews and reviews of late that I cannot recall at the moment (9/25/08).

Also coming soon/long overdue: a whole boatload of album and some concert reviews. Between the Buried and Me live may or may not happen next week for myself. I am absent from seeing Sigur Ros and Opeth this week, being out of town. 3, Minus the Bear, Brian Wilson, dredg, and Amanda Palmer are all on my concert calendar. Perhaps even seeing Terry Bozzio in St.Paul on 10/19.

in the meantime:
2008 Top Albums

2008 Anticipated

2009 Anticipated

some copying/pasting and more drivel probably could be absorbed here in the near future.

My most played record of the last week:
Burst - Lazarus Bird

Also addicted to:
Jared Micah & Hats - TCMOH

New to:
Friendly Fires
The Alps and The Alps (seriously, 2 different bands..different styles, both good)
Adebisi Shank
Exotic Animal Petting Zoo

Also some tv commentary shouldn't be too far off. FRINGE is the best new show I've seen thus far.

Fall TV Season 2008-09: Friday/Weekend/Cable

7PM

NBC has this show called "Crusoe" which really doesn't look like anything special, but the previews didn't look horrible at the same time. Sam Neil in like his 50th NBC show/miniseries. Based on the character from the Robinson Crusoe book of course.

8PM

The Ex-List: tv.com link



Premieres: October 3rd (CBS)

Creator Diane Ruggiero and 20th Century Fox Television brings The Ex List to CBS. When a woman visits a psychic and discovers that she's already dated the man she is destined to marry, she sets out to find out who it is by looking up past loves.

This looks good, and hopefully a somewhat suitable replacement for a show I really enjoyed last season in "Moonlight." Elizabeth Reaser I have liked from seeing her in Grey's Anatomy and the independent film "Sweetland" among other things. The premise sounds like it may have some legs as well. And as far as network tv, really this is the only thing I'm planning to watch/dvr for now regularly on Fridays.


9PM

Life: tv.com link

I never watched it last year. Some episodes were on my DVR. Donal Logue, who I liked in a few things I saw the past years, notably the film "The Dao of Steve" and "Knights of Prosperity," is joining the cast. I guess I may have to ask a friend of mine what he thinks before tuning in, but I wouldn't eliminate ever watching this.

Scifi Channel has a new show called "Sanctuary" which looks dark, but potentially interesting. It may depend. In looking up a bit of info about it the other day however, it seems like it's cast and writers come mostly out of the Stargate-franchise which for most part fails in my interest. Amanda Tapping: She joins the ATLANTIS show once SG-1 is over, and now she's in this?..mmkay. But, I again don't mean to entirely judge a book by it's cover, so I may check it out before writing it off.

Sunday:

8PM

Valentine: tv.com link



Premieres: October 5th (CW)

Greek deities Aphrodite and her son Eros have settled here on Earth and are in the matchmaking business in this romantic dramedy from The CW.

Valentine is produced by Media Rights Capital. 13 episodes have been ordered for the first season.

This sounds potentially good. And while the names in this case don't totally ring any bells, they look familiar for some reason. "Aliens In America" sadly is gone, but this could be the potential sleeper show like that one, they come up with this season (it seems they come up with 1 or 2, but still cancel them like AiA among others).

Also of course many show's info hasn't come out yet, but will be on the air this season. Battlestar Galactica has 10 episodes left and a movie I guess now. Reaper will be back and it may replace 90210 or Privileged (probably this) sooner than later depending on ratings, lol. Rob Thomas from VERONICA MARS has 1 or perhaps 2 shows coming out. One being the reprise/return of "Cupid."

And, of course the cable shows which are winding down their Summer seasons. Psych, Monk, Burn Notice, and Kyle XY. Dr.Who, Torchwood, and the Sarah Jane Adventures I haven't seen much on. There is to be a Christmas Invasion episode at least with the Cybermen returning, and a movie I guess with Tennant, there's talks about.

Also HBO's "True Blood" I'm in the process of seeking out. But I don't get HBO so that really has no set schedule for myself. But vampires and Anna Paquin plus some reviews have caused me want to check it out.

Fall TV Season 2008-09: Thursdays

7PM

Smallville: tv.com link



Premiere: September 18th (CW)

The one veteran show the CW has maintained and kept my attention in recent years (Gilmore, Veronica are gone now), and actually gets decent ratings by their standards, lol. Although, the show is near shark-jumping terriroty if it wasn't already. It should end soon, and I have read this is to be the last season (hopefully they won't pull a 7th Heaven on us). But, even that being the case, much of the cast keeps dropping off the credits; which actually that's happened each of the last couple of seasons. Really since Pete left if I recall. Yeah, they've added some new cast since, most notably Erica Durance as Lois, but that was inevitable for the Superman Universe. But apparently Kristin Kreuk and Michael Rosenbaum are off the opening credits, along with the girl who played Kara last season. What we're left with I guess would be: Clark, Chloe, Lois, and perhaps Jimmy. And some new faces I recall reading.

I just hope we get some resolution with Lex finally becoming the evil foe we know him to be, and of course Clark has got to fly, lol. They could and should bring back Oliver Queen and the Justice League, which I heard they are, but the previews didn't include all the guys we knew from it (just Queen and Aquaman a friend told me). And the other kind of unresolved plot I have remembered is with the Martian who has popped up couple of times the last 2 seasons.

Yeah there are some continuity errors, and it is partially for Superman-fans and those into eye-candy. But given what else there is to watch, there's a lot of other things I'd get bored by.


Ugly Betty: tv.com link



Premieres: September 25th (ABC)

I'm not gonna say a lot here because frankly, I haven't watched this show in over a year. But I suppose I would not discount the idea of getting back into it due to the fact Thursdays have now become very light with TV (as opposed to a few years ago when it was the busiest night of the week). Like Battlestar Galactica, it might be worth a 2nd assessment/investment as I always enjoyed it, but not immensely or anything. I like America Ferrara and Rebecca Romijn should add reason themselves (even tho her plot has always seemed absurd..maybe more than the Patrick character on Men In Trees having a black biological father).

7-7:30

My Name Is Earl: tv.com link



Premieres: September 25th (NBC)

Somewhat like Betty and even Smallville. This show has very a very low amount of interest for me now. Frankly, it has jumped the shark as well. The writing isn't what it once was. Crabman: they don't even use or his lines aren't as funny as they had been. I have resounded to the fact I don't plan to watch this regularly. Maybe with a good guest, which at times they have had. But it was one of the best sitcoms on TV, just a couple of years ago sadly.


8PM

Grey's Anatomy

I stopped watching this show as well, even if Katherine Heigl is hard to ignore. Writing, and Hospital/Medical Dramas as a whole get too serious, too disgusting, and have very little appeal to me normally. This one did for a while with some of it's subtle humor and cast, but even that overall is gone. Heigl frankly is probably the only reason I'd want to watch it, and she even said publically how she thought the writing sucked last season.

9PM

Life On Mars: tv.com link



Premieres: October 9th (ABC)

ABC Studios, 20th Century Fox Television, and Kudos Productions are co-producing the remake of BBC drama Life on Mars . Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara) is a detective from the 21st century who travels back in time to the 1970s after a car accident. Tyler clashes with new boss Gene Hunt who doesn't take his coming from the future seriously. Tyler ends up working on a case involving a serial killer...


Ok, I had the British show on my DVR and only was able to watch a couple of episodes of both seasons for various reasons. They disappeared sadly. But I liked it. It had the dude who played the Master in the new Dr.Who among others. Very 70's, very British, and very much an action/mysterious cop show involving the leads future life, etc.

So this comes out and it does look very similar. The new tradition it seems of Hollywood adopting a popular show from England.
It has Rachel LeFevre who seemingly has shown up on more than half the tv shows I watched the last few years as a guest (What About Brian, Boston Legal, Two and a Half Men..some others I'm not remembering now).

edit: apparently she's not on the show anymore. Gretchen Mol got recast I guess just from looking at the credits. Ok, fair is fair, but I was looking forward to seeing her. Gretchen Mol I like too, but that kind of sucks. On the other hand, Harvey Keitel and Lisa Bonet are also going to be on this. Cool. I recall Colm Meaney aka Chief O'Brien from the Star Trek franchises among others (Men In Trees most recently) was also going to be on this but alas, nothing is listed as far as I can tell.

David E Kelley is involved, for some controversial reasons involving blackmail with ABC 86'ing Boston Legal if he didn't I remember reading. No matter, I like his work too. Why I am optimistic this could be one of the best new shows this fall, and at this point it's not gonna have a lot of competition. "The Eleventh Hour" on CBS doesn't have much interest from me at 9PM or actually the entire evening. No, this very easily could be along with Smallville the only show I'm gonna watch/dvr on Thursday which in a way is a relief. Although, Lost's timeslot may determine what happens to this come Winter, but hopefully it won't impact it's fate entirely.

Fall TV Season 2008-09: Wednesdays

7PM



Pushing Daisies: tv.com link

Premieres: October 1st (ABC).

Bryan Fuller seems to have struck gold over and over with TV. Work on Deep Space 9, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Heroes, and now this show. Very Tim Burton-like, but also certainly has elements of 2 of those babies in DLM and Wonderfalls. The odd, inventive elements of nature, god, and science that we don't exactly know as well as we thought. Lee Pace stars, and I always liked him on Wonderfalls. The premise itself with Ned's ability to revive the dead for 1 minute, seems a bit short, but I guess that's part of it's appeal. And of course the whole having to touch them again within that minute or someone else dies is funny. Question being, is that always how the show will work? For now, yes, but maybe not as the show explores more ideas and plots. Everything with his non-touching love and lust for Chuck his childhood unfulfilled love interest. The Emerson character is probably as funny as anything on the show. I also really like hearing the narration from Jim Dale whom I will admit, really enjoyed his voice work in the Harry Potter audio-books.

Strike-impacted of course as it didn't return and only being it's 1st season last season like some others. We may be in for a treat as to what transpires for Ned, Chuck, Emerson, and talented Kristin Chenowith's character Olive. It should be interesting and also I'm still hoping to spot more DLM and Wonderfalls alumni at some point.

7:30PM




Gary Unmarried: tv.com link

Premieres: September 24th (CBS).


A newly divorced father of two balances life with his new girlfriend and his ex-wife to whom he was married for fifteen years. Jay Mohr ( Saturday Night Live )stars in this CBS multi-camera comedy. 13 episodes have been ordered for season 1. The show is being produced by ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television .

Not that I'm a huge Jay Mohr fan, but he's not been horrible in some of the movies and guest-appearances I recall seeing him in. But I guess the biggest thing about this one is the previews looked pretty good. Not a totally unfamiliar plotline for a sitcom, but CBS has been batting a decent percentage with sitcoms this decade especially. I'm gonna give this a go. I like Paula Marshall too who I last recall seeing somehow replacing Jeri Ryan in-a-way on "Shark" the end of last season.

8:30



Do Not Disturb: tv.com link

Premieres: September 10th (Fox).

A glamorous New York hotel has a not-so-glamorous staff in this multi-camera comedy project from FOX.

I am guilty right now having not seen any trailers or anything for this (I'm sure they're online, I just need to find them). However, a sitcom set at a hotel with en eclectic cast of characters sounds like it could have something. Jerry O'Connell stars, and while not everything he has done I love, he has done some work I really enjoy. Sliders for example. He definitely has been and can be one of those actors I just like watching (and no, it's not due to his looks, no thank you. He is an attractive guy, but I don't swing that way ya know :P). He even was on an episode of "Samantha Who?" last season which he wasn't bad in. The rest of the cast, while I am not remembering their names, they look familiar anyway. Perhaps some of this could have a similar spontaneity and interesting adventure-style comedy that I enjoyed about a newer film with Wonderfalls's Caroline Dhavernas and Craig Ferguson called "Niagra Motel" (probably one that deserves a review itself). A story about a bunch of characters connected in some ways at a motel. Guess we'll see. But with Gary Unmarried and this on Wednesdays, there could be 2 of the best new sitcoms on 1 night. An odd combo if Lost returns as well to Wednesdays in the Winter.

9PM

Lost: (ABC):

edit: considering this is a mid-season start and

a) nothing I've found indicates if it'll be airing here again or Thursday like it did at the end of last season. And perhaps 8PM instead of 9PM.

b) It probably warrants it's own individual blog in fact. BSG and some others in fact may too.

the Lost review/preview/conflicts will have to hold-off for now.

Jeremiah (TV Show)

tv.com link

So after approximately 6 weeks of airing 4 episodes every Thursday, The Scifi Channel finished airing every episode of this show this past week. Albeit edited given the fact it originally aired on Showtime with nudity and profanity among some other non-censored elements.

My history with this show. I was/am a J Michael Straczynski fan of course with Babylon 5, one of the best Scifi or any kind of dramas on television over the last 2 decades. After that, he went on to start, but then get screwed over by TNT with the Gary Cole B5 spin-off show "Crusade." Which did air 13 episodes in the summer of 1999. I liked "Crusade" and have always felt it was a shame it was not picked-up by SCIFI or another network; but actually that Summer of 1999 I knew off the bat it was done sadly. So in a way it was like watching a Mini-series.

Fast-Fwd. Towards the end of Star Trek Voyager's run, the next ST franchise was talked about. And what ended up being the largely disappointing Rick Berman created "Enterprise," could have, and frankly SHOULD HAVE been JMS's next project. Maybe the failure of "Crusade" impacted that, but more likely, Paramount was still in bed with Berman, and JMS's pitch, much like it was turned down nearly a decade earlier, wasn't given much chance as I have read. Of course the whole Babylon 5/Deep Space 9 story many know about. The paralells, etc. I will just say that was certainly 1 case of when I'm glad they didn't give JMS the greenlight, since as a result, instead of having 1 classic Scifi show, we got 2. And DS9 also I will always trace back to my 1st real love of Scifi and Star Trek.

So, what I presume went down, JMS had this show "Jeremiah" which is somewhat loosely based on a comic-book series by a Belgian writer named Herman Huppen. A deadly plague known as "The Big Death" has wiped most adult humans, and the kids have had to grow up in the post-apocalyptic world. 90210's Luke Perry and The Cosby Show's Malcolm Jamal-Warner star.

I rented the 1st disc from Netflix a few years ago, but never got around to renting the rest of the 1st season, nor the 2nd season of course. The premise sounded interesting. Reasonable cast. And maybe best, it was from JMS.

Now finally having finished watching both seasons, I will say it was certainly one of the better Scifi shows to come out this decade. I really liked the adventures and uncertainities they explored about how the world was, rebuilding it, and starting-over. The 2nd season wasn't as good as the 1st, but they did add Sean Astin, which interestingly was maybe at his peak of stardom just following the huge exposure he got with the LOTR movies. His character towards the end of the show references humans re-setting of some kind. It's 16 years since the "Big Death" and now that the kids from then are old enough, they are going in a similar struggle as a race.

They also added another character the 2nd season in Libby, who has a connection to Jeremiah working with his dad at "Valhalla Sector." Not to spoil it entirely, but her character of course has more than one side, and she ends up connecting with Jeremiah when they meet through her dad at the beginning of Season 2. What transpires later with her and her work and life with Jeremiah isn't fully explained unfortunately. Bad enough her character does not stay throughout the whole season, but I really wished they'd told more about her background with coming to Valhalla Sector and everything else that led her to do what she did.

Overall, this show definitely stands out among stories I have read/seen about post-apocalyptic worlds. That idea, when done well, is an appealing story idea in Scifi and all fiction really. Although "Children of Men" sadly could have been done well in a similar way, but unfortunately I didn't feel it succeeded. The dark tone, and in-your-face war and violence kind of killed that movie among some other reasons. However, getting to experience this show and it's story, I have renewed faith that it can be created in a beneficial and entertaining way in Hollywood.

Put it up along side the likes of great short-lived shows like Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Freaks and Geeks, Brimstone, etc.

The biggest thing now I think is, it still leaves me wondering if/when JMS will get a chance to do another show like this. Just scanning his credits on imdb, it looks like he's doing a bunch of work in films now, which makes me curious. Judd Apatow's path became that in fact, maybe he noticed and is following suit. I still could go for him directing an episode of Lost, perhaps Battlestar Galactica (the show that reminds me most of B5 since B5 ended), and course someday still Star Trek. Hopefully Jeremiah can be another piece to add to why he should have those opportunities if he so desires them at some point.

Fall TV Season 2008-09: Tuesday...

These are a couple of links I like:

tviv: Somewhat updated Grid
wiki's helpful grid

7PM

90210 (The Next Generation..hehe): tv.com link



Premieres: September 2nd (CW)

I'm only vaguely curious about this maybe mostly due to the fact my recent discovery of "Jeremiah" and Luke Perry in that show. Very likely I'm gonna watch it once and maybe again only for certain guest appearances. Rob Thomas may not be involved much beyond the pilot. Kinda scary to think this is occupying Gilmore Girls longtime timeslot.

8PM

Fringe: tv.com link



Premieres: September 9th (Fox)

FBI agents Olivia Dunham and Peter Bishop are faced with a rapidly spreading unexplained phenomenon of the threatening kind. In an attempt to stop the spread, they enlist the assistance of Bishop's estranged father, the institutionalized scientist Dr. Walter Bishop. Dawson's Creek 's Joshua Jackson will play the lead role of Peter Bishop, a smart guy with many gambling debts. The Secret...

The premise of this show sounds a bit like a very short-lived show from the 90's I used to catch reruns on Sunday Nights on the Scifi channel called "The Burning Zone." A secret government task force fight some dangerous diseases to save mankind. Josh Jackson I have liked beyond his Dawson's Creek work. And it is JJ Abrams for what that's worth. He actually has a bit of a similar history with tv as Whedon. Cult-fans, some great stuff that critics loved, and a few gambles that didn't pay off (see Six Degrees, The Nine..sadly even What About Brian). Between this and the Trek film, Hollywood has not denied him any creative chances. I'm cautiously optimistic. Depends on if it gets to be too detailed and serious. I don't need a 24 here.

Privileged: tv.com link



Premieres: September 9th (CW)

Originally called Surviving the Filthy Rich, this CW drama is an adaptation of the popular Zoey Dean novel How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls. In the series, Yale graduate Megan Smith recently moves to Manhattan with hopes of finding success in the field of journalism. However, when her plans go wrong, she accepts a job as the live-in tutor helping two wealthy high school students in Palm Springs get accepted at a top university. Privileged, from Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Paramount Network Television., has reveived a 13 episode contract from The CW Television Network. The executive producers are Gilmore Girls' Rina Mimoun and Gossip Girl's Bob Levy and Leslie Morgenstein. 30 Rock's Michael Engler directed the pilot.

I'm not huge into Teen Dramas. Dra-medy's however can work (Gilmore Girls, Men In Trees). I like Joanna Garcia (Freaks and Geeks, Welcome to the Captain), and the girl from the failed Bionic Woman show last year might add a bit. But let's just say, this only will get me to watch if there's nothing else, or it surprises me a lot. But, judging books by their covers I try to avoid. I wonder if Reaper will eventually return at this timeslot in the Winter. Very likely not.

The Mentalist: tv.com link



Premieres: September 23rd (CBS)

The Mentalist tells the tale of Patrick Jane who is employed as an independent detective working with the California Bureau of Investigation to solve crimes. He has refined his observations skills to a near perfect level and lends these skills to the CBI to help them solve cases. The team that he works with consists of the senior agent, Teresa Gibson, agents Kimball Cho & Wayne Rigsby and the rookie, Grace Van Pelt.

It has reminded some people of "Psych," a show I love and my favorite current program on all of television. But actually it sounds more like "Monk." It's just this guy doesn't have a partner or assistant. And likely not the same kind of humor nor much mystery on his ability to solve cases. Simon Baker's name is familiar, but his work isn't to me. "Devils Wears Prada" and a short-lived (rarely-if-ever-aired show) "Smith" are his only work I have heard about. Not a lot of optimism, but the other stuff it's up against I'm not either so it has as good a shot as any of finding my viewing or never crossing my consumer-palette.

8:30PM

The Goode Family: tv.com link



Premieres: Midseason (ABC)

"It's so difficult being good."

Mike Judge, creator of Beavis & Butt-Head and King of the Hill, brings us this new animated series about an obsessively "green" family whose politically correct liferesults in constant laughs.

ABC has so far ordered 13 episodes of this series. The show is scheduled to air midseason.

The show is being produced by 3 Arts Entertainment and Media Rights Capital.

I love Beavis and Butthead, and "Office Space" is very *Classic*. But "King of the Hill" I never got into. Mike Judge sadly may need the comforts of a lesser-censored format (Cable and movies) to excel the most. But, the premise to this sounds like it could have some potential. I do think he writes well when he's set in modern-day (as opposed to King of the Hill). Given it's a mid-season replacement show, and on ABC, this may not be on the air long enough to find it's audience. But by January the other stuff on at it's time may not be worth the time of day, so it could get some ratings by default.

9PM

Eli Stone: tv.com link



Premieres: October 14th (ABC).

Good show! Johnny Lee Miller I'll probably never forget for his work in the Angelina Jolie mid-90's film "Hackers." His role here isn't exactly like that one, but he still is quite good here as a protagonist lawyer; with visions of the future from a brain Aneurysm that seems to dictate much of his life's path whether he likes it or not. This show had good writing, a good albeit familiar cast (Victor Garber from Alias, Natasha Henstridge, Julia Gonzalo from Veronica Mars, Tom Cavanagh from Ed and Love Monkey). But it kind of came out of nowhere last year and lived up to the ads ABC force-fed the public during Lost, even with the George Michael obsession. The fact his condition got exposed to everyone may be the hardest thing to get past. Many good shows at 1st have a character with a secret, and once the secret comes out, the show needs something more. However in this case, it's a legal drama that with Boston Legal going away, it may benefit from filling those shoes regardless. It's even taken over BL's familiar 9pm timeslot on Tuesdays. We'll see how well it does and if some of the BL audience comes on over by the Winter when presumably it'll be the only law drama ABC will have on the air.