Movie: Much Ado About Nothing (2012)

Much Ado About Nothing
Comedy, Drama, Romance

There's a few reasons I watched this. One, it's Shakespeare and I'm an English major. Two, it's a Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, The Avengers) film and I love him. And three, it has a brilliant Whedonesque cast. I also heard it was filmed entirely at Joss' house and who doesn't want to get an inside look at that? Beware, it is a Shakespeare play so the dialogue is archaic and you really must pay attention. It is also filmed entirely in black and white but I think it works better that way.

I spent a lot of time star spotting in this movie. The two verbally dueling leads are played by Amy Acker (Dollhouse, Person of Interest) and Alexis Denisof (Angel, The Avengers) and they are backed up by an amazing cast including Nathan Fillion (Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Castle), Clark Gregg (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Fran Kranz (The Cabin in the Woods, Donnie Darko), Sean Maher (Serenity) and Tom Lenk (Transformers, Argo). I spent more time pointing out actors to my husband than listening to the first half of the film.

I didn't mind it. Like I said, I didn't pay a lot of attention at first but then by the second half I was into it. Maybe it took a little while to get used to the Shakespearean. It was quite funny in places as well. I will probably rewatch it somewhere along the line as part of my study.

3 out of 5 Whedons...

TV: The Crazy Ones SE1 EP7

The Crazy Ones
Comedy

Just a quick short review so that I can go study for my exam tomorrow!

I didn't know anything about this show until Sarah Michelle Gellar joined Twitter and tweeted about it. I was like; SMG and Robin Williams?! That's like my childhood right there, what could go wrong?

Well, it is funny... sometimes. Robin Williams is a comedy genius (as we all remember from Mrs Doubtfire, Patch Adams and one I watched just yesterday, Hook!) and it's so good to see him back on my screen. SMG (Buffy, duh! Cruel Intentions) does the stressed out, serious daughter thing so well that sometimes I'm embarrassed for Sydney but they balance each other, which I'm pretty sure is the whole point. Rest of the cast include James Wolk (Mad Men), Hamish Linklater (The Newsroom) and Amanda Setton (Gossip Girl).

I can imagine how hard this would be to film, I'm pretty sure a lot of Robin Williams' lines are improvised and I'm not sure how straight of a face I could keep while he's coming up with some of them. As you can see in the above video, Kelly Clarkson - who guest stars in the first episode - can't not laugh at some of the things coming out of his mouth. I think the short half hour eps are just what this show needs and I enjoy the closing credits or bloopers almost as much as the show itself. I'm not sure how well received it will be though...

3 out of 5 funny people...

PS. This is not an endorsement for this film, it sucked! Don't watch it!

TV: How I Met Your Mother SE9 EP8

How I Met Your Mother 
Comedy, Drama, Romance

How awesome is that promo?! I lol'd!

I love this show and I'll be really sad when this season ends as I've heard it's the last season ever. With that being said, we finally get to meet the mother! I was actually thinking that they might pull a cheeky one over us and get Lyndsy Fonesca - you might have seen her in Nikita - because she also plays Ted's daughter and that clip has actually been recycled; she's all grown up now (see above promo)! But no, they didn't do that... and that's ok too!

So the mother is actually played by Cristin Milioti who you may have seen in The Sopranos, she hasn't done a lot of anything else that I recognize which makes me wonder how she was picked for the role... hrmm interesting. I do like her as the mother though, she is definitely Ted's (Josh Radnor) kinda weird.

The whole Robin (Cobie Smulders) and Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) wedding that's been going on for as long as we can remember, is actually quite amusing. I just had to point out that Barney's mum is played by Frances Conroy who has been absolutely amazing in American Horror Story with her stand out character for me being the horny maid, Moira in the first season. What brilliant versatility! Another guest star that I keep noticing is Curtis, the front desk clerk that keeps commiserating with Ted about his love life. He's played by Roger Bart who I've seen most recently in Revenge but he's been in heaps of other popular shows and movies as well. He's a very recognizable face.

Highlights of the season so far is Daphne played by Sherri Shepherd (30 Rock) and her and Marshall's (Jason Segel) fight over plane, hire car, everything! That road trip is amusing me to no end and Daphne is fantastic! Also, Lily (Alyson Hannigan, Buffy duh!) and Linus! I am finding myself watching out to see if Lily is ever on screen without a drink (I've spotted it once or twice, come on Linus! lol). A little bit of useless info, Linus is played by Robert Belushi and yes, he is Jim Balushi's son. Cool huh!?

I wonder what they are all going to do when this show finishes. We all know how amazingly talented Tony Award winner Neil Patrick Harris is. I have a feeling Cobie Smolders might move over to Agents of SHIELD. Alyson Hannigan made the move from Willow in Buffy to Lily in HIMYM, so we all know she can probably do that again. Jason Segel has his fingers in a lot of pies behind the scenes. What about poor Ted... I mean Josh Radnor?

4 out of 5 teddy bears...

TV: Misfits SE4 EP1

Misfits
Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

I love this show! I'm a sucker for English comedies... having said that, the change over of cast has made me sad. I might have to go and watch all the previous seasons again now which isn't as big of a deal as it might be with other shows because English shows tend to have short seasons... and this is the only time I find short season acceptable.

I am a little surprised to see that they've taken most of the original cast off, especially after the disappointing exhibited by fans last season when they realised everyone's favourite character, Nathan (Robert Sheehan) - including mine - wasn't coming back and the introduction of his replacement Rudy (Joseph Gilgun) just didn't make up for that loss. Now this season they've cut out my second favourite character, Kelly (Lauren Socha) as well as original cast members; Iwan Rheon (Simon but don't worry, we'll soon see him in Game Of Thrones!) and Antonia Thomas (Alisha). Out of the original cast, the only one left is poor Curtis (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett).

So lets introduce the new folk shall we? We met Seth (Matthew McNulty) last season, he's Kelly's boyfriend which makes me rather surprised to see him there without her... Does that mean Kelly will make a guest appearance this season? I hope so, I love her derro accent. Also new to the team are Jess (Karla Crome) and Finn (Nathan McMullen).

If you don't know, the story is there was a freak storm and suddenly everyone has these awesome (and not so awesome) powers. We know that Seth has the power to swap peoples powers... Curtis did have the time travel thing but I'm pretty sure he swapped powers and now I can't remember what it was... Rudy can split himself into two personalities, one nice and one not so nice. It looks like Jess can see through walls but what about Finn? They haven't revealed that one yet... I do think he is a compulsive liar though... and what about that woman he had tied to his bed at home? WTF?

Love this show, it has the best intro ever that I can't help but sing along to every time and it's so funky! Love the use of Wolfmother's Woman and Kimbra's Good Intent (Go Aussies!) and I applaud the producers guts in showing the very gruesome scene where Rudy cuts off the case-guys hand... I did not expect that amount of detail!

4 out of 5 lightning storms...

[Quote]

Jess: What are you doing?

Rudy: I...I am looking for a sandwich that i put in one of these lockers for safe keeping but i can be buggered if I can remember which one its in. i bloody hate it when i misplace a sandwich.

Jess: me too it extremely upsetting. What kind of sandwich was it?

Rudy: Cheese, it was a cheese sandwich.

Jess: Perhaps a mouse ate it. Those furry little bastards do love a bit of cheese.

Rudy: They do, bloody mice...

Jess: Mmm.

Movie: Magic Mike (2012)

Magic Mike (2012)
Biography, Comedy, Drama

Ok, so as much as I know this is based on a true story and that true stories don't always have a clear-cut conclusion, this movie pissed me off. I'd heard from others that what this movie was lacking in plot line, it made up for in hotness. Yeah, I'll give you some of that, but it wasn't the lack of plot that got to me, it was the lack of conclusion.

Before I rail on and on about how annoyed I am by this movie, lets take a look at the steaming cast. We have Channing Tatum (Dear John, Haywire) as Magic Mike; shameless stripper working multiple jobs in the hope that one day he can start his own business. He meets The Kid - Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four, In Time) - on a job one day and invites him back to the club, shoving him totally unprepared on stage to strip terribly in baggy undies in front of a packed house of screaming ladies. He joins the gang which includes; Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello), Ken (Matt Bomer), Tarzan (Kevin Nash), Tito (Adam Rodriguez) and ring leader Dallas (Matthew McConaughey).

IMDB's synopsis - A male stripper teaches a younger performer how to party, pick up women and make easy money - is what follows. Things get a little hairy. Mike's friend Joanna (Olivia Munn) - who I immediately recognized as Sloan from The Newsroom! - dumps him, while The Kid's sister Brooke (Cody Horn) goes nuts at Mike for not looking after her little brother.

So there is some story line, which is great, but none of these story-lines actually conclude. Mike wants to start his own business, bank knocks him back but we never see if he did it or not. The Kid goes off the rails selling drugs and ends up owing some bad people lots of money. Mike pays the debt off for him and then leaves the club and The Kid takes up his spot. We've hear about Miami the whole way through the film and even though everyone seems really happy about that, we don't hear much more about it. There is not enough Matt Bomer. Mike has the hots for The Kid's sister and even though we see a little flirting and one kiss as the closing scene; that's pretty much it.

The hotness almost cancelled out the crappy plot...almost. I could have looked past it if they had showed us Mike starting his own business and The Kid running the show in Miami, but they didn't and I was left disappointed. So if you want to see this movie, make sure you're only watching it for the glistening abs...

2 out of 5 six-packs...

TV: Castle SE5 EP5

Castle
Comedy, Crime, Drama

Love, love, love this episode! I knew it would only be a matter of time until someone framed Castle (Nathan Fillion) as a murderer. As soon as Javie (Jon Huertas) said that Castle's fingerprint was found at the crime scene, I knew that he was being set up! What I didn't know was who was behind it...

When they found the earring I was sitting next to my husband thinking 'Who's the second person at the cashier's desk? Why didn't they look at her?' and now I'm wondering how Jerry Tyson (Michael Mosley) AKA 3XK managed to set that bit up. How did he get the cashiers check from Castle's account? We know that he used a Castle look-alike to purchase the earrings but he wouldn't have been able to make a withdrawal from his bank account, could he?

I didn't recognise 3XK at first, he was last seen in season three, so I do have a valid excuse, but when I Google'd, I remembered. He set the whole thing up pretty well actually with evidence being planted, emails and a fake story on Castle's hard-drive, the look-alike and especially the perfect timing. He would have has to make sure Castle didn't have an alibi for the time of the murder...Especially the part about Castle going to The Tombs and being killed there... that Beckett would know the truth and forever hate herself for not being able to stop it... Very smart criminal. Even smarter Castle for finding a way around it, I honestly thought he was on his way there!

I thought that this would be the cruncher that would break Beckett and Castle apart. Thinking he's guilty when he's not is not something you can easily forgive... it would have been over.... I'm so glad Kate didn't believe it. Again with the smart bloody criminal... he set up his own death so that they would stop looking for him... wow... how do you even plan that?

Great episode! and the secret about Caskett is finally out!

4 out of 5 razor wire rolls...

Web Series: Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog (2008)

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Comedy, Musical, Sci-Fi

I run in the right circles on the interwebs to have heard about this before....many, many times and I know that the people who love this are nerdy fanatics...which I will admit I'm not far away from being...

This mini series is amazing! I love, love, love it and plan to make the hubby watch it. The full series is available to watch on Youtube (above) or buy from iTunes here. Honestly, I'd prefer the DVD available from Amazon here. It's really quite cheap so if you like it, support! There is also a range of merchandise available from the website here.

It's the story of the diabolical super villain Dr. Horrible - played by the legen... wait for it... dary Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Starship Troopers) - who's trying to desperately to gain renown so he can be inducted into the Evil League of Evil, while trying to win the heart of do-gooder Penny - played by my current obsession, Felicia Day (Buffy, The Guild). I loooooooove Felicia Day!! Of course, every super villain has to have an arch nemesis and Dr. Horrible is no different. Captain Hammer is played by the awesome Nathan Fillion (Serenity, Castle) with all the normal Fillion style humour and crack-up one liners.

How cool is that cast? It may be little but it's made up of lots of my favourite people as well as a few guest roles by writer and producer Joss Whedon (The Avengers, Buffy), his brother Jed Whedon (co-wrote this series and Dollhouse with Joss) and Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory).

This mini series released on the web in 2008 is freakin' hilarious! but beware, it actually is a sing-along... mostly suitable for kids but I'm pretty sure it was made with adults in mind... It's pretty B-Grade with the songs being recorded in Joss' converted basement but we've had confirmation from Felicia that it actually is them singing and not dubbed!

Give it a go!

4 out of 5 awesome sauce...

[Quote]

 Captain Hammer: "Penny's giving it up, she's giving it up hard 'cos she's with Capt'n Hammer and these *produces fists* are not the hammer." *walks away....comes back* "The hammer is my penis."

I got hired for #drhorrible 5 months later with one email from Joss: "can you sing? ~j"
— Felicia Day (@feliciaday) October 10, 2012

"The hammer is my penis." is a fantastic line. In context. Not yelled at me in the street or in polite company. #happensalot #DrHorrible
— Nathan Fillion (@NathanFillion) October 10, 2012

Movie: Men In Black III (2012)

Men In Black III (2012)
Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi

I've heard a lot of rumours about this film, so I'll speculate before I go and look it up and tell you facts. I've heard the first half of this is crap and the second half is awesome because they fired their script writers halfway through after deciding it was in fact... crap! Second, I heard they filmed this in two parts because Mr Will Smith was unavailable for some of it due to filming of another Bad Boys sequel.

And now, I'll Google!

Alright, it doesn't say for sure but it looks like both of the above happened. The idea of Agent J (Smith) going back in time to save Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) was actually Will Smith's idea back in 2002 when they were filming MIB II - yes, it was that long ago! The original writer started writing the script, then they brought someone else in to rewrite it and finally a third person to write the time travel scenes. All three writers have previously worked with legendary executive producer, Steven Spielberg. Oh, and they started filming before the second and third acts were written.... hrmmm, that might have something to do with it...

I wasnt that interested to be honest. I loved the first MIB but that was a good fifteen years ago now! This one, I dont know... just, meh. So the first time I watched it I paid absolutely no attention to it... I think I actually stopped halfway when I realised I didn't know anything that was happening and rewound it. J's one liners are still funny, his alien fighting ways are as unorthodox as always and the explanations he gives when using the neuralyzer are hilariously outrageous! It's still very Men In Black. The aliens are as cool as ever... though I was upset not so see any Frank - you know, the talking pug! He was awesome. Also, not enough Tommy Lee, but you kind of expect that when there's a time travel element.

Boris The Animal (Jemaine Clement) is pretty awesome actually for the antagonist. Josh Brolin (True Grit, Jonah Hex) as a Young K impressed me. He looked and sounded like Tommy Lee; he's got all those K mannerisms down pat! Z's replacement at the top of the MIB ladder is Agent O played by Emma Thompson (Nanny McPhee). It was nice to see a little softness to K when O was around and I need to applaud Emma for Z's uelogy; goodness knows how she did that without cracking up into laughter. I bet there are a few bloopers of that scene! There was also a cameo appearance by Will Arnett (Arrested Development) as J's alternate timeline partner Agent AA.

Alright, now that I've babbled on for ages I'll say I did enjoy it. It has all the thing an MIB movie should have and a nice - maybe not the right words for it... - twist at the end but the first one is still my favourite.

3 out of 5 fish-like aliens / alien-like fish....

[Quote]

"I was an agent for three years before I realised that all models were aliens... the hard way..." - Agent J