Back with more "what I've been watching", this time with a few movies thrown into the mix.
I accidentally watched about five minutes of MAMA MIA on HBO the other day. I turn on the TV and there's Pierce Brosnan, and I figure, "Oh, let's see what this is." Wow. The man can play a great James Bond, but from what little I heard, he can't sing worth a damn. Once I realized what I was seeing, I changed the channel as quickly as I could. Hell, just mentioning it on here is probably enough to get my man card revoked.
My copy of THE IT CROWD series 3 on DVD arrived in the mail today. (The mail carrier forgot it the first time, and when I checked my mailbox after hearing the mail truck go down the street, it was empty. A few hours later I noticed the flag was up on my mailbox and there was a package inside. Guess they had to come back.) I watched three episodes, the "proper men" episode, the "Friendface" episode, and the one where Roy loses his shirt while Moss gets a concussion. The only special feature I watched was the set tour. I'll get around to the rest another time.
TV
Z-ROCK: This week's episode guest-starred the hilarious offensive comedy metal band, Steel Panther. (Those guys are on their millionth name. They're probably best known to the masses as "Danger Kitty" from those old credit card commercials.)
HUNG: Worst pimp and gigolo ever. Seriously, watching these two try to start this "business" is hilarious. Last time I wrote about this show I compared it to WEEDS. Except WEEDS jumped right in mid-story and never showed the false starts and early screw ups that a suburban mom was likely to encounter on her quest to become an independent pharmaceutical distributor. (Of course, now that show has made gigantic leaps over realism and probability.) Personally, I'm really enjoying watching the two main characters of this show bumble their way through becoming "happiness consultants".
ENTOURAGE: Can't stop watching. On an intellectual level I know I should. Can't stop watching. At least, not yet.
WEEDS: See ENTOURAGE.
Movies
THE CINCINNATI KID: A lot of people consider ROUNDERS to be the best poker movie ever. Then there are a lot of other people who think ROUNDERS is a fine movie, but that Steve McQueen's 1967 flick, THE CINCINNATI KID is the definitive poker movie. Personally, I like both. McQueen's character is an excellent player finally getting his chance to take on the best player in the game, "The Man" (Edward G Robinson) and much of the movie is the build up to the game. Over the course of the movie you don't build up much sympathy for McQueen. He treats his lovely girlfriend (Tuesday Weld) like crap, and just isn't all that likable. The most sympathetic character in the movie is played by Karl Malden, who has a hot younger wife (Ann Margret at her peak) who cheats on him with everybody in town (including his friend, McQueen) and is forced as the dealer to try to rig the game between "the man" and "the kid" by a rich man who was taken by "the man". (That businessman played by a shockingly young Rip Torn.) The whole thing culminates in the game, and I won't spoil it for you. I really liked this movie, although the pacing was a little slow in the beginning. Then again, it had two things I'm a fan of poker and Steve McQueen. Your mileage may vary.
I accidentally watched about five minutes of MAMA MIA on HBO the other day. I turn on the TV and there's Pierce Brosnan, and I figure, "Oh, let's see what this is." Wow. The man can play a great James Bond, but from what little I heard, he can't sing worth a damn. Once I realized what I was seeing, I changed the channel as quickly as I could. Hell, just mentioning it on here is probably enough to get my man card revoked.
My copy of THE IT CROWD series 3 on DVD arrived in the mail today. (The mail carrier forgot it the first time, and when I checked my mailbox after hearing the mail truck go down the street, it was empty. A few hours later I noticed the flag was up on my mailbox and there was a package inside. Guess they had to come back.) I watched three episodes, the "proper men" episode, the "Friendface" episode, and the one where Roy loses his shirt while Moss gets a concussion. The only special feature I watched was the set tour. I'll get around to the rest another time.
TV
Z-ROCK: This week's episode guest-starred the hilarious offensive comedy metal band, Steel Panther. (Those guys are on their millionth name. They're probably best known to the masses as "Danger Kitty" from those old credit card commercials.)
HUNG: Worst pimp and gigolo ever. Seriously, watching these two try to start this "business" is hilarious. Last time I wrote about this show I compared it to WEEDS. Except WEEDS jumped right in mid-story and never showed the false starts and early screw ups that a suburban mom was likely to encounter on her quest to become an independent pharmaceutical distributor. (Of course, now that show has made gigantic leaps over realism and probability.) Personally, I'm really enjoying watching the two main characters of this show bumble their way through becoming "happiness consultants".
ENTOURAGE: Can't stop watching. On an intellectual level I know I should. Can't stop watching. At least, not yet.
WEEDS: See ENTOURAGE.
Movies
THE CINCINNATI KID: A lot of people consider ROUNDERS to be the best poker movie ever. Then there are a lot of other people who think ROUNDERS is a fine movie, but that Steve McQueen's 1967 flick, THE CINCINNATI KID is the definitive poker movie. Personally, I like both. McQueen's character is an excellent player finally getting his chance to take on the best player in the game, "The Man" (Edward G Robinson) and much of the movie is the build up to the game. Over the course of the movie you don't build up much sympathy for McQueen. He treats his lovely girlfriend (Tuesday Weld) like crap, and just isn't all that likable. The most sympathetic character in the movie is played by Karl Malden, who has a hot younger wife (Ann Margret at her peak) who cheats on him with everybody in town (including his friend, McQueen) and is forced as the dealer to try to rig the game between "the man" and "the kid" by a rich man who was taken by "the man". (That businessman played by a shockingly young Rip Torn.) The whole thing culminates in the game, and I won't spoil it for you. I really liked this movie, although the pacing was a little slow in the beginning. Then again, it had two things I'm a fan of poker and Steve McQueen. Your mileage may vary.
END OF THE LINE: I watched this awhile back, and I've been re-watching it at bedtime. I usually make it through a scene or two before dozing off. The premise is pretty simple: A bunch of cultists on a subway have pagers that go off and they start killing everybody in sight to "save" them. (Apparently, as the movie progresses, it's revealed this is happening everywhere else too.) Kind of a neat premise for a horror movie.
ROCKNROLLA: Watched this one in HD. After the disappointment of REVOLVER, I set my expectations low for Guy Richie's latest. This one was closer to his best work, LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS and SNATCH. This one lacked the bleak humor of those two movies though. Still, it was much better than REVOLVER. (I never saw that reportedly horrible movie he made with his wife, supposedly even worse than REVOLVER.)
Where LOCK STOCK and SNATCH were crime comedies, and REVOLVER was some sort of arthouse crime movie, ROCKNROLLA is more of a straight ahead crime movie. There are a few funny bits, but overall, it's a pretty serious movie. In fact, the lack of humor makes the violence a little more pronounced than it was in those earlier movies. It was easy to laugh about Avi accidentally shooting Bullet Tooth Tony and fleeing back to America. In this one we see a junkie stab a doorman in the next with a pen, and there's just not much to laugh about there.
The ending mentions a sequel, but judging from everything I've read, that's just not going to happen. Too bad, I would've enjoyed more time with these characters. Sure they weren't as entertaining as Bricktop and Bullet Tooth Tony, but the time flew by watching this one.
ROCKNROLLA: Watched this one in HD. After the disappointment of REVOLVER, I set my expectations low for Guy Richie's latest. This one was closer to his best work, LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS and SNATCH. This one lacked the bleak humor of those two movies though. Still, it was much better than REVOLVER. (I never saw that reportedly horrible movie he made with his wife, supposedly even worse than REVOLVER.)
Where LOCK STOCK and SNATCH were crime comedies, and REVOLVER was some sort of arthouse crime movie, ROCKNROLLA is more of a straight ahead crime movie. There are a few funny bits, but overall, it's a pretty serious movie. In fact, the lack of humor makes the violence a little more pronounced than it was in those earlier movies. It was easy to laugh about Avi accidentally shooting Bullet Tooth Tony and fleeing back to America. In this one we see a junkie stab a doorman in the next with a pen, and there's just not much to laugh about there.
The ending mentions a sequel, but judging from everything I've read, that's just not going to happen. Too bad, I would've enjoyed more time with these characters. Sure they weren't as entertaining as Bricktop and Bullet Tooth Tony, but the time flew by watching this one.
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