If I Ran the Emmys: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Emmy voters can have the Modern Family ladies,
just leave me ALISON BRIE! & Gillian Jacobs.

For the last two years I've attempted to give my thoughts on who was deserving of Emmy nominations for the 10 major awards (Supporting Actor/Actress in a Comedy/Drama, Lead Actor/Actress in Comedy/Drama, Best Comedy/Drama) but ultimately I've failed to ever publish more than my thoughts on 3 of the aforementioned categories. This year I vow to do them all though!

Before i get to my thoughts on our first category, Supporting Actress in a Comedy, it bears mentioning once again that Emmy voters are people who work, or worked, in the industry (actors, directors, writers, etc.) hence many of them don't have the time to watch a broad variety of shows. I, on the other hand, have plenty of time! So while their choices may get tons of publicity, including here, I'd argue mine may well be more valid. Of course really I think TV critics should be in charge, since it's their job to judge television, so here's a professional's opinion.*

I freely admit that I'm ripping off Alan Sepinwall's Emmy gimmick. As for the similarities between many of our picks, as will be extremely evident in the next category, I would merely say we both watch a lot of TV & have good taste.

It's important to also not that like actual Emmy voters I'm restricted by whether or not an actor submitted themselves & where they chose to do so, so while I may think someone's a lead character if they submit in supporting I'm bound to honor that (I'm also not nominating anyone from shows I didn't watch at least a few episodes of, sorry Downton Abbey). Click here for the actual Emmy ballot. As for the actual Emmys two years ago the voters & I agreed on two of the nominees & the winner, last year we agreed on two again, this year however we have not one common nominee. You be the judge of who did a better job.

The Under the Radar (read: Indie) Summer Movie Preview

Hushpuppy & Beasts of the Southern Wild
are leading this summer's Indies.

For this summer I've decided not to do my normal movie preview. Partly this is because we're already a month in so I'd be late on a few films but also because we're so saturated with previews that most people generally know what movies they are & are not interested in. The majority of Americans made the correct choice in skipping the latest Adam Sandler trash, That's My Boy, & most will wisely line up to see the end of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy in The Dark Knight Rises. There doesn't seem to quite be consensus on The Amazing Spider Man but I'm hopeful people will realize that Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) & Emma Stone (Easy A) are a pretty big improvement on Tobey Maguire & Kirsten Dunst & give this new incarnation of the web slinging superhero a chance.

Regardless after being bombarded with ads for a month what I tell you likely won't make a difference. For example if I tell most guys that Magic Mike is quite likely a better film than Ted they're still more likely to go see the movie centered around a foul mouthed teddy bear than they are the one about male strippers. So instead I will give you the rundown on the indie films on their way over the next two to three months.* In case your questioning my indie taste it should be noted I have previously recommended the hilarious Cedar Rapids, Win Win which was at least equal to Oscar winner The Descendants, Woody Allen's excellent & award winning Midnight in Paris, & another Oscar winner in Beginners. So don't you dare question me! Now onto the movies...**

*It bares mentioning that all release dates are limited, thus if you live in Tucson these movies likely won't show up for 2-4 weeks past the initial release date, & when they do they'll likely only show at El Con or The Loft

**Thanks to Rotten Tomatoes & IMDb for aiding in the summaries.

Unappreciated Greatness: LeBron James-The Best Player in the NBA

That's right LeBron, you are the best.

LeBron James is the best player in the NBA. This statement is not an opinion, it is a fact. Much like arguing against Michael Jordan being the greatest modern day (post-NBA/ABA merger) basketball player of all-time denying LeBron's place at the top merely proves one's ignorance. The problem is too often when people express this opinion they aren't scolded for their stupidity, rather their ignorance is celebrated & this bothers me. Just so we're clear it angers me not because I'm a fan of the Miami Heat (as a Bulls fan I assure you I am not), after all I'm the guy who a year ago wrote an article titled "Why Everyone Hates the Heat." No, it angers me as a basketball fan. You can hate people in sports, God knows I do, but when you are watching greatness you had damn well better respect it. So once & for all let's rid ourselves of this silliness.

Dan Harmon's Gone... Does That Mean "Community's" Dead?

Word broke on Friday night that Community creator/showrunner/writer/God Dan Harmon would not be brought back by Sony (which owns the show) as showrunner. While NBC head Bob Greenblatt had casually mentioned earlier in the week that Harmon's contract had not been renewed & that shows often go through multiple showrunners the news still came as a shock seeing as the show likely only has 13 episodes left, & Harmon is truly the heart & soul of it.

"Parks and Rec" Watch-"Bus Tour"

Bert Macklin is back & ready for action! 

Parks and Recreation: "Bus Tour"

Leslie's campaign has hit into high gear the last 2 episodes and we have reaped the benefits as the show has been firing on all cylinders. 

"The Office" Watch-"Turf War"

Did this week's Office bring any surprises?

The Office: "Turf War"

While Community stumbled slightly this week The Office continued its run of ok episodes, it's sad that that now passes as compliment for the show but that is where we're at in season 8.

"Community" Watch"-Course Listing Unavailable"

Chang's got an army now,
but will the show put it to good use?

We're on to week 3 of NBC Comedy watch & my reviews seem to be getting progressively longer so for this week at least I'm giving each show its own post.

Community-"Course Listing Unavailable"

Whenever a show attempts a serialized story there are bound to be episodes that move the various characters around & then there will be episodes where those moves pay off. This was very much the former kind of episode, which prevented it from reaching the heights of the last 4 weeks.*

*Todd VanDerWerff at the AV Club gives a great review of the episode in which he discusses the potential downside of the serialization of a comedy.  

The Best of the Movies: January-April 2012

The gang from The Cabin in the Woods
are curious to see who the winners are.

The first 4 months of the year at your local cinema can be pretty sketchy. Some years are pretty solid & some are 2010, in which How to Train Your Dragon, Shutter Island, & Kick-Ass were the only legitimately good movies (unless of course you liked Alice in Wonderland) over that 4 month span. This year however there's been a bevy of good movies. I've seen 12 films this year & not one of them has been bad*, though admittedly that doesn't mean they've all been good. In honor of this overly strong opening, before we all get swallowed up in summer blockbuster euphoria with The Avengers opening tomorrow, I'm taking a look back & handing out some awards for the first third of the year.

*This omits a drunken test screening of "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" at Crossroads. That movie is absolutely as bad as you think it is, despite Idris Elba's livening up the film whenever he's on screen.

NBC Comedy Watch

Paul Rudd on "Parks & Rec"

I'm back for week 2 of NBC Comedy Watch & this was an outstanding week.


Community-"Basic Lupine Urology"- Sure it wasn't as deep emotionally as the last few weeks but from a pure laughs standpoint that's the best episode since the Glee parody back in December. It usually is the parody/homage episodes that get the biggest laughs & as soon as I heard they were making a Law & Order episode I expected it to be amazing, & last night delivered from the opening scene when the study group's yam was found "murdered." 


Troy & Abed trying to each do the crime scene zinger was hilarious, as was their entire time as partners (& Shirley was great as their captain as well-a reversal from season one's "The Science of Allusion" when Shirley & Annie were partners attempting to solve a crime & Abed was their "African-American police chief"), & Annie & Jeff were unsurprisingly affective lawyers (another call back to season one when they proved to be a formidable debate team, & a little bit more). Having the eternally decent Todd be the primary suspect was inspired, though not as much as Michael Ironside's appearance (& did anyone else wonder if he was involved in killing Starburns to silence him as a witness?) as Todd's military lawyer, uncle, or anything involving the brilliant Michael K. Williams who was finally used to full potential here getting to deliver his, "A man's got to have a code," line that surely made all fans of The Wire shudder like the Dean around a man in uniform. It also set up another dark & interesting turn to the season with the death of Star Burns or, as he always made a point to tell everyone, Alex.*

NBC Comedy Recap

Annie & Abed in the Dreamatorium. 

Last night marked the return of Parks & Rec, meaning once again NBC was airing the 2 best comedies on TV in one night! Because of this wonderful occurrence I felt the need to give my brief, except in the case of Community, thoughts on the last night's episodes.

1. Community-"Virtual Systems Analysis"-By now it's cliche to say that an episode of Community is unlike anything else on TV, after all they did an episode as Ken Burns documentary only 2 weeks ago, but damn... That was definitely the weirdest thing they've ever done (Not to mention the weirdest, & funniest thing, the Dean has ever worn). I mean that neither as praise or criticism. Ok, maybe a little praise because it's ballsy to go that nuts even after all the other stuff they've pulled. Though being off kilter alone doesn't make a show good (If that were the case Glee would be sensational), what really made the episode work was that beneath all of the wackiness of Abed & Annie playing other members of the study group inside the dreamatorium there was real emotional resonance. 

Spring Movie Preview

My #1 movie to see this April/May

It's been nearly 9 months since I've posted a movie preview, which may explain why so few people saw the 2 best movies of last year ("Warrior" & "50/50"), but before I go on maternity leave (Terrible joke, I know) I thought I'd give you the 5 must see movies of the next two months* & the 5 you should do your best to avoid.

*Technically May marks the beginning of the summer movie season in Hollywood but seeing as we (I'm assuming all my readers live in Arizona, if you don't I apologize for lumping you in with our lovely state) live in the real America, where in the span of a week "The Daily Show" & super awesome sitcom "Happy Endings" both take shots at your state for being racist, & not the left-wing elitist hell hole that is Hollywood I'm calling May what it is-a part of Spring.*

*To see a preview of the films click on their respective titles, & movies are listed in order of release date.

Five to See:


1. The Cabin in the Woods (April 13, otherwise known as Friday the 13th)

What it's about: Five twenty-something friends go on a vacation to a remote cabin in... you'll never guess it... the woods! On the plus side I don't think they all accidentally kill themselves "Tucker and Dale" style. On a less promising note even with Thor at their side they'll probably all get murdered. By what/whom & why though seem to be the interesting questions.

The Super Way Late 10 Best Shows of 2011

Walt, Jesse, & Gus cooked up a fantastic season of Breaking Bad.

Now that we're entering the fourth month of 2012 I had two options with this:

1. Don't write it. It's not timely & no one cares what I think anyway. Or... 

2. Write it anyway! 

Obviously I opted for #2 because I spent too much time watching TV & thinking about this list last year not to write it & it serves as a good advisory for shows to Netflix. 

Before we get to the list here's a brief summary of shows that didn't make the cut.

Shows I didn't watch that never stood a chance anyway:

1. Anything created by Chuck Lorre (THM, BBT, & "Mike and Molly")-if you like his shows good for you but let's not confuse mediocrity with the best television has to offer.