Best of the Week - 3/9/13

Quote of the Week: Nothing works under water, it’s a scientific fact. (Hannah Martin, Pretty Little Liars)

Song of the Week: Semi-Charmed Life – Third Eye Blind (as sung by the cast of The Neighbors)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Fun with Fillerbusters: There has been talk of reverting the fillerbuster, which now only takes forty votes to do, back to the old time having to read the phone books to block a law from passing. I doubt it will ever happen because yeah it will force the other side to talk for hours on end to block your bill, but then you would have to do the same for bills you do not like. But it was clear we need to reinstate the talking fillerbuster after Rand Paul talked for about thirteen hours to protest the nomination of John Brennan for the director of the CIA and his use of drones. Sure we are living in some bizarro world where Republicans are protesting the use of drones while democratic still by idly because you know if there were a President Mitt Romney, the Republicans would call the drone strikes patriotic while the Democratic would call Romney a war criminal, but it is always entertaining watching a dude talk for thirteen hours straight. To put that in perspective, Paul could have spent his entire fillerbuster quoting all the dialogue from all six Star Wars movies. fun times.

Preview Picture of the Week:

The Lying Game season Finale "To Lie For" Tuesday at 9:00 on ABC Family

Free Download of the Week: Cercas Blancas EP – Needtobreathe (Noise Trade)

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5: This month’s five dollar deals include albums by Al Green, Jack White, Run-DMC, and Willie Nelson.


New Album Release of the Week: Old Sock - Eric Clapton

New DVD Release of the Week: Sound City

Video of the Week: The Hangover came out and was universally loved. Then The The Hangover Part II came out and was universally hated because it was just the first movie all over again, just set in Thailand. Even though no one wants a third one, I am sure even the people who were vehemently against the second one will still go see the “epic conclusion to the trilogy”. Supposedly there will actually be no blackouts in this movie where the Wolfpack has to piece together last night’s even while trying to hunt down Justin Bartha but there really are not many clues to what is going on in the new trailer. And poor Justin, he is always getting lost and does not even get one shot in the trailer, even his wife is in scene.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Dallas, Monday at 9:00 on TNT: An end of an era comes Monday with the funeral of J.R. Ewing. The episode will bring out some characters not seen since the original run including his half-brother (do not hold your breath that his other sons other than J.R. Jr. bother to show up) and to prove that all his exes still live in Texas, Sue Ellen has a powwow with some of J.R.’s other leading ladies. Even some of Dallas’s real life elite comes to pay tribute to the oilman including a returning Jerry Jones. And as the promo monkeys teased, even Cliff Barnes show up to pay his disrespect. Some will deal with the elder Ewing’s passing with alcohol, some with drugs, others with sex, while some will fight away the pain , while others will do all four. And do not turn off the episode after J.R. is lowered into the ground because one of the great characters in the history of television left his family with a couple of bombshells, the kind you do not put in a public will. All a fitting tribute to one of the greatest characters in the history of television.

Around the Tubes - 3/8/13

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on King's Point, Overbrook Entertainment Writing Contest, The Vatican, Defiant Requim: Voices of Resistance, House of Lies, The Rescues, New DVD Releases, DC Cupcakes, Alabama Shakes, KISS, Granite Flats, and Whose Line Is It Anyway?.

- This Monday at 9:00, HBO will be airing the Oscar-nominated documentary King’s Point. Director and Producer, Sari Gilman, tells the stories of five seniors living in a typical American retirement resort – men and women who came to Florida decades ago with their spouses by their sides and their health intact, and now find themselves grappling with love, loss, and the universal desire for human connection. Check out the trailer below:


- For anyone who has watched a television show and thought to themselves, I can write something better than this, now you can by entering a contest being held by Overbrook Entertainment (a production company co-founded by Will Smith and James Lassiter) and the ANA Alliance for Family Entertainment. Two winners (one 30 minute comedy and one 60 minute drama) will win $5,000, a meeting with Overbrook Entertainment, an opportunity to have their TV script further developed, and an 18-month option agreement on their script. Enter at scriptwritercontest.com by 3/21/13 by 1 p.m. PT.

- I was already excited when Showtime cast Kyle Chandler (aka Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights) for their upcoming show The Vatican and now comes word they also added to the show Anna Friel (aka Chuck from Pushing Daisies) as “Kayla is a sexually active, hard-partying New Yorker” who is also Cardinal Thomas Duffy’s (Chandler) younger sister.

- In the spring of 1944, a handpicked group of Nazi officers was treated to an unusual performance by inmates in a concentration camp. What appeared to be a soaring rendition of a choral masterpiece was intended as a subversive condemnation of the Nazis and a desperate message to the outside world. In the face of horrific living conditions, slave labor and the constant threat of deportation to Auschwitz, the Jewish inmates of Terezin concentration camp — artists, musicians, poets and writers — fought back with art and music. Defiant Requim: Voices of Resistance premieres Sunday April 7 at 10:00 on PBS (check your local listings).

- You can’t lie your way out of this one. The addicting new social game “Pack a Suitcase,” inspired by the hit SHOWTIME comedy series House of Lies, tests the valuable, and often underrated, skill of packing like a pro. Users across platforms can select their favorite character – Doug, Marty, Jeannie or Clyde – in a race to cleverly pack the most items before time runs out. Head over to sho.com to play.

- New music out now: Blah Blah Love and War by The Rescues.

- New movies out next week: Curandero: Dawn Of The Demon, a supernatural thriller with an action twist from Robert Rodriguez, and the Hallmark Channel Original Movie Duke starring Steven Weber.


- Next Tuesday, TLC will be airing a baby special of DC Cupcakes at 10:00.

- Alabama Shakes will bring their red-hot rock and roll music to AXS TV for a live television concert event Saturday, March 9. AXS TV will broadcast LIVE from The Ogden Theater in Denver, where the band will play to a sold out crowd as part of their current headlining tour in support of their GRAMMY nominated debut album Boys & Girls.

- Earlier this week, Rock & Brews announced that KISS rock legend Paul Stanley is joining forces with fellow KISS co-founder Gene Simmons in his Rock & Brews restaurant venture as the company prepares for worldwide expansion. Together, they will co-host the March 22 and 23 opening of Rock & Brews in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, the second location for the emerging brand.

- On April 7, when BYUtv premieres Granite Flats – an eight-episode Cold War suspense drama with a twist of science fiction – the groundbreaking network’s first scripted series will fill the decade long family-friendly primetime television programming void. Granite Flats was produced, written and created by a team of top Hollywood and New York talent who have made some of the television and film industry’s most successful and long-running family-oriented entertainment offerings.

- The CW may soon be an all reboot network as they channel recently announced that this summer they are bringing back Whose Line Is It Anyway?. With Drew Carey busy with The Price Is Right, the new version will be hosted by Aisha Tyler and will also feature the return of Ryan Stiles, Wayne Brady and Colin Mochrie, who along with a special guest each episode, must put their comedic skills to the test through a series of spontaneous improv games.

Previewing The Client List 2.x: A Dude's Review of Lifetime vol. II

In a measure of full discourse, I should mention I am a straight man so in my lifetime, I have managed to avoid the Lifetime network. I think it is somewhere in between the local sports network and MSNBC (natch). I am not entirely sure, but I also think the Lifetime Movie Channel (which I think are affiliated with each other) is among that tier of three digit channels I never go into (which begs the question why am I paying so much for cable when I watch less than twenty of the a thousand channels I have, but anyway).

But recently Lifetime was kind enough to give me access to their screeners so I decided to check out all they have to offer (I fear I will be spending the weekend watching all the Lifetime movies they have to offer including Restless Virgins starring Switched at Birth’s Vanessa Marano premiering this Saturday) one of which is the second season premiere of The Client List. Since I did not have time to watch the entire first season, I watched the eight minute recap video embedded below:

So Jennifer Love Hewitt has to turn to prostitution after her husband leaves her for a mountain of debt and has to juggle being a single mom, dating, and breaking the law. And then her husband comes back to make things even more complicated. But forget about Love, who knew that Bridget from R Kelly was on the show!?! Please tell me on the show she is having an affair black midget that cannot control his bladder while married to Chalky White from Boardwalk Empire. I am actually excited to watch now, let move on to season two.

It dawned on me while watching the second season premiere that this may be the first time I have seen anything with Jennifer Love Hewitt in it since Heartbreakers. Actually, has she even been in anything since Heartbreakers besides Ghost Whisperer? It is amazing to think how Love went from the hottest thing on the planet for a year and half to just completely drop off the cultural zeitgeist.

I really cannot talk much about the actual second season premiere because like many advanced viewing, I am forbidden by the network from reporting any big spoilers, and there is a pretty big plot twist at the start of the episode (which opens where the last season ended with a state trooper getting out of his patrol car) and that plot carries through the entire episode. I can tease that someone quits The Rub, another finds love, there is an unintentionally funny training montage set to Kelly Clarkson, and someone actually utters the line, “You’re really going to blow the clients away, pun intended.” I can also sadly report that Bridget does not have any run-ins with any black midgets. Oh well, maybe next episode.

The Client List airs Sundays at 10:00 on Lifetime. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Client List on iTunes.

Words Are Only in My Mouth

Kate Nash rode the wave of neo-pop music coming out of England late last decade following in the footsteps Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse. Her first two albums were filled with fun throwbacks sounding songs filled with enough snark satisfy any jaded music listener. But something happened after that as she dyed her hair darker and started sounding more like a Riot Grrrl than her poppier sound when she released her Death Proof EP where her trademark snark gives way to pure anger.

Her third full length album Girl Talk tends to bridge the gap between her earlier retro-pop style and Death Proof’s angry nineties white girl style. The new album does feature two songs from Death Proof, the title track from the EP and Fri-end which comes after the album opener Part Heart. They are followed by songs like Sister, where she gets screamier the more the song drags on, and fits in very well with her bass guitar heavy darker sound.

But I like it much better when she reverts back to her original sound like on songs like OMYGOD! Cheesy stylization aside, this is where she goes back to her one woman girl group sound. The best is on 3AM which would not sound out of place on those first two album but more danceable. Girl Talk ends with a duo of surprisingly sparse songs (even more surprising than Rap for Rejection where Nash, well, raps). First up is the acoustic sing along You’re So Cool, I’m So Freaky which is followed by Lullaby for Insomniacs which for the most part drops even the acoustic guitar. It ended up being a better turn than the angrier start to the album.

Song to Download – 3AM

Girl Talk gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television - 3/5/13

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Mama’s Broken Heart – Miranda Lambert


I kind of miss Desperate Housewives while watching the new Miranda Lambert music video. Well, not really.


It's Alright - Matt & Kim


Whenever a new Matt and Kim music video is released, you know you are going to get something creative but the synchronized swimming in the bed is not their best idea. Though I did like the ode to the Dougie.


Chameleon/Comedian – Kathleen Edwards


My jaw dropped when the first knife went through Kathleen Edwards, but by the definitely laughing by the time the saw went into her side. Though I was a bit disappointed when the arrow did not go through her head as an homage to the old Steve Martin bit.


Only a Clown – Caitlin Rose


Whenever these artists go with the filmed in the eighties camcorder look, I always wonder if they actually use an old camcorder or just add the squiggly line at the bottom and other effects in post. But anyway. Caitlin Rose drops her new album today and it is worth giving a listen.

A Very Spoilery Review of Looper

Over the weekend I watch the movie Looper starring Joseph Gordon-Levett where he plays the younger version of Bruce Willis (even though he clearly looked like he was a younger version Ed Norton to the point that I wondered if Norton was replaced at the last minute and Gordon-Levett just said, “screw it, I spent months perfecting my Ed Norton, I am just going to go with it) who has to kill his future self when his future crime boss sent Willis back from the future to be killed off by current day looper, thus closing the loop. As the title suggests, this review is going to be very spoilery, so if you have not seen the film, stop reading, go watch the movie and come back here. It is definitely worth watching and discussing which is what I am about to do.

Last chance, because I am about to spoil the ending.

There are eventually three theories when it comes to time travel, 1) time is a linear unit so if you went back in time you will not be able to change anything because it already happened and you were already there, like on Lost. 2) If you time travel you are creating an alternative timeline so you can change the future in the current timeline, just the timeline you just created, like on Terra Nova (or so I assumed, I never watched the show). 3) If you go back in time, be careful because you may alter history, like when Marty McFly almost ceased to exist when he made up with his future mom. Looper follows the third theory of time travel.

Before, and during the movie I have always subscribed to the philosophy that you do not kill Hitler if given the chance via time travel. Who knows, Hitler may have been suppressing someone ever worse that would rise in his void. You may even cease to exist because you grandfather may have met, and fallen in love with someone who would have died at the hands of the Nazis instead of your grandmother meaning your father is never conceived, and neither are you. But there was a point where I figured that Bruce Willis has changed enough; he might as well kill the Rainmaker.

This is why I was a bit disappointed with the ending. At the end, starring at Willis starring at Emily Blunt, shielding the future Rainmaker, Gordon-Levitt had three options: 1) kill Willis and help Emily raise the Rainmaker and make sure he harnesses his powers for good. 2) Help Willis hunt down the future Rainmaker to make sure his reign of terror never starts. But Joseph picked the third and what I thought was the worst of the three options he had: killing himself (and in turn taking Bruce with him to the afterlife) leaving the world to fend for itself against the Rainmaker.

That is not to say I did not enjoy Looper, it was my favorite sci-fi movie since Inception, but the more I think about the ending, the more I dislike keeping it from being as good as Inception along with some of the lesser quibbles I have (how does Blunt know about Looper? I was disappointed that Jeff Daniels did not play a bigger part in the whole of the movie; I thought he would turn out to be the Rainmaker’s father or possibly the older version of his inept employee that kept shooting his own foot). But the movie did make me think and I wish there were many more movies released these days that make you think and debate as much as I have spent debating the ending with myself alone.

Looper gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 3/3/13

Shameless: When Papa Milcovich called in “The Russian” I thought, uh oh, those boys are in some real trouble. Nope, the Russian was just a prostitute brought in to sex the gay out of them. And that did not even rank in the top two most offensive parts of the show this week. Number one would be having sex with your mother-in-law while your wife gets you aroused because a turkey baster did not work. And then there was Frank holding his clean urine in his mouth for who knows how long.

House of Lies: I used to think the pre-teen stripper routine would be the most offensive dance sequence from Little Miss Sunshine would be the most offensive dance I would ever see involving kids, but now Roscoe and his posse takes the top spot. Congratulation… I think?

How I Met Your Mother: I really hope that some savvy producer saw this and realizes it is about time for a Weekend at Bernie's reboot (something I have pushed for the last couple years). Maybe even Judd Apatow who would go ahead and have Jason Segal play the Andrew McCarthy role (though it would be better to have someone like Seth Rogan take on Jonathan Silverman part instead of Ted Mosby). Then just bring in Jim Carrey as Bernie. It is a surprise no studio has yet hired me to run their reboot department.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

Dallas: Only the Ewing’s would know the best way to overcome armed thugs would to fake(?) a fight with each other.
You can download Dallas on iTunes.

Bunheads: It was a little weird that after an entire episode about a group of girls thinking about losing their virginity, they choreograph a big dance sequence around Makin' Whoopie. And for those not sure what the difference between boys and girls, the girls plan for weeks, if not month or years, like in the episode, guys just want it to happen anywhere with anyone, preferably as soon as possible.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Bunheads on iTunes.

Castle: Not as cool as Liam Neeson’s “skills” speech, but I liked the French dude’s speech to the microphone on the wall. Too bad he turned out to be a chicken and had to die. And we finally got to meet papa castle (shame on the promo monkeys for spoiling that reveal last week), it was teased a couple seasons ago that he worked deep cover. And really, if Stana Katic ever got bored with the show, I would not a mind a Castle and Castle spy spin-off. Or throw in Alexis and make it Castle Cubed.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Deception: I really hope that it does not turn out that Julian’s booty called turned out to be Vivian’s murderer. That would be as dumb as Rosie Larson’s aunt accidentally killing her.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Deception on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Plaster all those annoying phrases with the pound sign on the screen as much as you want, I do not believe that was Toby out in the woods until I see a face. I am more inclined to believe that was Detective Waldon under the cap. But my favorite part of the show was when Hanna pushed the cop car into the lake. I was really hoping that it would sink about a foot before she realized that lake was not deep enough to cover an entire car.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

The Lying Game: I am not surprised Ted would place flowers on the grave of someone who is blackmailing him, but I just do not see him as a murderer / kidnapper. I have a feeling it will turn out the Ted feals responsible for the death, he just did not do it himself.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Lying Game on iTunes.

Justified: Wow, they actually killed Arlo off. And what a way to go… out fighting but hanging on long enough to tell his son to kiss him somewhere unsanitary one last time. Awesome. So if you had Arlo in your Who Is Drew Thompson Office Pool, you may want to stop planning your cruise you were going to purchase with winning (which is probably for the best). Granted Arlo was always the least likely to be Drew. So that leaves (or the people we have seen this season) the three white collar criminals that Boyd is shaking down and Sherriff Shelby. But I do not know why they are spending so much time having the ex wife looking at pictures because wouldn’t Drew have had copious amounts of plastic surgery by now? Wait a second, could Wynn Duffy be Drew Thompason?
You can download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Caramoan: I wonder if there was some heavy editing during the Immunity Challenge because why did they let Fratboy #2 to continue to try to throw the hook and keep missing when Fratboy #1 got it on his first try, and Shamar was also able to get it fairly quickly. But his inability was never brought up (which makes me think that it was heavy editing). Speaking of creative editing, I think it may have been some foreshadowing editing that Andrea talks about not telling the wrong person her plan to oust Corrine followed by her telling Brandon the plan. Did she not see his season? He blabbed his alliance’s secrets, what made her think he could keep a secret by someone he hates: i.e. absurdly attractive chicks.

Poor Shamar, he dumped on throughout Tribal Council, and probably rightfully so, but he was right in his memory of his conversation with Hope and all she had to do was just vote for Fratboy #2 and she would have stay. Granted it would had been awesome if there was a three way tie, and after a revote, a two-way tie which would had led to another revote.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

Modern Family: The neo-folk revival of Mumford and Sons have gotten so big that even Alex Dumphey is in a knockoff band. Actually I would not mind hearing more of the Eclectic Light Dorchestra.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Modern Family on iTunes.

Nashville: I feel as if I just complained about this, but what chick really gives guys, “I am sorry someone close to you just died” sex? C’mon, this just does not happen. It was almost as weird as Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys showing up for Deacon’s birthday party to hit on Rayna fresh off her divorse.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

Community: It may be a long slog to the inevitable death of this zombie show, but at least we got to see Annie in an Octoberfest costume before it was thankfully put out of its misery.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

King of the Nerds: As a stats nerd, I have to call shenanigans. The probability is astronomical that every time someone had a clear advantage (like Moo in both challenges this week as a NASA employee) throughout the show has lost. Every single time. Either the show is playing up the strengths of each contestant or there is some manipulations going on behind the scenes. As for a prediction for who will win next week, I am going with Genevieve.