Friday, November 27, 2009

Thoughts: 27-November-2009

Interesting Thanksgiving day this year. I had a great meal at my friends, Pat and Steve, the meal turned out to be the best Pat has made ever for this day. Everything was perfect. She also was very nice to give me enough leftovers for two days of feasting.

The only bad part was that we watched Twilight, Pat's niece's favorite movie. I thought that the film would be bad just from watching the trailers, oh if only I had for seen how bad this film is. First the lack of acting ability among the cast, I seen better acting in kindergarten plays. Then, the big time lack of chemistry between the leads. I mean really, this was the best casting you could do?

The dialogue was just as bad as what I had seen in the first ten minutes of the Vampire Dairies. Such lame dialogue that made me laugh out loud on several occasions. And everyone would in that film was pale white, what is up with that? No tanning booths in Forks, Washington?

And these vampires were the biggest woozes that I ever saw. They spend all their time posing like GQ models and grunting at each other. Blade or Buffy could have wiped them all out in ten minutes. I can see why they are afraid of the werewolves, who look tan and buff and would rip them up with seconds of the prefight GQ posing.

What a terrible movie and why is it so popular, you got me? Give me the Blade film trilogy and TV series, Buffy and Angel, and of course True Blood. Give me the Christopher Lee Hammer Dracula films, Dark Shadows, and the Lost Boys films any day. Those are real vampires.

Twilight gets a mega big F from me.

Oh well.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thoughts: 26-November-2009

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Patriots defeated the Jets 31-14 getting a nice measure of revenge against Ryan and Sanchez. The Jets have really taken a fall since they opened the season with those wins. The Patriots take on the Saints in New Orleans this weekend and I think that the Saints will win 25-21, I hope that I am wrong.

The faculty senate of Notre Dame wants to join the Big Ten according to the rumor section of Sports Illustrated. Right now the TV contract with NBC to show all the home games of the Fighting Irish is keeping them independent. My guess is that if Notre Dame wants to compete for the National Championship, they will need to join a conference at some point, just don't think that it will happen any time soon.

Heroes (NBC) and American Chopper (TLC) are getting so bad that it is a chore to watch those shows. I was watching the latest episode of Heroes last night and was very bored. Ditto for American Chopper. Both shows get a D and it would be a blessing for their cancellation to occur.

The Good Wife (CBS) is really starting to get very interesting. I liked Chris Noth getting tough on his hooker/mistress, and the revelation that he was set up by folks who are not going to let him out of jail is very intriguing. I like this show very much. A

NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) had a very nice show where Abby from NCIS pays a visit to help track down a serial killer. She was very good in the show and I liked the way it played out. This is the top rated new show and I can see why with episodes like this. A

I saw on TheFutonCritic that Lie to Me (Fox) is getting a full season order of 22 episodes. This is another good show that I hope Fox will stick with.

Dollhouse (Fox) returns next week with double episodes for the next three Fridays. Do I want to watch this or not? On one hand, I have watched all the episodes of Craphouse to date, on the other hand I really do not like this show.

Oh well.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Thoughts: 22-November-2009

Delaware Valley College defeated my Alta mater Susquehanna University 66-7 in the first round of the D3 college playoffs. Oh well.

Penn State defeated Michigan State 42-14 to finish the season 10-2. On to the Bowl season.

DC Comics canceled the Vigilante with issue 12. It was an okay comic, but I never thought that the stories really had much of a chance to get going. Just seemed to me that the creators were just going through the motions.

DC Comics is creating a second JSA book called JSA All Stars. The current JSA roster will be split into two teams for these books. I did not think that the JSA book was selling well enough to start a second ongoing monthly book. Weird trend in comics publishing to put out multiple books featuring the same characters.

I know that Marvel Comics' Deadpool is a big fan favorite. But two monthly ongoing titles, two limited series, and guest star features in two comics? Is he really that popular? I am starting to get bored with that character, kind of wish Marvel would give some other characters their own books rather than overexposing Deadpool.

I went to see Paranormal Activity and found it to be a big yawnfest. I hear scary noises from my neighbors than what I heard in that movie. I never would have even noticed most of those noises let alone spent big bucks on a movie camera to record what happens at night. I did think that Katie was kind of hot and wish she would have taken her boyfriend's suggestion to record some extracurricular activities, at least that would have kept up interest up. I was more entertained by the two teens who attended the matinee with me. They kept on screaming and actual ran out of the theater three times because they were scared. At least they kept me awake. The whole movie reminded me of A&E's Paranormal Nations and I kept hoping that Chip Coffey and Ryan Buell would come and save the day. At least Chip would not have run away like the psychic in the movie. F

I watched The Prisoner remake (AMC) last night via DVR. I have not idea why they made this remake, what the hell is was about, and why waste actors like Ian McKellan and James Caviezel in this crappy production. Did the creators of this remake even watch the orignal Prisoner series? Very bad and boring. I went to the Wikipedia site to read about this film and still do not get what they wanted to do. F

Oh well

Friday, November 20, 2009

Thoughts: 20-November-2009

I have been busy this week, squaring away stuff at work as I have all of next week off. Blessed Thanksgiving week. And of course the Patriot's one point loss to the Colts did not help inspire me to write a blog.

Hopefully the Patriots will rebound this week at home against the Jets, I like them to win 35-3. And while they lost to the Colts, I have to say that the Colts do not impress me at all. My prediction is they lose their first playoff game big time and Peyton's stupid mug can go back to commercial land.

Penn State travels to Michigan State for the last game of its season as they play for the Land Grant Trophy. I like Penn State to win 24-7 and hope that they get a good draw in whatever bowl game they go to.

Susquehanna University takes on Delaware Valley College in the first round of the D3 playoffs, I hope my Alta mater does well. I do not know much about their team in terms of how good they are, I just wish them well.

I have not been able to keep up with all the TV shows that are on during the weekend. I spend most of my weekend time catching up. With next week off, I should have a better handle on TV.

I did see that Numbers (CBS) got its 22 episode season cut to 16. Another show soon gone? TV.com today had a story about what shows may be going next. Heroes (NBC) and Three Rivers (CBS) were on the list. I also noted that FlashForward (ABC) was on the list too, I thought that show was a hit, guess the ratings did not match the hype. Fringe (Fox) was on the list, but a different time slot would save that show. Wednesday or Tuesday 9 pm for example.

History Channel had a great show on Jesse James' Hidden Gold a few weeks back. I watched it on my DVR and it was very good. Learned a lot about James being a member of a secret society of Confederate sympathisers who hid caches of money around the land. And they actually found one of them along with a gold bar. There also was some evidence that James was not killed by Ford, but lived to a ripe old age and fathered some children. A grandson looks just like him. This is the History Channel at its best. A

On History Channel International they have been rerunning an old series called History's Mysteries. I watch one on the Sinking of the Essex by a sperm whale which inspired the writing of Moby Dick. Excellent show and I learned a lot, I kind of wish that they would still be doing shows like this and Civil War Journal on the History Channel, rather than Ice Road Truckers or Ax Men. A

I hope to watch the remake of the Prisoner (AMC) over the weekend. I heard a lot of negative reviews about this, will let you know what I think. I also want to go see Paranormal Activity and The Blind Side in the theaters this weekend too.

And if you have HBO, watch Curb Your Enthusiasm, very funny show with Larry David doing a Seinfeld reunion. When this season comes out on DVD, it is a must see.

Oh well.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Thoughts: 15-November-2009

Penn State defeated Indiana 31-20 in their final home game of the season. I thought that they would blow them out, but a win is a win. They finish up the season next weekend at Michigan State and then on to a bowl. The Sporting News projected them going to the Capital One Bowl to play LSU.

I don't mention my Alta mater, Susquehanna University, that often in this blog, if ever. When I went to the D3 school their football team was not very good. This year, they went 8-2 (6-1 in their conference, the Liberty League) and defeated the D3 powerhouse Union 28-17 to take the conference championship. Very nice and I guess that will be in the D3 playoffs with that win.

CSI crossover event on CBS, started with CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, and ended with CSI, I watched all three episodes with Comcast On Demand. I thought it was very good, a B for the rating. I would like to see more of this with CSI. I liked the way Horatio Caine claimed the hysterical woman down at the beginning of the show and his comments about Catherine and Warrick when he met Ray. I wished Mac on the New York show would have asked about Horatio.

American Chopper (TLC) continues its downward spiral to cancellation with the latest episode. Sr. does not even pretend to know what is going on with the bike builds, lucky for him he has a team who can build the bikes on their own. I also see less and less creativity in the builds. And why the producers keep showing Sr. making comments about how much better OCC is without Jr and Mikey is beyond me. D

Oh well.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Thoughts: 13-November-2009

Friday the 13th never bothered me, a silly superstition.

Penn State takes on Indiana in their final home game of the season. Indiana is the only Big Ten school to never have beaten the Nittany Lions in football. Look for that streak to continue this weekend as Penn State kills Indiana 56-7.

Patriots start a tough three game run with the Colts on the road, Jets at home, and the Saints on the road. This will tell us what kind of team New England has. The Colts are only favored by three, and their last two games only won by 4 points. I think that New England has Peyton Manning's number and it is time for that goofball to lose. A close game, 21-17, but a win for New England.

Good news from the Hollywood Reporter via TV.com. Dollhouse has been cancelled by Fox. Craphouse never should have gotten a second season when good shows like the Eleventh Hour and Reaper were cancelled. Fox will be running double episodes each Friday in Dec until the 13 episodes are used up. Now maybe Joss Whedon will do the show the people want to see....FAITH THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.

A great magazine that I would urge anyone to get is the Smithsonian. Each issue has great articles and there is something of interest every issue, from history to natural science to geography. I love it.

MysteryQuest (History Channel) after a crapfest episode on Alcatraz, redeemed itself with a great episode on Jack the Ripper. Two new suspects were proposed and a profiler, Ripperologists, and a forensic handwriting expert looked at the evidence. Very well done and they could do a whole miniseries on this topic. This is the kind of episode that MysteryQuest should focus on. A

Three Great series that you should be watching and all are getting a big A from me.

House (Fox): After a dull season last year, House has come back. Each episode has been very good and the show is worth watching again. If you gave up on it, check it out now.

NCIS (CBS): Last season was great and the show is continuing with strong stories and great characters. For a show in its 7th season, it just gets better and better.

Supernatural (CW): Each week you get the unexpected from this show. Last week a spoof of the shows that run against it on Thursday night. This week, Sam and Dean go to a Supernatural convention and spoof on that. Last year we had a Halloween spoof on the Universal Monsters films. We also had a spoof on the Ghost Hunters. This show runs the gambit from comedy to dead seriousness. I don't think that I have ever seen a bad episode. Heroes (NBC) could take some lessons from this show on how to keep the creative juices flowing.

Oh well.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thoughts: 11- November-2009

Patriots defeated the Dolphins 27-17 and now enter into the tough phase of their schedule, road games against the Colts and the Saints, and a home game against the Jets. If this team goes 3-0 in this run, they will definitely be Super Bowl contenders.

TV.com reports that ABC will not be renewing Eastwick after its 13 episode order is done. I never thought the show lived up to its hype and did not jell very well together. They need the witches to see right away what van Horne was all about and band together against him. Oh well, one less show to watch and it's a show that I will not miss.

MysteryQuest (History Channel) showed a strange hybrid of good and bad last week. The show was on Alcatraz, and I thought the focus would be on the only successful escape. That was well done and interesting and should have been the focus of the show. Instead half the show was wasted on a bunch of clowns posing as psychics and ghost hunters looking for paranormal activity. One scene had them set up motion detector birds in the cell of the Birdman of Alcatraz and the claim was that he would set these birds off. And one did go off, but the clown ghost hunter was right by it. Never did see any footage of the birds going off when nobody was there. Also had a psychic that so obviously did an Internet search to find out what parts of the prison were said to be haunted and did a show when she got near there. What a frakking bunch of crap.
A for the skip tracer who investigated the escape, F for the clowns looking for paranormal activity.

Looking forward to watching the CSI crossover event on CBS and the remake of The Prisoner on AMC.

Oh well.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Thoughts: 08-November-2009

Penn State lost to Ohio State 24-7. With Iowa losing, Penn State lost out on a great chance to win the Big Ten Title.

I have been catching up with my shows via DVR and Comcast On Demand. I have 15 shows over Thursday and Friday to watch, why the networks need to schedule all the stuff I like on those two days is beyond me. I described that I can watch Ghost Whisperer on CBS.com a few weeks after the telecast, and that website has not problems with a high quality streaming video, so I may start recording Law & Order instead of Ghost Whisperer. Be nice if some reruns could start and let me catch up with Law & Order.

American Chopper (TLC) is continuing to go down the tubes. They built an electric bike for Siemens which was very nice, SR. stayed away from the build, which is why it was able to get down. Did make cracks about Jr. cutting it close to deadlines. First, most of the deadlines are artificial on that show, second Jr. always made them, and third this is the first bike that they have built that was as good as what Jr. did. I really don't know where this show is going, time to pull the plug. C

Private Practice (ABC) is starting to go for too much artificial tension between Cooper and Charlotte. She can help him financially but he cannot help her get patients? And the story about the dwarf parents who wanted a dwarf baby regardless of the 40% chance of getting cancer by age 20. Did not make much sense to me. I did like the use of Electric Convulsive Shock therapy though I was worried about the wrong information regarding memory loss and was pleased to see that it was part of the story line. The patient was faking the memory loss, which would not occur in the way it was portrayed on the show. C

Looks like Eastwick (ABC) will be on hiatus for the next couple of weeks. Still does not look good for a renewal.

Oh well.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Thoughts: 06-November-2009

Yankees won the World Series giving them a 27th title. This has to be a sign of the Apocalypse.

Penn State takes on Ohio State at Beaver Stadium in State College, PA. The Nittany Lions are 3.5 point favorites, I like them to win a tough game 17-14.

The New England Patriots play the Dolphins in Foxboro this Sunday, they are 10.5 point favorites, I like them to win 35-3.

Some general thoughts about the current TV season.

1. CBS has killed its dead zone on Tuesday 10 pm with the Good Wife. It helps that Jay Leno replaced Law & Order: SVU which had ruled that time slot. Also helps that NCIS and NCIS: LA are doing very well in the ratings. The Good Wife is not a bad show, but at a different time preceded by different shows, I could see this hit get killed. Look at Shark, good ratings Thursday night 10 pm, moved to Sunday it became DOA.

2. I think that Three Rivers and Cold Case will be axed by CBS after their run is over. Three Rivers not pulling in the ratings and the shows as of late a bit too generic. Cold Case is still a good show but bad time slot is going to kill the show.

3. Eastwick is going to fall prey to the ABC dead zone of Wednesday night 10 pm. Again like Three Rivers, this show is not living up to the promise of its pilot.

4. Fox is going to burn up the remaining episodes of Dollhouse by telecasting episodes back to back in Dec. So no renewal and a quick and sure death for Craphouse. Too bad ABC does not put Private Practice out of its misery.

Oh well.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Thoughts: 03-November-2009

Penn State continued its winning ways by beating Northwestern on the road 34-13. This weekend in State College, Ohio State arrives to play the Nittany Lions in one of the biggest games of the year for them. My sister, who lives there and works for Penn State, calls it Hell Week. Lots of logistical problems for the EMTs and Staff of Beaver Stadium.

Not much to say about shows, pretty much going the same. House (Fox) and NCIS (CBS) continue to have very good seasons and have become must see TV for me. TV.com had one of its bloggers complain about Dexter (Showtime), citing boring subplots. Guess the blogger has not seen Dollhouse (Fox) or Private Practice (ABC) for really boring and crappy TV viewing.

I saw somewhere, on the Internet, that NBC is telling the producers of Heroes to tie up the plot lines as renewal looks doubtful. Not too surprised there giving how boring Heroes has been this season. TV.com blogger, check out that show for boring content and subplots, Dexter indeed.

TNT has picked up Southland for a 13 episode run according to TV.com. Good news, as that show did not deserve to get axed so quickly. I think that TNT will be a good home given the edgy shows that already appear on that network.

Oh well.