How I Met Your Mother: No Pressure

     I'm starting to think that the writers of HIMYM get a kick out of pissing off the die hard HIMYM fans.  It must be a writer's table joke, how can we end this episode so people watching will want to throw something at their television.  There is no other explanation for ending "No Pressure" the way they did.  They must be trying to get a rise out of people like me who just can't help displaying anger with the whole direction the is taking.  Why wrap up (again) the Ted/Robin romantic relationship just to leave it back open with the last line?  It makes no rational sense, so it has to be a joke.  Right, HIMYM writers?  Right?
     Once again there was some funny stuff in this episode, but it continues to get over shadowed by the misplaced emotional story lines.  I liked the idea of the long term bets (even if the time line was off: Marshal and Lily said it started ten years ago when they started to become bored in their marriage. but they have only been married for 5 years) and they set up some funny moments, my favorite being when Robin tried to give the hairdryer back and Marshal said forget about it, but my anger at the whole Ted/Robin thing dwarfed the laughter.  They also missed a great opportunity for a final scene with Barney finding another way to watch the sex tape.
     Maybe we have buried the Ted/Robin thing for good and this show can get back on the winning track, but for now the record is 4-11-2.

Side note:  the movie that Ted and his future wife wanted to see but was sold out was Wedding Bride 3.  I did get a chuckle out of that.

Walking Dead: Triggerfinger

     Today is going to be a busy day.  This should be one of three posts, so get ready to ignore or get ready to read, which ever suits your opinion of my writing.  I missed commenting on last weeks season 2 part 2 Walking Dead premiere, I was time strapped, so I'll add a few comments in this review but I'm not going back, that's how you end up dead.
     "Triggerfinger" may be the most intense episode of Walking Dead up to date.  This is a show I thought was great from episode one that just keeps getting better and better.  There were two scenes in particular that blew me away.  One of the first scenes of the show was a tenacious walker trying to shove his face through the partially shattered windshield of Lori's wrecked car.  I was already to write about this being the most intense scene in the show so far, the way the walker just wouldn't give up, ramming his face into the windshield, cutting his face as he pushed through, all while Lori sat trapped in the car, but then the writers one upped themselves.  The scene with Rick, Hershel and Glenn deciding what to do with the impaled newcomer as the walkers start appearing everywhere is probably the best of the series so far.  Should they amputate?  Should they rip the leg off?  Should they run?  It was edgy, grab on to your pillow, on the edge of your seat, thrilling television.
      Not only has the show been at it's thrilling best, but the plot is moving forward as we get introduced to more people and more dangerous situations.  I'm not sure how the story plays to someone who hasn't read the comics, but those of us who have are getting a little giddy with anticipation.  You can see the story lines moving towards two events and I'm excited to see how the television show decides to deal with them.  What is going to happen with Shane?  Is he going to go of the deep end and meet his demise?  Are the people Rick, Hershel and Glenn ran into disciples of the Governor?  I have to admit I was extremely happy to see Michael Raymond-James (I loved him in Terriers) and equally upset to have him get killed a few minutes later.  He would have been great on this show, but what are you going to do.  His demise made sense and was a huge development in the show, so I guess you take the good with the bad.
     Can't wait for next week.  Things are really starting to pick up!

Top 5: Action Movies of 2011

     Oscar Season is one of my favorite times of the year.  That being the case the week leading up to the big event will be filled with Top 5's themed with the best films that 2011 had to offer.  I'm going to start things out with a genre that doesn't get acknowledged enough, if at all, by the Academy, action films.  There were plenty of good actions films this year, a couple that I thought might have stood a chance at getting some Best Picture attention.  Here are the five that I thought were the best...

5) The Mechanic
          Okay, I'm a sucker for almost any Jason Statham movie.  Add Ben Foster, who I think has been ignored more then once by the Academy, and you get a film I can't pass up.  There was nothing extraordinary about this film, just two great actors kicking lots of ass.  It's was much more gory then I expected, as if it had been mixed with a horror film, but that's not a knock.

4)  Limitless
          I might be stretching the definition of an action movie by including this one.  It was more of a psychological thriller or suspense movie then action, but I figure there was enough fight and chase scenes to include it.  This one totally surprised me.  With Bradley Cooper as the star I was kind of expecting a stupid over budget flop that had nothing to it.  Not that I don't like Cooper, I've been a fan ever since Alias, but it seemed like his star had reached a point where he could cash in on a couple bad action movies.  Limitless is a smart thriller about a new drug that makes the taker super smart.  It's smart, exciting, fast paced, intriguing, entertaining, everything you could want from a good action movie.

3)  Drive
          This one had me a little torn.  I was going to put it lower, if not on the Honorable Mention list, but some elements of the movie were so outstanding it ended up three.  For an action movie, Drive is horribly slow.  It felt like the makers only had an hour of material so they just made every scene last two or three extra minutes so they could fill an hour and a half.  That being said, when something did happen it was awesome.  The action scenes were amazing.  The acting was great as well.  Ryan Gosling was as bad ass as you can get.  Gosling is proving to be one of the best, most versatile young actors out there.  Albert Brooks was outstanding and bad ass as well.  Brooks not getting nominated for Best Supporting Actor was one of the biggest snubs of the season.  So in the end, it was worth sitting through the dull parts just to see the wonderful acting and intense action.

2)  Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
          Another movie that surprised the hell out of me.  When this one was announced, I groaned and claimed there was no way I was getting within ten feet of the film.  Then I saw the trailer and it seemed better then I expected.  The movie was a well told story that was able to make me believe the events could occur.  Yes, there were holes, but it was just real enough for me to buy in.  It was also a great homage to the original movie.  The opening scene was a beautiful and subtle reversal of one of the most famous scenes from the first.  It was also cool how they threw in news reports about the shuttle launch that would ultimately be Charlton Heston's journey.  The movie was everything if didn't expect it to be, and above all, wildly entertaining.  I would say it's a must see.

1)  Super 8
          In an Oscar season that is filled with homages and love letters to bygone film eras, Super 8 is another that should be added to the list.  The era it is harkening back to isn't 80 years gone, but that doesn't make it any less of a love letter.  Super 8 is J.J. Abrams homage to the Steven Spielberg and George Lucas films of our youth and the style of film making that started many a film maker's career.  Mixing elements of E.T., Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Jaws, Abrams nailed what made that era so special.  I am totally surprised and totally disappointed that this movie didn't get a Best Picture nomination.  It's everything that is great about movie making and should have been recognized as such.  The only thing I can think is that it's early summer release hurt it by not being fresh in the voters minds.  This wasn't just the best action movie this year, but one of the best movies period.

Honorable Mentions: Hobo With A Shotgun, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

How I Met Your Mother: Drunk Train

     Uuuugggghhhhh!  I can't remember a show I was such a fan of suddenly misfiring so consistently as HIMYM.  They just can't seem make funny situations funny or emotional situations poignant anymore, both things that made the show so great at the start.  I'm pot committed at this point and I write these reviews because people want to read them, but I'm annoyed to the point of wanting to stop watching.  I've been placing all the blame on the writers, but I'm willing to take part of the blame.  Maybe I stopped finding this show entertaining because I have a very modern attention span.  Maybe it's because I just don't see what's so desirable about Robin that she becomes the subject of every male character's obsession.  Maybe it's because the characters have matured past my point of relate-ability.  All I know is that I couldn't imagine a worse direction to take the Ted character then to have him profess his love for Robin.  He's been a pretty hateful character for the last few seasons and this does nothing to help that.  I know I sound like a broken record, but HE NEEDS TO MEET THE MOM!  I'm done with all this other bullshit.  Every other character has grown from episode one, but Ted is exactly the same, I mean totally identical.  This episode just ended on the same beat as episode one.  I've been watching this show for seven seasons and Ted hasn't moved an inch.  Lilly and Marshal have gotten married and are starting to deal with impending parenthood.  Barney has found his real father, dealt with abandonment issues and is starting to throw away his womanizing ways and finding himself falling in love with women.  Ted... TED IS THE EXACT SAME!  Whatever hardships and trials w may have watched him deal with, he's still standing in front of Robin and telling her that he loves her.  Once again this episode had potential, the idea of a drunk train is funny, keeping score in a relationship is both funny and the potential snag they painted it as, but I didn't laugh out loud once and let out an audible groan when it ended.  4-10-2!

Book Review: The Teammates (48 In 2012? #6)

     And just like that I'm back on track.  Nothing like a short, well written, hard to put down book to help me make up the time I lost trying to get through Infinite Jest.  I read this book over three days and probably could have finished it in one sitting if I had the time.  Yes, it helps that I am a huge Red Sox fan and love reading anything about the team and it's players, but this was a fantastically engrossing book even disregarding that fact.
     The Teammates is David Halberstam's beautiful homage to baseball friendships.  In it, he chronicles the last trip taken by Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky to visit the great Ted Williams before he dies and in the process talks about their time together playing for the Boston Red Sox during the 40's and early 50's.  Like most of Halberstam's work it is wonderfully written and terribly ingrossing.  Halberstam has a knack for conveying the passion and respect he has for his subjects and passing it on to his readers.  It comes as no surprise that Ted Williams is painted as a great man, but Halberstam is able to make the other Sox of the era, Bobby Doer, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky look just as amazing.
     This book is a love letter to many things: the sport of baseball, the idea of friendships that last a lifetime, and an bygone era of American History.  And it succeeds on all those levels.  It's a sweet story about four men who made each other better people while living as icons for a generation of Americans.  It's not political or incredibly deep because it doesn't have to be.  Baseball fan or not, Red Sox fan or not, this is a wonderful book for anyone to read.

Book Review: Lucy (48 In 2012? #5)

     A lot of people seem to want to compare Laurence Gonzales and his latest novel, Lucy, with the work of Michael Crichton.  I can't imagine a bigger insult to Crichton's work.  The concept of a new species made up of mixed monkey and human genes being created by a scientist who studies monkeys deep in the African jungle sounds like something Crichton would write, it kind of sounds like something Crichton DID write, but nothing else in this novel comes even close to or lives up to Crichton's literary standard.  The characters are two dimensional and none of their choices make any sense.  The plot is all over the place and isn't logical at all.  Gonzales seems to want to make some kind of statement on society and how we treat things that are seen as different, but never got deeper then surface level with the issues.
     My biggest problem with science fiction is how authors deal with the suspension of disbelief.  I call it the "Independence Day Paradox" after the movie Independence Day which struggled mightily with this problem.  Whenever someone picks up a science fiction book or turns on a science fiction TV show there is an implied suspension of disbelief on some level, but to what level is determined by how much of the world the story is set in is a creation of the author.  J.R.R. Tolkien completely created the world his novels were set in so the audience has to completely suspend disbelief.  Whatever Tolkien says is possible is possible because it's his creation.  Independence Day, on the other hand, was set in our world, so even though there are aliens events have to comply with the rules of our world.  So while the audience will suspend disbelief to the point that will allow aliens to exist, there is no reason to believe a regular human can out run an explosion or that an explosion won't effect a tiny room just because it's not part of the main tunnel.
     Lucy is a major victim of the "Independence Day Paradox."  While I was ready to suspend my disbelief enough to allow for a creature that was part monkey and part human and to allow for that creature to try to be excepted into society as a human, almost every other event and plot point bordered on ridiculous.  I didn't believe any of the characters choices.  I didn't believe anyone's reaction to the creature.  I didn't believe the military's reaction at all.  I couldn't help but find this novel to be just plain stupid and unbelievable.
     I had high hopes for Lucy.  I loved the concept and thought it had the potential to be a wonderful character and society study.  Unfortunately, Gonzales didn't have the chops to pull it off and we are left with a vapid story that falls terrible short of the potential it suggests.

Book Review: Infinite Jest (48 in 2012? #4)

     If nothing else this reading challenge has helped me reach one accomplishment:  After 3 years and many attempts, I have finally finished Infinite Jest.  I have never struggled so much to get through a book.  It became more for a sense of pride that I slogged through it then a desire to know how it ended, but now I can say I read it.  I am a week behind in my 48 in 2012 self-challenge but feel like my toughest book is now behind me.  I should be able to make that week up and I have almost a full year to do so.
     Reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest was like reading Herman Melville channeled through Virginia Wolf.  The book is over 1000 pages including footnotes and, like Melville's Moby Dick, large swaths of that felt like whale blubber.  Large portions of the book are taken up by painfully in depth descriptions of things that have very little to do with the over all story.  Much like Melville takes up chapters to talk about every species of whale and how they are killed and used on a whaling ship, Wallace, for example, spends tens of pages describing an extremely nuanced game played by tennis academy children in their free time, which does very little to further the plot, nor does the details of the game figure into anything that occurs later.  Wallace also goes on for pages at a time without any punctuation or paragraph breaks, hopping around from different points of view in a stream of conscience manner similar to Wolf.  This brutal combination of difficult literary styles makes for an extremely dense read.
     This isn't a summer beach read.  It's hard work.  I spent most of my time hating this book, even though there are numerous brilliant passages.  I also found myself laughing out loud at Wallace's satire when I wasn't crying over how hard it made my brain hurt.  Every time I was about to declare it the worst book I have ever read, I would come across an amazing section that would make me laugh or pull me back into the story.  Much like Melville and Wolf, Wallace was a great writer and as frustrating as it was to read, his prose was wonderful and intelligent.  Even though I struggled, there is no doubt Wallace was a major talent and this was a masterpiece.
     Now that one knows Wallace's history (he recently committed suicide) it's hard to read Infinite Jest and not think about how much of it was written from personal experience.  The detail is that much more powerful when you realize that Wallace obviously struggled with many things his characters did in this novel.  The book is poignant on its own, but this wrinkle adds another emotional layer to an already dense story.
     I'm glad I am finished with Infinite Jest and will never have to pick it up again.  At the same time, I am glad I powered through and was able to read it beginning to end.  It's an important piece of American Literature with interesting and funny takes on our society and where we are headed.