Fall TV First Impressions

There were 2 new shows I watched this week, so i'll get to it.

Hellcats
Wednesdays, 9 p.m. The CW
First strike against this one: no HD on my local CW affiliate, and Standard definition makes my soul cry. Even so, I liked it. This is Glee for cheerleading. There's even a Rachel equivalent(Ashley Tisdale). Our hero is Marti(Aly Michalka), forced to try out for a cheerleading scholarship to stay in school. Why did I enjoy the show? could it be the fact that I couldn't tell if those were cheerleaders or employees of Déjà Vu minus the pole? That doesn't hurt, but no. I just really liked the main character and the tone of the show. Also There's a Cylon!
Verdict: I'll keep watching. ***

Terriers
Wednesdays, 10 p.m. FX
Donal Logue and the serial killer from True Blood season one(Michael Raymond-James) are private eyes. This is pretty awesome. It's nice to see the True Blood guy not playing a psycho, and Donal Logue is always good. The pilot does a nice job setting up the bad guy and showing how well the leads work together.
Verdict: Season Pass ****
Nikita
Thursdays, 9 p.m. The CW

Bucket List Item #32
Finally make Praline Bacon.

NFL Week 2

Well week one is behind us, and I for one couldn't be happier. Let us never speak of it again. I went 2-3 in my Fantasy Leagues, but the teams that won seem really good, and one of the losers could turn it around. This weeks picks.

Week 2
Season Record: 3-0
Game Picks
1. Green Bay over Buffalo
2. Dallas over Chicago
3. Indianapolis over New York Jets

Bucket List Item #217
Write a bawdy limerick

NFL Week 1

Yay! Real football is back tonight. I always concentrate too much on my fantasy team over watching the games. In a bid to keep that from happening this year, I have Five fantasy teams instead of one. My thinking is it will be impossible to follow real time scoring for five separate teams, therefore I will be forced to watch the games. I think Super Bowl XLV will see the Green Bay Packers take on the Baltimore Ravens, with the Packers winning.
Week 1
Game Picks
1. New Orleans over Minnesota
2. Miami over Buffalo
3. Arizona over St. Louis

Bucket List Item #16
Punch a Whale.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Review

 I love the Scott Pilgrim books by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I would even say the combined six volumes go ahead of Watchmen as my favorite comic book ever. I love Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz all directed by Edgar Wright, so Naturally I was rather excited when it was announced that Edgar Wright would be directing the Scott Pilgrim movie. My excitement was tempered for a long time because I didn't know what the movie would look like. When the first trailer came out in March I was thrilled, and August felt like it was years away.

When I finally got to see the movie I was a little nervous. About two minutes in I knew they had nailed it. The music was very well chosen, specifically Beck's songs for Sex Bob-omb and a Metric song for The Clash at Demonhead. Nigel Godrich's score was excellent. The stunt team deserves a ton of credit as the fight scenes were such an important part of the movie. Edgar Wright's direction, Bill Pope's cinematography and the editing and the Art Direction and the visual effects and... you get the point. I guess what I'm saying is, for me Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is almost a perfect movie.

A lot of people don't like Michael Cera. I'm not one of them. The common criticism is that he always plays the same character. I think that's bullshit. He always plays some form of young socially awkward person, but they are all different characters(except for Year One). Michael Cera is awesome as Scott Pilgrim. Admittedly, he isn't exactly the Scott I saw in my head reading the books, but I thought he was a great Scott nonetheless. Alison Pill, Mark Webber and Johnny Simmons were all fantastic as the rest of Sex Bob-omb, although I wish they could have included more of Kim's back story. Ellen Wong has an amazing debut movie performance, and I liked Mary Elizabeth Winstead a lot too, bringing the Ramona I saw in the books to life. Kieran Culkin as Wallace pretty much steals the movie, and Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram and Mae Whitman as Roxie Richter should also be praised as my favorite evil exes.

All things considered I couldn't be happier with Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and will be counting the days until I can own the Blu-Ray.

**** out of ****


Bucket List Item #29
1. While driving, put on Alan Silvestri's Back to the Future theme.
2. Accelerate to 88mph.
3. Make time travel noises. Also a flashing light would be a plus.
4. Pretend it's the future(or the past)
5. Repeat steps 1-3 to get back to the present.

Academy Awards Prediction

What I think will get nominated for Best Picture even though I haven't seen most of these movies yet.
Shutter Island
Toy Story 3
The Kids Are All Right
Inception
The Town
The Social Network
Black Swan
How Do You Know
Somewhere
True Grit

List-O-Rama Movies: Day 5

Movies
Before I get to my 2010 most anticipated list, I thought I would take a look back at my 2009 list.

10. I Love You, Man
****
9. Up
****
8. Jennifer's Body
****
7. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
**
6. Funny People
****
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
***
4. Terminator Salvation
***
3. Inglourious Basterds
****
2. Star Trek
****
1. Watchmen
****
My top 3 are the same for this and my top 10 of the year. At least 3 stars(out of 4) for all but 1. I'll hope for as good this year.

Most Anticipated Movies of 2010
10. Hot Tub Time Machine - March 19th
I have an irrational love for time travel movies.

9. The A-Team - June 11th
I've never seen the show, but if Taken tought us anything it's that Liam Neeson in an action movie is gold.

8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I - November 19th
This would be higher, but I expect Part 2 will be better.

7. Clash of the Titans - March 26th
I loved Louis Leterrier's last movie The Incredible Hulk, and it has Voldemort as Hades!

6. Shutter Island - February 19th
Martin Scorsese doing horror.

5. Toy Story 3 - June 18th
Pixar good. Um... fire bad?

4. Kick-Ass - April 16th
This movie has a little girl killing mobsters. With a Sword.

3. Inception - July 16th
Christopher Nolan.

2. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Sometime in August
This fills the Watchmen mold, as in I just want to see how they do it.

1. Iron Man 2 - May 7th
The Downey! War Machine! Black Widow! Bad MotherF***er Nick Fury!


THE END.

List-O-Rama Movies: Day 4

Movies
Favorite Movies All-Time
My list is different this year. I really thought about it, and this is what I came up with.

10. The Shawshank Redemption
9. Spider-man 2
8. Jurassic Park
7. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark
5. Pulp Fiction
4. Back to the Future
3. The Empire Strikes Back
2. The Dark Knight
1. Fight Club

List-O-Rama Movies: Day 3

Movies
Favorite 10 Movies of 2009

10. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Written by Roald Dahl(Book) Wes Anderson(Screenplay)
Directed by Wes Anderson

9. Adventureland
Written & Directed by Greg Mottola

8. Zombieland
Written by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick
Directed by Ruben Fleischer

7. The Brothers Bloom
Written & Directed by Rian Johnson

6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Written by Steve Kloves
Directed by David Yates

5. Up in the Air
Written by Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner
Directed by Jason Reitman

4. (500) Days of Summer
Written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Directed by Marc Webb

3. Watchmen
Written by David Hayter & Alex Tse
Directed by Zack Snyder

2. Star Trek
Written Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci
Directed by J.J. Abrams

1. Inglourious Basterds
Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino

List-O-Rama Movies: Day 2

Movies
Favorite Actresses 2009
10. Rachel Nichols as Scarlett in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
9. Alison Lohman as Christine Brown in Drag Me to Hell
8. Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura as Star Trek
7. Amanda Seyfried was cast as Needy in Jennifer's Body
6. Anna Kendrick as Natalie Keener in Up in the Air
5. Leslie Mann as Laura in Funny People
4. Emma Watson as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3. Kristen Stewart as Em in Adventureland
2. Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus in Inglourious Basterds
1. Zooey Deschanel as Summer Finn in (500) Days of Summer

Favorite Actors 2009
10. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom Hansen in (500) Days of Summer
9. Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee in Zombieland
8. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake/The Comedian in Watchmen
7. George Clooney as Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air
6. Zachary Quinto as Spock in Star Trek
5. Chris Pine as James T. Kirk in Star Trek
4. Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes
3. Christoph Waltz as SS Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds
2. Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell in Moon
1. Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs/Rorschach in Watchmen

List-O-Rama Movies: Day 1

Movies
Favorite Directors 2009
10. Spike Jonze for Where the Wild Things Are
9. David Yates for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
8. Sam Raimi for Drag Me to Hell
7. Duncan Jones for Moon
6. Neill Blomkamp for District 9
5. Jason Reitman for Up in the Air
4. Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
3. Zack Snyder for Watchmen
2. J.J. Abrams for Star Trek
1. Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds

List-O-Rama TV: Day 2

TV
Favorite Shows 2008(One-Hour)
10. Bones
My favorite procedural.

9. Fringe
This show has gotten pretty good in it's second season.

8. Dexter
Returned to form after a disappointing third season.

7. Friday Night Lights
The best family on TV.

6. Grey's Anatomy
Not as good as it used to be, but I still love it.

5. Sons of Anarchy
Even though I didn't love the finale, it had an awesome second season.

4. Glee
I love this show so much.

3. Chuck
Total geek nirvana.

2. Battlestar Galactica
So glad I caught in time for the last batch of episodes. I loved the ending.

1. Lost
Number one for the fourth straight year.

List-O-Rama TV: Day 1

TV
Favorite Shows 2009(Half-Hour)
10. The Office, NBC
Not as good as it used to be, but still capable of greatness.

9. Community, NBC
A successor in spirit to Undeclared.

8. Parks and Recreation, NBC
The most improved show from last season.

7. Cougar Town, ABC
It's like Scrubs if Scrubs took place in a suburb instead of a hospital. I love it.

6. The Big Bang Theory, CBS
Still very funny.

5. 30 Rock, NBC
If Tracy Morgan doesn't make you laugh, You suck.

4. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FX
The most horribly hilarious people on TV.

3. Modern Family, ABC
The best family sitcom I've seen in a long time.

2. Scrubs, ABC
I loved the 8th season, which had an awesome series finale. Then it came back for a 9th which I also enjoy.

1. How I Met Your Mother, CBS
Still my favorite sitcom.

List-O-Rama Comics Day 2

Comics
Favorite Ongoing Series 2009
10. Deadpool by Daniel Way and Paco Medina
9. Detective Comics by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams
8. Power Girl by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and Amanda Conner
7. Hack/Slash by Tim Seeley and Various Artists
6. Fantastic Four by Mark Millar/Jonathon Hickman and Bryan Hitch/Dale Eaglesham
5. Invincible Iron Man by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca
4. Batman and Robin by Grant Morrison and Various Artists
3. Gotham City Sirens by Paul Dini and Guillem March
2. Amazing Spider-Man by Various Writers and Various Artists
1. Green Lantern/Blackest Night by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis/Doug Mahnke

Favorite Graphic Novel of 2009
Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Publisher of 2009
DC Comics
I usually prefer Marvel, but I've gotta go with DC this year. I feel like Marvel was treading water for most of 2009 with Dark Reign which has gone on at least six months too long. On the other side I loved so much of what DC has done in 2009 including The Batline Relaunch, Flash: Rebirth, Superman: Secret Origin, GL/Blackest Night, Teen Titans, Wonder Woman and Power Girl. Also The Unwritten from Vertigo.

List-O-Rama Comics Day 1

Comics
Favorite 5 Writers 2009
5. Grant Morrison on Batman and Robin
4. Matt Fraction on Uncanny X-Men, Invincible Iron Man
3. Paul Dini on Gotham City Sirens, Batman: Streets of Gotham
2. Ed Brubaker on Captain America, Daredevil, Incognito
1. Geoff Johns on Green Lantern, Blackest Night, Flash: Rebirth, Superman: Secret Origin

Favorite 5 Artists 2009
5. Frank Quitely on Batman and Robin
4. Guillem March on Gotham City Sirens
3. Amanda Conner on Power Girl
2. Ivan Reis on Green Lantern, Blackest Night
1. J.H. Williams on Detective Comics

List-O-Rama Music

Favorite 10 Albums of 2009
10. Believe by Orianthi
9. (500) Days Of Summer: Music From The Motion Picture
8. apple tummy by mc chris
7. The Time of Our Lives by Miley Cyrus
6. Glee: The Music, Volume 1
5. Part Six by mc chris
4. Raditude by Weezer
3. Hot Mess by Cobra Starship
2. Brand New Eyes by Paramore
1. 21st Century Breakdown by Green Day