Friday, June 22, 2007 Rant Archive
Hey Bat-fans! We've got the first pictures from the new Batman flick, THE DARK KNIGHT. Check them out and let's hear what you think.
RENO 911!: MIAMI is pretty much an extended and uncensored version of the Comedy Central program. This is JACKASS: THE MOVIE with a plot. We’re offered a number of funny vignettes that benefit from a studio’s deeper pockets, but suffer from the cast’s newfound freedom from time to time.
But what a cast it is. In addition to the Reno Police Department regulars, there are a slew of familiar faces and friends who lend their extensive talents to a hilarious collection of scenes. If you’re a fan of the small-screen version, there’s a good chance that RENO 911!: MIAMI is going to entertain. If an improvisational COPS spoof is not your cup o’ tea, well then maybe you should just go back to Boringtown.
At a staff meeting, commanding officer Lt. Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon) informs the troops that the department has been invited to a police convention in Miami. They travel to Florida (by bus) and arrive at the hotel hosting the event, only to discover that their registration has been botched. Unwilling to cut their vacation short, the Reno P.D. checks into a seedy oceanside motel and goes out on the town. The following morning, they discover that the hotel is on lockdown and all the officers staying within have been exposed to a deadly biological agent. The Reno guys are now charged with patrolling the entirety of Miami and bringing a terrorist to justice before their colleagues meet their maker.
Just give me a good love story, English accents, costumes and a cup of tea, and I’m done for the night. MISS POTTER, which has all of these, fits the bill perfectly.
The plot doesn’t make you try too hard to understand what’s going on. Instead, the film gently tugs you along, like a soft ocean current, through Victorian parlors, lovely old train stations and the beautiful English countryside known as the Lake District. Before you know it, you are sucked in to the pretty, true-life story of the author Beatrix Potter. It’s the kind of film you want to catch on a cold evening when there is nothing else on; the kind of film that surprises you. “It’s much better then I thought it would be,” you’ll say to yourself.
Beatrix Potter is deserving of a biopic because she wrote and illustrated “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” one of the greatest children’s books of all time. And, it is lovely that the story of the publishing of the book is also a love story. After many rejections, Potter sells the book to the Warne Brothers' publishing house. They agree to publish it only so that they can give their silly younger brother, Norman, something to do. Voila!
STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP is still great television, but this week’s installment felt slow and failed to offer anything not already covered in the first two parts of this story line.
So, here we are: Afghan militiamen are still holding Tom Jeter’s (Nathan Corrdry) brother captive. Jordan (Amanda Peet) is having some serious post-surgical complications, and the flashbacks from 2001 are starting to make more sense. Oh, and Simon (D.L. Hughley) is dealing with his own misstep, but that little issue actually isn’t as important as it should be. Ladies and gentlemen, this is K&R: PART III.
This episode picks up where last week’s left off. Simon has just basically told the press he wants to kill them — something every celebrity has probably wished upon the press at many a turn. But this time, it will be spun into a terrorist-sympathizing statement, and NBS president Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber) is having none of that. Already, I am thoroughly interested in the fight that will ensue between these men. Both are stubborn and both have a point to prove. Sadly, this plot is just used as a kick start into flashbacks and as a bumper between the other two story lines. I really love D.L. Hughley’s character, and I wish Aaron Sorkin had developed his story more.