Sunday, December 16, 2007 Rant Archive
If 2007 could be called anything, it should be called the Year of the Threequel--if you’ll be so kind as to consider that a word. This year audiences were treated to the third (and hopefully final) movie of a lot of franchises—SHREK, RESIDENT EVIL, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, and so on. Every single one can be considered entertaining, but not all of them are what I would call good.
The best show on television wrapped its second season and it was all fans would want. Without giving away the spoilers at the top, DEXTER will be back for a third season and that is the best news possible.
THE SIMPSONS, “Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind”: Homer wakes up in a snow bank, hung-over and thinking there’s still time to pull one over on Marge. When he gets home, however, the house is empty and there’s no sign of his family. Heading to Moe’s for some answers, he finds that there was a domestic disturbance at his house and that Marge ended up with a black eye.
16 castaways, 2 tribes, 39 days…ONE SURVIVOR! It all comes down to this. The grand dame of reality shows has taken some lumps. Ratings have lagged, the game has become static and every new complication feels forced. This season has done nothing to turn this trend around. The final four left to compete tonight are not personalities that anyone will remember in two weeks and the location has been practically useless. Even the stupid bonfire where they traditionally burn down their camp was as intense as a lazy wet belch.
Every year the American Film Institute honors 10 motion pictures and 10 television shows as best of the year. It is an extremely prestigious honor and while it doesn’t mean much in terms of box office or ratings, it does come with bragging rights – not an unimportant honor in La-La-Land. Separate juries sit in judgment, both made up of industry leaders, critics, writers and academics, all presumably with no ax to grind. That’s why I was surprised that they got so much so wrong.
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD was last summer’s best action film. Turns out it’s a pretty good DVD, too. My definition of a good summer action flick is simple: mindless, adrenalin-inducing and reality-challenged. And I mean all that in the best possible way. LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD fits the bill completely.
The year is 2012. Three years after a modest doctor (Emma Thompson in an uncredited cameo) develops a genetically engineered cure for cancer, the world is empty of human life. The helpful virus mutated into a nasty one, becoming a plague that wiped out 90% of humanity and changed most of the rest into unspeakably fierce nocturnal predators. In the deserted grass-and-asphalt jungle that was New York City, Dr. Robert Neville (Will Smith) wanders the streets, foraging for supplies with his trusty dog Sam and trying to find a cure.
Holy crap, between the season hiatus and the WGA strike, I forgot this show was even still on. Good thing I’ve got the power of the Internet at my fingertips. Anyway, onward. As the show opens, we see Lois (Erica Durance) and Grant/Julian Luthor (Michael Cassidy; yes, I finally looked this guy up) sucking face, and apparently Lois is still on the Luthor investigation tip. Sadly, it’s due to Lex requesting Lois’ ongoing coverage, possibly due to Lex watching out for his little brother.