Movie / TV Reviews

I haven't had a chance to share much about what I've been watching recently, so I'm grouping everything into one post:

Tangled was fantastic. Definitely worth seeing. Yes it's predictable Disney in a few places, but isn't it supposed to be? The story was really good, the characters were easy to identify with and there were a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. I actually kind of want to see it again.

I feel like I need to let you know I never saw the first Tron. That being said, I thought the movie was okay. My brother filled me in on details I missed from the first one before we went, but even if he hadn't I think I would have been able to keep up. The graphics were the best part of this movie. I thought it was cool how part of it was 2D, but then the Tron world (if that's the name of it?) was in 3D. 

The second season of Dollhouse finally came to Netflix and it was great. I watched the whole season in a week. The first season mostly sets up the Dollhouse and shows the day-to-day operations where the second season is more about the company and people behind the Rossum Corporation. Definitely a fun show to watch. I love the random Battlestar Galactica reference from Topher partway through too :)

Lie to Me was recommended to me by my mother-in-law, and I love it! I just finished watching the first two seasons and can't wait to see the third. As most shows, it takes a little while for the actors to find their characters, but by the end of the first season this show is addicting. The other thing I appreciate about Lie to Me is that most of the episodes are self contained. Yes, some big things happen that change relationships between the characters, but it's actually a nice breath of fresh air to watch a good show that doesn't require me to remember every single little detail of what's happened so far (one of my complaints about Lost). As TV is one of my favorite ways to veg out, I like being able to just sit back and watch without trying to remember everything. 

With only 5 episodes, The Sing-Off is one of the shortest shows to get hooked on. Yes, it takes over your life for about two and a half weeks, but it's worth it. Think American Idol with a capella groups and a LOT less invented drama to draw out the show. The first episode starts with 10 groups and the judges eliminate 1 or 2 each episode so viewers can vote on the winner before the last episode. It looks like they took the full episodes off hulu, but you can still watch clips from this past season there.

Bones continues to be one of my favorite shows currently airing on TV. I love the dynamic between Booth and Bones. It's what drives the show. 

Speaking of dynamics that drive the show, Castle and Beckett are also two of my favorite characters currently on TV. This is another show that continues to be fantastic. I'm excited to see how everything unfolds over the course of the season as Castle's book becomes a movie, too.

I felt like I had to put this one in here too. Yes, I still watch Glee regularly, but that's really more for social reasons. And the songs. This past season has been a disappointment so far. There have only been two episodes I've actually liked; the rest have been dumb. I was really disappointed that they had a great guest star like Carol Burnett, for example, and her entire character was stupid and not funny. I hope the episodes begin getting better more regularly - and soon. I feel like they have such a talented cast they aren't using.

Why I Don't Like Naps...plus Fall TV I'm Excited About

I'm not a fan of naps. Most people love them, but I find they screw up my sleep schedule. I tend to be groggy for hours after I wake up from a nap, and once I recover I don't get tired by the time I should go to sleep again. Such is the case tonight. I actually took a nap this afternoon and now I'm just not ready for sleep yet. It's a little bit annoying.


I can say that I'm SUPER excited for TV shows to start again. The shows I'm especially excited about include Castle, Glee, Survivor and Bones. I've also been really excited about all the rain recently. Usually Fall through Spring weather is gray skies and a fairly regular drizzle, but over the past few days we've had real rain. I had so much fun playing in the rain Friday afternoon, evening and night. Here are a couple of pictures I took:

I do think it's kind of funny that, despite all the rain, I've seen a lot of sprinklers still being used. I even hear our apartment complex's sprinklers on right now. It seems like there would be plenty of water to go around at the moment...


Okay, I'm starting to get tired, so I'm going to try to sleep. Good night!

Five TV Shows Worth the DVR Space (even though I don't have a DVR)

I have to say, I cannot get over how awesome Castle is. Not only is the show well-written with great actors all around, but Nathan Fillion keeps making Firefly references! Those of you that saw last week's episode, Fool Me Once, did you catch the 'shout out' 6 minutes in? If you're on Twitter, I would recommend following both Nathan Fillion (@NathanFillion) and Castle (@WriteRCastle) as they both tweet about the show. Castle has a Facebook account, too, so add him as a friend if you prefer that to Twitter (don't worry - they don't ruin anything before the show airs).

Although Castle is probably my favorite show airing at the moment, there are quite a four others that have been holding my interest:

The Big Bang Theory: With a premise of 4 nerds and 1 hot girl, how could it not be amusing? I love all of the characters' quirks, and appreciate the nerd humor I understand (although they're good at keeping it from going over my head but, as I hear, still very accurate). Apparently Wil Wheaton is on this next episode, so there should be some fun Star Trek references!

NCIS: Honestly, it's the chemistry of the characters that keep me hooked on this show. I mean, I liked it when Kate was on it too, but I didn't need to watch every episode the same way. Ziva brings a lot to the group, and I like the way the actors portray their characters (especially Abby) now that they've had a few years to settle into their roles. PS - Gibbs is awesome.

Glee: Okay, this one is totally a guilty pleasure. The plot is a little too overly dramatic for me, but the songs are just so fun! They're what keep me hooked. My favorites so far were "Don't Stop Believing" in the pilot and the Bon Jovi/Usher Mashup in Vitamin D.

Survivor: As fun as this show is, I never got into it until my brother suggested Fantasy Survivor. This has turned Survivor into a game we can play together even though we don't live near each other. We each pick an MVP at the beginning of the show (go Brett!), and then each week we make picks for who's going to help win reward/immunity challenges, get voted off, be safe and then one mystery question that changes each week (i.e. whose vote will be shown on camera or who will be shown holding the immunity idol).

On that note, I haven't watched NCIS yet this week and really need to go watch it...so I will.

Castle

I became a fan of the show Castle fairly soon after ABC premiered it, largely due to my brother telling me it was good (he has good taste when it comes to TV shows). It's a fun, one-hour show about a writer, Richard Castle, who is writing a new novel and creating a new character based on Kate Beckett - a detective that he talks the mayor (a huge fan of his work) into letting him follow around for "research."

As a fan of the show, I think it's so cool how they're getting us excited for the premiere. They've made these characters feel like they're real through social media. Richard Castle's daughter, Alexis, set him up with a Twitter account so he is constantly tweeting...but it's not just mundane details of a made up life - it's a whole story told in 140 character snippets (he's helping solve a murder while on vacation in the Hamptons). How cool is that??

Because the show is created around the fact that he's a writer looking for his next story, ABC is releasing Richard Castle's book in one-chapter increments for fans to read. Richard Castle has a facebook account so his fans can ask questions and interact with him. I think the team that came up with the idea of using social media to build up to the premiere was brilliant in dreaming this up. All of the effort to create a character that feels more real is paying off - I can't wait for the season 2 premiere on Monday, September 21.