Saturday Night Live: Season 38 Review

            With the last Saturday Night Live season to air during a US presidential election (season 34) being one of its best ever, season 38 had a lot to live up to.  Yet it began the season in dire straights.  Gone from the cast were the show’s leading lady (Kristen Wiig) and the man who pretty much created the current style of Saturday Night Live by trying to get the biggest “Youtube” moments possible (Andy Samburg).  Yet the show handled these exits quite well in the early going.  A solid first half gave hope that this season could be something special.  It wasn’t until the show came back from the holiday break that it began to go downhill.  And downhill it went.

            In season 38 of Saturday Night Live the show finally made the right decision and gave Jay Pharoah (who was also upped to regular status along with Vanessa Bayer and Taran Killam) the role of Barack Obama while Jason Sudeikis portrayed Mitt Romney.  New featured members of the cast included Aidy Bryant, Tim Robinson, Cecily Strong and scene-stealer Kate McKinnon.  Seth Meyers returned as the show’s head writer.

            The start of the season started off strong with a solid season premiere hosted by Seth MacFarlane and some big names in Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Craig, Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Renner hosting later in the fall.  However, it wasn’t until Martin Short’s Christmas episode that the season finally showed a memorable episode.  With numerous guest appearances (including Samuel L. Jackson dropping a few f-bombs in a “What Up with That?” skit) and a lot of energy on the part of Short it was a home run.  While Seth Meyers and company’s lazy writing was still a problem for the first half of the season, the hosts were normally able to overcome it.

            That would not be the case with the second half.  Problem signs emerged immediately with the winter premiere.  Jennifer Lawrence is a talented actress and would seemingly make for a great comedic actress.  Yet the show consistently put her in the worst roles possible for her winter premiere episode.  The now infamous dog skit was an example of everything that was wrong with not only this episode but also the entire season.  Miscasting and poor writing quickly sank this season, and it didn’t help that the show at one point had two musicians host the show in back-to-back episodes (Adam Levine showing how you can’t survive on this show by just looking good and Justin Bieber in a show that was too tightly produced and managed to allow the episode to breathe).

            Sure there were some highlights in the back half of the season (Christoph Waltz nailed his episode and “Jesus Uncrossed” will be a highlight for years to come while Justin Timberlake is always great) but even a strong finale (hosted by Ben Affleck and including a grand farewell to Bill Hader and his greatest creation, Stefon) couldn’t save this season.  Season 38 of Saturday Night Live will be remembered as one of its worst seasons to date and yet it did provide us with a few new skits that work effectively (“the two porn stars trying to sell a product” skit comes quickly to mind) and a very effective farewell to an all-time great cast member in Bill Hader.

6/10

Arrow: Season 1 Review

            With superhero films making big money at the box office almost every weekend nowadays you would think that, that success would translate to television in some form.  Oddly it has barely at all.  The genres’ two biggest “success” stories were Heroes (which received both acclaim and ratings in its first season but rapidly went downhill from there) and Smallville (which had neither acclaim nor ratings but was able to survive ten seasons on the little-watched WB and CW networks).  That might all change once ABC unleashes Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on us next fall but for now we are stuck with a television landscape that is barren of superhero shows save for one exception: Arrow.  Arrow received decent reviews upon first airing and critical respect has ticked up a bit since.  It is also in no danger of a quick cancellation thanks to airing on CW.  However, this clearly isn’t a show that is going to be remembered as a saving grace of the television superhero genre.  It’s barely better than some of Heroes’ most stress inducing seasons.

            Arrow follows Oliver Queen (played by Stephen Amell), a billionaire playboy who is stranded on an island and presumed dead.  On the island, he comes across its strange inhabitants where he learns to become a master assassin.  Upon his return home, he decides to become a masked vigilante and bring those who decide to cheat in life to justice.  The series is created by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg while the directing team is led by David Barrett.

            Arrow starts off as a decent interpretation of Green Arrow in a post The Dark Knight creative climate.  Everything from the early episodes seems as if it is directed and written by a Christopher Nolan-knockoff.  While this works fine for a few episodes of television, the creative team quickly realized they needed a better direction.  Unfortunately, this resulted in a messy storyline that focused on Oliver’s time on the island with each new episode making that plotline more ridiculous.  Instead of being able to focus on Oliver’s trials in the present we are continually reintroduced to a storyline in the past that adds twist after twist for no other reason than to shock the audience.

            This is such a shame because the show actually gets a few good performances out of its cast.  Stephen Amell is quite good in a role that easily could have been cheesy.  Luckily, due to Amell’s normal guy approach to the character it works.  Emily Bett Rickards is the other big highlight as a team member of Oliver’s that is introduced midway through the season.  She finds a way to lighten up many of the storylines that tend to be a bit muddled.  Yet this show also has a tendency to waste good actors too.  Katie Cassidy barely gets to do anything other than be the “girlfriend”, which is a shame because she has shown she is a good actress when she gets something to do in her previous work.  Meanwhile, the show never really figures out what to do with Susanna Thompson.  She really could have nailed the much more villainous role that the show flirted with giving her, but the show unfortunately chickened out of that storyline.

            Arrow is a disappointing adaptation of a third-rate DC character.

5/10

Hall of Fame Induction: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Trek Into Darkness was released into theaters this weekend.  Considering the current series of films has drawn numerous comparisons to Star Wars and its director (J.J. Abrams) will be off to film the next Star Wars film now that his work with Star Trek Into Darkness is over, I think now would be the time to induct The Empire Strikes Back into my Hall of Fame.

The Empire Strikes Back

Release Date: May 21, 1980

Director: Irvin Kershner

Current Ranking in the Film Hall of Fame: 18

Academy Award Nominations: 3 (Best Art Direction, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing)

Academy Award Wins: 2 (Best Sound Mixing, Special Achievement Award-Visual Effects)








The 5 Best Elements About This Film:

1. Other than Jaws, The Empire Strikes Back may be John Williams' finest work.  If you ask what is Williams' most recognizable work and many will point to "The Imperial March", which first makes its appearance in this film.  Williams' score completely owns this film, and yet it never overpowers it.  Instead it only strengthens the heightened emotions of this film.

2. Surprisingly George Lucas did not direct this film.  Instead Irvin Kershner did, who turns out to be the best choice.  Kershner brings the action on this series to a whole new level (and it isn't eclipsed until the CGI enhanced action scenes of the prequel trilogy), and is able to get a good performance out of almost every actor he directs.  However, what really makes Kershner's direction great is he is able to take a darker tone without abandoning the few humor and camp moments of the first film.

3. Despite being an acclaimed Broadway and dramatic actor, James Earl Jones' finest work comes in a performance where he doesn't even appear onscreen.  James Earl Jones adds so much depth to his voice work as Darth Vader and brings him into the pantheon of all-time villains with this film.  All of the character's signature moments come in this film, and all of those moments are due to James Earl Jones' iconic voice.

4. James Earl Jones' voice was also a key cog in one of the best and most iconic twists in cinematic victory.  "No, I am your father" easily could have been stupid (and many films that have tried to imitate the film with a similar twist have come across as stupid), but the direction, acting (even Mark Hamill's over-the-top reaction) and writing all come together for one of cinema's greatest moments.

5. This film received a special achievement award for its visual effects, and it is easy to see why.  The Battle of Hoth was one of the largest scale battles in cinema to that point in terms of effects and it is not only surprisingly effective but also one of the best sequences in the film.  Then you also get the chase through the asteroid field, the amazingly crafted Cloud City and the mysterious atmosphere of Dagobah (none of which could have been pulled off without the immense amount of effects work put into it).

How I Met Your Mother: Season 8 Review

            How I Met Your Mother entered its eighth season as a show that clearly had its glory days behind it.  Luckily, there was some hope in a midseason announcement that this would be the penultimate season of the show.  Yet that was not enough to save a season that was still in stall mode for half of the season.  Unlike the recently ended The Office, though, How I Met Your Mother still has its entire cast firing on all cylinders when the show is not.  This time around a strong ensemble was able to bring a subpar season back up to mediocrity.

            The eighth season of How I Met Your Mother followed the gang as they prepared for Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin’s (Colbie Smulders) wedding, which is of course where Ted (Josh Radnor) will finally meet the eponymous mother (who in the finale was revealed to be played by Broadway actress Cristin Milioti).  The series is still run by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas while Pamela Fryman continued to be the show’s main director (directing all but one of the season’s twenty-four episodes).

            Many of the problems that this show had this past season are due to things that were more on a network level than it was on a creative level.  Sure nothing was working creatively but this was also clearly a show that Carter Bays and Craig Thomas imagined as lasting less than eight seasons.  The show was entering the Steve Carell-less The Office stage of overstaying its welcome early on this season, and it wasn’t until CBS finally gave into the inevitability that the show’s stars would leave the show eventually and finally announced an end date for the show that glimpses of hope could be seen within the show again.  Sure the Barney-Robin relationship is a mixed bag and Ted has dated more than one too many girls that isn’t the mother, but there was suddenly an opportunity for me to become invested in the characters again and the writers lived up to that opportunity.

            All of this finally led up to the reveal of the mother.  The reveal was (like a lot of other things that happened this season) messy and ill conceived.  For some reason, Pamela Fryman filmed the scene as if they were going to reveal a big celebrity only to reveal it was little known Cristin Milioti.  While Milioti is probably the perfect choice for the mother (she’s clearly talented and this could easily be her breakout performance), the way in which the reveal was filmed left viewers with a “What?” instead of the intended jaw-drop.

            Still it is the cast (and not the writing or directing) that has always made this series work.  Colbie Smulders and Neil Patrick Harris tried harder than ever to make their pairing work and that relationship and the chemistry between the two actors is improving.  Barney’s marriage to Robin will always be character assassination but Harris and Smulders are making it work somehow.  Josh Radnor continues to do fine work even if this was far from his finest season, and Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan are still scene-stealers even if their importance to the plot was reduced this past season.

            An end date will hopefully let How I Met Your Mother go out on a high note because the constant stalling left a huge mark on this show, especially in the first half of this past season.

6.5/10

Star Trek Into Darkness Review

            While advertised as a reboot, J.J. Abrams created a new way to reinvent a failing franchise with 2009’s Star Trek.  While working as a sequel to the original series and the subsequent films, Abrams also found a way to make his film completely new.  While the film easily could have been confusing it turned out to be one of the better blockbusters in recent memory.  Star Trek Into Darkness continues Abrams’ reboot-sequel series.  While it isn’t as structurally sound as its predecessor, Star Trek Into Darkness is able to make it worth your while by allowing its talented ensemble to carry the weight of the film.  While the logic may become a little sillier and the action sequences a bit repetitive, the film saves itself by allowing the characters to go to a more emotional place.

            Star Trek Into Darkness follows the USS Enterprise crew as they are told to launch weapons of mass destruction of a mysterious nature at a rogue Starfleet agent (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) who is hiding in Klingon space.  As the crew gets closer to their target, they learn that not everything is as it appears (especially in regards to the rogue Starfleet agent).  The film is directed by J.J. Abrams and is written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof.

            J.J. Abrams had a tough act to follow after the success of the first film in Abrams’ (soon to be short?) tenure as director of the Star Trek franchise.  Abrams and his creative team’s solution to this problem seems to be just throwing everything that Trekkies love onto the screen.  Everything that Trekkies complained was missing from the first film is present here to the point that this film acts as much as a sequel to a certain Original Series film as it does the 2009 Star Trek.  Surprisingly this never seems like fan service (other than in one scene where a cameo is wasted with a bunch of exposition), and the film is even able to make two big homages in the third act seem natural.

            Yet it’s not this fusion between fan service and plot that makes the film work.  Through two films the Abrams Star Trek series has proven that it is presently the best franchise when it comes to character development and interaction.  Chris Pine and (especially) Zachary Quinto go even further than they did in their first film with their portrayals of Kirk and Spock respectively.  We are lucky to get just one well-developed character in a summer blockbuster, but with this film we get two.  Supporting members such as Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Anton Yelchin and Simon Pegg also get at least one moment to shine each.  However, much of the promotional focus around this film has been around Benedict Cumberbatch’s mysterious villain.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t get as much screen time as he probably deserved (he disappears for a large chunk of the film early on and the film doesn’t conclude his arc by the time the credits roll).  However, Cumberbatch is brilliant as the character.  Growling lines such as “I am better at everything than you”, Cumberbatch is able to combine the skills he deftly displays in his breakout performance as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock with a physicality that I didn’t know he would be able to pull off.

            While not as good as its predecessor, Star Trek Into Darkness is a solid blockbuster that is able to find just as much room for character development as it does spectacle.

8/10

65th Primetime Emmy Predictions: Mid-May Update

BEST DRAMA SERIES
1. Downton Abbey
2. Homeland
3. Breaking Bad
4. Mad Men
5. Game of Thrones
6. House of Cards

BEST COMEDY SERIES
1. Modern Family
2. Girls
3. 30 Rock
4. The Big Bang Theory
5. Louie
6. Arrested Development

BEST MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Behind the Candelabra
2. Phil Spector
3. Top of the Lake
4. The Bible
5. American Horror Story: Asylum
6. Political Animals

BEST REALITY COMPETITION SERIES
1. The Amazing Race
2. Top Chef
3. The Voice
4. Dancing With the Stars
5. So You Think You Can Dance
6. American Idol

BEST VARIETY SERIES
1. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
2. The Colbert Report
3. Jimmy Kimmel Live
4. Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
5. Saturday Night Live
6. Late Show With Davis Letterman

BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
1. Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
2. Louis C.K., Louie (+1)
3. Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (-1)
4. Don Cheadle, House of Lies (RE-ENTRY)
5. Matt LeBlanc, Episodes (-1)
6. Jason Bateman, Arrested Development

Don Cheadle returns to my predictions as the exposure he has received from Iron Man 3 will help a lot in getting in the heads of Emmy voters.  Backlash from his win last year will hurt Jon Cryer, but he can certainly still be nominated.  Jake Johnson from New Girl also remains a threat.

BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
1. Damian Lewis, Homeland
2. Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
3. Jon Hamm, Mad Men
4. Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
5. Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
6. Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra (+1)
2. Al Pacino, Phil Spector (-1)
3. Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra
4. Benedict Cumberbatch, Parade's End
5. Toby Jones, The Girl

Things are looking good for Behind the Candelabra in terms of awards and critical appeal.

BEST LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
1. Lena Dunham, Girls
2. Tina Fey, 30 Rock
3. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
4. Melissa McCarthy, Mike and Molly (+1)
5. Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (-1)
6. Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

I'm a bit worried that Amy Poehler might miss.  I'm not predicting it but stranger things have happened (such as Parks and Recreation missing for Best Comedy Series last year).  Zooey Deschanel remains the strong 7th contender so she would be the benefactor of a Poehler snub.

BEST LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
1. Claire Danes, Homeland
2. Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
3. Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
4. Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men (+1)
5. Kerry Washington, Scandal (-1)
6. Keri Russell, The Americans (RE-ENTRY)

With so much category placement confusion early on there has been a lot left up in the air in this category until recently.  Elisabeth Moss was finally confirmed in lead so she will become the 4th lock of the category.  However, Elizabeth McGovern was confirmed in supporting, which opens up a spot in this category.  Expect Keri Russell's acclaimed performance on The Americans to slip in as the 6th nominee.  Although, if House of Cards really catches on it will be Robin Wright garnering the nomination instead.

BEST LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Asylum
2. Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals
3. Helen Mirren, Phil Spector
4. Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake
5. Laura Linney, The Big C: Hereafter

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
1. Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
2. Ty Burrell, Modern Family
3. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
4. Ed O'Neill, Modern Family
5. Will Arnett, Arrested Development
6. Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
1. Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
2. Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
3. Sam Waterston, The Newsroom
4. Jonathan Banks, Breaking Bad
5. Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
6. Jim Carter, Downton Abbey

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Rob Lowe, Behind the Candelabra (+2)
2. James Cromwell, American Horror Story: Asylum (-1)
3. Peter Mullan, Top of the Lake (-1)
4. Michael Gambon, Restless
5. Zachary Quinto, American Horror Story: Asylum

All of the buzz surrounding Behind the Candelabra has been saying Rob Lowe has a scene-stealing performance.  That and his long history in TV should make him an instant frontrunner.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
1. Julie Bowen, Modern Family
2. Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
3. Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
4. Allison Williams, Girls
5. Kaley Cuoco, The Big Bang Theory
6. Zosia Mamet, Girls

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
1. Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
2. Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
3. Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
4. Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
5. Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey (NEW)
6. Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones (NEW)

Elizabeth McGovern was submitted in this category instead of the lead category.  That should set her up with an interesting battle for a nomination with her own co-star, Joanne Froggatt.  Both actresses could score nominations (Downton Abbey did get 2 nominations in this category last year), but I just don't see it happening as of now.  Instead, I think the last spot goes to Emilia Clarke, who is breaking out as a major celebrity in a similar fashion to Peter Dinklage during season 1.  Others who can break in are former winner Archie Panjabi and the one contender in the category from last year's Best Drama Series winner, Morena Baccarin.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Holly Hunter, Top of the Lake (+2)
2. Ellen Burstyn, Political Animals (-1)
3. Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Asylum (-1)
4. Alfre Woodard, Steel Magnolias
5. Imelda Staunton, The Girl

The first 3 actresses are locks.  After that the category really thins out.  Alfre Woodard is an Emmy favorite and Imelda Staunton is a beloved character actress so I'm going with those two.

BEST DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
1. 30 Rock
2. Louie
3. Girls (+1)
4. Modern Family (-1)
5. The Office

One of the first signs of a possible upset brewing in the Best Comedy Series category is if Modern Family misses out in this category.

BEST DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
1. Breaking Bad
2. Homeland
3. House of Cards
4. The Newsroom
5. Boardwalk Empire

BEST DIRECTING FOR A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Behind the Candelabra
2. Top of the Lake
3. Phil Spector
4. Parade's End (NEW)
5. The Big C: Hereafter

It seems like HBO isn't putting much support behind Mary and Martha so even with a name director in Phillip Noyce it can still miss in this category.

BEST DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
1. Saturday Night Live
2. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
3. The Colbert Report
4. Late Show With David Letterman
5. Portlandia

BEST WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
1. Modern Family
2. 30 Rock
3. Girls
4. Louie
5. The Mindy Project

BEST WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
1. Homeland (+1)
2. Mad Men (-1)
3. The Newsroom
4. Downton Abbey
5. Breaking Bad

Homeland's "Q+A"  has been getting major buzz in this category while this season of Mad Men has the perception of being a bit of a disappointment early on.

BEST WRITING FOR A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Phil Spector
2. Behind the Candelabra
3. Top of the Lake
4. Parade's End
5. Political Animals

BEST WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
1. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
2. The Colbert Report
3. Saturday Night Live
4. Jimmy Kimmel Live
5. Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Community: Season 4 Review

            When Dan Harmon’s contract to remain as the showrunner of Community was not renewed by NBC and Sony Television it sent a wave of disappointment throughout the world of TV journalism.  In its first three seasons, Community was the vision of Harmon.  It was a complicated vision that was able to balance complex storylines with comedy.  As such it was a vision that could not easily be replicated.  Still the show went on, and for its fourth season NBC and Sony Television hired Moses Port and David Guarascio to run the show.  The result was easily one of the most inconsistent and controversial seasons in television history.

            The fourth season of Community follows the continuing adventures of the study group at Greendale Community College.  With many of the group members coming close to finishing their time at the college, Jeff (Joe McHale) looks ahead to a life in which he can be a lawyer again.  In terms of the creative team, David Guarascio and Moses Port (whose only work as showrunners previous to this was on the short-lived Aliens in America) found themselves in charge of one of the most beloved shows in recent years while Tristream Shapeero led the directing team.

            With the “firing” of Dan Harmon being handled in anything but a smooth fashion, there was no way that this season was going to come out of the gate swinging.  Even with a long-time writer for the show, Andy Borow, penning the season premiere, the episode (and many of the following episodes) felt like it was missing that extra something despite following the same format as previous seasons.  Sure there were some highlights where it seems like Guarascio and Port recaptured Harmon’s lightning in a bottle (the Halloween-centric “Paranormal Parentage” for instance), but they were few and far between in the early goings of season four.  Ultimately, the savior of season four came from a source that should have been quite obvious.  While Jim Rash is mainly known as the cross-dressing Dean Pelton, he also happens to be an Academy Award-winning screenwriter.  Fortunately for us, Guarascio and Port finally realized how much of an asset he could be and had him pen the antepenultimate episode of the season where Rash used a Freaky Friday premise to hit some creative and emotional highs for the series.  The entire show also seemed to gain momentum from the episode as it finished the season off strong.

            While the writing for the show was inconsistent as ever, the one thing that made the show easy to come back to was one of television’s most reliable ensembles.  It’s really hard to single out any of the cast members as the highlight at this point as they are all equally integral to the ensemble (even Chevy Chase in a reduced role), but episodes involving alternate-personalities and body-swappings really just go to show how each and every cast member can knock an episode out of the park.

            The fourth season of Community is ultimately its weakest.  Dan Harmon left a huge wake behind in his absence and the season hit quite a few lows for the series.  Yet even in those lows is one of the best casts on television at its center. 

7/10

Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story Review

            The Hallmark Channel continued its movie series last weekend with Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story just in time for the NHL Playoffs.  While the movie begins effectively as it introduces you to the life of a hockey player, it quickly loses all steam as the movie abandons character development for poorly constructed hockey game scenes.

            Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story follows Gordie Howe (played by Michael Shanks), the legendary hockey player for the Detroit Red Wings, as he enters the twilight days of his career.  With his two sons (played by Dylan Playfair and Andrew Herr) getting ready to start their own careers, Gordie Howe decides to jump to the newly established league, the World Hockey Association, to play with his sons and causes a wave of controversy and heated rivalries.  The movie is directed by Andy Mikita (a Canadian TV director who worked on many of the Stargate series) and is written by Malcolm MacRury (a TV writer whose most prominent work is a few episodes on Deadwood).

            Early on in this TV movie, Andy Mikita and Malcolm MacRury do a quite effective job of not only creating an interesting character out of Gordie Howe but also using him as a mechanism to introduce the viewer into the world of hockey.  As somewhat of a newbie myself to the history of hockey I found the drama surrounding the creation of the World Hockey Association and the NHL’s response to it to be informative and interesting.  Yet Mikita and MacRury never sacrifice character development in the process.  Unfortunately, we then get to the part of the film where the characters begin playing games.  The action in the rink is poorly shot and the character development becomes more in line with Hallmark movie quality (clichéd and almost non-existent).

            Michael Shanks is a solid lead and tries his hardest to keep the movie afloat in the second half.  When he fails to do so, it still doesn’t take away from the charming performance he gave in the first half of the movie.  Kathleen Robertson is also good as Gordie Howe’s wife even if her importance to the plot disappears midway through.  Unfortunately, the younger actors don’t fair so well.  Dylan Playfair and Andrew Herr don’t leave much of an impression and Emma Grabinsky as Gordie Howe’s daughter is downright terrible (although the script gives her no help).

            The above average writing and directing in the first half of Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story ultimately falters in the abysmal second half.

6.5/10

Ben-Hur Review

            With countless adaptations in both film and television (including the 1959 film that ended up winning a record 11 Academy Awards), Ben-Hur has to be one of the most famous tales out there.  Yet it’s really not that impressive of a story.  Sure it’s large in scope and it includes an epic tale of revenge with appearances from Jesus Christ interwoven in.  However, it chooses to explore spectacle instead of exploring the ideas of revenge and forgiveness.  This shallow storytelling would seem to be severely exposed in a television adaptation where the budgets aren’t large enough to do spectacle on a grand scale.  Yet the latest miniseries that just premiered on little-seen channel Ovation is a decent adaptation.  Instead of trying to come up with a grand adaptation, the miniseries goes for a much shallower interpretation that is heavy on violence and sexuality.  In other words, it knows exactly what it is.

            Ben-Hur is the tale of Judah Ben Hur (The Vampire Diaries’ Joseph Morgan), a Jewish man who is betrayed by his best friend and is sent into slavery.  When he escapes, Ben Hur’s long journey towards revenge includes action, romance and a few encounters with Jesus Christ (Julian Casey).  The two-part miniseries is directed by Steve Shill (Emmy Ward winning director of Dexter) and is written by Alan Sharp (screenwriter of the Liam Neeson film, Rob Roy).

            One of the first things you will notice about this miniseries is that it is a lot sillier than the dead serious (and most famous version of the story) 1959 film.  This ends up being the miniseries’ greatest strength as it takes a story that really doesn’t have that much depth and gives it a visual style that sees the story as such.  This miniseries is much more in the style of STARZ’s Spartacus series than in the epic films of old and director Steve Shill is surprisingly able to make it work.  Shill is also able to mine some spectacle and scale from his seemingly small budget.  While the infamous chariot scene doesn’t quite work so well, Shill shows mastery of large-scale scenes with the ship battle in the first episode.  The visual effects are quite good for television and Shill finds a way to keep the tension running.

            The cast is also strong even if Joseph Morgan as Ben Hur isn’t quite so effective.  Morgan can’t find a way to bring some flair to the character of Ben Hur and his story of revenge never becomes particularly interesting because of it.  Instead the weight of making that storyline interesting falls upon Stephen Campbell Moore.  Moore’s Octavius Messala is easily the most complex character in this version of this story.  While that is mostly due to the writing, Moore shows himself to be a suitable portrayer throughout Messala’s complete arc.  Some of the bigger names in the cast include Emily VanCamp (in a solid performance as Esther), Hugh Bonnevile (hamming it up as Pontius Pilate) and Ray Winstone (one of the better performances in the miniseries as a Roman general).  Out of the lesser-known actors Lucia Jimenez gives the strongest performance as a lover of Ben Hur.

            While ultimately not as good as the 1959 film, Ben-Hur finds a way to remain fresh by showing the source material for exactly what it is.

8/10

The Bletchley Circle Review

            While Downton Abbey is getting all of the attention, PBS has quietly reinforced itself as a go to place for quality dramas.  Sherlock has a huge cult following and many of the other series PBS airs as part of their Masterpiece series have been able to feature actors on the verge of breaking out (Eddie Redmayne had appeared in a few programs right before his Les Miserables breakout).  Recently, PBS has had such a plethora of programming that they have been airing dramas outside of their Masterpiece headline.  Call the Midwife started that trend this past fall and now it has been continued by The Bletchley Circle, a 3-part series that just concluded its run this past Sunday.  As a period piece The Bletchley Circle is quite effective as it realistically goes into creating a post-World War II England atmosphere.  Unfortunately, The Bletchley Circle has higher ambitions.  As the crime drama that it wants to be, The Bletchley Circle isn’t as effective in its struggle to create any sort of tension.

            The Bletchley Circle follows four female codebreakers who decide that the police aren’t doing enough to solve a series of horrific murders against women.  The series follows their investigation into finding the perpetrator.  The series is created and entirely written by Guy Burt (a writer on The Borgias) while it is entirely directed by Andy De Emmoy (an acclaimed British TV director who has yet to really cross overseas with his work).

            Guy Bart and Andy De Emmoy really struggled to get this show into its rhythm.  Besides setting up the basic plot, nothing happens in the first episode.  There is no flashy scene that pulls you in (the cold open is a dud), and there is very little in the way of character development.  So the rest of the series spends time trying to catch up with its premise.  It’s not until midway through the second episode (or in other words halfway through the entire series) that a sequence set on a train finally shows that this is a show with potential.  Luckily, the writing and (especially) the directing improve from there (although not enough to completely save the series).  While the big reveal is ultimately uninteresting the way that the aftermath of the reveal was filmed certainly is.  Maybe if the show got a more experienced writer involved it would have had a chance at getting this story off of the ground faster.

            The cast for this series is quite solid.  The four lead actresses are of course the highlights.  Special mention must be given to Anna Maxwell Martin, who is able to bring the most personality out of anyone in the cast to her determined heroine, and Sophie Rundle, who completely carries the already mentioned train sequence (which is the highlight of the series).  The one downside to the cast is that the male roles are in many cases both poorly written and acted.  The worst offender of this is Mark Dexter as the husband of Sophie Rundle’s character.

            While too many programs already being available is the probable reason for The Bletchley Circle not appearing under the Masterpiece banner, the show certainly would have been a low tier Masterpiece program in terms of quality.

6.5/10