Tag / Steve Carell

by admin

The Academy Award Goes To…

side_oscarAs they finish polishing up the statues for tonight’s awards ceremony, it’s time to finish up our predictions, which are based on not having seen any of the nominated films, with a look at the acting categories and the big one:

Best Picture

American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

The race seems to be coming down to either Boyhood or Birdman.  My guess is that the innovative storytelling in Boyhood will put it over the top.

Best Actor

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Michael Keaton seems like the obvious choice to win here.  A one-time box office star who faded away and is making a comeback seems like a guaranteed Oscar success story.

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alive
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Well, at least there is a performance here that I have actually seen.  But, I’m not going to go with Rosamund Pike’s work in Gone Girl, but instead will be putting my vote behind Reese Witherspoon.

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by jim

Post Mortem – The Office

the-officeAfter 9 seasons, The Office called it quits after this past season.  It was well past its prime and was really running on fumes at this point, but it will be missed.  Creator Greg Daniels returned for the final season, but had to work around the movie careers of John Krasinski and Ed Helms, which left the show without Jim and/or Andy for large parts of the season.  Which wasn’t always a bad thing, as the writers obviously had nothing more to say with the Andy character.  By the end, one would cringe any time he appeared on screen.

The finale sent the series off on a good note, with Dwight, having finally become the regional manager, getting married to Angela, Steve Carell, B.J. Novak, and Mindy Kaling returning for the wedding, the documentary series that had been filming for 9 years finally airing, and Jim and Pam getting to leave Dunder-Mifflin behind and move on the bigger and, hopefully, better things.

While the show was nowhere near as good as it had been, it will leave a hole in the fall schedule and NBC will likely miss whatever meager ratings it had been bringing in at the end.

by jim

Saying Goodbye To Dunder-Mifflin

NBC and the producers of The Office announced on Tuesday that the upcoming 9th season would be the show’s last, and hopefully, they can go out with a bang.  Last season, the first without Steve Carell, saw a huge decline in quality as the show tried, and, in my opinion, failed in continuing on without Michael Scott.  Either the story seemed written for Carell’s Scott, which forced Ed Helms’ Andy Bernard to act completely out of character, or they tried to use James Spader to varying degrees of success.  One can only hope that, with the end in sight, they can bounce back some this year and leave on top of their game.

by admin

Midseason Review – Thursdays

Nearing the end of our look back at the fall television season.

CBS

Big Bang Theory – The nerds return for more fun.

This show has wisely mixed things up, with the focus nearly equal between the guys and the girls.  The additions of Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik to the cast have made a strong show even stronger.  There was one occassion where the show fell victim to the main charge of its critics, where it laughed at nerds instead of with them.  Hopefully that was a blip and not a tonal shift.

How To Be A Gentleman –  This looks to be horrible.  I doubt it lasts through November sweeps.

And it didn’t.

Person Of Interst – Michael Emerson’s first post-Lost series.  That alone is enough of a reason to give this a chance.

This is not really a bad show, but it isn’t really a good one and it seems like a total waste of Michael Emerson’s talents.  It looks like they may be mixing things up a bit by bringing Taraji P. Henson into the fold, so maybe that will help.

The Mentalist – Based on the premiere, it will be more of the same from The Mentalist.  It’s a good enough show, but I can see it burning out quickly if they don’t shake things up sometime soon.

More of the same indeed.  The addition of one of the kids from the new Melrose Place as the new boss is kind of weird, but beyond that, nothing really new.

NBC

Community – Back for a surprising third season.  John Goodman has joined in a recurring role, and, so far, looks to have brought his A-game. 

Well, John Goodman only appeared 2 or 3 times, but this season has been bizarrely brilliant.  Of course, this means that NBC has pulled it from the schedule, claiming it will return at some undetermined point in the future.  I know 3 seasons is more than most series see, but losing this show will hurt more than most. Continue reading →

by jim

2011 New Fall Season – Thursdays

CBS

Big Bang Theory – The nerds return for more fun.

How To Be A Gentleman –  This looks to be horrible.  I doubt it lasts through November sweeps.

Person Of Interst – Michael Emerson’s first post-Lost series.  That alone is enough of a reason to give this a chance.

The Mentalist – Based on the premiere, it will be more of the same from The Mentalist.  It’s a good enough show, but I can see it burning out quickly if they don’t shake things up sometime soon.

NBC

Community – Back for a surprising third season.  John Goodman has joined in a recurring role, and, so far, looks to have brought his A-game. 

Continue reading →