That's A Wrap!: Billy

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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Back and Forth

Just to keep things fresh here at That's a Wrap!, we'll be mixing things up to add some content besides our standard reviews. First up, Jim and Billy banter about one of their new favorite shows, Supernatural, and discuss the state of its latest and likely final season. The conversation ran over the course of Monday morning through Wednesday night.

-- BILLY

So, while I'm working on my extremely late Supernatural review, I thought we could do the email discussion thing you were talking about before. I'm not sure what you want to discuss first so we may as well begin with Supernatural. What's been your favorite thing about this season so far?

-- JIM

If it helps, my review for Mad Men is running late too. I still need to watch the episode. The Red Sox just destroyed me Sunday and I was no use to man nor beast. Start with our favorite things? What are you trying to do, write a puff piece? Let's talk about our biggest problem. Besides crowding up my already busy Thursday nights, I've been worried that we might miss out on all the fun. By that I mean breaking up the main season story with isolated and lighter fair like "Criss Angel is a Douchbag", "Ghostfacers" and "Hollywood Babylon". As far as season long arcs go, the apocalypse is kind of heavy on the doom and gloom and I'm worried that amidst all that they might loose the feel for the fun episodes. And it really isn't a good sign for cutting back the angst every now and then considering the Winchester brothers are (as mentioned in your reviews) the most important people on the planet and being hunted by the forces of heaven and hell. That's heavy, Doc.

Humor is always in the background, but some of my favorite episodes ever are the concise stand-alones where I don't have to think about all the other episode plots and backstory to enjoy things. Occasionally, you want to shut your mind off a little and watch Dean die a couple hundred times in "Mystery Spot". The episode you are probably working on the review for even now, "Fallen Idols" sort of solves that problem with the idea that they should stop fighting and arguing about who is responsible for starting the end of the world. But it guest stars Paris Hilton. They nail some of the humor, I mean ever since I saw Fight Club, I wanted to see somebody fight Ghandi. But it guest stars Paris Hilton. It's creepy and funny and I loved the James Dean stuff. But it guest stars Paris Hilton. And how cool is it when they kill Paris Hilton? But it guest stars Paris Hilton. I guess I'm not too worried, but want to see a humorous episode that doesn't involve stunt casting one of the most annoying pop culture icons ever know. Ya know?

-- BILLY

In Hilton's defense, she was LIGHT YEARS better than Britney Spears was as a guest on How I Met Your Mother. '"Fallen Idol" was a step in a humorous direction, but honestly as funny as the Ghandi stuff was I just wanted to get back to the apocalypse storyline. I feel like the stakes have been raised too high and now I want to ride this high tension roller coaster to what is inevitably going to be an awesome finale.

I love the funny episodes. I just rewatched "Mystery Spot" and hearing "Heat of the Moment" kills me every time but the fact is the humor needs to spring from the characters and in this show it does -- often. We don't exactly need a gimmick episode to deliver the laughs. It's nice every so often to have these episodes but when the fate of the world is on the line I think it would be disingenuous to jump into a comedy episode.

For me, I think the big mistake this season is twofold. First, I'd like to see more of the apocalypse, prove to me (aside from a few characters mentioning that they've noticed signs and omens) that the world is close to ending. Second, and admittedly this is a problem the series has had the entire time, I want to see the hunter culture at large. I want to see what the other hunters are doing to prevent the Earth's destruction. We've gotten small, tantalizing glimpses at this with the return of Jo, Ellen and Rufus, but they disappeared just as soon as they returned.

-- JIM

First off, they did dedicate some screen time to the hunters that Bobby sent to help a temporarily inactive Sam. I think it's likely now that the other hunters know what Sam did, that plot will be revisited in a future confrontation. But it seems we have our first substantive divide here between us when it comes to the show. You're worried about keeping enough attention on the apocalypse part, while I worry about the non-apocalypse episodes maintaining their quality. But this show isn't like Lost where I'm fearing every episode that doesn't deal with the mythology of the show. There's no Jack's tattoo episode here. And don't you think it's a little daunting to have 22 consecutive episodes without diverging from the main mythology? I mean those stand-alone episodes might expose us to other hunters like you seem to want so much (and I agree, more Jo, Ellen and Rufus is worth seeing).

While I hope we see other hunters, it isn't necessary to contain to the apocalypse plot. We know Lucifer's endgame has two main plots: Streamline the Croatoan virus and get his permanent meat-suit, Sam. Given this I can understand how most of the action involving the Big-A directly revolves around Dean-Sam-Cas and few others. And is it me or is the wheelchair thing going to severely limit Bobby's involvement this year. I understand they wanted significant characters to experience permanent consequences for all they go through, but were they just making room for Cas at the expense of our third favorite hunter?

-- BILLY

I have a strong feeling that Bobby's wheelchair problem will be solved before the end. I don't read spoilers so this is a pure hunch, but I don't think he'll be wheeling around for long. As for "22 consecutive episodes without diverging from the main mythology," I put forth "Good God Y'all" as proof that you can have an episode that is part of the bigger story but doesn't reveal itself as such until the end. "Fallen Idol" had a TINY bit of that with the Paris-Demi God explaining that she's only revealing herself because the Earth is doomed.

With the other hunters, you are right, we did get to see those hunters Bobby sent to Sam. And I loved what we got. It's always interesting to me when we find out what drives a hunter. Most of the time it's some personal tragedy but it's always compelling. We just need more faces in the hunter community so that the inevitable showdown near the end will have some recognizable people for us to see.

The lack of Bobby is a sticking point for me. I love Castiel and Misha Collins performance (anyone who played a Drazen brother in 24 is cool in my book), but Jim Beaver deserved to become a regular cast member before the new guy. It does strike me as odd that this happened AND they crippled Bobby. I understand they probably don't want to have Bobby in every episode because then he becomes the answer to every problem and question. It's like having John Winchester around -- why solve the problem when you can defer to the older and wiser hunter. So, I get that, but making an angel a regular? That's even worse. We've been shown just how powerful angels are, so we know Cas is strong and smart. He's a regular cast member and the writers have had to come up with ways to gimp Cas such as the sigils he carved in the boys ribs, meant to "keep other angels away" when in reality it's meant as a quick fix to keep Cas less powerful and helpful. It's very obvious that the sigils weren't dictated by plot, but rather the writers realized that they had to de-power Cas in some way. Everything gets a bit too convenient when an angel can pop in and save the day.

-- JIM

You're dead on about the sigils being a plot device. They've been in place only a few episodes and already Lucifer contacted Sam in a dream and Zachariah actually found Dean. It seems the only character that it does fully insulate the boys from is Cas. And yes, while taking NOTHING away from Misha Collins, I'd have a problem with that if I was Beaver and starred in a substantive amount of episodes for three plus years and hadn't been given the bump. I would speculate it might be financial. A non-regular is obviously cheaper, but perhaps they had to lock Misha up to prevent him from going somewhere else. All talking out my ass on that, just guessing. I've been pretty diligent about avoiding spoilers as well. I even stopped watching the "Next Week On" stuff, which I watch on just about every show out there. What makes this show so special to take those steps?

-- BILLY

Making regular cast members reoccurring is something that's done for financial purposes all the time in television. Even if the actor is still listed in the credits they might not appear in very many episodes. Veronica Mars did this in season three to save money and Dollhouse is doing it right now for the same reason (Harry Lennix's Boyd seems to disappear randomly). So it's a little weird that a show like Supernatural would go about promoting someone to regular in this economy when it's lived as a two person cast for four years. Maybe you are on to something with your theory about locking Misha in for the duration.

I can't explain why this show would be the one that you stopped watching previews for. I know I was a spoiler-addict for many, many years. I remember trolling the AOL boards for The X-Files for spoilers. But I've seen cleaned up my act. The difference between then and now is the serial nature of television. Watch a preview for 24 or Lost and you might ruin the whole season. I don't suspect Supernatural would be as ruinable as those two shows, but part of what draws me to this show is the possibility of being surprised. It's always had the capability of surprising me.

-- JIM

Well it's easier for a show to surprise you when you're watching four seasons over the course of one or two months on DVD without the end bumpers (which yes, nowadays excluding Mad Men give away at least a substantive portion of the next episode). I'm sure if we watched the show from the beginning four years ago, we'd give each episode a bit more thought, but that's kind of besides the point. I suppose I avoid the spoilers here because I wasn't spoiled on the first four and would like to continue that if there is only one year left. And I can't imagine given the ratings that the show gets renewed again. It doesn't seem like a cheap project and it bottomed out as the lowest rated network show for the fourth consecutive Thursday last week. When you can't beat the disaster that is Jay Leno, you've got some serious problems.

But on a more optimistic note, I think this will let them end on a creative highpoint - completing Kripke's five year plan. I know a few other creators that would kill for a five year run nowadays and that it fits his original plan is a nice bit of synergy. Plus this isn't Buffy or Angel and when you are set in a less fantastic world where your main villain is Lucifer, aka Satan, aka the Morningstar, etc. you only get to do the apocalypse once. It's literally the worst fight Earth will ever see. What would you even do in season six? Aliens? Hmm.....

-- BILLY

I do hate sounding like a doomsayer, but even on The CW the ratings are abysmal. I Really can't see this show getting picked up. On one hand I feel completely devastated by this thought, but on the other hand (and I know I make this comparison a lot), Babylon 5 had a finite story to tell and it worked WONDERFULLY. Once that show finished it's story and got another bonus year it lost all of it's momentum. Kripke should be proud of his five years that (God willing) tell one complete story.

I know that if The X-Files had been canceled after year five I would have been devastated. I followed that show from day one. I'm sure that many of the fans of this show have followed it since day one and will be devastated when/if the cancellation happens, and maybe I don't have the same perspective since I just caught up over the summer but some of my favorite shows like Battlestar Galactica and Lost have ended their runs or announced their end dates and that has only made them stronger. Famed comic book writer Brian K. Vaughan said once that endings are what give stories meaning and he's right. Five solid years with a spectacular ending...that's all I want.

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Monday, October 12, 2009

Let The Healing Sorta Kinda Begin

Supernatural: Fallen Idol
Season 5, Episode 5

Well, we're about a quarter of the way through this season and we finally got an episode that doesn't quite stack up. Not that 'Fallen Idols' was a BAD episode but it just wasn't up to the standards set by the previous four episodes. Its never a good sign when the boys mention (and try to explain!) that they are doing something unrelated to the oncoming apocalypse. It's tantamount to the producers straight up telling us that we're going to be seeing a standalone episode. Standalone episodes are fine, but with the show's mythology drilling the importance of the apocalypse into our brains it seems out of place to go on a random hunt. I know that Sam and Dean bicker over this detail and Dean insists that they need to get some training in as duo before tackling the devil head on but I don't buy it.

There's been a lot of dread on the internet regarding this episode because of a certain "celebrity" guest starring and yes, Paris Hilton does have a relatively large role as the baddie in this episode but doesn't derail the episode much. Wait! What? Yes, that's right. I'm going to say it right now, in terms of stunt casting Paris Hilton doesn't do a terrible job. She's not a good actor by any stretch of the imagination, but I've seen Britney Spears guest star on How I Met Your Mother and barely survived. Compared to Ms. Spears, Paris Hilton is fabulous.

So the boys are in Canton, Ohio investigating murders that seem to be committed by famous dead people. It's pretty cool to have the episode set in a town that I lived fairly close to at one point (not as awesome as the episode that took place in my hometown of Erie, Pa however).

This episode easily could suffice as our "comedy" episode this season as we get to see homicidal versions of Abe Lincoln and Ghandi. Plus we got to see Dean's impersonation of Honest Abe--comic gold. The silliness of the killers and the always funny quips from Dean made this episode fairly funny without being out and out goofy like 'Monster Movie Special.'

Without any movement on the main story line the only thing keeping this episode from feeling like a complete waste is the movement in the Winchester boys drama. It seems as if the problems between the boys aren't completely ironed out. Sam feels like Dean is treating him with kid gloves and Dean... well, Dean knows he's treating Sam with kid gloves and just doesn't care. Okay, maybe that's not exactly true, Dean is too proud to admit that he's treating Sam any differently. Dean is treating Sam like an older brother treats his younger sibling, like he's older, wiser and knows what's best. Ultimately most of the problems that the boys are having boils down to this.

In the end it's interesting to note that you can track Dean's feelings towards Sam by his car. When Dean offers to let Sam drive the Impala you know he's trying to smooth things over with his brother. It's the best gesture that Dean can make to Sam and he's been making the same sort of gesture since before their falling out. Still, it's nice to see the boys get some of these issues ironed out and start making amends.

All in all this episode was not one of my favorites, the stunt casting (while not deadly) was distracting, the story was rather bland and honestly I want more arc based storytelling.

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Thursday, October 8, 2009

O Captain! My Captain!

How I Met Your Mother: Robin 101
Season 5, Episode 3

One of the dominating concerns that I had coming into this season of HIMYM was how the writers would handle the Barney/Robin relationship. I feel a bit like Robin and Barney from the end of last season, part of me loves the idea of the two of them together and then when I admit that another part of me realizes that I just Mosbied the other part and now I don't like the idea very much. On paper, the two of them are made for each other. Going all the way back to the first season when Robin played Wingman for Barney and they enjoyed whiskey and cigars with each other, you could see this relationship as potentially happening in the future. But half of the jokes about Barney revolve around him being a misogynistic player, we know he wasn't always like this but for better or worse THIS is the Barney we know and (begrudgingly) love.

Putting Barney into a committed relationship (with any woman) would seem a bit like neutering his character. Episodes like last week's "Double Date" didn't exactly make me feel any better about this situation. Barney got to act like himself for the most part but Robin just played the catty jealous girlfriend who was unhappy about her boyfriend going to a strip club. The problem here is that back in season one she was A-OK with going to a strip club with Barney and Ted in "Belly Full of Turkey." So her annoyance at the situation seems hypocritical. "Double Date" ended with absolutely no resolution of Robin's issues. Nope, instead, Barney stayed just as oblivious and Robin stayed just as mad. In short, it did nothing to make me feel any better about the new status quo.

"Robin 101" doesn't right all the wrongs that "Double Date" created but it does work to fix a couple issues and we get our first glimpse of Professor Mosby albeit not teaching students.

Let's get the gripes out of the way. Though Marshall's love of his college barrel and Lily's sad case of "barrel resin allergy" were funny (especially Lily's, "Damn baby, be cool" to Robin) the whole plot was just another one note misuse of Jason Segal. I'm still waiting for something meatier for him and Marshall and while the "Bermuda Triangle" in front of the apartment steps was funny, it just wasn't anything to write home about.

What was great was the Barney/Ted interaction. I suspect that this is the closest that we'll come to seeing Professor Mosby for a while and it didn't let me down. Barney acting like the typical ADHD addled college student and begging Ted to have class outside was just one of a number of hilarious moments in these scenes (Robin is a typical cover hog? Who knew).

Meanwhile, Robin and Lily obsessing over the notebook found in Barney's briefcase played out just as obnoxiously as you might imagine. It's not that I don't empathize with Robin, I mean she is dating Barney after all. That's got to be nerve wracking. But for all of Robin's going on about how she isn't a typical girl she sure acts like a stereotype. Even going so far as to become downright insulted when she confronts Barney and Ted.

Of course Barney and Robin talk it out in the end and everything is presumably going to be fine between the two of them. During all this I realized two things. 1. Barney and Robin as a couple are inevitably going to neuter Barney's character and 2. This isn't a bad thing. Some of the funniest Barney moments have nothing to do with him as a sexual miscreant. As I was going through season four on Blu Ray this weekend I was reminded of the episode where Barney and Ted keep McClaren's open during the snowstorm. That whole sequence is framed around the two trying to get with some girls but the jokes are all about Ted and Barney being goofy. Or how about Barney and the marathon or Barney and Bob Barker; the list goes on. Barney can still be slimy, but Barney can still be Barney without sleeping around New York.

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Sunday, October 4, 2009

SAT Time! Night of the Living Dead:Shaun of the Dead::28 Days Later:___________

There are quite a few rules to survival in Zombieland or so we're told by Jesse Eisenberg's Columbus a neurotic survivor of the zombie apocalypse. Rule number one: cardio, rule number 3: seatbelts and so on, it's clear that Columbus has thought a lot about how to survive in a world dominated by the walking dead. And, I imagine most of the audience for Zombieland will have as well considering how popular and prominent zombie horror movies have become in the forty-one years since George Romero created the modern take on the monster with Night of the Living Dead.

Romero's zombie is a slow, shambling reanimated corpse, the Romero style zombie was lampooned in 2004's zombie romantic comedy Shaun of the Dead. Romero has publicly stated that he doesn't like the idea of quick running zombies, but with the box office hit 28 Days Later audiences proved that they don't agree. And so we have Zombieland a horror movie that openly lampoons it's own subject matter. But the big question is, does it succeed?

Zombieland follows several survivors after the world is decimated by an outbreak of zombie. Columbus(Jesse Eisenberg) is on his way to his parents house in Columbus, Ohio when he meets Tallahassee(Woody Harrelson). Tallahassee insists that the two don't use real names so that they don't get too attached to one another. Along the way the duo meet with Wichita(Emma Stone) and Little Rock(Abigail Breslin), sisters on their way to Los Angeles to visit an amusement park they once went to before the world went to hell.

The cast is small, but the performances are not. Harrelson in particular wows as the gruff Tallahassee who takes glee in killing every zombie he sees and yearns for a twinkie. Tallahassee at first seems like a one note joke, and honestly he's the funniest character in the picture, but his character has the strongest emotional arc of the film. It's this arc that elevates Zombieland from being a somewhat forgettable comedy to something stronger. Harrelson may be the crown jewel of this picture, but the other cast members don't slack. It's kinda weird to see Abigail Breslin in a zombie movie since the predominate vision in my head of her is as the little girl in Signs, she does a fine job here and when she and Harrelson share the screen it's a joy to see.

If there is a defining fault to Zombieland it would be it's lack of zombies! For a movie that insists that the world is dead and filled with the walking dead, I could literally count on two hands the number of zombies the group encounter between Texas and Los Angeles. I'm not sure if the director was saving money for the big finale or what, but it's a glaring oversight. When the group casually drives into the center of Los Angeles without seeing a single zombie--it's a problem. With a population between the city and the surrounding areas in excess of 17 million I expect to see more than six zombies in downtown L.A. When there ARE zombies in the movie it does work as a horror movie, with quite a few scares, some of them are generic jump scares, but overall the movie doesn't slight on the horror aspect.

One of the greatest aspects of this film is the narration coupled with the "survival rules." Columbus narrates the film and his survival rules accompany the narration on the screen as the happen. It's a beautiful twist that looks wonderful and results in quite a few laughs. It's like we're viewing a movie version of Max Brooks "Zombie Survival Handbook." These parts coupled with the tremendous opening title sequence make this film a visual joy to watch

Whether or not you enjoy Zombieland largely depends on how you like your comedy. Zombieland is an American comedy through and through. There is less subtlety to the humor and it plays less like an homage to it's source material than Shaun did. That's not a slight against the film, but if you liked Shaun and are expecting more of the same you'll be disappointed. The funniest portion of the movie comes during the last third of the film when the group looks for suitable lodging in L.A. I'm loathe to reveal much about it, but it's the highlight of the film and you'll recognize it when you see it.

Maybe I'm not the most partial person to review a zombie movie, I've grown up watching the Living Dead films, one of my favorite video games is Left 4 Dead, hell, my parent's first date was to see Dawn of the Dead, I can basically credit my existence to the the genre. I tell you this as full disclosure, I'm a big zombie whore. I'll pretty much watch anything with zombies in them. But I don't enjoy everything with zombies in it, the Resident Evil films have zombies in them and they are still steaming piles of shit. So, trust me when I say that Zombieland is a great film certainly worth a look during this spooky month.

Its funny, it's scary and really what else is there to look forward to in the genre this month? Saw 6? Now, THAT is funny!

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Friday, October 2, 2009

Gettin' The Band Back Together

Supernatural:The End
Season 5, Episode 4

One thing that I absolutely love is the idea of a "What if..." story. I adore Marvel Comics What If... books(though I have not read one in about a decade. Do they still exist?) because they are always interesting at the very least. These types of stories allow the reader/viewer to see something that could have or might happen. Supernatural fans are particularly used to this form of storytelling from episodes like "What Is And What Should Never Be"(wherein Dean is drugged by a Djinn to believe his mother never died).

These stories seem to crop up quite a bit in genre television with your mirror universes, vengeance demons and quantum mirrors allowing characters to visit a different reality to see what might have been or what might occur. These stories are always interesting to me when a character from the show gets a chance to see this altered reality and learn something important that can possibly benefit them. Stargate SG-1 did this wonderfully in the first season where Daniel Jackson visited an alternate reality through a quantum mirror wherein he learned that the Goa'uld were headed towards Earth. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer did this horrendously in the episode 'The Wish' where a vengeance demon sends Cordelia to an alternate reality where Buffy never came to Sunnydale. In that episode Cordelia is killed and when the world reverts back to the status quo NO ONE remembered that any of it happened. It was a wasted event.

I'm happy to say that Supernatural follows the SG-1 model and doesn't make this episode worthless. Plus, ya know, semi-sequel to two of my favorite episodes: 'Croatoan' and 'In The Beginning.'

I think I can safely say that this episode of Supernatural will go down as a classic. If for nothing else than the spectacular acting of Jensen Ackles. Dean speaks to Sam after last week's reveal that he is the vessel of Lucifer and, well, let's just say that the phone call didn't go the way that Sam exactly wanted it to. Sam is at a point where he needs his brother to strengthen his resolve and keep him from submitting to Lucifer. Dean tells Sam that the two of them need to stay away from each other because staying together might be worse--might cause the catastrophe they are trying to prevent. The emotion in Dean's voice and on his face betray his true feelings to us. This separation is killing Dean just as much as it's hurting Sam. Dean is just too proud to admit this to Sam or Castiel.

Dean ends his call and goes to sleep but when he wakes he finds that he is in the near future of 2014 where most of the world has been decimated by the Croatoan virus. It's a spectacular reveal, after the season two episode where the boys first encountered Croatoan. My only gripe, and this is a small one considering how awesome the resulting action sequence was, is that the infected people act more like 28 Days Later zombies than the demon infected people from the first 'Croatoan' episode. Dean escapes the infection zone and heads off to find Bobby.

Zachariah appears to Dean and reveals a couple things about this nightmare vision of the future. Yes, Sarah Palin is president. The end of the world is indeed nigh. Also, Dean has to stay in the future for three days. Supposedly this all happens because Dean doesn't agree to be host to Michael. So Dean gets to play Ebenzer Scrooge and visit his and his friends futures.

Let's see where everyone stands
Future Dean: Kind of a Dick
Future Castiel: De-Angeled and leading a harem in orgies
Future Impala: Busted and rusted
Future Sam: Dead to Dean

Of course, WE can tell that Future Dean is lying. In fact Future Sam isn't dead, or at least his body isn't. Apparently in the future at some point Sam will say yes to Lucifer and become his host. Think back to 'Croatoan.' Remember when the infected guy left town and told(presumably) Yellow Eyes that Sam was immune to the virus? Well, we've got our answer as to why that was important. I had assumed that the Croatoan virus was never going to be brought back into play since Yellow Eyes was killed so the fact that it was made a large part of this episode was invigorating, but getting an answer to why Sam being immune was important was downright amazing. It's part of why I love this show. It truly is the Babylon 5 of horror and if it turns out that all of this wasn't the result of planning, but just happy coincidence...well, then these writers are the luckiest people in Hollywood.

Future Dean has succeeded in finding the Colt and intends to use it to kill Lucifer once and for all. I've got to question whether this would work or not. When Dean first met Castiel, he tried using the demon killing knife on him and it didn't work. Lucifer is a fallen angel, it stand to reason that the demon killing knife would not work and if the knife doesn't work who is to say that the Colt will work. Regardless Dean and Dean head out to attempt anyway. Dean is knocked out by Future Dean(who isn't a very nice guy and intended to use his friends as a diversion while he faced Lucifer) and when he awakes he finds Future Dean dead at the feet of Lucifer/Sam.

Now, my praise of Ackles stands as the best acting in this episode, but Jared Padalecki's portrayal of the devil was spectacular as well. His Lucifer isn't as great as Mark Pellegrino's but it's so off-putting to watch Sam as the devil. Lucifer continues his attempt to win the hearts and minds of the people by explaining that he's a good guy who's only crime was loving God too much. That the angels were better than humans who only kill and make war. Hello! Mr. Lucifer! It's the pot calling, he says the kettle is black. Dean pleads with Lucifer to kill him, because if he doesn't then Dean is going to find and kill him.

Zachariah ends this trip to the future and again asks Dean to be Michael's sword. Zachariah is appalled when Dean again refuses. Dean's a smart guy, there is one thing that he can change that may prevent this future: he can bring his brother back into the cool kids club to help stop Lucifer. And so the Winchester brothers are back together. Though they only spent two episodes away from each other, the return is much appreciated.

So in the end, can we believe any of what Dean saw in the future? Did Zachariah really send Dean into the future or is this another one of his games. Last season he did make the boys forget who they were. None of that was real, why should we believe this is any more real? Plus, President Palin? Preposterous!

So, we got our "What if..." story and we got the boys back together. Dean remembers everything from the future and is determined not to have it happen. Now more than ever I cannot wait to see what is going to happen next on this series.

As a fan of the show, I must caution everyone to be prepared for the worst. The ratings this season have been abysmal. Thursday is a very competitive night of television. The Winchesters may be facing an apocalypse in more than one way.

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Friday, September 25, 2009

Let Me Ask You An Important Question

Supernatural: Free To Be You And Me
Season 5, Episode 3

Have you ever stopped and thought, "why are the Winchesters so damn important?" If you're reading this, then the answer for you will be fairly obvious: they are the main characters on one of your favorite television shows. And that's cool, but think about that question within the context of the show. Dean is the vessel for the archangel Michael and Sam is the last child standing after the Yellow-Eyed Demon's child battle royal ended. He was the focus of the demon world's plot to release Lucifer by breaking the final seal. Hell, Chuck is off somewhere writing the "gospel" of the Winchester brothers. That's a lot of emphasis on two twenty-something hunters. Clearly both Heaven and Hell have big things in mind for these boys.

I don't have an answer to this question, but I desperately hope the the writers eventually do. We were given some tantalizing tips as to the significance of one of the Winchesters as well as the return of a very old friend, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Great Winchester Break-Up of 2009 continues in this episode with Sam working at a bar with the MOST nosy waitress of all time. Sam's in the area of some serious Book of Revelation events and so he calls Bobby to dispatch some hunters to clean up the demon activity. It's good to see Bobby back home and doing his thing. Surely Bobby isn't going to be in that wheelchair forever and I cannot wait to see some more stories focusing on him.

Dean gets to team up with Castiel in an attempt to find God by trapping an interrogating the archangel Raphael. This is pretty much the funniest portion of the night with Dean dropping a ton of one-liners ranging from calling Raphael a "Teenage Mutant Ninjangel" to telling Cas that the last time he teleported him somewhere Dean didn't "poop for a week." Clearly the writers love this pairing since Misha Collins is a series regular now. I do love these scenes, Castiel and Dean trolling for girls in a strip club is surprisingly funny. But there is a greater importance to these events.

Raphael tells Cas that God is dead and Lucifer is who resurrected him. The demoralizing thing about this is that it is very much a possibility. Everything that Raphael tells Cas could be the truth, Lucifer would want to make the angels fight themselves to make the apocalypse easier to achieve. And as Dean points out, this situation is very much like the same one that he and Sam faced back in season one. Does Cas believe that his father is still out there somewhere? Cas has hope, he still believes God is out there. But what about Dean, Cas asks how he is doing being away from his brother. Dean says he's doing great. But the look on his face betrays his his true feelings. It would be smart to remember that Dean also said he was doing great after he made his deal with the crossroads demon.

Speaking of the other Winchester brother, Sam's vacation from the supernatural wasn't going to last long as the hunters dispatched by Bobby run afoul of a multitude of demons and return to confront Sam. The surviving hunters get Sam to admit the demon blood addiction and the raising of Lucifer. Sam successfully denies the demon blood that the hunters pour in his mouth but the damage is already done. Sam, who is trying to prove to himself and his brother that anyone can change, is at a crossroads. When he gets a visit from an old friend: Jessica. Yes, THAT Jessica, the one who died in the pilot episode.

Turns out it's not Jess at all, instead it's our best good friend Lucifer. He tells Sam that contrary to what he believes, there are no second chances and that life sucks. Lucifer is apparently looking for Sam but can't find him(Lucifer is an angel after all, so Cas's sigils are doing their job). What isn't explained is how Lucifer is speaking to Sam at all. But that's not as important as what Lucifer tells Sam. Sam is the intended vessel for Lucifer. Just as Dean is Michael's vessel, Sam is intended as the meat-suit for Lucifer. Lucifer tells Sam that he will never lie to him and that he wants to give Sam a gift. It's incredibly creepy and Mark Pellegrino is spectacular as the devil. I love the direction that they are going with Lucifer. Is he all evil? Is he lying? He seems like an okay guy, which is what makes him so dangerous.

This leads me back to my first question: why are the Winchester brothers so important? It's an important question, one I hope is resolved. I can't help but think that this season is going to inevitably end with a Dean-Michael/Sam-Lucifer throwdown. I feel like Sam and Dean are going to be reunited soon, their separation doesn't seem tenable and with Lucifer's revelation to Sam, he needs the support of his family more than ever. But how is Dean going to react to this news? Probably not well. One thing is for sure, I can't wait to find out where it all goes from here.

And don't forget to check out the Supernatural themed That's A Wrap Podcast going up Sunday/Monday this week!

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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

FLUGELHORN!

How I Met Your Mother: Definitions
Season 5, Episode 1

Barney: "Lily, can't you just let us be happy?"
Lily: "You're not happy! You Just think you're happy because you feel happy."

Yes, How I Met Your Mother is back for it's fifth season and though many things have changed through the course of the series, Definitions felt like a proper return.

First of all I do have to get something off of my chest, we mistakenly forgot to delete the series recording on our DVR for Heroes and it recorded instead of HIMYM. Apologies to show creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for getting my hands on HIMYM in a shady way, I promise it won't happen again. Trust me, I'm NEVER watching Heroes again. There might be people who still like that show, I like to think these people's parents are related.

Right, back to the topic at hand! When we last saw the gang Marshall and Lily had already moved out to their Dowisetrepla apartment, Ted was offered a position as a college professor and Robin and Barney had finally sort of become an item. Interestingly enough, Ted's story here has less of an impact than the supposed 'B' plot of Robin and Barney.

Don't get me wrong, Ted's story is great. It's wonderful to get that tantalizing little clue to the mothers identity and the moment with Ted questioning himself over the correct spelling of 'professor' while standing at the front of the lecture hall was probably the biggest laugh-out-loud moment for me. Hey Ted, it's okay, we've all had trouble remembering if professor has one 'f' or two, it's cool. The problem with Ted's story is that he is...kind of a douche. Which is to say that he acts like ninety-eight percent of all college professors I've had the displeasure to attend class with.

The parts of the episode with Ted spastically jumping from cool-guy-"call me Ted" professor to authoritative dictator professor all felt true to the character of Ted Mosby, but didn't hold much laughter because it's exactly where I expected Ted to go. Though we are creeping towards the eventual culmination of the series with Ted finding his future special-lady-friend, it's hard not to feel like Ted and Marshall are being slightly marginalized.

Ted at least has the new job driving him, Marshall, who hasn't really had much to do since the wedding in season two, continues to be trivialized here as he mostly just acts as a sidekick to both Ted and Lily. Jason Segal can handle more than he's being given here and some of Marshall's best stuff was the drama at the end of season one and beginning of season two. Marshall is my favorite character, so it's hard not to feel slighted when we see him used mostly as a punchline.

At the end of last year we lost Alyson Hannigan when she went out on maternity leave and I can't really say that the show hurt from the loss of her Lily. We don't really gain much from her return (aside from a smaller role for Marshall to play) except for some classic 'Aldrin Justice' as Lily locks Robin and Barney in the bedroom until they define their relationship. As much as Lily annoys me, it's good to see that her characterization has been kept fairly consistent. I like the fact that Lily is a kindergarten teacher who essentially acts like a 5-year-old around her friends.

And of course we have the the supposed 'B' plot - Robin and Barney's relationship. Going into this season I was worried about how these two being a couple would neuter the Barnacle. I can say with confidence that after tonight I don't have that worry. Essentially to placate Lily, Robin and Barney decide to "lie" about their relationship to escape the room. I loved the fact that to these two the lie is the relationship. They may not even realize it at a conscious level, thinking instead that they are perpetrating an elaborate lie (which they indicate earlier turns the two of them on) but when Barney suggests brunch... yeah, they're a couple. But it works, Robin won't get angry if Barney says some disgusting thing about a woman and Robin can hold her own with Barney in drinking and smoking. It was actually sort of sweet in a twisted and disgusting way, which is to say just like Barney and Robin.

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Friday, September 18, 2009

War, What Is It Good For? Episode Titles, Apparently.

Supernatural: Good God, Y'all
Season 5, Episode 2

One of the things that oftentimes annoys me in television is overuse of character angst. My wife would tell you that main character angst is the reason she refuses to watch Alias and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (though she has no problem with angsty Winchester brothers, hmmm). Yes, angsty characters can be annoying, but when the drama is EARNED, when it makes sense for the characters to be "whiny," as my wife would say, then I will accept it. That's part of the reason why I could readily accept watching the two aforementioned television shows. Sydney Bristow was obnoxious but her fiance had just been killed by the man she thought of as a surrogate father and her boss. And Buffy? Well, she did die a couple of times and there was that whole "having sex with Angel turns him into an evil dude" thing. So, it makes sense for those characters.

At the end of last week's episode we had a dramatic quasi-"breakup" between Dean and Sam. They were going to hunt together still but Dean admitted that he doesn't trust Sam anymore. In my last review I admitted that I didn't buy Dean's seeming to forgive and then reject his brother; I'm happy to say that after tonight's episode the producers have sold me on the Winchester rift in an organic way. Although I fear some fans will be upset by the outcome of tonight's episode, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

First things first, it appears as if Bobby's confidence that he would walk again from last episode was not because of determination on his behalf. No, the first thing he says upon seeing Castiel is a demand for angelic healing. I'm not sure I like this turn at all. Bobby is a determined motherfrakker. Everything we've seen of his character for the last five seasons tells me that he wouldn't rely on an angel (or anyone else, for that matter) for assistance in getting back on his feet. Of course Bobby likely knows that no other power will get him walking again and this is his form of despair, but it's depressing to see him like this. Bobby is usually a rock. I'd expect Bobby to man-up and prepare in any way that he can for the oncoming apocalypse. It's hard to watch Bobby in this state, as one of my favorite characters and a proxy father figure for the boys you want him to be back to full health, if not for himself then for Dean and Sam.

On the surface this episode seems like a diversion from the main plot line of the season. In some respects is absolutely is, Lucifer is not seen and though Castiel is positive God is responsible for his revival (and Dean and Sam's teleportation away from Lucifer) he has not met him yet. But, there are just so many things that are set up in this episode that it cannot truly be considered a standalone.

Cas indicates that the only prudent way to stop Lucifer is to find God. Apparently the only way to find God is use an amulet that burns when in His presence. Just where is this amulet that Cas needs? Right around Dean Winchester's neck. That's right, the amulet that Sammy gave to Dean. Ok, ok, what?! Look, I know during the flashback where Sam gives Dean the amulet it's said that the amulet was special, but what? This reveal just came completely out of nowhere. There was literally no buildup to it in the least. I don't recall during season four anyone even looking at that damn amulet, let alone a reference to it by any of the myriad angels in the season. Maybe I'm missing something, but this really felt like deus ex machina, a way to artificially make Dean even more important than he already is.

One thing I did like about this whole scene was Cas calling Dean on cell phone. Because of the sigils that Cas carved on the boys' ribcages not even he can find them. It's a funny scene but it speaks volumes, the writers realized that having an angel on the boys side was too big of a "get out of jail free" card. So now Cas can't magically find and save Dean and Sam. Which of course leads us to the main plot of the episode.

Rufus (Badass Laureate Steven Williams, beloved by me for his turn as 'X' on The X-Files) calls Bobby on a satellite phone with a cry for help. The phone disconnects before Bobby can get the whole story, but we get to hear some important stuff. A town in Colorado is overrun with demons and Rufus desperately needs help. You can surely see where this is going.

So this town is out in the middle of nowhere, there is no cell phone reception and it looks like the entire town is caught in the middle of this demon showdown. No cell phones means that Castiel isn't going to save the boys at the last minute. Between Rufus showing up in the pre-title sequence and the re-introduction of long gone guest stars, this episode felt like a veritable reunion episode. Yes, tonight marks the return of Ellen and Jo Harvelle, both of whom haven't been seen since season two. Personally, I was excited to see Jo back. And she's hunting with her mother! It's like the anti-Winchesters! I sincerely hope that we get to see more of these two during this season. I loved the arc with the Roadhouse in season two and I always enjoy stories where the boys meet up with other hunters.

It turns out that there are no demons in town, just one sadistic horseman: War (Titus Welliver, who just so happened to guest star as an eco-terrorist in my favorite standalone X-Files episode). War's coming is straight out of the Book of Revelation. Of course, like any modern horseman should, War rides a sweet-ass red Ford Mustang. War has been using a ring to make the townsfolk believe that demons are among them so that they will begin to...well...war with each other.

After figuring this all out the boys stop War by cutting his ring (fingers and all) right off.

For those playing along at home, the correct answer to "when should we have known there were no demons in town," was when Sam used the demon killing knife on a couple of "demons" in the convenience store and there wasn't a light show. I noticed that something was up, but Sammy didn't because he was too busy being a demon blood junkie. Yes, God may have given Sam "demon blood methadone" in the last episode but he's clearly not past the cravings. Dean and Sam have a sit down at the end where Sam admits that he's not doing any better, he doesn't trust himself anymore than Dean trusts him and he needs to find his own way. Dean agrees without a fight, which takes Sam aback. But Dean offers Sam the Impala. That act alone speaks volumes. Dean is protective of two things: his brother and his car. By offering his car to Sam he is telling Sam that he does still sort of trust him and he expects to see him again. Sam denying the car is a way of signaling to Dean he won't be around for a while.

Last week I complained about the Sam/Dean rift. But with Sam admitting that he needs help and he's endangering Dean there is a reason for the angst and drama. It makes the final scene in last week's premiere infinitely better in retrospect. These boys have been through hell (literally, in Deans case) and this was bound to happen. The only question is how long? The Winchesters always seem to have these break-up spats, so how long will this one last?

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Monday, September 14, 2009

The Good, The Bland, And The Ugly

Back by ~~popular~~ absolutely no-one's demand, it's the That's a Wrap! Podcast! This week we take a look back at the summer movie season to find out which movies we loved and which ones we wish would fall into a well and die. We also get a chance to preview the fall television slate to discuss what we're going to be watching this season.

I'm not going to lie, this week's Cast is NSFH. What is NSFH? Well, you've heard of NSFW, not safe for work, NSFH is not safe for humanity. We, uh, we might have gone a bit overboard with the swearing. Seriously folks, if you think this week's podcast is bad--just imagine the stuff we cut.

Marvel: as Billy gets his hate on Up.

Behold: as Garrett talks about a movie he's never seen(try to guess which one!).

Astonish: as Jim becomes the angriest G.I. Joe fan ever.

The Good, The Bland, And The Ugly(58:05)

Friday, September 11, 2009

Return of the TAWp!

Welcome back to the That's A Wrap! TAWp Nine in its latest form with yet another deviation of the total number of posts. As always, your faithful That's a Wrap! Editors pick individual favorites in a particular category. Together the picks combine to create VOLTRON! Well, ok, not quite as cool as robotic kitties of doom, but it's close.

As we reboot the website for the new Fall TV season, we're mixing it up with a list featuring highlights from the big screen. This week we chronicle SIX big Oscar and box office heavyweights of the Fall and Winter seasons.

3. Jim - Invictus (12/11/2009)

I've been on an Eastwood tear this summer. I've long been a vocal supporter of how great Mystic River was, been in awe of Unforgiven and Letters From Iwo Jimo and recently really enjoyed Gran Torino. Excluding the hick-up that was Million Dollar Baby (and I blame that on Hilary Swank, she's been nothing but bad news since she ruined the Karate Kid series for me), he's generally aces. And a political/social drama starring his Unforgiven buddy, Morgan Freeman... You had me at hello, Clint. And it's a sports movie, too! Eastwood-political/social drama/Freeman/sports - That's like a parallelogram of awesome right there.

This Oscar front-runner stars Freeman as South African President Nelson Mandela attempting to unify his country in the aftermath of apartheid around hosting the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Jason Bourne himself, Matt Damon, plays South African team captain Francois Pienaar.

3. Billy - Zombieland (10/2/09)

Ok, ok, so this one is not going to be on anyone's Oscar list this year, but I just cannot pass up the allure of a good zombie movie. And by "good" I mean...well, I'll watch just about any zombie movie at least once. I have absolutely no illusions that this is going to be anywhere near as funny or enchanting as the zombie-comedy standard bearer Shaun of the Dead but I just don't care. I love horror movies and this October seems to have a lack of anything that looks remotely interesting (Saw 12 is coming out, right?), so Zombieland is at least filling that niche for me.

If zombies don't do it for you (and if not, what the hell is wrong with you?) then how about Woody Harrelson? Remember when he was awesome? He was totally in White Men Can't Jump! He was the titular "white man!" Seriously though, the cast looks totally bonkers: Bill Murray, Jesse Eisenberg, Mike White, Abigail Breslin. I just can't pass this one up.

2. Jim - Brothers (12/4/2009)

Like all my picks on today's list, this remake of a 2004 Danish drama peaks my interest with a stellar director in Jim Sheridan. Between My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, The Boxer and In America, he's got one of my favorite imdb pages. And his cast in this one certainly has a lot of potential with Tobey Maguire as a soldier believed to be KIA, Natalie Portman as his wife and mother of two young girls and Jake Gyllenhaal as Maguire's drifter brother.

Like most Sheridan films, this appears to be a tough emotional journey for characters we'll care about with great tragedy and in the end something hopeful and life-affirming. It's a tried and true formula that works for me like killer robots works for Billy. And really, we plan the summer for the fun movies. The highlights from this time of year are meant to be meaningful and emotionally challenging. And that my friends is right up Sheridan's alley.

2. Billy - Where The Wild Things Are (10/16/09)

I'm in for this one because of two words: Spike. Jonze. After being absolutely bowled over by Jonze's previous films Being John Malkovich and Adaptation I would sit through anything that he directs. Seriously, do you think those movies were great because of the Charlie Kaufman scripts? Synecdoche, New York and Being Human say hello. Add Jonze's keen direction to a movie based on Maurice Sendak's classic children's book and you have a match made in heaven.

Want another reason to see this movie? Watch the trailer, it's full of CGI Wild Things and they look fabulous! My usual feeling is this: Special effects aren't. I've got to a place where I look at most every big budget special effect blockbuster and just don't believe anything on the screen could be real. It's rare when I see something truly otherworldly and think that it looks like it could exist within our space, but by God those wild things fit that bill. I still have some misgivings with the voice cast(Tony Soprano? Really?) but am willing to forgive them because it just looks so damn fun.

1. Jim - The Lovely Bones (12/11/2009)

(Note: I am not stealing this phrase from Billy. I wrote mine first. So there, bitches.) Two words - Peter. Jackson. Even after the um... let's call it... uneven job with the remake of King Kong, this is a guy who has built up such an enormous credit of trust with me between The Frighteners, Dead Alive and that little project from a few years ago.

Based on Alice Sebold's 2002 novel, this is one of two projects coming out this year I'm so jazzed for I plan on reading the book first (the other being Cormac McCarthy's The Road). The story of a child's death and how her family go on while she observes from heaven stars Mark Wahlberg, who recently built up a new reservoir of credit with The Departed just as he was running out of love for Boogie Nights, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci and Atonement's Saoirse Ronan as the murdered child.

1. Billy - The Road (11/25/09)

Part of the reason why I want to see this movie so badly is just because after reading the phenomenal Cormac McCarthy novel this movie is based on I cannot fathom how someone could make it into a compelling film. It's not Watchmen-level unfilmable, but the prose-like narrative is half of what made The Road an impressive read, without that I'm not sure the story will have the same kind of impact. I want to see director John Hillcoat succeed because I do love the book, but I have my worries.

The other reason I want desperately to see this flick? Purely selfish, the bombed out post-apocalyptic southern coast depicted in this movie was filmed in my hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. Yeah, it's a silly reason, but I'm itching to see places that I've been substituting for a devastated countryside.

Oh yeah, the cast is wicked awesome too: Viggo Mortensen, Garret Dillahunt, Robert Duvall, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce. Can't wait to see this flick.

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Can We Start A Twitter Trending Topic Called #DeanWinchesterKicksAss?

Supernatural: Sympathy For the Devil
Season 5, Episode 1

It's difficult to get excited for a television premiere when it doesn't feel like the show went anywhere during the summer break. Longtime Supernatural fans will cry out that the show, in fact, has been gone for the entire summer. Ok, ok, for you longtime Supernatural fans the summer must have been GRUELING but for us Johnny-come-lately fans the summer was an excuse to watch the entire series for the first time.

I'll fully admit that I initially wrote this show off as average CW teeny bopper drama until I heard that some of my favorite The X-Files producers we working on this series. So I gave it a shot. Damn. Am I glad I did. Without going into too much gushing fanboy-ism, I'm hooked. Explaining the series to friends as being like if The X-Files and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer made sweet, sweet love and the culmination of that fateful night was offspring that wasn't as whiny as Mommy Buffy and just as kick-ass as Daddy Mulder is a good indication of how seriously I take this series.

So, the Winchester boys haven't been gone this summer. No, they've been playing consistently in my DVD and Blu-Ray player for the entire summer. When we last saw the Winchester brothers, Sam and Dean, it was the end of the divisive fourth season. Sam decided to harness his demon powers to stop Lilith with Ruby at his side, unwittingly breaking the final lock holding Satan. With Ruby (and her awful acting) and Lilith dead, the boys are now facing the Prince of Evil himself, Lucifer.

Many fans didn't seem to enjoy the fourth season of the series, and maybe I have a different perspective since I watched the entire season over the course of a week, but I quite enjoyed the demon/angel war presented last year. This year seems to be pushing in much the same direction with the Winchesters at odds with both the demon world and the angels who apparently pushed for war in an attempt to finally defeat Lucifer once and for all.

One of the reasons I loved the fourth season was the way that it made the ongoing story of the previous seasons congeal into a compelling mythology that wasn't entirely visible previously. It gives the older seasons' arcs more gravitas in retrospect and truly feels like this year is the final chapter of a pre-planned story. Regardless of whether the show continues into a sixth season (and all indications are that it will) this five season arc will go down as being very well done and compelling. Maybe not as well thought out as say Babylon 5's arc, but close enough for me to make the connection.

Without going into too many plot specifics(if you haven't watched yet, go!) I will say that this episode was simultaneously satisfying and aggravating. The boys are rescued from the monastery and Castiel is brought back to life by some mysterious third party. It makes me think that the Twitter trending topic #Godishere was more than Twitter Christians reacting to the Supernatural fans trending #luciferiscoming. Viral marketing on behalf of the show, perhaps? Hmm, methinks so.) which is by far the most compelling thing to happen in the episode.

Meg Manning's demon makes her return as our first "face" demon that the boys must go up against. Bobby is possessed and breaks free from control long enough to use the demon killing knife on himself. Bobby doesn't die (Thank God!) but is told by doctors that he will never walk again.

The biggest news that is ACTUALLY spoken (not just implied like Castiel's resurrection by mystery person) is that the Archangel Michael is just itching to get into a brawl with Lucifer but needs a willing person to serve as his host. Not just any person, someone deemed to be Michael's Sword: Dean Winchester. Of course, after Zachariah showed his true colors last season, the last thing Dean wants to agree to is being a meat-suit for an angel throw down.

Lucifer, however, finds a host by convincing a depressed widow (Mark Pellegrino of Lost and Dexter)that God abandoned him and could have saved his late wife and child. It's an interesting dynamic that I cannot wait to see play out over the season. But seriously, if Lucifer shows up at your doorstep and says, "Bro, God's totally a dick, he totally lied about me being the prince of lies," don't believe him!

The big problem I have with the episode is that Dean seemingly forgives Sam early in the episode only to tell Sam later that he will never trust him again. I'm all for a rift between the boys - season four focused on that quite a bit and it turned Dean into my favorite character. Here it seems silly and contrived. The world is ending. Lucifer is rising. Shit is going down. The Winchesters need to man up and save the world. The rift itself wasn't even the big problem, it's just that it occurred at the very end of the episode. We didn't get a cliffhanger of any sort and this Dean/Sam fight seems to happen so frequently that I kind of felt like we'd been down this road before.

In the end the good outweighs the bland. I'm still on board for the rest of this season.

BTW anyone hear those rumors that Jensen "Dean Winchester" Ackles might be playing Captain America? I'm behind anyone who's previously uttered the words, "Criss Angel is a douche," playing Cap.

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Monday, May 25, 2009

We've Been Targeted For Termination...

That's right, we've been targeted for termination and only YOU can save us. This could quite possibly be the final episode of the That's a Wrap! podcast. I know, I know, it's pretty sad. Thankfully there is an easy way to save us, download the show and pass it along to a friend!

Join us for quite possibly the final show as Jim and Billy discuss the Terminator franchise past present and future. We promise that there are no spoilers for Terminator Salvation, so no worries if you have not seen the new movie.

So click away and join us as That's a Wrap is Talkin' Terminators this week! (1:38:24)

Intro: The Terminator theme -Brad Fiedel
Outro: Todd the T-1000 - Jonathan Coulton

Thanks to our few dedicated listeners, we really do appreciate your support...just pass it along, please!

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

No Fate

The Terminator has always been a compelling series for me. I'll admit that I didn't see the first film until after I'd seen Terminator 2: Judgment Day but the ideas, the concepts and drama that drive this series were extremely exciting from the moment I'd first seen the trailers for T2. Even my parents were excited by the trailers. People who to this day probably can't name a single film as their "favorite." But here they were hyped for a film about killer robots from the future and consequently I became excited as well.

It's a pretty common joke around That's a Wrap! that I will like anything with killer robots in it and while that is a little broad of a generalization--I do adore stories about robots...oh and time travel too.

I had quite the love/hate affair with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles(which I'm sad to say was canceled way before its time) and it's willy-nilly timeline and age changes(not to mention the blatant canon broken in the first episode with the T-800 head going through the time portal) before I gave in and enjoyed the series for what it was, warts and all.

The Terminator franchise for me has always been sort of like a horror story. Honestly the first movie is the only one that can really even be likened to a horror film, but the basic story is somewhat endemic to horror movies: Evil thing hunts an innocent and cannot be stopped. Without all the sci-fi trappings that plot description could fit any number of horror movies. The Terminator could be a proxy for The Mummy. They share the same basic conceit Not to mention the Terminator Endoskeleton--fucking frightening.

Now, of course, the Terminator films have always been about action(T2 and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines more so than The Terminator but the idea of an unstoppable metallic horror from the future hunting someone is just a frightening proposition. One of the things that worried me about Terminator Salvation was that it was set in the future.

Yes, it's set in the time period that we've all wanted to see since the first time we viewed The Terminator and saw those tantalizing glimpses of the future war. But can Terminator stay frightening if it's about a war with hundreds of thousands of endoskeletons? Thankfully, the answer is yes--at least when it needs to be.

Everyone worried when McG was announced as the director of this film. Truth be told, I've never seen one of his films. I know that his take on Charlie's Angels was well received if not well reviewed and I knew that he was an action focused director. I tried to give the man the benefit of the doubt and I'm glad I did, because aside from a very few nitpicks Terminator Salvation is a very fun and exciting summer movie.

It is the year 2019(a good ten years before John Connor "smashed SkyNet's defense grid," won the war and sent his father back in time) and things aren't looking good for the human race. SkyNet is ramping up to something big--the T-800, and the human resistance(not yet lead by John Connor) is looking to find a way to end the war for good.

Marcus Wright(Sam Worthington) a death row inmate from 2003 wakes up in the aftermath of a Connor-led infiltration of a SkyNet facility. Though nearly fifteen years have passed since his "death." The big question is, who is Marcus and is he what he seems to be?

The big difference between the past Terminator films and this movie is that this isn't a road/chase picture. The past Terminator movies have all had the main characters running from a terminator until the inevitable showdown at the end. Salvation shirks this format and is truly a different film. Look, I'll admit it doesn't have the heart or mind of The Terminator or T2, but what it does have is a competent story with some great set-pieces that never overstay their welcome.

The main problem with this film is that McG splits the time between Marcus and Connor. We never really get to spend enough time with either of them and the film never seems to know who the main character is. Is it John Connor(Christian Bale), the most important person in the Terminator franchise or Marcus Wright, the random dude we've never heard of before and truth be told--is kind of a dick. Because we split our time between the two stories there are things that get left by the wayside such as the relationship between Kate Connor(Bryce Dallas Howard) and John. Ideally this should be the emotional core of the film but it never really goes anywhere.

In addition to this, some of the acting is shoddy at best. Christian Bale...well, he's Christian Bale. This guy could read the phone book and make it at least worth paying attention. Howard is serviceable in what is sadly a marginal role. Worthington as Marcus is downright awful. The guy can't say a line without waffling between his American and native Australian accents. Worthington's character is also a total ass making me want to follow Connor again whenever he's on the screen. Thankfully most of Marcus's screen time is shared with Anton Yelchin's Kyle Reese. Now, I had major issues with Yelchin in Star Trek but here he's an absolute joy(aside from his attempt to replicate Michael Biehn's voice) to watch.

The special effects are fairly well done, though there are a few places where they look incomplete or just lame(wait till you see Marcus hanging out at the Hollywood sign). Though the Hunter/Killer effects look nice enough, they don't have the same impact as the model work from the earlier films. Computer graphics are an incredible tool for filmmakers but they seem to have become a crutch in recent years. Model work doesn't always look convincing but combined with convincing CG it can look amazing. More directors should look to Peter Jackson's work in The Lord of the Rings for an idea of how to make models and CG work together. McG does have some excellent traditional effects peppered throughout with some of the T-600 endoskeletons and again, most of the CG looks impressive enough(the giant terminator Harvester immediately comes to mind).

Where this movie bests T3 is in the humor department. One of the only complaints I really had with T3 was the pathetic attempts at humor. Salvation(written by the same people who wrote T3) thankfully does not have this problem. There are humorous portions written into the script, but they are mostly understated and will probably only be noticed by Terminator die-hards. The requisite "I'll be back" moment is probably handled the best since the original film and doesn't come off as cheesy like it did in T3.

And finally, the terminators are still scary. The first time we meet a T-600 endoskeleton it is gripping and frightening. There are moments later that continue this tension. I am glad that McG was able to keep these moments scary while still portraying the future war with the machines.

All in all Terminator Salvation is a worthy addition to the Terminator franchise. Though not nearly as gripping as the first two films it is a compelling action movie and the first summer movie that I've genuinely loved. You can't and shouldn't compare it to the first two Terminator films. If you can do that then you will probably love this flawed but fun film.

Plus it's got killer robots IN the future. Can't go wrong there!

3.5 Polymemetic alloys out of 5!

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Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Killin' Time With 24

24: 6:00A.M.-7:00A.M.,7:00A.M.-8:00A.M.
Season 7, Episode 23&24

Welcome to "Killin' Time With 24." A weekly morning-after 24 discussion hosted by your faithful That's A Wrap! editors, Billy and Jim.

Every Tuesday morning we get together to discuss the previous evening's episode of 24. What we liked, disliked and where we would like to see the series go while avoiding any real work. It's like a virtual coffee break.

Sit back and let us do the complaining for you.

(22:03:21) Jim: hey
(22:03:22) Billy: Wow. Uh. Wow.
(22:03:51) Billy: The first wow was for the good, and the second wow was for the awful
(22:04:39) Jim: Nick and I were warring down to the final seconds if Jack was going to live or die.
(22:04:55) Jim: I was the correct one, obviously
(22:05:02) Jim: because I rule.
(22:05:06) Billy: It certainly wasn't on par with Jack walking Incredible Hulk-style into the sunset, but it was...well, pretty dramatically moving. And yeah, I was questioning whether Jack would pull through.
(22:05:13) Jim: As did Renee's final scene
(22:05:36) Billy: I KNEW he would, but credit goes to the producers for making me question it.
(22:06:09) Billy: Let's get one thing straight first: Kim Bauer OWNED the 23rd episode.
(22:06:47) Billy: That episode was almost a complete wash except for damned near everything with Kim...I was frankly stunned.
(22:07:10) Billy: I especially loved the look Renee gave Kim when she started talking computers.
(22:07:45) Jim: Indeed, Elisha Cuthbert rose to the occassion like never before. Well, the key was not having Kim waiting there waiting with the cure when Jack arrived at the hospital - and the scene with the... what's the name for a Muslim priest?
(22:08:02) Billy: I don't know his name.
(22:08:12) Billy: But I fucking LOVED that scene
(22:08:34) Jim: Indeed... considering how many members of his faith Jack has aced over the years
(22:09:02) Billy: It was so goddamn moving, especially when taken in conjunction with Jack's earlier scene with Renee when he explained his motivation.
(22:09:33) Jim: the Jack-Renee "What should I do?" scene was Jack's highlight of all the pre-hospital scenes
(22:10:02) Billy: For the first time in almost a decade I believed that the Jack Bauer from season One was the same guy we were watching this season
(22:10:07) Jim: Keifer actually went to a place at the end there... he's been doing this so long, I just didn't think he could surprise me anymore.
(22:11:06) Billy: If you stop and think about it for a moment, how DOES the most straight-laced dude in CTU end up where Jack is now.
(22:11:32) Jim: the Presidential stuff and Olivia stuff was just painful to get through and distracting us from a pretty impressive conclusion.
(22:11:33) Billy: He only got pick by Walsh to head the Palmer case because he was the cleanest CTU agent.
(22:11:46) Jim: Excluding those scenes we were golden with everything post-Tony.
(22:12:03) Billy: The white house shit was deadly painful
(22:12:17) Billy: Thankfully Pierce didn't go down.
(22:12:55) Billy: But that last scene with Canin and the Prez just went on TOO long...I kept looking at the clock hoping to get back to Jack and the Imam.
(22:13:11) Jim: Tony on the other hand... just utterly bad. His motivations were so tacked on and unbelievable (in revisiting the Logan affair). And its like Bernard agreed and went the Voight-scene chewing rout.
(22:13:49) Billy: I dunno...I bought it more this way than him just going evil because of Michelle being dyed.
(22:14:45) Jim: ?Michelle being dyed? - that's the point I think the whole text conversation adventure went too far down the gramatical sliding scale. I suppose we're lucky this is our last episode.
(22:14:52) Billy: I particularly loved how the scene where Jack and Renee stop Tony from killing whatshisface bad guy completely paralleled the final moments of season one.
(22:15:26) Billy: It's sort of an inside joke from the 24 fox message boards
(22:15:58) Billy: back in season one after Teri died some illiterate motherfucker asked if "Teri was dyed"
(22:16:54) Billy: It lived in infamy for years, and yes, I am (or was, rather, since I have not been to the boards since I swore off spoilers a few years back) a huge 24 geek...
(22:17:08) Jim: indeed.
(22:17:57) Jim: I know we mentioned it before, but I can't get over Elisha Cuthbert practically stealing the show... only Renee might have been more consistently impressive
(22:19:16) Billy: I know, I totally threw that up on my twitter in the middle of the show: What kind of topsy turvy world do we live in where Kim Bauer is the best part of a 24 season finale??
(22:20:07) Jim: At least we're in the alternate reality without the zombies
(22:20:25) Jim: I suppose that's a plus... although I can't promise we aren't... haven't been outside yet
(22:20:40) Billy: So, I guess the big question now is: Good enough to buy on Blu-Ray?
(22:21:16) Jim: I think it's possible... especially when considering only $10 more than DVD... (22:21:35) Jim: your thoughts on releasing a season dvd set the day after the finale?
(22:21:37) Billy: I know, right. Can't beat the price.
(22:21:42) Billy: I don't like it.
(22:22:06) Billy: It's giving me enough distance to really want to spend the dough on it. (22:22:15) Billy: even though I liked the finale
(22:22:45) Jim: Yeah... hardcore fans have to justify buying something they JUST saw. And by not releasing it leading up the new season, you're pretty much conceding that your audience will never grow again.
(22:23:43) Billy: Right...or it'll be heavily discounted by xmas.
(22:24:09) Billy: Though I've gotta admit $45 for a BD is quite the impressive pricetag
(22:24:48) Jim: yeah, just a year ago it would have been $55 or $60 on sale.
(22:24:54) Jim: It's a brave new world
(22:25:39) Jim: hopes for next year?
(22:25:49) Billy: Fuck man, I remember picking up season one on DVD for $50 brand new.
(22:25:55) Jim: obviously Jack is back in the lead. where is he? what is he doing?
(22:25:58) Billy: Oh jeez...next year?
(22:26:07) Jim: what better time to speculate?
(22:26:14) Billy: Jack is obviously back.
(22:26:54) Billy: He'll take Tony's "You ran away, Teri would be ashamed" shit to heart and dedicate himself to the Govt again.
(22:27:26) Billy: I hope to see Renee and Jack together....their scenes were just breathtaking. (22:27:49) Billy: And God help me, I'll probably regret this later...but...more Kim.
(22:28:01) Jim: I see Jack-Renee-Kim back... in some kind of recreated CTU. Maybe Garafalo over Chloe back. As the voice of liberal reason.
(22:28:39) Billy: Being set in NYC, I've gotta hope the crazy terrorist attack angle will be softened.
(22:29:17) Billy: I always hope for a smaller story and keep getting disappointed. If it sucks, the series is done at eight anyways...
(22:30:01) Jim: yeah, still too soon... I'd honestly prefer more of a mystery investigation than a violent action fest. The action scenes stood out so much better when there were only four or five each year... instead of something huge every hour... or 18 out of 24 hours.
(22:31:02) Billy: I'll go out on a limb and say Tony will be back in some capacity.
(22:31:15) Jim: But for all the problems we've ragged on endlessly on these posts... it's been a substantive step back towards decency from last season. Agreed?
(22:31:40) Billy: Oh, for sure. Compared to season six....well, anything is gold.
(22:32:00) Billy: But I've got a question for you. Big question.
(22:32:13) Billy: Do you actually really like 24 anymore?
(22:32:23) Billy: Like, really, really like 24.
(22:32:34) Jim: or do I watch it out of habit as much as anything else?
(22:32:41) Billy: RIGHT!
(22:33:09) Billy: Like, it's not bad, but it's not even the same show I fell in love with back in 2001.
(22:33:32) Jim: It's really sad how close to a "yes" I am. Especially since I still buy every season and the REdemption movie and devote an hour of my life to it every week without interruption. It's one of the VERY few shows I NEVER wait a day to watch.
(22:34:48) Jim: I will go for a very close "No" Season Six crossed into "Yes" but the Redemption and this year at least pulled it back to "Like" I don't see any circumstance where I'll love it again. To quote the man... "I've come too far... too fucking far."
(22:35:39) Billy: I think it got so much good will from me for the spectacular first season and great season two. But it's not the same show anymore.
(22:35:57) Jim: At this point it's like asking me if I don't like my brother anymore.
(22:36:56) Jim: Sometimes I downright loathe the show/my brother, but at the end of every day you still can't distinguish fully the early years.
(22:37:09) Jim: Or in the case of Nick that he gives me money.
(22:37:13) Billy: But I just realized the other day that I don't really love the show anymore. It's not bad, it's not like me watching Heroes out of stubbornness...
(22:37:24) Jim: It's the Ties That Bind to bring Springsteen into the mix
(22:38:01) Jim: no, no, no... it's still worlds better than Heroes... But the days its even my favorite show of the night are long gone
(22:38:28) Billy: there was a time when I considered 24 my favorite show
(22:38:36) Jim: Speaking of which... I gots to get me some HIMYM before bed... any last thoughts on 24 Season 7?
(22:39:14) Billy: Not if it's going to delay me watching How I Met Your Mother!
(22:39:38) Billy: Just a quick one...have we really done 20 of these??
(22:39:41) Billy: Jesus.
(22:39:52) Jim: To wrap up - Better than six, but you made some good points there at the end. In the end I stick by my Midnight Run quote to describe me and this season.
(22:40:20) Billy: Oh and Dr. Becket from Stargate Atlantis gave Jack Bauer a spinal tap...
(22:40:33) Jim: See you again next year... or when we talk tomorrow... whichever comes first.

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Sunday, May 17, 2009

An Ode To Giant Feet and H-Bombs

Lost: The Incident
Season 5, Episode 16&17

Wow. Well, there you go. The fifth season of Lost, arguably the series' most consistent outing, goes out literally with a bang. But enough with potential spoilers...for now at least. I know I've been slacking my duties as the That's a Wrap! Lost reviewer, but I've just been too enamored with this season to want to really dissect it for criticism. So what I'd like to do today is not really break down everything that happened in the finale, but rather just mull over where Lost is, has been and seems to be going.

I've given the producers of the show a lot of shit in the past for being obnoxious about getting to the Goddamn point. It's not that I have a problem with a show being full of mysteries. Of course, I don't have a problem with a show being all mysterious-like. I was an avid fan of The X-Files for ALL nine years, so trust me I can handle cock-tease television. What I can't handle is BORING cock-tease television. I loathed the season one Lost finale because it pretty much boiled down to "people launch and sail a boat/other people blow up the hatch that we've been dicking around with for TWELVE Goddamn episodes." Sure, Waaaaaaaaalt got kidnapped, but that wasn't even the season cliffhanger! No, instead we get to see people looking down the hatch.

Seriously? Yeah. It's a HATCH! We could reasonably assume that there was a DUDE inside the damned thing...why leave THAT for the season opener? Now, I still contend that the best that Lost has EVER been was the first eight episodes. Back before JJ Abrams left to pursue other endeavors(like ruining Star Trek), the show was good on both "freaky shit" and "jungle surviving" accounts. It had so much potential that it was electric watching the show weekly. But then it just started to lose it. Part of that is just my fault. I was thinking about Lost constantly. I lurked on Lost message boards. Hell, I dreamed about the show(Let's just say my "Alien ship on the island" dream thankfully hasn't come true just yet)! I was obsessed with the show. Understandably it would be hard to come up with something that I, and all the other fans, would appreciate and no be disappointed with.

In some ways, the series has never, and can never overcome the sheer expectations that the fans have.

I say this(and mention the first season finale) because in a lot of ways it felt like the first season finale. Let's be honest, most of the finale was people trying to get to the Swan Station site. Shit, they were trying to blow up the fucking hatch...AGAIN...only thirty years earlier. Yeah...so, why wasn't I disappointed? Well, part of me was. I had two major gripes with the finale and I'd like to get them out of the way right now:

1. Juliet's flip-flop back and forth over Jack's plan. It payed off in the end with Juliet and Sawyer sharing a final scene together that literally had me on the verge of tears(those two were so good with each other that I feel like punching Cuse and Lindelof for "killing" Juliet), but every time Juliet changed her mind on whether or not they should blow up the island or not, I cringed.

2. Just as I suspected(I attempted to temper my co-worker's excitement over the finale by telling them to expect this) the episode ended with the bomb going off and presumably the time-traveling castaways causing the incident.

That's it. Those are my only two genuine gripes. So how come I liked this finale when it so closely mirrors the season one finale? Well, things happened...that's one reason. In this case, Cuse and Lindelof were able to balance the mythological happenings with the dramatic character moments and in some cases tie them into one another. See: Hurley's introduction to Jacob.

A lot of things happened in this episode, and I feel that just listing them out would be a disservice to the great season. I want to say that I am overall elated with the season, it was the first season that felt like it knew where it was going from start to finish. This was the strongest group of episodes that Lost has produced back to back. Maybe not the greatest episodes, but in tandem the strongest.

I was upset to see Sayid(easily one of the best and under-utilized characters on the show) gut shot in a Dharma bus and I hated seeing Juliet laying at the bottom of the hatch banging on an H-bomb. Both of their fates seem written, but I'm holding out hope at least for Juliet. It stands to reason that exploding the bomb is what causes "the incident." And if the incident sends the Lostaways back to 2007, I don't see why Juliet can't go back as well. Sure, she was right next to the bomb when it exploded, but Sawyer, Jack, Kate and the rest were only a good hundred yards above ground when the Jughead detonated. If THEY don't die(and there wouldn't be much of a sixth season without our cast) can we really assume that Juliet died? I suspect that she will be missing for most of the final season, but I do feel strongly that she will return.

I hesitate to speculate too much on the 2007 shenanigans, but I was elated to finally get a clear villain for the show. Nameless-guy-posing-as-Locke-who-may-or-may-not-be-the-smoke-monster certainly does seem like a total prick(not many people can totally CON BEN LINUS like he/it did), kicking poor defenseless tapestry-weaving Jacob into a fire pit was a downright despicable thing to do, even if I don't know if Jacob is a good guy or not...

Of course, the first time we meet Jacob he's wearing white and his angry possibly-fake-Locke buddy is wearing black. Possibly-fake-Locke says something about the cycle repeating itself on the island that sounded just a BIT too much like Battlestar Galactica's, "This has all happened before..." mantra. I swear to Christ, I'll scream if Jacob and fake-Locke end up being angels or God and the devil.

I was worried that the final season of this show wouldn't have any surprises for us, aside from tying up loose myth threads. I am not worried about that now. Hell, I'm even glad that they waiting almost four years to show us the significance of the four-toed statue. Can we assume that Jacob and the real Locke are dead? What does this mean for the island? Many questions. The most pressing question among them:

Is it January yet?

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That's A Wrap!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Back and Forth

Monday, October 12, 2009

Let The Healing Sorta Kinda Begin

Thursday, October 8, 2009

O Captain! My Captain!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

SAT Time! Night of the Living Dead:Shaun of the Dead::28 Days Later:___________

Friday, October 2, 2009

Gettin' The Band Back Together

Friday, September 25, 2009

Let Me Ask You An Important Question

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

FLUGELHORN!

Friday, September 18, 2009

War, What Is It Good For? Episode Titles, Apparently.

Monday, September 14, 2009

The Good, The Bland, And The Ugly

Friday, September 11, 2009

Return of the TAWp!

Can We Start A Twitter Trending Topic Called #DeanWinchesterKicksAss?

Monday, May 25, 2009

We've Been Targeted For Termination...

Sunday, May 24, 2009

No Fate

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Killin' Time With 24

Sunday, May 17, 2009

An Ode To Giant Feet and H-Bombs

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