VH Corner » 2009

Aug 31 2009

Inglourious Basterds

Category: 2009 Reviews,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 12:28 pm

inglouriousbasterds

The trailer is a bit misleading. I really thought the movie would be centered around the Basterds killing Nazis with Brad Pitt’s goofy accent. They were only part of an ensemble. It also involves a women who escapes the Nazis to start a new life as a cinema owner, an undercover agent/ German actress, and the lead Nazi guy who is hunting everyone down. The movie was set up into chapters, which actually broke it up enough so it didn’t seem as long as I think it would have otherwise.

Continue reading “Inglourious Basterds”

Tags: August Diehl, B.J. Novak, brad pitt, Christian Berkel, Daniel Bruhl, diane kruger, Eli Roth, Inglourious Basterds, Julie Dreyfus, Melanie Laurent, Michael Bacall, Michael Fassbender, quentin tarantino, Richard Sammel, Samm Levine, Til Schweiger

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Aug 30 2009

TV: Week of August 31

Category: TV,Upcoming — velveetahead @ 5:55 pm

The summer finales are ending and the networks are getting ready for the official start of Fall TV in the coming weeks. This week CBS has a CBS Fall Preview special on Wednesday at 8:30/7:30c.

Season Finales: Dance Your Ass Off, Weeds, Rescue Me

Not My Thing

greek1

Greek
Channel: ABC Family
Time: 9/8c
Starring: Spencer Grammer, Scott Michael Foster, Jacob Zachar, Amber Stevens, Jake McDorman, Paul James, Dilshad Vadsaria, Clark Duke, Tiffany Dupont
Premieres: Monday, August 31
Trailer

Synopsis: Cappie rejected Casey, Max left, and Rusty might get dropped from the honors program.

My Take: Still haven’t watched it, but critics do say it is adorable.

Tags: Amber Stevens, Clark Duke, Dance Your Ass Off, Dilshad Vadsaria, Greek, Jacob Zachar, Jake McDorman, Paul James, rescue me, Scott Michael Foster, Spencer Grammer, Tiffany Dupont, weeds

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Aug 28 2009

Movies Opening August 28

Category: 2009 Movies,Movies,Opening — velveetahead @ 9:43 pm

I could say there are two horror movies coming out this weekend, but one of them is really funnier than scary (Final Destination) and Halloween II looks more boring than anything else. Pretty sad state of horror films these days.

Nationwide Releases

Final Destination
Halloween II
Taking Woodstock

finaldestination

Final Destination
Directed: David Ellis
Starring: Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Krista Allen, Mykelti Williamson, Haley Webb
Trailer

Synopsis: Different group of kids, but they all try to escape death and end up dying in horribly fantastic ways anyway.

My Take: The movies have the same predictable overall plot, but the deaths are usually pretty inventive and hilarious.

RT Score: 27%
RT Consensus: With little of the ingenuity of previous installments, The Final Destination is predictable, disposable horror fare.

Continue reading “Movies Opening August 28″

Tags: Andrea Leon Talley, Andy Griffith, ang lee, Anna Wintour, At the Edge of the World, Big Fan, Bobby Campo, Brad Dourif, Clint Howard, Dan Fogler, Dan Stone, David Ellis, Demetri Martin, Doris Roberts, Eugene Levy, Final Destination, Grace Coddington, Haley Webb, Halloween II, Henry Goodman, Hirokazu Koreeda, Hiroshi Abe, Jonathan Groff, Kazuya Takahashi, Kevin Corrigan, Krista Allen, Liz Sheridan, Malcolm McDowell, Marc Fienberg, Marcia Jean Kurt, Marla Sokoloff, Michael Rapaport, Mykelti Williamson, Ondi Timoner, Patton Oswalt, Paul Campbell, Play the Game, Rance Howard, RJ Cutler, Rob Zombie, Robert Siegal, Scout Taylor-Compton, September Issue, Shantel VanSanten, Sheri Moon Zombie, Shohei Tanaka, Still Walking, Taking Woodstock, Thakoon Panichgul, Tyler Mane, We Live in Public, Yui Natsukawa

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Aug 27 2009

Top Chef: Pairing Shots

Category: Recaps,Top Chef,TV — velveetahead @ 12:45 pm

02_pool

Top Chef: Las Vegas
Bachelor/Ette Party

Here is a quick run down on the two challenges:

Quickfire Challenge: “Roll With It” – Roll the dice and create a dish with the same number of ingredients
Elimination Challenge: Bachelor & Bachelorette Party – Battle of the Sexes – Women vs. Men

During the elimination challenge, Ashley was stewing about doing a wedding challenge when she was a lesbian that was not allowed to get legally married. She knew that there were at least three chefs that were in the same boat as her, but none of them were as angry about it as her. She said she knew there would be a wedding challenge since it was Vegas (and they have done one almost every season), but she was still angry about it. I can understand her frustration, but why not look at it as you are making food for someone and concentrate on that, not the reason behind why you are making the food?

Continue reading “Top Chef: Pairing Shots”

Tags: Gail Simmons, las vegas, Padma Lakshmi, todd english, Tom Colicchio, top chef

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Aug 26 2009

MWG: Phantom of the Opera

Category: 2004,Movie Watching Group,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 9:42 pm

Amy has August’s pick for the Movie Watching Group (MWG). She picked the latest movie version of Phantom of the Opera. When quizzed about why this was her movie pick, she responded, “It was next on my Netflix list!” There you have it folks!

phantomoftheopera

Netflix Synopsis: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stunning musical comes alive on-screen in this Joel Schumacher rendition. A talented recluse (Gerard Butler) disfigured in a tragic accident roams beneath the Paris Opera. Fueled with resentment, he terrorizes other musicians until he falls for the lovely Christine (Emmy Rossum), a formidable singer whom he takes under his wing, molding her so she can become the sensational soprano he envisions her to be.

RT Score: 33%

Watch it and come back here to review it!

Tags: andrew lloyd webber, Emmy Rossum, gerard butler, joel schumacher, phantom of the opera

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Aug 24 2009

Milk

Category: 2008,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 12:40 pm

milk

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man elected to a public office in 1977 in San Francisco. He fought against a city ordinance that allowed companies to fire someone based on their sexual orientation. He also fought against a state proposition along the same lines and eerily similar to Proposition 8 that just passed in California. I believe if Milk was alive today, that would not have passed. He was very charismatic and spoke logically and passionately about his beliefs, including equal rights not only for gays and lesbians, but also minorities and the elderly. He really used the power of the people to make a change in his community.

Continue reading “Milk”

Tags: Emile Hirsch, gus van sant, James Franco, josh brolin, Milk, Sean Penn

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Aug 23 2009

TV: Week of August 24

Category: TV,Upcoming — velveetahead @ 10:33 am

It is mostly good shows ending this week and not being replaced by any good ones.

Season Finales: Great American Road Trip, The Closer, Dating in the Dark, Raising the Bar, Nurse Jackie, Michael & Michael Have Issues, Royal Pains, Being Human

Why?

crashcourse

Crash Course
Channel: ABC
Time: 9/8c
Starring: Dan Cortese, Orlando Jones
Premieres: Wednesday, August 26
Trailer

Synopsis: Five teams try to win money by competing on an extreme driving course.

My Take: I don’t understand. Why is this a show?

Tags: crash course, dan cortese, orlando jones

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Aug 21 2009

Movies Opening August 21

Category: 2009 Movies,Movies,Opening — velveetahead @ 5:16 pm

The only movie worth paying attention to this week is Inglourious Basterds with its horrible spelling and all. Also, even though I am not a Robin Williams fan, his limited release movie World’s Greatest Dad looks pretty funny and it is directed by Bobcat Goldthwait!

Nationwide Releases

Inglourious Basterds
Shorts
Post Grad
X Games 3D: The Movie

Inglourious Basterds
Directed: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, BJ Novak, Mike Myers, Diane Kruger
Trailer

Synopsis: Brad Pitt leads a group of Jewish soldiers that are killing Nazis behind enemy lines during World War II.

My Take: As much as I’m tired of WWII movies, it is Tarantino so I must see it.

RT Score: 86%
RT Consensus: A classic Tarantino genre-blending thrill ride, Inglourious Basterds is violent, unrestrained, and thoroughly entertaining.

Continue reading “Movies Opening August 21″

Tags: Alexi Gilmore, Alexis Bledel, Ana Layevska, anamaria marinca, Art & Copy, B.J. Novak, Bob Burnquist, Bob Goldthwait, brad pitt, Casi Divas, Chad Tiederman, Charlie Moss, Chris Noth, Daniela Schmidt, Danny Way, Daryl Sabara, David Kennedy, Diana Garcia, diane kruger, Doug Pray, Eli Roth, Eric McCormack, Five Minutes of Heaven, Fred Armisen, Geoff Pierson, George Lois, Henry Simmons, Inglourious Basterds, Issa Lopez, James Nesbitt, James Spader, Jane Lynch, Jim Durfee, Jimmy Bennett, Jon Cryer, Julia Bracho, kevin bacon, Kyle Loza, Leslie Mann, Liam Neeson, Logan Lerman, Mark Rendall, Mary Wells, Maya Zapata, Mike Myers, Mitzi McCall, My One and Only, nick stahl, Oliver Hirschbiegel, Patricia Llaca, Post Grad, Pyllis K. Robinson, quentin tarantino, Renee Zellweger, Richard Loncraine, Ricky Carmichael, robert rodriguez, robin williams, Rodrigo Santoro, Shaun White, Shorts, Steve Lawrence, Travis Pastrana, Vicky Jenson, William H. Macy, World's Greatest Dad, X Games 3D: The Movie, Zach Gilford

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Aug 20 2009

Top Chef: Bloody Hot

Category: Recaps,Top Chef,TV — velveetahead @ 11:39 pm

01_showgirls

Top Chef: Las Vegas
Sin City Vice

Here is a quick run down on the two challenges:

Quickfire Challenge: Mise En Place relay race
Elimination Challenge: Create a dish based on a vice

What I learned when the episode started was there were three Atlanta chefs that all have restaurants within two miles of one another, one guy (Ash) kept telling the camera he was gay every chance he could, and there were two brothers competing against one another. There were also two people named Jennifer and two people named Michael. I would like to get rid of one of them so everyone only had different names. It is so much easier to do recaps that way!

Quickfire Challenge

The chefs broke up into teams of four. Padma warned the teams that the season would be very Las Vegas-inspired before showgirls came waltzing through the room. The teams were divided up by picking up colored poker chips out of a top hat. Everyone picked out their poker chips. Robin was the only one that picked out a gold chip. Padma informed her that she did not have to compete in the relay race and she also got immunity from elimination.

Tom said they would be working with some of the most popular ingredients in Las Vegas:

Round One: Shuck 15 clams
Round Two: Peel 30 prawns
Round Three: Clean up five lobsters
Round Four: Butcher two chops from a prime rib

When the chefs completed a round, they yelled “Check!” for Tom to come inspect. If they did well, he blew his whistle for them to switch off to another chef for the next round. The teams had two minutes to figure out who would be doing which leg of the race.

Continue reading “Top Chef: Bloody Hot”

Tags: cut, Gail Simmons, las vegas, m, Padma Lakshmi, palazzo, Tom Colicchio, top chef, Wolfgang Puck

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Aug 19 2009