Oct 15 2009

Amazing Race: Monkey Time

Category: Amazing Race,Recaps,TV — velveetahead @ 10:35 pm

04_monkey

Amazing Race
Sean Penn Cambodia Here We Come

The teams left the pit stop in the following order:

  1. Big Easy & Flight Time – Harlem Globetrotters – 6:53 pm
  2. Meghan & Cheyne – Tetherball – 6:54 pm
  3. Gary & Matt – Pinky & the Brain – 6:58 pm
  4. Brian & Ericka – IR Couple – 6:59 pm
  5. Sam & Dan – Gay Brothers – 7:06 pm
  6. Maria & Tiffany – Poker Ladies – 7:16 pm
  7. Mika & Canaan – Christians – 7:25 pm
  8. Zev & Justin – AS Friends – 7:31 pm
  9. Lance & Keri – Law-Talking Guy – 7:32 pm

Clue: Fly to Phnom Penh, Cambodia and find the Foreign Correspondence Club to make contact with the assignment editor. Teams had to whisper to ask for their next assignment to receive their next clue.

Justin had the problem reading the name of the city. He thought it sounded like Sean Penn when he said it so they were the ones that made up the episode title.

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Oct 14 2009

MWG: Back to the Future

Category: 1980s,Movie Watching Group,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 9:48 pm

Sharon had September’s pick for the Movie Watching Group (MWG), but was so super busy, it was hard to pin down a movie pick from her until this month. Then I forgot to make a post about it for a week. oops! Maybe we’ll do better if Jim will pick his October movie before the end of this month. ;) Anyway, Sharon chose Back to the Future.

backtothefuture

Netflix Synopsis: In this classic sci-fi adventure from director Robert Zemeckis, eccentric inventor Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) turns a DeLorean into a time machine that inadvertently sends his young friend, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), 30 years into the past. While stuck in the 1950s, Marty disrupts his parents’ destiny and risks throwing the time-space continuum completely out of whack. The only way back to 1985 now is to get mom and dad to pucker up.

RT Score: 96%

Watch it and come back here to review it!

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Oct 12 2009

TV: Week of October 12

Category: TV,Upcoming — velveetahead @ 9:50 pm

There might not be much good on NBC this season, but their Thursday night line-up is still solid, especially now that 30 Rock is back.

Season Finales: Hell’s Kitchen, Psych

Pick of the Week

30rock

30 Rock
Channel: NBC
Time: 9:30/8:30c
Starring: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Jack McBrayer, Jane Krakowski, Tracey Morgan, Judah Friedlander, Keith Powell, Scott Adsit, Katrina Bowden
Premieres: Thursday, October 15
Trailer

Synopsis: Jenna may actually find a love interest this season. Liz deals with a bit of fame from her catch phrase at the end of last season, “That’s a deal-breaker, ladies!”

My Take: As usual, some episodes are hilarious, while some are just off, but I love it.

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Oct 11 2009

Top Chef: Undercooked Blues

Category: Recaps,Top Chef,TV — velveetahead @ 7:37 pm

07_dinner

Top Chef: Las Vegas
Dinner Party

Here is a quick run down on the two challenges:

  • Quickfire Challenge: Create a dish incorporating three keywords
  • Elimination Challenge: Host a dinner party for the Macy’s Culinary Council

When the show started, it showed a contestant talking about missing their family. In past seasons, that was a dead giveaway that the person talking would be the one sent home that episode. I thought it would happen again, but then I remembered a couple episodes ago when Ashley was talking to her brother, and I thought she would be sent home then because of that, but she didn’t. I had to remind myself that they might have finally fixed their editing style so you don’t know what happened right at the very beginning.

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Oct 09 2009

Movies Opening October 9

Category: 2009 Movies,Movies,Opening — velveetahead @ 7:47 pm

While the wide release looks pretty sad, it does look better in the limited releases with Chris Rock’s film about Good Hair, scandalous affair in An Education and plain craziness in Bronson. An Education and The Damn United both are certified fresh. I don’t care about the last one though because it’s about sports.

Nationwide Releases

9x9_rotten Couples Retreat

couplesretreat

Couples Retreat
Directed: Peter Billingsley
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Kristin Davis, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell
Trailer

Synopsis: One couple thinks they are going to break up so they go to a beautiful resort to work through their problems, dragging their friends along with them.

My Take: The premise sounds good and I like the cast, but I didn’t laugh once during the trailer, which is a problem for a comedy.

9x9_rotten RT Score: 12%
RT Consensus: Despite a talented cast and some reliably pleasant interplay between Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn, Couples Retreat leaves viewers stranded in an arid, mirthless comedy.

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Oct 09 2009

American Gangster

Category: 2007,Movies,Reviews — jimz0r @ 6:27 pm

American_Gangster_poster

Directed: Ridley Scott

Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe

Denzel plays Frank Lucas, the top gangster in 70s Harlem, who is being investigated and pursued by the incorruptible NJ cop, the insane Russell Crowe.  Through the course of the movie, Frank sets up his empire, going from a bodyguard for an older Harlem crime boss who dies, to sourcing and importing heroin from Vietnam, to becoming a massive crime and drug lord, and then finally turning informant after he’s caught by Crowe and his squad.  Josh Brolin is also in this movie, portraying a crooked NYC cop that ultimately helps capture Frank after unsuccessfully trying to shake him down and sporting his huge pornstache.

The violence in this movie is sporadic and somewhat sparse, but excellent when it does happen.  The pacing reminds me a lot of the Sopranos…very slow and almost flat in places, punctuated by sudden bursts of explosions and gunshots.  My favorite scene involves Russell Crowe’s cracked out partner going nuts and jumping out of a moving ambulance.  Just say no, kids!

This movie holds up with some of the great mob movies of all-time.  It doesn’t have a huge cast of memorable characters, but crazy Russell Crowe is excellent and Denzel is great, as always.  I definitely recommend it if you have a pulse and/or like heroin.

Rating: Five Stars out of five.

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Oct 08 2009

Amazing Race: Play & Destroy

Category: Amazing Race,Recaps,TV — velveetahead @ 10:36 pm

03_statues

Amazing Race
It’s Like Being Dropped on Planet Mars

While the teams were resting at the pit stop, the river boat took up anchor and went to another location away from Cai Be. The teams left the pit stop in the following order:

  1. Gary & Matt – Pinky & the Brain – 5:45 am
  2. Sam & Dan – Gay Brothers – 5:55 am
  3. Flight Time & Big Easy – Harlem Globetrotters – 5:56 am
  4. Lance & Keri – Law-Talking Guy – 5:57 am
  5. Zev & Justin – AS Friends – 6:04 am
  6. Meghan & Cheyne – Tetherball – 6:10 am
  7. Maria & Tiffany – Poker Ladies – 6:11 am
  8. Mika & Canaan – Christians – 6:14 am
  9. Marcy & Ron – eHarmony – 6:15 am
  10. Brian & Ericka – IR Couple – 6:29 am

Clue: Teams had to travel by taxi to Ho Chi Minh City. Once there, they had to search for the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater where their next clue had to be grabbed from the mouth of a water dragon.

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Oct 02 2009

Movies Opening October 2

Category: 2009 Movies,Movies,Opening — velveetahead @ 1:59 pm

There are a lot of good movies coming out this weekend: zombies, roller derby girls and Coen brothers.

Nationwide Releases

Zombieland
9x9_fresh Whip It
9x9_fresh Capitalism: A Love Story
The Invention of Lying

certified_fresh

zombieland

Zombieland
Directed: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Trailer

Synopsis: A group of survivors battle against the world that has been overrun by zombies.

My Take: It looks fantastically awesome.

9x9_fresh RT Score: 88%
RT Consensus: Wickedly funny and featuring plenty of gore, Zombieland is proof that the zombie subgenre is far from dead.

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Oct 01 2009

Amazing Race: Sushi & Ducks

Category: Amazing Race,Recaps,TV — velveetahead @ 2:25 pm

01_philducks

Amazing Race
They Thought Godzilla Was Walking Down the Street (Japan/Vietnam)

Each season, there are some good names for teams and then there are a million dating teams. Using their real names are boring so I like to make up new ones for them. Here is what I’ve come up with so far (some of these are what the show uses):

  • Maria & Tiffany – professional poker players – Poker Ladies
  • Marcy & Ron – dating couple met online – eHarmony
  • Meghan & Cheyne – dating (met playing tether ball in grade school) – Tetherball
  • Gary & Matt – father/son with pink hair – Pinky and the Brain (stole that name from someone else calling them that)
  • Flight Time & Big Easy – Harlem Globetrotters
  • Zev & Justin – friends (one with Asperger’s syndrome) – AS Friends
  • Eric & Lisa – Yoga Instructors
  • Sam & Dan – Gay Brothers
  • Mika & Canaan – newly dating Christians – Christians
  • Garrett & Jessica  – on/off dating (much talk of fighting & her Colombian roots) – Fiery
  • Brian & Ericka – interracial couple – IR Couple
  • Lance & Keri – engaged (he’s a lawyer) – Law-Talking Guy

As their personalities come out, I’ll probably change those, but for now, they will do.

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