Labels:
2013,
90210,
review
Posted by
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Monday, 28 January 2013
Last
episode ended with Liam locked in a basement of the Offshore
playing hostage with his so called “Bodyguard”. The mission is
left up to Annie and Vanessa to work together to find Liam. For once
Vanessa was likable and was able to out-smart Ashley after
discovering she purchased plenty of unnecessary surveillance
equipment. Annie saves Liam and Vanessa takes on Ashley in a fight
that ends horribly when a gun gets pulled out.
It’s
not looking good for Ade (Adrianna) and Dixon who called the quits
not too long ago. Dixon has moved on already with his friend from his
group therapy and Ade meets a cute biker when Naomi and Ade get
stranded. To hit a nerve, Ade decides to bring the biker to the
launch of Dixon’s label. However, Dixon responds by telling Ade
that he really does not care about her at all (Ouch).
The
best part of the episode is Naomi reached out to her mother who has
not been in the show for since the first season. I always wondered
what happened to Naomi’s parents. The Clarke women had a raw and
emotional moment as Naomi asks for some guidance to help save her
marriage with Max (who currently has disappeared from the picture).
Hopefully Naomi wins Max back because she has fought so hard to keep
him in the first place.
Then
there’s Silver who complains about not having a baby and is
basically doing anything to get what she wants, including, ruining
her friendship with Teddy. The girl will not give up on attaining the
rights to Teddy’s sperm after they agreed he would father her child
a while back. Silver calls upon Teddy’s uncle to help convince
Teddy to give up his rights but it all back fires.
‘Misery
loves Company’
is by far one of the best episodes of the season and a must-watch for
90210 fans.
After a stellar pilot episode and some not so stellar ratings, The Carrie Diaries continues with this episode focusing on Carrie's continuing relationship with Sebastian Kidd. Still grounded with her sister we actually see their relationship attempting to improve with a great family car wash moment that sets a beautiful tone for the episode.
Kidd is still being pursued by the school's "it girl" Donna LeDonna and has started being nice to Mouse to try and show a good side that will impress Kidd who is still hung up on Bradshaw. Sounding a lot like Gossip Girl? I know, I know, it is hard not to compare the two especially with the same producers and writers, but the funky 80's tone and depth to Bradshaw stop it from going full Upper East Side.
The photoshoot has finally arrived but Carrie's internship is under a deadline and she may not be able to make it with the purse. Making a decision to attempt to do both and win her boss over she is able to get both done and still impress her boss. The city doesn't stick around for too long after the photo shoot and we are back to the Kidd storyline.
The chemistry that is building between these two is quite remarkable for a show like this and the two are mesmerising together. It is really hard to watch this and not compare it to Sex & The City, but there are definite similarities yet the show seems to be carving out its own identity which is necessary to ensure its survival past its initial 13 episode run.
This show is definitely one to keep watching and if you have missed the first couple of episodes don't worry you haven't missed out on too much yet!
Cooking shows and talent shows are plaguing our television screens at the moment, with so many it can seem hard to keep up with the "in" show of the moment. ABC have created their own show called The Taste and combines the culinary skills of Masterchef with the talent credibility of The Voice, how does this work? Each contestant cooks a dish and it is served on a spoon to the four judges who cannot see who cooked the food. Each judge says yes or no based on the taste and then they get to meet the person that made it.
The four judges are Anthony Bourdain who is like the Simon Cowell of this group, he seemingly feels like a no holds barred judge who tell it like it is. Brian Malarkey who is the two sentence nice guy who doesn't say a whole lot, Ludo Lefebvre an extremely sexy French chef who has a strong palette and knowledge of food and finally the sexy and charismatic Nigella Lawson, domestic goddess who has crossed the border and also serves as an executive producer on the show.
The first episode is a 2 hour spectacular and they have done a great job of introducing the concept of how the show works and it definitely chooses substance over style. What I loved was a lot of wanky professional wannabe chefs that you get on these kind of shows are shown the door as they over complicate food and people who know how to make something taste good prosper. My favourite contestant was definitely Lauren, a young girl who made an alluring flourless chocolate cake with pistachio crumble.
The judges really work well together, and each brings a different view to the table and this keeps things interesting. Each judge gets to choose 4 chefs to cook with and one by one each week they will do the blind taste test and the judges could even send their own chefs home.
This is a fantastic idea for a show and it has been executed seamlessly. If you are a reality show junkie you will love this new addition, if you just like cooking you will also get something out of this as it presents itself without any pretention and shows the kind of chefs you want to see on television.
It is that time again, the cancellation canteloupe has decided it is time for the bitch in Apartment 23 to depart from ABC's schedule. Let's look the history of the television comedy series which is only in its second season.
The series follows June, as she moves to New York City to pursue her dream job, until she finds out that it no longer exists and she ends up moving in with a con-artist party-girl named Chloe. The two don't get along at first; however, when Chloe's attempts at scamming June backfire, they end up forming an unlikely friendship.
The show debuted on April 11, 2012 as a mid-season replacement during the 2011-12 season. On May 11, 2012, ABC renewed the show for a second season.
Starring Dreama Walker, Kristen Ritter and James Van Der Beek who infamously played himself, the show's first season was a hilarious, laugh-filled romp through New York City with some truly out of this world characters.
When Season 2 debuted it felt like some of the bitchiness and shock value had left the series and all that remained was a pale shadow of the debut season. Viewers plummeted from 6.5 million to a mere 4 and has struggled to keep the same numbers since.
ABC have now pulled the show from the schedule indefinitely and replaced it with a double episode of Happy Endings.
What is the future of Don't Trust The B In Apartment 23...we will update you when we know more!
In
the last few episodes Barney has been dating the one person who
annoyed Robin the most, Patrice. Robin is told by Ted that Barney
plans to propose to Patrice and is devastated by the news but chooses
to stay by Ted for his big night. Being the good guy that Ted is, he
does not accept that Robin is allowing the man she loves to get away
from her and drops her off at the World Wide News Building (where
Barney is waiting). There she finds a trail of rose petals with the
final page of the PlayBook
and the truth is revealed: the whole thing was another one of
Barney’s tricks. Then he proposed to her! Although, Lily and
Marshall have not been crucial to the storyline they spent their
first night away from Marvin at Ted’s celebration but find it’s
hard to be leave their son. This was one of the best episodes of the
whole series and finally moves the story forward.
Robin
sends a text message to all her friends giving the good news that she
is engaged to Barney. Ted, who is still at his celebration (for being
the youngest architect to design a New York City skyline) is notably
still very much alone. When are we going to meet the mother already?
With
a wedding in view, Barney and Robin have to begin planning and Lily
is already on it as she pulls out her wedding folder. Little did she
know Ted also wants to help and has already chosen a date (May 25,
2013). However, Lily has other plans for Robin’s wedding she wants
the band that she and Marshall had wanted to play at their wedding.
Ted wants to hire a DJ and secure it, he books Lily’s band on the
day of the wedding. As Ted gives this whole protest speech about
bands at weddings, his real feelings about Robin’s engagement is
revealed.
During
this time, Robin discovers that Barney has not asked her father for
permission to marry her and insists they meet so he can ask. Scary as
imagined, her father says no and Barney tries everything until he
gets a yes out of him.
Concern
about her friend, Lily invites Ted on their roof to confront him
about his feelings. "Robin shouldn't be with Barney. She should
be with me," Ted said to Lily. Ted explains that all the pain he
has suffered over the years (this is shown in a hilarious montage of
scenes where Ted is punched, attacked etc) does not add up to what
he felt the moment he found out about the engagement. Considering Ted
always assumed they would end up together after Robin warmed to the
idea of kids and settling down. Lily explained also that sometimes
she found being a mother difficult and wished she could just pack her
bags, and leave.
Later
Ted runs into Cindy (Rachel Bilson) whom he use to date/roommate of
his future wife and she tells him her ex-roomate is in a wedding band
(one of best in the area). Fastforward to the future and you see Ted
at the wedding watching the band on stage.
It
was nice to see that even all the group has been through, they are
friends who are loyal and even though the writers are dragging the
show on. How
I Met Your Mother
has kept the comedy going and charm in the process.
Thanks to our friends at Hulu Plus we had the absolute privilege of watching the first hour of the two hour season premiere of Smash, due to premiere February 5 on NBC. For those who missed the incredible first season Smash is a musical drama set on the bright lights of Broadway and revolves around the lives of producers, actors, writers and singers attempting to put together a musical around the life of Marilyn Monroe. The musical titled Bombshell was established last season and met some well received and critiqued preview shows at the end of season 1. The star studded television show stars Katharine McPhee, Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston, Jack Davenport, Christian Borle, Megan Hilty and Krysta Rodriguez. New roles in the second season will also include Jennifer Hudson, Jesse L. Martin, Jeremy Jordan, and Sean Hayes. Season 2 kicks off with all of our unresolved storylines from last season still dangling, tempting us but still not delivering any resolutions. There are plenty of new cast to keep us distracted with the breathtaking b Jennifer Hudson playing a successful Broadway performer, a chatty bar tender who is more than he seems at first and his friendly gay sidekick. There are plenty of jaw dropping performances that take the show to the next level and outperform and outshine anything rival shows can offer. Dev has officially left the series but the tension between Ivy and Karen is tense and could keep going well into the season. Meanwhile Bombshell faces extinction after several setbacks, the cast and crew are told to move on to other projects. Putting two idol powerhouses like McPhee and Hudson is a rt risky move but it pays off, the duet between the two at a press event is hair- raising event that is one of the highlights of the episode. If you haven't seen Smash before now is the perfect time to jump on board, if you are a fan you I'll love this season return full of drama, comedy and of course music. Smash premieres Tuesday February 5 Review by Alaisdair Arrow Dewar
After their last big hit Gossip Girl came to a close after 6 years, The CW needed another big hit to kick into that age group and take the ratings and dvd box sets by storm. Sticking with literary adaptions they turned to Candace Bushnell author of the wildly successful Sex & The City to turn her prequel novels The Carrie Diaries, focusing on the character of Carrie Bradshaw as a teeanger.
Set directly after her mum dies, Carrie (AnnaSophia Robb) returns to school when out of towner Sebastian Kidd (Austin Butler) transfers in after spending the summer with Bradshaw and starting a summer romance. Carrie received an internship in Manhattan, were surprise surprise she is dreaming of being a fashion icon and writer.
The great thing about this is unlike Gossip Girl, 90210, Melrose Place, the story doesn't deal with spoiled and sarcastic rich brats who we love to hate. These are real people in Conneticut dealing with a dead mother, the characters are real and there is no smoke and mirrors to distract from ust how great the script and themes are.
Robb does an amazing job as Carrie, there are glimpses of SJP in her narration and excitement but she actually carves the character and makes it her own. Another great character is Butler who compliments Robb perfectly and adds some much needed depth to this seemingly weak story.
The show is set in the mid 80's and is nostalgic heaven for any 70's-80's babies will get a kick out of the fashion and appropriate music. Fortunately enough of these songs they have used have been redone lately through other tv shows (Glee etc) that they wont be completely out of touch.
Setting the story half in the city and half at school in Connecticut feels very Jane By Design, but it actually works and I look forward to the first 13 episode run and see were the writers are planning on taking us on this highly anticipated journey. This is one of the best pilots of 2013 and definitely worth taking a look.
Labels:
2013,
New Girl,
review
Posted by
Unknown
Monday, 14 January 2013
Starting
off the New Year in hilarious fashion is New
Girl as the
latest episode has Jess, Nick, Sam and Angie staying in a cabin for
the weekend. Nick is still dating the striper, Angie (Olivia Munn)
and following the last episode, Jess has returned to her ex-boyfriend
Sam (David Walton). The foursome stay at Sam’s bosses cabin where
the disaster begins. As always Angie is finding new ways to challenge
Nick, this time she wanted to play with guns (which can only end
badly). A highlight of the episode is when the absinthe is brought
in. Jess along with Sam and Angie get overly drunk, ending in Angie
trying to make a pass at Sam (awkward). When Jess and Nick walk in on
them, Angie insists she thought the whole ‘cabin thing’ was
suggesting something else.
However,
sometimes good things come to an end and the next morning Angie did
what she does best, split when things get serious (Nick really does
have the worst luck with women).
Back
at home, Schmidt is determined to reach out to Winston on a cultural
level when he sees him associating with his ‘black’ friends. He
asks ‘white’ Nick and ‘Brown’ Cece, “Are We allowing
Winston to be his blackest self?”
Schmidt
makes a proposal to be Winston’s black friend that he never had.
Amused by Schmidt and his willingness to do almost anything for him,
Winston tries to teach him a lesson about race. As they both spend
the night doing things that Winston suggests reminds him old days
including eating ribs and getting some…crack? Schmidt the gullible
being he is enough drives to the ghetto side of the city and asks
passing guy if he sold crack. This scene is definitely the best part
of the episode and will have you laughing so hard at the situation
Schmidt places them in.
I
have to hand it to the writers of New
Girl, the
characters are more likable than ever and every recent episode leaves
you wanting more of the show to watch. Unfortunately, we will have to
wait until next week but till then make sure you catch the ‘Cabin’
episode.
The stakes
have been raised to there highest and Sherlock faces his most
personal case so far. We are also granted the most insight into
Sherlock’s past life in London in an episode that proves to be the
most significant of the series up to this point.
Holmes is
presented with a murder possessing a number of traits that he
recognises immediately as belonging to a criminal that he has dealt
with previously and was unable to apprehend in London. The full
nature of the relationship between Holmes and the culprit are later
revealed as he confides in Watson more details of his past and
provides full disclosure of who exactly Irene Adler was and the role
she played in his descent into substance abuse.
Written by
series show runner Robert Doherty, this is the episode that most
closely refers to Arthur Conan Doyle’s original source material and
digs the deepest into the Holmes mythos. It picks up and plays with
elements and characters from Doyle’s stories and a few major
references are made that will leave Holmes aficionados leaping up in
excitement. The episode acts a type of pay-off and reward for having
stuck with the series as it offers a glimpse of the established set
of characters in a different light and sets up a few intriguing plot
threads to be explored during the rest of the season.
Jonny Lee
Miller is able to bring a darker side into play in his portrayal of
Holmes. Arguably, his performances throughout the series have been
the show’s strongest suit and he is at his best here when Holmes
embraces the darker aspects of his personality. Lucy Liu is also
impressive, sharing several tender scenes with Holmes. Firstly, as
they begin to deal with the end of their companionship, then as she
tries to save him from himself and then realising how much he still
needs her and how much she needs him. The show’s leads are
excellent and it is some of their best work in the season so far.
However, it
isn’t flawless. Vinnie Jones guest stars but is awkward in his
scenes with Miller and probably wasn’t the best choice for the role
he is required to fulfill. He isn’t helped by a script that veers
too close to cliché when trying to sound “British” and mixes
American and British words and phrases that don’t sit right coming
out the mouths of the characters.
Ultimately,
this is the episode that proves a lot of the central groundwork for
the show has been done and that all the key pieces of the Holmes
canon are in play. There is a tantalising final scene that means a
fascinating future is in store for Holmes and Watson.
‘I
will never look upon Father Christmas in the same way again…’
Even
Briarcliff becomes festive in its own way with a special guest
appearance from Ian McShane as a deranged Santa serial killer who
terrorized families before Christmas on a murderous rampage.
Having
been sentenced to Briarcliff the deranged Santa is sent to solitary
after he bites off the face of an unsuspecting warden at the worst
possible moment, when the local press and photographer are on hand to
catch the whole sorry saga. As punishment Sister Jude sends him to
solitary for ten long years.
Sister
Eunice is so delightfully evil you see her revel in the devils
mischief with more passion in each episode. As she spirals out of
control Sister Jude, who has realized that she has become possessed
calls on a most unlikely partner to help her, Dr Arden. He accepts
the partnership and promises to get Sister Jude back into Briarcliff.
It’s a risky move on Sister Jude’s part, can Dr Arden really
ever be trusted?
While
a new storyline emerges in this episode another is resurrected. Dr
Thredson (Bloodyface) isn’t dead after all and cruises darkly back
into Briarcliff much to the surprise of Kit and Lana. Kit manages to
lock him in the store room but for how long and what price he will
pay for it we will have to see.
Meanwhile
it seems the huge climax and end to episode 7 has been swept under
the carpet and wrapped up all too quickly. The shooting of the
creature that leapt into the kitchen which was witnessed by the guard
needs to be addressed. It is with a swift ending to the poor guards
life.
This
episode is fully concentrated and rightly so on the amazingly creepy
performance of Ian McShane. The downside to focusing an episode on a
one off guest character means that not much moves forward with the
main plotlines. A great episode nonetheless, the quality of
production and the sheer talent of the cast members keep the more
irrational, ludicrous storylines ever watchable.
The
Hollywood Foreign Press Association decided to commemorate the 70th
Golden Globes by having Hollywood double act Tina Fey and Amy Poehler
co-host. The ladies of comedy brought to attention the achievements
of women in film and television in the last year. But not to be
overshadowed by their predecessor Ricky Gervais, they poked fun at
their peers, especially at the expense of Avatar director
James Cameron.
Big
winners of the night included Adele (Best Original Song: “Skyfall”
for the movie of the same name) who began her speech laughing,
admitting that she had just come for a night out and hadn't expected
to win.
Will
Ferrell and Kristen Wiig, who presented the award for Best Actress
(Musical or Comedy), left the audience in stitches with their
improvisation. The two said that as presenters they were asked to
watch all five movies up for nomination, and then proceeded to
describe the same scene for each film.
Other
notable highlights (or lowlights) included Paul Rudd and Selma Heyak
who seemed to be at a loss when they presented Best TV Drama and
there was a camera glitch and they had to make up an introduction on
the spot.
And
this year the Cecil
B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award went to Jodie Foster, who was
introduced by the eternally funny Robert Downey Jr. There was not a
dry eye in the room by the end of her speech after she paid tribute
to her mother, who suffers from dementia. “Mum,
I know you are inside those blue eyes somewhere,” said Foster. “I
love you, I love you, I love you, and I hope that if I say this three
times, you will magically and perfectly enter into your soul, fill
you with grace and the joy of knowing that you did good in this life,
you're a great mum, please take that with you when you're finally
okay to go.”
The
winners were as follows:
Film:
Best
Movie (Drama): Argo
Best
Movie (Musical or Comedy):Les
Miserables
Best
Actor (Drama): Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Best
Actress (Drama): Jessica Chastain, Zero
Dark Thirty
Best
Actor (Musical or Comedy): Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Best
Actress (Musical or Comedy): Jennifer
Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Supporting
Actor: Christoph Waltz, Django
Unchained
Supporting
Actress: Anne Hathaway, Les
Miserables
Director:
Ben Affleck, Argo
Television:
Series
(Drama):Homeland
Series
(Musical or Comedy):Girls
Actress
(Drama):
Claire Danes, Homeland
Actor
(Drama):
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Actress
(Musical or Comedy):
Lena Dunham, Girls
Actor
(Musical or Comedy):
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Miniseries
or Movie:Game Change
Actress
(Miniseries or Movie):
Julianne Moore, Game Change
Actor
(Miniseries or Movie):
Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys
Supporting
Actress (Series Miniseries or Movie):
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Supporting
Actor (Series Miniseries or Movie):
Ed Harris, Game Change
Cecil
B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award:
Jodie Foster.
After departing the ABC network who refused to promote or care about the show, TBS picked up the under-rated comedy for a fourth season and saved the show from cancellation. A lot of people were skeptic about how the should would go on the new network, but after the season premiere any concern about the show's future have been eliminated.
The whole gang is back and follows immediately after the wedding of Jules and Greyson in the last episode of season 3. The couple are adjusting to married life and Greyson is finding out that being married to Jules is not what he expected. Ellie hands her responsibility of Jules's happiness over to Greyson while Laurie is having distance issues with her army boyfriend who is going to be away for another year.
The laughs come hard and fast in this season opener, and while this does reflect an episode of Cougar Town, you can definitely feel the catch up vibe to induct new viewers on the new channel.
At the end of the episode a very special cameo from Michelle Williams as Laurie's sister brings the episode to a hilarious conclusion. Thank you TBS for saving this show and we look forward to an amazing season!
ABC Family have managed to turn Sara Shephard's novels into hits first with Pretty Little Liars and now The Lying Game which has been renewed for season 2.
This season we go straight into Alec's arrest and court case. Confirming our suspicions at the end of last season that Sutton knows who their birth mother is and is teaming up with her to bring down the families and individuals that protected the secret of their real mother and twin.
Emma visits Alec in prison and he confesses that he knows about the two of them and strongly cautions Emma against trusting Sutton.
All of the pieces of this puzzle started to make sense at the end of last season and in just one 40 minute episode they have mashed it all up and provided more questions. Sutton and Ethan rekindle over a bike accident and after being rejected by Emma, shows signs of going back to Sutton again.
New hottie Jordan crashes the big charity party (I know they are still happening!) and we discover that he is a lot closer to Rebecca than anyone ever knew.
This is definitely one of ABC Family's best shows on their roster. The soapy style surprises and plot twists always keep me guessing and the good and evil twin thing works to perfection. An excellent season opener to what should be an amazing season 2 for The Lying Game.
Sunday night's return to airing original episodes after the holiday hiatus had all four animated shows up in ratings from their mid-season finale on December 9th, while Once Upon a Time remained consistent with it's ratings from the mid-season finale. While Revenge, Don't Trust the B in Apt. 23 and Happy Endings were all down.
Broadcast primetime ratings for Sunday, January 6, 2012:
