The Bloated Penguin

I think I’ve finally found a free iPhone app I can actually be excited about. PING isn’t a game or a calculator, or a news feed, PING is the iPhone version of Blackberry Messenger. The BBM was the only lingering regret I had when I moved to an iPhone, but with PING I can freely messege any other iPhone and iTouch user for no charge. The interface works exactly the same as SMS, but it uses data instead. This means PING negates any text charges to and from fellow iPhone users. Now the goal is to get everyone I would ever message off of their Blackberries and onto iPhones….

Check out this article on Gizmodo (this is also where I took the image above)

HBO always manages to thwart my weekly schedule. Just when I thought it was safe to turn off the television and actually see some sunlight (metaphoric of course since I’m living in Ontario now), they go and suck up another hour of my time. With a stacked roster of shows like Entourage, True Blood, Curb Your Enthusiasm and old episodes of The Wire and Sopranos, HBO has to go and do it again by dropping another quick-witted gem of brilliance with their new show Bored To Death.

If you have no idea what Bored to Death is then here’s my short recap of the show synopsis Penguin style. Jason Schwartzman plays Jonathan Ames, a 30 year-old New York novelist looking to write the very difficult second novel of his career. His BFF Ray (played brilliantly by Zach Galifianakis – AKA Zach G…the hardest name to spell these days) is a New York comic book artist that basically hangs out with Jonathan everyday talking about the weird artist crap like the end of testosterone and not getting enough sex from him girlfriend. As the series kicks off, Jonathan’s girlfriend Susanne played by Olivia Thirlby (Juno’s friend from, well, Juno) moves out because all he does is sit around drinking white wine and smoking pot. Because of his creative writer’s block, Jonathan also carries a journalist job where his boss is a hilarious Ted Danson. When Suzanne moves out of their apartment Jonathan begins to see how his life going to turn out. So in the heat of vulnerability, he goes onto Craigslist and posts an ad stating that he’s an unlicensed private detective. The show basically follows Jonathan as he illegally helps people and attempts to win back the heart of Suzanne.

The concept seems quite flat to begin with, but the show’s creator (the real Jonathan Ames) gives everything a little bit of a twist. Bored to Death is a modern comedic noir. It takes the form of a seedy PI show from back in 1940’s and mixes in drug use, sex, self loathing and comedy from Zach G. and Ted Danson. Although this isn’t a true noir, it does do something that HBO is known for, it takes a style and throws it for a loop keeping the audience guessing. Schwartsman plays his normal, hated self (although his character in Funny People was pretty damn hilarious) but it is the supporting cast that really brings this show together. Zach G is amazing and Ted Danson could give Alec Baldwin a run for most ridiculous boss in New York. The other really nice part about Bored to Death is the opening sequence. With a wonderfully animated novel concept, the movement of the words, the word choices and the music tie together really nicely.

If you’re bored one night (as I often am) I suggest checking this show out. It’s smart funny, not stoned funny and gives you some insight on the insecurities of creative people and what goes through their heads when their imaginations get the best of them.

First up, I agree with ABC when they allude to the fact that once LOST is over, their stronghold on the niche market of sci-fi and dramatic mystery fans will be all but gone. I agree with the fact that something on the network should be able to absorb some fans into a new show, but right now, I really don’t think that show is Flash Forward. With an amazing cast up front, I really had high hopes for this, but after watching the pilot last week and letting it all settle in, I’ve got more gripes than praise for the Lost replacement.

First up, Joseph Fiennes. I’m not a huge fan and never was. In fact, I really think this is the only thing I’ve seen him in since Shakespeare in Love and that was one of the most pretentiously over-rated flicks of all time. Sorry Joe, not a good start. For one of the first times ever, I can really tell that there is a British accent behind the American slang. Call it bad acting, call it bad direction or call it Joe Fiennes not quite interpreting the character properly, but I really feel as though he’s not up to par with this show. Other casting follies I see are the FBI director played by Courtney B. Vance. I remember him from a few episodes of ER and Boston Public back in the day and nothing about him ever spoke with authority. Finally, and this is probably the worst casting decision that could ever be made for a pilot, Seth McFarlane made a short cameo appearance as an FBI agent. Now I’m all for imagination and stretching the belief of a viewer, but Seth McFarlane? Seriously? This guy lacks so much talent that he had to develop an acting career as a voice… Okay, maybe I’m a little hard on Seth, but I’m of the belief that Family Guy is one of the dumbest shows on earth (bring on the backlash, but you all know that he stole everything from South Park and put it on FOX).

I will say this though, the casting of John Cho as Demetri Noh was quite good. In fact, I really think he saved the pilot in a lot of ways. I know that whenever people see all they can imagine is him and Kumar getting stoned in a dorm room (or to a lesser extend bringing the Enterprise in and out of warp speed), but I think he really gets to show that he’s not just a character actor. He’s got some chops and in my mind could really carry Flash Forward.

My next gripe is about the story. I understand that Lost plays with time and flash backs all of the time in terms of memory and possible futures, but Flash Forward has all of this built into the story. What I find extremely annoying is the predictability with the way a lot of the flash forwards are being revealed. The audience meets a new character, then BAM, flash forward and you see their vision… Not really as exciting as you might think and there are probably numerous possibilities of how these visions could be shown.

The other gripe I have with the story is the “modernization,” of the whole script. I understand that the war in Afganistan is on the edge of people’s minds all of the time, but when we flick on the TV during prime time and our imaginations get going, we don’t need to be reminded by every show that people are dying out there. If we wanted to know more, we’d watch the news at 6. If Flash Forward is supposed to take place in a fictitious reality, then why does there have to be war? Maybe I’m looking too far into this, but I don’t particularly enjoy shows that “try to stay current,” they really end up just making themselves look stupid and eventually dated.

I’ll end this with some positives for the David Goyer directed pilot because even though this initial review is a bit harsh, I will probably be back this week to watch another episode. Flash Forward has potential. I can see it in the final scene (although that is a bit too long to wait to start caring about the plot) with Demetri and his FBI assistant finding security camera footage of someone who did not experience the flash. Like 24, they decided to wait until the very end of the episode to give you a reason to want to watch more. But at least it’s there and they’ve got me interested now. The other interesting technique they’ve used is connecting characters in their flashes and not revealing how they are connected in real time. Again, it adds to the mystery and gives audiences a reason to come back for more.

Anyways, I think everyone should check out at least one episode of Flash Forward to form their own opinion because it’s really difficult to judge a show purely on the pilot. Maybe this will grow on me, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Sometimes there’s a show that is just so amazing in its first season that the only direction it can go is down. Currently the best example for his is Heroes. I like to call this the, “ER Syndrome,” or a show that overstays its welcome in prime time. ER was amazing in the early to mid 90’s. The cast was great with Clooney and Julianna Margulies, a young Noah Wyle and the resurrection of Goose’s career. It had an amazing amount of drama, took great chances in terms of story telling and the characters were so well established that as audiences we all became experts very quickly. ER was influential for a lot of reasons, but for me I always liked how they set up the ensemble cast and were able to keep things interesting. Then it went on… and on… And On… and it never stopped. Characters died / left newbies came in and destroyed the dynamic and all of a sudden ER became that guest in your house that just wouldn’t leave. It was always there with something new, but it was no longer exciting, it was just annoying.

Fast forward about a decade and you’ve got Heroes. After an amazing and ground breaking first season I feel as though this show is really just over-staying its welcome in prime time. I’ve griped about my feelings towards Heroes for quite some time now, but it wasn’t until I finally watched the 2-hour season premier of the 4th season that it really dawned on me. I don’t care anymore. I don’t care what happens to the Bennets, the Patrelli’s or the Japanese guys let alone a new cast of villains. Sylar was a great initial concept, but I don’t even care about him anymore. There are a number of reasons as to why this happened (personally I believe it to be the leaving of Bryan Fuller), but for whatever reason it could be, the result is the same. I’m bored and I don’t care.

Now my dilemma is this. Every time I “write off a show,” something dramatic happens and I’m forced to get back into it. Thus, I never actually “stop,” watching. It happened with 24, it happened with Smallville and it I suspect it will happen with Heroes. I’ve invested so much time into this show and all of its characters that I think one day I’ll come back to it just for the sake of completion. But until then, I think I’m going to lay this show to rest. Sorry Ando, even you can’t keep me around for an hour each week.

I’m not a big anime fan at all. In fact, I don’t even really know what you would classify as anime these days and the only reason I’m aware of the term is cause I have an Akira action figure and a friend once asked if I enjoyed screaming someone’s name from across a field, jumping 6 miles into the air and shooting some kind of light towards… anything. I proceeded to respond with, “Um no. But I do believe Japanese animators were onto something with the way they create the most un-proportionate looking human bodies….”

Anyways, back to the matter at hand. I recently started watching really old episodes of Cowboy Bebop. I’d seen a few episodes when I was a kid, but didn’t completely understand it beyond the cool looking space ships and the animated violence. I have to be honest, the show isn’t much better now and with the news of a live-action movie starring Keanu Reeves as the lead character, I don’t have high hopes. What does still impress me is the opening sequence. The song “Tank,” is an absolute perfect choice for a show like this and the animated sequence really sets the tone for the show. I think Cowboy Bebop had a strong influential hand in a show like Firefly which, like Cowboy, melded the old west mentality with a sci-fi twist.

But the opening sequence specifically reminds me of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Volume 1. The punkish pop music playing in the background of action sequences gives it a unique feel and after watching a few episodes of Cowboy Bebop, I can see exactly what QT was going for with a lot of his fight scenes.

Okay, so this clip is from the first season of Californication and now that the show is into it’s third season it could be seen as a bit out-dated. But to me, this is timeless. I understand the obvious irony with me posting this on the Bloated Penguin, but I think there is something so brilliant about this entire statement. It speaks volumes for the evolution of technology and the de-evolution of creativity and human uniqueness.

I watched the second episode of the third season of Californication last night and there were a few moments in the episode that reminded me of this rant. I don’t think there are any clips up at the moment, but if you’ve seen it then you’ll probably understand what I’m talking about. Plot-wise, I think the timing of making Hank a writing professor is great. He’s in a rut, he’s worse than he’s ever been by ways of his emotional state and the old saying of, “Those who cannot Do, Teach,” is hinting to reign true. But then Hank drops great little bombs like he did with Ed Weswick’s character when he told him not to write about anymore Vampire shit.

Now, I like some of the “Vampire shit,” out there, especially True Blood, but I understand where he’s coming from and this is why I think it relates back to the rant posted above. More and more, people are finally being exposed as hacks and I think shows like Californication are brilliant for noticing. The “creative,” society as a whole really ran out of ideas back in the 90’s but they’ve been covering it up since. There are exceptions of course, but in general, and I think this is where Hank is coming from, stories don’t have the writer’s passion anymore. It’s like everyone is so concerned with getting noticed and making a crap load of cash and walking down a red carpet that they neglect to take chances. Anyways, I know it’s not on the level of a Hank Moody rant, but that was mine.

Write About What Makes You Hard

Later.

I’ve been reading up on the latest from Jason Segel’s Muppet project and I’m happy to hear that the film has been officially announced by Disney. I’m certain this flick won’t blow anyone’s mind but from what I’ve read so far, it sounds like Segel’s Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made could at least be in the tone of the Muppets we love.

In case you need a refresher, The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made actually derived from Jim Henson himself and his head writer from the original Muppets Show Jerry Juhl. The concept goes as follows: Gonzo, forever wanting to prove his own worth and show the world what he’s about, approaches Kermit with a movie idea. Kermit, being the extremely busy frog he is (probably busy doing news reports for Sesame Street and hanging with the wife Miss Piggy) says he’ll be in the film, but can’t find time to direct. Gonzo then takes the reigns and starts to shoot his own film. The story, in true Gonzo fashion, makes absolutely no sense but includes some big chase scenes and expensive shots (Michael Bay anyone?) but when he starts filming he blows the entire budget on the opening sequence leaving no money to shoot the remainder of the film. The concept is in the deteriorating fashion of quality as the plot moves forward and Gonzo is forced to use the same sets over and over again just to complete it.

Henson and Juhl talked about the concept up until their final meeting together, but sadly they could not bring the project to beyond the page as they originally planned.

Enter writer / actor Jason Segel and his wacky new ideas combined with a love of Muppet mythology. Segel (of Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You Man and How I Met Your Mother) claims to be a die-hard Muppets fan and plans to stay true to all of the characters. Although he might not use the story originally conceived by Henson and Juhl, he has officially adopted the name as an homage to the father of the Muppets. In Segel’s version the Muppet gang must band together to save their theater from being torn down by an oil tycoon. The final outcome could be a combination of both Henson and Juhl’s concept and Segel’s but nothing has been confirmed to date. Although the pitch doesn’t sound all that interesting, after watching the final scene from Forgetting Sarah Marchall I’m starting to believe Segel might know what he’s doing.

Here’s the song, but there doesn’t seem to be a actual “clip” floating around anywhere.

Fringe, Californication, Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Bones last week as well as the return of Heroes tonight. Alright, so as you can probably guess, I don’t get out much; but hey! I’m in a new city without anyone to hang out with so I’ve been spending a lot of quality time with Walter and Peter Bishop, Hank Moody, Charlie and the gang from Paddy’s Pub and Booth and Brennan (I just realized how sad that really is…)

Anyways, I’ve been putting off my review of the season premier of Fringe for a little while because I needed some things to soak in. Not only has my favorite show returned, they are now shooting the entire series in my hometown of Vancouver. Its just too bad that they premiered the second season during my first week in Toronto which has brought forth some serious homesickness. Enough about me and onto the show. JJ Abrams, well done so far. I know not a lot of people will understand the point of the premier, but I found your clues and love the entire episode being an homage to the original Vancouver shot sci-fi hit X-Files. I loved how it was playing on TV in one of the opening scenes, I love how Peter and Olivia care about each other far beyond how regular co-workers care for each other and I really loved how Fringe division was almost shut down X-Files style only to be saved by Broyles and Peter. Even though you didn’t really touch on Belly and the other dimension, I thought this was a great episode to start the season off with. I also love the little messages left throughout the summer about Charlie being “fired,” Brilliant. So Fringe premier gets an A.

Californication was also a strong episode, but I’ll go into my gripes first. The recap at the beginning of the episode was way too long. I understand Showtime wants to gain viewers by showing newbies what they’ve missed, but more than half of the scenes shown in the recap had nothing to do with the episode. The good parts of the premier were obviously Hank’s dialogue and the ridiculous choices made by Runkle. The strength of the show is always going to be rooted in the fact that Hank is impulsive and spends most of his time complaining and basically fucking anything with legs, but I like how this season they have clearly defined a path for Hank to go down from the beginning. Unlike seasons past where he’s just an angry old writer, this season gives him a goal (get some work) and an enemy (the new Dean of the University played by Peter Gallagher). I also love how Peter Gallagher can’t seem to get away from playing dudes with chick names: Sandy Cohen from the OC and now Stacey Koons. I’ll give the premier of Californication a solid B cause I’m excited to see how Hank is as a teacher, but not too pleased that he probably won’t be writing much for himself this season… We’ll have to see.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is wearing on me. After a hilarious first and second season, I really think the gang at Paddy’s pub is running out of stupid shit to do. In the past it was funny when the gang tries not to be racist or they turn themselves into crackheads, but the premier had them trying to invade the real estate market and basically ran its course of ridiculous comments from Charlie and terrible ideas from everyone else. I hate to say it, but I think this show needs to drop Danny Devito. Yes he’s a TV icon and I agree with the choice to bring him into the second season to gain some veiwership, but now I feel as though he’s dragging the show down. It’s actually not so much Danny Devito himself as it is for the character of Frank. I feel as though the writers are trying too hard to include him in a lot of the story lines. I’m giving the premier of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia a C because it’s getting predictable and it’s lost most of the shock value it came in with a few seasons ago.

The last premier I watched last week was Bones. Bones is one of those shows that you can just watch one day and not worry about missing any episodes because nothing really big ever seems to happen. I think TV needs a few of these shows every once in a while because a lot of us just don’t have time. The premier was very Bones-esque. Brennan questions anything non-scientific while Booth presents some human elements. They solve an old murder, bicker back and forth, use some fictional technology to assemble the story and end with a slow fade out to some modern music. Like I said, nothing special – but sometimes you need that. I’m giving the Bones premier a B as well, but I don’t think a show like this can ever achieve top status because of the nature of each formulaic episode.

So that’s my roundup for last week. I’ll be watching the 2-hour season premier of Heroes tonight with low expectations. The last two seasons have had their moments, but for the most part, nothing compares to the inaugural season. I blame NBC’s inability to sign Bryan Fuller, and the fact that they refuse to kill off / recast Claire Bennet. Anyways, I’ll still watch Heroes tonight, but I don’t know how long I can stay loyal…