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2005 Fall Video Roundup, Vol. I

10/9/05

"Sports Night" (9 20-Minute Episodes)

Now, you're probably wondering--wait, they made two 24-episode seasons of the cancelled ABC dramedy "Sports Night", but why did Justin only watch the first nine episodes?  Well, that's because I just never got into this show, as well acted as it was, mostly because its writing style just didn't work for me.  The show, created by Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing") and produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, is a great idea that is oddly issue-oriented; imagine a show that involves the main anchors of ESPN's SportsCenter dealing with the deaths of family members on the air, or sexual assault on the job, or animal activism while on remote assignment, and you get the drift of where "Sports Night" wants to take the viewer.  I believe those to be important issues, sure, but not on a show that wants to provide laughs while we watch the behind-the-scenes production of a TV news program.  That, plus the forced nature of two budding relationships between the show's six main stars, led me to believe that watching 48 of these episodes might be bad for my health.  The kicker?  That came in episode 9, where one of the show's lead anchors, Dan Rydell (Josh Charles), debates how to give away some of his disposable income to a variety of charities, and at the end of the episode, discovers a big homeless guy just standing around in his office.  This created a number of questions for me, not the least of which was "How did that big homeless guy get past security and about 200 production people to slip into a glass-enclosed office on the 54th floor of the building?"  The way that one ended made me rip the DVD out of my player and send the remaining season DVDs back with it.  Hey, sometimes I just don't get it, and in the case of "Sports Night", it just wasn't for me.

Rating:  Rental

"Nip/Tuck, Season 1" (13 45-minute episodes)

Derwin "Holla" Hylton has been pushing this one on me for months now, so finally I added this to my queue on Netflix and starting watching it.  Let's be clear: after watching the pilot, I was confident that this show could add itself to the echelon of true Justin Bell favorites...and, the next 12 episodes did not disappoint.  Many of you have watched this show from the beginning and are not surprised by this, but in watching this show in DVD format (I am really falling in love with watching TV shows in this manner), many things shine regarding the show but certainly two make "Nip/Tuck" solid TV viewing:  the cool surgery special effects that the show puts on, and of course, Christian Troy (Julian McMahon), the bastard sexaholic that has more onscreen sex than any lead I can think of in TV history.  Seriously, FX gets away with a shocking amount of material, but without McMahon performing it, this show is a C+ at best.  Shows with MVPs like this always seem to hit the wall at some point; whenever the Troy character is not onscreen the show is a middling TV drama, and I've got to believe that at some point McMahon will make the jump to the big screen full-time (he was in "Fantastic Four" this summer, but that bombed).  But, Season 1 did enough for me to add Season 2 to the Queue; we'll see what happens.

Rating:  Opening Weekend

"Nip/Tuck, Season 2" (13 45-minute episodes)

Finishing the second season was derailed a bit by constant travel and my attempts to get back on track with theatrical releases; once I got going, though, I was hooked, although I thought that the second season was not as insane as season one, thanks mostly to the bordering-on-riduculous subplot featuring the diabolical pedophilic life coach played by former Bond girl Famke Janssen.  This, combined with the lessened degree of surgical procedures on the show and slight downfall of Christian Troy to continue his virtual sex parade, made the week-to-week fun a little less intense but the drama slightly better.  The result?  A slightly-less cool ride with the two leads but a product that will possibly have a four or five-year life on TV.  That's about as long as I could see Julian McMahon playing the Troy character anyway before beckoning to the call of motion pictures full-time.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

"Demonlover"

I tape the occasional random movie on the Sundance Channel, and when I saw one that featured Connie Nielsen and Chloe Sevigny in a French thriller about the business world and torture videos, I was like "Sign me up, fool!"  Here's the thing--the film starts off quite well, as we learn about a possible crime-in-the-making at the hands of an account executive (Nielsen) that is angling to lead a deal with a Japanese anime firm for her Paris-based firm.  Then, as we learn more details about the crime, it just gets cooler and cooler...and then, something happens, something that changes EVERYTHING about where the film decides to take us.  Then, it goes straight "Mulholland Drive" on us, featuring a totally whacked-out final 30 minutes and then it just ends.  Much like "Mulholland Drive", the first 75% of the movie is great, but then things get so weird that I had a hard time sitting through the finale.  But, the performances--the language spoken shifts regularly between French, Japanese and English--are stellar, and we even get a little Gina Gershon mixed in for good measure, in a cameo late in the movie.  I almost think you should rent this just to see what I'm talking about, but as an experience overall the film is just okay.

Rating:  Matinee

 

Comments?  Drop me a line at justin@bellviewmovies.com.

 

Bellview Rating System:

"Opening Weekend":  This is the highest rating a movie can receive.  Reserved for movies that exhibit the highest level of acting, plot, character development, setting...or Salma Hayek.  Not necessarily in that order. 

"$X.XX Show":  This price changes each year due to the inflation of movie prices; currently, it is the $9.50 Show.  While not technically perfect, this is a movie that will still entertain you at a very high level.  "Undercover Brother" falls into this category; it's no "Casablanca", but you'll have a great time watching.  The $9.50 Show won't win any Oscars, but you'll be quoting lines from the thing for ages (see "Office Space"). 

"Matinee":  An average movie that merits no more than a $6.50 viewing at your local theater.  Seeing it for less than $9.50 will make you feel a lot better about yourself.  A movie like "Blue Crush" fits this category; you leave the theater saying "That wasn't too bad...man, did you see that Lakers game last night?" 

"Rental":  This rating indicates a movie that you see in the previews and say to your friend, "I'll be sure to miss that one."  Mostly forgettable, you couldn't lose too much by going to Hollywood Video and paying $3 to watch it with your sig other, but you would only do that if the video store was out of copies of "Ronin."  If you can, see this movie for free.  This is what your TV Guide would give "one and a half stars." 

"Hard Vice":  This rating is the bottom of the barrel.  A movie that only six other human beings have witnessed, this is the worst movie I have ever seen.  A Shannon Tweed "thriller," it is so bad as to be funny during almost every one of its 84 minutes, and includes the worst ending ever put into a movie.  Marginally worse than "Cabin Boy", "The Avengers" or "Leonard, Part 6", this rating means that you should avoid this movie at all costs, or no costs, EVEN IF YOU CAN SEE IT FOR FREE!  (Warning:  strong profanity will be used in all reviews of "Hard Vice"-rated movies.)