Sundays, still Super?

The NFL Football season, (the BEST part of the Sunday experience), is over, making today the worst Sunday ever, right? ... Well, wrong. Very far from it, in fact! Sunday is now (Sunday NIGHTS, at least) , here in the middle of February, the best its EVER been!

Need proof? Well grab your DVR remote and check THIS out!:

#1 - The return of the Walking Dead - tonight on AMC, maybe one of the best horror themed TV series of all time is back from its mid-season break. If you haven't heard people sweating the balls outa this show, you've been living under a rock. And unless you hate horror, checking out this show once, will make u see why. This season may be the best yet! Michonne ... the Governor ... Even Carl has stepped his game up, and become ... dare I say ... Awesome? Yep. I'll say it.  We have a whole slew of new survivors that just joined up. Governor lost his zombie daughter as well as an eye and is on a rampage, and Dale and his brother are about to fight for their lives ... Cannot wait!

#2 - Showtime on par with HBO? - Believe it! Everyone talks about Dexter, which is fine, but the best show on Showtime is without a doubt - Shameless. I don't say this often, but this is one of BEST shows on TV right now. For complete quality, I'd put it second ONLY to Game of Thrones. Yep. I said it. Its that damn good. Some of the best characters and best stories you've ever seen. And SOOO fuckin funny. Check it out, and then try and come back and tell me I'm wrong.

#3 - House of Lies - Still on Showtime, we have House of Lies with Don Cheadle. It took me a minute to get into this show ... had trouble with Cheadle as the anti-protagonist that is so popular on cable these days (ever since Tony Soprano) .... but now that I've cast my original notions aside, I've really gotten into it! Not the BEST show on the network, but very very good, and at 30 min, its just enough. The cast has great chemistry, and Nia Long has joined up this season, so for all those missing her ... There ya go!

#4 - HBO's Girls - I like it, but I shouldn't. Most shows - you LIKE the main characters ... Or at least you are supposed to. Girls is different in that I just HATE these girls and everyone on the show. ESPECIALLY Lena Dunham, who totally "George Lucas's" the show as star, writer, director, and executive producer of most of the eps.

Her character and her friends are just disgusting, and I don't just mean physically ... They actually sicken me. But that being said, the show is actually awesome in how it strays from convention. You never quite know what will be said, or what is going to happen next, and that's definitely a mark of strong writing, and refreshing in today's TV landscape. It also does well to capture the NYC experience for 20-somethings, being one of the best shows to do it since How to Make it in America. (which HBO never should have cancelled) Oh, and the only exception to hating all the characters, is the mousey friend - Shoshanna, whom I love. Even though she gets the least screentime of the 4 of them, she's the best. So ... yeah. If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend trying it out for a few eps. cuz Girls is, in fact, worth it.


And #5 - last, but not least, for those that may be cable-impaired, I submit - Fox's Animation Domination -Their successful Sunday night of animated comedies for many years running, which is as solid as ever! Simpsons - ok. Ain't what it used to be, but still better than most TV out there, and occasionally knocks one out of the park, still! Cleveland Show has really hit its stride over the last 2 couple seasons, and is worthy of the spinoff it was given ... Only suggestion - More of Tim the Bear! Family Guy - like the Simpsons, isn't what it used to be, but almost never disappoints, especially with Stewie and Brian together. Then there's American Dad which has found it's groove and become the BEST of the Sunday night bunch. Everything "Roger" is genius, and the fringe characters like Principal Lewis and Haley's husband Jeff give the Simpsons supporting cast a run for their money!

All this is on just ONE night of Television! And that's not even to mention that Game of Thrones is coming back at the end of March. Yeah. Even without Football, Sunday is DEFINITELY still Super.


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Dear Diaries ... You Suck.

So I gave CW's Carrie Diaries, the "prequel" to the hit Sex & the City series, set in the 1980's with a teenage Carrie Bradshaw, a shot ... and its an absolute disaster.  Candace Bushnell, who also did SATC and is Executive Producer on Carrie Diaries, should be ashamed of herself.

The problems are as follows:

#1 - It doesn't embrace the 80's - with SO much nostalgia attached to the 80's, you'd think this show would try harder to grasp what the period was all about, but it doesn't. Quite the contrary, it works extra hard to feel more "timeless", so as not to scare off its core CW demographic ... Most of whom would have no recollection or appreciation of the 80's. So other than an occasional wink, it NEVER feels like the decade its set in, which is a purposeful blunder on their part...

... But then when Carrie Diaries TRIES, it gets it all wrong. Characters looks like they are wearing "80's costumes", instead of looking like 80's people. They don't walk like its the 80's. They don't talk like its the 80's. They don't even do their hair like the 80's. Everything looks like stage props, from the worn, vintage "Interview magazine", to the walkman they revolve a whole scene around, just to remind you which decade they are in. They should consult "That 70's Show" to take notes on how to get the feel of a period RIGHT.

#2 - Highschool Cliche 101 - its the CW, so they resort to most of the typical highschool drama cookie-cutter BS, with the "mean girl bullies", including the Queen bee and her racially diverse subordinates, cuz ... that's real. You've got the cheerleaders dressed in their cheerleader outfits on the first day of school, along with half of everyone else in letterman jackets, cuz that's what people can relate to. Girls that tolerate having a nickname like "Mouse" and guys affectionately referring to people by their last names ... I mean, does anyone actually DO that?!? Then, of course, you have the usual dynamic of the "evil rich kids" vs "poor, victimized, upper middle class kids". They're just not TRYING.

#3 - Too much of Nothing - the ORIGINAL Sex & the City was harmless, lighthearted, escapism for 30 min each week. The Carrie Diaries is TWICE as long, yet with only a fraction of the substance. Carrie's stick-figure of a father is just thrown in as a set piece/recurring obstacle, yet we're supposed to care about him somehow ... Her friends are boring and one dimensional with their *yawn* "stories" consuming half of every episode ... And then the token 80's hipster socialite black chick (go, diversity!) that "adopts" Carrie into her circle and teaches all about "the big city"... She's got a British accent, so you KNOW she's trendy and worldly ... yet completely oblivious to the fact that's she's hanging out with a 16 year old. Trash.

I could go on, and on, and on, and on, and ON with everything that's wrong with Carrie Diaries. But suffice it to say that it is just BAD. People that loved SATC would hate it, and people that are unfamiliar with it, won't get the point.

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1600 Puke-sylvania Avenue ...

Ah, "Midseason" ... Television's dumping ground. Programming that couldn't make it onto the Fall Prime schedule, or simply placeholders for the actual GOOD stuff on hiatus between premiere eps. Still, I decided to give NBC's new Thursday night comedy a shot, and as you can guess by the title of this post ... It ... ain't ... good ...

1600 Penn is a sitcom starring Bill Pullman (or is it Bill Paxton?) as the President of the United States with his goofy, out of control family, creating hijinks in the Oval Office. The premise has potential and it reminds me of The Simpsons episode where Lisa was President and had to manage the antics of HER crazy family. I wouldn't be surprised if this is where 1600 Penn got its inspiration, however the result is MUCH much less enjoyable...

Every character is "one-note", teetering between "bland" and "unlikable", and the jokes are as empty and predictable as the plot points. Nobody exists believably in their world, so then is the humor coming from the situation? The crazy family member? The "straight-man"? (essentially, everybody ELSE on the show including other 'crazy family members' quickly normalized, as a joke necessitates, in order to carry)  Nobody knows!

The overgrown man-child - the John Belushi-esque, trouble-making, halfwit, loser son of the President, Skip Gilchrist, played by Josh Gad, is supposed to be the standout. But he's actually the worst. "A bumbling, fat oaf that doesn't know how to act, EVER". Very original NBC. Way to raise the bar there. His scenes are as excruciatingly tiresome as much as everyone else is completely forgettable.

The Peacock Net has BIG shoes to fill and needs DESPERATELY to reinvigorate it's Thursday nights, what with it's floundering commitment to Community, The Office seemingly on its last leg, and 30 Rock finishing up this year ... But 1600 Penn is NOT a step in the right direction. The show? In a word? - "Unwatchable"

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Halo vs CoD:BLops ... the Ultimate Grudge Match?

Well, "Ultimate" might be a strong word, especially for ME, considering I don't care for 1st person shooters much, but with the 2 mega games franchises - Halo and Call of Duty - releasing their next big installments within a week of one another, the big ad campaigns are unavoidable, so lets look at BOTH commercials and see which one moves you!

First - Halo 4, now developed by 343 Industries hit store shelves this past Tuesday, the 6th (election day)

... meh! ...

Next - Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, from Treyarch, comes out next week on the 13th of November.

Yeah, man! Fun, Catchphrases, Guest Stars, Explosions ... ZOMBIES?!? ... Now THAT is a commercial! ... Right on par with the original Cod:BLops "noob" commercial with Jonah Hill and Sam Worthington!

Needless to say, this is HUGE for videos games, particularly for the Microsoft X-box (the only place you can play Halo), especially now with the holiday season and people .... "asking for things" ... But the REAL winners will be the Game Stops, Best Buys, and Toys R' Us of the world. But, whatevz! I'm gonna lean towards Call of Duty, if I had to choose one, but I say - crack open those change jars and go out and get'em BOTH! You KNOW you deserve it!

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Girl Got Game

Have you heard about this new Football Phenom? Single season stats - 25 Touchdowns, 1,911 yards, averaging 8.2 yards per carry ... Ridiculous, right?! Someone get Sam Gordon on the New York Giants roster, stat! ... Oh, and did I mention? - Sam Gordon is a girl.

In the Salt Lake City, Utah area junior football league for kids in her age group (mostly 9 year olds), Sam plays against the boys, and just destroys the "competition". Usually the smallest person on the field, she's easy to spot. Her speed and agility is unmatched by any of her peers, running circles around everyone, breaking tackles left and right.

Check it out here!

Seriously - Just give Sam the ball and get the HELL out of her way!

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GO'bama! 4 More Years!!

Get ready, and hope you enjoy cuz this is as "political" as I'll ever get on this thing! 

Its not possible to NOT know that President Obama was re-elected last night to a round of joyous celebration, the country and the world over!

It all started with this little voters ballot ... Over the course of an entire November 6th and an entire nation, people were filling them out feverishly to ... well ... for whatever personal reasons motivate them ...

Afterwards, later on in the evening, many congregated wherever a drink and television set were available. I wound up at 230 5th in NYC (god help me), and it was a crazy scene! Felt like we were watching the Superbowl or something, they way everyone was into it, which was pretty cool. In the past, I've always just stayed home on Election night, and watched anything on TV that WASN'T politically related. Who KNEW this was a thing to do??

As much as people cheered whenever they showed Obama ahead or officially "winning" a state, (and maybe this was just a New York thing), nothing compared to way the roof blew off when CNN announced him as their projected winner. 

Here's a little taste of what the ol' camera caught: 

And of course, not EVERYONE was happy ... Plenty of sour grapes and disappointed faces to go 'round ... But whatever. Can't let their angry tweets, excuses and nonsense spoil an awesome day ... And I think we could all use one!

So - Yay!! 4 more years!! I for one am thrilled! The only thing I'll miss about Mr. Romney is his awesome nickname ... So, with the utmost respect for a hard fought election, here's a classy little "goodbye" note I put together for our ALMOST 'President Mittens' ... Later!

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Top 10 Horror Movie Countdown! #1 - Dawn of the Dead

Happy Halloween!! Here we are! We've finally arrived at the ultimate finale for the Top 10 Horror Movies of All-Time! Its been a great 10 days, and so much fun counting down with you to see what ranks on EWLYD as thee greatest Horror movie ever made ... Thank you, and your patience has been rewarded, my friends ...



#1 - Dawn of the Dead

You should understand I'm talking about the original 1978 release of Dawn of the Dead, written and directed by George Romero ... I said it before and I'll say it again - EJ loves zombies ... And as far as zombie movies go - Dawn of the Dead is the best. For those that don't know, it is essentially Romero's follow up to Night of the Living Dead. The movie starts off with the zombies already up and running and doing what they do. And as one of the few remaining television broadcasts is on the air, discussing the turmoil and trying to keep the public informed, chaos ensues and 2 reporters find themselves teamed up with 2 SWAT team members attempting to hide out in an "abandoned" shopping mall in order to fight for their lives ...

How does it make the top 10?

Horror movies don't come any better than this. The strength of ANY movie is how much it can resonate with an audience, making the 'character connection' the most vital aspect. Therein, the weakness many horror movies suffer from is their limited characterization. They are too bogged down in their own premise or the 'horror figure' itself to truly connect to viewers. Some make weak attempts or try to compensate for the lack with shock, flash, and gimmickry, but its only the very BEST movies can effectively create that connection. And like I mentioned with Night of the Living Dead, zombie movies aren't about the zombies, they are about the survivors, which gives this type of horror film the perfect pallet to create something meaningful.

Romero's 1978 Dawn gave us 4 characters and ONLY 4, which is important. This meant that they weren't just fodder for zombies to pick off one by one. These 4 individuals had to make a story, and that they did. From the point that they decided to clear out the mall of the undead roaming around, we got to ride with them as 'real people' making practical decisions. We got to see relationships form and friendships put to the test ... Sometimes it was lighthearted. Sometimes it was sad and scary.

Some fantastic scenes of the survivors doing something as natural as just shopping and trying to enjoy whatever type of life they can while trapped in a mall ... And of course, the political statements that abound in the film, from its views on consumerism, feminism, and social activism ... It was the 70's afterall .... There is just so much to take away from it. And although Dawn isn't all "horror" and "monsters" all the time, when it is, it is awesome. There's a measure of real fright and intensity in almost every scene, even when trying to accomplish the simplest of tasks. What's going to happen? Can they really keep the zombies at bay?? How much longer can they hold out??? These are the questions that keep viewers on the edge of their seat the whole way through and when you find out the "answer" at the end? ... Wow.

Best horror movie. Hands down. Period.

Love to hear your thoughts, criticism and commentary!
What shouldn't have been on the list? .... What was missing?

Take care and Happy Halloween!!

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