The "official" All TV blog is back up again, with the first post (a rerun of the usual "what is press tour?" explanation) up here. Meanwhile, today's column has a preview of TNT's Stephen King anthology miniseries "Nightmares & Dreamscapes," which is pretty cool.I watched the entirety of Showtime's "Brotherhood" before writing last week's review, so all 11 hours blend together to a certain degree. But if anyone watched it and has any comments or questions, specific details (beyond the ear-slicing scene and the ugly topless guys in the bookie trailer) should click back.
"Entourage" continued its modest improvement from the early part of the season. I knew Paul Haggis back in his last TV incarnation, when he was the underappreciated auteur of "Due South" and "EZ Streets," so it was funny to see him go insane with his new Oscar power. (Even when he was less successful, he was that intense.) Lots of Ari goodness, from his Kazakhstan gambit with "Young 21 Jump Street" boy to his reluctant meeting with Turtle (good pitch) and Drama (bad pitch), and especially his entrance in the final scene. I like the acknowledgement that Vince's new stardom comes with strings attached, and the show is usually at its best when Eric and/or Ari have to scramble to fix Vince's career.
Back sometime tomorrow after I've readjusted to a new timezone.
Nice to see that this year's 2nd episode of Entourage is already an anacronism.
ReplyDeleteHey, hey, in fairness, Aquaman did hold the record for three whole weeks. If the show was still in production, they could probably throw in a joke about it for one of the later episodes, but most HBO shows tend to wrap before they begin broadcasting.
ReplyDeleteSo Alan now you're saying the first partof this season has been a disappointment?
ReplyDeleteOne other interesting (at least to me) tidbit before we let this thing drop.
ReplyDeleteFirst Season, Second Episode: the review about Vincent's performance in Head On labeled him "the next Johnny Depp". Turns out (as far as box office kings go) Depp was just the next Vincent Chase.
Nice Sout-Out for one of my favorite Who songs.
ReplyDeleteIt does Entourage no favors having to follow Deadwood each week. Quite the drop off.
"So Alan now you're saying the first partof this season has been a disappointment?"
ReplyDeleteNo, I'd say this season has been uneven. The premiere wasn't very good, but "One Day in the Valley" was. The Dom two-parter had its problems, but it also had Ari throwing scripts into the trash and beefing with 21 Jump Street boy. Etc.
In terms of "disappointment," I may be the wrong person to ask. I liked the second season, but I've never loved this show. It's entertaining and it's light, and when they put the focus largely on Piven and/or Kevin Dillon, it can be really funny, but it's never been a comedy masterpiece or anything.
"Stephen King needs an editor..." Amen. There might have been a good book inside The Tommyknockers if anybody had bothered to excavate it.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Hurt was great. The story worked because you believed his reaction to this ridiculous situaion. Hey, why couldn't they have written an episode where Claire Forlani wasn't required to speak?