Brief spoilers for last night's "Entourage" coming up just as soon as I have a seat at the bar...I suppose "Pie" was a slight improvement over recent episodes, in that showing Vince at work, in a circumstance where he's no longer top dog -- and where the director doesn't seem to have much use for the former Number One Star in the World -- has potential to be interesting, and in that they're introducing the wonderful Gary Cole to the cast. (He'll be a regular next season, which may be the only reason I'd look forward to next season.)
But the Cole story didn't amount to much more than set-up for stuff down the road, and Vince is such a flat and passive character that it's hard to get any comedy out of him, even in situations (like wimping out in Jason Patric's trailer) that might have been funny with a different character (or on a different show).
I continue to be unable to kick the habit -- I guess I need a handful of shows to complain about every year, and "Entourage" provides plenty of fodder for that -- but I'm not enjoying it.
What did everybody else think?
24 comments:
I'm like you. I'm having a hard time quitting it. Although this week I paid way less attention to it; just had it on in the background while I was ironing clothes for Monday. I don't know why I even watch. I couldn't be any less moved by the show at the moment. This one was even devoid of great eye candy, which can sometimes be the only great thing about the show.
Yeah, Vinnie's acting on the first day was awful, but Adrian Grenier's stare at the director at the end when he learns that he gave away his lines was really great.
The episodes are more spirited than last season. I'm enjoying watching the movie develop--it's now listed on Jason Patric's Wiki entry, as in production, and there's a poster.
http://www.ibored.com/2008/09/vincent-chases-next-flick-smok.html
Not much funny here, though I also like Gary Cole,
How many episodes are left?
3 episodes left.
I actually kind of liked this one. We got a little humanity (if not comedy) out of Ari, and I thought Jason Patrick was a lot of fun. Plus, the awesomeness that is Skarsgaard.
The other guys were utterly useless (now that Eric is a manager of multiple people, can he really take off from Hollywood for a three month shoot like that? Or Johnny, co-star of the hit series "Five Towns"?)
I had to laugh at the opening shot of Skarsgaard on the helicopter directing things. Big studio movie or not, they don't get to set off massive fireballs in a forest.
That said, I am holding out hope that things are on the upswing, despite the crushing dissapointment the show has provided thus far.
hey Alan,
looks like a Viagra-bot pierced your Captcha in the Grey's/ER comment section :-(
Alan,
For someone who gets so fired up when people leave spoilers in the comments about scenes from the following episode, this seems like a pretty major spoiler:
"(He'll be a regular next season, which may be the only reason I'd look forward to next season.)"
I wish you didn't include that in your review
Rob, casting news is always a much grayer area. The fact that Cole will be around next year doesn't tell you anything about what role he'll be playing in the grand scheme of things.
If you feel I ruined something about upcoming episodes, I'm sorry, but I'm vehemently anti-spoiler in many areas and felt okay with this.
Alan,
I think knowing that Amy Ryan on the Office was only on for a limited run was more spoilery than this Gary Cole news (news, that has me excited as he's always great.)
I found it very strange that the boys were able to hang around the set all day. Especially with the director, and not in Vince's trailer.
Also, while I thought Jason Patric was good in the show, I had a hard time believing him getting cast in the lead of such a supposedly big movie. Vince having been in Aquaman would have been a much more recent hit than any movie Jason Patric has been in lately. I know the show has to go with who they're able to get for several episodes -- and Ed Norton wouldn't do a TV show for that many -- but kind of hurt the reality of the show itself.
Yeah, I'm confused about the acting hierarchy of "Smokejumpers." Is Vince still playing the secondary brother role that he was groveling for earlier in the season, or did Ari get him the lead as part of the Dana Gordon deal? And if he's the brother, then where's Ed Norton? Are we supposed to assume he isn't in these particular scenes, or that Jason Patric got the part? Because post-"Aquaman" stink or not, there's no way the Vince that the show keeps selling us would be cast in a big-budget studio movie as the second lead behind Jason Patric.
I have a simpler suggestion--let's just get rid of Vince and devote the next season to Gary Cole and Jeremy Piven going after each other, with Rex Lee, Perrey Reeves, and Constance Zimmer also sticking around. Would be better.
I think knowing that Amy Ryan on the Office was only on for a limited run was more spoilery than this Gary Cole news
I think that was something we all assumed, even before the number of episodes was made known. (And I think I made it a point to never discuss the actual number.) While Ryan's not a household name, she's busy enough in movies these days that nobody expected her to be around Scranton for very long.
Clearly if this is a world where Turtle can get laid, then Speed 2 was a major hit.
I have to assume that Norton is out because he was a client of Amanda's, right?
As for why the studio would have Jason Patric as the lead rather than the former biggest movie star in the world, I felt like it was somewhat implied that the director didn't want Vince for the movie/role. That is why he took away Vince's lines, lied to him and has been brushing him off. The Studio put him in the role, but he wasn't the director's choice. That said, based on their rapport, Jason Patric WAS his choice for the lead, megastar or no megastar.
Maybe the suspension of disbelief for the "leading man" Jason Patric is if we assume he is actually playing Daniel Day-Lewis? If so it would have been easier to just have him play somebody other than himself and make him an Oscar winner.
Anyway, what I can't figure out is if Vince is intentionally supposed to be a bad actor or if it is just Adrian Grenier, because in the two movie scenes they showed, "Jason Patric" blew Vince out of the water.
Anyway, what I can't figure out is if Vince is intentionally supposed to be a bad actor or if it is just Adrian Grenier
The latter. Doug Ellin has said repeatedly that Vince is supposed to have this amazing raw charisma so that, even though he's untrained and doesn't seem to spend any time working on his craft, he's great when the cameras are rolling.
Problem is, what little we see of Vince's movies usually look terrible -- not just the supposed-to-be-awful "Medellin," but the allegedly brilliant "Queens Boulevard" and now this.
As I've said before, there's a reason Adrian Grenier is playing a huge movie star instead of actually being one. I like getting an opportunity to see Vince in the work environment, but when we actually see evidence of his acting chops, it ruins the illusion just as much as the comedy sketches on "Studio 60."
I still like the show but agree with your comments.
It also seems like they're setting Ari up to deal with an alcoholic business partner (scotch for lunch?)
Since Herzog is a foreign director and tends not to make blockbusters,maybe he doesn't give a shit about Aquaman's bank and Vince was forced upon him, while Jason Patric is a critically acclaimed actor, but not a movie star.
I'm in agreement with you about the show's potential, especially with the Gary Cole storyline that actually showed a human side of Ari for once... and yet, they blow it every time by going for the quick joke or the simple set-up. Where oh where is the subtlety so intelligently applied as in MAD MEN??
I used to love Entourage, but this season has just sucked. I thought SNL's Weekend update guy captured it perfectly when doing the story on the introduction of Soprano's Wine said that also coming out was Entourage Douche Bags.
Having said that, any thing Gary Cole is in is worth checking out. So I'm optimistic.
Another blah episode. I watch it for it's potential, and am often disappointed.
The best part of the episode was the preview for next week.
Alan,
I suppose you're completely right that it wasn't spoilery to acknowledge Amy Ryan wouldn't be staying on The Office. Sorry about the critique.
It's just she was so INCREDIBLY AMAZING that I wanted her on forever!
Please will all u whiny wienies quit watching Entourage???? It gets so annoying to listen to all of you complain about how bad it is, its so horrible, blah, blah, blah. If you feel that way, just stop watching. As for the few million of us who do enjoy it, we watch because its fun! Nothing else....its not The Wire (greatest show ever made), its not the Shield this season (fantastic!!! what a comeback...), its not even the last episode of 6 ft under. Its just a good watch on Sunday night, with hot women, the occasional funny joke, 1 phenomenal comic actor, great weed references and hilarious cameos. That's it, nothing else.... And Alan, I'm talking to you since you constantly post about the show, but you never says anything except how much you hate it, how terrible it is, etc. Just stop watching......
And Alan, I'm talking to you since you constantly post about the show, but you never says anything except how much you hate it, how terrible it is, etc. Just stop watching......
You could, of course, also stop reading.
why would I do that? I have no complaints with any other postings. I find most of them to be quite good actually. Try not to be so sensitive, and maybe learn to take a bit of constructive criticism.....
I mean you could stop reading the "Entourage" posts. It's really very easy to do so and still read the stuff you enjoy.
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