October Movie Preview

Thanks god it's October. This has been a long stretch of mediocre movies. When The Man From UNCLE is the highlight of the last two months, that's not good. October is looking good enough to make up for that. Prestige movies, blockbusters, exciting limited releases, escapist fun, solid scares. It's got them all. I'm going to have a tough time not doubling or tripling up a weekend or two. And that's just preamble to a great looking November and a December that's got a new Star Wars movie. 2015 is ending just fine.

2015

Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul | Aug | Sept 

2014

Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2013

Mar |  Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

10/2

The Martian
Working For It: Matt Damon plays an astronaut accidentally stranded on Mars and how he has to survive until a rescue party returns to get him. It's got a crazy-good cast including Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Chiwetel Ojiofor, Donald Glover, and many others. It looks like Interstellar meets Gravity, which is more than good enough for me.
Working Against It: “Directed by Ridley Scott” is not the selling point that it once was. Exodus was pretty bad and Prometheus was moderate at best. Scott's not that far removed from good work though, and I haven't heard a negative review yet.
Interest Level: Top tier

He Named Me Malala
Working For It: It's a documentary about Nobel Prize Winner Malal Yousafzai. All I really know about her is that she got the Nobel prize, so this could be a good learning experience.
Working Against It: As a documentary subject, I'm not pulled toward Malala. I know enough to know that this is a surface-level story. I'm in no hurry on this.
Interest Level: Lowish

The Walk (IMAX)
Working For It: I get vertigo just watching the trailer. It's the story of Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers in the 70s. Anyone smart enough to have seen the documentary Man on Wire knows that this is a good story and Robert Zemeckis is sure to bring the spectacle. You better believe I'll be looking to see this on the biggest screen I can find.
Working Against It: There's a slight concern that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's accent is a little on the absurd side (If you listen to Petit in interviews, you realize that it's not exaggerated though).
Interest Level: Highest possible

Freeheld (Limited)
Working For It: Julianne Moore and Ellen Page play a couple trying to get one another's benefits after one is diagnosed with cancer. It certainly sounds like an Oscar player for the acting roles.
Working Against It: I worry that this will be like Still Alice in that it'll have great performances but struggle to find enough material without getting repetitive.
Interest Level: Fair

Shanghai (Limtied)
Working For It: Apparently, this John Cusack, Yun-Fat Chow, David Morse movie has been in production hell since 2008. I have no idea what it's about, but any movie with that much history is worth looking at, for train-wreck reasons if nothing else.
Working Against It: Nothing is worth this long a wait.
Interest Level: Considerably low.

10/9

Pan
Working For It: It's a live-action Peter Pan origin story starring Hugh Jackman, Rooney Mara, and others. It looks like a fresh perspective on a story that I already quite enjoy.
Working Against It: I haven't been crazy about any of Joe Wright's movies (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, etc.). Mostly though, I have no desire to see this. I can't place exactly why. I just don't. I'd rather just watch Finding Neverland again.
Interest Level: Low

Steve Jobs (Limited)
Working For It: Directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle. Written by Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin. Starring the always great Michael Fassbender as the modern legend, Steve Jobs. It's got Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, and Jeff Daniels. This is dripping with prestige.
Working Against It: I don't subscribe to the Gospel of Jobs, so there's a chance this will have the same “too soon” feeling of The Social Network.
Interest Level: Pretty High

The Final Girls
Working For It: This is sort of a horror-comedy about a girl pulled into 80s slasher movies. Vera Farmiga's daughter Taissa is at the center of an eclectic “TV person cast” including Malin Akerman, Adam DeVine (Woraholics), Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), and Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development). And, it's the director's first feature since A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas.
Working Against It: There's a lot of way this movie can go wrong. So, so many.
Interest Level: Cautiously moderate.

10/16

Bridge of Spies
Working For It: Directed by Steven Spielberg. Co-written by the Coen brothers. Starring Tom Hanks. Period piece. What's not to be excited about?
Working Against It: Hmm. The last Spielberg movie I didn't like...Indiana Jones 4. But that's not on him...The Terminal wasn't great, but I still likes it. Amistad? Perhaps. Geez, I feel pretty confident about this.
Interest Level: Quite high.

Crimson Peak
Working For It: This Guillermo del Toro horror movie looks gorgeous. This is the second Jessica Chastain movie I'm certain to see this month, not to mention Loki, Alice, and Jax.
Working Against It: Honestly, looking at del Toro's credits as a director, I'm not a huge fan all-around. Sure, Pacific Rim was great and I wouldn't dare argue again Pan's Labyrinth. I can't defend Blade II or Hellboy II quite as much. Obviously, those were sequels though. Crimson Peak is del Toro as master of his own fate.
Interest Level: Way up there. Only to be missed because so many good things are coming out this month.

Goosebumps
Working For It: Jack Black leads a children's horror comedy based on the book series that dominated my grade school years. That's a lot working for it right there.
Working Against It: This is the third most interesting nationwide release this weekend alone. Those are tough numbers to beat.
Interest Level: Moderate

Truth (Limited)
Working For It: Cate Blanchett is back in Oscar discussion what looks like the second best newsroom movie based on something that happened in the early 2000s this fall. It's also got Elisabeth Moss and Robert Redford though. So, there's that.
Working Against It: It's a movie about the 60 Minutes investigation that dug into George W. Bush's military experience. That sounds a bit more political than I care to see. Give Bush at least a decade before you start going after him. It's too easy still.
Interest Level: Decidedly low.

Room (Limited)
Working For It: Brie Lason plays a mother who has been trapped in a room with her son by the father of said son for several years. They escape and try to make sense of the outside world. Word is, Larson is great in this. I just watched Short Term 12, so I don't have any trouble believing that.
Working Against It: Not much other than a lack of nationwide expansion and a glut of options.
Interest Level: Up there

10/23

Burnt
Working For It: It's Kitchen Confidential: The Movie, putting Bradley Cooper back in the kitchen. That's kind of cool.
Working Against It: John Wells' last movie, August: Osage County, was underwhelming. This movie looks like it's not aspiring to much and I will give it attention accordingly. I only even brought this up so I could mention the Kitchen Confidential thing.
Interest Level: Fairly non-existent

Jem and the Holograms
Working For It: Remember Jem, the animated series? God, nostalgia is a powerful thing. And hey, they got Molly Ringwald, because when you're in the business of taking things from the 80s, why not get Molly Ringwald?
Working Against It: This looks misguided and definitely not targeted to me or my interests.
Interest Level: Very low

The Last Witch Hunter
Working For It: Vin Diesel is "The Last Witch Hunter".
Working Against It: If that last thing doesn't have you on board already, then adding "From the director of Sahara" sure isn't going to help.
Interest Level: Not quite there

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
Working For It: I'm hopelessly in the tank for the Paranormal Activity franchise. They get more convoluted with each movie and I simply don't care. As long as there are some effective scares and it doesn't get too bogged down in mythology, I'm giving it a chance.
Working Against It: Most people are more tired of these movies than I am.
Interest Level: Higher than it should be.

Rock the Kasbah
Working For It: It's a Barry Levinson movie starring Bill Murray as a music manager who discovers a talented young singer or something.
Working Against It: I've seen a lot of Barry Levinson movies it turns out, and it's been nearly 30 years since I really liked one. Ok, I guess Envy was fine.
Interest Level: Low

Suffragette (Limited)
Working For It: Carey Mulligan doesn't make enough movies, so I'm at least curious whenever I hear about a new one with her. One with Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep certainly has my attention. I'm embarrassingly under-educated on the women's suffragette movement, so this could be a good way in.
Working Against It: I've been hearing the same "good acting, disappointing movie" whispers that a lot of movies run into this time of year. If this doesn't even play into the Oscar discussion despite this cast, that will be a big warning sign.
Interest Level: Lower that it should be.

10/30

Autobahn
Working For It: What started as a Zac Efron/Amber Heard movie is now a Nicholas Hoult/Felicity Jones movie. That's an upgrade. I'd call the casting of Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley a good sign too, but both have a history of being in occasional bad movies just for the fun of it.
Working Against It: I have zero knowledge of what this is about. I have a title and a cast. If I see this, I imagine it will be for the cast.
Interest Level: Undetermined, but probably not that high

Our Brand is Crisis
Working For It: It's a Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton movie about American political strategists running a South American election. I think it's more of a comedy, which fits director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Your Highness) better.
Working Against It: Green also made The Sitter and Prince Avalanche more recently. Sandra Bullock isn't always great at knowing which projects to avoid, so she's not a guarantee of quality the way I'd like to believe.
Interest Level: Somewhat Low

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
Working For It: The title doesn't leave a lot of mystery. It's exactly what it sounds like.
Working Against It: It's starring Patrick Schwarzenegger. Should I know him as anything other than his father's son?
Interest Level: Very Low

Weekly 10: 9/22-9/28

I can already feel that this switch to Tuesdays is going to be rough. Part of it this week I did to myself by locking myself away in my room all weekend to play NBA 2K16 rather than keep up with my DVR. That should go easier once I've adapted.

The Jim Gaffigan Show "Wonderful"
It was the season finale this week for what turned out to be a strong debut for a good summer series. I'll absolutely be coming back to it next year, although I'm very thankful that I don't need to worry about carving room for it too this fall. The finale itself would've worked better with more time. It was entirely too rushed. I like what was there, including all the cameos, but I would've loved the story to have some breathing room.

Fresh Off the Boat “Family Business Trip”
I was a little worried that the show might lose something in the second season without the surprise factor. How foolish of me. The balance of the show is definitely in latter-day Malcolm in the Middle territory. Eddie's the nominal lead (the voice-over helps), but it's more focused on the parents (for good reason. Constance Wu and Randall Park are great). Eddie's brothers are more clearly dileniated now and the other people like the neighbors and Eddie's friends are established enough to get their beats and disappear before the audience tires of them. So happy to have the show back.

Everest
I'm somewhat confused that this isn't a bigger hit stateside. The odd release schedule adds to the confusion (IMAX-only one week, then a nationwide expansion). Frankly, anything released by Universal this year that isn't a big success is a little surprising. It's doing well overseas, so I'm not worried that this will be a financial hit on the studio.

Blackish “The WORD”
I'm torn on the premiere. It was funny, at times (like the discussion of "colored" and "negro" in the office) it was very funny. Most of the episode worked really hard to discuss the topic and all the quirks and philosophies on its use. Then, at the end, it just kind of gives up and basically says "there's no logical way to address the issue". The ending makes sense, but it certainly undercuts the effort the rest of the episode put in, although it was the correct ending. No, I'm not making much sense.

Fear the Walking Dead "Cobalt"
This show just isn't very good. It hasn't built any characters that are interesting yet. Some characters are outright annoying (Nick, Alicia, Chris...any of the kids so far). The pacing is slow without being all that interesting. The show can improve in a hurry. It's versitile like that. I think they are saving an annoying amount of that for the finale and season 2 though.

Scream Queens "Pilot" & "Hell Week"
That's about what I expected from the show. I like the cast enough that I'm good for a few episodes. Emma Roberts is having a great time, although I don't find her barbs nearly as clever as the show does. I sure hope the writers don't determine that that's what the shows about.

The Last Man On Earth “Is There Anybody Out There?”
I've been here before. That was a wonderful premiere, much like how it has a wonderful pilot last year. One moment in particular worries me. When he's giving himself the pep talk before finding the people in Tuscon, he immediately falls back into the same jerk he was at the end of last season. I hope that does mean that when it gets to be more than him and Carol again I don't end up disliking things again.

V/H/S & V/H/S/2
I mentioned these movies while talking to a friend the other day and that was all I needed to inspire me to watch them again. I love these movies.

Girl Meets World "Girl Meets Rileytown"
It's cool that the show is tackling bullying. There was a specific decision to not put a face to the bully and I get the reasoning. They don't want to put a face to the bully because there's multiple kinds of bully out there. Here's the thing. It ended up being pretty toothless.  Because it's Disney channel, they couldn't have the recording of Riley be anything too scandalous. They've barely committed to making Riley a social reject. There's token mentioning of it and the hirojuki girl episode, kind of. For the most part, our main characters are a tight click and positioned as pretty high in the pecking order. It's also hard to see the bully as at all intimidating or able to bother Riley in the first place when you consider how easily Riley has the entire school on her side. Again, I like the decision to have this episode, but it's so abrupt, not fitting tonal continuity, and without stakes that I wonder why even bother.

The Bear / Action Jackson / Cadillac Man / Dangerous Liaisons / Under Siege 2
I have this Club 50 project you might've heard about if you've ever been to this blog. I'm getting so close to the end that I've lost all patience. This list above. I call that "My Saturday". that was a long day. Thankfully, many of the movies were better than I expected.

Movie Reaction: Everest

Formula: (Into Thin Air: Death on Everest * Vertical Limit) / Everest IMAX

Why I Saw It: Solid cast and a familiar story that I wanted to see a new perspective on.

Cast: I wouldn't call it an All-Star cast, but it got a lot of people, a lot of people I recognize, and a lot people who are very good in general. There's Jason Clarke, John Hawkes, Michael Kelly, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Sam Worthington, Robin Wright, and I'll stop there, but there's more. Ok, maybe it is an All-Star cast.

Plot: In 1996, Rob Hall (Clarke) and Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal) are competing mountain guides, leading groups to summit Mt. Everest, including a journalist (Kelly), a mail man (Hawkes), and a Texan thrill seeker (Brolin). During their summit, a storm comes in and things go very badly.

Thoughts:
I am very familiar with the source material here. Through happenstance, I've read Into Thin Air, which details these events, I've seen the movie, and I've seen the IMAX feature that includes these events. That immediately means there's no surprise to the beats of the story for me (and to be fair, once you know this is a disaster movie, there's no surprise to it anyway). So, that means this all comes down to the execution, which was solid. It does a good job making the Everest climb both  treacherous and feasible. There's a human scale to the movie. Despite the comments made by the characters, this doesn't feel like it's on the moon. It's not easy. It's not safe. It's not anywhere that humans should be. But, the characters don't need to be superhuman to be there. I think I that was what I most liked. It wasn't Rolland Emmerich's Everest. It was something more grounded.
That's not to say it lacked for excitement. This was the single deadliest day on Everest for years and a lot of the people involved had interesting stories to tell (Seriously, the Wikipedia page is a good read), which is why I imagine so many actors were interested in being in it. It has all the survival story elements you could want without playing into melodrama.
Jason Clarke is the core character, while people like John Hawkes and Josh Brolin are the emotional center. Gyllenhaal was very lightly used and some people, like Robin Wright I didn't even recognize until I saw the credits. There were certain survivors like Michael Kelly playing John Krakauer who could've painted themselves like heroes and didn't, which I appreciated. The whole cast does a good job, really. Not awards good, but better than a movie like this needs to have.

Elephant in the Room: Where does the blame go? The take on what went wrong is very balanced. Like, surprisingly so. Too many amateurs trying to climb from too many groups. Added pressure due to Krakauer's looming article. The storm. Ropes not being setup beforehand. Over-reliance on Oxygen tanks. Ignoring the turn-around time. Guides not using Oxygen at all for the climb. It spreads blame around to the point that the only blame that can go anywhere is that it's foolish to climb the mountain in the first place.

To Sum Things Up:
This is a good action movie with a good cast. It stays interesting without over-sensationalizing the actual events. It avoids most of the tropes that frustrate me in the genre. While it isn't perfect, it is enjoyable and that's all I wanted from it.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: P.S. I Love You

What I Guessed It Was About: Hillary Swank or Gerard Butler dies - probably Butler, because that's how romantic comedies work - and leaves behind a bunch of letters for the other. They start with how it's all sad to be gone and ends with letters saying to move on when she finds another guy that she falls in love with.

How I Came Into It: You can tell from the cover of the box that the point of this movie is to make you cry. I'm not a big Hilary Swank fan (See: Understatement). I wasn't prepared to find her sympathetic. Then again, if I didn't feel bad for her in Million Dollar Baby, I doubt I ever will. I should like Gerard Butler, right? Or is he just a dirty Clive Owen? I can't tell.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) A good way to make me appreciate a movie that I'd otherwise be indifferent about is to include a lot of Irish music. Using The Pogues and Flogging Molly is a great start. Certainly, to make me say I actually liked it, it would be to include some Gaelic Storm (which it didn't), but I'm not in a position to be picky. This is the most I've liked Swank in anything and it's an interesting shift for Butler after 300. I liked that Swank and Harry Connick Jr. weren't right for each other too. You know, I must've enjoyed this movie more than I initially thought.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: I didn't buy Swank and Butler as a couple. They are a RomCom couple and the movie rails against being a RomCom. They have a meet-cute. They are one of those couples that does nothing but fight and make up. That's all good and fine except for all the times it wants me to cry, it doesn't feel earned. I don't know. Technically, the movie didn't do anything wrong, however it didn't work for me.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Annabelle

What I Guessed It Was About: Remember that doll from the beginning of The Conjuring? Remember how it was haunting those students? Well, that wasn't the first time it's haunted people. It's done it before. Not all that differently.

How I Came Into It: I really liked The Conjuring. Had it kept the same writer or director, this would've had me very excited.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) It follows through on exactly what was promised: A doll haunts the shit out of people. I appreciate that kind of transparency. It gave me a couple good surprises. Kerry O'Malley and Brian Howe meet the quality of the material.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: This was a very limited movie. It's mostly the wife going around places being scared because the doll is after her. I feel like there was enough story for a short and that was stretched into a feature.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: 1408

What I Guessed It Was About: John Cusack checks into a hotel for a night. Little does he know that the room they put him in is haunted. Bad things happen. Then good things appear to happen. Then it turns out those good things are part of the bad things that happen. It's based on a Stephen King story, so I'm going to assume that it doesn't have a happy ending.

How I Came Into It: I was aware that it is a Stephen King adaptation. 2007 was a busy summer for me in terms of seeing movies. I was nearly seeing a movie a week, which was a lot for me then. 1408 built up a reputation as a movie that was better than people expected (I heard a lot of people say "It was actually pretty good", which led me to wonder why they would see it if they didn't expect it would be good. Needless to say, I've rendered that reasoning moot at this point).

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) This is a simple, limited, effective movie. John Cusack carries it. I'm not sure just any actor could, even though I can't pinpoint what it is he does in it that's so effective. It's a slow build movie with a dark and fitting ending. The supporting cast is on point, namely Samuel L. Jackson and Mary McCormack.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Was the fakeout scenario at the end, when Cusack thinks he's out supposed to fool anyone? I can't tell, but I didn't think that for a second. So, the longer that went, it dragged.
Ok, a small gripe that's bothered me since I first saw the poster. John Cusack isn't that bland looking, but I never can tell that's him in the poster. Does he have a bland right side of his face? Do you need the full thing to identify him? Did poster art people soften his face beyond recognition? This bothers me [and probably me alone].

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

2016 Emmy Predictions

With the 2015 Emmys still fresh in our minds, it's time for another round of one of my favorite annual posts: My predictions for next year. The idea is pretty simple. The next Primetime Emmys are about a year away. I make 10 predictions about what will happen and check back to see how I did a year from now. So many things could change. So much will not. This past year I did the best I ever have. Let's see if I can do even better this time.

Past editions:
2015 Predictions | Results
2014 Predictions | Results
2013 Predictions | Results
2012 Predictions | Results

Two of these three nominations happen: Matthew Rhys (Lead Actor), Keri Russell (Lead Actress), The Americans (Drama Series).
The Drama series field is suddenly wide open Mad Men is gone. The Newsroom is gone. Downton Abbey and Homeland are weak. Bloodline and House of Cards aren't gaining momentum. Meanwhile, The Americans got a Guest Actress win and picked up a writing nomination this year. The way people watch TV these days is more favorable to late series surges thanks to Netflix and Hulu binging. Just look at Breaking Bad going from initially unnominated to two time winner and Game of Thrones winning for the first time in its fifth season. Perhaps The Americans is finally ready to step up.

Lady Gaga gets a Emmy Nomination for acting.
I assume this will be for American Horror Story: Hotel but I'm leaving room for if she guest hosts SNL. American Horror Story, love it or hate it, is great at getting nominations for its actors and Gaga will be too irresistible to pass up: lead or supporting.

Veep gets a second term.
Who's there to beat it? Louie is taking a year (at least) off. Parks and Rec. is gone. Silicon Valley still looks like Veep's little brother. Transparent is one of those zeitgeisty shows that really needs to win in its first season to stand a chance in latter seasons. Nothing in the network comedy pipeline for this season is likely to step up. The loss of Armando Iannucci for next season will hurt. I doubt the voters will even notice though.

HBO has more than half the TV Movie nominees.
Calling the win isn't saying much. HBO has won all but twice since 1993. HBO regularly get three nominations (out of six). But, getting that fourth has been tough. Given that this year's nominees included the critically derided Grace of Monaco and a movie from something called Acorn TV, HBO is the only one even trying anymore. Four nominees shouldn't be out of the question.

There will be no repeat winners for any of the four main Drama acting categories.
This isn't actually that uncommon. It happened in 2011 and 2008. There's normally a trigger though. In 2011, Breaking Bad had a year off. 2008 was the first year after The Sopranos. I could be very wrong with this. Only Jon Hamm is absolutely not returning. Viola Davis could be the new Glen Close (i.e. the Oscars don't love her but the Emmys do). Dinklage has won twice now and doesn't have Aaron Paul in his way. If Uzo Aduba could win for season two of Orange, she can absolutely win for season three. None of them (or former winners like Clare Danes or Julianna Margulies) feel like juggernauts [not anymore], so I'm calling it. They're clearing house.

A Marvel or DC Series gets a stunt coordination nomination
This is one of those that looks so obvious that it should be common sense. Between Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter, Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and whatever Netflix has (Jessica Jones and possibly others), one of them has to get a nomination.

Last Week Tonight dominates the Variety categories.
The most stable of categories is about to get crazy. Jon Stewart: GONE. The Colbert Report: GONE. Late Night with David Letterman. GONE. Having already broke into the nomination field and knowing that voters are lazy when it comes to Variety Series, Last Week Tonight is going to have a very good Emmy night.

Silicon Valley gets an acting nomination.
I might as well have a couple weird predictions and here's a good one. Silicon Valley has staying power, as evidenced by two years of series, directing, and writing nominations. Somehow, none of the actors have been nominated though. Thomas Middleditch is playing an absolute character that anyone should be able to appreciate (especially if they see how he normally is). TJ Miller's appearance in every third movie for the last couple years has to engender some good will around the industry. Zach Woods is a scene-stealer of the highest order. The show gets multiple flashy guest stars on a nearly weekly basis. Someone must be noticed eventually. It's strange that it hasn't happened yet.

In with Emmy Rossum. Out with Tatiana Maslany.
Along with Keri Russell (See above), these are two of the actresses I've petitioned the most for. Maslany got a nomination [finally] this year. That was a minor miracle. Sadly, I'm thinking that'll be a one time thing. Critical drum-beating will die down and voters will forget about her. Hopefully I'm wrong. On the other hand, Emmy Rossum's chances look better in 2016. Shameless is slowly getting more attention (Macy got a nomination and Cusack got a win this year). Lead Actress in a Comedy is wide open. No more Amy Poehler or Edie Falco. I'm not certain The Comeback will have another season. Amy Schumer and Lily Tomlin don't even feel very sturdy. And Shameless keeps chugging along with Rossum giving one of the best performances on TV.

The Amazing Race falls out of the Reality Competition field.
It's time for one crazy predictions. The Amazing Race has dominated the Reality Competition category: a category that fears any kind of change (the same six shows have been nominated the last four years). I say, "no more". Not only will The Amazing Race fail to reclaim the Emmy, an overzealous push to shake things up will leave it out of the nomination field entirely. This won't happen, but won't I look smart if it somehow does?

Bonus: I will have see a combined five nominees from Limited Series or TV Movie.
I have something like this included every year, so I might as well keep it around. This is virtually a forgone conclusion though. I already watched Show Me A Hero and True Detective (I'm not sure, but I think the new nomination rules would force True Detective to Limited Series). There's no chance I'm missing Fargo. I plan to watch American Horror Story: Hotel for the curious Gaga factor. That leaves one more thing for me to watch. I can do that.

Weekly 10: 9/11-9/21

Official Weekly Ten announcement. Now that the TV season has started, I'm looking for any ways I can find to maintain my sanity while attempting to stay caught up. For now, I'm going to try doing these on Tuesdays so I can use the weekend in my favor. That means, this week's Ten gets a couple extra days to choose from and it was already overflowing.

Emmys
Overall, this was one of the better Emmys in a while. I had trouble finding winners to be angry about. Sometimes, that's all it takes.

Girl Meets World "Girl Meets Farkle" & "Girl Meets Corey and Topanga"
Two very good episodes in a row: A Farkle Asperger scare and a couple of Boy Meets World flashbacks. What more could I ask for?

American Ninja Warrior Finale
Before this season, no won has ever won American Ninja Warrior, then two do it this year. I picked a good time to start watching.

Short Term 12
Brie Larson is pretty incredible in this movie.

Bloodline
I tried. I got through the whole season. It never struck me as any more than a lower-stakes Damages with a superior cast. Maybe I'll watch the second season. I'm still undecided.

Joe Versus the Volcano
This is such a wacky movie. I think Meg Ryan in particular had a lot of fun in her roles.

Jurassic Park
I hadn't seen this movie a quite a while. It holds up. Far less to be bothered by than in Jurassic World.

Review "Murder, Magic 8 Ball, Procrastination"
They used up both vetoes in a single episode. I figured it was coming. Not in one week though. And he still had to kill a person. That's rough. I loved the pancake callback.

The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
Less focused than the first movie, but the expanded world made it more interesting.

The Big Bang Theory “The Matrimonial Momentum”
The two big stories of this week and Sheldon and Amy breaking up and Penny and Leonard getting married. Except for a surprisingly sweet "You've got a friend in me joke", the wedding was a complete bust. Penny and Leonard barely make sense as it is. They ruined the wedding by making it more about this woman that Leonard kissed (by the way, did any of that happen on screen of was it completely manufactured for conflict?). I don't know how I feel about Sheldon and Amy. On one hand, it's sweet that he was going to ask her to marry him. On the other hand, his confusion over the situation gave him free reign to act like a complete ass. That his mother (Laurie Metcalf, ftw!) was in on the proposal is a nice touch. It's only a matter of time before they make up. The big question is how unpleasant will Sheldon be until it happens. The lesser question is if Sheldon can be funny enough to make the unpleasantness worth it.

Movie Reaction: The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Formula: The Maze Runner - the Maze + zombies

Why I Saw It: The closer I go to show time, the less I wanted to see Black Mass. Also, I saw the first Maze Runner. That always helps since I'm a compulsive completeist.

Cast: It's a rather huge cast. Some favorites from the last movie like Dylan O'Brian, Ki Hong Lee, Kata Scodelario, and Thomas  Brodie-Sangster are back. A bunch of new people including Jacob Lofland, Rosa Salazar, Giancarlo Esposito, and Aidan Gillen to name a very few show up too.

Plot: After getting out of the maze, Thomas (O'Brien) and the others are taken into a suspicious compound run by W.C.K.D. They escape and spend the rest of the movie looking for the resistance group (the Right Arm) and running from the infected zombie-people.

Thoughts:
I struggled to remember what was learned at the end of the last movie, which is on me. It is worth noting though that they aren't concerned with explaining for the unacquainted. You need to see the first movie.
This is completely different from The Maze Runner. There's no high concept mystery/puzzle/game which was all that part one was. This opens up the world and the rebellion going on in it. At times, this is a much better movie than the first. When it turns into one big chase movie or a big budget zombie movie, The Scorch Trials is pretty fun. I don't know how big the budget was for this, but unlike, say, Insurgent (which spent all its money on shattered glass graphics), this looked like it got value out of the effects.
There are so many characters! I couldn't keep up with everything and everyone. It doesn't help that everyone talks to Thomas in abstracts or cryptic references. I was disappointed how much the characters from the first movie other than Thomas were sidelined, especially considering that Teresa (Scodelario) didn't get a lot in the previous movie either. I'm not sure if the book this is based on does a better job weaving the different back stories together. The movie turns into exposition-dumps and flashbacks that only explain enough to frustrate me. As a result, I felt every minute of the slightly over two hour run time.
The biggest drag in the story is the number of "chosen one" moments. Apparently, Thomas is the most important person ever, which would be great, if it didn't seem like every single move of his was an accident. It's a narrative dead end to have him both unaware of how important he is and also not show anything in the moment to explain why he's so important. Danny Ocean has a plan throughout Ocean's Eleven. He's at the center because he's always in control and driving the story. That's interesting. Jason Bourne has ridiculous skills. He has no idea what he's doing, but it's immediately clear how he is special and can survive all this. That's interesting. Thomas kind of stumbles through everything with little or no memory of what came before. People keep saying he's special, but he just as easily could fallen out a window or been eaten by a zombie in a mall at any point. That's not interesting. That's lucky.

Elephant in the Room: The bad guys are called W.C.K.D. (Pronounced: "Wicked") and I'm supposed to believe they have good intentions? I always complain about these young adult dystopias creating worlds that could never happen. Here's a good example. New Speak 101 demands that if you are in a group that doesn't want to be seen as bad, you make sure your name doesn't make you sound like the bad guys. It's not like "Nazi" is German for "Jew Killers". W.C.K.D. is laughably on the nose.

To Sum Things Up:
The addition of veteran adult actors is welcome and the production values are solid. The Scorch Trials is hampered by too much of a convoluted story that drags too often and kills the momentum whenever things get exciting.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Emmy Predictions 2015 Results and Post Mortem

I'll be combining two entries that I normally post separately this year: My prediction results from last year and my overall thoughts of this year's Emmys.

I'll start with the predictions. For the past few years, I've made blind predictions on the night of the Emmys about what will happen in the next year's awards.
2012 Predictions
2013 Predictions
2014 Predictions
It doesn't normally go very well. I did a little better this time.

Here's my full predictions for 2015, made last year.

Prediction: Modern Family loses and to a show that is already on the air.
Reasoning: Modern Family was trending downward already and six wins is unheard of.
Reality: I was completely correct about this one. Modern Family lost and it was to a show that was already on the air. Better yet, Veep was the one I considered the front runner to win. (+1)

Prediction: There is no Mad Men resurgence
Reasoning: Shows don't return to Emmy favor very often. I'm pretty sure no show has ever won the Emmy for its first and last season either.
Reality: Depending on how you interpret the word resurgence, maybe this wasn't a perfect call. I'm crediting it because I suggested a Hamm win (that happened), nominations for Hendricks and Moss (that happened), and a nomination for Outstanding Drama without a win (that happened). So, I'm giving myself full credit. (+1)

Prediction: Outstanding Drama series goes back to HBO.
Reasoning: HBO is the "prestige network" but rarely ever wins here. It felt like it was time to get a non-Sopranos win.
Reality: Game of Thrones was my first suggestion and it was the right one. (+1)


Prediction: Orange is the New Black takes a hit in nominations but it still a player.
Reasoning: Orange didn't win last year and it's the kind of show that burns hot and fast. Without a first year win, a second year win is basically impossible.
Reality: This one's hard to judge with the change in the rules moving Orange to the drama field. I'll stick with the text of my prediction. Orange was still nominated. It took a big hit. The actresses moving from Guest to Supporting fields hurt. Taylor Schilling wasn't nominated. I nailed that. Credit the assist to the change in the rules. (+1)

Prediction: Silicon Valley doesn't fall out of the Comedy field.Reasoning: I mainly credited Emmy inertia continuing the nominations. Having Mike Judge helps too.
Reality: Technically, I did call it the most likely to fall out of the field, but the exact wording of the predictions is clear. (+1)

Prediction: Two of the three, Emmy Rossum, Keri Russell, Tatiana Maslany finally get much deserved nominations for their shows.Reasoning: I assumed there would be a push to recognize new people and those three were the most likely, as their repeated snubbings had made the most noise.
Reality: There was a push for new blood, but it wasn't who I thought. Maslany did break in though, so that's half credit. (+.5)


Prediction: Arrow gets that Stunt Coordination nomination
Reasoning: There was a lot of grumbling about the snub last year. Since it isn't a major category, I figured it wouldn't be hard to correct.
Reality: No Marvel or DC show was nominated. I don't know what to make of that. (+0)

Prediction: Last Week Tonight crashes the Variety Series field and wins.Reasoning: Last Week Tonight simply HAD to be nominated. From there, shiny-newness would carry it through.
Reality: I wasn't able to account for a couple things. 1) The Colbert Report still had enough episodes for eligibility and, more importantly, 2) the final Daily Show with Jon Stewart aired right in the middle of Emmy voting. Still, it got nominated for series and writing, which means I get partial credit. (+.5)

Prediction: RuPaul's Drag Race finally gets a nomination either for the series or host, if not both.Reasoning: I wanted to see it happen, and I imagined there was a gay Emmy tipping point that we'd reach in 2015.
Reality:  Emmy voters still don't know about Logo, and the LGBT attention went to Transparent, which meant fewer beating drums for RuPaul. (+0)

Prediction: Mike Schur will be watch from home.
Reasoning: No series nomination since season three. NBC was burning off the final season. What reason was there to hope?
Reality: Emmy voters are bigger sentimentalists than I thought. (+0)

Prediction: Bonus: I will have seen at least two of the Mini-Series/Movie nominees.
Reasoning: I watched several last year. That wasn't so hard.
Reality: Fargo took too long. There was no new Sherlock. I didn't pick up American Horror Story. The TV Movie category is a shit show. What chance did I have? (+0)

That makes 6 out of 10 (I'm not counting the Bonus, because that was never going to happen), which is the best I've ever done. Come back tomorrow to see my new set up guesses.

As for this year's ceremony, I'll break this down into my standard Good, Bad, and Meh.

The Good

Jon Hamm
There would've been no forgiving Hamm getting a Lansbury for his time on Mad Men. His speech was gracious and his win deserved. It's even better when you consider the alternatives in the category. This group is not the Murderers Row of 2-3 years ago.

Veep
It's about damn time. It should've won last year. It was easily one of the 2 or 3 best comedies on TV. That it also meant Modern Family finally didn't win is almost an afterthought.

Game of Thrones
This may have not been the best season of Game of Thrones, but that doesn't matter. GoT totally deserved to win eventually because what it pulls off, season after season, is truly remarkable. The number of moving parts, amount of story, and multitude of actors to service. It's jaw-dropping that the show is anything but a complete mess.

The Bad

Limited Series
Even Fargo didn't run away with this like Olive Kitteridge did this year. This is a case where I wish more voters would've abstained instead of checking the only one they'd seen. If the category is going to be this one-sided, go ahead and combine Limited Series and TV Movie again, because this is worthless.

Mad Men
The Hamm win was a nice start. Mad Men is one of the best written TV shows of all time. Where was the win for either of the nominated episodes? Mad Men had one of the best casts of any show. After dozens of nominations for acting, all it has is one win for Hamm. Where's the statue for Moss or Hendricks. I'm not saying that Mad Men needed to sweep the night, but one other major win would've felt right.

Finishing on Time
I like that the producers were determined to finish on time, but did they really need to cut off Mel Brooks reading the Comedy Series nominees? That was excessive. He's Mel Brooks. Show some damn respect.

The Meh

Diversity
I'm torn. After #OscarsSoWhite earlier in the year, it's great that Emmy voters didn't fall into the same trap. I appreciate the history that was made. I just with it didn't come at the expense of the ladies of Mad Men losing in their final year.

The Daily Show
The Daily Show reversed the trend of falling to The Colbert Report the last couple years by sweeping the Emmys as a final salute to Jon Stewart. Here's the thing, the voter's weren't voting for Jon Stewart's goodbye. His final episode aired while they were voting, which I'm sure swayed the opinions, but those final episodes weren't what was being voted on. Sorry, I'm just irritated by that because the Daily Show wins are what killed me in my Emmy pool.

Andy Samberg
He was fine. If he doesn't host again, I'll be fine with it. If he does, that's cool too. He kind of delighted in the fact that people expected him to be lame, and I appreciated that. 

Emmy Picks: Final Review

I've been going through it all week. Now it's time to put them all together, right before realizing how wrong I was.
Creative Arts Emmy Picks
Emmy Picks: Writing
Emmy Picks: Directing
Emmy Picks: Supporting Actor and Actress
Emmy Picks: Lead Actor and Actress
Emmy Picks: Series

Outstanding Comedy Series

Will Win: Veep

Could Win: Transparent

Should Win: Parks & Recreation

Outstanding Drama Series

Will Win: Mad Men

Could Win: Game of Thrones

Should Win: Mad Men

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

Will Win: Last Week Tonight

Could Win: The Colbert Report

Should Win: Last Week Tonight

Outstanding Limited Series

Will Win: Olive Kitteridge

Could Win: American Horror Story: Freak Show

Should Win: Olive Kitteridge

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program

Will Win: The Amazing Race

Could Win: The Voice

Should Win: The Amazing Race

Variety Sketch Series

Will Win: Inside Amy Schumer

Could Win: Key & Peele

Should Win: Key & Peele

Outstanding Lead Actor - Comedy Series

Will Win: Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent)

Could Win: Louis CK (Louie)

Should Win: Louis CK (Louie)

Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series

Will Win: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)

Could Win: Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer)

Should Win: Amy Poehler (Parks and Rec.)

Outstanding Lead Actor - Drama Series

Will Win: Jon Hamm (Mad Men)

Could Win: Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)

Should Win: Jon Hamm (Mad Men)

Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series

Will Win: Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder)

Could Win: Taraji P. Henson (Empire)

Should Win: Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)

Outstanding Lead Actor - Limited Series/TV Movie

Will Win: Timothy Hutton (American Crime)

Could Win: David Oyelowo (Nightingale)

Should Win: Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall)

Outstanding Lead Actress - Limited Series/TV Movie

Will Win: Frances McDormand (Olive Kitteridge)

Could Win: Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Freak Show)

Should Win: Frances McDormand (Olive Kitteridge)

Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy Series

Will Win: Tony Hale (Veep)

Could Win: Ty Burrell (Modern Family)

Should Win: Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine Nine)

Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series

Will Win: Allison Janney (Mom)

Could Win: Gaby Hoffman (Transparent)

Should Win: Anna Chlimsky (Veep)

Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series

Will Win: Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul)

Could Win: Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline)

Should Win: Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul)

Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series

Will Win: Lena Headey (Game of Thrones)

Could Win: Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones)

Should Win: Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)

Outstanding Supporting Actor - Limited Series/TV Movie

Will Win: Billy Murray (Olive Kitteridge)

Could Win: Damian Lewis (Wolf Hall)

Should Win: Billy Murray (Olive Kitteridge)

Outstanding Supporting Actress - Limited Series/TV Movie

Will Win: Kathy Bates (American Horror Story: Freak Show)

Could Win: Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story: Freak Show)

Should Win: Zoe Kazan (Olive Kitteridge)

Outstanding Directing - Comedy Series

Will Win: Transparent - Episode: "Best New Girl"

Could Win: The Last Man on Earth - Episode: "Alive in Tuscon (Pilot)"

Should Win: The Last Man on Earth - Episode: "Alive in Tuscon (Pilot)"

Outstanding Directing - Drama Series

Will Win: The Knick - Episode: "Method and Madness"

Could Win: Boardwalk Empire - Episode: "Eldorado"

Should Win: Game of Thrones - Episode: "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken"

Outstanding Directing - Limited Series/TV Movie

Will Win: Olive Kitteridge

Could Win: Bessie

Should Win: Wolf Hall

Outstanding Directing - Variety Series

Will Win: Inside Amy Schumer

Could Win: Late Show with David Letterman

Should Win: Inside Amy Schumer

Outstanding Writing - Comedy Series

Will Win: Louie - Episode: "Bobby's House"

Could Win: Transparent - Episode: "Pilot"

Should Win: Veep - Episode: "Election Night"

Outstanding Writing - Drama Series

Will Win: Mad Men - Episode: "Person to Person"

Could Win: Mad Men - Episode: "Lost Horizon"

Should Win: Mad Men - Episode: "Person to Person"

Outstanding Writing - Limited Series/TV Movie

Will Win: Olive Kitteridge

Could Win: Bessie

Should Win: Wolf Hall

Writing - Variety Series

Will Win: Last Week Tonight

Could Win: The Colbert Report

Should Win: Last Week Tonight