Delayed Reaction: Stargate

The Pitch: It's a Science Fiction movie for people who love Egyptian mythology.

What Took Me So Long: I wasn't a fan of any of the shows so that wasn't much of an endorsement for the movie.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) I was curious to see if there was anything from the movie that made the series that followed a logical conclusion. In short, not really. The idea of a Stargate is a perfect setup but the movie and shows stop being connected there. I can't say this is my favorite shade of James Spader. I like him a little more confident and douchey. Kurt Russell plays a good Kurt Russell character. So, there's that.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Mostly, I'm reminded how much scifi isn't my preferred genre. There's some exceptions, of course, but something like this does nothing for me, and since I lack that core enjoyment, all I can really do is focus on what parts don't age well. In others words, it wasn't bad, but I didn't prefer it.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

DVR Purge 10/23-10/29

Past Purges

The Middle "The 100th"
I won't call it the glorious return of Boss Co. but it was a return and it was entertaining. For a 100th episode. This was rather tame, which I'm ok with. Sometimes 100 episodes is just 100 episodes. Maybe it is my fear of living in a small town creeping in, but I found the story of how they came to live in Orson instead of Chicago very depressing. I feel for Brick though. That old-timey Fire truck would've been awesome to ride on.

Back in the Game "She. Could. Go. All. The. Way!"
It's nice to see Dick doing something with another character for a change. Obviously, for this show to work in the long term, it has to develop characters beyond their interactions with Terry. I kind of want to check the production order of the episodes because last week's certainly ended with a plot development for the baseball team that I'm otherwise surprised they didn't bring up. By the way, my laugh of the night came from this
CANNON: You two will be the patsies.
TWINS: What's a patsy.
CANNON: You'll be perfect.

Modern Family "The Help"
Second week in a row that Lilly got one of my biggest laughs, this time with the reaction shots in the end tag. Cam and Mitchell are on a united front this week, which I like. It would be nice if they could tone down the broadness of the gay jokes but I'll take what I can get. I love Manny's "Am I being replaced" line and little else about the manny plot. I like Adam DeVine but in small and carefully handled does. I will never say "No" to more Peri Gilpin in my life. The story surrounding her was a little "meh". Nothing egregious though beyond getting very little use out of having Fred Willard around.

The Big Bang Theory "The Romance Resonance"
Much like last week's episode existed for the Raiders of the Lost Ark revelation, this week existed because someone wanted to have them sing a song. It was a sweet and catchy song and I have no issue with it. I'm just enjoying how easily you can see the mechanics of the show after this many seasons. Did anyone else get the sense that the writers lost their patience to write an episode for Valentine's Day and went ahead and made this one now?

The Crazy Ones "She's So European"
I didn't like this episode. I'm not certain if this is a qualitative or subjective judgment. Pretty much everything about the European lady (not even looking up the name) rubbed me the wrong way: Simon and Zach competing for her, Sydney wanting to seem cool to her, the father daughter sex awkwardness. All of it did nothing for me. I'm not sounding the alarms or anything. All shows have episodes I don't like, especially early on so I'll just ignore this and think about how soon before they can get Kelly Clarkson back on. She's so nice.

The Michael J Fox Show "Teammates"
Eve's story is a standard sitcom trope that I could do without. The resolution worked out well though with her being able to go to the concert (instead of the "Dad knows best" story I feared we were getting) and they got a dog which is something I ALWAYS approve of. Mike and Annie's fight is a pretty common one in a sitcom although again, I was pleased with the tweak to the formula so that it isn't a case in which there is a right and wrong party, instead opting for a "we each have complimentary strengths" compromise. Oh, and very little of the office as a setting which I approve of.

Parenthood "Let's Be Mad Together"
I quite enjoyed Kristina's back and forth about Max's situation and thought it did a great job of fully articulating all the sides of the issue, then ended it in a fitting place. I'm glad that Sarah's worries about Ryan are not going away after one episode. I feel like Joel and Julia are in a constant struggle to balance their relationship and I can't tell if I like it or am exhausting of it. Crosby and drunk Joel is a pairing I want to see more of. That's for sure. I'm a little annoyed that Adam's response to Kristina's crazy decision to run for mayor is to do something similarly crazy by starting his own label, just as the studio seems to be stabilizing finally.

SNL "Edward Norton/That singer whose I can't remember"
There was a strange moment during monologue, after Miley (I am so tired of her) plugged her new tour and Alec Baldwin plugged his new show when I asked myself, "why is Ed Norton here?" I know there doesn't always have to be a reason for when someone hosts. A lot of it is due to availability and willingness. He also pointed out this is his first time hosting and he's been holding off for 13 years. This all strikes me as nearly as odd as Bruce Willis hosting the episode before. He did a fine job and Nasim Pedrad finally got a little something to do (as did Jay Pharaoh in a bit of a tonally miscalculated sketch).

The Walking Dead "Isolation"
Did I miss the part where we as an audience find out how Rick knew Carol killed those people? If so, my bad. If not, I hope they do go over that. Now, normally I would talk about how I liked the episodes and all the character development was great or that I enjoyed Carl and Hershel's scenes together or even how worried I was when I realized Darryl was in a car with virtually every black person one the show (historically, an unsafe position to be in). Instead, I'm going to have to complain about how my fucking DVR cut off that last 30 seconds of the episode. You know the big reveal about Carol. The thing is, I was watching it live, so you can't even fault me there. Get your act together Time Warner and whoever gets show runtimes for them. On the plus side, if it happened to me, I'm sure it happened to many others and I doubt AMC will let that happen ever again.

HIMYM "No Questions Asked"
The other day, I had a really big dinner with a lot of courses: beets, carrots, broccoli, green beans, asparagus, but the only thing I was really excited for was the steak. I wanted to end the meal on a high note, so I forced myself to eat a little bit of the carrots, a little broccoli, systematically going through everything else until all that was left was the steak. The problem is, at that point I was full on all the things I didn't like. The steak tasted fine, I guess, but it didn't matter if it was the best steak I've ever had (which, let's face it, it wasn't). All the crap I went through to get to it ruined even the thing I like. I feel like Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have been saving the steak way too long and boy am I getting tired of the Farhampton Inn green beans.

Trophy Wife "Halloween"
Did they just sneak in two Halloween episodes the past two weeks? That's ambitious. I found the outright split between the two stories nice. The Kate/Jackie pairing was a new one and one I approve of. I especially enjoyed Jackie's complete lack of pop-culture awareness.

November Preview

November is looking to be quite a month. There's a healthy number of blockbusters and awards contenders in here that should keep me busy. The wildcards, as always, will come in the form of the limited releases, of which there are many, not to mention the looming 12 Years as a Slave which should be reaching me in the next week or two. I'm hoping to avoid doubling up until December. With at least one light week this month, that should be possible...maybe...probably not.

March |  April | May | June | July | August | September | October 

11/1

The Lock: Ender's Game

I know nothing about this except that my childhood was lesser having not read it. The casting of the younger actors is basically a collection of young people who were really good in a movie or two, then seemingly disappeared, including Asa Butterfield (Hugo), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), and Abagail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine). Round that out with heavy hitters like Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, and Viola Davis, throw a $100+ million budget at it, pretend it isn't from the director of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and you have what looks to be an enjoyable kickoff to the holiday box office season.
Odds I'll See It: 84%

In consideration:

Dallas Buyer's Club [Limited] - This is virtually a lock. I've been wanting to see Matthew McConaughey's acclaimed performance since I first heard about it. My only hesitation comes from the fact that I've heard raves about McConaughey ans Jared Leto's performances but I can't remember hearing much about the movie itself. I don't the an Iron Lady situation on my hands.
Odds I'll See It: 73%

About Time [Limited] - The preview has me awful interested. The time traveling is an interesting conceit and I can't ague with credentials like "from the man behind Love, Actually". I do worry that the trailer actually says too much about the story (think The Butterfly Effect meets The Time Traveler's Wife), but this is clearly going to live and die by the effectiveness of the romance and humor. In August, this would be a lock for me. In November, it's all about circumstance and timing.
Odds I'll See It: 48%

Last Vegas - The Bucket List meets The Hangover. I'm glad these guys (De Niro, Douglas, Freeman, and Kline) are finding something to do. That's doesn't mean I have to feel motivated to see it. Unless this gets some shockingly positive reviews, I don't expect I'll ever get around to finding out if my opinion of it is unfair.
Odds I'll See It: 6%

Free Birds - From the studio that brought you such animated hits as...uh...ok, it looks like this is a new kid on the block. Odds are, this time-traveling turkey tale will be swallowed up by the Ender's Game competition or general apathy (I can't speak for everyone but I don't like thinking about my turkey as a character before I eat it).
Odds I'll See It: 3%

Diana [Limited] - This Princess Diana movie has already been released in England where it was not well received. Short of the movie and Naomi Watt's work as the titular character getting major awards attention, I'm not going to bother with this one.
Odds I'll See It: 1%

11/8

The Lock: Thor: The Dark World
I wasn't wildly impressed by Marvel's first entry into Phase 2. This has potential to work much better though given Hemsworth's rising star, the fact that this doesn't look like a preamble to an Avengers movie like the first one , and a fall release (I don't know the last Marvel movie that wasn't a summer attraction). I also have appropriately tempered expectations thanks to Iron Man and the curious case of the disintegrating suits. I don't have any idea what the plot is beyond a vague notion of dimensional imbalances or something. Marvel has earned my trust though to at least deliver a fun product if not a terribly good product.
Odds I'll See It: 90%

In Consideration:

The Book Thief - Can we just go ahead an call this the sequel to Schindler's List and move it back to 1995 where is belongs. Watch the trailer. It has a voice over. I was kind of hoping that WWII narratives were played out in Hollywood. It's possible that this could be one of those surprise movies like War Horse that I like way more than I'd expect. For now, I'll err on the side of caution and say I'll be missing this one.
Odds I'll See It: 9%

11/15

The Lock:
Since The Wolf of Wall Street has been moved, nothing's here to replace it yet.

In Consideration:

Nebraska - I like Alexander Payne movies, so that helps. This doesn't look like Election or even The Descendants though. Critic as gushing about Bruce Dern in this and I'm very curious to see what dramatic Will Forte looks like. Sadly, I see this getting lost in the holiday and awards shuffle. I plan to see it but there's a good chance it won't be in a theater.
Odds I'll See It: 53%

The Best Man Holiday - Working in its favor is certainly the lack of Tyler Perry's name attached to it. Apparently, this is a sequel to The Best Man. I was already tepid about this movie to begin with. That I would feel obliged to see the first movie as well works against it greatly.
Odds I'll See It: 2%

11/22

The Lock: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The $400 million mark is where I normally decide, "yeah, I should stick with this for a while". Jennifer Lawrence's career right now must be the envy of every actor in Hollywood with both a blockbuster franchise running strong and the favor of one of the industry's favorite (and awarded for his actor's) directors happening concurrently. Fans of the books tell me the first it where it peeks. I am curious to see what Lionsgate does with the Twilight production formula of only sort of trying for the first movie, then fund like crazy for the sequels.
Odds I'll See It: 96%

In Consideration:

Delivery Man - I've seen the trailer for this and know that it's a remake of a French or French-Canadian movie about a sperm doner (played by Vince Vaughn in this case) who finds out he's fathered a ridiculous sum of children and starts meeting them. I get the feeling that the feel-good comedy elements won't mesh with the sperm-doner premise, but I could be wrong. Vaughn is not in good standing with me after The Internship. At this point, Chris Pratt is a my better sidekick than Owen Wilson and my interest in Cobie Smulders as the love interest is only slightly less than Rose Byrne. The problem here, if you've noticed is that I'm already comparing this barely favorably to a movie that was called a 90 minute infomercial for Google. That's not a good thing.
Odds I'll See It: 26%

11/29

The Lock:
I wanted to call Frozen the lock, but I fully recognize that movie expansion will be in full effect by this week so I could find this spot being filled by Dallas Buyer's Club of Nebraska. Also, these are weeks when reviews will highly influence what I see.

In Consideration:

Frozen - After the surprisingly great Wreck-It Ralph, as I said already, I nearly had this in lock status. Unlike Pixar though, Disney Animation Studios hasn't earned back my blind trust yet and I know little about this movie. I can't imagine it will be bad though. Let's be honest, the main thing keeping me from seeing this is that I know it will be an afternoon showing and I dislike the child to adult ratio in the theater being as lopsided as it is sure to be.
Odds I'll See It: 42%

Oldboy - I've finally seen the original. It is quite good. So much about this remake confuses me. First, the original has a die hard following who will be needed to make this a success and I'm not sure how much they'll support it. Second, the original has that famous twist ending that I can't imagine being kept without turning away casual audiences in droves. Third, Spike Lee is directing it. Does that seem like a strange choice to anyone else. I think he could do a good job with it, but it is so far out of his wheelhouse that I don't know what to expect. More than any movie in months, I'm going to RottenTomatoes this before deciding to walk to the theater.
Odds I'll See It: 19%

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom [Limited] - I am really rooting for Idris Elba. I'd love for him to be a big name in Hollywood and I thought this Mandella biopic could be the chance to break in big as more than an ensemble player. What I've heard after it premiered on the festival circuit has not been great. Everyone has been favorable about his performance and Naomi Harris' but neither appear to be enough to save it. Best case scenario, we are looking at another Iron Lady (boy, I did not expect I'd be making two references to that movie in this).
Odds I'll See It: 12%

Homefront - I swear The Rock has done this exact movie before. And I didn't see it either. Amazing movie poster though. If this doesn't get bumped to January, I'll be shocked.
Odds I'll See It: 8%

Black Nativity - A Jesus allegory set in Baltimore. Despite my love of The Wire and Hairspray, neither the story or setting could create a desire for me to see it. Ok, maybe if there's singing.
Odds I'll See It: 4%

Delayed Reaction: The Haunted Mansion

The Pitch: Pirates of the Carribean made $300 million. Who's to say other popular rides won't?

What Took Me So Long: Eddie Murphy doesn't have the drawing power her did 30 years ago.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) I really do like the ride, so it would at least be interesting to see how they integrate the elements of the it into a movie. Disney can do action like Pirates but horror is not in their brand, so this had to be a light movie, thus not that scary. Eddie Murphy is exactly what you'd want from him in a kids movie. He's loud and broad. The other members of the family are a checklist of the standard tropes. You have some character actor veterans like Wallace Shawn, Terence Stamp, and Jennifer Tilly who all get paychecks without working too hard, which is nice.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: It's a family movie, so I sort of need to grade this on a curve. I'm glad that this stopped the trend to make rides into movies because 1) I think Pirates was a fluke and 2) it starts to kill the fun of the original rides. I didn't hate this as much as I expect. That is still a far cry from enjoying it though. Since they didn't go all the way with the scares, I almost wish there was more tongue-in-cheek-ness to it.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Movie Reaction: The Counselor

Formula: No Country for Old Men + Traffic

Why I Saw It: Credentials don't come much higher than Ridley Scott (directing), Cormac McCarthy (writing), Michael Fassbender (acting), and a cheetah two cheetahs!

Cast: This is one of those wonderfully eclectic casts with only a few that I imagined were on set more than a couple days. Michael Fassbender continues to be one of the best actors for anyone who is paying attention and the "where have I seen him before" guy for general audiences. Javier Bardem is on the verge of playing too big in movies after his characters in Skyfall and this. Hopefully he trends away from that soon. Cameron Diaz plays a bad guy. That's her complete depth. She's having fun with it though and I think there. Penolope Cruz is less of a character and more of a symbol...I think. Brad Pitt is like Fassbender's crime world consultant and seems to exist solely to help the audience know what is going on. The rest of the casts are a sprinkle of cameos by people such as Natalie Dormer (playing an American even though we meet her in London. WTF!?) and Dean Norris.

Plot: The reason that no one has any idea what the plot is from the trailers is because the movie isn't so much concerned with details. The story follows the approach of "we'll tell you what you need to know and nothing more" which sounds great until you experience it. This all has to do with a drug transport gone wrong. The counselor (Fassbender), almost through coincidence (I think) is involved in it due to some unspecified job he did for Bardem. I'm certain that if I watch it again, there's layers, depth, and structure there. If anything, the movie is a victim of being too smart for its own good. I like movies that are complex or tough the first time you watch them, but I like there to be something surface level to enjoy and there wasn't much.

Elephant in the Room: This is Cormac McCarthy's first original screenplay. It would be stupid of me to question McCarthy's talent. Even if it is political or  whatever, a Pulitzer puts that to rest. I have to say though, if this is what I am getting from a McCarthy screenplay, I'd prefer if someone else just adapt one from his books for him. There two things that bothered me watching the movie that link back to him: 1) As I've mentioned before, he's so damn vague about everything. Even the Counselor doesn't get a name. There's some moments (namely one at the end, involving a package sent to the counselor) that work great by not spelling everything out. A lot of other times though, I found myself distracted by how they were talking around things just so they didn't have to put a name on it. 2) Who talks like that all the time? A friend defended this as modernly Shakespearean which is a completely fair assessment. I found it exceedingly distracting though. For a movie that already looks more like a Tony Scott movie than a Ridley Scott one, I continually found myself wishing someone, anyone would say a line that didn't sound like someone spent five minutes coming up with.

To Sum Things Up:
I didn't hate it. I wish I could say a lot more. It didn't get the most out of any of the actors which is a shame because there is a lot of potential talent there. The story is needlessly unspecific and has little or no pulse. There's enough here that I don't regret seeing it instead of, say, Bad Grandpa, but there's little here for me to recommend it to anyone.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Dirty Dancing

The Pitch: Live action dancing Lady and the Tramp with this dreamy guy and the sister from Ferris Bueller on board.

What Took Me So Long: Dancing movies aren't my taste, but still, I don't know how I never got around to seeing this before now.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) It's a classic of the 80s, so it is my pop culture responsibility to see it. In cinema, it sort of acts like the bridge to get from Grease to Step Up. I honestly didn't know that it wasn't set in the 80s, but that makes sense because people seem to need an excuse for the dancing to be rigid, be it living in a Pentecostal town, being set in the 50s, or my favorite, it's all white people. I'm a little surprised this movie didn't make Jennifer Grey a bigger star, at least for a while, because she isn't bad in this. And, Patick Swayze certainly earns the star turn he got from this.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Dance movies aren't my taste. The plot is almost always the same and seeing some dance moves is rarely a sufficient climax for me. This sure did have a killer soundtrack though. Is it just me, or was that a trend in the 80s?

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Kiss the Girls

The Pitch: James Patterson was really hoping a movie would be made for his Alex Cross character.

What Took Me So Long: I was pretty convinced that the title was going to be cooler than the movie.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) If this is where you expect to hear me say anything negative about Morgan Freeman, you are going to be disappointed. Crime movies can be fun and James Patterson has the beats down.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: The problem is that from a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit perspective, this is pretty tame. I can't put myself in the context of crime entertainment in 1997. Every other show on TV now is about a serial killer or criminal investigators. That ends up aging this tremendously, simply due to being a more sophisticated (if not deranged) audience. Now, why something like Se7en or The Usual Suspects aren't so affected by this probably has something to do with how effectively this was made. A lot more could've been done with the idea of serial killers teaming up, but that was squandered, leaving this as a movie that is just good enough not to be bad.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Paris is Burning

The Pitch: It's a documentary about the gay club scene in New York in the 80s. It's a low budget indie. I don't think there was ever a pitch for it so much as a description.

What Took Me So Long: A friend had me watch it. Otherwise, it could not have been less on my radar.

Why I Saw It: A friend had me watch it, mainly. It is certainly an informative documentary about a sub-culture I knew nothing about. In that respect, I learned a lot about things like shading and voguing. The people interviewed were unsurprisingly memorable.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: This is one of those documentaries where the information is what's going to carry you. The overall quality of the film and editing is not great (probably due to budgetary restraints, but that doesn't change the fact). I'd say I have passing or mild interest in the mechanics of this very specific sub-culture, so it was ok.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: The Holiday

The Pitch: Romantic movie about two women who cross the pond for Christmas.

What Took Me So Long: I was never sure what kind of movie this is.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) In terms of cast, I'm totally on board. It's nice seeing Kate Winslet in something with a lighter tone than a lot of her other roles and she is charming paired with Jack Black who isn't being forced to play over the top. Cameron Diaz is a little annoying, but that's the design of the character and I liked her by the end along with Jude Law. Overall, nothing to hate here.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: I get frustrated by characters who are unhappy with their lives due to very basic problems that they could fix rather easily which this falls in the category of. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about the whole side story with Winslet and Eli Wallach as the old movie producer. I liked it but it was a little out of place.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

DVR Purge: 10/16-10/22

 
Past Purges

Back in the Game "The Change Up"
Am I the only one who keeps watching this like a family movie that we are getting in 22 minute installments? The scene with Vanessa at the end is straight out Bad News Bears or Little Giants. Like the past few weeks, there's nothing here that I haven't seen before (the parent who never gets out wanting to take advantage of a chance to and getting sick or the meek kid who tries to be a rebel but fails). The shows handles the stories in such a charming way that I don't care though. I would like to see them land on a tone for the Cannon.

Modern Family "The Late Show"
Ugh! Well, it was inevitable that we'd get one of these episodes. There's plenty of good things in this episode, almost all of it was with the kids, unsurprisingly. I won't bemoan Lilly's delivery because she's 5, so what could I expect. The lines themselves were quite entertaining though with her walking Alex through what is apparently a repeated occurrence with Cam and Mitchell. The writers have trouble letting Luke group up but anytime they are faced with it, it's entertaining. Finally, we get the Midnight Train to Georgia karaoke which is an odd cutaway, but very entertaining. No, my problem comes with the writers trying to have their cake and eat it too with the adult cast. Phil gets some physical comedy but most of that plot is him and Clair fighting. Gloria's reason for being late is comically effective, I suppose, but as someone who hates being late, I find it extremely selfish and it hurts my opinion of Gloria that she doesn't care to improve it. Cam and Mitchell are back to being that couple who are only together because this isn't a show in which couples break up. I could've been fine with all of it had it not been for the final scene in which Mitchell admits to shaking the can. Had he simply opened the can and it been fine, that would've said that they are a ridiculous couple who realizes this and at the end of the day still trust one another. Having him admit to shaking the can simply gets a small chuckle and makes me wonder if they even like each other. Them after 20 minutes of all the characters being awful to one another or inconsiderate, it's all made ok because they get tacos. Sorry, if I'm being overanalytic about it, but the voice-over "this is why we love each other" segment at the end of episodes stopped working on me if they aren't earned years ago.

The Big Bang Theory "The Workplace Proximity"
I'm just so tired of Sheldon being a dick. Travellers in the desert dole out water faster than the writers give us Sheldon as a functioning adult. Between this and Modern Family, I'm getting so tired of comedies undercutting character growth out of fear of having to develop the series. I liked that Sheldon was jealous that Amy was fine not sitting at his lunch table. I just wish they would've done something more substantial with it.

Parks & Rec. "Gin It Up!"
So far, the most remarkable thing about this season is the emergence of April without Andy. This is the first season in which she's felt like one of the grownups and I think that has a little to do with Andy not being around. Don't get me wrong, I want him back ASAP, but it has been interesting to see. This week is especially telling because Ann is missing too which gives us a lot more Donna. I sense that'll be the direction going forward when Ann and Chris are gone and I'm ok with it if it is like this week's episode.

The Crazy Ones "Breakfast Burrito Club"
This episode marks the first time that SMG's character got a laugh from me all on her own (I remember the laugh, not the joke, sadly). That's a promising sign. In fact Robin Williams did not drive a lot of comedy in the episode which is a nice indicator that there's a show here, not just a vehicle for actors to react to Williams.

The Michael J Fox Show "Interns"
Is it just me or is this a perfect companion show for The Middle? 9:30 is certainly too late for it. I don't particularly prefer the workplace elements of the show. Remember when Spin City began and it was originally designed to be half workplace, half home-life? I wonder if that is a Michael J Fox trend or something. I'm certainly this swings hard back to just the family stuff.

Parenthood "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities"
Has it really reached trope status to have someone asking a scary [black] man for money only to find out he has a soft spot for kids? I feel like I've seen plots like this a lot of times before. And, they never are ones that I like. Zeke helping out Victor was sweet and Drew [for the moment] being stuck in the friend zone is one of those things that hits any guy in the gut on a certain level, so the episode worked for the most part.

The Walking Dead "Infected"
I quite enjoyed this episode. I'm not sure the show will ever be able to handle the cast size or how anyone new is basically a zombie victim in waiting. Given that, I like the early threat this season being a sickness, in addition to the whole zombie one, of course. It allows for there to be a looming threat while allowing us to adapt to the new (for us) status quo. Unless it leads to a Ben Linus level interrogation, I'm not sure how I feel about the inevitable rabbit hole that discovering the burning bodies will lead down.

HIMYM "Knight Vision"
I was hoping this would be a season of HIMYM I could actively enjoy while it was going on. Sadly, it is looking like the past couple seasons where I only like them at all in hindsight, once I know that it doesn't get better and I need to find a way to enjoy what's there. That's no way to watch a show that I once really liked but it's where I am with it. Oh well, perhaps I choose poorly by deciding to continue with this that past...majority of its run at this point.

SHIELD "Girl in Flower Dress"
Help! My interest is really starting to wane with this show. It's like watching a procedural from the 80s, which isn't bad in and of itself, but there are reasons I never go back to watch The A-Team. I think the biggest thing that's been bothering me though is that I feel like the show should look better. I get that they don't have as much time as a movie to get the effects down, but I don't remember noticing unpolished effects as much when watching something like Heroes. We are still only in the first handful of episodes, so I am trying to be patient. Tuesdays are fulling up though.

Brooklyn Nine Nine "Halloween"
In a year of a lot of perfectly agreeable new comedies, this is still the one I see with the most upside and thanks to Fox's recent back 9 pickup along with post-post Superbowl spot, it looks like Fox is firmly backing it which I could not be more pleased by. I really liked that Peralta won in the end over Capt. Holt. The show needs a power balance like Leslie/Ron to use another Mike Schur show. The rest of the cast is strong in this and I fully enjoyed this episode. There's still some settling to be done, but this is coming along nicely.

New Girl "Keaton"
Hooray! No evil Schmidt. That's all I ask for. Winston's still staying relatively sane, which is nice and CeCe gets a little something to do finally. This week is a good example of how Jess and Nick can be written at odds with one another without forcing them to be fighting. Not a great episode, but a good one and certainly a nice course correction from the past few weeks.

The Mindy Project "Bro Club for Dudes"
I'm slowly realizing that Adam Pally has an Adam Pally character that he plays. I mean, other than the gayness, I can't name one distinctive difference between Peter and Max from Happy Endings. As for positives, I can absolutely say this episode made me laugh more than any other on Tuesday and they were all with throwaway lines like when the doctors were psyching up Max Peter before the fight.

Trophy Wife "The Tryst"
I loved the opening tag with Diane on the computer. It worked far better than it had any right too. It should be too early for me to be getting tired of the different character dynamics but I think it's happening. Jackie is a little zany. Diane is uptight and overbearing. Hillary is the standard 8th grade girl model. Bert is lovable and cute. Warren is unfortunate. There's still some wiggle room with Kate and Pete's characters. As the lead and main supporting player, that's optimal although I am looking for some X-factors to lead this away from weekly plots about how Kate will prove herself in this oddly assembled family.