LONELYPOND PRESENTS

The Big Bang Theory seems to be losing the group cohesiveness that has powered their comedy for two seasons of nerdalicious comedy. Insert two girls, let Sheldon out on his own and leave Raj by the side of the road and you have a Big Bang Theory that tilts dangerously to one side or the other and needs rebalancing.

Sheldon is in danger of merely existing as a collection of tics. The more he does things, the less funny they are becoming which is a criminal misuse of Jim Parsons’ comic genius. Tonight’s episode, The Einstein Approximation, badly misfired on the Sheldon front — the blogosphere seems to be trending this way as evidenced by another review — although there were a few funny moments. My brother and I were having a discussion about The Big Bang Theory this weekend and he was saying that just focusing on Sheldon’s oddities doesn’t make for the best humor. Gayle has been saying (prompted by the four writers on Wizards vs. Werewolves; The Einstein Approximation listed 3) that the more writers listed, the less successful an episode is. Opinions?

The universe, well parts of it anyway, can’t seem to get enough of the Jonas Brothers so it will be interesting to see how Nick Jonas and The Administration album sells. He’s put all the tunes on MySpace and thanks to overplay of the video on the Disney Channel, I find myself singing “Who I Am” (better than “Starstruck” though). VMan the magazine had a Nick interview with lots o’ arty photos (they seem to specialize).

I am currently working my way, one red Netflix envelope at a time, through the first season of Chuck, which I love. The third season also entertains, but the music seems to have gotten much more intrusive over time. But it’s nice to have something in the action zone that I can watch.

Caught part of Castle tonight. Now I understand why some writers have gone on the record as saying they want to be Castle, but I still do not understand the appeal of Nathan Fillion. So I’ll just stick with Chuck.

Gayle (?!?!?!?) came back into town and informed me that Lois has gone brunette on Smallville. I was already planning to watch the two hour Justice Society Absolute Justice Smallville movie event this Friday; maybe now I’ll remember. Beau (aforementioned little brother) has started watching Smallville again after 2 years of not so maybe some of the spark is back. Stay tuned.

New Blink Kitty Love blog post where the band links to their favorite TV themes.

Continuing the TV theme, still loving Chuck, although it gets bumped on Monday nights by Top Gear, one of Gayle’s top 3 shows.

Wizards vs. Werewolves — nope, fail, not really any fun at all. Solve our problems by making the bad boyfriend and the actress we’ve put on another show go away. More substantive criticism? Ok. Well, exactly in the middle, I thought I’ve seen this dramatic pose around a fountain exactly in a soap opera (yes, there was soap opera watching at some point in my past; my mom was a General Hospital/One Life To Live fanatic and so were half the GUYS in my freshman dorm) and near the end, I thought straight steal from Buffy (the why can’t we date normal people moment). Flash was so bored she slept through it — which is good, no seizure from overexcitement. I find it really annoying that Alex so changes her personality for the boy of the moment, unless this is supposed to be an example of the standard girl experience, although they’ve spent a lot of time setting up Alex as a not so standard girl. And yes, Mason was a bad boyfriend but not enough time was spent on that either. They solved too many problems too easily and had too many plots in the air for one episode, even an hour long one. And I would have liked to have seen Juliet’s parents make an appearance again; they were fun. The we pay attention to plot and character pendulum swings back toward iCarly (after the successful iSaved Your Life). Nick’s doing a Secret Crush weekend…have been catching the odd True Jackson, and although it’s nice to see more of the school (and Mikey J), there’s a moderate sized hole where the manic fun that is the Mad Style staff used to fit. Caught another episode of Big Time Crush and didn’t enjoy it. Too much loud; too little character based humor. The guys are interchangeable and the having to shoehorn in the little sister plot really drags it down.

Did I mention Chuck is great. And The Big Bang Theory continues fun, although I am getting TIRED of Howard. Bring back Leslie Winkel, put him between her and the current girlfriend, have a little frank enough for television sex talk and let’s watch his brain shrivel (that’s as low as I’m looking).

Cool glass robots (thanks to Geek Dad for the link.)

We saw The Princess and The Frog this weekend. Impressed — they made great use of New Orleans the city. Tiana is good, strong heroine with a hint of humor to be nudged out by a carefree prince; I even liked the blonde spoiled needs to be a princess girl (Charlotte) and I didn’t think I would from Disney advance advertising. It was also funnier than I thought it would be — and the Prince in no way reminded me of Pepe Le Pew, one of my original worries.

It had a strong opening weekend with lots of disclaimers — in December, for an animated movie, etc.

Go see it: the animation was beautiful; there was a great art deco Josephine Bakerish fantasy sequence, the shadows loomed with scary menace, the villain’s schemes and dreams were excellently evil and the heroine and hero captivated the audience’s interest even though they spend most of the movie as amphibians. There were some tough moments and real sadness — it’s a Disney movie, they’re harsh. But if it had been any less harsh it would have been a cop out and not served the story.

I would have liked more jazz. They should have put all the music through the jazz blender; the city and its culture were so beautifully evoked, I wish they would have done the same with the music and worked with a Marsalis instead of a Newman or a Ne-Yo.

Entertainment Weekly gave it an A; I’d agree if there’d been any memorable music so B+ from me. I’ll keep the Enchanted soundtrack for that slot until Disney kicks up its game to offer a replacement. Great to see Disney put so much effort into old school craft, solid story and timeless art.

The Big Bang Theory — ok, I adore Christine Baranski, she’s a very funny, very talented actress but she’s just not as funny as Leonard’s mother as I hoped. Now, Sheldon’s mother played by Laurie Metcalf is a triumph of walking humor’s fine edged line so I’m not sure whether to blame Baranski never clicking as a writing, directing or casting issue. She’s the only character on the show who doesn’t seem to have any seed of a real person at her core.

What else do you need in the morning? On November 28, the 6th Robo-One Dance Competition happened. Next up, American Mechano-Idol or So You Think Your Robot Can Dance…anyone?

Me and Orson Welles had a boffo opening weekend and will be expanding to a larger number of theatres. Their Facebook fan page is the easy way to follow along.

Quick reviews:

The Big Bang Theory: Too little Leonard + Raj, too much Howard; Sheldon and Penny continue inducing snorts of laughter.

Charlie Brown Christmas Special: butchered and for what, commercials + Prep and Landing? Poor choices both.

Prep and Landing: bah — not a heartwarming holiday special…once again, Pixar strikes a blow for not really for the kids, instead let’s amuse the animators. If you’re going to have cool tech, why not have cool Bond movie type versions of Christmas music? And blackmail over a relationship in a children’s Christmas special? Good thinking there. And there were too many lines lifted from Christmas songs — that should have been your first script draft, people, and then you would have been better to throw it out and start over. I did like Wayne switching himself for a teddy bear in the arms of a sleeping child and the skiing over rooftops sequences…no dialogue in them, just good animating. Too bad it didn’t carry through.

Shanghai Surprise — FINALLY watched as much as I could stand. Have now vowed that if I don’t remember a movie at all there’s usually a good reason and so no need to add to Netflix queue. Only got 1/3 through it and almost lost all respect for Sean Penn as an actor. Next up: the Christmas In Connecticut double feature. Best thing about the remake: the scene where Tony Curtis’s character freezes in front of the camera. It’s lovely when great actors act like they can’t.

IQuit iCarly — solid…I think they’re rebooting, establishing the relationships again so that they can get back to darn funny.

The Troop — always seems like it should be entertaining but I am bothered by the fact that they never take the time to get the relationships between The Troop and their peers at schools right. Too much obvious bullying and just declarations of status instead of building it. Makes me miss the multiple layers of wonderful that was Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Well, I would like to comment articulately on how smallVille’s current season is developing but since they moved it to FRIDAY nights I keep remembering on Thursday it exists and then forgetting on Friday and doing things like watching WizTober instead. So I missed the Wonder Twins. Darn.

New favorite t-shirt (because I know you like to keep track of these things.)

Speaking of all things Wizard…Wizards of Waverly Place still knocking out the solid comedy. Harper moving in should be an interesting turn.

Now, the Sonny With A Chance will Chad and Sonny divulge their feelings on a talk show episode tipped the way too many flashbacks alarm.

Exactly the opposite on the funny meter was the latest Jonas (but I think I mentioned that before) which I have just discovered has been picked up for a second season. They’re getting a new show runner but I hope they don’t ditch that much — Gayle really likes the one camera style and I think they’ve really grown into the humor as the season progressed.

Speaking of growing into humor, have been on a Big Bang Theory kick, watching Seasons 1 + 2 on DVD. And this past week’s once again ratcheted up the funny. When Sheldon’s radio interview was being helped along by helium, Gayle and I were both laughing so hard it was impossible to hear anything that was being said. I do miss Leslie Winkle as a fountain of dread mischief…sure Kripke’s funny, but how about a Winkle and Cooper revenge tag team to take him down.

Still haven’t watched Shanghai Surprise. Need to change up my Netflix queue and drop the TV shows and concentrate on movies.

Oh, should probably drop in a Nick update. Nick Cannon very entertaining as The Chairman, liked iCarly’s iHave My Principals episode — always good to see Tim Russ. True Jackson seems to be focusing on the teens, which is ok, but I do like the craziness Max and Amanda bring with them.

Comics are grim, especially with Black Lanterns all over the DC Universe but Groo is back (To the fray!) and so is Giffen (Ambush Bug and Doom Patrol) so there is some light.

I think that catches up w/ the reviews. Still missing Warehouse 13.

Well, there’s the Greek Food Fest and Shanghai Surprise sitting on top of my TV in its Netflix envelope.

In a bit of a funk, trying to sort out the next project, organize the Lonely Pond Productions, Inc. annual meeting with a bonus refocusing and resurgence. Also trying to turn writing back into something I just do and not something I get stressed about while trying to make a million dollars doing it. I am having a blast writing Twitter Fiction @stirfryneon. It’s not very regular but it is very fun. Also have a Blink Kitty Love that needs to be posted but it also needs music — I really need to write an Animator’s Journal entry about all the Blink Kitty Love music difficulties. Really great response to the Costume Craving episode — and Garageband (Garageband very irritating nearly ALWAYS) totally tanked so there’s no music on that one (oy!). Any comments on music vs. sound effects vs. silence welcome. I’ve been thinking Blink Kitty Love is more like a web comic (but moving) since there’s a lot of reading/words involved and web comics don’t have a soundtrack.

Quick reviews:

Spice World — more fun than I remembered, although I needed subtitles to understand Sporty Spice through the accent. Roger Moore’s part was a hoot. I think Spice World might be the secret, never revealed source of 21st century culture.

Read latest Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals. He obviously has lessons/wisdom to impress upon his audience so it’s not a laugh riot; it’s one of the other kind of Terry Pratchett books, but it is worth a read. Also reading Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, v. v. funny.

Quick TV shout outs: Jonas has really earned their J-14 top TV show ranking. They’re having a blast, the Joe and Stella romance is spot on, and the last episode where Macy and Joe break in on Stella and Vandyke’s date was perfectly pitched comedy. They have finally figured out what to do with Macy. Go Team Jonas.

Have been off iCarly, but iQuit iCarly looks like a must watch. I’m hoping that Wizards grabbing the Emmy will inspire some iCarly improvement.

WIzards of Waverly Place: Chronicles of Moises was a fun, solid, three part episode. Jake T. Austin is growing up funny and Wizards does multi part episodes really well. I want to see Justin explain to the Van Heusens that he let a mummy mind control their daughter.

I keep meaning to watch smallVille and forgetting they’ve moved it to Fridays.

Big Bang Theory continues excellent, although the football episode was not as funny as I had hoped it could be. Seemed less organic and more staged. Sheldon vs. Wil Wheaton rocked; Penny and Leonard survived their first fight and they are slowly sorting out a comic niche for Raj, which is nice. On a Big Bang Theory kick so may finally have to buy Season 2 on DVD. Now, that sounds like a weekend plan.

Enjoy yours.

Well, if you’re looking for interesting things I’ve read in the FT, so am I. I have a week + 1 in a pile and I haven’t had a chance to get through them.

What I have been reading…comic books (see previous entry) and Fried Green Tomatoes at The Whistlestop Cafe. I had forgotten all the details and characters and eras Fannie Flagg worked into her marvel of a town and humanity tour. If you haven’t read it yet, do!

And on the comic note: DC’s Wednesday Comics finishes off with a flair. Hawkman + (surprisingly Supergirl) get my votes for best use of format. More in depth review later. Start the next one off with Hawkman/Supergirl team up, give Aquaman his own page, the Legion of course, The Question, and hmmmm, I’ll have to think about the rest.

In the can I pick ‘em or what category: Movie You May Have Missed have done me a huge favor and reminded me what the title is of the time travel movie I had forgotten the title of soon after I read its excellent review (at the time, I was reading the Wall Street Journal). I kept trying to make it Pi, a totally different movie, but no, it’s Primer. Here’s their review.

And continuing, The Web Files is still turning out excellent, entertaining and informative episodes. Picked up some pointers from their interview (and am trying out Tube Mogul for Blink Kitty Love) with Tim Street of French Maid TV, yes, French Maid TV and am looking forward to the launch of first episode of the bringing back the 80’s w/ a sci fi flair, The Cabonauts (The Web Files #15).

TV reviews: still missing Warehouse 13, the upcoming 3 part Wizards of Waverly place, Chronicles of Moises looks like fun, not that thrilled with iCarly, True Jackson solid, buy the Jonas DVD because “Cold Shoulder” has the funniest music video bit ever in honor of Scandanavia. Speaking of The Jonas Brothers, have you seen “Bounce?” So this is what rock stars really do to stave off boredom.

Anything else…hmmm, there’s a new Blink Kitty Love in the universe, it’s Monday so Big Bang Theory Night (yes, Penny + Leonard dating does work + it is funny; not so sure about Sheldon + Raj working together).

And on a social conscience note, remember to vote. It matters. And here’s hoping that the Yes votes on Proposition #71 in Washington and the No votes on Question 1 in Maine prevail. You can make a difference. I did not participate in the latest March on Washington, but one of my Twitter peeps sent out an “Every right for every resident” quote and I think that sums it up well.

And I just remembered — spent the weekend w/ Madonna - or at least Madonna references. Rolling Stone has been mysteriously arriving for the past month and this is the first week I enjoyed reading it. Nice Madonna interview. And then she popped up in the 80’s in NYC photo gallery accompanying an interview w/ Village Voice photo columnist Amy Arbus. So now, I’ve convinced Gayle that we need to watch Shanghai Surprise — did you know George Harrison did the music.

No, I didn’t stop watching TV; I just stopped reviewing it unless it was new + fun (see Warehouse 13 comments in previous posts).

Wizards of Waverly Place deserves their Emmy + the movie rocked.

Have been off iCarly because it’s been too mean + shouty, but watched iHate Techfoots + iCook tonight and enjoyed them. So it’s time to jump back on the iCarly train.

Also saw a True Jackson I hadn’t seen yet — Lulu’s on loan to accounting + True’s science teacher is temping for her…entertaining. True Jackson is always solid ensemble comedy.

Caught Nick’s new show, The Troop, tonight + had a sudden Power Rangers craving (and I don’t even like any of the Power Rangers); The Troop seems to be taking the boring middle mediocre ground between funny and frightening so no sparking of interest.

Jonas is improving — Macy is getting more stuff to do and the Stella - Joe combo is really working.

Warehouse 13 marathon + season finale Tuesday, September 22nd. Big Bang Theory season premiere tomorrow — the boys are back from the North Pole and everyone’s very excited.

Eureka’s been all right — great to see Taggart back, if only briefly. Jaime Paglia’s apparently the only person who can write a good Jo but aside from that season finale tepid.

Watched Adventureland (movie not TV show)…didn’t really enjoy watching people sit around and smoke and not say or do much. Not the movie or the soundtrack I expected. Disappointing + couldn’t really tell if anyone could act.

New shows…haven’t caught Glee and probably won’t. Community looks like fun. The NCIS spinoff looks cool — yes, a little bit of a pun; I’ve always liked LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell. Thinking about putting Boston Legal and Psych on the Netflix queue.

I’ve added another show to the list of ones I watch with the little brother #2 — It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The pre title bits are hard, crazy, brilliant comic gems.

Looking forward to Fame and waiting for some of the summer movies we missed to come to the $2 theatre.

Ok, I’m taking on faith you have those movie stubs to something original — Bandslam, (500) Days of Summer…I’ll let you off the hook if it’s Julie and Julia or District 9, but G.I. Joe, well G.I. Joe is part of the problem — Hollywood’s ADDICTION to remakes.

Tonight I was having a fairly long + involved Twitter conversation w/ @IDOL_HANDS about remakes starting with the news that Todd McFarlane (Mr. I created Spawn and own the world’s most expensive baseball) is planning a remake of The Wizard of Oz with some Ripley/Alien DNA mixed in. And then for a couple of days, the universe has been buzzing (mostly anti — there’s a Twitition against it) about Robert Zemeckis + Disney’s plan to remake The Yellow Submarine. TYS is not my favorite Beatles movie but it is so one of a kind you have to respect it…my favorite Beatles movie is Hard Day’s Night (must buy), one of the best, cleanest + simplest band movies (I’ve mentioned this before).

I think my friends @TheWebFiles sum it up best: “Telegraph of London says “Twitter killing Hollywood movies?” http://bit.ly/5uF1L Solution? Stop making crappy movies.”

I promised FT links…well, Peter Aspden had a column about Twitter but unlike Vanessa Friedman who paid enough attention to know it didn’t suit her, Aspden tweeted 3 times, follows 3 people + thinks that’s education enough to toss off a column about it…oh, and FT editor folks, if someone’s talking about Twitter in an article (this is happening more frequently + I first noticed it w/ The Pet Shop Boys profile), could you include a link to their @ tag. Thank you. @ me at @lonelypond

And another few links — in a non rant fashion — the aforementioned Ms. Friedman on Mad Men and their trousers.

And the aforementioned Mr. Aspden on Brigitte Bardot (he is considerably more informed + interested about Ms. Bardot than Twitter)…this bit made me perk up: ““Bardot is as important an export as Renault automobiles,” observed Simone de Beauvoir in her perceptive 1959 essay “Brigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome”, a welcome reminder of a time when intellectuals were genuinely fascinated by popular culture.”

Simon Schama’s review of Nicholson Baker’s The Anthologist, which indulges/experiments in verse. I will have to get the library to track me down a copy of the book.

And Harry Eyres finally gets Man on Wire.

Have been transferring CDs to iTunes with plans to make a travel playlist for adventure so I must be getting to doing that. Disappointed to not find the Buffy CD where I expected but the pile included Red, Hot and Blue, Aly and AJ’s Into The Rush, all Depeche Mode The Singles Cds, Pet Shop Boys Very, Carmen McRae, Adam Ant’s Antics in The Forbidden Zone + E.C. Scott’s Come Get Your Love. Mix songs from that with what’s already in my library + it should be interesting. I’ll hit you with a mixtape when I’m done.

Good night!

Note: Warehouse 13 fun; good Eureka so far; no, don’t take the Wizards of Waverly place characters’ powers away in the movie (Gayle claims it’s a tease — Dad will keep his + they’ll continue as wizards in training); enjoying The Middleman DVDs + looking forward to a new season of The Big Bang Theory. Now, read a book and go see Bandslam, darn it.

I did mention rant ; )

Liking