Movie Review: Gone Baby Gone

(and yes I realize this is old it just came into my netflix queue, so don't judge my tardiness)

Gone Baby Gone….

Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, I’ll admit I am not a huge fan of Ben’s acting overall but as a director I feel he’s got a decent shot. The screenplay was adapted from a book written by the author of Shutter Island and Mystic River. So you can tell it will be a dramatic mystery thriller. Set in Boston, yes not overly  shocking coming from Affleck. The movie center’s around a coke head’s missing four year old daughter. The coke head is played by Amy Ryan. She may look familiar to you from her role as Michael Scott’s finance on The Office.  The missing child’s aunt and uncle approach Patrick and Angie who are young private detectives to help augment the search for the girl.

The bulk of the story details the hardships of searching for a missing child in the dregs of Boston. Patrick played  by Casey Affleck is a hard headed Bostonian who won’t back down to anyone, including a sociopath drug dealer in the movie. Casey holds his own with the Boston PD when he gets some of the locals to talk and give him information they would not give to the local cops. He uses his long time ties with the community and his past drug habits to make good with the community.  The movie goes through various twists and turns and at one point I was confused with the direction the movie was going in. However I will say that it all got pulled together in the end.

The movie comes with an all star cast. Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and John Ashton whom you may remember from his roles in Beverly Hills Cop. I never knew the depths of what Amy Ryan could do. But her performance in this movie was really good. If you can play a coke head whos child goes missing and then play a comedic role like Michael Scott’s quirky love interest on The Office, you’ve got some talent.  Morgan Freeman’s role while small, he plays a convincing police captain. Ed Harris character is a hard boston cop but his character is likeable even through his tough demeanor. 

All in all I give Gone Baby Gone three stars. I do have to take one away for slight predictability. Although the way Affleck tied it all together in the end the predictability was over shadowed , making me happy that I didn’t have the whole movie figured out, it still had an air of predictability. Casey Affleck was a lot better actor then I thought he’d be. Of course I’d like to see him play another role other than a wanna be Boston cop. The rest of the cast plays up to their potential and the story will leave you on the edge of your seat one moment and then tearing up in the next. Gone Baby Gone, won’t disappoint and Ben kudos to you in your directorial debut.

And the Emmy Goes to....

Hello everyone,

Happy Summer. I know it’s been a while and I promise I won’t go this long without writing again. But I start off with a very exciting topic. The EMMY’S.  This will probably be my husband’s least favorite topic I discuss as he hates award shows. But I at least need to throw in my two cents. Ok here goes…

In the outstanding drama category I have only seen a few shows. I’ve seen a few episodes of the Good Wife and previous seasons of Friday Night Lights. Well that’s not true I caught like one episode this year. I’m kind of surprised this show got a nod. I used to really enjoy it but it lost its luster to me after a few seasons.  Being it’s in its final season that’s great for the actors and I hope they can pull it off. The Good Wife is a decent show but I don’t think it fits the category of Outstanding Drama. Of course I have only seen a few episodes. That show is right up my alley being a courtroom drama but it just never grabbed me.  If I had to guess what show will win, Boardwalk Empire.  Again I’ve never actually seen it to give my true opinion of the show but I have heard great things and it’s a critically acclaimed show. And frankly, we all know how HBO shows tend to sweep the Emmys. I may have to Netflix this so that I can decide for myself if it is worthy.

In the category of Outstanding Comedy Series I have seen all of these shows except Glee. Gasp, she’s never seen Glee. If you know me the show would be right up my alley but I’d be singing along and driving my husband insane every single week. So I chose not to torture him and never watched it. Plus I mean after so many seasons it would even tire me out. Anyway, I digress. I feel the Community was shafted in this particular category and I question what Parks and Recreation is doing in here. That show lost me at the beginning of last season. 30 Rock had a great season but I think the show is coming close to running its course and just not sure it’s got what the judges are looking for. The Office while still enjoyable is starting to lose me. Then season finale was WEAK.  But there were a few stands out episodes this year. The engagement episode topping the list for me however, I don’t think it will get the nod. That leaves Big Bang and Modern Family. We know from a previous post I LOVE Big Bang and I found SO many episodes this year hilarious.  Then there is Modern Family which we have just started getting into and oh my god that show can make me laugh. They swept the Emmy’s last year and I think they can do it again. But I do hope Big Bang gives them a run for their money and gets the Emmy. I think that show has an amazing cast of characters. If either Modern Family or Big Bang wins I’ll be happy. If Parks and Rec wins I am going to be pissed.

For today that’s all I am going to discuss.  I have to look over the other categories in more depth and see what I’ve seen and I haven’t and try and make informed guesses. But for now chew on those two categories. I mean they are the biggest.  Till tomorrow kids.

Say it ain't so Mariska

I am a HUGE Law and Order SVU fan. HUGE. Sadly, I can’t catch the episodes in first run but I catch them in syndication. Well our beloved Oliva has announced that in the 2011-2012 seasons we will start to see less Liv and their will be the implementation of a new detective. (Mariska wants to focus on her family life but what about her TV family lol...how can she just leave us like that???!! I kid...sorta)

UGH. This breaks my heart because sadly I think it will mean the demise of one of my favorite shows. (My husband who's reading this is probally throwing a party as cop shows are his least faveorite tv genre ever)

 Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay have an AMAZING chemistry which makes the show. In fact I think the entire cast has great chemistry except for their ADA’S they just can’t find their niche with the ADA’S. They even had a recent musing in the one of the episodes that they’ve gone through so many ADA’s. Now what is the plot line they are going to use to thin out her character?  It is a well known fact that Olivia is married to her job, what is going be the straw that breaks the camel’s back that makes us see less of Liv. Will she go and do more work with the feds? Is a case going to break her? Will her and Elliot have a fall out?  The biggest question I have is  WHO will be the new detective? Will it be a known talent or a totally new actress? I think it will have to be a female character since the cast is predominantly male. Whoever she is she needs to have strong stage prescience and some fabulous acting skills. NBC i hope you can make this work!

The Downfall of the Network Television

So the new fall line ups have been announced. Out with the old and in with the new. There has been a lot of uproar from people from around the “net” about shows that have been cancelled that were not given a chance only aired for a few episodes before the networks pulled them and so on.

Why is this done you ask? Well there are many reasons it is done. The main reason in my opinion is $$$$$$$$. With the advancing technology of DVR, On Demand, Hulu, You Tube, America’s short attention span and our drive for competition they have to grab their audience and do it quick. If not they lose money or lose viewers to other cable channels or gasp even another local network which in turn makes the networks lose money. Do you see a pattern here?  No one likes to lose money! So they are sacrificing the shows for the sake of the dollar. Some shows in my opinion really do suck but others can take time to develop (I thought Mad Love had some potential but CBS and I don’t see eye to eye on this one.)  Back in the day when we had fewer channels and before the rise of cable you would see shows last longer until it caught on. (Look at the Cosby Show that was a slow start but look at the major following it got and became a critically acclaimed show) But now with all of the options we have out there that is not an option for the networks. Too much emphasis is placed on ad revenue and if the show sucks and there are low ratings the advertisers are going to pull their slots forcing and the networks hand.

There is also the fact that America is infatuated with being number one, the networks are constantly trying to outdo one another. Such as NBC’s new show the Voice (seems a lot like American Idol doesn’t it…the figure Fox cashed in on it why shouldn’t they?) The rise of all of the cop dramas, fifteen years ago it was really just Law and Order and now every network has at least one if not two cop dramas in their line ups. And do not forget the sad pathetic “reality” shows on each of the networks.  If you look at each broadcast networks line up there are pretty darn similar.

  Lastly, the cable networks, they are garnishing a following of their own. USA has some really creative stuff out there and look at AMC and their huge success with Mad Men. Unlike broadcast networks cable networks don’t need to sell advertising and their “seasons” are vastly different from broadcast television. Broadcast TV always starts and ends around the same time and sweeps do not mean a thing Cable Networks their shows air throughout the entire year and start at different times. So there you have it folks my take on why you are seeing shows that have such a short life span, it’s all about the Benjamin’s baby!

Howards Mom!

Ok it probably seems like I am on a CBS kick. I do enjoy the CBS  line up but I swear I do branch out to other networks. But for today we are going to discuss Big Bang Theory.

BAZINGA!

When the show first started I was not sure how it would go. I mean David from Roseanne playing a physicist or whatever it is he does. The eldest daughter from 8 Simple Rules and the rest of the cast consists of….who are they? Anyway I do find the show pretty darn funny. So this week’s episode was very interesting. The overall focus was on Howard and his relationship with Bernadette.

SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE THAT HAVE IT DVR'D OR HAVE LIVED IN A BUBBLE

As we know Howard and Bernadette are engaged, the problem Howard is Jewish and Bernadette is catholic. Setting up the potential for a problem with Howard’s mother because she is very into her Jewish faith. We also know that Howard is also weak to his mother and gives into her command. So Howard finally gets up to get the courage to tell his mom about their upcoming engagement....while she's on the can! (Her words not mine) Well the next thing we here is someone passing out. Then a few scenes later we are in the hospital and they presume she had a heart attack from the news. Well at least Howard does. What I find very intruding is we have yet to see Howard’s mom. Her voice is infamous on the show and we all have a preconceived notion of what she looks like but yet the writers have chosen to keep her character a secret. Is it going to be like Tim Allen's neighbor Wilson, George Steinbrenner on Seinfeld or Charlie from Charlie's Angels?  A voice that is carried through the entire series but that is never revealed. Will she come to Howard's and Bernadette's wedding or will the writers keep her an enigma? Only time will tell.

Winning, duh!

So it seems fitting that I start my blog with Charlie Sheen. I mean who can resist? I certainly can't. So yesterday CBS announced that it would replace Charlie Sheen with Ashton Kutcher. I think that this has some solid potential. I mean Kutcher was hysterical on That 70's Show. I still crack up when someone asks whats in the bag? The Packers winning the superbowl, that’s whats in the bag! Plus it’s not like his movie career has flourished. Dude, where's my car, and Just Married didn't exactly garnish him an Oscar. The Butterfly Effect seems to have been his only foray into dramatic film and Punk'd can only last him for so long. So I am sure when CBS and Chuck Lorre approached him to do this it was a no brainer for him. TV seems to be where Ashton flourishes. Can he pull it off is the million dollar question. I think that if  is done correctly and the writers don't just dismiss the departure of Charlie and find the right storyline for Kutcher I think he can pull it off. With Jon Cryer, Conchata Ferrel and Holland Taylor to back him up I think the show could be hysterical. What kind of storyline will they use? A long lost brother of their obviously promiscuous mother? Charlie decides to try and find himself and goes into the peace corps? Or he really does go off and marry Rose but they need to flee the country from Manny? Whatever it will be it needs to be good. But let’s be realistic it’s not like Sheen's been acting. I mean he's basically been portraying his life; a drunk with too much money on his hands partying and using woman to fill a sad void in his life. The only thing the show was missing was the cocaine. But that’s not suitable for a 9 pm time slot. Who's winning now Charlie?