Dollhouse

TJ Says...I didn't expect much from this show. It's a new show on Friday night's that stars Eliza Douchcu (Spelling highly incorrect). It's marketed on the backend of Terminator, and I'm in on that show...so let's give dollhouse a go.

Basically, It's a remake of My Own Worst Enemy. Eliza has her brain wiped clean every time the man has ended their use of her. Then she is a blank slate. Then, when they need her for a mission, they can program her with all the appropriate information and memories, and she can be an expert at whatever. Then, when it's over, wipe her brain clean again. In the pilot, she's a kidnap negotiator, negotiating with bad guys to get a kid back, without going through the authorities.

I really didn't think it was terrible, which is good enough for me. I was entertained by the plot of her actual mission, but irritated by those that she worked for. They were kinda just pissy a lot.

TJ's Review...I'll watch it again. It's better than anything else not named "Psych" on Friday nights. I've definately watched worse (Lost).

Chad Says...Joss Whedon created this show. That's reason enough for me to watch it. He was the guy behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer (not the reason I like him b/c I never watched that show) which is why Eliza is in this show. The reason I love the creator is b/c he also created a show called Firefly. It only lasted one season but it was one of the coolest shows I've ever watched. Go rent that first (only) season. Then go rent a movied called Serenity. After Firefly got cancelled they made the movie which was basically his idea of the entire second season crammed into one 2 hour movie and it's one of the best sci fi movies I've seen. I'm a huge fan of both of those.

Moving on. The pilot was okay. They did a bunch of setup of the main character giving background and what not to help us understand why she's where she is and how this "Dollhouse" is going to work. Along with the fact that it's a super secret organization and they already have one guy that's trying to unravel it's secret (behind his bosses back!). It's a rare thing when a pilot is fantastic and it wasn't the case for this show but I'm going to keep watching.

I was afraid when I heard Eliza was the main character b/c I don't like her very much but she's actually good in this (read: not irritating). She seems smooth and can handle all the action they're going to throw at her. A pet peeve of mine is throwing a hot chick in a show that has no action training and all the action scenes are quick cuts that don't show much b/c SHE'S A GIRL and can't hack it (just kidding ladies). She seems more like a Jennifer Garner from Alias. Also a great show (if you only watched the first two seasons).

So with Terminator and Dollhouse on Friday I'm a happy camper. These shows should nicely compliment each other and i'm already a fan of Terminator. ACTION!

Chad's Review...In on the creator alone but i'm hoping the show lives up to my hype of him :)

Push

TJ says...I should have not got my hopes up too high when I saw Johnny Storm as the hero. But, did I listen to myself? No. The previews looked pretty good, with the guy from Blood Diamond as the antagonist, and throw in a little Dakota Fanning...it should be at least well acted.

Uh....wrong. This movie was bad. It wasn't "terrible" because there was enough (barely) action to keep the rating from sinking too low. It's about paranormalists with different types of paranormal skills. You had the people who could put thoughts into your mind (Pushers), people who can see the future (watchers), people that can move things (movers) and a few asian guys that scream real loud and break glass and make your brains tomatoy (douchers...probably not their real nickname, but they were douchee).

As with any movie where you can see the future, or act on the future, there are plot holes. And this movie had a ton of them. Most the time, though, they make up for it with cool plot. This movie made up for it with douchee asian guys that scream. There's not a whole lot of positives to say. Oh, and they completely setup for Push 2: Push it Real Hard (all sequels need a real hard in the subtitle...or they would if I was a movie exec).

TJ's Review...Plot sucked. Acting was bad. No hot chics. Minimum action. Rent it when there's nothing else to rent.

Chad Says...I went into this movie expecting it to be the non-sucky version of Jumper. So I had the understanding that I was seeing a bad movie that I was going to like because lots of cool stuff happened. Luckily my expectations there were met.

The movie is way too complex for it's caliber. They try to cram in a whole world of people with abilities and give them very generic names like, "reader" or "stitcher". Here's the problem though. They invite you into this world of theirs and you, being the nice guy that you are, accept the rules of this new world. The main guy can "push" stuff. He throws energy at it and it moves it or punches it or whatnot. Okay so now I believe and accept this but once I'm there they want me to just hang on for a second b/c they need to lock the pusher in a trunk which he somehow can't open. Or the bad guy can hold him down and he can't push him while this is happening even though when the other pusher he just fought a little bit ago held him down he could get him off by using his abilities. So they should have had some sort of switch where they told my brain to be in "Push reality" then back to "reality" so I wouldn't roll my eyes at them.

Dakota Fanning is all grown up and she got her bottom teeth fixed. You ever notice those things before? She could have eaten corn on the cob thru a chain link fence with those chompers. Now she looks nice with her good teeth. And she cried a few times in this movie to let us all know she can act well. Oh, real quick - so she was a "watcher" so mental images came to her and she drew them. Problem is, her drawings looked like my 6 year old did them. Terrible.

Chad's Review...Push as in blow as in air moving out of something like a vacuum which does the opposite. Sucks.

Taken

TJ Says...I was highly anticipating this movie since I saw the trailer with Liam Neeson on the phone with his teenage daughter, and she gets kidnapped. Then the kidnapper gets on and Neeson threatens the kidnapper! Awesome. I AM IN.

So I convince my wife to attend with me. Hello date night. This movie was fast paced with lots of Liam kicking tail. By the end of the movie, I seriously thought that Liam could take Jason Stathem in an MMA bout. Get those 2 in the octogon, and if JS has kidnapped LN's daughter, watch out. Maybe that could be the plot of Taken 2: Taken Real Hard. I digress.

I was thoroughly entertained in this movie. It was fast paced, and kept me interested throughout. It was very intense, not really scary or a thriller, just intense. The only part I didn't like was the daughter (who was 17) acted like she was 13 most of the movie. It was uncomforatble to watch sometimes. But for sure that ass kickings Liam hands out make up for it, big time.

Oh, one other warning. The previews for this movie were terrible. The worst of which was "Crank 2", another Jason Stathem vehicle (when you're in the industry, you can use terms like "vehicle" to mean movie staring a certain someone). I hope I warm up to Crank 2 because I want to see it, but that trailer was wretched.

TJ's Review...Take the wife and go see it. Awesome. If you have a daughter (as I do), it'll convince you to never let her go to Europe.

Chad Says...Liam Neeson is a bad-a. Straight up. I think I said this in another review but I love movies where the main guy is really good at something and displays it in full effect. He is a "Preventor" in this movie but when something can't be prevented he turns into a convincer that the bad guy should have allowed him to prevent his deed. Yikes.

Usually when a trailer is as awesome as this one was, the movie doesn't live up to it (see Wanted) but man on man, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time eating this action up!

His daughter - who was Boone's sister in the first season of Lost, yeah I research, so what? Anyway, she was borderline terrible in this movie. But who cares! Liam Neeson was awesome. Remember Commando? Arnold's daughter is kidnapped so he straps on some boots and a knife and ices every mofo that had anything to do with it? This reminded me of that. LN took on every bad guy single handedly but this time I bought it. Trapped in a room with 6 dudes with guns yet he is the only one breathing at the end of the scene? Sold.

Chad's Review...Be my Valentine, Taken. You had me at "Good luck."

Paul Blart Mall Cop

Chad Says...I enjoy Kevin James' sense of humor and wanted to like this movie. Problem is it really wasn't that funny. The trailer was though. I was surprised to read that he co-wrote this. Because it really was just ok-funny. Long periods of non-funny to the point that my son (whom I brought with me on this comedy endeavor) kept asking me, "When is this going to be funny?" Awe.

Once the action kicked in it got funny but outside of that it was really bland. He really had zero supporting cast (outside of a segway) and it was reliant on him to drum up all the comedy. And there was a little bit of it. The jokes about being too depressed to eat but then mentioning that a sloppy joe would be nice was good stuff.

Chad's Review...it was just an okay movie. I might even pass on this one for a rental. Shame on you Kevin James.

TJ Says...Look, I'm a kevin james fan. I thought he was funny in King of Queens, and I thought he was GREAT in Hitch. And this scenerio looked funny, and I thought my wife would like it, so, helllllllo date night.

Story is pretty simple. Mall cop aspires to be realy cop, and without much training or authority saves the mall from a hostile take over. The entire movie is this simple. There are several chuckle moments, and a few laugh out loud moments. I thought Kevin James was good and funny, just not a whole lot to work with around him. My wife enjoyed it, so that was a bonus.

Oh...the best of the co-stars was the WAY over the top pen salesmen. That guy was genius. And I hated him.

TJ's Review...it's worth seeing. Probably just a rental though.

Four Christmases

TJ Says...This is the new Vince Vaughn/Reese Witherspoon christmas joint. I was looking forward to this, as it fits my "Stuff blows up or makes me laugh" criteria to go see a movie. And anything with Vince Vaughn in it makes me laugh.

I thought this movie was good. I went with my wife and it ended up being a good date movie. I mean, as with any RoCo (romantic comedy) there are plenty of plot holes. Like their relationship is rock solid at the start of the day, and by visiting all 4 families for christmas, some how it all falls apart at the end. Really?

With that being said, I laughed plenty of times. There was plenty of new family humor in there, and there were several ladies laughing in the theather. As a matter of fact, Ms. John Madden was sitting next to us, giving a running commentary of what was happening on the screen. HIGHLY annoying.

TJ's review....Go see it. Lighthearted and funny. I enjoyed it. Just don't sit next to old ladies that like to talk to the screen.

Chad Says...Man I liked this movie A LOT more than TJ. This might be one of Vince Vaughn's best roles up there with Swingers. He was hilarious in this movie. I laughed out loud so many times to the point where Kiley started elbowing me. And Reese was great in this too. She's funny. Her reactions to some of the situations were wonderful.

I'm a fan of the uncomfortable situation comedy stuff ala Meet the Parents and this one fits snugly in that category. Robert Duval was awesome in this too. "I don't want to disrespect your mother on Christmas but that woman is nothing more than a common street whore." Genius.

This is a good all around movie. Not necessarily a date movie but the ladies will like it too.

Chad's Review...See this. Or rent it since it's taken me this long to write this review. My bad.

Transporter 3

TJ says...Transporter 3 is the most recent (I dare say final) of the Transporter series. Jason Statham driving cars and kicking people? I'm in.

I didn't anticipate too much going in, other than a good time and watching stuff and people get jacked up. This movie had plenty of that. However, there was a good 45-50 mins in the middle of the movie where there was just dialogue. WTF? Come on. It's Transporter, not Pride and Prejudice.

TJ's Review...WAY to much talkie, not enough blow S up. Go see it, because J.S. is a bad mofo, but be prepared for the talking. Boo.

Chad Says...Oy vey was this movie terrible. Jason Statham doesn't make great movies, he makes action movies that are great. This one is the exception to the rule. Annoyingly horrible acting that the action couldn't make up for.

Chad's Review...Don't get me wrong, I'll still go see Transporter 4.

Quantum of Solace

TJ Says...OK, not too excited about this movie. It looked good and based on Daniel Craig, I definately wanted to see it, just not too excited. I don't remember a lot of Casino Royale, but I do remember liking it (probably because it had a lot of poker)...so let's go see QoS.

Basically, James Bond cannot be hurt by mere mortal bad guys. The movie starts with a car chase, followed by a foot chase, then here comes a boat chase, then a nice air to air combat/dog fight and finally a fire fight (both literally and figuratively at the same time). At no time was Bond ever hurt more than the obilgatory cuts and scratches. He even opened his parachute about 100 ft above ground, did the tuck and roll, and was unharmed. Come on.

The story...eh...not too exciting. Fighting fake environmentalists to control "the most important resource in the world". Not too enticing. The fight/chase scenes were cool, I just didn't think the plot was all that great.

TJ's Review...Stuff blows up, a lot. And I was entertained for two hours...so I gotta say, go see it and it's worth the time. But I guess I'm not too pumped about giving it 2 thumbs up.

Chad Says...So apparently this movie has a story. A plot if you will. Which was weird to me b/c I don't remember one. What I do remember however was a LOT of action.

The story was confusing and lost me. I don't remember the movie before this but apparently if you do this one makes sense. I had actually watched the second half of the Casino Royale a bit before this came out and remember thinking - I don't recall any of this plot, just the action.

So at least they stuck with the theme on this one.

Chad's Review...Go see this if you like action but not if you like understanding what's happening in between all that glorious action.

My Own Worst Enemy

Chad Says...Very interesting. I haven't liked anything Christian Slater has done since Gleaming the Cube but just the concept of this had me. Action and spies pretty much does that every time. So the jist is, regular dude is also programed to be a super spy and people he works for can switch him back and forth. But he's switching back and forth on his own at random times unexpectedly. Delicious. I've been needing a good spy show since Alias went off the air. Correction, since the 3rd season of Alias when it should have gone off the air.

The show itself was very impressive. It must have been high budget b/c it looks great. The first episodes of shows are usually just setup the characters and start the story. You get to meet the spy side pretty well and a brief intro to the regular guy side but that was enough of a good start for me.

Christian Slater does seem to like himself a lot though. I bet there were times when they were filming this and he went, "Wait, hold on. I didn't get that eye squint just right. Let me do that again." As long as it isn't anywhere near as bad as Horatio on CSI Miami I can live with it. Seriously he turns to the side and poses in shots. Disgusting.

Chad's Review...I look forward to seeing more of this show. Added to my regular rotation.

Chad's Prediction...I think it'll get at least a season. NBC put so much production value into it they'll likely do whatever it takes to get a good audience. That didn't work for Studio 60 but we'll see what happens here.

TJ Says....This wasn't too intriquing for me. Christian Slater, I'm lukewarm about at best and I didn't know how they were going to pull off the story line. So my expectations we're very in the middle.

Throughout the episode I alternated between interested and bored. It was a little slow, but I think they were just setting up characters. But there was some interesting plot lines when Henry/Edward do or don't know about each other and how that all works out. I thought the acting was pretty good and I had not problems with that.

The guy from "Yes, Dear" that always wears a hat is in the show. Couple things, I've never seen him without a hat for more than 2 seconds on TV, and is this guy the best as the co-worker action star guy? Really?

TJ's review...I'm still in the middle. Not too excited, but I'll watch it again. It has some promise.

TJ's prediction...I think this show will make it an entire season, and then we'll go from there. Definately not a hit.

Kath and Kim

Chad Says...what a joke. Which is ironic since this show lacked any of those. I blame the awfulness of this show on one person. Selma Blair. Horrible. I chuckled a few times at Molly Shannon and her boyfriend - I love that guy, but I could not bear Selma. How she got cast in a comedy is beyond me.

The premise of the show is a daughter who got married is a selfish brat and leaves her new husband to move back in with her mom but she's turned the daughters room into a workout room. Meanwhile the mom is about to get engaged. So on a technicality this show is still labeled a "situational comedy" but it fails to produce laughs. The shots of the wedding video were funny and Molly Shannon's workout gear was amusing but after that I just stood there staring at the tv with my mouth open in shock that this show made it on the air.

Chad's Review...if they can go back in time and recast Selma Blair this show would be worth watching again. Unfortunately they'll have to figure out time travel on Fringe before this show can be saved. Oh well. Until that happens I'll just refer to this show as Kath and Krappy.

Chad's Prediction...I'll be surprised if this show makes is a full season. Because of the cast it'll get longer than it deserves though.

TJ Says...New "comedy" on NBC with Molly Shannon and Selma Blair. This looked promising. NBC needs to take CBS' approach and LOWER expectations.

This show was awful. I made it 13:52 before I quit watching out of boredom. I didn't laugh once.

TJ's Review...If you need help going to sleep, TiVO this and watch it before going to bed. Otherwise, avoid like the plague.

TJ's Prediction...This show can't make it longer than "Do Not Disturb". But it will...6 shows, then off to where it belongs, trash.

Eagle Eye

Chad Says...I have a drink idea for Starbucks. It's called a venti go see Eagle Eye. It's got a triple shot of slap yo face! Geez louise people. This movie was action packed. And it made me think of my dream job.

I want to wear a bone mic in my ear and have someone tell me what to do. No thinking. Just listening and doing. All the while the person on the other end is making all the dominoes fall into place so you make it from A to B in stride. Cool huh? That was this movie. With explosions. Lots of them.

Recently my mother said to me that she doesn't like watching movies with buildings blowing up. Ever since the Oklahoma City bombing she's felt this way. It's become an prerequisite for me to earn an A+ rating.

This movie had a little Matrix feel to it for a bit then a little War Games flavoring with some Die Harder on top. It also had a little Flight of the Navigator to it...but don't pay attention to the "how all this is happening", just enjoy the explosions! It also had a lot more actors that you know of in it. Nice little cast. Shia Labeouf is charming. And he fantastic at running away from things. Whether it be Decepticons or the police, he does it well. And yelling while running. Down, pat. In short I liked this movie. A lot. Action packed, good story, fine cast. And explosions. Lots and lots of explosions.

Chads Rating...Awesome. I put this up there with Wanted as one of the most recent movies that made me sweat while watching it on account of the massive amounts of action my brain was processing.

TJ Says...I had high expectations for this movie. It looked really good in the previews and an interesting story line. Someone controlling people just by accessing all the computers around them. Cool.

The moview was very action packed. Very fast paced. I wasn't bored at all and only looked at my watch once. I thought the actors all did well in their roles.

All that being said, isn't this just Enemy of the State II? Things I've noticed that Hollywood isn't a big fan of: #1. The Right. #2. Aritificial Intelligence. #3. Big Government (doesn't that go against #1?). Anyways...this movie villanizes all three of those.

The first half the movie was great, up until you learn who's pulling the strings, and then it gets pretty unbelieveable for me and I check out. It was still fast paced, but the "twist" didn't do it for me.

TJ's Review... It was worth seeing, just from an action standpoint. The story is a let down. But it was enjoyable. I give this a thumbs sideways.

Gary UnMarried

Chad Says...Another funny comedy on CBS? I feel like we're in some sort of bizarro world where up is down and down is up. This show has got something. I laughed quite a few times at it and enjoy CBS's new way of advertising shows. Shows lots of commercials of their shows but not really making you want to watch them. Almost as if to say, "You might not like it but hey, give it a shot." Then you go in with little expectations and end up liking what you see. Nice work CBS.

The writing in this show is funny. We'll see what kind of storylines they can come up with before I'd say it's good but it's certainly funny. The kids were really good in this show too. A show about a divorced guy with two kids who is dating could be aweful if the kids can't hold their own. I laughed at most everything they said.

Jay Mohr. I like this guy. He hosted Last Comic Standing way back when you only knew who he was thru Jerry McGuire and he was really funny. He held his own actually doing standup and I was pretty impressed (can't say the same for Bill Belamy). And his timing and delivery in this show as really good. I have nothing negative to say about this show. Everything was really well done. I hope it makes it.

Chad's Review...I'm in. It's solid. Not crazy funny but neither was my favorite show 30 Rock in it's pilot and look how far it's come.

Chad's Prediction...much worse has lasted way too long on CBS. It's not edgy enough for the older CBS crowd to not watch. I think it'll make it a season.

TJ Says...This is a new Jay Mohr comedy on CBS. Going in I had VERY low expectations. Mainly because I heard an interview of him on The Ticket and he was just an ass. No other way to really say it. He wasn't funny and wanted big laughs and ended up big timing the hosts. But hey, it's a new sitcom, so I'll watch it.

Basically, it's a new spin on a family sitcom. I use the term "family" highly loosely. The basics are that Mohr is just divorced and is starting a new relationship, and has two tweenagers. His Ex wife ends up **SPOILER** being engaged to their marriage therapist (Ed Begley Jr., who I'm quite intrigued by due to his over the top greenness). That relationship causes comedy.

The show exceeded my low expectations. It's not Worst Week, but it's not bad. There were a bunch of one liners in the show that I laughed at. I'm not certain I'll make it must see, but I'll probably check it out again.

TJ's Review....Not Bad, Not Great. There's been worse on TV that's made it longer (See According to Jim).

TJ's Prediction...It won't last the season, but may be a fill in show down the line for other failed shows.

Worst Week

Chad Says...So I'm a funny guy, right? Well I tend to find myself in these situations where I too am convinced that I'm funny and just assume that everyone else will feel the same way when I unleash some golden comedy nuggets. So I'll say something funny and the recipient of my hilariousness isn't prepared for it and figures me for an idiot.

This show nails that among other things. Whoever this main guy is...I like him. He's so subtle with the comedy. Fantastically so. And the casting? Awesome. The dad, the mom - wonderful. I'm immediately in on this show. What's it about? It's the 22 minute version of Meet the Parents. That really uncomfortable situational funny...nailed it.

The only problem is that the stuff he gets himself into in this pilot episode may not be able to be topped. They were way over the top so my fear is that there may not be much further to take this show.

Chad's Review...I loved it. My expectations were so low for this show that I thought it was just an over-advertised bust. Wrong.

Chad's Prediction...it won't last a full season. Which will be a shame. Another great show stuck on CBS that no one will watch.

TJ Says...OK, this is a new CBS comedy on monday nights. The basic premise is a got it together dude, shacking up with his girlfriend for 2 years, has not yet earned the approval of her parents. In fact, they still refer to him as their daughter's "Friend". As he seeks to earn their approval, he keeps making horrendous mistakes, and hilarity ensues.

First of all, there is no laugh track, an instant bonus (although, "The Big Bang Theory" has a laugh track, and that show is gold). Secondly, TJ Can big time relate to trying to earn the inlaw stamp of approval. This is why I laughed at pretty much everything in the show. I really thought the lead dude was funny, and Red from "That 70's Show" is in this as the father in law, and he's got something too.

Cons. Of course they hit you with the every possible thing that could go wrong, does. That gets a little old, but the uncomfortableness it creates is well worth it. The show made me uncomfortable while being funny. I liked it.

TJ's Review...I Thought it was funny, not 30 Rock funny, but worth watching a sit com on a monday night funny. Give it a try, it's uncomfortable fun.

TJ's Prediction...It's going against Heroes and Dancing with the stars....so it's in a tough time slot. But I think it gets picked up for a full season, and then we'll see where it goes from there.

Fringe

Chad Says...I never watched X Files but have a feeling this is basically that show except it's just going to take every side of science that's unproven and use it as fact.

The show was good but not great by any means. Every other first episode of JJ Abrams show had me from the first episode (Alias, Lost) but this one just left me thinking, "yeah that was pretty cool".

I have a feeling it's just going to be a story that builds to a big event and either will or will not pay off. I'll watch the entire first season.

Chads Reveiw...very lukewarm. Something's going to need to happen that reels me in.

Chad's prediction...it'll make it a full season and people will get frustrated with it at someone point in the second season.

TJ Says...So this looks interesting with JJ Abrams writing/producing it. This show stars Pacey from Dawson's Creek (yeah, you watched it too) and that's the only person I recognized.

The show is basically a new FBI X Files without everything weird being caused by "aliens". There's a dude that's really creepy heading up the "joint task force" (By the way, is it really this easy to get JTF's now?...i guess it's all due to 9/11). There's the obligatory way too hot for the FBI chick that's semi-rogue and will do anything to figure out what's ailing her boyfriend (she seems awfully commited to a dude she just said "I love you" too). Anyways. There's several holes in the plot and a lot of leaps of faith in the technology department.

All that being said, It was a little slow and I was out...until the twist at the end. It sucked me in.

TJ's Review...I'll watch it again. Hopefully it speeds up.

TJ's Prediction...This will make it a full season.

Do Not Disturb

Chad Says...Sorry, I only made it 7 minutes and 44 seconds into this show before I turned it off. I couldn't take it anymore. It felt so fake and worked harder at trying to be cool looking than trying to be a TV show. I like Jerry O'Connell so it was a shame when I saw him. More people should have given the show Carpoolers a shot last season. One of the funnier comedies from last year but it didn't get picked back up.

Chad's review...i hated it. Didn't even make it to the second commercial break.

Chad's prediction...no more than 6 episodes. I hadn't seen any ads for this show. I doubt it's on anyone's radar.

TJ Says...This is a new Fox comedy featuring Jerry O'Connell. When did this guy become a comedian? He was the worst part of "Carpoolers" and yet, now he has another show? Come on people. What has this guy ever done? Besides John Stamos' highly sloppy seconds?

It's set in a hotel and follow around 4 or 5 hotel staff members and get hilarity. Pros: The guy from "The Class" that is now gay in this show, he's got something. The Bell Boy is also funny too. Cons: Everything else. Jerry O'Connell. Not Funny black lady. Laugh Track.

TJ's Review...Skip it. Watch Carpoolers on DVD and cry laugh at Marmaduke every week.

TJ's Prediction...6 shows max.

Death Race

Chad Says...I always get incredible joy out of any movie that meets my required ratio of explosions to scenes 50:1.

Seriously. You like action? You like speed? Done and done. Jason Statham is my new hero. I bet in real life if he walked into a room everyone would gasp and get real quiet. Then you'd turn around and look at him and you'd see doves flying behind him in slow motion.

Gritty. Fast-paced. Hot. Me likey. This was just a fun movie to watch. I didn't walk away feeling smarter. But I did walk away wanting to punch stuff. Mission accomplished Death Race. I salute you, sir.

Chad's Review...put that much action in a trailer and you can call it, "Sisterhood of the Traveling Ya-ya" and it get's not only a viewing but a thumbs up.

TJ Says...I saw the preview for this at Wanted and was immediately in. If I could have bought a ticket then and there, I would have. Then I was told that this was a remake of Sly Stallone's "Death Race 2000", and that it's a 70's cult classic. That took a little shine off the rose, but I was still in.

First, let me say, you don't go see this movie for it's great acting. Good thing too, because the acting was definately sub par. Tyrese Gibson needs to stick to looking good and get out of movies. He's got nothin.

With that being said, you go see this movie because of the action potential. This movie fulfilled that expecation to the max. It was awesome. It was 2 hours of high speed action with stuff and people gettin blown up. I was highly entertained and not bored at all. The lady from Bourne was great as the evil Biotch/prison warden. I wanted her dead immediately. Jason Statham is one bad mofo in any movie he's been in, and does a great job in this movie too.

TJ's Review...If you want to see stuff blow up, go see this movie now. Well worth the $10 spent. Also, go ahead and get your tickets for "The Transporter 3", it was previewed before Death Race, and it looks good. Although, does "The Transporter" need to be a trilogy? I guess so, since I'll see all 3 of em.

Tropic Thunder

Chad Says...Man - the first 45 min of this movie I was laughing my butt off. I was getting ready to put this movie into my top 5 comedy list. I still might. The middle of the movie levels out then it picks right back up at the end.

This movie reminded me of Three Amigos. Actors that get thrown into a real situation that they think is fake. That's a prescription for pure gold if you ask me. When they first get thrown into the real jungle and something (I won't spoil it for you) happens to the director I spewed coke all over the seat in front of me.

I loved Ben Stiller. I LOVED Robert Downey Jr. The guy that plays the explosives expert needs to be in all comedies from now on. He's awesome. Jack Black was very mediocre. The other guys were so great in this that he just played backup to them the entire time. Stiller tried to throw Matthew McConaughey a bone to prove he's not the douche everyone thinks he is but only confirmed the fact. Tom Cruise showing up in the movie was out of no where but a WONDERFUL surprise. The characters in this movie were brilliant. I can't wait to see this movie again.

The ending - yes I saw it coming from a mile away but I loved it anyway. It was a nice recall.

Chad's review: Must see. See it and love it. Embrace the genius of this movie. Now go read TJ's review and see what an idiot he is.

TJ Says...I didn't really know what to expect going in. I had heard overall good reviews and RDJ (Bob Downy Jr.) looked hilarious in the previews. Unfortunately, 90% of the funny was in the previews...

The bad: It started out very slowly. 20 minutes in, I've already looked at my watch 4 times, not good. Matthew McconauGAY is in the movie, life force drain. It was pretty slow, with a few funny moments. A lot of funny parts were in the previews.

The Good: RDJ (as mentioned above). Tom cruise is pretty funny and VERY over the top, which suits him to a tee. I cry laughed one time, and continued laughing about it hours later, when Jack Black was tied to the tree. G-O-L-D. The guy from pineapple express that was the dealer that got into a fight with seth rogan is in this movie. That guy is FUNNY.

TJ's Review: Not as good as Step Brothers, better than Pineapple Express. It's worth seeing at the theater, maybe at matinee prices though.

The Pineapple Express

Chad Says...Yeah I don't smoke weed. Never have. I also typically don't think drug humor is funny. So guys getting high and acting high doesn't make me laugh. So I hated the first 45 minutes of this movie. I was looking at my watch and considering leaving actually. But I knew some action was coming so I waited.

The action was enjoyable. There were parts where I laughed and then the action got boring. This is a terrible movie.

Two things that were good about this movie were the dude in the movie poster on the left. He's hilarious. More of him please. The other thing was the black dude in the movie - the guy that works in the warehouse in The Office TV show. He's great too. I you could edit out James Franco completely that would make this movie even better. He's officially dead to me. Anyone that can almost ruin Spiderman 3 should be punched out.

And Seth Rogan. Man. He's annoying. His laugh is horrible. He only does movies that involve him as a loser that smokes weed. Is that all he's got? Really?

Chad's review...If you smoke weed and think high people are funny this movie is right up your alley. So let me know if you see it and like it. I want to punch you in person.


TJ Says...I wasn't to hyped about this movie. It's seth rogan in the character he's done before, with a lot of dope and cussing. I don't do either, so I can't relate. But it looked kinda funny, so what the hay, I'll go see it.


To quote Seth "Weed makes movies better." If that's true, smoke about a pound of it before you go see this movie. It was TERRIBLE. It was funny in a few parts, but only chuckle funny. For the first half of the movie, i was COMPLETELY bored. The second half of the movie picked up a little, but still, not enough to save the movie.

The funniest character in the movie was the black guy from the office. And his funniest part was gettin his foot blown off.

TJ's Rating...Don't go see this movie. I can't even recommend a rental, and I will rent some REALLY REALLY BAD movies. Save your money.

Step Brothers

TJ Says...This is the new "no holds barred" Will Ferrell comedy. They went for the R rating and they succeeded. Before I went in, I had heard from another movie goer that this is nothing more than a "rental". After the first 5 minutes, I was thinking, this is already worth seeing it in the theaters, what was that guy talking about?

This movie was really really funny. Several scenes were re-lived on the way home with the guys I went with. That is the sign of a good comedy. I thought Will and John Reilly did a great job of acting like kids in 40 year old bodies. And the best part was that all the funny was not in the previews, there were several funny parts not seen yet.

A few knocks: it was a little drawn out, which is tough to do in 93 minutes, but they did it. Also, Judd Apatow must live in some world where people say the F Bomb every other word, because this movie was littered with a LOT of over cussing for no particular reason. And you can tell that Mrs. Ted Danson didn't believe it, as she was trying to supress laughter as she was dropping non-sensical MF, F, F, F. I'm sure Pineapple Express will have more of the same.

TJ's Review....This is a good comedy, I really enjoyed it and it's definately worth seeing in the movies. Just watch out for the overcusser.

Chad's Review...TJ is a jerk. He heard this movie was a rental thru me. I was standing in line and this redneck in front of me turns around and says, "Don't see Step-Brothers, ma-yun. It's a rental at beh-yest." Then I told TJ about it. Then after the credits were rolling I turned to TJ and said, "I'm going to find that redneck and punch him in the nuts."

Now that we have that settled. I laughed uncontrolably at times during this movie. In two particular scenes I couldn't quit laughing and when I'd think about what they just did I'd just cover my mouth to not start laughing again. They did such a great job of playing two idiots in this movie. And what a great team. Both guys were equally hilarious.

Usually when two people fight it's not that funny unless you think uncomfortable is funny (looking in TJ's direction) but they where so good at being mean it was great. Then when they started getting along it was awesome so it just got better.

But jeez. Anything Apatow is attached to is so stinking filthy-mouthed. I sound like my grandmother when I say that but seriously. F bombs and the use of the P-word for female genitalia blow up left and right. That makes me cringe. But that couldn't ruin this movie for me. It survived him trying to ruin it.

Chad's review...if you don't go see this we can't be friends anymore. See if you can pick out the two things I laughed so hard at I cried.

The Dark Knight

TJ Says...There was a lot of buildup for this movie. I'm pretty sure that any movie released between January and June 2008 had the exact same trailer for Batman showing. It got to be a huge whip. So I wasn't too excited. Then I starting hearing the reviews and the Heath Ledger greatness and, so my expectations we're raised...

To prep, I took in some of the old school batmans on TNT this week...the ones with Val and George. Those two movies were TERRIBLE. This new batman was not terrible. In fact it was really really good. The opening hiest scene was great, the villians were all good, and Christian Bale is a good Batman.

I thought the story was captivating, and Ledger did a great job as the Joker. There was plenty of unrealistic action and I really liked all the villans.

Things I didn't like...it seemed to drag on a little...but even more annoying, Christian Bale's voice as batman...BOO. I sounded like he had smoked 3 packs a day for 25 years. I mean...just cough to clear your throat dude.

TJ's Review. This is just a great overall movie. Not as good as Wanted, but definately worth seeing. And I may pay $11 more to see it on IMAX.

Chad Says...Batman's voice...that's funny. I thought the same thing but wouldn't have said anything b/c i forgot about it so when TJ brings it up it makes me laugh.

This was a really fantastic movie. Yes it was too long but normally when I see movies that are too long there are things I can point directly to that should be taken out. I think if you took anything out of this movie you're just dumb. So get past the fact that you'll be in the theater for a long time but rejoice in the fact that you're not seeing Gorillas in the Mist during that time. Oh also, Katie Holmes is replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal (hey Maggie and Jake - think about a new spelling for your last name) which was a blarringly annoying thing to me. Make her a different character. Seriously. That was dumb.

Now that's all the negatives about this movie. It was really, really good. The best movie I've seen all summer by far. Heath Ledger...wow. The Joker was so creepy and dark and brilliant. I look forward to seeing Ledger's future work...oh. But seriously. The last Batman movie, my favorite thing was Christian Bale as Batman. He's so overshadowed in this movie by Ledger it's not even funny. He'll win an Oscar for this role. Mark it down then come back here and be all, Chad was so right. Thanks.

Chad's Review...Yeah I'm definitely spending more money to see this in IMAX.

Factory

TJ Says...This is a new comedy on Spike. I saw a preview for the show and it was ok, until one guy was using a band saw, and not paying attention, cut something and blood flew everywhere. It made me laugh hard. So then I see it on TV late one friday, I'm in.

It's about 4 factory workers that are generically quirky. There's no laugh track (which is a bonus), and basically we just follow the hi-jinks of the 4 workers. The first episode I saw made me laugh hard about 5 times. I almost cry laughed 2-3 times. There's the odd outsider factory worker, that wants to be part of the group, but the group doesn't like him. That makes for comic genius.

TJ's Review...The show was a little slow at times, but made up for it in funny. I've added this to my DVR and will be watching all the new episodes as they come out. I recommend it.

Chad Says...Excuse me while I geek out for a second. But one of the dudes in the show - Dave Pasquesi is a Chicago improvisor. I once saw him do a 2 man fully improvised show with TJ Jagedowski (who is the passenger in the Sonic commercials that are a hoot) and it was completely amazing. [pushes up glasses, snorts then goes back to typing on keyboard]

This show is really funny. 4 deadbeat dudes all with great characters and each of them shine from episode to episode. Complete sophmoric humor done really really well. It's basically them playing grab-ass each week on the job at a precision tool factory - the absolute worst place to act that way. It all adds up to some very funny stuff.

Chad's Review...Granted I may be overrating this show b/c I love one dude in it but I REFUSE to miss this show each week.