Traveller519

Watching the Trailer again. I wish Charlize was tapping into a South African accent she probably has buried away somewhere. It would really add to the International-ness of the whole thing.

I couldn't comment on the article on the front page, about the Duck Tales Reboot cast singing the Theme Song, so I'll comment here. It includes both Bobby and Beck, and Beck appears a little "under the influence" in the video. http://previously.tv/ducktales-2017/watch-the-cast-of-next-years-ducktales-reboot-sing-its-theme-song/

Some good Jess moments for sure. When she tells the hamster to stop running in his wheel, and he does, "Wait does that work?" I don't know why we were lead to believe that Nick was in the wrong in his and Jess's interaction though. She has been jerking him around in his own interactions, and insisting that he not make the effort to go see his girlfriend without providing a good reason why would be intolerable to many people. I do get that he would feel like an ass after Jess made the reveal, but in my opinion she backed him into a corner with her insistence on trying to keep him from leaving without telling him why.

I'm a Mary-Lynn Rajskub fan (a Rice-Cub? We saw her one-woman show at Edinburgh Fringe this summer), so I was happy to see her back on the show. Charles met her in court last season when she was being accused of stealing art from her ex-boyfriend, and Charles set out to prove that wasn't the case.

Beth Behrs continues to be up for anything, and is really the heart of the show at this point. I've always liked Kat Denning's, but her role has basically been reduced to "stand and smirk," at least the Randy stuff has given her a bit of a range of emotions. As much as I detest nearly anything Sophie, the Manny on Horseback was a solid visual gag.

I'm wondering if we're being set up for Tandy and Carol to be alone together again. Lewis is setting himself up to leave, and Erica looks primed to head with him. Gail could be gone, and who knows what Melissa and Todd will try to do, maybe live our their last days in Zihuatanejo.

But they weren't appointed to the position of Governor is their respective states, or President in Bush 43's case, they still had to be elected. They absolutely traded on their family name. The positions they were appointed to were campaign roles on Bush senior's campaigns, which is standard practice for just about anyone running a campaign with adult children. Runningwild's point is that it's not a big role of nepotism the way someone like Donald Trump is has run his business. After last week's excellent Bow-centered episode this one felt like a let down. The return to petty Dre in the central role just served to remind us how good it can be when they use him as comic relief to the Bow plot.

Poor Winston when Schmidt referred to Robbie as his second best friend. I love the little sly humor like that. I roll my eyes at 3 minutes of disgusting wine jokes, that were perfectly served by Robbie's. "That's warm" when Stavros gave him the bottle.

"They're all wearing the same uniforms! I can't tell who's on what team!"

I was thinking it was going to be Melissa in the Dinosaur costume when it first appeared, but Tandy running it was great. Gail has to be getting close to self medicating herself into one last sleep.

I feel like the show has been landing great episodes for the past couple weeks. Mike Schur is the king of network comedies for me right now. I'd love to see him get some Emmy recognition for either B99 or the Good Place this year, as they've been my two most reliable network sitcoms. The earpiece scene was fantastic editing and execution. I also liked how they rushed the crime fighting to get to the payoff with the press conference. I also don't believe Gina foresaw how Terry would "solve" the problem, just that she knew he would eventually.

Okay, After dipping my toe in last weekend. I got through the majority of the films this weekend. Note, I only did rewatches.... nothing I hadn't previously seen. I've identified the main setting location(s) for each film, since they play a large part of the scene in Grisham's works and have put the director in italics. The Rainmaker (1997); Memphis - As I said in my initial post this film emerged as probably the best of the bunch and is based on my favourite of the novels. The plot is a bit more grounded and the story is really driven by the characters. The power cast here (Matt Damon, Danny Devito, Jon Voight, Claire Danes, Danny Glover, Mickey Rouke [during that elusive period between Barfly and Sin City], Mary Kay Place, and Viginia Madsen) ground all their characters as believable people. This was also when Grisham seemed to finish his novels with a joyful climax followed by the sad fall-out, which played well. The "jury tampering" scene was probably my favourite of the film. Francis Ford Coppola was an interesting choice to direct an adaptation of a pulpy writer for a film set in the south, but it was great. I never quite liked how the movie started about a third of the way through the book, but I get it in a film that's already around 2.5 hours. The Client (1994); Memphis, New Orleans - A great Susan Sarandon vehicle. I think if you set this up against Erin Brokovich, this is the more entertaining tough as nails female lead legal drama. Of course, it's pure fiction, so take that for what it is. The plot is very caper-ish, and a bit ludicrous, but it's sure entertaining. The nail the characters from the book in my opinion, especially Mark. Again, another cast of heavyweights (Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, Mary-Louise Parker, Anthony Lapaglia [enjoying the hell out of himself], Anthony Edwards, Bradley Whitford, William H. Macy, Will Patton, Kim Coates, and JT Walsh). It's always fun seeing Tommy Lee Jones mix some comedy into his performances, and you felt the character here. Joel Schumacher's first of two Grisham adaptations and before he became most famous for the Batman films he directed. The Firm (1993); Memphis - So. much. Cruise. running... in a legal thriller. Some major deviations from the book, but definitely a thrilling plot. They had to give Hal Holbrook a dastardly mustache, and he still comes off as an grandfather you can count on. He's not evil, just...disappointed. In fact everyone does a good job of humanizing what could have easily been evil caricatures. Gene Hackman's Avery is a bit of a dick, but he's also playing that guy that you know in every office. Brimley even makes you feel like he's on your side during the drive out to the country. Holly Hunter is the obvious scene thief here, but David Strathairn, Gary Busey (sigh), Jerry Weintraub, Steven Hill, and Paul Sorvino and Joe Viterelli all make their cases too. Seeing cue-ball Ed Harris get screwed over is an enjoyable little benefit as the plan unravels, as in Jeannine Triplehorn's girl power undercover work. The Cayman Island shots are beautiful, great work by Sydney Pollack, though I would have liked to have seen Mitch and Abby join Ray in sailing away like in the book. A Time to Kill (1996); Rural Mississippi - I only saw this one for the first time recently. It's Schumacher's other Grisham adaptation. In light of many good Southern race relation movies that have come since, it feels a little melodramatic now, but that opening scene still is enough to shake you to your core. McConaughey's first true leading performance is pretty well done, even if it's a bit convenient throughout. He's an easy guy to root for, and you feel his odds. When mid-90s Kevin Spacey is your fourth lead, you know you've got a solid cast (rounded out with Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock, Donald Sutherland, Keifer Sutherland, Ashley Judd, and some blink and you'll miss it scenes from Octavia Spencer). Not to mention KKK leader Red Foreman was a sight to behold. I felt the relief that all the characters emote at the end of the movie. The Pelican Brief (1993); New Orleans, Washington - I mention The Client vs. Erin Brokovich above. This film feels a bit like Julia Roberts' audition for her Oscar winning role. The drama never quite catches here, and in a film with Roberts and Denzel Washington evading Stanley Tucci playing a world-class assassin, that's a shame. I feel like John Lithgow was the most memorable performance for me, but I also feel that way about a lot of his performances. The mystery doesn't unravel quite as well as it does in the book, despite some good performances from the leads. I feel like that's on Alan Pakula, who's best days were behind him at this point. It's definitely not "All the President's Men." The Supporting Cast also isn't the strongest in the series, but Sam Shepherd and Cynthia Nixon are fun side characters in Darby Shaw's life. [The] Runaway Jury (2003); New Orleans - I loved this book, it was probably close to my second favourite after The Rainmaker, as I really enjoyed how it focused on the courtroom drama, and the manipulation and fall out is fun. Thus, the movie was a big letdown to me. "The Insider," coming out a couple years earlier obviously scared the producers off doing a tobacco litigation legal drama and it looked like they decided the ride the press of "Bowling for Columbine" with the gun angle, which required a lot of manipulation of the plot. The performances are great, Hackman and Hoffman in the bathroom is a showdown between two heavyweights, but the movie really plays as a race to the finish. It's got a secret reveal it's so eager to let you in on the reset of the plot can't really breathe, which is a shame with another incredible cast (Hackman and Hoffman are joined by John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Jeremy Piven, Bruce Davison, Bruce MacNeil [the exotic double Bruce "that guy!" pair up!], Jenn Beals, Bill Nunn, Nora Dunn, Orlando Jones, Dylan McDermot and a personal underrated favourite in Leland Orser). This was a studio film that was obviously produced top down. I think looking at the rest of Gary Felder's resume would support that. Christmas with the Kranks (2004) [Skipping Christmas]; Chicagoland - I didn't read the book caveat, and not technically a legal thriller, but there's two things Tim Allen was put on this planet to do. Play a Dad on ABC, and make simple enjoyable Christmas movies. It works in what it is. It's not a classic, but it's some silly fun. Jamie Lee Curtis is adorable and again a pretty kick ass supporting cast helps (Felicity Huffman, Dan Ackroyd, Cheech Marin, Caroline Rhea, that young kid from Malcom in the Middle, and Emmet Walsh who Allen played off for years on Home Improvement). The Chamber (1996); Jackson and rural Mississippi - Grisham sold the rights to this one before he finished the book, and the book and movie both show it. Everyone involved seems to have a story about what a terrible process it was and how bad the final result turned out. Hackman, a Grisham adapation regular it seems, plays his role well, but unlike the other movies, the only notable part of the supporting cast here (besides Faye Dunway's third lead) is Bo Jackson... Chris O'Donnell is very much mid nineties Chris O'Donnell. Unlike "Glengarry Glen Ross," James Foley can't let his actors carry this picture. Not watched A Painted House (2003) [CBS Television Movie] The Gingerbread Man (1998) [Based off never published manuscript.

Indeed, Lainey is played by AJ Michalka. Aly's been over on iZombie

Good use of interweaving the plots in this one, especially with the dinner that tied everything together.

I'm sure it did, after the Apple Ad episode from a couple seasons back. But I don't mind product placement like that when it fits seamlessly. Ford's product placement on New Girls was tough to stomach.

I'll go ahead and declare that for me, this was the best Modern Family episode in Years. Nobody was over the top (Jay probably came the closest), Mitchell's detective reveal was excellent, and then one-upped by The Alliance's "Inception" reveal, and there were some good laughs. And the best part is they did all of this while relying on how they've built their characters so far. Hayley's interactions with Rainer's daughter would have just been juxtaposition for juxtaposition's sake 3 or 4 seasons back. But she's built up her maturity now, and her feelings of being the outsider of what's popular, and putting her foot down were great. Alex, Luke, and Manny all supported other plots effectively through their own on-character actions. And the fact that The Alliance is even necessary makes sense because we know the Pritchetts. The only thing that didn't work for me, was Jay's take on the smoking ban. It was literally just the last episode where we saw him break his cigar when Joe climbed on his lap. It made me wonder if the episodes were aired out of order. Maybe one of the debates messed up their scheduling. Well done cast and crew. I really enjoyed this one.

Yes! Yes! Yes! This episode was firing on all cylinders. I don't recall them using Bow for narration before (I only really started watching in Season 2), but that worked so well. It let Dre play more comic relief than lead and that gave us some of the best moments. His interactions with Bow and everything that happened at the office. I was laughing out loud throughout that. Ruby and Johan had some great interaction too, and filtering it all through Bow was excellent. Even the tiny subplot worked well. I also learned some things from this episode with Bow's history mixed-race people in America. I only found out a couple years ago that Mulato was considered an offensive term, but I didn't understand why. It sounded like a Starbucks drink with milk in it, which kind of worked. Needless to say, I appreciate when the show teaches me some things. Let's get more other character narration episodes!

I was not actually expecting the parents to be on board for her speech. So kudos to that. I enjoyed the way they intertwined the Jess and Winston plots. And it was a Jess plot I didn't actually dislike. I side with Nick. I'd much rather get you something unique for your wedding than something of a gift registry. Though I know why they exist.

Fun light episode! It's great how they are letting the characters breathe. I was down on Amy last season, it seemed like we were getting dangerously close to her neurosis and ass-kissing being the only things that defined her outside of her relationship with Jake. While that's all still present, she's much more rounded. Even just the standing up for herself with her Dad and Jake last week, or her siding with Kevin over Holt help a lot. Jake is growing too, and while his man-child ways will never truly disappear he acts with so much more maturity and empathy now.

My 90s Movie channel did a Grisham Marathon this week with A Time to Kill, The Client, the Firm, and The Rainmaker. I loved Grisham's books in the 90s as a teenager discovering longer novels. They romanticized being a lawyer enough that it was what I thought I was going to grow up to be through most of middle school. I know I had watched the movies after I read the books (never before), but certainly hadn't gone back and watched them in a long while. Rewatching them this weekend was incredibly enjoyable. I couldn't get over how talented so many of the casts were, with now incredibly recognizable faces way down the credits. Octavia Spencer has maybe 2 lines in A Time to Kill, Cynthia Nixon didn't have much more in the Pelican Brief, a young and very thin Bradley Whitford is hanging around, and I'm pretty sure if you wanted to remake the Firm today you would need a budget of $90 million just for salaries (Cruise, Triplehorn, Hackman, Harris, Straitharn, Martindale, Holbrook, Brimley) The Rainmaker was my favourite of the novels, and in retrospect it's probably the best movie letting the characters do as much work as the plot. And also follows one of the more grounded plots. Plus it's got Francis Ford Coppola's noir-ish touch. These movies were all quintessentially 90s, and pretty good rewatches. The score for the Firm is pretty funny as it's trying to capture the tone and beat of a Beverly Hills Cop or Fletch caper score, without the 80s-ness of doing it exclusively on a synthesizer.

I've never been big on Selena and Bruce's scenes together. There's just not enough talent between the young actors to carry a scene. I have thought they both work well with the adults though, especially Jim. However, that scene with them on the rooftop, and then the caper may have warmed some sub-cockles of my heart. Even if the kiss felt off, they played well off one another. And Alfred's lecture to Selena as she left Wayne Manor was good too. Barbra playing everyone is fantastic. She, Ed, and Oswald have been the standouts on the show for me. I'm excited to see what more they can achieve working one another. I'm imagining a very convoluted crime triangle.

I said it last year, but I'm not 100% sure that's not Just James Brolin's Mai Tai that he walks onto set with.

Hopefully Jake didn't go to heavy on the Thanksgiving Dinner, cause I bet Amy was incredibly turned on by all that Binder work.

"Kevin's parents have never liked me, but that's because they're terrible homophobes who think I made him gay with my magic genetalia." "You do know we're not going to the Carribean" "I did not" And then breaking the bottle in the bar, and leading the charge for the Wire Fox Terrier. And that doesn't even include the Cold Open. What a show for Holt.

Given John's put down of just about every form of food on his show, I wasn't surprised to see he only had coffee and no food, that we saw. I imagine John's diet consists of coffee and a bowl of porridge once a day for sustenance.