Arrow: 1.05- “Damaged”

Even though ratings for last week were a little lower than they had been, there’s no need for alarm because this week ratings were back up, way up. As a matter of fact they matched the ratings from the premiere! Not only that but over on TVGuide.com, Arrow is #1 in their “popularity contest” of fall shows. I’ve said it before, it’s not going to be long before the CW announces a second season. If they continue to put forth episodes as good as last nights, then I think we are in for at least a couple of years of Arrow.  Sounds good to me!

Because there wasn’t a lot of time spent on the bad guy du’jour, it left a lot of time for them to work on advancing character storylines and just the story in general.  Arrow Damaged

Instead of immediately picking back up with Oliver getting arrested, the episode started off back on the island. Yao Fei strengthened his status as my “favorite person ever” when after he let Ollie shoot the bow for the first time he feels the need to tell him “You will die badly.” Seriously, where is the Yao Fei fanclub and how can I become it’s president? Because that shit right there is funny. Edward Fryers makes an appearance as the guy chasing after Yao Fei, who then tortures Ollie to get info. How on earth is this going to lead to Fryers and Oliver becoming friends and the introduction of Shado? How? I do not see it and that makes me sad. I mean, I figured they weren’t going to even touch the “I raped you while you were drugged, oh, and this is your kid” thing, but to not even have her in the show at all? Bummer.

Oliver Queen Laurel Lance Arrow Damaged

Okay, bone to pick. I can agree to ignore Laurel’s ridiculous multifaceted law career. I suppose in an alternate universe, a legal aid lawyer would have all the time in the world to take on clients that are arrested (with zero evidence I might add) and then brought to court in a matter of hours in between the her time spent on cases involving millionaires and death row residents. However, are we seriously supposed to believe that she did not even go to law school until after her sister died and her mom left? Seriously? That would mean that at best she’s been practicing law for about two years. At best! Well, let’s see; yacht goes down, let’s say that mom stuck around for only a couple of months afterwards before getting fed up with Detective Lance and hitting the road. It was then that Laurel decides to go to law school which I do believe is three years. So we’re looking at three and a half years of the time Oliver is gone. So Laurel has been a lawyer for less than two years and she is already taking on this huge workload. I’m calling bullshit. The least they could have done was said she had already been in law school when Oliver and Sara took off on their fateful three hour tour.

Moving on before I rupture a blood vessel over a TV show.

Arrow Damaged

IT’S DEATHSTROKE!!!!!!!!!

Yes, that was necessary. Deathstroke appeared for the first time ever in live action and that dude is frightening. Were I tied to a pole and that guy came at me with a knife? I’d be telling whoever was asking, every single thing I’d ever known, ever. Without the slightest hesitation.
What you should take away from this is, don’t rely on me to keep a secret under duress. Not going to happen.

Arrow DamagedThankfully Oliver (we are led to believe) is not so weak willed and dealt with the torture. For a show that is more entertainment than it is “high quality” there was a great set up in this episode between the interrogation on the island, complete with Deathstroke and his knife, and the interrogation back in Starling City with Detective Lance and his polygraph machine. Just goes to show that even though it isn’t Breaking Bad or Boardwalk Empire or shows of that caliber, they can still have nice moments like that. I hate when people start talking shit about a show like Arrow because it isn’t something that is Emmy worthy. Sometimes entertainment for entertainment’s sake is a welcome escape. Sakes alive this episode is getting my dander up.

Going out on a limb but I have this feeling that Deathstroke isn’t going to lose his eye to a gunshot from his wife, but rather there on the island. Why else would they have shown the mask with the arrow through it? So perhaps Yao Fei attempting to shoot him was a bit of foreshadowing. I’m a little bummed because it would have been cool to get into Deathstroke’s back-story with his wife and sons and everything. Oh well.

I’m choosing to ignore the fact that Oliver once again referred to Thea as Speedy. Why would they do that to me? Why not just have Diggle be Speedy? Come on. At least Thea is getting more tolerable in recent episodes, girlfriend was obnoxious as hell when they first started. However I did enjoy the conversation between Oliver and Thea when she thought that because he brought her an arrowhead that meant he was Arrow. He ruses that it’s a good thing he didn’t get the panda shotglass because then he’d be “Pandaman”. I immediately thought of how awesome it would be if someone made a show based on World of Warcraft. I’d watch that all day long. If anyone was wanting to send me a gift you can go ahead and get me that Chen Stormstout action figure. I’m sure if you put “Amanda Denton, Georgia” the post office will get it to me without a problem. Thank you.

Another thing I’d love to open my mailbox and find one day is John Barrowman. I’m not sure how much it would cost to ship him but I’m pretty sure I’d be willing to pay it. That man is incredible. I’m really enjoying how they aren’t coming right out and telling us who he is. We get that he is obviously a bad guy, what with trying to have Oliver killed and then successfully offing the poor security guy Josiah, but outside of that, not much is known. Now we also know that Moria is working for him and not with him like the first couple of episodes led us to believe. Of course that whole killing people thing makes me want to know what is on that boat even more. Intrigue!Arrow Damaged

Speaking of the boat, poor Walter. When the show first started I really thought he was going to be a bad guy. Don’t know why, just a feeling I had. Seeing his face when he was walking out was just heartbreaking. Granted I’ve never been in the “my wife is lying to me about why she took millions of dollars to get a warehouse to store the wreckage of the yacht her late husband died on and she won’t tell me why” type of situation so I can’t imagine how difficult it is but I really want him and Moira to just kiss and make up. Now that Moira has gone into Momma Bear overdrive, paper cuts be damned, I’m really enjoying her character. I especially liked her and Walter together. It’ll be interesting to see how she reacts to his leaving. Ooooh, what is she going to tell the kids? Can’t very well come out and tell the truth now can she?

When it comes to telling the truth, I guess I’ll have to admit I thought Oliver was an idiot for coming clean to Diggle so soon. He could surely keep up the ruse for at least another month or so, if for no other reason than to watch Diggle get aggravated each time Ollie ditched him. Thanks to this episode, I can now say that I should not have doubted ol’ Oliver because the man has a plan.

Arrow Damaged

A good plan at that! Having Diggle as a co-Arrow really could help keep the spotlight off of both of them. That spotlight being the previously mentioned Detective Lance. Of course, one has to wonder how long Diggle is going to keep it from his sister-in-law. She is going to blow a gasket, and I would really enjoy watching that.

I didn’t enjoy watching Laurel and Oliver kiss mainly because Laurel irks me but that scene was awesome for one reason and one reason only; Laurel mentions fishnets. If you had listened closely on Wednesday night you could have heard everyone who knows about Black Canary squeal in delight. I was one of those squealing while my husband sat next to me thinking I’d sat on a pinecone or something. Highlight of the episode right there.

Arrow Damaged

Another cool part of that scene was the number of Ollie’s “prison uniform” costume. It’s actually the hex code for green. I love it when they put little things like that into shows. I looked up Ollie’s mugshot number as well but all I can decipher is that perhaps the writers are big fans of Gloria Allred as she was born on July 3rd, 1941. I think that would qualify as one of the most random references ever so it probably wasn’t that.

Arrow Damaged

My last thought on this episode is that isn’t all we’ll see of Kate Spencer. I mean surely they have more in store for her so maybe this was just a “I wonder if anyone will notice if we introduce Kate Spencer on the down low and then we’ll come back to her at a later date as Manhunter and everyone will be like “hey isn’t that the ADA that was prosecuting Oliver back in the fifth episode” and we’ll just sit back and laugh because, yea, it is.” type of situation. That’s what I tell myself so I can sleep well at night at least.

Overall, fantastic episode. Loved it. I personally don’t want to see Laurel and Oliver together but I realize it’s going to happen so I just have to get over it. The scene with Barrowman was awesome and prompted so many more questions than it provided answers and of course DEATHSTROKE!!! was amazing. From start to finish, a strong episode.

The only shirtlessness involved Laurel but we have this to look forward to next week, November 17th, in an episode titled, “Legacies”.

Arrow Damaged

Not only that but we’ll get to see Arrow’s take on the Royal Flush Gang, exciting!

Until next time!

First Official World War Z Trailer

Well, it happened.  It’s finally here.  Our beloved Max Brooks, author of best selling classics The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z has been adapted to film. The first official trailer for World War Z starring Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos was released today, and it is nothing short of intense.  I have never seen so many bodies stacked on top of each other before.  The trailer gave us some truly stunning visuals of panic that I’ve never imagined. Due out next summer, will it be in time or will the zombie craze have starved itself by then?  My projection is that it will be a delicious treat.

I loved seeing the first trailer of a zombie inspired film without having truly received a great image of the antagonist.  I compare it to the build up of when Jaws finally pops out of the water.  Considering this is the first trailer and the film isn’t due out until next summer, this was a great reveal.  We have been enticed, but there is still much awaiting the audience.

There are two different types of zombies as I classify them.  There is the Romero, and the Boyle.  The Romero is slow moving with poor motor skills and possesses its greatest strength only when accompanied by numbers.  Then there is the Boyle, an energized take on the classic zombie that appears to be fueled by the crazed fires of hell.  We’ve seen this type represented as the newer generation in such modern classics as the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, and the 28 Days/Weeks Later series.

It appears World War Z is utilizing the latter to create a truly action packed, ride of suspense and excitement.  I feel it’s a good direction when all things considered, the zombie genre has been beat to death in the past ten years.  This trailer presents the sheer panic of numbers with the intense violence of the Boyle zombie.

When considering if the film is landing too late, I would have to say no.  For one, its got Brad Pitt.  Two, its got Brad Pitt.  And three, there are lunatic fanatics such as myself that would even sit through trash like Survival of the Dead because it has Romero’s name on it.  Zombie flicks are like the Field of Dreams.  “If you build it, they will come.”  So far, I can’t tell how closely the film adaptation will follow the literary excellence of Brooks, but that can only be concluded upon actually seeing it.  What I can guarantee is that Brooks is a great place to start when it comes to great zombie story telling.

Plans For ‘Casablanca’ Sequel

When reading about the possibility of a Casablanca sequel on Huffington Post, I could not stop shaking my head. I thought this must be some sort of joke, and there is no way this will happen. Well, my friends, it is true. A sequel to one of the greatest films of all time has already been written… the strange part is by whom. Howard Koch, one of the co-writers of the original Casablanca script, wrote Return to Casablanca in 1980, about 40 years after the original was released. Cass Warner, who is part of the WB family, discovered this script and intends to have it made into a film.

Another concern I have is who would play Rick and Ilsa? Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman both passed away quite some time ago and I cannot think of a single actor or actress who could bring these two characters to life again. While Cass Warner searches for a filmmaker for this sequel that was turned down by WB a year and a half ago, I deem it already doomed. Casablanca is one of the most beloved films of all time. Several other films, TV shows and music artists have paid homage to the classic, verifying its huge impact on the world. From time to time, you’ll notice your friends quoting Casablanca. I cannot imagine that the sequel will have nearly as much impact. Generally, sequels are not nearly as good as the original. And with such a classic as Casablanca, WB would need one hell of a script.

Stallone Confirms Nicolas Cage Is In ‘Expendables 3’

I have a shameful confession to make. I have not seen The Expendables 1 or 2. It’s unforgivable, I know. As much as I love ’80s actions movies and the stars in them, I just haven’t gotten around to seeing either film. More accurately, I haven’t gotten around to seeing the first one, and my nerd-completion neuroses have kept me from seeing the second without seeing the first. Fortunately, I’m fairly positive they’re exactly the kind of movie that is made for me. I’m a big fan of all the greats of ’80s action cinema; Commando, Universal Soldier, Cobra, First Blood, Roadhouse. All classics.

What with The Expendables 2 making a buttload of money at the box office, they’ve essentially given the green light for Expendables 3, which leads to speculation of just who will be joining the cast for the third movie. Well, it looks like Sly himself is letting us know at least one. [CMP]

It looks like his abs are melting.

 

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“We are preparing the film with the same passion and commitment as the previous two. We have confirmed Nicolas Cage, a master actor who gives a veneer intellectual group. Hopefully we can realize to Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes and Mickey Rourke. That is the great mission of the producer. We will continue with the same narrative scheme, the agility and the frenzy, which are inherent to the saga. What will definitely be the last? I can not guarantee. In principle it would be two deliveries, but the affection of the people encouraged us to work on a third. I guess as long as we amused ourselves by offering fun and people, we can continue playing ‘The Expendables’. For now we are not as expendable as it should and as some critics want.”

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Sly’s weird grammar aside, that sounds pretty awesome, because I’m a huge fan of Nicolas Cage. I know most aren’t, (people liking what I hate, and vice versa, is a running theme in my life it seems), but I sure do love the guy.  I see a self-referential, hilarious, capable actor with range and no sense of pretension whatsoever, where most see a washed up overacting blowhard. To me he’s the kind of guy who is challenged by every kind of role imaginable, especially genre roles. Rather than settle into being typecast, he’s consistently defied everyone’s expectations with a range of movies unlike any other actor. He’s the kind of actor who also understands his audience, knows what they expect of him, and plays into those expectations by either subverting them, or parodying them. He’s the ultimate mega-actor, trolling all of us and having a damn fun time doing it.

Say what you will about Cage, but every single movie he’s in is at least entertaining, if still awful. Those National Treasure movies are terrible, but man do I find them watchable. The same can’t be said for other actors who may have lots of prestige, but consistently star in boring, pretentious snoozefests. Meryl Streep is a great example I can immediately think of.

I guess it’s about time I catch up and watch these movies soon, because I’ve yet to miss a single Nicolas Cage movie in theaters since Matchstick Men, and I don’t wanna break the streak just yet.

http://youtu.be/xP1-oquwoL8