All posts by Amanda Broyles

Amanda is amazing. Amanda is spectacular. Amanda is humble. Amanda is also a full time college student so take pity on her and don't complain when her TV reviews aren't up immediately following an episode.

Arrow, 1:11 – “Trust But Verify”

January 26, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

Yao Fei why have you betrayed me?!?!?!

Sorry I just had to get that out-of-the-way.

After last week’s lackluster episode, Arrow came back this week quite strongly and had a little bit for everyone in ‘Trust But Verify’.

So Oliver is back in the swing of things, working out as usual, and keeping his eye on the news. This time a rash of armored car heists catches his eye and shock of all shocks, there is a connection to his list! Diggle and Ollie have always had their little love spats but I really thought this one was going to put them over the edge. What I liked about this episode was the fact this back and forth between Diggle and Oliver[pullquote_right]I won’t let you William Tell an innocent man. -Diggle[/pullquote_right]needed to happen. Seriously Diggle is a saint for putting up with Ollie’s somewhat premenstrual mood swings not to mention the fact that he has gone into this whole superhero-but-not thing with little to no information and does Oliver appreciate that? Up until this week, it didn’t really seem like it. Thankfully they had the Blackhawk Protection Group and Ted Gaynor to bring them together. Oh and if this episode did nothing else, it provided more great one-liners to the show’s repertoire and finally someone (Diggle) named the lair, “Arrow Cave”! It’s about time, only took 11 episodes which means we’ll finally get a real name for the vigilante in about episode 23.

There was a lot going on with the rest of the friends and family, mostly temperamental brooding. Tommy I can understand as Malcolm does seem to be quite an ass using a “family” dinner with the girlfriend to hide his real intention of getting Tommy to sign off on the closing of his dead mom’s clinic. Of course we do find out that it appears as if Malcolm really does miss his wife and isn’t the heartless bastard we once thought but still, that was low. So yes, I think we can go ahead and forgive Tommy for his brooding.

However, Thea? Someone either needs to kick some sense into her ass or just find her a therapist because sweet heavens above, she is messed up and not in that “oh this psychosis is cute” kind of way. She is reaching Dana from Homeland levels of ridiculousness when it comes to her mom. Granted a person’s first thought wouldn’t go to nefarious mystery kidnappings and boat sinking activities but a person can’t even talk to another without it being an affair? Come on Thea. Not only that but she is suffering badly from “I’m 18 and therefore know everything” disease. Sadly it will be at least another three or four years until she realizes she was completely wrong about everything. I don’t know if I can deal with her ridiculousness for that long. So much for the producers promising Thea would be less annoying this half of the season. Not even a car accident can make her less obnoxious. LIES!

As for lies, whoa Malcolm and Moira. I don’t even know what is going on with you two but it seems shady. And dangerous. And scary. What is Malcolm doing to Walter? Does he have him held hostage in some jail cell somewhere without access to a decent razor? Poor man was looking quite ragged. Of course no matter how smarmy Malcolm is, I can’t help but be intrigued by him. Why was his wife killed? Why is he such an ass to his son? Why did he become the Dark Archer? What are his life’s goal and aspirations? Why is he so good-looking? These are important questions that will hopefully be addressed soon.

Easily the most underrated person on the show? Felicity Smoak!

She’s still hunkered down in her dark office (seriously it’s not good for the eyes to stare at a computer that long in the dark) thinking the Queen family is done with her services. But no! Here comes Oliver with a security fob that was obviously part of a search for a box of wine… or armored car heists, close enough. Of course it takes Felicity no time because she’s an intellectual badass. Unfortunately she’s an intellectual badass with no bottle of wine. Poor Felicity.

Which brings me to the most distressing part of this week’s episode. I am hurt and betrayed. As founding member and president of the Yao Fei fan club, I was blind to the inevitable and just went about my days believing that everything with Yao Fei and the island and Edward Fryers and Deathstroke was all hunky-dory when, as we all know now, it was not. As it turns out, Fei is working with Fryers and set up Oliver in a somewhat elaborate and seemingly unnecessary trap. If Fei was working with Fryers from the beginning, why didn’t he just bring Oliver to him when he found him? What was the purpose of “rescuing” him and teaching him cute little lessons all this time? Do we have a Most Dangerous Game situation on our hands? All I know is the fan club is over. Okay, maybe not completely over but at the very last disbanded until we have further information. For now, I’m with Oliver, I’m going to find it difficult to trust anyone. Damn you Yao Fei!

Overall, this was a great episode. Like I said earlier, had something for everyone. Going to have to go ahead and give this one a four out of five.

This episode nicely set up next week where we get to meet Starling City’s version of Count Vertigo- until then Arrow fans!

Arrow: Meet Mrs. Lance – Alex Kingston Comes to Starling City

January 23, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

Excuse me as I need a moment. Arrow is back from hiatus and with that comes more casting news. Today’s news is of a more than likely small character, but not a small name actress by any stretch of the imagination.

It appears as if we will get to meet Detective Lance’s wife and she will be played by none other than Alex Kingston. If you keep up with geek TV at all you know this name as it is none other than the actress who plays River Song from Doctor Who.

Continue reading Arrow: Meet Mrs. Lance – Alex Kingston Comes to Starling City →

SNL: 38.10 – Jennifer Lawrence & The Lumineers

January 21, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

I’ve mentioned it before, but I look forward to shows after long breaks because they usually are of better quality than those towards the end of a long stretch. Sadly, this week was not one of those shows. It was alright, but not much to write home about.

They started off strong with the cold open, of course anyone who has kept up with the news this past week knew exactly who was going to make an appearance. I loved Bobby Moynihan as Manti Te’o as he nailed Te’o’s constant deer in the headlights look. I was also quite delighted to see Kate McKinnon again (she’s been absent for a while which is odd seeing how omnipresent she was at the beginning of the season) as Jodie Foster.

McKinnon does a fabulous Jodie Foster! Of course one does have to contemplate the stability of the cosmos when you have one SNL actor impersonating an actor, who was impersonating a character done by another SNL actor.

Jennifer Lawrence’s monologue was boring. No two ways about it. The smack talking of other Oscar nominees was amusing to a point but overall, blah. When the funniest part of your monologue is someone else (Bill Hader as Tommy Lee Jones), then something went wrong.

http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/xnxx-92/widget/widget.html?vid=1428979

They did gain some ground with the fauxmercial for Starbuck’s home brewer, the Verismo. Besides being funny on its own, if not slightly racist, it made me realize that I like Vanessa Bayer a thousand times more when she is playing the straight man. Her reaction to the sass talking coffee maker and it’s even sassier manager was hysterical.

I really want to like the Girlfriends Talk Show sketch. I really really really do. Unfortunately I really really really don’t. It’s just boring. However, I will say that I am actively trying to find a way to make myself a “Davide R.I.P.” button because that was by far the funniest part of the sketch. That or the “slimming outer garment”. Other than those two parts (thank you Aidy Bryant) it just falls flat.

Much like when Jeremy Renner was hosting and they did the Avengers sketch, you knew there was going to be a Hunger Games sketch this week. Unfortunately just like the Avengers sketch, it left us a little wanting. There were some definite funny moments, Bill Hader’s beard for sure, and Bobby Moynihan not realizing everyone else was dead, and of course Taran Killam as Peeta, but overall it was just there.

However, the Hobbit as 32 movies bit? That was awesome. Between the titles of the movies and the “reviews”, I was dying. Thank the gods above that it was funny because the “Johnny TwoTones Diner” sketch? It was anything but. I liked the premise, and there were certain moments that were funny, but if there wasn’t a “Girlfriends Talk Show” this would have been the worst sketch of the night.

The Lumineers were refreshingly good. There was no trippy windows 98 screen saver or useless and extraneous dancers involved which was really nice. I’d forgotten what it was like to just watch people sing. Of course they went with the ubiquitous “Ho Hey” for their first offering. Is there anyone on the planet that hasn’t heard at least a snippet of this song by now? Because it seems like it is everywhere- commercials, TV promos, movie trailers. “I belong to you, you belong to me, you’re my sweetheart” is heard every time I turn on my television. Thankfully it’s not too annoying. Yet.

Weekend Update sadly only had one guest and it was the second-hand news guy, Anthony Crispino. I like him only because you can tell how much fun Seth Meyers and Bobby Moynihan have with him. Although I did literally laugh out loud when he said that Fargo, directed by the Aflac duck won a Golden Globe.

Something odd has happened with the last few episodes. For years, and perhaps decades, the sketches following Weekend Update are the ones where you start to wonder what on earth is wrong with the writers of SNL. Were they dropped on their heads too often as infants? Licked lead paint as small children? Smoked too much pot? The questions were endless. However, recently these have been my favorite sketches. I don’t know if it’s me or them, but I like it.

“Top Dog Chef” for example? There is no reason in the world as to why I found that to be so hysterical. Actually I should have thought it was stupid but much like “Maine Justice”, it was fabulous. Of all the random things on the show, I would not have guessed that a Yorkie costume would be the one to end up reused (Daniel Radcliffe was a Yorkie on Weekend Update January of last year). Jennifer Lawrence made a great Yorkie but I think we can all agree that Fred Armisen as the canine Mario Barktali complete with orange crocs was the crowning achievement in that sketch.

The best sketch of the night though? The Minnesota hip-hop morning show. I don’t know if it’s just the combination of Billy and Taran with Vanessa as the straight man, Then add in Jennifer Lawrence as the not so Lyrical Assassin, Busty Rhymes and it was just awesome. A great sketch!

If you haven’t had the pleasure, nay, the honor of seeing the incredible 1974 French soft porn classic, Emmanuelle then the Danielle sketch might have just seemed really odd and from left field. If you have seen Emmanuelle then you know how spot on this sketch was. It was sort of creepy in an incredibly brilliant kind of way.

Last sketch of the night was “Civil War Letters” and was a typical last sketch of the night. Little stupid, a lot ridiculous, and somewhat funny. It was nice to see Tim Robinson again as he’s been relegated to background extra for many weeks now. If the sketch did nothing else, it made us question whether or not Abraham Lincoln was a fan of the “tit pic”.

Like I said at the top, it was a little disappointing of an episode. It certainly wasn’t the worst I’ve seen but it was far from the best I’ve seen. Luckily we have next week to look forward to with the always funny and engaging Adam Levine.

Until next time!

Arrow 1.10 – “Burned”

January 20, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

Oh boy, what a return. When we left off before the seemingly forever long hiatus, Oliver had sort of hit is groove on the whole vigilante thing. The people of Starling City were starting to notice and even if the police/Detective Lance weren’t thrilled, the townspeople were enjoying a lower crime rate. Then he has a bit of a run in with the Dark Archer, gets his ass handed to him, Walter is kidnapped, and we find out that the Dark Archer is actually Malcolm Merlyn. Such a good cliffhanger.

Last night’s episode, ‘Burned’, was a love/hate kind of thing for me. There were some aspects that I really enjoyed and others, not so much. Like the involvement of Firefly. If you are going to use very recognizable villains from the DC Universe, especially Gotham, then perhaps make a story around them that doesn’t involve very flimsy elements such as “presumed dead”. The moment the fire chief mentioned that Garfield Lynns was “presumed dead” during the Nodell Tower fire, we knew that he was the firefighter who started off the episode by killing another firefighter. Not only that but much like the Royal Flush Gang, it is really disappointing to see these great characters be used in one episode and then not heard from again. It’s sad. Of course it should be noted that this Firefly was vastly different from the one of the comics, so really it’s not like the Garfield Lynns that we know and love was involved in the first place. No harm, no foul right?

The other disappointing part of the night? The island! Usually the island is great in giving a lot of story in little bits of flashbacks. This time? Well we know that Yao Fei was kidnapped by Fryers and Deathstroke and Oliver killed a man to steal his clothes but that was it. Here’s hoping we see more of the island in the coming weeks.

As for the non-Firefly parts of the episode, well I loved all that. It picked up six weeks after Oliver’s run in with the Dark Archer and in one of my favorite aspects of the episode, Oliver is in a self-doubt spiral. That sounds bad, I don’t like that Oliver was doubting himself per se, but I did enjoy that it’s a side of superheroes you don’t see too often, it was refreshing. Of course having Diggle to be the one to force Oliver to get his act together was a nice return to their relationship that’s been missing a bit of late. Even better, they did most of this alternative superhero therapy without shirts on, this is never a bad thing.

Another thing that was (thankfully) missing? Thea’s obnoxious attitude. Of course I did laugh when she was telling Moira that she needed to “start acting like my mother so I can stop being yours.” Homegirl is a few episodes from being the most obnoxious brat in recent memory and she’s telling Moira that she can’t take a few days to sort out her feelings on yet another missing husband? Okay, yes it’s been six weeks and yes she had something to do with it but still, that would be difficult to deal with. Granted I haven’t arranged to have one husband lost at sea and another kidnapped for snooping into the first husband’s watery disappearance, but if I had, I imagine it would be a tough couple of weeks afterwards. So Thea just needs to lay off.

Of course now that Moira is taking over as CEO of Queen Industries, I’m guessing that will make it easier for her to conspire to do whatever it is they are doing with Malcom Merlyn. I for one can’t wait to see what happens. However, if Walter is dead I am going to be quite pissed.

In a bit of a shock, I really liked the interactions between Tommy and Laurel and Oliver and Laurel. Poor Tommy is trying to jockey for a drawer for his jockeys (I apologize) and of course Laurel is a bit of a cold fish on the idea. The writer’s aren’t going to let Laurel and Tommy ride off into the sunset together because Oliver and Laurel are obviously supposed to be together. So poor Tommy is just going to be led along like a sad puppy until he finally gets sick of it and turns to the dark side with his dad. That’s how I’m calling it. As for now, Laurel and Oliver are still going to look longingly at each other right before Laurel calls Arrow and on that phone that “can’t even identify the manufacturer”, and asks his help. They are setting her up to be a Louis Lane type of thing and I don’t know that I’m cool with it, but I will refrain from judging, for now.

As for the phone thing? Seriously Detective Lance? Seriously?!?!? What kind of douchy move is it to bug a phone to spy on your daughter? Especially when you just saw that the vigilante does protect your daughter! It’s hard to root for Lance as this Commissioner Gordon type if he’s going to keep insisting that Oliver/Vigilante/Arrow (seriously they need to pick a name) is a problem for the city as opposed to a help.

Unfortunately there was no Malcolm, no Felicity, obviously no Walter, and limited Yao Fei. The Firefly aspect was really irritating and overall, this episode was a bit of a downer. I did like the character progression and plot setups but going to have to give this episode a 3.

The promos and pictures for upcoming episodes are looking quite promising, there is so much to look forward to! For now, let’s pour one out for Firefly, a great villain who decided to hang up his murdering hat after Arrow spoke six words to him, apparently in a very convincing tone of voice.

Until next time!

Arrow Returns With New Cast Members, Returning Heroes & Even More Villians!

January 17, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

After what seems to be the longest hiatus ever (I think I say this every year) Arrow returns tonight and with it they are bringing on some new faces, and some returning ones as well.

Who’s returning? Well, unfortunately it’s not Deadshot (seriously, dude can not be gone forever, that would be a crime) but it is Helena/Huntress! Let’s all gather in prayer and hope that they don’t try to revive the love interest angle because that was just slightly more annoying than the Thea swooning over Tommy bit. However, I do like the character of Huntress and think she has a lot of potential, so I’m glad to see her back.

As if Huntress wasn’t enough, there are quite a few new faces showing up in this second part of the season. Right off the bat with last night’s episode titled ‘Burned’, we meet Firefly, or as Marc Guggenheim (for some reason) calls him, Firebug.

Not gonna lie, that looks awesome (check the coming review to see more on that!) but even more exciting (for me at least) is it looks like we return to the island which means there’s a chance for a Yao Fei sighting! Yay! I’m still taking applications for the Yao Fei fan club if you are interested.

All the fun wasn’t limited to last night’s return episode however, because as we reported a few months back, Count Vertigo (Seth Gabel) is coming to Arrow. Well, a Starling City version of Count Vertigo at least. The CW people have released pictures and we’ve gotten our first glimpse of what this pill-making villain looks like.

In that episode, coming January 30th, it appears as if we get to meet Roy Harper/Speedy/Red Arrow as well. Marc Guggenheim has said that Roy will end up being a love interest for Thea. And in case you were wondering, they’ve also said that Thea is going to be less annoying going forward. Music to my ears.

There haven’t been any official pictures released of Roy Harper, but there is always someone around with a camera, so here is Colton Haynes as Roy Harper.

All that really tells us is he is going to wear a red hood. I hope they fully explain why Thea is called Speedy rather quickly because that has bothered me since the beginning of the show.

Even with all these new people, I think there are a lot of people, myself included, who just really want to know what is going on with Moira and Malcolm Merlyn. Not to mention Walter. Oh, and Felicity!

Thankfully we’ve got seven straight weeks of Arrow episodes to learn more! Tune in tonight to the CW at 8/7 central and come back here tomorrow and we’ll discuss. Until then!

POP CULTURE

The 70th Annual Golden Globes – GB Recap

January 14, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

I am, admittedly, an awards show fan so it comes as no surprise that I tuned in to last night’s Golden Globe Awards. There’s just something about watching Hollywood’s best and brightest get all dressed up and then sit for hours while pretending they were okay with just being nominated that makes for really good entertainment. Add in my well documented love for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and there was no way I’d be missing this one. As with every other awards show, there were definite highs and even more definite lows but I think we can all agree that perhaps last night’s Golden Globes ended up with more in the “highs” column.

First off, the aforementioned Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. After three years of Ricky Gervais and his “trying too hard” approach to comedy, it was really nice to laugh at a joke without feeling like an awful person for doing so. It wasn’t like Fey and Poehler went all Pollyanna on us, for they did have some nice zingers throughout the night, but it certainly did not feel as if they were mean-spirited. Of course I am biased, being a fan in the first place, but they were quite possibly the best hosts I’ve seen in quite some time.

Another high? Ben Affleck winning Best Director for Argo. He had the stage and could have mentioned his “snub” from the Oscar committee but decided against it, classy move. We’ve already discussed the Academy Awards nominations here but the befuddlement is only increased by Affleck’s win last night. What did the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) see that the Academy did not? It boggles the mind.

Of course I’m a huge SNL geek so it’s no surprise that I loved Will Ferrell and Kristin Wiig as they presented one of the best actress awards. When Ferrell said that Dame Judy Dench used to be a police sheriff and this was her breakout role? I nearly choked on my coffee. Of course I would love for Tina and Amy to host from now to eternity but if they can’t, Will Ferrell and Kristin Wiig would be an okay replacement. However, I think it’s safe to say that if Ferrell and Wiig were the hosts, perhaps Tommy Lee Jones would stay home as he did not appear to be a fan of their antics in any way, shape, or form.

Jodie Foster’s acceptance speech after being awarded the Cecil B. DeMille award was both a high and a low maybe? I honestly spent the entire six minutes ping ponging between “you go Jodie Foster!” and “I have no idea what you are saying right now Jodie Foster”. It was very discombobulated. I have to imagine that when she wrote the speech (I’m assuming she wrote it), it made a lot more sense than it did when she got up on stage and nerves and adrenaline took over. Like Kevin Costner earlier in the evening, it made people question if she was either going to retire from show business or take a long walk off a short pier. Of course when she talked about her mom, I was just like every other sap in the room, searching my cleavage for a kleenex.

A definite high? I’m sorry but it had to be Taylor Swift losing to Adele in the Original Song category. I usually don’t delight in the heartbreak of others (well not all the time) but this was hysterical. She is just so used to winning everything that she just sat there rather stunned when she got beat. Of course if she had won I’m sure there would have been a resurrection of the Kayne incident and nobody needs that so really it was a double win for all involved. Well, except for Taylor Swift.

Lows? There weren’t a whole lot but one of the biggest ones was Sacha Baron Cohen. Oh boy, that was uncomfortable. I don’t know if it was announced what he was going to be presenting beforehand (I didn’t hear it0 but after he slams Russell Crowe’s singing performance in Les Mis and then makes reference to Anne Hathaway’s unfortunate upskirt photo he goes on to present Best Animated Feature. Call me crazy, but don’t presenters usually say something at least somewhat related to the award they are presenting? Yikes.

Perhaps the biggest low of the entire show, and frankly award shows in general these days, was network television. I love network television and I know I am not alone in that. There are millions of people who tune into network television every single day and quite a few of those millions are watching something besides singing and dancing (and diving- seriously Fox?) competitions. 30 Rock, Happy Endings, Community, New Girl, and my beloved Parks and Recreation are all examples of great shows that can be found on network television. So why is it that year after year, the only awards being given out to TV shows and their actors, are going only to premium cable? Don’t get me wrong, I like Girls just as much as the next gal but I have an incredibly hard time believing that Lena Dunham gave a better performance in Girls than Amy Poehler did as Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation. I understand that the voters like shows that push the envelope but when premium cable is up against networks there really is no contest as the envelope HBO and Showtime are dealing with is light years larger than the networks have to stay within.

While I’m on my little mini-rant can we all just finally agree to stop nominating Chuck Lorre shows in the first place? They are fun entertainment for a night when you just really don’t want to think or feel any type of emotion beyond slightly amused. Nothing more, nothing less. There is no way that they should ever be nominated for anything beyond a Teen Choice award.

Drunk Glenn Close — Glenn Close drinks when bad shows get nominated

So there’s my highs and lows of the night, but no recap would be complete without a list of the winners so here you go:

Best Supporting Actress in Television, Movie, or Mini-Series
Maggie Smith- Downton Abbey (PBS)

Best Supporting Actor in Television, Movie, or Mini-Series
Ed Harris- Game Change (HBO)

Best Actress in Television, Movie or Mini-Series
Julianne Moore- Game Change (HBO)

Best Actor in Television, Movie or Mini-Series
Kevin Costner- Hatfields & McCoys (History Channel)

Best Television Movie or Mini-Series
Game Change (HBO)

Best Actress in Television Series, Comedy or Musical
Lena Dunham- Girls (HBO)

Best Actor in Television Series, Comedy or Musical
Don Cheadle- House of Lies (Showtime)

Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical
Girls (HBO)

Best Actress in Television Series, Drama
Claire Danes- Homeland (Showtime)

Best Actor in Television Series, Drama
Damien Lewis- Homeland (Showtime)

Best Television Series, Drama
Homeland (Showtime)

Best Foreign Language Film
Armour (Austria)

Best Original Song
“Skyfall”- Adele

Best Original Score
Life of Pi

Best Screenplay
Quentin Tarantino- Django Unchained

Best Animated FilmBrave

Best Supporting Actress in Motion Picture
Anne Hathaway- Les Miserables

Best Supporting Actor in Motion Picture
Christoph Waltz- Django Unchained

Best Actress in Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook

Best Actor in Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Hugh Jackman- Les Miserables

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Les Miserables

Best Actress in Motion Picture, Drama
Jessica Chastain- Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actor in Motion Picture, Drama
Daniel Day Lewis- Lincoln

Best Director
Ben Affleck- Argo

Best Motion Picture, Drama
Argo

So there’s the Golden Globes, next up- the Oscars! See you then.

Grizzly Bomb