Friday Night Lights: Series Recap…or, Why I Love FNL and You Should Too

April 18, 2011 Chris Tansuche 1 Comment

Victory laps are usually reserved for the revered, the celebrated or the most popular. We are just going to have to settle for the best in this case. As Friday Night Lights made its final season debut on April 15^th to tie for last place in the ratings, we must think whether they deserved such an awful way to end its run. DirecTV viewers have been done with the season for months, heck , this fifth season is already out on DVD right now. From a television executive standpoint, you have to wonder, why does this show, the little show that could, even bother? Well, it is the same reason why I was asked to do this article: Friday Night Lights was one of the best damn shows on television in the last decade.

I have been an avid watcher of this show when it first launched back in 2006 to mediocre ratings. I had seen the movie and thought it was worthwhile enough to give the show a shot. Obviously no Billy Bob but hey, life is not meant to be perfect. I remember the pre-launch of the show, and that it had garnered the best reviews, some even declaring the pilot to be one of the best ever made. Granted, critics and opinions do not mean much in the world today of bloggers, or just people who troll IMDB message boards (right boss?), but it was something that had to be seen and watched. I figured, if it is a show about football, it has got to be at least watchable right?

I remember the pilot being easily being unforgettable. It had several moments of intensity, sincerity, levity and just pure fun that pulled me into its grasp. Although it had the same principle plot of the movie, (powerhouse team becomes underdog after horrible injury with a twist), the episode was very well constructed and kept the pace original and fresh to make the idea seem less stale.

That and Matt Saracen (Zack Gilford) is my boy.

Now, I admit, I have a soft spot for dramas. Not only stuff like 24 or Boardwalk Empire or anything dealing with action and HBO, but I love The O.C. I get crapped on about it every once in a while, because let’s face it, it is not something someone would readily admit out loud. The reason I mention this was because for the most part (effin’ Oliver), the first season of the The O.C. was brilliant. They captured the dynamics of friendship, comedy, relationships so well that I wanted to hang with Seth Cohen, crush on Summer Roberts, and have awesome benefactors like Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. The humanity of people was prominent during the season, and the one thing I always noted was the dynamics of the parents relationship. Sandy and Kirsten acted like adults. They had their issues, ups and downs but they got through it because they did not have their heads up their asses. Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) are that couple.

They keep the show, and everyone involved, as grounded as possible. I give the writers a lot of credit. They threw obstacles at them, but there was not an ex, or a ridiculous plot in order drive a wedge in between the two. It was bigger houses, money , jobs…things real couples argue about in life. They were not perfect, they had their flaws. But they were perfect for that show and for each other.

Watching the first season made me come to the conclusion that it was so good, it probably would not last more than two or three seasons. This came out around the same time that Arrested Development was still struggling to find audiences despite the perfection of that show. No one gave any hope to the critical darlings that kept people entertained, or at least those that watched it. They wanted the low-concept projects that the A.D.D generation did not have to think too much about. Which is fine, I am not here to preach about peoples’ television watching habits or their tastes. I am just happy that this show was able to last five seasons after going down to wire like the Dillon Panthers and the end of every game.

1245185021703_f — Coach yelling at Riggins. Classic.

The characters drove this show, obviously being led by the Taylors (Chandler, Britton, and Aimee Teegarden) but as with any ensemble show, they are only as good as the surrounding parts. You had Jason Street (Scott Porter), Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki), Smash Williams (Gaius Charles), the Lyla and Buddy Garrity (Minka Kelly and Brad Leland), Kronner’s boy Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), Landry Clarke (Jesse Plemons – Paul), and even Grandma Saracen (Louanne Stephens) in the first season that clicked together.

Minka-FNL-girls-in-GQ-minka-kelly-2270995-1980-1500 — Minka Kelly, Adrianne Palicki, and Amiee Teegarden.

As the seasons progressed, they added more characters such as Luke Cafferty (Matt Lauria – The Chicago Code), Vince Howard (Michael B. Jordan), Jess Merriweather (Jurnee Smollett), and Becky Sproles (Madison Burge) for the last two seasons but it was always the Taylors that took center stage.

They responded to situations in the most human way possible, whether to compromising, arguing, and not doing overly stupid things. They were the moral compass of the show and their impact showed through the last five years in the growth of everyone, even themselves.

The second season had its hiccups with a plot to build new viewership that was just unnecessary and stupid, but we still had the same base. They rebounded the next few seasons and still helped build a consistent and entertaining show to watch. It is interesting to think that people did not watch the show because it was about football. Or maybe, because it was not about football at all. This is a show about courage, compromise, family, and growing up. Football was just the backdrop. This could have been about basketball, baseball, badminton, whatever, it was just there to help get from point A to point B.

I truly believe that if you give this show a chance, you will walk away impressed and wanting more. There may not be explosions, Kiefer, vampires, or a mysterious island – and the concept may be boring to some, but it truly is one of the best shows on television. There is just something about hearing, “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose”, that just makes me smile. Give it shot and it may make you smile too.

Images: NBC, Universal, DirecTV

HBO’s ‘A Game of Thrones’ Premiere – Winter is Coming

April 17, 2011 Stephen Sanchez 1 Comment

If I had any fears that A Game of Thrones on HBO wasn’t going to be faithful to the books, consider them quashed. Tonight’s premiere, Winter is Coming, was masterfully done and as far as I could tell nothing was left out. There were a couple of things that were added in, but they didn’t detract from the flow of the story.

As I said in my review of the preview, the scene with the White Walkers at the beginning was very creepy, something I didn’t even experience during my reading of the book. Everything about the episode was very well done, from wardrobe to the acting to the music and scenery.

The Wall looked ominous as ever, even though you don’t get to see much of it, and ‘Winterfell’ was exactly how it should appear. ‘King’s Landing’ was only shown briefly but from what I saw of it I have no complaints.

So many scenes were a welcome sight after wondering what they would look like on screen. It actually made me smile seeing Bran Stark climbing the castle walls and jumping across the battlements after always imagining it while reading the books. Seeing Sandor Clegane in his hound armor, and the Dothraki wedding are other scenes that first come to mind when thinking of the books.

One half of the story takes place in ‘Westeros’ at the Northern Kingdom of Winterfell, where Lord Eddard – Ned Stark (Sean Bean) rules with his family. We are first introduced to them all before it is announced that the King – Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) is coming to Winterfell. Ned already knows why, since they have just heard that his good friend and current ‘King’s Hand’ Jon Arryn has died. Robert wants Ned to be the next ‘King’s Hand’ since they are also best friends.

Coming with Robert are his Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and her brothers Jaime and Tyrion. Jaime is a member of the King’s Guard, and Tyrion is a bit of a drinker and whoring man. Both are played to perfection by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Peter Dinklage. The Lannisters, like the Starks are a mainstay of the whole story, so don’t expect to not see them throughout the series.

The other part of the story takes place across the narrow sea, where the last surviving children of Westeros’s previous ruling family, the Targaryens, plot their return to power. I should say it’s mostly the brother Viserys who is most anxious for the throne, when his sister Daenerys simply wants to return home whether there is a throne or not. Harry Lloyd plays Viserys at his crazy best, who is only out to use anyone and everyone to become the next ruler of Westeros, which he feels he is entitled to. He is even willing to sacrifice his own sister to gain power, and says as much at one point in the episode.

As you may or may not learn in the coming episodes, the last Targaryen King was quite mad, which was one of the main reasons Baratheon, the Lannisters and Ned Stark moved to take him out of power. As the story goes on you will see the same madness ever increasing in Viserys. This is most likely due to the Targaryen habit of inbreeding with their own blood.

So as not to spoil anyone who has yet to watch the first episode, I will say that there is a start to the political machinations that will dominate the series. The Starks are brought word of another possible cause of death for the previous ‘King’s Hand’, and one of the Stark children has quite an “accident”. The next episode will really get things going as mysteries abound and suspicions arise in the little land called Westeros.

I recommend the series very highly for any fans of the books, but especially for those who haven’t read the books. There are so many shocking twists and turns in this series that those who haven’t been spoiled by the books like me, will be affected more profoundly than I could ever hope to be at this point.

The brilliant acting and aesthetics of the whole episode prompted me to give it 5 out 5 Bears. If they keep this up then there is no reason why the series can’t become the best show on HBO, if not television. It was everything I expected an more. I can’t wait to see more Tyrion and more Arya in the coming episodes! (Obviously my two favorite characters after Jon Snow.)

POP CULTURE

Scum of the Week – Nicolas Cage

April 17, 2011 Stephen Sanchez Leave a comment

This is a new weekly article from Grizzly Bomb, where over the span of the week every week we will be naming someone as our pick for the most scum worthy. Scum can be interpreted in many ways, for example: scumbag, scumbucket, scumsucker. You get the idea.

This weeks scum nominee is of course Nicolas Cage.

In case you hadn’t heard, Mr. Cage was arrested in New Orleans for domestic violence and battery…. against his wife. Cage and his wife were arguing in front of an apartment because the actor was pretty sure that this was a place they were renting, his wife however disagreed.

Cage, super duper intoxicated at this point, thought it would be a good idea to take his wife by the arm and pull her to the house. Cage then struck several cars before the police were called and he was hauled off to central lockup. All I can say is at least he didn’t punch her whilst wearing a bear suit.

If you want the full detailed story, CNN Entertainment seems to have a pretty good rundown of this monstrosity. This may have been an overblown issue because the man is a celebrity, but domestic violence is domestic violence.

Thank you Mr. Cage for being our first Scum of the Week!

MOVIES

Grizzly Review: Scream 4 (aka SCRE4M)

April 16, 2011 DrKronner 4 Comments

Anyone who read my Scream Retrospective earlier this week will know I greatly respected the original Scream and was looking forward to this installment. When I arrived at the theater, the teenage girl behind the counter told me that the new one was really awesome, but that she had never watched any of the first three movies, because they looked ‘stupid’ and ‘lame’. For some reason, her ringing endorsement did not instill me with confidence, even though she was clearly an expert on the franchise.

Once inside, I was surprised that a 7:45 show, on opening night wasn’t more full. The theater was probably less than half-capacity, and of the kids there, probably most were still in diapers when the original was released. The movie started in the expected way, a phone call and a discussion about horror movies. This time, however, it didn’t seem so fresh. Now you’re probably thinking: “Of course it’s not fresh, it’s the fourth movie,” but I guess I was expecting something new.

Never have I watched a movie so self-aware of how cool its predecessor was, but it’s a new day. Scream 4 largely revolves around talking about how great the Stab franchise is. Stab being the movie within Scream 2, based on the events of first movie. So here you have a script written by Kevin Williamson (who wrote the first movie) that never stops stroking Kevin Williamson’s ego.

Our three returning Scream Staples – Sidney, Gale, and Dewey – seem to be nothing more than caricatures of themselves. Sidney has written a book about her exploits and is on tour. Her last stop is Woodsboro. Gale has settled down and married Dewey, who is now the sheriff of Woodsboro, and employees a star-studded police force that made me feel more like I was watching Scary Movie 6 than an actual canon chapter of the franchise.

Adam Brody and Anthony Anderson are deputies that define a new level of ineptitude within the genre. Sure, cops regularly wind up dead in horror movies, but they usually at least seem somewhat competent beforehand. There is never a point in the movie where you are made to believe these guys could even remotely protect anyone. The sad part, they are the most believable cops in the movie. Sin City‘s Marley Shelton plays another Deputy that is openly crushing on Sheriff Dewey, and either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care that his wife is in the room. Her character is so strange you wonder how she could ever be allowed to carry a gun. No police force in film history has ever instilled less confidence. That fact is cemented by Dewey’s shooting ability, and later his hand to hand combat scene with the killer. I won’t ruin anything, but Dirty Harry he is not.

The teens in this movie are so irritating (which may be a sign of my age), that I found myself actually rooting for the killer to end them. They are headlined by Hayden Panettiere (Heroes), who is in actuality only 20, but looks about 30 in here, and was at no point believable as a high schooler.

Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) and Jill (Emma Roberts)

Then we have the entire ‘Gale’ storyline. Starting with her fall from grace since becoming a cop’s wife, which is so epic that she basically has to beg the High School Cinema Club to hang out with her and help solve the murders! And could you find a couple of less likable film geeks than the kid with the web-cam on his head and Macaulay Culkin’s little brother? I doubt it. Randy is probably rolling in his grave.

The cast though is one thing that the franchise has always counted as a strength. The number of name actors in this movie certainly helped add to the buzz. Aside from those already mentioned, we see a whole plethora of recognizable faces, including local Detroit News 4 anchor – Devin Scillian, Friday Night Lights star Aimee Teegarden and the incredible Allison Brie.

Anyhow, no surprise, this movie was totally style over substance. To be fair, there were a couple of parts I liked. The Kristen Bell scene was good, and there is a fight where someone gets smashed into a picture on the wall, that was hilarious. But there was no point where they had set up a scare well enough for it to pay off.

In the end the movie came off obnoxiously pretentious and so self-aware that you can’t help but think that between this and Scream 3, the franchise has hurt the genre just as much as helped it.

Overall Score: Scream 4 – 2/5 Bears
– 1 out of respect for the original movie.
– 1 for putting Kristen Bell and Allison Brie in the same movie.

Images: Dimension Films

Smallville: Zod Returns

April 15, 2011 Stephen Sanchez 1 Comment

It would appear they are definitely pulling out all the stops for this final season of Smallville. We get Darkseid, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, Michael Rosenbaum will be returning as Lex Luthor, and now Callum Blue will return in two weeks to reprise the role of the villainous Kryptonian Zod.

I’m not sure what the general fan consensus was with Callum Blue’s performance as Zod, but even though I found him irksome at first, he definitely grew on me throughout season 9. By the end of the season he was a vile SOB, continuing on with his fetish of always wanting people to kneel for him. It will be good to see what became of him after all of the Kryptonians were transported to another world to live in peace. Something tells me that Zod wasn’t all that peaceful, or this in fact General Zod who took over Lex’s body in season 5/6, and not Major Zod from season 9. Actually from the looks of this picture I tend to lean towards it being the General version from season 5 and 6.

So is it just me or is that taking place in the Phantom Zone? If so, then it would appear it is General Zod since the last time he fought Clark it ended with him being sent back there. This episode will be taking place on April 29th in the episode called Dominion. I can’t wait! Now I just have to catch up on the last few episodes via DVR, because after all, the last episode of Smallville airs in May!

Everyone sound off in the comments section! Did you like Zod on Smallville or hate his kneeling loving face!?

POP CULTURE

Christian Day: Worst. Warlock. Ever.

April 15, 2011 Stephen Sanchez 4 Comments

Let’s face it. Warlocks are f–king cool. By definition a warlock is a male witch, so basically you could say Harry Potter, Gandalf and Merlin are all warlocks. Even the evil ones are pretty damn sweet; you’ve got Sauron and Saruman from Lord of the Rings and Voldemort and his Death Eaters from the Harry Potter series.

lotr-sauron — Sauron From Lord of the Rings

Sure when you see the warlock Leezar in the movie Your Highness, you laugh at him because he’s so damned ridiculous looking, but that movie was supposed to be a parody of a fantasy movie. So it’s really off the wall strange when you have some jack-off spouting off to the media claiming that Your Highness paints warlocks in an unfair light.

To see said jack-off, look no further than Christian Day.

Christian Day gained minuscule notoriety for his attacks on Charlie Sheen, which he claims tarnished the good name of Warlocks everywhere, but has now moved his focus to the movie industry and called for an all out boycott of Your Highness. Wow.

Not only does this guy look like he’s in desperate need of getting laid, but he looks to be quite possibly the worst fricking warlock I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty sure this guy can’t shoot fireballs from his hands or lightning from his eyes. And there is no way he could possibly forge an evil ring to rule mankind or split his soul into seven pieces. That being said I really don’t know what his beef is with Your Highness.

Justin-Theroux-is-Leezar-in-Your-Highness_gallery_primary — Leezar is sooooo sweet…

From what I can tell, real life warlocks and witches dabble in herbs, curses and other magical items that with all probability won’t work on anyone. So it’s kind of funny to see them wanting a boycott of Your Highness when the warlock Leezar in it can use all sorts of crazy magic with his trusty staff and they can’t…ever.

So until there is a movie featuring a warlock who can’t use sweet magic and is a total asshole, I think the Warlock community better just try to capitalize off of Your Highness‘s meager box office success and just claim they put a curse on it from the start.

Conveyors of Common Sense…