Ted Danson

TV Review: ‘Bored to Death’ Has Title More Truthful Than Ironic

BrianTT — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:13:03 -0600

CHICAGO – Maybe it’s an ironic, surreal joke but the most common thought that I kept having during the first three episodes of “Bored to Death” was, well, “bored”. Only the immensely talented supporting cast, including great turns from Zach Galifianakis, Ted Danson, Olivia Thirlby, and Kristen Wiig save the show from achieving the threat promised by its title.

Television Rating: 2.0/5.0

“Bored to Death” is essentially about a writer so bored with his own predictable, lovelorn life that he pretends to be a private investigator and stumbles into actually solving crime. The humor comes from the stuck-up, snobby delivery of star Jason Schwartzman traveling in a Chandler-esque setting where his ordering of a white wine in a seedy bar is greeted with a raised eyebrow. There is a bit of interest in seeing Schwartzman’s intellectual awkwardness in an atypical world, but it grows stale much more quickly than the creators of the show probably envisioned.

Episode 103 Scene 23: Jonathan walks up to Emily’s with the skateboard.
Photo credit: Paul Schrialdi/HBO

Schwartzman is good and the supporting cast is excellent, but “Bored to Death” exists only in the weird world of overly intellectual television. It’s constantly winking at the camera, trying to point out its cleverness. Schwartzman admonishing a kidnapper for smoking meth because “it’s all chemicals” and having a conversation about trouble with girlfriends in the middle of a rescue scene practically screams its clever intentions without actually being nearly as smart as it thinks it is.

Episode 106 Scene 08: Jonathan, Ray and George wait in Leah’s car. They are watching Sophia’s motel room.
Photo credit: Paul Schiraldi/HBO

Imagine if the world that this pretentious writer had been dipped in was genuine and emotionally relatable or incredibly stylized like something out of “The Singing Detective”. It’s the middle ground that leads to the boredom. “Bored to Death” is a show about a writer that constantly comes across as over-written by its lead character. It’s as if we’re living in his head, a world where even the kidnapping, meth smoker sounds like a pretentious douche.

How clever does “Bored to Death” think it is? Its creator is named Jonathan Ames, the same as the writer/detective lead. In the third episode the creator of the show gets to present a half-hour where “Jonathan Ames” is going to work with the great Jim Jarmusch. It seems a bit self-aggrandizing. The whole thing plays like a half-assed effort at something that might have intrigued Charlie Kaufman, but with tones of noir and Schwartzman’s quirky delivery.

Only the great Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson break free from the predictable tone and snobby dialogue. Zach, star of “The Hangover,” has a couple of great scenes in the premiere and honest chemistry with Schwartzman and Danson is typically great. Their delivery is so different from Schwartzman’s that scenes with them are easy highlights just for the oil-and-vinegar chemistry missing from the rest of the show.

Episode 104 Scene 15: Ray comes up with some fake issues, but are they fake.
Photo credit: Paul Schiraldi/HBO

As for the mysteries of the week, “Bored to Death” isn’t remotely about them. No one is asking the writers to come up with yet another show like “The Mentalist” or “Bones” but they could put an ounce of effort into the cases that come from Jonathan’s Craigslist posting looking for detective work.

Most of my negative feelings surrounding “Bored to Death” are directed at the premiere. Episodes two and three show improvement, even if the Jarmusch plotline in episode three feels more narcissistic than anything else.

The second episode features more screen time for the great Thirlby (she only has a brief moment in the premiere) and brings in Kristen Wiig as the client of the week. Overall, the second episode works significantly better than the first, as the addition of more talented actresses in the ensemble pays off. Every show or movie could be made stronger by a guest appearance by Wiig. The scene where she hires Jonathan is the highlight of the first trio of episodes.

The dialogue and characters also seem more well-defined in the second episode. Even if none of the characters ring remotely true and the show still can’t decide between stylish realism and actual characters, the awkward tone is much more consistent in episode two and I think the show would work better as an uniterrupted viewing. In other words, the eventual DVD or Blu-Ray is the way to go, spending one or two nights in this weird world instead of a weekly, frustrating appointment. Although so many people will be bored to death by the premiere that they’re unlikely to give it a second chance.

‘Bored to Death,’ which airs on HBO, stars Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, Zach Galfianakis, and Olivia Thirlby. The show was created by Jonathan Ames. The series debuts on Sunday, September 20th, 2009 at 8:30PM CST.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

DVD Round Up, Feb. 3, 2009: ‘Cheers,’ ‘Lucky Ones,’ ‘RocknRolla,’ ‘The Gene Generation’

BrianTT — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:37:33 -0700

CHICAGO – Another week, another edition of HollywoodChicago.com’s legendary Round-Up. Any TV fans out there? Lovers of sci-fi action movies? Afficionados of Rachel McAdams? If you still like Guy Ritchie, raise your hand. Now, all of you, step up to the Round-Up.

“Cheers: The Final Season,” “The Gene Generation,” “The Lucky Ones,” and “RocknRolla” were all released on January 27th, 2009.

“Cheers: The Final Season”

Photo credit: Paramount

When people talk about shows going out at the top of their game, they inevitably turn to “Cheers” as a prime example of a series that knew when to turn off the lights and close the bar. Raise a glass to the final season with this amazing 28-episode set. In this season, Sam (Ted Danson) rebuilds the bar after Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) sets it on fire, Norm (George Wendt) gets audited, Cliff (John Ratzenberg) gets promoted, and Lilith leaves Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) in order to live in a biosphere. Woody (Woody Harrelson) runs for city council and Carla (Rhea Perlman) sees her daughter get married. Sam invites Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) back to Boston and pretends he’s married to Rebecca. “Cheers” is one of the best sitcoms in the history of the form and now fans can own all eleven seasons on DVD.

“Cheers: The Final Season” is presented in full frame with a 4:3 aspect ratio and spread out over four discs and nearly eleven hours of running time. Sadly, “Cheers” comes essentially free of special features, but each episode does include episodic promos.

“The Gene Generation”

Photo credit: Lionsgate

The front of the case for “The Gene Generation” features Bai Ling holding two guns and the phrase “The film that inspired “The DNA Hacker Chronicles” comic book series”. I’m sure that means something to someone but “The Gene Generation” clearly has a niche audience who will be excited to find it in the video store this weekend. Consider this your heads up. According to the case, Ling plays Michelle, a seductive young assassin who preys on corrupt DND hackers who must resuce her brother from Olympia’s seedy underworld as she fights for the survival of mankind in this futuristic thriller. The futuristic action movie won the Grand Jury Award at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival and features music by Combichrist. Once again, means something to someone.

“The Gene Generation” is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen and comes with an English 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio track. The special features include a commentary with director pearry Teo and actors Bai Ling and Parry Shen, a commentary with direcotr Pearry Teo and producer Keith Collea, cast and crew interviews, storyboard to screen comparisons, visual effects and concept art, deleted scenes, “The DNA Hacker Chronicles - 1st edition digital comic book, Combichrist music video for “Get Your Body Beat,” and a trailer gallery.

“The Lucky Ones”

Photo credit: Lionsgate

Neil Burger, the director of “The Illusionist,” took a wrong turn with the road movie “The Lucky Ones” starring Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins, and Michael Pena, but the film is a well-intentioned drama that is likely to find a curious audience on the home market if just for the strength of its cast. Pena stars as Sgt. T.K. Poole, a soldier in the Iraq War who suffers medical problems after a serious attack. He is granted one-month leave and ends up in the same airport as fellow soldiers Sgt. Fred Cheaver (Tim Robbins) and Pvt. Colee Dunn (Rachel McAdams) when a blackout forces the trio into a road trip. What begins as a short visit home turns into a poignant journey of self-discovery.

“The Lucky Ones” is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio with 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital audio tracks. The only special feature was “A Look Inside The Lucky Ones”.

“RocknRolla”

Photo credit: Warner Brothers

Guy Ritchie used to be on top of the world. “Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch” branded him as the next big thing, a British Quentin Tarantino that spoke to his generation’s love for gangster movies. Then he made “Swept Away” and “Revolver” and it all went to hell. The mediocrity of “RocknRolla” would be more acceptable if this Gerard Butler flick was Ritchie’s third movie, but this far down the slide of the former Mr. Madonna’s career trajectory, it’s just not notable enough to reverse Ritchie’s sliding reputation. “RocknRolla” does have a few things going for it - a charming lead performance, a twisting and turning plot - to barely recommend a rental, but it’s not the return to form that we were all hoping for.

In “RocknRolla,” Gerard Butler and Idris Elba play a couple of small-time thugs stuck in a complicated plot involving a London gang leader (Tom Wilkinson), a hard-as-ice accountant (Thandie Newton), a presumed dead rock and roll star (the “RocknRolla” of the title), a pair of music moguls (Jeremy Piven & Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges), a missing painting, and some deadly Russians. “RocknRolla” is presented in widescreen with a 5.1 Dolby Surround track in English, French, and Spanish. Special features include a commentary by writer/director Guy Ritchie and co-star Mark Strong, an additional scene, and “Guy’s Town: The Director Reflects on His Fascination with Ever-Evolving London”.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Damages’ Returns With Intense, Riveting Start to Season Two

BrianTT — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:39:51 -0700

CHICAGO – The complex, twisted world of FX’s excellent “Damages” returns this week with a spectacular set-up for what promises to be another riveting season of twists and turns down the alleys of legal ethics and questionable moral behavior with an even more impressive ensemble than the one that won Emmys for its highly lauded first season.

The character played by Zeljko Ivanek, Emmy winner for Supporting Actor, may be dead and gone, but the rest of the cast, including Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Tate Donovan, and even Ted Danson, are back, joined by three of the better actors that you will find on TV this season - Oscar winner William Hurt, Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden, and Timothy Olyphant (“Deadwood,” “Go”). Hurt should clear his mantle now for an Emmy this summer and Close probably needs to make room for number two but they’re far from alone. “Damages” is a clear frontrunner for the best ensemble on television. Most films over the next few months won’t feature acting this impressive.

Rose Byrne (L) and Glenn Close (R) in Damages premiering Wednesday, Jan. 7 (10 PM ET/PT) on FX.
Photo credit: Craig Blankenhorne/FX

It may have been a year and a half since “Damages” was on the air, but in the world of Hewes & Associates, it’s only been a month since the disastrous end of the Arthur Frobisher case. In case you don’t remember the flurry of activity that ended season one, cutthroat attorney Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) watched her opponent in the courtroom Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek) take his own life in front of her eyes. The problem for Patty (besides the emotional trauma) was that she was blackmailing the closeted defenseman, so she needed Ellen (Rose Byrne) to help clean up the evidence before the police arrived. Fearing that Ellen knew enough to ruin her life forever, Patty sent someone to kill the woman that she had grown close to professionally and personally.

Rose Byrne as Ellen Parsons on the season premiere of Damages airing on Wednesday, Jan. 7 (10 pm e/p) on FX.
Photo credit: Mark Seliger/FX

Ellen survived the attack on her life, but her fiance wasn’t so lucky, getting killed on the same night by nefarious businessman Arthur Frobisher’s (Ted Danson) people. With a dead husband-to-be and the knowledge that her boss tried to kill her, Ellen was approached by the FBI and tasked with taking down Patty Hewes from the inside. And that’s the very brief version of a labyrynthine season that became one of the first basic cable shows nominated for a Best Drama Series Emmy (“Mad Men” was also nominated giving them the joint honor of being the “first”).

The structure of the first season was essentially a flashback. The show opened with a bloodied Ellen running from a building and being arrested for the death of her fiance. The series then worked back to that moment, detailing how the new attorney went from wide-eyed rookie to bitter veteran over the course of one case.

One of many questions answered by the premiere of season two is would the show followed a similar structure? Yes. The new episode opens with a monologue by Ellen in close-up to someone unseen. Only at the end of the scene, do we realize that sweet Ellen is holding a gun. It’s going to be a different Ellen in year two.

Flash back six months to just one month after the end of the Frobisher case. Arthur survived getting shot in the gut and is recovering in a hospital. Ellen is undercover and being handed a fake case by the FBI to try and entrap Patty into doing something illegal. And Patty is being approached by someone from her past, Daniel Purcell (William Hurt), a potential whistle blower about to destroy a major company. Meanwhile, Ellen meets someone intriguing (Timothy Olyphant) in her anger management class. Marcia Gay Harden joins the supporting cast in the second episode as an attorney caught up between Daniel and Patty.

What is the link between Patty and Purcell? Will Tom (Tate Donovan) get caught up in Ellen’s web with the FBI? Is the new guy in Ellen’s life a genuine love interest or a vengeful nut job? Will the fact that Patty is guilty of conspiracy to commit murder be a part of the fabric of the show until its end? How can they ever drop it?

Glenn Close as stars as Patty Hewes on Damages airing on Wednesday, Jan. 14 (10 pm e/p) on FX.
Photo credit: Craig Blankenhorne/FX

The first episode of the second season of “Damages” - “I Lied, Too” - is a little cluttered, answering some questions from the last season and setting up new ones, but the show quickly settles into an interesting groove in the second episode and especially the excellent third episode. It’s great to see the focus of the show switch and easily survive the transition from the Frobisher case to the Purcell one. How many series could survive the loss of its Best Supporting Actor winner (Ivanek) and the switch of focus away from his fellow nominee (Danson) and not only feel as good but arguably better? It’s a testament to the writing team at “Damages,” one of the best on television and one that clearly drew in actors as talented as Hurt, Harden, and Olyphant.

Like a lot of shows that succeed in their first season, the second chapter of “Damages” feels even more consistent and confident than the first. The team has figured out the shows strengths, the cast has grown accustomed to the unusual impromptu writing process (even the writers don’t know how a season will end when they start a new one), and the pace and energy of the show has been set in stone. Close was nearly perfect from episode one of “Damages,” but even she seems like a more interesting, well-rounded character in season two and Byrne is clearly having a blast playing “tough and bitter Ellen” as opposed to “naive and worried Ellen” from season one.

FX has forged a niche in original programming based on morally challenged, complex characters like Vic Mackey on “The Shield,” Tommy Gavin on “Rescue Me”, Sean McNamara & Christian Troy on “Nip/Tuck,” and, the Queen of them all, Patty Hewes on “Damages”. You won’t find a more interesting character on television and she’s surrounded by an even better supporting team than in the award-winning first season. Don’t miss “Damages”.

‘Damages,’ which airs on FX, stars Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Tate Donovan, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Timothy Olyphant, and Ted Danson. The premiere of season two airs on January 7th, 2009 at 9PM CST.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Star Power Can’t Save ‘Mad Money’ From ‘Thelma & Louise’ Writer Callie Khouri

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:17:53 -0700

CHICAGO – Whenever there’s stunt-movie casting with divergent generations of Hollywood “stars,” there’s bound to be trouble at the multiplex. This time, the “old to young” range of Diane “Annie Hall” Keaton, Queen Latifah and the increasingly annoying Katie Holmes attempt a stab at the classic heist movie in “Mad Money”.

Keaton portrays Bridget Cardigan: an upper-middle class matron whose husband (Ted Danson) has been laid off for a year and has given up trying to find another gig. Overwhelmed by debt and bills, Keaton goes back out into the work force. In an “it only can happen in the movies” turn of events, the best job she can find is as a janitor at the Federal Reserve bank (I guess all the administration jobs at the real estate offices were full).

As she gets into her new career – strangely doing the cleaning work during the day shift – she notices there are some flaws in the airtight security involving the shredding of old currency.

Click here to read Patrick McDonald’s full review
of “Mad Money” in our reviews section!

Click here for our full “Mad Money” image gallery!

Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise, Diane Keaton Walk ‘Mad Money’ Red Carpet

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:42:52 -0700

CHICAGO – “Mad Money” rolled out a glitzy red carpet in Los Angeles on Wednesday and we have the photos to show it. We selected the best 14 and created a new image gallery for the film premiere, which marks the first film release by Katie Holmes since her marriage to Tom Cruise.

Cruise, who’s not in the film, was there at the Overture Pictures shindig along with co-stars Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Ted Danson. A few Getty Images photos from the event can be seen below and the rest are in our new “Mad Money” gallery.

The film, which centers around three female Federal Reserve employees who plot to steal money that’s about to be destroyed, opens on Jan. 18. “Mad Money” is directed by Callie Khouri who can be remembered for the appalling 2002 film “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood”.

Click here to view the entire “Mad Money” red-carpet gallery!

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com