Weekend In Reviews

Letters to Juliet - Amanda Seyfreid, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal and the ADORABLE Christopher Egan - I ask you, what is not to love about this movie?  It's not high art or anything but it's sweet and cute and appropriately heart-tugging. 

Can we see the ending coming from a million miles away?  Yes.  But are romantic comedies supposed to be mysteries?  I don't think so.  Everyone in the movie is likable, even the guy we're hoping she dumps before living happily ever after with Charlie is entertaining and sweet in his own, self-involved, semi-idiotic way.  I would definitely watch this movie again (and several bonus points for taking place in Italy - and making me long to go back) and I'll also be making a concerted effort to watch everything else Christopher Egan has ever been in because sweet Jesus he's so CUTE!


I also caught up on almost my entire DVR backlog over the long weekend.  I've only got The Walking Dead left which I've decided to wait to watch until after it finishes it's brief season this Sunday since I'm already this far behind.  To be honest, I tried to watch it but despite everyone's raves, it really suffered in comparison to the tightly-written Terriers which I'd watched immediately prior.  I don't care what Entertainment Weekly tells you, TWD is not the best new show on TV, Terriers is. 

Burn Notice - Maybe this show is also suffering from competition it doesn't usually have when it airs in the summer and winter but it's not quite as good this season as it usually is.  The most recent episode picked up a bit by having Michael on the mend and finally putting an end to his fight with Jesse but on the whole, it's lost a little spark as it gets more and more bogged down in the long-arc story of who burned Michael which, it could just be me but, I really don't care anymore.  Like, at all. 

The Defenders - Jim Belushi is by far the best he's ever been on this show.  I hope that when his career is over this is what he's remembered for because he's really terrific in it.  However, I do think the show needs to beef up Jurnee Smollet's part because she's woefully under-utilized here. 

Chuck - On the whole I'm not loving this season like I did the last but it's still better than most of the crap that trounces it in the ratings.  I feel like keeping the spying secret from Ellie and Awesome has minimized their roles too much which is a damn shame because I like Ellie and I LOVE Awesome (and surely you all remember what a huge fan I was of the episodes where Awesome worked with Casey and Morgan).  Morgan is a GREAT addition to the spy team and has amazing bromance chemistry with Casey.  Linda Hamilton has been a bit underwhelming as Frost/Chuck's mom but the recent addition of Timothy Dalton as Volkoff has been brilliantly entertaining.  The very weakest part of the show remains Jeffster - as often as those two dumb-asses nearly cause international incidents, you'd think that Beckman would require Morgan to fire them from Buy More and save us from their ridiculous bafoonery forever. 

Terriers - While I didn't really enjoy watching the unbearably sad "Sins of the Past," it was, as they all are, a very well-written and perfectly-acted episode.  I just didn't really care for drunk Hank or angry, bitter Britt.  Plus, I've come to the conclusion that on the whole, I do not like flashbacks.  Just one of my quirks.  "Quid Pro Quo" was absolutely perfect though and makes me anxious for tomorrow's season (please, God, let it only be a SEASON) finale to see how this land-grab case (as well as the relationship stuff - I mean, I can't BELIEVE they killed Jason!) ends.  But it also made me sad because why aren't more people watching this show?  I know the name is confusing and the marketing (what there was of it) didn't help but critics and tweeters alike have been waging a hell of a campaign to raise awareness and still it languishes at less than a million viewers per episode.  Try as I might I can think of not one single thing about this show that I'd change, it is that perfect and yet no one is watching.  That's quite literally the biggest television tragedy in history. 

Fringe - I'm on record as being less than a fan of the every-other-episode-over-there construct this season but it isn't because the over-there episodes haven't been good.  The episodes are every bit as intriguing and the writing and acting is just as strong but I miss Walter and the emotional resonance that long-arc stuff has when characters we know well are involved.  But the more time we've spent Over There, the more we've gotten to know the folks in that world and the more I've come to enjoy Lincoln and Charlie and Other Broyles which made "The Abducted" one of the strongest episodes of the season so far.  Naturally this happens when Olivia is just about to come home (aided by Other Broyles? I hope!) and Peter has finally twigged to the fact that the woman he's been shacking up with is not actually the Olivia he thinks she is.  I can't wait to see what happens next (and not JUST because Josh Jackson spends some quality time in his skivvies though, I'll admit, that doesn't hurt).