Dream Emmy Ballot: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

This category is filled with a lot of new faces this year, mainly because many of the potential returners shows lost me.  There is no Tina Fey, Laura Linney, or Edie Falco, but this is the strongest I have seen this category in years.  These six women are some of the funniest/wittiest women on television today.


Laura Dern as Amy Jellicoe in Enlightened-I have to start with the statement, I hate this show!  The show made me me honestly cringe, and feel as though I never connected to the plot or the characters.  With that said Dern is fantastic in this role, and I would not want to begrudge the great work she did as a woman who has a breakdown only to come back spiritually enlightened.  The problem with individual spiritual enlightenment is that when you return to your real life the people around you have not had the same experiences.  Watch Amy navigate this experience, and also try and be more self assured is hilarious but also sad, great performance.

Zooey Deschanel as Jess in New Girl-Jess is is the perfect quirky girl; she started out the first episode breaking up with her boyfriend and moving in with three "bros" the plot sounds formulaic, and to an extent it is, but Deschanel is one of the cutest/funniest actresses on television today.  Watching Jess pretend to be Nick's girlfriend at a wedding so they could make his ex jealous was one of my favorite moments of the season.  Nick wants Jess to be normal, but there is no fighting the quirk and the changing the chemistry between these two.

Julia Louis Dreyfuss as Vice President Selena Meyer in Veep-Watching the Vice President have a pregnancy scare, mock an elected Asian official, and try and get legislation passed that the President kills are only three of the reasons this new show has hit it out of the park.  Veep is one of the funniest new shows of the season, and thanks largely to comedic timing of Julia Louis Dreyfuss.  Dreyfuss is one of the funniest women in television from Seinfeld to this; she has created fun new roles that make you want laugh so hard you pee your pants.  This is the role of a lifetime, and they picked the right person.

Lena Dunham as Hannah Horvath in Girls-Like or hate this show Dunham is one of young rising stars on television today, and her television series explores a new generation of young women today.  Dunham wrote and directed the entire first half of this first season.  Writing is her strength, but I am particularly wowed by the way she puts it all out there when she acts.  There is a natural ability she has to be frank with her character Hannah, and this allows her writing to shine, and for us to think she may be a little selfish and spoiled too.  Hannah is hilarious, and watching her debate with her parents why they should give her money and support her is one classic scene. 

Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation-Another great season for Poehler!  Leslie Knope ran for office without the help of an official team (and won).  In the middle she tried to win over an average joe voter, started dating broke up with, and started dating Ben again, she tried to get on her feet, and all in all this was one of the most fun rides for a strong comedic female character.  Knope was initially looking to be a rip off of Michael Scott, but they went in a new direction, and gave her character a beautiful heart.  Poehler is a comedic genius, and watching her navigate every step of the election was so much fun, mainly because she is one of the funniest ladies working.

Martha Plimpton as Virginia Chance in Raising Hope-Martha Plimpton is one talented lady, she plays this role so well, and I love her as an actress.  My favorite episode entitled "Poking Holes in the Story was one of her funniest moments of the season where she takes a job as a live in house and child sitter when she realizes all of Hope's toys have been recalled.  Plimpton is a riot, and she continues to be one the the many reasons to continue watching this show.

Television and Film Characters that I Wish I Could Date

Tonight while watching Parks and Recreation my crush on television character Ben Wyatt was furthered; he is one of the most adorkable characters on television.  This made me think about the other television and film characters that would be worth dating, or based on their character that I would like to be with.  This had nothing to do with looks although all of these guys are pretty darn attractive too.

Ben Wyatt (played by Adam Scott) Parks and Recreation-The man who started the list; he is smart, funny, dresses up like Batman, what more could I want?

Tom (played by Joseph Gordon Levitt) 500 Days of Summer-A hopeless romantic who even though there is a bit of an obsessive behavior, he a great funny guy, who likes The Smiths.

Noah (played by Ryan Gosling) The Notebook-He built her a house; he read to her everyday in the nursing home (while older), he climbed a Ferris Wheel to sit next to her, this guy has a crazy side to him, but wow is he the ultimate romantics fantasy.

Lloyd Dobler (played by John Cusack) Say Anything-Holding a boom box (yes a boom box not a ipod home) over your head and playing "In Your Eyes" nuff said.

Christian (played by Ewan McGregor) Moulin Rouge!-Love is many splendid thing, love lifts us up where we belong; he sings, and falls for a whore.  Christian has the soul of a poet, and there is something beautiful about his belief in love.

Sam Seaborn (played by Rob Lowe) The West Wing-A smart, sarcastic, political strategist who works in the White House, who wouldn't want to be with him?

Ferris Bueller (played by Matthew Broderick) Ferris Bueller's Day Off-He breaks all the rules, does what he wants, and still is a great guy, where are the real Ferris Buellers ?

Ben Bruckner (played by Robert Gant) Queer as Folk-The professor with the pecs of steel. I love Ben; he is one of the good guys on this show, not only does he stand up for his man, but he is one of the best boyfriends I have seen on television.

Hubbell (played by Robert Redford) The Way We Were-Your girl is lovely Hubbell, five of the most heartbreaking words ever spoken on film.  Hubbell is the jock, the boy next door, and has this soft beautiful side on the inside.

Marshall Eriksen (played by Jason Segel) How I Met Your Mother-Marshall has always been the perfect best friend, and husband, although he is a little (or a lot) awkward, he still is one of the best guys.

The Amazing Spider-Man Reboot Swings into Action with more Emotional Heft and Great Action Sequences

The Amazing Spider-Man (3 1/2 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer)

Written by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac), Alvin Sergent (Spiderman 2), Steve Kloves (Harry Potter series)

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Dennis Leary, Sally Field, and Martin Sheen

Reboots are a tough game.  Back when the development Batman Begins happened in the early 2000s all the way to the release in 2005 people were hesitant about the films chances for success.  Nolan was still a relative newcomer to the mainstream, but I think people felt ready to see a different side of The Dark Knight.  1997's Batman & Robin took the first franchise to a new low, and fans were hoping this film would heal the wounds.  Nolan succeeded, and gave reboots new hope.  Enter another superhero reboot.

The initial Spiderman franchise started ten years ago in 2002.  The film as well received, and launched the web slinger into Marvel's most successful franchise (watch out for the Avengers).  Spider-Man 2 was seen as the most successful film in the franchise, the reviews were stellar, and the film had the highest box office take of all three of the original films.  Then Sam Raimi was told the franchise would end at three so his 2007 film tried to combine everything to apease the fans, and it was one of the worst movies ever.  Spiderman 3 was the highest grossing film of the year but comic books fans regard this as one of the biggest mistakes in the comic book adaptation world.  How would Spider-Man fans recover?

Throughout the years after Spider-Man 3 there were rumors about what would happen next.  The first rumors started with the initial team of Sam Raimi, Tobey Marguire, and Kirsten Dunst all coming back and just continuing the story.  This did not work, so then it was rumored that just Raimi would return and there would be an origin story with new stars.  This fell though mainly because the studio did not like the direction of any of this.  So everything was scrapped, and we have a brand new film series with a new director, cast, and only one remaining writer from the original series.

The Amazing Spider-Man starts off with a young Peter Parker playing hide and seek with his father, and his father's office is broken into by someone unknown assailant. The Parkers rush out leaving Peter to live with his Aunt May (Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen).  The film jumps to a high school aged Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) in high school.   Peter finds his father's leather briefcase opening up a lot of questions about his parents death, and the reason they had to leave him, all of which connect to Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), and Oscorp where his father worked.  Peter's father was working on cross species genetics Curt Connors.  While visiting Oscorp and sneaking on a tour given by his crush Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone), when he sneaks away from the tour he walks into a room full of genetically engineered spiders, and of course is bitten.  Curt Connors also gives himself a chemical injection to help re grow his arm in order to test for chemicals that will help save the unseen dying Norman Osborn, this eventually transforms into the Lizard, and the action ensues.

The main question the film leaves you with is who was Peter's father, and what was his major secret.  The film takes the route of origins, much like Batman Begins, and takes things back more to the why and the reason behind the story.  This film builds the intrigue focusing on the darker side of everything connected to Spider-Man.  Many people say that this film did not need to exist, or that it's happening too soon, but the film should not be judged on this factor or compared to the original trilogy its part of a different world.  I like what the screenwriters did with this film, and yet most of the flaws or slow points needed to exist because they needed to establish the myth and lore for this new franchise.  I would add that the film should trim down the number of screenwriters because you can tell when action films have too many cooks contributing to the pot because they all have different visions that fracture the story.  

I am glad Marc Webb was there to save the day, and balance out the structure of the film.  Webb who has only one other major film to his credit (500 Days of Summer) did a solid job with his first action flick, and constructed some great action sequences.  The key to his direction is something his predecessor missed, and that's using his great subtle emotional context to build the story to be even stronger.  Webb does this by creating a more angtsy nerdy Peter Parker with Andrew Garfield, who captures the role so much better than Tobey Maguire; he has the quick wit and charm.  Webb also bases  Spidey's love story with Gwen Stacey in a more realistic tone.  Watching these two on screen is magical, and part of this could be because they are dating in real life.  Either way the emotional deft of this film is incredbly strong, and even when Uncle Ben died I felt more this time (although that could be because Martin Sheen is one of my favorite actors).

I started out trying not to compare the original series with this current reboot, and that is tough to do, mainly because of the close time frame for the release, but there is something deep seated within this film that has me more excited.  There seems to be a method, and process that will this film and the next one after it to be something along the lines of the Batman series reboot.  This film is more fun, and feels the way a film about Spider-Man should feel.  My Spidey sense is tingling with anticipation to see where things go.

Dream Emmy Ballot: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

This group of six men is incredibly unique, two of the men are playing themselves, three of the men were or still are comedians, and Alec Baldwin and Steve Carell are gone from this list.  This year's leading men are a bunch of off the wall oddball, atypical leading men.  This is one of my favorite categories this year, and is one of the strongest line-ups I have seen in years.

Larry David as Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm-After a brief hiatus the Curb team returned for for another great season, one of their best.  Larry used an excuse to get out of doing something, and ventured to New York City.  Before Larry went to the East Coast and scuffled with Michael J. Fox and Rosie he dealt with a mini-dilemma, whether or not to eat from a Palestinian chicken restaurant with amazing chicken.  The episode entitled Palestinian Chicken is one of the funniest half an hours of television I have ever seen!  David is spot on, and I never laughed harder then when the Palestinian waitress is sleeping with him and insulting him calling him a "dirty Jew"...he takes it because she is beautiful.  David was great all season, and he could finally win this year.

Garett Dillahunt as Burt Chance in Raising Hope-One half of one of the funniest duos of television today.  Burt Chance is not the sharpest, but even with his lower intellect he is one of the funniest leading men on television today.  Of these six men Burt is one of the most real characters; he is a great father, husband, and granddad.  From the first time you meet this guy pushing a guy into thorns while he pees you can see that he he remains a man child, but throughout the second season he has become more hilarious, and the character is even better than in the first.

Louis C.K. as Louis C. K. in Louie-Louis C. K. is one of the funniest men on television today.  I love watching his facial expressions; he is incredibly straight faced, but also looks appalled by many of the crazy situations he has gotten into.  I think my favorite moment was his interaction with Joan Rivers this season, these two had this great chemistry, and as she is trying to mentor him he goes for a kiss.  Awkward, she hits him, and begrudgingly accepts.  Louis C.K. reminds me of Seinfeld but funnier than Jerry himself. He uses the situational crazy antics of New York, his daughters, and his broken marriage to find the hilarity in life, and makes it work so well.

Joel McHale as Jeff Winger in Community-Winger zingers are the best.  From day one Jeff Winger has fought hard against being considered part of this study group, but as he feels more at home he has developed into an even better character.  In "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism" we get explore the more vulnerable side of Jeff's younger years where we find out Shirley bullied him when the were younger.  McHale has great chemistry with Yvette Nicole Brown and they make an brilliant comedic duo.  McHale is great in this show, and his "cool" ways as Jeff Winger always add a little fun to the group especially when he is getting kicked out of biology class or helping investigate the death of a yam.

Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt in Parks and Recreation-Too many people have been ignoring this man.  While this was the year of Leslie Knope and her campaign, I was more enamored with her campaign manager Ben Wyatt (that could be mainly because I think he's cuter), but more because he is one of the funniest people on the show.  Ben had a lot of great moments from defending Leslie at a bowling alley, to being an out of work calzone maker, to Leslie's campaign manager, but my personal favorite Ben moment was watching him try to "Treat Yourself" and buy and dress up in a Batman outfit, one of the funniest moments of the season.  The real question "Is Batman Crying?"

Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory-Knock "Penny" Knock "Penny" Knock "Penny" Knock "Penny" Knock "Penny"...Parsons is one of the funniest men in television today.  Sheldon Cooper is emotionally vacant mainly he has no use for sarcasm only straight forward dialogue that furthers what he needs and wants.  In the "The Friendship Contraction" Sheldon keeps Leonard up all night with emergency preparedness, and then Leonard refuses to take him so some appointments, which causes the two to hilariously revisit their roommate agreement.  In the fifth season Sheldon finally admits Amy is his girlfriend, and this took his character to a whole new level.

In Memoriam: Andy Griffith

Ladies and gentleman it's official Matlock has passed away!  Reading this news to me was one of the saddest parts of the day.  I grew up watching both The Andy Griffith Show (begrudgingly, my dad loved it), Matlock which I loved.  I have this thing for watching old people solve crimes, Murder She Wrote, Burke's Law, Perry Mason, Diagnosis Murder, and of course Matlock.

Andy Griffith first on to the scene in the 1950s in variety shows like Ed Sullivan and The Steve Allen Show, but it was the role of Sheriff Andy Taylor that made him the most famous.  Andy Griffith starred in The Andy Griffith show from 1960-1968.  The show that made Ron Howard a name, and set him on the path the become and eventual Oscar winner.  The Andy Griffith Show was a semi-spin off from the The Danny Thomas show wherein one of the episodes was entitled "Danny Meets Andy."  The show also had two spin offs Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C and Mayberry R.F.D.  The gang got back together for a television movie entitled Return to Mayberry (1986).

1986 was a great year for Andy Griffith because not only did he return to Mayberry, but he created the character of Ben Matlock.  Matlock was about a defense lawyer in Atlanta who did his best to prove that his client was innocent of the crime.  The show ran for 9 years, and left the air in 1995 on the precipice of the new wave in television drama.  The show was a massive hit with older crowds, and relaunched his career.

Grffiths most recent role in the film Waitress earned him a lot of praise, but the actor was never a magnet for awards; he was only nominated for one Emmy for a television movie.  This man was treasure, and will be greatly missed.  I am going to need to find an episode of Matlock to watch to ease the pain.  Andy Griffith was 86.

Moonrise Kingdom Reigns Over the Typical Blockbusters of the Summer with Wit and Charm

Moonrise Kingdom (4 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums)

Written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (The Darjeeling Limited)

Starring: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, and Edward Norton

Throughout the years Wes Anderson has constructed a variety of quirky films for his repertoire that have told many different tales.  From his initial film Bottle Rocket, which started out as a short film to his animated feature film Fantastic Mr. Fox Anderson has weaved magic in the world of film.  There have been some great crowning jewels in his crown like Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.  There have also been a few that missed their mark, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited.  With Kingdom Anderson reigns over the typical blockbuster films of the season and focuses on young love, the concept of family, and throw in some quirk you have one of the funniest, beautiful films of the year.

Moonrise Kingdom centers around  the young love between two children Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward).  Sam is a little off kilter; he does not fit in with the other khaki scouts.  Sam was orphaned as a young child, and he feels as though he has nothing to lose in his adventurous life.  Meanwhile Suzy comes from a family intact although not happy.  Suzy may be even more disturbed even though her parents Laura Bishop (Frances McDormand) and Walt Bishop (Bill Murray) treat her and her brothers with love and care.  While with his khaki scouts Sam flees to find Suzy whom he met a year earlier.  Soon after Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton) and Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) work to track down the children, while the children embark on their own adventure.

Within the last few years Anderson has created worlds that stretch the imagination, and make the audience part of this surreal place.  In this film Anderson takes us to an island in 1965, where they two children, their families, and the other characters seem to be part of world that does not even exist, as if this were a fantasy.  Anderson along with fellow screenwriter Roman Coppola never take things to a level that feels phony or Burtonesque.  Anderson's directions helps ground this fantastically witty dialogue that helps keeps this film weather the storm of becoming more than he can handle.

One of the bravest things he does is use two younger stars who have never been in a major film to carry the entire story.  Gilman and Hayward are two of the most talented young people I have seen on screen in years.  They are raw, and vulnerable.  I was lost in their performances and felt as though I wanted to watch them on screen forever.  I do not know if you can say that two twelve years olds can have chemistry, but this film uses the concept of young love so well that it's impossible to deny.  Anderson seems to have poured his heart and soul into this film declaring that children can act nonsensical, so can adults.  Wes Anderson's parents divorced while he was at a young age and you can't help but wonder if some of his own emotional weight is set in these two young performers, and the struggle they go through with being different, and finding one another.

With that said Anderson does an incredible job making the children the center focus of the story while creating interesting and complex supporting characters out of the major stars.  Murray and McDormand are great are Suzy's parents, and they add their brilliant comic flare.  Norton rarely gets to flex his comedic chops, which is a shame because he is a talented actor who can do it all, and I love watching him take his role as Troop Leader 55 so seriously.  I was struck most by Bruce Willis; he hit this role out of the park, and has done some of the best acting I have ever seen him do, his raw emotion mixed with great wit is terrific in this film.  Then there were the great small roles for the flawless Tilda Swinton, the straight man Harvey Keitel, and the incredible Jason Schwartzman who always shines in his films.

The movie is a breath of fresh air in a Summer filled with films that have tried too hard.  In all context Moonrise Kingdom is a great film, which made me, smile, laugh, and nostalgic for the simplistic nature of older films that know how to be genuine.  This film used cinematography and editing the capture the nature of classical film structure, not as a gimmick, but to fit within the context of the film.  Today films as stuck on gimmicks, but Anderson knows better, and that's what makes this film stand above the rest.

Ted Extends the Fun of Family Guy into a Live Action, Implausible, Film

Ted (3 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Seth MacFarlene (Family Guy)

Written by Seth MacFarlene, Alec Sulkin, and Wellesley Wild 

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and Seth MacFarlene

I am avid fan of Family Guy, and although its brand of humor is off putting to many I think creator Seth MacFarlene has pushed the envelope and made a creative television series.  As of late the show has become more stale, and even MacFarlene himself would say that the Griffin family has done what they needed to do, but the show is a juggernaut, and helped his film become the highest grossing film at the box office this weekend.  Ted is able to the put the R rated spin on MacFarlene's humor, and that let's the film spread its wings and be itself, mindless fun.

Ted is about a young boy named John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) who is unpopular and as Patrick Stewart narrates even someone the Jewish boys make fun of.  On Christmas John gets a Teddy bear, and with bear he finds a new best friend, and wishes for it to be real.  When John wakes up he finds that Ted has come to life and he runs to tell his parents, with one of my favorite cameos being Alex Borstein (his mom) that Ted has come to life.  Ted runs into the room, and rightfully so freaks out his parents, but they soon realize their son has found a new friend, and let him have his toy.  They also have him do the talk show circuit.  As the years pass by Ted and John remain friends, and never seem to grow up.  In the meantime John meets Lori (Mila Kunis) they are four years into their relationship, and looking to move forward, but a grown man with a teddy bear for a best friend is not an easy thing to deal with.

Ted is irreverent, crude, mindless, pointless, lacks depth, much like most of MacFarlene's other work, and yet it is similarly hilarious.  MacFarlene knows what he is doing; he knows his audience, and how to create something that is meant to be exactly what its supposed to be.  Ted does not pretend to be anything other than a mind numbing comedy, and I say way to go.  I thought the film was entertaining, and I laughed a lot.  Wahlberg and Kunis have great chemistry, Marky Mark is pretty damn hilarious, and should do more comedy; he was so great in I Heart Huckabees too.  Yet MacFarlene steals the show off and on screen; he does the voice for Ted, and is hilarious, he even makes fun of the fact that his voice does not sound like Peter Griffin.  

The film is no masterpiece and has a lot of flaws, but in a film like this flaws are not the point.  The film is meant to be fun, and that exactly what Ted is.  MacFarlene knows funny, and Ted is one of the funnier movies I have seen this year, all I have to say is do not do a sequel or a television show.