Brooklyn Nine-Nine

After tearfully finishing the series finale of Parks and Recreation, I needed to immediately watch another show to pick me up out of the post-finale sadness. I turned to Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a sitcom co-created by Daniel Goor and Michael Shur (Shur co-produced Parks and Rec in addition to The Office). So I figured this would be a good choice. As far as pilots go, it definitely caught my interest.

The sitcom follows smart but immature NYPD Detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and his fellow detectives plus conflict with the new commanding officer Ray Holt (Andre Braugher). The pilot opens with a very close up & melodramatic monologue from Peralta. Even though the opening is meant to be comical on Peralta's part, it still drew me in because there was dramatic music, a close-up shot to show intense emotion, and even some slow-motion movement. It was a quote from another movie, but nonetheless it made me want to keep watching. Peralta's monologue is cut off by his partner Detective Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) trying to solve the crime, and changes to a single-camera shooting method with many fast zooms. (very similar to The Office and Parks and Recreation styles). Throughout the episode, Peralta finds that all of his work methods are under scrutiny by Holt, including, but not limited to, his lack of cooperation to wear a tie, slightly offensive comments, and method of capturing criminals.

The secondary characters (the other detectives) are introduced by the Sergeant; there is b-roll of the character doing something ridiculous while he narrates the basic characteristics of their character. They include Detective Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), Detective Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio), and Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti). They are all very funny, have great chemistry with the main characters, and contribute a lot to the story.

The seeds of other funny storylines have also been planted, such as the rivalry between Peralta and Santiago. They have a bet for who can make more arrests; if she makes more arrests then he has to give her his nice car, and if he makes more arrests then she must go on a date with him. There is clearly a lot of sexual tension between them, so I suspect some sort of relationship will develop. It was also revealed later in the episode that the new captain is gay, so future episodes will probably lean on that fact heavily. 

I really enjoyed the pilot, and will most likely watch more episodes in the near future. (Especially since Andy Samberg is one of my favorite comedy actors).

Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been a hit so far and has recieved very positive reviews and awards! At the 2014 Golden Globes it won for Best Television Series (Comedy) and for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series (Andy Samberg). It has also just been renewed for a third season! 

You can catch episodes of the series on Hulu.

Argo Review

Last night, instead of seeing yet another Die Hard movie, my date and I spent Valentines day seeing one of this year's Oscar contenders, Argo.  My date despises Ben Affleck, and went into the movie not expecting to like it, where I on the other hand am a fan of Mr. Affleck and expected only to love this movie.  Surly Argo did not disappoint and brought a fascinating story that I know nothing about, to the big screen with amazing direction and a thrilling plot.  Argo has won almost every major award this season and of course is nominated for 7 Oscar nominations for next weekend's celebration.

The biggest surprise surrounding the movie; however, is Ben Affleck's snub for best director.  I could not agree more.  The directing of this movie is what I think is strongest in this film.  Although the 7 other nominations are well deserved, I think Ben Affleck's directing is brilliant, connecting such a secretive, complicated story into a 2 hour film.  The only thing I did not like about his directing was the multitude of close-up's on Affleck's face. (He also stared in the movie as Tony Mendez.)  Although Affleck is a handsome man, no one looks good in the 70's and the close ups on his face were ridiculous and unnecessary.

The plot was complicated and detailed, but this is something I can not complain about because it's not just a script it is in fact real life.  The story follows Affleck's character Mendez using a faux Hollywood movie made my Canadian filmmakers to enter Iran and help 6 hostages escape.  The story is amazing and I can not believe this is based on a real event.  It absolutely blows my mind, and the use of found footage from the time was incredibly well planned and used to the best of it's ability.  I really felt like I was in 1979 / 1980.

The film is also up for best picture at the Oscars, which is no surprise after it won best picture for the BAFTAS, Critics Choice, and Golden Globes.  However looking at the other nominees this year I would not give Argo the oscar.  I believe it is a wonderful film and Affleck should be nominated; but I don't think it can even compare to a film like Zero Dark Thirty.  Alan Arkin is also nominated for his role in the film as a big shot Hollywood producer.  His story arch is absolutely hilarious, but won't win him the award.  John Goodman, Victor Garber, Brian Craynston, and Kyle Chandler also do a phenomenal job in the film, but this was really not an acting piece.  It was all about the plot and the history and I am happy how it turned out.  They added in a story line about Affleck's character Mendez and his family, which I found extremely irrelevant to the plot and hurt it more than helped.  You did not need to humanize his character it was not a strong enough relationship with the audience that we cared about his character or his family, and if that sub-plot was eliminated I think it would have overall been a much stronger film.

However I still give it an A and loved watching it and would love to know more about the Iranian hostage situation.  Argo does not disappoint.

Django Unchained and Christoph Waltz

Over the holidays, I managed to make it to the movies three times. Two of those three times were to see the new Quentin Tarantino spaghetti western flick “Django Unchained”. Django was an absolutely brilliant film, combining all the qualities you expect from a Tarantino flick and then some. You were given the proverbial Tarantino gore, witty banter, and slew of absolute brilliantly written characters, but also saw the intertwining of an unforeseen amount of humor (the KKK scene? BRILLIANT) with a compelling love story that drove the film’s protagonist throughout this entire elaborate and entertaining plot. All while taking place in the cruel and slavery infested era that is the 1850’s south.

What made “Django Unchained” even more incredible, and what I personally loved about it, was the absolute exceptional casting and performance by the actors. While they were all brilliant, Christoph Waltz (Dr. King Shultz) was on another level as far as I’m concerned. What astounded me about Waltz’s performance was that he was not only able to portray this very intellectual character so fluidly with his unconditional charm and enunciated vocabulary, but also capture the roughness and danger that is the bounty hunter. As you know, he won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor for this performance and still awaiting to see if he can go for two for two with his Oscar nomination in the same category. Waltz won the Oscar two years ago for his role as “Hans Landa” in Inglorious Basterds. I think it’s safe to say that if Waltz should work exclusively on Tarantino films for the rest of his career, well he’d be just fine.

Best Director?

The nominations for the 2013 Academy Awards came out earlier this month and as always there quite a few movies that were left out. I think the biggest snub of all the nominations was that Ben Affleck was not even nominated for the Best Director category. I found it shocking that Affleck, who won Best Director at the Golden Globes and his movie Argo won Best Picture, was not even nominated for the Oscars. He seemed like the front runner to win the Best Director award but I guess the Academy saw it differently. Argo is a brillant and excellent film about a CIA agent who helps six American fugitives in Iran escape the country during a revolution. It stars Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman. I think Affleck did an incredible job and him not being nominated is a shame. Personally, I think Argo was the best movie of the year I'm rooting for it to win Best Picture at the Oscar's.

Argo