Entourage - Season 8

I'm not really sure who Entourage's final season was for. If you watch television critically and hope for consistent character development and well-considered, intelligent plotting, Entourage is too far-gone to provide that and too poorly written to attempt to salvage it in eight episodes. If you like shows that have funny lines and swearing and boobs, you won't find much of that at all here either. In fact, the whole season can be seen as a betrayal of what the show fundamentally is in an attempt to provide an emotional resolution and closure for these characters, which doesn't even succeed at doing so. It's not painful to watch, because as always, the show is slickly produced, features solid chemistry among the core characters, and is easy just to have on the TV. But I have to imagine they failed at whatever goal they were trying to reach by ending the show on their own terms.

The show has always been about poking fun at Hollywood while somewhat believably depicting the ups and downs of someone's career while living in that system. That's not really here though, Vince puts a little effort into helping Drama's acting and Turtle's business ventures, but for the most part the season is about him, E, and Ari trying to get the women of their dreams, or getting them back. And of the five central characters, only Ari comes close to having a satisfying arc in this final season. The rest of the subplots either have resolutions that are too easy and unearned, or merely stop once they reach high points rather than coming to a natural finish. It's obvious that they're leaving in the opportunity for a movie down the line, a movie that I will probably rent once it's on home video, if only because I felt slightly cheated out of seeing the parts of Entourage that are at least mildly enjoyable one last time. Entourage was never a great show, but it used to be a fun one, and that's been missing for a while. I would compare Entourage's final season to a quiet little fart right before you fall asleep.

Entourage - Season 7

I'll just say I'm glad that next year will be the final season, and that it will be shorter than usual. Entourage was fun for the first few years, but it's slowly lost appeal with time as more people have fallen off the bandwagon and it fails to grow creatively. It's just reached the point where nothing interesting is happening to the characters. Turtle has another girlfriend who's way too hot for him, and gets involved in a business that results in the show's most absurd string of pointless celebrity cameos yet. Drama's still having trouble getting a job. E still has a job... and he's still getting married to Sloan... and that's it.

The other two main threads are a bit more interesting, but not handled with much originality or panache. Ari's anger finally starts to get him in trouble, both publicly and with his wife. It could be an interesting story, if watching Ari explode at people wasn't one of the only things still entertaining about this show. And we come to the big one, Vince's fall from grace. It starts when he becomes an adrenaline junkie after an accident on set. Then he starts dating a porn star (actual porn star Sasha Grey playing herself), then he gets into way heavier drugs, and then he becomes a total jerk and alienates everyone who likes him. It's a typical Hollywood tale, told with no real grace and hard to care about with Vince unable to either sympathize himself or at least make the downfall look compelling. Didn't this show used to be fun? I can hardly remember anymore. I'll watch it limp to the finish line, but I'm not too excited to do so.

Entourage - Season 6

So, the show continues. I've seen a lot of backlash more recently about how the show constantly repeats itself and how nothing really happens. I don't know if the writers took that to heart or what, but this season felt somewhat different from the last couple. For one thing, Vince's career is not an issue this time. There's no worrying about his next payday or getting another project off the ground. They've jumped forward to the premiere of the Scorsese movie, and yay it's a hit. And he already has another film lined up. The story this time is about E's renewed passion for Sloan and attempt at legitimizing his managing, Turtle's relationship with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Drama continuing to assassinate his own career, and Lloyd getting Tired of Ari as he goes possibly more power-mad than ever.

While it does thankfully cover new ground, some of the other issues are still there. Episodes will often begin and end with nothing really changing. There's a stalker plot that goes nowhere, E wasting time with an insane, not very attractive girl (which probably suits him realistically but oh well), and an episode where they go golfing with Tom Brady and Mark Wahlberg and that's about it. Occasional celebrity cameos as themselves are still funny, like Jeffrey Tambor being a dishonest prick and Matt Damon strong-arming Vince into helping his charity for kids. The season ends on a pretty happy note for most of the characters, though I still have some trouble seeing what's the long-term goal for the show. There's been 78 episodes now, and they haven't done much with them besides basically say "Yo, check it out, Hollywood!" I still enjoy watching it usually, I'm just curious about why I am bothering.

Entourage - Season 5

Is it just me, or is the season when I catch up on an HBO show always the worst? Season 5 of Entourage isn't bad, but it's still easily the weakest. There are still some standout moments, and the episode where the gang does mushrooms in the desert is probably the funniest in the series. The cast is solid as always, especially... wait for it... Ari! He's still loud and insensitive. I can't tell if Drama's continuous spiral downward after a breakup was good or bad for his character, but he always provides some entertainment. Turtle gets involved with the series' most ludicrous hookup, and that's just the start of the hard to believe parts of the season.

The problem is that they go too far showing Vince's career go down in flames after the disastrous failure of Medellin. A bomb can hurt your career, but it was only a $30 million project (I love how they don't even bother showing what happens to the financier by the way even though that was basically all his money), and he's starred in some very successful films previously, so it shouldn't have been enough to make him virtually unemployable even if he does have an uncooperative reputation. And if you're going to say his career's that far gone, at least don't let him bounce back with one of the most desirable projects possible based on some dailies from a $100 million canceled movie that he helped tank. It always seemed like the show was trying to show what the business was like, but this time I didn't buy it. Still, watching it from moment to moment was still fun and I'm ready for more.

Entourage - Season 4

Entourage continued to slightly tweak the formula in its fourth season, although not everything changed, and not everything that changed was for the better. The first episode is a departure, showing the production of Medellin as a mockumentary like The Office instead of its normal form. Whereas earlier seasons always focused on securing a new project for Vince, this time Eric's career gets the spotlight as he attempts to expand his managing business beyond just his best friend. There's a lot of worry about Medellin, with Eric worried that it sucks despite it getting accepted into Cannes and having a good looking trailer get leaked on the Internet. For a while things are looking good, with a new film from the same team close to becoming a reality, but ultimately the season ends on a lower note than any of the first three.

It seemed like some characters stepped forward and others stepped back. Piven won his third Emmy and first Golden Globe for this season, and he was great as usual. It wasn't just the angry rants this time, he actually showed a little more emotional depth. Eric has an entertaining story arc with Anna Faris, although it ends the way things usually end for him. I was hoping the success of his new show would make Drama evolve a little as a character, but he and Turtle continue to be stuck in the mire of the typical sex and drug antics they're always involved in. It makes me wonder whether the show really wants to be an accurate portrayal of Hollywood life or just a silly, vulgar comedy. I didn't mind any of that too terribly though.

Entourage - Season 3

The third season of Entourage is a bit weird in that it's the longest in the show's run by quite a bit and took a break halfway through that lasted for half a year. In fact, the second half aired much closer to season four that it did to its own first half. Still, you can tell that it's all part of the same story arc; the long arduous process of creating Medellin. It's the movie that Vince and Eric have wanted since the beginning of the series, and it's failed repeatedly as numerous things seem to be conspiring to stop it from happening. The length allows the season to be more tumultuous than the first two, as project after project falls apart before they get off the ground, and Vince and Ari even split for a while at one point.

It seems like they're trying to show a different side of Hollywood, a slightly uglier one. It's not all making money and partying, there's lots of backstabbing as people who don't really like each other have to come to delicate agreements. It doesn't lose its spirit though, as the gang still has time to have some fun, and Johnny Drama finally gets a break. It's not quite as carefree and fun as before, but Piven's great in his second straight Emmy-winning performance, and it's still a nice, fast watch.

Entourage - Season 2

The second season of Entourage picks up a few months after the first one ended, with Vince and the guys coming back from filming Queens Boulevard. Then unfolds the epic story of Aquaman, as every possible thing that could go wrong does as they try to put a movie together. Worries about whether Vince actually has the job or not, conflicts of interest with other projects and actors, trouble getting James Cameron on board when the director of Boulevard won't screen it for him, and so on. I don't know how accurate a picture of the Hollywood business it really is, but it's easily entertaining enough to keep watching.

The characters develop as much as the plot, too. Vince and Eric butt heads some more, but come out as friends in the end anyway. Johnny Drama continues to try to get his career back, although pretty often his storylines devolve into really awkward humor. Turtle's also a little more likable when things occasionally don't go his way and he actually works for a thing or two. Ari really comes into his own too, and I can totally see why Piven gets so much love for his work, he's completely the most consistently funny and interesting character in the series. His angry rants and the way he bounces off of everyone he works with and against are always fun. I still think he's the only truly humorous character on the show, but there's enough there to make it worth watching.

Entourage - Season 1

Entourage is the kind of comedy that isn't terribly humorous, but still has likable enough characters and goes by fast enough to be an enjoyable use of time. I can't really think of anything else that fits that description, but that's basically what it is. Based on producer Mark Wahlberg's life as a young guy in Hollywood, Entourage is about the charmed life of Vince Chase, an up and coming actor. He lives with some people from back home; there's Johnny, his brother who's trying to get back into the acting game himself; best friend and manager Eric who's in just as much of a starring role; and Turtle, another friend who drives him around and contributes very little to the show. They get along pretty well, often playing tricks on or cracking jokes about each other, but still long-time companions who support each other. Ari Gold is Vince's Agent, played by Jeremy Piven, and judging by his four straight years of Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and four statues, people really like him as this character.

And he's been the funniest part of the show so far, but it's only been eight episodes, so it's too early for a real judgment. In the first season, Vince's new movie with Jessica Alba comes out and does pretty well in the first weekend, and then he agrees to do an indie film back in New York with an eccentric director. And that's about it. Eric has some girl problems. Eight episodes breezed by pretty quick, and this is really the sort of show that you can just consume immediately without realizing it. It's like television junk food, not terrible fulfilling but easy to eat. There are a lot of cameos by famous actors playing themselves or weird characters, like Val Kilmer as a pot growing Sherpa. I feel like saying too much more about eight episodes would just be repeating myself so I'll stop.

Smokin' Aces

I checked this out for roughly the same reasons as the last two movies, but it's not really that similar to them. Carnahan's script tries very desperately to be smart and stylish, although it only partially succeeds at times. There are a lot of different characters with similar amounts of screen time, and it was a little difficult to even say who the stars were, so I just went with the two "good" guy feds. I think Ryan Reynolds should probably stick with comedy. Part of me wants to say he's fine in a serous role, but I think that's really just thinking he can grow a pretty nice beard. Ray Liotta never did that much with his career after Goodfellas, although he always seems to do a good job when he appears. Plenty of other large and small names make appearances, from Ben Affleck to Jason Bateman to Jeremy Piven to Andy Garcia and a bunch of people you probably don't know by name but recognize when you see them. Common and Alicia Keys also make their acting debuts, and they're not bad enough that I'd want to make a lame comment about sticking to their music careers.

All of these characters lead to a lot of craziness that could turn into a jumbled mess, although it never does. Basically, Smokin' Aces is a movie about a couple of FBI guys going to pick up Piven's character (nicknamed "Aces"), a mob witness, before a plethora of hitmen descend on him to pick up the seven figure reward on his head. They all want to smoke Aces. Get it? Chaos ensues, with lots of shooting and stabbing happening everywhere all over a casino. It's over the top most of the time, with hookers running around, sniper rifles so powerful they can knock you over, and a trio called the Tremors adding plate armor and chainsaws to the mix. A bunch of fairly entertaining stuff happens with the requisite subterfuge and betrayal before the rug is pulled out with a plot twist after all the action's died down. A few plot points seem a little vague, but it's a decent enough story in the end. The movie's never as thoroughly entertaining as it obviously wants to be, but it wasn't too bad. If anything, it does well balancing all the pieces it throws in the air.