How I Met Your Mother - Season 6

I'm a little conflicted about this season. On one hand, it was funnier and more clever than last year, when the show was still pretty good but didn't quite have the creative spark it did earlier. The gimmicks came back in a big way, and while relying on tricks to get by can seem tacky and often result in stuff that just doesn't play well, this show makes it work. It's part of its charm - the jokes aren't usually as sharp as some better comedies, but the cast is a lot of fun and they're always trying new things, messing around with time and hidden clues. I think this season did well with that stuff, and it was generally funny too.

On the other hand, the amount of progress we're making towards the show's promised end game is pretty pathetic. I know it's silly to complain about the overarching plot in a sitcom, but the show is called How I Met Your Mother, and every single episode features Bob Saget using narration to frame the story within the context of his long journey towards maturation and finally meeting the woman of his dreams. All we really learned this year is that Ted won't meet her until he's at someone else's wedding, and now we have to wait for that character to get married before he can really get anywhere. I believe the show has been renewed for two more seasons, and if that marks the show's end and he doesn't meet her until the finale - well, eight years is a heck of a lot of background to give your kids before you get to the point of the story.

Again, it's a sitcom - the point of the show is to entertain the viewer with jokes and likable personalities. But the writers of this show have always obviously put more effort into the story that you have to in these cases, and I just want it to pay off. We don't really know if the show will end when they meet or if it will keep going to show how they get together, though the former seems more likely as each season passes by without them meeting, and the hints and gotchas are starting to become a strain on the series, and a satisfying ending seems like a difficult proposition. Not that they can't do it, but I'll be impressed if they do.

The whole issue is affecting the week by week course of the show, too. It's gotten to the point where I can no longer give a crap about any of Ted's relationships anymore, because I know that these women aren't going to end up mattering. This entire season found him balancing a woman with a professional conflict she caused, and it was frustrating because I knew, and the writers knew, and everyone knew that it was a dead end. The show has had success here in the past, but it's starting to not work anymore. Luckily Marshall and Lily were really strong this year, particularly Jason Segel's Marshall, who had probably the best single season of development and growth of anyone yet in the series. Their family changed and and moved forward while Ted and to a similar extent Robin and Barney basically spun their wheels. I'm going to keep watching the show because it's still fun and I still have hope for the long term elements, but I'm definitely less confident than I was before.

Starship Troopers

Paul Verhoeven did a few pretty enjoyable, over-the-top action movies in his day, and if all you care about is violence, there's quite a bit to like about Starship Troopers. There's a lot of alien bugs getting shot hundreds of times and peppered with explosives, and a lot of humans getting eviscerated to shreds. The visual effects hold up surprisingly well even 13 years later, and while I have to say the human's strategy for taking on their foe is amazingly stupid, I had a pretty good time watching it. The problem to me is the way the film seems to treat its source material with contempt. It only became an adaptation of Robert Heinlein's novel partway through development, and Verhoeven has said publicly he couldn't finish it because he hated it so much, and yet he's the guy who made the movie. People point to the movie's idiocy and call it satire, but what's the point of only parodying the book your film is based on, a then-38 year old novel that most of your audience isn't going to be familiar with? It's an exercise in pointlessness. From what I've heard about the book, a modern adaptation could have been really interesting, but instead they decided to misrepresent its politics and philosophy and dress the good guys up like Nazis.

So yeah, the movie is aggressively dumb throughout its running time. I shudder to think of a future where Denise Richards is smart enough to be considered an excellent candidate for a military pilot position. Casper Van Dien is the attractive main character you haven't heard a thing about in the last decade, and he's equally as irritating. Neil Patrick Harris is made unlikable on the rare occasion when he shows up, and the rest of the cast is just hard to believe as soldiers who are supposed to be trained enough to take on gigantic monsters. Michael Ironside is bad ass as always, but he's the only character I can say I liked. Oh, and Amy Smart is another pilot. God help us all. The movie drags whenever the humans aren't getting torn to pieces, and it definitely tries too hard to be funny. Paul Verhoeven thrives when he's shooting something ludicrously bloody and violent, but pretty much anything else and he's a bad choice. There were parts of this movie I definitely liked, but I really didn't enjoy its tone or a great deal of its content. I won't go so far as to call it unwatchable, but it's pretty regrettable.

How I Met Your Mother - Season 5

So can Ted meet his kids' mother now? I can't say I'm not a little tired of them dancing around the topic. Are they deathly afraid to actually introduce her or something? It's been five years. I think people like the characters enough that they'll stick around to see how things continue to develop. This year they even went so far as to have Ted be in the same classroom as her and even be standing in her apartment. Come on. Your kids don't need this much background information.

Oh well. I still enjoy the show despite the increasing feeling that they're just messing with me. The Barney/Robin throwdown turned out to be a waste of time, but otherwise it was pretty fun. Lots of good callbacks, like the continuation of the slap bet, revealing Barney's actual playbook, and another of the gang's doppelgangers showing up. They finished up the umbrella storyline, though without actually doing much with it. I realize none of this makes sense to people who don't watch the show, but HIMYM is that rare thing, a traditional sitcom that actually rewards frequent viewing and develops its characters rather than just throwing bad relationship jokes at the wall for twenty minutes before everyone learns a lesson. I can't honestly say it's as funny as it's ever been, but there's still lots of great bits like Barney's musical ode to suits and showing people's emotional problems as actual baggage. I still really like watching it, I just hope they actually go somewhere with the supposed premise soon.

Characters of the Decade: Part 5

And we reach the thrilling conclusion. If there's one thing that astounded me, it's how many of these actors had a "Mc" in their name. This sure was a lot of work, but pretty rewarding. I hope it's been as enjoyable to read as it was to put together.

Dr. Horrible
Neil Patrick Harris - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog


"Oh, goodness, look at my wrist. I gotta go!"

Neil Patrick Harris is currently one of my favorite people in Hollywood, and this is the largest contributing factor. During the writers' strike Joss Whedon and a bunch of likable actors came together and made one of the most simply enjoyable things of the year a musical comedy about a sympathetic super villain. Neil makes you laugh, he sings, and in the end he's both a tragic figure and the true bad guy he always wanted to be. There's a bit of dissonance regarding how he intended to get the nice girl and take over the world at the same time, but watching him stumble through it was great.

The Joker
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight


"How about a magic trick? I'm gonna make this pencil disappear."

The Joker has always been probably the most popular villain in comic books, appearing constantly in adaptations as well. But one thing Ledger did with the character before his unfortunate death was pretty unique: making him scary. There's always been something disturbing about him, because nobody has any idea what he really wants or how far he'll go for it. But with this movie, they took it farther than most people are used to and created possibly the most memorable villain ever in this sort of blockbuster. Unpredictable, darkly hilarious and sad that this is the last we'll see of that particular performance.

Kirk Lazarus
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder


"Everybody knows you never go full retard."

I enjoyed Tropic Thunder quite a bit, but without Downey's performance it would have been pretty mediocre. The Lazarus personality itself is fine, but the character's unrelenting dedication to the role of Lincoln Osiris despite being stranded in the middle of the jungle is pretty amazing. Maybe a bit offensive, sure, but still comedy gold. And the jokes come not from him being a white guy pretending his black, but from just how great that black guy is at messing with people. Every moment he spends with Ben Stiller's character is worth watching more than once. Awesome stuff.

Lafayette Reynolds
Nelsan Ellis - True Blood


"Jesus and I agreed to see other people, but that don't mean we still don't talk time to time."

True Blood was much more enjoyable in its second season, but during the first it was pretty much Ellis' work that prevented it from being a complete train wreck. It can't be easy being a gay black man in the south, but Lafayette thrives there, not taking shit from anyone. He has a rougher go of it in the second season thanks to being kidnapped by vampires, and honestly putting him through it sapped him of a bit of his greatness, but he's still one of the few truly likable people on the show.

Walter Bishop
John Noble - Fringe


"If you were actually going insane, you'd likely have no idea what's happening. Take it from me."

Fringe has gotten better over time, but during its shaky beginning Walter was about the only thing going for it. He's fairly unrealistic, because I'm pretty sure there's never been an actual person with even close to the breadth of encyclopedic scientific knowledge he has, and you'd think some of that would go away after over a decade in an asylum. But he gets away with it because he's funny and weird and the plot needs him to know everything he does. John Noble is the kind of actor that's enjoyable to watch read a shopping list, so seeing him dissect mutated corpses and be kind of crazy is pretty fun every week. I'm not sure I actually care about the tragedies of his past, but it's okay with me that they're going with that.

Kenny Powers
Danny McBride - Eastbound & Down


"I've been blessed with many things in this life. An arm like a damn rocket, a cock like a Burmese python, and the mind of a fucking scientist."

Danny McBride's really come out of nowhere in the last couple years, and this is definitely his best character. I mean, anyone who can craft this big of an asshole and still make you want him to do well is doing something right. His unrelenting narcissism that masks his constant self-doubt is always classic, and watching him waver between stepping all over people and being stepped on himself provides laughter and sympathy at nigh equal levels. We haven't seen anything about the second season yet, but I'm looking forward to whatever new depths he can plumb.

Victor
Enver Gjokaj - Dollhouse


"Did I fall asleep?"

This is sort of a cheat, as Victor isn't so much of a character as a blank slate on top of which any number of real or fabricated personalities can be applied. But Enver Gjokaj is such a pleasure to watch chameleon himself into a role that I couldn't not put him here. Plenty of actors have range, but I'm not sure I've ever seen someone with quite his talents, as he jumps between dozens of unique characters over the course of the show and completely sells all of them. Characters being body switched and mimicking each others' mannerisms is a favorite gimmick of Whedon shows, but this is his bread and butter. In the span of maybe ten minutes he had to play both a serial killer and a slutty college girl, and did both with equal aplomb. Just a blast.

King Silas Benjamin
Ian McShane - Kings


"I will endure a party in the company of my choosing, but with none that sour the wine in my cup."

I've already pontificated on why Ian McShane is fantastic, but for all I knew Deadwood was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Then I watched Kings and he did nothing but continue to impress. He doesn't get to swear nearly as much, but he's still a lot of fun to watch, especially with the increase in power from influential bar and brothel owner to sovereign king of a whole country. He bounces between saintly benevolence and fittingly biblical wrath like he was changing hats, and totally carries a show that would have been interesting without it, but not nearly as great.

Sue Sylvester
Jane Lynch - Glee


"I got a satellite interview. That's lingo for an interview, via satellite."

Sort of like Chi McBride on Pushing Daisies, Jane Lynch is what takes the almost impossibly joyful Glee and keeps it grounded in depressing reality. If Glee Club is what makes everything good happen in the world, Sue Sylvester is the source of all rot and decay. And that's why I love her. It's the depression she sprinkles all over everyone she sees that makes sure the show is watchable. Every story needs a conflict, and she is it. It helps that she's constantly cuttingly hilarious. The kind of character you could watch yell at people for longer than is probably healthy.

Alan Garner
Zach Galifianakis - The Hangover


"Your language is offensive."

It's not that I don't like Zach as a figure of independent comedy, I just think that more prominent roles in film and television means more of him in general, and that's definitely a good thing. There are some stand up comedians that simply should not take up acting, but Zach isn't one. And if this bizarre character leads to more, then it's definitely a good thing. I'm sort of out of ammo for things to say about Alan Garner, but there's really just not much about him that isn't funny. And uniquely funny, in ways that we haven't been seeing for years.

Colonel Hans Landa
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds


"I did have something else I wanted to ask you, but right now, for the life of me, I can't remember what it is. Oh, well, must not have been important."

Hey, at least the Golden Globes got one right. Basterds was amazing in ways I really wasn't expecting, and a lot of that was because of Waltz' magnificent, multilingual performance. I mean, how does he manage to be so menacing while being completely genial the entire time? It's unfathomable. There are a couple moments where the friendly smirk leaves his face, but they're very few and far between. And he ends up being surprisingly fallible for such an intimidating force. But that's sort of why he's great. He represents the Nazi party: nearly unspeakably evil, but in the end still just human.

Arthur Mitchell
John Lithgow - Dexter


"Hello, Dexter Morgan."

And here's our final character, who debuted a mere four months ago. I've always known Lithgow from comedic work like 3rd Rock from the Sun, but apparently he's done dark before, and his return is nothing if not a triumph. He managed to remain a captivating villain even after he was humanized over the course of the season, but I'll never forget what a terrifying presence he was when we still knew nothing about him. And that butt wasn't a very pretty sight either. Even after we knew more though, he still managed to provide buckets of tension for good old Dex, and has ended up getting him better than anyone else to date.

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

The first Harold & Kumar movie looked like another idiotic stoner comedy to me, but for some reason I ended up liking it quite a bit. I'm not sure what it is. It has a lot of the same dumb poop humor and pointless nudity. There's just something about the innocent honesty of the main characters, both intelligent but put upon by those around them because of their race, both high as hell and just wanting some delicious burgers and fries. The sequel continues at pretty much the instant the original left off, and starts with them having the goal of reaching Amsterdam so Harold can pursue the hot girl in his building he knows from the elevator. Obviously from the title though, they get diverted from their quest. Thanks to an incompetent government investigation run by a funny but completely hateable Rob Corddry, Harold and Kumar are believed to be terrorists and journey through the south to get their names cleared by Kumar's ex-girlfriend's fiancé. I'm sure that little detail won't come into the story too much! Woahhh!

Anyway, like the first film, the main characters do what it takes to get to their destination, running into all sorts of people, some who wish them harm, and some who just want to share a joint with them. There's a fair amount of insensitive humor, poking fun at both the south and a lot of racial issues. As with the first movie, some of the better moments come when the pair encounter a highly fictionalized, womanizing, drugged-out version of Neil Patrick Harris played by Neil Patrick Harris, and oh what adventures they have. There's also a scene where the two encounter a certain now-former US President, which I couldn't decide if I actually liked or not. Anyway, the movie eventually ends in a fairly contrived yet enjoyable way. There's apparently a third film on the way, though I'm not sure how that's going to work out with Kal Penn's current job in the Obama administration. In any case, Escape, was a dumb movie that like the original still managed to be endearing.

How I Met Your Mother - Season 4

So now I'm caught up. While the show has always been funny, only now does it seem to actually be getting somewhere with the actual supposed point of the whole thing, the story of the title. I'm curious how much planning has actually gone into this, because they started dropping hints about future events in the previous season, and really did it in earnest this time, but all of it seemed to culminate around the finale with very little that I can think of as far as suggestions for what's next, other that Bob Saget basically saying "No seriously, I'm getting to the point now". The whole season is basically life kicking the crap out of Ted in order to apparently get him to make a decision that will lead to him meeting his wife, though I can already see how they're going to continue pussy-footing around the issue with teases and fake outs.

One of the secretly most interesting things of watching this time was noticing all the ways they tried to hide the fact that both female leads were pregnant for at least part of the filming. Some worked, like when Lily wins an eating contest and has a resultant bulge, others not so much, like loose shirts and bags or boxes doing a fairly poor job of obscuring it. They even wrote Alyson Hannigan out for a few episodes when I guess it was especially bad. There's not a whole lot to say about the actual comedy, it's a nice mix of clever wordplay, snappy dialogue, and humorously over-elaborate rules, diagrams, and theories about dating. Just a couple days from when I'm writing about this until season five begins, and I couldn't have timed it better.

How I Met Your Mother - Season 3

Hmm, what should I talk about this time? Instead of a bittersweet finale, this season ends with a couple cliffhangers. I'm not sure I actually truly care what happens to these characters yet, but they're doing a solid job of developing them without taking the focus off the humor. With Marshall and Lily married, their conflicts are more financial in nature than human. Honestly, I'm not finding that aspect terribly compelling. And Robin just sort of seemed like she was treading water this season. They're really trying to humanize Barney, which I'm not sure isn't a mistake. Ted plays the field a bit but eventually gets into another serious relationship, this time with Sarah Chalke from Scrubs, playing basically the same character.

As always there are several good and clever bits, like the Bro Code being an actual legal text, the episode where Ted the narrator can't remember a girl's name so the characters refer to her as Blahblah and he replaces references to marijuana with sandwiches, and Marshall using Thanksgiving to completely torture Barney with the promise of an incoming slap (Oh yeah, after a bet he earned five slaps on him and to date has only used three, one of my favorite running gags ever in a show). The two minute date is also one of the cutest and nicest things I've seen in a while. I'm starting to wonder how long the show is going to end up lasting, but I'm still enjoying watching it.

How I Met Your Mother - Season 2

Are you worried I won't catch up in time for the season five premiere? Joke's on you, man. I'm writing this almost a week before it will show up. Now that I'm halfway through this show I can admit it's far better than I expected, although still outside of the top five best current comedies. This season felt a bit different than the first, since the main character Ted spends most of the time in a relationship instead of looking for the perfect one. It's a little more mature, without changing the style of humor that makes it enjoyable. I'd still prefer it if it was single camera, but I actually decided I prefer the laugh track over a live audience, at least for this show. The reason is that they do a lot of quick cutaways and playing around with the timeline that wouldn't really work if they were beholden to an audience watching them make it, and besides, most live reactions are touched up with a laugh track anyway.

A trend that I've noticed with this show is bittersweet season finales. Both times, they've ended with things going really right for some people and really wrong for others. I've gotten over my desire to see Ted get his ass kicked, although I imagine it might rear up again at some point. Barney's still the best character which isn't too surprising, and even mild attempts to sympathize his character can't prevent him from staying great. At least not yet. Marshall and Lily are still an entertaining pair, and right now I'm just rehashing because I don't have much else new to say. It's a funny show worth checking out. Whee.

How I Met Your Mother - Season 1

I haven't seriously followed a multi-camera sitcom in years, let alone one with a laugh track, so it took some convincing for me to check this one out. That convincing came in the form of everyone I know who's watched it calling it one of the funniest shows on TV, and the hard to deny the fact that it stars two Whedonverse alums and an Apatowcolyte. Those three stars are genuinely enjoyable as always, and the other two are a cute enough will-they-won't-they (which the narrator has said they ultimately don't) that it was easy enough to keep watching. The basic premise is that the show is actually in the future where the protagonist tells his kids the story of how their parents met, which takes place in the past, which happens to be our present. He takes the role of narrator (voiced by Bob Saget, which is odd because the character is 27 when the show starts and the actor already has his big boy voice), and begins the confusingly long-winded story.

Ted is an architect who is spurred to step up his attempts to find a mate for life after his friends Marshall and Lily, played by Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan, get engaged. He meets and quickly falls for Robin, although things don't quite work out and he spends a lot of time bouncing between trying to land her again and going after other girls and generally making a big ass of himself. I'm actually surprised I liked him at all considering the amazingly moronic things he does in the name of love. Some of it isn't just idiotic, it's downright awful and hurtful to other people, and I'm still waiting for him to really get nailed at some point. I really can't dislike a show with Neil Patrick Harris in this form though, and he could probably carry it all by himself even without his other recognizable costars. He plays Barney, extreme womanizer and corporate dick, and is actually probably a worse person than Ted, but you can't not like him. Definitely the reason to stick with the show. I have three more seasons to work through before the fifth premiers on my birthday, so I'm gonna get to it.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

I didn't talk about this back when I first saw it because it was on the Internet. But screw it, Joss Whedon made it and it has multiple episodes, it qualifies for a TV post.

Written and filmed on a meager budget during the Writers' Strike by Joss and his brothers, Dr. Horrible is a quick, light, enjoyable bit of musical entertainment featuring Malcolm Reynolds, Doogie Howser, and that girl who's in commercials sometimes and other stuff I guess. It's Whedon's usual combination of comedy, action, and romantic tragedy, although a bit heavier on the first one and not really at all with the second. His inclination for unusually themed musicals began with a season six episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where all the characters suddenly start bursting into song and dancing as a part of the actual plot involving some demon who liked show tunes.

Dr. Horrible's similarly wacky, with the titular character video blogging about his attempts to become a serious villain and join an evil guild, while at the same time his super hero nemesis gets too close to the girl he has a crush on. It's pretty simple and cheaply filmed, but it's quite funny, thanks mostly to the leads, and the musical numbers are generally pretty darn catchy. I'm not really a musical fan, but its various songs tend to pop up and get stuck in my head more often than the average one I've seen. The whole thing's only three 15 minute segments, and it's totally worth finding it online somewhere.