Finished season two last night, and I thought it was a great finale. Some really funny lines and the plot was fun- enjoyed how Morgan’s life always has a similar story arc as Chuck’s and even though they are going through completely separate things, their communication to each other can be applied to the individual situations they are in. Just a really fun show, and even though it doesn’t even pretend to be high-brow tv, it is still really entertaining and a great time sink. I like frivolous shows like this, and you can tell the writers are having fun. Plus, I like all the characters- even the annoying ones. And even though I am not a fan of blondes- Sarah. Wow.
Also, Jeffster rocks! When Awesome’s dad asked him “Why are you letting Sam Kinison and an Indian lesbian ruin your wedding,” I laughed for a solid five minutes.
At any rate, new show in 20 mins.
Also saw the Hurt Locker, and that was an excellent flick. Really enjoyed that.
Max
If you are looking for a show to watch next (past seasons included), I’d recommend BONES. It’s one of my favorite shows on tv and the past seasons are excellent as well.
The characters are really well developed and their interaction is fun. The story lines are always fresh and I don’t see the endings coming a mile away.
But, I’m an Obot, so what do I know.
narvalking
Saw hurt locker this weekend too. Awesome – hope it cleans up the awards.
J.
LOVE. CHUCK. Love love love. And amazingly this season has yet to disappoint.
soonergrunt
I saw The Hurt Locker a couple of months ago. I didn’t enjoy the movie, but I thought it was excellent.
I’ve never defused a bomb in my entire life, so I don’t know anything about that stuff, but the movie nailed a lot of what it is like to be a soldier in combat, alternately believing in the rightness of what you do and fighting the feeling that it’s a pointless risk to you and your friends.
The feeling that your life and the lives of your soldiers are balanced on the knife edge between luck and boldness and lunacy and destruction and that sometimes you drive the train and sometimes you just close your eyes and hang on tight–I’ve never seen a movie that got that across like The Hurt Locker.
That scene in the end of the movie, where SFC James is home and playing with his son and talking to his wife–he loves them dearly but he’s addicted to the adrenaline and the feeling of power and responsibility that comes with leadership in combat–Jeremy Renner nailed that.
“The Hurt Locker” is Army slang that came out of EOD and spread to Combat Arms and it refers to that place you go when the enemy gets a near miss on you because even the near misses can fuck you up.
Annie
I admit I just had to google “Chuck TV series,” because I had no idea what you were talking about.
But on a lighter note, RedState is popping the cork because they have been selected by CPAC to sponsor the Bloggers Lounge at the upcoming convention. Erik Erickson is so excited because this year he will get to sit closer to Glen Beck. Wow, pretty awesome, huh! CPAC’s Director also is excited because of RedState’s reputation, commitment to excellence, and just all around good fun.
freelancer
Which is why it’s going to suck when amongst a field of films including Hurt Locker, District 9, A Serious Man, and Up in the Air, and others, it’s gonna be fucking AVATAR that wins Best Picture and Best Director.
Weak.
Sentient Puddle
CHUCK!
And yes, I said it before, but I have to say it again. Miranda (in Mass Effect 2) became so much hotter to me when I found out Yvonne Strahovski did her voice.
Dulcie
@soonergrunt: I saw it several months ago in a theater with my nephew the film major. I actually enjoyed the ride (and it IS a wild ride), even moreso because of Jeremy Renner’s performance. Have you seen him in Dahmer? Also, the director, Kathryn Bigelow, did an incredible job. I think Cameron (her ex-hubby) will win the Best Director Oscar, but she’s the one I think deserves the award. Can’t wait to see it again on BluRay!
Richard Bottoms
Why are you running ads from the Republicans against Democrats?
MikeJ
@Richard Bottoms: Because it is a sin to let stupid people keep their money.
lamh31
I watched Season 1 of chuck religiously for a few months, and then I stopped still don’t remember why. But I haven’t been back since midseason of the first. Now I just don’t feel like catching up at all.
What I’ve become obsessed with is CBS “Criminal Minds”. A&E had a Christmas marathon, and I was hooked. I’ve already queued it on Netflix for all the 4 previous seasons.
I was the same way with FOX “Fringe”. I watched a marathon of the first season and was hooked from then on!
soonergrunt
@freelancer:
@Dulcie:
Yeah to both. Avatar was an amazing special effects movie, but the story has been done over and over and over (and better and better and better.)
Avatar has changed the way movies will be made, but The Hurt Locker was just a better movie.
Elie
Actually of that group, ” A Serious Man” was my favorite.
“Hurt Locker” was very good, but just was missing “ingredient X” for me — something transcendant that I found in “A Serious Man” — probably one of the most complex message films in a long time — but one worth the time to think about and to me, truly relevant to our time. The protaganist in “…Man” could be considered a modern Job — and his only redemption or “reward”, to my interpretation, was whatever existential peace that one could take away in this life from trying to do the right thing and to be a decent person while facing extraordinary pain and hard times. With that core of peace, he meets all the extremes and pain that life has to offer.
“Hurt Locker” was amazingly filmed and directed — the tension was unremitting — but for me, the message that transcended for this year was in the “..Serious Man”. Both were not “pretty” in the classical sense — but both were full of message, meaning and worth totally seeing maybe more than once.
I know that many of y’all have hated on Avatar, and I can accept that but I loved it. I make no apologies and accept that you did not. Do I think its the best film? I dunno. I think that it is rightly in place as a nominee. The visuals mapped right onto the sensory cortex of my brain and from there, went places that stimulated my limbic system in ways not known for a film. I will allow and accept that it did not do that for everyone and accept the verdict of the individuals who register their opinions however they hold it. It was experimental moviemaking and presages some cool stuff ahead and for that alone (if not other things) must be recognized. For me, flying on the back of the dragon, like I have had the sensation of flying in my dreams, was way more than worth the price of admission.
lamh31
In honor of Black History Month, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company
Alvin Ailey’s Revelations – Section 1: Pilgrim of Sorrow
Alvin Ailey’s Revelations – Section 2: Take Me To the Water
Alvin Ailey’s Revelations – Section 3: Move, Members, Move!
BTW, who’s gonna be the first to say we no longer need Black History Month cause Obama is President…rush, hannity, buckkanan, or o’really?
Dreggas
I highly recommend Year One. It’s like the old testament version of Monty Python’s life of brian.
Ash Can
@Annie: That’s nice. They all deserve each other.
Elie
@lamh31:
Thank you for this.
I had forgotten the force of this…
May we somehow find the art to things again, the deeper core like this without having to wait two hundred more years for the interpretation
middlewest
Have you tried Castle yet? Pretty sure you’d like it.
Dee Loralei
John, I haven’t watched Chuck, but it sounds like my kinda silliness. I know you like silly, see psych. I bet you’d like The Middleman, I’m on the last disc from Netflix and it makes me happy.
Mark S.
Will we ever stop spending money on missile defense? It’s been twenty-five years of this bullshit.
Dee Loralei
@middlewest: Ohh, I’ll second the Castle, silly mystery, snarky, quirky, fun. And Bones is cute too.
Mike E
I’m gonna take Roger Ebert’s advice and watch Inglourious Basterds again, you know, to see them Nazis really get it. Again. Also.
ETA There’s only one Life Of Brian for me.
asiangrrlMN
@lamh31: Nice! I like the AAA Dance Company. And, I would just like to say that I would settle for an Asian American week. I can but dream.
As for your question–Glenn Beck, with furrowed brow and a look of faux consternation on his face.
Mike E
@asiangrrlMN:
We Jews celebrate Asian American week–it’s called Christmas. ;-)
gnomedad
@lamh31:
Yeah, right before they call for his impeachment — since he’s not, you know, a real American.
RedKitten
Yeah, the Sam Kinison/Indian lesbian line was pure gold. Poor Ellie…the stuff she puts up with. Jeffster! is definitely a highlight.
So far Season three is even better. I love how they’re giving Awesome more screen time — love him. And Casey is always so full of win.
Fuck, I love that show.
Ben JB
@Dee Loralei: The Middleman was a great show, and I wish there was more of it, or of those actors–Natalie Morales (Wendy) is now on White Collar (occasionally), which is another fun show.
Right now my fun shows (shows to watch while cooking) are White Collar, Castle, and Chuck. Which is a lot of “C”-words.
Ash
I was very “eh” on The Hurt Locker. Generation Kill, I think, was a much more interesting and realistic (and hilariously un-PC) take on the whole modern warfare cliche. Plus, from what I’ve read (ex: ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/07/21/the_hurt_locker_recommended_but_with_reservations ), it was very poorly researched and riddled with inaccuracies. But mostly I just found it tedious.
Micah
@Sentient Puddle
Not only is Miranda voiced by Yvonne, she’s modeled on her as well. Just picture her with blonde hair and you have Evil Space Sarah. It’s great.
Chuck is totally fantastic and the third season is off to a great start. I can’t wait to get home tonight and see the new episode.
I will also second the recommendations for Castle. My watch list right now is Chuck, Castle, White Collar, Big Bang Theory, Burn Notice and Leverage.
mr. whipple
Rented that Saturday, and I guess I missed the point. To me, it was violence porn. Pulp Fiction with Nazis. Bleh.
Fitzwili
Chuck is wonderful, the cast is so great, especially the supporting cast,even the speechless recurring extras are visually amusing. I suggested Middleman a few days ago; I am so glad others here liked it as much as I do!
On Hulu check out these comedies:
Better Off Ted( the episode Racial Sensitivity is GREAT)
Community
Spaced
Black Books
area man
@mr. whipple:
I know what you mean about Pulp Fiction and I’m lukewarm on Tarantino for the most part but I really enjoyed his latest. The opening scene in Inglorious Basterds was straight up Sergio Leone spaghetti western homage and brilliantly done. Pure love. Also, the guy who played the SS Colonel (The “Jewhunter”). Man, that was a performance for the ages. Charming and menacing, cultured and psychotic. Just awesomely done and I think that dude should get a supporting actor nod.
While our proprietor is laid up and gorging on the teevee, if you want a comedy break I would humbly recommend “Black Books” (available on Hulu). I think the main character would be just John Cole’s sort of curmudgeon.
area man
@Fitzwili:
I find you to be a person of highly refined tastes and I approve of your recommendations, heh.
daryljfontaine
I’ve really been trying to get into this season of Heroes, and if I was smart I would have followed my first instinct and stopped taping it after the first 6 episodes or so. I realize you have to pay an entire ensemble cast, but for how long they’ve dragged this stupid storyline out, they could have had it done in about ten episodes total with half the regular cast.
D
Brian J
I’ve only seen one of Kathryn Bigelow’s other movies, which was K-19: The Widowmaker. Despite the decision to have Harrison Ford and others act as Russians but have them speak English, it was a great movie, or so I thought. (Judging from the box office receipts, it’s possible me and the people in the theater in my town were the only ones who saw it.) The action scenes were very well done. So while I never saw “The Hurt Locker,” or any number of movies over the last few months that I meant to see, I wanted to. My sister’s boyfriend, who is studying film in college, said it was great.
I also like the fact that Bigelow defies the stereotype that woman can’t do action movies. It’s kind of…sexy?…that she can blow lots of shit up in an intelligent way, just like her former husband, James Cameron. Not that her gender has any particular bearing on the quality of her movies, but still, it’s nice.
MikeJ
Local wingnuts run wild, get expelled from the Republican caucus:
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2010954018_the_roach_circus_continues_now.html
Tattoosydney
@MikeJ:
Hey there… my internet access over the last few weeks was intermittent, and I saw your question about the milk liqueur way after the thread was dead…
How did it go? I tend to keep mine in the fridge – it’s good cold…
Aaron
@Fitzwili:
I am a huge fan of Better off Ted. The mandatory insult episode is also hilarious. Chuck is great, but it seems that all the shows I like to watch are on Mondays, so sometimes it gets pushed to the back burner. Tivo is overloaded just from tonight.
skippy
@middlewest: castle is da bomb! it reminds me of robert wagner’s “it takes a thief” in tone, or maybe “the rogues” (for those of you older than dirt, which i am).
also, better off ted is the funniest show on tv now imo. so i guess they’ll cancel it soon. (tho i give props to modern family for big laughs on a weekly basis, too!)
never got into chuck, tho. i liked it better when it was called “the double life of henry phyfe” and red buttons was the star (once again, for those of you older than dirt).
Comrade Kevin
@Max: Yes, Bones is pretty much my favorite show on TV right now.
Sentient Puddle
@daryljfontaine: Well, for my money, it’s the best season since the first. Not that that’s a high bar to clear, of course. But it’s at least enough for me to finish off the season, especially with it so close to being done.
skippy
@daryljfontaine:
if you were really smart you would have stopped watching it early in the second season, which is what i did.
(not saying i’m smarter than you, just saying heros sucks, and it didn’t have to…is it me or are shows jumping the shark way earlier now than in the old days? you kids get off of my lawn!)
Hawes
I was worried about Chuck this season as his ineptitude was what made the show so winning. How would it work with him as a Superspy? So far, so good.
Loved the Better of Ted racially insensitive light monitors and recently heard that it ACTUALLY HAPPENED somewhere.
Community would be an OK sitcom as is, but Danny Pudi as Ahbed makes it fantastic.
I have to plug Modern Family. Not only is it hilariously funny, but with a gay couple who struggle with the same parenting issues as the straight couple, it’s perhaps the most subversive show on TV, subtly and hilariously tearing more holes in the wall of anti-gay bigotry. And I have gotten a little verklempft at the end of a few episodes, I must admit.
Hob
@daryljfontaine: I don’t even know why I started watching Heroes again, given how much I had hated it before, but I got a little excited about the first part of this season – seemed like the writing was smarter, they were trying different things and I really liked some of the new actors. Now… well, I still like some of the new actors.
skippy
@Dreggas: i haven’t seen year one, and the following comment is reprinted w/the caveat that i am aware everyone has different tastes, so i’m not trying to disparage yours…
but i loved peter sobczynski’s review in ecritic for that film:
Hob
@skippy: is it me or are shows jumping the shark way earlier now than in the old days
It’s you. Seriously, I think you’re just forgetting how many incredibly stupid things have always popped up on TV and died like mayflies, especially when it comes to genre shows that are riffing on themes from whatever the last 2 hit movies were. The weird thing about Heroes is that it’s survived so long past the point where anyone had much affection for it.
daryljfontaine
@skippy:
There’s an awful lot of good comedy on network TV right now. Wednesday night ABC (Modern Family and Cougar Town, with the weaker The Middle) and Thursday night NBC (Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock) are killing. Better Off Ted is still the king. I don’t think they’re getting rid of it soon — this is its second season and it’s still strong. Not like when they axed Knights of Prosperity, which was goddamned hilarious.
D
Mike in NC
The first half of “The Hurt Locker” was amazing, edge of your seat stuff, with the bomb squad and sniper ambush. The second half was mostly incomprehensible.
YellowJournalism
Chuck is the best. The first two episodes of this season started off a little slow, but the show is picking up speed. The last two episodes were some of the most enjoyable moments I’ve had watching TV since Veronica Mars, season one. (Yes, I still mourn that show’s passing.)
I’m trying in vain to catch up on Lost since I missed the finale and had to wait until last week to record it. You just can’t watch something like that with a younger one in the room, more because you just aren’t allowed to pay attention rather than for content reasons alone. I have a feeling we’re going to DVR the sixth season opener, too.
YellowJournalism
@Hob: People also tend to forget that a show can jump the shark, be crazy for a while, and still return to its roots/greatness. I think we’re too ready to give up on things when confronted with moments of incredulity.
pattonbt
I’ll be disappointed if Avatar is nominated for Director or Picture. Its a groundbreaking film , but there is so much more to a great film than that. Films are direction, production, story arc, writing, cinematography, acting, music, etc. The acting? Awful. The writing? Worse than the acting. The story arc? Done a thousand times before only better. The music? I cant even remember it. These major faults should immediately disqualify it from contention.
To me, Avatar was a “bad” film that was still breathtaking to see and enjoyable for the experience. Let Cameron sleep happily on his bed of money with a couple techincal awards and let the more complete films vie for what they deserve.
Yutsano
@Tattoosydney: Greetings to you signore! I’m still at work but nosing around on here.
skippy
@Hob:
no, i’m not talking about mayfly shows. sure, most of tv is 90% mediocre. i don’t mean my mother the car or (for you kids) the osbornes reloaded.
i mean tv shows that started out seriously good, maybe even great, but then, (as “jumping the shark” implied) something goes horribly wrong somewhere to make the rest of the shows aired seem like nobody’s trying any more.
heros is a great example. mrs. skippy and i thought the first season was ground-breaking television. then the second season was confused, muddled, and pointless.
it seems to me great shows used to take 3 or 4 years to get mediocre. now it happens in 1 or 2. grey’s anatomy is another example. i thought it was a brilliant take on the doctor genre, being relationship centric, and a bit light hearted. but season two must have gone to the writers head, because it’s totally unwatchable now.
just imo.
@daryljfontaine:
for the life of me, i can’t get into the nbc thursday line up. not a big fan of over-done cringe comedy. i totally think tina fey & alec baldwin have been coasting for the last two seasons (tho i lurvs me some tracy morgan, and that kid who plays the intern). but community, parks & recreation, the office…meh.
also not a fan of the overused “mockumentary” style (it’s the worse part of modern family, i think…the show could soar on its own w/o the strange interludes…note to comedy writers: eugene o’neill did it in the early 1900’s, breaking the fourth wall is no big whoop).
again, ymmv.
fraught
@ John Cole: ” I am not a fan of blondes”
Oh.
fraught
Something weird about Kathryn Bigelow and ex-husband James Cameron being front runners for best director in the same year. There’s a Meryl Streep/Mel Gibson, Nancy Meyers movie in there somewhere.
chuck
Chuck in this season is slowly but surely becoming a hardened bad-ass spy. What’s great is how they’ve put Awesome into the new “hapless and panic-stricken” role. Awesome is Awesome.
asiangrrlMN
@Mike E: Now that’s fucking funny!
@Tattoosydney: Hi, hon. How you be? I have missed you.
@Yutsano: Hi, hon. How you be? I have missed you, too, but not as much as FH#1 because at least you and I ‘talk’ sporadically.
Remember November
Only saw one episode- was the one where Chuck has to high score Missile Command and figures out the key is Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” That was epic..
RedKitten
@chuck:
Awesome IS Awesome…except at lying. That, he doesn’t do so well.
And it’s amazing how last night’s episode was so funny, but so heartbreaking at the same time. They had to go there with Chuck’s character — he can’t stay innocent forever — but it still kind of broke my heart. And Casey’s sympathy was nice to see.
LOL — I was wondering how far they were going to go on the HoYay! with the laser pen. Thank goodness it was just in Casey’s shirt, not his pants.
Erik Vanderhoff
Chuck is a lot of fun — I was worried that it was going to go the Alias Season 3 route when there was an extended sequence that consisted of nothing more than Yvonne Strahovski wearing lingerie and high heels hiding weapons about her person, but they seem to have cooled that bullshit off. The new season is off to a great start otherwise.
I second recommendations of Castle and Bones, as well as Burn Notice, White Collar, Psych, and Leverage. I’m an unabashed NCIS fan as well, but the “Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J Show” spinoff can go blow donkey dongs.
bago
@Ash: Those defeated soldiers in Nasiriyah in episode 2, after the worst massacre of marines since vietnam at the north bridge? My brother was one of them. You can see him in the “Ambush Alley” episode of of the HNN shootout series. Go to 8:30 in that episode. This will provide some of the setup. At 10:06 you see my brother. Again at 22: 49. He got fucked by friendly fire, in addition to the feyadeen. It took him 9 months to sleep without a loaded gun at hand. This is not ok!
grendelkhan
@YellowJournalism: Like “Battlestar Galactica”. I took a six-month hiatus after “Black Market”, then, when I came back, wondered why on earth I’d ever stopped watching it.
0whole1
John:
Jeffster opened the Chuck panel at the San Diego ComicCon last year with Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls”. Various versions available on youtube — and some of the NBC Chuck sites.
I like Chuck for all the SciFi injokes — like Sarah’s “frak you” t-shirt in last night’s (I think) episode. They make a point of having fanboy guest stars like Badger from Firefly coming up this season, and the guy who played Superman in the last movie, etc.
0whole1
@middlewest: I can’t stand Castle, because it’s such a standard boilerplate procedural, and because it feels like Fillion is slumming.
mrmike
If he and Stana didn’t have such good chemistry (and if his family wasn’t so well written and acted) I’d agree. But that’s rather like saying Hamlet would be boring if it wasn’t for that Danish guy .
Shinobi
I love Chuck but I am SO FUCKING OVER the Chuck and Sarah Are In Love But They Can’t Do It For X Reason story line. SO OVER IT. I love every other part of the show, but for some reason the romantic tension is not working for me. I just do not care anymore about how much he luurves her and she luurves him. DO NOT CARE. At this point I am hoping that Jayne kills them both with one bullet next time they make puppy eyes at eachother. (Maybe he could use Vera…)
I love Burn Notice and Leverage. I tried to watch White Collar but he spent to much time bitching about the girlfriend who was never actually on screen, so I don’t watch that. I started watching the Deep End which is DEEPLY unrealistic. And I like castle pretty much only because they included this scene.
I wish Lie to Me were on right now, because I miss it.