ScooterKSU Reviews

Failure to Launch (2006)

It's Gonna Take a Stick of Dynamite to get Me Out of My Parents House

[3/10 · 20 August 2006]

Not too long ago, there was an article I read in Newsweek about a larger amount of twenty and thirty year olds moving back in with their parents due to growing cost of living, high college payments that they can't payoff with their entry level job. Holleywood never one not to jump on trends promptly made a movie out of the movement and even named it after the phenomenon, Failure to Launch. But it's hard as the general public to laugh at someone on the wrong side of thirty when that role goes to Matthew McConaughey (Dazed and Confused) coming off People's declaration as World's Sexiest Man.

But unlike the reasons I stated above Matthew's character instead stays at home because he likes it there; his mom still does his laundry, cooks him breakfast and dinner (and even packs his lunch), and cleans his room. It even seems that he doesn't even help out with lawn care as dad is the one who cuts the lawn; I'm just hoping dude at least pays some sort of rent. In his spare time he even hangs out with his friends, Bradly Cooper (Alias) and Justin Bartha (Gigli), who also still live at home but unlike Matthew actually make excuses to why. McConaughey is so lazy, he doesn't even break up with his girlfriend, instead opts to take them home to "bump" into his parents making them bolt.

The story picks up when mom and pop, Kathy Bates (The Waterboy) and Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburg Steelers), thinks it's time for their boy to fly the coop so they bring in a professional, Sarah Jessica Parker (Square Pegs), who's job is it to get cozy with a boy, build up his self esteem to the point where he's confident to move out. She pulls out all the romantic comedy stops in hopes of getting closer, but once he finds out what she and her parents are up to, even more hilarity is supposed to ensue but instead comes off like disturbingly enough just like McConaughey last foray into the romantic comedy genre, Hoy to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

And it gets worse than you already think, this may be a minor spoiler, but it's something you definitely want to know if you actually decide to see the movie, Bradshaw gets naked. And the scene doesn't cleverly hide his backside like Austin Powers; you get to see an old dude's butt. How the movie still got a PG-13 rating after that is beyond me. The lone saving point is Parker's moody roommate, played by Zooey Deschanel (The New Guy), whose I'm only happy when it rains outlook is the only thing that is worth laughing at in the movie.

Corpse Bride (2005)

Why Go Up There When People Are Dying to Get Down Here?

[8/10 · 30 July 2006]

As a child, one of the many reasons I loved Christmas was the many stop-motion animated specials that were shown at the time. But with the advent of CGI and other special effects of the like, the stop-motion art has nearly died. But luckily the genre has a savior in director Tim Burton who created A Nightmare before Christmas back in 1993. Over a decade later he Burton put out his second full length stop-motion animation feature film The Corpse Bride.

And since this is Tim Burton, the story is macabre and somehow sweet at the same time. The story takes place in Victorian times focusing on the arranged marriage of Victor, Johnny Depp in his sheepish Edward Scissorhands mode, and Victoria, voiced by Emily Watson (Punch-Drunk Love), yet somehow a joke was never made at this similarity. Unlike many arranged marriages, the two are smitten wit each other but this makes Victor a little too nervous as he messes up rehearsal. So he heads off to the woods to practice his vows only to unknowingly put the wedding ring on the finger of the undead who becomes, naturally, his corpse bride, as voiced by Helena Bonham Carter (Planet of the Apes, the Marky Mark version) and hilarity ensues. To all the dues that had to explain the stripper at your bachelor party, try explaining to you fiancée how you ended up married to the undead the night before your wedding.

The puppets themselves were brilliantly crafted and very similar to those seen in Nightmare with a lot of very tall, very skinny or very short and very obese characters. Each and every puppet that shows up on screen is so entertaining and detailed in their own way they each could have warranted their own movie. The motions of the puppets are very slick and are not at all choppy like the old Christmas specials. There are plenty of plot twists to keep you guessing who Victor end up with and even if you are like me and are able to guess the big twist early, it still doesn't take away from the story.

The only problem with the movie is the stop-motion animation does get a little old as the film progresses. Maybe the Christmas specials had the right time frame with a half an hour runtime. But that is totally made up for in the DVD extras as there are seven mini-documentaries that run about five to ten minutes that show the behind the scenes on how the movie got made. Those alone make the DVD alone worth watching.

The Matador (2005)

Oh, So Now Killing People Is a Good Time

[5/10 · 8 July 2006]

The Matador follows an assassin, Julian, and a business man, Danny, who have a chance meeting in Mexico City. The movie plays out like your regular odd couple with a few surprises thrown in. But when the fun south of the border ends, they both go their separate ways back to their separate worlds giving Danny what Julian calls the best cocktail party story ever.

Pierce Brosnan (Remington Steele) plays the out of touch assassin perfectly and nails every line especially the inappropriate on he delivers to Danny. There is even some extra entertainment value in seeing James Bond with graying hair, a beer gut and a cheesy mustache. And if Early Hickey has taught up anything is that mustaches are funny. As for Danny, Greg Kinnear (Talk Soup) looks like he is still trying to corner the neurotic middle age man market left by Garry Shandling, but doesn't nearly does as good a job. Rounding out the cast is Hope Davis (nothing I've seen) as Danny's wife who is basically just there. Also look out for Veronica Mars social studies teacher, Mr. Rooks, who was ousted for a little after school activity with a student as Danny's business partner.

But the problem with The Matador is that it lags a bit at times throughout the movie, and a movie about killing people should never get boring. Then there were a couple inexplicable scenes that you just sit there and wonder why are they in the film like when Julian walks through the hotel lobby in a Speedo then jumps into the pool, alcoholic beverage in hand, only to find a shark. Was Julian just tripping? Was I tripping? There were a few scenes like this. Then the apex of the film went back to a scene earlier in the movie that I didn't realize wasn't resolved. They should have just done what the movie should have been in the first place, randomly killing anonymous dudes. Then this film may have been saved.

Crash (I) (2004)

The Closest You Ever Came to Being Black Was Watching the Cosby Show

[3/10 · 19 February 2006]

In about a month Crash will do battle for Best Motion Picture of the Year at the Oscars as well as awards for acting, writing and directing for it's powerful portrayal of race relations in Los Angeles over two days near Christmas. And by powerful, I mean extremely boring. Basically what the movie boils down to is two hours of white liberal guilt, the movie was written and directed by Paul Haggis, writer of Million Dollar Baby, and needless to say the liberal movie academy ate the movie up giving it six nominations.

The movie starts off with a car crash involving Don Cheadle (NFL Playoff Commercials) and Jennifer Esposito (Dracula 2000). Cheadle is really shaken up and goes off to la-la land before we head back to yesterday. I have to say the going back in time has become the most annoying plot devise currently used today in movies and television. There should really be a moratorium on using it. What's worse in this movie, and this may ruin it a little, but not as much as watching it played off ruined the movie, but they never come back to this crash later in the movie unless I fell asleep and completely feel asleep.

Early on we are also introduced to two black men, Larenz Tate (of the wrongfully shelved Love Money) and Chris Bridges (who you may, or more likely not know as Ludicrous) who complain how a white woman clutches her husband as they come closer only to carjack the couple. And knowing Bridges is a rapper in real life only makes his soliloquy against the genre cheesier. The couple in question is Sandra Bullock (Miss Congeniality 1 & 2) and Brendan Frasier (Encino Man), who is the District Attorney who is mad that being robbed by a couple black dudes may hurt retaining the black vote in the next election.

There's also yet another good cop, Ryan Phillippe (Mr. Reece Witherspoon), bad cop, Matt Dillon (Herbie: Fully Loaded) tandem who pull over a black couple just for fun and the black dude, Terrence Howard (Mary J. Blige's Be Without You video) just stands there and lets Dillon molest his wife, Thandie Newton (The Chronicles of Riddick). Just for fun, Haggis even threw in families full of Hispanics, Asians, and Arabs just so no one would feel left out. Well except the Indians are once again forgotten. At least you still have baseball teams that make light of your racial stereotypes.

Each of the characters eventually intertwines with each other showing up in other story lines much like a Lost flashback. But much like this season of Lost, it all becomes ho-hum when you see this happening mostly because you see it coming a mile away. Speaking of Lost, be sure to look out for Jin who makes a blink and you miss it cameo. Also don't forget to look out for Tony Danza (The Tony Danza Show), in the most interesting scene in the whole film, as a movie producer who complains that an actor isn't "black" enough, Priceless.

Wedding Crashers (2005)

Tattoo on the Lower Back, Might as Well Be a Bullseye

[9/10 · 22 January 2006]

Last summer, Wedding Crashers was toted as the return of R-Rated comedies and which basically means more swearing and nudity. But a movie can have all the F-bombs and boobies, it still needs to have a plot, good acting, and be well written for it to be entertaining. The plot itself is brilliant, built around the concept that there is no better place to hook up than at weddings. And just because you are not invited shouldn't stop you from sampling from the easy chick buffet.

As for the acting Vince Vaughn returns to his roots by channeling the character that made him a star, Double Down Trent from Swingers although his character her might actually be more over the top. His partner in crime is the low key Owen Wilson who unsuccessfully tries to ground Vaughn throughout the film. After years of successfully crashing weddings they decide to crash the granddaddy of all weddings, that of the daughter of Treasury Secretary played by the always get Christopher Walken. But things get off track want Wilson decides to break one of the rules of wedding crashing, Rule #22: You have a wedding and a reception to seal the deal. Period. No overtime. But Wilson, in a play to win over the Secretary's daughter, accepts an invitation on Vaughn's behalf, who hooked up with another of his daughters, to his summer house for the weekend. But I'm sure anyone would do the same thing if the girl in question happens to be the hot chick from The Notebook (not that I've seen it or anything).

The writing is what brings the movie down somewhat as there were a few lulls in the movie where nothing seems to be happening. Plus there is an uber-cheesy montage where Wilson, in the middle of the night, goes to the door of the girl he is pining over only to go back to his room instead of knocking only for the girl to decide to go to his room later, but decides not to knock either. And one can't help to think that most of the funniest lines were ad-libbed by Vaughn and Wilson.

Be sure to check out the extra on the DVD including the 24 pages of rules to crashing wedding. And make sure you check out the extremely hilarious karaoke version of 99 Red Balloons that Vaughn and Wilson do in a deleted scene. But for some reason they have bother the Uncorked and Theatrical versions of the film on the DVD. It seems like a waste of space and makes suspicious that there will be another Special Edition of the movie that will be released in the future.

Four Kings (2006)

First Impressions

[8 January 2006]

This has been a good year for sitcoms. After a good decade without a new good one, this year has seen three very watchable half hour programs that debuted this year. But then again, with all the great sitcoms this year, there still was the absolutely horrible The War at Home. But one of the better new ones, My Name Is Earl along with The Office, was moved to Thursday this week as NBC tries to resurrect its once unbeatable Must See TV lineup which hasn't been Must See since Friends started to suck, and for those keeping track at home, that would be circa the mid-nineties.

To round out the new all comedy lineup is Will & Grace which I didn't even realized was still on and is followed by the new Four Kings. The show follows four friends who are now living in an apartment left to one of them by his dead grandmother, who just so happened to coined them the Four Kings. The show stars the werewolf from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and three dudes whose IMDb pages look as impressive as mine, well that's if I had one. For some reason my appearance on Letterman back in 1994 or the numerous times I was on public access don't warrant my very own page. But anyways.

Last night started off in earnest with a decent theme song in the Counting Crow's Hangin' Around. Then it was all downhill from there. There were very few jokes that actually made me laugh, but that could be due to the episode focused around the grandmother's death and proceeding funeral and I'm not the biggest fan of dead grandma jokes. But that's just me. Plus everything in the show was even easier to telegraph than Reunion. When the show is advertised as four dudes living together, you knew that the grandson would pick to live his buddies over his girlfriend, or as one of the guys put it "Bro's over ho's." I think that was the first time someone used that phrase since Friends started to suck. Had she actually moved in with the Four Kings that may have made for an interesting show. Seriously, these networks really need to hire me as a consultant.

The only bright spot of the whole episode is when Oz went to break up with his girlfriend, even though I wasn't really sure why all the guys had to break up with their girlfriends, or personal trainer in one of their cases, don't ask, it wasn't funny. But Oz's confrontation with the twin daughters was hilarious. Sadly, since he broke up with their mother that will most likely be the last we see of them.

The Longest Yard (2005)

I Got the Shakes That'll Make You Quake

[7/10 · 8 January 2006]

I have to start off this review by saying that I have never seen the 1974 original with Burt Reynolds, who also shows up in the update as the inmates coach, so I can't compare the two movies. This could be a good thing because most reviews I read always stated how much the first one was better. Granted I can still compare this version to the other Adam Sandler football movie, The Waterboy. It's odd that no one complained about Sandler playing a linebacker in that movie yet everyone jumped on him for trying to be a quarterback. And he was a washed up one to boot so I really didn't have a problem with it.

Of course the movie is about the washed up QB in prison but how he gets there is great with cameos by Courtney Cox's newly enormous breasts and Dan Patrick, who apparently didn't get the memo that the movie would be set in present day as he instead chose to go with the 70's gay porn mustache with a dash of the Village People. But from there Sandler is shipped off to a Texan prison where the warden pulled some strings in hope that he would help out with the prison guard's football team. And what would be better practice for the guards than a little warm up game against a team of inmates.

Even though most of the inmates and guards are played by former football player, pro wrestlers and other non-actors, most of the characters are so well written, it makes up for any lack of acting experience. Ultimate Fighter Bob Sapp is great as the mentally slow Switowski, Michael Irvin in a role before he started holding onto his buddies narcotics plays a con who still doesn't trust Sandler after selling out his teammates in the NFL, and the giant Dalip Singh English was so bad they had to subtitle everything. As for the guards, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Brian Bosworth, who was always a better actor than football player, but that isn't saying much, and Bill Romanowski all play their tough guys well but I bet Romo was mad that Stone Cold got to utter the racial slurs and not him. But the standout of the guard is Kevin Nash who even though goes into every cliché conceived is hilarious after the inmates replaced his steroids with estrogen.

But not all the characters are well flashed out. It's hard to relate to Nelly talking how poor his character is when he has a couple gold teeth and Goldberg one running gag that his, um, chariot swings low, so to speak, gets old before it starts. The cast is filled out with more traditional actors with Chris Rock channeling Morgan Freeman as Caretaker, Terry Crews, who has gone on to play Rock's dad on Everybody Hates Chris, is hilarious as the cheeseburger dude, as is Nicolas Turturro as the early recruit who is quickly benched as more black inmates show up.

Hitch (I) (2005)

Any Guy Can Sweep Any Girl Off Her Feet

[5/10 · 18 December 2005]

The film follows the artist formally known as the Fresh Prince (sadly D.J. Jazzy Jeff is nowhere to be found) around as the mystical Date Doctor as he helps the hapless men of New York land the girl of their dreams because as Hitch says, "Any guy can sweep any girl off her feet, he just needs the right broom." His latest client also stands to be his biggest triumph as a goofy account Albert, played by Kevin James hires Hitch to help catch the eye of the socialite, Allegra Cole, who is a client at his firm. But with about ten other accountants on her case, it's hard for Albert to stick out. Granted whenever Allegra's name was brought up I couldn't help wondering how much the filmmakers were getting paid from pharmaceutical industry.

But Hitch's greatest success could be in trouble when he meets a jaded woman that he tries to woo who just so happens to have a gossip column that regularly focuses on Allegra's dating life. But since this is a romantic comedy, hilarity ensues instead, or at least tries too. The movie tries a little too hard at the physical which is fine when James is on screen, but when it's left up to the Fresh Prince and Eva Mendez as the gossip maven, it sometimes fall flat.

Overall it was a decent movie with a couple good laughs even though most of the movie, much like every romantic comedy, was extremely predictable. There were also a few scenes that didn't really need to be in the movie like Hitch's flashback to his dorkier college days or the scene with movie killer Michael Rapaport. As for the extras on the DVD, there were a couple of run of the mil featurettes and boring deleted scenes that were rightfully left on the cutting room floor along with your typical gag reel. Also there was a video for 2005's summer anthem, Amerie's 1 Thing.

The Upside of Anger (2005)

Anger and Resentment Can Stop You in Your Tracks

[6/10 · 11 December 2005]

It is understandable that any woman would go off the deep end after thinking that her husband ran off with his Swedish secretary back to her home country. Added on top of it being stuck in a house with four daughters with issues of there own and the only option for a rebound is a washed up ex-baseball player who refuses to talk baseball and enjoys his alcohol and other recreational drugs doesn't help.

Joan Allen breaks out of the supporting mom role to take the liquored-up lead of The Upside of Anger. As for the washed-up baseball player, that of course is played by Kevin Costner as he has some contract that states he always gets first crack at all baseball character. As for the daughters, they are played by the hot chick from Swimfan, the hot chick from Felicity, the formally hot chick from Urban Legend, and the hot chick from Green Day's Wake Me up When September Ends video who has officially taken over Christina Ricci's spot as the go-to indie teen.

The acting itself is as good as you would expect from the actor listed above except with four daughters to share screen time, none of them are able to shine as much as they have in past endeavors. Most wasted was Evan Rachel Wood as the laid back daughter who starts the film off as the narrator that goes away until the end of the film. In the middle she was stuck in a very predictable storyline, the most boring of the four, not too mention the unfortunate nickname Popeye, which was never explained unless I completely missed it. The other story lines do hold up better to the point that the poor plot twist at the end doesn't ruin the whole movie.

Batman Begins (2005)

A Guy Dresses Up Like a Bat Clearly Has Issues

[7/10 · 12 November 2005]

The new Batman movie, the first since Joel Schumacher ruined the franchise eight years ago, can basically be divided into two separate movies. The first part plays out almost like an episode of Lost, unfortunately of the second season variety, where Bruce Wayne finds himself in the Himalaya region where he is recruited by, Henri Ducard played by Liam Neeson in full Qui-Gon Jinn mode with Wayne as his apprentice, to join his League of Shadows. And the training sessions, with its clichéd metaphors, are peppered with a younger Bruce Wayne, showing what in his life led him to this point. These flashbacks also lead to some revisionist flashbacks most notable that The Joker was not the one who killed Wayne's parents nor did the killer even mutter the phrase, "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" The first act is saved by the closing fight sequence between Wayne and the villain of the first half of the film, Ra's Al Ghul played by Ken Watanabe from The Last Samurai. It seems as if Ken was cast solely for the fight sequence because his role is quite limited in the movie.

After his exile in Tibet, Wayne finally arrives back in Gotham to start the second act. It starts out slowly as Wanye starts to create his Batman alter ego with Batsuit, which we don't get to see until an hour into the movie, and Batmobile, which is now a tank rather than the classic sports car from past incarnations of the franchise. The villain of the second act is one of my favorite from the Batman mythology, the Scarecrow, second after the Penguin. But much like how the ruined the Penguin in Batman Returns, the Scarecrow is usually seen as his alter ego, Dr. Jonathan Crane, both played by Cillian Murphy, no relation tom Eddie or Charlie, and his only rarely puts the mask on. And when he permanently turns into the Scarecrow, he only makes a small cameo in the final epic battle.

In the final battle, they tie in both first and second acts well including a plot twist that I never saw coming. The acting is top notch, but that happens when your supporting cast includes Neeson, Watanabe, Micheal Caine as Alfred, Morgan Feeman as scientist Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman as not quite yet Commissioner Gordon. Christian Bale, who I will always remember as the title character from American Psycho, is Bruce Wayne, which he does a good job at. But, like his predecessors, I really don't think he does a god job as Batman. Katie Holmes, most known as Tom Cruise's latest promotional tool, plays the token love interest who, like all of Batman's love interest not named Catwoman, is one-dimensional.

In Good Company (2004)

I'm Afraid Your Both Being Let Go

[6/10 · 2 November 2005]

Subtle comedies like Swingers and Garden State have more appeal to me these days compared to the over the top, "Dude, you just drank someone's man juice" type of comedies. So on the surface, In Good Company looks right up my alley. The movie stars Dennis Quaid as a guy who just found out that his wife was pregnant and he was demoted following corporate takeover all within 24 hours. His new boss, played by the dude from That 70's Show not currently married to Demi Moore, is young enough to be his kid and not necessarily qualified for the job. Then his new boss promptly hooks up his daughter completely on the down low.

Here inlays the problem with the movie, it doesn't know if it wants to be a family drama, a romantic comedy or a social commentary on today's corporate world. Each upon itself would make a good movie are even a combination of two would be find, but having all three story lines weighs down the movie bringing to a running time to a very long running time of two hours which is too much for this type of movie. And looking at the amount of deleted scenes, it could have gone even longer closing in on three hours. Needless to say, avoid any potential Director's Cut that may be released in the future.

With that said, the acting almost makes up for the movie's flaws. Dennis Quaid easily transitions himself from tough guy to family guy seamlessly while Topher Grace does a good job of walking the tightrope between being the hate-able boss and likable boyfriend for most of the movie. Scarlett Johansson shines in the first part of the movie as the daughter/love interest, but like most everything in the movie, her character falls fall in the third act.

Constantine (2005)

I've Got a Whole Theme Park full of Red Delights for You

[3/10 · 30 October 2005]

Constantine is yet another movie based on a comic book that even most comic book nerd hadn't heard of. So they take the story of John Constantine on the pursuit of riding the world of demons because of something long ago that bars him from the gates of heaven. It's extra important to get in now because a large chunk of the residents of hell were put their by him.

In the role of the title character is Keanu Reeves who will forever conjure up the thoughts of Theodore Logan no matter how serious the role. Needless to say, the slacker surfer persona doesn't mesh well with the demon hunter. On his quest in the movie, Constantine crosses path with the chick from The Mummy movies as a detective trying to prove that her twin didn't commit suicide. And because ever good comic book character need a sidekick and Constantine has a cab driving apprentice played by the dude from one of the Disney Channel shows that I won't admit to watching.

One of the few entertaining elements of the movie is the unintentional comedy most notable being every moment where Reeves tries to act, and be sure to watch out for Constantine's rubber ducky. Equally questionable casting choice was the dude from Bush showing up as the bad guy. It was extremely hard to be scared of him because whenever he comes on the screen I fell off the couch laughing.

The only redeemable aspect of the movie was the scenes of hell. They really captured what I assume hell to be, a very hot version of Earth with weird demon ready to rip the flesh. The only part missing from my version of hell would be the members of the Backstreet Boys raping me for eternity while singing their songs. In fact all the special effects were all well done. Now if they can figure out to make a CGI Keanu Reeves and the movie might have been a lot better.

The biggest crime of the movie is that they cut out what could have made the movie. If you role through threw the delete scenes you find out about Constantine's tryst with a very hot (bad pun intended) half-demon who was cut out of various scenes in the movie. If I were to ever make rules of making a good move, number one would be "Never leave out the token hot chick." Because of that, this movie deserves to fail.

Cellular (2004)

Don't Ever Call Me Again

[6/10 · 3 October 2005]

From the trailer, Cellular looked intriguing. A kidnapped woman is able to fix a broken telephone to the point where she can make a call to an unknown person. My only problem is that I completely and utterly hate cell phone. Everyone I see yapping on the phone at the stoplight, grocery story, bathroom, and virtually everywhere else, I just want to scream "you are not that important that you need to contacted at any given moment." I only carry a cell phone when I drive just because my hoopie can give out on me at any given moment. So needless to say, I had a bias against the film going in.

The movie stars Kim Basinger, best known for Final Analysis, as the previously mention damsel in distress, while Chris Evans, who has such gems as Not Another Teen Movie and Fantastic Four on his resume, as the knight in shinning amour, except a sword he carries a cell phone that probably cost a couple hundred. Filling out the cast is William H Macy, challenging Samuel L Jackson for number of movies he's in regardless of quality, Jessica Biel as the token hot chick even though she rarely can fill the role properly, and Kim's husband is played by Susan Mayer's ex-husband.

There were plenty of plot holes throughout the movie, the one that bugged me the most was the school schedules in the movie. First the little kid gets out of school at 1:45, who actually get out that early. Then his mother is a high school science teacher, yet she has enough time to walk to him to the bus stop and take a shower, and still not be late for school herself. How much later does high school start after elementary school in California, in all the schools in my area, high school starts about an hour earlier? And speaking of the shower, why didn't the housekeeper answer the phone while Kim was in there and even is she isn't allowed to answer it, why didn't she her the warning message? But I did like how her science job helped her out later in the film.

The movie also falls flat when it tries to interject humor into the script. Kim's son having the same name as a cheesy singer just doesn't work and ruins the urgency of the moment and Evan's character being introduced as he was in a romantic comedy complete with a ex-girlfriend he wants to get back with and Stifler type sidekick also seems out of place too. There were even more scenes of this included in the deleted scenes including a token performance this time by G Love. The only thing that actually got me to chuckle was Macy's porn star mustache. The movie also utilizes everything that could wrong with cell phones, tunnels, running out of juice, crossing signals, the latter being the most entertaining which involves a evil LA lawyer.

Ghostbusters (1984)

Who You Gonna Call?

[10/10 · 1 October 2005]

I loved the movie as a child and even watched the cartoon that somehow turned Slimer into a good guy. Looking back, it ruins the continuity, but luckily as a little kid I didn't care. I even enjoyed the widely panned sequel, yeah it wasn't as good as the original, but it is still funnier than much of what Hollywood releases today. Not to mention the numerous memorabilia such as bed sheets, lunch box, and action figures.

The movie also introduced me to the comic geniuses that are Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis. Keep in mind that Saturday Night Live, Caddyshack and previous movies they were in were before my time or were in movies that my parents wouldn't let me see at the time. Murray plays Dr. Peter Venkman, the reluctant leader of the group who would rather pick up some hot chick than further his science career. Aykroyd is Dr. Raymond Stantz, the naive one of the group who enjoys his work a little too much. And Ramis, the perennial straight man, plays Dr. Egon Spengler. All of them hit each joke perfectly.

In addition to the main cast, the supporters are just as perfect. First is the scene stealer, Rick Moranis as an accountant turned Keymaster. Sigourney Weaver, who did look good back then but the frizzy hair hasn't aged well, is Venkman's love interest turned Gatekeeper. Then there are Annie Potts as the token New Yorker secretary and Ernie Hudson, the only ghostbuster without a Dr. in his name that keeps the group grounded and keeps thing in perspective from a regular guy's point of view.

The movie itself maybe not be as quote worthy as other 80's classics and some of the CG has not stood the test of time (where George Lucas when you need him) but the movie as a whole is still worth watching especially with Halloween coming up. So fire up the DVD and let the Ray Parker Jr. blare (which I don't think sounds anything like Huey Lewis' I Want a New Drug). And don't forget to roast some Staypuft Marshmallows over the fire.

Man of the House (I) (2005)

This Is My Happy Face

[6/10 · 24 September 2005]

How can you possibly go wrong pairing up Tommy Lee Jones with five hot cheerleaders? Luckily Man of the House doesn't disappoint. Granted, it won't win any awards, but it does a good job as a time suck with its standard fish out of water story and count them, five token hot chicks.

The story follows Tommy Lee Jones as a Texas Ranger, not the kind that would know Derek Jeter as some of the girls think, who is protecting a group of cheerleaders from the University of Texas who have witnessed a murder that is linked to a high powered businessman. The ladies he is protecting include the token hot chick from Undeclared as the brainy one with social anxieties, plays the tough as nails one but has all the deep thoughts not too mention the only one who could master the Texas accent, Paula Garces, who surprisingly is on the wrong side of thirty playing a college student, and Chistina Milian, best know for her singing career, well actually not really, both play the fiery Latina chick, not sure why they didn't just combine the characters. The standout of the cheerleaders though was Kelli Garner as the boy, and man, crazy dumb blonde, who brought depth and heart to what could have been just your routine Jessica or Paris caricature. Rounding out the cast was Cedric the Entertainer who's talents were somewhat wasted as the ex-con turned preacher.

Most of the movie is pretty predictable with the girls helping Jones character get in touch with his feminine side including the prerequisite makeover montage. And it's a given that they would help him out with his girl troubles including his estranged daughter and the professor of one of the girls. The movie may not be as good as the other cheerleader movie, Bring It On but Man of the House is worth a rental at the very least.

Threshold (2005–2006)

First Impressions - Threshold

[17 September 2005]

Next up on the Lost knock off tour of the fall season is Threshold. It was being hyped as being the best sci-fi show since the X-Files. Of course this begs the question, has there been any good sci-fi show's since the X-Files? But anyways. The show follows Dr. Molly Caffery, play by Carla Gugino last seen naked in Sin City, who specializes in on worst cases scenario. Wow, a government official that specializes in solving worst case scenarios, what a novel idea. That may be the biggest science fiction part of the whole show, a government that is actually prepared for disaster. But I digress. One of Caffery's scenario plays out when something strange happens on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean that essentially prove the existence of extraterrestrials or ET for short.

So the government enlists Caffery to round up a team of experts to examine the ship who really don't have a choice on whether they want to join or not. The other alterative seem to be some Guatanamo Bay type resort if they don't help. I do like this and would not have any problem if our own government would do the same thing in extreme situations. The experts in question include Nigel Fenway, who apparently a big thing to Trekkies but us normal people hasn't a clue who he is. Fenway is forensic microbiologists brought in to study the effects of the aliens have on what they come in contact with. He also seems jaded with the whole thing, but goes along nonetheless. Lucas Pegg is an astronautical engineer who is the only team member who seems happy to be there. But the highlight of the team is Arthur Ramsey, who is the best mathematician in the nation and a well versed linguist. Oh yeah, and he's a very horny midget (or dwarf, I always get those two confused). The best part of the whole show was when he was caught holding Caffery's underwear. Tough guy Cavennaugh closes out the team as the muscle. What's Cavennaugh's last name? And seriously, what's with the extra "N"? Well your guess is good as mine. But since he's black ops, the government may have brainwashed him to forget it like in Men in Black. And the whole team reports to the Deputy National Security Adviser played by Roc himself, Charles S. Dutton.

So once the team is assembled they head onto the ship to find only one survivor who happened to be Ethan Rom, who has suddenly become the go-to creepy dude. Something is seriously wrong with the dude who is shot multiple times, jumps into the ocean then somehow makes to Caffery's house later that night, then disappears into thin air. Then throughout the whole show, there is a pattern that looked exactly like the image that was in the hot chick's eye on Point Pleasant. But hear inlies the problem of the show for me, it was hyped as an X-Files type of show, yet the show feels like a singular X-Files episode that they turned into a whole series. And that didn't fair too well when Tru Calling tried to do the exact same thing. Plus, if Mulder and Scully were on this case, they would have the case solved already.

Verdict: I'd like to think I have better things to do on a Friday night than watch this show. Granted I don't, but I'd like to thing it anyway. Might give it another try because when all the people showed up like it was the night of the living dead intrigued me.

Bones (2005–2017)

First Impressions - Bones

[14 September 2005]

Any show that starts off with a hot chick flashing has got my attention, now the only question is if Bones can keep my attention after that. The show, itself focuses around Dr. Temperance Brennen, a forensic anthologist, and her team as they help the FBI solve mysteries that involve, ironically enough, bones. On the surface, it looks like CSI: Washington D.C., but Bones has humanity to it, delving into the lives of the characters then he 52 shows of the CBS series.

The shows stars Emily Deschanel, best know for being Zooey sister, who in turn is best known for being random girl #5 in a couple of movies that have shown up on Comedy Central every once in a while, as the Dr. and David Boreanaz, who will be known as Angel for the rest of his life. Boreanaz has been fortunate playing Angel as he was surrounded by great actor the hid his wooden demeanor although his dry wit that he displayed as a vampire comes through in this role. But the breakout stars of the cast are the supporting characters including the uber-smart young dude, the conspiracy theorist who could be an illegitimate child of one of the Lone Gunman, and the toke hot computer chick, who was the previously mentioned flasher.

The first episode was well contrasted with our fair Dr. being stopped at the airport by homeland security, but it only turns out to be a plot by Angel, who just wants to bring in the Dr., who he affectionately calls Bones because who wants to say Temperance, to help him out on a case. I like how the two have had history and we are brought in after their last case didn't go too well. But since Bones is the best in the business, Angel has to cave into her request for full disclosure in the case and even asks "Do you want to be Mulder or Scully." But this leads Bones into some trouble as she is not aware of protocol and breaks a few laws along the way while solving the case at hand, the discovery of an intern who has been missing for a couple years.

Verdict: I'm not the biggest fan of crime dramas, but the first episode was well written and I'll get the show a couple more viewings as there is nothing much on Tuesdays at 8:00. Plus I'd like to hear the conspiracy try to top his "Monica Lewinski was a sex robot created by the KGB" theory.

Supernatural (2005–2020)

First Impressions - Supernatural

[14 September 2005]

Supernatural is the first of many new sci-fi shows that that have flooded the networks this fall after the success of Lost. What seems to set this show apart from the rest is that it seems to go more in the direction of horror while the others look more like a pure Lost knock off of suspenseful sci-fi. There were plenty of "jump out of your seats" moments in the first episode like with the opening and closing scenes. But I'm not really sold on the whole, being scared every week. I prefer my horror fix on my own terms, watching a scary movie when I'm in the mood for one, not on a weekly basis.

In between the two scary scenes we are introduced two brothers, one who has taken up the family business of hunting things that go bump in the night, and the other, who is about to go into law school at Stamford. When daddy hunter goes missing, company son recruits college boy to go find him. Apparently daddy was hunting a spirit that has a pension killing cheating men. Oh, and if the man isn't a cheater, she'll quickly turn him into one because, even as a spirit, she's extremely hot. But once the case is solved, and the spirit is eradicated, daddy is still missing, but left a clue to his whereabouts. This is where I got weary because I see no reason why college boy would give up his dreams for a family he really doesn't care much about. But the closing scene changed everything and was well conceived as a reason college boy would hit the road with the deadbeat brother looking for a deadbeat dad.

The cast is solely made up as with the two brothers. The elder, family business brother is played by the dude last seen as Lana's evil boyfriend. I can't express how much I hate the character. The younger college boy apparently most known for being on Gilmore Girls, not that I would know that by watching it (hey, I'm a guy). Evil Lana boyfriend does a good job as the cocky older brother, but I'm not sold on the younger brother, which could be a problem when there is only one other person in the cast.

There was even a Mulder and Scully reference in the episode, much like in Bones. That can't really be a good sign and I'm sure all the other Lost wannabes are scrambling to take out their X-Files references as you read this. But what really irked me most about the show is that it ran over five minutes making me miss the season finale of Rescue Me, making me instead have to record the late showing.

Verdict – The ending alone gives it another viewing, but I bet I'll be watching My Name Is Earl and The Office at 9:00 on Tuesdays. Supernatural could make for a good DVD rental when you need a good scare.

The War at Home (2005–2007)

First Impressions – The War at Home

[11 September 2005]

What better time to debut a new sitcom entitled The War at Home then on the fourth anniversary of 9/11? I'm sure I don't have to name what network would do such a thing since they have brought us such quality shows as The Littlest Groom and Who's Your Daddy. If you ask the people at Fox, the show is reminiscent of All in the Family. Umm, okay. Although calling it Married with Children but without anything funny would be a little more accurate.

So what we get is yet another dad who is having troubles raising his kids with a wife who also works. The daughter is your token slutty girl except that she's, as she puts it, technically a virgin. I guess we have Bill Clinton to tanks for that type of clarification. But anyways. Then there is the middle brother who is ambiguously gay. Granted this idea of "is or isn't he" was a whole lot funnier when it was in a form of a cartoon. Lastly is the youngest boy who… well I'm not entirely sure exactly what he brings to the show.

The casting is fairly uninspiring. Of course it can't be good when you're show is headlined by Michael Rapaport most notably from the Popcopy commercial. And that's pretty much it; can anyone name anything else he's been in that's good? His IMDb.com page read like a who's who of movies that no one has seen. The rest of the cast is filled with actors who probably won't work after this show is canceled, and that may come sooner than later.

The pilot of The War at Home centers on the slutty daughter not being allowed to date a college boy so she pretends to date a black dude named Taye, short for Boo-tah, to get back at her parents. And hilarity doesn't ensue. The only time I actually laughed during the episode involved a flashback featuring Cherry Pie. To make things worse, there are little vinaigrettes of the characters talking to the camera as if they were on a reality show. Here we are told early on by the sexually ambiguous son that he is, in fact, not gay thus ruining his whole plot line for the rest of the show.

Verdict: I think we have a lead candidate for the first show to be canceled.

Reunion (2005–2006)

First Impressions – Reunion

[9 September 2005]

When the fall lineups were announced a couple months ago, Reunion didn't really catch my eye. It was on at the same time as a perennial favorite of my, Everwood, and even worse, it was on Fox. And since I have morals, I tend to avoid all the Fox channels, the only current exceptions being Rescue Me and Arrested Development. But the more I learned about the show, the more I found it intriguing. The series would take places over twenty year, each episode focusing on a singular year starting with the high school graduation of six friends and culminates at the twentieth reunion which just happens to coincides with of death by one of the six at the hands of another. Another sticking point foe me was the cast included cast members from past shows I liked like the electro-girl from Angel and Meg's older brother from American Dreams.

But intriguing premises don't always translate into good shows as seen last year with Jack and Bobby, a show that looked good on paper, but they ruined the show in the very first episode. As for Reunion's first episode, it started out in the present day funeral of an unknown person and quickly transitioned back to 1986 and graduation. The show quickly built up not one, but two love triangles. This also rapidly sets up motives for murder. But really all the plot twists in the first episodes were extremely predictable.

In the cast, electro-girl and J.J. are joined by the Ugly-Hot Chick that deserved to mocked in Not Another Teen Movie, two no named dudes and, of course, a Token Hot Chick. It became apparent quite early that the actors were cast upon looked because the first episode had some of the worst acting I've seen in a long time. The show also must think the viewer is not too bright, which would make sense because it is Fox, so it went to extreme measures to remind us that this was 1986, so there was a constant stream of 80's music. Also the token hot chick was giving the task of wearing the Madonna gear. Then there was the preppy dude couldn't decide if he wanted to evoke Don Johnson on Miami Vice or Tom Cruise in Risky Business, so he'd just alternated between the two every other scene. They went seriously overboard with the, "Wham! is the next Beatles" comparison and even took it a step further comparing the dude not named George Michaels to John Lennon. Now when Adam Sandler said, "Get out of my Van Halen t-shirt before you jinx the band and they break up" in The Wedding Singer, that was funny because it was a comedy. Do it in a drama, and it's just cheesy.

Predictions: - By the time we hit the 90's, the two love triangles will have morphed into a love hexagon. - Even more in jokes including how Vanilla Ice will go down as the greatest rapper ever and how the Red Sox will never win the World Series. The wardrobe will transition into Hammer pants then flannel shirts. - Who dies: The nerdy virgin - Who is the murderer: The Token Hot Chick - Why: Nerdy dude gets too obsessive and the Token Hot Chick kills him in a moment of self defense.

Verdict: Poor acting, predictable plot lines, but considering whenever I'm flipping through channels and come across I Love the 80's/90's on VH1, I'll sit and watch it, I'll be checking out Reunion every week.

Sideways (2004)

Quaffable, but far from transcendent

[2/10 · 21 August 2005]

I finally got around to catching on of last years most critically acclaimed movies, Sideway. All during awards season, everyone keeps talking how the movie should win or how it got shafted in certain categories. So with all the build up, I had high expectations for the film. And to say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

The film follows two guys around on one last hooray the week before one of their wedding. The major problem with the film is neither male lead is likable. We first catch them in a lie, then we drinking and driving, then they stop by one of their mother's because it the day before her birthday. Except the son steals her money then skips out on her before she can wake up on her birthday. So before the first half hour is over, I could care less about the characters. Thing don't get much better from their when they meet some girls on their getaway.

There are also a lot of scenes that go excruciatingly long while the characters talk excessively about wine. The movie could have been cut an hour off its run time if they cut the unnecessary talk about wine. There was even a wine montage that looked liked like a montage from the Partridge Family. Okay, they like wine, now let's get on with the movie.

The movie does pick up once the female leads disappear, but it's never a good sign when the first time you laugh in a comedy is an hour and a half in. I think it is easy to see why movie critics like this movie as the main character is a fail writer, and I'm sure many critics can relate as they probably have a few rejected novels or screenplay cluttering up their closets. And I find it odd how all the movie critics can pan movies like Wedding Crashers for its gratuitous nudity yet their quite a lot of it in Sideways. And referring to Sidways, by nudity, I mean male nudity. Full frontal male nudity. A lot of it. I was beginning to think there was a gay porn that accidentally got edited into the film.

In the end, I can't see how anyone who isn't gay, over the hill, wannabe writer, wine coinsurer could possibly enjoy this movie. And if you fit that description and you decide to watch the movie, be sure to look out for cameos by George Bush and Donald Rumsfield.

Spanglish (2004)

Being That Sane Can Drive You Nuts

[7/10 · 15 August 2005]

I'm a huge Adam Sandler fan so much I could quote every line from Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and The Waterboy for much of the late 90's. Going into the new millennium, Sandler seem to not be able to decide whether to stick with his sophomoric shtick as with Little Nicky or move into a more sophisticated style as he did in Punch Drunk Love. And of course there is always romantic comedy with Drew Barrymore. His latest trek into the sophisticated realm was Spanglish.

The backdrop of the film is an essay a student has written for her application to Yale. It explains why her mother is the person she most admires and goes on to explain how her mom took her from Mexico and made her the person she was today. The problem with this is that the movie then doesn't revolve around the young girl yet focuses on the family he mother began to work for upon arriving in America. In fact the girl gets very little screen time in the movie. The family includes Sandler as the dad with an inferiority complex at being the best chef in the country, his wife, played by Téa Leoni, a victim of downsizing who can quite adapt to being a stay at home mom. They have two children, a son who barely makes blip on screen and an overweight daughter played by an actress who tries to pull off the "wise beyond her age" act but isn't able to do so. Alcoholic grandma also lives with them played perfectly by Cloris Leachman who delivers the best line in the movie, "Honey, lately, your low self-esteem is just good common sense." That line has entered into my repertoire of insults and can't wait until I find the perfect time to unleash it.

The movie finally hit its stride when the family movies to a beach house for the summer when Sandler's family is introduced to the Mexican girl who is forced to move in with them due to distance reasons. Leoni finds in her the daughter she always wanted which causes problem with basically everyone else in the film.

The film is well written finding a balance in-between drama and comedy and also features what was one of the most disturbing sex scenes I have seen in a while. If that ever happen to me, I may have to give up sex for a while. As for the negatives, the movie seems to forget that is it based on an essay and there are many things that I doubt the girl ever knew yet she is able to write about it. Also all the driving scenes it is very obvious that green screens were used and they looked as bad as a SNL skit. A big budget movie should avoid such pitfalls. On the DVD, don't forget to check out the deleted scenes to see one of the funniest scenes with Leoni's character preparing for a party. Although the other scenes make you understand why they left out.

National Treasure (2004)

It's All About the Benjamins Baby

[8/10 · 26 June 2005]

Typically I try to avoid anything that has to do with Jerry Bruckheimer (how does his last name pass spell check?) at all cost considering I'm not a big fan of watching things blow up surrounded by a lousy plot. Black Hawk Down is one of the few movies I've seen that he was attached to that didn't suck massively. Seriously, how can you possibly mess up a movie about Pearl Harbor? Well by poorly ripping off Titanic I guess. So I broke down this weekend and picked up National Treasure and hoped Bruckheimer actually devised a plot for the movie.

National Treasure follows a family in search of a long lost treasure that was supposedly hidden by our founding founders. Nick Cage plays the son who is still searching for it while Jon Voight is the skeptical dad whose life was ruined by unsuccessfully looking. With the son being the treasure hunter (or as Cage's Ben Gates says, "Treasure protectors") and dad being skeptical, parallels are easily drawn with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. They even throw in a hot German chick just for fun. But the German chick in this movie has been nationalized and has access to the Declaration of Independence. That, of course, comes in handy when Gates needs to steal it.

Gates need to steal the Declaration of Independence because his former partner, evil English dude, plans to steal it to use it to find the treasure for his own personal collection. Rounding out the cast is Gates' sidekick, Riley (think Short Round from Temple of Doom but older and less Asian), and Harvey Keitel in a rare good guy turn as the FBI agent who is looking for Gates.

The plot is surprisingly decent. They is a good balance between historically accuracy and aspects that were made up to go with the storyline. You can really tell that some did their homework to make sure what could be accurate is and what is made up could be plausible. As for the action, Bruckheimer kept the big explosions to only one, which has to be a record low for him. The biggest disappointment I had with the action was, if you remember back to the trailer (which is missing from the DVD release, I hate when that happens), Gates is holding on to the hot German chick and asks her; "Do you trust me?" And she say, "yes" than Gates drops her. Everybody and their mothers were like "Whoa" when they first saw it but when you see it in the context of the film, it is obvious that she really isn't in any danger.

As for the extras on the DVD, I mentioned earlier that it lack the theatrical trailer yet it had the Verizon commercial that when along with the film for some reason. It also had a nice documentary about present day treasure hunters and another one about the making of the movie. It also had the prerequisite deleted scenes, neither of which were that interesting. It also had an alternate ending, and to honest they went with the better ending in the movie. The cool thing about the extras is they give you clues that will help you unlock some more extra materials.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

No Ones Gonna Save You From the Beast About to Strike

[6/10 · 26 June 2005]

So what would happen if you replaced the hero of a zombie movie with a bubbling slacker? Well if you are British, you get Shaun of the Dead. The movie starts out following Shaun around his mundane life. He's still working at a computer store. He still sits in front of the TV flipping channels with his buddy Ed, who is a bigger loser than Shaun is. But his world comes crashing down when his girlfriend dumps him. Oh and the whole city is being turned into zombies, not that Shaun or Ed even notice. That's until Ed notices a weird girl hanging out in their garden. This gives Shaun the idea on how to get his girlfriend back, sweep her off her feet and take her to safety. But Shaun and Ed are no Will Smith and Bruce Willis so hilarity ensues.

The major problem with the movie is that their too many spots in the movie where the scenes are not funny or scary. With a movie that mixes humor with gore, there should be a least one going on at all time. Another problem with the movie is that there is some things that are lost in the translation as it is a British film. While I was watching it, I wondered out load, "Why would Shaun have a paddle in his shed and why would he grab that?" Someone then pointed out that it was a cricket bat. And there were a few places where the British slang just went over of my head.

The DVD extras include the usual trailer, documentaries (extremely boring), deleted and extended scenes (good choice taking these out), and blooper reel. One very inventive feature was the inclusion of comics that plugs so holes in the story. No if only every movie did this. Also, during the film, Shaun and Ed flip through the TV pretty quickly, so in the extra they show extended versions of what they flipped past including a interview with Coldplay who lost some of their members to the zombies and what looks to be the British version of Jerry Springer.

With everything that had be popular oversees, I predicted we will get an Americanized version of Shaun of the Dead (spelled Shawn instead)within five years with Stifler as Shawn, Jack Black as Ed, Kate Bosworth as Liz, the nerdy dude from The O.C. as David, some token hot chick as Dianne, and Burt Reynolds as Phillip. And in hopes to rejuvenate his career, Michael Jackson will don the Thriller makeup one more time to be the head zombie that leads the other zombie in a zombie dance. Just make sure Shawn grabs a baseball bat out of the shed.

Veronica Mars (2004–2019)

A Long Time Ago, We Used to Be Friends

[10/10 · 29 May 2005]

Veronica Mars is a student at Neptune High School who's best friend, Lilly Kane, was murdered, her mom has jumped town, she has been raped, her boyfriend has abruptly broke up with her, and she's an outcast because her father wrongly (maybe) accused her dead best friend's dad with being the murderer. And that's just what we learn from the first episode. The next twenty-one episode revolve around Veronica trying to find out why her mom left and where she went to, who raped her, and who killed Lilly. The later of which could have been almost anyone who came into contact with the youngest Kane, and Veronica just happen to have a file on every one of them.

When Veronica's not looking for her mom or Lilly's killer, Veronica works for her dad who is a private investigator. This leads to the mystery of the week, this is what gave the show its comparisons to The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer except all the monsters in Neptune are real people. Some of the better side stories include Veronica thwarting a group of computer nerd who extort money through the internet (The Wrath of Con), she hunts down the person who is posting fake purity tests of other students including herself (Live a Virgin), she tries to catch the students who set her up for making fake ID's (Clash of the Tritons), she find a student accused of making bomb threats (Weapons of Class Destruction), and she tries to keep a student from posting an explicit video of his ex-girlfriend on the internet (M.A.D.).

Along with the great story lines, the show is also has a great cast. Kristen Bell shines as Veronica, who can hit each smart-alic line with ease but can also nail all the emotional scenes that Sarah Michelle Gellar couldn't quite hit as Buffy. And where Jennifer Garner always comes off as slutty in her many undercover costumes, Bell pulls off all her costumes with a cute as button touch to them (which is why Bell is the leading candidate to replace Portman in my top 5). Supporting Bell are Enrico Colantoni, best known as the balding photographer on Just Shoot Me, as papa Mars and a bunch of young actors in the first major roles. Percy Daggs III as Wallace and Francis Capra as Weevil do the best with their roles but I don't think Teddy Dunn pulled off the complexity of Duncan Kane as the season wore on.

The show was sprinkled with the multitude of familiar faces with Alyson Hannigan (Buffy), Joey Lauren Adams (Mallrats), Anthony Anderson (Barbershop), Lisa Rinna (Melrose Place), Paula Marshall (Cupid), Paris Hilton (One Night in Paris), and a double shot of the Home Improvement Boys Zachary Ty Bryan and Jonathan Taylor Tomas all making a cameo or two. Other stars making recurring appearances included Harry Hamlin (L.A. Law) as a movie star/abusive father, Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls) as the most popular girl in school turned murder victim Lilly Kane, and being rescued from the crap that was Napoleon Dynamite was Tina Majorino who played Mac, the computer whiz who helped Veronica on all her digital cases.

Unlike other big shows of this season (*couch* Lost *cough*), Veronica Mars answered all the big questions posed this season: who raped Veronica, where did Veronica mom go, and most importantly, not to mention most shocking, who killed Lilly Kane. Although there are some important questions that will be answered next season like who was Veronica glad to see (my guess - Wallace) and what did Weevil and his boys do to Logan (my guess - he ends up next to his dad). And a question that may not be answered quickly, is Lynn Echolls really dead.