Scooter McGavin's 9th Green

Musings from the Back 9: Music Edition XIII

2013-04-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

If it were not for Limp Bizkit’s fifth attempt at being relevant again, Fall Out Boy may have been the most unwanted comeback of the past year. Even worse is they called their album Save Rock and Roll (so when you look at the album, you will see Fall Our Boy Save Rock n Roll) even though they along with their whiney contemporaries destroyed the genre (good riddance My Chemical Romance, the world will not be anticipating your inevitable reunion at Coachella 2020). Apparently the band did not watch the Grammy’s this year which featured Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, Jack White, and Fun., four critically and commercially successful rock albums, all fight for Best Album.

But I am not a Fall Out Boy hater, a couple of their songs made my Best of the Year lists. Despite the first single My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light em Up) and its pretentious long title the band is known for, Save Rock n Roll is the band’s grown up album. Besides Light em Up, the rest of the album has “normal” titles and less tongue in cheek lyrics (Courtney Love spoken word diatribe on Rat a Tat notwithstanding). This album reminds me a lot of Blink-182’s “grown up” albums, they may have been musically better, but their songs where they would make prank phone calls about sodomy were more entertaining. Same for Save Rock n Roll where the album may sound better, but the most entertaining song is the one that sound most like their older work.

Save Rock n Roll gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Taylor Swift set up the template for country cross-over success. Hook in that country crowd then slowly creep closer and closer to pop music with every subsequent album until you are making crappy dubstep songs with Max Martin. It look like The Band Perry is copying that blueprint to a T. Much like Taylor did with Teardrops on My Guitar, Kimberly and her brother released a “Pop Remix” of If I Die Young to pop and adult contemporary stations. And that turn to the mass center continues on their sophomore album Pioneer which dips one toe into the country pool and the other in the pop world. The album starts off with their best song to date, the banjo infused Better Dig Two which is as much pop-rock as it is country. They continue to go back and forth and combine the two for the rest of the album, but none of it is very memorable. Maybe the true key to Taylor Swift's successes is dating and writing about douchebags when they inevitably break her heart.

Pioneer gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Last year I became obsessed with who the record companies would try to pass off as the “Next Adele.” First out the box was internet lightning rod Lana del Ray who was maybe the most prepackaged “indie” act ever with her devil may care attitude, thin voice, pretentious lyrics that wanted you to think they were much more important than they are, and music that borrows as much from retro sounds as it does modern day hip-hop. Though we never did get a Next Adele (at least until Emili Sandi manages to break out here stateside) you could call Jessie Ware the Next Lana Del Rey but Jessie comes off much less pretentious, less annoying and has a slightly better singing voice. The music is still draped in as many rap references while it borrows from music from the sixties (Wildest Moments is the best here which will grow on you with every new listen) but most songs come off as a little too sleepy and boring. But that is what makes her debut Devotion a great bedtime album, whether that is a good or bad thing may depend on how much Ambient you take on a monthly basis.

Devotion gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Amazon.com Widgets

I Want My Music Television: 4/30/13

2013-04-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.

How Many Drinks? - Miguel featuring Kendrick Lamar

Is it wrong to like a song that is kinda promoting date rape? If Miguel needs to liquor up chicks to get them home, what hope is there for the rest of us? And what the frack is Kendrick Lamar wearing? It looks like he took that outfit out of my crazy uncle’s closet.

Feel it All – KT Tunstall

I really enjoyed KT Tunstall’s debut album but her subsqueant album veered too far into computerize dancy music, I hope this song is a sign she is going back to a more organic way of making music. But I do hope she did utilize computers when it came to making this music video because it really freaked me out if she was really walking the plank.

Out of My League - Fitz & The Tantrums

Fitz and the Tantrums first album was filled with retro soul and it sounds like they have updated to a New Wave sound for their sophomore outing. Even the music video is very eighties, I was ready for Max Headroom to pop out randomly.

OMYGOD! – Kate Nash

Yeah the stylization of the title is silly, but the new Kate Nash song is ultra catchy.

Teacher Thinks that I Sound Funny but She Likes the Way You Sing

2013-05-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

At the turn of the century, music got really sedate, the only videos getting played on MTV (when they played music videos) were bland teen pop or crappy rap-rock songs. It took something truly innovative to get noticed. Enter Fell in Love with a Girl and its Lego inspired music video which busted through the monotony of everything else in heavy rotation. Even better was that accompanying song by The White Stripes was great even without the awesome visuals. And though the strict adherence to only two instruments per song (so they would be able to play them as is live in concert) and a red, white, and black color palate, could have pegged the duo as a one hit wonder, but none listen to the album White Blood Cells, this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, showed they were much more than a gimmick.

The White Stripes were blues rock at its finest. Though most of their songs clocked in at less than three minutes, Jack White was able to pump at least one great guitar riff into each of them. The songs range from the down and gritty Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, to the delta blues of The Union Forever, to the quick and simple Meg stomping Little Room, to the poppy acoustic Hotel Yorba which just begs to be sun along with.

As great as Fell in Love with a Girl is, the best track on the album just may be We’re Going to Be Friends. With just Jack and his acoustic guitar, he sings of a simpler time when worrying about the first day of school was your biggest problem. But it is also a day were you meet new friends that can last a lifetime. The song should be included in every graduation mix from now until the end of time. As The White Stripes showed, the simplest can also sometimes be the best.

Amazon.com Widgets

It's a Trap!

2013-05-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

Even before it aired I was ready to love The Americans. It was the first show Graham Yost created after Justified, the best show on television. Then you add in Keri Russell as a Russian spy which sounded like it would be Homeland: The Reagan Years but seem from the opposition. Sure we know how the story turns out (SPOILER ALERT: the Russians lose) but Yost is a master storyteller and with the premiere set against Reagan’s election, they are still eight years away from the fall of the Berlin Wall and a full decade away from the dissolution of USSR. Not that I would mind if The Americans lasted long enough to see The Jennings adjust to the end of The Cold War.

As great as the premise, the season relied on too many television tropes. Of course the guy who just moved across the street is the newest counter-intelligence agent in the CIA who routinely is investigation The Jennings activities but never actually crosses paths with them except in the finale but did not get a good look at them in their disguises. The biggest disappointment of the first season was how uninteresting Margo Martindale. Yost brought her in after she deservedly won an Emmy for her role of Mags Bennett on Justified but her character just did not add anything as the Jennings’ handler except the time she bruised Elizabeth’s fists with her face.

But these complaints really are due to unfair comparisons to Justified and Homeland, two of my favorite shows. On its own, The Americans was still an edge of your seat cat and mouse game between the Jennings and Stan as they join each other for cookouts on their time off from spying. And where I thought from the beginning that The Jennings would eventually get turned and become double agents for the CIA at some point in the series (I always go back to the offer the turncoat KGB agent they captured offered them), the most fascinating part of the finale was when Nina’s boss made it a top priority that she try and turn Stan. Now going forward it may be a question of who turns both. Of course if this were Homeland, they probably would both turn on their country and be shocked when they run into each other at a CIA or KGB meeting.

Still, it was hard not to be disappointed by the finale. In the end nothing changed. The Jennings did not get caught and Stan and the rest of the CIA are no closer to catching than they were at the beginning of the season. I thought for sure Nina would not make it out of the season alive, or at the very least be resigned to a life in Siberia, but she is still around as a double agent, her alliances just switch back. Maybe I was just conditioned by Homeland to expect one mind blowing game changer per week (for better or worse) I was expecting The Americans would have at least one in a season. With the last scene, I thought,, okay, at least the daughter will learn of her parents double lives, but even that just ended on a cliffhanger. Did she find her parent's stash? Does it even matter? Is the son more worthless and Bobby Draper and Chris Brody combined? I guess we have to wait until next season for the answers.

The Americans 1.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 5/3/13

2013-05-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Family Tree, XOXO Betsey Johnson, Resale Royalty, Dallas, Inside Out: The People’s Art Project, Gamer 3D, Mighty Fine, Felicity, Zac Brown Band, Mike Doughty, Life On The Road, Alan Alda, and The Callen Sisters.

- HBO’s latest comedy Family Tree comes from Christopher Guest and Jim Piddock and is about a down on his luck in love and life, having recently lost his job and girlfriend, 30-year-old Tom Chadwick has an unsure sense of his own identity. But when he inherits a mysterious box, Tom starts investigating his lineage and uncovers a world of unusual stories and characters, acquiring a growing sense of who he and his entire family are. Watch the trailer below and check it out when it premieres Sunday May 12 at 10:30.

- This May, get ready for the most fashionable Sunday nights you've had in ages. XOX Betsey Johnson, a docu-series starring Betsey Johnson and her daughter LuLu set to premiere May 12 at 8:00, looks into the crazy and exciting lifestyles of the mother-daughter duo. Then at 9:00, from executive producer Rachel Zoe, Resale Royalty exposes one of the fashion industry's hidden gems – a resale store with designer and vintage clothes and accessories nestled in an unsuspecting location in a St. Louis strip mall. Check out a trailer for the former below:

- TNT announced this week that it is renewing Dallas for a fifteen episode third season that is set to early in early 2014.

- If you missed Inside Out: The People’s Art Project at the Tribeca Film Festival, do not fret because it will be airing exclusively on HBO May 20 at 9:00. The documentary travels the globe with French artist JR as he motivates communities to define their most important causes by pasting giant black & white portraits in the street, testing the limits of what they thought possible.

- Out on DVD and / or blu ray next week include the Gerard Butler’s Gamer 3D, Mighty Fine starring Chazz Palminteri and Andie MacDowell, season three and four of Felicity.

- AXS TV will air the second of Zac Brown Band's three consecutive sold-out concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre LIVE on May 9, 2013 at 10:30. On the road in support of their #1 album, 'Uncaged,' the three-time GRAMMY Award winners have noted the iconic setting's "special mystique,” calling the experience of performing in this special venue “like playing in God’s hands.”

- Singer-songwriter Mike Doughty, formerly of Soul Coughing, has launched a PledgeMusic campaign to support a record of reinterpretations of the band's body of work. Click the link to donate.

- In his new webisode Life On The Road, Reggie Watts gives you a behind the scenes look at life on the road and shows you what it's like to perform alongside some of the most talented musicians in the world. Directed, shot and edited by Vikram Gandhi (KUMARE), "Life On The Road" Episode 1 paints a fascinating portrait of comedian/musician Reggie Watts.

- Thanks to M*A*S*H, The West Wing and a slew of successful movies, Alan Alda now has his pick of writing and directing projects. But what he really wants to talk about is science. In the May/June issue of The Saturday Evening Post, on newsstands now, Alda shares tales of both acting and his new scientific endeavors to Post contributor Claudia Gryvatz Copquin.

- The Callen Sisters have released their third single, Little Dreamer off their soon to be released album, The Lightbringer Project, fans of Sara Bareilles should take a take a listen below:

Best of the Week: 5/4/13

2013-05-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

Quote of the Week: Nobody’s been probed… yet. (Sergeant Wu, Grimm)

Song of the Week: The Stroke – Billy Squire (Castle)

Scene of the Week:

Big News of the Week: Jason Collins Is a Gay Homosexual: Monday, Jason Collins announced Monday that he was gay and after everyone got done asking, “Who is Jason Collins” it turned out he was the first current professional male athlete to publically announced his homosexuality (although he currently is not on a team and as an old journeyman, it may actually stay that way, though I am sure David Stern will make sure he is employed by someone next season). But the most interesting part of his story was that the guy who backed him up at center in high school was Jason Segal. Yes, that Jason Segal.

Preview Picture of the Week:

2 Broke Girls "And the Tip Slip" Monday at 9:00 on CBS

Free Download of the Week: 21 Years of Music – Hanson (Noisetrade)

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5 This month’s five dollar deal over on Amazon include Norah Jones, Counting Crows, Bruce Springsteen, and Weezer.

New Album Release of the Week: Annie Up – Pistol Annies

New DVD Release of the Week: Superman: Unbound

Video of the Week: The Walking Dead bad lip reading video is about as well written as the actual show. The best part is when it turns into a musical.

Next Week Pick of the Week: Locked Up Abroad, Sunday (tomorrow) at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel: Now that you have seen the movie, now it is time to hear the real story of Argo from the people who lived it. And unlike the movie which featured Ben Affleck saving diplomats in Iran, tomorrow’s special episode of Locked Up Abroad features mostly testimonials from those who needed the rescuing. The real Ben Affleck character does not even show up for the first twenty minutes, but when he does show up, he had the best line, “This was the best bad idea we had.”

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/5/13

2013-05-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

Once Upon a Time: Wait, I thought Maleficent was dead. Didn’t Emma slay her in dragon form? Ugg, This show is getting annoying.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Mad Men: Last week I was convinced Matthew Weiner was just messing with us with the glimpse and you missed it cameo from Jefferson D’Arcy. So of course this week featured Harry Hamlin with just one line. Of course it did. Screw you Matthew Weiner. But all the toying with the audience was worth it just for the Ethan Rom pitch for insurance. I am pretty sure Bobby is aging backwards.
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

Vikings: Who knew there tribes of Amazonian women in Scandinavia? And those I feel bad for the son having to see his father make babies with someone other than his mother, but I hate break it to the kid, but the jump off is a lot more attractive than the Mrs.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Vikings on iTunes

The Voice: I will be releasing my latest Power Ranking tomorrow just in time for the start of the Live Playoffs (here is a preview: there is a new number one), but one thing I want to mention that did not quite fit in the post is how I missed the backstage shots of the other contestants waiting to be chosen. My favorite moment of the Knockout Round last season was when Caitlin Michele was signing along with Nicholas David.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

How I Met Your Mother: Near the end of the episode I was thinking that this was one of the better episodes in recent memory, Ralph Macchio (who has not aged a day) a stripper, a creepy clown, and a completely evil plan; it was severely disappointing that they were not able to bring in Billy Zabka. Not thirty seconds after I said that, Barney says the same thing and Billy starts wiping off his clown makeup. Well done How I Met Your Mother.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

Castle: Well that was a silly excuse for a clips show. But I wonder why that was not the 100th episode, seems more like a place for a clip show, not the 102nd.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Survivor: Caramoan: Oh Andrea, I love you, I thought you should have won this season because you were playing the best game up until this week, but girl, you made three extremely bad mistakes this week. First and foremost, how stupid was it to bring up Dawn to Cochran, that was his number one ally, at least wait until final four or five to broach that subject. And where taking Dawn to the finals who could rack up some sympathy votes, it would be worse to take Douchebag #2; the guy already has three automatic jury votes: Malcolm, Douchebag #2, and the gay homosexual, that could be enough for a win. All he would need is one more vote for at least a tie (assuming there will be a final three). And lastly, how do you go home with an Immunity Idol in your pocket? You have been paranoid this whole time, how do you not play the Idol. It is not a good sign when Erik gives away another Idol and he was not the dumbest person of the episode.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

Nashville: Has Juliette never seen Behind the Music? Rule number one: do not let strangers handle your money. Or as Billy Joel learned, do not even let family members handle your money. You hire a professional accountant, then hire a second one to keep the first on in check. A lot more shocking was the neighbor going in for the kiss on Gunner. Certainly did not see that coming.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

Community: Nerdy Annie was surprisingly extremely attractive (okay, maybe it is not that surprising, it would be hard to ugly up Allison Brie). Even bettet it looks like we may get Evil Annie next week. I may not be that sad to see Zombie-Community to go, but I will definitely miss Allison on my television every week.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Hannibal: Oh Bryan Fuller, I am sure you did not just happen to name My Girl’s character Miriam Regina Lass, so I am just going to go ahead and assume she is George Lass’s little sister. My sources tell me George herself will be showing up later this season as a character named Georgia so I wonder if she will be playing Miriam’s older sister, even if the original George Lass is dead (like Miriam).
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

The Voice Season Four Knockout Round Power Rankings

2013-05-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

Last season, there were a few questionable song choices in the newly added Knockout Round (grandpa Rudy Parrish covering the girl beating Chris Brown sticks out the most) and even though there were fewer contestants this season, there seemed to be three times the bad song ideas. It seemed like Midas Whale, Mary Miranda, Monique Abbadie, Savannah Berry (all of whom I thought had a very good chance of advancing prior to the round), Warren Stone, Luke Edgemon, Audrey Karrasch, and C. Perkins lost before they even sang a note based on the song they picked alone. That is over half the losers and that does not even include Justin Rivers who benefitted from being pitted against someone who picked a worse song than him.

Surprisingly I agreed that every contestant each coach picked gave the best performance in the Knockout Round (I guess that happens when you get rid of the bad decision machines Cee-Lo and Christina). Not that it was not surprising in who the coaches picked. In previous seasons, especially Blake, would not necessary pick the best singer in the moment, but who they thought was better over all their performances. Even though they did not give their best performances, it is surprising that who I thought were former favorites on their teams, Savannah, Mary, Jess, and Ryan were all cut loose because of one below par performance. This definitely hurt Usher the most because he lost his two best singers in one fell swoop. I thought Ryan had the best chance to break up a final three sweep by Adam (Sarah, Caroline, and Judith seem the biggest fan favorites at the moment) and now Usher ended up with the weakest team which may be as bad as Christina’s team in the first or third season.

And what was up with Usher’s coaching, he will do pushups with Michelle, stand an inch away from Audrey, but it did not don on Usher to tell Ryan to tone it down and just sing the melody? That was just an epic fail on his part. One simple note just lost him his best chance of winning this season. Oh well. Here is a power ranking of those that did not make horrible song choices.

1. Sasha Allen (Team Shakira): Her flaws were on full display when she had to sing a duet with a song picked out by someone else, but when she is by herself singing own song… wow. Just wow. With Ryan out of the competition, Sasha is now most likely break Adam’s triad sweeping the finals.

2. Sarah Simmons (Team Adam): After performing two songs I never really cared for I was excited that Sarah was actually performing a song I like. Wild Horses may even be my favorite Rolling Stones song (that or Beast of Burden or You Can’t Always Get What You Want depending on my mood that day) but what I like about the song is it subtly and Sarah just went too big with it.

3. Caroline Glaser (Team Adam): The weakest performance of her three so far, but even Caroline at her worse is more entertaining than most people in this competition at their best. And I have to imaging going second puts you at a slight disadvantage epically if the other in your pairing does not bomb (Caroline was visibly shaken while watch Amy perform compared to Amy who provided the hey’s to Caroline’s song). She definitely needs to get her nerves in check during the Live Playoffs because Adam will not hesitate to pick Amber over her if comes down to the two. Since last week I suggested that Caroline start wearing and she did this week (and it worked, she was not picked without them and was chosen with them), I am going to pretend I am in some fantasy world where Caroline actually reads this and this week suggest Caroline start playing an instrument. Caroline has what I call the Eddie Vedder Syndrome where they are not sure what they should be doing on stage and end up looking very awkward. Standing in one place with a guitar or sitting down at the piano should elevate her nervous tensions; it did do wonders for Dia Frampton in the first season.

4. Danielle Bradbery (Team Blake): After hearing sing her first ballad, it became clear she will be better off sticking to more fun songs in the pop-country songbook.

5. Kris Thomas (Team Shakira): Consistent as ever, but the song selection was a bit of a bore. I hope he dips into nineties RnB for the next round because there are plenty of forgotten gems there that would be much more interesting than yet another interpolation of an over performed song.

6. Amber Carrington (Team Adam): She has become the dragon slayer this season, easily dispatched early favorite Sasha in the Battle Round and made quick work of another fan favorite Midas Whale in the Knockouts. So do not count her out against the resounding three favorites left on her team (Sarah, Judith and Caroline had the three best selling Knockout Round songs on iTunes this week). I do not think she will get through by the fan votes (assuming they do it the same way they did last season) but could get a reprieve by Adam saving her. If so, she could go far, maybe even top six. I have never minded team quotas, but it is a shame that all four of Adam's team probably could beat everyone on Usher's team and maybe even be at least the second vote getter on either Blake or Shakira's teams.

7. Holly Tucker (Team Blake): Much like how Danielle should stick to the fun songs, Holly would be better served by picking bigger ballads and it would also benefit them both because it would differentiate themselves from each other. But Holly needs to stick away from the country songs that do not appeal to a broader audience or she will end up like Liz Davis who was quickly rejected by America by picking a song that no one outside of the country world recognized. Maybe something by Shania Twain, Faith Hill or try countrfing a power ballad.

8. VEDO (Team Usher): It was hard to hear him sing this song without thinking of Bryan Keith last season who famously held that final note in the commercials. Vedo did not quite hit those heights, but he is the only one left in the competition who has improved on each performance. Like Kris, Vedo needs to dip into the nineties.

9. Judith Hill (Team Adam): My favorite of her three performances, but I still missing the wow factor that it seem like everyone else have when they listen to her.

10. Cáthia (Team Usher): Probably the luckiest person left in the competition. She loses to Mary (who then loses her Knockout match up) but gets Stolen by Usher who then puts her up against his strongest singer who then ended up giving his worst performance on the show. But it does not matter how you get there, it only matters that you get there. And it may get her more votes with America, but I actually like her more when she was singing in Spanish. With Usher as her coach I expect to stick to English language songs. Yawn.

11. Garrett Gardner (Team Shakira): Another consistent performer but he is still missing that breakout moment that could make him a contender, or even interesting.

12. Michelle Chamuel (Team Usher): She is like the white version of De'Borah but with a worse voice, less interesting and a much worse taste in music. Which probably means she will go further.

13. The Swon Brothers (Team Blake): It really baffles me that Blake would take Jamie Lannister to the Live Round. Who would want to vote for that evil douchebag?

14. Josiah Hawley (Team Usher): A much stronger performance than his Battle Round but I would still have liked Ryan or Jess to have taken this spot on Usher’s team. And now that it is up to America, I fear he may stick around for a few weeks. Dez Duron made it about two rounds further than his talent dictated and Josiah is a better singer and better looking (um… or so I have been told by chicks) and Dez made it to the top eight with stiffer competition, hopefully teen girls to not get Josiah that far.

15. Karina Iglesias (Team Shakira): Her performance just came across as bland karaoke. Are You Gonna Go My Way is about 60% passion, 30% guitars and she lacked them both. Shakira taking Karina to the Live Shows over Mary or Monique may have been the most surprising decision this round

16. Justin Rivers (Team Blake): Like Josiah, he could skate by with his looks, but after not even being good enough to have his first two performances show and gave a lackluster performance the first time we got to see him, I do not think it will happen.

So going into the Live Playoff, it is time to see who has the strongest team, as usual I assigned each a number for each contestant, one for the worst, sixteen for the best and here are the teams with the highest scores:

Team Adam – 48
Team Shakira – 36
Team Blake – 28
Team Usher – 24

Not surprisingly Adam has a commanding lead; the guy could end up with the final three contestants. More surprising, in one round Shakira jumped from last to second place. It does help that she has two of the top five wile Blake has two of the bottom four. Then there is Usher amassed one of the worst Live Round teams in the first four seasons.

Carson said that they will go from 16 to 12, I assume like last season that the next round will involve each team having two members advance to the to 12 by fan vote and another get through by a Coach’s Save, if that is the case, here is how I predict the next round will shape up:

Team Adam: Sarah and Judith are saved by America, Adam saves Caroline; goodbye Amber
Team Black: Danielle and the Swon Brothers are saved by America, Blake saves Holly; goodbye Justin
Team Shakira: Sasha and Garrett are saved by America, Shakira saves Kris; goodbye Karina
Team Usher: Josiah and Michelle are saved by America, Usher saves Vedo; goodbye Cáthia

But take my predictions with a grain of salt because I only correctly predicted nine of the sixteen finalist (though in my defense, I could not have foreseen so many contestants picking such horrible songs).

WWII from Space: A Review

2013-05-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

No, WWII from Space is not some new sci-fi movie, it is the latest special from History being released on Blu-Ray and DVD (they retail at the same price so you definitely want to pick the former if you have a player for it) today. Sure there have been hundreds, if not more, documentaries on the Second World War, what sets latest special apart from the rest is, well, it is seen at the very macro level from space. You can look down from miles above the Earth as battalions go through Europe and the Pacific theaters in the deadliest war the world has ever witnessed.

WWII from Space features the most impressive CGI I have ever seen for a documentary on the subject, and I have seen my fair share because I spent a lot of time watching the History Channel back when it went by that name. We do not only get to see the war from a satellite’s vantage point but they also go beneath the ocean to show us where ships were sunk and submarines traveled. Of course we get insight from military minds, professors, and a few eye witness accounts.

There really is not any new information, so anyone who had gotten past high school will not learn much new, though I did learn a couple new facts in the hour and a half like the trade of information the British gave to us in hopes that we would help them out (they basically gave us every war time information they had). The special is also very American centric, it starts off with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and does not even get into the strategy of the other countries until about forty minutes in when they focus on Germany invading Russia. I was also a bit disappointed that the glossed over the rest of the European theater after the invasion of Normandy which gets wrapped up in about a minute. But WWII from Space is definitely worth checking out if you are a history buff, or if you have one in your family and want to stock up for a birthday or Christmas.

Full Disclosure Notice: This blu-ray was given to me by Lionsgate for review.

I Want My Music Television: 5/8/13

2013-05-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.

Come and Get It - Selena Gomez

If her role in Spring Breakers was not evidence enough, Selena Gomez has moved into her mature part of her career. This song and video is reminiscant of Mandy Moore, who a decade ago was also a second tier pop starlet who was better at acting than singing, and released an grown up Indian influenced In My Pocket to set hr apart from her peers. But In My Pocket is a bit catchier and like Moore, I hope Selena starts focusing on acting for the next couple years. And if the Mandy comparison continues (they both dated humongous douchebags during their teen starlet days), I will look forward to Gomez releasing a folk influenced album in five years as she transitioned into a classier era in her life.

Mosquito - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

When the Yeah Yeah Yeahs released the album art for Mosquito, it was met with a resounding, “Huh?” They have just released a music video for the title track and I have a feeling it will get the same reception.

New Day – Alicia Keys

Apparently Alicia Keys is going with the spaghetti approach to a new single as she really has not had one catch fire (no pun intended) from her new album because she has released two new music videos in as many weeks. I definitely prefer the one with Maxwell to this one. And if you are going to stretch one word out ten syllables, avoid lip-syncing because you are just going to look silly.

Q.U.E.E.N. – Janelle Monae featuring Erykah Badu

Considering the song involves both Janelle Monae and Erykah Badu and I wanted to like the song more than I do. But maybe it will grow on my like many of their past songs have done. But the music video is instantly awesome.

Musings from the Back 9: Music Edition XIV

2013-05-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

I have never been much of a fan of traditional country music, but I do have a soft spot for the angry white chick sub-genre that popped up in the middle of the last decade. One of the best songs of the genre was Pistol Annies Hell on Heels (lead Annie Miranda Lambert may be the angriest of the angry white chicks), I do not even care if it was an ode to maneating. Their follow up album Annie Up starts off promising; you know just by the title alone you know I Feel a Sin Comin’ On is going to be good. And though it is not in the angry white girl vein, the laid back, front porch sing-a-long does not disappoint. The rest of Annie Up does disappoint, filled with songs that would not be good enough to appear on their first album. I was hoping the alleged marital strife between Lambert and husbandBlake Shelton, even if was unfounded, would produce better music.

Annie Up gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

The Dixie Chicks pretty much swept the 2007 Grammy Awards taking three of the top four awards (naturally they were ineligible for Best New Artist) and promptly took an extended brake. The two sisters in the group released an album under the moniker Court Yard Hounds in 2010 as they waited for lead singer Natalie Maines got the writing itch again. Seven years after releasing Taking the Long Way, Maines may not be ready to write with the Chicks just yet (though supposable something is “in the works”), but she is ready to record some music, as she just released a cover album Mother with songs from Eddie Vedder, Jeff Buckley, and Semisonic. There is one Dixie Chick song, Come Cryin’ to Me which was from the Taking the Long Way sessions which sounds about as good as a song that did not make that album would be. But the best of the set is the haunting title track version of the Pink Floyd classic and the new Ben Harper penned Trained where Natalie duets with the songwriter on a barn burner of a song. Though it is hard not to listen to the album and hope a proper Dixie Chicks album will not be far behind.

Mother gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

It is really apropos that She & Him named their third album Volume 3 (the first two naturally were entitled Volume One and Volume Two; do not ask me why they spelled out the numbers on the earlier albums but opted for the numerical styling now) because their most recent outing sounds exactly like its predecessor to the point I was suspicious that it was just the same songs with different titles just to throw people off. Except it could not have been a complete rehash because there is nothing as catchy as In the Sun on the new album. It does not help that I went to look how much longer the album was the first time I listened to it and was shocked that I was not even half way through the forty minute album yet. Really the only song that stands out in this set is Together which features Zooey Deschanel singing in French (I think, I did not do very well in the subject back in high school).

Volume 3 gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Around the Tubes: 5/10/13

2013-05-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on The Newsroom, Genealogy Roadshow, Dangerous Intuition, Wilfred, Falling Skies, Syfy marathons, Victory Records, the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival, The Last Ship, Legends, Bean, and Boston's Finest.

- You may have to wait until July 14 until The Newsroom hit HBO, until then here is a teaser of the second season.

- PBS announced today that it will add the new series Genealogy Roadshow to its fall lineup. Part detective story, part emotional journey, Genealogy Roadshow will combine history and science to uncover the fascinating stories of diverse Americans. Each individual’s past will link to a larger community history, revealing the rich cultural tapestry of America. Genealogy Roadshow will air Mondays, September 23-October 14, at 9:00.

- From writer/producer Roma Roth comes Dangerous Intuition, a psychological thriller that explores the deep bond between a mother and her child and the phenomenon of mother’s intuition. The movie makes its world premiere on tomorrow at 8:00 on Lifetime. Dangerous Intuition revolves around Kate Aldrich (Tricia Helfer), a successful career woman who is devastated when her husband leaves her for stay at home mom, Laura (Estella Warren) with whom she is forced to share joint custody of her daughter Izzy.

- Wilfred, which is staying on the FX flagship station when it splits into three, just got a third season premiere date, it will air back-to-back episodes June 20 (and the following week) starting at 10:00.

- If you ever wanted to get into Falling Skies, TNT is giving you the chance before the premiere of season three with full season marathons. The first season will air on Memorial Day (Monday May 27) beginning at 10:00 A.M. Then on Saturday, June 1 they will air the second season also beginning at 10:00 A.M.

In other Memorial Day weekend programming news, over on Syfy they will be hosting a Roger Corman film festival. The special holiday weekend programming begins on Friday, May 24 with monstrous movie delights such as Mega Python vs. Gatoroid and Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. That will be followed by all-day marathons of Syfy’s new hit series Defiance on Saturday, May 25, and a Paranormal Witness scream-fest on Sunday, May 26. The popular paranormal series returns for Season 3 beginning Wednesday, June 5 at 10:00.

- For the first time ever MTV and Doron Ofir Casting are seeking aspiring chefs to fulfill a lifelong dream in the culinary arts that will lead to the job of a lifetime and launch a career of epic proportions. Foodscoolcasting.com is seeking amateur chefs, bakers and cooking enthusiasts of all kinds (who are at least 18 years old), with the biggest personalities and a fierce appetite for competition, to live under one roof and be schooled in the most intensive and practical culinary training, with mentorship by legendary food masters.

- Victory Records has launched the latest destination for music buying fans, VictoryMerch.com. This new website boasts an efficient, sleek, user friendly interface and layout, making it simple to find items from many of your favorite artists.

- The first-ever BottleRock Napa Valley music festival kicks off this evening, featuring over 60 artists across five days including The Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Zac Brown Band, Edward Sharpe, Alabama Shakes, Macklemore and others. BottleRock is a first-of-its-kind festival, combining music, wine, food, and charity. eBay Celebrity has teamed up with the festival to connect musicians and their fans while benefitting a group of non-profit organizations through a unique auction experience. The auction features items gathered directly from the artists during memorable festival moments in addition to experiences curated by the many festival partners including wineries, restaurants and athletic teams. Auction items will be announced daily as the participating bands and partners make donations that may include signed instruments, meet-and-greets at future shows, winery tours and athletic tickets. 100% of the proceeds from the bids will support over 20 community nonprofit partners including Autism Chords, Land Trust of Napa Valley, Wildlife Rescue Center of Napa Valley, and Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.

- TNT has greenlit the action-packed drama series The Last Ship, starring Eric Dane (Grey's Anatomy) and executive-produced by blockbuster filmmaker Michael Bay (Transformers) and is Based on William Brinkley's popular novel, The Last Ship. Expect the series to premiere early 2014. Rhona Mitra, Adam Baldwin, and Tracy Middendorf are also set to star.

- Also coming to TNT next year is the suspenseful spy drama Legends starring Sean Bean and is based on the award-winning book by master spy novelist Robert Littell, whose CIA novel The Company served as the basis for TNT's acclaimed 2007 miniseries. Ali Larder, Rob Mayes, Steve Harris, Amber Valletta, and Lux Haney Jardine are also set to star.

- When a press release dubs someone “a mix between Adele and Amy Winehouse” I have to check it out just to see how off that comparison is. Not surprisingly Bean sounds nothing like the powerhouse soul throwback singers and is much more on the teen pop spectrum (it also labeled her “Katy Perry meets Colbie Caillat” which is probably more apt). They sent along a run of the mill boring pop song Cops and Robbers of her self titled EP (which you can download free on Soundcloud) but in lieu of sharing that video, I instead will embed her cover of the Blackstreet classic No Diggity, because, well that song is awesome.

- In renewal news, TNT announced they are bring back Boston’s Finest for a second season set for early 2014 with CNN airing encores of the episode.

Best of the Week: 5/11/13

2013-05-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

Quote of the Week: You could be my bodyguard and I could be your Whitney. (Nolan, Revenge)

Song of the Week: Baby Jane (Mo Mo Jane) – Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels (Mad Men)

Scene of the Week:

Big News of the Week: Miracle in Cleveland: No, a Cleveland sports team did not win a sports championship for the first since 1948 (unless you count the Cleveland Crunch, but I bet the vast majority of people reading this could not even name the sport), not even divine intervention could make that happen. Instead three long ago missing women escaped from a house where they were being held in Cleveland. The tenth anniversary of the first girl being kidnapped actually just a couple weeks ago and I remember sitting on the couch thinking that a decade is about the time to accept the sad reality. Apparently I was extremely wrong. Being that I live in the Cleveland television market, both How I Met Your Mother and 2 Broke Girls were “joined in progress” after breaking news (which was not so much breaking, but a rehash of the earlier story which really could have been resigned to a scroll on the bottom) and then Grimm was preempted entirely for a special report.

Preview Picture of the Week:

"The Bon Voyage Reaction" The Big Bang Theory, Thursday at 8:00 on CBS

Free Download of the Week: Current and More Sampler – Eisley (NoiseTrade)

New Album Release of the Week: Modern Vampires of the City - Vampire Weekend

New DVD Release of the Week: Dexter: The Seventh Season

Video of the Week: The World’s End had me at from the guys that brought you Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Although with a title like The World’s End, I was hoping for a disaster movie but the start of the trailer makes it look a pub crawl with the title coming from the name of the last bar they would patron. Then half way through, people’s eyes start glowing. Be it alien invasion or body snatching, I am all on board this movie.

Next Week Pick of the Week: Survivor, Sunday (Tomorrow) at 8:00 on CBS: For all intents and purposes, this season of Survivor ended when Andrea was unceremoniously vote off two weeks ago, but apparently they are still going ahead with the finale tomorrow which of course will be followed by the Live Reunion. After decimating the Fans all season, the Favorites surprisingly let two of them in the final five, which could be the downfall of the Favorites because the Fans may have better chance with the jury than the Favorites. And it looks like Sherri is part of the Dawn / Cochran so she could make it while Eddie could take the next two Immunity Challenge to secure his spot in the finals. It also looks like the finale will feature the attest ever in the game medical evacuation. Me, I will just be tuning into to see what Andrea wears in the final three Tribal Councils.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/12/13

2013-05-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

Once Upon a Time: I am okay with poetic license so if the show wants to turn Rumplestiltkin into the “Beast” or make Jack of the Beanstalk fame a chick, fine (though turning Captain Hook into a J. Crew model is a little silly) but I really do not like that they turned Neverland into Siberia for Lost Boys. Neverland may be the most magical land in the Disney library and to turn it into a living hell take poetic license too far. But being from the writers of Lost, I have a feeling in three seasons (if the show gets that far) we will learn Bay is Peter Pan who rescues the Lost Boys from the Shadow, who is probably being controlled by Captain Hook. I would not be surprised if Bay ended up back in Neverland through the portal he slipped through and now is living a Hook
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Revenge: I was really hoping that it would be Takeda killing Aiden because the show took a dive in the entertainment department right around he showed up. His character just made the show too complicated and muddled, and with him gone, I hoped they would go back to Emily taking people down again out of revenge for her father next season. That is if there is a next season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Mad Men: On any other show, when Peggy left SCDP, the question would not have been if she would ever end up working with Don, but when. But considering this show has no problem segregating its cast (I cannot remember the last time Betty interacted with anyone else, Gene’s birthday party maybe) or just cut ties with them completely (I wonder if Paul Kinsey ever got to write for Star Trek) I figured they would just stay their separate ways from the rest of the show. So it seemed a little cheesy that Don proposed a merger with Peggy’s current firm.
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

The Voice: Well that was a weird way to start a results show, “hey, we are throwing out half the ways you were allowed to vote… but do not worry, even though we discarded those votes, we still got the same result anyway.” What? When Carson first announced this, my second thought was this is what they are going to use to bring back whoever drew the short straw on Adam’s team because they probably would have been one of the top two vote getters on any other team (my first thought was the irrational Michael Jackson fanatics, which there are still plenty around, stuffed the internet voting and possibly the texting which I am not entirely sure how you manipulate texting but I am morally opposed to texting so I really do not know much about it).

But alas the resurrection of Caroline Glaser, who was voted off Adam’s team, due to “voting irregularities” did not happen unless there is a shocking twist coming Monday (and we are still owed a shocking event from when they hyped one in the Battle Round that never happened). And the show should want to give Caroline a reprieve because she was one of the two best selling artists on the show this season (baffling the other person, Sarah Simmons, is the other one). Caroline and Sarah were the only two contestants whose four songs all charted this season, while Caroline was the only one who had all four of her songs on the Top 200 Overall iTunes chart this week. Not only that, all four of her songs charted higher on Monday than Josiah Hawley who inexplicably is in the final 12 while Caroline is going home. (Even as I write this, all four of Caroline's songs are charting higher than one song by Judith. The Voice should feel really embarrassed by this.) During Usher’s save, I was hoping he would say, “Instead of saving these two who are a lock to go home anyway, I am going to wait to use my Save on whoever Adam gets rid of.” That would have been worthy of the move we were promise in the Battle Round that “shocked the other coaches and producers.”

What makes Caroline and Sarah, the two top sellers, being in Adam’s team worse is that America’s Save went Judith Hill. The other save went to Amber Carrington, who hit the teens on the charts, but Caroline and Sarah were not that far behind in the thirties while Judith barely cracked the top 100. Considering they threw out online voting and texting, there had to be an overwhelming amount of phone calls for Judith to catapult Caroline and Sarah. Combine that with the “voting irregularities” this just does not pass the smell test. How are there that many people who said, Judith’s performance was not good enough to buy, but I am going to vote for her anyway?

Judith of course is an RnB singer while Amber is a country artist. You know else sings RnB and country: everyone else America voted for not named Michelle Chamuel (I guess she should be happy that Usher did not have another RnB singer or a country artist on his team). That really makes for a boring final 12. And it will get even more homogeneous because I suspect rockers Josiah and Garrett will be gone within the first two weeks, if not the first two gone. Not that I will find out, because unless they bring back Caroline, there really is no one to get excited for unless you are a country or RnB fanatic. I doubt anyone this season could have made the top five last season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice with the widget at right.

How I Met Your Mother: Have we always known that Robin has a sister? When her father first mentioned the younger Serbowski, my first thought was, well she will turn out to be the titular Mother. Except it would make no sense, we already no the mother has been in New York City for a while, she partied with Sarah Chalke, roomed with Rachel Bilson, and sat in on Ted’s lecture. If Robin’s sister has been in the city this whole time, how have we never met her yet?
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

2 Broke Girls: Not that Pierce Morgan had much integrity in the first place, but how do you go on a show as yourself and comment on the size of another man’s junk on your own television show (which actually airs opposite the same program)? Larry King would never have done that.

Castle: It seems like whenever the show has these big government conspiracy cases, it always turns out to be a very pedestrian killer like a relative or scorn lover (with of course the exception of whenever it involves their own family). And I actually kind of hope Beckett takes the Washington job, then maybe Castle can go back to following around Adam Baldwin’s character.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Grimm: I have always liked Nora Zehetner going back to her Everwood days but unfortunately a decade later she really has not gotten her big break yet. She was unfortunately shuffled off that show after her onscreen brother died. She was the most interesting character on the early episodes of Heroes but was quickly killed off. The only thing I remember seeing her in since was one of the hundreds of Hey I Know That Person cameos on Heroes but she did not stick around long enough to get bedded by Don Draper (but at least she was not sullied by Pete Campbell). I was actually hoping that her character on Grimm would cause Nick to kill Juliet and she would become the new love interest because Juliet is clearly the weak link on the show. The only problem is Nick is the second weakest link.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

Survivor: Caramoan: Note to self: whenever you go on Survivor, tank any Individual Reward Challenges. Much like I am shocked that anyone would actually buy food at the action because the money would be better spent on the “advantage’ and Jeff will always have one covered dud and another time he will pull the you can have this for yourself, or something for the tribe thing. It is also becoming more frequent that at least once a season, Jeff will do the you can keep the prize for yourself or everyone else can get it thing and that usually happens during the Loved Ones Challenge. This week had to easily be the cruelest of Jeff’s ploys. He actually let Brenda choose Dawn, THEN said their was a second Loved One hiding on the island, AND THEN gave her the option of everyone but her AND Dawn the loved ones time. And then to make things worse, they actually had the barbecue within shouting distance. That was just cruel Jeff. And then Brenda learned the hard way why you do not want to win these challenges. It is a lose-lose situation. If you chose your Loved Ones, everyone will hate you and will not win if you make it to the finals. If you give up your Loved One, everyone will view you as a threat to win and try to vote you out, which actually happened to Brenda hours after her good deed. Though that was a stupid vote, I would much more worried of Eddie going on an Idol run than Brenda, and like I explained last week, Eddie already had three automatic votes on the jury. Oh well. We did finally get a first look of Andrea on the jury, and I am not sure who packs a cocktail dress when going on the show, but I am glad she did. Wow.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

Nashville: Of course Juliette has a sex tape. But I take it they are going to save the reveal of Maddie’s paternity for the season finale to Deacan, and maybe Maddie herself. I guess the question is how they will find out? Will Rayna finally confess after all these years? will Teddy let it slip in a jealous rage? Will it be released in a tabloid? For the entertainment value, let’s hope it is the third option.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: That was the most disturbing sex scene I have ever seen.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Community: Well this season of Community written fan-fic is finally over. At least we got one last glimps of Evil Annie in a tight red dress before it was thankfully put out of its misery, so it made the season worth it. Wait, it was renewed? Oh goodness.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Hannibal: So a therapist has his very own therapist. Though I have a feeling Hannibal just goes to Scully just to play with her. And what is going on with Abigail Hobbs? She was just resigned to a dream sequence this week, but I would really like to see her in the middle of the Hannibal / Will tug of war for her soul.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

Some Blindsides Need to Happen Before They Happen to Me

2013-05-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

The last and only time Survivor previously aired a Fans vs. Favorites season it became so clear just how outmatched the tribes were because where the Fans are still littered with fodder, the Favorites were some of the smartest and strongest players to have never won the game. The Favorites were so much better that they actually managed to get a Fan to give up his Immunity Necklace and then promptly voted him out.

So how do you make the second installment of Fans vs. Favorites fairer? Well you bring in some of the most incompetent and least liked Survivors of the past ten seasons. You had crazy people Brandon Hantz (who did not even need to be talked into giving up his Immunity Necklace) and Philip Sheppard, turncoat John Cochran and the emotional wreck he turned on Dawn Meehan, the first ever contestant that was voted out of their first season Francesca Hogi, and they even brought back that moron who gave up that Immunity Necklace in the first Fans vs. Favorites Erik Reichenbach.

Which sounded fair on paper except the very first Reward Challenge the Favorites ended up dominating the physical challenge to the point that even Cochran won his heat. Cochran! After losing the first Immunity Challenge, the Favorites then went on to win ever Immunity and Reward Challenges until they forfeited the final Immunity Challenge before they switched up the tribes when they dumped Brandon in the very first elimination that did not happen at Tribal Council.

The swapped tribes did not favors for the Fans as they were outnumbered on both tribes (and thanks to some sleight of hand by Probst when divvying up the new tribes one tribe was loaded with all the physical specimens left) and lost two more Fans before the merge. Luckily for Sherri and Eddie, Favorite after Favorite started overplaying their hands post merge with Corinne Kaplan, Malcolm Fresberg, and Andrea Broehlke, all went home for trying to turn on their alliance before that got rid of all the Fans while Brenda Lowe made the rookie mistake of stupidly winning the Loved Ones Challenge. Phil also when home prematurely when all three members of the Douchebag Alliance held Immunity and drew the short stick. Some people give Malcolm credit for this move, but I am under the belief if you have two Idols in your pocket and are sent home the very next Tribal, that is a massive failure.

Then the finale hits and boom, Erik is out of the season ten minutes into the episode. In a season of firsts, the latest medical evacuation may have been the most shocking. I cannot even remember anyone ever being removed post-merge off the top of my head. It was disappointed that after his removal they did not go to a final two instead opting to giving the winner of the planned Immunity Challenge a clue to the Final Challenge robbing us of one more glance of Andrea at Tribal Council, who at the previous Tribal wore the greatest F-U dress ever worn by a jury member.

In the end, one of the biggest fans ever to play the game became the second player ever to get a unanimous vote with Cochran joining Earl from Survivor: Fiji. There was still one more first at the Live Reunion show with Brenda being the first player not to show up, but apparently she was too big to go flying (how did someone who did not even show up until the final two episodes almost win Player of the Season?). Another first happened when the non-jury members were resigned to audience and completely ignored by Probst instead giving away their time to Boston Rob (please go away) and Rudy (please come back for another season, even at 85, I bet you could still outlast most twenty-somethings). I wonder if this will happen in future seasons or was just a way to keep Brandon from attacking Philip live on television.

But enough with Caramoan, next season is Blood vs. Water which looks like it will be the much rumored Family Edition with returning players on one tribe and a family member of theirs on another, so Family vs. Favorites would be a more appropriate title (unless it is a tribe entirely made up of family (please God, not the Hantz's) going against a tribe of strangers). If true, this is the worst idea the show ever had, even worse than Redemption Island. It just comes off like a cheap Big Brother stunt and Survivor is usually above silly stunts like this. Instead of bringing back contestant every season (if my hunch is right, that would make it six of the last eight seasons with at least two former players) they need to find casting agents that can actually find actual interesting people instead of the current casting agents who just bring in past contests and fill the rest of the cast with models from the Abercrombie catalogue. With that said, if one of the teams turns out to be Kat from One World and her bulldog cousin, I will be fully on board Blood vs. Water. Actually just thinking of that possibility is making me excited. Excuse me while I go cyber stalk Kat to see if she disappears from the internet for the next thirty-nine days.

Survivor: Caramoan gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Caramoan on iTunes.

Family’s a Messy Business, Ain’t Nothing Thicker than Blood.

2013-05-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

Full Disclosure Notice: I have never seen the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre film. Or its three sequels. Or the Jessica Biel reboot. Or even the Jordana Brewster prequel to the reboot. So I went into the seventh (7!) film in the series Texas Chainsaw a complete newbie. Texas Chainsaw 3D (another full disclosure notice: I do not own a 3-D enabled HDTV because I am morally opposed to 3-D and refuse to watch it, but if you are fine with it, the Blu-Ray comes with both the 2-D and 3-D versions on one disk) actually picks up right where the first movie picks up and the title sequence actually recaps that film for those that are new to the franchise like me, or just need a refresher just to get the other quasi-sequels and reboots out of your head.

The film starts with the police coming to the Sawyer house to investigate the events of the first film and then fast forwards to present day where we meet Alexandra Daddario (Adam Braverman’s hot assistant on Parenthood) who learns she not only is she adopted, her birth grandmother has left her the family estate. So she hops in a van with her boyfriend Trey Songz (who I know now why he goes by a pen name after learning his government is Tremaine Neverson, no one is making babies to an artist named Tremaine Neverson), best friend Tania Raymonde (Ben Linus’ daughter on Lost) and her boyfriend, some random dude who, along with the random hitchhiker they pick up, you know will not be lasting very long. Soon as they arrive in Texas, Daddario learns of her family, and the town’s dirty little secret. And that secret carries around a chainsaw.

Texas Chainsaw is you typical paint by numbers horror film that you have already seen before even if you skipped the earlier Chainsaw films. The kills are pedestrian and really the only scene that really crept me out was when Leatherface created his latest “mask” and put it on. Of course the young people in the film are stupid (but that does lead to an unintentionally funny scene where they try to drive the van through a gate) and the cops are not the smarter. But there is an interesting scene where one cop goes into Leatherface’s lair with his iPhone sharing video with the sheriff and mayor, but that did not even pay off like I was hoping for.

There is an attempt at a twist near the end of the film but it comes off as forced as well as pretty telegraphed for anyone who paid attention to the early parts of the films with a couple characters who overlook some horrible things to justify their actions. For those that saw the original and wonder why they would want to watch the newer version, it does boast actors from the original movie including Leatherface himself Gunnar Hansen, the girl that escaped his house of horrors Marilyn Burns, Bill Moseley who was in the sequel and John Dugan who actually reprises his role as Grandpa Sawyer which apparently is a record for the longest amount of time between someone playing the same role in a movie.

The Texas Chainsaw Blu-Ray is also filled with almost two hours of extra over nine featurettes not including three separate audio commentaries one with the producers, one with the creator, and another with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre alumni. The alumni also get their own featurette: Texas Chainsaw Legacy. There is also Resurrecting the Saw about how the new film came about; The Old Homestead on how the recreated the original house (surprisingly the house used in the first movie was moved and is now a restaurant for anyone who wants to eat at a place that once housed cannibals); Casting Terror about how the new cast were recruited; while Leatherface 2013 was dedicated to recasting the iconic character; Light Camera Massacre focused on making the film in 3-D, It’s in the Meat deals with the special effects makeup in the movie, as well as six five minute fly on the set look into six scenes. In lieu of any deleted scenes, there is an Alternative Opening which is essentially just and extended scene.

And though I am morally opposed to 3-D on television and at the movie theater, it is cool that the cover is in 3-D with Leatherface coming at you with his chainsaw. Granted it uses the same 3-D technology that was used on A Tribe Called Quest’s Beats, Rhymes & Life CD cover seventeen years ago (just realizing how old that album is makes me feel really old). Both the blu-ray and DVD version come with a digital copy code where you can get both the UltraViolet version of the film and was download a copy from iTunes for anyone who wants to view the movie on the go or while running away from your local chainsaw wielding maniac.

Full Disclosure Notice: This Blu-Ray was given to me by Lionsgate for the sole purpose of reviewing it.

Lyrics Quiz: As Seen on TV 2013

2013-05-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

As we wind down the television season, I am going to run down the best music placement of the past twelve months and as an added twist, I am going to do it in Lyrics Quiz form so you have to guess to see the actual list. As usual, place your guesses in the comment (or e-mail me), both artist and song title, and if you are correct I will un-bold the lyric. For fun, feel free to also guess which television shows the song was used on, a couple of the ones on my list even have multiple answers.

1. DC, San Antone and the Liberty Town, Boston and Baton Rouge, Tulsa, Austin, Oklahoma City, Seattle, San Francisco, too. Everywhere there's music, real live music, bands with a million styles.
2. There's a hole in what you're saying. I can plainly see you have a lover that's waiting but baby you're right here with me.
3. Same old song. Just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see.
4. Now she’ don’t even know my name but I think she likes me just the same.
5. You’re all alone and so peaceful until... You fall in love, zing boom. The sky up above, zing boom, is caving in, wow bam.
6. Like vanilla, it’s the finest of the flavors. Gotta see the show, ‘cause then you'll know the vertigo is gonna grow, ‘cause it's so dangerous you’ll have to sign a waiver.
7. I've seen your face before, my friend but I don't know if you know who I am?
8. What a way to make a living. Barely getting by, it’s all taking and no giving. They just use your mind and they never give you credit. It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it.
9. I met this little girlie, her hair was kinda curly. Went to her house and bust her out, I had to leave real early.
10. Wake up kids, we’ve got the dreamers disease. Age 14 we got you down on your knees. So polite, you're busy still saying please.
11. The next stop that we make will be soon. Tell all the folks in Russia and China too. Don’t you know that it’s time to get on board?
12. Don't go changing to try and please me. You never let me down before. Don’t imagine you’re too familiar, and I don't see you anymore.
13. I’ve been trying to do it right. I’ve been living a lonely life. I’ve been sleeping here instead.
14. In the deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky, that’s the place where I trace my bloodline. And it’s there I read on a hillside gravestone.
15. You put your right hand out, give a firm hand-shake. Talk to me about that one big break. Spread your ear-pollution both far and wide. Keep your contributions by your side.
16. One life for yourself and one for your dreams.
17. I don’t like walking around this old and empty house. So hold my hand and walk with me my dead.
18. Even old New York was once New Amsterdam.
19. Go tell that long tongue liar, go and tell that midnight rider. Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter.
20. Well it's not far down to paradise, at least's not for meIf the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility.
21. I’ve been alone with you inside my mind. And in my dreams I’ve kissed your lips a thousand times.
22. I got bodyguards, I got two big cars, that definitely aint the wack. I got a Lincoln Continental and a sunroof Cadillac.
23. My mind’s telling me no. But my body, my body’s telling me yes.
24. Lay a whisper on my pillow. Leave the winter on the ground. I wake up lonely, there's air of silence in the bedroom and all around.
25. Hans plays with Lotte, Lotte plays with Jane. Jane plays with Willi, Willi is happy again. Suki plays with Leo, Sacha plays with Britt. Adolf builts a bonfire, Enrico plays with it.

The Five Most (and Least) Anticipated New Shows of Fall 2013

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A surprising thing happened this week, most every show I watch got renewed. The only shows that got the ax that I watched every episode of were Deception, Happy Endings, Last Resort, and Go On (Hannibal still hangs in the balance which may not a very good sign). And really the latter of the three was the only one I will be sad to go (maybe TBS will pick it up to make a post-Friends hour with Cougar Town). So I really am not looking forward to adding many new shows, but here are a few that piqued my interest as the most promising shows of the upcoming season

1. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Tuesdays at 8:00 on ABC) – I am not sure if airing the most buzzed about new show of the fall against the most watched show on television. Sure ninety percent of the NCIS audience is in nursing homes and S.H.I.E.L.D. looks to attract a much more younger and hip audience so even with the stiff competition it should debut big. But will people stick around after they realize Robert Downey Jr., Samuel Jackson, Scarlette Johansson, Mark Ruffalo (in human or CGI form) or even Chris Evans probably will never even make a cameo on the show. All you will get is the reanimated corpses of Phil Coulson (and I am guessing maybe Maria Hill if there is a second season when How I Met Your Mother is no longer on the air). But Joss Whedon has already made three extremely entertaining television shows and if this is show is anything like the Item 47 short (which I assume it is), it should be entertaining in its own right even without any superheroes flying around.

2. The Blacklist (Mondays at 10:00 on NBC) – For the last two season, all the networks have been greenlighting a bunch of shows that look like they would be better as a movie than a twenty-two episode season, and most of them do not even make it to its fourteenth episode let alone its twenty-second. The Blacklist is another in that phylum, but two things make it more palatable than its predecessors. It looks like they will be crossing one person off “the blacklist” every episode making it very procedural. It also has the benefit of airing after The Voice which means it will likely make it to a second season before it is sent off to die on Wednesdays in the fall of 2014 (sorry Revolution, have fun being burned off on Saturdays by Thanksgiving). Though I am not sure what to think of James Spader slowly morphing into a combination of Corbin Bersen and Hunter S. Thompson.

3. The Michael J. Fox Show (Thursdays at 9:30 on NBC) – I may have been the only person who enjoyed Matthew Perry’s dead wife show so I am not sure if there will be an audience for Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s show, but I have to admit I laughed pretty hard at his daughter exploited class video presentation.

4. The Millers (Thursdays at 8:30) – There is probably no one happier at the Arrested Development reboot than Will Arnett because he has not been funny since the show went off the air. So maybe things will be turning around for Arnett. He is headlining the new show from Greg Garcia (My Name is Earl) except it is a multi-camera laugh track comedy. It also stars Mags Bennett as his mom. But it is Mags Bennett doing comedy. This show can go either way.

5. Back in the Game (Wednesdays at 9:30 on ABC) – I have always like Maggie Lawson but she always cast in crappy one and done sitcoms (anyone remember Inside Schwartz, It’s All Relative, or Crumbs?). I got excited when she showed up on Justified only to be show dead by Raylan. Hopefully her new show breaks the curse even if it sounds a lot like the recently canceled How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life). But this could work if they go full on Bad News Bears and not the watered down television sitcom version I fear it may be. Then again, the trailer opens with Lawson saying, “See you on the field, Dick,” so there is hope.

As the great philosopher Butt-Head once pondered, “If it weren’t for things that sucked, how would we know if something was awesome,” here are the least anticipated shows of the season (click on their names to check out their trailers).

1. Mixology (Midseason ABC) – An entire season takes place at one bar over one night? Wow, this sounds like the dumbest premise ever. Even at midseason with about twelve episodes, that is still six hours at the same bar. Did no one actually think this out?

2. Ironside (Wednesdays at 10:00 on NBC) – It is not a good sign that my only take away from the trailer of this show is that the chick from Greek may overtake Rachel Leigh Cook on Perception as the most unrealistic law enforcement agent currently on television. It is so absurd I may watch all four episodes it airs before being cancels just to see her try to act like a cop.

3. Killer Woman (Midseason ABC) – I got a good laugh at “executive produced by Sofia Vergara”. Sadly this is not a comedy. And Canadian Trisha Helfer as a Texas Ranger may rival Spencer Grammer for the title of most unrealistic law enforcement agent currently on television.

4. Mom (Mondays at 9:30 on CBS), Dads (Tuesday at 8:00 on Fox) – Chuck Lorre and Seth McFarlane are two of the least funny people on television, yet CBS and Fox keep giving them more and more shows. Even worse, America keeps watching them.

5. Dracula (Fridays at 10:00 on NBC), Sleepy Hollow (Mondays at 9:00 on Fox), and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (Thursdays at 8:00 on ABC) – After the success of Once Upon a Time and Grimm, it was only a matter of time before we got a bunch of famous retellings. Now we get three including a Once Upon a Time spin-off and they all look dreadful.

Of course the most fun part of the schedule release is guessing which shows will be canceled first and here are the five most likely candidates.

1. We Are Men (CBS)
2. Lucky 7 (ABC)
3. Sean Saves the World (NBC)
4. Betrayal (ABC)
5. Hostages (CBS)

And here is what I will be watching next far including the new shows in italics that I will at least check out once or twice.

Mondays
8:00 – How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
8:00 – The Voice (NBC) (assuming it does not become the country and RnB show this season became)
9:00 – 2 Broke Girls (CBS)
10:00 – Castle (ABC)
10:00 – The Blacklist (NBC)

Tuesdays
8:00 – Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC)
9:00 - The Goldbergs (ABC)
9:00 – The Voice (NBC)

Wednesdays
8:00 - Survivor (CBS)
8:00 – The Middle (ABC)
8:30 – Back in the Game (ABC)
9:00 – Modern Family (ABC)
9:30 – Super Fun Night (ABC)
10:00 – Nashville (ABC)

Thursdays
8:00 – The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
8:30 – The Millers (CBS)
8:00 – Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC)
9:30 – The Michael J. Fox Show (NBC)
10:00 – Parenthood (NBC)

Fridays
8:00 – Last Man Standing (ABC)
8:30 – The Neighbors (ABC)
9:00 – Grimm (NBC)

Sundays
8:00 – Once Upon a Time (ABC)
9:00 - Homeland (Showtime)
9:00 – Revenge (ABC)
10:00 - Masters of Sex (Showtime)
10:00 – Betrayal (ABC)

Around the Tubes: 5/17/13

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I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on The Big C: Hereafter, The Bridge, The Tonight Show, Seventeen, Vice, The Last Stand, Stand Up Guys, Side Effects, and Finding Home.

- The Big C: Hereafter kicks off its final four episodes starting Monday and you can take a look at the premiere below:

- As we get closer to the July 10 premiere of The Bridge, FX has released a new promo to get you ready:

- NBC’s New Fall Sweeps is giving fans a chance to win the trip of a lifetime! RIGHT NOW through June 13th, fans can enter to win a trip for two to Los Angeles to attend one of the final tapings of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and a trip for two to New York City to attend one of the premiere tapings of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon! To enter, fans must follow NBC’s six new Fall series on Twitter. Each follow is an entry; fans can follow all six shows and be entered six times! The six profiles featured in the sweepstakes are: @NBCBlacklist, @NBCIronside, @NBCDracula, @MichaelJFoxShow, @SeanSavesWorld, and @NBCWelcome. This sweeps not only gives fans a chance to be a part of Tonight Show history – but it also keeps them up-to-date on all the latest and greatest from our new Fall shows! We’d love your help in spreading the word… and make sure you don’t miss on entering either!

- Pretty Little Liar’s Lucy Hale covers this month’s issue of Seventeen where she talks about the upcoming season of the ABC Family show and about starting a country music career. For more on Lucy, go to seventeen.com/Lucy and pick up the June/July issue of Seventeen, on newsstands May 21st.

- Coming this Friday on VICE: Thomas heads to Indonesia where they don't think smoking causes cancer, but instead cures it. Then, Shane travels from New York to Mexico where an addict tries to stop using the most addictive drug in the world, by using the scariest drug in the world. Check out a preview below:

- New to DVD and / or Blu-Ray next week include Arnold Schwarzenegger’s return to the big screen in The Last Stand, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin star together on the big screen for the first time in Stand Up Guys, and the provocative thriller, Side Effects starring Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

- TBS and TNT are about to become the first national entertainment networks in the industry to stream on-air content live across multiple platforms 24/7, including through the networks' websites and a pair of newly created Watch TNT and Watch TBS apps. The announcement was made during TNT and TBS's annual Upfront presentation earlier this week in New York. Live streaming is the latest phase in the rollout of TV Everywhere, the industry-wide initiative that gives subscribers to cable, satellite and telco video services access to more of their favorite shows across a wide range of digital platforms. “Starting this summer, subscribers will be able to watch TBS and TNT live – anytime, anywhere, on multiple devices,” Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, told the Upfront audience. “Tablets and smartphones become television sets, bringing new opportunities for us and for advertisers.”
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- Two award-winning Nashville-based television producers have come together to develop an adoption series called, Finding Home. The series will explore the rise of adoptions in the United States and will deliver a compelling look at how families are formed through adoption and how that impacts adoptees, birth and life parents, and communities in the present and for years beyond. The show will deal with the phenomenon of modern adoptions, the family dynamics created and how that is impacting our society and communities. Check out the video and levels of Kickstarter participation here.

Best of the Week: 5/18/13

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Quote of the Week: I didn’t poison you, Tobias. I wouldn’t do that to the food. (Hannibal Leckter, Hannibal)

Song of the Week: Simple Song – The Shins (How I Met Your Mother)

Scene of the Week:

Big News of the Week: Scandals, Scandals, and More Scandals: The week started as usual as the nutjob fringe in Congress trying to repeal Obamacare for the thirty-seventh time and held even more hearing on Benghazi even though I was under the impression the discussion ended when Obama embarrass Romney in the debates over the subject. Except there ended up being an actual scandal this week (or two depending on how you feel about the government wiretapping your phone) when we learned that IRS were targeting conservative groups. Although I am surprised that other people are surprised that the IRS went after groups that actively try to put IRS agents out of their jobs, I would be surprised if they did not. That is why you will never hear me say anything bad about the IRS because I have no desire ever to be audited.

Free Download of the Week: Ocean and Sky – Jane Marczewski (Noise Trade)

Deal of the Week: Albums $2.99 and Up: Get cheap albums from R.E.M., Eric B. and Rakim, Daft Punk, and Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears.

New Album Release of the Week: Random Access Memories - Daft Funk

New DVD Release of the Week: Side Effects

Video of the Week: The networks released trailers for all their new shows this week (see The Five Most (and Least) Anticipated New Shows of Fall 2013) except the most noteworthy television show trailer released this week was that for Arrested Development season four hitting Netflix next Sunday, all fifteen new episodes. Sure it is funny, but it just kind of feels different. Not better, not worse, just different. Now I wonder when (or if) season four will be released on DVD or should I just finally redeem the one month free offer Netflix e-mails every once and a while to watch it.

Next Week Pick of the Week: Nashville, Wednesday at 10:00 on ABC: Most every show had its finale last week but Nashville is the one holdovers and if the penultimate episode is any indication, the first season will go out with a bang: Juliette’s mom killed her blackmailer before overdosing, Maddie leaned her father is not really her father, Tandy looked to overthrow her father but Lamar has other ideas, and Gunner and Scarlett broke up (while Avery looks like he is getting back into her good graces). If some of these big plot twists were sprinkled throughout the season instead of saved for the end, it may have been more enjoyable. Brad Paisley is also set to guest star but no word yet if he will be performing Accidental Racist.