Breaking Bad: A very pivotal episode tonight. I almost don’t even want to spoil it for those that haven’t watched it yet. One really big scene after another, and it’s clear the show is playing all its cards so close to the end. [One spoiler ahead] If I had to quibble though, I would say that…
Bubba Has a Traumatic Experience at a Yankee State Fair
Recently, I had the mixed pleasure of attending a state fair in the wintry hellscape that is Minnesota. It’s a weird state because although their politics are liberal, their people look like they’re at a casting call for a new A&E show called Forest Folks. I’m talking guys with bushy beards. I’m talking “women” with…
TV Review: Welcome to the Family, Trophy Wife, Back in the Game
Three “new” family comedies that are available On Demand a few weeks before their “official” premieres, and not a one of them worth watching. “Unconventional” family comedies (i.e. gay dad, or a step-mom, or a single mom, or adopted Asian kid for a step mom, basically anything other than a nuclear family) are the big…
TV Review: Ironside, Camp, and Million Second Quiz
An early premiere of a wheelchair-bound detective, a season finale of a sunny camp dramedy, and a limited event game show that hopes to be the next Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Three very different vehicles, but all of them on NBC. Is the peacock taking chances in this early Fall deadzone? Not quite……
Fair Foods, Part 2 (Cheese Curds, Red Velvet Funnel Cake, Fried Burritos, and More)
A continuation of Minnesota’s State Fair foods review… A five dollar glass of lemonade…Not so much unhealthy as it is “What the fuck am I paying five dollars for when this cost them a nickel to make?” There’s insane mark-up (theater popcorn), and then there’s wallet rape. Grade for taste: B…Heart Attack O-Meter: 1…
TV Review: “Sons of Anarchy” Has Its Most Crazily Deranged Episode Yet
[Spoilers ahead] On another indulgently long episode of SoA (it was 93 minutes tonight, and each episode this season is going to be significantly longer than an hour, making each week a mini-movie), things were pushed to new heights of depravity. Tonight’s season six opener featured anal prison rape (guy on guy), beatings galore (guy…
The 10 Fall Movies I’m Most Looking Forward To (and 5 I’m Not)
Just as surely as the phases of the moon come the Hollywood seasons: grab-bag Spring, brain-dead Summer, and Oscar-bait Fall/early-Winter. [There’s also the dumping ground that is January/February, but that’s a patch I’d rather forget exists.] So now it’s time to look at the (hopefully) best of Fall, the least promising of Fall, and the…
Pop Culture Battle, Books: Americanah vs. We Need New Names vs. Marker to Measure Drift
At long last, some new book reviews! Welp, recently I was able to read three books about African immigrants trying to adjust to life in either America or (in the case of “A Marker to Measure Drift”) Greece. And although the books are on-the-surface similar, I learned that great books are made in the details……
Pop Culture Battle: “Dirty Wars” Vs. “We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks”
Two expose-centered documentaries dealing with our increasingly-secretive government, and both of them currently available (but not for long) on Video-On-Demand after getting limited theaterical releases during the early summer. They don’t cover exactly the same topic, but it’s close enough to make me wonder…”Which should you spend your money on?” Dirty Wars…What It’s About:…
Mom Jokes: Don’t Underestimate Veterinarians
A camper brought a very limp dog into the veterinary clinic. As he lay the dog on the table, the doctor pulled out his stethoscope, placing the receptor on the dog’s chest. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said, “I’m sorry, but your dog has passed away.” “What?”…
TV Reviews: “Breaking Bad” Brings the Heat, “Boardwalk Empire” Brings the…Quiet
There was no better showcase of exactly what makes a quality drama downright riveting, must-watch television than what just transpired a couple of hours ago as Boardwalk Empire shared the same time slot as Breaking Bad. But to call these two shows equals would be putting it mildly. Yes, they are both quality, serialized dramas…
Mom Jokes
A collection of quick hits, some good, and some groaners (they can’t all work people…sorry about the North Carolina one). Florida A Florida senior citizen drove his brand new Corvette convertible out of the dealership. Taking off down the road, he pushed it to 80 mph, enjoying the wind blowing through what little hair…
TV Review: “Do No Harm” Series Finale, I Watch It So You Don’t Have to
I must be the last person on the planet watching this show since NBC cancelled it back in the spring after only two historically-low rated episodes, but then brought it back in the summer (during the Saturday night dead zone) to burn off the remaining episodes they had shot. Well it’s a long way from…