Real Steel Review

It’s been a couple of weeks since the last review, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been stacking up things to write about. First off is Real Steel, the film starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Shawn Levy that is based on a short story by Richard Matheson. The movie is set in the near future where the sport of boxing has transitioned from human fighters to robots ala Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots on steroids.

I watched the film in IMAX and the visuals and sounds were great. The movie hits all of the right buttons when it comes to underdog sports stories. The parallels to Rocky and almost any other coming of age story with a kid who is reunited with his absentee father are definitely there. One of the amazing things about the movie was the complete lack of anything too overtly sexual. There is a love interest, but the PG-13 lines never even come close to being crossed. There is some violence, beyond the robot-on-robot action, but not too much.

Overall, it was an enjoyable movie that leaves you feeling good about where it ends. My main nit to pick here is the relationship between the son and Hugh Jackman’s character in the first half of the film. I don’t enjoy seeing kids treated bad by people who should be their parents, but that is just part of the plot and setup. This is a fun movie and falls somewhere between 3 and 4 Mick Happies.  We’ll call it 4 for the fun ride that it is and hope that the sequel gets the go ahead in the near future. Almost makes me want to get the Xbox Live Arcade game…almost.

2011 New Fall TV Reviews

If you have read my post about Apple TV a while back, you know that I don't have cable TV. Even so, I have been browsing several of the new shows this season. I have accessed the shows through iTunes free episodes or online viewing through the networks' websites. Either way, with internet access, new TV shows can be seen for free if you want them. Here are my impressions of a few of the new shows.

The Playboy Club:
If only I knew then what I know now, I would have written this post yesterday before this show was cancelled. I may also have not finished the second episode, which I did last night. I can sum this one up pretty quick.
Pros: Attractive women in tight, somewhat revealing clothing.
Cons: Is there like no trash bins in all of Chicago? Must be otherwise they wouldn't be keeping key evidence from a homicide (albeit self-defense) under the bed or in the vanishing cream jar of a boarding house full of women who might find them. C'mon, that is just dumb.
Rating: 2 Mick Happies, just for the eye candy.

Pan Am:
Another throwback to yester-year. I watched the premiere and may watch the second episode as well. There were parts of the pilot that I enjoyed: the costumes, some of the stewardesses had interesting back stories and the captain and first officer were how I would imagine them to be in that day and age. I am not as sold on needing to add in the espionage angle in episode one. There was enough nostalgia and meeting people to have hooked viewers without the gimmick.
Pros: Costumes and that late 50s early 60s wholesome feeling.
Cons: The need to go to gimmicks early to add tension and drama.
Rating: 3 Mick Happies.

Up All Night:
Now I have to admit that I have watched a lot of TV and movies with Christina Applegate in it. I have enjoyed a lot of them: The Sweetest Thing, The Rocker, Hall Pass (to some extent), etc. I have not enjoyed most of Will Arnett's work. I gave this one two episodes to hook me and sadly it didn't. There are a couple funny moments if you have ever been a new parent, but mostly the writers seem to be trying too hard. Not nearly as good as my favorite family comedy, Raising Hope.
Pros: Some funny new parent moments.
Cons: The bleeped swearing just makes me think this would be a better comedy on a cable pay-tv network like HBO, Showtime or Starz.
Rating: 2 Mick Happies for the few laughs.

New Girl:
I didn't include it in the image above, but I did download and watch the pilot for The New Girl with Zooey Deschanel. I was hoping for quirky fun here. It was too quirky for me. I just was irritated by the Zooey's character and coupled with Fox TVs 8 day waiting period to see episodes online, I will have forgotten about this by the time a new episode hits the intertubes.
Pros: The guys do a good thing for her in the end.
Cons: Quirky and more than a little irritating lead character (and some irritating supporting characters as well).
Rating: 2 Mick Happies - generously.

Terra Nova:
Just watched the free download of the pilot 2 days ago. This completely kept my interest during the flight I was on. Enough that I was annoyed by other people in my row needing to get up to use the lavatory. The dinosaurs were awesome and scary. Kids in the future/past still do stoopid things and parents just will never understand. I would have liked to see more of the future. Wow, talk about dystopian. Hopefully we will get some flashbacks there. Not sure I needed the Commander's son foreshadowing side plot in the pilot. There was enough going on without it.
Pros: Time travel (okay possibly alternate reality), dinosaurs and, oh, dinosaurs.
Cons: Would have liked more time in the future before going through to the past.
Rating: 4 Mick Happies - I really liked this one.

Some honorable mentions:
I watched the first two episodes of Two and a Half Men. Amazing how little that show needed a second Alan character, but Ashton Kutcher's character seems to be Alan if he was handsome and rich. I am glad I don't watch this one regularly as I probably couldn't take it.

Great to have The Big Bang Theory and Raising Hope back. I love both these shows so much I bought the Season Pass on iTunes for them so that I would have them delivered directly to me and I could stream them to the big TV for viewing enjoyment.

 That's enough for this post. Back to watching more internet?