Welcome to the Captain — An early look
My first impression of this show is that it has a great cast. Al Madrigal is a very funny guy who has been kept off of TV for way too long. You may remember that Al was the star of the aborted sitcom The Ortegas a few seasons ago. I have always thought Chris Klein was funny but never got a chance to show it off and, of course, Jeffrey Tambor has now become a fixture in the comedy landscape due to his brilliant work on Larry Sanders & Arrested Development.
Madrigal plays the doorman of the building named Jesus, who insists that you pronounce his name like the well-known savior. Klein is Marty, a tenant of the building and best bud of the new tenant, Josh (Fran Kanz). Tambor plays Uncle Sol, the veteran of the building who used to write scripts for Three’s Company. Ironic, in a way, since Tambor actually starred in the Three’s Company spinoff, The Ropers.
Most importantly, the show features Raquel Welch as the building’s resident cougar. I can not express what a great bit of casting this is. The last time I saw Raquel Welch look this sexy was on an episode of Mork & Mindy. I’m not sure what the exact demographic is for Ms. Welch, but I, for one, fall directly inside of it.
Which leaves me feeling a little torn because as much as I love the cast the show just isn’t very funny. It’s shot single camera, so it has the air of a sophisticated sitcom but the jokes just aren’t funny enough to find their way through the screen.
More importantly, the premise of the show is as old as sitcoms themselves. Josh, the new resident, doesn’t really want to stay in the building and plans on moving to New York until, Hope, the pretty acupuncture student, cries in his arms and tells him that she will be staying in the building for an undetermined amount of time. You can guess what goes on after that.
The second episode gets slightly better, but only slightly. Madrigal’s delivery and funny faces work to make me laugh and the constant references to 70’s sitcoms and their stars score big points for me but there’s very little else to watch for. I’ve never encountered this before but it seems like The Captain actually might fare better as a three-camera show. It’s just really hard to sit through the pauses knowing they are there for laughs and yet not laughing.
I suppose the show could eventually settle into a groove by concentrating more on the COM-edy than on the SIT-uation, but that is pretty unlikely.
Weclome to the Captain premieres on Monday, February 4, at 8:30 PM ET on CBS.
College Movie Trailer
When I met actor turned screenwriter Dan Callahan at a Los Angeles party, he described his upcoming film College as Superbad but less smart and more vulgar, a call back to the raunchy teen comedies from my youth (Porky’s…etc). The official movie trailer has finally been revealed, and can be watched below.
And yes, my first impression is that the movie looks okay but it doesn’t look great. But I’m operating under the vulgar R-Rated comedy theory where all the really funny stuff can’t been shown in a green band movie trailer. I really hope that MGM releases an Red Band movie trailer online so that we can really see what this movie is like. Watch the trailer below, and tell me what you think in the comments.
You can also watch the trailer in High Definition on Yahoo.com. College hits theaters on August 29th 2008.
Rant: This Is Absolute BS. Nation’s Critics Now Calling There Will Be Blood Best Movie Ever.
Editors Note: The following rant includes some very strong language. Please be advised…
You know those fake dipshits who voted for Bush (once, twice, whatevs) and now try to explain and express their sorrows about the Iraq “War” and the economy’s collapse to you? Yeah, my new keychain from Supreme says “F**k ‘Em” for a reason. But, yeah, those dipshits are not half as bad as all of these movie critics who are now jerking off Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood now that it’s safely tucked-in on DVD.
What a bunch of fucking cunts. Srsly.
How many articles do I have to read from “new-and-old-media” movie critics about why the general public doesn’t give a flying shit about movie critics anymore (the most unproven, self-obsessed employees in the Western World)? Nobody gives a shit because even when a film is as fucking fantastically great and earth-shaking as TWBB, these mocha-choking-assholes don’t have the guts to call it out until they can watch it “four times on DVD” and even then it’s still an “A- or B-minus.”
What is the deal? I understand why a pathetic college-educated, money-sucking wanker like Gregory Kirschling at Entertainment Weekly now calls TWBB a “masterpiece” after numerous viewings, after dissing it the first time. His first impression? The film was fucking “weird” and “with little of the flash or exuberance or life of PTA’s previous epics, Boogie Nights and Magnolia.” Are you fucking kidding me? I saw TWBB once and automatically knew it was light years beyond No Country For Old Men in every way. I smoked a huge joint and realized it was practically impossibly great! My editor Peter, who did not smoke a joint at all, agreed (seriously, our TWBB discussion is why I write for Slashfilm and love this site). When I saw the film two more times, I realized that the movie totally killed the very notion of God. Was I wrong? I honestly don’t care.
I have not read one “movie critic” discuss such implications, but that is what the public wants. They crave controversial, bizarre-even, opinions about today’s films. Not PR-pleasing bullshit. You want Pauline Kael? I don’t. She wasn’t fucking Mary, okay? I want new light. I don’t want Lester Bangs. No more death. I want young bloods who say what they think and then go party the night away.
I love CHUD (the site, the movie a lil’ less); but Devin’s review, while well worded, doesn’t come clean about what this film means and is about. Do we need PTA to get his bib dirty? I’m glad that Devin doesn’t refer to Plainview as “evil” as so many assholes have, but c’mon. The DVD is packaged like a Bible for a reason. This movie is about the end of religion in the face of American progress, as ugly as that concept is. It’s about being a man and facing off in a world full of supernatural, batshit “man in the sky” bullshit and how that can drive said man crazy, then and now. Get out of here Ghost! It’s about sons and fathers, when the father can’t have a son and how he looks at the world with that in mind. It’s about killing a God that doesn’t exist. It’s a fucking great movie and possibly in the top 10 ever made.
Critics, grow some huge balls. Do drugs. The world’s best scientists are (Adderall, so ‘04 btw). Live life, then watch movies. Don’t shrink in a chair. Get crazy. Come up with weird theories about new movies for the helluva it. Like Quentin Tarantino says, if you back up a cool review up with examples, they will come and cum. Stop pretending like you are immortal in the face of mainstream mediocrity. The Internet is now your pimp. Show some skin (not literally, please never), but get freaky.
TWBB is a fucking masterpiece and it shits all over No Country For Old Men. That is ALL. Either you said it then (LIKE WE DID AT SLASHFILM) or you are an idiot. Every scene of TWBB is worth 1,000 words. Here’s to the new generation.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Movie Trailer
Paramount/Dreamworks have just released the official teaser movie trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
My first impression is that it feels like Temple of Doom and not a next generation action movie (ala Michael Bay). Even with the super unrealistic jump from the car crash explosion in the Lost Ark warehouse (almost Live Free or Die-ish), the film still maintains this classic feeling. There is some use of computer generated effects, but done with a nice blend into the practical effects. Most of my concerns were quashed while viewing this teaser. Strangely, I find myself wondering if Cate Blanchett fits in this film. She looks so weirdly out of place. Shia LaBeouf is very much underplayed in this teaser, but from the few quick appearances he makes, it seems to be without good reason. I’m still a little worried about the story, especially the alien stuff. At first glance it and some of the jokes seem like they don’t fit with the rest of the trilogy. I compared the feeling to Live Free or Die Hard. Don’t get me wrong, I actually really loved Live Free or Die Hard, but at the same time, it sometimes seemed like a parody of itself, and the story didn’t quite fit with the other films in the series.
Tell me what you think in the comments below!
Slight Spoiler: It’s worth noting that if you look closely at the moment 25 seconds before the end of the trailer where Cate Blanchett’s character drops her glasses, a huge spoiler is revealed/confirmed. Yes, a government facility is Roswell, NM which is highly classified. Area 51 maybe? This further confirms the Alien Crystal Skull storyline.
You can also watch the new teaser trailer in High Definition on Yahoo! Movies. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hits theaters on May 22nd 2008.