Heroes is super!

Heroes is the best new show of the season so far. Not only that, but it has the potential to be one of the top shows on TV. If you haven't seen the pilot yet, I think they're rerunning it on NBC and SciFi. You can also get it off of iTunes, and I think you can also watch it on NBC.com.

The show is great! The acting from a key few leaves a little to be desired sometimes, but you'll get over it. Lots of great characters in this one, and I'm already more hooked on this show than I was after watching the pilot of Lost. Nothing against Lost... I think it's a good show, but it takes so long for things to happen, even in the pilot. With Heroes, the pilot moves right along and introduces you to most if not all of the main players and sets up a lot of story elements that I can only hope will be addressed in the near future.

My favorite character by far is Hiro, the dorky Japanese guy. The parts with him are the best of the whole pilot. Although, if I had to pick one of the characters I'm most curious about, it'd be Nikki. I mean seriously, what the hell is happening with her?!? Weird. Very very weird.

Heroes is on NBC Monday nights at 9pm. Be there! And be sure to check out the official unofficial website of Heroes, 9th Wonders. It's full of goodies and is a direct link to the creators of the show.

unsolved mysteries

George Reeves' death in 1959 was ruled a suicide, but others were convinced that he did not indeed kill himself, but rather that he was murdered. The "truth" as it were has never come to light. I have no opinion on what really happened. It's a sad story no matter how you look at it.

-- SPOILERS (possibly minor) FROM HERE ON OUT --

The inherent problem with movies like Hollywoodland is that they are based on mysteries that are yet unsolved. Therefore, there is no ending to the story. In itself, that doesn't mean that it's going to be a bad movie, but it's a small strike against it.

When making a movie based on an unsolved mystery, you can do one of 3 things: 1) you can make an ending up; 2) you can take your best guess (an extension of #1); or, 3) you can present all the facts and let the audience decide for themselves. #3 is lame in my opinion, and that exactly what happened in Hollywoodland. I would like to point out that #3 was the route taken in The Exorcism of Emily Rose which I thoroughly enjoyed. It worked well there, just not here.

It would've been better if the hero of Hollywoodland, Louis Simo, played by Adrien Brody, had a more compelling story about him, or if his life was allegorical to Reeves', or even if he became so obsessed with the mystery that his own life imploded. Something! But as it turns out, Simo is bland and has the least compelling story arc in this movie. Everything about Simo seemed forced. Even his big emotional moment comes from, not the Reeves case, but a completely other and wholly unnecessary pseudo-mystery which in turn leads to a drunken catharsis played out at Simo's son's school. It might have been a better movie if it was just about Simo as a PI in the 50's, and not set against the back-drop of Reeves' death. As it stands, the movie just doesn't make a lot of sense.

Ben Affleck however was great and by far the best part of Hollywoodland. I've always been an Affleck fan, but he does shine in this film. Worth seeing just to see his performance, although he's only in about 50% of the movie, maybe less.

On second thought, just rent it.

Galactica webisodes

The Sci-Fi Channel and the producers behind Battlestar Galactica (aka BSG to myriad fans) continue to impress me. Not only is the most recent incarnation of BSG the single best show still on TV, but they really do know how to treat their fans well by providing them with so much supporting material to consume, it's ridiculous.

For example, there are podcasts from the show creators that give commentary on current and past episodes. If you begin playing the podcasts when the opening credits say "The Cylons Were Created by Man," you'll get a real-time commentary experience. I just looked on the Sci-Fi/BSG downloads page and you can also download the audio recording made at the writers meeting for the "Scar" episode.

And now, to tide us over until the October 6th premiere of the third season of BSG, there are webisodes to watch. There will be 10 in total, each 2-3 minutes long. A new webisodes premieres every Tuesday and Thursday leading up to the season premiere. The first two are already available. You can only stream them, not download, and you can't find them on iTunes, but hopefully that'll change soon.

The webisodes follow the story of some old and new members of the resistance movement. But, unlike other TV-show/spinoff webisodes that don't feature any of the original cast and look to be a poor imitation of the production as a whole, the BSG webisodes look and feel the same as the TV-show, and feature main characters like Colonel Tigh and Chief Tyrrol in supporting roles.

I don't want to ruin it for you, so I won't talk spoilers or anything. I'll just say that I dig the webisodes so far and can't wait for the season 3 premiere of BSG!

arrested development of Arrested Development

That can't be an original headline, but for the life of me I can't remember ever seeing it... so I'm gonna use it for this brief post.

Arrested Development: Season 3 has been released on DVD. It's the final season of this comedy that really was one of the best in TV history. I've already talked about the genius of this show, so just go buy this DVD set.

Watch it, love it, and then cry yourself to sleep.

[cue "Final Countdown" music] [fade to black]