Fox, Stop Killing Good Shows!

Here's my beef with Fox network.... they don't give good shows a chance.

Take Amy Sherman-Palladino's new project, The Return of Jezebel James. After airing three... count 'em... THREE episodes, Fox cut it. Now, I know that any female fan of Gilmore Girls would most likely watch ASP's new show because, honestly, she's an amazingly gifted script writer, but Fox killed it. The show was poorly advertised and then axed after three very good episodes.

It's unfortunate that good shows are being replaced by really CRAPPY reality shows (Moment of Truth? More like Moment of Shame). Don't get me wrong, I'll sit around and watch America's Next Top Model or America's Best Dance Crew, but I really, really wanted to watch ASP material. At least it's witty and funny and written with more than a quarter of a brain.

TRoJJ focused on two sisters who have a terrible relationship (one's uber-successful and one's not), and after the successful sister discovers she can't conceive her own child, she asks her sister to borrow her uterus. The women are well-written and ASP brought back Scott Cohen (who played Max Medina on GG). It is in a similar vein to Gilmore Girls, and definitely had potential. I was looking forward to watching the two sisters grow their relationship, but now I'll never get to do that (thanks, Fox).

The only real feeling about the show that I was left with was that ASP had some definite mother issues. Both the mother in Gilmore Girls and the mother in TRoJJ seemed extremely neurotic and high-maitenence. But I guess we all have our own issues.

Hopefully, this show will be released on DVD so that it can live beyond Fox and their poor idea of good programming.

Music Review: The Used - Shallow Believer

This is coming, honestly, rather late. Shallow Believer has been out for quite a while, but I only just gave it a listen this morning because after the schizophrenic disappointment that Lies for the Liars was, I didn't really feel like subjecting my ears to more torture -- the b-sides. And The Used used to be one of my favorite bands.

It seems that frontman Bert McCracken fell in love and forgot how to write songs. Even In Love and Death, which most critics absolutely hate, sounds better than Lies. Lies was disappointing. I waited for quite a long time and was presented with an album of only semi-decent songs. A few are quite enjoyable, classic-Used sounding, but there are a few songs, like "Wake the Dead," that had so much potential and then... got lost. All of a sudden, in the middle of the song, I'm in the bridge of a completely different song. It almost felt like McCracken's little notebook of lyrics was shredded by a knife-wielding serial killer and pasted back together by a toddler, and Allman and Howard did all they could to deal with all the different shifts. Can you see why I was so reluctant to listen to an entire album of the b-sides from this album?

Shallow Believer suffers equally from McCracken's mental-song-writing-lapse. All of the bonus tracks from the five or so different versions of Lies are there (whoever thought THAT was a good idea? I'll just download the individual songs on iTunes rather than hunt down the Best Buy version, the Target version etc etc.). Accompanying the bonus tracks is "Choke Me," which was a bonus track on The Used's first album, so if you have that, and are willing to fast-forward the last song to the 8:40 mark or so, you can listen to "Choke Me" (which I actually like, it's got some nice signature McCracken screams and the harder side of The Used) without having to pay for Shallow Believer or sit through "Tunnel," which is one of the worst songs written by McCracken -- ever (*cough*sappy*cough).

Really, The Used should stick to their strong points and give fans more of the good stuff. Leave the ballads to Bon Jovi ::shudder::.

Movie Review: Run, Fat Boy, Run

If you're a fan of Simon Pegg, Run, Fat Boy, Run, is a must see. Granted, his constant side-kick, Nick Frost, is not starring (rather, Dylan Moran is playing opposite Pegg), but this only opens up the potential for the movie.

Add that to the fact that Run, Fat Boy, Run is not in the same vein as Shawn of the Dead or Hot Fuzz (blatant satiric rip-offs of zombie and/or cop movies), I feel that it has some potential. The plot is straightforward, Dennis (Pegg) is horrified of commitment, and leaves his pregnant girlfriend (Thandie Newton) standing at the altar. Years later, he decides he wants to be back in her life, but has an uphill battle since she has found a new love (Hank Azaria). In order to win her back, he decides to run a London marathon to prove his commitment. What could possibly go wrong?

Furthermore, Run, Fat Boy, Run is David Schwimmer's (Ross from Friends, duh) directing debut (there are a slew of continuity issues, but those are easily ignored if you don't pay too close attention). Hopefully, this won't detract from what is probably going to be comedic gold for all those who think Pegg is brilliant (and not just because he's got a British accent). Personally, I'm going to go see this, but for those of you who don't really appreciate a British sense of humour (which, undoubtedly, is a lot different from American) then you may want to pass up, just so I don't have to hear you whine.

Run, Fat Boy, Run Trailer