Entourage Review: Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Vince has been in love before, and it has negatively impacted his career before.  Remember Mandy Moore? So the fact that he’s in love is no surprise.  What is shocking is how quickly and deeply he appears to have fallen for Sasha.  This “relationship” is really frustrating me.  I don’t know how much time we’re supposed to believe has elapsed between their first meeting at a party and the present day, but it’s ridiculous.  He immediately began treating her as if she were his girlfriend, and the embarrassing part is that she doesn’t appear to be as into him as he is into her.  Every week I want to yell at my TV, “Vince you’re playing yourself!”

After meeting with new Air-walker director Peter Berg, Vince manages to secure a small role in the film for Sasha, in hopes that she will forego the adult film she’s been offered.  To make matters worse, one of her co-stars in the movie would be her ex-fiancé.  Vince really doesn’t want her to take the part, but this is what she does and he can’t change her.  When she finds out about the role in Air-walker she’s excited, but she still may take the adult movie gig.  Vince gets upset because he thought she said she wouldn’t do it if she could get another legit part.  Sasha says she never agreed to that.  This “relationship” is untenable, and I’ll be glad when it’s over.  Hopefully the writers are only putting Vince and Sasha together to underscore his temporary out of control, addictive lifestyle.  When (if) Vince sobers up, I hope he shows Sasha the door.

While Vince and Sasha are beefing over dinner, Ari and Mrs. Ari are at the same restaurant.  Amanda Daniels is also there having dinner with a small group of men.  Earlier in the day Ari bumped into Dana Owens (Queen Latifah), and she told him that Amanda was now working to bring an NFL team to L.A.  Assuming that she vindictively stole his opportunity, Ari goes berserk.  He tries to ambush her at her office but she’s not there.  He’s trying to make up with the missus by spending more time with the family and leaving his Blackberry at work – so he has to race over to the restaurant to meet his wife.  He gets his assistant to plant his Blackberry in the bathroom, and he later retrieves it like a scene from The Godfather.  He calls Amanda, who says that she’s been trying to reach him.  Before she can fully explain, he drops the phone in the toilet.  When he gets back to his table, she comes over to have a word with him.  Mrs. Ari says that it’s not a good time, but before Amanda can walk away Ari completely rips her a new one in front of the entire restaurant.  He says that he’s never hit a woman but he would like to pummel her face.  Ari is a funny guy, but you know what? I’ve never really liked him.  Lots of people say he’s their favorite character, but I think he’s a mean prick.  He’s a complete asshole to everyone except his wife and certain clients.  Amanda calmly explains that she didn’t leak the tapes to the media; a vindictive assistant did that, and she fired him.  Furthermore, the gentlemen at her table are from the NFL and they had been discussing bringing him on board.  Now?  Forget it. Nice going Ari.

Johnny has finally gotten on board with Johnny’s Bananas, the animated creation of Billy Walsh in which he will star.  Things are looking up for him.  Turtle and Alex are trying to get the tequila company off the ground, and have managed to secure funding from Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban to expand the production plant in Mexico.  For some reason Carlos isn’t keen on the idea.  I guess he fears that he’s in danger of losing his small, family business to a rich American.  The episode closes with Turtle, Alex, Billy, Johnny and Lloyd all chilling out, celebrating Johnny’s show when Lloyd discovers a big bag of coke.  Will they stage an intervention?  Or is Vince really surrounded by “yes” men?  I can’t wait to find out.

Season 7, Episode 9: Porn Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (originally aired August 29, 2010)

For more Entourage, click here.

Sundays at 10:30pm ET/PT on HBO

Photographs courtesy of HBO and IMDbPro

Takers Review: More Than Just Eye Candy

I’ll be the first to say that the younger generation doesn’t appreciate some of the finer things of the recent past, from film to music.  So when I heard a few comparisons of Takers to the Michael Mann classic Heat, I laughed out loud.  There’s no way a movie built around T.I. and Chris Brown can hold a candle to one featuring the likes of Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro.  After seeing Takers for myself I haven’t changed my mind about that comparison, but I was pleasantly surprised that the movie exceeded my limited expectations.  Takers was a well-paced, intense movie that made the most of its cast and their capabilities.

Set in Los Angeles, the movie opens with a bank heist by a group of five men.  The men don’t enter the bank with guns blazing; rather they assemble on a vacant floor of the office building that houses the bank, preparing for the job there.  Clearly they’ve done their homework, right down to a brilliant escape plan.  The group is lead by Gordon and John, portrayed by Idris Elba (The Losers) and Paul Walker (Fast & Furious).  Chris Brown (This Christmas), Michael Ealy (Seven Pounds), and Hayden Christensen (Jumper) round out the cast.  They gather at a nearby location and divvy up the spoils, each departing in some sleek mode of transport.  As a unit, the group is cohesive and functions well, with each person knowing their role.  Ealy and Brown are brothers Jake and Jesse.  As A.J., Christensen handles the recon duties.  No reason is given for how and why this hodgepodge group of bandits decided to make their living by taking from others, but they ostensibly are very successful at what they do.  Each is impeccably dressed from head to toe, and their homes resemble those featured on MTV Cribs.  VIP treatment is what they expect.  They are cocky and daring, and life is good.

But things get interesting when a sixth member of the crew resurfaces.  Enter T.I. as Ghost, who is fresh off a 6 year bid in Chino.  He was busted while doing a job in ’04 with the gang, but kept his mouth shut.  He emerges from prison to find that his former love Lilly (Zoe Saldana, Avatar) has taken up with Jake, who has recently proposed after their successful bank heist.  Ghost also wants his share of the loot from the ’04 job.  His old mates aren’t exactly thrilled to see him, and they are even more skeptical when he wants to jump right into a new job.  Ghost wants to rob a few armored cars for about 30 million.  They would only have a few days to prepare.  They usually wait a year between jobs, but Ghost presses the issue and eventually greed takes over.  These guys are takers after all, as Gordon points out.  Their job is to take, so why not?  Although they pulled off the opening bank heist successfully, the Takers have drawn the ire and attention of two police officers, played by Matt Dillon (Crash) and Jay Hernandez (Quarantine). As Jack Welles, Dillon is smart and tough, but one step behind.  He spends most of the movie trying to piece it all together while side-stepping Internal Affairs.  The movie centers around the Takers’ ability to pull off the armored car heist while avoiding detection from law enforcement and keeping an eye on Ghost, whom they do not fully trust.

I would give Takers a strong 3 out of 4 stars.  The movie was not perfect.  Both T.I. and Chris Brown gave admirable performances, but I felt that their limited experience was evident in a few scenes and with the way they delivered their lines at times.  Also, the movie was a bit self-aware.  Clearly made for an MTV generation, Takers was all flash.  We get it, these guys are cool.  It worked for the most part because Idris Elba added some much needed heft to the movie.  I don’t know if it was his natural British accent or the fact that he was given a richer back story involving a drug-addicted sister (wonderfully played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste of Without a Trace), but Elba’s presence really elevated the movie.  You’ll hear many women praise the movie because of its “eye candy,” but there were some good performances.  I think Michael Ealy, Idris Elba, and Hayden Christensen were best in their roles.  T.I. was amateurish at times, but he showed flashes of potential in his portrayal of Ghost as a greedy and vengeful nemesis.  Paul Walker is lovely to look at it, but sometimes I think he attended the Keanu Reeves school of acting.  His omnipresent surfer dude intonation is passable in a movie set in L.A., but he comes across as a one note actor most of the time.  Love you Paul!

All in all, Takers doesn’t revolutionize the caper genre, but it is a solid addition.  Slick and stylish, it is sure to please most moviegoers.  The acting was surprisingly up to par, and there were several thrilling scenes that permeated with suspense and tension.  You won’t be disappointed.

Photo courtesy by Suzanne Tenner – © 2010 Screen Gems

Entourage Review: Sniff Sniff Gang Bang

Last week, the song that reminded me of Vince was Kanye West’s “All Falls Down.”  This week, it would be Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’.”

In the latest episode of Entourage, Vince continues his free fall.  Between his constant partying and marathon public make out sessions with Sasha, Vince is in another place right now.  Over the past few episodes we’ve seen him take any drug placed in front of him and wash it down with alcohol.  First it was painkillers, then coke, omnipresent alcohol, and now Vince is popping pills.  In case you forgot, Sasha is a porn star.  Vince seems to have let the last few weeks go to his head, and she snaps him back to reality when she tells him that she’s found a new job.  Vince quickly learns it’s not a mainstream role and tries to put his foot down.  He tells her not to take the job, and that he’ll pay her the $200,000 she’s being offered for the movie if she doesn’t do it.  The “role” would require her to have sex with a few guys; you know a good old-fashioned “gang bang.”  Yep, folks: this is Vince’s girlfriend.  It’s also weird to me that she’s playing herself.  I know that she’s a porn star in real life, so she’s obviously not ashamed of anything, but I still think this role on Entourage casts her in a poor light.  But I guess anything is a step up from her typical portrayal on camera.  Let’s be real.

Ari is still unable to give Vince his undivided attention because he’s putting out fires at work.  The details of his management style have come to light, with some of his most offensive comments over the years making headlines.  As always, he must smooth things over with the missus.  I like how Ari remains committed to his wife, despite being such a prick.  But the hen-pecked husband routine is wearing a little thin for me.  At this point Mrs. Ari is even starting to get on my nerves.  She has valid criticism; Ari frequently breaks promises and seems to put work ahead of his family.  But she is a bit of a nag.  Eventually, he manages her to placate her for the time being with joint therapy sessions.

Drama’s ego still won’t allow him to accept the role in the animated series that Billy envisions.  Now Phil and the network are behind the idea, but Johnny still won’t budge.  He feels insulted and doesn’t think he should have to stoop to doing voice work, especially as the title character in a show about a monkey.  It is a big step down from what he’s accustomed to doing, but it could turn out to be a good thing for Johnny.  When Eric can’t guarantee Johnny’s involvement, Phil toughens his stance and threatens to find another actor for the role.  Eric flexes his muscles right back and tells Phil he’ll do no such thing.  Eric owns the show, and without Johnny’s participation the show won’t happen, period.

Phil isn’t the only one Eric has to set straight.  His boy is slipping, big time.  Billy tells a surprised Eric that he saw Vince doing coke with Lavin, and he hits the roof.  He tells Lavin to stay away from Vince, and marches off to find Vince and get to the bottom of everything.  Vince is in line for his biggest professional paycheck to date, and he’s jeopardizing everything with his recent rock star behavior.  The studio’s confidence in Vince is wavering and they want him to submit to a drug test before filming begins.  He refuses and tells Dana Gordon face to face that he won’t do it.  She goes to bat for him but the result is that the director leaves the project.  I sense that things are disintegrating, and Vince needs to be reminded of what it feels like to lose everything.  When the episode closes, it’s with Vince assuring Eric that he is fine, refusing to take a drug test, and bullying Eric into finding a part in Air-Walker for Sasha.  He wants to keep her out of adult movies, as if that’s not her chosen profession.

Vince is really starting to get on my nerves.  He’s being an asshole and he’s flushing his career down the toilet.  Is this the guy that I’m supposed to be rooting for?  As long as he’s cavorting with this porn star and acting indignant when others don’t treat her like she’s the First Lady, I will be against Vince.  He needs a reality check before his character goes the way of River Phoenix.  He’s cracking up, and I hope Eric and Ari can pick up the pieces before it’s too late.

Season 7, Episode 8: Sniff Sniff Gang Bang (originally aired August 22, 2010)

For more Entourage, click here.

Sundays at 10:30pm ET/PT on HBO

Photographs courtesy of HBO and IMDbPro

Jersey Shore Review: The Plot Thickens

Do you turn from a train wreck or grab some popcorn and pull up a seat?  With Jersey Shore, I’m doing the latter. 

In the last episode, drama abounds.  Ronnie continues his bi-polar debauchery: calling Sammi a bitch one minute, and trying to cuddle with her the next.  I used to feel sorry for her, but now I think she’s just a glutton for punishment.  Although she doesn’t know the details of what Ronnie does when he’s out with the guys (no one has spilled the beans yet), she does know that he gets drunk and is verbally abusive.  Yet she still tolerates it.  She has a hunch that the girls know more about Ronnie’s antics than they are letting on, and questions each of them.  Sammi tells them that if they know something, they should tell her.  I agree.  Ronnie shouldn’t have the same expectation of confidentiality with the girls that he has Mike, Pauly, or Vinny.  The girls have tried to pass the buck, each hoping that the other comes forward with the dirt.  Angelina said last week that she feels no obligation to tell Sammi, in part because she doesn’t feel like it would make a difference – Sammi would take Ronnie back.  It’s lame.  Eventually, J Wow and Snooki decide to write an anonymous letter to Sammi revealing Ronnie’s treachery.  This has got to be the dumbest idea ever.  There are seven people who could have written the letter.  Every guy is immediately ruled out, because guys don’t do stupid shit like that.  Maybe the girls think that the anonymous approach would smooth things over with Ronnie.  Again, I don’t think Ronnie cares.  All of this has to come to a head eventually. 

Sammi isn’t the only one having relationship issues.  Snooki calls her boyfriend to talk, and judging from the background noise, he is having a good time.  He yells that he can’t hear her and she tells him to go somewhere so that he can.  He says there are hot girls everywhere and hangs up.  Later he calls her back and tells her that he slept with a girl.  She tells him to go f*ck himself, and that’s that.  Maybe Sammi can borrow Snooki’s backbone and kick Ronnie to the curb.  In the next episode she finds the anonymous note, so at least the air will be momentarily clear before filling again with smoke! I can’t wait!

For more Jersey Shore, click here.  You can follow Poptimal on Twitter @poptimal.

Season 2, Episode 4 (originally aired August 19, 2010)

Images courtesy of imdbpro.com

Entourage Review: Somebody call A&E – Vince needs an Intervention

When we last left Vince, he was sprawled naked by his pool, passed out.  The omnipresent Sasha was by his side.  The partying continues this week, and for the first time Vince does coke, as easily as he would take a shot of tequila.  I know all of the guys love Vince, but Eric is the only one with the stones to actually confront Vince and call him out on things.  Drama idolizes his baby brother, and Turtle does too.  Eric does not idolize Vince.  He loves him like a brother, but wouldn’t be afraid to stand up to Vince if the situation warrants such action.  Remember when he quit?  And he was always the one who pushed Vince to read his scripts, show up to meetings on time, and be responsible.  Now Vince is living an “anything goes” lifestyle with no limitations.  When he does coke, it’s not in the presence of the fellas.  He’s surrounded by random people, Sasha, and Scott Lavin.  Billy Walsh also observes Vince’s new habit, but doesn’t say anything.

Vince’s behavior has caused the studio to lose confidence in him.  After showing up to the initial meeting for Air-Walker drunk, they want to make sure he has his head on straight.  Unfortunately for Vince, he doesn’t fare much better in the second meeting.  The director thinks Vince is “coked up,” and when word gets back to Ari and Eric, they are livid. And very worried.  Eric assures Ari that Vince has never done coke in his life.  Eric doesn’t know the new Vince.  New Vince is immersed in sex and drugs, succumbing to any vice placed in front of him.  Sasha is a terrible influence, and Vince is a follower at times.  It’s a shame that he had a great comeback, only to jeopardize everything he’s worked for.  His “handlers” aren’t doing a very good job of handling him, and I think it will take a rock bottom moment and a stint in rehab for Vince to get back on track.

Meanwhile, Ari and Lizzie manage to call a truce.  Initially her problem with Ari was a professional one.  She just wanted the promotion that she felt she deserved.  Teaming up with Amanda made it personal.  Lizzie has a change of heart and decides to leave Amanda’s agency.  She turns her incriminating audio tapes over to Ari, in exchange for his promise to find her a new job.  Ari puts in a call with Dana Gordon, who says she will give Lizzie a look if Ari can secure Lenny Kravitz for an upcoming movie the studio is filming.  That’s how things get done apparently: you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.  Everything has a price.  Especially fame.  I hope Vince realizes this before it’s too late.

Season 7, Episode 7: Tequila and Coke (originally aired August 15, 2010)

For more Entourage, click here.

Sundays at 10:30pm ET/PT on HBO

Photographs courtesy of HBO and IMDbPro

Jersey Shore Review: Ronnie the Rat

Reality TV, for the most part, is regarded as drivel.  And rightfully so, but allow me to make a more thoughtful case for the genre.  To the extent that we know more about what’s going on than some of the people on the show, we sort of get to be omniscient, and all-knowing.  This really highlights the manipulative nature of some cast members and the naïveté of others. Take the last episode of Jersey Shore, for example.  Ronnie and Sammi are like Jekyll and Hyde.  One minute they are lovey-dovey, the next minute one of them is screaming at the other.  Usually it’s Ronnie who is drunk and berating Sammi, only to snuggle up with her at the end of the night.  He does this after hooking up with multiple girls, unbeknownst to Sammi.  Not only has Ronnie been unclear about his intentions, but he deliberately makes comments to Sammi that are designed to keep her in dating limbo.  Everyone else in the house knows that Ronnie is being duplicitous, but no one has spoken up.  I’m surprised that neither Snooki nor J Wow has said anything yet.  Even the guys feel bad for Sammi, but I don’t expect them to betray Ronnie, who has just decided to bide his time for as long as possible.  He selfishly likes having Sammi around, but he still wants to experience all that Miami has to offer, namely the women.  Snooki and J Wow know that eventually Ronnie’s actions will come to light, and when Sammi finds out that her friends knew all along, she’s going to be upset.  Should they blow up Ronnie’s spot now, for their friends’ sake? Or should they play dumb and let the chips fall?

While one conflict looms largely, another is headed towards resolution.  Angelina apologizes to Pauly for slapping him, but she wants immediate and total forgiveness; she wants to be “cool” with everyone.  Pauly accepts her apology but cannot commit to being her buddy and palling around with her.  Angelina doesn’t seem to understand just how badly she crossed the line.  She has virtually no friends in the house and is completely isolated.  Vinny, Mike, and Snooki begin to feel sorry for her and Mike approaches the other girls in hopes of brokering a truce.  He explains that Angelina can’t hang around with them for GTL (Gym, Tanning, Laundry); she needs to do girly stuff like get pedicures with the rest of the girls.  All the girls want from Angelina is an admission of gossiping, and an apology.  Snooki explains this to her while they’re out at a club, and Angelina finally apologizes.  Relieved, Snooki, Angelina and J Wow all make up.  Now there will be peace in the house, at least until Sammi finds out about Ronnie, which I hope happens soon.  This girl is really playing herself, and Ronnie is a tool.

Season 2, Episodes 2.3 (originially aired August 12, 2010)

For more Jersey Shore, click here.  You can follow Poptimal on Twitter @poptimal.

Images courtesy of imdbpro.com

Entourage Review: The Dark Side

After watching the latest episode of Entourage, the first thing that came to mind was Kanye West’s “All Falls Down.”  Sure the subject matter is different, but the sentiment is the same. Vince’s world is in danger of spiraling out of control.  But first let’s check in with everyone else.

Turtle managed to seal the deal with Alex, but a sub-par performance threatens to ruin his rep and any chance of being more than friends with her.  The last few episodes have been rather racy, in terms of subject matter, and this installment was no different.  The title of the episode is “Hair,” because Alex has none, down there.  Turtle has never seen one that was clean, and he freaked out.  Do we really need to know this?  In an effort to appeal to the frat boy contingent, Entourage occasionally delves into very crass territory.  Turtle begs Alex for another shot.  She reluctantly agrees, and our boy manages to redeem himself.  Turtle has never been in a sex scene, and it was a little weird.  Good for him.  At least he took his hat off.

Meanwhile, Lizzie really has Ari by the gonads.  With a lawsuit looming, the agency’s counsel has instructed Ari to settle.  His poor treatment of employees is legendary and well-documented.  It wouldn’t be difficult for Lizzie to prove that she wasn’t treated fairly on the job, especially since she kept a record of every offense.  I’ve never seen Ari off his game, but Lizzie has him completely rattled, to the point that he’s neglecting his clients.  He is even neglecting Vince, who is being handled primarily by Eric and Scott while Ari is distracted.  Scott and Eric have found Vince’s latest project, which is usually Ari’s responsibility.  The movie ends up being Vince’s biggest offer to date, which leads Scott to believe that he and Eric should “run Vince.”  Eric’s reputation is growing within the industry, and his old nemesis Billy Walsh even wants his help now.  It seems that he’s turned over a new leaf and is looking to make a comeback.

Eventually Ari takes a break from his office crisis to come up for air, and when he does he’s looking for Vince.  He got a call from Dana Gordon on behalf of the studio.  While promoting the tequila, Turtle shot some video footage of Vince and Sasha endorsing the product.  It was supposed to be “off the record,” but Turtle accidentally uploaded it to Vince’s Twitter account, and now the world can watch him drunkenly encourage people to “fuck like him and fuck like a porn star.”  Not a good look Vinnie!  As I said last week, Vince needs to tighten up.  Ari shows up to check on Vince, and Eric reassures him that all is well.  When they find him out by the pool, he is with a naked Sasha, but he’s passed out in the buff, hanging on the edge of the pool.  Looking like an overdose.  He’s only passed out, but the closing overhead image of him lying naked and unconscious was a powerful image of just how quickly he has fallen.

Entourage will end in 2011, and perhaps that is best.  I love the show, and I’ve watched since the beginning.  We have truly watched Vince’s growth and evolution from an up-and-coming actor to superstar.  We’ve seen him take a hit and bounce back.  His recent descent into addiction is the logical next step.  It’s unrealistic to think he could escape the trappings of Hollywood unscathed.  It’s also sad that Vince can’t take better care of himself.  He’s a grown man; he’s not in his 20s.  Eric and Ari turn their back for a second and he’s drinking tequila like a fish, screwing porn stars, and nearly ruining his career.  I could see how some fans might think that this came out of nowhere, but the writers have been sowing these seeds for the past few episodes. Vince doesn’t take his career seriously unless he’s in jeopardy of losing it, as we saw after Medellin flopped.  Maybe he will get scared straight if Ari and Eric explain just what’s at stake.  The fact that they even need to do that doesn’t bode well for Vince.

I like it when things are all flowers and sunshine, but again – that’s not realistic.  This was bound to happen, considering Vince’s devil-may-care, easygoing attitude and need to defy conventional wisdom.  He’s either developed a drinking problem or a painkiller addiction to the pills he’s been taking since injuring his back.  I hope he gets it together, because while I appreciate the realism, I think the show works best when we have more laughs than tears.

Season 7, Episode 6: Hair (originally aired August 8, 2010)

For more Entourage, click here.

Sundays at 10:30pm ET/PT on HBO

Photographs courtesy of HBO and IMDbPro

Jersey Shore Review: Loving Every Second

Some things are so bad, they’re good.  And you don’t even care.  That last piece of cake. A double cheeseburger.  Jersey Shore.  This season the gang is taking their act to Miami, which was perfect timing considering that this season was filmed during Snowmageddon 2010.  Mother Nature dumped over 2 feet of snow on the Northeast earlier this year, and the season opens with everyone’s departure to warmer pastures. 

Pauly D, The Situation, Snooki, J Wow, Ronnie, Vinny and Sammi are back.  This time Ronnie and Sammi are broken up.  But perhaps the biggest twist is that Angelina is returning.  You may recall that she voluntary left the show during its first season.  She probably envies that the others became pseudo-celebrity C-list stars and wants in on some of the action.  The rest of the house doesn’t exactly roll out the welcome mat for her.  In fact, they all look quite shocked when she arrives.  She didn’t leave on good terms, and none of the others knew that she would be coming back.  The girls ostracize her immediately, but Angelina hasn’t made herself easy to love.  The guys are a little more tolerant, even allowing her to share a room with Pauly and Mike.  Meanwhile Sammi and Ronnie express reservations about having to live under the same roof.  Everyone else is ready for a good time: partying and fist pumping the night away.  Don’t forget the spray tan and hair gel.

Their first night is marked by typical alcohol consumption and boorish behavior.  This time it’s Ronnie who decides to enjoy his newfound freedom by getting completely wasted.  He acts like a complete douchebag, even calling Sammi the c-word.  While the girls (minus Angelina) decide to call it a night, the fellas head out to a second night spot, where Ronnie ratchets up the debauchery even more.  He makes out with girls, all of whom The Situation deem to be “grenades,” which is basically a term for ugly chicks.  To top it off, when Ronnie returns home he brags that after all of his antics, he’s going to hop in bed with Sammi, which he does.  The sun rays of the next morning are sobering, and he feels bad about the previous night’s shenanigans.  He even contemplates telling Sammi what happened, until she finds an ex girlfriend’s phone number and goes ballistic on him.  Considering that they are no longer in a relationship, she really doesn’t have the right to be angry with him.  Sammi thinks it over and apologizes for her behavior.  Ronnie explains that his ex was actually supportive of him giving Sammi another chance. Now she feels even worse, as she should.  These two need to steer clear of one another, considering all of their baggage and the unresolved emotional issues.  In the second episode, they both admit that they have residual feelings for each other – but are unsure of what this means for their future.

Angelina is a powder keg.  It wasn’t enough to be warring with the girls over old issues, and the petty “he said she said” routine.  Next, she gets into with it Pauly, who is a pretty peaceable guy.  After reprimanding him for talking to a married girl at the club, Angelina oversteps her bounds.  Pauly asks her to mind her business, explaining that he’s not looking for anything serious in Miami.  Angelina, who is three sheets to the wind, gives him a slap across the face.  Now she has managed to alienate every person in the house and doesn’t have a single ally.  Snooki pointed out that if Angelina would just admit to her past wrongdoing and apologize for it, everyone could move on.  Since she hasn’t done that, the beef rages on. Oh, and there’s a standing “whoop ass” order in effect as well.  J Wow warned Angelina to sleep with one eye open. 

This season looks to be one of the trashiest yet, and so far I am loving every second!

Season 2, Episodes 1 & 2 (originally aired July 29 & August 5, 2010)

Images courtesy of imdbpro.com

Entourage Review: Bottoms Up

Things can change at the drop of a dime in Hollyweird, as the boys are reminded in this week’s episode of Entourage. One minute things are looking up, the next minute you’re back to square one.

Drama was all set to star in a new comedy on NBC. Phil Yagoda had lined up a meeting with a writer who supposedly created a script with Drama in mind.  Now that I think about it, that does sound fishy. Does Drama really hold that much caliber as an actor that he could command such individualized attention? I don’t think so, but I can’t fault him for being gung ho about the idea.

It looked like the tide had finally turned for old Johnny. Not so fast.  After last week’s ping pong rematch, Stamos promised to read the script and get back to Johnny.  After a few days with no word from his prospective co-star, Drama begins to wonder if he will really sign off on the project.  Eric tells him to be patient, but eventually we find out that another one of Eric’s clients will be starring in the show. Guess who?  Eric’s favorite pain in the ass, Bob Saget.

Saget unceremoniously swooped in and stole the gig right out from under Drama’s nose.  Poor Drama!  He goes on the warpath, showing up outside Saget’s house with a bat, ready to knock his block off.  Why did Saget steal the job, when it was a role tailor-made for Drama?  It turns out that the writer gave everyone the same spiel, Saget included.  Drama was lied to, and now he’s left out in the cold.  He has always annoyed me, but Drama has his good points.  He’s fiercely loyal, and in Hollywood it doesn’t get much better than that.  His recent disappointment serves as a painful reminder of the sleazier side of the City of Angels.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.  Or in Lizzie’s case, piping hot.  She’s determined to make Ari rue the day he let her get away.  Not only is she trying to steal away his clients (Mike Tyson, Jessica Simpson, and Aaron Sorkin), but she’s enlisting the aid of Ari’s bitter old nemesis, Amanda.  Remember, she’s the agent Vince replaced Ari with when he fired him a few seasons ago.  She’s a real bitch on wheels, and now that she has teamed up with Lizzie, Ari better watch his back.  It looks like he was able to hang on to his clients, but he’ll be in for a fight going up against these two ball breakers.  I think he will prevail, but it’s going to be a challenge.

Last week, Turtle traveled to Mexico with Alex and listened to a pitch for Vince to be the face of a tequila company.  At first he was offended, but after a few shots and a make-out session with Alex (not shown), he is convinced that it would be a good move for Vince.  If you’ve noticed the evolution of the crew, you’ve noted that the guys conduct business more formally now.  Eric is Vince’s manager, so Turtle schedules a meeting with him to discuss the idea rather than approach Vince directly as a friend.  Unfortunately Eric shoots down the idea, and Turtle leaves it at that.

Things begin to look up after Vince actually tries the tequila, which he and his porn star flavor of the day seem to really enjoy.  It turns out that Vince “wants to be a part of it,” so Turtle may be in business after all.  Side note: Vince doesn’t take much seriously. From impulsively cutting his hair to allowing the porn star to tag along at a business meeting, he pretty much does whatever he wants. That’s cool, I guess – but I think Vince needs to tighten up a little bit.

And we save the best for last.  After listening to his knucklehead friends, none of whom are actually in a successful relationship, Eric decides to broach the topic of *ahem* a different type of sex with Sloan. Here’s a hint: it’s popular in jails across the country.  You’ve got it: Eric wants a little back door action. I shudder as I type. In the last scene, he and Sloan try unsuccessfully to enter uncharted territory.  Eventually they just decide that if their sex life ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  It was a pretty racy scene, even though there was no nudity. I thought it looked real, but one of my married friends said that it wasn’t realistic at all. I’ll take her word for it!  Seriously, I think the scene showed what a great girl Sloan is.  She was willing to try it. At the end of the day, that’s all you can ask. I’d say Drama got more screwed over in this episode than Sloan.  There were awesome cameos in this episode, and this season kicks ass so far.

Season 7, Episode 5: Bottoms Up (originally aired August 1, 2010)

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Dinner for Schmucks Review: Exasperating and Simply Not Funny

There is a fine line between stupid and funny. Some of the dumbest movies can be pretty funny. I put Hot Tub Time Machine in that category. Ridiculous premise, but a funny movie.

When I first saw the trailer for Dinner for Schmucks, featuring Steve Carell (Date Night) and funny man du jour Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), I thought I’d be in for a treat. These guys are funny, and the idea of a dinner where the guests of honor are idiots seemed like an original and humorous concept.  The dinner was funny.  The problem is that the dinner comprised less than a third of the film.  I don’t expect a two hour movie to be completely comprised of a dinner scene, but the rest of the movie fell horribly flat for me.  It just wasn’t funny.  People differ on the types of humor they enjoy.  From slapstick, low-brow humor to self-deprecating subtlety, there are many ways to tickle to a funnybone.  It’s too bad that Dinner for Schmucks couldn’t find a way to make me laugh.  The movie frustrated me more than anything else.

Dinner for Schmucks is the story of Tim (Paul Rudd), a middling executive who finally has a chance to impress his boss if he can land a new client and fit in with the other brown-nosers who have managed to climb the corporate ladder faster than he.  Part of fitting in involves attending an exclusive dinner at the home of his boss, where each guest is required to bring an “interesting person.”  The winner is the person who brings the guest deemed most interesting.  And by “most interesting,” I mean “biggest loser.”  That’s a pretty mean thing to do, and at first Tim is reluctant to engage in such frat-boy antics.  His girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak) is appalled that he would even consider it.  When Tim literally runs into Carrell’s character Barry, all bets are off.  Barry would be the perfect guest for the dinner.  He looks like a total dweeb, and enjoys the odd hobby of stuffing mice and arranging them in little display exhibits. Sort of like this.  Barry is divorced, works for the IRS, and has no friends to speak of.  When Tim hits Barry with his car, he finds a way to invite him to the dinner.  What follows is about one hour of crap, and very little of it is funny.  The main chunk of the movie takes place over about 36 hours.  Barry shows up to Tim’s apartment the day after meeting him, claiming that he thought the dinner was for that night.  Tim explains that the dinner is the following night, but Barry manages to hang around, wreaking havoc.  He’s a bumbling idiot with no social grace or interpersonal skills.  While Tim is in another room, Barry responds to an instant message on his computer from a girl named Darla that Tim had a one night stand with a few years ago.  Tim has a girlfriend and is not interested in Darla, but Barry invites her over to the apartment.  When Tim finds out, he asks Barry to leave.  On his way out Barry runs into Julie, who he has never seen before, but for some reason mistakes for Darla (who is en route to Tim’s place).  Barry has managed to disrupt Tim’s relationship despite only having known him for about a day and a half.  *sigh*  I’ll spare you the story of how Barry also ruins Tim’s lunch with the big prospective client.  He does all this BEFORE THE DINNER.

Dinner for Schmucks was exasperating and simply not funny, as much as I would have liked for it to have been.  I chuckled a few times, but it wasn’t nearly as funny as some of Paul Rudd’s other movies, like I Love You Man or Role Models.  Similarly, Zach Galifianakis as Barry’s boss was not enough to salvage the movie.  One (arguably) good scene, the actual dinner, was also insufficient.  I thought it was a completely disappointing movie that is sure to frustrate and bore.  Three funny actors were wasted here.  Check the numbers for next week, I’m sure that once word of mouth spreads, the movie will plummet from the top 5.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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