The Week of December 28th, 2010
GROUP EDITED by: TROY ANDERSON
SECTION by: Troy Anderson
UNITED STATES OF TARA: SEASON 2
Creator: Diablo Cody
Paramount/Showtime
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
Special Features
- Chats with the cast
- Cast bios
The United States of Tara took forever to return with a second season. While Diablo Cody has started to tread water with her feature film scripts, the lady is kicking all sorts of ass in the television team environment. Pushing past the initial setup phase, the second year takes us deeper into how the Gregson Family copes with Tara. Max faces the most difficulty, as he has to come to terms with the fact that his wife’s alter-egos want to fuck around and screw random people that they meet. This can be hard when your wife of nearly twenty years is bringing home women and men at odd hours. A lot of fans tuned out during Charmaine’s wedding, but I don’t really see it as a jumping the shark moment. The third year is supposed to be starting back in Early 2011. The start date keeps getting pushed around, so I don’t want to make any promises. Just keep an eye out for it.
THE AMERICAN
director: Anton Corbijn
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
Special Features
- Feature commentary with director Anton Corbijn
- Journey to Redemption: the making of ‘The American’
- Deleted scenes
The American isn’t a better film than Splice, but I welcome any new release from Anton Corbijn. While Corbijn gets to put his visual panache to work, the film is very quiet for his usual offerings. Clooney gets to up his game, by downplaying his charm and relying more on quiet calm. The film also sports quality nudity and some nice field of depth during Italian countryside exteriors. While the Martin Booth source novel is a little friendlier than the film, I’ve still got to recommend this flick because of Violante Placido’s rockin’ boobs.
ARCHER: SEASON 1
creator: Adam Reed and Matt Thompson
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Original Unaired Pilot
- The League Pilot Episode
- Unaired Network Promo
- The Making Of Archer: 3D
- The Making Of Archer: Animation
- The Making Of Archer: Art Direction
- The Making Of Archer: Backgrounds
- The Making Of Archer: Illustration
- The Making Of Archer: Storyboards
- Deleted Scenes
- Louie Pilot Episode
Archer took some time to grow on me. I first reviewed it at CHUD when it debuted on FX back in March. While I didn’t dig it as much as Sealab 2021 or Frisky Dingo. Now, I’ve watched the full first season and I have to say that I get what Reed/Thompson are striving for with Jon Benjamin’s laid-back style. It’s very easy to pass over the sardonic in favor of direct humor, but animated humor is asking more from its audiences than ever before. If anything, I see the show working as a nice stepping stone to Louie and I don’t get why FX hasn’t tried to bundle the programs together. Both shows hit you with a wall of unease and they want you to work through the setup to find the joke. Sometimes, it’s right in front of you. But, it’s your job as an active viewer to discern what matters.
JERSEY SHORE: SEASON 2 UNCENSORED
featuring: Snooki, The Situation and The Marinara Players
CLICK HERE TO BUY IT AT AMAZON!
Special
Features
Jersey Shore: Season 2 proved that the magic had left. Grant Morrison once said that the more cameras that you put on the street, the more people will start to act for them. That line got me thinking more and more about this show, as I waded through the sheer amount of advertising glut that MTV dropped on the online press. The first show just happened and America learned to laugh at Italians again. Then, the fame machine kicked in and we started seeing Guidos becoming a commodity. The world has learned nothing from Tony Danza, as MTV decided to take a chance to stretch the material. Reality shows, Vodka, parodies, guest-spots and various media claptrap all showed that MTV had no idea how to protect their new franchise. Now, we’ve got a second and upcoming third year of these eight fucks trying to convince the world that they still matter.