Archive for the 'Entertainment' category

Prison Break: It’s Starting To Suck

Sep 24 2008 Published by under TV Shows

Not long ago, the only show that I watched regularly on TV was The Sopranos. But when that show came to a close, I found myself without anything to watch besides the occasional movie and, of course, plenty of YouTube. Then around fall of last year a co-worker recommended Prison Break. At the time, Prison Break was airing its third season, so I found myself with two complete seasons to watch at my leisure, and that’s exactly what I did.

At first, the whole idea of a prison breakout scheme seemed highly unimaginative, but as the story unfolded it grew more interesting with plot twists and the introduction of new characters. Eventually, I’d find myself at the end of season two thinking that it was a very decent show – not the best I had ever seen – but certainly entertaining, with consistent cliffhangers and some great acting.

With the third season came a new prison to breakout of, with new bad guys to contend with, and a new inmate for the protagonist to rescue. In other words, it was a shameless rehash of the first season! Along with this tiresome scheme came the extension of the show’s long running story arc involving the proverbial bad guys who are known simply as ‘The Company’.

For me, this is where Prison Break really started to fall apart. You see, we’re supposed to be heavily interested in uncovering the secret machinations of this Illuminati-like group, but unfortunately it’s a lot less exciting than trying to understand, for instance, the bizarre physics of the island in Lost or even the confusing supernatural elements in Battlestar Galactica. This is due to the show’s overly trite and uninspiring portrayal of The Company. As such, I now find myself totally disinterested in learning anything more about these antagonists. Who cares where they come from and why they act so evil?

Now in its forth season, the regular cast of Prison Break is back yet again, but it’s becoming painfully obvious that the characters haven’t grown since we first met them in season one. Compared with high quality shows like The Sopranos or Dexter, the characters in Prison Break are shockingly one-dimensional and only seem capable of displaying a limited range of emotions and personality. This has lead to the severe typecasting of its characters, such that the we now have: the smart guy, the tough guy, the loyal guy, the untrustworthy guy, the nerdy guy, the druggie guy – and the list of clichés goes on.

If that wasn’t enough, the ever extending plotline makes every obstacle thrown at protagonists seem completely artificial, and the motivation for the characters to continue chasing the carrot is becoming laughable. In the latest season, the crew must risk their lives going after the bad guys or else they’ll be thrown back in jail. I’ve played Milton-Bradley board games with better plots!

So, I guess this post is sort of my farewell eulogy to the show. It was a good ride early on, but now it’s like watching someone play the puzzle sections in Max Payne.

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Young Jeezy: When Rap Music Is So Bad It’s Kinda Good

Sep 13 2008 Published by under Music

Young Jeezy is one of those rappers that’s so bad at what he does — he’s sometimes kind of good! Similar to other hiphop artists who also fit this paradox, like Lil’ Wayne, The Game and 50 Cent, Young Jeezy pumps out slick sounding beats with catchy (and often stolen) hooks, which he then raps over with the level of lyrical sophistication you’d expect from a stoned 5-year old.

My president’s black, my lambo’s blue, and I’ll be god damned if my rims ain’t too.

Despite sounding juvenile, silly, and often superficial to the extreme, sometimes this style of music simply… works. Perhaps it’s like how an accidental channel flick can swindle you into watching a half-hour of Billy Mays (edit: RIP) acerbically hawk Kaboom and Oxiclean products. The delivery of the message is entertaining, but the message itself is nothing more than a blitz of lyrical baby food for the pre-cognitive mind. Young Jeezy raps entire albums about his cars, clothes and money. His message is effortlessly consumed because it’s vacuous in nature, and yet, it is this ease of consumption that makes his music appetizing for his audience.

As my high school music teacher would carefully say, “sometimes hiphop can be clever.” This was his way of lightly praising the genre so as not to disturb the volatile emotions of his teenaged students (me included). Of course, him, like most non-fans of rap music, have long associated the art form with the less erudite. But really, one can only go so far when criticizing musical taste. So the question, I think, is whether or not rap music should be taken seriously. For instance, Harry Potter is a billion dollar franchise, but no one disputes that it’s purely fiction. Does rap music serve a similar role for a slightly different crowd?

Also, what about these hiphop artists who are clearly deficient in their verbal fluency: are they self-deluded by their fame and wealth and actually believe that they’re a modern day Shakespeare? Or are they fully aware of their dumbed down, boiled to a pulp styled lyrics and realize that their success is wholly dependent on their fashion, beats and chintzy music videos? The jury’s out on that one…

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Showtime’s Weeds: A Summer Favorite

Aug 28 2008 Published by under TV Shows

Are you a fan of Weeds? In these middle months, most TV shows take their summer hiatus, and thus, the cable channels are awash with reruns and filler material. This is how I found Weeds, the Showtime comedy series that’s currently airing in its fourth season right through the heat of late August.

It seems that Weeds may be the only decent show on right now, although I have to admit that I’ve not been much of a TV watcher since broadband Internet came along over 10 years ago. Still, compared to the other comedies that I enjoy, such as Entourage and Californication, the show holds its own as a fun half-hour of R-rated humor, stuffed to the brim with politically incorrect content and brusque one-liners that often have me laughing out loud.

Weeds is a show that relentlessly pokes fun at various ethnic groups, the rich, the poor, fat kids, ugly people, the disabled, Republicans and, well, more than I could ever list here. It never takes a moment to apologize for its offending humor, and this is partly what makes the show so fresh and exciting to watch. Oh, and did I mention, the show’s entire premise is about growing, selling and smuggling marijuana? Finally, a show for adults that’s a world away from the terrible sitcoms I grew up watching. 

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Coldplay is Sometimes OK

Aug 22 2008 Published by under Music

I’ve never been a big fan of Coldplay, but I’ve always respected their music. Lately, I’ve formed a certain bias for British entertainment, especially for their music and comedy. Perhaps this is why I occasionally give Coldplay’s music a chance when I’m completely bored of listening to everything else.

Today I was listening to their latest single, “Viva la Vida” and for the first time I found myself interested, and somewhat enchanted, by one of their songs. Usually I would describe Chris Martin’s voice as too feminine and wimpy for my taste, but today I could only take notice of its gentle, melancholic nature. He seemed to perfectly execute the lyrics.

So there you have it. I wouldn’t call myself a Coldplay convert — I doubt I’ll like the tune as much tomorrow — but for that little piece of satisfaction, in a day filled with rushed meals, new coffee stains, unappreciative clients and overly sensitive co-workers, I am glad to have felt it.

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