"I was born of the Hebrew persuasion, but I converted to narcissism." SCOOP Review, Prison Break, and MORE

Okay, okay - a lot to talk about. So strap in and get comfortable.

First of all, some TV Stuff:

PRISONBREAK:

- Very good season premiere, but as of now nothing spectacular. Monday's episode was very cool, but felt a little too much like a direct continuation of last season's season-ending escape. But, I think a lot of promising plotlines were set up for the season, most of all the introduction of the always-excellent William Fichtner as an FBI Agent who looks to be an intellectual match for Michael Scofield. T-Bag as always was awesomely over the top, and was a real scene stealer in every segment he appeared in ("I AIN'T nobody!" = DAAAAAAAAMN!), and, I can't wait to see what happens when he finally catches up with the other escapees.

SPOILERS

I actually like that they offed Veronica, as her character was getting stale, and it reinforces the notion that the inmates are truly on their own, with no one to help them on the outside. But it also begs the question - where do they go from here? On one hand it's exciting that I literally have no clue where this season is headed. On the other hand, it worries me that things still seem very directionless. Are they still going to focus on the warden and the other jail personnel even though the inmates have fled the coop? Is the whole season going to be about the search for Curly's Gold? And are they actually going to keep all of these guys together, even though by all logic they should split up and go their separate ways? Hmmm ...

I'm very curious to see what happens next, but I've yet to be convinced that this season will live up to season 1. Here's hoping the intensity gets turned up a notch in the weeks to come.

My Grade: B+

WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO:

I just have to quickly point out that this show needs to be commended. It seems to be completely staged, is totally cheesy, and just downright absurd, but it has won me over with its sheer earnestness and fun. Last night I caught the previous week's ep on SciFi, and man, when a guy who's seen it all like Stan Lee gets choked up over having to off the latest contestant, well, it truly puts a tear in yer eye. There seriously is something wonderful about seeing a reality show - normally the domain of sleaze, excess, and vulgarity - governed by the old-school, superheroic rules of Stan The Man, where such basic misdeeds as littering, jay-walking, and all forms of duplicity are frowned upon and grounds for dismissal. Imagine - a reality show that encourages people to be BETTER human beings! As wacky as this show is, I highly respect it on this premise alone. Count me as a True Believer.

THE SIMPSONS - SEASON 8 on DVD:

Finally, I've got to comment on this amazing season of comedy television recently made available on DVD. For me, this represents the best ever comedy on television. While other previous seasons of The Simpsons are often highlighted by others as the best ever, this one was for me when I really began to notice the writing, the craft, the genious that went into the creation of these episodes. This season originally aired in 1996-97, my freshman year of high school. Not exactly the best year of my life, but those dreary Mondays were always highlighted by the question on the lips of every geeky guy in school: did you see the Simpsons last night? In the halls of high school, the dining hall, the classrooms - that week's episode was reviewed, analyzed, and quoted to death. And right at this time when kids begin to identify with certain things as a form of self-expression, well, the Simpsons was IT. Every Sunday I sat down to watch the coolest, most amazing, most ingenious thing there was. And I think if it wasn't for those Simpsons episodes, the idea that I myself wanted to work in TV never would have materialized. Now, watching these episodes, it's clear that Season 8 was a turning point - the show was getting crazier, more random, more experimental - a style that would inspire shows like Family Guy's sensibilities, and lead to the current house style that the Simpsons still employs. But while newer seasons are often hurt by their realiance on randomness and abusurdity to drive the humor, Season 8 of the show thrived by pushing the stylistic envelope. Mr. Sparkle, Frank Grimes, The Lovematic Grandpa, Sherry Bobbins, Hank Scorpio - all absolutely classic moments from the season. So if you haven't checked it out, or need a primer on The Simpsons and how it influenced current television and a generation of comedy afficianados, get Season 8 now - it may be the funniest TV ever made.

Now, on to movies ...

SCOOP Review:

Well, this was certainly a fascinating movie to watch.

First, there's the movie itself - like some old 1950's farce unearthed and infused with some vintage Woody Allen schtick, this movie is decidedly old-school. Scoop is plenty entertaining, but a lot of things about it just seem off. Unlike, say, Anything Else, where Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci fit in fairly seamlessly with Woody's somewhat antiquated worldview, Scarlett Johanson and Hugh Jackman stick out like sore thumbs in what might as well be a period piece, despite being set in modern London. Well, more so Scarlett. Hugh Jackman is a natural at playing an upper-crust British playboy who may or may not be a murderer, but Scarlett Johanson in this movie ... all I can say is: odd.

Sure, eventually we warm up to Scarlett as Sandra - a stammering Brooklyn girl and ambitious journalism student on vacation in London. But wow, let's step back for a minute here and take a look at this:

This has to be a first for Woody - here, Woody Allen essentially plays his usual Woody Allen role, though adjusted to the fact that Woody is now in senior citizen territory, he plays a surrogate father / mentor figure here to Scarlett ... who plays --- a hopelessly attractive, female version of Woody Allen! Okay ... for a director who often deals with the theme of psychoanalysis, this setup is just begging to be psychoanalyzed. And for this reason, while the movie itself is pretty good, the movie, when looked at as direct line into the psyche of Woody Allen, is just fascinating.

And on a sidenote, that's what's great about a movie like this that is the sole vision of a single creative mind - unlike a big studio film, this really is a look, in it's own weird way, at the man behind the camera (and on it, in this case).

But back to Scarlett ... I mean, is there any woman in the world who looks like Scarlett Johanson yet is a nebbishy Jewish girl who speaks in a Woody-Allen-esque stammer? I mean, I guess it's like when that one James Bond movie asked us to buy Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist or something, but still ...

I guess though, that part of the joke of this movie's premise is that behind this stammering, innocent girl lies a promiscuous sexpot in disguse -- is this Woody's commentary on women - that all the rich pretty-boys a la Jackman in this movie (who are, in reality, murderers!) are able to turn these outwardly nice Jewish girls into swooning sex objects? Like I said, fascinating. This movie can be read all kinds of ways. We see Woody Allen as a guy probably lusting after Scarlett (which he apparently is in real life), but due to his age he's reduced to playing a father-figure role even as he meets an impossibly beautiful young woman, who inexplicably shares his exact personality and mannerisms! The woman of course falls for the rich playboy who is secretly a murderer - the very guy she set out to expose to the world as a murderer (the classic girl falling for the badboys they condemn thing). And, finally, and quite humorously, Woody Allen's character is -- SPOILERS -- killed~! as he tries to make a heroic attempt to save Scarlett from her would-be killer.

So yeah, while the plot, essentially revisiting the same basic premise of Match Point, is oddly dated-seeming and quirky, with its random supernatural elements (the ghost of Ian McShane as a slain journalist is the one who tips off Scarlett to the case), Scoop is most interesting just as a meta-character study of Woody Allen at this advanced stage of his career.

But as for that - the whole complaint of been there, done that, when it comes to Allen's movies, I don't see what the big problem is. I still got plenty of laughs from the classic Woody-isms - the Jewish humor, the fish-out-of-water jokes, the high-art meets Borscht-Belt comedy. The man may not be as fresh and sharp a humorist as he once was, but he still carries a certain intelligence and culturally-educated slant in his writing that you don't see from many other filmmakers.

To be sure, this is an odd movie. The sheer spectacle of seeing the same Scarlett Johanson who played an action hero in The Island and a sullen, rebel teen in Ghost World, in full-on, young-female-version-of-Woody Allen-mode is simultaneously jarring, perplexing, entertaining, and hard to take your eyes off of. The supernatural / whimsical elements of the film are both strange and yet very amusing at times. And the vintage Woody Allen humor can be both tedious and refreshing, depending on the joke.

Overall though, I would definitely recommend checking out Scoop. It's an immensely interesting movie to watch, even if some of its flaws and oddities are glaringly obvious. But compared to what else is out there, Scoop is a refreshing dose of something different, even if different in this case is comfortingly familiar.

My Grade: B+

Alright - more later. Leave a comment and check back soon.