Agent of B.L.O.G. : TAKEN - Reviewed!, 24, Lost, and More

Alright, it's been a longer gap than I'd hoped, but finally ... I'm back once again. Hope everyone had a great long weekend, a happy Valentine's Day, and for those of you here in LA, hope you got through a weekend that was uncharacteristically cold, rainy, and un-LA-like.
Also, hope everyone caught last week's entry ... but as I mentioned then, there's still have a ton to talk about so I'm hoping to write quite a bit over the next several days.

I know I've been behind on my TV Reviews, and that's partly because I've been behind on TV in general. But as any loyal readers know, the two shows I almost never miss are 24 and LOST. Now, just a quick preface: I did catch tonight's most recent episode of 24 and hope to comment on it soon, but for now I'm catching up by going back and looking at last week's installment. In any case, let me offer up some quick thoughts on recent installments of two of TV's heaviest hitters ...


LOST:

- On Wednesday's episode: the short version ... Another extremely compelling episode of Lost, in what's been a great season thus far. I know some people have been frustrated with how plot-heavy this season has been, with how deeply it's delved into hard sci-fi at times (there was even an EW cover story about it ...). But to me, I've really enjoyed the breakneck pace and multiple huge reveals, the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place, and, finally, we are in the early *payoff* stages of the uber Lost storyarc. Plus, even in the midst of all the craziness, there have still been tons of great character moments so far - Locke, Desmond, Ben, Daniel - just some of the characters who have really had a chance to shine over the course of the last couple of eps.

That being said, I think this past week's installment was cool, but probably the weakest overall ep of the season thus far. It had some great moments, don't get me wrong, but overall things just felt a bit rushed. I mean, the scene that epitomized this was toward the end, when Desmond runs into Jack, Ben, Sun, etc. and barely even gets an acknowledgement, after presumably not having seen his island-mates in years. A small point, but still ... Bigger picture, it was a little frustrating to see an extended glimpse of Rousseau's early days on the island and yet get few if any real answers regarding what happened to her and her crew. I am still left wondering what exactly drove everyone in her group insane, and why exactly they were all targeted by the Smoke Monster. And Smokey guards an ancient temple ...? Say what now?

Still, the reunion of Jin with Sawyer and everyone else was great, and I also really liked the scenes with Daniel and Charlotte. I'm completely intrigued by the hints that Daniel will somehow interact with young Charlotte and influence her and her family to leave the island -- even though Daniel is the one who keeps espousing that you cannot change the past. But is it changing the past if his involvement in history was already recorded? Hmmm ...

I'm also ultra-curious for next week's ep, in which it looks like Eloise, aka the Grand Dame of Time Travel, will presumably use her wise-sounding British-nanny accent to whimsically explain some of the big mysteries about the island that we've all been wondering about since Season 1. Man, that should be good ...

So yeah, I don't think this week's was the best-ever ep of Lost, but in general I'm digging this season. Still the best show on TV, says me.

My Grade:

(This week's ep): B



24 (last week's episode ...):


- Okay, for all of us who were waiting for the first truly kickass episode of 24: Season 7, we got it last week. I don't think I need to overanalyze this one too much, suffice it to say that the potent combo of badass Bauer, Bill Buchanan, Agent Freckles, and a high-stakes rescue mission to save the First Gentleman made for some exciting, gravitas-filled television. Not to mention, "With all due respect, Madame President -- ask around." is probably one of the all-time classic 24 lines. Apparently things will kick up a notch even more in the coming weeks as these will be post-Writer's Strike episodes ... here's hoping for even more Power in the Hour of Bauer.

My Grade: A


- I'd also like to make mention of last week's return to TV of KING OF THE HILL. One of my all-time fave comedies, the perpetually underrated KOTH returned with what was actually something of a landmark episode, which saw the long-awaited birth of LuAnne's baby. The episode had a lot of vintage KOTH moments, and once again surprised me with just how genuine and emotional the show can get and with how real the characters feel, despite being animated. Hail to the King, baby.

My Grade: A-


- I feel like I barely even need to grade THE OFFICE and 30 ROCK anymore, as both have been so consistently good this season. Especially The Office, which to me has just been on a real roll of late, finding the perfect balance between more off-the-wall humor and the darker, bleaker, and more subtle style of the British original. Last night's Office ep was just great overall. Michael's breakdown following his realization that Holly was now dating someone else was both hard to watch and hilariously awkward. 30 ROCK this season has at times felt a bit too old-school sitcom-y for my tastes, but still, no other show delivers as many awesome quotables week in and week out.

My Grades:


The Office: A

30 Rock: B+



Okay, onto some movie reviews ...



TAKEN Review:


- Sometimes, a movie comes along that you can't quite judge on a normal grading scale. Sometimes, a movie comes along that a lot of people won't quite appreciate, but that some people, people like me, will hail as a film that plain and simply, well, kicked ass. Taken is one such movie -- a badass action flick that makes you want to cheer. It's got a hero you can't help but root for, played with ultra-intensity by the great Liam Neeson. It's got some great action scenes, some memorable lines, and a breakneck pace that's quite literally all-killer no-filler. If you've been jonesing for an old-school action / revenge movie of the kind that they don't really make enough of anymore, then I can't recommend Taken enough. This is a manly movie, and it will grab you in a headlock and make you scream "uncle."

Told with a laser-focused sense of urgency, Taken is a movie that trims away the fat and presents a very streamlined story that manages to waste little time with extraneous plot. But what the movie does relaly well is that it takes just enough time to build up Liam Neeson's character. You get that gradual, slow build in the movie's first twenty minutes or so - just enough time to hammer home that Neeson at this stage in his life is basically a quiet, mild-mannered regular Joe Sixpack. He's a guy who retired early and moved across the country to be closer to his teenage daughter, who now lives with his ex-wife and her millionaire husband. Sure, we know that in a past life he was some kind of military operative, but no matter how badass he may have been back in the day, all indications are that those days are long gone.

And that's the whole fun of Taken -- the build-up of Neeson as an unassuming guy with a hard-edged past slowly but surely creates a huge level of anticipation for his mild-mannered character's inevitable hulk-up. So when his daughter is kidnapped and Neeson vows to wreak unholy vengeance on her captors, it's simply a joy to watch him begin his rescue mission with cold and calculating precision and ruthless aggression.

Really, this is just a fun movie that pushes all the right buttons for action-movie fans. It has an over-the-top, European feel to it that brings to mind the B-movie trappings of other recent Luc Besson-scripted fare like The Transporter. Not to say that Taken is quite as cartoonish as that film, but it does have that same sly sense of humor where you can't always quite be sure when the film is winking at the audience and when it's being deadly serious. With a guy like Luc Besson, it's often a pretty fine line. But that tightrope-walk between campy humor and straight-up action-drama makes for the perfect formula for one hell of an entertaining movie. All I know is, there were several scenes that made our theatrical audience burst into spontaneous bouts of applause. An action movie that makes you want to stand up and cheer due to sheer badass overload? Sign me up.

My Grade: A-


- Alright, back soon with reviews of FANBOYS and CORALINE and much more! Stay tuned.