Music Review - Cults

Cults
Cults
In the Name Of/Columbia Records

The debut album from the young New York-based duo of Brian Oblivion (why can't my last name be something like 'Oblivion'?) and Madeline Follin, Cults, is an impressively polished and confident release considering the band's inexperience. Wikipedia classifies Cults as an "indie-pop" band, and while that might be true, it's not incredibly helpful - I think of the duo as belonging to something of a 60s girl-pop revivalist trend, following recent acts like Best Coast, Dum Dum Girls, and The Pipettes. Cults definitely has a retro, summery feel to it, but beneath much of the innocent sounding pop music there are somewhat darker lyrics and conceits than it's bubbly surface would indicate.

TV Review - Doctor Who (S3.1)

Doctor Who
"Smith and Jones"
Writer - Russell T Davies

The first proper episode of series three, "Smith and Jones" should feel mighty familiar to those who have seen the opener of series one, "Rose," as we are introduced to the Doctor's new companion, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman). While the episode was far from the best that the show can produce, it provided a largely entertaining introduction that provides some hopeful signs of more good things to come.

TV Review - Torchwood (S1.1)

Torchwood
"Everything Changes"
Writer - Russell T Davies

Welcome to the start of my coverage of Torchwood, the spin-off of Doctor Who! I'm excited to see what Torchwood has to offer, as I'm pretty much going into this without any knowledge of where the show will go or really what it's like. My first impression, based on series opener "Everything Changes," is that the show seems to be playing the Angel to Doctor Who's Buffy right now - it takes a slightly darker, less overtly comical tone than its progenitor and it has the potential to tell some different types of stories in the same universe. Another realm of similarity to Angel is that both shows start with episodes that are well-constructed and promising, while simultaneously seeming a bit timid and inconsequential.

TV Review - Doctor Who (S3.0)

Doctor Who
"The Runaway Bride"
Writer - Russell T Davies

I've decided to start reviewing the third series of the revived Doctor Who for a couple reasons. First, it's a really good show that's well worth discussing, and second, I've decided that if I have to write about each episode it might slow down the pace I'm watching them - because I have a confession to make: I've become a Doctor Who addict. I sped through the first two series with a rather alarming alacrity (alliteration!), and it might be a good idea to have a little more time to think on and savor the show - also, it'll do wonders for my sleep schedule. With that said, I'm really excited to start writing about the series - and I've also decided to cover spin-off series Torchwood alongside Doctor Who, so we'll see if my appreciation and addiction spreads to that as well.

Film Review - Super 8

Super 8
Director: J.J. Abrams; Writer: J.J. Abrams
Paramount Pictures

This review will likely be on the short side, since it's been quite a while since I actually saw Super 8, but I feel like I owe the movie at least a little bit of my time since it was one of my favorite films of the summer. Every review of Super 8 is required to mention the debt it owes to Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the oeuvre of Steven Spielberg, and with good reason - the movie looks and feels like a throwback to that era in a number of interesting ways. That being said, Super 8 is also unmistakably a J.J. Abrams flick, and the melding of the two styles works quite nicely, delivering a not-quite-transcendent but very compelling experience.

Film Review - The Hangover Part II

The Hangover Part II
Director: Todd Phillips; Writers: Todd Phillips, Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong
Warner Bros. Pictures

Man, it's been a while since I actually saw this movie in theaters, and my memory of it isn't all that great. If I had any journalistic ethics or anything like that, I probably wouldn't try to review the movie now. I think, however, that the reason I can't remember a lot of the gags from The Hangover Part II has less to do with the amount of time that's passed since my viewing it and more to do with the overall mediocrity of Todd Phillips' sequel, so fuck it - here we go.

Book Review - Mistborn

Mistborn: The Final Empire
Brandon Sanderson
Tor Books

Brandon Sanderson has had a pretty awesome past few years. His debut novel, Elantris, was well-received by critics and readers, and also caught the eye of Harriet Rigney, the widow of the prominent and bestselling Wheel of Time author, Robert Jordan. Based on his work, Sanderson was selected by Rigney and the editors at Tor to complete the Wheel of Time series, and has successfully published numerous original works as well. Not too shabby, if you ask me. Mistborn: The Final Empire, published in 2006, is the first volume in Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy.

Now that I've dumped all that information out there, let's get to the juicy stuff: Mistborn (I'm leaving out "The Final Empire" in the interest of space, laziness, and sounding less like a total nerd) highlights Sanderson's strengths as a writer, as well as a few of his weaknesses. Starting with the positive, though, the worldbuilding and way that magic works in the novel are both utterly compelling and fascinating. "Magic" in Mistborn comes in the form of Allomancy, where certain people have the ability to manipulate the world around them by ingesting specific kinds of metals (For example, someone can ingest tin and use it to enhance their hearing and other senses). It's a system that's fairly easy to comprehend, but also offers up a multitude of interesting and unexpected possibilities. The world of Mistborn is equally simple on the surface, but is inhabited by such captivating characters that it feels rich and lived-in.

TV Review - Sherlock (S1)

Sherlock
Series One (aka Season One for us Yanks)
BBC (or PBS for us Colonials)

This will hopefully be another fairly short review, since I opted to review the three episodes that comprise the first season of BBC's Sherlock as a group, instead of separately. I'm also by no means an expert on Sherlock Holmes: I've never read any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works, I've never seen any of the Basil Rathbone movies - my only real exposure to the character has been through the 2009 Guy Ritchie film (which I thought was solidly entertaining) and an episode of Wishbone based on The Hound of the Baskervilles (also pretty entertaining, from what I remember). My lack of preconceptions or expectations actually probably makes me the ideal audience for Sherlock, which brings the characters into a modern-day London setting.

Perhaps Holmes purists would consider the updated setting an outrage, but I found it to be a fairly astute move on the part of creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat (of Doctor Who fame), as it made the idea of plunging into the classic stories and characters a bit less intimidating. And while it is true that Sherlock's version of Holmes includes texting and nicotine patches, the elements that made Doyle's work so iconic remain the focus - namely, the brilliant dynamic between Holmes and his much-beleaguered assistant, Watson.

TV Review -- Spartacus: Blood and Sand (Season One)

Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Season One
Starz

This is probably going to be a very short review - though, knowing how I tend to get carried away on this blog, it may end up being longer than anticipated. Insert "that's what she said" joke here.

Anyway, a couple months ago I sped through the first season of Starz's bodily fluid-filled take on the tale of Spartacus, the Thracian gladiator who led a slave revolt in ancient Rome, probably most famous for his striking resemblance to Kirk Douglas. Starz has recently been making a noticeable push in the original programming department, and the network's business model seems to be essentially: Violence + Nudity = Profit. Much like peanut butter and chocolate and Simon and Garfunkel, violence and nudity is a pretty potent combination, and it's in full effect in Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The first episode is particularly rife with TV-MA goodness; it seems that not a minute goes by without someone receiving a gory neck wound or a nice roll in the hay. Despite a somewhat rocky start, however, Spartacus soon reveals itself to be a bit more than meets the eye.

Game Review - World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

So here we are with the first ever video game review on The Casualty Report! Except not really! This is more of a discussion; for reasons that will become apparent I don't feel confident actually giving out a grade or claiming to have a truly informed opinion about this game. In any case, hopefully this will still be interesting and somewhat helpful (though probably not). You've been disclaimed!


World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Activision Blizzard

Attempting to write about an MMO is a pretty daunting and usually futile task. Part of the reason that the genre is so popular is that the experience is so open-ended, and condensing a game so gigantic in scale into a brief write-up does not really do justice to the intentions of those who made the game or those who will play it.

Fuck it, though, I'm gonna go right ahead and try. My experience with World of Warcraft as a whole is minimal, and it's downright infinitesimal when compared with what the avid player puts in. A few years ago I was lured into trying out Blizzard's popular, gargantuan beast of a game with an offer of a free ten-day trial, during which I became thoroughly addicted and quickly reached the trial level cap of 20. I (wisely) realized that if I subscribed at that point, not only would I be using up money that I didn't really want to spend, but I would also probably be using up a large chunk of my free time in playing WoW. So I decided, with great difficulty, to just back away slowly and hope the addictive monster would let me go, and I never tried to play again for a long time.

Film Review -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1
Director: David Yates; Writer: Steve Kloves
Warner Bros. Pictures

Every Harry Potter movie has seemed a bit of a doomed proposition from the get-go; the films have to deal with issues of managing fan expectations and lessening disappointment to a far greater extent than most adaptations, simply because the fans of the series are so passionate and numerous. The novels seem to be so much a part of the modern collective consciousness (or, at least, that of the audience that sees the films) in a way that even the Lord of the Rings or the Chronicles of Narnia can't compare to. Ironically, the franchise's intense popularity has prevented the movies from excelling - the filmmakers can't possibly hope to deliver the same depth and experience that the books provide, which leads to inevitably unfavorable comparisons.

Of course, I might be completely talking out of my ass, and maybe the real reason that the Harry Potter movies have been largely disappointing to me is that they just weren't all that good. Oftentimes it feels like the films emphasize style over substance, that they're more concerned with advancing plot than character, and that they fumble some of the most compelling aspects of the books. I feel obligated to defend the third and fourth films as being pretty good, and the fifth and six were alright, but I certainly wouldn't call any of them great. And while I still wouldn't call Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 "great," it is my favorite Harry Potter movie yet.

New TV Review -- Rubicon

Rubicon
Gone in the Teeth
AMC Sundays 9 p.m.

In some ways, Rubicon, AMC's new original series, bears a good deal of resemblance to the show I was talking about here yesterday, USA's Covert Affairs. Both shows are centered around the cloak-and-dagger world of international intrigue. Both shows come from creators that have had limited experience as TV showrunners (Jason Horwitch, the creator of Rubicon, helmed NBC's Medical Investigation a few years back but otherwise has almost no notable credits to his name). And both shows are airing on cable networks where the ratings expectations are relatively low.

That's pretty much where the similarities end. AMC has been slowly developing a very interesting and impressive slate of original programming (their forthcoming adaptation of The Walking Dead has me pretty excited), which puts Rubicon under a different level of scrutiny than Covert Affairs. It's only fair to be expecting big things from the home of critical darlings Mad Men and Breaking Bad. I'm nowhere near ready to pass judgment yet on whether Rubicon as a whole will grow into an equally appealing show, but this pilot left me fairly underwhelmed.

TV Review -- Covert Affairs

Covert Affairs
Walter's Walk
USA Tuesdays 10 p.m.

So I promised y'all that I'd get to the second episode of USA's newest original series, the spy-actioner Covert Affairs, and I always keep my promises* (*Note: not a promise). In any case, despite my general lack of interest in most of USA's fluffy fare, I found the pilot to be surprisingly enjoyable and intriguing, enough so that I decided to stick around and try a few more episodes. Let's just say that Walter's Walk was not quite the pleasant surprise I was hoping for.

TV is an interesting medium to analyze, partly because it's actually comparatively easy for shows to make changes and tweaks, or even completely reinvent themselves. It's hard for the makers of, say, a movie to make adjustments halfway through filming that dramatically change the tone or emphasis of the film. TV, however, provides ample opportunity to do just that - and perhaps the amplest of opportunities comes after a show's pilot, which is made far in advance of the rest of the episodes. It's apparent in watching Walter's Walk that the showrunners of Covert Affairs decided to seize the chance to make a few tweaks. The Domestic Protection Division (DPD) has a new office, a set change which is pretty unremarkable, but hey, it's there. The character of Conrad (Eric Lively) has been replaced with Jai (Sendhil Ramamurthy, or Mr. Mohinder "Annoying Voice-Over" Suresh from Heroes), and I can't say I was particularly attached to Conrad, so the switch is fine by me. But beyond the set and casting changes, it seemed to me like the showrunners removed something that's a bit more disconcerting: they took out the fun.

Film Review -- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Director: Edgar Wright; Writers: Edgar Wright, Michael Bacall
Universal Pictures

I should probably start off this review by saying that I have not read the Bryan Lee O'Malley comic books upon which Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is based. I've heard mixed things from those who have, with some readers saying they enjoyed the film more than the comics, and others frustrated at the casting and tone of the film. I, however, can only provide the impressions of someone who went into the theatre with no pre-existent expectations or fears - and I walked out at the end largely content.

Like the comics, the movie follows the 22 year old Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), who plays bass in a struggling band and whose life seems to be void of real emotion and responsibility. Some critics (particularly those that have read the comics) have expressed displeasure (with maybe a splash of vitriol) at the casting of Cera in the title role, but I had no real problems with his performance or how he occupied the role. While Cera was merely fine for me, however, Mary Elizabeth Winstead was fantastic in the role of Pilgrim's new love interest, Ramona Flowers. Winstead plays the role with just the right blend of aloofness and pathos, making it completely understandable why her character provokes such passion from others. And that brings us to the plot of the movie: Cera becomes infatuated with Winstead, but in order to be with her must defeat her seven evil exes. Director Edgar Wright brings the perfect tone to match the rather ludicrous plot, filling the movie with self-referential humor, absurdity, and some insane Mortal Kombat-esque fight sequences. The fight sequences are fun at first, but begin to drag a little as the movie progresses - which mirrors Cera's attitude as he begins to realize that entering in to a real relationship isn't quite as fun as he imagined. The movie snatches some hilarious performances out of superhero actors Chris Evans and Brandon Routh as members of the League of Evil Exes, and Cera's friends and family are given equally funny moments to shine (Allison Pill, Anna Kendrick, Ellen Wong, and Kieran Culkin all deliver a good amount of laughs throughout). The movie does occasionally seem like it's not entirely sure where it wants to go, and the absurd and detached tone hampers it from reliably providing genuine emotion and character growth, but it seems clear to me that this was not designed to be a "deep" film. Unlike another film with Michael Cera, Juno, Edgar Wright revels in the pop culture-referencing gleeful randomness of the movie and doesn't really attempt to give it a serious, emotional core.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World delivered about two hours worth of pure entertainment - the script was witty and light, and Wright utilizes a directorial style and tone that makes it hard to not want to cheer as you watch, as corny as that may seem. While some may find it's lack of emotional realism off-putting, I think the movie was made much like the video games it references - intended to entertain. It's undeniably unique in terms of it's fantastical story-telling, but it's not the "cultural milestone" that some are trying to make it out to be. For me, it's simply a fun and escapist diversion that's near impossible not to enjoy.

Grade: B+

Film Review -- Inception

Inception
Director: Christopher Nolan; Writer: Christopher Nolan
Warner Bros. Pictures

Hey, so this was supposed to be up a while ago, while the movie was still number one at the box office and everyone was talking about it. But, unfortunately, I suffer from a serious and debilitating disease known as chronic laziness, which hampered my writing abilities. Apologies to my audience of one, and on to the review!

Inception is one of those movies that people who write about film have a lot of reasons to love. In part because it arrived in the middle of a summer season that has seen some fairly lousy blockbusters, and in part because it's unabashedly ambitious in an industry that increasingly puts out safe and boring films and assumes its audience is both retarded and gullible (see: Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore). Putting aside it's ambition for now, however, I found watching Inception to be the most entertaining two hours I've encountered at the movies this year.

Christopher Nolan here has crafted a remarkably tight, fast-paced action/heist film wrapped in a coating of intricate fantasy. I don't think the movie is particularly "deep" or "meaningful," but its plot is superbly constructed and the film expects its audience to be sharp. Whereas The Matrix, for example, required its audience to comprehend the simultaneous existence of two realities, Inception's storyline takes the audience on a trip through five of them. The basic premise that certain individuals can infiltrate the dreams of others and all of the rules that govern this process are dispensed with quickly and without time for extensive discussions of how this is all possible - one of many smart moves by Nolan, as the movie moves so quickly that the audience is simply forced to accept the rules at face value. Again, The Matrix this is not - Inception moves at a blazing pace, without any long pauses for exposition. To prevent this from becoming completely overwhelming, the film introduces Ellen Page as an audience surrogate, a newcomer to this whole world of dreaming. Page joins a fantastic cast, headed by Leonardo Dicaprio, as their characters attempt to plant an idea into the head of the heir to a giant corporation. Saying any more about the plot risks going into spoiler territory, but the story unfolds exactly like your typical heist movie, if your typical heist movie also included amazing action set pieces with fights in zero gravity and snowmobile combat. Dicaprio is solid in the lead role, but Marion Cotillard shines as his (SPOILER REDACTED). Overall, though, the acting is simply top-notch - Nolan integrates his regulars Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, and (briefly) Michael Caine well with younger stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page.

I've had the opportunity by now to read a good share of the critical responses to this film, and I think I'm probably somewhere in the middle of all the hype and backlash. I don't think that Nolan is insufferably pretentious and a giant hack, but I also don't believe that Inception is one of the greatest films of the modern era. I think Nolan has a powerful command of the basic concepts of story-telling (something surprisingly rare in Hollywood), an ability to write serviceable dialogue that moves the plot forward (ditto), and a very healthy amount of ambition (aaaaand ditto). This movie is not brilliant - as I said, a lot of the dialogue is merely serviceable (though it's occasionally sharp), and some of the exposition is a bit transparent - but it's extremely well-made and entertaining. I was on the proverbial edge of my seat for the entire duration, and the entire theatre was dead silent from the moment the movie started to the final scene (whereupon everyone uttered a collective groan due to the SPOILER REDACTED). Ultimately, I think the biggest reason I enjoyed this movie is that it didn't treat me like I was a child or a moron - it assumed I could follow a complicated plot that required a large degree of suspension of disbelief and complete focus (and Nolan has made sure that any functioning member of society should be able to follow it with relative ease). I think the reason I enjoyed Inception is because it's how every movie should be made.

Grade: A

Music Review -- Big Boi

Big Boi
Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
Def Jam, Purple Ribbon

One of the most important, character-defining questions of the modern era, one which threatened to split the nation down its seams and lead us to another bloody civil war: Speakerboxx or The Love Below? Really, though, the only proper answer to that question is "both" (but The Love Below is totally streets ahead. Just sayin'), but for those of you Speakerboxx fans out there, you're in for a real treat.

Antwan Andre Patton a.k.a. Big Boi a.k.a. Sir Lucious Left Foot a.k.a one-half of the greatest hip-hop duo alive finally released his debut solo album earlier this month after years of waiting and growing anticipation. His former label, Jive, were complete dicks and are essentially responsible for delaying the album a year and keeping several killer tracks featuring Andre 3000 off of the album. Yet despite all that drama, Sir Lucious Left Foot is an album that feels both incredibly polished and fresh. The tracks are heavy on the bass, but Big Boi delivers a slightly more varied and funkified sound than on Speakerboxx, and puts his high-caliber guests (T.I., Janelle Monae, B.o.B., and many more) to great use here. Big Boi's lyrics and smooth flow serve as an anchor for the tracks, allowing his guests and the music to branch off into a myriad of styles and sounds, from the electric thump of "Shutterbugg" to the piano-heavy R&B of "Turns Me On." While I've always viewed Big Boi's main strength as the ability to step in and deliver a couple fantastic verses, he's actually consistently good throughout the album - there's no real filler material here (almost unprecedented for a rap album).

I'll still maintain that The Love Below owns Speakerboxx, but Sir Lucious Left Foot is an impeccably crafted effort that stands as probably the best hip-hop album so far this year. It instantly hooks you, and the level of quality throughout ensures that you won't stop listening to it until the end of the last track. And it's a very promising sign of things to come: as Mr. Left Foot himself says, "Damn, that wasn't nothin' but the intro."

Grade: A-

If you only have time/money/patience for one track: "Follow Us"
Alternative choice: "Royal Flush" - one of the tracks that Jive cut, but it's definitely worth checking out as it features both Raekwon and Andre 3000 (at the top of his game)

Film Review -- A Single Man

A Single Man
Director: Tom Ford, Writers: Tom Ford, David Scearce
The Weinstein Company

And now we come to our first film review here at The Casualty Report. Film is kind of like the neglected bastard child of the review categories here, simply because I don't see all that many movies in theatres, because let's be honest, that's so passe now, am I right? Anyway, my point is that most of the movies I'll be reviewing (but not all) will probably not be new releases, and you may very well be confused and scared because I can just pick anything and review it. Well, sucks for you.

A Single Man came out (haha, it's funny cause it's about gays!) back in 2009, an adaptation of a Christopher Isherwood novel that was helmed by fashion designer Tom Ford, trying on his director pants for the first time (haha, it's funny cause he's a designer!). As far as debuts go, this is pretty spectacular. Ford does a great job creating an atmosphere of both time (it's set in 1962) and mood, bringing out the pain and sorrow in even the most mundane of interactions. Colin Firth stars as the bearer of this pain, playing a British professor attempting to get over the loss of his lover (Matthew Goode), and not really succeeding - the movie opens with subtle indications of Firth preparing to take his own life. Before he can go through with it, however, Firth encounters one of his students, a wide-eyed young man (Nicholas Hoult) who takes an interest in him. Julianne Moore is also there as Firth's old friend, a lush that she plays very well, but who's reason for being in the movie isn't perfectly clear. The dynamic between Firth and Hoult is somewhat interesting, but it's the tiny glimmers we see (through flashbacks) of the relationship between Firth and Goode that Ford really nails. Through very brief sequences, the audience gets a real sense of their connection, and consequently Firth's grief becomes much more apparent and understandable.

This is by no mean's a great film, but it's incredibly well done. The same production team that works on AMC's Mad Men does a fantastic job replicating the look and feel of the early 60s, and Ford's direction supplies the emotional malaise and personal touches. Ultimately, though, it is Firth's performance that provides the best sense of the spirit of the movie, and it's very easy to see why he garnered an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for the role. The artistic qualities of A Single Man will hook you in, but it's Firth who delivers the line and sinker.

Grade: B+

TV Review -- Louie

Louie
Dr. Ben/Nick
FX Tuesdays 11 p.m.

This really should have been up a while ago, but I'll try to get a review of the fourth episode up soon so I can catch up with the shows live. However, I think it's been somewhat beneficial that I'm behind in these reviews, as it's given me a chance to see each episode twice so far, which gives me a better sense for which jokes really work and what each episode is really about.

And what is this episode about? Well, there's a couple options. On a surface level, it's about getting old. The opening stand-up segment talks about the downward spiral into old age, as C.K. remarks about how his body is basically slowly falling apart. It's not one of his funniest bits, but the episode quickly livens up the material by showing C.K. visiting a doctor who happens to be an old-friend of his, played by Ricky Gervais in a role that fits him to a tee. The interaction with the receptionist is pretty funny and very relatable (again, I could easily imagine that as part of a Seinfeld episode), and C.K.'s bafflement is great: "Do people like come here and steal medical treatment?" Then Gervais enters, and the next couple minutes are essentially a doctor-from-hell joke showcase that's just plain hilarious - C.K. asks Gervais to examine him, to which he says, "I know what's wrong with you. AIDS!" and laughs hysterically. It's a bizarre, widely different tone from the rest of this episode, but it's a testament to the strength of the show and its writing that it can transition so easily between the absurd and the everyday. The next stand-up bit is also just average, though it does bring up Seinfeld comparisons again in it's reference to Indian giving (I suppose it's also possible that I just think everything in life is a Seinfeld reference, which is mostly true). However, we get something slightly different here, as the camera follows C.K. as he wraps up his set and then stands aside to watch his comic friend Nick (from the previous episode) do his act - though not before we learn that black people don't tip.

Nick is utilized pretty damn effectively here. His stand-up bit is somewhat funny, and then gets downright uncomfortable when he brings up assassinating Obama. As a bleeding-heart "liberal fag" myself, I think Nick is a complete idiot, but he reminds me a lot of my uncle - and it's clear that his character is a great foil for C.K. Nick knows he's not very smart, but he's smart enough to sense that something is wrong with the way things are, and he takes this out on liberals and C.K. himself. Oh, and he's also a very proud person, and all this combines to make the fight between him and C.K. almost painful to watch. It's not comedy-violence - this is two middle-aged, overweight men scuffling in a bar, and Louie again showcases it's devotion to reality here by having Nick end up in the emergency room with a cut hand. At the hospital, C.K. and Nick have a discussion about marriage and their age, which ultimately reveals what I think Dr. Ben/Nick is getting at. C.K. wraps up the episode by talking about how a friend from the country came in to New York and was horrified at the sight of a homeless person, while he didn't even notice him. This reflects on the conversation between C.K. and Nick in the hospital - C.K. finds it very difficult to see that his friend's life is no better than his. The episode starts with C.K. expressing a huge degree of self-loathing about his body and his age, but it concludes on a message that suggests that his real problem is that he can't see that everyone faces some form of similar problems. Regardless, this is an episode that's a little front-loaded in terms of laughs (though the stand-up at the end has some good moments), but the back half is just as relevant to what this show is, even when it isn't delivering the laughs.

Grade: A-

"This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me, seeing that. And my dad hung himself in front of me. Whilst masturbating."

New TV Review -- Covert Affairs

Covert Affairs
Pilot
USA Tuesdays 10 p.m.

USA seems to specialize in shows that are very light and fun - the kind of show where you can watch every now and then for a fairly enjoyable waste of an hour. Covert Affairs, their newest original series, definitely fits into the USA mold, and the pilot delivers a pretty entertaining hour-plus (it was given an extended premiere) of television.

I'm a pretty big sucker when it comes to spies. I like Bond movies, the two episodes of Alias I've seen, Chuck - I'll watch pretty much anything that falls in the genre. So maybe it's just the subject matter, but I was actually pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed Covert Affairs. That said, the episode starts off on completely the wrong foot. Having the main character take a random polygraph is an incredibly lazy way of writing exposition, and the information it reveals could easily have been teased out later in the episode. Also, there's a concern when you cast an attractive woman such as Piper Perabo in a role like this that she might just be there to be eye candy (especially since it's hard to believe someone so short and scrawny could be an ass-kicking secret agent). And the start of the pilot isn't promising in assuaging these fears - times Piper Perabo was topless in the first 2 minutes: 3. Beyond that, I was also a little unsure about whether Perabo could pull off this type of role - besides Coyote Ugly (a tremendous piece of shit) and that one movie that I saw 10 minutes of on HBO where she was a lesbian or something, I haven't really seen her in anything, and she certainly doesn't look the part. However, a look comes over her towards the end of the pre-credit scene, which I guess was determination - whatever it was, it gave me hope that she would surprise me.

Indeed, Perabo grows more and more believable as the episode progresses, as she delivers a unexpectedly good performance. Part of this is aided by how quickly and efficiently the pilot moves forward - USA Platinum Member Tim Matheson directed. Perabo is yanked out of training and placed in the Domestic Protection Division, supposedly due to her language skills. The episode puts these skills to good use too (and a guest appearance from The Wire's own Lester Freamon!) and it's nice to see that Perabo's character relies more on her intellect and charisma as a spy since it would be ridiculous for her to be a Rambo-style bad-ass. The pilot quickly introduces some characters that show potential to be a solid supporting cast (the blind tech guy, the strict boss who's married to another CIA boss - I like that people in the CIA are encouraged to date each other here, as I'm tired of storylines dealing with relationships between spies and civilians who don't know their partners secrets). Not everything works perfectly in the pilot - the business with the reporter seemed a little random, though I'm sure it will be addressed later - but the episode quickly moves on to scenes that work better and doesn't give you time to linger on it's failures. I actually have a lot more in my notes that I wanted to say about this, but I'm starting to ramble a bit, so I'll wrap it up - but my point is that it's a very good sign that I actually have a lot to say about a show on USA.

I started off by saying how USA shows are typically light fare that is entertaining enough, but pretty shallow. Based on the pilot, I think Covert Affairs actually has a chance to be a good show - in a similar way to Chuck. There's a twist at the end that suggests that there might be more of a serialized arc to the show, and I like what I've seen of Perabo in the lead role and some of the side characters. I'm not adding this to my series coverage just yet, because pilot's can often be deceiving - the show might not warrant much writing in future episodes. However, the pilot was both good and intriguing enough to ensure that I'll be back for a second episode.

Grade: B

"I would love to shuck some oysters with you"

Music Review - Wolf Parade

Wolf Parade
Expo 86
Sub Pop

I should probably start by saying that I believe Apologies to the Queen Mary, the debut album of Canadian indie rockers Wolf Parade, was one of the very best albums of the past decade, and is one of my absolute favorite records. So I've got some pretty damn high expectations for the band, expectations that weren't really met on their sophomore effort, At Mount Zoomer.

The first time I played their new album, Expo 86, I wasn't really feeling it. The songs felt too long and sounded almost sloppy - it was as if the group just decided to turn up the volume and hope for the best, a la Spinal Tap. And then, my second time through, all of a sudden I started enjoying the songs a lot more, and the music really snagged my attention. It's possible that this was aided by switching from my laptop speakers to my car's sound system, but that doesn't fully explain it, because I was even more impressed on my third listen-through. Expo 86 may not be as instantly awesome as their debut, but it has grown on me to the point where the songs are constantly stuck in my head (in a good way), and I feel like I could listen to it for years without tiring of it.

The album starts off in the middle of a frenetic drum beat, which serves as a pretty fitting metaphor for the album itself. Expo 86 is much less restrained than At Mount Zoomer, and let's Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner pour everything they have into each song. Krug (who's probably written the band's best songs) and Boeckner (who's written their most accessible tracks) essentially split the song-writing here, and both are near the top of their game. Krug's "Cloud Shadow on the Mountain" kicks the album off with a bang while his excellent "Cave-O-Sapien" (whatever the fuck that means) provides a great closer, and "What Did My Lover Say?" is one of my favorites from this release. However, Boeckner delivers a back-to-back, one-two-punch of classic Wolf Parade awesomeness with "Ghost Pressure" and "Pobody's Nerfect" (slydexia intentional) in the middle of the album, as well as the excellent "Yulia," the album's most straightforward pop-ish track. Expo 86 is in general heavier on the guitar, and Krug's distinctive keyboard sound is largely relegated to the background, but the album replaces it with more of a synth-y sound that works well in most cases, and very well in others.

While it's true that this doesn't top their debut, and nothing on it comes close to unseating "I'll Believe in Anything" - a truly amazing song - from the top of their catalogue, this is an album that deserves a lot of praise. Krug and Boeckner have both been busy with their other bands, Sunset Rubdown and Handsome Furs, respectively, which have both been making really great music. It's not too hard to imagine them simply phoning it in for Expo 86, and I have to admit that I was afraid that exact thing had happened when I started listening to it. However, they've created a album that takes a little time to grow, but if you're willing to give it a chance, it's really quite something to behold. But, you know, with your ears.

Grade: A-

If you only have time/money/patience for one track: "Ghost Pressure"