The Weeksly Late Edition – 16/02/07

Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to “The Weeksly Late Edition”, smack bang in the middle of moving house (still) for me, but as always, I’ve got lots of stuff to share with you, so lets get the show started with:

My Television Is Trying To Kill Me

A couple of weeks back when I was doing my best TV list of 2006, I mentioned “Breaking Bonaduce”, and based on some of the feedback that I’ve received since then, quite a few of you out there are fans of it as well. I first got introduced to “modern day” Danny through his appearances on Howard Stern’s daily show, and now he’s moved into a permanent gig on the air in L.A., I’m no longer getting my fix, so VH1 went looking for a fill-in, and they’ve quite possibly found the greatest replacement possible – Tom Sizemore. “Shooting Sizemore” shows what happens when you have really fucked up in life, and a camera crew decides to follow you around 24 hours a day. You guys I’m sure all remember seeing Tom in films like “Heat”, “Natural Born Killers”, “Saving Private Ryan” & more, but for those of you who came in late with the whole fake dick to throw off a drug test, dating former “Madam”, Heidi Fleiss and the numerous on-air breakdowns as an introduction, this is the show for you. The official site has some great clips – the guy is just a train wreck of mammoth proportions.

Variety reported today that Zooey Deschanel (“Almost Famous”, “Elf”) has joined the (small so far) cast of Sci-Fi’s “Tin Man”, which is a twisted view of the land of “Oz” – not the prison where the guys were killing and banging each other, the one that features in “The Wizard of Oz”. The only other cast member named so far is Alan Cumming as “Glitch”, AKA the Scarecrow character. The six hour mini-series is due to hit the small screen later this year, and is being overseen by Robert Halmi, who is also taking producer duties on the newly announced “Flash Gordon” TV series. Strangely, “Tin Man” has been taking quite a bit of flack from more than a few message boards across the net (sacred feelings perhaps?) but the early word I’ve heard on the direction the mini-series is going to take is that it will be great, and there are some very interesting names rumored to be taking on acting gigs in it – expect more shortly.

OK – so there was a bit of talkback this week that it’s all well & good to talk about some of the overseas goings on, but how about a little of what we can watch through the week here in Australia, so without further ado, my picks for the coming week:

The Weeksly TV Selection

Saturday, February 17th:

The 49th Annual Grammy Awards
Stars: Various
Channel 10, 10:30pm – 1:30am
What’s It About?: Pretty self explanatory, the awards show that time forgot is back for the nearly 50th occasion, and features various musicians and such thanking Jeebus for their reckless lifestyles of drugs, drinking and sex with people I could never have a shot with.

Is It Any Good?: Nah, not really. Most people already know who won and who didn’t by this point, but there are really only two highlights, the first being the opening with the reunion of The Police performing “Roxanne”, the other highlight being The Red Hot Chilli Peppers performance, which alone make it worth watching the whole event.

Weeksy’s Rating:

American History X
Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong
Movie Extra, 9:00pm – 11:00pm
What’s It About?: Edward Norton stars as an ex-white supremacist who tries to stop his younger brother (Edward Furlong) from falling into the same traps and making the same mistakes as he has made.

Is It Any Good?: And how. The story behind the production is one thing, but for a film that is filled with many, many flaws, Edward Norton gives one of his best ever performances, and it makes you wonder what the hell happened to Edward Furlong.

Battlestar Galactica – “Kobol’s Last Gleaming – Part 1”
Stars: Katee Sackhoff, Edward James Olmos
Sci-Fi, 8:30pm – 9:30pm
What’s It About?: The crew of the Galactica find themselves looking at images of the planet that legend says holds the location to “Earth”, and when the President sees a vision of what used to be, things take a decidedly intriguing twist.

Is It Any Good?: Not the typical action-packed goodness that you’ve come to expect from “Battlestar”, but of the first season eps, this perhaps moves the characters along further than any other – oh, and Starbuck is dirty….. very, very dirty….. in the good way.

Sunday, February 18th:

Ugly Betty – “Pilot”, “The Box and the Bunny”
Stars: America Ferrera, Eric Mabius
Channel 7, 7:30pm – 8:30pm
What’s It About?: I’m sure you’re all well aware of the premise of this show by now, young girl not considered classically attractive goes to work for a fashion magazine, and hilarious hijinks ensue.

Is It Any Good?: Look, if you liked “The Devil Wears Prada”, as I did, I’m sure you’ll have a blast with this. I’ll agree with the Boss in saying that the first episode isn’t a home-run, but it is definitely one to stick with. Try it out, and you’ll know by the time “Grey’s Anatomy” starts whether or not you’ll ever watch it again.

Weeksy’s Rating: “Pilot” ; “The Box and the Bunny”

Don’t Say A Word
Stars: Michael Douglas, Sean Bean
Channel 9, 10:30pm – 12:40am
What’s It About?: A New York psychiatrist (Douglas) has his daughter kidnapped by a nasty fella (Bean), who wants him to unlock some secretive type information that’s locked up in the head of one of his patients (Brittany Murphy).

Is It Any Good?: Remember that old saying, “Sex is like Pizza – even if it’s bad, it’s still pretty good”? I’m kinda that way with Michael Douglas films. This is one of those middle of the road type affairs for him, but it’s still enjoyable.

Monday, February 19th:

CSI: New York – “Heroes”
Stars: Gary Sinise, Melina Kanakaredes
Channel 9, 9:35pm – 10:35pm
What’s It About?: When the Scooby Gang come across a burnt up body, the evidence begins to mount up that one of their own team has quite possibly had an accident with some firelighters and a Zippo.

Is It Any Good?: I’m not usually a big fan of the “CSI” shows, but I’ve always liked Gary Sinise, and when I happen to be checking out various tapes, “New York” is generally the only one that I’ll check out. This episode in particular is a very good one all up for all of the brands, so give it a shot.

Weeksy’s Rating:

Tuesday, February 20th:

Natural Born Killers
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis
Movie Extra, 10:00pm – 12:00am
What’s It About?: In kind of a modern day Bonnie & Clyde crossed with a really fucked up Romeo & Juliet, Mickey & Mallory head across America with a lot of guns to do a lot of damage.

Is It Any Good?: Most reviews of this when it came out dismissed it as incomprehensible garbage, but that was mainly due to concern that people were going to try & replicate it. Now that far worse things have hit the big screen, give this another look and see if you still feel the same way about it as you did back when you first saw it, or if you’re watching for the first time, try and keep away from any type of “recreational aids” before you begin.

Weeksy’s Rating:

Wednesday, February 21st:

Heroes – “Chapter Four – Collision”
Stars: Milo Ventimiglia, Adrian Pasdar, Hayden Panettiere, Greg Grunberg, Ali Larter, Masi Oka
Channel 7, 8:30pm – 9:30pm
What’s It About?: Claire wakes up on the slab, Hiro & Ando try their luck out on the tables in Vegas (With E!’s Kristen Veitch as the Roulette dealer), Matt finds himself in close proximity to the man with the funky glasses, and Peter takes Mohinder to catch up with Issac the future-painter dude.

Is It Any Good?: Oh God Yes. At the time, this was my favorite episode, and looking back, it may be the best so far. The ending alone will have you screaming for the next part. Surprisingly, some of the early scenes with Claire are quite gruesome, even compared to what you’ve seen so far.

Weeksy’s Rating:

Prison Break – “First Down”
Stars: Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, William Fichtner
Channel 7, 9:30pm – 10:30pm
What’s It About?: Bellick finally catches up with the boys (and Holly Vallance) and decides to change up the plan so far as handing the boys over to the authorities goes. In the meantime, Sarah finds herself in some bad company at her recovery meeting, Tweener gets shacked up in a Motel with his new lady friend, and John Abruzzi gets ready to get the wife and kids outta town.

Is It Any Good?: Following on from “Heroes”, this is also a killer episode of “PB” – literally. Yes, another one of the gang winds up very dead by the end of the episode, with many shades of “Heat” coming to mind. Prepare yourselves for one of the most bad-ass set of last words to come out of the mouth of the latest casualty, and a sexy as hell lap-dance from Holly.

Weeksy’s Rating:

The Most Salacious Piece Of Tabloid Gossip

This is just one of those really funny things that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible – boys & girls, Simon Pegg (with thanks to the IMDB):

Pegg Accidentally Flashes Family Members
British funnyman Simon Pegg was left red-faced when he accidentally revealed his naked self to his entire family. The Shaun Of The Dead star made the mistake of showing his parents and siblings a home-made film without censoring the tape’s contents. He says, “I once showed a holiday video to my entire family and forgot there was a point where I flashed. I only realized about one second before it happened and couldn’t get to the remote in time to stop them all from seeing me pull down my trousers and reveal myself. My sister screamed and my mum said, ‘Ooh, that’s changed.'” The actor is next set to appear in cop comedy Hot Fuzz.

The Official Weeks Seal Of Approval DVD Release Of The Week

A couple of weeks back, we got our first “Munsters” release on DVD, and now comes the kick-assery of “The Addams Family – Vol. 1”. Now, it’s not quite you’re typical season set, but I’ll let the synopsis speak for itself:

They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky, and now for the first time, they’re on DVD! The Addams Family, America’s first family of ghastly giddiness, are here in all of their ghoulish glory in the original TV series based on the delightfully demented imagination of Charles Addams. Tarantulas, torture racks, and tombstones have never been so much fun! Join Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Cousin Itt, and the rest of the gang for a fiendishly funny and altogether kooky experience. It’s time to pay a call on The Addams Family!

Episodes:
The Addams Family Goes to School
Morticia and the Psychiatrist
Morticia joins the Ladies League
Fester’s Punctured Romance
The Addams Family Tree
Gomez, The Politician
Halloween with the Addams Family
Green-eyed Gomez
The New Neighbours Meet the Addams Family
Morticia, The Matchmaker
Wednesday Leaves Home
The Addams Family Meets the VIPS
Lurch Learns to Dance
The Addams Family Meet a Beatnik
Art and the Addams Family
The Addams Family Meets the Undercover Man
Mother Lurch Visits the Addams Family
Uncle Fester’s Illness
The Addams Family Splurges
Cousin Itt Visits the Addams Family
The Addams Family In Court
Amnesia In The Addams Family

Some great special features as well – here they are:

– You Rang, Mr Addams Featurette
– Snap, Snap Featurette
– The Addams Family Theme Song Karaoke
– Audio Commentary on The Addams Family Goes to School, Morticia, The Matchmaker, and Cousin Itt Visits The Addams Family
– Original Drawing and Photos
– The Addams Family Portrait

Now – before I go, “Academy Award Nominated” Director (“Murderball”), Dana Adam Shapiro dropped me a line this week to let us know that his excellent book, “The Every Boy”, has just gotten a fresh paperback printing, featuring that very tagline (which he secretly loves by the way) – grab yourself a copy from the usual suspects, but for a bit of info on the book, click over here, it’s a great story.

OK, that does it for me this week, feel free as always to swing by Myspace, or drop me a line.

Cheers,
Adam Weeks.