Miami Ink & LA Ink

If you've never thought of getting a tattoo before watching either Miami Ink or LA Ink may change your mind. At the beginning I really liked Miami Ink. It was something different and about an art form I know nothing about which helped make it interesting and increase the level of my focus. The artwork is beautiful and the great thing about is that even if the pieces they do would be something that I would never get permanently on my body I can still appreciate the beauty of the art and design.

In order to ward off the repetitive nature of the show of giving people tattoos the show focuses more on the stories of the individual clients and the personalities of each of the tattoo artists. The stories are always the plus. It's interesting to hear the reason behind the tattoos people get. What has happened in their life to get to this point that they want to mark it on their bodies. The ones that are the hardest are the memorial tattoos. Although I do find it rather odd though especially when the person they are immortalizing didn't like tattoos when they were living. But people deal with death in many different ways. The one story that really stuck in my head as much for the story as Ami's reaction to is when a young woman came in to get a tattoo for her mom who was murdered by her father who then committed suicide. The story was shocking and not something Ami was expecting when he asked her the question of the tattoos origin. What can you really say to that?

Even without these stories the show would do fine with the tattoo artist. This however, is where the show lost my viewership. I love Darren Bass, Chris Garver and Kat Von D (it's telling that I only watched Miami Ink until Kat left the show). Yoji I don't really take seriously but he's good for a laugh. Although at times I like Ami's attitude both him and Chris Nunez I have problems with. My problem is god forbid a feminist one. I hate the way they treat women or rather what goes unsaid. Because the show is set in Miami there are a lot of fit women in bikinis and the guys are constantly falling over themselves. The problem is they make it obvious that they only want to work on these beautiful women and that anyone else is not worth their time. And it has gotten worse as the series progressed.

With the departure of Kat D not even Garver could keep my especially with Kat's own show LA Ink. It was amazing to me the breath of fresh air Kat's show brought to the tired format. I would attribute the differences to gender - a mostly all male cast versus a mostly all female cast. It really is amazing the differences in the atmosphere of the two shows. I do get tired of all the 'celebrities' in LA Ink although given it's location it's understandable. Also Kat is not the best business woman and I do at times cringe at her bad organization skills.

All in all I would rather watch LA Ink over Miami Ink but truth be told after five series of tattoos I'm worn out and I'm sure it doesn't help that I binge watch it which gets me tired of it sooner rather than later. Although I couldn't imagine going back to watch either Miami Ink or LA Ink or even the last in the series NY Ink every week. In the beginning I think not knowing anything about tattoos held my interest but it also caused me to lose interest overtime unlike baking shows where I could get ideas from.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Of the three television series written by Aaron Sorkin, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is by far my favorite. This may largely be due to the fact that it lasted only one season which impacted the ability of the show's writers or cast members to screw up the show. In fact its one of just a handful of shows which I consider perfect one season shows. Not that I would have minded if it had lasted more than one season but everything was wrapped up nicely by the end and you felt good about the direction the characters where going in.

Sorkin's gift is also his curse as his shows are too intelligent for broadcast television and I was super happy to hear that his new show he's working will be airing on cable where it might have a chance. I think The West Wing was a strange coincidence lasting as long as it did but even it suffered when Sorkin was away dealing with his addiction. I fell in love with his writing style, specifically the pace of it. It was so fast but it gave the show a driving force. He could do it all though - bring in comedy with wit and language, something the rest of the television landscape then and now seriously lacks, and still be able to deal with the dramatic moments.

A problem I have with Sorkin is that he repeats himself a bit too much although I guess that's part of his charm as well. I think I'm just to mystified by the great television that I don't mind that fact that he takes the same premise - a behind the scenes look - and just changes the environment which we as the audience are going behind the scenes. First in Sports Night we look at a sports show, then we have The West Wing looking at white house staff and now Studio 60 looking at how a SNL type show works. Oddly enough I didn't like the sketches, what little we saw of them, that were shown either in bits or as a whole. The point wasn't so much the sketches but rather surrounding material. Plus the comedy used in SNL is more slap stick stuff and really I just think sketch comedy isn't my thing I much prefer the use of language to promote comedy than an impersonation of Nicholas Cage. The Cage sketches went way over my head I have to say. I really didn't get them when the show first aired and now four years later. The Cage that was being portrayed didn't feel like the Cage from that moment on in time. The Nancy Grace stuff also I didn't get. If the show could have done anything better it would have been to make the sketches better and more relevant to the times. Rewatching it I took joy in seeing Howie Mandel host the fictional Studio 60 comedy show and playing on his Deal or no Deal show which I remember being so popular. Even though the sketches were for the most part horrible it wasn't what the show was really about and in consequence is overlooked by the brilliancy of the main meat of the show.  

The cast was spot on and everyone worker really well together from the main cast and the guest appearances. I'm sure I could write a 5,000 word essay about the intersexuality of Sorkin's shows and its fun to be aware of it while watching it adds another layer of enjoyment to the experience. 'The Disaster Show' with Allison Janey is a prime example. Her banter with Cal played by Timothy Busfield brought back the memories of the relationship between their characters in The West Wing. On this note, I think it's quite weird because the actor is playing themselves in a fictional world. There's a strange relationship between reality and fiction that I dwelt on while watching the show this time around. It's as if the presence of 'real' people in the fiction narrative adds to the reality of Studio 60 existing in our world. Something that wasn't apparent in The West Wing or Sports Night.

The intertexuality continues into the main cast as Danny is more or less a continuation of Josh which makes Bradley Whitford the prefect fit for the role. I absolutely love him and paired with Matthew Perry its just magic. This was such a good move for Perry after friends to still have comedy in the role but to add more drama. Some of his best episodes are his darkest which also happen to be a bit semi-autobiographical of both Perry and Sorkin and their battles with addiction. I've mentioned Timothy Busfield as another reoccurring actor but I loved the fact that he was given a regular role this time around. Sorkin writes women well and both Amanda Peet and Sarah Paulson did their characters justice. Overall it was a nice ensemble cast with a few familiar faces and some not so familiar. More importantly they all seemed very real and I'm not talking Hollywood real where everyone is drop dead gorgeous and a size 0 either. I'm talking more everyday real which is more in line with how I feel British television is cast. (I've got this thing about Phillip Davis at the moment) 

So many things could happen in just one episode because of the fast paced writing which I think makes it more akin to British television. Some may not agree but I feel that although British shows are usually limited to only 6-13 episodes for one series a lot tends to happen in a small amount of time. It's almost like they get more story out of 6 episodes than America shows do out of 22. Lately I've found that 22 episodes just makes things drag on for way too long. What happens in Studio 60 is more happens in its 22 episodes so it seems more like two series of a British show than one season of an American show. All that matters in the end is that I could watch this show over and over. It was nice for a change to watch a show in which every episode was my favorite.

DC Cupcakes

I don't even know where to begin my long list of complaints about this TLC show.TLC has been pretty good up till this point with Say Yes to the Dress and Cake Boss but DC Cupcakes doesn't live up to the standard and I've only continued watching the show to yell at my screen and write this review. I had hoped that maybe in the second series it would get better but that hope was dashed. My main problem is that Katherine and Sophia, sisters who have left the 'corporate world' (and what the hell does that mean?) to open a family bakery, should not be baking. Not that you see them doing much baking anyways, they really like to delegate tasks and then just be in charge of the frosting since they claim no one else can do it. For people whose dream it was to open their own bakery they have no clue on how much work goes into it. I realize that they must be doing fairly well because they have their show and several locations of Georgetown Cupcakes but I'm not convinced that their success will last. They run their bakery in the way that you shouldn't run a commercial bakery and I have some experience in this so I know what I'm talking about.

First off you do not measure ingredients with cups and tablespoons you weight ingredients so the product turns out the same every time. The girls seem to know nothing about baking percentages which would help them immensely. Their signature swirl should not be something they're proud of it looks like crap, and I do mean literally. The fact that they are so insistent on it being done the their way is way over the top. Really I think they do the frosting that way to cover that fact that most of their cupcakes are sunken in the middle. Not to mention sanitation problems i.e. no hair nets or when in one episode they dropped everything on the floor they just carried on!

But the ridiculousness of the show doesn't stop there. Oh no, it can't just be a bakery that specializes in cupcakes but needs to make giant projects like Cake Boss does but out of cupcakes. This to me is such a rip off. These two women are no were near qualified for the work they undertake and never understand how much work needs to go into each project before they start leaving them way over their heads always. To this end they are constantly relying on other people to finish their projects or get them started. Something that really irritated me was the constant claim of 'I'm a baker not a...' a sentenced when ended with the current job  they are sourcing out to someone else because they really aren't bakers either. And this is with them one doing one project a show whereas Cake Boss will do two or three projects per show. Plus the bases of Buddy's cakes you can eat whereas chicken wire and foam cannot be consumed and really I'm not sure I want my food on top of foam stuff. I don't care if the food comes in its own wrapper.

Overall the women are not professional with their pink aprons and matching rain boots! I mean come on! Wear a chef's jacket and non-slip shoes! Maybe if I didn't bake and couldn't point out all the things they did wrong I would enjoy the show more but really its just too frustrating for a real baker to watch or recommend. The cold hard fact is that these women have nothing to recommend them but their looks.

You Again

Much like No Strings Attached I had wanted to see You Again when I first saw the trailer and let me say it was not Betty White who drew my attention but rather Kristen Bell whom I'm a big fan of. Unlike No Strings Attached the surprise this film gave me was a good one. I went into it thinking it was going to be more of a romantic comedy than what it turned out to be. However, it was not a disappointment. It was funny and I could totally identify with Bell's character although my high school years were not as bad as hers. Bell's costume and overall look in high school was great and at least somewhat believable. I loved the fact that she by accident goes back to her high school look which just brings home the rivalry between her and her brother's fiance.

What I felt the film could have done better was worked the relationship between Bell's character and the guy she liked in high school better. It made it a bit less predictable because they didn't have that relationship but it could have worked nicely.

No Strings Attached

When No Strings Attached  first came out I was looking forward to it and perhaps the anticipation I put into the film made it just a tad bit disappointing. It wasn't horrible, just your average romantic comedy without any standout features. I think one of my main problems with is the people in it. I have not been a big fan of either Ashton Kutcher or Natalie Portman. Although Kutcher was better in this than in his last romantic comedy I saw, Killers with Katherine Heigl he doesn't stand out as a leading man. Portman on the other hand I usually find in weird arty films that everyone goes wild about but don't realize how bad of a film it actually is, case in point Black Swan so it was nice to see her in more of a mainstream film but she seemed misplaced. Or maybe that was just her character - standoffish but there was one glorious moment when she made me cry and I felt she was real.

Their performances weren't helped by an average storyline, friends with benefits laying down rules to not fall in love and of course eventually falling in love. The sort of When Harry Met Sally beginning I felt didn't quite work. It didn't help in building a friendship it was more of chance meetings which eventually led to sex and from their love. There was a little bit of a switch in the gender roles where Kutcher was the vulnerable one who fell first and Portman just wanted sex ala cart. There were bits which were funny - Kutcher waking up naked on a couch and not knowing where he was and Kutcher making Portman a period mix but the comedy was subdued because most of the good stuff appeared in the trailer.

Ultimately that's what it comes down to, the marketing campaign which ruins what otherwise could have been a fun little romantic comedy. When everything is in the trailer there's really almost no point to watch the film. A two hour film can be condensed into a two minute trailer and everything in between acts as filler.

Whitechapel

 

ITV's Whitechapel enters a television landscape overcrowded with crime drama but seeks to stand out among the rest through the use of history as a means to solve the mystery. 

The first series follows a copycat of Jack the Ripper and with the help of a Ripperologist Edward Buchan played by Steve Pemberton, DI Chandler a fast-tracked detective played by Rupert Penry-Jones and DS Miles played most excellently by Philip Davis try to catch the killer before he completes Jack's canonical murders. I thought the show was brilliantly done. The plot kept me on the edge of my seat. Plenty of suspense even in the mere three episodes of the first series. Although the series was set in 2008 and not 1888 the aesthetic of the first series removed it from a total contemporary feel. The washout look and lighting techniques fit in well with the allusions to Jack the Ripper. I loved how the series brought the past into the present by way of editing and the repetition of Jack the Ripper shots which was used as a segue between scenes. The look of the first series is in big part thanks to S.J. Clarkson, who also directed episodes of Life on Mars including the two-part finale. Usually directors don't have much of a signature on television as they do on cinema because there needs to be a uniform aesthetic throughout the entire series, however, S.J. Clarkson is clearly there. Before I caught her name in the credits I thought that the style of the series was much like Life on Mars. Luckily it works for both shows. The second series, with a new director, not necessarily lacked the look of the first but was not able to execute it as well.

Even though Rupert Penry-Jones stands as the main protagonist I found it hard to warm to him until the second series when his facade crumbled and he allowed his OCD to control him. He was very stiff but he won me over when he bashed in the light switch as his OCD was preventing him from leaving. That I felt was the turning point. Philip Davis for me was a joy to watch and it was so nice to see him in a role where he wasn't the villain (Sherlock and Merlin). He was very natural compared to Penry-Jones and I think it helps that he looks like a normal person and fits the role of the hardened detective perfectly.

With the end of the first series and the evasion of the police by the copycat killer I didn't know how they would do a second series. Or at least how they could continue with the character of Ed Buchan who had devoted his career to Jack the Ripper which I felt made the second series a bit unbelievable with the continuation of the Buchan character. It's not that I didn't like him but I felt the second story connected with history was a little farfetched. The Kray brothers terrorized London in the 1960s and now the supposed twin sons of one of the Kray brothers has come back to continue the legacy of their father and uncle. Too consequential that buchan had done a documentary on the Kray brothers as well as being an expert on Jack the Ripper. 

Getting over the fairly weak plot line the second series was filled more with conspiracy which again had me at the edge of my seat. I'm quite forgiving of weak plot lines when the story grabs me regardless. Bad cops, bribes and the mystery of the Kray brothers kept the story going for again the three episodes of the second series. Craig Parkinson, who I only know from Misfits, was fantastic as Jimmy and Johnny Kray. He looked dangerous and insane. He was believable which made him a bit scary. The scene that stays in my mind is when Chandler is taken to meet Jimmy and Johnny for the first time and the camera is the twins. The subtle differences between Jimmy and Johnny that Parkinson portrayed were great and I suppose are needed for  twin portrayal by one actor. I would rather deal with Johnny than Jimmy based on that scene alone. Peter Serafinowicz also joined the cast a the head of the organized crime division. He definitely fit the role he played I didn't trust him from the beginning. A lot of that is due to the conspiracy nature of the second series in which really you/Chandler couldn't trust anyone. I'm not sure I really like his suicide. I felt it was a easy way out, too easy. I'm still not convinced that Commander Anderson is a good guy. 

Whitechapel will return for a third series, this time with six episodes and three cases, something to look forward to.

Misfits Series 3

  

With the departure of Robert Sheehan for series three of Misfits, his flair is replaced with double the trouble (and yes I did just write that)of Joseph Gilgun's character Rudy who has the power to split himself in two like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Rudy is a nice addition to the group although there is a lot missing without Nathan. Even though they both have quite a mouth Rudy doesn't have the sparkle that Nathan had. Rudy's not as good of an asshole as Nathan was. Rudy's not the only thing that's new on the show. Everyone has a new power some which are better than others. Curtis can turn into a girl which is helpful when running from the cops but becomes problematic when exploring your sexuality and getting yourself pregnant. Alisha can put herself in others people's shoes to tell where they are which only seems to help when Kelly is trapped in the body of a comatose patient. Simon can see into the future and Kelly is a rocket scientist but because of her look and attitude no one takes seriously. It does add some comic moments. 

The third series lacks a driving narrative to guide it to the end. There isn't an overreaching arch in the episodes causing it to loose direction and focus. This series had better stand alone episodes than previous series. My favorite was the fourth episode which showed an alternative reality where the Nazi's won the war because an elderly Jewish man travels back in time to kill Hitler fails and before returning to the present he drops his phone which allows the Nazi's to win. Kelly takes his power to put everything back to the way it was. It's kind of a nice break from the reality of the show and shows the depth the show can have - the possibility. When I began the episode I thought I was watching something else, a different show because it was so unlike the rest of the show's aesthetic. Not only is this my favorite episode of the series but the episode contains my favorite moment of the entire series in which Kelly exclaims 'fucking Nazis' leading into the show's opening credits.

Throughout the weakened third series the stories that were most interesting were ones involving either Kelly or Simon. Simon really took the helm this time around mostly by trying to become the superhero character we first met at the end of series one. It was great to see more of Simon and I loved the romantic relationship between him and Alisha. Which leads me to the biggest problem I have with the third series the death of Alisha and Simon (even though we saw Simon's death previously). The finale was very much a stand alone episode in that the previous seven episodes did nothing to lead up to that point. Yes Simon had told Alisha that he was giving up his superhero suit after his dealings with Peter when he really kept them but there wasn't a overarching theme to the third series leading up to that moment. Alisha's death - killed by a ghost out for revenge was dramatic and caught me off guard. That was the first shoe that dropped the second was when Simon took his superhero suit out of hiding, got his time travel power from Seth and went back to save Alisha, make her fall in love with him and consequently die. A romantic yet tragic love story cycle which they are forever stuck in. 

The third and final shoe to drop was the realization that now with both Iwan Rheon and Antonia Thomas gone there aren't many characters left that make me want to go back for another series. All my favorites keep leaving and the show's writers are definitely not afraid of killing off characters but their specialty seems to be probation workers as two bite the dust this series one of them getting killed twice as she came back as a zombie. Craig Parkinson who played Shaun has to be my favorite probation worker who I kind of figure was going to die this series as he died in the alternative reality episode which seemed to foreshadow events or in terms of Gary who died in the very first episode repeat events - Gary doesn't have much luck in the alternative universe either. 

On the whole, series three was just waiting for the finale and the departure of Simon and Alisha. There were some good episodes in between and new characters but I'm not sure how much longer this show can last and whether or not I'll continue to tune in.