Boston Legal - A show I love

I admit it. I have never been a Star Trek fan - it doesn't matter what form it has taken: the old ST, Star Trek the New Generation, the movies or even the one with Kate Mulgrew as the commander.

That being said, I have always liked William Shatner (but not the show TJ Hooker, please). I think it first happened when I saw him on some old Columbo movies where he was trying to outwit Peter Falk. Maybe it was his spiel at Just for Laughs where he spoofed "I am a Canadian" but I think he is cool.

I liked Shatner's character (as the has-been emcee) in both Miss Congeniality movies. So finally he has been given a role that he can eat up the scenery with. I am talking about Denny Crane.... when in doubt about what to say Denny Crane simply says his name. Imagine Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on some kind of stimulant and you would have the modern day version in Denny Crane and Alan Shore. Each week the show wraps up with the two of them smoking cigars, sipping scotch and talking - it is great television condensed into a 3 minute scene.

David Kelley (the guy who developed Picket Fences, Ally McBeal and the Practice) has developed this brilliant show which is both a dramatic and comedic showcase (It makes me laugh out loud - which is hard to do when it comes to television or movies). He has chosen a superb cast. Not only does Boston Legal have Shatner, it also has Rene Auberjonois, Candice Bergen, and James Spader. It has also attracted great guest stars such as Betty White, Michael J. Fox, Heather Locklear, Tom Selleck and Freddie Prinze Jr.

I could spend the whole night telling you how great the show is but instead I encourage you to set your vcrs for Tuesday night at 11 pm (if in the Calgary area) on ABC because unfortunately it is not yet available on peasant television or rent the Season 1 dvd which was just released at the end of May.

You know it has to be something special when both Shatner and James Spader have won Emmys for their performances as these characters for the past two years running. (Of course, this might change this year because my other other favourite James Gandolfini will be in the running again in his role as Tony Soprano.)

So please watch this show and help it to keep alive because numbers count and television executives would rather dumb down programs then provide people with intelligent television.

The Lake House

I went and saw the Lake House last week. It is the long awaited onscreen reunion between Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. Now, I like both Reeves and Bullock. But there was something wrong with the movie.

I was talking it over with Lulu and she thinks the reason I wasn't over the moon for the flick (the actors were terrific) was because you cannot have a romantic story where the two main characters never see each other and that makes sense. Reeves and Bullock are both tenants in the same house only at different times. Without going into details, they manage to fall in love through correspondence because they never actually meet each other.

Hollywood is again stealing a film idea from a foreign film and remaking it into a English language film. The Lake House is based on a South Korean film called Il Mare (? - I think that's the title).

I have an idea, Sandra Bullock is a producer, why can't she find and develop her own flick starring her and Keanu? Why is Christopher Plummer taking roles where he is the father figure? Does he really need the money? Doesn't he make enough doing voice-overs on commercials?

That being said, the cinematography for the film is delightful - the house is gorgeous but totally unrealistic for living in during the winter months and the guy that Bullock becomes engaged to has the personality of a wet blanket... maybe that was his goal.

Save your money and rent this one. Reeves and Bullock are good in the film as are the actors who are supporting players to Bullock playing her mother and the doctor who mentors her.

If I were David Chase and/or the executives at HBO

Remember when I said there would be a blog on the Sopranos? Well this is a blog about the Sopranos but it isn't that blog.

The Sopranos has just finished part one of its sixth season on HBO. HBO will be showing a further 8 episodes in January 2007. Anyhow, and I haven't seen the last three episodes of this season so this plot idea I have could have happened but I doubt it.

My idea is that HBO should have a contest where the viewer can choose which member of the Soprano family they would have whacked. Of course, they probably have already made the last few episodes but I can make a suggestion can't I?

My choice for a permanent form of whacking would be Paulie Walnuts. Paulie is a made man in Tony's operation.

Paulie is a mysogonist.

He has women he has sex with but he has never had a real relationship with a woman. The closest relationships he has on the show are with his mother and with Tony. He even had problems with his own mother this season when he found out she was not his biological mother ... he was so mad he threw her television set out the window. Like get it together Paulie.

He is incredibly jealous of Christopher. FYI: Christopher would be in my top three to whack after Paulie and Janice Soprano. In the second season when he and Christopher are sent to "take care" of a Russian in the New Jersey woods the two of them totally screw up, lose the Russian and end up spending the night in the woods fighting over a chocolate bar. One time Paulie even was caught sniffing the crotch of Andrianna's thongs (Christopher's girlfriend) - need I say more.

Okay I will. In another season Christopher and Paulie kill a waiter who has the nerve to ask for a bigger tip. Avoid customers like these if you are in the service industry. Most of all, I think Paulie should be whacked because of his hair because it makes him look like a skunk man. Who wants a superhero that looks like a skunk? Ohhhh I am so impressed by skunkman - he could stop his enemies with a squirt from his tail. Anyway, I have rambled long enough about Paulie's shortcomings. Tell me what you think? Who would you whack? and why?