DVD Review: Smallville: the Complete Series

Smallville the Complete Series DVD box set
Warner Bros. home video
Available Tuesday, November 29th
9,261 minutes (and thirty-seven seconds)
Not rated

by Scott Mendelson

This one is pretty simple, folks.  I liked Smallville during its initial five years, when the series had a pretty clear narrative arc.  However, when the show picked up surprising ratings strength during its fifth (what was to be its final) season, the show became a giant waiting game, as the creators kept trying to arbitrarily keep the show alive through guest stars and cast replacements as the CW failed to launch successful replacements.  I gave up at the end of season seven, although I kept up with major plot points and did tune in for the series finale last May.  By the time Clark Kent became Superman, it was the definition of anti-climax.  He had already gone through pretty much all of the major Superman beats and encountered pretty much every major friend or foe that the he had already been Superman in all-but name and costume for four or five years already.  Still, through hell and high water, the show was an uncommonly ambitious bit of fantasy storytelling, revamping the Superman mythos in a way that made sense for series television and creating its own mythology that can stand alongside the movies, Lois and Clark, Superman: the Animated Series, and the comic books themselves as a 'proper' Superman epic.

Hypocrisy Alert! Why I love the new Looney Tunes Show (because it's great!).

I know, I know... I've spent the last month making various criticisms and rants about the deluge of reboots and remakes and rebirths of old properties arguably to cash in on nostalgia,  Hell, last week, I called for the box office failure of The Amazing Spider-Man, a film I haven't seen and may enjoy, purely because of my displeasure in how it was created.  So, call me a hypocrite, but I must speak the truth.  Cartoon Network has just finished their first 13-episode run of the new Looney Tunes show.  It is indeed a reboot of sorts, an attempt by Warner Bros. to reintroduce the classic characters to younger audiences and keep the brand alive.  It is arguably a clear-as-day example of just the kind of brand recycling that I often complain about, a naked attempt to get our kids hooked on the properties of yesteryear instead of giving them icons of their own.  And yet, by god, I absolutely love it.  As a standalone television show, it is an unmitigated triumph on every plausible level.

Thoughts on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Meloni and Hargitay step down.

For about six years, from season 2 to season 8, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was a pretty terrific procedural drama.  While people are understandably skittish about the subject matter, the show is generally less graphically violent than any of the CSI shows, let alone something like Criminal Minds.  But somewhere around season 9-ish, the show started getting silly... really silly.  The show went from a somewhat restrained 'just the facts, mam' procedural to a nonstop barrage of 'This isn't just any other case!!"  John Munch (Richard Belzer) was more-or-less written out of the show, Fin' Tutuola (Ice-T) became relatively scarce, and the series went from being a genuine ensemble cop show to the Benson and Stabler show, complete with 'will they or won't they?' teases and oodles of needlessly personal subplots.  Every season had at least one 'PLEASE give Mariska Hargitay an Emmy!' episode, which usually resulted in a season-low point (SEE Benson get raped in jail!)  that actually snagged her that Emmy nomination.  

What they died for? Not much. How the Lost finale negates the series.

Well, that was a fantastic two-hour epic, completely redeeming the first act of weak, claustrophobic entries that started the season. It was an intelligent, soaring adventure story, rich with excitement, character-development, crowd-pleasing pay-offs, heartbreaking sacrifices, and a final twist that cast the series in a whole new wonderful light. That's what I would be saying if this were a review of "Through the Looking Glass", the season three finale which aired three years ago. Alas, this is not a review of the series-high midpoint, although after last night, I'm of the opinion that Lost only ran for three glorious seasons. Last night's finale was a tragedy, a genuinely uninvolving and downright dull botch that not only fails as a stand-alone episode and fails as a finale, but it lessens the profound dramatic impact of what came before over the last six years. It was the worst major series finale since Ally McBeal, but at least the 'Ally leaves Boston because the daughter that showed up on her doorstep just months prior is fainting' wrap-up didn't wreck the storytelling of the previous five seasons.

TV Review: Mega Piranha (2010)

Mega Piranha
2010
90 minutes
not rated

by Scott Mendelson

Mega Piranha is everything Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus wanted to be but wasn't. It is completely entertaining from start to finish. It has just enough of a budget and just enough production values to actually deliver the trashy goods. It is generally terrible, but never insulting and never dull. It is an absolute laugh riot because it achieves that delicate balancing act between taking its world seriously and acknowledging its absurdity. The film never cheats by winking at the audience, and it never seems to be trying to make a camp classic. The film premiered on the SyFy Channel last Saturday and comes to DVD on April 27th. While I would never call Mega Piranha 'good' by any reasonable artistic standard, it is the most fun I've had with a live-action movie all year.

Last call at Sacred Heart. A farewell to Scrubs as it airs its probable series finale.

"They have thrilled us with their adventures, amazed us with their discoveries, and inspired us with their courage. They have been our guides, our protectors, and our friends. Now we are invited to join them, for one last adventure."

Maybe ABC will renew the show, with the new interns being the leads. Maybe we'll be watching Scrubs: The Next Generation this fall, with the old gang doing cameo appearances in each episode, with all the characters spread out so it feels like they're all still there (Zach Braff is leaving for good and many of the other leads have pilots lined up for next fall). Maybe creator Bill Laurence will still be involved in some capacity. But for all intents and purposes, Scrubs as we know it will end tonight. I've made no secret of my complete and utter adoration of Scrubs over the years. Ironically (or fittingly) for a show about the fragility of life and the inevitability of death, it feels like I'm saying goodbye to an old friend.

I'm not ready. I thought the series finale was next week. Furthermore, the preemption of last week's new episode meant that the last three episodes would air over two nights, all at once. I thought I had a few weeks to prepare. I haven't watched last night's episode, as my wife was out of town for the evening. So tonight, when we put Allison to bed, we will curl up on the couch and watch the last three episodes of my all-time favorite television show. And if the emotions I'm feeling just typing this are any indication, I'm probably going to cry harder than Allison when she doesn't want to go into the car seat.

I watered up during the series finale of The West Wing back in May of 2006. While I did and still do miss the show, it was the passage of time that got me. The show had began right when I was starting college and it was a shock to realize how quickly seven years had gone by and the ways my life had changed since then (little did I know what was just around the corner). I really got emotional during the series finale of, of all things, Justice League Unlimited. That was the end of something that I had grown accustomed to for fourteen years. From 1992 until 2006, I devoured Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited. Now there would be no more animated episodes in the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini/Alan Burnett DC Animated Universe. I was 26 at the time, so I was saying goodbye to something that had meant quite a bit to me, something that had been a part of my life for over half my existence.

There aren't any more shows that I care about that much. I adore The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother, but I will not mourn their inevitable end as long as its on their own terms. I certainly won't get emotionally involved when 24 finally kills Jack Bauer and the clock goes silent one last time (although at this point, letting him survive would actually be a more shocking finale). I'll be relieved if Lost can pull itself out of its exposition-heavy cement shoes and end on a character-focused note this time next year (the Miles-centered stand-alone 'Some Like It Hoth' was a step in the right direction), but I doubt my feelings will extend past the emotions contained in said episode. Truth be told, maybe it's part of being an adult, or maybe I just don't care as much anymore, but there are no longer any television shows that hold any kind of emotional pull over me. Scrubs was the last one, and now it's gone. That in itself is another touchstone of sorts, another reason to mourn or celebrate the passage of time.

So, thank you ABC for finally poaching it from NBC and giving it the treatment it deserved, and for giving it one last season to go out on its own terms. Thank you Bill Lawrence for toning down the fantasy and shtick, thus giving us the best overall season since the first three years. Thank you to everyone involved for making one of the very finest television shows ever made, a show that was the very best, most intelligent, witty, and moving sort of comfort food (nutritious and delicious). Thank you for making the last show that I will probably ever give a damn about. I just sincerely hope that its last thought tonight is a good one.

Scott Mendelson

Dwayne Johnson - the next Alec Balwdin/Steve Martin/Christopher Walken of Saturday Night Live?

My wife and I record Saturday Night Live and when we watch it later in the week, we like to play a game... let's see how many sketches we end up fast-forwarding. How quickly can we burn through the hour or so of actual weekly content? Well, this week, we have hit a milestone. Thanks to another terrific hosting performance by Dwayne Johnson (AKA The Rock), we ended up watching each and every sketch from beginning to end. This was the best Saturday Night Live of the season, surpassing even Rosario Dawson's wonderful episode in January (which was proceeding by a pretty terrific hosting job by Neil Patrick Harris).

Let me toss this out there... Dwayne Johnson should immediately be added to the list of open-door hosts. There are a handful of former hosts who basically are allowed to come back and play whenever their schedule permits. The obvious ones, of course, are Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, and Christopher Walken. I'm pretty sure the list also includes (or once included) Tom Hanks, John Goodman, Ben Afflick, and Justin Timberlake (who did a brief bit with Jessice Beil during Weekend Update last Saturday). The above 'Sports Time With Dave and Greg' sketch was the funniest thing they've done since Rosario Dawson's 'La Polica Mexicana' sketch.

Scott Mendelson

Because it's great, here's the 'La Polica Mexicana' sketch too...

TV Review: Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Wow... this is my 300th post is just under a year. Since I'm tired of complaining about Oscar nominations and cheap movie studios, let us break for a moment to discuss something awesome.

Although it is theoretically pitched to a younger audience, with bright colors and gee-wiz adventure, the newest Batman cartoon has a certain level-headed sophistication that makes it completely watchable for audiences of any age. Despite being a cartoon that seemed to have been invented purely to sell newer and different action figures to an ever younger audience demographic, Cartoon Network's Batman: The Brave and the Bold is smart about its kid-friendly science fiction adventures. And it's also very funny. Taking its name and its modus operandi from the long running (and occasionally canceled) comic book series, the show teams Batman up with a different B-level DC comic book hero every week, sending them both off on a fantastical adventure in far-off lands, alien worlds, and fantastical environments. The secret to the show's success is two-fold. The stakes are still life and death and Batman is still his gruff, no-nonsense self, which renders the insane occurrences around him and his nonchalant reactions to them downright hysterical.

Ironically, the light tone allows the creators to engage in rather violent fist-cuffs and smack downs, while the characters discuss matters of death freely without constantly using disguise words like 'destroy' or 'disappear' or 'lost'. For example, not only did the most recent episode have an onscreen death of a major hero, but the show's otherwise light and funny Christmas episode (awesomely titled 'Invasion Of The Secret Santas') contained the most vivid flashback of the Wayne murders that I've ever seen in a Batman cartoon. Second of all, Batman (voiced with punchy authority by Diedrich Bader) remains ever the hard ass, although he is more grouchy taskmaster than brooding psychotic. Crime fighting is a job for him, and whoever is riding shotgun in the Batmobile sure as he'll better pull their weight. But, since he is crime fighting with equals and not junior partners, the dialogue has a sense of true camaraderie and respect. Batman may believe he's superior to many of his partners, but he genuinely likes them and considers them his friends (if only in internal monologues).

I'm also quite fond of the crime fighting 'Dos and Don'ts', where Batman and Green Arrow or The Blue Beetle discuss personal strategies, making the show into an occasional superhero version of Burn Notice (apparently, if you carry knock-out pills in your belt, you need a special casing so they don't go off on you while you're moving). And Bats is forever unphased, which lends a trippy kick to the all the absurd goings on ("Are you seeing what I'm seeing?," asks Plastic Man, "Because I'm seeing gorillas riding pterodactyls, with harpoon guns, stealing a boat.") While Bader is a surprisingly convincing Batman, the show is extra funny if you imagine Christian Bale's McGruff The Crime Bat uttering some of Batman's choice dialogue ("Pretend you didn't see that," Batman sternly advices two traumatized youngsters, after they witness Batman punch the head off a robot Santa Claus).

In the end, the show works because of its absolute matter of fact presentation of the goofball subject matter. Whether attacked by murderous Santa robots or facing down unhinged dinosaurs, Batman treats it like any other day at the races. Tongues are obviously placed firmly in cheek, but the show is serious when it needs to be ("If I wanted you to retire," Batman explains to an over the hill Wild Cat, "it's because you're like a father to me... and I don't want to lose another one."). This is easily the most consistently funny Batman property since Adam West hung up his cape in 1968. It's certainly not high art like Batman: The Animated Series, but it's smarter than The Batman and it's a perfect counter-balance to the realism-drenched crime drama that is The Dark Knight. Because even the darkest of Dark Knights may have been undone by "Fluke, the most obnoxious dolphin on the planet."

Grade: A-

Scott Mendelson

Scrubs, television's best show, returns in peak form for it's 8th (and final?) season.

"You're in medicine, you gotta accept the fact that everything we do here -- everything -- is a stall. We're just trying to keep the game going; that's it. But, ultimately, it always ends up the same way."
- Dr. Cox - "My Old Lady" - Ep1x04 - 10/16/01

"I just can't get over the fact that one minute I'm here, and the next I am not."
-George Valentine - "My Last Words" - Ep8x02 - 01/06/08

For all the wackiness, for all the in-jokes, fantasy sequences, for all the musical numbers, and puns, Scrubs has always been about death. While ER got credit as the first hospital show where patients regularly died, Scrubs surely was the comedy with the highest body count. And it was the specter of death, the understanding that hospitals are merely a stop-gap, a place where life begins and ends, that gave the show its core power. And its relatively casual attitude towards the grim reaper has been one of the reasons why Scrubs remains the most realistic medical show on television according to most actual doctors and nurses.

For the last eight years, Scrubs has taken turns being either the best comedy or best drama on television, depending on the given episode. While it's best known for its outlandish humor and the arbitrary fantasy sequences of its lead (Dr. John Dorian, played by Zach Braff), it remains one of the most brutally heart tugging shows on television. It has never been a winner at the Emmys, nor a kingpin in the Nielsens, and it's been off its game for the last few years just a bit, if only compared to itself (too much zaniness, with the drama sometimes being too on-the nose). Creator Bill Lawrence has used the last-minute rescue by ABC (which owns the show and distributes the DVDs) to correct said flaws. For those not in the know, after years of NBC renewing it at the last minute just so ABC couldn't steal it, then treating it like garbage, NBC finally let it go last season. Aside from the obvious difference of Scrubs finally airing in widescreen high-definition, the results of the tinkering appear almost immediately (the issues are directly referenced in a witty post-credits bit after the first episode).

The show is a calmer one, the action less frantic, and the humor less outlandish. The drama is far less on the nose than in seasons 5 and 6, and much more succinct, hearkening back to seasons 1-3. And, most importantly, the characters feel as old as they are. JD starts the new season with a five-o'clock shadow, and it really feels like he's been doing this for eight years. The passage of time has always been a theme on the show (characters have gotten married, gotten divorced, moved away from each other, changed jobs, and started families), and the core of the first episode concerned JD and Dr. Cox's shared frustration that the same things kept happening (lazy interns and barbaric chiefs of medicine). In a welcome nod to the fact that this wasn't season 1 anymore, Cox and JD actually had a normal, honest conversation about their issues that was more like two colleagues rather than the usual student/mentor relationship that has struggled to remain plausible since season four.

The second episode, "My Last Words", was the true powerhouse, and frankly one of the finest episodes of the series run. The premise is classically simple, as is the follow-through. JD and Turk decide to cancel their decade-long tradition known as 'steak night' in order to keep a dying patient company. For literally the entire second half the show, it's pretty much just JD, Turk (Donald Faison), and George (Glynn Turman from The Wire) sitting in a hospital room talking about George's life, and their feelings about death. No broad gags, no fantasy sequences, just three guys in a room talking about mortality, with one guy who won't make it through the night. And because this is Scrubs, George's death was sad but not tragic. There really weren't any lessons to be learned, and in the end it was just Turk and JD sitting on the hospital roof; possibly, to hearken back to "My Old Lady" 'thinking of all the things they still have yet to do'.

For eight years, Scrubs has been arguably the best show on television, even with stiff competition at times. At its peak, it was funnier than Arrested Development and 30 Rock, every bit a geek wonderland as The Big Bang Theory, smarter than House, and more emotionally compelling than Six Feat Under. And it is certainly preferable in every way to Grey's Anatomy ("It's like they've been watching our lives," JD remarked in season five, "and put it on TV").

Creator Bill Lawrence originally stated that he wanted a live-action version of The Simpsons. And he has succeeded. Like that animated masterpiece, Scrubs is both one of the funniest comedies ever made and one of the most moving dramas ever aired. It single-handedly kept me out of a serious funk during my first few months in LA (no job, few friends, etc), and apparently many fans have similar claims on the almost spiritual effect the show has had on them. If this is to be its final season, I will mourn the show, but it will not be a tragedy. It has done its duty and deserves to go out on whatever terms it chooses. I just hope its last thought is a good one.

Scott Mendelson

Watch both of last night's episodes on ABC's streaming website.

TV Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

I was a bend-over-backward to be fair defender of this August's Star Wars: Clone Wars movie. It was never meant to be Episode VII and it was overall pretty entertaining. It had one innovative set-piece (the wall-climbing battle) and a solid climactic light saber fight (Anakin and Dooku dueling in a barren dessert; no jumping from platform to platform above bottomless pits, no lava explosions and vine-swinging, just two hated enemies desperately trying to kill each other). But I must concede that the 95 minute movie did come up short. It was a little juvenile and didn't do much to advance character.

It's been sitting in my DVDR for a few weeks, and I've only watched two of the four aired episodes. But, I'm happy to report that the actual Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series is actually a solid improvement over the pilot movie. The animation is certainly more suited to television, and the stories are smaller in scale but richer in character. Since we know much about the lead Jedis and the lead villains already, this show seems to be about the soldiers themselves, the clone troopers.

Both episodes dealt with clones being trapped in no-win situations and being guided to survival by their Jedi generals. They know full well that they are clones and meant to be primarily canon fodder, but the Jedi of course don't see it that way. As Yoda points out in the first episode, they may be clones, but the Force has given them all individual souls. Of course, the more these troopers grow as individual humans, the more tragic their inevitable fate will become. By making the faceless stormtroopers faceless no more, the series may add an extra poignancy to episodes III-VI.

The writing is sharp, with a bare-minimum of cheesy humor or Jedi-exposition ('we must find that weapon!'). Even the dreaded Ahsoka, Anakin's teen girl padawan, comes off better. She's less prone to wisecrack, and it's amusing watching Anakin deal with a student who has the same recklessness that Obi-Wan has had to deal with. It'll be a shame when she eventually dies.

As for the action, each of the first two episodes has boasted at least one worthwhile set-piece. The first episode climaxed with an extended sequence of Yoda laying waste to an entire droid patrol, in a sequence just as fantastic, but far more realistic than similar beats in the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars series (to be fair, chapters 18 and 19 of that series boasts one of the finest light saber duels ever). The second episode has something I've never seen before - a Jedi vs. droid troops sequence literally set in outer space, with Jedi Master Plo Koon fending off separatist attacks from the outside of a battered rescue pod.

So far, so good. I know many people felt burned by the movie, but that really wasn't the series at its best. It's no Batman: The Animated Series, but Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a good solid action adventure show that boasts decent writing, acceptable acting, and promises to actually add to the vast Star Wars canon. If you're a fan, it's at least worth a try.

Grade: B+

Scott Mendelson