Kimputer's Weblog

This is Fox’ newest procederal show to highlight the summer, and almost has a (NBC’s) Profiler feel to it. With a professional team behind it (most of the Imagine team that are also behind 24), it still lacks a certain feel to it. As the team of special FBI agents of the Violent Crimes Task Force (still exactly as the Profiler) psycho analyse the crimes, there’s still time for personal drama (again, the same). And while I’m a true proponent for that, so it creates extra depth for the characters, in this series it feels too contrived.
Cases follow up each other in the same way, with the first suspect never being guilty, and a surprise ending by a character you’d least expected. It’s nice, but it’s not perfect. Then again, at least it’s not a forensic show. Let’s see how this plays out after the summer.

He says he’s having a bad day, but if I listen to this “debut” album (he already released an album in 2000), it’s gonna be a bad year.
As is usual with these artists, they start off with the best song of the album. That way you’ll buy the album, only to have it be a huge disappointment (but at least the artist will have his pension taken care of). Well, that’s exactly what this album is.
Of the 10 tracks, only one is a hit, and the rest is mediocre stuff. A few are even irritating. On most of the songs, he even pretends to be a long lost brother of the BeeGees, but raising his voice like that doesn’t make it more interesting. Of course, I have to admit, there are one or two potential next singles that will be a hit, as I do know what the mass will like, but for people with a more evolved taste, this is just too unimpressive.5+.

Marred by a host of bad reviews, results are still pretty fantastic for the invisible, stretchable, firy but ugly quartet, as Fantastic Four attracts $56 million worth in ticket sales. Dropping a gear is War of the Worlds, with $31.3 million at number 2. Batman continues to do quite good business with $10.2 million, but with totals, War is right on its heels already ($172 million in 4 weeks vs. $165 million in 2 weeks).
Jennifer Connelly starrer Dark Water opens at nr. 4 with $10.1 million. As usual, horror pics do better when opening without competition from superheroes. Rounding off the top 5 is Mr. & Mrs. Smith, with $7.9 million.

Rate 1 (FR#^&% MESS !) to 5 (how very tidy !). Only rate the latest picture, otherwise I can’t keep track of the average.

Total: 1281 out of 416 votes > Average is: 3.079

Ever been told that morality tale about the keyboard and the breadcrumbs ? Well, it started here.

With any Jet Li movie, some bones have to be broken, and this movie is no different. It’s clear though, how his movies usually play out. He has a handful of typical Hollywood movies (Romeo Must Die, The One, Crade 2 the Grave). He had the standard Hong Kong martial arts flicks (The Black Mask, The Enforcer). He had some higher quality Chinese art movies (Hero). And now he’s trying the European style of making movies.
And it pays off, because the quality is slightly higher than the previously mentioned 2 categories. Story is still slightly simple, but the dialogue in between makes more sense. Mostly thanks to Morgan Freeman, the acting is up to standard too. That leaves only the predictability as a weak point. Still, for fans and non-fans, it’s different enough to make a more firm impression than the mediocre stuff he made earlier in Hollywood (and hopefully avoid in the future).7+.

A mini-series on ABC, it tells the story of the Roman Empire shortly after Ceasar has been killed. It revolves around the heir of Julius, and the power struggle for a new ruler. And we have gladiators and horses and sand and sun, blabalablala.
The first episode tries to be a cheap Gladiator rip-off, and it fails miserable on all aspects. The acting is quite bad, as are the flimsy action scenes. The second episode is pretty much worse. There’s no depth in the characters, and the story telling is kinda boring. I guess the next $24 million are not spent on me (as $6 million has been the reported budget per episode).

Aliens wreak havoc at the box office, as War of the Worlds takes in $77.6 million, good for the top spot. A distant second, but a respectable performer is Batman, $18.7 million is good for the runner-up spot. In retrospect, the media stunt Tom and Kate pulled worked quite well, I must say. We should have more of those.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith cling on the number 3, with $12.7 million. The females flocked for the fourth place, Bewitched with $10.8 million, while the kids handled the number 5, Herbie: Fully Loaded with $10.5 million.

While Steven Spielberg is always busy on the big screen, he never really left his small screen activities idle. And after Band of Brothers (HBO) and Taken (Sci-fi Channel), it’s TNT’s turn to get a big promotional boost with Into the West. And paying off it does (with 7 million watching at a time, totalling 21 million viewers on its triple play rotation).
His name alone warrants at least a peek at the pilot, I have to be honest to tell you, it’s a little bit hard keeping your attention on the screen. Basically focusing on 2 families throughout a few generations (one hard working family, with the kids going out for adventure, and one Native American family and how they cope with the invasion of the white people during the 1800’s) and how they intertwine, it is a bit boring. Themes like Indian rituals come by, and the dangerous traveling into the west are highlighted. In the following episodes we see some settling down, and just when you’re getting a clear picture of the character, the focus shifts to another generation, jumping another decade. In essence, they’re building a saga, but it’s a bit hard to connect to the characters if they keep popping up and disappearing at the same time.
A whole bunch of notable “guest” appearances should keep the star rating high (Sean Astin, Rachel Leigh Cook, Keri Russell, Skeet Ulrich), and there’s even more to come in the following episodes.
All in all, it sounds like must-see, but if it were not for the summer low season, I’d probably drop this one without much thought .