New Meatloaf and Lopez Tonight!

Meatloaf: Be Cool Teddy Bear (AUDIO CD) *Early review!
Readers of this blog know how much I worship Meatloaf. I love the guy. Bat I & II were among the best CDs ever made, and even Bat III had moments of greatness, if not real cohesiveness. I've been to many Meatloaf shows, but the one I went to a few years back in San Diego made me realize something - Meat's getting old. In his 60s now, that voice, at least on stage, can't really do what it used to. Truth be told, his vocals have really fallen apart live.

The studio is a much different story. I don't know what tools they use, but Meatloaf can definitely belt it out old-school style in the studio and easily sounds like the Meat of years ago.

That is what's so frustrating about writing this review. Here we have Meatloaf, ready and super-game to do something truly different, and he does. To some seriously mixed results. I'm not saying one couldn't like this CD, and I'm sure it will find its fans...but something really doesn't work here. The production is better than it’s been in years. His songs have a musicality I've not heard from him in forever. (Bat III was great - but it relied heavily on his age-old formula. A formula I love.)

Produced by Rob Cavallo, who does the Green Day albums among others, here was a case of a truly great producer, great musicians and best of all, Cavallo has always idolized Meatloaf and wanted to make a great album with him.

The CD supposedly is a concept album about a dying soldier dreaming of all the things he'll never have...but I defy anyone to find that thread in the songs or lyrics. Although there is certainly a particular style and a unification of sound here, the concept completely eluded me, as I'm sure it will most.

Okay, so is the CD any good? Yes and no. It SOUNDS good. It has a nice production value and Meat's voice sounds stronger than it has any right to and game enough to handle all kinds of lyrical patterns we've never heard from him. And yet, that's part of the problem.

We just want a great Meatloaf album. Which usually means soaring pianos, melodramatic lyrics about lost love and most of all - a sense of humor about the proceedings.

As I write this, I'm giving it a 3rd listen. It rocks harder than most Mead CDs, and again, not really a good thing. That said, there are some moments here that work. I think this might be the very first time an entire CD goes by without any Steinman tracks. (Maybe there were one or two others, but I honestly can't think of any. Possibly that one right before Bat III.)

Backstory: Meat and Steinman did Bat I together, then fought and parted. But in the 5 or so subsequent Meat CDs, Meatloaf often turned to the Steinman back catalogue for some guaranteed winners on each CD. Great Meatloaf songs without Steinman involved in some way are a rarity, but they do exist. (I'd Lie For You, Piece Of The Action, Hot Patootie (RHPS) and Blind as a Bat are all non-Steinman penned, but heavily Steinman influenced.)
Here it's all guest-stars and behind the scenes names that...I don't know. Kara Dioguardi from American Idol is here, singing and penning one tune. Hugh Laurie, who plays HOUSE is here playing piano on the CD's arguably best cut, the Springsteen-esque If I Can't Have You (it's no Springsteen.) He even duets with Jack Black on one tune that's instantly forgettable and…I mean – what the fuck? He’s now doing flat out parody and not knowing it? It reminds me of Eddie Murphy trying to be a singer with PARTY ALL THE TIME (that actually wasn’t bad.)

And that's the problem with the entire CD, its just way too forgettable. Meatloaf sings well, the music sounds good and well-produced, yet this might be the very first Meatloaf CD ever that I have not found one song to cling to. It sounds very generic with that great voice trapped in songs that never take off. Again, there are moments were you can see how this might've worked, but sadly, it really doesn't. And since he usually takes at least 3/4 years between CDs, this is a massive disappointment. Just way too much electric guitar, just so much noise when all we really want is a piano, Meatloaf and Jim Steinman.

Here is my suggestion for the next Meatloaf CD. If you can't patch things up with Steinman, do a BEST OF BAT: UNPLUGGED with stripped, slowed down versions of hits like Bat out of Hell and Anything For Love.

I love Meatloaf. I had such high hopes. But it's hard to review these songs because they are just so unsubstantial I wouldn't know where to begin.

If you have to listen to a few cuts, I'd go with If I Can't Have You (at least it tries) and the CD closer Elvis In Vegas just might grow on me....I don't know. This is...really disappointing.

Grade: C -

UPDATE: I just saw on AMAZON that with the release of HANG COOL TEDDY BEAR (a line from a Russ Meyer film written by Roger Ebert) will come a 2nd CD of a new Meatloaf concert - so, there is now some justification to buy the "deluxe" version of this...I guess. I'll let you know how that concert CD is once I get it.

ONE MORE THOUGHT: I really do love Meatloaf. It'd be great if he can pull one more CD off with Jim Steinman, but if not, what's good here is that its very clear that Meat can pull off complicated vocals in a studio setting. Now with the right mix of writers and producers (not catch of the day people - I love Jack Black, but his mere presence here doesn't represent anything good) - but, and call me crazy, I think the NEXT Meatloaf CD is going to rock in a good way. And for whatever its worth, some people might love this disc as its a lot more grounded than the previous work, so - please support Meat and buy this CD so he's encouraged to record more. That's it on Meatloaf for a while.

Hachi: A Dog's Tale (DVD)
Direct to DVD (and PPV) this is a very famous story about an Akido dog found at a train station by Richard Gere. Directed by Lasse Halstron, this is not your average straight-to-video. With the exception of a slightly annoying framing device, which kind of works but just feels unnecessary, this might be a classic on the order of Old Yeller. Even thinking about the story, which frankly, I don't want to get into because anything said here will be a spoiler, just know that this is not your average dog movie, it's unusually concerned with the relationship with Gere and the dog, it is true, and there are scenes in the last 40 minutes that you will remember forever.

This is not perfect, as there are some basic questions here that go unanswered. (Like - the dog always goes to the train station and nobody ever seems concerned that something will happen to him....) - but it doesn't matter, because the vast majority of this not only works, it works so well you may never forget certain images.

We should all be so lucky to one day have a dog like Hachi. I love him, and I loved this movie.

That said, there is much subtlety here, so don't expect something grand like the overblown movie version of Marley & Me (this is a much better film.) This is a real movie from a real director in which one of the two actors here happens to be a dog.

Grade: A (A must-see.)

UPDATE: It's been a few days and I can't stop thinking about some of the images and scenes in this movie. I'm giving it a rare upgrade:
Grade: A + (despite some flaws) because what works here works so well. For contrast, see MARLY & ME to see how NOT to do a dog movie. (I recently watched it again with my friend Gail and like it even more. It's a really small subtle movie so I don't want to overhype, but this is the real deal.)


I was watching Eddie Murphy on Letterman the other night and remembering how great he used to be and how cool he always seemed. It was a very funny interview and Murphy was as open as he could be, avoiding the obvious. It almost made me think he can put together another stand up special if he wasn't so hung up about his past.

Speaking of late night, well, Leno is back and unfunny as ever. Truly. Only now it’s with confidence!

Conan, as I'm sure you've heard, is going to TBS. But in order to do that, he had to push George Lopez of LOPEZ TONIGHT! back an hour. Lopez was only to happen to have a reconizable lead in.

In fact, truth be told, by reading this blog, you know what a TV freak I am, yet I honestly had NO IDEA Lopez even had a late night show.

Look, for my money, it's Kimmel and Letterman. With Letterman as the elder statesman who runs the job like a pro, and Jimmy taking the talk show into the next century. The two shows are different enough that it's great to have both of them around. I think Jimmy's monologue is the best in television and his bits are always top-notch and best of all, he really has a way with his guests. Unlike Conan or Jay, he's a real listener and a gifted ad-libber. He and Letterman have it going on.

I don't particularly like Craig Ferguson, but at least I get it. He's a funny man. He has some good instincts. He was very funny on Drew Carrey, but c'mon - I'd rather take a bullet in the head than watch the full hour. He can only try so hard.

Then there's Conan, who frankly, I never got, and I suspect his TBS show will get some attention and then die a very painfully slow death.

And then where does that leave George Lopez?

LOPEZ TONIGHT! (TBS)
As far as George Lopez goes, the only think I ever really knew about him is that he was on a truly middle-of-the-road sitcom, that Sandra Bullock would occasionally come on and literally do pratfall all over the set. (At the time, Sandra was determined, to ugly comic non-effect) that she was the next Lucille Ball and that her "whacky" falls were knee-slapping comedy incarnate. She was also quite proud of herself for finding Lopez in a sea of comedians and putting her name behind him. (They could remake the whole thing as The Other Blind Side.) But the truth is that show wasn’t bad, Lopez was a sympathetic character and the supporting cast was quite good, if not particularly memorable.

At some point after 4 or 5 unremarkable seasons and really not remembering even one episode even though I somehow had watched quite a few, Lopez disappears from the market, and then shows up occasionally as a super-funny guest on Jimmy Kimmel's show. (I'm not going to say the man is unfunny nor not talented. His shtick seems to work for the first few minutes and he’s a better guest than host.)

Ok, now to the late night show – Lopez Tonight!

Right off the bat, his audience appears to be the size of Staples Center. I'm not kidding. There are like, THOUSANDS of audience members. It's weird. They sometimes cut to the back row and it seems like a Dodger game. Then George Lopez appears to be un-miked - so it sounds like he's SCREAMING to be heard by everyone. Maybe that's his thing, but he's constantly SCREAMING his jokes. Oh, and those jokes. Those terrible, wretched fucking jokes, delivered by a panting, desperate screaming man who stumbles over 90 percent of the punchlines. What an opening. He and his jokes both seem exhausted.

Then he might have some insanely bad bit, he'll bring on his guests...he had Benjamin Bratt one night, you would've thought he was bringing on Brad Pitt the way he carried on. And he's so nervous around his guests the banter is as forced as a hostage negotiation. I feel bad for the guests who have to fake laugh their way through the whole thing. And Lopez says some very...strange stuff. He said to Bratt many times during that interview "Look at you, all tall and skinny - I'm so jealous!" He did this like 8 times. Was he fishing?

I will tell Lopez what The Godfather once said "Be a man! Be a man!"

Oh, and here is the breakdown of almost every single Lopez joke:
Here is how WHITE people do it.
Here is how LATINOS do it.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

He had on Jennifer Lopez the other night, you would've thought he was bringing on the Queen of England. Lopez himself seemed shocked he had on a big guest, and again, he was weird about how – he told this very complicated and bungled story of he and J.Lo and friends at some charity function and mentioned how they all got bad looking at the end of the night but J. Lo always looks great. Why is this man always fishing for compliments? You’re a comedian. Relax. It’s okay that you look like a fucking monster.

Anyway - what else can I say. This is either the worst show in the history of late night (and I'm including the Magic Hour and the Chevy Chase show) or the best, I guess depending on what you're on at the time you're watching it.

Stone cold sober, this show gets a:
Grade: F -


16 & Pregnant (MTV)
Great show. Huge bummer. The girls are great, in that they were so crazy to get pregnant at such a young age, but in most cases, from what I've watched, the pregnancy really forces them to get their shit together. It's the guys here that are unbelievably awful. The whole thing is a little too depressing for me. But in its way, it's an important show for the MTV audience. It's real, gritty and not soft soaped. Class from the people that brought us JERSEY SHORE? I guess so.
Grade: B

SNL: Ryan Phillipe
Dead on arrival. One of their very worst. Ryan was game - the cast was lame.
Grade: D -

SNL: Gabourey Sidibe
After a lively opening, this went from worse to worse. Sidibe was lively, but apparently thinks that loud and obnoxious equals funny. The sketches were ghastly.
Grade: D -

SNL: The 2000s: Ups and Downs.
Not quite as good as the previous decade wrap ups somehow, which all seemed more documentary like. This felt more like a greatest hits episode of the last year, but that said, there was some great stuff here. Particularly the Lonely Island talking about their evolution on the show through Andy Samberg and how the digital shorts going viral made such a huge impact in how SNL has been interpreted in the age of YouTube.
Grade: B

SoberHouse (Vh1)
You're still the one I love, still the one I care for...
Grade: A

The Animal Review.

THE ANIMAL REVIEW (in bookstores and Amazon.com)
(click HERE to order book!)

The Animal Review reminds me of my own blog, if my own blog were actually witty and funny on a line by line basis. But instead of reviewing film and television, the genius writing team of Jake Lentz and Steve Nash have chosen to review animals as if they were objectively gradable.

They gave the Panda an F which landed them in a lot of mock hot water, as they pointed out the national obsession with Pandas disinterest in mating and their "refusal to act like real bears."

They give the King Cobra an A +, since, as the writers put it "like you're going to be the one to give King Cobra an A -. Yeah, good luck with that one."

Not only is this hilarious but educational in the best way, you don't realize you're being educated because you're laughing too hard. This is literally the best thing I've read in ages.

I will tell you from a jaded media sponge who sees and watches everything, this book made me laugh out loud and hope for a second book. I even went and bought copies through Amazon for all my friends. It's probably the most original take on the role of a critic I've ever seen, and I urge all my readers to go out and buy this immediately.
Grade: A +


LOST (ABC)
I know I've been really giving LOST a hard time, but I have to say the last few episodes have been pretty good. The one with Hurley was actually great, and this week has been good as well with things finally coming to a head. Although...if I had to nitpick:
SPOILERS AHEAD: IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE LAST 2 WEEKS OF LOST, DO NOT READ

1.) Last week the Locke Monster threw a torch into the well and we never heard it land. He then through Desmond into the well, leading us to believe Desmond was dead and setting up Locke Monster as a real piece of shit. This week, to accomidate story, not only was Desmond fine in that well, but the well appeared to be about 4 feet deep and easily able to climb out of.
2.) They said Clair had the same disease that Sayid now has - that she died and came back and turned evil (pointed out by her big bad floppy makeup-room nightmare hair that is clearly some kind of fright wig that LOST producers didn't realize looked like a bad Halloween joke.) Okay, so Clair has this disease that Sayid the emotionless killer now has. The problem, Clair, after getting yelled at by a few cast members, now seems perfectly fine. So again, the mythology seems to bend for story convenience at every turn.

That said, I was completely impressed by the fact that they managed to tie the scene from the mental hospital with Hurley and Libby in from season 2 with the curent storyline. I was convinced that it was a huge error back then that went very far in suggesting that the entire thing was in Hurley's mind - but they have explained that very long gestating sore point of storytelling, and even though I didn't care for a lot of the direction, the finale is starting to really pick up steam and I'm kind of somewhere in between on it now. I can't say I'm not looking forward to the finale, although I'm not sure my original predictions are correct. I have a bit more to say about LOST but I'm going to wait a few more episodes and see how this last leg develops.
Final Season Grade So Far: B + (and climbing)


STANLEY KUBRICK: BOXES (Sundance)
A great documentary in a sea of documentaries about the late, great director, this tale revolves around the Kubrick estate and is narrated mostly by his brother. It seems Kubrick had about a million ideas on everything from TV to movies to building new types of everyday equipment. He kept all the ideas, scripts, notes, prototypes - in these boxes. And this fascinating 90 minute doc goes through the boxes and it doing so, treads over the director's life.
Grade: B


KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (Fox)
I've already written enough about this show, but let me say a few more things about maybe one of the best reality shows ever. First of all, I fucking HATE Hell's Kitchen. That show outlived its usefulness after about 2 seasons. But in this, it has this great formula where Chef Ramsey, a natural reality TV star if there ever was one, go into the resturaunt in question and taste their best dishes. This segment usually ends with the Chef either throwing up or pulling the food apart to reveal the ingredients like a 5 year old. Then he screams at everybody till they come around and usually, by the 3rd act, the owners, who are ready to fist fight Ramsey initially are hugging him and thanking him for completely re-doing his restaurant. I was at Dupar's last night on Ventura, famous for their pies and I was thinking hmmm......I could pull a Chef Ramsey in this place. It's just the greatest. I don't normally give such a high grade to these shows, and I'm sure we're all being manipulated by editing, but....
Grade: A


24 (Fox)
The last hours have proved to really perk up this initially dreary installment. The killing of Hassan, the promotion of Chloe, Jacks ill-fated romance (with a woman who had sex just a few hours earlier with a bad guy!), the return of Logan, they are really going balls-out on this finale and I am loving it. I know some of the turns are a bit wonky, but 24 has never been the most accurately detailed show - just one of the funnest. And these final hours have given the writers the freedom to really do everything they want, and suddenly this show is great again. If only it all didn't pivot around the Peace Talks! Still....
Grade: A

(I know it seems like I'm loving everything these days, but hey, I don't try to watch shows I don't like!)

I have more coming up.

Stay tuned.

I have a full review of the DAMAGES season finale on its way.

And check out THE ANIMAL REVIEW!

I LOVE SARAH JANE

I LOVE SARAH JANE (SUNDANCE)
This was a great 15 minute short about a British trio of families living in a post apocolyptic world with zombies. As amped up as that sounds, it's small, subtle and quite moving. I wish George A. Romero could still pull some drama out of the genre he created, but he'd be wise to team up with whoever was responsible for this film.
Grade: A


By the way, I have seen the 3rd film in George Romero's latter day trilogy "Survival Of the Dead."

Since I was shown an early cut, I wanted to see a final cut before I review it. But an early review is coming - maybe as early as next week.

For those of us who were into the DEAD films of Romero, Land Of The Dead, Diary of the Dead and now, Survival of the Dead - this is like the new Star Wars trilogy for Zombie freaks. Unfortuntely, we're been just as dissapointed. Frankly, I liked the 2004 remaked of DAWN OF THE DEAD better than the new Romero Zombie films.


UNDERCOVER BOSS (CBS)
I still like it, I just think it's completely predictable. The same experience happens every single week. They need to mix it up a bit more for next season.


Adam Lambert Unplugged (MTV)
I loved Lambert on Idol. Here he just reprises some of those tunes and a few new ones, but it's a bore. Adam sings well, but somewhere along his road to fame, something cool was lost somehow.
Grade: C -


SOUTH PARK has been outragously funny this season. They have not had one sub-par episode yet. Who knew in its 15th year the show would be on fire? The recent Facebook themed ep, "YOU HAVE ZERO FRIENDS" was the bomb.

DAMAGES is coming to a conclusion. Last night they had their penultimate episode. What a great season. Martin short is fantastic as I've said earlier, but I wasn't crazy about the twist that storyline took, and frankly, the storytelling in the final leg is pushing credibility, but I love it nonetheless and can't wait for the finale - in what will probably end up being the series finale, as DAMAGES can't seem to get enough veiwers to warrant another year. Too bad, since its easily one of the finest dramas on TV.


Speaking of which, Hugh Larie did a great job directing himself on HOUSE, M.D. last night. They actually had some fun with the traditional "bottle" episode.

Damages, Idol and Lost.

DAMAGES (F/X)
What a fantastic season. I think there are 2 left, but last week I started unspooling these from the DVR. Glenn Close is more brilliant than ever as Patty Hewes. Rose Byrne...still not so much. But less seen and therefore, more effective thise season. She's not a terribly good actress, but the staff seems to have found a better way to posit her into the action this year. Although did we REALLY need her adoption story line in the 3rd leg of this? Also, Ted Danson is back as Arthur Frobisher. It's an incredibly self-reflexive storyline that really pushes the limit of how much your remember season 1 - which is not a great thing to do when you're only in season 3. That said, Danson is good in the role (even though the whole storyline is really dodgy) - it just kind of works. And I do wish they'd do away with the dream sequences. I really don't know why TV can't get over the fucking dream sequence. We don't care. Honestly. But getting back to the show, while all the actors, especially Tate Donavin, are excellent - and we have some all stars here, from Lily Tomlin's cold turn as mom, Cambell Scott as the son and even Uncle Jun himself, Dominick Chianese as a money launderer - special merit must be given to the best performance of the season: Martin Short as the family lawyer.

I've always loved Martin short from SCTV, to his one solid SNL year, to many of his great insane film roles. And yes, the last few years....not so much. But as this lawyer, Short not only does away with every single comic trick he's developed, he has created an entirely new persona, and maybe one of the most intriguing ones on modern television. He's that good. By underplaying the entire thing, he's brought it to life and given this sad sack the kind of empathy we need to care about him - even though he's kind of a horrible guy. It's Emmy worthy and nothing short of brilliant. Martin Short is stealing the show by not stealing the show.

As for DAMAGES itself, this could be the last season (most likely.) If it is, they are going out on a sky-high note, and bringing back Danson for the end would turn out to be a stroke of luck/genius.

Sesaon 2 really wobbled, season 3 is rock solid. Better than ever.
Grade: A


AMERICAN IDOL (ABC)
I don't really get it this year. I like the guy with the acoustic guitar who did STRAIGHT UP and FOREVER (Andrew Garcia I think?) and some of the girls are okay - but honestly, between Ellen's god-awful jokes and Randy's pathetic "you went too far, now I'm gonna crack-up" laugh when she tells them - to Carla trying to create intrigue by cozying up to Simon, blech. The only compelling thing left here is the end of the doomed love story thats playing out. Soon to be dashed lover Ryan Seacrest occasionally trying to draw fire from Simon since this is Simon's last season. Ryan clearly feels betrayed and it shows. How pathetic and yet wonderful for tv. Thank God there is some drama going on here.
Grade: C -

UPDATE: Ruben and Clay from season 2 are going on tour together! Does anybody really need to see that show?

Well, I actually do.


LOST (ABC)
One of the most compelling dramas on TV has now become the most ambitious, and the drama is suffering from the ambition.

While there is SO much to criticize these days on LOST, and I am talking some REALLY loopy mythology that only makes sense in a writer's room after 4 days of no sleep...there is much to admire.

The ambition and scope of it is admirable, and the acting is top-notch. Especially since most of the actors are having to play year 6 on the island, as well as newly formed characters as part of a flash-sideways (although to be honest...those flash-sideways are supposed to be from the FIRST plane ride - meaning that those flash-sideways are REALLY, flashbacks!)

Anyway, the hour about Ben Linus being a teacher was kind of great, the hour where the Richard Alpert character kills a doctor to get medicine for his wife...not so much. I kind of loved the fact that he sees a doctor who just happens to be evil, who has a potion to cure his wife even though he had never examined the wife, and that this doctor expected a million dollars for the potion from Richard - even though they clearly lived in a poor hovel. Lastly, after Richard gets the potion, he has no idea how to use it so apparantly she just needs to drink it. And the self-reflexive jokes don't help any. And there are plenty of them. Usually delivered by Hurley.

That said - I really like LOST and admire the direction its gone in, even as they've taken away the possibility of death from most of the characters, making the drama a bit toothless. (I have also grown very weary of SUN and her bad angry acting which seems to get worse every season. She's sometimes okay, but when her character is forced to be angry - oh, boy. And she hit her head on a coconut tree and forgot English? Yikes.)

For the moment though, I am goign to leave this to the last few episodes to find out if this ending really ties it all up in a satisfying way. Here's hoping.
Grade: ???

South Park, Kate Perry, The Office, 30 Rock, Grey Gardens & Celeb Apprentice

Kate Perry: Unplugged (MTV)
The absolutely luminous Kate Perry kicks this off with a great re-working of I KISSED A GIRL and goes on to thoughtfuly talk about her new songs, some old song, her life and her artistic process. She's beautiful, she's great and she's funny. And while I'm not super familiar with all the cuts on her debut CD, I love the acoustic treatment she gives them here.
Grade: B


THE OFFICE (NBC)
I love Ed Helms. I think he's the best thing to happen to this show.


GREY GARDENS (HBO)
I know this won all kinds of awards and stuff, but I'm at a loss. Drew Barrymore could not have been more affected. The makeup was horrible. It didn't work. Sorry, really didn't work for me. I gave up after an hour.
Grade: D


30 ROCK (NBC)
Having a very good season. That said, I wish they'd stick more to real office situations and stay less with the more surreal aspects of the show, which sometimes threaten to take over the entire enterprise.
Grade: B +


THE CELEBRITY APPRENTICE (NBC)
Another great installment with just the right amount of lunacy, Brett Michaels is really coming off as quite the befuddled character out of his ROCK OF LOVE element, and who knew Cyndi Lauper was so crazy/awesome? Sharon Osbourne is surprisingly grounded and ex-Governer Rob Blagojevich is really a scream. I think this is going to be a great edition.
Grade: B +


V (NBC)
Still getting into it...grade forthcoming.


JUSTIFIED (F/X)
Wow, what a difference a few episodes make. While I found the pilot somewhat pedestrian, the following two episodes have been fantastic, and as far as a fun action/adventure hour with some adult dialog and always good acting - look no further.
Grade: B +


MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
While I like this show more and more, some eps are just not up to snuff. Like the one I watched last night with guest star Ed Norton.


SOUTH PARK (COM CEN)
"Scrotum McBoogerBalls"
Fantastic.
"KFC weed episode (forgot the name)"
Unbelievable. The sight of those men jumping along on their balls.....
This is not the best show ever made. It's just a great show having a (so far) unbelievable season.
Grade: A

ARCHER

HOME DEPOT STORY (CNBC)
I started catching a few of these CNBC docs that take huge businesses and try to figure out what they did right. A lot of them have similar stories in the rags-to-riches sense, but I really liked this edition, I just don't have much to review.


REM: THIS IS NOT A DOCUMENTARY (IFC)
A set the guys did live in....I forget. This was a brush up for the Olympic Stadium CD they did and also they were running through their new CDs set lest. Frankly, I LOVE REM - and I didn't know one song on this thing. If you liked that CD they released at the time of this, you'll probably love this show.


ARCHER (F/X)
Really funny, but very tied to its spy-game genre. If you're not hip on spy films, I suspect you may not appreciate just how well done this is. I am a fan and a lot of this made me laugh out loud.