Nothing to do with Monkey-Boy

Monday 24
Originally uploaded by Tiffany Velez.

This post has nothing to do with Brenden. I've written almost exclusively about my son since he was born, and then there were those 9 months that I was pregnant. I think it's time I diversify.

Here's my review of An Unfinished Life. Every once in a while the Cinemablend review staff will have screeners available for review. I always volunteer for screeners - free movies! Plus you never know you might get something good. Like a copy of a movie with your favorite redhead.

Except for one offhand comment about his royal hotness, I didn't make much mention of his role in the movie. It was a small role, and he played an abusive piece of white trash. I was happy when Robert Redford kicked him in the nuts, and I was kind of hoping the bear would come along and eat him. Still, it was nice to see him in a relatively new movie.

My viewing habits are shifting towards tv shows lately. Since Battlestar Galactica won't be back with new shows until November, the Sci-Fi channel is showing Doctor Who in its place. I haven't watched the show since the Tom Baker / Peter Davison days. Thanks to CGI and a bit better budget, this time around the good doctor's special effects are a whole new class of cheese. I'm sorry Chris Eccleston only played the Doctor for one season, because he did a super job. He brings the doctor's cheerfulness to the right pitch - just a tad on the manic side.

We finally broke down and are now subscribing to HBO simply because I didn't want to wait two frackin' years for the last season of The Sopranos to come out on DVD. I still don't like anyone on the show, well not totally, but anything mob-related is like catnip to me.

The good thing about this show is that the mob guys are such evil idiots. Unfortunately just about everyone else (FBI, non-mob bystanders, Tony's family) are idiots as well.

We're still watching 24 even though it went way beyond silly a long time ago. I accept it for what it is and it's an enjoyable way to spend a Monday. I applaud Fox for deciding to run the show on uniterrupted consecutive weeks. Now if only the folks responsible for Lost would do the same.

This season I'm suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because every character I ever liked (except 2) has been killed off. Everyone has Dead Pools, and it's not a matter of who will die, it's how soon.

And then of course there's American Idol. The great fun of the evening is trying to guess how drunk/stoned Paula Abdul is. It's fun to make snarky comments about the contestants but sometimes getting through the show can be a real chore. Thank goodness for my TiVo remote.

Television Without Pity recaps AI and the poor bastard that has to write those recaps must be suffering from brain damage. His recaps have an almost hallucinatory, stream-of-conciousness quality to them. I was dismayed when I learned that he was to start covering Battlestar Galactica but he's doing a terrific job. He loves that show, and he's actually a quite passionate, articulate writer. I highly recommend his BG recaps.

So we have learned:
Battlestar Galactica: Quality, compelling television!
American Idol: Destroys brain cells!
24: If you don't watch, Jack Bauer will shoot your WIFE!