TV: Potpourri

On last week's Ebert & Roeper, Ebert gave Thumbs Down to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which I already knew he would, having read his review). I admit, though, I was a little surprised to see Roeper give it a Thumbs Down, too. For some reason, my instincts told me he'd like it. Well, he didn't. In fact, he hated it: "Some fans have been waiting a lifetime for this movie. I waited six minutes at the theater, and it wasn't worth it." Not an exact quote, but you get the gist. If Ebert's review was two stars, Roeper's was maybe half a star; I would say it was zero stars, but he reserved that for XXX: State of the Union, which he hated far, far more.

The thing is, he was such a dick about it that it pissed me off. I don't usually have a personal reaction to their reviews, or anyone's reviews. I often disagree with them -- not everyone can like all the same things. But it's rare that I think -- that I know that they're just plain wrong, wrong to the point of doing a real disservice to the film, and to the public. I loved this film (as you can plainly see), and I think many more people would agree with me than with Ebert & Roeper. Why? Because I'm awesome, that's why.

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I've briefly mentioned before how well the music is used on Deadwood, specifically how sparingly it's used. Which means, when you hear music, it's for a reason. For example, this last episode, when you see Bullock's boy frolicking in the streets, and you see a wild horse bucking madly at its restraints as it's about to be gelded, and then the music starts... you know happy things are not about to happen.

Have I mentioned recently how much I love this show? Well, I do. It's far and away the best thing on TV right now. HBO rules.

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Speaking of HBO (master of segues!)... I caught a repeat of the first two episodes of Entourage this weekend, and I enjoyed them a lot. Hollywood is already far enough up its own ass without yet another film or TV show glorifying/exposing it, but Entourage is done so well, I can forgive that. It's about a rising young star, played by Adrian Grenier, and the struggle between keeping him grounded -- by his best friend and manager, played by Kevin Connolly, who is the real star of the show, and who is far better than I would have expected from his history on Unhappily Ever After* -- and exploiting him for every dime he's worth -- by his agent, played brilliantly by Jeremy Piven, who is manic, supportive, aggressive, insanely enthusiastic, filled with rage, supremely full of shit, overly-friendly, and treacherous (often all at once). He's a whirlwind, and he's hilarious. His method for smoothing over a point of contention between him and Connolly: "Let's hug it out, bitch!"

The star cameos are numerous, and they range from the annoying (I will never understand the appeal of Jessica Alba) to the sublime: when I realized the star of the show was the kid from Unhappily, I joked to Ian (a big supporter of the show), "What, they couldn't get Bud Bundy?" Lo and behold, who should appear in the second episode but David Faustino himself, shouting across a crowded room, "I knew you would fuck me, you prick!"

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*Then again, the same could be said of Geoff Pierson (who was the President on 24 this year), Nikki Cox (who is still better than the show she's currently on, Las Vegas), and Justin Berfield (who has been having an especially good year on Malcolm in the Middle).