‘The Gang Hits the Road‘ is about the gang taking a road trip to the grand canyon. On the way there they run into a disgruntled biker, stop off at the Italian market to barter with some gypsy’s, try to cook hot dogs in a mobile storage unit, and pick up a hitchhiker. The first ten or so minutes of the episode were a bit boring. It was basically just all five of them bickering and bitching. I mean, it was amusing just hearing them bicker, but they weren’t really saying anything particularly funny.

The second half of the episode is when it gets really hilarious. All the scenes at the Italian market were great. One moment in particular when Mac (Rob Mcelhenny) is explaining to Charlie (Charlie Day) how to eat a pear was classic, and the scene is punctuated with the line ‘I EAT STICKERS ALL THE TIME DUDE!’. Haha, oh Charlie, you fucking idiot. The scene with Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and the hitchhiker was also pretty funny. Their ‘name the states while you drink’ drinking game was great. Another good part was when Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Charlie decide to light a fire inside of a small storage unit, which ends with expectedly horrible results. But the BEST part of the episode had to be the ending. You’re probably going to be able to guess what happens while you’re watching the episode, but I won’t spoil it. I’ll just say the comic timing and the camera work are pitch perfect. The ending seriously had me short of breath.

The most horrible people in the world

One thing I’m starting to notice though is how stupid Frank (Danny Devito) has become. He used to be the semi voice of reason among these selfish assholes. But now he’s become equally as stupid as the rest of the gang. It’s a bit annoying because now there’s no X factor among the five main characters. Frank used to add an extra dimension to the show but now they could honestly get rid of him and the show would be pretty much the exact same.

After a rather weak season opener I was starting to fear that Always Sunny was beginning it’s decline toward lameness. Thankfully though ‘The Gang Hits the Road’ eased those fears a little bit. It’s a funny episode. And while it’s not close to the best in the cache of episodes, it’s good enough to be called a “good” episode. And if all the episodes this season are as good as this one, i’ll walk away satisfied.

Housecat Housecall is, you guessed it, the feline equivalent of The Dog Whisperer. Except replace the flamboyant, eccentric Cesar Milan with Dr. Katrina Warren; a fairly-attractive female host with an English accent.

Now, I have a cat, and aside from the pooping on the carpet I’ve never really had many problems with him. Cats are by nature very independent creatures, so I always assumed most of the problems they have can be worked out on their own. But after watching this show I guess there could be some little issues here and there that I may have overlooked. For example, maybe your cat wakes you up at 5:00 am every morning for food; the show has a solution for that. Maybe you cat has an unsafe chewing habit; the show has a solution for that. Maybe your cat just plays with, and destroys everything around him; the show has a solution for that.

Actually, I wouldn’t call them solutions per se. It’s seems more like advice than solutions. As I stated before, cats are very independent creatures. You can’t really stop them from doing anything they like, or make them do something they don’t want. And the thing is the show seems to know this and doesn’t really offer full-on solutions. It’s not like The Dog Whisperer where they have a bad dog and train it to be a good dog. In Housecat Housecall they have a bad cat, but they change the settings around him so he can continue to be bad, but in a safer environment.

I LOVE PUSSY...........CATS!!

Honestly, the advice these people give walks a fine line between “simple brilliance” and “common sense”.  The advice works, it most definitely does. But a lot of the problems these people have I figured out the solution to on my own. I didn’t need advice from a special cat doctor/whisperer. If your cat keeps waking you up at 4:00 a.m. for food, lock that shit in another room before you go to sleep. If your cat is going places it shouldn’t be going, spray that shit with some water. These problems aren’t difficult to solve, they really aren’t. But there are a few good tips in here, so the show isn’t completely useless.

I guess for the truly uninitiated Housecat Housecall is a good show to turn to for some simple and affordable advice. But from personal experience I can tell you that cat problems are usually fairly easy to solve. And really, if the cat you have is causing THAT much of a problem, then you can probably find a simple solution on the internet. It’s a lot easier (and quicker) than waiting for a specific episode of this show.

Overall, it’s a good show, but a bit simple minded. And if you aren’t a cat person, then Housecat Housecall is going to seem a bit gay (I mean that in the nicest of ways).

DVD Giveaway!

We have 1 DVD to give away of Season 1. Enter to win by emailing: rmtc@behindthehype.com. Contests ends August 31st, 2009.

Please put the name of the item in the subject line of the email and include your full name and address in the body of the email. Limit one entry by email per promotion. You must be at least 18 years old to have a chance to win. Winners will be selected by BehindtheHype.com at random. Void where prohibited.

This week on Burn Notice Michael meets an old foe named Brennen (played by Jay Karnes), an arms dealer with a grudge. He isn’t alone though, he brought a notorious serial killer with him and has decided to ‘kidnap’ Michael brother, Nate. The setup is pretty clear, if Michael doesn’t do exactly what Brennen says, he’ll kill both Nate and Michael. What he requires Michael to do is steal several items; a memory chip in a secure building, the voice of a gun nut, and a mystery box from yet another secure building.

‘End Run‘ was by far the worst episode of Burn Notice I’ve ever seen. Its not bad enough the Brennen isn’t intimidating in the least bit, but the entire episode has Michael going around fucking with average, normal people. There really isn’t a bad guy per-se in this episode. Burn Notice has always been a show about wits, not action. So when Michael isn’t matching wits with anyone the show seems pointless. It’s like if Arnold Schwarzenegger made a movie about beating up retarded people, it’s just an unfair fight.

Michael Weston, AKA Macgyver 2.0

I will say the last ten or so minutes of the episode was decent. My complaint with the ending is the way Michael eventually defeated the Brennen. He just kind of walks away with out a real fight and it’s very anti-climactic. But as bad as this episode  was there were some slightly enjoyable moments. Michael acting like an inept, drunk janitor was really funny. And hearing him talk ignorantly about guns to a gun nut was also really funny.

Another complaint I had was with the story involving Paxton (played by Moon Bloodgood). What the hell is she supposed to be doing? She just walks in at random times trying to one-up Michael but Michael always ends up fooling and outsmarting her. Then 20 minutes later she returns only to get fooled by Michael yet again. She is retarded and useless. But she is better looking than Fiona, so I’m willing to give her another chance to get more interesting.

This episode was bad. Really bad. Burn Notice is better than this. Since the season premiere there have been 3 episodes and 2 of them were pretty stupid. If the show continues down this road then it may be the end soon.

Score – 4/10

This week on Burn Notice Michael helps a separated married couple get their child back from a kidnapper. The problem is the kid has already seen his kidnappers face, so the kid has to die. Michael decides the best approach would be to use a technique called reverse interrogation to find out where the bad man is hiding the kid. What happens is Michael pretends to be someone who knows something about the kidnapping/diamond heist. Sam arranges the kidnapper and Michael to be in the same room so the kidnapper can ask some questions to this mystery man who seems to know too much about his personal business.

Genius? Yes. Classic Burn Notice? Yes!

‘Questions and Answers‘ was great! It’s hilarious, clever, and extremely well written. Every character has a fair amount of screen time and some a lot of great character moments. Bruce Campbell and Jeffery Donovan have such great chemistry as Sam and Michael. The way they completely play the kidnapper is so great, so genius, and very entertaining. Michael is hilarious as a junkie, but Bruce Campbell steals the show as Sam playing a crooked cop. The ending is dark, twisted, and hilarious, it had me in stitches. Let’s just say a Mexican stand off goes horribly wrong.

There were some complaints I had. The main one being the serialized main story about Michael getting burned was rather uninteresting. A new female detective character who is trying to expose Micheal for what he is wasn’t very interesting, and for the most part was very forgettable. It’s obvious she is going to be future episodes so maybe the writers are just taking their time developing her character. Regardless, she was only is like 5 minutes of the whole episode, so who really cares about her?

Overall this was a fantastic episode of Burn Notice. I’m glad to see the writing, directing, and acting are as great as ever. The writers especially are absolute geniuses. They always seem to have a fresh spin on old ideas, even something as simple as a kidnapping. I love this show!

If there is one show on TV you MUST watch, it’s Burn Notice.

Score – 9/10

His name is Michael Weston, he used to be a spy. See, spies don’t get fired, they get burned. And when you’re burned you have nothing; no cash, no credit history, no employment history, and you’re stuck in whatever city your agency decides to dump you in (Miami in this case). To make money you take odd jobs and use your special ops training to right the wrongs of the world and fight for the little guy. Welcome, to the world of Burn Notice.

Burn Notice is a fantastic show and one of my most favorite shows currently on TV. It’s slick, clever, action-packed, and very funny. After two incredible seasons I was starting to fear the show may lose steam. After watching the third season premiere I can safely say, ‘I was sort of right’. It’s not that the ‘Friends and Family‘ was bad; it was just a bit underwhelming. After ending the second season on such great note I was expecting the third season premiere to blow my mind. But instead it was just another, same old type, of episode following the same story format as the preceding ones. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just a bit disappointing.

From left to right; Michaels mom, Sam (Ash), Michael, and Fiona

This week on Burn Notice Michael has to deal with his new situation. No longer under the protection of his former employers Michael is now the target of all his former international enemies. After swimming for his life for five miles Michael ends up getting arrested by local cops. An ‘old buddy’ of his springs him out of jail, but only in return for his help. He needs Michael to kidnap a Spanish land tyrant so that he can be returned to his country and be tried in a court of law.

It’s the same old Burn Notice you’ve come to know and love. The story really isn’t anything to write home about; an extraction here, a kidnapping there, Michaels mom complaining, Fiona bitching him out, it’s standard stuff. There are some tense moments, like the rolling meeting Michael has with his target. And Michael’s persona as a nervous lawyer was very entertaining. There is a twist near the end which I won’t spoil but it’s fairly obvious, and anyone who watches the show will see it coming. ‘Friends and Family’ is just standard stuff for this show, it’s good but nothing great. But the last five minutes Michael says something that got me pumped for the rest of the season.

Overall, this was an average episode. It was amusing but wasn’t anything the show hasn’t done many times already. The writers could have made a really great premiere, but instead they stuck with the ‘if it aint broke, don’t fix it’ motto. I’m still excited for next week’s episode, but I’m afraid to say I think this is where the show begins to flat line. Not decline, just flat line, become stagnant.

But I hope I’m wrong!

Score – 6.5/10

It’s been almost 7 long years since Sam Raimi has made a movie other than Spider-man. But more importantly, it’s been 9 long years since Sam Raimi has made a horror movie. I think after three Spider-man movies most people have forgotten that Sam Raimi made his name directing horror movies. After watching Drag Me to Hell I’m very glad to say Sam Raimi is still one of the kings of horror. And not only is he still just as good now as he was back in the day, I’d say he’s ever better. Drag Me to Hell is one of the scariest, funniest, and campiest movies I’ve seen in a long time. It’s classic Raimi and one of the funnest times you will have at the movies, EVER.

The movie stars Christine Brown (played by Allson Lohman). Christine is a loan processor at a small bank. One day an old woman begs her for another extension on her house payments. Christine, trying to prove to her boss that she can make the tough decisions, coldly denies the old woman an extension. The old woman then places a curse on Christine which, in three days, will damn her to hell for eternity.

This poster is awesome!!!

In terms of plot, there isn’t really much else here. Christine meets some other characters in her quest to break the curse, but they are all come and go and are mostly forgettable. Christine is definitely the star of the show and Allison Lohman plays her absolutely perfectly. She is funny, intense, scared, crazy, and strong. She is pretty much the female equivalent of Ash from the Evil Dead movies. Yea, she’s that cool.

Drag Me to Hell is the movie equivalent to a roller coaster ride. The scares are built up very well and are extremely effective when executed. Sam Raimi is definitely an auteur when it comes to horror. He is able to make ANYTHING scary; a tea cup, a goat, a freakin hanker-chief for gods sake! Sam Raimi has this way of directing scenes to make it seem like you are in a funhouse. The way he illustrates his scenes is absolutely beautiful and poetic is some ways.

There are however several complaints I had. One being that 90% of the scares in this movie come from really loud noises. It makes the movie seem very cheap and if it wasn’t for Raimi’s directing style this would have came off as very annoying. Second, the CG is this is movie is fucking terrible and there is way too much of it. It’s kind of distracting but lucky it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment. Third, PG-13!!!!!! What the hell is this crap? Why are more and more horror and action movies being rated PG-13? This is a Sam Raimi horror film. I want severed limbs, buckets of blood, and cursing! Drag Me to Hell is still very good even with its PG-13 rating, but I think it could have been a lot better had it been rated R.

Overall, this is fantastic movie and one I think everybody should watch even if you don’t like horror movies. The whole movie is a hilarious and screamingly good time.

Score – 9/10

The new Terminator movie is coming out this week. As a self proclaimed avid Terminator fan you would think this type of news would make me happy, right? No, I feel nothing but remorse and hate for McG and Christian Bale for even entertaining the notion that Terminator Salvation could even be called a ‘Terminator’ film. I feel betrayed. I feel as if one of my best friends has been killed. I feel like my childhood pet has been shot in the stomach right in front of my eyes and I have my hands over the wound trying to hold the blood in and I’m screaming “hold on boy, you can make it!”. But he’s dead, and he died a long, long time ago.

What pisses me off most about this movie is that it actually has the audacity to call itself a Terminator film. Aside from the name John Conner and the T-101 skeletal model, what about Salvation even reminds anyone of Terminator? Is it the speeder bikes? Is it the giant transforming robot? Is it the excessive use of CGI? The studio could have just called this movie Transformers Salvation, because that’s what it seems like to me, Transformers.

Now THAT is a Terminator.

There are so many reasons to hate this movie, but I have narrowed the list down to three very basic, very obvious issues.

1) No Arnold Schwarzenegger

Yes, he’s old. Yes, he’s fat now. Yes, he’s the governor of California. But you know what? He’s still the fucking Terminator. Would I watch Die Hard with out Bruce Willis? Would 24 be 24 without Kiefer Sutherland? If Bob Hoskins wasn’t in the recently rumored Who framed Roger Rabbit sequel would you seriously still want to watch it? It might be petty to not want to watch Terminator Salvation simply because Schwarzenegger isn’t in it, but it’s the little things in life that matter most.

2) No James Cameron

They already tried to make a Terminator with out James Cameron. Twice if you count the retarded TV show. It obviously can’t be done. But before I go on bashing Rise of the Machines I have to mention that I found T3 rather entertaining. But while it did feature some fantastic action sequences, on the whole it did sucked. James Cameron’s vision of Terminator was a very dark and foreboding one. It featured some (at the time) very deep philosophies on destiny, fate, and our over reliance on technology. Along with the fan-fucking-tastic action sequences, Terminator 1 & 2 also had a very intelligent and engaging story line. Brains and brawn, the movie had it all. Salvation looks as if it was ripped straight from a comic book, trying too hard to litter the screen with robots instead of focusing on making one really great one.

3) PG-13!!!!!!

Fuck that shit. That is unforgivable. I’ll admit I was planning on seeing this movie even with the absence of Arnold and James. But this was the real kicker, this was the final straw. How on earth can a movie about armed robots exterminating humans be rated PG-13? The previous Terminators were full of explosions, carnage, guns, blood, guts, stabbings, shootings, maimings, and impalings. So what are we going to get in Terminator Salvation? I’ll tell you what we’re going to get; shaky-cam, CGI, quick-cuts, and annoying extreme close-up. All of the stuff I hate about modern film.

In conclusion, fuck this shit, this isn’t Terminator, I refuse to watch.

This week on Family Guy Quagmire gets a cat and Brian fights city hall to get pot legalized in Quahog. As I mentioned in a previous review the Family Guy writing staff are clearly pot loving liberals and in 420 they aren’t afraid to show it. The episode is basically a history lesson on why pot is illegal and the reasons on why is should be legalized. Any pot lover is pretty much going to agree with what Brian has to say and any pot hater is going to disagree. ‘420’ isn’t as a profound of an episode as the writers probably thought it was and it’s probably not going to change anyone’s mind about the current marijuana situation we, as a country, are in.

The episode was actually pretty funny though. All the cat jokes in the beginning were hilarious. Maybe they‘ll only be funny to cat owners, but I can tell you that all the jokes they make are absolutely true. Anyone who has had a cat will find it very funny.  Brian eventually gets caught by the police for having a small amount of pot and this is where the episode kind of takes a dip. Brian goes on a crusade to get pot legalized in Quahog and along the way we are treated to a five minute duet from Brian and Stewie. If you enjoy Brian and Stewie songs then you’ll love this part. For me though it went on for FAR too long.  It’s literally five whole minutes of the episode. It was extremely irritating and by the end I said to myself ‘hurry the fuck up!’

Everything is better with a bag of weed

The last half of the episode is about Carter (Lois’s father) trying to get pot re-illegalized again. Carter runs a paper business out of Quahog and the legalization of pot is causing it to fail. Honestly after this point I stopped caring about the story. The jokes on the other hand were very funny. I love how easily coerced Peter was into helping Carter, and his attempts at making an anti-pot ad were hilariously pathetic. The parody of a classic anti-pot ad involving crude drawings, a dog, and the words ‘I can stop at any time’ was also quite hilarious. There are also some really great running gags involving Brian’s books ‘Faster Then the Speed of Love’, and a very funny moment where Stewie tries to tell Brian that his book is good enough to be published.
Overall this episode was pretty funny. You can tell it was supposed to be a button pusher and was trying to cause some sort of controversy, and in that respect in fails miserably. But it was a funny episode and is definitely a superior one in the large pool of post-cancellation Family Guy episodes.

Score – 7/10

This week on South Park Cartman leads himself, Ike, Butters, Craig, and a new character Chris Stoli to Somalia where they become pirates. Obviously Cartmans rendition of a pirate is vastly different from what a modern day pirate actually is. Through a series of misunderstandings Cartman shows these Somalian ‘pirates’ what a real pirate is and just how a pirate is supposed to act. Kyle on the other hand feels guilty about Ike’s sudden disappearance because he was the one who convinced Cartman to go to Somalia in the first place. But that part of the episode doesn’t really come into play until the last several minutes and for the most part is forgettable. The real focus of the episode is Cartman and just how unaware he is of everything around him. It’s funny and all, but not anything we haven’t seen hundreds of times already.
‘Fat Beard’ really gets back to basics in terms of what South Park humor is like. There is basically one actual joke throughout the whole episode, but it’s told in several different ways. The joke is, Somalian pirates aren’t the pirates people may think they are. Cartman go to Somalia dressed up in full clad pirate suits with eye patchs, peg legs, and all. When he finally comes face to face with the Somalians all he can say is “dude there are no pirates here, just a bunch of black people”.  The funny part is Cartman never really realizes that these guys aren’t the types of pirates he was looking for. Instead he just carries on as if they were old time pirates, and eventually he transforms the Somalians into just that. Oh and Cartman manages to steal a Europeon battleship, which was absolutely hilarious to see.

Eric and his Motley Crew of Pirates

The episode is classic delusional Cartman. Not classic Cartman, classic DELUSIONAL Cartman. Cartman has gone through a lot of changes since the first seasons of the show. First he was just a foul mouthed little boy, and then he was a sadistic and hateful monster, now he’s kind of just a delusional buffoon. It’s sort of weird how he went from being a diabolical genius to a self absorbed delusional idiot. It’s like a complete 180 for the character and I’m not sure if I like it all that much. I mean, it is funny watching Cartman act like a naive idiot, but I really miss his evil side. But hey, times change and people change, even if they are fictional people.
Overall ‘Fatbeard’ was an alright episode. Most of the humor rides on you already knowing and loving the characters involved. They act the way you think they would act and do the things you think they would do.  There is nothing here to take you by surprise and shock you. But it’s all in good fun and it did make me laugh several times. The problem I had is there was no real conflict in the whole thing.

Score – 6/10