Shmee.Me

April 11, 2014April 11, 2014

Amazon Goes Comic Book Shopping And Buys Comixology!

Comixology had too good of a thing going, so it was just a matter of time before someone swooped in and bought them up. Since Amazon loves to buy online stores I like, wOOt.com and Zappos.com, they had to get Comixology too.

I think my only problem with this purchase is that Amazon has a history of not doing anything with the companies that they buy (again wOOt.com and Zappos.com ), so if you like Comixology the way it is then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. But if you are like me, and you want to change things up by possibly getting physical goods with your digital comics. It is kind of a bummer. Maybe Amazon will do something different here, but I doubt it.

I think this move is good for both companies because Comixology will have the funds to compete with just about anybody, and for Amazon they get to add a profitable and unique company to their portfolio. But I am still hoping my universal buy a real comic and get the digital one free dream comes true. Sure I can already do it with some Marvel comics, but I want it with everything. Sigh, time will tell if Amazon shares my dream.

April 10, 2014April 10, 2014

Turn Up The Heat!

It is believed in Hollywood that movies headlining women can’t make much money, but Frozen and The Heat have done their best to disprove that misconception. The Heat came out in June of 2013 from 20th Century Fox, and is your typical foul mouthed buddy cop movie, but the twist is that it stars two women. Not just any women, but Oscar winner Sandra Bullock, and comedy “it girl” Melissa McCarthy. They were a blast to watch in this movie.

The plot is pretty much the same as any other buddy cop movie: Straight laced by the book FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) has to work with a foul mouthed slob of a local Detective, Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy). Together they have to take down a high profile and mysterious Boston drug lord.

Despite the fact that this movie has been made like 3,564,456 times, the writers pack enough jokes and action in the movie that you will be too entertained to care. They really went all out with this movie, and didn’t treat it like just another generic buddy cop flick.

The two leads are fabulous in this movie. They play off each other perfectly. Whoever had the idea to put these two together, I hope is rolling around in all the money this movie made because they deserve it. There is not a scene that doesn’t have a laugh or twelve. Bullock and McCarthy know how to be funny, and they really know how to be funny together. I could see The Heat becoming the next Lethal Weapon franchise.

I think you can tell that I liked this movie. Like all comedies, not all of its jokes land, but there are so many of them, and so many good ones that it more than makes up for the couple duds. I know Bullock has had trouble with sequels in the past (Speed 2, Miss Congeniality 2), but I would love to see more Heat movies.

April 9, 2014April 9, 2014

Things Take A Turn On AMC!

As summer TV premier week continues, I got a chance to watch AMC’s new show Turn. It is about George Washington’s spy ring in New York during the Revolutionary War. AMC needs something to replace Mad Men for its summer line up when Mad Men goes off the air after this season, and I am not sure Turn is it, but it definitely is interesting.

The story starts off with some American rebels getting slaughtered by the British, and just one soldier Ben Tallmadge (Seth Numrich) making it out alive. He blames the defeat on British spies, and he is trying to get his commanding officer to allow him to start a spy ring of his own. Meanwhile a young farmer Abraham Woodhull (Jamie Bell) has fallen on hard times, and the British are not making it any easier. Will they join up and gather intelligence on the British? It would kind of be a crappy show if they didn’t.

This episode felt a little long, and I know that is because a lot of it was setup, but the extra thirty minutes of run time made it drag in places. When the story was moving forward however, it was very interesting, and I do want to see what happens next. If they can pick up the pace a little bit, AMC will have a good and very unique show in its hands.

The cast led by Jamie Bell and Kevin McNally is quite good. If this show fails it will not be due to a lack of acting talent, and it looks like the actors are enjoying working in this setting.

Since I can’t think of one other period spy drama on TV right now (or ever), I think AMC has a real shot at a hit with Turn. They have earned my attention for at least a few more episodes, and that is all a TV pilot can hope for.

April 8, 2014

Taking A Trip To Silicon Valley!

I think Mike Judge has finally made the sequel to Office Space. It is called Silicon Valley on HBO. The show follows a group of young programmers that want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg in the titular Silicon Valley.

The main character Richard Hendrix (Thomas Middleditch) has created an awful music license checking website, but the backend lossless compression software, and an algorithm that can quickly search inside those compressed files, might be worth a fortune. Now it is up to him and his programmer buddies to try and become the next group of billionaires.

This show gets Silicon Valley so right, and it understands it so well that almost all of its jokes land. Plus it has Mike Judge doing office humor again, and that is always worth watching. I guess Judge’s first job was as a software programmer, and it shows. I can’t wait to see how he lampoons it all next week.

The group of actors they got together are all very believable nerds, and they play their roles so convincingly it seems like they must have been tech company interns at some point. Shows end up all being about the talent of their cast, and I think Silicon Valley has a great one. I mean it has Kumail Nanjiani in it, and I can’t even look at him without laughing.

Silicon Valley is off to a great start. It was thirty minutes of non-stop laughs, especially if you follow tech news at all. Since it is on right after Game of Thrones, there is almost no chance I will miss it. If you do not have HBO you can watch the first episode for free on YouTube.com, so there is no reason not to give it a shot.

April 7, 2014

Game Of Thrones Is Back!

It seems like it has been off the air for forever, but Game of Thrones is back. Season four kicked off predictably by just showing us where most of the main characters are. Nothing too exciting happens, but it was nice to see everyone again. I think the only characters left out of this show were Bran, Hodor and crew, but I am sure we will see much more of them in the episodes to come.

The basic feeling I got from this episode, is that if you have liked what Game of Thrones has offered so far, than you will get more of the same. I think for most viewers that is quite alright.

The biggest downer of the night was that HBO Go crashed again on probably the biggest premier in the channel’s history. Considering this happens a lot, I think that HBO is going to have to invest more in to their cloud infrastructure. Still with The Walking Dead off the air, I am glad that Game of Thrones is back.