Shmee.Me

July 7, 2015

Humans Beware!

Humans, the new show by AMC and Channel 4 debuted two weeks ago, and I have to say Summer TV just keeps getting better. This show was going to be one of the highlights for the Xbox TV channel, but when Microsoft closed that down AMC swooped in and picked it up. Though if they didn’t someone else would have because it is looking fantastic.

In a parallel time to our own they have created androids, Synths, to do their day to day tasks. While most of them are non-thinking and only follow directions, some have artificial intelligence and feelings, and they don’t like being treated as slaves. I can’t imagine why. One family (with Jen from The IT Crowd!) may have got more than they wanted when they bought a new Synth for their family.

It really isn’t a new storyline (heck the show is a remake of a Swedish one), but the execution so far has been great, and I can’t wait to see how this all plays out. The actors playing the Synths look and act just slightly off, so they make believable non-humans. Did I mention Jen AKA Katherine Parkinson from The IT Crowd is in Humans? I did? Oh well she is, and she makes everything better. Also I guess William Hurt didn’t get enough android action in AI, so he is back for more.

Humans is only slated to be eight episodes long, so not that much of a time investment. Which makes it perfect for summertime viewing. I hope the rest of the episodes live up to the promise of the first one. AMC really knows how to green light great television! I hope Preacher is this good when it finally airs.

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015

In Search For The Theory Of Everything!

The 2014 film The Theory of Everything directed by James Marsh is a sweet look in the to the lives of Jane and Stephen Hawking. The sweet part I was expecting, but the fact they didn’t gloss over the troubles of their lives is what made this movie special. Instead of showing the Hawkings as some sort of gods among men, beyond reproach. It just showed them as people, flaws and all.

The Theory of Everything starts when the couple met in college at Cambridge, and then follows them through Stephen’s (Eddie Redmayne) diagnosis, and of course his scientific discoveries. It also shows how Jane (Felicity Jones) had to work hard and sacrifice everything to keep Stephen alive and give him the family they wanted. However, if you are expecting a fairytale ending, you will disappointed.

While I was watching The Theory of Everything, I almost wanted it to end like thirty minutes earlier just so everyone would live happily ever after, but this move shows us the warts of Stephen and Jane’s relationship as well as the joys. While I am not sure how much they changed of the real story to pretty it up for theater going audiences, at least they didn’t fall in the trap of making the characters perfect. Biographies always work better if the people on screen seem like people. AKA flawed.

Of course a good story is important for biographies, but actors are key. We need to see those figures we know come to life on screen, and Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones played their parts brilliantly. Especially Eddie (I guess he did win the Oscar for a reason). To watch him slowly succumb to ALS was an amazing transformation. Though Jones playing the dutiful, but exhausted wife was also perfectly on point.

After recently watching this film and Birdman, I was surprised that The Theory of Everything wasn’t more in the running for the Oscar for Film of the Year. I guess people like their films a little jazzier than I do. The Theory of Everything is a movie that is well worth your time, and if you watch The Theory of Everything, you may learn a little something about time as well. Actually you won’t. You will need to read Steven Hawking’s book for that.

July 3, 2015

Thanks Ash Vs Evil Dead, I Need A Starz Subscription Now!

Thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we now have our fist set photo of Ash vs Evil Dead, and it looks perfect! Chainsaw arm? Check! Blood? Check! Stupid self-assured look on Ash’s face? Double Check! This looks like so much fun, but that means I will have to pay per episode, get Starz, or wait until the season is over and get the set, and I want to do none of the those things. <sobs> Oh well, I have a lot of TV to watch (I say to convince myself unsuccessfully) <sniffle>.

For you lucky shmucks with the Starz channel, you will have to let me know how it is this Fall.

P.S. I hate all of you with Starz for not already inviting me over to watch this. Your names will forever be listed in my Necronomicon.

July 2, 2015July 2, 2015

Do You Want To Know How To Train Your Dragon 2?

I wonder if DreamWorks knew they had a hit on their hands when the first How to Train Your Dragon came out? I am guessing since it took four years to make a sequel, probably not, but after the success of How to Train Your Dragon 2 they are making up for that now with a weekly cartoon show, and sequels planned out until the end of time. Luckily for us at least the movies are pretty good.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 picks up a few years after the first, and life is just about prefect on Berk. The dragons love their new masters, and they help the people of Berk do just about everything. Think the dinosaurs from the Flintstones, or at least that is where my mind went to when I saw it. Though Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is still restless and wants to explore with his dragon Toothless, and to see what is beyond their little island. On his adventures he learns there are people that may want to do his people and his dragons harm.

The story was a good follow up to the first one, and it flowed well. However, even though the dragons were bigger and badder this time around, the stakes seemed to feel smaller. Like the threat wasn’t as real. They really pushed the family aspect of this film too, which was nice, but I think it kept the movie from feeling as epic as they wanted it to be.

The voice acting talent all returned for How to Train Your Dragon 2, so it continued to be good. No odd sounding Berkians here. The new additions, Kit Harington and Cate Blanchett, were great, and they will be good to have in the series from now on. Though honestly when is having Cate Blanchett in your movie not a good idea? Never. She should be in everything.

DreamWorks has been looking for a cartoon series to replace Shrek for quite some time now, and I think they finally have it with How to Train Your Dragon. Two just proved that the formula will continue to work for more sequels. I am not sure that I think How to Train Your Dragon 2 was better than the first one like by friend Daniel did, but it was a worthy follow up that has me feeling okay about this becoming a long term series.

July 1, 2015July 1, 2015

Hey There Is Sci-Fi on SyFy Now!

So I was watching the first episode of the space bounty hunger show Killjoys, which was pretty good, and I think it will be a decent summertime distraction, when it occurred to me I was being shown nothing but Sci-Fi based show commercials. I mean Killjoys is jammed between Defiance and Dark Matter, so there are three solid hours of pretty good Sci-Fi programming right there. With the SyFy channel being nothing more than a place for ghost hunter “reality TV” and wrestling for the last couple of decades it is nice to see it return to the genre that gave it its name. Well its original name anyway. Nothing is named SyFy because that is terrible, and the branding people at NBC that thought of it should be thrown in to a sarlacc pit where they can be digested for centuries with Boba Fett (that’s right Boba Fett is dead nerds!).

I hope this is a trend that continues because it might make the SyFy (sarlacc pits for everyone!) Channel my go to place for summer TV. Almost like it was when I was thirteen. Oh man I am old! <sobs in to keyboard, but recovers with the knowledge that Boba Fett is an overrated jerk>