Last Week in Pop Culture #29

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My first Market Maven column for Capeless Crusader went up this week, a new weekly column I'll be writing that looks at each week's batch of comic releases. Look for it every Monday, and eventually I'll  have some other columns up on Capeless Crusader as well. And if you like what you read, be sure to like the site's Facebook page as well.

As for Sound on Sight, this week I reviewed the first issue of my boy Cyclops' first solo series, a fun little space pirate-y story starring the time-lost version of the character (not the present day cranky Magneto-esque version). 

And hey, just because it's been awhile since I'm mentioned it, don't forget about Saved by the Bell Reviewed, the podcast co-hosted by me and Dr. Bitz. New episodes come out every week, and this week's is a doozy!

Last Week in Pop Culture #26

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One new review from me at Sound on Sight, for Nightcrawler #1, possibly the best new Chris Claremont comic I've read in years.

Also, and far more importantly, Monday sees the launch of the much-teased Saved by the Bell Reviewed podcast, co-hosted by me and Dr. Bitz, as well as Portland cartoonists Carolyn Main and Ryan Alexander-Tanner (Ryan, the driving force behind this project, is of course the mad genius behind the wonderful Full House Reviewed blog as well). You'll be able to download the first episode on Monday from our Tumblr site, and if you haven't already, be sure to like our Facebook page and follow the show on Twitter @sbtb_reviewed.

(And, as long as I'm asking you to like Facebook pages, if you enjoy my writing for Sound on Sight, then be sure to like their Facebook page as well).

Finally, if you're heading out to the comic shop this weekend or poking around on the newly-acquired-by-Amazon Comixology, check out Shutter #1 from Image Comics. It's about a futuristic female Indiana Jones, and features a backup story written and drawn by Ryan. 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

A really solid follow-up to the first film (which I think is a bit underrated these days), which made the most of its 70s conspiracy thriller vibe and did an effective job of servicing everyone in its rather large cast (this was probably the best Black Widow film yet, right?). If anything, the titular Winter Soldier was the most marginalized element of the movie - there wasn't much of a reason for him to be the one leading the Hydra/SHIELD strike team other than his connection to Cap, and the real impact of that seems to have been left for a future film.  

Last Week in Pop Culture #25

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This week, I contributed another article to Sound on Sight's "Greatest TV Pilots", this time for The Wonder Years. You can read it here. Also, I did a new "To Better Know A Hero" post on Falcon, which you can read here.

Bob's Burgers: The Kids Rob a Train
Anytime Regular Size Rudy shows up, you know a good time will be had by all.

Once Upon a Time: Quiet Minds

Full disclosure: I watched this episode immediately after the HIMYM finale, so I may have missed some important details as a result of the loud, rage-induced ringing in my ears at the time.

I'm a little unclear as to why Neal had to die. I get that he and Rumpelstiltskin were one now, so that only one or the other could be dominate at any given time, but I'm not sure why Neal had to die to let Rumpel out to tell Emma about Zelena. Couldn't they have just let Rumpel reassert himself briefly?

Last Week in Pop Culture #23

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This week, I've got a slightly revised and updated version of my To Better Know a Hero post on Black Widow up on Sound on Sight. Check it out before you see Captain America: Winter Solider.

The Simpsons: The Winter of His Discontent

This felt like the warmed up leftovers of two plots (Homer embraces the lifestyle of the elderly, Bart is befriend by Nelson after helping him out) from two previous episodes ("The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" and "The Haw-Hawed Couple"), with an extended parody of The Warriors tagged onto the end.

Last Week in Pop Culture #22

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Two more reviews from me at Sound on Sight: the penultimate chapter of the "X-Files Conspiracy" crossover, and the penultimate chapter of "Trial of Jean Grey". It was a penultimate week, apparently.

Also, as some of you may have seen on twitter, this week Dr. Bitz and I began recording the Saved By the Bell Reviewed podcast, along with Billy Superstar of the Full House Reviewed blog and Portland artist Carolyn Main.

We're still a few weeks away from going live (we want to get a few under our belt and work out the kinks before we start posting), but you can be sure I'll pimp the hell out of it here once it goes up. In the meantime, you can follow the show on twitter @sbtb_reviewed, and check out our under-construction tumblr here.  

The Simpsons: The Man Who Grew Too Much

Always nice to see a Sideshow Bob episode centered around something other than Bob trying to kill Bart. But let's not pretend the act one reveal of Sideshow Bob is at all shocking when Fox has been pimping his appearance in commercials all week.

Last Week in Pop Culture #21

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Couple reviews from me up at Sound on Sight: Guardians of the Galaxy #12, and the Transformers portion of IDW's X-Files crossover.

The Oscars

Putting aside my bitterness over losing my Oscar pool by one point, this wasn't a terrible show, though it wasn't a terribly good one either. Ellen turned in a perfectly cromulent monologue, then became far too obsessed with going out into the crowd (which, I know, is her schtick). Some of that material worked, some of it didn't. The pizza thing mostly did, largely because, as fabricated as it may have been, the reactions to it felt genuine. There's something undeniably entertaining about seeing people like Meryl Streep and Brad Pitt fishing around for change or Harrison Ford's excitement at the prospect of pizza, just like regular people!

Last Week in Pop Culture #13: All Christmas Edition

Quick note: since this is an "all Christmas" Last Week in Pop Culture post, looking at the various Christmas episodes I watched recently, and because nobody wants to read about Christmas stuff after Christmas, I'm posting it a little earlier than the usual Saturday. 

The Simpsons: White Christmas Blues

This was a messy episode. The plot was, what, Marge turns the house into a bed & breakfast for the holidays, then has to deal with the inconveniences that brings? Meanwhile, in the wisp of a B-plot (that isn't even introduced until about halfway into the episode) Lisa learns not to be sanctimonious in her gift giving.

Nothing here was bad - it's always good when Marge gets a chance to be just as whacky and irrational as the rest of the family (and her insistence that Christmas carols only have one verse was easily the comedic highlight of the episode), and there's nothing wrong with Lisa having the piss taken out of her every once in awhile - but it was all so scattered and formless I spent more time trying to figure out what the story was than I did enjoying it.

Last Week in Pop Culture #12

Short one this week, as I'm holding the Christmas episode of stuff I've watched for next week's "all Christmas" post. 

Top Chef: Like Mama Made

The timing of this episode worked out well: down to nine chefs, we can finally start to get know them a little better, and this challenge allowed us to do just that.

Anthony Mackie made for a surprisingly entertaining judge. He was funny, but seemed to know his stuff. I wouldn't mind seeing him back.

Even though Travis stepped up in the last episode, his elimination was another "head nod" elimination (in that it made sense as he seemed like the weakest remaining chef). Not many surprise eliminations this season: everyone seems to be leaving more or less at the seeming right time.

Last Week in Pop Culture #11

The Simpsons: Yellow Subterfuge

This was a disappointing episode, mainly because the plot had an opportunity to do something unique, yet ultimately settled for more of the same. There was definite potential in the idea of Bart doing his best to be genuinely good, even in the face of Skinner trying to get him to slip up, and then in the idea of Bart dealing with the disappointment of not making it onto the sub despite his best efforts. But the former was undermined by having Bart break one of Skinner's rules (no matter how lame the rule was) instead of being purposely tripped up or illegitimately passed over by Skinner, while instead of having Bart deal with his disappointment, the episode instead wrapped up with the kind of routine, over-the-top shenanigans we've seen countless times before. A pity.

The B-plot, meanwhile, was almost laughably superfluous to the A-plot and was, for the most part, built around the kind of hit-or-miss cultural humor that Family Guy has made its bread-and-butter, but I did laugh pretty hard despite myself at the Romanian Krusty being elected President-for-Life and at everything involving Irish Krusty. 

Last Week in Pop Culture #10

The Simpsons: The Kid is All Right

A surprisingly-measured look at friendship amongst political differences, this episode wasn't the funniest episode ever (most of the laughs came from the always-reliable over-the-top-ness of the Springfield Republicans and Lisa and Homer's joint dream of not-dead Democrat ghosts) but still managed to tell a good story.

Last Week in Pop Culture #3

The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXIV

The much-ballyhooed opening, directed by Guillermo Del Toro, was easily the best part of the episode. Which isn't to disparage the rest of the episode, which was decent. The middle segment, in which Bart's head is affixed to Lisa's body, was pretty awful though, and displayed none of the usual wit or imagination present in the Treehouse episodes. The first segment was amusing and featured tons of clever word play even while it wasn't tremendously funny, while the third segment, my favorite of the bunch, was a pretty decent Freaks parody and featured some of the episode's strongest gags. Not the funniest episode (Treehouse or otherwise), but the opening and first & third segments were mostly clever, imaginative and fun.

Last Week in Pop Culture #1

Welcome to the first "Last Week in Pop Culture" post, the latest evolution of my weekly "Last Week in TV" posts. Of course, this post is jam-packed with TV stuff, as a ton of new and old shows premiered in the previous week. Enjoy, and be sure to let me know what you think of the new format.

The 65th Annual Primetime Emmys

In brief:

The good - NPH's middle number, the salute to choreography (which was just fun to watch), a break in the Modern Family cast's stranglehold on the supporting comedic actor Emmys (I like the show but it's far less consistent these days, and there are better shows/performances out there), and the relative unpredictability of the wins in general.

The bad - NPH's opening number/bit, the largely-superfluous and time-sucking Elton John and Carrie Underwood performances, and the numerous "In Memoriam" tributes independant of the main "In Memoriam" tribute (which were appropriate, but did make the whole show seem sadder, and ate up more time).

Also, with nearly every winner getting played off (only Merrit Weaver escaped that fate, since she didn't stick around long enough for the orchestra to cue up), and nearly every one ignoring it, the end result was simply having the ends of acceptance speeches feel like they were being underscored for dramatic value, which was mildly amusing.

Last Week in TV #38

While the 2012-2013 network TV season has been finished for a few weeks now, we finally reach the end of our coverage of it here, as I wrap up discussion of the final episodes of Glee and Community for the season. There's plenty of great TV to watch this summer (including Wilfred, Falling Skies, the end of Futurama, and The Newsroom, not to mention all the stuff I'm still behind on, like Revenge), but I won't be back writing about it until the fall, when this column will return in a likely-altered form, as I continue to search for a way to engage critically and write about TV in a manner that doesn't also leave me burnt out on those two things by Christmas.

Last Week in TV #37

Wrap-Up Weeks continue, as Revolution ends its first season and we finish our coverage of Parks and Recreation. Look for one final post before I take a break for the summer next week, finishing up Community and Glee.

Revolution: The Dark Tower

I'm not terribly surprised this show turned the power back on (though I will admit I was a little worried that the episode was going to end after Aaron clicked the enter key, leaving the reveal of whether the power turned on or everyone was killed by exploding nanobots for the second season premiere); there are plenty of stories to tell about a world where the power was off, and now is suddenly back on, just as there were many stories that could have been told about a world without power. After a relatively slow-building first half of the season, this show decided that breakneck plotting was the way to go, thus making it clear it wasn't all that interested in telling those smaller stories about a world without power. So yeah, let's move things forward. Characterization certainly isn't this show's strong suit, so at least it keeps the plot moving.

Last Week in TV #36

 

With Revolution running out its string for the season, we've got a chance to catch up on some shows on which I've fallen behind. 

Revolution: Clue/Children of Men

Once again things are moving at a breakneck pace, and while that works for a penultimate episode like "Children of Men", the speed at which events move undermines "Clue". A locked-room mystery could be interesting, if done well, especially since so many of the characters in question have legitimate, non-forced reasons to be suspects, but it's clear this show has no interest in slowing down enough to do it justice nor a deft enough hand when it comes to characterization. And so Hudson gets killed off for fairly arbitrary reasons, and the entire cast goes from "not at the Tower" to "banging on its door" within an episode.

Last Week in TV #32

Still behind on Revolution, as Dr. Bitz says the one I missed is worth watching. So I'll check that out online, but in the meantime, here's some thoughts on stuff on I did watch. 

The Simpsons: Pulpit Friction

I don't like to play this card too often, because New Simpsons is what it is and if you're still watching it you know what to expect, but man, did this episode feel like it had more recycled plot elements than usual. The destruction and replacement of the couch, a plague shipped in via mail order, a crisis of faith for Reverend Lovejoy, etc. It wasn't a bad episode, necessarily, but it felt especially unoriginal.

Last Week in TV #30

 
Hey, we've got a decent slate of things to cover this week. And it's not even May yet! 

Also, Monday's Revolution was pre-empted by the President's speech, and as far as I know, didn't re-air at any other point this week (I'm assuming they're just pushing everything back a week and will eventually double up some night), but if you know it did, let me know. 

The Simpsons: What Animated Women Want

This episode was trying to say something, what with it's narration and thematically similar A and B plots, but for the most part, I just found myself thinking "the last thing we need is yet another 'Homer has to repair his marriage' story." The Milhouse/Lisa material was much stronger, what with its examination of the bewildering trend of women inexplicably falling for bad boys who treat them poorly and its callbacks (both subtle and overt) to the classic "A Streetcar Named Marge" episode, but it was all second fiddle to what was really just another Homer/Marge plot (something of which this episode was clearly aware).

Last Week in TV #29

Another light week as the reruns keep running, so we'll do some more catch-up. Also, I finally got around to finishing Last Resort, which, all things considered, wrapped up about as satisfyingly as we could have hoped for (the wrap-up was more rushed than I would have liked, and some of the smaller details pertaining to the overall plot got brushed past, but at least it wrapped up).

As a series, it definitely started to pick up towards the middle (right around the time word of the cancellation came out), and where I once wondered how it could possibly last more than thirteen episodes, it started to show potential for being a long running series. I'd have liked to see where it went had it continued (and how drawn out the overarching plot would have been had the show stuck around), but at least the episodes we got (especially after some of the early time-killers) managed to tell a finite, largely compelling and consistently entertaining story.

Anyways, on to shows still on the air!

Last Week in TV #21

A full slate this week. Next week may be a bit light, as Mrs. Teebore will be out of town, but I am planning on watching a few things while she's gone, so we'll still have enough for a post. 

The Simpsons: Love is a Many Splintered Thing

A largely frustrating episode. If the show wants to bring back Mary Spuckler twice in a season, fine, but do something different with the character then. I know that, being voiced by Zooey Deschanel, it isn't like she's going to hang around as Bart's girlfriend full time, but ending every one of her appearances with Bart heartbroken gets repetitive.

Last Week in TV #19

Still catching up, but thanks to some pre-February sweeps re-runs, I'm not too far behind.

The Simpsons: Changing of the Guardians

It's kind of impressive that, this far into the show's run, the writers occasionally come up with a family issue the characters haven't yet tackled, but that's essentially what this episode does, as Homer and Marge try to find guardians for the kids should anything happen to them. The ensuing episode is perfectly cromulent, and while the resolution (that both the parents and kids have gained a greater appreciation for each other) is sweet and legitimately earned, the conclusion Homer and Marge take from it (there's no need to name legal guardians) doesn't exactly follow.