Partners

Pilot: The two best things about this CBS show are: Michael Urie (he of "Ugly Betty" fame) and his chemistry with David Krumholtz. But despite that and the relatively impressive pedigree, most of the jokes fell flat and barely got a chuckle. Urie is the only one fun to watch, and the two "partners" were boring. Brandon Routh is miscast and cannot act; Sophia Bush could be so much better! Hopefully, they can develop the supporting casts and venture out of the typical gay/straight stereotypes and hit the right notes that made "Will & Grace" so popular back then.

Episode 2: Slightly better outing. A few genuine smiles, but no chuckles. Too many lame jokes in between. Sophia Bush and Brandon Routh characters need more things to do. Urie is still the brightest star, it's mainly his jokes and deliveries that sold the laughs. As is his chemistry with Krumholtz. Routh is just so bland!

Episode 3: It's improving. Urie still gets the best lines and there were some stingers throughout that made me laugh out. Removing Bush and Routh from their workplace definitely improved the structure of the show, but Routh really annoys me. He's too daft to be the straight man (hah!)...but Bush definitely has improved. She and Urie has good chemistry too.

Episode 4: The verdict is in after 4 episodes. This show is watchable. Definitely not appointment TV, but the actors and writers seemed to have found their groove. Urie is funny and surely the main reason to stay on with it. Sadly, Routh is the weakest link. It will be interesting to see how they carry on the season or beyond with just these 4 casts. They may need to expand their supporting actors. Nonetheless, I can get a least one or two laughs per episode now, so will stick with it for 20-odd minutes a week.

Episode 5: Still have a few laughs. They finally found one thing to do with Routh but sadly I doubt it can be a running joke. The Superman/Clarke Kent and Lois/Louis joke is really funny (but in an inside joke). And they should really play on his himbo-ism. Louis can veer into being annoying. Although I think the relationship between Louis and Joe is quite realistic of super-close friends, and their chemistry has really developed! I really like this "I don't want to fight with you!".

Episode 6: "Claire Danes' chin quiver". Total laugh out loud moment. This show is at least maintaining its standard. Chemistry between Louis and Joe is the key here. Routh is finally more tolerable. Bush's jewelry subplot is still not working.

Note: Sad news. CBS cancelled the series. Sigh. Although it started off rough, I thought they finally understood the characters recently. At least it delivers more laughs than some of the other new sitcoms. Pity. Hope Urie gets a new show. STAT.

Revolution

Pilot: This is what I hope Whedon will never come to. Pity JJ Abrams, he of the mind that gave us "Felicity", "Alias", "Lost" (the early seasons) and even sometimes "Fringe", has his name, and stamp of approval, attached to this formulaic, repetitive trope.  It is filled with good looking YA/A&F catalogue models-esque actors that can't really act (?yet) and are written stupidly annoying (sometimes annoyingly stupid). Charlie is no Felicity, Sidney Bristow (somehow her last name makes it complete) or Olivia. The handful of solid character actors are wasted, yet their screen times are possibly the best of the pilot: Giancarlo Esposito, Elizabeth Mitchell, Tim Guinee and Billy Burke. The show has potential, just like "Flashforward" had too, so let's see how it goes over another few more episodes. I do hope they re-focus the attention more on the adults rather than the teens, and also they better do some explaining regarding the new rules in this world. The conspiracy part makes sense broadly, but I fear it will just get convoluted as the show proceeds.

Episode 2, "Chained Heat": Annoyingly stupid Charlie continues to pervade the show, and just when you think her character is going to evolve she just slides back down to being stupidly annoying. Equally annoying was the further seeding of the Nate/Charlie relationship. I wonder how many more episodes to go before a love triangle develops? Maybe Nate or Danny will end up being gay/bisexual! Or Nate will be related to Nora. Speaking of which, this show is turning out to be like a RPG with main quest, side quests and side quests of side quests. Giancarlo Esposito and Elizabeth Mitchell are the only two actors/characters worth watching. Esposito's Neville is possibly the most complex character  in the show and may perhaps be a better villain then the currently one-dimensional Monroe; Mitchell's Rachel (come on, you can't possible think that they'd only hire her and make her a regular for only flashbacks right? unlike Tim Guinee...) is fascinating in the plot development area: who is she? why is she there? what does she know? The new opening narration is annoying, I hope it is not a permanent fixture and without Jon Favreau, the action sequences by Charles Beeson was too messy. Still intrigued by the A-plot and the premise, the role of the amulets/pendants and now, who is Randall?

Episode 3, "No Quarter": Boring. Horrible characterisations. Charlie's characterisation is all over the place: Danny. Save the rebels, Danny can wait. Fight, fight, fight! Risk my life for strangers. Dad is a coward! UGH! The three main leads for this episode: Charlie, Nora and Miles were so boring. And again, Charlie is so annoying!! I wish I could reach in and slap her. Twice! The absolute waste of bullets throughout this whole episode contradicts the whole philosophy unless Monroe has the magic amulet and it makes bullets (all kinds of bullets for him). And, does a Marine grade sniper have night vision? The interesting bit is actually the flashbacks. Perhaps this show may be better if it was set in the past with occasional flash forwards to whet the audience's appetite. The big reveal for this episode is so anti-climatic. Unfortunately, no Elizabeth Mitchell and minimal Giancarlo Esposito. Thankfully, we have Mark Pellegrino guesting, and Monroe is getting interesting. The only thing I am interested in is why electricity died. How is it controlled now (and I'm sure a dead iPhone batt can last 15 years, either that or they invented wireless charging)? The thing is, are the answers worth the tedious wait? I am going to wait till November sweeps and see how it goes. Or earlier.

Note (6 Nov 2012): Was away for 2 weeks and when I was back, there was no strong urge to catch-up on this series. Just reading about it online did not make me feel like I want to catch it, and now that the BIG reveal is out, it seemed kind of a let down. The show seemed to be evolving into more of a quest/mission-oriented series in restoring power ("let's look for all the pendant/amulet thingys!"), but however characterisations are so poorly done, especially Charlie, that I do not really care about any of them. Therefore, sadly, this is the first show of the season I am giving up on.

To Rome with Love [Dig]

Woody Allen's ode to the eternity city of Rome is a pale comparison to his last movie, "Midnight in Paris". It is still good, but it lacked the coherence and the heart of his French piece. It seemed liked a string of farcial comedic pieces that tried too hard to pretend to be intellectual, meditating on the meaning of fame and appearance can be deceiving. Four separate story lines all dancing around those common themes, but never really conveying it clearly to the audience. Sure, there are laughters, but they feel hollow. The bright sparks of the movie were the non-Hollywood celebrities (perhaps they were celebrities too in Italy, but if they were not, then kudos to Allen for underpinning his theme even through casting!) and the scenes in Italian, in particular, opera singer Fabio Armilato and actress Alessandra Mastronardi. The usually annoying Roberto Benigni had the most interesting hook, and it seemed that the whole movie may have arose from that one single idea. Of the Hollywood stars, Ellen Page was the most refreshing with good comic timing, and it is nice to see how she have achieved and grown the days of "Hard Candy" and "Juno"; Penelope Cruz is always beautiful to watch, but her role here is nothing more than a glam-ed up "vase". Allen should not really act in his own shows, he does not seem to be able to rein in his neuroses, and he appears to be ad-libbing his lines, which then further enhances his neurotic-ness. The poorest of Allen's European postcards. But oh man, Rome sure looks inviting again!

Hope Springs [Dig]

Meryl Streep continues her trend of alternating Oscar nominating roles with Rom-Coms, but a Meryl rom-com is indefinitely better than most other actresses'. And again she has found a compatible actor to share her scenes with. Nobody does curmudgeonly grumpy old men like Tommy Lee Jones. Streep is amazing! She manages to infuse in all her characters (Oscar bait or not) with so much authenticity and nuances that she is absolutely lost in each role. Such dedication to her craft! The leads both had excellent chemistry and played well against each other. Genuine laughters and heart warming/melting scenes which were accentuated throughout with oestrogen-releasing songs and softly back lit scenes. Supporting actors are negligible and that includes Steve Carrell, the ironic straight man to two serious actors (perhaps, that's the comedy right there!). Predictable storyline, like almost all rom-coms, but saved from mediocrity by the strong leads!

Hide Yamamoto

A pleasant surprise! Cheap (relative), fresh Japanese set lunches on weekdays. The $38 chirashi set lunch came with a small sashimi salad, a bowl of chirashi don and 2 scoops of ice-cream (well, 1 grapefruit sorbet and 1 coconut ice-cream). Note: the hot tea was not free. The chirashi was a good size and came with 9 fishes, ikura and 2 tamagoyaki. The fish slices were on the thin side but were definitely fresh. At this price it's a steal! And definitely replaces the niche of affordable lunch sets that was occupied by Tetsuya but which has been sadly left vacant since Tetsuya started deteriorating after the Tsunami disaster.

Updated (15 Sept 2012): Weekend set lunch is the Teppan set but only limited to 6 orders per day, so don't be late! (lunch starts at 12pm). For $48 you get appetiser, wafu salad, beef in shabu shabu style, nabeyaki udon with lobster (which was still twitching!), and dessert. The appetiser was a cold fried fish with a a sour vinaigrette sauce and the wafu salad was sesame based with lots of finely chopped daishi. The beef was well grilled, a bit too well such that the fats were all melted out the thin slices, and the sauce is beginning to taste similar. The lobster was really fresh and sweet. The accompanying sauce did nothing much to enhance the taste. Perhaps a bit more wok-hei (锅气）would be better. The udon had a good texture and is a good accompaniment to the lobster. Dessert was similar: grapefruit and rock melon sorbet. Portion wise is just right for a lunch. And at this price, hard to argue against.

Verdict: A definite winner for set lunches! Will come and try their dinner teppanyaki one day.

The Campaign [Dig]

Very low expectations = minimal (not,no) disappointment. I can honestly say that the best performance is by a non-speaking character that appeared in 2 scenes for less than 1 minute: Uggie, the dog from "The Artist". I thought the animals drew more laughter than the 2 leads, although Dylan McDermott was kinda funny in his intensiveness. The best scene was a COPS shout out. It is timely released to coincide with upcoming American elections and there were some smartly veiled slingshots at the state of politics now, but unfortunately the show appealed to the lowest denominator and any slingshots just pattered out the moment it was fired. Sight gags are plentiful, but most fall flat. Even the end credits shot was a wasted opportunity.

Ted [Dig]

Not as juvenile as expected but also not as great as raved. The one missing thing throughout the show is the "spark" between the characters/cast. Cute, interesting concept, and Ted was quite amazingly animated, but Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis lacked chemistry, Wahlberg's acting opposite Ted was "stoned" (perhaps a nod to the character hinself? Heh). All these led to a climax that could have hit an emotional home run, but instead ended up flatlining. That said, the scenes with Ted himself/itself were genuinely funny. It's saying something when the funniest scenes were the one with guest stars (*spoiler* NJ and RR). Maybe there was some editing and censorship which resulted in this really-not-that-funny-and-I-dunno-why-everybody-loved-it film here. Won't surprise me.