We saw Jon Favreau’s new film, Chef, last weekend. A cute flick. Favreau wrote, directed and starred as the chef who works in a restaurant owned by Dustin Hoffman. He gets into a social media tiff with a food critic (Oliver Platt) and, with the encouragement of his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara) and maitre d’ (Scarlett Johansson), goes back to his roots and bonds with his tech-wizard 11-year-old son in the process. It’s partly a road movie, wandering from Miami to L.A. via New Orleans and Austin, and very few will leave the theater without a massive craving for Cuban sandwiches. The power of Twitter is part of the story, and the way they depict tweets flying off into the ether is funny.
While on vacation, we watched the Veronica Mars movie. It was okay, but Mars (from Neptune) gave up on some long-held things far too easily, we thought, and the wrap-up was a little simplistic and convenient. Good seeing the old gang again, though. Light frothy entertainment. Then we saw The Bag Man, starring John Cusack and Robert De Niro. I’d never heard of it, but the trailer was intriguing (and far better than the film proved to be). The first hour was good. Twin Peaks vibe in a remote hotel where Cusack, a gun for hire, is supposed to be paid for his latest gig. The wheels start to fall off in the third act, and there’s a fourth act that felt ripped from a totally different movie. We did insufficient research before watching it OnDemand. The Rotten Tomatoes score is 10% and the viewer score was around 30%.
We watched the Masterpiece Theater two-parter, The Escape Artist, starring David Tennant as a defense barrister who has never lost a case. He doesn’t mind defending the scum of the earth, because everyone’s entitled to a defense, but then bad things happen. It’s always fun watching Tennant and the story was gripping and intriguing, with a particularly wicked ending.
Finally got around to seeing the Orphan Black finale. At some point this show is going to get so bogged down in mythology and so confused that the writers aren’t going to know what’s going on, either, but I’m willing to check out Season 3. The dance scene was clever, but mostly from a “boy, that must have been hard to film” perspective rather than a story-telling perspective.
Still enjoying Murder in the First, which continues to remind me of the better aspects of The Killing. James Cromwell showed up for a couple of episodes as a high-priced defense attorney. 24 is surprisingly good this time around. I didn’t even mind the cheap trick with the president. Lots of people getting shot to death or tossed out windows. And then there was the aircraft carrier thing. That’s gonna suck.
The Bridge is coming back soon. I want to check out the Swedish second season, too. Also watching Longmire, Major Case, and Rizzoli & Isles. Solid return for Covert Affairs, too, which more people should be watching. One of the smarter spy shows out there. And then there was Under the Dome. The recap episode was worth watching, because it’s been nearly a year, and then all manner of chaos in the first episode, including the deaths of two much-loved characters. Especially the second one, who managed to survive much longer than in the novel, but will be missed.
