For the former Daily Show “correspondent” and talented star, Steve Carell (who’s acting abilities, incidentally, shine the most when he takes on more subdued roles, as in the case when he played a gay, Proust scholar in Little Miss Sunshine), the opportunity to star in the American Office, assuming the same role that Gervais had perfected even before the show’s inception on BBC, must have been, I can only presume, a bit daunting.

Indeed, those are big shoes to fill, as my previous piece, which introduces the mastermind(s) behind the Office indicates. (Despite my focus on Gervais, he shouldn’t be given all the credit, as Stephen Merchant was also the co-creator of the Office and their hit series on HBO, Extras).

THE VERDICT: FIRST IMPRESSIONS AREN’T ALWAYS CORRECT

I’ll be the first to admit, when I watched the first few episodes of the American Office, my leeriness was confirmed. Jim (played by the now famous John Krasiniski, a native – like the writer/actor of the show B.J. Novak – of Newton, MA) just parroted Tim (Martin Freeman), and as a mere mimicker of the British actor, I wasn’t impressed. It was worse for Carell, however, as he was taking on Gervais’s role. All eyes were on him. While Gervais received gushing praise (one critic, as I mentioned previously, lauded, “the show is perfect.”), American TV critics, not surprisingly, reviewed Carell’s initial performance with either tepid (ahem) approval or outright despair, the latter bemoaning the fact that he was channeling Gervais and in a decidedly not-so-subtle manner. Read More »

Dirty Dancing

It’s true. I hate it.

I’ve hated that stupid film since the first time I saw it on a TV, stuck in my weird babysitter’s mother’s house for a reason I can’t remember now, sitting in a living room that smelled like old couch and cigarettes, desperately trying to find something to whittle away the time. At first, I thought I had hit the jackpot. It looked totally indecent, something my mom would have never let me watch, and there was a cool soundtrack (I was 10 years old…what did I know about music?). Thirty minutes into the thing, however, my young brain knew I was watching something absolutely sucktastic. Even then, I could tell the dialogue was phony and forced. Even then, I could tell Jennifer Grey would never make another movie because she was totally annoying. And even then, even as a child, I knew Patrick Swayze was weird looking.

As I’ve grown older, my hatred for this movie has only increased, and every time another cool person declares their love for it, I feel a tiny pang of anger in the pit of my stomach and force them to list the reasons why. Strangely enough, most people can’t define why they like it so much. I think it has something to do with that lake scene; wet nipples, romantic music, ‘try try again’ mentality…a little something for everyone. Other than that, I have no idea why this movie ever made it anywhere.

The Matrix

Please. I fell asleep after the first ten minutes and woke up just in time to see people wearing sunglasses and barking half-worn Bible verses at each other. Snorefest. My brother and his friends tell me I’m just too stupid to understand it. Maybe. Or maybe they’re the stupid ones for unwittingly sitting through high octane Sunday School.

Any Monty Python Film

I have sat in a roomful of people watching one of these and been the only one not laughing. I just don’t get it. I couldn’t find it funny if I tried. Maybe if I played Risk and had an online boyfriend, I’d find it more hilarious. Read More »