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The Mentalist starring Simon Baker

Posted on April 19, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Simon Baker as Patrick Jane in The Mentalist
Simon Baker as Patrick Jane in The Mentalist. Photo from: photobucket

Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) is a mentalist, helping the CBI (California Bureau of Investigation) with their cases.

A mentalist-as the definition appears on the screen right before each episode starts- is someone who uses mental acuity, hypnosis and/or suggestion.

Patrick used to pass himself off as a psychic and had more than a good 15 minutes of fame too. But when the serial killer he was helping the police catch killed his family to show he wasn’t as smooth or smart he believed himself to believe. After that, Patrick assists the CBI full-time. He profiles the suspects and the victims. By using his mental capabilities, he makes almost perfect assumptions. Although his theories don’t always amuse the detective in charge, Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney), she is aware of how big an asset he is. Mind you, she doesn’t always approve of his tactics. However, more often than not, he ends up being right.

A good friend of mine suggested I should watch The Mentalist. His reasoning was that I loved House and there was a big chance I would like this show too. As a fellow House addict, he wasn’t wrong. There are some uncanny similarities in the way how their mind works, how smart they are and how much attention they pay to details and how much they can derive from little stuff that could mean not much to others.

There are of course many differences as well. Patrick Jane doesn’t really mind talking to people. He takes pleasure in figuring them out whereas House really hates every extra “social” minute he has to spend. He is less of a loner and he used to be much less unconventional. He was married with a kid, until it was taken away from him. He sure gets to smile more often. But the thing is, there is no reason a fan of House can’t enjoy The Mentalist and vice versa.

Simon Baker is a good actor. You might have dismissed the tv show The Guardian he was previously starring in. I did. And you could have just labeled him as the pretty boy in The Devil Wears Prada. However, when I watched him in Sex and Death 101, I realized that he could indeed be worthy of all the fuss. Don’t be fooled by IMDB’s genre tags for Sex and Death 101. It is not a romantic comedy by any means. It is a black/dark comedy and obviously the romance is attached is very unconventional to say the least. Not a great movie but it is interesting and different. And then I watched him in The Lodger. He plays the mysterious lodger who may or may not be a serial killer, highly admiring Jack The Ripper. And again, although the movie wasn’t that good, Simon was.

Finally, Baker is the leading actor in a show well worthy of his talent and of your time. It is interesting, captivating and sometimes gruesome (due to the nature of the crimes). But our character Patrick does not come without a sense of humor. And neither do Teresa and the members of her team. And it is set in California, my favorite place on earth.

As the tagline of the show states, let the mind games begin. And I do love a good mind game!

Posts featuring The Mentalist

 Castle vs The Mentalist- Comparing the two addictive shows

 Television’s 3 Most Brilliant, Emotionally Broken Men: Patrick Jane, Gregory House and Jack Bauer

 Use of Social Media in TV Series featuring Castle, The Mentalist, House, Cougar Town and NCIS Los Angeles

 Seven Engaging Tv Shows with Suspense Featuring Castle, The Mentalist, House, Ncis Los Angeles and More

All Posts Featuring Simon Baker

Simon Baker Trivia: 21 Facts About Australian Actor Simon Baker

Not Forgotten Movie Review

The Lodger Movie Review

Top Nine Aussies in The Entertainment World: Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Kylie Minogue and More

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Filed Under: TV shows Tagged With: California, California Bureau of Investigation, CBI, crime, drama, House, mystery, Robin Tunney, Simon Baker, The Mentalist, the mentalist tv series, the mentalist tv show, thriller, TV shows

Modern Family starring Ed O’Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet

Posted on April 15, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Modern Family starring Ed O'Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burnell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet
Modern Family starring Ed O'Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet

 

When I watched Sofia Vergara on Jay Leno, joking around with Gerard Butler and glowing with charm and impressing us with a good sense of humor, I couldn’t help but check out who she was. There are too many celebrities for me to keep track of after all.  Turns out, she is starring in the comedy Modern Family alongside Ed O’Neill. And I decided to check out the show because of him.

If you watched even watched a single episode of Married with Children, you are more than familiar with Ed O’Neill’s hilarious character Al Bundy, the miserable shoe salesman. I loved that show. It made me laugh my butt of through most of the 11 seasons. Yes, a sitcom that lasted more than a decade and it wasn’t about your typical family. In fact, most of the characters in Modern Family seem much closer to normal.

But obviously, Modern Family is no Married with Children. It is not in the sitcom format- which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, it is not that funny either.

The Characters:

Aging Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill) is married to hot and much younger beauty Gloria. Gloria (Sofia Vergara) may or may not be younger than his daughter. Jay does love his wife but he is having trouble his wife’s 10 year-old son Manny from a previous marriage. And from what she tells us (us-because between their scenes, couples separately talk to the camera and tell us about their thoughts and stuff),her ex –Manny’s dad-was hot, young and wild. Yeah, Jay doesn’t love hearing about this.

Jay’s daughter Claire (Julie Bowen) is married with 3 kids, to Phil (Ty Burrell). Phil happens to be more annoying than any other sitcom character I have ever seen.He thinks he is hip and cool- he is like the best dad ever and moreover he thinks that everybody else thinks he is cool. His character might have passed for funny if he didn’t do the same things over and over again.

Jay’s son Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) is openly and proudly gay, living with his even prouder gay boyfriend Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and they have just adopted a baby from Vietnam.

The show, overall

The pilot was pretty OK. It looked promising. The fact that I hadn’t known too much about the plot helped. I had no idea all these people would be related. I was expecting them all to be neighbors who hated each other or something. But as it turned out at the end of the pilot, they were indeed a family. It wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny but thoroughly enjoyable. But having watched episodes 2&3, I am not sure I am all that willing to watch more. It is a little entertaining but I didn’t click with any of the characters. I am so used to Ed O’Neil’s every gesture and line cracking me up every second- Married with Children- his only occasionally funny character doesn’t really interest me.

The gay couple couldn’t have been more cliché. Sure, I have been known to enjoy a lot of clichés but only when they work. If you really want a comedy where clichéd gay characters really make you laugh, watch Will and Grace.

As for Julie Bowen, I like her as an actress, having previously watched her on TV series Boston Legal. But I am not all that fond of her character here.

Rated 9.0 on IMDB and I really don’t know why. Yeah, it means a lot of people have found it funny. I didn’t.

While it is not a bad show, it is just not that funny or interesting.

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Filed Under: TV shows Tagged With: comedy, Ed O'Neill, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Julie Bowen, Married with Children, Modern Family, Sofia Vergara, Ty Burnell

Justified starring Timothy Olphant

Posted on April 14, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Justified starring Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in Justified. Image from: http://plaintom.files.wordpress.com

Miami. Day. Outdoors. Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) meets a man at a restaurant. He has told the man to leave town and he hasn’t. He warns him, the guy doesn’t actually think that Raylan will really kill him. At least not then,not in front of everyone. But eventually he pulls his gun, “justifying” Rylan’s shooting him.

Timothy Olyphant in Justified
Timothy in Kentucky. Image from: http://ewwatchingtv.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/timothy-olyphant_l.jpg

Raylan is a US Marshall. And since it is not wild west, his actions aren’t exactly welcome and he is sent to the Kentucky office as a “punishment”. Since Raylan grew up in Kentucky, it is the last place he wants to go.

Life in Kentucky won’t be simple. His ex-wife has moved back, an old friend/a guy who he has mined together in his youth ( Boyd- played by Walton Goggins) has turned into a terrorist/criminal/Nazi. Boyd’s  brother has been killed. The “murderer” is none other than the brother’s wife Ava (Joelle Carter). Ava is more than happy to see Raylan-her old crush- back.

So this is how Raylan’s new life in Kentucky starts with lots of complications. It is fun to watch Timothy as the Marshall who can grab and shoot his gun faster than any criminal. He is smart, to-the-point and well…not afraid at all.

Raylan’s past is complicated- with a criminal of a father and an ex who claims Raylan is the angriest man she ever knew. After all, how we see him is totally different. He is calm, cool and very cold-blooded.

Timothy Olyphant is an actor who can fit any role. So far, he has been a drug dealer (Go), a porn star’s manager ( The Girl Next Door), a guy hired to kill a lawyer (Damages), a programmed killer (Hitman), a wild west sheriff (Deadwood) and a bisexual falling in love with his gay boyfriend’s heterosexual and female best friend (Advice from a Caterpillar)….

Yep, the list goes on. He has shown versatility even in parts that might resemble each other a little bit. He has done TV and big screen, played the good guy and the bad guy. But mostly, he has done the “grey” character he is so apt at. A humane character with faults and virtues.

Justified is a one cool drama/thriller, with a little western vibe thrown in.

Also starring: Nick Searchy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Natalie Zea,

It is engaging and our lead character is charismatic, to say the least. The show is in its 1 season. May it have a long life.

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Filed Under: TV shows Tagged With: drama, Erica Tazel, Jacob Pitts, Joelle Carter, Justified, Natalie Zae, Nick Searchy, thriller, Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins

Sex and The City starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrall, Cynthia Nixon & Kristin Davis

Posted on April 9, 2010 Written by ripitup

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With the 2nd movie on the way and me being a fan of the series, It was time I wrote about this glamorous, sexy and hilarious (and sometimes emotional) TV show.
Sex and The City featuring Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Catrall. Photo: http://static.tvguide.com/

The series centers on 4 women in their 30s-maybe with Samantha being a little older: Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. Set in New York, we witness the romantic (and sometimes not so romantic) adventures of them.

Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and The City
Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw. Photo from: http://static.blogo.it/blogapuntate/i-personaggi-di-sex-and-the-city-carrie-bradshaw

 

Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker): Carrie is a sex/relationships columnist. She is well-paid but she lives in a studio apartment. The money is spent on her clothes/shoes addiction, her busy social life and cabs. She loves dating and her column is inspired by her and her 3 best friends’ love lives. She likes having fun, but deep down, she is up for a meaningful relationship. And no matter how many men come and go, the man who makes the “biggest” impression is Mr. Big (Chris Noth). He appears in a variety of episodes throughout all seasons. Wait, I’ll come back to that guy.

Kim Cattrall plays Samantha Jones in Sex and The City
Kim Cattrall plays Samantha Jones. Photo: http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/kim-kim-cattrall-257571_813_1024.jpg

Samantha Jones (Kim Catrall): Samantha is a hot, successful businesswoman with her own PR agency. Among these 4 women, she is the one who loves and has sex the most. There are no boundaries, rules or shame. She once defined herself as a try-sexual, meaning that she will try anything once, including threesomes, sleeping with a woman and more. She has fun and is proud of her conquests. She is never shy about talking anything either. Although all her 3 best friends in the show talk about sex and relationships, they often feel like that Samantha should try to censor herself.

Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes in Sex and The City
Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes in Sex and The City. Photo: http://anthonygeorge.files.wordpress.com

Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon): Miranda is a successful lawyer and she refuses to be optimistic when it comes to men. She is a cynic and she is proud of it. She has her heartbreaks, disappointments and occasional outrage just like Carrie or Charlotte. There are some big crushes, too. And although she loves having a healthy and busy sex life, her total number of bed partners can not be compared to Samantha’s. At least Miranda can count.

Kristin Davis plays Charlotte York in Sex and The City
Kristin Davis plays Charlotte York in Sex and The City. Photo: http://www.damnimcute.com/wp-content

Charlotte York (Kristin Davis): Charlotte is- hands down- the most romantic, conventional, and traditional of them all. She works at a prestigious art gallery but she has no trouble imagining herself to be a stay-at-home mother and be supported by her husband. Ever since the show has started, she dreams of finding the right man, getting married and having babies. She is most often embarrassed or outraged by Samantha’s comments on sex. However as the show progresses, she lets go of her inhibitions a bit. But the traditionalist in her never dies.

THE GAY BESTFRIEND:

 

Sarah Jessica Parker and Willie Garson in Sex and The City
Sarah Jessica Parker and Willie Garson in Sex and The City. Photo: http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs

 

Every city gal should have at least one, right? Stanford (Willie Garson) is Carrie’s. He is openly and proudly gay. He offers some great advice, provides a lot of fun to the show. He is also the reason Carrie met Aidan (see below). So yes, we like Stanford.

The Men:

CARRIE’S

Surely men come and go throughout all seasons and we don’t hear about most of them again.But some leave their marks, just like Big (Chris Noth-as I mentioned earlier). Here are the men who get to stay-for at least during 1 or 2 seasons.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth in Sex and The City
Carrie and Big. Photo: http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/080212/Sex-In-The-City-Parker_l.jpg

 

Big  (Chris Noth): We are not revealed Big’s name until the very end, so I will keep refer to him as Big here. After all, Big is all we hear about for six years. Maybe telling you that he appears this much through out all seasons is a spoiler. But then again, he is both movies so it can’t have spoiled things that badly for you.

Chris Noth
Yes, we love Chris. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/

He is a lot of things most women want. Hell, he is a lot of things I want: Tall, dark, handsome, well-off and fun. However he is also a lot of things most women-including me- don’t want: He is a little elusive and has commitment issues. And he does have a tendency not to or hate it, he is one of the factors that make the show recognize a good thing (Carrie) even when it is right in front of him all the time. But love him interesting and a lot of fun. Plus, his character is proof that no matter how independent, successful and fun-loving a woman is, she might lose common sense all together when she is head over heels.

Sarah Jessica Parker and John Corbett in Sex and The City
Carrie and Aidan. http://popawesome.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/carrie-aidan.jpg

Aidan Shaw (John Corbett): Carrie was crazy about him, but it didn’t stop her from messing things up big time. But fans loved Aidan and even if after an awful break-up season 3, he came back to the show in season 4. And how canyou not love Aidan? He is handsome and cute, tall, fun-loving, romantic,thoughtful…

John Corbett as Aidan Shaw in Sex and The City
Aidan with long hair. Season 3. So he's tall, well-built, sweet, has good taste in music and he is fun? I wish he appeared in all 6 seasons. But at least this show introduced John Corbett to me. Photo from: http://www.asikaramelek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/aidan.jpg

The guy was just perfection. Oh did I mention he likes rock? Yep, it is like I created this character. Even though I like Big’s charisma and his mischievous glint in the idea, for me Aidan was the one.

Mikhail Baryshnikov as Aleksandr Petrovsky in Sex and The City
Carrie with Aleksandr. Mikhail Baryshnikov played the charming Aleksandr perfectly. But, as alluring as an artist and Paris were, it is nothing compared to Big. Photo from: http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/01/31/

There are two other men who threatened to be significant in Carrie’s life: artist Aleksandr Petrovsky and Jack Berger (Ron Livingston). Aleksandr had the charm of the older guy and Berger just seemed to be perfect for Carrie. He was cute and he was a writer. However Berger committed some of the ultimate relationship sins. And well…it wasn’t either of these guys we had our fingers crossed to end up with our Carrie anyway.

Ron Livinston stars as Jack Berger in Sex and The City
Jack Burger really broke Carrie's heart. But no worries, he plays the ultimate nice guy in The Time Traveler's wife. Photo: http://images.askmen.com/galleries/men/ron-livingston/

SAMANTHA’S

You might want it hard to believe but even Samantha had two important men in her life. Two men that she went nuts for. Arguably, she was just too nuts for one of them and that kinda kept her reserved for the other one but hey, it is a big thing that Samantha did try relationships:

 

James Remar as Richard Wright in Sex and The City
James Remar as Richard Wright in Sex and The City. He really charmed the pants off Samantha but pulled a lot of numbers too. Photo: http://i.cdn.hbo.com/assets/images/series/sex-and-the-city/

 

Richard Wright (James Remar): Rich, confident, charismatic and no intention of being a serious relationship ever, he seemed to be the perfect match for Samantha. And things would’ve gone smoothly if Samantha hadn’t fallen for him but hey, it happens to even the best of us. We fall for people we shouldn’t fall for. But hey, no worries, she does take care of herself anyhow.

 

Jason Lewis plays Smith Jerrord in Sex and The City
Smith Jerrod. He got to be an almost naked Absolut boy, rightly named Absolut Hunk. Photo: http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/Audiofrog

Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis): Now, if you thought Aidan was too good to be true, it is because you never met Smith. He redefines the adjective gorgeous. Moreover, he is a nice guy. And he is exiciting. And he is loyal. And he is an aspiring actor. Well, he was so cool, obviously even Samatha couldn’t resist. And why should she? If she is going to be in a relationship, it might as well be with a guy who is way hotter than all the guys in the show combined.Go, Samantha.

Jason Lewis, Absolut Hunk, Sex and The City
This is the poster I am talking about. Wow. Just, wow! Photo:http://absolut.pinknet.cz/mix/

MIRANDA’S

 

David Eigenberg as Steve Brady in Sex and The City
David Eigenberg as Steve Brady in Sex and The City.Photo from:http://www.playbill.com/

Steve Brady ( David Eigenberg): We couldn’t have guessed that our workaholic, cynic and maybe a little neurotic lawyer would fall for a cute, relaxed and maybe not so mature bartender Steve but hey, one can never predict these things…It might have started as a fling but soon it becomes something Miranda never has planned. Summarizing the relationship would take a lot of time. So let’s just say they had lot of ups and downs.

CHARLOTTE’S

 

Kyle MacLachlan as Trey MacDougal in Sex and The City
Kyle MacLachlan as Trey MacDougal in Sex and The City. He was one hilarious character. You can catch Kyle in Desperate Housewives. He has appeared in over 90 episodes. Photo: http://l.yimg.com/l/tv/us/img/site/

 

Trey MacDougal (Kyle MacLachlan): It all began like the fairy tale Charlotte had imagined it would be. A handsome gentlemen, old-fashioned where it mattered to her. But it wouldn’t help matters that he would have the mother from hell. Still, Charlotte tried really hard to make it work. But when push came to shove, she would need a divorce later.

 

 

Evan Handler and Kristin Davis in Sex and The City
Evan Handler and Kristin Davis in Sex and The City. Photo: http://www.melissacwalker.com/blog/

Harry Goldenblatt (Evan Handler): Details of Charlotte’s divorce are hilarious and you should watch those. But let’s say that without trying to divorce Trey, she would have never met Harry, the love of her life. While Harry is not an attractive guy, he is very nice. But there is no such thing as the perfect guy or the perfect relationship. Harry is Jewish and he makes it clear to Charlotte that he can’t marry a non-Jewish person. While this remark would have resulted in me kicking the guy’s ass, Charlotte is much more understanding and willing. So she converts. The lengths this woman will go to get that ring on her finger…Thankfully, Harry proves to be worth the trouble. Well, most of the time….

OTHER MEN WORTH MENTIONING:

Now, it is not about the romance but how I feel about these actors. It is always fun seeing them and well…let’s take a look:

 

Timothy Olypant in Sex and The City
Timothy Olypant in Sex and The City. Photo: http://upload.moldova.org/movie/actors

SAM- The 20 something guy

Well, who says we always need to date people our own age? So Carrie hooks up with Sam. What’s so special about Sam? Sam is played by none other than Timothy Olyphant! Oh ,yes. Yay to the casting directors!

The Bi Guy

Eddie Cahill in Sex and The City
Eddie Cahill in Sex and The City. Photo from: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/

Another 20 something guy that Carrie couldn’t resist. He might be hot, but there is a problem. He is bi. Now, it may not be a problem for everyone but our Carrie isn’t “modern” enough to digest that her lovely date has dated men. I hear you, Carrie. It is kind of weird. Now, this guy is played by Eddie Cahill. For avid Friends fans, Eddie plays Tag- Rachel’s hot assistant.

Last But Not Least:

Jon Bon Jovi  appeared in Sex and The City
Jon Bon Jovi appeared on Sex and The City. The episode is called Games People Play. Yes, it is my one of my favorite episodes. Photo: http://woodenspears.com/

Photographer Seth

Not only this episode in season 2 is hilarious, the love interest/eye candy for Carrie is played by Jon Bon Jovi! Yep, despite being a good rocker, Jon is pretty OK as an actor as well. It makes perfect sense for Carrie to be attracted to him. Yes, as well as being writers, I seem to have some things in common with Carrie when it comes to men. Well, not that I bedded someone that hot yet. But hey, I am still young. There is time.

FUN GUEST APPEARANCES

* Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew McConaughey and Vince Vaughn.

Now, there are guys who actually enjoy watching Sex and The City. One of my close friends likes it and we have a blast watching it. But it is not for the conservative and it is not for the easily-spooked (men). Because these girls talk about anything and everything when it comes to sex. There just might be too much honesty and too many details for some people. Me? I absolutely love this show.

Of course it is not over with SATC. It never is. Hold on for the movie review and some fantastic quotes. There’s also the book review coming up: Review of Sex and the City Kiss and Tell.

suggestion: If you like  Sex and The City,  you might like Cougar Town, starring Courteney Cox. Much less “vulgar” than SATC but a lot more “open” than Friends. Give it a shot.

Sex and The City (2008) Movie Review

SEX AND THE CITY ON AMAZON

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Filed Under: TV shows Tagged With: Chris Noth, comedy, Cynthia Nixon, Jason Lewis, John Corbett, Jon Bon Jovi, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, relationships, Sarah Jessica Parker, sex, Sex and The City, Timothy Olyphant

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