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Castle starring Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic

Posted on April 8, 2010 Written by ripitup

Castle series starring Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic. Photo: http://screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/castle-nathan-fillion.jpg

Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) is a best-selling crime novelist. He is good-looking, fun-loving and having a blast. He has tons of fans, a teenage daughter so responsible that would make any parent jealous, a colorful/ex-actress of a mother and yeah, a lot of money. His one problem though, he is late delivering his final manuscript and his ex wife/publisher is doing his head in.

NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) is a fan of the genre and Richard’s books. One very carefully arranged&decorated crime scene makes her realize that the killer is a copycat and she has to look for answers in Richard’s books. However, she is less than amused when she meets him in person. He is smart but a real wiseass who talks and flirts too much. He is also actually proud and happy that he has a copycat- something he can brag about at the poker games he plays with other best-selling authors. So Richard is more than happy to assist with the case. He gets to go to real crime scenes, disobey Kate’s orders, steal evidence (to help solve the case, but still…)….

When they solve their first case together, Kate can’t wait to get rid of Richard. However, Richard has other plans. He has decided on the protagonist of his new novel: A tough but hot female detective called Nikki Heat, based on none other than Kate. Moreover, he has also persuaded her captain that he should be allowed to hang out at the police station, follow her around and help solve the cases. Kate’s objections are of no use, because well… Richard has the mayor on speed dial, is friends with the judges and he knows what he is talking about.

So we have a half-mandatory/half-willing partnership with lots of intriguing murder cases, witty one-liners, funny events, some emotional moments and real chemistry between the two leads. Richard’s smug and flirting attitude is well-balanced with him being a loving father. This makes a show very entertaining to watch. Castle is engaging, thrilling and funny.

Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle. The casting couldn't have been more perfect. You just need to see the first 5 minutes of the first episode to agree with me. Photo: http://seat42f.com/images/stories/tvshows/Castle

You were probably familiar with Nathan Fillion before. I first watched him in Two Guys and a Girl (with Ryan Reynolds), co-starring as the Girl’s boyfriend (and then husband)- Johnny Donnelly. He later had the leading role on the short-lived but critically acclaimed sci-fi/thriller TV show Firefly, created by Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer). He guest-appeared on Buffy as one of the villains. He got to play his role in Firefly again when Joss Whedon made a movie out of the series, called Serenity. He has also appeared on Dracula 2000, starring Gerard Butler. It is always fun to watch Nathan on the screen – his performances are never strained or boring and you can always feel that the guy is really enjoying what he does, no matter what the role.

Stana Katic as Kate Beckett in Castle — Stana Katic. At 5'9

This is the first time I saw Stana Katic but I have to admit she does a really good job as Kate. Sure, her role is in the danger of being a little-clichéd- considering that she is the pretty, rule-obeying, smart, savvy yet emotionally preserved female character but the originality of the script, her fun cop friends and the presence of the character Richard, makes her character fun and easily watchable. I also love Castle’s scenes with his daughter- brainstorming on the murder cases with her. He is also one ” strange” parent that thinks her daughter should party more…

A show where I enjoy every minute of every episode. Strongly recommended- for everyone, especially so if you are into the crime/mystery genre attached to lovely comic relief.

Other Posts on Castle

Castle vs The Mentalist: Comparing Two Addictive Shows

Why Every Writer Should Watch Castle

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

Seven Famous Organization Acronyms From Television Featuring Ctu, Ncis, Csi and More

Castle on Amazon

Season 1

Season 2

The Forgotten starring Christian Slater

Posted on April 7, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Forgotten cast- Christian Slater — The Forgotten Cast (from the left): Bob Stephenson, Heather Stephens, Christian Slater, Michelle Borth, Anthony Carrigan and Rochelle Aytes. Photo from: http://www.idsnews.com/blogs/

The Forgotten is about a group of volunteers, who try to identify the nameless victims after the police have had to give up on the case. There are groups of volunteers all over USA and our story focuses on the group led by Alex Donovan (Christian Slater), an ex cop.

Alex’s daughter has been kidnapped 2 years ago. Alex still doesn’t have a clue what happened to her. So he helps other families- by identifying the victims and notifying the parents/relatives/loved ones. One way or the other, they will know and the guilty will face the trial.

Alex has 4 other friends in his group: Lindsey, Walter, Tyler and Candace.

Lindsey (Heather Stephens) has had a similar situation with her husband.

Candace (Michelle Borth) doesn’t like her job and this gives her a sense of purpose.

Walter (Bob Stephenson) likes to play detective.

Tyler (Anthony Carrigan) is a sculptor and he uses his art to help find more about the victim.

Their other co-star is Rochelle Aytes, playing Detective Grace Russell. Grace is Alex’s contact at the police department.

If you like to play detective and love watching cases get solved despite the bumps in the road- like your characters to succeed, but have a lot twists and turns in the meantime, you might like this show. I loved it. It will also help to be a Christian Slater fan.

Just like every show, there will be lots of mixed reactions. Why don’t you give it a try and see how you feel about it?

Note: I heard that ABC has canceled the show. Fingers crossed it is just a rumor. Because it is fun and exciting to watch. And if it is true, you still have 15 episodes to enjoy.

Other Christian Slater Posts:

The Deal with Christian Slater

ALIAS

Cougar Town starring Courteney Cox

Posted on April 2, 2010 Written by ripitup

Cougar Town starring Courtney Cox — It was time we got a decent comedy. Yes, it started airing in 2009 and I just discovered it. But hey, trust me- the concept will never go out of fashion. Courtney is just as funny as she was as Monica. And even more gorgeous. Photo from: impawards.com

Courteney Cox is back and Cougar Town makes me want to watch Dirt. Well, most probably the only thing these two have in common is Courteney Cox and that’s OK.

Cougar Town cast featuring Courtney Cox, Josh Hopkins, Busy Philipps, Dan Byrd, Brian Van Holt, Christa Miller and Ian Gomez — Cougar Town Cast. From left: Josh Hopkins, Busy Philips, Christa Miller, Ian Gomez and Brian Van Holt. Sitting down: Courteney Cox and Dan Byrd. Photo from: http://blog.newsok.com/television/files

Cougar Town basically rocks. It is not exactly original but it is not originality that makes it work. I mean I am guessing you have seen the hot 40-year-old single mother with a teenage son, trying to cope in the world? The cute but reckless and immature ex husband? The hot single male neighbor dating younger chicks only to later develop a crush on our hot single mom? The edgy, Grinchy best friend who could have actually got along with House?

You did see it before. But most probably not all together, set in Florida, along with a younger, air-headed blonde employee and now with this much chemistry between the characters. And by chemistry, I mean comedic timing.

The premise:

Jules Cobb (Courteney Cox) is 40, newly divorced and not very hopeful about her future love life. She is surrounded by younger women dating older men or older women dating younger men. Not that men her own age seem promising: Her next door neighbor Grayson (Josh Hopkins)- also newly divorced- has made a habit of dating college girls. She is also busy raising her teenage son Travis (Dan Byrd), supporting ex-husband Bobby (Brian Van Holt), trying to keep her two best friends- neighbor Ellie (Christa Miller) and employee Laurie (Busy Philips) from killing each other. But Laurie has other plans. Just because Jules didn’t spend much time partying and dating before, doesn’t mean she can’t start now.

So Jules throws her private life into the equation: mostly gorgeous younger men.

But maybe neither her ex nor Grayson aren’t as shallow as they seem….

The funniness level:

The pilot is by far one of the funniest pilots I have ever seen. The show doesn’t really care about men’s feelings, let me tell you. Although, I think men will like Grayson, Bobby and some men will find familiar territory with the family man/Ellie’s husband Andy (Ian Gomez).

Although the show is no way verbally or visually as explicit as Sex and The City (mind you, I love Sex and The City), it shows women out there. With all the beauty issues, family obligations, careers, relationships and sexual/romantic needs, what women think and feel are openly explored:

Laurie doesn’t analyze relationships as well or often as she should and ends up in the beds of wrong men.
Jules’ colleague Barb is like SATC’s Samantha a decade and some plastic surgeries later.
Ellie has a hilarious way of showing married life sex.
And Jules…well, Jules even has to teach one of her boyfriends how to kiss. And women are all familiar with the “too much tongue” issue that most men seem to be going through.

Women will have fun. And men will have fun. But I suspect women will laugh a little more. You will not be laughing out loud all the time, but you will be entertained. And it is no sitcom. So no laughter effects and no tiny little set. Oh, and a word for the hopeless rock addicts like me: Bobby has a great rocknroll taste in music.

Gerard Butler and Saturday Night Live

Posted on November 12, 2009 Written by ripitup

Gerard Butler, Saturday Night Live — Gerard Butler hosts Saturday Night Live

Have you seen Matthew Perry‘s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip? It is a solid drama that takes you behind the scenes of a sketch-comedy TV show and shows the interesting yet frustrating life of its makers. The fictional comedy show epicted in the series really remind me of Saturday Night Live. Maybe they were inspired by it, I don’t know. I guess it can be pretty challenging to come up with funny ideas week after week. As a result, you can’t make everyone happy and you can’t make everyone laugh till they cry with every sketch. So while it is fun to check out Saturday Night Live once in a while, I am not a regular viewer. It is not always funny, hell- not all sketches in one night can always be funny. Hey, my favorite comedian is Jim Carrey and some of his stints there sucked!

That being said, I love seeing Gerard Butler on TV. He is very funny and has a good sense of humor: The guy knows how to entertain. So I checked out how funny Butler could be in such a different format than he is used to. He has played in a lot of movies and tv shows that belong to different genres but this is his first time hosting (and acting in) a show like this.

THE INTRO:

Gerard Butler in Saturday Night Live, singing The Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera — Gerard Butler singing The Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera

Now, my favorite moment might be when Gerard first comes to the stage. He looks fun, cool and handsome. And he starts with how proud he is about being the first Scot to host SNL. He does later categorize his movie parts into two parts: the ones where he wears a shirt and the ones he doesn’t. So he decides to make a little tribute to the Phantom of the Opera-and starts singing The Music of the Night. Of course then people in funny costumes (tributes to Attila, Beowulf and Grendel) and other action movies come and try to kill him- but he manages to dispose of them, while maintainig his beautiful singing voice. But him singing a serious opera song with Vikings and ninjas attacking him and him fighting them on stage is hilarious. Just when he thinks he is safe and is joined by one of the female regulars of SNL, she takes out a dagger and tries to stab him while shouting: “Take your shirt off!! Take your shirt off’!”. I had fun!

So take a look at what happened with the ones that feature Gerry:

The Beauty and the Beast

– As ridiculous as it sounds, Gerard Butler plays the beast. But the funny part about this stint is that The Beast thinks he is the pretty one. Imagine the shock of The Beauty when she finds out!,

Cottage Cheese

I honestly have no idea why this is supposed to be funny, but the weird secretary’s shrill of a voice still haunts me. I go around the house imitating “Thomasssss…. Thomasss…. Look!”

300

Gerard Butler in the 300 parody of Saturday Night Live — Gerard Butler makes a parody of his character in 300 and the movie itself. This is priceless!

I am not that much of a fan when it comes to 300 though I appreciate the hard work and talent that has been put into the movie. Hell, Butler himself went through an excruciating exercise routine to get the body he had as Leonidas the King of Sparta (he worked out up to 6 hours a day) and all the soldiers were similarly well-built. It also takes one hell of an imagination to act in front of a blue screen all the time, since most of the background was added afterwards. But I am not crazy about the movie. And the parody is just hilarious. It rotates around the “fact” that how gay the 300 men were. You really should see it. All jokes are funny. Loved it.

Leonidas: 40% of Sparta considers homosexuality an illness.

A soldier: 40% of Sparta doesn’t believe you were born in Greece!

Leonidas: (takes out a stone tablet that his name is carved on) I have a birth certificate!!!

DAVEHEART

Daveheart is a hilarious Braveheart parody. Now Braveheart is my favorite movie. I love everything about it, but it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a good parody. This one is hilarious. If you haven’t seen Braveheart, a quick reminder: William Wallace is an actual Scottish hero, portrayed by Mel Gibson in the movie. The English rule unfairly and violently. Wallace marries the girl he loves secretly because The English are known to invade weddings and claim the bride. But they kill her and in order to take revenge, he gathers the Scots into an army. The movie is famous for one of the most inspiring battlefield speeches. In the movie, soldiers are scared and Wallace turns unwilling peasants into brave warriors. So yeah- there is no Dave in the movie. :D.

SOLDIER: How can we surrender? The English deflower our virgin brides on their wedding nights!

DAVE: Well, first of all none of your wives were virgins on their wedding nights. There’re six girls in our village and like a hundred guys…So noone is a virgin.

Gerard Butler, Saturday Night Live, Braveheart Parody — Gerard Butler is supposedly Dave, William Wallace's cowardly brother.

THE TRANSLATION

Gerard Butler joins the news as himself, and wants to talk to his family in the heaviest of Scottish accents and asks the anchorman to translate. Of course the translation is a little bit different…

Butler:… most fun I have had since I made 300. Man, that movie was great.

The Anchor: … most fun I have had since I made 300. Man, that movie was gay.

WHITE PETE

OK- I have no idea how this stint is supposed to be funny – but Gerry’s weird singer character and his mimics can put a grin on your face. Oh, and I don’t know what James Franco is doing there- but I like the guy, so…yeah, that’s about it.

P.S: The one with The Rock: Now the first sketch doesn’t involve Gerry but I really enjoyed it: Barack Obama is having a difficult time with the healthcare reform – people just want him to fail. So he gets really angry and angry- and…remember what happens to the Hulk? Except Obama doesn’t turn into a green giant of a man but to The Rock- Dwayne Johnson. Now- yeah, that does intimidate the White House guests…

Want more Gerard Butler-related posts? You might want to check out:

Law Abiding Citizen: 2 Steps Short of Perfection

GAMER

5 REASONS TO LOVE GERARD BUTLER

TOP 10 GERARD BUTLER MOVIES