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Shark TV Series starring James Woods, Jeri Ryan & Danielle Panabaker

Posted on October 13, 2010 Written by ripitup

Sebastian Stark (James Woods) is the most brilliant defense lawyer in town. He is loaded and he gets a kick out of being the best. Winning his recent trial however changes things forever: a wife-beater has almost beaten his wife to death but apparently called 911 and saved her. Sebastian wins his case, on the grounds that if he’d intended to kill her, he wouldn’t have called 911. Both his defendant and his beaten wife are grateful.

But at night, he gets a phone call. This time, the guy has actually killed his wife. He is not in shock or depressed but smug that Sebastian will make him walk free again. This makes Sebastian reconsider his career as a defense lawyer. He’d no doubt soon shake the shock and guilt and move on, but he gets an interesting offer: he is proposed to work with the D.A’s (Jeri Ryan) office.

Suddenly finding himself on the opposite end of the table, Sebastian is now determined to put every criminal behind bars. He starts by training and showing his “rookie” young lawyers team (Sophina Brown, Sarah Carter, Sam Page, Alexis Cruz) some tough love. They are not all that impressed about his approach, but at the end of the day, they know he is the best and they have a lot to learn.

Sebastian’s personal life is also about to have a major change: His ex-wife is moving to New York and taking their 16-year-old daughter Julie (Danielle Panabaker) with her.

However Julie makes a surprising decision and Stark’s life begins a very different chapter.

Sebastian Stark is the much more social version of House. He is equally brilliant. He knows how good he is. But he is also aware that he hasn’t been the perfect father and he does his best to make it up to his daughter. It is impossible not to like and admire Stark and James Woods make him a great character to watch.

Shark is a first class drama/thriller with lots of entertaining moments. Unfortunately it only lasted for 38 episodes. It is from 2006 and if you like your mystery shows, Shark is a must. Watch a couple of episodes and you will probably be upset about the fact it only aired for 2 seasons.

Favorite Line from Episode 1, Season 1:

Sebastian Stark: (his first reaction to the Mayor’s offer): Me a prosecutor? I eat prosecutors for breakfast, they are my main source of fiber. Come on!

Wanna know about the Best Shark Villain?

You like your shows thrilling and leading characters brilliant? Here are some other shows you might like (if you already like them, please drop by and leave your comments):

24 starring Kiefer Sutherland

The Closer starring Kyra Sedgwick

The Mentalist starring Simon Baker

House starring Hugh Laurie

Leverage starring Timothy Hutton

Castle starring Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic

The Mentalist Season 3: Patrick Jane is back with episodes 1 & 2

Posted on October 2, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Mentalist starring Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Amanda Righetti, Owain Yeoman, Tim Kang

The Mentalist is back in full swing! Last Thursday saw the airing of the first episode of The Mentalist’s new season. If you are new to this addictive, fun and intense crime/msytery/drama/thriller, you can read these posts on the show and the characters:

The Mentalist Review

The Mentalist vs . Castle – fun characters and plots comparison

Television’s 3 Most Brilliant and Emotionally Intense Characters- feat Patrick Jane

Where the characters ended up after 2 seasons:

– In several episodes, Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) got close to the murderer of his wife and daughter – Red John. However John elluded him and his mates in the CBI.

– Patrick was close to dating and romantic possibilities, until he crossed paths with Christina (Leslie Hope) again.

He didn’t believe in her ability as a psychic, but was impressed with her ability to read people and it seemed like he found his match in the mental area. They even agreed to go on a date, but Red John stroke again. Christina made the mistake of thinking she could reach out to the serial killer’s troubled soul and she ended up being kidnapped by him. Of course this traumatized Patrick.

– Agents Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) and Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) dated and it was going good, until they had to come out to Lisbon and the director. If they wanted to keep dating, one of them needed to transfer. Van Pelt didn’t want this kind of pressure on their relationship so they ended it. It was awkward for a while but they got the hang of it.

<br> <strong>Season 3, Episode 1</strong>

Red John has Christina but no one really knows what happened to her. Their recent case is of a well-known and respected businessman – he has been kidnapped and his driver was shot to death in the process. Patrick has no interest in the case but because the guy is an important member of the society, Lisbon is pressured to involve Patrick. So she manipulates him into the case. Chow (Tim Kang) is taking care of the kidnapped man’s wife, while Patrick and Lisbon interview the dead guy’s family: his ex-wife and their daughter, with her step-dad. Of course Jane solves the case from day 1, but messes with Lisbon and their bosses just for the hell of it.

The Mentalist is back and it feels like it never went away. The chemistry and the fun are all there. If you haven’t started already, you are missing out on a great show.

Episode 2

Patrick Jane gets a call from his brother-in-law Danny. When cops arrive at the crime scene, they find a dead body and Jane holding the murder weapon. Lisbon persuades the detective to release Patrick to her custody. She knows Patrick didn’t commit the crime, but she is not sure about Danny and neither is Patrick. But he is ready to find and help Danny.

We get another fun, intriguing and emotional episode as Patrick’s search takes us to the “carnies” and we get to find out a little bit more about Jane’s past and his relationship with his deceased wife.

Fun note: Last season, I had covered both The Mentalist and Castle separately and then did a post comparing these shows. Funnily enough, season 3 for both shows gave us one more similarity, as Castle also was suspected for murder this season. Castle’s happened in episode 1 while Jane’s happened in episode 2.

Posts featuring Simon Baker and The Mentalist

The Mentalist TV Series Review- Starring Simon Baker

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

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

All Posts Featuring Simon Baker

Simon Baker Trivia: 21 Facts About Australian Actor Simon Baker

Something New Movie Review

Not Forgotten Movie Review

The Lodger Movie Review

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

Richard Castle and Kate Beckett Are Back with Castle Season 3!

Posted on September 22, 2010 Written by ripitup

Castle Cast from left: Seamus Dever, Molly C. Quinn, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Stana Katic, Nathan Fillion, Tamala Jones, Jon Huertas and Susan Sullivan

Above: Castle Cast from left: Seamus Dever, Molly C. Quinn, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Stana Katic, Nathan Fillion, Tamala Jones, Jon Huertas and Susan Sullivan

And the wait was officially over on Monday, September 20.

If you are new to Castle, you might want to check out the intro post where the characters and the plot basics are desribed. And if you are already a fan of Castle and/or The Mentalist, you might have a good time comparing these two solid crime/action/mystery/thriller shows, remembering Castle is the funny and Mentalist is the emotionally much more intense one.

Before I get into the plot and review of the first episode of Castle’s 3rd season, let’s remember where the characters (romantically) left off: (yes, there will be spoilers for season 1 and 2)

NYPD Homicide Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and Famous Best-Selling Crime Author Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) caught the perfect dynamic and sold numerous difficult and challenging cases together. Castle ‘s mother Martha (Susan Sullivan), daughter Alexis (Molly C. Quinn ) and Beckett’s crew- Esposito (Jon Huertas) and Ryan (Seamus Dever) are all aware that these two have more than friendly feelings for each other but neither is directly admitting to it.

So Beckett had a couple of dates and Castle had some attempts at other flings, but the audience was fully aware that they would rather date each other if they could. The “will-they? won’t-they?” dynamic reached its peak when 4 episodes into the finale of season 2, we met another Detective, Tom Demming (Michael Trucco). Tall, fit, dark and handsome Demming met Beckett at the workout session at their precinct during a workout session. Being a robbery detective, Demming assisted them on a case – much to Rick’s contempt, jealousy and discomfort. Of course he was right to be jealous. After Demming proved he was indeed a good cop and a good guy (he did ask Castle if there was something going on between him and Beckett and Castle said no), he asked her out and the two cops started dating. His constant presence, in both helping the cases and hanging around Beckett, drove Castle crazy.

Beckett was confused but her crew convinced her that Castle was too obviously into her and well…Beckett let Demming go. Unfortunately, right at time, Castle had given up on Beckett, as he thought he couldn’t compete with Mr. Perfect. So he did hook up with someone: his second ex-wife/agent Gina (Monet Mazur). So when Beckett saw them together, she didn’t mention the break-up and Castle went to the Hamptons with his ex.

Season 3- Episode 1- Plot Summary & Review

Opening scene: Castle is at a crime scene, holding a gun. He hears shots, he runs outside. He runs across Beckett, who is facing him with a gun, telling him to get down. No one else seems to be in sight so how did these two end holding guns at each other?

Cut to 3 days earlier…

It’s yet another day in the fall at the NYPD and Castle isn’t back. He also hasn’t called, so in addition to Beckett, both Esposito and Ryan are pissed and disappointed. Castle’s has finished his new book though, and it is on sale.

While the cops are investigating the death of a high school chemistry teacher, they are lead to a second murder scene- the flat of a tattoo artist. They also find Castle there, holding a gun. Starting with Castle as a suspect, they get to work together on the case after his innocence is proven. There is also a third murder, an impossible connection between the three deaths and the usual unresolved angst and the regular jokes between Beckett, Castle and the crew…

No, I am not telling the details or the end or how the opening scene resolves. Come on, people! You need to watch it to enjoy it fully.

Fun Line:

As the crew stand outside the bookstore window, looking at the life-sized, cardboard version of Castle:

Ryan: He really is ruggedly handsome.

Enjoy!

All Other Castle TV Show and Nathan Fillion Related Posts

Castle TV Show Review

Castle starring Nathan Fillion vs. The Mentalist starring Simon Baker

Why Every Writer Should Watch ABC’s Mystery Thriller Castle

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

20 Tall Hollywood Actors & Their Careers: Featuring Nathan Fillion, Michael Trucco & More

Canadian Celebrity Trivia: Featuring Bryan Adams, Jim Carrey, Nathan Fillion & More

Shelter starring Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Posted on August 1, 2010 Written by ripitup

Shelter starring Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Image via covershut.com

What the hell? Yes, there will be spoilers. But trust me this movie is really bad so it is to your advantage to know.

Yes, it is not a good thing when a film starts just fine, albeit a bit slow but promises to be an intelligent thriller with a touch of horror and drama and fine acting but then ends up including witches, extremely religious undertone, a villain who is just one of the most ridiculous and pointless villains in history and all that…

I got out a little bit of a rant and now I feel better.

Now, for the record, I really like Julianne Moore. She is a terrific actress and a really pretty woman even without make-up. And it is no secret that I love Jonathan Meyers. He is a great actor and yes, most movie addicts prefer when a decent script comes with talented actors who also happen to be pretty.

And the story starts out pretty cool: Psychiatrist Cara Jessup (Julianne Moore) believes in her science but she believes in God as well. Even the random street murder of her husband hasn’t faltered her faith, but her young daughter (Brooklynn Proulx) and Cara’s father, also a psychiatrist (Jeffrey DeMunn) refuse to believe in God after the tragedy. Despite all this, they seem to be a happy and easy-going family, along with Cara’s younger brother Stephen (Nathan Corddry). However it all gets disrupted when Cara’s dad wants her to observe a new patient: David (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).

As it turns out, her father wanted him to take him on as sort of a challenge. Because Cara doesn’t really believe that Multiple Personality exists and her father not only believes that it exists but he also believes David has it and he is intent on showing this to her daughter.

Multiple Personality Disorder or not, David does seem to have more than one identity and as Cara looks further into the case, she notices that those identities belong to already dead people. To David or Adam or whoever is possessing his body at the moment is pretty certain he is him. How the hell does he know so much about their lives in the first place? And can the murders be connected?

Actually, up until Cara found out what the connection was, the movie was pretty solid and engaging. Then it turned into an aimless nightmare, let go of the science, included a weird -looking old woman (seriously? We still get the same extremely old and ugly woman witch with just as weird “acquaintances” )? And it is shame because this could have been one of the most creative and refreshing movies done on Multiple Personality Disorder…

To me, the second half was a disaster and I am really going to think twice before seeing a Julianne Moore movie. I absolutely hated Blindness, Chloe – though much better than Shelter and Blindness, is average. But this was really bad. And while Jonathan’s acting is really good, good acting can’t save a horrible script. I think Jonathan makes better choices than Moore for the most part but avoid this one and Octane, even if you are a fan.

Obviously all opinions are subjective. So I think that it is safe to suggest you might like this film if you liked Kevin Costner’s The New Daughter or Simon Baker’s Not Forgotten. If you didn’t like those, stay away from this one.

Written by Michael Cooney. Directed by Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, both are Swedish.

6/10 for the first half, 1/10 for the rest.

Other Posts featuring Julianne Moore

Chloe starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried

Laws of Attraction starring Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore

Benny and Joon starring Aidan Quinn, Johnny Depp, Julianne Moore and Mary Stuart Masterson

Other Posts featuring Jonathan Rhys Meyers

From Paris with Love starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Jonathan Rhys Meyers Tribute