TV Review: The Boondocks

By: Tiago Moura

Grade: B+

This week’s episode of The Boondocks (11:30 p.m. EDT on Cartoon Network) pushed all the usual envelopes of racial stereotypes in the right way, further establishing the series as a proper heir to the sharp cultural criticism once found on Chappelle’s Show.

The Boondocks returned to Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim line-up after a two-year hiatus, just long enough for fans to fully digest the richness of the first season’s satire. The season one DVD even included a commentary track by the black white supremacist character Uncle Ruckus for two of the episodes (one of which drove the controversial Martin Luther King, Jr. to even raunchier heights). The show was an off-shoot of the syndicated comic strip of the same name created by Aaron McGruder, who continues to bring his comic strip characters to life on-screen with the help of a star-studded ensemble cast.

Movie Review: Halloween

 

By: Charlene Alissa Mullins

 

Grade: C-

 

Your heart races. Your palms start to sweat. You hold your breath, watching attentively with one eye open as the events unfold in front of you. Then when the killing is over and the person being attacked is dead, you sigh in relief, because your heart can calm down — until it happens all over again. This is part of the fun in watching horror movies, and all the great horror movies like, “Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “Hostel” create this physiological reaction. However, the new “Halloween” fails miserably at this.

In the original “Halloween” (1978), director John Carpenter had our senses running rampant, but he left out the history of the seriously disturbed Michael Myers and all the blood and gore to go along with it. Now, a director known for having plenty of blood to spare, Rob Zombie, comes along to show why Myers is so troubled.The movie begins by constructing the seriously disturbed 10-year-old Michael Myer’s character (Daeg Faerch) and why he is so distraught. Zombie wanted the back story to explain why Michael wears the mask, giving the mask its own story, instead of Michael just finding some mask somewhere and deciding to wear it. However, he also leaves Michael’s motives ambiguous, as a true psychopath would. Maybe it was his stripper mother (Sheri Moon Zombie, the director’s wife who seems to play in all his movies) who caused him to go mad. Maybe it was his lazy, mother’s drunken boyfriend (William Forsythe). Maybe it was his baby sister. (In none of the nine installments of the franchise is it quite clear why he wants to kill his sister.) No one can be certain what caused Michael to snap, but one thing is for sure: No one can stop Michael, not even his shrink, Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell).

Movie Review: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

By: T.O. Lawrence

Grade: A

To whomever is shipping the Oscars: Give regards to the Academy and just send the box of trophies to the cast of Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead along with most of the Golden Globes, those MTV popcorn things and a couple of Grammys just to be safe. There is no way to overstate the tremendous performances in this film. And though director Sydney Lumet doesn’t really do anything new, he conducts the camera beautifully, giving the audience a fantastic vantage point from which to witness the brilliance of the actors in their roles.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman stars as Andy, a manipulative real estate banker scheming to overcome heroin debts and a failing marriage by committing the perfect heist. With the help of his brother Hank (Ethan Hawke), Andy plans to knock over a local mom-and-pop jewelry store, fence the wares and hightail it to Rio with his beautiful wife. The catch? Little miss Mom and Pop just so happen to be Hank and Andy’s own. Also, Hank chose an idiot for a partner behind Andy’s back. Moreover, their Dad (Albert Finney) has a bit of a vendetta streak going. And also… Well, you can kind of see where this is about to go terribly, horribly wrong.

He Said, She Said: Pushing Daisies

Here we have two reviews of one of the most critically acclaimed new shows this season, ABC’s “Pushing Daisies”. Did they both love it? Hate it? Find out after the jump.

Ratings Roundup

For the weekend of the November 23-25, here’s how the box office did (courtesy of Yahoo movies):

Click the image above for a higher resolution version

And over in TV land, the Nielsen ratings for the week ending November 25.

1. Dancing with the Stars – Mon (ABC)

2. Sunday Night Football (NBC)

3. Dancing with the Stars – Tues (ABC)

4. Desperate Housewives (ABC)

5. NCIS (CBS)

6. House (FOX)

7. 60 Minutes (CBS)

8. CSI: Miami (CBS)

9. Criminal Minds (CBS)

10. Extreme Makeover (ABC)

11. CSI (CBS)

12. CSI: NY (CBS)

13. Samantha Who? (ABC)

14. Two and a Half Men (CBS)

15. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

16. Cold Case (CBS)

17. Sunday Night Pre-Kick (NBC)

18. The Bachelor (ABC)

19. Brothers & Sisters (ABC)

20. Without A Trace (CBS)