Chuck: "Chuck Versus the Helicopter"

Since I first reviewed Chuck a week ago, I've thought about the show and it's premise a little bit more. The plot is pretty thin, really - random geek has government secrets downloaded into his mind. Even if the acting is decent and the writing works out - how far can we really go with this plot?

So this week's episode wasn't revolutionary. Chuck is still working at Buy More. His government handlers are a good cop/bad cop combination: the pilot sets up some assumptions, like Sarah as the hot good cop and John as the bad cop. This episode is really about questioning that premise - but it feels like a really transparent attempt to buy more time in order to figure out the shows real plot.

Near the end of the episode, there's a hint that Chuck may only have 6 months of utility. Will they take Chuck out of the Buy More setting and into the field?

There was a classic moment that made me chuckle (pun intended?) as Chuck was recalling the government secrets and blurted out Oceanic flight 815 was shot down by the US government. Ha! I hope the show can continue to hide little nuggets like this one - and that it finds a real plotline soon!

Chuck: "Pilot"

Every now and then a new show pilots and you think "hey - this might actually be good". Anybody remember Little Mosque on the Prairie? Yea, me neither... (they can't all be winners)

Anyways, tonight I watched Chuck. Fearing the show was going to be as boring as its name, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Ally had it dog-eared as one of the shows to record in the fall lineup - since we didn't have conflicts with the other recordings tonight, Chuck happily made itself some room on my PVR.

I'm not really sure how to describe the pilot - it might be brilliance, but it might be coincidence, too. The show has an Alias meets The Office sort of vibe to it, which is very sexy and geeky at the same time. I actually had to do a double-take - I thought that Chuck himself was being played by John Krasinski for a minute - as Chuck has a very Halpert sort of way/look about him.

Here's a quick plot synopsis that doesn't really give anything away... Chuck works at Best Buy Buy More as the lead geeknerd/supervisor for the Geek Squad Nerd Herd. Parodies aside, Chuck comes across as your average nerd, preferring to spend more time with motherboards than on dates and has his own unique awkward/uncomfortable sense of humor. Unfortunately, Chuck happens to find himself in possession of some pretty secretive information. Information that certain individuals don't want public. Information worth killing for. I'm betting Chuck wishes he marked that email as spam ;)

The pilot was a really well executed and thought out episode - I think NBC might have another winner on their hands, here. Chuck is blessed (or maybe cursed) with having the lead slot to Heroes, too. That's sure to pull in a viewer or two!

According to NBC's website, Chuck is getting a replay on Saturday night at 9pm... I suggest you schedule your PVR, because this one might just work out.

Rating: (7.3512+π)/11.333

TV: John Woo's Once a Thief

1. Mac: Smart as Einstein, legs to die for…
2. Victor: …and her own stun grenades.
3. Mac: The total woman.

Yup, it's been a decade since John Woo's Once a Thief was on the air, but thanks to Showcase Action it lives again. Based on the movie of the same name, it's a likable, campy, funny show that combines noir with martial arts to a Tarantino-esque music soundtrack.

Sandrine Holt and Ivan Sergei play Li Ann and Mac, former thieves/lovers who leave a Chinese "Triad" family known as the Tangs. They're partnered up with disgraced cop—and Li Ann's new fiancé—Victor (Nicholas Lea) to form a team that performs white-hat operations for "The Director" (Jennifer Dale) under the aegis of a mysterious, unnamed government agency. Add in the sadistic senior agent Dobrinsky, spoiled society girl Jackie Janczyk and the decidedly odd assassins/cleaners Murphy and Camier and you've got a stylish action comedy drama that's often just plain weird.

Once a Thief only had a single-season run of 22 episodes, but it's definitely worth checking out. Only the two-part pilot and first episode have aired on Action so far, so it's not too late to get into it. It's shown on a somewhat irregular schedule that I believe is supposed to resemble 7am and 6pm every Saturday and Sunday, but set your PVRs to be sure.

Review: Hackers (1995)

Do you have one of those movies that you feel compelled to watch every time that it's on? Tonight I was flipping through the channels and stumbled across Hackers. I'd consider watching this movie a guilty pleasure, except that I'm proud of loving it. I'm not sure what initially attracted me to this film back in '95. Maybe it was the (over)glorified references to hacker culture. Maybe it was the exessive (mis)use of the word "elite". Who am I kidding, it was probably Angelina Jolie, you know, before she went crazy.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is where Phreak, Nikon, Cereal and Crash sneak into Burn's room to check out her new laptop. In what was possibly one of the first onscreen Apple Fanboy moments, they drool over the "active matrix display" and "28.8 bps modem". Hey, I remember drooling over the first modem upgrade I bought: I went from 200 to 2400 baud! I am really quite glad that there are as many hardware spec references as there are throughout the film. Now, a decade later, it really hits the nostalgia factor - forever anchoring the movie in time. Can you believe that just over 10 years ago 28.8k modems were considered top of the line?

Sure there are references that just don't make sense, like the cheesy graphics used to visualize hacking the Gibson and navigation of a 3d filesystem. But compared to other cyber-flicks of the era, like The Net and Sneakers, Hackers is somehow timeless in how the movie dates itself. Perhaps the truly ageless part of this movie is the very apropos soundtrack: with songs like "Voodoo People" by The Prodigy and "Connected" by Stereo MC's, this album remains a regular on my iPod.

Hack the planet!

Rating: ** 1/2

Review: The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Sequels are rarely any good, but it is a well known fact that "threequels" inevitably bring disgrace to the entire franchise. Thus it was with trepidation that I ventured out in the rain last weekend to see Ultimatum. But, lo! I found myself waiting with bated breath for every moment, and not merely to see if Bourne would survive his latest peril. To be sure, the action scenes are impressive: non-stop and extremely well choreographed. Director Paul Greengrass has also managed to hit all the right notes emotionally. For instance, there is a scene with Julia Stiles and a mirror that goes far beyond being a mere homage to the first film.

If you will permit me to make a string of controversial comparisons, I must say that I find Jason Bourne to be a much better action hero than James Bond. The former is such a humble, sympathetic character when compared to the crass, arrogant Bond. Consider how much remorse Bourne shows for every "villain" he has killed (he remembers all of their faces); Bond is too busy charming new girls for such introspection. Furthermore, Damon is the superior actor, and the stunts are better in these films. Face it, the very best Bond film (Casino Royale) wouldn't have been made if Bourne hadn't been ... born.

My main quibble with Ultimatum is that Damon's indestructibility distracts from the film's otherwise realistic feel. I also didn't find the ending revelations to live up to my expectations (although they were certainly meaningful).

Overall, this is not only a good action film, it is a great movie and the best of the franchise.

Rating: *** 1/2