Can you believe this guy who lives in Austin and calls himself a blogger — a nerd blogger of all things — only just now got around to watching My Sucky Teen Romance?

It’s like, dude, everyone fucking watched that shit last year at SXSW. And they probably hung out with the director at an awesome cosplay party that you were not invited to afterward.

And the people who really matter probably saw it before it was ever screened in public because they were in the fucking movie! That one guy who blogs about stuff sometimes? He was in it. Those other guys who blog about other stuff all the time? Init.

Disgraceful.

(Great flick, btw.)

Things have been pretty quiet around this here blawg lately, but that’s what happens when you have a full time job, a few freelance gigs, and a lovely lady you’ve tricked into marrying you. That’s a long way of saying … I’ve been busy, bros!

Believe me, if I had my way, I’d spend all day writing Screenpunk blog posts about Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: DS9 and … other shows and films. But we live in a fallen world, and I have to work at an office all day where I’m forced to “interact” with people face-to-face and “communicate” by “speaking” like it’s the 1950s or something. So until I Jerry Maguire myself out of a job, you’ll just have to settle for the occasional post and/or review here on Screenpunk.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t get your fix of the not-yet-patented Mike Moody Mediocrity elsewhere on the Internets! You can read my weekly Sons of Anarchy and True Blood reviews over at Badass Digest. I’ll also be covering Fringe for BAD again this season, which I’m super excited about.

Until next time … later, bros.

I’m part of the media elite, so I get write about HBO’s The Newsroom for Badass Digest: THE NEWSROOM: Panned But Still Popular

Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino is one of the most unique voices working in scripted TV right now.  Sherman-Palladino’s sharp and cleverly crafted dialogue makes her work stand out on the tube, especially on ABC Family, which airs her new show,  Bunheads.

Her voice and personality also influence the great music and memorable quirky performances her shows are known for. With Bunheads, a drama about dancers, those elements often come together brilliantly in unique and stunning dance sequences, like the one above set to They Might Be Giants’ “Istanbul (Not Constantinople),” from Monday’s episode. Stream it, enjoy it, and don’t forget to watch Bunheads Mondays on ABC Family. (Check out my review of the series premiere.)

Don’t be surprised if someone tells you they shed a few tears while watching The Dark Knight Rises. The final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s remarkable Batman trilogy ends with a strong emotional punch; it’s not an exaggeration to call the film’s climax an applause-worthy triumph.

TDKR is a bold, ambitious and engrossing epic. Nolan’s interpretation of the Batman myth and Batman’s relationship to the people of Gotham City is spectacularly deep and layered, and TDKR explores those depths and layers for all their worth.

This third installment delivers more of what made its predecessors, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, two of the best and most influential comic book movies of all time. Nolan’s characters, as far-fetched as many of them are, reside in a realistic world, and the film’s tone is moody, serious and decidedly non-fantastical, which makes it easy to become emotionally invested in its twisty story and the characters’ struggles. This emotional investment is especially important when the film, at times, starts to feel bloated and some plot developments feel too convenient to be believable.

Still, even with its flaws, TDKR is one hell of an entertaining movie. The complex plot is packed with clever twists and callbacks to the first two movies (and the DC Comics source material) plus many deep and intriguing thematic layers. TDKR has a lot to say about the power of truth, the corruption of justice and the pain that love and duty can bring. It’s rare thing for a comic book movie to leave you thinking more about its themes than its flashy cinematography or explosive action set pieces. TDKR aims to offer a lot more than well-choreographed ass kicking and impressive special effects.

This is the most suspenseful Batman movie ever made (which is saying a lot when you remember how unpredictable The Joker was in TDK). It’s also the biggest and most ambitious Batman movie ever made. Nolan and crew mostly succeed in crafting a long and layered epic that feels fresh, absorbing and exciting.

Nolan keeps the pace swift at first, and the third act is a suspenseful and gripping crescendo to a killer ending, delivering one surprising development after another. But some of the plotting, especially in the mid-section, feels forced, a little bloated and muddled. And a few early scenes featuring Batman’s new nemesis, the muzzled bruiser Bane (Tom Hardy), are a little groan worthy.

Bane is a credible threat to Batman and Gotham. With his unnerving voice and intimidating build, the wide-chested thug adds a real sense of tension and danger to the film, but he loses his edge when the script, at times, turns him into a calculating schemer instead of an imposing insurgent. We want to see Bane terrorizing Gotham, not hatching a ridiculous, overly complicated plot to ruin Bruce Wayne’s financial portfolio.

Bane’s introduction is a wild, pulse-pounding horror show, but some of his other early scenes are tedious and mechanical. But from the film’s mid-point to his final scene, Bane is a scary and mysterious badass with an intriguing backstory – not nearly as memorable and brilliant as Heath Ledger’s Joker, but more interesting and fun to watch than most other comic book movie villains.

Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne feels more fleshed out and relatable here than in the last Batfilm. He’s sad and broken but not quite ready to give up. You root for the guy, and the many blows and beatings he takes defending Gotham sting more than ever before. It’s a nice change of pace when compared to TDK, where Wayne was mostly portrayed as a stoic suit who only came alive when he donned the dark cowl. His rise from shut-in to suited-up hero in the first half of the film is fun to watch, and his journey in the second act feels rewarding.

We catch up with Bruce Wayne eight years after the events of TDK. He’s a gloomy, limping recluse who walks with a cane and no longer shows his face in public. Batman is retired, and the myth of “hero district attorney” Harvey Dent, and legislation that was passed in Dent’s name, has helped Gotham’s police force keep the criminal element locked up and the streets clean. It’s “peace time,” says Matthew Modine’s Deputy Police Commissioner Foley, but this peace is based on a lie, and the massive deception is eating away at the aging Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman).

While his fellow officers and Gotham residents celebrate a crime-free city, Gordon skulks anxiously, waiting for it all to fall apart. When things eventually do fall apart, it’s Wayne and Gordon who fall the hardest. The architects of this “peace,” who sacrificed much to benefit the greater good, are violently beaten down and put out of commission when a reckoning they couldn’t avoid finally hits. The joy comes in watching them wrestle with the hard truth, reflect, rebuild, and return to fight another day.

Wayne and Gordon aren’t the only returning characters put through the ringer during Bane’s “reckoning.” Wayne’s best friend and butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), and Wayne Enterprises exec Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) are both scarred and shaken. It’s a testament to Caine’s performance — and to Nolan and crew’s commitment to writing strong, multi-dimensional characters — that Alfred’s small emotional arc resonates almost as strongly as Batman’s big struggle. And Freeman is a solid and generous presence here, reminding us that he’s an actor first and a movie star second.

TDKR makes room for some new cast members, most notably Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s noble cop John Blake. Hathaway is fun to watch as the sharp but troubled leather-clad cat burglar. Her Selina Kyle (She’s never referred to as “Catwoman”) is less of a sultry and freaky sex kitten like Michelle Pfeiffer was in Batman Returns. Hathaway’s Catwoman is more of a poised, sexy, ass-kicking grifter who can seemingly slip out of any tight spot unscathed. Hathaway and Bale have a natural chemistry – their flirting is much hotter and more believable than Pfeiffer and Michael Keaton in Returns.

Gordon-Levitt fully commits to the role of Blake. It’s another poised and sympathetic performance from the great young actor. It’s a bit puzzling at first when Blake is introduced and it’s made clear early on that we’ll be spending a lot of time following him around. But the character earns his place in the film and in the Dark Knight legend. Like Bruce Wayne, Blake is a layered, human hero that you want to root for.

TDKR isn’t going to please everyone. Despite the solid action, great acting, surprising moments, and emotional beats, there are too many plot holes, too many things that fall into place too easily, and too many elements that just don’t add up or make much sense at all when you really think about them. But Nolan’s final Batman film succeeds as a grand, unique and entertaining cinematic achievement. The Dark Knight trilogy ends with a strong and satisfying conclusion, but many Batfans will leave the theater wanting to see more.

Visited Pinballz Arcade today. Played some games and admired the beautiful pop culture art many of the games had to offer. Snapped a few pics.

See more on my Flickr page.

I’m one of those nerds who loves, loves, LURVES the country-fried Firefly theme song. Slap that baby over a nicely edited reel of Avengers footage, like some wonderful person did here, and you’ve got me wishing for Joss Whedon’s Avengers TV show (with Natty Fillion as Hank Pym, of course.)

My True Blood adventures continue over at Badass Digest. Here’s a snippet from my latest episode review.

What a hot, bloody mess! Is it me or is True Blood feeling more erratic and lifeless than ever? I’m not ready to give up on the show just yet, but this follow-up to last week’s passable Season 5 premiere just didn’t grab me. Correction: The parts not featuring the newly vamped (and delightfully dandy) Rev. Steve Newlin didn’t grab me.

Read the rest!

Bunheads, the promising new series from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, will surprise and delight viewers seeking a warm, witty and deceptively deep summer TV obsession.

Gilmore Girls fans will find a lot to love here, including a bright but burdened heroine, clever dialogue and quirky characters dancing about (quite literally) in a cute small town setting. Bunheads boasts many of Gilmore Girls’ strengths, including the brilliant Kelly Bishop in a lead role, but this is no Gilmore retread.

Sherman-Palladino revisits some of her previous show’s trappings and themes here – familial struggles, growing pains, Kelly Bishop  – but she’s crafting a different story, one that’s colored in slightly darker tones and sets much larger obstacles between the two central characters. Also, there’s dancing – ballet, cabaret, ballroom, freestyle … lots and lots of dancing! And it’s all remarkably well-choreographed and fun to watch.

The premiere episode opens in the unlikely setting of a Las Vegas showgirl stage, where topless two-steppers obscure a more demur opening act, a troupe of leggy, feather-clad chorus girls. Tony-winning Broadway actress Sutton Foster plays Michelle, one of the sassier chorus girls who has grown tired of dancing in a sleazy show and living in a dumpy apartment next door to a hooker. Michelle is trapped in a life defined by poor choices and missed opportunities. She’s desperately looking for an escape.

Michelle sinks lower than ever after a harsh reality check slays her already low self-esteem. Looking to get her mind off her troubles, she opts to go out with Hubbell (Alan Ruck), her well-meaning but seemingly pathetic fan who corrects Michelle when she dubs herself “an over the hill loser.” “I think you’re the most beautiful girl in the world,” he tells her in all sincerity. That’s all it takes — well that, many glasses of wine, a cute speech about Godzilla, and the promise of ocean front property — to get the desperate Michelle to agree to marry Hubbell and move to his hometown, a tiny beachy hamlet called Paradise.

Michelle’s sudden escape from Vegas to Paradise may seem a little too far-fetched for some viewers, but Sherman-Palladino lays enough groundwork in the premiere’s opening minutes to make it seem believable. Plus, Foster is so bright and charming as Michelle that it’s hard not to want to see her escape the dead-end Vegas showgirl life, even if it means marrying a man she barely knows and moving to a town she’s never even visited.

The town of Paradise proves to be even less hospitable than Vegas at first, as Michelle meets Hubbell’s bossy mother, Fanny, (Bishop), who runs a dance studio next door and disapproves of her son’s showgirl bride. Michelle can’t escape Fanny’s judgey eyes – she lives in Hubbell’s house, where Fanny has plastered the walls with eccentric paintings, knick knacks, old playbills and images of Buddha. “Wait – you live with your mother like a serial killer?” Michelle yells at Hubbell.

The entire town seems to mirror Fanny’s feelings about Michelle, except for four of Fanny’s young ballet students, the “Bunheads” of the show, who are charmed by Michelle’s experience as a dancing pro and former ballerina. Bunheads isn’t only about Michelle’s journey – the show also introduces us to Melaine, Sasha, Ginny and Boo, teen ballerinas with their own struggles, insecurities and talents. Their conversations hint at the richness of the town and of promising future arcs the show will most likely explore. Boo and Ginny emerge as the most well-defined and lovable of the four, with Sahsa playing the slim and trim mean girl and Melanie acting more like a follower than anything else. Boo is eager and ambitious but lacks self-confidence. Ginny is sharp and tough, a determined realist with a hint of sadness.

The girls’ dialogue is delightful. Their conversations feature less pop culture references than Rory and Lane’s chatter from Gilmore Girls (which makes sense – the Bunheads live in a town with no movie theater and hang out at the library) but the writing and delivery is unmistakeably Sherman-Palladino at her best – rapid, funny, clever and way more entertaining than the generic character-speak you’ll hear on most other TV shows.

There are several elements that make Bunheads, airing Mondays on ABC Family, worth watching, including the talented cast, a warm and inviting tone, and the very human story. But it’s Sherman-Palladino’s voice that truly sets the show apart. And I’m not only referring to the snappy dialogue. Bunheads clearly has a strong, original point of view, which makes the show feel fresh, confident and fun.

The premiere ends with a bit of a shock and sets up an incredibly intriguing dynamic between the two main characters. Bunheads is possibly the most promising new show of the summer, and if it goes where it promises to go, it could also become one of the most profound family TV dramas of the past several years.

 Watch the premiere online for free.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m covering True Blood for Badass Digest this summer. (I don’t lie, boo.) Here’s a bit from my first episode review:

Welcome back to the hot, sticky, blood-soaked devil’s playground of Bon Temps, Louisiana, ya’ll. Can you taste the bacon grease?

It’s been a whole year since we last visited this swampy southern ghetto, where Sookie Stackhouse and her entourage of bloodsuckers, shapeshifters, werewolves and other supernatural beasties love to wreak havoc. And after the hot, tedious mess that was Season 4, I’m genuinely surprised that you decided to join us for another summer of True Blood. Surprised, but deeply delighted, of course.  So now that we’re all here, let’s talk about this wacky Season 5 premiere.

Read the rest of my True Blood Premiere Review @ Badass Digest.