you are at »   TV  »  House  »  House 4.08 & 4.09  · Login
01,05,2009        Search
  October '08

  August '08

   

Game's End

By Aaron 11/28/2007

Two episodes worth of House: as the game begins to come to an end in episode 8, Kutner seizes onto a patient-magician who he is desperate to cure, and House lets him take the case, but if the magician is faking, House says Kutner will be fired. More interesting is House’s game that if the fellows bring him an object, they will receive immunity, and can send two candidates to the block. The object? The thong of Lisa Cuddy. After much scheming from Amber, Taub and Kutner, Cole turns in the red thong of Lisa Cuddy. Who will he send to the block? Meanwhile, House notices that Thirteen is off her game, and that her hand is shaking, and he assumes she is hiding a medical condition. Is it terminal? In the medical realm, House insists the patient is still faking, going so far as to offer himself as a test subject for the supposed bad blood given the patient. Is House right? What if he is wrong?

Episode 9 picks up where 8 left off, with Cuddy now pressuring House to lock down a team and that he needs to choose two of the four remaining fellows to complete his team with Foreman while House pushes for three fellows AND Foreman. Will House fold? A punk rocker who’s music House hates is brought in and the team disregard him as merely a drug addict while House is convinced there is something medically wrong with him. Will this be the first time House is wrong? House pushes the team hard – saying this is the last case, and that he will fire two of them at the end. Who will it be? Cuddy tells House to hire the two males and Chase suggests one of each. Will House follow someone’s advice for once? Foreman says he is tired of House’s games, causing House to keep moving the locale for the diagnosis to get away from Foreman – kind of like he did with that documentary crew. Will Foreman whine to Cuddy?

These last two episodes have led me to back off my long running theory of the old team returning. And with two more episodes in the tank before the strike, it seems like things will stay the same for at least that long. But with decreasing screen time from Chase and Cameron, and even Foreman, it seems very unlikely House will throw back the young uns for the veterans.

At the same time, I’m not sure this team that House chooses can last. There is one dominant personality in the team, and one personality only. The old team was fairly balanced, and you liked all the characters pretty much the same. This team has some characters that are significantly less developed, and less likable than the others – and I am not just talking about their comparison to Foreman. Sure, the show could further develop those characters, but it would take a hell of a lot to make them more appealing than the characters they have been in the first nine episodes. From a cosmetic level, the team is not nearly as good looking as the old team, but I guess the show is supposed to be realistic. That was sarcasm.

The chemistry between House and Thirteen in these last two episodes was ridiculously high. They work so well together and both have such good timing that it almost makes me forget about Cameron. Almost. The Cameron-House spark is still there I think – we are not too many episodes past Cameron declaring her love for House on camera, and in this episode they still have it. Will it develop? Will Thirteen come to the forefront? I really hope Cameron gets jealous and there is some competition there.

These were two really good episodes, and the worst part was that now we have to wait all the way until January for new episodes, with the risk of running out before the writer’s strike comes to an end. The previews do show that there will be a return to the clinic, but a complete return to formula is unclear. Will Chase and Cameron still stop by periodically? Will Wilson get back his time? Who knows?

   

Bob’s October Movie Preview

By Bob 10/2/2008

Now that we have gotten through the sludge of September movies, it’s time for some Oscar contenders, and movies that think they’re good but not. Halloween is also this month so there is bound to be a lot of random horror movies going on and of course a Saw film to soak in. Whatever happens though, I’m gonna guess that at least one of the following gets some nods come Oscar time. With that, my October Movie Preview:

Cops, Robbers, and Blah

10) Pride and Glory: October 24th

From the director of Miracle comes one of the most clichéd trailers of ALL TIME. Edward Norton as A COP. Colin Farrell as HIMSELF. What more could we want from a movie? I don’t know, and I will likely never find out because this is not one flick I will be seeing.

9) Max Payne: October 17th

As I feverishly go through my mind trying to think of a video game adaptation that has actually been a good movie, I’m also reminded of all of the bad movies Marky Mark has made over the past ever (excluding The Departed and Boogie Nights of course). I would be shocked if there is anybody who is actually excited for this, as anybody who actually played the game has probably outgrown the genre.

8) Body of Lies: October 10th

Leonardo Dicaprio. Russell Crowe. Ridley Scott. Something about spies. The trailers really tell us nothing about this film except, “How am I supposed to run an operation when you’re running a side operation.” I don’t really know what that means, but Leo says it in the trailer. This film looks like another lame attempt by Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe to win Oscars. I’m not buying it.

7) Flash of Genius: October 3rd

Greg Kinnear stars as an man who invents the intermittent windshield wiper, and then has it stolen from him buy the major auto manufacturers. This just looks like a boring film that will get a lukewarm response. For some reason, however, it has been getting a huge level of marketing with television and even radio advertisements. I doubt people will buy it.

6) RocknRolla: October 10th

Guy Ritchie is back in the genre he knows best, and this appears to be an English gangster film much in the mold of Lock Stock and Snatch. We’ll see if he still has his stuff, but for now, I’ll just pop in my DVDs of the older films that I can trust, and look to be almost identical in plot to this one.

Movies that Intrigue Me

5) Changeling: October 24th

Angelina Jolie stars in this Clint Eastwood film about a woman whose son goes missing and is returned with something different. Any film that Eastwood directs (that’s not Flags of our Fathers of course) is worth checking out, and this looks to be no different. It got solid reviews with it premiered at Cannes, and Angelina Jolie is ready for a solid role.

4) W.: October 17th

A film that is certain to be the years most controversial, Oliver Stone directs this biopic about our current president. While I am sure Stone will exaggerate many of the details, there is no denying that he has put together an awesome cast including Josh Broling (as Bush), Elizibeth Banks (as First Lady Laura), James Cromwell (as his father H. W.), Richard Dreyfuss (as Cheney), Thadie Newton (as Condoleezza Rice) and others as the rest of his cabinet. Whatever happens in this film, it will certainly be interesting.

3) Synecdoche, New York: October 24th

A film that I have been awaiting since last year, this is Charlie Kauffman’s directorial debut. I have loved the films he has written (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and Adaptation. ) and this should prove to be equally compelling. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a playwright who attempts to put on a production in a warehouse that includes a scale model of New York. It will probably boggle our minds, but that is Kauffman, isn’t it?

2) Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist: October 3rd

Michael Cera and Kat Dennings star as the eponymous Nick and Norah who meet each other one night in New York and have adventures. Something about the trailer really brought this movie to my attention, probably the indie style that I love. Cera is always great, and Dennings was really cool in Charlie Bartlett, so I might make my way to a cinema this week to check it out.

1) Zach and Miri Make a Porno: October 31st

Seth Rogen and Elizibeth Banks star as two best friends who decide to make a porno together. This is Kevin Smith’s first film since Clerks 2, and I can only hope that it matches that film in hilarity. The only thing I don’t understand, is why are they releasing this film on Halloween? I guess there is probably a Saw film being released anyways.

   

   


   


  Copyright 2007 de_dust Productions LLC Terms Of Use   ·   Privacy Statement