The Returning Summer Season Series 2010*

things are still hot in the hamptons this summer. and so is the show. 'royal pains': A



'lie to me' is the best show still in search of an audience. it is smart. it is witty. it is adult. well there are three good reasons why america may not be watching it. america: D+: 'lie to me': A+



'drop dead diva' is the best non emmy nominated comedy on the air. jane elliot the best non emmy nominated actress in a comedy on the air. Emmy committee: D: 'drop dead diva': A



'the closer' gets better season after season. so does kyra. so does the rest of the cast. it's good to see mary mcdonnell back as the thorn in kyra's side. they are great together. 'the closer': A



'army wives' is a perfect summer series. it has a heart and a hell of a lot of soul. it has one of the most pleasant and appealing casts on tv today. it just has the right flavors of color and real. 'army wives' A+



'true blood' is back. i don't just mean back for the season. it is back from the dead. pun intended. after last season's fiasco with all that maryann crap, that seemed more deadly awful than being undead, it is thankfully back with a vengeance. 'true blood': A







*to be continued tomorrow

'Chloe' on DVD and Blu Ray: **1/2stars

'chloe' is not just another psycho-sexual drama. it's psycho-sexual drama with a twist. and it is twisted just enough for me to recommend it.

the casting of julianne moore and liam neeson was more surprising than genius. although they both handed in good performances it was somewhat disturbing to see them in these parts. really it was!

i can understand why amanda seyfried would sign on for the film. it's more dramatic fare than her previous turns and was an obvious image changer. she does succeed on both the dramatic stretch and the image change. she shows the talent she showed each season on 'big love' that most of her big screen roles didn't utilize. and i can now almost forgive her for 'dear john'.

it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea but if you are a regular to my blog you have to be somewhat twisted so go ahead and give it a shot and rent it.

'Supernatural' Seasons 1-4 Gets an A

every summer i seem to catch up via netflix on a series i previously missed. last summer it was '24'. this summer it's 'supernatural with' breaking bad' on deck.

i don't know how i missed 'surernatural' at all. it is right up my alley: demons, devils, ghosts, vampires and all sort of evil things. two hot guys hunting them down, their own devilish ways and remarks. plus their total hotness. or did i say that already? what the hell they are. the they being the older brother dean and the younger sam *

i only have the as yet unreleased fifth season to go which won't be released until september. so the dvr will be holding season 6 for a bit. i love my dvr. the best thing about watching this series in sequence was seeing how much better the two leads became as they got a better understanding for better or worse, of their destiny. they are really damn good actors.







*jared and jensen: to be continued

'In Plain Sight' Gets Two More Seasons*

USA Network has given a two-season pickup for "In Plain Sight."From the net's own Universal Cable Prods., the New Mexico-set drama stars Mary McCormack as a U.S. marshal who works in the witness protection program.

Show ended its third season in June with strong ratings, one of a handful of successful USA summer skeins. Net recently launched "Covert Affairs" in mid-July, a month that saw a slew of basic cable dramas fare well, including TNT's "Rizzoli and Isles" and "The Closer," as well as freshman skein "The Glades" on A&E.

USA is also preparing to add some comedy to its lineup now that "Monk" is off the air, ordering up sitcom "Driven" from Linda Bloodworth in May.



*reprinted from 'variety'

'The Kid's Are All Right' **stars

'the kids are all right' and so are the adults. merely all right. the adults are a same sex couple and paul the biological dad who will soon be referred to by one of the moms as an interloper. this is really just a typical unconventional family trying to live conventionally. now let me say upfront i know unconventional families and enjoy them. just not this one all that much.

the couple nic and jules, portrayed by annette benning and julianne moore respectively, shared the sperm donor portrayed by mark ruffalo although 3 years apart. fast forward 15 years and one of the 'donations' wants to meet his biological dad. sister joni not so much. but they do and they like him. and then the moms meet him. jules likes him well enough but not nic whose entire world is threatened by him. however, in fact jules likes him a bit too much. so maybe nic is right. but nic is just too damn rigid. it is so terribly unsurprising when jules gets "that bit too close" i mentioned. between the rigidity and alcohol consumption by nic all hell breaks loose. jules and nic fight, lazer who set the whole thing in motion kinda crumbles like a whimp and joni goes to college.

poor paul the donor who was minding his own business, running a restaurant and growing vegetables to start off with gets kicked in the balls, the balls he so willingly donated from for a measly $60.00 a pop, so to speak. he's sucker punched by the lot of them. he should have run to the hills and far away from this group sooner. he probably wished by the end of this mess that his cell had gone dead and never answered phone call number one to begin with.

now somehow in this mess there are three really wonderful performances and one surprisingly good one. annette benning is the surprisingly good performance. i've never been a fan but she plays this rigid alcoholic lesbian pretty good. well the lesbian and alcoholic parts anyway. i've always found her pretty rigid on screen so that was no stretch.

julianne moore is truly delightful and convincing as the 'what the hell have i done' jules.

mark ruffalo is in his always brilliant mode in yet another understated role and thus far under-rated as usual performance. but not by me.

but the best of the lot is joni played by mia wasikowska <'alice in wonderland'> as the 'donation' that didn't want any part of this mess in the first place. she was right. by the film's end she is off to college. if she is really smart she will never go home again. or go live with the the sperm donor dad who seems the sanest of the lot.

there is oscar buzz surrounding this film. what can i say? i suspect they will not take the oscar away from 'the hurt locker' so anything is possible. walk don't run to see this movie. better still rent it. in cinematic history it is no more meaningful than spitting into a lake.








*who the hell names a kid lazer?

(and just for the record...as a gay man i really wanted to like this movie. i long for more good gay themed films. this just isn't one of them. and i find it patronizing that straight critic's are going all out and falling all over themselves trying to be cool in their praise. )

What Is Going on in My Mind Today?

well the following posts are on my mind.



i'm glad justice was served in arizona at least for today. immigrants 1: racists: 0

the democrats are finally linking the republicans and tea party together. "hello anybody home in that party? little slow on the uptake folks!"

the frightening person known as carly fiorina in california. the great earthquake sounds better to me.

and leo...just because he's leo.

Immigrants 1: Racists 0

JUDGE BLOCKS ARIZONA IMMIGRATION PROVISIONS

ban 1070






racial profiling





racist republican governor

Democrats' 2010 Strategy: Republican Party, Tea Party Are 'One And The Same'

Leo on 'Rolling Stone'

California Be Afraid...Be Very Afraid

with the soon to be monster-in-law palin backing carly fiorina it is safe to say that death would be a preferable alternative

Happy Birthday Jonathan

Happy Birthday Sandra

it's no secret i love sandra. it's no secret that i campaigned like mad to get her the best actress oscar. and today i say happy birthday sandra and here's to a helluva lot more film and awards for you.







and a video i made for her after the bombshell about her idiot ex husband:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Remembering Gracie on Her Birthday: I Love Gracie

most people loved lucy. not me...i liked lucy but i LOVED gracie. her character on the 'burns and allen' show was the best. a woman who took the english language literally. gracie played the role with a brilliantly daffy wink of an eye.

why the hell is this show not on dvd? only gracie could pull the wool over so many eyes and fluster grown men over a cup of coffee with carnation milk. and that closet filled with hats. simply the best!







a look at the brilliance of gracie allen

Off Season TV Scorecard: Spring

the summer tv series have begun...so it's time to look back at the spring season. needless to say if i watched them i liked them as only one of them, spartacus, was a first year series. so here goes.








season 4 of 'the tudors' ended on a high note. and the series finale was one of the best ever.
season 4: A
series average: A-
series finale: A+




'spartacus' was the only new series i watched and the best of the lot.
first season: A
season finale: A+





'nurse jackie' suffered a slight letdown.
season 2: B


'law and order, criminal intent: i always liked it but the total cast changes gave it a tremendous rebirth.
season 9: A




'in plain sight' saw some minor cast departures, a couple of regulars become recurring, and some behind the scene changes all amounting to a not so needed yet surprisingly intuitive revitalization.
season 3: A

Happy Birthday Barbara

is it possible that barbara harris is 74 today?

i went to smoke enders with ms. harris. truly. we had a hoot together. we lost touch eventually but my heart carries the memories. i also cherish seeing her in 'the apple tree' and 'on a clear day you can see forever'. and 'freaky friday' remains a classic disney film, hitchcock's 'family plot' and then there is her brilliant performance in the classic 'nashville'.



on a side note: when the film critic of 'new york' magazine at the time reviewed the barbra streisand he film version of 'on a clear day you can see forever' he commented 'barbra streisand is missing more than an A from her name but compared to barbara harris she is missing everything from B to Z.





so happy birthday barbara and thanks for the cherished memories.
especially this one from her tony award performance in 'the apple tree'

Remembering Estelle on Her Birthday

Damn the Republicans: Full Speed Ahead

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- President Barack Obama is urging liberal activists and bloggers to "keep up the fight" to bring change to Washington.

In a video played Saturday at the annual Netroots Nation convention, the president acknowledged that some in the party's left wing have been unhappy with the pace of change. Liberals have been disenchanted on issues from the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the failure to create a government-run insurance option in the health care overhaul.

The president says in the brief video that the combat mission in Iraq will end in August.

It's a tough election year for Democrats, but Obama warned about returning to Republican policies "that got us into the mess."

He says "change is hard," and he urged hundreds of activists and bloggers in the audience to "keep making your voices heard."

Obama urged the crowd to "consider what we've accomplished," then rolled a clip of Rachel Maddow laying out some of the administration's legislative victories.

WATCH:

Happy Birthday Anna, Kristin and Jennifer