You should be watching AWAKE

 

I briefly mentioned the TV show AWAKE last week but I need to press it again because I really wish I didn’t have a gut feeling that my new favorite show, that isn’t a comedy, was going to be cancelled. I’ve also found myself personally rooting for the creator of the show simply because he’s had a string of bad luck… kind of rooting for the underdog right now. Quick little run down of creator Kyle Killen:

Killen wrote the screenplay for the film The Beaver, which was a pretty sought after script on The Black List. Unfortunately the film was fucked due to Mel Gibson and his angriness. Post Beaver he created a show called Lone Star which nobody was watching, and on the verge of cancellation Killen wrote a open letter essentially asking people to watch – which is kind of cool if you ask me, did anyone ask me? No. But still, it’s very cool. And now we have Awake. Check the plot outline:

After a car accident takes the life of a family member, a police detective lives two alternating parallel lives, one with his wife and one with his son. Is one of his “realities” merely a dream?

Parallel universe – CHECK.

Cop shit – CHECK.

Interesting story – CHECK.

Potential to an interesting story – CHECK.

The lead character is the badass from The Patriot and also the guy who killed Snape in Harry Potter aka Jason Isaacs – CHECK. That insanely detailed checklist is essentially what makes the show really good but also is probably the exact reason why it’s going to be cancelled. It’s currently blending genres with hints of sci fi and crime procedural. This is great for people like me who are remembering to DVR NBC at 10pm, but I fear I’m the minority. Also, the show doesn’t feel like a show people would seek out and watch via Hulu, Netflix, or apple TV. It feels like one of those shows geared for older single guys or younger guys with a girlfriend.

Does that even make sense?

I think the show has a great premise, great story, good characters, but will be viewed as a little to slow, which could also be the exact problem with previously cancelled Lone Star. I think that new hour-long shows are difficult to sustain if you don’t have a previous built in audience, our attention spans are crumbling by the minute, I’m even fearful right now that I’ve written to much… this is to long for average reader! I’m wrapping it up – Watch Awake. Give it a shot. It’s on Thursday night on NBC 10/9c.

Do it!

10 Really Bad Movie Trailers.

Lethal Weapon 3: What the hell is this? Joe Pesci has never been more annoying and I can already tell Rene Russo isn’t doing these stunts. You know a trailer is bad when you can tell it’s a body double… right?

Who cares, by this point in the game these movies generated enough money to pay Mel Gibson’s current legal fees.

Déjà vu:

I love you Denzel so this is tough but this is an interesting trailer and it’s not really anyone’s fault – not true, it’s someone’s fault and that someone is the writer of the trailer. There is this man named Don LaFontaine who passed away in 2008, and everyone has heard him at some point in their life. LaFontaine is best known for doing the voice over in movie trailers, in fact he did over 5,000. Thing is, this trailer is cheesy because of what DL had to say, I think if they just stuck to the music they would have been okay.

Side note: DL dominated movies in the 90’s. Before him there wasn’t much of a voice over presence and now it’s not even the same. Unfortunately it’s a tad cheesy at times but I would have paid a million dollar for him to read me a story. RIP Don LaFontaine.

Double Impact: Jean Claude Van Damme in all his early fighting glory. It burns my fingers a little write this but… well… it’s like this: The trailer opens with a close up a man seemingly dancing to generate music from the spurs on his boots. Also, the trailer proceeds to go on a Van Damme pun session that should be noted in the Guinness book of World Records. Wait, is this trailer actually awesome?

By the way, this is also the LaFontaine effect.

Mission to Mars:

Stupid trailer worse movie. This had so much going for it. What makes this trailer bad -The music. If you turn your back and just listen to the audio of this trailer it sounds like a swashbuckling Pirates of the Caribbean film that somehow morphs into Darth Vader breathing… try it.

Bad Boys 2:

I loved Bad Boys part 1 and truth be told I saw part 2 in theaters. But this trailers is so completely annoying and partially smug. How is a trailer smug you ask? Easy, these guys are so self aware of what they’re doing in this movie that it’s almost insulting.

Ghost Rider:

Really? We’re supposed to buy Nicholas Cage as a Marvel character? Okay, lets just say we did by Nick Cage as a Marvel guy, this trailer is filled with cheesy 1 liners and I can’t believe Eva Mendez is in this movie.

Abduction:

This Taylor Lautner movie didn’t do so well in the theaters and this trailer didn’t really help much. It looks so ridiculous that I can’t imagine someone whom isn’t a twilight fan seeing it.

The Majestic:

What happened Jim Carrey? I’ll tell you what happened… Carrey was snubbed during awards season for The Truman Show and then Man on the Moon. He was hell bent on being dramatic so he did… The Majestic. If memory serves me correctly, he passed on Phonebooth, which starred Colin Farrell, to do this movie.

This movie bombed and this trailer didn’t help. It’s trying to be an epic period piece so bad that it’s painful. This may be the most dramatic trailer ever.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

Um did I just see Wolverine fighting in the Civil War? Yup! Should have kept this out of the trailer because it’s the biggest load of bullshit in the history of X-men trailers.

Bowfinger:

Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin look so out of place it’s painful. But the real problem with this trailer is the song “Bang on My Drums” by Todd Rundgren. Cool song for children’s birthday parties, bad song for movie trailers.

All the cameos in the world couldn’t save this trailer.