JL21 wrote:The GOB episode was probably my favorite, actually.
Same. I love Ann (who? her?).
Truthfully, I'm just okay with the new episodes. They're very watchable, but not nearly as special as the originals. I think having the episodes focus one character really kills the chemistry of the show/cast. In particular I miss Jason Bateman because he was the prefect straight-man for all absurdness. Without his constant presence the show feels a little too crazy and disjointed.
I read somewhere season 4 is a little like watching your favorite band on a reunion tour - it's a good time, but not quite as great. I think that fits.
Michael wrote: In particular I miss Jason Bateman because he was the prefect straight-man for all absurdness. Without his constant presence the show feels a little too crazy and disjointed.
A sentence I would not have ever expected to read 10-11 years ago. What a frustrating career acting must be for some people. He's a good comedic actor and before AD he was known for Teen Wolf Too and The Hogan Family. Finally got the right break.
Michael wrote:
Truthfully, I'm just okay with the new episodes. They're very watchable, but not nearly as special as the originals. I think having the episodes focus one character really kills the chemistry of the show/cast. In particular I miss Jason Bateman because he was the prefect straight-man for all absurdness. Without his constant presence the show feels a little too crazy and disjointed.
I agree a lot with this. Part of the fun of the show used to be watching Michael- the only sane one on the show- swat at the parasites leeching away his good faith. He seems to be just as parasitic as the rest now.
RE: the fourth season on the whole, I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying it if only because I'd forgotten that it was a pretty damned good show to begin with. I guess I just had very low expectations going into this new season and it's surpassed them.
And I appreciate all the winky moments to the earlier stuff because I'd forgotten a lot of it. For instance, I actually said "Oh yeah!" when they started talking about GOB's "forget me now" pills because I'd forgotten about them.
i think im 8 episodes in now? something like that. i would agree with just about everything being said. it certainly does feel like AD but disjointed. still lots of funny moments and i love how they have interactions without knowing it like they did in the past though i must admit, it seems a lot more obvious to me this season than in previous, i can tell in some situations "oh, they're going to be going back to that"...i don't remember me realizing as easy the previous 3. and yeah, portia got a lot of work done unfortunately. and am having some difficulty knowing when these events are happening...sometimes it seems like a couple days, others it's been a year or more...maybe i'm not paying enough attention. i think it took me maybe 3 or 4 episodes before i was really back into it though.
Don't know if it's been mentioned elsewhere, but January Jones was as capable and natural in last week's episode as I've ever seen her. I don't think she's quite as bad as her rep, but she's never been very good either. Maybe it helped that she wasn't being asked to be a horrible idiot for a change.
ghostrunner wrote:Don't know if it's been mentioned elsewhere, but January Jones was as capable and natural in last week's episode as I've ever seen her. I don't think she's quite as bad as her rep, but she's never been very good either. Maybe it helped that she wasn't being asked to be a horrible idiot for a change.
I think she's pretty bad, based on the other things I've seen her in--X-Men, Saturday Night Live--but she sure did look gorgeous last Sunday. Damn.
ghostrunner wrote:Don't know if it's been mentioned elsewhere, but January Jones was as capable and natural in last week's episode as I've ever seen her. I don't think she's quite as bad as her rep, but she's never been very good either. Maybe it helped that she wasn't being asked to be a horrible idiot for a change.
I think she's pretty bad, based on the other things I've seen her in--X-Men, Saturday Night Live--but she sure did look gorgeous last Sunday. Damn.
Yes, she's bad in X-Men. It's hard to say - that was a lousy part, which pretty much only demanded her to show cleavage. (Which makes me wonder why this Star Trek underwear scene is such a big deal). I never saw the SNL episode, but that's a hard thing to do for the inexperienced. I guess it's debatable if someone is a good actor if they require a good script or specific director to be convincing. On the other hand, some people simply can't do anything in front of a camera. Good directors also get bad performances and some directors manage to make good actors look bad (Lucas, Cameron). It's an interesting subject, and I still can't decide on her specifically. She's got a movie coming out that I don't much care about, other than to find out if she can carry it.
ghostrunner wrote:Don't know if it's been mentioned elsewhere, but January Jones was as capable and natural in last week's episode as I've ever seen her. I don't think she's quite as bad as her rep, but she's never been very good either. Maybe it helped that she wasn't being asked to be a horrible idiot for a change.
I think she's pretty bad, based on the other things I've seen her in--X-Men, Saturday Night Live--but she sure did look gorgeous last Sunday. Damn.
Yes, she's bad in X-Men. It's hard to say - that was a lousy part, which pretty much only demanded her to show cleavage. (Which makes me wonder why this Star Trek underwear scene is such a big deal). I never saw the SNL episode, but that's a hard thing to do for the inexperienced. I guess it's debatable if someone is a good actor if they require a good script or specific director to be convincing. On the other hand, some people simply can't do anything in front of a camera. Good directors also get bad performances and some directors manage to make good actors look bad (Lucas, Cameron). It's an interesting subject, and I still can't decide on her specifically. She's got a movie coming out that I don't much care about, other than to find out if she can carry it.
The "Star Trek" underwear thing is a bunch of fake outrage ginned up by a bunch of idiots looking for something to be pissed off about. "Star Trek" has a lot of gratuitous T&A going back to that green chick in the damn pilot of the original series. Yeoman Rand in short skirts, Counselor Troi, Jeri Ryan's catsuit, etc.
Anyway, sometimes a bad actor can deliver in one part tailored to their narrow range, or sometimes a bad actor can deliver a good performance thanks to a good director, as you suggest. Heather Graham and P.T. Anderson in "Boogie Nights" is an example of the latter.
