What have you been watching this week (w/e 17 July)?

Fess up. With so much rain pouring down, you must have been watching TV at some point. But what did you watch and was it any good?

I’ve a bit of a backlog, but I’ve been watching a few things, some of which I’ve now reviewed. I’ve yet to watch Jerry Bruckheimer’s Dark Blue but I’m sure I’ll get round to it later today – ditto Burn Notice and episode two of 10 Things I Hate About You. I’ve also got the start of the fourth season of LA Ink in the queue for lovely wife, since she loves Kat von D, but I’ll probably skip that.

Royal Pains from last night was pretty good – good development for all the characters and some good interplay between them. Episode 2 of Warehouse 13 was a lot better than episode one, but still left a few things to be desired. Hung seemed to jump off into pastures new, away from gender politics per se, in favour of general economic issues. I have a suspicion it’s going to end up unclassifiable at this rate.

Dragons’ Den was back on top form, and surprisingly funny and laid back. And Top Gear wasn’t bad at all, as per usual.

What about yourselves?

As always, no spoilers unless you’re going to use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags, please

News

Friday’s redhead news

The Fantastic Mr Fox

Doctor Who

Film

  • Pics of Scarlet Johansson in Iron Man 2
  • Robert de Niro, Michelle Rodriguez to star in Robert Rodriguez’s Machete?

British TV

US TV

US TV

Review: Leverage 2×1

Leverage

In the US: Wednesdays, 9/8c, TNT
In the UK: No one’s bought it. Seriously, what’s keeping you guys?

Leverage is one of those shows that’s there purely to entertain. It’s kind of smart, but not brainy. It’s kind of funny, but not laugh out loud funny. It’s action-packed, but not adrenaline-pumping.

Despite its grifter credentials, it won’t convince you it’s the best show in the world, but it’s personable, it’s fun, the characters are enjoyable: it’s an hour of entertainment that won’t make you feel like you’ve left your brain at the door, and it’s clear everyone making it is having a whale of a time.

Like Ocean’s 11 and Hustle, it’s about a group of criminals who pull off confidence tricks; however, these guys do it to help the little people fight the rich corporations. At the end of last season, the gang split up to go their separate ways, but since then, there’s become a whole load more little people, and a whole load of corporations doing suspiciously well during an economic meltdown.

Continue reading “Review: Leverage 2×1”