Eli Stone - Or, How I Learned Not To Be Bothered By My Painful Ankle, And Learned To Laugh

It's time for Part 2 of "TV Shows I Watched While Nursing My Leg".


Tonight's episode: Eli Stone

Eli Stone is a hot shot lawyer in his early thirties. On the fast track to becoming a partner, Eli is the epitome of an elitist. He worships the holy trinity of Armani, Accessories and Ambition.

Which is when the hallucinations start.

When Eli begins hearing sounds and experiencing hallucinations, he discovers that he has an inoperable brain aneyrusm, which causes delusions of grandeur and hallucinations.
While Eli tries to move on with his life, he realises that the hallucinations often contain information that no ordinary hallucination could have. That they are visions. It is then that he is told by an acupuncturist he befriended while seeking help, that most religions believe there are people among us sent to guide us. And that God told Moses He would send a prophet for every generation. Perhaps Eli was just God holding on to His side of the contract.
Despite trying to hold on to his own lifestyle, the visions begin to guide Eli in to a path of righteousness. He becomes a champion for the unjust, not only accepting, but even seeking out cases he would otherwise turn down.

Much of the first season revolves around the theme of acceptance. Very early on Eli has to come face to face with his own mortality, knowing that he may die any minute, should the aneyrusm ever rupture. Equally he has to come to terms with his past, a childhood shadowed by the antics of an alcoholic father. Fully aware of what kind of a man he is, or what he was becoming, Eli also doubts himself, refusing to accept that God would choose him.
While most of the comedy is to be found in the odd behaviour Eli exhibits when experiencing a vision, the show is very well written and has good dialogue. The secondary characters are all well written and acted, and Eli's struggle with his new "destiny" is mirrored by the disbelief of those who love him.

Should also be noted that most of Eli's visions come in the form of musicals, first of which was delivered by none other than George Michael.

The show is really good. It has comedy as well as drama, and it has that slight hint of tragedy which makes not only Eli a better person, but the show in itself better from many others.

10:22 - 2008-Jul-31 - comments {3} - post comment

A Silent Guardian, A Watchful Protector

01:10 - 2008-Jul-25 - comments {11} - post comment

Stargate Continuum

Space travel, time travel, massive space battles and lots of science jargon. No, it's not Doctor Who, it's the long awaited Stargate Continuum.

04:34 - 2008-Jul-4 - comments {8} - post comment

Hulk Smash

The new Hulk movie delivers what it promises in it's title. The Hulk really is Incredible. Maybe not so much as a movie, but as a geekfest, it scores high in the geek points. Using the old melancholic theme from the old Hulk series of the 70's, and a cameo by the original Hulk, Lou Ferrigno, the movie certainly knows how to cater to it's core fanbase.

This movie is also a part of Marvel's Avengers series, with the mention of SHIELD and a cameo from another superhero linking it to said series.

While the new Hulk is a reboot of the franchise, it also continues from where the piece of shit of 2003 left off. No mention is made of Bruce Banner's psychotic father or his experiments on Banner as a child, but other events, the Gamma ray experiments, the havoc Hulk caused, all that happened, as well as Banner finally relocating to South America in hope of finding a cure.


And that's where The Incredible Hulk kicks off. Banner is now in Brazil, working at a local beverage factory, desperately looking for a cure for his condition, when general Ross's team, lead by a specialist on loan from the UK named Emil Blonsky, find him and attempt a capture.

After Banner once more succesfully eludes his would be captors, Blonsky becomes obsessed with tracking him down. General Ross decides to give Blonsky "a little bit of what's in him". It's not too difficult to guess where things go from there, and soon Banner realises that what's inside him is the only thing that can stop what Blonsky has become.


First thing I gotta praise is the Hulk itself. After that godawful cartoon of a Hulk in Ang Lee's disaster, it's nice to see a Hulk that is actually a living being. He is able to express other emotions than just rage, and his interactions with Betty Ross reminds me of Tarzan and Jane of the old Johnny Weissmüller Tarzan flicks, where Tarzan was just a speechless oaf and Jane pretty much the only one who could get through to him. There is one scene in particular where the CGI Hulk and the very much flesh (sweet, sweet flesh) and blood Liv Tyler form an emotional connection.

The action and the drama is pretty evenly split, and the actions starts early. Having skipped the origins story with a montage in the opening titles, the audience doesn't have to wait too long to get their first glimpse of the man himself.

Edward Norton as Bruce Banner is hard to get a fix on. On the other hand Norton has acting skills and charisma up the wazoo, but as an iconic comic character, he is a bit lost. Maybe Bruce Banner is too one dimensional for Norton. Or maybe Norton didn't want to settle with a ready made character. He's good, but he isn't exactly the timid doctor Banner from the comics or the previous movies and TV shows.

Liv Tyler graces the screen with her beauty, but more than that, she acts a vital role as Banner's love and the one person Hulk listens to or shows concern for. She is at her strongest when interacting with Banner's darkside, rather than Banner himself.

Tim Roth goes through several transformations as Emil Blonsky. He starts off as a rugged career soldier, then he becomes obsessed with Hulk's power, and finally he becomes the Abomination. Choosing a strong character actor like Roth was really the only way to pull off a complex personality like Blonsky.

General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross is such a simple character that any actor could play him. All you need is grey hair and a moustache, no facial expressions and a lot of shouting orders. In a way, it's a shame an actor of William Hurt's abilities has to be wasted on a wallflower like Ross.

The Hulk is a great movie, but not in the sense that The Godfather is a great movie. But in the sense of comparing it to most other superhero movies, and action genre in general, Hulk smashes his way to the viewers mind. You may not want to see it ten times in a row, but you won't regret watching it in the first place.

11:16 - 2008-Jun-19 - comments {51} - post comment

The Ark Of Truth

Sunday night I watched the screener of the upcoming Stargate - The Ark Of Truth.

Before the movie review, let me just say, it was perfection. It really was.

10:25 - 2008-Jan-8 - comments {16} - post comment