Shallow as the Rubicon River

·          “Rubicon” is a new spy series on AMC. To see a summary, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubicon.  This may be the slowest-moving TV series I have ever seen.  There is no “Jack Bauer” kill five-people-in-ten-minutes type of action.  Apparently we must wait to find out why any of this plodding is worthwhile.  I hope that sitting through the excruciatingly slow pacing pays off.  The lead character is played by James Badge Dale.  He is a pedestrian actor and I am having a hard time understanding why I should care about his character. 

·         “Heckler” is a movie about; guess what, the heckling of performers (including politicians) during their performances.  But then, it extends the notion of heckling to critics.  Jamie Kennedy is the primary entertainer who explores the notion of critic as heckler.  Mr. Kennedy, who counts among his work “Malibu’s Most Wanted.”  Apparently Mr. Kennedy took quite personally the comments of critics, including several bloggers, concerning the movie and Mr. Kennedy’s participation in it.  Kennedy seemed a bit thin skinned, but I agree that some of the critics make comments about his worth as a human being.  Kennedy confronts two of them directly and they did not back down from their ad hominem attacks.  I think they were rude but Kennedy should check to see if they affected his savings account and investment portfolio.  If I have more in it than mine, then I have little sympathy.  Something about the heat and the kitchen should go here.

·         “Covert Affairs” is a TV series on the USA Network (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_Affairs).  It stars Piper Perabo who plays a female CIA agent and her wacky world of espionage. I am making light of the show because it is, in fact, light.  Perabo gets to look good, and when in a pinch, relies on her male companions to be the muscle.  It reminds me of “Charlie’s Angels” (the original) where all they ever did way point their guns at the bad guys and say “Freeze.”  This show would be good if it were reconceptualized to have as its lead character a bad-ass female agent played by Katee Sackhoff.  Now that would keep me from falling asleep.

·        “Heckler” is a movie about; guess what, the heckling of performers (including politicians) during their performances.  But then, it extends the notion of heckling to critics.  Jamie Kennedy is the primary entertainer who explores the notion of critic as heckler.  Mr. Kennedy, who counts among his work “Malibu’s Most Wanted.”  Apparently Mr. Kennedy took quite personally the comments of critics, including several bloggers, concerning the movie and Mr. Kennedy’s participation in it.  Kennedy seemed a bit thin skinned, but I agree that some of the critics make comments about his worth as a human being.  Kennedy confronts two of them directly and they did not back down from their ad hominem attacks.  I think they were rude but Kennedy should check to see if they affected his savings account and investment portfolio.  If I have more in it than mine, then I have little sympathy.  Something about the heat and the kitchen should go here.

·        “Covert Affairs” is a TV series on the USA Network (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_Affairs).  It stars Piper Perabo who plays a female CIA agent and her wacky world of espionage. I am making light of the show because it is, in fact, light.  Perabo gets to look good, and when in a pinch, relies on her male companions to be the muscle.  It reminds me of “Charlie’s Angels” (the original) where all they ever did way point their guns at the bad guys and say “Freeze.”  This show would be good if it were reconceptualized to have as its lead character a bad-ass female agent played by Katee Sackhoff.  Now that would keep me from falling asleep. 

·         “The Pillars of the Earth” is a serialized TV telling of the book of the same name by Ken Follett; for a summary go to : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pillars_of_the_Earth.  After having invested four years in learning about the Tudors, this series is boring, boring, boring.  While Henry wore beautiful clothes in “The Tudors”, the costumers for Pillars must have tried to be historically accurate in making the more simple clothing worn a few centuries before Henry.  I get that, but all of the burlap seems to have just come from the laundry.  There are few worn spots or frayed edges.  Well, what about the plot?  Boring.  What about the characters?  Shallow and not nearly as thrilling as Henry’s court.  What about the direction? Plodding.  What about the photography?  Washed out.  Other than these few quibbles, it’s great.  So this was a best seller book?  Wow.