So, I caught the latest episode of the new Fox series Glee tonight. Last week’s premiere got off to somewhat of a rough start, but after getting settled I found myself curious to see more.

After tonight’s episode, I’m not sure I’ll be tuning in again.

The elements I thought were the pilot’s strongest points, the musical numbers, have here become awkwardly drawn out and cringe-worthy (the rendition of Kanye West’s Gold Digger with the rapping teacher was particularly hard to watch.) When a song was chosen for comedic effect, it ran too long and spoiled what could have been a good gag. I can’t help but think that Glee would be better as a half-hour, with these sequences cut down heavily.

Despite these issues, there are some good moments – Principal Figgins, played by veteran actor Iqbal Theba, is a fun character with some great lines, and there are some funny “Cut-To’s” throughout.

At this point,  it just doesn’t seem like Glee is living up to the hype.

We have finished a rough draft of our latest project Lost Case! We are in the process of re-working some things and getting to a comfortable “First Draft” in time for a script-exchange we are doing in a couple of weeks with some other local writers.

Early in the process we had some concerns about the page count, but it came in at right around 90 and with the revisions we’re making it seems that it will grow to around 100 even.

We are excited to be at this stage with the project, and can’t wait to get some coverage and keep on going!

This may have been announced some time ago, but this is certainly news to me. Troy Duffy is bringing us the sequel to the 1999 film Boondock Saints a solid ten years after the fact. Now while the original movie was alright, I never found it to be the classic action movie that it was hailed to be. I felt it was decent, and mildly entertaining.

What is really noteworthy for me, is the fact that Hollywood is, once again, relying on past successes to continue a franchise. Can’t Mr. Duffy write a new story that can compete in today’s feature film market? I’m sure he can, but the problem is with the big Hollywood studios: they don’t want anything new. At least that is how it seems to me, a Hollywood outsider.

I just wish the glory days of the early nineties’ spec script gold-rush would come back. The days where writing a good creative story was enough to get a sale in the ‘wood. Now it seems the only way to break in to the industry is write the tenth remake of the same old comic book story. Hulk, anybody?

Here’s a trailer:

After being bombarded for weeks on end by promo after promo after promo, tonight was finally the night: the  ’special preview episode’ of the new Fox series Glee (the show premieres next week.)

Thanks to these promos, in the lead up to tonight I  had crafted an admittedly delusional mental image of what this show might be – Arrested Development in a high school Glee club. My hopes were high.

The first couple of acts proved to be an adjustment period, to say the least. I was distracted at first by the similarities to Election – the blended-source narration, the desperate-to-achieve outcast schoolgirl, the singing jock tapping into his sensitive side – and I also struggled a bit to discern who’s story this was. But as the show played on I got more comfortable in the world and found myself completely caught up by the end.

The writing at times seemed a little ’surface’, and some of the dialogue too ‘on the nose’, but the great cast of new faces and old favorites and the incredible music (most notably the cast’s rendition of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing that closed the episode) more than made up for it.

So is Glee the new classic it’s been billed as? It’s still too soon to tell.

Will I be watching to find out? Most definitely.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Written by James Cameron & William Wisher Jr.

I have to admit, I will be a little biased with this one. When I was a kid, this movie blew me away, and today it still does. I get chills when I watch it. This might be my all-time favourite movie. Not to say it is the best, just my favourite.

This is one example of a sequel film that far surpasses the original in terms of quality and enjoyment. The story behind the film is very intriguing and scary. Basically, Terminators have been sent back from the future: One to kill John Connor, future leader of the human rebellion against the machines and the second to protect John.

You see in the future, the world will be taken over by robots and machines. ‘Skynet,’ a military computer defense system, will take over control of all Nuclear Weapons in the US and launch them simultaneously starting World War III. John Connor, played by a young Edward Furlong, is destined to be the leader of the human resistance to these machines.

Basically this movie is all action. But don’t be fooled, it is not just an ordinary action flick. It has a backstory that really drives the Characters in an honest way. Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, is amazing in this film. From breaking out of a mental hospital to motorcycle chases through L.A.’s aqueducts, this movie delivers on all levels. Please, for the sake of humanity, rent this movie. It may save your life when the machines actually do take over the world (although some would argue that has already happened :P)

Overall Score: 8.5/10