Archive

Tag Archives: Kenny Powers

Up In The Air: focuses on ‘lonely’ a guy who spends +320 days a year flying all over the ‘States with his company – that specialise in firing people. It seemed to have two contemporary themes: firstly it’s a critique of the direction that society’s heading in; social capital decreasing and technology making interaction easier but more impersonal. It didn’t seem to be overly for or against it the lifestyle, just a balanced account – which was quite refreshing. The second theme was that it also depicts both sides of recession-hit America: illustrating that companies can cash in on the misfortune, negated with the the ‘your fired’ scenes, which hit home pretty hard as it’s everyone’s worst nightmare. It’s pitched as a quirky comedy, but there aren’t many laughs – in saying that, you won’t be disappointed because it’s a tour-de-force in the drama department – very believable, humane and the last section is superb. It takes a while to really get going as the time’s used for adding remarkable depth to Clooney’s character – in general the entire cast notch out top-drawer performances. Some of the camerawork was suspect as it jumped from ultra-slick to shaky amateur cam. Slick film, great story and I think this should be mandatory viewing for all ‘career’ people!

Score: 7.5/10

Eastbound and Down: six episode comedy series about a former baseball superstar as he tries to get re-signed to the major-league and win back his old girl. The single biggest reason to watch this is the brilliant Kenny Powers; mark my words, he’ll go down as one of the greatest comedy characters of all-time. Not dissimilar to Cartman, he’s an incredibly self-centred and brutally honest, loud-mouthed, redneck. The script, and in particular Kenny’s lines, are consistently golden, and totally quotable. The other characters are all pretty generic (in a good & watchable way), but McBride absolutely steals the show. Despite all the laughs there’s some alright dramatic moments, and the finale is very well done. It looks nice – not unlike My Name Is Earl – and the story’s interesting enough to keep you watching. I am absolutely lusting over the prospect of a second season. Although it’s aimed more at guys over girls this should be mandatory viewing for all. Comedy of the year?

Score: 8/10