CliqueClack

Why the finale of The Newsroom was terrible

You know, once upon a time I thought the term “hate-watch” was stupid. Until I understood it all too well. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

When I first started watching The Newsroom, I hadn’t watched much Aaron Sorkin television, but I thought the promos made the show look interesting. Plus, I had really liked the movies Sorkin had written (A Few Good Men, The Social Network, etc.). So I sat down to see this new show about the news. I must’ve watched that first episode five times. But it was like a beautiful trainwreck; I couldn’t look away. It was the epitome of ridiculousness and pontification, and I found in all the characters varying degrees of smugness and odd characterization. By that I mean that we were often “told not shown,” like characters saying, “Will is a great guy” or Will shouting angrily, “I’m affable!” while his actions were actually selfish or otherwise jerkish. But I liked Don; still do, actually, despite the show’s best efforts to screw up his character.

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A lackluster Star Trek: The Exhibition at the L.A. County Fair

For me one of the joys of the coming of the end of summer in California is the annual Los Angeles County Fair, the largest such fair in the country. If you’ve been, you know what I’m talking about.

If not, you’ll find it akin to trying to hit Disneyland in full in a single day. (In other words, there’s no possible way of completing the feat. And if you haven’t been to Disneyland and don’t know what I’m talking about? Well, the idea is lost on you.)

The L.A. County Fair has got everything. Displays, concerts, food, celebrities, events, crafts, exhibits, food on a stick, rides, spectacle, fried foods (the fried avocados with dipping sauce were exceptionally delicious),  games, those “leach-the-toxins-out-of-your-body-by-sticking-your-feet-in-some-kind-of-freaky-solution” (snake oil) booths, giant BBQd turkey legs (!), beyond-the-grave considerations (Los Angeles Dodger coffins and urns! Woot!), beers of the world, photography displays, the world’s largest snake (!), live cows and pigs and sheep and chickens, monster truck rallys, horse racing, Bad Company’s 40th Anniversary Tour (!), funnel cake, frog legs and more, more, more, more, more! Plus, enough freaks and weirdos (in the form of the folks who come to visit the fair) to drop your jaw over the entire time you’re sloughing about. Satisfaction (and a sunburnt back of your neck) guaranteed. All good, clean fun. Continue reading 'A lackluster Star Trek: The Exhibition at the L.A. County Fair' »

Breaking Bad – Does Skyler realize Walt purposely saved her ass?

As the “Ozymandias” episode of Breaking Bad came to an intense close, we saw a side of Walter I think none of us wanted to see. He became irrational; manic. He completely snapped, became the subject of an Amber Alert, and then made a phone call to Skyler that shone a completely different light on Walt. To everyone in that room during that phone call to Skyler, Walt was a complete monster. This was a man who was resorting to kidnapping and murder threats, all while resounding his own praises. Everyone in the room, that is, unless Skyler was smart enough to realize Walt just completely removed all guilt from her in the eyes of the law, and that he acted completely alone.

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Hot pre-order titles – Pacific Rim, The Conjuring, China Beach and more

It’s never too early to start planning your holiday gift giving for that movie and TV buff in your life … or for yourself! The end of September and the month of October* have some great titles coming to home video in many formats and special editions, and we here at CliqueClack want to help you with some gift-giving ideas. Hot movie releases include Pacific Rim, The Conjuring and This is the End, while Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, and Downton Abbey fill out the TV releases. Have a look at our handy shopper’s guide to see some of the major movie and TV releases for September and October, and click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase. Any purchase made through a link helps support our efforts here and for that we thank you!

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Arrow, Grimm, Nashville and more come to home video

The fall TV season is here and many of last season’s shows are about to return with all-new episodes! But if you missed any of the past season you can catch up with shows like Arrow, The Mentalist, Grimm, Nashville, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and many more with this week’s home video releases! The Emmy nominated HBO movie Behind the Candelabra also makes its home video debut, with wrestling, reality, TV classics and kids shows making this a week with something for everyone. Have a look at our handy shopper’s guide to see all of the September 17 DVD and Blu-ray releases, and click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase.

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World War Z, The Bling Ring, Shrek the Musical, and more come to video

Some big movies hitting home video this week, including one of the biggest of the summer — and probably the biggest surprise due to all the negative press it got during its extensive production — World War Z (and yes, a sequel is now in the talking stages). If a global zombie attack isn’t your cup of tea, the world of bored kids who want nothing more than to be famous, only to become infamous, comes home this week as Emma Watson leads The Bling Ring to fame and misfortune. And if you want to go even more tame, the Broadway version of Shrek the Musical has been filmed so anyone not in the vicinity of Broadway can enjoy the Tony Award winning show. One of this week’s more intriguing titles is Showgirls 2: Penny’s from Heaven. Not much more can be said about this one. Classic horror fans can own the original Universal Horrors monsters on Blu-ray outside of the excellent box set. These titles and more are coming Tuesday, September 17. Have a look at our handy shopper’s guide, and click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase.

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Win free passes to see Prisoners in Baltimore or DC

This offer is now closed. Please follow @CliqueClack on Twitter for updates on contests, news and reviews!

CliqueClack has partnered with Warner Brothers and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in the Baltimore and DC areas a chance to attend an advance screening of the new thriller Prisoners starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard and Viola Davis. Prisoners asks how far would you go to protect your family? Keller Dover (Jackman) is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces his release. As the police pursue multiple leads and pressure mounts, knowing his child’s life is at stake, the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?

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Win passes and more to Metallica Through the Never in DC

This offer is now closed. Please follow @CliqueClack on Twitter for updates on contests, news and reviews.

CliqueClack has partnered with Picturehouse and Allied Integrated Marketing to give readers in the DC area the opportunity to see Metallica Through the Never at a special advance screening on Wednesday, September 18, 7:30 PM at the Regal Majestic in Silver Spring, MD. Metallica Through the Never is a groundbreaking music-driven 3-D motion picture event. The film combines a spectacular never-before-seen live-performance by Metallica created exclusively for the film and a suspenseful narrative to produce a bracing, raw and visceral cinematic experience.

Emerging young star Dane DeHaan (A Place Beyond the Pines, Kill Your Darlings, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 & 3) portrays Trip, a young roadie sent on an urgent mission that turns into a surreal adventure, while Metallica performs its most iconic songs during a roaring live set in front of a sold-out arena. Metallica Through the Never features the most elaborate live-performance stage ever built and was filmed with state-of-the-art 3-D photography captured using up to 24 cameras simultaneously.

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It’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in Baltimore, DC and Norfolk

This contest is now closed. Please follow @CliqueClack on Twitter for updates on contests, news and reviews.

CliqueClack has partnered with Sony Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing to give readers in the Baltimore, DC and Norfolk areas a chance to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 before anyone else! Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 picks up where the first mouth-watering comedy left off. Inventor Flint Lockwood thought he saved the world when he destroyed his most infamous invention — a machine that turned water into food causing cheeseburger rain and spaghetti tornadoes. But Flint soon learns that his invention survived and is now creating food-animals — ‘foodimals!’ Flint and his friends embark on a dangerously delicious mission to battle hungry tacodiles, shrimpanzees, hippotatomuses, cheespiders and other foodimals to save the world … again! The film features the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Terry Crews, and Kristen Schaal.

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Ghosts and ghouls return for Insidious: Chapter 2

Back in 2010, director James Wan introduced us to the Lambert family in the supernatural/possession/haunted house flick Insidious. It’s been three years in real time, but only a few hours have passed between that movie and the new Insidious: Chapter 2. Yes, the film is a true continuation of the first movie, and I can’t stress enough how important it is to have seen the first movie before seeing this one. It’s also very difficult to review a movie like this without giving too much away, so we’ll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum.

The story picks up not long after the events of the first film, with Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne) at the police station trying to convince the police, and herself, that her husband Josh (Patrick Wilson) did not strangle Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), the medium called in to help them resolve the haunting terrorizing the family. Of course, the first film ended with a cliffhanger that left everyone assuming that Josh was not really Josh, at least not on the inside.

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