Safe House? Or Unsafe House?

Hey Yo! I'm back!!! Wow I need to do this more often!! There's been so much happening in TV land, shows coming to an end, shows returning and brand new shiny shows beginning.

Game of Thrones has been insanely awesome as usual! I'm planning to do an entire review of season 2 once I've watched the season finale on Monday. Also it has been announced that A Storm of Swords is being divided into two seasons. Which means more GOT and even more characters to introduce they would just about have to have the largest cast on television today.

Before I watched game of thrones on Monday I discovered a new sitcom Men at Work. Insert plot outline according to IMDB now:

"In this new comedy about four friends who work together at a magazine, the recently dumped Milo barely has time to nurse his wounds before his friends decide to help him get back in the game. Together, the four help each other navigate work, friendship and women."

Men at Work is created and written by Breckin Meyer who you may remember from such movies as Road Trip and Garfield. Now this is a very simple show with a very simple premise and for my mind it is executed brilliantly. The first two episodes had me in fits of laughter which is really what you want from a sitcom. Danny Masterson (Who you may remember as Hyde from That 70's Show.) is the stand out actor so far. He showed in That 70's Show that he has great comedic timing and has carried that talent over to Men at Work. If your looking for a quality 20 minutes of laughs have a look at Men at Work. We can only hope it keeps up the good work.

Safe House

Last night I was left to my own devices so I decided to sit down and watch a movie, so I choose Safe House. My thinking was "Oh great it's got Denzel Washington in it this should be a cracker!" Boy was I wrong! I'll get the storyline out of the way:

"Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is a CIA rookie who is manning a safe house in Cape Town, South Africa, when Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) the CIA's most wanted rogue agent is captured and taken to the safe house. During Frost's interrogation, the safe house is overtaken by mercenaries who want Frost. Weston and Frost escape and must stay out of the gunmen's sight until they can get to another safe house."  

Now as I said this movie has one great thing going for it Denzel Washington, but even he couldn't save this catastrophe. It's almost like the studio was like "Hey here's a movie with two big stars in it but don't pay too much attention to the story because we certainly didn't. But hey how great are these two guys!" The best way to describe this movie is mundane and predictable with a bit of action thrown in for the hell of it. I figured out who was behind all the rascal-like behaviour in the first 20 minutes and really it was a choice out of two characters so you had a 50/50 chance.

The crazy thing is Denzel and to a lesser extent Ryan Reynolds really tried to make this movie good, but they had nothing to work with! The writers have obviously watched Burn Notice naming the main character Matt Weston after the far superior in every way Michael Weston. Hell after I finished watching this movie I watched an episode of Burn Notice and was thoroughly entertained for 40 minutes compared the disappointment I endured in the previous 2 hours.

Story as I mentioned above is the biggest flaw of this movie. It's as if were going through motions, and a lack of creativity when it comes to the script and storyline. There is no attempt to really try and separate this movie from any other spy thriller I've seen, hence the predictability of it all. They wasted the acting talent they had here. An experienced director here would have been beneficial but I guess everyone has to start somewhere.

I'd like to hear what other people thought of this movie. Because it just seemed like a half-assed attempt at a spy movie. I'd give this movie 2 out 5 on Denzel's acting alone. What did you think of it out there people?

A trend that I've really noticed lately is if you want a great story watch a quality TV show. Writers are doing wonderful things in TV land and many movie writers and making the jump over to TV. It seems most movies are only made for one thing nowadays and that is money. As long as the movie looks pretty and has a big star in it, it will make studios money. Which makes stories not as important in movies. You might have a great story but if a studio doesn't see how it will make them money they will always go with the shiny looking movie with the big star in it. It's a shame really as I love movies but at the end of the day it's a business and money is what makes it tick. As long as these writers keep producing awesome TV shows I will be more than happy.

That's it from me today, hope you enjoyed the read and I'll be back soon with a wrap up of Game of Thrones season 2!

MADMIKE OUT!!