Fiendish Fun:

by: The Media Fiend

Greetings Fiend-Fans:

Well there is a new set of lungs inhaling the dank of the Fiends cave. That’s right Mrs. Fiend and I have spawned a sequel; The Baby Fiend. And an adorable little critter she is. Even with the webbed feet.

While all is familial bliss around the cave, it leaves precious little time for, well, “media fiending”. However even at times like these there is always room for TV. As a fat, dumb, yellow skinned, cartoon man so succinctly put it, “Television; teacher, mother, secret-lover.” So let’s see how the Glass Teats milk tastes this season.

HEROES….what the fuck happened?!?! Lazy and sloppy are two adjectives that leap to mind. But if I had to pick my top adjective for season 2 thus far it would be insulting. The writing has sunk to little better than the Irwin Allen dreck of the 1960’s. The cast has gotten too big, and almost all the new characters are boring and clichéd. And where the hell is any of this going? If you save the world in season 1, you have to come up with something at least as grand for the second season. Instead we get a My 2 Dads redux mixed with some of the worst time travel storytelling ever. Kristen Bell of the late lamented VERONICA MARS, has been in one episode thus far, and is the only thing that has me still tuning in.

CHUCK and JOURNEYMAN on the other hand are both fun new shows that while being far from groundbreaking, are a hell of a lot more entertaining than HEROES has been. If you haven’t checked ‘em out, you should. I wouldn’t steer you wrong, I’m a Dad now.

REAPER holds the distinction of having my favorite new performance of the season in Ray Wise’s take on Satan. For those of you old enough to remember, Wise killed Laura Palmer, and gave one of the great whackadoo performances in the first season of Twin Peaks. His Satan though is a weird amalgam of guidance counselor, eccentric uncle, and, literally, the boss from Hell. He can switch on a dime from genuine concern over, to genuine amusement at, his young employees misfortunes so believably, I worry for the guys mental health. I just wish the tone of the show overall were as strong, and consistent. They do much better with the goofy comedic moments than they do with any attempts at action or genuine scares. Kevin Smith being a consultant may have something to do with this, but the episodes seem to be getting better each week, and are rumored to be getting away from the monster of the week formula a little. This one’s a little show that can.

MOONLIGHT is a piece of crap. If you find yourself in the position of defending it, please stop reading my column. You have no taste, and are all that is wrong with fandom. You probably watch THE GHOST WHISPERER.

Then there is BIONIC WOMAN. D’oh….this show frustrates me to no end. It so wants to be great, it has SUCH potential to be great, and don’t get me wrong it’s usually good, but episode after episode they find new ways to hamstring themselves. But, again, it is getting better with each episode, and Miguel Ferrer always kicks ass. Then there’s the not so secret weapon that is Katee “Starbuck” Sackhoff. If only they had been truly bold in their re-imagining and made her character the lead. Then again, what would I have to carp about if they did. A mixed blessing.

Finally, as Baby Fiend is hollering for her next bottle of Brooklyn hipster blood, I must whole heartedly recommend one movie, now on DVD, for the more discerning slasher film fan. BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON is a horror/comedy love letter to those of us that attended the first Fango convention back in the 80’s. A mockumentary of a wannabe Michael Myers, that also has sequences done in straight forward splatter style, it successfully moves from witty to scary throughout. The performances are great all around with Scott Wilson a special treat as a now retired serial-killer mentor to Leslie. My greatest pleasure from this movie though came with hearing Leslie, on behalf of all slasher film killers, complain about how much cardio work he has to do to always be able to catch the kids when they can run but he can only walk. I giggled fiendishly, and frequently throughout.

Well that’s gonna’ have to do for now, Mrs. Fiend is having some problems tapping the hipsters carotid, and Baby Fiend needs to eat (SIGH)

A Fiendish Fathers work is never done. As always, Dance on your own grave now, and beat the crowds.

- The Media Fiend