Sam’s Place

Extras: Season 1 (2005)

Sam: ****

• Not as amazing as Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s The Office, but still pretty funny.

Emma: *****

• I thought the 1st 4 episodes were especially strong. And Ashley Jensen’s hilarious.

Transamerica (2005)

Sam: ***

• Maybe it was due to Felicity Huffman’s Academy Award nomination, but for some reason I thought that this was a big budget Hollywood production, & it was described as a comedy on the dvd box but it’s actually low budget-seeming & not very funny til the end.

Emma: **

• The only part of this “comedy” that I found funny was when Felicity Huffman visits her parents (Fionnula Flanagan & Paul Borghese).

The Wire: Season 3 [SPOILER ALERT!]

Sam: *****

• Somewhat depressing but a Shakespearean soap opera that’s antiwar (& anti-drugwar) if you’re half paying attention.

Emma: *****

• SPOILER ALERT: I can’t believe they killed Stringer Bell!

Ellie Parker (2005)

Sam: ***

• Not bad but lost a star for low-budget production values.

Emma: ****

• Good acting.

The Science of Sleep (2005)

Sam: ****

• It was annoying how you couldn’t get your reality/fantasy bearings, but there were enough good things about it for 4 stars. (Was this set in the ’80s?)

Emma: ****

• I liked the animation & music, & Gael Garcia Bernal has good presence. Similar to, but not quite as good as, director Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Idiocracy (2006)

Sam: ***

• From the people who brought you Beavis & Butthead, this is a dystopian, de-evolutionary, comedy. Not very good. Note to filmmakers: narration is usually a bad idea.

Emma: **

• Good idea; could have been a good movie, but it wasn’t.

MI-5: Vol. 4

Sam: ***

Emma: ***

• Some episodes were better than others but the chemistry isn’t as good as in the 1st 2 seasons.