If there ever was a film that just sort of popped out of nowhere and made a big impression on you, 21 is that film. Having never even heard about the film a few months before its release, imagine my surprise when the final product turned out to be a well crafted, albeit somewhat clichéd thriller that left everyone in the audience smiling.

The story isn’t something you see everyday, but it isn’t going to win any Juno like writing awards either. Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a certified genius. He’s working at a men’s clothing store, going to MIT, and can do amazing things with numbers in his head. After making a big splash with one of his professors, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), who just happens to run a blackjack card counting operation on the weekends. Where were these college professors when I was in school?

As the story progresses Ben eventually joins the team who jets off to Vegas with a system of relaying hot and cold tables to the big players in the group who then make tons of money. Ben wants to get into Harvard Medical School and is only aiming for a few hundred grand whereas everyone else just likes expensive things. There’s a subplot featuring Laurence Fishburne and Jack McGee as two security consultants being replaced by computer software, but their role in the film becomes pinnacle as the climax unfolds and the big reveal is unfurled.

While based on the best selling book “Bringing Down the House” (which shares its name with a rather unfortunate Steve Martin vehicle), 21 is full of the basic Hollywood clichés of friends fighting, jealously, love, betrayal, and revenge. How much is true and how much is liberalism with the source material all depends, but what it adds up to is an easy to follow, great story.

The strength of the movie revolves in the acting, with special commendation going out to Kevin Spacey who never ceases to amaze in the range of roles he can play perfectly. From a serial killer in Se7en, a troubled cop in L.A. Confidential, to the arrogant Micky here, the man has certainly earned his keep in Hollywood over the years. Sturgess also shows off his chops which makes you wonder why it took so long for him to hit it big in Hollywood. His resume is filled with UK TV shows, but nothing of note before his role here. His portrayal as Ben gives an added bit of authenticity to the role with Ben morphing from the character we see him as in the beginning to the mastermind of the operation at the end.

As a faithful adaptation of the book, only those who have read it will be able to determine how 21 compares to such high level conversions like Fight Club, and such abysmal ones like Jurassic Park. Even without the book backing it up, 21 is a great film, and while it’s a bit slow at times, anyone who is moderately interested in the mystic world of Las Vegas gambling, heist films, or likes to see the geek win a few rounds, this flick is for you.

Maybe artful pictures such as No Country for Old Men aren’t for everyone except old men and crotchety old film critics, those in the younger critical circles can certainly see the merit, and artistry in films such as this one, and the pedigree of the directors, Joel and Ethan Coen, is nearly unmatched, but No Country for Old Men ends up becoming lost in itself and its stride to buck the trends of Hollywood in such a way that it is nearly unwatchable at times for the fear you may fall asleep.

The film isn’t particularly long; although it feels as though you’ve just sat down to enjoy the entire 12-hour epic Lord of the Rings trilogy when it begins without a word spoken and long panning shots of desert landscapes and the far horizon. After a few minutes the scratchy voice of Tommy Lee Jones serves as our introduction into this world, but his bookends (both here and at the end of the film describing a recent dream) just leave the audience with a sense of “what the hell just happened here” rather than some conclusion on the story.

There’s no doubt that the film is expertly shot and from what one can tell by not having read the novel in which its based, No Country for Old Men is one of the most faithful adaptations to the source material on the big screen today, but even with all the talent and promise, it never approaches anything above average as it tries to be unique and attempts to lure the user into a rich world of a man on the run from a ruthless killer. We assume this is a rich world because the motivations and exposition of why these characters do what they do is left for you, the viewer, to determine, which further adds to the confusion.

The film’s protagonist, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), discovers a drug deal gone wrong in the desert. Further examination shows a lot of dead bodies, one dead dog, a lone survivor, and two million dollars in a case just ripe for the taking. Moss takes the money, and leaves the survivor, but when his conscious gets the best of him, and he goes back to help the man, the rightful owners of the drugs and money begin searching for him.

From there a game of cat and mouse between Moss and the laughably insane Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) begins and the movie seems as though it’s going to pick up into something akin to The Fugitive, but, instead, it settles down into a morality piece looking at both men, on opposite ends of the spectrum. Through this all Moss’s wife (Kelly Macdonald) seeks the help of Sherriff Ed Tom Bell (Jones) who’s close to retirement but knows that Moss might be caught up in something bigger than he can handle and sets out to help the marked man.

There’s just no one to like in the film besides Jones and his deputy side kick who get the films only few laughs during a very serious 121 minutes. The protagonist and antagonist are unlikable as Moss is realistically a thief and strives to take revenge on Chigurh. Bardem’s killer is similarly unlikable and comical in unintended ways as he eats up twenty minutes of screen time posing inane questions and hypothetical situations to potential victims. During these parts the only thing I could think of was Quentin Tarantino’s similarly disappointing bore-a-thon Death Proof and how ending my misery in any way possible could be achieved.

In the end the movie closes with a whisper as Bell recites a dream he had the night before to his wife after retiring from the force and having a long, long conversation with a relative in the middle of the desert. As the screen cuts to black the audience is left dumbfounded and only questioning. It may be a wonderfully written book, and an artfully crafted movie, but that’s keep it from being one of the most boring, overrated films of the year.

FOX begins to roll out the new season with the third season premiere of high intensity thriller Prison Break. Season three sees most of the remaining (read: not dead) principle cast from season two back in prison, this time, in Sona, a Panamanian prison with no guards and ruled by the inmates themselves.

The premiere starts off directly where season two left off, Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) has been exonerated of all charges, but Michael (Wentworth Miller) was forced to kill a man in the season two finale, this time facing his punishment in the aforementioned hell-hole. In a turn of events that would be considered ludicrous on any other show, sans maybe 24, several other characters enter into the prison as well including FBI Agent Mahone (William Fitchner) who chased Scofield the duration of the last season. Mahone is set up by Michael in the finale with a boat full of drugs, and as he enters the prison he’s without the little white pills he popped all throughout the manhunt and begins to go into withdrawals.

The writers did what you would expect here as Mahone attempts to befriend Scofield knowing he’s the only one who can clear his name of the drug charges and subsequently break him out of Sona due to his masterful skills displayed in the first season of the show.

Showing up as well is T-Bag (Robert Knepper) and former prison guard Bellick (Wade Williams) who’s been beaten and relegated to cleaning the toilets. Although his cleaning of waste brings up the season’s initial big plot point and the reason Michael won’t be getting out of Sona anytime soon.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the writers utilize Lincoln now that he’s not the one on the run anymore, and doesn’t have the same skill set Michael had to initially bust him out of Fox River. The notable absence and seemingly written off character of Dr. Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies) should be interesting to watch as the season progresses now that Callies has stated she’s no longer on the show, yet the character remains a very big part and the only motivation for Michael to stay alive and escape.

The season premiere successfully sets up the upcoming season with a greater focus on The Company directly instead of through proxies like the former President and Mahone. It’s a serviceable introduction to what we’ll see in the coming months, and all over-the-top plot points aside, Prison Break is still a hugely entertaining show.

After two years it seems as though the city of New Orleans is ready to be in the center spotlight once again. With film and TV production returning to the ravaged city, it seems only right that a new show, K-Ville, would actually take place in the immediate aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters to strike the United States.

The premiere opens with officer Marlin Boulet (Anthony Anderson) helping to pull flood victims out of the water, tending to their wounds, and rationing supplies. His partner, Charlie (Derek Webster), takes their squad car and runs away from the turmoil on the overpass, leaving Marlin for days to tend to the injured.

Flash forward two years to September 2007, two years after the storm and faulty engineering that destroyed parts of the city where Boulet has been teamed up with mysterious Trevor Cobb (Cole Hauser), a transfer officer from Cincinnati who, conveniently, has a deep dark secret to go with his ways. The pairing of Anderson and Hauser actually works out better than you would expect based on the pilot episode with Anderson playing his usual comedic self with dramatic overtones, much like we saw in his excellent work on The Shield. Hauser plays the straight man, Cobb is closed off to the world (we learn why as the episode concludes) but could also be the balance the emotional Boulet needs to keep his head in the game.

The pilot episode deals with a land buying scheme to obstruct the rebuilding of a troubled district. Without giving too much away, the plot plays out in a cookie cutter, color by numbers action without much in the way of twists and turns associated with it.

The on location filming in Louisiana brings even the cliché plot devices such as the disgraced cop desperate for redemption, and the good cop, bad cop routine writer Jonathan Lisco tries to set up in the first few minutes of the series. Even the hard-nosed but supportive chief is ripped right out of a Law & Order series, but the authenticity of the series is what gives it its punch, even with tired story elements.

Still, it remains to be seen how the writers will be able to fill up a full 22 episode season completely based in New Orleans and the surrounding rebuilding and crime. The show certainly has potential to be something more than a weekly B-grade buddy cop show taking down the baddie of the week, but if it sinks into that routine, when pared with the serialized Prison Break, you can’t expect it to last past midseason.

SciFi’s new Flash Gordon series takes a few pages from the highly successful relaunch of Battlestar Galactica and modernizes a classic series bringing in a new generation, but still able to bring in those nostalgic enough to give the series another look.

Starting as a comic before branching out into serials, movies, and subsequent TV relaunches, Flash Gordon has stood the test of time even while in the controversial eye because of its supposedly depiction of Asians, but none of that really relates to the re-imagined series which strives to put its best foot forward combining the cheesy effects and acting that we’ve come to expect from the serials of yesterday with the stories of today.

The 90 minute pilot introduces newcomers (and old fans alike) to the new Flash Gordon (Eric Johnson) and his sidekicks reporter Dale Arden (Gina Holden) and Dr. Zarkov (Jody Racicot) as well as introducing us to the not-so-merciless Ming (John Ralston) who is now more of a savvy businessman than dictator. He’s heartless all the same, but he doesn’t have the imposing image he did in some of the earlier visions of the series (and he’s not wearing spandex either).

The series plays out in a mix between comedy and drama never taking itself too seriously but never going for a punchline as well. There’s a fine line to be walked here, Firefly did it wonderfully while others have come up too much on the comedy side. It remains to be seen where Flash Gordon will end up in the delicate mix, and for that only time will tell. There’s an overarching storyline to find Flash’s father, who may, or may not be, alive somewhere on Mongo after being transported there thirteen years ago. Still the series will take on a story-of-the-week premise to move things along.

One of the strong points is capturing the atmosphere and lightheartedness of a serial in the form of a one hour series. What is bothersome though is the writing, particularly in the pilot, the dialog is almost cringe inducing at times and while it is suppose to move along at a brisk pace, simply writing off the fact that aliens now exist and I’ve been to another planet into next to nothing seems wholly unrealistic. How many people today are going to accept that fact so easily?

Even besides that fact, most of the character interaction is hokey, almost as if they aren’t talking like real people (maybe they’re the aliens). In the reviewable copy sent to the press not all of the effects were completed so only one can imagine if their cheesy nature falls in line with what we’d expect.

If you can sit through some poorly written parts, Flash Gordon is a fun way to spend a Friday night at home. Hopefully following episodes will be able to gel the characters better together and not sound like their lines were written by a ninth grade screenwriting class.

Flash Gordon premieres Friday, August 10 on the SciFi Channel with a 90 minute premiere. Check your local listings for time and channel.

Damages’ writers Glenn Kessler, Todd A. Kessler, and Daniel Zelman put together one of the year’s most sharply written, well acted, and generally engrossing drama series that hides under the veil of being a litigation-like series instead borrowing heavily from series like Prison Break with a lightning fast story that throws enough twists and turns at the viewer to make them think twice, trust no one, and question everything. It’s almost as if The X-Files were reincarnated into Law & Order.

The overall story arch of the season concerns an Enron-like white collar business man, Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) having his employees invest heavily the company before the bottom drops out, with him selling all his shares prior. The employees of the company hire Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) to represent them, and along with new associate Ellen Parsons (Rose Bynre) things start off clean and smooth and eventually flip you so upside down by the end of the first hour you’re clamoring for more.

The show is actually told in flashback; with the present day events the big mystery of the show as Ellen appears in a police station bloodied and not talking (this is all provided in the on-air promos, so no spoiler warnings here). Still, there’s so much to the series, and its serialized nature that the viewer will be coming back week after week for extra servings.

While the story is the aspect of the pilot that may get the most attention, the acting is top-notch as well, providing a memorable canvas to bring the written word to the screen. Glenn Close brings her A-game once again to the small screen after her Emmy-nominated portrayal of Captain Monica Rawlings on fellow FX series The Shield in 2005.

Rounding out the top billed cast is a sliver-haired Ted Danson who has come a long way from Three Men and a Baby. Danson really sinks into the roll of the corrupt business man doing what ever it takes to avoid a trial and huge settlement with Frobisher and his lawyer Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek) in a game of words and actions with Hewes, with the viewer left guessing who has the upper hand at any given time.

The rest of the line-up in no way plays second fiddle to Close’s Hewes, but it’s so hard to escape from the shadow of the character. Rose Bynre, late of theatrical 28 Weeks Later, shows that she has the cockles to stand up to Hewes by turning down her initial interview, only to have Hewes show up, at a wedding she wasn’t invited to, with a glass of bourbon and a purpose.

The series itself is deadly serious, but there are times of laugh out loud bickering between characters, one happens early in the pilot on the courthouse steps, that certainly shows aspects of Hewes’ character. She can go from happy-go-lucky to firing an employee back to asking if you like sushi in ten seconds flat, and that makes her a character to watch, because her unpredictability makes her more than some cliché “strong-woman-bitch” character you see spread around the industry. She has everyone in the palm of her hand, and a plan for everything that she does.

Damages is easily one of, if not the best drama premiere this year, cable or otherwise. Even after only seeing the pilot the potential of the series and its intricate network of characters and their interaction leaves the door wide open for more than a few twists and viewers guessing which way is up.

Zodiac, the story of the Zodiac killer and his spree in the late 1960’s thru early 1970’s is a pervasive look into the mind and mind games of a serial killer wonderfully presented on the big screen by David Fincher. It’s hard to say if many are seeing the film based purely on memories of the horrific events in northern California or for the marketing machine pushing the film from the director of Se7en. In either case, the audience is treated to a visually stunning masterpiece of cinematography and storytelling that once again raises the bar for each.

The film immediately hooks you with its pre-credit sequence about the attempted murder of two victims and maintains that hook relying on Fincher’s dark visual style and the compelling story of the police’s pursuit of apprehending the self-named Zodiac which eventually morphs into the quest of a former San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist, Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), to finally discover the identity of the Zodiac killer and come face to face with him.

Gyllenhaal’s performance is excellent, perfecting the portrayal of the debating Graysmith who becomes involved in Zodiac case little by little by overhearing meetings at the Chronicle which eventually turns into his own private investigation into the elusive killer’s identity ultimately coming to a conclusion that has since been disproved by partial DNA evidence.

Those familiar with Fincher’s work, especially that of Panic Room and Se7en, will see many similarities in his style here but some amazing new camera work as well. The opening shot of the film is a long cut out of the passenger window of a car as it passes down a rural residential street is just one of the many ways Fincher visually wows the audience during the film. Several times during the movie I leaned over to those I was seeing the film with and simply said, “that’s cool.” Very few directors can get that sort of reaction to their choice of camera shots, but Fincher routinely manages to push the bar higher and higher.

Another strong point about the film is its authenticity accurately portraying early 1970’s fashion and live style right down to the retro Paramount and Warner Bros. logos opening the production up.

Focusing back on the cast of characters, Robert Downey, Jr. makes yet another strong project decision by inheriting and owning the role of Chronicle writer Paul Avery, whose presence fades as the film goes on, but is never forgotten. His snarky comments and alcoholic breakdown near the film’s turning point are definitely one of the most memorable aspects of the entire movie. Mark Ruffalo, sporting some bad 70’s hair, also stamps your memory with his portrayal of Zodiac lead investigator David Toschi who becomes disenfranchised over his many years working on it.

The only complaint about the film is its running time which normally feels like a brisk two hours and 40 minutes, but at times can seem to drag here and there with bits that could have been trimmed and still preserve the overall integrity of the narrative. Other than that, Zodiac is easily the best movie released this year and its strong cast, compelling story, and rock-solid direction are all the more reason to see this film.

WARNING: Spoilers for previous seasons and this episodes

Does absence make the heart grow fonder? That’s what ABC was hoping by only showing us a hint of the third season of Lost last fall and now the show returns for 16 uninterrupted episodes all the way through the rest of the season. I’ve been very vocal about my displeasure with the track the writers have chosen in the third season, after a successful and highly rated start, the show began to languish towards the end of last season with the culmination of the hatch exploding and almost completely wiping away that story dynamic. The third season saw three of the main characters Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) captured by the Others whose intent is hard to gauge, but the first six episodes of the season were disappointing, focusing too much on the above trio than the rest of the characters stranded on the beach.

The biggest problem that the show faces, as address in a previous feature here at Entertainmentopia, was the fact that the writers and producers have weaved such a rich narrative full of suspense and intrigue we (the viewers) are beginning to lose faith that they can wrap everything up and deliver us some answers. So many more questions have been brought up over the last three seasons and there aren’t many answers to go along with them.

In this week’s return episodes we delve into the back story of Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) and are given more questions, once again, with very little answers. The flashbacks do, however, show how long some of the Others made it to the island, how they were “recruited,” and how, it seems, they are kept in line through brainwashing.

Picking up exactly where the mini-cliffhanger left off back in the fall, Lost never fails to impress on telling a good story through the use of present day action and flash backs usually related directly to the character in focus for the episodes. For the first episode focusing on one of the Others, the look into Juliet’s seemingly normal past is interesting when you compare it to her current actions and her position on the island. Her final conversation with Jack, after successfully completing Ben’s surgery, was the clincher telling us exactly how long she’d been on the island and her motivations for doing everything that she has.

So does this new “second season” make up for the tedious start to the overall third run of the show? No, not yet at least, its going to take a lot more time to really get the viewers hooked back into the show and its really going to take some effort from the writers to stop dangling the carrot in front of us, as they have for over 50 episodes, and let us take a big bite to really get into it again.

Even disappointing Lost is still must see TV, but it would be a lot nicer if the show reverted back to its water-cooler, first season roots that had us all abuzz about what the monster was, where the tail section went, and what the hell was in that hatch? While the spring return of the show wasn’t anywhere near the best episode the series has done, it was better than all six previous episodes this season and the glimpses into the future look good, lets just hope there’s some substance when we finally get there.