It's all the the family

Modern Family is an amazing show. It's funny, it's progressive, and it's very very heart-warming. At times the plot can be cliche, but they navigate used story lines so artfully and under such a fresh premise that this complaint is really quite trkvial (and in itself, cliche). ABC's Modern Family is exactly what the title suggests. The show portrays a modern take on the extended family: There's the nuclear family with two liberal parents and their three kids, the gay couple that's adopted an asian baby, and the aging rich father with his hot young foreign wife. The show is in a single camera mocumentary format, and unlike a lot of new mocumentaries springing up lately, MF deals with the camera expertly. Subtle looks gives the camera presence at times, but they don't over do it or ignore it.

What I truly love about this show is that it is hilarious without trying to be super edgy. It seems like the trend of television has been towards the shock factor. Zany goings ons that are meant to shock and offend. Gratuitous sex and drug use in order to "be hip" and speak to an increasingly corrupt young generation. Even as part of this corrupt young generation, I have to say that it's a nice breath of fresh air to find a show that deals with modern subject matters while still maintaining a family-friendly environment.

Bottom line, this is a really great show that will keep you and whoever you watch it with smiling and feeling good. The characters are treated fairly; every one is flawed but that's what makes them fun to watch. The stories are compelling in a very real, quotidian sense. I instantly fell in love with all the characters, and I proudly admit that I'm hooked. Check it out Wednesdays at 9/8c on ABC, or do what I do and just watch it on Hulu.

Micro Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Shockingly horrible to the point of being comical.

Seriously, I came out of the theater laughing at it's suckiosity. The film was pretty good (maybe even very good) for the first hour or so, although it dragged on and made you feel like one of the old people in the movie just passing time. Then it just tried to do too much.

Benjamin Button seemed determined to become the new Forrest Gump, throwing mounds of metaphors, historical references, etc. etc. The problem is, none of it worked well. Historical events the movie referenced only in passing, and with not enough tie-in to the plot to really matter at all. Love scenes were tedious, you began to lose connection to the characters as soon as Pitt isn't a sweet old man. (Or maye the womenfolk in the audience started really paying attention?)

For some reaosn, the film begins with narration by a dying, old, old, women who is old. Her mumbled death throws are barely audible and mostly incomprehensible, then within a few minutes the director must have realized this and told her to abandon the dying voice thing all together, and quite suddently. By the end, the film is ludicrous. He is your father! ooooo! Of course this is your father, otherwise why would the entire movie be veneered by such a thin premise? The hummingbird comes out of nowhere as if to say, "Hey! I was that one hummingbird Benjamin saw for 5 seconds earlier! Here I am! Magic!" By this time, there were literally snores in the audience. I had been holding pee for nigh 2 hours, yes the film is 3.

My final feeling is that this movie is not meant for my target audience (non-senial people) and is instead geared towards the aging baby boomers. The message seems to be, "Hey, it sucks you're getting old and dying, but at least you're not getting younger! Oh, and do you remember all this stuff that happened in history?" It has a great, sappy soundtrack if you're into that kind of thing (I am) and will keep you entertained here and there, usually in flashbacks that have nothing to do with the main characters. I'm not sure why this movie rated so high with critics. The cheesy forrest gump feel? An aging critic base? Bradd Pitt's ass? Whatever the reasons, I learned soemthing today: pseudo-pedophelia is ok when it's an older women with a young male, but not the other way around.