Take me back to the 80's - The A-Team!

So I went to see the A-Team on opening day with my friend Shannon and I loved it. What a great adaptation of the TV show. It had enough elements from the original show (like classic lines "I love it when a plan comes together," the theme song, large areas of destruction, B.A's fear of flying etc...) to please die hard fans but it wasn't so trenched in tradition that new fans couldn't enjoy the experience. The acting was the best part of the experience. Bradley Cooper was excellent as Face. He continued the playboy tradition of the character set by Dirk Benedict and was well tanned and muscled to appeal to female viewers. Liam Neeson was a perfect Hannibal, with his gray hair and stogie. He was the man with the plan and always in control. Murdock was probably the most surprising and enjoyable performance of the film. Sharlto Copley of District 9 was superb. After his first scene in the mental hospital, I was completely convinced that he was Murdock, the slightly insane but lovable and trustworthy pilot of the A-Team. His was the hardest role to play, because if he came across as too crazy then he wouldn't be believable as an equal member of the team, let alone a helicopter pilot. The only character that took me a little while to warm up to was B.A. Baracus. It took about 30 minutes before I was able to forget the image of the original B.A., Mr. T, and accept this new model as the same character. By the end of the film I was rooting for him to return to his mohawk and kick some enemy butt. Overall, I think The A-Team was a great remake and a possible sequel material as this one really set the stage of the group as a team, fighting for the underdog. It wasn't as good as the Star Trek reboot of last summer but it comes in a close second. "I pity the fool..."

Fringe

So lately I have gotten into the TV show Fringe. After finishing my thesis, I started catching up on all of the shows I had missed while studying, writing and working for the past two years. I am a hugh JJ Abrams fan, so I was curious when Fringe first premiered 2 years ago. I even made time to watch the first episode, but I wasn't hooked. With Alias and Lost, all it took was one episode and I wanted to watch more. I couldn't wait for the next week to see what happened. With Fringe I could care less. At the end of the first season however, a lot of friends at work started talking about how great Fringe was. I was once again intrigued but because of school and my thesis I couldn't commit to another show. Then two months ago they had a special on Fringe Season 1 at Best Buy - $9.99 for the whole season. I couldn't pass it up for that price so I bought it and started watching. I had to really stick with it for the first 5 episodes (I had been told that the show really improved after the first few episodes), but then I was hooked. The X-Files overtones of the show make it more creepy that JJ's previous endeavors but a lot of his signature moves are there. The strong female lead, the good looking male lead/sidekick, action, interesting characters, mythology and intrique. While Walter, the genius/mentally unstable character steals the show, his son, Peter (played by Joshua Jackson - Mighty Ducks and Dawson's Creek Fame) is equally interesting and has now become the main reason I watch the show. I feel for these characters and I'm now invested in their outcome.