left brain: Justice, new TV

Which Restaurants I Love

NYC
* Per Se * Pastis * Schillers Liquor Bar * Casa Mono * Babbo * Del Posto * WD50 * Tabla * Morimoto * Buddhakan * Gotham Grill * Vynl * The Spotted Pig * Bouchon Bakery * Tia Pol * Artisinal * Cubano Cafe * db Bistro Modern * Saul * Quality Meats * Jewel Bako * Bar Americaine * Isabella's * Bamboo 52 * Bouley Bakery * Public * Bouley * Boquiera * Blue Ribbon Sushi *

What I've Watched

At the Cinema:
Constant Gardener * Junebug * Green Street Hooligans * Capote * Hellbent * Jarhead * Harry Potter and the Goblet * The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe * Brokeback Mountain * Munich * Syriana * The New World * Spirit of the Beehive * Failure to Launch * Tsotsi * V for Vendetta * Thank You For Smoking * United 93 * The DaVinci Code * XMen III * Russian Dolls * Favela Rising * Nacho Libre * Superman * Devil Wears Prada ** Time to Leave * Little Miss Sunshine * Miami Vice * Quinceanera * Half Nelson * Another Gay Movie * Poster Boy * Le Petit Lieutenant * Man Push Cart * Science of Sleep * A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints * The Queen * Paprika * The Departed * Shortbus * Marie Antoinette * Pan Labyrinth * Babel * The Prestige * Death of a President * Borat * Fast Food Nation * Candy * Volver * Casino Royale * Deja Vu * Stranger than Fiction * Days of Glory * Apocalypto * Curse of the Golden Flower * Children of Men * Miss Potter * Tears of the Black Tiger * Notes on a Scandal * Reno 911 * Zodiac * Last King of Scotland * 300
From Netflix:
Oldboy * Alias * ChungKing Express * Requiem for a Dream * OC Season 2 * Coach Carter * Crash * Sex and Lucia * Lemony Snicket * It's All Gone Pete Tong * Love Actually * Fever Pitch * Interview with a Vampire * The Real Cancun *Lords of Dogtown * Fantastic Four * Criminal * Willy Wonka * Fridaa * Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance * About a Boy * Rebel without a Cause * The Edukators * 3 Dancing Slaves * Dot the I * Royal Tennenbaums * 2046 * March of the Penguins * Into the Blue * Oliver Twist * Beautiful Thing * Memoirs for a Geisha * The War Within * Spun * Young Gods * A Lot Like Love * Inked * Family Stone * Kontroll * Delicatessen * Footballer's Wives * Transamerica * Jesus is Magic * Firewall * King Kong * Hostel * Layer Cake * She's the Man * 5 x 2 * Lost, Season 1, 2 * Brick * Little Manhattan * The Comeback * Veronica Mars * Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World * Before the Fall * Summer Camp * Entourage, Season 1 * Everything is Illuminated * Madame Sata * Weeds * Sympathy for Mrs. Vengeance * Art School Confidential * City of Men, Season 1, 2 * L'Enfant * Stick It * Dorian Blues * Goal * Manhattan * Lower City * Strangers with Candy * Guys and Balls * Tristan & Isolde * Irreversible * CRAZY * I Stand Alone * Three Extremes * Red Dragon * Hard Candy * Running with Scissors * Boixe Maoi * Napolean Dynamite * The Covenant * FlyBoys * Ma Mere * Naked * Sin City * Hukkle *

The new fall TV season is beginning and that means shows that will incredibly bomb and ones that might catch some attention. It seems like networks have finally caught on that reality shows are over and that some really well-crafted, well-written and well-planned shows are worth thinking about. So thankfully, they hired writers and people who can think this time. Since the OC and Veronica Mars don’t start until October and November, I have been paying attention to what has started in September. Mainly because Manhattan is just reawakening from it’s August sleep. And other than waiting for Jericho about a United States at nuclear war (fuck yah!) and Ugly Bettey which is pretty much like Devil Wears Prada minus a girl who conforms. I have already fallen for Justice. The new show by Jerry Bruckheimer and stars the very awesome Victor Garber from Alias. It basically is about a law firm known for taking celebrity defense trials but it is a little bit CSI and a little bit Law and Order and a lot of cheesy crap that I think they will work out (or they will be worked out). I have watched both of the episodes and I love a few things about the show. I love Garber and I love the way that they only tell you if the person is guilty or not at the last moment of the show where they reveal “the death.” It is so gruesome and dark but it is pretty entertaining. "Justice" is about a high-powered celeb law firm called TNT&G (seriously), and while neither awful nor even particularly bad, there is an earnest silliness to the whole thing. The plot of the pilot is also hilariously improbable because most of us know or think we know how high-profile legal cases play out, thanks to Greta Van Susteren, Nancy Grace and a thousand other legal beagles elevated in the age of O.J. Most of us can be reasonably certain this isn't the way it works. A new season of "Lost" arrives in just a few weeks, when "Justice" and whatever else is in its way will be atomized.

March 2008