Favorite Episodes of "FRIENDS" Season Two (1995-1996)

 

Below is a list of my favorite episodes from Season Two of the NBC series, "FRIENDS". The series was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman:




FAVORITE EPISODES OF "FRIENDS" SEASON TWO (1995-1996)



1. (2.24) "The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding" - Rachel Green reluctantly agrees to be maid of honor at the wedding of her ex-fiancé, Dr. Barry Farber. Monica Geller ponders her future with her older boyfriend, Dr. Richard Burke. And Chandler Bing falls for a mystery woman on the Internet.





2. (2.19) "The One Where Eddie Won't Go" - Creeped out by his bizarre new roommate, Eddie, Chandler demands he move out. Meanwhile, old roommate Joey Tribbiani struggles dealing with losing his job on "Days of Our Lives".
A new book on female empowerment inspires the girls to have a "goddess meeting", unleashing buried truths.





3. (2.07) "The One Where Ross Finds Out" - A drunken Rachel calls Ross Geller and reveals her true feelings for him on his answering machine. Meanwhile, an unemployed Monica keeps busy by being Chandler's personal trainer.





4. (2.05) "The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant" - During a dinner party at a local restaurant, the gang become divided by income issues. Chandler also uses a case of mistaken identity to his advantage when a sexy-sounding woman calls the wrong number.





5. (2.15) "The One Where Ross and Rachel . . . You Know" - Monica meets Richard, her parents' old friend, for the first time when she caters a party for him and becomes immediately infatuated. Ross and Rachel go on their first date. Joey and Chandler refuse to move when they get a new television and two armchairs.

Favorite Episodes of "FRIENDS" Season One (1994-1995)

 

Below is a list of my favorite episodes from Season One of the NBC series, "FRIENDS". The series was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman:



FAVORITE EPISODES OF "FRIENDS" SEASON ONE (1994-1995)



1. (1.24) "The One Where Rachel Finds Out" - After Ross Gellar leaves for China on behalf of the museum he works at, Chandler Bing accidentally reveals Ross's unrequited love for Rachel Green. Joey Tribbiani takes part in a fertility study and is unable to sleep with his new girlfriend. Lauren Tom guest-starred.





2. (1.11) "The One with Mrs. Bing" - Chandler's flamboyant romance-novelist mother comes to visit, and Joey catches her kissing Ross. Meanwhile, Ross' sister Monica Gellar and Phoebe Buffay fight over a guy lying in a coma at a hospital. Morgan Fairchild guest-starred.





3. (1.22) "The One with the Ick Factor" - Monica gets a shock when she finds out her current boyfriend is a high school student. Chandler finds out his office colleagues do not like him when Phoebe becomes his temporary secretary. Stan Kirch guest-starred.





4. (1.20) "The One with the Evil Orthodontist" - Rachel and her former fiance, Dr. Barry Farber, start dating again; despite his current engagement to her friend Mindy. Chandler goes nuts when a woman he is attracted to will not return his phone calls. Mitchell Whitfield and Jennifer Grey co-starred.





5. (1.13) "The One with the Boobies" - Joey finds out his dad has a mistress. Rachel tries to even the score after Chandler inadvertently catches a glimpse of her breasts. Phoebe dates a shrink who analyzes the other friends. Robert Costanzo, Brenda Vaccaro and Fisher Stevens guest-starred.

"THE BOUNTY HUNTER" (2010) Review

"THE BOUNTY HUNTER" (2010) Review

When I first saw the preview trailers for both ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER” and ”COP OUT” five years ago, I had naturally assumed I would prefer the action/romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my opinions of the two movie proved to be reversed. I am not claiming that ”COP OUT” was an exceptional action/comedy film. Trust me, it was not. But I consider it a piece of cinematic artistry in compare to the incoherent ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER”.

To my knowledge, ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER” told the story of a New York journalist named Nicole Hurley, who jumped bailed and ignored a court summons over an altercation with a cop in order to pursue a promising story about a suicide that smelled suspiciously like a murder. Hot on the journalist’s trail is her ex-husband, a former cop-turned-bounty hunter named Milo Boyd. He had been given the assignment to find her and turn her over to the police. Once Milo found Nicole, the two were forced to contend with another former cop, who also happened to be a killer; and a pair of hired thugs who worked for a bookie to whom Milo owned money.

Judging from the plot’s outline, one might assume that it was not that complicated. I wish I could say that the movie was not complicated. After all, there were aspects of it that I enjoyed. For instance, I enjoyed the bed-and-breakfast scene where Nicole and Milo a moonlight dinner on the hotel’s terrace. Not only did it featured first-rate acting by Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, but also allowed their characters to reflect upon their error in getting a divorce. I also enjoyed the rather humorous scene in which the pair tracked down a golf caddy, who could provide information on the killer, to a country club. And Nicole and Milo’s encounter with the killer on the road back to New York City, was filled with both humor and good action. I must almost admit that director Andy Tennant did a solid job in pacing the film, despite the unnecessary plotlines in the script. One last thing . . . I enjoyed Oliver Bokelberg’s crisp and colorful photography of Manhattan, Atlantic City and other parts of New Jersey and New York State.

As for the plot . . . what in the hell happened? What led screenwriter Sarah Thorp to take a straightforward plot and screw it up? What problem did I have with the story’s plot? Its execution made no sense whatsoever. I had no problems with the idea of a bounty hunter searching his bail jumping ex-wife. However, I had a problem with how Thorp handled the entire story. In the movie, it took Milo a few hours to track down Nicole from her Manhattan apartment, to her singer/mother at an Atlantic City hotel and finally to a racetrack. But once Milo caught up with Nicole, it took them two days to return to Manhattan. Why? Because Thorp had sidetracked the couple with some unnecessary adventures.

One, Nicole and Milo stopped at an Atlantic City casino-hotel to gamble at the craps table. Milo had made a deal with Nicole that if she served as his good luck charmed and enabled him to win at least $5,000 (the money he was receiving for her capture), he would let her go. He ended up winning $8,000, she walked away, he eventually lost the money with more gambling and they ended up spending the night together at the casino-hotel. Their second day on the road included a close encounter with the killer (unmemorably portrayed by Peter Greene), a side trip to a country club to interrogate the golf caddy and an unnecessary stop at the very bed-and-breakfast where they had spent their honeymoon. Meanwhile, the movie also focused upon a pair of hired thugs for a female bookie portrayed by Oscar nominee Cathy Moriarty, to whom Milo owned money due to his gambling habit. A good deal of mistaken identity ensued when the thugs picked up Nicole’s newspaper colleague, whom one of them had mistaken for Milo. Finally, the movie ended with a showdown with the killer and Milo’s ex-partner. The entire sequence was nothing more than a vague, yet convoluted mess that left me feeling dissatisfied.

Some critics have complained about a lack of screen chemistry between Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. I would have to disagree with that opinion . . . somewhat. I must admit that the two stars had failed to produce any sparks in their first scene together. Fortunately, Aniston and Butler managed to create some kind of chemistry, as the movie progressed. But they did not have the kind of chemistry that Butler had with Katherine Heigel in ”THE UGLY TRUTH” or Aniston had with Vince Vaughn in ”THE BREAK UP”. In fact, Butler’s role seemed like a remake of his Mike Chadway character in ”THE UGLY TRUTH”. Whereas his Chadway character had managed to perfectly contrast with Heigel’s prissy character in the 2009 comedy, his Milo Boyd character failed to do the same with Aniston’s more sardonic and extroverted personality in ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER”. But the pair still managed to create some chemistry.

Only a handful of the supporting cast actually impressed me. Dorian Missick did an excellent job of portraying the ambiguity of Detective Bobby Singer, the police detective who was Milo’s ex-partner, the couple’s close friend and of whom they suspected of being corrupt. Christine Baranski was charming and funny as Nicole’s mother, a nightclub singer at an Atlantic City casino. Siobhan Fallon was equally funny as the wife of the bail bondsman that Milo works for. Christian Borle gave a hilarious performance as the country club golf caddy who reluctantly gave Milo and Nicole the information they needed on the killer. I would have included Jason Sudeikis’ hilarious portrayal of Nicole’s wacky colleague and former one-night stand, Stewart. But once he got caught up in the useless bookie storyline, he became a nuisance and I eventually lost interest in him.

In the end, I do not know if I could really recommend ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER”. A forgettable villain and numerous subplots that made the movie’s story convoluted prevented it from going anywhere. Pity. The movie could have been a first-rate comedy in the vein of 1988’s ”MIDNIGHT RUN”. Instead, it turned out to be a second-rate movie with too many flaws.

"THE BOUNTY HUNTER" (2010) Photo Gallery

Below are photos from the new action comedy, "THE BOUNTY HUNTER". Directed by Andy Tennant, the movie stars Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler: 


"THE BOUNTY HUNTER" Photo Gallery

"HORRIBLE BOSSES" (2011) Review

"HORRIBLE BOSSES" (2011) Review

The summer of 2011 provided moviegoers with a slew of what I would call raunchy black comedies. May saw the release of "BRIDESMAIDS" and "THE HANGOVER, PART II". "BAD TEACHER" premiered in late June. And two weeks later saw the release of the most successful of the bunch, "HORRIBLE BOSSES".

Directed by Seth Gordon, "HORRIBLE BOSSES" starred Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis. The trio co-starred as three best friends who decide to murder their respective overbearing, abusive bosses (portrayed by Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell) who they believe are standing in the way of their happiness. Nick (Bateman) works at a financial firm for emotionally-abusive Dave Harken (Spacey), who dangles the possibility of a promotion to Nick, only to award it to himself. Dale (Day) endures sexual harassment from his boss, Dr. Julia Harris (Aniston), who threatens to falsely tell Dale's fiancee that he had sex with her unless he actually has sex with her. And Kurt (Sudeikis) actually enjoys his job under his boss Jack Pellitt (Donald Sutherland). But after Jack dies from a heart attack, the company is taken over by Jack's cocaine-addicted, amoral son Bobby (Farrell). One night at a bar, Kurt jokingly suggests that their lives would be happier if their bosses were no longer around. After a brief hesitation, the trio agree to the idea. In search of a hit-man, the friends travel to a bar and meet Motherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx), an ex-con who agrees to be their "murder consultant". Jones suggests that Dale, Kurt and Nick kill each other's bosses to hide their motive while making the deaths look like an accident.

I really did not know how I would accept "HORRIBLE BOSSES". Being a fan of the 2009 movie, "THE HANGOVER", I had found myself slightly disappointed by the recent sequel, "THE HANGOVER, PART II". And I was not really anticipating "HORRIBLE BOSSES". But since I was in the mood to watch a new movie, I went ahead and saw it anyway. And I enjoyed it . . . very much.

Screenwriters Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein did a great job in finalizing a script that took several years to finalize. Superficially, the idea of three amateurs committing murder without attracting the attention of the police seems rather ridiculous. Two of the characters, Nick and Dale, certainly viewed the idea with amusement or disbelief. But further transgressions by their respective bosses finally pushed them to the idea with hilarious results. One of the funniest aspects of "HORRIBLE BOSSES" was the problem that the three friends endured to find a professional hit man to do the job. Their search led to a hilarious meeting at a motel with a man who does "wet work" (Ioan Gruffudd) - namely pissing on his clients. The three friends' second search for a hit man leads them to a local bar, where Kurt manages to insult an African-American bartender in an effort to be "politically correct". Their trip to the bar also leads them to "Motherfucker" Jones, an ex-convict who claims to be a hit man. As it turns out, Jones went to prison for video piracy and merely conned the three friends for money. But after agreeing to be their "murder consultant", his advice for them to kill each other's boss led to some hilarious scenes, including one that featured Dale's encounter with the psychotic Dave Harken, when the latter nearly died from accidentally consuming some peanuts.

"HORRIBLE BOSSES" benefited from some funny performances by the supporting cast. Well, most of the supporting cast was funny. Only Donald Sutherland, who portrayed Kurt's amiable boss, was never given a chance to display his talent for comedy. Thankfully, the likes of Ioan Gruffudd, Julie Bowen, P.J. Byrne and Bob Newhart received the chance to tickle the audiences' funny bones. The three actors hired to portray the "horrible bosses" proved to be horrifying in a hilarious way. If I have to be honest, Dave Harken was not the first aggressive psycho he has portrayed in a comedy. His performances in "SWIMMING WITH SHARKS" and "THE MEN WHO STARED AT GOATS" come to mind. Despite his past experiences with such characters, Spacey still managed to make it all look fresh in his portrayal of Nick's manipulative and aggressively controlling boss. Jennifer Aniston's performance as Dr. Julia Harris was a revelation. Mind you, her Rachel Green character on the television series, "FRIENDS" was very complex. But I have never seen her portray such a scummy character before . . . and with such comedic skills. Colin Farrell's appearance in the movie was not as long as Spacey and Aniston's, but it was just as funny. In fact, I would cite Farrell's performance as coke-addicted and self-delusional Bobby Pellitt struck me as the funniest of the three performances. His rants against the employees he wanted fired was one of the funniest scenes in the movie. And finally, it was good to see Jamie Foxx in a comedy again. Actually, he had a supporting role in the 2010 movie, "DUE DATE" and he was funny. But his role in that movie seemed mildly amusing in compare to his hilarious portrayal of "Motherfucker" Jones, the criminal wannabe, who seemed more adept at video pirating and posing than being a hardened criminal.

But the craziness of "HORRIBLE BOSSES" could have easily fallen apart without Seth Gordon's direction and especially the performances of the three leads - Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis. As funny as the movie was, it was bizarre enough to fall apart at the slightest misstep. One, the trio made a solid and charismatic comedy team. I would go as far to add that they could easily rival the comedic team from the "HANGOVER" movies. Jason Bateman is deliciously sardonic and witty as the ass-kissing Nick Hendricks, who spent most of his professional career toadying to guys like Dave Harken. I have never been aware of Jason Sudeikis before this movie. I am aware that he had co-starred with Aniston in last year's comedy, "THE BOUNTY HUNTER", but I do not even remember him. He was certainly memorable as the trio's verbose lady's man, who first talked his two friends into committing murder. But the funniest performance came from Charlie Day, who portrayed the slightly nervous and "hopelessly romantic" Dale Arbus. It is quite apparent that most of the other characters - including his two buddies - have no real respect for him. Nick and Kurt did not take his complaints of sexual harassment by his boss seriously. One, I suspect they find it hard to believe that any female would find him attractive and two, society views the idea of a man complaining of sexual harassment by a woman seems ludicrous. But it was the hilarious and socially awkward Dale who found an effective way of dealing with the sexually aggressive Julia without any problems, whatsoever.

There have been some complaints about "HORRIBLE BOSSES". Some critics have complained that the movie was racially or gender-wise offensive. Others have complained that it was silly. I agree that "HORRIBLE BOSSES" was silly . . . but in a positive way. Besides, most comedies of this manner tend to be rather silly. But thanks to a wacky script and a first-rate cast, the silliness in "HORRIBLE BOSSES" made it the most enjoyable comedy I have seen in quite a while. I really look forward to its DVD release.

"HORRIBLE BOSSES" (2011) Photo Gallery

Below are images from the new black comedy, "HORRIBLE BOSSES". Directed by Seth Gordon, the movie stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis:


"HORRIBLE BOSSES" (2011) Photo Gallery

Top Ten (10) Favorite "FRIENDS" Episodes

Below is a list of my top ten favorite episodes of "FRIENDS" (1994-2004):


TOP TEN (10) FAVORITE "FRIENDS" EPISODES



1. (5.14) “The One Where Everybody Finds Out” - Phoebe finds out about Monica and Chandler, so she and Rachel play practical jokes on them. Monica and Chandler realize something's up so they play along.






2. (4.12) “The One With the Embryos” - Phoebe's uterus is examined for implantation of the embryos. And a seemingly harmless game between the guys and the girls escalates into a full-blown contest to see which pair knows more personal data about the other.






3. (7.19) "The One with Ross and Monica's Cousin" - Denise Richards guest-starred as Ross and Monica's gorgeous cousin, who comes to visit; and Phoebe, Ross, and Chandler become attracted to her. Rachel and Phoebe quickly throw together a shower for Monica. Joey auditions for a part and told a lie about his 'downstairs' area that he and Monica try to fix so he can still get the part.






4. (5.08) "The One with All the Thanksgivings" - On Thanksgiving, everybody has flashbacks of their worst Thanksgiving. Phoebe recalls her Thanksgiving in 1862, which happened in one of her "past lives". Rachel reveals Monica's worst Thanksgiving, at which Monica accidentally cut off Chandler's little toe.






5. (6.10) "The One With the Routine" - Joey's Australian roommate, Janine (Ellie MacPherson), gets a job dancing for "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" and invites Joey, Ross and Monica to come with her. Meanwhile, Phoebe, Chandler and Rachel look for Monica's Christmas presents so that they could buy her something suitable in return.






6. (2.19) “The One Where Eddie Won’t Go” - Creeped out by his bizarre new roommate, Eddie (Adam Goldberg), Chandler demands that he move out. Eddie agrees, but doesn't move out — nor does he even remember the conversation. Joey has trouble coming to grips with the death of Dr. Ramoray and the accompanying change in his lifestyle. And a new book on empowerment for women inspires the female friends to have a "goddess meeting."





7. (6.09) “The One Where Ross Got High” - Before Monica's Thanksgiving dinner, Ross is forced to tell Chandler why Jack and Judy don't like him. It turns out that in college, Ross experimented with 'pot', and blamed the smell of the drugs on Chandler, who had supposedly jumped out of the window because he was 'stoned'. Rachel tries to make dessert, but because the recipe book's pages were glued together, she makes only half of the dessert, the other half being a Shepherd's Pie. Phoebe develops a crush on Jack Geller after a sensual dream. Joey and Ross try to get out of Thanksgiving when they are invited to hang out with Janine and her dancer friends.






8. (5.05) “The One with the Kips” - Chandler and Monica go away for the weekend but spend the entire time fighting. Ross tells Rachel about his agreement with Emily, and he and Rachel get into a fight. Joey finds out about Monica and Chandler's relationship after Monica tells Rachel that she's lost her eyelash curler, which was left in the hotel room.






9. (9.05) "The One with Phoebe's Birthday Dinner" - Phoebe plans a night out for her birthday, but she and Joey are the only ones on time. Moncia is angry when Chandler smokes at work in Tulsa. And Rachel becomes anxious over leaving baby Emma at home.





10. (3.16) "The One on the Morning After" - Ross tries to prevent Rachel from learning that he slept with Chloe, the copy store employee. When she finds out anyway and they go back to her apartment and have a fight, the other four friends are trapped in Monica's bedroom, forced to listen in as Rachel decides to break up with Ross.


What are your favorites?