'Frozen' will have you glued to your seat

With the recent news of skiers having to be rescued from stalled chair lifts at two resorts, coupled with the frigid temperatures we’ve been getting this week, why not watch a movie called “Frozen,” where three college-age kids get left on a ski lift to either A) Freeze to death, or B) Make some painful decisions in order to survive.

Released last February, to a limited release, “Frozen” is a movie that totally puts you in the mood...to not ever want to go skiing or snowboarding again. If you were ever hesitant about jumping on a chair lift before, “Frozen” will be sure to keep you off them for good, or at least make you think twice about getting in that last run.

To summarize what little plot there is to “Frozen,” we have best buds Joe (Shawn Ashmore — best known as Iceman in the X-Men movie reboots — how ironic) and Dan (Kevin Zegers, Damian from “Gossip Girl”), along with Dan’s girlfriend, Parker (Emma Bell, most recently seen on “The Walking Dead”), who decides to tag along.

Instead of buying lift tickets like everyone else, they decide to bribe the lift operator with cash money and a little flirtation on Parker’s part. It works. They have their fun and before the night is over, they once again work their persuasion magic and get the lift operator to allow them one last run (such a reliant operator that guy is).

Through a series of miscommunications, Joe, Dan and Parker get stuck on the lift by themselves, in the dark — with no one to save them for a week, as the mountain is only open Friday through Sunday. Oh no! What ever will they do?!

Catch my mocking tone? Karma… that’s all I can say.

Being the smart nuggets these three are, rather than freeze to death, they decide to do something about it. Dan jumps off the lift, feet first, and snaps both his legs at the ankles (not a good scene to watch for the squeamish). Meanwhile, Parker starts to develop frostbite on her face, and Joe is just chill, hanging out, not really doing much to help his best friend out.

As you can guess, Dan dies (I won’t say how, but some would say it’s quite predictable, given his situation). Joe and Parker hang out for another day or so, making light of their situation and discussing memories of Dan, all the while thinking of plans to get down. Sooner or later, one of the two dies (Again, I won’t say how — I don’t want to spoil such a great movie for ya’ll) and the lone member survives after a treacherous journey to safety.

As much as I trash such a movie, it was pretty intense to watch. For one, it’s a single-setting movie. It’s as if we’re stuck on the chairlift with them, trying to come up with our own solutions. That’s what makes it scary — the realism of the situation. And although one too many of their decisions may not have been well thought out, I’m sure if I were freezing to death, knowing that no help would make its way up the mountain, I might go to extremes and make stupid mistakes myself — just saying, you never know.

And despite an ending that I felt was unfulfilling, a story line that could have been a bit more developed and a need for slightly better acting, “Frozen” held my attention, made me cringe during certain scenes and also had me yelling at the screen — all the makings for a decent, scary movie — and much more believable than some crazy dream stalker who loves to don fedora hats and sport red-and-green-striped sweaters, am I right?

Recapping the Golden Globes

Feel free to sing along:
It’s the most, wonderful time of the year!

Awards season is here! And as I said in the fall when the Emmys aired, I’m a sucker for awards shows. And there were two just this last week alone: Glorious! The Critic’s Choice Awards aired Friday and the Golden Globes aired Sunday.

And although there may be more pressing matters to write about this week — “American Idol” is back without Simon, and Regis is retiring — they’ll just have to wait while I recap what went down at this year’s Golden Globe Awards.

In what is dubbed the “fun, party” awards show — it’s the only one where alcohol is served — according to some, the fun was sucked right out of the show when Ricky Gervais, the evening’s host for the second year in a row started to bash on celebrities with some harsh, deep-cutting jokes. So much so, in fact, that he was not asked back next year.

I, on the other hand, thought the jokes were honest — and funny. In a span of five-minutes, topics included: Charlie Sheen; ‘The Tourist’ starring Jonny Depp and Angelina Jolie (“It seems like everything this year was in 3-D; except the characters in ‘The Tourist’ ”); Cher (“Do you want to go see Cher? No. Why? Cause it’s not 1975.”); Hugh Hefner and his new fiancé; and the age of the cast of “Sex and the City 2” (“I was sure the Golden Globe for special effects would go to the team that airbrushed that poster.”)

In his most controversial joke, Gervais nabbed on two famous scientologists (most likely John Travolta and Tom Cruise) — “ ‘I love you Phillip Morris’ didn’t get nominated either. It stars Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor, two heterosexuals pretending to be gay; the complete opposite of two famous scientologists we know... My lawyers helped with the wording of that joke” — all to a sea of shocked faces and booing.

But it wasn’t until after taking a jab at the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that Gervais slowly dwindled away from the show. After an hour-length gap with no host, Gervais reappeared sporadically and with only modest jokes.

NBC hired the host and should have known what they were getting themselves in for. Comedians don’t change their style just for some fancy-dancy award show. And I say Cheers to Gervais for a job well done.

But anywho, on to the winners.

Pleasant surprises: Katey Sagal winning Best Actress for a TV Series— Drama, for her role in “Sons of Anarchy.” I haven’t watched the show, but I’ve heard very good things about her performance. To transform her image of Peggy Bundy from “Married With Children” into a hardcore biker chick is hard to do, and I’m glad the academy recognized it.

Steve Buscemi wins Best Actor for a TV Series — Drama, for “Boardwalk Empire.” He’s one of the creepiest-looking actors out there, but I love every role he does. Nucky Thompson is no different. And Buscemi had a very humble acceptance speech.

Unpleasant surprise: The three awards that “Glee” took home: Best TV series — Comedy or Musical; Jane Lynch for Best Supporting Actress; and Chris Colfer for Best Supporting Actor.

I still don’t get what all the fuss is about “Glee,” and I refuse to think that “Glee” is better than “Modern Family” or that Chris Colfer is better than Eric Stonestreet, David Strathairn or Chris Noth, some of his fellow nominees. Jane Lynch I can live with — she’s quite funny — although Julia Stiles put up one heck of a performance in this season’s “Dexter,” so I wished she had taken the cake.

Funniest presenter: Robert Downey Jr. tackles the category of Best Actress — Comedy or Musical, with quick-wit and humor, as only Downey Jr. can do. Some exerpts of his speech: “I consider myself a veteran of sorts. And I have made some sort of study of this, tell me if I’m wrong. I don’t know if an actress can do her best work, until I’ve slept with her, Julianne,” he said, as he motioned toward Julianne Moore, nominated for “The Kids Are All Right.” And so on and so forth, with each nominee.

Downey then agreed that the nominees might be the exception that broke the rule, since they all put on great performances without ever having slept with him.

No surprise there: “The Social Network” took home the most awards of the night with four, including Best Motion Picture. There are a few haters out there who think “The Social Network” is getting way too much praise for a mediocre movie, but I’m not one of them. This movie deserves the title of Best Movie of the Year, and both Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher were worthy of their wins for Best Screenplay and Best Director, as well.

“Toy Story 3” won for Best Animated Feature, raising the question: When was the last time a non-Pixar film has won this category? (Answer: Never. The category has only existed since 2006, and “Cars,” “Ratatouille,” “WALL-E” and “Up” all took home the award). And because it’s “Toy Story” — the first of its kind — the other contenders didn’t stand a chance.

Well-deserved awards: It’s about time Natalie Portman (Best Actress — Drama for “The Black Swan”), Christian Bale (Best Supporting Actor — Drama for “The Fighter”), Melissa Leo (Best Supporting Actress — Drama for “The Fighter”) and Colin Firth (Best Actor — Drama for “The King’s Speech”) snagged a win for their acting efforts. All are phenomenal actors, and I’m glad to see this was the year they finally got recognized.

You talkin’ to me? Robert De Niro picked up the Cecil B. DeMille award. And despite his rehearsed and trying-too-hard-to-be-funny speech, De Niro will always be good in my book.

Mark your calendars: Award shows coming up soon include the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards on Sunday, Jan. 30; the Grammys on Sunday, Feb. 13; and the Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 27. The latter is hosted by Anne Hatheway and James Franco.

Winter TV Preview

Winter is such a good time to curl up after a long day of work (especially after this week’s storm). It’s nice to just plop yourself down in front of the TV and enjoy whatever caters to your needs. And this winter, there are a new crop of shows that are sure to please just about everyone’s likings.

Reality shows: Check. “The Bachelor,” “Survivor: Redemption Island,” “Teen Mom 2,” “Jersey Shore” and “The Celebrity Apprentice” all return to feed your guilty-pleasure needs.

Cops, doctors and lawyers: Check. What would TV be without them. Newbies “The Chicago Code,” “Body of Proof,” and “Harry’s Law” are here to help. The later features Kathy Bates in her first role as the headliner of a TV series, and I’m sure she’ll take to the character of a recently-fired lawyer who starts up her own practice quite well.

There’s also a slew of everything in between, from returning FX drama “Justified,” to a gladiator-eske newbie “Spartacus: Gods of the Arena” on Starz.

Here are six other newbies I’ll be taking a chance on this winter while I wait for the snow to melt.

“Bob’s Burgers” (FOX — Sun. Jan 9 — 8:30 p.m.)

An animated comedy that premiered Sunday about a man who runs a burger joint with his wife and three kids. He may not be smartest guy when it comes to running his place, but he’s got heart. On the comedic side, it may not bring in as many random pop-culture references as “Family Guy” or “The Simpsons” but it’s a dry, subtle humor that makes it work, especially when delivered from Bob, voiced by H. Jon Benjamin, of FX’s “Archer.”

“Being Human” (Syfy —
Mon. Jan. 17 — 9 p.m.)
A ghost, a vampire and a werewolf — the three main characters of this show — are roommates together, just trying to live a normal life. Not quite as teen-friendly as “Twilight,” but not quite as adult-only as “True Blood.” I’m not a huge fan of the vampire/werewolf craze, but with decent actors (Sam Huntington as the wolf, Sam Witwer as the vamp and Meaghan Rath as the invisible ghost) the show seems it could take on a life of its own.

“Mr. Sunshine” (ABC — Wed. Feb. 9 — 9:30 p.m.)
Matthew Perry (“Friends”) and Allison Janney team up as Ben and Crystal, manager and owner of a mid-size sports arena. Ben has just turned the big 4-0 and feels he may want to settle down and change the direction of his life. Add attractive marketing director Alice (Andrea Anders) and newbie employee Roman (Nate Torrence), who also happens to be the son of Crystal, and you get a comedic ensemble I think will be worth your time. Judging from the clips I’ve seen, the punchlines are decent and with such a great cast I think “Mr. Sunshine” will stay bright for awhile.

“Lights Out” (FX — Tues. Jan. 11 — 10 p.m.)
“Lights Out” premiered Tuesday and follows Patrick “Lights” Leary, a former boxing champ who struggles to support his family. As the money runs out he faces a choice between getting back in the ring (which his wife highly disapproves of) for some easy money or take a regular job that will barely make ends meet for his wife and three daughters. The premier was good; a bit slow at times, but it was setting the premise, so I think it’ll pick up. FX shows rarely disappoint, so “Lights Out” will surely be a knockout hit soon enough. Holt McCallany does a great job as boxer Leary and Stacy Keach has a supporting role as his father.

“Skins” (MTV — Mon. Jan. 17 — 10 p.m.)
A teen show focusing on sex, drugs and drinking. So what differentiates “Skins” from any other teen drama? For starters, it stars teens playing teens — so it brings a more realistic feel to it. And it’s also a bit more scandalous and hard-hitting, as it focuses on some pretty intense subject matters and some scenes look as if they should be on premium cable. It looks like it could be an interesting take on how out-of-control the direction of teenager’s lives seem to be heading these days.

“Shameless” (Showtime —
Sun. Jan. 9 — 10 p.m.)
William H. Macy plays an alcoholic, single dad with a herd of kids (six, to be exact). The first episode of “Shameless” was Sunday, but I haven’t had time to give it a shot yet. It’s a role not befitting of Macy, so I’m curious as to how he’ll do. The six kids could easily carry the show, as they all seem to be interesting, independent characters all on their own.

Looking ahead to Spring:
“The Killing” (AMC — Sun. April 3 — 10 p.m.)

“The Killing” doesn’t premier until April, but I think it’s going to be a really gripping show that you should keep an eye out for. It follows the aftermath of a young girl’s murder and the people involved — police detectives, the parents, the suspects and even the mayor of the town — all revealing to us that not everything is as it seems; everyone has a secret. Each episode is played out in real time, so one episode is equal to one day. Right now there are scant clips out about the show, but from what little there are “The Killing” seems to be captivating and intense — which I would expect from the network that has brought us “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead.”

SouthLAnd gets right down to business

Cop dramas: They come and go, one right after the other. At least five new ones premiere every year (“Blue Bloods,” “The Good Guys,” “Rookie Blue,” “Memphis Beat” and “Detroit 1-8-7” come to mind for 2010), but few tend to stick around. Or worse, they fall prey to the solve-a-case-by-episode’s-end scenario each week — “C.S.I.”; “N.C.I.S.”, I’m looking at you. I mean, if people watch, why not deliver more of the same, I guess. I, though, prefer some originality to my cop dramas: “NYPD Blue“; “21 Jump Street“; “Hill Street Blues“; heck, even “Kojak.” And the most recent to join the ranks is TNT’s “Southland.”

“Southland” had a bit of a rough start when it first premiered back in April 2009 on NBC. The first season did well, prompting a renewal for a second season to start in September 2009. After being pushed to October to allow for better promotion, NBC eventually cancelled the show entirely, reasoning that its dark tone was not suitable for a 9 p.m. time slot. A month later, TNT came to the rescue and picked up all of season one and the six episodes (there were suppose to be 13) of season two that were completed. TNT rebroadcast season one and aired season two starting in January 2010.

What’s kept “Southland” alive to make it to a third season, which premiered Tuesday, is that it is a good ole beat ’em down, rough ’em up, chase ’em down cop show, mixed in with character-driven plots, smart cases and a gritty, raw look at life as a member of the LAPD. What also makes “Southland” original is it delves into the personalities and personal lives of the members of the department, not just the cases they come in contact with over the course of the season.

The direction of “Southland” is also spot on. We follow four pairs of officers/detectives solving different cases at the same time throughout the show. For this reason, the viewer can never get bored because there is always a different pair to keep up with.

In the season 3 opener, we follow Detectives Nate Moretta (Kevin Alejandro) and Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy), who head up the Gang Unit and try to find the real reason two gang bangers were found dead in a park. Moretta and Bryant could have easily passed it off to obvious gang violence, but they dig deeper.

Detectives Lydia Adams (Regina King) and Josie Ochoa (Jenny Gago), who run the Robbery-Homicide Division, look into the case of a cleaning lady who turns up missing and is then found dead — beaten and stangled — in the rafters of the building she worked in.

Meanwhile, Officers John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) and rookie Ben Sherman (Benjamin McKenzie) patrol the streets of Hollywood, where they end the day in a bloody shootout.

I can’t even single out one particular actor that is my favorite in the show. All command the screen in their own way. And you’ll recognize many of the faces: Alejando and Hatosy both had their turn at premium cable shows this last year with “True Blood” and “Dexter“; King and Cudlitz have been around the movie and television screens for a while now; and McKenzie was introduced to us a few years back as Ryan Atwood, the bad boy of the mega-teen hit “The O.C.” Also appearing, mostly throughout Season 1, is Tom Everett Scott as Detective Russell Clarke. Scott has been in a number of my favorite flicks, including “Boiler Room,” “Dead Man on Campus,” and most famously as Guy, aka “Shades,” in “That Thing You Do.” He adds the perfect amount of nice guy attitude to the mix.

The pace of “Southland” is right on key — slow enough for us to take everything in and not get lost in the character development, but fast enough to make all the cases riveting from start to finish. You’ll be glued to the TV in no time, and for that, I thank you TNT. You really do know drama.

*Season 3 began Tuesday and will continue with 12 more episodes. It airs at
10 p.m. on TNT.*