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.

"OCEAN'S THIRTEEN" (2007) Review

"OCEAN'S THIRTEEN" (2007) Review

After the rather disappointing 2004’s "OCEAN'S TWELVE", I really did not expect to even like this third entry into what became a trilogy. I more than liked "OCEAN'S THIRTEEN". I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not only was it better than the second film, I found it just as enjoyable as the first – namely 2001’s "OCEAN'S ELEVEN" 

Directed by Oscar winner, Steven Soderbergh, the movie starts out in a series of flashbacks in which Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), one of Danny Ocean’s associates from the first two films, makes the mistake of building a hotel with one of Las Vegas’ most hated businessmen, Willy Bank (Al Pacino). He gets cut out of the deal and ends up in the hospital after a heart attack. In an attempt to help his old friend Reuben, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) approaches Bank and asks him to restore Reuben’s share of the hotel. In their exchange, Ocean appeals to the code of honor that applies to those people who have shaken Sinatra's hand - both Reuben and Bank have done so. Bank glibly denies Ocean's request saying of Reuben: "He's made the right choice: roll over and die. Let him be." Ocean and his crew decide to bring down Banks by rigging his new hotel and casino – The Bank – to lose $500 million dollars on the night of its Grand Opening, six months later. When they run out of money, they enlist the help of former nemesis – casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who wants to settle a score against Bank for creating hotel/casinos that have been taking the spotlight from his casinos.

I could go into detail about the movie’s plot, but I rather not. It happens to be a complicated plot. Do not get me wrong. Brian Koppelman and David Levien’s ("ROUNDERS") plot is not convoluted. Aside from one or two plot points, I perfectly understood what was going on. But I feel that it is too complicated for me to spell it out in details. Instead, I will simply point out the moments that I truly enjoyed:

*I found the gang’s initial plot to kill Willy Bank and dispose of his body in retaliation for Reuben’s condition rather funny and a great moment of ensemble acting from the cast:

*Another moment I enjoyed was when Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) caught Danny watching an episode of Oprah. Great comic moment for both Clooney and Pitt.

*I loved Linus Caldwell’s (Matt Damon) impersonation of a ”mouthpiece” for an Asian real-estate mogul (Yen in disguise); especially when he is called upon to seduce Bank’s assistant, Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin), using artificial pheromones, which act as an aphrodisiac to maximize her attraction to him. Apparently, Linus needed her to get him inside Willy Bank’s Diamond Room.

*There is a great sequence of scenes featuring a hotel reviewer who is treated as “the V.U.P.” (the always great character actor David Paymer) or “Very Unimportant Person”, when Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) is mistaken as the reviewer. The V.U.P.’s discovery of bed bugs in his room is part-hilarious, part-creepy.

*Don Cheadle as the group’s mechanical genius Basher Tarr gets to shine in a scene in which he impersonates a motorcycle stuntman in order to distract Bank, while Virgil and Turk Malloy (Casey Afflect and Scott Caan)

*Another great moment is when the plot to financially ruin Bank comes together with many of the hotel’s patrons winning large sums of money at most of the gaming tables in the casino. Actually, this entire sequence was done within a montage.

*But my favorite sequences feature featured Virgil Malloy’s (Casey Affleck) efforts to load the casino’s specially designed dice at a factory in Mexico. Virgil is sent there to infiltrate the factory. Instead, he loses sight of his mission when he sees the working conditions at the factory. Instead of fixing the dice, he decides to fix the problem and lead his co-workers in a revolt.

As usual, the cast is great. I especially enjoyed Al Pacino’s performance as the backstabbing casino owner, Willy Bank. He managed to be flamboyant, without going over-the-top. I also enjoyed seeing Ellen Barkin in a memorable role, after all of these years. But I must admit that I especially enjoyed Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, David Paymer, Don Cheadle and Elliot Gould in this film. And Steven Soderbergh did a great job in maintaining the movie’s pace, drawing out memorable performances and especially capturing the flash and glitter of early 21st century Las Vegas. In fact, I think that"OCEAN'S THIRTEEN" is just as good as the first movie, "OCEAN'S ELEVEN" . . . and thankfully, a great improvement over the confusing "OCEAN'S TWELVE".

"OCEAN'S THIRTEEN" (2007) Photo Gallery

Below are images from the 2007 movie, "OCEAN'S THIRTEEN". Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the movie stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Al Pacino: 


"OCEAN'S THIRTEEN" (2007) Photo Gallery

"CONTAGION" (2011) Review

"CONTAGION" (2011) Review

When I first saw the trailer for Steven Soderbergh's new movie, "CONTAGION", it brought back some old memories. I found myself remembering Wolfgang Peterson' 1995 film, "OUTBREAK", which starred Dustin Hoffman; and the influenza pandemic that terrified the world's population two years ago. With those in mind, I decided to check out Soderbergh's new movie.

"CONTAGION" is a medical thriller about the rapid progress of a lethal contact transmission virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving pandemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. And as the virus spreads around the world, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart. The movie began with a Minnesota woman named Beth Emhoff returning home after a business trip to Hong Kong and a side trip to Chicago to cheat on her second husband with an old flame. Two days later, she collapses from a severe seizure before dying in a hospital. Her husband, Mitch Emhoff, returns home and discovers that his stepson - Beth's son - has died from the same disease. Other people who have had contact with Beth eventually die in China, Great Britain and Chicago, leading medical doctors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization to investigate the origin of the disease.

While watching "CONTAGION", I noticed that its narrative bore a strong resemblance to the one featured in Soderbergh's 2000 Oscar winning movie, "TRAFFIC". I noticed that "CONTAGION" had failed to generate the same level of interest that the 2000 movie managed to do. And I find this ironic, considering that I seemed to prefer this movie over the Oscar winning film. I do not mean to say that "TRAFFIC" was the inferior movie. As far as I am concerned, it was a superb film. But I simply preferred "CONTAGION" more. It could be that I found a viral pandemic to be a more interesting topic than drug trafficking, due to the events of 2009. And I found that particular subject scarier.

And I cannot deny that "CONTAGION" scared the hell out of me. The idea that a new disease could spring up and spread throughout the world's population so fast practically blows my mind. And I have to say that both Soderbergh and the movie's screenwriter, Scott Burns, did a great job in scaring the hell out of me. What I found even scarier were the various reactions to the disease. Soderburgh and Burns did a great job in conveying factors that drove mass panic and loss of social order, the difficulties in investigating and containing a pathogen and the problems of balancing personal motives and professional responsibilities. Another amazing aspect about "CONTAGION" is that Soderbergh and Burns avoided the usual cliché of portraying the pharmaceutical industry or the military as the villains. Instead, everyone - the government agencies, politicians at every level and even the public at large - are portrayed in an ambiguous light. Looking back on "CONTAGION", I realized that I only had one minor complaint - Soderbergh's direction did come off as a bit too dry at times.

Soderbergh and his casting director managed to gather an exceptional job for the cast. Cast members such as Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bryan Cranston, Elliot Gould, Chin Han, Sanaa Lathan, Jennifer Ehle John Hawkes and Enrico Colantoni gave very solid performances. But I found at least five performances truly memorable. One came from Jude Law, who portrayed an aggressive freelance journalist named Alan Krumwiede, who convinces some of his readers to use a a homeopathic cure based on Forsythia, on behalf of companies producing the treatment. I found Law's character so annoying that I did not realize how skillful his performance was, until several hours after I saw the movie. Kate Winslet gave a very poignant performances as Dr. Erin Mears, a CDC doctor who is forced to face the consequences of the political agendas of a local government and the disease itself. Laurence Fishburne did an exceptional job in conveying the ambiguous situation of his character, CDC spokesman Dr. Ellis Cheever, who found himself torn between his duties with the agency, keeping certain aspects about a possible cure from the public, and his desire to ensure his wife's safety. But I believe the best performance came from Matt Damon, who portrayed the widower of the doomed Beth Emhoff. Damon was superb in portraying the many aspects of Emhoff's emotional state - whether the latter was grieving over his wife's death, dealing with her infidelity, or ensuring that he and his daughter remain alive despite the increasing chaos and death that surrounded them.

I did not know whether I would enjoy "CONTAGION", but I did . . . much to my surprise. Not only did I enjoyed it, the movie scared the hell out of me. And I cannot think of any other director, aside from Steven Soderburgh, who can do that with such a dry directorial style. I do look forward to seeing this movie again when it is released on DVD.

"CONTAGION" (2011) Photo Gallery

Below are images from Steven Soderbergh's new thriller about a pandemic virus called "CONTAGION":



"CONTAGION" (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?