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Michelle
Jul 18, 04 - 11:48 PM |
Entourage on HBO
I liked the first ep. One of my guilty pleasures is the teen movie "Drive Me Crazy" starring Melissa Joan Hart (yes, Sabrina the Teenage Witch) and Adrian Grenier. I have seen the movie many times and own the soundtrack. Anyway, I am something of a longtime fan of Adrian Grenier, star of Entourage. He plays an hotshot young actor the same age as his real self (28 - they are going to their 10 year high school reunion at the end of the first ep). So I can tell you offhand that he was in Harvard Man - I wanted to like it because I'm such a Buffy fan but it was such a detached movie - very cold and it was difficult to care about any of the characters. But I was excited for his tiny part in A.I. (I was a fan of the movie all the way through it's multiple endings). So, I will be watching ep 2 of Entourage.
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Michelle
Jul 29th, 2004 - 7:05 PM |
Re: Entourage on HBO
So I watched ep 2 of Entourage - The Review. Cutie Samaire Armstrong of The OC and of Freaks and Geeks (she played a Deadhead in the last few episodes)looks like she might be around for more episodes. I still like the show. It's no Action - that brilliant Jay Mohr tv show that was a satire about Hollywood (they were re-airing it on Trio, if you get that channel). But Entourage is entertaining enough and doesn't tax your brain so it can rest up on Sunday night before it's called into action on Monday.
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Michelle
Aug 1st, 2004 - 10:58 PM |
Re: Entourage on HBO
Ep 3 was tight. I loved the ending when Drama gets to go out on stage. I was actually excited for him, this fictional character. Good stuff. The plug was very funny and smooth.
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Michelle
Aug 9th, 2004 - 10:08 PM |
Re: Entourage on HBO
Episode 4 was good. I think the show is getting better and better. Kevin Dillon is so funny. I just recognized Monica Keena as Eric's ex. She was great on Undeclared! I miss that show.
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Michelle
Aug 15th, 2004 - 8:17 PM |
Re: Entourage on HBO
From ew.com:
Jeremy Piven
Entourage (HBO, Sun., 10 p.m.)
WHAT HE'S DOING Piven plays Ari, the superficial and soulless agent of up-and-coming actor Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier).
WHY HE'S HOT RIGHT NOW EW's critic Ken Tucker wrote that Piven plays the part with ''furnace-blast vulgarity.'' (That's meant in a good way.)
BREAKOUT MOMENT Ari embodied all the evil that is Hollywood when he ripped Vince's well-intentioned friend and manager, Eric (Kevin Connolly), to shreds for a questionable business decision, then tried to make nice by saying, ''Let's hug it out, **********
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Michelle
Aug 15th, 2004 - 8:21 PM |
Re: Entourage on HBO
Here's a review of Entourage from EW:
Entourage
Reviewed by Ken Tucker
STAR TRACKERS Hollywood hangers-on get the spotlight in HBO's hilarious ''Entourage''
As a profane peek into current showbiz, Entourage is excellent, dirty fun. One of those fictional looks at the industry that mixes characters with stars playing themselves, ''Entourage'' is like Robert Altman's ''The Player'' for wannabes. It's about Vince (Adrian Grenier), an up-and-coming actor-hottie from Queens, and the chums he brings with him to L.A. to, y'know, keep him real. This entourage of buddies comprises both friends and leeches. There's Vince's half brother, Drama (Kevin Dillon), a lower-level actor -- his biggest credit is that he was fired from ''Melrose Place'' -- who is always trying to score work from people who really want to be in business with Vince. There's Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), the knucklehead gofer who's in it for the chicks and the weed. And there's Eric (Kevin Connolly), the smartest and most sincere of the bunch, whom Vince relies on as his unofficial manager to vet scripts and guide his career.
Eric butts heads with Vince's agent, Ari, played with furnace-blast vulgarity by Jeremy Piven (''Old School''). Ari's the kind of philistine who dismisses ''Lost in Translation'' by saying ''It didn't really capture the place -- [Tokyo] is twice as boring in real life.''
''Entourage'''s executive producer is Mark Wahlberg, who knows, especially from his Marky Mark days, how hangers-on behave, and the ambivalence they have toward the guy who's the center of attention. He and writers like creator Doug Ellin (''Life With Bonnie'') and Larry Charles (''Seinfeld'') are terrific at conveying the way Hollywood life is a swirl of star spotting, deal hustling, and endless car driving.
Each ''Entourage'' is just a half hour, packed firm with laughs -- at its best, it's a sitcom that works as a critique of the industry. Dillon (brother of Matt, and a man who doubtlessly knows about living in the shadow of greater fame) plays Drama as an only slightly smarter version of Matt LeBlanc's Joey. When the guys blast ''Guiding Light'' as an unworthy career option for Vince, Drama sputters, ''Hey, I'm up for a soap opera!'' and Turtle actually apologizes. It's a tough town, and any job, however theoretical, is to be respected. The show is superbly cast -- Dillon and Piven are the series' breakouts, with ''The O.C'''s Samaire Armstrong (as Piven's sweet assistant) and Debi Mazar (as Vince's brutally cynical publicist) not far behind. All this, plus Sarah Silverman, playing herself, rebuffing a slimy come-on from Piven's Ari by exclaiming reproachfully, ''I take Krav Maga with your wife!''
As Drama might say, that's cold, man. Grade: A-
(Posted:07/16/04)
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Michelle
Aug 17th, 2004 - 8:04 PM |
Re: Entourage on HBO
Episode...I've lost track. Anyway, did you recognize Val Kilmer? What was that movie he was in...The Salton Sea. I heard that Spartan was good.
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Michelle
Aug 26th, 2004 - 8:51 PM |
Re: Entourage on HBO
First off, I realized that I sound like I've never seen Val Kilmer before in anything. I was just trying to remember that title - The Salton Sea. Anyway, I still enjoy Val in Top Secret when he sings and dances (before he sang in The Doors). And I love his scenes as Doc Holliday in Tombstone.
Now, Entourage - the season's almost over already! Only 2 more eps left. Waah. So, I wanted to mention how fabu Debi Mazar is in this show. So funny.
I was remembering this book I read last summer entitled The Mailroom by David Rensin. He interviewed agents from the first agent ever to current agents in different Hollywood agencies and wrote a book integrating his research. Did you know that Famous Amos (of cookie fame and fortune) started off in a mailroom? He was going to be an agent but he couldn't stand the discrimination. Interesting.
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Michelle
Aug 31st, 2004 - 10:20 PM |
Re: Entourage on HBO
One more ep left. Kevin Dillon was on some late night show last night. I taped it for later viewing - maybe.
Btw, I missed the broadcast of MTV's VMA's so I've been watching a recording of it (I know, I could just turn to MTV at any time and see it) but it is really tiresome. I used to watch any and all award shows with such interest and attention to detail. Now I can hardly fast forward through one without being uninspired. I still liked it when Letterman hosted the Oscars. That was good television!
Incidentally, I just saw an ad for a Triumph the Insult Comic Dog "best of" dvd including his hilarious interviewing of Star Wars fans. I watched that so many times. And the American Idol stuff was good too. I wish I had kept that recording. But I bet it will be on this upcoming dvd.
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Michelle
Sep 8th, 2004 - 6:54 PM |
Re: Entourage on HBO
I was just reading how the theme song for Entourage is Superhero by Jane's Addiction. It's on their latest album Strays which I happen to have but haven't listened to carefully I guess since I didn't recognize the song. Anyway, I think the opening credits for the show are cool. Usually I'll fast-forward thru opening credits of tv shows but this one I've been watching all the way thru.
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Michelle
May 8th, 2005 - 9:30 PM |
Re: Entourage on HBO
Sorry it took me so long to put up any type of link. Listen to a clip at Amazon.com:
Strays by Jane's Addiction.
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Michelle
May 15th, 2005 - 11:09 AM |
Re: Entourage on HBO Ep 8: New York
I never wrote my reaction to the season 1 finale. I think I was uncharacteristically distracted the first time I saw it way back in September - major multi-tasking going on. So I had saved it to watch later on.
Anyway, I finally re-watched it and was glad to see it was just as entertaining as I had remembered the show to be. As a season finale, it was great. The friendships and fraternal bonds, biological and otherwise, are so real and ultimately sweet. Of course, we can see that Eric (Kevin Connolly) is the brains and heart behind the operation. Actually, they all have heart. They are all sensitive to each other which is an accomplishment in itself.
I still love Debi Mazar. She is hilarious as Vince's publicist. I like how they found a way to keep Samaire Armstrong AND Monica Keena in the show.
And of course Ari (Jeremy Piven) keeps it as fake as possible - "Let's hug it out." So precious!
In fact, I feel like re-watching the entire season now. I guess HBO is gearing up for Season 2.
Entourage Season 2 premieres Sunday, June 5 at 9PM ET, only on HBO!
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Michelle
Jun 5th, 2005 - 11:08 PM |
Entourage on HBO, Season 2
I wrote a lil something about Ep 9 here: The Return of Entourage.
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Michelle
Jun 13th, 2005 - 7:56 PM |
Re: Entourage on HBO
I think I will try to post about the rest of Entourage Season 2 here: The Return of Entourage.
But in case you care but not quite enough to click over, let me re-post what I just wrote there:
Added 6/13/05: Episode 10, The Car (I think). Kevin Dillon had me in stitches, man, with his calf envy! Those guys really are sweet and loyal to each other.
So here's my big discovery: I mentioned that I have a soft spot for Adrian Grenier's teen movie Drive Me Crazy starring Melissa Joan Hart. Well, I decided it was time to have a viewing of it recently and the first thing that caught my attention was that Rob Thomas, the creator of Veronica Mars and writer/producer of Cupid (starring none other than Jeremy Piven, aka, "Ari)," wrote the screenplay (based on a novel)! He is just one of those people, like Joss Whedon, who can appealingly and convincingly bring the high school experience to the small and big screens. Then I noticed that Adrian Grenier's character's name is "Chase," actually it is "Chase Hammond." I had totally forgotten this and it made me wonder if his character's name in Entourage is an homage to this, i.e., "Vincent Chase." And then I saw Ali Larter and remembered that she played his girlfriend in Drive Me Crazy. Do you all remember how she played herself, "Ali," in the series premiere of Entourage as an irate and jilted ex of Vince's? I'm betting they are still friends from when they made Drive Me Crazy and thought it would be funny to be cast against each other like that.
Okay, so I just needed to tell you my Drive Me Crazy observations. But really, Kevin Dillon is so funny when he's staring at that guy's calves at Jaime Pressly's party!
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Michelle
Jun 14th, 2005 - 9:09 AM |
Entourage, Season 2 review at ew.com, 6/3/05
Entourage, Season 2 review at ew.com, 6/3/05
Entourage
Reviewed by Gillian Flynn
EGO TRIP HBO's spoof takes navel-gazing to a new high
Entourage, a gleeful, fizzy race through Hollywood, is quite the opposite. The show, executive-produced by Mark Wahlberg and based loosely on his story, clearly digs the man-pack at its center, as well as the guys' smash-and-grab approach to fame. Season 2 of the HBO series has newly minted action star Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) finding his career cooled after a three-month stint filming an indie movie. Still boasting a taste for goodies like the mansion Brando once owned, Chase is putting the screws to his buddy/manager Eric (Kevin Connolly) to find him a big-bucks role. With integrity. Entourage is strewn with inside-Hollywood jokes: Bob Saget does a cameo as the guys' new neighbor, offering a Full House fatherly finger wag: ''Don't you [mess with] my daughters.'' The whip-quick dialogue drops names like Peter Dinklage, Andrew Kevin Walker, and C. T. Howell. The jokes aren't mocking folks who don't understand them. They're ribbing those who do — people who read and watch (and write) obsessively about the industry.
Hollywood politics aside, Entourage, at its heart is about a gang of guys. They screw with each others' heads for sport, but ultimately, they're solid friends. Who knew it'd be so touching to watch them scramble to protect each others' egos after discovering the hot girls [they met were only nice because of] Vince? (Entourage's general shortage of women who aren't objects of lust has earned yelps about misogyny. Malarkey. That'd be like labeling the chick-dominated world of Sex and the City ''man-hating.'')
Entourage gets its spikiest laughs and sweetest moments from the supporting cast: Vince's power-mad agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), who has the nastiest, foamiest mouth in town and makes gotta-run announcements like ''It's [a special] night at the Gold house''; and Vince's brother, Johnny (Kevin Dillon), a washed-up TV star who trails Vince like a tough, eager bunny. A boaster, a yearner, a man with woefully undeveloped calves, Johnny is 10 times better drawn and 12 times more sympathetic than his Comeback counterpart, Valerie. But that goes for the whole show. Strange that a series about a pack of voracious, womanizing, party-hopping dudes would be both smarter and more humane. Grade: B+
Copyright © 2005 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.
I edited a little for propriety's sake, whatever that means for us Entourage fans. You can read the full text at ew.com.
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