December Forecast: What to expect this month

With so many of our favourite shows on hiatus until after the holiday break, now is the time to catch our breath and make some plans (in between bouts of seasonal cheer and festive black-outs). So without further ado, here’s what you can expect to see on bitchstolemyremote in the coming weeks…

Justified S2 Marathon

Based on the Elmore Leonard story “Fire in the hole,” Justified tells the story of  deputy U.S. Marshal, Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant in a long overdue breakout role) who has relocated to his home state of Kentucky after some professional misconduct: he provoked a man so he could shoot him. Fact is that Raylan has anger management problems, despite being cool as a cucumber on the outside. But that’s okay because he wears a great hat and frequently bickers with Walter Groggins from The Shield.

Cinephilactic found the first season of the show enjoyable, but a little forgettable (if we’re being honest). Many of the episodes are too stand alone, and while Olymphant is fantastic, his supporting cast is given next to nothing to do and end up standing around like low-paid extras most of the time.

So why are we indulging in a marathon? Because apparently the second season is ah-mazing (to quote Penny from Happy Endings). Everyone we read was gushing about it like it was the second coming of Breaking Bad. The second season even scored four Emmy nominations for acting. Plus, with the recent announcement that the third season starts January 17, there’s never been a better time to catch up. So Cinephilactic is going to bury the hatchet and power through the 13 episode second season in preparation for the new season.

If you’ve never watched the show, then follow along. If you have watched it, come back to read how a newbie reacts to the saga of Mags Bennet (character actress Margo Martindale in the role that nabbed her an Emmy). The marathon begins Monday, Dec 5.

Holiday Movie Event: Live Blog – Dec 10

Join the fun as we live-blog observations and random asides on a series of holiday films and television specials. The fun begins on Saturday, December 10 at 2pm (Eastern) and continues all the way through until the next day. Ideally you’ll follow along and join us in celebrating the season, but if not, you might want to tune in just to see how alarmingly incoherent the posts become as friends and family partake in holiday “cheer” (wink wink, nudge nudge) to survive our selections.

Here’s the itinerary for the day:

2:00 -4:00 pm: White Christmas (Curtiz, 1954)
4:15 – 5:05: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964)
5:10 – 6pm: Vicar of Dibley – The Christmas Lunch Incident (1996)
6:10 – 7:50 pm: Christmas in Connecticut (Godfrey, 1945)
8 – 9:40pm: Scrooged (Donner, 1988)
9:45pm – 11:15pm: Christmas Vacation (Checik, 1989)
11:15pm-12am: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas (2009)

Awards Season Derby

If it’s the end of the year, then you better prepare your awards fishing line because there is plenty of Oscar bait coming out in theatres. The bitchstolemyremote team hasn’t dedicated too much blog space to films thus far, but we’re aiming to change that as a few heavy hitters (and some holiday blockbusters) get released in the next four weeks. So in addition to rolling out our reviews on some big screen flicks, we’ll keep you abreast of how the various critic groups are voting in anticipation of the big awards shows we’ll cover next year. That way you can do better in the office Oscar pool and maybe win back enough money to keep the bookies from taking your house. Ha! Jokes about gambling addictions and violence – always a winner.

The Bitch Awards

It wouldn’t be the end of the year if we didn’t celebrate an arbitrary entertainment milestone (considering we’re right in the middle of the traditional television season). This is common practice for films (see above), and in recent years it has become par for the course to recognize the “best & worst” television shows with their own December lists, as well. And since we’re followers, and not leaders, bitchstolemyremote will follow suit with The Bitch Awards, recognizing the five best (and worst) films and of course, television shows, we’ve seen in 2011. What will take number one? What will take number five? How do we justify our choices (ring toss is acceptable, right)? You’ll need to steal your parents’ neighbours’ wi-fi in between courses of turkey and holiday marathons to find out!

Films

• #5 Best/Worst – Monday, December 18
• #4 Best/Worst – Tuesday, December 19
• #3 Best/Worst – Wednesday, December 20
• #2 Best/Worst – Thursday, December 21
• #1 Best/Worst – Friday, December 22

TV

• #5 Best/Worst – Monday, December 26
• #4 Best/Worst – Tuesday, December 27
• #3 Best/Worst – Wednesday, December 28
• #2 Best/Worst – Thursday, December 29
• #1 Best/Worst – Friday, December 30

Of course this is all in addition to our regular posts, including the fall finales of Revenge and Happy Endings, as well as the season finale of Homeland and the series finale (!) of Being Erica. Single tear…

Anything else you’d like to see while the festive season overtakes you? Chime in  and let us know in the comments below or shoot us an email at grabtheremote@gmail.com