Cuban Fury Didn't Exactly Set The World On Fire

One day, Nick Frost had a weird idea to make a salsa movie. And this is what came out of that.

A pretty corny little film with a few very notable names who probably just showed up on set to shoot the shit with some people they'd always wanted to work with. It's mediocre, but gives just enough to maybe keep you vaguely interested.

Essentially, Nick Frost plays Bruce, a guy down on his luck... and down on his life, who used to be really into salsa dancing but through bullying decided not to pursue that path any longer. One day, Rashida Jones shows up as his new boss Julia and lets slip that she's into salsa. Bruce's old passion is suddenly reignited for better or for worse.

The cast is honestly the only thing that kept me around till the end. I like Nick Frost, though it's strange to see him as the leading man. While I never like to pigeonhole anyone, he's just never proven himself capable of carrying a film. Rashida Jones does her usual thing, sort of but not really that witty girl you can get along with. And Ian McShane shows up and clearly just wants to have fun. He's been such a strange actor to me, because he's exceptionally talented, but rarely seems to do films that showcase his abilities. I like that he goes to set to enjoy himself, but I guess I still want to see more out of him. Then there's Chris O'Dowd... who's been making some very odd choices. Since his success with Bridesmaids, it seems he's decided to go out and just play despicable character after despicable character. And I bet he's having a blast doing it. Perhaps I'm just looking at what he's done in 2014, but between this and Calvary I'm not exactly sure what (if anything) he's trying to say.

I know I'm sort of blasting this cast a little, but it mostly comes from a knowledge that they have a lot of talent and seem to just be materializing into second-rate productions like this one. Cuban Fury doesn't do or say anything new. Its message is well-meaning enough. But at the end of the day, it's not  gonna change your life and it may not even be able to hold your interest through a pretty short 98 minute run-time. So take that for what it's worth.

Parks & Rec May Be Following The Office Into Questionable Territory

You know, I've come to enjoy NBC's Parks and Recreation far more than I ever enjoyed The Office. It managed to escape the initial first season's awkward Pam-and-Jim-like relationship and build on it's own cast and concept.

So now, it's with a certain pain that I come to recognize that it is beginning to fall into the same traps that ultimately destroyed The Office for me. I never really cared about the politics of that show, but week after week, the writers always found a new way to shove that down my throat. I could care less that the paper company was going out of business... or that a printer company was taking over... or the whole plot about which branch was going to survive. After all, that storyline only wielded one true mainstay character. Events like that always feel like a cop out to me. The genre of The Office didn't call for it. And once the leads began to get other gigs and slowly depart the show, the quality clearly sagged into oblivion.

I'm about to watch the most recent hour-long episode of Parks and Rec... and I'm trying to hope. But I'm very much aware of the potential blow that's coming.

Within the next few episodes, Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones will be leaving the show. Couple that with Chris Pratt's consistent absence due to bigger jobs (Guardians of the Galaxy), and you have an incomplete show. Parks and Rec is at its best when it feels like a complete ensemble piece. So losing three of its biggest players feels like a heavy blow.

Potential Spoiler if you are a couple seasons behind...
Then the new subplot kicks in... Pawnee and its neighboring town are merging which is supposed to add new character depth and continuing plot motion. Okay... this sounds familiar (see paragraph two, line five). While I thoroughly enjoyed Leslie Knope running for political office... and was impressed by the fact that they actually let her win (a sign that the format of the show would be changing)... I can't help but feel that this new plot line is a massive step backwards.
End Spoiler

While it's hard to imagine Parks and Rec ever getting as bad as The Office did in its final seasons, the future is looking somewhat bleak. If I'm right about this (and believe me, I hope I'm not) I guess I have to just be glad that there were about three seasons of just plain excellent tv.