A Wii Fit, perhaps? Hello, no. Don’t you know me?

I’m referring to the fun little web episodes of Heroes and The Office, and the ‘minisodes’ of Rescue Me. For the uninitiated, be forewarned that even the online versions of Tommy and the boys are quite foul-mouthed and dirty minded.

Tonight we went to SF and met up with Whitney Matheson, who writes USA Today’s Pop Candy blog. She was there to chat with her readers and share her enthusiasm for comics and graphic novels. The event took place at Isotope, which is a very cool comic book store/lounge hybrid.

Whitney was so sweet and very accessible, and it was so great to talk with her about Lost!

On top of that, artist Tim Sale was there (he is the very talented man behind all of the art featured on Heroes). Long story short…I watched as Tim sketched and then painted an original portrait of Claire Bennett from Heroes, just for me. It was an incredible pop culture experience, watching him create that piece in only ten minutes. Tim was very nice and patient with all of the fans lined up for autographs and custom sketches (only 10 were allotted; I was first in line).

We even received custom pint glasses designed by Tim Sale himself, each with a portrait of Whitney! They also created a Pop Candy cocktail just for the occasion (see photo above).

MOVIES

BEST FILMS/PERFORMANCES
American Gangster
Into the Wild
Knocked Up
Michael Clayton
A Mighty Heart
Once
The Simpsons Movie
Waitress

MUST-SEE A.S.A.P.
Atonement
Charlie Wilson’s War
Juno
No Country For Old Men
Sweeney Todd

OVERHYPED and/or DISAPPOINTING
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Eastern Promises
Superbad
Transformers
Year of the Dog

TV

BEST NEW SHOWS
Damages (FX)
Flight of the Conchords (HBO)
Life (NBC)
Mad Men (AMC)
Private Practice (ABC)
Pushing Daisies (ABC)
The Riches (FX)

BEST RETURNING SHOWS
30 Rock (NBC)
Bones (FOX)
Brothers and Sisters (ABC)
Dexter (Showtime)
Entourage (HBO)
Friday Night Lights (NBC)
Lost (ABC)
The Office (NBC)
Top Chef (Bravo)
Ugly Betty (ABC)
Weeds (Showtime)

GUILTY PLEASURES BUT NO SEASON PASS
Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Dirt (FX)
Men in Trees (ABC)
My Name is Earl (NBC)

ON THE FENCE
Chuck (NBC)
Samantha Who (ABC)

MOST DISAPPOINTING NEW SERIES
Back to You (FOX)
Big Shots (ABC)
Cane (CBS)
Bionic Woman (NBC)
John From Cincinnati (HBO)
Tell Me You Love Me (HBO)

MOST DISAPPOINTING RETURNING SERIES
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
Heroes (NBC)
The L Word (Showtime)
Rescue Me (FX)

R.I.P.
Six Degrees (ABC)
The Sopranos (HBO)
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC)

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2008

Films (all of which make me seem like SUCH a guy and giant nerd)
Cloverfield
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Speed Racer
Star Trek
The X-Files 2

Television
Cashmere Mafia (ABC)
Eli Stone (ABC)
Lost, Season 4 (ABC)
The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX)
Swingtown (CBS)

So, fellow couch critics, let me know what you loved in 2007 and look forward to next year…

Am I the only one who thinks it is slightly creepy/odd that Claire’s new boyfriend (West) has the exact same ability as her father (Nathan Petrelli)? You’d think she would recognize West’s gift as familiar/familial, and hesitate to hook up with someone who might be related. I know, I know, Heroes wouldn’t go there. And even though I overanalyzed the moment, I did enjoy the Superman homage.

Look, many of our Heroes have major Daddy Issues…

Claire Bennet/Butler
Adopted and raised by the Bennets, she discovered that Nathan Petrelli was her absentee biological dad. To complicate matters, Mr. Bennet (a.k.a. HRG or Horn Rimmed Glasses) is working underground to help defeat/destroy the evil Heroes…but Claire doesn’t necessarily trust that he’s on her side.

Hiro Nakamura
Hiro’s main goal was always to please his father. Mr. Nakamura finally encouraged Hiro to follow his destiny and save the world, but Hiro is unaware of his dad’s role in the major scheme of things (that he forced Mr. Bennet to adopt Claire, etc.). SPOILER ALERT…at this point in Season 2, Hiro also does not know that his dad (supposedly) died.

Nathan & Peter Petrelli
Daddy Petrelli served in the Vietnam War with mob boss Mr. Linderman. The Petrelli boys think that Linderman had something to do with their father’s death, which remains unresolved.

Micah Sanders
His ex-con dad D.L. may or may not have met his demise at the end of last season. Meanwhile, Micah is dealing with his multiple/lethal personality mother, and it looks like she’s about to abandon him too.

Mohinder Suresh
After the sudden death of his father Chandra, Mohinder went on a mission to see if it was related to his dad’s genetics research. Turns out that daddy Suresh played a large role discovering the Heroes, and now Mohinder has taken on the challenge to help save them.

As for Season 2 thus far, I have mixed opinions. On one hand, I am impatient to unite the new twin Heroes with the ones we’re already familiar with. While I’m not quite ready to label them Nikki & Paulo (Lost fans will understand that reference), I am a tad bored by their individual storyline thus far. I have also lost interest in Hiro’s Japan adventures, and look forward to Takezo Kensei’s appearance in modern day NY. 

I continue to love both Claire and Peter’s sagas…except for the WORST ACCENTS EVER that totally distract from Peter’s story. Seriously, there weren’t any real Irish character actors available for those roles?

Overall, I have great faith in the show and have no plans to ever abandon the series. I feel like we were spoiled by an almost perfect first season and perhaps my expectations were far too high for this one. But it’s early, so I will try to be more patient.

Thoughts?

I have never owned a comic book. But my inner sci-fi soul loves a superhero. And the only movie franchise that continues to disappoint is Spider-Man. Actually, that is putting it mildly. I recently sat through Spider-Man 3, and it was shockingly awful. I was laughing out loud, and the movie isn’t funny at all. I’ve never witnessed two lead actors with less chemistry, and Maguire and Dunst should be embarrassed by their performances (regardless of the obscene paychecks). It’s no secret that they do NOT like each other offscreen, and the tension between them in the film is both painfully obvious and uncomfortable.  And yes, I realize that writer/director Sam Raimi is the king of intermingling camp with the dark side (see: The Evil Dead, Army of Darkness), but the screenplay for Spider-Man 3 was horrible. Watching Maguire dance was excruciating and soared far beyond jumping the shark. And for the love of orthodontics, someone needs to direct Dunst to a dentist, stat. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – visibly wayward teeth are not charming in hi-def, and she can afford it.