Posts Tagged ‘Entourage’

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Entourage (2015)

January 23, 2016

Starring: Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Dillon
Director: Doug Ellin (“Entourage”)

Bottom Line: Once upon a time, “Entourage” was a good, but not great HBO show that gave viewers a possible glimpse into the every day lives and struggles of a rising Hollywood actor and his closest friends. It was fun and plenty charming and I definitely considered myself a fan… and then the magic just disappeared in the later seasons to the point where struggling through the last few in preparation for this movie was almost unbearable. I’m sorry “Entourage” fans, but the show jumped the shark several years before it went off the air. It’s not that it wasn’t good anymore, it was just bad.

Obviously my expectations for this movie were very low but somehow it was even less enjoyable than I thought it would be. Vincent Chase’s career arc hasn’t always been the most believable, but almost everything that happens in this movie is laughable. I guess Hollywood makes bad decisions all the time – this movie would be a good example – but I can’t imagine the character of Ari Gold letting Vince direct a movie, let alone one as important as Hyde is supposed to be. We’re talking about a barely average actor that appears to have next to no knowledge of actual filmmaking. What’s even more absurd is the clip of Hyde that Ari screens privately and later claims to be “amazing” – I can assure you the footage of Hyde shown in this movie is nothing short of terrible. I would never, ever watch that movie and I actually remember a time when the movies Vince does actually So by the time Vincent Chase’s debut directorial film is dominating the Golden Globes you can imagine that I checked out a long time ago.

There are endless amounts of celebrity cameos in this movie, and some of them are funny, but much like E’s relationship with Sloan or Ari’s unrelenting dedication to being a total asshole, it’s all just so tired. In fact, I’d wager to say that the only redeeming factor of “Entourage” that remains from its earliest seasons is the character of Vince’s brother, Johnny Drama. Kudos, to Kevin Dillon and the writers for doing something right.

The Entourage movie picks up where the last few, awful seasons ended. No one should be too surprised that this movie sucks and I wouldn’t even recommend it to fans of the show. If you, somehow, remained committed to enjoying the HBO show all the way to its close, then I guess this is worth checking out, but this is a total skip in my book. Bad, bad, bad.

Replay Value: It was bad enough the first time.
Sequel Potential: It’s certainly possible, but I think this movie was bad enough that this story might be put to bed.
Oscar Potential: LOL!

Grade: 3/10 (Just Skip It)

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Entourage Season Six

August 20, 2010

I’ve been hearing some talk that Entourage has jumped the shark and I don’t really get it. It was never a great show to begin with. Entourage is the equivalent of the mindless, summer blockbuster, guilty pleasure at your local cinema. The story has never been riveting, the acting has never been great (outside of Jeremy Piven’s Ari Gold), and no one is ever going to ever laud Entourage for its intricate writing. The allure of Entourage is similar to why people like reality T.V. shows. The only difference really is the characters in this show are mostly fictional. I say “mostly” because Entourage is loosely based on actor Mark Wahlberg’s own experiences as a movie star. With that said, as long as Entourage delivers ridiculously hot (and often naked) women, a healthy dose of humor, and a look at what it might be like to be famous, I don’t see how fans can be disappointed.

While maybe not as strong as previous seasons, season six delivers more of the same. It does attempt to get a little heavier than normal, however. Vince struggles briefly with loneliness, E continues his bitch ass ways with women and can’t seem to shake ex-girlfriend Sloan from his memory, Drama runs into trouble after a successful run on his show Five Towns, Turtle experiences problems with Jamie Lynn-Sigler for the first time, and Ari deals with an affair within his agency that could cause major problems. Whatever.

What’s missing, for me, from this season is Vincent Chase as a movie star. He apparently starred in a big hit based on the book The Great Gatsby directed by Martin Scorsese and has resurrected his career after a couple of flops… but we really don’t get to see anything about Gatsby. I don’t even think we ever saw Vince act a single scene. I still remember how cool I thought it was when the show created an entire sequence for Aquaman. Season six focuses on Vince’s actual film career the least of any season to date. We have Gatsby in the past and his next project as a race car driver in the future… in between, we have season six, which seems to focus on all the secondary characters. Granted, these characters are all vastly more interesting than Vince, but still, Vince as a movie star is still the force that drives the show and I want to see more of it.

Thankfully, the show is not a total loss like some might suggest it has become. While Vince may be between movies, that doesn’t stop plenty of hot chicks happily dropping their panties for him and we still get envy his ability to have any woman he wants. Drama and Lloyd are still hilarious and I think this was still a strong season for the Ari Gold character. Even if someone hated this season, they had to enjoy Ari’s scene in the finale with the paintball gun. C’mon now! Season six also has solid cameos from Tom Brady, Mark Wahlberg, and Matt Damon.

I’ve never cared for E’s character and he continues to be more of the same. His continued fascination with Sloan, while understandable, is obnoxious, even more so because he’s dating a perfectly good looking girl anyways. Just when you think E can’t sink to new lows, the season closes with him at his most ridiculous. I won’t spoil the surprise, but it’s brutal and doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. The biggest disappointment in season six is Turtle’s transformation into a simp. His entire arc in season six focuses on his relationship with actress Jamie Lynn-Sigler of Sopranos fame. No thanks, we already have one E and we didn’t like it when you pulled this stunt with Vince and Mandy Moore.

Entourage might not be as good as it once was… but it’s not like we’re talking about Weeds here. This show is still plenty watchable and has lots of fun moments. So before you start saying things like Entourage has jumped the shark, remember, it wasn’t all that great to begin with.

Grade: C+
Viewings: 1.5
Replay Value: Decent amount, but I’m personally glad I never invested in the series on DVD.
Emmy Awards: After a string of 3 straight Emmy wins, Piven hasn’t been nominated the past two years and Entourage could only muster one nomination in 2010: for sound mixing. Ouch.
Nudity? Tons! Yay!

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