Southland, Part 2

As I mentioned in Part 1, the TV cop series “Southland” had a fantastic ensemble cast of actors. Most of them I knew from some really great films and TV shows including but not limited to: “That Thing You Do!”, “Band of Brothers”, “Outside Providence”, “Friday”, and even “Red Dawn”.

Rookie cop Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie) was unkown to me before this series, but he was in “The O.C” prior to this. His training officer was played by Michael Cudlitz. Cudlitz played Staff Sergeant Denver “Bull” Randleman in “Band of Brothers.” Ben Sherman’s Beverly Hills upbringing is a problem for his training officer in “Southland.” Perhaps my favorite character in the series is Detective Sammy Bryant who is constantly dealing with his Über flaky wife Tammi (Emily Bergl). Bryant is played by Shawn Hatosy who played Tim Dunphy in the 1999 film “Outside Providence.” He brings the realness to his character. Unfortunately, I can’t find any clips so here is the Season 1 trailer.

Regina King (“Friday”) plays a dedicated detctive and her partner is likable actor Tom Everett Scott who played the drummer in “That Thing You Do!”. C. Thomas Howell (“Red Dawn”) is the cop you love to hate. He’s boisterous, arrogant, and doesn’t think the rules apply to him. You might also recognize actor Michael McGrady from this and that. The list goes on and on.

“Southland” was written by Ann Biderman. (Biderman also wrote Showtime’s “Ray Donovan”, which I would love to see.) While I don’t usually pay much attention to popularity ratings, “Southland” gets 8.5 out of 10 on imdb.com. The series started on NBC, but it was sold to TNT and aired the second season and following ones there. During one season, I think they used a different theme song which is an absolute travesty!

To sum it up, “Southland” is not only a great show/series, but a good example of viewing habits. It started on free network TV, but was sold to a cable network. Now, I’m watching it for free on the TUBI streaming network. I highly recommend this series.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Stop! Hammersly Time!

Recently I was scanning my favorite free streaming network (Tubi) and came across this Australian TV drama. I have to say I’m into the third season of Sea Patrol and enjoy watching it. The show centers around the crew of the HMAS Hammersly of the Royal Australian Navy and their adventures on the ocean blue: rescues, pirates, snakes, gun runners, smugglers, even tattoo parlors. (In case I haven’t mentioned it, I have a theory about TV shows and movies set in prison or on the high seas. I think they are both naturally dramatic settings, which makes it harder to make a bad show/movie in either setting.)

In any event, I like the show’s theme song which is kind of a high energy fanfare meets Miami Vice type of thing. It was composed by Les Gock.

Man, they really zip through the cast listings…not that I really knew any of them before watching this series. One cool thing about watching a series like this one is it’s kind of foreign, but it’s kind of familiar — I watch it in subtitles so I can understand some of the Aussie accents.

The first couple of episodes they kept calling one of the main characters “Buffer” or “BUFF-FAHH” in Australian accent. That threw me a bit. According to Wikipedia, “Buffer is the colloquial title for the senior seaman sailor.” Some of the other main characters include “X” (short for executive officer), “Spider” or “SPY DUH” (a Seaman named Webb), “Nav” (the navigator), “RO” (radio operator), and “Charge” or “CHAA jjhh” (the chief engineer). They also add a new chef to the HMAS Hammersly named “Bomber” or “BOM MUH” during Season Two.

Another part, I like about “high seas” entertainment is some of the lingo and phrases you hear throughout the series: “Hands to boarding stations”, “Avast”, “Stop or heave to, I intend to board you.” (The last one is a real thing and not just uttered during shore leave! In one of my favorite films The Bounty, an officer tells a crew member, “You shall kiss the gunner’s daughter.” Then he’s bent over a canon while he was hit with a knotted rope. Good stuff!)

The ensemble cast of Sea Patrol offers a wide variety of storylines from show to show and season to season. I recommend it. Oi!

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Mysterious Murder of Mona

Who killed Mona Dearly? That’s the question asked and answered in the 2000 film “Drowning Mona.” This is one of those movies that caught my eye while channel surfing — most likely due to the cast. It stars everyone from Bette Midler to Jamie Lee Curtis, Neve Campbell, and more. A blonde-headed Casey Affleck runs a lawn mowing service with his idiotic partner, hilariously played by Marcus Thomas. The film is set in the hamlet of Verplanck, New York. Viewers are in for a wild ride as the Yugo driven by the ubiquitously-hated Mona goes off a cliff and into the river. On a completely unrelated note, I feel obligated to mention how great the Bo Diddley song “Mona” is.

(There’s also a good video clip of Bo joining Tom Petty onstage for this one.) Getting back to the movie, it’s up to local law enforcement (Danny DeVito) to narrow the list of suspects down in Verplanck. Drowning Mona is not the best movie you’ll ever see, but I never pass up an opportunity to watch it and it always makes me laugh. Off the wall is probably the best way to describe this somewhat obscure film. It was directed by Nick Gomez. You’ll also see some familiar faces in the supporting cast like Will Ferrell, Melissa McCarthy, William Fichtner, and more. Kathleen Wilhoite has a hilarious scene where she sings a murder ballad about the whole thing.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!