<table> </table> Castle” stars Nathan Fillion as Rick Castle, a best-selling crime novelist who is pulled into the real world of crime-fighting when a copycat begins to re-enact scenes from his books.And if you said, “Except for Nathan Fillion, yawn,” that would be the right instinct.But I have seen a couple of hours of “Castle,” and I would say it would not be the worst way to kill — er, spend — an hour on a Monday night.Castle is wildly popular, divorced, totally the ladies’ man. But he’s also revered by the local gentry, including the mayor of New York and key friends in the law enforcement community. These are the strings he pulls to drop into the midst of police work. As conceits go, it still isn’t as hokey as someone solving crimes through dreamwork.Once inside the police station, he’s paired with Kate Beckett, a pouty-eyed NYPD detective played by Stana Katic. (By the way, why Kate? Why not something a little more Eastern European-sounding? It just seems a little Bobby-in-Bangalore, this habit of picking the most homogenous names for network TV characters.)It is on Kate’s shoulders that the burden falls of explicating the plot and chatting up the forensics unit (cleverly known here as “CSU”).I know this is going to come as a shock, but when the scene is designed around Kate, the show sags. By contrast, when Rick strolls into the room, the show perks up. The success of “Castle,” then, lies in the middle — when Fillion and Katic are sharing the screen and doing the whole “Moonlighting” dance. If people find that interesting, this will be a crime show that works. If not, it won’t.But in the end, it’s still a crime show, and the big networks’ prime-time lineups are lousy with them.‘Cadillac Records’Question: When is a movie not a movie but a television show? The question’s at least as old as HBO, the first cable channel to air R-rated Hollywood movies to a wide audience on a continuously broadcasting TV station.On Tuesday “Cadillac Records” is released on DVD. This movie, which saw limited play in movie theaters last year, is a fictionalized telling of the story of Chess Records, one of America’s most-storied music labels, which commercialized rhythm-and-blues acts, notably Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Etta James and Howlin’ Wolf. (Chess also put out the coolest Christmas records, which I play every year.)It starred Adrien Brody as one of the founders of Chess and Beyoncé as Etta James. Most people don’t know that Beyoncé’s cover of James’ hit “At Last,” which she performed for the Obamas on inauguration night, was even recorded for a movie.Now you do. But what kind of movie? One made for a pitifully low budget, much of it spent on the rights to songs like “Maybelline” and “At Last.” A budget that would be within shouting distance of an HBO Films movie of similar length.I chose to see this film on the big screen during its brief tour of Kansas City. I enjoyed it, but the shoebox theater with the old-generation non-stadium seating didn’t make the moviegoing experience especially pleasant.What if a cable network had decided to make this movie, which was the life’s dream of former Sony Music executive (and NBC news chief) Andy Lack? The absence of movie distribution would have driven the clearance rights down, and the same film could’ve been made for even less money.And everyone would’ve watched it on HBO or home video anyway.<hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> ‘Castle’ Airs 9 p.m. Monday on ABC.</div>

Posted on Sat, Mar. 07, 2009 10:15 PM

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AARON BARNHART AARON@TVBARN.COM

Without Fillion, ‘Castle’ is just another by-the-book crime show

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Castle” stars Nathan Fillion as Rick Castle, a best-selling crime novelist who is pulled into the real world of crime-fighting when a copycat begins to re-enact scenes from his books.

And if you said, “Except for Nathan Fillion, yawn,” that would be the right instinct.

But I have seen a couple of hours of “Castle,” and I would say it would not be the worst way to kill — er, spend — an hour on a Monday night.

Castle is wildly popular, divorced, totally the ladies’ man. But he’s also revered by the local gentry, including the mayor of New York and key friends in the law enforcement community. These are the strings he pulls to drop into the midst of police work. As conceits go, it still isn’t as hokey as someone solving crimes through dreamwork.

Once inside the police station, he’s paired with Kate Beckett, a pouty-eyed NYPD detective played by Stana Katic. (By the way, why Kate? Why not something a little more Eastern European-sounding? It just seems a little Bobby-in-Bangalore, this habit of picking the most homogenous names for network TV characters.)

It is on Kate’s shoulders that the burden falls of explicating the plot and chatting up the forensics unit (cleverly known here as “CSU”).

I know this is going to come as a shock, but when the scene is designed around Kate, the show sags. By contrast, when Rick strolls into the room, the show perks up. The success of “Castle,” then, lies in the middle — when Fillion and Katic are sharing the screen and doing the whole “Moonlighting” dance. If people find that interesting, this will be a crime show that works. If not, it won’t.

But in the end, it’s still a crime show, and the big networks’ prime-time lineups are lousy with them.

‘Cadillac Records’Question: When is a movie not a movie but a television show? The question’s at least as old as HBO, the first cable channel to air R-rated Hollywood movies to a wide audience on a continuously broadcasting TV station.

On Tuesday “Cadillac Records” is released on DVD. This movie, which saw limited play in movie theaters last year, is a fictionalized telling of the story of Chess Records, one of America’s most-storied music labels, which commercialized rhythm-and-blues acts, notably Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Etta James and Howlin’ Wolf. (Chess also put out the coolest Christmas records, which I play every year.)

It starred Adrien Brody as one of the founders of Chess and Beyoncé as Etta James. Most people don’t know that Beyoncé’s cover of James’ hit “At Last,” which she performed for the Obamas on inauguration night, was even recorded for a movie.

Now you do. But what kind of movie? One made for a pitifully low budget, much of it spent on the rights to songs like “Maybelline” and “At Last.” A budget that would be within shouting distance of an HBO Films movie of similar length.

I chose to see this film on the big screen during its brief tour of Kansas City. I enjoyed it, but the shoebox theater with the old-generation non-stadium seating didn’t make the moviegoing experience especially pleasant.

What if a cable network had decided to make this movie, which was the life’s dream of former Sony Music executive (and NBC news chief) Andy Lack? The absence of movie distribution would have driven the clearance rights down, and the same film could’ve been made for even less money.

And everyone would’ve watched it on HBO or home video anyway.

‘Castle’
Airs 9 p.m. Monday on ABC.

Posted on Sat, Mar. 07, 2009 10:15 PM

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