A week after Criminal Minds’ fifth season closed, fans are somewhat divided over the finale. Some decried the lack of any major event or cliffhanger, while others enjoyed the change of attack.

We reported previously that even newly trimmed Matthew Gray Gubler agreed that the season 5 finale of Minds didn’t measure up to the crazy closers the show’s had in the past, and executive producer Erica Messer conceded that it didn’t “end with as many question marks” as the past two seasons.

“We can’t do that little trick again unless we’re going to actually kill someone,” Messer said. For Gubler, it’s more of a choice to veer away from the usual Minds ending.

“Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think you even get the impression that Morgan’s going to die. I think it’s more like, ‘What is Morgan going to do?’ We pull a MacGyver cliff-hanger.”

The more passionate of the show’s legion of viewers, as they posted on the show’s official Facebook page, want Minds to go back to its psychology focus instead of turning into another crime drama.

On the other hand, those who loved the episode noted guest star Tim Curry’s outstandingly creepy portrayal of the killer and the fantastic case.

It’s a pivotal moment when an actor from a show you love does something as life changing as cutting his or her hair. So when we found out “Criminal Minds” star Matthew Gray Gubler made that ever-important decision to embrace the scissors, we had to find out why.

“I didn’t have to [cut it for the finale, but] I just did because I know these are always two-parters, so if you want to do something you do it before the finale. So one day I cut it and then told [the producers],” he said, joking that it was almost as scandalous as when Keri Russell cut her hair during “Felicity.” “I think it was a little! I’ve been hearing since day one, ‘Cut your hair!’ and then finally I did it.”

Aside from the new coif, fans will delighted to find out that the show’s season finale has not skimped on the creepiness thanks to guest star, Tim Curry, who plays this week’s serial killer. Not that Matthew can tell us much about what we will see.

“It’s funny! I don’t really know that much about the finale. I have no idea what happens in the second part, all that I know is he’s been killing for quite a while, hunting at night and he’s a pretty bad guy,” he said. “It’s funny there’s been so many bad people on the show, but he ranks up there as some of the worst.”

Well, what makes him so bad? “As far as my preferences go he’s up there. They’re really playing him as an ultra grimy killer,” he said. “He’s being do this I think for decades and dedicating his life to causing misery. He made a life choice out of dismembering people.”

So, who does Matthew think is the blame for all the killing? “It could have been that little rascal Kevin McAllister messing with him in ‘Home Alone 2′ that triggered his insanity,” he joked, revealing, “I didn’t realize [Tim's] like a giant fan of ‘Criminal Minds.’ That’s how I think we got him. It was real shock to have someone that I admire be like, ‘Hey, I love your character!’ “

Congrats to “Criminal Minds” for celebrating its 100th episode at a cast party last night in Los Angeles. We assume Hollywood Crush’s invitation got lost in the mail and we forgive you. And just to show there’s no hard feelings we want to remind you guys we love the show and the smoking hot guys on it.

Shemar Moore you are a pleasure week after week as Morgan, the playboy FBI profiler on the show. And, you are the perfect guy to star alongside TV’s hottest nerd and Hump Day Hottie alumnus, Matthew Gray Gubler as Dr. Reid.

So, you could imagine our excitement when we were trolling Getty for photos from all of last night’s hot parties (arguably this looks like it was the greatest party held last night for the greatest show of our time) and couldn’t help but feel glee when we got to see the cast in the real world.

We’re hoping that MGG gets well soon since he was walking around with a cane. Still, he wore a cardigan that Dr. Reid would be proud of. Plus, he’s a babe. We like to write about babes here at Hollywood Crush in case you couldn’t tell.

We can’t wait until the 100th episode airs since we’re sure there are some great twists and turns in store for fans. And by fans we mean one particular Hollywood Crush writer. Hey, next time you guys throw a party feel free to give me her a call.

The Product:
It’s been discussed before, but it bears repeating – can one fantastic facet of a film make up for the remainder of mediocrity? Put another way, does one horrific element undermine an otherwise sensational bit of cinema? You see, it really is a dilemma. Now, music critics would argue that awful lyrics or a lame solo destroys an otherwise strong song. A bad track amongst an otherwise solid album, however, can be excused. Classic books aren’t unmade by ineffectual passages or clichéd characterization. So skewed logic suggests if an otherwise solid work can survive a rather substantial flub, a piss poor one can be perked up with a near Oscar worthy performance – and that’s exactly the case with writer/director Luke Ricci’s How to Be a Serial Killer. Inside all the marginal mock doc set-ups, the overly ironic “murder as a means of self-actualization” and significant lack of gore lies an acting job so good, and a performer so special, that to miss what he does with this otherwise underwritten mess would be criminal.
The Plot:
Mike Wilson has a proposition for you. If you follow his patented personal guidelines, if you practice and perform his certified slaughter system, if you forget that what you’re about to do is against the law and simply give in to your caveman killing instincts, you too can become psychologically sound Ted Bundy. That’s right, Mike is a serial killer and he has a 10 step program guaranteed to guide you toward a better life in service of your own inner Gacy. In that regard, he hooks up with loser video store clerk Bart, and attempts to show him the sublime slice and dive side of life. Of course, there’s a nosy girlfriend who wonders what her clean cut and dapper dude is doing with a scraggly haired weirdo until all hours of the night. One look in Mike’s secret safe seals her buttinsky fate. It’s just all part of the life lessons extolled by a man who’s an expert on How to Be a Serial Killer.

The DVD:
If a movie ever needed a messiah, Dameon Clarke is it. Invested with keeping the otherwise limp How to Be a Serial Killer on its toes, this journeyman Tinseltown talent (his IMDb page is quite impressive) delivers in ways this otherwise sorry film couldn’t possible imagine. As if by sheer force of his own skill will, Clarke takes tired lines of dialogue and enlivens them, takes stultifying dull premises and electrifies them, and supports his occasionally shuffling co-stars in a manner that makes them appear competent. Does it save the movie? Heck no. Does Clarke deserve a lard-ass’s bucket of brownies for trying? Yeppers! In fact, if it wasn’t for writer/director Ricci’s desire to employ irony as his only method of instilling humor, or his lack of gory goodness, we might have something here. The premise is initially inventive in its infomercial-like designs, and Clarke continuously commands our attention. But a good looking girl in a room full of fat chicks does not a swanky model’s party make. This actor could be delivering the most drop dead brilliant performance this side of Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds and it wouldn’t elevate How to Be a Serial Killer’s inherent watchability.

Why? Well, for one thing, Ricci has no story to tell. He mixes things up too much, using the hard sell sequences (and Clarke’s strangled steps toward achieving your mass murder goals) as a set-up, but many time, the illustrative vignette doesn’t match the main theme. Instead, it’s usually more time for Clarke to show up co-star Matthew Gray Gubler. Not to diss the solid cinematic citizen, but his bumbling Bart can’t hold a piece of paraffin to madman Mike. It’s like watching two different dynamics, one on autopilot, the other crashing and burning in spectacular fashion. In fact, a lot of How to Be a Serial Killer plays like a sluggish indie nightmare intercepted by a fantastic, fascinating interloper. While everyone else is desperately trying to stay awake, Clarke is cleaning their clocks with ease. So aside from the story, what else is missing here? Well, any interesting arterial spray, for one. How about a law enforcement foil for our hack and sack hero? Without an outside presence pressuring Mike, his actions function in a fictional vacuum. As a result, there’s no suspense or sense of dread.

But the biggest problem here is what many would call the smarm factor. Horror comedies usually don’t cotton to outright mockery. They like to have their satire laughing with, not at, the genre. But How to Be a Serial Killer occasionally seems to be an outright affront at the whole Henry: Portrait of a… proposition. Spoofs are fine and a lampoon can legitimately undermine a specific movie type. But Ricci doesn’t seem sure of what he wants to accomplish. His focus falters often and unnecessarily. Had Clarke been given the chance to take the character to extremes the script wants to avoid, had there been a more menacing approach to the comedy, we’d tag along for the blood-soaked swap meet. But How to Be a Serial Killer is so cloudy, so completely devoid of a reason to root for it, that the resulting 90 minutes crawl by like a prolonged visit to the proctologist. There are possibilities here, hints that writer/director Ricci has a lot of talent and stored cinematic acumen. But if you are looking for something that takes the piss out of your run of the mill murderous psycho, this is not it. Dameon Clarke does a wonderful job here. The rest of this movie is rubbish.

The Video:
While a review of the DVD proper is in the works, this version of the film was presented on the critic’s favorite format – the preview SCREENER. As a result, no tech spec scores will be awarded since final product was not offered.

The Audio:
The same thing applies here. While a review of the DVD proper is in the works, this version of the film was presented on the critic’s favorite format – the preview SCREENER. As a result, no tech spec scores will be awarded since final product was not offered.

The Extras:
See above.

Final Thoughts: This critic has been sitting on this review for quite some time, hoping that his hatred of this one note (and one singular performance) motion picture pariah would ebb and fade away. Sadly, no such luck. Instead, in re-watching parts a second time, a once lenient judgment turned almost violent. Moderating the final evaluation to take into consideration several factors – Screener version of the DVD, Clarke’s work, Ricci’s noble attempts – a Skip It was reversed. Now, officially, How to Be a Serial Killer earns an unenthusiastic Rent It. Some in the dread demo may like it. A few will even mock yours truly for not “getting” this movie’s modus. Whatever the case, be forewarned – there’s twice as much bad as good here, and it’s crystal clear that one amazing man can’t salvage a swiftly sinking ship. How to Be a Serial Killer should have better. Instead, it’s a major missed opportunity.

Episode Synopsis: CRIMINAL MINDS “Faceless, Nameless” – Hotch’s unexplained absence quickly becomes apparent when the team is called back together to profile a killer who is targeting an emergency room doctor, on the fifth season premiere of CRIMINAL MINDS, Wednesday, Sept. 23 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Former Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale will appear on an episode of CBS’s Criminal Minds this season. The singer will play a Goth rock star who loses himself in his scary stage alter-ego, perhaps causing him to turn into a serial killer.

Rossdale, husband of Gwen Stefani, has had previous acting experience in the films Constantine, Zoolander, Game of Their Lives, Little Black Book, and How to Rob a Bank.

CBS has not announced if this will be only a one-episode appearance. The date the episode will air has also not been released. Rossdale just completed a world tour in support of his solo album, Wanderlust.

Criminal Minds, which first aired in 2005, is centered around the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. The show stars Joe Mantegna and is beginning its 5th season.

Criminal Minds is series that premiered on CBS in 2005 and followed profilers from the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) led by Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin). The team profiles various killers known as unsubs — unidentified subjects.

Due to creative differences between Patinkin and the creators, he left after the second episode of the third season. The departure of the lead could have been the death of the show; however Gideon’s second in command, Agent Aaron “Hotch” Hotchner, (Thomas Gibson) was put in charge of the profilers which include Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), and Jennifer ‘JJ’ Jareau (A.J. Cook), who is the agent who decides what case they take on each week. Rounding out the team in a tech support role is Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) who is a computer whiz and helps get the team the information they need almost instantaneously.

After the profilers dealt with Gideon’s departure (he had a mental breakdown on the show and was seen driving off into the sunset) they added a new member to the team — David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), who is a more experienced agent and is a counterpoint to Hotch since Hotch can become emotionally detached from a case and Rossi adds some humanity.

The show is different from other crime shows as it concentrates on the killers instead of the crime and has the killer be either gender, whereas most serial killers portrayed in shows are male. The show has also had some great guest stars and season four is no different as Wil Wheaton, Jason Alexander, Luke Perry, Mitch Pileggi, Alex O’Loughlin Garret Dillahunt, Bruce Davison, Walton Goggins, C. Thomas Howell, Jackson Rathbone, and Jane Lynch have appeared as either the killer of the week or someone connected to the profilers.

Criminal Minds is dark, with the team delving into the psychological profiles of the killers and deducing what the unsub is trying to accomplish. This causes the team to get into some interesting cat-and-mouse games to bring the killer to justice and the writers have put many of the team in danger at one time or another. This season had a two-part finale that crossed from Detroit into Canada, and had a previous unsub return, putting Hotch’s life in danger as the screen faded to black.

The extras for Criminal Minds: The Fourth Season include “Working the Scene,” short (between three and six minutes) behind the scenes featurettes which concentrate on one aspect of the episode in question. These featurettes cover guest stars, stunts, directing, and more. There are eleven of these featurettes spread out over the seven discs, and they’re quite interesting.

“Character Profiles” gives each of the seven starring characters a three to four minute profile in which the writers, producers, and the actor who portrays the character discuss what drives the character.

There’s also a gag reel and several deleted scenes rounding out the extras. It would have been nice to have some commentaries, but with a new season about to start, maybe that DVD release will include some.

Last year a study by Heriot Watt University suggested love lives up and down the country were being ruined by rom coms.These sickly sweet, fluffy films were accused of being passion assassins in disguise by giving us all unrealistic expectations of relationships.So don’t be put off by this film because it’s classified as a rom com – it certainly isn’t leading anyone up the garden path of thinking every love story ends happily ever after.For all of us who can’t stomach yet another nauseatingly formulaic tale of boy meets girl, this is the anti rom com.Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a true romantic. He believes in finding The One. He is exactly the sort of person who regularly has his hopes raised, then dashed, by rom coms.Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) is his polar opposite. She doesn’t believe love exists and doesn’t see the point in wasting her youth on getting a boyfriend.

These two opposing views collide when Summer starts work as a secretary at the greetings card firm where Tom is slowly wasting away what could have been a brilliant career as an architect.Tom immediately becomes convinced that Summer is the girl he’s been searching for, despite discouragement from workmate McKenzie (Geoffrey Arend) who claims she’s too aloof to like.Discovering a shared love of The Smiths in the lift one morning, Tom’s certainties about Summer being the love of his life are cemented and he drives friends McKenzie and Paul (Matthew Gray Gubler) mad with his obsessing over everything she says and does.One drunken work night out at a karaoke bar, a sloshed McKenzie gives his friend a helping hand by telling Summer Tom likes her – and from there the relationship tentatively takes off.

Except… is it a relationship? Summer refuses to put a label on it and Tom tries to convince himself this is all fine with him as he goes through ever more anguished stages of emotional trauma.(500) Days of Summer dots about backwards and forwards through the 500 days of Tom’s obsession with the woman he believes is the one for him.This isn’t as annoying a tactic as you might expect – in fact it works rather well as a lot of the scenes are played over and over again as Tom gains more insight into what went on between himself and Summer.It’s obvious from the off how all this is going to end between the mismatched pair, but the film is no less enjoyable for it.

Some of the film’s style borrows so heavily from Amelie that it seems a bit cheeky, but this offbeat romance has so much charm and likeability that you can forgive it a bit of copycatting.Chloe Moretz has a lovely role as Tom’s little sister Rachel, with some great lines as she tries to counsel her lovestruck brother through his heartache.There aren’t any really stand-out performances, but it’s a solid cast and a refreshing change from the usual samey rom com line ups.Even if you’ve got a heart of stone and can’t stand the merest hint of romance in a film, go and see this. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

The fourth season of Criminal Minds sees the show starting to be a bit formulaic, but still able to throw a surprise or two – especially in the final episodes of the season.
Criminal Minds follows the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit as they crisscross the country helping various law enforcement agencies stop the country’s most twisted criminals (sometimes you wonder how they got some of these episodes on the air).

The team is made up of a variety of specialists – including street smart cop Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore); computer tech wizard Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness); FBI agent Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster); genius Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler); public liaison officer Jennifer ‘JJ’ Jareau (A.J. Cook); by the book FBI team leader Aaron ‘Hotch’ Hotchner (Thomas Gibson); and profiler extraordinaire David Rossi (Joe Mantegna).
The show’s success rest in the ensemble cast and the excellent way the actors seem to play off each other. The series never feels like a vanity show with one actor as the main star and the rest just there for window dressing.

The writers do excellent work keeping each character involved in every episode and the series grounded in the world of the profilers – where very little time is spent on the characters’ lives outside the office.
With that said, I still feel Criminal Minds continues to suffer from the departure of Mandy Patinkin and his Jason Gideon character.

Watching the fourth season, I also felt several times that the show was in need of a cast shake-up and some fresh faces. There is a bit of a chance for this when JJ goes on her maternity leave and a new liaison is added to the team.
The show also seems to be on a bit of auto-pilot and just covering the same ground that has been used in past seasons or on other similarly themed crime shows. Most episodes find the team on the trail of their suspect and managing save the day at the last minute. While not every episode follows this pattern (“Omnivore” has to be the best episode of the season and sets up a great cliffhanger), it happens enough during the fourth season to make the show a bit of a drag.

In the past, the series’ formulaic feel was able to rely on its cast to keep it interesting, but this season even the cast seems a bit out of steam. They all provide solid performances, but do little to add to their characters. We get a few glimpses of new ground being laid for the characters (mostly with Gubler’s Reid), but it isn’t enough to keep certain characters from being a bit boring.
I realize these characters are extremely serious and handle some of the worst crimes that no one should ever have to see, but the fourth season becomes a bit of a drag halfway through the episodes because it seems to be just grinding the same material again and again.

Gibson’s Hotch is dry and lacks any real emotion for most of the season – despite the choices past seasons forced his character to make to stay with the team. Brewster’s Prentiss seems to become easily forgettable mid-season. Moore’s Derek Morgan continues to serve little more purpose than giving the show its good looking tough guy with the heart of gold.
I also grew quickly bored with Mantegna’s David Rossi. Mantegna is a great actor, and does his best with the show, but I never could get past the feeling he was just another version of Patinkin’s Gideon – which in turn just reminded me of how good the show used to be.
Luckily, the fourth season saw Vangsness’ Penelope Garcia getting more screen time, and even getting out of her computer lair for a couple of “in the field” assignments. It seems all of these crime shows now need an “odd” tech to provide some comic relief or give the show character. Vangsness’ Penelope Garcia is the queen of these kinds of characters and she gives Criminal Minds its heart and its fresh feel.
I hope she continues to become a bigger part of the series and even maybe starts packing a gun. I can see Morgan running for the hills now. With the great cliffhanger, I hope the writers manage to shake-up the show some and get the characters out of their comfort zone.
With the fourth season, the writers seemed to have taken all of the characters to some pretty dark places, caused them to question their commitments to the team, and taken an emotional toil on each one. Now, I hope we will get to see the aftermath of all that work.
The fourth season comes with some expected special features that take you behind the scenes, give you a look at some deleted scenes, and some profiles. There is also a gag reel – which is always funny on a show as serious as Criminal Minds.
Criminal Minds: The Complete Fourth Season doesn’t break any new ground, but it also doesn’t do anything to make fans give up on the show. The series stays with what has worked in the past, and manages to end with a decent cliffhanger that will make fans want to tune in to the fifth season premiere to see what happens next.

Many actors really do lead interesting lives outside of work, and then there are truly unique actors like Matthew Gray Gubler who take creativity to the next level. Like his character on the hit CBS series Criminal Minds, Matthew is a brilliantly creative man who uses his intelligence and extraordinary humor to make the world a better place. I had the fortunate opportunity to chat with Matthew about his life, where his character is headed and his plans for the future.

Q: How old were you when you got into acting?

Matthew: “It was really when the show started that I got into it. I did filmmaking and through a roundabout manner, I got into this. I was 25 when the show started.”

Q: What do you think you’d be doing today if you weren’t acting?

Matthew: “My family and friends sort of chastised me. They’re kind of upset that I’m on the show to be honest because it wasn’t what I had set out to do. I would hopefully be directing movies now or writing them.”

Q: Your grandparents founded the first radio station in Las Vegas (KENO), did you ever work as a DJ on KENO?

Matthew: “No I didn’t, that was way before I was born. My mother was pretty active in it. I think they gave up the station in the mid-60’s.”

Q: Your web site is quite possibly one of the most unusual places I’ve ever visited, where did you get the idea for the design?

Matthew: “Oh, thank you so much for finding it, I’m honored! To be honest, the design was born out of not knowing anything about programming and what would be the simplest way of getting information out. I’m not the biggest fan of technique. I wanted to do a simple, honest, hand-written web page.”

Q: You’ve created several short films, going forward do you hope to do more work behind the camera?

Matthew: “Oh definitely. That’s what I’m better at doing than anything. I’ve been fortunate enough with the show that I’ve been able to work in some time. I did a music video recently. It’s what I’ll do one day when the show slows down or gets cancelled.”

Q: I understand you wear two different socks, what’s the significance?

Matthew: “My grandmother told me at a very early age that it was good luck to not wear matching socks, which I’ve come interpret to as bad luck to wear matching socks because the one time I wore matching socks in ten years was when I was acting in this movie called The Life Aquatic. We were doing a moment where Bill Murray is leading us in exercises and somehow I managed to sprain my ankle on camera. It actually wound up being in the movie. I attribute that entirely to me wearing matching socks.”

Q: Tell us about Dr. Spencer Reid.

Matthew: “He’s an eccentric genius, with hints of schizophrenia and minor autism, Asperger’s Syndrome. Reid is 24, 25 years old with three PH.D.’s and one can’t usually achieve that without some form of autism.”

Q: What’s ahead on Criminal Minds for Spencer?

Matthew: “I’ve heard some pretty exciting stuff! I’ve heard I have an archenemy coming up. He’s a kid I went to school who is one I.Q. point smarter, a little bit taller, better looking. He lives in New Orleans and plays jazz. They’ve hinted at shades of schizophrenia with Reid. I know his mother was schizophrenic and he has a fear of going schizophrenic himself. I’d like to think that one day down the line he will go schizophrenic and maybe turn into the type of person they’ll chase relentlessly.”

Q: How is your personality similar to your character?

Matthew: “He’s not too similar. He’s a genius and I’m technically and functionally retarded [laughs]. In the show, Reid was sort of hand-picked from college. He’s in the FBI, but he didn’t strive to achieve that or have any intention of doing that. Gideon (Mandy Patinkin) recruited him and I feel kind of akin to that because I had no real intention of being an actor or being on a show. I’ve sort of fallen into it. Reid makes the most of it and so do I. It’s fun and quite an honor.”

Q: How are you different?

Matthew: “He’s a PH.D. in physics and mathematics and nobody knows what the third one is and I’m in no way scientifically minded. I think he’s way more analytical than I am.”

Q: What’s ahead for Matthew?

Matthew: “Thanks to the show, I’ve been drawing and painting a lot because we have a lot of down time on the set and it’s the perfect amount of time to make pictures. I’ve had a few art gallery exhibits and I hope that continues. I hope to direct some more. I just shot a movie with John Malkovich and Tom Hanks that is coming out in April.”

Q: Anything you want to say to the fans?

Matthew: “I’m beyond proud and happy – I never imagined I would have one fan, and there seems to be a few. I just couldn’t be happier that people seem to like what I’m doing and seem to respond to it. If they weren’t there, I don’t know what I’d be doing right now.”