This season of Big Brother will probably not go down in history as the most strategic, but it may be the most explosive. I was going to write my review on one week, not two, but then things started happening that hadn’t been shown on the show and didn’t think I could review it without being too spoilery.
Category: Featured
TV Review: Merlin S1, Episode 2: “Valiant”
Buy MERLIN – Series 1 Vol. 1 (BBC Series) [NON-USA Format / Import / Region 2 / PAL]
Riding the coattails of the very strong pilot episode “The Dragon’s Call,” “Valiant” continued to pull its audience into the world of medieval times and magic. Although there was a scene present in this episode that caused me to cringe horribly, this was another tale that had me cheering.
My [rating:4]
(Spoilers After the Jump)
TV Review: Merlin S1, Episode 1: “The Dragon’s Call”
Buy MERLIN – Series 1 Vol. 1 (BBC Series) [NON-USA Format / Import / Region 2 / PAL]
As someone who is an avid attendee of renaissance festivals, I am fairly well versed in the realm of knights, jousting, magic, and dragons. Merlin was a show I was eagerly awaiting for some time, and it (mostly) did not disappoint.
(Spoilers after the jump)
Movie/DVD Review: The Monster Squad
Before Joss Whedon’s witty dialogue and smart, vulnerable characters, before Kevin Williamson’s sly, self aware pop culture references and before Edgar Wright’s good-natured poking at beloved horror classics there was Fred Dekker and Shane Black’s The Monster Squad!
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Why You Should Watch Due South
Buy Due South: The Ultimate Collection – Three Complete Seasons
Due South is an award-winning Canadian television police comedy-drama created by Paul Haggis and produced by Alliance Communications, that first aired in 1994. Due South started off as a made-for-TV movie that aired on CTV in Canada and CBS in the United States. After higher-than-anticipated ratings, Due South was turned into a reoccurring TV series – making it the first Canadian-made series to have a prime-time slot on a major US network. The show lasted for four seasons and, despite the show’s rocky reception in the US, it gained world-wide acclaim and has been show in over 150 different countries since first airing.
Due South follows the story of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer – Constable Benton Fraser (played by Paul Gross), who conveniently reiterates the plot of the show several times throughout the series, especially in later seasons when he says, “My name is Constable Benton Fraser. I first came to Chicago on the trail of my father’s killers and, for reasons that do not need exploring at this juncture, I’ve remained attached as liaison to the Canadian consulate.”
Fraser is the epitome of the stereotypical Mountie – loyal, kind, dependable, truthful and dogged. Many times during the series Fraser’s idealism is tested against Chicago’s corruption and criminal world.
Movie/DVD Review: Dance of the Dead
Tired of bleak, depressing zombie films? Miss the wacky, fun zombie flicks of the 1980s’? Want to see two zombies making out? Do you like me saying “zombie” so much? If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes”, then check out Dance Of The Dead.
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Movie Review: Justice League: The New Frontier
Buy Justice League – The New Frontier (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Hal Jordan is shot down in his plane, even though it’s just been announced that the Korean War is over. He is forced to shoot an enemy soldier in self defense and ends up in a hospital because of the trauma. His time in the hospital makes it difficult for him to find a position as a pilot in the future.
The Martian Manhunter has been accidentally transported to earth by a curious scientist. The scientist has a heart attack and Martian Manhunter takes on his persona, since he can’t return to Mars. He takes to learning about the human race by interacting and watching television.
Superman and Wonder Woman argue over justice and if superheroes should be allowed to distribute it. The Justice Society has disbanded and Batman is a fugitive. The government is distrusting of the heroes.
This is the set up for a full length animated movie about how the Justice League comes to be. The movie includes an all star cast. David Boreanaz as Hal Jordan, Miguel Ferrer as J’onn J’onzz, Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman, Kyle MacLachlan as Superman, Kyra Sedgwick as Lois Lane, and Neil Patrick Harris as The Flash.
A Cult surrounding a mysterious being called the Centre is showing up in the lives of several of the heroes. Batman and J’onzz team up to investigate the Centre, until J’onzz decides to try and leave the planet. He finds out about Hal Jordan’s mission to Mars and tries to hitch a ride. He doesn’t feel at home one Earth with all the hatred and conformity. He misses his chance and is captured instead.
The Flash decides to quite the hero business, since no one seems to want them anyway. He doesn’t want to put his loved ones at risk.
Hal Jordan’s Mars mission fails and he’s rescued by Superman. Abin Sur, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, is fatally injured and leaves Hal his ring and information about the Centre, who is a monstrous creature that fears humans and wants to rid the planet of them. Hal must now work to stop the Centre, as the new Green Lantern.
The Centre attacks and the heroes come together to fight it. After a rousing speech about trusting each other as human beings Superman goes to fight the Centre, but is defeated. Thinking Superman is dead Hal Jordan, Batman, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, and even the Green Arrow come up with a plan to defeat the Centre.
The New Frontier explores themes of teamwork, paranoia, freedom, trust, and justice. It has origins for Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter and some deeper insight into Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash. It successfully focuses on more than one superhero with development for all of them. It would be great to see a live action Justice League movie as well done as this.
Favorite quote: Batman to the Martian Manhunter- “I have a $70,000 sliver of radioactive meteor to stop the one in Metropolis. With you, all I need is a penny for a book of matches.”
Movie Review – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Want to catch up on Transformers before you go see the sequel? Buy Transformers
I went and saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen yesterday. It wasn’t bad – all in all I’d give it… maybe… a three-star rating out of five. Maybe. By now, it’s made its money back. The last time I checked it was at 201M USD and climbing. Second biggest blockbuster opening in history – second only to Dark Knight. The movie itself is about what you’d expect if you’ve seen either, A) the first Transformers movie, or B) anything else by director Michael Bay. The story continues with Sam, the slightly goofy, every-teen hero, and his life after the first adventure – where he discovers an alien race, helps save the world, and gets the girl. And since the first movie was also a Michael Bay movie, the aliens are visual-complicated CG robots, saving the world involves a lot of stuff blowing up, and the girl is incredibly hot.
Fast forward to post-high school. Sam decides to leave home and head east. Leaving behind the robots, stuff blowing up, and Mikaela. For what? 40,000 a year in tuition, his dad would say. But really – he wants to distance himself from all the baggage of the past – while not making a break with his girlfriend, who – according to his mother, talking under the influence… well, we’ll say that Sam and Mikaela are on ‘good terms’. Which is odd. And selfish. This sets the tone for Sam in this movie.
So You Think You Can Dance – Top 16
This episodes fluff bit was “If you weren’t a dancer…”. We had dreams of being a jewelry maker, pilates instructor, set and lighting designer, banker, model, costume designer, teacher, newscaster, soccer star, inventor and actress.
Karla & Jonathan – Hip Hop
This was a rather bland program. True, there were some cool partnered moves, but over all there was nothing to pull me in.
Asuka & Vitolio – Jazz
Mandy Moore created an amazing routine, but it was lacking the almost frantic energy needed to match the song.
Melissa & Ade – Rumba
What a stunning dance! The emotional connection was just smoldering, the technique was wonderful and Malissa’s costume was beautiful.
Episode Review: The Unusuals: S1, Episode 8: “The Dentist”
Having gotten back into the swing of this show last week, where it re-appeared after a multi-week hiatus, this episode packed a punch – sometimes, quite literally.
(Spoilers after the jump)