Month: December 2013

Not a bad show. I just re-watched this while vacationing on the beautiful Oregon coast. Nice flick. Of course, nothing is bad when you get to spend two hours watching Jessica Alba. I sure do miss Dark Angel. Never should have canceled that show. I was never a comic book fan as a kid, so I was new to this story. I think they did a pretty good job. Michael Chiklis is always good, especially later on in the tv show the Shield. A good choice for a lazy Sunday afternoon, when the heat is out in the middle of December and you’re stuck in your sleeping bag, smothered under a ton of blankets, with just your laptop for heat.

It was alright. Better than the Karate Kid remake, which I couldn’t stand to even watch. The story line for this movie seemed a bit confusing to me, or, at least, flat and uneventful. There were a few hat tips to the old movie, but nothing really substantial. They traded lack of oxygen for robot soldiers and the women seemed – well – a little bland, if you ask me. And Collin is no Arnold, certainly. To be honest, I got bored about thirty minutes into it, and started playing Pac Man. It was an okay movie, but they really have to stop pumping out these knee jerk remakes in hopes of capturing the kids. It never seems to work out right. But then, I’m supposed to be middle-aged now, right?

Writing about the subjects I do, yeah, I was interested in this movie – almost anxious to watch it. Almost. But, by the time the reveal actually happened, I was a little more than disillusioned with the whole plot. The biggest problem for me was there wasn’t enough to sink the hook for me. I spit the hook back out about half way through. Okay, so they pulled a fast one. Okay, so they weren’t doing it just to do it, someone was manipulating them. Who cares. There simply wasn’t enough suspense built for me to care who it was behind the scenes. When the guy you thought was the mastermind also got blindsided, it was just verging on the ridiculous. And what the hell was the French girl in there for. She didn’t serve a purpose at all in the entire movie, other than to have a pretty face to look at.

I like magic (of course, not enough to do it myself or to actually show up to a magic show), but I think much of what was in the movie simply can’t be done, even today. It was like a Chris Angel show on steroids. All pop, no sizzle. The premise was good, though. The casting was great. Other than that, I would have had more fun if I were out sailing.

This was actually pretty much what I expected after reading the book. To be honest, I was a little surprised at how closely they followed the book story line, almost word-for-word in many places. Looking back to all the hype, not sure what the point was. This is all kids stuff. I doubt we’re going to, any time soon, see kids riding around on brooms. Maybe Harry Potter is a “gateway” to more sinister activities, but I just don’t see it (at least not yet). To be honest, I was just as bored watching the movie as I was reading the book. Hope it gets a whole lot better, or that will be several hours/days of watching and reading I’ll never get back.

So, in my desperation to find something, anything, that will sate my Fringe addition, an online reviewer stated that, “If I liked Fringe, I’ll love….Torchwood.” Needless to say, I got episode 1 and took it for a spin.

OMG. There should be a law against putting crap like this on the air.

Apparently they do things a little differently on the BBC, though, I really liked the British show Hit & Miss. What’s the deal? Why make a crappy tv show? It’s not like it’s just the content or subject matter I have a problem with. I mean, there are tv shows that are well made, I’m just not interested in then. Lost Girl is the perfect example. Well made. Good quality cast. Just bored to tears when I try and watch it.

Torchwood. I think I shut it off within two minutes of the first scene, for fear I might be driven mad, running into the kitchen and stab my eyes out with the closest ice pick! The camera work alone made me want to slit my wrists!

At least I found three tie-in novels for Fringe. It’s better than nothing, and anything is better than this.

I have to say, after waiting all this time for the complete series to be published and for all the movies to be released, I’m not quite sure I understand what the hype was all about. This is an okay book at best. The story is rather dull and slow paced, and I kept asking myself as I got toward the end, “Is this it? Really? That’s all?” Maybe it will develop into something more as the series progresses. I would hope so.

I plan to watch the movie next, and just zig zag between book and movie for each installment. I hope it gets better, otherwise, I would have to suspect that Rowling made some sort of pact with the devil to make these stories famous, because, so far, I’m just not seeing it.

Ahh. I just finished watching this show all the way through from the first episode to the very last. I am sad. I am broken. I am so happy that Peter and Olivia and Etta are back together again, that the world has been spared from the invasion of the Observers. At such a great cost. Hopefully, now that this is all said and done, Olivia won’t be fate’s punching bag anymore. The Olivia in the alternate universe certainly received a much better hand at life – no experiments as a child, she got her nice guy in Agent Lee (main universe Lee, after alternate Lee was killed). Poor Olivia on our side (is that where I’m from?) has been beaten down time and time again. Shot in the head and died. Used as a human Ginny-pig. Kidnapped and held hostage. The list goes on and on. Give her a break, already!

But, I have to say, I really do love this show and everything that was put into it. Watching it again after the first airing (and over a span of a few weeks, rather than five years), the story makes a whole lot more sense to me. The fact that the Observers were humans from the future, evolved artificially with their emotions removed by advanced technology makes a lot of sense. It does seem like this was the plan from the very first season – not some contrived artifice implemented at the last minute by the writers. The whole story does flow together quite nicely.

Over the five years this show ran (and every subsequent time I watch it) I really fell in love with the characters and the world in which they lived in. I will miss them, and hope they are living their dreams in their newly reset timeline.

“Who will ride with me? Who will be my brother?” Not I, says me. Not I. For this is one God-awful movie. I had high hopes when this flick first came out, just coming off the Twilight Saga with an eye for Stewart. Sadly, it seems, Kristen chose instead to pull a Lautner: no acting ability and an even poorer script.

This flick reminded me of a bad version of Game of Thrones. Even Theron was a disappointment as the Evil Queen. When Snow White gave his ridiculously phoned in speech, shortly after rising from the dead, they staged it all wrong! She doesn’t meet with the Huntsman again until they are getting ready to hit the castle.

I’m not sure who wrote this thing, but hopefully they were fired. I realize the movie made some really good money. Thank God, though, the talks of a sequel have been quelled.

Halfway through I started playing video games and working on paperwork. That’s how dreadfully boring it really is. Don’t waste your time.

This movie was well worth the hype its been getting, I have to say. Though they should have just said it was a Sandra Bullock movie, minus the ten minutes with Clooney, that’s alright. I like spending two hours with Sandra.

I thought the movie had really great special effects, and Bullock did well as an under-performing rookie who managed to make it into space, but then, when it all hits the fan (I mean, after she was rescued), she’s the only one to make it back to earth alive.

Makes me reconsider my application for MARS ONE!

Yep. There’s nothing quite like a good, wholesome zombie movie to finish off the night. This one somehow got past me in 2004. I did manage to watch the last ten minutes of it a few years ago, but never did catch the name of it. With a little searching, though, I stumbled onto it tonight and settled in. What a good flick.

Now I need to set some time aside to watch Shawn of the Dead.

I don’t know exactly what the big deal was for this movie, causing all the controversy when it first came out. I thought it was actually pretty good, especially with some of the stars they had. I’m a big fan of Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation Fame), and for most of the movie, I was sure the actress playing the role of Mia was Katie Sackhoff. Come to find out, it was Jessica Chastain (from Take Shelter, The Debt, and Mama, none of which I’ve seen yet).

No matter. It’s a great story, though I’m not really too interested in Osama. But, the story behind how they got the information was pretty interesting. Not sure how much of it was accurate, but oh well. It made for a good two hours of entertainment.

Okay. No more just “good” movies. This one is, in my opinion, a blockbuster. Or, at least, should have been. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where a dragon is discovered underground in London and subsequently the species spreads around the world and brings the human race to near extinction. We are shot forward in time to the point where the last bit of humans are hunkering down, barely surviving. Then comes along the Kentucky Irregulars, a military group with tanks and a helicopter. They are dragon killers.

If action is what you’re looking for, this is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a really long time. I watch it every now and again, just for something good to sink my teeth into.