Transformers Robots in Disguise

Just finished watching the series Robots in Disguise finally. Took me awhile to find the time to work through it.

I liked it in the end. It took me a few episodes to get moving through it. It was nice to see actual transformations on the bots for a change. It looks like there was actually an effort to have them animated in such a way that you can see them transform. Unlike some of the newer shows where it goes so fast, or blurs or morphs and just doesn't look right.

The stories were about on par with G1, pretty simple and straight forward. But they did have a bunch of nice characters. Skybite turned out to be a lot more likable to me than when it started. And the show as interested me into getting a handful of the toys if I can find them priced right. Especially Brave Maximus. With any luck I will be able to start shopping around for him sometime next year.

Animation was good, and voices were ok. And the kids weren't nearly as annoying as I expected. At least not close to annoying as I was finding them in Armada.

Overall, good show. Was well worth seeing.

3 stars out of 5

Orcs and Elves

Picked up a used DS title from EBGames this week. I seem to remember reading a good review of it sometime ago. And it was on for about $2.65 so what the hell..

It turns out the game has iD and EA attached to it. And started out as a cell phone game several years ago. It's based on something called the Doom RPG engine, which I had never heard of.

The game as it stands seems to be (In my memory)a throwback to the old SSI Eye of the Beholder games I played back in the early 90s. A corridor dungeon crawler. You move from space to space, and fight monsters with a variety of items and magic.

The game is quite fun, and I wish there had been a handful of sequels. Apparently there was at least one, but never made it over to the DS. You don't get to pick or choose anything about yourself. So much more could have been done with a few classes, and races tossed in. And expanded random dungeons and loot.

When I first played it, it reminded me very much of Major Mudd. Back in the day I played a lot of that game, with a graphical UI over top of it. Not too mention even further back with Bards Tale on the C64. Combat is turn based which is great, all the real time twitch based stuff that is so prevalent these days isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I've been looking to see if there are any more 'Retro' fantasy, dungeon crawlers. But I haven't had a whole lot of luck. So, I have been playing O&E a little slower now so I don't finish too quickly.

4 out of 5 Stars
of Retro fun

Green Lantern The Series

I also watched the first episode of the new Green Lantern series. It was pretty good. It's too bad that with the budget they had for the live action movie they couldn't so so well. Or maybe the animation dept. should have got the live action budget and we could have had possibly 15 seasons or something of the animated series.

It looks to be all CG, which when I saw previews I was kinda worried about. But in motion it looks great. Voices were well done, and they seem to have something interesting going on.

I am pretty much in no way familiar with Green Lantern lore let alone I was Marvel and Image growing up. So the whole thing with the different Lanterns is all new to me. I only heard about that vaguely from other people when I saw the live action movie. So having Red Lanterns wasn't a surprise, but I don't know much about them or the other colors.

But after seeing this 45 min episode I can't wait to see more. Very much looking forward to it.

Thundercats 2011

Been watching the new series based on the old 80s cartoon, Thundercats. I can say that I don't recall much of the original. And I've only seen a handful of them in recent months on Teletoon Retro. And I'm not too impressed with it at all.

But the new series is pretty good. The animation is fantastic, voice acting is good. And story wise it's ok. About what you would expect for this type of show for the audience their aiming for. I find that Star Wars The Clone Wars has better stories. But that could be just that the Science Fiction / Fantasy of Star Wars appeals to me more.

So far the new series is up to 11 episodes and hopefully get's picked up for a new season. I know I liked GI Joe Renegades and it has apparently been cancelled.

So don't let any possible negative thoughts of the original stop you from checking out the new series.

Once Upon A Time

A new series that premiered here last weekend.

The show seems to revolve around the idea that all the old Faerie tales were true, and they did happen. But the characters are under a curse and now living in modern times with no memory of their past or the events they were associated with.

It may not sound all that great, especially since I just re-read that above paragraph. But the show seems to have something about it, that kept me interested for the first episode so far.

I like the cast, and at first I thought that this might be more of a kids show. Since it debuted here on a Sunday night. But once the episode was over, I definitely don't think that would be the case. At least for kids younger than their teen years anyway.

The show has its fair share of darkness about it. From creepy characters, to the apparent death of Prince Charming at the hands of the black knights.

So, I am definitely interested to see where this show goes in future episodes. With some of the other new shows I've been watching this fall. There seems to be more interesting on this year than usual.

Real Steel

Real Steel the new big CG Boxing Robot movie with Hugh Jackman made it's launch this weekend.

I can say that I wasn't expecting it too be all that good. The early trailers weren't so hot. And it wasn't until the last month or so that we finally got some trailers that actually made the movie look like it was worth going to.

The movie worked well enough, they tried to have it setup as a father and son movie with the boxing mixed in there.

My biggest problem with the movie, and where the suspension of disbelief failed to take hold was in the world that the movie was set in.

It's supposed to be 2027 if I remember right, and we now have these 10 foot tall 1000 pound robots, that are able to balance, and walk, run and fight without falling down. They are controlled by remote control or voice command. Yet, the world around them seems to be still frozen in the world of today circa 2005.

If you take the robots away, and Jackmans futuristic truck away, then the movie could have walked right out of 1995 even. The world doesn't support the story it's trying to tell.

Especially when they are doing fights for cash, who even has cash these days.. Jackman has this iPhone 15 he uses, and yet they have no way to transfer e-cash or anything else. They still use cash. Even when they got their first League fight they still seem to get paid in a wad of cash (I could understand the underground fights still using cash, but official league fights??)

And these are robots, you would think that the operators would have designed some more moves for them. They aren't restricted to anatomical human movements. And we are never really informed about the rules of the fights. Shouldn't the bigger 'bots be more heavily armored and ridiculously stronger?? And in such, there would be no way a smaller weaker bot is going to beat a bigger 'bot.

Reminds me a Star Trek paradox with their ships. The bigger the ship, the bigger the energy supply. The bigger the energy supply, the stronger the shields and weapons. There is no advantage really to have anything other than the biggest ships.

But Real Steel never bothers to explain any rules of the game to us, he just throws his bots into fights. Which in itself, seems a little ridiculous. We are led to believe he's been around the block a few times. And yet he seems to be repeating the same stupid mistakes time and time again. Which would lead us to believe he was a moron, so I don't know what you'd have to call it. But when the boy is on control he knows what he's doing. Now, I realize that it can be easier to be level when looking at something else. But, he wasn't new at this. It seems to be implied he's been doing this for years. He should have learned by now, especially with Bailey reminding him and learned. Or gone broke been killed long before now.

So, as always it's in the details. And these little details caused me to never quite achieve the level of suspension to fully enjoy the movie. It was a decent movie, but something I could have waited for DVD for. And hopefully we never see a sequel.

If you want to see good movie about a sport, underground fights and the trying to get into the league. Go and rent 'The Blood of Heroes' was a fantastic movie back in the 80s.

2.5 stars out of 5

Terra Nova

The new TV series that started last week with a two hour series premiere. Spielbergs next stab at the Jurassic Park franchise shall we say without going back to the movie series that is slowly being run into the ground, arguably since the original. Being that JP2 didn't have a lot of redeeming qualities to it.

Anyway, now we seem to be 140 odd years into the future, and the surface of the earth is becoming unlivable due to what seems to be pollution and overpopulation. Now, a time machine has been invented based around some kind of temporal rift, and they now choose groups that will go back to 85 million years in the past to start a new colony of man. I kind of had a flashback to the original Battlestar Galactica as I wrote that. But anyway, at this point the whole thing doesn't sound very interesting to me.

We discover throughout the two hours that there is a split between the colonists that have been going back. We have what we could call, the loyalists and the Sixers. The Sixers have split off to form their own group, and seem to be operating at this point as raiders and bandits. And have some spies in the camp of the loyalists.

Few other points we discover is that the son of the camp commander is missing in the wild, and that there is a waterfall 'Zone' that is off limits that has some strange writing, that may or may not have anything to do with this missing son. I should mention, that smartly one of the characters points out that they aren't really in the past, but apparently some alternate dimension of Earth. Or else anything they do could alter the future. And by the end of the two hours we find out that this may not be true..

Now that is the most interesting aspect of the whole thing for me. They think they are in an alternate Earths past.. But if they really aren't, than I look forward to seeing the repercussions in the future. With them not being able to get resupplied, or more people. Or even what may be sent back that they don't expect because of the changes. Because other than that I don't find this show to be all that interesting, but for the new Dino of the week. And I should mention it's established that once you go back you cannot return to the future. It's a one way trip.

Not, it's only been two episodes, shown together as a movie type thing. And I'm willing to give it a season to see how it goes. But, if this thing is really as expensive as I've read (Most expensive TV Pilot ever made) than will anyone else?? In this day and age where shows get canned after a few episodes if the ratings are low.. But then the cost may work for them in this case. With so much invested the suits may not want to pull the plug if they can wring a buck out of it.

In the end I will throw out a prediction, they should have used the basic premise of moving a colony back in time to the Dino Era as a reboot of the movies. And went from there. I don't see this as much of a TV show, but Stargate or Sanctuary with Dinosaurs in place of the Go'Auld or Monsters every week and some different trappings. But I guess most shows are like that, you just change the backgrounds and rename the monsters.

Oh, and props to the offhand remarks about getting used the past atmosphere being so high in oxygen. They could have been referring to their present being so bad. But I know I saw this is a documentary somewhere. That the Oxygen levels were so high then that it would have been a problem for Humans adapted to our present. And one reason why we don't have such large creatures or giant Insects anymore.

Drive

Every now and again a movie comes along that evokes the mood and flavor of a film that could have walked out of another era.

This movie reminded me very much a drama / revenge type of movie that would have been right at home in 1981 or around there.

It didn't feel Hollywood at all, and I wasn't aware of the background of the movie or it's director before I went in.

I was recommended to avoid the movie several times before I went in, people didn't like the movie, etc etc..

But I liked the movie, as mentioned it was just like a film from another era. And in no way seemed to fit the typical Hollywood mold. Whether this was what turned people off, or the fact that it had a 'R' rating and was being described as an action movie (Which I wouldn't describe it as) and were disappointed when they didn't get it, I don't know.

But when there is violence, they don't shy away from it. It's quick, and brutal. And even though there weren't any real big stars, I was more than happy with the cast. A cast who could act. Even though Goslings character was pretty dry, the two mobsters and the old mechanic (From Breaking Bad) were great.

Definitely recommended. But if you don't like the style, you will be disappointed. And in that regard reminds of M. Nights Unbreakable.. I got a lot of bad recommendations about that one too, and people seemed to be going looking for the Sixth Sense 2. And were upset when they didn't get it. And got a wholly different kind of movie altogether.

4 stars out of 5

Contagion

Right off the top I will say that this movie reminded me a lot of the old original version of 'The Andromeda Strain'

It was like watching a documentary of sorts. It's not a gross out movie, or anything of the sort. It's a medical documentary / drama.

It was a good movie, but it's dialogue heavy, no action to speak of. And could almost be compared to a zombie movie (And some reviews have)if you think of the virus as the spread of the zombie horde infections, with the break down of society.

The part of the movie that seems to fall apart for me, is when we find out that something like 5% ( I don't remember the exact number that was mentioned) of the world was susceptible to the virus. Little hard to believe that modern society would collapse with that number. But then again, whenever there is a holiday you can't go to the grocery stores because of the people. You'd think they'd all starve if the store was closed for a day.

But then when you start to think that way, most people only have a few days to a week of supplies at home. And stores maybe a little more. And if trucks and supplies stop moving then things could rapidly spin out of control..

Which I guess is where this movies horror really is.

3.5 stars out of 5

Upcoming Weekend

I was planning on going to see Apollo 18. I was looking forward to it, the trailers didn't look too too bad. And the premise sounded interesting. Am getting a little tired of the lost footage thing though..

Once I discovered that the release date had been moved something like 6 times this year, and that there were no advance copies or releases made available.. That's never a good sign. Obviously I know, that the mainstream reviews sometimes leave you scratching your head so what does it matter that no advances were made available.

That usually means that the studio knows the movie has problems in one way or another. And they want to make sure that word of mouth doesn't get around to kill it, before the droves rush that first weekend to spend their bucks.

So I ended up passing on it.

I plan to go and see Contagion this weekend. It looks pretty interesting.

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

I had higher than average expectations for this movie based on who was behind it. Del Torro has been doing some fantastic stuff. Especially his vampire novels.

But this movie by no means being a bad movie just didn't seem to be all that great at anything.

I didn't find the movie to be very exciting, scary, creepy, weird, surprising or anything else you could use to describe it. I did find the back story mildly interesting. And not the flashback at the beginning either. But the sequence of exposition with Holmes and the Librarian when they basically link the creatures to the tooth fairy..

The performances were ok, the house was suitably old and ancient looking.

And they manage to keep the creatures in shadow until the end.. When they just get stupid. Prime example being when they set the trip wire on the stairs to trip Holmes who basically cracks her head on the floor and passes out. Now, I will admit it's unclear if they slices her leg to hinder her, or if she did it in the fall. But either way they proved earlier they were capable of murder and could have killed her, and dragged Sally to the basement. But.. they left Holmes there so she could wake up and follow them down.

Just like the sequences with Pierce. They had the opportunity to kill him as well, but didn't. Instead opted to try and gas him to death with the car. Not too mention, all his skulking around staring into key holes just so the director could try and gross out the audience with the needles to the eye attempts.. Made no sense to me, with what he knew he should have been kicking down doors going to his kid and girlfriend, not taking his time staring into keyholes..

If anything was creepy it was Sally. I don't know the actress, but if she was acting, and not genuinely creepy she was doing a good job.

I feel this movie could have been much better than it was. It had all the pieces but they just didn't seem to click. I didn't care about any of them. Except maybe Mrs. Underhill (If I remember the name). And I had no sense of dread as Holmes discovered the houses' secret. And most of that you could see a mile away. The fact that she would be the one to believe while the father was so wrapped up in work, and not paying attention the details. Give them credit for making the Mom a deadbeat and the father dealing with it all though. As well as Holmes dying in the end instead of some sort of noble male sacrifice. I did like how that ended.

So basically overall I didn't hate the movie, but didn't particularly like it all that much either..

2.5 stars out of 5

Fright Night and Conan The Barbarian 2011

Fright Night 2011 is a remake of a 1980s somewhat teenage vampire horror movie. Not all that bad really. It went to have a sequel, which I don't remember at all, and since it's not on Netflix yet, probably won't see until who knows when.

I will say that this is a rare movie, where the remake is much better than the original. And hopefully it does well. And from what I have read it seems to be.

It's that odd mix, of comedy with horror without becoming too much of a joke. They managed to update the film sensibly to 2011 from 1985 or so.. without it all coming apart.

And this credit I will place squarely before the feet of the writer. The one person that every movie and show needs, but usually get's the least respect and attention.

Which now leads me to my second part..

Conan The Barbarian 2011.. I mean, after almost 30 years and zillions of rewrites they still couldn't seem to make anything but a mess.

I liked the cast, it's an action movie after all. Sword and Sorcery (Not Fantasy)so I wasn't expecting Shakespeare regardless of your opinions of Momoa (See Game of Thrones or SGA)

But when you have $90 million dollars, and all the backing in the world. And the movie is simple.. And they still couldn't get the job done.

Which should be of no surprise really.. When was the last time they could make Fantasy or Swords and Sorcery anyway?? Lord of the Rings almost a decade ago, and then the original Conan movies before that.

After all, they couldn't even make a Dungeons and Dragons movie work. And that should have been easy.

They can make good action movies with cars and guns in them. But make that horses and sword and it all falls apart.

But anyway, we had one movie with a low budget $18 Million, relatively small cast. And a great writer being a 1980s remake vs another 1980s remake with $90 million budget, larger cast all the sets and backgrounds in the world. And apparently no writer to speak of And years of developement time and both in 3D and guess which one comes out ahead??

Yeah, when will they learn to start with a great writer and a better script. And stop short changing where it counts. Just because it's an action movie doesn't mean it shouldn't make any sense.

Fright Night 2011 3.5 stars out of 5
Conan The Barbarion 2011 2 stars out of 5

Summerslam 2011

What can I say, it didn't live up to the event that was Money in the Bank. Which was a fantastic PPV which is saying a lot based on all the crappy ones this year.. Wrestlemania included. The only other great one I saw this year I would say was The Royal Rumble. And that is probably more to do with the gimmick of the Rumble match itself.

Anyway, the main event for SS is what got my interest. And the way it ended, has got me interested. Seeing as how bored I was for the last several months or more.

And with RAW in the books now, they seem to have some questions and mystery cooking. And hopefully they will take their time resolving it all. And not bring it all to a conclusion too soon (As in bringing Punk back after virtually no time at all, who should have stayed out for months and just popped up all over with the WWE Title. Maybe came back for The Rumble. Kinda like the wheres Cactus Jack vignettes from WCW way back in the early 90s or so)

And I would actually like to see Nash work a few matches. But no more than that.

So here's hoping we can have some heat going between Nash, ADR, CM Punk, Cena and Triple H and really get some stuff cooking for a change.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Hard to believe it's been so long since the last time we had a movie about apes taking over the world.

It seemed that I was in the minority when I thought that the trailers for this one were looking worse every time I managed to see one. But I am pleased to report that it was a pretty good movie.

They seemed to set a small focus, didn't try and get too out of hand. And played it small. Which let them keep things mostly believable. Because watching the trailers, there was no way I was going to believe that the apes were gonna take the city. But what we got in the movie was much smaller in scope.

And there was lots of seeds about for I've since heard will be possibly two sequels. With the hints at the missing Astronauts, and one infected person not dealt with by the end of the movie. And anything else I may have missed.

I heard a lot of complaints about Franco phoning it in, and acting like he may have still been on another project. But, I liked the cast. And Franco just seems to be one of those actors who mostly plays himself in the roles he takes. Admittedly I haven't seen him in too much, so maybe he's better than that and needs a good director to draw a performance out of him. But, mostly playing yourself in movies hasn't seemed to have harmed Tom Cruise, Arnold or Sly one bit in over 20 years. Ok, maybe Tom can actually act, but not usually.

3.5 stars out of 5

Life on Mars

I'm just wrapping up the U.S. version of the show. And it's a crime that it didn't get to at least finish out a 20 episode season, let alone get a couple renewals.

Basically what we have is a cop show, about a guy who was in an accident in 2008 and wakes up in the exact same spot but it's 1973. And he keeps doing his job in this new reality that is like being on another planet for a guy that is from 35 years in the future.

With the exception of a few oddities in every episode which are generally nothing major, we have a period piece. A great 70s cop show. That has just an incredible cast behind O'Mara. Gretchen Mol, Michael Imperioli who steals every scene he's in. Not too mention the LT played by Harvey Keitel who is just perfect, down to the fresh faced rookie on the team. As well as the soundtrack. And the weekly guest stars as thugs and cops from other precincts. Not too mention more than a few returning compatriots of Imperioli's from The Sopranos. And that's weird seeing some of them as cops.

The show is based on the UK series of the same name. And they are also somewhat different. Especially in the ending of the US version which is coming up.

But the show was so good, that I figured I'd write some stuff down before I get there. Only a couple episodes left. But another show that deserved to get a few seasons at least under it's belt.

Tune down the odd stuff a little bit, and it plays as a great period piece cop show.
And it's great fun having O'Mara there when he knows what some things are that the others don't, or when he remembers something from the 'future' and wins a bet or two with his smug co-worker. Or has to explain what he meant when he was talking about laptops or cell phones..

4 out of 5 stars

Just to point out, the below trailer is from the Pilot I presume. The cast has totally changed for the series. Although Colm Meaney would have be an awesome LT as well. But I think I prefer Keitel just by a small margin..

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Went to see Captain America this week. Was looking forward to this one. Figured it would be a simple, straight forward action movie. Shouldn't have been anything that they could totally screw up. Keep it simple, basic and just get things done.

And I can report that they pretty much accomplished that goal. The movie was a nice period piece, World War II story. Essentially a war movie. With just enough twist to make sure you never forgot that there was super heroes and villains involved. And you wouldn't miss that with the Nazi Pseudo Science, Steampunk type stuff running around.

I was perfectly happy with the cast, especially Red Skull. Who looked great as well. Caps costume translated well on screen, and I liked the supporting cast mostly as well.

If I had anything I would complain about, I guess it would have to be the ending. As a friend pointed out.. Why didn't they shoot up the flying wing so Cap would have to crash it. It just seemed a little too contrived for the reason to dump it. By the time we get to that point, it's hard to believe someone couldn't have come up with a plan to get him down. Except that we know he has to be frozen in the ice so that he can wake up in the future to lead the Avengers.

But, other than that It was a great comic book action movie. And I would only add I wish I could have seen it on 2D instead. This 3D crap is just that.

3.5 stars out of 5

Haven Season One

Finished up with Season One. Wasn't sure what to expect, and in the first few episodes I wasn't sold. But as the show carried on, and we got introduced to more of the cast and the events it managed to sell me.

How many of these supernatural, weirdness shows can we get invested into anyway?? They all seem to be variations of one another.. The X - Files, Supernatural, Fringe, Haven.. Same base idea with some twists to make it their own.

This show is supposed to be based on some of Kings work. But from what I was able to read from Wikipedia I don't see much but a thin thread of a connection really. But what makes this show different for me than the others of it's kind I guess would be the fact that it's grounded on one location.

Everything is happening in Haven. Whether it be the place or the residents. And the down home rural 'Murder She Wrote' feel of the show, or the casting. The show is apparently done near Halifax, Nova Scotia really seems to bring this out. Being about a place or fixed location makes it different. And seems to be setting a tone of mystery to the show. Let alone a 'creature' of the week routine that seems to be a staple of the genre. And something I was concerned about when I first started to watch the show. And they have done. But theirs is just weirder events, no vampires or werewolves here. And hopefully won't be coming up.

And with the finale, and premiere of season two really throwing the things on it's head about the lead character. I'm looking forward to the next episode to see if anything she thought she knew was true or not..

So getting back to all these shows that seem to be cousins with one another, it's doesn't seem so much about whether they all have similar ideas. But how they decide to execute these ideas. So I guess this may mean a vote of confidence for Hollywood not having any original ideas and just rehashing everything. As long as they rehash it well.. And that means good writers.

3 stars out of 5

Miscellaneous Items

Been watching a lot of series lately, and they are all taking turns. So I haven't finished up much. So, this is what I have been watching

Life on Mars (U.S. Version) Turning out to be a pretty good how. Kind of wish I had of watched it when it was on. Too bad that it got cancelled, but at least it sounds like they were able to have an ending.

Community - Sitcom, I did finish season one, and am now catching up on Season two. And the show just seems to get better. And I don't usually care for too many comedies on television. Or movies for that matter. Although the themed episodes seem to be better. And the Halloween episodes seem to rival The Simpsons to me for entertainment value.

Breaking Bad - Coming back this Sunday for season four. And I can't wait. Been an awesome show so far.

Torchwood Miracle Day - New series finally, only seen the first episode so far. But if it's on the level with the last series should be pretty good.

Haven - Based on Kings work, which I am normally not much of a fan of. Only seen the first episode so far. But, not real impressed yet. Seems like just another X - Files weird happening show.

Leverage - New season is airing. Been a fan of this show since season one.

Damages - New season of this legal drama type show is airing.. Been a great show, don't expect the current season to be a let down.

True Blood - The new season is looking better than last, but they have strayed so far from the books it's anyone's guess. Having read all the books but the last one I don't see why they had to. There was lots of material to keep them busy with only 13 episode seasons for awhile I would have thought.

Falling Skies - Jericho meets V.. Good show so far..

Game of Thrones - Best thing I have seen bar none pretty much, in a long time. Season two can't come soon enough.

Money in the Bank coming up tomorrow night, hard to see how this won't be interesting. But could also lead to some big disappointments in the end. Let's hope they swerve everyone and put on a fantastic finish with Punk.

Harry Potter opens this weekend, looks good. But we all know how misleading trailers can be. And Captain America and Cowboys and Aliens are coming up..

Thinking about opening WoW account again.. Tried the 7 Day Firelands trial and it was so - so .. Can't quite remember the groove to playing half my classes but one. Not sure I want to continue the grind to 85 on all of them. But with no place to rent PS3 titles here anymore, not much else to play with. Maybe Diablo 3 before next spring. Battlefield 3 looked nice, loved that series in the past. But the leaked recommended specs are just way too high for me.

Do have a few console titles to finish up, but just haven't felt like it. Dragon Age 2 was quite fun, but I took a few days off from it. And just never got back into it. Same thing for WWE All Stars and Red Dead Redemption.

And I haven't turned the XBox on in months. And with no place to rent Gears of War 3 this fall I probably won't. If I buy any console game between now and the end of the year it will have to be Mass Effect 3. What a phenomenal series.

And I did pick up an extra Battle Blades Bumblebee so I could have one for alt mode. Sincel Bee has rubbed off on me more since TF3. But now I think I will have to get the DoTM Leader Bee since he has apparently official Stealth Force Alt mode that looks awesome.

WWE Raw 07 11 2011

This weeks edition of Monday Night Raw seems to have done the job to keep me interested in this weekends Money in the Bank PPV.

I can say that I am only really interested in how the CM Punk storyline plays out.

The whole Big Show and Mark Henry thing just seems really cheesy, the stunt this week looked bad. The mats and everything were right there. Would have been a lot better had the mats not been visible. I'm sure it looked a lot better live, where you probably didn't have the same view.

Was good to see Vince on TV, don't see much of him these days.

And I hope they bring back the WW(F) Ice Cream bars, that'd be cool. I can remember them when I was a kid, but never actually had one.

I'm going to throw my vote behind some of the speculation online. And hopefully it's true. CM Punk will beat Cena for the title, only to have Del Rio cash in and take it from Punk. And then Punk leaves (Whether to another company or some time off wouldn't really matter)

Even better for me, although I know there is no way it would happen. Would be for Punk to win and leave with the belt. Setup some elaborate work, and make it seem like he'd gone somewhere with the title. Until they bring him back in. But I can't really see any way this will happen.

In the end let's hope CM Punk does stay, because they need him. The end, with him and Cena in the ring was painful. Punk was great on the mic and then Cena starts talking.. But I don't really see any strong faces to back him up.

Other than that most of RAW was forgettable..

Transformers 3 Dark of the Moon

So this will just be a large list of things that struck me about the movie, stream of consciousness style.

I did get to see the movie twice, once in 3D and once in 2D. I liked it better in 2D since the 3D wasn't all that much to write home about. And at a running time of almost three hours, the glasses were getting uncomfortable

Overall the movie was fun, nothing too deep. Was easily the best of the three if your want your action. The first was probably more story. This one seemed to have too much of the humans. The new transformers were just a who cares thing, not like they spent any time letting us get to know them in hardly any way. Que / Wheeljack was just creepy with that head. He looked more like a skull / zombie head than anything else.

I'm sure everyone has heard or read about most of these elsewhere but..

Megatron seemed to be just tacked on, didn't seem to have much to do

Same for Starscream

Star Trek reference at the beginning hinting at Sentinel going bad

Took a human to point out to Soundwave about keeping prisoners

Laserbeak and Starscream drooling over everything

Rosie wasn't as bad as everyone made her out to be

Wreckers didn't do much really, never see them transform that I caught

Skids and Mudflap are in one scene in alt mode if you look close

DVD / Blu Ray already scheduled for the fall

Ironhide supposed to be the heavy hitter of the team, puts up no fight really

Got to see more of Sideswipe after three movies

Got to see little of Dio / Mirage for a new character

Brains was interesting, more so than Que

Deep Wang was funny

The pseudo history thing that they introduced was interesting way to twist things

I thought only Sentinal Prime could use the pillers.. Human turns them back on at the end

Megatron is such a moron that a human goads him in a few words to turn on Sentinel just as he was going to kill prime

Prime becomes blood thirsty and kills his brother and then executes Sentinel.. Seemed like an odd turn of character

Human couldn't penetrate Decepticon air defense. And then an hour later they do it with cruise missiles no problem

Shockwave was a total Dud.. Only saw his cannon fire once.. ?!?

Prime lost his trailer and really needed it back, and suddenly he's flying around..

Prime get's hung up on wires and forgets he has blades built into his arms

There are still a ton of 'cons loose around the globe

Prime only used his cool new super shotgun once..

How did the 'Bots get back from the ocean so fast when none of them fly really

Sams parents are always entertaining

Worm monster was so so, gets wiped out once Prime decides to swat it

Wing Suit scenes.. Why didn't they just come in underwater with the SEALs, seems like they snuck under the radar totally that way

All I can think of for now, but the bots on both sides really need a lot more time making them into real characters. After three movies Rathet hardly has any personality. And when Ironhide goes down, not a mention of him.. Even Jazz got a line of remorse after Megatron destroyed him. This is a transformers movie, they should be more developed than the humans are. It's supposed to be about them. Some of these same people work on Prime, so there must be something else going on with it. TF Prime is much better than all three movies..

Not too mention by the end of the movie, it would seem that the humans don't have much trouble taking down 'Cons. And I had to wonder how they were ever a threat.

And the Autobots are just brutal. The wreckers dismember the enemy, the 'bots don't take prisoners and Prime kills everybody. Who would have though..

3 out of 5 stars

RAW CM Punk Promo 062711

What an awesome promo tonight from CM Punk.. Enough to get you excited about what we should be seeing on the show. Some real spark, and attitude.. But wait that was the attitude era and we don't have that anymore sadly.. These days the WWE isn't even employing Wrestlers or is even a Wrestling company anymore..

Anyway, it should be an interesting few weeks until Money in the Bank.. To see whether he actually leaves with the title or not.. Because the one problem I see with all this is that, he won't be going anywhere with any belt if they (Vince) doesn't allow it. So, all this talk about a shoot promo and such doesn't mean much when he keeps saying he's taking the title with him. Because we all know that won't happen. Medusa got away with it once years ago, and a war almost broke out over the Montreal Screw job to prevent a possibility of it a second time.

But if he's genuinely unhappy hopefully he finds a home somewhere that will be better suited for him. And maybe he'll be back, or we'll get to see his work where ever he lands.

PRIMEVAL

A science fiction BBC series about a group of scientists who setup a top secret organization with the government to investigate rips in space / time that lead to the past and allow dinosaurs and creatures into the present.

Over the course of the series currently 5 series they discover that they actually lead not only to the past but the future as well. And that they are causing ripples and a possibly catastrophic outcomes in the far future.

The show evolves throughout the course of the series, with some characters who die, and others who are changed because of the events that transpire. New people come, they get more help. And the CGI for creature effects get better and better.

The first time I caught the show, I watched a few episodes and found it interesting. But, didn't watch much else until recently. The show does take some time to get going. And I find I like the less 'polished' for lack of a better word of the BBC productions. I'm not sure I would want to see a spit and polished Hollywood production of this show.

The show does remind me of Stargate, but the show comes to them though the rifts, rather than the other way around. And they time travel.. Which adds a new dimension of trouble, as they try not to cause ripples that could affect the present or the future. It does suffer from time to time of creature of the week (Which seemed to be coined when Buffy first came out) but they don't tend to trot out all the famous dinos every week.

Great show

3.5 stars out of 5

Green Lantern 2011

For a movie with literally a galactic scope, it wasn't half bad. But, the movie seemed to be rushed to me. They spent time trying to do too much, and no single thing seemed to be fleshed out enough.

The film spent it's time trying to introduce the vastness of the Lantern Corps. expand upon Hals personal life, and character as well as try to explain to us the depth of destruction and horror that was Parallax.

So, in the end no one thing was really given much to work with. And this doesn't even touch upon the scientist that becomes infected with the yellow matter on earth. So, just seem to be a distraction, and afterthought to what else was going on.

The movie certainly didn't lack one bit in the special effects department. And the movie shifts around from earth to space and across planets no problem at all. It was only in the end, where it broke suspension of disbelief for me.

Hal takes the fight to Parallax, and they progress to Earth orbit. And suddenly they are at the asteroid belt, where was the quickly passing shot of Mars on the way by?? And suddenly they zoom out to the Sun without passing Mars, Earth, Venus or Mercury.. now to be picky the planets could have been nowhere to be seen depending on their orbits.. But it just seemed odd to be whipping around so quickly, with no references..

To get back to Parallax, we never really get the feel for how massive and horrifying he should be. We seem to be told all about it, and we get some fleeting shots of how he is capable of consuming worlds.. But nothing concrete enough. As far as I am concerned.

We get the forging of the yellow ring, and the setup for Sinestro in a sequel assuming there will be one.

The cast wasn't bad at all. I was rather pleased with Hal, Sinestro and the look of everyone over all. The CG constumes were somewhat odd to look at. And the Corps. seemed to use a lot of technology for my taste. Space ships and stuff.

But then my major exposure to them is through the JLA Animated series having never read the comics.

I would say it wasn't really a bad comic movie, but was a bit of a mess. And needed a tighter script. Seemed to be wandering and trying to get into too much. We needed to see more of Parallax. But considering how much it must have cost per minute on screen, I'm not surprised we didn't. And therefore, I didn't find it so credible as a threat. Just this big bad we were supposed to be really worried about, that in the end gets knocked out in 2 minutes.

2.5 stars out of 5

Netflix Canada

I've been holding off on writing anything about this since it launched back in September. Figured I should give it lots of time to get launched, and flesh itself out before passing any kind of 'Judgement' over it.

At this point I have been a member since September of last year. And some of the items I have watched aren't even available on the service any longer.

But for the last two weeks I have been mainly watching DVDs and running Netflix and decided to keep more of my money in my pocket, instead of paying the Satellite companies for crappy choices and poor programming. But most of this is a topic of it's own.

So, in regards to Netflix, I have had discussions with friends south of the border about it. And apparently they aren't too fond of Netflix down there. If that is the case, they certainly wouldn't like what passes for Netflix Canada.

But if your looking for a service to replace Blockbuster or your local neighborhood video store than you will have to keep looking. Because this isn't it.

I can agree with the statements that some of the Cable company execs. have apparently been quoted as saying they didn't fear Netflix, it would be an additional service that people would run alongside their current cable subscriptions.

Programming is updated semi-regularly. For instance, this week something like 50 items were added. And of those I found about 10 that I flagged to watch.

The catalog mostly consists of older titles, Indy, Documentaries, Television Shows, BBC, some recent titles and a lot of kids and Anime. Which suits me just fine at this point.

I have been able to now for almost a year watch things I would never have discovered or seen otherwise. And some Television programming I didn't get, but was available such as Damages, Justified and Leverage. And some great BBC titles like Outlaw, The State Within and Survivors.

Once I cut back in the TV programming I find that I never really watched it anyway. During the regular season what I mainly watched is on the networks anyway. So, I was paying double to have channels that I didn't usually watch. They were just noise in the background.

So in the fall I will still have my NCIS, Supernatural, NCIS Los Angeles, Bones, House and whatnot.. And as long as 'flix keeps updating I'm sure there will be something on that's interesting.

After all I just watched the doc on Harlan Ellison recently, and it was fantastic. Not too mention an Indy flick YPF which in ways was funnier than Hangover 2 and a hell of a lot more controversial.

So I know there are a lot of whiners and complainers since 'Flix launched up here. And the problem would seem to be that they are expecting the wrong thing from the service. Right now at least, and what my American friends have said it will never replace the local video store anyway.

Reminds of when reviewers go to see a Michael Bay movie expecting Shakespeare and complain when they don't get it. Right over their heads.

Netflix is what it is, and it's doing an ok job of being a supplemental service for video entertainment. You never know what interesting little movies, docs, anime or shows you'll find. But the latest and greatest won't be it.

I will say if your watching a series work through it. Because titles seem to vanish with no notice at all.

The Ruins

Is a horror novel written by Scott Smith. I would call it more of thriller or survival horror novel myself, now that I've managed to finish it.

A typical setup, kids on vacation in a foreign land end up going into the jungle, and become trapped and slowly killed / picked off by some terrible presence in the jungle. They can't leave, and can't contact help. Their only hope is to try and conserve their resources until help can come to them. Hopefully before it's too late.

The bulk of the novel deals with the stress and condition of the people stuck together, as the try and cope with the hardships of their predicament and running out of supplies. Not too mention the thing that creeps around the edges.

I didn't have much trouble figuring out what the evil thing was, and I would give credit for being different about it. Rather than going with something more 'normal' so to speak.

I would think this would make a fantastic movie, and it would follow the usual tropes quite well. If they wouldn't muck with it too much. But, it would probably be better suited as a mini series for cable. Maybe one of the things they did twenty years ago.. Make it five parts, Monday to Friday and run an hour a day.

But I can't think of anything right now since V first aired in the early 1980s for that.

Anyway, it was a good book. And the fact that I picked it up blind on a used book shelf for like $3 was even better.

4 out of 5 stars

The State Within

Is a BBC Miniseries from several years ago. Starring Jason Issacs of most recently Harry Potter fame as the UK Ambassador to the United States.

The series mostly revolves around a terrorist plot that takes down an airliner, and the twists and turns involving said operation. Terrorism, Paranoia, Epsionage. I would class the series as a Political / Drama I guess.

I found it to be much more enjoyable than the last few seasons of 24. The action is low, but the series is deeper in plot, and slower unfolding.

The cast was fairly decent, and the whole thing lasts around seven episodes.

Had never heard of it before, decided to watch it since it was BBC and Issacs was in it. And it turned out well.

3 stars out of 5

Green Lantern Emerald Knights

DC continues it's line of usually great quality animated features with Green Lantern Emerald Knights.

A series of connected stories of the corp told to one of the newest members as they struggle with an emerging threat.

Animation is good, voice acting is good. And the stories weren't bad. I kind of wish we had more detail to the main plot, of the creature or beast coming through the star to threaten the corp. But the individual stories were interesting enough to make up for it.

I have this strange feeling, that this could easily be the better of the two Lantern movies coming out this month. But, I'm hoping the live action one this weekend holds up.

I'm sure I missed a few of DCs animated features, the last Superman one comes to mind. And I didn't find the Wonder Woman one all that great. And the majority of the Batman ones, well.. are just brilliant. At least as long as Kevin Conroy was involved.

This was a great feature.

3.5 stars out of 5

Bridesmaids

This movie struck me as the other side of the coin from The Hangover Part II.

The same type of movie, but the female version. And this one was much better. I found the movie to be a lot more even, and the characters and situations a lot more believable.

The movie has its moments, and the laughs were more frequent. The characters themselves are a lot more likable, and easier to relate to.

Not much else to say about it, I felt my money was better spent going to this movie than the Hangover Part II.

3 out of 5 stars

Wii U

I will go out on a limb here and declare that I may be in the minority, but who really cares at this point??

I realize that Nintendo has about as a rabid fanbase as Sony, Microsoft and dare I say Apple. But the unveiling of the successor to the Wii just doesn't seem to interest me much at all.

Granted Nintendo is in possession of some of the most beloved of all of videogames franchises. And now they will apparently be coming to us in glorious HD.

But, I now, though I didn't intend this starting out, own all three current generation consoles. And I find I get the most use out of my PS3. That is in my case, mostly because of it multimedia capability.

But Nintendo seems like this new console, will be an upgraded Wii, with a modified iPad made into a controller. The preview I watched showed off a bunch of tricks, and stuff that you can use it for. In interaction with the main unit working with the TV. This would seem to make the controller something you'd want to be very careful with. Seeing as to how it apparently now has a touch sensitive screen on it. Are extra controllers now going to be like $200, as much as the Wii itself. Better not be too many four player games. And how awkward and heavy is that thing going to be to play with after a few hours anyway. And you better hope the kids don't drop or toss it, when they play or put it away for the night..

They just seem to be too late to the party at this point. And I agree with old opinions about the Wii when it came out. It was an electronic board game. Got taken out when people came over, or when there were parties. And put away the rest of the time. A novelty. For me, it's become a cheap Netflix box I can use on any TV in the house. But, I did only pay about $100 for it when I got it with extra accessories and Zelda. When I traded in my Gamecube for it.

Just seems like a new gimmick, and I know with the Wii after awhile it gets old. Maybe when we get real Star Trek Holodecks. And I don't know how much people are taking too the PS Move or Microsoft Kinect, but with who I know. You just want to sit and play a game and relax. Not be jumping and waving and flying all around everywhere.

Years ago it was mentioned that Nintendo may go the way of Sega. And close up on hardware, and just stick to what they do best. Software, with their real asset. Their IP. Maybe they should?? But then they did sell a lot of electronic board games. And still have the highest installed user base.

But then, at my age now. I don't seem to be Nintendos current demographic. And I'm sure there will be lots of people picking up the Wii U when it comes out, and will eagerly away the next Zelda, Metroid, Smash Brothers and Pokemon Stadium in HD.

I think I will just get an iPad whenever the price finally comes down.

The Hangover Part II

The Hangover Part II. The continuing adventures of the Wolf pack.

I'm not quite sure if remaking the original movie this soon, in a different location was a masterstroke, or just lazy rehash of the original.. You could kind of look at it, as a mystery.. Every installment places the same comic people in a new location, where they need to locate the missing member..

Anyway, it's not a bad movie by any stretch I don't think. Just like most comedies I seem to go to, it has it funny moments. Just not enough of them.

And this movie they seemed to have honed in the fact that Allan was apparently the comedic genius of the first film. And decided to ratchet him up to 11 in this one. The problem is that he isn't all that funny. Not in large doses anyway. If you've seen the trailers, than you have seen all the best Allan - isms. And I was pretty tired of them by the time I got to 'Due Date' now that I look back on them. Or maybe I should say Zackisms..

This is apparently the second of a trilogy, and supposedly the third installment will be different. And I hope it is. Because as negative as this may come off, I wouldn't mind having another go with the franchise.

Overall, not a bad movie. Not real good. Some laughs, but not enough of them. The monkey was good though.

2.5 stars out of 5

X-Men First Class

I will state straight off the top, that this was one of the best comic book movies I have seen, ranking up there with Spiderman 1 and Iron Man 1.

And the cast was fantastic. The new actors in the roles of Prof. X and Magneto totally outshine the casting of the original X-Men movies. I was much happier with these two. And I hope they continue the roles. No slight against Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen but as far as I'm concerned they were blown away.

From the young actors cast as Banshee, down to Beast or Havok. It seems that they did a great job on casting. Only a couple I wasn't as impressed with.

I found the movie to be well written, everything moved right along. And the powers and special effects were secondary to the story and the characters. As it should be. That would seem to be where other movies tend to fall down. The script always seems to take a back seat to effects. And the whole house of cards suffers because of it.

This is supposedly the first of a new trilogy, and I say bring it on. I can't wait for the next two. Assuming they can keep the original crew together.

Now, as much as I used to read X-Men when I was a kid. I don't remember it in any great detail, and theres many things about this movie that didn't make sense when you look at it with a comic light. But then, I wasn't really. And as a movie, it turned out much better than expected. And this probably goes for the original film trilogy as well. Forget about it in light of seeing the start of this new series. Even with a few nods it gives and one special appearance.

4 out of 5 stars

Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes

Just finished watching the first season a few days ago. It was a little slow going in the first few episodes. But the series really grew on me, and came into it's own.

I was never much of an Avengers fan. I was more into Spiderman and X-Men when I was younger. But I am passingly familiar with the characters and the villains.

The animation style is a little different, but nice. And I found the stories too be well written and varied.

Very much looking forward to seeing a second season. I was also watching GI Joe Renegades, and I find that Avengers is the much stronger of the two.

Smackdown! 06 / 03 / 11

Well, just to be quick. This was a better week for wrestling than usual, even though the big company is no longer a wrestling company..

Anyway, Smackdown! last night looks like they are turning Christian heel. Well, I guess it's about time. And for me, it all seemed to work out pretty good. I'm liking it, and hopefully things will heat up between him and Orton. And we can have a good match or series of matches in this feud. About the only thing I would like to have seen added as Smackdown! went off the air, would have been for Christian to have flicked the nameplate off of the belt and then put it back around his waist as it fades to black.

And again, I am liking R - Truths work as a heel as well, and his wandering to the crowd and getting into it with the fans (Yes, that specific one was a planted actor) was at the least somewhat entertaining. And I actually hope he keeps the little 'Jimmy' thing going for awhile. I would like to see a slightly more darker bent to him though, hopefully as it goes along.

And finally, what's with the bodyslam coming back anyway?? And where did it ever go?!? Just a reminder to me that wrestling seems to brawl a lot more these days than actual wrestling y'know with moves and holds.

I guess this is where Impact! is headed with wrestling matters supposedly. And I'm told that Ring of Honor is totally slanted to 'Sport' over entertainment. And maybe that's where I can find more of the athletic aspect of the sports entertainment.

Goodbye Blockbuster

It would appear that the entire chain isn't going away. But the local BB here is. I got my membership card way back 15 years ago when they first opened up shop.

And I will have to admit, that I was not and never have been much of a customer of theirs. We only have one location, on the other side of the city from me. And their rental prices were always higher, more often than not double that of a local store just 5 mins walk from my house.

And buying movies from them was always a mixed bag, due to their prices as well. I found when I used to collect movies that around Xmas and New Years was the time I would shop for good deals there.

But in the the last two years I haven't bought many DVDs / Bluray since I tend not too watch things more than once or twice with rare exception. And Netflix has come around, and has worked out well so I could divert that money into another hobby beyond collecting movies. Which have as much retained value as week old meatloaf, and about as much fun.

But the one spot where I did take advantage was their Game Pass system. For one monthly fee you could rent one game at a time, and switch it out as often as your like. Or keep it as long as you needed to finish it. And it was much more convenient to deal with them for this, than the online ones who offer the same services, and cheaper. But dealing the mail was a real pain. But it seems with a handful of items coming out this fall that I wanted to play, and buying is not an option really. Since games have hit $70+ a pop here new, and like movies I don't usually play them more than once. And don't normally dip into DLC. Renting is my best option. I will have to return to the online renting, for Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3 and several other titles on the horizon. Hopefully Canada Post will be back to work by then.

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 : Stranger Tides

Someone tell me why this movie was made?? I can at least say that the 3D wasn't bad. But as for the rest of it??

The whole movie just didn't seem to really gel all that well. Even Jack Sparrow didn't seem to be himself.

Not much to say I guess, the whole thing just seemed to fall flat. The check cashing party they must have had when they all got hired was probably more entertaining than this 2hrs + of wasted time was.

Forget you even heard of this movie.

Move along, nothing to see here..

2 stars out of 5

This week in Wrestling 05 / 23 / 11

Just thought I would toss out some random thoughts about this weeks episode..

It looks like Big Show is taking some time off?? Or least in regards to his being hit by a car I hope so.. because if he doesn't he must be having whatever it is that Cena partakes in on a weekly basis.

Speaking of Cena, when will they start to sell cans of Spinach with his picture on it??

Huge pat on the back to CM Punk for his Over The Limit pose, and certainly his Raw Main Event appearance in Savages ring attire.. Very nice.

Another Divas match swept under the rug, big surprise. As much heat as TNA, oops sorry Impact Wrestling gets they at least let their Knockouts do some work. Even if it is in skimpier outfits. I at least feel like they take the division seriously.

Evan Bourne.. maybe I didn't get the memo, but is there a reason this guy doesn't get any pushes?? Shouldn't he be in with Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Chavo and all the guys his size.. Why does it seem like such a waste of talent.

Apparently Ziggler is back to being Blonde.. Thank god..

OTL I Quit Match, what a joke.. We watch Miz and Riley beat the tar out of Cena for like 30 mins just for him to eat his vitamin and beat Miz in 8 seconds.. So not looking forward to Rock vs Cena next year

Impact Wrestling taking the ball and running with 'Wrestling Matters Here' Glad to see it. Hope they actually do it. With the WWE being more entertainment than wrestling (Now literally with their name change or alteration)

OTL Christian Vs Orton.. best match of the night. First real entertaining match I've seen lately. Back and forth, false finishes. All around well executed. We need more of this.

OTL King Vs Cole.. Let this be the end of it, please. Great surprise having Brett Hard on hand. Didn't really see the point of having Eve out there. I'm sure Cole pissed off a lot more people.

Speaking of Cole, and on Raw he just comes and shakes hands and all is forgiven. Could they given us a few weeks for things to settle first??

Kharma... Anyone else not impressed with her so far or all out confused at what t
he hell their plan to do with her is??

R-Truth Keep it going, liking his heel turn. Lets crank it up a notch. His beating Rey at OTL was a welcome surprise, because I sure didn't expect him to win.

RIP Randy 'Macho Man' Savage

Sad news yesterday as a real Legend of Professional Wrestling has passed away. As has another piece of my childhood.

I can remember nights watching Saturday Nights Main Event, WWF Superstars and, of course the famous Wrestlemania match with Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat.

Macho Man was one of the best, and he seemed to have gotten out of the business with his health, and some security. I hadn't seen or heard much of him in years before his marriage last year. And his return to video games with the recently released WWE All Stars. And it would have been awesome to see him inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

So here's one for the Madness!

WWE Tribute Page

Prison Break

Just finally finished watching the entire run of Prison Break. It was a fantastic series, and I'm glad that it ended when it did. It ran it's course and ended, wrapped up.

It's very much a clone of 24, in a Prison on the run setting which I would have touched on in my first remarks. But, now that I'm done, I would say it was much better. But then it had the benefit of having 24 as a guide to go by. If anything I would say that Season 3 was weak.

But, in the end it was a pretty awesome ride. And I just loved the cast. They had an awesome ensemble working. T Bag especially. And Mahone.. Alex I gained a lot of respect for. I recognized the actor, didn't much care for him and the roles he's usually in. But this time he nailed it.

Great series everyone should see.

4 stars out of 5

Flash Forward The Novel

Just finished reading the book for Flash Forward. I haven't seen any of the tv show. But after reading the book, I would think that it should have worked. Or maybe even better as a mini series. Six or twelve parts.

With the way things tend to get twisted around when made into movies or TV or even games. Maybe the show strayed quite far from the book. I don't know. Maybe I will rent it if it ever comes out, or lands on Netflix or in reruns sometime. And see how close or different it actually was.

3 out of 5 stars

THOR

Took in Thor over the weekend. The latest in Marvels assault on the box office this year.

I have to say that it was a much better movie than I expected it to be. As usual the reviews I picked up didn't do it much justice. I liked the scenes and surrounding action on Asgard, much more interesting than any of the movie that was on earth.

It's too bad they went to earth at all, I would have preferred an expanded story up front all from Asgard and then at the end have Thor expelled. And leave it to a sequel. And have Thor 2 entirely on earth dealing with Thors issues.

As it were, I like the actor for Thor. Natalie Portmans performance seemed to be weak. But then, we know she can act (Star Wars not withstanding, and a good example of) when she has good material.

Anthony Hopkins was great as Odin. No problem with him at all.

If I had one solid complaint, it was the fact that I had to see it in 3D. I found the movie suffered from it. Some things just looked bad, like Thors flight scenes. They would have have looked a lot better in 2D. I haven't checked, but I get the impression that this was one of those movies that 3D was tacked onto.

In the end the movie was an enjoyable action comic book movie, and was worth the trip. Far better than Daredevil was..

3 Stars out of 5

FAST FIVE

The fifth movie in the Fast and the Furious movie series. It's been quite some time since I've seen the originals. But from what I can remember, they weren't all that bad. Action movies with a lot of cars. Speed and action, fast cars and big stunts.

This time around we have Vin Diesel back with Paul Walker and The Rock. The movie is basically a heist movie when you boil it down. Based in Brazil for a change of scenery.

To keep this short, I imagine you get the idea with it being a heist movie. The Rock is the fed, and obviously Diesel and Walker are back into it again.

If there was a major problem it's towards the end. The Rock is established as hard case Fed. The leader of an elite team to track down and bring back criminals on the run that no one else can seem to handle. Yet, he switches sides.. Now at the time he does it, if he wanted to live he wasn't going to be able arrest them. And with Diesel and Walker being somewhat moral, save him. But, that should have been it. I could even see The Rock turn a blind eye to them as they run in return. Before he calls in backup. But not switch sides. It was out of character.. Now if they had spent more time fleshing out his character maybe it would have been believable. But with what we know, it wasn't for me.

Oh, and at the beginning they steal cars that have been impounded and drive them off the train.. Why would the cops be transporting cars with full tanks of gas in them?? Wouldn't that be dangerous let alone make them a lot easier to steal. I would think they wouldn't have any more gas then they need for short distances. If they all would have carried a gas can when they took the cars it could have been inferred that they'd top them up once they got away from the train.. The little things..

Anyway, worth seeing. A good action movie. Vin doesn't get enough work. Paul Walker is good. And so is Dwayne Johnson.

3 Stars out of 5

INSIDIOUS

Insidious is an interesting blend of a horror movie. It comes across definitely as a mash up of The Amityville Horror and Poltergeist. And I was glad, that instead of going with the little girl again. They centered it around the boy.

It seem to follow the Poltergeist path through the movie, with the sightings, sounds and strange happenings. Right up to the last third of the movie, when they call in the Parapsychologists to investigate the house. Even though they had moved, the spirits had followed them.

Anyone paying close attention would have noticed some hints that things may not be as they appear. And there may be something strange about one other in the house, besides the boy. And pertaining to this person, I saw the ending coming a mile away. But that didn't mean I didn't like it.

To jump ahead about the ending. I would like to have seen a little more about it, not just the abrupt end. I'm fine with the way it ended, but a little more info about it would have been more.. 'Horrific' maybe is a better description. Makes more sense when you know what happened.

The new 'Older' woman lead Parapsychologist was great. I can see her in the role established from Poltergeist. Even though I hadn't seen her since her role in Kingpin over a decade ago. And I liked both her colleagues. They added a slight break in the tension up until this point.

At first I wasn't sure what to think about the last third of the movie. The astral projection stuff, and the whole venture into possession and the astral realm was rather interesting. And the portrayal of it all seemed like something about an old movie from the 1940s or something. With the jump cuts, black and white or washed out imagery, fog and lantern and stuff. By the time it was over, I kind of thought it was just surreal and rather brilliant way to portray it. And it was just downright weird. Which was great for what they were trying to do.

It just didn't seem to mesh with what we were seeing for the first two-thirds of the movie. It felt out of place. So, I don't know what to say about that.

I liked the demon, that was at the center of it all. Forked tongue, hooves and all. Just didn't much care for his face paint.. As every kid there pointed out in ear shot. They put Darth Maul in the movie. Seeing as how most of them were only five years old when Phantom Menace came out.. Anyway..

Even the introduction with the credits and especially the title card of 'Insidious' with the washed out coloring, and shadows playing across it all seemed old school horror. Was a great touch.

Over all I will say it was a great 'Haunted House' movie. And there doesn't seem to be a lot of them lately. Even though they tried to pull the bait and switch and it was really the boy who was Haunted. But, wait he isn't actually kind of thing. Still well worth seeing.

3.5 Stars out of 5

WWE Draft 2011

So they apparently have decided to move up the draft after the news of Edge having to retire.

Now, I know that there are a great many reasons why the draft isn't legit. Now, we all know that it isn't. Marketing, storyline, merchandising you name it.

But wouldn't it be a hell of a lot more fun if it was. Set the whole show up, with a lottery and ticket system. Kind of like the old Royal Rumble days when they would draw numbers on the shows leading up to the Rumble for spots. Something else they really need to do..

But, a real shakeup would be awesome. And if it was legit, it would also help keep the writing fresh, and the writers on their toes in my opinion.

Once a year, everything would get a good shake. And force new matchups, and the writers would have to come up with new angles and stories to go with the new rosters.

And shakeup the announcing teams as well. I don't like having the same people virtually on both shows. RAW and Smackdown! should have separate teams. And for all intents and purposes they do. If they could just keep Cole somewhere. Announcer, Heel. Pick one, and conclude his bit as well. It's gotten old. And fast.

HANNA

This movie evoked the feel of Ronin, The Professional and The Bourne Series. All good things to have working for you.

Everything about the movie to me, didn't look or feel like Hollywood at all. Right down to the way the movie ended.

I didn't know much about this movie going into it, I don't even remember if I had even seen the trailer for it.

Anyone who likes the above movies should certainly go and see it, great movie. They really managed to pull off the mix of Espionage, Action with some humor. All centered around Hanna who is loose in a world she literally knows next to nothing about. If I had anything to complain about, it would be that I would like to have seen more of everything. With the movie having three corners this way, I could almost feel like each one was just a little bit too short.

3.5 stars out of 5

Game of Thrones Episode One

Just finished watching episode one. I'm quite happy with what I've seen so far. Lots of familiar faces.

The scenery and the setting looks fantastic, everything looks like it should. And it would seem that they are not shying away from the nudity and brutal violence for this show.

From what I have read, they described it as a Fantasy version of 'The Sopranos' and that could be a great thing. And already being picked up for a second season should be good news. But this was only the first episode.

But with such mentions as Dire Wolves and Dragons, we can only hope things stay with the fantasy. And not just a medieval version of 'The Sopranos' replacing guns with swords.

Off to a great start though..

Stargate.. Finished?

Well, it would seem that the franchise is officially over. That's too bad.

Airlock Alpha is reporting that there seems to be little hope. Plans have fallen through for the movies. And with MGM apparently still out of the picture with their own problems, it seems this is it.

With the networks cancelling soaps now, it seems like TV is becoming a wasteland of reality TV nonsense. Not just genre shows are getting the axe these days.

Although good SciFi is becoming all but impossible to find on the dial.. At least Fringe got a Season Four. Lets hope for the best, because it likely won't get a season five. It and Supernatural are about the only shows of their ilk I make sure I catch every week.

Mick Foley

I've added a new link to my list of links for Mick Foley, The Hardcore Legend. And one of my all time favorite wrestlers.

He's written a series of books about his time on the road, the ring and things in general. And they all have been a great read.

Check out his blog

SCRE4M

Off the top I will point out immediately, that I thought this was a great movie. One of the better ones that I managed to see lately.

Now, it's been a long time since I've seen the original trilogy. But I was entertained with the throwbacks to the 90s and the first three. And the right mix of humor thrown in.

Of course, it's not exactly original, but then I have to wonder what people expect to be coming from Hollywood these days anyway.

It kept me guessing to the end about who the killer was going to turn out to be. And I had a few solid choices by the end.

If I had any problems it was at the very end. Once they had Sid, Jill and Gail in the hospital.

Once Jill ripped off all her hospital gear, a nurses station somewhere should have lit up like christmas tree. And the hospital seemed to be strangely deserted. Even for the middle of the night.

Once nurses and security didn't come running, I was thinking that they knew. And this was the setup to catch Jill red handed. Until Dewey and Gail had that realization, 'How did she know I was stabbed in the shoulder?" moment, and then I became aware that things just seemed to get sloppy at the end.

Maybe it's because I've been watching a lot of wrestling lately, but the sequence of false finishes at the very end was at least mildly interesting. And I fully expected Officer Judy to be dead.

Supposedly this is supposed to be the first of a new trilogy. If so, that's great. I wouldn't mind seeing some more. If they can manage to keep them all at this level.

4 stars out of 5

Your Highness

How unusual is this.. A fantasy movie, with good special effects. A cast of good actors, one rather star actress. And what appeared to be a budget to support it.

And it's a comedy too..

The really interesting part is when you take the comedy away, you get a fairly straight forward but nothing original save the princess sort of fantasy movie.

The movie can also be compared down the line to most horror movies. Which I think is the brilliance of the piece. If you substitute every cheap scare or jump scene in a horror movie with a contemporary curse and switch from horror to fantasy you would have Your Highness.

The bulk of the comedic elements are just the timing of a good curse word used by Danny McBride. And like the cheap scares of a horror movie, he throws them out at the right times.

I found the movie to be pretty good really. And I hope it get's a sequel. And it's perfectly setup for one. And hopefully they don't change a thing. And it continues along with the new quest they ended on.

3.5 stars out of 5

Lincoln Lawyer

Good movie, haven't seen too many legal dramas of late. I can't even remember the last one I did see.

I can't say that the movie had too many surprises, no twists and turns really. It shambled a long at a decent pace. And the entertainment was not so much what the story was, but how he was going to get there.

Once again, it's about the journey not the destination.

Cast was good, acting was good. Not much else to say.

I'm glad I saw it, but in hindsight I could have waited for video.

It is based on a book, and when I get a chance maybe I'll read it. In the end the books are usually better all around.

3 out of 5 stars

Undisputed

How to become world champion in 1,372 easy steps

Just finished reading this book today. Was every bit as good as the first one, and with the book ending a lot like the previous. Hopefully he is making notes to write his third book.

This book was split between his time in the WWE and Fozzy. You get to see some insight on wrestling stardom as well as being a rockstar.

Lots of great stories from the road, the ring and the stage.

Any fan of Jericho, Fozzy or the Wrestling should love the book.

3.5 stars out of 5

PRISON BREAK S1

Just managed to finish watching Prison Break Season One.

When it was originally airing I can say, that I didn't have much interest in it. And I'm glad I didn't see it until now. I may not have liked it that much, since I was into 24 at the time. And one such series was enough.

But now being able to watch the episodes back to back (Via Netflix) the series has been quite enjoyable. Albeit obviously a take on 24 in most every way.

The show is a prime example how good an ensemble cast can be. The actors have been good, and the standouts would be Abruzzi and T - Bag. Those two were fantastic actors, who seemed to excel at playing total dirtbags. Especially T - Bag. Abruzzi was just creepy and sinister. Stormare plays it well. I remember him from Constantine when he was playing Lucifer.

But, if you don't like 24, you probably won't like this show. They follow the formula perfectly. Cliffhangers, mini cliffhangers, every commercial break, at the end of every episode. Twists and turns, and plot changes. Mostly good things, keeps you guessing. And tries to hold your interest. Although, as I mentioned I may not have liked it as much if I had watched it while it was airing. Having to wait every week for the next installment.

Having to suffer through Lost that way and then with the hiatuses just killed my interest in that show. We shall see how Prison Break turns out, starting on Season Two now, and I guess it only went to four. Probably a good thing as well, I was getting worn out on 24 by the time it ended it's run.

So, great show.

4 out of 5 stars

HOP

And so begins the spring movie season of soulless kids movies. I didn't find this movie to be much of anything except boring.

There just wasn't much to hold your attention. Judging by the sell out audiences, the kids are flocking to it in droves.

The performances are OK, I had a hard time looking at the Easter Bunny and not see Greg House. EB was OK.. James Marsden seems to be firmly implanted into dull comedies and kids movies these days.

The best scenes like usual are in the trailer..

I guess I don't know what to add, the movie was just kind of flat. And didn't play well to the adults who had to bring their kids.

And before everyone keeps steaming that it was a kids movie, don't forget the good ones play on two levels usually. And manage to entertain everyone present.. See pretty much anything by Pixar. As well as Shrek, How to Train your Dragon (Little less so)..

2 out of 5 stars

SOURCE CODE

Lets start off with, wait for video. The movie just doesn't seem to be complete. Jakes character has like no development time, and neither does anyone else really. For the whole length of the movie, you don't really care about anyone except maybe Christina.

Maybe had they started with Jakes character when he was in the military. Take 20 or 30 mins and show us who he is. And why we should care anything about who he is, and the ordeal he's going through with these constant trips into the train to find the bomb and the bomber.. But they don't. We hear about it in snippets as he is trying to figure out what's going on in between jumps. But it's not enough.

They should have taken a page from the old Six Million Dollar Man, and had him rushed into some secret military hospital. Where he 'dies' and is take into the program. And since, he is technically KIA they can just take possession of him and wire him into the 'Source Code'..

But again, we don't get any of this. And it could have been done in a half hour or so, and it would have something of a foundation for the last half the movie.

I would think that this may have worked better as a mini series of some sort. The movie just didn't seem to have all the pieces. And the ones we were shown, didn't do it justice.

I liked the fact that we find out, this isn't a time travel movie after all. The alternate universe, parallel dimension schtick was so much more interesting.. But, wait.. At the end we find out it is time travel after all.. /yawn.. Did M. Night just walk in.. What a horrible bit of a twist end..

Ugh.. wait for video.
Interesting concept.. Just not handled well IMO..
2 out of 5 stars

Wrestlemania XXVII

Is this Sunday evening.. With the quality of the PPVs in the last year, I can't say I'm all that excited about this years event. I was interested in seeing The Royal Rumble. But that had to do with the gimmick main event match. And even that, isn't what it used to be. With the number draws leading up to the event.

Will the streak end, or will The Game prevail where HBK could not.. two years in a row. I can't imagine at this point that The Undertaker will lose at Wrestlemania until he's ready to retire, and maybe not even then. I could easily see him retire with the streak intact.

As for the rest of the card, I can't even remember much of it, except Cena, Miz and The Rock. For a four hour show, they sure don't seem to have a lot of must see buzz about things. Maybe they expect buy rates to spike to see Cole get trashed by The King. Im not all that interested in that match either. Oh, we know that Cole has been training. As they've told us that week after week, with Swagger. Not that they couldn't have shown us some vignettes of the training or something..

I suppose this may have something to do with them pretty much killing anything that wasn't singles competition. No tag team division, no light weight division, and no womens division to speak of.. No variety

Guess we'll have to see how it all plays out. After all, it can't come close to being as bad as the last TNA PPV.. Where is my Sting Vs The Undertake at Wrestlemania main event. I would have liked to have seen that one..

And as for the WWE Hall of Fame.. They can't even show that until the next day. Or two days later here. Why not make it part of the show. They went four hours, why not five. I'm currently more interested in the HoF than I am most of the event card.

S U C K E R * P U N C H

Once again, off the top I will say that was a fantastic movie.

Having said that, it would seem that it is also a polarizing movie when it comes to reviews and opinions.

I'm reminded of The Matrix: Reloaded, The Usual Suspects. Either you get it or you don't. And if you don't, there isn't much anyone can say to you to change your mind.

Granted, the movie is pretty simple when you dry out the plot. But, then so was The Matrix. And that didn't stop it from being a mind blowing experience.

It's all in the execution.

Now I wasn't a big fan of Snyders from his previous works. I didn't much care for 300 or The Watchmen. I only really liked the remake of Dawn of the Dead. And, that was pretty much in name only. Since I'm a fan of Romeros original. And his version wasn't much like it.

SuckerPunch is a typical action fest, composed primarily of 5 if I remember right action pieces. With a pretty thin dreamlike wrap around story.

Now, this is definitely a movie.. Not a film as I have mentioned in previous entries.
You buy your popcorn and go to be entertained, and wowed.

And this was the movie for that.. Giant mini-gun wielding 25 foot tall Samurai, World War I Clockwork soldiers, Steampunk, Mechs and engaging a fire breathing dragon with what looks like a WW2 bomber in the skies above a ruined castle. While the girls clear house like Delta force with assault rifles against medieval knights.

If all this sounds like live action anime, that's because it is. And there seems to be an above average amount of music, and dancing interspersed with the action pieces.

Somewhat like Inception (And this is where that comparison ends) the movie takes place in three layers. The metal hospital, the brothel and the separate mission locations. And they do all relate to each other. I have read a good review that walks through how all three tie together closer than they seem. But, I would need to see the movie again to pick up on more than the obvious pieces. As also mentioned in entries before, I'm relating how entertained I was or not.. Not a scene by scene analysis.

So, was I entertained?? Yes. And what could be a deciding factor. Am I an Anime fan?? Yes. So, take that with a grain of salt.

Oh, and Scott Glenn was awesome.. And when I saw him it just screamed David Carradine. But since we don't have him, Glenn was an awesome choice.

4 out of 5 stars

The Adjustment Bureau

Right off the top I can say that the movie was more than enjoyable. But, it wasn't anything extra special, or Shakespearean in scope.

But it did entertain me for a couple hours to see how Damon and Blunt were going to get together, and why they were being kept apart.

Once I saw the end credits, and found out that it was based on a Dick story, and Eric Kripke was involved. I would have known before I went in that it would at least be a good movie. I presume of course, that there isn't more than one Kripke working in Hollywood.

The Adjustment Bureau wasn't hard to figure out, for awhile I thought that it was going to turn out to be some government agency like The Men in Black. But, I can say that I was glad that it wasn't. And I was more than satisfied with what they turned out to be.

I was just left with one odd question, knowing who they were. Why did they need what appeared to be technology to do their adjustments. When they could manipulate objects with the flick of the wrist??

3.5 out of 5 stars

Fringe Season Four

Airlock Alpha is reporting this morning that Fringe is being picked up for a fourth season.

That's fantastic news. Fringe is one of the most interesting, and I find consistant in quality genre shows on TV that I am watching at least. Now that SGU has been cancelled..

Between Fauxlivia, Walternate and Bellivia most recently, it's all at least interesting. Apparently it would be good for them to get their numbers uphttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif for a shot at a fifth season. But they go on to mention that their numbers are good for the timeslot and network that it's on.

So, hopefully they will increase next season. TV shows in the modern day now, never seem to get any time to develop or come into their own anymore before they get cancelled. Just look at the Sarah Connor Chronicles.. It just seemed to be getting to know itself and it was cancelled. And yet V is still on the air.

Now, I do like V.. But it just has this air of mediocrity or amateurishness about it. Like you can see how it has potential but it's not getting there. Even though this season has been getting better, and could be on the right track. But that's a subject for another entry.

Ted Dibiase: The Million Dollar Man

Just finished another wrestling biography book. This time for one of the greatest heels I remember growing up. The Million Dollar Man. Who can't remember the vignettes that the then WWF ran every week for him.

The kids at the pool, the kid dribbling the ball or the kid kissing his feet after a match (Which interestingly would grow up to become the whole F'N show Rob Van Dam)

Lots of great stories, but this book was more about his experiences and not as much about the business as previous books I have read.

It was a fantastic read, and I never knew what a huge star he was well before he ever came to the WWF in the late 80s. With no internet, or anything of the sort. It was impossible really to know.

He did make one comment, that I feel is the problem with the wrestling business today. And he touches on it, towards the end of the book. When he discusses his various attempts to stay in the business, but behind the scenes. And how so much had changed, and for lack of a better term passed him by while he was away.

And that comment was.. He always felt he was a Wrestler who Entertained. NOT an Entertainer who Wrestled.. I feel that says it all really..

And backed up by what I have read lately about how the WWE doesn't want it's people referred to as Professional Wrestlers.. Their Superstars and Divas. Sounds like someone is forgetting their roots.. And what got them there unfortunately.

4 out of 5 stars

The Survivors

Was a BBC Post Apocalyptic series. Some strain of the influenza virus strikes, wiping out something on the order of 99% of the population.

The series follows the struggles of a main cast that forage, and cope with the struggles of getting along amongst themselves, and with other survivors.

I'm only about 6 episodes in, not bad really. The show doesn't come to a good close from what I've read. Seeing as how the series was canceled for poor ratings on a cliffhanger. Seems like any decent show of this nature never lasts. Jericho comes to mind.

But at least AMCs The Walking Dead is apparently doing quite well. So here's hoping it will last awhile.

In the mean time, you should check this out if you don't mind BBC series' and post apocalypse genre stuff to boot.

3 stars out of 5 (Could be adjusted once I finish the entire series)

Morning Glory

What do we have here?? A movie about an up and coming television producer who gets a job and attempts to revive a morning show akin to NBCs Today show.

In this process she ends up enlisting the aid of a grizzled, grumpy and veteran TV personality in Harrison Ford who just wants to sail through the end of his contract playing golf and collecting a paycheck. That is until she reads his contract and makes him join her show.

And the resulting sparks begin to fly as he grates against his co-host.

So what have is a movie about Ford being grumpy, and pissy for a couple hours. That your bound to get a chuckle out of. But, doesn't make for much of a movie. Or all that entertaining either.

2 out of 5 stars