Television Review - Bones S01E18

BONES
Season One, Episode Eighteen

"The Man With The Bone"
Directed By Jesus Salvador Trevino

Starring Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz

2006, 60 mins, [TV-14]

 

Re: A dead man is found outside of a treasure hunting dig site clutching a finger bone. From a pirate!
 

Outstanding: Pirates! Also, some good actors in roles here. Pirates!
 

Unacceptable: Not really much pirate action or treasure hunting, sadly.
 

Summary: I have always been in love with the Money Pit, an island suspected to hold Blackbeard's treasure, so I cannot imagine not liking this episode. The fact that the story is pretty good, apart from some questionable timeline issues is the parrot on the shoulder, so to speak.
 

5/5

Film Review - Contagion

 CONTAGION
 Directed by Stephen Soderbergh
Starring Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne

2011, 106 mins, [PG-13]

 

Re: A deadly virus is unleashed on the planet. 
 

Outstanding: A captivating slow burn of a movie. Great understated acting and the film was shot beautifully. The music genuinely enhanced most scenes. Marion Cotillard is gorgeous.
 

Unacceptable: A few little niggles about people's reactions but nothing significant. The pace of the movie is likely to turn off many, especially after the action-based trailer. Gwyneth Paltrow looks like Michael J Fox on the poster.
 

Summary: When I was in high school, I watched a movie based on an old Michael Crichton novel, The Andromeda Strain. As I sat transfixed in front of the claustrophobic film, most of the rest of the class goofed off and passed notes. Contagion is the closest thing to that movie I've ever seen, but with a broader scale and higher star wattage. While that isn't necessarily a good thing, the movie was still haunting and stark and a beautifully made movie.
 

4/5

Comic Book Review - Excalibur #4-5

 EXCALIBUR
Volume One, Issue #4-5
"Send In The Clowns / Still Crazy After All These Years"

Written by Chris Claremont

Art by Alan Davis & Paul Neary

1988, 32 pages each

 

Re: Redheaded villain Arcade captures Captain Britain's ex-girlfriend, Courtney,  and uses her as bait to lure the team into an old factory that he's turned into a madhouse of terror and death. That's what redheads do.
 

Outstanding: Courtney is great here. She has a lot of pluck and is a pretty unique character. Also has nice legs. Shadowcat really shines too, showing off her tech abilities and sense of humor.
 

Unacceptable: Arcade is kind of a low-rent Joker.
 

Summary: A fun little two issue arc. Nothing really happens, aside from the triangle between Courtney, Brian and Meggan steaming up and the "team" still doesn't work as a team, since they're in other bodies half the time, but crazy, goofy action is everywhere and it's a fun ride.
 

4/5

Film Review - The Adventures Of Tintin

 THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
Directed By Stephen Spielberg
Starring Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig

2011, 107 mins, [PG]

 

Re: Reporter Tintin gets caught up in a treasure hunt swirling around a model of a doomed boat and that captain's drunken descendant. 
 

Outstanding: Old school adventure, harkening back to movie serials and the first Indiana Jones flicks. The lighting and modeling is gorgeous. Snowy is adorable.
 

Unacceptable: The story is a little obvious, but this movie isn't about the mystery, it's the spectacle. The characters, motion captured and animated, never fit into the scenes convincingly. They seem to float there as if in front of a matte painting.
 

Summary: Enjoyably raucous adventure movie. I don't think it's everything it could have been and I'm mostly unfamiliar with the source material, but I had a good time watching Tintin. There were a few moments that made me really wish I'd seen it in 3D - not only would it have looked spectacular, but it also looked cheesy and out of place in 2D. Between the nonstop action sets and the excellent score from John Williams, it made for an excellent Saturday matinee at home.
 

3/5

Film Review - Footloose (2011)

 FOOTLOOSE
Directed by Craig Brewer
Starring Kenny Wormald, Dennis Quaid, Julianne Hough

2011, 113 mins, [PG-13]

 

Re: A big city boy (He's from "Boston...Mass" every time, in case you weren't sure which Boston) moves to a small Georgia town where dancing is outlawed. Ipso Facto, only outlaws dance.
 

Outstanding: The dancing in this is really fascinating. There's still some of the herky, jerky urban stuff that's so popular, but the bulk of it is a ballet-like mix of old-school and gymnastics and something else. I'm not a dancer - I have no idea. At any rate, it's pretty impressive. Dennis Quaid does a fine job as the preacher whose son died and whose daughter's giant blue eyes have strayed to the newcomer.
 

Unacceptable: It's a movie about teenagers dancing and rebelling and I'm a thirty-three year old man sitting at home watching it on a Monday afternoon. 
 

Summary: I always enjoyed the original Footloose from when I was a kid and they do an admirable job staying true to the source while updating it for modern audiences. The direct homages are brilliant. Not really my cup of tea, but I quite enjoyed it all the same.
 

4/5

Television Review - Bones S01E17

 BONES
Season One, Episode Seventeen

"The Skull In The Desert"
Directed ByDonna Deitch
Starring Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz

2005, 60 mins, [TV-14]

 

Re: Angela's boyfriend goes missing in the desert.
 

Outstanding: The change in landscape is nice, but done better on other episodes.
 

Unacceptable: Generally an unimpressive episode. 
 

Summary: For some reason, there wasn't anything about this episode I liked, despite being a huge fan of Angela and her hippy-dippy ways.
 

1/5

Book Review - In America by Stephen Fry

 IN AMERICA
Fifty States And The Man Who Set Out To See Them All
By Stephen Fry

2010, 314 pages, eBook

 

Re: British comedian Stephen Fry could have been born in America and who that person could have been has always intrigued him. So he sets out to the US to visit all fifty states and see what it would have been like to live there. Or travel through, anyway.
 

Outstanding: Fry is hilarious and touching, with wry views and unique perspectives. As illuminating for Americans as Brits.
 

Unacceptable: He severely shortchanges Idaho, just taking a tiny stop at the "Welcome To Idaho" sign. Not that there's much else there anyway. Too much space was dedicated to listing famous celebs and people of note from each state - though the disclaimer of "President" after a few names was kind of funny.
 

Summary: I loved this book. Fry manages to go to many of the same places others have been and have completely new views of them. His feelings about the national parks system makes me want to go camping, and the whole thing made me yearn for a road trip. Recommended.
 

5/5
 

Notes: They filmed an equally great and identically named television series at the same time as he wrote the book and it's also worth checking out. 

Comic Book Review - Marvel Comics Presents #31-38

 MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS
EXCALIBUR
Volume One, Issue #31-38
"Having A Wild Weekend"

Written by Michael Higgins

Art by Erik Larson & Terry Austin

1988, 32 pages each

 

Re: The team is captured by bad parodies of the Looney Toons characters and placed in a series of deadly traps revolving around cartoon characters. All watched by a mysterious master. It's Arcade again, if you couldn't guess.
 

Outstanding: Erik Larson really likes to draw Phoenix's butt. It's better than the other stories in the comic
 

Unacceptable: Not only is this a rehash of the first run with Arcade in the main title, this is a really bad rehash with worse ideas but the same plot. 
 

Summary: Almost unreadable. Erik Larson's art, while good in the right place is a horrible fit here and the story is so nearly identical to the original run that it was almost embarrassing. Ugh.
 

1/5
 

Notes: Marvel Comics Presents is a series that ran in the late nineties with four serialized stories in each issue. This review only refers to the Excalibur issues. But if you're wondering, the Coldblood and Black Panther tales that ran at the same time were also very dire. 

Film Review - Star Trek

 STAR TREK

Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Eric Bana

2009, 127 mins, [PG-13]

 

Re: The reimagined origins of Star Trek's Captain Kirk and crew.

Outstanding: Beautiful special effects. Some excellent casting, both in terms of acting ability and in comparison to their original counterparts. Some moments of humor that lighten the mood nicely. Oh yeah, and young Checkov is hilarious.
 

Unacceptable: Eric Bana and his villainous crew was pretty bland and despite his evil plans and eyebrows, he never really came off as much of a villain. Star Fleet seems to have pretty much the same promotion standards as Star Wars' Rebellion - Saved some folks and acted recklessly? Congratulations, General!

Summary: I've gotta confess, I've always been a Star Wars man. My fave Star Trek was the whale one, so I'm not the guy you'd look to for how accurate this movie was compared to the series and mythos. I always felt like Trekkies were a little too obsessed with detail and minutiae, so this flick suited me fine. Actiony, pretty and a decent story, and a goofy little alien dude. I liked it.
 

4/5

 

Television Review - Bones S01E16

 BONES
Season One, Episode Sixteen

"The Woman In The Tunnel"
Directed By Joe Napolitano
Starring Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz

2005, 60 mins, [TV-14]

 

Re: A documentary filmmaker is found deep beneath the city. 
 

Outstanding: I've always been fascinated  by the world beneath our cities and while this episode doesn't really bring much to the table, it's still a nice peek. I love Glenn Plummer, who plays the off kilter Mayor Of Moletown.
 

Unacceptable: The killer is pretty obvious and the final scene is a little over the top, prop-wise.
 

Summary: An okay episode. Not a tremendous amount happens beyond the story, which isn't a hugely enjoyable plot, but it's watchable and the guest stars help a lot.
 

3/5

Comic Review - Excalibur - The Sword Is Drawn

EXCALIBUR
The Sword Is Drawn

Written by Chris Claremont

Art by Alan Davis & Paul Neary

1988, 46 pages

 

Re: Each reeling from the news that the X-Men are dead, Kitty, Rachel, Kurt, Meggan and Brian get caught up between two groups - a shiny group of skin stealing, power resistant Warwolves - sent from Mojo to steal back Phoenix and a group called Technet, also out for Phoenix! They must really have a thing for redheads in spikes.
 

Outstanding: Alan Davis. Of course. Technet is actually a pretty cool team. They're unique looking and have diverse powers. 
 

Unacceptable: The story itself isn't actually all that strong.
 

Summary: The Sword Is Drawn is very much a team origin story (Which I should have read before the first three issues of the comic...) pretty much just shoehorning reasons for the members to get together, complete with a speech at the end explaining the logic. Not that great of an issue, but it's the beginning of one of my favorite comic book series, so I'll let it slide a bit.
 

3/5

Film Review - Revolver

 REVOLVER
Directed By Guy Ritchie
Starring Jason Statham, Ray Liotta

2005, 115 mins, [R]

 

Re: A gambler, recently out of prison, finds himself caught up in a game of cons and double-crosses between groups of gangsters and thieves.
 

Outstanding: Directed beautifully, with innovative techniques and effects. Ray Liotta is great in this, with his facial expressions speaking volumes. Mark Strong is spectacular.
 

Unacceptable: The story, while intriguing never really drew me in.
 

Summary: This is a twisty movie with touches of The Usual Suspects, Blade Runner, Fight Club and Ghost Dog. (If that is possible) I liked what it was supposed to be and I loved most of the way it was filmed, but I didn't actually like the movie. It's a mix of A+ ingredients that end up making a C grade cake. But still worth watching. (This isn't much of a review, I admit. So sue me.)
 

3/5

Television Review - Hell On Wheels S01E02

 HELL ON WHEELS
Season One Episode Two
"Immoral Mathematics"
Directed by David Von Ancken
Starring Ansom Mount, Colm Meaney, Common

2011. 60 mins, [TV-MA]

 

Re: Cullen is suspected of murder while Doc Durrant searches for his missing maps.
 

Outstanding: This is still a very pretty show. The newly intoduced character, The Swede is excellent.
 

Unacceptable: It's a very slow burning show, which may turn some folks off.
 

Summary: But then again, it's a show about the railroad set in the the wild west 1860's, so it may turn a lot of people off, but I like what I'm seeing. Though not a lot happens in this episode action-wise, it does manage to cram a lot of story into its runtime. Looking forward to the next episode.


 

4/5

Note - The header image here is Ted Levine, who doesn't actually appear in this episode, but I liked it too much to not use.

Comic Book Review - Bomb Queen - Volume 1

 BOMB QUEEN
Volume One
"Royal Flush, Queen High"
Writer & Artist - Jimmie Robinson

2006, 34 pages, Mature Readers

 

Re: A city run by a sadistic, slutty supervillainess. When a slimy politico tries to take back the city, things get bloody.
 

Outstanding: I've always been a sucker for comics with collateral damage and people's attitudes shown in a realistic manner and in this first volume, that's all here. Buildings fall, costumes tear and people die.
 

Unacceptable: A spelling error or two. Some of the humor is the kind of silly toilet humor that annoys me.
 

Summary: Not the best comic in the world. The art is a little inconsistent and there isn't a single likeable character in the book. But there's some funny bits, some naughty bits and it's fast moving enough that it's worth a read, if not a purchase.
 

2/5

Notes: There are a few additional volumes of Bomb Queen after the first. I read them, but liked them even less than the first and didn't feel they were worth reviewing.