Posted 7/20/12 4:35 pm EST by Charles Webb in Reviews, TV
Up to now, Falling Skies has had several intriguing episodes, a few decent episodes, and one or two outright bad ones. But this week's "Molon Labe" is the first genuinely thrilling episode of the alien invasion series. As the Second Mass attempts to keep hold of an invaluable prisoner of war, the invaders launch an all-out assault on their hospital stronghold.
A couple of surprising deaths and one insect invasion make this episode the best of the series so far.
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Posted 7/20/12 10:25 am EST by Charles Webb in Reviews, SDCC, TV
Scream writer Kevin Williamson likes you to know that he knows the conventions of storytelling. That's, at least, what I've taken from his constantly winking and nudging forays into horror, and that seems to be the agenda of The Following, the upcoming Fox series with an intriguing premise re: a serial killer creating disciples that is hampered by a writer writing awkwardly, painfully about another would-be writer (who's also, in turn, obsessed and knowledgeable about another writer still). It's complicated. Read More...
Posted 7/18/12 2:00 pm EST by Lemonjuice McGee in Reviews, SDCC, Sideshow Collectibles, Toys
At the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International, we saw an incredible amount of cool toys. Our brains were practically fried by Sunday afternoon as our feeble minds tried to process all that our eyes beheld. Lots and lots of those eye-gougingly awesome toys and statues were viewed during out walk through of the Sideshow Collectibles booth, and of course their wide range of 1/6th scale figures. While the new DC Comics-based line was the huge news, their G.I. Joe display didn't disappoint and we jumped at the chance to review their exclusive Lt. Falcon figure. Now that we're back from the madness of SDCC, it's time to plow into Falcon's review!
Read on to find out if this G.I. Joe exclusive is worthy of a place in the ranks of your collection, as we take him on a trek through the thick jungles and dangerous rivers of our local park!
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Posted 7/18/12 10:30 am EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, Reviews
Right Stuf recently re-released this three movie collection previously issued by ADV Films here in the U.S. back in '03. The three 50-minute (more or less) features are each moderately different interpretations of these agents of the 3WA, these space bikini-clad "Lovely Angels."
If you're unfamiliar with the characters, space cops Yui (the sweet, sensible one), and Kei (the hotheaded, tough one) are gun-toting space cops working for the Interpol-like 3WA. The duo has a reputation for getting their man and causing massive property damage (and being distractingly attractive to most of their quarry). They've had their time to shine in their own ongoing TV series, features like these, and manga, and the characters' dynamic and the pretty loosely-defined setting of the series allows any studio that tackles the Dirty Pair to drop these dangerous ladies into pretty much any adventures that have guns, things going boom, and baddies on the run.
A mix of over-the-top gun action, explosions, and a healthy dose of fan service (heroines Kei and Yui have very impractical uniforms), the three features vary wildly in quality, but there are some bright, shining bits worth checking out.
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Posted 7/16/12 3:29 pm EST by Charles Webb in Reviews, TV
If one of the major themes of this season is Tom's integration back into the increasingly frayed group of survivors in the Second Mass, then its counterpoint is his son Ben's further alienation. While Tom has become more of a leader to the group, Ben's behavior has become more erratic, more focused on the strange messages and aims of the red-eyed Skitter. His family, the rest of the Second Mass don't know what to make of him, and "Homecoming" pushes that distrust forward a little more as another harnessed member of the Second Mass makes an unexpected return.
This week's episode crisscrosses several threats (with a healthy dose of coincidence) to drive a point home: harness kids are a problem.
****Some minor spoilers about this week's episode after the jump.****
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Posted 7/12/12 9:04 pm EST by Charles Webb in Reviews, SDCC, TV
After its SDCC premiere, I guess I'm just going to have to get past my skepticism about the premise at the core of NBC's upcoming sci-fi series from J.J. Abrams, Revolution because the truth is, it's actually an enjoyable frontier drama with some thrilling action beats. Whatever the mysterious event is that knocks out the world's ability to generate and use technology is a rock-solid conceit (EMP? Aliens? Who knows) but the fact that 15 years later, human society hasn't figured out a way to turn the lights back on seems unlikely at best. Does the power to conduct electricity simply not exist anymore?
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Posted 7/12/12 12:55 pm EST by Charles Webb in Reviews, SDCC, TV
The 666 Park Avenue pilot review is part of MTV Geek's ongoing San Diego Comic-Con coverage.
You would think these days, people would read the fine print when something seems too good to be true—especially when that something is a massive, rent-free apartment in Manhattan inside of the towering Drake Apartments on 999 Park Avenue. And you’ll want to be especially careful about what you sign when the person handing you the papers is real estate magnate Gavin Doran (Lost’s Terry O’Quinn).
Doran’s infernal bargains with the residents of the Drake (and the doom comes crashing down on their heads) is the basis of 666 Park Avenue, an intriguing mix of sex, business, politics, and the occult in a building where seemingly everyone can be bought for a price.
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Posted 7/10/12 4:00 pm EST by Lemonjuice McGee in Hasbro, Reviews, San Diego Comic-Con, SDCC, Toys
In the world of toys it's pretty much agreed that G.I. Joe and Transformers are two brands that not only stand the test of time, but also have some nice releases regularly hitting shelves-- regardless of the various incarnations. Well, like last year, Hasbro is combining their two flagship-franchises for a brand-new exclusive set at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con international! This time, fans get a shot at picking up a Cobra H.I.S.S. Tank that features a deco and extra pieces to give it the appearance of every Trans-Fan's favorite cyclopian, purple, laser-pistol: Shockwave! While the previous Starscream and Cobra Commander set was fantastic, this year's goes one step further in delivering even more of a "story" by adding extra accessories like Energon cubes, a briefcase full of cash, a Constructicon-colored B.A.T., and even a tiny Soundwave! Read on as we review this SDCC-Exclusive set to see if it more than meets our eyes! (Yes, that WAS horrible.)
Posted 7/10/12 12:00 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Anime, Movies, Reviews, Section23 Films
There's a small band of super powered young people, hated and feared by the world, only wanting to live in peace. They're pursued (with deadly force) by a group of technologically-advanced, quasi-government operatives using cutting edge robotics and weapons to capture and kill these evolved humans.
In a lot of ways, Studio Bones' five film feature Towanoquon is a better anime X-Men story than the actual X-Men anime, spending a lot more time on the themes that originally gave Marvel's mutants their resonance. If you can look past the ending that devolves into one of those plots by the villain to give everyone powers for some reason, then on the whole Towanoquon, is a solid effort.
Much of the story is fixed on Quon, a seemingly immortal "Attractor," one of the super powered young people of the series. Born over a thousand years ago in the countryside of Japan, he's spent his very long life trying to protect others like him. Besides being able to recover from nearly any injury, he can also transform into a ferocious, clawed monster, whose design is of the Kamen Rider variety, giving what's supposed to be an organic secondary form a costumed look. Read More...
Posted 7/9/12 10:39 am EST by Charles Webb in HBO, Reviews, TV
By the end of this week's True Blood, Bill, Sookie, Eric, and Alcide may have bitten off more than they could chew, while Tara gets an old job at a new place along with an old new friend; Lafayette starts to freak about the whole demonic possession thing while Jason and Andy investigate a shooting and Terry and his old Army buddy investigate not getting set on fire.
****Warning, spoilers below!****
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Posted 7/7/12 12:24 pm EST by Charles Webb in Animation, Movies, Reviews
According to the press notes for The King of Pigs, director Yeun Sang-Ho based the film on his own experiences in middle school in his native South Korea. Even if the what's onscreen is just a partial exaggeration, it had to have been a harrowing, horrible time for him and any kid dubbed one of the "pigs" in the film. In the viciously stratified all boys school that Yuen puts on the screen, the pigs are at the very bottom of the social castes, weak or poor kids, or kids who just aren't connected. Their bullying at the hands of the better-of "dogs" is really a case of the old saying that crap rolls downhill: the dogs are beaten and harassed by upperclassmen who set the rules and those beatings are passed down to the lowly pigs.
In Yuen's story, Jong-Suk and Kyung-Min are two such "pigs" whose present-day lives as adults are irrevocably damaged by those days. But before you go thinking that the shifting timeline of The King of Pigs is simply a weepy animated drama about bullying, consider the character that Kyung-Min and Jong-Suk can't stop obsessing over in their adulthood: the damaged, dangerous Chul-Yi, another boy from their class who isn't afraid of the bullies because he's some kind of terrible monster himself. How these three boys' lives and intersect lays the groundwork for their tragic futures, and Yuen realizes it as a steady, slowly-building nightmare.
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Posted 7/6/12 2:30 pm EST by Charles Webb in Reviews, TV
This week's ponderously titled "Falling Skies" episode pushes forward a couple of expected but nonetheless welcome developments as the battle against the alien invaders takes a turn.
****Some mild spoilers about this week's episode after the jump.****
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Posted 7/6/12 10:30 am EST by Lemonjuice McGee in Mezco Toyz, Reviews, Toys
As we prepare for our journey to the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con in order to see the future of pop culture, a box was delivered to us that flooded our minds with memories of the distant 1990s. Mezco Toyz has released an all new 6" figure based on everyone's favorite worm-based hero (with the exception of Wyrm from vintage TMNT, of course): Earthworm Jim! Like all of Mezco's toy offerings (including their SDCC offerings), he has a certain amount of cool-factor that makes him a great addition to our shelves. Read on for a full review of Jim!
Posted 7/5/12 4:30 pm EST by Lemonjuice McGee in First Look, Hasbro, Reviews, San Diego Comic-Con, SDCC, Toys
If there is an award for creating the biggest exclusive toy for the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International, then Hasbro has won it hands down with their Marvel Universe S.H.I.E.L.D. Super Heli-Carrier! What better way to wind down from a day of patriotic barbeques and fireworks than by reading a review for Nick Fury's stamp on American militarist ingenuity?! Join us as we take a look at the Super Heli-Carrier and see if it's worth taking the space normally occupied by our coffee table!
Oh, and as you can see above, we tossed it in a lake for good measure field testing! It floats!
Posted 7/2/12 4:30 pm EST by Charles Webb in Movies, Reviews
It's reassuring to know that given the benefit of time and age, Barbarella lead Jane Fonda has found the charm in her role as the sexually liberated astronaut. You actually have to extricate Fonda's performance here from her later stories about her turbulent relationship with the film's director (and her then-husband) Roger Vadim, whom Fonda has described as Svengali-esque, making all of the scenes of violence and depredation against Barbarella take on an extra layer of unintended meaning.
And the movie itself is one that suffers under the description of "camp classic" when really the people who label movies like that would like to apply the equally dubious "so bad it's good" description. But there's so much to like about Fonda's work here and the movie as a whole: Fonda brings naivete and sweetness to a part that requires a certain level of comfort going bare onscreen, while the hostile planet Lythion is a parade of inventive and odd ways to imperil our heroine.
Paramount's Blu-ray release does well by Roger Vadim's 1968 movie in terms of basic presentation, but like the 1999 DVD, don't go looking for anything in the way of archival material.
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