By now, you, my loyal readers, will know that I tend to despise/loathe/abominate reality TV – which is why I am surprised when I find myself liking a reality series like Cha$e, where the format is more game show than anything else, and relies on contestants being capable of utilizing their intelligence [and some spiffy […]
Tag: Sci-Fi
TELEVISION: My Own Worst Enemy – Jekyll & Hyde & The Spying Game!
Call it a hunch, but I suspect that NBC’s My Own Worst Enemy [Mondays, 10/9C] will be greeted by a lot of critics with cries of “It’s silly,” and “What the heck was that?” – which is kind of a shame. The series, which stars Christian Slater as super-spy/sociopath Edward Albright and nice guy husband/father/efficiency […]
MOVIE REVIEW: City of Ember: The World Ends But Life Goes On… For Awhile!
When a movie begins with a narrator intoning, “The day the world ended…” you can be sure that there’s a caveat somewhere. With City of Ember that caveat is that a bunch of the best and brightest built an underground city so mankind could live on. An ingenious device was placed in a box that […]
TELEVISION: Michelle Hangs out with Ghost Hunters, Sanctuary and gets Chased! Report from Sci-Fi’s recent Digital Press Tour!
It’s been a few weeks since I last posted something here. Frankly, I’ve been really busy playing an inordinate amount of Rock Band 2 and working on the upcoming EclipseMagazine.com book, “Tell Us Who You Are – The EclipseMagazine.com Interviews.” The book will be out in time for your Holiday shopping pleasure. Enough with the […]
TELEVISION: Sanctuary – Sanctuary for All: Not an Empty Motto!
The Sci Fi Channel’s new series, Sanctuary [Fridays, 9/8C] is adapted from the internet series of the same name. It revolves around Dr. Helen Magnus and her “sanctuary for all.” Dr. Will Zimmerman [Robin Dunne] is a mess. A forensic psychologist, he’s lost his job with the FBI and now plies his trade with a […]
DVD REVIEW: Iron Man Ultimate 2-Disc Edition Flies High!
In my review of Iron Man during its theatrical run, after noting that the film worked mainly because of its honouring the source material from the Marvel comics, I wrapped up with: “While the action scenes aren’t as accomplished as something by Michael Bay, they come off better because director Jon Favreau understands that it’s […]
DVD REVIEW: Quark: The Complete Series: Children and Quasi-Norms First!
In May, 1977, NBC premiered a [very] short-lived satirical science fiction series created by Buck Henry – one of the duo behind Get Smart. The series was called Quark and it ran for seven weeks before it was unceremoniously cancelled. The series was based around a United Galactic Sanitation Patrol vessel captained by Adam Quark […]
MOVIE REVIEW: Eagle Eye Combines Hi-Tech and SF to Create Effective Thriller!
Eagle Eye marks the fourth time Shia LeBeouf has worked on a Steven Spielberg production, and the second time that he’s worked with both Spielberg and director D.J. Caruso – and the triple team may well be turning into one of modern cinema’s most potent. Eagle Eye is a techno-thriller that comes across as a […]
MOVIE REVIEW: Death Race: Baby You Can Drive My Car!
The original, Roger Corman production of Death Race 2000 was a high energy, in your face film that [sadly] predicted the reality TV thing. In its highly campy way, though, DR2K mixed in social commentary through the race’s rules [Hit a pedestrian? Add points. The pedestrian is an old lady? Bonus Points!]. The remake is […]
MOVIE REVIEW: Hellboy II: The Golden Army Is Glorious Fun!
Although technically not a superhero movie, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is one of the most beautifully visual films of this or any other year. It’s also a combination of a lot of genres: comic book movie, action flick, fairytale, horror story, eco-fable, romantic drama, pulpy noir, FX flick. The thing is, because of writer/director […]
MOVIE REVIEW: Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D: More Fun Than It Has Any Right To Be!
New Line’s Journey to the Center of the Earth is a flimsy plot – loosely based on Jules Verne’s novel of the same name – used to set up a string of wild [and at times gross and/or grotesque] 3D effects. The good news is that the combination of cast and CG effects make it […]