Category Reviews

Apr 4 2012

Season Two Of The Walking Dead Concludes, Part I

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Cliffhanger Opening

Episode Ten: Episode ten of The Walking Dead’s second season, “18 Miles Out”, opens with a smash – literally. In an exciting pre-credits scene, walkers crash through the windows of an abandoned factory and chase Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) and last episode’s hostage, Randall (Michael Zegen) – his hands tied by rope – through the factory’s lot. As the trio attempt to escape it’s every man for himself: Shane holes up in a school bus, straining to keep the doors closed to prevent the walkers from swarming in; Rick runs from a walker, barely escaping; and Randall, abandoned by the other two, crawls to reach a knife a few yards away….

Post-credits, the events unfold via flashback. Deciding not to kill Randall, Rick and Shane agree to abandon him several miles away from the farm where he has a chance of survival. On the way, Rick – looking haggard and sounding hoarse and exhausted – stops the car at a quiet junction to have a much-needed and long overdue man-to-man with Shane. Laying it out calmly and carefully, but with a firm edge, Rick tells him that he knows the truth about Otis’ mysterious death and about Lori’s pregnancy. Shane questions Rick’s survival instincts, but Rick stresses that he is a fighter who will do what he needs to do to protect his family.

Continuing their drive, Rick thinks ahead, making survival suggestions for the group’s upcoming long, cold winter on the ranch. Shane is passive and pre-occupied with his thoughts. They pass a walker plodding through a nearby field; Shane sees it but says nothing.

Throwing A Wrench…

Reaching a creepy, abandoned industrial plant, they kill a couple of walkers and break in. As they explore the silent premises, they are shaken up by charred bodies lying in a gruesome outdoor pyre. Further in, they see two dead security guards lying side-by-side, methodically placed, but with no bites. Rick, staring at the bodies, episode 10 fightsurmises that it was scratches. They drag Randall to the perimeter, rip the duct tape of his mouth but leave his hands and feet tied, and then abandon him. As the two walk away, Randall desperately tries appealing to their sense of good will and reason, to no avail. Only after shouting that he went to school with Maggie do Rick and Shane stop – both know that this knowledge is dangerous. Thinking that he might find his way back to the farm, Shane prepares to shoot the boy. Rick kicks Shane’s pistol away, igniting a brutal fistfight. Bloody and bruised, the two ex-deputy sheriffs each take a beating, with Rick coming out slightly on top. Shane throws a huge wrench at Rick, who ducks but it smashes through the building window…and walkers alerted to the commotion start pouring out (hence the show’s opening)…

Please click on the link to Deadloggers to continue reading about Episode Ten

A Bunch Of Angry Men & Women

Episode Eleven: As the second season of The Walking Dead finishes up, the pre-credits scene of episode eleven, “Judge, Jury, Executioner” opens in the barn as Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) brutally interrogates Randall (Michael Zegen). The young hostage initially yields little info, but after Daryl’s beatings and not-so-subtle threats, he reveals that his renegade friends numbers thirty men, armed with semi-automatic rifles. He reveals to Daryl that they once kidnapped and gang-raped two farmer’s daughters and forced the farmer to watch. Daryl reacts furiously…

Post-credits, Daryl passes the grisly findings to Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and the others: if Randall’s friends pass through, the survivors are dead meat. Rick decides that the execution continues as planned; all agree except Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn), who argues that they have no right to take a life. Additionally, he puts forth that Randall is “just a kid”, he needs due process, etc. This leaves Rick unmoved. Dale next tries Andrea (Laurie Holden) and plays on her past as a civil rights lawyer, together with a call to maintain their humanity in the face of a changing world. This yields similar results, although Andrea agrees to guard Randall from the others.

Later, while Andrea is outside the barn guarding the young hostage as promised, Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) reveals to her his disgruntled suspicions that Rick will spare Randall at the last minute. Shane further reveals his thoughts about Rick’s incompetence and bad decisions as leader, coldly hinting about the need for “change”… Randall hears all this through a crack in the barn wall, but spots young Carl (Chandler Riggs) sitting on a loft in the barn watching him out of boredom. Using a slick buddy-buddy tone, he tries to persuade Carl to release him. Shane barges in and shoves a pistol to Randall’s face, but is stopped by Andrea. Shane warns Carl and promises not to tell his parents Rick and Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies).

Sentenced

While preparing for the hanging, Rick announces to Lori his intentions of clearing out the barn for the survivors’ new lodging, and strategically placing lookouts in the loft in preparation of the upcoming bleak, cold, and of course, walker-saturated winter. Even better, he suggests that they ask Hershel if they can stay in the house, to which Lori agrees.

stuck walkerAfter an incident in which Carl is rude to Carol (Melissa McBride) – calling her an “idiot” for believing in heaven – the young boy nicks a gun from Daryl and leaves camp, unsupervised. Ambling around the outside, he finds a walker stuck in the mud near a riverbed. He throws rocks at it, but gets too close: the walker frees one leg trying to get the young boy…

Please click on the link to Deadloggers to continue reading about Episode Eleven

Evan Rothfeld

Mar 30 2012

Wrath Of The Titans Is An Improvement Over Clash

Though many hated the 2010 remake of Clash Of The Titans, to this reviewer it was an enjoyable romp; it wasn’t anything great but it was entertaining with nice special effects. The sequel Wrath Of The Titans is more of the same, which may or may not be good news depending on where you stand with Clash Of The Titans.

Wrath Of The Titans picks up several years after the first one, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is now living as a simple fisherman in a quaint village with his son Helius (John Bell). Sadly, Io (portrayed in the first film by the beautiful Gemma Arterton) died in between films and is a missed presence. One day the demigod Perseus is visited by his father Zeus (Liam Neeson) who asks for his help. The Greek gods are dying off because people have stopped worshipping them, the remaining gods are now weaker and to remedy this Zeus’ brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Zeus’ son Aries (Edgar Ramirez) want to free the titan Kronos (actually Zeus and Hades’ father for anyone not knowing Greek mythology) from his underworld prison to regain power. The problem is that Kronos intends to destroy the world.

Perseus doesn’t want anything to do with the Greek gods’ problems but reluctantly gets involved after a two-headed chimera escapes from the underworld and attacks his village. Later he learns that Zeus has been captured by Hades and Aries and that his power is being drained to empower Kronos. Thus, the demigod joins forces with Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), another demigod Agenor (Toby Kebbell) and the god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy) to find an entrance to the underworld, free Zeus and defeat Kronos.

This film has non-stop action and special effects sequences. Most of it was good, but one thing that was different from the first film is that more emphasis is placed on the gods themselves, which is a good thing since Neeson and Fiennes work well together and make convincing gods. Another point is that there are less monsters featured in this film but they were nonetheless amazing. The most impressive ones being Kronos, the chimera and a family of giant Cyclops. In fact, the Cyclops were so well done it was a shame they weren’t used more in the film. Worthington again does a decent job as the reluctant warrior forced to save the world. Many characters were more memorable than those in Clash Of The Titans and added flavor this mythological world, especially Agenor and Hephaestus, who both provided some comedic relief. The film has its drawbacks, it races from plot point to plot point with action scenes holding them together resulting in character development being sacrificed. While Zeus and the other gods get more screen time other characters like the flying horse Pegasus and Hephaestus only have extended cameos. But director Jonathan Liebesman does his usual competent job in presenting an entertaining film.

Overall, while Wrath Of The Titans isn’t in the same league as Lord Of The Rings or Harry Potter it is a worthwhile diversion on a Saturday night. Regarding the post-converted 3D, it actually was much better done than the original and not as headache-inducing. It may not be genuine 3D but if you have the extra cash go ahead and splurge on the 3D version of this film.

Lewis T. Grove

Mar 25 2012

New Fringe & Supernatural: All Is Right!

Ah, last night was great for TV watching. Wasn’t home to see the new episodes of Fringe and Supernatural but I DVRed them and finally caught up to them today. Wow, both new episodes hit the mark(s) with some amazing, wonderful and disturbing developments.

Fringe began its run of the final eight shows for the season (and maybe the series unless Fox renews it for a fifth season) with “A Short Story About Love.” There were basically three storylines; one about Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) realizing the memories and feelings from the Olivia of Peter Bishop’s (Joshua Jackson) universe were supplanting her own. The problem is that Peter’s Olivia is in love with him, while the “regular” Olivia has no romantic feelings towards him. Meanwhile, Peter is following clues left behind by the Observer that apparently died in the previous episode. The third storyline was pretty average procedural junk about a deformed madman out to create a love potion from killing lovers. It was the kind of stuff you may find in a typical X-Files episode. Luckily, this storyline didn’t dominate the show.

The big reveals were pretty surprising. It turns out (SPOILERS AHEAD) that Peter is in fact in his own universe so that Olivia’s new feelings for him is probably the universe correcting itself. Luckily for us soft-hearts, Olivia independently decided to give in to her new memories and feelings and the end was so blissful and romantic. It was a heartwarming reminder to us cynics that love is the greatest force in the universe. Even on Fringe.

Supernatural began airing new episodes last week, and just as it all seemed hopeless for the ally-challenged Winchester brothers, Sam (Jared Padelecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) Castiel (Misha Collins) returned!

Yay! Our favorite stoic Angel that supposedly died earlier this season (and gave rise to those dumb Leviathan baddies) is back. In this week’s episode “The Born-Again Identity” Sam is committed to a psychiatric ward because the Lucifer hallucination in his head has driven him crazy. Desperately calling anyone for help, Dean finds out about this genuine faith healer. So when he goes to the guy’s place it turns out the healer is none other than Castiel. It turns out that he lost his memory and doesn’t remember being an angel or anything else.

Anyway, he decides to help Dean out. It was so great to see our pal Cass, it helps that he’s easy on the eyes LOL. Eventually, he remembers who he is and is wracked with guilt over his previous actions when he tried to play God. He gets to Sam in time to save him from a demon. But it turns out he can’t cure Sam of his hallucinations so in an act of self-sacrifice he transfers the debilitating hallucinations onto himself and he winds committed. Frankly it sucks that they had to leave him there in that ward. I guess the producers still wanted the brothers on their own to take on those Leviathan. Still sucks anyway because I know Castiel would kick the Leviathan’s butt all over the place. It just makes me wonder why can’t the Winchesters find some supernatural allies to help them with the Leviathan? Hopefully, they will be done with when the season finale comes around.

Annette DeForrester

 

Mar 14 2012

Rising Dread & Other Complications On The Walking Dead

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In the previous episode of The Walking Dead, “Nebraska”, Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies) set off to find and bring home her husband Rick but hit a walker on the way and crashed into a tree. The pre-credits scene of episode nine, “Triggerfinger”, shows Lori on the deserted road after dark , lying unconscious in the overturned car. A walker approaches, spotting the trapped and helpless woman and moves in for the kill. As the snarling creature smashes his way in, Lori awakes, and in a desperate fight, kills him.

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Back at the bar, Hershel (Scott Wilson), Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), and Glenn (Steven Yeun) calm down and take a deep breath over the previous episode’s killing of Dave (Michael Raymond-James) and Tony (Aaron Munoz), two working-class strays who made not-so-subtle-threats about seeking shelter in Hershel’s farm. They confiscate the dead men’s weapons, but noises outside reveal some other men pulling up to the bar. From their conversation, we learn that they are part of Dave’s and Tony’s renegade group and are looking for their (unbeknownst to them) dead buddies. Their shadows in the glass show they are armed. glenn-rickThe trio dims the lights, and hide – guns ready – but the men prowl the perimeter and decide to check the bar. Calling in through the window, they ask about their friends with a frightened urgency; it seems that the town is rapidly filling with walkers. A deadly cat and mouse game begins, as the men try to find and (presumably) kill the trio…

Evan Rothfeld

Please click on the link to Deadloggers to continue reading about Episode Nine

Mar 11 2012

John Carter: A True Space Fantasy Epic Film

Producing an action fantasy movie adapted from a novel is a triple risk for movie studios. There are three things that they have to get right to make it a hit: 1) the movie has to at least be as good as the book 2) the movie resources–casting, story and SFX must hit all the right spots 3) the fan base must be appeased or there will be an uprising! When production stills and TV ads started to roll out, I’m sure the fans’ lukewarm reaction made Disney execs nervous about shelling out $250 million for an untried property helmed by an animation director. I was very skeptical myself. I read the novel A Princess Of Mars, loved it and hoped the movie did it justice. I saw the movie in a crowded theatre tonight. Just like an Olympic judge when the scores are read regarding the competitor’s performance, here is my score of John Carter . . . . TEN OUT OF TEN!!!!!!!!!!!

John Carter to me is one of the best adapted fantasy films of all time. It’s at least as good as the original book, the cast, story and SFX are superb, and thank goodness, there will be no fan uprising. It’s one of the most impressive sci-fi movies I’ve ever seen, because it’s a character-driven story with an emotional core. It’s also a movie with historical significance. John Carter’s first adventure on Mars was titled “Under The Moons Of Mars”, published in 1912 and that story and others were collected in A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB, creator of Tarzan). It was the first of its kind. It was the first novel that had a hero going to another planet, filled with aliens, airships and advanced technology. Action/sci-fi/fantasy properties like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Star Wars, Avatar, DC’s Adam Strange and Superman owe a lot of their borrowed inspiration from John Carter. None of these properties would have been made if it were not for ERB’s creation of John Carter.

 

Regarding the movie these are some of the great things about it: The cast was solid- they sold the audience with their performance. They made it believable. There was good chemistry and interplay with all characters. Production design was superb and top notch, ERB and Frazetta all the way. SFX was excellent The 3D conversion was……… excellent! I’m not a fan of converted 3D movies, but this one was very well done. As for director Andrew Stanton- that’s the biggest surprise of this movie- under his confident vision, he nailed it. He made sure this is a character-driven piece that made the audience care. This movie gave me the same feeling of great satisfaction that I felt with Star Wars Episode IV and V, Star Trek II, Lord of The Rings ROTK, Avatar, Superman, Spider-Man II, Iron Man and Thor. But the one thing I do hope they could do is offer more scenes when the move goes to BluRay. two hours and ten minutes in theatres was just about right, but now I want to see a little more. There are some that may point to this movie’s similarities to Star Wars and Avatar, well any fan will tell you that Lucas and Cameron ripped off ERB! Both of those creations were inspired by the John Carter stories. For example that scene in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones where our heroes have to fight those giant monsters in the arena was taken from John Carter. With Avatar, that alien planet is populated by six-limbed creatures just as on Mars in John Carter. Even the Nav’i being tall and blue are inspired by the tall, green martians in ERB’s work.

My one immature quibble about the movie is that Dejah Thoris is not as scantily clad as Frazetta and all fantasy girl artists often illustrate her- but that’s just a minor quibble. I guess for a Disney PG rated move, it would not have been possible, but Lynn Collins totally sells it as Dejah Thoris. Her long raven black hair, her piercing blue eyes and the fighter’s spirit convinced me that Dejah Thoris can work in a Disney movie. This minor quibble does not even make a dent in the immensely satisfying feeling I have for this movie. That’s the way I personally measure a movie I go see these days. It all depends on the overall level of satisfaction that I feel as I walk out of the theatre. When it’s this good, I need to tell others about the movie. And to think its taken all these years to get this ERB creation made as a movie. His other creation, Tarzan has many movies, TV shows, cartoons, comic books, comic strips produced. Tarzan had a lead over John Carter. But now, with movies being the top art form, with talent and technology that can adapt words into visual reality, the John Carter of Mars series has now broken the pop culture barrier. Now everyone knows what a select few original pre-movie John Carter fans knew- this is a great story!! The one thing I want to tell everyone is GO SEE THIS MOVIE! Go with your buddies, with your significant other, go with your family. It’s that good. I’m going to go back tomorrow, and maybe see it three more times. ERB, you finally get your due.

GEO