Change Your Image
Flytrap
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day One (2009)
Wow--what a start!
By far the most riveting episode of Torchwood yet.
Spoilers coming: Every child on the Earth stops, not once, but several times. The second time they scream. The next time they start chanting, "We are coming." And that's just part of what's going on. There are a number of hints as to parts of Jack's life. Ianto has a sister. Gwen is...never mind. A mysterious organization (well, maybe Unit?) is stalking our heroes, trying to take them out of the investigation. And in the meantime, something called The Four Five Six seems to be at the core of all of this, but we still don't know what they are. I've always been on the fence about Torchwood, but I'm jumping off now and on the cheering side. Hopefully, the rest of the series (showing this week) will be as tight.
Torchwood: Dead Man Walking (2008)
What's that I heard?
"Melenkurion abatha! Duroc minas mill khabaal!" For anyone who hasn't read the Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R Donaldson, those are the words of power that Kevin Landwaster left in the First Ward for the Lords to use to rebuild the Land. The writer of this episode -- Matt Jones? -- for some reason ripped off this phrase, verbatim, and then tried to tell us it means something about, "walking the land hungry." Whatever. Aside from that, this episode was a mess. Owen is dead; no wait, he's up and around, but his body is changing into... No wait, he's better. Martha Jones has aged to 80. No wait, she's OK now. Weevils everywhere and no one notices them? The pacing was terrible, the continuity was confusing, and there was no real resolution. Send Captain Jack back to Dr Who; that's where he belongs. He rocked there.
Flash Gordon (2007)
Surprise, surprise--much better than I expected
Having grown up with the Buster Crabbe serials, the previews gave me shudders. But I decided to hang in there and give it a chance.
The 1980 movie had the worst leading man in a heroic role in a long time, but the other characters (especially Max Von Sydow as the ultimately menacing Ming!) managed to carry it through. And since previews aren't the show, I gave this one a shot.
The plot (invasion from another dimension) actually held up. Please note: This is NOT Sliders, which was folks exploring parallel dimensions. Much different.
Eric Johnson as Flash, the bemused hero, caught between an invasion and an ex-girlfriend, held his part up well. Gina Holden, as Dale Arden the not-helpless female lead, was fun to watch. I liked the notion that they were once involved and I look forward to seeing how this plays out. Jody Racicot as Zarkov is not what I'm looking for in a mad scientist; I hope they flesh him out more. All of the other characters worked well except for Dale's fiancée, a shadow with little substance who is just now filler.
But I have to say that I just didn't feel John Ralston's Ming. His lines were menacing enough: ("If you weren't my daughter I'd have you stripped and hunt you down myself"), but his delivery lacked any punch. And he doesn't LOOK like a Ming; with that blond wavy hair and that oh so svelte bod, he looks more like a stockbroker. I'm kind of hoping he gets killed off soon and a real villain comes in.
It is difficult to retcon a classic and I really thought they were going to blow this one badly, but I have to say I'm more intrigued by this than that dreadful job they did on Battlestar Galactica. I'll continue to watch it unless it totally starts to suck. One suggestion: Use the real Queen soundtrack instead of that awful cover; those guys are just not cutting it.
Doctor Who: Castrovalva: Part One (1982)
Dull, dull, dreadfully dull
The Doctor's regeneration is going wrong. The Tardis is heading toward certain doom (what else is new) and The Master is in hot pursuit The main attraction of this episode will be that it's the first series with Peter Davison; since Logopolis already did the regeneration, I can't even recommend it for that scene. Tegan and Nyssa spend countless time roaming around, making faces and small talk. The plot (such as it is) is rather boring and even The Master is less menacing than usual. No real menace in this one, no real tension, but if you need a relief from insomnia, give this one a go. For those who need to see every episode only.
Heroes: Chapter Thirteen 'The Fix' (2007)
The Invisible Man!
***A few minor spoilers*** Chris Eccleston shows up as "Claude Rains", (obviously not his real name) and is going to mentor Peter on how to control his powers? Good role for the former Doctor Who. Speaking of Who, who is Clairebear's daddy? Someone we know, or someone we haven't seen yet? This show actually made me start looking forward to Mondays. Kudos to the cast, the writers and everyone else who keeps me pinned to the Telly for an hour every week. My only gripe with this show is some irksome continuity errors, some doubtful science and some broken promises. In "Homecoming", we were told we'd find the meaning of, "Save the cheerleader, save the world." Well, she's saved, but we still don't know why this is so important. Hopefully we'll find out before the season is over?
Dracula 2000 (2000)
One of the worst Dracula movies I have ever seen.
It simply amazes me how someone will not research a legend before making a movie out of it. Wes Craven blew this one big time. Now we have silver bullets for vampires (remember that GREAT line in "Love At First Bite"?) Wes, next time do your homework. Between being noisy and boring, once again we get a horror movie full of people doing the absolutely stupidest thing possible in a dangerous situation, as if they'd never seen a horror movie. Give this one a pass and watch "Abbot And Costello Meet Frankenstein" instead.