Category: TV Action (Page 73 of 145)

Heroes 3.10 – The People with the Answers Won’t Tell the People with the Questions the Answers

November 25, 2008 /

When a music geek is handed an episode with a title like “The Eclipse,” you’re given a lot of different choices for lyrical references as the title of your blog entry. Should I go with Pink Floyd (All that you slight, everyone you fight…), or should I go with Bonnie Tyler (Once upon a time, there was love in my life…)? Instead, I went with a relative obscurity – a line from the closing track of the Beta Band’s Hot Shots II – but given the way the series has been going, it seemed rather appropriate.

Let’s split this week’s blog into two parts, shall we?

Before the Eclipse:

Arthur has just been a sketching fool since taking on the power of poor Usutu, but, wow, he’s really let his people skills drop off. Really, though, can you blame him? Thanks to his new abilities, he knows what’s coming…and, yet, he can’t seem to do a damned thing to change it.

The relationship between Sylar and Elle turned darker this week than I expected. I mean, I know I made a comment a few weeks ago about how Sylar’s so freaking wishy-washy that he’ll probably switch sides half a dozen more times before the end of the season, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that he left his touchy-feely side behind, but I just didn’t expect Elle to be the one who turned him. She’s a complex character, that one. (Her throwaway description of HRG as “Glasses himself” was hilarious.)

Mohinder really just isn’t a very good scientist, is he? “I, uh, didn’t think the eclipse had anything to do with it,” he mutters. Whoops. From there, it was back to “Return of the Fly,” unfortunately.

Matt and Daphne’s quest to find Hiro turned out to be a short one when he and Ando turned up, courtesy of their comic book intel. I loved the interplay between Ando and Daphne, not to mention Hiro and the turtle, but I’m wondering how long this whole back-and-forth thing between Matt and Daphne is going to go on. That said, once the boys followed Daphne to Lawrence, Kansas, I had to laugh at Hiro’s exclamation: “Holy crap!”

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Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

24: Redemption: Escape 2 Africa

November 23, 2008 /

Somebody on the “24” staff is clearly a music fan. The first sign of this was when a sinister corporation was named McLennan & Foster, after the leaders of the late, great Go-Betweens. (A moment of silence, please, for Grant McLennan, who passed away in 2005. Thank you.) In “24: Redemption,” tonight’s bridge episode between Day 6 and the long-gestating Day 7, the President-elect’s son is named Roger Taylor (double word score, as the drummers for both Queen and Duran Duran share that name), and Roger’s trader friend is named Chris Whitley. You’ll appreciate the irony of that one later. And now that we think about the music references, this might explain why Jon Voight’s evil schemer has the first name of Jonas. Roger’s wife, meanwhile, is named Samantha. Pity her last name isn’t Fox.

Anyway, the story begins in Afrika-ka-ka-ka-ka – hey, if the show’s producers are throwing in musical references, I may as well throw in a shout-out to the Chemical Brothers – where Jack is helping out Carl Benton, a former soldier buddy, run a state-funded school in Sangala as a means of doing penance for his many, many crimes against humanity. The problem is that the brutal Colonel Juma (played by Tony Todd, and henceforth known as Colonel Candyman) is planning a coup, thanks to a generous donation by the aforementioned Jonas brother (Jonas Hodges, technically). Candyman is stealing children and “enlisting” them to fight for him. He catches two kids from Benton’s school and comes a-calling for the rest. Jack had just been served with a subpoena by Frank Tramell (Gil Bellows, sporting a tragic widow’s peak) and was about to go dark again – this is at least his third stop since he left Big Dick Heller’s house at the end of Day 6 – when the Colonel’s men show up. Benton tells Jack where the dynamite is. Sweeeeet.

I’m gonna blow shit up! Mama said blow shit up!

After singlehandedly killing half of the henchmen sent to abduct the boys, Jack is naturally captured and tortured – the show maintains its one-torture-per-hour requirement, don’t worry – and while that red-hot sword to the ear had to hurt, we were surprised that the guy didn’t just cut off one of Jack’s arms. He was planning to kill him anyway, and even said he would make it as painful as possible. Jack has four limbs, just sayin’. Jack ultimately used two of those limbs to snap the guy’s neck…and they weren’t his arms. I have to learn how to do that.

The most important things to take away from this episode as we head into Day 7 is that newly inaugurated President Allison Taylor has one hell of a mess waiting for her, and it’s quite possible that Senator Roark (outgoing President Noah Daniels for newcomers) is in cahoots with the mysterious Jonas brother, because one of his last Presidential orders was to evacuate Sangala, rather than call in some nearby troops and fight the insurgence. Jonas brother, meanwhile, saw to it that Chris Whitley, the trader assigned to erase Jonas’ ties to Colonel Candyman but suspected something was amiss, was thoroughly examined (read: tortured) and then buried in cement. I will admit that I do not know the real Chris Whitley’s music very well, but he surely deserved a better fictional death than that.

The other thing to remember is that Jack agreed to surrender to authorities in order for the boys in Benton’s school to gain entry into Sangala’s US embassy, which serves as the redemption part of the episode title and the reason that Jack was seen in those teasers a year ago explaining his actions to an indifferent, if not hostile, government committee. Damn paper-pushing bureaucrats. They have no idea what it means to be Jack freaking Bauer. Maybe they’ll get some perspective when they realize that their next supervillain is…Tony Almeida? Whaaaaaa? Yeah, we’re just as curious as you are as to how they explain that. See you in January.

24, TV, TV Action

10 Vampire Films That Should Be Made In The Wake Of The Success of “Twilight”

November 19, 2008 /

“Twilight” is shaping up to be a full-fledged film phenomenon…and whenever there’s a phenomenon, you can count on Hollywood trying to reproduce it quickly and in sub-par fashion, so prepare for a huge glut of new vampire-themed movies in the very near future.

The good news in this case, however, is that there’s a lot of great source material out there already, so let’s hope at least a few of the suits have good taste when it comes to buying up the rights to adapt certain books to film form…but since we have a really bad feeling that they don’t, we figured we’d throw a few suggestions their way for vampire flicks we’d like to see made. And, yes, we know that our #1 pick isn’t a book, but it’s so far ahead of the pack when it comes to the must-make vampire movies that we put it there, anyway.

(P.S. The movie adaptation of Darren Shan’s “Cirque de Freak” is finished and due for release in February 2009, or else it’d be on this list for sure.)

10. “Bloodsucking Fiends,” by Christopher Moore. Not only is this a solid mixture of horror and humor, focusing on a hot young redhead who moves to San Francisco, is promptly bitten by a vampire, and has to learn to adapt to her new lifestyle, but it already has a sequel ready to roll. Better yet, it’s called “You Suck”!
9. “Fevre Dream,” by George R.R. Martin. Are you kidding? I’m a fan of pretty much anything written by the guy who created the “Wild Cards” series, but this novel about vampires on a steamboat has earned reviews which feature the phrase “Bram Stoker meets Mark Twain,” which is high praise by most people’s standards.
8. “Lost Souls,” by Poppy Z. Brite. Maybe it’s just because I enjoy pretty much any film revolving around a band, but I’d love to see the adventures of Lost Souls? make it to the big screen.
7. “Jonathan Barrett, Gentleman Vampire,” by P.N. Elrod. It’s set during the American Revolution, with Barrett on the side of the British. Surely the success of HBO’s “John Adams” has made history cool again, and what better way to make it even cooler than to add vampires to it?
6. “Riley Jensen, Guardian,” by Keri Arthur. A half-vampire, half-werewolf in Australia who works for Melbourne’s Directorate of Other Races. “Underworld” meets “Torchwood,” anyone? I’m sold already.
5. “Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter,” by Laurell K. Hamilton. It’s already got a huge fan base between the sixteen novels and various comic books, but for those who don’t know Ms. Baker, she can re-animate the dead, licensed vampire hunter/executioner, and she has a lot of sex. I’m simplifying, of course, but, hey, it got your attention, didn’t it?
4. “They Thirst,” by Robert R. McCammon. The dastardly Prince Vulkan, master of the vampires, is hell bent on taking over Los Angeles as part of his quest to transform the entire population of the planet into the undead. Their opposition? A police captain, a comedian, a reporter, a junior high school student, and a Catholic priest who’s a former heroin addict and has just been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
3. “Carrion Comfort,” by Dan Simmons. Actually, this is such an epic tale that it might warrant a full-fledged mini-series rather than just a film.
2. “Vampire Academy,” by Richelle Mead. Rose Hathaway is a half-vampire / half-human teenager who’s simultaneously finishing high school and training to fight evil vampires determined to destroy the Moroi vampire race, a.k.a. the good vampires. Bonus superhero-ish aspect: each Moroi can control an element, either fire, earth, water, air, or – on rare occasions – spirit.There are two other books in the saga, with a fourth set for release next year. Surely someone has already started work on a script, because it seems tailor-made for a film.
1. “Angel.” Come on, Joss, you and I both know that the time couldn’t be more right. The kids love the vampires, and although David Boreanaz is on his fourth season of “Bones” and has now officially escaped permanent typecasting, he ain’t getting any younger, so if he’s going to play the immortal undead, it’s time to make your move and make an “Angel” movie. In fact, while you’re at it, you might as well go ahead and make it a big ol’ epic that incorporates “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” as well. We’re really excited about “Dollhouse,” Mr. Whedon, but, c’mon, it’s Fox. Your schedule will be free and clear within a few weeks of its premiere, so let’s go ahead and get this ball rolling right now.

Action Movies, Actors, External Entertainment, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Prison Break 4.11: “Quiet Riot”

November 18, 2008 /

With the news last week that “Prison Break” was having its filming schedule extended by two episodes, the Hollywood Reporter speculated that these episodes could be used to give the series an appropriate ending. I’ve been saying for the past two seasons that it was probably time to wrap the show up, and if this speculation is true, it’s good to hear that Fox is allowing the creators to end the series on their terms, instead of having the rug pulled out from underneath them.

After all, based on tonight’s episode, the writers still have a few tricks up their sleeves. The scene where Michael, Lincoln, Mahone and Sucre had to break into the Scylla vault without making a sound was pressure-packed throughout, and I especially enjoyed Michael’s MacGyver-esque decision to build a suspended ladder to get past the room’s security system. This was easily the best part of the episode and it really took the show back to its Fox River roots.

“What? Oh, the wall looks great, fellas. I’m just going to get back to my game of ‘World of Warcraft.’ I’m about to level up.”

Prior to the break-in, we were treated to a scene where Gretchen was mysteriously dressed up as a Catholic schoolgirl. If I were the General, and I received that picture on my phone, my first question would have been – who the F took the picture? Clearly, someone (T-Bag) was in the room to take the picture, which means Gretchen is probably up to no good. Instead, the General went to the room, amping up the creepiness of the relationship to a completely different level. It turns out that the General is the father of Gretchen’s daughter, and that’s why he let her go. Woo-hoo.

Meanwhile, T-Bag keeps trying to get Trish Ann to take off her jacket. You’d think that a FBI agent might read into his intentions a little more and maybe it would occur to her that he might be on to her, but apparently Trish Ann isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. She and Don walk into an obvious trap sprung by Feng, and given his demeanor, they are (seemingly) a long shot to see another day.

The episode ends with Michael (unknowingly?) setting off a Scylla alarm and the General racing down to the vault to stop him. So we’ve got Michael in the Scylla room, Don and Trish Ann tied up in an abandoned house, T-Bag and Gretchen waiting to ambush the gang once they do get Scylla and $125 million loaded up into a truck. I wonder how this is all going to end.

External Entertainment, External TV, Prison Break, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 2.9 – Pleased to meet me

November 18, 2008 /

Is it wrong of me to think Sarah Connor’s doomsday nightmares are awesome? Seriously, is there anything cooler than a T-1000 cactus? Or Cameron breast-feeding a tortoise? If that is wrong, then I don’t wanna be right.

As the producers of the show continue to treat the story arc like their private garden, planting seeds here and there – Cameron’s constant talk about her sensory perception, Sarah’s walking nightmares – they used this week’s main plot to explore two concepts of time travel that I’m not sure can peacefully coexist. Jesse captures a “Gray” (machine-assisting human) named Charles Fischer (Richard Schiff in a bit of inspired casting), but Derek doesn’t remember him. Jesse explains the relentless interrogation techniques Fischer used on his prisoners, and finally makes the big reveal that, dunt dunt duuuuuuunh, she knows this because Fischer used those techniques on Derek in the future, and Derek told her all about it.

Here’s where it gets tricky.

“All right, tell me right now what it’s like to win an Emmy. Tell me, damn it!”

Derek seems to think that the reason he doesn’t remember this is because the future she left behind is now different than the one he left behind, and he attributes the change to the various things he’s done in the present to undo Skynet’s evil scheme. It’s an interesting concept, but riddled with holes – does this mean his memory is just randomly erased when the future changes? – and leads me to think that there are two, far more likely explanations: either Derek has blocked the memory as a defense mechanism – Fischer did admit shortly before Jesse killed him that he knew who Derek was, and wondered how Derek didn’t recognize him – or Jesse is lying. Actually, both could be true.

Now here’s the part I’m having a reeeeeeeeaally hard time with. Future Fischer breaks into Present Fischer’s place of work and does all kinds of nasty computer stuff that lands Present Fischer in the slammer. Future Fischer explains, like some sufferer of Stockholm Syndrome, that he never would have survived Judgment Day had he not been in prison when it happened, implying that it is the return of Future Fischer that puts Present Fischer on the path to that prison cell to begin with. But is that even possible? The Connors change people’s futures all the time, but only certain aspects of it; the rest is still up to the individuals. Can someone travel back in time and put himself on the path to evil? And while we’re talking about the case against Present Fischer, are there no security cameras at this supposedly data-sensitive company where he works? Jeesh.

One last stating-the-obvious story problem this week: how the hell did John and Cameron not think to check Ellison’s trunk when they were looking for Cromartie? Heck, they didn’t even need to knock on the door. Just pop the trunk, take the body, and go. Surely Cameron would have thought of that, right? Sigh. I hate it when characters do everything but the one thing they’re most likely to do in real life.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, TV, TV Action, TV Sci-Fi

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