Category: External TV (Page 233 of 419)

Tales of Phantasia

December 19, 2008 /

Based on the popular RPG video game franchise of the same name, “Tales of Phantasia” is essentially a two-hour, animated re-telling of the first title in the series. Originally released a year ago by Geneon, the full-length feature tells the tale of six survivors who band together to fight against an evil warlord known as Dhaos the Demon King when he’s released from captivity by a power hungry conqueror. In order to stop him from unleashing darkness throughout the land of Midgard, a young warrior and a beautiful cleric must travel back in time to recruit the help of a witch, a summoner, and a ninja to bring back to present day, while their archer friend Chester holds Dhaos off on his own. When Dhaos runs off to wreak havoc in the future, however, the band of heroes must follow him through space and time and put an end to his destruction before it’s too late.

Tales of Phantasia

Though the animation is sharp and the characters themselves are cool, “Tales of Phantasia” is executed very poorly. Because it’s based on an RPG (which are typically loaded with more plot than the average video game), the story has a tendency to jump around a lot without any explanation. This is done, of course, so that the creators can cram the entire story into one movie, but it doesn’t work as well as they think. As soon as Cress and Mint travel back in time, only to be immediately thrust into a giant battle where everybody already knows why they’re there, the audience loses interest in what’s going on. The same can be said of the characters, who are nothing more than tools to progress the story. It’s too bad that the original producers of the movie didn’t expand the story into an entire season, because “Tales of Phantasia” definitely deserves more attention than it received. As it stands, this is for diehard fans only.

Click to buy “Tales of Phantasia”

External Movie DVDs, External TV, Movie DVDs, TV Anime, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs

The Biggest Loser: Families: Karma is a Powerful Thing

December 17, 2008 /

Folks, you can’t ignore karma, because it is more powerful than all of us. Last week, as NBC’s “The Biggest Loser: Families” was barreling toward its live season finale, there was a cliffhanger of sorts. Michelle and Vicky had reached the finals, but the third finalist would be determined by America voting between Ed and his wife Heba. They tried some sneaky gameplay thing, where Ed gained two pounds and then implored America to vote Heba into the finale. I voted for Ed and urged all of you to do the same, and it turns out we weren’t the only ones who wanted to stick it to Heba. They had them both come out on stage (both of them look phenomenal by the way), and it was announced that Ed was going to be the third finalist, with (get this) 84% of the vote. That’s not just karma, it’s a sure sign that America is tired of the gameplay and more about the true spirit of the show. Good for you all. But there is more to this story, and I’ll get to that later.

They had a look back at the season, and host Alison Sweeney, who at this point is very pregnant, was stumbling all over her words, which was pretty funny. Then they started bringing out the eliminated contestants in groups of four, and would show a video recap of each one and then have them weight in. The contestant with the highest percentage of weight loss among the eliminated players would take home $100K.

First was Adam and his wife Stacy, and Tom and his son LT. Adam lost 80 pounds, or 23.53%. Stacy lost 65 pounds, or 29.41%. LT lost 87 pounds and Tom 78 pounds, but both were in the 24% range and so Stacy was the current leader. Then they brought out Jerry and his daughter Coleen, and Shellay and her daughter Amy. Let me tell you, this was the highlight of the show Continue reading »

External TV, Reality TV, The Biggest Loser, TV

Greetings to the New Show: “Momma’s Boys”

December 16, 2008 /

“Who is really the most important woman in any man’s life?” That’s ostensibly the question being posed by NBC’s latest reality show, “Momma’s Boys.” In the end, however, it appears that what’s really being asked is, “How awful and overbearing can a mother be to her son on national television?” Brought to you by the one and only Ryan Seacrest, you will find this to be an absolute car-wreck of trashy reality TV that will almost certainly find its way onto “The Soup” on a weekly basis.

So…let’s meet the gentlemen of the series, shall we?

Mamma's Boys

Michael is a firefighter, and his mother, Lorraine, does his laundry, makes his bed, and even handles his accounting needs, but she comes off as pretty cool and, at the very least, she’s a lot of fun. Rob’s mother, Esther, is…oh, let’s just say it: she’s a Jewish stereotype. Don’t mistake this for an anti-Semitic comment. I’m just saying that you won’t be able to see or hear her without thinking of Linda Richman and “Coffee Talk.” I mean, she calls her son a mensch at one point! Jojo’s mom is downright creepy with her appreciation of his looks and physique, but even worse, however, is her declaration of the kinds of girls she doesn’t approve of for her son: no Jewish girls and no Muslim girls, no black girls or Asian girls (she eventually says outright that any woman who’s going to marry her son has gotta be white), no-one from a divorced family, no-one who wears a lot of make-up, no-one who’s outspoken, no-one who’s after Jojo for his dough…oh, it goes on and on.

Cara is a complete idiot, Donna is proud to admit that she’s done time in prison but wants to underline that she’s a non-violent offender, and Natalie doesn’t even seem to know what the hell show she’s on, since she’s underlining how important it is for a guy to have a big ol’ set of balls. I’m partial to Brittany, not just because she’s from Virginia but because she’s just so darned cute; I’m also a fan of the voluptuous Jamie as well as Rochelle, who has an exotic look about her.

Predictably, though, I’m most drawn to Megan Albertus, a 26-year-old animal caretaker who has a bit of a bookworm / librarian look about her. Of course, a seasoned television veteran such as myself knows that you should always be prepared for these types to take off their glasses, let down their hair, and become the most gorgeous thing you’ve ever seen. As of the first episode, however, she appears to be sweet and legitimately geeky (she refers to her glasses as her “nerd goggles”), so maybe she’ll be the exception to that rule…but probably not.

NBC is ridiculously hopeful about this series, it would seem, given that they’ve made a point of including a mention in the show that they’re already casting for Season 2 of the show. As far as I’m concerned, however, the only real reason to watch is to see just how ignorant Jojo’s mom can possibly sound…and since I cringe every time she opens her mouth, I can’t really recommend the show on that basis. I can merely hope that Joel McHale embraces the series, so I can see the lowlights every week without actually watching.

External Entertainment, External TV, Reality TV, Reviews, TV

Prison Break 4.15: “Going Under”

December 16, 2008 /

All right, I just want to get this prediction out of the way: the woman on the phone – you know, the “other buyer” – she’s Lincoln and Michael’s mom. Has to be. That would be the only explanation for all the “other patient” talk the last couple of weeks and the introduction of the Tombstone II folder. As soon as I heard the woman’s voice on the phone, a light bulb blinked on.

Anyway, this was kind of a clunky episode as the series tries to reposition itself for a stretch run now that Scylla is complete. After the representative’s saucy (and completely inappropriate) “nothing more than a fancy box…(look at Gretchen)…speaking of…” comment, Don and Gretchen got a look at the data on the device and based on Michael and Sara’s later conversation, Scylla is more about renewable energy than anything else. Clearly, this would be a VERY profitable thing to get one’s hands on, so it will be interesting to see if Michael (or, in this case, Lincoln) can be the one to bring renewable energy to the world.

(In the interests of full disclosure: When I first saw Michael drawing boxes around B – AR – GA – IN, I thought they were states. Not “B” obviously, but Arkansas, Georgia and Indiana. I am a fool.)

“The salesman said that if I stare at this long enough, I’ll eventually see a unicorn.”

We had another classic “Prison Break” moment when the buyer’s representative pulled a gun on Gretchen and Don, and instead of just shooting them, he explained, “I’m sure you understand that no one can know where Scylla is going.” Why is this explanation necessary? Why does he care if the people he’s trying to kill understand why he’s trying to kill them? Isn’t enough for the American viewing public to accept the fact that there’s a lot at stake here and that buyers and sellers are going to try to double-cross each other when they have the chance? That moment was totally ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Mahone is once again on the run after his former partner (and love interest?) let him escape. I have no idea where this is going. Mahone could attempt to reunite with Lincoln and Michael or he could go visit his wife (though surely that would be the first place that the Feds would look). Strangely, Sucre also seems to have left the story, at least for now. Maybe the two are going to reunite in Mexico and get a jump start on that scuba shop everyone keeps talking about.

From what the General said to Lincoln, it sounds as if he has to work with Gretchen, Don and T-Bag in order to find Scylla. Once again, the show has doubled back upon itself and reshuffled the deck. My guess is that the next several episodes will follow this new group (with Michael and Sara joining them soon) as they try to hunt down the new buyer (a.k.a. the brothers’ mother). Whoopee!

External TV, Prison Break, TV Action, TV Dramas

Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget

December 16, 2008 /

This should have been explosive. Bob Saget, who made nine figures pimping some of the blandest television ever created, is in fact one of the filthiest comics on the planet. Comedy Central lines up nothing but comedians – and Cloris Leachman, who steals the show – to roast him, which means there are theoretically no dead spots in the lineup, right? Wrong. The comedians on the dais are the weakest batch that Comedy Central has ever assembled for a roast, to the point where Carrot Top’s bit during Flavor Flav’s roast looks better and better in retrospect. Jon Lovitz tanked, Brian Posehn just isn’t wired to roast, and Norm McDonald, arguably the funniest guy on the dais, deliberately tanked his routine, going old-school clean to counter Saget’s inherent foulness. Lastly, the grand roastmaster Lisa Lampanelli is not present, and she is sorely missed. John Stamos actually does a great job as host, and Saget’s rebuttal is second only to Leachman (to Brian Posehn: “Man, look at you. Did any lesbians survive the fire?”). Still, this had the potential to be much funnier than it is. Pity.

Click here to buy “Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget”

External TV, Humor, Stand-Up Comics, TV, TV Comedies, TV DVD Quicktakes

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Premium Hollywood

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑