Category: TV Sci-Fi (Page 27 of 81)

Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season

September 22, 2009 /

Most television shows start off hot and then get increasingly…um…less satisfying as time goes on. This is not the case with “Supernatural.” The series started off with a definite “freak of the week” vibe and didn’t spend much time on its season-long story arcs. While it has always had its quirky sense of humor and excellent chemistry between its two stars (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) the show didn’t thrive in its first season — it survived. But over the course of its second, third and now fourth seasons, “Supernatural” just keeps getting better and better.

This 22-episode season picks up as Dean (Ackles) is rescued from the unspeakable torture of Hell by an angel. He and Sam (Padalecki) are told that they have to stop a mega-powerful demon from breaking the seals that will bring about the Apocalypse (and the arrival of Lucifer). While they do go off on various weekly adventures, this season-long storyline is hanging over their heads the entire time. The pressure gets to Sam, who is tempted by the tremendous power growing inside of him, and this begins to divide the brothers. The season is as good as it sounds.

Special features include a three-part featurette that explores the mythology of the series, creator commentary (Eric Kripke, Jeremy Carver, Sera Gamble and Robert Singer) on three key episodes, extended/unaired scenes, and a gag reel.

Click to buy “Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season”

External Entertainment, External TV, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs, TV Sci-Fi

Blu Tuesday: Observe and Report, Wallace & Gromit and Star Trek

September 22, 2009 /

On the surface, this week’s selection of Blu-rays may not look like much, but there’s something here for everyone, including the latest from Seth Rogen, the debut of a couple cult classics, and a few box sets that most movie nerds already have on their radar. There may not be any really major titles being released today, but I’d much rather have the option to choose from a solid list like this any day of the week.

“Observe & Report” (Sony)

A curious mix between “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” and “Taxi Driver,” Jody Hill’s sophomore effort isn’t the usual Seth Rogen laugh-a-thon, but rather a pitch-black comedy that only gets darker and more sadistic with each passing minute. This is the kind of film that usually divides moviegoers, and though I didn’t love it or hate it, I will admit that it’s Rogen’s strongest (and most mature) performance to date. It usually takes a while for a comic actor to branch off into more serious roles, but Rogen has been so overexposed lately that it’s nice to see him try something new. “Observe and Report” is hardly the kind of film that benefits from high definition, however, so Warner Bros. has made a point of distinguishing the Blu-ray edition from its DVD counterpart by making all of the extras – like a picture-in-picture commentary, deleted scenes and a gag reel – exclusive to this release. It isn’t exactly the smartest business practice, but HD fans won’t complain. At least we’re finally getting a little extra bang for our buck.

“Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection” (Lionsgate)

People may think of Tim Burton when they hear the words “stop motion animation,” but for my money, Nick Park is the king of the genre. His “Wallace & Gromit” shorts have earned a nice little following over the years, and though the feature-length “Curse of the Were-Rabbit” failed to take the franchise to the next level, it’s still a darned good film in its own right. Still, Park’s bread and butter (or crackers and cheese, if you will) has always been the shorts, and along with collecting his three previous films (“A Grand Day Out,” “The Wrong Trousers” and “A Close Shave”), the new compilation also features Wallace and Gromit’s latest madcap adventure, “A Matter of Loaf and Death.” To sweeten the pot, Lionsgate has also included a bevy of bonus material like commentary tracks, making-of featurettes and a hilarious episode of “Shaun the Sheep.” At only $20 bucks for the Blu-ray edition, it’s hard to imagine even the most casual fan not succumbing to such a great deal.

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RIP Henry Gibson

September 16, 2009 /

I was going to cover some of the usual folderol I cover here today, but, sadly, we have another passing to note with the death at 73 of Henry Gibson from cancer.

Gibson — whose stage name derives from an early character he did with roommate Jon Voight — was a personal favorite of mine. Not a large man, he was the kind of actor who might have one or two scenes in a movie, but was pretty much guaranteed to bring something detailed and memorable to his usually hilarious scenes; a relatively recent case in point was his great turn as the befuddled shocked clergyman towards the end of “Wedding Crashers.” He’s also familar to fans of “Boston Legal” as one of the show’s recurring judges.

With his eccentric but unassuming air, he gained his greatest fame as a cast member on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” a faster paced, but more shtick-laden late sixties/early seventies forerunner of SNL. His signature bit involved him reciting absurd, vaguely counter-cultural, poetry in his ultra deadpan style while holding a giant flower and bowing with exaggerated politeness at the end. (He was famously spoofed on the show by John Wayne, who brought his own unique socio-political sensibilities to his verse.)

Numerous movie and TV roles followed, including probably the closest Henry Gibson ever got to a leading film role, cast brilliantly against type as a controlling and hypocritical country music patriarch in Robert Altman’s masterpiece, “Nashville.” Later, he’d play out-and-out villains, but usually in more comical contexts. Fans of eighties comedies have a special affection for his commanding role as the patriarch of a very strange family who loom in Tom Hanks‘s fevered imagination in Joe Dante’s comedy horror homage, “The ‘Burbs.” He was also the head neo-Nazi in “The Blues Brothers.”

All in all, the loss of Gibson at the relatively young age of 73 is a sad one and hit me personally a bit harder than expected. I’ve loved Gibson’s work since childhood and, whether he was playing a Napoleonic villain or a gentle preacher totally out of his depth, there was an abiding soulful quality to his work that made him all the more funny. Truly original performers like him are few and far between.

****

My friend, Zayne, has a very nice remembrance of Mr. Gibson at More a Legend than a Blog, and Edward Copeland shares my appreciation of his work as country music legend Haven Hamilton.

There’s less of him than I’d like on YouTube, but I did find a few fine moments of Gibson, which you can check out after the flip.

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True Blood 2.12 – If A Tree Falls In The Woods, It’s Still A Tree, Ain’t It?

September 14, 2009 /

Was it just me, or did the conclusion of tonight’s “True Blood” season finale feel somehow…anticlimactic? After spending the majority of the season waiting for the grand conclusion of the great and powerful Maryann’s storyline, only to have those matters wrapped up by the time the episode reached its halfway point, I felt a little cheated. Not that it necessarily needed to be dragged out any longer than it already had been, but, still, it felt like things ended not with a bang but a whisper, which is exactly what we haven’t come to expect from this series.

After Sookie was forced by Lafayette to slip into a bridesmaid dress but before all Hell broke loose, we found out from Maryann that Sookie is “beyond human,” though we didn’t make any particular headway in discovering what that actually means. Sookie did, however, finally break down and ask the question that the majority of the viewers had been wondering since last week: “Okay, what is with the egg? Did you lay it?” Nope, it’s an ostrich egg, and it represents fertility. Fair enough.

Jason and Andy once again scored a couple of classic comedic moments, with the best being Jason’s recitation of great movie quotes, concluding with, “I love the smell of nail polish in the morning.” I was surprised, however, to see both of them quickly slip over to the dark side. (I really thought that Andy was immune to Maryann’s powers, and that we were going to find out this week why he hadn’t ended up as one of her minions.)

As for Maryann’s marriage ceremony, I dug the off-kilter wedding march, but the nuptials themselves were a letdown. After Sam and Bill had their discussion at Merlotte’s, we knew that Bill wouldn’t just give Sam over to Maryann, so it was obvious that the two of them had concocted a plan of some sort. I admit to being surprised that Sam was actually stabbed…I didn’t know what their plan was, but I figured it would kick off before the knife hit flesh…but when the ox (I guess that’s what it was) turned up, my immediate thought was, “Okay, I’m not sure how, but that’s got to be Sam.” And it was, thanks to Bill having provided him with enough vamp blood to kickstart his healing process. I question the expediency of the healing, but, hey, Maryann and her mole claws (that’s what they looked like to me, anyway) got their just desserts, and the actual moment of impact, as it were, looked good and probably earned a few cheers from various viewers. Too bad it happened at the 27-minute mark of the episode, leaving us with way too much time to wrap up loose ends and throw out a few new threads to linger ’til Season 3 kicks off.

But, okay, fair enough, let’s talk about what happened in the post-Maryann portion of the episode.

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External Entertainment, External TV, Reviews, True Blood, TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Sam Trammell talks “True Blood”

September 11, 2009 /

If you’re a regular reader of Premium Hollywood’s “True Blood” blog (and I’m pretty sure there are at least three or four of you out there), then you already know that, when I was out in California for the TCA Press Tour, I had a chance to mingle with some of the members of the show’s cast after the series took home the TCA’s award for Outstanding New Program. Not everyone from the cast was present, and you can imagine that the ones who were there had a tendency to be surrounded by critics doubling as fans, but as the evening progressed and various folks departed the festivities, at least one man stuck it out for the long haul: Sam Trammell, a.k.a. the resident shape-shifter of Bon Temps, Louisiana. My wife and I ended up chatting with him for an extended period, and though we actually talked more about music – he’s a big Psychedelic Furs fan – than we did the show that had brought him to the function, I was able to set up a proper interview when I made it back to Virginia.

In other words, I had…

Now, if you’re going to play a shapeshifter, then you’ve quickly got to get over any issues of modesty that you may have. Fortunately, when it comes to getting naked, Trammell is a professional, having done theater work which necessitated the wearing of limited amounts of clothing, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

You know, the thing is, most of the time when people have to get naked, it’s for a sex scene or it’s post-coital, and they’re in a bedroom and it’s kind of a closed set. But with Sam, it always seems to be because he’s turning back into himself from being an animal, so I’m always outside. Like, way out. Like, out for everybody to see. There’s no way you can close the set, really, and it’s just…it’s bizarre. I just feel very vulnerable, standing around naked. But with HBO, of course, before you even sign up, they’re, like, ‘Are you willing to take your clothes off? Because this is HBO.’ And, of course, I’m, like, ‘I’ll do anything to be on the show.’

Sam’s not just one of the stars of “True Blood.” He’s also a fan…although there have been moments during Season 2 which have even been a little rough for him to watch.

That heart soufflé was pretty intense. Also, when Jane Bodehouse cut her finger off, that was pretty hardcore, too. That whole scene was really weird. And the guy sitting in the sink…? Really creepy. I know there’s some other stuff, too, that I’m not thinking about. and I know there’s some stuff coming up in the finale that’s really harsh and shocking. Yeah, there’ll be a little gore in the last one, too.

To read more of the interview — including lots more “True Blood” talk, as well as his thoughts on being eaten in “Alien vs. Predator: Requiem” and having appeared in “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” — click on the image above or follow this link!

Actors, External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, News, True Blood, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

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