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Iron Man The Movie
March 1st, 2009
I finally get to post this awesome Iron Man DVD review. Iron Man was one of the best movies that came out in 2008, despite what anyone else says or what awards ceremony says is good. Check out the review.
I finally got to see Slumdog Millionaire today. I don't know why I say finally because it wasn't like I had a huge interest in seeing it but I saw it and I can see why it would win the Best Picture. I don't know if it's the best movie I saw in the 2009 Oscar Season (I think Iron Man was my favorite) but it was damn good and I've been quoting from it all weekend. Overall, it was a great film and I recommend. It's a timeless tale of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back at the end but it had a different slant on it and was expertly told both running time and cutting back to the past.
Not too much else to write right now. Is it too much to ask for a snow day tomorrow? Geez, I need one! I still have an episode of Heroes to catch up on before tomorrow, but I'll have it done by tonight and I'll be able to watch tomorrow's episode live so expect a double-dose of Heroes tomorrow, as well as American Dad which is on tonight.
2 Weeks of Heroes and an episode of American Dad
March 2nd, 2009
American Dad
03/01/09
Episode 11: Live and Let Fry
This is the problem with animation. While something may be timely when it is written, by the time it’s animated it’s a forgotten topic. In this case, Langley Falls bans Trans Fats and Stan doesn’t like this. So he purchases some illegal trans fat for his family, then has Steve smuggle them in. Steve ends up getting the wrong message from Stan (stupid laws don’t have to be obeyed), which Stan regrets. There’s a b-plot that was utterly inane, and that’s saying something. This was a miss. C.
Heroes
02/23/09
Episode 17: Cold War
Noah's abducted by Matt, Mohinder and Peter and we look at events that preceded the whole gathering of the heroes due to Parkman going through the memories of HRG. It's basically what we knew, Nathan started this thing and asked for HRG's help. Parkman finds out that HRG went to Mohinder about the whole thing but he refused. Parkman's still bitter about Daphne dying and all and takes his frustrations out on Mohinder, allowing HRG to escape. Peter returns from scoping out HRG's safe box to recapture him. Parkman does learn that Daphne is alive, but he gets captured, as does Mohinder, but Parkman gets saved by Nathan. Parkman then paints a picture of him strapping some bombs on him and Washington DC in flames. I wasn't crazy about this episode.
03/02/09
Episode 18: Exposed
Claire isn’t able to hide fish-boy from her mother. Peter and Parkman find out where Daphne is thanks to Rebel. She’s in DC, which we see in flames in a Parkman vision, and Rebel also helps the duo escape from the G-Men. They get to the main base of Nathan and steal some great information and video of what’s going on, but Parkman gets captured. Peter has lost his flying powers now, after taking the telepathy of Parkman. So he can only get one power at a time, and only by touching them? Sylar keeps looking for his father and remembers an old memory of his father killing his mother via telekinesis, a power Sylar has. Nathan saves Peter from certain death when HRG and the head of the secret service (does this guy have a name?) but Peter escapes from Nathan and gives up the video of what was going on. Parkman was also dumped in DC with bombs strapped to him, making his painting a self-fulfilling destiny. Finally, the really creepy Puppet Master shows up, but not for evil intentions. It seems Rebel texted him telling him that Claire “Harriet Tubman” Bennett is the only one who can save him. Last episode was missing Sylar and a whole bunch of the others and this was a lot better.
Who Watches the Watchmen?
March 15th, 2009
Well, according to the latest box office numbers, not many. This is a film that had a great opening weekend but doesn't have legs at all. It didn't grasp that non-comic book fan audience that a film like 300 did. I haven't seen it yet but plan on catching it sometime this week.
Anyway, I couldn't post last weekend since I was in North Carolina for my grandfather's funeral. It's mid-March and I've already been to two funerals of really close family members. That is two too many and I hope it's all I have this year. Sunday was spent driving to NC and I didn't get there until 9:00pm. There was an internet connection at the house but I was so pooped I really only checked my e-mail and blogging wasn't a priority. We (my dad, mom, brother and wife) drove back on Monday afternoon after the funeral and got upstate by 4:00am (Tuesday). My wife and I drove back home to Queens and got there by 6:00am, and I went to work 90 minutes later. It was a tough couple of days and I still feel like I need to catch up on my sleep. I did have time to work on reviews during the week which made me happy, and I am almost caught up on TPL.
I have a lot of things I still need to catch up on (especially my TV shows) but I feel good right now. I will post two DVD reviews today to make up for not having one up here last week and both were purchased at the same time in October, and finished 11 days apart in November of 2008. The first is Robot Chicken Season 3. I actually haven't watched the show at all since season 1, but still get all these on the fact that Seth Green is involved. It being funny helps, too.
Second up today is WWE: Hell In A Cell. It's a fun collection. Yeah, I don't have much else to say about it except check out the review!
That's all for today. I have American Dad & Family Guy to watch tonight, as well as Heroes tomorrow, and I have the 3 episodes from last week to put on here, too. So watch for that by Tuesdayish.
Holy crap we have a lot of TV shows to talk about!
March 21st, 2009
The title says it all. Read on to get 1 episode of Heroes, 2 episodes of American Dad, and 2 episodes of Family Guy.
Family Guy
03/08/09
Episode 8: Family Gay
Peter buys a brain-damaged horse, then races it to try and become a horse breeder. There is a funny joke where the horses is named after cancelled Fox shows. So, the horse goes crazy and causes thousands of dollars of damage. So he has to undergo medical experiments to get money, including an experiment that made him gay. Lois likes it at first but quickly changes her mind when they realize they can’t have sex. So Brian and Stewie bring Peter to the straight camp in hopes of making him hetero. Of course, while Peter is in the midst of an 11-way with his new boyfriend the drug wears off and everything is back to normal. Peter prancing was hilarious and this was a funny episode. B+.
03/15/09
Episode 8: The Juice is Loose
Peter has to babysit Stewie who ends up on the roof. To avoid getting in trouble with Lois, Peter gives us another showing of a Conway Twitty video. That’s his third time on the show now? Anyway, as usual, the first act has nothing to do with the second two as Peter finds a winning ticket from 1989 that lets him play golf with a famous celebrity, OJ Simpson. So Peter plays golf with him and becomes friends with him, despite what everyone else says. Apparently, people can change. The OJ heel turn at the end was just awesome. Interesting episode, I wonder why they decided OJ would be current enough to base an episode around him? B.
American Dad
03/08/09
Episode 12: Roy Rogers McFreely
Roger asks Stan to get something at the store, but Stan refuses to get it. Roger vows revenge and he gets it by becoming the chairperson of the Home Owner’s Association in Langely Falls. This actually puts Haley and Stan on the same side, going against the establishment and actually doing some “unplanned” maintenance. This leads to a war between Roger and Stan with Stan saying he’ll let Roger have some say in the house if he’ll resign. The Spanish song was just beyond silly (in a good way) and this was a very well-written episode. B+
03/15/09
Episode 13: Jack’s Back
Stan refuses to ride bikes with Steve and gives him a BS story why. In actuality it was because he never learned from his wayward father. So Steve locates Stan’s father in jail and reunites them. Stan sees right through his father’s good intentions as a way to get him out of jail but Steve doesn’t and runs away with him. Soon, Stan’s father realizes his mistakes and turns himself in. This was a well-written touching story dealing with Stan’s daddy issues. This serious matter (with good bits of humor) is coupled with a hilarious Hayley/Roger internship story that sees them engage in a battle of costumes and characters that is just comedy gold. A.
Heroes
03/09/09
Season 3 Episode 19: Shades of Gray
Parkman is in deep trouble, since he’s in front of the Capital with a bomb strapped to him. It seems that Danko (the guy who works under Nathan) planted him there and he has an agenda all his own, to personally see all the Heroes killed, even it if means going against Nathan. Nathan urges Parkman to read a bomb techs mind to disarm the thing, then turns him over to police. Sylar meets his father, who is dying of cancer. Danko even starts going over Nathan’s head to build a case against him! It doesn’t go well for Nathan, as he’s tossed out a window by Danko and flies away. Nathan’s right on screwed now, and has to save Claire, who is now being hunted herself after helping to save the puppet master. I really liked the twist on the ending, as Nathan’s whole practice of rounding up the Heroes bit him in the ass and even worse, his friends are still captured. I know this is going to lead to a Petrelli family team-up against the evil forces of Danko.
Futurama: Bender's Game
March 22nd, 2009
This has been a very interesting week sports-wise. Of course the big news is the start of the NCAA Tournament, but since I don't really care about it, I won't talk about it. I filled out my brackets for fun but I don't expect to actually win anything. FWIW, my final four were Uconn, Memphis, UNC and Pitt with UNC beating Memphis in the finals.
In even bigger sporting news, Martin Brodeur became the all-time winningest goalie in NHL history. Now, one can argue that since the tie has been done away with he wouldn't have the record right now but that is a moot point. He will have gotten the record anyway and just to show how great he is, he will become the all-time shutout record holder by next season anyway. I hate the Devils and by default I hate Brodeur, but you gotta respect what he's done. I give big props to Brodeur. I don't know if I would take him over Roy in a game 7 of a Stanley Cup finals, but I wouldn't argue against Brodeur if you choose him. Most of the criticism levied against Brodeur is unfounded (it is the system of the Devils) but the post lock-out NHL shows that the wins are result of Brodeur being great, not the Devils system. I firmly believe that had Broduer played for another team he would still be the all-time wins record-holder.
The final order of business this week is the DVD review. This is the third Futurama film, called Bender's Game. This was finished way back on Novemer 18th, a mere 7 days after I bought it. I have the final DVD in the queue to be reviewed, too.
That's all I really have to say right now. I have a big basketball game coming up on Tuesday that I am playing in and I can't wait for it. I have some SJU work to be done but really, I couldn't give a fuck about SJU right now. I have a test tomorrow that I am completely unmotivated to study for. The whole program I feel is completely useless and I know it is just a means to an end (my teaching certification and a higher salary) but when I am in school I am miserable. I can't wait for it to be done!
TV Show Catch-Up
March 28th, 2009
Family Guy
03/22/09
Episode 10: FOX-y Lady
Peter needs to get a new HD TV, and he does. The Ellen fish-breath is pretty sick, though. Peter just wanted the HD so he could watch his favorite hot newscaster on FoxNEWS, who is really ugly in HD. So Lois decides to try out for this position. She gets the position and she runs home a la Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a really appropriate ending. This spurs Peter to write a cartoon with Chris and Meg. This little tale leads nowhere, but Lois’ investigation that FoxNews sends her on turns Fred Savage into the greatest actor in history. The show ends with them acknowledging they have no ending and it sums up the episode as a whole, just a 22-minute show where nothing really happened, and unfortunately not being too funny. C.
American Dad
03/22/09
Episode 14: Bar Mitzvah Shuffle
Steve meets his match when a Jewish guy starts hitting on his girl, Debbie. Debbie dumps him and Steve wants revenge. The way Steve plans his revenge is really cool, he has an elaborate scheme to steal the kid’s envelopes full of money. Of course, things blow up in his face when Snot is framed for the robbery. The ending is as expected, with Steve coming clean. It was a really good A-storyline. The B-storyline is absurd and never paid off, it just shows Stan walking offstage in a cute bit. American Dad is better than Family Guy by far right now. B+.
Heroes
03/23/09
Episode 20: Cold Snap
This episode really pulled me back into the series. Not to say it hasn’t been an interesting season so far, but this really had everything season 1 had, ongoing plot advancement, interesting twists and surprising casualties. Danko continues his full-court press on the heroes, seemingly with HRG’s help. Angela is targeted but she escapes. Tracy is targeted and says she will help them find Rebel. Rebel, meanwhile, frees all the imprisoned heroes and Matt brings Daphne to the hospital, and giving her one last great memory before she dies. I was surprised Daphne bit the bullet here. So Tracy finds Rebel and it’s Micah! Nice to see him back on the show. So Tracy feels bad for selling him out and sacrifices herself by freezing everything so he can escape. Unfortunately, Danko shoots her while she’s frozen to kill off Tracy. Finally, Hiro and Ando rescue baby Matt Parkman (who is actually Matt Parkman’s son) and Hiro’s power seems to work again with Parkman Jr. Very interesting episode.
Wrestlemania Anthology Vol. I
March 29th, 2009
I didn't intentionally plan it this way but it works out. This week's DVD review, coming a week or so before Wrestlemania XXV is Wrestlemania Anthology Vol. I, a collection that includes the first five Wrestlemanias. It is definitely one of the largest reviews I have ever done. I still have a ton more great wrestling DVD's on the way, as well as the more traditional DVD reviews.
Anyway, this week has been very hectic for some reason. I didn't really have much going on but it still seemed packed. I had my schools faculty/senior basketball game and once again the faculty kicked the senior's collective asses. I had an impressive MVP performance, surprising even myself, but it was good to get out there and play somewhat well considering last year my fat ass was incredibly out of shape and only managed a meager two courtesy points. The 16 I got this year more than made up for that.
I couldn't follow up that victory with one on the fantasy side of the sports world, as both my hockey and basketball teams went down in the quarterfinals of their respective leagues. I'll play the loser's bracket to determine if I get in 3rd or 4th place, but I'm happy with that showing since it was the first time I had played in fantasy leagues. Not too much else going on. Family Guy, American Dad & Heroes reviews should be up by the end of the week so check for those, as well as maybe more wrestling on the way? Stay tuned!
Weekly TV Round-Up
March 31st, 2009
Family Guy 03/29/09
Episode 11: Not All Dogs Go To Heaven
The family attends a Star Trek convention, where all the prominent TNG cast showing up for voice-over duties. Stewie get pissed when his question isn’t answered. Meg gets mumps while at the convention and while holed up in her room and watching a Kirk Cameron show on religion, finds religion. Brian then reveals to everyone that he is an atheist. Brian asks what God does and we have a cool God/Flash Gordon scene with the Flash theme song. So Brian is a pariah for being an atheist as Stewie takes out the cast of TNG. Each story was resolved in its own way, with the religion one being well done and the ending with a live-action Rob Lowe and Adam West was pretty damn funny. This was a good recovery from last week’s terrible episode. B+.
American Dad 03/29/09
Episode 15: Wife Insurance
Stan goes out on a mission with a partner, and gets captured. When Stan does get home Francine is very relieved. She tells Stan that she couldn’t find love without him and asks what would happen if she were gone. Stan says he would marry his back-up wife! So Francine gets back at him by getting a back-up husband. Meanwhile, Steve and Roger become wheels & legs (their detective group) to find out who took Haley’s I-Pod. So Stan breaks it off with his replacement wife and tells Francine’s replacement husband to break it off. He doesn’t and kicks Stan out of a helicopter. This leads to huge fight between Stan, Francine and both back-ups, which is pretty ridiculous and funny. This was another solid episode for American Dad. A-.
Heroes 03/30/09
Season 3 Episode 21: Into Asylum
Claire and Nathan are on the run, but not before Claire gets a new hair-do! So they try to get money, Nathan loses a drinking game and Claire has to take over and beat the guy he was drinking against. They do some father/daughter bonding as Angela tells Peter they need to put the family back together. Danko’s ally is revealed as none other than Sylar! He brought the Puppet Master to him, and even helps him find a shape-shifting killer. Danko then brings that dead body to Bennet in the guise of Sylar, so he thinks Sylar is gone now, too. Interesting episode. It was a bit slow and took a while to develop, but at least we’re on track with how this season will end, with the Petrelli’s coming together to battle Danko and Sylar, and Bennet right in the middle. I for one am looking forward to having a more streamlined cast instead of the loads of character’s that made Season 2 and the first half of Season 3 too crowded.
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