TV Review special: Good and Bad TV

Hello again.

Today I decided to review a few television shows, and give my thoughts on the state of television.

First.....

High School Musical 2

rating- 3 out of 5 stars

Overall, this was exactly as I expected...a typical Disney style movie with lots of Disney music, Disney dancing, and Disney messages. (How much more Disney than 'be true to yourself' can you get?). The funny thing is, that is what is so great about Disney's latest and greatest. The music this time around is not as good as it was in the first High School Musical, but the dancing was better. The tunes make sense both lyrically and musically, and even for those people that don't like the High School Musical movie and its over-excessive marketing, the music is really catchy.

Where this movie suffers is in the acting and story. It basically feels strung together as a quick money maker based on a mega-hit. Oh, wait....that is exactly what it is.

Another great thing about High School Musical 2 is the fact that Zac Efron sang his own vocals this time around....rather than a voice over.

My verdict...give the soundtrack a listen, but don' worry so much about watching this extremely cliche movie.

Flash Gordon (Sci-fi channel original series)
rating 4 out of 5 stars
I was pleasantly surprised by the pilot episode of Flash Gordon. This is the latest incarnation on television about the comic book character. Eric Johnson (Smallville) plays the title character, and does a wonderful job. The story revolves around Flash's search for his father, which is only hindered by alien beings searching for something of his father's called "the Imex". Along the way, Flash is helped by his friend Dale Arden (Gina Holden) as he struggles against the evil Ming -who was behind his father's dissapearance.
So far, this tv series appears to show much promise. The violence is not bloody, there is very little language, and for the most part the acting is good. I personally can't wait for more of Flash Gordon.

One more thing I thought I would mention.....I hate the fact that Lost season 4 has been delayed yet AGAIN! It is now set to come back in February. I don't know why it will not return this fall, but after a strong first three seasons, I dont want to argue with producer J.J. Abrams, who is now hard at work on an untitled film set to come out on 1-18-08. In fact, visit 1-18-09.com and see what you think.......

Which star standard?

Okay guys....
I would like to make all the reviews at least somewhat comparable.
soo.......
Which would you prefer..
4 stars or
5 stars
when I review?

Thanks
The Buckland Fiddler

Movie Review: Stardust

Stardust

rated PG-13 for fantasy violence and risque humor

Filmmaking: 3 out of 4 stars

Moral rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Overall: 3 out of 4 stars

Stardust was one of those films that sort of took you by surprise. The ads have been running for weeks now, and the movie has an all star cast, but for some reason, I forgot about it.

Well, I can officially say that I was quite pleasantly surprised by this fantasy/adventure/comedy movie.

Stardust is basically a huge mish-mash of all fairy tales, along with some Narnia, Middle-earth and Hogwarts thrown in for good measure. Basically think of a live-action version of Shrek.

The story is about a young man named Tristan who leaves his village in England and crosses a magic wall into another world in search of a star that fell out of the sky. His hopes are to retrieve the star, and then take it to the girl he loves back in his village to prove his love. A couple of complications arise from here. First, the star is a literal person, the beautiful Yvaine (played to perfection by Gwyneth Paltrow lookalike Claire Danes); second, an evil witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) is also searching for the star, so that she can cut out her heart and eat it to achieve undying youth and beauty; and third, several princes are also searching for Yvainne, since she wears a necklace that they need in order to take the throne.

From here, the plot goes absolutely crazy, there are spells, fights, pirates, merchants, unicorns, goats and of course, humor.

Morally, the humor is a bit risque at times, regarding bust size, cross dressing, and other adult subjects. One of the most random, yet most off color jokes was in regard to Captain Shakespeare the pirate (Robert De Niro) who in the privacy of his cabin enjoys wearing dresses, painting hearts on his cheeks and dancing the can-can. Yes, I am quite serious. Language was mild, featuring only a couple uses each of d*** and h***. Other offensive content is in regards to some adult themes, as Tristan is the result of a one-time experience between his father and a princess. At other times, things are implied between Tristan and Yvainne.

Overall, Stardust was an excellent film. It was witty, well made, had a great cast (Did I mention Rupert Everett as a self obsessed prince?) and one heck of a soundtrack. The major problem is the amount of grown up humor that the writers felt that they had to put in the movie.

My verdict...if you have seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail....then go see Stardust.

First Official Joker Picture!

Finally!

The first WB sanctioned picture of Heath Ledger as the Joker is online!

Also, if you go to see The Bourne Ultimatum, you will see the teaser for the movie that features a sound clip of the Joker.

WOW!

This is going to be one heck of a movie summer next year!

Indiana Jones 4, Prince Caspian and The Dark Knight.....

Signing out, The Buckland Fiddler.

Movie Review: The Bourne Ultimatum

The Bourne Ultimatum

rated PG-13 for violence and some intense action sequences

Directed by Paul Greengrass( The Bourne Supremacy, United 93)

starring Matt Damon

Filmmaking: 41/2 out of 5 stars

Moral: 3 out of 5 stars

Overall: 41/2 out of 5 stars

The best sequel of the summer is undoubtedly Matt Damon's new espionage film from director Paul Greengrass. This movie completely took me by surprise!

After seeing Pirates, Spiderman, and Fantastic Four...etc. (the list goes on), I had kind of forgotten that another "3" movie was coming out....and boy did it deliver!

For those who are not familiar with the "Bourne" series, Matt Damon plays Jason Bourne, a former CIA assassin who has lost his memory. Throughout the film trilogy, Jason searches for the truth about him...who he is, where he came from......meanwhile running from other spies who are trying to exterminate him before he finds out. The last films revealed that Jason was a spy from the CIA program Treadstone, and that he had botched a job, so they felt obligated to take him out because of it.

Ultimatum continues that story....showing Jason find his place or origin, regain memories of his training....and even find out his real name. While major plot lines are resolved, this movie still left it open for The Bournce Conspiracy-book 4 in the series.

Morally speaking, the major problem with the Bourne Ultimatum is the raw, gritty violence. The entire movie features Jason fighting hand to hand with other assassins, including kicking, punching, stabbing, beating, strangling, drowning, and torturing. These movies ARE NOT light on violence. I would compare it to the violence of Casino Royale. Otherwise, the movie was fairly clean. Language was minimal, using only a couple of s words, a couple of g-ds and only about 10 other minor profanities.

The bottom line is if you like the first two, you will LOVE this one. The Bourne Ultimatum is an amazing show of acting, editing, and cinematography. If you are old enough to stomach the intense violence, then go see this movie!

Real Joker Pictures online!

I promised official pictures of the Joker from the upcoming film The Dark Knight, and here they are! These are not press releases, but spy pictures from the set.

For these and more, head on over to IESB.net.

Movie Reviews: Transformers and Evan Almighty

Transformers

rated PG-13 for intense action violence, brief sexual humor, and language

Directed by Michael Bay

Overall rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Filmmaking: 31/2 out of 4 stars

Moral rating: 2 out of 4 stars

The latest blood pumping adrenaline flick to hit screens this summer is Michael Bay's mega million blockbuster Transformers. Based on the popular Hasbro toys and the tv show from several years ago, Transformers promised.....and delivered.

The story revolves around the struggle over a powerful cube called the All Spark that the Decepticons (that would be the bad guys) are trying to get, so that they can conquer the universe. Fortunately for mankind, the awesome Autonomous Robots ("You can call us Autobots" one bot quips in the film) are here to protect us and get their hands on the All Spark first. Intertwined into this are the stories of Sam, a teenager whose first car happens to be the ultra cool Autobot "Bumblebee" and some soldiers who have faced a Decepticon in combat and are trying to get back home to their families. Featuring solid performances by relatively new actors like Shia Lebeouf and Megan Fox, enhanced by veterans like Josh Duhamel and Jon Voight, Transformers never loses the audience.

Action and effects wise, this features perhaps the best visual effects ever seen on screen. The robots were convincing and more importantly, cool; and the fight sequences were jaw dropping. At times the action got a bit frenetic, but as it was supposed to come from Sam's point of view, it worked. However, the fighting was intense, and I would not reccomend taking anyone under 13.

Moral content is the greatest stumbling block of this movie. Language was coarse, featuring several s words, a cut off mf, and many other minor words. Sexual content was surprisingly high, featuring several jokes and uncomfortably frank discussions on the subject. Also, the lead female character wore very revealing clothing throughout the entire film, both midriff and cleavage baring.

Overall, I really enjoyed Transformers. It was very realistic, but far enough removed to allow audiences to enjoy the movie. The effects are certainly the best so far this year, but it makes me sad to see a sharp rise in the amount of offensive content in movies targeted to kids

Evan Almighty

rated PG for some rude humor

Directed by Tom Shadyac

Overall Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Moviemaking: 21/2 out of 4 stars

Moral Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

Evan Almighty is a surprisingly refreshing film about Anchorman-turned-congressman Evan Baxter (Steve Carrel), who is instructed by God (Morgan Freeman) to build an ark. The expected panic ensues, people make fun of Evan, his appearance goes crazy (His assistant played by the lovely Wanda Sykes exclaims upon viewing his hair "You look like a Bee Gee!"), and his family leaves him.

Through these problems however, Evan realizes that he needs to obey God, even at the risk of losing everything he has.....which he does. God has other things in store for Noah, errr Evan, and talks to his wife (played by Lauren Graham of Gilmore Girls fame), and teaches her a lesson about faith.

All that the Baxter family wants is to grow closer, but God makes it clear....If they pray for their family to grow closer, is He going to just give them warm fuzzies? Or is He going to give them the opportunity to act as a family by staying together. I am sure you can guess what happened next.

The story is basically a modern retelling of Noah's Ark, with a funny cast, and good morals. As the Baxters did in this ultra clean comedy, so will your family grow closer from watching Evan Almighty.