Monthly Archives: April 2010

Battlestar Galactica: Lay Down Your Burdens (1 and 2)

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Starbuck finally gets the go-ahead to rescue people still left on Caprica, including one Samuel Anders, but when Racetrack’s Raptor takes a wrong turn and discovers a habitable, virtually hidden (but crappy) planet, the presidential election takes a dramatic (and costly) turn.

 

A note to first time BSG watchers; these aren’t the reviews for you. I plan to write about the show with the ending in mind. If you haven’t seen the show, you will be spoiled on stuff that happens at the end. You’ve been warned.

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Kung Fu Panda

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I’ve said it before, possibly even on this blog, but I think kids’ films are the hardest to review. Even if the film is sentimental tripe, kids everywhere are going to love it (even if they shouldn’t), and well, I feel a little bad about bashing something that little ones get so much enjoyment from (even if the film totally deserves a good bashing).

Fortunately, “Kung Fu Panda,” directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson, isn’t that bad, but it’s still not great.

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Battlestar Galactica: Downloaded

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In a departure for the show, we follow Boomer and Caprica Six, who are now living on nuked-out Caprica and trying to adjust to being war heroes for the Cylons when they still feel more human than machine. Back in the fleet, Athena gives birth to Hera, which leads to some troubling decisions from Roslin.

 

A note to first time BSG watchers; these aren’t the reviews for you. I plan to write about the show with the ending in mind. If you haven’t seen the show, you will be spoiled on stuff that happens at the end. You’ve been warned.

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“Alice” (1988)

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For this review, we’re jumping back to the 1980s for a surreal film adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Writer/director Jan  Svankmajer takes us on a wild and crazy adventure (not quite down a rabbit hole) is his “Alice.”

What makes this “Alice” stand out from the others is the stylistic choices Svankmajer makes, some that work and some that don’t.

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Battlestar Galactica: The Captain’s Hand

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Another episode, another commander for Pegasus, this time one who clashes with Starbuck and Lee over a risky course of action; tragedy ensues. In the B plot, Roslin faces a difficult choice as a young woman pushes a volatile issue into the president’s election campaign forefront.

 

A note to first time BSG watchers; these aren’t the reviews for you. I plan to write about the show with the ending in mind. If you haven’t seen the show, you will be spoiled on stuff that happens at the end. You’ve been warned.

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The Hurt Locker

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As we learned with “Avatar,” hype can be a dangerous thing for a film. Sure, it will get you interested, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, but more often than not hype sets expectations so high that no film, no matter how good, can really live up to them.

This is not one of those times.

“The Hurt Locker,” directed by Kathryn Bigelow, fully lived up to expectations. The acting, writing, directing, editing were all spectacular, and I almost feel like I’m running out of adjectives to express how pleased I was that the Best Picture winner really, really was that good (and it makes me extra happy that this little film beat the crappy behemoth).

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Battlestar Galactica: Sacrifice

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A group of four civilian dissidents takes the patrons of Cloud Nine hostage, including Dualla, Billy Keikeya, Ellen Tigh and Lee Adama, demanding the Cylon Sharon be turned over to them. Tragedy ensues.

 

A note to first time BSG watchers; these aren’t the reviews for you. I plan to write about the show with the ending in mind. If you haven’t seen the show, you will be spoiled on stuff that happens at the end. You’ve been warned.

Continue reading →

The squandered potential double feature

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In a first for my double features, I didn’t watch the films “9″ and “Avatar” back to back. Instead, I watched about a third of “9,” then “Avatar,” then the rest of “9.” In my defense, I was really tired.

Sure, maybe I’m violating some double feature rules, but these too films have a lot in common, which, in this case, is not a good thing.

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