(Hopefully) Welcoming A New Contributor

Following the dearth of postings here recently, I started looking around for other folks who might want to join us since it sometimes seemed like no one had much to say but me.

One of Vicki and my favourite column writers for years was Sean Twist, who could often be found writing in the local newspaper about comic books, science fiction, video games and other genre offerings, with a unique sense of humour and extremely readable style. Awhile after I started blogging myself, I stumbled across his blog, and have been a frequent visitor there ever since. While no sane person ever seems to match my blogging output, Sean is pretty reliable at a few entries per week, so I inquired as to whether he'd be interested in joining us here in Movie-and-TV-Land. Tonight, I'm happy to say, it looks like he's accepting the challenge!

I'll be setting him up as a contributor as soon as I get his e-mail address. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he raises the bar around here quite nicely, which of course would be the whole point of collaborating.

Slings and Arrows vs. Intelligence

Ok, so we have one blog author who is a fan of Slings and Arrows, and another (me) who is not a fan of Slings and Arrows, but loves Intelligence.

The two programs battled it out for supremacy at this year's yawning Gemini Awards in the category of best TV drama. Guess who won?

...envelope please..... not Intelligence.

Round one of the battle of Canuck TV shows goes to PeterJ. He better watch his back. Arrows will be slung and hopefully the much better program will prevail next year.

The Bear Came Over the Mountain

I love reading the New Yorker. It is an addiction, purchasing one a month and taking another two or three weeks to gingerly read everything. I've gotten great book, music and movie recommendations, ranging from Malcolm Gladwell's counter-intuitive business articles to becoming a fan of Detroit's the Dirtbombs and their garage-rock take on 70s pop and soul standards.

Sarah Polley's recent movie Away From Her started out as an Alice Munro short story in the New Yorker. The Bear Came Over the Mountain is a wonderful composition - the snapshot of an elderly couple's half year struggle with Alzheimer's. When the movie came out, the story was posted on the New Yorker website and graciously , you can read it here.

The film is almost better than its source, one of those rare instances where what is captured by the camera is equal to or better than its inspiration. Julie Christie as Fiona, losing her mental facilities, moves into an elder care home and provokes the disbelief of her husband, Gordon Pinsent, who thinks that maybe there is something buried and unmentioned in his wife's deteriorating condition. The acting is especially great with Christie, Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis and Michael Murphy all putting in 'sweep the Oscars' performances.

But the vast majority of the praise must be reserved for Sarah Polley. Polley wrote the screenplay and directed the movie with a deft, unhurried eye and the confidence of a super-intelligent actor going behind the camera. Thankfully, her days as a Hollywood ingenue are over and I can only hope that her New Yorker addiction will continue.

Rating: **** (ie best movie I have seen this year)

SpongeBob SquarePants Season 1

I've always been what I like to refer to as a "purist" when it comes to cartoons. So typically cartoons that were created in the 1990s and beyond I wouldn't waste time on. There's no "love" in their creation. There, of course, are exceptions. I've seen a few of the Justice League cartoons, the Batman, and even Spider-Man. But it seems that kids are inundated by the likes of Kim Possible (crap), Captain Flamingo (crap), and a whole array of Anime cartoons based on the premise that a deck of cards, or a small metallic ball, can be used to create fantastic creatures that fight each other for points. I grew up with Bugs Bunny, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, Superfriends, and the ORIGINAL Scooby Doo (no idiot Scrappy), and of course, Popeye the Sailor Man. Those masterpieces simply don't exist anymore except in syndication.

Then I happened across a newer cartoon that really grabbed me. It takes place in an underwater city called Bikini Bottom and focuses on a sponge, starfish, crab, squid, and a squirrel (yes, a squirrel!) and the teacher at the boating school who happens to be a puffer fish. And let's not forget the villain...a lowly piece of plankton!

SpongeBob is an ever optimistic fry cook who works at the Krusty Krab. His boss is the penny pinching Eugene Krabs, and his co-worker is Squidward Tentacles. When he's not working, SpongeBob is out jellyfishing with his best buddy, the dimwitted Patrick Star (the starfish) or engaging in karate with Sandy Cheeks, the squirrel who lives in a treedome under the sea.

The Krusty Krab is the creator of the the Krabby Patty..the most delicious burger in town and its secret recipe is being sought by the evil Plankton, who owns the Chum Bucket across the street...the competition.

The main reason I like this series (all seasons) is because it's funny. Most of those other cartoons are geared towards mindless twits and the jokes just aren't funny. But the humour in this show seems to be a bit more high brow where adults can appreciate it as much as the kids.

It may not be for everyone, but with 5 kids in the house and the seemingly endless parade of moronity on TV these days, I'll gladly sit down and see what kind of crazy antics the folks of Bikini Bottom are up to. Heck, I even PVR it!!

Rating: ***

Review: Transformers

Annnnnd... it has some giant robots that turn into cars and stuff, too!

So, a quick check of my Comic Book Inventory System confirms that I don't, in fact, own any Transformers comics. Never watched the cartoon series. Knew next to nothing about the concept beyond the whole cars that turn into robots thing. I came into this movie, as they say in the business, virtually cold.

I guess it would be reasonable to say that it's a pretty cheesy movie. Some of the dialogue definitely inspires laughter of the wrong sort, but to be fair, other bits of humour are right on the mark. When the teenage hero's parents burst into his bedroom - where, unbeknownst to them, the too-sexy-for-words new flame played by Megan Fox (shown above) is hiding - his mother chooses that particular moment to ask him if he had perhaps been masturbating! That scene alone practically justifies the hundreds of millions of dollars that went into... well, showing us robots-that-turn-into-cars beating the crap out of each other!

The wife and I first encountered young Shia LaBeouf while watching Season Two of Project: Greenlight. In it, he won the lead role in the Greenlight film, The Battle of Shaker Heights. Over the course of many hours of documentary footage, we couldn't help but get to know young Shia somewhat better than you normally would someone in a low-budget film like that. It's hard not to cheer for a guy like that (and hey, he's in the next Indiana Jones movie, so I guess he did OK). Here in Transformers, he's effective enough - likable, heroic, frantic every 15 minutes - but it's in a part that's about as deep as a sheet of tin foil. And he sweats a lot (no wonder his mother thought she'd caught him failing at being the master of his domain).

As far as plot goes, I suppose there is one. More or less. Maybe more than "bad alien robots and good alien robots fighting for the fate of the Earth" and less than anything much more interesting than that. Oh, there's a pair of old eyeglasses that seem important for awhile, only to be replaced in that regard by a cube that's going to somehow kill us all unless one of the robots absorbs it into his chest, and all the while... robots fight! A lot!

The effects for those battles are actually pretty impressive, allowing me to repeatedly forget that it was only happening in a computer somewhere. One scene didn't work - a small girl reacting to an Autobot, where I didn't believe for a second that she was really looking at him, simply because her gaze never quite lined up with the effects - but for the most part, I bought the action. We're supposed to remember who the good robots and the bad robots are, but I'll admit I mostly lost track. I like to think that the evil ones had the lowest fuel efficiency of the bunch, though. I'm sure at least one of them must've been a Hummer, for example.

And then there's Megan Fox. She starts off being eye candy, but eventually her character's given slightly more to do than run around in a low-cut top... although, she does that, too! She hot-wires a car - one of the few ones that doesn't turn into a giant robot! - and uses a tow-truck to carry one of the good Transformers back into the big final battle. And she looks great while doing each of those surprisingly useful activities!

By the time we got to the final Optimus Prime (leader of the good robots) voice-over that wraps up the movie, we'd decided that Transformers was mindless, harmless entertainment of the easily-forgettable variety. Since it was viewed for free (thanks again, Nhan!) I think we got to see it at just the right price. It's always nice when that happens!

Rating: **

Your Monkey's Pretty Stupid!

Yes, Star Wars fans, that was indeed Carrie "Princess Leia" Fisher on this week's 30 Rock. And yes, that was an homage to your favourite movie near the end, when she looked into the camera and begged, "Help me, Liz Lemon! You're my only hope!" (Where's Obiwan when you need him?)

Fisher was good as Rosemary, an over-50 has-been from the Laugh-In era of comedy writers who Liz idolized as a girl ("It's funny.. because it's true!"). Of course, yet another idol turns out to have feet of clay, but not before Liz recognizes her own future staring her in the face if she doesn't make some changes, starting with "doing that thing that rich people do that turns money... into more money!"

"Never go with a hippie to a second location", "You make enough money, you can pay people to look at you naked" and "Are you an... immigrant?" were just a few of the Jack Donaghy gems this week. Liz revealed that her life savings currently amount to $12,000 in a chequing account, along with her intention to "get one of those" 401K plans someday. Oh, and the writers took merciless aim at Michael Vick's dog-fighting infamy.

30 Rock continues to bring tears of laughter to my eyes for one brief half hour every week. But at least I have that!

Review: 35 Up

If you've never seen any of the installments in this series - 7 Up, 7 Plus 7 Up, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up and 49 Up - then you have a huge treat ahead of you on the day when you see one of them for the very first time. Vicki, Tammy and I had viewed a few of them, over the years, but generally out of order. Since buying the DVD collection, we've been slowly working our way through the series in chronological order.

Director Michael Apted has created one of the most compelling documentary series ever attempted, following, as it does, the lives of roughly a dozen British citizens as they grow up from age 7. He checks back with them every 7 years, with the latest installment featuring the group at age 49. This review is of 35 Up, the 5th movie in the run.

One of the first things we noticed about our familiar cast of real-life men and women was that many of them looked older than you'd expect for people in their mid-30s. My reaction in watching them was that several of them seemed to be my age, but that's off by almost a decade. I suspect that part of the reason for that is simply lifestyle, and more specifically the tough go of it that some of the working class poor in the series have endured. I imagine there's also an aspect of seeing them as children, teenagers, and younger adults, all in flashbacks during the film, that can make them seem artificially older as they age before your eyes.

This segment also begins to capture the rite of adulthood relating to losing one's parents, as about half of the subjects relate stories of a mother or father - or both - passing away in the time since 28 Up. Not surprisingly, most of the group has also begun their own families, creating some eerie reflections whenever you see a son or daughter about the right age to evoke comparisons to what their parent looked and acted like, back in 7 Up.

As you might expect, the main attraction of the Up Series continues to be the gratification of seeing what changes have occurred in the lives of these oh-so-familiar folks that you've never actually met. You can't help but have your favourites, after all, after spending the number of hours with them that you've accumulated by this point. The handful still single at 35 - kind, giving Bruce who pointedly never uses the female pronoun when describing his hopes for finding that special someone; and Neil, whose thread-thin subsistence of a life is dependent on social programs as he seemingly hasn't had a paying job in over a decade now - are joined by a few newly-divorced singles, reinforcing the pervasive feeling that many of them have failed to find anything resembling happiness as they enter into 'early mid-life.'

Even among the still-married bunch are those who joke about splitting up or make a compelling case for why they really were never right for each other to begin with. It was certainly a breath of fresh air when one of the spouses put forth her theory that these recurring appearances on the Up Series have actually helped their relationship, simply by reminding them every few years of how much in love they once were. Most of the rest seem to have reached the conclusion that having been chosen for the original documentary was one of the worst things that ever happened to them. And yet they continue to agree to appear...

It seems to me that this is the sort of social examination that watchers of shows like Survivor will claim to be interested in, when in... reality... that sort of spectacle hasn't one tenth of the depth that the Up Series puts on display every seven years. I fall in love with these stories all over again every time we watch a new installment, and I've yet to hear of anyone who gave one a try and wasn't wowed. I can't imagine that a better documentary series exists.

Rating: ****

Calling All Contributors

I can't help but notice that no one but me has contributed anything over the past week, and that in the week preceding that, only Tammy, Tim and I had anything to say.

Is no one watching TV or movies anymore? Is everyone busy playing Halo 3? What's happened to our output? No one's arm is being twisted, but this site only works if people contribute to it. There have been nearly 90 posts here so far, so if you're one of the folks with only one or two of them, maybe you could find the time in the near future to say a word or two about whatever it is you're watching these days? And to Tim, Tammy and Mike I say: thanks for continuing to chime in as often as you've been doing! You guys in particular have made this collaborative blog rock, as far as I'm concerned!

Heroes, Don't You Jump That Shark!

It's not the alleged 'slow pace' of Season Two of Heroes that has me worried. After all, when Lost suffered from that problem at times in the second and third seasons, I didn't mind at all since the character bits that were being introduced more than held my interest. No, what's troubled me over the first few episodes of Tim Kring's superhero series so far this season is just the sheer weight of the coincidences, starting to pile up beyond my ability to suspend disbelief!

You've got Sylar, lying on the road in the middle of nowhere just as Maya and her brother drive by, allowing for a potentially-tragic meeting without even a veneer of causality to explain it. How many people are on this planet, again? Six billion? Couldn't be! Six million? Still seems like long odds! Six thousand? Now you're talkin'!

Then there's the fact that Parkman somehow managed to adopt/become the guardian of Molly, despite him going through a divorce at the time, having been a recent suspect in a serial killer case (and being in trouble in general at work), and no prior connection to her?! I mean, sure, that works great for keeping those characters together and advancing the plot, but otherwise? Did that not seem a bit odd?

But wait, it gets weirder, because it just happens that the big new Boogie Man who Molly's terrified us? Parkman's dad! Oh yeah... that's some irony, eh? Or, that other thing... what's it called? Oh right, unbelievable coincidence!

I won't even go into how convenient it was that Ando noticed his name on the hilt of the sword at just the right moment to allow him to find out what Hiro's been up to in the past. (I'd love to have seen it written differently, where Hiro eventually gets back and asks, "Did you get all my messages?" to which Ando responds, "What the Hell are you talking about?")

I think amnesia's almost always a poor writing crutch, and here we have Peter suffering from it long enough to allow a side plot to continue so that he can't be around to flex his mighty morphin' muscles back in the main story. What next? Evil twins? A shower scene that undoes the previous season's events?

Now, don't me wrong... I'm still enjoying Heroes. But I can definitely see the sharks circling in the water, and Fonzie's unfortunately revving the crap out of his hog. Someone must stop the madness! While there's still time...

Rating (so far this season): ***

Who Produces This Stuff?

Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) is a very technical, very detail-oriented television program. I get that... but how many producers does it really need?

Well, last week's episode apparently needed quite a few! In fact, just for fun, I counted:

• 1 Line Producer
• 2 Consulting Producers
• 2 Co-Producers
• 3 Producers
• 3 Co-Executive Producers
• 8 Executive Producers

That's right, a total of 19 producers for a 42-minute crime drama (plus commercials)!

Now, I don't know what differentiates an Executive Producer from a Co-Executive Producer, or a Consulting Producer from a Line Producer, or even how to tell a Producer from a Co-Producer without a DNA test. So maybe every one of them (or every 3 or 8 of them) serves an indispensable purpose without which the show wouldn't be the same, but... gah?

Vicki just informed me that last week's Grey's Anatomy (which I'm currently blogging through, as I normally do) had 15 'producer-types,' spread over the same categories shown above. Of course, it's a medical show, which once again may imply lots of technical details (although, to be honest, I think the writers make most of it up just for ultimate shock value).

Is this the real reason why TV dramas cost so much to make anymore? Or is a producer credit just the latest way studios suck up to talent by appealing to their egos?

I Love You, Liz Lemon!

If I wasn't already a very happily-married man, and Liz Lemon wasn't... well, a fictional character in a television sitcom, then I'd so ask her to be my wife! (And she's just desperate enough that she might take me up on it!)

I worried after Season One of 30 Rock was so amazingly fresh and hilarious that the show might suffer the dreaded sophomore jinx (that some might argue both Lost and Heroes have experienced). Two episodes into Season Two, though, I don't see any signs of that happening. It's almost impossible for me to enjoy sitcoms anymore, what with the humour in most being either predictable or so exaggerated as to bear no resemblance to reality. Because of that, I came close to not even trying 30 Rock when it debuted last year. When I did, though, and laughed out loud pretty much throughout the half hour premiere, I knew it was something special.

As we watched this week's episode over dinner tonight, Vicki and I were both commenting on how incredibly natural Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin are as a comedic pair. They complement each other perfectly in the roles of long-suffering Liz Lemon and insufferable Jack Donaghy. Fey's character has to be pathetic, yet lovable, for the show to work at all, and she pulls that off every week with a self-deprecating eagerness that most actresses would never dare to try. Similarly, Baldwin's network executive manages to occasionally awe us with who and what he knows, while at the same time being the butt of many of the jokes... or is he? Donaghy's ability to sum up Lemon's life - again and again, in increasingly accurate and depressingly succinct manner - is a running gag that just keeps getting funnier with each new incarnation.

While the rest of the characters on the show are certainly more than window dressing - Kenneth the NBC Page threatens to steal every scene he's in, and the shot of him proudly riding his bicycle off the set after losing the big poker match to Donaghy last season can still crack me up anytime I think about it - none of them can really compete with the chemistry that exists between the two leads. The Liz-and-Jack dynamic is pure comic genius, and you could really just watch the show each week for that alone, and still come away entertained. If you ask me, that's the mark of a great sitcom! Too bad it's the only one of its kind on the air these days.

Rating: ****

Review: 3:10 to Yuma

Westerns can be a controversial subject among movie lovers, some certain that they are complex commentaries on American life, and others unconvinced by the heartless, macho, ultra-violence.

I must confess that I have never seen a John Wayne film. My experience with Westerns has been limited to Unforgiven and films that can only reluctantly be included in the genre such as City Slickers and Blazing Saddles. So it is with little knowledge but few biases that I approached my viewing of 3:10 to Yuma. Essentially, I wanted to determine whether it was a good film, not a good Western.

I was motivated to see it when I heard the casting; Russell Crowe and Christian Bale rarely make bad movies. The story itself is fairly uncomplicated: Dan Evans (Bale), a disabled farmer sets out with the local sheriff’s crew to escort captured outlaw Ben Wade (Crowe) to the next train heading to the jail in Yuma. The convoy must fight off those who want Wade dead, his angry posse coming to reclaim their leader, and the manipulative outlaw himself. These scenes are full of action and suspense, but the depth comes in the developing relationship between Wade and Evans who both appreciate the intellect and conversation the other offers. (But don’t worry, this isn’t Brokeback or anything).

Although I much prefer Bale as an actor, this is Crowe at a career best. His role here is more suited to his talents than anything I’ve seen him play in the past – he’s charming, unpredictable, likeable, and evil all at the same time. Both lead performances are subtle, thoughtful, and nuanced – adjectives which also apply to the script and direction. There’s an energy and enthusiasm here that is unusual for a remake.

Although I did not set out to consider this film within its genre, I think this is a movie that the Western-haters can appreciate. Overall probably the best film I’ve seen so far this year.

Rating: ****

Intelligence has returned with well, more intelligence

Only when asked, I say that my current favourite TV show is Intelligence. Nobody recognizes it. I'm met with blank stares and if I mention it is a CBC Vancouver production, this is followed by laughter. I'm written off as some overly patriotic nut job, the kind of masochistic viewer who watches Canadian drama.

But oh man is this show good. It follows the intertwined lives to Mary Spalding (Klea Scott), the recently promoted BC CSIS chief and Jimmy Reardon (Ian Tracey), the grass dealing kinpin of the coast. If you are watching a fairly boring re-start to a superhero-opera in the same Monday night timeslot, you are missing out. Last winter, at the conclusion of the first season, Jimmy was trapped in a Seattle DEA sting, trying to get out of a showdown that very much looked like a way to actually conclude the series. And that was what I was afraid of. Intelligence would get canceled, because some maple-leaf wearing nutjob in London Ontario was the only viewer. But it didn't get canceled, and Jimmy's escape and trek back across the border was an incredible mixture of great scenes, cold realism and adept characterizations.

Credit for this excellent series goes to Chris Haddock, the big-brained talent behind Da Vinci's Inquest and Da Vinci's City Hall. Turns out Haddock and the show have a substantial foreign viewing audience, gathering huge numbers in Australia and Europe.

So thank you Melbourne! Thank you Helsinki! I have some viewing kinship with other parts of the world, even if the people who co-write this blog look at me as a kind of maple-leaf wearing nutjob.

Give Intelligence a try. Mondays at 9pm. DRAMA. ON CBC!!!!!

Review: Superman Doomsday

This seems to be my weekend for watching comic-based movies, but there are worse ways to spend Thanksgiving!

This animated feature is the first in a highly-anticipated series of direct-to-DVD films from Warner Brothers, capitalizing on some of DC Comics' most popular storylines from the past several decades. It's the sort of idea that, when you hear it for the first time, you wonder why the Hell it had never happened before. After all, with a direct-to-DVD rather than theatrical approach, you don't need to make tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to turn a profit. Add in the fact that DC has a built-in audience across several generations who'd be interested in seeing some of the classic stories brought to their TV screens, and it has the feel of a no-brainer.

So how was the first offering, Superman Doomsday? Surprisingly effective! The story is one of the most-read comic tales ever, because of the media hype that developed around it. For those who don't know: Doomsday was the Hulk-like monster who forged a path of destruction across the countryside on his way to Metropolis, essentially wiping out anything that got in his way. Several Justice League members tried to stop him but were nearly killed in the attempt, and then it was up to the Man of Steel to save the day. The two juggernauts fought, with both of them dying in the end as a result of the incredible blows each had landed on the other during the fight. That final confrontation occurred in Superman (Vol 2) # 75, a story that sold literally millions of copies, by the time all of the subsequent printings and collections had been grabbed up. Following that came the Funeral For A Friend arc, and then The Reign of the Supermen (as several new characters attempted to fill the void left by the Last Son of Krypton's death) before the inevitable Return of Superman. In this DVD, all of that is compressed into a 75-minute version.

I give the script writers a lot of credit for their choices in terms of what to keep from the original material, and what to lose. As hard as it is for me to admit, much of the comic story was horribly convoluted to anyone not intimately familiar with the character at the time (as I was), and so all of that is gone: no other superheroes are shown here, and very few of the supporting cast made the cut. For the most part, it's Superman, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Lex Luthor and Doomsday, with Daily Planet editor Perry White having a few key scenes. Even Clark Kent is barely shown, although his final appearance is truly memorable (and appreciated, by this fan).

Importantly, though, the DVD has a PG-13 rating, largely because of the amount of violence, and specifically death, that was not discarded. I shudder to think of what a Doomsday story would've felt like if everyone he encountered miraculously survived, as has always been the rule for the TV animated series (Adventures of Batman, Superman Adventures, Justice League Unlimited, etc.) Here, though, many deaths are shown, far beyond simply the expected demise of the title characters. That aspect of the story made it quite scary, in a way that cartoon features involving superheroes normally aren't.

There are also plenty of surprises for fans of the original Death of Superman comic event. One significant aspect of the story was completely new, although I suppose, in a way, it was a subtle little nod toward the aforementioned Reign of the Supermen period. As well, the decision was made to have Martha Kent as the only surviving parent, which is different than the comic book mythology at the time (and currently), but strangely in line with both the original Superman movies with Christopher Reeve and the most recent events on TV's Smallville. It worked well here, although one key scene involving Martha and Lois in Smallville was abbreviated to the point of losing an opportunity for true poignancy, in my opinion.

And speaking of Ms Lane, she's well-written here (for a change) and given a very adult role to play (also for a change). I loved her character in this feature, and the only negative reaction I had was in hearing Anne Heche's voice coming out of her mouth! Heche's squeaky, crackling tones were completely ill-suited for Lois, and could only have been worsened if they'd chosen Fran Drescher in her place! I was so bothered by this casting choice that it probably, in the end, cost the movie a 1/2 star off its rating in my estimation!

Pretty much everything else worked for me, aside for minor quibbles like how quickly Metropolis seemed to get rebuilt after each disaster struck it (and one scene involving a building collapsing was eerily similar to the events of Sept 11th and thus perhaps not appropriate here). There's also the moment where Superman used a mirror and his X-Ray vision to see beneath the skin of his own face. Did the writers really not understand that a reflecting surface can only show whatever's visible? Using an X-Ray on a mirror, I can't help but believe, would simply result in your seeing whatever's behind it! Unless, of course, we're to believe that Superman can somehow cause his super-vision to bounce off surfaces...

Overall, Superman Doomsday is a frightening, suspenseful and ultimately satisfying story that should be understandable by all (though not suitable for small children), enjoyable for most, and a true treat for the comic fan. And if you like seeing superpowered creatures beating the crap out of each other while knocking down buildings and generally totalling the joint, you're going to be beside yourself while watching this animated feature!

Oh, and the Special Features on the DVD provide an excellent recap of all that happened during the media event surrounding Superman's death! Even I learned a thing or two from watching it! If you happen to see it, and find yourself wondering why, of the four Reign of the Supermen characters, Superboy isn't actually shown (just mentioned), it's all because of this.

Rating: ***

Review: Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer

Expectations are a funny thing. They can really affect how you react to a movie - or TV show, or book, or comic - no matter how much you may try to guard against it. Based on everything I'd heard about the second Fantastic Four movie, I really expected to hate it. And yet, when I finally got to see it, I found that I actually sort of, kind of liked it.

Not that it's a great motion picture, or even a very good one. It's just not really a bad viewing experience, which means that it exceeded my expectations. It's maybe a little better than the original - which isn't saying all that much - and rewards fans of the Marvel Comics title better than its predecessor did. Since I'm one of them, I guess that counts for something.

Among the best parts of Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer are any scene with the aforementioned herald of Galactus, as the script writers got the character right for a change. His change of heart wasn't given the room it deserved, seeming as it did to turn entirely on a coincidental resemblance between his lost love and the super-sexy Susan Storm. But I think you can still get at least a taste of what Norrin Radd's all about, from his portrayal here.

I also liked the power-switching subplot, as it allowed for both some laughs, and a little bit of character-building. Notable in that last category was the difficulty each of the team members except Reed had in adjusting to finding themselves with an unfamiliar super ability. As the big brain of the outfit, Mr Fantastic should be able to figure that sort of thing out quickly, and he did. Also cool, for the comic fan, was how they temporarily turned Johnny Storm into a big screen version of the Super-Skrull - he who has all four of the FF's powers - making for one of my favourite scenes, by far.

At first the schtick around the wedding - which keeps getting delayed because of crises - bothered me, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. In the comic series, the lovebirds had some of the same issues, with the wedding event itself being crashed by dozens of costumed villains (establishing a tradition, within the genre, for how superhero weddings are supposed to play out). I have to give the movie-makers credit for acknowledging that, within the limitations of this new form (it's not like there are dozens of super-villains who even could've shown up!)

Comic fans will recognize that the main plotline this time out was essentially an amalgamation of two of the earliest Silver Surfer appearances, from Fantastic Four #s 48 - 50 and #s 55 - 57. Those two arcs tell of the Surfer's debut, arriving to prepare the planet for Galactus' lunch, and then later, Dr Doom's successful attempt to steal the silver one's powers for himself. While nearly every detail of each story was changed in the movie, the broad strokes were retained. I'm a little disappointed that more of the terror implicit in each of those classic yarns wasn't captured on film, but I suppose that's part of the cost of going for a light-hearted tone.

On the negative side, it really is too campy for my tastes. Yes, the original material has some of that, too, but somehow it seems less obtrusive on the printed page. On the screen, at times it's hard to understand just what any of the four would actually see in each other, not the least of which relates to Reed and Sue - and I'm sure you can guess which attraction I'm referring to! As with the first movie, it feels like we're just supposed to accept that they're all best buddies, despite the bickering, but it continues to irk me that virtually no time is spent actually demonstrating any true bonding.

Alicia, Ben Grimm's blind-and-hot girlfriend, was horribly under-utilized once again. In this instance, that fact was more reprehensible, though, considering the pivotal role the character played in Norrin Radd's introduction in Fantastic Four #s 48 - 50. There, it was the blind sculptress' compassion for her strange visitor that first lit a spark in the Surfer's heart, and thus his eventual betrayal of his master made more sense, was less self-directed (acknowledging mankind's potential for good versus simply being reminded of his own love interest) and provided some delicious irony by having a non-powered, supporting character turn the tide of the battle where super-strength and the rest had come up short. I can't see any particular reason why that aspect of the drama couldn't have been used here, especially considering the silly alternative we got.

With so many superhero movies coming out these days, it's inevitable that certain traps would start showing up in them. One of the first I noticed was the "superhero has his secret identity discovered by love interest or arch enemy." We saw that one in each of the Spider-Man movies, most of the Batman ones, and even several Superman versions. And now we're getting a wave of "main character dies only to be brought back to life," which started way back in Superman II - said rebirth coming courtesy of Kal El turning time backwards or some such nonsense - and has more recently been *ahem* reborn with Jean Grey in X-Men 3 and now Susan Storm near the end of this film. It's not something I'm at all fond of, since it removes any drama around future deaths ("Ah well, it won't last!")

There were plenty of other annoyances in Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer, and yet I was still left with a faintly positive response to it. I guess I'm just the forgiving type when it comes to comic movies, although you wouldn't know it by my reaction to the horrid League of Extraordinary Gentlemen debacle. It probably also helped that I got to see the film courtesy of a loaner from Boneman, for which he once again earns my thanks!

Rating: ** 1/2

Review: Pushing Daisies

This is a strange TV show. As I watched the premiere, I couldn't help but think of how I felt the first time I saw Edward Scissorhands: it's a little like peering into an alternate universe, where the rules are almost the same as here, but not quite. And where that's different than other shows where unbelievable things happen like, say, Heroes or Lost, is in the way the characters react to the weirdnesses.

For example, in the 1990 Tim Burton fantasy with Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder, you've got a main character with scissors for hands. That's weird! And yet people within the surburban neighbourhood in which he eventually ends up, don't really seem to find that so strange... especially if Edward uses his appendages to carve up nifty hedge statues for them! Kind of like the real world, and kind of not. In Pushing Daisies, the viewer is painstakingly lead through a Rules of the Game opening in which we're both shown and told - thanks to a fairly cheesy narration - exactly how Ned discovered and came to understand his unique ability. If you haven't already heard, central character Ned can touch any dead creature and bring it back to life. However, precisely one minute later, if Ned hasn't touched the re-animated flora or fauna a second time, causing it to resume being dead forever, then some other living creature in the area will die in its place. And the creature brought back to life initially will still end up dead if Ned ever touches it again. As rules go, those are pretty tight, albeit nonsensical (why exactly one minute? how is the alternate life decided? why manifest when the child is ten, or had he simply never noticed before then that he was bringing cut flowers back to life, for example?); so I give them points for tightness.

With the setup out of the way, it's time for someone to discover Ned's secret. Many years later, Ned, all grown up but seriously repressed from fear of touching anyone (not sure why he thinks it's bad to touch non-dead types, but whatever) is a pie-maker (cuz, see, his mother was making a pie when 10-year-old Ned accidentally killed her... twice!) Unfortunately, though, Ned's spotted accidentally re-animating and then de-animating (within that crucial sixty seconds) a freshly dead man. The onlooker who spies this strange turn of events, who just happens to be a private detective (ish), immediately sees an opportunity for easy money: have Ned wake a murder victim up just long enough to ask, "So, who killed you, anyway?" before a second touch and then off to collect the reward by ID'ing the murderer. I guess if he'd been anything other than a P.I. we'd have gotten a different show. Or something. You'd think, though, that someone with that knack for spotting the goose that lays the golden eggs might think: "I wonder how much a rich dude might pay us to bring a dead loved one back to life?" But no. Again: different show. Instead, we get the first of what appear to be many characters who just... accept... that this is the way the game is played, and go from there. It certainly makes for convenient plot advancement, but it also takes away any sense of reality. Which can be OK, like in the case of dear old Edward and his "Don't run with scissors?! What part of my life don't you understand?" charm.

But then the Contrivance Machine shifts into overdrive. See, Ned's childhood crush just happens to get murdered, setting up the scenario that some might call a gimmick: Ned gives her the first half of the usual treatment, but then can't bring himself to send her on to her Eternal Reward. Instead, the minute passes and death befalls a nearby funeral director - thankfully, a corrupt and worthless sort, saving Ned any messy guilt that might otherwise complicate things - leaving girlfriend Charlotte among the "alive again" crowd. And wouldn't you know it, just like Ned hasn't really moved on from that childhood crush because of his strange gift, Charlotte was sent off to live with twisted aunties - they were synchronized swimmers, OK? of course they're sick! - which saved her from ever developing a normal life! Whew! These two lovesick kids were so meant for each other!

Again, it takes Charlotte less time to adjust to this new situation, explained to her as she awakes in a coffin, than it took me to type this sentence - or, in fact, any word in it - as she eagerly joins Ned and the P.I. in their search for her killer. And here's the money shot, the gem that must've had the writers high-fiving each other raw when one of them came up with it: Ned and Charlotte can't touch, or she dies! Oh my God! I totally didn't see that one coming... except about a mile away.

The rest of the premiere is just more of the same, with a few laughs along the way but nothing terribly surprising. I've managed to make it sound like I hated Pushing Daisies, when in fact I didn't. It's horribly written in parts, and contrived as Hell, but it certainly has its heart in the right place (each of the main three characters are likable to some degree). I loved Edward Scissorhands and I wanted to like Pushing Daisies... but it didn't quite grab me. Maybe it'll get better. I think my strongest reaction, though, was: this is what's being touted as the best new show of 2007/08? Huh! That pretty much sums up this year's new crop, I think.

Rating: **

Chuck: "Chuck Versus the Helicopter"

Since I first reviewed Chuck a week ago, I've thought about the show and it's premise a little bit more. The plot is pretty thin, really - random geek has government secrets downloaded into his mind. Even if the acting is decent and the writing works out - how far can we really go with this plot?

So this week's episode wasn't revolutionary. Chuck is still working at Buy More. His government handlers are a good cop/bad cop combination: the pilot sets up some assumptions, like Sarah as the hot good cop and John as the bad cop. This episode is really about questioning that premise - but it feels like a really transparent attempt to buy more time in order to figure out the shows real plot.

Near the end of the episode, there's a hint that Chuck may only have 6 months of utility. Will they take Chuck out of the Buy More setting and into the field?

There was a classic moment that made me chuckle (pun intended?) as Chuck was recalling the government secrets and blurted out Oceanic flight 815 was shot down by the US government. Ha! I hope the show can continue to hide little nuggets like this one - and that it finds a real plotline soon!