Posts by Archive Authors

by Dustin P. Anderson

This is a biopic of Marilyn Monroe, and there is not much more to it than that; regardless, here is a quick synopsis. This mini-series follows the life of the famous (and sometimes infamous) Marilyn Monroe.  It goes through her battle with mental illness as well as the history of mental illness in her family. It leads us into what caused her drug/alcohol abuse and frequent lovers/husbands and how the world came to know her as Marilyn Monroe.

Loosely based on Melissa de la Cruz’s book, Witches of East End was renewed for a second season in July 2014, opening with over 1 million viewers scrambling to the TV set to see what would happen now that the portal of Asgard was opened and Joanna was struggling to overcome Argentium poisoning. Featuring Julia Ormond as the matriarch Joanna Beauchamp, she is parked in the middle of lofty tales of the supernatural ,which are commonplace to this unusual family. If you’ve been following the trials and tribulations of the Beauchamp brood, you already know these aren’t the wart-nosed witches of your childhood storybooks. When you watch this, understand you are not watching for superiorly crafted writing; it is fluff, pure and simple – a soap opera with supernaturally gifted women and men. It features  modern-day witches who’ve lived multiple lives that always cross, of course just happen to be sexy as h*ll AND have very cool names based on Norse mythology.  An example of this is Freya, played by actress Jenna Dewan Tatum (yes, married to Channing “XXL”), who even pregnant while filming looked like Photoshopped perfection in this production. Much like what Vampire Diaries was for vampires, we now have the ideal setup for a WB Lifetime program - a supernatural show about lots of picture-perfect beautiful people doing magic.

Episode one “A Moveable Beast” bursts open with Freya’s long lost twin brother arriving in the nick of time to save his mother, Joanna. Poor Dash is still fretting over his brother. When he used magic against his brother over Killian’s love for his fiancée ex-fiancée, Freya, sent him soaring skyward, crash landing in a boat and adrift in the sea – did he kill him, or didn’t he? Apparently not, as Killian is shacked up with a brand-spanking-new bewitchingly lovely wife, Ava. No, of course, she’s not dosing him with mind-control drugs to make him forget his soulmate and one true love, Freya, hoping to get him to knock her up so she can get what’s coming to her per her agreement with a warlock many decades before.

The DVD release of In The Dream Machine makes a number of promises. It promises to show rare footage of William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Leonardo DiCaprio. It does, but only in the broadest interpretation of that concept. It has a blurb from famed avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger which says, “More interesting than most documentaries in that it is presented in the way Burroughs writes”. I flat out disagree with that. It does show Burroughs extensively, but mostly in incoherent or unflattering segments. The film is incompetently edited and put together with a slapdash of offbeat and unintelligible segments. This sort of thing was fairly common back in the hazy, lazy days of the 1960's, but this has been compiled from 1996 through 2014.

Woodard makes numerous appearances in the DVD by himself and with Burroughs. At one point he makes a brief attempt to show how to make the dream machine. If you want to know how to build the dream machine, I suggest googling how to build a dream machine, and you should find detailed instructions under ultraculture.org. You'll need a 32” x 32” piece of aluminum or heavy cardboard. You cut out the prescribed patterns with an X-acto knife. You will need to glue it together so it will fit over a 78 RPM turntable with a light bulb suspended inside. Turn it on, close your eyes, and dream away. It is supposed to induce a hypnagogic (altered state of consciousness) state. There is an interminable DVD extra at the Freud Museum of Dreams in Saint Petersburg, Russia with Dr. David Woodard.

Amazing Space is a three-disc set (Blu-Ray, DVD and CD) that is essentially an ambient experience. There is actually a lot that I can say about the presentation, but it is not complicated on its surface. The cover picture shows a young woman in a silhouette sitting in a lotus position. That speaks volumes as well (as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words). The movie takes us on a musical journey from Earth to the farthest reaches of space and back again. The music can best be described as New Age and meditative. Again that is very important to the purpose of this presentation. The composer of the music, Kristin Hoffman, has a commentary extra which discusses chakras and meditation and the power of music. Maybe some of you don't know what chakras are, but it is very important to a large part of the world population, most predominantly Buddhists and Hindus. The idea of the powers of meditation have been embraced by many various religious and pseudo-religious groups, and it is widely practiced for the benefits to health and well being. The makers of the movie also have a stated intention of promoting the elimination of unnecessary light pollution. Light pollution is the wasteful use of energy to flood the night sky with excessive light, preventing easy access to enjoying the natural light of the heavens.

The cinematography is wonderful, and the experience is meant to be restful, calming and renewing. It is not meant to be a narrative or informational experience. It fits into the wider movement of the New Age. I'm sure everyone is aware of the phrase “New Age”, but it is a vague term that has been co-opted by a wide range of groups. It has been explored in the West for a few hundred years and became extremely popular in the 1970's. Yoga is a big part of the New Age movement. It suggests a spiritual connection to the Earth and the cosmos. It is not possible to do any kind of in-depth analysis of how this all relates and intertwines, but it might be important to any potential viewers of this disc.

The Singularity Principle has two recognizable character actors, John Diehl (Miami Vice, The Shield, Escape From New York, Stripes) and William B. Davis (the smoking man from The X-Files), but is a low-budget Canadian production. It was filmed at the Canadian light source Synchrotron in Saskatoon, which adds considerably to its production value. It is a believable technical and scientific workplace. The film is co-written and directed by physicist Dr. David Deranian and is very focused on the scientific aspects of the story, at least those are the most successful elements of the film. The story deals with experiments conducted involving the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, which involves what is on the other side of black holes and wormholes. It posits theories of infinite universes with us in it. Infinity is the one concept the challenges our ability to comprehend. We can say we understand infinity but that is only in the most facile and cursory way. Because of infinity, anything is possible.

Dr. Peter Tanning ( Michael Denis) is being supervised in advanced revolutionary experiments by Professor Jack Brenner, played by Diehl. Both Tanning and Brenner have experienced fleeting examples of other dimensions. They are both obsessed, in a purely scientific way, of course. The story is told in flashback while Brenner is being questioned by Lawrence Cason, played by Davis. Cason is part of a mysterious government agency investigating Brenner's disappearance. It is clear that Tanning has been opening a door allowing alternate versions of himself to interact in this universe.

by Dustin P. Anderson

Gary is a low-level demon trying to find different ways to make it up the corporate ladder in hell. He is also a slacker who doesn’t know the first thing about being a demon, despite his length of time in hell. Claude is a new demon who is sent to intern for Gary but ends up outshining him. As Claude rises to the top, Gary must attempt to gain some sort of recognition for his years of servitude to the dark lord, lest he be forced to shovel coal into hell for eternity. This show isn’t one of Adult Swim’s funniest creations, but it is still funny. This isn’t going to be an instant favorite of mine, like Metalocalypse or Too Many Cooks, but it was a nice watch nonetheless. Gary is one of the most laughably pathetic characters I have seen in a while. It is funny to see him as a “too nice for hell” type, like when Gary refuses to play dirty to win a competition that would give him a water cooler in hell. Satan is a great boss that everyone can find something of their own boss in, and can easily invite the phrase “dude, my boss is the devil.” I found that the scene I identified with the most was when Satan walked Gary down the hall into the break room, and Gary knew what “the break room” meant so he tried to find every excuse not to go. The great part about Satan in this is that you never forget that Satan is the ruler of hell. He never turns out to be nice like the devil in Bedazzled, but he also doesn’t beat you over the head with evil like… well any other movie featuring the devil as an antagonist (let’s say End of Days?). He is the secret jerk character, the character that you think is kind of nice and may have gotten a bad reputation, but then reminds you of why he got that reputation by putting you through…hell.

As one who uses animal shows as a precursor to taking a nap -- much like Pavlov’s theory when I hear the melodious voice of the narrator, I drift off into a restful slumber -- I expected the same experience with the second season of Science Channel’s Mutant Planet. Having never experienced season one, with popcorn and large cup of coffee in hand, sitting – not reclining -- in my living room recliner – I was ready to ward off the yawns. Boy, was I was wrong. Mutant Planet Season Two in its glorious five-episode 220-minute runtime is, in one word, amazing. I was not expecting to say “wow” every 10 or so minutes, but that’s exactly what I did watching what animals did to adapt to their ever-changing surroundings. Mutant Planet, in layman’s terms, explained how animals evolved and mutated to survive against the odds based on their environment. This is not a show to watch in standard definition. The stunning cinematography of this program made me glad for my high-definition TV, showcasing the brilliant colors and crisp details of the odd inhabitants of the most unique ecosystems on Earth.  From capturing footage that would normally never be seen by the human eye to exploring the history of the animal and its changing locale via CGI, I have never been more fully paying attention to an animal show than this one. Mutant Planet Season Two toured across the world from Africa, Borneo, India, Namibia, and Central America, visiting the most interesting, sometimes frightening, creatures and plants on our planet. These are a few of my favorite highlights.

In Africa, with exotic species found nowhere else on Earth, I was introduced to terrifying blind killer driver ants that communicate by touch and scent, and devour everything in their path. I was hoping when the episode focused on the adorable-looking chimpanzee in the Albertine Rift, that I could ooh and aww over precious babies, but instead I discovered this benign-looking creature which I see occasionally in the zoo is a meat-eater. Not only is he a meat-eater, but a hunter who could eat fruit, but sometimes has a craving for the flesh and blood of other smaller monkeys. After closing my eyes until my husband said the chimps were done devouring the BABY of their prey, I will never look at Tarzan’s BFF the same way again.

by Dustin P. Anderson

Jaden and friends are back for another semester at dual academy. Some friends have changed, like Syrus, who is now a Ra Yellow, and Cyrus’ brother Zane, who is now in the Pro League. This time, since Jaden’s old pal Chumley is gone, he is joined by another Ra Yellow student, Tyranno Hassleberry, a dinosaur dualist with a military mindset; however, with new friends comes a new evil for Jaden to fight, the light: a mind-controlling entity that is taking over the school, trying to take over the world, and has Jaden is in his crosshairs. Can Jaden save his friends, and save the world, without getting controlled by the light?