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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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?