Posts by Brent Lorentson

For over 40 years Aerosmith has been rocking the airwaves, and with over a 100 million albums sold, it is safe to say they are one of America’s greatest rock bands.  It had been seven years before that the band previously performed in Japan, and after the devastation the country endured during the earthquake and tsunami in early 2011, the band was inspired to return to Japan and perform.  Rock For The Rising Sun is more than simply a documentary of a concert in Japan; instead it is the documentation of the band’s journey that follows them along their stops throughout their tour and their interaction with the fans.  For fans looking to get the full concert experience from their living room, this should help satisfy your needs, but this experience does offer more.  With footage cut in between songs we get to spend time with the band, though arguably this could have been better suited as footage cut together as a bonus feature instead of getting in the way of the concert footage.

I can appreciate what was attempted here, but I feel it should have been so much more.  This was a missed opportunity to see these pop culture icons truly making a difference and helping the country, or at least a few select individuals, but instead we get to see them at Disneyland.  Had there been no mention of the devastation the country suffered and the band claiming to go there in support of those affected, then perhaps I would view this a little differently.  But to use the tragedy and show nothing of its effects or the band confronting any of the survivors with aid I feel makes this all seems a bit disingenuous.

At some point or another as kids we’ve experienced either the fear of the dark, what lurks in the closet, or perhaps the dread of what awaits under the bed.  As adults most view these fears we had as children as impractical, but for those of us who remember these fears, the possibility of what terrors awaited us come nightfall was something very real.  Sure, mom or dad would check the room to assure us there was nothing there, but we knew better.  We knew the moment the parents left the room the dreaded terrors would crawl out from there dark hideouts and come for us in our sleep.  It’s this childhood terror that director Steven C. Miller (director of the Silent Night remake) attempts to bring to the screen.

Neal (Jonny Weston) has just moved back home after living across country for several years with his aunt.  It takes some time before we fully understand the tragedy that caused this move, but we know from the get-go many believe Neal was somehow responsible.  His return home is met with many changes; most painful for him is his father falling in love and wanting to remarry.  Thankfully for Neal he at least still has his younger brother, Paulie (Gattlin Griffith) who has eagerly awaited his return.

The cartoons I’m most fond of from my childhood are all cell-animated, simply because I grew up in a time before computer generation effects and animation had been fully realized.  Now when you flip on the TV it’s hard to find any true animation; everything has moved on and evolved to CGI.  When the studios have the time and money, they can release some breathtaking features like Finding Nemo and The Croods. But when it comes to television the CGI never seemed to match the quality of the features.  That is until Dreamworks released Dragons: Riders of Berk.

Berk is a land shared by both Vikings and dragons.  For generations the two feuded with one another until a boy, Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) came along who was able to train the dragons, and since then the two have worked together to cohabitate Berk together.  Joining Hiccup on his many adventures are his somewhat loyal group of friends and their dragons.  But it’s his closest and dearest friend Toothless (a rare night fury dragon) who sticks to Hiccups’ side through the good and the bad.  Their relationship is more than a simple bond between a boy and his pet.  The trust the two share is shown time and time again throughout the series whether through a simple trust fall exercise, to a point where both Hiccup and Toothless take separate leaps from a cliff in the hope the two will come together to escape another dragon.  These leaps of faith are poignant considering Toothless can’t fly without Hiccup in the saddle due to the fact he has an injured tail and has an attachment that only the person in the saddle can control.

The Cinemax anthology series continues to be my guilty pleasure that when it’s over I simply want just a little bit more.  The show takes sleaze and debauchery to a whole new level, and I mean that in the best way possible.  At first glance and even if catching an episode out of context, for some the show may resemble some B-grade skin flick, but for those who sit back and give it a chance, you’ll discover it is so much more.  But for those who may find beautiful women randomly discarding their clothes mixed with random acts of violence offensive, well, here is your chance to run away and never look back, because this show takes pleasure in pushing the limits of decency and good taste.  And that is what makes it fun.

With season two we get 12 new tales about women and the trouble they manage to get themselves into.  After watching the entire season the biggest issue that jumps out at me is the lack of diversity throughout the season.  The first season managed to deliver a new flavor and style with every episode but kept the focus on the beautiful femme fatales throughout.  This season they all seemed to fit into the same mold of modern noir pieces with the exception of Bad Science, Hell Hath No Furies, and Libra.  It’s no big surprise that these turned out to be some of the more fun installments of the season.

When describing Greg Sommer, at first one would believe you are describing what most would consider a man-child.  You know, the 30-something male who still lives at home with mom and on the weekends dresses up in elaborate cardboard costumes and takes part in epic backyard battles.  But in this case that would only be a superficial look at a man that seems to have found the secret to happiness and has the tenacity to pursue his dreams unlike anyone I’ve ever met.  Skull World is a documentary that follows Greg over the course of three years, and what he manages to accomplish in that time, man-child or not, is still impressive.

In his high school years, Greg came up with the persona of Skull Man that at first was meant to only be a Halloween costume, but with time it has become his identity.  Friends and family seemed to of just accepted Greg for who he is with the mask as well as his fun, childlike personality.  He loves his rock-and-roll-like persona, but even more than his love for the band Clutch, nothing seems to mean more to him than Box Wars.

Without my girlfriend’s six-year-old daughter to help me out, I had the opportunity to tackle this 10-episode compilation DVD of the hit Cartoon Network series.  I can’t blame Makayla for her lack of interest in the show; after all, with the title character being a sixteen year old boy who fights robots and aliens, well, I don’t believe she fits the target audience.  On the other hand, as I started watching I began to see that anyone who enjoys aliens and robots is sure to enjoy the show at least to some degree.  For me in the 80’s when I devoured cartoons like Transformers, Thundercats, Mask, etc., it didn’t so much matter about the plot but about the crazy epic fights between my heroes of the animation world and the villains.  Had Ben 10 been out, I’m sure I would have had a blast with it as well.

As a kid, who wouldn’t want the power to transform into any monster and save the world from some terrible monster wrecking havoc on the city?  In a lot of ways Ben Tennyson is that kid we at some point daydreamed of being.  Sure, he has an inflated ego and is obnoxious most of the time, but can you blame him?  Every week some alien or robot created by some crazy doctor is out to kill Ben or attack his loved ones, and after surviving so many attacks, he’s pretty much earned the right to have some bravado.

After having two successful films, Kung Fu Panda made its way onto the small screen as an animated show for Nickelodeon.  Though I wasn’t the biggest fan of the films, I could still appreciate the charm and allure of Po, the Dragon warrior who just so happens to be a Panda.  In the films Jack Black voiced the character of Po, and it’s his goofiness that seemed to make Po so likeable.  But on the small screen, the studios can throw down the healthy chunk of money that the A list actors take in when doing the voice work for the full-length films.  As luck would have it Mike Wingert would take over the voice work of the title character, and he does a remarkable job filling in.

For this DVD release we don’t get an entire season but only seven episodes that include some of Po’s most mischievous foes, the Croc bandits.  Helping me review this batch of awesomeness was my girlfriend’s six-year-old daughter Makayla.  She was a little reluctant at first considering she wasn’t too big a fan of the movies, but after the catchy opening credit music played, she was settled in and ready to watch.