Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 9th, 2013
This is the third stab at making an animated series about these radical reptiles. This particular DVD set is the latter half of this show's first season. We are privy to a wide array of toys...er, I mean, characters whose stories are firmly established at this point (roughly 13 episodes into a 26 episode season).
This is the first series presented as a 3D computer animation. The graphics are nicely rendered, but are sometimes hard to see since the movements, especially during fight scenes, are incredibly frantic. I certainly hope the fact that I find the pacing too fast isn’t a sign of old age arriving. The animators have clearly gone through a lot of trouble choreographing a fight that can sometimes have at least a couple dozen characters interacting (a very difficult thing to manage) and I’d appreciate it more if the speed didn’t make me feel like I need to feed the DVD Ritalin.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 16th, 2013
Half of this story deals with a group of teenage faeries, who are smitten with some cute boys from a neighbouring magical kingdom, trying to connect with said boys. The other half deals with this same group of faeries and boys fighting against a trio of evil witches trying to steal all of the world's “positive magic.” In both halves there is a lot of girlish giggling, butterfly fluttering and sparkly colours....the enemy of any diabetic epileptic.
The plot wavers between flighty (pun sort of intended) teen romance, where the faeries focus their magical powers on obtaining cute-boys and cute-animal companions, and a action-fantasy filled with large scale battles with nightmarish monsters, complete with mass destruction of buildings, swordplay and vicious exchanges of energy blasts.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 18th, 2013
Worlds Away is the tale of a young woman named Mia who happens across a debilitated circus, where she is enchanted by the performance of an Aerialist. Mid-performance, both she and the aerialist are sucked into a parallel universe that is littered with strange, seemingly supernatural circuses. Both are lead from performance to performance in an attempt to escape, or at least find each other.
Each performance we see is taken from a pre-existing Cirque Du Soleil show (most of which a part of their Las Vegas lineup). Only the portions featuring Mia and the aerialist traveling to, through and from them are unique to this film. The story is not new to the Cirque world as I have seen the story of someone brought into the magical/surreal world of amazing acrobats many a time before. The idea is to have the audience identify with that character and share in their awe of these uncanny performers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 7th, 2013
(I have covered the first season on this site already so this review shall begin with that one then segway into new write-up for Season 2):
A successful writing team, who also happen to be a married couple, are the creators of an award-winning show in the UK that has just completed after four seasons. An American network wishes to create a US version of the show. The couple are flown to LA, put up in a lavish mansion and are introduced to the Hollywood method of creating television…and it nearly destroys them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2012
In the same fashion as Batman Begins, Casino Royale the 21st Bond film ït starts over the franchise with a new outlook. Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in this film based on the 1953 novel by Ian Fleming, which hopes to rejuvenate the series by getting rid of some of franchise trademarks as well as the gadgets they supply. Grossing nearly 600 million dollars worldwide, Casino Royale was commercially a great success, but does the new bond fall short of past expectations, or does this reboot on the series provide for good cinema?
James Bond isn't yet an agent of double-0 status, but in order to accomplish this he is sent to Prague to assassinate a rogue agent who has been selling British secrets, as well as his associate. After accomplishing this, the film opening begins in traditional bond fashion with a fresh gun barrel sequence followed by the opening credits. Already the film appears to be a lot darker than past Bond films, and I have yet to hear a corny catch phrase as well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 30th, 2012
So you say Shipping Wars was not enough Waring for you? Are you back for more? Alright, let us dig through the review pile and get some more action for you reality show freaks. How about Hamster Wars? Okay, okay perhaps Paper Airplane Wars? Never mind, I can not stand paper cuts. Ah I have the perfect one here, a spinoff of one of the most popular reality shows out there. Its name is Storage Wars: Texas. Well yee-haw and get me my cowboy hat. This might be a hootenanny after all.
This season one of Storage Wars: Texas is actually something of a misnomer. It contains sixteen episodes and actually it is comprised of the first two seasons of the show. There is a distinction between the seasons which I will explain in just a little bit. As with any reality show, there are usual lists of players who need some introduction.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 27th, 2012
Is it just me or does every new reality show have to feature the word: Wars? We have Storage Wars, Property Wars, Parking Wars, and I believe I just heard the other day we have Weed and Whisker Wars. Apparently War is good for reality show business. Well, today we have yet another war to throw on the proverbial fire. Shipping Wars, sponsored by UShip.com and on A&E Television. I guess we need to go find out which trucker will come out on top in this season one package.
The basic premise of Shipping Wars centers on the website known as UShip.com. UShip.com’s plan is simple, if you have something you do not know how to ship, you can list it on the website. Then for the truly odd items, the website offers them up to potential shippers in a reverse auction scenario. Occasionally, the low bidder does not win and the one who gets the shipment is the one with the best feedback. For show purposes, we have a usual list of players who create the reality element.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 15th, 2012
Most of you reading this now have probably seen my reviews for part 2 and part 3 of this series. Well, the wonderful people at Shout Factory sent me a compilation disc in blu-ray nevertheless and I am very excited to bring it to the reading public for review. The important medium of digital or motion comics is about to receive its most significant package yet. But enough about an introduction, lets directly dive into the complete collection of Astonishing X-Men or better known as the Joss Whedon run of X-Men.
Gifted (Disc One)
The X-Men prepare for a new year of students. Jean Grey is gone, but Emma Frost has taken her place and Kitty Pryde has returned. The students are promising but still have a lot to prove. However, when a “mutant cure” is announced by Benetech scientist, Dr. Kavita Rao, the students and the team get concerned. The now almost feline Beast pays her a visit to find that her methods might not be ethical. In addition, an alien named Ord has taken a party hostage and it is up to the team to do something a little astonishing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 14th, 2012
There are two films that are on the main disc; an experimental film by Nicholas Ray and a documentary by Susan Ray about the making of said film. They are perfect companions on this release and I feel one is crucial for the other, therefore I'm going to treat neither as simply a “Bonus.”
We Can't Go Home Again
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 10th, 2012
Remember when I mentioned the difficulty of reviewing a season in the middle of the show’s run? This week, I shall attempt to review two different HBO shows at the end of their respective run. Yes, I will be piecing together a show that is in its last season with very little (or no knowledge) of the seasons before. This should be a fun ride and our last entry is the third season of the HBO Comedy: Hung.
Our very own M.W. Phillips was able to review the second season of this show, so feel free to check that out.
