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?

"There was a time when, if you told me werewolves existed that I would have laughed. I don't laugh at much anymore."

From the very beginning one can see there is great potential here. The show is based on a collection of books that appear to be popular. They're called The Outworld series, written by Canadian author Kelley Armstrong. The show avoids most of the standard clichés. There is no full moon reference at all here. The werewolves "change" at will or when emotionally charged (“you won't like me when I'm angry”). There are no silver bullets.

by Dustin P. Anderson

There is no real story here. This is set as a competition/reality TV Series. The goal is for one team of survivors to get out of an infected zombie prison. The twist is that the contestants are all YouTube personalities. They must first get out of the room they wake up in, then go to get an antidote, then give the antidote to a doctor, then get out of the facility. The concept for this was intriguing, but the application was sloppy at best. During the entire production you are reminded of how low-budget this series is, whether you are listening to the overly cliché horror music or getting motion sickness from the camera.

In 1976 a New York media group conducted a survey of the NYPD detectives. The question was: “Of all the TV cop shows, which most accurately portrays life as a detective?” The overwhelming response was the comedy Barney Miller. Seems real cops related to the daily grind and weekly wackos of Barney Miller. Let’s not put aside that this was also one of the most consistently funny shows on television. I remember it took me a while to accept Abe Vigoda in such a light role as Fish. My first exposure to Vigoda was the ruthless mobster in The Godfather. Barney Miller always managed to be funny while still telling a good short story. The characters were always wonderful.

I’m really over parody movies, and this one is no exception. The cheesy dialog and recycled storylines from more popular movies fail to strike a chord with me. Is it just me, or does it seems like parodies are nothing more than the bullies of the film industry? Makes sense, right, seeing as their sole purpose is to poke fun at other movies with no originality or real substance to them. Well, in the case of Tooken, it appears that we have run out of movies to parody and are resorting to people. Well, not people per se, merely characters brought to life by the same actor; I won’t mention which actor. However, that part should not be that difficult for you to guess once we dive a little deeper.

"When I first took the deal to become an undercover informant in a biker gang, I did it to save my own skin. But over the next three years, putting bad guys away became my personal mission. I saw it as a chance to make amends for my past mistakes, but I paid a heavy price. I'm Charles Falco, and this is my story." 

So, who the heck is Charles Falco? For a while he was a rather successful meth cook who was pulling in 100 g's a month. He appeared to have it all: fast cars, big house, and a trophy wife. The problem is that he got hooked on his own product. That leads to mistakes

by Dustin P. Anderson

We follow Tony Duran, a washed up performer who was never a big name to anyone, and whose life is starting to fall apart. He has become an obese alcoholic who stacks lies on top of lies in order to not seem like the bad guy to the people who still care about him (all two of them). After one last attempt to get some money so he can pay off some of his increasing debt, his son turns away from him. In the aftermath of this, Tony’s friend Jerry challenges him to become a better person. He gets Tony to sing in front of people (like he once did), and Tony’s eyes finally open to the truth. He sets off to lose some weight, stop drinking, and prepare for a show that Jerry has lined up for him.