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Dead Space: Extraction

Dead Space was a nice click of the refresh button for video game horror. It may have shared the year with Resident Evil 5 and Alone in the Dark, but Dead Space was the only game that scared the crap out of me.  They also managed to create a unique combat system that increased the strategy from the usual run, shoot, repeat. The story wasn’t bad either, combining Aliens, Resident Evil, and an undercurrent of ...

Aliens In The Attic

I placed Aliens in the Attic into the player with some trepidation. Action movies for the younger set usually pay little regard to genuine storytelling conventions as well as relying on caricatures of stereotypes rather than real characters. While Aliens in the Attic doesn’t set a new standard for children’s entertainment, it is actually a decent film, which surprised me. Let me say this right up front, however. While rated “PG” I would not let my ...

Lego Rock Band

The Lego Star Wars games were kind of a revelation to me.  Before I played one I was under the impression that a game based on Lego pieces would be silly and not worthwhile.  Once I started playing, though, and got the chance to build Lego structures using the Force and breaking Lego Jar Jar into a bunch of pieces with a Lego lightsaber, I was sold.  Add to that the gameplay element of Lego ...

Logan’s Run

William F. Nolan is a prolific writer with several television and film credits to his name, as well as numerous novels. He is, however, perhaps best known for Logan’s Run, a 1967 novel that was turned into a film released in 1976. The success of that film would spawn a couple of literary sequels as well as a television series. Now the film arrives on Blu-ray, and it’s still a mixed bag in high definition, ...

Peanuts 1970s Collection Volume 1

Few franchises hold up with release after release, but the world that Charlie Brown inhabits still works to this day. Some of the animated specials are absolute classics and hold up to this day nearly 40 years later and have become childhood landmarks. Other specials may not have that same “classic” feel to them, but are still entertaining. Hot on the heels of the 1960s collection, we get the first volume of Peanuts in the ...

Guitar Hero 5

I've been a little disappointed with the Guitar Hero series since GH2.  Difficulty, added nonsense, and a perceived sense of its own importance combined to make the games less fun.  So when Guitar Hero 5 showed up, I wasn't expecting much.  I’m happy to report that Guitar Hero 5 is a step up.  While there is still room for improvement, they’ve done some nice things with this installment. The change you’ll notice first is when the demo ...

Borderlands

Borderlands is a little different from the typical post-apocalyptic RPGs one usually comes across. For the first part, the region one plays in isn’t necessarily post-apocalyptic, but an alien world that is being occupied, and things haven’t necessarily gone well. Secondly, there’s  bit more emphasis on the action than on the role playing part of the game, and as a result Borderlands feels a bit like an open-ended first person shooter.   There are plenty of quests ...

I Love You Beth Cooper

Chris Columbus was initially seen as a John Hughes prodigy, especially having directed Home Alone (penned by the famed writer/director) as well as having written the script for The Goonies. After a meandering career that involved directing Harry Potter films and writing some others (Christmas with the Kranks) we have him back behind the camera for another teen-oriented comedy.   I Love You, Beth Cooper is based on the book by Larry Doyle, who did the screenplay ...

Spongebob’s Truth or Square (DVD)

Don’t get me wrong, because I enjoy Spongebob Squarepants, but I am getting really sic of these various specials that are constantly being produced masquerading as episodes, or even worse, films. When Spongebob: Truth or Square was announced to be broadcast, the announcer used the words “film event” even though it was broadcast as an hour special and with commercials came in at about 40 minutes. Now on DVD, Spongebob’s Truth or Square comes in ...

Spongebob’s Truth or Square (Game)

Spongebob Squarepants has become something of a pop culture phenomenon, and as a result a marketing cash cow. Nickelodeon and THQ have been pumping out games based on the television series and characters for a while now, and the market might be reaching a saturation point. The latest game, Songebob’s Truth or Square, takes its inspiration from the latest television special. Both involve memories, both involve the Krusty Krab’s EleventySeventh birthday, but that’s where the ...

North by Northwest

North by Northwest is one of Hitchcock’s greatest films, and now on Blu-ray, we get what appears to be a definitive home video release. The script was written by Ernest Lehman, specifically for the famed director (though the story was a collaboration between the two). What we have is a good writer taking into account strengths of the intended director, and a leading man needed to be of the same caliber. Fortunately, Cary Grant was ...

Nostalgia

Nostalgia had a lot going for it - a steampunk role-playing game for a handheld sounds like a recipe for addictive greatness.  Handheld RPGs, if crafted properly, can take on the connotations of a good novel, grabbing you and not letting go until either exhaustion or the end. Sometimes both. They can also be a chore to grind through if not done well. I even ignored their little Nostalgia word play, since the role playing genre has never gone anywhere.  To ...

Fraggle Holiday Special

Jim Henson represents not only represents a different era in children’s television, he represents an entirely different mindset. Everyone remembers Kermit, Big Bird, and even Ludo.  However, I am a huge fan of one of his more unsung projects - Fraggle Rock. The weird singing, bohemian muppets, they were the bowery punk rockers to the Muppet Show’s Broadway babies Since the Fraggle’s are seeped in their fantasy setting, we don’t get a blatant Christmas episode. Instead we ...

Brüno

If you are offended at the sight of a penis, then Brüno is not for you at all. Sacha baron Cohen once again embodies a persona meant to infuriate and even offend while eliciting laughs at his expense, and even our own. This is a film that will clearly divide its audience, with many finding it highly offensive and others finding it outright hilarious. I will not deny laughing out loud at the film, but ...

Justice League Complete Series

After the success of Batman, Superman and Static Shock, the expanding universe of DC on Saturday morning needed a new direction. Jettisoning the single hero star and even the Saturday morning block of programming, Justice League was created to tell more tales of the growing DC animated universe. Now we get the whole of the series, both seasons of each Justice League and Justice League Unlimited which puts a cap on the whole saga that ...

Superman: The Complete Animated Series

I highly enjoyed the Tim Burton vision for Batman. The success of those films inspired an animated series for the character – as well as having influenced the style and tone. After that series took off, Warner Brothers decided to expand on this with their other major hero with name recognition, and Superman: The Animated Series was born.   Now we get the entire run of the series, 54 episodes, from the origin story to his disgrace ...

Ruby-Spears Superman

It had been a while since Superman had been on Saturday morning, and a new series in the late 80s looked to rectify that. After the reinvention of the character in the comics, Superman was riding a wave of popularity and capitalizing on it seemed a natural thing to do. For one season of 13 episodes Superman was brought to the small screen in animated form with a series that was pretty good for its ...

Blackadder: Remastered The Ultimate Edition

For all the British comedy that I have watched over the years, I am almost ashamed to admit that I had never seen Blackadder. Through 4 seasons we get the character of Edmund Blackadder through the generations becoming more intelligent and less of a buffoon, but dropping in social status. Starting out as prince, he is largely inept and cowardly. By the time of the final series set several hundred years later, his is stuck ...

The Other British Invasion

Monty Python’s influence on comedy is undeniable. The collective of six men who are funny on their own would come together and become perhaps the greatest comedy troupe of all time (perhaps surpassed only by the Marx Brothers) would go from small bit parts to starring in a television series to feature films and eventually splintering off into their own careers… well, I’m getting ahead of myself. A&E has released the complete series of Monty ...

Fawlty Towers

I was introduced to Monty Python’s Flying Circus and about the same time as Fawlty Towers through the good graces of my local PBS station in the 1970s. Where Monty Python was a prime example of non-sequitors and irreverence, Fawlty Towers was a straight up farce. John Cleese (famously a cast of the earlier ensemble comedy series) stars as Basil Fawlty, the owner and operator of a hotel. Unfortunately, basil isn’t necessarily the most pleasant ...

Red Dwarf: Back To Earth

Red Dwarf: Back To Earth is the supposed triumphant return of the hit British science fiction situation comedy. The series ran for 8 seasons/series to great acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. After the 8th season in 1999, a number of projects were attempted, most notably a theatrical release. It’s been 10 years, and fans finally get new episodes, but was it worth the wait?   The basics of the series is that Dave Lister is ...

Stargate (15th Anniversary Blu-ray)

It’s been a while since I had seen the film that stared the whole franchise, and was glad to have the opportunity to revisit Stargate. Kurt Russel and James Spader lead a team through an alien artifact that transports them to another world. Then they get stuck. It’s a great concept and would end up spinning off into three television series and more. As a film, however, it works as its own experience as well ...

The Family Feud 2010 Edition

Ubisoft has brought a series of classic game shows to life as Wii games, and among them is The Family Feud. To be honest, I was hesitant at first. I assumed that the game was going to be rather lackluster, and in some respects I was correct. However the core game-play is a lot of fun.   The game is not without its warts, largely due to the minimal amount of work done to the interface ...

2012: Science or Superstition

I was looking forward to 2012: Science or Superstition because I was feeling rather ignorant about the whole “end of world” scenario. I was aware that the Mayan people had come up with a calendar that had and end date, but that was it, so I was looking for some more information. I wound up being a little disappointed in 2012: Science or Superstition because I didn’t feel like I learned nearly as much as ...

2012 Mayan Prophecy

There is an overuse of hard rock in 2012: Mayan Prophecy and the Shift of the Ages in the beginning, so much that it is off –putting. Getting past the horrible introduction, we get a decent explanation of the Mayan long count calendar and how it not only marks the end date but also the start date of August 11, 3114 B.C.   It is this significant fact that we have a specific “beginning” as the question ...

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