American Horror Story (FX)

4.5 HELL YEAHs out of 5


American Horror Story is one of the very best shows on TV this year...so far. At first viewing it seems like a mix of both "American Gothic" and "Amityville Horror" - with a dash of Twin Peaks (odd ball factor).

AHS has this quirky jerky film style that works perfectly with this type of show. They don't over do this effect which is good. Visually the sets and locations are stylish, creepy, modern, and antique all at the same time, lending a sense of  "history" to the story that is playing out.

Presumably about a house (and inhabitants) where any who go in are killed. A family moves into this house trying to start over and reconnect, after a family tragedy, and find themselves running into odd neighbors, crazy clients, and strange visions and visitors. It's not known yet what all is going on in and around the house, ther are just too many pieces. Some of the sequences feel like dreams, or mash ups of different time events ...very weird...but all seem to converge or live in the same space nicely.

One thing is for sure, have your DVR ready to rewind, pause, and slow forward to catch many of things that happen and images that flash on screen.

Watching AHS literally makes you feel a bit crazy, sort of like you can't quite comprehend what you are watching. This is a deep multi layered show that I hope will keep me guessing. thrilled, a bit scared, and entertained. The alternative is that they may give it all away in the next few episodes, and then what? Which is why I give it 4.5 and not 5 out of 5.
Wonderfully acted and cast I hope this show will prove to be one of the best and one to schedule to record all season.

Terra Nova (Fox)

3.5 HELL YEAHS out of 5

What many thought was going to be a LOST crossed with Jurassic Park...was more like Lost in Space crossed with Avatar, crossed with No Ordinary Family (without the super powers)

Terra Nova, is a brave attempt to bring high quality FX to the small screen. For the most part Terra Nova succeeds - so far. It's easy to say that the pilot episode could be the proverbial "wad". Worrying about the visuals on the show is by far not the biggest thing producers and directors and WRITERS should worry about. Instead they really need a stronger writing team. I liked Terra Nova (so far) but I did have a few BIG problems with it as well.  The writing and direction, the tone and the schizophrenic "personality" of the show.

The Acting - is ok, I can't really blame the actors for poor writing and direction. From the first scenes you think cool futuristic hardship offset by family. Then the population police storm in and the ex cop (father) puts up a fight ultimately to be arrested and sentenced to prison. Two years later his wife sneaks in some sort of cutting device. so that he can escape, and go to Terra Nova with the family (more on that in a second) I guess the attempt here is to establish that this guy is a bad ass. Ex Cop...Able to bust out of Maximum security prison....Bad Ass right? Well flash forward 20 mins or so and now the guy is basically a whipped whatever you want me to do...family man who agrees to be a gardener. Plus there is a major disconnect between the husband and wife relationship. They say they love each other...and yeah they have been away from each other for 2 yrs...but why do they have a hard time being affectionate, or holding hands or ANYTHING remotely family like? So for me the whole family dynamic was REALLY hard to like.

So what is Terra Nova? Well so far we think it's Earth 85 Million years in the past. BUT it's supposedly NOT within the same time stream as the future from which the "pilgrims" came. This is supposedly how the show gets around the "butterfly effect" which of course they refer to. Terra Nova is the actual settlement that these pilgrims come to live in. Fortified, furbished, and farmed...one big happy settlement. When new arrivals first come through the event horizon they are confused and are forced to drink green/blue milk. Other than that there are no ill effects to the clean air, sun, surrounding, nothing...I would have liked a little more bewilderment, Awe, there was no wow factor. Instead everyone and everything falls into place as if they lived there the whole time.

Terra Nova and the ancient earth also look all too comfortable. YES it's Earth and there shouldn't be a whole lot of crazy plants and funky looking things like in Avatar, but what I was really looking and waiting to see was a car right out of the Flintstones. The whole city has a Flintstones feel to it. Perhaps that was the hidden intent. If so it worked, on me at least. It felt too cartoony.

The authoritarian leader of Terra Nova is Stephen Lang from Avatar fame. You can basically transplant his Avatar Character for this one. Standing on the porch of his hut 15ft above the newly arrived crowd I just knew he was going to say "welcome to Pandora". Instead...."welcome to Terra Nova".

Terra Nova wants to be family friendly which is good, but it also wants to be a action drama, which is also good, and it feels like it's going to be an episodic "fix the problem" series.  - all 3 are good but together...they are not. An action drama that really wants to sell family values and feel goodness can work BUT the sappiness has to go. Right now I see this show lasting about a season if they are lucky if they the don't find a niche and stick with it. Other wise like No Ordinary Family a great idea will have been wasted due to poor writing.

I like the look of Pandora...I mean Terra Nova...I like the scifi element with time travel and repercussions...I just hope they can keep it together and strengthen it's weaknesses.

Conan vs. Fright Night vs. The '80's

2.5 HELL YEAH's out of 5

This weekend I had a double feature of Conan and Fright Night. Since both of these movies are remakes or re imaginings of the originals I thought I would wait to see the originals on TV first. I was right and they both were played during the week running up to the weekend releases. For as dated as both movies are the originals were actually pretty good.

Now on to the new one.
I'm writing both of these reviews together because both actually failed in the same areas.

First, you really need to either stick with the original concept to the "T" or really diverge from the original. Conan did the best at diverging from the original. Where as Fright Night tried but ultimately was a poor rehash of the original.

I'll start with Conan since I just left the theater and it's still fresh. When I saw the preview for Conan some 6 or 7 months ago with Jason Mammoa at Conan, my first thought was, "this is going to be crap". We'll it wasn't crap but is wasn't Conan either. To be fair there are versions of Conan where he isn't just a blood thirsty barbarian...but this is what the film is called. Conan the Barbarian. In other book versions he is a pirate, a captain, a general, warrior, thief, etc...A real jack of all trades. From the very beginning this film was very "10,000 BC". I didn't care for that film or Mammoa. This Conan has a feel good streak in it and it completely contrasts with what I believe a Conan film should be. Ron Pearlman plays Conan's father and is giving a speech about how the Cimmerian's are warrior's and when they feel heat, it's the fire in their blood during battle, and when they feel cold it's the cold of their steel , etc...but still there is this underlining "feel good kindness" that just doesn't belong. In the original you don't really have a sense of where Conan was from but that's OK. because that was irrelevant at the time. What it did right was transform an abducted boy into a "barbarian" fighter, who learned the ways of the sword through necessity for survival.

Conan from 2011 is CGI ridden and in 3D which I saw in 2D and glad didn't spend more money for the 3D version. the '80's Conan effects were a bit dated BUT you felt the story more strongly. Today's Conan feels more like a cartoon, or some "Hercules" TV series spinoff. Mammoa plays Conan with a snarl and raised eyebrows with a rough growl in his voice but really never delivers. His physique is fine but not what one thinks about as "Conan". he's tall and muscular but NOT the biggest dog on the block, which is what one views Conan as in the books. Both Conan films never get the eyes right. I would love to see someone do a Conan movie where they get the black hair and blue eyes. This is a signature Cimmerian trait, that to me set's them apart from others in the the world.

The acting in the film was pretty weak, however Rose McGowan seemed to be pretty good. Other than that it felt like a SyFy tv movie as far as acting was concerned. What this film could have learned from the original is less is more. Less dialogue would have improved this film greatly. More focus on back story would have moved this film forward, instead it's just a bunch of edits and fights clipped together. Overall this was still an entertaining film for what it was. Would I see it again in theater...no, but I would watch it on free TV. unfortunately there are scenes that will ensure this film never sees the TV screens on network or cable. Again, advantage original Conan. The original Conan Captured the look and feel of a Barbarian and the worked he came from and lived in. This new film attempts to sensationalize a character for profit, and make a caricature of the cult hero. Not the worst movie in the world by far but not one that should have been made part of the Conan series.

Now on to Fright Night...
Much like the original this is a horror/comedy. Anton Yelchin is in my opinion going to be a big star. I loved him in Terminator Salvation and Star Trek. He was a little flat in this film, and played each scene the same. It really felt like all the scenes were set up weeks apart and shot in about an hour. Like watching HS theater.
Colin Ferrel played Jerry Dandridge. He didn't really do the character justice either. He played the cunning and seducing vampire with a gloomy edge that felt bored. Where as in the original Jerry was played like a regular guy. Sophisticated, well mannered, and likable. The guy from Super Bad that played Evil Ed was also a bit of a let down. He had really some of the only funny moments of the film, next to the the guy that plays Peter Vincent. The new Vincent was actually pretty good and funny...but ultimately not as good as the original.
ish.

The biggest draw back of the film is it's length and lack of character development. There is a whole 10-15 min chase scene that could have been scrapped in favor for character development. Ultimately you don't feel for the characters for the relationships that are built.

There are a few nostalgic references, like "you're so cool Brewster" and we see the original Jerry Dandridge... and a few other things that unless you are a real fan of the first you may not get.
Bottom line this was an ok film that will NOT be the cult fan favorite that the original was. The original is a classic from the '80's that will hopefully live on. I hope this film is forgotten in the next few weeks...which I'm sure it will be,

Advantage - '80's originals

Rise of The Planet of The Apes (2011)

4 HELL YEAH's out of 5

Rarely does a film that tries to impose human traits on to and animal succeed. Usually it becomes too cartoony, or silly, or just over the top bad. "Apes" does this does this seamlessly. With an even hand in direction you see both the primal animalistic instincts and behaviors gradually turn into higher thinking calculated moves. Apes is cleaver, and brilliantly done.

The CGI is the best part of the film. There are a few parts that do seem less than real but very few. Form the most part you feel like you are looking at real life chimps and other apes. Once the intelligence kicks in you literally see the emotions the actor is portraying come through the CGI almost perfectly. You truly do forget the CGI exists.

The on screen actors for the most part stay out of the way which is good. I can't stand James Franco in anything he has done. His dead behind the eyes, bland acting leaves his character one of the weakest parts of the movie. Adrian Brody would have been good for Franco's role. John Lythgoe on the other hand plays a wonderful character who has Alzheimer's. Most of the other characters are bit roles and stereotypical with now real consequence. The main focus is and should be the Chimps, especially Caesar.

Not really related to the film from several years ago and not really similar to the original...this film will appeal to new audiences. There are references to the original films, like clothes worn and a female chimp. There is even the ubiquitous "damn dirty ape" line that seems to find it's way into every "Apes" film.

There are a few WTF moments in the movie. Somehow a few dozen Apes turns into 100+. They all also seem to all have super intelligence even though they were not "exposed". I also didn't get why Franco's character didn't tell the Animal control guy about Caesars intelligence and how he's different.

The end of this film leaves a lot of questions, like how will the humans survive? How will the Apes take over?  They did a great job at setting up for a sequel without overtly doing it.
The film is not just a loud nonstop action sequence. There is a story and heart here. I found myself really engaged in the movie and feeling for the chimps. The action does rise and climaxes well. The best thing they did was not go over the top too much.

May not be for the whole family but over 12 should be fine. I enjoyed it.

Skinners (Marcus Pelegrimas)

5 HELL YEAH's out of 5

"Skinners" is a series of books with a unique take on the vampire/werewolf mythos, and the humans who fight them.

The Skinner is a human who is part of a larger group that tracks, observes, and kills vampires and werewolves. Using ancient techniques and semi-mystical weapons passed down from skinner to skinner for hundreds of years they are truly a force to be reckoned with. Loosely organized and limited in numbers Skinners are committed to their purpose, of keeping the normal people safe from what lurks in the darkness.

The Vampires or Nymar as they are called, are pretty true to classical stereotype, except that the "vampire" part of a nymar is actually a parasitic host that attached itself to it's host's heart. This results in a a dramatic physical changes externally and internally. Marked and identified by what looks like black tattoos these marking are actually tendrils from the parasite that get darker and more pronounced as the Nymar get older (and stronger). Often grouped together but internally fractured the Nymar try to take over institutions such as brothels and other underground type "establishments". Always at odds with the Skinners, the Nymar want nothing more than to kill them all. However, disorganization keeps them in check, and maintaining a healthy dose of respect and fear for the Skinners.

Werewolves and shape shifters are also prevalent in this series.  Werewolves or "Full Bloods" are the absolute top of the food chain. Unimaginably fast, super strong, near invulnerable, and mean as hell, these guys are generally loners, and for good reason. When a Full blood attacks a human that human either dies or is turned into a "Half Breed". The later is done on purpose to create a pack. Half Breeds are gnarled looking beasts that posses both speed and strength, but limited intelligence. Where as Full Bloods can be highly intelligent. Full Bloods hate everything and everyone..Nymar, humans, shape shifters, half breeds, even other full bloods....EVERYONE!

Shape Shifters on the other had a small cousins of a Full Blood. They can be a feline, snake, ground dwelling creatures that can burrow. Unlike a full blood, which can change size and shape significantly, shape shifters are the approximate same size as the human form.

As a series Skinners is a very good read, part horror part action adventure. The characters are created very well, and you feel like you can connect with them. Nymar, Full Blood, and Human alike. What I really liked about these books is Marcus' constant push forward. He doesn't dwell on the minuscule details, that often bog down a good story. The time and action flows very nicely and you can't stop reading. There are a total of 6 books (5 published so far) in this series. Each book ends in such a way that it's hard to wait for the next one.
Another thing I like about Marcus' style is how he ends his chapters with a witty remark. It's this sarcasm that is very appealing in books like this.

These books are all about change and uncovering new information a mysteries. As time goes on and new adventure are had, all of the characters evolve for better or worse. One of my favorite scenes is in the first book where Cole is running from an unknown creature in the Alaskan wilderness. The imagery written is very "Stephen King" and scary intense.

To learn more about these books and Marcus Pelegrimas visit his website:
http://www.marcuspelegrimas.com/

ThunderCats (Cartoon Network)

5 HELL YEAH's out of 5

Thunder thunder thunder THUNDERCATS HOOOOO!!!!  LOL. Well they did it. They brought back ThunderCats. One of my favorite cartoons from the 80's. I had the toys and swords and yelled out the ThunderCat call more times than I can count. Good times.

The new or revamped series that has premiered on cartoon network is how the 80's redeux should be done. VOLTRON could take some lessons. The same old cast of characters are present. Lion-o, Tigra, Cheetara, Wylie Kit and Kat, Panthro, and Snarf. Fortunately Snarf isn't annoying this time around. The voice actors are superb, and the art direction is excellent. What I liked about this new version the most so far is the look and feel and the level of maturity of the story. Too often (again Voltron) they try to gear the 80's classics to the younger audience. That's fine but know who your audience really will be. ThunderCats moderates this very well.

The King of the ThunderCats is voice acted by the original Lion-o from back in the day. It was very nostalgic and VERY cool to hear him give the call. I got the chills a little bit. Mumra is back as well. I always thought Mumra was a bit of a pussy in the original...all bark no bite. It seems that this version he packs a bit more bite. They give him an "emperor" from Star Wars feel, very nice.

This first 2 parter see's Lion-o needing to grow up and take responsibility, while at the same time "Thundara" has been over run by the lizards...We are introduced to Slithe. The end of the show doesn't have the full team together yet but as Lion-o says...this is just the beginning.  Fridays @ 7:30 Central...I'm looking forward to this nostalgic guilty pleasure.

Alphas (SyFy)

3 1/2 HELL YEAH's out of 5

Alphas is the most current "mutant" or superhuman TV concept. Most of these types of shows are all the same; a "Group" of special people who can do amazing things, often led by a paternal doctor figure. There is also usually some sort of opposing force of equally special individuals intent of taking over the world. That being said Alphas is the best since the first season of Heroes.  Another show that this series reminds me of is "Pain Killer Jane".

The cast of characters is pretty interesting, "Mr. Nigel Murry" from Bones plays an autistic who can see all electromagnetic bandwidths. Some other powers include the power of persuasion, adrenalin rush strength, and super senses. The plot is basically as described above a Dr. figure wants to help the little group which has worked with the FBI periodically. After the second episode we find out that there is a group that wants to do bad and they are persuaded to help the FBI on a more permanent basis.

What I like about this show even with it's cliche' plot and characters is that it's done pretty well. The look and feel of how they handle the powers is pretty grounded. So far they haven't jumped the shark, where most shows like this after the second or third episode, pretty much blow their wad.

Given the less than unique offering here I can't say this is a must watch but it does show up on demand. I find that this is a very nice diversion in the evening or weekends when there is nothing else on.