A mix of this, a dash of that, a drop of cool and hopefully the results are a tasteful dish for the palate.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Doctor Who Gets Fourth Season
The BBC series Doctor Who has been renewed for a fourth season, the BBC announced at a special preview screening in London this week.
The third season of the new Doctor Who, which will begin airing in the UK on March 31, sees the return of David Tennant as the Doctor but with new campanion Martha Jones, played by Freema Agyeman. Agyeman replaces the tenth Doctor’s original sidekick Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). The show’s executive producer Russell T. Davies did not say whether Tennant will return for the fourth season, which is set to air in 2008.
Doctor Who is seen in the United States on the SciFi Channel, which will air season three episodes this summer.
At the preview screening of the first two episodes of season three, it was confirmed that John Simm, who plays time-traveling cop Sam Tyler in the BBC series Life on Mars, will guest-star in the final two episodes of the third season. Simm will play a mysterious politician known as Mr. Saxon.
I love Dr. Who and I simply love David Tennant's performance. The last 2 episodes of Season 2 were sooo good. While I had reservations about them 'killing' off Rose's character, its a very good way of ensuring new blood into a series and allowing it to remain fresh.
I've followed Grease You're the one that I want since it first premiered back in January 7, 2007. For the uninformed, this is a reality contest much like American Idol. The twist is that the winners of this contest will be in the revival of Grease on Broadway which opens this summer 2007. So after winning the contest, the winners of Danny and Sandy will have almost no time before they have to appear on Broadway which in itself takes months of intense practice and rehearsals.
Its been a really fun journey of seeing all the open casting calls and seeing the final 14 Danny's and Sandy's selected. And from there the elimination process until the final 2 winners were chosen on Sunday 25th March 2007. As I said I've followed this show religiously. And I've had a definite favorite. Austin Miller. I've even been calling in every week to make sure that he wins. All that ended last week. It was the first time I didn't call in. The reason is that I could not decide between Austin or Max.
Let me give you a little lowdown. Austin is dubbed "HOT Danny". He's gorgeous, muscled and talented. Even from Day 1, it was obvious that he had tons more training and talent than just about all the other guys. Plus, I had seen Austin when he was starring as Link in Hairspray and I LOVED him. Then there's Max, dubbed "Slacker Danny". This guy did a COMPLETE 360. If you compare him on day 1 in open casting call and in the final showdown, he's a completely different person. You literally see his transformation every single week and I'll say this for him. He will never be labeled a hunk, he looks like a teenager, he's skinny and basically looks like a nerd, but part way thru the series you see an amazing transformation. And when he sings, you literally see how damn good and talented he is. You can envision him being Danny. His singing and acting skills are phenomenal. Needless to say the audience was equally separated. Among the girls Laura was the definite favorite and she won. She had that wholesome innocent look and was also able to transform into a hot Sandy. For the Guys, there was only a 1% margin separating Austin and Max. Max won and is will now play Danny on Broadway.
I'm very glad for him. From day 1 he was the underdog, but I have to say that he didn't win based on Sympathy votes. He truly was better between the singing showdowns against Austin. The only downside is that he looks scrawny, but then again with daily gym time and his amazing singing/acting, I think people will be able to accept him as Danny, Leader of the T-birds. Now my big decision is should I plan a trip to New York later this year? Hmmmm....
The Dresden Files is a new Sci-Fi action show aired on Scifi channel on 21 January 2007. I've been following this show since the start but I held off any reviews because ... this show started off slow. very very slow. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The show is based off the novels by Jim Butcher. I've not read the novels but from the TV series, its about a wizard named Harry Dresden. He lives for the most part in a world like yours and mine, except he's a wizard. Actually, he's a PI who happens to attract wierd cases. His magic wand is a drum stick (the kind you play, not eat) and his staff is a Hockey stick. He hardly ever uses his powers and in truth until the latest episode, his use of actual magic has been very very limited. Did I also mention he his sidekick is a ghost who lives in his own skull? (The ghost's former skull not Harry's)
Anyway, I held off any reviews because like I said the show started off slow. There were vampires, evil spirits, demons etc but Harry himself seemed pretty useless. In fact aside from talismans and potions and a 6th sense, I had doubted him having any actual powers. Still... Sunday nights are usually slow and the story plots were fairly interesting.
All that changed with the 8th episode (Storm Front) which aired on 18th march 2007. FINALLY we see Harry as he should be. he had powers! The ability to levitate objects, his drum stick actually shot magic and his Hockey Stick acted like an over grown blow torch! It was awesome! Now I know many are going to think me a magic junkie, but let's be honest. Who wants to watch a show about a wizard who displays no more power than Patricia Arquette in Medium? We also find out why he's reluctant to use his powers, something that should have been reveled sooner.
Now if the writers can maintain and develop Harry's character and allow him to use more of his powers for the rest of the season, and spice up the story line or have a larger storyline that unfolds as the series goes on, I'll be hooked to this show.
If you're a fan of Sci-Fi/fantasy, I recommend giving this one a try. You might like it. I rate it 7/10
Edit. PS. After a bit more research, I discovered that Storm Front (The episode that I loved) was actaully the first book published about Dresden Files. What does that tell me? Some dumb studio exec figured that instead of trusting the author's success, decided to slowly introduce the character and show to the audience. That's the only reason I can come up with for not making this the very first episode.
In case you're a little out of touch with the movie world, 300 is the biggest blockbuster of 2007 (to date). Its an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name.
I'm eager to watch the movie and will post a review soon. But from all accounts, its amazing. One thing that immediately grabs you is that all the men in the show are RIPPED!!! Actors you've seen before like Gerald Butler suddenly spot muscles all over. How did they do it? The answer is in this video.
There's even a new workout called the 300 workout. What does it consist of?
25 pull ups, 50 deadlifts - 50 push ups (sometimes on gymnastics rings), 50 jumps onto a 24-inch box, 50 tire drags (dragging a huge tire attached to your waist across the room and back), 50 single-arm clean-and-presses using a 36-pound kettlebell, and another 25 pull ups.
For more info on the workout and their trainer, click here.
Here's the TV Trailer of Fantastic Four 2, and it looks GOOD!!! I know a lot of people dissed the first movie, but honestly I thought it was a pretty good intro movie. You have to understand that all Superhero movies must have an intro movie, and intro movies tend to suck.
That said I hope they show Galactus in the movie. For those not in the know, Silver Surfer is actually the Hearld of Galactus who is aptly named Eater of Worlds. For more Silver Surfer lore click here.
That's right. They have been doing pre-screenings of the new Harry Potter that is about 85% complete (just lacking some special effects and editing) due out on 13th July 2007.
How are the reviews? Here's one from aintitcool.com. And note that the reviewer is not a Potter fan and still manages to give a good review. WARNING: Slight Spoilers.
I should preface by saying there are a few mild spoilers, nothing that will ruin the film but if you want to go in completely unspoiled don’t read. If you want to know if your favorite part from the book was done well but don’t want too much detail it is safe.
Approximately a week ago when I was purchasing tickets at AMC River East in Chicago, to see The Number 23 (not nearly as bad as many critics say by the way) I received passes for test screenings for two films. One film was the new Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard film The Brave One, the other was a secret. All it said was that it was a new holiday film from a major Hollywood studio and that it was geared more toward the younger audience. I am not the biggest fan of Jodie Foster’s mediocre run lately so I decided to see the latter film instead.
Once we got in, a man announced they were excited for us to be the third audience anywhere to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Needless to say everyone went nuts. I was hoping this is what it was but the flyer said the film was PG and everyone seemed to think it was going to be Shrek 3, so I was pleasantly surprised. I am not a big Potter fan; I don’t like the way Rowling writes so I only read the second book in its entirety, and passed on the rest. I have however seen all of the films, which really only started getting really good with Cuaron’s “Azkaban,” which then was bested by Goblet of Fire in my opinion. The weakest of the series was without question Chamber of Secrets. So that’s where I stand in reference to the Potter franchise.
The film was a success in many, in fact most, aspects.
The acting is getting better and better and there were a few parts where Daniel Radcliff actually showed range. There really is no weak acting in the film and the standouts are Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood, and of course Gary Oldman as Sirius Black. Imelda Staunton’s Umbridge is good but wholly annoying. The movie moves along at a good pace until about halfway through and then gets bogged down a bit for most of the rest of the film. It is not horribly slow but it does drag, with the current running time being approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes there is definitely some editing that could be done to make this problem disappear.
Now I am going to get into some of what I marked on the card they ask you to fill out at the end of the screening. I was asked what parts I didn’t like. I put that I found most scenes with Umbridge in them were kind of slow and got tiring very quickly. I also found the scenes with Hagrid’s brother to be incredibly awkward and clunky, which in my opinion should be excised. What parts did I like? I loved the parts where Dumbledore’s Army was training, I really enjoyed the scene where Cho and Harry kiss, and there is a comment made by Ron shortly after that was hilarious and left the entire theater in stitches. Another scene I really liked was toward the end when Dumbledore and Voldemort battle. The effects were nowhere near finished causing this scene to be really awkward, but at a screening like this you have to be able to overlook the unfinished effects, and while the scene was not that long or anything it was done well and will no doubt look great. I love seeing wizards fight. A few other questions were which characters I liked the most which were Ron, Sirius, (which is a no brainer-Oldman is awesome) Luna, (as I understand it a lot of fans of the books were afraid of how her character would come off in the film, and she was my favorite character, so I guess they did something right. She was goofy and odd and a lot of fun and Evanna Lynch is probably the best of the child actors) and lastly Harry Potter. Radcliff seems like he knows what he is doing now and looks comfortable. Harry is not a slouch in this which I really liked because he comes off as being kind of a pussy in the other films even though he is supposed to be really powerful. In The Order of the Phoenix he is not yet some awesome wizard but he is kind of a badass. As I left the theater I initially felt that the film may have been as good as “Goblet” which as I mentioned I think is the best film. However something was bothering me about the film that I couldn’t quite put my finger on and then I realized what it was not much really happened. So yeah, I felt that not a whole lot happened, and this story could possibly have been squeezed into another film. Which is not to say it is boring, and there are some really good parts and it is not entirely unnecessary, I just felt that the lack of anything major knocks it down a bit in the ranks of the films. Another thing that bugged me was and this tells of the climax of the film so do not read the next paragraph if you don’t want to know…
We have yet another Voldemort confrontation at the end where he is not completely defeated. This is getting tiring, I really hope this stops now, I am sick of the main villain showing up at the end and then not being completely defeated only say the same thing can happen again at the end of the next film.
So if you liked the last two films style, you will like this. This film is not much different from the last entries in the series. I really appreciated the depth of Harry’s character in this, they actually give Harry something to do and he deals with some interesting things in a more real and rounded way. The character of Harry Potter is actually interesting in this film which makes up for some of the few mistakes in the film. Nothing was handled poorly in the film with the exception of Hagrid’s brother and possibly Umbridge’s scenes. I know you are not supposed to like her, but my god by ½ way through the film I dreaded seeing her on screen. This is something that could be fixed with editing though, and while I think a big part of the reason Hagrid’s brother played so poorly was because the effects at this point were understandably bad, to the point where there was almost no texturing or layering and no shadowing at all. I still think the film would benefit from doing away with him altogether. While I can’t say whether or not you will hate what they’ve done if you loved the books, I can say overall it was really good and enjoyable, though not necessarily the best in the series (this could possibly change when it is finished being edited and the effects shots are completed.) I am not an avid fan of the series, and I think the subject and mediocre writing of Rowling stops it from ever being an all around amazing series, and the Order of the Phoenix neither made me hate the series nor fall head over heels in love with it, but it was really good. This follows The Goblet of Fire making it the second best of the Potter films, which is saying quite a bit.
Not satisfied? Want more Potter info? Check out this review which is CHOCK full of spoliers!!!!
I thought this was really cute. Being banned for wearing Mickey over their breasts.
News Flash: A mother and her daughter are banned for life from Disneyland. For a really good reason.
I think the picture says it ALL. In case you are wondering, those are their real breasts. As for what in the hell these women were thinking about...I think the answer is in the beer.
Burning Crusade
Age of Conan
Jade Empire